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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43659 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 43659-h.htm or 43659-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43659/43659-h/43659-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43659/43659-h.zip)
+
+
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive. See
+      http://archive.org/details/oldwomanwholived00dougiala
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE
+
+Or
+
+There's No Place Like Home
+
+by
+
+AMANDA M. DOUGLAS
+
+Author of "In Trust," "The Kathie Stories," etc.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Boston
+Lee and Shepard, 47 Franklin Street
+New York
+Charles T. Dillingham. 678 Broadway
+
+Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by
+William F. Gill & Co.,
+In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.
+
+
+
+
+                             In Remembrance
+
+                                   OF
+
+                _MANY PLEASANT HOURS SPENT AT WOODSIDE_,
+
+                               This Story
+
+         OF LOVE AND FAITH, OF WORK AND WAITING, AND THE GENTLE
+               VIRTUES THAT ARE NONE THE LESS HEROIC FOR
+                     BLOOMING IN THE CENTRE OF THE
+                              HOME CIRCLE,
+
+                 _IS DEDICATED TO THE HAPPY HOUSEHOLD_
+
+                                   OF
+
+                      MR. and MRS. A. C. NEUMANN.
+
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+THE DOUGLAS NOVELS.
+
+BY MISS AMANDA M. DOUGLAS.
+
+_Uniform Volumes. Price $1.50 Each._
+
+
+  FLOYD GRANDON'S HONOR.
+
+"Fascinating throughout, and worthy of the reputation of the
+author."--_Philadelphia Methodist._
+
+
+  WHOM KATHIE MARRIED.
+
+Kathie was the heroine of the popular series of Kathie Stories for
+young people, the readers of which were very anxious to know with whom
+Kathie settled down in life. Hence this story, charmingly written.
+
+
+  LOST IN A GREAT CITY.
+
+"There is the power of delineation and robustness of expression that
+would credit a masculine hand in the present volume, and the reader
+will at no stage of the reading regret having commenced its perusal. In
+some parts it is pathetic, even to eloquence."--_San Francisco Post._
+
+
+  THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE.
+
+"The romances of Miss Douglas's creation are all thrillingly
+interesting."--_Cambridge Tribune._
+
+
+  HOPE MILLS; or, Between Friend and Sweetheart.
+
+"Amanda Douglas is one of the favorite authors of American
+novel-readers."--_Manchester Mirror._
+
+
+  FROM HAND TO MOUTH.
+
+"There is real satisfaction in reading this book, from the fact that we
+can so readily 'take it home' to ourselves."--_Portland Argus._
+
+
+  NELLY KINNARD'S KINGDOM.
+
+"The Hartford Religious Herald" says, "This story is so fascinating,
+that one can hardly lay it down after taking it up."
+
+
+  IN TRUST; or, Dr. Bertrand's Household.
+
+"She writes in a free, fresh, and natural way; and her characters are
+never overdrawn."--_Manchester Mirror._
+
+
+  CLAUDIA.
+
+"The plot is very dramatic, and the _dénoûment_ startling. Claudia, the
+heroine, is one of those self-sacrificing characters which it is the
+glory of the female sex to produce."--_Boston Journal._
+
+
+  STEPHEN DANE.
+
+"This is one of this author's happiest and most successful attempts at
+novel-writing, for which a grateful public will applaud her."--_Herald._
+
+
+  HOME NOOK: or, the Crown of Duty.
+
+"An interesting story of home-life, not wanting in incident, and
+written in forcible and attractive style."--_New York Graphic._
+
+
+  SYDNIE ADRIANCE; or, Trying the World.
+
+"The works of Miss Douglas have stood the test of popular judgment, and
+become the fashion. They are true, natural in delineation, pure and
+elevating in their tone."--_Express, Easton, Penn._
+
+
+  SEVEN DAUGHTERS.
+
+The charm of the story is the perfectly natural and home-like air which
+pervades it.
+
+_Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of
+price._
+
+
+LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston.
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+  CHAPTER I.                                                       PAGE.
+  JOE'S GRAND DISCOVERY                                                7
+
+  CHAPTER II.
+  PLANNING IN THE TWILIGHT                                            22
+
+  CHAPTER III.
+  A CHANCE FOR FLOSSY                                                 36
+
+  CHAPTER IV.
+  THE IDENTICAL SHOE                                                  52
+
+  CHAPTER V.
+  GOOD LUCK FOR JOE                                                   68
+
+  CHAPTER VI.
+  FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES                                            84
+
+  CHAPTER VII.
+  THE OLD TUMBLER, AFTER ALL                                         103
+
+  CHAPTER VIII.
+  FLORENCE IN STATE                                                  120
+
+  CHAPTER IX.
+  FOURTH OF JULY                                                     137
+
+  CHAPTER X.
+  WHICH SHOULD SHE CHOOSE?                                           154
+
+  CHAPTER XI.
+  OUT OF THE OLD HOME-NEST                                           172
+
+  CHAPTER XII.
+  JOE'S FORTUNE                                                      191
+
+  CHAPTER XIII.
+  FROM GRAY SKIES TO BLUE                                            209
+
+  CHAPTER XIV.
+  A FLOWER-GARDEN INDOORS                                            225
+
+  CHAPTER XV.
+  HOW CHARLIE RAN AWAY                                               244
+
+  CHAPTER XVI.
+  ALMOST DISCOURAGED                                                 262
+
+  CHAPTER XVII.
+  LOST AT SEA                                                        282
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII.
+  A SONG IN THE NIGHT                                                299
+
+  CHAPTER XIX.
+  IN THE OLD HOME-NEST AGAIN                                         317
+
+  CHAPTER XX.
+  WHEREIN THE OLD SHOE BECOMES CROWDED                               337
+
+  CHAPTER XXI.
+  HOW THE DREAMS CAME TRUE                                           352
+
+  CHAPTER XXII.
+  CHRISTMASTIDE                                                      366
+
+
+
+
+                      THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+  JOE'S GRAND DISCOVERY.
+
+
+Hal sat trotting Dot on his knee,--poor little weazen-faced Dot, who
+was just getting over the dregs of the measles, and cross accordingly.
+By way of accompaniment he sang all the Mother Goose melodies that he
+could remember. At last he came to,--
+
+    "There was an old woman who lived in a shoe:
+    She had so many children she didn't know what to do;
+    To some she gave broth without any bread,"--
+
+and Harry stopped to catch his breath, for the trotting was of the
+vigorous order.
+
+    "And a thrashing all round, and sent them to bed!"
+
+finished Joe, thrusting his shaggy head in at the window after the
+fashion of a great Newfoundland dog.
+
+Dot answered with a piteous cry,--a sort of prolonged wail,
+heart-rending indeed.
+
+"Serve you right," said Joe, going through an imaginary performance
+with remarkably forcible gestures.
+
+"For shame, Joe! You were little once yourself, and I dare say cried
+when you were sick. I always thought it very cruel, that, after being
+deprived of their supper, they should be"--
+
+"Thrashed! Give us good strong Saxon for once, Flossy!"
+
+Flossy was of the ambitious, correct, and sentimental order. She had
+lovely light curls, and soft white hands when she did not have to work
+too hard, which she never did of her own free will. She thought it
+dreadful to be so poor, and aspired to a rather aristocratic ladyhood.
+
+"I am sorry you were not among them," she replied indignantly. "You're
+a hard-hearted, cruel boy!"
+
+"When the thrashings went round? You're a c-r-u-e-l girl!" with a
+prodigious length of accent. "Why, I get plenty of 'em at school."
+
+"'Trot, trot, trot. There was an old woman'--what are you laughing at,
+Joe?" and Hal turned red in the face.
+
+"I've just made a brilliant discovery. O my poor buttons! remember
+Flossy's hard labor and many troubles, and do not _bust_! Why, we're
+the very children!"
+
+At this, Joe gave a sudden lurch: you saw his head, and then you saw
+his heels, and the patch on the knee of his trousers, ripped partly off
+by an unlucky nail, flapped in the breeze; and he was seated on the
+window-sill right side up with care, drumming both bare heels into the
+broken wall. He gave a prolonged whistle of satisfaction, made big eyes
+at Dot, and then said again,--
+
+"Yes, we are the _very_ children!"
+
+"What children? Joe, you are the noisiest boy in Christendom!"
+
+"Flossy, the old woman who lived in a shoe is Granny, and no mistake!
+I can prove it logically. Look at this old tumble-down rookery: it is
+just the shape of a huge shoe, sloping gradually to the toe, which is
+the shed-end here. It's brown and rusty and cracked and patched: it
+wants heeling and toeing, and to be half-soled, greased to keep the
+water out, and blacked to make it shine. It was a famous seven-leaguer
+in its day; but, when it had lost its virtue, the giant who used to
+wear it kicked it off by the roadside, little dreaming that it would be
+transformed into a cabin for the aforesaid old woman. And here we all
+are sure enough! Sometimes we get broth, and sometimes we don't."
+
+Dot looked up in amazement at this harangue, and thrust her thumbs
+in her mouth. Hal laughed out-right,--a soft little sound like the
+rippling of falling water.
+
+"Yes, a grand discovery! Ladies and gentlemen of the nineteenth
+century, I rise to get up, to speak what I am about to say; and I hope
+you will treasure the words of priceless wisdom that fall from my lips.
+I'm not backward about coming forward"--
+
+Joe was balancing himself very nicely, and making tremendous
+flourishes, when two brown, dimpled hands scrubbed up the shock of
+curly hair, and the sudden onslaught destroyed his equilibrium, as
+Flossy would have said, and down he went on the floor in crab fashion,
+looking as if he were all arms and legs.
+
+"Charlie, you midget! just wait till I catch you. I haven't the broth,
+but the other thing will do as well."
+
+But Charlie was on the outside; and her little brown, bare feet were
+as fleet as a deer's. Joe saw her skimming over the meadow; but the
+afternoon was very warm, and a dozen yards satisfied him for a race, so
+he turned about.
+
+"Joe, you might take Dot a little while, I think," said Hal
+beseechingly, as Joe braced himself against the door-post. "I've held
+her all the afternoon."
+
+"She won't come--will you, Dot?"
+
+But Dot signified her gratification by stretching out her hands. Joe
+was a good-natured fellow; and, though he might have refused Hal
+easily, he couldn't resist Dot's tender appeal, so he took her on his
+shoulder and began trotting off to Danbury Cross. Dot laughed out of
+her sleepy eyes, highly delighted at this change in the programme.
+
+"Oh, dear!" and Hal rubbed his tired arms. "I shouldn't think
+grandmother would know what to do, sure enough! What a host of us there
+are,--six children!"
+
+"I'm sure I do my best," said Flossy with a pathetic little sniff. "But
+it's very hard to be an orphan and poor."
+
+"And when there are six of us, and we are all orphans, and all poor, it
+must be six times as hard," put in Joe with a sly twinkle.
+
+Then he changed Dot from her triumphal position on his shoulder to a
+kind of cradle in his arms. Her eyelids drooped, and she began to croon
+a very sleepy tune.
+
+Hal looked out of the window, over to the woods, where the westward
+sun was making a wonderful land of gold and crimson. Sometimes he
+had beautiful dreams of that softened splendor, but now they were
+mercenary. If one could only coin it all into money! There was poor
+grandmother slaving away, over at Mrs. Kinsey's,--she should come home,
+and be a princess, to say the very least.
+
+"I guess I'll clear up a bit!" said Hal, coming down from the clouds,
+and glancing round at the disorderly room. "Granny will be most tired
+to death when her day's work is done. Flossy, if you wouldn't mind
+going in the other room."
+
+Flossy gathered up her skirts and her crocheting, and did not take the
+invitation at all amiss.
+
+Then Hal found the stubby broom, and swept the floor; dusted the
+mantle, after removing an armful of "trash;" went at the wooden chairs,
+that had once been painted a gorgeous yellow with green bars; and
+cleared a motley accumulation of every thing off of the table, hanging
+up two or three articles, and tucking the rest into a catch-all closet.
+A quaint old pitcher, that had lost both spout and handle, was emptied
+of some faded flowers, and a fresh lot cut,--nothing very choice; but
+the honeysuckle scented the room, and the coxcombs gave their crimson
+glow to the top of the pyramid.
+
+"Why, Mrs. Betty," said Joe, "you've made quite a palace out of your
+end of the shoe, and this miserable little Dot has gone to sleep at
+last. Shall I put her in the cradle, or drop her down the well?"
+
+Hal smiled a little, and opened the door. It was the best room, quite
+large, uncarpeted, but clean; and though the bed was covered with a
+homemade spread, it was as white as it could be. The cradle was not
+quite as snowy; for the soiled hands that tumbled Dot in and out left
+some traces.
+
+To get her safely down was a masterpiece of strategy. Joe bumped her
+head; and Hal took her in his arms, hushing her in a low, motherly
+fashion, and pressing his brown cheek to hers, which looked the color
+of milk that had been skimmed, and then split in two, and skimmed
+again. She made a dive in Hal's hair with her little bird's claw of a
+hand, but presently dropped asleep again.
+
+"I guess she'll take a good long nap," whispered Hal, quite relieved.
+
+"I'm sure she ought," sighed Florence.
+
+Hal went back to his housekeeping. He was as handy as a girl, any day.
+He pulled some radishes, and put them in a bowl of cold water, and
+chopped some lettuce and onions together, the children were all so fond
+of it. Then he gleaned the raspberries, and filled the saucer with
+currants that were not salable.
+
+Joe, in the meanwhile, had gone after Mrs. Green's cows. She gave them
+a quart of milk daily for driving the cows to and from the pasture, and
+doing odd chores.
+
+"If you see the children, send them home," had been Hal's parting
+injunction. "Grandmother will soon be here."
+
+She came before Joe returned. The oddest looking little old woman that
+you ever saw. Florence, at fourteen, was half a head taller. Thin and
+wrinkled and sunburned; her flaxen hair turning to silver, and yet
+obstinately full of little curls; her blue eyes pale and washed out,
+and hosts of "crows'-feet" at the corners; and her voice cracked and
+tremulous.
+
+Poor Grandmother Kenneth! She had worked hard enough in her day, and
+was still forced to keep it up, now that it was growing twilight with
+her. But I don't believe there was another as merry a houseful of
+children in all Madison.
+
+Joe's discovery was not far out of the way. The old woman, whose
+biography and family troubles were so graphically given by Mother
+Goose, died long before our childhood; but I think Granny Kenneth must
+have looked like her, though I fancy she was better natured. As for
+the children, many and many a time she had not known what to do with
+them,--when they were hungry, when they were bad, when their clothes
+were worn out and she had nothing to make new ones with, when they had
+no shoes; and yet she loved the whole six, and toiled for them without
+a word of complaint.
+
+Her only son, Joe, had left them to her,--a troublesome legacy indeed;
+but at that time they had a mother and a very small sum of money.
+Mrs. Joe was a pretty, helpless, inefficient body, who continually
+fretted because Joe did not get rich. When the poor fellow lay on his
+death-bed, his disease aggravated by working when he was not able, he
+twined his arms around his mother's neck, and cried with a great gasp,--
+
+"You'll be kind to them, mother, and look after them a little. God will
+help you, I know. I should like to live for their sakes."
+
+A month or two after this, Dot was born. Now that her dear Joe was
+dead, there was no comfort in the world; so the frail, pretty little
+thing grieved herself away, and went to sleep beside him in the
+churchyard.
+
+The neighbors made a great outcry when Grandmother Kenneth took the
+children to her own little cottage.
+
+"What could she do with them? Why, they will all starve in a bunch,"
+said one.
+
+"Florence and Joe might be bound out," proposed another.
+
+A third was for sending them to the almshouse, or putting them in some
+orphan asylum; but five years had come and gone, and they had not
+starved yet, though once or twice granny's heart had quaked for fear.
+
+Every one thought it would be such a blessing if Dot would only die.
+She had been a sight of trouble during the five years of her life.
+First, she had the whooping cough, which lasted three times as long as
+with any ordinary child. Then she fell out of the window, and broke her
+collar-bone; and when she was just over that, it was the water-pox. The
+others had the mumps, and Dot's share was the worst of all. Kit had the
+measles in the lightest possible form, and actually had to be tied in
+bed to make him stay there; while it nearly killed poor Dot, who had
+been suffering from March to midsummer, and was still poor as a crow,
+and cross as a whole string of comparisons.
+
+But Granny was patient with it all. The very sweetest old woman in the
+world, and the children loved her in their fashion; but they seldom
+realized all that she was doing for them. And though some of her
+neighbors appreciated the toil and sacrifice, the greater part of them
+thought it very foolish for her to be slaving herself to death for a
+host of beggarly grandchildren.
+
+"Well, Hal!" she exclaimed in her rather shrill but cheery voice,
+"how's the day gone?"
+
+"Pretty well: but you're tired to death. I suppose Mrs. Kinsey's
+company came, and there was a grand feast?"
+
+"Grand! I guess it was. Such loads of pies and puddings and kettles of
+berries and tubs of cream"--
+
+Granny paused, out of breath from not having put in any commas.
+
+"Ice-cream, you mean? Freezers, they call 'em."
+
+"You do know every thing, Hal!" And granny laughed. "I can't get all
+the new-fangled names and notions in my head. There was Grandmother
+Kinsey, neat as a new pin, and children and grandchildren, and aunts
+and cousins. But it was nice, Hal."
+
+The boy smiled, thinking of them all.
+
+"Half of the goodies'll spile, I know. Mrs. Kinsey packed me a great
+basket full; and, Hal, here's two dollars. I'm clean tuckered out."
+
+"Then you just sit still, and let me 'tend to you. Dot's asleep; and if
+I haven't worried with her this afternoon! That child ought to grow up
+a wonder, she's been so much trouble to us all. Joe's gone after the
+cows, and Florence is busy as a bee. Oh, what a splendid basket full!
+Why, we shall feast like kings!"
+
+With that Hal began to unpack,--a plate full of cut cake, biscuits by
+the dozen, cold chicken, delicious slices of ham, and various other
+delicacies.
+
+"We'll only have a few to-night," said Hal economically. "'Tisn't every
+day that we have such a windfall. I'll put these out of the children's
+sight; for there they come."
+
+The "children" were Charlie and Kit, with barely a year between; Kit
+being seven, and Charlie--her real name was Charlotte, but she was such
+a tomboy that they gave her the nickname--was about eight. Hal was
+ten, and Joe twelve.
+
+"Children," said Hal, "don't come in till you've washed yourselves. Be
+quiet, for Dot is asleep."
+
+Thus admonished, Charlie did nothing worse than pour a basin of water
+over Kit, who sputtered and scolded and kicked until Hal rushed out to
+settle them.
+
+"If you're not quiet, you shall not have a mouthful of supper; and
+we've lots of goodies."
+
+Kit began to wash the variegated streaks from his face. Charlie
+soused her head in a pail of water, and shook it like a dog, then ran
+her fingers through her hair. It was not as light or silken as that
+of Florence, and was cropped close to her head. Kit's was almost as
+black as a coal; and one refractory lock stood up. Joe called it his
+"scalp-lock waving in the breeze."
+
+"Now, Charlie, pump another pail of water. There comes Joe, and we'll
+have supper."
+
+Charlie eyed Joe distrustfully, and hurried into the house. Hal hung up
+Granny's sun-bonnet, and placed the chairs around.
+
+"Come, Florence," he said, opening the door softly.
+
+"My eyes!" ejaculated Joe in amaze. "Grandmother, you're a trump."
+
+"Joe!" exclaimed Hal reproachfully.
+
+Joe made amends by kissing Granny in the most rapturous fashion. Then
+he escorted her to the table in great state.
+
+"Have you been good children to-day?" she asked, as they assembled
+round the table.
+
+"I've run a splinter in my toe; and, oh! my trousers are torn!"
+announced Kit dolefully.
+
+"If you ever had a whole pair of trousers at one time the world would
+come to an end," declared Joe sententiously.
+
+"Would it?" And Kit puzzled his small brain over the connection.
+
+"And Charlie preserves a discreet silence. Charlie, my dear, I advise
+you to keep out of the way of the ragmen, or you will find yourself on
+the road to the nearest paper-mill."
+
+Florence couldn't help laughing at the suggestion.
+
+"Children!" said their grandmother.
+
+Full of fun and frolic as they were, the little heads bowed reverently
+as Granny asked her simple blessing. She would as soon have gone
+without eating as to omit that.
+
+"I really don't want any thing," she declared. "I've been tasting all
+day,--a bit here and a bit there, and such loads of things!"
+
+"Tell us all about it," begged Joe. "And who was there,--the grand
+Panjandrum with a button on the top. Children's children unto the third
+and fourth generation."
+
+"O Joe! if you only wouldn't," began Granny imploringly.
+
+"No, I won't, Granny;" and Joe made a face as long as your arm, or a
+piece of string.
+
+"Of course I didn't see 'em all, nor half; but men and women and
+children and babies! And Grandmother Kinsey's ninety-five years old!"
+
+"I hope I'll live to be that old, and have lots of people to give me a
+golden wedding," said Charlie, with her mouth so full that the words
+were pretty badly squeezed.
+
+"This isn't a golden wedding," said Florence with an air of dignity:
+"it's a birthday party."
+
+"Ho!" and Joe laughed. "You'll be,--
+
+    'Ugly, ill-natured, and wrinkled and thin,
+    Worn by your troubles to bone and to skin.'"
+
+"She's never been much else," rejoined Flossy, looking admiringly at
+her own white arm.
+
+"I'm not as old as you!" And Charlie flared up to scarlet heat.
+
+"Oh! you needn't get so vexed. I was only thinking of the skin and
+bone," said Florence in a more conciliatory manner.
+
+"Well, I don't want to be a 'Mother Bunch.'"
+
+"No fear of you, Charlie. You look like the people who live on some
+shore,--I've forgotten the name of the place,--and, eat so many fish
+that the bones work through."
+
+Charlie felt of her elbows. They were pretty sharp, to be sure. She was
+very tall of her age, and ran so much that it was quite impossible to
+keep any flesh on her bones.
+
+"Hush, children!" said grandmother. "I was going to tell you about the
+party. Hal, give me a little of your salad, first."
+
+The Kinseys had invited all their relations to a grand family
+gathering. Granny told over the pleasant and comical incidents that had
+come under her notice,--the mishaps in cooking, the babies that had
+fallen down stairs, and various entertaining matters.
+
+By that time supper was ended. Florence set out to take some lace that
+she had been making to a neighbor; Hal washed the dishes, and Charlie
+wiped them; Joe fed the chickens, and then perched himself astride the
+gate-post, whistling all the tunes he could remember; Kit and Charlie
+went to bed presently; and Hal and his grandmother had a good talk
+until Dot woke up, strange to say quite good-natured.
+
+"Granny," said Hal, preparing a bowl of bread and milk for his little
+sister, "some day we'll all be grown, and you won't have to work so
+hard."
+
+"Six men and women! How odd it will be!" returned Granny with a smile
+shining over her tired face.
+
+"Yes. We'll keep you like a lady. You shall have a pretty house to live
+in, and Dot shall wait upon you. Won't you, Dot?"
+
+Dot shook her head sagely at Granny.
+
+And in the gathering twilight Hal smiled, remembering Joe's conceit.
+Granny looked happy in spite of her weariness. She, foolish body, was
+thinking how nice it was to have them all, even to poor little Dot.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+  PLANNING IN THE TWILIGHT.
+
+
+It was a rainy August day, and the children were having a glorious
+time up in the old garret. Over the house-part there were two rooms;
+but this above the kitchen was kept for rubbish. A big wheel, on which
+Granny used to spin in her younger days, now answered for almost any
+purpose, from a coach and four, to a menagerie: they could make it into
+an elephant, a camel, or a hyena, by a skilful arrangement of drapery.
+
+There were several other pieces of dilapidated furniture, old hats,
+old boots, a barrel or two of papers; in fact, a lot of useless
+traps and a few trophies that Joe had brought home; to say nothing
+of Charlie's endless heaps of trash, for she had a wonderful faculty
+of accumulation; herbs of every kind, bundles of calamus, stacks of
+"cat-tails," the fuzz of which flew in every direction with the least
+whiff of wind.
+
+The "children" had been raising bedlam generally. Joe was dressed in an
+old scuttle-shaped Leghorn bonnet and a gay plaid cloak, a strait kind
+of skirt plaited on a yoke. Granny had offered it to Florence for a
+dress, but it had been loftily declined. Kit was attired as an Indian,
+his "scalp-lock" bound up with rooster feathers; and he strutted up and
+down, jabbering a most uncouth dialect, though of what tribe it would
+be difficult to say. Charlie appeared in a new costume about every
+half-hour, and improvised caves in every corner; though it must be
+confessed Joe rather extinguished her with his style. He could draw in
+his lips until he looked as if he hadn't a tooth in his head, and talk
+like nearly every old lady in town.
+
+Such whoops and yells and shouts as had rung through the old garret
+would have astonished delicate nerves. In one of the bedrooms Granny
+was weaving rag-carpet on a rickety loom, for she did a little of every
+thing to lengthen out her scanty income; but the noise of that was as a
+whiff of wind in comparison.
+
+At last they had tried nearly every kind of transformation, and were
+beginning to grow tired. It was still very cloudy, and quite twilight
+in their den, when Florence came up stairs, and found them huddled
+around the window listening to a wonderful story that Joe made up as
+he went along. Such fortunes and adventures could only belong to the
+Munchausen period.
+
+"Dear!" exclaimed Florence, "I thought the chief of the Mohawks had
+declared war upon the Narragansetts, and everybody had been scalped,
+you subsided so suddenly. You've made racket enough to take off the
+roof of the house!"
+
+"It's on yet," was Joe's solemn assurance.
+
+"O Joe!" begged Charlie: "tell us another story,--something about a
+sailor who was wrecked, and lived in a cave, and found bags and bags of
+money!"
+
+"That's the kind, Charlie. Flo, come on and take a seat."
+
+"Where's Dot?"
+
+"Here in my arms," replied Hal; "as good as a kitten; aren't you, Dot?"
+
+Dot answered with a contented grunt.
+
+"Oh, let's all tell what we'd like to do!" said Charlie, veering round
+on a new tack. "Flo'll want to be Cinderella at the king's ball."
+
+Florence tumbled over the pile of legs, and found a seat beside Hal.
+
+"Well, I'll lead off," began Joe with a flourish. "First, I'm going to
+be a sailor. I mean to ship with a captain bound for China; and hurra!
+we'll go out with a flowing sea or some other tip-top thing! Well, I
+guess we'll go to China,--this is all suppos'n, you know; and while I'm
+there I'll get such lots of things!--crape-shawls and silks for you,
+Flossy; and cedarwood chests to keep out moths, and fans and beautiful
+boxes, and a chest of tea, for Granny. On the way home we shall be
+wrecked. You'll hear the news, and think that I'm dead, sure enough."
+
+"But how will Flo get her shawls?" asked Charlie.
+
+"Oh, you'll hear presently! That's way in the end. I shall be wrecked
+on an island where there's a fierce native chief; and first he and his
+men think they'll kill me." Joe always delighted in harrowing up the
+feelings of his audience. "So I offer him the elegant shawls and some
+money"--
+
+"But I thought you lost them all in the wreck!" interposed
+quick-brained Charlie.
+
+"Oh, no! There's always something floats ashore, you must remember.
+Well, he concluded not to kill me, though they have a great festival
+dance in honor of their idols; and I only escape by promising to be
+his obedient slave. I find some others who have been cast on that
+desolate shore, and been treated in the same manner. The chief beats
+us, and makes us work, and treats us dreadfully. Then we mutiny, and
+have a great battle, for a good many of the natives join us. In the
+scrimmage the old fellow is killed; and there's a tremendous rejoicing,
+I can tell you, for they all hate him. We divide his treasure, and
+it's immense, and go to live in his palace. Well, no boat ever comes
+along; so we build one for ourselves, and row to the nearest port and
+tell them the chief is dead. They are very glad, for he was a cruel old
+fellow. Then we buy a ship, and go back for the rest of our treasures.
+We take a great many of the beautiful things out of the palace, and
+then we start for home, double-quick. It's been a good many years; and,
+when I come back, Granny is old, and walking with a cane, Florence
+married to a rich gentleman, and Dot here grown into a handsome girl.
+But won't I build a stunning house! There'll be a scattering out of
+this old shoe, I tell you."
+
+"Oh, won't it be splendid!" exclaimed Charlie, with a long-drawn
+breath. "It's just like a story."
+
+"Now, Hal, it's your turn."
+
+Hal sighed softly, and squeezed Dot a little.
+
+"I shall not go off and be a sailor"--
+
+"Or a jolly young oysterman," said Joe, by way of assistance.
+
+"No. What I'd like most of all"--and Hal made a long pause.
+
+"Even if it's murder, we'll forgive you and love you," went on
+tormenting Joe.
+
+"O Joe, don't!" besought Florence. "I want to hear what Hal will
+choose, for I know just what I'd like to have happen to me."
+
+"So do I," announced Charlie confidently.
+
+"I don't know that I can have it," said Hal slowly; "for it costs a
+good deal, though I might make a small beginning. It's raising lovely
+fruit and flowers, and having a great hot-house, with roses and lilies
+and dear white blossoms in the middle of the winter. I should love them
+so much! They always seem like little children to me, with God for
+their father, and we who take care of them for a stepmother; though
+stepmothers are not always good, and the poor wicked ones would be
+those who did not love flowers. Why, it would be like fairy-land,--a
+great long hot-house, with glass overhead, and all the air sweet with
+roses and heliotrope and mignonette. And it would be so soft and still
+in there, and so very, very beautiful! It seems to me as if heaven must
+be full of flowers."
+
+"Could you sell 'em if you were poor?" asked Charlie, in a low voice.
+
+"Not the flowers in heaven! Charlie, you're a heathen."
+
+"I didn't mean that! Don't you suppose I know about heaven!" retorted
+Charlie warmly.
+
+"Yes," admitted Joe with a laugh: "he could sell them, and make lots of
+money. And there are ever so many things: why, Mr. Green paid six cents
+apiece for some choice tomato-plants."
+
+"When I'm a man, I think I'll do that. I mean to try next summer in my
+garden."
+
+"May I tell now?" asked Charlie, who was near exploding with her secret.
+
+"Yes. Great things," said Joe.
+
+"I'm going to run away!" And Charlie gave her head an exultant toss,
+that, owing to the darkness, was lost to her audience.
+
+Joe laughed to his utmost capacity, which was not small. The old garret
+fairly rang again.
+
+Florence uttered a horrified exclamation; and Kit said,--
+
+"I'll go with you!"
+
+"Girls don't run away," remarked Hal gravely.
+
+"But I mean to, and it'll be royal fun," was the confident reply.
+
+"Where will you go? and will you beg from door to door?" asked Joe
+quizzically.
+
+"No: I'm going out in the woods," was the undaunted rejoinder. "I mean
+to find a nice cave; and I'll bring in a lot of good dry leaves and
+some straw, and make a bed. Then I'll gather berries; and I know how to
+catch fish, and I can make a fire and fry them. I'll have a gay time
+going off to the river and rambling round, and there'll be no lessons
+to plague a body to death. It will be just splendid."
+
+"Suppose a bear comes along and eats you up?" suggested Joe.
+
+"As if there were any bears around here!" Charlie returned with immense
+disdain.
+
+"Well, a snake, or a wild-cat!"
+
+"I'm not afraid of snakes."
+
+"But you'd want a little bread."
+
+"Oh! I'd manage about that. I do mean to run away some time, just for
+fun."
+
+"You'll be glad to run back again!"
+
+"You see, now!" was the decisive reply.
+
+"Florentina, it is your turn now. We have had age before beauty."
+
+Florence tossed her soft curls, and went through with a few pretty
+airs.
+
+"I shouldn't run away," she said slowly; "but I'd like to _go_, for
+all that. Sometimes, as I sit by the window sewing, and see an elegant
+carriage pass by, I think, what if there should be an old gentleman in
+it, who had lost his wife and all his children, and that one of his
+little girls looked like--like me? And if he should stop and ask me for
+a drink, I'd go to the well and draw a fresh, cool bucketful"--
+
+"From the north side--that's the coldest," interrupted Joe.
+
+"Hush, Joe! No one laughed at you!"
+
+"Laugh! Why, I am sober as an owl."
+
+"Then I'd give him a drink. I wish we could have some goblets: tumblers
+look so dreadfully old-fashioned. I mean to buy _one_, at least, some
+time. He would ask me about myself; and I'd tell him that we were all
+orphans, and had been very unfortunate, and that our grandmother was
+old"--
+
+    "'Four score and ten of us, poor old maids,--
+            Four score and ten of us,
+            Without a penny in our _puss_,
+                    Poor old maids,'"
+
+sang Joe pathetically, cutting short the _purse_ on account of the
+rhyme.
+
+"O Joe, you are too bad! I won't tell any more."
+
+"Yes, do!" entreated Hal. "And so he liked you on account of the
+resemblance, and wanted to adopt you."
+
+"Exactly! Hal, how could you guess it?" returned Florence, much
+mollified. "And so he would take me to a beautiful house, where there
+were plenty of servants, and get me lovely clothes to wear; and there
+would be lots of china and silver and elegant furniture and a piano.
+I'd go to school, and study music and drawing, and never have to sew or
+do any kind of work. Then I'd send you nice presents home; and, when
+you were fixed up a little, you should come and see me. And maybe, Hal,
+as you grew older, he would help you about getting a hot-house. I think
+when I became a woman, I would take Dot to educate."
+
+"I've heard of fairy godmothers before, but this seems to be a
+godfather. Here's luck to your old covey, Florrie, drunk in imaginary
+champagne."
+
+"Joe, I wish you wouldn't use slang phrases, nor be so disrespectful."
+
+"I'm afraid I'll have to keep clear of the palace."
+
+"Oh, if it only could be!" sighed Hal. "I think Flo was meant for a
+lady."
+
+Florence smiled inwardly at hearing this. It was her opinion also.
+
+"Here, Kit, are you asleep?" And Joe pulled him out of the pile by one
+leg. "Wake up, and give us your heart's desire."
+
+Kit indulged in a vigorous kick, which Joe dodged.
+
+"It'll be splendid," began Kit, "especially the piano. I've had my
+hands over my eyes, making stars; and I was thinking"--
+
+"That's just what we want, Chief of the Mohawk Valley. Don't keep us in
+suspense."
+
+"I'm going to save up my money, like some one Hal was reading about the
+other day, and buy a fiddle."
+
+A shout of laughter greeted this announcement, it sounded so comical.
+
+Kit rubbed his eyes in amazement, and failed to see any thing amusing.
+Then he said indignantly,--
+
+"You needn't make such a row!"
+
+"But what will you do with a fiddle? You might tie a string to Charlie,
+and take her along for a monkey; or you might both go round singing in
+a squeaky voice,--
+
+    'Two orphan boys of Switzerland.'"
+
+"You're real mean, Joe," said Kit, with his voice full of tears.
+
+"Kit, I'll give you the violin myself when I get rich," Florence
+exclaimed in a comforting tone, her soft hand smoothing down the
+refractory scalp-lock; "but I would say violin, it sounds so much
+nicer. And then you'll play."
+
+"Play!" enunciated Kit in a tone that I cannot describe, as if that
+were a weak word for the anticipated performance. "I'd make her talk!
+They'd sit there and listen,--a whole houseful of people it would
+be, you know; and when I first came out with my fiddle,--violin.
+I mean,--they would look at me as if they thought I couldn't do
+much. I'd begin with a slow sound, like the wind wailing on a winter
+night,--I guess I'd have it a storm, and a little lost child, for
+you can make almost any thing with a violin; and the cries should
+grow fainter and fainter, for she would be chilled and worn out;
+and presently it should drop down into the snow, and there'd be the
+softest, strangest music you ever heard. The crowd would listen and
+listen, and hold their breath; and when the storm cleared away, and the
+angels came down for the child, it would be so, so sad"--and there was
+an ominous falter in Kit's voice, "they couldn't help crying. There'd
+be an angel's song up in heaven; and in the sweetest part of it all,
+I'd go quietly away, for I wouldn't want any applause."
+
+"But you'd have it," said Hal softly, reaching out for the small
+fingers that were to evoke such wonderful melody. "It almost makes me
+cry myself to think of it! and the poor little girl lost in the snow,
+not bigger than Dot here!"
+
+"Children!" called Granny from the foot of the stairs, "ain't you going
+to come down and have any supper? I've made a great pot full of mush."
+
+There was a general scrambling. Hal carried Dot in his arms, for she
+was fast asleep. Two or three times in the short journey he stopped to
+kiss the soft face, thinking of Kit's vision.
+
+"Oh, we've been having such a splendid time!" announced Charlie. "All
+of us telling what we'd like to do; and, Granny, Joe's going to build
+you an _elegant_ house!" with a great emphasis on the word, as Charlie
+was not much given to style, greatly to the sorrow and chagrin of
+Florence.
+
+Granny gave a cheerful but cracked treble laugh, and asked,--
+
+"What'll he build it of, my dear,--corn-cobs?"
+
+"Oh, a _real_ house! He's going to make lots of money, Joe is, and get
+shipwrecked."
+
+Granny shook her head, which made the little white curls bob around
+oddly enough.
+
+"How you do mix up things, Charlie," said Joe, giving her a poke with
+his elbow. "You're a perfect harum-scarum! I don't wonder you want to
+live in the woods. Go look at your head: it stands out nine ways for
+Sunday!"
+
+Charlie ran her fingers through her hair, her usual manner of arranging
+it.
+
+"Granny, here's this little lamb fast asleep. She's grown to be one of
+the best babies in the world;" and Hal kissed her again.
+
+He had such a tender, girlish heart, that any thing weak or helpless
+always appealed to him. Their sleek, shining Tabby had been a poor,
+forlorn, broken-legged kitten when he found her; and there was no end
+to the birds and chickens that he nursed through accidents.
+
+But for a fortnight Dot had been improving, it must be confessed,
+being exempt from disease and broken bones.
+
+"Poor childie! Just lay her in the bed, Hal."
+
+There was a huge steaming dish of mush in the middle of the table; and
+the hungry children went at it in a vigorous manner. Some had milk,
+and some had molasses; and they improvised a dessert by using a little
+butter, sugar, and nutmeg. They spiced their meal by recounting their
+imaginary adventures; but Granny was observed to wipe away a few tears
+over the shipwreck.
+
+"It was all make believe," said Joe sturdily. "Lots of people go to
+sea, and don't get wrecked."
+
+"But I don't want you to go," Granny returned in a broken tone of voice.
+
+"Pooh!" exclaimed Joe, with immense disdain. "Don't people meet with
+accidents on the land? Wasn't Steve Holder killed in the mill. And if I
+was on the cars in a smash-up, I couldn't swim out of that!"
+
+Joe took a long breath, fancying that he had established his point
+beyond a cavil.
+
+"But sailors never make fortunes," went on Granny hesitatingly.
+
+"Captains do, though; and it's a jolly life. Besides, we couldn't all
+stay in this little shanty, unless we made nests in the chimney like
+the swallows; and I don't know which would tumble down first,--we or
+the chimney."
+
+Charlie laughed at the idea.
+
+"I shall stay with you always, Granny," said Hal tenderly. "And Dot,
+you know, will be growing into a big girl and be company for us. We'll
+get along nicely, never fear."
+
+Some tears dropped unwittingly into Granny's plate, and she didn't want
+any more supper. It was foolish, of course. She ought to be thankful to
+have them all out of the way and doing for themselves. Here she was,
+over fifty, and had worked hard from girlhood. Some day she would be
+worn out.
+
+But, in spite of all their poverty and hardship, she had been very
+happy with them; and theirs were by no means a forlorn-looking set of
+faces. Each one had a little beauty of its own; and, though they were
+far from being pattern children, she loved them dearly in spite of
+their faults and roughnesses. And in their way they loved her, though
+sometimes they were great torments.
+
+And so at bed-time they all crowded round to kiss the wrinkled face,
+unconsciously softened by the thought of the parting that was to come
+somewhere along their lives. But no one guessed how Granny held little
+Dot in her arms that night, and prayed in her quaint, fervent fashion
+that she might live to see them all grown up and happy, good and
+prosperous men and women, and none of them straying far from the old
+home-nest.
+
+I think God listened with watchful love. No one else would have made
+crooked paths so straight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+  A CHANCE FOR FLOSSY.
+
+
+The vacation had come to an end, and next week the children were to go
+to school again. Florence counted up her small hoard; for though she
+did not like to sweep, or wash dishes, she was industrious in other
+ways. She crocheted edgings and tidies, made lamp-mats, toilet-sets,
+and collars, and had earned sixteen dollars. Granny would not have
+touched a penny of it for the world.
+
+So Florence bought herself two pretty delaine dresses for winter wear,
+and begged Granny to let Miss Brown cut and fit them. Florence had a
+pretty, slender figure; and she was rather vain of it. Her two dresses
+had cost seven dollars, a pair of tolerably nice boots three and a
+half, a plaid shawl four, and then she had indulged in the great luxury
+of a pair of kid gloves.
+
+It had come about in this wise. Mrs. Day had purchased them in New
+York, but they proved too small for her daughter Julia. She was owing
+Florence a dollar; so she said,--
+
+"Now, if you have a mind to take these gloves, Florence, I'd let you
+have them for seventy-five cents. I bought them very cheap: they ask
+a dollar and a quarter in some stores;" and she held them up in their
+most tempting light.
+
+Florence looked at them longingly.
+
+"They are lovely kid, and such a beautiful color! Green is all the
+fashion, and you have a new green dress."
+
+There was a pair of nice woollen gloves at the store for fifty cents;
+and although they were rather clumsy, still Florence felt they would be
+warmer and more useful.
+
+"I don't know as I can spare you the dollar now," continued Mrs. Day,
+giving the dainty little gloves a most aggravating stretch.
+
+"I'd like to have them," said Florence hesitatingly.
+
+"I suppose your grandmother won't mind? Your money is your own."
+
+Now, Mrs. Day knew that it was wrong to tempt Florence; but the gloves
+were useless to her, and she felt anxious to dispose of them.
+
+"Grandmother said I might spend all my money for clothes," was the
+rather proud reply.
+
+"Kid gloves always look so genteel, and are so durable. You have such a
+pretty hand too."
+
+"I guess I will take them," Florence said faintly.
+
+So Mrs. Day gave her the gloves and twenty-five cents. Florence
+carried them home in secret triumph, and put them in _her_ drawer in
+Granny's big bureau. She had not told about them yet; and sometimes
+they were a heavier burden than you would imagine so small a pair of
+gloves could possibly be.
+
+Joe had earned a little odd change from the farmers round, and bought
+himself a pair of new trousers and a new pair of boots; while Hal had
+been maid-of-all-work in doors, and head gardener out of doors.
+
+"Just look at these potatoes!" he said in triumph to Granny. "There's
+a splendid binful, and it'll last all winter. And there'll be cabbage
+and pumpkins and marrow-squash and Lima beans, and lots of corn for the
+chickens. The garden has been a success this summer."
+
+"And you've worked early and late," returned Granny in tender triumph.
+"There isn't such another boy in the State, I'll be bound!" And she
+gave him the fondest of smiles.
+
+"But the best of all is Dot. She's actually getting fat, Granny; and
+she has a dimple in her cheek. Why, she'll be almost as pretty as
+Flossy!"
+
+Granny gave the little one a kiss.
+
+"She's as good as a kitten when she is well," was the rejoinder, in a
+loving tone.
+
+Kit and Charlie still romped like wild deers. They had made a cave in
+the wood, and spent whole days there; but Charlie burned her fingers
+roasting a bird, and went back to potatoes and corn, that could be put
+in the ashes without so much risk.
+
+The old plaid cloak had been made over for a school-dress, and Charlie
+thought it quite grand. Kit and Hal had to do the best they could about
+clothes.
+
+"Never mind me, Granny," Hal said cheerfully; though he couldn't help
+thinking of his patched Sunday jacket, which was growing short in the
+sleeves for him.
+
+So on Saturday the children scrubbed and scoured and swept, and made
+the place quite shine again. Hal arranged the flowers, and then they
+all drew a restful breath before the supper preparations began.
+
+"There's Mrs. Van Wyck coming!" and Charlie flew up the lane, dashing
+headlong into the house, to the imminent peril of her best dress, which
+she had been allowed to put on for an hour or two.
+
+"Mrs. Van Wyck!"
+
+Granny brushed back her bobbing flaxen curls, washed Dot's face over
+again with the nearest white cloth, which happened to be Flossy's best
+handkerchief that she had been doing up for Sunday.
+
+"Oh!" the young lady cried in dismay, and then turned to make her
+prettiest courtesy. Mrs. Van Wyck was very well off indeed, and lived
+in quite a pretentious cottage,--villa she called it; but, as she had a
+habit of confusing her V's and W's, Joe re-christened it the Van Wyck
+Willow.
+
+"Good-afternoon, Mrs. Kenneth. How d'y do, Florence?"
+
+Florence brought out a chair, and, with the most polite air possible,
+invited her to be seated.
+
+Mrs. Van Wyck eyed her sharply.
+
+"'Pears to me you look quite fine," she said.
+
+Florence wore a white dress that was pretty well outgrown, and had
+been made from one of her mother's in the beginning. It had a good many
+little darns here and there, and she was wearing it for the last time.
+She had tied a blue ribbon in her curls, and pinned a tiny bouquet on
+her bosom. She looked very much dressed, but that was pretty Flossy's
+misfortune.
+
+Mrs. Van Wyck gathered up her silk gown,--a great staring brocade in
+blue and gold, that might have been her grandmother's, it looked so
+ancient in style.
+
+"I've come over on some business," she began, with an important air and
+a mysterious shake of the head.
+
+Granny sat down, and took Dot upon her lap. Kit and Charlie peered out
+of their hiding-places, and Joe perched himself upon the window-sill.
+
+"How do you ever manage with all this tribe?" And Mrs. Van Wyck gave
+each of them a scowl.
+
+"There's a houseful," returned Granny, "but we _do_ get along."
+
+"Tough scratching, I should say."
+
+"And poor pickings the chickens might add, if they had _such_ an old
+hen," commented Joe _soto voce_. "There'd be something worse than
+clucking."
+
+Hal couldn't help laughing. Mrs. Van Wyck was so ruffled and frilled,
+so full of ends of ribbon about the head and neck, that she did look
+like a setting hen disturbed in the midst of her devotions.
+
+"Them children haven't a bit of manners," declared Mrs. Van Wyck, in
+sublime disregard of syntax. "Trot off, all of you but Florence: I have
+something to say to your grandmother."
+
+Joe made a somerset out of the window, and placed himself in a good
+listening position; Hal went out and sat on the doorstep; and Charlie
+crawled under the table.
+
+"I don't see how you manage to get along with such a houseful. I always
+did wonder at your taking 'em."
+
+"Oh! we do pretty well," returned Granny cheerily.
+
+"They're growing big enough to help themselves a little. Why don't you
+bind Joe out to some of the farmers. Such a great fellow ought to be
+doing something besides racing round and getting into mischief."
+
+Joe made a series of such polite evolutions, that Hal ran to the gate
+to have a good laugh without being heard.
+
+"He's going to school," said Granny innocently. "They all begin on
+Monday."
+
+"Going to school?" And Mrs. Van Wyck elevated her voice as if she
+thought them all deaf. "Why, _I_ never went to school a day after I
+was twelve year old, and my father was a well-to-do farmer. There's no
+sense in children having so much book-larnin'. It makes 'em proud and
+stuck up, and good for nothing.
+
+"Oh! where's that dog? Put him out! Put him out! I can't bear dogs. And
+the poorer people are, the more dogs they'll keep."
+
+Joe, the incorrigible, was quite a ventriloquist for his years and
+size. He had just made a tremendous ki-yi, after the fashion of the
+most snarling terrier dog, and a kind of scrabbling as if the animal
+might be under Mrs. Van Wyck's feet.
+
+"Oh, my! Take the nasty brute away. Maybe he's full of fleas or has the
+mange"--
+
+"It is only Joe," explained Florence, as soon as she could put in a
+word.
+
+"I'd Joe him, if I had him here! You're a ruining of these children
+as I've always said; and you may thank your stars if Joe escapes the
+gallows. I've positively come on an errand of mercy."
+
+"Not for Joe," declared the owner of the name with a sagacious shake of
+the head, while Mrs. Van Wyck paused for breath.
+
+"Yes. Not one of them'll be worth a penny if they go on this way. Now,
+here's Florence, growing up in idleness"--
+
+"She keeps pretty busy," said Granny stoutly.
+
+"Busy! Why, you've nothing for her to do. When I was a little girl,
+my mother made me sit beside her, and sew patchwork; and before I was
+twelve year old I had finished four quilts. And she taught me the
+hymn,--
+
+    'Satan finds some mischief still
+    For idle hands to do.'"
+
+"They always learn a verse for Sunday," said Granny deprecatingly.
+
+"But you let 'em run wild. I've seen it all along. I was a talkin' to
+Miss Porter about it; and says I, 'Now, I'll do one good deed;' and the
+Lord knows it's needed."
+
+Everybody listened. Joe from the outside made a pretence of picking his
+ears open with the handle of a broken saucepan.
+
+"Florence is getting to be a big girl, and it's high time she learned
+something. As I was a sayin' to Miss Porter, 'I want just such a girl;
+and it will be the making of Florence Kenneth to fall into good hands.'"
+
+"But you don't mean"--and Granny paused, aghast.
+
+"I mean to make the child useful in her day and generation. It'll be a
+good place for her."
+
+Mrs. Van Wyck nodded her head until the bows and streamers flew in
+every direction.
+
+Granny opened her eyes wide in surprise.
+
+"What do you want of her, Mrs. Van Wyck?"
+
+Charlie peeped out from between the legs of the table to hear, her
+mouth wide open lest she should lose a word.
+
+"Want of her?" screamed the visitor. "Why, to work, of course! I don't
+keep idle people about me, I can tell you. I want a girl to make beds,
+and sweep, and dust, and wash dishes, and scour knives, and scrub, and
+run errands, and do little chores around. It'll be the making of her;
+and I'm willing to do the fair thing."
+
+Granny was struck dumb with amazement. Florence could hardly credit her
+ears. Hal sprang up indignantly, and Joe doubled his fists as if he
+were about to demolish the old house along with Mrs. Van Wyck.
+
+"Yes. I've considered the subject well. I always sleep on a thing
+before I tell a single soul. And, if Florence is a good smart girl,
+I'll give her seventy-five cents a week and her board. For six dollars
+a month I could get a grown girl, who could do all my work."
+
+Granny looked at Florence in helpless consternation; and Florence
+looked at Granny with overwhelming disdain.
+
+"Well! why don't you answer?" said the visitor. She had supposed they
+would jump at the offer.
+
+"I don't expect to go out doing housework, Mrs. Van Wyck," said
+Florence loftily.
+
+"Hoity-toity! how grand we are! I've never been above doing my own
+housework; and I could buy and sell the whole bunch of you, a dozen
+times over."
+
+"Florence wouldn't like it, I'm afraid," said Granny mildly.
+
+"A fine way to bring up children, truly! You may see the day when
+you'll be thankful to have a home as good as my kitchen."
+
+There was a bright red spot in Florence's cheeks.
+
+"Mrs. Van Wyck," Florence began in a quiet, ladylike manner, although
+she felt inclined to be angry, "grandmother is right: I should not like
+it. I have no taste for housework; and I can earn more than you offer
+to give by doing embroidering and crocheting. Through the six weeks of
+vacation I earned sixteen dollars."
+
+"Fancy work! What is the world coming to? Children brought up to
+despise good, honest employment."
+
+"No, I don't despise it," amended Florence; "but I do not like it, and
+I think it a hard way of earning a little money. If I can do better, of
+course I have the right."
+
+Granny was amazed at the spirit Florence displayed.
+
+"You'll all be paupers on the town yet, mark my words. Flaunting round
+in white dresses and ribbons, and"--
+
+She glanced around for some further vanity to include in her inventory.
+
+"I am sure we are obliged to you," said Granny mildly. "But Florence"--
+
+"Yes, Florence is too good to work. There's no sense in such high-flown
+names. I'd have called her plain Peggy. She must curl her hair, and
+dress herself--oh my lady, if I had you, you'd see!"
+
+And Mrs. Van Wyck arose in great wrath, her streamers flying wildly.
+
+"You'll remember this when you come to beggary,--refusing a good home
+and plenty. Your grandmother is a foolish old woman; and you're a lazy,
+shiftless, impudent set! I wash my hands of the whole lot."
+
+"I'm sorry," began Granny.
+
+"There's no use talking. I wouldn't have the girl on any account. I can
+get her betters any day. You'll come to no good end, I can tell you!"
+
+With that, Mrs. Van Wyck flounced out; but at the first turn tumbled
+over Kit, who had rolled himself in a ball on the doorstep.
+
+Down she went, and Joe set up a shout. Hal couldn't help laughing, and
+Charlie ran to pull out Kit.
+
+"You good-for-nothing, beggarly wretches!"
+
+While she was sputtering and scrambling about, Joe began a hideous
+caterwauling.
+
+"Drat that cat! Pity I hadn't broken his neck! And my second-best
+bonnet!"
+
+Kit hid himself in his grandmother's gown, sorely frightened, and a
+little bruised.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"It's the last time I'll ever step inside of this place. Such an awful
+set of children I never did see!"
+
+To use Joe's expressive phraseology, she "slathered" right and left,
+her shrill voice adding to the confusion.
+
+Granny watched the retreating figure with the utmost bewilderment.
+
+"The mean old thing!" began Florence, half crying. "Why, I couldn't
+stand her temper and her scolding, and to be a common kitchen-girl!"
+
+"She meant well, dear. In my day girls thought it no disgrace to live
+out."
+
+"Wasn't it gay and festive, Granny? I believe I've burst every button,
+laughing; and you'll have to put a mustard plaster on my side to draw
+out the soreness. And oh, Kit, what a horrible yell you gave! How could
+you be the ruin of that second best bonnet?"
+
+"'Twasn't me," said Kit, rubbing his eyes. "But she most squeezed the
+breath out of me."
+
+"Flossy, here is your fortune, and your coach-and-four. My dear child,
+I hope you will not be too much elated, for you must remember"--
+
+    "'Satan finds some mischief still,' &c."
+
+Joe whisked around, holding Dot's apron at full length in imitation of
+a streamer.
+
+"I wonder if she really thought I would go. Scouring and scrubbing, and
+washing dishes. I'd do with one meal a day first."
+
+"She is a coarse, ill-bred woman," said Hal; "not a bit like Mrs.
+Kinsey."
+
+"We will not be separated just yet," exclaimed Granny, with a sigh for
+the time that must come.
+
+"And I don't mean to live out," was the emphatic rejoinder of Florence.
+
+"My dear, you mustn't be too proud," cautioned Granny.
+
+"It isn't altogether pride. Why should I wash dishes when I can do
+something better?"
+
+"That's the grit, Flossy. I'll bet on you!"
+
+"O Joe! don't. I wish you would learn to be refined. Now, you see all
+Mrs. Van Wyck's money cannot make her a lady."
+
+Joe put on a solemn face; but the next moment declared that he must
+keep a sharp look out, or some old sea-captain would snap him up, and
+set him to scrubbing decks, and holystoning the cable.
+
+And yet they felt quite grave when the fun was over. Their merry
+vacation had ended, and there was no telling what a year might bring
+forth.
+
+"I think I should like most of all to be a school-teacher," Florence
+declared.
+
+"You'll have to wait till you're forty. Who do you s'pose is going to
+mind a little gal?"
+
+"Not you; for you never mind anybody," was the severe reply.
+
+Florence felt quite grand on the following day, attired in her new
+green delaine, and her "lovely" gloves. Granny was so busy with the
+others that she never noticed them; and Florence quieted her conscience
+by thinking that the money was her own, and she could do what she liked
+with it. She kept self generally in view, it must be admitted.
+
+Mrs. Van Wyck's overture was destined to make quite a stir. She
+repeated it to her neighbors in such glowing terms that it really
+looked like an offer to adopt Florence; and she declaimed bitterly
+against the pride and the ingratitude of the whole Kenneth family.
+
+Florence held her head loftily, and took great pains to contradict the
+story; and Joe became the stoutest of champions, though he teased her
+at home.
+
+"But it's too bad to have her tell everybody such falsehoods; and,
+after all, three dollars a month would be very low wages. Why, Mary
+Connor gets a dollar a week for tending Mrs. Hall's baby; and she never
+scrubs or scours a thing!"
+
+Truth to tell, Florence felt a good deal insulted.
+
+But the whole five went to school pretty regularly. Hal was very
+studious, and Florence also, in spite of her small vanities; but Joe
+was incorrigible everywhere.
+
+Florence gained courage one day to ask Mr. Fielder about the prospect
+of becoming a teacher. She was ambitious, and desired some kind of a
+position that would be ladylike.
+
+"It's pretty hard work at first," he answered with a smile.
+
+"But how long would I have to study?"
+
+"Let me see--you are fourteen now: in three years you might be able
+to take a situation. Public schools in the city are always better for
+girls, for they can begin earlier in the primary department. A country
+school, you see, may have some troublesome urchins in it."
+
+Florence sighed. Three years would be a long while to wait.
+
+"I will give you all the assistance in my power," Mr. Fielder said
+kindly. "And I may be able to hear of something that will be to your
+advantage."
+
+Florence thanked him, but somehow the prospect did not look brilliant.
+
+Then she thought of dressmaking. Miss Brown had a pretty cottage,
+furnished very nicely indeed; and it was her boast that she did it all
+with her own hands. She kept a servant, and dressed quite elegantly;
+and all the ladies round went to her in their carriages. Then she had
+such beautiful pieces for cushions and wonderful bedquilts,--"Though
+I never take but the least snip of a dress," she would say with a
+virtuous sniff. "I have heard of people who kept a yard or two, but to
+my mind it's downright stealing."
+
+There was a drawback to this picture of serene contentment. Miss Brown
+was an old maid, and Florence hoped devoutly that would never be her
+fate. And then Miss Skinner, who went out by the day, was single also.
+Was it the natural result of the employment?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+  THE IDENTICAL SHOE.
+
+
+They did pretty well through the fall. Joe came across odd jobs,
+gathered stores of hickory-nuts and chestnuts; and now and then of an
+evening they had what he called a rousing good boil; and certainly
+chestnuts never tasted better. They sat round the fire, and told
+riddles or stories, and laughed as only healthy, happy children can.
+What if they were poor, and had to live in a little tumble-down shanty!
+
+Sometimes Joe would surprise them with a somerset in the middle of the
+floor, or a good stand on his head in one corner.
+
+"Joe," Granny would say solemnly, "I once knowed a man who fell that
+way on his head off a load of hay, and broke his back."
+
+"Granny dear, 'knowed' is bad grammar. When you go to see Florence in
+her palace, you must say knew, to rhyme with blew. But your old man's
+back must have grown cranky with rheumatism, while mine is limber as an
+eel."
+
+"He wasn't old, Joe. And in my day they never learned grammar."
+
+"Oh, tell us about the good old times!" and Hal's head was laid in
+Granny's lap.
+
+The children were never tired of hearing these tales. Days when
+Granny was young were like enchantment. She remembered some real
+witch stories, that she was sure were true; and weddings, quiltings,
+husking-bees, and apple-parings were full of interest. How they went
+out sleigh-riding, and had a dance; and how once Granny and her lover,
+sitting on the back seat, were jolted out, seat and all, while the
+horses went skimming along at a pace equal to Tam O'Shanter's. And how
+they had to go to a neighboring cottage, and stay ever so long before
+they were missed.
+
+"There'll never be such times again," Joe would declare solemnly.
+
+Florence would breath a little sigh, and wonder if she could ever
+attain to beaux and merriment, and if any one would ever quarrel about
+dancing with her. How happy Granny must have been!
+
+Dot had a dreadful cold, and Granny an attack of rheumatism; but they
+both recovered before Christmas. Every one counted so much on this
+holiday. All were making mysterious preparations. Joe and Hal and
+Florence had their heads together; and then it was Granny and Florence,
+or Granny and Hal.
+
+"I don't dare to stir out," said Joe lugubriously, "lest you may say
+something that I shall not hear."
+
+Hal killed three fine young geese. Two were disposed of for a dollar
+apiece, and the third he brought to the kitchen in triumph.
+
+"There's our Christmas dinner, and a beauty too!" he announced.
+
+Hal had sold turkeys and chickens enough to buy himself a good warm
+winter coat.
+
+Granny had a little extra luck. In fact, it was rather a prosperous
+winter with them; and there was nothing like starvation, in spite of
+Mrs. Van Wyck's prediction.
+
+They all coaxed Granny to make doughnuts. Joe dropped them in the
+kettle, and Hal took them out with the skimmer. How good they did smell!
+
+Kit and Charlie tumbled about on the floor, and were under everybody's
+feet; while Dot sat in her high chair, looking wondrous wise.
+
+"How'll we get the stockings filled?" propounded Joe, when the
+supper-table had been cleared away.
+
+They all glanced at each other in consternation.
+
+"But where'll you hang 'em?" asked Kit after a moment or two of
+profound study.
+
+"Some on the andirons, some on the door-knob, some on the kettle-spout,
+and the rest up chimney."
+
+"I say, can't we have two?" was Charlie's anxious question.
+
+"Lucky if you get one full. What a host of youngsters! O Granny! did
+you know that last summer I discovered that you were the old woman who
+lived in a shoe?"
+
+"O Joe! don't;" and Hal raised his soft eyes reproachfully.
+
+Granny laughed, not understanding Hal's anxiety.
+
+"Because I had so many children?"
+
+"Exactly; but I think you are better tempered than your namesake."
+
+Granny's eyes twinkled at this compliment.
+
+"It was an awful hot day, and Dot was cross enough to kill a cat with
+nine lives."
+
+"But she's a little darling now," said Hal, kissing her. "I think the
+sand-man has been around;" and he smiled into the little face with its
+soft drooping eyes.
+
+"Yes, she ought to be in bed, and Kit and Charlie. Come, children."
+
+"I want to see what's going to be put in my stocking," whined Charlie
+in a very sleepy tone.
+
+"No, you can't. March off, you small snipes, or you will find a whip
+there to-morrow morning."
+
+That was Joe's peremptory order.
+
+They had a doughnut apiece, and then went reluctantly. Charlie was very
+sure that she was wider awake than ever before in her life, and could
+not get asleep if she tried all night. Kit didn't believe that morning
+would ever come. Hal put on Dot's nightgown, and heard her say, "Now I
+lay me down to sleep;" while Joe picked up the cat, and irreverently
+whispered,--
+
+    "Now I lay me down to sleep,
+    All curled up in a little heap.
+
+    If I should wake before 'tis day,
+    What do you s'pose the doctor'd say?"
+
+"O Joe!" remonstrated Granny.
+
+"That's Tabby's prayers. Tabby is a high principled, moral, and
+intellectual cat. Now go to sleep, and dream of a mouse."
+
+Tabby winked her eyes solemnly, as if she understood every word; and
+it's my firm belief that she did.
+
+Then Granny, Florence, Joe, and Hal sat in profound thought until the
+old high clock in the corner struck nine.
+
+"Well," said Joe, "what are we waiting for?"
+
+Hal laughed and answered,--
+
+"For some one to go to bed."
+
+"What is to be done about it?"
+
+Florence looked wise, and said presently,--
+
+"We'll all have to go in the other room except the one who is to put
+something in the stockings."
+
+"That's it. Who will begin?"
+
+"Not I," rejoined Joe. "I don't want to be poked down into the toe."
+
+"And I can't have my gifts crushed," declared Florence.
+
+"Hal, you begin."
+
+Hal was very cheerful and obliging. Granny lighted another candle, and
+the three retired. He disposed of his gifts, and then called Joe.
+
+Joe made a great scrambling around. One would think he had Santa Claus
+himself, and was squeezing him into the small stocking, sleigh, ponies,
+and all.
+
+"Now, Granny, it's your turn."
+
+Granny fumbled about a long while, until the children grew impatient.
+Afterward Florence found herself sorely straitened for room; but she
+had a bright brain, and what she could not put inside she did up
+in papers and pinned to the outside, giving the stockings a rather
+grotesque appearance, it must be confessed. There they hung in a row,
+swelled to dropsical proportions, and looking not unlike stumpy little
+Dutchmen who had been beheaded at the knees.
+
+"Now, Granny, you must go to bed," said Joe with an air of importance.
+"And you must promise to lie there until you are called to-morrow
+morning,--honor bright!"
+
+Granny smiled, and bobbed her flaxen curls.
+
+"Now," exclaimed Florence, bolting the middle door so they would be
+sure of no interruption.
+
+Joe went out to the wood-shed, and dragged in a huge shoe. The toe was
+painted red, and around the top a strip of bright yellow, ending with
+an immense buckle cut out of wood.
+
+"Oh, isn't it splendid!" exclaimed Florence, holding her breath.
+
+"That was Hal's idea, and it's too funny for any thing. Granny could
+crawl into it head first. If we haven't worked and conjured to keep Kit
+and Charlie out of the secret, then no one ever had a bit of trouble
+in this world."
+
+Joe laughed until he held his sides. It was a sort of safety
+escape-valve with him.
+
+"H-u-s-h!" whispered Hal. "Now, Flossy."
+
+Florence brought a large bundle out of the closet. There were some
+suppressed titters, and "O's," and "Isn't it jolly?"
+
+"Now you must tie your garters round the bedpost, put the toe of your
+shoes toward the door, and go to bed backward. That'll make every thing
+come out just right," declared Joe.
+
+"Oh, dear! I wish it was morning!" said Hal. "I want to see the fun."
+
+"So don't this child. I must put in some tall snoring between this and
+daylight."
+
+They said good-night softly to each other, and went off to bed. Joe was
+so full of mischief, that he kept digging his elbows into Hal's ribs,
+and rolling himself in the bedclothes, until it was a relief to have
+him commence the promised snoring.
+
+With the first gray streak of dawn there was a stir.
+
+"Merry Christmas!" sang out Joe with a shout that might have been heard
+a mile. "Hal and Kit"--
+
+"Can't you let a body sleep in peace?" asked Kit in an injured tone,
+the sound coming from vasty deeps of bedclothes.
+
+Joe declared they always had to fish him out of bed, and that buckwheat
+cakes was the best bait that could be used.
+
+"Why, it's Christmas. Hurrah! We're going to have a jolly time. What do
+you suppose is in your stocking?"
+
+That roused Kit. He came out of bed on his head, and commenced putting
+his foot through his jacket sleeve.
+
+"I can't find my stockings! Who's got 'em?"
+
+"The fellow who gets up first always takes the best clothes," said Joe
+solemnly.
+
+With that he made a dive into his. It was the funniest thing in the
+world to see Joe dress. His clothes always seemed joined together in
+some curious fashion; for he flung his arms and legs into them at one
+bound.
+
+"Oh, dear! Don't look in my stocking, Joe. You might wait. I know
+you've hidden away my shoe on purpose."
+
+With this Kit sat in the middle of the floor like a heap of rains, and
+began to cry.
+
+Hal came to the rescue, and helped his little brother dress. But Joe
+was down long before them. He gave a whoop at the door.
+
+"Merry Christmas!" exclaimed Florence with a laugh, glad to think she
+had distanced him.
+
+"Merry Christmas! The top o' the mornin' to you, Granny! Long life and
+plenty of 'praties and pint.' Santa Claus has been here. My eyes!"
+
+Hal and Kit came tumbling along; but the younger stood at the door in
+amaze, his mouth wide open.
+
+"Hush for your life!"
+
+But Kit had to make a tour regardless of his own stocking, while Joe
+brandished the tongs above his head as if to enforce silence.
+
+Hal began to kindle the fire. Charlie crept out in her nightgown, with
+an old shawl about her, and stood transfixed with astonishment.
+
+"Oh, my! Isn't that jolly? Doesn't Granny know a bit?"
+
+"Not a word."
+
+"Mrs. McFinnegan," said Joe through the chink of the door, "I have to
+announce that the highly esteemed and venerable Mr. Santa Claus, a
+great traveller and a remarkably generous man, has made a call upon you
+during the night. As he feared to disturb your slumbers, he left a ball
+of cord, a paper of pins, and a good warm night-cap."
+
+Florence was laughing so that she could hardly use buttons or hooks.
+Dot gave a neglected whine from the cradle.
+
+"Is Granny ready?" Hal asked as she came out.
+
+"She's just putting on her cap."
+
+Hal went in for a Christmas kiss. Granny held him to her heart in a
+fond embrace, and wished the best of every thing over him.
+
+"Merry Christmas to you all!" she said as Hal escorted her out to the
+middle of the room.
+
+Joe went over on his head, and then perched himself on the back of a
+chair. The rest all looked at Granny.
+
+"Is this really for me?" she asked in surprise, though the great
+placard stared her in the face.
+
+The children set up a shout. Kit and Charlie paused, open-mouthed, in
+the act of demolishing something.
+
+"Why, I never"--
+
+"Tumble it out," said Joe.
+
+"This great shoe full"--
+
+Florence handed the first package to Granny. She opened it in amaze, as
+if she really could not decide whether it belonged to her or not.
+
+There was a paper pinned on it, "A Merry Christmas from Mrs. Kinsey."
+
+A nice dark calico dress-pattern, at which Granny was so overcome that
+she dropped into the nearest chair.
+
+Next a pair of gloves from Joe; a pretty, warm hood from Mrs. Howard,
+the clergyman's wife; a bowl of elegant cranberry sauce from another
+neighbor; a crocheted collar from Florence, and then with a big tug--
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Granny, "is it a comfortable, or what?"
+
+A good thick plaid shawl. Just bright enough to be handsome and not
+too gay, and as soft as the back of a lamb.
+
+"Where did it come from?"
+
+Granny's voice trembled in her excitement.
+
+"From all of us," said Florence. "I mean, Joe and Hal and me. We've
+been saving our money this ever so long, and Mrs. Kinsey bought it for
+us. O Granny!"--
+
+But Granny had her arms around them, and was crying over heads golden
+and brown and black; and Hal, little chicken-heart, was sobbing and
+smiling together. Joe picked a big tear or two out of his eye, and
+began with some nonsense.
+
+"And to keep it a secret all this time! and to make this great shoe!
+There never was such a Christmas before. Oh, children, I'm happier than
+a queen!"
+
+"What makes you cry then, Granny?" asked Charlie.
+"But oh! wasn't it funny? And if it only had runners
+it would make a sleigh. Look at the red toe."
+
+They kissed dozens of times, and inspected each other's gifts. Florence
+had made each of the boys two dainty little neckties, having begged
+the silk from Miss Brown. Charlie and Kit had a pair of new mittens,
+Joe and Hal a new shirt with a real plaited bosom, and a host of small
+articles devised by love, with a scarce purse. But I doubt if there was
+a happier household in richer homes.
+
+It was a long while before they had tried every thing,
+
+[Illustration]
+
+tasted of all their "goodies," and expressed sufficient delight and
+surprise. Dot was taken up and dressed, and Kit found that she fitted
+into the shoe exact. Her tiny stocking was not empty. They all laughed
+and talked; and it was nine o'clock before their simple breakfast was
+ready.
+
+Joe had to take a turn out to see some of the boys; Florence made the
+beds, and put the room in order; and Hal kept a roaring fire to warm
+it up, so that they might have a parlor. Kit and Charlie were deeply
+interested in the shoe; and Granny had to break out every now and then
+in surprise and thankfulness.
+
+"A shawl and hood and gloves and a dress! Why, I never had so many
+things at once, I believe; and how hard you must all have worked! I
+don't see how you could save so much money!"
+
+"It's better than living with Mrs. Van Wyck," returned Florence with
+pardonable pride. "Embroidering is real pretty work, and it pays well.
+Mrs. Howard has asked me to do some for a friend of hers."
+
+"You're a wonder, Florence, to be sure. I can't see how you do 'em all
+so nice. But my fingers are old and clumsy."
+
+"They know how to make pies and doughnuts," said Kit, as if that was
+the main thing, after all.
+
+They went to work at the dinner. It was to be a grand feast. Joe kept
+the fire brisk; while Hal waited upon Granny, and remembered the
+ingredients that went to make "tip-top" dressing.
+
+"It is a pity you were not a Frenchman," said Florence. "You would
+make such a handy cook."
+
+Hal laughed, his cheeks as red as roses.
+
+"I couldn't keep house without him," appended Granny.
+
+There was a savory smell of roasting goose, the flavor of thyme and
+onions, which the children loved dearly. Charlie and Kit went out to
+have a good run, and came back hungry as bears, they declared. Joe went
+off to see some of the boys, and compare gifts. Though more than one
+new sled or nice warm overcoat gave his heart a little twinge, he was
+too gay and happy to feel sad very long; and, when he had a royal ride
+down hill on the bright sleds that flashed along like reindeers, he
+returned very well content.
+
+Florence sighed a little as she arranged the table. Three kinds of
+dishes, and some of them showing their age considerably. If they were
+all white it wouldn't be so bad. She did so love beauty!
+
+But when the goose, browned in the most delicious manner, graced the
+middle dish, the golden squash and snowy mound of potatoes, and the
+deep wine color of the cranberries lent their contrast, it was quite
+a picture, after all. And when the host of eager faces had clustered
+round it, one would hardly have noticed any lack. They were all in the
+gayest possible mood.
+
+Hal did the carving. The goose was young and tender, and he disappeared
+with marvellous celerity.
+
+Wings, drumsticks, great juicy slices with crisp skin, dressing in
+abundance; and how they did eat! For a second helping they had to
+demolish the rack; and Charlie wasn't sure but picking bones was the
+most fun of all.
+
+"Hal, you had better go into the poultry business," said Joe, stopping
+in the midst of a spoonful of cranberry.
+
+"I've been thinking of it," was the reply.
+
+"I should think he was in it," said Charlie slyly.
+
+Joe laughed.
+
+"Good for you, Charlie. They must feed you on knives at your house,
+you're so sharp. But I have heard of people being too smart to live
+long, so take warning."
+
+Charlie gave her head a toss.
+
+"Why wouldn't it be good?" pursued Joe. "People do make money by it;
+and I suppose, before very long, we must begin to think about money."
+
+"Don't to-day" said Granny.
+
+"No, we will not worry ourselves," rejoined Hal.
+
+One after another drew long breaths, as if their appetites were
+diminishing. Dot sat back in her high chair, her hands and face showing
+signs of the vigorous contest, but wonderfully content.
+
+"Now the pie!" exclaimed Joe.
+
+Florence gathered up the bones and the plates, giving Tabby, who sat in
+the corner washing her face, a nice feast. Then came on the Christmas
+pie, which was pronounced as great a success as the goose.
+
+"Oh, dear!" sighed Joe. "One unfortunate thing about eating is, that it
+takes away your appetite."
+
+"It is high time!" added Florence.
+
+They wouldn't allow Granny to wash a dish, but made her sit in state
+while they brought about order and cleanliness once more. A laughable
+time they had; for Joe wiped some dishes, and Charlie scoured one knife.
+
+Afterward they had a game at blind-man's-buff. Such scampering and such
+screams would have half frightened any passer-by. They coaxed Granny to
+get up and join; and at last, to please Hal, she consented.
+
+If Joe fancied he could catch her easily, he was much mistaken. She had
+played blind-man's-buff too many times in her young days. Such turning
+and doubling and slipping away was fine to see; and Charlie laughed so,
+that Joe, much chagrined, took her prisoner instead.
+
+"Granny, you beat every thing!" he said. "Now, Charlie."
+
+Charlie made a dive at the cupboard, and then started for the window,
+spinning round in such a fashion that they all had to run; but even she
+was not fleet enough.
+
+After that, Kit and Florence essayed; and Joe, manoeuvring in their
+behalf, fell into the trap himself, at which they all set up a shout.
+
+"I'm bound to have Granny this time," he declared.
+
+Sure enough, though he confessed afterwards that he peeped a little;
+but Granny was tired with so much running: and, as the short afternoon
+drew to a close, they gathered round the fire, and cracked nuts,
+washing them down with apples, as they had no cider.
+
+"It's been a splendid Christmas!" said Charlie, with such a yawn that
+she nearly made the top of her head an island.
+
+"I wonder if we'll all be here next year?" said Joe, rather more
+solemnly than his wont.
+
+"I hope so," responded Granny, glancing over the clustering faces. Dot
+sat on Hal's knee, looking bright as a new penny. She, too, had enjoyed
+herself amazingly.
+
+But presently the spirit of fun seemed to die out, and they began to
+sing some hymns and carols. The tears came into Granny's eyes, as the
+sweet, untrained voices blended so musically. Ah, if they could always
+stay children! Foolish wish; and yet Granny would have toiled for them
+to her latest breath.
+
+"Here's long life and happiness!" exclaimed Joe, with a flourish of the
+old cocoanut dipper. "A merry Christmas next year, and may we all be
+there to see!"
+
+Ah, Joe, it will be many a Christmas before you are all there again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+  GOOD LUCK FOR JOE.
+
+
+"Hooray!" said Joe, swinging the molasses jug over his head as if it
+had been a feather, or the stars and stripes on Fourth of July morning.
+
+"O Joe!"
+
+"Flossy, my darling, you are a poet sure; only poetry, like an
+alligator, must have feet, or it will lose its reputation. Here's your
+'lasses, Granny; and what do you think? Something has actually happened
+to me! Oh, my! do guess quick!"
+
+"You've been taken with the 'lirium"--and there Charlie paused, having
+been wrecked on a big word.
+
+"Delirium tremen_jous_. Remember to say it right hereafter, Charlie."
+
+Charlie looked very uncertain.
+
+"Maybe it's the small-pox," said Kit, glancing up in amazement.
+
+"Good for you!" and Joe applauded with two rather blue thumb-nails.
+"But it's a fact. Guess, Granny. I'm on the high road to fortune.
+Hooray!"
+
+With that, Joe executed his usual double-shuffle, and a revolution on
+his axis hardly laid down in the planetary system. He would have said
+that it was because he was not a heavenly body.
+
+"O Joe, if you were like any other boy!"
+
+"Jim Fisher, for instance,--red-headed, squint-eyed, and freckled."
+
+"He can't help it," said Hal mildly. "He is real nice too."
+
+"You're not going"--began Granny with a gasp.
+
+"Yes, I'm going"--was the solemn rejoinder.
+
+"Not to sea!" and there came a quick blur in Hal's eyes.
+
+"Oh, bother, no! You're all splendid at guessing, and ought to have
+a prize leather medal. It's in Mr. Terry's store; and I shall have a
+dollar and a half a week! Good by, Mr. Fielder. Adieu, beloved grammar;
+and farewell, most fragrant extract of cube-root, as well as birch-oil.
+O Granny! I'm happy as a big sunflower. On the high road to fame and
+fortune,--think of it!"
+
+"Is it really true?" asked Florence.
+
+"Then, I won't need to go for any thing," appended Charlie.
+
+"No; but you'll have to draw water, and split kindlings, and hunt up
+Mrs. Green's cows."
+
+"In Mr. Terry's store! What wonderful luck, Joe!"
+
+Granny's delight was overwhelming. All along she had experienced a sad
+misgiving, lest Joe should take a fancy to the sea in real earnest.
+
+"Yes. It's just splendid. Steve Anthony's going to the city to learn
+a trade. He had a letter from his uncle to-day, saying that he might
+start right away. I thought a minute: then said I, 'Steve, who's coming
+here?' 'I don't know,' said he. 'Mr. Terry'll have to look round.' 'I'm
+your boy,' said I, 'and no mistake.' And with that I rushed in to Mr.
+Terry, and asked him. He gave me some columns of figures to add up,
+and questioned me a little, and finally told me that I might come on
+Monday, and we'd try for a week."
+
+"There's Joe's fortune," said Hal, "and a good one too. You will not
+need to go to sea."
+
+There was an odd and knowing twinkle in Joe's merry hazel eye, which
+showed to an observing person that he was not quite sound on the
+question.
+
+"Tate Dotty;" and two little hands were outstretched.
+
+"O Dot! you're a fraud, and more trouble to me than all my money."
+
+With that, Joe sat her up on his shoulder, and she laughed gleefully.
+
+Granny lighted a candle, and began to prepare for supper. While Charlie
+set the table, Granny brought out the griddle, and commenced frying
+some Indian cakes in a most tempting manner. Joe dropped on an old
+stool, and delighted Dot with a vigorous ride to Banbury Cross.
+
+Kit stood beside him, inhaling the fragrance of the cakes, and
+wondering at the dexterity with which Granny turned them on a slender
+knife.
+
+"I don't see how you do it. Suppose you should let 'em fall?"
+
+"Ho!" said Charlie, with a sniff of disdain. "Women always know how."
+
+"But they can't come up to the miners," suggested Joe. "They keep house
+for themselves; and their flapjacks are turned,--as big as Granny's
+griddle here."
+
+"One cake?"
+
+"Yes. That's where the art comes in."
+
+"They must take a shovel," said Charlie.
+
+"No, nor a knife, nor any thing."
+
+With that Joe shook his head mysteriously.
+
+"With their fingers," announced Kit triumphantly.
+
+"My mother used to bake them in a frying-pan," said Granny. "Then she'd
+twirl it round and round, and suddenly throw the cake over."
+
+"There!"
+
+Kit gave a nod as much as to say, "Beat that if you can."
+
+"That isn't a circumstance," was Joe's solemn comment.
+
+"But how then?" asked Charlie, who was wound up to a pitch of
+curiosity.
+
+"Why, _they_ bake them in a pan too, and twirl it round and round, and
+then throw it up and run out of doors. The cake goes up chimney, and
+comes down on the raw side, all right, you see, and drops into the pan
+before you can count six black beans."
+
+"Oh, I don't believe it!" declared Charlie. "Do you, Granny?"
+
+"They'd have to be pretty quick," was the response.
+
+"You see, a woman never could do it, Charlie," Joe continued in a
+tormenting manner.
+
+"But, Charlie, a miner's cabin is not very high; and the chimney is
+just a great hole in the roof," explained Hal.
+
+"'Tory, 'tory," said Dot, who was not interested in the culinary art.
+
+"O Dotty! you'll have a piece worn off the end of my tongue, some day.
+It's high time you were storing your mind with useful facts; so, if you
+please, we will have a little English history."
+
+"What nonsense, Joe! As if she could understand;" and Florence looked
+up from her pretty worsted crocheting.
+
+"To be sure she can. Dot comes of a smart family. Now, Midget;" and
+with that he perched her up on his knee.
+
+Charlie and Kit began to listen.
+
+    "'When good King Arthur ruled the land,
+        He was a goodly king:
+     He stole three pecks of barley-meal
+      To make a bag pudding.'"
+
+"I don't believe it," burst out Charlie. "I was reading about King
+Arthur"--
+
+"And he was a splendid cook. Hear his experience,--
+
+    'A bag pudding the king did make,
+      And stuffed it well with plums;
+    And in it put great lumps of fat,
+      As big as my two thumbs.'"
+
+Dot thought the laugh came in here, and threw back her head, showing
+her little white teeth.
+
+"It really wasn't King Arthur," persisted Charlie.
+
+"It is a fact handed down to posterity. No wonder England became great
+under so wise and economical a rule; for listen--
+
+    'The king and queen did eat thereof,
+      And noblemen beside;
+    And what they could not eat that night,
+      The queen next morning fried,'--
+
+as we do sometimes. Isn't it wonderful?"
+
+"Hunnerful," ejaculated Dot, wide-eyed.
+
+"I hope you'll take a lesson, and"--
+
+"Come to supper," said Granny.
+
+Irrepressible Charlie giggled at the ending.
+
+They did not need a second invitation, but clustered around eagerly.
+
+"I'm afraid there won't be any left to fry up in the morning," said Joe
+solemnly.
+
+After the youngsters were off to bed that evening, Joe began to talk
+about his good fortune again.
+
+"And a dollar and a half a week, regularly, is a good deal," he said.
+"Why, I can get a spick and span new suit of clothes for twelve
+dollars,--two months, that would be; and made at a tailor's too."
+
+"The two months?" asked Florence.
+
+"Oh! you know what I mean."
+
+"You will get into worse habits than ever," she said with a wise
+elder-sister air.
+
+"I don't ever expect to be a grand gentleman."
+
+"But you _might_ be a little careful."
+
+"Flo acts as if she thought we were to have a great fortune left us by
+and by, and wouldn't be polished enough to live in state."
+
+"The only fortune we shall ever have will come from five-finger land,"
+laughed Hal good-naturedly.
+
+"And I'm going to make a beginning. I do think it was a streak of luck.
+I am old enough to do something for myself."
+
+"I wish I could find such a chance," said Hal, with a soft sigh.
+
+"Your turn will come presently," Granny answered, smiling tenderly.
+
+Joe went on with his air-castles. The sum of money looked so large in
+his eyes. He bought out half of Mr. Terry's store, and they were to
+live like princes,--all on a dollar and a half a week.
+
+Granny smiled, and felt proud enough of him. If he would only keep to
+business, and not go off to sea.
+
+So on Friday Joe piled up his books, and turned a somerset over them,
+and took a farewell race with the boys. They were all sorry enough to
+lose him. Mr. Fielder wished him good luck.
+
+"You will find that work is not play," he said by way of caution.
+
+Early Monday morning Joe presented himself bright as a new button.
+He had insisted upon wearing his best suit,--didn't he mean to have
+another soon? for the school clothes were all patches. He had given his
+hair a Sunday combing, which meant that he used a comb instead of his
+fingers. Mr. Terry was much pleased with his promptness.
+
+A regular country store, with groceries on one side and dry goods on
+the other, a little sashed cubby for a post-office, and a corner for
+garden and farm implements. There was no liquor kept on the premises;
+for the mild ginger and root beer sold in summer could hardly be placed
+in that category.
+
+Joe was pretty quick, and by noon had mastered many of the intricacies.
+Old Mr. Terry was in the store part of the time,--"father" as everybody
+called him. He was growing rather childish and careless, so his son
+instructed Joe to keep a little watch over him. Then he showed him how
+to harness the horse, and drove off with some bulky groceries that he
+was to take home.
+
+"All things work together for good, sonny," said Father Terry with a
+sleepy nod, as he sat down by the stove.
+
+"What things?"
+
+"All things," with a sagacious shake of the head.
+
+This was Father Terry's favorite quotation, and he used it in season
+and out of season.
+
+The door opened, and Mrs. Van Wyck entered. She gave Joe a sharp look.
+
+"So _you're_ here?" with a kind of indignant sniff.
+
+"Yes. What will you have?"
+
+There was a twinkle in Joe's eye, and an odd little pucker to his lips,
+as if he were remembering something.
+
+"You needn't be so impudent."
+
+"I?" and Joe flushed in surprise.
+
+"Yes. You're a saucy lot, the whole of you."
+
+With that Mrs. Van Wyck began to saunter round.
+
+"What's the price of these cranberries?"
+
+"Eighteen cents," in his most respectful tone.
+
+"They're dear, dreadful dear. Over to Windsor you can get as many as
+you can carry for a shillin' a quart."
+
+Joe was silent.
+
+"Say sixteen."
+
+"I couldn't," replied Joe. "If Mr. Terry were here"--
+
+"There's Father Terry." She raised her voice a little. "Father Terry,
+come and look at these cranberries. They're a poor lot, and you'll do
+well to get a shillin' a quart."
+
+Joe ran his fingers through them. Plump and crimson, very nice he
+thought for so late in the season.
+
+"I don't s'pose I'd get more'n two good quarts out of three. They'll
+spile on your hands. Come now, be reasonable."
+
+Father Terry looked undecided. Joe watched him, thinking in his heart
+that he ought not fall a penny.
+
+"Say a shillin'."
+
+The old man shook his head.
+
+"Well, fifteen cents. I want three quarts, and I won't give a penny
+more."
+
+The old gentleman studied Joe's face, which was full of perplexity.
+
+"Well," he said with some reluctance.
+
+Joe measured them. Mrs. Van Wyck gave each quart a "settle" by shaking
+it pretty hard, and Joe had to put in another large handful.
+
+"Now I want some cheese."
+
+The pound weighed two ounces over.
+
+"You can throw that in. Mr. Terry always does."
+
+"How much?"
+
+"Twenty-three cents."
+
+"No: you can't fool me, youngster. I never pay more than twenty cents."
+
+"I'm sure Mr. Terry told me that it was twenty-three."
+
+Father was appealed to again, and of course went over to the
+domineering enemy.
+
+Then two pounds of butter passed through the same process of
+cheapening. Joe began to lose his temper. Afterward a broom, some tape
+and cotton, and finally a calico dress.
+
+"Now, here's three dozen eggs for part pay. They're twenty-four cents a
+dozen."
+
+"Why, that's what we sell them for," said astonished Joe, mentally
+calculating profit and loss.
+
+"Oh! they've gone up. Hetty Collins was paid twenty-five over to
+Windsor. I'd gone there myself if I'd had a little more time."
+
+"I wish you had," ejaculated Joe inwardly.
+
+She haggled until she got her price, and the settlement was made.
+
+"She's a regular old screwer," said Joe rather crossly. "I don't
+believe it was right to let her have those things in that fashion."
+
+"All things work together for good."
+
+"For _her_ good, it seems."
+
+Father Terry went back to his post by the stove. Joe breathed a little
+thanksgiving that Flossy was not Mrs. Van Wyck's maid-of-all-work.
+
+Joe's next customer was Dave Downs, as the boys called him. He shuffled
+up to the counter.
+
+"Got any _reel_ good cheese?"
+
+"Yes," said Joe briskly.
+
+"Let's see."
+
+Joe raised the cover. Dave took up the knife, and helped himself to a
+bountiful slice.
+
+"Got any crackers?"
+
+"Yes," wondering what Dave meant.
+
+"Nice and fresh?"
+
+"I guess so."
+
+"I'll take three or four."
+
+"That will be a penny's worth."
+
+When Dave had the crackers in his hand he said, raising his shaggy
+brows in a careless manner,--
+
+"Oh! you needn't be so perticelar."
+
+Then he took a seat beside Father Terry, and munched crackers and
+cheese. "Cool enough," thought Joe.
+
+Old Mrs. Skittles came next. She was very deaf, and talked in a high,
+shrill key, as if she thought all the world in the same affliction.
+
+She looked at every thing, priced it, beat down a cent or two, and
+then concluded she'd rather wait until Mr. Terry came in. At last she
+purchased a penny's worth of snuff, and begged Joe to give her good
+measure.
+
+After that two customers and the mail. Father Terry bestirred himself,
+and waited upon a little girl with a jug.
+
+Joe was rather glad to see Mr. Terry enter, for he had an uncomfortable
+sense of responsibility.
+
+"Trade been pretty good, Joe?" with a smile.
+
+"I've put it all down on the slate, as you told me."
+
+"Hillo! What's this!"
+
+A slow stream of something dark was running over the floor back of the
+lower counter.
+
+"Oh, molasses!" and with a spring Joe shut off the current, but there
+was an ominous pool.
+
+"I did not get that: it was"--and Joe turned crimson.
+
+"Father. We never let him go for molasses, vinegar, oil, or burning
+fluid. He is sure to deluge us. Run round in the kitchen, and get a
+pail and a mop."
+
+"It's my opinion that this doesn't work together for good," said Joe to
+himself as he was cleaning up the mess.
+
+"So you had Mrs. Skittles?" exclaimed Mr. Terry with a laugh. "And Mrs.
+Van Wyck. Why, Joe!"
+
+"She beat down awfully!" said Joe; "and she wanted every thing thrown
+in. Mr. Terry"--
+
+"She called on father, I'll be bound. But she has taken off all the
+profits; and then to make you pay twenty-four cents for the eggs."
+
+"I'd just like to have had my own way. If you'll give me leave"--
+
+"You will have to look out a little for father. He's getting old, you
+know; and these sharp customers are rather too much for him."
+
+"I'll never fall a penny again;" and Joe shook his head defiantly.
+
+"You will learn by degrees. But it is never necessary to indulge such
+people. There's the dinner-bell."
+
+Dave Downs had finished his crackers and cheese, and now settled
+himself to a comfortable nap. Joe busied himself by clearing up
+a little, giving out mail, and once weighing some flour. Then he
+discovered that he had scattered it over his trousers, and that with
+the molasses dabs it made a not very delightful mixture. So he took
+a seat on a barrel-head and began to scrub it off; but he found it
+something like Aunt Jemima's plaster.
+
+"Run in and get some dinner, Joe," said Mr. Terry after his return to
+the store.
+
+"But I was going home," replied Joe bashfully.
+
+"Oh! never mind. We will throw in the dinner."
+
+So Joe ran around, but hesitated at the door of Mrs. Terry's clean
+kitchen. She was motherly and cordial, however, and gave him a bright
+smile.
+
+"I told Mr. Terry that you might as well come in here for your dinner.
+It is quite a long run home."
+
+"You are very kind," stammered Joe, feeling that he must say something,
+in spite of his usual readiness of speech deserting him.
+
+"You ought to have an apron, Joe, or a pair of overalls," she said
+kindly. "You will find grocery business rather dirty work sometimes."
+
+"And my best clothes!" thought Joe with a sigh.
+
+But the coffee was so delightful, and the cold roast beef tender as a
+chicken. And Joe began to think it was possible for a few things to
+work together for good, if they were only the right kind of things.
+
+Altogether he went home at night in very good spirits.
+
+"But my trousers will have to go in the wash-tub, Granny," he
+exclaimed. "I believe I wasn't cut out for a gentleman, after all."
+
+"O Joe, what a sight! How could you?"
+
+"It was all easy enough. If you'd had molasses to scrub up, and flour
+to get before it was dry, you would have found the sticking process not
+at all difficult. And oh! Mrs. Van Wyck came in."
+
+Florence flushed a little at this.
+
+"Yes, wait till I show you." With that, Joe sprang up, and wrapped
+Granny's old shawl about him, and began in his most comical fashion. In
+a moment or two the children were in roars of laughter.
+
+"I don't know as it is quite right, Joe dear," interposed Granny
+mildly, "to make fun of any one."
+
+"My conscience don't trouble me a bit;" for now he was in a high glee.
+"I owe her a grudge for making me pay twenty-four cents for eggs. And,
+Granny, when you come to the store, don't beat me down a penny on any
+thing; nor ask me to throw in a spool of cotton nor a piece of tape,
+nor squeeze down the measure. I wonder how people can be so mean!"
+
+"Rich people too," added Florence in an injured tone of voice, still
+thinking of Mrs. Van Wyck's overture.
+
+"There's lots of funny folks in the world," said Joe with a grave air.
+"But I like Mr. Terry, and I mean to do my very best."
+
+"That's right;" and Granny smiled tenderly over the boy's resolve.
+
+"And I'll put on my old clothes to-morrow. Who knows but I may fall
+into the mackerel-barrel before to-morrow night?"
+
+Kit laughed at this. "They'll have to fish you out with a harpoon,
+then."
+
+"Oh! I might swim ashore."
+
+The next day Joe improved rapidly. To be sure, he met with a mishap or
+two; but Mr. Terry excused him, and only charged him to be more careful
+in future. And Father Terry administered his unfailing consolation on
+every occasion.
+
+But on Saturday night Joe came home in triumph.
+
+"There's the beginning of my fortune," he said, displaying his dollar
+and a half all in hard cash. For that was a long while ago, when the
+eagle, emblem of freedom, used to perch on silver half-dollars.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+  FORTUNES AND MISFORTUNES.
+
+
+"I think I'll go into business," said Hal one evening, as he and Granny
+and Florence sat together.
+
+They missed Joe so much! He seldom came home until eight o'clock; and
+there was no one to stir up the children, and keep the house in a
+racket.
+
+"What?" asked Granny.
+
+"I am trying to decide. I wonder how chickens would do?"
+
+"It takes a good deal to feed 'em," said Granny.
+
+"But they could run about, you know. And buckwheat is such a splendid
+thing for them. Then we can raise ever so much corn."
+
+"But where would you get your buckwheat?" asked Florence.
+
+"I was thinking. Mr. Peters never does any thing with his lot down
+here, and the old apple-trees in it are not worth much. If he'd let me
+have it ploughed up! And then we'd plant all of our ground in corn,
+except the little garden that we want."
+
+"What a master hand you are to plan, Hal!"
+
+Granny's face was one immense beam of admiration.
+
+"I want to do something. It's too hard, Granny, that you should have to
+go out washing, and all that."
+
+Hal's soft brown eyes were full of tender pity.
+
+"Oh! I don't mind. I'm good for a many day's work yet, Hal."
+
+"I hope some of us will get rich at last."
+
+Florence sighed softly.
+
+"I thought you were going to have a green-house," she said.
+
+"I'm afraid I can't manage the green-house now, though I mean to try
+some day. And I noticed old Speckly clucking this morning."
+
+"But we haven't any eggs," said Granny.
+
+"I could get some."
+
+"How many chickens would you raise?" asked Florence.
+
+"Well, if we should set the five hens,--out of say sixty-four eggs we
+ought to raise fifty chickens; oughtn't we, Granny?"
+
+"With good luck; but so many things happen to 'em."
+
+"And if I could clear thirty dollars. Then there's quite a good deal of
+work to do in the summer."
+
+"I shall soon be a fine lady, and ride in my carriage," Granny
+commented with a cheerful chirrup of a laugh.
+
+"Mrs. Kinsey's chickens are splendid," said Florence.
+
+"Yes. Shall I get some eggs, and set Speckly?"
+
+"It's rather airly to begin."
+
+"But I'll make a nice coop. And eggs are not twenty-four cents a dozen."
+
+Hal finished off with a quiet smile at the thought of Mrs. Van Wyck.
+
+So he went to Mrs. Kinsey's the next morning, and asked her for a dozen
+of eggs, promising to come over the first Saturday there was any thing
+to do, and work it out.
+
+"I'll give you the eggs," she said; "but we will be glad to have you
+some Saturday, all the same."
+
+So old Speckly was allowed to indulge her motherly inclinations to
+her great satisfaction. Hal watched her with the utmost solicitude.
+In the course of time a tiny bill pecked against white prison walls;
+and one morning Hal found the cunningest ball of soft, yellow down,
+trying to balance itself on two slender legs, but finding that the
+point of gravity as often centred in its head. But the little fellow
+winked oddly, as much as to say, "I know what I'm about. I'll soon find
+whether it is the fashion to stand on your head or your feet in this
+queer world."
+
+One by one the rest came out. Hal had a nice coop prepared, and set
+Mrs. Speckly up at housekeeping. Dot caught one little "birdie," as she
+called it, and, in running to show Granny, fell down. And although Dot
+wasn't very heavy, it was an avalanche on poor "birdie." He gave two
+or three slow kicks with his yellow legs, and then was stiff for all
+time.
+
+"Hal's boofer birdie," said Dot. "See, Danny!"
+
+"O Dot! what have you done?"
+
+"Him 'oont 'alk;" and Dot stood him down on the doorstep, only to see
+him tumble over.
+
+"Oh, you've killed Hal's birdie! What will he say?"
+
+"I 'ell down. Why 'oont him run, Danny?"
+
+What could Granny do? Scolding Dot was out of the question. And just
+then Hal came flying up the road.
+
+Granny had seen the fall, and explained the matter.
+
+"But she mustn't catch them! You're a naughty little Dot!"
+
+Dot began to cry.
+
+"Poor little girl!" said Hal, taking her in his arms. "It is wrong to
+catch them. See, now, the little fellow is dead, and can never run
+about any more. Isn't Dot sorry? She won't ever touch Hal's birdies
+again, will she?"
+
+So Dot promised, and Hal kissed her. But she carried the dead birdie
+about, petting it with softest touches, and insisting upon taking it to
+bed with her.
+
+One more of the brood met with a mishap, but the other ten throve and
+grew rapidly. By the time the next hen wanted to set, Hal had a dozen
+eggs saved.
+
+He asked Farmer Peters about the lot. It was just below their house,
+between that and the creek, a strip of an acre and a half perhaps.
+The old trees were not worth much, to be sure; and Mr. Peters never
+troubled himself to cultivate the plot, as it was accounted very poor.
+
+"Yes, you may have it in welcome; but you won't git enough off of it to
+pay for the ploughin'?"
+
+"I'm going to raise chickens; and I thought it would be nice to sow
+buckwheat, and let them run in it."
+
+"Turnin' farmer, hey? 'Pears to me you're makin' an airly beginnin'."
+
+Hal smiled pleasantly.
+
+"You'll find chickens an awful sight o' bother."
+
+"I thought I'd try them."
+
+"Goin' to garden any?"
+
+"A little."
+
+"Hens and gardens are about like fox an' geese. One's death on the
+other. But you kin have the lot."
+
+So Hal asked Abel Kinsey to come over and plough. In return he helped
+plant potatoes and drop corn for two Saturdays. By this time there was
+a third hen setting.
+
+House-cleaning had come on, and Granny was pretty busy. But she and
+Hal were up early in the morning garden-making. The plot belonging to
+the cottage was about two acres. Hal removed his chicken-coops to the
+lot, and covered his young vegetables with brush to protect them from
+incursions,--pease, beans, lettuce, beets, and sweet-corn; and the
+rest was given over to the chickens.
+
+"I am going to keep an account of all that is spent for them," he said;
+"and we will see if we can make it pay."
+
+When Joe had saved three dollars, he teased Granny to let him order his
+clothes.
+
+"I don't like running in debt, Joe," she said with a grave shake of the
+head.
+
+"But this is very sure. Mr. Terry likes me, and I shall go on staying.
+There will be four dollars and a half to pay down by the time they are
+done, and in five weeks I can earn the rest."
+
+"How nice it seems!" said Hal. "You and Flo earn a deal of money."
+
+Flo gave a small sniff. She wanted some new clothes also. And Kit and
+Charlie were going to shreds and patches. Charlie, indeed, was shooting
+up like Jack's bean-stalk, Joe declared, being nearly as tall as Hal.
+She was wild as a colt, climbed trees, jumped fences, and wouldn't be
+dared by any of the boys.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know what you'll come to," Granny would say with a
+sigh.
+
+Joe carried his point, and ordered his clothes; for he insisted that
+he could not think of going to Sunday school until he had them. It was
+quite an era in his life to have real store clothes. He felt very grand
+one day when he went to Mr. Briggs the tailor, and selected the cloth.
+There were several different patterns and colors; but he had made up
+his mind that it should be gray, just like Archie Palmer's.
+
+He was so dreadfully afraid of being disappointed, that he dropped in
+on Friday to see if they were progressing. There was the jacket in the
+highest state of perfection.
+
+"But the pants?" he questioned.
+
+"Never you mind. Them pants'll be done as sure as my name's Peter
+Briggs."
+
+"All right," said Joe; and he ran on his way whistling.
+
+"Kit," he announced that evening, "I've just found out a good business
+for you."
+
+"What?" and Kit roused himself.
+
+"You shall be a tailor. I was thinking to-day how you would look on the
+board, with your scalp-lock nodding to every stitch."
+
+"I won't," said Kit stoutly; and he gave a kick towards Joe's leg.
+
+"It's a good business. You will always have plenty of cabbage."
+
+"You better stop!" declared Kit.
+
+"It will be handy to have him in the house, Granny. He can do the
+ironing by odd spells. And on the subject of mending old clothes he
+will be lovely."
+
+With that Kit made another dive.
+
+Granny gave a sudden spring, and rescued the earthen jar that held the
+cakes she had just mixed and set upon the stove-hearth.
+
+"O Kit! Those precious pancakes! We are not anxious to have them
+flavored with extract of old shoes."
+
+"Nor to go wandering over the floor."
+
+Kit looked sober and but half-awake.
+
+"Never mind," said Granny cheerily. "You mustn't tease him so much,
+Joe."
+
+"Why, I was only setting before him the peculiar advantages of this
+romantic and delightful employment;" and with that, Joe executed a
+superior double-shuffle quickstep, accompanied by slapping a tune on
+his knee.
+
+"You'd do for a minstrel," said Kit.
+
+Joe cleared his voice with a flourish, and sang out,--
+
+    "I'd be a tailor,
+      Jolly and free,
+    With plenty of cabbage,
+      And a goose on my knee.
+    Monday would be blue,
+      Tuesday would be shady,
+    Wednesday I'd set out
+      To find a pretty lady."
+
+"Much work you would do in that case," commented Florence.
+
+"It's time to go to bed, children," said Granny.
+
+"Yes," Joe went on gravely. "For a rising young man, who must take
+time by the fore-lock, or scalp-lock, and who longs to distinguish
+himself by some great and wonderful discovery, there's nothing like,--
+
+    'Early to bed, and early to rise,
+    To make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.'"
+
+With that Joe was up stairs with a bound.
+
+"Joe!" Charlie called in great earnest.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"You better take a mouthful of Granny's rising before you go."
+
+"Good for you, Charlie; but smart children always die young. Granny,
+won't you put a stone on Charlie's head for fear?"
+
+Hal said his good-night in a tenderer manner.
+
+They were all wonderfully interested in Joe's clothes; and, though it
+was always later on Saturday night when he reached home, they begged to
+sit up, but Kit took a nap by the chimney-corner with Tabby. Granny sat
+nodding when they heard the gay whistle without.
+
+"Hurrah! The country's safe!" exclaimed Joe. "Get out your spectacles,
+all hands."
+
+"You act as if you never had any thing before, Joe," said Florence,
+with an air of extreme dignity.
+
+"But these are real 'boughten' clothes," said Joe, "and gilt buttons
+down the jacket. I shall feel like a soldier-boy. Just look now."
+
+The bundle came open with a flourish of the jack-knife. All the heads
+crowded round, though the one candle gave a rather dim light.
+
+Such exclamations as sounded through the little room, from every voice,
+and in almost every key.
+
+"But where are the trousers?" asked Hal.
+
+"The trousers?--why"--
+
+Granny held up the beautiful jacket. There was nothing else in the
+paper.
+
+"Why--he's made a mistake. He never put them in, I am sure."
+
+"You couldn't have lost 'em?" asked Granny mildly.
+
+"Lost them--and the bundle tied with this strong twine! Now, that's
+mean! I'll have to run right back."
+
+Off went Joe like a flash. He hardly drew a breath until his hand was
+on Mr. Brigg's door-knob.
+
+"Well, what now, Joe?" asked the astonished Mr. Briggs.
+
+"You didn't put in the trousers!"
+
+"Didn't? Dan done 'em up. Dan!"
+
+Dan emerged from a pile of rags under the counter, where he was taking
+a snooze.
+
+"You didn't put in Joe's trousers."
+
+"Yes I did."
+
+"No you didn't," said Joe, with more promptness than politeness.
+
+Dan began to search. A sleepy-looking, red-headed boy, to whom
+Saturday night was an abomination, because his father was always in the
+drag, and cross.
+
+"I'm sure I put 'em in. Every thing's gone, and they ain't here."
+
+"Look sharp, you young rascal!"
+
+"He has lost 'em out."
+
+"Lost your grandmother!" said Joe contemptuously; "or the liberty pole
+out on the square! Why, the bundle was not untied until after I was in
+the house."
+
+"Dan, if you don't find them trousers, I'll larrup you!"
+
+Poor Dan. Fairly wide awake now, he went tumbling over every thing
+piled on the counter, searched the shelves, and every available nook.
+
+"Somebody's stole 'em."
+
+Dan made this announcement with a very blank face.
+
+"I know better!" said his father.
+
+"You are sure you made them, Mr. Briggs," asked Joe.
+
+"Sure!" in a tone that almost annihilated both boys.
+
+"If you don't find 'em!" shaking his fist at Dan.
+
+Dan began to blubber.
+
+Joe couldn't help laughing. "Let me help you look," he said.
+
+Down went a box of odd buttons, scattering far and wide.
+
+"You Dan!" shouted his father, with some buttons in his mouth, that
+rendered his voice rather thick. "Just wait till I get at you. I have
+only six buttons to sew on."
+
+"They're not here, Mr. Briggs," exclaimed Joe.
+
+"Well, I declare! If that ain't the strangest thing! Dan, you've taken
+them trousers to the wrong place!"
+
+A new and overwhelming light burst in upon Dan's benighted brain.
+
+"That's it," said Joe. "Now, where have you taken them?"
+
+"I swow!" ejaculated the youth, rubbing his eyes.
+
+"None o' your swearin' in this place!" interrupted his father sternly.
+"I'm a strictly moral man, and don't allow such talk in my family."
+
+"Tain't swearin'," mumbled Dan.
+
+Mr. Briggs jumped briskly down from the board, with a pair of
+pantaloons in one hand, and a needle and thread in the other. Dan
+dodged round behind Joe.
+
+"You took 'em over to Squire Powell's, I'll be bound!"
+
+Another light was thrown in upon Dan's mental vision.
+
+"There! I'll bet I did."
+
+"Of course you did, you numskull! Start this minute and see how quick
+you can be gone."
+
+"I will go with him," said Joe.
+
+So the two boys started; and a run of ten minutes--a rather reluctant
+performance on Dan's part, it must be confessed--brought them to Squire
+Powell's. There was no light in the kitchen; but Joe beat a double
+tattoo on the door in the most scientific manner.
+
+"Who's there?" asked a voice from the second story window.
+
+"Dan Briggs!" shouted Joe.
+
+"Guess not," said the squire. The sound was so unlike Dan's sleepy,
+mumbling tone.
+
+"There was a mistake made in some clothes," began Joe, nothing daunted.
+
+"Oh, that's it! I will be down in a minute."
+
+Pretty soon the kitchen-door was unlocked, and the boys stepped inside.
+
+"I didn't know but you sent these over for one of my girls," said the
+squire laughingly. "They were a _leetle_ too small for me. So they
+belong to you, Joe?"
+
+"Yes, sir," said Joe emphatically, laying hold of his precious trousers.
+
+"Look sharper next time, Dan," was the squire's good advice.
+
+"I wish you'd go home with me, Joe," said Dan, after they had taken a
+few steps. "Father'll larrup me, sure!"
+
+"Maybe that will brighten your wits," was Joe's consoling answer.
+
+"But, Joe--I'm sure I didn't mean to--and"--
+
+"I'm off like a shot," appended Joe, suiting the action to the word;
+and poor Dan was left alone in the middle of the road.
+
+"Why, what _has_ happened, Joe?" said Granny as he bounced in the
+kitchen-door.
+
+"Such a time as I've had to find 'them trousers,' as Mr. Briggs calls
+them! Dan had packed them off to Squire Powell's!"
+
+"That Dan Briggs is too stupid for any thing," commented Florence.
+
+"There's time to try them on yet," Joe exclaimed. "Just you wait a bit."
+
+Joe made a rush into the other room.
+
+"Don't wake up Dot," said Hal.
+
+"Oh! I'll go as softly as a blind mouse."
+
+"There, Granny, what do you think of that?"
+
+"You want a collar and a necktie, and your hair brushed a little," said
+Florence with critical eyes.
+
+"But aren't they stunners!"
+
+Granny looked at him, turned him round and looked again, and her
+wrinkled face was all one bright smile. For he was so tall and manly
+in this long jacket, with its narrow standing collar, and the trousers
+that fitted to a charm.
+
+"Oh," said Hal with a long breath, "it's splendid!"
+
+"You bet! When I get 'em paid for, Hal, I'll help you out."
+
+Florence sighed.
+
+"O Flo! I can't help being slangy. It comes natural to boys. And then
+hearing them all talk in the store."
+
+"Wa-a!" said a small voice. "Wa-a-a Danny!"
+
+"There!" exclaimed Hal; and he ran in to comfort Dot.
+
+But Dot insisted upon being taken up, and brought out to candle-light.
+The buttons on Joe's jacket pleased her fancy at once, and soothed her
+sorrow.
+
+"I must say, Dot, you are a young woman of some taste," laughed Joe.
+
+"Granny," said Kit, after sitting in deep thought, and taking a good
+chew out of his thumb, "when Joe wears 'em out, can you cut 'em over
+for me?"
+
+"O Kit! Prudent and economical youth! To you shall be willed the last
+remaining shreds of my darling gray trousers, jacket, buttons and all."
+
+They had a grand time admiring Joe. Charlie felt so sorry that she
+wasn't a boy; and Flo declared that "he looked as nice as anybody, if
+only he wouldn't"--
+
+"No, I won't," said Joe solemnly.
+
+Granny felt proud enough of him the next day when he went to church.
+Florence was quite satisfied to walk beside him.
+
+"I wish there was something nice for you, Hal," said Granny in a tone
+of tender regret.
+
+"My turn will come by and by," was the cheerful answer.
+
+For Hal took the odds and ends of every thing, and was content.
+
+"They're a nice lot of children, if I do say it myself," was Granny's
+comment to Dot. "And I'm glad I never let any of them go to the
+poor-house or be bound out, or any thing. We'll all get along somehow."
+
+Dot shook her head sagely, as if that was her opinion also.
+
+The story of Joe's Saturday night adventure leaked out; and poor Dan
+Briggs was tormented a good deal, the boys giving him the nickname of
+Trousers, much to his discomfort.
+
+Joe discovered, like a good many other people, that whereas getting in
+debt was very easy, getting out of debt was very hard. He went along
+bravely for several weeks, and then he began to find so many wants.
+A new straw hat he _must_ have, for the weather was coming warm, and
+they had such beauties at the store for a dollar; and then his boots
+grew too rusty, so a pair of shoes were substituted. He bought Dot a
+pretty Shaker, which she insisted upon calling her "Sunny cool Shaker."
+She was growing very cunning indeed, though her tongue was exceedingly
+crooked. Hal laughed over her droll baby words; and Kit's endeavor to
+make her say tea-kettle was always crowned with shouts of laughter.
+
+Joe succeeded pretty well at the store, but occasionally all things
+did not work together for good. His margin of fun was so wide that it
+sometimes brought him into trouble. One day he inadvertently sold old
+Mrs. Cummings some ground pepper, instead of allspice. That afternoon
+the old lady flew back in a rage.
+
+"I'll never buy a cent's wuth of this good-for nothin', car'less boy!"
+she ejaculated. "He does nothin' but jig around the store, and sing
+songs. An' now he's gone and spiled my whole batch of pies."
+
+"Spoiled your pies?" said Mr. Terry in astonishment.
+
+"Yes, spiled 'em! Four as good pies as anybody in Madison makes. Green
+apple too!"
+
+"Why, I never saw your pies!" declared Joe.
+
+"I'd like to make you eat 'em all,--to the last smitch!" and she shook
+her fist.
+
+"But what did he do?" questioned Mr. Terry.
+
+"That's what I'm tryin' to tell you. I run in this mornin' and bought
+two ounces of allspice; for I hadn't a speck in the house. Seth's so
+fond of it in apple-pies. Well, I was hurryin' round; an' I lost my
+smell years ago, when I had the influenzy, so I put in the allspice;
+an' sez I at dinner, 'Seth, here's the fust green-apple pies. I don't
+believe a soul in Madison has made 'em yet! They're nice an' hot.'
+With that he tasted. 'Hot!' sez he, 'hot! I guess they air, and the've
+somethin' more'n fire in 'em too!' 'What's in 'em?' sez I; and sez he,
+'Jest you taste!' an' so I did, an' it nigh about burnt my tongue off.
+'Why,' sez I, 'it's pepper;' an' Seth sez, 'Well, if you ain't smart!'
+That made me kinder huffy like; an' then I knew right away it was this
+car'less fellow that's always singin' an' dancin' and a standin' on his
+head!"
+
+Mrs. Cummings had to stop because she was out of breath. Joe ducked
+under the counter, experiencing a strong tendency to fly to fragments.
+
+"I am very sorry," returned Mr. Terry. "It must have been a mistake;"
+and he tried to steady the corners of his mouth to a becoming sense of
+gravity.
+
+"No mistake at all!" and she gave her head a violent jerk. "Some of his
+smart tricks he thought he'd play on me. Didn't I see him a treatin'
+Dave Downs to loaf-sugar one day; an' bime by he gave him a great lump
+of salt!"
+
+Mr. Terry had heard the story of the salt, and rather enjoyed it; for
+Dave was always hanging round in the way.
+
+"And he jest did it a purpose, I know. As soon as ever I tasted that
+pepper, I knew 'twas one of his tricks. And my whole batch of pies
+spil't!"
+
+"No," said Joe, in his manly fashion: "I didn't do it purposely, Mrs.
+Cummings. I must have misunderstood you."
+
+"Pepper an' allspice sound so much alike!" she said wrathfully.
+
+"Well, we will give you a quarter of allspice," Mr. Terry returned
+soothingly.
+
+"That won't make up for the apples, an' the flour, an' the lard, an'
+all my hard work!"
+
+"We might throw in a few apples."
+
+"If you're goin' to keep that boy, you'll ruin your trade, I can tell
+you!"
+
+Still she took the allspice and the apples, though they had plenty at
+home.
+
+"You must be careful, Joe," said Mr. Terry afterward. "It will not do
+to have the ill-will of all the old ladies."
+
+Joe told the story at home with embellishments; and Hal enjoyed it
+wonderfully, in his quiet way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+  THE OLD TUMBLER, AFTER ALL.
+
+
+Hal's chickens prospered remarkably. Five motherly hens clucked to
+families of black-eyed chicks; and, out of fifty-eight eggs, he only
+lost seven. So there were fifty-one left. They made some incursions in
+his garden, to be sure; but presently every thing grew so large that it
+was out of danger.
+
+There was plenty of work to do on Saturdays. Picking cherries and
+currants for the neighbors, and the unfailing gardening. It seemed to
+Hal that weeds had a hundred lives at least, even if you did pull them
+up by the roots. Sometimes he managed to get a little work out of Kit
+and Charlie, but they invariably ended by a rough-and-tumble frolic.
+
+Florence succeeded admirably with her embroidering. She managed to earn
+some pretty dresses for herself, and added enough to Hal's store to
+enable him to purchase a suit of clothes, though they were not as grand
+as Joe's.
+
+Hal and Granny took a wonderful sight of comfort sitting on the
+doorstep through the summer evenings, and talking over old times.
+Granny would tell how they did when his father, her own dear Joe, was
+alive, and how pretty his mother had been.
+
+"Flo's a good deal like her," she would always say; "only Flo's
+wonderful with her fingers. She can do any thing with a needle."
+
+"Flo's a born genius," Hal would reply admiringly.
+
+"But I'm afraid Charlie'll never learn to sew."
+
+"I can sew better myself," was Hal's usual comment.
+
+And it was true. Hal had a bedquilt nearly pieced, which he had done on
+rainy days and by odd spells. I expect you think he was something of a
+girl-boy. But then he was very sweet and nice.
+
+Florence stood by the gate one afternoon, looking extremely lovely in
+her blue and white gingham, and her curls tied back with a bit of blue
+ribbon. Dot had been in the mud-pie business; and, if it had proved
+profitable, she would no doubt have made a fortune for the family.
+
+"Go in the house this minute, and get washed," commanded Florence.
+"What a naughty, dirty child you are!"
+
+Then a carriage passed by very slowly. A young man was driving, and two
+ladies sat on the back seat. They looked as if they were going to halt.
+
+Florence's heart was in her mouth. She drew herself up in her most
+stately attitude.
+
+The young man turned; and the lady nearer her beckoned.
+
+Florence stepped out slowly. She thought, with some pride, that, if
+they wanted a drink, she _had_ a goblet to offer them.
+
+"My little girl," said the lady, in a soft, clear voice, "can you
+direct us to a blacksmith's?"
+
+"There is one on this road, rather more than a quarter of a mile
+farther."
+
+"Thank you."
+
+The other lady leaned over, and studied Florence. She had a worn,
+faded, and fretful look; but some new expression lighted up her sallow
+face.
+
+"Oh," she sighed, "what a beautiful girl! Now, if I had a daughter like
+that! I wonder if she lives in that forlorn old rookery?"
+
+"A princess in disguise;" and the young man laughed.
+
+"She was unusually lovely. At her age I had just such hair. But ah, how
+one fades!"
+
+The straggling auburn hair, very thin on the top, hardly looked as if
+it had once been "like fine spun gold."
+
+"The trial of my life has been _not_ having a daughter."
+
+Mrs. Duncan had heard this plaint very often from her half-sister,
+who had married a widower nearly three times her age. He had made a
+very liberal provision for her during her life, but at her death the
+fortune reverted to his family again. She had always bewailed the fact
+of having no children; but boys were her abomination. Mrs. Duncan's
+house was too noisy, with its four rollicking boys; but now that George
+was growing to manhood he became rather more endurable.
+
+"I do not believe the child could have belonged there," she commenced
+again.
+
+"Because she was so pretty?" asked George.
+
+"She doesn't look like a country girl."
+
+"But some country girls are very handsome," said Mrs. Duncan.
+
+"They do not possess this air of refinement generally. And did you
+observe that she answered in a correct and ladylike manner?"
+
+"Aunt Sophie is captivated. A clear case of love at first sight. Why
+not adopt _her_?"
+
+"It would be a charity to take her out of that hovel, if it is her
+home."
+
+"I shouldn't think of such a thing now, Sophie, with your poor health,"
+said her sister.
+
+There are some natures on which the least contradiction or opposition
+acts instantly, rousing them to a spirit of defiance. For several
+years Mrs. Duncan had urged her sister to adopt a child; but she had
+never found one that answered her requirements. She was not fond
+of the trouble of small children. Now that Mrs. Duncan had advised
+contrarywise, Mrs. Osgood was seized with a perverse fit.
+
+"I am sure I need a companion," she returned with martyr-like air.
+
+"Take a young woman then, who can be a companion."
+
+"Here is the blacksmith's," announced George. "I suppose you will have
+to find some place of refuge;" and he laughed again gayly.
+
+"Where can we go?"
+
+George held a short conversation with the smith.
+
+"My house is just opposite, and the ladies will be welcome," the latter
+said. "It will take me about half an hour to repair your mishap."
+
+George conducted them thither. The good woman would fain have invited
+them in; but they preferred sitting on the vine-covered porch. Mrs.
+Osgood asked for a glass of water. O Florence! if you had been there!
+
+It happened after a while, that George and his mother walked down the
+garden. Mrs. Green felt bound to entertain this stranger cast upon her
+care, as she considered it.
+
+Mrs. Osgood made some inquiries presently about the house they had
+passed, with a small stream of water just below it.
+
+"Why, that's Granny Kenneth's," said Mrs. Green.
+
+"And who is the child,--almost a young lady?"
+
+"Why, that must be Florence. Did she have long yeller curls? If she was
+my gal she should braid 'em up decently. I wouldn't have 'em flyin'
+about."
+
+"And who is Florence?"
+
+Mrs. Osgood's curiosity must have been very great to induce her to
+listen to the faulty grammar and country pronunciations. But she
+listened to the story from beginning to end,--Joe, and Joe's wife, and
+all the children, figuring largely in it.
+
+"And if Granny Kenneth'd had any sense, she would a bundled 'em all off
+to the poor-house. One of the neighbors here did want to take Florence;
+but law! what a time they made! She's a peart, stuck-up thing!"
+
+If Florence had heard this verdict against all her small industries
+and neatnesses and ladylike habits, her heart would have been almost
+broken. But there are a great many narrow-minded people in this world,
+who can see no good except in their own way.
+
+Mrs. Osgood made no comments. Presently the carriage was repaired,
+and the accidental guests departed. They had a long ride yet to take.
+George asked if there was any nearer way of getting to Seabury.
+
+"There's a narrer road just below Granny Kenneth's,--the little shanty
+by the crick. It's ruther hard trav'lin', but it cuts off nigh on ter
+three miles."
+
+"I think we had better take it," said George. "Even that will give us a
+five-miles drive."
+
+So they passed the cottage again. This time Hal was feeding the
+chickens; Kit and Charlie swinging upon an old dilapidated apple-tree;
+and Florence sat by the open window, sewing.
+
+"There's your princess!" exclaimed George with a laugh.
+
+Florence colored a little at beholding the party again.
+
+Mrs. Duncan had come to Seabury, a rather mountainous place, remarkable
+for its pure air, for the sake of her youngest son, Arthur, who had
+been ill with a fever. Mrs. Osgood took an odd fancy to accompany her.
+The seven years of her widowhood had not been happy years, though she
+had a house like a palace. When she first laid off mourning, she tried
+Newport and Saratoga; but somehow she did not succeed in making a belle
+of herself, and that rather mortified her.
+
+Then she sank into invalidism; which tried everybody's patience sorely.
+
+Leaning back in the carriage now, she thought to herself, "Yes, if I
+only _had_ some one of my own! Sister Duncan never did understand me,
+or appreciate the delicacy of my constitution. Her nerves have been
+blunted by those great rude boys. And that girl looks so refined and
+graceful,--she would make a pleasant companion I am sure. But I should
+want to take her away from her family: I never could consent to any
+intimacy with them."
+
+She ventured to broach her subject to Mrs. Duncan the next day. Perhaps
+Mrs. Duncan had grown rather impatient with her sister's whims and
+fancies; and she discouraged the plan on some very sensible grounds.
+Mrs. Osgood felt like a martyr.
+
+Yet the opposition roused her to attempt it. One day, a week afterward
+perhaps, she hired a carriage, and was driven over to Madison. George
+had gone back to the city, so there was no question of having him for
+escort.
+
+Granny Kenneth was much surprised at the appearance of so fine a lady.
+She seized Dot, and scrubbed her face, her usual employment upon the
+entrance of any one.
+
+Mrs. Osgood held up her ruffled skirts as if afraid of contamination.
+
+"Is your granddaughter at home?" was asked in the most languid of
+voices.
+
+"Flo, you mean? No: she hasn't come from school yet. Do walk in
+and wait--that is--I mean--if you please," said Granny a good deal
+flustered, while the little gray curls kept bobbing up and down.
+"Here's a clean cheer;" and she gave one a whiff with her apron.
+
+Poor Flossy. She had tried so hard to correct Granny's old-fashioned
+words and pronunciations.
+
+"Thank you. Miss Florence embroiders, I believe."
+
+"Yes, she works baby-petticoats, and does 'em splendid."
+
+And then Granny wondered if she, the fine lady, had any work for
+Florence.
+
+"How glad Flo'll be, and vacation coming so soon," she thought in the
+depth of her tender old soul.
+
+"And she's a genius at crochetin'! The laces and shawls and hoods she's
+knit are a real wonder. They didn't do any thing of the kind in my
+young days."
+
+"You must find it pretty hard to get along," condescended Mrs. Osgood.
+
+"Yes; but the Lord allers provides some way. Joe's gone in a
+store,--Mr. Terry's. He's next to Florence," went on Granny in sublime
+disregard of her pronoun.
+
+Mrs. Osgood took an inventory of the little room, and waited rather
+impatiently. Then she asked for a glass of water.
+
+O Granny! how could you have been so forgetful! To take that old,
+thick, greenish glass tumbler when Flossy's choice goblet stood on the
+shelf above! And then to fill it in the pail, and let the water dribble!
+
+Granny wondered whether it would be polite to entertain her or not. But
+just then there was a crash and a splash; and Dot and the water-pail
+were in the middle of the floor.
+
+"Here's a chance!" exclaimed Kit, pausing in the doorway. "Give us a
+hook and line, Granny: Dot's mouth is just at an angle of ten degrees,
+good for a bite."
+
+"A wail, sure enough!" said Charlie. "Wring her out, and hang her up to
+dry."
+
+"Oh, dear!" and Granny, much disconcerted, sat Dot wrong side up on a
+chair, and the result was a fresh tumble.
+
+It was Hal who picked her up tenderly,--poor wet baby, with a big red
+lump on her forehead, and dismal cries issuing from the mouth that
+seemed to run all round her head.
+
+"Stay out there till I wipe up," said Granny to the others. "Then I'll
+get Dot a dry dress. I never did see such an onlucky child--and company
+too. What _will_ Flo say!"
+
+For Florence came tripping up the path, knitting her delicate brows in
+consternation.
+
+"Never you mind. There's a lady in the parlor who's been waitin'. Oh,
+my! what did I do with that floor-cloth?"
+
+"A lady?"
+
+"Yes: run right along."
+
+Luckily the door was shut between. Florence gave her curls a twist and
+a smoothing with her fingers, took off her soiled white apron, pulled
+her dress out here and there, stepped over the pools of water, and
+entered.
+
+Mrs. Osgood admired her self-possession, and pitied the poor child
+profoundly. The flush and partial embarrassment were very becoming to
+her.
+
+That lady did not mean to rush headlong into her proposal. She broke
+the ground delicately by inquiring about the embroidering; and
+Florence brought some to show her.
+
+"Who taught you?" she asked in surprise.
+
+"No one;" and Florence colored a little. "I did not do the first as
+neatly, but it is quite easy after one is fairly started."
+
+"I really do not see how you find time, with going to school;" and this
+persevering industry did touch Mrs. Osgood's heart.
+
+"I cannot do very much," answered Florence with a sigh. "But it will
+soon be vacation."
+
+"How old are you?"
+
+"I shall be fifteen the last of this month."
+
+"What a family your grandmother has on her hands!"
+
+"Yes. If my father had lived, it would have been very different."
+
+A touching expression overspread Florence's face, and made her lovelier
+than ever in Mrs. Osgood's eyes.
+
+"She certainly _is_ very pretty," that lady thought; "and how
+attractive such a daughter would be in my house! I should live my young
+life over again in her."
+
+For Mrs. Osgood had found that the days for charming young men were
+over, and prosy middle-aged people were little to her taste. No woman
+ever clung to youth with a greater longing.
+
+"What do you study at school?" she asked.
+
+"Only the English branches. I have been thinking of--of becoming a
+teacher," said Florence hesitatingly.
+
+"You would have a poor opportunity in this little town."
+
+"I might go away;" and Florence sighed again.
+
+"You have never studied music, I suppose."
+
+"No: I have had no opportunity," returned Florence honestly enough.
+
+"Do you sing?"
+
+"Yes. And I love music so very, very much! I do mean to learn by and
+by, if it is possible."
+
+"I wish you would sing something for me,--a little school-song, or any
+thing you are familiar with."
+
+Florence glanced up in amazement; and for a few moments was awkwardly
+silent.
+
+"I should like to hear your voice. It is very pleasant in talking, and
+ought to be musical in singing."
+
+Florence was a good deal flattered; and then she had the consciousness
+that she was one of the best singers in school. So she ran over the
+songs in her own mind, and selected "Natalie, the Maid of the Mill,"
+which she was very familiar with.
+
+She sang it beautifully. Florence was one of the children who are
+always good in an emergency. She was seldom "flustered," as Granny
+expressed it, and always seemed to know how to make the best of
+herself. And, as she saw the pleasure in Mrs. Osgood's face, her own
+heart beat with satisfaction.
+
+"That is really charming. A little cultivation would make your voice
+very fine indeed. What a pity that you should be buried in this little
+town!"
+
+"Do you think--that I could--do any thing with it?" asked Florence in a
+tremor of delight.
+
+"I suppose your grandmother would not stand in the way of your
+advancement?" questioned Mrs. Osgood.
+
+"Oh, no! And then if I _could_ do something"--
+
+Florence felt that she ought to add, "for the others," but somehow
+she did not. She wondered if Mrs. Osgood was a music-teacher, or a
+professional singer. But she did not like to ask.
+
+"There is my carriage," said Mrs. Osgood, as a man drove slowly round.
+"I am spending a few weeks at some distance from here, and wished to
+have you do a little flannel embroidery for me. When will your vacation
+commence?"
+
+"In about ten days,--the first of July."
+
+"I wish to see you when we can have a longer interview. I will come
+over again then."
+
+Mrs. Osgood rose, and shook out her elegant grenadine dress, much
+trimmed and ruffled. On her wrists were beautiful bracelets, and her
+watch-chain glittered with every movement. Then she really smiled very
+sweetly upon the young girl; and Florence was charmed.
+
+Some dim recollection passed over her mind.
+
+"Oh!" she said, "were you not in a carriage that stopped here some days
+ago. Another lady and a young gentleman"--
+
+"Yes," answered Mrs. Osgood, pleased at being remembered. "And, my
+dear, I took a great fancy to you that day. You are so different from
+the majority of country girls, that it is a pity you should have no
+better chance."
+
+The longing and eloquent eyes of Florence said more than words.
+
+"Yes. I will see you again; and I may, perhaps, think of something to
+your advantage."
+
+There was a mode of egress through this "best-room," though Granny had
+brought her guest in by the kitchen way. Florence opened the door now.
+
+"What a lovely, graceful child!" thought Mrs. Osgood; and she
+scrutinized her from head to feet.
+
+Florence watched the carriage out of sight in a half-dream. How long
+she would have stood in a brown study is uncertain; but Granny came in
+to get some dry clothes for Dot.
+
+"What _did_ she want of you?" exclaimed Charlie, all curiosity. "And
+what were you singing for? Oh, my! wasn't she splendid?"
+
+"You sang like a bird," said Hal in wide-eyed wonder as well. "Did she
+ask you?"
+
+"Of course. You don't suppose I would offer to sing for a stranger,--a
+lady too?"
+
+"Did she like it?"
+
+"Yes. She thought I might--that is, if I had any opportunity--oh, I
+wish we _were_ a little richer!" and Florence burst into a flood of
+hysterical tears.
+
+"I wish we were;" and Hal gave her hand a soft squeeze. "If you could
+learn to play on the melodeon at church, and give music-lessons"--
+
+The vision called up a heaven of delight to poor Flossy.
+
+"But what _did_ she want?" asked Granny in a great puzzle, putting
+Dot's foot through the sleeve of her dress, and tying the neck-string
+in garter fashion.
+
+"I do believe she is a singer herself. Maybe she belongs to a company
+who give concerts; but then she was dressed so elegantly."
+
+"They make lots of money," said Kit with a sagacious nod of the head.
+"It's what I'm going to be, only I shall have a fiddle."
+
+"And a scalp-lock."
+
+Charlie pulled this ornamentation to its fullest height, which was
+considerable, as Kit's hair needed cutting.
+
+"Oh! suppose she was," said Hal. "And suppose she wanted to take
+Flossy, and teach her music,--why, it's like your plan, you know, only
+it isn't an old gentleman; and I don't believe she has any little
+girls,--I mean a little girl who died. Did she ask for a drink, Granny?"
+
+"Yes; and then Dot pulled over the water-pail. Oh, my! if I haven't
+put this dress on upside down, and the string's in a hard knot.
+Whatever shall I do? And, Flossy, I forgot all about the gobler. I took
+the first thing that came to hand."
+
+"Not that old tumbler with a nick in the edge? And it is _goblet_. I
+do wish you'd learn to call things by their right names!" exclaimed
+Florence in vexation.
+
+"It's the very same, isn't it?" began Charlie, "only, as Hal said, it
+isn't an old gentleman. Oh, suppose it _should_ come true! And if Kit
+_should_ have a fiddle like black Jake."
+
+"And if you _should_ run away," laughed Hal. "I don't believe you can
+find a better time than this present moment. Kit, you had better go
+after the cows."
+
+Charlie started too, upon Hal's suggestion. Florence gave a little
+sniff, and betook herself to the next room.
+
+Oh, dear! How poor and mean and tumbled about their house always was!
+No, not _always_, but if any one ever came. Dot chose just that moment
+to be unfortunate; and then that Granny should have used that forlorn
+old tumbler. She doubted very much if the lady would ever come again.
+
+So Flossy had a good cry from wounded vanity, and then felt better. Hal
+took Dot out with him to feed the chickens, and Granny prepared the
+table.
+
+Still Florence's lady was the theme of comment and wonder for several
+days, although the child insisted that she only came to get some
+embroidering done. All further speculations seemed too wild for sober
+brains.
+
+"But it is so odd that she asked you to sing," said Hal. "And I do
+believe something will come of it."
+
+Florence gave a little despairing sniff.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+  FLORENCE IN STATE.
+
+
+Mrs. Osgood leaned back in the carriage,--it was the very best that
+Seabury afforded,--and, looking out on the pleasant sunshine and waving
+trees, considered the subject before her. _If_ she took Florence, she
+would have a governess in the house, and go on as rapidly as possible
+with the finishing process. Music should be the first thing: the child
+_did_ have a lovely voice, and such fair, slender hands! In a year she
+would be quite presentable. How vexed all the Osgood nieces would be!
+They were continually hinting at visits, and would be delighted at
+having Aunt Osgood take them up. But somehow she had a grudge against
+her husband's relatives, because the property reverted to them in the
+end.
+
+And then she fancied herself riding out with this beautiful daughter
+by her side, or stopping at hotels where every one would wonder "who
+that lovely girl could be!" And Florence would certainly be most
+grateful for the change. It was a deed of charity to rescue the poor
+child from the life before her, with no better prospect than that of a
+school-teacher. She certainly had some ideas and ambitions beyond her
+sphere.
+
+School closed presently, and the children were wild with delight. They
+had a great time on examination day, and Florence acquitted herself
+finely. Mr. Fielder was very proud of her.
+
+"If you can go to school another year, and improve as much," he said,
+"I can almost promise you a very good situation."
+
+Flossy's dream in respect to her elegant lady was fading, and she came
+back to humbler prospects quite thankfully.
+
+What Granny was to do with the children through vacation she hardly
+knew.
+
+"Oh, you needn't worry!" said Charlie consolingly. "Kit and me are
+going out in the woods; and we'll build a stunning log-hut, or make a
+cave"--
+
+"O Charlie, if you would be a little more careful! Kit and I."
+
+"I can't be always bothering! Mr. Fielder almost wears me out, so you
+might let me have a little rest in vacation.
+
+    'For spelling is vexation,
+      And writing is bad:
+    Geography it puzzles me,
+      And grammar makes me mad.'"
+
+With that Charlie perched herself on the gate-post, and began to
+whistle.
+
+"If Charlie only _had_ been a boy!" groaned Florence.
+
+On Monday of the first week they washed. Florence assisted; but she
+hurried to get herself dressed in the afternoon, for fear some one
+_might_ come. And then she wondered a little what she ought to do.
+Embroidering and fancy work appeared to be dull just now; and she would
+have two months in which she _might_ earn considerable money, if it
+only came. For, with all her small vanities and particular ways, she
+was not indolent.
+
+On Tuesday they began their ironing at an early hour. There were
+Florence's pretty dresses and aprons, nothing very costly, but a dainty
+ruffle here and there added to the general grace. These same ruffles
+were a great trouble to some of the old ladies in Madison, "who didn't
+see how Granny Kenneth could let Florence waste her time in such
+nonsense while _she_ slaved herself to death!"
+
+Florence had twisted her hair in a knot, and her dress was rather the
+worse for wear; but she worked away cheerfully. Her pile of clothes was
+decreasing very fast.
+
+Suddenly a sound of carriage-wheels startled her; and, glancing up, she
+uttered a frightened exclamation.
+
+"O Granny! it's the lady again, and I look like a fright! What shall I
+do? Won't you go and ask her in? and you look dreadful too! Put on your
+other sacque. There! I'll run and tidy up a bit."
+
+She made a snatch at the brush and comb, and hurried up in the boys'
+room.
+
+"Oh, dear! How red I am in the face! It's too bad;" and she felt
+tempted to cry, but she knew that would only make matters worse. So
+she let down her shining hair, brushed it out, and wound it round her
+fingers in curls. Then Granny came plodding up stairs.
+
+"I told her you were busy, but that you'd be ready in a few minutes,"
+she explained.
+
+"Why didn't you think to bring up one of my clean dresses?"
+
+"To be sure! which one?"
+
+"The pink calico, I guess. Oh! and the braided white apron."
+
+Down went Granny. Ah! many a step had she taken for these children,
+weary ones, and yet cheerfully done. Would they ever think of it?
+
+Florence was not long in making herself neat and presentable, but the
+flushed face still troubled her. She viewed herself critically in the
+cracked glass, and then ran down, pausing to fan a few moments with the
+cape of an old sun-bonnet, the nearest thing at hand.
+
+"_Do_ I look decent, Granny?" she said apprehensively.
+
+"To be sure you do, and nice too."
+
+Granny's eyes expressed her admiration.
+
+Florence ventured in timidly, and the lady inclined her head.
+
+"I am sorry that I have kept you waiting so long, but it was
+unavoidable;" and the child made a little halt to wonder if her long
+word sounded well.
+
+"I suppose I took you somewhat by surprise. Are you very busy to-day?"
+
+"Not very," answered Florence at random, her heart beating violently.
+
+"And quite well? but I hardly need ask the question."
+
+"I am always well, thank you," with a touch of grace.
+
+"How fortunate! Now, I have such wretched health, and my nerves are
+weak beyond description."
+
+Florence gave a glance of quick sympathy, not unmixed with admiration.
+There was something very romantic about the languid lady.
+
+"If you are quite at liberty," Mrs. Osgood began, "I should like to
+have you drive out with me. I have a great deal to say to you, and we
+shall not be interrupted."
+
+Florence could hardly credit her hearing. To be asked to ride with so
+grand a lady!
+
+"Oh!" and then she paused and colored.
+
+"Would you like to go?"
+
+"Very, very much indeed;" and the young face was full of pleasure.
+
+"Well, get yourself ready; and, if you will send your grandmother to
+me, I will explain."
+
+Florence felt as if she were in a dream. Then she wondered what she
+ought to wear. She had a pretty light gray dress and sacque for "Sunday
+best," and a new white dress; but her visitor's dress was gray, and
+that decided her. So she took the articles out of the old-fashioned
+wardrobe, and summoned Granny.
+
+Granny was dazed. "Where is she going to take you?" she asked in
+helpless astonishment.
+
+"I don't know. She will tell you, I suppose."
+
+"But, Flo, I have _heerd_ of girls being kidnapped or something;" and
+Granny's face turned pale with fear.
+
+"Nonsense!" returned Flossy with a toss of the curls. She could not
+even trouble herself about Granny's mispronunciation just then.
+
+"You don't know"--
+
+"I guess she won't eat me up. Any how, I am going."
+
+Florence uttered this with a touch of imperiousness. Granny felt that
+she would have little influence over her, so she entered the room where
+the guest was seated.
+
+"Mrs. Kenneth," the lady began in her most impressive and gracious
+manner, "when I was here a few days ago, I took a great fancy to your
+granddaughter. My name is Osgood; and I am staying at Seabury with my
+sister, Mrs. Duncan. And although you may hesitate to trust Florence
+with a stranger, she will be quite safe, I assure you; and if you are
+willing, therefore, I should like to take her out for a few hours. I
+have some plans that may be greatly to the child's advantage, I think."
+
+"You'll be sure to bring her back," asked Granny in a spasm of anxious
+terror, which showed in her eyes.
+
+"Why, certainly! My poor woman, I cannot blame you for this
+carefulness;" for the worn face with its eagerness touched Mrs. Osgood.
+"My brother-in-law, Mr. Duncan, is a well-known merchant in New York;
+and I think you will confess when I return Florence this afternoon,
+that the ride has been no injury to her."
+
+Granny could make no further objections, and yet she did not feel quite
+at ease. But Florence entered looking so bright and expectant, that she
+had not the heart to disappoint her, so she kept her fears to herself.
+
+"You must not feel troubled," Mrs. Osgood deigned to say, as she rose
+rather haughtily. "You will find my promises perfectly reliable."
+
+"You needn't finish my pieces," Florence whispered softly to Granny at
+the door. "I shall be back time enough; and if the fire is out I'll
+wait till to-morrow They are my ruffled aprons, and"--
+
+Mrs. Osgood beckoned her with a smile and an inclination of the head.
+Florence felt as if she were being bewitched.
+
+Granny watched her as she stepped into the carriage.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"If she'd been born a lady she couldn't act more like one. It's a great
+pity"--
+
+A few tears finished Granny's sentence. All the others were more
+content with their poverty than Florence.
+
+So she went back to her ironing with a heart into which had crept some
+strange misgiving. Hal was out; Joe never came home to dinner; so
+Granny gave the children a piece of bread all round, and kept going
+steadily on until the last ruffled apron had been taken out of the pile.
+
+Very long indeed the hours seemed. Oh, if any harm should befall her
+beautiful, darling Flossy! Poor Joe, in his grave, had loved her so
+well!
+
+Flossy meanwhile was having a most delightful time.
+
+"I am going to take you to Salem," Mrs. Osgood said, after Florence had
+begun to feel quite at home with her. "We will have our dinner at the
+hotel."
+
+Salem was the county town,--quite a pretentious place, with some broad,
+straight streets, several banks, and, indeed, a thriving business
+locality. Florence had been there twice with Mrs. Kinsey.
+
+Mrs. Osgood began to question the child about herself. Florence told
+over her past life, making the best, it must be confessed, of the
+poverty and discomforts. And yet she seemed to take rather hardly the
+fact of such a lot having fallen upon her. Mrs. Osgood was secretly
+pleased with her dissatisfaction.
+
+"I wonder how you would like to live with me?" she questioned. "I think
+I should enjoy having some one that I could make a companion of--as one
+never can of a servant."
+
+Flossy's heart beat with a sudden delight, and for the first moment she
+could hardly speak.
+
+"I live a short distance from New York, on the banks of the Hudson:
+at least, my house is there, but I travel a great deal. It would be
+very pleasant to have a--a friend of one's own,"--Mrs. Osgood was not
+_quite_ sure that it was best or wisest to say child.
+
+"Oh, it would be very delightful! If I could"--and the child's eyes
+were aglow with delight.
+
+"There are so many of you at home, that your grandmother would not miss
+one. Besides, I could do a great many nice things for you."
+
+"It is like a dream!" and Flossy thought of her wild day-dream. "And I
+could sew as well as embroider; and oh! I _would_ try to make myself
+useful," she said eagerly.
+
+Mrs. Osgood smiled. She had taken a strange fancy to this child, and
+enjoyed her look of adoration.
+
+They talked it over at some length, and Flossy listened with delight to
+the description of the beautiful house. This was altogether different
+from Mrs. Van Wyck's affair.
+
+Presently they arrived at the hotel. Mrs. Osgood ordered the horses to
+be cared for, and then entered the parlor.
+
+"Can we have a private room?" she asked with an air that Florence
+thought extremely elegant. "And then our dinner"--
+
+"Will you have it brought up to your room?"
+
+"Oh, no! Perhaps I had better give my order now," and there was a
+languid indifference in her tone.
+
+"Yes, it would be better," replied the brisk waitress.
+
+"Well, we will have some broiled chicken, I think--are you fond of
+that, Florence? and vegetables--with some lobster salad and relishes."
+
+Florence had a wonderful deal of adaptiveness, and she almost
+insensibly copied Mrs. Osgood. They went up to the room, and refreshed
+themselves with a small ablution, for the riding had been rather dusty.
+Florence shook out her beautiful curls, and passed her damp fingers
+over them.
+
+"What lovely hair!" exclaimed Mrs. Osgood with a sigh: it was a habit
+of hers, as if every thing called up some past regret. "When I was a
+young girl, mine was the admiration of everybody. You would hardly
+think it now."
+
+"Were you ill?" asked Florence, feeling that she was expected to say
+something sympathizing.
+
+"My health has been wretched for years. Mr. Osgood was sick a long
+while, and I had so much trouble! His people were not very kind to me:
+they tried to make him leave the property away from me, and then they
+attempted to break the will. There's so much selfishness in this world,
+my dear!"
+
+Florence experienced a profound sympathy for Mrs. Osgood, and was quite
+ready to espouse her cause against any one. Already she felt in some
+way constituted her champion.
+
+But, as Mr. Osgood left no children, he thought it quite just that his
+property should go back to his own family after Mrs. Osgood's death.
+And, to confess the truth, he had not found his wife quite perfection.
+
+There were not many people in the dining-room when they entered. They
+had one end of the long table, and the colored waiter was most polite
+and solicitous. One by one their little dishes came on, and the broiled
+chicken had a most appetizing flavor.
+
+Florence acquitted herself very creditably. She was not awkward with
+her silver fork, and allowed herself to be waited upon with great
+complacency. Mrs. Osgood was wonderfully pleased, for she was watching
+every action. How had the child acquired so many pretty ways?
+
+By the time they reached home again it was agreed, if grandmother made
+no objection, that Florence should spend a month at Seabury with Mrs.
+Osgood. This was the better arrangement the lady thought; for, if she
+changed her mind, in that case she could draw back gracefully.
+
+Granny was much relieved to see them return. Mrs. Osgood deigned to
+enter the cottage again, and explained the matter to old Mrs. Kenneth.
+Florence seconded the plan so earnestly, that it was quite impossible
+to refuse. And somehow Granny felt very much bewildered.
+
+"Can you be ready next week?" asked Mrs. Osgood.
+
+Florence questioned Granny mutely with her eyes; but, seeing that her
+senses were going astray, answered for herself.
+
+"Monday, then, I will come over for you. And now, my child, good-by. I
+hope you have had a pleasant day."
+
+Florence thanked her again and again. Mrs. Osgood's heart was really
+touched.
+
+"What does she want you to do?" asked Granny, absently trying to thread
+the point of her darning-needle.
+
+"Why,--I'm sure I don't know;" and Flossy fell into a brown study. "To
+wait upon her, I suppose, and sew a little, and--I like her so much! We
+had an elegant dinner at Salem, and ice-cream for dessert. O Granny, if
+one only _could_ be rich!"
+
+"Yes," rejoined Granny with a sigh.
+
+"Tell us all about it," said open-mouthed Charlie. "Mrs. Green saw you
+riding by; and maybe she didn't make a time! She said you put on more
+airs than all Madison."
+
+"It is nothing to her," bridled Flossy.
+
+"But what _did_ you have? Lots of goodies?"
+
+"Yes, indeed. Silver forks and damask napkins and finger-bowls."
+
+"Finger-bowls?"
+
+That grandeur was altogether above Charlie's capacity.
+
+"You need not look so amazed."
+
+"What do you do with 'em."
+
+"Why, there's a piece of lemon floating round on the top; and you dip
+in the ends of your fingers, and wipe them on the napkin."
+
+"But can't you eat the lemon? That's what I'd do."
+
+"It would be very ill-bred."
+
+"Hum!" and Charlie's nose was elevated. "As if I'd care!"
+
+"You would if you were out with refined people."
+
+"Oh, my! How aristocrockery you are getting!" and Charlie gave a
+prolonged whistle, and stood on one foot.
+
+Flossy sighed a little over the supper-table. How nice it would be to
+live at a hotel, and have a servant to wait upon one! But every thing
+here was so dreadfully common and poor. And, though Flossy would have
+scorned the idea of living out as a servant, she fancied a position of
+companion or ladies' maid would be rather agreeable than otherwise.
+
+Hal was very much interested in her day's adventure. He seemed to
+understand it better than any of the others, and she could talk to him
+without the fear of being laughed at. They still sat in the moonlight,
+when suddenly a sharp click was heard, and a report that made them all
+scream.
+
+Joe, the good-for-nothing, laughed.
+
+"Wasn't that gay? Hurrah for Fourth of July!"
+
+"Is it you?" asked Granny, who had thrown her apron over her head to
+keep her from being shot. "And is it a musket, or a cannon?"
+
+"Why don't you frighten us all to death?" said Florence indignantly.
+
+"Oh, it's a pistol!" exclaimed Hal.
+
+"O Joe! and you'll be shot all to pieces before to-morrow night,"
+bewailed Granny. "I'm so afraid of guns and fire-crackers! I once knew
+a little boy who had his hand shot off."
+
+"If he could only have had it shot on again. I mean to try that way,
+like the man who jumped into the bramble-bush. Or wouldn't it do to
+shoot the pistol off instead of my fingers."
+
+"Is it yours for good, Joe?" and Charlie's head was thrust over Hal's
+shoulders. "A real pistol! Let me see it."
+
+"Yes, it's mine. I bought it to keep Fourth of July with."
+
+"Why, I forgot all about Fourth of July," said Charlie in an aggrieved
+tone. "And I haven't a cent!"
+
+"Bad for you, Charlie."
+
+"Won't you let me fire off the pistol?"
+
+"Oh, don't!" implored Granny.
+
+"Just once more. It was splendid! I was fast asleep on the floor, and
+it woke me up."
+
+"Good for the pistol," said Joe. "I'll try it in the morning when you
+are asleep."
+
+They all had to handle the pistol, and express their opinions. Joe had
+bought it of Johnny Hall, for a dollar, as Johnny, in turn, wanted to
+buy a cannon. And the remaining half-dollar of his week's wages had
+been invested in fireworks.
+
+Granny sighed. But boys would be boys, and Fourth of July only came
+once a year.
+
+"There's to be an oration on the green, and the soldiers will be out,
+and it'll be just jolly! Hurray! And a holiday in the middle of the
+week! Mr. Terry said I needn't come to the store at all."
+
+"There'll be some music, won't there?" asked Kit.
+
+"A drum and a bass-viol, I guess. But it would be royal to go over to
+Salem, and hear the brass band."
+
+"What's a brass band?" was Kit's rather puzzled inquiry.
+
+"What a goose! Why, a brass band is--horns and things."
+
+"What kind of horns?" for Joe's explanation lacked lucidity.
+
+"Oh, bother! Kit, you'll burn up the ocean some day with your
+brightness."
+
+"Cornets," said Hal; "and something like a flute, and cymbals, and ever
+so many instruments."
+
+"Did you ever see 'em?"
+
+"No, but I've read about them."
+
+Kit chewed his thumb. It was one of his old baby habits.
+
+"Now I am going to load her again," said Joe, in a peculiarly
+affectionate tone. "It's as light as day out here."
+
+"But, Joe, if you _should_ shoot some one, or your fingers, or put your
+eyes out!"
+
+"Never you mind, Granny. Boys go ahead of cats for lives."
+
+Granny put her apron over her head again, and then ran in to Dot.
+
+"Bang!"
+
+"Nobody wounded," laughed Joe, "and only two or three slightly killed.
+The country is safe, Granny, this great and _gelorious_ country, over
+which the eagle waves his plumes, and flaps his wings, and would crow
+if he could. My soul is filled with enthusiasm,--I feel as if I should
+_bust_, and fly all round! There's that miserable Dot lifting up her
+voice."
+
+The racket had broken her slumbers, and then the children were implored
+to be quiet. Joe went to bed, in order to be able to get up good and
+early. Charlie thought she should sleep with her clothes on, so as
+to save the trouble of dressing. Kit sat in the moonlight chewing his
+thumb, and wondering if he could manage to get over to Salem to-morrow.
+If he could only hear that music!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+  FOURTH OF JULY.
+
+
+The children were up at the peep of dawn. Granny was awakened by
+something that seemed not unlike the shock of an earthquake; but
+Flossy, rubbing her eyes, said with a sigh,--
+
+"Oh, dear! Joe has begun with his pistol the first thing! What does
+possess boys to be so noisy!"
+
+Charlie, perched astride the gate-post, her clothes considerably
+tumbled, and her hair unkempt, thought it splendid. "If Joe would only
+let her fire _once!_ Just as soon as she had a dollar she meant to buy
+a pistol of her own. It would always be good to keep away robbers!"
+
+Joe laughed uproariously.
+
+"Robbers indeed! There's nothing to steal here, unless it's some of the
+youngsters. You'd be sure to go first, Charlie!"
+
+"I shall be thankful when Fourth of July is over," said Granny in a
+troubled voice, while Joe was singing,--
+
+    "But children are not pigs, you know,
+    And cannot pay the rint;"
+
+but at that remark so derogatory to patriotism, he bridled up at once.
+
+"Fourth of July's as good as Saint Patrick, or any other man. Who
+would be so base and ignoble of soul, and stingy of powder, as not to
+celebrate his birthday! when the country stretches from the north pole
+to the south, and is kept from bursting only by the centrifugal forces
+of the equator"--
+
+Hal's rooster finished the speech by his longest and loudest crow.
+
+"Good for you! You've some patriotism, I see. You are not craven of
+soul, if powder doesn't come in your way. Granny, when can we have
+breakfast? I'm about famished with all my speech-making."
+
+Hal fed his crowd of chickens, and amused Dot, who did not quite enjoy
+being deprived of her morning nap. Presently they were summoned to
+their meal.
+
+"I'm going over to the store," announced Joe. "I want to see the
+Declaration of Independence read by the American eagle, and the salute
+fired by the Stars and Stripes, while the militia climb up their
+muskets and give three cheers."
+
+"Are they going to do that?" asked Charlie. "Granny, can't I go too?"
+
+"You must put on a clean dress."
+
+"Oh, dear! when I slept in mine too, so as to be ready," Charlie
+exclaimed, broken-hearted. "Won't you wait, Joe?"
+
+"I can't bother with girls," returned Joe.
+
+Charlie lamented her hard fate, but emerged from the hands of Florence
+quite a respectable looking child. Kit spent some time in adorning
+himself, and trying to smooth his refractory scalp-lock. He had been
+very quiet all the morning.
+
+"Now that they are off we can have a little peace," said Florence.
+
+Granny sighed. They were a great bother and torment, to be sure; but,
+after all, it was good to have the merry, noisy crew, safe and sound,
+and she should be glad when they returned.
+
+Hal's tastes inclined neither to fire-crackers nor sky-rockets. So he
+went into the garden, and began to look after his rather neglected
+vegetables. The chickens made bad work, it must be confessed, though
+the attractions of their buckwheat field were pretty strong, and Hal
+ingeniously repaired the fence with brush; but now and then there would
+be a raid. The Lima beans were doing beautifully, the corn looked
+promising; and, altogether, he thought the prospect was fair. Then he
+met with a delightful surprise.
+
+"O Granny!" and he rushed into the house. "Just think,--three of my
+grape-vines have beautiful long shoots on them. I haven't looked in
+ever so long, for I thought they didn't mean to grow. Come and see."
+
+There they were, sure enough. Hal had set out some cuttings from the
+neighbors, but he had been almost discouraged with their slow progress.
+
+"That's a Concord, and that's a Hartford Prolific. Don't they look
+lovely in their soft, pinkish green! Why, I feel as if I could give
+them all a hug. I'll have to put a lattice round, for fear of the
+chickens."
+
+So he went to work. Dot wanted to help, and brought him useless sticks,
+while she carried off his hammer and lost his nails. But when she
+looked up at him with the sweetest little face in the world, and said,
+"Ain't Dotty 'mart? Dotty help 'ou," he could not scold her.
+
+The dinner was rather quiet. None of the stray youngsters made their
+appearance. Afterward Florence dressed herself, and went to see Netty
+Bigelow, her dearest school-friend, and imparted to her that she was
+going to Seabury next Monday, to stay a month with a very elegant lady,
+and that she would live at a hotel. Then she described her ride to
+Salem, and the dinner.
+
+"Oh, how nice it must have been!" said Netty. "You are the luckiest
+girl I ever did know, Florence Kenneth."
+
+"I just wish I was as rich as Mrs. Osgood. It seems to me that poor
+people cannot be very happy."
+
+"I don't know," Netty returned thoughtfully. "The Graysons do not seem
+_very_ happy."
+
+"But I never saw such mean, disagreeable girls; and they are not
+dressed a bit pretty. If there's any thing in school they always want
+their share, but they never treat."
+
+"And we are poor," continued Netty; "but I'm sure we are happy."
+
+Florence felt that her friend could hardly understand the degree of
+happiness that she meant. She was rather out-growing her youthful
+companions.
+
+About mid-afternoon Hal took a walk over to the store. The old rusty
+cannon of Revolutionary memory had been fired on the green, the
+speeches made, and the small crowd dispersed. Nearly everybody had gone
+to Salem; but a few old stagers still congregated at the store, it
+being general head-quarters.
+
+Hal picked Charlie out of a group of children, in a very dilapidated
+condition. Her once clean dress was soiled, torn, and burned; her
+hands gave the strongest evidence that dust entered largely into
+the composition of small people; and her face was variegated by
+perspiration and dabs from these same unlucky hands.
+
+"O Charlie! you look like a little vagabond!" exclaimed Hal in despair.
+"I'm ashamed of you!"
+
+"But I've had such fun, and cakes and candies and fire-crackers and
+torpedoes! I wish Fourth of July would keep right straight along. I
+burned one of my fingers, but I didn't mind," declared the patriotic
+girl.
+
+"Where's Kit?"
+
+"I don't know. Joe was round this morning, but I guess he went to
+Salem."
+
+"You must come home with me now."
+
+"O Hal! we haven't found all the 'cissers' yet. They're almost as good
+as fire-crackers."
+
+Several of the children were burrowing in the grass and sand for
+"fusees,"--crackers that had failed to explode to the full extent of
+their powder. They broke them in two and relighted them.
+
+Hal was inexorable; so Charlie cried a little, and then bade her dirty
+companions a sad farewell.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Granny, as they came marching up the path, "what a
+sight! And your Sunday best dress, Charlie!"
+
+"Well," sniffed Charlie with a crooked face, though there were no tears
+to give it effect, "I'm sure I didn't want to put it on. I hate to be
+dressed up! Something always happens to your Sunday clothes. I couldn't
+help tearing it, and Jimmy Earl set off a cracker right in my lap"--
+
+"Well, I'm glad it wasn't your eyes," said Granny thankfully. And then
+she took the forlorn pyramid of dirt and disorder up stairs, where she
+had a good scrubbing, and was re-arrayed in a more decent fashion.
+Anybody else would have scolded, but Granny was so glad to have her
+back safe and sound.
+
+Her heart was sorely anxious about Kit and Joe. She let the supper
+stand on the table, and they all sat on the doorstep in the moonlight;
+for Dot had taken a nap in the afternoon, and was bright as a new penny.
+
+And she fancied, as many mothers and grandmothers have before now, that
+shocking accidents had happened, and maybe they would be maimed and
+crippled for life.
+
+Presently they came straggling along, and Granny uttered a cry of
+relief.
+
+"Oh!" she said, "are you all here? Haven't you lost your hands, nor
+your fingers, nor"--
+
+"Nor our noses, and not even our tongues," laughed Joe. "Here we are,
+pistol and all."
+
+"O Kit! where have you been? I was a most worried to death; and you
+look tuckered out."
+
+For Kit was pale to ghostliness as he stood there in the moonlight.
+
+"Where do you think I found him,--the small snipe? Way over to Salem!"
+
+"O Kit! did you see the fireworks and the soldiers?" exclaimed Charlie
+breathlessly.
+
+Kit sank down on the doorstep.
+
+"Walked all the way over there, and hadn't a penny!"
+
+"How could you Kit, without saying a word?" exclaimed Granny in a tone
+of mild reproach.
+
+"I could have given you a little money," said Hal tenderly.
+
+"And it's a mercy that you didn't get run over, or shot to pieces, or
+trampled to death in the crowd"--
+
+"O Granny! don't harrow up our feelings," said Joe.
+
+"I was afraid you wouldn't let me go," began Kit, at the first
+available opportunity for slipping in a word. "And I didn't walk quite
+all the way there,--a man came along, and gave me a ride. I wanted to
+hear the music so much! The soldiers were splendid, Charlie; some of
+'em with great white feathers in their hats and swords and beautiful
+horses and coats all over gold"--
+
+"Wonderful hats," suggested Joe with a twinkle; for Kit had gone on
+with small regard to commas or accent.
+
+"They all know what I mean!" said Kit rather testily.
+
+"Don't plague him," interposed Hal. "About the music, Kit?"
+
+"Oh! I can't half tell you;" and Kit gave a long sigh. "There were
+drums and fifes, and those clappers--I don't remember what you called
+'em, but I liked it best when the men were horning with their horns"--
+
+Joe gave a loud outburst, and went over on his head.
+
+"Well," said Kit much aggrieved, "what are you laughing about?"
+
+"Horning! That is good! You had better write a new dictionary, Kit.
+It is a decided improvement upon 'toot,' and must commend itself to
+Flossy's attention for superior elegance. There, my dear, give me a
+vote of thanks;" and Joe twitched Flossy's long curls.
+
+"I don't know what you call it, then," said Kit rather sulkily.
+
+"They blew on the horns," Hal rejoined in his soothing tone, that
+was always a comfort in times of disturbance; "and the cornets,
+wind-instruments, I believe, though I don't know the names of them all.
+It must have been delightful."
+
+"Oh, it was! I shut my eyes, and it seemed as if I was floating on a
+sea, and there were all the waves beating up and down, and then a long
+soft sound like the wind blowing in and shaking it all to echoes. I was
+so sorry when they stopped. They all went into the hotel, I guess it
+was. By and by I wandered off a little ways, and sat on a stoop; and
+some one was playing on a piano. That was beautiful too. I'd like to
+crawl inside of something, as the fairies do, and just live there and
+listen forever."
+
+"And then I found him, hungry and tired, and bought him some cake,"
+interrupted Joe. "We waited to see the fireworks, and rode home in Mr.
+Terry's wagon. But for that I guess he'd been sitting on the stoop yet."
+
+"And you haven't tasted a mouthful of supper!" exclaimed Granny; "and I
+a listenin' here, and never thinkin' of it."
+
+"I'm not much hungry," said Joe. "I was treated a time or two by the
+boys."
+
+But he thought he wouldn't tell that he had taken up his week's wages
+in advance, and spent it all. Fourth of July did not come but once a
+year, and a body ought to have a good time.
+
+Poor Joe had discovered, much to his chagrin, that a dollar and a half
+would not work wonders. It seemed to him at first that he never could
+get his suit of clothes paid for; then it was a hat, a pair of shoes,
+some cheap summer garments; and he never had a penny for Hal or any one
+else. In fact, he began to think that he would make more money working
+round for the farmers. But then the store was steady employment.
+
+He gave Charlie a glowing account of the fireworks, while Kit was
+eating a bowl of bread and milk; then they were glad to tumble into bed.
+
+"I'm thankful it's all over, and their arms and legs are safe, and
+their eyes not blown out," said Granny with fervent gratitude.
+
+Kit was pretty tired the next day, and Joe found it rather hard to
+make all things work together for good. Granny shed a few tears over
+Charlie's "best dress," and wondered how she could patch it so as to
+look decent.
+
+Florence, in the mean while, was much occupied with her own plans. She
+could hardly wait for Monday to come, and proposed to do the usual
+washing on Saturday, so there wouldn't be any "muss" around when Mrs.
+Osgood called.
+
+She was neat as a new pin as she sat awaiting her visitor. Her clothes
+had been looked over, and the best selected. There was nothing to
+pack them in, however, except a small, moth-eaten hair trunk, or a
+dilapidated bandbox; and the latter was Florence's detestation.
+
+"I can do them up in a paper," she said; and Charlie was sent to scour
+the neighborhood for the required article.
+
+Mrs. Osgood and Mrs. Duncan came together. The latter lady had laughed
+a little at her sister's plan at first; but, when she found it was
+really serious, thought it would be as well for her to try it a month.
+
+Mrs. Duncan was rather exclusive, and had a horror of crowds of poor
+people's children.
+
+"It would be so much better to take some one who had no relatives," she
+said.
+
+"I shall not adopt the whole family, you may be sure," was the response.
+
+Some of Mrs. Duncan's prejudices were surmounted by the general order
+and tidiness to which Florence had reduced matters; and she was
+wonderfully well-bred, considering her disadvantages.
+
+"I shall keep her for a month, while I remain at Seabury; and, if
+I should want her afterward, we can make some new arrangements,"
+Mrs. Osgood explained. "I shall see, of course, that she has ample
+remuneration."
+
+Florence colored. Living with such a grand lady seemed enough, without
+any pay.
+
+"What are you crying for, Granny?" she asked as she followed her into
+the kitchen. "How ridiculous! Why, it is just as if I were going away
+upon a visit; and you wouldn't be sorry then."
+
+"It isn't because I'm sorry;--but--none of you have ever been away
+afore"--
+
+Florence knitted her brows. How foolish to make such a fuss!
+
+"There are so many of us, that we're like bees in a hive. You ought to
+be glad to have me go. And I dare say I shall ride over some day"--
+
+"To be sure. But every one is missed."
+
+Florence kissed the children all round, and was much mortified at the
+bundle tied up in a newspaper.
+
+"If I get any money, I mean to buy a travelling-bag," she commented
+internally.
+
+"Tate me too," exclaimed Dot, clinging to Florence's dress: luckily her
+hands were clean.
+
+"Oh! you can't go, Dotty: Charlie will show you the beautiful chickens."
+
+Dot set up a fearful cry, and wriggled herself out of Charlie's arms,
+and Granny took her. Florence hurried through her good-bys, and was
+glad to leave the confusion behind.
+
+Granny indulged in a little cry afterward, and then went to her
+ironing. Of course they must all flit from the old hive some time.
+She could hardly persuade herself that Florence was fifteen,--almost a
+young lady.
+
+Joe and Hal wanted to hear all the particulars that evening. Charlie
+dilated grandly on the magnificence of the ladies.
+
+"It's real odd," said Joe. "Flossy always wanted to be a lady; and
+maybe this is a step towards it. I wonder if I shall ever get to sea!"
+
+"Oh, don't!" exclaimed Granny in a pitiful voice.
+
+When Mrs. Green heard the news, she had to come over.
+
+"I don't suppose they'd ever thought on't, if it hadn't been for me,"
+she exclaimed. "They stopped to my house while their wagon was bein'
+mended, and the sickly lookin' one seemed to be terribly interested in
+your folks; so, thinks I, if I can do a good turn for a neighbor it's
+all right; and I spoke a word, now and then, for Florence,--though it's
+a pity her name hadn't been Mary Jane. I never did approve of such
+romantic names for children. And I hope Florence will be a good girl,
+and suit; for the Lord knows that you have your hands full!"
+
+Charlie ran wild, as usual, through vacation. In one of her long
+rambles in the woods she found a hollow tree with a rock beside it,
+and her fertile imagination at once suggested a cave. She worked very
+industriously to get it in order; brought a great pile of leaves for
+a bed, and armsful of brush to cook with, and then besought Kit to run
+away and live in the woods.
+
+Kit tried it for one day. They had some apples and berries, and a
+piece of bread taken from the pantry when Granny wasn't around. They
+undertook to fish, but could not catch any thing; though Charlie was
+quite sure, that, if Joe would lend her his pistol, she could shoot a
+bird.
+
+"Anyhow, we'll have a fire, and roast our apples," said Charlie,
+undaunted.
+
+"But it's awful lonesome, I think. S'pose we don't stay all night:
+Granny'll be worried."
+
+"Pooh!" returned Charlie with supreme disdain.
+
+So she lighted her fire. The twigs crackled and blazed, and the flame
+ran along on the ground.
+
+"Isn't it splendid!" she exclaimed, "Why, it's almost like fireworks!
+Oh, see, Kit! that dead tree has caught. We'll have a gay old time now."
+
+Alas! Charlie's "gay old time" came to an ignoble end. Some one rushed
+through the woods shouting,--
+
+"Hillo! What the mischief are you at? Don't you know any better than to
+be setting the woods on fire?"
+
+It was Mr. Trumbull, looking angry enough. He bent the burning tree
+over, and stamped out the blaze; then poked the fire apart, and crushed
+the burning fragments into the soft ground. A dense smoke filled the
+little nook.
+
+"Whose work is this? You youngsters deserve a good thrashing, and I've
+half a mind to take your hide off."
+
+With that he caught Kit by the arm.
+
+"He didn't do it," spoke up courageous Charlie. "He never brought a
+leaf nor a stick; and you sha'n't thrash him!"
+
+"What's he here for, then?"
+
+"I brought him."
+
+"And did you kindle the fire?"
+
+"Yes," said Charlie, hanging her head a little.
+
+"What for? Didn't you know that you might burn the woods down, in such
+a dry time? Why, I could shut you up in jail for it."
+
+That frightened Charlie a good deal.
+
+"I didn't mean to--do any harm: we thought--we'd have a little
+fun"--came out Charlie's answer by jerks.
+
+"Fine fun! Why, you're Granny Kenneth's youngsters! I guess I'll have
+to march you off to jail."
+
+"Oh, let Kit go home!" cried Charlie with a great lump in her throat.
+"It wasn't his fault. He didn't even want to come."
+
+Something in the child's air and frankness touched Mr. Trumbull's
+heart, and caused him to smile. He had a houseful of children at home,
+every one of whom possessed a wonderful faculty for mischief; but this
+little girl's bravery disarmed his anger.
+
+"I want to explain to you that a fire like this might burn down a
+handsome piece of woodlands worth thousands of dollars. All these large
+trees are sent to the sawmill, and made into boards and shingles and
+various things. So it would be a great loss."
+
+"I'm very sorry," returned Charlie. "I didn't know it would do any
+harm."
+
+"If I don't take you to jail this time, will you promise never to do it
+again?"
+
+Charlie shivered a little at her narrow escape.
+
+"I surely wouldn't," she said very soberly.
+
+By this time Mr. Trumbull had the fire pretty well out.
+
+"Well, don't ever let me catch you at it again, or you will not get off
+so easily. Now trot home as fast as you can."
+
+Charlie paused a moment, tugging at the cape of her sun-bonnet.
+
+"I'm glad you told me about burning up the woods," she said. "I didn't
+think of that."
+
+Mr. Trumbull laughed pleasantly.
+
+So the two walked homeward, Charlie in a more serious frame of mind
+than usual.
+
+"I tell you, Kit," she began at length, "out West is the place to have
+a cave, and fires, and all that Hal had a book about it. Sometimes
+children are kidnapped by Indians, and live in their tents, and learn
+how to make bead-bags and moccasins"--
+
+"I don't want to go;" and Kit gave his slender shoulders a shrug. "They
+scalp you too."
+
+"But they wouldn't me. I should marry one of the chiefs." Then, after a
+rather reflective pause, "I'm glad we didn't burn down Mr. Trumbull's
+woods: only I guess he wasn't in earnest when he said he would put me
+in jail."
+
+But for all that she begged Kit not to relate their adventure to
+Granny, and perplexed her youthful brain for a more feasible method of
+running away.
+
+The house seemed very odd without Florence. The children's small errors
+passed unrebuked; and they revelled in dirt to their utmost content.
+For what with working out a day now and then, getting meals, patching
+old clothes, and sundry odd jobs, Granny had her poor old hands quite
+full. But she never complained.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+  WHICH SHOULD SHE CHOOSE?
+
+
+The reality at Seabury far exceeded Florence Kenneth's expectations.
+The hotel was really finer than that at Salem. And then, instead
+of being maid, she found here a woman who waited upon Mrs. Osgood,
+arranged her hair, kept her dresses in order, and did the small
+errands. What was she to do, then?
+
+Not very much, it seemed. She read aloud, and Florence was an
+undeniably good reader; she embroidered a little, went every day for a
+ride, and absolutely sat in the parlor. It was rather embarrassing at
+first.
+
+"I have decided," Mrs. Osgood said to her sister, a few days afterward.
+"The child has a very sweet temper, and a most affectionate nature;
+and then she is so lovely. A perfect blonde beauty! In two years she
+will be able to enter society. Mrs. Deering declared yesterday that her
+voice was remarkable."
+
+"I hope you will not spoil her completely. She has a good share of
+vanity, I perceive."
+
+"It is only proper pride: the child is well-born. I know her mother
+must have been a lady, and Kenneth is not a common name."
+
+"I am sure I hope your _protégée_ will prove a comfort."
+
+Then Mrs. Osgood announced her plans to Florence, who was literally
+overwhelmed. To be adopted by so rich a lady, to have an elegant home,
+and become skilled in all accomplishments--was it not a dream,--her
+wild, improbable dream?
+
+To Florence Mrs. Osgood was an angel. True, she had seen her rather
+pettish, and sometimes she scolded Martha, and gave way to hysterical
+spasms; but these were minor faults. She drew the child to her with the
+sweet and not-forgotten arts of her faded girlhood, and was pleased
+with the sincere homage that had in it so much of wonder. Florence
+would love her like a daughter.
+
+"I cannot promise to leave you a fortune," she said, "but while I live
+you shall have every thing. I was treated very unjustly by Mr. Osgood's
+will; though I know he was influenced by his relatives, who grudge me
+every penny. They would be very glad to have some of their children
+live at Roselawn: I christened the place myself on account of the
+roses."
+
+"How beautiful it must be!" exclaimed Florence, enchanted.
+
+"It _is_ a handsome place. You would have a governess, and be taught
+music and French and drawing, and be introduced everywhere as my
+daughter. If I had one, I fancy she would look something like you, for
+I was called very pretty in my younger days;" and Mrs. Osgood sighed.
+
+"I can never be grateful enough," said Florence.
+
+"I shall want you to love me a great deal,--just as if I were your own
+mother. And when you are grown you must make me your confidant. You
+will marry brilliantly, of course; but you must promise that it will
+not be without my consent."
+
+"I shall never want to leave you!" declared Florence impulsively,
+kissing the thin hands.
+
+"It will be such a luxury to have your affection. My life has always
+been so lonely. Very few people can understand my sensitive nature, but
+I trust you will be able to."
+
+There was some other points not so congenial. When they came to these,
+Florence's heart shrank a little.
+
+For, if she chose Mrs. Osgood, the group at home must drop out of her
+life completely. There could be no visiting, no corresponding.
+
+Poor Florence! This was a cloud upon her bright visions.
+
+"I shall write to your grandmother occasionally to let her know that
+you are well; but, as my daughter, you will be in such an entirely
+different sphere, that the slightest intimacy would be unwise."
+
+What should she do? Would Granny think her cruel and ungrateful?
+
+Mrs. Osgood proposed to take her back to Madison to spend a few days in
+which to decide. As for her, it hardly appeared possible to her that
+the child could hesitate. And now that she had enjoyed this little
+taste of luxury, poverty would seem all the more repulsive.
+
+They drove over one morning. Luckily, Granny was in very tolerable
+order; but, oh the difference! She was so glad to see Florence, that
+she kissed and cried over her a little.
+
+"I want to have a talk with your grandmother," Mrs. Osgood said; and
+Florence betook herself to the kitchen. How dreadfully poor and mean
+every thing looked!
+
+Mrs. Osgood went straight about the business in hand. She described
+her offer in the most glowing terms, and held out all its advantages.
+It would relieve Mrs. Kenneth from much care and anxiety, give her one
+less to struggle for; and then Florence would have the position for
+which Nature had fitted her. Not one thing was forgotten.
+
+Granny listened like one in a dream. Flossy to be a rich lady's
+daughter,--to ride in a carriage, to have a piano, and be dressed in
+silk! Could it be true?
+
+"But oh! I can't give her up," moaned Granny. "She was poor Joe's
+first-born, and such a sweet, pretty baby! There never was one on 'em
+that I could spare."
+
+"I wish you would take counsel with some friend. I think this
+opportunity for Florence is too good to be thrown away."
+
+"I don't know, I'm sure. You are very kind and generous. But to part
+with my poor darling."
+
+The lady rose at length.
+
+"I shall leave Florence here for three days," she said. "In the mean
+while consider the subject well, and do not stand in the way of the
+child's welfare."
+
+Florence was very sorry to part with Mrs. Osgood. She walked out to the
+gate, and lingered there, clinging to the slender hand, and at last
+being kissed tenderly.
+
+"Think earnestly of my proposal. On Saturday I shall come for my
+answer," said Mrs. Osgood.
+
+The lady had not much fear. She knew that money was all-potent in this
+world; and it was quite absurd to suppose that a pretty girl would
+prefer toil and poverty in this hovel, to luxury and ease with handsome
+surroundings.
+
+"Oh dear!" and Granny's arms were around Flossy's neck. "I can't let
+you go away forever. And I am sure you don't want to," scanning the
+fair face with her fond and eager eyes.
+
+"Granny, I don't know what to say. I should so like to have an
+education, and to be--oh! don't cry so. If every one thinks I ought not
+to go,"--and Flossy's lip quivered.
+
+"I am a foolish old body," sobbed Granny. "I'm not worth minding, my
+dear."
+
+"Fossy tum home. What 'ou ky?" said Dot, tugging at Granny's dress.
+
+"If we could see you once in a while."
+
+Florence felt the last to be an impossibility. She had a keen
+perception of the difference in station, and the nameless something
+that Granny could not be brought to see.
+
+"You would hear about me," she said softly.
+
+Granny went back to her ironing. Florence offered to help, and arranged
+her own light table. But it was uncomfortable this hot summer day, and
+her tender hand felt as if it was blistered. She consoled herself by
+relating the experiences of the past month, and inwardly sighing for
+the luxurious life. Granny was not so stupid but that she could see the
+direction of the child's desires.
+
+"I don't wonder that you liked it; and she couldn't help loving you,
+even if I do say it. Why, a queen might be proud of you! If we knew
+some one to ask."
+
+"There is Mr. Howard," Florence suggested.
+
+"Sure enough. He would see all sides of it. We'll go over after the
+work is done;" and Granny tried to smile a little lightness into her
+sad face.
+
+Charlie had gone to pull weeds for a neighbor, Hal was out also, so
+there was only Kit to dinner. After that was out of the way, and Dot
+had her nap, they made themselves ready for their call.
+
+Florence tried her best to make a lady out of Granny. A queer little
+old woman she was, and would be to the end of the chapter. Her bonnet
+was dreadfully old-fashioned, and her gingham dress too short for
+modern requirements. Her wrinkled hands were as brown as berries, and
+she never _would_ wear gloves in the summer. Then, after she was all
+ready, she surreptitiously tied on her black alpaca apron; at which
+Flossy gave a sigh of despair.
+
+The parsonage was a pretty little nest, half-covered with vines, and
+shaded by a great sycamore. Dolly and Fred Howard were playing on the
+grass, and Dot started for the small group instantly.
+
+"O Mrs. Kenneth! how do you do? What a stranger you are! And here is
+Florence, fresh as a rose! I heard that you had run away, my child.
+Come and sit in the shade here: it is cooler than within doors. Mary,
+here are some visitors."
+
+Mrs. Howard gave them a cordial welcome, and insisted that Granny
+should lay aside her bonnet. She inquired if Florence had enjoyed her
+month at Seabury, and if she was not glad to get back again.
+
+Granny twisted her apron-strings, and glanced at the young girl
+uneasily. Of course she must begin somehow, but there was a great
+sinking at her heart.
+
+"Flossy's had a chance," she began; and then the strings were untied.
+"We thought we'd come and ask a little advice. It's hard tellin' what's
+for the best;" and Granny looked as if she might break down into a cry.
+
+"A chance for an education?" asked Mrs. Howard.
+
+"No: it's--to go for good. Flossy, you tell. I am not much of a hand at
+getting things straight," murmured Granny.
+
+Florence told the story in a very ladylike fashion, giving it the air
+of a romance.
+
+"Why, Florence, that is quite an adventure. And she wants to adopt
+you?" Mrs. Howard exclaimed, much interested.
+
+"Do you know any thing about this Mrs. Osgood?" asked Mr. Howard.
+
+Florence used her limited knowledge to its fullest extent.
+
+"Oh! I believe I know something about Mrs. Duncan. Dr. Carew was
+attending the boy. I have heard him speak of them all. Isn't Mrs.
+Osgood something of an invalid,--rather full of whims?"
+
+"She is not very strong," Florence admitted.
+
+"But it is a remarkable offer," rejoined Mrs. Howard. "And to have one
+of the family so well provided for, seems like an especial providence."
+
+"But to have her go away," said Granny. "To give her up, and never see
+her again!"
+
+"That does seem unkind. Perhaps it would not be quite as bad as that."
+
+Mr. Howard studied Florence attentively for a few moments. He had
+always considered her rather above her station.
+
+"It certainly is a generous proposal, granting every thing to be as
+represented. Florence will receive a superior education, and be raised
+above the care and drudgery of life. Yet she may have to devote many
+of her best years to Mrs. Osgood; and ministering to an invalid is
+wearisome work. It is taking her entirely away from her family, to be
+sure; but, putting aside love, she might never be able to help along
+much. Women are not extravagantly remunerated; and, if she went away to
+teach school, she could not do much more than take care of herself. And
+there would be a partial separation."
+
+Florence gave Mr. Howard a look of relief and thankfulness.
+
+"I don't want to keep her from doing whatever will be best," said
+Granny tremulously.
+
+"There are Joe and Hal to help along,--smart boys both. And though
+your strong and tender arms have kept the little flock together these
+many years, they will wear out by and by. And, if any accident befell
+you, it would be well to have some of them provided for. The important
+question seems to be whether what Florence can do at home will
+compensate for what she must relinquish. The entire separation appears
+to me rather unjust. You said that Mrs. Osgood proposed that you should
+take counsel of some one: suppose I should go to Seabury, and talk the
+matter over with her?"
+
+"Oh, if you would!" said Florence beseechingly. She felt that Mr.
+Howard was on her side, though she did not quite understand why.
+
+"Yes," rejoined Granny, catching at a straw. "You could tell her how it
+is,--poor Joe's children, every one on 'em so precious to me. I never
+had much learnin'; but I love 'em for father and mother both, and I
+can't bear to think of their going away. Ah, well! it's a world full of
+trouble, though they've always been good to me, poor dears."
+
+Mrs. Howard turned away her face to hide her tears, and presently left
+them to get a slice of nice fresh cake and a glass of milk for her
+guests. Her heart really ached for Granny.
+
+So it was settled that Mr. Howard would go over to Seabury, and learn
+all the particulars of the offer. Granny was very thankful indeed. Soon
+after, they picked up Dot, and started homeward.
+
+"You rather approve of it," Mrs. Howard said to her husband, watching
+the retreating figures, and smiling at Dot, who pulled at every wayside
+daisy-head.
+
+"Florence has her heart set upon it, that is plain to see."
+
+"And yet it seems ungrateful in her."
+
+"It would be nobler for her to stay with Granny, and help rear the
+others. Yet that is more than one can reasonably expect of pretty young
+girlhood."
+
+"She is industrious, and has many excellent points but she is a good
+deal ashamed of the poverty."
+
+"I wonder whether she would be any real assistance? She has a good deal
+of vanity, and love of dress; and no doubt she would spend most of her
+money upon herself. Then, in some mood of dissatisfaction, she might
+marry unwisely, and perhaps be more trouble than comfort to Granny. If
+Mrs. Osgood is in earnest, Florence would at least receive an education
+that might fit her for a nice position in case Mrs. Osgood tired of
+her."
+
+"And the life at home is not a great delight to her," said Mr. Howard
+with a smile. "But whether I would like to give up my brothers and
+sisters"--
+
+"Florence is peculiar. Ten years from this time she may love them
+better than she does now."
+
+There was a noisy time in the "Old Shoe" that night. They were all
+so glad to have Flossy back again. Kit played on imaginary fiddles;
+Charlie climbed on her chair, and once came tumbling over into her lap;
+Hal watched her with delight, and thought her prettier than ever; Joe
+whistled and sang, and told her all that had occurred in the store,
+pointing his stories with an occasional somerset, or standing on his
+head to Dot's great satisfaction.
+
+"Well, that is really margaret-nificent," declared Joe, flourishing
+Granny's old apron on the broomstick. "Flossy, you are in luck! It is
+all due to your winning ways and curly hair."
+
+"If I go"--with a sad little sigh.
+
+"Go? why, of course you will! She'd be a great goose; would she not,
+Granny?
+
+    'Washing and ironing I daily have to do;
+    Baking and brewing I must remember too;
+    Three small children to maintain:
+    Oh, how I wish I was single again!'"
+
+sang Joe with irresistible drollery.
+
+Granny laughed; but she winked her eyes hard, and something suspicious
+shone in them.
+
+"It would be splendid, and no mistake! To think of having a piano, and
+learning French, and riding in a carriage--'A coach and four and a gold
+galore!' And then pretty Peggy we should"--
+
+Joe made a great pause, for something stuck in his throat.
+
+"But couldn't we ever see you?" asked Charlie.
+
+An awesome silence fell over the little group.
+
+"If you could come and see us once in a while," said Hal softly. "We
+would not so much mind not going _there_"--
+
+"I'd run away and visit her," announced daring Charlie. "I'd hide about
+in the woods until I saw her some day, and then"--
+
+"They'd set the dog on you."
+
+"Hum! As if I was afraid of a dog, Joe Kenneth! I'd snap my fingers in
+his face, and ask him what he had for breakfast. Then I'd come back
+home and tell you all about it."
+
+"The breakfast, or the dog?"
+
+"Joseph, I am afraid you are getting in your dotage," said Charlie with
+a shake of the head. "But, if I started to, I know I'd find Florence."
+
+"It is rather cruel," said Joe sturdily. "I don't see why she should
+want to take you entirely away from us."
+
+"We cannot look at it just as the lady does," said Hal's mild voice. "I
+suppose she thinks, if she does so much for Flossy, that she ought to
+have a good deal of love in return."
+
+"She is ashamed of us because we are poor. But maybe if we managed to
+get along, and grow up nicely--she wouldn't feel so--so particular
+about it."
+
+"I don't believe she would," exclaimed Florence. "You see, people
+are so different; and--I'm sure I've always wanted you to have nice
+manners."
+
+"So you have, Flossy," declared Joe. "And you were meant for a lady."
+
+Hal and Granny sat on the doorstep after the rest had gone to bed,
+crying a little, and yet finding some comfort.
+
+"It would be so nice for Florence!" Hal said in his pleading tone.
+"She would always have to work here, and not learn music and all those
+lovely things. And she has such a beautiful voice, you know, and such
+pretty hands, and nice, dainty ways"--
+
+"But never to see her again!" groaned Granny.
+
+"I think we shall see her,--some time. Perhaps Mrs. Osgood might die:
+she is not very well, and Flossy might come back to us. Oh, yes,
+Granny, I do believe we shall see her again!"
+
+"I've loved you all so much!"
+
+"And we should always love you, even if we went to Japan. Then, if
+Flossy should have to work hard, and be unhappy, we might be sorry that
+we kept her out of any thing so nice."
+
+"I do believe you are right, Hal; only it's so hard to think of not
+seeing her again."
+
+"I'll try to make it up, dear. You will always have me."
+
+The soft young lips kissed those that quivered so piteously, and
+smoothed the wet, wrinkled cheek.
+
+"We'll pray about it, Granny. Somehow it seems as if God made these
+things plain after a while; and it is in his hands. He hears the ravens
+cry, poor, hungry little birdies; and he must care for us. He will
+watch over Florence."
+
+"O Hal, you talk like a minister! Maybe you will be one some day. And
+it is so sweet to have you, dear boy!"
+
+"I shall never be half good enough," he said solemnly.
+
+He crept up to his room, but laid awake a long while, watching the
+stars, and thinking.
+
+Florence resolved the next day that she would not go, and braced
+herself to martyr-like endurance. But oh, how mean and poor every thing
+appeared by contrast! Charlie in rags,--you never could keep Charlie
+in whole clothes; Dot playing in the dirt, for, though you washed
+her twenty times an hour, she would not stay clean; the shabby, old
+fashioned, tumble-down cottage,--no, Mrs. Osgood never would want any
+of these wild Arabs visiting her.
+
+So she shed many quiet tears. Perhaps it would be best to make the
+sacrifice, hard as it was.
+
+Granny saw it all. Her old eyes were not blind, and her heart smote her
+for something akin to selfishness. Poor, aching heart.
+
+"Flossy," she said, over her heart-break, "if Mr. Howard is satisfied,
+I think you had better go."
+
+"I have about decided to give it up. Perhaps it is my _duty_ to stay."
+
+Granny scanned the face eagerly, but found there no cheerful and sweet
+self-denial.
+
+"I've been thinking it over"--her voice broken and quavering. "Perhaps
+it will be best. Though I don't like to part with you, for your poor
+father"--and Granny's inconsequent speech ended in tears.
+
+"I'll stay home then, and do what I can; only it seems as if there
+were so many of us,--and the place so little, and I can't help being
+different, and liking music and education, and a nice orderly house"--
+
+"No, you can't help it. Poor Joe--your father I mean--liked 'em all
+too. I've sometimes thought that maybe, if he'd gone away, he might
+have been a gentleman. He'd a master voice to sing. And God will watch
+over you there, and not let you come to harm. Oh, dear!"
+
+Granny covered her face with her apron, and cried softly.
+
+Mr. Howard called that evening. He had been quite favorably impressed
+with Mrs. Osgood's proposal.
+
+"Her connections are all reputable people," he said; "and I think
+she means to treat Florence like a daughter. She can give her many
+advantages, and she is strongly attached to her already. But she _is_
+exclusive and aristocratic. She wants Florence all to herself. Still,
+she has made one concession: she will allow her to write home once a
+year."
+
+"And then I could tell you every thing!" exclaimed Florence overjoyed.
+
+"But she is resolved not to permit any visiting. To be sure, time may
+soften this condition; yet, if Florence goes, she ought to abide by her
+promise."
+
+"Yes," answered the child meekly.
+
+"It does seem a remarkable opportunity. I do not know as it would be
+wise to refuse."
+
+Ah, if one _could_ know what was for the best! The days flew by
+so rapidly, there was so much talking, but never any coming to a
+conclusion. Joe was loudly on Florence's side. So was Hal, for
+that matter; but from more thoughtful motives. And Granny was too
+conscientious to stand in the way of the child's advancement, much as
+she loved her, and longed to keep her.
+
+Then, on Friday evening they sat on the old stone doorstep, a sad
+group, going over the subject in low, sad tones, the pain of parting
+already in their voices. Granny's vehemence had subsided. Hal had
+Florence's soft hand in his, Kit's head was in her lap, and Charlie sat
+at her feet.
+
+Should she go? When all the mists and glamor of desire cleared away,
+as they did now in the calm star-light, with God watching up above,
+she felt that it would be nobler and truer to remain with them, and
+share the poverty and the trials. For to have them ill, dying perhaps,
+without looking upon their dear faces, with no last words or last
+kisses to remember, was more than she could bear. Would it not seem
+selfish to go off to luxury and indolence, when they must struggle on
+with toil and care and poverty?
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, going to Granny's arms, with a sob. "I believe
+I cannot leave you when it comes to absolute parting. We have been
+happy, in spite of the troubles and wants. I should miss you all so
+much! And, if I could get to be a teacher, I might help a little."
+
+Granny held her to her heart, and kissed the wet face again and again.
+
+"My dear darling, God bless you!" she said brokenly.
+
+Flossy thought herself a very heroic girl. There was a great lump
+in her throat, and she could not utter another word. It was a born
+princess turning her back on the palace.
+
+Hal and Joe eyed each other inquisitively. It was the noblest thing she
+could do, but would it be the wisest?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+  OUT OF THE OLD HOME-NEST.
+
+
+But then it all looked so different by daylight! The old rickety house,
+the noisy children, the general shabbiness, and the life of hard work
+and dissatisfaction, stretching out interminably. For, to the eyes
+of fifteen, it seems a long way to fifty; and roses are so much more
+tempting than thorns!
+
+Hal found her out in the garden crying.
+
+"Dear Flossy," he began tenderly, "I think you had better go, after
+all. When the parting is over, Granny will be reconciled, and
+understand that it is for the best."
+
+"But I ought to stay at home and help," she sobbed. "If I could do
+both"--
+
+"That is not possible;" and Hal tried to smile away the tears in his
+eyes.
+
+"It looks so--so foolish not to be able to make up one's mind."
+
+"It is a hard case, and there is so much on Mrs. Osgood's side."
+
+"Hal, what would you do?" and Florence glanced up earnestly.
+
+"My darling, I think you want to go, and that you would always be
+unhappy and regretful if you staid. We can't help all our feelings and
+wants and tastes; and it seems as if you were born for a lady. That is
+natural too."
+
+"But I do love you all, and dear Granny"--
+
+"We shall never doubt that," he answered re-assuringly. "We shall often
+sit on the old doorstep, and talk about you, and try to imagine you in
+the beautiful house, with the pictures and the piano, and all the nice
+things you will be learning. It will be just lovely for us too. Then
+you can write every summer."
+
+"And perhaps I shall come back when I am a woman!"
+
+At this Florence brightened wonderfully, but after a moment said, "You
+don't think it very selfish, Hal?"
+
+"My dear, no," replied brave little Hal. "I am sure it would be a great
+trial for me to give up any thing so splendid."
+
+"If you would only tell Granny--again."
+
+Hal nodded; for he couldn't say any more just then.
+
+Granny wiped the tears out of her old eyes with the corner of her
+checked apron, and trod upon the cat, stretched out upon the floor, who
+added her pathetic howl to the fund of general sorrow.
+
+So it came to pass, when Mrs. Osgood made her appearance, Florence was
+quite elegant and composed. The lady was very, very gracious. She
+expatiated on the great advantage this step would be to Florence, the
+pleasure to _her_, and the relief to Granny to know that one of her
+flock was provided for. Of course, she understood it was hard to part
+with her; but they had so many left, that in a little while they would
+hardly miss her. Then they _would_ hear about her, and no doubt come to
+rejoice in her good fortune.
+
+Indeed, by the time Mr. Howard arrived, she had talked them into quite
+a reasonable frame of mind. She promised to treat her like a daughter,
+educate her handsomely; so that, in case of her death, Florence would
+be able to take care of herself. If, at the end of the first year,
+she should feel unwilling to remain, Mrs. Osgood would not oppose her
+return.
+
+Granny was calm, but very grave, while these preliminaries were being
+discussed. Hal kept swallowing over great sobs that wrenched his heart
+at every breath. The agreement was concluded and signed.
+
+"Now, my dear, put on your hat," said Mrs. Osgood in her sweetest tone.
+"Brief partings are the kindest; are they not, Mr. Howard? I am much
+obliged for your assistance in this matter; and you must permit me to
+offer you a small donation for your pretty little church."
+
+Granny's tears streamed afresh; but Hal managed her with delicate
+tenderness. Florence kissed them all many times. Dot wanted to go in
+the "boofer wagon;" while Kit and Charlie looked on, with tearful,
+wondering eyes, not half understanding the importance of the step.
+
+Then--she was driving away. One last, long look. Was that the waving of
+her pretty white hand? Their eyes were too dim to see.
+
+"It seems to me that she will come back to the old house some time,"
+said Hal, breaking the sad silence.
+
+Granny turned away, and shut herself in the best room. For a long while
+they heard nothing of her. But God was listening to the heart-broken
+prayer, which he answered in his own time and his own way.
+
+"So Flossy's gone!" exclaimed Joe soberly that night. "I can't make it
+seem a bit real. Air-castles don't generally turn into the substantial.
+After the king's ball I guess she will come home in glass slippers, and
+we will have her giving us loads of good advice. It is so sure to be
+true, Granny, that we can afford to take a little comfort meanwhile."
+
+Granny did not laugh as usual. Kit chewed his thumb vigorously, and saw
+piles of violins in the distance.
+
+But they confessed to being very lonesome on Sunday. Charlie declined
+wearing Flossy's second-best hat; for she insisted that she "felt it in
+her bones" that Florence would return, which Joe declared was incipient
+rheumatism, and that she must take a steam-bath over the spout of the
+tea-kettle. Yet secretly in his heart he had greater faith in the
+mythical sea-captain who was to take him off with flying colors.
+
+About a month afterwards they received a letter from Mrs. Osgood. Joe
+displayed the handsome monogram in great triumph, and begged Mr. Terry
+to let him run home with it at noon. They all crowded round him with
+eager eyes.
+
+"It's Granny's letter," he said, handing it to her.
+
+"Read it, Hal," she rejoined tremulously.
+
+Mrs. Osgood gave a delightful account of Florence; declaring that she
+already loved her as a mother, and, the homesickness being over, she
+was studying industriously. There was no doubt but that she would make
+a very fine musician; and it was extremely fortunate that such talent
+could be rescued in time to make the most of it. Then Florence added
+a few words, to say that she was very happy, and that it seemed like
+fairy-land, every thing was so beautiful. She enclosed a gift for them
+all, and said good-by until next year.
+
+They felt then how surely they were divided; yet they all rejoiced in
+Flossy's good fortune. Mr. and Mrs. Howard were very kind; but I think
+Hal's tender love did more towards comforting Granny than all the rest.
+She kept telling herself that it was foolish to grieve; yet there was
+a dumb ache way down in the poor old heart, an empty corner where one
+birdling had flown out of the home-nest.
+
+The affair had created quite an excitement in Madison. Joe pictured
+it in the most gorgeous style, and made Mrs. Osgood an actual fairy
+godmother. Mrs. Van Wyck, who still held a little grudge against her,
+insisted that it was not half as grand as the Kenneths represented it.
+
+"Now, Mr. Howard," she said at one of the parsonage gatherings, "is it
+really true? Did this woman adopt that flyaway Kenneth girl, or only
+take her as a sort of servant? And is she so very rich?"
+
+"Mrs. Osgood is a lady of means and position, and is connected with
+some of the most reliable people in New York. She has legally adopted
+Florence, and I was a witness to the agreement. It certainly was a
+rather remarkable event."
+
+"Well, she's nothing but a bunch of vanity, anyhow. She'll make one of
+the high-flyers, without a grain of sense, and I dare say elope with
+the coachman. I wish the woman joy of her bargain;" and Mrs. Van Wyck
+set her cap-streamers in violent motion.
+
+Autumn came on apace. Poor Granny was grievously perplexed when she
+entered the clothing-campaign. Florence's fertile brain and handy
+fingers were sorely missed. Granny did her best; but the tasty touches
+the child was wont to add, that transformed the commonest garb into
+certain prettiness, were lacking now. Still, Charlie thought it a
+godsend to have so many clothes all at once, having fallen heir to
+Flossy's discarded heritage.
+
+"Granny!" exclaimed Hal, rushing in breathless one afternoon, "Mr.
+Kinsey says he will take all my chickens to market! Isn't that
+splendid? He is going on Friday, and again next Tuesday; and he showed
+me how to make a crate to pack them in. Now is the very time, he says."
+
+"But we'll have to kill 'em, Hal!" exclaimed Granny aghast.
+
+"To be sure: that's the hard part of it, isn't it;" and Hal looked
+sober.
+
+"They seem a'most like human beings. They patter round after Dot, and
+talk to her in their queer fashion, and eat out of her hand. But, then,
+we couldn't keep them all through the winter."
+
+"We shall save the pets. There are some that I could not spare. But you
+must not grow chicken-hearted, Granny;" and he laughed softly at her.
+
+"Deary me! Somehow I can't bear to part with any thing any more. What a
+foolish old cretur!"
+
+"The dearest old creature in the world!" and Hal kissed her. "I wouldn't
+have you changed a mite, except, that, when you were almost a hundred,
+I'd like to set you back so that we could keep you always."
+
+"I sha'n't be worth it, Hal;" and she shook her head.
+
+"I shall have to stay home from school on Tuesday. I am quite anxious
+to know what our fortune will be, and whether it has paid."
+
+For Hal had gone back to school, as there seemed no business opening
+for him. Mr. Terry had raised Joe's wages; and, one way and another,
+they managed to get along quite comfortably. Hal tried to make up for
+the absence of Florence, and comforted Granny in many tender, girlish
+ways. He would pull her cap straight, and find her glasses and her
+thimble, two things that were forever going astray. Then he borrowed
+books from one and another to read aloud evenings; and, though Granny
+sat in the chimney-corner and nodded, she always declared that it was
+the loveliest thing in the world, and that she didn't believe but Hal
+would write a book some day himself, he was so powerful fond of them.
+
+To Charlie and Kit this was a great enjoyment. Indeed, it seemed as
+if in most things they listened more readily than they ever had to
+Florence. Dear, sweet-souled Hal! Your uses and duties in the world
+were manifold. And yet it tries our faith to see such fine gold dropped
+into the crucible. Is it those whom the Lord loveth?
+
+They had a great time on Thursday. Joe was up early in the morning, as
+he thought there was some fun in making an onslaught upon the army of
+chickens; so when Hal and Granny stepped over the threshold, they saw a
+great pile of decapitated fowls.
+
+"Why, Hal, you'll make a mint of money!" exclaimed Joe. "I suppose you
+mean to put it in government bonds."
+
+Hal only laughed.
+
+But he and Granny were busy as bees all day. About four o'clock Mr.
+Kinsey came over to see how the packing progressed.
+
+"There are just two dozen," said Hal; "and I shall have two dozen again
+next week."
+
+"They're beauties too! Why, I believe they go ahead of mine. You've
+plucked them nicely. Poultry's pretty high this year; retailing at
+twenty-five and twenty-eight, I heard."
+
+They weighed them, and then laid them snugly in the crate; plump and
+yellow, looking almost good enough to eat without a pinch of salt, Mr.
+Kinsey said.
+
+"Now I shall send them all over to the station, and they'll go through
+in the freight-train. Jim will soon be here with the wagon."
+
+Joe and Hal counted up the possible profit that evening. They had
+raised, with all their broods, sixty-five chickens. The actual outlay
+for food had been seventeen dollars; and Hal had sold eggs to the value
+of two dollars and a half.
+
+"It's better than keeping store, I do believe!" ejaculated Joe. "Hal,
+you have a genius for farming."
+
+"Does raising chickens prove it?"
+
+"If a hundred of corn-meal costs two fifty, what will the biggest
+chanticleer in the lot come to? There's a question for you, Granny."
+
+"Why, it would depend on--how much he weighed," said Granny cautiously.
+
+"Oh, no! it would depend on how you cooked him. In my kitchen he'd come
+to pot-pie, according to the double rule of a good hot fire."
+
+"You won't sell 'em all, Hal?" said Charlie anxiously.
+
+"No: we will have a little Thanksgiving for ourselves."
+
+Granny sighed. They all knew of whom she was thinking,--a sweet,
+fair face dropped out of the circle. Now that Flossy was gone, they
+remembered only her pleasant qualities; and it seemed as if Joe did not
+care half so much for making a noise when she was not here to be teased.
+
+Mr. Kinsey did not return until Saturday, but he came over with a
+smiling face.
+
+"Royal luck for you, Hal!" he said in his hearty tone. "I've half a
+mind to make you guess, and keep all that is over."
+
+"But I might guess high;" and a bright smile brought sunshine into the
+boy's face.
+
+"Try it, then."
+
+"Thirty dollars," ventured Hal, rather hesitatingly. "Though I don't
+believe it _is_ as much as that."
+
+"Thirty-two dollars; and the same man has spoken for your next lot.
+They were about the handsomest chickens in the market."
+
+"Oh! isn't that splendid?" said Hal. "Why, I can hardly believe it!"
+
+"There's the money. I've always observed that there's no eye-salve like
+money;" and Mr. Kinsey laughed.
+
+"You ought to have something for your trouble."
+
+"No, my fine little fellow. I shall only take out the freight. I'm glad
+to see you so energetic; and I do hope you will prosper as well in
+every thing you undertake."
+
+Hal thanked Mr. Kinsey again and again, and insisted that he should
+come over and do some work for the farmer; but that gentleman only
+laughed.
+
+"Have your second lot ready on Tuesday evening," said he, as he wished
+them good-day.
+
+The next was still more of a success, for they netted thirty-four
+dollars. Hal was overjoyed.
+
+"That certainly is 'bully!' our dear Flossy to the contrary," declared
+Joe. "Why, I'm so glad that I could stand on my head or the tip of my
+little finger. What _will_ you do with it all? Granny, was there ever
+so much money in this old house? It's lucky that I have a pistol to
+keep guard."
+
+Granny smiled, but a tear crept to the corner of her eye.
+
+"Now let us reckon it all up," said Hal. "Here is my book."
+
+Every item had been put down in the most systematic manner. They made
+a list of the expenses, and added the column, then subtracted it from
+the whole sum.
+
+"Forty-seven dollars!"
+
+"All that clear!" asked Granny in amaze.
+
+"Yes. Isn't it wonderful?"
+
+Joe could hold in no longer; but took a tour over the chairs, as if
+they had been a part of the flying trapeze. Hal's eyes were as large as
+saucers,--small ones.
+
+"I wouldn't a' believed it! But you've been very ekernomical, Hal, and
+used every thing, and raised so much corn"--
+
+"And the buckwheat-field was so nice for them! If we can only keep them
+comfortable through the winter, and have them lay lots of eggs!"
+
+"It's astonishing how contrary they are when eggs are scarce," said Joe
+gravely. "What do you suppose is the reason, Charlie?"
+
+"Forty-seven dollars!" said Charlie, loftily ignoring the last remark.
+
+"Enough to buy me a fiddle," Kit remarked.
+
+"It will have to buy a good many things," said Hal. "I am so very, very
+thankful for it."
+
+Granny insisted that Hal should have a suit of clothes, and finally
+persuaded him into buying a complete outfit. That took twenty-three
+dollars. Then some boots for Kit, shoes for Charley, a pretty dress
+for Dot, a barrel of flour, and there was very little of it left.
+
+"But it was really magnificent!" said Hal with a sigh of pleasure. "I
+shall try it again next year, if you don't mind the trouble, Granny."
+
+Granny said that she should not.
+
+Their Christmas festival was quiet compared to the last one. Flossy had
+helped make them gay then, and there had been the wonderful shoe. Would
+any thing ever be quite as brilliant again?
+
+"It almost seems as if Flossy was dead, doesn't it?" Hal said softly
+to granny. "And yet I suppose she has had lots of presents, and
+is--very--happy."
+
+"God keep her safely," answered Granny.
+
+Before spring some changes came to Madison. Grandmother Kinsey died,
+having reached a good old age; and Mr. Kinsey resolved to put his pet
+project into execution,--removing to the West, and farming on a large
+scale. Everybody was very sorry to have them go. It seemed to Granny as
+if she were losing her best friend. Ah! by and by the world would look
+very wide and desolate.
+
+But the Kenneths had a little recompense for their loss. In casting
+about for a parting gift to Hal, fortune seemed to put an excellent one
+right in his way. In having some dealings with Farmer Peters, he took
+the small piece of land that Hal had made so profitable, and deeded it
+to the boy.
+
+"It is not much," he said; "but it may help along a little. I only wish
+you were going out West with me. That's the place for boys!"
+
+Hal almost wished that he could.
+
+"But you will come and visit us some day, I know. You are a brave,
+ambitious little chap, and deserve to prosper. I hope you will, indeed."
+
+Hal was a good deal astonished, and wonderfully thankful for his gift.
+To think of being actual owner of some land!
+
+"You beat the Dutch for luck, Hal! I never did see any thing like it,"
+was Joe's comment.
+
+All Madison bewailed the Kinseys. They were some of the oldest
+settlers, and it was like removing a landmark. Mrs. Kinsey did not
+forget Granny, but sent her many useful articles in the way of old
+clothes, and some furniture that would have brought but a trifle at
+auction, yet served to quite renovate the little cottage. But when
+Granny tried to thank her kind friend, Mrs. Kinsey said,--
+
+"I've always been glad to do what I could; for when I thought of you at
+your age, taking charge of all those little ones, it seemed as if every
+one ought to stand by you. And they will be a comfort to you, I know.
+God will not let you go without some reward."
+
+Granny wiped the tears from her eyes, and answered brokenly. One and
+another were dropping out of her world.
+
+She had hardly recovered from this blow when one night Joe came home in
+high glee.
+
+"The luck's changed, Hal!" he said in his laughing, breezy voice. "Just
+guess"--
+
+"More wages?"
+
+"No indeed! Better still, a great sight. If you have tears, please
+wring out your pocket-hand_kerchers_, and prepare to shed 'em! Slightly
+altered from Shakspeare. I'm going to sea! Hip, hip, hurrah!"
+
+Joe swung his old hat so hard that crown and brim parted, the crown
+landing on the mantle-piece.
+
+"Couldn't have done better if I'd tried. I'm a dead shot, for certain!"
+
+"Going to sea?"
+
+Granny came out at that.
+
+"Yes. A cousin of Mr. Terry's has been visiting there; and we have
+struck up a friendship and a bargain,--Cap'n Burton. He owns a sloop
+that goes to Albany and around, and wants a boy who can keep books a
+little, and all that. It's just as jolly as a lark!"
+
+It was plain to be seen that Joe no longer stood in awe of Florence's
+ladylike reprimands.
+
+Granny's eyes grew larger and larger. She fairly clutched Joe's arm as
+she gasped,--
+
+"Going--to sea!"
+
+"Yes, Granny. Don't get solemn new, as if you thought a shark would
+devour me the first thing,--body and boots. You know it always _was_
+my idea, and this is real splendid! And there's no more danger than
+driving Mr. Terry's grocery-wagon."
+
+"But you might get drownded," Granny said awesomely.
+
+"Tell you what I'll do, Granny. Tie a rope to my leg, and fasten it
+to the mast. Then you know, if I fall overboard, I can haul in. There
+isn't a bit of danger. Why, Capt. Burton's been all his life. There,
+don't cry. You are the dearest old grandmother that ever was; but we
+can't stay under your wing forever."
+
+"You have not made your bargain?" asked Hal, surprised that another
+dream should come true.
+
+"Well,--almost. He's coming down here in the morning to have a talk
+with Granny. He will give me ten dollars a month and found, which mean,
+tea and fish and baccy."
+
+"Oh!" said Hal, "you won't chew tobacco?"
+
+"Sailors always do. But ten dollars a month _is_ better than eight, and
+my board thrown in. I'm going, Granny."
+
+Granny sighed. It was useless to endeavor to talk Joe out of his
+project; and so she might as well keep silence.
+
+Capt. Burton came the next morning. He had taken a wonderful fancy to
+Joe, and was very anxious to engage him.
+
+"He's just the kind of lad that I need," exclaimed the captain. "I
+want some one who is handy, and quick in figgers; who can keep my
+accounts for me, as my eyes are getting rather poor; and do arrants;
+and I've taken a 'mazing liking to him. I'll keep a good watch over
+him; and he can come home once in a while."
+
+"How far do you go?" asked Granny.
+
+"To Albany, mostly. Now and then I take a trip around Long Island, or
+up the Sound. Your boy has taken a 'mazing fancy to the sea; and he
+will never be satisfied until he's had a taste of salt water, in my
+'pinion."
+
+"No, that I won't!" declared Joe stoutly.
+
+"We haul off in the winter 'bout three months; which'll give him a
+holiday. Sence he hankers after it so, you better consent, I think.
+Cousin Terry will tell you that I ain't a hard master."
+
+What could Granny say? Nothing but cry a little, look up Joe's clothes,
+and kiss him a hundred times, or more, after the fashion of Mrs. Malloy
+and her dear Pat. Joe was so delighted, that he could hardly "hold in
+his skin," as he said to Kit, who sagely advised him not to get into a
+cast-iron sweat,--Kit's chronic fear on remarkable occasions.
+
+There was not much time for consideration. In two days Joe was off, bag
+and baggage, whistling, "The girl I left behind me."
+
+And so the gay household thinned out. They missed Joe terribly. To be
+sure, vacation commenced after a while; and Kit and Charlie were in
+mischief continually, or in rags: Granny hardly knew which was worse.
+
+They had some glowing letters from Joe, who didn't believe there was
+any thing finer in Europe than New York and the Hudson River. Capt.
+Burton was a "jolly old tar;" and nautical phrases were sprinkled about
+thick as blackberries.
+
+Mr. Terry offered the place in the store to Hal, who consulted awhile
+with Granny.
+
+"I think I could make as much money by working round, and raising
+chickens, and all that; and then I could go to school. I believe I
+should like it better; and there is so much that I want to learn!"
+
+"But you know a master sight now, Hal," said Granny in admiration.
+
+So the proposal was very kindly declined.
+
+Charlie thought Fourth of July was "awful dull" this year. She lamented
+Joe loudly.
+
+"If she had only been a boy!" said Hal regretfully.
+
+The latter part of July, Joe came home for a flying visit. It seemed
+as if he had grown taller in this brief while. His curly hair had been
+cropped close; and he was brown as an Indian. Charlie made herself a
+perpetual interrogation-point; and Joe told her the most marvellous
+yarns that ever were invented. She soon learned every thing about the
+sloop, and wished that she could be a sailor, but finally comforted
+herself by thinking that she _might_ marry a sea-captain.
+
+Then, to crown all, they had a letter from Florence. It was written on
+tinted paper, and had a beautiful monogram in green and gold. She was
+very well, very happy; had grown a little taller than Mrs. Osgood; and
+was studying every thing. She could play quite well, and read French,
+and went to dancing-school, besides lovely little parties. Then the
+house was so elegant! She had never been homesick at all.
+
+Perhaps she thought it would be wrong to wish to see them; for that was
+never once expressed.
+
+"But I am glad she is happy," said Granny, striving to be heroic.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+  JOE'S FORTUNE.
+
+
+Hal's chickens were a success again, though it cost more for him to
+get them to market this fall. And, since eggs seemed to be a very
+profitable speculation, they concluded to winter over quite a number,
+mostly spring broods. Hal enlarged their house; as he had a wonderful
+gift, Granny declared, for building. And a very nice place it was, I
+can assure you.
+
+Granny still wove rag-carpets and the like, and now and then helped a
+neighbor at house-cleaning; but she had not worked out so much since
+the Kinseys went away. It troubled Hal to have her do it at all.
+
+"When I get a little older, you never shall, Granny," he would say,
+giving her a fond hug; and she would answer,--
+
+"You're a great blessing, Hal. Whatever should I have done without you?"
+
+Dot grew nicely, though she was still "small for her size." Joe said.
+But now she kept quite well; and she was as fair as a lily, with tiny
+golden curls that never seemed to grow long. There the resemblance to
+Florence ceased. She was such an odd, old-fashioned little thing! and
+reminded Hal more of Granny than any one else.
+
+"It would be sweet to have her a baby always, now that she is well,
+and doesn't cry all the time," said Hal. "I'm sorry to have her lose
+all her crooked baby words. Joe use to laugh so over 'pety poket,' and
+'poky hontis,' and 'umbebella tause it wained.' Dear, dear! shall we
+ever have such nice, gay times again, Granny, when there wasn't any
+thing but mush and molasses for supper, and a crowd of hungry children?"
+
+Granny sighed at the remembrance.
+
+"And yet it is a comfort to grow up, and be able to do something for
+you."
+
+Hal studied hard, and spent much of his leisure time in reading.
+Charlie was wilder than a hawk, combining Joe's love of mischief with
+perfect lawlessness. Mr. Fielder tried every motive of reward, and
+every method of punishment; and Charlie cried one moment, but laughed
+the next, and, what was infinitely more aggravating, made all the
+children laugh. If every thing else failed her, she could draw funny
+faces on her slate, that set every one in a titter. And then she
+climbed trees, jumped fences, or perched herself on a post, and made
+Fourth-of-July orations. She could talk Irish with a true national
+screech and whoop, or broken German as if she had just come over; she
+could make "pigs under the gate," cats in a terrible combat, and a
+litter of puppies under your feet that would absolutely frighten you.
+
+Nobody could see what Granny Kenneth would do with Charlie. Florence,
+now, had been a lady; but Charlie was a regular wild Indian. She could
+work like a Trojan, but she did not like it; and as for sewing--well,
+there was no word that could describe the performance. With all her
+faults, she had a warm, tender side to her character. She fought Kit's
+battles, and always came off triumphant. She was never cruel to any
+thing smaller and weaker than herself; and I think no one ever could
+remember her telling a lie. But as Dot said in her sage way, with a
+solemn shake of the head,--
+
+"She was the worstest child we had."
+
+Joe came home the latter part of December as important as the Great
+Mogul himself. _We_ had been selling out the old craft, and were
+bargaining for a regular little beauty,--a trading-vessel to make trips
+between New York and the West Indies, Cuba, and all those places. The
+boys opened their eyes at that. Joe Kenneth actually going to Havana,
+to be feasted continually upon oranges, figs, cocoanuts, and bananas!
+
+Why, it was wonderful! incredible! There _was_ nothing like being a
+sailor, and travelling all over the world. Joe took upon himself the
+tallest kind of airs, confused the boys with his flying-jib and spanker
+and mizzen-mast and capstan and larboard and starboard, and forty
+other things that he knew all about, and they didn't. And then the
+frolics and tricks, the sailors' yarns, the storms and dangers, held
+them all spell-bound. Indeed, I don't believe Joe ever knew so much
+again in all his life.
+
+Capt. Burton followed him about a week later. "The Morning Star" had
+been purchased, and was being repaired a little.
+
+The captain's principal errand in Madison was to see Granny Kenneth.
+
+"Joe and me gets along tip-top," he said. "He's a sailor all over:
+there isn't a hair in his head but loves salt water. And I'm as glad
+to have him as he is to go; but, as we were making a new bargain all
+round, it wouldn't 'a been the thing not to come here and have a talk
+with you."
+
+"Yes," replied Granny with a bob of her curls, though for her life she
+could not have told to what she was assenting.
+
+"It's just here, you see. If the lad means to be a sailor, he can't
+have a much better chance. He's smart and quick in figgers, which suits
+me to a shaving; and I'd like to take him for the next two years. I'll
+give twelve dollars a month, beginning now, and look after him as if
+he'd a been my own son. I had a lad once,--about like him. It all came
+back when I was at Cousin Terry's last winter, watching him, so full of
+pranks and tricks, and with a smile and a pleasant word for everybody.
+My Dick was jest so. I took him on a trip with me, for he had a
+hankerin' after the sea; but his poor mother she most grieved herself
+sick. There wa'n't no gals to comfort her. He was all we had. So I left
+him home next time. I can jest see him, with the tears shining in his
+eyes, and a' choking over his good-by; and then how he turned round
+and put his face right between his mother's neck and shoulder, so's I
+shouldn't see him cry. Well, when I came back my poor Dick was dead and
+buried."
+
+Granny gave a little sob, and Capt. Burton drew the back of his hand
+across his eyes.
+
+"Yes, 'twas a fever. His poor mother was 'most crazy. So I tried to
+comfort her. 'Sweetheart,' said I, 'God is all over, on the sea as well
+as the land, and he's brought our Dick into a better port, though we
+can't understand it jest now in our grief. If we didn't know there was
+a wiser hand than ours in it, we couldn't bear it; but that will help
+to cheer a bit. But it was a hard blow."
+
+Capt. Burton wiped his eyes, and cleared the huskiness from his voice.
+
+"So I took a 'mazing fancy to this lad; and I'm proud to say I like him
+better'n better. He's trusty, for all his fun and nonsense, and bright
+as steel. So, if you'll agree, I will promise to do my best, and put
+him along as fast as I can, so that by the time he's a man he will be
+able to manage a craft of his own. He's a smart lad."
+
+Granny was glad to hear the good report; and as for the bargain,--why,
+there was nothing to do but to consent. She did not know as it would be
+any worse to have Joe go to Cuba than to Albany.
+
+"It won't be as bad," said he. "Why, I can come home every time that
+we're in port unloading. It's the most splendid streak of luck that I
+ever heard of. And, Granny, I'm bound to go to China some day."
+
+Granny consented inwardly, with a great quaking of the heart.
+
+"And you'll have the green-house, Hal! Wasn't it funny that we should
+plan it all up in the old garret?"
+
+Hal's eyes sparkled with a distant hope.
+
+"Can't girls _ever_ go to sea?" asked Charlie.
+
+"Oh, yes! they can go to see their friends and take tea, or go to
+Europe if they have money enough."
+
+"I did not mean that!" she said with contempt.
+
+"Tell you what, Charlie," and there was a sly twinkle in Joe's eye:
+"there is something that you can do if you would like to be a boy."
+
+"What?" and Charlie was on tiptoe.
+
+"Why, there's a kind of mill somewhere; and they put girls in it, and
+grind 'em all up fine, and they come out boys!"
+
+"O Joe!"
+
+"Fact," said Joe solemnly.
+
+"I wonder--if--'twould--hurt much?" and Charlie considered on her
+powers of endurance.
+
+That was too much for Joe, and even Hal joined the laugh.
+
+"I knew it wasn't true," said Charlie, red with anger and
+disappointment. "But I do hate to be a girl, and you having all the fun
+and going everywhere."
+
+"Well, you can run away. There is a bright opening for your future."
+
+"You see if I don't!" returned Charlie.
+
+So Joe went off again in capital spirits. At Capt. Burton's suggestion
+he told Granny that he meant to give her half his pay; which she,
+simple soul, thought the noblest thing in the world.
+
+"I mean to do a good deal for you by and by, Granny. I'll be a captain
+some day, and make oceans of money."
+
+"It is nice to have Joe settled and in good hands," Hal said after he
+was gone. "And I hope we'll all be an honor to you, Granny."
+
+"You've been a comfort since the day you were born," was Granny's
+tremulous answer.
+
+They found Joe's six dollars a month a great help; and then the two
+were missed out of the dish, as well as the household circle. Hal still
+kept to his thoughtful ways, reading and studying, and planning how he
+should make his wants and his opportunities join hands. For somehow he
+did mean to compass the green-house.
+
+Joe's letters and stories were wonderfully entertaining. He began
+to lose the boy's braggadocio: indeed, the facts themselves were
+interesting enough, without much embellishment. One by one the
+islands came in for a share. Moro Castle and all the old Spanish
+fortifications, the natives who were so new and peculiar, the different
+modes of life, the business, the days and nights of listless, lovely
+sailing, the storms and dangers, gave a great variety to his life.
+
+Now and then he brought them some choice fruits; and, while Charlie and
+Kit devoured them, Hal used to sit and listen to the description of
+orange-groves, and how pine-apples and bananas grew. It was something
+to have been on the spot, and looked at them with your own eyes,--ever
+so much better than a book.
+
+Thus the months and years ran on. Joe was past sixteen, tall, and,
+though not thin, had a round, supple look, and could dance a break-down
+to perfection. He did not practise standing on his head quite so much,
+but I dare say he could have done it with equal grace. He was just as
+droll and as merry as ever; and you would always be able to tell him by
+the twinkle in his fun-loving eye. In fact, Joe Kenneth was "somebody"
+at Madison.
+
+Hal was much smaller of his age. Charlie began to evince symptoms of
+shooting up into a May-pole, and being all arms and legs. She was still
+thin, lanky indeed, and always burned as brown as a berry, except a
+few weeks at mid-winter; and her eyes looked larger than ever; while
+her hair was cropped close,--she would have it so, and, to her great
+disgust, it seemed as if it was actually turning red.
+
+"Because you always ran in the sun so much," Hal would say.
+
+They heard from Flossy, who was happy and prosperous,--a great lady
+indeed. She had elegant dresses, and went to grand parties, had created
+a sensation at Saratoga, been to Niagara Falls, and expected to spend
+the winter at Fifth-avenue Hotel.
+
+Ah, how far she had drifted beyond them! They could not cross the
+golden river that flowed between. Did she ever long for them a little?
+Would she be glad to drop down upon them in all her glory and beauty,
+and be kissed by the dear old lips that prayed daily and nightly for
+her welfare?
+
+There came some quite important changes to Madison. A new railroad was
+projected, that would shorten the distance to the intervening cities,
+and bring it within an hour's ride from the great emporium, New York.
+Then began a great era of activity. Streets were laid out around the
+station; quite an extensive woollen-mill was put in operation, which
+caused an influx of population. The old sawing-mill was enlarged, so
+great became the demand for lumber; the Kinsey farm was divided into
+building-lots, some rather elegant mansions were raised, and a new
+church erected.
+
+The Kenneth place was rather out of range of all this.
+
+"But our little farm may be quite valuable by and by," declared Hal.
+"It would be astonishing, Granny, if you were to become a rich woman
+before you died."
+
+"I'll have to live a good long while;" and Granny gave her cracked but
+still pleasant little laugh.
+
+Joe remained nearly two years and a half with Capt. Burton, when the
+crowning good fortune of his life, as he thought it, occurred. This was
+nothing less than an opportunity to go to China, his great ambition.
+
+It almost broke Granny's heart. To have him away two or three months
+had appeared a long while; but when it came to be years--
+
+"Of course I shall return," declared Joe. "Did you ever hear of a fish
+being drowned, or a bad penny that didn't come back? And then for a
+silk gown, Granny, and a crape shawl! You shall have one if you are a
+hundred years old, and have to hobble around with a crutch."
+
+"I'd rather have you than a hundred silk gowns."
+
+"And I expect you to have me. The very handsomest grandson in the
+family. If you are not proud of me, Granny, I shall cut you off with a
+shilling, and wear a willow garland all the days of my life, in token
+of grief."
+
+So he kept them laughing to the latest moment; and, after all, it was
+not so very different from the other partings. But he declared, if
+Granny didn't live to see him come home, he never should be able to
+forgive her.
+
+Hal actually went down to New York to see him off, and had a pleasant
+visit with Mrs. Burton. It was a great event in the boy's life.
+
+"I didn't think there ever could be quite such a splendid place!" he
+said on his return. "And the great beautiful bay, with its crowds and
+crowds of shipping, looking like flocks of birds in the distance; but
+the people almost frightened me, for it seemed as if one could never
+get out of the tangle. Then the park is just like fairy-land. And I
+found a place where a man buys cut-flowers, especially all kinds of
+beautiful white ones. And, Granny, one _could_ make a good deal of
+money with a hot-house."
+
+"I hope you'll have it," Granny answered; though, truth to tell, she
+had no very clear ideas upon the subject, except that Hal of all others
+deserved to have his dream come true.
+
+Hal had treated himself to a book on gardening, and another on
+floriculture. He was fifteen now,--a steady, industrious little chap;
+and the farmers round were very glad to have him when they were in
+a hurry or ran short of help. For Hal had a good many very sensible
+ideas, and sometimes quite astonished the country people who went on
+in the same groove as their fathers and grandfathers. To be sure,
+they laughed and pooh-poohed a little; but, when his plans proved more
+fortunate in some respect, they admitted that he had an old head on
+young shoulders.
+
+"I'm going to have some nice hot-beds for next spring," he said to
+Granny. "I'm sure I can sell early lettuce and radishes, and some of
+those things."
+
+So he worked on, spending his leisure days in improving his own little
+garden-spot. The place had begun "to blossom like a rose," dear Joe
+said. There were honeysuckle and roses trained over the house, making
+it a pretty little nest, in spite of want of paint and a general
+tumbling into decay. Over the kitchen part crept clusters of wisteria;
+and in front there were two mounds of flowers, making the small
+dooryard bright and attractive.
+
+The chickens had to be kept by themselves, on Hal's farm. Every day
+he felt thankful for that little plot of ground. Mr. Terry was glad
+to take all their eggs, for Hal managed that they should be large and
+choice.
+
+"And if I should have a hot-house by the time Joe comes back, it will
+be just royal!"
+
+Granny smiled.
+
+Poor dear Hal! One day he was working out in the hayfield, gay as a
+lark; and Farmer Morris said his boys did as much again work when
+Hal was there. The last load was going home. Hal mounted to the top,
+calling merrily to the group, when the horses gave a sudden start. It
+seemed as if he only slid down, and the distance was not very great;
+but he lay quite still. They waited for a laugh or a shout, and then
+ran; but Hal's face was over in the grass.
+
+Great brawny Sam lifted him up, uttering a sharp cry; for Hal was
+deathly white, and could not stand. A deep groan escaped the lips that
+had laughed with gladness only a moment ago, and were now drawn to a
+thin blue line.
+
+They crowded round with awe-stricken faces.
+
+"Oh, he isn't dead!"
+
+"No, I guess not;" and Sam's voice had a quiver in it, as if tears were
+not far off. "O father, father!"
+
+Mr. Morris hurried to the spot.
+
+"Poor Hal! Let's take him home, and send for a doctor. I wouldn't had
+it happen for a hundred dollars! It'll about kill his grandmother."
+
+Hal gave another groan, but did not open his eyes.
+
+"Can't we rig up some kind of a litter? for, if he's hurt much, it will
+never do to carry him by hand. Run get a shutter, Sam. Dick, go and
+bring a hatful of water. Poor boy! I'd rather it had been one of my
+own."
+
+Dick flew to the brook, and brought back some water, with which they
+bathed the small white face. Then Sam made his appearance, with a
+shutter on his shoulder.
+
+"Raise him softly, so. Dick, run after Dr. Meade as fast as you can go.
+We'll take him home."
+
+They lifted him with tender hands; but both soul and body were
+unconscious of pain. Sam brushed away some tears with his shirt-sleeve,
+and Farmer Morris spread his linen coat over the silent figure. It was
+some distance to Mrs. Kenneth's.
+
+Charlie was firing stones at a mark; but she rushed to the gate and
+screamed, "Granny, Granny!"
+
+When Granny Kenneth saw them with their burden, a speechless agony
+seized every pulse. She could not even utter a cry.
+
+"He isn't dead," Farmer Morris hurried to say. "But it's a sad day's
+work, and I'd a hundred times rather it had been my Dick."
+
+"O Hal, my darling! The greatest comfort your poor old Granny had! No,
+I can't have him die. Oh! will God hear us, and pity me a little? I've
+had a sight o' troubles in my day, but this"--
+
+They laid him on Granny's bed, and washed his face with camphor,
+feeling of the limp wrists, and chafing the cold hands.
+
+A little quiver seemed to run along the lips, deepening into a shudder,
+and then a groan which they were thankful to hear.
+
+"No, he isn't dead. Thank God for that!"
+
+Fortunately Dr. Meade was at home, and he lost no time in coming over
+immediately.
+
+Mr. Morris and the doctor stripped off Hal's clothes, and began to
+examine the limbs. The arms were all right,--ankles, knees, ah, what
+was this!
+
+Hal opened his eyes, and uttered an excruciating cry.
+
+Granny rocked herself to and fro, her poor old brain wild with
+apprehension, for his pain was hers.
+
+"The trouble's here,--in the thigh. Not a break, I hope; but it's bad
+enough!"
+
+Bad enough they found it,--a severe and complicated fracture, and
+perhaps internal injuries.
+
+"Do your best, doctor," said Mr. Morris. "I'm going to foot this bill;
+and if any thing'll save him"--
+
+He sent Sam back for some articles that they needed, and tried
+patiently to understand the full extent of the injury. Part of the time
+Hal was unconscious. And after a long while they laid him on his back,
+bandaged, but more dead than alive.
+
+"My wife will come over and stay with you," Mr. Morris said to Granny.
+"She's a master hand at nursing."
+
+Dot hid herself in the shadow of Granny's skirts, clinging fast with
+her little hands; and Kit and Charlie huddled in the corner of the
+kitchen window-sill, crying softly. No one wanted any supper, except
+the chickens, who asked in vain.
+
+All night Granny prayed in her broken, wandering way. God had her own
+dear Joe up in heaven. Flossy was gone; little Joe was on the wide
+ocean; and how could she live without her precious Hal! Not but what he
+was good enough to be an angel, only--only--and the poor heart seemed
+breaking.
+
+God listened and answered. The August weather was hot and sultry; and
+Hal had to battle with fever, with dreadful languor and mortal pain.
+He used to think sometimes that it would be blessed to die, and have a
+little rest, but for Granny's sake!--
+
+After the first fortnight the danger was over, and the case progressing
+fairly. Hal's back had received some injury, that was evident, and
+recovery would be tedious. But Granny was so thankful to have him any
+way.
+
+Everybody was very kind. Mr. and Mrs. Howard came often; the Terrys
+sent in many luxuries; Sam Morris drew a cord of wood, sawed, split,
+and piled it; and there was nothing wanting. But Hal lay there white
+and wan, his fingers growing almost as thin as Dot's little bird's
+claws.
+
+"I can't understand why it had to happen to you, Hal," Granny would
+exclaim piteously. "Now, if it had been Charlie, who is always
+sky-larking round; but you, the very best one of 'em all!"
+
+Hal would sigh. He couldn't exactly understand it, either. But
+somehow--God was so much greater than them all; and he _did_ keep
+watch, for it was better to be lying here than in the churchyard yonder.
+
+Mr. Fielder had gone away, and Hal felt the loss sorely. He was a
+little afraid of Mr. Howard, and could not seem to talk of his plans
+and his flowers, and ask any question that puzzled him; though Mr.
+Howard kindly sent him entertaining books, and used to drop in for a
+chat now and then.
+
+September passed. Hal was still unable to sit up, and he began to grow
+weary of the confinement.
+
+"Granny," he said one day, "I believe I'll have to be a girl, and learn
+to make myself useful. I could knit a little once, or I might sew
+patchwork. There is no one to laugh at me."
+
+"Dear heart, so you shall," replied Granny.
+
+So she cut him out a pile of pretty bright calicoes begged of the
+dressmaker. And then he knit Charlie a pair of yarn mittens, and
+crocheted some edging for Dot's white apron.
+
+Indeed, Dot was a great comfort to him. She used to climb up on his bed
+with her "Red Riding Hood," or "Mother Goose Melodies," and read him
+stories by the hour. Then she would twine her fingers in his soft brown
+hair to make him "pretty," as she said, and cuddle him in various ways,
+always ending with a host of kisses and, "Dotty so sorry for you, Hal!"
+
+For she was still a little midget, and cried so dreadfully the first
+day she went to school that they let her stay home. Hal had taught her
+a great deal; but she was so shy that she would hardly say a word to a
+stranger.
+
+Charlie began to improve a little, it must be confessed; though she
+had fits of abstraction, when she salted the pan of dish-water in the
+closet, and threw the knives and forks out of doors, and one day
+boiled the dish-cloth instead of the potatoes, which Hal fancied must
+be army-soup; and sometimes, without the slightest apparent cause, she
+would almost laugh herself into hysterics.
+
+"What _is_ the matter?" Granny would ask. "Are you out of your head?"
+
+And Charlie would answer, "I was only thinking."
+
+"I'd like to get inside of her brain, and see what was there," Hal
+would sometimes remark.
+
+The chickens had to be made ready and taken to market this year without
+any of Hal's assistance. And then he began to wonder if he ever would
+get well? Suppose he did not?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+  FROM GRAY SKIES TO BLUE.
+
+
+They were pretty poor, to be sure,--poor as in the hardest of times.
+There were the chickens, and Granny could make a bit of broth for Hal;
+but Kit and Charlie raced like deers, and had appetites. After Granny
+bought them clothes and shoes, the funds were rather low. Hal guessed
+at it all, but Granny never made any complaints.
+
+He had begun a tidy in red-and-white diamond-shaped blocks; but it
+seemed to grow upon his hands; and one day when Dot called it a
+beautiful _bedcrilt_, for her tongue still had a few kinks in it, a new
+idea crept into his brain.
+
+"Do you think it would make a pretty spread?" he asked Mrs. Howard
+rather timidly, during a call.
+
+"Why, it would, to be sure, and so serviceable! It is a bright idea,
+Hal."
+
+"Do you suppose I could sell it?"
+
+"If you want to--yes."
+
+"I can't do any thing else," said Hal with a sigh; "and if I have to
+stay here all winter."
+
+For Hal's back was so weak that he could only be bolstered up in the
+bed, and he had not walked a step yet.
+
+Mrs. Howard thought a moment, then said,--
+
+"Finish it Hal, and I will see that it is sold."
+
+So Hal went on hopefully. Granny bewailed the fact that she had done
+nothing all the fall to help along. They missed their allowance from
+Joe; but they had heard from him in his usual glowing and exuberant
+fashion.
+
+Mrs. Howard took a trip around Madison one morning, and held sundry
+mysterious conferences with some of her neighbors, returning home quite
+well pleased.
+
+"I am so glad I thought of it!" she said to her husband; and he
+answered, "So am I, my dear."
+
+One afternoon early in December she went over to Mrs. Kenneth's. Dot
+had been clearing up under Hal's instructions, and they looked neat
+as a pin. After she found that her visitor intended to remain, Granny
+put on a fresh calico dress and a clean cap; and they had a nice
+old-fashioned time talking, which Hal enjoyed exceedingly.
+
+Mrs. Howard had brought a basket full of various luxuries,--some nice
+cold tongue, and part of a turkey, besides jellies and cake. Quite a
+little feast, indeed.
+
+Hal begged them to have tea in the best room, where he lay; and he
+enjoyed it almost as much as if he could have sat up to the table. Kit
+and Charlie were delighted with the feast.
+
+Then they settled every thing again, and Granny stirred the fire. The
+wind whistled without, but within it was bright and cheerful. Hal felt
+very happy indeed. It seemed as if God's strong arms were about him,
+helping him to bear the weariness, as he had been strengthened to bear
+pain.
+
+Presently there was a tramping up the path, and a confusion of voices.
+
+"Some one is coming;" and Hal raised himself. "I am almost sorry--we
+were having such a nice, quiet time."
+
+A knock at the door, which Granny opened. Kit, in the glowing
+chimney-corner, rubbed his eyes; and it would have been hard to tell
+which was the sleepiest, he or the old gray cat.
+
+"O-o-h!" exclaimed Charlie; and then she darted to Hal. "A whole crowd
+of 'em!"
+
+A crowd, sure enough. It was something of a mystery to know how they
+were going to get in that small place. There was Dr. and Mrs. Meade,
+Mr. Howard, Mr. and Mrs. Morris, and the boys, all the Terrys,--indeed,
+half Madison, Hal thought.
+
+Mrs. Howard laughed a little at Hal's puzzled face.
+
+"Oh!--I guess"--
+
+Granny in the other room was quite overcome. Parcels and bags and
+boxes, shaking of hands, and clattering of tongues.
+
+"It isn't exactly Christmas, Hal," began Mr. Morris; "but Santa Claus
+does sometimes lose his reckoning. So we thought we'd all drop in."
+
+"And give me a surprise-party," said Hal.
+
+"Exactly. Why, you look quite bright, my boy!"
+
+Hal was bright enough then, with cheeks like roses, and lustrous eyes.
+
+Dr. Meade sat him up in the bed. One and another came to shake hands,
+and say a pleasant word; and in a few moments the whole group were
+laughing and talking. There was skating already over on the pond, the
+boys told him; they were going to have a Christmas exhibition; Jim
+Terry had received a letter from Joe; and all the small gossip that
+sounds so pleasant when one is shut within doors.
+
+Then Mrs. Howard brought out the bedspread. None of the boys laughed at
+Hal, you may be sure; and the older people thought it quite wonderful.
+Mrs. Morris declared that she'd really like to have it.
+
+"It is for sale," said Hal with a little flush.
+
+"Let's take shares!" exclaimed Sam. "Now's your chance, mother: how
+much will you give?"
+
+"A right good plan," returned Mrs. Meade.
+
+After a little discussion they adopted it. There were twenty-six people
+who subscribed a dollar; and then the slips of paper were arranged for
+drawing. The younger portion were considerably excited; and Hal's face
+was in a glow of interest.
+
+So they began. One after another took his or her chance; and, when it
+was through, they all opened their slips of paper, looking eagerly at
+each other.
+
+Clara Terry blushed scarlet; and Sam's quick eyes caught the unusual
+brilliancy. For the cream of the affair was, that Clara expected to be
+married in a few weeks.
+
+Dr. Meade guessed also, and then they had a good laugh. Hal was
+delighted.
+
+"It went to the right one," said Mr. Morris. "So much towards
+housekeeping, Clara."
+
+"I shall always think of Joe as well as you," she said in a soft
+whisper to Hal, holding the thin fingers a moment.
+
+After that they had a pleasant time singing. Hal was very fond of vocal
+music. It seemed to him about the happiest night of his life. Then the
+crowd began to disperse.
+
+"I have thought of something new, Hal," said Dr. Meade. "I sent to New
+York this morning for a small galvanic battery, to try if electricity
+will not help you. We shall have you around yet: do not be discouraged."
+
+"Everybody is so kind"--and Hal's voice quivered. "This has been a
+lovely surprise party."
+
+After they were gone Charlie began to count up the spoils; and every
+exclamation grew longer and louder. There was a large ham, a fine
+turkey, tea and coffee and butter, flour, rice, farina, cake and
+biscuit, a bag of apples, and some cans of fruit.
+
+"We shall live like kings," said Granny, with a little sound in her
+voice that might have been a sob or a laugh. "And only this morning I
+was a wondering how we _should_ get along."
+
+"And twenty-six dollars. Why, it is almost as good as being a minister,
+and having a donation-party."
+
+"God doesn't forget us, you see," said Hal with great thankfulness.
+
+He finished the spread a few days afterward, and sent it to Miss Clara;
+and then Mrs. Meade brought him the materials to make her one.
+
+The fracture had united; but there seemed such a terrible weakness
+of the muscles in Hal's back, that Dr. Meade had become rather
+apprehensive. But, after using electricity a few weeks, there _was_ an
+improvement. And one day Hal balanced himself upon two crutches.
+
+"That's red hot!" ejaculated Charlie.
+
+"O Charlie! worthy follower of Joe, what will you do when you get to be
+a young lady?"
+
+"Oh, dear! I wish I didn't have to be one;" and Charlie began to cry.
+"I'll wear a big stone on top of my head."
+
+"I am afraid it is too late. You are as tall as Granny now."
+
+Hal gained slowly. All this time he was thinking what he should do?
+for he had a presentiment that he might never be very strong again.
+No more working around on farms; and, though there were some sedentary
+trades in cities, he would meet with no chance to attain to them. So he
+must have the green-house.
+
+By spring he was able to go about pretty well. But he looked white as a
+ghost, quite unlike the round rosy Hal of other days.
+
+"Kit," said he, "you'll have to be my right-hand man this summer. Maybe
+by another Christmas we might have the violin."
+
+"O Hal! I'd work from morning till night," and the eager eyes were
+luminous.
+
+"Well, we'll see."
+
+Charlie was seized with a helpful fit also. After the garden was
+ploughed, they all planted and hoed and weeded; and, as it was an early
+season, they had some quite forward vegetables.
+
+One day Hal went over to Salem, and invested a few dollars in
+tuberoses, besides purchasing some choice flower-seeds. Then he stopped
+into a small place where he had noticed cut-flowers, and began to
+inquire whether they ever bought any.
+
+"All I can get," said the man. "Flowers are coming to be the rage.
+People think they can't have weddings or funerals without them."
+
+"But you want white ones mostly?"
+
+"White ones for funerals and brides. There are other occasions, though,
+when colored ones are worth twice as much, and as much needed."
+
+"You raise some?" said Hal.
+
+"All I can. I have a small green-house. Come in and see it. Did you
+think of starting in the business?"
+
+Hal colored, and cleared his voice of a little tremble.
+
+"I believe I shall some time," he said.
+
+The green-house was not very large, to be sure, now quite empty, as the
+flowers were out of doors.
+
+"I wonder how much such a place would cost?" Hal asked with some
+hesitation.
+
+"About a thousand dollars," replied the man, eying it rather
+critically. "Have you had any experience with flowers?"
+
+"Not much;" and Hal sighed. A thousand dollars! No, he could never do
+any thing like that.
+
+"The best way would be to study a year or two with a florist."
+
+"I suppose so."
+
+Hal was quite discouraged, for that appeared out of his power as well.
+
+"There is not so great a demand for flowers in summer, you know; but
+in winter they are scarce, and bring good prices. Still, some of the
+choicer kinds sell almost any time; fine rosebuds, heliotrope, and such
+things."
+
+After a little further talk, Hal thanked the man, and said good-by with
+a feeling of disappointment. A hot-house was quite beyond his reach.
+
+However, he did mean to have some early vegetable beds for another
+spring--if nothing happened, he said to himself, remembering his last
+summer's plans.
+
+Not that he was idle, either. He did a good deal in the lighter kinds
+of gardening. The new houses required considerable in the way of
+adornment; and Dr. Meade spoke a good word for him whenever opportunity
+offered. He had so much taste, besides his extravagant love for
+flowers; and then he had studied their habits, the soil they required,
+the time of blossoming, parting, or resetting. And it seemed as if he
+could make any thing grow. Slips of geranium, rose-cuttings, and indeed
+almost every thing, flourished as soon as he took it in hand.
+
+The new railroad brought them in direct and easy communication with
+another city, Newbury. Hal took a journey thither one day, and found a
+florist and nurseryman who conducted operations on quite an extensive
+scale. But still it was expensive in the start. He had thought of
+mortgaging the place; but the little money he could raise in that way
+would hardly be sufficient; and then, if he was not prosperous, they
+might lose their little home.
+
+At midsummer they heard some wonderful news about Florence. Mrs.
+Osgood wrote that she was going to marry very fortunately, a gentleman
+of wealth and position. She sent love to them, but she was very much
+engrossed; and Mrs. Osgood said they must excuse her not writing. She
+enlarged considerably upon Florence's brilliant prospect, and appeared
+to take great pleasure in thinking she had fitted her for the new
+position.
+
+"Oh!" said Granny with a sigh, "we've lost her now. She will be too
+rich and grand ever to come back to us."
+
+"I don't know," returned Hal. "She did owe Mrs. Osgood a good deal of
+gratitude; and it was right for her to be happy and obedient when she
+was having so much done for her. But now she may feel free"--
+
+"She has forgotten us, Hal: at least, she doesn't want to remember;"
+and Granny wiped her eyes.
+
+"I can't quite believe it. She had a good heart, and she did love us.
+But maybe it's best anyway. We have been unfortunate"--
+
+Hal's voice trembled a little. Granny rocked to and fro, her old method
+of composing her mind when any thing went wrong. And, though she could
+not bear to blame Flossy, there was a soreness and pain in the old
+heart,--a little sting of ingratitude, if she had dared to confess it.
+
+"Hal," said Dr. Meade one day, "they are going to start a new school
+over at the cross-roads. It's a small place, and probably there will
+not be more than twenty or thirty scholars,--some of the mill-children.
+If you would like to teach it, I am pretty sure that I could get it for
+you."
+
+"Oh, if I could!" and Hal's eyes were all alight.
+
+"To be sure you can. The salary is very small"--and Dr. Meade made a
+long pause.
+
+"Even a little would help along," was Hal's reply, his heart beating
+with a strange rapidity.
+
+"There can't be any appropriation made for it, you
+see, as there will be no election till spring. But four hundred dollars
+have been subscribed, and the committee had a fancy that they might get
+a lady for that."
+
+"I'd take it," said Hal. Four hundred dollars looked like quite a
+fortune to him.
+
+"It may get up to four hundred and fifty, though I would not like to
+promise. It _is_ a small sum."
+
+"But there's always Saturday to yourself, and nights and mornings," was
+Hal's hopeful reply.
+
+"Well, I will propose you, then. I shall be on the examining committee."
+
+"How kind you are!" and Hal's smile was most grateful.
+
+Still Hal was in so much doubt about his good fortune that he didn't
+say a word to Granny until the examination was over and he was sure of
+the appointment.
+
+"It's just royal, isn't it?" and his eyes danced with delight. "I
+was wondering what we should do this winter, when there would be no
+gardening, unless I went to work in one of the mills."
+
+"And you'd like this better? O Hal! it does seem as if the good God
+was watching over us, and always sent something along in the right
+time."
+
+"He does, Granny, I am sure."
+
+"For, when we were nearly out last winter, there was that splendid
+surprise-party. I never can get over it, Hal. And your _bew_tiful
+quilt, that I don't believe another boy in the world could have done. O
+Hal! you're such a comfort!"
+
+And Granny wiped her poor old eyes.
+
+The first pea-vines were pulled up; and then Hal began to prepare for
+his spring bed. It was vacation; and Charlie and Kit went into the
+experiment with a great deal of zeal. First Hal dug two trenches about
+twelve feet long, and four feet apart. He laid in these the stones the
+children brought in a wagon that he had manufactured for Dot a long
+while before. He piled them up like a wall, sifted sand between them,
+and then banked up the outside, making one edge considerably higher
+than the other. Around it all, at the top, he put a row of planking
+about twelve inches high, and fixed grooves for the sashes to slide
+across. Then he lowered the ground inside, and enriched it with manure,
+making quite a little garden-spot.
+
+Charlie wanted to have something planted right away; and she did put in
+surreptitiously some peas, morning-glories, and a few squash-seed.
+
+"I don't know but we might make another," said Hal, surveying it with a
+good deal of pride.
+
+"Oh, do!" exclaimed Charlie. "It's such fun!"
+
+Kit didn't mind, if Hal would only tell him a story now and then.
+Mozart's childhood that he had read in a stray copy of an old magazine,
+fragments of Mendelssohn, and all the floating incidents he could
+recall of Ole Bull. When these were exhausted, Hal used to draw a
+little upon his imagination. They had a wonderful hero named Hugo, who
+was stolen by gypsies when he was a little boy, and wandered around
+in the German forest for years, meeting with various adventures, and
+always playing on a violin to solace himself when he was cold, or
+tired, or hungry, or beaten.
+
+And, though Hal often declared that he couldn't think of any thing
+more, Kit pleaded so wistfully with his luminous blue eyes and soft
+voice, that Hugo would be started upon his travels again.
+
+When the frames were done, Hal went to see Mr. Sherman, the carpenter
+at Madison, to find what the sashes would cost.
+
+"There's an odd lot up in the loft," he said to the boy. "They are
+old-fashioned; and nobody seems to want any thing of that kind, except
+now and then for a kitchen. I'll sell 'em cheap, if you can make 'em
+answer."
+
+So they were sent down to the Kenneths. Hal worked over them a few
+days, and found that he could make them serviceable, only there would
+not be quite enough. He was very handy; and soon fitted them in their
+places.
+
+"Now, that's what I call smart," exclaimed Mr. Sherman. "Why, Hal!
+you'd make a good carpenter. Tell you what I'll do. I'm in an awful
+hurry; and, if you'll come over and work for me a spell, we will quit
+square."
+
+Hal was delighted, and accepted at once.
+
+"How lucky it all comes round, Granny!" he said in a gratified tone.
+"And I've been thinking"--
+
+"I'll be bound it's a bright idea;" and Granny gave her little
+chirruping laugh.
+
+"I was considering about the loom-room, Granny. You'll never weave any
+more carpets; it's too hard work: and then Mr. Higgins wants to set up
+in the business. He asked me about our loom the other day."
+
+"No, I sha'n't never weave no more;" and Granny sighed, not at the
+confusion of negatives, but at the knowledge that old things were
+passing away.
+
+"And it would make such a beautiful flower-room, lying to the south and
+west!"
+
+Joe would have said, "What! the loom?" But dear, rollicking Joe was not
+there to catch anybody tripping in absence of mind.
+
+"So it would. Yes, you shall have it, Hal."
+
+For Granny would have given him her two eyes, if it would have done him
+any good, and been satisfied to be led about by a dog and a string all
+the rest of her life.
+
+They ran up stairs to survey. The afternoon sun was shining in at the
+windows, covering half the floor.
+
+"Oh, it _would_ be splendid! We can put up a little stove here; and I
+can have it for a kind of study besides. And a room full of flowers!"
+
+The tears fairly stood in Hal's eyes.
+
+There was not much time to lose; for in ten days school would begin.
+And now Hal considered what he must do.
+
+The windows came almost down to the floor, the ceiling being low. But
+it would not do to have all the flowers stand on a level, as the sun
+would not reach them alike. And then a brilliant idea occurred to Hal.
+
+He went over to Mr. Sherman's, and gathered some pieces of joist that
+had been sawed off, and thrown by as nearly useless. He found eight
+that he made of a length, about three feet high, and bespoke a number
+of rough hemlock-boards. Out of these he made a sort of counter, with
+the joists for support; and then, nailing a piece all round, he had
+quite a garden-bed. This was to stand back from the windows, and have
+slips and various seeds planted in it. Charlie and Kit helped bring up
+the soil to fill it.
+
+Then Hal bought, for a trifle, a lot of old butter-tubs and firkins
+that Mr. Terry was not sorry to be rid of. He sawed them down just the
+height he wanted; and they made very good flower-pots for some of the
+larger plants. They were so beautiful, that it would be a shame to
+leave them out to perish in the cold blasts.
+
+"And somehow they seem just like children to me," he said, his brown
+eyes suffused with tenderness.
+
+On the last Saturday he cast up his accounts, and took a small
+inventory.
+
+"We shall have potatoes and vegetables for winter; and we have a barrel
+of flour, and a hundred of meal, besides lots of corn for the chickens;
+then my salary will be a little more than thirty-six dollars a month,
+counting eleven months; and fifty dollars for our poultry."
+
+"Why, we'll be as rich as kings!" was Granny's delighted reply. "You're
+a wonderful boy, Hal!"
+
+"And if I could sell some flowers! Anyhow, there will be the spring
+things. It does look a little like prosperity, Granny."
+
+"I'm so thankful!" and Granny twisted up her apron in pure gratitude.
+
+"Charlie had better go to school again. I wish she could learn to be a
+teacher; for she never will like to sew."
+
+"No," replied Granny, with a solemn shake of the head.
+
+"And she is getting to be such a large girl! Well, I suppose something
+will come. It has to all of us."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+  A FLOWER-GARDEN IN DOORS.
+
+
+Hal went to school bright and early the first Monday in September. It
+was about a mile to the place called the "Cross-roads," because from
+there the roads diverged in every direction. An old tumble-down house
+had been put in tolerable order, and some second-hand desks and benches
+arranged in the usual fashion. Just around this point, there was quite
+a nest of cottages belonging to the mill workmen.
+
+The children straggled in shyly, eying the new master. Rather unkempt,
+some of them, and with not very promising faces, belonging to the
+poorer class of German and English; then others bright and tidy, and
+brimming over with mirthful smiles.
+
+By ten o'clock sixteen had assembled. Hal gave them a short address,
+made a few rules, and attempted to classify them. They read and spelled
+a little, at least those who were able, when the bell on the factory
+rang out the hour of noon.
+
+Three new ones came after dinner. Hal labored faithfully; but it _was_
+a relief to have the session close.
+
+Before the week ended, however, the prospect became more inspiriting.
+There were twenty-three scholars, and some whom it would be a pleasure
+to teach. But, after all, it was not as delightful as working among
+the flowers,--the dear, beautiful children who gave only fragrance and
+loveliness continually.
+
+He had been so tired every night, that he could do nothing but rest;
+and so he was glad to have Saturday come.
+
+"It seems early to take them in," he said, surveying the garden so full
+of glory. "But there is a good deal to do; and I shall have only one
+day in the week."
+
+Kit took the wheelbarrow, and trundled off to the woods for some more
+good soil; for Hal had to be economical, since he could not afford to
+buy every thing. They were out of debt, and had a little money,--very
+little indeed; but there were some pears and grapes to sell. Hal's
+Concord and Rogers hybrid had done beautifully; and two of the
+new-comers in Madison had offered to take all he had, at ten cents a
+pound.
+
+"I could get more in the city," he said; "but there would be the time
+and trouble of going. And grapes are heavy too: it doesn't take many
+bunches to weigh a pound; and ten pounds come to a dollar."
+
+But on this day he went at his roses. He had obtained quite a number
+of slips of hybrid monthlies, mostly tea-roses; and they were doing
+nicely. Some had blossomed once, and others were just showing bud.
+These he meant to transplant to his bed up stairs. Careful and patient,
+he took up the most of them so nicely, that I don't believe they knew
+they were moved, until they began to look around for their companions.
+
+Dot ran up stairs and down, and was most enthusiastic.
+
+"It will be _so_ lovely to have a garden in the house!" was her
+constant ejaculation.
+
+By noon he had all the small roses in,--five white ones, four pink, and
+about a dozen of different shades of deep velvety red. In this soil
+he had used an abundance of powdered charcoal. Then came half a dozen
+young heliotropes.
+
+"Now, I am going to save the rest of the space, and shall plant
+sweet-alyssum and candytuft, and some mignonette. I guess we have done
+about enough for one day," he said to Granny and Dot.
+
+Charlie and Kit were lolling under the trees, resting from their
+labors. Now and then they had a merry outburst; but Charlie had grown
+strangely quiet. She would sit lost in thought for hours together,
+unless some one spoke to her; and then she would take to reading in the
+same absorbed manner.
+
+"Hal," she said one evening, "what do you know of drawing?"
+
+"A little more than the old woman who could not tell a cow from a
+rosebud;" and Hal smiled with quiet humor.
+
+"I wish some one would teach me!"
+
+"They do not have any drawing at school?"
+
+"No, only at the academy. Belle Hartman is learning; but I don't care
+any thing about flowers and such."
+
+Faces and grotesque situations were Charlie's passion. She could see
+the ludicrous side so quickly!
+
+"You might practise at home, evenings."
+
+"But paper costs a good deal. Oh, I wish I had some money!"
+
+"Well Charlie, be patient. Something may come around by and by."
+
+"Oh, dear!" and Charlie sighed. "I wish some one would come along and
+adopt me; but then I'm not handsome, like Flossy. I suppose she is
+having a splendid time. It seems to me that she might write just a
+little word."
+
+Hal thought so too. As the months went on, he began to feel bitterly
+disappointed. Ah! if they could but see her once,--their beautiful
+Florence.
+
+Through the course of the month Hal managed to get his flowers in very
+nice order,--several fuchsia that were in splendid bloom, two large
+heliotropes, an elegant and thrifty monthly carnation, and a salvia
+that was a glory in itself. But alas! that drooped and withered: so
+Hall trimmed it down. Besides this, some rose and balm geraniums, a tub
+full of callas, and ten of his tuberoses, that he had saved for winter
+blossoming. The other two had been a source of untold comfort to him.
+Then he had an exquisite safrano, and two chromatilla roses.
+
+"Why it's quite a green-house," he said delightedly. "Now, if I can
+only make them blossom all winter!"
+
+The first spare Saturday he went over to Salem to see Mr. Thomas.
+He was rather diffident, and did not like to explain his economical
+arrangements, but said that he was likely to have some flowers for
+sale. Mr. Thomas took him through his green-house again; and, though
+there were a great many more plants, Hal thought he could show almost
+as much bloom.
+
+"I'll take your flowers," he promised, "provided you do not have too
+many, and if we could manage it this way: sometimes I receive a large
+order nearly a week beforehand, and I could let you know, in order that
+you might bring me all you had which were really fine. And, to be frank
+with you, I cannot afford to pay as much as you might get at Newbury or
+New York."
+
+"I should like to know some of the prices," Hal remarked.
+
+"It depends a good deal upon the demand and the season; but prices
+never vary a great deal."
+
+They went round, and Hal learned a good deal in the course of his tour.
+
+
+"Do you know of any place in Newbury where I could dispose of flowers?"
+he asked.
+
+"There is a Mr. Kirkman,--one brother keeps a confectionery, and the
+other supplies flowers. But perhaps I may be able to do as well by you.
+However, I will give you his card."
+
+Hal and Mr. Thomas parted very good friends; and the florist gave him
+some valuable advice.
+
+"That fellow will succeed," he said to himself, watching Hal's
+retreating figure. "His whole soul is in the flowers; and he blushes
+over them as if they were a sweetheart. Looks pale and delicate,
+though."
+
+Truth to tell, Hal had been working pretty hard. The school _was_ a
+great tax upon him; and the labor with his plants had been severe. Kit
+and Granny tried to save him all they could in the way of getting in
+winter vegetables, and looking after the chickens.
+
+Ten days after his visit to Salem, he received a little note from Mr.
+Thomas on this wise.
+
+    "Bring me on Thursday morning, if you have them, three dozen roses,
+    assorted colors, heliotrope, and fine sprays of fuchsia, if yours
+    are still in bloom."
+
+    "F. THOMAS."
+
+Hal was delighted. Through September they had managed to get along on
+the proceeds of their garden, and the fruit; but his first month's pay
+had to go for clothes. It almost broke Granny's heart to take it.
+
+"Why, I shall earn some more!" Hal exclaimed with his gay laugh. "It is
+just what it is for, Granny, to spend. I'm thankful to be able to earn
+it."
+
+It was the middle of October now; and there had been some severe frost
+already. Tender out-doors plants were a mass of blackened ruins.
+
+"You will have to go over for me, Charlie," said Hal, "because I cannot
+leave school. The stage starts at nine."
+
+Charlie was in ecstasies. She rose by daylight on Thursday morning, to
+curl her hair, Kit said; and could hardly wait for Hal to cut and pack
+the flowers.
+
+"I am sure I shall be left!" she declared twenty times at least.
+
+Hal thought of it all the way to school. It seemed different from any
+other earnings, and gave him an exquisite pleasure. His own lovely
+darlings, his dream actually coming to pass.
+
+Charlie was superbly generous, and left the stage at the Cross-roads,
+when she might have ridden half a mile farther.
+
+The children were just being dismissed: so she rushed in full of
+excitement.
+
+"O Hal! he said they were lovely, and the carnations magnificent. He
+wondered how you raised them. They were a great deal prettier than his."
+
+Hal blushed like a girl. He had sent the carnations at a venture.
+
+"And here's the bill and the money."
+
+Charlie was as proud as if it had been her own. Hal's fingers trembled
+as he opened it. There they all were:--
+
+    Three dozen Roses      $1.50
+    Two dozen Heliotrope     .75
+    Fuchsias                 .75
+    One dozen Carnations     .48
+                           -----
+                           $3.48
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Hal with a glad cry: "it's just splendid! And he liked
+them all?"
+
+"Yes. There's going to be a great wedding in Salem. Such hosts and
+hosts of flowers! And Jim Street took me for fifteen cents!"
+
+"So there's more than three dollars profit," Hal returned. "Now you
+must run home, Charlie, and get some dinner. I have not enough for two."
+
+"I don't see why I can't stay. I should like to see your school, Hal,
+when all the children are in."
+
+"But Granny will be troubled. Yes, you had better go, Charlie. You have
+been so good this morning, that you must not spoil it all. And then
+she'll be glad to hear."
+
+Charlie went reluctantly. Granny was overjoyed The three dollars looked
+as large to her as a hundred would have to many a one.
+
+Hal could hardly wait until four o'clock. He hurried home, and ran up
+stairs; but the poor flowers had been shorn of their crown of glory.
+
+"I can't bear to look at 'em," said Granny with a quiver in her voice.
+"The poor dear things, that seemed jest like human creeturs! I used
+to talk to 'em every time I came in."
+
+"But they'll soon be lovely again; and it pleases me so much to think
+that I can make a little money. I shall have the green-house some day;
+and you won't have any thing to do but walk round in it like a queen."
+
+Granny smiled. Every plan of Hal's was precious to her.
+
+The heliotrope appeared to be the better for the pruning; and some of
+the tuberoses shot up a tall spike for buds.
+
+Then Hal had a few demands from the neighbors round. Mr. Thomas's next
+call was early in November, when he asked Hal to bring all the flowers
+that were available. It being Saturday morning, he went in with them
+himself, and became the happy recipient of five dollars and a quarter.
+Then he took a ramble in a bookstore, and, being attracted by the first
+few pages of "Charles Auchester," purchased the book.
+
+Kit went nearly wild over it. Hal read it aloud; and he held his breath
+at the exquisite description of Charles's first concert, and the
+tenderness and sweetness of the Chevalier. Though part of it was rather
+beyond their comprehension, they enjoyed it wonderfully, nevertheless.
+
+The little room up stairs became quite a parlor for them. The stove
+kept it nice and warm; and they used to love to sit there evenings,
+inhaling the fragrance, and watching the drowsy leaves as they nodded
+to each other: it seemed to Hal that he had never been so happy in the
+world. He ceased to long for Florence.
+
+They did very well on their chickens this year, clearing forty dollars.
+Granny thought they were quite rich.
+
+"You ought to put it in the bank, Hal! it's just a flow of good luck on
+every side."
+
+And, when he received his pay for November, he actually did put fifty
+dollars in the bank, though there were a hundred things he wanted with
+it.
+
+The latter part of December Hal's flowers began to bloom in great
+profusion. The alyssum and candytuft came out, and the house was sweet
+with tuberoses. There being more than Mr. Thomas wanted, he took a box
+full to Newbury one Saturday morning, and found Mr. Kirkman, to whom
+the flowers were quite a godsend. Eight dollars! Hal felt richer than
+ever.
+
+He had set his heart upon buying some Christmas gifts. At first he
+thought he would break the fifty dollars; but it was so near the end of
+the month that he borrowed a little from Dr. Meade instead. He came
+home laden with budgets; but both Kit and Charlie were out, fortunately.
+
+"Now, Granny, you _will_ keep the secret," he implored. "Don't breathe
+a hint of it."
+
+Very hard work Granny found it. She chuckled over her dish-washing;
+and, when Dot asked what was the matter, subsided into an awful
+solemnity. But Wednesday morning soon came.
+
+They all rushed down to their stockings, which Kit and Charlie had
+insisted upon hanging up after the olden fashion. Stockings were empty
+however, as Santy Claus' gifts were rather unwieldy for so small a
+receptacle.
+
+Kit started back in amazement. A mysterious black case with a brass
+handle on the top.
+
+"O Hal! you are the dearest old chap in the world; a perfect darling,
+isn't he Granny? and I never, never can thank you. I've been thinking
+about it all the time, and wondering--oh, you dear, precious fiddle!"
+
+Kit hugged it; and I am not sure but he kissed it, and capered around
+the room as if he had lost his senses.
+
+Charlie's gift was a drawing-book, a set of colored pencils, and a new
+dress; Granny's a new dress; and Dot's a muff and tippet, a very pretty
+imitation of ermine. How delighted they all were! Kit could hardly eat
+a mouthful of breakfast.
+
+Granny gave them a royal dinner. Altogether it was almost as good as
+the Christmas with "The old woman who lived in a shoe."
+
+Yet there were only four of them now. How they missed the two absent
+faces!
+
+Shortly after this they had a letter from Joe. He had actually been
+at Canton, seen John Chinaman on his native soil in all the glory of
+pigtail and chop-stick. Such hosts of funny adventures it would have
+been hard to find even in a book. He meant to cruise around in that
+part of the world until he was tired, for he was having the tallest
+kind of sport.
+
+February was very pleasant indeed. Hal stirred up the soil in his cold
+frames, and planted some seeds. His flowers were still doing very well,
+the slips having come forward beautifully. On the whole, it had proved
+a rather pleasant winter, and they had been very happy.
+
+Granny declared that she was quite a lady. No more weaving carpet, or
+going out to work,--nothing but "puttering" about the house. She was
+becoming accustomed to the care of the flowers, and looked after them
+in a manner that won Hal's entire heart.
+
+Easter was to fall very early. Mr. Thomas had engaged all Hal's
+flowers, and begged him to have as many white ones as possible. So
+he fed the callas on warm water, with a little spirits of ammonia in
+it, and the five beautiful stalks grew up, with their fairy haunt of
+loveliness and fragrance. Dot used to look at them twenty times a day,
+as the soft green turned paler and paler, bleaching out at last to that
+wonderful creamy white with its delicate odor.
+
+Outside he transplanted his heads of lettuce, sowed fresh seeds
+of various kinds, and began to set slips of geranium. On cold or
+stormy days they kept the glass covered, and always at night. It was
+marvellous, the way every thing throve and grew. It seemed to Hal that
+there was nothing else in the world so interesting.
+
+Kit had begun to take lessons on his violin; but he soon found there
+was a wide difference between the absolute drudgery of rudiments,
+and the delicious dreams of melody that floated through his brain.
+Sometimes he cried over the difficulties, and felt tempted to throw
+away his violin; then he and Hal would have a good time with their
+beloved Charles Auchester, when he would go on with renewed courage.
+
+After Easter the flowers looked like mere wrecks. Hal cut most of the
+roses down, trimmed the heliotrope and fuchsias, and planted verbenas.
+His pansies, which had come from seed, looked very fine and thrifty,
+and were in bud. So he mentioned that he would have quite a number of
+bedding-plants for sale.
+
+Indeed, the fame of Hal's green-house spread through Madison. It was a
+marvel to everybody, how he could make plants grow in such a remarkable
+fashion, and under not a few disadvantages. But he studied the soil
+and habits minutely; and then he had a "gift,"--as much of a genius for
+this, as Kit's for music, or Charlie's for drawing.
+
+But with these warm spring days Hal grew very pale and thin. It
+seemed to him sometimes as if he could not endure the peculiar wear
+and anxiety of the school. There were thirty-five scholars now; and,
+although he tried to keep respectable order, he found it very hard
+work. He had such a tender, indulgent heart, that he oftener excused
+than punished.
+
+His head used to ache dreadfully in the afternoon, and every pulse in
+his body would throb until it seemed to make him absolutely sore. The
+gardening and the school were quite too much.
+
+"Granny," said Charlie one evening, "I am not going to school any more."
+
+Granny opened her eyes in surprise.
+
+"I am going to work."
+
+"To work?"
+
+It was astonishing to hear Charlie declare such sentiments.
+
+"Yes,--in the mill."
+
+"What will you do?"
+
+"Sarah Marshall began last fall: it's cleaning specks and imperfections
+out of the cloth; not very hard, either, and they give her four and a
+half a week."
+
+"That's pretty good," said Granny.
+
+"Yes. I shall have to do something. I hate housework and sewing, and--I
+want some money."
+
+"I'm sure Hal's as good as an angel."
+
+"I don't want Hal's. Goodness knows! he has enough to do, and it's high
+time I began to think about myself."
+
+Granny was overwhelmed with admiration at Charlie's spirit and
+resolution, yet she was not quite certain of its being proper until she
+had asked Hal.
+
+"I wish she wanted to learn dressmaking instead, or to teach school;
+but she isn't proud, like Flossy. And now she is growing so large that
+she wants nice clothes, and all that."
+
+Yet Hal sighed a little. Charlie somehow appeared to be lacking in
+refinement. She had a great deal of energy and persistence, and was not
+easily daunted or laughed out of any idea.
+
+"Though I think she will make a nice girl," said Hal, as if he had been
+indulging in a little treason. "We have a good deal to be thankful for,
+Granny."
+
+"Yes, indeed! And dear, brave Joe such a nice boy!"
+
+Hal made a few inquiries at the mill. They would take Charlie, and pay
+her two dollars a week for the first month, after that by the piece;
+and, if she was smart, she could earn three or four dollars.
+
+So Charlie went to work with her usual sturdiness. If they could have
+looked in her heart, and beheld all her plans, and known that she
+hated this as bitterly as washing dishes or mending old clothes!
+
+On the first of June, Hal took an account of stock. They had been quite
+fortunate in the sale of early vegetables. The lettuce, radishes, and
+tomato-plants had done beautifully. For cut-flowers he had received
+fifty-two dollars; for bedding-plants,--scarlet and other geraniums,
+and pansies,--the sum had amounted to over nine dollars; for vegetables
+and garden-plants, eleven. They had not incurred any extra expense,
+save the labor.
+
+"To think of that, Granny! Almost seventy-five dollars! And on such a
+small scale too! I think I could make gardening pay, if I had a fair
+chance."
+
+Dr. Meade admitted that it was wonderful, when he heard of it.
+
+"I'm not sure that a hot-house would pay here in Madison, but you could
+send a great many things to New York. Any how, Hal, if I were rich I
+should build you one."
+
+"You are very kind. I shouldn't have done as well, if it had not been
+for you."
+
+"Tut, tut! That's nothing. But I don't like to see you growing so thin.
+I shall have to prepare you a tonic. You work too hard."
+
+Hal smiled faintly.
+
+"You must let gardening alone for the next six weeks. And the school
+isn't the best thing in the world for you."
+
+"I've been very thankful for it, though."
+
+"If you stay another year, the salary must be raised. Do you like it?"
+
+"Not as well as gardening."
+
+"Well, take matters easy," advised the good doctor.
+
+The tonic was sent over. Hal made a strong fight against the
+languor; but the enemy was rather too stout for him. Every day
+there was a little fever; and at night he tossed from side to side,
+and could not sleep. Granny made him a "pitcher of tea," her great
+cure-all,--valerian, gentian, and wild-cherry,--in a pitcher that had
+lost both handle and spout; and, though he drank it to please her, it
+did not appear to help him any.
+
+It seemed to him, some days, that he never could walk home from school.
+Now and then he caught a ride, to be sure; but the weary step after
+step on these warm afternoons almost used up his last remnant of
+strength.
+
+"Now," said Dr. Meade when school had ended, "you really must begin to
+take care of yourself. You are as white as if you had not an ounce of
+blood in your whole body. No work of any kind, remember. It is to be a
+regular vacation."
+
+Hal acquiesced from sheer inability to do any thing else. The house
+was quiet; for Dot never had been a noisy child since her crying-days.
+She was much more like Florence, except the small vanities, and air of
+martyrdom, that so often spoiled the elder sister's sacrifices,--a
+sweet, affectionate little thing, a kind of baby, as she would always
+be.
+
+Her love for Hal and Granny was perfect devotion, and held in it a
+strand of quaintness that made one smile. She could cook quite nicely;
+and sewing appeared to come natural to her. Hal called her "Small
+woman," as an especial term of endearment.
+
+But they hardly knew what to make of Charlie. Instead of launching out
+into gayeties, as they expected (for Charlie was very fond of finery),
+she proved so economical, that she was almost stingy. She gave Granny a
+dollar a week; and they heard she was earning as much as Sarah Marshall
+already. In fact, Charlie was a Trojan when she worked in good earnest.
+
+"What are you going to do with it all?" Hal would ask playfully.
+
+"Maybe I'll put it in the bank, or buy a farm."
+
+"Ho!" said Kit. "What would you do with a farm?"
+
+"Hire it out on shares to Hal."
+
+"You are a good girl, Charlie; and it's well to save a little 'gainst
+time o' need."
+
+Which encomium of Granny's would always settle the matter.
+
+Hal did not get better. Dr. Meade wanted him to go to the seaside for a
+few weeks.
+
+"I cannot afford it," he said; "and I shouldn't enjoy it a bit alone. I
+think I shall be better when cool weather comes. These warm days seem
+to melt all the strength out of me."
+
+"Well, I hope so."
+
+Hal hoped so too. He was young; and the world looked bright; and then
+they all needed him. Not that he had any morbid thoughts of dying, only
+sometimes it crossed his mind. He had never been quite so well and
+strong since the accident.
+
+For Granny's sake and for Dot's sake. He loved them both so dearly; and
+they seemed so peculiarly helpless,--the one in her shy childhood, the
+other on the opposite confine. He wanted to make Granny's life pleasant
+at the last, when she had worked so hard for all of them.
+
+But God would do what was best; though Hal's lip quivered, and an
+unbidden tear dropped from the sad eye.
+
+O Florence! had you forgotten them?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+  HOW CHARLIE RAN AWAY.
+
+
+"Where is Charlie?" asked Hal as they sat down to the supper-table one
+evening.
+
+"She didn't go to work this afternoon, but put on her best clothes, and
+said she meant to take a holiday."
+
+"Well, the poor child needed it, I am sure. To think of our wild,
+heedless, tomboy Charlie settling into such a steady girl!"
+
+"But Charlie always was good at heart. I've had six of the best and
+nicest grandchildren you could pick out anywhere, if I do say it
+myself."
+
+Granny uttered the words with a good deal of pride.
+
+"Yes," said Kit: "we'll be a what-is-it--crown to your old age."
+
+Granny laughed merrily.
+
+"Seven children!" appended Kit. "You forgot my fiddle."
+
+"Eight children!" said Dot. "You forgot Hal's flowers."
+
+Hal smiled at this.
+
+"I may as well wash the dishes," exclaimed Dot presently. "I guess
+Charlie will stay out to tea."
+
+After that they sat on the doorstep in the moonlight, and sang,--Dot
+with her head in Hal's lap, and Hal's arm around Granny's shoulder. A
+very sacred and solemn feeling seemed to come to them on this evening,
+as if it was a time which it would be important to remember.
+
+"I do not believe Charlie means to come home to-night," Hal said when
+the clock struck ten.
+
+"But she has on her best clothes. She wouldn't wear 'em to the mill."
+
+So they waited a while longer. No Charlie. Then they kissed each other
+good-night, and began to disperse.
+
+Hal looked into the deserted flower-room, which was still a kind of
+library and cosey place. The moonlight lay in broad white sheets on the
+floor, quivering like a summer sea. How strange and sweet it was! How
+lovely God had made the earth, and the serene heaven above it!
+
+Something on the table caught his eye as he turned,--a piece of folded
+paper like a letter. He wondered what he had left there, and picked it
+up carelessly.
+
+    "_To Granny and Hal._"
+
+Hal started in the utmost surprise. An unsealed letter in Charlie's
+handwriting, which had never been remarkable for its beauty. He
+trembled all over, and stood in the moonlight to read it, the slow
+tears coming into his eyes.
+
+Should he go down and tell them? Perhaps it would be better not to
+alarm them to-night. Occasionally, when it had rained, Charlie spent
+the night with some of the girls living near the mill: so Granny would
+not worry about her.
+
+O brave, daring, impulsive Charlie! If you could have seen the pain in
+Hal's heart!
+
+He brought the letter down the next morning.
+
+"How queer it is that Charlie stays!" said Dot, toasting some bread. "O
+Hal! what's the matter?"
+
+"Nothing--only--You'll have to hear it sometime; and maybe it will
+all end right. Charlie's gone away."
+
+"Gone away!" echoed Granny.
+
+"Yes. She left a letter. I found it last night in the flower-room. Let
+me read it to you."
+
+Hal cleared his throat. The others stood absolutely awe-stricken.
+
+    "DEAR GRANNY AND HAL,--You know I always had my heart set
+    on running away; and I'm going to do it now, because, if I told you
+    all my plans, you would say they were quite wild. Perhaps they are.
+    Only I _shall_ try to make them work; and, somehow, I think I can.
+    I have sights of courage and hope. But, O Granny! I couldn't stay
+    in the mill: it was like putting me in prison. I hated the coarse
+    work, the dirt, the noise, and the smells of grease, and everybody
+    there. Some days I felt as if I must scream and scream, until God
+    came and took me out of it. But I wanted to earn some money; and
+    there wasn't any other way in Madison that I should have liked any
+    better. I've had this in my mind ever since I went to work.
+
+    "I can't tell you all my plans,--I don't even know them
+    myself,--only I am going to try; and, if I cannot succeed, I shall
+    come back. I have twenty-five dollars that I've saved. And, if I
+    have good luck, you'll hear that too. Please don't worry about me.
+    I shall find friends, and not get into any trouble, I know.
+
+    "I am very sorry to leave you all; but then I kissed you
+    good-by,--Hal and Kit this morning, when I said it softly in my
+    heart; and Dot and you, dear Granny, when I went away. I had it all
+    planned so nicely, and you never suspected a word. I shall come
+    back some time, of course. And now you must be happy without me,
+    and just say a tiny bit of prayer every night, as I shall for you,
+    and never fret a word. Somehow I feel as if I were a little like
+    Joe; and you know he is doing beautifully.
+
+    "Good-by with a thousand kisses. Don't try to find me; for you
+    can't, I know. I'll write some time again. Your own queer, loving.
+
+    "CHARLIE."
+
+"Well, that's too good!" said Kit, breaking the silence of tears.
+"Charlie has the spunk--and a girl too!"
+
+"Oh!" sobbed Granny, "she don't know nothing; and she'll get lost, and
+get into trouble."
+
+"No, she won't, either! I'll bet on Charlie. And she was saving up her
+money for that, and never said a word!"
+
+Kit's admiration was intense.
+
+"It's about the drawing; and she has gone to New York, I am almost
+sure," said Hal. "Don't cry, Granny; for somehow I think Charlie will
+be safe. She is good and honest and truthful."
+
+"But in New York! And she don't know anybody there"--
+
+"Maybe she has gone to Mrs. Burton's. I might write and see. Or there
+is Clara Pennington--they moved last spring, you remember. I'm pretty
+sure we shall find her."
+
+Hal's voice was strong with hope. Now that he had to comfort Granny, he
+could see a bright side himself.
+
+"And she has some money too."
+
+"She'll do," said Kit decisively. "And if that isn't great! She coaxed
+me to run away once and live in the woods; but I think this is better."
+
+"Did you do it?" asked Dot.
+
+"Yes. We came near setting the woods on fire; and didn't we get a jolly
+scolding! Charlie's a trump."
+
+So they settled themselves to the fact quite calmly. Charlie had taken
+the best of her clothes, and would be prepared for present emergencies.
+
+Before the day was over, they had another event to startle them.
+
+Dr. Meade tied his old horse to the gate-post, and came in. Granny was
+taking a little rest in the other room; and Dot was up stairs, reading.
+
+"Better to-day, eh?" said the doctor.
+
+"I believe I do feel a little better. I have not had any headache or
+fever for several days."
+
+"You'll come out bright as a blue-bird next spring."
+
+"Before that, I hope. School commences next week."
+
+"Then you have heard--nothing?"
+
+"Was there any thing for me to hear?"
+
+Hal looked up anxiously; and the soft brown eyes, in their wistfulness,
+touched the doctor's heart.
+
+"They've served you and me a mean trick, Hal," began the doctor rather
+warmly. "Some of it was my fault. I told the committee that you would
+not take it next year under five hundred dollars."
+
+"It's worth that," said Hal quietly.
+
+"Yes, if it is worth a cent. Well, Squire Haines has had a niece
+staying with him who has taught school in Brooklyn for eight or ten
+years,--a great, tall sharp kind of a woman; and she was willing to
+come for the old salary. She's setting her cap for Mrs. Haines's
+brother, I can see that fast enough. The squire, he's favored her; and
+they've pushed the matter through."
+
+"Then Miss Perkins has it!" Hal exclaimed with a gasp, feeling as if he
+were stranded on the lee-shore.
+
+"Exactly. And I don't know but it is best. To tell the truth, Hal, you
+are not strong, and you did work too hard last year. You want rest; but
+you'll never be able to go into the battle rough and tumble. I may as
+well tell you this."
+
+"Do you think I shall never"--Hal's lip quivered.
+
+"The fall gave you a great shock, you see; and then the confinement in
+school was altogether wrong. You want quiet and ease; and I do think
+this flower-business will be the very thing for you. I've been casting
+it over in my mind; and I have a fancy that another spring I'll be able
+to do something for you. Keep heart, my boy. It's darkest just before
+the dawn, you know."
+
+"You are so kind!" and the brown eyes filled with tears.
+
+"It will all come out right, I'm pretty sure. This winter's rest will
+be just the thing for you. Now, don't fret yourself back to the old
+point again; for you have improved a little. And, if you want any
+thing, come to me. We all get in tight places sometimes."
+
+Hal repeated this to Dot and Granny; and when Kit came home he heard
+the "bad news," over which he looked very sober.
+
+"But then it might be worse," said Hal cheerily; for he was never sad
+long at a time. "We have almost a hundred dollars, and I shall try to
+make my flowers more profitable this winter."
+
+And the best of all was, Hal _did_ begin to feel better. The terrible
+weakness seemed to yield at last to some of the good doctor's tonics,
+his appetite improved, and he could sleep quite well once more.
+
+At this juncture Kit found an opening.
+
+"They'll take me in the melodeon-factory over at Salem," he announced
+breathlessly one evening. "Mr. Briggs told me of it, and I went to see.
+I can board with Mr. Halsey, the foreman; and oh, can't he play on the
+violin! He will go on teaching me, and I can have my board and four
+dollars a month."
+
+"Well, I declare!" ejaculated Granny. "What next?"
+
+"Then you won't have me to take care of this winter. I'm about tired
+of going to school, and that's nice business. I can come home every
+Saturday night."
+
+"Yes," said Hal thoughtfully.
+
+"I do believe Mr. Halsey's taken a great liking to me. He wants you to
+come over, Hal, and have a talk."
+
+So Hal went over. The prospect appeared very fair. Kit had some
+mechanical genius; but building melodeons would be much more to his
+taste than building houses.
+
+"It has a suggestion of music in it," laughed Hal.
+
+So the bargain was concluded. About the middle of September, Kit
+started for Salem and business.
+
+But oh, how lonely the old house was! All the mirth and mischief gone!
+It seemed to Granny that she would be quite willing to go out washing,
+and weave carpets, if she could have them all children once more.
+
+There was plenty of room in the Old Shoe now. One bed in the parlor
+held Dot and Granny. No cradle with a baby face in it, no fair girl
+with golden curls sewing at the window. Tabby sat unmolested in the
+chimney-corner. No one turned back her ears, or put walnut-shells over
+her claws; no one made her dance a jig on her hind-legs, or bundled her
+in shawls until she was smothered, and had to give a pathetic m-i-a-o-u
+in self-defence.
+
+Oh, the gay, laughing, tormenting children! Always clothes to mend,
+cut fingers and stubbed toes to doctor, quarrels to settle, noises to
+quell, to tumble over one here and another there, to have them cross
+with the measles and forlorn with the mumps, but coming back to fun
+again in a day or two,--the dear, troublesome, vanished children!
+
+Many a time Granny cried alone by herself. It was right that they
+should grow into men and women; but oh, the ache and emptiness it left
+in her poor old heart! And it seemed as if Tabby missed them; for now
+and then she would put her paws on the old window-seat, stretching out
+her full length, and look up and down the street, uttering a mournful
+cry.
+
+One day Dot brought home a letter from the store directed to Hal.
+
+"Why, it's Charlie!" he said with a great cry of joy and confusion of
+person. "Dear old Charlie!"
+
+He tore it open with hasty, trembling fingers.
+
+    "DEAR HAL AND GRANNY,--I'm like Joe, happy as a big
+    sunflower! I can't tell you half nor quarter; so I shall not try,
+    but save it all against the time I come home; for I _am_ coming.
+    Every thing is just splendid! It wasn't so nice at first, and one
+    day I felt almost homesick; but it came out right. Oh, dear! I want
+    to see you so, and tell you all the wonderful things that have
+    happened to me,--just like a story-book. I think of you all,--Hal
+    in his school, Granny busy about the house, Dot, the little
+    darling, sweet as ever, and a whole roomful of flowers up-stairs,
+    and Kit playing on his violin. Did you miss me much? I missed the
+    dear old home, the sweet kisses, and tender voices; but some day I
+    shall have them again. I never forget you a moment; but oh, oh, oh!
+    That's all I can say. There are not words enough to express all the
+    rest. Don't forget me; but love me just the same. A thousand kisses
+    to all you children left in the old shoe, and another thousand to
+    Granny.
+
+    "Your own dear
+    CHARLIE."
+
+Hal's eyes were full of tears. To tell the truth, they had a good
+crying-time before any of them could speak a word.
+
+"Dear, brave Charlie! She and Joe are alike. Granny, I don't know but
+they are the children to be proud of, after all."
+
+"Where is she?" asked Granny, wiping her nose violently.
+
+"Why, there isn't a bit of--address--to it; and the post-mark--begins
+with an N--but all the rest is blurred. She means to wait until she
+comes home, and tell us the whole story; and she will not give us an
+opportunity to write, for fear we will ask some questions. She means to
+keep up her running away."
+
+They were all delighted, and had to read the letter over and over again.
+
+"She must be in New York somewhere, and studying drawing. I've a great
+mind to write at a venture."
+
+"And she will come home," crooned Granny softly.
+
+"I'm glad she thinks us all so happy and prosperous," said Hal.
+
+I shall have to tell you how it fared with Charlie and not keep you
+waiting until they heard the story.
+
+She had indeed followed out her old plan. Child as she was, when she
+went to work in the mill she crowded all her wild dreams down in the
+depths of her heart. No one ever knew what heroic sacrifices Charlie
+Kenneth made. She was fond of dress, and just of an age when a bright
+ribbon, a pretty hat, and a dozen other dainty trifles, seem to add so
+much to one's happiness.
+
+But she resolutely eschewed them all. Week by week her little hoard
+gained slowly, every day bringing her nearer the hour of freedom. She
+planned, too, more practically than any one would have supposed. And
+one evening she smuggled a black travelling-bag into the house, hiding
+it in a rubbish-closet until she could pack it.
+
+She seized her opportunity at noon, to get it out unobserved; and,
+putting it in an out-of-the-way corner, dragged some pea-brush over it,
+that gave it the look of a pile of rubbish. Then she dressed herself,
+and said her good-bys gayly, but with a trembling heart, and went off
+to take her holiday.
+
+Charlie tugged her bag to the depot, and bought a ticket for Newbury.
+Then she seated herself in great state, and really began to enjoy the
+adventure. She wondered how people could spend all their lives in a
+little humdrum place like Madison.
+
+At Newbury she bought a ticket for New York. Then she sat thinking what
+she should do. A family by the name of Wilcox had left Madison two
+years before, and gone to New York. The mother was a clever, ignorant,
+good-hearted sort of woman, of whom Charlie Kenneth had been rather
+fond in her childish days. Mary Jane, the daughter, had paid a flying
+visit to Madison that spring, and Charlie had heard her describe the
+route to her house in Fourteenth Street. This was where she purposed to
+go.
+
+The cars stopped. The passengers left in a crowd, Charlie following.
+If they were going to New York, she would not get lost. So the ferry
+was crossed in safety. Then she asked a policeman to direct her to City
+Hall. A little ragged urchin pestered her about carrying her bag, but
+it was too precious to be trusted to strangers.
+
+She saw the Third-avenue cars; but how was she to get to them? The
+street seemed blocked up continually. By and by a policeman piloted her
+across, and saw her safely deposited in the car.
+
+Charlie paid her fare, and told the conductor to stop at Fourteenth
+Street; but, after riding a while, she began to look out for herself.
+What an endless way it was! and where _did_ all the people come from?
+Could it be possible that there were houses enough for them to live in?
+Ah! here was her corner.
+
+She turned easterly, watching for the number. There was Mrs. Wilcox's
+frowsy head at the front basement window; and Charlie felt almost
+afraid to ring at the front-door, so she tried that lowly entrance.
+
+"Come in," said a voice in response to her knock.
+
+It was evident she had grown out of Mrs. Wilcox's remembrance, so she
+rather awkwardly introduced herself.
+
+"Charlie Kenneth! The land sakes! How you have growed! Why, I'm right
+glad to see you. How is Granny and all the children, and all the folks
+at Madison?"
+
+Charlie "lumped" them, and answered, "Pretty well."
+
+"Did you come down all alone? And how did you find us? Mary Jane'll be
+powerful glad to see you. Ain't you most tired to death luggin' that
+heavy bag? Do take off your things, and get rested."
+
+Charlie complied. Mrs. Wilcox went on with her endless string of
+questions, even after she rose to set the supper-table.
+
+"And so Florence is married. Strange you've never heard about her.
+She's so rich and grand that I s'pose she don't want to remember poor
+relations. And Hal's been a teachin' school! Why, you're quite gettin'
+up in the world."
+
+Mary Jane soon made her appearance. A flirting, flippant girl of
+sixteen, rather good-looking, and trimmed up with ribbons and cheap
+furbelows. She appeared glad to see Charlie, and all the questions were
+asked over again. Then Mr. Wilcox came in, washed his hands and face,
+and they sat down to supper. Before they were half through, Tom and Ed
+came tumbling in, full of fun and nonsense.
+
+"Boys, be still!" said their father; which admonition they heeded for
+about the space of ten seconds.
+
+Mary Jane rose from the table as soon as she had finished her supper.
+
+"Charlie'll sleep with me, of course," she said. "Bring your bag and
+your things up stairs, Charlie."
+
+Charlie followed her to the third story,--a very fair-sized room, but
+with an appearance of general untidiness visible everywhere.
+
+"You can hang up your clothes in that closet," indicating it with her
+head. "Did you go to work in the mill, Charlie?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Didn't you like it?"
+
+"Not very much," slowly shaking out her clean calico dress.
+
+"I shouldn't, either. What did you earn?"
+
+"Sometimes four dollars and a half."
+
+"I earn six, week in and week out. Then I do a little overwork every
+day, which gives me Saturday afternoon. Charlie, why don't you stay?"
+
+Mary Jane was taking down her hair, and turned round suddenly.
+
+"I thought I would;" and Charlie blushed. "I've saved up a little
+money, enough to pay my board for a few weeks, until I can find
+something to do."
+
+"Flower-making is first-rate. Some of the girls earn ten dollars a
+week. I've only been at it a year, you see. They pay a dollar a week
+while you're learning. Shall I try to get you in?"
+
+"I don't know yet," was the hesitating answer.
+
+"What makes you wear your hair short, Charlie?"
+
+"Why--I like it so. It's no trouble."
+
+"But it's so childish!"
+
+Mary Jane was arranging a wonderful waterfall. On the top of this she
+hung a cluster of curls, and on the top of her head she tied in a bunch
+of frizettes with a scarlet ribbon.
+
+"Now, that's what I call stylish;" and she turned round to Charlie. "If
+I was you, I'd let my hair grow; and, as soon as it is long enough to
+tie in a little knot, you can buy a waterfall."
+
+Charlie was quite bewildered with these manifold adornments.
+
+Then Mary Jane put on a white dress, a red carved ivory pin and
+ear-rings, and presented quite a gorgeous appearance.
+
+"Charlie, I've been thinking--why can't you board here? I pay mother
+two dollars a week, and you could just as well have part of my room.
+Mother wanted me to let the boys have it, because there were two of
+them; but I wanted plenty of room. Yes: it would be real nice to have
+you here. I'll ask mother. I know you can find something to do."
+
+A great load seemed lifted from Charlie's heart.
+
+Then they went down to the next floor. The boys had the hall bedroom,
+and the back room was used by the heads of the family. There were two
+large pantries between, and then a front parlor. Charlie was quite
+stunned; for the place appeared fully as gorgeous as Mary Jane. A cheap
+Brussels carpet in bright colors, the figure of which ran all over the
+floor; two immense vases on the mantle, where grotesque Chinese figures
+were disporting on a bright green ground; a rather shabby crimson plush
+rocker; and some quite impossible sunsets done in oil, with showy wide
+gilt frames. Mrs. Wilcox had purchased them at auction, and considered
+them a great bargain.
+
+Then Mary Jane, with a great deal of giggling and blushing, confessed
+to Charlie that she had a beau. "A real nice young man," clerk in a
+dry-goods store, Walter Brown by name, and that he came almost every
+evening.
+
+"You can't help liking him," was the positive assertion. "I wish you
+didn't have short hair, nor look so much like a little girl; for you
+are as tall as I am."
+
+Which was very true; but Charlie felt herself quite a child, and very
+much startled at the idea of beaux.
+
+Mary Jane took out some embroidery, and did not deign to revisit the
+kitchen. A trifle after eight Mr. Brown made his appearance, looking
+neat as a pink, and nearly as sweet with perfume. For the first time in
+her life, Charlie was painfully bashful. When he proposed a walk to an
+ice-cream saloon, she would fain have remained at home; but Mary Jane
+over-ruled.
+
+The walk was quite pleasant, and the cream a positive treat. Charlie
+said some very bright things, which Mr. Brown appeared to consider
+exceedingly funny. Then they rambled around a while; and when they
+returned, Mary Jane lingered at the hall-door to have a little private
+talk, while Charlie ran up stairs. Mrs. Wilcox sat in the parlor
+fanning herself, and eagerly questioned the child as to where they had
+been, and how she liked New York.
+
+Tired and excited, Charlie went to bed at last; but she could not
+sleep. The strange place, the tinkle of the car-bells, the noises in
+the streets, and, most of all, her own thoughts, kept her wakeful. She
+could hardly believe that she had achieved her great ambition, and
+actually run away. On the whole, it was rather comical.
+
+Had they found her letter yet? What did Hal and Granny think? Would
+they be very much worried?
+
+And if she only _could_ find out something about pictures, and begin to
+work in good earnest at the right thing. It was as much to her as the
+flowers were to dear Hal. God bless and keep them all!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+  ALMOST DISCOURAGED.
+
+
+Charlie was really tired on Friday, and did not feel equal to making
+any effort; so she assisted Mrs. Wilcox with the housework, and tidied
+up Mary Jane's room until one would hardly have known it. But every
+thing seemed so strange and new.
+
+Late in the afternoon she gained courage to say,--
+
+"Did Mary Jane tell you, Mrs. Wilcox, that--I'd like to stay?"
+
+"Yes. And so you _really_ came to York to get something to do! I s'pose
+there's such a host of you at home!"
+
+Charlie swallowed over a lump in her throat. Perhaps she was not a
+little glad that Mrs. Wilcox did not suspect her unorthodox manner of
+leaving Madison.
+
+"I mean to find something to do. And if you would board me"--
+
+"Now, Charlie Kenneth! first you stay and make a visit, and see what
+you can find, before you talk of payin' board. Thank Heaven! I never
+begrudged any one a meal's vittles or a night's sleep. Your poor old
+grandmother's slaved herself half to death for you, and I'm glad to see
+you have some spunk."
+
+"Then, you'll let me stay?" and a soft flush of relief stole over
+Charlie's face.
+
+"Stay!" rather indignantly. "No one ever heard of Hannah Wilcox turnin'
+people out o' doors. Your Granny has done more than one good turn for
+me."
+
+"But I've saved some money to pay my board"--
+
+"I won't take a cent of it till you get to work, there, now! Jest you
+never fret yourself a word. It'll all come right, I know."
+
+"I'm very much obliged," said Charlie, feeling as if she would like to
+cry.
+
+"Mary Jane spoke of a chance of getting you at the flowers. It's light,
+easy work,--I tell her jest like play. But you must have a visit first."
+
+On Saturday Mary Jane came home at noon.
+
+"I do think Charlie Kenneth's earned a holiday," said Mrs. Wilcox. "I
+couldn't begin to tell the things that girl's done this mornin'. Swept
+and dusted, and helped me clean the closet"--
+
+"Then you're in clover, mother;" and Mary Jane laughed. "I never could
+bear to do housework."
+
+"A great kind of a wife you'll make."
+
+"That will be some one else's look out;" and Mary Jane tossed her head
+in a curiously satisfied manner.
+
+They took a promenade on Broadway in the afternoon. Charlie was
+delighted; and the shop-windows entertained her beyond description.
+They bought some trifles,--a pair of gloves, a collar, and a ribbon
+or two,--and Charlie found that money absolutely melted away. She had
+spent four dollars.
+
+She summoned courage to question Mary Jane a little, but found her
+exceedingly ignorant on the great topic that absorbed her.
+
+"I believe girls do color photographs in some places, but then you'd
+have to know a good deal to get a situation like that. I guess only
+rich girls have a chance to learn drawing and painting."
+
+"But when it comes natural," said Charlie slowly.
+
+"Well, I'll ask _him_;" and Mary Jane smiled, and nodded her head.
+"_He_ knows most every thing."
+
+"Are you going to marry him?" Charlie asked innocently, understanding
+the pronoun.
+
+"Oh, I don't know!" with a toss of the head. "I mean to have some fun
+first. Some girls have lots of beaux."
+
+Charlie colored. She had not the judgment or the experience to assist
+her in any sort of analysis; but she _felt_ that these Wilcoxes were
+very different from their household. They had always been poor, lived
+in an old tumble-down cottage, with a bed in the parlor; were a noisy,
+frolicksome, romping set; given to slang, Flossy's great abhorrence;
+and yet--there was a clean, pure element in them all,--a kind of
+unconscious refinement. Florence's fine-ladyisms had not been entirely
+useless or wasted.
+
+Refinement was the idea floating so dimly through Charlie's brain. In
+after years she understood the force of Hal's example, and the many
+traits Joe had laughed at as being girlish. But now she could only feel
+that there was a great gulf between her and Mary Jane; that the latter
+could _not_ enter into her hopes and ambitions.
+
+However, Charlie's drawings were brought to Mr. Brown for inspection.
+
+"Why, you're a regular genius!" he exclaimed in surprise.
+
+Charlie colored with delight, and every nerve seemed to expand with
+precious hope.
+
+"It is a great pity that you are not a man."
+
+"Why?" and Charlie opened her large eyes wonderingly.
+
+"Because then you could do something with your talent. All these comic
+pictures in papers are designed by men; and they sometimes travel
+about, writing descriptions of places, and drawing little sketches to
+go with them. It is capital business."
+
+"That is what I should like;" and Charlie's face glowed.
+
+"But girls and women never do it. It's altogether out of their sphere.
+You see, that is one of the disadvantages."
+
+Mr. Brown uttered this dogmatically.
+
+"But if they know how, and can do it"--
+
+"They couldn't travel about alone, running into dangers of all kinds.
+And it is just here. Now, some of these sketches are as good as you
+see in the papers; but no one would think of buying them of a woman,
+because it is men's work."
+
+Charlie winked the tears out of her eyes. The argument was crushing,
+for she could not refute the lameness of the logic; and she had always
+felt sore about being a girl.
+
+"They teach women to draw and paint down here at Cooper Institute," he
+said presently.
+
+"But I suppose it costs a good deal?" and Charlie sighed.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"These things are for rich people," said Mary Jane with an air of
+authority.
+
+Charlie could not summon heart to question further: besides, she had
+some ideas in her brain. Maybe she _might_ sell her pictures to some
+newspaper. Any how, she would try.
+
+She began the week with this determination. On Monday she dressed
+herself carefully, and gave her face a rather rigorous inspection. It
+_did_ look very little-girlish. And somehow she wished her hair wasn't
+short, and that she could be handsome. Who ever heard of such dark eyes
+and light hair, such a peculiar tint too,--a kind of Quaker-drab; not
+golden nor auburn nor chestnut. Well, she was as she grew, and she
+couldn't help any of it.
+
+By dint of inquiring now and then, she found her way about pretty well.
+Her first essay was in the office of an illustrated paper.
+
+The man listened to her story with a peculiar sharp business air, and
+merely said,--
+
+"No: we don't want any thing of the kind."
+
+Charlie felt that she could not say another word, and walked out.
+
+She stood a long while looking in the window of a print-shop, and at
+last ventured again.
+
+This person was less brusque.
+
+"My little girl," he said, "we never do any thing with such matters. We
+buy our pictures, printed or painted, or engravings, as the case may
+be, from all parts of the world. Many of them are copies from different
+artists well known to fame. It costs a great deal for the plate of a
+picture."
+
+Which explanation was quite unintelligible to Charlie.
+
+She rambled on until she came to a bookstore. There being only a boy
+within, she entered.
+
+"Do you ever buy any pictures for books?" she asked.
+
+"Books allus have pictures in 'em," was the oracular reply.
+
+"But who makes them?"
+
+"Why, engravers, of course;" with supreme astonishment at her ignorance.
+
+"And they--do the thinking,--plan the picture, I mean?"
+
+"What?" asked the boy, as if Charlie had spoken Greek.
+
+"Some one must have the idea first."
+
+He could not controvert it, and stared about helplessly.
+
+"Are there any lady engravers?"
+
+"No, I guess not;" scratching his head.
+
+"And who makes these little pictures of children like this girl
+teaching the dog to read, and this one with the flowers?"
+
+"Oh, I know what you want!" exclaimed the boy. "We gets 'em down in Ann
+Street. There's some girls working in the place. Do you know where Ann
+Street is?"
+
+Some of Charlie's old humor cropped out.
+
+"No, nor Polly Street, nor Jemima Street."
+
+The boy studied her sharply, but preserved a sullen silence, strongly
+suspecting that he was being laughed at.
+
+"Will you please tell me?" quite meekly. "And--the man's name."
+
+The boy found a card, and directed her. Charlie trudged on with a light
+heart.
+
+The place was up two flights of very dirty steps. Mr. Balcour had gone
+out to dinner, and she was rather glad of an excuse to rest. In the
+adjoining room there were three girls laughing and chatting. Now, if
+she could come here to work!
+
+When Mr. Balcour entered, Charlie found him a very pleasant-looking
+man. She made known her errand with but little hesitation.
+
+"It is something of a mistake," was the smiling answer. "My business is
+coloring prints, flower-pieces, and all that. Sometimes they are sent
+to me, but these little things I buy by the hundred or thousand, and
+color them; then picture-dealers, Sunday-schools, &c., come in here to
+purchase."
+
+With that he displayed cases of birds, flowers, fancy scenes, and tiny
+landscapes.
+
+"Oh, how beautiful they are!" and she glanced them over with delight.
+"I should like to do them!"
+
+"Do you know any thing about water-coloring?"
+
+"No;" rather hesitatingly, for she was not at all certain as to the
+precise nature of water-coloring.
+
+"I keep several young ladies at work. It requires taste, practice, and
+a certain degree of genius, artistic ability."
+
+"I meant the first thought of the picture," said Charlie, blushing.
+"Some one must know how it is to be made."
+
+"Yes, certainly."
+
+"If you would look at these"--
+
+She opened her parcel, and spread them before him.
+
+"Did you do them?"
+
+He asked the question in astonishment.
+
+"Yes," was Charlie's simple reply.
+
+He studied her critically, which made her warm color come and go, and
+she interlaced her fingers nervously.
+
+"My child, this first thought, as you call it, is designing. You have a
+very remarkable genius, I should say. How old are you?"
+
+"Fifteen."
+
+"You have had some instruction!"
+
+Charlie concluded it would be wiser to say that she had, for there was
+the drawing-book and Hal.
+
+"You wish to do this for a living?" he asked kindly.
+
+"Oh, if I could! I like it so much!" and there was a world of entreaty
+in Charlie's tone.
+
+Mr. Balcour had to laugh over some of the drawings, for the faces were
+so spirited and expressive.
+
+"I will tell you the very best thing for you to do. Enter the School of
+Design for women. The arrangements, I believe, are very good; that is,
+there is a chance to earn something while you are studying."
+
+"Oh!"
+
+Charlie's face was fairly transfigured. Mr. Balcour thought her a
+wonderfully pretty girl.
+
+"It is at Cooper Institute, Third Avenue and Seventh or Eighth Street.
+I really do not know any thing about it, except that it does profess to
+assist young students in art."
+
+"I am so much obliged to you;" and Charlie gave him a sweet, grateful
+smile.
+
+"I should like to hear a little about you!" he said; "and I hope you
+will succeed. Come in some time and let me know. Do you live in the
+city?"
+
+"No; but I am staying with some friends on Fourteenth Street."
+
+"Not far from Cooper Institute, then."
+
+"No, I can easily find it."
+
+They said good-by; and Charlie threaded her way up to City Hall with a
+heart as light as thistle-down, quite forgetting that she had missed
+her dinner. Then, by car, she went up to Cooper Institute.
+
+And now what was she to do? I told you that Charlie had a great deal of
+courage and perseverance. And then she was so earnest in this quest!
+She inquired in a china-store, and was directed up stairs.
+
+It was very odd indeed. First she stumbled into a reading-room, and was
+guided from thence to the art-gallery by a boy. The pictures amused
+and interested her for quite a while. One lady and two gentlemen were
+making copies.
+
+By and by she summoned courage to ask the lady which was the school, or
+study-room.
+
+"School of Design?"
+
+"Yes," timidly.
+
+"It is closed."
+
+Charlie's countenance fell.
+
+"When will it be open?"
+
+"About the first of October."
+
+The child gave a great sigh of disappointment.
+
+"Were you thinking of entering?"
+
+"I wanted to see--if I could."
+
+"Have you painted any?"
+
+"No: but I have been drawing a little."
+
+"You are rather young, I think."
+
+Then the lady went on with her work. Charlie turned away with tears in
+her eyes. A whole month to wait!
+
+Mrs. Wilcox plied her with questions on her return, but Charlie was not
+communicative.
+
+After a night's rest she felt quite courageous again. She would see
+what could be done about engraving.
+
+Poor Charlie! There were no bright spots in this day. Everybody seemed
+cross and in a hurry. One man said coarsely,--
+
+"You needn't tell me you did them things by yourself. You took 'em from
+some picturs."
+
+So she came home tired and dispirited. Mary Jane had a crowd of gay
+company in the evening, and Charlie slipped off to bed. Oh, if she
+could only give Dot a good hug, and kiss Hal's pale face, and hear
+Granny's cracked voice! Even the horrible tuning of Kit's fiddle would
+sound sweet. But to be here,--among strangers,--and not be able to make
+her plans work.
+
+Charlie turned her face over on the pillow, and had a good cry. After
+all, there never could be anybody in this world half so sweet as "The
+old woman who lived in a shoe!"
+
+On Wednesday it rained. Charlie was positively glad to have a good
+excuse for staying within doors. She helped Mrs. Wilcox with her
+sewing, and told her every thing she could remember about the people at
+Madison.
+
+"How strange it must look,--and a railroad through the middle of it!
+There wa'n't no mills in my time, either. And rows of houses, Mary Jane
+said. She'd never 'a' known the place if it hadn't been for the folks.
+Dear, dear!"
+
+Mary Jane came home in high feather that night.
+
+"I found they were taking on some girls to-day, Charlie; and I spoke
+a good word for you. You can come next Monday. I don't believe you'll
+make out much with the pictures."
+
+"You were very good;" but Charlie's lip quivered a little.
+
+"It will be ever so nice to have company up and down! and you'll like
+it, I'm sure."
+
+Mary Jane, being of a particularly discursive nature, was delighted to
+have a constant listener.
+
+"Well, that was better than nothing," Charlie thought. She might work
+a while, and perhaps learn something more definite about the School of
+Design.
+
+"For I'll never give it up, never!" and Charlie set her resolute red
+lips together, while her eyes glanced into the future.
+
+The following morning was so lovely, that she felt as if she must have
+a walk. She put on her white dress and sacque, and looked as fresh as
+a rose. She would go over on Broadway, where every thing was clean and
+lovely, and have a delightful time looking at the shop-windows and the
+beautiful ladies.
+
+It was foolish to take her pictures along, and yet she did it. They
+really appeared a part of her life. On and on she sauntered, enjoying
+every thing with the keenest relish. The mellow sun, the refreshing
+air that had in it a crisp flavor, the cloudless sky overhead, and the
+bright faces around, made her almost dance with gladness.
+
+She stood for a long while viewing some chromos in a window,--two or
+three of children, which were very piquant and amusing, and appealed
+to her love of fun. Obeying her impulse she entered, and stole timidly
+around. Two gentlemen were talking, and one of the faces pleased her
+exceedingly. A large, fair, fresh-complexioned man, with curly brown
+hair, and a patriarchal beard, snowy white, though he did not appear
+old.
+
+A young fellow came to her presently, and asked if there was any thing
+he could show her.
+
+"I should like to see the gentleman--when he is--disengaged."
+
+That speech would have done credit to Florence.
+
+The youth carried the message, and the proprietor glanced around. Not
+the one with the beautiful beard, and Charlie felt rather disappointed.
+
+They talked a while longer, then he came forward.
+
+"You wished to see me?"
+
+Charlie turned scarlet to the tips of her fingers, and stammered
+something in an absurdly incoherent fashion.
+
+"Oh! you did not interrupt me--particularly," and he smiled kindly.
+"What can I do for you?"
+
+"Will you tell me--who made the first design--for--those pictures in
+the window,--the children, I mean?"
+
+"Different artists. Two, I think, are by ladies."
+
+"And how did they get to do it? I mean, after they made the sketch, who
+painted it?"
+
+"Those are from the original paintings. The artist had the thought, and
+embodied it in a sketch."
+
+"But suppose no one wanted to buy it?"
+
+"That _has_ happened;" and he smiled again. "Why? Have you been trying
+your hand at pictures?"
+
+"Yes," answered Charlie in great doubt and perplexity. "Only mine are
+done in pencil. If you would look at them."
+
+Charlie's eyes were so beseeching, that he could not resist.
+
+She opened her small portfolio,--Hal's handiwork. The gentleman glanced
+over two or three.
+
+"Did you do these yourself?"
+
+"Yes;" and Charlie wondered that she should be asked the question so
+frequently.
+
+"Who taught you?"
+
+"My brother, a little; but I think it comes natural," said Charlie in
+her earnestness, knowing no reason why she should not tell the truth.
+
+"Darol, here is a genius for you!" he exclaimed, going back to his
+friend.
+
+Charlie watched them with throbbing heart and bated breath. She was
+growing very sensitive.
+
+"That child!" "Come here, little girl, will you?" said Mr. Darol,
+beckoning her towards them.
+
+"Who put the faces in these?"
+
+"I did;" and the downcast lids trembled perceptibly.
+
+"How long have you been studying?"
+
+"Oh! I could always do that," answered Charlie. "I used to in school.
+And some of them are just what did happen."
+
+"This,--Mr. Kettleman's troubles?" and he scrutinized her earnestly.
+
+"There was a man working in the mill whose name was Kettleman, and he
+always carried a dinner-kettle. But I thought up the adventures myself."
+
+Charlie uttered this very modestly, and yet in a quiet, straightforward
+manner, that bore the impress of sincerity.
+
+The first picture was Mr. Kettleman purchasing his kettle. A scene
+in a tin-shop; the seller a round, jolly fellow, about the shape of
+a beer-cask; and Mr. Kettleman tall and thin, with a long nose, long
+fingers, and long legs. He was saying, "Will it hold enough?" The faces
+_were_ capital.
+
+In the second Mrs. Kettleman was putting up her husband's dinner. There
+were piles and piles of goodies; and his cadaverous face was bent over
+the mass, the lips slightly parted, the nose longer than ever, and
+asking solemnly, "Can you get it all in, Becky?"
+
+The third showed a group of laughing men round a small table, which was
+spread with different articles. One fellow held the pail up-side-down,
+saying, "The last crumb." The head of Mr. Kettleman was just in sight,
+ascending the stairs.
+
+Lastly the kettle tied to a dog's tail. Mr. Kettleman in the distance,
+taller, thinner, and exceedingly woebegone, watching his beloved but
+unfortunate kettle as it thumped over the stones.
+
+There were many irregularities and defects, but the faces were
+remarkable for expression. Mr. Darol laughed heartily.
+
+"How old are you?" asked Mr. Wentworth, glancing curiously at the
+slender slip of a girl.
+
+"Fifteen."
+
+"You don't look that."
+
+"You have a wonderful gift," said Mr. Darol thoughtfully.
+
+"Oh, that is real!" exclaimed Charlie eagerly, as they turned to
+another. "My brother was in a store once, and sold some pepper for
+allspice. The woman put it in her pie."
+
+"So I should judge from her husband's face;" and they both laughed
+again, and praised Charlie to her heart's content.
+
+By degrees Mr. Darol drew Charlie's history from her. She did not
+conceal her poverty nor her ambition; and her love for her one talent
+spoke eloquently in every line of her face.
+
+"My child, you have a remarkable genius for designing. The school at
+Cooper Institute will be just the place for you. Wentworth, I think I
+shall take her over to Miss Charteris. What is your name, little one?"
+
+"Charlie Kenneth."
+
+"Charlie?" in amaze.
+
+"It was Charlotte, but I've always been called Charlie."
+
+"Just the name for you! Miss Charlie, you have a world of energy
+and spirit. I know you will succeed. And now it would give me great
+pleasure to take you to the studio of an artist friend."
+
+The tears came into Charlie's eyes: she couldn't help it, though she
+tried to smile.
+
+"Oh!" with a tremulous sob, "it's just like a dream. And you are so
+good! I'd go with one meal a day if I could only draw pictures!"
+
+And Charlie was lovely again, with her face full of smiles, tears,
+and blushes. Earnest, piquant, and irregular, she was like a picture
+herself.
+
+It seemed to Charlie that in five minutes they reached Miss Charteris's
+studio; and she stood in awe and trembling, scarcely daring to breathe.
+For up to this date she had hardly been able to believe that any woman
+in the world besides Rosa Bonheur had actually painted pictures.
+
+"I have brought you a new study, Miss Charteris. A romance and a small
+young woman."
+
+"Well, Paul Darol! I don't believe there is your equal in the world
+for picking up the lame and the halt and the blind, and the waifs and
+strays. What now?" and Miss Charteris laughed with such a musical
+ripple that Charlie turned and answered her with a smile.
+
+"First look at these, and then let me tell you a story."
+
+"Very fair and vigorous sketches;" and Miss Charteris glanced
+curiously at Charlie.
+
+Then Mr. Darol began with the story, telling his part first, and
+calling in Charlie to add sundry helps to the other.
+
+"And so, you see, I ventured to try your good temper once more, and
+bring her to you."
+
+"What shall I do,--paint her? She might sit for a gypsy girl now, but
+in ten years she will be a handsome woman. What an odd, trustful child!
+This promises better than some of your discoveries."
+
+"Well, help me to get her into the School of Design, and make a
+successful genius of her. She is too plucky for any one to refuse her a
+helping hand."
+
+Miss Charteris began to question Charlie. She had a vein of drollery in
+her own nature; and in half an hour Charlie was laughing and talking
+as if she had known her all her lifetime. What pleased Mr. Darol most
+was her honesty and unflinching truth. She told of their poverty and
+struggles, of the love and the fun they had shared together; but there
+was a little tremor in her voice as she said, "We had one sister who
+was adopted by a rich lady."
+
+The matter was soon settled, being in the right hands. Charlie was
+registered as a pupil at the school; and Miss Charteris taught her to
+re-touch photographs, and found her an opportunity to do a little work.
+It was something of a hardship to go on boarding with Mrs. Wilcox;
+but they were so fond of her, and so proud of what they could not
+understand!
+
+So you do not wonder, I fancy, that Charlie's letter should be such a
+jubilate. Ah, if she could only earn a little money to take back with
+her!
+
+She saw Miss Charteris and Mr. Darol quite often. He was like a father,
+but sweeter and dearer than any one's father she had ever known. When
+she went home, she meant to coax Hal to return with her, just for the
+pleasure of meeting such splendid people; "for he is the best of all of
+us," she used to say to Miss Charteris.
+
+Ah, Charlie, if you dreamed of what was happening in the Old Shoe!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+  LOST AT SEA.
+
+
+The autumn was unusually warm and pleasant, without any frost to injure
+the flowers until the middle of October. Hal enlarged his green-house
+arrangements, and had a fine stock of tuberoses. He had learned a good
+deal by his experiments of the past year.
+
+He had been careful not to overwork; since he was improving, and took
+every thing moderately. But at last it was all finished,--the cold
+frames arranged for spring, the plants housed, the place tidy and in
+order.
+
+The loss of the school had been a severe disappointment to Hal. He was
+casting about now for some employment whereby he might earn a little.
+If Mr. Sherman would only give him a few days' work, now and then,
+they could get along nicely; for Granny was a most economical manager,
+and, besides, there was eighty dollars in the bank, and a very small
+family,--only three of them.
+
+Hal came home one day, and found Granny sitting over a handful of fire,
+bundled in a great shawl. Her eyes had a frightened look, and there
+was a blue line about her mouth.
+
+"Why. Granny dear, what is the matter?" he asked in alarm, stooping
+over to kiss the cold wrinkled cheek.
+
+"I d-d-don't know," the teeth chattering in the attempt to speak. "I
+b-b-lieve I've got a chill!"
+
+"Oh, so you have, poor dear child!" and Hal was as motherly as the old
+gray hen outside. "You must go to bed at once. Perhaps you had better
+bathe your feet, and have a bowl of hot tea."
+
+"And my head aches so! I'm not used to having headache, Hal."
+
+She said this piteously, as if she fancied Hal, who could do every
+thing in her opinion, might exorcise the pain.
+
+"I'm very sorry, dear," stroking the wrinkled face as if she had been a
+baby. "Now I'll put some water on to heat."
+
+"O Hal, I'm so cold! 'Pears to me I never shall be warm again."
+
+"Yes, when I get you snug in the bed, and make you some nice tea. What
+shall it be,--pennyroyal?"
+
+"And a little feverfew."
+
+Hal kissed the cold, trembling lips, and went about his preparations.
+The water was soon hot; and he put a little mustard in the pail with
+it, carrying it to the bedside in the other room, and leading poor
+Granny thither.
+
+The place was steaming presently with the fragrance of pennyroyal. Hal
+poured it off into a cool bowl, and gave Granny a good drink, then
+tucked her in the bed, and spread the shawl over her; but still she
+cried in her pitiful voice,--
+
+"I'm so cold, Hal!"
+
+After the rigor of the chill began to abate, a raging fever set in, and
+Granny's mind wandered a little. Then Hal was rather alarmed. Granny
+had never been down sick a day in her life, although she was not so
+very robust.
+
+"Dot, darling, you must run for Dr. Meade," Hal said, as the child came
+home from school. "Granny is very ill, I am afraid."
+
+Dr. Meade was away, and did not come until eight in the evening.
+
+"I fear it is going to be a run of fever, Hal," he began gravely.
+"At her time of life too! But we'll do the best we can. There is
+considerable fever about."
+
+Hal drew a long breath of pain.
+
+"You will be the best nurse in the world, Hal;" and the doctor smiled,
+placing his hand on the boy's shoulder re-assuringly.
+
+Hal winked away some tears. They lay quite too close to the surface for
+a man's nature.
+
+"I'll leave her some drops, and be in again in the morning. Don't
+worry, my dear boy."
+
+Granny could hardly bear to have Hal out of sight, and wanted to keep
+hold of his hand all the time. Dot prepared the supper, but they could
+taste nothing beyond a cup of tea.
+
+"Dot," he said, "you must go up stairs and sleep in my bed to-night. I
+shall stay here to watch Granny."
+
+"But it will be so--lonesome!" with her baby entreaty.
+
+"It is best, my darling."
+
+So Dot kissed him many times, lingering until after the clock struck
+ten, when Hal said,--
+
+"My birdie's eyes will be heavy to-morrow."
+
+Granny was worse the next day. Indeed, for the ensuing fortnight her
+life seemed vibrating in the balance. Everybody was very kind, but she
+could bear no one besides Hal. Just a little delirious occasionally,
+and going back to the time when they were all babies, and her own dear
+Joe lay dying.
+
+"I've done my best for 'em, Joe," she would murmur. "I've never minded
+heat nor cold, nor hard work. They've been a great blessing,--they
+always were good children."
+
+For Granny forgot all Charlie's badness, Joe's mischief, and Dot's
+crossness. Transfigured by her devotion, they were without a fault. Ah,
+how one tender love makes beautiful the world! Whatever others might
+think, God had a crown of gold up in heaven, waiting for the poor
+tired brow; and the one angel would have flown through starry skies for
+her, taking her to rest on his bosom, but the other pleaded,--
+
+"A little longer, for the children's sake."
+
+At last the fever was conquered. Granny was weak as a baby, and had
+grown fearfully thin; but it was a comfort to have her in her right
+mind. Still Hal remarked that the doctor's face had an anxious look,
+and that he watched him with a kind of pitying air. So much so, that
+one day he said,--
+
+"You think she _will_ get well, doctor?"
+
+"There is nothing to prevent it if we can only keep up her appetite."
+
+"I always feed her," returned Hal with a smile, "whether she is willing
+to eat or not."
+
+"You are a born nurse, as good as a woman. Give her a little of the
+port wine every day."
+
+Then the doctor turned to the window, and seemed to glance over towards
+the woods.
+
+"Quite winterish, isn't it? When have you heard from Joe?"
+
+"Not in a long time. Letters do not come so regularly as they used. I
+think we have not had one since August. But he writes whenever he can,
+dear Joe. The last time we received three."
+
+"Yes," in a kind of absent way.
+
+When Dr. Meade started to go, he kept his hand for several minutes on
+the door-latch, giving some unimportant directions.
+
+"God bless you, Hal!" he said in a strained, husky tone, "and give you
+grace to bear all the trials of this life. Heaven knows, there are
+enough of them!"
+
+What did the doctor mean? Hal wondered eagerly.
+
+That evening Mr. and Mrs. Terry dropped in for a friendly call.
+
+"When did you hear from Joe last?" asked Mr. Terry.
+
+"In August."
+
+"Wasn't expecting him home, I suppose?"
+
+"Not until next summer. Has any one heard?" and there was a quiver in
+Hal's voice.
+
+"I don't know of any one who has had a letter;" and Mr. Terry appeared
+to be measuring his words. "Joe was a nice bright lad, just as full of
+fun as an egg is full of meat. Cousin Burton took a wonderful fancy to
+him; though I suppose he'd have gone off to sea, any way. If it had not
+been Burton, it would have been some one else."
+
+"Yes. Joe always had his heart set upon it."
+
+"Father and Joe used to get along so nicely. We never had a boy we
+liked better. He was a brave, honest fellow."
+
+It seemed almost as if Mrs. Terry wiped a tear from her eye. But Granny
+wanted to be raised in the bed, and some way Hal couldn't think until
+after they were gone.
+
+He was thankful to see the doctor come in the next morning.
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed in a low tone, "you were talking of Joe yesterday:
+has anybody heard from him, or about him?"
+
+The hand that clasped the doctor's arm trembled violently.
+
+"Hal, be calm," entreated the doctor.
+
+"I cannot! Oh, you _do_ know,--and it's bad news!"
+
+"My dear boy--O Hal!" and he was folded in the doctor's arms.
+
+"Tell me, tell me!" in a yearning, impatient tone, that seemed to crowd
+its way over sobs.
+
+"God knows it could not have hurt me more if it had been one of my own!
+But he was a hero--to the last. There isn't a braver young soul up in
+heaven, I'll answer for that. Here--it's in the paper. I've carried it
+about with me three days, old coward that I've been, and not dared to
+tell you. But it's all over the village. Hush,--for Granny's sake. She
+must not know."
+
+Hal dropped on the lounge that he and Granny had manufactured with so
+much pride. He was stunned,--dead to every thing but pain, and that was
+torturing. The doctor placed the paper in his hands, and went into the
+other room to his patient.
+
+Yes, there it was! The words blurred before his eyes; and still he
+read, by some kind of intuition. "The Argemone" had met with a terrific
+storm in the Indian Ocean; and, though she had battled bravely, winds
+and waves had proved too strong. All one night the men had labored
+heroically, but in vain; and when she began to go down, just at dawn,
+the life-boats were filled, too few, alas! even if there were safety in
+them. Nothing could exceed the bravery and coolness of the young second
+mate. The captain lay sick below; the first mate and the engineer were
+panic-stricken; but this strong, earnest voice had inspired every one
+through the fearful night. When it was found that some must be left
+behind, he decided to stay, and assisted the others with a courage and
+presence of mind that was beyond all praise. The smile that illuminated
+his face when he refused to step into the already overladen boat was
+like the smile of an angel. They who saw it in the light of the gray
+dawn would never forget. One boat drifted in to Sumatra, the other
+was picked up by a passing vessel. But the few who remained must have
+perished in any case, and among them no name so deserving of honor as
+that of Joseph Kenneth.
+
+Hal read it again and again. Joseph Kenneth! Was that dear, laughing
+Joe, with his merry eyes, and the sauciest trick of winking in the
+corner of one; little Joe who had stood on his head, played circus,
+and, with the aid of a few old shawls, been lion, tiger, elephant,
+and camel; dear Joe, who had cuddled up in bed cold winter nights and
+almost smothered him,--Hal; who had made ghosts out of the bolster, and
+frightened Kit half to death! Why did he think of these foolish things
+now? Oh, this brave Joseph Kenneth never could be their little Joe! God
+surely would not give Granny this pain and anguish to bear at the last!
+
+A hand was laid on Hal's shoulder.
+
+"Oh! it can't be true"--
+
+"There's just one chance out of a thousand. Hal, it seems to me
+the saddest thing I ever heard, and yet so grand. You see what the
+passengers said of him. Ah, I think he did not need to knock long at
+St. Peter's gate!"
+
+The doctor wiped his eyes.
+
+"But--never to have him--come back"--
+
+"He has drifted into a better port, my dear boy: that must be our
+comfort. We shall all cross the river by and by; and it is never so
+hard for the one who goes, as for those who stay and bear the pain and
+loneliness. And some time it will be sweet to remember that he gave his
+brave young life for others."
+
+Hal's eyes were tearless, and there was a hard, strained look in his
+face.
+
+"Don't tell Granny now. She couldn't bear it."
+
+"No;" and Hal's voice was full of pathetic grief.
+
+"And oh, Hal, be comforted a little! I know there is an overwhelming
+anguish in it; but for the sake of those still left"--
+
+"Yes." Hal's ashen lips quivered.
+
+The doctor brushed away the soft hair tumbled about his forehead, and
+held the cold hand in his.
+
+"God has some balm for every ache, my boy."
+
+Hal sat there until Granny called for something, every moment growing
+more incredulous. But a heavy weight hung about his heart, even though
+he refused to believe. It seemed as if there could not be despairing
+certainty before to-morrow.
+
+When Kit came home on Saturday night, and just threw his arms around
+Hal's neck, sobbing as if his heart had broken, it gave a strange
+reality to the grief and sorrow.
+
+"I heard it on Monday,--the loss of 'The Argemone.' How proud Joe was
+of her! And my heart's been aching for you every day. The cruel thing
+of it all is, never to have him come home again."
+
+Dot had to be taken into confidence then; but she was a discreet little
+thing, and quite to be trusted. She did not suffer so deeply, for Joe
+was only a pleasant dream to her; and she tried to comfort Hal with her
+sweet, winsome ways.
+
+Granny _did_ improve slowly. She began to sit up in the rocking-chair,
+walk to the window and look out, and occasionally smile, in her faint,
+wan fashion. They would never hear the merry chirruping laugh again,
+Hal thought.
+
+But all the details of life had to be gone through with, as usual.
+There was the poultry to be prepared for market; for this source of
+their income could not be overlooked. In fact, Hal and Dot were not
+quite as economical managers as Granny; and then every thing was very
+high. They required more luxuries in sickness, and Hal would not stint.
+But, when this was gone, there would be the money for the flowers, and
+their little hoard in the bank still remained unbroken.
+
+It was not any fear of want that troubled Hal. The old dreams and
+ambitions seemed to be slipping away. Sometimes even the idea of
+attaining to a green-house failed to charm; though he still loved his
+flowers passionately, and they comforted him as nothing else could have
+done.
+
+One day Granny thought of Joe.
+
+"Have we had a letter since my illness?" she asked.
+
+"No," answered Hal faintly.
+
+"Not since--let me see,--it was August."
+
+Hal made no reply.
+
+"Why--it's strange! He never did such a thing before! Hasn't any one
+heard?"
+
+"I believe not." Hal turned his head, and went on with some writing.
+
+"Seems to me you take it pretty easy," said Granny, a little vexed.
+"Joe never was the one to forget his home folks. Hal, something's
+happened: mark my words!"
+
+Poor Hal brushed away a tear.
+
+Then Granny gave Dot a mysterious confidence, and asked her to inquire
+of Mr. Terry.
+
+"He always wrote to them, and they must know."
+
+Dot said, in return, that they had not received a letter.
+
+Granny then began to worry in desperate earnest, and besieged every
+visitor with questions and surmises. Hal was in a sore strait. Of
+course she must know sometime.
+
+She made herself so nearly sick, that Dr. Meade saw the danger and
+harm, and felt that she had better know the truth.
+
+"Will you tell her?" faltered Hal.
+
+He undertook the sorrowful office. Tenderly, kindly, and yet it was a
+cruel wound.
+
+"Oh, it cannot be!" she cried. "God wouldn't take him from me now that
+I'm old and sick and helpless! Let me see the paper."
+
+They complied with her request, but the doctor had to read it. Her old
+eyes could not see a word.
+
+"Oh, oh! Drowned in the sea! And I never wanted him to go! My poor
+darling! who was always so bright, so happy, and who loved his poor
+old Granny so well! Let me go back to bed now: I don't want to live.
+They're all up in heaven,--_my_ Joe, and little Joe, and poor Dora.
+There is no use of staying here."
+
+Hal soothed her with fondest love and caresses; but nothing could
+change the longing in her heart, the weary look in the eyes that seemed
+to be discerning the shore beyond, and the sad voice with its one
+refrain, "Poor, dear Joe!"
+
+After that she failed rapidly. Hal scarcely left her. She used to ask
+him to read all the old letters over again, from the first boyish pride
+that so exulted in the trip to Albany. And she would recall some act of
+tenderness, or a gay prank at which they all had laughed.
+
+One evening Hal felt unusually weary. There had been a warm rain for
+two days, with most un-December-like weather. A fire felt absolutely
+uncomfortable. He generally slept down on the lounge now, to be near
+if Granny wanted any thing. Before retiring he paid his flower-room a
+visit. Every thing was doing splendidly. So far business had not been
+very brisk; but that morning he had received an order for the next
+week,--Christmastide,--for all the flowers he could cut.
+
+"Dear sweet children," he said, talking softly to himself. "If I could
+only have put some in _his_ coffin, and on his grave! but to think of
+him lying in the sea, with the endless music over his head, and the
+shells tangled in his hair. O Joe! it doesn't seem a bit true, and I
+never can make it so."
+
+Yet he knew in his heart that it was; and he tried to remember that
+Joe was up in heaven, past all pain and care, ready to welcome them as
+they came, one by one,--Granny first. It would be easier to give her
+up, because she was going to be with darling Joe.
+
+He left the door against the hall open, it was so warm; then he took
+a last look at Granny, and dropped on his couch. It was a long while
+before he fell asleep, and then he slumbered soundly. Once he awoke
+with a shiver, and reached out for the blanket he had thrown off
+earlier in the night.
+
+The light in the window roused him at length. How oddly it looked,
+and oh, how cold! Why, the panes were frosted with a thousand fairy
+devices! And then Hal sprang up, hurried into his clothes, and ran
+to the flower-room. The windows were white with frost, and the thick
+papers rolled to the top. Worst of all, the fire had gone out!
+
+For a moment Hal stood in blank despair. His beautiful buds that were
+to be out in a few days, his tender, delicate plants! How had it
+happened? There must have been more ashes in the bottom of the stove
+than he thought; and the fire, being weak, had not kindled at all. He
+tore it out with eager hands. Not a spark remained. The stove was as
+cold as a stone.
+
+But there was no time to waste in grief. Hal kindled his fire, and then
+began to drench his plants. Something might be saved.
+
+Presently Dot's little feet pattered up the stairs.
+
+"How we all slept!" she said. "And oh, dear! its as cold as Greenland,
+after the beautiful summer weather. But Hal, dear, what is the matter?"
+
+"My fire went out."
+
+"Will it hurt the plants?"
+
+"Some of them;" and his voice had a great tremble in it.
+
+"Oh, it is too bad, Hal! doesn't every thing seem to happen to us?" and
+tears sprang to the fond eyes.
+
+Hal gave a long, pained sigh.
+
+"Can't you save any of them?"
+
+"Yes: some, I think. It might have been worse."
+
+Dot kissed him tenderly,--it was all she could do. Then she ran down,
+and began to prepare breakfast.
+
+The sun was rising; and Hal dropped the papers to keep it dark for the
+present, and allowed his fire to come on gradually. At first he began
+to take hope, for the flowers held up their heads crisply.
+
+Alas! by noon they showed signs of drooping; and before night the buds
+of the tuberoses began to be slightly discolored. Poor Hal could have
+cried out of pure sorrow. He loved them all so dearly, and it almost
+seemed to him as if they suffered as well.
+
+But the next day the ruin was plainly established. He went about with
+his scissors, clipping here and there. The heliotrope displayed a mass
+of blackened clusters; but it could be trimmed for new blossoming.
+Many of the more forward, choice rosebuds were ruined but the plants
+were not deeply injured. The bouvardias were quite spoiled; but the
+mignonette and alyssum were unharmed.
+
+Hal cut a few the day before Christmas, and sent them over to Mr.
+Thomas. It was such a sore loss and disappointment, that it hung around
+him like a heavy burden. They had been counting on the money with so
+much pleasure.
+
+"Never mind," exclaimed Dot cheerfully. "We will not have any extra
+Christmas. Granny will not be able to sit up, and there'll be no one
+home but Kit."
+
+Hal brushed away a tear. To tell the truth, he felt miserably lonesome,
+and sick at heart. Every day the sense of loss grew upon him. He had
+given up hope for Granny; though she was no worse, and perhaps had
+improved a little in appetite. But then she did not care to get well.
+And the faces lost out of the home group made such a sad break.
+
+They had received two more hopeful little notes from Charlie; but, if
+she was happy and prosperous, would she not be weaned away, like the
+one other. Joe, in his deep sea-grave, had always been tender and true.
+
+"Christmas isn't much to us now," Hal answered, recalling the old
+gayety. "Yet it is too bad to put such black shadows in your life, my
+darling."
+
+"The sun has never been so bright for me, you know," Dot said, in her
+sweet, soft voice, in which there was not a touch of complaint. "It
+seems as if the path had grown shady before I came to it, so I don't
+miss the gayety. And, while I can have you and Granny, I'll be quite
+satisfied."
+
+"You are a comfort and a treasure. I'm so glad to have _you_, Dot,
+though you were a wee baby and always sick. Now and then a neighbor
+used to say,--'What a blessing it would be if that child should die!'
+But Granny never thought so."
+
+Dot nestled closer.
+
+The morning had been cloudy, and about ten o'clock it commenced
+snowing. They did their housework, and prepared their simple dinner.
+
+"I had resolved to go to town to-day, and buy some Christmas," said
+Hal. "I believe we never were quite so blue before."
+
+"I don't suppose Kit will be able to get home this evening," Dot said
+slowly.
+
+"No."
+
+"Then we'll keep it by ourselves, Hal. It will not be so very bad."
+
+"But to have no little gifts,--and Granny sick in bed"--
+
+"It will not be a merry Christmas for us, dear; but there may be
+something pleasant in it."
+
+Hal sighed sorrowfully. Oh, for the sweet, lost childhood!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+  A SONG IN THE NIGHT.
+
+
+It snowed steadily all day; and evening closed around them in the midst
+of this soft, noiseless storm. The roads were beginning to be blocked
+up, the houses were hooded in ermine, and no one passed by the windows.
+Not a soul had been in that day. So, after the lamp was lighted, they
+drew closer together. Hal read a while from a book of poems that Mrs.
+Howard had lent him.
+
+"It is nearly bed-time," he said at length.
+
+"I don't feel a bit sleepy."
+
+"Hal," began Granny, stretching out her thin hand, "don't leave me. I
+feel so strange."
+
+"Worse, my own dear?"
+
+"Not in pain, but sort of restful, as if I'd come to something--no,
+I'm not afraid, Hal. I've been praying all along that I might die, and
+maybe it's coming. I'm a poor old body, not worth much,--and Joe's
+_there_, you know."
+
+She gave her head a feeble nod. Hal swallowed over a great sob.
+
+"When will it be Christmas?"
+
+"To-morrow."
+
+"Maybe I'll be up among the angels,--a poor, ignorant, foolish old
+body like me! It's wonderful to think of! But Joe'll be there, to take
+his dear Granny by the hand, and keep her from stumbling, and making
+mistakes, and doing all the things that would shame or vex any one. And
+Christ loved us all, you know. He died for us. I think I've understood
+it better since Joe stood there on the ship, refusing to get into
+the boat lest he might swamp it. He died for some one: not in _that_
+fashion, for he didn't have any sins to bear, and wasn't reviled and
+wounded; but still he gave his sweet life,--his dear life that was so
+much to me."
+
+Dot crept up to the bed.
+
+"After I'm gone you and Dot'll love each other. It will be sad for a
+little while, but God will remember you, and bring you comfort. I've
+cried to him a' many times, when it's been dark all round; and, when
+all other friends fail, you'll find him true and strong. I've done the
+best I could. It's been poor enough; but then I never had learnin'
+and all that to help me. I took you when you were all little chaps,
+motherless and fatherless, and I've tried to keep you together. But
+they've strayed off, Hal. There's only you and Dot to give Granny a
+last kiss."
+
+Dot was sobbing on Granny's pillow.
+
+"Don't, deary, don't," in her quivering, entreating voice. "We must
+all die some time. God knows when it's best. And I ain't of any use
+now, my work's all done. I'd like to see 'em all again, Hal,--dear
+little things; only I never can believe they are all men and women.
+And, if Flossy comes back, give her my love. She was so pretty, with
+her long golden curls! I don't wonder the grand lady liked her. And
+Charlie,--Charlie was such a good girl all last summer, working like a
+woman! Yes--if I could only see 'em once more!"
+
+Hal wiped away his fast falling tears. It seemed too hard that Granny's
+unselfish life should not be crowned at the last. To die here, almost
+alone!
+
+"You remember the old Christmas, Hal? The last time we were all
+together! Ah, how sweet it was! And the presents, and the old shoe
+full!"
+
+Granny's voice sunk to a tremble of delight.
+
+"It was so happy, so merry! All of 'em laughing and talking, and their
+bright pretty faces full of fun. But--maybe--I'll see 'em all in
+heaven. Don't cry, Dot."
+
+Hal drew her to his breast, and soothed her with tender kisses. Then he
+sat down in the old rocker, and took her on his knee.
+
+"There never was such a Christmas, never! I was so glad to have you
+all, so proud of you! And I've done my best"--
+
+"Yes, Granny, God, who watches over all things, will bear witness to
+that. You were mother and father to us. And how you have toiled and
+worried and made sacrifices, how you have loved us, will all be written
+in the Great Book. I'm glad you are going to have a reward there."
+
+"I shall see Joe."
+
+Then she was quiet for a long while.
+
+"I can't remember any thing about the Christmas," said Dot with much
+perplexity.
+
+"Tell her, Hal. I'll listen; and it will seem all fresh again," pleaded
+Granny in a faint, far-off voice.
+
+"You were such a weeny little thing, and couldn't talk plain; but then
+you had always been sick."
+
+"And cross," Kit says.
+
+"You did use to cry--sometimes; and then at others you were like a
+little lamb. All children cry occasionally."
+
+Dot felt, somehow, as if she had not outgrown the trick yet; but the
+tears fell close to Hal's heart.
+
+"But about the Christmas?"
+
+"Oh, yes!"
+
+Then Hal began. The preparations beforehand, the secrecy and plotting,
+the stockings stuffed to overflowing, and the wildest of merriment the
+next morning. It appeared to Dot that she could see it like a picture.
+
+"And O Hal, that we should be so lonely now! Hasn't God let us slip out
+of his mind for a little while?"
+
+"I think not, my darling."
+
+"But how _can_ you always believe? Why did God let Joe die, when we
+wanted him so much; and Flossy go away? And all the other things,--the
+sweet pretty flowers that were frozen?"
+
+"My dear child, we cannot answer the questions. Trials always appear
+very hard to those who have them to bear; but maybe God gives us one to
+save us from some other that would be a great deal harder. And with it
+there is grace to endure."
+
+"As when you were hurt. I wonder that you could be so patient, Hal!"
+and the little arms crept up around his neck.
+
+"It was part my nature, you know. I used to be sorry at school, that I
+wasn't like the other boys; for, somehow, I never _was_: but, when God
+knew what I would have to bear, he made me patient, and almost girlish,
+loving to stay in the house, and all that. If I'd been like Joe, I
+should have fretted sorely when I found I should never be able to go to
+sea. He was so full of life and energy, you know, so ambitious, that it
+would almost have killed him. It was best to have it happen to me."
+
+Dot sighed, her small brain being greatly puzzled.
+
+"But I don't see why every one cannot be happy and prosperous. Isn't
+there enough to go round to all?"
+
+"God knows best. And, when it troubles me sorely, I think of the
+little Christ-child, who was born eighteen hundred years ago, all
+goodness and sweetness and meekness, and of the trials he had to bear
+for our sakes. All the lowly life, the reviling, the unbelief, the
+persecution, the being homeless, and sometimes almost friendless,
+and at the last the shameful death. We shall never have all that, my
+darling; and so we ought to bear our lesser sorrows patiently."
+
+Dot made no answer.
+
+"My darling," said Hal, glancing at the clock, "ought you not to go to
+bed? It is almost midnight."
+
+"And you?" reaching up to kiss the dear face.
+
+"I am going to stay here by Granny."
+
+Dot looked into his face with great awe.
+
+"Hal, I've never seen any one die; but I want to stay too. There's only
+just you and I; and she'll want us to kiss her for the last time, when
+the angels come."
+
+Hal pressed the little face in his trembling hands, but could not deny
+the wistful eyes.
+
+Then he rose, and looked at Granny. She had fallen into a peaceful
+slumber. It did not seem as if she could die just then; and yet, at
+this hour of rejoicing, some souls were slipping out of the world.
+
+He came back to his seat, and to his little sister. Dot's head was
+pillowed on his knee, and presently she began to drowse. Poor little
+bairn!
+
+So he kept his vigil by himself, thinking over the old days, when they
+were all here. Oh, if Granny could have seen them once more! If the
+brave and lovely men and women could come back to the old home-nest,
+all outgrown,--and he smiled sadly to himself,--just to clasp each
+other's hands, and glance into each other's eyes, to speak some word
+of comfort and blessing, to smooth the path of the dear heart yonder,
+who had given herself for them without stint or grudging, a holier
+sacrifice than even a mother's love.
+
+His mind was sorely troubled when he thought of Florence. Since
+childhood she had "lain in the roses and lilies of life." They had
+borne the burden and sorrow, the trials, the deprivations, days of
+toil, nights of anxious care about the future. And it seemed as if none
+of them had been especially prospered. She had gone to luxury at a
+bound. Where was she to-night? Did any remembrance of them ever cross
+her soul, amid her wealth and pleasure?
+
+Poor Joe again! It was the sad refrain to which his life would be
+forever set, like a strain of minor music. He loved Joe so dearly!
+There was such a soreness, such an aching and longing in his heart,
+that it sometimes seemed as if he could stretch out his arms, and
+search among the tangled seaweed until he found Joe, and lift him out
+of his cold bed. One bright dream broken off in the middle.
+
+There had been so much to take up his attention this winter, that he
+had hardly felt anxious for Charlie. Her cheerful little notes were
+like stray sunbeams, and she _had_ promised to come back. Ah, if it
+could only be in time to say good-by to Granny!
+
+Now and then he shut his eyes, and breathed a tender prayer,--that God
+would keep them all; that, no matter how far they strayed from each
+other, they might never stray from him.
+
+The lamp burned dimly in the room beyond. Granny still slept
+peacefully, and Dot's baby hand was fast clasped in his. All was still
+to awesomeness. Even the storm without must have ceased.
+
+"Hal," called the dear voice.
+
+Gently as he laid Dot down, the movement woke her.
+
+"Give me a little drink, Hal, please," Granny asked.
+
+He brought her some wine.
+
+"I wonder if there is any thing that I could eat?"
+
+"I left some chicken-broth on the stove to keep warm, and there is a
+little jelly."
+
+"I've had such a nice sleep, Hal! I feel so rested! It was almost like
+being in heaven, for Joe seemed to have his arms around my neck. Is it
+morning?"
+
+"Almost."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Dot, "it is clear and beautiful, with hosts of stars! I
+wonder if any shepherd watches them and thinks"--
+
+"'In Bethlehem of Judea,'" said Granny in a chanting tone. "'Unto you
+is born a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.'"
+
+"How strange it seems! Christmas morning!"
+
+Hal brought the chicken and the jelly. Granny ate remarkably for her.
+Then he placed his fingers on her pulse. It certainly _was_ stronger.
+
+"I do think she is better," he said to Dot, who had followed him to the
+kitchen.
+
+"O Hal! maybe she won't die. I never saw anybody"--
+
+"She was nervous last night, thinking so much of Joe," rejoined Hal
+softly in the pause that Dot did not finish.
+
+"I'm so glad to have her better!"
+
+"Children," Granny said when they came back, "it is Christmas morning,
+and you ought to sing. Everybody keeps Christmas."
+
+Dot glanced up in tearful surprise. What was she thinking of,--angels
+in heaven?
+
+"They sang on the plains of Judea, you know."
+
+An awesome chill crept over Hal. Was this the change that sometimes
+preceded the last step over the narrow river? Had Granny received that
+solemn call?
+
+"Sing," she said again. "Some of the bright Christmas hymns."
+
+Hal's heart was throbbing up to his throat. He did not know whether he
+could trust his voice.
+
+"What shall it be, Dot?"
+
+She thought a moment. "'Wonderful Night,'" she answered. "But, oh! I
+feel more like crying. I can't help it."
+
+The two voices rose tremblingly in the beautiful carol.
+
+          "Wonderful night,
+          Wonderful night!
+    Angels and shining immortals,
+    Thronging the heavenly portals,
+      Fling out their banner of light.
+      Wonderful, wonderful night!"
+
+They sang until they forgot sorrow and toil and poverty, and the great
+fear that overshadowed them. The soft voice of the child Dot growing
+stronger, and the pain in Hal's slipping away, changing into faith and
+trust. For, as he sung, he grew wonderfully calm, even hopeful.
+
+"It's like heaven, children! I've been thinking it all over, and God
+_does_ know best. If they were all here, it would be harder for me to
+go."
+
+The two kissed each other amid fast falling tears. When they glanced up
+again a faint streak of dawn stole in at the window.
+
+"How strange!" exclaimed Dot. "We have not been to bed at all, only I
+had a nap on your knee." Then very softly,--
+
+"Merry Christmas, Hal."
+
+"Merry Christmas to you, my little darling."
+
+Then Hal looked at the fires, and hurried them up a trifle. How lovely
+it was without! Over the whole earth lay a mantle of whitest ermine.
+Tree and shrub were robed in fleecy garments,--arrayed for this
+Christmas morning. As the sun began to quiver in the east they sparkled
+with a thousand gems.
+
+It seemed like the beginning of a new life. Why, he could not tell,
+but he never forgot the feeling of solemn sweetness that stole over
+him as he stood by the window in the flower-room, looking over to the
+infinite, fancying that earth and heaven met this morning; the fine
+gold of the one blending with the snowy whiteness of the other. So pure
+was the soul of the little child born eighteen hundred years ago.
+
+Within, it was all fragrance and beauty. The plains of the Orient could
+not have been more odorous in that early dawn. Unconsciously he hummed
+over two or three lines,--
+
+    "Midnight scarcely passed and over,
+      Drawing to this holy morn;
+    Very early, very early--
+              Christ was born."
+
+They went about their simple homely duties, as if some unbidden guest
+had entered, whose presence filled the space out of which a dear face
+had vanished.
+
+"Granny _is_ better, I am sure," Dot said, preparing some breakfast for
+her.
+
+"I am so thankful!"
+
+"Listen to the church-bell! How faintly it comes ploughing through the
+snow; but oh, how sweet! Hal, I can't help feeling happy. I wonder if
+it is wrong, when we were so sad last night?"
+
+Something floated through Hal's brain,--"Sorrow may endure for a night,
+but joy cometh in the morning." He brushed a tear away from his eye;
+but it was tenderness rather than sorrow.
+
+While Dot was cooking her dainty breakfast, Hal took a turn at
+shovelling snow, clearing the old doorstep, and part of the path. It
+made his cheeks rosy, and the fresh crisp air took the tired look out
+of his eyes.
+
+"Granny has been asking for you," Dot said, as he came in.
+
+He warmed his hands, and entered the room. Dot lingered by the window,
+glancing up and down the unbroken road. Not a sound anywhere. It
+absolutely seemed to her as if a little bird ought to come out of the
+snowy trees, and sing.
+
+Something attracted her attention,--a man striding along, muffled up
+to the ears, looking this way and that, as if considering how best to
+extricate himself from the last plunge, and make another. No, it was
+not Dr. Meade,--no one for them thus early in the morning.
+
+Still she looked, and smiled a little. The strong, manful tread was
+good to behold. When he reached the house, he paused, appeared to be
+considering, then wheeled about.
+
+She laughed this time. He placed his hand on the gate-post, and leaped
+over. It was such a boyish, agile spring! In the path he stamped off
+the snow, came straight to the door, and knocked.
+
+Dot started, and opened it. A tall, laughing fellow, with a bronze
+brown beard and swarthy cheeks, lighted with a healthful glow of
+crimson. What was there so oddly familiar in the laughing eyes?
+
+For an instant he did not speak. Dot began to color with embarrassment,
+and half turned to summon Hal.
+
+"Oh, it's Dot, little Dot! And you have forgotten me!"
+
+The rich, ringing voice electrified Hal. He made a rush in a blind,
+dazed way; for the room swam round, and it seemed almost as if he were
+dying.
+
+"Oh, it isn't Joe! dear old Joe!"
+
+And then Hal felt the strong arms around him. The glowing cheek was
+against his, and there were tears and kisses, for Hal was crying like a
+baby. I've done my best with him, I want you to observe; but I'm afraid
+he will be a "girl"-boy to the end. But nothing ever was so sweet as
+that clasp; and Joe's love on this side of the shining river seemed the
+next best thing to the infinite love beyond.
+
+"Oh, I can't believe it!" he sobbed. "Did God raise you from the sea,
+Joe? for we heard"--
+
+"Yes," with a great tremble in the tone. "It's just like being raised
+from the dead. And oh, Hal, God only knows how glad I am to come back
+to you all!"
+
+Hal hid his face in the curly beard, and tried to stop the tears that
+_would_ flow in spite of his courageous efforts.
+
+There was a call from the other room,--a wild, tender cry,--and the
+next instant Joe was hugging Granny to his throbbing, thankful heart.
+You could hear nothing but the soft sobs that sounded like summer rain,
+blown about by the south wind. Ah, how sweet, how satisfying! What was
+poverty and care and trouble and loss, so long as they had Joe back
+again?
+
+"Oh!" cried Granny, "I'm willing to die now. I've seen him, my darling!"
+
+"Why, Granny, that would be blackest ingratitude. Here I've lived
+through all my narrow escapes, and they have been enough to kill any
+ten men, and, by way of welcome, you talk of dying. Why, I'll run back,
+and jump into the sea!"
+
+"She has been very sick," said Hal.
+
+"But she means to get well now. Dear old Granny! We couldn't keep house
+without you."
+
+They knew well enough then that it was Joe, and not a Christmas ghost;
+for no one ever did have such a rich merry voice, such a ringing laugh,
+and oh, the dear bright eyes, shining like an April sky!
+
+Granny looked him all over. How he had changed! A great strong,
+splendid fellow, whose smiling face put new hope into one.
+
+"I almost feel as if I could get well," she said weakly.
+
+"Of course you will; for, Granny, I have the silk gown, and we'll have
+just the jolliest time there has ever been in this little shanty. But
+where are all the rest?"
+
+"Kit is at work in Salem, and he meant to come home last night; but I
+suppose the storm prevented."
+
+"It was terrible! I've travelled night and day to reach home by
+Christmas. And last night, when the trains had to go at a snail's pace,
+or were snowed in, I couldn't stand it, so I took a sleigh; but we lost
+the road, and twenty other things; and then the horse gave out: it was
+such fearful, wearing work. And, when I came in sight of Terry's old
+store, I wouldn't stop, but trudged on afoot; for I wanted you to know,
+first of all, that I was safe and alive."
+
+"It's just like a dream; and oh, Joe, the merriest Christmas there ever
+can be!"
+
+"Where's that midget of a Charlie?"
+
+"Ran away! It's very funny;" and Hal smiled, with tears in his eyes.
+
+"But you know where she is?"
+
+"I think she is in New York,--I'm pretty sure; and she has promised to
+come home."
+
+"Well, that beats my time! Ran away! She threatened to do it, you know.
+And here I've forgotten all about little Dot! You don't deserve to be
+kissed nor made much of, you small woman, when you never gave me a word
+of welcome, but, instead, a cold, unfriendly stare. You don't remember
+Joe, who broke his delicate constitution carrying you round on his back
+to keep you from crying."
+
+With that he caught her up, and perched her on the edge of Granny's
+bed. She was very shy, and turned a brilliant scarlet. This great
+strange fellow their dear, sweet Joe? She could not believe it!
+
+"And you really were not drowned," said Granny, still anxious.
+
+"Not exactly," with a droll twinkle of the eye.
+
+"We heard"--
+
+"Yes, the brave little 'Argemone' went down, and she was a beauty. But
+such a frightful storm! You can form no idea of it. Some day I'll tell
+you all. Our time is too precious for the long story now."
+
+"And you wouldn't get in the boat," said Granny, her pale washed-out
+eyes alight with pride.
+
+"There were three young fellows of us besides the sick captain, and we
+had no wives nor babies; so it seemed right that we should give the
+others the first chance. It was a miracle that they were saved. I never
+thought they would be. We lashed ourselves to some timbers, and trusted
+the winds and waves. What those days and nights were I can never tell
+you! I know now what that brave old soldier and sailor, St. Paul, meant
+when he said, 'A day and a night have I been in the deep.'"
+
+Hal gave the sun-browned hand a tender squeeze.
+
+"An Arabian trading vessel picked us up at last. We thought Jack
+was dead, but after a long while he revived. We were all perfectly
+exhausted. I could send no word, and then I resolved to come home just
+as soon as I could. I fancied you would hear of the loss. Did that make
+Granny ill?"
+
+"No, she was sick before."
+
+"But I'll get well now," she rejoined humbly. "I didn't want to, you
+know. Heaven seemed so much better."
+
+Joe bent over and kissed her, wondering if he ever could repay the
+tender love.
+
+"Have you ever heard from"--
+
+There was no need of a name.
+
+"She was married more than a year ago. I wrote that to you. There have
+been no tidings since."
+
+"Are you going to have any breakfast?" asked Dot. "My muffins will be
+spoiled."
+
+"Yes, indeed! I'm hungry as a bear. Granny, shall I carry you out?"
+
+She laughed in her old cracked, tremulous fashion, good to hear. To Hal
+it seemed the beginning of a new life.
+
+"I guess I'll lie still and think a bit, for I can't make it true.
+It's just as if we watched for him last night, Hal, and to-day is a day
+of great joy."
+
+Dot's coffee and muffins were delightful. Then she broiled over a
+little of the chicken that had been left from the day before, and they
+had quite a sumptuous breakfast.
+
+"How odd it seems to have Dot any thing but a baby!" laughed Joe. "It's
+quite ridiculous for her to set up housekeeping. Small young woman, you
+can't impose upon me."
+
+"But she is royal at it;" and Hal gave her a fond smile.
+
+"Now tell me all that has happened: I'm crazy to know. I believe I've
+not heard a word in six or eight months," declared Joe.
+
+So Hal went back to the summer,--losing the school, Charlie's running
+away, Granny's illness, Kit's going to Salem, the mishap of the
+flowers, even the vigil of last night, when they believed Granny dying.
+
+"But it _will_ be a merry Christmas," Joe said with a great tremble in
+his voice. "And you can never guess how glad I am to be safe and alive,
+to comfort you all. Dear, dear Granny!--the best and bravest heart in
+the wide world, and the most loving."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+  IN THE OLD HOME-NEST AGAIN.
+
+
+They sat over their breakfast, and talked a long while. And then, after
+another glimpse at Granny, they went up to see the flowers, which had
+begun to recover rapidly from their misfortune.
+
+"Why, Hal, it's a perfect little green-house, and oh, how fragrant!
+There are some tuberoses coming out. What an awful shame about that
+cold night! So you have wrecks on the land as well as on the sea?"
+
+"I don't mind now. Your return makes up for all the misfortunes. We
+will have enough for some bouquets to-day;" and Hal's face was one
+grateful smile.
+
+"And what will we have for dinner?" asked Dot. "It ought to be a feast.
+I wonder if Kit will get home in time? Oh, I'll tell you! we will not
+have our dinner until about three."
+
+"Sensible to the last, Dot. Why, it is almost ten now; and our
+breakfasts have just been swallowed."
+
+"We will have some chickens," exclaimed Hal.
+
+"And a cranberry pie."
+
+"Who is to make it,--you, or Hal?" laughed Joe. "He used to be my very
+dear Mrs. Betty. I don't know how we should ever have lived without
+him. Hal, I must confess that there's some rare good fortune in store
+for me. I had to stop a while in New York; and to think I should
+stumble over one of the very men who was last to leave 'The Argemone.'
+And he tells such a marvellous story! I suppose every thing looked
+different out there in the storm and darkness and night, with death
+staring us in the face; for, after all, I only did my duty, and our
+poor captain lying sick too! I don't mean ever to go very far away
+while--while Granny lives; but there's nothing like the sea for me!"
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Hal, with a soft little sigh.
+
+"Well, the upshot of it was, that they, the owners, and this Mr.
+Parker, made me take a little gift,--five hundred dollars. I know where
+I can get enough more to build a real green-house. You see, the fall
+off the hay-wagon did for you; and you'll never be a great hulking
+fellow like me, fit to take the rough and tumble of life."
+
+Hal clasped the arm that was thrown protectingly around him.
+
+"No, you'll never be very strong; and you shall have the green-house.
+That will set you up for old age even."
+
+"Dear, noble Joe!"
+
+"Not half as noble as you. I often used to think of you, Hal, out
+there, miles and miles away, amid all manner of strange sights; and it
+was my one comfort that you'd always stand by Granny. What comrades you
+have been! And after this, you see, I shall be able to do my share."
+
+Hal winked away some tears.
+
+"Here's where we used to sleep. Oh! did you dream then that I'd be so
+tall I should have to go round, bowing my head to every doorway, just
+as if I believed in Chinese idols? And here's the old garret, where we
+dreamed our dreams. Hal, my darling, I'm glad to see every old board
+and crack and crevice in this blessed place!"
+
+They went down presently. Joe stole off to Granny again, while Hal
+and Dot went about their household affairs. Hal soon had a couple of
+chickens for roasting. Dot made some savory dressing, stirred up her
+fire, baked her pie first, and then put the chickens in the oven. Hal
+shovelled away the snow, and took out two beautiful heads of celery,
+crisp and creamy.
+
+Dr. Meade dropped in. You may imagine his rejoicing. They made him
+promise over and over again, that he would not tell a single soul in
+Madison. They wanted this dear Christmas Day to themselves.
+
+"He's a hero to be proud of, Granny," exclaimed the doctor delightedly.
+"Such a great stalwart fellow, with a beard like a Turk, and a voice
+like an organ! Why, he overtops us all! Dot, if I were in your place,
+I should give his pockets a wide berth; for he could stow away such a
+weeny thing before your disconsolate friends would miss you."
+
+Dot laughed, as if she wasn't much afraid.
+
+"The excitement has not hurt Granny?" queried Hal.
+
+"No, indeed! It's better than quarts of my tonics, and gallons of port
+wine. She only wanted a good strong motive to give the blood a rush
+through her veins."
+
+"I was quite afraid last night."
+
+"She'll weather it through, and come out in the spring like a lark. O
+Hal, my dear boy, God is wonderful! 'And so He bringeth them to the
+haven where they would be.'"
+
+"Yes. I've been thinking of it all the morning."
+
+"Merry Christmas, everybody. Not a word will I say."
+
+Joe was still watching by the window, when another sleigh stopped, and
+a brisk little figure sprang out, running up the walk. He opened the
+door.
+
+"Hillo!" he cried. "Here comes Kit, scalp-lock, fiddle, and all."
+
+"Oh!" in the utmost wonder and amazement, glancing around as if
+suddenly bereft of his senses. "Oh, it isn't Joe, raised out of the
+sea! It can't be!"
+
+"Pity the poor fishes," said Joe comically. "Think of the banquet to
+which they might have asked all their relations."
+
+And then Kit was in his arms, crying and laughing; and, if Joe's head
+had not been securely fastened, it never could have stood the pressure.
+
+"Oh, dear darling old Joe! How were you saved? What _did_ Granny say?"
+
+And then the little goose had to go and cry over Granny.
+
+"You have really achieved a fiddle," exclaimed Joe at length. "Kit, my
+dear, you are on the high road to fame."
+
+"Not very _high_," returned Kit. "But it's splendid to have. Hal gave
+it to me, and I can play quite well."
+
+"We shall have to give a party some day,--a golden wedding for Granny."
+
+"Or a golden Christmas. O Joe! I can't believe it a bit. I was awfully
+disappointed last night when it stormed, and they said I shouldn't come
+home. I thought how lonely Dot and Hal would be this morning."
+
+The two smiled at each other, remembering the Christmas hymns in the
+gray dawn.
+
+Dot's dinner began to diffuse its aroma around the room. What with
+boiling and baking, she had her hands full.
+
+"Let us put both tables together," she said to Hal "It will give us so
+much more room. And it's to be a regular feast."
+
+"Over the prodigal son," rejoined Joe. "Kit, here, who spends his
+substance in fiddles and riotous living."
+
+"No: it is Dot who does the latter."
+
+Dot laughed. "You will not complain, when I ask you to share the
+riotous living," she said.
+
+The tables were set out, and Dot hunted up the best cloth. White enough
+it was too. Then the plates: how many were there? For somehow her wits
+seemed to have gone wool-gathering, and she had a misgiving lest some
+of them might disappear.
+
+"Oh!"
+
+Kit gave a great cry, dashed open the door, and flew down the walk, his
+scalp-lock flying, until he went head first into a snowbank.
+
+"Kit's demented, and there's a girl at the bottom of it," said Joe. "O
+Kit! you've gone the way of mankind early."
+
+"It's Charlie!" almost screamed Dot, following as if she had been shot
+out of a seventy-four pounder.
+
+"Charlie! Oh, what a blessed, blessed Christmas!"
+
+They dragged Charlie in,--not by the hair of her head, for that was
+hardly long enough. Charlie, in a pretty brown dress and cloak, a
+squirrel collar and muff, a jaunty hat with green velvet bands and a
+green feather. She was quite tall, and not so thin; and a winter of
+good care had completed the bleaching process commenced at the mill.
+She was many shades fairer, with a soft bloom on her cheek, while her
+mouth no longer threatened to make the top of her head an island.
+
+"O Hal! and where's Granny? And"--
+
+She paused before Joe.
+
+"Why, Charlie, you're grown so handsome that you really don't know your
+poor relations."
+
+"It's Joe! What a great giant! Oh! when did he come?"
+
+"And we thought him drowned," said Dot, half crying. "We heard it ever
+so long ago! It was so splendid to have him come back!"
+
+"Shut the door," exclaimed Hal.
+
+"Why, I thought it was dreadful cold," said Kit, glancing round at the
+wide open door.
+
+"Cold isn't any word for it! If we had a cast-iron dog we should have
+to tie him to the stove-leg to keep his hair from freezing off. It's
+lucky I wear a wig."
+
+"You're the same old Joe," said Charlie, laughing.
+
+"But where have you been, Charlie?"
+
+"In New York. I've such lots and lots to tell you. But oh, I must see
+Granny!"
+
+So Granny had to be hugged and kissed, and everybody went to look.
+They all talked and laughed and cried in the same breath; and nobody
+knew what was said, only they were all there together again, and Granny
+was alive.
+
+"I intended to come home yesterday, but it stormed so fearfully; and
+to-day there were so many detentions, that I began almost to despair.
+But I had some Christmas for darling Granny, and I couldn't wait. See
+here,"--and Charlie began to search her pockets energetically. "Fifty
+dollars, Granny; and I earned it all my own self, besides ever so much
+more. And I'm going to be a--a"--
+
+"Genius," said Kit. "Hooray for Charlie!"
+
+"It's all about the pictures. Mr. Darol sold some designs for me, and I
+wanted Granny to have the money; but I never dreamed that she had been
+sick. And did you miss me much? I never told Mr. Darol about it until
+yesterday. I suppose it wasn't right. And oh! Granny, I'm sorry if I've
+given you the least mite of pain; but all the time I've been as happy
+as Joe's big sunflower."
+
+"We shall set Granny crazy," said thoughtful Hal.
+
+"Oh, my dinner!" and Dot flew to the stove-oven like the "moon-eyed
+herald of dismay."
+
+There was no damage done. The chickens were browned to a turn. She took
+them out on a dish, and made her gravy, and then Hal came to help with
+the vegetables. Potatoes, onions, carrots stewed with milk dressing,
+cranberry sauce, celery,--altogether a fit repast for anybody's
+Christmas dinner.
+
+"If Granny could only come?"
+
+"I've been thinking that we might take her up a little while at
+dessert. She asked to sit up before Charlie came. What a day of
+excitement!"
+
+"O Hal! it's all lovely. And I can't help thinking how good God was
+_not_ to let her die in the night, when we were to have such a happy
+day. He saw it, with the angels keeping Christmas around him; didn't
+he, Hal?" said little Dot.
+
+"Yes, my darling."
+
+"And I'm so full of joy! I can't help crying every other minute! And to
+think of that magnificent Charlie earning fifty dollars!"
+
+Hal went to summon the "children," and explain to Granny, that if she
+would be very quiet, and take a good rest, she might get up when the
+dessert was brought on. The old woebegone look had vanished from her
+face, and the faded eyes held in their depths a tender brightness.
+
+She assented rather unwillingly to the proposal, for she could hardly
+bear them out of her sight an instant. Hal closed the door between, but
+she begged him to open it again.
+
+"I'd like to hear you talk. I'll lie still, and never say a word."
+
+A happy group they were, gathered round the table. Dot was perched up
+at the head, and Hal took the opposite end, to do the carving. They
+had time, then, to look round and see how pretty Charlie was growing.
+The contact with refinement, and, in a certain sense, society, had
+improved her very much. If any thing, she had grown still farther out
+of the Wilcox sphere.
+
+Then she had to tell her story.
+
+"You really don't mean Mary Jane Wilcox?" interrupted Joe. "Why, we
+used to go to school together!"
+
+"I never thought of them," said Hal, "when I was considering where
+I could write. Then Granny was taken sick, and the bad news about
+Joe,--and somehow I had a fancy that you were safe."
+
+"Mrs. Wilcox has been like a mother. She _is_ good, and I do like her;
+but, somehow, she is not our kind, after all. But oh, if you could only
+see Mr. Darol! I am going to stay a whole week, and he is coming out
+here. I told them all about you, Hal."
+
+Hal colored a little.
+
+"I'm glad I went, and made a beginning. There is ever so much hard
+work before me; but it is what I like. I am actually studying wood
+engraving. And Miss Charteris found me some work to do in my leisure
+time. She is as lovely as she can be, and a real artist. Think of her
+getting five hundred dollars for a picture!"
+
+"And if you should ever do that!" said Kit admiringly.
+
+"No: I haven't that kind of genius. But they all do say that my talent
+for designing is remarkable; and I shall be able to earn a good deal of
+money, even if I do not get as much at one time. I'm so glad, and so
+thankful!"
+
+They all looked at brave Charlie; and, somehow, it didn't seem as if
+she were the little harum-scarum, who never had a whole dress for six
+consecutive hours, who ran around bare-headed and bare-footed, and was
+the tint of a copper-colored Indian. Why, she was almost as elegant as
+Flossy, but with a nobler grace. There was nothing weak about her. You
+felt that she would make a good fight to the end, and never go astray
+in paths of meanness, deceit, or petty pride.
+
+Then they had to tell what had happened to them. She had all the
+rejoicing over Joe, without any of the pain and anguish. For, now that
+he was here, she could not imagine the bitter tears which had been the
+portion of the household.
+
+How gay they were! There was no china on the table, no silver forks, no
+cut-glass goblets; but the dinner was none the less enjoyable. There
+never were such roasted chickens, nor such cranberry sauce, nor such
+celery! And certainly never such glad and loving hearts. The sorrows
+and successes drew them the more closely together.
+
+What if Granny had let them stray off years ago, to forget and grow
+cold! Ah! she had her reward now. Every year after this it would pour
+in a golden harvest.
+
+"We will have our dessert in style," said Hal.
+
+"Kit, please help take off the dishes, for I know Dot must be tired."
+
+"I will too," responded Charlie promptly.
+
+They gathered up the fragments, and carried them in the pantry, took
+away the dishes, brushed off the cloth, and then came the crowning
+glories. First, two beautiful bouquets, with a setting of crisp,
+fragrant geranium leaves; then a dish of apples, rosy-cheeked and
+tempting.
+
+"It is fortunate that I made a good large pie," said Dot with much
+complacency.
+
+Hal bundled Granny in a shawl; but, before he could help her out of
+bed, Joe's strong arms had borne her to the kitchen. Hal brought the
+rocking-chair, and they made her comfortable with pillows.
+
+They all, I think, saw a strange beauty in her on this Christmas Day.
+The little silvery curls,--they always _would_ curl; the pale, wrinkled
+face; the faded eyes, with their youth and glory a thing of the past;
+the feeble, cracked voice; the trembling hands,--all beautiful in their
+sight. For the hands had toiled, the voice had comforted, the lips had
+kissed away pains and griefs. Every furrow in the face was sacred. What
+watching and anxiety and unfaltering labor they bespoke!
+
+Dot poured her a cup of tea: then she proceeded to cut the pie.
+
+"Dot, you are a royal cook!" exclaimed Joe. "We have discovered your
+special genius."
+
+It was very delightful. Granny had a little slice, and added her
+praises to the rest so lavishly bestowed.
+
+"There never was but one such Christmas. If I were a boy, I should
+pronounce it 'red-hot,'" laughed Joe. "I'm almost sorry to outgrow the
+boyish tricks and slang."
+
+"And you can't cool it," appended Kit, with a melancholy shake of the
+head.
+
+"If there was one face more," began Granny slowly.
+
+Yes, just one was needed to complete the group.
+
+The sun stole softly out of the window. The happy day was drawing to a
+close. Would life, too, draw to a close without her?
+
+"Hark!" exclaimed Dot.
+
+For the merry jingle of sleigh-bells ceased suddenly. Was it some
+unwelcome guest to break in upon the sanctity of their twilight hour?
+
+A knock at the door. Charlie, being the nearest, opened it. A lady
+dressed in deep mourning, and a tall, fine-looking gentleman. She
+certainly had never seen either of them before.
+
+The veil was raised. Oh, that face, with all its fairness and beauty;
+the golden hair, the lustrous eyes! They all knew then.
+
+"O Granny, Granny!" and Florence was kneeling at her grandmother's
+feet, kissing the wasted hands, her sad, pathetic voice broken with
+sobs. "I had to come: I couldn't stay away. I've been selfish and
+ungrateful, and God has punished me sorely. And, when I turned to
+him in my sorrow, he brought before me all my neglect, my pride, my
+cruelty. O Granny! can it be forgiven?"
+
+"There's nothing to forgive, child."
+
+She kissed the sweet, wet face. At that moment she forgot every thing
+save that this darling had come back.
+
+"Yes, there is so much, so much! You don't know. For, after I was
+married, I might have come. Edmund was tender and noble. This is my
+husband, Mr. Darol."
+
+She rose as she uttered this, and made a gesture with her outstretched
+hand. Mr. Darol bowed.
+
+"This is my dear grandmother Edmund; and these are my brothers and
+sisters. It is so long since I have seen any of you, that you seem
+strangers to me."
+
+There was a peculiar silence in the room.
+
+"Oh!" with a low, imploring cry,--"have you no welcome for me? Have I
+forfeited _all_ regard, all remembrance?"
+
+Hal came round to her side; but she was so stately and beautiful, that
+he felt almost awed.
+
+"It is Hal, I know. Oh! take me back in your midst: for only yesterday
+I buried my little baby; and I know now the sense of loss that I
+entailed upon you."
+
+They all crowded round her then. Not one had forgotten darling Flossy.
+Kisses and fond clasps. They were so glad to take her into their circle.
+
+"This is Joe," she said, "and Kit, and Dot. O Charlie! to see you all
+once more! and to have you all alive! For I have been haunted with
+a terrible fear lest some of you might have fallen out of the old
+home-chain. Not a break, thank God!"
+
+Then she brought them to her husband. Oh, how wild she had been when
+she fancied that she _might_ be ashamed of them!--this group of brave,
+loving faces, full of the essential elements of nobility.
+
+Ah, Florence, if you had known all their deeds of simple heroism!
+
+Charlie helped her take off her wrappings. She had not changed greatly,
+except to grow older and more womanly.
+
+"Granny has been ill!" she exclaimed in quick alarm.
+
+"Yes, nearly all winter. But she is better now. O Flossy, I am so glad
+you came to-day!" and Hal's soft eyes swam in tears.
+
+"It was Christmas. I could not help thinking of the dear old Christmas
+when we were all together. O Hal! if you could know all my shame and
+sorrow!"
+
+"Joe," said Granny feebly, "will you take me back to bed? I'm tired
+again. I'm a poor old body at the best. Then you can come and sit round
+me."
+
+"Shall I send the driver away?" asked Mr. Darol of Florence.
+
+"Yes: I can't leave them to-night. You will not mind?"--
+
+She glanced around as she uttered this, as if apologizing for the poor
+accommodations.
+
+"No, I shall not mind," in a grave tone.
+
+Granny was carried to bed again. Hal shook up the pillow, and
+straightened the spreads. Joe laid her in tenderly, saying, as he
+kissed her,--
+
+"You have us all home again in the old shoe!"
+
+The room was neat and orderly; poor, to be sure, but with a cheerful
+air. Hal brought in the flowers, and Kit some chairs, and they made
+quite a party.
+
+"But think of the dishes!" whispered housewifely Dot. "And not a clean
+one for morning, we've used so many. But, oh! wasn't it elegant? And
+Florence is a real lady!"
+
+"We had better slip out, and look after our household gods," Hal
+murmured in return.
+
+Before they were fairly in the business, Charlie joined them.
+
+"Let me help too," she said. "I don't hate to wash dishes quite as much
+as I used; and I am so happy to-night that I could do almost any thing!"
+
+They were a practical exemplification of the old adage. Many hands did
+make light work. In a little while they had their house in order.
+
+"But what a family!" exclaimed Dot. "Where are we to put them all?"
+
+"I've been thinking. Florence and her husband can have my room, and we
+will make a bed for Kit and Joe in the flower-room. They won't mind it,
+I guess."
+
+"Dot can sleep with Granny, and I can curl up in any corner for
+to-night," said Charlie.
+
+"Hal never had a wink of sleep last night. We talked and sang Christmas
+hymns, and Granny thought that she would not live."
+
+Charlie gave a sad sigh.
+
+"You are angels, both of you," she answered. "And when Mr. Darol
+comes,--oh! isn't it funny that Florence's husband should have the same
+name? I wonder"--
+
+Charlie was off into a brown study.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, "isn't it odd? Florence's name is Darol,
+and there is my Mr. Darol. Why, I do believe they look something
+alike,--Flossie's husband, I mean."
+
+To which rather incoherent statement no one was able to reply.
+
+"Perhaps we had better put my room in order," suggested Hal, returning
+to the prose of housekeeping.
+
+Dot found some clean sheets and pillow-cases. Charlie followed them,
+and assisted a little. The bed was freshly made, a clean napkin spread
+over the worn washstand, towels as white as snow, and every thing
+neat, if not elegant.
+
+"Though, of course, it will look very common to Flossy," said Dot with
+a sigh. "I feel almost afraid of her, she is so grand."
+
+"But she isn't a bit better than we are," returned Charlie stoutly. "I
+think Hal is really the noblest of the lot, and the most unfortunate.
+But I told Mr. Darol all about the green-house, Hal!"
+
+Hal colored. Charlie was a warm and courageous champion.
+
+Then they went down stairs. Florence still sat at the head of Granny's
+bed, and had been crying. Hal remembered his hard thoughts of Flossy
+the night before with a pang of regret; for, though they had been poor
+and burdened with cares, death had not come nigh _them_, but had taken
+Florence's first-born in the midst of her wealth and ease.
+
+Charlie went round to them. "Florence," she began a little timidly, "do
+you live in New York?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I've been there since the last of August."
+
+"You?" returned Florence in surprise. "What are you doing?"
+
+"Studying at the School of Design."
+
+"Why, Charlie! how could you get there?"
+
+"It was very strange. I almost wonder now if it really did happen to
+me. You see, I worked in the mill, and saved up some money; and then
+I went to New York. You remember Mrs. Wilcox, don't you? I've been
+boarding there. And, while I was trying to find out what I must do, I
+met a Mr. Paul Darol, who is a perfect prince"--
+
+"O Florence! we have heard all this story," interrupted Mr. Darol. "It
+is the little girl for whom Uncle Paul sold the designs. She wanted
+some money to take home, you know. He never mentioned the name."
+
+"Then he is your uncle," said Charlie, quite overwhelmed at her
+success.
+
+"Yes; and you are a brave girl, a genius too. Florence, I'm proud
+enough of this little sister. Why didn't Uncle Paul think,--but you
+don't look a bit alike."
+
+And this was Charlie! Here were the brothers and sisters of whom she
+had felt secretly ashamed! Joe, the dear, noble fellow; Hal, tender
+and devoted; heroic Charlie; ambitious Kit; and fond little Dot. Oh!
+instead, _she_ was the one for whom they needed to blush,--her own
+selfish, unworthy soul, that had stood aloof the past year, when she
+might have come to their assistance. How it humbled her! She even
+shrank away from her husband's eyes.
+
+"I think Granny is growing weary," Hal said presently, glancing at the
+pallid cheek. "She has had a great deal of excitement to-day; and now,
+if you will come up stairs and look at my flowers, we can let her have
+a little rest."
+
+They all agreed to the proposal.
+
+So Hal gave her a composing draught; and, though Joe was fain to stay,
+Granny sent him away with the others. They had all been so good, that
+she, surely, must not be selfish; and, truth to tell, a little quiet
+would not come amiss.
+
+For, happy dream! she _had_ lived to see them all come back. What more
+could she ask? That she might recover her health, and feast on their
+smiles and joyousness; and she prayed humbly to God that it might be
+so, in his great mercy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+  WHEREIN THE OLD SHOE BECOMES CROWDED.
+
+
+They trooped up the narrow stairs. Why, the old loom-room looked like a
+palace! Hal had made some very pretty brackets out of pine, and stained
+them; and they were ranged round the wall, upholding a pot of flowers
+or trailing vines, and two or three little plaster casts. Here were
+some bookshelves, the table surmounted by a very passable writing-desk,
+Hal's construction also. But the flowers were a marvel.
+
+"Hal's dream was a green-house," exclaimed Florence. "But I don't see
+how you found time for it all"--
+
+"It has been profit as well as pleasure," said Hal with a little
+pride. "Last winter I sold a quantity of flowers, and, in the spring,
+bedding-plants and garden vegetables."
+
+"Oh!" returned Florence, choking back the sobs, "do you remember one
+summer day, long, long ago, when we all told over what we would like to
+have happen to us? And it has all come about."
+
+"Even to my fiddle," said Kit.
+
+"And my running away," appended Charlie with great satisfaction.
+
+Hal brought in some chairs.
+
+"We're going to sit in the corner on the floor," said Charlie; and the
+three younger ones ranged themselves in a small group.
+
+Florence and her husband walked round to view the flowers, guided by
+Joe.
+
+"You appear to have wonderful success," remarked Mr. Darol. "These
+tuberoses are very fine."
+
+"They were frosted about ten days ago, and have hardly recovered. That
+is, I lost most of my blossoms."
+
+"Oh, what a pity!"
+
+"And all our Christmas money," said Dot softly.
+
+"No matter," returned Charlie. "You can have all of mine. I meant every
+penny of it for Granny."
+
+"And now I want to hear what you have been doing all these years. I
+know it was my own act that shut me out of your joys and sorrows; but
+if you will take me back"--and the voice was choked with tears.
+
+Hal pressed the soft hand.
+
+"You will find Edmund a brother to you all," she went on. "It is my
+shame, that after my marriage, knowing that I could come any time, I
+hesitated to take the step."
+
+"It is a poor old house," exclaimed Hal tremulously.
+
+"But holds more love and heroism than many grander mansions," Mr. Darol
+said in his deep, manly tone. "Florence is right: I should like to be
+a brother to you all. I honored Charlie before I fancied that I should
+ever have a dearer claim."
+
+"And I've been a sort of black sheep," returned Charlie frankly. "Hal
+and Joe are the heroes in this family."
+
+"It is so wonderful to have Joe safe!"
+
+"And to think how sad we were last night," Dot began. "We did not
+expect any one to help us keep Christmas but Kit."
+
+"O Dot! tell me all about it," said Charlie eagerly. "I do like to hear
+it so. And how Joe came home."
+
+Dot was a little shy at first; but presently she commenced at Hal's
+losing the school, Granny's sickness, Joe's shipwreck, the trouble and
+sorrow that followed in succession, the misfortune of the flowers, and
+then she came to the night when Granny wanted to die and go to heaven.
+Only last night; but oh, how far off it appeared! She told it very
+simply, but with such unconscious pathos that they were all crying
+softly Florence leaned her head on her husband's shoulder, hiding her
+face.
+
+"And I never knew a word of it!" exclaimed Charlie with the quiver of
+tears in her voice. "I didn't want to tell you about my going, for fear
+you'd worry over me, or, if I should be disappointed, you would feel
+it all the more keenly. But I never thought any thing sad could happen
+to you."
+
+"I should like to hear the first part of Charlie's adventures," said
+Mr. Darol. "How did she come to know that she had a genius?"
+
+"She used to be punished enough in school for drawing comical faces,"
+answered Joe. "Little did Mr. Fielder think that you would make an
+artist!"
+
+"But I planned then to run away and live in the woods. I believe I once
+took you off, Kit."
+
+"Yes; and we were threatened with the jail, weren't we, because we made
+a fire. But how you did talk, Charlie! You were always splendid on the
+fighting side."
+
+"I was made to go right straight ahead," said Charlie. "And, if I had
+been afraid, I should never have done any thing."
+
+"And we want to hear how you did it," pursued Mr. Darol.
+
+So Charlie related her trials and perplexities, her fruitless journeys,
+and her vain endeavors, until she met Mr. Paul Darol, who seemed to
+understand just what she wanted.
+
+"I don't see how you had the courage," Florence remarked. "And if I'd
+only known you were there, Charlie!"
+
+Charlie shrugged her shoulders. Now that the fight had been made,
+and terminated successfully, she was rather glad to have gone into it
+single-handed: not from any vanity, but a kind of sturdy independence
+that had always characterized Charlie Kenneth.
+
+And then they rambled farther back, to the time of Hal's sad accident.
+Perhaps the most truly noble thing about them was their fearlessness
+and honesty. They were not ashamed of the poverty and struggle: there
+was no petty deceit or small shams to cover the truth.
+
+Ah, what heroic lives they had all been, in a simple way! For it is not
+only in great matters that men and women must fight: it is the truth
+and endurance and perseverance which they bring into every-day events
+that moulds character. Not a poor, false, or useless soul among them,
+unless it was hers, Florence thought.
+
+Hal stole down a time or two to see Granny, who had fallen into a
+peaceful sleep. And presently the old clock struck ten. Dot and Kit
+were nodding.
+
+"I am going to put you in our old room," Hal said to Florence. "It is
+the best I can do."
+
+"No: let me sit up and watch with Granny."
+
+"That is not at all necessary. Last night she was nervous. I fancy she
+was haunted by a dim impression of impending change, and thought it
+must mean death. Instead, it was the dearest of joys."
+
+"O Hal! I don't feel worthy to come among you. Not simply because I
+chose to go away, to have luxury and ease and idleness, while you
+were in want and sorrow; for in those old days I thought only of
+myself. But, a few months after I was married, Mrs. Osgood died, and
+I was quite free to choose. Don't shrink away from me Hal, though the
+cowardice has in it so much of vile ingratitude. I had not the courage
+to be true to my secret longings. She had filled my weak soul with her
+beliefs; and I persuaded myself that my debt to her was greater than
+that to my own kindred."
+
+"O Florence, hush! let it all go, since you _have_ come back," pleaded
+unselfish Hal.
+
+"And then my precious baby came. Hardly four months ago. He had your
+tender eyes, Hal; and they used to reproach me daily. But I made a
+hundred excuses and delays. And then God took him, to let me feel what
+a wrench the soul endures when its cherished ones are removed. All
+these years I have been like one dead to you, without the sweet comfort
+of those who know their treasures are safe in heaven. When we came back
+from _his_ grave yesterday, I told Edmund my deeper shame and anguish,
+my disloyalty to those who had the first claim. And if any of you had
+been dead, if I could never have won Granny's forgiveness, ah, how
+heavy my burden would have proved!"
+
+"But we all consented to your going," Hal said, longing to comfort her.
+
+"Because you knew how weak and foolish I was, with my sinfully
+ambitious longings. And oh, if my husband had been less noble!"
+
+"You shall not so blame yourself on this blessed Christmas night. Is
+there not to be peace on earth, and tenderness and good will for all?
+And it seems as if you never could have come back at a more precious
+moment."
+
+Hal, foolish boy, cried a little in her arms. It was so sweet to have
+her here.
+
+After a while the children were all disposed of. Hal apologized to Joe
+for the rather close and fragrant quarters.
+
+"Don't worry, old comrade. When you've slept on a whale's backbone, or
+a couple of inches of tarred rope, you take any thing cheerfully, from
+a hammock to a bed of eider down."
+
+Kit cuddled in his arms. Dear old Joe was the best and bravest of
+heroes to him.
+
+Hal threw himself on the lounge, covered with shawls and overcoats, for
+the bedclothes were insufficient to go around. He laughed softly to
+himself. Such a houseful as this the "Old Shoe" had never known before.
+What was poverty and trouble now? A kind of ghostly phantom, that
+vanished when one came near it. Why, he had never felt so rich in all
+his life!
+
+Granny was none the worse the next morning for her excitement. Dot
+bathed her face, combed out the tiny silver curls, and put on a
+fresh wrapper. Charlie helped get breakfast, though she was not as
+deft-handed as Dot. The two tables were set again; and, when they
+brought Granny out, she was more than proud of her family.
+
+That seemed to be a gala-day for all Madison. When the news was once
+started, it spread like wild-fire. Joe Kenneth wasn't drowned after
+all, but had come back safe, a great, tall, handsome fellow. Florence
+had returned with her fine-looking husband; and wild, queer Charlie had
+actually been transformed into the family beauty.
+
+"There never was a finer set of children in Madison," said Mr. Terry,
+clearing his voice of a little huskiness. "And to think they're Joe
+Kenneth's poor orphans! I tell you what! Granny Kenneth has been one
+woman out of a thousand. Didn't everybody say she had better let the
+youngsters go to the poor-house. And now they're a credit to the town.
+Think of Joe being praised in the papers as he was! That went to my
+heart,--his giving up a chance for life to some one else. He's a brave
+fellow, and handsome as a picture. There isn't a girl but would jump
+at the chance of marrying him. He will be a captain before he is five
+years older, mark my words."
+
+Dr. Meade was brimful of joy also. He kissed Charlie, and laughed at
+her for running away, and was much astonished to find how fortunate she
+had been But Joe was everybody's idol.
+
+"I think some of you ought to be spared," exclaimed the good doctor.
+"I don't see where you were all stowed last night. I have two or three
+rooms at your service; and, indeed, am quite willing to take you all
+in. But, anyhow, Kit and Joe might come for lodgings."
+
+"We put them in the flower-room," said Charlie.
+
+"Which accounts for their blooming appearance, I suppose;" and the
+doctor pinched Charlie's ear.
+
+Between themselves, they had endless talks. It seemed as if all the
+stories would never get told. And, strangely enough, they came to pity
+poor Flossy, who, among them all, had the only lasting sorrow.
+
+Charlie took to Mr. Darol at once; and before the day ended they were
+all fast friends.
+
+"I think yours is a most remarkable family," he said to Florence.
+"There is not one of the children but what you might be proud of
+anywhere."
+
+"I am so glad you can love them!" and the grateful tears were in her
+eyes.
+
+"And, when we return home, it seems as if we ought to take Charlie.
+There she will have just the position she needs."
+
+"O Edmund! I don't deserve that you should be so good to me. I was
+longing to ask it. But I have been so weak and foolish!"
+
+"My darling, that is past. I will say now, that my only misgiving about
+you has been the apparent forgetfulness of old family ties. But I knew
+you were young when you left your home, and that Mrs. Osgood insisted
+upon this course; besides, I never could tell how worthy they were of
+fond remembrance."
+
+"And did not dream that I could be so basely ungrateful!" she answered
+in deepest shame. "I abhor myself: I have forfeited your respect."
+
+"Hush, dear! Let it all be buried in our child's grave. Perhaps his
+death was the one needful lesson. And now that we have found them all,
+we must try to make amends."
+
+Florence sobbed her deep regret, nestling closely to his heart.
+
+"Your brother Hal interests me so much! It seems that he will always
+feel the result of his accident in some degree, on account of a
+strained tendon. He has such a passionate love for flowers, and the
+utmost skill in their care and culture. But he ought to have a wider
+field for operations."
+
+"Oh!" she said, "if we could help him. Charlie has worked her way so
+energetically, that she only needs counsel and guidance. Kit and Dot
+are still so young!"
+
+"I don't wonder Uncle Paul was attracted. There is something very
+bright and winsome about Charlie. I had to laugh at her naïve
+confession of being a black sheep."
+
+"She used to be so boyish and boisterous! not half as gentle as dear
+Hal."
+
+"But it seems to be toned down to a very becoming piquancy;" and he
+smiled.
+
+"How very odd that she should have met your uncle!" Florence said
+musingly. "How surprised he will be!"
+
+Dr. Meade came over again that evening, and insisted upon the boys
+accepting his hospitality; so Joe and Kit were packed into the sleigh,
+and treated sumptuously.
+
+Granny continued to improve, and could sit up for quite a while. She
+enjoyed having them all around her so much! It was like the old time,
+when the gay voices made the house glad.
+
+And so the days passed, busy, and absolutely merry.
+
+Charlie and Florence helped cook, and Joe insisted upon showing
+how he could wash dishes. On Sunday they all went to church except
+Dot,--Granny would have it so.
+
+On Monday Mr. Darol came. Charlie had given him very explicit
+directions, but she was hardly expecting him so soon. Sitting by the
+window she saw him coming down the street in a thoughtful manner, as if
+he were noting the landmarks.
+
+"O Mr. Darol!" and she sprang to the door, nearly overturning Dot.
+
+"Yes: you see I have been as good as my word. How bright you look! So
+there was nothing amiss at home?"
+
+"Indeed there was! but, in spite of it, we have all been so happy! For
+everybody came home at Christmas, even Joe, whom they thought drowned.
+This is my little sister Dot. And oh, this is my brother Hal!"
+
+Mr. Darol clasped the hand of one, and gave the other a friendly pat on
+the soft golden hair.
+
+"I dare say Charlie has told you all about me: if she has not she is a
+naughty girl. Why"--
+
+For in the adjoining room sat Florence, close to Granny's chair. No
+wonder he was amazed.
+
+"That's Florence, and you've seen her before. And Mr. Edmund Darol is
+here," went on Charlie in a graciously explanatory manner.
+
+"They are my brothers and sisters," said Florence with a scarlet flush.
+
+He looked at her in deep perplexity.
+
+"Mrs. Osgood adopted Florence," Charlie interposed again. "It was all
+her fault; for she would not allow the relation to be kept up, and"--
+
+"This is your grandmother?" he interrupted almost sharply, feeling
+unconsciously bitter against Florence.
+
+"This is dear Granny."
+
+He took the wrinkled hand, not much larger than a child's, for all it
+had labored so long and faithfully.
+
+"Mrs. Kenneth," he said, "I am proud to make your acquaintance. One
+such child as Charlie would be glory enough."
+
+Charlie fairly danced with delight to see Granny so honored in her old
+days. And as for the poor woman, she was prouder than a queen.
+
+"You've been so good to _her_!" she murmured tremulously, nodding her
+head at Charlie.
+
+"She is a brave girl, even if she did run away. I have used my best
+efforts to make her sorry for it."
+
+"But oh! Mr. Darol, the work was all undone as soon as I came home.
+For when I found them sick, and full of trouble, it seemed so good to
+be able to take care of myself, that I think running away the most
+fortunate step of my whole life."
+
+"I am afraid that we shall never bring you to a proper state of
+penitence;" and he laughed.
+
+"You were so good to her!" said Granny again, as if she had nothing but
+gratitude in her soul.
+
+"It was a great pleasure to me. But I never dreamed that I had made the
+acquaintance of one of your family before."
+
+"He will never like me so well again," thought Florence; "but that is
+part of my punishment. I have been full of pride and cowardice."
+
+Mr. Darol made himself at home in a very few moments, for he was
+interested beyond measure.
+
+"It _is_ a poor place," ruminated Charlie, glancing round; "but we
+cannot help it, I'm sure. All of us have done our best."
+
+Then she dismissed the subject with her usual happy faculty, and became
+wonderfully entertaining; so much so, indeed, that, when Mr. Darol
+glanced at his watch, he said,--
+
+"In about half an hour my train goes down to the city. I have not
+said half that I wanted to. I have not seen your brother Joe, nor the
+hot-house; and what am I to do?"
+
+"Stay," replied Charlie; and then she colored vividly. "Our house is so
+small that it will not hold any more; but Dr. Meade has already taken
+in Kit and Joe, and he is just splendid!"
+
+Mr. Darol laughed.
+
+"Are there any hotel accommodations?"
+
+"Oh, yes! at the station."
+
+"Then I think I will remain; for my visit isn't half
+finished, and I am not satisfied to end it here."
+
+Charlie was delighted.
+
+After that they went up to the flower-room. It seemed to improve every
+day, and was quite a nest of sweets.
+
+"So Miss Charlie hasn't all the family genius," said Mr. Darol. "It is
+not every one who can make flowers grow under difficulties."
+
+"They were nipped a little about the middle of the month. One night my
+fire went out."
+
+"And it blighted the flowers he meant to cut in a few days," explained
+Charlie, "so that at first there did not seem a prospect of a very
+merry Christmas."
+
+And Charlie slipped her hand within Mr. Darol's, continuing, in a
+whisper, "I can never tell you how glad I was to have the money. It was
+like the good fortune in a fairy story."
+
+He looked at the beaming, blushing face with its dewy eyes. Ah! he
+little guessed, the day he first inspected Charlie Kenneth's drawings,
+that all this pleasure was to arise from a deed of almost Quixotic
+kindness.
+
+Yet he wondered more than ever how she had dared to undertake such a
+quest. Strangely courageous, earnest, and simple-hearted, with the
+faith of a child, and the underlying strength of a woman,--it seemed as
+if there might be a brilliant and successful future before her.
+
+And this delicate brother with a shadow in his eyes like the drifts
+floating over an April sky,--he, too, needed a friend to give him a
+helping hand. Who could do it better than he, whose dearest ones were
+sleeping in quiet, far-off graves?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+  HOW THE DREAMS CAME TRUE.
+
+
+Charlie insisted upon Mr. Darol remaining to supper; and he was nothing
+loth.
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed Dot, "we shall have to echo the crow's suggestive
+query,--
+
+    'The old one said unto his mate,
+    "What shall we do for food to _ate_?"'"
+
+"Make some biscuit or a Johnny-cake," said Charlie, fertile in
+expedients. "Dot, I've just discovered the bent of your budding mind."
+
+"What?" asked the child, tying on a large apron.
+
+"Keeping a hotel. Why, it's been elegant for almost a week!--a perfect
+crowd, and not a silver fork or a goblet, or a bit of china; rag-carpet
+on the floor, and a bed in the best room. Nothing but happiness inside
+and out! Even the ravens haven't cried. You see, it isn't money, but a
+contented mind, a kitchen apron, a saucepan, and a genius for cooking."
+
+"But you must have something to cook," was Dot's sage comment.
+
+"True, my dear. Words of priceless wisdom fall from your young
+lips,--diamonds and pearls actually! Now, if you will tell me what to
+put in a cake"--
+
+"A pinch of this, and a pinch of that," laughed Dot. "I am afraid to
+trust your unskilful hands; so you may wait upon me. Open the draught,
+and stir the fire: then you may bring me the soda and the sour milk,
+and beat the eggs--oh, there in the basket!"
+
+"Dot, my small darling, spare me! I am in a hopeless confusion.
+Your brain must be full of shelves and boxes where every article is
+labelled. One thing at a time."
+
+"The fire first, then."
+
+Dot sifted her flour, and went to work. Charlie sang a droll little
+song for her, and then set the table. Their supper was a decided
+success. Edmund came in, and was delighted to see his uncle. There was
+hero Joe, gay as a sky-full of larks. It didn't seem as if any of them
+had ever known trouble or sorrow. Even Granny gave her old chirruping
+laugh.
+
+The next day they had some serious talks. Hal and Mr. Darol slipped
+into a pleasant confidence.
+
+"I've been thinking over your affairs with a good deal of interest,"
+he said. "It seems to me that you need a larger field for profitable
+operations. I should not think Madison quite the place for a brilliant
+success. You need to be in the vicinity of a large city. And, since
+three of the others will be in New York principally, it certainly
+would be better for you. Would your grandmother object to moving?"
+
+"I don't know," Hal answered thoughtfully.
+
+"Floriculture is becoming an excellent business. Since you have such a
+decided taste for it, you can hardly fail. I should recommend Brooklyn,
+Jersey City, or Harlem. Besides the flowers, there is a great demand
+for bedding-plants. You haven't any other fancy?" and he studied Hal's
+face intently.
+
+Hal's lip quivered a moment. "It was my first dream, and I guess the
+best thing that I can do. I could not endure hard study, or any thing
+like that. Yes, I have decided it."
+
+"I wish you would make me a visit very soon, and we could look around,
+and consider what step would be best. You must forgive me for taking a
+fatherly interest in you all. I love young people so much!"
+
+Hal's eyes sparkled with delight. He did not wonder that Charlie had
+told her story so fearlessly to him.
+
+"You are most kind. I don't know how to thank you."
+
+"You can do that when you are successful;" and he laughed cordially.
+
+They had all taken Flossy's husband into favor, and their regard was
+fully returned by him. Indeed, they appeared to him a most marvellous
+little flock. As for Florence, the awe and strangeness with which she
+had first impressed them was fast wearing off. As her better soul
+came to light, she seemed to grow nearer to them, as if the years of
+absence were being bridged over. Fastidious she would always be in some
+respects, but never weakly foolish again. She had come to understand
+a few of the nobler truths of life, learned through suffering,--that
+there was a higher enjoyment than that of the senses, or the mere
+outward uses of beauty.
+
+They all appreciated the manner in which she made herself at home. They
+gave her the best they had, to be sure; and she never pained them by
+any thoughtless allusion to her luxuries. She had not lost her old art
+with the needle, and Dot's dresses were renovated in such a manner that
+she hardly knew them.
+
+Granny would never allow her to regret her going with Mrs. Osgood.
+
+"It was all right," she would say cheerfully. "The good Lord knew what
+was best. I don't mind any of it now,--the losses and crosses, the
+sorrows and sicknesses, and all the hard work. Your poor father would
+be glad if he could see you, and I've kept my promise to him. So don't
+cry, dearie. If you hadn't gone away, I shouldn't 'a' known how sweet
+it was to have you come back."
+
+Florence and Mr. Darol made their preparations to return. They decided
+to take Charlie back with them, and install her in her new home; though
+Charlie did not exactly like the prospect of having her visit abridged.
+
+"I meant to stay all this week," she said decisively. "I cannot have
+another vacation until next summer."
+
+"But you will go back with me to my sad house, and help me to forget
+my baby's dead face," Florence returned beseechingly. "O Charlie! I do
+mean to be a true and fond sister to you if you will let me."
+
+So Charlie consented; though she would much rather have staid, and had
+a "good time" with Dot and Hal.
+
+"If Florence was not here, I should like to perch myself on a
+chair-back, and whistle 'Hail Columbia' to all the world. Dear old
+shoe! What sights of fun we have had in it! I am rather sorry that I'll
+soon be a woman. Oh, dear! You always _do_ have some trouble, don't
+you?"
+
+"Charlie, Charlie!" and Dot shook her small forefinger.
+
+Joe was going too. "But I shall be back in a few days," he said to
+Granny.
+
+"O Joe! if you wouldn't go to sea any more,--and when you've been
+a'most drowned"--
+
+"O Granny! best mother in the world, do not feel troubled about me. We
+are a family of geniuses, and I am the duckling that can't stay brooded
+under mother-wings. It's my one love, and I should be a miserable fish
+if you kept me on dry land. I have been offered a nice position to go
+to Charleston; and as I am not rich, and have not the gout, I can't
+afford to retire on a crust. But you'll see me every little while; and
+you'll be proud enough of me when I get to be a captain."
+
+Granny felt that she could not be any prouder of him if he was a king.
+
+There was a great thinning-out again. Kit bemoaned the lonesomeness of
+the place; but Dot's housewifely soul was comforted with the hope of a
+good clearing-up time.
+
+In two days Joe returned.
+
+"Florence is as elegant as a queen," he reported; "not the grandest or
+richest, but every thing in lovely style. Charlie went wild over the
+pictures. And there are great mirrors, and marble statues, and carpets
+as soft as spring-hillsides. You never imagined, Granny, that one of us
+would attain to such magnificence, did you?"
+
+Granny listened in wide-eyed wonder, and bobbed her little curls.
+
+"And Darol's a splendid fellow! Flossy always did have the luck!"
+
+That night Hal and Joe slept in the old room, which Joe declared seemed
+good.
+
+"We had a long talk about you, Hal. Mr. Paul Darol is wonderfully
+interested in you. He is just as good and generous as he can be, and
+has two beautiful rooms at a hotel. You know, in the old dream, it was
+Flossy who was to meet with a benevolent old gentleman: instead, it
+has been Charlie, the queer little midget. What a youngster she has
+been!"
+
+"She is as good as gold."
+
+"Mr. Darol thinks her the eighth wonder of the world. But he wants you
+to have the green-house; and I said I intended to help you to it. When
+he found that we did not mean to take any thing as a gift, he offered
+to loan the whole amount, to be paid as you were prospered."
+
+"How very, very generous!" said Hal with a long breath.
+
+"It _was_ most kind; but you cannot do much here. I believe I like the
+Brooklyn project best."
+
+"I wonder if Granny would consent to leave Madison?"
+
+"I think she will. You see, I can spend a good deal of time with you
+then."
+
+Joe was to start again the middle of January. Granny fretted at first;
+but dear, merry Joe finally persuaded her that it was the best thing in
+the world.
+
+Hal could not help shedding a few quiet tears, but then they had a
+glowing letter from Charlie. She and Florence had actually been to call
+on Mrs. Wilcox in their own carriage. They had taken her and Mary Jane
+a pretty gift; and Mrs. Wilcox was, to use her own expression, "clear
+beat." And Charlie declared that she was living like a princess. She
+could come home, and spend almost any Sunday with them.
+
+While Hal was considering how best to inform Granny of the new project,
+circumstances opened the way. In the march of improvement at Madison,
+an old lane was to be widened, and straightened into a respectable
+street; and one end of it would run through the old Kenneth cottage.
+
+Poor old Shoe! Its days were numbered. But there were no more
+rollicking children to tumble in and out of windows, or transform
+the dusty garret into a bedlamic palace. And yet Granny could not be
+consoled, or even persuaded.
+
+"I never could take root anywhere else, Hal, dear," she said, shaking
+her head sadly.
+
+"But the old house has been patched and patched; it leaks everywhere;
+and a good, strong gust of wind might blow it over. We should not want
+to be in the ruins, I'm sure. Then, Granny, think of being so near all
+the children!"
+
+Granny was very grave for several days; but one evening she said with a
+tremor in her voice,--
+
+"Hal dear, I am a poor old body, and I shall never be worth any thing
+again. I don't know as it makes much difference, after all, if you will
+only promise to bring me back, and lay me alongside of my dear Joe."
+
+Hal promised with a tender kiss.
+
+Dr. Meade used to bundle Granny up in shawls, and take her out in his
+old-fashioned gig; and, by the time Joe came back, he declared she was
+a good deal better than new, and the dearest grandmother in the world.
+I think she was, myself, even if she was little and old and wrinkled,
+and had a cracked voice.
+
+They formed a great conspiracy against her, and took her to New York.
+She never could see how they did it; and Joe insisted that it was
+"sleight-of-hand," he having learned magic in China. It was very odd
+and laughable to see her going round Florence's pretty home, leaning
+on Dot's shoulder, and listening, like a child, to the descriptions of
+the pictures and bronzes, and confusing the names of different things.
+But Dot declared that it was right next door to heaven; and, for sweet
+content, it might have been. Charlie almost went wild.
+
+It seemed, indeed, as if Florence could never do enough to make amends
+for her past neglect. Edmund Darol treated Granny with the utmost
+respect and tenderness. He never tired of hearing of their youthful
+frolics and fun; but Charlie's running away seemed the drollest of all.
+
+Mr. Paul Darol, or Uncle Paul as he had insisted upon being to all
+the children, took Hal under his especial protection. They visited
+green-houses, talked with florists, read books, and began to consider
+themselves quite wise. Then they looked around for some suitable
+places. At Jersey City they found the nucleus of a hot-house, and a
+very fair prospect; but, on the outskirts of Brooklyn, they found a
+pretty cottage and some vacant lots, that appeared quite as desirable.
+
+"Indeed, the neighborhood is much better," said Mr. Darol.
+"Green-houses could soon be put up, and by fall you might be started in
+business. I think the sooner the better."
+
+Hal's brown eyes opened wide in astonishment.
+
+"Yes," continued Mr. Darol, with an amused expression, "Joe and I have
+quite settled matters. He allows me _carte blanche_ for every thing;
+and, being arbitrary, I like to have my own way. When you decide upon a
+location, I will take care that it shall be placed within your power."
+
+"You are so good! but I couldn't, I wouldn't dare"--And somehow Hal
+could not keep the tears out of his eyes.
+
+"I think this Brooklyn place the most desirable. It is on a horse-car
+route, and near enough to Greenwood to attract purchasers thither. I'll
+buy the place, and turn it over to you with a twenty-years' mortgage,
+if you like. You see, I am not giving you any thing but a chance to do
+for yourself."
+
+Hal and Joe talked it over that evening.
+
+"How good everybody is to us!" said Hal. "There was Mrs. Howard, when I
+was so ill, and the Kinseys, while they were in Madison, and Dr. Meade,
+and"--
+
+"Mrs. Van Wyck, who snubbed Flossy, and prophesied that I should come
+to the gallows. Hal, dear old chap, we have had ups and downs, and
+been poor as church-mice; but it is all coming around just right. And
+I'd take the place: I know you will succeed."
+
+"But eight thousand dollars; and the green-houses, and the plants
+afterward"--
+
+"Why, I'd be responsible for the place myself. The property would be
+worth a fortune in twenty years or so. And, with Mr. Darol to hold it,
+there wouldn't be the slightest risk."
+
+"But if I should not live"--
+
+"Nonsense! I'll come in and administer. I'll be thinking about your
+epitaph. Mine is already stored away for use:--
+
+              'From which it is believed,
+              The unfortunate bereaved
+    Went to sea, and was promiscuously drownded.'"
+
+"Now, isn't that pathetic?"
+
+"O Joe! you are too bad!"
+
+"It's a sign of long life, my dear. I have had to be worse than usual,
+to balance your account."
+
+Everybody said Hal must have the place. Mr. Darol actually purchased
+it, and took Dot over to see the cottage. It was not very large, but
+sufficiently roomy for them, and had only been tenanted for a year;
+a pretty parlor and sitting-room, with a nice large kitchen, and
+abundance of closets. The chambers up stairs were very pleasant, and
+commanded a beautiful view.
+
+"Will it do for you, O morsel of womankind?" asked Mr. Darol. "I
+propose to buy you a dog, and call you Mother Hubbard."
+
+Dot laughed, and blushed, and expressed her satisfaction.
+
+Then Hal declared they must return to Madison, and he would consider
+what could be done.
+
+"You can count on me for three hundred a year," said Joe with his
+good-by.
+
+They wanted Granny to remain with Florence, but she would not: so they
+returned together.
+
+Oh, poor little cottage! The chimney over the "best room" had blown
+down in a March gale, and the roof leaked worse than ever. The street
+was surveyed, and staked out; and, oddest of all, Mr. Howard had
+received a call to Brooklyn.
+
+"I suppose we must go," said Granny. "Dot needs a pretty home, and this
+isn't"--
+
+"The palaces have spoiled us," said Dot. "Think of having hot and cold
+water in your kitchen without a bit of fuss; and a bath-room, and the
+work so easy that it is just like playing at housekeeping. Why, Granny,
+you and I would have the nicest time in the world!"
+
+Mrs. Meade had cared for the flowers while Hal was away, though they
+missed his loving hand. But he decided that it would be best to sell
+them all out, and dispose of the place as soon as he could. The
+township offered him three hundred dollars for the ground they needed;
+and presently Hal found a purchaser for the remainder, at twelve
+hundred dollars. By the time of Joe's next return Hal was ready to take
+a fresh start.
+
+One thousand was paid down; and Joe promised three hundred of the
+interest every year, and as much more as he could do. Mr. Darol was to
+superintend the erection of the green-house,--two long rows, joined by
+a little square at the end, a kind of work-room, which could be opened
+or closed at pleasure. They were built on the back part of the two
+lots, and the space in front was to remain a summer-garden. The street
+had a lovely southern exposure, while a great elm-tree shaded the house.
+
+They all came back to the Old Shoe for a farewell visit. It was June,
+and they had supper out of doors; for, somehow, half the neighborhood
+had invited itself. Everybody was sorry to lose Hal and Granny; and
+everybody thought it wonderful that the Kenneths had prospered, and had
+such luck.
+
+Then Florence took Granny and Dot to a pretty seaside resort, where
+Charlie was to join them. Kit and Hal were to pack up whatever
+household treasures were worth saving, and afterward domesticate
+themselves with their brother-in-law.
+
+Good-by, Old Shoe! Tumble down at your will. There is no more laughing
+or crying or scolding or planning for you to hear,--no tender
+children's voices singing Sunday-evening hymns in the dusk, no little
+folded hands saying reverent prayers. O old house, brown and rusty and
+dilapidated! there has been much joy under your roof; many prayers
+answered, many sorrows, and some bitter tears, that God's hand wiped
+away. Every crumbling board has some tender memories. And, as Hal
+and Kit sit on the old stone step for the last time, their hands are
+clasped tightly, their eyes are full of tears, and neither can trust
+his voice to speak.
+
+Good-by! The birds said it, the wandering winds said it, the waving
+grasses, and the rustling trees. You have had your day, old house, and
+the night has come for you.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+  CHRISTMASTIDE.
+
+
+Hal watched the hot-houses with strange delight. They seemed to him on
+a most magnificent scale. The boiler was put in, the pipes laid, the
+force-pump and coal-bins arranged; then the stands of steps, rising
+higher, the wide ledge by the window for small plants and slips,
+lattices for vines, hooks for hanging-baskets, and every thing in
+complete order.
+
+When Charlie rejoined Granny, Florence came back for a brief stay. She
+and Edmund went over to the cottage, and measured and consulted; and
+the result was, that one morning it looked wonderfully as if some one
+was moving in. Hal ran to inform them of their mistake.
+
+The carpet-men said they had their orders, and wouldn't budge an
+inch. Down went carpets and oil-cloths. Such a hammering, and
+knocking-about, and unrolling! Kit stood it as long as he could: then
+he went out of doors, perched himself on a pile of stone, and played on
+his beloved fiddle.
+
+The next day there was another raid. This time it was furniture.
+Florence and Edmund soon made their appearance.
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Hal.
+
+"It is to be our gift," began Edmund. "Florence wished it so much!
+She feels that she took her pleasure when you were all toiling and
+suffering, and is better satisfied to make some amends. Besides, we
+have an interest in Dot and grandmother."
+
+"And I am only going to put in the principal things," explained
+Florence. "There are so many that you will prefer to select yourselves."
+
+The parlor and library, or sitting-room, were carpeted alike. The
+furniture was in green, with here and there a bright article to relieve
+it; a pretty book-case and writing-table, a _console_ for Dot's small
+traps, easy-chairs in abundance, and every thing as pretty as it could
+be. The dining-room and kitchen were plain, but home-like, with an
+old-fashioned Boston rocker for Granny. But the three sleeping-rooms up
+stairs were perfect little gems,--Hal's in black-walnut, Granny's in
+quaint chestnut, and Dot's in pale green with a pretty green and white
+carpet to match.
+
+"Why, I shall want them to come home right away!" exclaimed Hal. "O
+Flossy!"
+
+"Dear, brave Hal! God has been good to us all. Only love me a little in
+return."
+
+The last of August, Hal's household returned. He and Kit had provided
+for them a gorgeous supper, with the best china, and a bouquet at
+each plate. Granny could hardly believe her eyes or her senses. Dot
+and Charlie ran wild, and made themselves exclamation points in every
+doorway.
+
+"Oh! Oh! Oh!"
+
+"And the surprise!"
+
+"And so beautiful!"
+
+"That I should ever live to see it!" said Granny.
+
+They explored every nook and corner and closet.
+
+"I like it so much," said old-fashioned little Dot, "because it isn't
+too grand. For, after all, we are not rich. And it was so thoughtful of
+Florence to choose what was simply pretty instead of magnificent!"
+
+"Look at the goblets," said Charlie with a solemn shake of the head.
+"Dot, if any nice old gentleman comes along, be sure to give him a
+drink out of them, and put this K round where he can see it."
+
+"The whole eighteen, I suppose, one after another," returned Dot drolly.
+
+"I shall paint you some pictures," Charlie began presently; "and, Dot,
+when I get to earning money in good earnest, I'll buy a piano. I used
+to think I did not care much about it, and I never _could_ learn; but
+sometimes, when Florence sits and plays like an angel, I can't help
+crying softly to myself, though you wouldn't believe I was such a
+goose. And, if you learn to play, it will be a great comfort to Hal."
+
+"Yes," said Dot, crying out of pure sympathy.
+
+They commenced housekeeping at once. Charlie was to remain with them
+until the term commenced.
+
+"Isn't it a delight to have such splendid things to work with?"
+exclaimed Dot. "Why, Granny, don't you believe we have been spirited
+away to some enchanted castle?"
+
+Granny laughed, and surely thought they had.
+
+Hal, meanwhile, was stocking his green-houses. Loads of sand and loam
+had to be brought; piles of compost and rubble standing convenient; and
+the two boys worked like Trojans. And then the journeys to florists,
+that seemed to Hal like traversing realms of poesy and fragrance. Great
+geraniums that one could cut into slips, roses, heliotrope, heaths,
+violets, carnations, fuchsias; indeed, an endless mass of them. Hal's
+heart was in his throat half the time with a suffocating sense of
+beauty.
+
+It was such a pleasure to arrange them! He used to handle them as if
+they were the tenderest of babies. Watering and ventilation on so large
+a scale was quite new to him; and he went at his business with a little
+fear and trembling, and devoted every spare moment to study.
+
+Mr. Darol had paid the bills as they had been presented. One day Hal
+asked to see them. The request was evaded for a while; but one evening,
+when he was dining with Mr. Darol, he insisted upon it.
+
+"Very well," returned Mr. Darol smilingly. "Here they are: look them
+over and be satisfied. Very moderate, I think."
+
+The hot-house had cost thirteen hundred dollars; soil, and various
+incidentals, one hundred more; flowers, three hundred.
+
+"Seventeen hundred dollars," said Hal in a grave and rather tremulous
+tone. "And seven thousand on the house."
+
+"The mortgage is to remain any number of years, you know. Joe
+has arranged to pay part of the interest. And the conditions of
+these"--gathering them up, and turning toward Hal, who was leaning
+against the mantle, rather stupefied at such overwhelming indebtedness.
+
+"Well?" he said with a gasp that made his voice quiver.
+
+"This," and Mr. Darol laughed genially. Hal saw a blaze in the grate,
+and stood speechless.
+
+"It is my gift to you. Not a very large business capital, to be sure;
+but you can add to it from time to time."
+
+"O Mr. Darol!"
+
+"My dear Hal, if you knew the pleasure it has been to me! I don't know
+why I have taken such a fancy to you all, unless it is for the sake of
+the children I might have had; but that is an old dream, and the woman
+who might have been their mother is in her grave. You deserve all this,
+and more."
+
+The tears stood in Hal's eyes, and he could not trust his voice. How
+dark every thing had looked only a little year ago! _Could_ he ever be
+thankful enough? And that it should all come through such a ridiculous
+thing as Charlie's running away!
+
+"I am confident that you will prosper. And I expect you all to like me
+hugely, in return. When I take Dot and Charlie to operas, I shall look
+to you to provide the flowers."
+
+"A very small return," said Hal.
+
+But he went home as if he had been a tuft of thistle-down on a
+summer-breeze. Ferry-boat and horse-car were absolutely glorified. And
+when he reached the little cottage with lights in every window, and the
+dear ones awaiting him, he could only clasp his arms around them, and
+kiss them. But they knew the next morning what had flushed his face,
+and made his eyes so lustrous.
+
+"Ah, I told you he was a prince!" declared Charlie in triumph.
+
+And then Hal's work commenced in earnest. Every morning he spent in
+his green-house, and began experiments of propagating, that were so
+interesting to him. Kit assisted, and Dot ran in every hour or two, to
+see how they prospered.
+
+Kit had come across a German musician, hardly a square off, who was
+giving him lessons, and who used to wax very enthusiastic over him.
+There had been quite a discussion as to what should be done with him.
+
+"Why, he must go to school," declared brother Edmund. "He's a mere
+child yet; but he has a wonderful talent for music, it must be
+admitted."
+
+"He might become an organist," said Florence. "That gives a man a
+position." Somehow she did not take cordially to the violin.
+
+Kit consented to go to school.
+
+"But to give up my dear, darling old fiddle! It's mean, when the rest
+of you have had just what you wanted,--been adopted, and gone to
+sea, and had green-houses, and all that!" said Kit, half-crying, and
+jumbling his sentences all together.
+
+"You shall keep the fiddle," said Granny. "I like it."
+
+Florence also proposed that Granny should have a servant. At this
+Granny was dismayed.
+
+"A servant! Why, do you suppose I am going to set up for a queen,
+because Hal has his beautiful hot-house,--an old woman like me?"
+
+"But Dot ought to go to school, and then it would be too much for you."
+
+"I am going to study at home," returned Dot with much spirit. "I
+haven't any genius: so I shall keep house, and help Hal with his
+flowers. And the work isn't any thing. A woman comes in to do the
+washing and ironing."
+
+"And Hal is handy as a girl. No: I'd rather stay as we are," Granny
+said, with more determination than she had shown in her whole life.
+
+Florence had to leave them "as they were." The simple, homely duties of
+every-day life were not distasteful to them. If Granny could not have
+been useful, the charm would have gone out of life for her.
+
+Joe was delighted with every thing, and told Granny that if he wasn't
+so tall he should surely stand on his head, out of pure joy. He was to
+make his head-quarters with them when he was at home.
+
+Miss Charteris had been added to their circle of friends, and enjoyed
+the quaint household exceedingly. Hal was an especial favorite with
+her, and she took a warm interest in his flowers.
+
+In October, Hal began to have a little business. Baskets and stands
+were sent in to be arranged for winter; and now and then some one
+strayed in, and bought a pot of something in bloom. He began to feel
+quite like a business-man. His five hundred dollars had served to
+defray incidental expenses, and put in coal and provisions for the
+winter, leaving a little margin. If he could get his sales up to
+regular expenses, he thought he should be content for the present.
+
+He took a trip to Madison one day. The cottage was nothing but a heap
+of crumbling boards. Had they ever lived there, and been so happy?
+
+"It'll never be the same place again," said Granny, listening to the
+summer's improvements. "I am glad we came away. I couldn't have seen
+the old house torn down. Maybe it's the flowers here, and the children,
+that makes it seem like home to me; but most of all I think it must be
+you, dear Hal. And so I'm satisfied, as the good Lord knows."
+
+Her caps were a trifle more pretentious, and her gowns more in modern
+style; but she was Granny still, and not one of them would have had her
+changed. When she sat in her rocking-chair, with her hands crossed in
+her lap, Hal thought her the prettiest thing in the house.
+
+"Hooray!" exclaimed Kit, rushing home one evening out of breath, and
+covered with snow. "What _do_ you think? Granny, you could never guess!"
+
+"I never was good at guessing," returned Granny meekly.
+
+"Something wonderful! Oh, a new fiddle!" said Dot.
+
+"No: and Hal won't try. Well"--with a long breath--"I'm going--to
+play--at a concert!"
+
+"Oh!" the three exclaimed in a breath.
+
+"And it's the oddest thing," began Kit, full of excitement. "You see,
+there's to be a concert given in New York, to help raise funds to give
+the newsboys, and other homeless children, a great Christmas dinner.
+Mr. Kriessman has it in hand; and, because it's for boys, he wants me
+to play--all alone."
+
+"O Kit! you can't," said Hal. "When you faced the audience, it would
+seem so strange, and you would lose your courage."
+
+"No I wouldn't, either! I'd say to myself, 'Here's a dinner for a
+hungry boy,' and then I wouldn't mind the people. Mr. Kriessman is sure
+I can do it; and I've been practising all the evening. A real concert!
+Think of it. Oh, if Joe can only be here!"
+
+Dot put her arms round his neck, and kissed him. Hal winked his eyes
+hard, remembering the old dreams in the garret.
+
+He went to see Mr. Kriessman the next day.
+
+"The boy is a genius, I tell you, Mr. Kenneth," said the enthusiastic
+professor. "He will be a great man,--you see, you see! He has the soul,
+the eyes, the touch. He fail!" and an expression of lofty scorn crossed
+the fair, full face.
+
+"But he has had so little practice"--
+
+"It will all be right. You see, you see! Just leave him to me. And he
+is so little!"
+
+Hal smiled. Kit did not bid fair to become the family giant, it was
+true.
+
+Not a moment did the child lose. Dot declared that he could hardly eat.
+Charlie was in high delight when she heard of it; for Mr. Darol was
+going to take her and Miss Charteris. Hal hardly knew whether he dared
+venture, or not.
+
+But Joe did come just in the nick of time, and insisted that everybody
+should go, ordering a carriage, and bundling Dot and Granny into it;
+poor Granny being so confused that she could hardly make beginning or
+end of it. And, when they were seated in the great hall that was as
+light as day, she glanced helplessly around to Joe.
+
+"Never you mind, Granny! I'm not a bit afraid," he whispered. "He will
+fiddle with the best of them."
+
+'The wonderful boy violinist,' it said on the programme. "If he should
+not be so wonderful," thought Hal quietly, with a great fear in his
+soul. He could not tell what should make him so nervous.
+
+Mr. Darol came and spoke to them. "Isn't it odd?" he said with a laugh.
+"Why, I never dreamed of it until Charlie told me! I wouldn't have
+missed it for any thing."
+
+The concert began. There was an orchestral overture, then a fine
+quartet, a cornet solo, and so they went on. Hal followed the programme
+down. Then he drew a long breath, and looked neither to the right nor
+the left. That little chap perched up on the stage, Kit? making his
+bow, and adjusting his violin, and--hark!
+
+It was not the story of the child lost in the storm, but something
+equally pathetic. Mr. Kriessman had made a fortunate selection.
+Curiosity died out in the faces of the audience, and eagerness took its
+place. Ah, what soft, delicious strains! Was it the violin, or the
+soul of the player? Not a faltering note, not a sign of fear; and Hal
+laughed softly to himself. On and on, now like the voice of a bird,
+then the rustle of leaves, the tinkle of waters, fainter, fainter, a
+mere echo,--a bow, and he was gone.
+
+There was a rapturous round of applause. It nearly subsided once, then
+began so vehemently that it brought Kit out again. But this time he was
+the gayest little fiddler that ever played at an Irish fair. People
+nodded and smiled to each other, and felt as if they must dance a jig
+in another moment.
+
+Joe bent over to Granny.
+
+"Isn't that gay?" he asked. "Kit has beaten the lot of us. Granny, if
+you are not proud of him, I'll take you straight home, and keep you on
+bread and water for a month."
+
+Proud of him! Why, Granny sat there crying her old eyes out from pure
+joy. Her darling little Kit!
+
+"Dot," exclaimed Mr. Darol as they were going out, "we shall hear of
+you as an actress next. I never knew of such wonderful people in my
+life."
+
+"Oh, it was magnificent!" said Charlie. "And the applause!"
+
+"That I should have lived to see the day!"
+
+"Why, Granny, it would have been very unkind of you if you had not,"
+declared Joe solemnly.
+
+How they all reached home, they never exactly knew. They laughed and
+cried, and it was almost morning before they thought of going to bed.
+
+But the notices next day were as good as a feast. There could be no
+doubt now. Hal understood that from henceforth Kit and his fiddle would
+be inseparable. It was "born in him," as Joe said. As for Kit, he
+hardly knew whether he were in the body, or out of the body.
+
+Hal and Dot set about making up accounts the day before Christmas. The
+three-months' proceeds had been two hundred and sixty dollars; pretty
+fair for a beginning, and a whole green-house full of flowers coming
+into bloom. He was on the high road to prosperity. So he fastened his
+glasses, put on his coal, and arranged his heat cut-offs for the night,
+and came into the house. There were Dot and Kit and Charlie, and the
+supper waiting.
+
+"And there is the six-months' interest," said Hal. "Next year we can
+let up a little on dear, generous Joe. And to-night is Christmas Eve."
+
+Joe rushed in.
+
+"What do you think, Granny? I've just come from Flossy's. They have a
+beautiful little boy named Hal Kenneth,--a real Christmas gift, and no
+mistake. Here's to your namesake, Hal; though, try his best, he can
+never be half as good as you."
+
+I do believe poor, foolish Hal had his eyes full of tears, thinking
+of Flossy's great joy. But Charlie and Kit cheered in a tremendous
+fashion.
+
+After the supper was cleared away, they sat in a little circle, and
+talked. There always was so much to say, and Joe liked nothing half so
+well as to hear of every event that had transpired in his absence. They
+all kept such a warm interest in each other!
+
+Somehow they strayed back to the last Christmas, and the "songs in the
+night."
+
+"Sing again," besought Granny.
+
+Dot's birdlike voice was first to raise its clear notes. One hymn was
+dearer than all the rest. The music quivered a little when they came to
+this verse, as if tears and heart-throbs were not far off:--
+
+      "Wonderful night!
+    Sweet be thy rest to the weary!
+    Making the dull heart and dreary
+    Laugh with a dream of delight.
+      Wonderful, wonderful night!"
+
+And then a tender silence fell over them. They clasped each other's
+hands softly, and the breaths had a strangled sound. Granny alive, Joe
+raised from the dead, Kit some day to be a famous musician!
+
+Joe crept up to Granny, and kissed her wrinkled face. Somehow it seemed
+as if the furrows began to fill out.
+
+"Oh," he said huskily, "there's nothing in the world so wonderful,
+nor so sweet, nor so precious as 'The Old Woman who lived in a Shoe!'
+When I think of her love, her patient toil, her many cares, and the
+untiring devotion with which she has labored for us all, I feel that we
+can never, never repay her. O Granny!"
+
+"I've been glad to have you all, God knows. There wasn't one too many."
+
+Not one of the loving arms that encircled her could have been spared.
+There she sat enthroned, a prouder woman to-night, poor old Granny
+Kenneth, than many a duchess in a blaze of diamonds. Fair Florence;
+laughing Joe, with his great, warm heart; sweet, tender Hal; racketing
+Charlie; Kit, with his scalp-lock waving in the breeze; and dear little
+Dot,--jewels enough for any woman, surely!
+
+Ah, children! love her with the best there is in your fresh young
+souls. Make the paths smooth for her weary feet, remembering the years
+she has trudged on the thorny highway of life for your sakes. When the
+eyes grow dim, bring the brightest in your lives to glorify her way.
+Cling to her, kiss warmth into the pale lips; for when she has gone to
+heaven it will seem all too little at the best. True, she will reap her
+reward there; but it is sweet to have a foretaste of it in your smiles,
+as well. Dear Granny, who has made toil heroic, and old age lovely, and
+out of whose simple, every-day existence have blossomed the roses that
+still render this old world bright and glorious,--Love, Labor, Faith!
+
+
+
+
+                          THE DOUGLAS NOVELS.
+
+                       BY MISS AMANDA M. DOUGLAS.
+
+                  _Uniform Volumes. Price $1.50 Each._
+
+
+  FLOYD GRANDON'S HONOR.
+
+"Fascinating throughout, and worthy of the reputation of the
+author."--_Philadelphia Methodist._
+
+
+  WHOM KATHIE MARRIED.
+
+Kathie was the heroine of the popular series of Kathie Stories for
+young people, the readers of which were very anxious to know with whom
+Kathie settled down in life. Hence this story, charmingly written.
+
+
+  LOST IN A GREAT CITY.
+
+"There is the power of delineation and robustness of expression that
+would credit a masculine hand in the present volume, and the reader
+will at no stage of the reading regret having commenced its perusal. In
+some parts it is pathetic, even to eloquence."--_San Francisco Post._
+
+
+  THE OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A SHOE.
+
+"The romances of Miss Douglas's creation are all thrillingly
+interesting."--_Cambridge Tribune._
+
+
+  HOPE MILLS; or, Between Friend and Sweetheart.
+
+"Amanda Douglas is one of the favorite authors of American
+novel-readers."--_Manchester Mirror._
+
+
+  FROM HAND TO MOUTH.
+
+"There is real satisfaction in reading this book, from the fact that we
+can so readily 'take it home' to ourselves."--_Portland Argus._
+
+
+  NELLY KINNARD'S KINGDOM.
+
+"The Hartford Religious Herald" says, "This story is so fascinating,
+that one can hardly lay it down after taking it up."
+
+
+  IN TRUST; or, Dr. Bertrand's Household.
+
+"She writes in a free, fresh, and natural way; and her characters are
+never overdrawn."--_Manchester Mirror._
+
+
+  CLAUDIA.
+
+"The plot is very dramatic, and the _dénoûment_ startling. Claudia, the
+heroine, is one of those self-sacrificing characters which it is the
+glory of the female sex to produce."--_Boston Journal._
+
+
+  STEPHEN DANE.
+
+"This is one of this author's happiest and most successful attempts at
+novel-writing, for which a grateful public will applaud her."--_Herald._
+
+
+  HOME NOOK; or, the Crown of Duty.
+
+"An interesting story of home-life, not wanting in incident, and written
+in forcible and attractive style."--_New-York Graphic._
+
+
+  SYDNIE ADRIANCE; or, Trying the World.
+
+"The works of Miss Douglas have stood the test of popular judgment,
+and become the fashion. They are true, natural in delineation, pure and
+elevating in their tone."--_Express, Easton, Penn._
+
+
+  SEVEN DAUGHTERS.
+
+The charm of the story is the perfectly natural and home-like air which
+pervades it.
+
+
+_Sold by all booksellers, and sent by mail, postpaid, on receipt of
+price._
+
+
+                   LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston.
+
+
+
+
+                     SOPHIE MAY'S "GROWN-UP" BOOKS.
+
+         _Uniform Binding. All Handsomely Illustrated. $1.50._
+
+
+  JANET, A POOR HEIRESS.
+
+"The heroine of this story is a true girl. An imperious, fault-finding,
+unappreciative father alienates her love, and nearly ruins her temper.
+The mother knows the father is at fault, but does not dare to say
+so. Then comes a discovery, that she is only an adopted daughter; a
+forsaking of the old home; a life of strange vicissitudes; a return; a
+marriage under difficulties; and a discovery, that, after all, she is
+an heiress. The story is certainly a very attractive one."--_Chicago
+Interior._
+
+
+  THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER.
+
+"Sophie May, author of the renowned Prudy and Dotty books, has achieved
+another triumph in the new book with this title just issued. She has
+taken 'a new departure' this time, and written a new story for grown-up
+folks. If we are not much mistaken, the young folks will want to read
+it, as much as the old folks want to read the books written for the
+young ones. It is a splendid story for all ages."--_Lynn Semi-Weekly
+Recorder._
+
+
+  THE ASBURY TWINS.
+
+"The announcement of another work by this charming and popular writer
+will be heartily welcomed by the public. And in this sensible,
+fascinating story of the twin-sisters, 'Vic' and 'Van,' they have
+before them a genuine treat. Vic writes her story in one chapter, and
+Van in the next, and so on through the book. Van is frank, honest, and
+practical; Vic wild, venturesome, and witty; and both of them natural
+and winning. At home or abroad, they are true to their individuality,
+and see things with their own eyes. It is a fresh, delightful volume,
+well worthy of its gifted author."--_Boston Contributor._
+
+
+  OUR HELEN.
+
+"'Our Helen' is Sophie May's latest creation; and she is a bright,
+brave girl, that the young people will all like. We are pleased to meet
+with some old friends in the book. It is a good companion-book for the
+'Doctor's Daughter,' and the two should go together. Queer old Mrs.
+O'Neil still lives, to indulge in the reminiscences of the young men of
+Machias; and other Quinnebasset people with familiar names occasionally
+appear, along with new ones who are worth knowing. 'Our Helen' is a
+noble and unselfish girl, but with a mind and will of her own; and the
+contrast between her and pretty, fascinating, selfish little Sharley,
+is very finely drawn. Lee & Shepard publish it."--_Holyoke Transcript._
+
+
+  QUINNEBASSET GIRLS.
+
+"The story is a very attractive one, as free from the sensational and
+impossible as could be desired, and at the same time full of interest,
+and pervaded by the same bright, cheery sunshine that we find in the
+author's earlier books. She is to be congratulated on the success of
+her essay in a new field of literature, to which she will be warmly
+welcomed by those who know and admire her 'Prudy Hooks.'"
+
+
+ _Sold by all booksellers and newsdealers, and sent by mail, postpaid,
+                         on receipt of price._
+
+
+                   LEE & SHEPARD, Publishers, Boston.
+
+
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+
+Trancriber's note:
+
+Some missing punctuation has been inserted.
+
+The oe-ligature has been expanded to "oe."
+
+    Page 12 The repeated word "the" has been deleted
+    Page 12 honsysuckle is now honeysuckle
+    Page 33 onimous is now ominous
+    Page 141 retty is now pretty
+    Page 156 slighest is now slightest
+    Page 283 "I b-b-leive is now lieve
+    Page 340 weren't me is now weren't we
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43659 ***