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If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - -Title: Eben Holden's Last Day A-Fishing - -Author: Irving Bacheller - -Release Date: June 30, 2016 [EBook #52454] -Last Updated: March 12, 2018 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EBEN HOLDEN'S LAST DAY -A-FISHING *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously provided by the -Internet Archive - - - - -EBEN HOLDEN'. LAST DAY A-FISHING - -By Irving Bacheller Author Of “Eben Holden” “Silas Strong” Etc. -Etc. New York And London Harper & Brothers Publishers 1907 - - - -0006 - - - -0007 - - - -0009 A. BARTON HEPBURN FISHERMAN, HUNTER, FRIEND OF UNCLE EB, AND LOVER -OF THE LAND IN WHICH HE DWELT, I DEDICATE THIS LITTLE VOLUME - - - - - -CONTENTS - -EBEN HOLDEN'S LAST DAY A-FISHING - -I - -II - -III - - - - -EBEN HOLDEN'S LAST DAY A-FISHING - - - - -I - -8011 - -9011 - -NE morning in early June I was walking on a crowded thoroughfare. The -earth had rolled suddenly into summer skies. Birds chattered in the -parks, and I could hear a cock crow in a passing freight wagon. I -stopped to listen, while he seemed to hurl defiance at his captors and -all the noisy crowd, and bid them do their worst to him. His outcry put -me in - -8012 - -mind of my own imprisonment there in the rock-bound city. As I thought -of it, I could see the green hills of the North all starred with -dandelions; I could hear the full flow of the streams that pass between -them—you know—and that evening we were on our way to Hillsborough. -Uncle Eb, then a “likely boy” of eighty-six, and Elizabeth Brower -and Lucinda Bisnette were still in the old home. We had quickly planned -a holiday to be full of surprise and delight for them. - -They were in the midst of the days that are few and silent—those -adorned with the fading flowers of old happiness and thoughts which are -“the conclusion of the whole matter.” As for ourselves, we found -them full of a peace and charm I would fain impart to those who read of -them, if that - -8013 - -were possible. I know well how feebly I shall do my task, but now, at -last, a time is come when it seems to call me, and I can begin it with -some hope and courage. I shall try not to write a book, nor a tale even, -but mainly to gather a few flowers, now full grown, in the garden -of remembrance. You that see it growing lovelier in the lengthening -distance will understand me. - -Always, when our train went roaring into the quiet village, we used to -look out of the car-window down across the river and a smooth stretch of -fields into the edge of the little town. At a small, familiar opening in -the shade-trees, almost half a mile from the train, we never failed to -see the flicker of a white handkerchief. It signalled their welcome. And -then—well, I doubt - -8014 - -if any one may have in this world better moment. Yes—that was years -ago, and there are strangers in the old home, but to this day every time -I enter Hillsborough I look for that flicker of white, away off among -the trees. - -That day the signal greeted us, and was only one of many joys, for it -was a day of a thousand, warm, and full of the music of birds and -of bees' wings and the odor of new blossoms and a great happiness. -Elizabeth Brower stood at the gate, and beyond her we could see Uncle Eb -on the veranda, sitting in his arm-chair. The dear woman put her fingers -on her lips, and we knew what it meant. Uncle Eb had fallen asleep in -the warm sunlight. We greeted her with hushed voices, and approached the -venerable man, and sat down at his feet, smiling - -8015 - -and looking up at his fine old face. He continued to sleep, all -unconscious that we were near him. Soon we heard him call in his dreams, -just above a whisper: “Here Fred! here Fred!” It was the name of -our old dog, dead these many years. His nap must have taken him far -back—perhaps into that long, westward journey through woods and -fields. I took his hand in mine. He came out of his dreams with a start, -and looked up at me. - -“What!” said he. “Wal, I declare.” - -He rose and clung to our hands and looked into our faces with a full -heart. - -“A merry birthday!” I exclaimed. - -“See here, Bill Brower,” said he. “You've hearn o' the joy -o' Paradise?” - -“Often,” I answered. - -8016 - -“Wal, here's the key-note o' the song,” said Uncle Eb. “Now -look here, Liz Brower,” he went on, “you tell 'Sindy we got -to have the best dinner ever made by human hands. I'll bring some -water.” - -Elizabeth, Uncle Eb, and that daughter of Grandma Bisnette were there. - -Hope and her mother went into the sitting-room, and I followed them, -while Uncle Eb went to the well for water. She looked up at us proudly -as we stood before her, side by side. - -“Turn around,” she said, “an' let me look at ye careful.” - -She surveyed the fit and material of Hope's gown with great -satisfaction. - -“Look so ye was just goin' t' be married,” she remarked. - -We sat down presently upon the ancient hair-cloth sofa, with its knitted - -8017 - -afghan of many colors lying folded against a curved arm. There were the -old, plain, priceless things—the carpet, the pictures, a pyramid of -plants and flowers in front of the large window, the centre-table, with -its album and reading-lamp, the secretary and the what-not filled with -books that were a part of our history. - -There were the ingredients of that receipt which, as it were, had made -the intellectual cake of my boyhood: Josephus' History of the Jews -(the flour, two heaping volumes); Ten Nights in a Bar-Room (the milk -and water, one volume); Great Expectations, Bleak House), and David -Copperfield (the sugar, three volumes); Pilgrim's Progress (the egg, -one volume); Our Golden West (the spice, one volume); The Letters of -Lord Chesterfield - -8018 - -(the frosting, one large table volume); Wrigglesworth's Day of Doom -(the fire that did the baking). - -Soon we found Uncle Eb with my boy David upon his knees on the veranda, -and he was telling him the tale of The Witch's Bridle, which I had -heard in my childhood, and we stood and listened. It was a relic of old -Yankee folk-lore and immensely true. - -“Once there was a young man who lived with his father an' mother in -a little village,” the story went. “An' there was a house in the -village where a witch lived, an' it had a beautiful door. An' his -mother told him that he must keep away from that house; but one night -it looked so splendid that he opened the door an' went in, an' the -witch spied him an' come and - -8019 - -looked into his face an' he thought she was beautiful. An' she ast -him to put on her bridle, but he said no. An' the ol' witch follered -behind him as careful as a cat after a bird, an' what do ye s'pose -she done?—waited until he was sound asleep an' put her bridle on -him—that's what she done. Now, ye see, when a witch puts her bridle -on any one it always turns him into a hoss, an' a witch's hoss can -go right thro' the side of a house without makin' a hole in it, -an' can jump over trees an' hills an' travel like the wind. She -rode him high an' low, an' brought him back hum jest before daylight -an' took off the bridle an' that changed him into a boy again. An' -when he woke up he was tired out an' all of a tremble. An' ev'ry -night the ol' witch come for him an' put on her bridle an' - -8020 - -turned him into a hoss, an' rode him all over the hills an' valleys -until he was about done fer, an' then fetched him back, an' ev'ry -morning when he woke up he was a boy ag'in, an' was lame an' sore -an' had a headache an' was sorry that he ever see the witch. He grew -poor an' spindlin', an' he'd lay awake night after night to keep -the witch away. But o' course he had to go to sleep some time, an' -the minute he forgot himself she'd slip in an' put on the bridle -an' away they'd go. An' he grew poorer an' poorer an' less -an' less like a boy, an' more an' more like an animal. By an' -by, he got used to bein' a hoss an' loved to go up in the air an' -hadn't any more heart in him than my ol' mare. - -“Wal, one night, what d'ye s'pose happened? The witch come an' -rode - -8021 - -him away, an' when she got back, by an' by, an' took off his -bridle, he never changed a hair, but stayed a hoss. Why? 'Cause the -boy in him was all wore out an' dead as a door-nail. Fact is, hosses -can stan' more'n men. An' the witch grew sick o' him, an' said -she wanted a better hoss, an' give him a cut an' turned him loose in -the sky. An' ev'ry night fer years he galloped over the house-tops -as if he was tryin' to find suthin, an' when I went to bed I used -to hear him whinny way up in the dark, an' it sounded suthin' like -this:” - -Here he whinnied like the witch's horse, and went on: - -“Keep on the ground, Dave, an' mind yer elders, 'cause a boy that -has his own head is apt to get it caught in the witch's bridle. Same -way with a - -8022 - -man, 'less he takes advice ev'ry day from the great Father of all. -They's witches ev'rywhere, an' they're always lookin' fer a -hoss to ride.” - -“See here,” said he, as soon as he discovered us, “you must all -come out an' look at my garden.” - -“They want to rest,” Elizabeth objected. - -“No; we'd rather go with Uncle Eb,” said Hope, and we followed him -to the garden. - -“Godfrey cordial! hear the birds!” Uncle Eb went on, as we took the -path that crossed an edge of the clover meadow. “Lot of 'em been -gettin' married, I guess. Don't do a thing but sing an' laugh -an' holler—like a lot o' boys an' gals.” - -His strength had failed since we saw - -8023 - -him last. He was bent a little farther, his hands trembled, a small task -affected his breathing, but he was the same cheerful, keen-minded man. - -“Gardens are all right, but the sight of a hoe makes me shudder,” -said I. - -“The hoe is a good teacher,” he answered. “Man that don't hoe -his character ev'ry few days won't have any.” - -“My wife hoes mine,” I said. - -“An' does it kind o' careless.” He drew his hand over his mouth -and cleared his throat and went on as if nothing had happened. “These -things are a good deal like folks. Some grow up an' some grow down. I -used to know a woman that looked like a turnip, and a gal that was like -a flower, an' another that was like a pepper-plant, an' a man that -was a reg'lar human onion.” - -8024 - -“A garden always reminds me that it's about time to get your hook -and line ready,” I suggested. - -He stopped and put his hand upon my arm. He glanced up at the sky, and -seemed to note the direction of the wind. - -“Say, by mighty!” he exclaimed. “You stop, or you'll make -trouble.” - -“Think of Paradise Valley,” I went on. “It will be green and -sprinkled with blossoms, and the brook will be singing as it goes by.” - -“You quit!” he answered, with a little gesture of impatience. -“Say!” he suggested, with enthusiasm, after a moment, “I -wouldn't wonder but what the fish would bite—ye take it on the -rapids there.” - -We returned to the house and he sat in his chair on the small veranda. - -8025 - -Robins were building their nest on a shelf near him, and were busy with -their fetching and weaving. - -“Look at the scalawags!” he laughed. “No, there ain't nothin' -that's 'fraid o' me some way. I got a club one day an' tried to -scare a mouse; but seems so she knew I was only foolin'. Now she's -begun to bully me an' fetch her children right into my bedroom, an' -I guess I'll have to git mad an' declare war.” - -I hailed a boy in the street, and sent him for a team, to be brought -immediately after dinner. - -When we sat down to eat, Uncle Eb put the same old question: - -“Wal, how's ev'rything down there in the city?” - -“About as usual.” - -“Too many folks there,” he said, - -8026 - -“an' they all look a leetle cross. I like t' pass the time o' -day with ev'ry man I meet, but mighty Dinah! they's so many of -'em!—there ain't no use tryin' t' be pleasant. I got t' -showin' the whites o' my eyes as bad as any of 'em.” He spoke, -laughingly, of a symphony concert to which we had taken him. - -“I'll never fergit the man with a p'inter,” he said, his head -noddin with amusement. “How he could toss the music! It was like -spreadin' hay.” Again his cheery voice, after a moment of silence: -“No more meat! Hope Brower, if you don't eat yer dinner, you'll be -put to bed.” - -After dinner I gathered up my tackle. - -“I dunno,” Uncle Eb remarked. - -“Great day for fishing,” I insisted. - -The team arrived, a lively pair of Morgan mares. Uncle Eb came out - -8027 - -of the house in rubber boots, with his overcoat upon his arm. - -“I'm 'fraid you better not go,” said Elizabeth Brower from the -door-step, with a look of anxiety, and now the trembling of his hands -made me almost regret that I had tempted him. - -“See here,” said Uncle Eb, firmly, as he turned to my mother. -“He's picked on me 'til I can't stan' it any longer. Ye -couldn't keep me out o' that buggy with a gun.” - -I helped him in and took my place at his side, and away we went a pace -of twelve miles to the hour, through town, across the flat, and up the -stairway of the hills. We passed the old Hosper homestead. - -“What's become of the deacon?” I asked. - -“Dead; got sick o' life. Wouldn't - -8028 - -eat or take any medicine; kind o' pined away.” - -“What was the trouble?” - -“Wal, ye know, he had to live with himself,” said Uncle Eb, “an' -he wa'n'. what ye might call good comp'ny. He couldn't help it, -an' I always felt kind o' sorry fer Hosper. They got him so scairt -over there at the white church that he was 'fraid to live an' -'fraid to die, an' fer a long time he didn't do either. He thought -it was his duty to suffer. God had cursed the world, an' that was the -reason why men had to sweat an' toil. Think o' his days—full o' -fear an' repentence an' atonement an' hell an' ancient history. -He kind o' straddled his span o' life. One foot was in the future -an' the other in the past. No wonder he had the rheumatiz. Nobody -liked him. He got to - -8029 - -be a lonesome, sickly ol' man, I went to see him one day. Says I: - -“'Deacon, I wouldn't wonder if the fish 'u'd bite.' - -“'Fish!' says he, 'my mind ain't on fish. I'm thinkin' -o' my immortal soul.' - -“'Man's soul is like his stummick,' says I. 'It ain't -healthy 'less he can fergit it. Come an' have some fun.'.rdquo; We -rode in silence until Uncle Eb went on: - -“He seemed to think that God was a kind of a bully, an' that he -loved to make men cowards. It don't seem likely to me. I don't -b'lieve He meant toil fer a curse nuther. I couldn't be happy -'less I had suthin' to do. Seems 's 'o' them who wrote down -the plans o' the Almighty made a mistake now an' then, an' it -ain't no wonder if they - -8030 - -did. No man can be perfect, specially when he takes holt o' so big a -job. Prob'ly it was purty hot where they lived, an' work didn't -agree with 'em. Now it looks to me as if that fust family couldn't -'a' been very happy without a thing to do. I don't wonder that -Cain an' Abel quarrelled. God must 'a' seen that the world lacked -suthin' very important. So He blessed it with toil. I don't believe -He ever intended to curse it, 'cause, if He did, ye got to own up that -He ain't succeeded fust-rate.” - -We came to the top of Bowman's Hill and looked down into the little -valley, and were both silent. - -“Time flies!” I remarked, presently. - -“Beats all,” Uncle Eb answered. - -The Brower farm had run down, as they say in the back country. The - -8031 - -house and stable were in ill repair. Evil days had come to the neat and -cleanly fireside, where in the old time Santa Claus had blessed us, and -I had heard the cry of the swift and felt the touch of love and sorrow. - -The tenant, a man who showed the wear of hard times, put our team in the -stable. - -“If you'd stayed here,” said he, with a glance at me, “this farm -wouldn't 'a' looked as it does now. - -Uncle Eb smiled. - -“No,” said he; “the farm would 'a' looked better, but he'd -'a' looked a dum sight wuss.” - -He cleared his throat, and spoke of the weather as if to soften the blow -a little. - -I got my tackle ready while the man dug worms for Uncle Eb—an angler - -8032 - -of the bait-and-sinker type. Soon we made our way slowly through the -same old cow-path that wavered across the green slope now starred with -soft, golden blossoms. It is curious, that conservatism of the cloven -hoof, which, like water, follows its old path, having found the way of -least resistance. In a few minutes we came near the rotted stump of Lone -Pine. - -“Hats off!” said Uncle Eb, as he uncovered. - -In a second my hat was in my hand; or there, between our feet, was a -lonely, half-forgotten grave—that of old Fred. Slowly, silently, we -resumed our walk. My venerable friend was breathing hard. I supported -him with my arm, and soon we sat down to rest upon a rock. The air was -clear and still. There was not a cloud in the sky. A - -8033 - -hawk flew across the flat near us, his white butcher's apron stained -with blood. He was flying low, with some small creature in his talons. -It made me break the silence, and I said: - -“There's a thing that puzzles me—the cruelty that is in all -God's creation. It's a great slaughter-house, and everything that -lives has the stain of blood upon it.” - -“It all teaches us that death ain't o' much account,” said Uncle -Eb. “It looks like cruelty, an' most of us think it a curse. Death -is a wonderful blessin'—that's the way it looks to me. Why, Bill -Brower, ye've died twice already. Fust the child, then the boy, an' -each time ye wove a new body. Bym by yer loom is wore out. Got t' go -git a new one. Ye'll begin t' feel as if yer body was a kind of a -bad fit. - -8034 - -It'll be too small an' shabby an' un-comf'table. - -“I 'member a boy over'n Vermont by the name o' Lem Barker. Grew -so fast that the fust he knew his clo's begun to pinch him, an' the -bottoms of his pants wouldn't 'sociate with his shoe-leather, an' -his hands was way down below his coat sleeves, an' the old suit was -wore so thin he didn't dast run er rassle fer fear it would bust an' -drop off him. All he could do was to set an' think an' talk -an' chaw ter-baccer an' walk as careful as a hen lookin' fer -grasshoppers. He hadn't any confidence in that old suit, an' -was kind o' 'fraid of it. One day he see a bear, an' it come -nec'sary fer him to move quick, an' he split his clo's, an' hed -to go hum in a rain-barrel. At fust he thought it was bad luck, but when -his - -8035 - -father got him a new suit he see that he was mistaken. We old folks are -a good deal like poor Lem. We toddle around in our old clo's an' are -a leetle bit afraid of 'em. It would be lucky for us if we could meet -a bear. I'd like to go down to the brook there on the run jest as -I used to. But I wouldn't dast try it. My body don't fit my -spirit—that's what's the matter. Got to go an' have my measure -took, an' throw 'way the old suit. An' I'll tell ye, Bill, I -need a better outfit than what I've ever had—suthin' stouter-wove -an' han'somer an' more durable—suthin' fit fer a man. I'm -goin' to hev it—call that a curse?” - -He looked at his bony, trembling hands, and went on: - -“It's all faded an' kind o' cold an' threadbare. My back -couldn't carry - -8036 - -one small boy in a basket these days, but I'd like t' carry all -the boys in the county, an' mebbe some time I'll have a back broad -'nough. That'll be when school's dismissed, an' I go off t' -seek my fortune, good deal as you did. I 'member how you went an' -got some new clo's there 'n New York fust thing. An' they was -splendid—better 'n any ye could git in Hillsborough.” - -We heard footsteps in a moment, and I turned and saw Jed Feary -approaching us. He was past eighty years of age, and his hair and beard -were white, and he walked slowly with a cane. He stopped near us, and -began to laugh as we greeted him. - -“Heard you was here,” he said, “an' Rans Walker druv me down the -road.” - -“Stump ye t' rassle with me,” said Uncle Eb, with a smile. - -8037 - -“Wait 'til I've throwed the rheumatiz, an' then I'll tackle -you,” said the poet. - -“How are you, Uncle Jed?” was my query. - -“As you see—the trembling hand an' slippered pantaloon.” - -“All the world's a stage,” I quoted. - -“It used to be in the time o' Shakespeare,” said the poet. -“Life was a pretty play those days, but since then we've got down to -business. Now - - -“All the world's a school, - -And all the men and women merely scholars. - -It has its teachers, grades, and many classes; - -Its trustees, honors, torts, and punishments. - -Its books are three: Nature, history, - -And revelation teaching holy truth: - -That men are brothers and must learn to - -love.” - - -“And you are one of its teachers,” said Uncle Eb. - -8038 - -“I'm only a humble student,” said the poet. “Think what we've -learnt in a hundred years. That little Devil, who rode across Europe -killing an' burning an' spreading terror until they stopped him at -Waterloo, he taught us a great lesson. He made us hate war, and that was -the beginning o' the end of it. There were to be other wars, but they -have been steps only in the conquest of Peace.” - -“And there will be no more war?” I queried. - -“Yes; but the learned races will put an end to it by and by,” he -went on. “The upper classes have all learnt their lesson—they know -too much. We know suthin' 'bout war here in Faraway. Let me tell ye -a story.” - -The old poet sat on a rock near, and began this little epic of the -countryside: - -8039 - -“So ye're runnin' fer Congress, mister? Le' - -me tell ye 'bout my son, - -Might make you fellers carefuller down - -there in Washington: - -He clings to his rifle an' uniform—folks - -call him Whisperin' Bill, - -An' I tell ye the war ain't over yit up here - -on Bowman's Hill. - - -“This dooryard is his battle-field—le's see, - -he was nigh sixteen - -When Sumter fell, an' as likely a boy as - -ever this world has seen, - -An' what with the news o' battle lost, the - -speeches, an' all the noise, - -I guess ev'ry farm in the neighborhood - -lost a part of its crop o' boys. - - -“'Twas harvest time when Bill left home, - -ev'ry stalk in the fields o' rye - -Seemed t' stan' tip-toe t' see him off an' - -wave a fond good-bye. - - -His sweetheart was here with some other - -gals—the sassy little miss— - -An' pertendin' she wanted t' whisper 'n - -his ear, she give him a rousin' kiss. - - - -8040 - -“Oh, he was a han'some feller! an* tender - -an' brave an' smart, - -An' though he was bigger 'n I was, the boy - -had a woman's heart. - -I couldn't control my feelin's, but I tried - -with all my might, - -An' his mother an' me stood a-cryin' till - -Bill was out o' sight. - - -“His mother she often tol' him, when she - -knew he was goin' away, - -That God would take care o' him, maybe, - -if he didn't fergit to pray; - -An' on the bloodiest battle-fields, when - -bullets whizzed in the air, - -An' Bill was a fightin' desperit, he used to - -whisper a prayer. - - -'Oh, his comrades has often told me that - -Bill never flinched a bit - -When ev'ry second a gap in the ranks tol' - -where a ball had hit. - - -An' one night when the field was covered - -with the awful harvest o' war, - -They found my boy 'mongst the martyrs - -o' the cause he was fightin' for. - - - -8041 - -“His fingers was clutched in the dewy grass - -—oh, no sir, he wasn't dead, - -But he lay kind o' helpless an' crazy with - -a rifle-ball in his head; - -An' he trembled with the battle-fear a-lay- - -in' in the dew, - -An' he whispered, as he tried to rise: 'God - -'ll take care o' you.' - - -'An officer wrote an' tol' us how the boy - -had been hurt in the fight, - -But he said the doctors reckoned they - -could bring him around all right, - -An' then we heard from a neighbor, dis- - -abled at Malvern Hill, - -That he thought in the course of a week - -or so he'd be cornin' home with Bill. - - -'We was that anxious t' see him we'd set - -up an' talk o' nights - -Till the break o' day had dimmed the - -stars an' put out the Northern Lights; - -We waited an' watched fer a month or - -more, an' the summer was nearly past, - -When a letter come one day that said - -they'd started fer hum at last. - - -8042 - -“I'll never fergit the day Bill come—'twas - -harvest time again— - -An' the air blown over the yellow fields was - -sweet with the scent o' the grain. - -The dooryard was full o' the neighbors, - -who had come to share our joy, - -An' all of us sent up a mighty cheer at - -the sight o' that soldier boy. - - -“An' all of a sudden somebody said: 'My - -God! don't the boy know his mother?' - -An' Bill stood a-whisperin', fearful like, - -an' a starin' from one to another; - -'Have courage, Bill,' says he to himself, - -as he stood in his coat o' blue, - -'Why, God 'll take care o' you, my boy, - -God 'll take care o' you.' - - -“He seemed to be loadin' an' firin' a gun, - -an't' act like a man who hears - -The awful roar o' the battle-field a-sound- - - - -in' in his ears; - -Ten thousan' ghosts o' that bloody day - -was marchin' through his brain, - -An' his feet they kind o' picked their way - -as if they felt the slain. - - -8043 - -An' I grabbed his hand, an' says I to Bill, - -'Don't ye 'member me? - -I'm yer father—don't ye know me? How - -frightened ye seem to be.' - -But the boy kep' a-whisperin' to himself, - -as if 't was all he knew, - -'God 'll take care o' you, Bill, God 'll take - -care o' you.' - - -He's never known us since that day, nor - -his sweetheart, an' never will; - -Father an' mother an' sweetheart are all - -the same to Bill. - -An' he groans like a wounded soldier, - -sometimes, the whole night through, - -An' we smooth his head, an' say: 'Yes, - -Bill, He'll surely take care o' you.' - - -'Ye can stop a war in a minute, but when - -can ye stop the groans? - -Fer ye've broke our hearts an' sapped our - -strength an' plucked away our bones. - -An' ye've filled our souls with bitterness - -that goes from sire to son, - -So ye best be kind o' careful down there - -in Washington.” - - -8044 - -Before us lay the peaceful valley, and on a far hill we could see the -door-yard bordered with small trees and haunted by the ghosts of the -battlefield. - -“We've had our lesson,” said Uncle Eb, “but there's some that -havint. You 'member Lon Tracy—he was one o' the most peaceable men -that ever lived. One day he went to the village, an' some mis'rable, -drunken cuss pitched on him an' Lon set to an' thrashed him proper. - -“'I'm surprised,' said the Justice o' the Peace, when Lon come -before him. - -“'So'm I,' said Lon. - -“'S'pose ye knew 'nough t' keep out o' trouble.' - -“'So did I,' says Lon. - -“'I didn't think you were a fighting man.' - -8045 - -“'I didn't nuther,' says Lon. - -“'How did it happen?' - -“'Very easy—he rapped me an' I rapped back,' says Lon. - -“'An' you rapped the hardest.' - -“'Wal, when ye pay a debt o' that kind,' says Lon, 'ye ain't -no way petic'lar how much int'rest ye allow.' - -“Now that's what's the matter,” said Uncle Eb. “They's some -that 'ain't learnt any better than to fight an' quarrel, an' -when they git rapped they're goin' t' rap back, an' be a leetle -too liberal with the pay.” - -“But the great school ain't goin' t' be ruled much longer by its -primer class,” said the poet. “An' the Principal an' trustees -will put an end to fightin' between classes. They find it interferes -with the work o' the school, whose great aim is given in three - -8046 - -words: Peace, Happiness, Brotherhood.” - -“Wal, I'm goin' t' play truant an' go fishin',” said Uncle -Eb. - -“School's dismissed fer the day,” said Feary, as he rose to -leave us. “Eb Holden, we're both likely to be promoted before long. -We're like two boys who've been away to school. When we get home -they're goin' to be glad to see us. Good-bye!” - -“Good-bye!” - -So the old man left us, and we sat watching him as he crossed the brook -and slowly mounted the green uplands. - -“Purty good fishin' when Jed Feary's around,” said Uncle Eb, -as we slowly made our way to the edge of the woods. “Growin' old, -ain't he?—say, if his body fitted his soul what do ye s'pose -we'd think o' him? I dunno but we'd - -8047 - -feel like gittin' on our knees when he come around. It wouldn't do. -This world's no place fer angels, after all. Wal, come on, le's quit -thinkin' an' have some fun.” - - - - -II - -9048 - -8048 - -S we entered the cool woods and came where we could hear the song of the -brook, Uncle Eb cautioned me in a whisper, just as he used to do: “Now -go careful.” - -I found a rock at the head of a likely stretch of rapids on which he -could sit comfortably as he fished. I prepared his tackle and baited -his hook for him, and stood by as it went plunking into smooth water. -Sitting there, he seemed to forget his feebleness, and his voice and -figure were full of animation. His hair, as white as snow, was - -8049 - -like the crown of glory of which David sings. - -He kept hauling and giving out. Now and then, as he felt a nibble, he -addressed the fish: - -“How d' do? Come ag'in,” he said, as he continued to work his -line. “Tut, tut! you're another!” he exclaimed, with a sharp -twitch. - -The trout was a large one, and Uncle Eb, with a six-ounce rod, had not -been able to lift and swing him ashore in the old fashion. He held on -with jiggling hands and a look of great animation as the fish took line -in half a dozen quick rushes. - -“You're tryin' to jerk me out o' my boots”—the words were -emphasized and broken here and there by the struggle. The rod's -vibration had got into his voice and all the upper part - -8050 - -of his body. “Stop that, ye scalawag!” he went on. “Consarn ye, -come here to me!” - -He seized the line, flung his rod on the shore, and began to haul -vigorously hand over hand. When the splendid fish lay gasping at his -feet, Uncle Eb turned to me and shook his head. He sat breathing hard, -as if the exertion had wearied him. Soon he took out his jack-knife, a -serious look on his face. - -“You go cut me an alder pole,” said he, with decision. “That thing -ain't no better'n a spear o' grass.” - -I ran up the shore, glad of the chance he had given me to conceal my -laughter. I cut a long, stout pole among the bushes, and returned, -trimming it as I ran. - -“Willie, hurry up!” said he, with an eager look on his face, as if -it were one - -8051 - -again. - -“There,” said he, trying the pole, “that's a reg'lar -stun-lifter. I can sass 'em back now. Put on the hook an' line.” - -In a moment he gave his bait a fling, and assumed that alert and eager -attitude so familiar to me. - -“Tut, tut!” said he, with a lively twitch. “I dare ye to do it -ag'in.” - -Soon the rod sprang upward, and a wriggling trout rose in the air, swung -above the head of Uncle Eb, and fell to the earth behind him. - -“There, by gravy! that's what I call fun,” said he. “No, I -don't want to torment 'em there 'n the water; 'taint fair. I'd -ruther fetch 'em right out.” - -I unhooked the fish for him. - -“Look here, you go on 'bout yer - -8052 - -business,” he added. “I can bait my own hook.” - -I left him and began to whip my way down the brook. It was good fishing, -but the scene was by far the best part of it. What was there in those -lovely and familiar shores to keep my heart so busy? The crows, hurrying -like boys let out of school, seemed to denounce me as an alien. A crane -flew over my head, crunkling a fierce complaint of me, and the startled -kingfisher was most inhospitable. - -A small, bare-footed boy passed me, fishing on the farther bank. He had -a happy face, and mine—well, I turned away for very shame of it. The -boy looked at me critically, as if I were a trespasser, and I remembered -how I felt years ago, when I saw a stranger on the brook. - -8053 - -I remembered how, as a boy, I used to long for a watch-chain, and -how once Uncle Eb hung his upon my coat, and said I could “call it -mine.” So it goes all through life. We are the veriest children, and -there is nothing one may really own. He may call it his for a little -while, just to satisfy him. The whole matter of deeds and titles had -become now a kind of baby's play. You may think you own the land, -and you pass on; but there it is, while others, full of the same old -illusion, take your place. - -I followed the brook to where it idled on, bordered with buttercups, in -a great meadow. The music and the color halted me, and I lay on my -back in the tall grass for a little while, and looked up at the sky and -listened. There under the clover tops I could - -8054 - -hear the low, sweet music of many wings—the continuous treble of the -honey-bee in chord with flashes of deep bass from the wings of that big, -wild, improvident cousin of his. - -Above this lower heaven I could hear a tournament of bobolinks. They -flew over me, and clung in the grass tops and sang—their notes -bursting out like those of a plucked string. What a pressure of delight -was behind them! Hope and I used to go there for berries when we were -children, and later—when youth had come, and the colors of the wild -rose and the tiger-lily were in our faces—we found a secret joy in -being alone together. Those days there was something beautiful in that -hidden fear we had of each other—was it not the native, imperial -majesty of innocence? The look of - -8055 - -her eyes seemed to lift me up and prepare me for any sacrifice. That -orchestra of the meadow spoke our thoughts for us—youth, delight and -love were in its music. - -Soon I heard a merry laugh and the sound of feet approaching, and then -the voice of a young man. - -“Mary, I love you,” it said, “and I would die for your sake.” - -The same old story, and I knew that he meant every word of it. What Mary -may have said to him I know well enough, too, although it came not to my -ears; for when I rose, by and by, and crossed the woodland and saw them -walking up the slopes, she all in white and crowned with meadow flowers, -I observed that his arm supported her in the right way. - -I took down my rod and hurried up - -8056 - -stream, and came soon where I could see Uncle Eb sitting motionless -and leaning on a tree trunk. I approached him silently. His head leaned -forward; the “pole” lay upon his knees. Like a child, weary of play, -he had fallen asleep. His trout lay in a row beside him; there were -at least a dozen. That old body was now, indeed, a very bad fit, and -more—it was too shabby for a spirit so noble and brave. I knew, as I -looked down upon him, that Uncle Eb would fish no more after that day. -In a moment there came a twitch on the line. He woke suddenly, tightened -his grasp, and flung another fish into the air. It broke free and fell -upon the ripples. - -“Huh! ketched me nappin',” said he. “I declare, Bill, I'm kind -o' shamed.” - -8057 - -I could see that he felt the pathos of that moment. - -“I guess we've fished enough,” he said to himself, as he broke off -the end of the pole and began to wind his line upon it. “When the fish -hev t' wake ye up to be hauled in its redic'lous. The next time I go -fishin' with you I'm goin' t' be rigged proper.” - -In a moment he went on: “Fishin' ain't what it used t' be. -I've grown old and lazy, an' so has the brook. They've cut the -timber an' dried the springs, an' by an' by the live water will -go down to the big sea, an' the dead water will sink into the ground, -an' you won't see any brook there.” - -We began our walk up one of the cowpaths. - -“One more look,” said he, facing about, and gazing up and down the - -8058 - -familiar valley. “We've had a lot o' fun here—'bout as much as -we're entitled to, I guess—let 'em have it.” - -So, in a way, he deeded Tinkle Brook and its valley to future -generations. - -We proceeded in silence for a moment, and soon he added: “That little -brook has done a lot fer us. It took our thoughts off the hard work, and -helped us fergit the mortgage, an' taught us to laugh like the rapid -water. It never owed us anything after the day Mose Tupper lost his -pole. Put it all together, I guess I've laughed a year over that. -'Bout the best payin' job we ever done. Mose thought he had a whale, -an' I don't blame him. Fact is, a lost fish is an awful liar. A -trout would deceive the devil when he's way down out o' sight in the - -8059 - -water, an' his weight is telegraphed through twenty feet o' line. -When ye fetch him up an' look him square in the eye he tells a -different story. I blame the fish more'n I do the folks. - -“That 'swallered pole' was a kind of a magic wand round here in -Faraway. Ye could allwus fetch a laugh with it. Sometimes I think they -must 'a' lost one commandment, an' that is: Be happy. Ye can't -be happy an' be bad. I never see a bad man in my life that was -hevin' fun. Let me hear a man laugh an' I'll tell ye what kind -o' metal there is in him. There ain't any sech devilish sound in the -world as the laugh of a wicked man. It's like the cry o' the swift, -an' you 'member what that was.” - -Uncle Eb shook with laughter as I - -8060 - -tried the cry of that deadly bugbear of my youth. - -We got into the wagon presently and drove away. The sun was down as I -drew up at the old school-house. - -“Run in fer a minute an' set down in yer old seat an' see how it -seems,” said Uncle Eb. “They're goin' to tear it down, an' -tain't likely you'll see it ag'in.” - -I went to the door and lifted its clanking latch and walked in. My -footsteps filled the silent room with echoes, and how small it -looked! There was the same indescribable odor of the old time country -school—that of pine timber and seasoning fire-wood. I sat down in the -familiar seat carved by jack-knives. There was my name surrounded by -others cut in the rough wood. - -8061 - -Ghosts began to file into the dusky room, and above a plaintive hum of -insects it seemed as if I could hear the voices of children and bits of -the old lessons—that loud, triumphant sound of tender intelligence as -it began to seize the alphabet; those parrot-like answers: “Round like -a ball,” - -“Three-fourths water and one-fourth land,” and others like them. - -“William Brower, stop whispering!” I seemed to hear the teacher say. -What was the writing on the blackboard? I rose and walked to it as I had -been wont to do when the teacher gave his command. There in the silence -of the closing day I learned my last lesson in the old school-house. -These lines in the large, familiar script of Feary, who it seems had -been a - -8062 - -visitor at the last day of school, were written on the board: SCHOOL -'S OUT - -Attention all—the old school's end is near. - -Behold the sum of all its lessons here: - -If e'er by loss of friends your heart is bowed! - -Straightway go find ye others in the crowd. - -Let Love's discoveries console its pain - -And each year's loss be smaller than its gain. - -God's love is in them—count the friends ye - -get - -The only wealth, and foes the only debt. - -In life and Nature read the simple plan: - -Be kind, be just, and fear not God or man. - -School's out. - - -I passed through the door—not eagerly, as when I had been a boy, -but with feet paced by sober thought—and I felt like one who had -“improved his time,” as they used to say. - -8063 - -We rode in silence on our way to Hillsborough, as the dusk fell. - -“The end o' good things is better'n the beginning,” said Uncle -Eb, as we got out of the carriage. - - - - -III - -8064 - -9064 - -NE more scene from that last year, and I am done with it. There is much -comes crowding out of my memory, but only one thing which I could wish -were now a part of the record. Yet I have withheld it, and well might -keep it to myself, for need of better words than any which have come to -me in all my life. - -Christmas! And we were back in the old home again. We had brought the -children with us. Somehow they seemed to know our needs and perils. They -rallied to our defence, marching - -8065 - -up and down with fife and drum, and waving banners, and shouts of -victory—a battalion as brave as any in the great army of happiness. -They saved the day which else had been overrun with thoughts and fears -from the camp of the enemy. Well, we had a cheerful time of it, and not -an eye closed until after the stroke of ten that night. - -Slowly, silence fell in the little house. Below-stairs the lights were -out, and Hope and I were sitting alone before the fire. We were talking -of old times in the dim firelight. Soon there came a gentle rap at our -door. It was Uncle Eb with a candle in his hand. - -“I jes' thought I'd come in an' talk a leetle conversation,” -said he, and sat down, laughing with good humor. - -“'Member the ol' hair trunk?” he asked, and when I assured him -that we - -8066 - -could not ever forget it, he put his hand over his face and shook with -silent and almost sorrowful laughter. - -“I 'member years ago, you use' to think my watch was a gran' -thing, an' when ye left hum ye wanted t' take it with ye, but we -didn't think it was best then.” - -“Yes, I remember that.” - -“I don't s'pose”—he hesitated as a little -embarrassed—“you've got so. many splendid things now, I—I -don't s'pose—” - -“Oh, Uncle Eb, I'd prize it above all things,” I assured him. - -“Would ye? Here 't is,” said he, with a smile, as he took it -out of his pocket and put it in my hand. “It's been a gran' good -watch.” - -“But you—you'll need it.” - -“No,” he answered. “The clock - -8067 - -'ll do fer me—I'm goin' to move soon.” - -“Move!” we both exclaimed. “Goin' out in the fields to work -ag'in,” he added, cheerfully. - -After a glance at our faces, he added: “I ain't afraid. It's all -goin' t' be fair an' square. If we couldn't meet them we loved, -an' do fer 'em, it wouldn't be honest. We'd all feel as if -we'd been kind o' cheated. Suthin' has always said to me: 'Eb -Holden, when ye git through here yer goin' t' meet them ye love.' -Who do ye s'pose it was that spoke t' me? I couldn't tell ye, but -somebody said it, an' whoever 'tis He says the same thing to most -ev'ry one in the world.” - -“It was the voice of Nature,” I suggested. - -“Call it God er Natur' er what ye - -8068 - -please—fact is it's built into us an' is a part of us jest as the -beams are a part o' this house. I don't b'lieve it was put there -fer nuthin. An' it wa'n'. put there t' make fools of us nuther. -I tell ye, Bill, this givin' life fer death ain't no hoss-trade. If -ye give good value, ye're goin' to git good value, an' what folks -hev been led to hope an' pray fer since Love come into the world, -they're goin' to have—sure.” - -He went to Hope and put a tiny locket in her hand. Beneath its panel lay -a ringlet of hair, golden-brown. - -“It was give to me,” he said, as he stood looking down at her. -“Them little threads o' gold is kind o' wove all into my life. -Sixty year ago I begun to spin my hope with 'em. It's grow-in' -stronger an' stronger. It ain't - -8069 - -possible that Natur' has been a foolin' me all this time.” - -After a little silence, he said to Hope: “I want you to have it.” - -Her pleasure delighted him, and his face glowed with tender feeling. - -Slowly he left us. The candle trembled in his hand, and flickering -shadows fell upon us. He stopped in the open door. We knew well what -thought was in his mind as he whispered back to us: - -“Merry Chris'mas—ev'ry year.” Soon I went to his room. The -door was open. He had drawn off his boots and was sitting on the side of -his bed. I did not enter or speak to him, as I had planned to do; for I -saw him leaning forward on his elbows and wiping his eyes, and I heard -him saying to himself: - -8070 - -“Eb Holden, you oughter be 'shamed, I declare. Merry Chris'mas! I -tell ye. Hold up yer head.” - -I returned to Hope, and we sat long looking into the firelight. Youth -and its grace and color were gone from us, yet I saw in her that beauty -“which maketh the face to shine.” - -Our love lay as a road before and behind us. Long ago it had left the -enchanted gardens and had led us far, and was now entering the City of -Faith and we could see its splendor against the cloud of mystery beyond. -Our souls sought each other in the silence and were filled with awe as -they looked ahead of them and, at last, I understood the love of a man -for a woman. - - -THE END - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Eben Holden's Last Day -A-Fishing, by Irving Bacheller - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EBEN HOLDEN'. 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