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diff --git a/old/ntsrs10.txt b/old/ntsrs10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1cd920b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/ntsrs10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15812 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Nature's Serial Story, by E. P. Roe +#14 in our series by E. P. Roe + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Nature's Serial Story + +Author: E. P. Roe + +Release Date: September, 2004 [EBook #6412] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on December 8, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NATURE'S SERIAL STORY *** + + + + +Produced by Tom Allen, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +THE WORKS OF E. P. ROE + +VOLUME ONE + +NATURE'S SERIAL STORY + + +[Illustration: UNDER THE MISTLETOE] + + + + +PREFACE + +"I am getting very tired," said a hard brain-worker to me once. "Life is +beginning to drag and lose its zest." This is an experience that can +scarcely happen to one who has fallen in love with Nature, or become +deeply interested in any of her almost infinite manifestations. Mr. and +Mrs. Clifford of my story are not wholly the creations of fancy. The aged +man sketched in the following pages was as truly interested in his garden +and fruit-trees after he had passed his fourscore years as any enthusiastic +horticulturist in his prime, and the invalid, whose memory dwells in my +heart, found a solace in flowers which no words of mine have exaggerated. +If this book tends to bring others into sympathy with Nature, one of its +chief missions will be fulfilled. + +A love for the soil and all the pursuits of outdoor life is one of the +most healthful signs in a people. Our broad and diversified land affords +abundant opportunity for the gratification of every rural taste, and +those who form such tastes will never complain that life is losing its +zest. Other pleasures pall with time and are satiated. We outgrow them. +But every spring is a new revelation, every summer a fresh, original +chapter of experience, and every autumn a fruition of hopes as well as of +seeds and buds. Nothing can conduce more to happiness and prosperity than +multitudes of rural homes. In such abodes you will not find Socialists, +Nihilists, and other hare-brained reformers who seek to improve the world +by ignoring nature and common-sense. Possession of the soil makes a man +conservative, while he, at the same time, is conserved. + +The culture of the land is no longer plodding, ox-like drudgery, nor is +the farm a place of humdrum, brainless routine. Science offers her aid on +every hand, and beauty, in numberless forms, is ever present to those who +have eyes and hearts capable of recognizing it. The farmer has a literature +of his own, which every year is growing in proportions and value. He also +has time for the best literature of the world. It is his own fault if he +remains akin to the clod he turns. Is it not more manly to co-work with +Nature for a livelihood than to eke out a pallid, pitiful existence behind +a counter, usurping some woman's place? + +Nature is a good mother, after all, in our latitude. She does not coddle +and over-indulge her children, but rewards their love abundantly, +invigorates them if they dwell in her presence, and develops mind and +muscle, heart and soul, if they obey her laws and seek to know her well. +Although infinitely rich, she has not the short-sighted folly of those +parents who seek to place everything in the hand of a child without cost. +On the contrary, she says, "See what you may win, what you may attain." +Every crop is a prize to knowledge, skill, industry. Every flower is a +beautiful mystery which may be solved in part; every tree is stored +sunshine for the hearth, shelter from the storm, a thing of beauty while +it lives, and of varied use when its life is taken. In animals, birds, +insects, and vegetation we are surrounded by diversified life, and our +life grows richer, more healthful and complete, as we enter into their +life and comprehend it. The clouds above us are not mere reservoirs of +water for prosaic use. In their light, shade, and exquisite coloring they +are ever a reproach to the blindness of coarse and earthy minds. + +The love of Nature is something that may be developed in every heart, and +it is a love that rarely fails to purify and exalt. To many she is a +cold, indifferent beauty. They see, but do not know and appreciate her, +and she passes on her way as if they were nothing to her. But when wooed +patiently and lovingly, she stops to smile, caress, and entertain with +exhaustless diversion. + +In this simple home story I have talked, perhaps, like a garrulous lover +who must speak of his mistress, even though his words weary others. I +console myself, however, with the thought that my text has proved the +prosaic root and stem which have given being to the exquisite flowers of +art that adorn these pages. In Mr. Gibson and Mr. Dielman I have had +ideal associates in the work. They have poured light on a landscape that +would otherwise be dull and gray. + +My characters may seem shadows to others, but they have become real, or +were real, to me. I meet them still in walks and drives where in fancy I +had placed them before. I would not have to go very far to find types of +the children introduced, but the lovers, and the majority of the others, +began as shadows in the background of imagination, and took form and +substance with time. Dr. Marvin, however, is a reality and a most valued +friend, who has assisted me greatly in my work. Any one who has the +good-fortune to meet Dr. E. A. Mearns, surgeon in the regular army, can +scarcely fail to recognize in him the genial sportsman for whom the birds +were "always in season." There are others to whom I am indebted, like +John Burroughs, Thoreau, Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, true lovers and +interpreters of Nature. Those living stand near her queenly presence; +those who have passed on are doubtless nearer still. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. A COUNTRY HOME + +II. AMY WINFIELD + +III. A COUNTRY FIRESIDE + +IV. GUNNING BY MOONLIGHT + +V. CHRISTMAS EVE AND MORNING + +VI. NATURE'S HALF-KNOWN SECRETS + +VII. NEIGHBORS DROP IN + +VIII. EAGLES + +IX. SLEIGHING IN THE HIGHLANDS + +X. A WINTER THUNDER-STORM + +XI. NATURE UNDER GLASS + +XII. A MOUNTAINEER'S HOVEL + +XIII. ALMOST A TRAGEDY + +XIV. HINTS OF SPRING + +XV. NATURE'S BUILDING MATERIALS + +XVI. GOSSIP ABOUT BIRD NEIGHBORS + +XVII. FISHING THROUGH THE ICE + +XVIII. PLANNING AND OPENING THE CAMPAIGN + +XIX. WINTER'S EXIT + +XX. A ROYAL CAPTIVE + +XXI. SPRING'S HARBINGERS + +XXII. FIRST TIMES + +XXIII. REGRETS AND DUCK-SHOOTING + +XXIV. APRIL + +XXV. EASTER + +XXVI. VERY MOODY + +XXVII. SHAD-FISHING BY PROXY + +XXVIII. MAY AND GIRLHOOD + +XXIX. NATURE'S WORKSHOP + +XXX. SPRING-TIME PASSION + +XXXI. JUNE AND HONEY-BEES + +XXXII. BURT BECOMES RATIONAL + +XXXIII. WEBB'S ROSES AND ROMANCE + +XXXIV. A SHAM BATTLE AT WEST POINT + +XXXV. CHASED BY A THUNDER-SHOWER + +XXXVI. THE RESCUE OF A HOME + +XXXVII. A MIDNIGHT TEMPEST + +XXXVIII. THE TWO LOVERS + +XXXIX. BURT'S ADVENTURE + +XL. MISS HARGROVE + +XLI. A FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS + +XLII. CAMPING OUT + +XLIII. AN OLD TENEMENT + +XLIV. "BUT HE RISKED HIS LIFE?" + +XLV. SUMMER'S WEEPING FAREWELL + +XLVI. FATHER AND DAUGHTER + +XLVII. DISQUIET WITHIN AND WITHOUT + +XLVIII. IDLEWILD + +XLIX. ECHOES OF A PAST STORM + +L. IMPULSES OF THE HEART + +LI. WEBB'S FATEFUL EXPEDITION + +LII. BURT'S SORE DILEMMA + +LIII. BURT'S RESOLVE + +LIV. A GENTLE EXORCIST + +LV. BURT TELLS HIS LOVE AGAIN + +LVI. WEBB'S FOUR-LEAVED CLOVER + +LVII. OCTOBER HUES AND HARVESTS + +LVIII. THE MOONLIGHT OMEN + +LIX. THE ROSE REVEALS ITS HEART + +LX. CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AND SHADOWS + + + + +NATURE'S SERIAL STORY + + + + +THIS BOOK +IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED +TO MY WIFE + + + + +NATURE'S SERIAL STORY + +CHAPTER I + +A COUNTRY HOME + + +How much it means--what possibilities it suggests! The one I shall +describe was built not far from half a century ago, and the lapsing years +have only made it more homelike. It has long ceased to be a new object-- +an innovation--and has become a part of the landscape, like the trees +that have grown up around it. Originally painted brown, with the flight +of time it has taken a grayish tinge, as if in sympathy with its venerable +proprietor. It stands back from the roadway, and in summer has an air of +modest seclusion. Elms, maples, and shrubbery give to the passer-by but +chance glimpses of the wide veranda, which is indicated, rather than +revealed, beyond the thickly clustering vines. + +It is now late December, and in contrast with its leafy retirement the +old homestead stands out with a sharp distinctness in the white landscape; +and yet its sober hue harmonizes with the dark boles of the trees, and +suggests that, like them, it is a natural growth of the soil, and quite +as capable of clothing itself with foliage in the coming spring. This in +a sense will be true when the greenery and blossoms of the wistaria, +honeysuckle, and grape-vines appear, for their fibres and tendrils have +clung to the old house so long that they may well be deemed an inseparable +part of it. Even now it seems that the warmth, light, and comfort within +are the sustaining influences which will carry them through, the coming +days of frost and storm. A tall pine-tree towers above the northern gable +of the dwelling, and it is ever sighing and moaning to itself, as if it +possessed some unhappy family secret which it can neither reveal nor +forget. On the hither side of its shade a carriage-drive curves toward an +ancient horse-block, with many a lichen growing on the under side of the +weather-beaten planks and supports. From this platform, where guests have +been alighting for a generation or more, the drive passes to an +old-fashioned carriage-house, in which are the great family sleigh and a +light and gayly painted cutter, revealing that the home is not devoid of +the young life to which winter's most exhilarating pastime is so dear. A +quaint corn-crib is near, its mossy posts capped with inverted tin pans +much corroded by rust. These prevent prowling rats and mice from climbing +up among the golden treasures. Still further beyond are the gray old barn +and stables, facing the south. Near their doors on the sunny side of the +ample yard stand half a dozen ruminating cows, with possibly, between +their wide-branching horns, a dim consciousness of the fields, now so +white and cold, from which were cropped, in the long-past summer, far +juicier morsels than now fall to their lot. Even into their sheltered +nook the sun, far down in the south, throws but cold and watery gleams +from a steel-colored sky, and as the northern blast eddies around the +sheltering buildings the poor creatures shiver, and when their morning +airing is over are glad to return to their warm, straw-littered stalls. +Even the gallant and champion cock of the yard is chilled. With one foot +drawn up into his fluffy feathers he stands motionless in the midst of +his disconsolate harem with his eye fixed vacantly on the forbidding +outlook. His dames appear neither to miss nor to invite his attentions, +and their eyes, usually so bright and alert, often film in weary +discontent. Nature, however, is oblivious to all the dumb protests of the +barnyard, and the cold steadily strengthens. + +Away on every side stretch the angular fields, outlined by fences that +are often but white, continuous mounds, and also marked by trees and +shrubs that, in their earlier life, ran the gantlet of the bush-hook. +Here and there the stones of the higher and more abrupt walls crop out, +while the board and rail fences appear strangely dwarfed by the snow that +has fallen and drifted around them. The groves and wood-crowned hills +still further away look as drearily uninviting as roofless dwellings with +icy hearthstones and smokeless chimneys. Towering above all, on the +right, is Storm King mountain, its granite rocks and precipices showing +darkly here and there, as if its huge white mantle were old and ragged +indeed. One might well shiver at the lonely, desolate wastes lying beyond +it, grim hills and early-shadowed valleys, where the half-starved fox +prowls, and watches for unwary rabbits venturing from their coverts to +nibble the frozen twigs. The river, which above the Highlands broadens +out into Newburgh Bay, has become a snowy plain, devoid, on this bitter +day, of every sign of life. The Beacon hills, on the further side, frown +forbiddingly through the intervening northern gale, sweeping southward +into the mountain gorge. + +On a day like this the most ardent lover of Nature could scarcely fail to +shrink from her cold, pallid face and colder breath. Our return to the +home, whose ruddy firelight is seen through the frosted window-panes, +will be all the more welcome because we have been shivering so long +without. The grace of hospitality has been a characteristic of the master +of the house for over half a century, and therefore the reader need not +fear to enter, especially at this Christmas-time, when the world, as if +to make amends for the churlish welcome it gave to its Divine Guest, for +whom no better place was found than a stable, now throws open the door +and heart in kindly feeling and unselfish impulses. + +We propose to make a long visit at this old-fashioned homestead. We shall +become the close friends of its inmates, and share in their family life; +they will introduce us to some of their neighbors, and take us on many +breezy drives and pleasant excursions, with which it is their custom to +relieve their busy life; we shall take part in their rural labors, and +learn from them the secret of obtaining from nature that which nourishes +both soul and body; they will admit us to their confidence, and give us +glimpses of that mystery of mysteries, the human heart; and we shall +learn how the ceaseless story of life, with its hopes and fears, its joys +and sorrows, repeats itself in the quiet seclusion of a country home as +truly as in the turmoil of the city. Nor would our visit be complete did +we not witness among the ripened fruits of conjugal affection the bud and +blossom of that immortal flower which first opened in Eden, and which +ever springs unbidden from the heart when the conditions that give it +life and sustenance are present. + +The hallway of this central scene of our story is wide, and extends to a +small piazza in the rear. The front half of this family thoroughfare, +partitioned off by sliding-doors, can thus be made into a roomy apartment. +Its breezy coolness causes it to be a favorite resort on sultry days, but +now it is forsaken, except that a great heater, with its ample rotundity +and glowing heart, suggests to the visitor that it stands there as a +representative of the host until he shall appear. Some portraits, a fine +old engraving, a map of the county, and some sprays of evergreen +intermingled with red berries, take away all bareness from the walls, +while in a corner near the door stands a rack, formed in part by the +branching antlers of a stag, on which hang fur caps and collars, warm +wraps and coats, all suggesting abundant means of robbing winter of its +rigor. On hooks above the sliding-doors are suspended a modern rifle and +a double-barrelled shot-gun, and above these is a firelock musket that +did good service in the Revolution. + +The doors opening into the rear hall were pushed back, revealing a broad +stairway, leading with an abrupt turn and a landing to the upper chambers. +A cheerful apartment on the left of this hall was the abode of an invalid, +whose life for many years disease had vainly sought to darken. There were +lines of suffering on her thin, white face, and her hair, once black, was +silvered; but it would seem that, in the dark, lustrous eyes of the patient +woman, courage and hope had been kindled, rather than quenched, by pain. +She was now reclining on a sofa, which had been wheeled near to a wood-fire +glowing on the hearth of a large Franklin stove; and her dreamy, absent +expression often gave place to one of passing interest as her husband, +sitting opposite, read from his paper an item of news--some echo from the +busy, troubled world, that seemed so remote from their seclusion and +peaceful age. The venerable man appeared, however, as if he might still do +his share in keeping the world busy, and also in banishing its evils. +Although time had whitened his locks, it had touched kindly his stalwart +frame, while his square jaw and strong features indicated a character that +had met life's vicissitudes as a man should meet them. His native strength +and force, however, were like the beautiful region in which he dwelt--once +wild and rugged indeed, but now softened and humanized by generations of +culture. Even his spectacles could not obscure the friendly and benevolent +expression of his large blue eyes. It was evident that he looked at the +world, as mirrored before him in the daily journal, with neither cynicism +nor mere curiosity, but with a heart in sympathy with all the influences +that were making it better. + +The sound of a bell caused the old man to rise and assist his wife to her +feet; then, with an affectionate manner, tinged with a fine courtesy of +the old school, he supported her to the dining-room, placed her in a +cushioned chair on his right, at the head of the table, and drew a +footstool to her feet. There was a gentleness and solicitude in his +bearing which indicated that her weakness was more potent than strength +would have been in maintaining her ascendency! + +Meanwhile the rest of the family flocked in with an alacrity which proved +either that the bitter cold had sharpened their appetites, or that the +old-fashioned one-o'clock dinner was a cheerful break in the monotony of +the day. There was a middle-aged man, who was evidently the strong stay and +staff on which the old people leaned. His wife was the housekeeper of the +family, and she was emphatically the "house-mother," as the Germans phrase +it. Every line of her good, but rather care-worn, face bespoke an anxious +solicitude about everybody and everything except herself. It was apparent +that she had inherited not a little of the "Martha" spirit, and "was +careful about many things;" but her slight tendency to worry saved others a +world of worriment, for she was the household providence, and her +numberless little anxieties led to so much prevention of evil that there +was not much left to cure. Such was her untiring attention that her +thoughtless, growing children seemed cared for by the silent forces of +nature. Their clothes came to them like the leaves on the trees, and her +deft fingers added little ornaments that cost the wearers no more thought +than did the blossoms of spring to the unconscious plants of the garden. +She was as essential to her husband as the oxygen in the air, and he knew +it, although demonstrating his knowledge rather quietly, perhaps. But she +understood him, and enjoyed a little secret exultation over the strong +man's almost ludicrous helplessness and desolation when her occasional +absences suspended for a brief time their conjugal partnership. She +surrounded the old people with a perpetual Indian-summer haze of +kindliness, which banished all hard, bleak outlines from their late +autumnal life. In brief, she was what God and nature designed woman to +be--the gracious, pervading spirit, that filled the roomy house with +comfort and rest. Sitting near were her eldest son and pride, a lad about +thirteen years of age, and a girl who, when a baby, had looked so like a +boy that her father had called her "Johnnie," a sobriquet which still clung +to her. Close to the mother's side was a little embodiment of vitality, +mischief, and frolic, in the form of a four-year-old boy, the dear torment +of the whole house. + +There remain but two others to be mentioned, and the Clifford family will +be complete, as constituted at present. The first was the youngest son of +the aged man at the head of the table. He had inherited his father's +features, but there was a dash of recklessness blended with the manifest +frankness of his expression, and in his blue eyes there was little trace of +shrewd calculation or forethought. Even during the quiet midday meal they +flashed with an irrepressible mirthfulness, and not one at the table +escaped his aggressive nonsense. His brother, two or three years his +senior, was of a very different type, and seemed somewhat overshadowed by +the other's brilliancy. He had his mother's dark eyes, but they were deep +and grave, and he appeared reserved and silent, even in the home circle. +His bronzed features were almost rugged in their strength, but a heavy +mustache gave a touch of something like manly beauty to his rather sombre +face. You felt instinctively that he was one who would take life +seriously--perhaps a little too seriously--and that, whether it brought him +joy or sorrow, he would admit the world but charily to his confidence. + +Burtis, the youngest brother, had gone through college after a sort of +neck-or-nothing fashion, and had been destined for one of the learned +professions; but, while his natural ability had enabled him to run the +gantlet of examinations, he had evinced such an unconquerable dislike for +restraint and plodding study that he had been welcomed back to the paternal +acres, which were broad enough for them all. Mr. Clifford, by various +means, had acquired considerable property in his day, and was not at all +disappointed that his sons should prefer the primal calling to any other, +since it was within his power to establish them well when they were ready +for a separate domestic life. It must be admitted, however, that thus far +the rural tastes of Burtis were chiefly for free out-of-door life, with its +accessories of rod, gun, and horses. But Leonard, the eldest, and Webb, the +second in years, were true children of the soil, in the better sense of the +term. Their country home had been so replete with interest from earliest +memory that they had taken root there like the trees which their father had +planted. Leonard was a practical farmer, content, in a measure, to follow +the traditions of the elders. Webb, on the other hand, was disposed to look +past the outward aspects of Nature to her hidden moods and motives, and to +take all possible advantage of his discoveries. The farm was to him a +laboratory, and, with something of the spirit of the old alchemists, he +read, studied, and brooded over the problem of producing the largest +results at the least cost. He was by no means deficient in imagination, or +even in appreciation of the beautiful side of nature, when his thoughts +were directed to this phase of the outer world; but his imagination had +become materialistic, and led only to an eager quest after the obscure laws +of cause and effect, which might enable him to accomplish what to his +plodding neighbors would seem almost miraculous. He understood that the +forces with which he was dealing were wellnigh infinite; and it was his +delight to study them, to combine them, and make them his servants. It was +his theory that the energy in nature was like a vast motive power, over +which man could throw the belt of his skill and knowledge, and so produce +results commensurate with the force of which he availed himself. There was, +therefore, an unfailing zest in his work, and the majority of his labors +had the character of experiments, which, nevertheless, were so guided by +experience that they were rarely futile or unremunerative. On themes that +accorded with his tastes and pursuits he would often talk earnestly and +well, but his silence and preoccupation at other times proved that it is +not best to be dominated by one idea, even though it be a large one. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AMY WINFIELD + + +The reader may now consider himself introduced to the household with whom +he is invited to sojourn. In time he will grow better acquainted with the +different members of the family, as they in their several ways develop +their own individuality. A remark from old Mr. Clifford indicates that +another guest is expected, who, unlike ourselves, will be present in +reality, not fancy, and who is destined to become a permanent inmate of +the home. + +"This is a bitter day," he said, "for little Amy to come to us; and yet, +unless something unforeseen prevents, she will be at the station this +evening." + +"Don't worry about the child," Burtis responded, promptly; "I'll meet +her, and am glad of an excuse to go out this horrid day. I'll wrap her up +in furs like an Esquimau." + +"Yes, and upset her in the drifts with your reckless driving," said +good-natured Leonard. "Thunder is wild enough at any time; but of late, +between the cold, high feeding, and idleness, he'll have to be broken +over again; lucky if he don't break your neck in the operation. The +little girl will feel strange enough, anyway, coming among people that +she has never seen, and I don't intend that she shall be frightened out +of her wits into the bargain by your harum-scarum ways. You'd give her +the impression that we were only half-civilized. So I'll drive over for +her in the family sleigh, and take Alf with me. He will be nearer her own +age, and help to break the ice. If you want a lark, go out by yourself, +and drive where you please, after your own break-neck style." + +"Leonard is right," resumed Mr. Clifford, emphatically. "The ward +committed to me by my dear old friend should be brought to her home with +every mark of respect and affection by the one who has the best right to +represent me. I'd go myself, were not the cold so severe; but then +Leonard's ways are almost as fatherly as my own; and when his good wife +there gets hold of the child she'll soon be fused into the family, in +spite of the zero weather. She'll find all the cold without the door." + +"I yield," said Burtis, with a careless laugh. "Len shall bring home the +little chick, and put her under his wife's wing. I should probably +misrepresent the family, and make a bad first impression; and as for +Webb, you might as well send the undertaker for her." + +"I don't think she will feel strange among us very long," said Leonard's +wife. "She shall hang up her stocking to-night, like the other children, +and I have some nice little knick-knacks with which to fill it. These, +and the gifts which the rest of you have provided, will delight her, as +they do all little people, and make her feel at once that she is part of +the family." + +"Maggie expresses my purpose fully," concluded Mr. Clifford. "As far as +it is within our power, we should make her one of the family. In view of +my friend's letters, this is the position that I desire her to sustain, +and it will be the simplest and most natural relation for us all. Your +mother and I will receive her as a daughter, and it is my wish that my +sons should treat her as a sister from the first." + +Amy Winfield, the subject of the above remarks, was the only daughter of a +gentleman who had once been Mr. Clifford's most intimate friend, and also +his partner in many business transactions. Mr. Winfield had long resided +abroad, and there had lost the wife whom he had married rather late in +life. When feeling his own end drawing near, his thoughts turned wistfully +to the friend of his early manhood, and, as he recalled Mr. Clifford's +rural home, he felt that he could desire no better refuge for his child. He +had always written of her as his "little girl," and such she was in his +fond eyes, although in fact she had seen eighteen summers. Her slight +figure and girlish ways had never dispelled the illusion that she was still +a child, and as such he had commended her to his friend, who had responded +to the appeal as to a sacred claim, and had already decided to give her a +daughter's place in his warm heart. Mr. Winfield could not have chosen a +better guardian for the orphan and her property, and a knowledge of this +truth had soothed the last hours of the dying man. + +It struck Leonard that the muffled figure he picked up at the station and +carried through the dusk and snow to the sleigh was rather tall and heavy +for the child he was expecting; but he wrapped her warmly, almost beyond +the possibility of speaking, or even breathing, and spoke the hearty and +encouraging words which are naturally addressed to a little girl. After +seeing that her trunks were safely bestowed in a large box-sledge, under +the charge of black Abram, one of the farm-hands, he drove rapidly +homeward, admonishing Alfred, on the way, "to be sociable." The boy, +however, had burrowed so deep under the robes as to be invisible and +oblivious. When Leonard was about to lift her out of the sleigh, as he +had placed her in it, the young girl protested, and said: + +"I fear I shall disappoint you all by being larger and older than you +expect." + +A moment later he was surprised to find that the "child" was as tall as +his wife, who, with abounding motherly kindness, had received the girl +into open arms. Scarcely less demonstrative and affectionate was the +greeting of old Mr. Clifford, and the orphan felt, almost from the first, +that she had found a second father. + +"Why, Maggie," whispered Leonard, "the child is as tall as you are!" + +"There's only the more to welcome, then," was the genial answer, and, +turning to the young girl, she continued, "Come with me, my dear; I'm not +going to have you frightened and bewildered with all your new relations +before you can take breath. You shall unwrap in your own room, and feel +from the start that you have a nook where no one can molest you or make +you afraid, to which you can always retreat;" and she led the way to a +snug apartment, where an air-tight stove created summer warmth. There was +a caressing touch in Mrs. Leonard's assistance which the young girl felt +in her very soul, for tears came into her eyes as with a deep sigh of +relief she sat down on a low chair. + +"I feared I should be a stranger among strangers," she murmured; "but I +already feel as if I were at home." + +"You are, Amy," was the prompt reply, spoken with that quiet emphasis +which banishes all trace of doubt. "You are at home as truly as I am. +There is nothing halfway in this house. Do you know we all thought that +you were a child? I now foresee that we shall be companions, and very +companionable, too, I am sure." + +There was a world of grateful good-will in the dark hazel eyes which Amy +lifted to the motherly face bending over her. + +"And now come," pursued Mrs. Leonard; "mother Clifford, the boys, and the +children are all eager to see you. You won't find much ice to break, and +before the evening is over you will feel that you belong to us and we to +you. Don't be afraid." + +"I am not afraid any more. I was, though, on my way here. Everything looked +so cold and dismal from the car windows, and the gentleman in whose care I +was had little to say, though kind and attentive enough. I was left to my +own thoughts, and gave way to a foolish depression; but when your husband +picked me up in his strong arms, and reassured me as if I were a little +girl, my feeling of desolation began to pass away. Your greeting and dear +old Mr. Clifford's have banished it altogether. I felt as if my own father +were blessing me in the friend who is now my guardian, and of whom I have +heard so often; and, after my long winter journey among strangers, you've +no idea what a refuge this warm room has already become. Oh, I know I shall +be happy. I only wish that dear papa knew how well he has provided for me." + +"He knows, my dear. But come, or that incorrigible Burt will be bursting +upon us in his impatience, and the little mother must not be kept +waiting, either. You will soon learn to love her dearly. Weak and gentle +as she is, she rules us all." + +"Mother's room" was, in truth, the favorite haunt of the house, and only +her need of quiet kept it from being full much of the time. There was +nothing bleak or repelling in the age it sheltered, and children and +grandchildren gathered about the old people almost as instinctively as +around their genial open fire. This momentous Christmas-eve found them +all there, a committee of reception awaiting the new inmate of their +home. There was an eager desire to know what Amy was like, but it was a +curiosity wholly devoid of the spirit of criticism. The circumstances +under which the orphan came to them would banish any such tendency in +people less kindly than the Cliffords; but their home-life meant so much +to them all that they were naturally solicitous concerning one who must, +from the intimate relations she would sustain, take from or add much to +it. Therefore it was with a flutter of no ordinary expectancy that they +waited for her appearance. The only one indifferent was Leonard's youngest +boy, who, astride his grandpa's cane, was trotting quietly about, +unrestricted in his gambols. Alfred had thawed out since his return from +the station, and was eager to take the measure of a possible playmate; but, +with the shyness of a boy who is to meet a "strange girl," he sought a +partial cover behind his grandfather's chair. Little "Johnnie" was flitting +about impatiently, with her least mutilated doll upon her arm; while her +uncle Burtis, seated on a low stool by his mother's sofa, pretended to be +exceedingly jealous, and was deprecating the fact that he would now be no +longer petted as her baby, since the child of her adoption must assuredly +take his place. Webb, who, as usual, was somewhat apart from the family +group, kept up a poor pretence of reading; and genial Leonard stood with +his back to the fire, his hands clasped behind him, beaming upon all, and +waiting to shine on the new-comer. Only Mr. Clifford seemed uninfluenced by +the warm, bright present. He gazed fixedly into the flickering blaze, and +occasionally took off his spectacles to wipe away the moisture that +gathered in his eyes. His thoughts, evidently, were busy with years long +past, and were following that old, tried friend who had committed to his +hands so sacred a trust. + +The door opened, and Mrs. Leonard led Amy forward. The latter hesitated a +moment, bewildered by the number of eyes turned toward her, and the new +relations into which she was entering. She proved that she was not a +child by her quick, blushing consciousness of the presence of two young +men, who were as yet utter strangers; and they, in turn, involuntarily +gave to the lender, brown-haired girl quite a different welcome from the +one they had expected to bestow upon a child. Old Mr. Clifford did not +permit her embarrassment to last a moment, but, stepping hastily forward, +and encircling her with his arm, he led her to his wife, who brought +tears into the eyes of the motherless girl by the gentle warmth of her +greeting. She monopolized her ward so long that impatient Burtis began to +expostulate, and ask when his turn was coming. The young girl turned a +shy, blushing face toward him, and her cheeks, mantling under the full +rays of the lamp, rendered the exquisite purity of her complexion all the +more apparent. He also began to feel that he was flushing absurdly, but +he carried it off with his usual audacity. + +"I am much embarrassed and perplexed," he said. "I was led to expect a +little sister that I could romp with, and pick up and kiss; but here is a +young lady that almost paralyzes me with awe." + +"I'd like to see you paralyzed from any such cause just once," Leonard +remarked, laughingly. "Go kiss your sister, like a little man." + +The young fellow seemed to relish the ceremony exceedingly, and responsive +mirthfulness gleamed for a moment in Amy's eyes. Then he dragged Webb +forward, saying, "Let me introduce to you the grave and learned member of +the family, to whom we all speak with bated breath. You must not expect him +to get acquainted with you in any ordinary way. He will investigate you, +and never rest until he has discovered all the hidden laws of your being. +Now, Webb, I will support you while Amy kisses you, and then you may sit +down and analyze your sensations, and perhaps cipher out a method by which +a kiss can be rendered tenfold more effective." + +Unmoved by his brother's raillery, Webb took the young girl's hand, and +looked at her so earnestly with his dark, grave eyes, that hers drooped. +"Sister Amy," he said, gently, "I was prepared to welcome you on general +principles, but I now welcome you for your own sake. Rattle-brain Burt +will make a good playmate, but you will come to me when you are in +trouble;" and he kissed her brow. + +The girl looked up with a swift, grateful glance; it seemed odd to her, +even at that moment of strong and confused impressions, and with the +salutes of her guardians still warm upon her cheek, that she felt a sense +of rest and security never known before. "He will be my brother in very +truth," was the interpretation which her heart gave to his quiet words. +They all smiled, for the course of the reticent and undemonstrative young +man was rather unexpected. Burtis indulged in a ringing laugh, as he +said: + +"Father, mother, you must both feel wonderfully relieved. Webb is to look +after Amy in her hours of woe, which, of course, will be frequent in this +vale of tears. He will console you, Amy, by explaining how tears are +formed, and how, by a proper regard for the sequence of cause and effect, +there might be more or less of them, according to your desire." + +"I think I understand Webb," was her smiling answer. + +"Don't imagine it. He is a perfect sphinx. Never before has he opened his +mouth so widely, and only an occasion like this could have moved him. You +must have unconsciously revealed a hidden law, or else he would have been +as mum as an oyster." + +Leonard, meanwhile, had seated himself, and was holding little Ned on his +knee, his arm at the same time encircling shy, sensitive Johnnie, who was +fairly trembling with excited expectancy. Ned, with his thumb in his +mouth, regarded his new relative in a nonchalant manner; but to the +little girl the home-world was _the_ world, and the arrival in its midst +of the beautiful lady never seen before was as wonderful as any fairy +tale. Indeed, that such a June-like creature should come to them that +wintry day--that she had crossed the terrible ocean from a foreign realm +far more remote, in the child's consciousness, than fairy-land--seemed +quite as strange as if Cinderella had stepped out of the storybook with +the avowed purpose of remaining with them until her lost slipper was +found. Leonard, big and strong as he was, felt and interpreted the +delicate and thrilling organism of his child, and, as Amy turned toward +him, he said, with a smile: + +"No matter about me. We're old friends; for I've known you ever since you +were a little girl at the station. What if you did grow to be a young +woman while riding home! Stranger things than that happen every day in +storybooks, don't they, Johnnie? Johnnie, you must know, has the advantage +of the rest of us. She likes bread-and-butter, and kindred realities of our +matter-of-fact sphere, but she also has a world of her own, which is quite +as real. I think she is inclined to believe that you are a fairy princess, +and that you may have a wand in your pocket by which you can restore to her +doll the missing nose and arm." + +Amy scarcely needed Leonard's words in order to understand the child, for +the period was not remote when, in her own mind, the sharp outlines of +fact had shaded off into the manifold mysteries of wonderland. Therefore, +with an appreciation and a gentleness which won anew all hearts, she took +the little girl on her lap, and said, smilingly: + +"I have a wee wand with which, I'm sure, I can do much for you, and +perhaps something for dolly. I can't claim to be a fairy princess, but I +shall try to be as good to you as if I were one." + +Webb, with his book upside down, looked at the young girl in a way which +proved that he shared in Johnnie's wonder and vague anticipation. Alfred, +behind his grandfather's chair, was the only one who felt aggrieved and +disappointed. Thus far he had been overlooked, but he did not much care, +for this great girl could be no companion for him. Amy, however, had +woman's best grace--tact--and guessed his trouble. "Alf," she said, +calling him by his household name, and turning upon him her large hazel +eyes, which contained spells as yet unknown even to herself--"Alf, don't +be disappointed. You shall find that I am not too big to play with you." + +The boy yielded at once to a grace which he would be years in learning to +understand, and which yet affected him subtilely, and with something of +the same influence that it had upon Webb, who felt that a new element was +entering into his life. Mercurial Burtis, however, found nothing peculiar +in his own pleasant sensations. He had a score of young lady friends, and +was merely delighted to find in Amy a very attractive young woman, +instead of a child or a dull, plain-featured girl, toward whom brotherly +attentions might often become a bore. He lived intensely in the present +hour, and was more than content that his adopted sister was quite to his +taste. + +"Well, Amy," said Mr. Clifford, benignantly, "you seem to have stepped in +among us as if there had always been a niche waiting for you, and I think +that, after you have broken bread with us, and have had a quiet sleep +under the old roof, you will feel at home. Come, I'm going to take you +out to supper to-night, and, Burt, do you be as gallant to your mother." + +The young fellow made them all laugh by imitating his father's old-style +courtesy; and a happy circle of faces gathered around the board in the +cheerful supper-room, to which a profuse decoration of evergreens gave a +delightfully aromatic odor. Mr. Clifford's "grace" was not a formal +mumble, but a grateful acknowledgment of the source from which, as he +truly believed, had flowed all the good that had blessed their life; and +then followed the genial, unrestrained table-talk of a household that, as +yet, possessed no closeted skeleton. The orphan sat among them, and her +mourning weeds spoke of a great and recent sorrow, which might have been +desolation, but already her kindling eyes and flushed cheeks proved that +this strong, bright current of family life would have the power to carry +her forward to a new, spring-like experience. To her foreign-bred eyes +there was an abundance of novelty in this American home, but it was like +the strangeness of heaven to the poor girl, who for months had been so +sad and almost despairing. With the strong reaction natural to youth +after long depression, her heart responded to the glad life about her, +and again she repeated the words to herself, "I'm sure--oh, I am sure I +shall be happy here." + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A COUNTRY FIRESIDE + + +After supper they all gathered for a time in the large general +sitting-room, and careful Leonard went the rounds of the barn and +out-buildings. Mr. Clifford, with considerate kindness, had resolved to +defer all conversation with Amy relating to her bereavement and the +scenes that had ensued. At this holiday-time they would make every effort +within their power to pierce with light and warmth the cold gray clouds +that of late had gathered so heavily over the poor child's life. At the +same time their festivities would be subdued by the memory of her recent +sorrow, and restricted to their immediate family circle. But, instead of +obtrusive kindness, they enveloped her in the home atmosphere, and made +her one of them. The manner in which old Mrs. Clifford kept her near and +retained her hand was a benediction in itself. + +Leonard was soon heard stamping the snow from his boots on the back +piazza, and in a few moments he entered, shivering. + +"The coldest night of the year," he exclaimed. "Ten below zero, and it +will probably be twelve before morning. It's too bad, Amy, that you have +had such a cold reception." + +"The thermometer makes a good foil for your smile," she replied. "Indeed, +I think the mercury rose a little while you were looking at it." + +"Oh no," he said, laughing, "even you could not make it rise to-night. +Heigho, Ned! coming to kiss good-night? I say, Ned, tell us what mamma +has for Amy's stocking. What a good joke it is, to be sure I We all had +the impression you were a little girl, you know, and selected our gifts +accordingly. Burt actually bought you a doll. Ha! ha! ha! Maggie had +planned to have you hang up your stocking with the children, and such a +lot of little traps and sweets she has for you!" + +The boy, to whom going to bed at the usual hour was a heavy cross on this +momentous evening, promptly availed himself of a chance for delay by +climbing on Amy's lap, and going into a voluble inventory of the contents +of a drawer into which he had obtained several surreptitious peeps. His +effort to tell an interminable story that he might sit up longer, the +droll havoc he made with his English, and the naming of the toys that +were destined for the supposed child, evoked an unforced merriment which +banished the last vestige of restraint. + +"Well, I'm glad it has all happened so," said Amy, after the little +fellow had reluctantly come to the end of his facts and his invention +also. "You make me feel as if I had known you for years--almost, +indeed, as if I had come to you as a little girl, and had grown up among +you. Come, Ned, it shall all turn out just as you expected. I'll go with +you upstairs, and hang my stocking beside yours, and mamma shall put into +it all the lovely things you have told me about. Santa Claus does not +know much about my coming here, nor what kind of a girl I am, so your +kind mamma meant to act the part of Santa Claus in my behalf this year, +and give him a chance to get acquainted with me. But he knows all about +you, and there's no telling how soon he may come to fill your stocking. +You know he has to fill the stockings of all the little boys and girls in +the country, and that will take a long time. So I think we had better go +at once, for I don't believe he would like it if he came and found you up +and awake." + +This put a new aspect upon going to bed early, and having seen his short, +chubby stocking dangling with a long, slender one of Amy's by the +chimney-side, Ned closed his eyes with ineffable content and faith. Amy +then returned to the sitting-room, whither she was soon followed by Maggie, +and after some further light and laughing talk the conversation naturally +drifted toward those subjects in which the family was practically +interested. + +"What do you think, father?" Leonard asked. "Won't this finish the peach +and cherry buds? I've always heard that ten degrees of cold below zero +destroyed the fruit germs." + +"Not always," replied the man of long experience. "It depends much upon +their condition when winter sets in, and whether, previous to the cold +snap, there have been prolonged thaws. The new growth on the trees +ripened thoroughly last fall, and the frost since has been gradual and +steady. I've known peach-buds to survive fifteen below zero; but there's +always danger in weather like this. We shall know what the prospects are +after the buds thaw out." + +"How will that be possible?" Amy asked, in surprise. + +"Now, Webb, is your chance to shine," cried Burtis. "Hitherto, Amy, the +oracle has usually been dumb, but you may become a priestess who will +evoke untold stores of wisdom." + +Webb flushed slightly, but again proved that his brother's banter had +little influence. + +"If you are willing to wait a few days," he said, with a smile, "I can +make clear to you, by the aid of a microscope, what father means, much +better than I can explain. I can then show you the fruit germs either +perfect or blackened by the frost." + +"I'll wait, and remind you of your promise, too. I don't know nearly as +much about the country as a butterfly or a bird, but should be quite as +unhappy as they were I condemned to city life. So you must not laugh at +me if I ask no end of questions, and try to put my finger into some of +your horticultural pies." + +His pleased look contained all the assurance she needed, and he resumed, +speaking generally: "The true places for raising peaches--indeed, all the +stone-fruits--successfully in this region are the plateaus and slopes of +the mountains beyond us. At their height the mercury never falls as low +as it does with us, and when we have not a peach or cherry I have found +such trees as existed high up among the hills well laden." + +"Look here, uncle Webb," cried Alf, "you've forgotten your geography. The +higher you go up the colder it gets." + +The young man patiently explained to the boy that the height of the +Highlands is not sufficient to cause any material change in climate, +while on still nights the coldest air sinks to the lowest levels, and +therefore the trees in the valleys and at the base of the mountains +suffer the most. "But what you say," he concluded, "is true as a rule. +The mercury does range lower on the hills; and if they were a thousand or +fifteen hundred feet higher peaches could not be grown at all." + +Amy mentally soliloquized: "I am learning not only about the mercury, but +also--what Alf has no doubt already found out--that Webb is the one to go +to if one wishes anything explained. What's more, he wouldn't, in giving +the information, overwhelm one with a sense of deplorable ignorance." + +In accordance with his practical bent, Webb continued: "I believe that a +great deal of money could be made in the Highlands by raising peaches. The +crop would be almost certain, and the large late varieties are those which +bring the extraordinary prices. What is more, the mountain land would +probably have the quality of virgin soil. You remember, father, don't you, +when peaches in this region were scarcely troubled by disease?" + +"Indeed I do. There was a time when they would live on almost like +apple-trees, and give us an abundance of great luscious fruit year after +year. Even with the help of the pigs we could not dispose of the crops, +the bulk of which, in many instances, I am sorry to say, went into +brandy. What was that you were reading the other day about peaches in +Hawthorne's description of the Old Manse?" + +Webb took the book and read: "Peach-trees which, in a good year, tormented +me with peaches neither to be eaten nor kept, nor, without labor and +perplexity, to be given away." + +"That hits it exactly," resumed the old gentleman, laughing, "only every +year was a good year then, and we had not the New York market within +three hours of us. Even if we had, a large modern orchard would have +supplied it. One of the most remarkable of the changes I've witnessed in +my time is the enormous consumption of fruit in large cities. Why, more +is disposed of in Newburgh than used to go to New York. But to return to +peaches; our only chance for a long time has been to plant young trees +every year or two, and we scarcely secured a crop more than once in three +years. Even then the yellows often destroyed the trees before they were +old enough to bear much. They are doing far better of late along the +Hudson, and there is good prospect that this region will become the +greatest peach-growing locality in the country." + +"I'm sure you are right," assented Webb, "and I think it will pay us to +plant largely in the spring. I don't suppose you ever saw a peach-orchard +in England, Amy?" + +"I don't think I ever did. They were all grown in front of sunny walls, +_espalier_, as papa termed it. We had some in our garden." + +"Yes," resumed Webb, "the climate there is too cool and humid for even +the wood to ripen. Here, on the contrary, we often have too vivid +sunshine. I propose that we put out all the north slope in peaches." + +"Do you think a northern exposure best?" Leonard asked. + +"I certainly do. In my opinion it is not the frost, unless it be very +severe, that plays the mischief with the buds, but alternate freezing and +thawing, especially after the buds have started in spring. On a northern +slope the buds usually remain dormant until the danger of late frosts is +over. I am quite sure, too, that the yellows is a disease due chiefly to +careless or dishonest propagation. Pits and buds have been taken from +infected trees, and thus the evil has been spread far and wide. There is +as much to be gained in the careful and long-continued selection of +fruits and vegetables as in the judicious breeding of stock." + +"Has no remedy for the yellows been discovered?" Leonard again queried. + +"Only the axe and fire. The evil should be extirpated as fast as it +appears. Prevention is far better than any attempt at cure. The thing to +do is to obtain healthier trees, and then set them out on new land. +That's why I think the north slope will be a good place, for peaches have +never been grown there in my memory." + +"Come, Amy," said Burt. "Len and Webb are now fairly astride of their +horticultural hobbies. Come with me, and see the moon shining on old +Storm King." + +They pushed aside the heavy crimson curtains, which added a sense of warmth +to the cheerful room, and looked at the cold white world without--a ghost +of a world, it seemed to Amy. The moon, nearly full, had risen in the gap +of the Highlands, and had now climbed well above the mountains, softening +and etherealizing them until every harsh, rugged outline was lost. The +river at their feet looked pallid and ghostly also. When not enchained by +frost, lights twinkled here and there all over its broad surface, and the +intervals were brief when the throbbing engines of some passing steamer +were not heard. Now it was like the face of the dead when a busy life is +over. + +"It's all very beautiful," said Amy, shivering, "but too cold and still. +I love life, and this reminds one of death, the thoughts of which, with +all that it involves, have oppressed me so long that I must throw off the +burden. I was growing morbid, and giving way to a deeper and deeper +depression, and now your sunny home life seems just the antidote for it +all." + +The warm-hearted fellow was touched, for there were tears in the young +girl's eyes. "You have come to the right place, Amy," he said, eagerly. +"You cannot love life more than I, and I promise to make it lively for +you. I'm just the physician to minister to the mind diseased with +melancholy. Trust me. I can do a hundred-fold more for you than delving, +matter-of-fact Webb. So come to me when you have the blues. Let us make +an alliance offensive and defensive against all the powers of dulness and +gloom." + +"I'll do my best," she replied, smiling; "but there will be hours, and +perhaps days, when the past with its shadows will come back too vividly +for me to escape it." + +"I'll banish all shadows, never fear. I'll make the present so real and +jolly that you will forget the past." + +"I don't wish to forget, but only to think of it without the dreary +foreboding and sinking of heart that oppressed me till I came here. I +know you will do much for me, but I am sure I shall like Webb also." + +"Oh, of course you will. He's one of the best fellows in the world. Don't +think that I misunderstand him or fail to appreciate his worth because I +love to run him so. Perhaps you'll wake him up and get him out of his +ruts. But I foresee that I'm the medicine you most need. Come to the +fire; you are shivering." + +"Oh, I'm so glad that I've found such a home," she said, with a grateful +glance, as she emerged from the curtains. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +GUNNING BY MOONLIGHT + + +Webb saw the glance from eyes on which were still traces of tears; he +also saw his brother's look of sympathy; and with the kindly purpose of +creating a diversion to her thoughts he started up, breaking off his +discussion with Leonard, and left the room. A moment later he returned +from the hall with the double-barrelled gun. + +"What now, Webb?" cried Burt, on the _qui vive_. "You will make Amy +think we are attacked by Indians." + +"If you are not afraid of the cold, get your gun, and I think I can give +you some sport, and, for a wonder, make you useful also," Webb replied. +"While you were careering this afternoon I examined the young trees in +the nursery, and found that the rabbits were doing no end of mischief. It +has been so cold, and the snow is so deep, that the little rascals are +gathering near the house. They have gnawed nearly all the bark off the +stems of some of the trees, and I doubt whether I can save them. At first +I was puzzled by their performances. You know, father, that short nursery +row grafted with our seedling apple, the Highland Beauty? Well, I found +many of the lower twigs taken off with a sharp, slanting cut, as if they +had been severed with a knife, and I imagined that a thrifty neighbor had +resolved to share in our monopoly of the new variety, but I soon discovered +that the cuttings had been made too much at random to confirm the +impression that some one had been gathering scions for grafting. Tracks on +the snow, and girdled trees, soon made it evident that rabbits were the +depredators. One of the little pests must have climbed into a bushy tree at +least eighteen inches from the snow, in order to reach the twigs I found +cut." + +"A rabbit up a tree!" exclaimed Leonard. "Who ever heard of such a +thing?" + +"Well, you can see for yourself to-morrow," Webb resumed. "Of course we +can't afford to pasture the little fellows on our young trees, and so +must feed them until they can be shot or trapped. The latter method will +be good fun for you, Alf. This afternoon I placed sweet apples, +cabbage-leaves, and turnips around the edge of a little thicket near the +trees; and, Burt, you know there is a clump of evergreens near, from +whose cover I think we can obtain some good shots. So get your gun, and +we'll start even." + +At the prospect of sport Burt forgot Amy and everything else, and dashed +off. + +"Oh, papa, can't I go with them?" pleaded Alf. + +"What do you think, Maggie?" Leonard asked his wife, who now entered. + +"Well, boys will be boys. If you will let mamma bundle you up--" + +"Oh, yes, anything, if I can only go!" cried Alf, trembling with +excitement. + +"Sister Amy," Webb remarked, a little diffidently, "if you care to see +the fun, you can get a good view from the window of your room. I'll load +my gun in the hall." + +"Can I see you load?" Amy asked, catching some of Alf's strong interest. +"It's all so novel to me." + +"Certainly. I think you will soon find that you can do pretty much as you +please in your new home. You are now among republicans, you know, and we +are scarcely conscious of any government." + +"But I have already discovered one very strong law in this household," +she smilingly asserted, as she stood beside him near the hall-table, on +which he had placed his powder-flask and shot-pouch. + +"Ah, what is that?" he asked, pouring the powder carefully into the +muzzles of the gun. + +"The law of kindness, of good-will. Why," she exclaimed, "I expected to +be weeks in getting acquainted, but here you are all calling me sister +Amy as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It seems so odd," +she laughed, "that I am not a bit afraid of you, even with your gun, and +yet we have just met, as it were. The way you and your brothers say +'sister Amy' makes the relation seem real. I can scarcely believe that I +am the same girl that stepped down at the station this evening, nor can I +get over my pleased wonder at the transformation." + +"Amy," said the young man, earnestly, "your coming promises so much to us +all! You were just the one element lacking in our home. I now see that it +was so. I already have the presentiment that you will do more for us than +we can for you." + +"I ought to do all that the deepest gratitude could prompt. You have +never known what it is to be desolate one hour, and to find an ideal home +the next." + +"I wish it might be an ideal home to you; but don't expect too much. You +will find some of us very human." + +"Therefore I shall feel the more at home. Papa always spoiled me by +letting me have my own way, and I shall often tax your patience. Do you +know, I never saw a gun loaded before. There seems to be so much going on +here, and I have lived such a quiet life of late. How will you make the +thing go off?" + +"These little precussion-caps will do the business. It seems to me that +I've always been quiet, and perhaps a trifle heavy. I hope you will think +it your mission to render me less matter-of-fact. I'm ready now, and here +comes Burt with his breech-loader. If you will go to your room now, you +can see our shots." + +A moment later she stood with Johnnie at her window, both almost holding +their breath in expectation as they saw the young men, with Alf following, +steal toward a clump of evergreens behind the house. + +"Quiet and steady now," Webb cautioned his eager brother; "and, Alf, you +step in my tracks, so there may be no noise." Thus they made their way +among the pines, and peered cautiously out. "Hold on, Burt," Webb +whispered, as the former was bringing his gun to his shoulder; "I want a +crack at them as well as yourself. Let's reconnoitre. Yes, there are +three or four of the scamps. Let Alf see them. They look so pretty in the +moonlight that I've scarcely the heart to disturb, much less to kill +them." + +"Oh, stop your sentimental nonsense!" muttered Burt, impatiently. "It's +confoundedly cold, and they may take fright and disappear." + +"Black ingratitude!" Webb exclaimed. "If there isn't one in the apple +nursery in spite of all my provision for them! That ends my compunctions. +I'll take him, and you that big fellow munching a cabbage-leaf. We'll +count three--now, one, two--" The two reports rang out as one, and the +watchers at the window saw the flashes, and thrilled at the reverberating +echoes. + +"It's almost as exciting as if they were shooting Indians, robbers, or +giants," cried Johnnie, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. + +"Back," said Webb to Alf, who was about to rush forward to secure the +game; "we may get another shot." + +They waited a few moments in vain, and then succumbed to the cold. To Alf +was given the supreme delight of picking up the game that lay on the +snow, making with their blood the one bit of color in all the white +garden. + +"Poor little chaps!" Webb remarked, as he joined the family gathered +around Alf and the rabbits in the sitting-room. "It's a pity the world +wasn't wide enough for us all." + +"What has come over you, Webb?" asked Burt, lifting his eyebrows. "Has +there been a hidden spring of sentiment in your nature all these years, +which has just struck the surface?" + +It was evident that nearly all shared in Webb's mild regret that such a +sudden period had been put to life at once so pretty, innocent, and +harmful. Alf, however, was conscious of only pure exultation. Your boy is +usually a genuine savage, governed solely by the primal instinct of the +chase and destruction of wild animals. He stroked the fur, and with eyes +of absorbed curiosity examined the mischievous teeth, the long ears, the +queer little feet that never get cold, and the places where the lead had +entered with the sharp deadly shock that had driven out into the chill +night the nameless something which had been the little creature's life. +Amy, too, stroked the fur with a pity on her face which made it very +sweet to Webb, while tender-hearted Johnnie was exceedingly remorseful, +and wished to know whether "the bunnies, if put by the fire, would not +come to life before morning." Indeed, there was a general chorus of +commiseration, which Burt brought to a prosaic conclusion by saying: +"Crocodile tears, every one. You'll all enjoy the pot-pie to-morrow with +great gusto. By the way, I'll prop up one of these little fellows at the +foot of Ned's crib, and in the morning he'll think that the original +'Br'er Rabbit' has hopped out of Uncle Remus's stories to make him a +Christmas visit." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +CHRISTMAS EVE AND MORNING + + +Old Mrs. Clifford now created a diversion by asking: "How about our +plants to-night, Maggie? Ought we not to take some precautions? Once +before when it was as cold as this we lost some, you know" + +"Leonard," said his wife, in response to the suggestion, "it will be +safer for you to put a tub of water in the flower-room; that will draw +the frost from the plants. Mother is the queen of the flowers in this +house," continued Mrs. Leonard, turning to Amy, "and I think she will be +inclined to appoint you first lady in attendance. She finds me cumbered +with too many other cares. But it doesn't matter. Mother has only to look +at the plants to make them grow and bloom." + +"There you are mistaken," replied the old lady, laughing. "Flowers are +like babies. I never made much of a fuss over my babies, but I loved +them, and saw that they had just what they needed at the right time." + +"That accounts for Webb's exuberant growth and spirit, and the ethereal +beauty of Len's mature blossoming," remarked Burt. + +"You are a plant that never had enough pruning," retorted his portly +eldest brother. + +"I shall be glad to help you, if you will teach me how," Amy said to Mrs. +Clifford. + +"In the pruning department?" asked Burt, with assumed dismay. + +"Possibly," was the reply, with an arch little look which delighted the +young fellow. + +"Come, Maggie," said Mrs. Clifford, "sing a Christmas carol before we +separate. It will be a pleasant way of bringing our happy evening to a +close." + +Mrs. Leonard went to the piano. "Amy," she asked, "can't you help me?" + +"I'll do my best, if you will choose something I know." + +A selection was soon made, and Amy modestly blended a clear, sweet voice +with the air that Mrs. Leonard sang, and as the sympathetic tones of the +young girl swelled the rich volume of song the others exchanged looks of +unaffected pleasure. + +"Oh, Amy, I am so glad you can sing!" cried Mrs. Clifford, "for we have +always made so much of music in our home." + +"Papa," she replied, with moist eyes, "felt as you do, and he had me sing +for him ever since I can remember." + +"Amy dear," said Mrs. Leonard, in a low voice, "suppose you take the +soprano and I the alto in the next stanza." + +They were all delighted with the result, and another selection was made, +in which Burt's tenor and Webb's bass came in with fine effect. + +"Amy, what a godsend you are to us all!" said Leonard, enthusiastically. "I +am one of the great army of poets who can't sing, but a poet nevertheless." + +"Yes, indeed, Len," added Burt; "it needs but a glance to see that you +are of that ethereal mold of which poets and singers are made. But isn't +it capital! We now have all the four parts." + +"Amy," said Mr. Clifford, "do you know an old Christmas hymn that your +father and I loved when we were as young as you are?" and he named it. + +"I have often sung it for him, and he usually spoke of you when I did +so"; and she sang sweet, undying words to a sweet, quaint air in a voice +that trembled with feeling. + +The old gentleman wiped his eyes again and again. "Ah!" he said, "how +that takes me back into the past! My friend and I knew and loved that air +and hymn over sixty years ago. I can see him now as he looked then. God +bless his child, and now my child!" he added, as he drew Amy caressingly +toward him. "A brief evening has made you one of us. I thank God that he +has sent one whom it will be so easy for us all to love; and we gratefully +accept you as a Christmas gift from Heaven." + +Then, with the simplicity of an ancient patriarch, he gathered his +household around the family altar, black Abram and two maids entering at +his summons, and taking seats with an air of deference near the door. Not +long afterward the old house stood silent and dark in the pallid landscape. + +Though greatly wearied, Amy was kept awake during the earlier part of the +night by the novelty of her new life and relations, and she was awakened +in the late dawn of the following day by exclamations of delight from +Mrs. Leonard's room. She soon remembered that it was Christmas morning. +The children evidently had found their stockings, for she heard Johnnie +say, "Oh, mamma, do you think Aunt Amy is awake? I would so like to take +her stocking to her!" + +"Yes," cried Amy, "I'm awake"; and the little girl, draped in white, soon +pushed open the door, holding her own and Amy's stockings in hands that +trembled with delightful anticipation. + +"Jump into bed with me," said Amy, "and we will empty our stockings +together." + +The years rolled back, the previous months of sorrow and suffering were +forgotten; the day, the hour, with its associations, the eager child that +nestled close to her, made her a child again. She yielded wholly to her +mood; she would be a little girl once more, Johnnie's companion in +feeling and delight; and the morning of her life was still so new that +the impulses of that enchanted age before the light of experience has +defined the world into its matter-of-fact proportions came back unforced +and unaffected. Her voice vied with Johnnie's in its notes of excitement +and pleasure, and to more than one who heard her it seemed that their +first impression was correct, that a little child had come to them, and +that the tall, graceful maiden was a myth. + +"Merry Christmas, Amy!" cried the voice of Webb on the stairs. + +The child vanished instantly, and a blushing girl let fall the half-emptied +stocking. Something in that deep voice proved that if she were not yet a +woman, she had drawn so near that mystery of life that its embarrassing +self-consciousness was beginning to assert itself. "How silly he will think +me!" was her mental comment, as she returned his greeting in a voice that +was rather faint. + +The "rising bell" now resounded through the house, and she sprang up with +the purpose of making amends by a manner of marked dignity. And yet there +remained with her a sense of home security, of a great and new-found +happiness, which the cold gray morning could not banish. The air-tight +stove glowed with heat and comfort, and she afterward learned that Mrs. +Leonard had replenished the fire so noiselessly as not to awaken her. The +hearty Christmas greetings of the family as she came into the +breakfast-room were like an echo of the angels' song of "good-will." The +abounding kindliness and genuine pleasure at her presence made the feeling +that she had indeed become one of the household seem the most natural thing +in the world, instead of a swiftly wrought miracle. + +Little Ned had in his arms one of the rabbits that had been shot on the +previous evening, and to him it was more wonderful than all his toys. +"You should have seen him when he awoke," said his mother, "and saw the +poor little thing propped up at the foot of his crib. His eyes grew wider +and rounder, and at last he breathed, in an awed whisper, 'Br'er Rabbit.' +But he soon overcame his surprise, and the jargon he talked to it made +our sides ache with laughing." + +The gifts that had been prepared for the supposed child were taken by Amy +in very good part, but with the tact of a well-bred girl who would not +spoil a jest, rather than with the undisguised delight of Johnnie. + +"Only Johnnie and I have seen little Amy," said Leonard--"I at the depot +before she grew up; and this morning she became a little girl again as a +Christmas wonder for my little girl. Johnnie's faith and fairy lore may +make the transformation possible to her again, but I fear the rest of us +will never catch another glimpse of the child we expected"; for Amy's +grown-up air since she had appeared in the breakfast-room had been almost +a surprise to him after hearing through the partition her pretty nonsense +over her stocking. + +"I fear you are right," said Amy, with a half-sigh; "and yet it was +lovely to feel just like Johnnie once more;" and she stole a shy glance +at Webb, who must have heard some of her exclamations. The expression of +his face seemed to reassure her, and without further misgiving she joined +in a laugh at one of Burt's sallies. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +NATURE'S HALF-KNOWN SECRETS + + +Amy's thoughts naturally reverted before very long to Mrs. Clifford's +pets--the flowers--and she asked how they had endured the intense cold of +the night. + +"They have had a narrow escape," the old lady replied. "If Maggie had not +suggested the tub of water last night, I fear we should have lost the +greater part of them." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Leonard, "I went to the flower-room with fear and +trembling this morning, and when I found the water frozen thick I was in +despair." + +"It was the water freezing that saved the plants," Webb remarked, +quietly. "I put water in the root-cellar before I went to bed last night, +with like good effect." + +"Well, for the life of me," said Maggie, "I can't understand why the +plants and roots don't freeze when water does." + +"Come, Burt," added her husband, "you are a college-bred man. You explain +how the water draws the frost from the plants." + +"Oh, bother!" Burt answered, flushing slightly, "I've forgotten. Some +principle of latent heat involved, I believe. Ask Webb. If he could live +long enough he'd coax from Nature all her secrets. He's the worst Paul +Pry into her affairs that I ever knew. So beware, Amy, unless you are +more secretive than Nature, which I cannot believe, since you seem so +natural." + +"I'm afraid your knowledge, Burt, resembles latent heat," laughed +Leonard. "Come, see what you can do, Webb." + +"Burt is right," said Webb, good-naturedly; "the principle of latent heat +explains it all, and he could refresh his memory in a few moments. The +water does not draw the frost from the plants, but before it can freeze +it must give out one hundred and forty degrees of latent heat. The +flower-room and root-cellar were therefore so much warmer during the +night than if the water had not been there. The plants that were nipped +probably suffered after the ice became so thick as to check in a great +measure the freezing process." + +"How can ice stop water from freezing?" Alf asked, in much astonishment. + +"By keeping it warm, on the same principle that your bed-clothes kept you +warm last night. Heat passes very slowly through ice-that is, it is a +poor conductor. With the snow it is the winter wrap of nature, which +protects all life beneath it. When our ponds and rivers are once frozen +over, the latent heat in the water beneath can escape through the ice but +very gradually, and every particle of ice that forms gives out into the +water next to it one hundred and forty degrees of heat. Were it not for +these facts our ponds would soon become solid. But to return to the tub +of water in the flower-room. The water, when placed there, was probably +warmer than the air, and so would give out or radiate its heat until a +thermometer, placed either in the room or in the water, would mark +thirty-two degrees above zero. At this point the water would begin to +freeze, but plants or vegetables would not. They would require slightly +severer cold to affect them. But as soon as the water begins to freeze it +also gradually gives out its latent heat, and before a particle of ice +can form it must give out one hundred and forty degrees of heat to the +air and water around it. Therefore the freezing process goes on slowly, +and both the air and water are kept comparatively warm. After a time, +however, the ice becomes so thick over the surface that the freezing goes +on more and more slowly, because the latent heat in the unfrozen water +cannot readily escape through the ice. It is therefore retained, just as +the latent heat in the water of an ice-covered pond is retained." + +"It follows, then," said Leonard, "that after the water beneath the ice +in the tub began to freeze slowly, the flower-room, in that same degree, +began to grow cold." + +"Certainly, for only as the water freezes can it give out its latent +heat. The thick wooden side of the tub is a poor conductor; the ice that +has formed over the surface is even a worse, and so the water within is +shielded from the cold. It therefore almost ceases to freeze, and so +becomes of no practical use. An intelligent understanding of these +principles is of great practical value. If I could have waked up and +placed another tub of water in the room at two or three o'clock, or else +taken all of the ice out of the first one, the process of freezing and +giving out heat would have gone on rapidly again, and none of the plants +would have suffered. I have heard people say that putting water in a +cellar was all a humbug--that the water froze and the vegetables also. Of +course the vegetables froze after the water congealed, or the cellar may +have been so defective that both froze at the same time. The latent heat +given out by a small amount of freezing water cannot counteract any great +severity of frost." + +"The more water you have, then, the better?" said his father. + +"Yes, for then there is more to freeze, and the effect is more gradual +and lasting." + +"I feel highly honored, Webb," said his mother, smiling, "that so much +science should minister to me and my little collection of plants. I now +see that the why and wherefore comes in very usefully. But please tell me +why you put the plants that were touched with frost into cold water, and +why you will not let the sunlight fall on them?" + +"For the same reason that you would put your hand in cold water if +frost-bitten. Your expression, 'touched with frost,' shows that there is +hope for them. If they were thoroughly frozen you would lose them. Your +plants, you know, are composed chiefly of water, which fills innumerable +little cells formed by the vegetable tissue. If the water in the cells is +chilled beyond a certain point, if it becomes solid ice, it expands and +breaks down the tissue of the cells, and the structure of the plant is +destroyed. If the frost can be gradually withdrawn so as to leave the +cells substantially intact, they can eventually resume their functions, +and the plant receive no very great injury." + +"But why does sudden heat or sunlight destroy a frosted plant?" + +"For the same reason that it breaks down the vegetable tissue. Heat +expands, and the greater the heat the more rapid the expansion. When the +rays of the sun, which contain a great deal of heat, fall on any part of +a frost-bitten plant, that part begins to expand so rapidly and violently +that the cellular tissues are ruptured, and life is destroyed. What is +more, the heat does not permeate equally and at once the parts affected +by frost. The part furthest away from the heat remains contracted, while +the parts receiving it expand rapidly and unequally, and this becomes +another cause for the breaking up of the vegetable tissue. The same +principle is illustrated when we turn up the flame of a lamp suddenly. +The glass next to the flame expands so rapidly that the other parts +cannot keep pace, and so, as the result of unequal expansion, the chimney +goes to pieces. With this principle in mind, we seek to withdraw the +frost and to reapply the vivifying heat very gradually and equally to +every part, so that the vegetable tissues may be preserved unbroken. This +is best done by immersing them in cold water, and then keeping them at a +low temperature in a shady place. As the various parts of the plant +resume their functions, the light and heat essential to its life and +growth can gradually be increased." + +"It seems to me that your theory is at fault, Webb," said Leonard. "How +is it that some plants are able to endure such violent alternations of +heat and cold?" + +"We don't have to go far--at least I do not--before coming to the +limitations of knowledge. What it is in the structure of a plant like the +pansy, for instance, which makes it so much more hardy than others that +seem stronger and more vigorous, even the microscope does not reveal. +Nature has plenty of secrets that she has not yet told. But of all people +in the world those who obtain their livelihood from the soil should seek +to learn the wherefore of everything, for such knowledge often doubles +the prospect of success." + +"Now, Amy," said Burtis, laughing, "you see what sort of a fellow Webb +is. You cannot even sneeze without his considering the wherefore back to +the remotest cause." + +"Are you afraid of me, Amy?" asked Webb. + +"No," was the quiet reply. + +Amy spent the greater part of the day in unpacking her trunks, and in +getting settled in her home-like room. It soon began to take on a familiar +air. Hearts, like plants, strike root rapidly when the conditions are +favorable. Johnnie was her delighted assistant much of the time, and this +Christmas-day was one long thrill of excitement to the child. Her wonder +grew and grew, for there was a foreign air about many of Amy's things, and, +having been brought from such a long distance, they seemed to belong to +another world. The severe cold continued, and only the irrepressible Burtis +ventured out to any extent. When Alf's excitement over his presents began +to flag, Webb helped him make two box-traps, and the boy concealed them in +the copse where the rabbit-tracks were thickest. Only the biting frost kept +him, in his intense eagerness, from remaining out to see the result. Webb, +however, taught him patience by assuring him that watched traps never +caught game. + +Beyond the natural home festivities the day passed quietly, and this was +also true of the entire holiday season. Cheerfulness, happiness abounded, +and there was an unobtrusive effort on the part of every one to surround +the orphan girl with a genial, sunny atmosphere. And yet she was ever +made to feel that her sorrow was remembered and respected. She saw that +Mr. Clifford's mind was often busy with the memory of his friend, that +even Burt declined invitations to country merrymakings in the vicinity, +and that she was saved the ordeal of meeting gay young neighbors with +whom the Clifford home was a favorite resort. In brief, they had received +her as a daughter of the house, and in many delicate ways proved that +they regarded her as entitled to the same consideration as if she were +one. Meanwhile she was shown that her presence cast no gloom over the +family life, and she knew and they knew that it would be her father's +wish that she should share in all the healing gladness of that life. No +true friend who has passed on to the unclouded shore would wish to leave +clouds and chilling shadows as a legacy, and they all felt that in Amy's +case it had been her father's desire and effort to place her under +conditions that would develop her young life happily and therefore +healthfully. There is the widest difference in the world between +cheerfulness and mirthfulness which arise from happy home life and +peaceful hearts, and the levity that is at once unfeeling, inconsiderate, +and a sure indication of a coarse-fibred, ill-bred nature. Amy was made +to feel this, and she found little indeed which jarred with memories that +were only sad, not bitter or essentially depressing. Every day brought +new assurance that her father's wishes and hopes in her behalf had been +fulfilled to a degree that must have added to his heavenly content, could +he have known how well he had provided for her. And so the busy days +glided on; and when the evening brought the household together, there +were music, reading aloud, and genial family talk, which usually was +largely colored by their rural calling. Therefore, on New-Year's morning +Amy stood as upon a sunny eminence, and saw her path leading away amid +scenes that promised usefulness, happiness, and content. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +NEIGHBORS DROP IN + + +One evening early in the year three neighbors dropped in. They were +evidently as diverse in character as in appearance. The eldest was known +in the neighborhood as Squire Bartley, having long been a justice of the +peace. He was a large landholder, and carried on his farm in the +old-fashioned ways, without much regard to system, order, or improvement. +He had a big, good-natured red face, a stout, burly form, and a +corresponding voice. In marked contrast with his aspect and past +experience was Mr. Alvord, who was thin almost to emaciation, and upon +whose pallid face not only ill-health but deep mental suffering had left +their unmistakable traces. He was a new-comer into the vicinity, and +little was known of his past history beyond the fact that he had exchanged +city life for country pursuits in the hope of gaining strength and vigor. +He ought to have been in the full prime of cheerful manhood, but his sombre +face and dark, gloomy eyes indicated that something had occurred in the +past which so deeply shadowed his life as to make its long continuance +doubtful. He had not reached middle age, and yet old Mr Clifford appeared a +heartier man than he. While he had little knowledge of rural occupations, +he entered into them with eagerness, apparently finding them an antidote +for sad memories. He had little to say, but was a good listener, and +evidently found at the Cliffords' a warmth and cheer coming not from the +hearth only. Webb and Leonard had both been very kind to him in his +inexperience, and an occasional evening at their fireside was the only +social tendency that he had been known to indulge. Dr. Marvin, the third +visitor, might easily compete with Burt in flow of spirits, and in his day +had been quite as keen a sportsman. But he was unlike Burtis in this, that +all birds were game to him, and for his purpose were always in season. To +Emerson's line, + + "Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?" + +he could not reply in the affirmative, and yet to kill as many as +possible had never been his object. From earliest childhood he had +developed a taste for ornithology, and the study of the fauna of the +region had been almost his sole recreation for years. He too was a +frequent visitor at the Cliffords', where he ever found ready listeners +and questioners. + +"I don't know what is the matter with my poultry," Squire Bartley +remarked, after the weather, politics, and harmless phases of local +gossip had been discussed; "they are getting as poor as crows. My boys +say that they are fed as well as usual. What's more, I've had them throw +down for 'em a warm mixture of meal and potatoes before they go to roost, +but we don't get an egg. What luck are you having, Leonard?" + +"Well, I don't know that I'm having much luck in the matter," Leonard +replied, with his humorous smile; "but I can't complain. Until this very +cold weather set in we had eggs in plenty, and still have a fair supply. +I'm inclined to think that if your hens are the right kind, and are +properly cared for, they can't help producing eggs. That has usually been +my experience. I don't believe much in luck, but there are a few simple +things that are essential to success with poultry in winter. By the way, +do you give them well or spring water to drink?" + +"Well, no, I don't believe we do, at this time of year. I've so arranged +it that the drippings from the eaves of the barn fall into a trough, and +that saves trouble. I expect the boys are careless, too. for I've seen +the fowls eating snow and ice." + +"That accounts for your poultry being like crows, for, whatever the +reason may be, snow-water will soon reduce chickens to mere feathers and +bones." + +"You don't say so!" cried the squire. "Well, I never heard that before." + +"I don't think your system of feeding is the correct one, either," +pursued Leonard. "You give your hens the warm meal to-morrow evening, as +usual, and then about midnight go to the roosts and feel of their crops. +I'll warrant you'll find them empty. The meal, you see, digests speedily, +and is soon all gone. Then come the long cold hours before morning, and +the poor creatures have nothing to sustain them, and they become chilled +and enfeebled. It takes some time for the grain you give them in the +morning to digest, and so they are left too long a time without support. +Give them the grain in the evening--corn and buckwheat and barley +mixed--and there is something for their gizzards to act on all night +long. The birds are thus sustained and kept warm by their food. Then in +the morning, when they naturally feel the cold the most, give them the +warm food, mixing a little pepper with it during such weather as this." + +"Well," remarked the squire, "I guess you're right. Anyway, I'll try your +plan. One is apt to do things the same way year after year without much +thought about it." + +"Then, again," resumed Leonard, "I find it pays to keep poultry warm, +clean, and well sheltered. In very cold weather I let them out only for an +hour or two. The rest of the time they are shut up in the chicken-house, +which has an abundance of light, and is well ventilated. Beneath the floor +of the chicken-house is a cellar, which I can fill with stable manure, and +graduate the heat by its fermentation. This acts like a steady furnace. +There is room in the cellar to turn the manure from time to time to prevent +its becoming fire-fanged, so that there is no loss in this respect. Between +the heat from beneath, and the sun streaming in the windows on the south +side of the house, I can keep my laying hens warm even in zero weather; and +I make it a point not to have too many. Beyond a certain number, the more +you have the worse you're off, for poultry won't stand crowding." + +"You farmers," put in Dr. Marvin, "are like the doctors, who kill or cure +too much by rule and precedent. You get into certain ways or ruts, and +stick to them. A little thought and observation would often greatly +modify your course. Now in regard to your poultry, you should remember +that they all existed once as nature made them--they were wild, and +domestication cannot wholly change their character. It seems to me that +the way to learn how to manage fowls successfully is to observe their +habits and modes of life when left to themselves. In summer, when they +have a range, we find them eating grass, seeds, insects, etc. In short, +they are omnivorous. In winter, when they can't get these things, they +are often fed one or two kinds of grain continuously. Now, from their +very nature, they need in winter all the kinds of food that they +instinctively select when foraging for themselves--fresh vegetables, +meat, and varieties of seeds or grain. We give to our chickens all the +refuse from the kitchen--the varied food we eat ourselves, with the +exception of that which contains a large percentage of salt--and they +thrive and lay well. Before they are two years old we decapitate them. +Old fowls, with rare exceptions, will not lay in winter." + +Sad-eyed Mr. Alvord listened as if there were more consolation and cheer +in this talk on poultry than in the counsel of sages. The "chicken fever" +is more inevitable in a man's life than the chicken-pox, and sooner or +later all who are exposed succumb to it. Seeing the interest developing +in his neighbor's face, Leonard said, briskly: + +"Mr. Alvord, here's an investment that will pay you to consider. The care +of poultry involves light and intelligent labor, and therefore is adapted +to those who cannot well meet the rough and heavy phases of outdoor work. +The fowls often become pets to their keepers, and the individual oddities +and peculiarities of character form an amusing study which is not wanting +in practical advantages. The majority of people keep ordinary barn-door +fowls, which are the result of many breeds or strains. The consequence is +almost as great diversity of character within gallinaceous limits as +exists in the families that care for them. For instance, one hen is a +good, persistent layer; another is a patient, brooding mother; a third is +fickle, and leaves her nest so often and for such long intervals that the +eggs become chilled, and incubation ceases. Some are tame and tractable, +others as wild as hawks, and others still are not of much account in any +direction, and are like commonplace women, who are merely good to count +when the census is taken." + +"I hope you make no reference to present company," Maggie remarked. + +Leonard gave his wife one of his humorous looks as he replied, "I never +could admit that in regard to you, for it would prove too much against +myself. The idea of my picking out a commonplace woman!" + +"Leonard knows, as we all do, that he would be like a decapitated chicken +himself without her," said Mrs. Clifford, with her low laugh. + +Maggie smiled. This was re-assuring from the mother of the eldest and +favorite son. + +"Well," remarked Squire Bartley, sententiously, "there are old housewives +in the neighborhood that have more luck with poultry than any of you, +with all your science." + +"Nonsense," replied Dr. Marvin. "You know a little about law, squire, and +I less about medicine, perhaps, and yet any good mother could take care +of a lot of children better than we could. There is old Mrs. Mulligan, on +the creek road. She raises ducks, geese, and chickens innumerable, and +yet I fail to see much luck in her management; but she has learned from +experience a better skill than the books could have taught her, for she +said to me one day, 'I jis thries to foind out what the crathers wants, +and I gives it to 'em,' She knows the character of every hen, duck, and +goose she has, and you don't catch her wasting a sitting of eggs under a +fickle biddy. And then she watches over her broods as Mrs. Leonard does +over hers. Don't talk about luck. There has been more of intelligent care +than luck in bringing up this boy Alf. I believe in book-farming as much +as any one, but a successful farmer could not be made by books only; nor +could I ever learn to be a skilful physician from books, although all the +horses on your place could not haul the medical literature extant. I must +adopt Mrs. Mulligan's tactics, and so must you. We must find out 'what +the crathers want,' be they plants, stock, or that most difficult subject +of all, the human crather. He succeeds best who does this _in_ season, +and not out of season." + +"You are right, doctor," said Leonard, laughing. "I agree with what you +say about the varied diet of poultry in general, and also in particular, +and I conform my practice to your views. At the same time I am convinced +that failure and partial success with poultry result more from inadequate +shelter and lack of cleanliness than from lack of proper food. It does +not often happen in the country that fowls are restricted to a narrow +yard or run, and when left to themselves they pick up, even in winter, +much and varied food in and about the barn. But how rarely is proper +shelter provided! It is almost as injurious for poultry as it would be +for us to be crowded, and subjected to draughts, dampness, and cold. They +may survive, but they can't thrive and be profitable. In many instances +they are not even protected from storms, and it's a waste of grain to +feed poultry that roost under a dripping roof." + +"Well," said the squire, "I guess we've been rather slack. I must send my +boys over to see how you manage." + +"Amy," remarked Burtis, laughing, "you are very polite. You are trying to +look as if you were interested." + +"I am interested," said the young girl, positively. "One of the things I +liked best in English people was their keen interest in all rural +pursuits. Papa did not care much for such things; but now that I am a +country girl I intend to learn all I can about country life." + +Amy had not intended this as a politic speech, but it nevertheless won +her the increased good-will of all present. Burtis whispered, + +"Let me be your instructor." + +Something like a smile softened Webb's rugged face, but he did not raise +his eyes from the fire. + +"If her words are not the result of a passing impulse," he thought, +"sooner or later she will come to me. Nature, however, tolerates no +fitful, half-hearted scholars, and should she prove one, she will be +contented with Burt's out-of-door fun." + +"Miss Amy," remarked Dr. Marvin, vivaciously, "if you will form some of +my tastes you will never suffer from _ennui_. Don't be alarmed; I have +not drugs in my mind. Doctors rarely take their own medicine. You don't +look very strong, and have come back to your native land with the +characteristics of a delicate American girl, rather than the vigor of an +English one. I fear you slighted British beef and mutton. If I were so +officious as to prescribe unasked, I should put you on birds for several +months, morning, noon, and evening. Don't you be officious also, Burt. +It's on the end of your tongue to say that you will shoot them for her. I +had no such commonplace meaning. I meant that Miss Amy should enjoy the +birds in their native haunts, and learn to distinguish the different +varieties by their notes, plumage, and habits. Such recreation would take +her often out-of-doors, and fill every spring and summer day with zest." + +"But, Dr. Marvin," cried Amy, "is not the study of ornithology rather a +formidable undertaking?" + +"Yes," was the prompt reply. "I sometimes feel as if I could devote +several lifetimes to it. But is it such a formidable thing to begin with +a few of our commonest birds, like the robin or wren, for instance; to +note when they first arrive from their southern sojourn, the comical +scenes of courtship and rivalry in the trees about the door, the building +of their homes, and their housekeeping? I am sorry to say that I find +some of my patients consumed with a gossipy interest in their neighbors' +affairs. If that interest were transferred to the families residing in +the cherry and apple trees, to happy little homes that often can be +watched even from our windows, its exercise would have a much better +effect on health and character. When a taste for such things is once +formed, it is astonishing how one thing leads to another, and how fast +knowledge is gained. The birds will soon begin to arrive, Miss Amy, and a +goodly number stay with us all winter. Pick out a few favorite kinds, and +form their intimate acquaintance. I would suggest that you learn to +identify some of the birds that nest near the house, and follow their +fortunes through the spring and as late in the summer as their stay +permits, keeping a little diary of your observations. Alf here will be a +famous ally. You will find these little bird histories, as they develop +from day to day, more charming than a serial story." + +It were hard to tell who was the more captivated by the science of +ornithology, Amy or Alf, when this simple and agreeable method for its +study was suggested. Mr. Alvord looked wistfully at the unalloyed +pleasure of the boy and the young girl as they at once got together on +the sofa and discussed the project. He quietly remarked to the doctor, "I +also shall make time to follow your suggestion, and shall look forward to +some congenial society without my home if not within it." + +"See what comes from being enthusiastic about a thing!" laughed the +doctor. "I have made three converts." + +Mrs. Leonard looked furtively and pityingly at the lonely Mr. Alvord. A +man without a wife to take care of him was to her one of the forlornest +of objects, and with secret satisfaction she thought, "Leonard, I +imagine, would find the birds' housekeeping a poor substitute for mine." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +EAGLES + + +"Speaking of birds, doctor, there are some big fellows around this +winter," said Burtis. "While in the mountains with the wood teams some +days since I saw a gray and a bald eagle sailing around, but could not +get a shot at them. As soon as it grows milder I am going up to the +cliffs on the river to see if I can get within rifle range." + +"Oh, come, Burt, I thought you were too good a sportsman to make such a +mistake," the doctor rejoined. "A gray eagle is merely a young bald +eagle. We have only two species of the genuine eagle in this country, the +bald, or American, and the golden, or ring-tailed. The latter is very +rare, for their majesties are not fond of society, even of their own +kind, and two nests are seldom found within thirty miles of each other. +The bald eagle has been common enough, and I have shot many. One morning +long ago I shot two, and had quite a funny experience with one of them." + +"Pray tell us about it," said Burtis, glad of a diversion from his +ornithological shortcomings. + +"Well, one February morning (I could not have been much over fourteen at +the time) I crossed the river on the ice, and took the train for +Peekskill. Having transacted my business and procured a good supply of +ammunition, I started homeward. From the car windows I saw two eagles +circling over the cliffs of the lower Highlands, and with the rashness +and inexperience of a boy I determined to leave the train while it was +under full headway. I passed through to the rear car, descended to the +lowest step, and, without realizing my danger, watched for a level place +that promised well for the mad project. Such a spot soon occurring, I +grasped the iron rail tightly with my right hand, and with my gun in my +left I stepped off into the snow, which was wet and slushy. My foot +bounded up and back as if I had been india-rubber, and maintaining my +hold I streamed away behind the car in an almost horizontal position. +About once in every thirty feet my foot struck the ground, bounded up and +back, and I streamed away again as if I were towed or carried through the +air. After taking a few steps of this character, which exceeded any +attributed to giants in fairy-lore, I saw I was in for it, and the next +time my foot struck I let go, and splashed, with a force that I even now +ache to think of, into the wet snow. It's a wonder I didn't break my +neck, but I scrambled up not very much the worse for my tumble. There +were the eagles; my gun was all right, and that was all I cared for at +the time. I soon loaded, using the heaviest shot I had, and in a few +moments the great birds sailed over my head. I devoted a barrel to each, +and down they both came, fluttering, whirling, and uttering cries that +Wilson describes as something like a maniacal laugh. One lodged in the +top of a tall hemlock, and stuck; the other came flapping and crashing +through another tree until stopped by the lower limbs, where it remained. +I now saw that their distance had been so great that I had merely +disabled them, and I began reloading, but I was so wild from excitement +and exultation that I put in the shot first. Of course my caps only +snapped, and the eagle in the hemlock top, recovering a brief renewal of +strength after the shock of his wound, flew slowly and heavily away, and +fell on the ice near the centre of the river. I afterward learned that it +was carried off by some people on an ice-boat. The other eagle, whose wing +I had broken, now reached the ground, and I ran toward it, determined that +I should not lose both of my trophies. As I approached I saw that I had an +ugly customer to deal with, for the bird, finding that he could not escape, +threw himself on his back, with his tail doubled under him, and was +prepared to strike blows with talons and beak that would make serious +wounds, I resolved to take my game home alive, and after a little thought +cut a crotched stick, with which I held his head down while I fastened his +feet together. A man who now appeared walking down the track aided me in +securing the fierce creature, which task we accomplished by tying some +coarse bagging round his wings, body, and talons. I then went on to the +nearest station in order to take the train homeward. Of course the eagle +attracted a great deal of attention in the cars--more than he seemed to +enjoy, for he soon grew very restless. I was approaching my destination, +and three or four people were about me, talking, pointing, and trying to +touch the bird, when he made a sudden dive. The bagging round his wings and +feet gave way, and so did the people on every side. Down through the aisle, +flapping and screaming, went the eagle; and the ladies, with skirts +abridged, stood on the seats and screamed quite as discordantly. Not a man +present would help me, but, mounting on their seats, they vociferated +advice. The conductor appeared on the scene, and I said that if he would +head the bird off I would catch him. This he agreed to do, but he no sooner +saw the eagle bearing down on him with his savage eye and beak than he, as +nimbly at the best of them, hopped upon a seat, and stood beside a woman, +probably for her protection. A minute or two later the train stopped at my +station, and I was almost desperate. Fortunately I was in the last car, and +I drove my eagle toward the rear door, from which, by the vigorous use of +my feet, I induced him to alight on the ground--the first passenger of the +kind, I am sure, that ever left the cars at that station. After several +minor adventures, I succeeded in getting him home. I hoped to keep him +alive, but he would not eat; so I stuffed him in the only way I could, and +he is now one of my specimens." + +"Well," said Burt, laughing, "that exceeds any eagle adventure that I +have heard of in this region. In the car business you certainly brought +his majesty down to the prose of common life, and I don't wonder the +regal bird refused to eat thereafter." + +"Cannot eagles be tamed--made gentle and friendly?" old Mrs. Clifford +asked. "I think I remember hearing that you had a pet eagle years ago." + +"Yes, I kept one--a female--six months. She was an unusually large +specimen, and measured about eight feet with wings extended. The females of +all birds of prey, you know, are larger than the males. As in the former +case, I had broken one of her wings, and she also threw herself on her back +and made her defence in the most savage manner. Although I took every +precaution in my power, my hands were bleeding in several places before I +reached home, and, in fact, she kept them in a rather dilapidated condition +all the time I had her. I placed her in a large empty room connected with +the barn, and found her ready enough to eat. Indeed, she was voracious, and +the savage manner in which she tore and swallowed her food was not a +pleasant spectacle. I bought several hundred live carp--a cheap, bony +fish--and put them in a ditch where I could take them with a net as I +wanted them. The eagle would spring upon a fish, take one of her long hops +into a corner, and tear off its head with one stroke of her beak. While I +was curing her broken wing the creature tolerated me after a fashion, but +when she was well she grew more and more savage and dangerous. Once a +Dutchman, who worked for us, came in with me, and the way the eagle chased +that man around the room and out of the door, he swearing meanwhile in high +German and in a high key, was a sight to remember. I was laughing +immoderately, when the bird swooped down on my shoulder, and the scars +would have been there to-day had not her talons been dulled by their +constant attrition with the boards of her extemporized cage. Covering my +face with my arm--for she could take one's eye out by a stroke of her +beak--I also retreated. She then dashed against the window with such force +that she bent the wood-work and broke every pane of glass. She seemed so +wild for freedom that I gave it to her, but the foolish creature, instead +of sailing far away, lingered on a bluff near the river, and soon boys and +men were out after her with shot-guns. I determined that they should not +mangle her to no purpose, and so, with the aid of my rifle, I added her +also to my collection of specimens." + +"Have you ever found one of their nests?" Webb asked. + +"Yes. They are rather curious affairs, and are sometimes five feet in +diameter each way, and quite flat at the top. They use for the substratum +of the domicile quite respectable cord-wood sticks, thicker than one's +wrist. The mother-bird must be laying her eggs at this season, cold as it +is. But they don't mind the cold, for they nest above the Arctic Circle." + +"I don't see how it is possible for them to protect their eggs and young +in such severe weather," Mrs. Clifford remarked. + +"Nature takes care of her own in her own way," replied the doctor, with a +slight shrug. "One of the birds always remains on the nest." + +"Well," said Squire Bartley, who had listened rather impatiently to so +much talk about an unprofitable bird, "I wish my hens were laying now. +Seems to me that Nature does better by eagles and crows than by any fowls +I ever had. Good-night, friends." + +With a wistful glance at Amy's pure young face, and a sigh so low. that +only pitiful Mrs. Leonard heard it, Mr. Alvord also bowed himself out in +his quiet way. + +"Doctor," said Burtis, resolutely, "you have excited my strongest +emulation, and I shall never be content until I have brought down an +eagle or two." + +"Dear me!" cried the doctor, looking at his watch, "I should think that +you would have had enough of eagles, and of me also, by this time. +Remember, Miss Amy, I prescribe birds, but don't watch a bald-eagle's +nest too closely. We are not ready to part with your bright eyes any more +than you are." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +SLEIGHING IN THE HIGHLANDS + + +During the night there was a slight fall of snow, and Webb explained at +the breakfast-table that its descent had done more to warm the air than +would have been accomplished by the fall of an equal amount of red-hot +sand. But more potent than the freezing particles of vapor giving off +their latent heat were the soft south wind and the bright sunshine, which +seemingly had the warmth of May. + +"Come, Amy," said Burtis, exultantly, "this is no day to mope in the +house. If you will trust yourself to me and Thunder, you shall skim the +river there as swiftly as you can next summer on the fastest steamer." + +Amy was too English to be afraid of a horse, and with wraps that soon +proved burdensome in the increasing warmth of the day, she and Burt +dashed down the slopes and hill that led to the river, and out upon the +wide, white plain. She was a little nervous as she thought of the fathoms +of cold, dark water beneath her; but when she saw the great loads of +lumber and coal that were passing to and fro on the track she was +convinced that the ice-bridge was safe, and she gave herself up to the +unalloyed enjoyment of the grand scenery. First they crossed Newburgh +Bay, with the city rising steeply on one side, and the Beacon Mountains +further away on the other. The snow covered the ice unbrokenly, except as +tracks crossed here and there to various points. Large flocks of crows +were feeding on these extemporized roadways, and they looked blacker than +crows in the general whiteness. As the sleigh glided here and there it +was hard for Amy to believe that they were in the track of steamers and +innumerable sail-boats, and that the distant shores did not slope down to +a level plain, on which the grass and grain would wave in the coming +June; but when Burt turned southward and drove under the great beetling +mountains, and told her that their granite feet were over a hundred yards +deep in the water, she understood the marvellous engineering of the +frost-spirit that had spanned the river, where the tides are so swift, +and had so strengthened it in a few short days and nights that it could +bear enormous burdens. + +Never before had she seen such grand and impressive scenery. They could +drive within a few feet of the base of Storm King and Cro' Nest; and the +great precipices and rocky ledges, from which often hung long, glittering +icicles, seemed tenfold more vast than when seen from a distance. The +furrowed granite cliffs, surmounted by snow, looked like giant faces, +lined and wrinkled by age and passion. Even the bright sunshine could do +little to soften their frowning grandeur. Amy's face became more and more +serious as the majesty of the landscape impressed her, and she grew +silent under Burtis's light talk. At last she said: + +"How transient and insignificant one feels among these mountains! They +could not have looked very different on the morning when Adam first saw +Eve." + +"They are indeed superb," replied Burt, "and I am glad my home--our +home--is among them; and yet I am sure that Adam would have found Eve +more attractive than all the mountains in the world, just as I find your +face, flushed by the morning air, far more interesting than these hills +that I have known and loved so long." + +"My face is a novelty, brother Burt," she answered, with deepening color, +for the young fellow's frequent glances of admiration were slightly +embarrassing. + +"Strange to say, it is growing so familiar that I seem to have known you +all my life," he responded, with a touch of tenderness in his tone. + +"That is because I am your sister," she said, quietly. "Both the word and +the relation suggest the idea that we have grown up together," and then +she changed the subject so decidedly that even impetuous Burt felt that +he must be more prudent in expressing the interest which daily grew +stronger. As they were skirting Constitution Island, Amy exclaimed: + +"What a quaint old house! Who lives there all alone?" + +"Some one that you know about, I imagine. Have you ever read 'The Wide, +Wide World'?" + +"What girl has not?" + +"Well, Miss Warner, the author of the book, resides there. The place has +a historical interest also. Do you see those old walls? They were built +over one hundred years ago. At the beginning of the Revolution, the +Continental authorities were stupid enough to spend considerable money, +for that period, in the building of a fort on those rocks. Any one might +have seen that the higher ground opposite, at West Point, commanded the +position." + +"No matter about the fort. Tell me of Miss Warner." + +"Well, she and her sister spend their summers there, and are ever busy +writing, I believe. I'll row you down in the spring after they return. +They are not there in winter, I am told. I have no doubt that she will +receive you kindly, and tell you all about herself." + +"I shall not fail to remind you of your promise, and I don't believe she +will resent a very brief call from one who longs to see her and speak +with her. I am not curious about celebrities in general, but there are +some writers whose words have touched my heart, and whom I would like to +see and thank. Where are you going now?" + +"I am going to show you West Point in its winter aspect. You will find it +a charming place to visit occasionally, only you must not go so often as +to catch the cadet fever." + +"Pray what is that?" + +"It is an acute attack of admiration for very young men of a military +cut. I use the word cut advisedly, for these incipient soldiers look for +all the world as if carved out of wood. They gradually get over their +stiffness, however, and as officers usually have a fine bearing, as you +may see if we meet any of them. I wish, though, that you could See a +squad of 'plebes' drilling. They would provoke a grin on the face of old +Melancholy himself." + +"Where is the danger, then, of acute admiration?" + +"Well, they improve, I suppose, and are said to be quite irresistible +during the latter part of their course. You need not laugh. If you knew +how many women--some of them old enough to be the boys' mothers--had +succumbed, you would take my warning to heart." + +"What nonsense! You are a little jealous of them, Burt." + +"I should be indeed if you took a fancy to any of them." + +"Well, I suppose that is one of the penalties of having brothers. Are all +these houses officers' quarters?" + +They had now left the ice, and were climbing the hill as he replied: + +"No, indeed. This is Logtown--so named, I suppose, because in the earlier +days of the post log huts preceded these small wooden houses. They are +chiefly occupied by enlisted men and civilian employees. That large +building is the band barracks. The officers' quarters, with a few +exceptions, are just above the brow of the hill west and south of the +plain." + +In a few moments Amy saw the wide parade and drill ground, now covered +with untrodden snow. + +"What a strange formation of land, right in among the mountains," she +said. + +"Yes," replied her companion. "Nature could not have designed a better +place for a military school. It is very accessible, yet easily guarded, +and the latter is an important point, for some of the cadets are very +wild, and disposed toward larks." + +"I imagine that they are like other young fellows. Were you a saint at +college?" + +"How can you think otherwise? There, just opposite to us, out on the +plain, the evening parade takes place after the spring fairly opens. I +shall bring you down to see it, and 'tis a pretty sight. The music also +is fine. Oh, I shall be magnanimous, and procure you some introductions +if you wish." + +"Thank you. That will be the best policy. These substantial buildings on +our right are the officers' quarters, I suppose?" + +"Yes. That is the commandant's, and the one beyond it is the +superintendent's. They are both usually officers of high rank, who have +made an honorable record for themselves. The latter has entire charge of +the post, and the position is a very responsible one; nor is it by any +means a sinecure, for when the papers have nothing else to find fault +with they pick at West Point." + +"I should think the social life here would be very pleasant." + +"It is, in many respects. Army ties beget a sort of comradeship which +extends to the officers' wives. Frequent removal from one part of the +country to another prevents anything like vegetating. The ladies, I am +told, do not become overmuch engrossed in housekeeping, and acquire +something of a soldier's knack of doing without many things which would +naturally occupy their time and thought if they looked forward to a +settled life. Thus they have more time for reading and society. Those +that I have met have certainly been very bright and companionable, and +many who in girlhood were accustomed to city luxury can tell some strange +stories of their frontier life. There is one army custom which often +bears pretty hard. Can you imagine yourself an officer's wife?" + +"I'll try, if it will be of help to you." + +"Then suppose you were nicely settled in one of those houses, your +furniture arranged, carpets down, etc. Some morning you learn that an +officer outranking your husband has been ordered here on duty. His first +step may be to take possession of your house. Quarters are assigned in +accordance with rank, and you would be compelled to gather up your +household goods and take them to some smaller dwelling. Then your +husband--how droll the word sounds!--could compel some other officer, +whom he outranked, to move. It would seem that the thing might go on +indefinitely, and the coming of a new officer produce a regular 1st of +May state of affairs." + +"I perceive that you are slyly providing an antidote against the cadet +fever. What large building is this?" + +"The cadet barracks. There are over two hundred young fellows in the +building. They have to study, I can tell you, nor can they slip through +here as some of us did at college. All must abide the remorseless +examinations, and many drop out. There goes a squad to the riding hall. +Would you like to see the drill and sabre practice?" + +Amy assenting, they soon reached the balcony overlooking the arena, and +spent an amused half-hour. The horses were rather gay, and some were +vicious, while the young girl's eyes seemed to have an inspiriting effect +upon the riders. Altogether the scene was a lively one, and at times +exciting. Burt then drove southward almost to Fort Montgomery, and +returning skirted the West Point plain by the river road, pointing out +objects of interest at almost every turn, and especially calling the +attention of his companion to old Fort Putnam, which he assured her +should be the scene of a family picnic on some bright summer day, Amy's +wonder and delight scarcely knew bounds when from the north side of the +plain she saw for the first time the wonderful gorge through which the +river flows southward from Newburgh Bay--Mount Taurus and Breakneck on +one side, and Cro' Nest and Storm King on the other. With a deep sigh of +content, she said: + +"I'm grateful that my home is in such a region as this." + +"I'm grateful too," the young fellow replied, looking at her and not at +the scenery. + +But she was too pre-occupied to give him much attention, and in less than +half an hour Thunder's fleet steps carried them through what seemed a +realm of enchantment, and they were at home. "Burt," she said, warmly, "I +never had such a drive before. I have enjoyed every moment." + +"Ditto, ditto," he cried, merrily, as the horse dashed off with him +toward the barn. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A WINTER THUNDER-STORM + + +Even before the return of Burtis and Amy the sun had been obscured by a +fast-thickening haze, and while the family was at dinner the wind began +to moan and sigh around the house in a way that foretold a storm. + +"I fear we shall lose our sleighing," old Mr. Clifford remarked, "for all +the indications now point to a warm rain." + +His prediction was correct. Great masses of vapor soon came pouring over +Storm King, and the sky grew blacker every moment. The wind blew in +strong, fitful gusts, and yet the air was almost sultry. By four o'clock +the rain began to dash with almost the violence of a summer shower +against the windowpanes of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford's sitting-room, and it +grew so dark that Amy could scarcely see to read the paper to the old +gentleman. Suddenly she was startled by a flash, and she looked up +inquiringly for an explanation. + +"You did not expect to see a thunder-storm almost in midwinter?" said Mr. +Clifford, with a smile. "This unusual sultriness is producing unseasonable +results." + +"Is not a thunder-storm at this season very rare?" she asked. + +"Yes; and yet some of the sharpest lightning I have ever seen has +occurred in winter." + +A heavy rumble in the southwest was now heard, and the interval between +the flash and the report indicated that the storm centre was still +distant. "I would advise you to go up to Maggie's room," resumed Mr. +Clifford, "for from her south and west windows you may witness a scene +that you will not soon forget. You are not afraid, are you?" + +"No, not unless there is danger," she replied, hesitatingly. + +"I have never been struck by lightning," the old man remarked, with a +smile, "and I have passed through many storms. Come, I'll go with you. I +never tire of watching the effects down among the mountains." + +They found Mrs. Leonard placidly sewing, with Johnnie and Ned playing +about the room. "You, evidently, are not afraid," said Amy. + +"Oh no!" she replied. "I have more faith in the presence of little +children than in the protection of lightning-rods. Yes, you may come in," +she said to Webb, who stood at the door. "I suppose you think my sense of +security has a very unscientific basis?" + +"There are certain phases of credulity that I would not disturb for the +world," he answered: "and who knows but you are right? What's more, your +faith is infectious; for, whatever reason might tell me, I should still +feel safer in a wild storm with the present company around me. Don't you +think it odd, Amy, that what we may term natural feeling gets the better +of the logic of the head? If that approaching storm should pass directly +over us, with thickly flying bolts, would you not feel safer here?" + +"Yes." + +Webb laughed in his low, peculiar way, and murmured, "What children an +accurate scientist would call us!" + +"In respect to some things I never wish to grow up," she replied. + +"I believe I can echo that wish. The outlook is growing fine, isn't it?" + +The whole sky, which in the morning had smiled so brightly in undimmed +sunshine, was now black with clouds. These hung so low that the house +seemed the centre of a narrow and almost opaque horizon. The room soon +darkened with the gloom of twilight, and the faces of the inmates faded +into shadowy outlines. The mountains, half wrapped in vapor, loomed vast +and indefinite in the obscurity. Every moment the storm grew nearer, and +its centre was marked by an ominous blackness which the momentary flashes +left all the more intense. The young girl grew deeply absorbed in the +scene, and to Webb the strong, pure profile of her awed face, as the +increasingly vivid flashes revealed it, was far more attractive than the +landscape without, which was passing with swift alternations from ghastly +gloom to even more ghastly pallor. He looked at her; the rest looked at +the storm, the children gathering like chickens under the mother's wing. + +At last there came a flash that startled them all. The mountains leaped +out of the darkness like great sheeted spectres, and though seen but a +second, they made so strong an impression that they seemed to have left +their solid bases and to be approaching in the gloom. Then came a +magnificent peal that swept across the whole southern arch of the sky. +The reverberations among the hills were deep, long, and grand, and the +fainter echoes had not died away before there was another flash--another +thunderous report, which, though less loud than the one that preceded it, +maintained the symphony with scarcely diminished grandeur. + +"This is our Highland music, Amy," Webb remarked, as soon as he could be +heard. "It has begun early this season, but you will hear much of it +before the year is out." + +"It is rather too sublime for my taste," replied the young girl, +shrinking closer to Mr. Clifford's side. + +"You are safe, my child," said the old man, encircling her with his arm. + +"Let me also reassure you in my prosaic way," Webb continued. "There, do +you not observe that though this last flash seemed scarcely less vivid, +the report followed more tardily, indicating that the storm centre is +already well to the south and east of us? The next explosion will take +place over the mountains beyond the river. You may now watch the scene in +security, for the heavenly artillery is pointed away from you." + +"Thank you. I must admit that your prose is both reassuring and inspiring. +How one appreciates shelter and home on such a night as this! Hear the rain +splash against the window! Every moment the air seems filled with +innumerable gems as the intense light pierces them. Think of being out +alone on the river, or up there among the hills, while Nature is in such an +awful mood!--the snow, the slush, everything dripping, the rain rushing +down like a cataract, and thunder-bolts playing over one's head. In +contrast, look around this home-like room. Dear old father's serene +face"--for Mr. Clifford had already taught her to call him father--"makes +the Divine Fatherhood seem more real. Innocent little Ned here does indeed +seem a better protection than a lightning-rod, while Johnnie, putting her +doll to sleep in the corner, is almost absolute assurance of safety. Your +science is all very well, Webb, but the heart demands something as well as +the head. Oh, I wish all the world had such shelter as I have to-night!" + +It was not often that Amy spoke so freely and impulsively. Like many with +delicate organizations, she was excited by the electrical condition of +the air. The pallor of awe had given place to a joyous flush, and her +eyes were brilliant. + +"Sister Amy," said Webb, as they went down to supper, "you must be +careful of yourself, and others must be careful of you, for you have not +much _vis inertiae_. Some outside influences might touch you, as I would +touch your piano, and make sad discord." + +"Should I feel very guilty because I have not more of that substantial +quality which can only find adequate expression in Latin?" she asked, +with a humorous glance. + +"Oh, no! At least not in my opinion. I much prefer a woman in whom the +spirit is pre-eminent over the clay. We are all made of dust, you know, +and we men, I fear, often smack of the soil too strongly; therefore we +are best pleased with contrasts. Moreover, our country life will brace +you without blunting your nature. I should be sorry for you, though, if +you were friendless, and had to face the world alone." + +"That can scarcely happen now," she said, with a grateful glance. + +During the early part of the evening they all became absorbed in a story, +which Webb read aloud. At last Mr. Clifford rose, drew aside the +curtains, and looked out. "Come here, Amy," he said. "Look where the +storm thundered a few hours since!" + +The sky was cloudless, the winds were hushed, the stars shining, and the +mountains stood out gray and serene in the light of the rising moon. + +"See, my child, the storm has passed utterly away, and everything speaks +of peace and rest. In my long life I have had experiences which at the +time seemed as dark and threatening as the storm that awed you in the +early evening, but they passed also, and a quiet like that which reigns +without followed. Put the lesson away in your heart, my dear; but may it +be long before you have occasion for its use! Good-night." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +NATURE UNDER GLASS + + +The next morning Amy asked Mrs. Clifford to initiate her more fully into +the mysteries of her flowers, promising under her direction to assume +their care in part. The old lady welcomed her assistance cordially, and +said, "You could not take your lesson on a more auspicious occasion, for +Webb has promised to aid me in giving my pets a bath to-day, and he can +explain many things better than I can." + +Webb certainly did not appear averse to the arrangement, and all three were +soon busy in the flower-room. "You see," resumed Mrs. Clifford, "I use the +old-fashioned yellow pots. I long ago gave up all the glazed, ornamental +affairs with which novices are tempted, learning from experience that they +are a delusion and a snare. Webb has since made it clear to me that the +roots need a circulation of air and a free exhalation of moisture as truly +as the leaves, and that since glazed pots do not permit this, they should +never be employed. After all, there is nothing neater than these common +yellow porous pots. I always select the yellowest ones, for they are the +most porous. Those that are red are hard-baked, and are almost as bad as +the glazed abominations, which once cost me some of my choice favorites." + +"I agree with you. The glazed pots are too artificial to be associated +with flowers. They suggest veneer, and I don't like veneer," Amy replied. +Then she asked Webb: "Are you ready for a fire of questions? Any one with +your ability should be able to talk and work at the same time." + +"Yes; and I did not require that little diplomatic pat on the back." + +"I'll be as direct and severe as an inquisitor, then. Why do you syringe +and wash the foliage of the plants? Why will not simple watering of the +earth in the pots answer?" + +"We wash the foliage in order that the plants may breathe and digest +their food." + +"How lucid!" said Amy, with laughing irony. "Then," she added, "please +take nothing for granted except my ignorance in these matters. I don't +know anything about plants except in the most general way." + +"Give me time, and I think I can make some things clear. A plant breathes +as truly as you do, only unlike yourself it has indefinite thousands of +mouths. There is one leaf on which there are over one hundred and fifty +thousand. They are called _stomata_, or breathing-pores, and are on +both sides of the leaf in most plants, but usually are in far greater +abundance on the lower side. The plant draws its food from the air and +soil--from the latter in liquid form--and this substance must be +concentrated and assimilated. These little pores introduce the vital +atmosphere through the air-passages of the plant, which correspond in a +certain sense to the throat and lungs of an animal. You would be sadly +off if you couldn't breathe; these plants would fare no better. Therefore +we must do artificially what the rain does out-of-doors--wash away the +accumulated dust, so that respiration may be unimpeded. Moreover, these +little pores, which are shaped like the semi-elliptical springs of a +carriage, are self-acting valves. A plant exhales a great deal of +moisture in invisible vapor. A sunflower has been known to give off three +pounds of water in twenty-four hours. This does no harm, unless the +moisture escapes faster than it rises from the roots, in which case the +plant wilts, and may even die. In such emergencies these little stomata, +or mouths, shut up partly or completely, and so do much to check the +exhalation. When moisture is given to the roots, these mouths open again, +and if our eyes were fine enough we should see the vapor passing out." + +"I never appreciated the fact before that plants are so thoroughly +alive." + +"Indeed, they are alive, and therefore they need the intelligent care +required by all living creatures which we have removed from their natural +conditions. Nature takes care of her children when they are where she +placed them. In a case like this, wherein we are preserving plants that +need summer warmth through a winter cold, we must learn to supply her +place, and as far as possible adopt her methods. It is just because +multitudes do not understand her ways that so many house plants are in a +half-dying condition." + +"Now, Amy, I will teach you how to water the pots," Mrs. Clifford began. +"The water, you see, has been standing in the flower-room all night, so +as to raise its temperature. That drawn directly from the well would be +much too cold, and even as it is I shall add some warm water to take the +chill off. The roots are very sensitive to a sudden chill from too cold +water. No, don't pour it into the pots from that pitcher. The rain does +not fall so, and, as Webb says, we must imitate nature. This watering-pot +with a fine rose will enable you to sprinkle them slowly, and the soil +can absorb the moisture naturally and equally. Most plants need water +much as we take our food, regularly, often, and not too much at a time. +Let this surface soil in the pots be your guide. It should never be +perfectly dry, and still less should it be sodden with moisture; nor +should moisture ever stand in the saucers under the pots, unless the +plants are semi-aquatic, like this calla-lily. You will gradually learn +to treat each plant or family of plants according to its nature. The +amount of water which that calla requires would kill this heath, and the +quantity needed by the heath would be the death of that cactus over +there." + +"Oh dear!" cried Amy, "if I were left alone in the care of your +flower-room, I should out-Herod Herod in the slaughter of the innocents." + +"You will not be left alone, and you will be surprised to find how +quickly the pretty mystery of life and growth will begin to reveal itself +to you." + + * * * * * + +As the days passed, Amy became more and more absorbed in the genial family +life of the Cliffords. She especially attached herself to the old people, +and Mr. and Mrs. Clifford were fast learning that their kindness to the +orphan was destined to receive an exceeding rich reward. Her young eyes +supplemented theirs, which were fast growing dim; and even platitudes read +in her sweet girlish voice seemed to acquire point and interest. She soon +learned to glean from the papers and periodicals that which each cared for, +and to skip the rest. She discovered in the library a well-written book on +travel in the tropics, and soon had them absorbed in its pages, the +descriptions being much enhanced in interest by contrast with the winter +landscape outside. Mrs. Clifford had several volumes on the culture of +flowers, and under her guidance and that of Webb she began to prepare for +the practical out-door work of spring with great zest. In the meantime she +was assiduous in the care of the house plants, and read all she could find +in regard to the species and varieties represented in the little +flower-room. It became a source of genuine amusement to start with a +familiar house plant and trace out all its botanical relatives, with their +exceedingly varied character and yet essential consanguinity; and she drew +others, even Alf and little Johnnie, into this unhackneyed pursuit of +knowledge. + +"These plant families," she said one day, "are as curiously diverse as +human families. Group them together and you can see plainly that they +belong to one another, and yet they differ so widely." + +"As widely as Webb and I," put in Burt. + +"Thanks for so apt an illustration." + +"Burt is what you would call a rampant grower, running more to wood and +foliage than anything else," Leonard remarked. + +"I didn't say that," said Amy. "Moreover, I learned from my reading that +many of the strong-growing plants become in maturity the most productive +of flowers or fruit." + +"How young I must seem to you!" Burt remarked. + +"Well, don't be discouraged. It's a fault that will mend every day," she +replied, with a smile that was so arch and genial that he mentally +assured himself that he never would be disheartened in his growing +purpose to make Amy more than a sister. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A MOUNTAINEER'S HOVEL + + +One winter noon Leonard returned from his superintendence of the +wood-cutting in the mountains. At the dinner-table be remarked: "I have +heard to-day that the Lumley family are in great destitution, as usual. +It is useless to help them, and yet one cannot sit down to a dinner like +this in comfort while even the Lumleys are hungry." + +"Hunger is their one good trait," said Webb. "Under its incentive they +contribute the smallest amount possible to the world's work." + +"I shouldn't mind," resumed Leonard, "if Lumley and his wife were pinched +sharply. Indeed, it would give me solid satisfaction had I the power to +make those people work steadily for a year, although they would regard it +as the worst species of cruelty. They have a child, however, I am told, +and for its sake I must go and see after them. Come with me, Amy, and I +promise that you will be quite contented when you return home." + +It was rather late in the afternoon when the busy Leonard appeared at the +door in his strong one-horse sleigh with its movable seat, and Amy found +that he had provided an ample store of vegetables, flour, etc. She +started upon the expedition with genuine zest, to which every mile of +progress added. + +The clouded sky permitted only a cold gray light, in which everything +stood out with wonderful distinctness. Even the dried weeds with their +shrivelled seed-vessels were sharply defined against the snow. The beech +leaves which still clung to the trees were bleached and white, but the +foliage on the lower branches of the oaks was almost black against the +hillside. Not a breath of air rustled them. At times Leonard would stop +his horse, and when the jingle of the sleigh-bells ceased the silence was +profound. Every vestige of life had disappeared in the still woods, or +was hidden by the snow. + +"How lonely and dreary it all looks!" said Amy, with a sigh. + +"That is why I like to look at a scene like this," Leonard replied. +"When I get home I see it all again--all its cold desolation--and it +makes Maggie's room, with her and the children around me, seem like +heaven." + +But oh, the contrast to Maggie's room that Amy looked upon after a ride +over a wood-road so rough that even the deep snow could not relieve its +rugged inequalities! A dim glow of firelight shone through the frosted +window-panes of a miserable dwelling, as they emerged in the twilight +from the narrow track in the growing timber. In response to a rap on the +door, a gruff, thick voice said, "Come in." + +Leonard, with a heavy basket on his arm, entered, followed closely by +Amy, who, in her surprise, looked with undisguised wonder at the scene +before her. Never had she even imagined such a home. Indeed, it seemed +like profanation of the word to call the bare, uncleanly room by that +sweetest of English words. It contained not a home-like feature. Her eyes +were not resting on decent poverty, but upon uncouth, repulsive want; and +this awful impoverishment was not seen in the few articles of cheap, +dilapidated furniture so clearly as in the dull, sodden faces of the man +and woman who kennelled there. No trace of manhood or womanhood was +visible--and no animal is so repulsive as a man or woman imbruted. + +The man rose unsteadily to his feet and said: "Evenin', Mr. Clifford. +Will yer take a cheer?" + +The woman had not the grace or the power to acknowledge their presence, +but after staring stolidly for a moment or two at her visitors through +her dishevelled hair, turned and cowered over the hearth again, her +elfish locks falling forward and hiding her face. + +The wretched smoky fire they maintained was the final triumph and +revelation of their utter shiftlessness. With square miles of woodland +all about them, they had prepared no billets of suitable size. The man +had merely cut down two small trees, lopped off their branches, and +dragged them into the room. Their butt-ends were placed together on the +hearth, whence the logs stretched like the legs of a compass to the two +further corners of the room. Amy, in the uncertain light, had nearly +stumbled over one of them. As the logs burned away they were shoved +together on the hearth from time to time, the woman mechanically throwing +on dry sticks from a pile near her when the greed wood ceased to blaze. +Both man and woman were partially intoxicated, and the latter was so +stupefied as to be indifferent to the presence of strangers. While +Leonard was seeking to obtain from the man some intelligible account of +their condition, and bringing in his gifts, Amy gazed around, with her +fair young face full of horror and disgust. Then her attention was +arrested by a feeble cry from a cradle in a dusky corner beyond the +woman, and to the girl's heart it was indeed a cry of distress, all the +more pathetic because of the child's helplessness, and unconsciousness of +the wretched life to which it seemed inevitably destined. + +She stepped to the cradle's side, and saw a pallid little creature, puny +and feeble from neglect. Its mother paid no attention to its wailing, and +when Amy asked if she might take it up, the woman's mumbled reply was +unintelligible. + +After hesitating a moment Amy lifted the child, and found it scarcely +more than a little skeleton. Sitting down on the only chair in the room, +which the man had vacated--the woman crouched on an inverted box--Amy +said, "Leonard, please bring me the milk we brought." + +After it had been warmed a little the child drank it with avidity. +Leonard stood in the background and sadly shook his head as he watched +the scene, the fire-light flickering on Amy's pure profile and +tear-dimmed eye as she watched the starved babe taking from her hand the +food that the brutish mother on the opposite side of the hearth was +incapable of giving it. + +He never forgot that picture--the girl's face beautiful with a divine +compassion, the mother's large sensual features half hidden by her snaky +locks as she leaned stupidly over the fire, the dusky flickering shadows +that filled the room, in which the mountaineer's head loomed like that of +a shaggy beast. Even his rude nature was impressed, and he exclaimed, + +"Gad! the likes of that was never seen in these parts afore!" + +"Oh, sir," cried Amy, turning to him, "can you not see that your little +child is hungry?" + +"Well,--the woman, she's drunk, and s'pose I be too, somewhat." + +"Come, Lumley, be more civil," said Leonard. "The young lady isn't used +to such talk." + +"Oh, it all seems so dreadful!" exclaimed Amy, her tears falling faster. + +The man drew a step or two nearer, and looked at her wonderingly; then, +stretching out his great grimy hand, he said: "I s'pose you think I +hain't no feelings, miss, but I have. I'll take keer on the young un, and +I won't tech another drop to-night. Thar's my hand on it." + +To Leonard's surprise, Amy took the hand, as she said, "I believe you +will keep your word." + +"That's right, Lumley," added Leonard, heartily. "Now you are acting like +a man. I've brought you a fair lot of things, but they are in trade. In +exchange for them I want the jug of liquor you brought up from the +village to-day." + +The man hesitated, and looked at his wife. + +"Come, Lumley, you've begun well. Put temptation out of the way. For your +wife and baby's sake, as well as your own, give me the jug. You mean +well, but you know your failing." + +"Well, Mr. Clifford," said the man, going to a cupboard, "I guess it'll +be safer. But you don't want the darned stuff," and he opened the door +and dashed the vessel against an adjacent bowlder. + +"That's better still. Now brace up, get your axe and cut some wood in a +civilized way. We're going to have a cold night. You can't keep up a fire +with this shiftless contrivance," indicating with his foot one of the +logs lying along the floor. "As soon as you get things straightened up +here a little we'll give you work. The young lady has found out that you +have the making of a man in you yet. If she'll take your word for your +conduct to-night, she also will for the future." + +"Yes," added Amy, "if you will try to do better, we will all try to help +you. I shall come to see the baby again. Oh, Leonard," she added, as she +placed the child in its cradle, "can't we leave one of the blankets from +the sleigh? See, the baby has scarcely any covering." + +"But you may be cold." + +"No; I am dressed warmly. Oh! see! see! the little darling is smiling up +at me! Leonard, please do. I'd rather be cold." + +"Bless your good heart, miss!" said the man, more touched than ever. +"Never had any sich wisitors afore." + +When Amy had tucked the child in warm he followed her and Leonard to the +sleigh and said, "Good-by, miss; I'm a-going to work like a man, and +there's my hand on it agin." + +Going to work was Lumley's loftiest idea of reformation, and many others +would find it a very good beginning. As they drove away they heard the +ring of his axe, and it had a hopeful sound. + +For a time Leonard was closely occupied with the intricacies of the road, +and when at last he turned and looked at Amy, she was crying. + +"There, don't take it so to heart," he said, soothingly. + +"Oh, Leonard, I never saw anything like it before. That poor little +baby's smile went right to my heart. And to think of its awful mother!" + +They paused on an eminence and looked back on the dim outline of the +hovel. Then Leonard drew her close to him as he said, "Don't cry any +more. You have acted like a true little woman--just as Maggie would have +done--and good may come of it, although they'll always be Lumleys. As +Webb says, it would require several generations to bring them up. Haven't +I given you a good lesson in contentment?" + +"Yes; but I did not need one. I'm glad I went, however, but feel that I +cannot rest until there is a real change for the better." + +"Well, who knows? You may bring it about" + +The supper-table was waiting for them when they returned. The gleam of the +crystal and silver, the ruddy glow from the open stove, the more genial +light of every eye that turned to welcome them, formed a delightful +counter-picture to the one they had just looked upon, and Leonard beamed +with immeasurable satisfaction. To Amy the contrast was almost too sharp, +and she could not dismiss from her thoughts the miserable dwelling in the +mountains. + +Leonard's buoyant, genial nature had been impressed, but not depressed, +by the scene he had witnessed. Modes of life in the mountains were +familiar to him, and with the consciousness of having done a kind deed +from which further good might result, he was in a mood to speak freely of +the Lumleys, and the story of their experience was soon drawn from him. +Impulsive, warm-hearted Burt was outspoken in his admiration of Amy's +part in the visit of charity, but Webb's intent look drew her eyes to +him, and with a strange little thrill at her heart she saw that he had +interpreted her motives and feelings. + +"I will take you there again, Amy," was all he said, but for some reason +she dwelt upon the tone in which he spoke more than upon all the uttered +words of the others. + +Later in the evening he joined her in the sitting-room, which, for the +moment, was deserted by the others, and she spoke of the wintry gloom of +the mountains, and how Leonard was fond of making the forbidding aspect a +foil for Maggie's room. Webb smiled as he replied: + +"That is just like Len. Maggie's room is the centre of his world, and he +sees all things in their relation to it. I also was out this afternoon, +and I took my gun, although I did not see a living thing to fire at. But +the 'still, cold woods,' as you term them, were filled with a beauty and +suggestiveness of which I was never conscious before. I remembered how +different they had appeared in past summers and autumns, and I saw how +ready they were for the marvellous changes that will take place in a few +short weeks. The hillsides seemed like canvases on which an artist had +drawn his few strong outlines which foretold the beauty to come so +perfectly that the imagination supplied it." + +"Why, Webb, I did not know you had so much imagination." + +"Nor did I, and I am glad that I am discovering traces of it. I have always +loved the mountains, because so used to them--they were a part of my life +and surroundings--but never before this winter have I realized they were so +beautiful. When I found that you were going up among the hills, I thought I +would go also, and then we could compare our impressions." + +"It was all too dreary for me," said the young girl, in a low tone. "It +reminded me of the time when my old life ceased, and this new life had +not begun. There were weeks wherein my heart was oppressed with a cold, +heavy despondency, when I just wished to be quiet, and try not to think +at all, and it seemed to me that nature looked to-day just I felt." + +"I think it very sad that you have learned to interpret nature in this +way so early in life. And yet I think I can understand you and your +analogy." + +"I think you can, Webb," she said, simply. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +ALMOST A TRAGEDY + + +The quiet sequence of daily life was soon interrupted by circumstances +that nearly ended in a tragedy. One morning Burt saw an eagle sailing +over the mountains. The snow had been greatly wasted, and in most places +was so strongly incrusted that it would bear a man's weight. Therefore +the conditions seemed favorable for the eagle hunt which he had promised +himself; and having told his father that he would look after the wood +teams and men on his way, he took his rifle and started. + +The morning was not cold, and not a breath of air disturbed the sharp, +still outlines of the leafless trees. The sky was slightly veiled with a +thin scud of clouds. As the day advanced these increased in density and +darkened in hue. + +Webb remarked at dinner that the atmosphere over the Beacon Hills in the +northeast was growing singularly obscure and dense in its appearance, and +that he believed a heavy storm was coming. + +"I am sorry Burt has gone to the mountains to-day," said Mrs. Clifford, +anxiously. + +"Oh, don't worry about Burt," was Webb's response; "there is no more +danger of his being snowed in than of a fox's." + +Before the meal was over, the wind, snow-laden, was moaning about the +house. With every hour the gale increased in intensity. Early in the +afternoon the men with the two teams drove to the barn. Amy could just +see their white, obscure figures through the blinding snow, Even old Mr. +Clifford went out to question them. "Yes, Mr. Burt come up in de mawnin' +an' stirred us all up right smart, slashed down a tree hisself to show a +new gawky hand dat's cuttin' by de cord how to 'arn his salt; den he put +out wid his rafle in a bee-line toward de riber. Dat's de last we seed ob +him;" and Abram went stolidly on to unhitch and care for his horses. + +Mr. Clifford and his two elder sons returned to the house with traces of +anxiety on their faces, while Mrs. Clifford was so worried that, +supported by Amy, she made an unusual effort, and met them at the door. + +"Don't be disturbed, mother," said Webb, confidently. "Burt and I have +often been caught in snowstorms, but never had any difficulty in finding +our way. Burt will soon appear, or, if he doesn't, it will be because he +has stopped to recount to Dr. Marvin the results of his eagle hunt." + +Indeed, they all tried to reassure her, but, with woman's quick instinct +where her affections are concerned, she read what was passing in their +minds. Her husband led her back to her couch, where she lay with her +large dark eyes full of trouble, while her lips often moved in prayer. +The thought of her youngest and darling son far off and alone among those +cloud-capped and storm-beaten mountains was terrible to her. + +Another hour passed, and still the absent youth did not return. Leonard, +his father, and Amy, often went to the hall window and looked out. The +storm so enhanced the early gloom of the winter afternoon that the +outbuildings, although so near, loomed out only as shadows. The wind was +growing almost fierce in its violence. Webb had so long kept up his +pretence of reading that Amy began in her thoughts to resent his seeming +indifference as cold-blooded. At last he laid down his book, and went +quietly away. She followed him, for it seemed to her that something ought +to be done, and that he was the one to do it. She found him in an upper +chamber, standing by an open window that faced the mountains. Joining +him, she was appalled by the roar of the wind as it swept down from the +wooded heights. + +"Oh, Webb," she exclaimed--he started at her words and presence, and +quickly closed the window--"ought not something to be done? The bare +thought that Burt is lost in this awful gloom fills me with horror. The +sound of that wind was like the roar of the ocean in a storm we had. How +can he see in such blinding snow? How could he breast this gale if he +were weary?" + +He was silent a moment, looking with contracted brows at the gloomy +scene. At last he began, as if reassuring himself as well as the agitated +girl at his side: + +"Burt, you must remember, has been brought up in this region. He knows +the mountains well, and--" + +"Oh, Webb, you take this matter too coolly," interrupted Amy, impulsively. +"Something tells me that Burt is in danger;" and in her deep solicitude she +put her hand on his arm. She noticed that it trembled, and that he still +bent the same contracted brow toward the region where his brother must be +if her fears were true. Then he seemed to come to a decision. + +"Yes," he said, quietly, "I take it coolly. Perhaps it's well that I can. +You may be right, and there may be need of prompt, wise action. If so, a +man will need the full control of all his wits. I will not, however, give +up my hope--my almost belief--that he is at Dr. Marvin's. I shall +satisfy myself at once. Try not to show your fears to father and mother, +that's a brave girl." + +He was speaking hurriedly now as they were descending the stairs. He +found his father in the hall, much disturbed, and querying with his +eldest son as to the advisability of taking some steps immediately. +Leonard, although evidently growing anxious, still urged that Burt, with +his knowledge and experience as a sportsman, would not permit himself to +be caught in such a storm. + +"He surely must be at the house of Dr. Marvin or some other neighbor on +the mountain road." + +"I also think he is at the doctor's, but shall see," Webb remarked, +quietly, as he drew on his overcoat. + +"I don't think he's there; I don't think he is at any neighbor's house," +cried Mrs. Clifford, who, to the surprise of all, had made her way to the +hall unaided. "Burt is thoughtless about little things, but he would not +leave me in suspense on such a night as this." + +"Mother, I promise you Burt shall soon be here safe and sound;" and Webb +in his shaggy coat and furs went hastily out, followed by Leonard. A few +moments later the dusky outlines of a man and a galloping horse appeared +to Amy for a moment, and then vanished toward the road. + +It was some time before Leonard returned, for Webb had said: "If Burt is +not at the doctor's, we must go and look for him. Had you not better have +the strongest wood-sled ready? You will know what to do." + +Having admitted the possibility of danger, Leonard acted promptly. With +Abram's help a pair of stout horses were soon attached to the sled, which +was stored with blankets, shovels to clear away drifts, etc. + +Webb soon came galloping back, followed a few moments later by the +doctor, but there were no tidings of Burt. + +Amy expected that Mrs. Clifford would become deeply agitated, but was +mistaken. She lay on her couch with closed eyes, but her lips moved +almost continuously. She had gone to Him whose throne is beyond all +storms. + +Mr. Clifford was with difficulty restrained from joining his sons in the +search. The old habit of resolute action returned upon him, but Webb +settled the question by saying, in a tone almost stern in its authority, +"Father, you _must_ remain with mother." + +Amy had no further reason to complain that Webb took the matter too +coolly. He was all action, but his movements were as deft as they were +quick. la the basket which Maggie had furnished with brandy and food he +placed the conch-shell used to summon Abram to his meals. Then, taking +down a double-barrelled breech-loading gun, he filled his pocket with +cartridges. + +"What is that for?" Amy asked, with white lips, for, as he seemed the +natural leader, she hovered near him. + +"If we do not find him at one of the houses well up on the mountain, as I +hope we shall, I shall fire repeatedly in our search. The reports would +be heard further than any other sound, and he might answer with his +rifle." + +Leonard now entered with the doctor, who said, "All ready; we have +stored the sledge with abundant material for fires, and if Burt has +met with an accident, I am prepared to do all that can be done under +the circumstances." + +"All ready," responded Webb, again putting on his coat and fur cap. + +Amy sprang to his side and tied the cap securely down with her scarf. + +"Forgive me," she whispered, "for saying that you took Bart's danger +coolly. I understand you better now. Oh, Webb, be careful! Think of +yourself too. I now see that you are thinking of Burt only." + +"Of you also, little sister, and I shall be the stronger for such +thoughts. Don't give way to fear. We shall find Burt, and all come home +hungry as wolves. Good-by." + +"May the blessing of Him who came to seek and save the lost go with you!" +said the aged father, tremulously. + +A moment later they dashed away, followed by Burt's hound and the +watch-dog, and the darkness and storm hid them from sight. + +Oh, the heavy cross of watching and waiting! Many claim that woman is not +the equal of man because she must watch and wait in so many of the dread +emergencies of life, forgetting that it is infinitely easier to act, to +face the wildest storm that sweeps the sky or the deadliest hail crashing +from cannons' mouths, than to sit down in sickening suspense waiting for +the blow to fall. The man's duty requires chiefly the courage which he +shares with the greater part of the brute creation, and only as he adds +woman's patience, fortitude, and endurance does he become heroic. Nothing +but his faith in God and his life-long habit of submission to his will +kept Mr. Clifford from chafing like a caged lion in his enforced +inaction. Mrs. Clifford, her mother's heart yearning after her youngest +and darling boy with an infinite tenderness, alone was calm. + +Amy's young heart was oppressed by an unspeakable dread. It was partly +due to the fear and foreboding of a child to whom the mountains were a +Siberia-like wilderness in their awful obscurity, and still more the +result of knowledge of the sorrow that death involves. The bare possibility +that the light-hearted, ever-active Burt, who sometimes perplexed her with +more than fraternal devotion, was lying white and still beneath the +drifting snow, or even wandering helplessly in the blinding gale, was so +terrible that it blanched her cheek, and made her lips tremble when she +tried to speak. She felt that she had been a little brusque to him at +times, and now she reproached herself in remorseful compunction, and with +the abandonment of a child to her present overwrought condition, felt that +she could never refuse him anything should his blue eyes turn pleadingly to +her again. At first she did not give way, but was sustained, like Maggie, +by the bustle of preparation for the return, and in answering the +innumerable questions of Johnnie and Alf. Webb's assurance to his mother +that he would bring Burt back safe and sound was her chief hope. From the +first moment of greeting he had inspired her with a confidence that had +steadily increased, and from the time that he had admitted the possibility +of this awful emergency he had acted so resolutely and wisely as to +convince her that all that man could do would be done. She did not think of +explaining to herself why her hope centred more in him than in all the +others engaged in the search, or why she was more solicitous about him in +the hardships and perils that the expedition involved, and yet Webb shared +her thoughts almost equally with Burt. If the latter were reached, Webb +would be the rescuer, but her sickening dread was that in the black night +and howling storm he could not be found. + +As the rescuing party pushed their way up the mountain with difficulty they +became more and more exposed to the northeast gale, and felt with +increasing dread how great was the peril to which Burt must be exposed had +he not found refuge in some of the dwellings nearer to the scene of his +sport. The roar of the gale up the rugged defile was perfectly terrific, +and the snow caught up from the overhanging ledges was often driven into +their faces with blinding force. They could do little better than give the +horses their heads, and the poor brutes floundered slowly through the +drifts. The snow had deepened incredibly fast, and the fierce wind piled it +up so fantastically in every sheltered place that they were often in danger +of upsetting, and more than once had to spring out with their shovels. At +last, after an hour of toil, they reached the first summit, but no tidings +could be obtained of Burt from the people residing in the vicinity. They +therefore pushed on toward the gloomy wastes beyond, and before long left +behind them the last dwelling and the last chance that he had found shelter +before night set in. Two stalwart men had joined them in the search, +however, and formed a welcome re-inforcement. With terrible forebodings +they pressed forward, Webb firing his breech-loader rapidly, and the rest +making what noise they could, but the gale swept away these feeble sounds, +and merged them almost instantly in the roar of the tempest. It was their +natural belief that in attempting to reach home Burt would first try to +gain the West Point road that crossed the mountains, for here would be a +pathway that the snow could not obliterate, and also his best chance of +meeting a rescuing party. It was therefore their purpose to push on until +the southern slope of Cro' Nest was reached, but they became so chilled and +despondent over their seemingly impossible task that they stopped on an +eminence near a rank of wood. They knew that the outlook commanded a wide +view to the south and north, and that if Burt were cowering somewhere in +that region, it would be a good point from which to attract his attention. + +"I move that we make a fire here," said Leonard. "Abram is half-frozen, +we are all chilled to the bone, and the horses need rest. I think, too, +that a fire can be seen further than any sound can be heard." + +The instinct of self-preservation caused them all to accede, and, +moreover, they must keep up themselves in order to accomplish anything. +They soon had a roaring blaze under the partial shield of a rock, while +at the same time the flames rose so high as to be seen on both sides of +the ridge as far as the storm permitted. The horses were sheltered as +well as possible, and heavily blanketed. As the men thawed out their +benumbed forms, Webb exclaimed, "Great God! what chance has Burt in such +a storm? and what chance have we of finding him?" + +The others shook their heads gloomily, but answered nothing. + +"It will kill mother," he muttered. + +"There is no use in disguising the truth," said the doctor, slowly. "If +Burt's alive, he must have a fire. Our best chance is to see that. But +how can one see anything through this swirl of snow, that is almost as +thick in the air as on the ground?" + +To their great joy the storm soon began to abate, and the wind to blow in +gusts. They clambered to the highest point near them, and peered eagerly +for some glimmer of light; but only a dim, wild scene, that quickly +shaded off into utter obscurity, was around them. The snowflakes were +growing larger, however, and were no longer swept with a cutting slant +into their faces. + +"Thank God!" cried Webb, "I believe the gale is nearly blown out. I shall +follow this ridge toward the river as far as I can." + +"I'll go with you," said he doctor, promptly. + +"No," said Webb; "it will be your turn next. It won't do for us all to +get worn out together. I'll go cautiously; and with this ridge as guide, +and the fire, I can't lose my way. I'll take one of the dogs, and fire my +gun about every ten minutes. If I fire twice in succession, follow me; +meanwhile give a blast on the conch every few moments;" and with these +words he speedily disappeared. + +The doctor and Leonard returned to the fire, and watched the great flakes +fall hissing into the flames. Hearing of Webb's expedition, the two +neighbors who had recently joined them pushed on up the road, shouting +and blowing the conch-shell as often as they deemed it necessary. Their +signal also was to be two blasts should they meet with any success. +Leonard and the doctor were a _corps de reserve_. The wind soon ceased +altogether, and a stillness that was almost oppressive took the place of +the thunder of the gale. They threw themselves down to rest, and Leonard +observed with a groan how soon his form grew white. "Oh, doctor," he said +in a tone of anguish, "can it be that we shall never find Burt till the +snow melts?" + +"Do not take so gloomy a view," was the reply. "Burt must have been able +to make a fire, and now that the wind has ceased we can attract his +attention." + +Webb's gun was heard from time to time, the sounds growing steadily +fainter. At last, far away to the east, came two reports in quick +succession. The two men started up, and with the aid of lanterns followed +Webb's trail, Abram bringing up the rear with an axe and blankets. + +Sometimes up to his waist in snow, sometimes springing from rock to rock +that the wind had swept almost bare, Webb had toiled on along the broken +ridge, his face scratched and bleeding from the shaggy, stunted trees +that it was too dark to avoid; but he thought not of such trifles, and +seemed endowed with a strength ten times his own. Every few moments he +would stop, listen, and peer about him on every side. Finally, after a +rather long upward climb, he knew he had reached a rock of some altitude. +He again fired his gun. The echoes soon died away, and there was no sound +except the low tinkle of the snowflakes through the bushes. He was just +about to push on, when, far down to the right and south of him, he +thought he saw a gleam of light. He looked long and eagerly, but in vain. +He passed over to that side of the ridge, and fired again; but there was +no response--nothing but the dim, ghostly snow on every side. Concluding +that it had been but a trick of the imagination, he was about to give up +the hope that had thrilled his heart, when feebly but unmistakably a ray +of light shot up, wavered, and disappeared. At the same moment his dog +gave a loud bark, and plunged down the ridge. A moment sufficed to give +the preconcerted signal, and almost at the risk of life and limb Webb +rushed down the precipitous slope. He had not gone very far before he +heard a long, piteous howl that chilled his very soul with dread. He +struggled forward desperately, and, turning the angle of a rock, saw a +dying fire, and beside it a human form merely outlined through the snow. +As the dog was again raising one of his ill-omened howls, Webb stopped +him savagely, and sprang to the prostrate figure, whose face was buried +in its arm. + +It was Burt. Webb placed a hand that trembled like an aspen over his +brother's heart, and with a loud cry of joy felt its regular beat. Burt +had as yet only succumbed to sleep, which in such cases is fatal when no +help interposes. Webb again fired twice to guide the rescuing party, and +then with some difficulty caused Burt to swallow a little brandy. He next +began to chafe his wrists with the spirits, to shake him, and to shout in +his ear. Slowly Burt shook off his fatal lethargy, and by the time the +rest of the party reached him, was conscious. + +"Good God!" he exclaimed, "did I go to sleep? I vowed I would not a +hundred times. Nor would I if I could have moved around; but I've +sprained my ankle, and can't walk." + +With infinite difficulty, but with hearts light and grateful, they +carried him on an improvised stretcher to the sled. Bart explained that +he had been lured further and further away by a large eagle that had kept +just out of range, and in his excitement he had at first paid no +attention to the storm. Finally its increasing fury and the memory of his +distance from home had brought him to his senses, and he had struck out +for the West Point road. Still he had no fears or misgivings, but while +climbing the slope on which he was found, he slipped, fell, and in trying +to save himself came down with his whole weight on a loose stone, and +sprained his left ankle. He tried to crawl and hobble forward, and for a +time gave way to something like panic. He soon found that he was using up +his strength, and that he would perish with the cold before he could make +half a mile. He then crawled under the sheltering ledge where Webb +discovered him, and by the aid of his good woodcraft soon had a fire, for +it was his fortune to have some matches. A dead and partially decayed +tree, a knife strong enough to cut the saplings when bent over, supplied +him with fuel. Finally the drowsiness which long exposure to cold induces +began to oppress him. He fought against it desperately for a time, but, +as events proved, was overpowered. + +"God bless you, Webb!" he said, concluding his story. "You have saved my +life." + +"We have all had a hand at it," was the quiet reply. "I couldn't have +done anything alone." + +Wrapped up beyond the possibility of further danger from the cold, and +roused from time to time, Burt was carried homeward as fast as the drifts +permitted, the horses' bells now chiming musically in the still air. + + * * * * * + +As hour after hour passed and there was nothing left to do, Amy took +Johnnie on her lap, and they rocked back and forth and cried together. +Soon the heavy lids closed over the little girl's eyes, and shut off the +tears. Alf had already coiled up on a lounge and sobbed himself to sleep. +Maggie took up the little girl, laid her down beside him, and covered +them well from the draughts that the furious gale drove through every +crack and cranny of the old house, glad that they had found a happy +oblivion. Amy then crept to a footstool at Mrs. Clifford's side--the +place where she had so often seen the youth whom the storm she now almost +began to believe had swept from them forever--and she bowed her head on +the old lady's thin hand and sobbed bitterly. + +"Don't give way so, darling," said the mother, as her other hand stroked +the brown hair. "God is greater than the storm. We have prayed, and we +now feel that he will do what is best." + +"Oh, that I had your faith!" + +"It will come in time--when long years have taught you his goodness." + +She slowly wiped her eyes, and stole a glance at Mr. Clifford. His +earlier half-desperate restlessness had passed away, and he sat quietly +in his chair gazing into the fire, occasionally wiping a tear from his +eyes, and again looking upward with an expression of sublime submission. +Soon, as if conscious of her wondering observation, he said, "Come to me, +Amy." + +She stood beside him, and he drew her close as he continued: + +"My child, one of the hardest lessons we can learn in this world is to +say, 'Not my will, but Thine be done.' I have lived fourscore years, and +yet I could not say it at first; but now" (with a calm glance heavenward) +"I can say, 'My Father, thy will be done.' If he takes Burt, he has given +us you;" and he kissed her so tenderly that she bowed her head upon his +shoulder, and said, brokenly: + +"You are my father in very truth." + +"Yes," was his quiet response. + +Then she stole back to her seat. There was a Presence in the room that +filled her with awe, and yet banished her former overwhelming dread and +grief. + +They watched and waited; there was no sound in the room except the soft +crackle of the fire, and Amy thought deeply on the noble example before +her of calm, trustful waiting. At last she became conscious that the +house was growing strangely still; the faint tick of the great clock on +the landing of the stairs struck her ear; the rush and roar of the wind +had ceased. Bewildered, she rose softly and went to Maggie's room, and +found that the tired mother in watching over her children had fallen +asleep in her chair. She lifted a curtain, and could scarcely believe her +eyes when she saw that the trees that had been writhing and moaning in +the gale now stood white and spectral as the lamp-light fell upon them. +When had the wind ceased? It seemed as if the calm that had fallen upon +her spirit had extended to nature; that the storm had hushed its rude +clamor even while it continued. From the window she watched the white +flakes flutter through the light she knew not how long: the old clock +chimed out midnight, and then, faint and far away, she thought she heard +the sleigh-bells. With swift, silent tread, she rushed to a side door and +threw it open. Yes, clear and distinct she now heard them on the mountain +road. With a low cry she returned and wakened Maggie, then flew to the +old people, and, with a voice that she tried in vain to steady, said, +"They are coming." + +Mr. Clifford started up, and was about to rush from the room, but paused +a moment irresolutely, then returned, sat down by his wife, and put his +arm around her. He was true to his first love. The invalid had grown +faint and white, but his touch and presence were the cordials she needed. + +Amy fled back to the side door, and the sled soon appeared. There was no +light at this entrance, and she was unobserved. She saw them begin to +lift some one out, and she dashed through an intervening drift nearly to +her waist. Webb felt a hand close on his arm with a grip that he long +remembered. + +"Burt?" she cried, in a tone of agonizing inquiry. + +"Heigh-ho, Amy," said the much-muffled figure that they were taking from +the sled; "I'm all right." + +In strong reaction, the girl would have fallen, had not Webb supported +her. He felt that she trembled and clung almost helplessly to him. + +"Why, Amy," he said, gently, "you will take your death out here in the +cold and snow"; and leaving the others to care for Burt, he lifted her in +his arms and carried her in. + +"Thank God, he's safe," she murmured. "Oh, we have waited so long! There, +I'm better now," she said, hastily, and with a swift color coming into +her pale cheeks, as they reached the door. + +"You must not expose yourself so again, sister Amy." + +"I thought--I thought when you began to lift Burt out--" But she could +not finish the sentence. + +"He has only sprained his ankle. Go tell mother." + +Perhaps there is no joy like that which fills loving hearts when the lost +is found. It is so pure and exalted that it is one of the ecstasies of +heaven. It would be hard to describe how the old house waked up with its +sudden accession of life--life that was so warm and vivid against the +background of the shadow of death. There were murmured thanksgivings as +feet hurried to and fro, and an opening fire of questions, which Maggie +checked by saying: + +"Possess your souls in patience. Burt's safe--that's enough to know until +he is cared for, and my half-famished husband and the rest get their +supper. Pretty soon we can all sit down, for I want a chance to hear +too." + +"And no one has a better right, Maggie," said her husband, chafing his +hands over the fire. "After what we've seen to-night, this place is the +very abode of comfort, and you its presiding genius;" and Leonard beamed +and thawed until the air grew tropical around him. + +At Mrs. Clifford's request (for it was felt that it was not best to cross +the invalid), Burt, in the rocking-chair wherein he had been placed, was +carried to her room, and received a greeting from his parents that +brought tears to the young fellow's eyes. Dr. Marvin soon did all within +his power at that stage for the sprained ankle and frost-bitten fingers, +the mother advising, and feeling that she was still caring for her boy as +she had done a dozen years before. Then Burt was carried back to the +dining-room, where all were soon gathered. The table groaned under +Maggie's bountiful provision, and lamp-light and fire-light revealed a +group upon which fell the richer light of a great joy. + +Burt was ravenously hungry, but the doctor put him on limited diet, +remarking, "You can soon make up for lost time." He and Leonard, however, +made such havoc that Amy pretended to be aghast; but she soon noted that +Webb ate sparingly, that his face was not only scratched and torn, but +almost haggard, and that he was unusually quiet. The reasons were soon +apparent. When all were helped, and Maggie had a chance to sit down, she +said: + +"Now tell us about it. We just heard enough when you first arrived to +curdle our blood. How in the world, Burt, did you allow yourself to get +caught in such a storm?" + +"If it had not been for this confounded sprain I should have come out all +right;" and then followed the details with which the reader is acquainted, +although little could be got out of Webb. + +"The upshot of it all is," said Leonard, as he beamed upon the party with +ineffable content, "between mother's praying and Webb's looking, Burt is +here, not much the worse for his eagle hunt." + +They would not hear of the doctor's departure, and very soon afterward +old Mr. Clifford gathered them around the family altar in a thanksgiving +prayer that moistened every eye. + +Then all prepared for the rest so sorely needed. As Webb went to the hall +to hang up his gun, Amy saw that he staggered in his almost mortal +weariness, and she followed him. + +"There are your colors, Amy," he said, laughingly, taking her scarf from +an inner pocket. "I wore it till an envious scrub-oak tore it off. It was +of very great help to me--the scarf, not the oak." + +"Webb," she said, earnestly, "you can't disguise the truth from me by any +such light words. You are half-dead from exhaustion. I've been watching +you ever since your return. You are ill--you have gone beyond your +strength, and in addition to it all I let you carry me in. Oh dear! I'm +so worried about you!" + +"It's wonderfully nice to have a little sister to worry about a fellow." + +"But can't I do something for you? You've thought about everybody, and no +one thinks for you." + +"_You_ have, and so have the rest, as far as there was occasion. Let me +tell you how wan and weary you look. Oh, Amy, our home is so much more to +us since you came!" + +"What would our home be to us to-night, Webb, were it not for you! And I +said you took Burt's danger too coolly. How I have reproached myself for +those words. God bless you, Webb! you did not resent them; and you saved +Burt;" and she impulsively put her arm around his neck and kissed him, +then fled to her room. + +The philosophical Webb might have had much to think about that night had +he been in an analytical mood, for by some magic his sense of utter +weariness was marvellously relieved. With a low laugh, he thought, + +"I'd be tempted to cross the mountains again for such a reward." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +HINTS OF SPRING + + +When Amy awoke on the following morning she was almost dazzled, so +brilliant was the light that flooded the room. Long, quiet sleep and the +elasticity of youth had banished all depression from mind and body, and +she sprang eagerly to the window that she might see the effects of the +storm, expecting to witness its ravages on every side. Imagine her wonder +and delight when, instead of widespread wreck and ruin, a scene of +indescribable beauty met her eyes! The snow had draped all things in +white. The trees that had seemed so gaunt and skeleton-like as they +writhed and moaned in the gale were now clothed with a beauty surpassing +that of their summer foliage, for every branch, even to the smallest +twig, had been incased in the downy flakes. The evergreens looked like +old-time gallants well powdered for a festival. The shrubbery of the +garden was scarcely more than mounds of snow. The fences had almost +disappeared; while away as far as the eye could reach all was sparkling +whiteness. Nature was like a bride adorned for her nuptials. Under the +earlier influences of the gale the snow had drifted here and there, +making the undulations of her robe, and under the cloudless sun every +crystal glittered, as if over all had been flung a profusion of diamond +dust. Nor did she seem a cold, pallid bride without heart or gladness. +Her breath was warm and sweet, and full of an indefinable suggestion of +spring. She seemed to stand radiant in maidenly purity and loveliness, +watching in almost breathless expectation the rising of the sun above the +eastern mountains. + +A happy group gathered at the breakfast-table that morning. Best of mind +and thankfulness of heart had conduced to refreshing repose, and the +brightness of the new day was reflected in every face. Burt's ankle was +painful, but this was a slight matter in contrast with what might have +been his fate. He had insisted on being dressed and brought to the lounge +in the breakfast-room. Webb seemed wonderfully restored, and Amy thought +he looked almost handsome in his unwonted animation, in spite of the +honorable scars that marked his face. Dr. Marvin exclaimed, exultingly: + +"Miss Amy, you can begin the study of ornithology at once. There are +bluebirds all about the house, and you have no idea what exquisite bits +of color they are against the snow on this bright morning. After +breakfast you must go out and greet these first arrivals from the South." + +"Yes, Amy," put in Leonard, laughing, "it's a lovely morning for a +stroll. The snow is only two feet deep, and drifted in many places higher +than your head. The 'beautiful snow' brings us plenty of prose in the +form of back-aching work with our shovels." + +"No matter," said Webb; "it has also brought us warmth, exquisitely pure +air, and a splendid covering for grass and grain that will be apt to last +well into the spring. Anything rather than mud and the alternate freezing +and thawing that are as provoking as a capricious friend." + +"Why, Webb, what a burst of sentiment!" said Burt. + +"Doctor, the bluebirds seem to come like the south wind that Leonard says +is blowing this morning," Mrs. Clifford remarked. "Where were they last +night? and how have they reached us after such a storm?" + +"I imagine that those we hear this morning have been with us all winter, +or they may have arrived before the storm. I scarcely remember a winter +when I have not seen some around, and their instinct guides them where to +find shelter. When the weather is very cold they are comparatively +silent, but even a January thaw will make them tuneful. They are also +migrants, and have been coming northward for a week or two past, and this +accounts for the numbers this morning. Poor little things! they must have +had a hard time of it last night, wherever they were." + +"Oh, I do wish I could make them know how glad I'd be to take them in and +keep them warm every cold night!" shy Johnnie whispered to Maggie. + +"They have a better mother than even you could be," said the doctor, +nodding at the little girl. + +"Have all the bluebirds a mother?" she asked, with wondering eyes. + +"Indeed they have, and all the other birds also, and this mother takes +care of them the year round--Mother Nature, that's her name. Your heart +may be big enough, but your house would not begin to hold all the +bluebirds, so Mother Nature tells the greater part of them to go where +it's warm about the 1st of December, and she finds them winter homes all +the way from Virginia to Florida. Then toward spring she whispers when it +is safe to come back, and if you want to see how she can take care of +those that are here even during such a storm as that of last night, +bundle up and come out on the sunny back piazza." + +There all the household soon after assembled, the men armed with shovels +to aid in the path-making in which Abram was already engaged. Burt was +placed in a rocking-chair by a window that he might enjoy the prospect +also. A charming winter outlook it was, brilliant with light and gemmed +with innumerable crystals. To Amy's delight, she heard for the first time +the soft, down-like notes of the bluebird. At first they seemed like mere +"wandering voices in the air," sweet, plaintive, and delicate as the +wind-swayed anemone. Then came a soft rustle of wings, and a bird darted +downward, probably from the eaves, but seemingly it was a bit of the sky +that had taken form and substance. He flew past her and dislodged a +miniature avalanche from the spray on which he alighted. The little +creature sat still a moment, then lifted and stretched one wing by an odd +coquettish movement while it uttered its low musical warble. + +"Why," exclaimed Amy, "he is almost the counterpart of our robin-redbreast +of England!" + +"Yes," replied Dr. Marvin, "he resembles your English redbreast closely +both in appearance and habits, and our New England forefathers called him +the 'blue robin.' To my taste the bluebird is the superior of the two, +for what he lacks in stronger and more varied song he makes up in softer, +sweeter notes. And then he is so beautiful! You have no blue birds of any +kind in England, Amy. It seems to require our deeper-tinted skies to +produce them. Ah, there comes his mate. You can tell her by the lighter +blue of her plumage, and the tinge of brown on her head and back. She is +a cold, coy beauty, even as a wife; but how gallant is her azure-coated +beau! Flirt away, my little chap, and make the most of your courting and +honeymoon. You will soon have family cares enough to discourage anybody +but a bluebird;" and the doctor looked at his favorites with an exulting +affection that caused a general laugh. + +"I shall give our little friends something better than compliments," said +Mr. Clifford, obeying his hospitable instincts, and he waded through the +snow to the sunny side of an evergreen, and there cleared a space until +the ground was bare. Then he scattered over this little plot an abundance +of bread-crumbs and hay seed, and they all soon had the pleasure of +seeing half a dozen little bobbing heads at breakfast. Johnnie and Alf, +who on account of the deep snow did not go to school, were unwearied in +watching the lovely little pensioners on their grandfather's bounty--not +pensioners either, for, as the old man said, "They pay their way with +notes that I am always glad to accept." + +The work of path-making and shovelling snow from the doors and roofs of +the out-buildings went on vigorously all the morning. Abram also attached +the farm horses to the heavy snow-plow, to which he added his weight, and +a broad, track-like furrow was made from the house to the road, and then +for a mile or more each way upon the street, for the benefit of the +neighbors. Before the day was very far advanced, the south wind, which +had been a scarcely perceptible breath, freshened, and between the busy +shovels and the swaying branches the air was full of glittering crystals. +The bride-like world was throwing off her ornaments and preparing for the +prose of every-day life; and yet she did so in a cheerful, lightsome +mood. The sunny eaves dropped a profusion of gems from the melting snow. +There was a tinkle of water in the pipes leading to the cistern. From the +cackle in the barn-yard it appeared that the hens had resolved on +unwonted industry, and were receiving applause from the oft-crowing +chanticleers. The horses, led out to drink, were in exuberant spirits, +and appeared to find a child's delight in kicking up the snow. The cows +came briskly from their stalls to the space cleared for them, and were +soon ruminating in placid content. What though the snow covered the +ground deeper than at any time during the winter, the subtile spirit of +spring was recognized and welcomed not only by man, but also by the lower +creation! + +After putting Burt in a fair way of recovery, Dr. Marvin, armed with a +shovel to burrow his way through the heavier drifts, drove homeward. Alf +floundered off to his traps, and returned exultant with two rabbits. Amy +was soon busy sketching them previous to their transformation into a +pot-pie, Burt looking on with a deeper interest in the artist than in her +art, although he had already learned that she had not a little skill with +her pencil. Indeed, Burt promised to become quite reconciled to his part of +invalid, in spite of protestations to the contrary; and his inclination to +think that Amy's companionship would be an antidote for every ill of life +was increasing rapidly, in accordance with his hasty temperament, which +arrived at conclusions long before others had begun to consider the steps +leading to them. + +Amy was still more a child than a woman; but a girl must be young indeed +who does not recognize an admirer, especially so transparent a one as +Burt would ever be. His ardent glances and compliments both amused and +annoyed her. From his brothers she had obtained several hints of his +previous and diversified gallantries, and was not at all assured that +those in the future might not be equally varied. She did not doubt the +sincerity of his homage, however; and since she had found it so easy to +love him as a brother, it did not seem impossible that she should learn +to regard him in another light, if all thought it best, and he "would +only be sensible and understand that she did not wish to think about such +things for years to come." Thus it may be seen that in one respect her +heart was not much more advanced than that of little Johnnie. She +expected to be married some time or other, and supposed it might as well +be to Burt as to another, if their friends so desired it; but she was for +putting off submission to woman's natural lot as long as possible. +Possessing much tact, she was able in a great measure to repress the +young fellow's demonstrativeness, and maintain their brotherly and +sisterly relations; but it cost her effort, and sometimes she left his +society flurried and wearied. With Webb she enjoyed perfect rest and a +pleasing content. He was so quiet and strong that his very presence +seemed to soothe her jarring nerves. He appeared to understand her, to +have the power to make much that interested her more interesting, while +upon her little feminine mysteries of needle and fancy work he looked +with an admiring helplessness, as if she were more unapproachable in her +sphere than he could ever be in his, with all his scientific facts and +theories. Women like this tribute to their womanly ways from the sterner +sex. Maggie's wifehood was made happy by it, for by a hundred little +things she knew that the great, stalwart Leonard would be lost without +her. Moreover, by his rescue of Burt, Webb had won a higher place in +Amy's esteem. He had shown the prompt energy and courage which satisfy +woman's ideal of manhood, and assure her of protection. Amy did not +analyze her feelings or consciously assure herself of all this. She only +felt that Webb was restful, and would give her a sense of safety, no +matter what happened. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +NATURE'S BUILDING MATERIALS + + +Some days after Burt's adventure, Dr. Marvin made his professional call +in the evening. Mr. Alvord, Squire Bartley, and the minister also +happened in, and all were soon chatting around Mr. Clifford's ruddy +hearth. The pastor of this country parish was a sensible man, who, if he +did not electrify his flock of a Sunday morning, honestly tried to guide +it along safe paths, and led those whom he asked to follow. His power lay +chiefly in the homes of his people, where his genial presence was ever +welcomed. He did not regard those to whom he ministered as so many souls +and subjects of theological dogma, but as flesh-and-blood men, women, and +children, with complex interests and relations; and the heartiness of his +laugh over a joke, often his own, and the havoc that he made in the +dishes of nuts and apples, proved that he had plenty of good healthful +blood himself. Although his hair was touched with frost, and he had never +received any degree except his simple A.M., although the prospect of a +metropolitan pulpit had grown remote indeed, he seemed the picture of +content as he pared his apple and joined in the neighborly talk. + +Squire Bartley had a growing sense of shortcoming in his farming +operations. Notwithstanding his many acres, he felt himself growing +"land-poor," as country people phrase it. He was not a reader, and looked +with undisguised suspicion on book-farming. As for the agricultural +journals, he said "they were full of new-fangled notions, and were kept +up by people who liked to see their names in print." Nevertheless, he was +compelled to admit that the Cliffords, who kept abreast of the age, +obtained better crops, and made their business pay far better than he +did, and he was inclined to turn his neighborly calls into thrifty use by +questioning Leonard and Webb concerning their methods and management. +Therefore he remarked to Leonard: "Do you find that you can keep your +land in good condition by rotation of crops? Folks say this will do it, +but I find some of our upland is getting mighty thin, and crops uncertain." + +"What is your idea of rotation, squire?" + +"Why, not growin' the same crop too often on the same ground." + +"That is scarcely my idea. For the majority of soils the following +rotation has been found most beneficial: corn and potatoes, which +thoroughly subdue the sod the first year; root crops, as far as we grow +them, and oats the second; then wheat or rye, seeded at the same time +with clover or grass of some kind. We always try to plow our sod land in +the fall, for in the intervening time before planting the sod partially +decays, the land is sweetened and pulverized by the action of frost, and +a good many injurious insects are killed also. But all rules need +modification, and we try to study the nature of our various soils, and +treat them accordingly". + +"What! have a chemist prescribe for 'em like a doctor?" sneered the +squire. "Mr. Walters, the rich city chap who bought Roger's worn-out +farm, tried that to his heart's content, and mine too. He had a little of +the dirt of each part of his farm analyzed, you know, and then he sent to +New York for his phosphates, his potashes, his muriates, and his +compound-super-universal panacea vegetates, and with all these bad-smelling +mixtures--his barn was like a big agricultural drug-store--he was going to +put into his skinned land just the elements lacking. In short, he gave his +soil a big dose of powders, and we all know the result. If he had given his +farm a pinch of snuff better crops ought to have been sneezed. No chemicals +and land doctors for me, thank you. Beg pardon, Marvin! no reflections on +your calling, but doctorin' land don't seem profitable for those who pay +for the medicine." + +They all laughed except Webb, who seemed nettled, but who quietly said, +"Squire, will you please tell us what your house is made of?" + +"Good lumber, sir." + +"Well, when passing one day, I saw a fine stalk of corn in one of your +fields. Will you also tell us what that was made of? It must have +weighed, with the ears upon it, several pounds, and it was all of six +feet high. How did it come into existence?" + +"Why, it grew," said the squire, sententiously. + +"That utterance was worthy of Solomon," remarked Dr. Marvin, laughing. + +"It grew," continued Webb, "because it found the needed material at hand. +I do not see how Nature can build a well-eared stalk of corn without +proper material any more than you could have built your house without +lumber. Suppose we have a soil in which the elements that make a crop of +corn do not exist, or are present in a very deficient degree, what course +is left for us but to supply what is lacking? Because Mr. Walters did not +do this in the right way, is no reason why we should do nothing. If soil +does not contain the ingredients of a crop, we must put them there, or +our labor goes for nothing". + +"Well, of course there's no gettin' around that; but yard manure is all I +want. It's like a square meal to a man, and not a bit of powder on his +tongue." + +"No one wants anything better than barn-yard manure for most purposes, +for it contains nearly all the elements needed by growing plants, and its +mechanical action is most beneficial to the soil. But how many acres will +you be able to cover with this fertilizer this spring?" + +"That's just the rub," the squire answered. "We use all we have, and when +I can pick it up cheap I buy some; but one can't cover a whole farm with +it, and so in spite of you some fields get all run out." + +"I don't think there's any need of their running out," said Leonard, +emphatically. "I agree with Webb in one thing, if I can't follow him in +all of his scientific theories--we have both decided never to let a +field grow poor, any more than we would permit a horse or cow to so lose +in flesh as to be nearly useless; therefore we not only buy fertilizers +liberally, but use all the skill and care within our power to increase +them. Barn-yard manure can be doubled in bulk and almost doubled in value +by composting with the right materials. We make the most of our peat +swamps, fallen leaves, and rubbish in general. Enough goes to waste on +many farms every year to keep several acres in good heart. But, as you +say, we cannot begin to procure enough to go over all the land from which +we are taking crops of some kind; therefore we maintain a rotation which +is adapted to our various soils, and every now and then plow under a +heavy green crop of clover, buckwheat, or rye. A green crop plowed under +is my great stand-by." + +"I plowed under a crop of buckwheat once," said the squire, discontentedly, +"and I didn't see much good from it, except that the ground was light and +mellow afterward." + +"That, at least, was a gain," Leonard continued; "but I can tell you why +your ground was not much benefited, and perhaps injured. You scarcely +plowed under a green crop, for I remember that the grain in your +buckwheat straw was partly ripe. It is the forming seed or grain that +takes the substance out of land. You should have plowed the buckwheat +under just as it was coming into blossom. Up to that time the chief +growth had been derived from the air, and there had been very little +drain upon the soil." + +"Well!" exclaimed the squire, incredulously, "I didn't know the air was +so nourishing." + +Webb had been showing increasing signs of disquietude during the last few +moments, and now said, with some emphasis: "It seems to me, squire, that +there is not much hope of our farming successfully unless we do know +something of the materials that make our crops, and the conditions under +which they grow. When you built your house you did not employ a man who +had only a vague idea of how it was to be constructed, and what it was to +be built of. Before your house was finished you had used lumber as your +chief material, but you also employed brick, stone, lime, sand, nails, +etc. If we examine a house, we find all these materials. If we wish to +build another house, we know we must use them in their proper proportions. +Now it is just as much a matter of fact, and is just as capable of proof, +that a plant of any kind is built up on a regular plan, and from +well-defined materials, as that a house is so built. The materials in +various houses differ just as the elements in different kinds of plants +vary. A man can decide what he will build of; Nature has decided forever +what she will build of. She will construct a stalk of corn or wheat with +its grain out of essentially the same materials to the end of time. Now +suppose one or more of these necessary ingredients is limited in the soil, +or has been taken from it by a succession of crops, what rational hope can +we have for a good crop unless we place the absent material in the ground, +and also put it there in a form suitable for the use of the plant?" + +"What you say sounds plausible enough," answered the squire, scratching +his head with the worried, perplexed air of a man convinced against his +will. "How was it, then, that Walters made such a mess of it? He had his +soil analyzed by a land doctor, and boasted that he was going to put into +it just what was lacking. His soil may not be lacking now, but his crops +are." + +"It is possible that there are quacks among land doctors, as you call +them, as well as among doctors of medicine", remarked Dr. Marvin. + +"Or doctors of theology," added the minister. + +"I looked into the Walters experiment somewhat carefully," Webb resumed, +"and the causes of his failure were apparent to any one who has given a +little study to the nature of soils and plant food. Some of his land +needs draining. The ground is sour and cold from stagnant water beneath +the surface, and the plant food which Nature originally placed in it is +inert and in no condition to be used. Nearly all of his uplands have been +depleted of organic or vegetable matter. He did not put into the soil all +that the plants needed, and the fact that his crops were poor proves it. +The materials he used may have been adulterated, or not in a form which +the plants could, assimilate at the time. Give Nature a soil in the right +mechanical condition--that is, light, mellow, moist, but not wet, and +containing the essential elements of a crop--and she will produce it +unless the season is so adverse that it cannot grow. I do not see how one +can hope to be successful unless he studies Nature's methods and learns +her needs, adapting his labor to the former, and supplying the latter. +For instance, nitrogen in the form of ammonia is so essential to our +crops that without it they could never come to maturity were all the +other elements of plant food present in excess. Suppose that for several +successive years we grow wheat upon a field with an average crop of +twenty-five bushels to the acre. This amount of grain with its straw will +take from the soil about fifty-one pounds of ammonia annually, and when +the nitrogen (which is the main element of ammonia) gives out, the wheat +will fail, although other plant food may be present in abundance. This is +one reason why dairy farms from which all the milk is sold often grow +poor. Milk is exceedingly rich in nitrogen, and through the milk the farm +is depleted of this essential element faster than it is replaced by +fertilizers. A man may thus be virtually selling his farm, or that which +gives it value, without knowing it." + +"But what's a man to do?" asked the squire, with a look of helpless +perplexity. "How is one to know when his land needs nitrogen or ammonia +and all the other kinds of plant food, as you call it, and how must he go +to work to get and apply it?" + +"You are asking large questions, squire," Webb replied, with a quiet +smile. "In the course of a year you decide a number of legal questions, +and I suppose read books, consult authorities, and use considerable +judgment. It certainly never would do for people to settle these +questions at hap-hazard or according to their own individual notions. +Their decisions might be reversed. Whatever the courts may do, Nature is +certain to reverse our decisions and bring to naught our action unless we +comply with her laws and requirements." + +The squire's experience coincided so truly with Webb's words that he +urged no further objections against accurate agricultural knowledge, even +though the information must be obtained in part at least from books and +journals. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +GOSSIP ABOUT BIRD-NEIGHBORS + + +"Doctor," said Mrs. Leonard, "Amy and I have been indulging in some +surmises over a remark you made the other day about the bluebirds. You +said the female was a cold, coy beauty, and that her mate would soon be +overburdened with family cares. Indeed, I think you rather reflected on +our sex as represented by Mrs. Bluebird." + +"I fear I cannot retract. The female bluebird is singularly devoid of +sentiment, and takes life in the most serious and matter-of-fact way. Her +nest and her young are all in all to her. John Burroughs, who is a very +close observer, says she shows no affection for the male and no pleasure +in his society, and if he is killed she goes in quest of another mate in +the most business-like manner, as one would go to a shop on an errand." + +"The heartless little jade!" cried Maggie, with a glance at Leonard which +plainly said that such was not her style at all. + +"Nevertheless," continued the doctor, "she awakens a love in her husband +which is blind to every defect. He is gallantry itself, and at the same +time the happiest and most hilarious of lovers. Since she insists on +building her nest herself, and having everything to her own mind, he does +not shrug his blue shoulders and stand indifferently or sullenly aloof. +He goes with her everywhere, flying a little in advance as if for +protection, inspects her work with flattering minuteness, applauds and +compliments continually. Indeed, he is the ideal French beau very much in +love." + +"In other words, the counterpart of Leonard," said Burt, at which they +all laughed. + +"But you spoke of his family cares," Webb remarked: "he contributes +something more than compliments, does he not?" + +"Indeed he does. He settles down into the most devoted of husbands and +fathers. The female usually hatches three broods, and as the season +advances he has his hands, or his beak rather, very full of business. I +think Burroughs is mistaken in saying that he is in most cases the +ornamental member of the firm. He feeds his wife as she sits on the nest, +and often the first brood is not out of the way before he has another to +provide for. Therefore he is seen bringing food to his wife and two sets +of children, and occasionally taking her place on the nest. Nor does he +ever get over his delusion that his mate is delighted with his song and +little gallantries, for he kepps them up also to the last. So he has to +be up early and late, and altogether must be a very tired little bird +when he gets a chance to put his head under his wing." + +"Poor little fellow! and to think that she doesn't care for him!" sighed +Amy, pityingly; and they all laughed so heartily that she bent her head +over her work to hide the rich color that stole into her face--all +laughed except Mr. Alvord, who, as usual, was an attentive and quiet +listener, sitting a little in the background, so that his face was in +partial shadow. Keen-eyed Maggie, whose sympathies were deeply enlisted +in behalf of her sad and taciturn neighbor, observed that he regarded Amy +with a close, wistful scrutiny, as if he were reading her thoughts. Then +an expression of anguish, of something like despair, flitted across his +face. "He has lavished the best treasures of his heart and life on some +one who did not care," was her mental comment. + +"You won't be like our little friend in blue, eh, Amy?" said old Mr. +Clifford; but with girlish shyness she would not reply to any such +question. + +"Don't take it so to heart, Miss Amy. Mr. B. is never disenchanted," the +doctor remarked. + +"I don't like Mrs. B. at all," said Maggie, decidedly; "and it seems to +me that I know women of whom she is a type--women whose whole souls are +engrossed with their material life. Human husbands are not so blind as +bluebirds, and they want something more than housekeepers and nurses in +their wives." + +"Excellent!" cried Rev. Mr. Barkdale; "you improve the occasion better +than I could. But, doctor, how about our callous widow bluebird finding +another mate after the mating season is over?" + +"There are always some bachelors around, unsuccessful wooers whose early +blandishments were vain." + +"And are there no respectable spinsters with whom they might take up as a +last resort?" Leonard queried. + +"No, none at all. Think of that, ye maiden of New England, where the +males are nearly all migrants and do not return! The only chance for a +bird-bachelor is to console some widow whom accident has bereaved of her +mate. Widowers also are ready for an immediate second marriage. Birds and +beasts of prey and boys--hey, Alf--bring about a good many step-parents." + +"Alf don't kill any little birds, do you, Alf?" asked his mother. + +"Well, not lately. You said they felt so bad over it But if they get over +it so easy as the doctor says--" + +"Now, doctor, you see the result of your scientific teaching." + +"Why, Mrs. Leonard, are you in sympathy with the priestcraft that would +keep people virtuous through ignorance?" said the minister, laughing. +"Alf must learn to do right, knowing all the facts. I don't believe he +will shy a stone at a bird this coming year unless it is in mischief." + +"Well," said Squire Bartley, who had relapsed into a half-doze as the +conversation lost its practical bent, "between the birds and boys I don't +see as we shall be able to raise any fruit before long. If our boys +hadn't killed about all the robins round our house last summer, I don't +think we'd 'a had a cherry or strawberry." + +"I'm afraid, squire," put in Webb, quietly, "that if all followed your +boys' example, insects would soon have the better of us. They are far +worse than the birds. I've seen it stated on good authority that a +fledgling robin eats forty per cent more than its own weight every +twenty-four hours, and I suppose it would be almost impossible to compute +the number of noxious worms and moths destroyed by a family of robins in +one season. They earn their share of fruit." + +"Webb is right, squire," added the doctor, emphatically. "Were it not for +the birds, the country would soon be as bare as the locusts left Egypt. +Even the crow, against which you are so vindictive, is one of your best +friends." + +"Oh, now, come, I can't swallow that. Crows pull up my corn, rob hens' +nests', carry off young chickens. They even rob the nests of the other +birds you're so fond of. Why, some state legislatures give a bounty for +their destruction." + +"If there had only been a bounty for killing off the legislators, the +states would have fared better," replied the doctor, with some heat. "It +can be proved beyond a doubt that the crow is unsurpassed by any other +bird in usefulness. He is one of the best friends you have." + +"Deliver me from my friends, then," said the squire, rising; and he +departed, with his prejudices against modern ideas and methods somewhat +confirmed. + +Like multitudes of his class, he observed in nature only that which was +forced upon his attention through the medium of immediate profit and +loss. The crows pulled up his corn, and carried off an occasional +chicken; the robins ate a little fruit; therefore death to crows and +robins. They all felt a certain sense of relief at his departure, for +while their sympathies touched his on the lower plane of mere utility and +money value, it would be bondage to them to be kept from other and higher +considerations. Moreover, in his own material sphere his narrow prejudices +were ever a jarring element that often exasperated Webb, who had been known +to mutter, "Such clods of earth bring discredit on our calling." + +Burt, with a mischievous purpose illuminating his face, remarked: "I'll +try to put the squire into a dilemma. If I can catch one of his boys +shooting robins out of season, I will lodge a complaint with him, and +insist on the fine;" and his design was laughingly applauded. + +"I admit," said Mr. Clifford, "that Webb has won me over to a toleration +of crows, but until late years I regarded them as unmitigated pests." + +"Undeserved enmity comes about in this way," Webb replied. "We see a crow +in mischief occasionally, and the fact is laid up against him. If we +sought to know what he was about when not in mischief, our views would +soon change. It would be far better to have a little corn pulled up than +to be unable to raise corn at all. Crows can be kept from the field +during the brief periods when they do harm, but myriads of grasshoppers +cannot be managed. Moreover, the crow destroys very many field-mice and +other rodents, but chief of all he is the worst enemy of the May-beetle +and its larvae. In regions of the country where the crow has been almost +exterminated by poison and other means, this insect has left the meadows +brown and sear, while grasshoppers have partially destroyed the most +valuable crops. Why can't farmers get out of their plodding, ox-like +ways, and learn to co-work with Nature like men?" + +"Hurrah for Webb!" cried Burt. "Who would have thought that the squire +and a crow could evoke such a peroration? That flower of eloquence surely +grew from a rank, dark soil." + +"Squire Bartley amuses me very much," said Mrs. Clifford, from the sofa, +with a low laugh. "He seems the only one who has the power to ruffle +Webb." + +"Little wonder," thought Amy, "for it would be hard to find two natures +more antagonistic." + +"It seems to me that this has been a very silent winter," the minister +remarked. "In my walks and drives of late I have scarcely heard the chirp +of a bird. Are there many that stay with us through this season, doctor?" + +"More than you would suppose. But you would not be apt to meet many of +them unless you sought for them. At this time they are gathered in +sheltered localities abounding in their favorite food. Shall I tell you +about some that I have observed throughout several successive winters?" + +Having received eager encouragement, he resumed: "My favorites, the +bluebirds, we have considered quite at length. They are very useful, for +their food in summer consists chiefly of the smaller beetles and the +larvae of little butterflies and moths. Many robins stay all winter. It +is a question of food, not climate, with them. In certain valleys of the +White Mountains there is an abundance of berries, and flocks of robins +feed on them all winter, although the cold reaches the freezing-point of +mercury. As we have said, they are among the most useful of the insect +destroyers. The golden-crested kinglet is a little mite of a bird, not +four inches long, with a central patch of orange-red on his crown. He +breeds in the far North, and wintering here is for him like going to the +South. In summer he is a flycatcher, but here he searches the bark of +forest trees with microscopic scrutiny for the larvae of insects. We all +know the lively black-capped chickadees that fly around in flocks +throughout the winter. Sometimes their search for food leads them into +the heart of towns and cities, where they are as bold and as much at home +as the English sparrow. They also gather around the camps of log-cutters +in the forest, become very tame, and plaintively cry for their share in +the meals. They remain all the year, nesting in decayed logs, posts, +stumps, and even in sides of houses, although they prefer the edge of a +wood. If they can find a hole to suit them, very well; if they can't, +they will make one. Their devotion to their young is remarkable. A nest +in a decayed stump was uncovered, and the mother bird twice taken off by +hand, and each time she returned and covered her brood. She uttered no +cries or complaints, but devotedly interposed her little form between +what must have seemed terrific monsters and her young, and looked at the +human ogres with the resolute eyes of self-sacrifice. If she could have +known it, the monsters only wished to satisfy their curiosity, and were +admiring her beyond measure. Chickadees are exceedingly useful birds, and +make great havoc among the insects. + +"Our next bird is merely a winter sojourner, for he goes north in spring +like the kinglet. The scientists, with a fine sense of the fitness of +things, have given him a name in harmony, _Troglodytes parvulus_, var. +_Hyemalis_." + +"What monster bird is this?" cried Amy. + +"He is about as big as your thumb, and ordinary mortals are content to +call him the winter wren. He is a saucy little atom of a bird, with his +tail pointing rakishly toward his head. I regret exceedingly to add that +he is but a winter resident with us, and we rarely hear his song. Mr. +Burroughs says that he is a 'marvellous songster,' his notes having a +'sweet rhythmical cadence that holds you entranced.' By the way, if you +wish to fall in love with birds, you should read the books of John +Burroughs. A little mite of a creature, like the hermit-thrush, he fills +the wild, remote woods of the North with melody, and has not been known +to breed further south than Lake Mohunk. The brown creeper and the +yellow-rumped warbler I will merely mention. Both migrate to the North in +the spring, and the latter is only an occasional winter resident. The +former is a queer little creature that alights at the base of a tree and +creeps spirally round and round to its very top, when it sweeps down to +the base of another tree to repeat the process. He is ever intent on +business. Purple finches are usually abundant in winter, though, not very +numerous in summer. I value them because they are handsome birds, and +both male and female sing in autumn and winter, when bird music is at a +premium. I won't speak of the Carolina wax-wing, _alias_ cedar or cherry +bird, now. Next June, when strawberries and cherries are ripe, we can +form his intimate acquaintance." + +"We have already made it, to the cost of both our patience and purse," +said Webb. "He is one of the birds for whom I have no mercy." + +"That is because you are not sufficiently acquainted with him. I admit +that he is an arrant thief of fruit, and that, as his advocate, I have a +difficult case. I shall not plead for him until summer, when he is in +such imminent danger of capital punishment He's a little beauty, though, +with his jaunty crest and gold-tipped tail. I shall not say one word in +favor of the next bird that I mention, the great Northern shrike, or +butcher-bird. He is not an honest bird of prey that all the smaller +feathered tribes know at a glance, like the hawk; he is a disguised +assassin, and possessed by the very demon of cruelty. He is a handsome +fellow, little over ten inches long, with a short, powerful beak, the +upper mandible sharply curved. His body is of a bluish-gray color, with +'markings of white' on his dusky wings and tail. Three shrikes once made +such havoc among the sparrows of Boston Common that it became necessary +to take much pains to destroy them. He is not only a murderer, but an +exceedingly treacherous one, for both Mr. Audubon and Mr. Nuttall speak +of his efforts to decoy little birds within his reach by imitating their +notes, and he does this so closely that he is called a mocking-bird in +some parts of New England. When he utters his usual note and reveals +himself, his voice very properly resembles the 'discordant creaking of a +sign-board hinge.' A flock of snow-birds or finches may be sporting and +feeding in some low shrubbery, for instance. They may hear a bird +approaching, imitating their own notes. A moment later the shrike will be +seen among them, causing no alarm, for his appearance is in his favor. +Suddenly he will pounce upon an unsuspecting neighbor, and with one blow +of his beak take off the top of its head, dining on its brains. If there +is a chance to kill several more, he will, like a butcher, hang his prey +on a thorn, or in the crotch of a tree, and return for his favorite +morsel when his hunt is over. After devouring the head of a bird he will +leave the body, unless game is scarce. It is well they are not plentiful, +or else our canary pets would be in danger, for a shrike will dart +through an open window and attack birds in cages, even when members of +the family are present. In one instance Mr. Brewer, the ornithologist, +was sitting by a closed window with a canary in a cage above his head, +and a shrike, ignorant of the intervening glass, dashed against the +window, and fell stunned upon the snow. He was taken in, and found to be +tame, but sullen. He refused raw meat, but tore and devoured little birds +very readily. As I said before, it is fortunate he is rare, though why he +is so I scarcely know. He may have enemies in the North, where he breeds; +for I am glad to say that he is only a winter resident. + +"It gives one a genuine sense of relief to turn from this Apache, this +treacherous scalper of birds, to those genuinely useful little songsters, +the tree and the song sparrow. The former is essentially a Northern bird, +and breeds in the high arctic regions. He has a fine song, which we hear +in early April as his parting souvenir. The song sparrow will be a great +favorite with you, Miss Amy, for he is one of our finest singers, whose +song resembles the opening notes of a canary, but has more sweetness and +expression. Those that remain with us depart for the North at the first +tokens of spring, and are replaced by myriads of other migrants that +usually arrive early in March. You will hear them some mild morning soon. +They are very useful in destroying the worst kinds of insects. A fit +associate for the song sparrow is the American goldfinch, or yellow-bird, +which is as destructive of the seeds of weeds as the former is of the +smaller insect pests. In summer it is of a bright gamboge yellow, with +black crown, wings, and tail. At this time he is a little olive-brown +bird, and mingles with his fellows in small flocks. They are sometimes +killed and sold as reed-birds. They are brilliant singers. + +"The snow-bird and snow-bunting are not identical by any means; indeed, +each is of a different genus. The bunting's true home is in the far +North, and it is not apt to be abundant here except in severe weather. +Specimens have been found, however, early in November, but more often +they appear with a late December snowstorm, their wild notes suggesting +the arctic wastes from which they have recently drifted southward. The +sleigh tracks on the frozen Hudson are among their favorite haunts, and +they are not often abundant in the woods on this side of the river. +Flocks can usually be found spending the winter along the railroad on the +eastern shore. Here they become very fat, and so begrimed with the dirt +and grease on the track that you would never associate them with the +snowy North. They ever make, however, a singular and pretty spectacle +when flying up between one and the late afternoon sun, for the predominant +white in their wings and tail seems almost transparent. They breed at the +extreme North, even along the Arctic Sea, in Greenland and Iceland, and are +fond of marine localities at all times. It's hard to realize that the +little fellows with whom we are now so familiar start within a month for +regions above the Arctic Circle. I once, when a boy, fired into a flock +feeding in a sleigh track on the ice of the river. Some of those that +escaped soon returned to their dead and wounded companions, and in their +solicitude would let me come very near, nor, unless driven away, would they +leave the injured ones until life was extinct. On another occasion I +brought some wounded ones home, and they ate as if starved, and soon became +very tame, alighting upon the table at mealtimes with a freedom from +ceremony which made it necessary to shut them up. They spent most of their +time among the house plants by the window, but toward spring the migratory +instinct asserted itself, and they became very restless, pecking at the +panes in their eagerness to get away. Soon afterward our little guests may +have been sporting on an arctic beach. An effort was once made in +Massachusetts to keep a wounded snow-bunting through the summer, but at +last it died from the heat. They are usually on the wing northward early in +March. + +"The ordinary snow-bird is a very unpretentious and familiar little +friend. You can find him almost any day from the 1st of October to the +1st of May, and may know him by his grayish or ashy black head, back, and +wings, white body underneath from the middle of his breast backward, and +white external tail-feathers. He is said to be abundant all over America +east of the Black Hills, and breeds as far south as the mountains of +Virginia. There are plenty of them in summer along the Shawangunk range, +just west of us, in the Catskills, and so northward above the Arctic +Circle. In the spring, before it leaves us, you will often hear its +pretty little song. They are very much afraid of hawks, which make havoc +among them at all times, but are fearless of their human--and especially +of their humane--neighbors. Severe weather will often bring them to our +very doors, and drive them into the outskirts of large cities. They are +not only harmless, but very useful, for they devour innumerable seeds, +and small insects with their larvae. Dear me! I could talk about birds +all night." + +"And we could listen to you," chorused several voices. + +"I never before realized that we had such interesting winter neighbors +and visitors," said Mrs. Clifford, and the lustre of her eyes and the +faint bloom on her cheeks proved how deeply these little children of +nature had enlisted her sympathies. + +"They are interesting, even when in one short evening I can give but in +bald, brief outline a few of their characteristics. Your words suggest +the true way of becoming acquainted with them. Regard them as neighbors +and guests, in the main very useful friends, and then you will naturally +wish to know more about them. In most instances they are quite susceptible +to kindness, and are ready to be intimate with us. That handsome bird, the +blue jay, so wild at the East, is as tame and domestic as the robin in many +parts of the West, because treated well. He is also a winter resident, and +one of the most intelligent birds in existence. Indeed, he is a genuine +humorist, and many amusing stories are told of his pranks. His powers of +mimicry are but slightly surpassed by those of the mocking-bird, and it is +his delight to send the smaller feathered tribes to covert by imitating the +cries of the sparrow, hawk, and other birds of prey. When so tame as to +haunt the neighborhood of dwellings, he is unwearied in playing his tricks +on domestic fowls, and they--silly creatures!--never learn to detect the +practical joke, for, no matter how often it is repeated, they hasten +panic-stricken to shelter. Wilson speaks of him as the trumpeter of the +feathered chorus, but his range of notes is very great, passing from harsh, +grating sounds, like the screeching of an unlubricated axle, to a warbling +as soft and modulated as that of a bluebird, and again, prompted by his +mercurial nature, screaming like a derisive fish-wife. Fledglings will +develop contentedly in a cage, and become tame and amusing pets. They will +learn to imitate the human voice and almost every other familiar sound. A +gentleman in South Carolina had one that was as loquacious as a parrot, and +could utter distinctly several words. In this region they are hunted, and +too shy for familiar acquaintance. When a boy, I have been tantalized +almost beyond endurance by them, and they seemed to know and delight in the +fact. I was wild to get a shot at them, but they would keep just out of +range, mocking me with discordant cries, and alarming all the other game in +the vicinity. They often had more sport than I. It is a pity that the small +boy with his gun cannot be taught to let them alone. If they were as +domestic and plentiful as robins, they would render us immense service. A +colony of jays would soon destroy all the tent-caterpillars on your place, +and many other pests. In Indiana they will build in the shrubbery around +dwellings, but we usually hear their cries from mountain-sides and distant +groves. Pleasant memories of rambles and nutting excursions they always +awaken. The blue jay belongs to the crow family, and has all the brains of +his black-coated and more sedate cousins. At the North, he will, like a +squirrel, lay up for winter a hoard of acorns and beech mast. An +experienced bird-fancier asserts that he found the jay 'more ingenious, +cunning, and teachable than any other species of birds that he had ever +attempted to instruct.' + +"One of our most beautiful and interesting winter visitants is the pine +grosbeak. Although very abundant in some seasons, even extending its +migrations to the latitude of Philadelphia, it is irregular, and only the +coldest weather prompts its excursions southward. The general color of +the males is a light carmine, or rose, and if only plentiful they would +make a beautiful feature in our snowy landscape. As a general thing, the +red tints are brighter in the American than in the European birds. The +females, however, are much more modest in their plumage, being ash-colored +above, with a trace of carmine behind their heads and upon their upper tail +coverts, and sometimes tinged with greenish-yellow beneath. The females are +by far our more abundant visitants, for in the winter of '75 I saw numerous +flocks, and not over two per cent were males in red plumage. Still, strange +to say, I saw a large flock of adult males the preceding November, feeding +on the seeds of a Norway spruce before our house. Oh, what a brilliant +assemblage they made among the dark branches! In their usual haunts they +live a very retired life. The deepest recesses of the pine forests at the +far North are their favorite haunts, and here the majority generally remain +throughout the year. In these remote wilds is bred the fearlessness of man +which is the result of ignorance, for they are among the tamest of all wild +birds, finding, in this respect, their counterpart in the American red +cross-bill, another occasional cold-weather visitant. For several winters +the grosbeaks were exceedingly abundant in the vicinity of Boston, and were +so tame that they could be captured in butterfly nets, and knocked down +with poles. The markets became full of them, and many were caged. While +tame they were very unhappy in confinement, and as spring advanced their +mournful cries over their captivity became incessant. They can be kept as +pets, however, and will often sing in the night. Mr. Audubon observed that +when he fired at one of their number, the others, instead of flying away, +would approach within a few feet, and gaze at him with undisguised +curiosity, unmingled with fear. I have seen some large flocks this winter, +and a few fed daily on a bare plot of ground at the end of our piazza. I +was standing above this plot one day, when a magnificent red male flew just +beneath my feet and drank at a little pool. I never saw anything more +lovely in my life than the varying sheen of his brilliant tropical-like +plumage. He was like a many-hued animated flower, and was so fearless that +I could have touched him with a cane. One very severe, stormy winter the +grosbeaks fairly crowded the streets of Pictou. A gentleman took one of +these half-starved birds into his room, where it lived at large, and soon +became the tamest and most affectionate of pets. But in the spring, when +its mates were migrating north, Nature asserted herself, and it lost its +familiarity, and filled the house with its piteous wailings, refused food, +and sought constantly to escape. When the grosbeaks are with us you would +not be apt to notice them unless you stumbled directly upon them, for they +are the most silent of birds, which is remarkable, since the great majority +of them are females". + +"That is just the reason why they are so still," remarked Mrs. Leonard. +"Ladies never speak unless they have something to say." + +"Far be it from me to contradict you. The lady grosbeaks certainly have +very little to say to one another, though when mating in their secluded +haunts they probably express their preferences decidedly. If they have an +ear for music, they must enjoy their wooing immensely, for there is +scarcely a lovelier song than that of the male grosbeak. I never heard it +but once, and may never again; but the thrill of delight that I experienced +that intensely cold March day can never be forgotten. I was following the +course of a stream that flowed at the bottom of a deep ravine, when, most +unexpectedly, I heard a new song, which proceeded from far up the glen. The +notes were loud, rich, and sweet, and I hastened on to identify the new +vocalist. I soon discovered a superb red pine grosbeak perched on the top +of a tall hemlock. His rose-colored plumage and mellow notes on that bleak +day caused me to regret exceedingly that he was only an uncertain and +transient visitor to our region. + +"We have a large family of resident hawks in this vicinity; indeed, there +are nine varieties of this species of bird with us at this time, although +some of them are rarely seen. The marsh-hawk has a bluish or brown +plumage, and in either case is distinguished by a patch of white on its +upper tail coverts. You would not be apt to meet with it except in its +favorite haunts. I found a nest in the centre of Consook Marsh, below +West Point. It was a rude affair. The nests of this hawk are usually made +of hay, lined with pine needles, and sometimes at the North with +feathers. This bird is found nearly everywhere in North America, and +breeds as high as Hudson Bay. In the marshes on the Delaware it is often +called the mouse-hawk, for it sweeps swiftly along the low ground in +search of a species of mouse common in that locality. It is said to be +very useful in the Southern rice-fields, since, as it sails low, it +interrupts the flocks of bobolinks, or rice-birds, in their depredations. +Planters say that one marsh-hawk accomplishes more than several negroes +in alarming these greedy little gourmands. In this region they do us no +practical harm. + +"Our most abundant hawk is the broad-winged, which will measure about +thirty-six inches with wings extended. The plumage of this bird is so +dusky as to impart a prevalent brownish color, and the species is +distributed generally over eastern North America. Unlike the marsh-hawk, +it builds in trees, and Mr. Audubon describes a nest as similar to that +of the crow--a resemblance easily accounted for by the frequency with +which this hawk will repair crows' nests of former years for its own use. +I once shot one upon such a nest, from which I had taken crows' eggs the +preceding summer. I had only wounded the bird, and he clawed me severely +before I was able to capture him. I once took a fledgling from a nest, +and he became very fond of me, and quite gentle, but he would not let any +one else handle him. On another occasion, when I was examining a nest, +the male bird flew to a branch just over it, uttering loud, squealing +cries, thence darted swiftly past me, and so close that I could feel the +rush of air made by his wings; then he perched near again, and threatened +me in every way he could, extending his wings, inclining his head and +body toward me, making meanwhile a queer whistling sound. Only when I +reached the nest would the female leave it, and then she withdrew but a +short distance, returning as soon as I began to descend. The devotion of +these wild creatures to their young is often marvellous. Mr. Audubon +describes this hawk as 'spiritless, inactive, and so deficient in courage +that he is often chased by the little sparrow-hawk and kingbird.' Another +naturalist dissents emphatically from this view, and regards the +broad-winged as the most courageous and spirited of his family, citing an +instance of a man in his employ who, while ascending to a nest, was +assailed with great fury. His hat was torn from his head, and he would +have been injured had not the bird been shot. He also gives another +example of courage in an attack by this hawk upon a boy seeking to rob +its nest. It fastened its talons in his arm, and could not be beaten off +until it was killed. Perhaps both naturalists are right. It is brave and +fierce when its home is disturbed, and lacks the courage to attack other +birds of its own kind. At any rate, it has no hesitancy in making +hawk-love to chickens and ducklings, but as a rule subsists on insects +and small quardrupeds. It is not a very common winter resident, but early +in March it begins to come northward in flocks. + +"Next to the broad-winged, the sharp-shinned is our most abundant hawk, +and is found throughout the entire continent from Hudson Bay to Mexico. It +usually builds its nest in trees, and occasionally on ledges of rocks, +and as a general thing takes some pains in its construction. Its domicile +approaches the eagle's nest in form, is broad and shallow, and made of +sticks and twigs lined thinly with dried leaves, mosses, etc. A full-grown +female--which, as I told you once before, is always larger than the male +among birds of prey--measures about twenty-six inches with wings extended. +It is lead-colored above, and lighter beneath. You can easily recognize +this hawk by its short wings, long tail, and swift, irregular flight. One +moment it is high in the air, the next it disappears in the grass, having +seized the object of its pursuit. It is capable of surprisingly sudden +dashes, and its pursuit is so rapid that escape is wellnigh hopeless. It is +not daunted by obstacles. Mr. Audubon saw one dart into a thicket of +briers, strike and instantly kill a thrush, and emerge with it on the +opposite side. It often makes havoc among young chickens. One came every +day to a poultry-yard until it had carried off over twenty. It does not +hesitate to pounce down upon a chicken even in the farmer's presence; and +one, in a headlong pursuit, broke through the glass of a greenhouse, then +dashed through another glass partition, and was only brought up by a third. +Pigeons are also quite in its line. Indeed, it is a bold red-taloned +freebooter, and only condescends to insects and the smaller reptiles when +there are no little birds at hand. During the spring migration this hawk +is sometimes seen in large flocks. + +"The American goshawk is the next bird of this family that I will +mention, and I am very glad to say that he is only a winter resident. He +is the dreaded blue hen-hawk of New England, and is about twenty-three +inches long, and forty-four from tip to tip of wings. One good authority +says that for strength, intrepidity, and fury he cannot be surpassed. He +will swoop down into a poultry-yard and carry off a chicken almost before +you can take a breath. He is swift, cunning, and adroit rather than +heedless and headlong, like the sharp-shinned hawk, and although the +bereaved farmer may be on the alert with his gun, this marauder will +watch his chance, dash into the yard, then out again with his prey, so +suddenly that only the despairing cries of the fowl reveal the murderous +onslaught. In western Maine this hawk is very common. A housewife will +hear a rush of wings and cries of terror, and can only reach the door in +time to see one of these robbers sailing off with the finest of her +pullets. Hares and wild-ducks are favorite game also. The goshawk will +take a mallard with perfect ease, neatly and deliberately strip off the +feathers, and then, like an epicure, eat the breast only. Audubon once +saw a large flock of blackbirds crossing the Ohio. Like an arrow a +goshawk darted upon them, while they, in their fright, huddled together. +The hawk seized one after another, giving each a death-squeeze, then +dropping it into the water. In this way he killed five before the flock +escaped into the woods. He then leisurely went back, picked them up one +by one, and carried them to the spot selected for his lunch. With us, I +am happy to say, he is shy and distant, preferring the river marshes to +the vicinity of our farmyards. He usually takes his prey while swooping +swiftly along on the wing. + +"Have we any hawks similar to those employed in the old-time falconry of +Europe?" Webb asked. + +"Yes; our duck or great-footed hawk is almost identical with the +well-known peregrine falcon of Europe. It is a permanent resident, and +breeds on the inaccessible cliffs of the Highlands, although preferring +similar localities along a rocky sea-coast. There is no reason to doubt +that our duck-hawk might be trained for the chase as readily as its +foreign congener. It has the same wonderful powers of flight, equal +docility in confinement, and can be taught to love and obey its master. I +have often wondered why falconry has not been revived, like other ancient +sports. The Germans are said to have employed trained hawks to capture +carrier-pigeons that were sent out with missives by the French during the +siege of Paris. In a few instances the duck-hawk has been known to nest +in trees. It is a solitary bird, and the sexes do not associate except at +the breeding season. While it prefers water-fowl, it does not confine +itself to them. I shot one on a Long Island beach and found in its crop +whole legs of the robin, Alice's thrush, catbird, and warblers. It +measures about forty-five inches in the stretch of its wings, and its +prevailing color is of a dark blue. + +"The pigeon-hawk is not very rare at this season. Professor Baird +describes this bird as remarkable for its rapid flight, its courage, and +its enterprise in attacking birds even larger than itself. This accords +with my experience, for my only specimen was shot in the act of destroying +a hen. He is about the size of our common flicker, or high-holder, which +bird, with robins, pigeons, and others of similar size, is his favorite +game. The sparrow-hawk is rare at this time, and is only abundant +occasionally during its migrations. The red-shouldered hawk is a handsome +bird, with some very good traits, and is a common permanent resident. +Unless hunted, these birds are not shy, and they remain mated throughout +the year. Many a human pair might learn much from their affectionate and +considerate treatment of each other. They do not trouble poultry-yards, and +are fond of frogs, cray-fish, and even insects. Occasionally they will +attack birds as large as a meadow-lark. They have a high and very irregular +flight, but occasionally they so stuff themselves with frogs that they can +scarcely move. Wilson found one with the remains of ten frogs in his crop. + +"Last among the winter residents I can merely mention the red-tailed +hawk, so named from the deep rufus color of its tail feathers. It is a +heavy, robust bird, and while it usually feeds on mice, moles, and shrews +that abound in meadows, its depredations on farmyards are not infrequent. +It is widely distributed throughout the continent, and abundant here. It +is a powerful bird, and can compass long distances with a strong, steady +flight, often moving with no apparent motion of the wings. It rarely +seizes its prey while flying, like the goshawk, but with its keen vision +will inspect the immediate vicinity from the branch of a tree, and thence +dart upon it. It is not particular as to its food. Insects, birds, and +reptiles are alike welcome game, and in summer it may be seen carrying a +writhing snake through the air. While flying it utters a very harsh, +peculiar, and disagreeable scream, and by some is called the squealing +hawk. The social habits of this bird are in appropriate concord with its +voice. After rearing their young the sexes separate, and are jealous of +and hostile to each other. It may easily happen that if the wife of the +spring captures any prey, her former mate will struggle fiercely for its +possession, and the screaming clamor of the fight will rival a conjugal +quarrel in the Bowery. In this respect they form an unpleasing contrast +with the red-shouldered hawks, among whom marriage is permanent, and +maintained with lover-like attentions. Thus it would appear that there +are contrasts of character even in the hawk world; and when you remember +that we have fifteen other varieties of this bird, besides the nine I +have mentioned, you may think that nature, like society, is rather +prodigal in hawks. As civilization advances, however, innocence stands a +better chance. At least this is true of the harmless song-birds. + +"I have now given you free-hand sketches of the great majority of our +winter residents, and these outlines are necessarily very defective from +their brevity as well as for other reasons. I have already talked an +unconscionably long time; but what else could you expect from a man with +a hobby? As it is, I am not near through, for the queer little +white-bellied nut-hatch, and his associates in habits, the downy, the +hairy, the golden-winged, and the yellow-bellied woodpeckers, and four +species of owls, are also with us at this season. With the bluebirds the +great tide of migration has already turned northward, and all through +March, April, and May I expect to greet the successive arrivals of old +friends every time I go out to visit my patients. I can assure you that I +have no stupid, lonely drives, unless the nights are dark and stormy. +Little Johnnie, I see, has gone to sleep. I must try to meet some fairies +and banshees in the moonlight for her benefit But, Alf, I'm delighted to +see you so wide-awake. Shooting birds as game merely is very well, but +capturing them in a way to know all about them is a sport that is always +in season, and would grow more and more absorbing if you lived a thousand +years." + +A bent for life was probably given to the boy's mind that night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +FISHING THROUGH THE ICE + + +Every day through the latter part of February the sun grew higher, and +its rays more potent. The snow gave rapidly in warm southern nooks and +slopes, and the icicles lengthened from the eaves and overhanging rocks, +forming in many instances beautiful crystal fringes. On northern slopes +and shaded places the snow scarcely wasted at all, and Amy often wondered +how the vast white body that covered the earth could ever disappear in +time for spring. But there soon came a raw, chilly, cloudy day, with a +high south wind, and the snow sank away, increasing the apparent height +of the fences, and revealing objects hitherto hidden, as if some magic +were at work. + +"I have always observed," said Mr. Clifford, "that a day like this, raw +and cold as it seems, does more to carry off the snow than a week of +spring sunshine, although it may be warm for the season. What is more, +the snow is wasted evenly, and not merely on sunny slopes. The wind seems +to soak up the melting snow like a great sponge, for the streams are not +perceptibly raised." + +"The air does take it up the form of vapor," said Webb, "and that is why +we have such a chilly snow atmosphere. Rapidly melting snow tends to +lower the temperature proportionately, just as ice around a form of +cream, when made to melt quickly the addition of salt, absorbs all heat +in its vicinity so fast that the cream is congealed. But this accumulation +of vapor in the air must come down again, perhaps in the form of snow, and +so there will be no apparent gain." + +"If no apparent gain, could there be a real gain by another fall of +snow?" Amy asked; for to inexperienced eyes there certainly seemed more +than could be disposed of in time for April flowers. + +"Yes," he replied, "a fall of snow might make this whole section warmer +for a time, and so hasten spring materially. Do not worry. We shall have +plenty of snowstorms yet, and still spring will be here practically on +time." + +But instead of snow the vapor-burdened air relieved itself by a rain of +several hours' duration, and in the morning the river that had been so +white looked icy and glistening, and by the aid of a glass was seen to be +covered with water, which rippled under the rising breeze. The following +night was clear and cold, and the surface of the bay became a comparatively +smooth glare of ice. At dinner next day Webb remarked: + +"I hear that they are catching a good many striped bass through the ice, +and I learned that the tide would be right for them to raise the nets +this afternoon. I propose, Amy, that we go down and see the process, and +get some of the fish direct from the water for supper." + +Burt groaned, and was almost jealous that during his enforced confinement +so many opportunities to take Amy out fell naturally to Webb. The latter, +however, was so entirely fraternal in his manner toward the young girl +that Burt was ever able to convince himself that his misgivings were +absurd. + +Webb was soon ready, and had provided himself with his skates and a small +sleigh with a back. When they arrived at the landing he tied his horse, +and said: + +"The ice is too poor to drive on any longer, I am informed, but perfectly +safe still for foot-passengers. As a precaution we will follow the tracks +of the fishermen, and I will give you a swift ride on this little sledge, +in which I can wrap you up well." + +Like most young men brought up in the vicinity, he was a good and powerful +skater, and Amy was soon enjoying the exhilarating sense of rapid motion +over the smooth ice, with a superb view of the grand mountains rising on +either side of the river a little to the south. They soon reached the nets, +which stretched across the river through narrow longitudinal cuts so as to +be at right angles to each tide, with which the fish usually swim. These +nets are such in shape as were formerly suspended between the old-fashioned +shad-poles, and are sunk perpendicularly in the water by weights at each +end, so that the meshes are expanded nearly to their full extent. The fish +swim into these precisely as do the shad, and in their attempts to back out +their gills catch, and there they hang. + +The nests are about twelve feet square, and the meshes of different nets +are from to and a half to five and a quarter inches in size. A bass of +nine pounds' weight can be "gilled" in the ordinary manner; but in one +instance a fish weighing one hundred and two pounds was caught, and +during the present season they were informed that a lucky fisherman at +Marlborough had secured "a 52-pounder." These heavy fellows, it was +explained, "would go through a net like a cannon-ball" if they came "head +on," and with ordinary speed; but if they are playing around gently, the +swift tide carries them sidewise into the "slack of the net," from which +they seem unable to escape. There are usually about forty-five feet +between the surface of the water and the top of the nets, therefore the +fish are caught at an average depth of fifty feet. The best winter +fishing is from December to March, and as many as one hundred and seventy +pounds, or about two hundred bass, have been taken in twenty-four hours +from one line of nets; at other times the luck is very bad, for the fish +seem to run in streaks. + +The luck was exceedingly moderate on the present occasion, but enough +fish were caught to satisfy Webb's needs. As they were watching the +lifting of the nets and angling for information, they saw an ice-boat +slowly and gracefully leaving the landing, and were told that since the +ice had grown thin it had taken the place of the sleigh in which the +passengers were conveyed to and from the railroad station on the further +shore. The wind, being adverse, necessitated several tacks, and on one of +them the boat passed so near Webb and Amy that they recognized Mr. +Barkdale, the clergyman, who, as he sped by, saluted them. When the boat +had passed on about an eighth of a mile, it tacked so suddenly and +sharply that the unwary minister was rolled out upon the ice. The speed +and impetus of the little craft were so great that before it could be +brought up it was about half a mile away, and the good man was left in +what might be a dangerous isolation, for ice over which the boat could +skim in security might be very unsafe under the stationary weight of a +solidly built man like Mr. Barkdale. Webb therefore seized a pole +belonging to one of the fishermen, and came speedily to the clergyman's +side. Happily the ice, although it had wasted rapidly from the action of +the tide in that part of the river, sustained them until the boat +returned, and the good man resumed his journey with laughing words, by +which he nevertheless conveyed to Webb his honest gratitude for the +promptness with which the young fellow had shared his possible danger. +When Webb returned he found Amy pale and agitated, for an indiscreet +fisherman had remarked that the ice was "mighty poor out in that +direction." + +"Won't you please come off the river?" she asked, nervously. "I've seen +all I wish." + +"It's perfectly safe here." + +"But you were not here a moment since, and I've no confidence in your +discretion when any one is in danger." + +"I did not run any risks worth speaking of." + +"I think you did. The men explained, in answer to my questions, that the +ice toward spring becomes honeycombed--that's the way they expressed +it--and lets one through without much warning. They also said the tides +wore it away underneath about as fast as the rain and sun wasted the +surface." + +"Supposing it had let me through, I should have caught on the pole, and +so have easily scrambled out, while poor Mr. Barkdale would have been +quite helpless." + +"Oh, I know it was right for you to go, and I know you will go again +should there be the slightest occasion. Therefore I am eager to reach +solid ground. Please, Webb." + +Her tone was so earnest that he complied, and they were soon in the +sleigh again. As they were driving up the hill she turned a shy glance +toward him, and said, hesitatingly: "Don't mistake me, Webb. I am proud +to think that you are so brave and uncalculating at times; but then I--I +never like to think that you are in danger. Remember how very much you +are to us all." + +"Well, that is rather a new thought to me. Am I much to you?" + +"Yes, you are," she said, gravely and earnestly, looking him frankly in +the face. "From the first moment you spoke to me as 'sister Amy' you made +the relation seem real. And then your manner is so strong and even that +it's restful to be with you. You may give one a terrible fright, as you +did me this afternoon, but you would never make one nervous." + +His face flushed with deep pleasure, but he made good her opinion by +quietly changing the subject, and giving her a brisk, bracing drive over +one of her favorite roads. + +All at the supper table agreed that the striped bass were delicious, and +Burt, as the recognized sportsman of the family, had much to say about +the habits of this fine game fish. Among his remarks he explained that +the "catch" was small at present because the recent rain and melting snow +had made the water of the river so fresh that the fish had been driven +back toward the sea. "But they reascend," he said, "as soon as the +freshet subsides. They are a sea fish, and only ascend fresh-water +streams for shelter in winter, and to breed in spring. They spawn in May, +and by August the little fish will weigh a quarter of a pound. A good +many are taken with seines after the ice breaks up, but I never had any +luck with pole and line in the river. While striped bass are found all +along the coast from Florida to Cape Cod, the largest fish are taken +between the latter place and Montauk Point. I once had some rare sport +off the east end of Long Island. I was still-fishing, with a pole and +reel, and fastened on my hook a peeled shedder crab. My line was of +linen, six hundred feet long, and no heavier than that used for trout, +but very strong. By a quick movement which an old bass-fisherman taught +me I made my bait dart like an arrow straight over the water more than +one hundred feet, my reel at the same moment whirling, in paying out, as +if it would fuse from friction. Well, I soon hooked a fifty-pound fish, +and we had a tussle that I shall never forget. It took me an hour to tire +him out, and I had to use all the skill I possessed to keep him from +breaking the line. It was rare sport, I can tell you--the finest bit of +excitement I ever had fishing;" and the young fellow's eyes sparkled at +the memory. + +Strange as it may appear to some, his mother shared most largely in his +enthusiasm. The reason was that, apart from the interest which she took +in the pleasure of all her children, she lived much in her imagination, +which was unusually strong, and Burt's words called up a marine picture +with an athletic young fellow in the foreground all on the _qui +vive_, his blue eyes flashing with the sparkle and light of the sea as +he matched his skill and science against a creature stronger than +himself. "Are larger bass ever taken with rod and line?" she asked. + +"Yes, one weighing seventy-five pounds has been captured. Jupiter! what +sport it must have been!" + +"How big do they grow, anyhow?" Leonard queried. + +"To almost your size, Len, and that's a heavy compliment to the bass. +They have been known to reach the weight of one hundred and fifty +pounds." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +PLANNING AND OPENING THE CAMPAIGN + + +The last day of February was clear, cloudless, and cold, the evening +serene and still. Winter's tempestuous course was run, its icy breath +apparently had ceased, and darkness closed on its quiet, pallid face. +"March came in like a lamb"--an ominous circumstance for the future +record of this month of most uncertain weather, according to the +traditions of the old weather-prophets. The sun rose clear and warm, the +snow sparkled and melted, the bluebirds rejoiced, and their soft notes of +mutual congratulation found many echoes among their human neighbors. By +noon the air was wonderfully soft and balmy, and Webb brought in a number +of sprays from peach-trees cut in different parts of the place, and +redeemed his promise to Amy, showing her the fruit germs, either green, +or rather of a delicate gold-color, or else blackened by frost. She was +astonished to find how perfect the embryo blossom appeared under the +microscope. It needed no glass, however, to reveal the blackened heart of +the bud, and Webb, having cut through a goodly number, remarked: "It +would now appear as if nature had performed a very important labor for +us, for I find about eight out of nine buds killed. It will save us +thinning the fruit next summer, for if one-ninth of the buds mature into +peaches they will not only bring more money, but will measure more by the +bushel." + +"How can one peach measure more than eight peaches?" + +"By being larger than the eight. If all these buds grew into peaches, and +were left on these slender boughs, the tree might be killed outright by +overbearing, and would assuredly be much injured and disfigured by broken +limbs and exhaustion, while the fruit itself would be so small and poor +as to be unsalable. Thousands of trees annually perish from this cause, +and millions of peaches are either not picked, or, if marketed, may bring +the grower into debt for freight and other expenses. A profitable crop of +peaches can only be grown by careful hand-thinning when they are as large +as marbles, unless the frost does the work for us by killing the greater +part of the buds. It is a dangerous ally, however, for our constant fear +is that it will destroy _all_ the buds. There are plenty left yet, and I +find that cherry, apple, plum, and pear buds are still safe. Indeed, +there is little fear for them as long as peach buds are not entirely +destroyed, for they are much hardier." + +In the afternoon Burt, who had become expert in the use of crutches, +determined on an airing, and invited Amy to join him. "I now intend to +begin giving you driving lessons," he said. "You will soon acquire entire +confidence, for skill, far more than strength, is required. As long as +one keeps cool and shows no fear there is rarely danger. Horses often +catch their senseless panic from their drivers, and, even when frightened +with good cause, can usually be reassured by a few quiet words and a firm +rein." + +Amy was delighted at the prospect of a lesson in driving, especially as +Bart, because of his lameness, did not venture to take his over-spirited +steed Thunder. She sincerely hoped, however, that he would confine his +thoughts and attentions to the ostensible object of the drive, for his +manner at times was embarrassingly ardent. Burt was sufficiently politic +to fulfil her hope, for he had many other drives in view, and had +discovered that attentions not fraternal were unwelcome to Amy. With a +self-restraint and prudence which he thought most praiseworthy and +sagacious, but which were ludicrous in their limitations, he resolved to +take a few weeks to make the impression which he had often succeeded in +producing in a few hours, judging from the relentings and favors received +in a rather extended career of gallantry, although it puzzled the young +fellow that he could have been so fascinated on former occasions. He +merely proposed that now she should enjoy the drive so thoroughly that +she would wish to go again, and his effort met with entire success. + +During the first week of March there were many indications of the opening +campaign on the Clifford farm. There was the overhauling and furbishing +of weapons, otherwise tools, and the mending or strengthening of those in +a decrepit state. A list of such additional ones as were wanted was made +at this time, and an order sent for them at once. Amy also observed that +practical Leonard was conning several catalogues of implements. "Len is +always on the scent of some new patent hoe or cultivator," Burt remarked. +"My game pays better than yours," was the reply, "for the right kind of +tools about doubles the effectiveness of labor." + +The chief topic of discussion and form of industry at this time were the +pruning and cleansing of trees, and Amy often observed Webb from her +windows in what seemed to her most perilous positions in the tops of +apple and other trees, with saw and pruning shears or nippers--a light +little instrument with such a powerful leverage that a good-sized bough +could be lopped away by one slight pressure of the hand. + +"It seems to me," remarked Leonard, one evening, "that there is much +diversity of opinion in regard to the time and method of trimming trees. +While the majority of our neighbors prune in March, some say fall or +winter is the best time. Others are in favor of June, and in some paper +I've read, 'Prune when your knife is sharp.' As for cleansing the bark of +the trees, very few take the trouble." + +"Well," replied his father, "I've always performed these labors in March +with good results. I have often observed that taking off large limbs from +old and feeble trees is apt to injure them. A decay begins at the point +of amputation and extends down into the body of the tree. Sap-suckers and +other wood peckers, in making their nests, soon excavate this rotten wood +back into the trunk, to which the moisture of every storm is admitted, +and the life of the tree is shortened." + +At this point Webb went out, and soon returned with something like +exultation blending with his usually grave expression. + +"I think father's views are correct, and I have confirmation here in +autograph letters from three of the most eminent horticulturists in the +world--" + +"Good gracious, Webb! don't take away our breath in that style," +exclaimed Burt. "Have you autograph letters from several autocrats also?" + +As usual Webb ignored his brother's nonsense, and resumed: "The first is +from the Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, President of the American Pomological +Society, and is as follows: 'I prune my trees early in March, as soon as +the heavy frosts are over, when the sap is dormant. If the branch is +large I do not cut quite close in, and recut close in June, when the +wound heals more readily. I do not approve of rigorous pruning of old +trees showing signs of feebleness. Such operations would increase +decline--only the dead wood should be removed, the loss of live wood +depriving old trees of the supply of sap which they need for support. +Grafting-wax is good to cover the wounds of trees, or a thick paint of +the color of the bark answers well. Trees also may be pruned in safety in +June after the first growth is made--then the wounds heal quickly.' + +"The next letter is from Mr. Charles Downing, editor of 'The Fruits and +Fruit-Trees of America.' 'When the extreme cold weather is over,' he +says, 'say the last of February or first of March, begin to trim trees, +and finish as rapidly as convenient. Do not trim a tree too much at one +time, and cut no large limbs if possible, but thin out the small +branches. If the trees are old and bark-bound, scrape off the roughest +bark and wash the bodies and large limbs with whale-oil soap, or +soft-soap such as the farmers make, putting it on quite thick. Give the +ground plenty of compost manure, bone-dust, ashes, and salt. The best and +most convenient preparation for covering wounds is gum-shellac dissolved +in alcohol to the thickness of paint, and put on with a brush.' The last +is from Mr. Patrick Barry, of the eminent Rochester firm, and author of +'The Fruit Garden.' 'In our climate pruning may be done at convenience, +from the fall of the leaf until the 1st of April. In resuscitating old +neglected apple-trees, _rigorous_ pruning may be combined with plowing +and manuring of the ground. For covering wounds made in pruning, nothing +is better than common grafting wax laid on warm with a brush.' Hon P. T. +Quinn, in his work on 'Pear Culture,' writes: 'On our own place we begin +to prune our pear-trees from the 1st to the 15th of March, and go on with +the work through April. It is not best to do much cutting, except on very +young trees, while the foliage is coming out.'" + +"Well," remarked Leonard, "I can go to work to-morrow with entire +content; and very pleasant work it is, too, especially on the young +trees, where by a little forethought and a few cuts one can regulate the +form and appearance of the future tree." + +"How is that possible?" Amy asked. + +"Well, you see there are plenty of buds on all the young branches, and we +can cut a branch just above the bud we wish to grow which will continue +to grow in the direction in which it points. Thus we can shape each +summer's growth in any direction we choose." + +"How can you be sure to find a bud just where you want it?" + +"I know we always do." + +"Of course we do," said Webb, "for buds are arranged spirally on trees +in mathematical order. On most trees it is termed-the 'five-ranked +arrangement,' and every bud is just two-fifths of the circumference of the +stem from the next. This will bring every sixth bud or leaf over the first, +or the one we start with. Thus in the length of stem occupied by five buds +you have buds facing in five different directions--plenty of choice for +all pruning purposes." + +"Oh, nonsense, Webb; you are too everlastingly scientific. Buds and +leaves are scattered at haphazard all over the branches." + +"That shows you observe at haphazard. Wait, and I'll prove I'm right;" +and he seized his hat and went out. Returning after a few minutes with +long, slender shoots of peach, apple, and pear trees, he said: "Now put +your finger on any bud, and count. See if the sixth bud does not stand +invariably over the one you start from, and if the intervening buds do +not wind spirally twice around the stem, each facing in a different +direction." + +The result proved Webb to be right. He laughed, and said: "There, Len, +you've seen buds and branches for over forty years, and never noticed +this. Here, Alf, you begin right, and learn to see things just as they +are. There's no telling how often accurate knowledge may be useful." + +"But, Webb, all plants have not the five-ranked arrangement, as you term +it," his mother protested. + +"Oh, no. There is the two-ranked, in which the third leaf stands over the +first; the three-ranked, in which the fourth leaf stands over the first. +Then we also find the eighth and thirteenth ranked arrangements, +according to the construction of various species of plants or trees. But +having once observed an arrangement of buds or leaves in a species, you +will find it maintained with absolute symmetry and accuracy, although the +spaces between the buds lengthwise upon the stem may vary very much. +Nature, with all her seeming carelessness and _abandon_, works on strict +mathematical principles." + +"Well," said Alf, "I'm going to see if you are right tomorrow. I don't +half believe you are." And on the following day he tried his best to +prove Webb wrong, but failed. + +Before the week was over there was a decided return of winter. The sky +lost its spring-like blue. Cold, ragged clouds were driven wildly by a +northeast gale, which, penetrating the heaviest wraps, caused a shivering +sense of discomfort. Only by the most vigorous exercise could one cope +with the raw, icy wind, and yet the effort to do so brought a rich return +in warm, purified blood. All outdoor labor, except such as required +strong, rapid action, came to an end, for it was the very season and +opportunity for pneumonia to seize upon its chilled victim. To a family +constituted like the Cliffords such weather brought no _ennui_. They +had time for more music and reading aloud than usual. The pets in the +flower-room needed extra care and watching, for the bitter wind searched +out every crevice and cranny. Entering the dining-room on one occasion, +Amy found the brothers poring over a map spread out on the table. + +"What! studying geography?" she said. "It certainly is a severe stress of +weather that has brought you all to that. What countries are you +exploring?" + +"These are our Western Territories," Burt promptly responded. "This +prominent point here is Fort Totem, and these indications of adjacent +buildings are for the storage of furs, bear-meat, and the accommodation +of Indian hunters." Burt tried to look serious, but Webb's and Leonard's +laughter betrayed him. Amy turned inquiringly to Webb, as she ever did +when perplexed. + +"Don't mind Burt's chaff," he said. "This is merely a map of the farm, +and we are doing a little planning for our spring work--deciding what +crop we shall put on that field and how treat this one, etc. You can see, +Amy, that each field is numbered, and here in this book are corresponding +numbers, with a record of the crops grown upon each field for a good many +years back, to what extent and how often they have been enriched, and the +kind of fertilizers used. Of course such a book of manuscript would be +the dreariest prose in the world to you, but it is exceedingly interesting +to us; and what's more, these past records are the best possible guides for +future action." + +"Oh, I know all about your book now," she said, with an air of entire +confidence, "for I've heard papa say that land and crop records have been +kept in England for generations. I don't think I will sit up nights to +read your manuscript, however. If Burt's version had been true, it might +have been quite exciting." + +She did enjoy aiding Mr. and Mrs. Clifford in overhauling the seed-chest, +however. This was a wooden box, all tinned over to keep out the mice, and +was divided into many little compartments, in which were paper bags of +seeds, with the date on which they were gathered or purchased. Some of +the seeds were condemned because too old; others, like those of melons +and cucumbers, improved with a moderate degree of age, she was told. Mrs. +Clifford brought out from her part of the chest a rich store of flower +seeds, and the young girl looked with much curiosity on the odd-appearing +little grains and scale-like objects in which, in miniature, was wrapped +some beautiful and fragrant plant. "Queer little promises, ain't they?" +said the old lady; "for every seed is a promise to me." + +"I tell you what it is, Amy," the old gentleman remarked, "this chest +contains the assurance of many a good dinner and many a beautiful +bouquet. Now, like a good girl, help us make an inventory. We will first +have a list of what we may consider trustworthy seeds on hand, and then, +with the aid of these catalogues, we can make out another list of what we +shall buy. Seed catalogues, with their long list of novelties, never lose +their fascination for me. I know that most of the new things are not half +so good as the old tried sorts, but still I like to try some every year. +It's a harmless sort of gambling, you see, and now and then I draw a +genuine prize. Mother has the gambling mania far worse than I, as is +evident from the way she goes into the flower novelties." + +"I own up to it," said Mrs. Clifford, "and I do love to see the almost +endless diversity in beauty which one species of plants will exhibit. +Why, do you know, Amy, I grew from seeds one summer fifty distinct +varieties of the dianthus. Suppose we take asters this year, and see how +many distinct kinds we can grow. Here, in this catalogue, is a long list +of named varieties, and, in addition, there are packages of mixed seeds +from which we may get something distinct from all the others." + +"How full of zest life becomes in the country," cried Amy, "if one only +goes to work in the right way!" Life was growing fuller and richer to her +every day in the varied and abounding interests of the family with which +she was now entirely identified. + +"Webb," his mother asked at dinner, "how do you explain the varying +vitality of seeds? Some we can keep six or eight years, and others only +two." + +"That's a question I am unable to answer. It cannot be the amount of +material stored up in the cotyledons, or embryo seed leaves, for small +seeds like the beet and cucumber will retain their vitality ten years, +and lettuce, turnip, and tomato seed five or more years, while I do not +care to plant large, fleshy seeds like pease and beans that are over +three years old, and much prefer those gathered the previous season. The +whole question of the germinating of seeds is a curious one. Wheat taken +from the wrappings of an Egyptian mummy has grown. Many seeds appear to +have a certain instinct when to grow, and will lie dormant in the ground +for indefinite periods waiting for favorable conditions. For instance, +sow wood-ashes copiously and you speedily have a crop of white clover. +Again, when one kind of timber is cut from land, another and diverse kind +will spring up, as if the soil were full of seeds that had been biding +their time. For all practical purposes the duration of vitality is known, +and is usually given in seed catalogues, I think, or ought to be." + +"Some say that certain fertilizers or conditions will produce certain +kinds of vegetation without the aid of seeds--just develop them, you +know," Leonard remarked. + +"Develop them from what?" + +"That's the question." + +"Well, I think the sensible answer is that all vegetation is developed +from seeds, spores, or whatever was designed to continue the chain of +being from one plant to another. For the life of me I can't see how mere +organic or inorganic matter can produce life. It can only sustain and +nourish the life which exists in it or is placed in it, and which by a +law of nature develops when the conditions are favorable. I am quite sure +that there is not an instance on record of the spontaneous production of +life, even down to the smallest animalcule in liquids, or the minutest +plant life that is propagated by invisible spores. That the microscope +does not reveal these spores or germs proves nothing, for the strongest +microscope in the world has not begun to reach the final atom of which +matter is composed. Indeed, it would seem to be as limited in its power +to explore the infinitely little and near as the telescope to reveal the +infinitely distant and great. Up to this time science has discovered +nothing to contravene the assurance that God, or some one, 'created every +living creature that moveth, and every herb yielding seed after his +kind.' After a series of most careful and accurate experiments, Professor +Tyndall could find no proof of the spontaneous production of even +microscopic life, and found much proof to the contrary. How far original +creations are changed or modified by evolution, natural selection, is a +question that is to be settled neither by dogmatism on the one hand, nor +by baseless theories on the other, but by facts, and plenty of them." + +"Do you think there is anything atheistical in evolution?" his mother +asked, and with some solicitude in her large eyes, for, like all trained +in the old beliefs, she felt that the new philosophies led away into a +realm of vague negations. Webb understood her anxiety lest the faith she +had taught him should become unsettled, and he reassured her in a +characteristic way. + +"No, mother," he said. "If evolution is the true explanation of the world, +as it now appears to us, it is no more atheistical than some theologies I +have heard preached, which contained plenty of doctrines and attributes, +but no God. If God with his infinite leisure chooses to evolve his +universe, why shouldn't he? In any case a creative, intelligent power is +equally essential. It would be just as easy for me to believe that all +the watches and jewelry at Tiffany's were the result of fortuitous causes +as to believe that the world as we find it has no mind back of it." + +Mother smiled with satisfaction, for she saw that he still stood just +where she did, only his horizon had widened. + +"Well," said his father, contentedly, "I read much in the papers and +magazines of theories and isms of which I never heard when I was young, +but eighty years of experience have convinced me that the Lord reigns." + +They all laughed at this customary settlement of knotty problems, on the +part of the old gentleman, and Burt, rising from the table, looked out, +with the remark that the prospects were that "the Lord would rain heavily +that afternoon." The oldest and most infallible weather-prophet in the +region--Storm King--was certainly giving portentous indications of a +storm of no ordinary dimensions. The vapor was pouring over its summit in +Niagara-like volume, and the wind, no longer rushing with its recent +boisterous roar, was moaning and sighing as if nature was in pain and +trouble. The barometer, which had been low for two days, sank lower; the +temperature rose as the gale veered to the eastward. This fact, and the +moisture laden atmosphere, indicated that it came from the Gulf Stream +region of the Atlantic. The rain, which began with a fine drizzle, +increased fast, and soon fell in blinding sheets. The day grew dusky +early, and the twilight was brief and obscure; then followed a long night +of Egyptian darkness, through which the storm rushed, warred, and +splashed with increasing vehemence. Before the evening was over, the +sound of tumultuously flowing water became an appreciable element in the +uproar without, and Webb, opening a window on the sheltered side of the +house, called Amy to hear the torrents pouring down the sides of Storm +King. + +"What tremendous alternations of mood Nature indulges in!" she said, as +she came shivering back to the fire. "Contrast such a night with a sunny +June day." + +"It would seem as if 'mild, ethereal spring' had got her back up," Burt +remarked, "and regarding the return of winter as a trespass, had taken +him by the throat, determined to have it out once for all. Something will +give way before morning, probably half our bridges." + +"Well, that _is_ a way of explaining the jar among the elements that I +had not thought of," she said, laughing. + +"You needn't think Webb can do all the explaining. I have my theories +also--sounder than his, too, most of 'em." + +"There is surely no lack of sound accompanying your theory to-night. +Indeed, it is not all 'sound and fury!'" + +"It's all the more impressive, then. What's the use of your delicate, +weak-backed theories that require a score of centuries to substantiate +them?" + +"Your theory about the bridges will soon be settled," remarked Leonard, +ominously, "and I fear it will prove correct. At this rate the town will +have to pay for half a dozen new ones--bridges, I mean." + +"Well amended," added Webb. + +"Just hear the rain!" said Leonard, ruefully. There was a heavy body of +snow still in the mountains and on northern slopes, and much ice on the +streams and ponds. "There certainly will be no little trouble if this +continues." + +"Don't worry, children," said Mr. Clifford, quietly. "I have generally +found everything standing after the storms were over." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +WINTER'S EXIT + + +The old house seemed so full of strange sounds that Amy found it +impossible to sleep. Seasoned as were its timbers, they creaked and +groaned, and the casements rattled as if giant hands were seeking to open +them. The wind at times would sigh and sob so mournfully, like a human +voice, that her imagination peopled the darkness with strange creatures +in distress, and then she would shudder as a more violent gust raised the +prolonged wail into a loud shriek. Thoughts of her dead father--not the +resigned, peaceful thoughts which the knowledge of his rest had brought +of late--came surging into her mind. Her organization was peculiarly fine +and especially sensitive to excited atmospherical conditions, and the +tumult of the night raised in her mind an irrepressible, although +unreasoning, panic. At last she felt that she would scream if she +remained alone any longer. She put on her wrapper, purposing to ask Mrs. +Leonard to come and stay with her for a time, feeling assured that if she +could only speak to some one, the horrid spell of nervous fear would be +broken. As she stepped into the hall she saw a light gleaming from the +open door of the sitting-room, and in the hope that some one was still +up, she stole noiselessly down the stairway to a point that commanded a +view of the apartment. Only Webb was there, and he sat quietly reading by +the shaded lamp and flickering fire. The scene and his very attitude +suggested calmness and safety. There was nothing to be afraid of, and he +was not afraid. With every moment that she watched him the nervous +agitation passed from mind and body. His strong, intent profile proved +that he was occupied wholly with the thought of his author. The quiet +deliberation with which he turned the leaves was more potent than +soothing words. "I wouldn't for the world have him know I'm so weak and +foolish," she said to herself, as she crept noiselessly back to her room. +"He little dreamed who was watching him," she whispered, smilingly, as +she dropped asleep. + +When she waked next morning the rain had ceased, the wind blew in fitful +gusts, and the sky was still covered with wildly hurrying clouds that +seemed like the straggling rearguard which the storm had left behind. So +far as she could see from her window, everything was still standing, as +Mr. Clifford had said. Familiar objects greeted her reassuringly, and +never before had the light even of a lowering morning seemed more blessed +in contrast with the black, black night. As she recalled the incidents of +that night--her nervous panic, and the scene which had brought quiet and +peace--she smiled again, and, it must be admitted, blushed slightly. "I +wonder if he affects others as he does me," she thought. "Papa used to +say, when I was a little thing, that I was just a bundle of nerves, but +when Webb is near I am not conscious I ever had a nerve." + +Every little brook had become a torrent; Moodna Creek was reported to be +in angry mood, and the family hastened through breakfast that they might +drive out to see the floods and the possible devastation. Several bridges +over the smaller streams had barely escaped, and the Idlewild brook, +whose spring and summer music the poet Willis had caused to be heard even +in other lands, now gave forth a hoarse roar from the deep glen through +which it raved. An iron bridge over the Moodna, on the depot road, had +evidently been in danger in the night. The ice had been piled up in the +road at each end of the bridge, and a cottage a little above it was +surrounded by huge cakes. The inmates had realized their danger, for part +of their furniture had been carried to higher ground. Although the volume +of water passing was still immense, all danger was now over. As they were +looking at the evidences of the violent breaking up of winter, the first +phoebe-bird of the season alighted in a tree overhanging the torrent, and +in her plaintive notes seemed to say, as interpreted by John Burroughs, +"If you please, spring has come." They gave the brown little harbinger +such an enthusiastic welcome that she speedily took flight to the further +shore. + +"Where was that wee bit of life last night?" said Webb; "and how could it +keep up heart?" + +"Possibly it looked in at a window and saw some one reading," thought +Amy; and she smiled so sweetly at the conceit that Webb asked, "How many +pennies will you take for your thoughts?" + +"They are not in the market;" and she laughed outright as she turned +away. + +"The true place to witness the flood will be at the old red bridge +further down the stream," said Leonard; and they drove as rapidly as the +bad wheeling permitted to that point, and found that Leonard was right. +Just above the bridge was a stone dam, by which the water was backed up a +long distance, and a precipitous wooded bank rose on the south side. This +had shielded the ice from the sun, and it was still very thick when the +pressure of the flood came upon it. Up to this time it had not given way, +and had become the cause of an ice-gorge that every moment grew more +threatening. The impeded torrent chafed and ground the cakes together, +surging them up at one point and permitting them to sink at another, as +the imprisoned waters struggled for an outlet. The solid ice still held +near the edge of the dam, although it was beginning to lift and crack +with the tawny flood pouring over, under, and around it. + +"Suppose we cross to the other side, nearest home," said Burt, who was +driving; and with the word he whipped up the horses and dashed through +the old covered structure. + +"You ought not to have done that, Burt," said Webb, almost sternly. "The +gorge may give way at any moment, and the bridge will probably go with +it. We shall now have to drive several hundred yards to a safe place to +leave the horses, for the low ground on this side will probably be +flooded." + +"It certainly will be," added Leonard. + +"Oh, make haste!" cried Amy; and they all noticed that she was trembling. + +But a few minutes sufficed to tie the horses and return to a point of +safety near the bridge. "I did not mean to expose you to the slightest +danger," Burt whispered, tenderly, to Amy. "See, the bridge is safe +enough, and we might drive over it again." + +Even as he spoke there was a long grinding, crunching sound. A great +volume of black water had forced its way under the gorge, and now lifted +it bodily over the dam. It sank in a chaotic mass, surged onward and +upward again, struck the bridge, and in a moment lifted it from its +foundations and swept it away, a shattered wreck, the red covering +showing in the distance like ensanguined stains among the tossing cakes +of ice. + +They all drew a long breath, and Amy was as pale as if she had witnessed +the destruction of some living creature. No doubt she realized what would +have been their fate had the break occurred while they were crossing. + +"Good-by, old bridge," said Leonard, pensively. "I played and fished +under you when a boy, and in the friendly dusk of its cover I kissed +Maggie one summer afternoon of our courting days--" + +"Well, well," exclaimed Burt, "the old bridge's exit has been a moving +object in every sense, since it has evoked such a flood of sentiment from +Len. Let us take him home to Maggie at once." + +As they were about to depart they saw Dr. Marvin driving down to the +opposite side, and they mockingly beckoned him to cross the raging +torrent. He shook his head ruefully, and returned up the hill again. A +rapid drive through the Moodna Valley brought them to the second bridge, +which would evidently escape, for the flats above it were covered with +_debris_ and ice, and the main channel was sufficiently clear to permit +the flood to pass harmlessly on. They then took the river road homeward. + +The bridge over the Idlewild brook, near its entrance into the Moodna, +was safe, although it had a narrow graze. They also found that the ice in +the river at the mouth of the creek had been broken up in a wide +semicircle, and as they ascended a hill that commanded an extensive view +of Newburgh Bay they saw that the ice remaining had a black, sodden +appearance. + +"It will all break up in a few hours," said Burt, "and then hurrah for +duck-shooting!" + +Although spring had made such a desperate onset the previous night, it +seemed to have gained but a partial advantage over winter. The weather +continued raw and blustering for several days, and the overcast sky +permitted but chance and watery gleams of sunshine. Slush and mud +completed the ideal of the worst phase of March. The surface of the earth +had apparently returned to that period before the dry land was made to +appear. As the frost came out of the open spaces of the garden, plowed +fields, and even the country roads, they became quagmires in which one +sank indefinitely. Seeing the vast advantage afforded to the men-folk by +rubber boots, Amy provided herself with a pair, and with something of the +exultation of the ancient Hebrews passed dry-shod through the general +moisture. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A ROYAL CAPTIVE + + +In the midst of this dreary transition period Nature gave proof that she +has unlimited materials of beauty at her command at any time. Early one +afternoon the brothers were driven in from their outdoor labors by a cold, +sleety rain, and Leonard predicted an ice-storm. The next morning the world +appeared as if heavily plated with silver. The sun at last was unclouded, +and as he looked over the top of Storm King his long-missed beams +transformed the landscape into a scene of wonder and beauty beyond anything +described in Johnnie's fairy tales. Trees, shrubs, the roofs and sidings of +the buildings, the wooden and even the stone fences, the spires of dead +grass, and the unsightly skeletons of weeds, were all incased in ice and +touched by the magic wand of beauty. The mountain-tops, however, surpassed +all other objects in the transfigured world, for upon them a heavy mist had +rested and frozen, clothing every branch and spray with a feathery +frost-work of crystals, which, in the sun-lighted distance, was like a +great shock of silver hair. There were drawbacks, however, to this +marvellous scene. There were not a few branches already broken from the +trees, and Mr. Clifford said that if the wind rose the weight of the ice +would cause great destruction. They all hastened through breakfast, Leonard +and Webb that they might relieve the more valuable fruit and evergreen +trees of the weight of ice, and Burt and Amy for a drive up the mountain. + +As they slowly ascended, the scene under the increasing sunlight took on +every moment more strange and magical effects. The ice-incased twigs and +boughs acted as prisms, and reflected every hue of the rainbow, and as +they approached the summit the feathery frost-work grew more and more +exquisitely delicate and beautiful, and yet it was proving to be as +evanescent as a dream, for in all sunny place it was already vanishing. +They had scarcely passed beyond the second summit when Burt uttered an +exclamation of regretful disgust. "By all that's unlucky," he cried, "if +there isn't an eagle sitting on yonder ledge! I could kill him with +bird-shot, and I haven't even a popgun with me." + +"It's too bad," sympathized Amy. "Let us drive as near as we can, and get +a good view before he flies." + +To their great surprise, he did not move as they approached, but only +glared at them with his savage eye. + +"Well," said Burt, "after trying for hours to get within rifle range, +this exceeds anything I ever saw. I wonder if he is wounded and cannot +fly." Suddenly he sprang out, and took a strap from the harness. "Hold +the horse, Amy. I think I know what is the trouble with his majesty, and +we may be able to return with a royal captive." + +He drew near the eagle slowly and warily, and soon perceived that he was +incased in ice from head to foot, and only retained the power of slightly +moving his head. The creature was completely helpless, and must remain so +until his icy fetters thawed out. His wings were frozen to his sides, his +legs covered with ice, as were also his talons, and the dead branch of a +low pine on which he had perched hours before. Icicles hung around him, +making a most fantastic fringe. Only his defiant eye and open beak could +give expression to his untamed, undaunted spirit. It was evident that the +bird made a fierce internal struggle to escape, but was held as in a +vise. + +Burt was so elated that his hand trembled with eagerness; but he resolved +to act prudently, and grasping the bird firmly but gently by the neck, he +succeeded in severing the branch upon which the eagle was perched, for it +was his purpose to exhibit the bird just as he had found him. Having +carefully carried his prize to the buggy, he induced Amy, who viewed the +creature with mingled wonder and alarm, to receive this strange addition +to their number for the homeward journey. He wrapped her so completely +with the carriage robe that the eagle could not injure her with his beak, +and she saw he could no more move in other respects than a block of ice. +As an additional precaution, Burt passed the strap around the bird's neck +and tied him to the dash-board. Even with his heavy gloves he had to act +cautiously, for the eagle in his disabled state could still strike a +powerful blow. Then, with an exultation beyond all words, he drove to Dr. +Marvin's, in order to have one of the "loudest crows" over him that he +had ever enjoyed. The doctor did not mind the "crow" in the least, but +was delighted with the adventure and capture, for the whole affair had +just the flavor to please him. As he was a skilful taxidermist, he +good-naturedly promised to "set the eagle up" on the selfsame branch on +which he had been found, for it was agreed that he would prove too +dangerous a pet to keep in the vicinity of the irrepressible little Ned. +Indeed, from the look of this fellow's eye, it was evident that he would +be dangerous to any one. "I will follow you home, and after you have +exhibited him we will kill him scientifically. He is a splendid specimen, +and not a feather need be ruffled." + +Burt drove around to the Rev. Mr. Barkdale's and some others of his +nearest neighbors and friends in a sort of triumphal progress; but Amy +grew uneasy at her close proximity to so formidable a companion, fearing +that he would thaw out. Many were the exclamations of wonder and +curiosity when they reached home. Alf went nearly wild, and little +Johnnie's eyes overflowed with tears when she learned that the regal bird +must die. As for Ned, had he not been restrained he would have given the +eagle a chance to devour him. + +"So, Burt, you have your eagle after all," said his mother, looking with +more pleasure and interest on the flushed, eager face of her handsome boy +than upon his captive. "Well, you and Amy have had an adventure." + +"I always have good fortune and good times when you are with me," Burt +whispered in an aside to Amy. + +"Always is a long time," she replied, turning away; but he was too +excited to note that she did not reciprocate his manner, and he was +speedily engaged in a discussion as to the best method of preserving the +eagle in the most life-like attitude. After a general family council it +was decided that his future perch should be in a corner of the parlor, +and within a few days he occupied it, looking so natural that callers +were often startled by his lifelike appearance. + +"Think how his mate must miss him!" Maggie would often say, remorsefully. + +As the day grew old the ice on the trees melted and fell away in myriads +of gemlike drops. Although the sun shone brightly, there was a sound +without as of rain. By four in the afternoon the pageant was over, the +sky clouded again, and the typical March outlook was re-established. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +SPRING'S HARBINGERS + + +Amy was awakened on the following morning by innumerable bird-notes, not +songs, but loud calls. Hastening to the window, she witnessed a scene +very strange to her eyes. All over the grass of the lawn and on the +ground of the orchard beyond was a countless flock of what seemed to her +quarter-grown chickens. A moment later the voice of Alf resounded through +the house, crying, "The robins have come!" Very soon nearly all the +household were on the piazza to greet these latest arrivals from the +South; and a pretty scene of life and animation they made, with their +yellow bills, jaunty black heads, and brownish red breasts. + +"_Turdus migratorius_, as the doctor would say," remarked Burt; "and +migrants they are with a vengeance. Last night there was not one to be +seen, and now here are thousands. They are on their way north, and have +merely alighted to feed." + +"Isn't it odd how they keep their distance from each other?" said Webb. +"You can scarcely see two near together, but every few feet there is a +robin, as far as the eye can reach. Yes, and there are some high-holders +in the orchard also. They are shyer than the robins, and don't come so +near the house. You can tell them, Amy, by their yellow bodies and brown +wings. I have read that they usually migrate with the robins. I wonder +how far this flock flew last--ah, listen!" + +Clear and sweet came an exquisite bird-song from an adjacent maple. Webb +took off his hat in respectful greeting to the minstrel. + +"Why," cried Amy, "that little brown bird cannot be a robin." + +"No," he answered, "that is my favorite of all the earliest birds--the +song-sparrow. You remember what Dr. Marvin said about him the other +evening? I have been looking for my little friend for a week past, and +here he is. The great tide of migration has turned northward." + +"He is my favorite too," said his father. "Every spring for over seventy +years I remember hearing his song, and it is just as sweet and fresh to +me as ever. Indeed, it is enriched by a thousand memories." + +For two or three days the robins continued plentiful around the house, +and their loud "military calls," as Burroughs describes them, were heard +at all hours from before the dawn into the dusk of night, but they seemed +to be too excited over their northward journey or their arrival at their +old haunts to indulge in the leisure of song. They reminded one of the +advent of an opera company. There was incessant chattering, a flitting to +and fro, bustle and excitement, each one having much to say, and no one +apparently stopping to listen. The majority undoubtedly continued their +migration, for the great flocks disappeared. It is said that the birds +that survive the vicissitudes of the year return to their former haunts, +and it would seem that they drop out of the general advance as they reach +the locality of the previous summer's nest, to which they are guided by +an unerring instinct. + +The evening of the third day after their arrival was comparatively mild, +and the early twilight serene and quiet. The family were just sitting +down to supper when they heard a clear, mellow whistle, so resonant and +penetrating as to arrest their attention, although doors and windows were +closed. Hastening to the door they saw on the top of one of the tallest +elms a robin, with his crimson breast lighted up by the setting sun, and +his little head lifted heavenward in the utterance of what seemed the +perfection of an evening hymn. Indeed, in that bleak, dim March evening, +with the long, chill night fast falling and the stormy weeks yet to come, +it would be hard to find a finer expression of hope and faith. + +The robin is a bird of contrasts. Peculiarly domestic in his haunts and +habits, he resembles his human neighbors in more respects than one. He is +much taken up with his material life, and is very fond of indulging his +large appetite. He is far from being aesthetic in his house or +housekeeping, and builds a strong, coarse nest of the handiest materials +and in the handiest place, selecting the latter with a confidence in +boy-nature and cat-nature that is often misplaced. He is noisy, bustling, +and important, and as ready to make a raid on a cherry-tree or a +strawberry-bed as is the average youth to visit a melon-patch by +moonlight. He has a careless, happy-go-lucky air, unless irritated, and +then is as eager for a "square set-to" in robin fashion as the most +approved scion of chivalry. Like man, he also seems to have a spiritual +element in his nature; and, as if inspired and lifted out of his grosser +self by the dewy freshness of the morning and the shadowy beauty of the +evening, he sings like a saint, and his pure, sweet notes would never +lead one to suspect that he was guilty of habitual gormandizing. He +settles down into a good husband and father, and, in brief, reminds one +of the sturdy English squire who is sincerely devout over his prayer-book +on proper occasions, and between times takes all the goods the gods send. + +In the morning little Johnnie came to the breakfast-table in a state of +great excitement. It soon appeared that she had a secret that she would +tell no one but Amy--indeed, she would not tell it, but show it; and +after breakfast she told Amy to put on her rubber boots and come with +her, warning curious Alf meanwhile to keep his distance. Leading the way +to a sunny angle in the garden fence, she showed Amy the first flower of +the year. Although it was a warm, sunny spot, the snow had drifted there +to such an extent that the icy base of the drift still partially covered +the ground, and through a weak place in the melting ice a snow-drop had +pushed its green, succulent leaves and hung out its modest little +blossom. The child, brought up from infancy to feel the closest sympathy +with nature, fairly trembled with delight over this _avant-coureur_ of +the innumerable flowers which it was her chief happiness to gather. As if +in sympathy with the exultation of the child, and in appreciation of all +that the pale little blossom foreshadowed, a song-sparrow near trilled +out its sweetest lay, a robin took up the song, and a pair of bluebirds +passed overhead with their undulating flight and soft warble. Truly +spring had come in that nook of the old garden, even though the mountains +were still covered with snow, the river was full of floating ice, and the +wind chill with the breath of winter. Could there have been a fairer or +more fitting committee of reception than little Johnnie, believing in all +things, hoping all things, and brown-haired, hazel-eyed Amy, with the +first awakenings of womanhood in her heart? + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +"FIRST TIMES" + + +At last Nature was truly awakening, and color was coming into her pallid +face. On every side were increasing movement and evidences of life. Sunny +hillsides were free from snow, and the oozing frost loosed the hold of +stones upon the soil or the clay of precipitous banks, leaving them to +the play of gravitation. Will the world become level if there are no more +upheavals? The ice of the upper Hudson was journeying toward the sea that +it would never reach. The sun smote it, the high winds ground the +honey-combed cakes together, and the ebb and flow of the tide permitted +no pause in the work of disintegration. By the middle of March the blue +water predominated, and adventurous steamers had already picked and +pounded their way to and from the city. + +Only those deeply enamored of Nature feel much enthusiasm for the first +month of spring; but for them this season possesses a peculiar fascination. +The beauty that has been so cold and repellent in relenting--yielding, +seemingly against her will, to a wooing that cannot be repulsed by even her +harshest moods. To the vigilance of love, sudden, unexpected smiles are +granted; and though, as if these were regretted, the frown quickly returns, +it is often less forbidding. It is a period full of delicious, +soul-thrilling "first times," the coy, exquisite beginnings of that final +abandonment to her suitor in the sky. Although she veils her face for days +with clouds, and again and again greets him in the dawn, wrapped in her old +icy reserve, he smiles back his answer, and she cannot resist. Indeed, +there soon come warm, still, bright days whereon she feels herself going, +but does not even protest. Then, as if suddenly conscious of lost ground, +she makes a passionate effort to regain her wintry aspect. It is so +passionate as to betray her, so stormy as to insure a profounder relenting, +a warmer, more tearful, and penitent smile after her wild mood is over. She +finds that she cannot return to her former sustained coldness, and so at +last surrenders, and the frost passes wholly from her heart. + +To Alf's and Johnnie's delight it so happened that one of these gentlest +moods of early spring occurred on Saturday--that weekly millennium of +school-children. With plans and preparations matured, they had risen with +the sun, and, scampering back and forth over the frozen ground and the +remaining patches of ice and snow, had carried every pail and pan that +they could coax from their mother to a rocky hillside whereon clustered a +few sugar-maples. Webb, the evening before, had inserted into the sunny +sides of the trees little wooden troughs, and from these the tinkling +drip of the sap made a music sweeter than that of the robins to the eager +boy and girl. + +At the breakfast-table each one was expatiating on the rare promise of +the day. Even Mrs. Clifford, awakened by the half subdued clatter of the +children, had seen the brilliant, rose tinted dawn. + +"The day cannot be more beautiful than was the night," Webb remarked. "A +little after midnight I was awakened by a clamor from the poultry, and +suspecting either two or four footed thieves, I was soon covering the +hennery with my gun. As a result, Sir Mephitis, as Burroughs calls him, +lies stark and stiff near the door. After watching awhile, and finding no +other marauders abroad, I became aware that it was one of the most +perfect nights I had ever seen. It was hard to imagine that, a few hours +before, a gale had been blowing under a cloudy sky. The moonlight was so +clear that I could see to read distinctly. So attractive and still was +the night that I started for an hour's walk up the boulevard, and when +near Idlewild brook had the fortune to empty the other barrel of my gun +into a great horned owl. How the echoes resounded in the quiet night! The +changes in April are more rapid, but they are on a grander scale this +month." + +"It seems to me," laughed Burt, "that your range of topics is even more +sublime. From Sir Mephitis to romantic moonlight and lofty musings, no +doubt, which ended with a screech-owl." + +"The great horned is not a screech-owl, as you ought to know. Well, +Nature is to blame for my alternations. I only took the goods the gods +sent." + +"I hope you did not take cold," said Maggie. "The idea of prowling around +at that time of night!" + +"Webb was in hopes that Nature might bestow upon him some confidences by +moonlight that he could not coax from her in broad day. I shall seek +better game than you found. Ducks are becoming plenty in the river, and +all the conditions are favorable for a crack at them this morning. So I +shall paddle out with a white coat over my clothes, and pretend to be a +cake of ice. If I bring you a canvas-back, Amy, will you put the wishbone +over the door?" + +"Not till I have locked it and hidden the key." + +Without any pre-arranged purpose the day promised to be given up largely +to country sport. Burt had taken a lunch, and would not return until +night, while the increasing warmth and brilliancy of the sunshine, and +the children's voices from the maple grove, soon lured Amy to the piazza. + +"Come," cried Webb, who emerged from the wood-house with an axe on his +shoulder, "don rubber boots and wraps, and we'll improvise a male-sugar +camp of the New England style a hundred years ago. We should make the +most of a day like this." + +They soon joined the children on the hillside, whither Abram had already +carried a capacious iron pot as black as himself. On a little terrace +that was warm and bare of snow, Webb set up cross-sticks in gypsy +fashion, and then with a chain supended the pot, the children dancing +like witches around it. Mr. Clifford and little Ned now appeared, the +latter joining in the eager quest for dry sticks. Not far away was a +large tree that for several years had been slowly dying, its few living +branches having flushed early in September, in their last glow, which had +been premature and hectic. Dry sticks would make little impression on the +sap that now in the warmer light dropped faster from the wounded maples, +and therefore to supply the intense heat that should give them at least a +rich syrup before night, Webb threw off his coat and attacked the defunct +veteran of the grove. Amy watched his vigorous strokes with growing zest; +and he, conscious of her eyes, struck strong and true. Leonard, not far +away, was removing impediments from the courses, thus securing a more +rapid flow of the water and promoting the drainage of the land. He had +sent up his cheery voice from time to time, but now joined the group, to +witness the fall of a tree that had been old when he had played near it +like his own children to-day. The echoes of the ringing axe came back to +them from an adjacent hillside; a squirrel barked and "snickered," as if +he too were a party to the fun; crows overhead cawed a protest at the +destruction of their ancient perch; but with steady and remorseless +stroke the axe was driven through the concentric rings on either side +into the tree's dead heart. At last, as fibre after fibre was cut away, +it began to tremble. The children stood breathless and almost pitying as +they saw the shiver, apparently conscious, which followed each blow. +Something of the same callousness of custom with which the fall of a man +is witnessed must blunt one's nature before he can look unmoved upon the +destruction of a familiar tree. + +As the dead maple trembled more and more violently, and at last swayed to +and fro in the breathless air, Amy cried, "Webb! Webb! come away!" + +She had hardly spoken when, with a slow and stately motion, the lofty +head bowed; there was a rush through the air, an echoing crash upon the +rocks. She sprang forward with a slight cry, but Webb, leaning his axe on +the prostrate bole, looked smilingly at her, and said, "Why, Amy, there +is no more danger in this work than in cutting a stalk of corn, if one +knows how." + +"There appears to be more," she replied. "I never saw a large tree cut +down before, but have certainly read of people being crushed. Does it +often happen?" + +"No, indeed." + +"By the way, Amy," said Leonard, "the wood-chopper that you visited with +me is doing so well that we shall give him work on the farm this summer. +There was a little wheat in all that chaff of a man, and it's beginning +to grow. But the wife is a case. He says he would like to work where he +can see you occasionally." + +"I have been there twice with Webb since, and shall go oftener when the +roads are better," she replied, simply. + +"That's right, Amy; follow up a thing," said Mr. Clifford. "It's better +to _help_ one family than to try to help a dozen. That was a good +clean cut, Webb," he added, examining the stump. "I dislike to see a tree +haggled down." + +"How strong you are, Webb!" said Amy. "I suppose that if you had lived a +few hundred years ago you would have been hacking at people in the same +way." + +"And so might have been a hero, and won your admiration if you had lived +then in some gray castle, with the floor of your bower strewn with +rushes. Now there is no career for me but that of a plain farmer." + +"What manly task was given long before knighthood, eh, Webb? Right royal +was the commission, too. Was it not to subdue the earth? It seems to me +that you are striving after the higher mastery, one into which you can +put all your mind as well as muscle. Knocking people on the head wasn't a +very high art." + +"What! not in behalf of a distressed damsel?" + +"I imagine there will always be distressed damsels in the world. Indeed, +in fiction it would seem that many would be nothing if not distressed. +You can surely find one, Webb, and so be a knight in spite of our prosaic +times." + +"I shall not try," he replied, laughing. "I am content to be a farmer, +and am glad you do not think our work is coarse and common. You obtained +some good ideas in England, Amy. The tastes of the average American girl +incline too much toward the manhood of the shop and office. There, Len, I +am rested now;" and he took the axe from his brother, who had been +lopping the branches from the prostrate tree. + +Amy again watched his athletic figure with pleasure as he rapidly +prepared billets for the seething caldron of sap. + +The day was indeed forming an illuminated page. The blue of the sky +seemed intense after so many gray and steel-hued days, and there was not +a trace of cloud. The flowing sap was not sweeter than the air, to which +the brilliant sunlight imparted an exhilarating warmth far removed from +sultriness. From the hillside came the woody odor of decaying leaves, and +from the adjacent meadow the delicate perfume of grasses whose roots +began to tingle with life the moment the iron grip of the frost relaxed. +Sitting on a rock near the crackling fire, Amy made as fair a gypsy as +one would wish to see. On every side were evidences that spring was +taking possession of the land. In the hollows of the meadow at her feet +were glassy pools, kept from sinking away by a substratum of frost, and +among these migratory robins and high-holders were feeding. The brook +beyond was running full from the melting of the snow in the mountains, +and its hoarse murmur was the bass in the musical babble and tinkle of +smaller rills hastening toward it on either side. Thus in all directions +the scene was lighted up with the glint and sparkle of water. The rays of +the sun idealized even the muddy road, of which a glimpse was caught, for +the pasty clay glistened like the surface of a stream. The returning +birds appeared as jubilant over the day as the children whose voices +blended with their songs--as do all the sounds that are absolutely +natural. The migratory tide of robins, song-sparrows, phoebes, and other +early birds was still moving northward; but multitudes had dropped out of +line, having reached their haunts of the previous year. The sunny +hillsides and its immediate vicinity seemed a favorite lounging-place +both for the birds of passage and for those already at home. The +excitement of travel to some, and the delight at having regained the +scene of last year's love and nesting to others, added to the universal +joy of spring, so exhilarated their hearts that they could scarcely be +still a moment. Although the sun was approaching the zenith, there was +not the comparative silence that pervades a summer noon. Bird calls +resounded everywhere; there was a constant flutter of wings, as if all +were bent upon making or renewing acquaintance--an occupation frequently +interrupted by transports of song. + +"Do you suppose they really recognize each other?" Amy asked Webb, as he +threw down an armful of wood near her. + +"Dr. Marvin would insist that they do," he replied, laughing. "When with +him, one must be wary in denying to the birds any of the virtues and +powers. He would probably say that they understood each other as well as +we do. They certainly seem to be comparing notes, in one sense of the +word at least. Listen, and you will hear at this moment the song of +bluebird, robin, both song and fox sparrow, phoebe, blue jay, high-holder, +and crow--that is, if you can call the notes of the last two birds a song." + +"What a lovely chorus!" she cried, after a few moments' pause. + +"Wait till two months have passed, and you will hear a grand symphony +every morning and evening. All the members of our summer opera troupe do +not arrive till June, and several weeks must still pass before the great +star of the season appears." + +"Indeed! and who is he, or she?" + +"Both he and she--the woodthrush and his mate. They are very aristocratic +kin of these robins. A little before them will come two other +blood-relations, Mr. and Mrs. Brownthrasher, who, notwithstanding their +family connection with the high toned woodthrush and jolly, honest robin, +are stealthy in their manner, and will skulk away before you as if ashamed +of something. When the musical fit is on them, however, they will sing +openly from the loftiest tree-top, and with a sweetness, too, that few +birds can equal." + +"Why, Webb, you almost equal Dr. Marvin." + +"Oh no; I only become acquainted with my favorites. If a bird is rare, +though commonplace in itself, he will pursue it as if it laid golden +eggs." + +A howl from Ned proved that even the brightest days and scenes have their +drawbacks. The little fellow had been prowling around among the pails and +pans, intent on obtaining a drink of the sap, and thus had put his hand on +a honey-bee seeking the first sweet of the year. In an instant Webb reached +his side, and saw what the trouble was. Carrying him to the fire, he drew a +key from his pocket, and pressed its hollow ward over the spot stung. This +caused the poison to work out. Nature's remedy--mud--abounded, and soon a +little moist clay covered the wound, and Amy took him in her arms and tried +to pacify him, while his father, who had strolled away with Mr. Clifford, +speedily returned. The grandfather looked down commiseratingly on the +sobbing little companion of his earlier morning walk, and soon brought, not +merely serenity, but joy unbounded, by a quiet proposition. + +"I will go back to the house," he said, "and have mamma put up a nice +lunch, and you and the other children can eat your dinner here by the fire. +So can you, Webb and Amy, and then you can look after the youngsters. It's +warm and dry here. Suppose you have a little picnic, which, in March, will +be a thing to remember. Alf, you can come with me, and while mamma is +preparing the lunch you can run to the market and get some oysters and +clams, and these, with potatoes, you can roast in the ashes of a smaller +fire, which Ned and Johnnie can look after under Webb's superintendence. +Wouldn't you like my little plan, Amy?" + +"Yes, indeed," she replied, putting her hands caressingly within his arm. +"It's hard to think you are old when you know so well what we young +people like. I didn't believe that this day could be brighter or jollier, +and yet your plan has made the children half-wild." + +Indeed, Alf had already given his approval by tearing off toward the +house for the materials of this unprecedented March feast in the woods, +and the old gentleman, as if made buoyant by the good promise of his +little project in the children's behalf, followed with a step wonderfully +elastic for a man of fourscore. + +"Well, Heaven grant I may attain an age like that!" said Webb, looking +wistfully after him. "There is more of spring than autumn in father yet, +and I don't believe there will be any winter in his life. Well, Amy, like +the birds and squirrels around us, we shall dine out-of-doors today. You +must be mistress of the banquet; Ned, Johnnie, and I place ourselves +under your orders; don't we, Johnnie?" + +"To be sure, uncle Webb; only I'm so crazy over all this fun that I'm +sure I can never do anything straight." + +"Well, then, 'bustle! bustle!'" cried Amy. "I believe with Maggie that +housekeeping and dining well are high arts, and not humdrum necessities. +Webb, I need a broad, flat rock. Please provide one at once, while +Johnnie gathers clean dry leaves for plates. You, Ned, can put lots of +dry sticks between the stones there, and uncle Webb will kindle the right +kind of a fire to leave plenty of hot coals and ashes. Now is the time +for him to make his science useful." + +Webb was becoming a mystery unto himself. Was it the exquisitely pure air +and the exhilarating spring sunshine that sent the blood tingling through +his veins? Or was it the presence, tones, and gestures of a girl with +brow and neck like the snow that glistened on the mountain slopes above +them, and large true eyes that sometimes seemed gray and again blue? +Amy's developing beauty was far removed from a fixed type of prettiness, +and he felt this in a vague way. The majority of the girls of his +acquaintance had a manner rather than an individuality, and looked and +acted much the same whenever he saw them. They were conventionalized +after some received country type, and although farmers' daughters, they +seemed unnatural to this lover of nature. Allowing for the difference in +years, Amy was as devoid of self-consciousness as Alf or Johnnie. Not the +slightest trace of mannerism perverted her girlish ways. She moved, +talked, and acted with no more effort or thought of effort than had the +bluebirds that were passing to and fro with their simple notes and +graceful flight, She was nature in its phase of girlhood. To one of his +temperament and training the perfect day itself would have been full of +unalloyed enjoyment, although occupied with his ordinary labors; but for +some reason this unpremeditated holiday, with Amy's companionship, gave +him a pleasure before unknown--a pleasure deep and satisfying, unmarred +by jarring discords or uneasy protests of conscience or reason. Truly, on +this spring day a "first time" came to him, a new element was entering +into his life. He did not think of defining it; he did not even recognize +it, except in the old and general way that Amy's presence had enriched them +all, and in his own case had arrested a tendency to become materialistic +and narrow. On a like day the year before he would have been absorbed in +the occupations of the farm, and merely conscious to a certain extent of +the sky above him and the bird song and beauty around him. To-day they were +like revelations. Even a March world was transfigured. His zest in living +and working was enhanced a thousand-fold, because life and work were +illumined by happiness, as the scene was brightened by sunshine. He felt +that he had only half seen the world before; now he had the joy of one +gradually gaining vision after partial blindness. + +Amy saw that he was enjoying the day immensely in his quiet way; she also +saw that she had not a little to do with the result, and the reflection +that she could please and interest the grave and thoughtful man, who was +six years her senior, conveyed a delicious sense of power. And yet she +was pleased much as a child would be. "He knows so much more than I do," +she thought, "and is usually so wrapped up in some deep subject, or so +busy, that it's awfully jolly to find that one can beguile him into +having such a good time. Burt is so exuberant in everything that I am +afraid of being carried away, as by a swift stream, I know not where. I +feel like checking and restraining him all the time. For me to add my +small stock of mirth to his immense spirits would be like lighting a +candle on a day like this; but when I smile on Webb the effect is +wonderful, and I can never get over my pleased surprise at the fact." + +Thus, like the awakening forces in the soil around them, a vital force +was developing in two human hearts equally unconscious. + +Alf and his grandfather at last returned, each well laden, and preparations +went on apace. Mr. Clifford made as if he would return and dine at home, +but they all clamored for his company. With a twinkle in his eye, he said: + +"Well, I told mother that I might lunch with you, and I was only waiting +to be pressed a little. I've lived a good many years, but never was on a +picnic in March before." + +"Grandpa, you shall be squeezed as well as pressed," cried Johnnie, +putting her arms about his neck. "You shall stay and see what a lovely +time you have given us. Oh, if Cinderella were only here!" and she gave +one little sigh, the first of the day. + +"Possibly Cinderella may appear in time for lunch;" and with a significant +look he directed Amy to the basket he had brought, from the bottom of which +was drawn a doll with absurdly diminutive feet, and for once in her life +Johnnie's heart craved nothing more. + +"Maggie knew that this little mother could not be content long without +her doll, and so she put it in. You children have a thoughtful mother, +and you must be thoughtful of her," added the old man, who felt that the +incident admitted of a little homily. + +What appetites they all had! If some of the potatoes were slightly burned +and others a little raw, the occasion added a flavor better than Attic +salt. A flock of chickadees approached near enough to gather the crumbs +that were thrown to them. + +"It's strange," said Webb, "how tame the birds are when they return in +the spring. In the fall the robins are among the wildest of the birds, +and now they are all around us. I believe that if I place some crumbs on +yonder rock, they'll come and dine with us, in a sense;" and the event +proved that he was right. + +"Hey, Johnnie," said her grandfather, "you never took dinner with the +birds before, did you? This is almost as wonderful as if Cinderella sat +up and asked for an oyster." + +But Johnnie was only pleased with the fact, not surprised. Wonderland was +her land, and she said, "I don't see why the birds can't understand that +I'd like to have dinner with them every day." + +"By the way, Webb," continued his father, "I brought out the field-glass +with me, for I thought that with your good eyes you might see Burt;" and +he drew it from his pocket. + +The idea of seeing Burt shooting ducks nearly broke up the feast, and +Webb swept the distant river, full of floating ice that in the sunlight +looked like snow. "I can see several out in boats," he said, "and Burt, +no doubt, is among them." + +Then Amy, Alf, and Johnnie must have a look, but Ned devoted himself +strictly to business, and Amy remarked that he was becoming like a little +sausage. + +"Can the glass make us hear the noise of the gun better?" Johnnie asked, +at which they all laughed, Ned louder than any, because of the laughter +of the others. It required but a little thing to make these banqueters +hilarious. + +But there was one who heard them and did not laugh. From the brow of the +hill a dark, sad face looked down upon them. Lured by the beauty of the +day, Mr. Alvord had wandered aimlessly into the woods, and, attracted by +merry voices, had drawn sufficiently near to witness a scene that +awakened within him indescribable pain and longing. He did not think of +joining them. It was not a fear that he would be unwelcomed that kept him +away; he knew the family too well to imagine that. A stronger restraint +was upon him. Something in the past darkened even that bright day, and +built in the crystal air a barrier that he could not pass. They would +give him a place at their rustic board, but he could not take it. He knew +that he would be a discord in their harmony, and their innocent merriment +smote his morbid nature with almost intolerable pain. With a gesture +indicating immeasurable regret, he turned and hastened away to his lonely +home. As he mounted the little piazza his steps were arrested. The +exposed end of a post that supported the inner side of its roof formed a +little sheltered nook in which a pair of bluebirds had begun to build +their nest. They looked at him with curious and distrustful eyes as they +flitted to and fro in a neighboring tree, and he sat down and looked at +them. The birds were evidently in doubt and in perturbed consultation. +They would fly to the post, then away and all around the house, but +scarcely a moment passed that Mr. Alvord did not see that he was observed +and discussed. With singular interest and deep suspense he awaited their +decision. At last it came, and was favorable. The female bird came flying +to the post with a beakful of fine dry grass, and her mate, on a spray +near, broke out into his soft, rapturous song. The master of the house +gave a great sigh of relief. A glimmer of a smile passed over his wan +face as he muttered, "I expected to be alone this summer, but I am to +have a family with me, after all." + +Soon after the lunch had been discussed leisurely and hilariously the +maple-sugar camp was left in the care of Alf and Johnnie, with Abram to +assist them. Amy longed for a stroll, but even with the protection of +rubber boots she found that the departing frost had left the sodded +meadow too wet and spongy for safety. Under Webb's direction she picked +her way to the margin of the swollen stream, and gathered some pussy +willows that were bursting their sheaths. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +REGRETS AND DUCK-SHOOTING + + +Saturday afternoon, as is usual in the country, brought an increased number +of duties to the inhabitants of the farmhouse, but at the supper hour they +all, except Burt, looked back upon the day with unwonted satisfaction. He +had returned weary, hungry, and discontented, notwithstanding the fact that +several brace of ducks hung on the piazza as trophies of his skill. He was +in that uncomfortable frame of mind which results from charging one's self +with a blunder. In the morning he had entered on the sport with his usual +zest, but it had soon declined, and he wished he had remained at home. He +remembered the children's intention of spending the day among the maples, +and as the sun grew warm, and the air balmy, the thought occurred with +increasing frequency that he might have induced Amy to join them, and so +have enjoyed long hours of companionship under circumstances most favorable +to his suit. He now admitted that were the river alive with ducks, the +imagined opportunities of the maple grove were tenfold more attractive. At +one time he half decided to return, but pride prevented until he should +have secured a fair amount of game. He would not go home to be laughed at. +Moreover, Amy had not been so approachable of late as he could wish, and he +proposed to punish her a little, hoping that she would miss his presence +and attentions. The many reminiscences at the supper-table were not +consoling. It was evident that he had not been missed in the way that he +desired to be, and that the day had been one of rich enjoyment to her. +Neither was Webb's quiet satisfaction agreeable, and Burt mildly +anathematized himself at the thought that he might have had his share in +giving Amy so much pleasure. He took counsel of experience, however, and +having learned that even duck-shooting under the most favorable auspices +palled when contrasted with Amy's smiles and society, he resolved to be +present in the future when she, like Nature, was in a propitious mood. +Impetuous as he was, he had not yet reached the point of love's blindness +which would lead him to press his suit in season and out of season. He soon +found a chance to inform Amy of his regret, but she laughed merrily back at +him as she went up to her room, saying that the air of a martyr sat upon +him with very poor grace in view of his success and persistence in the +sport, and that he had better put a white mark against the day, as she had +done. + +Early in the evening Dr. Marvin appeared, with Mr. Marks, one of the most +noted duck-shooters and fishermen on the river, and they brought in three +superb specimens of a rare bird in this region, the American swan, that +queen of water-fowls and embodiment of grace. + +"Shot 'em an hour or two ago, near Polopel's Island," said Mr. Marks, +"and we don't often have the luck to get within range of such game. Dr. +Marvin was down visiting one of my children, and he said how he would +like to prepare the skin of one, and he thought some of you folks here +might like to have another mounted, and he'd do it if you wished." + +Exclamations of pleasure followed this proposition. Alf examined them +with deep interest, while Burt whispered to Amy that he would rather have +brought her home a swan like one of those than all the ducks that ever +quacked. + +In accordance with their hospitable ways, the Cliffords soon had the +doctor and Mr. Marks seated by their fireside, and the veteran sportsman +was readily induced to enlarge upon some of his experiences. + +He had killed two of the swans, he told them, as they were swimming, and +the other as it rose. He did not propose to let any such uncommon +visitors get away. He had never seen more than ten since he had lived in +this region. With the proverbial experience of meeting game when without +a gun, he had seen five fly over, one Sunday, while taking a ramble on +Plum Point. + +"Have you ever obtained any snow-geese in our waters?" Dr. Marvin asked. + +"No. That's the scarcest water-fowl we have. Once in a wild snowstorm I +saw a flock of about two hundred far out upon the river, and would have +had a shot into them, but some fellows from the other side started out +and began firing at long range, and that has been my only chance. I +occasionally get some brant-geese, and they are rare enough. I once saw a +flock of eight, and got them all-took five out of the flock in the first +two shots--but I've never killed more than twenty-five in all." + +"I don't think I have ever seen one," remarked Mrs. Clifford, who, in her +feebleness and in her home-nook, loved to hear about these bold, +adventurous travellers. They brought to her vivid fancy remote wild +scenes, desolate waters, and storm-beaten rocks. The tremendous endurance +and power of wing in these shy children of nature never ceased to be +marvels to her. "Burt has occasionally shot wild-geese--we have one +mounted there--but I do not know what a brant is, nor much about its +habits," she added. + +"Its markings are like the ordinary Canada wild-goose," Dr. Marvin +explained, "and it is about midway in size between a goose and a duck." + +"I've shot a good many of the common wild-geese in my time," Mr. Marks +resumed; "killed nineteen four years ago. I once knocked down ten out of +a flock of thirteen by giving them both barrels. I have a flock of eight +now in a pond not far away--broke their wings, you know, and so they +can't fly. They soon become tame, and might be domesticated easily, only +you must always keep one wing cut, or they will leave in the spring or +fall." + +"How is that?" + +"Well, they never lose their instinct to migrate, and if they heard other +wild-geese flying over, they'd rise quick enough if they could and go +with them." + +"Do you think there would be any profit in domesticating them?" asked +practical Leonard. + +"There might be. I know a man up the river who used to cross them with +our common geese, and so produced a hybrid, a sort of a mule-goose, that +grew very large. I've known 'em to weigh eighteen pounds or more, and +they were fine eating, I can tell you. I don't suppose there is much in +it, though, or some cute Yankee would have made a business of it before +this." + +"How many ducks do you suppose you have shot all together?" Mr. Clifford +asked. + +"Oh, I don't know--a great many. Killed five hundred last fall." + +"What's the greatest number you ever got out of a flock, Marks?" put in +Burt. + +"Well, there is the old squaw, or long-tailed duck. They go in big +flocks, you now--have seen four or five hundred together. In the spring, +just after they have come from feeding on mussels in the southern +oyster-beds, they are fishy, but in the fall they are much better, and +the young ducks are scarcely fishy at all. I've taken twenty-three out of +a flock by firing at them in the water and again when they rose; and in +the same way I once knocked over eighteen black or dusky ducks; and they +are always fine, you know." + +"Are the fancy kinds, like the mallards and canvas-backs that are in such +demand by the epicures, still plentiful in their season?" Webb asked. + +"No. I get a few now and then, but don't calculate on them any longer. It +was my luck with canvas-backs that got me into my duck-shooting ways. I +was cuffed and patted on the back the same day on their account." + +In response to their laughing expressions of curiosity he resumed: "I was +but a little chap at the time; still I believed I could shoot ducks, but +my father wouldn't trust me with either a gun or boat, and my only chance +was to circumvent the old man. So one night I hid the gun outside the +house, climbed out of a window as soon as it was light, and paddled round +a point where I would not be seen, and I tell you I had a grand time. I +did not come in till the middle of the afternoon, but I reached a point +when I must have my dinner, no matter what came before it. The old man +was waiting for me, and he cuffed me well. I didn't say a word, but went +to my mother, and she, mother-like, comforted me with a big dinner which +she had kept for me. I was content to throw the cuffing in, and still +feel that I had the best of the bargain. An elder brother began to chaff +me and ask, 'Where are your ducks?' 'Better go and look under the seat in +the stern-sheets before you make any more faces,' I answered, huffily. I +suppose he thought at first I wanted to get rid of him, but he had just +enough curiosity to go and see, and he pulled out sixteen canvas-backs. +The old man was reconciled at once, for I had made better wages than he +that day; and from that time on I've had all the duck-shooting I've +wanted." + +"That's a form of argument to which the world always yields," said +Leonard, laughing. + +"How many kinds of wild-ducks do we have here in the bay, that you can +shoot so many?" Maggie asked. + +"I've never counted 'em up. The doctor can tell you, perhaps." + +"I've prepared the skins of twenty-four different kinds that were shot in +this vicinity," replied Dr. Marvin. + +"Don't you and Mrs. Marvin dissect the birds also?" queried Leonard. + +"Mr. Marks," said Mr. Clifford, "I think you once had a rather severe +experience while out upon the river. Won't you tell us about it?" + +"Yes. My favorite sport came nigh being the death of me, and it always +makes me shiver to think of it. I started out one spring morning at five +o'clock, and did not get home till two o'clock the next morning, and not +a mouthful did I have to eat. I had fair success during the day, but was +bothered by the quantities of ice running, and a high wind. About four +o'clock in the afternoon I concluded to return home, for I was tired and +hungry. I was then out in the river off Plum Point. I saw an opening +leading south, and paddled into it, but had not gone far before the wind +drove the ice in upon me, and blocked the passage. There I was, helpless, +and it began to blow a gale. The wind held the ice immovable on the west +shore, even though the tide was running out. For a time I thought the +boat would be crushed by the grinding cakes in spite of all I could do. +If it had, I'd 'a been drowned at once, but I worked like a Trojan, +shouting, meanwhile, loud enough to raise the dead. No one seemed to hear +or notice me. At last I made my way to a cake that was heavy enough to +bear my weight, and on this I pulled up the boat, and lay down exhausted. +It was now almost night, and I was too tired to shout any more. There on +that mass of ice I stayed till two o'clock the next morning. I thought +I'd freeze to death, if I did not drown. I shouted from time to time, +till I found it was of no use, and then gave my thoughts to keeping awake +and warm enough to live. I knew that my chance would be with the next +turn of the tide, when the ice would move with it, and also the wind, up +the river. So it turned out. I was at last able to break my way through +the loosened ice to Plain Point, and then had a two-mile walk home; and I +can tell you that it never seemed so like home before." + +"Oh, Burt, please don't go out again when the ice is running," was his +mother's comment on the story. + +"Thoreau speaks of seeing black ducks asleep on a pond whereon thin ice +had formed, inclosing them, daring the March night," said Webb. "Have you +ever caught them napping in this way?" + +"No," replied Mr. Marks; "though it might easily happen on a still pond. +The tides and wind usually break up the very thin ice on the river, and +if there is any open water near, the ducks will stay in it." + +"Dr. Marvin, have you caught any glimpses of spring to-day that we have +not?" Amy asked. + +The doctor laughed--having heard of Webb's exploit in the night near the +hennery--and said: "I might mention that I have seen 'Sir Mephitis' +cabbage, as I suppose I should all it, growing vigorously. It is about +the first green thing we have. Around certain springs, however, the grass +keeps green all winter, and I passed one to-day surrounded by an emerald +hue that was distinct in the distance. It has been very cold and backward +thus far." + +"Possess your souls in patience," said Mr. Clifford. "Springtime and +harvest are sure. After over half a century's observation I have noted +that, no matter what the weather may have been, Nature always catches up +with the season about the middle or last of June." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +APRIL + + +The remainder of March passed quickly away, with more alternations of +mood than there were days; but in spite of snow, sleet, wind, and rain, +the most forbidding frowns and tempestuous tears, all knew that Nature +had yielded, and more often she half-smilingly acknowledged the truth +herself. + +All sights and sounds about the farmhouse betokened increasing activity. +During the morning hours the cackling in the barn and out-buildings +developed into a perfect clamor, for the more commonplace the event of a +new-born egg became, the greater attention the hens inclined to call to +it. Possibly they also felt the spring-time impulse of all the feathered +tribes to use their voice to the extent of its compass. The clatter was +music to Alf and Johnnie, however, for gathering the eggs was one of +their chief sources of revenue, and the hunting of nests--stolen so +cunningly and cackled over so sillily--with their accumulated treasures +was like prospecting for mines. The great basketful they brought in daily +after their return from school proved that if the egg manufactory ran +noisily, it did not run in vain. Occasionally their father gave them a +peep into the dusky brooding-room. Under his thrifty management the +majority of the nests were simply loose boxes, each inscribed with a +number. When a biddy wished to sit, she was removed at night upon the +nest, and the box was placed on a low shelf in the brooding-room. If she +remained quiet and contented in the new location, eggs were placed under +her, a note of the number of the box was taken, with the date, and the +character of the eggs, if they represented any special breed. By these +simple precautions little was left to what Squire Bartley termed "luck." +Some of the hens had been on the nest nearly three weeks, and eagerly did +the children listen for the first faint peep that should announce the +senior chick of the year. + +Webb and Burt had already opened the campaign in the garden. On the black +soil in the hot-bed, which had been made in a sheltered nook, were even +now lines of cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. These nursling +vegetables were cared for as Maggie had watched her babies. On mild sunny +days the sash was shoved down and air given. High winds and frosty nights +prompted to careful covering and tucking away. The Cliffords were not of +those who believe that pork, cabbage, and potatoes are a farmer's +birthright, when by a small outlay of time and skill every delicacy can +be enjoyed, even in advance of the season. On a warm slope from which the +frost ever took its earliest departure, peas, potatoes, and other hardy +products of the garden were planted, and as the ground grew firm enough, +the fertilizers of the barn-yard were carted to the designated places, +whereon, by Nature's alchemy, they would be transmuted into forms of use +and beauty. + +It so happened that the 1st of April was an ideal spring day. During the +morning the brow of Storm King, still clothed with snow, was shrouded in +mist, through which the light broke uncertainly in gleams of watery +sunshine. A succession of showers took place, but so slight and mild that +they were scarcely heeded by the busy workers; there was almost a profusion +of half-formed rainbows; and atmosphere and cloud so blended that it was +hard to say where one began and the other ceased. On every twig, dead weed, +and spire of withered grass hung innumerable drops that now were water and +again diamonds when touched by the inconstant sun. Sweet-fern grass +abounded in the lawn, and from it exuded an indescribably delicious odor. +The birds were so ecstatic in their songs, so constant in their calls, that +one might think that they, like the children, were making the most of +All-fools' Day, and playing endless pranks on each other. The robins acted +as if nothing were left to be desired. They were all this time in all +stages of relationship. Some had already paired, and were at work upon +their domiciles, but more were in the blissful and excited state of +courtship, and their conversational notes, wooings, and pleadings, as they +warbled the _pros_ and _cons_, were quite different from their +matin and vesper songs. Not unfrequently there were two aspirants for the +same claw or bill, and the rivals usually fought it out like their human +neighbors in the olden time, the red-breasted object of their affections +standing demurely aloof on the sward, quietly watching the contest with a +sidelong look, undoubtedly conscious, however, of a little feminine +exultation that she should be sought thus fiercely by more than one. After +all, the chief joy of the robin world that day resulted from the fact that +the mild, humid air lured the earth-worms from their burrowing, and Amy +laughed more than once as, from her window, she saw a little gourmand +pulling at a worm, which clung so desperately to its hole that the bird at +last almost fell over backward with its prize. Courtship, nest-building, +family cares--nothing disturbs a robin's appetite, and it was, indeed, a +sorry fools'-day for myriads of angle-worms that ventured out. + +Managing a country place is like sailing a ship: one's labors are, or +should be, much modified by the weather. This still day, when the leaves +were heavy with moisture, afforded Webb the chance he had desired to rake +the lawn and other grass-plots about the house, and store the material +for future use. He was not one to attempt this task when the wind would +half undo his labor. + +In the afternoon the showery phase passed, and the sun shone with a misty +brightness. Although so early in a backward spring, the day was full of +the suggestion of wild flowers, and Amy and the children started on their +first search into Nature's calendar of the seasons. All knew where to +look for the earliest blossoms, and in the twilight the explorers +returned with handfuls of hepatica and arbutus buds, which, from +experience, they knew would bloom in a vase of water. Who has ever +forgotten his childish exultation over the first wild flowers of the +year! Pale, delicate little blossoms though they be, and most of them +odorless, their memory grows sweet with our age. + +Burt, who had been away to purchase a horse--he gave considerable of his +time to the buying and selling of these animals--drove up as Amy +approached the house, and pleaded for a spray of arbutus. + +"But the buds are not open yet," she said. + +"No matter; I should value the spray just as much, since you gathered +it." + +"Why, Burt," she cried, laughing, "on that principle I might as well give +you a chip." But she gave him the buds and escaped. + +"Amy," Webb asked at the supper-table, "didn't you hear the peepers this +afternoon while out walking?" + +"Yes; and I asked Alf what they were. He said they were peepers, and that +they always made a noise in the spring." + +"Why, Alf," Webb resumed, in mock gravity, "you should have told Amy that +the sounds came from the _Hylodes pickeringii_." + +"If that is all that you can tell me," said Amy, laughing, "I prefer +Alf's explanation. I have known people to cover up their ignorance by +big words before. Indeed, I think it is a way you scientists have." + +"I must admit it; and yet that close observer, John Burroughs, gives a +charming account of these little frogs that we call 'hylas' for short. +Shy as they are, and quick to disappear when approached, he has seen +them, as they climb out of the mud upon a sedge or stick in the marshes, +inflate their throats until they 'suggest a little drummer-boy with his +drum hung high.' In this bubble-like swelling at its throat the noise is +made; and to me it is a welcome note of spring, although I have heard +people speak of it as one of the most lonesome and melancholy of sounds. +It is a common saying among old farmers that the peepers must be shut up +three times by frost before we can expect steady spring weather. I +believe that naturalists think these little mites of frogs leave the mud +and marshes later on, and become tree-toads. Let me give you a hint, Alf. +Try to find out what you can at once about the things you see or hear: +that's the way to get an education." + +"May I not take the hint also?" Amy asked. + +"Please don't think me a born pedagogue," he answered, smiling; "but you +have no idea how fast we obtain knowledge of certain kinds if we follow +up the object-lessons presented every day." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +EASTER + + +Easter-Sunday came early in the month, and there had been great +preparations for it, for with the Cliffords it was one of the chief +festivals of the year. To the children was given a week's vacation, and +they scoured the woods for all the arbutus that gave any promise of +opening in time. Clumps of bloodroot, hepaticas, dicentras, dog-tooth +violets, and lilies-of-the-valley had been taken up at the first +relaxation of frost, and forced in the flower-room. Hyacinth and tulip +bulbs, kept back the earlier part of the winter, were timed to bloom +artificially at this season so sacred to flowers, and, under Mrs. +Clifford's fostering care, all the exotics of the little conservatory had +been stimulated to do their best to grace the day. On Saturday afternoon +Mr. Barkdale's pulpit was embowered with plants and vines growing in +pots, tubs, and rustic boxes, and the good man beamed upon the work, +gaining meanwhile an inspiration that would put a soul into his words on +the morrow. + +No such brilliant morning dawned on the worship of the Saxon goddess +Eostre, in cloudy, forest-clad England in the centuries long past, as +broke over the eastern mountains on that sacred day. At half-past five +the sun appeared above the shaggy summit of the Beacon, and the steel +hues of the placid Hudson were changed into sparkling silver. A white +mist rested on the water between Storm King, Break Neck, and Mount +Taurus. In the distance it appeared as if snow had drifted in and half +filled the gorge of the Highlands. The orange and rose-tinted sky +gradually deepened into an intense blue, and although the land was as +bare and the forests were as gaunt as in December, a soft glamour over +all proclaimed spring. + +Spring was also in Amy's eyes, in the oval delicacy of her girlish face +with its exquisite flush, in her quick, deft hands and elastic step as she +arranged baskets and vases of flowers. Webb watched her with his deep eyes, +and his Easter worship began early in the day. True homage it was, because +so involuntary, so unquestioning and devoid of analysis, so utterly free +from the self-conscious spirit that expects a large and definite return for +adoration. His sense of beauty, the poetic capabilities of his nature, were +kindled. Like the flowers that seemed to know their place in a harmony of +color when she touched them, Amy herself was emblematic of Easter, of its +brightness and hopefulness, of the new, richer spiritual life that was +coming to him. He loved his homely work and calling as never before, +because he saw how on every side it touched and blended with the beautiful +and sacred. Its highest outcome was like the blossoms before him which had +developed from a rank soil, dark roots, and prosaic woody stems. The grain +he raised fed and matured the delicate human perfection shown in every +graceful and unconscious pose of the young girl. She was Nature's priestess +interpreting to him a higher, gentler world which before he had seen but +dimly--interpreting it all the more clearly because she made no effort to +reveal it. She led the way, he followed, and the earth ceased to be an +aggregate of forms and material forces. With his larger capabilities he +might yet become her master, but now, with an utter absence of vanity, he +recognized how much she was doing for him, how she was widening his horizon +and uplifting his thoughts and motives, and he reverenced her as such men +ever do a woman that leads them to a higher plane of life. + +No such deep thoughts and vague homage perplexed Burt as he assisted Amy +with attentions that were assiduous and almost garrulous. The brightness +of the morning was in his handsome face, and the gladness of his buoyant +temperament in his heart. Amy was just to his taste--pretty, piquant, +rose-hued, and a trifle thorny too, at times, he thought. He believed +that he loved her with a boundless devotion--at least it seemed so that +morning. It was delightful to be near her, to touch her fingers +occasionally as he handed her flowers, and to win smiles, arch looks, and +even words that contained a minute prick like spines on the rose stems. He +felt sure that his suit would prosper in time, and she was all the more +fascinating because showing no sentimental tendencies to respond with a +promptness that in other objects of his attention in the past had even +proved embarrassing. She was a little conscious of Webb's silent +observation, and, looking up suddenly, caught an expression that deepened +her color slightly. + +"That for your thoughts," she said, tossing him a flower with sisterly +freedom. + +"Webb is pondering deeply," explained the observant Burt, "on the +reflection of light as shown not only by the color in these flowers, but +also in your cheeks under his fixed stare." + +There was an access of rose-hued reflection at these words, but Webb rose +quietly and said: "If you will let me keep the flower I will tell you my +thoughts another time. They were quite suitable for Easter morning. That +basket is now ready, and I will take it to the church." + +Burt was soon despatched with another, while she and Johnnie, who had +been flitting about, eager and interested, followed with light and +delicate vases. To their surprise, Mr. Alvord intercepted them near the +church vestibule. He had never been seen at any place of worship, and the +reserve and dignity of his manner had prevented the most zealous from +interfering with his habits. From the porch of his cottage he had seen +Amy and the little girl approaching with their floral offerings. Nature's +smile that morning had softened his bitter mood, and, obeying an impulse +to look nearer upon two beings that belonged to another world than his, +he joined them, and asked: + +"Won't you let me see your flowers before you take them into the church?" + +"Certainly," said Amy, cordially; "but there are lovelier ones on the +pulpit; won't you come in and see them?" + +He shook his head. + +"What!" cried Johnnie, "not going to church to-day?" She had lost much of +her fear of him, for in his rambles he frequently met her and Alf, and +usually spoke to them. Moreover, she had repeatedly seen him at their +fireside, and he ever had a smile for her. The morbid are often fearless +with children, believing that, like the lower orders of life, they have +little power to observe that anything is amiss, and therefore are neither +apt to be repelled nor curious and suspicious. This in a sense is true, +and yet their instincts are keen. But Mr. Alvord was not selfish or +coarse; above all he was not harsh. To Johnnie he only seemed strange, +quiet, and unhappy, and she had often heard her mother say, "Poor Mr. +Alvord!" Therefore, when he said, "I don't go to church; if I had a +little girl like you to sit by me, I might feel differently," her heart +was touched, and she replied, impulsively: "I'll sit by you, Mr. Alvord. +I'll sit with you all by ourselves, if you will only go to church to-day. +Why, it's Easter." + +"Mr. Alvord," said Amy, gently, "that's an unusual offer for shy Johnnie +to make. You don't know what a compliment you have received, and I think +you will make the child very happy if you comply." + +"Could I make you happier by sitting with you in church to-day?" he +asked, in a low voice, offering the child his hand. + +"Yes," she replied, simply. + +"Come, then. You lead the way, for you know best where to go." She gave +her vase to Amy, and led him into a side seat near her father's pew--one +that she had noted as unoccupied of late. "It's early yet Do you mind +sitting here until service begins?" he asked. + +"Oh, no. I like to sit here and look at the flowers;" and the first +comers glanced wonderingly at the little girl and her companion, who was +a stranger to them and to the sanctuary. Amy explained matters to Leonard +and Maggie at the door when they arrived, and Easter-Sunday had new and +sweeter meanings to them. + +The spring had surely found its way into Mr. Barkdale's sermon also, and +its leaves, as he turned them, were not autumn leaves, which, even though +brilliant, suggest death and sad changes. One of his thoughts was much +commented upon by the Cliffords, when, in good old country style, the +sermon was spoken of at dinner. "The God we worship," he said, "is the +God of life, of nature. In his own time and way he puts forth his power. +We can employ this power and make it ours. Many of you will do this +practically during the coming weeks. You sow seed, plant trees, and seek +to shape others into symmetrical form by pruning-knife and saw. What is +your expectation? Why, that the great power that is revivifying nature +will take up the work here you leave off, and carry it forward. All the +skill and science in the world could not create a field of waving grain, +nor all the art of one of these flowers. How immensely the power of God +supplements the labor of man in those things which minister chiefly to +his lower nature! Can you believe that he will put forth so much energy +that the grain may mature and the flower bloom, and yet not exert far +greater power than man himself may develop according to the capabilities +of his being? The forces now exist in the earth and in the air to make +the year fruitful, but you must intelligently avail yourselves of them. +You must sow, plant, and cultivate. The power ever exists that can redeem +us from evil, heal the wounds that sin has made, and develop the manhood +and womanhood that Heaven receives and rewards. With the same resolute +intelligence you must lay hold upon this ever-present spiritual force if +you would be lifted up." + +After the service there were those who would ostentatiously recognize and +encourage Mr. Alvord; but the Cliffords, with better breeding, quietly +and cordially greeted him, and that was all. At the door he placed +Johnnie's hand in her mother's, and gently said, "Good-by;" but the +pleased smile of the child and Mrs. Leonard followed him. As he entered +his porch, other maternal eyes rested upon him, and the brooding bluebird +on her nest seemed to say, with Johnnie, "I am not afraid of you." +Possibly to the lonely man this may prove Easter-Sunday in very truth, +and hope, that he had thought buried forever, come from its grave. + +In the afternoon all the young people started for the hills, gleaning the +earliest flowers, and feasting their eyes on the sunlit landscapes veiled +with soft haze from the abundant moisture with which the air was charged. +As the sun sank low in the many-hued west, and the eastern mountains +clothed themselves in royal purple, Webb chanced to be alone, near Amy, +and she said: + +"You have had that flower all day, and I have not had your thoughts." + +"Oh, yes, you have--a great many of them." + +"You know that isn't what I mean. You promised to tell me what you were +thinking about so deeply this morning." + +He looked at her smilingly a moment, and then his face grew gentle and +grave as he replied: "I can scarcely explain, Amy. I am learning that +thoughts which are not clear-cut and definite may make upon us the +strongest impressions. They cause us to feel that there is much that we +only half know and half understand as yet. You and your flowers seemed to +interpret to me the meaning of this day as I never understood it before. +Surely its deepest significance is life, happy, hopeful life, with escape +from its grosser elements, and as you stood there you embodied that +idea." + +"Oh, Webb," she cried, in comic perplexity, "you are getting too deep for +me. I was only arranging flowers, and not thinking about embodying +anything. But go on." + +"If you had been, you would have spoiled everything," he resumed, +laughing. "I can't explain; I can only suggest the rest in a sentence or +two. Look at the shadow creeping up yonder mountain--very dark blue on +the lower side of the moving line and deep purple above. Listen to these +birds around us. Well, every day I see and hear and appreciate these +things better, and I thought that you were to blame." + +"Am I very much to blame?" she inquired, archly. + +"Yes, very much," was his laughing answer. "It seems to me that a few +months since I was like the old man with the muck-rake in 'Pilgrim's +Progress,' seeking to gather only money, facts, and knowledge--things of +use. I now am finding so much that is useful which I scarcely looked at +before that I am revising my philosophy, and like it much better. The +simple truth is, I needed just such a sister as you are to keep me from +plodding." + +Burt now appeared with a handful of rue-anemones, obtained by a rapid +climb to a very sunny nook. They were the first of the season, and he +justly believed that Amy would be delighted with them. But the words of +Webb were more treasured, for they filled her with a pleased wonder. She +had seen the changes herself to which he referred; but how could a simple +girl wield such an influence over the grave, studious man? That was the +puzzle of puzzles. It was an enigma that she would be long in solving, +and yet the explanation was her own simplicity, her truthfulness to all +the conditions of unaffected girlhood. + +On the way to the house Webb delighted Johnnie and Alf by gathering +sprays of the cherry, peach, pear, and plum, saying, "Put them in water +by a sunny window, and see which will bloom first, these sprays or the +trees out-of-doors." The supper-table was graced by many woodland +trophies--the "tawny pendants" of the alder that Thoreau said dusted his +coat with sulphur-like pollen as he pressed through them to "look for +mud-turtles," pussy willows now well developed, the hardy ferns, arbutus, +and other harbingers of spring, while the flowers that had been brought +back from the church filled the room with fragrance. To gentle Mrs. +Clifford, dwelling as she ever must among the shadows of pain and +disease, this was the happiest day of the year, for it pointed forward to +immortal youth and strength, and she loved to see it decked and garlanded +like a bride. And so Easter passed, and became a happy memory. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +VERY MOODY + + +The next morning Amy, on looking from her window, could scarcely believe +she was awake. She had retired with her mind full of spring and +spring-time beauty, but the world without had now the aspect of January. +The air was one swirl of snow, and trees, buildings--everything was +white. In dismay she hastened to join the family, but was speedily +reassured. + +"There is nothing monotonous in American weather, and you must get used +to our sharp alternations," said Mr. Clifford. "This snow will do good +rather than harm, and the lawn will actually look green after it has +melted, as it will speedily. The thing we dread is a severe frost at a +far later date than this. The buds are still too dormant to be injured, +but I have known the apples to be frozen on the trees when as large as +walnuts." + +"Such snows are called the poor man's manure," Webb remarked, "and +fertilizing gases, to a certain amount, do become entangled in the large +wet flakes, and so are carried into the soil. But the poor man will +assuredly remain poor if he has no other means of enriching his land. What +a contrast to yesterday! The house on the northeast side looks as if built +of snow, so evenly is it plastered over. I pity the birds. They have +scarcely sung this morning, and they look as if thoroughly disgusted." + +Amy and Johnnie shared in the birds' disapproval, but Alf had a boy's +affinity for snow, and resolved to construct an immense fort as soon as +the storm permitted. Before the day had far declined the heavy flakes +ceased, and the gusty wind died away. Johnnie forgot the budding flowers +in their winding-sheet, and joyously aided in the construction of the +fort. Down the sloping lawn they rolled the snowballs, that so increased +with every revolution that they soon rose above the children's heads, and +Webb and Burt's good-natured help was required to pile them into +ramparts. At the entrance of the stronghold an immense snow sentinel was +fashioned, with a cord-wood stick for a musket. The children fairly +sighed for another month of winter. + +All night long Nature, in a heavy fall of rain, appeared to weep that she +had been so capricious, and the morning found her in as uncomfortable a +mood as could be imagined. The slush was ankle-deep, with indefinite +degrees of mud beneath, the air chilly and raw, and the sky filled with +great ragged masses of cloud, so opaque and low that they appeared as if +disrupted by some dynamic force, and threatened to fall upon the shadowed +land. But between them the sun darted many a smile at his tear-stained +mistress. At last they took themselves off like ill-affected meddlers in +a love match, and the day grew bright and warm. By evening, spring, +literally and figuratively, had more than regained lost ground, for, as +Mr. Clifford had predicted, the lawn had a distinct emerald hue. +Thenceforth the season moved forward as if there were to be no more regrets +and nonsense. An efficient ally in the form of a southwest wind came to the +aid of the sun, and every day Nature responded with increasing favor. Amy +no more complained that an American April was like early March in England; +and as the surface of the land grew warm and dry it was hard for her to +remain in-doors, there was so much of life, bustle, and movement without. +Buds were swelling on every side. Those of the lilac were nearly an inch +long, and emitted a perfume of the rarest delicacy, far superior to that of +the blossoms to come. The nests of the earlier birds were in all stages of +construction, and could be seen readily in the leafless trees. Snakes were +crawling from their holes, and lay sunning themselves in the roads, to her +and Johnnie's dismay. Alf captured turtles that, deep in the mud, had +learned the advent of spring as readily as the creatures of the air. The +fish were ascending the swollen streams. "Each rill," as Thoreau wrote, "is +peopled with new life rushing up it." Abram and Alf were planning a +momentous expedition to a tumbling dam on the Moodna, the favorite resort +of the sluggish suckers. New chicks were daily breaking their shells, and +their soft, downy, ball-like little bodies were more to Amy's taste than +the peepers of the marsh. + +One Saturday morning Alf rushed in, announcing with breathless haste that +"Kitten had a calf." Kitten was a fawn-colored Alderney, the favorite of +the barnyard, and so gentle that even Johnnie did not fear to rub her +rough nose, scratch her between her horns, or bring her wisps of grass +when she was tied near the house. Her calf was unlike all other calves. +There was no rest until Amy had seen it, and she admitted that she had +never looked upon a more innocent and droll little visage. At the +children's pleading the infant cow was given to them, but they were +warned to leave it for the present to Abram and Kitten's care, for the +latter was inclined to act like a veritable old cat when any one made too +free with her bovine baby. + +This bright Saturday occurring about the middle of the month completely +enthroned spring in the children's hearts. The air was sweet with +fragrance from the springing grass and swelling buds, and so still and +humid that sounds from other farms and gardens, and songs from distant +fields and groves, blended softly yet distinctly with those of the +immediate vicinage. The sunshine was warm, but veiled by fleecy clouds; +and as the day advanced every member of the family was out-of-doors, even +to Mrs. Clifford, for whom had been constructed, under her husband's +direction, a low garden-chair which was so light that even Alf or Amy +could draw it easily along the walks. From it she stepped down on her +first visit of the year to her beloved flower-beds, which Alf and Burt +were patting in order for her, the latter blending with, his filial +attentions the hope of seeing more of Amy. Nor was he unrewarded, for his +manner toward his mother, whom he alternately petted and chaffed, while +at the same time doing her bidding with manly tenderness, won the young +girl's hearty good-will. The only drawback was his inclination to pet her +furtively even more. She wished that Webb was preparing the flower-beds, +for then there would be nothing to perplex or worry her. But he, with his +father and Leonard, was more prosaically employed, for they were at work +in the main or vegetable garden. It was with a sense of immense relief +that she heard Mrs. Clifford, after she had given her final directions, +and gloated over the blooming crocuses and daffodils, and the budding +hyacinths and tulips, express a wish to join her husband. + +"Come back soon," pleaded Burt. + +"I'm your mother's pony to-day," she replied, and hastened away. A wide +path bordered on either side by old-fashioned perennials and shrubbery +led down through the garden. Amy breathed more freely as soon as she +gained it, and at once gave herself up to the enjoyment of the pleasing +sights and sounds on every side. Mr. Clifford was the picture of placid +content as he sat on a box in the sun, cutting potatoes into the proper +size for planting. Johnnie was perched on another box near, chattering +incessantly as she handed him the tubers, and asking no other response +than the old gentleman's amused smile. Leonard with a pair of stout +horses was turning up the rich black mould, sinking his plow to the beam, +and going twice in a furrow. It would require a very severe drought to +affect land pulverized thus deeply, for under Leonard's thorough work the +root pasturage was extended downward eighteen inches. On the side of the +plot nearest to the house Webb was breaking the lumps and levelling the +ground with a heavy iron-toothed rake, and also forking deeply the ends +of the furrows that had been trampled by the turning horses. Leaving Mrs. +Clifford chatting and laughing with her husband and Johnnie, Amy stood in +the walk opposite to him, and he said presently: + +"Come, Amy, you can help me. You said you wanted a finger in our +horticultural pies, and no doubt had in your mind nothing less plebeian +than flower seeds and roses. Will your nose become _retrousse_ if I ask +you to aid me in planting parsnips, oyster-plant, carrots, and--think of +it!--onions?" + +"The idea of my helping you, when the best I can do is to amuse you with +my ignorance! But I'll put on no airs. I do not look forward to an +exclusive diet of roses, and am quite curious to know what part I can +have in earning my daily vegetables." + +"A useful and typical part--that of keeping straight men and things in +general. Wait a little;" and taking up a coiled garden line, he attached +one end of it to a stout stake pressed firmly into the ground. He then +walked rapidly over the levelled soil to the further side of the plot, +drew the line "taut," as the sailors say, and tied it to another stake. +He next returned toward Amy, making a shallow drill by drawing a +sharp-pointed hoe along under the line. From a basket near, containing +labelled packages of seeds, he made a selection, and poured into a bowl +something that looked like gunpowder grains, and sowed it rapidly in the +little furrow. "Now, Amy," he cried, from the further side of the plot, +"do you see that measuring-stick at your feet? Place one end of it +against the stake to which the line is fastened, and move the stake with +the line forward to the other end of the measuring-stick, just as I am +doing here. That's it. You now see how many steps you save me, and how +much faster I can get on." + +"Are those black-looking grains you are sowing seed?" + +"Indeed they are, as a few weeks may prove to you by more senses than +one. These are the seeds of a vegetable inseparable in its associations +from classic Italy and renowned in sacred story. You may not share in the +longings of the ancient Hebrews, but with its aid I could easily bring +tears of deep feeling to your eyes." + +"The vegetable is more pungent than your wit, Webb," she laughed; but she +stood near the path at the end of the line, which she moved forward from +time to time as requested, meanwhile enjoying an April day that lacked +few elements of perfection. + +The garden is one of the favorite haunts of the song-sparrow. In the +flower-border near, Amy would hear such a vigorous scratching among the +leaves that she might well believe that a motherly hen was at work, but +presently one of these little sober-coated creatures that Thoreau well +calls a "ground-bird" would fly to the top of a plum-tree and trill out a +song as sweet as the perfume that came from the blossoming willows not +far away. The busy plows made it a high festival for the robins, for with +a confidence not misplaced they followed near in the furrows that Leonard +was making in the garden, and that Abram was turning on an adjacent +hillside, and not only the comparatively harmless earth-worms suffered, +but also the pestiferous larvae of the May-beetle, the arch-enemy of the +strawberry plant. Even on that day of such varied and etherealized +fragrance, the fresh, wholesome odor of the upturned earth was grateful. +Suddenly Webb straightened himself from the sowing of the scale-like +parsnip-seed in which he was then engaged, and said, "Listen." Remote yet +distinct, like a dream of a bird-song, came a simple melody from a +distant field. "Welcome," he said. "That's our meadow-lark, Amy; not +equal to your skylark, I admit. Indeed, it is not a lark at all, for Dr. +Marvin says it belongs to the oriole family. Brief and simple as is its +song, I think you will agree with me that spring brings few more lovely +sounds. That is the first one that I have heard this year." + +She scarcely more than caught the ethereal song before Burt and Alf came +down the path, trundling immense wheelbarrow-loads of the prunings of the +shrubbery around the house. These were added to a great pile of brush and +refuse that had accumulated on the other side of the walk, and to Alf was +given the wild excitement of igniting the inflammable mass, and soon +there was a fierce crackling as the flames devoured their way into the +loose dry centre of the rejected debris of the previous year. Then to Alf +and Johnnie's unmeasured delight they were permitted to improvise a +miniature prairie fire. A part of the garden had been left to grow very +weedy in the preceding summer, and they were shown how that by lighting +the dry, dead material on the windward side, the flames, driven by a +gentle western breeze, would sweep across the entire plot, leaving it +bare and blackened, ready for the fertilizers and the plow. With merry +cries they followed the sweeping line of fire, aiding it forward by +catching up on iron rakes burning wisps and transferring them to spots in +the weedy plot that did not kindle readily. Little Ned, clinging to the +hand of Maggie, who had joined the family in the garden, looked on with +awe-struck eyes. From the bonfire and the consuming weeds great volumes +of smoke poured up and floated away, the air was full of pungent odors, +and the robins called vociferously back and forth through the garden, +their alarmed and excited cries vying with the children's shouts. In half +an hour only a faint haze of smoke to the eastward indicated the brief +conflagration; the family had gone to the house for their one-o'clock +dinner, and the birds were content with the normal aspect of the old +garden in April. + +The promise of the bright spring day was not fulfilled. Cold rains +followed by frosty mornings and high cool winds prevailed with depressing +persistency. It required almost as much vigor, courage, and activity as +had been essential in March to enjoy out-door life. In many of her +aspects Nature appeared almost to stand still and wait for more genial +skies, and yet for those who watched to greet and to welcome, the mighty +impulse of spring manifested itself in many ways. The currant and +gooseberry bushes, as if remembering their original haunts in dim, cold, +boggy forests, put forth their foliage without hesitation. From the +elm-trees swung the little pendent blossoms that precede the leaves. The +lilacs and some other hardy shrubs grew green and fragrant daily. Nothing +daunted, the crocuses, hyacinths, and tulips pushed upward their +succulent leaves with steady resolution. In the woods the flowers had all +kinds of experiences. On the north side of Storm King it was still +winter, with great areas of December's ice unmelted. On the south side of +the mountain, spring almost kept pace with the calendar. The only result +was that the hardy little children of April, on which had hung more +snow-flakes than dew, obtained a longer lease of blooming life, and could +have their share in garlanding the May Queen. They bravely faced the +frosty nights and drenching rains, becoming types of those lives whose +beauty is only enhanced by adversity--of those who make better use of a +little sunny prosperity to bless the world than others on whom good-fortune +ever seems to wait. + +The last Saturday of the month was looked forward to with hopeful +expectations, as a genial earnest of May, and a chance for out-door +pleasures; but with it came a dismal rain-storm, which left the ground as +cold, wet, and sodden as it had been a month before. The backward season, +of which the whole country was now complaining, culminated on the +following morning, which ushered in a day of remarkable vicissitude. By +rapid transition the rain passed into sleet, then snow, which flurried +down so rapidly that the land grew white and wintry, making it almost +impossible to imagine that two months of spring had passed. By 10 A.M. +the whirling flakes ceased, but a more sullen, leaden, March-like sky +never lowered over a cold, dripping earth. On the north side of the house +a white hyacinth was seen hanging its pendent blossoms half in and half +out of the snow, and Alf, who in response to Dr. Marvin's suggestion was +following some of the family fortunes among the homes in the trees, came +in and said that he had found nests well hidden by a covering all too +cold, with the resolute mother bird protecting her eggs, although +chilled, wet, and shivering herself. By 1 P.M. the clouds grew thin, +rolled away, and disappeared. The sun broke out with a determined warmth +and power, and the snow vanished like a spectre of the long-past winter. +The birds took heart, and their songs of exultation resounded from far +and near. A warm south breeze sprang up and fanned Amy's cheek, as she, +with the children and Burt, went out for their usual Sunday-afternoon +walk. They found the flowers looking up hopefully, but with melted snow +hanging like tears on their pale little faces. The sun at last sank into +the unclouded west, illumining the sky with a warm, golden promise for +the future. Amy gazed at its departing glory, but Burt looked at +her--looked so earnestly, so wistfully, that she was full of compunction +even while she welcomed the return of the children, which delayed the +words that were trembling on his lips. He was ready, she was not; and he +walked homeward at her side silent and depressed, feeling that the +receptive, responsive spring was later in her heart than in Nature. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +SHAD-FISHING BY PROXY + + +According to the almanac, May was on time to a second, but Nature seemed +unaware of the fact. Great bodies of snow covered the Adirondack region, +and not a little still remained all the way southward through the +Catskills and the Highlands, about the headwaters of the Delaware, and +its cold breath benumbed the land. Johnnie's chosen intimates had given +her their suffrages as May Queen; but prudent Maggie had decided that the +crowning ceremonies should not take place until May truly appeared, with +its warmth and floral wealth. Therefore, on the first Saturday of the +month, Leonard planned a half-holiday, which should not only compensate +the disappointed children, but also give his busy wife a little outing. +He had learned that the tide was right for crossing the shallows of the +Moodna Creek, and they would all go fishing. Johnnie's friends and Dr. +and Mrs. Marvin were invited, and great were the preparations. Reed and +all kinds of poles were taken down from their hooks, or cut in a +neighboring thicket, the country store was depleted of its stock of rusty +hooks, and stray corks were fastened on the brown linen lines for floats. +Burt disdained to take his scientific tackle, and indeed there was little +use for it in Moodna Creek, but he joined readily in the frolic. He would +be willing to fish indefinitely for even minnows, if at the same time +there was a chance to angle for Amy. Some preferred to walk to the river, +and with the aid of the family rockaway the entire party were at the +boat-house before the sun had passed much beyond the meridian. Burt, from +his intimate knowledge of the channel, acted as pilot, and was jubilant +over the fact that Amy consented to take an oar with him and receive a +lesson in rowing. Mrs. Marvin held the tiller-ropes, and the doctor was +to use a pair of oars when requested to do so. Webb and Leonard took +charge of the larger boat, of which Johnnie, as hostess, was captain, and +a jolly group of little boys and girls made the echoes ring, while Ned, +with his thumb in his mouth, clung close to his mother, and regarded the +nautical expedition rather dubiously. They swept across the flats to the +deeper water near Plum Point, and so up the Moodna, whose shores were +becoming green with the rank growth of the bordering marsh. Passing under +an old covered bridge they were soon skirting an island from which rose a +noble grove of trees, whose swollen buds were only waiting for a warmer +caress of the sun to unfold. Returning, they beached their boats below +the bridge, under whose shadow the fish were fond of lying. The little +people were disembarked, and placed at safe distances; for, if near, they +would surely hook each other, if never a fin. Silence was enjoined, and +there was a breathless hush for the space of two minutes; then began +whispers more resonant than those of the stage, followed by acclamations +as Johnnie pulled up a wriggling eel, of which she was in mortal terror. +They all had good sport, however, for the smaller fry of the finny tribes +that haunted the vicinity of the old bridge suffered from the well-known +tendency of extreme youth to take everything into its mouth. Indeed, at +that season, an immature sun-fish will take a hook if there is but a +remnant of a worm upon it. The day was good for fishing, since thin +clouds darkened the water. Amy was the heroine of the party, for Burt had +furnished her with a long, light pole, and taught her to throw her line +well away from the others. As a result she soon took, amidst excited +plaudits, several fine yellow perch. At last Leonard shouted: + +"You shall not have all the honors, Amy. I have a hook in my pocket that +will catch bigger fish than you have seen to-day. Come, the tide is going +out, and we must go out of the creek with it unless we wish to spend the +night on a sand-bar. I shall now try my luck at shad-fishing over by +Polopel's Island." + +The prospect of crossing the river and following the drift-nets down into +the Highlands was a glad surprise to all, and they were soon in Newburgh +Bay, whose broad lake-like surface was unruffled by a breath. The sun, +declining toward the west, scattered rose-hues among the clouds. Sloops +and schooners had lost steerage-way, and their sails flapped idly against +the masts. The grind of oars between the thole-pins came distinctly +across the water from far-distant boats, while songs and calls of birds, +faint and etherealized, reached them from the shores. Rowing toward a man +rapidly paying out a net from the stern of his boat they were soon hailed +by Mr. Marks, who with genial good-nature invited them to see the sport. +He had begun throwing his net over in the middle of the river, his +oarsman rowing eastward with a slight inclination toward the south, for +the reason that the tide is swifter on the western side. The aim is to +keep the net as straight as possible and at right angles with the tide. +The two boats were soon following Mr. Marks on either side, the smooth +water and the absence of wind enabling them to keep near and converse +without effort. Away in their wake bobbed the cork floats in an irregular +line, and from these floats, about twenty feet below the surface, was +suspended the net, which extended down thirty or forty feet further, +being kept in a vertical position by iron rings strung along its lower +edge at regular intervals. Thus the lower side of the net was from fifty +to sixty feet below the surface. In shallow water narrower nets are +rigged to float vertically much nearer the surface. Mr. Marks explained +that his net was about half a mile long, adding, + +"It's fun fishing on a day like this, but it's rather tough in a gale of +wind, with your eyes half blinded by rain, and the waves breaking into +your boat. Yes, we catch just as many then, perhaps more, for there are +fewer men out, and I suppose the weather is always about the same, except +as to temperature, down where the shad are. The fish don't mind wet +weather; neither must we if we make a business of catching them." + +"Do you always throw out your net from the west shore toward the east?" +Webb asked. + +"No, we usually pay out against the wind. With the wind the boat is apt +to go too fast. The great point is to keep the net straight and not all +tangled and wobbled up. Passing boats bother us, too. Sometimes a float +will catch on a paddle-wheel, and like enough half of the net will be +torn away. A pilot with any human feeling will usually steer one side, +and give a fellow a chance, and we can often bribe the skipper of +sailing-craft by holding up a shad and throwing it aboard as he tacks +around us. As a rule, however, boats of all kinds pass over a net without +doing any harm. Occasionally a net breaks from the floats and drags on +the bottom. This is covered with cinders thrown out by steamers, and they +play the mischief." + +"Do the fish swim against the tide?" + +"Usually, but they come in on both sides." + +"Mr. Marks, how can you catch fish in a net that is straight up and +down?" Amy asked. + +"You'll soon see, but I'll explain. The meshes of the net will stretch +five inches. A shad swims into one of these and then, like many others +that go into things, finds he can't back out, for his gills catch on the +sides of the mesh and there he hangs. Occasionally a shad will just +tangle himself up and so be caught, and sometimes we take a large striped +bass in this way." + +In answer to a question of Burt's he continued: "I just let my net float +with the tide as you see, giving it a pull from one end or the other now +and then to keep it as straight and as near at right angles with the +river as possible. When the tide stops running out and turns a little we +begin at one end of the net and pull it up, taking out the fish, at the +same time laying it carefully in folds on a platform in the stern-sheets, +so as to prevent any tangles. If the net comes up clear and free, I may +throw it in again and float back with the tide. So far from being able to +depend on this, we often have to go ashore where there is a smooth beach +before our drift is over and disentangle our net. There, now, I'm +through, with paying out. Haven't you noticed the floats bobbing here and +there?" + +"We've been too busy listening and watching you," said Leonard. + +"Well, now, watch the floats. If you see one bob under and wobble, a shad +has struck the net near it, and I can go and take him out. In smooth +water it's like fishing with one of your little cork bobblers there on +your lines. I'll give the shad to the first one that sees a float bob +under." + +Alf nearly sprang out of the boat as he pointed and shouted, "There, +there." + +Laughing good-naturedly, Mr. Marks lifted the net beneath the float, and, +sure enough, there was a great roe-shad hanging by his gills, and Alf +gloated over his supper, already secured. + +The fish were running well, and there were excited calls and frantic +pointings, in which at first even the older members of the party joined, +and every few moments a writhing shad flashed in the slanting rays as it +was tossed into the boat. Up and down the long, irregular line of floats +the boats passed and repassed until excitement verged toward satiety, and +the sun, near the horizon, with a cloud canopy of crimson and gold, +warned the merry fishers by proxy that their boats should be turned +homeward. Leonard pulled out what he termed his silver hook, and supplied +not only the Clifford family, but all of Johnnie's guests, with fish so +fresh that they had as yet scarcely realized that they were out of water. + +"Now, Amy," said Burt, "keep stroke with me," adding, in a whisper, "no +fear but that we can pull well together." + +Her response was, "One always associates a song with rowing. Come, strike +up, and let us keep the boats abreast that all may join." + +He, well content, started a familiar boating song, to which the splash of +their oars made musical accompaniment. A passing steamer saluted them, +and a moment later the boats rose gracefully over the swells. The glassy +river flashed back the crimson of the clouds, the eastern slopes of the +mountains donned their royal purple, the intervening shadows of valleys +making the folds of their robes. As they approached the shore the +resonant song of the robins blended with the human voices. Burt, however, +heard only Amy's girlish soprano, and saw but the pearl of her teeth +through her parted lips, the rose in her cheeks, and the snow of her +neck. + +Final words were spoken and all were soon at home. Maggie took the +household helm with a fresh and vigorous grasp. What a supper she +improvised! The maids never dawdled when she directed, and by the time +the hungry fishermen were ready, the shad that two hours before had been +swimming deep in the Hudson lay browned to a turn on the ample platter. +"It is this quick transition that gives to game fish their most exquisite +flavor," Burt remarked. + +"Are shad put down among the game fish?" his father asked. + +"Yes; they were included not very long ago, and most justly, too, as I +can testify to-night. I never tasted anything more delicious, except +trout. If a shad were not so bony it would be almost perfection when +eaten under the right conditions. Not many on the Hudson are aware of the +fact, perhaps, but angling for them is fine sport in some rivers. They +will take a fly in the Connecticut and Housatonic; but angle-worms and +other bait are employed in the Delaware and Southern rivers. The best +time to catch them is early in the morning, and from six to eight in the +evening. At dusk one may cast for them in still water, as for trout. The +Hudson is too big, I suppose, and the water too deep, although I see no +reason why the young fry should not be caught in our river as well as in +the Delaware. I have read of their biting voraciously in September at a +short distance above Philadelphia." + +"Do you mean to say that our rivers are full of shad in August and +September?" Leonard asked. + +"Yes; that is, of young shad on the way to the sea. The females that are +running up now will spawn in the upper and shallow waters of the river, +and return to the ocean by the end of June, and in the autumn the small +fry will also go to the sea, the females to remain there two years. The +males will come back next spring, and these young males are called +'chicken shad' on the Connecticut. Multitudes of these half-grown fish +are taken in seines, and sold as herrings or 'alewives'; for the true +herring does not run up into fresh water. Young shad are said to have +teeth, and they live largely on insects, while the full-grown fish have +no teeth, and feed chiefly on animalcules that form the greater part of +the slimy growths that cover nearly everything that is long under water." + +"Well, I never had so much shad before in my life," said his father, +laughing, and pushing lack his chair; "and, Burt, I have enjoyed those +you have served up in the water almost as much as those dished under +Maggie's superintendence." + +"I should suppose that the present mode of fishing with drift-nets was +cheaper and more profitable than the old method of suspending the nets +between poles," Leonard remarked. + +"It is indeed," Burt continued, vivaciously, for he observed that Amy was +listening with interest. "Poles, too, form a serious obstruction. Once, +years ago, I was standing near the guards of a steamboat, when I heard +the most awful grating, rasping sound, and a moment later a shad-pole +gyrated past me with force enough to brain an elephant had it struck him. +It was good fun, though, in old times to go out and see them raise the +nets, for they often came up heavy with fish. Strange to say, a loon was +once pulled up with the shad. Driven by fear, it must have dived so +vigorously as to entangle itself, for there it hung with its head and one +leg fast. I suppose that the last moment of consciousness that the poor +bird had was one of strong surprise." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +MAY AND GIRLHOOD + + +May came in reality the following morning. Perhaps she thought that the +leisure of Sunday would secure her a more appreciative welcome. The wind +no longer blew from the chill and still snowy North, but from lands that +had long since responded to the sun's genial power. Therefore, the breeze +that came and went fitfully was like a warm, fragrant breath, and truly +it seemed to breathe life and beauty into all things. During the morning +hours the cluster buds of the cherry burst their varnished-looking +sheath, revealing one-third of the little green stems on which the +blossoms would soon appear. The currant-bushes were hanging out their +lengthening racemes, and the hum of many bees proved that honey may be +gathered even from gooseberry-bushes, thus suggesting a genial philosophy. +The sugar-maples were beginning to unfold their leaves and to dangle their +emerald gold flowers from long, drooping pedicles. Few objects have more +exquisite and delicate beauty than this inflorescence when lighted up by +the low afternoon sun. The meadows and oat fields were passing into a vivid +green, and the hardy rye had pushed on so resolutely in all weathers, that +it was becoming billowy under the wind. All through the week the hues of +life and beauty became more and more apparent upon the face of Nature, and +by the following Saturday May had provided everything in perfection for +Johnnie's coronation ceremonies. + +For weeks past there had been distinguished arrivals from the South +almost daily. Some of these songsters, like the fox-sparrow, sojourned a +few weeks, favoring all listeners with their sweet and simple melodies; +but the chief musician of the American forests, the hermit thrush, passed +silently, and would not deign to utter a note of his unrivalled minstrelsy +until he had reached his remote haunts at the North. Dr. Marvin evidently +had a grudge against this shy, distant bird, and often complained, "Why +can't he give us a song or two as he lingers here in his journey? I often +see him flitting about in the mountains, and have watched him by the hour +with the curiosity that prompts one to look at a great soprano or tenor, +hoping that he might indulge me with a brief song as a sample of what he +could do, but he was always royally indifferent and reserved. I am going to +the Adirondacks on purpose to hear him some day. There's the winter wren, +too-saucy, inquisitive little imp!--he was here all winter, and has left us +without vouchsafing a note. But, then, great singers are a law unto +themselves the world over." + +But the doctor had small cause for complaint, for there are few regions +more richly endowed with birds than the valley of the Hudson. As has been +seen, it is the winter resort of not a few, and is, moreover, a great +highway of migration, for birds are ever prone to follow the watercourses +that run north and south. The region also affords so wide a choice of +locality and condition that the tastes of very many birds are suited. +There are numerous gardens and a profusion of fruit for those that are +half domesticated; orchards abounding in old trees with knotholes, +admirably fitted for summer homes; elms on which to hang the graceful +pensile nests--"castles in air," as Burroughs calls them; meadows in +which the lark, vesper sparrow, and bobolink can disport; and forests +stretching up into the mountains, wherein the shyest birds can enjoy all +the seclusion they desire, content to sing unheard, as the flowers around +them bloom unseen, except by those who love them well enough to seek them +in their remotest haunts. + +The week which preceded the May party was a memorable one to Amy, for +during its sunny days she saw an American spring in its perfection. Each +morning brought rich surprises to her, Johnnie, and Alf, and to Webb an +increasing wonder that he had never before truly seen the world in which +he lived. The pent-up forces of Nature, long restrained, seemed finding +new expression every hour. Tulips opened their gaudy chalices to catch +the morning dew. Massive spikes of hyacinths distilled a rich perfume +that was none too sweet in the open air. Whenever Amy stepped from the +door it seemed that some new flower had opened and some new development +of greenery and beauty had been revealed. But the crowning glory in the +near landscape were the fruit trees. The cherry boughs grew white every +day, and were closely followed by the plum and pear and the pink-hued +peach blossoms. Even Squire Bartley's unattractive place was transformed +for a time into fairyland; but he, poor man, saw not the blossoms, and +the birds and boys stole his fruit. Amy wondered at the wealth of flowers +that made many of the trees as white as they had been on the snowiest day +of winter, and Johnnie revelled in them, often climbing up into some +low-branched tree, that she might bury herself in their beauty, and +inhale their fragrance in long breaths of delight. The bees that filled +the air about her with their busy hum never molested her, believing, no +doubt, that she had as good a right as themselves to enjoy the sweets in +her way. After all, it was Mrs. Clifford, perhaps, who obtained the +profoundest enjoyment from the season. Seated by her window or in a sunny +corner of the piazza, she would watch the unfolding buds as if she were +listening to some sweet old story that had grown dearer with every +repetition. Indeed, this was true, for with the blossoms of every year +were interwoven the memories of a long life, and their associations had +scarcely ever been more to her heart than the new ones now forming. She +often saw, with her children and grandchildren, the form of a tall girl +passing to and fro, and to her loving eyes Amy seemed to be the fairest +and sweetest flower of this gala period. She, and indeed they all, had +observed Burt's strongly manifested preference, but, with innate +refinement and good sense, there had been a tacit agreement to appear +blind. The orphan girl should not be annoyed by even the most delicate +raillery, but the old lady and her husband could not but feel the deepest +satisfaction that Bart was making so wise a choice. They liked Amy all +the better because she was so little disposed to sentiment, and proved +that she was not to be won easily. + +But they all failed to understand her, and gave her credit for a maturity +that she did not possess. In her happy, healthful country life the +girlish form that had seemed so fragile when she first came to them was +taking on the rounded lines of womanhood. Why should she not be wooed +like other girls at her age? Burt was further astray than any one else, +and was even inclined to complain mentally that her nature was cold and +unresponsive. And yet her very reserve and elusiveness increased his +passion, which daily acquired a stronger mastery. Webb alone half guessed +the truth in regard to her. As time passed, and he saw the increasing +evidences of Burt's feeling, he was careful that his manner should be +strictly fraternal toward Amy, for his impetuous brother was not always +disposed to be reasonable even in his normal condition, and now he was +afflicted with a malady that has often brought to shame the wisdom of the +wisest. The elder brother saw how easily Burt's jealousy could be +aroused, and therefore denied himself many an hour of the young girl's +society, although it caused him a strange little heartache to do so. But +he was very observant, for Amy was becoming a deeply interesting study. +He saw and appreciated her delicate fence with Burt, in which tact, +kindness, and a little girlish brusqueness were almost equally blended. +Was it the natural coyness of a high-spirited girl, who could be won only +by long and patient effort? or was it an instinctive self-defence from a +suit that she could not repulse decisively without giving pain to those +she loved? Why was she so averse? Their home-life, even at that busy +season, gave him opportunities to see her often, and glimmerings of the +truth began to dawn upon him. He saw that she enjoyed the society of Alf +and Johnnie almost as much as that of the other members of the family, +that her delight at every new manifestation of spring was as unforced as +that of the children, while at the same time it was an intelligent and +questioning interest. The beauty of the world without impressed her +deeply, as it did Johnnie, but to the latter it was a matter of course, +while to Amy it was becoming an inviting mystery. The little girl would +bring some new flower from the woods or garden, the first of the season, +in contented triumph, but to Amy the flower had a stronger interest. It +represented something unknown, a phase of life which it was the impulse +of her developing mind to explore. Her botany was not altogether +satisfactory, for analysis and classification do not reveal to us a +flower or plant any more than the mention of a name and family connection +makes known individual character. Her love for natural objects was too +real to be satisfied with a few scientific facts about them. If a plant, +tree, or bird, interested her she would look at it with a loving, +lingering glance until she felt that she was learning to know it somewhat +as she would recognize a friend. The rapid changes which each day brought +were like new chapters in a story, or new verses in a poem. She watched +with admiring wonder the transition of buds into blossoms; and their +changes of form and color. She shared in Alf's excitement over the +arrival of every new bird from the South, and, having a good ear for +music, found absorbing pleasure in learning and estimating the quality +and characteristics of their various songs. Their little oddities +appealed to her sense of humor. A pair of cat-birds that had begun their +nest near the house received from her more ridicule than admiration. +"They seem to be regular society birds and gossips," she said, "and I can +never step out-of-doors but I feel that they are watching me, and trying +to attract my attention. They have a pretty song, but they seem to have +learned it by heart, and as soon as they are through they make that +horrid noise, as if in their own natural tone they were saying something +disagreeable about you." + +But on the morning of Johnnie's coronation she was wakened by songs as +entrancing as they were unfamiliar. Running to the window, she saw +darting through the trees birds of such a brilliant flame color that they +seemed direct from the tropics, and their notes were almost as varied as +their colors. She speedily ceased to heed them, however, for from the +edge of the nearest grove came a melody so ethereal and sustained that it +thrilled her with the delight that one experiences when some great singer +lifts up her voice with a power and sweetness that we feel to be divine. +At the same moment she saw Alf running toward the house. Seeing her at +the window, he shouted, "Amy, the orioles and the wood-thrushes--the +finest birds of the year--have come. Hurry up and go with me to the grove +yonder." + +Soon after Webb, returning from a distant field to breakfast, met her +near the grove. She was almost as breathless and excited as the boy, and +passed him with a bright hurried smile, while she pressed on after her +guide with noiseless steps lest the shy songster should be frightened. He +looked after her and listened, feeling that eye and ear could ask for no +fuller enchantment. At last she came back to him with the fresh loveliness +of the morning in her face, and exclaimed, "I have seen an ideal bird, and +he wears his plumage like a quiet-toned elegant costume that simply +suggests a perfect form. He was superbly indifferent, and scarcely looked +at us until we came too near, and then, with a reserved dignity, flew away. +He is the true poet of the woods, and would sing just as sweetly if there +was never a listener." + +"I knew he would not disappoint you. Yes, he is a poet, and your true +aristocrat, who commands admiration without seeking it," Webb replied. + +"I am sure he justifies all your praises, past and present. Oh, isn't the +morning lovely--so fresh, dewy, and fragrant? and the world looks so +young and glad!" + +"You also look young and glad this morning, Amy." + +"How can one help it? This May beauty makes me feel as young as Alf," she +replied, placing her hand on the boy's shoulder. + +Her face was flushed with exercise; her step buoyant; her eyes were +roaming over the landscape tinted with fruit blossoms and the expanding +foliage. Webb saw in what deep accord her spirit was with the season, and +he thought, "She _is_ young--in the very May of her life. She is scarcely +more ready for the words that Burt would speak than little Johnnie. I +wish he would wait till the girl becomes a woman;" and then for some +reason he sighed deeply. Amy gave him an arch look, and said: + +"Then came from the depths, Webb. What secret sorrow can you have on a +day like this?" + +He laughed, but made no reply. + +"Ah, listen!" she cried, "what bird is that? Oh, isn't it beautiful?-- +almost equal to the thrush's song. He seems to sing as if his notes were +written for him in couplets." She spoke at intervals, looking toward the +grove they had just left, and when the bird paused Webb replied: + +"That is the wood-thrush's own cousin, and a distinguished member of the +thrush family, the brown-thrasher. Well, Johnnie," he added, to the +little girl who had come to meet them, "you are honored to-day. Three of +our most noted minstrels have arrived just in time to furnish music for +the May Queen." + +But Johnnie was not surprised, only pleased, as Webb and others +congratulated her. She would be queen that day with scarcely more +self-consciousness than one of the flowers that decked her. It was the +occasion, the carnival of spring, that occupied her thoughts, and, since +the fairest blossoms of the season were to be gathered, why should not +the finest birds be present also? + +Feeling that he had lost an opportunity in the improvised festival of the +maple-sugar grove, Burt resolved to make the most of this occasion, and +he had the wisdom to decide upon a course that relieved Amy of not a +little foreboding. He determined to show his devotion by thoughtful +considerateness, by making the day so charming and satisfactory as to +prove that he could be a companion after her own heart. And he succeeded +fairly well for a time, only the girl's intuition divined his motive and +guessed his sentiments. She was ever in fear that his restraint would +give way. And yet she felt that she ought to reward him for what she +mentally termed his "sensible behavior" and indicate that such should be +his course in the future. But this was a delicate and difficult task. In +spite of all the accumulated beauty of the season the day was less +bright, less full of the restful, happy _abandon_ of the previous one in +March, when Webb had been her undemonstrative attendant. He, with +Leonard, at that busy period found time to look in upon the revellers in +the woods but once. Mr. Clifford spent more time with them, but the old +gentleman was governed by his habit of promptness, and the time called +for despatch. + +For the children, however, it was a revel that left nothing to be +desired. They had decided that it should be a congress of flowers, from +the earliest that had bloomed to those now opening in the sunniest +haunts. Alf, with one or two other adventurous boys, had climbed the +northern face of old Storm King, and brought away the last hepaticas, +fragrant clusters of arbutus, and dicentras, for "pattykers, arbuties, +and Dutcher's breeches," as Ned called them, were favorites that could +not be spared. On a sunny slope dogwood, well advanced, was found. There +were banks white with the rue-anemone, and they were marked, that some of +the little tuber-like roots might be taken up in the fall for forcing in +the house. Myriads of violets gave a purple tinge to parts of a low +meadow near, and chubby hands were stained with the last of the star-like +bloodroot blossoms, many of which dropped white petals on their way to +Johnnie's throne. Some brought handfuls of columbine from rocky nooks, +and others the purple trillium, that is near of kin to Burroughs's white +"wake-robin." There were so many Jacks-in-the-pulpit that one might fear +a controversy, but the innumerable dandelions and dogtooth violets which +carpeted the ground around the throne diffused so mellow a light that all +the blossoms felt that they looked well and were amiable. But it would +require pages even to mention all the flowers that were brought from +gardens, orchards, meadows, groves, and rugged mountain slopes. Each +delegation of blossoms and young tinted foliage was received by Amy, as +mistress of ceremonies, and arranged in harmonious positions; while +Johnnie, quite forgetful of her royalty, was as ready to help at anything +as the humblest maid of honor. All the flowers were treated tenderly +except the poor purple violets, and these were slaughtered by hundreds, +for the projecting spur under the curved stem at the base of the flower +enabled the boys to hook them together, and "fight roosters," as they +termed it. Now and then some tough-stemmed violet would "hook-off" a +dozen blue heads before losing its own, and it became the temporary hero. +At last the little queen asserted her power by saying, with a sudden +flash in her dark blue eyes, that she "wouldn't have any more fighting +roosters. She didn't think it was nice." + +By one o'clock the queen had been crowned, the lunch had met the capacity +of even the boys, and the children, circling round the throne, were +singing: "Oats, peas, beans, and barley grows," and kindred rhymes, their +voices rising and falling with the breeze, the birds warbling an +accompaniment. Webb and Leonard, at work in a field not far away, often +paused to listen, the former never failing to catch Amy's clear notes as +she sat on a rock, the gentle power behind the throne, that had maintained +peace and good-will among all the little fractious subjects. + +The day had grown almost sultry, and early in the afternoon there was a +distant jar of thunder. Burt, who from a bed of dry leaves had been +watching Amy, started up and saw that there was an ominous cloud in the +west. She agreed with him that it would be prudent to return at once, for +she was growing weary and depressed. Burt, with all his effort to be +quietly and unobtrusively devoted, had never permitted her to become +unconscious of his presence and feeling. Therefore her experience had +been a divided one. She could not abandon herself to her hearty sympathy +with the children and their pleasure, for he, by manner at least, ever +insisted that she was a young lady, and the object of thoughts all too +warm. Her nature was so fine that it was wounded and annoyed by an +unwelcome admiration. She did not wish to think about it, but was not +permitted to forget it. She had been genial, merry, yet guarded toward +him all day, and now had begun to long for the rest and refuge of her own +room. He felt that he had not made progress, and was also depressed, and +he showed this so plainly on their way home that she was still more +perplexed and troubled. "If he would only be sensible, and treat me as +Webb does!" she exclaimed, as she threw herself on the lounge in her +room, exhausted rather than exhilarated by the experience of the day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX NATURE'S WORKSHOP + + +During the hour she slept an ideal shower crossed the sky. In the lower +strata of air there was scarcely any wind, and the rain came down +vertically, copiously, and without beating violence. The sun-warmed earth +took in every drop like a great sponge. + +Beyond the first muttered warning to the little May party in the grove +there was no thunder. The patter of the rain was a gentle lullaby to Amy, +and at last she was wakened by a ray of sunlight playing upon her face, +yet she still heard the soft fall of rain. With the elasticity of youth, +she sprang up, feeling that the other cloud that had shadowed her +thoughts might soon pass also. As she went singing down the stairway, +Webb called from the front door: "Amy, look here! I was hoping you would +come. See that rainbow." The cloud still hung heavily over the eastern +mountains, while against it was a magnificent arch, and so distinctly +defined that its feet appeared to rest on the two banks of the river. +They watched it in silence until it faded away, and the whole scene, +crowned with flowers and opening foliage tinted like blossoms of varied +hues, was gemmed with crystals by the now unclouded sun, for the soft +rain had clung to everything, from the loftiest tree-top to the tiniest +spire of grass. Flame-like orioles were flashing through the perfumed +air. Robins, with their heads lifted heavenward, were singing as +rapturously as if they were saints rather than rollicking gormandizers. +Every bird that had a voice was lifting it up in thanksgiving, but clear, +sweet, and distinct above them all came the notes of the wood-thrush, +with his Beethoven-like melody. + +"Have you no words for a scene like this, Webb?" she asked, at last. + +"It is beyond all words, Amy. It is one of nature's miracles. My wonder +exceeds even my admiration, for the greater part of this infinite variety +of beauty is created out of so few materials and by so simple yet +mysterious a method that I can scarcely believe it, although I see it and +know it. Men have always agreed to worship the genius which could achieve +the most with the least. And yet the basis of nearly all we see is a +microscopic cell endowed with essential powers. That large apple-tree +yonder, whose buds are becoming so pink, started from one of these minute +cells, and all the growth, beauty, and fruitfulness since attained were +the result of the power of this one cell to add to itself myriads of like +cells, which form the whole structure. It is cell adding cells that is +transforming the world around us." He spoke earnestly, and almost as if +he were thinking aloud, and he looked like one in the presence of a +mystery that awed him. The hue of Amy's eyes deepened, and her face +flushed in her quickened interest. Her own mind had been turning to +kindred thoughts and questionings. She had passed beyond the period when +a mind like hers could be satisfied with the mere surface of things, and +Webb's direct approach to the very foundation principles of what she saw +sent a thrill through all her nerves as an heroic deed would have done. + +"Can you not show me one of those cells with your microscope?" she asked, +eagerly. + + "Yes, easily, and some of its contents through the cell's transparent +walls, as, for instance, the minute grains of _chlorophyll_, that is, the +green of leaves. All the hues of foliage and flowers are caused by what +the cells contain, and these, to a certain extent, can be seen and +analyzed. But there is one thing within the cell which I cannot show you, +and which has never been seen, and yet it accounts for everything, and is +the architect of all--life. When we reach the cell we are at the +threshold of this mysterious presence. We know that it is within. We can +see its work, for its workshop is under our eye, and in this minute shop +it is building all the vegetation of the world, but the artisan itself +ever remains invisible." + +"Ah, Webb, do not say artisan, but rather artist. Does not the beauty all +around us prove it? Surely there is but one explanation, the one papa +taught me: it is the power of God. He is in the little as well as in the +great. Do you not believe so, Webb?" + +"Well, Amy," he replied, smilingly, "the faith taught you by your father +is, to my mind, more rational than any of the explanations that I have +read, and I have studied several. But then I know little, indeed, +compared with multitudes of others. I am sure, however, that the life of +God is in some way the source of all the life we see. But perplexing +questions arise on every side. Much of life is so repulsive and noxious-- +But there! what a fog-bank I am leading you into this crystal May +evening! Most young girls would vote me an insufferable bore should I +talk to them in this style." + +"So much the worse for the young girls then. I should think they would +feel that no compliment could exceed that of being talked to as if they +had brains. But I do not wish to put on learned airs. You know how +ignorant I am of even the beginnings of this knowledge. All that I can +say is that I am not content to be ignorant. The curiosity of Mother Eve +is growing stronger every day; and is it strange that it should turn +toward the objects, so beautiful and yet so mysterious, that meet my eyes +on every side?" + +"No," said he, musingly, "the strange thing is that people have so little +curiosity in regard to their surroundings. Why, multitudes of intelligent +persons are almost as indifferent as the cattle that browse around among +the trees and flowers. But I am a sorry one to preach. I once used to +investigate things, but did not see them. I have thought about it very +much this spring. It is said that great painters and sculptors study +anatomy as well as outward form. Perhaps here is a good hint for those +who are trying to appreciate nature. I am not so shallow as to imagine +that I can ever understand nature any more than I can you with your +direct, honest gaze. So to the thoughtful mystery is ever close at hand, +but it seems no little thing to trace back what one sees as far as one +can, and you have made me feel that it is a great thing to see the Divine +Artist's finished work." + +They were now joined by others, and the perfect beauty of the evening as +it slowly faded into night attracted much attention from all the family. +The new moon hung in the afterglow of the western sky, and as the dusk +deepened the weird notes of the whip-poor-will were heard for the first +time from the mountain-sides. + +At the supper-table Leonard beamed on every one. "A rain like this, after +a week of sunshine has warmed the earth" he exclaimed, "is worth millions +to the country. We can plant our corn next week." + +"Yes," added his father, "the old Indian sign, the unfolding of the oak +leaves, indicates that it is now safe to plant. Next week will be a busy +one. After long years of observation I am satisfied that the true secret +of success in farming is the doing of everything at just the right time. +Crops put in too early or too late often partially fail; but if the right +conditions are complied with from the beginning, they start with a vigor +which is not lost until maturity." + +Burt indulged in a gayety that was phenomenal even for him, but after +supper he disappeared. Amy retired to her room early, but she sat a long +time at her window and looked out into the warm, fragrant night. She had +forgotten poor Burt, who was thinking of her, as in his unrest he rode +mile after mile, holding his spirited horse down to a walk. She had +almost forgotten Webb, but she thought deeply of his words, of the life +that was working all around her so silently and yet so powerfully. Unseen +it had created the beauty she had enjoyed that day. From the very +contrast of ideas it made her think of death, of her father, who once had +been so strong and full of life. The mystery of one seemed as great as +that of the other, and a loneliness such as she had not felt before for +months depressed her. + +"I wish I could talk to Webb again," she thought. "He says he does not +understand me. Little wonder; I do not understand myself. It would seem +that when one began to think nothing that appeared simple before is +understood; but his words are strong and assured. He leads one to the +boundaries of the known, and then says, quietly, we can go no further; +but he makes you feel that what is beyond is all right. Oh, I wish Burt +was like him!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +SPRING-TIME PASSION + + +But little chance had Amy to talk with Webb for the next few days. He had +seen the cloud on Burt's brow, and had observed that he was suspicious, +unhappy, and irritable; that reason and good sense were not in the +ascendant; and he understood his brother sufficiently well to believe +that his attack must run its natural course, as like fevers had done +before. From what he had seen he also thought that Amy could deal with +Burt better than any one else, for although high-strung, he was also +manly and generous when once he got his bearings. In his present mood he +would bitterly resent interference from any one, but would be bound to +obey Amy and to respect her wishes. Therefore he took especial pains to +be most kindly, but also to appear busy and pre-occupied. + +It must not be thought that Burt was offensive or even openly obtrusive +in his attentions. He was far too well-bred for that. There was nothing +for which even his mother could reprove him, or of which Amy herself +could complain. It was the suit itself from which she shrank, or rather +which she would put off indefinitely. But Burt was not disposed to put +anything that he craved into the distance. Spring-tide impulses were in +his veins, and his heart was so overcharged that it must find expression. +His opportunity came unexpectedly. A long, exquisite day had merged into +a moonlight evening. The apple-blossoms were in all their white-and-pink +glory, and filled the summer-like air with a fragrance as delicate as +that of the arbutus. The petals of the cherry were floating down like +snow in every passing breeze, glimmering momentarily in the pale +radiance. The night was growing so beautiful that Amy was tempted to +stroll out in the grounds, and soon she yielded to a fancy to see the +effect of moonlight through an apple-tree that towered like a mound of +snow at some little distance from the house. She would not have been +human had the witchery of the May evening been without its influence. If +Burt could have understood her, this was his opportunity. If he had come +with step and tone that accorded with the quiet evening, and simply said, +"Amy, you know--you have seen that I love you; what hope can you give +me?" she in her present mood would have answered him as gently and +frankly as a child. She might have laughingly pointed him to the tree, +and said: "See, it is in blossom now. It will be a long time before you +pick the apples. You must wait. If you will be sensible, and treat me as +you would Johnnie, were she older, I will ride and walk with you, and be +as nice to you as I can." + +But this Burt could not do and still remain Burt. He was like an +overcharged cloud, and when he spoke at last his words seemed to the +sensitive girl to have the vividness and abruptness of the lightning. It +was her custom to make a special toilet for the evening, and when she had +come down to supper with a rose in her hair, and dressed in some light +clinging fabric, she had proved so attractive to the young fellow that he +felt that the limit of his restraint was reached. He would appeal to her +so earnestly, so passionately, as to kindle her cold nature. In his lack +of appreciation of Amy he had come to deem this his true course, and she +unconsciously enabled him to carry out the rash plan. He had seen her +stroll away, and had followed her until she should be so far from the +house that she must listen. As she emerged from under the apple-tree, +through which as a white cloud she had been looking at the moon, he +appeared so suddenly as to startle her, and without any gentle reassurance +he seized her hand, and poured out his feelings in a way that at first +wounded and frightened her. + +"Burt," she cried, "why do you speak to me so? Can't you see that I do +not feel as you do? I've given you no reason to say such words to me." + +"Have you no heart, Amy? Are you as cold and elusive as this moonlight? I +have waited patiently, and now I must and will speak. Every man has a +right to speak and a right to an answer." + +"Well then," she replied, her spirit rising; "if you will insist on my +being a woman instead of a young girl just coming from the shadow of a +great sorrow, I also have my rights. I've tried to show you gently and +with all the tact I possessed that I did not want to think about such +things. I'm just at the beginning of my girlhood and I want to be a young +girl as long as I can and not an engaged young woman. No matter who spoke +the words you have said, they would pain me. Why couldn't you see this +from my manner and save both yourself and me from this scene? I'll gladly +be your loving sister, but you must not speak to me in this way again." + +"You refuse me then," he said, throwing back his head haughtily. + +"Refuse you? No. I simply tell you that I won't listen to such words from +any one. Why can't you be sensible and understand me? I no more wish to +talk about such things than do Alf and Johnnie." + +"I do understand you," he exclaimed, passionately, "and better perhaps +than you understand yourself. You are not a child. You are a woman, but +you seem to lack a woman's heart, as far as I am concerned;" and with a +gesture that was very tragic and despairing he strode away. + +She was deeply troubled and incensed also, and she returned to the house +with drooping head and fast-falling tears. + +"Why, Amy, what is the matter?" Looking up, she saw Webb coming down the +piazza steps. Yielding to her impulse, she sprang forward and took his +arm, as she said: + +"Webb, you have always acted toward me like a brother. Tell me true: am I +cold? am I heartless? is it unnatural in me that I do not wish to hear +such words as Burt would speak to-night? All I ask is that he will let me +stay a happy young girl till I am ready for something else. This is no +way for a flower to bloom"--she snatched the rose from her hair, and +pushed open the red petals--"and yet Burt expects me to respond at once +to feelings that I do not even understand. If it's best in the future--but +surely I've a right to my freedom for a long time yet. Tell me, do you +think I'm unnatural?" + +"No, Amy," he answered, gently. "It is because you are so perfectly +natural, so true to your girlhood, that you feel as you do. In that +little parable of the rose you explain yourself fully. You have no cause +for self-reproach, nor has Burt for complaint. Will you do what I ask?" + +"Yes, Webb. You say you do not understand me, and yet always prove that +you do. If Burt would only treat me as you do, I should be perfectly +happy." + +"Well, Burt's good-hearted, but sometimes he mislays his judgment," said +Webb, laughing. "Come, cheer up. There is no occasion for any high +tragedy on his part or for grieving on yours. You go and tell mother all +about it, and just how you feel. She is the right one to manage this +affair, and her influence over Burt is almost unbounded. Do this, and, +take my word for it, all will soon be serene." + +And so it proved. Amy felt that night what it is to have a mother's +boundless love and sympathy, and she went to her rest comforted, soothed, +and more assured as to the future than she had been for a long time. "How +quiet and sensible Webb was about it all!" was her last smiling thought +before she slept. His thought as he strolled away in the moonlight after +she left him was, "It is just as if I half believed. She has the mind of +a woman, but the heart of a child. How apt was her use of that rose! It +told all." + +Burt did not stroll; he strode mile after mile, and the uncomfortable +feeling that he had been very unwise, to say the least, and perhaps very +unjust, was growing upon him. When at last he returned, his mother called +to him through the open door. Sooner or later, Mrs. Clifford always +obtained the confidence of her children, and they ever found that it was +sacred. All that can be said, therefore, was, that he came from her +presence penitent, ashamed, and hopeful. His mood may best be explained, +perhaps, by a note written before he retired. "My dear sister Amy," it +ran, "I wish to ask your pardon. I have been unjust and ungenerous. I was +so blinded and engrossed by my own feelings that I did not understand +you. I have proved myself unworthy of even a sister's love; but I will +try to make amends. Do not judge me harshly because I was so headlong. +There is no use in trying to disguise the truth. What I have said so +unwisely and prematurely I cannot unsay, and I shall always be true to my +words. But I will wait patiently as long as you please; and if you find, +in future years, that you cannot feel as I do, I will not complain or +blame you, however sad the truth may be to me. In the meantime, let there +be no constraint between us. Let me become once more your trusted brother +Burt." This note he pushed under her door, and then slept too soundly for +the blighted youth he had a few hours before deemed himself. + +He felt a little embarrassed at the prospect of meeting her the next +morning, but she broke the ice at once by coming to him on the piazza and +extending her hand in smiling frankness as she said: "You are neither +unjust nor ungenerous, Burt, or you would not have written me such a +note. I take you at your word. As you said the first evening I came, we +shall have jolly times together." + +The young fellow was immensely relieved and grateful, and he showed it. +Soon afterward he went about the affairs of the day happier than he had +been for a long time. Indeed, it soon became evident that his explosion +on the previous evening had cleared the air generally. Amy felt that the +one threatening cloud had sunk below the horizon. As the days passed, and +Burt proved that he could keep his promise, her thoughts grew as serene +as those of Johnnie. Her household duties were not very many, and yet she +did certain things regularly. The old people found that she rarely forgot +them, and she had the grace to see when she could help and cheer. +Attentions that must be constantly asked for have little charm. A day +rarely passed that did she not give one or more of its best hours to her +music and drawing; for, while she never expected to excel in these arts, +she had already learned that they would enable her to give much pleasure +to others. Her pencil, also, was of great assistance in her study of +out-door life, for the fixed attention which it required to draw a plant, +tree, or bit of scenery revealed its characteristics. She had been even +more interested in the unfolding of the leaf-buds than in the flowering +of the trees, and the gradual advance of the foliage, like a tinted +cloud, up the mountain-slopes, was something she never tired of watching. +When she spoke of this one day to Webb, he replied: + +"I have often wondered that more is not said and written about our spring +foliage, before it passes into its general hue of green. To me it has a +more delicate beauty and charm than anything seen in October. Different +trees have their distinct coloring now as then, but it is evanescent, and +the shades usually are less clearly marked. This very fact, however, +teaches the eye to have a nicety of distinction that is pleasing." + +The busy days passed quickly on. The blossoms faded from the trees, and +the miniature fruit was soon apparent. The strawberry rows, that had been +like lines of snow, were now full of little promising cones. The grass +grew so lusty and strong that the dandelions were hidden except as the +breeze caught up the winged seeds that the tuneful yellow-birds often +seized in the air. The rye had almost reached its height, and Johnnie +said it was "as good as going to the ocean to see it wave." At last the +swelling buds on the rose-bushes proclaimed the advent of June. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +JUNE AND HONEY-BEES + + +It is said that there is no heaven anywhere for those incapable of +recognizing and enjoying it. Be this as it may, the month of June is a +segment of heaven annually bestowed on those whose eyes and ears have been +opened to beauty in sight and sound. Indeed, what sense in man is not +gratified to the point of imaginary perfection during this early fruition +of the varied promise of spring? Even to the sense of touch, how exquisite +is the "feel" of the fragrant rose-petals, the soft young foliage that has +transformed the world, and the queer downy fledglings in innumerable nests! +To the eye informed by a heart in love with nature the longest days of the +year are all too short to note half that exists and takes place. Who sees +and distinguishes the varied blossoming of the many kinds of grain and +grasses that are waving in every field? And yet here is a beauty as +distinct and delicate as can be found in some of Mendelssohn's "Songs +without Words"--blossomings so odd, delicate, and evanescent as to suggest +a child's dream of a flower. Place them under a strong glass, and who can +fail to wonder at the miracles of form and color that are revealed? From +these tiny flowerets the scale runs upward until it touches the hybrid +rose. During this period, also, many of the forest trees emulate the wild +flowers at their feet until their inflorescence culminates in the white +cord-like fringe that foretells the spiny chestnut burrs. + +So much has been written comparing this exquisite season when spring +passes insensibly into summer with the fulfilled prophecy of girlhood, +that no attempt shall be made to repeat the simile. Amy's birthday should +have been in May, but it came early in June. May was still in her heart, +and might linger there indefinitely; but her mind, her thoughts, kept +pace with nature as unconsciously as the flowers that bloomed in their +season. There were little remembrances from all the family, but Webb's +gift promised the most pleasure. It was a powerful opera-glass; and as he +handed it to her on the piazza in the early morning he said: + +"Our troupe are all here now, Amy, and I thought that you would like to +see the singers, and observe their costumes and expressions. Some birds +have a good deal of expression and a very charming manner while singing--a +manner much more to my taste than that of many a _prima donna_ whom I +have heard, although my taste may be uncultivated. Focus your glass on that +indigo-bird in yonder tree-top. Don't you see him?--the one that is +favoring us with such a lively strain, beginning with a repetition of +short, sprightly notes. The glass may enable you to see his markings +accurately." + +"Oh, what an exquisite glossy blue! and it grows so deep and rich about +the head, throat, and breast! How plain I can see him, even to the black +velvet under his eyes! There is brown on his wings, too. Why, I can look +right into his little throat, and almost imagine I see the notes he is +flinging abroad so vivaciously. I can even make out his claws closed on a +twig, and the dew on the leaves around him is like gems. Truly, Webb, you +were inspired when you thought of this gift." + +"Yes," he replied, quietly, looking much pleased, however, "with a very +honest wish to add to your enjoyment of the summer. I must confess, too, +that I had one thought at least for myself. You have described the +indigo-bird far more accurately than I could have done, although I have +seen it every summer as long as I can remember. You have taught me to +see; why should I not help you to see more when I can do it so easily? My +thought was that you would lend me the glass occasionally, so that I +might try to keep pace with you. I've been using the microscope too +much--prying into nature, as Burt would say, with the spirit of an +anatomist." + +"I shall value the glass a great deal more if you share it with me," she +said, simply, with a sincere, direct gaze into his eyes; "and be assured, +Webb," she added, earnestly, "you are helping me more than I can help +you. I'm not an artist, and never can be, but if I were I should want +something more than mere surface, however beautiful it might be. Think of +it, Webb, I'm eighteen to-day, and I know so little! You always make me +feel that there is so much to learn, and, what is more, that it is worth +knowing. You should have been a teacher, for you would make the children +feel, when learning their lessons, as Alf does when after game. How well +nature bears close scrutiny!" she added, sweeping the scene with her +glass. "I can go every day now on an exploring expedition. But there is +the breakfast-bell." + +Mr. Clifford came in a little late, rubbing his hands felicitously, as he +said: + +"I have just come from the apiary, and think we shall have another swarm +to-day. Did you ever hear the old saying, Amy, + + 'A swarm of bees in June + Is worth a silver spoon'? + +If one comes out to-day, and we hive it safely, we shall call it yours, and +you shall have the honey." + +"How much you are all doing to sweeten my life!" she said, laughing; "but I +never expected the present of a swarm of bees. I assure you it is a gift +that you will have to keep for me, and yet I should like to see how the +bees swarm, and how you hive them. Would it be safe? I've heard that bees +are so wise, and know when people are afraid of them." + +"You can fix yourself up with a thick veil and a pair of gloves so that +there will be no danger, and your swarm of bees, when once in hive, will +take care of themselves, and help take care of you. That's the beauty of +bee-culture." + +"Our bees are literally in clover this year," Leonard remarked. "That heavy +coating of wood-ashes that I gave to a half-acre near the apiary proved +most effective, and the plot now looks as if a flurry of snow had passed +over it, the white clover blossoms are so thick. That is something I could +never understand, Webb. Wood-ashes will always bring white clover. It's +hard to believe that it all comes from seed dormant in the ground." + +"Well, it does," was the reply. + +"A great many think that the ashes simply produce conditions in the soil +which generate the clover." + +"Out of nothing? That would not be simple at all, and if any one could +prove it he would make a sensation in the scientific world." + +"Now, Len, here's your chance," laughed Burt. "Just imagine what a halo of +glory you would get by setting the scientific world agape with wonder!" + +"I could make the scientific world gape in a much easier way," Leonard +replied, dryly. "Well, Amy, if you are as fond of honey as I am, you will +think a swarm of bees a very nice present. Fancy buckwheat cakes eaten with +honey made from buckwheat blossoms! There's a conjunction that gives to +winter an unflagging charm. If the old Hebrews felt as I do, a land flowing +with milk and honey must have been very alluring. Such a land the valley of +the Hudson certainly is. It's one of the finest grass regions of the world, +and grass means milk; and the extensive raspberry fields along its banks +mean honey. White clover is all very well, but I've noticed that when the +raspberry-bushes are in bloom they are alive with bees. I believe even the +locust-trees would be deserted for these insignificant little blossoms +that, like many plain people, are well worth close acquaintance." + +"The linden-tree, which also blooms this month," added Webb, "furnishes the +richest harvest for the honeybees, and I don't believe they would leave its +blossoms for any others. I wish there were more lindens in this region, for +they are as ornamental as they are useful. I've read that they are largely +cultivated in Russia for the sake of the bees. The honey made from the +linden or bass-wood blossoms is said to be crystal in its transparency, and +unsurpassed in delicacy of flavor." + +"Well," said Mr. Clifford, "I shall look after the apiary to-day. That's +good lazy work for an old man. You can help me watch at a safe distance, +Amy, and protected, as I said, if they swarm. It wouldn't be well for you +to go too near the hives at first, you know," he added, in laughing +gallantry, "for they might mistake you for a flower. They are so well +acquainted with me that I raise neither expectations nor fears. You needn't +come out before ten o'clock, for they don't swarm until toward midday." + +With shy steps, and well protected, Amy approached the apiary, near which +the old gentleman was sitting in placid fearlessness under the shade of a +maple, the honey of whose spring blossoms was already in the hive. For a +time she kept at a most respectful distance, but, as the bees did not +notice her, she at last drew nearer, and removed her veil, and with the aid +of her glass saw the indefatigable workers coming in and going out with +such celerity that they seemed to be assuring each other that there were +tons of honey now to be had for the gathering. The bees grew into large +insects under her powerful lenses, and their forms and movements were very +distinct. Suddenly from the entrance of one hive near Mr. Clifford, which +she happened to be covering with her glass, she saw pouring out a perfect +torrent of bees. She started back in affright, but Mr. Clifford told her to +stand still, and she noted that he quietly kept his seat, while following +through his gold-rimmed spectacles the swirling, swaying stream that rushed +into the upper air. The combined hum smote the ear with its intensity. Each +bee was describing circles with almost the swiftness of light, and there +were such numbers that they formed a nebulous living mass. Involuntarily +she crouched down in the grass. In a few moments, however, she saw the +swarm draw together and cluster like a great black ball on a bough of a +small pear-tree. The queen had alighted, and all her subjects gathered +around her. + +"Ah," chuckled the old gentleman, rising quietly, "they couldn't have been +more sensible if they had been human--not half so sensible in that case, +perhaps. I think you will have your swarm now without doubt. That's the +beauty of these Italian bees when they are kept pure: they are so quiet and +sensible. Come away now, until I return prepared to hive them." + +The young girl obeyed with alacrity, and was almost trembling with +excitement, to which fear as well as the novelty of the scene contributed +not a little. Mr. Clifford soon returned, well protected and prepared for +his work. Taking an empty hive, he placed it on the ground in a secluded +spot, and laid before its entrances a broad, smooth board. Then he mounted +a step-ladder, holding in his left hand a large tin pan, and gently brushed +the bees into it as if they had been inanimate things. A sheet had first +been spread beneath the pear-tree to catch those that did not fall into the +pan. Touched thus gently and carefully, the immense vitality of the swarm +remained dormant; but a rough, sudden movement would have transformed it +instantly into a vengeful cloud of insects, each animated by the one +impulse to use its stiletto. Corning down from the ladder he turned the pan +toward Amy, and with her glass she saw that it was nearly half full of a +crawling, seething mass that fairly made her shudder. But much experience +rendered the old gentleman confident, and he only smiled as he carried the +pan of bees to the empty hive, and poured them out on the board before it. +The sheet was next gathered up and placed near the hive also, and then the +old gentleman backed slowly and quietly away until he had joined Amy, to +whom he said, "My part of the work is now done, and I think we shall soon +see them enter the hive." He was right, for within twenty minutes every bee +had disappeared within the new domicile. "To-night I will place the hive on +the platform with the others, and to-morrow your bees will be at work for +you, Amy. I don't wonder you are so interested, for of all insects I think +bees take the palm. It is possible that the swarm will not fancy their new +quarters, and will come out again, but it is not probable. Screened by this +bush, you can watch in perfect safety;" and he left her well content, with +her glass fixed on the apiary. + +Having satisfied herself for the time with observing the workers coming and +going, she went around to the white clover-field to see the process of +gathering the honey. She had long since learned that bees while at work are +harmless, unless so cornered that they sting in self-defence. Sitting on a +rock at the edge of the clover-field, she listened to the drowsy monotone +of innumerable wings. Then she bent her glass on a clover head, and it grew +at once into a collection of little white tubes or jars in which from +earth, air, and dew nature distilled the nectar that the bees were +gathering. The intent workers stood on their heads and emptied these +fragrant honey-jars with marvellous quickness. They knew when they were +loaded, and in straight lines as geometrically true as the hexagon cells in +which the honey would be stored they darted to their hives. When the day +grew warm she returned to the house and read, with a wonder and delight +which no fairy tale had ever produced, John Burroughs's paper, "The +Pastoral Bees," which Webb had found for her before going to his work. To +her childish credulity fairy lore had been more interesting than wonderful, +but the instincts and habits of these children of nature touched on +mysteries that can never be solved. + +At dinner the experiences of the apiary were discussed, and Leonard asked, +"Do you think the old-fashioned custom of beating tin pans and blowing +horns influences a swarm to alight? The custom is still maintained by some +people in the vicinity." + +"I doubt it," said Webb. "It is no longer practiced by scientific +bee-keepers, and yet it is founded on the principle that anything which +disconcerts the bees may change their plans. It is said that water or dry +earth thrown into a whirling swarm will sometimes cause it to alight or +return to the hive." + +"Your speaking of blowing horns," said Mr. Clifford, laughing, "recalls a +hiving experience that occurred seventy years ago. I was a boy then, but +was so punctured with stings on a June day like this that a vivid +impression was made on my memory. We were expecting swarms every day. A +neighbor, a quaint old man who lived very near, had gained the reputation +of an expert at this business. I can see him now, with his high stove-pipe +hat, and his gnarled, wrinkled visage, which he shrouded in a green veil +when hiving a swarm. He was a good-hearted old fellow, but very rough in +his talk. He had been to sea in early life, and profanity had become the +characteristic of his vernacular. Well, word came one morning that the bees +were swarming, and a minute later I aroused the old man, who was smoking +and dozing on his porch. I don't believe you ever ran faster, Alf, than I +did then. Hiving bees was the old fellow's hobby and pride, and he dived +into his cottage, smashing his clay pipe on the way, with the haste of an +attacked soldier seizing his weapons. In a moment he was out with all his +paraphernalia. To me was given a fish-horn of portentous size and sound. +The 'skips,' which were the old fashioned straw hives that the bears so +often emptied for our forefathers, stood in a large door-yard, over which +the swarm was circling. As we arrived on the scene the women were coming +from the house with tin pans, and nearly all the family were out-of-doors. +It so happened that an old white horse was grazing in the yard, and at this +critical moment was near the end of the bench on which stood the hives. +Coming up behind him, I thoughtlessly let off a terrific blast from my +horn, at which he, terrified, kicked viciously. Over went a straw skip, and +in a moment we had another swarm of bees on hand that we had not bargained +for. Dropping my horn, I covered my face with my arm, and ran for life to +the house, but I must have been stung twenty times before I escaped. The +bees seemed everywhere, and as mad as hornets. Although half wild with +pain, I had to laugh as I saw the old man frantically trying to adjust his +veil, meanwhile almost dancing in his anguish. In half a minute he +succumbed, and tore into a wood-shed. Everybody went to cover instantly +except the white horse, and he had nowhere to go, but galloped around the +yard as if possessed. This only made matters worse, for innocent as he was, +the bees justly regarded him as the cause of all the trouble. At last, in +his uncontrollable agony, he floundered over a stone wall, and disappeared. +For an hour or two it was almost as much as one's life was worth to venture +out. The old man, shrouded and mittened, at last crept off homeward to +nurse his wounds and his wrath, and he made the air fairly sulphurous +around him with his oaths. But that kind of sulphuric treatment did not +affect the bees, for I observed from a window that at one point nearest the +skips he began to run, and he kept up a lively pace until within his door. +What became of the swarm we expected to hive I do not know. Probably it +went to the woods. That night we destroyed the irate swarm whose skip had +been kicked over, and peace was restored." + +"If you had told that story at the breakfast-table," said Amy, as soon as +the laugh caused by the old gentleman's account had subsided, "you could +never have induced me to be present this morning, even at such a respectful +distance." + +"An old man who lives not far from us has wonderful success with bees," +Leonard remarked. "He has over fifty hives in a space not more than twenty +feet square, and I do not think there is a tenth of an acre in his whole +lot, which is in the centre of a village. To this bare little plot his bees +bring honey from every side, so that for his purpose he practically owns +this entire region. He potters around them so much that, as far as he is +concerned, they are as docile as barn-door fowls, and he says he minds a +sting no more than a mosquito bite. There are half a dozen small trees and +bushes in his little yard, and his bees are so accommodating that they +rarely swarm elsewhere than on these low trees within a lew feet of the +skips. He also places mullein stalks on a pole, and the swarms often +cluster on them. He told me that on one day last summer he had ten swarms +to look after, and that he hived them all; and he says that his wife is as +good at the work as he is. On a pole which forms the corner of a little +poultry-coop he keeps the record of the swarms of each season, and for last +summer there are sixty-one notches. A year ago this month four swarms went +into a barrel that stood in a corner of his yard, and he left them there. +By fall they had filled the barrel with honey, and then, in his vernacular, +he 'tuck it up'; that is, he killed the bees, and removed all the honey." + +"That is the regular bee-phrase in this region. If a hive is to be emptied +and the bees destroyed, or a bee tree to be cut down, the act is described +as 'taking up' the hive or tree," Burt explained. "By the way, Amy," he +added, "we must give you a little bee-hunting experience in the mountains +next October. It would make a jolly excursion. We can leave you with a +guard at some high point, when we strike a bee-line, and we might not be +long in finding the tree." + +"We'll put the expedition right down on the fall programme," she said, +smilingly. Then turning to Mr. Clifford, she continued: "You spoke in +praise of Italian bees. What kind are they? and how many kinds are there?" + +"Really only two distinct kinds--our native brownish-black bees, and the +Italians imported by Mr. S. B. Parsons and others about fifteen years ago. +There is a cross or hybrid between these two kinds that are said to be so +ill-natured that it is unsafe to go anywhere near their hives." + +"Burt," said Webb, "you must remember reading in Virgil of the 'golden +bees.'" + +"Yes, indistinctly; but none of them ever got in my bonnet or made much +impression. I don't like bees, nor do they like me. They respect only the +deliberation of profound gravity and wisdom. Father has these qualities by +the right of years, and Webb by nature, and their very presence soothes the +irascible insects; but when I go among them they fairly bristle with +stings. Give me a horse, and the more spirited the better." + +"Oh, no, Burt; can't give you any," said Leonard, with his humorous +twinkle. "I'll sell you one, though, cheap." + +"Yes, that vicious, uncouth brute that you bought because so cheap. I told +you that you were 'sold' at the same time with the horse." + +"I admit it," was the rueful reply. "If he ever balks again as he did +to-day, I shall be tempted to shoot him." + +"Oh, dear!" said Amy, a little petulantly, "I'd rather hear about Italian +bees than balky horses. Has my swarm of bees any connection with those that +Virgil wrote about, Webb?" + +"They may be direct descendants," he replied. + +"Then call them May-bees," laughed Burt. + +"The kind of bees that Virgil wrote about were undoubtedly their +ancestors," resumed Webb, smiling at Burt's sally, "for bees seem to change +but little, if any, in their traits and habits. Centuries of domestication +do not make them domestic, and your swarm, if not hived, would have gone to +the mountains and lived in a hollow tree. I have a book that will give you +the history and characteristics of the Italians, if you would like to read +about them." + +"I certainly should. My mind is on bees now, and I intend to follow them up +until I get stung probably. Well, I've enjoyed more honey this morning, +although I've not tasted any, than in all my life. You see how useful I +make the opera-glass, Webb. With it I can even gather honey that does not +cloy." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +BURT BECOMES RATIONAL + + +Burt had expended more on his present for Amy than had any of the family, +and, while it had been acknowledged most cordially, he was a little +disappointed that his choice had not been so happy as Webb's. Therefore +after dinner he said: "I feel almost envious. I wish I could give you a +great deal of pleasure also to-day. How would you like to go in a row-boat +to Constitution Island, and make that visit to Miss Warner of which we +spoke last winter? It's warm, but not sultry, and we would keep in the +shadow of the mountains most of the way down." + +She hesitated a moment. + +"Don't be afraid, Amy," he said, in a low tone. + +"I'll go with you," she assented, cordially, "and I cannot think of +anything that would make my birthday more complete." + +"I'll be ready in an hour," he said, flushing with pleasure, and he went up +to his room two steps at a time. + +Burt's mental processes during the past few weeks had been characteristic, +and would have amused Amy had she been fully aware of them. As Webb +surmised, his fever had to run its course, but after its crisis had passed +he rapidly grew rational. Moreover, in his mother, and indeed in Amy +herself, he had the best of physicians. At first he was very penitent, and +not a little chagrined at his course. As days went by, however, and it was +not referred to by word or sign on the part of the family, his nervous +apprehension passed away. He thought he detected a peculiar twinkle in +Leonard's eyes occasionally, but it might have resulted from other causes. +Still Amy did the most to reassure him both consciously and unconsciously. +As she said, she took him at his word, and being unembarrassed by any +feeling of her own, found it easy to act like a sister toward him. This +naturally put him at his ease. In her floral expeditions with Johnnie, +however, and her bird-nestings with Alf, wherein no birds were robbed, she +unconsciously did more to reconcile him to the necessity of waiting than +could hours of argument from even his mother. She thus proved to him that +he had spoken much too soon--that she was not ready for his ill-chosen, +passionate words, which had wounded instead of firing her heart as he +intended they should. He now berated his stupidity, but consoled himself +with the thought that love is always a little blind. He saw that she liked +Webb exceedingly, and enjoyed talking with him, but he now was no longer +disposed to be jealous. She ever seemed to be asking questions like an +intelligent child. "Why shouldn't she like Webb?" he thought. "He is one of +the best fellows in the world, and she has found out that he's a walking +encyclopedia of out-door lore." + +Burt was not one to be depressed or to remain in the valley of humiliation +very long. After a week or two a slight feeling of superiority began to +assert itself. Amy was not only too young to understand him, but also, +perhaps, to appreciate him. He believed that he knew more than one pretty +girl to whom he would not have spoken in vain. Some day the scales would +fall from Amy's eyes. He could well afford to wait until they did, and he +threw back his handsome head at the thought, and an exultant flash came +into his blue eyes. Oh, he would be faithful, he would be magnanimous, and +he also admitted to himself that he would be very glad and grateful; but he +would be very patient, perhaps a little too much so to suit her. Since he +had been told to "wait," he would wait until her awakening heart +constrained her to give unequivocal signs of readiness to surrender. + +Thus his thoughts ran on while he was busy about the farm, or galloping +over the country on business or pleasure. After the corn-planting and the +rush of work in May was over, he had given himself a week's outing among +the trout streams of Ulster County, and had returned with his equanimity +quite restored. To assure Amy of this, and that she had nothing more to +fear, but everything to gain, was one of his motives in asking her to take +the long sail that afternoon. He succeeded so well that a smile of very +genuine satisfaction hovered about her lips more than once. She enjoyed the +expedition exceedingly. She was grateful for the kind reception given her +by the authors who had done much to sweeten and purify the world's thought. +She was charmed with the superb scenery as on their return they glided +along in the shadows of Cro' Nest, whose sides seemed lined with a choir of +wood and veery thrushes and other wild songsters. At last they evoked the +spirit of music in her. She took an oar with Burt, and they pulled, sang, +and laughed together like careless, happy children. Yet more than once she +shyly glanced at him, and queried, Could his flushed and mirthful face be +that of the passionate lover and blighted youth of scarce a month since? +Burt said something droll, and her laugh raised a musical echo against the +steep rocks near. His wit was not its cause, but her own thought: "My plea +was that I was too young; he's very young, too." + +As they neared the point of Storm King the evening boat, the "Mary Powell," +swept toward them with scarcely more apparent effort than that of a swan. A +few moments later their skiff was dancing over the swells, Amy waving her +handkerchief, and the good-natured pilot awakening a hundred echoes by his +steam-whistle of responsive courtesy. + +They were at home in time for supper, and here another delicious surprise +awaited Amy. Johnnie and Alf felt that they should do something in honor of +the day. From a sunny hillside they had gleaned a gill of wild +strawberries, and Webb had found that the heat of the day had so far +developed half a dozen Jacqueminot rosebuds that they were ready for +gathering. These with their fragrance and beauty were beside her plate in +dainty arrangement. They seemed to give the complete and final touch to the +day already replete with joy and kindness, and happy, grateful tears rushed +into the young girl's eyes. Dashing them brusquely away, she said: "I can't +tell you all what I feel, and I won't try. I want you to know, however," +she added, smilingly, while her lips quivered, "that I am very much at +home." + +Burt was in exuberant spirits, for Amy had told him that she had enjoyed +every moment of the afternoon. This had been most evident, and the young +fellow congratulated himself. He could keep his word, he could be so jolly +a companion as to leave nothing to be desired, and waiting, after all, +would not be a martyrdom. His mood unloosed his tongue and made him +eloquent as he described his experiences in trout-fishing. His words were +so simple and vivid that he made his listeners hear the cool splash and see +the foam of the mountain brooks. They saw the shimmer of the speckled +beauties as they leaped for the fly, and felt the tingle of the rod as the +line suddenly tightened, and hear the hum of the reel as the fish darted +away in imagined safety. Burt saw his vantage--was not Amy listening with +intent eyes and glowing cheeks?--and he kept the little group in suspense +almost as long as it had taken him to play, land, and kill a three-pound +trout, the chief trophy of his excursion. + +Webb was unusually silent, and was conscious of a depression for which he +could not account. All was turning out better than he had predicted. The +relations between Burt and Amy were not only "serene," but were apparently +becoming decidedly blissful. The young girl was enthusiastic over her +enjoyment of the afternoon; there were no more delicately veiled defensive +tactics against Burt, and now her face was full of frank admiration of his +skill as an angler and of interest in the wild scenes described. Burt had +spent more time in society than over his books while at college, and was a +fluent, easy talker. Webb felt that he suffered in contrast, that he was +grave, heavy, dull, and old--no fit companion for the girl whose laughing +eyes so often rested on his brother's face and responded to his mirth. +Perhaps Burt would not have long to wait; perhaps his rash, passionate +words had already given to Amy's girlish unconsciousness the shock that had +destroyed it, and she was learning that she was a woman who could return +love for love. Well, granting this, was it not just what they were all +expecting? "But the change is coming too soon," he complained to himself. +"I wish she could keep her gentle, lovable, yet unapproachable May-day +grace a little longer. Then she was like the wind-flower, which the eyes +can linger upon, but which fades almost the moment it is grasped. It made +her so different from other girls of her age. It identified her with the +elusive spirit of nature, whose beauty entrances one, but search and wander +where we will, nothing can be found that is distinctly and tangibly ours or +any one's. Amy, belonging definitely to any one, would lose half her +charm." + +Webb saw and heard all that passed, but in a minor key thoughts like these +were forming themselves with little volition on his part, and were symptoms +which as yet he did not understand. In an interval of mirth, Johnnie heard +footsteps on the piazza, and darting out, caught a glimpse of Mr. Alvord's +retreating form. He had come on some errand, and, seeing the group at the +supper-table, had yielded to the impulse to depart unrecognized. This the +little girl would by no means permit. Since Easter an odd friendship had +sprung up between her and the lonely man, and she had become almost his +sole visitor. She now called after him, and in a moment was at his side. +"Why are you going away?" she said. "You must not go till I show you my +garden." + +Maggie joined them, for he deeply enlisted her sympathy, and she wished to +make it clear by her manner that the tie between him and the child had her +approval. "Yes, indeed, Mr. Alvord," she said, "you must let Johnnie show +you her garden, and especially her pansies." + +"Heart's-ease is another name for the flower, I believe," he replied, with +the glimmer of a smile. "In that case Johnnie should be called Pansy. I +thank you, Mrs. Clifford, that you are willing to trust your child to a +stranger. We had a lovely ramble the other day, and she said that you told +her she might go with me." + +"I'm only too glad that you find Johnnie an agreeable little neighbor," +Maggie began. "Indeed, we all feel so neighborly that we hope you will soon +cease to think of yourself as a stranger." But here impatient Johnnie +dragged him off to see her garden, and his close and appreciative attention +to all she said and showed to him won the child's heart anew. Amy soon +joined them, and said: + +"Mr. Alvord, I wish your congratulations, also. I'm eighteen to-day." + +He turned, and looked at her so wistfully for a moment that her eyes fell. +"I do congratulate you," he said, in a low, deep voice. "If I had my choice +between all the world and your age, I'd rather be eighteen again. May your +brow always be as serene as it is to-night, Miss Amy." His eyes passed +swiftly from the elder to the younger girl, the one almost as young at +heart and fully as innocent as the other, and then he spoke abruptly: +"Good-by, Johnnie. I wish to see your father a moment on some business;" +and he walked rapidly away. By the time they reached the house he had gone. +Amy felt that with the night a darker shadow had fallen upon her happy day. +The deep sadness of a wounded spirit touched her own, she scarcely knew +why. It was but the law of her unwarped, unselfish nature. Even as a happy +girl she could not pass by uncaring, on the other side. She felt that she +would like to talk with Webb, as she always did when anything troubled her; +but he, touched with something of Burt's old restlessness, had rambled away +in the moonlight, notwithstanding the fatigues of the day. Therefore she +went to the piano and sang for the old people some of the quaint songs of +which she knew they were fond. Burt sat smoking and listening on the piazza +in immeasurable content. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +WEBB'S ROSES AND ROMANCE + + +To Mrs. Clifford the month of June brought the halcyon days of the year. +The warm sunshine revived her, the sub-acid of the strawberry seemed to +furnish the very tonic she needed, and the beauty that abounded on every +side, and that was daily brought to her couch, conferred a happiness that +few could understand. Long years of weakness, in which only her mind could +be active, had developed in the invalid a refinement scarcely possible to +those who must daily meet the practical questions of life, and whose more +robust natures could enjoy the material side of existence. It was not +strange, therefore, that country life had matured her native love of +flowers into almost a passion, which culminated in her intense enjoyment of +the rose in all its varieties. The family, aware of this marked preference, +rarely left her without these flowers at any season; but in June her eyes +feasted on their varied forms and colors, and she distinguished between her +favorites with all the zest and accuracy which a connoisseur of wines ever +brought to bear upon their delicate bouquet. With eyes shut she could name +from its perfume almost any rose with which she was familiar. Therefore, in +all the flower-beds and borders roses abounded, especially the +old-fashioned kinds, which are again finding a place in florists' +catalogues. Originally led by love for his mother, Webb, years since, had +begun to give attention to the queen of flowers. He soon found, however, +that the words of an English writer are true, "He who would have beautiful +roses in his garden must have them first in his heart," and there, with +queenly power, they soon enthroned themselves. In one corner of the garden, +which was protected on the north and west by a high stone wall, where the +soil was warm, loamy, and well drained, he made a little rose garden. He +bought treatises on the flower, and when he heard of or saw a variety that +was particularly fine he added it to his collection. "Webb is marked with +my love of roses," his mother often said, with her low, pleased laugh. Amy +had observed that even in busiest times he often visited his rose garden as +if it contained pets that were never forgotten. He once laughingly remarked +that he "gave receptions there only by special invitation," and so she had +never seen the spot except from a distance. + +On the third morning after her birthday Amy came down very early. The bird +symphony had penetrated her open windows with such a jubilant resonance +that she had been awakened almost with the dawn. The air was so cool and +exhilarating, and there was such a wealth of dewy beauty on every side, +that she yielded to the impulse to go out and enjoy the most delightful +hour of the day. To her surprise, she saw Webb going down the path leading +to the garden. "What's on your conscience," she cried, "that you can't +sleep?" + +"What's on yours?" he retorted. + +"The shame of leaving so many mornings like this unseen and not enjoyed. I +mean to repent and mend my ways from this time forth; that is, if I wake +up. May I go with you?" + +"What a droll question!" he replied, in laughing invitation. + +"Well, I did not know," she said, joining him, "but that you were going to +visit that _sanctum sanctorum_ of yours." + +"I am. Your virtue of early rising is about to be rewarded. You know when +some great personage is to be specially honored, he is given the freedom of +a city or library, etc. I shall now give you the freedom of my rose garden +for the rest of the summer, and from this time till frost you can always +find roses for your belt. I meant to do this on your birthday, but the buds +were not sufficiently forward this backward season." + +"I'm not a great personage." + +"No, thanks, you're not. You are only our Amy." + +"I'm content. Oh, Webb, what miracles have you been working here?" she +exclaimed, as she passed through some screening shrubbery, and looked upon +a plot given up wholly to roses, many of which were open, more in the phase +of exquisite buds, while the majority were still closely wrapped in their +green calyxes. + +"No miracle at all. I've only assisted nature a little. At the same time, +let me assure you that this small place is like a picture-gallery, and that +there is a chance here for as nice discrimination as there would be in a +cabinet full of works of art. There are few duplicate roses in this place, +and I have been years in selecting and winnowing this collection. They are +all named varieties, labelled in my mind. I love them too well, and am too +familiar with them, to hang disfiguring bits of wood upon them. One might +as well label his friends. Each one has been chosen and kept because of +some individual point of excellence, and you can gradually learn to +recognize these characteristics just as mother does. This plot here is +filled with hardy hybrid perpetuals, and that with tender tea-roses, +requiring very different treatment. Here is a moss that will bloom again in +the autumn. It has a sounding name--_Soupert-et-notting_--but it is +worthy of any name. Though not so mossy as some others, look at its fine +form and beautiful rose-color. Only one or two are out yet, but in a week +this bush will be a thing of beauty that one would certainly wish might +last forever. Try its fragrance. Nothing surpasses it unless it is _La +France_, over there." + +She inhaled the exquisite perfume in long breaths, and then looked around +at the budding beauty on every side, even to the stone walls that were +covered with climbing varieties. At last she turned to him with eyes that +were dilated as much with wonder as with pleasure, and said: "Well, this +_is_ a surprise. How in the world have you found time to bring all this +about? I never saw anything to equal it even in England. Of course I saw +rose gardens there on a larger scale in the parks and greenhouses, but I +have reference to the bushes and flowers. To me it is just a miracle." + +"You are wholly mistaken. Why, Amy, an old gentleman who lives but a few +miles away has had seventy distinct kinds of hybrid perpetuals in bloom at +one time, and many of them the finest in existence; and yet he has but a +little mite of a garden, and has been a poor, hard-working man all his +life. Speaking of England, when I read of what the poor working people of +Nottingham accomplished in their little bits of glass-houses and their +Liliputian gardens, I know that all this is very ordinary, and within the +reach of almost any one who loves the flower. After one learns how to grow +roses, they do not cost much more care and trouble than a crop of onions or +cabbages. The soil and location here just suit the rose. You see that the +place is sheltered, and yet there are no trees near to shade them and drain +the ground of its richness." + +"Oh, you are sure to make it all seem simple and natural. It's a way you +have," she said, "But to me it's a miracle. I don't believe there are many +who have your feeling for this flower or your skill." + +"You are mistaken again. The love for roses is very common, as it should +be, for millions of plants are sold annually, and the trade in them is +steadily increasing. Come, let me give you a lesson in the distinguishing +marks of the different kinds. A rose will smell as sweet by its own name as +by another, and you will find no scentless flowers here. There are some +fine odorless ones, like the Beauty of Stapleford, but I give them no +place." + +The moments flew by unheeded until an hour had passed, and then Webb, +looking at the sun, exclaimed: "I must go. This will answer for the first +lesson. You can bring mother here now in her garden chair whenever she +wishes to come, and I will give you other lessons, until you are a true +connoisseur in roses;" and he looked at those in her cheeks as if they were +more lovely than any to which he had been devoted for years. + +"Well, Webb," she said, laughing, "I cannot think of anything lacking in my +morning's experience. I was wakened by the song of birds. You have revealed +to me the mystery of your sanctum, and that alone, you know, would be +happiness to the feminine soul. You have also introduced me to dozens of +your sweethearts, for you look at each rose as Burt does at the pretty +girls he meets. You have shown me your budding rose garden in the dewy +morning, and that was appropriate, too. Every one of your pets was gemmed +and jewelled for the occasion, and unrivalled musicians, cleverly concealed +in the trees near, have filled every moment with melody. What more could I +ask? But where are you going with that basket?" + +"To gather strawberries for breakfast. There are enough ripe this morning. +You gather roses in the other basket. Why should we not have them for +breakfast, also?" + +"Why not, indeed, since it would seem that there are to be thousands here +and elsewhere in the garden? Fresh roses and strawberries for breakfast-- +that's country life to perfection. Good-by." + +He went away as if in a dream, and his heart almost ached with a tension of +feeling that he could not define. It seemed to him the culmination of all +that he had loved and enjoyed. His rose garden had been complete at this +season the year before, but now that Amy had entered it, the roses that she +had touched, admired, and kissed with lips that vied with their petals grew +tenfold more beautiful, and the spot seemed sacred to her alone. He could +never enter it again without thinking of her and seeing her lithe form +bending to favorites which hitherto he had only associated with his mother. +His life seemed so full and his happiness so deep that he did not want to +think, and would not analyze according to his habit. + +He brought the strawberries to Amy in the breakfast-room, and stood near +while she and Johnnie hulled them. He saw the roses arranged by his +mother's plate in such nice harmony that one color did not destroy another. +He replied to her mirthful words and rallyings, scarcely knowing what he +said, so deep was the feeling that oppressed him, so strong was his love +for that sweet sister who had come into his life and made it ideally +perfect. She appreciated what he had loved so fully, her very presence had +ever kindled his spirit, and while eager to learn and easily taught, how +truly she was teaching him a philosophy of life that seemed divine! What +more could he desire? The day passed in a confused maze of thought and +happiness, so strange and absorbing that he dared not speak lest he should +waken as from a dream. The girl had grown so beautiful to him that he +scarcely wished to look at her, and hastened through his meals that he +might be alone with his thoughts. The sun had sunk, and the moon was well +over the eastern mountains, before he visited the rose garden. Amy was +there, and she greeted him with a pretty petulance because he had not come +before. Then, in sudden compunction, she asked: + +"Don't you feel well, Webb? You have been so quiet since we were here this +morning! Perhaps you are sorry you let me into this charmed seclusion." + +"No, Amy, I am not," he said, with an impetuosity very unusual in him. "You +should know me better than even to imagine such a thing." + +Before he could say anything more, Burt's mellow voice rang out, "Amy!" + +"Oh, I half forgot; I promised to take a drive with Burt this evening. +Forgive me, Webb," she added, gently, "I only spoke in sport. I do know you +too well to imagine I am unwelcome here. No one ever had a kinder or more +patient brother than you have been to me;" and she clasped her hands upon +his arm, and looked up into his face with frank affection. + +His arm trembled under her touch, and he felt that he must be alone. In his +usual quiet tones, however, he was able to say: "You, rather, must forgive +me that I spoke so hastily. No; I'm not ill, but very tired. A good night's +rest will bring me around. Go and enjoy your drive to the utmost." + +"Webb, you work too hard," she said, earnestly. "But Burt is calling--" + +"Yes; do not keep him waiting; and think of me," he added, laughing, "as +too weary for moonlight, roses, or anything but prosaic sleep. June is all +very well, but it brings a pile of work to a fellow like me." + +"Oh, Webb, what a clodhopper you're trying to make yourself out to be! +Well, 'Sleep, sleep'--I can't think of the rest of the quotation. Good-by. +Yes, I'm coming!" rang out her clear voice; and, with a smiling glance +backward, she hastened away. + +From the shrubbery he watched her pass up the wide garden path, the +moonlight giving an ethereal beauty to her slight form with its white, +close drapery. Then, deeply troubled, he threw himself on a rustic seat +near the wall, and buried his face in his hands. It was all growing too +clear to him now, and he found himself face to face with the conviction +that Amy was no longer his sister, but the woman he loved. The deep-hidden +current of feeling that had been gathering volume for months at last +flashed out into the light, and there could be no more disguise. The +explanation of her power over him was now given to his deepest +consciousness. By some law of his nature, when she spoke he had ever +listened; whatever she said and did had been invested with a nameless +charm. Day after day they had been together, and their lives had harmonized +like two chords that blend in one sweet sound. He had never had a sister, +and his growing interest in Amy had seemed the most natural thing in the +world; that Burt should love her, equally natural--to fall in love was +almost a habit with the mercurial young fellow when thrown into the society +of a pretty girl--and he had felt that he should be only too glad that his +brother had at last fixed his thoughts on one who would not be a stranger +to them. He now remembered that, while all this had been satisfactory to +reason, his heart for a long time had been uttering its low, half-conscious +protest. Now he knew why. The events of this long day had revealed him unto +himself, because he was ripe for the knowledge. + +His nature had its hard, practical business side, but he had never been +content with questions of mere profit and loss. He not only had wanted the +corn, but the secret of the corn's growth and existence. To search into +Nature's hidden life, so that he could see through her outward forms the +mechanism back of all, and trace endless diversity to simple inexorable +laws, had been his pride and the promised solace of his life. His love of +the rose had been to him what it is to many another hard-working man and +woman--recreation, a habit, something for which he had developed the taste +and feeling of a connoisseur. It had had no appreciable influence on the +current of his thoughts. Amy's coming, however, had awakened the poetic +side of his temperament, and, while this had taken nothing from the old, it +had changed everything. Before, his life had been like nature in winter, +when all things are in hard, definite outline. The feeling which she had +inspired brought the transforming flowers and foliage. It was an immense +addition to that which already existed, and which formed the foundation for +it. For a long time he had exulted in this inflorescence of his life, as it +were, and was more than content. He did not know that the spirit gifted +even unconsciously with the power thus to develop his own nature must soon +become to him more than a cause of an effect, more than a sister upon whom +he could look with as tranquil eyes and even pulse in youth as in frosty +age. But now he knew it with the absolute certainty that was characteristic +of his mind when once it grasped a truth. The voice of Burt calling +"Amy," after the experiences of the day, had been like a shaft of light, +instantly revealing everything. For her sake more than his own he had +exerted himself to the utmost to conceal the truth of that moment of bitter +consciousness. He trembled as he thought of his blind, impetuous words and +her look of surprise; he grew cold with dread as he remembered how easily +he might have betrayed himself. + +And now what should he do? what could he do but hide the truth with +sleepless vigilance? He could not become his brother's rival. In the eyes +of Amy and all the family Burt was her acknowledged suitor, who, having +been brought to reason, was acting most rationally and honorably. Whether +Amy was learning to love him or not made no difference. If she, growing +conscious of her womanhood, was turning her thoughts to Burt as the one who +had first sought her, and who was now cheerfully waiting until the look of +shy choice and appeal came into her eyes, he could not seek to thrust his +younger brother aside. If the illustration of the rose which she had forced +into unnatural bloom was still true of her heart, he would be false to her +and himself, as well as to Burt, should he seek her in the guise of a +lover. He had felt that it was almost sacrilege to disturb her May-like +girlhood; that this child of nature should be left wholly to nature's +impulses and to nature's hour for awakening. + +"If it only could have been, how rich and full life would be!" he thought. +"We were in sympathy at almost every point When shall I forget the hour +we spent here this morning! The exquisite purity and beauty of the dawn, +the roses with the dew upon them, seemed emblems of herself. Hereafter +they will ever speak to me of her. That perfume that comes on the breeze +to me now from the wild grapevine--the most delicate and delightful of +all the odors of June--is instantly associated with her in my mind, as +all things lovely in nature ever will be hereafter. How can I hide all +this from her, and seem merely her quiet elder brother? How can I meet +her here to-morrow morning, and in the witchery of summer evenings, and +still speak in measured tones, and look at her as I would at Johnnie? The +thing is impossible until I have gained a stronger self-control. I must +go away for a day or two, and I will. When I return neither Burt nor Amy +shall have cause to complain;" and he strode away. + +The evening mail brought an excuse. A firm to whom the Cliffords had been +sending part of their produce had not given full satisfaction, and Webb +announced his intention of going to the city in the morning to investigate +matters. His father and Leonard approved of his purpose, and when he added +that he might stay in town for two or three days, that he felt the need of +a little change and rest before haying and harvest began, they all +expressed their approval still more heartily. + +The night was so beautiful that Burt prolonged his drive. The witchery of +the romantic scenery through which he and Amy passed, and the loveliness of +her profile in the pale light, almost broke down his resolution, and once, +in accents much too tender, he said, "Oh, Amy, I am so happy when with +you!" + +"I'm happy with you also," she replied, in brusque tones, "now that you +have become so sensible." + +He took the hint, and said, emphatically: "Don't you ever be apprehensive +or nervous when with me. I'll wait, and be 'sensible,' as you express it, +till I'm gray." + +Her laugh rang out merrily, but she made no other reply. He was a little +nettled, and mentally vowed a constancy that would one day make her regret +that laugh. + +Webb had retired when Amy returned, and she learned of his plans from +Maggie. "It's just the best thing he can do," she said, earnestly. "Webb's +been overworking, and he needs and deserves a little rest." + +In the morning he seemed so busy with his preparations that he had scarcely +time to give her more than a genial off-hand greeting. + +"Oh, Webb, I shall miss you so much!" she said, in parting, and her look +was very kind and wistful. He did not trust himself to speak, but gave her +a humorous and what seemed to her a half-incredulous smile. He puzzled her, +and she thought about him and his manner of the previous day and evening +not a little. With her sensitive nature, she could not approach so near the +mystery that he was striving to conceal without being vaguely impressed +that there was something unusual about him. The following day, however, +brought a cheerful, business-like letter to his father, which was read at +the dinner-table. He had straightened out matters in town and seemed to be +enjoying himself. She more than once admitted that she did miss him as she +would not any other member of the household. But her out-door life was very +full. By the aid of her glass she made the intimate acquaintance of her +favorite songsters. Every day she took Mrs. Clifford in her garden chair to +the rosary, and proposed through her instruction to give Webb a surprise +when he returned. She would prove to him that she could name his pets from +their fragrance, form, and color as well as he himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +A SHAM BATTLE AT WEST POINT + + +Burt did his best to keep things lively, and a few days after Webb's +departure said: "I've heard that there is to be a sham battle at West Point +this afternoon. Suppose we go and see it." + +The heavy guns from the river batteries had been awakening deep echoes +among the mountains every afternoon for some time past, reminding the +Cliffords that the June examinations were taking place at the Military +Academy, and that there was much of interest occurring near them. Not only +did Amy assent to Burt's proposition, but Leonard also resolved to go and +take Maggie and the children. In the afternoon a steam-yacht bore them and +many other excursionists to their destination, and they were soon skirting +the grassy plain on which the military evolutions were to take place. + +The scene was full of novelty and interest for Amy. Thousands of people +were there, representing every walk and condition of life. Plain farmers +with their wives and children, awkward country fellows with their +sweethearts, dapper clerks with bleached hands and faces, were passing to +and fro among ladies in Parisian toilets and with the unmistakable air of +the metropolis. There were officers with stars upon their shoulders, and +others, quite as important in their bearing, decorated with the insignia of +a second lieutenant. Plain-looking men were pointed out as senators, and +elegantly dressed men were, at a glance, seen to be nobodies. Scarcely a +type was wanting among those who came to see how the nation's wards were +drilled and prepared to defend the nation's honor and maintain peace at the +point of the bayonet. On the piazzas of the officers' quarters were groups +of favored people whose relations or distinguished claims were such as to +give them this advantage over those who must stand where they could to see +the pageant. The cadets in their gray uniforms were conspicuously absent, +but the band was upon the plain discoursing lively music. From the +inclosure within the barracks came the long roll of a drum, and all eyes +turned thitherward expectantly. Soon from under the arched sally-port two +companies of cadets were seen issuing on the double-quick. They crossed the +plain with the perfect time and precision of a single mechanism, and passed +down into a depression of the ground toward the river. After an interval +the other two companies came out in like manner, and halted on the plain +within a few hundred yards of this depression, their bayonets scintillating +in the unclouded afternoon sun. Both parties were accompanied by mounted +cadet officers. The body on the plain threw out pickets, stacked arms, and +lounged at their ease. Suddenly a shot was fired to the eastward, then +another, and in that direction the pickets were seen running in. With +marvellous celerity the loungers on the plain seized their muskets, formed +ranks, and faced toward the point from which the attack was threatened. A +skirmish line was thrown out, and this soon met a similar line advancing +from the depression, sloping eastward. Behind the skirmishers came a +compact line of battle, and it advanced steadily until within fair musket +range, when the firing became general. While the attacking party appeared +to fight resolutely, it was soon observed that they made no further effort +to advance, but sought only to occupy the attention of the party to which +they were opposed. + +The Cliffords stood on the northwestern edge of the plain near the statue +of General Sedgwick, and from this point they could also see what was +occurring in the depression toward the river. "Turn, Amy, quick, and see +what's coming," cried Burt. Stealing up the hillside in solid column was +another body of cadets. A moment later they passed near on the +double-quick, went into battle formation on the run, and with loud shouts +charged the flank and rear of the cadets on the plain, who from the first +had sustained the attack. These seemed thrown into confusion, for they were +now between two fires. After a moment of apparent indecision they gave way +rapidly in seeming defeat and rout, and the two attacking parties drew +together in pursuit. When they had united, the pursued, who a moment before +had seemed a crowd of fugitives, became almost instantly a steady line of +battle. The order, "Charge!" rang out, and, with fixed bayonets, they +rushed upon their assailants, and steadily drove them back over the plain, +and down into their original position. It was all carried out with a far +degree of life-like reality. The "sing" of minie bullets was wanting, but +abundance of noise and sulphurous smoke can be made with blank cartridges; +and as the party attacked plucked victory from seeming defeat, the people's +acclamations were loud and long. + +At this point the horse of one of the cadet officers became unmanageable. +They had all observed this rider during the battle, admiring the manner in +which he restrained the vicious brute, but at last the animal's excitement +or fear became so great that he rushed toward the crowded sidewalk and road +in front of the officers' quarters. The people gave way to right and left. +Burt had scarcely time to do more than encircle Amy with his arm and sweep +her out of the path of the terrified beast. The cadet made heroic efforts, +until it was evident that the horse would dash into the iron fence beyond +the road, and then the young fellow was off and on his feet with the +agility of a cat, but he still maintained his hold upon the bridle. A +second later there was a heavy thud heard above the screams of women and +children and the shouts of those vociferating advice. The horse fell +heavily in his recoil from the fence, and in a moment or two was led +limping and crestfallen away, while the cadet quietly returned to his +comrades on the plain. Johnnie and little Ned were crying from fright, and +both Amy and Maggie were pale and nervous; therefore Leonard led the way +out of the crowd. From a more distant point they saw the party beneath the +hill rally for a final and united charge, which this time proved +successful, and the companies on the plain, after a stubborn resistance, +were driven back to the barracks, and through the sally-port, followed by +their opponents. The clouds of smoke rolled away, the band struck up a +lively air, and the lines of people broke up into groups and streamed in +all directions. Leonard decided that it would be best for them to return by +the evening boat, and not wait for parade, since the little yacht would +certainly be overcrowded at a later hour. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +CHASED BY A THUNDER-SHOWER + + +The first one on the "Powell" to greet them was Webb, returning from the +city. Amy thought he looked so thin as to appear almost haggard, but he +seemed in the best of spirits, and professed to feel well and rested. She +half imagined that she missed a certain gentleness in his words and manner +toward her, but when he heard how nearly she had been trampled upon, she +was abundantly satisfied by his look of deep affection and solicitude as he +said: "Heaven bless your strong, ready arm, Burt!" "Oh, that it had been +mine!" was his inward thought. He masked his feelings so well, however, +that all perplexity passed from her mind. She was eager to visit the rose +garden with him, and when there he praised her quickly acquired skill so +sincerely that her face flushed with pleasure. No one seemed to enjoy the +late but ample supper more than he, or to make greater havoc in the +well-heaped dish of strawberries. "I tasted none like these in New York," +he said. "After all, give me the old-fashioned kind. We've tried many +varieties, but the Triomphe de Gand proves the most satisfactory, if one +will give it the attention it deserves. The fruit ripens early and lasts +till late. It is firm and good even in cool, wet weather, and positively +delicious after a sunny day like this." + +"I agree with you, Webb," said his mother, smiling. "It's the best of all +the kinds we've had, except, perhaps, the President Wilder, but that +doesn't bear well in our garden." + +"Well, mother," he replied, with a laugh, "the best is not too good for +you. I have a row of Wilders, however, for your especial benefit, but +they're late, you know." + +The next morning he went into the haying with as much apparent zest as +Leonard. They began with red-top clover. The growth had been so heavy that +in many places it had "lodged," or fallen, and it had to be cut with +scythes. Later on, the mowing-machine would be used in the timothy fields +and meadows. Amy, from her open window, watched him as he steadily bent to +the work, and she inhaled with pleasure the odors from the bleeding clover, +for it was the custom of the Cliffords to cut their grasses early, while +full of the native juices. Rakes followed the scythes speedily, and the +clover was piled up into compact little heaps, or "cocks," to sweat out its +moisture rather than yield it to the direct rays of the sun. + +"Oh, dear!" said Amy, at the dinner-table, "my bees won't fare so well, now +that you are cutting down so much of their pasture." + +"Red clover affords no pasturage for honey-bees," said Webb, laughing. "How +easily he seems to laugh of late!" Amy thought. "They can't reach the honey +in the long, tube-like blossoms. Here the bumble-bees have everything their +way, and get it all except what is sipped by the humming-birds, with their +long beaks, as they feed on the minute insects within the flowers. I've +heard the question, Of what use are bumble-bees?--I like to say _bumble_ +best, as I did when a boy. Well, I've been told that red clover cannot be +raised without this insect, which, passing from flower to flower, carries +the fertilizing pollen. In Australia the rats and the field mice were so +abundant that they destroyed these bees, which, as you know, make their +nests on the ground, and so cats had to be imported in order to give the +bumble-bees and red clover a chance for life. There is always trouble in +nature unless an equilibrium is kept up. Much as I dislike cats, I must +admit that they have contributed largely toward the prosperity of an +incipient empire." + +"When I was a boy," remarked Leonard, "I was cruel enough to catch +bumble-bees and pull them apart for the sake of the sac of honey they +carry." + +Alf hung his head, and looked very conscious. "Own up, Alf," laughed Webb. + +"Well, I ain't any worse than papa," said the boy. + +All through the afternoon the musical sound of whetting the scythes with +the rifle rang out from time to time, and in the evening Leonard said, "If +this warm, dry weather holds till to-morrow night, we shall get in our +clover in perfect condition." + +On the afternoon of the following day the two-horse wagon, surmounted by +the hay-rack, went into the barn again and again with its fragrant burden; +but at last Amy was aroused from her book by a heavy vibration of thunder. +Going to a window facing the west, she saw a threatening cloud that every +moment loomed vaster and darker. The great vapory heads, tipped with light, +towered rapidly, until at last the sun passed into a sudden eclipse that +was so deep as to create almost a twilight. As the cloud approached, there +was a low, distant, continuous sound, quite distinct from nearer and +heavier peals, which after brief and briefer intervals followed the +lightning gleams athwart the gloom. She saw that the hay-makers were +gathering the last of the clover, and raking, pitching, and loading with +eager haste, their forms looking almost shadowy in the distance and the dim +light. Their task was nearly completed, and the horses' heads were turned +barnward, when a flash of blinding intensity came, with an instantaneous +crash, that roared away to the eastward with deep reverberations. Amy +shuddered, and covered her face with her hands. When she looked again, the +clover-field and all that it contained seemed annihilated. The air was +thick with dust, straws, twigs, and foliage torn away, and the gust passed +over the house with a howl of fury scarcely less appalling than the +thunder-peal had been. Trembling, and almost faint with fear, sho strained +her eyes toward the point where she had last seen Webb loading the +hay-rack. The murky obscurity lightened up a little, and in a moment or two +she saw him whipping the horses into a gallop. The doors of the barn stood +open, and the rest of the workers had taken a cross-cut toward it, while +Mr. Clifford was on the piazza, shouting for them to hurry. Great drops +splashed against the window-panes, and the heavy, monotonous sound of the +coming torrent seemed to approach like the rush of a locomotive. Webb, with +the last load, is wheeling to the entrance of the barn. A second later, and +the horses' feet resound on the planks of the floor. Then all is hidden, +and the rain pours against the window like a cataract. In swift alternation +of feeling she clapped her hands in applause, and ran down to meet Mr. +Clifford, who, with much effort, was shutting the door against the gale. +When he turned he rubbed his hands and laughed as he said, "Well, I never +saw Webb chased so sharply by a thunder-shower before; but he won the race, +and the clover's safe." + +The storm soon thundered away to parts unknown, the setting sun spanning +its retreating murkiness with a magnificent bow; long before the rain +ceased the birds were exulting in jubilant chorus, and the air grew still +and deliciously cool and fragrant. When at last the full moon rose over the +Beacon Mountains there was not a cloud above the horizon, and Nature, in +all her shower-gemmed and June-clad loveliness, was like a radiant beauty +lost in revery. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE RESCUE OF A HOME + + +Who remembers when his childhood ceased? Who can name the hour when +buoyant, thoughtless, half-reckless youth felt the first sobering touch of +manhood, or recall the day when he passed over the summit of his life, and +faced the long decline of age? As imperceptibly do the seasons blend when +one passes and merges into another. There were traces of summer in May, +lingering evidences of spring far into June, and even in sultry July came +days in which the wind in the groves and the chirp of insects at night +foretold the autumn. + +The morning that followed the thunder-shower was one of warm, serene +beauty. The artillery of heaven had done no apparent injury. A rock may +have been riven in the mountains, a lonely tree splintered, but homes were +safe, the warm earth was watered, and the air purified. With the dawn Amy's +bees were out at work, gleaning the last sweets from the white clover, that +was on the wane, from the flowers of the garden, field, and forest. The +rose garden yielded no honey: the queen of flowers is visited by no bees. +The sweetbrier, or eglantine, belonging to this family is an exception, +however, and if the sweets of these wild roses could be harvested, an Ariel +would not ask for daintier sustenance. + +White and delicate pink hues characterize the flowers of early spring. In +June the wild blossoms emulate the skies, and blue predominates. In July +and August many of the more sensitive in Flora's train blush crimson under +the direct gaze of the sun. Yellow hues hold their own throughout the year, +from the dandelions that first star the fields to the golden-rod that +flames until quenched by frost and late autumn storms. + +During the latter part of June the annual roses of the garden were in all +stages and conditions. Beautiful buds could be gleaned among the developing +seed receptacles and matured flowers that were casting their petals on +every breeze. The thrips and the disgusting rose-bug were also making havoc +here and there. But an untiring vigilance watched over the rose garden. +Morning, noon, and evening Webb cut away the fading roses, and Amy soon +learned to aid him, for she saw that his mind was bent on maintaining the +roses in this little nook at the highest attainable point of perfection. It +is astonishing how greatly nature can be assisted and directed by a little +skilled labor at the right time. Left to themselves, the superb varieties +in the rose garden would have spent the remainder of the summer and autumn +chiefly in the development of seed-vessels, and in resting after their +first bloom. But the pruning-knife had been too busy among them, and the +thoroughly fertilized soil sent up supplies that must be disposed of. As +soon as the bushes had given what may be termed their first annual bloom +they were cut back halfway to the ground, and dormant buds were thus forced +into immediate growth. Meanwhile the new shoots that in spring had started +from the roots were already loaded with buds, and so, by a little +management and attention, the bloom would be maintained until frosty nights +should bring the sleep of winter. No rose-bug escaped Webb's vigilant +search, and the foliage was so often sprayed by a garden syringe with an +infusion of white hellebore that thrips and slugs met their deserved fate +before they had done any injury. Thus for Mrs. Clifford and Amy was +maintained a supply of these exquisite flowers, which in a measure became a +part of their daily food. + +Nature was culminating. On every side was the fulfilment of its innumerable +promises. The bluebird, with the softness of June in his notes, had told +his love amid the snows and gales of March, and now, with unabated +constancy, and with all a father's solicitude, he was caring for his third +nestful of fledglings. Young orioles were essaying flight from their +wind-rocked cradles on the outer boughs of the elms. Phoebe-birds, with +nests beneath bridges over running streams, had, nevertheless, the skill to +land their young on the banks. Nature was like a vast nursery, and from +gardens, lawns, fields, and forest the cries and calls of feathered infancy +were heard all day, and sometimes in the darkness, as owls, hawks, and +other night prowlers added to the fearful sum of the world's tragedies. The +cat-birds, that had built in some shrubbery near the house, had by the last +of June done much to gain Amy's good-will and respect. As their domestic +character and operations could easily be observed, she had visited them +almost daily from the time they had laid the dry-twig and leafy foundation +of their nest until its lining of fine dry grasses was completed. She bad +found that, although inclined to mock and gibe at outsiders, they were +loyal and affectionate to each other. In their home-building, in the +incubation of the deep bluish-green eggs, and in the care of the young, now +almost ready to fly, they had been mutually helpful and considerate, +fearless and even fierce in attacking all who approached too near their +domicile. To Amy and her daily visits they had become quite reconciled, +even as she had grown interested in them, in spite of a certain lack of the +high breeding which characterized the thrushes and other favorites. + +"My better acquaintance with them," she said one evening to Dr. Marvin, +who, with his wife, had stopped at the Cliffords' in passing, "has taught +me a lesson. I think I'm too much inclined to sweeping censure on the +exhibition of a few disagreeable traits. I've learned that the gossips in +yonder bushes have some excellent qualities, and I suppose you find that +this is true of the gossips among your patients." + +"Yes," replied the doctor, "but the human gossips draw the more largely on +one's charity; and if you knew how many pestiferous slugs and insects your +neighbors in the shrubbery have already destroyed, the human genus of +gossip would suffer still more in comparison." + +That Amy had become so interested in these out-door neighbors turned out to +their infinite advantage, for one morning their excited cries of alarm +secured her attention. Hastening to the locality of their nest, she looked +upon a scene that chilled the blood in her own veins. A huge black-snake +suspended his weight along the branches of the shrubbery with entire +confidence and ease, and was in the act of swallowing a fledgling that, +even as Amy looked, sent out its last despairing peep. The parent birds +were frantic with terror, and their anguish and fearless efforts to save +their young redeemed them forever in Amy's eyes. + +"Webb!" she cried, since, for some reason, he ever came first to her mind +in an emergency. It so happened that he had just come from the hay field to +rest awhile and prepare for dinner. In a moment he was at her side, and +followed with hasty glance her pointing finger. + +"Come away, Amy," he said, as he looked at her pale face and dilated eyes. +"I do not wish you to witness a scene like that;" and almost by force he +drew her to the piazza. In a moment he was out with a breech-loading gun, +and as the smoke of the discharge lifted, she saw a writhing, sinuous form +fall heavily to the earth. After a brief inspection Webb came toward her in +smiling assurance, saying: "The wretch got only one of the little family. +Four birds are left. There now, don't feel so badly. You have saved a home +from utter desolation. That, surely, will be a pleasant thing to remember." + +"What could I have done if you had not come?" + +"I don't like to think of what you might have done--emulated the +mother-bird, perhaps, and flown at the enemy." + +"I did not know you were near when I called your name," she said. "It was +entirely instinctive on my part; and I believe," she added, musingly, +looking with a child's directness into his eyes, "that one's instincts are +usually right; don't you?" + +He turned away to hide the feeling of intense pleasure caused by her words, +but only said, in a low voice, "I hope I may never fail you, Amy, when you +turn to me for help." Then he added, quickly, as if hastening away from +delicate ground: "While those large black-snakes are not poisonous, they +are ugly customers sometimes. I have read of an instance in which a boy put +his hand into the hole of a tree where there had been a bluebird's nest, +and touched the cold scales of one of these snakes. The boy took to his +heels, with the snake after him, and it is hard to say what would have +happened had not a man plowing near come to the rescue with a heavy +ox-whip. What I should fear most in your case would be a nervous shock had +the snake even approached you, for you looked as if you had inherited from +Mother Eve an unusual degree of hate for the reptile." + +The report of the gun had attracted Alf and others to the scene. Amy, with +a look of smiling confidence, said: "Perhaps you have rescued me as well as +the birds. I can't believe, though, that such a looking creature could have +tempted Eve to either good or evil;" and she entered the house, leaving him +in almost a friendly mood toward the cause of the cat-bird's woe. + +Alf exulted over the slain destroyer, and even Johnnie felt no compunction +at the violent termination of its life. The former, with much sportsmanlike +importance, measured it, and at the dinner-table announced its length to be +a little over four feet. + +"By the way," said Webb, "your adventure, Amy, reminds me of one of the +finest descriptions I ever read;" and jumping up, he obtained from the +library Burroughs's account of a like scene and rescue. "I will just give +you some glimpses of the picture," he said, reading the following +sentences: "'Three or four yards from me was the nest, beneath which, in +long festoons, rested a huge black-snake. I can conceive of nothing more +overpoweringly terrible to an unsuspecting family of birds than the sudden +appearance above their domicile of the head and neck of this arch enemy. +One thinks of the great myth of the tempter and the cause of all our woe, +and wonders if the Arch-One is not playing off some of his pranks before +him. Whether we call it snake or devil matters little. I could but admire +his terrible beauty, however; his black, shining folds; his easy, gliding +movement--head erect, eyes glistening, tongue playing like subtile flame, +and the invisible means of his almost winged locomotion. Presently, as he +came gliding down the slender body of a leaning alder, his attention was +attracted by a slight movement of my arm; eying me an instant with that +crouching, utter, motionless gaze which I believe only snakes and devils +can assume, he turned quickly,'" etc. + +Amy shuddered, and Mrs. Clifford looked a little troubled that the scene in +Eden should be spoken of as merely a "myth." When she was a child "Paradise +Lost" had been her story-book, and the stories had become real to her. +Burt, however, not to be outdone, recalled his classics. + +"By the way," he said, "I can almost parallel your description from the +'Iliad' of Homer. I won't pretend that I can give you the Greek, and no +doubt it would be Greek to you. I'll get even with you, Webb, however, and +read an extract from Pope's translation," and he also made an excursion to +the library. Returning, he said, "Don't ask me for the connection," and +read: + + "'Straight to the tree his sanguine spires he rolled, + And curled around in many a winding fold. + The topmost branch a mother-bird possessed; + Eight callow infants filled the mossy nest; + Herself the ninth: the serpent as he hung + Stretched his black jaws, and crashed the crying young: + While hovering near, with miserable moan, + The drooping mother wailed her children gone. + The mother last, as round the nest she flew, + Seized by the beating wing, the monster slew.'" + +"Bravo!" cried Leonard. "I am now quite reconciled to your four years at +college. Heretofore I had thought you had passed through it as Shadrach, +Meshach, and Abednego passed through the fiery furnace, without even the +smell of fire upon their garments, but I now at last detect a genuine +Greek aroma." + +"I think Burt's quotation very pat," said Amy, "and I could not have +believed that anything written so long ago would apply so marvellously to +what I have seen to-day." + +"Marvellously pat, indeed," said Leonard. "And since your quotation has +led to such a nice little pat on your classical back, Burt, you must feel +repaid for your long burning of the midnight oil." + +Burt flushed slightly, but he turned Leonard's shafts with smiling +assurance, and said: "Amply repaid. I have ever had an abiding confidence +that my education would be of use to me at some time." + +The long days grew hot, and often sultry, but the season brought +unremitting toil. The click of the mowing-machine, softened by distance, +came from field after field. As the grain in the rye grew plump and +heavy, the heads drooped more and more, and changed from a pale yellow to +the golden hue that announced the hour of harvest. In smooth and level +fields the reaping-machine also lightened and expedited labor, but there +was one upland slope that was too rough for anything except the +old-fashioned cradle. On a breezy afternoon Amy went out to sketch the +harvesters, and from the shade of an adjacent tree to listen to the +rhythmical rush and rustle as the blade passed through the hollow stocks, +and the cradle dropped the gathered wealth in uniform lines. Almost +immediately the prostrate grain was transformed into tightly girthed +sheaves. How black Abram's great paw looked as he twisted a wisp of +straw, bound together the yellow stalks, and tucked under the end of his +improvised rope! + +Webb was leading the reapers, and they had to step quickly to keep pace +with him. As Amy appeared upon the scene he had done no more than take +off his hat and wave it to her, but as the men circled round the field +near her again, she saw that her acquaintance of the mountain cabin was +manfully bringing up the rear. Every time, before Lumley stooped to the +sweep of his cradle, she saw that he stole a glance toward her, and she +recognized him with cordial good-will. He, too, doffed his hat in +grateful homage, and as he paused a moment in his honest toil, and stood +erect, he unconsciously asserted the manhood that she had restored to +him. She caught his attitude, and he became the subject of her sketch. +Rude and simple though it was, it would ever recall to her a pleasant +picture--the diminishing area of standing rye, golden in the afternoon +sunshine, with light billows running over it before the breeze, Webb +leading, with the strong, assured progress that would ever characterize +his steps through life, and poor Lumley, who had been wronged by +generations that had passed away, as well as by his own evil, following +in an honest emulation which she had evoked. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +A MIDNIGHT TEMPEST + + +As far as possible, the prudent Leonard, who was commander-in-chief of +the harvest campaign, had made everything snug before the Fourth of July, +which Alf ushered in with untimely patriotic fervor. Almost before the +first bird had taken its head from under its wing to look for the dawn, +he had fired a salute from a little brass cannon. Not very long afterward +the mountains up and down the river were echoing with the thunder of the +guns at West Point and Newburgh. The day bade fair to justify its +proverbial character for sultriness. Even in the early morning the air +was languid and the heat oppressive. The sun was but a few hours high +before the song of the birds almost ceased, with the exception of the +somewhat sleepy whistling of the orioles. They are half tropical in +nature as well as plumage, and their manner during the heat of the day is +like that of languid Southern beauties. They kept flitting here and there +through their leafy retirement in a mild form of restlessness, exchanging +soft notes--pretty nonsense, no doubt--which often terminated abruptly, +as if they had not energy enough to complete the brief strain attempted. + +Alf, with his Chinese crackers and his cannon, and Johnnie and Ned, with +their torpedoes, kept things lively during the forenoon, but their elders +were disposed to lounge and rest. The cherry-trees, laden with black and +white ox-hearts, were visited. One of the former variety was fairly +sombre with the abundance of its dark-hued fruit, and Amy's red lips grew +purple as Burt threw her down the largest and ripest from the topmost +boughs. Webb, carrying a little basket lined with grapevine leaves, +gleaned the long row of Antwerp raspberries. The first that ripen of this +kind are the finest and most delicious, and their strong aroma announced +his approach long before he reached the house. His favorite Triomphe de +Grand strawberries, that had supplied the table three weeks before, were +still yielding a fair amount of fruit, and his mother was never without +her dainty dish of pale red berries, to which the sun had been adding +sweetness with the advancing season until nature's combination left +nothing to be desired. + +By noon the heat was oppressive, and Alf and Ned were rolling on the +grass under a tree, quite satiated for a time with two elements of a +boy's elysium, fire-crackers and cherries. The family gathered in the +wide hall, through the open doors of which was a slight draught of air. +All had donned their coolest costumes, and their talk was quite as +languid as the occasional notes and chirpings of the birds without. Amy +was reading a magazine in a very desultory way, her eyelids drooping over +every page before it was finished, Webb and Burt furtively admiring the +exquisite hues that the heat brought into her face, and the soft lustre +of her eyes. Old Mr. Clifford nodded over his newspaper until his +spectacles clattered to the floor, at which they all laughed, and asked +for the news. His invalid wife lay upon the sofa in dreamy, painless +repose. To her the time was like a long, quiet nooning by the wayside of +life, with all her loved band around her, and her large, dark eyes rested +on one and another in loving, lingering glances--each so different, yet +each so dear! Sensible Leonard was losing no time, but was audibly +resting in a great wooden rocking-chair at the further end of the hall. +Maggie only, the presiding genius of the household, was not wilted by the +heat. She flitted in and out occasionally, looking almost girlish in her +white wrapper. She had the art of keeping house, of banishing dust and +disorder without becoming an embodiment of dishevelled disorder herself. +No matter what she was doing, she always appeared trim and neat, and in +the lover-like expression of her husband's eyes, as they often followed +her, she had her reward. She was not deceived by the semi-torpid +condition of the household, and knew well what would be expected in a +Fourth-of-July dinner. Nor was she disappointed. The tinkle of the bell +at two o'clock awakened unusual animation, and then she had her triumph. +Leonard beamed upon a hind-quarter of lamb roasted to the nicest turn of +brownness. A great dish of Champion-of-England pease, that supreme +product of the kitchen-garden, was one of the time-honored adjuncts, +while new potatoes, the first of which had been dug that day, had half +thrown off their mottled jackets in readiness for the feast. Nature had +been Maggie's handmaid in spreading that table, and art, with its +culinary mysteries and combinations, was conspicuously absent. If Eve had +had a kitchen range and the Garden of Eden to draw upon, Adam could +scarcely have fared better than did the Clifford household that day. The +dishes heaped with strawberries, raspberries, cherries, and white +grape-currants that had been gathered with the dew upon them might well +tempt the most _blase_ resident of a town to man's primal calling. + +Before they reached their iced tea, which on this hot day took the place +of coffee, there was a distant peal of thunder. + +"I knew it would come," said old Mr. Clifford. "We shall have a cool +night, after all." + +"A Fourth rarely passes without showers," Leonard remarked. "That's why I +was so strenuous about getting all our grass and grain that was down +under cover yesterday." + +"You are not the only prudent one," Maggie added, complacently. "I've +made my currant jelly, and it jellied beautifully: it always does if I +make it before the Fourth and the showers that come about this time. It's +queer, but a rain on the currants after they are fairly ripe almost +spoils them for jelly." + +The anticipations raised by the extreme sultriness were fulfilled at +first only in part. Instead of a heavy shower accompanied by violent +gusts, there was a succession of tropical and vertical down-pourings, +with now and then a sharp flash and a rattling peal, but usually a heavy +monotone of thunder from bolts flying in the distance. One great cloud +did not sweep across the sky like a concentrated charge, leaving all +clear behind it, as is so often the case, but, as if from an immense +reserve, Nature appeared to send out her vapory forces by battalions. +Instead of enjoying the long siesta which she had promised herself, Amy +spent the afternoon in watching the cloud scenery. A few miles southwest +of the house was a prominent highland that happened to be in the direct +line of the successive showers. This formed a sort of gauge of their +advance. A cloud would loom up behind it, darken it, obscure it until it +faded out even as a shadow; then the nearer spurs of the mountains would +be blotted out, and in eight or ten minutes even the barn and the +adjacent groves would be but dim outlines through the myriad rain-drops. +The cloud would soon be well to the eastward, the dim landscape take form +and distinctness, and the distant highland appear again, only to be +obscured in like manner within the next half-hour. It was as if invisible +and Titanic gardeners were stepping across the country with their +watering-pots. + +Burt and Webb sat near Amy at the open window, the former chatting +easily, and often gayly. Webb, with his deep-set eyes fixed on the +clouds, was comparatively silent. At last he rose somewhat abruptly, and +was not seen again until evening, when he seemed to be in unusually good +spirits. As the dusk deepened he aided Alf and Johnnie in making the +finest possible display of their fireworks, and for half an hour the +excitement was intense. The family applauded from the piazza. Leonard and +his father, remembering the hay and grain already stored in the barn, +congratulated each other that the recent showers had prevented all danger +from sparks. + +After the last rocket had run its brief, fiery course, Alf and Johnnie +were well content to go with Webb, Burt, and Amy to an upper room whose +windows looked out on Newburgh Bay and to the westward. Near and far, +from their own and the opposite side of the river, rockets were flaming +into the sky, and Roman candles sending up their globes of fire. But +Nature was having a celebration of her own, which so far surpassed +anything terrestrial that it soon won their entire attention. A great +black cloud that hung darkly in the west was the background for the +electric pyrotechnics. Against this obscurity the lightning played almost +every freak imaginable. At one moment there would be an immense +illumination, and the opaque cloud would become vivid gold. Again, across +its blackness a dozen fiery rills of light would burn their way in zigzag +channels, and not infrequently a forked bolt would blaze earthward. +Accompanying these vivid and central effects were constant illuminations +of sheet lightning all round the horizon, and the night promised to be a +carnival of thunder-showers throughout the land. The extreme heat +continued, and was rendered far more oppressive by the humidity of the +atmosphere. + +The awful grandeur of the cloud scenery at last so oppressed Amy that she +sought relief in Maggie's lighted room. As we have already seen, her +sensitive organization was peculiarly affected by an atmosphere highly +charged with electricity. She was not re-assured, for Leonard inadvertently +remarked that it would take "a rousing old-fashioned storm to cool and +clear the air." + +"Why, Amy," exclaimed Maggie, "how pale you are! and your eyes shine as +if some of the lightning had got into them." + +"I wish it was morning," said the girl. "Such a sight oppresses me like a +great foreboding of evil;" and, with a restlessness she could not +control, she went down to Mrs. Clifford's room. She found Mr. Clifford +fanning the invalid, who was almost faint from the heat. Amy took his +place, and soon had the pleasure of seeing her charge drop off into quiet +slumber. As Mr. Clifford was very weary also, Amy left them to their +rest, and went to the sitting-room, where Webb was reading. Burt had +fallen asleep on the lounge in the hall. Leonard's prediction promised to +come true. The thunder muttered nearer and nearer, but it was a sullen, +slow, remorseless approach through the absolute silence and darkness +without, and therefore was tenfold more trying to one nervously +apprehensive than a swift, gusty storm would have been in broad day. + +Webb looked up and greeted her with a smile. His lamp was shaded, and the +room shadowy, so that he did not note that Amy was troubled and +depressed. "Shall I read to you?" he asked. "I am running over +Hawthorne's 'English Note-Books' again." + +"Yes," she said, in a low voice; and she sat down with her back to the +windows, through which shone momentarily the glare of the coming tempest. +He had not read a page before a long, sullen peal rolled across the +entire arc of the sky. "Webb," faltered Amy, and she rose and took an +irresolute step toward him. + +His pre-occupation was instantly gone. Never had he heard sweeter music +than that low appeal, to which the deep echoes in the mountains formed a +strange accompaniment. He stepped to her side, took her hand, and found +it cold and trembling. Drawing her within the radiance of the lamp, he +saw how pale she was, and that her eyes were dilated with nervous dread. + +"Webb," she began again, "do you--do you think there is danger?" + +"No, Amy," he said, gently; "there is no danger for you in God's +universe." + +"Oh, that frightful glare!" and she buried her face on his shoulder. +"Webb," she whispered, "won't you stay up till the storm is over? And you +won't think me weak or silly either, will you? Indeed, I can't help it. I +wish I had a little of your courage and strength." + +"I like you best as you are," he said; "and all my strength is yours when +you need it. I understand you, Amy, and well know you cannot help this +nervous dread. I saw how these electrical storms affected you last +February, and such experiences are not rare with finely organized +natures. See, I can explain it all with my matter-of-fact philosophy. +But, believe me, there is no danger. Certainly I will stay with you. What +would I not do for you?" he could not help adding. + +She looked at him affectionately as she said, with a child's unconscious +frankness: "I don't know why it is, but I always feel safe when with you. +I often used to wish that I had a brother, and imagine what he would be +to me; but I never dreamed that a brother could be so much to me as you +are.--Oh, Webb!" and she almost clung to him, as the heavy thunder pealed +nearer than before. + +Involuntarily he encircled her with his arm, and drew her closer to him +in the impulse of protection. She felt his arm tremble, and wholly +misinterpreted the cause. Springing aloof, she clasped her hands, and +looked around almost wildly. + +"Oh, Webb," she cried, "there is danger. Even you tremble." + +Webb was human, and had nerves also, but all the thunder that ever roared +could not affect them so powerfully as Amy's head bowed upon his +shoulder, and the appealing words of her absolute trust. He mastered +himself instantly, however, for he saw that he must be strong and calm in +order to sustain the trembling girl through one of Nature's most awful +moods. She was equally sensitive to the smiling beauty and the wrath of +the great mother. The latter phase was much the same to her as if a loved +face had suddenly become black with reckless passion. He took both her +hands in a firm grasp, and said: "Amy, I am not afraid, and you must not +be. You can do much toward self-control. Come," he added, in tones almost +authoritative, "sit here by me, and give me your hand. I shall read to +you in a voice as quiet and steady as you ever heard me use." + +She obeyed, and he kept his word. His strong, even grasp reassured her in +a way that excited her wonder, and the nervous paroxysm of fear began to +pass away. While she did not comprehend what he read, his tones and +expression had their influence. His voice, however, was soon drowned by +the howling of the tempest as it rushed upon them. He felt her hand +tremble again, and saw her look apprehensively toward the windows. + +"Amy," he said, and in smiling confidence he fixed his eyes on hers and +held them. + +The crisis of the storm was indeed terrific. The house rocked in the +furious blasts. The uproar without was frightful, suggesting that the +Evil One was in very truth the "prince of the power of the air," and that +he was abroad with all his legions. Amy trembled violently, but Webb's +hand and eyes held hers. "Courage!" he said, cheerily; "the storm is +passing." + +A wan, grateful smile glimmered for a moment on her pale face, and then +her expression passed into one of horror. With a cry that was lost in a +deafening crash, she sprang into his arms. Even Webb was almost stunned +and blinded for a moment. Then he heard rapid steps. Burt at last had +been aroused from the slumber of youth, and, fortunately for his peace, +rushed first into his mother's room. Webb thought Amy had fainted, and he +laid her gently on the lounge. "Don't leave me," she gasped, faintly. + +"Amy," he said, earnestly, "I assure you that all danger is now over. As +I told you once before, the centre of the storm has passed. You know I +never deceived you." + +Maggie and Burt now came running in, and Webb said, "Amy has had a faint +turn. I will get her a glass of water." + +This revived her speedily, but the truth of Webb's words proved more +efficacious. The gale was sweeping the storm from the sky. The swish of +the torrents mattered little, for the thunder-peals died away steadily to +the eastward. Amy made a great effort to rally, for she felt ashamed of +her weakness, and feared that the others would not interpret her as +charitably as Webb had done. In a few minutes he smilingly withdrew, and +went out on the rear porch with Leonard, whence they anxiously scanned +the barn and out-buildings. These were evidently safe, wherever the bolt +had fallen, and it must have struck near. In half an hour there was a +line of stars along the western horizon, and soon the repose within the +old house was as deep as that of nature without. + +Webb only was sleepless. He sat at his open window, and saw the clouds +roll away. But he felt that a cloud deeper and murkier than any that had +ever blackened the sky hung over his life. He knew too well why his arm +had trembled when for a moment it encircled Amy. The deepest and +strongest impulse of his soul was to protect her, and her instinctive +appeal to him had raised a tempest in his heart as wild as that which had +raged without. He felt that he could not yield her to another, not even +to his brother. Nature itself pointed her to him. It was to him she +turned and clung in her fears. And yet she had not even dreamed of his +untold wealth of love, and probably never would suspect it. He could not +reveal it--indeed, it must be the struggle of his life to hide it--and +she, while loving him as a brother, might easily drift into an engagement +and marriage with Burt. Could he be patient, and wear a smiling mask +through it all? That tropical night and its experiences taught him anew +that he had a human heart, with all its passionate cravings. When he came +down from his long vigil on the following morning his brow was as serene +as the scene without. Amy gave him a grateful and significant smile, and +he smiled back so naturally that observant Burt, who had been a little +uneasy over the events of the previous night, was wholly relieved of +anxiety. They had scarcely seated themselves at the breakfast-table +before Alf came running in, and said that an elm not a hundred yards from +the house had been splintered from the topmost branch to the roots. All +except Mrs. Clifford went out to look at the smitten tree, and they gazed +with awe at the deep furrow plowed in the blackened wood. + +"It will live," said Webb, quietly, as he turned away; "it will probably +live out its natural life." + +Amy, in her deep sympathy, looked after him curiously. There was +something in his tone and manner which suggested a meaning beyond his +words. Not infrequently he had puzzled her of late, and this added to her +interest in him. She understood Burt thoroughly. + +Good old Mr. Clifford saw in the shattered tree only reasons for profound +thankfulness, and words of Christian gratitude rose to his lips. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +THE TWO LOVERS + + +The July sun speedily drank up the superabundant moisture, and the farm +operations went on with expedition. The corn grew green and strong, and +its leaves stretched up to Abram's shoulder as he ran the cultivator +through it for the last time. The moist sultriness of the Fourth finished +the ox-heart cherries. They decayed at once, to Alf's great regret. "That +is the trouble with certain varieties of cherries," Webb remarked. "One +shower will often spoil the entire crop even before it is ripe." But it +so happened that there were several trees of native or ungrafted fruit on +the place, and these supplied the children and the birds for many days +thereafter. The robins never ceased gorging themselves. Indeed, they were +degenerating into shameless _gourmands_, and losing the grace of +song, as were also the bobolinks in the meadows. + +Already there was a perceptible decline in the morning and evening +minstrelsy of all the birds, and, with the exception of calls and +twitterings, they grew more and more silent through the midday heat. With +the white bloom of the chestnut-trees the last trace of spring passed +away. Summer reached its supreme culmination, and days that would not be +amiss at the equator were often followed by nights of breathless +sultriness. Early in the month haying and harvest were over, and the last +load that came down the lane to the barn was ornamented with green +boughs, and hailed with acclamations by the farm hands, to whom a +generous supper was given, and something substantial also to take home to +their families. + +As the necessity for prompt action and severe labor passed, the Cliffords +proved that their rural life was not one of plodding, unredeemed toil. +For the next few weeks Nature would give them a partial respite. She +would finish much of the work which they had begun. The corn would +mature, the oats ripen, without further intervention on their part. By +slow but sure alchemy the fierce suns would change the acid and bitter +juices in the apples, peaches, plums, and pears into nectar. Already Alf +was revelling in the harvest apples, which, under Maggie's culinary +magic, might tempt an ascetic to surfeit. + +While Burt had manfully done his part in the harvest-field, he had not +made as long hours as the others, and now was quite inclined to enjoy to +the utmost a season of comparative leisure. He was much with Amy, and she +took pleasure in his society, for, as she characterized his manner in her +thoughts, he had grown very sensible. He had accepted the situation, and +he gave himself not a little credit for his philosophical patience. He +regarded himself as committed to a deep and politic plan, in which, +however, there was no unworthy guile. He would make himself essential to +Amy's happiness. He would be so quietly and naturally devoted to her that +she would gradually come to look forward to a closer union as a matter of +course. He also made it clear to her that she had no rivals in his +thoughts, or even admiration, and, as far as courtesy permitted, withdrew +from the society of a few favorites who once had welcomed him gladly and +often. He had even pretended indifference to the advent of a dark-eyed +beauty to the neighborhood, and had made no efforts to form her +acquaintance. This stranger from the city was so charming, however, that +he had felt more than once that he was giving no slight proof of +constancy. His fleet horse Thunder was his great ally, and in the long +twilight evenings, he, with Amy, explored the country roads far and near. +When the early mornings were not too warm they rowed upon the river, or +went up the Moodna Creek for water-lilies, which at that hour floated +upon the surface with their white petals all expanded--beautiful emblems +of natures essentially good. From mud and slime they developed purity and +fragrance. He was also teaching Amy to be an expert horsewoman, and they +promised themselves many a long ride when autumn coolness should make +such exercise more agreeable. + +Burt was a little surprised at his tranquil enjoyment of all this +companionship, but nevertheless prided himself upon it. He was not so +mercurial and impetuous as the others had believed him to be, but was +capable of a steady and undemonstrative devotion. Amy was worth winning +at any cost, and he proposed to lay such a patient siege that she could +not fail to become his. Indeed, with a disposition toward a little +retaliation, he designed to carry his patience so far as to wait until he +had seen more than once an expression in her eyes that invited warmer +words and manner. But he had to admit that time was passing, and that no +such expression appeared. This piqued him a little, and he felt that he +was not appreciated. The impression grew upon him that she was very +young--unaccountably young for one of her years. She enjoyed his bright +talk and merry ways with much the same spirit that Alf's boyish +exuberance called forth. She had the natural love of all young, healthful +natures for pleasure and change, and she unconsciously acted toward him +as if he were a kind, jolly brother who was doing much to give the spice +of variety to her life. At the same time her unawakened heart was +disposed to take his view of the future. Why should she not marry him, +after her girlhood had passed? All the family wished and expected it, and +surely she liked him exceedingly. But it would be time enough for such +thoughts years hence. He had the leisure and self-control for +good-comradeship, and without questioning she enjoyed it. Her life was +almost as free from care as that of the young birds that had begun their +existence in June. + +Only Webb perplexed and troubled her a little. At this season, when even +Leonard indulged in not a little leisure and rest, he was busy and +preoccupied. She could not say that he avoided her, and yet it seemed to +happen that they were not much together. "I fear I'm too young and +girlish to be a companion for him," she sighed. "His manner is just as +kind and gentle, but he treats me as if I were his very little sister. I +don't seem to have the power to interest him that I once had. I wish I +knew enough to talk to him as he would like;" and she stealthily tried to +read some of the scientific books that she saw him poring over. + +He, poor fellow, was engaged in the most difficult task ever given to +man--the ruling of his own spirit. He saw her sisterly solicitude and +goodwill, but could not respond in a manner as natural as her own. This +was beyond human capability. His best resource was the comparative +solitude of constant occupation. He was growing doubtful, however, as to +the result of his struggle, while Amy was daily becoming more lovely in +his eyes. Her English life had not destroyed the native talent of an +American girl to make herself attractive. She knew instinctively how to +dress, how to enhance the charms of which nature had not been chary, and +Webb's philosophy and science were no defence against her winsomeness. In +her changeful eyes lurked spells too mighty for him. Men of his caste +rarely succumb to a learned and aggressive woman. They require +intelligence, but it is a feminine intelligence, which supplements their +own, and is not akin to it. Webb saw in Amy all that his heart craved, +and he believed that he also saw her fulfilling Burt's hopes. She seemed +to be gradually learning that the light-hearted brother might bring into +her life all the sunshine and happiness she could desire. Webb +depreciated himself, and believed that he was too grave and dull to win +in any event more than the affection which she would naturally feel for +an elder brother, and this she already bestowed upon him frankly and +unstintedly. Burt took the same view, and was usually complacency itself, +although a week seemed a long time to him, and he sometimes felt that he +ought to be making more progress. But he had no misgivings. He would be +faithful for years, and Amy could not fail to reward such constancy. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +BURT'S ADVENTURE + + +Not only had the little rustic cottages which had been placed on poles +here and there about the Clifford dwelling, and the empty tomato-cans +which Alf, at Dr. Marvin's suggestion, had fastened in the trees, been +occupied by wrens and bluebirds, but larger homes had been taken for the +summer by migrants from the city. Among these was a Mr. Hargrove, a +wealthy gentleman, who had rented a pretty villa on the banks of the +Hudson, a mile or two away. Burt, with all his proposed lifelong +constancy, had speedily discovered that Mr. Hargrove had a very pretty +daughter. Of course, he was quite indifferent to the fact, but he could +no more meet a girl like Gertrude Hargrove and be unobservant than could +Amy pass a new and rare wildflower with unregarding eyes. Miss Hargrove +was not a wildflower, however. She was a product of city life, and was +perfectly aware of her unusual and exotic beauty. Admiring eyes had +followed her even from childhood, and no one better than she knew her +power. Her head had been quite turned by flattery, but there was a saving +clause in her nature--her heart. She was a belle, but not a cold-blooded +coquette. Admiration was like sunshine--a matter of course. She had +always been accustomed to it, as she had been to wealth, and neither had +spoiled her. Beneath all that was artificial, all that fashion prescribed +and society had taught, was the essential womanhood which alone can win +and retain a true man's homage. For reasons just the reverse of those +which explained Amy's indisposition to sentiment, she also had been kept +fancy-free. Seclusion and the companionship of her father, who had been +an invalid in his later years, had kept the former a child in many +respects, at a time when Miss Hargrove had her train of admirers. Miss +Gertrude enjoyed the train very much, but showed no disposition to permit +any one of its constituents to monopolize her. Indeed, their very numbers +had been her safety. Her attention had been divided and distracted by a +score of aspirants, and while in her girlish eyes some found more favor +than others, she was inclined to laughing criticism of them all. They +amused her immensely, and she puzzled them. Her almost velvety black +eyes, and the rich, varying tints of her clear brunette complexion, +suggested a nature that was not cold and unresponsive, yet many who would +gladly have won the heiress for her own sake found her as elusive as only +a woman of perfect tact and self-possession can be. She had no vulgar +ambition to count her victims who had committed themselves in words. With +her keen intuition and abundant experience she recognized the first +glance that was warmer than mere friendliness, and this was all the +committal she wished for. She loved the admiration of men, but was too +good-hearted a girl to wish to make them cynics in regard to women. She +also had the sense to know that it is a miserable triumph to lure a man +to the declaration of a supreme regard, and then in one moment change it +into contempt. While, therefore, she had refused many an offer, no one +had been humiliated, no one had been made to feel that he had been +unworthily trifled with. Thus she retained the respect and goodwill of +those to whom she might easily have become the embodiment of all that was +false and heartless. She had welcomed the comparative seclusion of the +villa on the Hudson, for, although not yet twenty, she was growing rather +weary of society and its exactions. Its pleasures had been tasted too +often, its burdens were beginning to be felt. She was a good horsewoman, +and was learning, under the instruction of a younger brother, to row as +easily and gracefully on the river as she danced in the ballroom, and she +found the former recreation more satisfactory, from its very novelty. + +Burt was well aware of these outdoor accomplishments. Any one inclined to +rural pleasures won his attention at once; and Miss Hargrove, as she +occasionally trotted smartly by him, or skimmed near on the waters of the +Hudson, was a figure sure to win from his eyes more than a careless +glance. Thus far, as has been intimated, he had kept aloof, but he had +observed her critically, and he found little to disapprove. She also was +observing him, and was quite as well endowed as he with the power of +forming a correct judgment. Men of almost every description had sought +her smiles, but he did not suffer by comparison. His tall, lithe figure +was instinct with manly grace. There was a fascinating trace of reckless +boldness in his blue eyes. He rode like a centaur, and at will made his +light boat, in which Amy was usually seated, cut through the water with +spray flying from its prow. In Miss Hargrove's present mood for rural +life she wished for his acquaintance, and was a little piqued that he had +not sought hers, since her father had opened the way. + +Mr. Hargrove, soon after his arrival in the neighborhood, had had +business transactions with the Cliffords, and had learned enough about +them to awaken a desire for social relations, and he had courteously +expressed his wishes. Maggie and Amy had fully intended compliance, but +the harvest had come, time had passed, and the initial call had not been +made. Leonard was averse to such formalities, and, for reasons already +explained, Burt and Webb were in no mood for them. They would not have +failed in neighborliness much longer, however, and a call was proposed +for the first comparatively cool day. A little incident now occurred +which quite broke the ice, and also somewhat disturbed Burt's serenity. +Amy was not feeling very well, and he had gone out alone for a ride on +his superb black horse Thunder. In a shady road some miles away, where +the willows interlaced their branches overhead in a long, Gothic-like +arch, he saw Miss Hargrove, mounted also, coming slowly toward him. He +never forgot the picture she made under the rustic archway. Her fine +horse was pacing along with a stately tread, his neck curved under the +restraining bit, while she was evidently amusing herself by talking, for +the want of a better companion, to an immense Newfoundland dog that was +trotting at her side, and looking up to her in intelligent appreciation. +Thus, in her preoccupation, Burt was permitted to draw comparatively +near, but as soon as she observed him it was evidently her intention to +pass rapidly. As she gave her horse the rein and he leaped forward, she +clutched his mane, and by a word brought him to a standstill. Burt saw +the trouble at once, for the girth of her saddle had broken, and hung +loosely down. Only by prompt action and good horsemanship had she kept +her seat. Now she was quite helpless, for an attempt to dismount would +cause the heavy saddle to turn, with unknown and awkward results. She had +recognized Burt, and knew that he was a gentleman; therefore she patted +her horse and quieted him, while the young man came promptly to her +assistance. He, secretly exulting over the promise of an adventure, said, +suavely, as he lifted his hat: + +"Miss Hargrove, will you permit me to aid you?" + +"Certainly," she replied, smiling so pleasantly that the words did not +seem ungracious; "I have no other resource." + +He bowed, leaped lightly to the ground, and fastened his horse by the +roadside; then came forward without the least embarrassment. "Your +saddle-girth has broken," he said. "I fear you must dismount. Shall I +lift you off? You maintained your seat admirably, but a very slight +movement on your part will cause the saddle to turn." + +"I know that," she replied, laughing. "Helplessness is always awkward. I +am only anxious to reach ground in safety;" and she dropped the reins, +and held out her hands. + +"Your horse is too high for you to dismount in that way," he said, +quietly, "and the saddle might fall after you and hurt you. Pardon me;" +and he encircled her with his right arm, and lifted her gently off. + +She blushed like the western sky, but he was so grave and apparently +solicitous, and his words had made his course seem so essential, that she +could not take offence. Indeed, he was now giving his whole attention to +the broken girth, and she could only await the result of his examination. + +"I think I can mend it with a strap from my bridle so that it will hold +until you reach home," he said; "but I am sorry to say that I cannot make +it very secure. Will you hold your horse a moment?" + +"I am indebted to Mr. Clifford, I think," she began, hesitatingly. + +"I am Mr. Clifford, and, believe me, I am wholly at your service. If you +had not been so good a horsewoman you might have met with a very serious +accident." + +"More thanks are due to you, I imagine," she replied; "though I suppose I +could have got off in some way." + +"There would have been no trouble in your getting off," he said, with one +of his frank, contagious smiles; "but then your horse might have run +away, or you would have had to lead him some distance, at least. Perhaps +it was well that the girth gave way when it did, for it would have broken +in a few moments more, in any event. Therefore I hope you will tolerate +one not wholly unknown to you, and permit me to be of service." + +"Indeed, I have only cause for thanks. I have interfered with your ride, +and am putting you to trouble." + +"I was only riding for pleasure, and as yet you have had all the +trouble." + +She did not look excessively annoyed, and in truth was enjoying the +adventure quite as much as he was, but she only said: "You have the +finest horse there I ever saw. How I should like to ride him!" + +"I fear he would be ungallant. He has never been ridden by a lady." + +"I should not be afraid so long as the saddle remained firm. What do you +call him?" + +"Thunder." At the sound of his name the beautiful animal arched his neck +and whinnied. "There, be quiet, old fellow, and speak when you are spoken +to," Burt said. "He is comparatively gentle with me, but uncontrollable +by others. I have now done my best, Miss Hargrove, and I think you may +mount in safety, if you are willing to walk your horse quietly home. But +I truly think I ought to accompany you, and I will do so gladly, with +your permission." + +"But it seems asking a great deal of-" + +"Of a stranger? I wish I knew how to bring about a formal introduction. I +have met your father. Will you not in the emergency defer the introduction +until we arrive at your home?" + +"I think we may as well dispense with it altogether," she said, laughing. +"It would be too hollow a formality after the hour we must spend +together, since you think so slow a pace is essential to safety. Events, +not we, are to blame for all failures in etiquette." + +"I was coming to call upon you this very week with the ladies of our +house," he began. + +"Indeed!" she said, lifting her eyebrows. + +"I assure you of the truth of what I say," he continued, earnestly, +turning his handsome eyes to hers. Then throwing his head back a little +proudly, he added, "Miss Hargrove, you must know that we are farmers, and +midsummer brings the harvest and unwonted labors." + +With a slight, piquant imitation of his manner, she said: "My father, you +must know, Mr. Clifford, is a merchant Is not that an equally respectable +calling?" + +"Some people regard it as far more so." + +"Some people are very silly. There is no higher rank than that of a +gentleman, Mr. Clifford." + +He took off his hat, and said, laughingly: "I hope it is not presumption +to imagine a slight personal bearing in your remark. At least, let me +prove that I have some claim to the title by seeing you safely home. Will +you mount? Put your foot in my hand, and bear your whole weight upon it, +and none upon the saddle." + +"You don't know how heavy I am." + +"No, but I know I can lift you. Try." + +Without the least effort she found herself in the saddle. "How strong you +are!" she said. + +"Yes," he replied, laughing; "I developed my muscle, if not my brains, at +college." + +In a moment he vaulted lightly upon his horse, that reared proudly, but, +at a word from his master, arched his neck and paced as quietly as Miss +Hargrove's better-trained animal. Burt's laugh would have thawed Mrs. +Grundy's very self. He was so vital with youth and vigor, and his flow of +spirits so irresistible, that Miss Hargrove found her own nerves tingling +with pleasure. The episode was novel, unexpected, and promised so much +for the future, that in her delightful excitement she cast conventionality +to the winds, and yielded to his sportive mood. They had not gone a mile +together before one would have thought they had been acquainted for years. +Burt's frank face was like the open page of a book, and the experienced +society girl saw nothing in it but abounding good-nature, and an enjoyment +as genuine as her own. She was on the alert for traces of provincialism and +rusticity, but was agreeably disappointed at their absence. He certainly +was unmarked, and, to her taste, unmarred, by the artificial mode of the +day, but there was nothing under-bred in his manner or language. He rather +fulfilled her ideal of the light-hearted student who had brought away the +air of the university without being oppressed by its learning. She saw, +with a curious little blending of pique and pleasure, that he was not in +the least afraid of her, and that, while claiming to be simply a farmer, he +unconsciously asserted by every word and glance that he was her equal. She +had the penetration to recognize from the start that she could not +patronize him in the slightest degree, that he was as high-spirited as he +was frank and easy in manner, and she could well imagine that his mirthful +eyes would flash with anger on slight provocation. She had never met just +such a type before, and every moment found her more and more interested and +amused. + +It must be admitted that his sensations kept pace with hers. Many had +found Miss Hargrove's eyes singularly effective under ordinary +circumstances, but now her mood gave them an unwonted lustre and power. +Her color was high, her talk animated and piquant. Even an enemy, had she +had one, would have been forced to admit that she was dazzlingly +beautiful, and inflammable Burt could not be indifferent to her charms. +He knew that he was not, but complacently assured himself that he was a +good judge in such matters. + +Mr. Hargrove met them at the door, and his daughter laughingly told him +of her mishap. She evidently reposed in him the utmost confidence. He +justified it by meeting her in like spirit with her own, and he +interpreted her unspoken wishes by so cordially pressing Burt to remain +to dinner that he was almost constrained to yield. "You will be too late +for your own evening meal," he said, "and your kindness to my daughter +would be ill-requited, and our reputation for hospitality would suffer, +should we let you depart without taking salt with us. After all, Mr. +Clifford, we are neighbors. Why should there be any formality?" + +Burt was the last one to have any scruples on such grounds, and he +resolved to have his "lark" out, as he mentally characterized it. Mr. +Hargrove had been something of a sportsman in his earlier days, and the +young fellow's talk was as interesting to him as it had been to Miss +Gertrude. Fred, her younger brother, was quite captivated, and elegant +Mrs. Hargrove, like her daughter, watched in vain for mannerisms to +criticise in the breezy youth. The evening was half gone before Burt +galloped homeward, smiling broadly to himself at the adventure. + +His absence had caused little remark in the family. It had been taken for +granted that he was at Dr. Marvin's or the parsonage, for the young +fellow was a great favorite with their pastor. When he entered the +sitting-room, however, there was a suppressed excitement in his manner +which suggested an unusual experience. He was not slow in relating all +that had happened, for the thought had occurred to him that it might be +good policy to awaken a little jealousy in Amy. In this effort he was +obliged to admit to himself that he failed signally. Even Webb's +searching eyes could not detect a trace of chagrin. She only seemed very +much amused, and was laughingly profuse in her congratulations to Burt. +Moreover, she was genuinely interested in Miss Hargrove, and eager to +make her acquaintance. "If she is as nice as you say, Burt," she +concluded, "she would make a pleasant addition to our little excursions +and pleasure parties. Perhaps she's old and bright enough to talk to +Webb, and draw him out of his learned preoccupation," she added, with a +shy glance toward the one who was growing too remote from her daily life. + +Even his bronzed face flushed, but he said, with a laugh: "She is evidently +much too bright for me, and would soon regard me as insufferably stupid. I +have never found much favor with city dames, or with dames of any +description, for that matter." + +"So much the worse for the dames, then," she replied, with a piquant nod +at him. + +"Little sisters are apt to be partial judges--at least, one is," he said, +smilingly, as he left the room. He walked out in the moonlight, thinking: +"There was not a trace of jealousy in her face. Well, why should there +be? Burt's perfect frankness was enough to prevent anything of the kind. +If there had been cause for jealousy, he would have been reticent. +Besides, Amy is too high-toned to yield readily to this vice, and Burt +can never be such an idiot as to endanger his prospects." + +A scheme, however, was maturing in Burt's busy brain that night, which he +thought would be a master-stroke of policy. He was quite aware of the +good impression that he had made on Miss Hargrove, and he determined that +Amy's wishes should be carried out in a sufficient degree at least to +prove to her that a city belle would not be wholly indifferent to his +attentions. "I'll teach the coy little beauty that others are not so +blind as she is, and I imagine that, with Miss Hargrove's aid, I can +disturb her serenity a little before many weeks pass." + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +MISS HARGROVE + + +But a few days elapsed before Mr. Clifford, with Burt, Maggie, and Amy, +made the call which would naturally inaugurate an exchange of social +visits. Mr. Hargrove was especially interested in the old gentleman, and +they were at once deep in rural affairs. Maggie was a little reserved at +first with Mrs. Hargrove, but the latter, with all her stateliness, was a +zealous housekeeper, and so the two ladies were soon _en rapport._ + +The young people adjourned to the piazza, and their merry laughter and +animated talk proved that if there had been any constraint it was +vanishing rapidly. Amy was naturally a little shy at first, but Miss +Hargrove had the tact to put her guests immediately at ease. She proposed +to have a good time during the remainder of the summer, and saw in Burt a +means to that end, while she instinctively felt that she must propitiate +Amy in order to accomplish her purpose. Therefore she was disposed to pay +a little court to her on general principles. She had learned that the +young girl was a ward of Mr. Clifford's. What Burt was to Amy she did not +know, but was sure she could soon find out, and his manner had led to the +belief that he was not a committed and acknowledged lover. She made no +discoveries, however, for he was not one to display a real preference in +public, and indeed, in accordance with his scheme, she received his most +marked attentions. Amy also both baffled and interested her. She could +not immediately accept of this genuine child of nature, whose very +simplicity was puzzling. It might be the perfection of well-bred reserve, +such complete art as to appear artless. Miss Hargrove had been in society +too long to take anything impulsively on trust. Still, she was charmed +with the young girl, and Amy was also genuinely pleased with her new +acquaintance. Before they parted a horseback ride was arranged, at Burt's +suggestion, for the next afternoon. This was followed by visits that soon +lost all formality, boating on the river, other rides, drives, and +excursions to points of interest throughout the region. Webb was +occasionally led to participate in these, but he usually had some excuse +for remaining at home. He, also, was a new type to Miss Hargrove, +"indigenous to the soil," she smilingly said to herself, "and a fine +growth too. With his grave face and ways he makes a splendid contrast to +his brother." She found him too reticent for good-fellowship, and he gave +her the impression also that he knew too much about that which was remote +from her life and interests. At the same time, with her riper experience, +she speedily divined his secret, to which Amy was blind. "He could almost +say his prayers to Amy," she thought, as she returned after an evening +spent at the Cliffords', "and she doesn't know it." + +With all his frankness, Burt's relations to Amy still baffled her. She +sometimes thought she saw his eyes following the young girl with +lover-like fondness, and she also thought that he was a little more +pronounced in his attentions to her in Amy's absence. Acquaintanceship +ripened into intimacy as plans matured under the waning suns of July, and +the girls often spent the night together. Amy was soon beguiled into +giving her brief, simple history, omitting, of course, all reference to +Bart's passionate declaration and his subsequent expectations. As far as +she herself was concerned, she had no experiences of this character to +relate, and her nature was much too fine to gossip about Burt. Miss +Hargrove soon accepted Amy's perfect simplicity as a charming fact, and +while the young girl had all the refinement and intelligence of her city +friend, the absence of certain phases of experience made her companionship +all the more fascinating and refreshing. It was seen that she had grown +thus far in secluded and sheltered nooks, and the ignorance that resulted +was like morning dew upon a flower. Of one thing her friend thought herself +assured--Burt had never touched Amy's heart, and she was as unconscious of +herself as of Webb's well-hidden devotion. The Clifford family interested +Miss Gertrude exceedingly, and her innate goodness of heart was proved by +the fact that she soon became a favorite with Mr. and Mrs. Clifford. She +never came to the house without bringing flowers to the latter--not only +beautiful exotics from the florists, but wreaths of clematis, bunches of +meadow-rue from her rambles, and water-lilies and cardinal-flowers from +boating excursions up the Moodna Creek--and the secluded invalid enjoyed +her brilliant beauty and piquant ways as if she had been a rare flower +herself. + +Burt had entered on his scheme with the deepest interest and with +confident expectations. As time passed, however, he found that he could +not pique Amy in the slightest degree; that she rather regarded his +interest in Miss Hargrove as the most natural thing in the world, because +she was so interesting. Therefore he at last just let himself drift, and +was content with the fact that the summer was passing delightfully. That +Miss Hargrove's dark eyes sometimes quickened his pulse strangely did not +trouble him; it had often been quickened before. When they were alone, +and she sang to him in her rich contralto, and he, at her request, added +his musical tenor, it seemed perfectly natural that he should bend over +her toward the notes in a way that was not the result of near-sightedness. +Burt was amenable to other attractions than that of gravitation. + +Webb was the only one not blind to the drift of events. While he forbore +by word or sign to interfere, he felt that new elements were entering +into the problem of the future. He drove the farm and garden work along +with a tireless energy against which even Leonard remonstrated. But Webb +knew that his most wholesome antidote for suspense and trouble was work, +and good for all would come of his remedy. He toiled long hours in the +oat harvest. He sowed seed which promised a thousand bushels of turnips. +Land foul with weeds, or only half subdued, he sowed with that best of +scavenger crops, buckwheat, which was to be plowed under as soon as in +blossom. The vegetable and fruit gardens gave him much occupation, also, +and the table fairly groaned under the over-abundant supply, while Abram +was almost daily despatched to the landing or to neighboring markets with +loads of various produce. The rose garden, however, seemed to afford Webb +his chief recreation and a place of rest, and the roses in Amy's belt +were the wonder and envy of all who saw them. His mother sometimes looked +at him curiously, as he still brought to her the finest specimens, and +one day she said: "Webb, I never knew even you to be so tireless before. +You are growing very thin, and you are certainly going beyond your +strength, and--forgive me--you seem restlessly active. Have you any +trouble in which mother can help you?" + +"You always help me, mother," he said, gently; "but I have no trouble +that requires your or any one's attention. I like to be busy, and there +is much to do. I am getting the work well along, so that I can take a +trip in August, and not leave too much for Leonard to look after." + +August came, and with it the promise of drought, but he and his elder +brother had provided against it. The young trees had been well mulched +while the ground was moist, and deep, thorough cultivation rendered the +crops safe unless the rainless period should be of long duration. + +Already in the rustling foliage there were whisperings of autumn. The +nights grew longer, and were filled with the sounds of insect life. The +robins disappeared from about the house, and were haunting distant +groves, becoming as wild as they had formerly been domestic. The season +of bird song was over for the year. The orioles whistled in a languid and +desultory way occasionally, and the smaller warblers sometimes gave +utterance to defective strains, but the leaders of the feathered chorus, +the thrushes, were silent. The flower-beds flamed with geraniums and +salvias, and were gay with gladioli, while Amy and Mrs. Clifford exulted +in the extent and variety of their finely quilled and rose-like asters +and dahlias. The foliage of the trees had gained its darkest hues, and +the days passed, one so like another that nature seemed to be taking a +summer siesta. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +A FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS + + +A day in August can be as depressing as a typical one in May is +inspiring, or in June entrancing. As the season advanced Nature appeared +to be growing languid and faint. There was neither cloud by day nor dew +at night. The sun burned rather than vivified the earth, and the grass +and herbage withered and shrivelled before its unobstructed rays. The +foliage along the roadsides grew dun-colored from the dust, and those who +rode or drove on thoroughfares were stifled by the irritating clouds that +rose on the slightest provocation. Pleasure could be found only on the +unfrequented lanes that led to the mountains or ran along their bases. +Even there trees that drew their sustenance from soil spread thinly on +the rocks were seen to be dying, their leaves not flushing with autumnal +tints, but hanging limp and bleached as if they had exhaled their vital +juices. The moss beneath them, that had been softer to the tread than a +Persian rug, crumbled into powder under the foot. Alf went to gather +huckleberries, but, except in moist and swampy places, found them +shrivelled on the bushes. Even the corn leaves began to roll on the +uplands, and Leonard shook his head despondingly. Webb's anxieties, +however, were of a far deeper character, and he was philosophical enough +to average the year's income. If the cows did come home hungry from their +pasture, there was abundance of hay and green-corn fodder to carry them +through until the skies should become more propitious. Besides, there was +an unfailing spring upon the place, and from this a large cask on wheels +was often filled, and was then drawn by one of the quiet farm-horses to +the best of the flower beds, the young trees, and to such products of the +garden as would repay for the expenditure of time and labor. The ground +was never sprinkled so that the morning sun of the following day would +drink up the moisture, but so deluged that the watering would answer for +several days. It was well known that partial watering does only harm. +Nature can be greatly assisted at such times, but it must be in +accordance with her laws. The grapevine is a plant that can endure an +unusual degree of drought, and the fruit will be all the earlier and +sweeter for it. An excellent fertilizer for the grape is suds from the +laundry, and by filling a wide, shallow basin, hollowed out from the +earth around the stems, with this alkaline infusion, the vines were kept +in the best condition. The clusters of the earlier varieties were already +beginning to color, and the season insured the perfect ripening of those +fine old kinds, the Isabella and Catawba, that too often are frost-bitten +before they become fit for the table. + +Thus it would appear that Nature has compensations for her worst +moods--greater compensations than are thought of by many. Drought causes +the roots of plants and trees to strike deep, and so extends the range of +their feeding-ground, and anchors vegetation of all kinds more firmly in +the soil. + +Nevertheless, a long dry period is always depressing. The bright green +fades out of the landscape, the lawns and grass-plots become brown and +sear, the air loses its sweet, refreshing vitality, and is often so +charged with smoke from forest-fires, and impalpable dust, that +respiration is not agreeable. Apart from considerations of profit and +loss, the sympathy of the Clifford household was too deep with Nature to +permit the indifference of those whose garden is the market stall and the +florist's greenhouse, and to whom vistas in hotel parlors and piazzas are +the most attractive. + +"It seems to me," Leonard remarked at the dinner-table one day, "that +droughts are steadily growing more serious and frequent." + +"They are," replied his father. "While I remember a few in early life +that were more prolonged than any we have had of late years, they must +have resulted from exceptional causes, for we usually had an abundance of +rain, and did not suffer as we do now from violent alternations of +weather. There was one year when there was scarcely a drop of rain +throughout the summer. Potatoes planted in the late spring were found in +the autumn dry and unsprouted. But such seasons were exceedingly rare, +and now droughts are the rule." + +"And the people are chiefly to blame for them," said Webb. "We are +suffering from the law of heredity. Our forefathers were compelled to +fell the trees to make room for the plow, and now one of the strongest +impulses of the average American is to cut down a tree. Our forests, on +which a moist climate so largely depends, are treated as if they +encumbered the ground. The smoke that we are breathing proves that fires +are ravaging to the north and west of us. They should be permitted no +more than a fire in the heart of a city. The future of the country +depends upon the people becoming sane on this subject. If we will send to +the Legislature pot-house politicans who are chiefly interested in +keeping up a supply of liquor instead of water, they should be provided +with a little primer giving the condition of lands denuded of their +forests. There is scarcely anything in their shifty ways, their blind +zeal for what the 'deestrict' wants to-day, regardless of coming days, +that so irritates me as their stupidity on this subject. A man who votes +against the protection of our forests is not fit for the office of +road-master. After all, the people are to blame, and their children will +pay dear for their ignorance and the spirit which finds expression in the +saying, 'After me the deluge'; and there will be flood and drought until +every foot of land not adapted to cultivation and pasturage is again +covered with trees. Indeed, a great deal of good land should be given up +to forests, for then what was cultivated would produce far more than +could be obtained from a treeless and therefore rainless country." + +"Bravo, Webb!" cried Burt; "we must send you to the Legislature." + +"How is the evil to be prevented?" Leonard asked. + +"Primarily by instruction and the formation of public opinion. The +influence of trees on the climate should be taught in all our schools as +thoroughly as the multiplication-table. The national and state +governments would then be compelled to look beyond the next election, and +to appoint foresters who would have the same power to call out the people +to extinguish a forest fire that the sheriff has to collect his posse to +put down mob violence. In the long-run fire departments in our forest +tracts would be more useful than the same in cities, for, after all, +cities depend upon the country and its productiveness. The owners of +woodland should be taught the folly of cutting everything before them, +and of leaving the refuse brush to become like tinder. The smaller growth +should be left to mature, and the brush piled and burned in a way that +would not involve the destruction of every sprout and sapling over wide +areas. As it is, we are at the mercy of every careless boy, and such +vagrants as Lumley used to be before Amy woke him up. It is said--and +with truth at times, I fear--that the shiftless mountaineers occasionally +start the fires, for a fire means brief high-priced labor for them, and +afterward an abundance of whiskey." + +Events furnished a practical commentary on Webb's words. Miss Hargrove +had come over to spend the night with Amy, and to try some fine old +English glees that she had obtained from her city home. They had just +adjourned from the supper-table to the piazza when Lumley appeared, hat +in hand. He spoke to Leonard, but looked at Amy with a kind of wondering +admiration, as if he could not believe that the girl, who looked so fair +and delicate in her evening dress, so remote from him and his +surroundings, could ever have given him her hand, and spoken as if their +humanity had anything in common. + +The Cliffords were informed that a fire had broken out on a tract +adjoining their own. "City chaps was up there gunning out o' season," +Lumley explained, "and wads from their guns must 'a started it." + +As there was much wood ranked on the Clifford tract, the matter was +serious. Abram and other farm-hands were summoned, and the brothers acted +as did the minute-men in the Revolution when the enemy appeared in their +vicinity. The young men excused themselves, and bustle and confusion +followed. Burt, with a flannel blouse belted tightly around his waist, +soon dashed up to the front piazza on his horse, and, flourishing a rake, +said, laughingly, "I don't look much like a knight sallying forth to +battle-do I?" + +"You look as if you could be one if the occasion arose," Miss Hargrove +replied. + +During the half-jesting badinage that followed Amy stole away. Behind the +house Webb was preparing to mount, when a light hand fell on his +shoulder. "You will be careful?" said Amy, appealingly. "You don't seem +to spare yourself in anything. I dread to have you go up into those +darkening mountains." + +"Why, Amy," he replied, laughing, "one would think I was going to fight +Indians, and you feared for my scalp." + +"I am not so young and blind but that I can see that you are quietly half +reckless with yourself," she replied; and her tone indicated that she was +a little hurt. + +"I pledge you my word that I will not be reckless tonight; and, after +all, this is but disagreeable, humdrum work that we often have to do. +Don't worry, little sister. Burt will be there to watch over me, you +know," he added. By the way, where is he? It's time we were off." + +"Oh, he's talking romantic nonsense to Miss Hargrove. He won't hurt +himself. I wish I was as sure of you, and I wish I had more influence +over you. I'm not such a very little sister, even if I don't know enough +to talk to you as you would like;" and she left him abruptly. + +He mastered a powerful impulse to spring from his horse and call her +back. A moment's thought taught him, however, that he could not trust +himself then to say a word, and he rode rapidly away. + +"I must be misunderstood," he muttered. "That is the best chance for us +both, unless--" But be hesitated to put into words the half-formed hope +that Miss Hargrove's appearance in the little drama of their lives might +change its final scenes. "She's jealous of her friend, at last," he +concluded, and this conviction gave him little comfort. Burt soon +overtook him, and their ride was comparatively silent, for each was busy +with his own thoughts. Lumley was directed to join them at the fire, and +then was forgotten by all except Amy, who, by a gentle urgency, induced +him to go to the kitchen and get a good supper. Before he departed she +slipped a banknote into his hand with which to buy a dress for the baby. +Lumley had to pass more than one groggery on his way to the mountains, +but the money was as safe in his pocket as it would have been in Amy's. + +"I swow! I could say my prayers to her!" he soliloquized, as he hastened +through the gathering darkness with his long, swinging stride. "I didn't +know there was sich gells. She's never lectured me once, but she jest +smiles and looks a feller into bein' a man." + +Miss Hargrove had noted Amy's influence over the mountaineer, and she +asked for an explanation. Amy, in a very brief, modest way, told of her +visits to the wretched cabin, and said, in conclusion: "I feel sorry for +poor Lumley. The fact that he is trying to do better, with so much +against him, proves what he might have been. That's one of the things +that trouble me most, as I begin to think and see a little of life; so +many people have no chance worth speaking of." + +"The thing that ought to trouble me most is, I suppose, that those who +have a chance do so little for such people. Amy," she added, sadly, after +a moment's thought, "I've had many triumphs over men, but none like +yours; and I feel to-night as if I could give them all to see a man look +at me as that poor fellow looked at you. It was the grateful homage of a +human soul to whom you had given something that in a dim way was felt to +be priceless. The best that I can remember in my pleasure-loving life is +that I have not permitted myself selfishly and recklessly to destroy +manhood, but I fear no one is the better for having known me." + +"You do yourself injustice," said Amy, warmly. "I'm the better and +happier for having known you. Papa had a morbid horror of fashionable +society, and this accounts for my being so unsophisticated. With all your +experience of such society, I have perfect faith in you, and could trust +you implicitly." + +"Have you truly faith in me?" (and Amy thought she had never seen such +depth and power in human eyes as in those of Miss Hargrove, who encircled +the young girl with her arm, and looked as if seeking to detect the +faintest doubt). + +"Yes," said Amy, with quiet emphasis. + +Miss Hargrove drew a long breath, and then said: "That little word may do +me more good than all the sermons I ever heard. Many would try to be +different if others had more faith in them. I think that is the secret of +your power over the rough man that has just gone. You recognized the good +that was in him, and made him conscious of it. Well, I must try to +deserve your trust." Then she stepped out on the dusky piazza, and +sighed, as she thought: "It may cost me dear. She seemed troubled at my +words to Burt, and stole away as if she were the awkward third person. I +may have misjudged her, and she cares for him after all." + +Amy went to the piano, and played softly until summoned without by an +excited exclamation from her friend. A line of fire was creeping toward +them around a lofty highland, and it grew each moment more and more +distinct. "Oh, I know from its position that it's drawing near our +tract," cried Amy. "If it is so bright to us at this distance, it must be +almost terrible to those near by. I suppose they are all up there just in +front of it, and Burt is so reckless." She was about to say Webb, but, +because of some unrecognized impulse, she did not. The utterance of +Burt's name, however, was not lost on Miss Hargrove. + +For a long time the girls watched the scene with awe, and each, in +imagination, saw an athletic figure begrimed with smoke, and sending out +grotesque shadows into the obscurity, as the destroying element was met +and fought in ways unknown to them, which, they felt sure, involved +danger. Miss Hargrove feared that they both had the same form in mind. +She was not a girl to remain long unconscious of her heart's inclinations, +and she knew that Burt Clifford had quickened her pulses as no man had ever +done before. This very fact made her less judicial, less keen, in her +insight. If he was so attractive to her, could Amy be indifferent to him +after months of companionship? She had thought that she understood Amy +thoroughly, but was beginning to lose faith in her impression. While in +some respects Amy was still a child, there were quiet depths in her nature +of which the young girl herself was but half conscious. She often lapsed +into long reveries. Webb's course troubled her. Never had he been more +fraternal in his manner, but apparently she was losing her power to +interest him, to lure him away from the material side of life. "I can't +keep pace with him," she sighed; "and now that he has learned all about my +little range of thoughts and knowledge, he finds that I can be scarcely +more to him than Johnnie, whom he pets in much the same spirit that he does +me, and then goes to his work or books and forgets us both. He could help +me so much, if he only thought it worth his while! I'm sure I'm not +contented to be ignorant, and many of the things that he knows so much +about interest me most." + +Thus each girl was busy with her thoughts, as they sat in the warm summer +night and watched the vivid line draw nearer. Mr. Clifford and Maggie +came out from time to time, and were evidently disturbed by the unchecked +progress of the fire. Alf had gone with his father, and anything like a +conflagration so terrified Johnnie that she dared not leave her mother's +lighted room. + +Suddenly the approaching line grew dim, was broken, and before very long +even the last red glow disappeared utterly. "Ah," said Mr. Clifford, +rubbing his hands, "they have got the fire under, and I don't believe it +reached oar tract." + +"How did they put it out so suddenly?" Miss Hargrove asked. "Were they +not fighting it all the time?" + +"The boys will soon be here, and they can give you a more graphic account +than I. Mother is a little excited and troubled, as she always is when +her great babies are away on such affairs, so I must ask you to excuse +me." + +In little more than half an hour a swift gallop was heard, and Burt soon +appeared, in the light of the late-rising moon. "It's all out," he +exclaimed. "Leonard and Webb propose remaining an hour or two longer, to +see that it does not break out again. There's no need of their doing so, +for Lumley promised to watch till morning. I'm not fit to be seen. If +you'll wait till I put on a little of the aspect of a white man, I'll +join you." He had been conscious of a feverish impatience to get back to +the ladies, having carefully, even in his thoughts, employed the plural, +and he had feared that they might have retired. + +Miss Hargrove exclaimed: "How absurd! You wish to go and divest yourself +of all picturesqueness! I've seen well-dressed men before, and would much +prefer that you should join us as you are. We can then imagine that you +are a bandit or a frontiersman, and that your rake was a rifle, which you +had used against the Indians. We are impatient to have you tell us how +you fought the fire." + +He gave but scant attention to Thunder that night, and soon stepped out +on the moonlit piazza, his tall, fine figure outlined to perfection in +his close-fitting costume. + +"You will, indeed, need all your imagination to make anything of our task +to-night," he said. "Fighting a mountain fire is the most prosaic of hard +work. Suppose the line of fire coming down toward me from where you are +sitting." As yet unknown to him, a certain subtile flame was originating +in that direction. "We simply begin well in advance of it, so that we may +have time to rake a space, extending along the whole front of the fire, +clear of leaves and rubbish, and as far as possible to hollow out with +hoes a trench through this space. Thus, when the fire comes to this +cleared area, there is nothing to burn, and it goes out for want of fuel. +Of course, it's rough work, and it must be done rapidly, but you can see +that all the heroic elements which you may have associated with our +expedition are utterly lacking." + +"Well, no matter. Amy and I have had our little romance, and have +imagined you charging the line of fire in imminent danger of being +strangled with smoke, if nothing worse." + +Amy soon heard Maggie bustling about, preparing a midnight lunch for +those who would come home hungry as well as weary, and she said that she +would go and try to help. To Burt this seemed sufficient reason for her +absence, but Miss Hargrove thought, "Perhaps she saw that his eyes were +fixed chiefly on me as he gave his description. I wish I knew just how +she feels toward him!" + +But the temptation to remain in the witching moonlight was too strong to +be resisted. His mellow tones were a music that she had never heard +before, and her eyes grew lustrous with suppressed feeling, and a +happiness to which she was not sure she was entitled. The spell of her +beauty was on him also, and the moments flew by unheeded, until Amy was +heard playing and singing softly to herself. "She does not join us +again!" was Miss Hargrove's mental comment, and with not a little +compunction she rose and went into the parlor. Burt lighted a cigar, in +the hope that the girls would again join him, but Leonard, Webb, and Alf +returned sooner than they were expected, and all speedily sat down to +their unseasonable repast. To Amy's surprise, Webb was the liveliest of +the party, but he looked gaunt from fatigue--so worn, indeed, that he +reminded her of the time when he had returned from Burt's rescue. But +there was no such episode as had then occurred before they parted for the +night, and to this she now looked back wistfully. He rose before the +others, pleaded fatigue, and went to his room. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +CAMPING OUT + + +They all gathered at a late breakfast, and the surface current of family +and social life sparkled as if there were no hidden depths and secret +thoughts. Amy's manner was not cold toward Webb, but her pride was +touched, and her feelings were a little hurt. While disposed to blame +herself only that she had not the power to interest him and secure his +companionship, as in the past, it was not in human nature to receive with +indifference such an apparent hint that he was far beyond her. "It would +be more generous in Webb to help than to ignore me because I know so +little," she thought. "Very well: I can have a good time with Burt and +Gertrude until Webb gets over his hurry and preoccupation;" and with a +slight spirit of retaliation she acted as if she thoroughly enjoyed +Burt's lively talk. + +The young fellow soon made a proposition that caused a general and breezy +excitement. "There never was a better time than this for camping out," he +said. "The ground is dry, and there is scarcely any dew. I can get two +large wall tents. Suppose we go up and spend a few days on our mountain +tract? Maggie could chaperon the party, and I've no doubt that Dr. and +Mrs. Marvin would join us." + +The discussion of the project grew lively. Maggie was inclined to demur. +How could she leave the old people and her housekeeping? Mr. and Mrs. +Clifford, however, became the strongest advocates of the scheme. They +could get along with the servants, they said, and a little outing would +do Maggie good. Leonard, who had listened in comparative silence, brought +his wife to a decision by saying: "You had better go, Maggie. You will +have all the housekeeping you want on the mountain, and I will go back +and forth every day and see that all's right. It's not as if you were +beyond the reach of home, for you could be here in an hour were there +need. Come now, make up your mind for a regular lark. It will do you +good." + +The children were wild with delight at the prospect, and Miss Hargrove +and Amy scarcely less pleased. The latter had furtively watched Webb, who +at first could not disguise a little perplexity and trouble at the +prospect. But he had thought rapidly, and felt that a refusal to be one +of the party might cause embarrassing surmises. Therefore he also soon +became zealous in his advocacy of the plan. He felt that circumstances +were changing and controlling his action. He had fully resolved on an +absence of some weeks, but the prolonged drought and the danger it +involved--the Cliffords would lose at least a thousand dollars should a +fire sweep over their mountain tract--made it seem wrong for him to leave +home until rain insured safety. Moreover, he believed that he detected +symptoms in Burt which, with his knowledge of his brother, led to hopes +that he could not banish. An occasional expression in Miss Hargrove's +dark eyes, also, did not tend to lessen these hopes. "The lack of +conventionality incident to a mountain camp," he thought, "may develop +matters so rapidly as to remove my suspense. With all Amy's gentleness, +she is very sensitive and proud, and Burt cannot go much further with +Miss Hargrove without so awakening her pride as to render futile all +efforts to retrieve himself. After all, Miss Hargrove, perhaps, would +suit him far better than Amy. They are both fond of excitement and +society. Why can't we all be happy? At least, if the way were clear, I +would try as no man ever tried to win Amy, and I should be no worse off +than I am if I failed in the attempt." + +These musings were rather remote from his practical words, for he had +taken pains to give the impression that their woodland would be far safer +for the proposed expedition, and Amy had said, a little satirically, "We +are now sure of Webb, since he can combine so much business with +pleasure." + +He only smiled back in an inscrutable way. + +Musk-melons formed one of their breakfast dishes, and Miss Hargrove +remarked, "Papa has been exceedingly annoyed by having some of his finest +ones stolen." + +Burt began laughing, and said: "He should imitate my tactics. Ours were +stolen last year, and as they approached maturity, some time since, I put +up a notice in large black letters, 'Thieves, take warning: be careful +not to steal the poisoned melons.' Hearing a dog bark one night about a +week ago, I took a revolver and went out. The moonlight was clear, and +there, reading the notice, was a group of ragamuffin boys. Stealing up +near them, behind some shrubbery, I fired my pistol in the air, and they +fairly tumbled over each other in their haste to escape. We've had no +trouble since, I can assure you. I'll drive you home this morning, and, +with your father's permission, will put up a similar notice in your +garden. We also must make our arrangements for camping promptly. This +weather can't last much longer. It surely will not if our mountain +experience makes us wish it would;" and, full of his projects, he +hastened to harness Thunder to his light top-wagon. + +He might have taken the two-seated carriage, and asked Amy to accompany +them, but it had not occurred to him to do so, especially as he intended +to drive on rapidly to Newburgh to make arrangements for the tents. She +felt a little slighted and neglected, and Miss Hargrove saw that she did, +but thought that any suggestion of a different arrangement might lead to +embarrassment. She began to think, with Webb, that the camping experience +would make everything clearer. At any rate, it promised so much +unhackneyed pleasure that she resolved to make the most of it, and then +decide upon her course. She was politic, and cautioned Burt to say +nothing until she had first seen her father, for she was not certain how +her stately and conventional mother would regard the affair. She pounced +upon Mr. Hargrove in his library, and he knew from her preliminary +caresses that some unusual favor was to be asked. + +"Come," he said, "you wily little strategist, what do you want now? Half +of my kingdom?" + +She explained rather incoherently. + +His answer was unexpected, for he asked, "Is Mr. Burt Clifford in the +parlor?" + +"No," she replied, faintly; "he's on the piazza." Then, with unusual +animation, she began about the melons. Her father's face softened, and he +looked at her a little humorously, for her flushed, handsome face would +disarm a Puritan. + +"You are seeing a great deal of this young Mr. Clifford," he said. + +Her color deepened, and she began, hastily, "Oh, well, papa, I've seen a +good deal of a great many gentlemen." + +"Come, come, Trurie, no disguises with me. Your old father is not so +blind as you think, and I've not lived to my time of life in ignorance of +the truth that prevention is better than cure. Whether you are aware of +it or not, your eyes have revealed to me a growing interest in Mr. +Clifford." + +She hid her face upon his shoulder. + +"He is a comparatively poor man, I suppose, and while I think him a fine +fellow, I've seen in him no great aptness for business. If I saw that he +was no more to you than others who have sought your favor, I would not +say a word, Trurie, for when you are indifferent you are abundantly able +to take care of yourself. I've been expecting this. I knew you would in +time meet some one who would have the power to do more than amuse you, +and my love, darling, is too deep and vigilant to be blind until it is +too late to see. You are merely interested in Mr. Clifford now. You might +become more than interested during an experience like the one proposed." + +"If I should, papa, am I so poor that I have not even the privilege of a +village girl, who can follow her heart?" + +"My advice would be," he replied, gently, "that you guide yourself by +both reason and your heart. This is our secret council-chamber, and one +is speaking to you who has no thought but for your lasting happiness." + +She took a chair near him, and looked into his eyes, as she said, +thoughtfully and gravely: "I should be both silly and unnatural, did I +not recognize your motive and love. I know I am not a child any longer, +and should have no excuse for any school-girl or romantic folly. You have +always had my confidence; you would have had it in this case as soon as +there was anything to tell. I scarcely understand myself as yet, but must +admit that I am more interested in Mr. Clifford than in any man I ever +met, and, as you said, I also have not reached my time of life without +knowing what this may lead to. You married mamma when she was younger +than I, and you, too, papa, were 'a comparatively poor man' at the time. +I have thought a great deal about it. I know all that wealth and +fashionable society can give me, and I tell you honestly, papa, I would +rather be the happy wife that Maggie Clifford is than marry any +millionaire in New York. There is no need, however, for such serious +talk, for there is nothing yet beyond congenial companionship, and--Well," +she added, hastily, in memory of Amy, "I don't believe anything will come +of it. But I want to go on this expedition. There will probably be two +married ladies in the party, and so I don't see that even mamma can +object. Best assured I shall never become engaged to any one without your +consent; that is," she added, with another of her irresistible caresses, +"unless you are very unreasonable, and I become very old." + +"Very well, Trurie, you shall go, with your mother's consent, and I think +I can insure that. As you say, you are no longer a child." And his +thought was, "I have seen enough of life to know that it is best not to +be too arbitrary in such matters." After a moment he added, gravely, "You +say you have thought. Think a great deal more before you take any steps +which may involve all your future." + +Burt was growing uneasy on the piazza, and feared that Miss Hargrove +might not obtain the consent that she had counted on so confidently. He +was a little surprised, also, to find how the glamour faded out of his +anticipations at the thought of her absence, but explained his feeling by +saying to himself, "She is so bright and full of life, and has so fine a +voice, that we should miss her sadly." He was greatly relieved, +therefore, when Mr. Hargrove came out and greeted him courteously. +Gertrude had been rendered too conscious, by her recent interview, to +accompany her father, but she soon appeared, and no one could have +imagined that Burt was more to her than an agreeable acquaintance. Mrs. +Hargrove gave a reluctant consent, and it was soon settled that they +should try to get off on the afternoon of the following day. Burt also +included in the invitation young Fred Hargrove, and then drove away +elated. + +At the dinner-table he announced his success in procuring the tents, and +his intention of going for them in the afternoon. At the same time he +exhorted Leonard and Maggie to prepare provisions adequate to mountain +appetites, adding, "Webb, I suppose, will be too busy to do more than +join us at the last moment." + +Webb said nothing, but disappeared after dinner. As he was at supper as +usual, no questions were asked. Before it was light the next morning Amy +thought she heard steps on the stairs, and the rear hall-door shut +softly. When finally awaking, she was not sure but that her impression +was a dream. As she came down to breakfast Burt greeted her with dismay. + +"The tents, that I put on the back piazza, are gone," he said. + +"Where is Webb?" was her quick response. + +No one had seen him, and it was soon learned that a horse and a strong +wagon were also missing. + +"Ah, Burt," cried Amy, laughing, "rest assured Webb has stolen a march on +you, and taken his own way of retaliation for what you said at the +dinner-table yesterday. He was away all the afternoon, too. I believe he +has chosen a camping-ground, and the tents are standing on it." + +"He should have remembered that others might have some choice in the +matter," was the discontented reply. + +"If Webb has chosen the camping-ground, you will all be pleased with it," +said his mother, quietly. "I think he is merely trying to give a pleasant +surprise." + +He soon appeared, and explained that, with Lumley's help, he had made +some preparations, since any suitable place, with water near, from which +there was a fine outlook, would have seemed very rough and uninviting to +the ladies unless more work was done than could be accomplished in the +afternoon of their arrival. + +"Now I think that is very thoughtful of you, Webb," said Amy. "The steps +I heard last night were not a dream. At what unearthly hour did you +start?" + +"Was I so heavy-footed as to disturb you?" + +"Oh, no, Webb," she said, with a look of comic distress, in which there +was also a little reproach; "it's not your feet that disturb me, but your +head. You have stuffed it so full of learning that I am depressed by the +emptiness of mine." + +He laughed, as he replied, "I hope all your troubles may be quite as +imaginary." Then he told Leonard to spend the morning in helping Maggie, +who would know best what was needed for even mountain housekeeping, and +said that he would see to farm matters, and join them early in the +evening. The peaches were ripening, and Amy, from her window, saw that he +was taking from the trees all fit to market; also that Abram, under his +direction, was busy with the watering-cart. "Words cannot impose upon +me," she thought, a little bitterly. "He knows how I long for his +companionship, and it's not a little thing to be made to feel that I am +scarcely better qualified for it than Johnnie." + +Burt galloped over to Dr. Marvin's, who promised to join them, with his +wife, on the following day. He had a tent which he had occasionally used +in his ornithological pursuits. + +At two in the afternoon a merry party started for the hills. All the +vehicles on the farm had been impressed into the service to bring up the +party, with chairs, cooking-utensils, provisions, bedding, etc. When they +reached the ground that Webb had selected, even Burt admitted his pleased +surprise. The outlook over the distant river, and a wide area of country +dotted with villages, was superb, while to the camp a home-like look had +already been given, and the ladies, with many mental encomiums, saw how +secluded and inviting an aspect had been imparted to their especial +abode. As they came on the scene, Lumley was finishing the construction +of a dense screen of evergreen boughs, which surrounded the canvas to the +doorway. Not far away an iron pot was slung on a cross-stick in gypsy +style, and it was flanked by rock-work fireplaces which Maggie declared +were almost equal to a kitchen range. The men's tent was pitched at easy +calling distance, and, like that of the ladies, was surrounded by a thick +growth of trees, whose shade would be grateful. A little space had been +cleared between the two tents for a leaf-canopied dining-hall, and a +table of boards improvised. The ground, as far as possible, had been +cleared of loose stones and rubbish. Around the fireplace mossy rocks +abounded, and were well adapted for picturesque groupings. What touched +Amy most was a little flowerbed made of the rich black mould of decayed +leaves, in which were some of her favorite flowers, well watered. This +did not suggest indifference on the part of Webb. About fifty feet from +the tents the mountain shelf sloped off abruptly, and gave the +magnificent view that has been mentioned. Even Burt saw how much had been +gained by Webb's forethought, and frankly acknowledged it. As it was, +they had no more than time to complete the arrangements for the night +before the sun's level rays lighted up a scene that was full of joyous +activity and bustle. The children's happy voices made the echoes ring, +and Fred Hargrove, notwithstanding his city antecedents, yielded with +delight to the love of primitive life that exists in every boy's heart. +Although he was a few years older than Alf, they had become friendly +rivals as incipient sportsmen and naturalists. Amy felt that she was +coming close to nature's heart, and the novelty of it all was scarcely +less exciting to her than to Johnnie. To little Ned it was a place of +wonder and enchantment, and he kept them all in a mild state of terror by +his exploring expeditions. At last his father threatened to take him +home, and, with this awful punishment before his eyes, he put his thumb +in his mouth, perched upon a rock, and philosophically watched the +preparations for supper. Maggie was the presiding genius of the occasion, +and looked like the light-hearted girl that Leonard had wooed more than a +dozen years before. She ordered him around, jested with him, and laughed +at him in such a piquant way that Burt declared she was proving herself +unfit for the duties of chaperon by getting up a flirtation with her +husband. Meanwhile, under her supervision, order was evoked from chaos, +and appetizing odors arose from the fireplace. + +Miss Hargrove admitted to herself that in all the past she had never +known such hours of keen enjoyment, and she was bent on proving that, +although a city-bred girl, she could take her part in the work as well as +in the fun. Nor were her spirits dampened by the fact that Burt was often +at her side, and that Amy did not appear to care. The latter, however, +was becoming aware of his deepening interesting in her brilliant friend. +As yet she was not sure whether it was more than a good-natured and +hospitable effort to make one so recently a stranger at home with them, +or a new lapse on his part into a condition of ever-enduring love and +constancy--and the smile that followed the thought was not flattering to +Burt. + +A little before supper was ready Maggie asked him to get a pail of water. + +"Come, Miss Gertrude," he said, "and I'll show you the Continental spring +at which the Revolutionary soldiers drank more than a hundred years ago;" +and she tripped away with him, nothing loth. As they reappeared, flushed +and laughing, carrying the pail between them, Amy trilled out, + +"Jack and Jill came up the hill." + +A moment later, Webb followed them, on horseback, and was greeted with +acclamations and overwhelmed with compliments. Miss Hargrove was only too +glad of the diversion from herself, for Amy's words had made her absurdly +conscious for a society girl. + +They feasted through the long twilight. Never had green corn, roasted in +its husks on the coals, tasted so delicious, and never before were +peaches and cream so ambrosial. Amy made it her care that poor Lumley +should feast also, but the smile with which she served him was the +sustenance he most craved. Then, as the evening breeze grew chilly, and +the night darkened, lanterns were hung in the trees, the fire was +replenished, and they sat down, the merriest of merry parties. Even Webb +had vowed that he would ignore the past and the future, and make the most +of that camp-fire by the wayside of life. It must be admitted, however, +that his discovery of Burt and Miss Hargrove alone at the spring had much +to do with his resolution. Stories and songs succeeded each other, until +Ned was asleep in Maggie's arms, and Johnnie nodding at her side. In +reaction from the excitements and fatigues of the day, they all early +sought the rest which is never found in such perfection as in a mountain +camp. Hemlock boughs formed the mattresses on which their blankets were +spread, and soon there were no sounds except the strident chirpings of +insects and the calls of night-birds. + +There was one perturbed spirit, however, and at last Burt stole out and +sat by the dying fire. When the mind is ready for impressions, a very +little thing will produce them vividly, and Amy's snatch of song about +"Jack and Jill" had awakened Burt at last to a consciousness that he +might be carrying his attention to Miss Hargrove too far, in view of his +vows and inexorable purpose of constancy. He assured himself that his +only object was to have a good time, and enjoy the charming society of +his new acquaintance. Of course, he was in love with Amy, and she was all +that he could desire. Perhaps he had pursued the wrong tactics. Girls +even like Amy were not so unsophisticated as they appeared to be, and he +felt that he was profoundly experienced in such questions, if in nothing +else. Had not her pride been touched? and would she not be led, by his +evident admiration for Miss Hargrove, to believe that he was mercurial +and not to be depended upon? He had to admit to himself that some +experiences in the past had tended to give him this reputation. "I was +only a boy then," he muttered, with a stern compression of the lips. +"I'll prove that I am a man now;" and having made this sublime +resolution, he slept the sleep of the just. + +All who have known the freshness, the elasticity, the mental and physical +vigor, with which one springs from a bed of boughs, will envy the camping +party's awakening on the following morning. Webb resolved to remain and +watch the drift of events, for he was growing almost feverish in his +impatience for more definite proof that his hopes were not groundless. +But he was doomed to disappointment and increasing doubt. Burt began to +show himself a skilful diplomatist. He felt that, perhaps, he had checked +himself barely in time to retrieve his fortunes and character with Amy, +but he was too adroit to permit any marked change to appear in his manner +and action. He said to himself that he cordially liked and admired Miss +Hargrove, but he believed that she had enjoyed not a few flirtations, and +was not averse to the addition of another to the list. Even his +self-complacency had not led him to think that she regarded him in any +other light than that of a very agreeable and useful summer friend. He +had seen enough of society to be aware that such temporary friendships +often border closely on the sentimental, and yet with no apparent trace +remaining in after-years. To Amy, however, such affairs would not appear +in the same light as they might to Miss Hargrove, and he felt that he had +gone far enough. But not for the world would he be guilty of _gaucherie,_ +of neglecting Miss Hargrove for ostentatious devotion to Amy. Indeed, he +was more pronounced in his admiration than ever, but in many little +unobtrusive ways he tried to prove to Amy that she had his deeper thoughts. +She, however, was not at this time disposed to dwell upon the subject. His +manner merely tended to confirm the view that he, like herself, regarded +Miss Hargrove as a charming addition to their circle, and proposed that she +should enjoy herself thoroughly while with them. Amy also reproached +herself a little that she had doubted him so easily, and felt that he was +giving renewed proof of his good sense. He could be true to her, and yet be +most agreeable to her friend, and her former acquiescence in the future of +his planning remained undisturbed. Webb was more like the brother she +wished him to be than he had been for a long time. The little flowerbed was +an abiding reassurance, and so the present contained all that she desired. + +This was not true of either Webb or Miss Hargrove. The former, however, +did not lose heart. He thought he knew Burt too well to give up hope yet. +The latter, with all her experience, was puzzled. She speedily became +conscious of the absence of a certain warmth and genuineness in Bart's +manner and words. The thermometer is not so sensitive to heat and cold as +the intuition of a girl like Miss Hargrove to the mental attitude of an +admirer, but no one could better hide her thoughts and feelings than she +when once upon her guard. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +AN OLD TENEMENT + + +The few remaining days of August passed, and September came, bringing +little suggestion of autumn rains or coolness. Dr. and Mrs. Marvin had +joined them, and the former's interest in every wild creature of the +woods became infectious. Alf and Fred were his ardent disciples, and he +rarely found an indifferent listener in Amy. The heat of the day was +given up to reading and the fashioning of alpenstocks, and the mornings +and late afternoons to excursions. In one of these they had sat down to +rest near an immense decaying tree that was hollow in parts, and full of +holes from the topmost shattered branches to the ground. + +"That," said the doctor, "might fitly be called an old tenement-house. +You have no idea how many and various creatures may have found a home in +it." + +He was immediately urged to enumerate its possible inhabitants in the +past, present, and future. + +The doctor, pleased with the conceit of regarding the decaying tree in +this light, began with animation: "All three of the squirrels of this +region have undoubtedly dwelt in it. I scarcely need do more than mention +the well-known saucy red or fox squirrel, whose delight is mischief. By +the way, we have at home two tame robins that before they could fly were +tumbled out of their nest by one of these ruthless practical jokers. The +birds come in and out of the house like members of the family. The +graceful gray squirrel is scarcely less familiar than the red one. He +makes a lively pet, and we have all seen him turning the wheel attached +to his cage. The curious little flying-squirrel, however, is a stranger +even to those to whom he may be a near neighbor, for the reason that his +habits are chiefly nocturnal. He ventures out occasionally on a cloudy +day, but is shy and retiring. Thoreau relates an interesting experience +with one. He captured it in a decayed hemlock stump, wherein it had a +little nest of leaves, bits of bark, and pine needles. It bit viciously +at first, and uttered a few 'dry shrieks,' but he carried it home. After +it had been in his room a few hours it reluctantly allowed its soft fur +to be stroked. He says it had 'very large, prominent black eyes, which +gave it an innocent look. In color it was a chestnut ash, inclining to +fawn, slightly browned, and white beneath. The under edge of his wings +(?) tinged yellow, the upper dark, perhaps black.' He put it into a +barrel, and fed it with an apple and shag-bark hickory-nuts. The next +morning he carried it back and placed it on the stump from which it had +been taken, and it ran up a sapling, from which it skimmed away to a +large maple nine feet distant, whose trunk it struck about four feet from +the ground. This tree it ascended thirty feet on the opposite side from +Thoreau, then, coming into view, it eyed its quondam captor for a moment +or two, as much as to say 'good-by.' Then away it went, first raising its +head as if choosing its objective point. Thoreau says its progress is +more like that of a bird than he had been led to believe from naturalists' +accounts, or than he could have imagined possible in a quadruped. Its +flight was not a regular descent on a given line. It veered to right and +left, avoiding obstructions, passed between branches of trees, and flew +horizontally part of the way, landing on the ground at last, over fifty-one +feet from the foot of the tree from which it sprang. After its leap, +however, it cannot renew its impetus in the air, but must alight and start +again. It appears to sail and steer much like a hawk when the latter does +not flap its wings. The little striped chipmunk, no doubt, has heaped up +its store of nuts in the hole there that opens from the ground into the +tree, and the pretty white-footed mouse, with its large eyes and ears, has +had its apartment in the decayed recesses that exist in the worm-eaten +roots. + +"Opossums and raccoons are well-known denizens of trees, and both furnish +famous country sports, especially in the South. ''Possum up de gum-tree, +cooney in de hollow,' is a line from a negro ditty that touches a deep +chord in the African heart. The former is found not infrequently in this +region, but the Hudson seems to be the eastern boundary of its habitat." + +"I took two from a tree in one night," Burt remarked. + +"The raccoon's haunts, however, extend far to the northward, and it is +abundant in the regions bordering on the Adirondacks, though not common +in the dense pine woods of the interior. They are omnivorous creatures, +and often rob nests of eggs and young birds, for they are expert +climbers. They are fond of nuts and fruits, and especially of corn when +in the condition of a milky pulp. Nor does poultry come amiss. They are +also eager fishermen, although they are unable to pursue their prey under +water like the otter and mink. They like to play in shallows, and leave +no stone unturned in the hope of finding a crawfish under it. If fish have +been left in land-locked pools, they are soon devoured. 'Coon-hunting by +the light of the harvest-moon has long been one of the most noted of rural +sports. During this month the corn kernels are in the most toothsome state +for the 'coon bill of fare, and there are few fields near forests where +they will not be marauding to-night, for they are essentially night +prowlers. A 'coon hunt usually takes place near midnight. Men, with dogs +trained to the sport, will repair to a cornfield known to be infested. The +feasters are soon tracked and treed, then shot, or else the tree is felled, +when such a snarling fight ensues as creates no little excitement. No +matter how plucky a cur may be, he finds his match in an old 'coon, and +often carries the scars of combat to his dying day. + +"If taken when young, raccoons make amusing pets, and become attached to +their masters, but they cannot be allowed at large, for they are as +mischievous as monkeys. Their curiosity is boundless, and they will pry +into everything within reach. Anything, to be beyond their reach, must be +under lock and key. They use their forepaws as hands, and will unlatch a +door with ease, and soon learn to turn a knob. Alf there could not begin +to ravage a pantry like a tame 'coon. They will devour honey, molasses, +sugar, pies, cake, bread, butter, milk--anything edible. They will +uncover preserve-jars as if Mrs. Leonard had given them lessons, and with +the certainty of a toper uncork a bottle and get drunk on its contents." + +"No pet 'coons, Alf, if you please," said his mother. + +"Raccoons share with Reynard his reputation for cunning," the doctor +resumed," and deserve it, but they do not use this trait for +self-preservation. They are not suspicious of unusual objects, and, +unlike a fox, are easily trapped. They hibernate during the coldest part +of the winter, reappearing in the latter part of February or March. They +are fond of little excursions, and usually travel in small family +parties, taking refuge in hollow trees about daylight. They make their +home high up, and prefer a hollow limb to the trunk of a tree. Some of +those half-decayed limbs yonder would just suit them. They have their +young in April--from four to six--and these little 'coons remain with the +mother a year. While young they are fair eating, but grow tough and rank +with age. + +"Two other interesting animals may have lived in that tree, the least +weasel and his sanguinary cousin the ermine, or large weasel. Both are +brown, after the snow finally disappears, and both turn white with the +first snowstorm." + +"Now you are romancing, doctor," cried Miss Hargrove. + +"Yes," added Leonard, "tell us that you have caught a weasel asleep, and +we will, at least, look credulous; but this turning white with the first +snow, and brown as soon as the snow is gone, is a little off color." + +"It's true, nevertheless," maintained the doctor, "although I have seen +no satisfactory explanation of the changes. They not only make their +nests in hollow trees, but in the sides of banks. Were it not for its +habit of destroying the eggs and young of birds, the least weasel might +be regarded as a wholly useful creature, for it devours innumerable mice, +moles, shrews, and insects, and does not attack larger animals or +poultry. It is so exceedingly lithe and slender that its prey has no +chance to escape. Where a mouse or a mole can go it can go also, and if +outrun in the field, it follows the scent of its game like a hound, and +is as relentless as fate in its pursuit. They are not very shy, and +curiosity speedily overcomes their timidity. Sit down quietly, and they +will investigate you with intense interest, and will even approach rather +near in order to see better. Dr. Merriam describes one as standing +bolt-upright, and eying him, with its head bent at right angles to its +slender body. After a brief retreat it made many partial advances toward +him, meanwhile constantly sniffing the air in his direction. I've no +doubt Dr. Merriam would have liked to know the weasel's opinion. They +have two or three litters a year, and the nest is made of dry leaves and +herbage. The mother weasel will defend her young at any cost, and never +hesitates to sacrifice her life in their behalf. She will fasten herself +by her sharp teeth to the nose of a dog, and teach him that weasel-hunting +has some drawbacks. + +"In its next of kin, the ermine, or large weasel, we have perhaps the +most cruel and bloodthirsty animal in existence. It is among mammals what +the butcher-bird is among the feathered tribes--an assassin, a beautiful +fiend. It would seem that nature reproduces among animals and plants +every phase of human character. Was it Nero or Caligula who said, 'Oh, +that Rome had but one neck, that I might sever it?' Such is the spirit +that animates the ermine. Its instinct to kill is so strong that, were it +possible, it would destroy the means of its subsistence. It would leave +none of its varied prey alive. The lion and even the man-eating tiger, +when gorged, are inert and quiet. They kill no more than they want for a +meal; but the ermine will attack a poultry-yard, satiate itself with the +brains of the fowls or by sucking their blood, and then, out of 'pure +cussedness,' will kill all the rest within reach. Fifty chickens have +been destroyed in a night by one of these remorseless little beasts. It +makes fearful ravages among grouse, rabbits, and hares. It is the +mythical vampire embodied. It is not very much larger than the least +weasel, and has the same long, lithe, slender body and neck. A gray +squirrel would look bulky beside one, but in indomitable courage and +pitiless ferocity I do not think it has an equal. Only a lack of material +or bodily fatigue suspends its bloody work, and its life is one long +career of carnage. It has a terrific set of teeth, which are worked by +most powerful muscles. Dr. Coues, an eminent naturalist, has given a +graphic account of him. His words, as I remember them, are a true +portrait of a murderer. 'His forehead is low, and nose sharp; his eyes +are small, penetrating, cunning, and glitter with an angry green light. +His fierce face surmounts a body extraordinarily wiry, lithe, and +muscular, which ends in a singularly long, slender neck that can be +lifted at right angles with the body. When he is looking around, his neck +stretched up, his flat triangular head bent forward, swaying to and fro, +we have the image of a serpent.' + +"This is a true picture of the ermine when excited or angry; when at +rest, and in certain conditions of his fur, there are few more beautiful, +harmless, innocent-looking creatures. Let one of the animals on which he +preys approach, however, and instantly he becomes a demon. In the economy +of nature he often serves a very useful purpose. In many regions field +mice are destructive. The ermine is their deadliest foe. A rat will fight +a man, if cornered, but it gives up at once in abject terror when +confronted by the large weasel. This arch-enemy has a pride in his +hunting, and when taking up his quarters in a barn will collect in one +place all the rats and mice he kills. Sometimes a hundred or more have +been found together as the result of two or three nights' work. The +ermine hunts, however, both by day and night, and climbs trees with great +facility. He is by no means shy, and one has been known to try to kill +chickens in a coop when a man was standing near him. Hunger was not his +motive, for he had destroyed dozens of fowls the night before. The ermine +has been used successfully as a ferret. Having first filed the creature's +teeth down, so that it could not kill the game, a gentleman secured +twelve live rabbits in one forenoon. + +"But it's getting late, and time we started tentward, and yet I'm not +through even the list of quadrupeds that may have dwelt in our old +tenement. There are four species of bats to be mentioned, besides moles +and shrews, that would burrow in its roots if they are as hollow as the +branches. There are thirteen species of birds, including several very +interesting families of woodpeckers, that would live in a tree like that, +not to speak of tree-toads, salamanders, brown tree-lizards, insects and +slugs innumerable, and black-snakes--" + +"Snakes?" interrupted Burt, incredulously. + +"Yes, snakes. I once put my hand in a hole for high-holders' eggs, and a +big black-snake ran down my back, but not inside of my coat, however." + +"Please say nothing more about snakes," cried Amy; and she rose +decisively, adding, in a low tone: "Come, Gertrude, let us go. The +tenants of the old tree that we've heard about may be very interesting to +naturalists, but some of them are no more to my taste than the people in +the slums of London." + +"You have made our blood run cold with horrors--an agreeable sensation, +however, to-day," said Burt, also rising. "Your ermine out-Herods Herod. +By the way, is not the fur of this pitiless beast worn by the highest +dignitaries of the legal profession?" and he hastened after the girls. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +"BUT HE RISKED HIS LIFE?" + + +The days passed, and the novelty of their mountain life began to wane a +little. There were agreeable episodes, as, for instance, visits from Mr. +Clifford, Mr. Hargrove, and the Rev. Mr. Barkdale, who were entertained +in royal style; but, after all, the camping experience was not, +apparently, fulfilling the hopes of two of the party. Webb's doubt and +suspense had only been increased, and Miss Hargrove was compelled to +admit to herself that her father's fears were not groundless. She was the +life of the party, and yet she was not at rest. Even in her dreams there +was a minor key of trouble and dread. The past few weeks were bringing a +revelation. She had read novels innumerable; she had received tender +confidences from friends. Love had been declared to her, and she had seen +its eloquent pleading in more than one face; but she acknowledged that +she had never known the meaning of the word until, without her volition, +her own heart revealed to her the mystery. Reason and will might control +her action, but she could no more divert her thoughts from Burt Clifford +than a flower can turn from the sun. She wondered at herself, and was +troubled. She had supposed that the training of society had brought her +perfect self-possession, and she had looked forward to a match, when she +was ready for one, in which the pros and cons should be weighed with +diplomatic nicety; but now that her heart was touched she learned that +nature is supreme, and her whole being revolted at such a union as she +had contemplated. She saw the basis of true marriage--the glad consent of +body and soul, and not a calculation. She watched Maggie closely, and saw +that her life was happy and rounded out in spite of her many cares. It +was not such a life as she would choose in its detail, and yet it was +infinitely better than that of many of her acquaintances. Burt was no +hero in her eyes, but he was immensely companionable, and it was a +companion, not a hero, or a man remote from her life and interests, that +she desired. He was refined and intelligent, if not learned; low, mean +traits were conspicuously absent; but, above and beyond all, his mirthful +blue eyes, and spirited ways and words, set all her nerves tingling with +a delicious exhilaration which she could neither analyze nor control. In +brief, the time that her father foresaw had come; the man had appeared +who could do more than amuse; her whole nature had made its choice. She +could go back to the city, and still in semblance be the beautiful and +brilliant girl that she had been; but she knew that in all the future few +waking hours would pass without her thoughts reverting to that little +mountain terrace, its gleaming canvas, its gypsy-like fire, with a tall, +lithe form often reclining at her feet beside it. + +Would the future bring more than regretful memories? As time passed, she +feared not. + +As Burt grew conscious of himself, his pride was deeply touched. He knew +that he had been greatly fascinated by Miss Hargrove, and, what was +worse, her power had not declined after he had awakened to his danger; +but he felt that Amy and all the family would despise him--indeed, that +he would despise himself--should he so speedily transfer his allegiance; +and under the spur of this dread he made especial, though very +unobtrusive, efforts to prove his loyalty to Amy. Therefore Webb had +grown despondent, and his absences from the camp were longer and more +frequent He pleaded the work of the farm, and the necessity of coping +with the fearful drought, so plausibly that Amy felt that she could not +complain, but, after all, there was a low voice of protest in her heart. +"It's the old trouble," she thought. "The farm interests him far more +than I ever can, and even when here his mind is absent." + +Thus it may be seen that Nature, to whom they had gone, was not only busy +with the mountain and its life, but that her silent forces were also at +work in those whose unperverted hearts were not beyond her power. + +But there are dark mysteries in Nature, and some of her creations appear +to be visible and concentrated evil. The camping party came very near +breaking up in a horrible tragedy. The day was growing warm, and they +were returning from a rather extended excursion, straggling along a steep +wood road that was partially overgrown with bushes. Burt had been a +little more attentive to Miss Hargrove than usual, but was now at Amy's +side with his ready laugh and jest. Dr. Marvin was in the rear, peering +about, as usual, for some object of interest to a naturalist. Miss +Hargrove, so far from succumbing to the increasing heat, was reluctant to +return, and seemed possessed with what might be almost termed a nervous +activity. She had been the most indefatigable climber of the party, and +on their return had often diverged from the path to gather a fern or some +other sylvan trifle. At one point the ascending path formed an angle with +a ledge of rock that made a little platform. At the further end of this +she saw a flower, and she went to get it. A moment or two later Burt and +Amy heard her scream, and the sound of her voice seemed almost beneath +them. Grasping his alpenstock firmly, Burt sprang through the intervening +copsewood, and witnessed a scene that he never forgot, though he paused +not a second in his horror. Even as he rushed toward her a huge +rattlesnake was sending forth the "long, loud, stinging whir" which, as +Dr. Holmes says, is "the dreadful sound that nothing which breathes can +hear unmoved." Miss Hargrove was looking down upon it, stupefied, +paralyzed with terror. Already the reptile was coiling its thick body for +the deadly stroke, when Burt's stock fell upon its neck and laid it +writhing at the girl's feet. With a flying leap from the rock above he +landed on the venomous head, and crushed it with his heel. He had +scarcely time to catch Miss Hargrove, when she became apparently a +lifeless burden in his arms. + +Dr. Marvin now reached him, and after a glance at the scene exclaimed, +"Great God! Burt, she was not bitten?" + +"No; but let us get away from here. Where there's one of these devils +there is usually another not far off;" and they carried the unconscious +girl swiftly toward the camp, which fortunately was not far away, all the +others following with dread and anxiety in their faces. + +Dr. Marvin's and Maggie's efforts soon revived Miss Hargrove, but she had +evidently received a very severe nervous shock. When at last Burt was +permitted to see her, she gave him her hand with such a look of gratitude, +and something more, which she could not then disguise, that his heart began +to beat strangely fast. He was so confused that he could only stammer some +incoherent words of congratulation; but he half-consciously gave her hand a +pressure that left the most delicious pain the young girl had ever known. +He was deeply excited, for he had taken a tremendous risk in springing upon +a creature that can strike its crooked fangs through the thick leather of a +boot, as a New York physician once learned at the cost of his life, when he +carelessly sought to rouse with his foot a caged reptile of this kind. + +Miss Hargrove had ceased to be a charming summer acquaintance to Burt. +She was the woman at whose side he had stood in the presence of death. + +Before their midday repast was ready a rumble of wagons was heard coming +up the mountain, and Webb soon appeared. "The barometer is falling +rapidly," he said, "and father agrees with me that it will be safer for +you all to return at once." + +He found ready acquiescence, for after the event of the morning the +ladies were in haste to depart. Lumley, who had come up with Webb, was +sent to take the rattles from the snake, and the men drew apart, with Alf +and Fred, to discuss the adventure, for it was tacitly agreed that it +would be unwise to talk about snakes to those whose nerves were already +unstrung at the thought of such fearful neighbors. Dr. Marvin would have +gone with Lumley had not his wife interposed. As it was, he had much to +say concerning the habits and character of the reptiles, to which the +boys listened with awe. "By the way," he concluded, "I remember a passage +from that remarkable story, 'Elsie Venner,' by Oliver Wendell Holmes, in +which he gives the most vivid description of the rattlesnake I have ever +seen. One of his characters has two of them in a cage. 'The expression of +the creatures,' he writes, 'was watchful, still, grave, passionless, +fate-like, suggesting a cold malignity which seemed to be waiting for its +opportunity. Their awful, deep-cut mouths were sternly closed over long, +hollow fangs, which rested their roots against the swollen poison-gland +where the venom had been hoarded up ever since the last stroke had +emptied it. They never winked, for ophidians have no movable eyelids, but +kept up an awful fixed stare. Their eyes did not flash, but shone with a +cold, still light. They were of a pale golden color, horrible to look +into, with their stony calmness, their pitiless indifference, hardly +enlivened by the almost imperceptible vertical slit of the pupil, through +which Death seemed to be looking out, like the archer behind the long, +narrow loophole in a blank turret wall.' The description is superb, and +impressed itself so deeply on my mind that I can always recall it." + +The ladies now joined them at dinner--the last at their rustic board. +Miss Hargrove was very pale, but she was a spirited girl, and was bent on +proving that there was nothing weak or hysterical in her nature. Neither +was there the flippancy that a shallow woman might have manifested. She +acted like a brave, well-bred lady, whose innate refinement and good +sense enabled her speedily to regain her poise, and take her natural +place among her friends. They all tried to be considerate, and Amy's +solicitude did not indicate the jealousy that her friend almost expected +to see. + +Before they had finished their repast an east wind was moaning and +sighing in the trees, and a thin scud of clouds overcasting the sky. They +were soon in the haste and bustle of departure. Miss Hargrove found an +opportunity, however, to draw Dr. Marvin aside, and asked, hesitatingly, + +"If Burt--if Mr. Clifford had missed his aim when he sprang upon the +snake, what would have happened?" + +"You had better not dwell on that scene for the present, Miss Hargrove." + +"But I wish to know,"" she said, decisively. "I am not a child, and I +think I have a right to know." + +"Well," said the doctor, gravely, "you are brave about it, and may as +well know the truth. Indeed, a little thought would soon make it clear to +you that if he had struck the body of the snake and left its head free, +it would have bitten him." + +She drew a long breath, and said, "I thought as much"; then added, in a +low tone, "Would it have been death?" + +"Not necessarily; but only the most vigorous treatment could have saved +him." + +"But he risked his life?" she persisted. + +"Certainly; but a brave man could scarcely have acted otherwise. The +snake was at your very feet." + +"Thank you," she said, simply, and there was a very gentle expression in +her eyes. + +Much of the work of breaking up was left to Lumley, and an abundant +reward for his labor. He had returned with an exultant grin, but at a +sign from Dr. Marvin concealed his trophies. As soon as he had a chance, +however, he gave Burt two rattles, one having twelve and the other +fourteen joints, thus proving the fear, that the mate of the snake first +killed was not far off, to be well grounded. At the foot of the mountain +they met Mr. Hargrove, driving rapidly. He explained that his barometer +and the indications of a storm had alarmed him also, and that he had come +for his daughter and Fred. Nothing was said of Miss Hargrove's recent +peril in the brief, cordial parting. Her eyes and Burt's met almost +involuntarily as she was driven away, and he was deeply perturbed. + +The face of Nature was also clouding fast, and she was sighing and +moaning as if she, too, dreaded the immediate future. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +SUMMER'S WEEPING FAREWELL + + +Nature was at last awakening from her long, deathlike repose with an +energy that was startling. The thin skirmish-line of vapor was followed +by cloudy squadrons, and before sunset great masses of mist were pouring +over Storm King, suggesting that the Atlantic had taken the drought in +hand, and meant to see what it could do. The wind mourned and shrieked +about the house, as if trouble, and not relief, were coming. In spite of +the young moon, the night grew intensely dark. The dash of rain was +expected every moment, but it did not come. + +Amy thought with a shudder of their desolate camping-ground. Time must +pass before pleasant associations could be connected with it. The intense +darkness, the rush and roar of the coming storm, the agony, the death +that might have occurred there, were now uppermost in her mind. She had +found an opportunity to ask Webb questions similar to those of Miss +Hargrove, and he had given Burt full credit for taking a fearful risk. A +woman loves courage in the abstract, and when it is shown in behalf of +herself or those whom she loves, he who has manifested it became heroic. +But her homage troubled Burt, who was all at sea, uncertain of himself, +of the future, of almost everything, but not quite uncertain as to Miss +Hargrove. There was something in her look when they first met after their +common peril that went straight to his deepest consciousness. He had +before received, with not a little complacency, glances of preference, +but none like that, in which a glimpse of feeling, deep and strong, had +been revealed in a moment of weakness. The thought of it moved him far +more profoundly than the remembrance of his danger. Indeed, he scarcely +thought of that, except as it was associated with a girl who now might +have been dead or dying, and who, by a glance, had seemed to say, "What +you saved is yours." + +If this were true it was indeed a priceless, overwhelming gift, and he +was terrified at himself as he found how his whole nature was responding. +He also knew that it was not in his frank, impetuous spirit to disguise +deep feeling. Should Miss Hargrove control his heart, he feared that all +would eventually know it, as they had speedily discovered his other +little affairs. And little, indeed, they now seemed to him, relating to +girls as immature as himself. Some had since married, others were +engaged, "and none ever lost their appetites," he concluded, with a grim +smile. + +But he could not thus dismiss the past so far as Amy was concerned, the +orphan girl in his own home to whom he had promised fealty. What would be +his feeling toward another man who had promised so much and had proved +fickle? What would the inmates of his own home say? What would even his +gentle mother, of whom he had made a confidante, think of him? Would not +a look of pain, or, even worse, of scorn, come into Amy's eyes? He did +love her dearly; he respected her still more as the embodiment of truth +and delicacy. From Miss Hargrove's manner he knew that Amy had never +gossiped about him, as he felt sure nine-tenths of his acquaintances +would have done. He also believed that she was taking him at his word, +like the rest of the family, and that she was looking forward to the +future that he had once so ardently desired. The past had taught him that +she was not one to fall tumultuously in love, but rather that she would +let a quiet and steady flame kindle in her heart, to last through life. +She had proved herself above hasty and resentful jealousy, but she had, +nevertheless, warned him on the mountain, and had received the renewed +manifestations of his loyalty as a matter of course. Since his rescue of +her friend in the morning her eyes had often sought his with a lustre so +gentle and approving that he felt guilty, and cursed himself for a fickle +wretch. Cost him what it might, he must be true to her. + +She, little divining his tragic mood, which, with the whole force of his +will, he sought to disguise, gave him an affectionate good-night kiss as +she said, "Dear Burt, how happily the day has ended, after all!--and we +know the reason why." + +"Yes, Burt," added Webb; "no man ever did a braver thing." + +His father's hearty praise, and even his mother's grateful and almost +passionate embrace, only added to his deep unrest. As he went to his room +he groaned, "If they only knew!" + +After very little and troubled sleep he awoke on the following morning +depressed and exhausted. Mental distress was a new experience, and he +showed its effects; but he made light of it, as the result of +over-excitement and fatigue. He felt that Nature harmonized with his +mood, for he had scarcely ever looked upon a gloomier sky. Yet, strange +to say, no rain had fallen. It seemed as if the malign spell could not be +broken. The wind that had been whirling the dust in clouds all night long +grew fitful, and died utterly away, while the parched earth and withered +herbage appeared to look at the mocking clouds in mute, despairing +appeal. How could they be so near, so heavy, and yet no rain? The air was +sultry and lifeless. Fall had come, but no autumn days as yet. +Experienced Mr. Clifford looked often at the black, lowering sky, and +predicted that a decided change was at hand. + +"My fear is," he added, "that the drought may be followed by a deluge. I +don't like the looks of the clouds in the southeast." + +Even as he spoke a gleam of lightning shot athwart them, and was soon +followed by a heavy rumble of thunder. It seemed that the electricity, +or, rather, the concussion of the air, precipitated the dense vapor into +water, for within a few moments down came the rain in torrents. As the +first great drops struck the roads the dust flew up as if smitten by a +blow, and then, with scarcely any interval, the gutters and every incline +were full of tawny rills, that swelled and grew with hoarser and deeper +murmurs, until they combined in one continuous roar with the downfall +from clouds that seemed scarcely able to lift themselves above the +tree-tops. The lightning was not vivid, but often illumined the obscurity +with a momentary dull red glow, and thunder muttered and growled in the +distance almost without cessation. + +The drought had been depressing. To Amy its gloomy, portentous ending was +even more so. The arid noonday heat and glare of preceding days had given +place to a twilight so unnatural that it had almost the awe-inspiring +effect of an eclipse. The hitherto brazen sky seemed to have become an +overhanging reservoir from which poured a vertical cataract. The clouds +drooped so heavily, and were so black, that they gave an impression of +impending solid masses that might fall at any moment with crushing +weight. Within an hour the beds of streams long dry were full and +overflowing. + +In spite of remonstrances Webb put on a rubber suit, and went to look +after some little bridges on the place. He soon returned, and said, "If +this keeps up until morning, there will be a dozen bridges lacking in our +region. I've tried to anchor some of our little affairs by putting heavy +stones on them, so that the water will pass over instead of sweeping them +away. It makes one think that the flood was no myth." + +To the general relief, the rain slackened in the late afternoon, and soon +ceased. The threatening pall of clouds lifted a little, and in rocky +channels on the mountains the dull gleam of rushing water could be seen. +From every side its voice was heard, the scale running up, from the +gurgle in the pipes connected with the roof, to the roar of the nearest +large stream. The drought was truly broken. + +As the day advanced Burt had grown very restless. Amy watched him +curiously. The long day of imprisonment had given time for thought, and a +review of the past novel and exciting experiences. She had not seen the +glances from Miss Hargrove which had suggested so much to Burt, but she +had long since perceived that her friend greatly enjoyed his society. Had +she loved him she would have seen far more. If this interest had been +shown in Webb, she would have understood herself and Miss Hargrove also +much better. Preoccupied as she was by her sense of loss and shortcoming +produced by Webb's apparent absorption in pursuits which she did not +share, the thought had repeatedly occurred to her that Miss Hargrove's +interest in Burt might be more than passing and friendly. If this were +true, she was sure the event of the preceding day must develop and deepen +it greatly. And now Burt's manner, his fits of absent-mindedness, during +which he stared at vacancy, awakened surmises also. "Where are his +thoughts?" she queried, and she resolved to find out. + +"Burt," she said, arousing him from one of the lapses into deep thought +which alternated with his restless pacings and rather forced gayety, "it +has stopped raining. I think you ought to ride over and see how Gertrude +is. I feel real anxious about her." + +His face lighted up with eagerness. "Do you truly think I ought to go?" +he asked. + +"Certainly, and it would be a favor to me also," she added. + +He looked at her searchingly for a moment, but there was nothing in her +friendly expression to excite his fears. + +"Very well," he tried to say quietly. "I'll go. A swift gallop would do +me good, I believe." + +"Of course it will, and so will a walk brighten me up. I'm going out to +see the brook." + +"Let me go with you," he exclaimed, with an eagerness too pronounced. + +"No, please. I'd rather hear how Gertrude is;" and she went to her room +to prepare for her walk, smiling a little bitterly as she mused: "I now +know where his thoughts were. I must be lacking indeed. Not only brother +Webb, but also lover Burt, has grown weary of me. I can't entertain +either of them through one rainy day." From her window she saw Burt +riding away with a promptness that brought again the smile rarely seen on +her fair features. In her light rubber suit, she started on her ramble, +her face almost as clouded as the sky. Another had been on the watch +also, and Webb soon joined her, with the question, "May I not go too?" + +"Oh, I fear it will take too much of your time," she said, in tones that +were a little constrained. + +He saw that she was depressed. He, too, had been interpreting Burt, and +guessed his destination as he galloped away. His love for Amy was so deep +that in a generous impulse of self-forgetfulness he was sorry for her, +and sought to cheer her, and make what poor amends he could for Burt's +absence, and all that it foreboded. "Since you don't say outright that I +can't go," he said, "I think I'll venture;" and then, in a quiet, genial +way, he began to talk about the storm and its effects. She would not have +believed that even remarkable weather could be made so interesting a +topic as it soon proved. Before long they stood upon the bank, and saw a +dark flood rushing by where but yesterday had trickled a little rill. Now +it would carry away horse and rider, should they attempt to ford it, and +the fields beyond were covered with water. + +"I don't like these violent changes," said Amy. "Tennyson's brook, that +'goes on forever,' is more to my taste than one like this, that almost +stops, and then breaks out into a passionate, reckless torrent." + +"It's the nature of this brook; you should not blame it," he answered. +"But see, it's falling rapidly already." + +"Oh, certainly; nothing lasts," and she turned away abruptly. + +"You are mistaken, sister Amy," he replied, with strong, quiet emphasis. + +The early twilight deepened around them, and gloomy night came on apace, +but before Amy re-entered the house his unselfish efforts were rewarded. +Burt's threatened disloyalty apparently had lost its depressing +influence. Some subtile reassuring power had been at work, and the clouds +passed from her face, if not from the sky. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +FATHER AND DAUGHTER + + +That sombre day would ever be a memorable one to Miss Hargrove. Nature +seemed weeping passionately over the summer that had gone, with all its +wealth of beauty and life. She knew that her girlhood had gone with it. +She had cautioned her brother to say nothing of her escape on the +previous day, for she was too unnerved to go over the scene again that +night, and meet her father's questioning eyes. She wanted to be alone +first and face the truth; and this she had done in no spirit of weak +self-deception. The shadow of the unknown had fallen upon her, and in its +cold gray light the glitter and tinsel of the world had faded, but +unselfish human love had grown more luminous. The imminence of death had +kindled rather than quenched it. It was seen to be something intrinsically +precious, something that might survive even the deadliest poison. + +Her father was disposed to regard Burt as one who looked upon life in the +light of a pleasure excursion, and who might never take it seriously. His +laugh hereafter could never be so light and careless to her but that, +like a minor key, would run the thought, "He risked his life for me; he +might have died for me." + +Her dark, full eyes, the warm blood that her thoughts brought into her +face even in the solitude of her chamber, did not belie her nature, which +was intense, and capable of a strong and an abiding passion when once +kindled. + +Mr. Hargrove had watched her with the deepest solicitude on her return, +and he felt rather than saw the change that had taken place in his idol. +She had pleaded fatigue, and retired early. In the morning she was again +conscious of his half-questioning scrutiny, and when he went to his study +she followed, and told him what had occurred. He grew very pale, and drew +a long, deep breath. Then, as if mastered by a strong impulse, he clasped +her to his heart, and said, in trembling tones, "Oh, Trurie, if I had +lost you!" + +"I fear you would have lost me, papa, had it not been for Mr. Clifford." + +He paced the room for a few moments in agitation, and at last stopped +before her and said: "Perhaps in a sense I am to lose you after all. Has +Mr. Clifford spoken?" + +"No, papa; he has only risked his life to save mine." + +"You are very grateful?" + +"Yes." + +"Do not think I underestimate his act, Trurie; but, believe me, if he +should speak now or soon, you are in no condition to answer him." + +She smiled incredulously. + +"He did what any man would do for a woman in peril. He has no right to +claim such an immense reward." + +"Before I went to the mountains I said I was no longer a child; but I +was, compared with what I am now. It seems to me that feeling, +experience, more than years, measures our age. I am a woman to-day, one +who has been brought so near the future world that I have been taught how +to value what may be ours now. I have learned how to value you and your +unselfish love as I never did before. Mr. Clifford will not speak very +soon, if he ever does, and I have not yet decided upon my answer. Should +it be favorable, rest assured more than gratitude will prompt me; and +also be assured you would not lose me. Could I not be more to you were I +happy than if I went through life with the feeling that I had missed my +chance?" + +"I fear your mother would never give her consent to so unworldly a +choice," he said, with a troubled brow. + +"I've yet to be convinced that it would be such a choice. It's scarcely +unworldly to make the most and the best of the world one is in, and mamma +must permit me to judge for myself, as she chose for herself. I shall +never marry any one but a gentleman, and one who can give me a home. Have +I not a right to prefer a home to an establishment, papa?" + +He looked at her long and searchingly, and she met his scrutiny with a +grave and gentle dignity. "I suppose we must submit to the inevitable," +he said at last. + +"Yes, papa." + +"It seems but the other day that you were a baby on my knee," he began, +sadly; "and now you are drifting far away." + +"No, papa, there shall be no drifting whatever. I shall marry, if ever, +one whom I have learned to love according to Nature's simple laws--one to +whom I can go without effort or calculation. I could give my heart, and +be made rich indeed by the gift. I couldn't invest it; and if I did, no +one would be more sorry than you in the end." + +"I should indeed be more than sorry if I ever saw you unhappy," he said, +after another thoughtful pause; then added, shaking his head, "I've seen +those who gave their hearts even more disappointed with life than those +who took counsel of prudence." + +"I shall take counsel of prudence, and of you too, papa." + +"I think it is as I feared--you have already given your heart." + +She did not deny it. Before leaving him she pleaded: "Do not make much of +my danger to mamma. She is nervous, and not over-fond of the country at +best. You know that a good many people survive in the country," she +concluded, with a smile that was so winning and disarming that he shook +his head at her as he replied: + +"Well, Trurie, I foresee what a lovingly obstinate little girl you are +likely to prove. I think I may as well tell you first as last that you +may count on me in all that is fairly rational. If, with my years and +experience, I can be so considerate, may I hope that you will be also?" + +Her answer was reassuring, and she went to tell her mother. She had been +forestalled. Fred was quite as confidential with his mother as she with +her father, and the boy had been wild to horrify Mrs. Hargrove by an +account of his sister's adventure. The injunction laid upon him had been +only for the previous evening, and Gertrude found her mother almost +hysterical over the affair, and less inclined to commend Burt than to +blame him as the one who had led her daughter into such "wild, +harum-scarum experiences." + +"It's always the way," she exclaimed, "when one goes out of one's own +natural associations in life." + +"I've not been out of my natural associations," Gertrude answered, hotly. +"The Cliffords are as well-bred and respectable as we are;" and she went +to her room. + +It was a long, dismal day for her, but, as she had said to her father, +she would not permit herself to drift. Her nature was too positive for +idle, sentimental dreaming. Feeling that she was approaching one of the +crises of her life, she faced it resolutely and intelligently. She went +over the past weeks from the time she had first met Burt under the Gothic +willow arch, and tried to analyze not only the power he had over her, but +also the man himself. "I have claimed to papa that I am a woman, and I +should act like one," she thought. A few things grew plain. Her interest +in Burt had been a purely natural growth, the unsought result of +association with one who had proved congenial. He was so handsome, so +companionable, so vital with spirit and mirthfulness, that his simple +presence was exhilarating, and he had won his influence like the sun in +spring-time. Had he the higher qualities of manhood, those that could +sustain her in the inevitable periods when life would be no laughing +matter? Could he meet the winter of life as well as the summer? She felt +that she scarcely knew him well enough to be sure of this, but she was +still sufficiently young and romantic to think, "If he should ever love +me as I can love him, I could bring out the qualities that papa fears are +lacking." His courage seemed an earnest of all that she could desire. + +Amy's feeling toward him, and the question whether he had ever regarded +her in another light than that of a sister, troubled her the most. Amy's +assurance of implicit trust, and her promise to deserve it, appeared to +stand directly in her path, and before that stormy day closed she had +reached the calmness of a fixed resolution. "If Amy loves him, and he has +given her reason to do so, I shall not come between them, cost me what it +may. I'll do without happiness rather than snatch it from a friend who +has not only spoken her trust, but proved it." + +Therefore, although her heart gave a great bound as she saw Burt riding +toward the house in the late afternoon, she went to her father and said: +"Mr. Clifford is coming. I wish you would be present during his call." + +The young fellow was received cordially, and Mr. Hargrove acknowledged +his indebtedness so feelingly that Burt flushed like a girl, and was +greatly embarrassed. He soon recovered himself, however, and chatted in +his usual easy and spirited way. Before he left he asked, hesitatingly, +"Would you like a souvenir of our little episode yesterday?" and took +from his pocket the rattles of the snake he had killed. + +"It was not a little episode," Gertrude replied, gravely. "I shall indeed +value the gift, for it will remind me that I have a friend who did not +count the cost in trying to help me." + +Impetuous words rose to Burt's lips, but he checked them in time. +Trembling for his resolutions, he soon took his departure, and rode +homeward in deeper disquiet than he had ever known. He gave Amy her +friend's messages, and he also, in spite of himself, afforded her a +clearer glimpse of what was passing in his mind than she had received +before. "I might have learned to love him in time, I suppose," she +thought, bitterly, "but it's impossible now. I shall build my future on +no such uncertain foundation, and I shall punish him a little, too, for +it's time he had a lesson." + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +DISQUIET WITHIN AND WITHOUT + + +Amy would scarcely have been human had she felt otherwise, for it +appeared that Burt was in a fair way to inflict a slight that would touch +the pride of the gentlest nature. During her long residence abroad Amy +had in a general and unthinking way adopted some English ideas on the +subject of marriage. Burt had at first required what was unnatural and +repugnant, and she had resented the demand that she should pass from an +age and a state of feeling slightly removed from childhood to relations +for which she was not ready. When he had sensibly recognized his error, +and had appeared content to wait patiently and considerately, she had +tacitly assented to his hopes and those of his parents. Her love and +gratitude toward the latter influenced her powerfully, and she saw no +reason why she should disappoint them. But she was much too high-spirited +a girl to look with patience on any wavering in Burt. She had not set her +heart on him or sought to be more to him than to a brother, and if he +wished for more he must win and hold the right by undoubted loyalty. The +fact that Amy had been brought into the Clifford family as a daughter and +sister had not cheated Nature a moment, as both Burt and Webb had proved. +She was not their sister, and had unconsciously evoked from each of the +young men a characteristic regard. Burt must not be judged too harshly. +He had to contend with a temperament not uncommon--one that renders its +possessor highly susceptible to the beauty and fascination of women. He +was as far removed from the male flirt genus as sincerity is from +falsehood; but his passion for Amy had been more like a manifestation of +a trait than a strong individual preference based on mutual fitness and +helpfulness. Miss Hargrove was more truly his counterpart. She could +supplement the weaknesses and defects of his character more successfully +than Amy, and in a vague way he felt this. With all the former's vivacity +there was much reserve strength and magnetism. She was unusually gifted +with will power, and having once gained an influence over a person, she +would have, as agents to maintain it, not only her beauty, but tact, keen +insight and a very quick intelligence. Although true herself, she was by +no means unsophisticated, and having once comprehended Burt's character, +she would have the power, possessed by few others, to make the most of +him. + +Amy was nearer to nature. She would first attract unconsciously, like a +rare and beautiful flower, and the loveliness and fragrance of her life +would be undying. Burt had felt her charm, and responded most decisively; +but the tranquil regard of her unawakened heart had little power to +retain and deepen his feeling. She bloomed on at his side, sweet to him, +sweet to all. In Miss Hargrove's dark eyes lurked a stronger spell, and +he almost dared to believe that they had revealed to him a love of which +he began to think Amy was not capable. On the generous young fellow, +whose intentions were good, this fact would have very great influence, +and in preserving her supremacy Miss Hargrove would also be able to +employ not a little art and worldly wisdom. + +The events that are most desired do not always happen, however, and poor +Burt felt that he had involved himself in complications of which he saw +no solution; while Amy's purpose to give him "a lesson" promised anything +but relief. Her plan involved scarcely any change in her manner toward +him. She would simply act as if she believed all that he had said, and +take it for granted that his hopes for the future were unchanged. She +proposed, however, to maintain this attitude only long enough to teach +him that it is not wise, to say the least, to declare undying devotion +too often to different ladies. + +The weather during the night and early on the following morning was +puzzling. It might be that the storm was passing, and that the ragged +clouds which still darkened the sky were the rear-guard or the stragglers +that were following the sluggish advance of its main body; or it might be +that there was a partial break in Nature's forces, and that heavier +cloud-masses were still to come. Mr. Clifford inclined to the latter +view. "Old Storm King is still shrouded," he said at the breakfast-table, +"and this heavy, sultry air does not indicate clearing weather." + +Events soon confirmed his opinion. Nature seemed bent on repeating the +programme of the preceding day, with the purpose of showing how much more +she could do on the same line of action. There was no steady wind from +any quarter. Converging or conflicting currents in the upper air may have +brought heavy clouds together in the highlands to the southwest, for +although the rain began to fall heavily, it could not account for the +unprecedented rise of the streams. In little over an hour there was a +continuous roar of rushing water. Burt, restless and almost reckless, +went out to watch the floods. He soon returned to say that every bridge +on the place had gone, and that what had been dry and stony channels +twenty-four hours before were now filled with resistless torrents. + +Webb also put on his rubber suit, and they went down the main street +toward the landing. This road, as it descended through a deep valley to +the river, was bordered by a stream that drained for some miles the +northwestern slope of the mountains. For weeks its rocky bed had been +dry; now it was filled with a river yellow as the Tiber. One of the main +bridges across it was gone, and half of the road in one place had been +scooped out and carried away by the furious waters. People were removing +their household goods out into the vertical deluge lest they and all they +had should be swept into the river by the torrent that was above their +doorsteps. The main steamboat wharf, at which the "Powell" had touched +but a few hours before, was scarcely passable with boats, so violent was +the current that poured over it. The rise had been so sudden that people +could scarcely realize it, and strange incidents had occurred. A horse +attached to a wagon had been standing in front of a store. A vivid flash +of lightning startled the animal, and he broke away, galloped up a side +street to the spot where the bridge had been, plunged in, was swept down, +and scarcely more than a minute had elapsed before he was back within a +rod or two of his starting-point, crushed and dead. + +Webb soon returned. He had noticed that Amy's eyes had followed him +wistfully, and almost reproachfully, as he went out. Nature's mood was +one to inspire awe, and something akin to dread, in even his own mind. +She appeared to have lost or to have relaxed her hold upon her forces. It +seemed that the gathered stores of moisture from the dry, hot weeks of +evaporation were being thrown recklessly away, regardless of consequences. +There was no apparent storm-centre, passing steadily to one quarter of the +heavens, but on all sides the lightning would leap from the clouds, while +mingling with the nearer and louder peals was the heavy and continuous +monotone from flashes below the horizon. + +He was glad he had returned, for he found Amy pale and nervous indeed. +Johnnie had been almost crying with terror, and had tremblingly asked her +mother if Noah's flood could come again. + +"No," said Maggie, confidently. "If there was to be another flood, +grandpa would have been told to build an ark;" and this assurance had +appeared so obviously true that the child's fears were quieted. Even +Leonard's face was full of gloom and foreboding, when the children were +not present, as he looked out on flooded fields, and from much experience +estimated the possible injury to the farm and the town. Mr. and Mrs. +Clifford were quiet and serene. They had attained a peace which was not +easily disturbed, and the old gentleman remarked: "I have seen a worse +storm even in this vicinity. You must remember it, Leonard." + +"But this deluge isn't over," was the reply. "It seems a tremendous +reaction from the drought, and where it will end it is hard to tell, +unless this steady downpouring slackens soon." + +Leonard's fears were not realized, however. The unusual and tropical +manifestations of the storm at last ceased, and by night the rain fell +softly and gently, as if Nature were penitent over her wild passion. The +results of it, however, were left in all directions. Many roads were +impassable; scores of bridges were gone. The passengers from the evening +boats were landed on a wharf partially submerged, and some were taken in +boats to a point whence they could reach their carriages. + +In the elements' disquiet Burt had found an excuse for his own, and he +had remained out much of the day. He had not called on Miss Hargrove +again, but had ridden far enough to learn that the bridges in that +direction were safe. All the family had remonstrated with him for his +exposure, and Amy asked him, laughingly, if he had been "sitting on +bridges to keep them from floating away." + +"You are growing ironical," he answered for he was not in an amiable +mood, and he retired early. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +IDLEWILD + + +In the morning Nature appeared to have forgotten both her passion and her +penitence, and smiled serenely over the havoc she had made, as if it were +of no consequence. + +Amy said, "Let us take the strong rockaway, call for Miss Hargrove, and +visit some of the streams"; and she noted that Burt's assent was too +undemonstrative to be natural. Maggie decided to go also, and take the +children, while Leonard proposed to devote the day to repairing the +damage to the farm, his brothers promising to aid him in the afternoon. + +When at last the party left their carriage at one of the entrances of +Idlewild, the romantic glen made so famous by the poet Willis, a stranger +might have thought that he had never seen a group more in accord with the +open, genial sunshine. This would be true of Maggie and the children. +They thought of that they saw, and uttered all their thoughts. The +solution of one of life's deep problems had come to Maggie, but not to +the others, and such is the nature of this problem that its solution can +usually be reached only by long and hidden processes. Not one of the four +young people was capable of a deliberately unfair policy; all, with the +exception of Amy, were conscious whither Nature was leading them, and she +had thoughts also of which she would not speak. There was no lack of +truth in the party, and yet circumstances had brought about a larger +degree of reticence than of frankness. To borrow an illustration from +Nature, who, after all, was to blame for what was developing in each +heart, a rapid growth of root was taking place, and the flower and fruit +would inevitably manifest themselves in time. Miss Hargrove naturally had +the best command over herself. She had taken her course, and would abide +by it, no matter what she might suffer. Burt had mentally set his teeth, +and resolved that he would be not only true to Amy, but also his old gay +self. His pride was now in the ascendant. Amy, however, was not to be +deceived, and her intuition made it clear that he was no longer her old +happy, contented comrade. But she was too proud to show that her pride +was wounded, and appeared to be her former self. Webb, as usual, was +quiet, observant, and not altogether hopeless. And so this merry party, +innocent, notwithstanding all their hidden thoughts about each other, +went down into the glen, and saw the torrent flashing where the sunlight +struck it through the overhanging foliage. Half-way down the ravine there +was a rocky, wooded plateau from which they had a view of the flood for +some distance, as it came plunging toward them with a force and volume +that appeared to threaten the solid foundations of the place on which +they stood. With a roar of baffled fury it sheered off to the left, +rushed down another deep descent, and disappeared from view. The scene +formed a strange blending of peace and beauty with wild, fierce movement +and uproar. From the foliage above and around them came a soft, +slumberous sound, evoked by the balmy wind that fanned their cheeks. The +ground and the surface of the torrent were flecked with waving, dancing +light and shade, as the sunlight filtered through innumerable leaves, on +some of which a faint tinge of red and gold was beginning to appear. +Beneath and through all thundered a dark, resistless tide, fit emblem of +lawless passion that, unchanged, unrestrained by gentle influences, +pursues its downward course reckless of consequences. Although the volume +of water passing beneath their feet was still immense, it was evident +that it had been very much greater. "I stood here yesterday afternoon," +said Burt, "and then the sight was truly grand." + +"Why, it was raining hard in the afternoon!" exclaimed Miss Hargrove. + +"Burt seemed even more perturbed than the weather yesterday," Amy +remarked, laughing. "He was out nearly all the time. We were alarmed +about him, fearing lest he should be washed away, dissolved, or +something." + +"Do I seem utterly quenched this morning?" he asked, in a light vein, but +flushing deeply. + +"Oh, no, not in the least, and yet it's strange, after so much cold water +has fallen on you." + +"One is not quenched by such trifles," he replied, a little coldly. + +They were about to turn away, when a figure sprang out upon a rock, far +up the stream, in the least accessible part of the glen. They all +recognized Mr. Alvord, as he stood with folded arms and looked down on +the flood that rushed by on either side of him. He had not seen them, and +no greeting was possible above the sound of the waters. Webb thought as +he carried little Ned up the steep path, "Perhaps, in the mad current, he +sees the counterpart of some period in his past." + +The bridge across the mouth of Idlewild Brook was gone, and they next +went to the landing. The main wharf was covered with large stones and +gravel, the debris of the flood that had poured over it from the adjacent +stream, whose natural outlet had been wholly inadequate. Then they drove +to the wild and beautiful Mountainville road, that follows the Moodna +Creek for a long distance. They could not proceed very far, however, for +they soon came to a place where a tiny brook had passed under a wooden +bridge. Now there was a great yawning chasm. Not only the bridge, but +tons of earth were gone. The Moodna Creek, that had almost ceased to flow +in the drought, had become a tawny river, and rushed by them with a +sullen roar, flanging over the tide was an old dead tree, on which was +perched a fish-hawk. Even while they were looking at him, and Burt was +wishing for his rifle, the bird swooped downward, plunged into the stream +with a splash, and rose with a fish in his talons. It was an admirable +exhibition of fearlessness and power, and Burt admitted that such a +sportsman deserved to live. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + +ECHOES OF A PAST STORM + + +Miss Hargrove returned to dine with them, and as they were lingering over +the dessert and coffee Webb remarked, "By the way, I think the poet +Willis has given an account of a similar, or even greater, deluge in this +region." He soon returned from the library, and read the following +extracts: "'I do not see in the Tribune or other daily papers any mention +of an event which occupies a whole column on the outside page of the +highest mountain above West Point. An avalanche of earth and stone, which +has seamed from summit to base the tall bluff that abuts upon the Hudson, +forming a column of news visible for twenty miles, has reported a deluge +we have had--a report a mile long, and much broader than Broadway.'" + +"Certainly," said Mr. Clifford, "that's the flood of which I spoke +yesterday. It was very local, but was much worse than the one we have +just had. It occurred in August of '53. I remember now that Mr. Willis +wrote a good deal about the affair in his letters from Idlewild. What +else does he say?" + +Webb, selecting here and there, continued to read: "'We have had a deluge +in the valley immediately around us--a deluge which is shown by the +overthrown farm buildings, the mills, dams, and bridges swept away, the +well-built roads cut into chasms, the destruction of horses and cattle, +and the imminent peril to life. It occurred on the evening of August 1, +and a walk to-day down the valley which forms the thoroughfare to +Cornwall Landing (or, rather, a scramble over its gulfs in the road, its +upset barns and sheds, its broken vehicles, drift lumber, rocks, and +rubbish) would impress a stranger like a walk after the deluge of Noah. + +"'The flood came upon us with scarce half an hour's notice. My venerable +neighbor, of eighty years of age, who had passed his life here, and knows +well the workings of the clouds among the mountains, had dined with us, +but hastened his departure to get home before what looked like a shower, +crossing with his feeble steps the stream whose strongest bridge, an hour +after, was swept away. Another of our elderly neighbors had a much +narrower escape. The sudden rush of water alarmed him for the safety of +an old building he used for his stable, which stood upon the bank of the +small stream usually scarce noticeable as it crosses the street at the +landing. He had removed his horse, and returned to unloose a favorite +dog, but before he could accomplish it the building fell. The single jump +with which he endeavored to clear himself of the toppling rafters threw +him into the torrent, and he was swept headlong toward the gulf which it +had already torn in the wharf on the Hudson. His son and two others +plunged in, and succeeded in snatching him from destruction. Another +citizen was riding homeward, when the solid and strongly embanked road +was swept away before and behind him, and he had barely time to unhitch +his horse and escape, leaving his carriage islanded between the chasms. A +man who was driving with his wife and child along our own wall on the +river-shore had a yet more fearful escape: his horse suddenly forced to +swim, and his wagon set afloat, and carried so violently against a tree +by the swollen current of Idlewild Brook that he and his precious load +were thrown into the water, and with difficulty reached the bank beyond. +A party of children who were out huckleberrying on the mountain were +separated from home by the swollen brook, and one of them was nearly +drowned in vainly attempting to cross it. Their parents and friends were +out all night in search of them. An aged farmer and his wife, who had +been to Newburgh, and were returning with their two-horse wagon well +laden with goods, attempted to drive over a bridge as it unsettled with +the current, and were precipitated headlong. The old man caught a sapling +as he went down with the flood, the old woman holding on to his +coat-skirts, and so they struggled until their cries brought assistance.' +Other and similar incidents are given. One large building was completely +disembowelled, and the stream coursed violently between the two halves of +its ruins. 'I was stopped,' he writes in another place, 'as I scrambled +along the gorge, by a curious picture for the common highway. The brick +front of the basement of a dwelling-house had been torn off, and the +mistress of the house was on her hands and knees, with her head thrust in +from a rear window, apparently getting her first look down into the +desolated kitchen from which she had fled in the night. A man stood in +the middle of the floor, up to his knees in water, looking round in +dismay, though he had begun to pick up some of the overset chairs and +utensils. The fireplace, with its interrupted supper arrangements, the +dresser, with its plates and pans, its cups and saucers, the closets and +cupboards, with their various stores and provisions, were all laid open +to the road like a sliced watermelon.'" + +"Well," ejaculated Leonard, "we haven't so much cause to complain, after +hearing of an affair like that. I do remember many of my impressions at +the time, now that the event is recalled so vividly, but have forgotten +how so sudden a flood was accounted for." + +"Willis speaks of it on another page," continued Webb, as 'the +aggregation of extensive masses of clouds into what is sometimes called a +"waterspout," by the meeting of winds upon the converging edge of our +bowl of highlands. The storm for a whole country was thus concentrated.' +I think there must have been yesterday a far heavier fall of water on the +mountains a little to the southeast than we had here. Perhaps the truer +explanation in both instances would be that the winds brought heavy +clouds together or against the mountains in such a way as to induce an +enormous precipitation of vapor into rain. Mr. Willis indicates by the +following passage the suddenness of the flood he describes: 'My first +intimation that there was anything uncommon in the brook was the sight of +a gentleman in a boat towing a cow across the meadow under our library +window--a green glade seldom or never flooded. The roar from the foaming +precipices in the glen had been heard by us all, but was thought to be +thunder.' Then he tells how he and his daughter put on their rubber suits +and hastened into the glen. 'The chasm,' he writes, 'in which the brook, +in any freshet I had heretofore seen, was still only a deep-down stream, +now seemed too small for the torrent. Those giddy precipices on which the +sky seems to lean as you stand below were the foam-lashed sides of a full +and mighty river. The spray broke through the tops of the full-grown +willows and lindens. As the waves plunged against the cliffs they parted, +and disclosed the trunks and torn branches of the large trees they had +overwhelmed and were bearing away, and the earth-colored flood, in the +wider places, was a struggling mass of planks, timber, rocks, and +roots--tokens of a tumultuous ruin above, to which the thunder-shower +pouring around us gave but a feeble clew. A heavy-limbed willow, which +overhung a rock on which I had often sat to watch the freshets of spring, +rose up while we looked at it, and with a surging heave, as if lifted by +an earthquake, toppled back, and was swept rushingly away.'" + +"How I would have liked to see it!" exclaimed Miss Hargrove. + +"I can see it," said Amy, leaning back, and closing her eyes. "I can see +it all too vividly. I don't like nature in such moods." Then she took up +the volume, and began turning the leaves, and said: "I've never seen this +book before. Why, it's all about this region, and written before I was +born. Oh dear, here is another chapter of horrors!" and she read: "Close +to our gate, at the door of one of our nearest and most valued +neighbors--a lovely girl was yesterday struck dead by lightning. A friend +who stood with her at the moment was a greater sufferer, in being +prostrated by the same flash, and paralyzed from the waist downward--her +life spared at the cost of tortures inexpressible.'" + +Webb reached out his hand to take the book from her, but she sprang +aloof, and with dilating eyes read further: "'Misa Gilmour had been +chatting with a handsome boy admirer, but left him to take aside a +confidential friend that she might read her a letter. It was from her +mother, a widow with this only daughter. They passed out of the gate, +crossed the road to be out of hearing, and stood under the telegraph +wire, when the letter was opened. Her lips were scarce parted to read +when the flash came--an arrow of intense light-' Oh, horrible! horrible! +How can you blame me for fear in a thunderstorm?" + +"Amy," said Webb, now quietly taking the book, "your dread at such times +is constitutional. If there were need, you could face danger as well as +any of us. You would have all a woman's fortitude, and that surpasses +ours. Take the world over, the danger from lightning is exceedingly +slight, and it's not the danger that makes you tremble, but your nervous +organization." + +"You interpret me kindly," she said, "but I don't see why nature is so +full of horrible things. If Gertrude had been bitten by the snake, she +might have fared even worse than the poor girl of whom I have read." + +Miss Hargrove could not forbear a swift, grateful glance at Burt. + +"I do not think nature is _full_ of horrible things," Webb resumed. +"Remember how many showers have cooled the air and made the earth +beautiful and fruitful in this region. In no other instance that I know +anything about has life been destroyed in our vicinity. There is indeed a +side to nature that is full of mystery--the old dark mystery of evil; but +I should rather say it is full of all that is beautiful and helpful. At +least this seems true of our region. I have never seen so much beauty in +all my life as during the past year, simply because I am forming the +habit of looking for it." + +"Why, Webb," exclaimed Amy, laughing, "I thought your mind was +concentrating on crops and subjects as deep as the ocean." + +"It would take all the salt of the ocean to save that remark," he +replied; but he beat a rather hasty retreat. + +"Well, Amy," said Mr. Clifford, "you may now dismiss your fears. I +imagine that in our tropical storm summer has passed; and with it +thunder-showers and sudden floods. We may now look forward to two months +of almost ideal weather, with now and then a day that will make a book +and a wood fire all the more alluring." + +The old gentleman's words proved true. The days passed like bright +smiles, in which, however, lurked the pensiveness of autumn. Slowly +failing maples glowed first with the hectic flush of disease, but +gradually warmer hues stole into the face of Nature, for it is the dying +of the leaves that causes the changes of color in the foliage. + + + + +CHAPTER L + +IMPULSES OF THE HEART + + +The fall season brought increased and varied labors on the farm and in the +garden. As soon as the ground was dry after the tremendous storm, and its +ravages had been repaired as far as possible, the plows were busy preparing +for winter grain, turnips were thinned out, winter cabbages and +cauliflowers cultivated, and the succulent and now rapidly growing celery +earthed up. The fields of corn were watched, and as fast as the kernels +within the husks--now becoming golden-hued--were glazed, the stalks were +cut and tied in compact shocks. The sooner maize is cut, after it has +sufficiently matured, the better, for the leaves make more nutritious +fodder if cured or dried while still full of sap. From some fields the +shocks were wholly removed, that the land might be plowed and seeded with +grain and grass. Buckwheat, used merely as a green and scavenger crop, was +plowed under as it came into blossom, and that which was sown to mature was +cut in the early morning, while the dew was still upon it, for in the heat +of the day the grain shells easily, and is lost. After drying for a few +days in compact little heaps it was ready for the threshing-machine. Then +the black, angular kernels--promises of many winter breakfasts--were spread +to dry on the barn floor, for if thrown into heaps or bins at this early +stage, they heat badly. + +The Cliffords had long since learned that the large late peaches, that +mature after the Southern crop is out of the market, are the most +profitable, and almost every day Abram took to the landing a load of +baskets full of downy beauties. An orange grove, with Its deep green +foliage and golden fruit, is beautiful indeed, but an orchard laden with +Crawford's Late, in their best development, can well sustain comparison. +Sharing the honors and attention given to the peaches were the Bartlett +and other early pears. These latter fruits were treated in much the same +way as the former. The trees were picked over every few days, and the +largest and ripest specimens taken, their maturity being indicated by the +readiness of the stem to part from the spray when the pear is lifted. The +greener and imperfect fruit was left to develop, and the trees, relieved +of much of their burden, were able to concentrate their forces on what +was left. The earlier red grapes, including the Delaware, Brighton, and +Agawam, not only furnished the table abundantly, but also a large surplus +for market. Indeed, there was high and dainty feasting at the Cliffords' +every day--fruit everywhere, hanging temptingly within reach, with its +delicate bloom untouched, untarnished. + +The storm and the seasonable rains that followed soon restored its +fulness and beauty to Nature's withered face. The drought had brought to +vegetation partial rest and extension of root growth, and now, with the +abundance of moisture, there was almost a spring-like revival. The grass +sprang up afresh, meadows and fields grew green, and annual weeds, from +seeds that had matured in August, appeared by the million. + +"I am glad to see them," Webb remarked. "Before they can mature any seed +the frost will put an end to their career of mischief, and there will be +so many seeds less to grow next spring." + +"There'll be plenty left," Leonard replied. + +The Cliffords, by their provident system of culture, had prepared for +droughts as mariners do for storms, and hence they bad not suffered so +greatly as others; but busy as they were kept by the autumnal bounty of +Nature, and the rewards of their own industry, they found time for +recreation, and thoughts far removed from the material questions of +profit and loss. The drama of life went on, and feeling, conviction, and +love matured like the ripening fruits, although not so openly. As soon as +his duties permitted, Burt took a rather abrupt departure for a hunting +expedition in the northern woods, and a day or two later Amy received a +note from Miss Hargrove, saying that she had accepted an invitation to +join a yachting party. + +"Oh, Webb!" she exclaimed, "I wish you were not so awfully busy all the +time. Here I am, thrown wholly on your tender mercies, and I am neither a +crop nor a scientific subject." + +He gave her little reason for complaint. The increasing coolness and +exhilarating vitality of the air made not only labor agreeable, but +out-door sports delightful, and he found time for an occasional gallop, +drive, or ramble along roads and lanes lined with golden-rod and purple +asters; and these recreations had no other drawback than the uncertainty +and anxiety within his heart. The season left nothing to be desired, but +the outer world, even in its perfection, is only an accompaniment of +human life, which is often in sad discord with it. + +Nature, however, is a harmony of many and varied strains, and the unhappy +are always conscious of a deep minor key even on the brightest days. To +Alf and Johnnie the fall brought unalloyed joy and promise; to those who +were older, something akin to melancholy, which deepened with the autumn +of their life; while to Mr. Alvord every breeze was a sigh, every rising +wind a mournful requiem, and every trace of change a reminder that his +spring and summer had passed forever, leaving only a harvest of bitter +memories. Far different was the dreamy pensiveness with which Mr. and +Mrs. Clifford looked back upon their vanished youth and maturity. At the +same time they felt within themselves the beginnings of an immortal +youth. Although it was late autumn with them, not memory, but hope, was +in the ascendant. + +During damp or chilly days, and on the evenings of late September, the +fire burned cheerily on the hearth of their Franklin stove. The old +gentleman had a curious fancy in regard to his fire-wood. He did not want +the straight, shapely sticks from their mountain land, but gnarled and +crooked billets, cut from trees about the place that had required pruning +and removal. + +"I have associations with such fuel" he said, "and can usually recall the +trees--many of which I planted--from which it came; and as I watch it +burn and turn into coals, I see pictures of what happened many years +ago." + +One evening he threw on the fire a worm-eaten billet, the sound part of +which was as red as mahogany; then drew Amy to him and said, "I once sat +with your father under the apple-tree of which that piece of wood was a +part, and I can see him now as he then looked." + +She sat down beside him, and said, softly, "Please tell me how he +looked." + +In simple words the old man portrayed the autumn day, the fruit as golden +as the sunshine, a strong, hopeful man, who had passed away in a +far-distant land, but who was still a living presence to both. Amy looked +at the picture in the flickering blaze until her eyes were blinded with +tears. But such drops fall on the heart like rain and dew, producing +richer and more beautiful life. + +The pomp and glory of October were ushered in by days of such surpassing +balminess and brightness that it was felt to be a sin to remain indoors. +The grapes had attained their deepest purple, and the apples in the +orchard vied with the brilliant and varied hues of the fast-turning +foliage. The nights were soft, warm, and resonant with the unchecked +piping of insects. From every tree and shrub the katydids contradicted +one another with increasing emphasis, as if conscious that the time was +at hand when the last word must be spoken. The stars glimmered near +through a delicate haze, and in the western sky the pale crescent of the +moon was so inclined that the old Indian might have hung upon it his +powder-horn. + +On such an evening the young people from the Cliffords' had gathered on +Mr. Hargrove's piazza, and Amy and Gertrude were looking at the new moon +with silver in their pockets, each making her silent wish. What were +those wishes? Amy had to think before deciding what she wanted most, but +not Miss Hargrove. Her face has grown thinner and paler during the last +few weeks; there is unwonted brilliancy in her eyes to-night, but her +expression is resolute. Her wish and her hope were at variance. Times of +weakness, if such they could be called, would come, but they should not +appear in Burt's or Amy's presence. + +The former had just returned, apparently gayer than ever. His face was +bronzed from his out-door life in the Adirondacks. Its expression was +also resolute, and his eyes turned oftenest toward Amy, with a determined +loyalty. As has been said, not long after the experiences following the +storm, he had yielded to his impulse to go away and recover his poise. He +felt that if he continued to see Miss Hargrove frequently he might reveal +a weakness which would lead not only Amy to despise him, but also Miss +Hargrove, should she become aware of the past. As he often took such +outings, the family, with the exception of Webb and Amy, thought nothing +of it. His brother and the girl he had wooed so passionately now +understood him well enough to surmise his motive, and Amy had thought, +"It will do him good to go away and think awhile, but it will make no +difference; this new affair must run its course also." And yet her heart +began to relent toward him after a sisterly fashion. She wondered if Miss +Hargrove did regard him as other than a friend to whom she owed very +much. If so, she smiled at the idea of standing in the way of their +mutual happiness. She had endured his absence with exceeding tranquillity, +for Webb had given her far more of his society, and she, Alf, and Johnnie +often went out and aided him in gathering the fruit. For some reason these +light tasks had been more replete with quiet enjoyment than deliberate +pleasure-seeking. + +Burt had been at pains to take, in Amy's presence, a most genial and +friendly leave of Miss Hargrove, but there was no trace of the lover in +his manner. His smiles and cordial words had chilled her heart, and had +strengthened the fear that in some way he was bound to Amy. She knew that +she had fascinated and perhaps touched him deeply, but imagined she saw +indications of an allegiance that gave little hope for the future. If he +felt as she did, and were free, he would not have gone away; and when he +had gone, time grew leaden-footed. Absence is the touchstone, and by its +test she knew that her father was right, and that she, to whom so much +love had been given unrequited, had bestowed hers apparently in like +manner. Then had come an invitation to join a yachting party to Fortress +Monroe, and she had eagerly accepted. With the half-reckless impulse of +pride, she had resolved to throw away the dream that had promised so +much, and yet had ended in such bitter and barren reality. She would +forget it all in one brief whirl of gayety; and she had been the +brilliant life of the party. But how often her laugh had ended in a +stifled sigh! How often her heart told her, "This is not happiness, and +never can be again!" Her brief experience of what is deep and genuine in +life taught her that she had outgrown certain pleasures of the past, as a +child outgrows its toys, and she had returned thoroughly convinced that +her remedy was not in the dissipations of society. + +The evening after her return Burt, with Webb and Amy, had come to call, +and as she looked upon him again she asked herself, in sadness, "Is there +any remedy?" She was not one to give her heart in a half-way manner. + +It seemed to her that he had been absent for years, and had grown +indefinitely remote. Never before had she gained the impression so +strongly that he was in some way bound to Amy, and would abide by his +choice. If this were true, she felt that the sooner she left the vicinity +the better, and even while she chatted lightly and genially she was +planning to induce her father to return to the city at an early date. +Before parting, Amy spoke of her pleasure at the return of her friend, +who, she said, had been greatly missed, adding: "Now we shall make up for +lost time. The roads are in fine condition for horseback exercise, +nutting expeditions will soon be in order, and we have a bee-hunt on the +programme." + +"I congratulate you on your prospects," said Miss Hargrove. "I wish I +could share in all your fun, but fear I shall soon return to the city." + +Burt felt a sudden chill at these words, and a shadow from them fell +across his face. Webb saw their effect, and he at once entered on a +rather new role for him. "Then we must make the most of the time before +you go," he began. "I propose we take advantage of this weather and drive +over to West Point, and lunch at Fort Putnam." + +"Why, Webb, what a burst of genius!" Amy exclaimed. "Nothing could be +more delightful. Let us go to-morrow for we can't count on such weather +long." + +Miss Hargrove hesitated. The temptation was indeed strong, but she felt +it would not be wise to yield, and began, hesitatingly, "I fear my +engagements--" At this moment she caught a glimpse of Burt's face in a +mirror, and saw the look of disappointment which he could not disguise. +"If I return to the city soon," she resumed, "I ought to be at my +preparations." + +"Why, Gertrude," said Amy, "I almost feel as if you did not wish to go. +Can't you spare one day? I thought you were to remain in the country till +November. I have been planning so much that we could do together!" + +"Surely, Miss Hargrove," added Burt, with a slight tremor in his voice, +"you cannot nip Webb's genius in the very bud. Such an expedition as he +proposes is an inspiration." + +"But you can do without me," she replied, smiling on him bewilderingly. + +It was a light arrow, but its aim was true. Never before had he so felt +the power of her beauty, the almost irresistible spell of her fascination. +While her lips were smiling, there was an expression in her dark eyes that +made her words, so simple and natural in themselves, a searching question, +and he could not forbear saying, earnestly, "We should all enjoy the +excursion far more if you went with us." + +"Truly, Miss Hargrove," said Webb, "I shall be quenched if you decline, +and feel that I have none of the talent for which I was beginning to gain +a little credit." + +"I cannot resist such an appeal as that, Mr. Clifford," she said, +laughingly. + +"This is perfectly splendid!" cried Amy. "I anticipate a marvellous day +to-morrow. Bring Fred also, and let us all vie with each other in +encouraging Webb." + +"Has that quiet Webb any scheme in his mind?" Miss Hargrove thought, +after they had gone. "I wish that tomorrow might indeed be 'a marvellous +day' for us all." + +"_Can_ I do without her?" was poor Burt's query. An affirmative +answer was slow in coming, though he thought long and late. + + + + +CHAPTER LI + +WEBB'S FATEFUL EXPEDITION + + +Mr. Hargrove had welcomed the invitation that took his daughter among +some of her former companions, hoping that a return to brilliant +fashionable life would prove to her that she could not give it up. It was +his wish that she should marry a wealthy man of the city. His wife did +not dream of any other future for her handsome child, and she looked +forward with no little complacency to the ordering of a new and elegant +establishment. + +At the dinner-table Gertrude had given a vivacious account of her +yachting experience, and all had appeared to promise well; but when she +went to the library to kiss her father good-night, he looked at her +inquiringly, and said, "You enjoyed every moment, I suppose?" + +She shook her head sadly, and, after a moment, said: "I fear I've grown +rather tired of that kind of thing. We made much effort to enjoy +ourselves. Is there not a happiness which comes without so much effort?" + +"I'm sorry," he said, simply. + +"Perhaps you need not be. Suppose I find more pleasure in staying with +you than in rushing around?" + +"That would not last. That is contrary to nature." + +"I think it would be less contrary to _my_ nature than forced gayety +among people I care nothing about." + +He smiled at her fondly, but admitted to himself that absence had +confirmed the impressions of the summer, instead of dissipating them, and +that if Burt became her suitor he would be accepted. + +When she looked out on the morning of the excursion to Fort Putnam it was +so radiant with light and beauty that hope sprang up within her heart. +Disappointment that might last through life could not come on a day like +this. Silvery mists ascended from the river down among the Highlands. The +lawn and many of the fields were as green as they had been in June, and +on every side were trees like immense bouquets, so rich and varied was +their coloring. There was a dewy freshness in the air, a genial warmth in +the sunshine, a spring-like blue in the sky; and in these was no +suggestion that the November of her life was near. "And yet it may be," +she thought. "I must soon face my fate, and I must be true to Amy." + +Mrs. Hargrove regarded with discontent the prospect of another long +mountain expedition; but Fred, her idol, was wild for it, and in a day or +two he must return to school in the city, from which, at his earnest +plea, he had been absent too long already; so she smiled her farewell at +last upon the fateful excursion. + +He, with his sister, was soon at the Cliffords', and found the +rockaway--the strong old carryall with which Gertrude already had tender +associations--in readiness. Maggie had agreed to chaperon the party, +little Ned having been easily bribed to remain with his father. + +Miss Hargrove had looked wistfully at the Clifford mansion as she drew +near to it. Never had it appeared to her more home-like, with its +embowering trees and laden orchards. The bright hues of the foliage +suggested the hopes that centred there: the ocean, as she had seen +it--cold and gray under a clouded sky--was emblematic of life with no +fulfilment of those hopes. And when Mr. Clifford met her at the door, and +took her in to see the invalid, who greeted her almost as affectionately +as she would have welcomed Amy after absence, Miss Hargrove knew in the +depths of her heart how easily she could be at home there. + +Never did a pleasure-party start under brighter auspices. Even Mrs. +Clifford came out, on her husband's arm, to wave them a farewell. + +The young men had their alpenstocks, for it was their intention to walk +up the steep places. Webb was about to take Alf and Johnnie on the front +seat with him, when Amy exclaimed: "I'm going to drive, Mr. Webb. Johnnie +can sit between us, and keep me company when you are walking. You needn't +think that because you are the brilliant author of this expedition you +are going to have everything your own way." + +Indeed, not a little guile lurked behind her laughing eyes, which ever +kept Webb in perplexity--though he looked into them so often--as to +whether they were blue or gray. Miss Hargrove demurely took her seat with +Maggie, and Burt had the two boys with him. Fred had brought his gun, and +was vigilant for game now that the "law was up." + +They soon reached the foot of the mountain, and there was a general +unloading, for at first every one wished to walk. Maggie good-naturedly +climbed around to the front seat and took the reins, remarking that she +would soon have plenty of company again. + +Burt had not recognized Amy's tactics, nor did he at once second them, +even unconsciously. His long ruminations had led to the only possible +conclusion--the words he had spoken must be made good. Pride and honor +permitted no other course. Therefore he proposed to-day to be ubiquitous, +and as gallant to Maggie as to the younger ladies. When Miss Hargrove +returned to the city he would quietly prove his loyalty. Never before had +he appeared in such spirits; never so inexorably resolute. He recalled +Amy's incredulous laugh at his protestation of constancy, and felt that +he could never look her in the face if he faltered. It was known that +Miss Hargrove had received much attention, and her interest in him would +be likely to disappear at once should she learn of his declaration of +undying devotion to another but a few months before. He anathematized +himself, but determined that his weakness should remain unknown. It was +evident that Amy had been a little jealous, but probably that she did not +yet care enough for him to be very sensitive on the subject. This made no +difference, however. He had pledged himself to wait until she did care. +Therefore he sedulously maintained his mask. Miss Hargrove should be made +to believe that she had added much to the pleasure of the excursion, and +there he would stop. And Burt on his mettle was no bungler. The test +would come in his staying powers. + +Webb, however, was quietly serene. He had not watched and thought so long +in vain. He had seen Burt's expression the evening before, and knew that +a wakeful night had followed. His own feeling had taught him a +clairvoyance which enabled him to divine not a little of what was passing +in his brother's mind and that of Miss Hargrove. Amy troubled him more +than they. Her frank, sisterly affection was not love, and might never +become love. + +One of the objects of the expedition was to obtain an abundant supply of +autumn leaves and ferns for pressing. "I intend to make the old house +look like a bower this winter," Amy remarked. + +"That would be impossible with our city home," Miss Hargrove said, "and +mamma would not hear of such an attempt. But I can do as I please in my +own room, and shall gather my country _souvenirs_ to-day." + +The idea of decorating her apartment with feathery ferns and bright-hued +leaves took a strong hold upon her fancy, for she hoped that Burt would +aid her in making the collection. Nor was she disappointed, for Amy said: + +"Burt, I have gathered and pressed nearly all the ferns I need already. +You know the shady nooks where the most delicate ones grow, and you can +help Gertrude make as good a collection as mine. You'll help too, won't +you, Webb?" added the innocent little schemer, who saw that Burt was +looking at her rather keenly. + +So they wound up the mountain, making long stops here and there to gather +sylvan trophies and to note the fine views. Amy's manner was so cordial +and natural that Burt's suspicions had been allayed, and the young +fellow, who could do nothing by halves, was soon deeply absorbed in +making a superb collection for Miss Hargrove, and she felt that, whatever +happened, she was being enriched by everything he obtained for her. Amy +had brought a great many newspapers folded together so that leaves could +be placed between the pages, and Webb soon noted that his offerings were +kept separate from those of Burt. The latter tried to be impartial in his +labors in behalf of the two girls, bringing Amy bright-hued leaves +instead of ferns, but did not wholly succeed, and sometimes he found +himself alone with Miss Hargrove as they pursued their search a short +distance on some diverging and shaded path. On one of these occasions he +said, "I like to think how beautiful you will make your room this +winter." + +"I like to think of it too," she replied. "I shall feel that I have a +part of my pleasant summer always present." + +"Has it been a pleasant summer?" + +"Yes, the pleasantest I ever enjoyed." + +"I should think you would find it exceedingly dull after such brilliant +experiences as that of your yachting excursion." + +"Do you find to-day exceedingly dull?" + +"But I am used to the quiet country, and a day like this is the +exception." + +"I do not imagine you have ever lived a tame life." + +"Isn't that about the same as calling me wild?" + +"There's no harm in beginning a little in that way. Time sobers one fast +enough." + +"You are so favored that I can scarcely imagine life bringing sobering +experiences to you very soon." + +"Indeed? Have you forgotten what occurred on these very mountains, at no +great distance? I assure you I never forget it;" and her eyes were +eloquent as she turned them upon him. + +"One does not forget the most fortunate event of one's life. Since you +were to meet that danger, I would not have missed being near for the +world. I had even a narrower escape, as you know, on this mountain. The +spot where Webb found me is scarcely more than a mile away." + +She looked at him very wistfully, and her face grew pale, but she only +said, "I don't think either of us can forget the Highlands." + +"I shall never forget that little path," he said, in a low tone, and he +looked back at it lingeringly as they came out into the road and +approached the rest of the party. + +"Have you lost anything, Burt?" cried Amy, laughing. + +"No, but I've found something. See this superb bunch of maiden hair. That +spot should be marked for future supplies. Miss Hargrove will share with +you, for you can't have anything so fine as this." + +"Yes, indeed I have, and I shall call you and Webb to account if you do +not to-day make Gertrude fare as well." + +Both Miss Hargrove and Burt were bewildered. There was lurking mischief +in Amy's eyes when she first spoke, and yet she used her influence to +keep Burt in her friend's society. Her spirits seemed too exuberant to be +natural, and Miss Hargrove, who was an adept at hiding her feelings under +a mask of gayety, surmised that Amy's feminine instincts had taught her +to employ the same tactics. Conscious of their secret, Miss Hargrove and +Burt both thought, "Perhaps it is her purpose to throw us together as far +as possible, and learn the truth." + +Amy had a kinder purpose than they imagined. She wanted no more of Burt's +forced allegiance, and was much too good-natured to permit mere pique to +cause unhappiness to others. "Let Gertrude win him if she cares for him," +was her thought, "and if _she_ can't hold him his case is +_hopeless_." She could not resist the temptation, however, to tease +Burt a little. + +But he gave her slight chance for the next few hours. Her mirthful +question and the glance accompanying it had put him on his guard again, +and he at once became the gay cavalier-general he had resolved on being +throughout the day. + +They made a long pause to enjoy the view looking out upon Constitution +Island, West Point, the southern mountains, and the winding river, dotted +here and there with sails, and with steamers, seemingly held motionless +by their widely separated train of canal boats. + +"What mountain is this that we are now to descend?" Miss Hargrove asked. + +"Cro' Nest," Burt replied. "It's the first high mountain that abuts on +the river above West Point, you will remember." + +"Oh, yes, I remember. I have a song relating to it, and will give you a +verse;" and she sang: + + "'Where Hudson's waves o'er silvery sands + Wind through the hills afar, + And Cro' Nest like a monarch stands, + Crowned with a single star.'" + +After a round of applause had subsided, Burt, whose eyes had been more +demonstrative than his hands, said, "That's by Morris. We can see from +Fort Putnam his old home under Mount Taurus." + +"I know. He is the poet who entreated the woodman to 'spare that tree.'" + +"Which the woodman will never do," Webb remarked, "unless compelled by +law; nor even then, I fear." + +"Oh, Webb!" cried Amy, "with what a thump you drop into prose!" + +"I also advise an immediate descent of the mountain if we are to have any +time at Fort Putnam," he added. "I'll walk on." + +They were soon winding down the S's by which the road overcame the steep +declivity. On reaching a plateau, before the final descent, they came +across a wretched hovel, gray and storm-beaten, with scarcely strength to +stand. Rags took the place of broken glass in the windows. A pig was +rooting near the doorstep, on which stood a slatternly woman, regarding +the party with dull curiosity. + +"Talk about the elevating influence of mountain scenery," said Miss +Hargrove; "there's a commentary on the theory." + +"The theory's correct," persisted Burt. "Their height above tide-water +and the amount of bad whiskey they consume keep our mountaineers elevated +most of the time." + +"Does Lumley live in a place like that?" Miss Hargrove asked. + +"He did--in a worse one, if possible," Webb replied for Amy, who +hesitated. "But you should see how it is changed. He now has a good +vegetable garden fenced in, a rustic porch covered with American ivy, +and--would you believe it?--an actual flower-bed. Within the hut there +are two pictures on the wall, and the baby creeps on a carpeted floor. +Lumley says Amy is making a man of him." + +"You forget to mention how much you have helped me," Amy added. + +"Come, let us break up this mutual admiration society," said Burt. "I'm +ready for lunch already, and Fort Putnam is miles away." + +The road from the foot of the mountain descends gradually through wild, +beautiful scenery to West Point. Cro' Nest rises abruptly on the left, +and there is a wooded valley on the right, with mountains beyond. The +trees overhung the road with a canopy of gold, emerald, and crimson +foliage, and the sunlight came to the excursionists as through +stained-glass windows. Taking a side street at the back of the military +post, they soon reached a point over which frowned the ruins of the fort, +and here they left their horses. After a brief climb to the northward +they entered on an old road, grass-grown and leaf-carpeted, and soon +passed through the gaping sally-port, on either side of which cone-like +cedars stood as sentinels. Within the fort Nature had been busy for a +century softening and obliterating the work of man. Cedar trees--some of +which were dying from age--grew everywhere, even on the crumbling +ramparts. Except where ledges of the native rock cropped out, the ground +was covered with a thick sward. Near the centre of the inclosure is the +rocky basin. In it bubbles the spring at which the more temperate of the +ancient garrison may have softened the asperities of their New England +rum. + +The most extensive ruins are seen by turning sharply to the left from the +sally-port. Here, yawning like caverns, their entrances partially choked +by the debris, are six casemates, or vaults. They were built of brick, +covered with stone, and are eighteen feet deep and twelve wide, with an +arched roof twelve feet high. On the level rampart above them were long, +withered grass, the wild dwarf-rose, and waving golden-rod. The outer +walls, massy and crumbling, or half torn away by vandal hands, were built +in angles, according to the engineering science of the Revolution, except +on the west, where the high ramparts surmount a mural perpendicular +precipice fifty feet in height. Inland, across the valley, the mountains +were seen, rising like rounded billows in every direction, while from the +north, east, and south the windings of the Hudson were visible for +fifteen miles. + +All but Amy had visited the spot before, and Burt explored the place with +her while the rest prepared for lunch. She had asked Gertrude to +accompany them, but the latter had sought refuge with Maggie, and at her +side she proposed to remain. She scarcely dared trust herself with Burt, +and as the day advanced he certainly permitted his eyes to express an +interest that promised ill for his inexorable purpose of constancy. + +It had become clear to Miss Hargrove that he was restrained by something +that had occurred between him and Amy, and both her pride and her sense +of truth to her friend decided her to withdraw as far as possible from +his society, and to return to the city. + +She and Burt vied with each other in gayety at lunch. When it was over +they all grouped themselves in the shade of a clump of cedars, and looked +away upon the wide prospect, Webb pointing out objects of past and +present interest. Alf and Fred speedily grew restless and started off +with the gun, Johnnie's head sank into her mother's lap, Miss Hargrove +and Burt grew quiet and preoccupied, their eyes looking off into vacancy. +Webb was saying, "By one who had imagination how much more could be seen +from this point than meets the eye! There, on the plain below us, would +rise the magnificent rustic colonnade two hundred and twenty feet long +and eighty feet wide, beneath which Washington gave the great banquet in +honor of the birth of the Dauphin of France, and on the evening of the +same day these hills blazed with musketry and rolled back the thunder of +cannon with which the festivities of the evening were begun. Think of the +'Father of his Country' being there in flesh and blood, just as we are +here! In the language of an old military journal, 'He carried down a +dance of twenty couple on the green grass, with a graceful and dignified +air, having Mrs. Knox for his partner.' In almost a direct line across +the river you can see the Beverly Robinson house, from which Arnold +carried on his correspondence with Andre. You can look into the window of +the room to which, after hearing of the capture of Andre, he hastened +from the breakfast-table. To this upper room he immediately summoned his +wife, who had been the beautiful Margaret Shippen, you remember, and told +her of his awful peril, then rushed away, leaving the poor, terror-stricken +woman unconscious on the floor. Would you not like to look through the +glass at the house where the tragedy occurred, Miss Hargrove?" + +At the sound of her name the young girl started visibly, and Webb saw +that there were tears in her eyes; but she complied without a word, and +he so directed the glass that it covered the historic mansion. + +"How full of sensibility she is!" thought innocent Webb, taking her +quickly suppressed emotion as a tribute to his moving reminiscences. + +"Oh, Webb, have done with your lugubrious ancient history!" cried Burt, +springing up. + +"It's time we were getting ready for a homeward move," said Maggie. "I'll +go and pack the things." + +"And I'll help you," added Miss Hargrove, hastily following her. + +"Let me look at the house, too," said Amy, taking the glass; then added, +after a moment: "Poor Margaret Arnold! It was indeed a tragedy, as you +said, Webb--a sadder one than these old military preparations can +suggest. In all his career of war and treachery Arnold never inflicted a +more cruel wound." + +"How much feeling Miss Hargrove showed!" Webb remarked, musingly. + +"Yes," said Amy, quietly, "she was evidently feeling deeply." Her thought +was, "I don't believe she heard a word that Webb said." Then, seeing that +Burt was helping Maggie and Miss Hargrove, she added, "Please point out +to me some other interesting places." + +Webb, well pleased, talked on to a listener who did not give him her +whole attention. She could not forget Gertrude's paleness, and her +alternations from extreme gayety to a look of such deep sadness as to +awaken not a little sympathetic curiosity. Amy loved her friend truly, +and it did not seem strange to her that Miss Hargrove was deeply +interested in Burt, since they had been much thrown together, and since +she probably owed her life to him. Amy's resentment toward Burt had +passed away. She had found that her pride, merely, and not her heart, was +wounded by his new passion, and she already began to feel that she never +could have any such regard for him as her friend was possibly cherishing. +Therefore it was, perhaps, not unnatural that her tranquil regard should +prove unsatisfying to Burt in contrast with the passion of which Miss +Hargrove was capable. She had seen his vain efforts to remain loyal, and +had smiled at them, proposing to let matters take their course, and to +give little aid in extricating him from his dilemma. But, if she had +interpreted her friend's face aright, she could no longer stand aloof, an +amused and slightly satirical spectator. If Burt deserved some +punishment, Gertrude did not, and she was inclined to guess the cause of +the latter's haste to return to the city. + +It may thus be seen that Amy was fast losing her unsophisticated +girlhood. While Burt's passionate words had awakened no corresponding +feeling, they had taught her that she was no longer a child, since she +could inspire such words. Her intimacy with Miss Hargrove, and the +latter's early confidences, had enlarged her ideas on some subjects. As +the bud of a flower passes slowly through long and apparently slow stages +of immaturity and at last suddenly opens to the light, so she had reached +that age when a little experience suggests a great deal, and the +influences around her tended to develop certain thoughts very rapidly. +She saw that her friend had not been brought up in English seclusion. +Admirers by the score had flocked around her, and, as she had often said, +she proposed to marry for love. "I have the name of being cold," she once +told Amy, "but I know I can love as can few others, and I shall know it +well when I do love, too." The truth was daily growing clearer to Amy +that under our vivid American skies the grand passion is not a fiction of +romance or a quiet arrangement between the parties concerned. + +Miss Hargrove had not misjudged herself. Her tropical nature, when once +kindled, burned with no feeble, wavering flame. She had passed the point +of criticism of Burt. She loved him, and to her fond eyes he seemed more +worthy of her love than any man she had ever before known. But she had +not passed beyond her sense of truth and duty, and the feeling came to +her that she must go away at once and engage in that most pathetic of all +struggles that fall to woman's lot. As the conviction grew clear on this +bright October day, she felt that her heart was bleeding internally. +Tears would come into her eyes at the dreary prospect. Her former +brilliant society life now looked as does an opera-house in the morning, +when the gilding and tinsel that flashed and sparkled the evening before +are seen to be dull and tarnished. Burt had appeared to especial +advantage in his mountain home. He excelled in all manly sports. His +tall, fine figure and unconscious, easy manner were as full of grace as +deficient in conventionality, and she thought with disgust of many of her +former admirers, who were nothing if not stylish after the arbitrary mode +of the hour. At the same time he had proved that he could be at home in a +drawing-room on the simple ground of good-breeding, and not because he +had been run through fashion's latest mold. The grand scenery around her +suggested the manhood that kindled her imagination--a manhood strong, +fearless, and not degenerated from that sturdy age which had made these +scenes historic. + +By the time they were ready to start homeward the southern side of Cro' +Nest was in deep blue shadow. They bowled along rapidly till they came to +the steep ascent, and then the boys and the young men sprang out. "Would +you like to walk, Gertrude?" Amy asked, for she was bent on throwing her +friend and Burt together during the witching twilight that was coming on +apace. + +"I fear I am too tired, unless the load is heavy," she replied. + +"Oh, no, indeed," said Webb. "It does not take long to reach the top of +the mountain on this side, and then it's chiefly down hill the rest of +the way." + +Amy, who had been sitting with Webb and Johnnie as before, said to Miss +Hargrove, "Won't you step across the seats and keep me company?" + +She complied, but not willingly. She was so utterly unhappy that she +wished to be left to herself as far as possible. In her realization of a +loss that seemed immeasurable, she was a little resentful toward Amy, +feeling that she had been more frank and confidential than her friend. If +Amy had claims on Burt, why had she not spoken of them? why had she +permitted her for whom she professed such strong friendship to drift +almost wholly unwarned upon so sad a fate? and why was she now clearly +trying to bring together Burt and the one to whom even he felt that he +had no right to speak in more than a friendly manner? While she was +making such immense sacrifices to be true, she felt that Amy was +maintaining an unfair reticence, if not actually beguiling herself and +Burt into a display of weakness for which they would be condemned--or, at +least, he would be, and love identifies itself with its object. These +thoughts, having once been admitted, grew upon her mind rapidly, for it +is hard to suffer through another and maintain a gentle charity. +Therefore she was silent when she took her seat by Amy, and when the +latter gave her a look that was like a caress, she did not return it. + +"You are tired, Gertrude," Amy began gently. "Indeed, you look ill. You +must stay with me to-night, and I'll watch over you like Sairy Gamp." + +So far from responding to Amy's playful and friendly words, Miss Hargrove +said, hastily, + +"Oh, no, I had better go right on home. I don't feel very well, and shall +be better at home; and I must begin to get ready to-morrow for my return +to the city." + +Amy would not be repulsed, but, putting her arm around her friend, she +looked into her eyes, and asked: + +"Why are you so eager to return to New York? Are you tiring of your +country friends? You certainly told me that you expected to stay till +November." + +"Fred must go back to school to-morrow," said Gertrude, in a constrained +voice, "and I do not think it is well to leave him alone in the city +house." + +"You are withdrawing your confidence from me," said Amy, sadly. + +"Have you ever truly given me yours?" was the low, impetuous response. +"No. If you had, I should not be the unhappy girl I am-to-night. Well, +since you wish to know the whole truth you shall. You said you could +trust me implicitly, and I promised to deserve your trust. If you had +said to me that Burt was bound to you when I told you that I was +heart-whole and fancy-free, I should have been on my guard. Is it natural +that I should be indifferent to the man who risked his life to save mine? +Why have you left me so long in his society without a hint of warning? +But I shall keep my word. I shall not try to snatch happiness from +another." + +Johnnie's tuneful little voice was piping a song, and the rumble of the +wheels over a stony road prevented Maggie, on the last seat, from hearing +anything. + +The clasp of Amy's arm tightened. "Now you _shall_ stay with me +to-night," she said. "I cannot explain here and now. See, Burt has +turned, and is coming toward us. I pledge you my word he can never be to +me more than a brother. I do not love him except as a brother, and never +have, and you can snatch no happiness from me, except by treating me with +distrust and going away." + +"Oh, Amy," began Miss Hargrove, in tones and with a look that gave +evidence of the chaotic bewilderment of her mind. + +"Hush! We are not very lonely, thank you, Mr. Burt. You look, as far as I +can see you through the dusk, as if you were commiserating us as poor +forlorn creatures, but we have some resources within ourselves." + +"The dusk is, indeed, misleading. We are the forlorn creatures who have +no resources. Won't you please take us in?" + +"Take you in! What do you take us for? I assure you we are very simple, +honest people." + +"In that case I shall have no fears, but clamber in at once. I feel as if +I had been on a twenty-mile tramp." + +"What an implied compliment to our exhilarating society!" + +"Indeed there is--a very strong one. I've been so immensely exhilarated +that, in the re-action, I'm almost faint." + +"Maggie," cried Amy, "do take care of Burt; he's going to faint." + +"He must wait till we come to the next brook, and then we'll put him in +it." + +"Webb," said Amy, looking over her shoulder at the young man, who was now +following the carriage, "is there anything the matter with you, also?" + +"Nothing more than usual." + +"Oh, your trouble, whatever it may be, is chronic. Well, well, to think +that we poor women may be the only survivors of this tremendous +expedition." + +"That would be most natural--the survival of the fittest, you know." + +"I don't think your case serious. Science is uppermost in your mind, as +ever. You ought to live a thousand years, Webb, to see the end of all +your theories." + +"I fear it wouldn't be the millennium for me, and that I should have more +perplexing theories at its end than now." + +"That's the way with men--they are never satisfied," remarked Miss +Hargrove. "Mr. Clifford, this is your expedition, and it's getting so +dark that I shall feel safer if you are driving." + +"Oh, Gertrude, you have no confidence in me whatever. As if I would break +your neck--or heart either!" Amy whispered in her friend's ear. + +"You are a very mysterious little woman," was the reply, given in like +manner, "and need hours of explanation." Then, to Webb: "Mr. Clifford, +I've much more confidence in you than in Amy. Her talk is so giddy that I +want a sober hand on the reins." + +"To which Mr. Clifford do you refer?" asked Burt. + +"Oh, are you reviving? I thought you had become unconscious." + +"I'm not wholly past feeling." + +"I want one to drive who can see his way, not feel it," was the laughing +response. + +Amy, too, was laughing silently, as she reined in the horses. "What are you +two girls giggling about?" said Burt, becoming a little uncomfortable. "The +idea of two such refined creatures giggling!" + +"Well," exclaimed Webb, "what am I to do? I can't stand up between you +and drive." + +"Gertrude, you must clamber around and sustain Burt's drooping spirits." + +"Indeed, Amy, you must know best how to do that," was the reply. "As +guest, I claim a little of the society of the commander-in-chief. You had +it coming over." + +"I'll solve the vexed question," said Burt, much nettled, and leaping +out. + +"Now, Burt, the question isn't vexed, and don't you be," cried Amy, +springing lightly over to the next seat. "There are Fred and Alf, too, +with the gun. Let us all get home as soon as possible, for it's nearly +time for supper already. Come, I shall feel much hurt if you don't keep +me company." + +Burt at once realized the absurdity of showing pique, although he felt +that there was something in the air which he did not understand. He came +back laughing, with much apparent good-nature, and saying, "I thought I'd +soon bring one or the other of you to terms." + +"Oh, what a diplomat you are!" said Amy, with difficulty restraining a +new burst of merriment. + +They soon reached the summit, and paused to give the horses a breathing. +The young moon hung in the west, and its silver crescent symbolized to +Miss Hargrove the hope that was growing in her heart. "Amy," she said, +"don't you remember the song we arranged from 'The Culprit Fay'? We +certainly should sing it here on this mountain. You take the solo." + +Amy sang, in clear soprano: + + "'The moon looks down on old Cro' Nest, + She mellows the shades on his shaggy breast, + And seems his huge gray form to throw + In a silver cone on the wave below.'" + +"Imagine the cone and wave, please," said Miss Hargrove; and then, in an +alto rich with her heart's deep feeling, she sang with Amy: + + "'Ouphe and goblin! imp and sprite! + Elf of eve! and starry fay! + Ye that love the moon's soft light, + Hither--hither wend your way; + Twine ye in a jocund ring; + Sing and trip it merrily, + Hand to hand and wing to wing, + Round the wild witch-hazel tree.'" + +"If I were a goblin, I'd come, for music like that," cried Burt, as they +started rapidly homeward. + +"You are much too big to suggest a culprit fay," said Amy. + +"But the description of the fay's charmer is your portrait," he replied, +in a low tone: + + "'But well I know her sinless mind + Is pure as the angel forms above, + Gentle and meek, and chaste and kind, + Such as a spirit well might love.'" + +"Oh, no; you are mistaken, I'm not meek in the least. Think of the +punishment: + + "'Tied to the hornet's shardy wings, + Toss'd on the pricks of nettles' stings;' + +you know the rest." + +"What witchery has got into you to-night, Amy?" + +"Do you think I'm a witch? Beware, then. Witches can read men's thoughts." + +"That last song was so good that I, for one, would be glad of more," cried +Webb. + +"You men must help us, then," said Miss Hargrove, and in a moment the wild, +dim forest was full of melody, the rocks and highlands sending back soft +and unheeded echoes. + +Burt, meantime, was occupied with disagreeable reflections. Perhaps both +the girls at last understood him, and had been comparing notes, to his +infinite disadvantage. His fickleness and the dilemma he was in may have +become a jest between them. What could he do? Resentment, except against +himself, was impossible. If Amy understood him, in what other way could +she meet any approach to sentiment on his part than by a laughing scorn? +If Miss Hargrove had divined the past, or had received a hint concerning +it, why should she not shun his society? He was half-desperate, and yet +felt that any show of embarrassment or anger would only make him appear +more ridiculous. The longer he thought the more sure he was that the +girls were beginning to guess his position, and that his only course was +a polite indifference to both. But this policy promised to lead through a +thorny path, and to what? In impotent rage at himself he ground his teeth +during the pauses between the stanzas that he was compelled to sing. Such +was the discord in his heart that he felt like uttering notes that would +make "night hideous." + +He was still more distraught when, on their return, they found Mr. +Hargrove's carriage in waiting, and Amy, after a brief conference with +her friend in her room, came down prepared to accompany Miss Hargrove +home after supper. In spite of all his efforts at ease and gayety, his +embarrassment and trouble were evident. He had observed Miss Hargrove's +pallor and her effort to keep up at Fort Putnam, and could not banish the +hope that she sympathized with him; but now the young girl was demurely +radiant. Her color had come again, and the lustre of her beautiful eyes +was dazzling. Yet they avoided his, and she had far more to say to Webb +and the others than to him. Webb, too, was perplexed, for during the day +Amy had been as bewildering to him as to Burt. But he was in no +uncertainty as to his course, which was simply to wait. He, with Burt, +saw the girls to the carriage, and the latter said good-night rather +coldly and stiffly. Alf and Fred parted regretfully, with the promise of +a correspondence which would be as remarkable for its orthography as for +its natural history. + + + + +CHAPTER LII + +BURT'S SORE DILEMMA + + +Mr. Hargrove greeted Amy cordially, but his questioning eyes rested +oftenest on his daughter. Her expression and manner caused him to pace +his study long and late that night. Mrs. Hargrove was very polite and a +little stately. She felt that she existed on a plane above Amy. + +The young girls soon pleaded fatigue, and retired. Once in the seclusion +of their room they forgot all about their innocent fib, and there was not +a trace of weariness in their manner. While Burt was staring at his +dismal, tangled fortune, seeing no solution of his difficulties, a +fateful conference relating to him was taking place. Amy did not look +like a scorner, as with a sister's love and a woman's tact she pleaded +his cause and palliated his course to one incapable of harsh judgment. +But she felt that she must be honest with her friend, and that the whole +truth would be best and safest. Her conclusion was: "No man who loved +_you_, and whom you encouraged, would ever change. I know now that I +never had a particle of such feeling as you have for Burt, and can see +that I naturally chilled and quenched his regard for me." + +Miss Hargrove's dark eyes flashed ominously as she spoke of Burt or of +any man proving faithless after she had given encouragement. + +"But it wasn't possible for me to give him any real encouragement," Amy +persisted. "I've never felt as you do, and am not sure that I want to for +a long time." + +"How about Webb?" Miss Hargrove almost said, but she suppressed the +words, feeling that since he had not revealed his secret she had no right +to do so. Indeed, as she recalled how sedulously he had guarded it she +was sure he would not thank her for suggesting it to Amy before she was +ready for the knowledge. Impetuous as Miss Hargrove was at times, she had +too fine a nature to be careless of the rights and feelings of others. +Moreover, she felt that Webb had been her ally, whether consciously or +not, and he should have his chance with all the help she could give him, +but she was wise enough to know that obtrusion and premature aid are +often disastrous. + +The decision, after this portentous conference, was: "Mr. Bart must seek +me, and seek very zealously. I know you well enough Amy, to be sure that +you will give him no hints. It's bad enough to love a man before I've +been asked to do so. What an utterly perverse and unmanageable thing +one's heart is! I shall do no angling, however, nor shall I permit any." + +"You may stand up straight, Gertrude," said Amy, laughing, "but don't +lean over backward." + +Burt entertained half a dozen wild and half-tragic projects before he +fell asleep late that night, but finally, in utter self-disgust, settled +down on the prosaic and not irrational one of helping through with the +fall work on the farm, and then of seeking some business or profession to +which he could give his whole mind. "As to ladies' society," he +concluded, savagely, "I'll shun it hereafter till I'm grown up." + +Burt always attained a certain kind of peace and the power to sleep after +he had reached an irrevocable decision. + +During the night the wind veered to the east, and a cold, dismal +rain-storm set in. Dull and dreary indeed the day proved to Burt. He +could not go out and put his resolution into force. He fumed about the +house, restless, yet reticent. He would rather have fought dragons than +keep company with his own thoughts in inaction. All the family supposed +he missed Amy, except Webb, who hoped he missed some one else. + +"Why don't you go over and bring Amy home, Burt?" his mother asked, at +the dinner-table. "The house seems empty without her, and everybody is +moping. Even father has fretted over his newspaper, and wished Amy was +here." + +"Why can't they print an edition of the paper for old men and dark days?" +said the old gentleman, discontentedly. + +"Well," remarked Leonard, leaning back in his chair, and looking +humorously at Maggie, "I'm sorry for you young fellows, but I'm finding +the day serene." + +"Of course you are," snapped Burt. "With an armchair to doze in and a +dinner to look forward to, what more do you wish? As for Webb, he can +always get astride of some scientific hobby, no matter how bad the +weather is." + +"As for Burt, he can bring Amy home, and then every one will be +satisfied," added his mother, smiling. + +Thus a new phase of his trial presented itself to poor Burt. He must +either face those two girls after their night's conclave, with all its +possible revelations, or else awaken at once very embarrassing surmises. +Why shouldn't he go for Amy? all would ask. "Well, why shouldn't I?" he +thought. "I may as well face it out." And in a mood of mingled +recklessness and fear he drove through the storm. When his name was +announced the girls smiled significantly, but went down looking as +unconscious as if they had not spoken of him in six months, and Burt +could not have been more suave, non-committal, and impartially polite if +these ladies had been as remote from his thoughts as one of Webb's +theories. At the same time he intimated that he would be ready to return +when Amy was. + +At parting the friends gave each other a little look of dismay, and he +caught it from the same telltale mirror that persisted in taking a part +in this drama. + +"Aha!" though the young fellow, "so they have been exchanging confidences, +and my manner is disconcerting--not what was expected. If I have become a +jest between them it shall be a short-lived one. Miss Hargrove, with all +her city experience, shall find that I'm not so young and verdant but that +I can take a hand in this game also. As for Amy, I now know she never cared +for me, and I don't believe she ever would;" and so he went away with +laughing repartee, and did not see the look of deep disappointment with +which he was followed. + +Amy was perplexed and troubled. Her innocent schemes might not be so +easily accomplished if Burt would be wrong-headed. She was aware of the +dash of recklessness in his character, and feared that under the impulse +of pride he might spoil everything, or, at least, cause much needless +delay. + +With the fatality of blundering which usually attends upon such +occasions, he did threaten to fulfil her fears, and so successfully that +Amy was in anxiety, and Miss Hargrove grew as pale as she was resolute +not to make the least advance, while poor Webb felt that his suspense +never would end. Burt treated Amy in an easy, fraternal manner. He +engaged actively in the task of gathering and preparing for market the +large crop of apples, and he openly broached the subject of going into a +business of some kind away from home, where, he declared, with a special +meaning for Amy, he was not needed, adding: "It's time I was earning my +salt and settling down to something for life. Webb and Len can take care +of all the land, and I don't believe I was cut out for a farmer." + +He not only troubled Amy exceedingly, but he perplexed all the family, +for it seemed that he was decidedly taking a new departure. One evening, +a day or two after he had introduced the project of going elsewhere, his +father, to Amy's dismay, suggested that he should go to the far West and +look after a large tract of land which the old gentleman had bought some +years before. It was said that a railroad was to be built through it, +and, if so, the value of the property would be greatly enhanced, and +steps should be taken to get part of it into the market. Burt took hold +of the scheme with eagerness, and was for going as soon as possible. +Looking to note the effect of his words upon Amy, he saw that her +expression was not only reproachful, but almost severe. Leonard heartily +approved of the plan. Webb was silent, and in deep despondency, feeling +that if Bart went now nothing would be settled. He saw Amy's aversion to +the project also, and misinterpreted it. + +She was compelled to admit that the prospects were growing very dark. +Burt might soon depart for an indefinite absence, and Miss Hargrove +return to the city. Amy, who had looked upon the mutations in her own +prospects so quietly, was almost feverishly eager to aid her friend. She +feared she had blundered on the mountain ride. Burt's pride had been +wounded, and he had received the impression that his April-like moods had +been discussed satirically. It was certain that he had been very deeply +interested in Gertrude, and that he was throwing away not only his +happiness, but also hers; and Amy felt herself in some degree to blame. +Therefore she was bent upon ending the senseless misunderstanding, but +found insurmountable embarrassments on every side. Miss Hargrove was +prouder than Burt. Wild horses could not draw her to the Cliffords', With +a pale, resolute face, she declined even to put herself in the way of +receiving the least advance. Amy would gladly have taken counsel of Webb, +but could not do so without revealing her friend's secret, and also +disclosing mere surmises about Burt, which, although amounting to +conviction in her mind, could not be mentioned. Therefore, from the very +delicacy of the situation, she felt herself helpless. Nature was her +ally, however, and if all that was passing in Burt's mind had been +manifest, the ardent little schemer would not have been so despondent. + +The best hope of Burt had been that he had checkmated the girls in their +disposition to make jesting comparisons, He would retire with so much +nonchalance as to leave nothing to be said. They would find complete +inaction and silence hard to combat. But the more he thought of it the +less it seemed like an honorable retreat. He had openly wooed one girl, +he had since lost his heart to another, and she had given him a glimpse +of strong regard, if not more. His thoughts were busy with her every word +and glance. How much had his tones and eyes revealed to her? Might she +not think him a heartless flirt if he continued to avoid her and went +away without a word? Would it not be better to be laughed at as one who +did not know his own mind than be despised for deliberate trifling? Amy +had asked him to go and spend an evening with her friend, and he had +pleaded weariness as an excuse. Her incredulous look and rather cool +manner since had not been reassuring. She had that very morning broached +the subject of a chestnutting party for the following day, and he had +promptly said that he was going to the city to make inquiries about +routes to the West. + +"Why, Burt, you can put off your trip to town for a day," said his +mother. "If you are to leave us so soon you should make the most of the +days that are left." + +"That is just what he is doing," Amy remarked, satirically. "He has +become absorbed in large business considerations. Those of us who have +not such resources are of no consequence." + +The old people and Leonard believed that Amy was not pleased with the +idea of Burt's going away, but they felt that she was a little +unreasonable, since the young fellow was rather to be commended for +wishing to take life more seriously. But her words rankled in Burt's +mind. He felt that she understood him better than the others, and that he +was not winning respect from her. In the afternoon he saw her, with Alf +and Johnnie, starting for the chestnut-trees, and although she passed not +far away she gave him only a slight greeting, and did not stop for a +little merry banter, as usual. The young fellow was becoming very +unhappy, and he felt that his position was growing intolerable. That Amy +should be cold toward him, or, indeed, toward any one, was an unheard-of +thing, and he knew that she must feel that there was good reason for her +manner. "And is there not?" he asked himself, bitterly. "What are she and +Miss Hargrove thinking about me?" + +The more he thought upon the past the more awkward and serious appeared +his dilemma, and his long Western journey, which at first he had welcomed +as promising a diversion of excitement and change, now began to appear +like exile. He dreaded to think of the memories he must take with him; +still more he deprecated the thoughts he would leave behind him. His +plight made him so desperate that he suddenly left the orchard where he +was gathering apples, went to the house, put on his riding-suit, and in a +few moments was galloping furiously away on his black horse. With a +renewal of hope Webb watched his proceedings, and with many surmises, +Amy, from a distant hillside, saw him passing at a break-neck pace. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + +BURT'S RESOLVE + + +For the first two or three miles Burt rode as if he were trying to leave +care behind him, scarcely heeding what direction he took. When at last he +reined his reeking horse he found himself near the entrance of the lane +over which willows met in a Gothic arch. He yielded to the impulse to visit +the spot which had seen the beginning of so fateful an acquaintance, and +had not gone far when a turn in the road revealed a group whose presence +almost made his heart stand still for a moment. Miss Hargrove had stopped +her horse on the very spot where he had aided her in her awkward +predicament. Her back was toward him, and her great dog was at her side, +looking up into her face, as if in mute sympathy with his fair mistress. + +Hope sprang up in Burt's heart. She could not be there with bowed head if +she despised him. Her presence seemed in harmony with that glance by +which, when weak and unnerved after escaping from deadly peril, she had +revealed possibly more than gratitude to the one who had rescued her. His +love rose like an irresistible tide, and he resolved that before he left +his home Amy and Miss Hargrove should know the whole truth, whatever +might be the result. Meanwhile he was rapidly approaching the young girl, +and the dog's short bark of recognition was her first intimation of +Hurt's presence. Her impulse was to fly, but in a second she saw the +absurdity of this course, and yet she was greatly embarrassed, and would +rather have been discovered by him at almost any other point of the +globe. She was going to the city on the morrow, and as she had drawn rein +on this spot and realized the bitterness of her disappointment, tears +would come. She wiped them hastily away, but dreaded lest their traces +should be seen. + +Turning her horse, she met Burt with a smile that her moist eyes belied, +and said: "I'm glad you do not find me in such an awkward plight as when +we first met here. I've been giving my horse a rest. Do you not want a +gallop?" and away like the wind she started homeward. + +Burt easily kept at her side, but conversation was impossible. At last he +said: "My horse is very tired, Miss Hargrove. At this pace you will soon +be home, and I shall feel that you are seeking to escape from me. Have I +fallen so very low in your estimation?" + +"Why," she exclaimed, in well-feigned surprise, as she checked her horse, +"what have you done that you should fall in my estimation?" + +"I shall tell you before very long," he said, with an expression that +seemed almost tragic. + +"Mr. Clifford, you surprise me. Your horse is all of a foam too. Surely +this brief gallop cannot have so tried your superb beast. What has +happened? Amy is not ill, or any one?" + +"Oh, no," he replied, with a grim laugh. "Everyone is well and +complacent. I had been riding rapidly before I met you. My horse has been +idle for some days, and I had to run the spirit out of him. Amy wishes to +have a chestnutting party to-morrow. Won't you join us?" + +"I'm sorry, Mr. Clifford, but I return to the city tomorrow afternoon, +and was coming over in the morning to say good-by to Amy and your father +and mother." + +"I am very sorry too," he said, in tones that gave emphasis to his words. + +She turned upon him a swift, questioning glance, but her eyes instantly +fell before his intense gaze. + +"Oh, well," she said, lightly, "we've had a very pleasant summer, and all +things must come to an end, you know." Then she went on speaking, in a +matter-of-fact way, of the need of looking after Fred, who was alone in +town, and of getting the city house in order, and of her plans for the +winter, adding: "As there is a great deal of fruit on the place, papa +does not feel that he can leave just yet. You know he goes back and forth +often, and so his business does not suffer. But I can just as well go +down now, and nearly all my friends have returned to town." + +"All your friends, Miss Hargrove?" + +"Amy has promised to visit me soon," she said, hastily. + +"It would seem that I am not down on your list of friends," he began, +gloomily. + +"Why, Mr. Clifford, I'm sure papa and I would be glad to have you call +whenever you are in town." + +"I fear I shall have to disappoint Mr. Hargrove," he said, a little +satirically. "I'm going West the last of this month, and may be absent +much of the winter. I expect to look about in that section for some +opening in business." + +"Indeed," she replied, in tones which were meant to convey but little +interest, yet which had a slight tremor in spite of her efforts. "It will +be a very great change for you." + +"Perhaps you think that constitutes its chief charm." + +"Mr. Clifford," she said, "what chance have I had to think about it at +all? You have never mentioned the matter." (Amy had, however, and +Gertrude had not only thought about it, but dreamed of it, as if she had +been informed that on a certain date the world would end.) "Is it not a +rather sudden plan?" she asked, a little hesitatingly. + +"Yes, it is. My father has a large tract of land in the West, and it's +time it was looked after. Isn't it natural that I should think of doing +something in life? I fear there is an impression in your mind that I +entertain few thoughts beyond having a good time." + +"To have a good time in life," she said, smiling at him, "is a very +serious matter, worthy of any one's attention. It would seem that few +accomplish it." + +"And I greatly fear that I shall share in the ill-success of the +majority." + +"You are much mistaken. A man has no end of resources. You will soon be +enjoying the excitement of travel and enterprise in the West." + +"And you the excitement of society and conquest in the city. Conquests, +however, must be almost wearisome to you, Miss Hargrove, you make them so +easily." + +"You overrate my power. I certainly should soon weary of conquests were I +making them. Women are different from men in this respect. Where in +history do we read of a man who was satiated with conquest? Well, here we +are at home. Won't you come in? Papa will be glad to see you." + +"Are you going to the city to-morrow?" + +"Yes." + +"May I call on you this evening?" + +"Certainly. Bring Amy with you, won't you?" + +"Will you forgive me if I come alone?" + +"I'll try to. I suppose Amy will be tired from nutting." + +He did not reply, but lifted his hat gravely, mounted his horse, and +galloped away as if he were an aid bearing a message that might avert a +battle. + +Miss Hargrove hastened to her room, and took off her hat with trembling +hands. Burt's pale, resolute face told her that the crisis in her life +had come. And yet she did not fully understand him. If he meant to speak, +why had he not done so? why had he not asked permission to consult her +father? + +Mr. Hargrove, from his library window, saw Burt's formal parting, and +concluded that his fears or hopes--he scarcely knew which were uppermost, +so deep was his love for his daughter, and so painful would it be to see +her unhappy--were not to be fulfilled. By a great effort Gertrude +appeared not very _distraite_ at dinner, nor did she mention Burt, +except in a casual manner, in reply to a question from her mother, but +her father thought he detected a strong and suppressed excitement. + +She excused herself early from the table, and said she must finish +packing for her departure. + + + + +CHAPTER LIV + +A GENTLE EXORCIST + + +Burt's black horse was again white before he approached his home. In the +distance he saw Amy returning, the children running on before, Alf +whooping like a small Indian to some playmate who was answering further +away. The gorgeous sunset lighted up the still more brilliant foliage, +and made the scene a fairyland. But Burt had then no more eye for nature +than a man would have who had staked his all on the next throw of the +dice. Amy was alone, and now was his chance to intercept her before she +reached the house. Imagine her surprise as she saw him make his horse +leap the intervening fences, and come galloping toward her. + +"Burt," she cried, as he, in a moment or two, reined up near her, "you +will break your neck!" + +"It wouldn't matter much," he said, grimly. "I fear a worse fate than +that." + +"What do you mean?" she asked, in alarm. "What has happened?" + +He threw the bridle over a stake in the fence, and the horse was glad to +rest, with drooping head. Then he came and stood beside her, his face +flushed, and his mouth twitching with excitement and strong feeling. For +a moment he could not speak. + +"Burt," she said, "what is the matter? What do you fear?" + +"I fear your scorn, Amy," he began, impetuously; "I fear I shall lose +your respect forever. But I can't go on any longer detesting myself and +feeling that you and Miss Hargrove despise me. I may seem to you and her +a fickle fool, a man of straw, but you shall both know the truth. I +shan't go away a coward. I can at least be honest, and then you may think +what you please of my weakness and vacillation. You cannot think worse +things than I think myself, but you must not imagine that I am a +cold-blooded, deliberate trifler, for that has never been true. I know +you don't care for me, and never did." + +"Indeed, Burt, you are mistaken. I do care for you immensely," said Amy, +eagerly clasping his arm with both her hands. + +"Amy, Amy," said Burt, in a low, desperate tone, "think how few short +months have passed since I told you I loved you, and protested I would +wait till I was gray. You have seen me giving my thoughts to another, and +in your mind you expect to see me carried away by a half-dozen more. You +are mistaken, but it will take a long time to prove it." + +"No, Burt, I understand you better than you think. Gertrude has inspired +in you a very different feeling from the one you had for me. I think you +are loving now with a man's love, and won't get over it very soon, if you +ever do. You have seen, you must have felt, that my love for you was only +that of a sister, and of course you soon began to feel toward me in the +same way. I don't believe I would have married you had you waited an age. +Don't fret, I'm not going to break my heart about you." + +"I should think not, nor will any one else. Oh, Amy, I so despised myself +that I have been half-desperate." + +"Despised yourself because you love a girl like Gertrude Hargrove! I +never knew a man to do a more natural and sensible thing, whether she +gave you encouragement or not. If I were a man I would make love to her, +rest assured, and she would have to refuse me more than once to be rid of +me." + +Burt took a long breath of immense relief. "You are heavenly kind," he +said. "Are you sure you won't despise me? I could not bear that. It seems +to me that I have done such an awfully mean thing in making love to you +in my own home, and then in changing." + +Her laugh rang out merrily. "Fate has been too strong for you, and I +think--I mean--I hope, it has been kind. Bless you, Burt, I could never +get up any such feeling as sways you. I should always be disappointing, +and you would have found out, sooner or later, that your best chance +would be to discover some one more responsive. Since you have been so +frank, I'll be so too. I was scarcely more ready for your words last +spring than Johnnie, but I was simple enough to think that in half a +dozen years or so we might be married if all thought it was best, and my +pride was a little hurt when I saw what--what--well, Gertrude's influence +over you. But I've grown much older the last few months, and know now +that my thoughts were those of a child. My feeling for you is simply that +of a sister, and I don't believe it would ever have changed. Who knows? I +might eventually have an acute attack also, and then I should be in a +worse predicament than yours." + +"But you will be my loving sister as long as you live, Amy? You will +believe that I have a little manhood if given a chance to show it?" + +"I believe it now, Burt, and I can make you a hundredfold better sister +than wife. The idea! It seems but the other day I was playing with dolls. +Here, now, cheer up. You have judged yourself too harshly;" and she +looked at him so smilingly and affectionately that he took her in his +arms and kissed her again and again, exclaiming, "You can count on one +brother to the last drop of his blood. Oh, Amy, whatever happens now, I +won't lose courage. Miss Hargrove will have to say no a dozen times +before she is through with me." + +At this moment Webb, from the top of a tall ladder in the orchard, +happened to glance that way, and saw the embrace. He instantly descended, +threw down his basket of apples, and with it all hope. Burt had won Amy +at last. The coolness between them had been but a misunderstanding, which +apparently had been banished most decidedly. He mechanically took down +his ladder and placed it on the ground, then went to his room to prepare +for supper. + +"Burt," cried Amy, when they were half-way home, "you have forgotten your +horse." + +"If he were Pegasus, I should have forgotten him to-day. Won't you wait +for me?" + +"Oh, yes, I'll do anything for you." + +"Will you?" he said, eagerly. "Will you tell me if you think Miss +Hargrove--" + +"No, I won't tell you anything. The idea! After she has refused you half +a dozen times, I may, out of pity, intercede a little. Go get your horse, +smooth your brow, and be sensible, or you'll have Webb and Leonard poking +fun at you. Suppose they have seen you galloping over fences and ditches +like one possessed." + +"Well, I was possessed, and never was there such a kind, gentle exorcist. +I have seen Miss Hargrove to-day; I had just parted from her." + +"Did you say anything?" + +"No, Amy. How could I, until I had told you? I felt I was bound to you by +all that can bind a man." + +"Oh, Burt, suppose I had not released you, but played Shylock, what would +you have done?" and her laugh rang out again in intense merriment. + +"I had no fears of that," he replied, ruefully. "You are the last one to +practice Mrs. MacStinger's tactics. My fear was that you and Miss +Hargrove both would send me West as a precious good riddance." + +"Well, it was square of you, as Alf says, to come to me first, and I +appreciate it, but I should not have resented the omission. Will you +forgive my curiosity if I ask what is the next move in the campaign? I've +been reading about the war, you know, and I am quite military in my +ideas." + +"I have Miss Hargrove's permission to call to-night. It wasn't given very +cordially, and she asked me to bring you." + +"No, I thank yon." + +"Oh, I told her she would have to forgive me if I came alone. I meant to +have it out to-day, if old Chaos came again." When Amy's renewed laughter +so subsided that he could speak, he resumed: "I'm going over there after +supper, to ask her father for permission to pay my addresses, and if he +won't give it, I shall tell him I will pay them all the same--that I +shall use every effort in my power to win his daughter. I don't want a +dollar of his money, but I'm bound to have the girl if she'll ever listen +to me after knowing all you know." + +Amy's laugh ceased, and she again clasped her hands on his arm. "Dear +Burt," she said, "your course now seems to me manly and straightforward. +I saw the strait you were in, but did not think you felt it so keenly. In +going West I feared you were about to run away from it. However Gertrude +may treat you, you have won my respect by your downright truth. She may +do as she pleases, but she can't despise you now. There goes your horse +to the stable. He has learned this afternoon that you are in no state of +mind to take care of him." + + + + +CHAPTER LV + +BURT TELLS HIS LOVE AGAIN + + +Webb appeared at the supper-table the personification of quiet geniality, +but Amy thought she had never seen him look so hollow-eyed. The long +strain was beginning to tell on him, decidedly, and to-night he felt as +if he had received a mortal blow. But with indomitable courage he hid his +wound, and seemed absorbed in a conversation with Leonard and his father +about the different varieties of apples, and their relative value. Amy +saw that his mother was looking at him anxiously, and she did not wonder. +He was growing thin even to gauntness. + +Burt also was an arrant dissembler, and on rising from the table remarked +casually that he was going over to bid Miss Hargrove good-by, as she +would return to town on the morrow. + +"She'll surely come and see us before she goes," Mrs. Clifford remarked. +"It seems to me she hasn't been very sociable of late." + +"Certainly," said Amy. "She'll be over in the morning. She told me she +was coming to say good-by to us all, and she has asked me to visit her. +Come, Webb, you look all tired out to-night. Let me read to you. I'll +stumble through the dryest scientific treatise you have if I can see you +resting on the sofa." + +"That's ever so kind of you, Amy, and I appreciate it more than you +imagine, but I'm going out this evening." + +"Oh, of course, sisters are of no account. What girl are _you_ going +to see?" + +"No girl whatever. I am too old and dull to entertain the pretty +creatures." + +"Don't be fishing. You know one you could entertain if she isn't a pretty +creature, but then she's only a sister who doesn't know much." + +"I'm sorry--I must go," he said, a little abruptly, for her lovely, +half-laughing, half-reproachful face, turned to his, contained such +mocking promise of happiness that he could not look upon it. What was his +urgent business? His rapid steps as he walked mile after mile indicated +that the matter was pressing indeed; but, although it was late before he +returned, he had spoken to no one. The house was dark and silent except +that a light was burning in Burt's room. And his momentous fortunes the +reader must now follow. + +Miss Hargrove, with a fluttering heart, heard the rapid feet of his horse +as he rode up the avenue. Truly, he was coming at a lover's pace. The +door-bell rang, she heard him admitted, and expected the maid's tap at +her door to follow. Why did it not come? Were the tumultuous throbs of +her heart so loud that she could not hear it? What had become of him? She +waited and listened in vain. She opened her door slightly; there was no +sound. She went to her window. There below, like a shadow, stood a +saddled horse. Where was the knight? Had the stupid girl shown him into +the drawing-room and left him there? Surely the well-trained servant had +never been guilty of such a blunder before. Could it have been some one +else who had come to see her father on business? She stole down the +stairway in a tremor of apprehension, and strolled into the parlor in the +most nonchalant manner imaginable. It was lighted, but empty, and her +expression suddenly became one of troubled perplexity. She returned to +the hall, and started as if she had seen an apparition. There on the rack +hung Burt's hat, as natural as life. Voices reached her ear from her +father's study. She took a few swift steps toward it, then fled to her +room, and stood panting before her mirror, which reflected a young lady +in a costume charmingly ill adapted to "packing." + +How flow swiftly the minutes passed! how eternally long they were! Would +she be sent for? _When_ would she be sent for? "It was honorable in +him to speak to papa first, and papa would not, could not, answer him +without consulting me. I cannot be treated as a child any longer," she +muttered, with flashing eyes. "Papa loves me," she murmured, in swift +alternation of gentle feeling. "He could not make my happiness secondary +to a paltry sum of money." + +Meanwhile Burt was pleading his cause. Mr. Hargrove had greeted him with +no little surprise. The parting of the young people had not promised any +such interview. + +"Have you spoken to my daughter on this subject?" Mr. Hargrove asked, +gravely, after the young fellow had rather incoherently made known his +errand. + +"No, sir," replied Burt, "I have not secured your permission. At the same +time," he added, with an ominous flash in his blue eyes, "sincerity +compels me to say that I could not take a final refusal from any lips +except those of your daughter, and not readily from hers. I would not +give up effort to win her until convinced that any amount of patient +endeavor was useless. I should not persecute her, but I would ask her to +reconsider an adverse answer as often as she would permit, and I will try +with all my soul to render myself more worthy of her." + +"In other words," began Mr. Hargrove, severely, "if I should decline this +honor, I should count for nothing." + +"No, sir, I do not mean that, and I hope I haven't said it, even by +implication. Your consent that I should have a fair field in which to do +my best would receive from me boundless gratitude. What I mean to say is, +that I could not give her up; I should not think it right to do so. This +question is vital to me, and I know of no reason," he added, a little +haughtily, "why I should be refused a privilege which is considered the +right of every gentleman." + +"I have not in the slightest degree raised the question of your being a +gentleman, Mr. Clifford. Your course in coming to me before revealing +your regard to my daughter proves that you are one. But you should +realize that you are asking a great deal of me. My child's happiness is +my first and only consideration. You know the condition of life to which +my daughter has been accustomed. It is right and natural that I should +also know something of your prospects, your ability to meet the +obligations into which you wish to enter." + +Poor Burt flushed painfully, and hesitated. After a moment he answered, +with a dignity and an evident sincerity which won golden opinions from +Mr. Hargrove: "I shall not try to mislead you in the least on this point. +For my own sake I wish that your daughter were far poorer than I am. I +can say little more than that I could give her a home now and every +comfort of life. I could not now provide for her the luxury to which she +has been accustomed. But I am willing to wait and eager to work. In youth +and health and a fair degree of education I have some capital in addition +to the start in life which my father has promised to his sons. What could +not Miss Hargrove inspire a man to do?" + +The man of experience smiled in spite of himself at Burt's frank +enthusiasm and naivete. The whole affair was so different from anything +that he had ever looked forward to! Instead of a few formalities between +himself and a wealthy suitor whom his wife, and therefore all the world, +would approve of, here he was listening to a farmer's son, with the +consciousness that he must yield, and not wholly unwilling to do so. +Moreover, this preposterous young man, so far from showing any awe of +him, had almost defied him from the start, and had plainly stated that +the father's wealth was the only objection to the daughter. Having seen +the drift of events, Mr. Hargrove had long since informed himself +thoroughly about the Clifford family, and had been made to feel that the +one fact of his wealth, which Burt regretted, was almost his only claim +to superiority. Burt was as transparent as a mountain brook, and quite as +impetuous. The gray-haired man sighed, and felt that he would give all +his wealth in exchange for such youth. He knew his daughter's heart, and +felt that further parleying was vain, although he foresaw no easy task in +reconciling his wife to the match. He was far from being heartbroken +himself, however, for there was such a touch of nature in Burt, and in +the full, strong love waiting to reward the youth, that his own heart was +stirred, and in the depths of his soul he knew that this was better than +giving his child to a jaded millionaire. "I have money enough for both," +he thought. "As she said, she is rich enough to follow her heart. It's a +pity if we can't afford an old-fashioned love-match." + +Burt was respectfully impatient under Mr. Hargrove's deep thought and +silence. + +At last the father arose and gave him his hand, saying: "You have been +honest with me, and that, with an old merchant, counts for a great deal. +I also perceive you love my daughter for herself. If she should ever +inform me that you are essential to her happiness I shall not withhold my +consent." + +Burt seized his hand with a grasp that made it ache, as he said, "Every +power I have, sir, shall be exerted that you may never regret this +kindness." + +"If you make good that promise, Mr. Clifford, I shall become your friend +should your wooing prove successful. If you will come to the parlor I +will tell Miss Hargrove that you are here." + +He went up the stairs slowly, feeling that he was crossing the threshold +of a great change. How many thoughts passed through his mind as he took +those few steps! He saw his child a little black-eyed baby in his arms; +she was running before him trundling her hoop; she came to him with +contracted brow and half-tearful eyes, bringing a knotty sum in +fractions, and insisting petulantly that they were very "vulgar" indeed; +she hung on his arm, a shy girl of fifteen, blushingly conscious of the +admiring eyes that followed her; she stood before him again in her first +radiant beauty as a _debutante_, and he had dreamed of the proudest +alliance that the city could offer; she looked into his eyes, a pale, +earnest woman, and said, "Papa, he saved my life at the risk of his own." +True, true, Mr. Clifford had not spoken of that, and Mr. Hargrove had not +thought of it in the. interview so crowded with considerations. His heart +relented toward the youth as it had not done before. Well, well, since it +was inevitable, he was glad to be the one who should first bring the +tidings of this bold wooer's purpose. "Trurie will never forget this +moment," he mattered, as he knocked at her door, "nor my part in her +little drama." O love, how it craves even the crumbs that fall from the +table of its idol! + +"Trurie," he began, as he entered, "you had better dress. Bless me, I +thought you were packing!" + +"I--I was." + +"You were expecting some one?" + +"Mr. Clifford said he would call--to bid me good-by, I suppose." + +"Was that all you supposed, Trurie?" + +"Indeed, papa, I told him I was going to town to-morrow, and he asked if +he might call." + +"Did he speak of his object?" + +"No, papa. I'm sure it's quite natural he should call, and I have been +packing." + +"Well, I can assure you that he has a very definite object. He has asked +me if he might pay his addresses to you, and in the same breath assured +me that he would in any event." + +"Oh, papa," she said, hiding her face on his shoulder, "he was not so +unmannerly as that!" + +"Indeed, he went much further, declaring that he would take no refusal +from you, either; or, rather, that he would take it so often as to wear +out your patience, and secure you by proving that resistance was useless. +He had one decided fault to find with you, also. He much regrets that you +have wealth." + +"Oh, papa, tell me what he did say;" and he felt her heart fluttering +against his side like that of a frightened bird. + +"Why, Trurie, men have offered you love before." + +"But I never loved before, nor knew what it meant," she whispered. +"Please don't keep me in suspense. This is all so strange, so sacred to +me." + +"Well, Trurie, I hope your match may be one of those that are made in +heaven. Your mother will think it anything but worldly wise. However, I +will reconcile her to it, and I'm glad to be the one with whom you will +associate this day. Long after I am gone it may remind you how dear your +happiness was to me, and that I was willing to give up my way for yours. +Mr. Clifford has been straightforward and manly, if not conventional, and +I've told him that if he could win you and would keep his promise to do +his best for you and by you, I would be his friend, and that, you know, +means much. Of course, it all depends upon whether you accept him. You +are not committed in the least." + +"Am I not, papa? Here is an organ"--with her hand upon her heart--"that +knows better. But I shall not throw myself at him. Must I go down now?" + +"Oh, no, I can excuse you," he said, with smiling lips but moist eyes. + +"Dear papa, I will, indeed, associate you with this hour and every +pleasant thing in life. You will find that you have won me anew instead +of losing me;" and looking back at him with her old filial love shining +in her eyes, she went slowly away to meet the future under the sweet +constraint of Nature's highest law. + +If Burt had been impatient in the library, he grew almost desperate in +the parlor. Horrible doubts and fears crossed his mind. Might not Miss +Hargrove's pride rise in arms against him? Might she not even now be +telling her father of his fickleness, and declaring that she would not +listen to a "twice-told tale"? Every moment of delay seemed ominous, and +many moments passed. The house grew sepulchral in its silence, and the +wind without sighed and moaned as if Nature foreboded and pitied him in +view of the overwhelming misfortune impending. At last he sprang up and +paced the room in his deep perturbation. As he turned toward the entrance +he saw framed in the doorway a picture that appeared like a radiant +vision. Miss Hargrove stood there, looking at him so intently that, for a +second or two, he stood spell-bound. She was dressed in some white, +clinging material, and, with her brilliant eyes, appeared in the +uncertain light too beautiful and wraith-like to be human. She saw her +advantage, and took the initiative instantly. "Mr. Clifford," she +exclaimed, "do I seem an apparition?" + +"Yes, you do," he replied, coming impetuously toward her. She held out +her hand, proposing that their interview should at least begin at arm's +length. Nevertheless, the soft fire in his eyes and the flush on his +handsome face made her tremble with a delicious apprehension. Even while +at a loss to know just how to manage the preliminaries for a decorous +yielding, she exulted over the flame-like spirit of her lover. + +"Ah, Mr. Clifford," she cried, "you ought to know that you are not +crushing a ghost's hand." + +"Pardon me. What I meant was that I thought I had seen you before, but +you are a new revelation every time I see you." + +"I can't interpret visions." + +"Please don't say that, for I must ask you to interpret one to-night. +What does Shakespeare say about those who have power? I hope you will use +yours mercifully. Oh, Miss Hargrove, you are so beautiful that I believe +I should lose my reason if you sent me away without hope." + +"Mr. Clifford, you are talking wildly," was her faint response. + +"I fear I am. I am almost desperate from fear, for I have a terribly hard +duty to perform." + +"Indeed!" she said, withdrawing her hand, which he relinquished most +reluctantly, dreading that he might never receive it again. + +"Do not assume that attitude, Miss Hargrove, or I shall lose courage +utterly." + +"Truly, Mr. Clifford," she said, a little satirically, seating herself on +a sofa, "I never imagined you deficient in courage. Is it a terrible duty +to entertain me for a half-hour, and say good-by?" + +"Yes. Nothing could be worse than that, if that were all;" and he looked +at her appealingly and in such perplexed distress that she laughed +outright. + +"I am very much in earnest, Miss Hargrove." + +"You are very enigmatical, Mr. Clifford. Must I be present while you +perform this terrible duty?" + +"I think you know what I must confess already, and have a world of scorn +in store for me. Do not judge me harshly. Whatever the end may be, and my +sense of ill-desert is heavy indeed, I shall begin on the basis of +absolute truth. You shall know the worst. I've asked your father for the +privilege of winning your love;" and then he hesitated, not knowing how +to go on. + +"Is that the worst?" she asked, demurely. + +"No, I fear it will be the best, for he kindly gave his consent, and I +know it would be hard for him to do as much for any man, much more so for +one not wholly to his mind. Miss Hargrove, I must appear awkwardness and +incoherency personified. I hardly know how to go on. I shall appear to +you fickle and unmanly. How can I excuse myself to you when I have no +excuse except the downright truth that I love you better than my life, +better than my own soul, better than all the world and everything in it. +I never knew what love was until you became unconscious in my arms on the +mountain. Forgive me for referring to it. I'm only trying to explain +myself; and yet I had thought that I knew, and had spoken words of love +to your friend, Amy Winfield, who is worthy of the love of the best and +noblest man that ever breathed. She did not welcome my words--they only +wounded her--and she has never eared for me except as a true and gentle +sister cares. But I promised to wait till she did care. I can't keep that +promise. You fascinated me from the first hour of our meeting. I feel now +that I cherished an unworthy purpose toward you. I thought that, by +attentions to you, I could make Amy care; I thought that you were but a +brilliant society girl; but every hour I spent with you increased my +admiration, my respect; I saw that you were better and stronger than I +was. On the first day we went into camp on the mountain I saw whither my +heart was leading me, and from that hour until to-day I have tried to +conquer my love, feeling that I had no right to give it, that you would +despise it if I did. You can't have any confidence in me now. All my hope +is that you will give me a chance to prove that I am not a fickle wretch. +I will accept of any probation, I will submit to any terms. I can't take +an absolute refusal now, for I feel you are seeing me at my worst, and I +know that you could do with me anything you pleased." + +Her head bowed lower and lower as he poured out these words like a +torrent. "Does Amy--have you told her that you cannot keep your promise +to her?" she faltered, in a low tone. + +"Oh, yes, I told her so a few hours ago--since I met you this afternoon. +I was going away to the West, like a coward, to escape from my dilemma, +for I felt you would never listen to me after you knew that I had broken +my word to Amy. I feared that I had already become a by-word between you +for all that was weak and fickle. But after I saw you I could not go till +I spoke. I determined to reveal the whole truth, and if you ever gave me +a chance to retrieve myself, gratitude would be no name for my deep +feeling._ + +"Did--did Amy release you?" + +"Yes, she was kindness itself. She told me in good plain English that she +wanted neither me nor my promise; that she didn't think that she ever +could have loved me, no matter how long I might have waited. But I could +not look into your clear eyes and say, 'I love you,' and know that you +might learn from her or any one that I had said this before. If you won't +trust me, having had the whole truth, then I must bear my hard fate as +best I can." + +"How long would you be willing to wait for me?" she asked, in tones so +low that he could scarcely catch the words. + +He bounded to her side, and took her unresisting hand. "Oh, Gertrude," he +pleaded, "prove me, give me a chance, let me show that I am not without +manhood and constancy. Believe me, I know the priceless gift I'm asking, +but what else can I do? I have tried for weeks to conquer the feeling you +have inspired, tried with all the help that pride and sense of duty and +honor could give, but it has been utterly useless. I now am free; I have +the right to speak. I have concealed nothing from you. I'm wholly at your +mercy." + +At last she raised her downcast eyes and averted face to his, and for a +moment he was dazed at their expression. In tones sweet, low, and deep +with her strong emotion, she said, "Burt, how glad I am that you men are +blind! I found out that I loved you before we went to our mountain camp." +She sprang up and gave him her other hand as she continued: "Can love +impose such hard conditions as you suggest--months of doubtful waiting +for one who risked his life for me without a second's hesitation? That is +not my nature, Burt. If I have power over you, I shall show it in another +way." + +She would never forget his look as he listened to these words, nor his +humility as he lowered his head upon her shoulder, and murmured, "I am +not worthy of this." It touched the deepest and tenderest chord in her +heart. His feeling was not the exultation of success, but a gratitude too +deep for words, and a half-conscious appeal that she would use her +woman's power to evoke a better manhood. It was not mere acknowledgment +of her beauty, or the impulse of his passion; it was homage to the best +and noblest part of her nature, the expression of his absolute trust. +Never had she received such a tribute, and she valued it more than if +Burt had laid untold wealth at her feet. + +A great joy is often as sobering as a great sorrow, and they talked long +and earnestly together. Gertrude would not become engaged until she had +told her mother, and shown her the respect that was her due. "You must +not be resentful," the young girl said, "if mamma's consent is not easily +won. She has set her heart on an establishment in town, I've set my heart +on you; so there we differ, and you must give me time to reconcile her to +a different programme." + +The clock on the mantel chimed eleven, and Burt started up, aghast at the +flight of time. Gertrude stole to her father's library, and found that he +was pacing the floor. "I should not have left him alone so long +to-night," she thought, with compunction. "Papa," she said, "Mr. Clifford +is going. Will you not come and speak to him?" + +He looked into his daughter's flushed, happy face, and needed no further +explanation, and with her hands on his arm he went to the drawing-room. +Burt said but few and very simple words, and the keen judge of men liked +him beter than if he had been more exuberant. There was evidence of +downright earnestness now that seemed a revelation of a new trait. + +"You spoke of going to the West soon," Mr. Hargrove remarked, as they +lingered in parting. "Have you any objection to telling me of your +purpose?" + +Burt explained. Mr. Hargrove's face soon expressed unusual interest. "I +must talk with you further about this," he said. "I have land in the same +locality, and also an interest in the railroad to which you refer. +Perhaps I can make your journey of mutual service." + +"Oh, papa," cried his daughter, "you are my good genius!" for she well +understood what that mutual service meant. + +After Burt had gone, Mr. Hargrove said, "Well, well, this Western-land +business puts a new aspect on the affair, and mamma may have little +ground for complaint. It's my impression that the Cliffords will realize +a very respectable fortune out of that land." + +"Papa," said the young girl, "Burt gave me something better than wealth +to-night--better even than love, in the usual sense of the word. He gave +me his faith. He acted as if he saw in me the power to help him to be a +true man, and what higher compliment can a woman receive? He did not +express it so much by word as by an unconscious manner, that was so +sincere and unpremeditated that it thrilled my very soul. Oh, papa, you +have helped me to be so very happy!" + + + + +CHAPTER LVI + +WEBB'S FOUR-LEAVED CLOVER + + +Webb's silent entrance had not been so quiet but that Burt heard him. +Scarcely had he gained his room before the younger brother knocked, and +followed him in without waiting. "Where have you been at this time of +night?" he exclaimed. "You are infringing on ghostly hours, and are +beginning to look like a ghost;" for Webb had thrown himself into a +chair, and was haggard from the exhaustion of his long conflict. The +light and kindly way in which he answered his brother proved that he was +victor. + +"Webb," said Burt, putting his hand on the elder brother's shoulder, "you +saved my life last winter, and life has become of immense value to me. If +you had not found me, I should have missed a happiness that falls to the +lot of few--a happiness of which all your science can never give you, you +old delver, even an idea. I meant to tell mother and father first, but I +feel to-night how much I owe to your brave, patient search, and I want +your congratulations." + +"I think you might have told father and mother last night, for I suppose +it's morning now." + +"I did not get home in time, and did not wish to excite mother, and spoil +her rest." + +"Well, then, you might have come earlier or gone later. Oh, I know all +about it. I'm not blind." + +"By Jove! I think not, if you know all about what I didn't know, and +could scarcely believe possible myself, till an hour or two since." + +"What on earth are you driving at? I think you might have stayed at home +with Amy to-night, of all times. An accident, Burt, revealed to me your +success, and I do congratulate you most sincerely. You have now the +truest and loveliest girl in the world." + +"That's true, but what possible accident could have revealed the fact to +you?" + +"Don't think I was spying upon you. From the top of a ladder in the +orchard I saw, as the result of a casual glance, your reward to Amy for +words that must have been very satisfactory." + +Burt began to laugh as if he could not control himself. "What a surprise +I have for you all!" he said. "I went where I did last night with Amy's +full knowledge and consent. She never cared a rap for me, but the only +other girl in the world who is her equal does, and her name is Gertrude +Hargrove." + +Webb gave a great start, and sank into a chair. + +"Don't be so taken aback, old fellow. I suppose you and the rest had set +your hearts on my marrying Amy. You have only to follow Amy's example, +and give me your blessing. Yes, you saw me give Amy a very grateful and +affectionate greeting last evening. She's the dearest little sister that +ever a man had, and that's all she ever wanted to be to me. I felt +infernally mean when I came to her yesterday, for I was in an awkward +strait. I had promised to wait for her till she did care, but she told me +that there was no use in waiting, and I don't believe there would have +been. She would have seen some one in the future who would awaken a very +different feeling from any that I could inspire, and then, if she had +promised herself to me, she would have been in the same predicament that +I was. She is the best and most sensible little girl that ever breathed, +and feels toward me just as she does toward you, only she very justly +thinks you have forgotten more than lever knew. As for Gertrude--Hang it +all! what's the use of trying to explain? You'll say I'm at my old +tricks, but I'm not. You've seen how circumstances have brought us +together, and I tell you my eye and heart are filled now for all time. +She will be over to-morrow, and I want her to receive the greeting she +deserves." + +The affair seemed of such tremendous importance to Burt that he was not +in the least surprised that Webb was deeply moved, and fortunately he +talked long enough to give his brother time to regain his self-control. +Webb did congratulate him in a way that was entirely satisfactory, and +then bundled him out of the room in the most summary manner, saying, +"Because you are a hare-brained lover, you shouldn't keep sane people +awake any longer." It were hard to say, however, who was the less sane +that night, Webb or Burt. The former threw open his window, and gazed at +the moonlit mountains in long, deep ecstasy. Unlike Burt's, his more +intense feeling would find quiet expression. All he knew was that there +was a chance for him--that he had the right to put forth the best effort +of which he was capable--and he thanked God for that. At the same time he +remembered Amy's parable of the rose. He would woo as warily as +earnestly. With Burt's experience before his eyes, he would never stun +her with sudden and violent declarations. His love, like sunshine, would +seek to develop the flower of her love. + +He was up and out in the October dawn, too happy and excited for sleep. +His weariness was gone; his sinews seemed braced with steel as he strode +to a lofty eminence. No hue on the richly tinted leaves nor on the rival +chrysanthemums was brighter than his hope, and the cool, pure air, in +which there was as yet no frostiness, was like exhilarating wine. From +the height he looked down on his home, the loved casket of the more +dearly prized jewel. He viewed the broad acres on which he had toiled, +remembering with a dull wonder that once he had been satisfied with their +material products. Now there was a glamour upon them, and upon all the +landscape. The river gleamed and sparkled; the mountains flamed like the +plumage of some tropical bird. The world was transfigured. The earth and +his old materiality became the foundation-stones on which his awakened +mind, kindled and made poetic, should rear an airy, yet enduring, +structure of beauty, consecrated to Amy. He had loved nature before, but +it had been to him like a palace in which, as a dull serving-man, he had +employed himself in caring for its furniture and the frames of its +paintings. But he had been touched by a magic wand, and within the frames +glowed ever-changing pictures, and the furniture was seen to be the work +of divine art. The palace was no longer empty, but enshrined a living +presence, a lovely embodiment of Nature's purest and best manifestation. +The development of no flower in all the past summer was so clear to him +as that of the girl he loved. He felt as if he had known her thoughts +from childhood. Her young womanhood was like that of the roses he had +shown to her in the dewy June dawn that seemed so long ago. Burt had +never touched her heart. It was still like a bud of his favorite +mossrose, wrapped in its green calyx. Oh, what a wealth of fragrant +beauty would be revealed! Now it might be revealed to him. But she should +waken in her own time; and if he had not the power to impart the deep, +subtile impulse, then that nearest to her, Nature, should be his bride. + +They were all at the breakfast-table when he returned, and this plotter +against Amy's peace entered and greeted her with a very quiet +"Good-morning," but he laid beside her plate a four-leaved clover which +he had espied on his way back. + +"Thanks, Webb," she said, with eyes full of merriment; "I foresee an +amazing amount of good luck in this little emblem. Indeed, I feel sure +that startling proofs of it will occur to-day;" and she looked +significantly at Burt, who laughed very consciously. + +"What mischief has Burt been up to, Amy?" Mrs. Clifford asked. "He was +ready to explode with suppressed something last evening at supper, and +now he is effervescing in somewhat different style, but quite as +remarkably. You boys needn't think you can hide anything from mother very +long; she knows you too well." + +Both Webb and Burt, with Amy, began to laugh, and they looked at each +other as if there were a good deal that mother did not know. + +"Webb and Amy have evidently some joke on Burt," remarked Leonard. "Webb +was out last night, and I bet a pippin he caught Burt flirting with Miss +Hargrove." + +"Oh, Burt!" cried Amy, in mock indignation. + +"Nonsense!" said his mother. "Burt is going to settle down now and be +steady. We'll make him sign a pledge before he goes West, won't we, Amy?" + +"Yes, indeed," gasped Amy, almost beside herself with merriment; "he'll +have to sign one in big capitals." + +"Burt," said his father, looking at him over his spectacles, "you've been +getting yourself into some scrape as sure as the world. That's right, +Amy; you laugh at him well, and--" + +"A truce!" exclaimed Burt. "If I'm in a scrape, I don't propose to get +out of it, but rather to make you all share in it. As Amy says, her +four-leaved clover will prove a true prophet, green as it looks. I now +beg off, and shall prove that my scrape has not spoiled my appetite." + +"Well," said Leonard, "I never could find any four-leaved clovers, but +I've had good luck, haven't I, Maggie?" + +"You had indeed, when you came courting me." + +"How about Maggie's luck?" asked Burt. + +"I am satisfied," began Webb, "that I could develop acres of four-leaved +clover. Some plants have this peculiarity. I have counted twenty-odd on +one root. If seed from such a plant were sown, and then seed selected +again from the new plants most characterized by this 'sport,' I believe +the trait would become fixed, and we could have a field of four-leaved +clover. New varieties of fruits, vegetables, and flowers are often thus +developed from chance 'sports' or abnormal specimens." + +"Just hear Webb," said Amy. "He would turn this ancient symbol of fortune +into a marketable commodity." + +"Pardon me; I was saying what might be done, not what I proposed to do. I +found this emblem of good chance by chance, and I picked it with the +'wish' attacked to the stem. Thus to the utmost I have honored the +superstition, and you have only to make your wish to carry it out fully." + +"My wishes are in vain, and all the four-leaved clovers in the world +wouldn't help them. I wish I was a scientific problem, a crop that +required great skill to develop, a rare rose that all the rose-maniacs +were after, a new theory that required a great deal of consideration and +investigation, and accompanied with experiments that needed much +observation, and any number of other t-i-o-n-shuns. Then I shouldn't be +left alone evenings by the great inquiring mind of the family. Burt's +going away, and, as his father says, has got into a scrape; so what's to +become of me?" + +They all arose from the table amid general laughter, of which Webb and +Burt were equally the objects, and on the faces of those not in the +secret there was much perplexed curiosity. + +"Good gracious!" exclaimed Maggie, "if Webb should concentrate his mind +on you as you suggest, it would end by his falling in love with you." + +This speech was received with shouts of merriment, and Amy felt the color +rushing into her face, but she scouted the possibility. "The idea of +Webb's falling in love with any one!" she cried. "I should as soon expect +to see old Storm King toppling over." + +"Still waters run--" began Maggie, but a sudden flash from Webb's eyes +checked her. + +"Deep, do they?" retorted Amy. "Some still waters don't run at all. Not +for the world would I have Webb incur the dreadful risk that you suggest" + +"I think I'm almost old enough to take care of myself, sister Amy, and I +promise you to try to be as entertaining as such an old fellow can be. As +to falling in love with you, that happened long ago--the first evening +you came, when you stood in the doorway blushing and frightened at the +crowd of your new relations." + +"Haven't I got over being afraid of them remarkably? I never was a bit +afraid of you even at first. It took me a long time, however, to find out +how learned you were, and what deep subjects are required to interest +you. Alas, I shall never be a deep subject." + +"Well, my dear," said Mr. Clifford, putting his arm around her, "you have +come like sunshine into the old home, and we old people can't help +wishing you may never go out of it while we are alive." + +"I'm not a bit jealous, Amy," said Maggie. + +"I think it's time this mutual admiration society broke up," the young +girl said, with tears trembling in her eyes. "When I think of it all, and +what a home I've found, I'm just silly enough to cry. I think it's time, +Burt, that you obtained your father's and mother's forgiveness or +blessing, or whatever it is to be." + +"You are right, Amy, as you always are. Mother, will you take my arm? and +if you will accompany us, sir (to his father), you shall learn the +meaning of Amy's four-leaved clover." + +"You needn't think you are going to get Amy without my consent," Leonard +called after him. "I've known her longer than any of you--ever since she +was a little girl at the depot." + +Amy and Webb began laughing so heartily at the speaker that he went away +remarking that he could pick apples if he couldn't solve riddles. + +"Come up to my room, Amy," said Maggie, excitedly. + +"No, no, Mother Eve, I shall go to my own room, and dress for company." + +"Oh, I guess your secret!" cried Maggie. "Burt said something more than +good-by to Miss Hargrove last evening." + +Amy would not answer, and the sound of a mirthful snatch of song died +musically away in the distance. + +"Now, Mr. Webb," Maggie resumed, "what did _you_ mean by that ominous +flash from your cavern-like eyes?" + +"It meant that Amy has probably been satisfied with one lover in the +family and its unexpected result. I don't wish our relations embarrassed +by the feeling that she must be on her guard against another." + +"Oh, I see, you don't wish her to be on her guard." + +"Dear Maggie, whatever you may see, appear blind. Heaven only knows what +you women don't see." + +"That's good policy, Webb. I'll be your ally now. I've suspected you for +some time, but thought Burt and Amy were committed to each other." + +"Amy does not suspect anything, and she must not. She is not ready for +the knowledge, and may never be. All the help I ask is to keep her +unconscious. I've been expecting you would find me out, for you married +ladies have had an experience which doubles your insight, and I'm glad of +the chance to caution you. Amy is happy in loving me as a brother. She +shall never be unhappy in this home if I can prevent it." + +Maggie entered heart and soul into Webb's cause, for he was a great +favorite with her. He was kind to her children, and in a quiet way taught +them almost as much as they learned at school. He went to his work with +mind much relieved, for she and his mother were the only ones that he +feared might surmise his feeling, and by manner or remark reveal it to +Amy, thus destroying their unembarrassed relations, and perhaps his +chance to win the girl's heart. + + + + +CHAPTER LVII + +OCTOBER HUES AND HARVESTS + + +Burt's interview with his parents, their mingled surprise, pleasure, and +disappointment, and their deep sympathy, need not be dwelt upon. Mr. +Clifford was desirous of first seeing Amy, and satisfying himself that +she did not in the slightest degree feel herself slighted or treated in +bad faith, but his wife, with her low laugh, said: "Rest assured, father, +Burt is right. He has won nothing more from Amy than sisterly love, +though I had hoped that he might in time. After all, perhaps, it is best. +We shall keep Amy, and gain a new daughter that we have already learned +to admire and love." + +Burt's mind was too full of the one great theme to remember what Mr. +Hargrove had said about the Western land, and when at last Miss Hargrove +came to say good-by, with a blushing consciousness quite unlike her usual +self-possession, he was enchanted anew, and so were all the household. +The old people's reception seemed like a benediction; Amy banished the +faintest trace of doubt by her mirthful ecstasies; and after their +mountain experience there was no ice to break between Gertrude and +Maggie. + +The former was persuaded to defer her trip to New York until the morrow, +and so Amy would have her nutting expedition after all. When Leonard came +down to dinner, Burt took Gertrude's hand, and said, "Now, Len, this is +your only chance to give your consent. You can't have any dinner till you +do." + +His swift, deprecating look at Amy's laughing face reassured him. "Well," +he said, slowly, as if trying to comprehend it all, "I do believe I'm +growing old. My eyesight must be failing sadly. When _did_ all this take +place?" + +"Your eyesight is not to blame, Leonard," said his wife, with much +superiority. "It's because you are only a man." + +"That's all I ever pretended to be." Then, with a dignity that almost +surprised Gertrude, he, as eldest brother, welcomed her in simple, +heartfelt words. + +At the dinner-table Miss Hargrove referred to the Western land. Burt laid +down his knife and fork, and exclaimed, "I declare, I forgot all about +it!" + +Miss Hargrove laughed heartily as she said, "A high tribute to me!" and +then made known her father's statement that the Clifford tract in the +West adjoined his own, that it would soon be very valuable, and that he +was interested in the railroad approaching it. "I left him," she +concluded, "poring over his maps, and he told me to say to you, sir" (to +Mr. Clifford), "that he wished to see you soon." + +"How about the four-leaved clover now?" cried Amy. + +In the afternoon they started for the chestnut-trees. Webb carried a light +ladder, and both he and Burt had dressed themselves in close-fitting +flannel suits for climbing. The orchard, as they passed through it, +presented a beautiful autumn picture. Great heaps of yellow and red cheeked +apples were upon the ground; other varieties were in barrels, some headed +up and ready for market, while Mr. Clifford was giving the final cooperage +to other barrels as fast as they were filled. + +"Father can still head up a barrel better than any of us," Leonard +remarked to Miss Hargrove. + +"Well, my dear," said the old gentleman, "I've had over half a century's +experience." + +"It's time I obtained some idea of rural affairs," said Gertrude to Webb. +"There seem to be many different kinds of apples here. Can you easily +tell them apart?" + +"Yes, as easily as you know different dress fabrics at Arnold's. Those +umbrella-shaped trees are Rhode Island greenings; those that are rather +long and slender branching are yellow bell-flowers; and those with short +and stubby branches and twigs are the old-fashioned dominies. Over there +are Newtown pippins. Don't you see how green the fruit is? It will not be +in perfection till next March. Not only a summer, but an autumn and a +winter are required to perfect that superb apple, but then it becomes one +of Nature's triumphs. Some of those heaps on the ground will furnish +cider and vinegar. Nuts, cider, and a wood fire are among the privations +of a farmer's life." + +"Farming, as you carry it on, appears to me a fine art. How very full +some of the trees are! and others look as if they had been half picked +over." + +"That is just what has been done. The largest and ripest apples are taken +off first, and the rest of the fruit improves wonderfully in two or three +weeks. By this course we greatly increase both the quality and the bulk +of the crop." + +"You are very happy in your calling, Webb. How strange it seems for me to +be addressing you as Webb!" + +"It does not seem so strange to me; nor does it seem strange that I am +talking to you in this way. I soon recognized that you were one of those +fortunate beings in whom city life had not quenched nature." + +They had fallen a little behind the others, and were out of ear-shot. + +"I think," she said, hesitatingly and shyly, "that I had an ally in you +all along." + +He laughed and replied, "At one time I was very dubious over my +expedition to Fort Putnam." + +"I imagine that in suggesting that expedition you put in two words for +yourself." + +"Call it even," he said. + +"I wish you might be as happy as I am. I'm not blind either, and I wonder +that Amy is so unconscious." + +"I hope she will remain so until she awakens as naturally as from sleep. +She has never had a brother, and as such I try to act toward her. My one +thought is her happiness, and, perhaps, I can secure it in no other way. +I feared long since that you had guessed my secret, and am grateful that +you have not suggested it to Amy. Few would have shown so much delicacy +and consideration." + +"I'm not sure that you are right, Webb. If Amy knew of your feeling, it +would influence her powerfully. She misjudges you now." + +"Yes, it was necessary that she should misunderstand me, and think of me +as absorbed in things remote from her life. The knowledge you suggest +might make her very sad, for there never was a gentler-hearted girl. You +have remarkable tact. Please use it to prevent the constraint which might +arise between us." + +Burt now joined them with much pretended jealousy, and they soon reached +the trees, which, under the young men's vigorous blows, rained down the +prickly burrs, downy chestnuts, and golden leaves. Blue jays screamed +indignantly from the mountain-side, and squirrels barked their protest at +the inroads made upon their winter stores. As the night approached the +air grew chilly, and Webb remarked that frost was coming at last. He +hastened home before the others to cover up certain plants that might be +sheltered through the first cold snap. The tenderer ones had long since +been taken up and prepared for winter blooming. + +To Amy's inquiry where Johnnie was, Maggie had replied that she had gone +nutting by previous engagement with Mr. Alvord, and as the party returned +in the glowing evening they met the oddly assorted friends with their +baskets well filled. In the eyes of the recluse there was a gentler +expression, proving that Johnnie's and Nature's ministry had not been +wholly in vain. He glanced swiftly from Burt to Miss Hargrove, then at +Amy, and a faint suggestion of a smile hovered about his mouth. He was +about to leave them abruptly when Johnnie interposed, pleading: "Mr. +Alvord, don't go home till I pick you some of your favorite heart's-ease, +as you call my pansies. They have grown to be as large and beautiful as +they were last spring. Do you know, in the hot weather they were almost +as small as johnny-jumpers? but I wouldn't let 'em be called by that +name." + +"They will ever be heart's-ease to me, Johnnie-doubly so when you give +them," and he followed her to the garden. + +In the evening a great pitcher of cider fresh from the press, flanked by +dishes of golden fall pippins and grapes, was placed on the table. The +young people roasted chestnuts on hickory coals, and every one, even to +the invalid, seemed to glow with a kindred warmth and happiness. The city +belle contrasted the true home-atmosphere with the grand air of a city +house, and thanked God for her choice. At an early hour she said good-by +for a brief time and departed with Burt. He was greeted with stately +courtesy by Mrs. Hargrove herself, whom her husband and the prospective +value of the Western land had reconciled to the momentous event. Burt and +Gertrude were formally engaged, and he declared his intention of +accompanying her to the city to procure the significant diamond. + +After the culminating scenes of Burt's little drama, life went on very +serenely and quietly at the Clifford home. Out of school hours Alf, +Johnnie, and Ned vied with the squirrels in gathering their hoard of +various nuts. The boughs in the orchard grew lighter daily. Frost came as +Webb had predicted, and dahlias, salvias, and other flowers, that had +flamed and glowed till almost the middle of October, turned black in one +morning's sun. The butternut-trees had lost their foliage, and countless +leaves were fluttering down in every breeze like many-hued gems. The +richer bronzed colors of the oak were predominating in the landscape, and +only the apple, cherry, and willow trees about the house kept up the +green suggestion of summer. + + + + +CHAPTER LVIII + +THE MOONLIGHT OMEN + + +Webb permitted no marked change in his manner. He toiled steadily with +Leonard in gathering the fall produce and in preparing for winter, but +Amy noticed that his old preoccupied look was passing away. Daily he +appeared to grow more genial and to have more time and thought for her. +With increasing wonder she learned the richness and fulness of his mind. +In the evenings he read aloud to them all with his strong, musical +intonation, in which the author's thought was emphasized so clearly that +it seemed to have double the force that it possessed when she read the +same words herself. He found time for occasional rambles and horseback +excursions, and was so companionable during long rainy days that they +seemed to her the brightest of the week. Maggie smiled to herself and saw +that Webb's spell was working. He was making himself so quietly and +unobtrusively essential to Amy that she would find half of her life gone +if she were separated from him. + +Gertrude returned for a short time, and then went to the city for the +winter. Burt's orbit was hard to calculate. He was much in New York, and +often with Mr. Hargrove, from whom he was receiving instructions in +regard to his Western expedition. That gentleman's opinion of Burt's +business capacity grew more favorable daily, for the young fellow now +proposed to show that he meant to take life in earnest. "If this lasts he +will make a trusty young lieutenant," the merchant thought, "and I can +make his fortune while furthering mine." Burt had plenty of brains and +good executive ability to carry out the wiser counsels of others, while +his easy, vivacious manner won him friends and acceptance everywhere. + +It was arranged, after his departure, that Amy should visit her friend in +the city, and Webb looked forward to her absence with dread and +self-depreciation, fearing that he should suffer by contrast with the +brilliant men of society, and that the quiet country life would seem +dull, indeed, thereafter. + +Before Amy went on this visit there came an Indian summer morning in +November, that by its soft, dreamy beauty wooed every one out of doors. +"Amy," said Webb, after dinner, "suppose we drive over to West Point and +return by moonlight." She was delighted with the idea, and they were soon +slowly ascending the mountain. He felt that this was his special +opportunity, not to break her trustful unconsciousness, but to reveal his +power to interest her and make impressions that should be enduring. He +exerted every faculty to please, recalling poetic and legendary allusions +connected with the trees, plants, and scenes by which they were passing. + +"Oh, Webb, how you idealize nature!" she said. "You make every object +suggest something fanciful, beautiful, or entertaining. How have you +learned to do it?" + +"As I told you last Easter Sunday--how long ago it seems--if I have any +power for such idealization it is largely through your influence. My +knowledge was much like the trees as they then appeared. I was prepared +for better things, but the time for them had not yet come. I had studied +the material world in a material sort of way, employing my mind with +facts that were like the bare branches and twigs. You awakened in me a +sense of the beautiful side of nature. How can I explain it? Who can +explain the rapid development of foliage and flowers when all is ready?" + +"But, Webb, you appeared, during the summer, to go back to your old +materiality worse than ever. You made me feel that I had no power to do +anything for you. You treated me as if I were your very little sister who +would have to go to school a few years before I could be your companion." + +"Those were busy days," he replied, laughing. "Besides," he added, +hesitatingly, "Burt was at one time inclined to be jealous. Of course, it +was very absurd in him, but I suppose lovers are always a little absurd." + +"I should think it was absurd. I saw whither Burt was drifting long +ago--at the time of the great flood which swept away things of more value +than my silly expectations. What an unsophisticated little goose I was! I +suppose Johnnie expects to be married some day, and in much the same way +I looked forward to woman's fate; and since you all seemed to wish that +it should be Burt, I thought, 'Why not?" Wasn't it lucky for Burt, and, +indeed, for all of you, that I was not a grown-up and sentimental young +woman? Mr. Hargrove, by uniting his interests with yours in the West, +will make your fortunes, and Burt will bring you a lovely sister. It +pleases me to see how Gertrude is learning to like you. I used to be +provoked with her at first, because she didn't appreciate you. Do you +know, I think you ought to write? You could make people fall in love with +nature. Americans don't care half as much for out-door life and pursuits +as the English. It seems to me that city life cannot compare with that of +the country." + +"You may think differently after you have been a few weeks in Gertrude's +elegant home." + +They had paused again on the brow of Cro' Nest, and were looking out on +the wide landscape. "No, Webb," she said; "her home, no doubt, is +elegant, but it is artificial. This is simple and grand, and to-day, seen +through the soft haze, is lovely to me beyond all words. I honestly half +regret that I am going to town. Of course, I shall enjoy myself--I always +do with Gertrude--but the last few quiet weeks have been so happy and +satisfying that I dread any change." + +"Think of the awful vacuum that your absence will make in the old home!" + +"Well, I'm a little glad; I want to be missed. But I shall write to you +and tell you of all the frivolous things we are doing. Besides, you must +come to see me as often as you can." + +"I certainly shall." + +They saw evening parade, the moon rising meanwhile over Sugarloaf +Mountain, and filling the early twilight with a soft radiance. The music +seemed enchanting, for their hearts were attuned to it. As the long line +of cadets shifted their guns from "carry arms" to "shoulder arms" with +instantaneous action, Webb said that the muskets sent out a shivering +sound like that of a tree almost ready to fall under the last blows of an +axe. + +Webb felt that should he exist millions of ages he should never forget the +ride homeward. The moon looked through the haze like a veiled beauty, and +in its softened light Amy's pure, sweet profile was endowed with ethereal +beauty. The beech trees, with their bleached leaves still clinging to them, +were almost spectral, and the oaks in their bronzed foliage stood like +black giants by the roadside. There were suggestive vistas of light and +shadow that were full of mystery, making it easy to believe that on a night +like this the mountain was haunted by creatures as strange as the fancy +could shape. The girl at his side was a mystery. Viewless walls incased her +spirit. What were her hidden and innermost thoughts? The supreme gift of a +boundless love overflowed his heart to his very lips. She was so near, and +the spell of her loveliness so strong, that at times he felt that he must +give it expression, but he ever restrained himself. His words might bring +pain and consternation to the peaceful face. She was alone with him, and +there would be no escape should he speak now. No; he had resolved to wait +till her heart awoke by its own impulses, and he would keep his purpose +even through the witchery of that moonlight drive. "How strangely isolated +we are," he thought, "that such feeling as mine can fill my very soul with +its immense desire, and she not be aware of anything but my quiet, +fraternal manner!" + +As they were descending the home slope of the mountain they witnessed a +rare and beautiful sight. A few light clouds had gathered around the +moon, and these at last opened in a rift. The rays of light through the +misty atmosphere created the perfect colors of a rainbow, and this +phenomenon took the remarkable form of a shield, its base resting upon +one cloud, and its point extending into a little opening in the cloud +above. + +"Oh, what a perfect shield!" cried Amy. "Was there ever anything so +strange and lovely?" + +Webb checked his horse, and they looked at the vision with wonder. "I +never saw anything to equal that," said Webb. + +"Is it an omen, Webb?" she asked, turning a little from him that she +might look upward, and leaning on his shoulder with the unconsciousness +of a child. + +"Let us make it one, dear sister Amy," he said, drawing her nearer to +him. "Let it remind you, as you recall it, that as far as I can I will +ever shield you from every evil of life." As he spoke the rainbow colors +became wonderfully distinct, and then faded slowly away. Her head drooped +lower on his shoulder, and she said, dreamily: + +"It seems to me that I never was so happy before in my life as I am now. +You are so different, and can be so much to me, now that your old absurd +constraint is gone. Oh, Webb, you used to make me so unhappy! You made me +feel that you had found me out--how little I knew, and that it was a bore +to have to talk with me and explain. I know I'm not highly educated. How +could I be? I went everywhere with papa, and he always appeared to think +of me as a little girl. And then during the last year or two of his life +he was so ill that I did not do much else than watch over him with fear +and trembling, and try to nurse him and beguile the hours that were so +full of pain and weakness. But I'm not contented to be ignorant, and you +can teach me so much. I fairly thrill with excitement and feeling +sometimes when you are reading a fine or beautiful thing. If I can feel +that way I can't be stupid, can I?" + +"No, Amy." + +"Think how much faster I could learn this winter if you would direct my +reading, and explain what is obscure!" + +"I will very gladly do anything you wish. You underrate yourself, Amy. +You have woman's highest charm. There is a stupidity of heart which is +far worse than that of the mind, a selfish callousness in regard to +others and their rights and feelings, which mars the beauty of some women +worse than physical deformity. From the day you entered our home as a +stranger, graceful tact, sincerity, and the impulse of ministry have +characterized your life. Can you imagine that mere cleverness, trained +mental acuteness, and a knowledge of facts can take the place of these +traits? No man can love unless he imagines that a woman has these +qualities, and bitter will be his disappointment if he finds them +wanting." + +Her laugh rang out musically on the still air. "Hear the old bachelor +talk!" she cried. "I believe you have constructed an ideally perfect +creature out of nature, and that you hold trysts with her on moonlight +nights, you go out to walk so often alone. Well, well, I won't be jealous +of such a sister-in-law, but I want to keep you a little while longer +before you follow Burt's example." + +"I shall never give you a sister-in-law, Amy." + +"You don't know what you'll do. How sure Burt was of himself!" + +"Burt and I are different." + +"Yes, Webb, you are. If you ever love, it will be for always; and I don't +like to think of it. I'd like to keep you just as you are. Now that you +see how selfish I am, where is woman's highest charm?" + +Webb laughed, and urged his horse into a sharp trot. "I am unchangeable +in my opinions too, as far as you are concerned," he remarked. "She is +not ready yet," was his silent thought. + +When she came down to the late supper her eyes were shining with +happiness, and Maggie thought the decisive hour had come; but in answer +to a question about the drive, Amy said, "I couldn't have believed that +so much enjoyment was to be had in one afternoon. Webb is a brother worth +having, and I'm sorry I'm going to New York." + +"Am I not a brother worth having?" Leonard asked. + +"Oh, you are excellent, as far as you go, but you are so wrapped up in +Maggie that you are not of much account; and as for Burt, he is more over +head and ears than you are. Even if a woman was in love, I should think +she would like a man to be sensible." + +"Pshaw, Amy! you don't know what you are talking About," said Maggie. + +"Probably not. I suppose it is a kind of disease, and that all are more +or less out of their heads." + +"We've been out of our heads a good many years, mother, haven't we?" said +Mr. Clifford, laughing. + +"Well," said Leonard, "I just hope Amy will catch the disease, and have +it very bad some day." + +"Thank you. When I do, I'll send for Dr. Marvin." + +A few days later Webb took her to New York, and left her with her friend. +"Don't be persuaded into staying very long," he found opportunity to say, +in a low tone. + +"Indeed I won't; I'm homesick already;" and she looked after him very +wistfully. But she was mistaken. Gertrude looked so hurt and disappointed +when she spoke of returning, and had planned so much, that days +lengthened into weeks. + + + + +CHAPTER LIX + +THE HOSE REVEALS ITS HEART + + +Webb returned to a region that was haunted. Wherever he went, a presence +was there before him. In every room, on the lawn, in the garden, in lanes +no longer shaded, but carpeted with brown, rustling leaves, on mountain +roads, he saw Amy with almost the vividness of actual vision, as he had +seen her in these places from the time of her first coming. At church he +created her form in her accustomed seat, and his worship was a little +confused. She had asked him to write, and he made home life and the +varying aspects of nature real to her. His letters, however, were so +impersonal that she could read the greater part of them to Gertrude, who +had resolved to be pleased out of good-will to Webb, and with the +intention of aiding his cause. But she soon found herself expressing +genuine wonder and delight at their simple, vigorous diction, their +subtile humor, and the fine poetic images they often suggested. "Oh, +Amy," she said, "I couldn't have believed it. I don't think he himself is +aware of his power of expression." + +"He has read and observed so much," Amy replied, "that he has much to +express." + +"It's more than that," said Gertrude; "there are touches here and there +which mere knowledge can't account for. They have a delicacy and beauty +which seem the result of woman's influence, and I believe it is yours. I +should think you would be proud of him." + +"I am," she answered, with exultation and heightened color, "but it seems +absurd to suppose that such a little ignoramus as I am can help him +much." + +Meanwhile, to all appearance, Webb maintained the even tenor of his way. +He had been so long schooled in patience that he waited and hoped on in +silence as before, and busied himself incessantly. The last of the corn +was husked, and the golden treasure stored. The stalks were stacked near +the barn for winter use, and all the labors of the year were rounded out +and completed. Twice he went to the city to see Amy, and on one of these +occasions he was a guest at a large party given in her honor. During much +of the evening he was dazzled by her beauty, and dazed by her +surroundings. Her father had had her instructed carefully in dancing, and +she and Burt had often waltzed together, but he could scarcely believe +his eyes as she appeared on the floor unsurpassed in beauty and grace, +her favor sought by all. Was that the simple girl who on the shaggy sides +of Storm King had leaned against his shoulder? + +Miss Hargrove gave him little time for such musings. She, as hostess, +often took his arm and made him useful. The ladies found him reserved +rather than shy, but he was not long among the more mature and thoughtful +men present before a knot gathered around him, and some of Mr. Hargrove's +more intimate friends ventured to say, "There seems to be plenty of +brains in the family into which your daughter is to enter." + +After an hour or two had passed, and Amy had not had a chance to speak to +him, he began to look so disconsolate that she came and whispered, +"What's the matter, old fellow?" + +"Oh, Amy," he replied, discontentedly, "I wish we were back on Storm +King. I'm out of place here." + +"So do I," she said, "and so we will be many a time again. But you are +not out of place here. I heard one lady remarking how 'reserved and +_distingue_ you were, and another," she added, with a flash of her +ever-ready mirthfulness, "said you were 'deliciously homely.' I was just +delighted with that compliment," and she flitted away to join her partner +in the dance. Webb brightened up amazingly after this, and before he +departed in the "wee sma' hours," when the rooms were empty, Gertrude +gave him a chance for a brief, quiet talk, which proved that Amy's heart +was still in the Highlands, even if he did not yet possess it. + +Burt would not return till late in December; but Amy came home about the +middle of the month, and received an ovation that was enough "to turn any +one's head," she declared. Their old quiet life was resumed, and Webb +watched keenly for any discontent with it. Her tranquil satisfaction was +undoubted. "I've had my little fling," she said, "and I suppose it was +time I saw more of the world and society, but oh, what a refuge and haven +of rest the old place is! Gertrude is lovely, her father very gallant and +polite, but Mrs. Hargrove's stateliness oppresses me, and in society I +felt that I had to take a grain of salt with everything said to me. +Gertrude showed her sense in preferring a home. I was in some superb +houses in the city that did not seem like homes." + +Webb, in his solicitude that the country-house should not appear dull, +found time to go out with her on pleasant days, and to interest her +deeply in a course of reading. It was a season of leisure; but his mother +began to smile to herself as she saw how absorbed he was in his pupil. + +The nights grew colder, the stars gained a frosty glitter, the ground was +rock-like, and the ponds were covered with a glare of black ice. Amy was +eager to learn to skate, and Webb found his duty of instructor +delightful. Little danger of her falling, although, with a beginner's +awkwardness, she essayed to do so often; strong arms were ever near and +ready, and any one would have been glad to catch Amy in such peril. + +They were now looking forward to Burt's return and the holiday season, +which Gertrude would spend with them. Mystery lurked behind every door. +Not merely the shops, but busy and stealthy fingers, would furnish the +gifts. Webb had bought his present for Amy, but had also burned the +midnight oil in the preparation of another--a paper for a magazine, and +it had been accepted. He had planned and composed it while at work +stripping the husks from the yellow corn, superintending the wood teams +and the choppers in the mountain, and aiding in cutting from an adjacent +pond the crystal blocks of ice--the stored coolness for the coming +summer. Then while others thought him sleeping he wrote and rewrote the +thoughts he had harvested during the day. + +One of his most delightful tasks, however, was in aiding Amy to embower +the old house in wreaths and festoons of evergreens. The rooms grew into +aromatic bowers. Autumn leaves and ferns gave to the heavier decorations +a light, airy beauty which he had never seen before. Grace itself Amy +appeared as she mounted the step-ladder and reached here and there, +twining and coaxing everything into harmony. + +What was the effect of all this companionship on her mind? She least of +all could have answered: she did not analyze. Each day was full and +joyous. She was being carried forward on a shining tide of happiness, and +yet its motion was so even, quiet, and strong that there was nothing to +disturb her maidenly serenity. If Webb had been any one but Webb, and if +she had been in the habit of regarding all men as possible admirers, she +would have understood herself long before this. If she had been brought +up with brothers in her own home she would have known that she welcomed +this quiet brother with a gladness that had a deeper root than sisterly +affection. But the fact that he was Webb, the quiet, self-controlled man +who had called her sister Amy for a year, made his presence, his deep +sympathy with her and for her, seem natural. His approaches had been so +gradual that he was stealing into her heart as spring enters a flower. +You can never name the first hour of its presence; you take no note of +the imperceptible yet steady development. The process is quiet, yet vital +and sure, and at last there comes an hour when the bud is ready to open. +That time was near, and Webb hoped that it was. His tones were now and +then so tender and gentle that she looked at him a little wonderingly, +but his manner was quiet and far removed from that of the impetuous Burt. +There was a warmth in it, however, like the increasing power of the sun, +and in human hearts bleak December can be the spring-time as truly as +May. + +It was the twenty-third--one of the stormiest days of a stormy month. The +snowflakes were whirling without, and making many a circle in the gale +before joining their innumerable comrades that whitened the ground. The +wind sighed and soughed about the old house as it had done a year before, +but Webb and Amy were armed against its mournfulness. They were in the +parlor, on whose wide hearth glowed an ample fire. Burt and Gertrude were +expected on the evening train. + +"Gertie is coming home through the snow just as I did," said Amy, +fastening a spray of mistletoe that a friend had sent her from England to +the chandelier; "and the same old warm welcome awaits her." + +"What a marvellous year it has been!" Webb remarked. + +"It has, indeed. Just think of it! Burt is engaged to one of whose +existence he did not know a year ago. He has been out West, and found +that you have land that will make you all rich." + +"Are these the greatest marvels of the year, Amy?" + +"No, there is a greater one. I didn't know you a year ago to-day, and now +I seem to have known you always, you great patient, homely old +fellow--'deliciously homely.' I shall never get over that." + +"The eyes of scores of young fellows looked at you that evening as if you +were deliciously handsome." + +"And you looked at me one time as if you hadn't a friend in the world, +and you wanted to be back in your native wilds." + +"Not without you, Amy; and you said you wished you were looking at the +rainbow shield with me again." + +"Oh, I didn't say all that; and then I saw you needed heartening up a +little." + +"I did indeed. You were dancing with a terrible swell, worth, it was +said, half a million, who was devouring you with his eyes." + +"I'm all here, thank you, and you look as if you were doing some +devouring yourself. What makes you look at me so? Is there anything on my +face?" + +"Yes, some color, but it's just as Nature arranged it, and you know +Nature's best work always fascinates me." + +"What a gallant you are becoming! There, don't you think that is arranged +well?" and she stood beneath the mistletoe looking up critically at it. + +"Let me see if it is," and he advanced to her side. "This is the only +test," he said, and quick as a flash he encircled her with his arm and +pressed a kiss upon her lips. + +She sprang aloof and looked at him with dilating eyes. He had often +kissed her before, and she had thought nothing more of it than of a +brother's salute. Was it a subtile, mysterious power in the mistletoe +itself with which it had been endowed by ages of superstition? Was that +kiss like the final ray of the Jane sun that opens the heart of the rose +when at last it is ready to expand? She looked at him wonderingly, +tremblingly, the color of the rose mounting higher and higher, and +deepening as if the blood were coming from the depths of her heart. He +did not speak. In answer to her wondering, questioning look, he only bent +full upon her his dark eyes that had held hers once before in a moment of +terror. She saw his secret in their depths at last, the devotion, the +love, which she herself had unsuspectingly said would "last always." She +took a faltering step toward him, then covered her burning face with her +hands. + +"Amy," he said, taking her gently in his arms, "do you understand me now? +Dear, blind little girl, I have been worshipping all these months, and +you have not known it." + +"I--I thought you were in love with nature," she whispered. + +"So I am, and you are nature in its sweetest and highest embodiment. +Every beautiful thing in nature has long suggested you to me. Amy, I +_can_ wait. You shall have your girlhood. It seems to me now that I +have loved you almost from the first hour I saw you. I have known that I +loved you ever since that June evening when you left me in the rose +garden. Have I not proved that I can be patient and wait?" + +She only pressed her burning face closer upon his shoulder. "It's all +growing clear now," she again whispered. "How blind I've been! I thought +you were only my brother." + +"I can be 'only your brother,' if you so wish," he said, gravely. "Your +happiness is my first thought." + +She looked up at him shyly, tears in her eyes, and a smile hovering about +her tremulous lips. "I don't think I understood myself any better than I +did you. I never had a brother, and--and--I don't believe I loved you +just right for a brother;" and her face was hidden again. + +His eyes went up to heaven, as if he meant that his mating should be +recognized there. Then gently stroking her brown hair, he asked, "Then I +shan't have to wait, Amy?" + +"Am I keeping you waiting, Webb?" she faltered from her deep seclusion. + +"Oh, that blessed mistletoe!" cried Webb, lifting the dewy, flower-like +face and kissing it again and again. "You are my Christmas gift, Amy." + +"Oh, I beg your pardon; I didn't know," began Mr. Clifford from the +doorway, and was about to make a hasty and excited retreat. + +"Stay, father!" cried Webb. "A year ago you received this dear girl as +your daughter. She has consented to make the tie closer still if +possible." + +The old gentleman took Amy in his arms for a moment, and then said, "This +is too good to keep to myself for a moment," and he hastened the +blushing, laughing girl to his wife, and exclaimed, "See what I've +brought you for a Christmas present. See what that sly, silent Webb has +been up to. He has been making love to our Amy right under our noses, and +we didn't know it," + +"_You_ didn't know it, father; mother's eyes are not so blind. Amy, +darling, I've been hoping and praying for this. You have made a good +choice, my dear, if it is his mother that says it. Webb will never +change, and he will always be as gentle and good to you as he has been to +me." + +"Well, well, well," said Mr. Clifford, "our cup is running over, sure +enough. Maggie, come here," he called, as he heard her step in the hall. +"Here is a new relative. I once felt a little like grumbling because we +hadn't a daughter, and now I have three, and the best and prettiest in +the land. You didn't know what Webb was about." + +"Didn't I, Webb--as long ago as last October, too?" + +"Oh, Webb, you ought to have told me first," said Amy, reproachfully, +when they were alone. + +"I did not tell Maggie; she saw," Webb answered. Then, taking a rosebud +which she had been wearing, he pushed open the petals with his finger, +and asked, "Who told me that 'this is no way for a flower to bloom'? I've +watched and waited till your heart was ready, Amy." And so the time flew +in mutual confidences, and the past grew clear when illumined by love. + +"Poor old Webb!" said Amy, with a mingled sigh and laugh. "There you were +growing as gaunt as a scarecrow, and I loving you all the time. What a +little goose I was! If you had looked at Gertrude as Burt did I should +have found myself out long ago. Why hadn't you the sense to employ Burt's +tactics?" + +"Because I had resolved that nature should be my sole ally. Was not my +kiss under the mistletoe a better way of awakening my sleeping beauty +than a stab of jealousy?" + +"Yes, Webb, dear, patient Webb. The rainbow shield was a true omen, and I +am sheltered indeed." + + + + +CHAPTER LX + +CHRISTMAS LIGHTS AND SHADOWS + + +Leonard had long since gone to the depot, and now the chimes of his +returning bells announced that Burt and Gertrude were near. To them both +it was in truth a coming home. Gertrude rushed in, followed by the +exultant Burt, her brilliant eyes and tropical beauty rendered tenfold +more effective by the wintry twilight without; and she received a welcome +that accorded with her nature. She was hardly in Amy's room, which she +was to share, before she looked in eager scrutiny at her friend. "What's +in the air?" she asked. "What has transfigured Webb? Oh, you little +wild-flower, you've found out that he is saying his prayers to you at +last, have you? Evidently he hasn't said them in vain. You are very +happy, dear?" + +"Yes, happier than you are." + +"I deny that point-blank. Oh, Amy darling, I was true to you and didn't +lose Burt either." + +Maggie had provided a feast, and Leonard beamed on the table and on every +one, when something in Webb and Amy's manner caught his attention. "This +occasion," he began, "reminds me of a somewhat similar one a year ago +to-morrow night. It is my good fortune to bring lovely women into this +household. My first and best effort was made when I brought Maggie. Then +I picked up a little girl at the depot, and she grew into a tall, lovely +creature on the way home, didn't she, Johnnie? And now to-night I've +brought in a princess from the snow, and one of these days poor Webb will +be captured by a female of the MacStinger type, for he will never muster +up courage enough--What on earth are you all laughing about?" + +"Thank you," said Amy, looking like a peony. + +"You had better put your head under Maggie's wing and subside," Webb +added. Then, putting his arm about Amy, he asked, "Is this a female of +the MacStinger type?" + +Leonard stared in blank amazement. "Well," said he, at last, "when +_did_ this happen? I give up now. The times have changed. When I was +courting, the whole neighborhood was talking about it, and knew I was +accepted long before I did. Did you see all this going on, Maggie?" + +"Certainly," she answered. + +"Now, I don't believe Amy saw it herself," cried Leonard, half +desperately, and laughter broke out anew. + +"Oh, Amy, I'm so glad!" said Burt, and he gave her the counterpart of the +embrace that had turned the bright October evening black to Webb. + +"To think that Webb should have got such a prize!" ejaculated Leonard. +"Well, well, the boys in this family are in luck." + +"It will be my turn next," cried Johnnie. + +"No, sir; I'm the oldest," Alf protested. + +"Let's have supper," Ned remarked, removing his thumb from his mouth. + +"Score one for Ned," said Burt. "There is at least one member of the +family whose head is not turned by all these marvellous events." + +Can the sunshine and fragrance of a June day be photographed? No more can +the light and gladness of that long, happy evening be portrayed. Mrs. +Clifford held Gertrude's hand as she had Amy's when receiving her as a +daughter. The beautiful girl, whose unmistakable metropolitan air was +blended with gentle womanly grace, had a strong fascination for the +invalid. She kindled the imagination of the recluse, and gave her a +glimpse into a world she had never known. + +"Webb," said Amy, as they were parting for the night, "I can see a sad, +pale orphan girl clad in mourning. I can see you kissing her for the +first time. Don't you remember? I had a strange little thrill at heart +then, and you said, 'Come to me, Amy, when you are in trouble.' There is +one thing that troubles me to-night. All whom I so dearly love know of my +happiness but papa. I wish he knew." + +"Tell it to him, Amy," he answered, gently, "and tell it to God." + +There were bustle and renewed mystery on the following day. +Astonishing-looking packages were smuggled from one room to another. +Ned created a succession of panics, and at last the ubiquitous and +garrulous little urchin had to be tied into a chair. Johnnie and Alf +were in the seventh heaven of anticipation, and when Webb brought Amy +a check for fifty dollars, and told her that it was the proceeds of +his first crop from his brains, and that she must spend the money, she +went into Mr. Clifford's room waving it as if it were a trophy such as +no knight had ever brought to his lady-love. + +"Of course, I'll spend it," she cried. "I know just how to spend it. It +shall go into books that we can read together. What's that agricultural +jargon of yours, Webb, about returning as much as possible to the soil? +We'll return this to the soil," she said, kissing his forehead, "although +I think it is too rich for me already." + +In the afternoon she and Webb, with a sleigh well laden, drove into the +mountains on a visit to Lumley. He had repaired the rough, rocky lane +leading through the wood to what was no longer a wretched hovel. The +inmates had been expecting this visit, and Lumley rushed bareheaded +out-of-doors the moment he heard the bells. Although he had swept a path +from his door again and again, the high wind would almost instantly drift +in the snow. Poor Lumley had never heard of Sir Walter Raleigh or Queen +Elizabeth, but he had given his homage to a better queen, and with loyal +impulse he instantly threw off his coat, and laid it on the snow, that +Amy might walk dry-shod into the single room that formed his home. She +and Webb smiled significantly at each other, and then the young girl put +her hand into that of the mountaineer as he helped her from the sleigh, +and said "Merry Christmas!" with a smile that brought tears into the eyes +of the grateful man. + +"Yer making no empty wish, Miss Amy. I never thought sich a Christmas 'ud +ever come to me or mine. But come in, come in out of the cold wind, an' +see how you've changed everything. Go in with her, Mr. Webb, and I'll tie +an' blanket your hoss. Lord, to think that sich a May blossom 'ud go into +my hut!" + +They entered, and Mrs. Lumley, neatly clad in some dark woollen material, +made a queer, old-fashioned courtesy that her husband had had her +practice for the occasion. But the baby, now grown into a plump, healthy +child, greeted her benefactress with nature's own grace, crowing, +laughing, and calling, "Pitty lady; nice lady," with exuberant welcome. +The inmates did not now depend for precarious warmth upon two logs, +reaching across a dirty floor and pushed together, but a neat box, +painted green, was filled with billets of wood. The carpeted floor was +scrupulously clean, and so was the bright new furniture. A few evergreen +wreaths hung on the walls with the pictures that Amy had given, and on +the mantel was her photograph--poor Lumley's patron saint. + +Webb brought in his armful of gifts, and Amy took the child on her lap +and opened a volume of dear old "Mother Goose," profusely illustrated in +colored prints--that classic that appeals alike to the hearts of +children, whether in mountain hovels or city palaces. The man looked on +as if dazed. "Mr. Webb," he said, in his loud whisper, "I once saw a +picter of the Virgin and Child. Oh, golly, how she favors it!" + +"Mrs. Lumley," Amy began, "I think your housekeeping does you much +credit. I've not seen a neater room anywhere." + +"Well, mum, my ole man's turned over a new leaf sure nuff. There's no +livin' with him unless everythink is jesso, an, I guess it's better so, +too. Ef I let things git slack, he gits mighty savage." + +"You must try to be patient, Mr. Lumley. You've made great changes for +the better, but you must remember that old ways can't be broken up in a +moment." + +"Lor' bless yer, Miss Amy, there's no think like breakin' off short, +there's nothink like turnin' the corner sharp, and fightin' the devil +tooth and nail. It's an awful tussle at first, an' I thought I was goin' +to knuckle under more'n once. So I would ef it hadn't 'a ben fer you, but +you give me this little ban', Miss Amy, an' looked at me as if I wa'n't a +beast, an' it's ben a liftin' me up ever sence. Oh, I've had good folks +talk at me an' lecter, an' I ben in jail, but it all on'y made me mad. +The best on 'em wouldn't 'a teched me no more than they would a rattler, +sich as we killed on the mountain. But you guv me yer han', Miss Amy, an' +thar's mine on it agin; I'm goin' to be a _man_." + +She took the great horny palm in both her hands. "You make me very +happy," she said, simply, looking at him above the head of his child, +"and I'm sure your wife is going to help you. I shall enjoy the holidays +far more for this visit. You've told us good news, and we've got good +news for you and your wife. Tell him, Webb." + +"Yes, Lumley," said Webb, clapping the man on the shoulder, "famous news. +This little girl has been helping me just as much as she has you, and she +has promised to help me through life. One of these days we shall have a +home of our own, and you shall have a cottage near it, and the little +girl here that you've named Amy shall go to school and have a better +chance than you and your wife have had." + +"Oh, goshwalader!" exclaimed the man, almost breaking out into a +hornpipe. "The Lord on'y knows what will happen ef things once git a +goin' right! Mr. Webb, thar's my han' agin'. Ef yer'd gone ter heaven fer +her, yer couldn't 'a got sich a gell. Well, well, give me a chance on yer +place, an' I'll work fer yer all the time, even nights an' Sundays." + +It was hard for them to get away. The child dropped her books and toys, +and clung to Amy. "She knows yer; she knows all about yer," said the +delighted father. "Well, ef yer must go, yer'll take suthin' with us;" +and from a great pitcher of milk he filled several goblets, and they all +drank to the health of little Amy. "Yer'll fin' half-dozen pa'triges +under the seat, Miss Amy," he said, as they drove away. "I was bound I'd +have some kind of a present fer yer." + +She waved her hand back to him, and saw him standing bareheaded in the +cutting wind, looking after her. + +"Poor old Lumley was right," said Webb, drawing her to him; "I do feel as +if I had received my little girl from heaven. We will give those people a +chance, and try to turn the law of heredity in the right direction." + +In the twilight of that evening, Mr. Alvord sat over his lonely hearth, +his face buried in his hands. The day had been terribly long and +torturing; memory had presented, like mocking spectres, his past and what +it might have been. A sense of loneliness, a horror of great darkness, +overwhelmed him. Nature had grown cold and forbidding, and was losing its +power to solace. Johnnie, absorbed in her Christmas preparations, had not +been to see him for a long time. He had gone to inquire after her on the +previous evening, and through the lighted window of the Clifford home had +seen a picture that had made his own abode appear desolate indeed. In +despairing bitterness he had turned away, feeling that that happy home +was no more a place for him than was heaven. He had wandered out into the +storm for hours, like a lost spirit, and at last had returned and slept +in utter exhaustion. On the morning preceding Christmas memory awoke with +him, and as night approached he was sinking into sullen, dreary apathy. + +There was a light tap at the door, but he did not hear it. A child's face +peered in at his window, and Johnnie saw him cowering over his dying +fire. She had grown accustomed to his moods, and had learned to be +fearless, for she had banished his evil spells before. Therefore she +entered softly, laid down her bundles and stood beside him. + +"Mr. Alvord!" she said, laying her hand on his shoulder. He started up, +and at the same moment a flickering blaze rose on the hearth, and +revealed the sunny-haired child standing beside him. If an angel had +come, the effect could not have been greater. Like all who are morbid, he +was largely under the dominion of imagination; and Johnnie, with her +fearless, gentle, commiserating eyes, had for him the potency of a +supernatural visitor. But the healthful, unconscious child had a better +power. Her words and touch brought saneness as well as hope. + +"Why, Mr. Alvord," she cried, "were you asleep? See! your fire is going +out, and your lamp is not lighted, and there is nothing ready for your +supper. What a queer man you are, for one who is so kind! Mamma said I +might come and spend a little of Christmas-eve with you, and bring my +gifts, and then that you would bring me home. I know how to fix up your +fire and light your lamp. Then we'll get supper together. Won't that be +fun?" and she bustled around, the embodiment of beautiful life. + +"Oh, Johnnie!" he said, taking her sweet face in his hands, and looking +into her clear eyes, "Heaven must have sent you. I was so lonely and sad +that I wished I had never lived." + +"Why, Mr. Alvord! and on Christmas-eve, too? See what I've brought you," +and she opened a book with the angels' song of "peace and good-will" +illustrated. "Mamma says that whoever believes that ought to be happy," +said the child. "Don't you believe it?" + +"Yes, it's true for those who are like you and your mother." + +She leaned against him, and looked over his shoulder at the pictures. +"Mr. Alvord, mamma said the song was for you, too. Of course, mamma's +right. What else did He come for but to help people who are in trouble? I +read stories about Him every Sunday to mamma, and He was always helping +people who were in trouble, and who had done wrong. That's why we are +always glad on Christmas. You look at the book while I set your table." + +He did look at it till his eyes were blinded with tears, and like a sweet +refrain came the words. "A little child shall lead them." + +Half an hour later Leonard, with a kindly impulse, thought he would go to +take by the hand Johnnie's strange friend, and see how the little girl +was getting on. The scene within, as he passed the window, checked his +steps. Johnnie sat at the foot of Mr. Alvord's table, pouring tea for +him, chattering meanwhile with a child's freedom, and the hermit was +looking at her with such a smile on his haggard face as Leonard had never +seen there. He walked quietly home, deferring his call till the morrow, +feeling that Johnnie's spell must not be broken. + +An hour later Mr. Alvord put Johnnie down at her home, for he had +insisted on carrying her through the snow, and for the first time kissed +her, as he said: + +"Good-by. You, to-night, have been like one of the angels that brought +the tidings of 'peace and good-will.'" + +"I'm sorry for him, mamma!" said the little girl, after telling her +story, "for he's very lonely, and he's such a queer, nice man. Isn't it +funny that he should be so old, and yet not know why we keep Christmas?" + +Amy sang again the Christmas hymn that her own father and the father who +had adopted her had loved so many years before. "My daughter," said Mr. +Clifford, as he was fondly bidding her good-night, "how sweetly you have +fulfilled the hopes you raised one year ago!" + +Mrs. Clifford had gone to her room, leaning on the arm of Gertrude. As +the invalid kissed her in parting, she said: + +"You have beautiful eyes, my dear, and they have seen far more of the +world than mine, but, thank God, they are clear and true. Keep them so, +my child, that I may welcome you again to a better home than this" + +Once more "the old house stood silent and dark in the pallid landscape." +The winds were hushed, as if the peace within had been breathed into the +very heart of Nature, and she, too, could rest in her wintry sleep. The +moon was obscured by a veil of clouds, and the outlines of the trees were +faint upon the snow. A shadowy form drew near; a man paused, and looked +upon the dwelling. "If the angels' song could be heard anywhere to-night, +it should be over that home," Mr. Alvord murmured; but, even to his +morbid fancy, the deep silence of the night remained unbroken. He +returned to his home, and sat down in the firelight. A golden-haired +child again leaned upon his shoulder, and asked, "What else did He come +for but to help people who are in trouble, and who have done wrong?" He +started up. Was it a voice deep in his own soul that was longing to +escape from evil? or was it a harmony far away in the sky, that whispered +of peace at last? That message from heaven is clearest where the need is +greatest. + +Mr. Hargrove's home was almost a palace, but its stately rooms were +desolate on Christmas-eve. He wandered restlessly through their +magnificence. He paid no heed to the costly furniture and costlier works +of art. "Trurie was right," he muttered. "What power have these things to +satisfy when the supreme need of the heart is unsatisfied? It seems as if +I could not sleep to-night without seeing her. There is no use in +disguising the truth that I'm losing her. Even on Christmas-eve she is +absent. It's late, and since I cannot see her, I'll see her gift;" and he +went to her room, where she had told him to look for her remembrance. + +To his surprise, he found that, according to her secret instructions, it +was lighted. He entered the dainty apartment, and saw the glow of autumn +leaves and the airy grace of ferns around the pictures and windows. He +started, for he almost saw herself, so true was the life-size and +lifelike portrait that smiled upon him. Beneath it were the words, "Merry +Christmas, papa! You have not lost me; you have only made me happy." + +The moon is again rising over old Storm King; the crystals that cover the +white fields and meadows are beginning to flash in its rays; the great +pine by the Clifford home is sighing and moaning. What heavy secret has +the old tree that it can sigh with such a group near as is now gathered +beneath it? Burt's black horse rears high as he reins him in, that +Gertrude may spring into the cutter, then speeds away like a shadow +through the moonlight Webb's steed is strong and quiet, like himself, and +as tireless. Amy steps to Webb's side, feeling it to be her place in very +truth. Sable Abram draws up next, with the great family sleigh, and in a +moment Alf is perched beside him. Then Leonard half smothers Johnnie and +Ned under the robes, and Maggie, about to pick her way through the snow, +finds herself taken up in strong arms, like one of the children, and is +with them. The chime of bells dies away in the distance. Wedding-bells +will be their echo. + + * * * * * + +The merry Christmas-day has passed. Dr. and Mrs. Marvin, the Kev. Mr. and +Mrs. Barkdale, and other friends have come and gone with their greetings; +the old people are left alone beside their cheery fire. + +"Here we are, mother, all by ourselves, just as we were once before on +Christmas night, when you were as fair and blooming as Amy or Gertrude. +Well, my dear, the long journey seems short to-night. I suppose the +reason is that you have been such good company." + +"Dear old father, the journey would have been long and weary indeed, had +I not had your strong arm to lean upon, and a love that didn't fade with +my roses. There is only one short journey before us now, father, and then +we shall know fully the meaning of the 'good tidings of great joy' +forever." + + + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Nature's Serial Story, by E. P. 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