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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6679.txt b/6679.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a1415d7 --- /dev/null +++ b/6679.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8495 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Old Stone House, by Anne March + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Old Stone House + +Author: Anne March + +Posting Date: September 3, 2012 [EBook #6679] +Release Date: October, 2004 +First Posted: January 12, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OLD STONE HOUSE *** + + + + +Produced by Wendy Crockett + + + + + + + + + +THE OLD STONE HOUSE + +by ANNE MARCH + +(CONSTANCE FENIMORE WOOLSON) + + + + +"He that goeth on his way weeping, and beareth forth good seed, shall +doubtless come again with joy and bring his sheaves with him." +--_Psalms cxxvi_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + I.--THE FIVE COUSINS + II.--LIFE AT THE OLD STONE HOUSE + III.--THE EDITOR'S SANCTUM + IV.--HUGH + V.--FOURTH OF JULY + VI.--SUNDAY + VII.--THE PICNIC + VIII.--RIGHT AT LAST + IX.--THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER + X.--THE HOME-COMING + XI.--CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FIVE COUSINS. + + +Aunt Faith sat alone on the piazza, and sad thoughts crowded into her +heart. It was her birthday,--the first day of June,--and she could +look back over more than half a century, with that mournful retrospect +which birthdays are apt to bring. Aunt Faith had seen trouble, and had +met affliction face to face. When she was still a bride, her husband +died suddenly and left her lonely forever; then, one by one, her +brothers and sisters had been taken, and she was made sole guardian of +their orphan children,--a flock of tender little lambs,--to be +nourished and protected from the cold and the rain, the snare and the +pitfalls, the tempter and the ravening wolf ever prowling around the +fold. Hugh and Sibyl, Tom and Grace, and, last of all, wild little +Bessie from the southern hill-country,--this was her charge. Hugh and +Sibyl Warrington were the children of an elder brother; Tom and Grace +Morris the children of a sister, and Bessie Darrell the only child of +Aunt Faith's youngest sister, who had been the pet of all her family. +For ten long years Aunt Faith had watched over this little band of +orphans, and her heart and hands had been full of care. Children will +be children, and the best mother has her hours of trouble over her +wayward darlings; how much more an aunt, who, without the delicate +maternal instinct as a guide, feels the responsibility to be doubly +heavy! + +And now, after years of schooling and training, Aunt Faith and her +children were all together at home in the old stone house by the +lake-shore, to spend a summer of freedom away from books and rules. +Hugh was to leave her in the autumn to enter upon business life with a +cousin in New York city, and Sibyl had been invited to spend the +winter in Washington with a distant relative; Grace was to enter +boarding-school in December, and Tom,--well, no one knew exactly what +was to be done with Tom, but that something must be done, and that +speedily, every one was persuaded. There remained only Bessie, "and +she is more wilful than all the rest," thought Aunt Faith; "she seems +to be without a guiding principle; she is like a mariner at sea +without a compass, sailing wherever the wind carries her. She is +good-hearted and unselfish; but when I have said that I have said all. +Careless and almost reckless, gay and almost wild, thoughtless and +almost frivolous, she seems to grow out of my control day by day and +hour by hour. I have tried hard to influence her. I believe she loves +me; but there must be something wrong in my system, for now, at the +end of ten years, I begin to fear that she is no better, if indeed, +she is as good as she was when she first came to me, a child of six +years. I must be greatly to blame; I must have erred in my duty. And +yet, I have labored so earnestly!" Another tear stole down Aunt +Faith's cheek as she thought of the heavy responsibility resting upon +her life. "Shall I be able to answer to my brothers and sisters for +all these little souls?" she mused. "There is Hugh also. Can I dare to +think he is a true Christian? He is not an acknowledged soldier of the +Cross; and, in spite of all the care and instruction that have been +lavished upon him, what more can I truthfully say than that he is +generous and brave? Can I disguise from myself his faults, his +tendencies towards free-thinking, his gay idea of life,--ideas, which, +in a great city, will surely lead him astray? No; I cannot! And yet he +is the child of many prayers. How well I remember his mother! how +earnestly she prayed for the little boy! Have I faithfully filled her +place? If she had lived, would not her son have grown into a better +man, a better Christian?" Here Aunt Faith again broke down, and buried +her face in her hands. Hugh was her darling; and, although he was now +twenty years of age, and so tall and strong that he could easily carry +his aunt in his arms, to her he was still the curly-haired boy, +Fitzhugh Warrington, whom the dying mother gave to Aunt Faith for her +own. "There is Sibyl, also," she thought, as she glanced towards the +garden, where her niece sat reading under the arbor; "she is at the +other extreme, as unlike her brother as snow is unlike fire. Sibyl +never does wrong. I believe I have never had cause to punish her, even +in childhood. But she is so cold, so impassive; I can never get down +as far as her heart; I am never sure that she loves me." Aunt Faith +sighed heavily. Sibyl's coldness was harder for her to bear than +Hugh's waywardness. + +Then her thoughts turned towards the younger children. "Grace is too +young to cause me much anxiety; but still I seem to have made no more +impression upon her religious nature than I could have done upon a +running brook; and as for Tom,--" Here Aunt Faith's musings were +rudely interrupted by a shout and a howl. Through the hall behind her +came a galloping procession. First, "Turk," the great Newfoundland +dog, harnessed to a rattling wagon, in which sat "Grip," the mongrel, +muffled in a shawl, his melancholy countenance encircled with a white +ruffled cap; then came Tom, as driver, and behind him "Pete" the +terrier, fastened by a long string, and dragging Miss Estella Camilla +Wales, in her little go-cart, very much against his will. "Miss +Estella Camilla Wales" was Grace's favorite doll, and no sooner did +she behold the danger of her pet, than she sprang from the +sitting-room sofa and gave chase. But Tom flourished his whip, old +Turk galloped down the garden-walk with the whole train at his heels, +and Miss Wales was whirled across the street before Grace could reach +the gate. + +"Tom, Tom Morris! stop this minute, you wicked boy! You'll break +Estella's nose!" she cried, as they pursued the cavalcade toward the +grove opposite the house. Here Pete, excited by the uproar, began +barking furiously, and running around in a circle with a speed which +soon brought Estella to the ground, besides tying up Tom's legs in a +complicated manner with the cord which served as a connecting link +between the team in front and the team behind. Old Turk, after taking +a survey of the scene, gently laid himself down, harness and all, and +wagged his ponderous tail; while poor Grip, in his efforts to free +himself from the shawl, managed to pull his cap over his eyes, and +howled in blind dismay. In the midst of the confusion, Grace rescued +Miss Wales from her perilous position, and, finding her classic nose +still unbroken, laid her carefully in the crotch of a tree, and +prepared for revenge. In his desire to secure the obedience of his +dog-team, Tom had fastened them securely, by long cords, to his belt; +Pete had already managed to wind his tether tightly around Tom's legs, +and Grace incited Turk to rebellion, so that he, too, began to gambol +about in his elephantine way, and Tom was soon tangled in another net. +"I say, Grace, let the dogs alone, will you!" he said angrily, as he +vainly tried to disentangle himself. "Here, Turk! lie down sir! Where +in the world is my knife? Pete Trone, you are in for a switching, +young man, as soon as these cords are cut!" During this time Grip had +been pulling at his night-cap with all the strength of his paws; but +as he only succeeded in drawing it farther over his nose, he finally +gave up in despair, and, hearing Grace's voice, patiently sat up on +his hind legs, with fore-paws in the air, begging to be released. He +looked so ridiculous that both Tom and his sister burst into a fit of +laughter. Good humor was restored, the tangles cut, and the procession +returned homeward, Grip released from his cap, but still wearing his +trailing shawl. + +When they reached the gate Tom stopped, and calling the dogs in a +line, he began an address: "Turk, Grip, and Pete Trone, Esquires, you +have all behaved very badly, and deserve condign punishment!" At these +words, uttered in a harsh voice, Pete Trone gave a short bark, and +Grip instantly sat up on his hind legs, as if to beg for mercy. "None +of that, gentlemen, if you please!" continued Tom; "special pleading +is not allowed before this jury. Turk, Grip, and Pete Trone, Esquires, +you are hereby sentenced to walk around the--garden on the top of the +fence. Up, all of you! jump!" said Tom, picking up a switch. Now, +indeed, all the culprits knew what was before them. That fence was a +well-known penance,--for when they did anything wrong this was their +punishment. Old Turk felt the touch of the switch first, and mounted +heavily to his perch, his great legs curved inward to keep a footing +on the narrow top; then came Pete, and, last of all, Grip, who, being +a heavy-bodied cur, crouched himself down as low as he could, and +crawled along with extreme caution. The fence was high, with a flat, +horizontal top about four inches wide. It ran around three sides of +the garden, and often, as Aunt Faith sat at her work in the +sitting-room, the melancholy procession of dogs passed the window on +this fence-top, followed by Tom with his switch. But Aunt Faith never +interfered. She knew that Tom was a kind master, who never ill-treated +or tormented any creature. Tom was a large-hearted boy, and, although +full of mischief, was never cruel or heartless; he found no pleasure +in ill-treating a dog or a cat, nor would he suffer other boys to do +so in his presence. Many a battle had he fought with boys of mean and +cruel natures, to rescue a bird, or some other helpless creature. "It +is only cowards," he would say, "who like to torment birds, cats, and +dogs. They know the poor things can't fight them back again." + +Old Turk,--a giant in size among dogs,--had been in the family for +many years; Grip was rescued from the canal, where some cruel boys had +thrown him, by Tom himself; and Pete Trone, Esquire, was bought with +Tom's first five-dollar bill, and soon proved himself a terrier of +manifold accomplishments,--the brightest and most mischievous member +of the trio. All the dogs had been carefully trained by Tom. They +could fetch and carry, lie down when they were bid, sit up on their +hind legs, and do many other tricks. Aunt Faith used to say, that if +Tom would only learn his lessons half as well as he made his dogs +learn theirs, there would be no more imperfect marks in his weekly +reports. + +In the meantime, the dogs had turned the corner of the fence, and were +slowly advancing towards the house; while Grace, carrying Estella, +came up the garden-walk. "Halt!" said Tom, and the three dogs stopped +instantly; Turk, not daring to turn his head to see what was the +matter, for fear of losing his balance, blinked out of the corner of +his eye, as much as to say, "I wouldn't turn round if I could." "Pete +Trone," said Tom gravely, "it is evident that this punishment is not +severe enough for you; a dog that has time to wag his tail and yawn, +cannot be in much anxiety to keep his position on the fence. Pete +Trone, Esquire, for the rest of the way you shall wear Grip's cap." So +the terrier's black face was encircled with the white frill, and, this +accomplished, the march was resumed, and the three dogs disappeared +behind the house. + +"Aunt Faith," said Grace, as she reached the piazza, "that wicked Tom +put Estella Camilla Wales in her wagon, and made Pete draw her all +over. It's a wonder her nose wasn't broken and her eyes knocked out. +If they had been, that would have been the end of her, like the last +ten dolls I have had." + +"Not ten, surely, my dear?" + +"Yes, Aunt Faith, ten whole dolls! Polly he painted black to make her +like the Queen of Sheba; he made Babes in the Woods of Beauty and +Jane, and it rained on them all night; Isabella and Arabella I found +on the clothes-line all broken to pieces, and he said they were only +dancing on a tight rope; he sent Rose and Lily,--the paper-dolls, you +know,--up in the air tied to the tail of his kite; the rag-baby he +took for a scarecrow over his garden; and surely, Aunt Faith, you have +not forgotten how he made Jeff Davis on the apple-tree, out of my dear +china Josephine, or how he blew up Julia Rubber with his cannon last +Fourth of July, when I lent her to him for the Goddess of Liberty?" + +"Well, Gem, I did not realize that you had suffered so much. Take good +care of Estella, and perhaps Santa Claus will make up your losses." + +Grace, or Gem, as she was called from the three initials of her names, +Grace Evans Morris,--G. E. M.,--ran off into the house to look up +Estella, leaving Aunt Faith once more alone. + +On a rustic seat in the arbor sat Sibyl Warrington reading. Her golden +hair was coiled in close braids around her well-shaped head, her firm +erect figure was arrayed in a simple dress of silver gray, and +everything about her, from the neat little collar to the trim boot, +pleased the eye unconsciously without attracting the attention. Sibyl +Warrington knew what was becoming to her peculiar style of beauty, and +nothing could induce her to depart from her inflexible rules. Fashion +might decree a tower of frizzed curls, and Sibyl would calmly watch +the elaborate structure raised on the heads of all her friends, but +her own locks, in the meanwhile, remained plainly folded back from her +white forehead with quaker-like smoothness. Fashion might turn her +attention to the back of the head, and forthwith waterfalls and +chignons would appear at her behest, but Sibyl, while congratulating +her friends upon the wonders they achieved, would still wind her thick +golden braids in a classical coil, so that her head in profile brought +up to the beholder's mind a vision of an antique statue. Rare was her +taste; no clashing colors or absurd puffs and furbelows were ever +allowed to disfigure her graceful form, and thus her appearance always +charmed the artistic eye, although many of her schoolmates called her +"odd" and "quakerish." Sibyl had already obtained her little triumphs. +An artist of world-wide fame had asked permission to paint her head in +profile, as a study, and whenever she appeared at a party the +strangers present were sure to inquire who she was, and follow her +movements with admiring glances, although there were many eyes equally +bright, and many forms equally graceful in the gay circle of Westerton +society. But in spite of her beauty, Sibyl was not a general favorite; +she had no intimate friends among her girl companions, and she never +tried to draw around her a circle of admirers. She had no ambition to +be "popular," as it is called, and she did not accept all the +invitations that came to her as most young girls do; for, as she said, +"occasionally it is better to be missed." Thus, in a small way, Miss +Warrington was something of a diplomatist, and it was evident to Aunt +Faith that her niece looked beyond her present sphere, and cherished a +hidden ambition to shine in the highest circles of the queen cities of +America,--Boston, New York, and Washington. With this inward aim, +Sibyl Warrington held herself somewhat aloof from the young gentlemen +of Westerton; there were, however, two whom she seemed to favor in her +gentle way, and Aunt Faith watched with some anxiety the progress of +events. Graham Marr was a young collegian, the only child of a widowed +mother who lived in Westerton during the summer months. He had a +certain kind of fragile beauty, but his listless manner and drawling +voice rendered him disagreeable to Aunt Faith, who preferred manly +strength and vivacity even though accompanied by a shade of bluntness. +But Sibyl always received Graham Marr with one of her bright smiles, +and she would listen to his poetry hour after hour; for Graham wrote +verses, and liked nothing better than reclining in an easy chair and +reading them aloud. + +"What Sibyl can see in Gra-a-m'ma, I cannot imagine," Bessie would +sometimes say; "he is a lazy white-headed egotist; a good judge of +lace and ribbons, but mortally afraid of a dog, and as to powder, the +very sight of a gun makes him faint." + +But Aunt Faith had heard of the fortune which would come to Graham +Marr at the death of an uncle, and she could not but fear that Sibyl +had heard of it also. The grandfather, displeased with his sons, had +left a mill tying up his estate for the grandchildren, who were not to +receive it until all of the first generation were dead. Only one son +now remained, an infirm old man of seventy, and at his death the +hoarded treasure would be divided among the heirs, two girls living in +North Carolina, and Graham Marr, who was just twenty-one. Sibyl was +eighteen, and self-possessed beyond her years; could it be that she +really found anything to like in Graham Marr? Aunt Faith could not +tell. As she sat on the piazza, looking down into the garden, the gate +opened and a young man entered,--the Rev. John Leslie, a clergyman who +had recently come to Westerton to take charge of a new church in the +suburbs, a struggling little missionary chapel, where it required a +large faith to see light ahead in the daily toil and slow results. Mr. +Leslie caught the shimmer of Sibyl's gray dress under the arbor, and +turning off to the right through a box-bordered path, he made his way +to her side and seated himself on the bench. Aunt Faith could not hear +their conversation, for the old-fashioned garden was large and wide, +but now and then she caught the tones of the young man's earnest +voice, although Sibyl's replies were inaudible, for she possessed that +excellent thing in woman, a clear, low voice. + +John Leslie was poor. He had only his salary, and that was but scanty. +Energetic and enthusiastic, he loved his work, and his whole soul was +in it. He was no plodding laborer, who had taken the field because it +happened to be nearest to him; he was no loiterer, who had entered the +field because he thought it would give him a larger chance for +idleness than the close-drawn ranks of business life. He had felt the +inward call which is given to but few, and he obeyed it instantly. To +him the world was literally a harvest field, and he, one of the hard +working laborers; he had no worldly ambition; he looked upon life with +the eyes or a true Christian; his little chapel was as much to him as +a large city church, influential and wealthy, could have been, as he +loved his small and somewhat uninteresting congregation with his whole +heart. Older men called him an enthusiast. Would that the world held +more enthusiasts like him; men who have forsaken all to follow Him, +men to whom the whole world and its riches are as nothing compared to +the souls waiting to hear the tidings of salvation. For even in +Christian America, there are in all our streets souls who have not +heard the tidings. It is their own fault, do you say? They can come to +our churches at any time. Nay, my friend; we must go out into the +highways and hedges and force them to come in with kindly sympathy and +brotherly aid. + +John Leslie was the other friend whom Sibyl Warrington had selected +from the large circle of Westerton society. Did she really like him? +Aunt Faith could not decide this either, but she noticed the +increasing interest in the young clergyman's manner, as he came and +went to and from the old stone house. Free from guile as Nathanael of +old, John Leslie felt an increasing attachment to the beautiful Miss +Warrington, who came occasionally to his little church, and seemed, +whenever he spoke on the subject, so truly interested in the work of +his life; he talked with her about his Sunday School, and her +suggestions had been of service to him; for Sibyl possessed a talent +for organization, and a ready tact quite unusual for one so young. And +in this work she was no hypocrite; she enjoyed her conversations with +Mr. Leslie, and looked forward to his visits with real pleasure. What +wonder that he thought her a true child of God, an earnest Christian, +a fellow-laborer in the vineyard? Sometimes, when Aunt Faith was +present and heard Mr. Leslie's conversation, her old heart glowed +within her breast, and she felt herself carried back to the ancient +days when the young converts went about the world with ardent +enthusiasm, preaching the new gospel to every creature in spite of +perils by land and sea, perils of torture, and perils of death itself. +Then she would look at Sibyl. Sometimes the girl's cheek glowed with +an answering enthusiasm, and for the time being, Aunt Faith would +think that her heart was touched, and her soul uplifted by the earnest +love of God which shone out from John Leslie's words. But the next +day, perhaps, a letter from her cousin in Washington would come, and +Sibyl's face would light up over the descriptions of some great ball, +and her thoughts turn towards the approaching winter with double +interest. + +A mist came with the twilight, and a slight chill in the air soon +brought Sibyl to the shelter of the piazza; she never trifled with her +health, her good looks were of serious importance to her, and she +never hazarded them for the sake of such sentiment as sitting in an +arbor when the dew was falling, or loitering in the moonlight when the +air was chilly. + +"Good-evening, Mrs. Sheldon," said Mr. Leslie as they approached, +holding out his hand in cordial greeting; "we have come up to the +shelter of your pleasant piazza to finish our conversation in safety." + +"I hope there was no danger," replied Aunt Faith with a smile; "a hot +argument, for instance." + +"Oh, no; on the contrary the danger, if there was any, came from the +opposite direction. I was afraid the dew might dampen Miss +Warrington's dress." + +"And her enthusiasm also," said Aunt Faith, with a shade of merriment +in her pleasant voice. + +"Certainly not her enthusiasm," replied the young clergyman gravely; +"I think it would take more than dew-drops to dampen such enthusiasm +as hers." As he spoke, his eyes were turned full towards Sibyl's face, +but he met no answering glance; Sibyl was occupied in spreading out +the folds of her skirt to counteract any possible injury from the +dampness. "He does not doubt her sincerity in the least," thought Aunt +Faith; "perhaps, after all, his influence will be strong enough to +cure her one fault, the one blemish of her character, the tendency +towards worldliness which I have noticed in her since early +childhood." + +"We were speaking of Margaret Brown, Mrs. Sheldon," said Mr. Leslie +when they were all seated on the piazza; "that girl has made a brave +battle with fate, and I have been trying to help her. Miss Warrington +has also been much interested in her; no doubt she has told you +Margaret's history?" + +"No," replied Aunt Faith, "I have heard nothing of her." Sibyl +colored, and Mr. Leslie looked surprised; a slight shade rested on his +frank face a moment, but soon vanished in the interest of the story. +"Margaret Brown is a poor working girl about twenty years of age, Mrs. +Sheldon; an orphan with a younger sister and two younger brothers to +support, and nothing but her two busy hands to depend upon. She is a +sewing-girl and a skilful workwoman, so that by incessant labor over +her machine, day after day, she is able to keep her little family +together, and, more than all, to send them to school. She realizes the +disadvantages of her own ignorance, and she feels a noble ambition to +educate those orphan children. Her faith is great; it is like the +faith of the primitive Christians who lived so near the times of the +Lord Jesus, that, in their prayers, they asked for what they needed +with childish confidence. It was her great faith which first drew me +towards her; she was a regular attendant at the chapel service, and in +the course of my visits, I went to see her in the little home she has +made in the third story of a lodging house at South End. It was +Saturday, and I saw the three children, already showing evidences of +improved education in their words and looks, while, busily sewing on +her machine, sat the sister-mother, pale and careworn, but happy in +the success of her plan. It seemed to me a great load for one pair of +shoulders, and I said so. The children had gone into another room, and +as I spoke, rashly perhaps, the overworked girl burst into tears. 'Oh, +sir,' she said, 'it is the wish of my life to give them a good +schooling, and I don't mind the work. But sometimes it is _so_ hard! +If it was not for the prayers, I could not get through another day.' + +"'Your prayers are a comfort to you,' I asked. + +"'They are more than that, sir,' she replied earnestly; 'they are life +itself. Every morning I kneel down and just put the whole day into the +Lord's hands, asking Him to give us bread, and help us all,--me in my +work and the children in their lessons. And while I'm asking, some way +a kind of peace comes over me, and although I may know there is not a +crumb in the closet, or a cent in my purse, I always get up with a +light heart. The Bible is true, indeed, sir; I can't read it myself, +but my little sister, she reads to me evenings. It says, 'the Lord +will provide.' He does; He has. So far, me and mine have not suffered, +although I can never see my way a week ahead.'" + +"Mr. Leslie," said Aunt Faith, "I must try and help Margaret; please +give me her address." + +"Miss Warrington has it; I think she has already been there," replied +Mr. Leslie. At this moment a form approached the house through the +dusk of evening, a step sounded up the walk, and Graham Marr appeared. +"Ah, good evening, ladies!" he said, in his languid voice. "Mr. +Leslie, I believe! Your servant, sir. Miss Warrington, I have brought +that new poem from the French; I am sure you will like it." + +"Thank you," said Sibyl, smiling. "Pray be seated, Mr. Marr." + +But the enthusiasm died away, the conversation languished, and Mr. +Leslie soon rose to take leave. Then Sibyl stepped forward, and +accompanied him part way down the garden-walk, pausing for a few +moments earnest conversation before he said "good night." + +"Now what made her do that?" thought Aunt Faith, as she tried to keep +up a conversation with the languid Mr. Marr; "does she like Mr. Leslie +better than she is willing to acknowledge?" + +But Sibyl returned to her place on the piazza, and soon entered into +an animated discussion of the last volume of poems, in which Aunt +Faith's old-fashioned ideas found little to interest them. + +"Well, young people," she said pleasantly, after half an hour of +patient listening, "I _am_ afraid I do not appreciate modern poetry. +I am behind the times, I suppose; but I really like to understand what +a poet means, and, now-a-days, that is almost impossible." + +"The mystery of poetry is its highest charm," said Graham Marr; "true +poetry is always unintelligible." + +"Then I fear I am not poetical, Mr. Marr. But I am, as you see, frank +enough to acknowledge my deficiencies, and, if you will excuse me, I +will go into the sitting-room and finish some work that lies in my +basket." + +Want of courtesy was not one of Graham's faults; indeed, he prided +himself upon his polished manners; so he accompanied Aunt Faith within +doors, placed an arm-chair by the table, drew up a footstool for her +comfort, and even lingered a moment to admire the shaded worsteds in +her basket, before he returned to the piazza and Sibyl. Once back in +the moonlight, however, the poetical conversation soon began again, +and the murmur of the two voices came faintly to Aunt Faith's ear as +she sat by the table, while the light breeze brought up from the +garden the fragrance of the flowers, always strongest after nightfall. + +Back of the old stone house on the north side, the ground sloped down +towards the lake; first grassy terrace and bank, then a large +vegetable and fruit garden, terminating in a pasture and grove. The +stable and carriage-house stood off to the left, and the place was +somewhat carelessly kept, more like a farm than a residence; but an +air of cosy comfort pervaded the whole, and the grounds seemed to be +as full of chickens and ducks, cats and dogs, doves and sparrows, +horses and cows, as the house was full of canary and mocking-birds, +gold-fish, kittens, and plants, besides a large aquarium. Up from the +back pasture, at this moment, two shadowy forms were stealing. As they +drew nearer, sharp eyes might have discovered that they were two +persons on horseback coming up from the road which ran east and west +across the foot of the pasture. At the garden-fence they stopped, the +gentleman dismounted and lifted the lady to the ground. It was Bessie +Darrell and her cousin Hugh Warrington. + +"Hush, Hugh; don't make me laugh so! we shall be discovered," she +said, as she gathered up her long skirt. + +"But it is such a good joke!" said Hugh, mounting his horse again. +"Think of the fun we've had! And you ride like a little witch." + +"We can go again to-morrow night, can't we, Hugh?" + +"I suppose so; if you can get away unobserved." + +"Of course I can. Oh, it is such fun! I like it better than anything +I ever did, Hugh; and you are a dear good fellow to teach me." + +"Teach you!" exclaimed Hugh, with a laugh; "that's good! Why, you took +to it as a duck takes to water. What a glorious gallop we have had! By +the way, Bessie, Gideon Fish would look well on horseback!" + +"Or Graham Marr," said Bessie laughing. "I do believe he is on the +piazza with Sibyl this very moment." + +"If he is, I propose we extinguish him. Out, little candle," said +Hugh, striking a dramatic attitude. + +"You won't be gone long, Hugh?" + +"No; the man will be waiting at the road." + +"Then I will run upstairs, lock up my riding skirt, and come down and +wait for you." + +Bessie went through the garden and up to her room, while Hugh, riding +one horse and leading the other, crossed the pasture and the grove, +and gave them to a man who was waiting near the fence: he led them +down the narrow road towards the west, for the old stone house was in +the east suburb of Westerton, more than two miles from the business +portion of the town. + +Bessie Darrell was sixteen,--a tall, slender maiden, with irregular +features, brown complexion, dark eyes, and a quantity of dark, curling +hair which defied all restraint, whether of comb, net, or ribbon. Her +eyes were bright and her expression merry, but beyond this there was +little beauty in her face. A quick student, Bessie always stood at the +head of her classes for scholarship, and at the foot as regards +demeanor. Twice had she been expelled for daring escapades in defiance +of rule, and Aunt Faith's heart had ached with anxiety, when the +truant returned home in disgrace. But her merry vivacity had made home +so pleasant, that the seasons of penance were, as Tom said, "the +jolliest of the year," and Gem openly hoped that Bessie would soon be +expelled again. Poor Aunt Faith sometimes thought there must be a +tinge of gypsy blood in Bessie's ancestors on the Darrell side of the +house, for in no other way could she account for her niece's taste for +wild rambles and adventure. "Bessie, my child," she said one evening +during the previous year, when she had happened to discover her +wayward niece returning from a solitary drive with Sultan, one of the +carriage horses, in Hugh's high buggy, "if you are fond of driving, +you shall go when you please. I will hire a low basket phaeton for +your especial use, and I shall be glad to go with you when you wish." + +"Oh, Auntie! if I can go when I please, there is no fun in it," said +Bessie, laughing. + +"Then I am to conclude, my dear, that the fun, as you call it, +consists in deceiving me," said Aunt Faith, gravely. + +"Oh no, Auntie; not you especially, but all the world, you know. 'It's +against the rule!' That sentence has always been my greatest +temptation. I do so long to try all those forbidden things; if I had +been Eve, and if the forbidden fruit had been a delicious peach +instead of a commonplace apple, I should certainly have taken it. Now +there was Miss Sykes at Corry Institute; she was always saying, 'Young +ladies, it is against the rule to go into the garret. Three bad marks +to any one who even opens the door.' That was enough for me; I slipped +off my shoes and climbed up the stairs, while a crowd of girls stood +in the hall to see what happened. I opened the door and went in, and +after a moment I stepped right through the lath and plastering and +hurt myself severely. Of course I got the bad marks, and a big bill +for lath and plastering in addition to my lame leg, and the whole +thing was Miss Sykes' fault." + +"You deliberately disobeyed her rule, Bessie." + +"Why have such a goose of a rule, then? Why didn't she say right out +that we must not go into the garret because there was no flooring +there? Then we would have understood the whole thing. For my part, I +don't believe in piling temptation in people's way like that." + +"My dear child, we cannot always know. We must all sometimes be +content to give up our wills to the guidance of a Wiser Hand,--be +content simply to _trust_." + +"I don't think that time will ever come to me, Aunt Faith; Hugh says +the human mind is sufficient for itself." + +Aunt Faith sighed, and laid her hand gently on the young girl's dark +curls. "My child," she said in a low voice, "I cannot bring myself to +pray that you may learn the lesson of trust, for it is a very hard +one. But I fear it will come to you, as, sooner or later, it comes to +almost all of us." + +"Dear Aunt Faith," said the impulsive Bessie, throwing her arms around +her aunt's neck, "of all your children, not one loves you more truly +than I do!" + +"I believe you do, my child," said Aunt Faith, returning the caress. + +Arrayed in her ordinary dress, Bessie Darrell went down the back +stairs and seated herself on the porch steps. In a few moments Hugh +joined her. "Do you feel tired?" he asked. + +"Tired! No, indeed. Horseback riding never tired me. You will take me +again to-morrow night?" + +"I think it is you that takes me, Brownie. Is Marr there?" + +"Yes; quoting poetry like everything. I heard him out of the +front-hall window; something about 'a rosy cloud,' I believe." + +"Are they sitting directly under the hall window?" asked Hugh. + +"Yes; in two arm-chairs, side by side." + +"Let us go up and have a look at them," said Hugh. So up they stole, +and took their places at the upper window. + +The old stone house was two stories high, with wings on each side, +which projected out beyond the main building; the space enclosed by +stone walls on three sides was floored with stone, and lofty stone +pillars ran up to the overhanging room. There was no intersection at +the second story, so that the view of the piazza from the upper +windows was uninterrupted. It was a pleasant piazza, fronting towards +the south, overlooking the old-fashioned garden with its little +box-bordered paths, and entirely cut off from the lake winds, which +are apt to have an easterly sharpness in them. On this piazza sat +Sibyl and Graham Marr, and the two listeners above caught fragments of +their poetical conversation. "I say, Bessie, do you know what a +'lambent waif' is?" whispered Hugh. "What a calf that Marr is! How can +Sibyl listen to him? He has not common sense." + +"I believe he is to have uncommon cents, sometime," said Bessie, +punning atrociously. "However, if my knowledge of Sibyl is worth +anything, I should say she really prefers Mr. Leslie." + +"What, the minister!" exclaimed Hugh; "I am surprised. Not that I +object at all, but ministers' wives sometimes have a hard life." + +"Gideon Fish says, that ministers' wives ought to be the happiest +women on earth, because their husbands are always at home, brightening +the domestic shrine with their presence," quoted Bessie, with a +dramatic tone. + +"That is a fish-story; I know it by the sound. I say, Bessie, wouldn't +it be fine fun to throw the great red blanket down on their heads in +the middle of the next verse?" + +As Bessie highly approved of this suggestion, the two conspirators +crept away softly to find their blanket. But it was safely packed away +in the bottom of a chest, and some search was necessary to bring it to +the surface; in the midst of which, Tom and Gem appeared on the scene, +curious to know what was going on. + +"Run away, children, and shut the door after you!" said Hugh, coming +up from the chest with a red face. + +"No, Mr. Fitz!" replied Tom, deliberately seating himself on a box; +"not one step do I go until I know what you're up to--some fun, I +know. Come, Bessie; tell us, that's a good fellow." + +"We shall have to tell them, Hugh," said Bessie, "or they might spoil +the whole thing." So the plan was hastily explained. + +"Come along, Gem," said Tom, in great glee. + +"All right, Bessie, we won't spoil your fun." + +The two children ran off down the back stairs and out upon the terrace +behind the house. "Don't you say one word, Gem Morris," said Tom in an +excited whisper, "but I'm going to be in this game, if I know myself. +The blanket's very well, but the dogs are better, and Graham Marr is +terribly afraid of 'em. I never liked him since he called me 'my lad,' +and this will be a good chance to pay him off." So saying, Tom started +towards the carriage-house, closely followed by Gem; for, as Hugh +said, they always hunted in couples, and whether they played or +quarrelled, they were always together. + +Opening a side door of the carriage-house, Tom called out Pete and +Grip; Turk had a kennel of his own, and sleepily obeyed his master's +summons. + +"Now Gem," said Tom, "I shall go round to the big barberry-bush, and +when the blanket comes down I shall send the dogs at it. They won't +hurt anybody,--they never do,--but they'll make believe to be awful +savage, and Grip will bark like mad. You'd better slip round into the +parlor and look through the blinds; it's dark there." Gem obeyed +softly, and Tom disappeared around the corner of the house, followed +by the dogs, who understood from their master's low order, that a +secret reconnaissance was to be made, and moved stealthily behind him +single file, big Turk first, then Pete Trone, Esq., and last of all +plebeian Grip, his tail fairly sweeping the ground in the excess of +his caution. + +On the piazza all was peaceful and romantic. No thought of coming +danger clouded the poet's fancies, as he repeated a stanza composed +the previous evening by the light of the moon. "I never write by +gas-light, Miss Warrington," he said, "but I keep pencil and paper at +hand to transcribe the poetical thoughts that come to me in the +moonlight. Here is a verse that floated into my mind when the moon was +at its highest splendor last night:-- + + 'Shine out, Oh moon! in the wide sky,-- + The creamy cloud,--the dreamy light-- + My heart is seething in the night. + Shine out, Oh moon! and let me die.'" + +"I think we'd better let him, don't you?" whispered Hugh to Bessie at +the upper window. She assented, and down went the great blanket on the +heads of the two below, enveloping them in sudden darkness. At the +same instant the three dogs plunged forward and pawed at the dark +mass; Grip barking furiously, and Pete nosing underneath as if he was +in search of a rat-hole. The noise brought Aunt Faith to the door. + +"What is it?" she said in alarm, gazing at the struggling blanket with +her near-sighted eyes. + +"Nothing, Aunt Faith, but some of the children's nonsense," answered +Sibyl, extricating herself, and stepping out from the stifling +covering. "Mr. Marr, I hope you are not alarmed or hurt." + +"Not in the least,--oh!--oh!--" gasped poor Graham, crawling out of +the blanket. "Those dogs!--oh!--get out!--get down, sir!" + +"They will not hurt you," said Sibyl, coming to the rescue. "Grip, be +quiet! Pete get down, sir! You are not going, Mr. Marr?" + +"I think,--yes,--I think I will," said the discomfited poet; "it is +getting late. I was on the point of making my adieu when,--when the +children played their little joke. Ha!--ha!--really, a very good joke. +Quite amusing! Good-evening, ladies! Really,--quite amusing!" + +When Graham had gone, Aunt Faith stepped out on the piazza. "Tom," she +said, in a severe tone, "I am ashamed of you! Such pranks are only fit +for a child!" But no answer came from the silent garden. + +"Grace, you are there somewhere! come out and show yourself," said +Aunt Faith. But still no reply. Then she called the dogs, but they, +too, had mysteriously disappeared. + +"Sibyl," she said, going back into the sitting room, "I am very sorry +the children were so rude. I am afraid Mr. Marr will feel seriously +offended." + +"Oh, as to that, Aunt Faith, it is a matter of small consequence what +he feels. But I see Pete has torn off part of the trimming of my +skirt; I will mend it before I go to bed. Good-night,--" and Sibyl +kissed her aunt in her gentle way, and went off to her room in the +wing. + +"I don't believe she cares for the calf after all," whispered Hugh to +Bessie, as, after watching this scene from the top of the stairs, they +separated for the night. + +A few minutes later, when Aunt Faith went up to her room, all her +children seemed to be unusually sound asleep; the lights were all out, +and Tom's snores came through his half-opened door with astonishing +regularity. + +"It's of no use, my dears," called out Aunt Faith, standing at the +door of her room; "I know you are all wide awake, and know you were +all in that blanket-and-dog affair." A burst of stifled laughter +greeted this announcement, and, when Aunt Faith got safely in her own +room and closed the door, she laughed too. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +LIFE AT THE OLD STONE HOUSE. + + +"Come, come, children," said Aunt Faith, as she went down the stairs, +"do not waste so much time in talking or you will be late for +prayers." + +The talking consisted of a dialogue between Tom and Gem, carried on +through the half-closed door of their respective rooms during the +morning toilet, and the subject, as usual, was Pete Trone, Esq. "Who +did Pete vote for?" began Gem. + +"Pete voted the Republican ticket, like a sensible dog!" replied Tom, +in a high key. + +"He did not! I watched him at the polls. He is an out-and-out +Democrat!" returned Gem, at the top of her voice. + +"No such thing!" shouted back her brother; "he attended a rat-ification +meeting last night in the cellar, and made a speech from the text, +'_aut rates aut bones_.'" + +"Oh, if you're going to quote Latin, I give up," said Gem, "and +besides, there's the bell." + +In a few moments the family assembled in the sitting-room,--Tom, Gem, +Sibyl, and after some delay, Bessie; Hugh did not appear, and Aunt +Faith, with an inward sigh, opened her Bible and read a chapter from +the New Testament. Then they all met in prayer, and the mother-aunt's +heart went up in earnest petition for help during the day, and a +thanksgiving for the peaceful rest of the previous night; as she rose +from her knee--, she kissed each one of her children with a fervent +blessing, and the day was begun. + +The sitting-room was large and sunny and the old-fashioned windows +were set low down in the thick stone walls, so that a recess was +formed in which a cushioned seat was fitted; Gem's favorite resort, +with Estella Camilla Wales. A cabinet organ, a harp, and a violin, +betrayed the musical tastes of the family, and an easel, with a +picture in water-colors, as well as the books and papers on the table +showed their varied occupations. Aunt Faith believed that music was a +safeguard against danger. The love of harmony kept young people +together around a piano, and filled their evenings with enjoyment; it +was always a resource, and opened a field of interest and employment +which increased the store of life's innocent pleasures. In addition to +this negative virtue, Aunt Faith believed in the duty of taking part +in the worship of the sanctuary; she believed that every voice, unless +absolutely disqualified, should join in the praises of the great +Creator, and some of her happiest moments, were those when her +children gathered around the cabinet organ to sing the hymns she had +taught them, or took their part in the congregational worship of song. + +Sibyl played correctly both upon the piano and organ; Grace was +already an apt scholar; Hugh sang, when in the mood, with a wonderful +expression in his rich baritone; and Bessie, although negligent in +practising, sometimes brought a world of melody out of her harp, +charming all ears with her wild improvisations. + +Tom owned the violin. The cousins united in the declaration that he +had no musical ability, but Aunt Faith stood by him, and even +encouraged his spasmodic attempts to find the tune. His favorite air +was "Nelly Bly." On this he would progress satisfactorily until he +came to "Hi," when he was sure to waver. "Hi," E flat; "Hi," E +natural; "Hi," F natural; and finally, when all within hearing were +driven nearly to frenzy, out would come the missing F sharp, and the +tune go on triumphantly to its close. + +The breakfast table at the old stone house was always a pleasant +scene; Aunt Faith presided behind the coffee urn, and before the meal +was over, the postman came with letters and papers, which caused +another half hour of pleasant loitering. This morning Sibyl had her +usual heap,--letters from various schoolmates, and one from Mrs. +Leighton, her relative in Washington, which seemed to be full of +interest. Aunt Faith also had several letters, and Bridget handed one +to Bessie,--a large, yellow envelope, whose ill-formed address +attracted general curiosity. "I say, Bess, who's your friend?" said +Tom. + +"Never mind," answered his cousin, with flushing cheeks, as she put +the unopened letter into her pocket and went on hastily with her +breakfast. Hugh, who had entered a moment before, glanced at Bessie, +and then diverted the attention by a word-assault upon his sister. +"What a mass of writing, Sibyl," he began, stretching out his hand; +"I'll help you to read it. That rose-colored sheet will do; the one +crossed over four times." But Sibyl quietly secured her correspondence, +and went on with her reading. "Does she tell you what she wore at the +last ball, dear? Was it blue, with rose ruffles, or pink with green +puffles," continued Hugh. Sibyl smiled; her temper was never disturbed +by her brother's banter. "If you could see Louisa May, you would be +sure to admire her, Hugh, ruffles and all," she said, calmly. + +"Undoubtedly; but as I cannot see her, ruffles and all, give me the +nearest thing to it, a sight of that page,-- + + 'Tis but a little criss-cross sheet, + But oh,--how fondly dear! + 'Twill cheer my breakfast while I eat, + And keep the coffee clear," + +chanted Hugh, in a melo-dramatic tone. + +"Aunt Faith," said Sibyl, as she rose to leave the table, "Mrs. +Leighton has invited me to go to Saratoga next month, to stay four +weeks." + +"Saratoga!" exclaimed Bessie. "Well, you are always lucky, Sibyl. But +why don't you do something instead of standing there so quietly?" + +"What would you have me do?" said Sibyl, smiling. + +"Why, dance,--sing,--hurrah,--anything to give vent to your +excitement." + +"But I am not excited, Bessie," answered Sibyl, quietly. + +"I don't believe you'd be excited if the house was on fire," said Tom, +looking up from his plate. + +"No, probably not," said Aunt Faith; "and for that reason, Sibyl would +be of more use in such an emergency than all the rest of you put +together. Does Mrs. Leighton fix any time for the journey, dear?" + +"Yes, aunt; about the fifteenth of July." + +"Would you like to go?" continued Aunt Faith, somewhat anxiously. + +"Of course she would!" exclaimed Bessie. "Four weeks at Saratoga. +Think of it!" + +"Of course she would!" said Hugh. "Four weeks of puffs and ruffles!" + +"Of course she would!" said Gem. "Four weeks of dancing!" + +"Of course she would!" said Tom. "Ice cream every day!" + +"I believe I will not decide immediately," said Sibyl, slowly; "I will +think over the matter before I write." As her niece left the room, +Aunt Faith's eyes followed her with a perplexed expression, but +recalling her thoughts, she rang the bell, and then set about her +daily task of washing the delicate breakfast-cups, and polishing the +old-fashioned silver until it reflected her own face back again. + +In the garret over the old stone house, a small room had been finished +off as a "studio" for Bessie. It was but a rough little den with +board walls and ceiling, but two south windows let in a flood of +light, and the boards were covered with pictures in all stages of +completion,--fragments of landscape, and portraits of all the members +of the family circle, more or less caricatured according to Bessie's +mood when she executed them. A strong patent-lock secured the door of +this treasure-house, and seldom was any one admitted save Hugh. In +vain had Tom bored holes in the walls, in vain had Gem pleaded +pathetically through the key-hole, Bessie was inexorable and the door +was closed. Chalked upon the outside of this fortress were some of +Tom's sarcastic comments intended as a revenge for his exclusion,-- + + "Turn, stranger, turn, and from this sanctum rush,-- + The fires of genius burn when Bessie wields the brush." + +And this: "She won't let me in! _Hinc illae lachrymae_!" This legend +was accompanied by a chalk picture of himself shedding large +tear-drops into a tub. + +This morning, however, the studio was not in a state of siege, as Tom +and Gem were both engaged in a work of great importance in the garden. +Seated near one of the windows was Bessie, her eyes full of tears, and +her face the image of despair. A low knock at the door interrupted her +reverie. "Is it you, Hugh?" she said, rising. + +"Yes," replied her cousin, and in a minute he was admitted. "What is +the matter, Bessie?" he said kindly. "I saw at breakfast that +something was wrong. You will tell me, won't you?" + +Bessie hesitated, and a flush rose in her dark face. "I suppose I +must!" she answered, after a pause; "I always tell you everything +Hugh, and I want your advice; but I don't know what you will think of +me after you have read this letter." + +"Never mind; give it to me, Brownie. You have always been my dear, +little cousin, and it will take more than a letter to separate us," +said Hugh, opening the envelope. The letter was as follows; "Miss B. +Daril: I don't want to trouble you, but I must have that money. Bills +is coming in every day. It belongs to me, as you know yourself, Miss, +very well, and I've a right to every cent. If it don't come soon I +shall have to send a lawyer for it, which I hate to do, Miss; and am +yours respectful, J. Evins." + +"What can this mean, Bessie?" asked Hugh, in astonishment. + +"It means, last winter, at Featherton Hall, Hugh, I got into a wild +set of girls there, and one of our amusements was sending out for +suppers late in the evening; the servants would do anything for money, +and they were always willing to go over to Evins, and get what we +wanted for a small bribe. The bill was allowed to run on in my name, +for, although it was understood that all the dormitory girls should +share in the expense, it was more convenient to order in one name. +Then the end of the term came, and there was so much confusion and +hurry, that most of the girls forgot all about the bill, and went home +without paying anything towards the suppers. I fully intended to give +my share to Evins before I left, but the amount was so large I could +not come near it," concluded Bessie, with two tears rolling down her +cheeks. + +"You have not told Aunt Faith, then," asked Hugh. + +"No; I do not want to tell her, for it would make her feel badly, and +besides, she would pay it herself, and I don't want her to do that, +for she has already taken ever so much of her own little income to buy +me new summer dresses in place of those I have torn and stained." + +"How much do you owe this man?" said Hugh gravely. + +"Two hundred and fifty dollars," said Bessie desperately. + +"How could you contrive to run up such a bill in one winter?" +exclaimed Hugh in astonishment. + +"Why, you see there were a good many girls in the dormitory, and we +always had plum-cake, eclairs, and French candy; and then I have no +doubt but that the servants took their share," said Bessie, with a +half sob. + +"And why was your name selected for the bills?" + +"I don't know, unless because I was,--the,--the,--" + +"The ringleader?" suggested Hugh. + +"I am afraid so," murmured Bessie, hiding her face. + +"Have you got this man's bill?" said Hugh, after a pause. + +"Ah! yes. He sent it to me weeks ago." + +"Let me have it, please." + +"Oh, Hugh! what are you going to do with it?" + +"Pay it, of course." + +"Pay it! How can you?" + +"So long as it is paid, what do you care about it, Brownie?" + +"But I do care, Hugh; and I shall not give it to you unless you tell +me." + +"Well then, listen, Miss Obstinate. You may not know that Sibyl and I +have some money coming to us this month. We shall be quite rich. I +shouldn't wonder if there were five hundred dollars in all. Quite a +fortune, you see! And I shall take mine to pay the debts of my foolish +little cousin, who must be a real sugar-dolly to have eaten so much +candy," said Hugh, laughing. + +"Oh, Hugh! you splendid, generous fellow," said Bessie, with the tears +still shining in her eyes; "but I shall not let you do it." + +"Yes you will, Bessie; you would do the same for me." + +"That is true enough; but I hate to take your money, Hugh." + +"You don't take it; 'J. Evins' takes it," said Hugh merrily. "Come, +give me the bill, and say no more about it, or we shall quarrel." So +it was settled, and there were two light hearts in the studio that +bright June morning. + +While Aunt Faith was busy with her house-keeping duties, she heard +Sibyl's touch on the piano,--giving full value to every note, and +exact time to every measure. Sibyl was an accurate musician, and +several hours of each day were invariably devoted to piano practice. +She never turned over a pile of sheet-music, trying now a little of +this, and now a little of that; but, having made her selections, she +played the piece entirely through, note for note, exactly as it was +written. Most people liked to hear Miss Warrington play, for the +performance was very complete. She sat gracefully at the piano, showed +no nervous anxiety, interpreted the notes conscientiously, and +finished the music to the very last octave. But Aunt Faith detected a +want of expression in this studied mechanism; it seemed to her that +Sibyl did not, in her heart, feel the spirit of the music which her +fingers played. Coming in from the kitchen, this morning, after +setting in motion the household wheels for the day, she again noticed +this automatic execution in the strains of Mendelssohn's +"Spring-Song," and it grated on her ear as she tended the hanging +baskets on the piazza. Continuing her round from her plants to her +birds and gold-fish, Aunt Faith kept listening to the monotonous sound +of the piano. "I wonder if Sibyl has a heart?" she thought; "sometimes +I am tempted to think she has none. How can she practise so steadily +when she has so much to decide? This visit to Saratoga will mean more +than it looks. The decision will be between religion and the world. If +she deliberately makes up her mind to go, it will show me that Mr. +Leslie's influence has not been strong enough to subdue her +worldliness and secret ambition. Poor child! she is like her mother. +And yet, Mabel Fitzhugh became an earnest Christian before she died. +God grant that her daughter may grow in grace also. Hugh, now, is all +Warrington; he is like his father, with all his father's faults and +all his father's generosity. Dear James! my favorite brother!" and +Aunt Faith wiped away a tear, as she crossed the hall and entered the +parlor where Sibyl was practising. + +The parlor in the old stone house was the counterpart of the +sitting-room, large and square, with two north and two south +windows,--for the main body of the house contained only the length of +the apartments finished by a north and south piazza, while the other +rooms ran off on either side in wings and projections, as though the +designer had tried to cover as much ground as possible. The parlor was +plainly furnished as regards cost, for there was no superb set of +furniture, no tall mirror, no velvet carpet or lace curtains. +Easy-chairs of various patterns were numerous, the carpet was small +figured, in neutral tints, and the plain, gray walls brought out the +beauties of the two fine pictures which lighted up the whole room with +their vivid idealism; the piano was a perfect instrument, filling a +corner of its own, and opposite to it was an open book-case filled +with pleasant-looking, well-used books, well worn too, like old +friends, so much better than new ones. The crimson lounge seemed to +invite the visitor with its generous breadth and softness, and the +white muslin curtains were in perfect keeping with the old-fashioned +windows, through which came the perfume of the old-fashioned flowers +in the garden. + +"Sibyl," said Aunt Faith, as her niece paused in her practising; +"shall we talk over your plans for the summer now?" + +"Yes, if you please, aunt; I can finish my practising another time," +said Sibyl, carefully replacing the sheet-music in its portfolio. + +"Mrs. Leighton is very kind to invite you, Sibyl; such a summer +excursion will be expensive." + +"Yes, Aunt, I suppose so; but cousin Jane knows that the addition of a +young lady will add to the attractions of her party." + +"Do you really wish to go, dear?" + +"I have been thinking it over, Aunt Faith. While I was practising I +looked at the subject in all lights, and I have almost decided to go; +there is nothing to keep me here, and no doubt the society at Saratoga +and Newport would be of great advantage to me." + +"In what way, Sibyl?" + +"In giving me the acquaintance of persons and families who will be +desirable friends for a lifetime. I am not rich, as you know, Aunt +Faith, and I do not wish to be a burden upon Hugh. I consider it +prudent to look to the future, and see life as it really is; I do not +believe in fancies,--I must have something sure." + +Aunt Faith looked at the speaker in silence for a moment. Then she +said, "There is nothing sure in this life, Sibyl, but our trust in +God." + +"I know that, Aunt; I hope you do not think I have been remiss in my +religious duties?" + +"No, child no," replied Aunt Faith with a half-sigh; "but are you sure +there is nothing in Westerton that interests you more than the +fashionable life at Saratoga!" + +"Nothing, Aunt; except affection for all of you, of course." Sibyl's +voice did not waver, neither did the shade of color in her oval cheek +deepen; Aunt Faith, who was watching her closely, said no more on that +subject, but turned the discussion towards the arrangements for the +journey. "You will need some additions to your wardrobe, I suppose, my +dear?" + +"Yes, Aunt; I think I shall take that money that is coming to me this +month for the purpose. I do not care for many dresses, but they must +be perfect of their kind, and I think I shall purchase that antique +set of pearls at Carton's," + +"But they are very costly, Sibyl." + +"Of course they are. I should not wish them if they were not rare. +Pearls become me, and the antique setting will set me off far better +than anything modern; a white organdie, long and flowing, with the +pearls, would be just my style," said Sibyl in a musing voice, as +though she saw herself so arrayed. As she spoke, a vision rose before +Aunt Faith's eyes: Sibyl at Saratoga, her classical head and hair +adorned with the antique circlet, rising in simple beauty from the +soft, white draperies. "She will look like a Greek statue," thought +the elder lady; "after all, how beautiful she is!" + +The discussion went on, arranging the details of the various toilets, +a committee of ways and means highly important in Sibyl's eyes. + +"At any rate, you need not begin immediately, Sibyl," said Aunt Faith; +"if you only wish two or three dresses; and those are to be so simple, +a week will be time enough to devote to them. You can have a full +month of quiet here with all of us, dear; and, after all, something +may happen to change your plans." + +"I think not, Aunt Faith. Are you going? Then I may as well finish my +practising;" and for the next hour the Spring-song filled the parlor +with its oft-repeated harmony. + +Down in the back garden, Tom and Gem were deeply engaged in the +construction of an underground shanty. The grassy terrace behind the +north piazza sloped down in a gentle declivity towards the vegetable +garden, and at the base of this small hill the two sappers and miners +were at work, their operations being marked by a convenient growth of +currant-bushes at the top. The three dogs watched the proceedings with +great interest. Turk, always thoughtful of his own comfort, had +stretched himself out near by under the shadow of the bushes, and Pete +Trone, in the excess of his zeal, had burrowed so far into the hill +that nothing was to be seen but his tail and hind legs; Grip, however, +persisted in tearing around the garden in wild circles, barking +furiously every time he passed his master as if to encourage him in +his labors. "This will never do!" said Tom, pausing and wiping his +forehead; "Grip will spoil everything with his ridiculous barking, and +the whole neighborhood will come to see what is the matter. Here, +Grip! Here, this minute! Very well, sir! _ver-y_ well! _ex-treme-ly_ +well! You'd better come, sir! You'd _bet-ter_,--oh! you're coming, are +you? There! get into that tub, sir, and don't let me see you so much +as wag your tail without permission!" + +So Grip sat mournfully _in his_ tub, and watched the work in silence, +resting his nose on the side, and blinking his eyes at every fresh +shovel-full of earth. The sun shone out warmly, and the laborers felt +the perspiration on their heated faces. Gem was the first to drop her +shovel. "Oh, Tom!" she said, wiping her forehead, "my hands are all +blistered!" + +"What of that?" said Tom, shovelling steadily; "the honest hand of +toil, you know." But Gem didn't know, and betook herself to the shade +of the bushes for a rest. "There's Dick Nelson coming up through the +pasture, Tom," she said, after a few moments. + +"Is it? oh, how jolly! Now we'll have a shanty that will beat the +town. I'll get Dick to bring all the B. B.'s to help." + +So saying, Tom ran down to meet his friend, and the two, after some +conversation, darted away to the right and the left, returning in +about fifteen minutes with the "Band of Brothers," as they called +themselves, a number of boys who lived in the vicinity, and hunted in +a herd, as the neighbors said, for they were seldom seen apart. + +"The B. B.'s have come, Gem! the B. B's have come!" cried Tom, as they +approached; "now you'll see a shanty fit for a king! Just run in and +get all the shovels you can find, will you?" + +Gem obeyed, and having confiscated those in use in the kitchen, she +went up to the garret to find the fire utensils belonging to the other +rooms, stored away there for the summer. Collecting a number, she +started to return, but, loaded as she was, this was no easy matter. +First one shovel fell, then another, and finally to save the whole +load from going, she sat down on the stairs and considered the +situation. + +Hugh and Bessie were still in the studio; for, her troubles over, +Bessie's good spirits had returned, and she had persuaded Hugh to give +her a sitting in order that she might satisfy a long-cherished desire +to paint his portrait. "But what can you make out of my stupid phiz?" +Hugh had said, laughing. + +"I can make Fitz Hugh Warrington out of it; fair and golden, Saxon and +strong; ruddy and stalwart; lithe and long. Now sit still, Hugh, and I +will do my best. If you had black eyes I would not paint you; black +eyes are _snaky_; that's the reason I don't like Gideon Fish." + +"But he likes you, Queen Bess." + +"No, he only likes Aunt Faith's cake. If he had to choose between me +and pie, I am afraid I should not have a chance. As for jelly, he +fairly gloats over it. Do you know, Hugh, I shall feel _so_ sorry for +his wife when he marries; how tired she will be of him!" + +"Oh, no, she won't," said Hugh; "she will think he is perfect, and +cook for him all her life without ever once finding out what a humbug +he is." + +"Well, perhaps it is better so. Deception is sometimes a blessing," +said Bessie. At this point a singular noise was heard outside the +door; then another, and still another. + +"What can that be?" said Hugh, opening the door; "Gem, what are you +doing?" + +"Oh, Hugh, don't make any noise," said Gem, in a whisper. + +"_I_ am not making any noise. It is you with your shovels. What are +you doing with them?" asked Hugh, laughing. + +"Oh, Hugh, please don't tell! but Tom and the B. B.'s are making an +underground shanty, and they sent me for all the shovels, and I got +all I could find, and now I can't carry them," said Gem dolefully. + +"An underground shanty! What in the world are you going to do with it, +and who are the B. B.'s?" asked Hugh, relieving his little cousin from +her load, and carrying it down the stairs for her. + +"Live in it, like Robinson Crusoe, you know, and roast potatoes and +everything." + +"It will be rather hot, won't it, Pussy?" + +"Oh, no!" said Gem decisively; "Tom says it will be delightfully cool. +We're going to have a stove, and chairs, and a table, and candles, and +things to eat; and then the dogs can stay there too. Grip has never +had a regular house, you know, and Tom says it isn't respectable for +him to be loose round the garden at night any more, and so he's going +to let him live in the shanty." + +"Happy Grip!" said Hugh, as he delivered the shovels at the foot of +the stairs; "but who are the B. B.'s, Gem?" + +"Oh! the Band of Brothers,--a secret society. Don't let them see you, +please, Hugh, for I promised not to tell, and I'm almost afraid of +them, they've got such a dreadful motto." + +"What is it, Pussy?" + +"Ruin, Riot, and Revenge," said Gem in a solemn whisper. + +"Well done, B. B.'s!" said Hugh laughing; "truly, a terrific motto! +There, take your shovels and run, little one. I won't betray you." + +So the shovels disappeared, and Hugh, returning to the studio, related +the adventure to Bessie with a hearty laugh. "Do you know anything +about the B. B.'s?" he asked, as Bessie resumed her work. + +"Oh, yes!" she replied; "I know them to my cost. They are ruin to +water-melons, riot on peaches, and revenge to anyone who interferes +with them. A few weeks ago, they frightened Mrs. Lane and her sister +almost into a fainting-fit. You know that high board fence below here? +Well! one evening the B. B.'s happened to find out that they were over +at Mrs. Reed's, so they waited until the ladies came along, and then +they laid themselves down on the ground close behind the fence, and +putting their mouths against the boards, groaned out, one by one, +'seven years ago I was murdered and buried under this fence, +oh!--oh!--oh!'--each boy keeping up the groan until the next one took +it up as the ladies hurried by." + +Hugh laughed; "What did they do it for?" he asked. + +"Oh, I believe Mrs. Lane had ordered them out of her garden, one day, +when they were playing there with her Johnny." + +"I am afraid if Aunt Faith knew they were undermining her terrace, she +would order them out of her's, too." + +"I think not, Hugh. Aunt Faith likes boys, and she never seems to see +their pranks." + +"Dear Aunt Faith! she is certainly the kindest aunt a graceless nephew +ever had," said Hugh warmly. + +"That she is; I love her dearly, and I do mean to try not to vex her +any more," said Bessie earnestly. + + "But, the horseback-riding, Bessie!" + "But, the horseback-riding, Hugh!" + +The two offenders looked at each other a moment in silence, and then +burst into a peal of laughter. + +"It's of no use," said Bessie; "we can't be good." + +"Do you think Aunt Faith would be very much shocked if we should tell +her?" asked Hugh. + +"Of course she would. She does not like to see a lady on horseback, +because her cousin was killed by a fall from a horse, you know. Still, +she might not forbid my going, provided I would ride quietly on a +country road; but that is just what I do not want to do. The whole +excitement is in the racing, you know." + +"Well, I suppose it would be better not to tell her, then," said Hugh +slowly. + +Dinner-time came, and the family assembled in the dining-room, Sibyl +attired in a fresh muslin, and Bessie and Hugh somewhat dusty after +their morning in the studio. Tom and Gem came in with flushed +faces;--the B. B.'s were to return after dinner and finish the +excavation, and the afternoon was to be full of glory. + +"Sibyl," said Aunt Faith, when the others had left the dining-room, +"would you like to go with me to see Margaret Brown, about four +o'clock? You have been there before, I believe?" + +"No, Aunt Faith, I have never been there." + +"I thought Mr. Leslie said so." + +"He did, but he was mistaken," replied Sibyl calmly. "I will go with +you, however, this afternoon, aunt, if you wish." + +"Do not go merely to oblige me, my dear. I thought you seemed to be +interested in Mr. Leslie's description. For my part, I have thought of +it ever since." + +A slight flush rose in Sibyl's fair face. "I was much interested, +aunt," she said quickly, "and I shall be glad to go with you, if you +will allow it." + +So Aunt Faith went upstairs for her afternoon siesta, and soon fell +asleep on the cool chintz lounge, in her shaded room, where the +old-fashioned furniture, high bedstead, spindle-legged chairs, and +antique toilet-table, had remained unchanged from her youth, when the +oval mirror reflected back a merry, rosy girl-face, instead of the +pale, silver-haired woman. + +But Sibyl did not sleep. She went into the still parlor, and seated +herself by the window with a book; but her thoughts were busy, and +only her eyes were fixed upon the page, as her mind wandered far away +from the author's subject. "Shall I or shall I not go to Saratoga?" +she mused. "This is more than the mere question of a summer journey; +I know that very well. It is, I feel it, a turning-point in my life. +Can I deliberately give up my ambition, my hopes, all my prospects for +a bright and prosperous future? Is it, after all, wrong to like wealth +and ease? Is it wrong to like elegance and refinement, the society of +cultivated people, and the charming surroundings which only money can +bring? I have an innate horror of misery,--an inability to endure the +want of all that is beautiful in life. I think I could be a very good +woman in an elegant city home, with all my little wishes gratified, +and nothing to offend my taste. But I fear, yes, I know, I should be +a miserable, if not a wicked woman, in a poor home, with nothing but +rasping, wearing poverty, day after day. Why, the very smell and steam +of the wet flannels coming from the kitchens of small houses where I +have happened to be on washing-days, has made me uncomfortable for +hours. I know I am not heroic, but I am afraid I was not intended for +a heroine. I know myself and all my faults thoroughly. I am sure I +should be generous with my money if I was rich,--kind to the poor, and +regular in the discharge of all my religious duties. People would love +me; I should make them happy, and be happy myself. Now the question +is, am I right in thinking such a life far better for me, constituted +as I am, than any other? + +"Let me look at the opposite side, now. It is not likely I should ever +be obliged to work at severe manual labor; but the annoyances and +privations of a limited income seem to me almost worse than that. I +think I would rather be a washerwoman, provided I could acquire the +strength, than the wife of a struggling man who has all the refined +tastes and sensitive nerves of a gentleman, without a gentleman's +income. I should see him growing more and more careless, more and more +haggard, day after day; I should see myself growing old, ugly, +ill-tempered, and sick, hour after hour. I have not the moral force of +mind, or the physical force of body, to make a cold, half-furnished +house seem a haven of rest, a piece of corned-beef and potatoes +continued indefinitely through the week seem a delicious repast, or an +old-fashioned cloak and dowdy bonnet seem like my present pretty fresh +attire. Well! this being the case, I am afraid I am but a worldly +woman, and, as such, would I not wrong a poor man if I consented to be +his wife? Would he not be sure to repent when it was too late,--when +he had discovered the selfishness and love of luxury which are in me? +I know he would. I will not put myself in such a position. I will do +the best I can; but, as I cannot make myself over, I will select the +life which is best suited to me." + +Here Sibyl sighed, and tried to bring her mind back upon her book. In +vain; her thoughts would wander. "There is poor Aunt Faith. I can +easily see how anxious she is about me, and how her heart aches over +my worldliness. I do love her dearly; all the good in me I owe to her, +and if I ever do anything right, it will be the result of her loving +guidance. Sometimes I am tempted to tell her all that is in my +heart,--all I have been thinking this afternoon, for instance. I +believe I will write it down now, and give it to her. She will +understand me better, then; and, if I request it, she will never +allude to the paper in words. Yes, I think I will do it." So Sibyl +took a sheet of paper from the drawer, and, in her clear handwriting, +wrote out her thoughts of the afternoon, adding a request that the +subject might not be brought into discussion, and also, that the paper +should be destroyed. "I will not take any false steps," she thought; +"I will be true to my determination, and therefore I will not go to +see Margaret Brown this afternoon; there would be a double motive in +the visit, I fear." Rising, she went slowly up the stairs to Aunt +Faith's room; the door was partly open, and she could hear the rustle +of book-leaves. "Aunt Faith!" she said, standing outside in the hall, +"I have decided not to go with you this afternoon, if you will excuse +me. I shall go over to the cottage to see Rose Saxon. And I have +written down some ideas of mine on this paper; perhaps you may be +interested in reading them." + +She did not wait for a reply, but laying down the folded paper on a +chair by the door, she went down the stairs, took her little straw +round hat, and walked over to the cottage, the residence of Mrs. Marr, +whose niece, Rose Saxon, had been one of her schoolmates. Aunt Faith +laid aside her book and read Sibyl's paper several times over; then +she arranged her dress, and went alone to see Margaret Brown, leaving +an order for some work, and inviting the children to come and play in +the large garden at the old stone house. Her voice was gentle, her +words cordial, and Margaret felt cheered by the visit; but the +visitor's heart was sad, and when, on her way home, she met Mr. +Leslie, she merely bowed, without stopping as usual to exchange a +pleasant greeting. But the young clergyman joined his old friend in +spite of her constrained manner, and began talking: "You have been to +see Margaret Brown, I presume, Mrs. Sheldon. I am very glad. I am sure +she will interest you, and she has so few friends to help her, that I +feel anxious to gain for her your good will. Miss Warrington has also +visited her, I believe?" + +"No, Mr. Leslie," replied Aunt Faith; "Sibyl has never been to see +Margaret, and she did not care to accompany me this afternoon." + +A shade came over the young clergyman's face, but he made no comment. + +"Westerton is very dull for Sibyl; she is better fitted for the gay +society of the busy city," pursued Aunt Faith, determined at any cost +to prevent Mr. Leslie from looking at her niece with blinded eyes. + +"Miss Warrington is fitted for any life," replied the young clergyman +gravely; "if you please, Mrs. Sheldon, I will accompany you home. I +would like to see Miss Warrington." + +Poor Aunt Faith! what could she do but murmur an invitation. As they +reached the old stone house and Sibyl greeted them with a bright +smile, poor Aunt Faith felt very much like the spider in the old song +of the spider and the fly. + +The tea-table was inviting, and the circle around it as pleasant as +six handsome young faces and one handsome old face could make +it,--faces handsome with vivacity and good nature as well as artistic +beauty. Mr. Leslie was there, and being a general favorite, the +conversation was full of life and interest. + +"He's just splendid!" said Gem to Tom after the meal was over, "and I +wish we dared to show him the shanty. He'd like it ever so much; I've +heard him tell such funny stories about what he did when he was a +boy." + +"But he would not like our keeping it all from Aunt Faith." + +"That's true. Well, I suppose, then, we'd better not tell him now. +But, oh! Tom, how I wish I could stay up with the B. B.'s to-night." + +"No; girls must always stay in nights. I've always thought it a great +pity you could not be a boy, Gem. But it can't be helped now. +Remember, if I fling a stone up, it will mean that we want something, +and you must be sure to get it." + +Aunt Faith spent the evening in the sitting-room busily engaged in her +fancy work. On the piazza, Sibyl and Mr. Leslie talked in low tones, +and now and then she caught a word or two which seemed to indicate the +serious character of the conversation. "I fear I am doing wrong to +allow it," she thought; "there is no doubt in my mind as to John +Leslie's liking for Sibyl, and the child is so worldly! Still, what +can I do? The way in which he put aside my little endeavors this +afternoon and walked boldly into the very danger! It certainly looks +as though he was not afraid of anything, and, to tell the truth, I do +not think he is. I shall have to let him take care of himself; he +looks fully able to do it," and Aunt Faith smiled at her own +discomfiture, as a vision of the clergyman's resolute face and broad +shoulders rose before her eyes. + +Later in the evening Bessie came in and slipped into the sofa corner +by her aunt's side. + +"How flushed you are," said Aunt Faith, stroking the young girl's +cheek; "do you feel quite well, dear?" + +"Oh yes, auntie," said Bessie with downcast eyes; "the evening is +warm, you know." + +"Do you find it warm also?" asked Aunt Faith, as Hugh entered, fanning +himself with his straw hat. Hugh, who had just taken the horses down +through the pasture, murmured some inarticulate reply and crossed the +hall into the parlor. "Let us have some music, Bessie," he called out +as he opened the piano. Then as his cousin joined him, he said in a +low tone, "I cannot bear this deception, Bessie. It makes me feel like +a puppy." + +"Oh Hugh, you are not going to tell, and spoil all my fun?" + +"You are a second Eve with her apple, Brownie." + +"I am not Eve, and I don't like apples," said Bessie indignantly. +"Don't spoil my fun, now, Hugh. The summer will soon be over, and you +will be gone. Then I shall be oh!--_so_ good." + +"When you have no longer a chance to be naughty," said Hugh, laughing. + +At eleven o'clock the lights were all extinguished in the old stone +house, and every one was soon asleep. After awhile a sharp rap on the +closed blinds awoke Gem; at first she was startled, but instantly +remembering the night-watch in the underground shanty, she stole to +the window and peeped out. There stood Tom! "We want something to +eat," he said in a loud whisper; "the B. B.'s are awful hungry. Come +down and open the back door." + +"Oh, Tom, I don't dare to do it!" said Gem, trembling. + +"Don't be a baby, Gem! Come down, or I'll tell, the B. B.'s you're +afraid of the dark." + +This taunt aroused Gem's failing courage, she stole down the stairs +and slipped back the bolt, regaining her room with the speed of a +little pussy cat. She heard nothing more for some time, and was almost +asleep when another tap on the blinds aroused her. + +"We want more candles," whispered Tom; "I can't find 'em. Of course +you know where they are. Hurry up!" + +"Oh, Tom! must I come down again?" pleaded Gem. + +"Of course you must! hurry up!" + +So Gem got the candles and crept back to her bed with a lessening +respect for the delights of the underground shanty. In a few moments +another tap was heard. "Oh, Tom! what is it now?" + +"I want my fiddle; the B. B.'s are awful sleepy, and they say they'll +all go home if I don't play for them." + +"Oh, Tom, somebody will hear you!" + +"Not under the ground, you silly! Come down and get the fiddle; I +can't go in the sitting-room with my boots on." + +So the violin was handed out, and poor Gem at last fell asleep, with a +vague intention of being a good girl, and giving up the society of Tom +and the B. B.'s forever. + +About half past twelve Aunt Faith awoke; "I certainly hear music!" she +thought. Opening the blinds she heard the faint strains of "Nelly +Bly," with the well known "Hi," E flat; "Hi," E natural; "Hi," F +natural, and at the same time saw a light proceeding mysteriously from +the ground. Hastily dressing herself, she ran over to Tom's room; it +was empty. Much disturbed, she knocked at Hugh's door; "Hugh! Hugh!" +she called; "something is wrong. Please get up." + +"What is it, Aunt Faith?" said a sleepy voice. + +"Get up at once! Tom is gone; there is music somewhere, and the +strangest light coming out of the ground in the back garden." + +"The B. B.'s, I'll be bound," said Hugh with a laugh, as he threw on +his clothes. "Don't be frightened, Aunt Faith; it's Ruin, Riot and +Revenge." + +"Dreadful!" murmured Aunt Faith outside the door. + +By this time the whole household was awake, and a group of persons +stole out of the back door and went down the garden walk. Finding a +barricade of boards at the base of the hill, they opened it, and +discovered a little den in the earth containing one chair, a table, +the three dogs, and Tom; a candle stuck in a bottle gave light to the +scene, and the table was covered with the remains of a feast, cake and +pies having evidently once filled the empty dishes. Tom was playing +dismally upon his violin, and the three dogs sat mournfully at his +feet. + +"Thomas, what does this mean?" said Aunt Faith severely. + +Tom looked up and saw the extent of his audience. "It's just my +underground shanty, Aunt Faith," he said dejectedly; "I've worked like +a slave over it all day, and the B. B.'s agreed to sit up here all +night and have lots of fun, so I climbed out of the back window and +came down. But first they wanted things to eat, and I had to get 'em; +and then, when they'd eaten up everything, they said if I didn't play +they'd go home, so I had to get my fiddle. And I only knew one tune, +and they got tired of it after a while, and a few minutes ago they all +skedaddled and left me here alone with the dogs. However, I wasn't +going to give it up, so I was just playing to amuse myself a little +before daylight." + +"Before daylight?" said Aunt Faith; "what time do you think it is +now?" + +"I suppose about four or five," said Tom. + +"It isn't one yet," said Hugh laughing. "Come in and go to bed, you +young brigand." + +At first Tom objected, but the dogs had already taken advantage of the +open door to depart, the candle burned dimly, and the air was damp. He +yielded, and the underground shanty was left to its earthy seclusion. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE EDITOR'S SANCTUM. + + +"Justice has never been done to the month of months," said Hugh, +coming in to the breakfast-table one morning, bringing a spray of +roses with the dew shining on their fragrant petals. "I propose we +celebrate the day, the fifteenth of June; the most perfect day of the +most perfect month of this most perfect year of our lives. Who knows +where we shall be before another June comes round? 'We have lived and +loved together through many a changing year; we have shared each +other's pleasures and wept each other's tears.' But _tempus fugit_, +oh, how fast! and before we know it we shall all be old! Friends, fill +your coffee-cups to the brim, and let us resolve to celebrate." + +"A picnic!" said Gem. + +"A torch-light procession and fireworks!" said Tom. + +"A croquet-party!" said Sibyl. + +"A dance!" said Bessie. + +"An editor's sanctum," said Hugh. + +The novelty of this suggestion made a favorable impression. "Explain +yourself, Hugh," said Aunt Faith; "I am afraid your project is too +large for the field." + +"Oh, no, Aunt Faith, it is not so large as you fancy. There is a store +of hidden genius in this family, and I propose, to bring it out and +let it scintillate in the light of day! We will invite a few friends +to spend the evening, give them notice that they must bring to the +'Sanctum' an original contribution, in prose or verse as they please, +and at nine o'clock we, will all assemble in the parlor to hear them +read aloud. I will act as editor, receive manuscripts, throw them into +a basket, and when the appointed time comes, take them out and read +them aloud, as they happen to come." + +"Splendid!" said Tom; "I'll go right away and begin mine." + +"Oh, I can never think of anything to say!" said Gem in a despairing +voice. + +"I have never noticed any difficulty of that kind in you, Pussy," said +Hugh, laughing. + +"Oh, I mean to _write_, of course," said Gem; "I don't know what I +shall do unless you'll take my last composition?" + +"Anything you like as long as it's original," said Hugh. + +So Gem went upstairs with a lightened heart and the others discussed +the list of invitations. + +"We will have old Mr. Gay," began Bessie; "he is always an addition. I +wish he would stay here permanently instead of going back to Boston." + +"A Boston man will never forsake the 'Rub,'" said Hugh; "that is too +much to expect. We will have Mr. Leslie, of course." + +"Rose Saxon and Graham Marr," said Sibyl. + +"Now, Sibyl, how can you?" said Hugh. "Graham is not a congenial +spirit." + +"He is congenial to me," replied Sibyl calmly. + +"Of course we will have the Marrs," said Aunt Faith; "and Gideon Fish +also." + +"Oh, Aunt Faith! Not Gideon?" said Bessie. + +"Poor Gid! If he could hear you say so," said Hugh, laughing. + +"I wish he could," answered Bessie hotly; "he does not understand a +hint." + +"How should he, doubly enrolled as he is in his own self-importance?" +said Hugh. + +"I am inclined to think there are good points in Gideon Fish," said +gentle Aunt Faith. + +"Have you ever seen him eat?" asked Bessie with marked emphasis. + +"No, my dear; but we all eat, do we not?" said Aunt Faith, smiling. + +"Not like Gideon Fish, I hope, auntie. He never has enough; he is +always eyeing the baskets at picnics, and the supper-table at parties. +And then he never openly takes what he wants,--as Hugh does for +instance,--but he always pretends he does not care for anything, that +he is too much absorbed in intellectual conversation to attend to +anything so sublunary as eating, while all the time he is gloating +over the nice things, and sure to outstay everybody at the table. The +very way he gets a piece of cake is a study. He never takes it boldly, +like any one else, but eyes it awhile; then he turns the plate to the +right or the left, edging it a little nearer; then he looks furtively +at the slices, and gradually he gets hold of a piece, his little +finger carefully extended all the time, and his face wearing an +expression of pure self-sacrifice to an arduous duty." + +Everybody laughed at this description, but Aunt Faith said, "Gently, +Bessie, gently. If that is all you have against Gideon, he has fewer +faults than most young persons of his age." + +Somewhat conscience-stricken, Bessie did not reply, and the discussion +went on until the list was fully made out, and Hugh departed to +deliver the invitations and explain the conditions connected with the +editor's sanctum. He returned in an hour with acceptances from most of +the invited guests, and then silence reigned in the old stone house +for the remainder of the day, while all the contributors wooed the +Muses, ransacked their brains, or paced their floors in desperation, +according to their various temperaments. Aunt Faith having been +exempted from duty, moved about the house, arranging flowers and +decorating the pretty supper-table which stood in the sitting-room. +Gem had nothing to do but copy her composition, and yet she consumed +the whole day in a battle with the ink, and came out with a blotted +page at the last. Tom had disappeared; no one knew where he was. Sibyl +came down to dinner in her usual unruffled state, but Bessie's curly +hair stood on end, and there was a deep wrinkle between her eyes. +"Well, Sibyl, have you made a commencement?" she asked, as her cousin +took her seat at the dinner-table. + +"I have finished my contribution entirely," said Sibyl. + +"Did it take you all the morning? I have not heard a sound from your +room." + +"Oh no! I finished it some time ago, and since then I have been making +a new underskirt for my Swiss muslin; the old one was not quite +fresh." + +"There it is," said Bessie, half laughing, half vexed; "you are always +ahead of me, Sibyl. Your contribution will be perfect, and your dress +will be perfect,--and I am always just--" + +"Bessie Darrell!" interrupted Hugh; "and I would not have you +different if I could." + +"Thank you, Hugh; but the rest of the world may not agree with you." + +"If you mean Gideon Fish," began Hugh, merrily, but something in his +cousin's face stopped him. It was seldom that the keenest observer +could detect anything like wounded feelings in Bessie Darrell's bright +eyes, but when it did come, they were like the eyes of a wounded fawn. + +"How has your contribution advanced, Hugh?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"Done! madam, at your service," said Hugh with a low bow. "The muses +visited me in a body, and I had hard work to choose between the +numerous gifts they offered." + +"Very well," said Bessie, "I see I am entirely behind you all. I shall +shut myself into the studio this afternoon, and my ghost will come out +at tea-time, deliver a manuscript written in blood, and vanish into +thin air. Farewell, my friends, farewell!" + +Evening came, and found Sibyl seated on the piazza looking like a lily +in her white draperies. Tom and Gem were in the parlor, in their best +attire, trying to look grown-up and dignified; Tom's collar was +especially imposing. The guests assembled slowly; Hugh received their +folded papers as they entered, and placed them in a covered basket. +Nine o'clock struck, and the merry party seated themselves in the +parlor, Sibyl by the side of Graham Marr, and Rose Saxon on the +opposite side of the room with Mr. Leslie. When they were all in +place, the door opened and Hugh appeared, carrying the basket. His +entrance was greeted with applause; an arm-chair by the table, and a +shaded light were ready, and, with much solemnity, the reader took his +seat. Placing the basket on the floor before him, he coughed, unfolded +a pocket-handkerchief, and laid it on the table at his elbow, brought +out a box of troches and placed them in position by the handkerchief, +gravely asked for a glass of water, which was also ranged in order, +and then, putting on a pair of green spectacles, bowed to the company +and began his preliminary speech:-- + +"Ladies and gentlemen; the humble individual who now addresses you +asks in advance for your kind sympathy for his present embarrassing +position. Of a gentle nature, timid as the wild rabbit, blushing as +the rosy dawn, he yet finds himself called upon to address the +public,--and such a public! (applause ). Ladies and gentlemen,--his +feelings are too much for him, and, withdrawing to the basket, he +hides his own personality in the following no doubt brilliant +effusions taken at random from this intellectual vortex. Ladies and +gentlemen,--I beg your attention to the story of:-- + + 'THE UNSEEN VISITOR + +"'While I was still a school-girl, I paid a visit to a young lady +friend in the pleasant city of C------. We occupied a room together in +the second story, and were the only persons on that floor, as the +other members of the family slept down-stairs, the house being large, +with irregular one-story wings on each side in the old-fashioned +style. C------ is a city of a hundred-thousand inhabitants, the +streets closely built up, lighted, paved, and guarded by a +well-regulated police force. It is a new town also, with no old +associations, old legends, or old people to cast a veil of mystery +over its new houses and young history; thus, it, would seem to be the +last place for anything mysterious, and yet it was there that a +singular incident occurred which I have never been able to explain. +One night I had been asleep perhaps two hours, when suddenly I +awoke,--it was about half-past ten when Kate and I went to our +room,--and soon after I awoke, I heard the clock strike one. The +street lamps were not lighted, in accordance with the almanac which +predicted a fine moon without any regard for the possibility, now a +certainty, of heavy clouds; not a gleam, therefore, came in through +the blinds to lighten the dark, still house. Our room was large, +opening into the hall which was long and broad, extending from one end +of the house to the other; the stairs from below came up into this +hall, and there was no way of getting to the back part of the house, +where the servants slept, without going entirely through it to the +west end. + +"'Waking suddenly in the night always gives me a strange sensation. I +feel as though some one must have called me, and, involuntarily, I +listen for a second summons. This night I listened as usual, and +distinctly heard a step in the hall. Our door stood partly open, but +the darkness was intense. At first I thought it might be a member of +the family in search of something in the upper story, for there were +several unoccupied rooms and a medicine-closet opening into the hall; +but, after a moment, I noticed that the step did not pause or enter +these chambers, but seemed to keep in the hall, going back and forth, +from one end to the other, with perfect regularity and steadiness. +Much perplexed, I gently awakened Kate, and, placing my hand over her +lips, I whispered in her ear, 'listen!' She obeyed, and, with beating +hearts, we heard the footstep pacing back and forth before our door, +now at the west end, now at the east, in a measured gait to which we +could almost beat time, so regularly came the sound. The hall was +carpeted, and the footfalls soft, yet not as though the unseen visitor +was trying to deaden the sound. It was a natural step. From the light +tread we might have supposed it to be a woman's foot, but from the +stride it was more like a man. I do not know how long we lay there +motionless. I felt myself growing more and more nervous, and Kate's +hand, as it pressed mine, was cold and trembling. I think we would +have been relieved if the step had paused, or even entered our room; +that, at least, would have been like an ordinary burglar. But this +steady march, to and fro, seemed so unaccountable. If the steps, too, +had been soft and muffled, if we could have supposed the person was +creeping about after booty of some kind, we should have been +frightened, no doubt, but not so appalled as we were now at this +singular, easy, and apparently aimless promenade. We did not speak, +but lay trembling, and scarcely daring to breathe. Our room was long, +and the distance to the open door so great that we could not hope to +reach it unnoticed in the darkness, before the step would be upon us +again. Besides, the lock was out of order, so that even if we could +have summoned courage to shut it, it could not be fastened. The +stairway, too, was at such a distance beyond our door, that we did not +dare to try that way of escape, bringing us, as it would, face to face +with our unseen visitor. There was nothing left but silent endurance, +and thus we lay counting the footsteps through the long hours. We +could not hope, either, that the other members of the family would be +aroused, as their sleeping-rooms were not directly below us, but +beyond, in the wings. The clock struck two, and half-past, and +steadily the step kept on its regular sound, passing and repassing our +door. It grew insupportable. It seemed as though I should not be able +to keep from shrieking aloud each time it drew near. If we could have +spoken to each other we might have regained some courage, but we were +paralyzed with nervous fear; our throats were parched, and our muscles +rigid with long continued tension, for we dared not move. It was like +a spell, and the fact that we did not know what it was we feared, made +the fear all the more intense. At length, after what seemed a century +of suffering, the strange footsteps paused. Our hearts gave a leap. +Was it coming in? Who was it? Would it come and stand by the bedside, +and look at us in the darkness? No! Slowly--and steadily it went down +the stairs. We counted every step to the bottom. Then a pause. Would +it go towards the dining-room, where the silver was, or towards the +sleeping-rooms? We almost hoped it would, for that would prove a +desire for plunder. Still silence! We dared not move for fear it might +have crept softly up the stairs; it might even now be crawling towards +us in the darkness. We shuddered; the silence seemed worse than the +regular footfalls. Suddenly we heard a distinct snap in the hall +below. We instantly recognized the bolt of the front door, and +simultaneously we sprang from the bed. _It_--whatever _It_ was,--was +going. We ran across the room, hearing, as we went, the sound of the +footfalls on the stone walk outside, which led from the door to the +street. We rushed down-stairs and alarmed the house. The front-door +was found open, but no trace of our unseen visitor remained, although +the neighborhood was carefully searched. Investigation showed that +entrance had been effected through a dining-room window. But the +silver was untouched; nothing had been disturbed, although the house +contained many valuables, and it was evident that none of the +sleeping-rooms had been visited. It, whatever it was, had entered, +passed up the stairs, spent the night pacing to and fro in the upper +hall, and then, just before dawn, had departed as strangely as it +came. + +"'Who or what it was, we never knew. The only possible solution was, +that it might have been some somnambulist; and, in that case, it must +have been some acquaintance who bad been in the house in his waking +moments. But even this solution seemed unsatisfactory, and finally +Kate and I gave up trying to solve the enigma, content to let it rest +as the mystery of our Unseen Visitor. + + SIBYL WARRINGTON.'" + +"Oh, Sibyl! you never told us anything about it before!" exclaimed +Gem, who had listened with breathless interest. "Is it all really +true?" + +"Entirely true," replied Sibyl; "it is an exact description of what +happened during my visit to C------ last summer." + +After a little general conversation upon somnambulism, and the stories +connected with it, Hugh took up another paper. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "the next manuscript, which I have +taken at random from the basket, seems to be poetical. It is prefaced +by the following note:-- + +"'To the Editor,--Sir: I am a Boston man; I do not deny it, but glory +in the title! Some winters ago I was tempted to go west on business, +and found myself snowed up in that great Metropolis of the Lakes,--the +Pride of the West,--the Garden City,--in a word, Chicago! It was +before the great fire; the hotels were crowded; I was in the fifth +story, and, need I say it, I was miserable! In addition to my bodily +sufferings, my ear was tortured by the various pronunciations given to +the city's name. No sooner had I mastered one than I heard another! At +last, driven to desperation, I tried to while away the time in +composing the following 'Ode,' in which my feelings, and the three +different pronunciations are expressed:-- + + 'ODE TO CHICAGO. + + The wind is loud, and on the road + The snow lays an embargo, + While, in his room, a Boston man + Sits snow-bound in Chi-CAR-go. + + A monkey when he is so sick + That he can't make his paw go, + Feels better than a Boston man + When storm-bound in Chi-CAW-go. + + A spinster, when she cannot make + Her thin and grayish hair grow, + Feels happier than a Boston man + When storm-bound in Chi-CARE-go. + + A Boston man would sooner lose + His credit, cash, and cargo, + He'd sooner be a beggar than + A dweller in Chi-CAR-go. + + A Boston man would sooner far + To wigwam with a squaw go, + Than to enjoy domestic bliss + In the best house in Chi-CAW-go. + + All the extreme and dreadful lengths + A Boston man would dare go, + Could ne'er include the direful thought + Of DWELLING in Chi-CARE-go. + + ELIJAH GAY.'" + +There was a general laugh over this effusion of the Boston bachelor. +Mr. Gay was a genial, pleasant man, and although approaching his +three-score years and ten, he enjoyed the companionship of young +people, and, what is more unusual, the young people sought his +company; he entered into their feelings and interests, and was not so +devoted to memories of the past but that; he could see the advantages +and improvements of the present. + +"The next article to which I shall call your attention," said Hugh, +taking another paper from the basket, "is a grave and scholarly essay +upon that momentous subject, ambition. After the story and the poem, +no doubt our minds will receive much enjoyment from the contemplation +of this instructive theme:-- + + 'AMBITION + +Ambition is the curse of nations. + +If it was not for ambition, America would be a better country. + +Ambition is wrong. + +Americans are very ambitious. + +It is always better to be content with what we have got. + +Especially when we have got so much. + +It is not right to be too ambitious. + +It is said we are going to have Cuba, Mexico and Canada. + +Of course we can have them if we want to. + +Or anything else. + +But we must always remember that ambition is wrong. + + THOMAS MORRIS.'" + +"Very good, my boy," said Mr. Gay to Tom, whose scarlet face had +betrayed the authorship of this profound essay long before his name +was read; "adhere to that moral, and, mark my words, you will--never +be President of the United States." + +Tom's embarrassment checked the smiles of the audience, and Hugh took +up another paper. "Ah!" he said with enthusiasm, "this seems to be a +poem in earnest, breathing the real afflatus, written with the pen of +Melpomene! With your permission, ladies and gentlemen, I will refresh +myself with a glass of water before I begin:-- + + 'A JUNE LYRIC. + + After all, not to labor only,-- + But to breathe in the essence of vivified sheen, + The fragrance of rarefied thoughts as they surge to and + fro, + Heaving the unknown depths up to mountains of night. + Crystalline, luminous, rare, opalescently rare,-- + This,--this is June! + + GRAHAM MARR'" + +"Ah, blank verse," said Sibyl to her companion, with admiring +interest. He bowed and stroked his moustache with a dreamy air. + +"_Very_ blank, I should say," murmured Bessie to Mr. Gay. + +"It seems to me as though I had heard the beginning of it before, +somewhere," answered the Boston bachelor in the same tone. + +"The next contribution consists of a series of illustrations," said +Hugh, unfastening some loose sheets of drawing paper; "the following +introduction is appended:-- + +'The hand is not only an index of character, but it has a character of +its own. We may disguise or droll our features, cultivate our voices +and expression, but our hands betray us; I propose to illustrate this +principle by a series of sketches. To begin: when you see an irregular +hand with large, broad palm, strong wrist, but shapely, tapering +fingers, you may know that hand betokens a duplex temperament, where +opposite characteristics are constantly struggling for the mastery. +The palm may denote strength and industry, but the fingers may +overbalance these qualities by their love of ease or generous +prodigality. For instance, when you see a hand of this nature, you may +know that its owner might give you half his fortune, might even give +you his life, and yet would be very likely to keep the household in +discomfort for months, for want of one new shingle on the roof. In +short, my friends, you might know it was--'" + +Here the reader paused, and held up a large drawing of two hands, so +lifelike and alive with character that the whole company cried out +with one voice, "Hugh!" + +"Rather embarrassing for the editor," said Hugh, hastening on with his +task as the laughter subsided. "Here, my friends is another design. +When you see a hand proportioned in careful outlines, beautiful, but +also firm; white, but also strong to the playing of a sonata, you may +know the owner will be prompt, even-tempered and calm; you may know +the owner will be such a one as--" here Hugh held up another design; +"Sibyl!" said the audience, as the two hands appeared. + +Mr. Leslie rose, and crossed the room to examine the drawing; he did +not lay it aside, but carried it back to his seat, as though it was +the most natural thing in the world. Sibyl's color rose, but she +turned with marked interest towards Graham Marr, and listened to his +remarks with a bright smile. + +"The next design," Hugh read, "requires no explanation. It is the +strong, broad, long palm, and strong, long, shapely fingers of the +well-balanced, resolute man, who will fight the battle of life with +all his strength, and never give up until it is won. In short, it +is--" + +"Mr. Leslie!" said the audience, as the illustration was held up for +inspection. Sibyl's eyes brightened as she saw the life-like picture, +but she sat silent as the others poured forth criticisms and comments. + +"Go on, Hugh!" said Mr. Leslie laughing; "this is quite an ordeal, I +find." + +"The next design," read Hugh, "shows all the faults of nature's worst +handiwork. (No pun intended.) A scraggy little paw, brown, knotted and +shapeless; of course every one will know that it is--" + +"Bessie!" cried the laughing audience, as two ridiculous caricatures +of Bessie's little brown hands came into view. + +"Last of all, I present the fat-simile of a perfect hand. Our other +designs have been youthful, but this one has borne the burden and heat +of the day. Originally beautiful and shapely, it is now worn with +labor for others; it has given to the poor, it has tended the sick, it +has guarded the young, and soothed the afflicted. It is,--I am sure +you will recognize it,--" + +"Aunt Faith!"--"Mrs. Sheldon!" cried the company, as the last drawing +was displayed. + +"Bravo, Bessie!" said Tom; "your contribution is the best so far." + +When the buzz of conversation had subsided, Hugh took another paper +from the basket. + +"The next contribution is poetical," he said; "it is entitled:-- + + 'A JUNE RHAPSODY. + + The lovely month of June has come, + The sweetest of the year,-- + (I've heard this somewhere;--never mind;) + The meadows green and sear;-- + Sear's not the word; there's something wrong,-- + I fear my muse will drop + The fire of genius' flowing song, + And so I'd better stop! + + ROSE SAXON.'" + +A general laugh followed this effusion, and no one joined in it more +heartily than the authoress, a bright little brunette with sparkling +eyes, in whose expression merriment predominated. + +"Our next manuscript seems to be of a serious nature," said Hugh; "it +treats of a solemn subject, and I beg you to give it your attentive +consideration:-- + + 'BOYS. + +Boys are funny sometimes, but girls are more dignified for their age. +Boys are rude, but girls are polite and lady-like. It is a pity boys +are not lady-like too. Once I knew a boy, a very little boy, and he +had a pair of boots. Real boots,--the first he ever had. One night +when his father came home, he found Jimmy sitting on the stairs in the +hall. The boots were outside the parlor door,--against the wall. "What +are you doing here, Giant Grimm?" said his father. (His father called +him "Giant Grimm," sometimes; for fun, I suppose.) "I'm seein' how my +boots 'ud look if they was stood outside the door at a hotel to be +cleaned," said Jimmy. He could not speak very plain, so I have not +written it plain. + + GRACE EVANS MORRIS.'" + +"Very good, little girl," said Aunt Faith, drawing her youngest child +to her side, and signing to Hugh to go on in order to divert attention +from her; "I didn't know you could write so well." + + "THE OHIO CAPTAIN," + +read Hugh. + +"When the war for the Union broke out, I had just completed my studies +and entered the ministry. My intention had been to enter upon my new +duties in a little village not far from my home, but as the excitement +spread through the country, and the young men left their fields, their +workshops, and their homes, to join the army, I could not overcome my +desire to go with them. I could not sleep, through many exciting +weeks; in imagination I saw this one, and that one, friends that I +knew, cold in death, or lying wounded alone in the night. I seemed to +walk through crowded hospitals and to hear the 'ping' of the balls; I +felt that if ever there was a place where the gospel words were +needed, it was after the battle, when men were left with the awful +shadow of death hanging over them. My youth and inexperience would be +obstacles in the well-regulated quiet village, but in the army might +they not be overlooked, if accompanied by willing hands and heart? In +the great haste, in the great excitement, in the great agony, might +not the great tidings be delivered acceptably even by an inexperienced +messenger? Thus I thought, and soon after the battle of Bull Run, I +obtained an appointment as chaplain, joined the army, and remained +with it until the close of the war. + +"Part of this time I was with an Ohio volunteer regiment; the colonel +belonged to the regular army, but all the other officers were +volunteers. I grew to know them all, and among them I found many noble +hearts, and, had I the time, I could relate many incidents of +generosity and true courage, part of that unwritten history of the war +which will never come into print. Among these officers there was one +young captain whom I especially liked. He was quiet and reserved, and +although he never talked with me as his companions sometimes did, +although he told me nothing of his life and history, I still felt +that, he was a Christian at heart, probably one of those who have +never been drawn out of themselves, or taught the pleasure of +sympathetic fellowship. Captain Worthington often came to the Sunday +service, when I was able to hold one, and his voice joined in the +hymns, which gave the greatest charm to those military prayer-meetings; +but beyond this I could not pass. He was reserved and silent; I could +not force myself upon him. Sensitive natures abhor an intruder. + +"One evening in September, while passing through the camp, I met +Captain Worthington walking up and down under the trees; he spoke to +me with unusual cordiality, and we continued the walk together, +strolling through the forest at, random, and talking upon any subject +which happened to suggest itself. The week had been hard and annoying. +The brigade had been marching and counter-marching in an apparently +purposeless way, although, no doubt, there was a concealed motive in +every movement; the ground was stony, and broken by deep ravines, the +forage wretched, and rain had been falling almost continuously, so +that deep mud alternated with sharp stones, making every mile seem +two. There had, also, been no enemy in sight to keep up the ardor of +the soldiers, and make them forget their discomfort; it had been, as +I said before, a wretched week, and Allan Worthington, always grave, +seemed this evening almost sad. We sat down upon a fallen tree, and in +the still gloom of that night he first spoke of his home. + +"'I have been thinking about my mother,' he said; 'I cannot explain +it, but home seems very near to me to-night. I can see the house as +plainly as though it stood here before me, and I see mother sitting in +her arm-chair by the table, knitting. Poor mother! how lonely she +looks.' + +"'Has she no other children?' I asked. + +"'No; I am her only child. She let me go because I would not stay; I +sometimes think perhaps I was wrong to leave her. We lived alone on +the hill, and when I rode into the country town and heard the latest +news, I seemed to be all on fire; I would ride back over the quiet +road, my blood fairly tingling with excitement. At last, as the story +of the battles began to come, I could stand it no longer, and I told +mother I must go. The regiments from my part of the country were all +full, but I got a lieutenant's place in another county, and marched +away. That was more than two years ago, and I have never felt homesick +until this evening. I don't know what has come over me.' + +"'In what part of Ohio does your mother live, captain?' I asked. + +"'At Benton Fails, South county. I hope to get a furlough before long. +I want to go home, if only for a few days; there is one there besides +mother whom I want to see; I never knew how much until now.' + +"These last words were spoken in a low tone, almost as if the young +soldier had forgotten my presence and was talking to himself. He was +sitting on the log, with his back against a large oak-tree, resting as +though he was in an arm-chair. He said no more, and I strolled away +for a moment, thinking that if he resumed the subject when I returned, +I would gladly pursue it, but unwilling to take advantage of what +might have been an inadvertent utterance. I was absent several +minutes, climbing down the bank to the spring to get a drink of water; +then I returned and took my place upon the log again. + +"'I suppose you often hear from your mother, captain?' I said. + +"He did not answer. I repeated the question; no reply. I was +perplexed. Could he have fallen into a brown study? His eyes were +open, and he appeared to be looking off through the forest. At length +I touched his shoulder, but he did not move. I took his hand; he was +dead! Shot through the heart. The roaring of the brook, and the steep +bank, had prevented my hearing the report; but, as I sat there holding +the dead hand, suddenly the woods seemed to grow alive with noise and +light. Our camp had evidently been surprised by the enemy, and a sharp +conflict began. I took poor Allan's note-book and watch, and, +remembering his mother, I managed to cut off a lock of his curly hair; +but, before I had gone far, I myself was struck by a stray shot, and +knew nothing more until I awoke in a border hospital two months +afterwards, pale and weak, the very shadow of my former self. As +memory came back, I thought of the captain. The relics had been +preserved, and, as soon as I was able, I sent them to the poor mother, +with a letter describing my last conversation with her boy,--his last +words on earth. I supposed, of course, that she knew from other +sources all the details of the attack, but I felt that I must also +tell her what _I_ knew; possibly it would be some comfort to her. In +about a week I received a letter written in a careful, old-fashioned +handwriting. The poor mother had known nothing all that long time save +this: 'Captain A. Worthington reported missing.' Our regiment had +suffered severely. The camp had been abandoned, and the dead left on +the field. The suspense had been dreadful, and she had prayed for +relief. It had come in the inward conviction that her boy was dead; +that he was not in the southern prisons or languishing in a hospital, +but gone from earth forever. My letter brought her the first definite +tidings, and my description of that last conversation, the first +comfort. 'I shall go to him though he shall not return to me,' wrote +the afflicted mother; and she gave me her blessing in such solemn, +tender words, that I can never forget them. In the letter she enclosed +a picture of Allan, sent home to her during the previous year; and +with it another, a picture of the one of whom Allan said, 'I want to +see her; I never knew how much until now.'" + +As Hugh finished reading, he took the photographs from an envelope, +and handed them to Aunt Faith. They were passed from hand to hand, +with gentle comments, and some tear-dimmed eyes gazed on the pictured +faces,--a resolute, grave young soldier, with earnest eyes, and a +little, delicate, wistful maiden, as fair and simple as a wild-flower. + +"The war made many partings," said Aunt Faith, as she replaced the +pictures in their envelope, and returned them to Mr. Leslie; "but the +lost ones are only gone before. There are no partings there." + +The gayety had subsided into a quiet thoughtfulness, by common consent +the reading was abandoned, and, as it was growing late, Aunt Faith led +the way into the sitting-room, where the pretty supper-table soon +aroused the vivacity of the young people. Youth is buoyant, and, as +for Aunt Faith, she was never saddened by the thought of death. She +had lost so many loved ones, that her home seemed more there than +here. In a few moments all the company were talking and laughing as +merrily as ever, and in the crowd around the table no one noticed that +Rose Saxon had slipped away. If they noticed anything beside +themselves, it was the amount of chocolate-ice which Gideon Fish +consumed! + +Rose was in the parlor. The basket was still in its place, and she was +looking over the remaining manuscripts. "'Gideon Fish,'" she +murmured, "no one wants to hear that; 'Lida Powers,' 'William Mount,' +'Edith Chase,'--oh, here is something! I know the handwriting, +although there is no name. Let me see,--yes; this is Hugh's. It is +sure to be good, and I mean to have it read." So, just before the +company broke up, Rose rapped on the table with her plump little fist. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," she began, in her merry voice, "I presume you +all know Mr. Pete Trone, the distinguished terrier, whose +accomplishments and sagacity are in every mouth." + +"Oh, we know him!" answered the company; "we know him well." "He is +the celebrated dog of republican principles,"--"who climbs trees;"--"and +walks the tight-rope;"--"and dances the hornpipe!" + +"I perceive that you know him," said Rose, "and therefore you will be +pleased to hear an epic poem in his honor. Indeed, it is supposed that +he wrote it himself. He speaks with modesty of his achievements, +alludes with feeling to his fancy for digging in the garden, and begs +for sympathy. With your permission, I will read the:-- + + 'COMPLAINT OF PETE TRONE, ESQ. + + I'm only a poor little terrier, + Very small, black-and-tan, + But a dog who is brighter or merrier + Never breathed, never ran. + I'm death on piratical cats, + And, mangled and gory, + The bodies of hundreds of rats + Testify to my glory. + + My duty I try to fulfil + Whenever I know it; + If I do not accomplish your will + You've only to show it; + Yet, though I'm thus honest and square + In all my dealings, + It is plain that you are not aware + A dog has his feelings. + + If master is kept in at school + Why must I feel the stick? + If sweetheart is distant and cool, + Why should I get a kick? + If Turk steals the mutton for dinner, + And goes off to gulp it, + Why screen HIM, the solemn old sinner, + And call ME the culprit? + + And if I am fond of the sand-banks, + And fresh garden-soil, + Why should you molest with your brickbats + My hard, honest toil? + And why should you call it a 'dusty muss,' + And make me abandon + My labor? Remember, 'DE GUSTIBUS + NON EST DISPUTANDUM!' + + The world should remember a canine + Has a heart in his breast; + If you knew all you never could say mine + Was worse than the rest. + Then help me to gain the position + To which I aspire, + And grant this poor dog-gerel petition + Of Pete Trone, Esquire!'" + +"Excellent! excellent!" cried the audience, as Rose finished reading +the verses. + +"I propose we have the hero in person," said Mr. Gay. + +So Tom went out, and after some delay returned with Mr. P. Trone, who +had been hastily attired in his red suit for the occasion, four red +pantaloons, a red coat, and little cap with a red feather. He was +received with applause, and, after being regaled with macaroons, went +through all his tricks, concluding with a slow horn pipe to the tune +of "Lochinvar." + +About midnight the guests took their departure, and the cousins +assembled in the parlor for a few moments before going to bed. + +"I think the sanctum was real fun," said Gem; "but you did not read +all the papers, Hugh?" + +"No; it would have taken too much time," answered Hugh; "what a good +thing you made of those hands, Bessie. We must keep the drawings. +Why!--where is Sibyl's?" + +"Mr. Leslie took it away;--he laid a paper over it and put it in his +pocket, just as though it belonged to him," said Tom; "but of all the +contributions, _I_ liked Mr. Gay's 'Chicago' the best." + +"And I liked Mr. Leslie's story," said Aunt Faith; "it is singular he +never before mentioned his army life." + +"Oh! he isn't one of the talking kind like Gideon Fish," said Hugh. +"Gid is always telling everybody about his 'emotional nature,' and his +inner 'consciousness.' He seems to think his mental condition, a +subject of public interest, and constantly sends out bulletins for the +benefit of anxious friends. His manuscript was poetical, but I took +good care to hide it in the bottom of the basket. By the way, Sibyl, +how did you like Graham Marr's Lyric? Pretty deep, wasn't it?" + +Sibyl was arranging the books and music in their proper places. "You +know I am not myself poetical," she answered calmly; "but I like Mr. +Marr, and therefore I like his verses, Hugh." + +"Oh, Sibyl! surely not so well as Mr. Leslie's story?" said Bessie +earnestly. + +"Poetry and prose cannot be compared, neither can Mr. Marr and Mr. +Leslie be compared," said Sibyl; "they are very different." + +"I should think they were!" said Hugh. + +"And tastes are different also," added Sibyl, as she finished her +task. "Good-night all." + +The cousins dispersed, while Aunt Faith turned out the lights. "I +almost think she likes that Marr, after all," whispered Hugh to Bessie +as they went up the stairs; "she was with him all the evening." + +"Let me tell you, Hugh Warrington, that if Sibyl likes anybody, it is +Mr. Leslie," returned Bessie emphatically. + +"When did you discover that, Brownie?" + +"I have always suspected it, but to-night I saw it plainly," replied +Bessie. + +"To-night! Why, she was with Marr all the time!" + +"Men are as blind as bats," said Bessie scornfully; "good-night." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +HUGH. + + +One bright morning towards the last of June, Bessie and Hugh were +together in the studio; Bessie was working at her picture, and her +cousin, seated in an old arm-chair, was gazing dreamily out through +the open window over the pasture, and grove, and the blue lake beyond. +"I think life is very beautiful," he said, after a long pause. "I have +no patience with people who are always sighing and complaining, always +talking of the cold world, the hard lot of man, and the sufferings of +humanity. I always felt sure that they themselves have no taste for +beauty, no affection for their friends, or enthusiasm for great deeds, +and, judging others by themselves, of course they are always looking +for double motives in the kindest actions, and hypocrisy in the most +unselfish impulses." + +"What has brought these thoughts to the surface, Hugh?" + +"The beauty of the sky and the lake. How can any one look at them and +not be happy?" + +"If you were very poor, Hugh, you might not have time to look at +them," said Bessie, taking up the other side. + +"Why not? One can work and not be blind! I expect to work all my life, +but I am going to be happy too." + +"But suppose you should lose all those you love,--suppose they should +all die," said Bessie, pursuing the argument. + +"Even then I should be happy on such a day and with such a sky. I +cannot understand how people who believe God's word can brood over +their sorrows in such a gloomy way. Are not the dead with their great +Creator? Can we not trust them to Him? Why, when I look up into this +blue sky, I can almost see them there. My mother,--how often I think +of her; not with sadness, always with pleasure, and a bright +anticipation of meeting her again. Bessie, if I should die, you must +not mourn for me. Think of me as gone into another world where sooner +or later you will come too." + +"Why do you say such things, Hugh?" said Bessie, laying down her brush +with her eyes full of tears. + +"Because they happened to come into my mind, I suppose. Why, you are +not crying! Nonsense, Brownie! look at me. Do I look like dying? Am I +not a young giant, with every prospect of outliving all my family? I +fully expect to live to a hale old age, and you have no idea how full +and busy my life is going to be. Go to work again, and I will tell you +all my plans; I have never told them to any one before. In the first +place, I shall go, of course, to New York, and enter Cousin John's +establishment. I shall work with all my might, and, with the aid of my +relationship, I shall no doubt be able to obtain a good position there +in the course of a few years. Gradually I shall mount higher and +higher, I shall make myself indispensable to the firm, and at the end +of ten years you will see me a partner; at the end of twenty, a rich +man. I shall then retire from active business, and spend part of my +time in travelling, although I intend to be very domestic, also. I +shall buy beautiful pictures, choice books, and fine statues; I shall +give private concerts, and, if possible, have a small orchestra of my +own; I shall entertain my friends in the easiest and most charming +manner. In addition to my city home, I shall have a yacht for summer +cruises, and a pretty cottage on the seashore, and I shall invite +pleasant people to visit me; not the rich and the fashionable merely, +but others who are shut out from all such luxuries, young authors, +poor artists, musicians, and many others who are obliged to work night +and day while their intellectual inferiors live in ease. Oh! I shall +have a beautiful, happy life, Bessie. Do you not think so?" + +"Yes, Hugh. But will it be so easy to get rich?" + +"Twenty years of hard labor and earnest application will do it, with +the opening I have. I suppose it sounds conceited, but I have +unbounded confidence in myself. What man has done man can do, you +know; and why am not I the man?" + +"I think you can do anything, Hugh." + +"Thank you, Miss Flattery. But, really Bessie, there is something +stirring within me that makes me feel sure I can take my place in the +world, and make my mark among men. I do not, mean that I am wiser or +stronger than my fellows, but only, that my courage is indomitable, +and that I am determined to succeed. I _will succeed_!" + +"Of course you will," said Bessie, laying down her brush again, and +looking at her cousin's kindling eyes and flushed cheeks with +sympathetic excitement. + +"And then," pursued Hugh, "when I have got my money, I shall not hoard +it; I shall make others as well as myself happy with it. I shall use +it worthily; I shall not be ashamed to render my account at last. Oh, +Bessie, it is a glorious future! Life is so beautiful,--so full of +happiness!" Hugh paused, and his eyes wandered over the blue horizon; +Bessie went on with her painting, and there was silence in the studio +for many minutes. At length Aunt Faith's voice was heard at the foot +of the stairs; "Hugh! Hugh!" she called. + +"Coming, aunt," said Hugh, opening the door and going down to the +second story; "do you want me?" + +"Yes, will you come into my room, dear." + +The two went in and the door was closed. Aunt Faith's room was like +herself, old-fashioned and pleasant; the sunshine streamed in through +the broad windows across the floor, and the perfume of the garden +filled the air. Hugh took a seat on the chintz lounge, and Aunt Faith +having taken a letter from her desk, sat down in her arm-chair by the +table. "I wish to consult you, my dear boy, on a matter of business," +she said. "You know the condition of my property and the amount of my +income, I am anxious to make some necessary repairs in that little +house of mine in Albion, where poor Mrs. Crofts lives, a second cousin +of mine, you remember, a widow with very limited means of support. The +repairs ought to be made at once, and, just at present, I have not the +money on hand; I could borrow it, of course, elsewhere, but I prefer +to borrow it of you, the amount that came to you a week or two ago. +Sibyl will need hers for her summer wardrobe, but you will have no use +for yours at present, and on the first of August, I shall repay you; +with interest," added Aunt Faith, smiling; "I am not sure but that I +shall _pay_ twenty-five per cent." + +A flush rose in Hugh's face; he did not raise his eyes, but trifled +with a piece of string. + +"Well, my dear?" said Aunt Faith in some surprise at his silence. + +"I am very sorry, Aunt," said Hugh in a low tone; "I have not got the +money, I have spent it all." + +"Spent it?" echoed Aunt Faith in astonishment. "My dear boy, is it +possible!" + +"Yes, it is all gone," said Hugh, with downcast eyes. + +A shade of trouble clouded Mrs. Sheldon's gentle face, and she sighed; +the old heart-ache came back, the same pain which had assailed her on +the first of June, her birthday, when doubts came thronging into her +mind, doubts as to her own fitness for her position with its heavy +responsibility of training five young souls in the path of duty and +righteousness. "Hugh must have got into some trouble," she thought, +"and something, too, which he has not confided to me. I fear it is a +debt; perhaps a debt of which he is ashamed. Oh, my poor, poor boy!" +Hugh did not speak, and at length his aunt said gently, "I fear you +have had some debts, dear; if you had told me, I could have helped you +before this." + +"I know you are always ready to help me, Aunt Faith." + +"Then it was a debt, Hugh?" + +"Yes; it was a debt, Aunt Faith," said Hugh gravely. + +"Is it all paid now?" + +"Yes; every cent. I have the receipt." + +"I am glad of that; but have you any other debts?" + +"No, not one," said Hugh, raising his eyes at last with a brighter +expression. "I cannot tell you about that debt, Aunt Faith, but I +_can_ tell you that it was no disgrace to me." + +The shadow melted away from Mrs. Sheldon's face, she laid her hand +upon her nephew's golden hair, and looked lovingly into his dark blue +eyes. "Hugh," she said earnestly, "you are like your father, and he +was my favorite brother. I love you very much, more than you know, and +I believe you would not willingly grieve me. You are still under +twenty-one, and you are soon to leave me to enter the busy life of a +great city. I am so anxious for you, Hugh! If I could only know that +you had that firm faith which is man's only safeguard in temptation!" + +Tears stood in her eyes as she spoke, and Hugh felt that she loved him +indeed. + +"What is faith?" he said thoughtfully. + +"A firm belief in the mercy of God through His son, our Lord Jesus +Christ, and a realization of the necessity of a Saviour to atone for +our sins," said Aunt Faith reverently. + +"I believe in God, Aunt Faith. I believe in Him implicitly. I cannot +understand how a reasonable being can deny His personal and omnipotent +majesty. The sky alone would be enough to convince me, without +counting the wonders of the earth and our every-day life. How can any +one look out of the window, at night, and see those myriad lights on +high, without bowing in adoration before the incomprehensible +greatness of the Creator? What do we know of the stars, after all? How +much has the most profound science discovered? Next to nothing! Not +but that I read all that has been written by the late astronomers, for +the subject is very fascinating; it is the fairy tale of science. But +still, the nursery rhyme expresses it best:-- + + 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star! + How I wonder what you are!'" + +"What we know not now, we shall know here-after," said Aunt Faith; +"but in addition to your belief in the Creator, do you not also +recognize the necessity for a Saviour?" + +"There it is, Aunt Faith! Are we all really such miserable sinners? Is +there none good? Must we always answer, 'no, not one?' Even in my +short life, I have known so many who are good and generous! I never +could endure whining, you know. I never could endure a gloomy, tearful +religion. If we were put into the world, it surely was intended that +we should enjoy its beautiful life, and be happy with our fellow +mortals. I believe men should try to be good sons, good husbands, and +good citizens, and should try to be happy themselves, as well as to +make others happy. I can never believe in the virtue of morbid +self-analysis, gloomy depression, and harsh judgment. 'Worms of the +dust!' they say. Well, if the worms are created, and put into the +dust, that is the state of life to which they are called, and they +will be better worms if they fulfil the duties of a worm, no matter +how humble, than they would be if they crawled up on a solitary stone, +and wilfully starved themselves to death." + +"Surely, Hugh, there is nothing in the idea of a merciful Saviour to +forbid a reasonable enjoyment of life." + +"There ought not to be, Aunt Faith; and if I was not so weary of +hypocrisy, I think I could almost throw myself at His feet and give my +life into His hands. I want to believe in Him; indeed, I may say I do +believe in Him. But I have been kept from coming forward as an 'avowed +disciple,' by the contempt I cannot help feeling for some whom I know +as 'avowed disciples.' If there is a contemptible fault in the world +it is hypocrisy. I will not believe that God loves the rich +church-member, who makes long prayers, and puts five cents in the +plate, better than the poor outcast who goes half-starved for days in +order to help a sick companion." + +"But, Hugh, no one asks you to believe anything of the kind. Do you +not remember our Saviour's parable of the Good Samaritan who saved the +wounded man, while the priest and the Levite, men supposed to be +particularly religious, passed by on the other side! The world was the +same in our Saviour's day that it is now, and there is no class +against which He utters more severe reproaches than these very +religious hypocrites." + +"But, Aunt Faith, these hypocrites are so often prominent in the +churches. That is what offends me." + +"It was so then, Hugh. Our Saviour saw it, and repeatedly tore off the +masks." + +"But if the hypocrites are in the church, is it not better to stay +out?" + +"By no means, my dear boy. God has commanded us to make an open +profession before men, and we must obey with reverent humility. It is +not enough to believe; we must also openly avow our belief. Because +there are tares in the field we must not, therefore, stay out in the +desert. Because there are hypocrites in the church, we must not, +therefore, give ourselves up to evil." + +"Oh, I don't mean that, aunt! We could be just as good Christians all +the time." + +"No, Hugh. That is a fatal error. Men are weak, and God mercifully +helps them to conquer themselves by sending them the safeguards of +religious vows and duties. It is His appointed way, and we must not +question His wisdom. The dangers are ten times greater outside the +church than within it, and a blessing is given to obedience. God +requires obedience. He distinctly says, 'he that is not with me, is +against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.' And +as regards hypocrisy, Hugh, it is indeed a wretched fault; but, are +there not other faults equally bad?" + +"No, aunt; not to me. I can never go to church in the winter without +a bitter feeling towards old Mr. Braine, who always leaves his poor +horse tied outside through the long service, during the severest +weather. Then there is Gideon Fish, too. How very, very good he is! +When he was a little boy he always took the highest place in school +for good conduct, and yet, there was not a meaner boy in town. He +copied the other scholars' exercises, peeped into the books, and had +a key to his Arithmetic. He never got into trouble at recess, and why? +Because he was too cowardly to take his share of the sport. As he grew +older, he grew to be more and more of a pattern. He was always talking +about his feelings. He always 'felt it to be his duty' to do just what +he most wished to do, and he always had some wonderfully +self-sacrificing motive for the greatest self-indulgence. He 'felt it +to be his duty' to stay at home from church to warn truant boys not to +steal the peaches on the Sabbath-day, and how many do you suppose he +himself ate that morning?" + +"It seems to me, Hugh, that you and Bessie _are_ unreasonably severe +upon Gideon's love of eating," said Aunt Faith smiling. "Perhaps some +time there will come a revelation to Gideon Fish; perhaps some great +affliction or disappointment will open his eyes and cause him to see +his selfish propensities as they are. In the meantime, let us not +forget the beam in our own eyes while we are talking of the mote in +our brother's eye. To go back to our subject; you have acknowledged +your belief in God and also, I hope, in His Son our Saviour Jesus +Christ?" + +"Yes, Aunt Faith; but I cannot acknowledge that the world is a +miserable place and life a failure." + +"I do not ask you to acknowledge that, Hugh; you are young and it may +be that you have not yet been assailed by the terrible temptations +which come, sooner or later, to most of us. Perhaps you have not yet +learned from sad experience how hard is the struggle against evil +inclinations, and how many are the relapses into which the best of men +are apt to fall. It was only when worn with the contest and depressed +by repeated failures that the good men of all ages have sent up those +cries of abasement and gloom which you so much dislike. This time has +not yet come to you; you know nothing of its power. I do not ask you +to be wise beyond your years; I only wish you to become as a little +child and reverently say, 'Lord I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.' +The rest will come in due time. There is a blessing given to prompt +obedience, and this blessing I want you to gain." + +For several minutes there was silence in the pleasant room, and then +Hugh rose. "Dear Aunt Faith," he said, "you and I will have many more +talks on this subject. Who knows but I shall be a pillar of the church +in my old age?" + +"I hope so, Hugh. But do not put off till old age a plain duty of the +present. Give the best of your life to your Maker; after all, the +present is all you can call your own." + +"Oh, no, Aunt Faith, the future is mine too. How glorious, how bright +it looks! You will be proud of your nephew some day." + +"I am proud of him now," said Aunt Faith, with an affectionate smile; +"but I want to feel secure as to his safety. Oh, Hugh! if you could +only say in perfect sincerity these two sentences: 'Lord I believe; +help Thou mine unbelief,' and 'Lord be merciful to me a sinner,' I +should rest content." + +"Well, Aunt Faith, when I can say them with all my heart, I will tell +you first of all." + +"God grant that it may be soon," and then Hugh left her. + +Bessie was still busy with her painting when she heard a tap at the +door. "Is it you, Hugh?" she said; "I am so glad you have come back. I +cannot get the exact color of your eyes. Sit down, please, and let me +try again." Hugh sat down in the old arm-chair, and for some minutes +he said nothing; at last, however, he burst forth, "Bessie, shall we +not tell Aunt Faith about the horseback-riding." + +"Oh, Hugh! and give up all our fun?" + +"I do so hate hypocrisy, Bessie; and here I have been rating away +against Gideon Fish without even a thought that all the time I myself +was deceiving Aunt Faith." + +"I don't call that hypocrisy, Hugh." + +"What is hypocrisy, then?" + +"A hypocrite is a person who pretends to be very good, and I am sure +you never pretended to be good at all." + +Hugh laughed; "That is true," he said "but I hate all underhand +dealings." + +"But you won't tell, Hugh? Please don't." + +"_Et tu Brute_?" + +"And don't quote Latin either." + +"I only meant that you should help my good intentions instead of +thwarting them," said Hugh. + +"I am not good myself, Hugh, and never was." + +"Oh, yes, you are, Brownie." + +"No, I am not. I have been expelled twice." + +"I believe it is your nature to be naughty, Bessie." + +"I don't know about that, Hugh; but, at any rate, I ought to have some +allowances made because I am so homely. It is easy to be good if one +happens to be good-looking too. Everybody loves beautiful children, +everybody admires beautiful girls; people are predisposed to like +them, and make the best of everything they do. Beauty is of little +consequence to a boy, but it makes or mars many a girl. I presume, +now, if my nose had been Grecian, and my complexion lily fair, I +should have been far more amiable." + +Hugh laughed merrily at this tirade. "But, Brownie," he said, "_I_ +have always thought you pretty." + +A shade of color rose in Bessie's dark cheek "Thank you, cousin," she +said quickly, "you are kind to say so. But your real taste is for a +very different style; a dove-eyed blonde, fair as a lily, and gentle +as Griselda." + +"Like Edith Chase, I suppose," said Hugh, with a merry twinkle in his +eye. "Well, a man might do worse. I venture to say the fair Edith +never took a horseback-ride after dark in her life." + +"Certainly not; is she not a pattern?" said Bessie sharply. "And, by +the way, Hugh, of course you will give me my ride to-night." + +"Oh, Bessie, Bessie, you are incorrigible! Well, if I must, I must! +The musicale is to-night, you know." + +"I had forgotten it; but we can go afterwards." + +"That is, if you will mend my gloves." + +"Do get a new pair, Hugh." + +"No; I have only ten dollars left; I shall not have any more until +August, and my heart is set upon a little picture at Gurner's. You +have no idea how much I want it; I stop to look at it every time I +pass the window, and the liking has, grown into a positive longing. +I really must have it." + +"What is the subject?" + +"It is, I suppose, an allegorical design, but what attracted me was +the beauty of the coloring and its fidelity to nature. It represents +a youth standing in a little shaded valley, looking forward and upward +through a vista which gradually rises into a bold mountain peak. The +atmosphere is all morning, early morning, with purple hues on the +hill-side, mists rising from the river, and a vague remoteness even in +the nearest forest; deep shadows lie over the valley, but the rising +sun shines on the mountain-peak, lighting it up with a golden +radiance, while behind it, there seemed to spread away into distance +the atmosphere of another country, a beautiful unseen Paradise. +Towards this mountain-peak the youth is looking with ardent eyes; one +feels sure that his hopes are there, and that sooner or later he will +reach the golden country beyond." + +"I remember the picture. Is there not a crown shining in the sunlight +over the mountain-top, and the outline of a great cross in the dark +shadow over the steep path which leads up to the summit?" + +"I believe so; but it was the figure of the youth that attracted me. +His face expressed aspiration, that bright confidence in the future +which Aunt Faith and I have been discussing this morning." + +"So you were in her room all that time, were you?" + +"Yes; and that reminds me that I must do a little reading. I am +growing shamefully lazy. Good-bye, Queen Bessie. Be sure and make my +picture as handsome as you can." + +"I shall do my best;"--"but I cannot hope to make it as handsome as +the original," she added, after the door closed. + +Twilight came and the two cousins were riding in a country lane +several miles from the old stone house; they had left the turnpike +where they usually rode, and, instead of going at headlong speed, the +horses were walking slowly over the grassy path as if the summer +evening had influenced their riders with its peaceful quiet. + +"I have never been here before," said Bessie; "where does that path +lead?" + +"To Rocky brook where we used to go a fishing." + +"Let us go that way, please. I have not been to Rocky brook for years +and years." So the horses were turned, and, after a pleasant ride +through the woods, they reached the edge of the ravine; the path, an +Indian trail, came to an end, and down below they could hear the +rushing sound of the water. + +"Oh I must get down, Hugh!" said Bessie eagerly; "I want to go down to +the brook." + +"It will be hard climbing in that long skirt, Bessie. I will bring you +out some other time." + +"No, Hugh; I want to go now, this very minute." + +"I suppose you must have your way, then," said her cousin, as he +lifted her to the ground; "wait until I fasten the horses so that I +can help you." + +But Bessie had already disappeared, swinging herself from rock to rock +by aid of the bushes, as actively as a squirrel; she had reached the +bottom of the ravine as Hugh appeared at the top. "Don't go too near +the bridge," he shouted; "wait till I come down." + +Bessie looked down the ravine, and seeing the plank which served for +a bridge high in the air over the foaming water, she was seized with a +sudden desire to cross it; Hugh's warning, as usual, only stimulated +this desire. If there was any danger, she wanted to be in it +immediately. So she clambered over the rocks towards the forbidden +locality with a pleasant excitement, not really believing in the +danger, but lured on by the spirit of adventure strong within her from +childhood. + +"Don't go near the bridge!" shouted Hugh again, by this time half way +down the bank. + +"Hugh is too despotic," thought his cousin, as she climbed up on the +wet stones. "I shall certainly do as I please. If he wants implicit +obedience, he must go to Edith Chase." In another instant she was on +the plank, and balancing herself, walked forward over the torrent, +holding her long skirt over her arm; her head was steady, she did not +know what fear was; many a time she had crossed deeper chasms in +safety, and she laughed to herself as she heard Hugh crashing through +the bushes down the bank behind her. "He will like me all the better +for my courage," she thought, somewhat surprised at his silence, for +she had expected to hear further remonstrance. Suddenly, when she had +reached the middle of the bridge, the plank cracked, gave way +entirely, and in an instant she was in the foaming torrent below. She +sank, and for one moment, one dreadful moment, she was under water, +suffocating and terror-stricken, while all the events of her life +seemed to rush before her like an instantaneous panorama. Then she +felt the air again, and opening her eyes, found herself in Hugh's +arms, as he strode out of the water and laid her down on the bank. +"Oh, Hugh!" she gasped, "it was dreadful!" + +"Are you hurt, dear? Did your head strike the rocks?" asked her cousin +anxiously. + +"No, I think not; but I feel rather dizzy," said Bessie, closing her +eyes. + +"Can you stay here for a moment alone, while I run back to the +farm-house? Fortunately the weather is so warm there is not much +danger of your taking cold." + +"Oh, yes," said Bessie, smiling, as her cousin chafed her hands with +anxiety that belied his words. He sprang up the bank, and after some +delay reappeared carrying shawls and wrappings. "Do you feel better? +Are you faint?" he asked, as he enveloped her in the shawls. + +"I feel quite well now," said Bessie, trying to rise. + +"Stop; I am going to carry you," said Hugh. + +"You shall do nothing of the kind, Hugh. I am able to walk, and the +bank is steep." + +"I shall take you round by the path, so don't make any objection, for +it will be useless. The farmer will have his carriage waiting for us, +and we shall drive home as rapidly as possible." + +"Oh, Hugh, I am so heavy! You will never be able to do it," said +Bessie, as Hugh lifted her slight form muffled in shawls. + +"Very heavy! Really, quite elephantine! A matter of ninety pounds, I +should say!" + +"Nonsense, sir! I weigh one hundred and ten." + +"And what is that to a man of muscle? Don't you know that I pride +myself upon my strength! The old proverb _says_ that cleanliness is +next to godliness; if that is so, I give the third place to strength. +What a pity we cannot say 'muscleness,' to keep up the rhythm! Do you +know, Bessie, if ministers had more muscle, I should like them +better." + +"Mr. Leslie has muscle, Hugh." + +"Yes; he has got a good strong fist of his own. I like him, too, in +every way. He is so manly in his goodness, and so frank in his +religion! He is one of those fine, large-hearted men who give their +very best to the cause. He did not take to the ministry because he was +not fitted for anything else; he has the capabilities and +qualifications for a first-rate business man, civil engineer, or +soldier. But it is evident that the whole world was as nothing to him +compared to the great work of salvation. I honor him. He is a man to +be envied, for he is living up to his ideal." + +"Why, Hugh! I had no idea you admired him so much! Are you thinking of +following his example?" + +"Don't joke, Bessie. The subject is too serious." + +"I am not joking," said Bessie, in a low voice. + +"I am no hero," said Hugh, with a half sigh, as they reached the lane; +"I could never do as Mr. Leslie has done. I can only hope to make +others happy in my small way by--" + +"By helping ill-behaved cousins out of their troubles," interrupted +Bessie, "paying their debts, saving their lives, and so forth and so +forth." + +The ride home was pleasant, in spite of wet clothes. Hugh drove the +farmer's horse in an old carryall, and the farmer himself rode Hugh's +horse, leading the other alongside. When they reached the back-pasture +it was quite dark. Hugh lifted Bessie out, threw the shawls back into +the carryall, and farmer Brown, after fastening the saddle-horses +behind, drove away towards the town, where he was to leave them at the +livery-stable according to agreement. + +"Now, Bessie, take up that skirt, and let us have a run across the +garden," said Hugh. "I am so afraid you will take cold." + +But Bessie's long, wet skirt proved such an obstacle, that in spite of +her objection, Hugh lifted her up again, and carried her across the +pasture, through the garden, and up the terrace into the house. + +"Shall you go to the musicale?" he whispered, as he put her down in +the dark hall. + +"No," said Bessie; "I wish you would make it all right with Aunt +Faith. I have a headache; the fright, I suppose." + +Hugh went off to his room, and in an incredibly short time he was +down-stairs again, in evening dress. Aunt Faith came in a few moments +afterwards, dressed in gray silk with delicate white lace around her +throat and wrists; "Is it not time to go?" she said. "Where is Sibyl?" + +"Here, Aunt," said Sibyl from the parlor; "I have been ready some +time." + +"Come in, child, and let us see you" + +Sibyl crossed the hall and stood in the door-way. Her dress of soft +blue harmonized with her fair beauty, and brought out the tints of her +hair and complexion; she wore no ornaments, and the flowing drapery +floated around her devoid of any kind of trimming. "Her dress was +nothing; just a plain, blue tarleton," said one of her companions the +next day to a mutual friend. "But Sibyl herself looked lovely." This +was Sibyl's art; her dress was always subordinate to herself. + +"You look like the evening star, sister," said Hugh. + +"Thank you, brother. A compliment from you is precious, because rare," +said Sibyl, smiling; "and as for you, you look like the Apollo in +Guido's _Aurora_." + +"Bravo! That's a compliment worth having," said Hugh, tossing back his +golden locks. "And now that we are both gorged with compliments, let +us start for the halls of Euterpe." + +"Where is Bessie?" said Aunt Faith, as Hugh rose. + +"She is not going. She has a headache," answered Hugh. + +"Poor child! I will run up and see her before I go." + +"That is not necessary, Aunt. I think she would rather not be +disturbed," said Hugh. "Let us start; it is late." + +The musicale was held at the residence of Mrs. Arlington, on the +opposite side of the avenue, but a short distance from the old stone +house, and Bessie, after taking off her wet clothes, dressed herself +in a wrapper, and took her seat at the open hall-window in the second +story, where she could see the lights through the trees, and even hear +an occasional strain of the music on the night breeze. She felt +depressed; her head ached, and her conscience likewise. "I am always +doing something wrong," she thought ruefully; "I let Hugh pay that +debt; then I teased him out of his idea of telling Aunt Faith, and +made him take me riding again, and when he was kind enough to give in +to my wish, I deliberately went out on that plank when he told me not +to go, and the result was I came near being drowned, and poor Hugh +must have had a struggle to get me out in that current. I suppose he +is over there now talking with Edith Chase! she is an affected, silly +girl, but I suppose Hugh does not understand her as well as I do. +However, perhaps she is better than I am! I am dreadful, I know; and +so homely, too! I look just like an Indian. Edith is considered +pretty. To be sure _I_ think she looks just like a white cat; but +then, some people think white cats are pretty. Well, her looks are +nothing to me. _I_ don't care anything about it!" And in truth of this +assertion, Bessie crouched down among the cushions of the lounge, and +had what girls call "a good cry." + +About an hour afterwards she heard a step on the gravel walk in front +of the house, and the sound of a latch-key in the front-door; in +another minute Hugh came up the stairs on the way to his room. "Hugh! +Hugh!" called out a voice in the darkness. + +"Is that you, Bessie? What are you doing here?" said her cousin, +lighting a burner in the chandelier. "Why, you have been crying! Does +your head ache? Do you feel faint?" + +"My head is better, Hugh; but I _am_ wicked," murmured Bessie from the +heap of cushions. + +"Wicked! What do you mean, Brownie?" + +"Just what I say. I am always in trouble myself and drawing you in +too. You would be a great deal better without me, Hugh. I shall be +glad when you go to New York." + +"Glad, Bessie!" + +"I mean it will be better for you," murmured Bessie. + +"And how about yourself?" + +"Oh, I shall never be good at all; I shall stay at home and be wicked, +I suppose," said Bessie, with the sound of tears in her voice. Hugh +did not reply, but he put out his hand and stroked the dark curls +gently. After a moment or two Bessie suddenly recovered her spirits. +"How was Miss Chase?" she asked gayly. + +"Lovely as a lily," said Hugh, laughing; "I told her so, too." + +"Was Graham Marr there?" + +"Yes; I left him with Sibyl." + +"Did he quote poetry?" + +"I presume so, in the intervals of the music, Gid was there, too." + +"At the door of the supper-room, I suppose?" + +"Yes, he was looking at the salad when I came away." + +"That reminds me; why did you leave so early, Hugh?" + +"I believe, after all, I am a little tired; I strained my wrist +slightly in the brook." + +"Let me get some arnica for you; do, Hugh." + +"Oh, no! the strain is very slight. It will be all over in a day or +two." + +"Was there really any danger, Hugh?" + +"Yes; I think it right that you should know it, because you may be +tempted to do the same thing again. The water was deep there, and the +brook swollen by the last rains; the current was very strong, and +there is a fall just below. But your greatest danger was from the +sharp jagged rocks; when I plunged after you I cannot express how +alarmed I was!" + +Bessie covered her face with her hands. "It was all owing to my +obstinate wilfulness," she said in a low tone, "Oh, Hugh! can you +forgive me?" + +"Do not think of it any more." said her cousin, "but come down and +give me some music." + +"What! In this old wrapper, Hugh?" + +"There speaks feminine vanity. As though I knew a wrapper from a +dress?" + +So Bessie went down to the sitting-room, and, taking the cover off her +harp, sat down in her old wrapper to play for Hugh. When she was in +the mood she brought very spirited music out of the silver strings, +but to-night she played soft airs, and minor chords, weaving in among +them Hugh's favorite plaintive melodies, with her now wild +improvisations between. At last she rose and replaced the harp-cover. +"It is late; I must go," she said. "They will be coming home before +long, Of course _you_ won't say anything about our ride, Hugh. It +would only frighten Aunt Faith. But I have decided not to go again; +what happened to-night seems like a warning." + +"Superstitious, Bessie?" + +"No; I am only trying to stop before I drag you into any more danger. +Think how much trouble I have given you, too! And, oh, Hugh! you had +to pay that farmer," added Bessie, as the idea came to her for the +first time. + +"Run upstairs, Brownie; it is late." + +"I shall not run, Hugh. I know very well you had to pay him that ten +dollars, and I have robbed you of your last cent," said Bessie +tragically. + +"Oh, what a dismal face! Run, before Aunt Faith comes." + +"And the picture you were going to buy," said Bessie, with tearful +eyes. + +"Foolish child! as if I cared for the picture; when I am rich I shall +buy a whole gallery. Now run; I positively hear their voices at the +gate." + +As Bessie went away with a full heart, Aunt Faith, Sibyl, and Graham +Marr came up the garden-walk and entered the house. "You came away +early, Hugh," said Aunt Faith; "do you feel well?" + +"I am tired, aunt; that is all." + +"It was a pleasant party," continued Aunt Faith; "did you not think +so, Sibyl?" + +"I enjoyed it!" said Sibyl quietly. + +"It was a rare feast," said Graham; "one seldom meets such a +combination of aesthetic talent in Westerton." + +"Mr. Leslie was not there, however," said Hugh. + +"Ah,--no. But ministers are not generally cultivated musicians," +said Graham, in his slow way. "They have not the time to,--ah,--to +muse upon the mystery of harmony." + +"Mr. Leslie is a fine musician," said Hugh bluntly; "I have seldom +heard so fine a baritone,--so rich and manly." + +Now Graham sang tenor,--a very delicate tenor, and naturally he could +not sympathize with Hugh's fancy for a rich baritone. As he rose to +take leave, Sibyl said, "I wish you would bring over your music, Mr. +Marr, and sing for us. We were all charmed with that little German +song you sung this evening; it was so full of pathos." + +"Pathos!" whispered Hugh to Aunt Faith, as Sibyl accompanied the poet +into the hall. "How can Sibyl endure that calf!" + +"As Pete Trone said, '_de gustibus_' and so forth, Hugh," said Sibyl's +voice from the hall as she closed the door behind Graham. + +"Well, Sibyl; I did not intend you to hear the epithet, but I cannot +with sincerity take it back," said Hugh. + +"I like calves," said Sibyl, "they have beautiful eyes! Good-night!" + +"I never can make Sibyl out!" said Hugh, as his sister disappeared. +"She never loses her temper, and truth always comes out with the +temper, you know. Well, Aunt Faith, I have been a very bad boy all +day. Will you pardon all my misdeeds?" + +"If you are penitent," said Aunt Faith, smiling. Then, more seriously, +"You will not forget what I said to you this morning, Hugh?" + +"No, aunt; I shall not forget. Your words sank deeper than you knew," +said Hugh gravely. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +FOURTH OF JULY. + + +The first of July came, and with it the summer heat. Hugh hung up a +hammock in the second story hall, between the north and south windows, +so as to catch every wandering zephyr; and, armed with a book, he +betook himself to this airy retreat for the purpose of study. At least +that was his announcement at the breakfast-table. "For the purpose of +sleep?" suggested Sibyl. "Day-dreaming!" said Bessie. "Lazying!" said +Tom, coining a word for the occasion with true American versatility. + +"Very well, fellow-citizens, laugh on," said Hugh; "these are the last +strawberries of the season, and I have no inclination to discuss +anything at present but their sweetness. But I will venture to assert +that at six o'clock this evening I shall have imbibed more knowledge +in that very hammock then any of you in your prosy chairs." + +"I shall go and see Miss Skede about my white dresses," said Sibyl, +rising. + +"Not this warm morning," exclaimed Bessie. + +"The very time. I could not have chosen a better day. Miss Skede has +no imagination; she can _never_ lift herself beyond the present. If I +had gone to her in June, she would have made my dresses heavy, in +spite of all my orders and descriptions. Even yesterday, for instance, +she would have been unable to conceive anything more than half-way +effects; but to-day it is so warm that the heat may inspire her, and +I hope to get out of her something as flowing and delicate as a summer +cloud." + +"I see now, Sibyl, where all your poetry goes," said Hugh, laughing; +"the puffs and ruffles get it all!" + +"Fortunately Graham has enough for two," said Bessie, looking up with +a malicious smile. + +But Sibyl's temper was never ruffled: "I like Graham, as you know, +Bessie. You, also, have your likes and dislikes, but _I_ do not tease +you about them." + +"That is true, Sibyl," said Bessie, warmly; "you certainly have the +best disposition in the family. I wish I had half your amiability." + +Soon after breakfast, Tom and Gem went out into the garden, and sat +down under the shade of the great elm-tree. The three dogs were not +long in discovering their place of retreat, and invited themselves to +join the party with their usual assurance,--Turk stretching himself on +the ground alongside, Grip under a currant-bush, and Pete Trone +occupying himself in tilling the soil. + +"What are you going to do to-day, Tom?" said Gem, as she adorned +Turk's shaggy back with flowers. + +"Well, I don't exactly know," replied Tom; "the B. B.'s are coming, +and we've thought a little of building a house up a tree." + +"What for?" said Gem rather languidly,--for when the thermometer +stands in the eighties, the idea of building becomes oppressive. + +"What for!" repeated Tom indignantly; "that's just like a girl! For +fun, of course. What else, do you suppose? But you needn't have +anything to do with it. You can go right into the house this very +minute, if you like." + +"I don't want to go into the house; you know that very well, Tom +Morris. I always like to see the B. B.'s, and I think a house in a +tree will be splendid!" said Gem quickly. + +"Won't it, though! We're going to take the big cask over there, and +hoist up all the boards, and nails, and things. There's a place in the +main branches where we can build a real room, big enough for all of +us, if we squeeze tight. We're going to have a floor, and roof, and +sides, and a hole in the bottom to climb in,--a sort of sally-port, +you know. It will be a regular fort, and I rather guess those +south-end fellows will wink out of the wrong sides of their eyes when +they see it." + +"Won't it be rather warm up there?" suggested Gem. + +"I never saw such a baby!" exclaimed Tom. "Warm? of course it will be, +and what then? The monitors were warm, I reckon, but you never caught +our soldiers whining about it. The B. B.'s will stand up to their work +like men, and they'll stay in that house when it's built, even if they +melt down to their very backbones!" + +"I wonder what Pete is doing?" said Gem, after a pause, wisely making +a diversion in the conversation. + +"Oh! burying bones, I suppose," said Tom; "He's always at it. I +believe he'd dig a hole in an iron floor if he was chained up on it. +Hallo, Pete! stop that! You're making too much dust. Do you hear me, +sir? Very well! you'd--a--bet--" When Tom got as far as "bet," +pronounced in an awful voice, Pete knew that a stick was forthcoming. +He accordingly paused in his digging, his little black nose covered +with yellow earth, and his eyes fixed mournfully on the half-finished +hole. "Let us go and dig up some of his bones and show them to him," +said Tom; "it always makes him feel so ashamed! I know where they are; +he has his favorite places, and I've often seen him toiling up and +down from one to the other, as important as the man that goes round +with the panorama and jaws at the people." + +"What an expression!" said Gem, with an air of superiority; "you boys +are so common!" + +"And you girls are so soft!" said Tom. "I'd rather be a boy than a +girl, any day. Come, now!" + +But Gem was not inclined to argue this point, so they carried out +their bone-hunting project, much to the discomfiture of Pete Trone, +Esq., who followed behind as if fascinated, watched the disinterment +of each relic with mortified interest, and, when the last was brought +into view, drooped his head and tail, and sought refuge in the +corn-field where he relieved his feelings by burrowing wildly in +twenty different places. + +"There come the B. B.'s!" exclaimed Gem, interrupting Tom in a search +for artichokes; "eight of them, as sure as you live!" + +"What an expression," said Tom, imitating his sister's voice; "you +girls are so common!" But the approach of the visitors made a truce a +matter of necessity, and soon the project of the tree-house engrossed +the entire attention. Boards were brought from the little tool-house, +saws were in demand, and Gem was deputed to confiscate all the hammers +and nails in the house for the use of the builders; the work went +bravely on, and by noon the walls of the fortification were up, and +the roof well advanced towards completion. A ladder brought from the +barn, took the workmen half-way up the trunk; but the old tree was +lofty, and a long space intervened between the end of the ladder and +the lowest branches, which must of necessity be ascended in that +squirming manner peculiar to boys, wherein they delight to bark their +shins, tear their trousers, and blister their hands in the pursuit of +glory. Gem, of course, could not hope to emulate the B. B.'s in this +mode of progression towards the fortification, but she brought nails +and carried boards with great energy. When there was no call for her +services, she watched with intense interest the B. B. who happened to +be squirming up. If there was no B. B. squirming up, there was sure to +be one squirming down, for a principal part of the time seemed to be +devoted to journeys below and aloft, besides elaborate contrivances +for slinging boards and tools to the climbers' backs; indeed, to a +looker-on, this seemed to be the chief interest of the fortification. + +At last it was done, all but the floor; Tom said it did not matter +about that, as the boys could easily stand on the branches. Word was +given to ascend, and, one by one, all the B. B.'s squirmed up the tree +and took their places inside; nothing was to be seen but their feet, +huddled together on the branches. It took ten minutes for all the band +to assemble on high, but in less than two, down they squirmed again. +"What is the matter?" said Gem in astonishment; she had not expected +to see the B. B.'s for hours, absorbed as they would be in their leafy +abode. + +"We're going to take up the dogs," said Tom, who came first; "we're +going to sling 'em up in a basket. It will be such fun, and they'll +like it first-rate." + +"Oh, don't, Tom!" exclaimed Gem; "Turk is too big, Grip will be sure +to fall out, and it will make Pete Trone seasick." + +But no attention was paid to her remonstrances, and the B. B.'s +inspired to new exertions, made numerous journeys up and down, rigging +a pulley and making various preparations for the aerial voyage. When +all was ready there was a discussion as to which dog should go. Turk +_was_ too big, no basket would hold him; and Grip, Tom said, had "no +common sense," and would not appreciate the situation. Pete Trone was +evidently the man for the place, and he jumped gayly into the basket +at Tom's command, without any suspicion of danger; and when he found +himself hanging in mid-air, he did not flinch, but settled down +resolutely on his haunches, looking over the side with one eye as much +as to say, "Who's afraid?" + +"Didn't I tell you?" said Tom enthusiastically. "I knew Pete would +come out strong. It will take a good while to get him up there. I say, +boys, let's sing 'Up in a Balloon.' It will be appropriate to the +occasion." + +So all the B. B.'s joined in the chorus with so much power that Aunt +Faith came to the back door to listen. + +"Tom! Tom!" she called, when the song was finished; "what are you +doing?" + +"It's only the B. B.'s, Aunt Faith. We're hoisting Pete Trone up into +the tree," shouted Tom. + +"Dinner will be ready in a few moments; you had better come in and +rest; you must be very warm," said Aunt Faith from the shaded piazza. + +When the basket reached the air-shanty, the B. B.'s who were there to +receive it, suddenly remembered that there was no floor, and Pete, +although a dog of varied accomplishments, could hardly be expected to +keep his footing on the branches. So there was nothing to be done but +let him down again, which was accordingly effected with great care, +Pete sitting composedly in the basket without moving a muscle, and +jumping out when he reached the ground with conscious importance +wagging in his tail. It was one o'clock, and the B. B.'s, after +promising to return, adjourned for dinner; Tom and Gem bathed their +burning faces, and joined the family circle in the cool dining-room. + +"You are as bad as a fire-ball, Tom," said Hugh, looking at his red +face; "what have you been doing?" + +"Splendid fun! We've been building a house in a tree." And forthwith +Tom launched into a full description of the fortification. + +"'Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness, some boundless contiguity of +shade!' That was the motive which actuated the Band of Brothers, I +suppose," said Hugh. + +"The B. B.'s don't know anything about poetry," said Tom, with scorn; +"they've got other things to attend to, I can tell you." + +"They're coming again this afternoon," said Gem, "to talk over what we +shall do on Fourth of July." + +"To be sure; the Birthday of Freedom is close upon us," said Hugh; +"whatever you do, my countrymen, let it be worthy of the occasion." + +"We've got two or three plans," began Gem, but Tom interrupted her; +"Don't breathe a word, it will spoil all, Gem." + +"I hope it is not dangerous," said patient Aunt Faith, who associated +the Birthday of Independence with visions of boys disfigured for life +with gunpowder, and girls running madly towards the house with their +muslin dresses blazing. + +"None of the plans are dangerous, Aunt Faith," said Tom; "but we don't +want anybody to know anything about them beforehand; especially Hugh." + +"I smell a rat,--I see him floating in the air,--but I shall yet be +able to nip him in the bud," quoted Hugh, with pointed emphasis. + +"Now don't, Hugh! just promise that you won't cross the back terrace +until after the Fourth," pleaded Gem. "It will be twice the fun for +you, too, if you don't know anything about it beforehand." After some +delay the two conspirators wrenched the required promise from their +cousin, who pretended to be deeply curious about the plot, and +heroically unselfish in abandoning his designs upon it. + +At three o'clock the meeting was held under the elm-tree on the +terrace; the B. B.'s reinforced to the number of twelve were there, +and Tom and Gem did the honors with cordial hospitality. Many plans +were brought forward for the consideration of the patriots, but +objections were found to one and all; at length Gem disappeared and +after a long delay, returned carrying some books under her arm. "I +have thought of something," she said, taking a seat under the tree; +"we will have the battle of Bunker Hill and the life of General Israel +Putnam." The word "battle" stimulated the B. B.'s, who were lying +about on the grass, worn out with their efforts to arrange a +programme. "Bunker Hill forever!" said one, tossing up his hat. Tom +said nothing; he was not going to be carried away by any of Gem's +nonsense, not he! "My plan is this," began Gem, encouraged by the +general attention; "we will have a real battle,--we've got torpedoes, +fire-crackers, and Tom's cannon, you know,--and we'll make a big +monument of boards for Bunker's Hill; I've been there and know just +how it looks." + +"It wasn't there when the battle was fought, Goosey," said Tom. + +"How do you know?" retorted Gem; "_you_ were not there, I guess. And +as to history, who got ten imperfect marks in one week?" + +The B. B.'s not being strong in history, did not take sides in this +contest, and Gem went on triumphantly. "Jim Morse can be General +Putnam, because his uncle's name is Putnam; you see, I thought of +that," said Gem, with conscious pride. + +"Hurrah for Jim!" said the enthusiastic B. B. before mentioned. + +"Then there will be the wolf-scene," continued Gem. "You remember how +Putnam went down in a cave when everybody else was afraid, and shot a +great wolf there. They had a rope around his legs, and when he pulled +it they jerked it up, and out he came holding the wolf by the ears. +Now that will do splendidly for us, for we can have the underground +shanty for the cave, and Turk will just do for the wolf." + +This last idea was received with applause, and the discussion became +general, even Tom forgetting his scorn in the interest of the +occasion, and actually taking some importance upon himself because his +sister was the originator of so much brilliancy. Books were consulted, +suggestions and changes made, and the whole plot of the drama altered +again and again. Each B. B. felt himself called upon to be a general, +and they had all selected the names of revolutionary heroes, when some +one suggested that an army composed entirely of generals would be +difficult to manage. Then, there was the question of time, also. +Should they confine themselves to Bunker Hill, or give an abstract of +the whole war? Tom was for the whole war; but that was because he had +already announced himself as George Washington, and naturally wished +for as many battles as possible. He intended, also, to throw in the +episode of the hatchet; "It will be real easy," he said, advocating +his plan, "I know it all, out of the reader, and besides, we've got a +cherry-tree." + +But another boy maintained that more than one battle would spoil the +effect; a number of the forces must of course be left dead and wounded +upon the field, and it would not look well for them to come to life +over and over again, right before everybody. + +It was finally decided to adopt a circuitous course, steering between +the impossibilities, yet bringing in all the desired effects. The +drama was to open with the wolf-hunt. Then the scene was to change; +Putnam, peacefully engaged in ploughing, was to hear the glorious news +and depart instantly for Bunker Hill. The battle was to rage fiercely +on the terrace slope, and in the vegetable garden, while a masked +battery did terrible execution in the asparagus bed, and whole ranks +of the enemy were to be mowed down in the cornfield conveniently out +of sight. As Tom said, "Something must be left to the imagination." +The third scene was to bring in the hanging of the spy, Nathan Palmer, +in order that Putnam might read his famous letter on the subject; but +as Gem objected to the tragical end, it was decided to alter history a +little, and let Nathan escape by night, which change would also give a +fine chance for dark-lanterns, masks, and a muffled drum. The whole +was to close with a tableau, and the singing of the "Star-Spangled +Banner," in which the audience were to be especially requested to +join. + +The outline of the performance was now arranged and nothing remained +but to fill in the details; the whole afternoon was consumed in this +labor, and still the work was not completed. For several days the +B. B.'s studied severely; United States histories were in great +demand, and the pages of Shakespeare were turned over for inspiration. +Each boy was to compile his own speeches, and many hurried +consultations were held over back fences, and in haylofts; one boy, +who represented General Stark, selected Hamlet's 'to be or not to be.' +A companion objected to the lines as inappropriate, but General Stark +replied, "Well, I know the piece because I've spoken it in school, and +I ain't going to learn another, I can tell you! I don't see why it +won't do as well as anything else." + +Fourth of July came, and with it, great excitement in the vicinity of +the old stone house. The B. B.'s belonged to the neighboring families, +and their fathers, mothers and sisters were to compose the audience +for whom benches had already been placed on the terrace under the +trees. The day was warm, but enthusiasm was warmer, and although there +was some foreboding of suffering among the audience as they looked out +from their cool parlors into the vivid sunshine, there was no +flinching among the actors. + +There had, however, been great difficulty with the cows who were to +represent General Putnam's oxen, for the horses' harness did not fit +them very well, and they objected to dragging the plough as +well-regulated oxen should have done; so at the last moment it was +decided to give up the idea of a moving scene, and simply attempt a +tableau; General Putnam at his plough in the field, reading the +Declaration of Independence. A sheet could be held up until the cows +were in position, then it was to be dropped and the tableau revealed +to the audience. "The effect would be grand," Tom said. + +At ten o'clock the actors were all in the vegetable garden, and the +audience under cover of straw hats and parasols were slowly assembling +on the benches above. The cannon was loaded at the top of an earthwork +commanding the asparagus-bed, torpedo ammunition was stored in a box +half way down the hill, and fire-crackers were everywhere, provided by +the combatants who had clubbed their spending-money for the purpose. +A hole had been made in the roof of the underground shanty through +which Putnam was to be let down by a rope, and Turk, as the wolf, had +been imprisoned there since early morning, with Grip to keep him +company. At last all was ready, and the orchestra opened the +entertainment with "Hail Columbia" on the violin, by Tom, accompanied +by the jews-harp, tambourine and triangle, and a flute which could +only play two notes, but made up in power what it lacked in variety. +Tom had tried hard to learn "Hail Columbia" for this occasion. He +thought he knew it, and the family thought so too, from the amount of +practising they had heard. But the excitement confused the performer, +and the violin, after careering around among "Independence be your +boast," ended in the well-known "Nelly Bly," Tom's chef-d'oeuvre. +Fortunately the change made no difference to the rest of the +orchestra, their accompaniment was the same to all tunes, and "Nelly +Bly" was finished in triumph, and received with applause by the +good-natured audience and calls for "first-violin." + +But the orchestra had already dispersed to aid in the grand opening +scene, the wolf-hunt, an "historical incident in the life of General +Israel Putnam of glorious memory," as the written programme designated +it. First appeared one of the B. B.'s attired as the "Classic Muse," +with a wreath of laurel around his brow. He recited the following +lines taken from the "Putnam Memorial:--" + + "Hail! Hero of Bunker's Hill. + Thy presence now my soul doth thrill! + This is a sacred and heavenly spot + Where thou, Putnam, didst thy body drop; + May future generations be blest + With the patriotic spirit thou possessed! + Thy memory is like a sweet balm, + That will bless and do no harm." + +This remarkable ode concluded, the Muse retired, and Putnam himself +appeared, dressed in full uniform with a sword by his side, and a +majestic feather in his hat. The general made a bow to the audience +and repeated the following verse, also extracted from the "Memorial." + + "I am Israel Putnam the brave, + Who in Pomfret shot the wolf in the cave; + And by her ears did draw her out,-- + I am no coward, but rash and stout!" + +Having thus announced his character, General Putnam walked towards the +shanty and brandished his sword. "Ha!" he said, snorting fiercely, +"there is a wolf here! I shall descend and slay him!" + +"Nay, nay!" shouted the B. B.'s in a chorus, as they rushed from the +currant-bushes where they had remained hidden to give full effect to +the scene. "Putnam, descend not; the wolf is wild!" cried one. +"Putnam, descend not; remember thy child!" said another. (This was +considered highly poetical by the B. B.'s). But Putnam was not to be +persuaded, and the rope was therefore carefully secured to his belt. +He took leave of all his friends, shaking them all by the hand, and +then, feather and all, he was lowered into the cave, _i.e._ underground +shanty. It was intended that there should be no delay in this part of +the scene; Turk had been through his portion of the programme many +times, and had allowed himself to be hauled up and down with his usual +good-nature. As it was expected, therefore, that Putnam would vanquish +the wolf in no time, no dialogue had been provided for the friends and +neighbors waiting outside, and as time passed and no signal to "draw +up," came, they grew somewhat embarrassed. Tom, urged by necessity, +spoke impromptu: "He fighteth the wolf!" he cried; "he fighteth +fiercely!" Then, in an undertone to his next neighbor, "say something, +Will; anything will do." But Will could think of nothing but "He +fighteth the wolf!" also; so he said it to Dick and kicked him on the +shin as a signal to proceed. "Doth he?" said Dick after a long pause; +then, at his wits' end as he received another and fiercer kick, he +varied the phrase and stammered out, "Doth he?" in a despairing voice, +at which all the audience laughed uproariously. Still there was no +signal from below, and Tom grew desperate. Stooping down he called +through the aperture, "I say, Putnam, why don't you jerk out that +wolf?" But no answer came from the den. "Sing something," said Tom to +the B. B.'s in an undertone, "'Battle Cry of Freedom' will do; while I +run down and see what is the matter." So all the friends and neighbors +joined in singing a song, probably to intimidate the wolf, while Tom +hurried down to the door at the bottom of the hill. + +"What _is_ the matter, Jim?" he cried, bursting in to the underground +shanty; "you've almost spoilt the whole thing! Why don't you hurry +up?" + +"It's all very well to say 'hurry up,'" said General Putnam, +indignantly, "but Turk won't let me come near him. He's worse than a +wolf any day." + +"I suppose he's tired; he's been shut up here since daylight," said +Tom looking at the angry old dog. "Well, I suppose you'll have to take +Grip, then. Hurry,--they're at the last verse." + +So the signal was given, and the friends and neighbors, rejoiced that +their embarrassment was over, began to pull with such a will that Tom +had hardly time to run back and repeat his prepared speech. "He is +safe! Our noble Putnam is safe!" cried Tom, with enthusiasm. "He +bringeth out the wolf, the great, the dreadful wolf!" At this instant +the General hove into view, his feathered hat knocked over his eyes, +the rope girding his chest with alarming tightness, and wee little +Grip suspended by the nape of his neck as the wolf, "the great, the +dreadful wolf!" A burst of irrepressible laughter from the audience +greeted this tableau, and Putnam's mother cried out in great anxiety, +"Jimmy, Jimmy, take off that rope directly; it will hurt your chest!" + +The first part over, the scene was supposed to be changed. Half of the +B. B.'s were required to bring the two cows from the cow-house where +they were standing already harnessed, and the others put the plough in +position and hold up the sheet. But the cows were obstinate and would +not walk together, so that gradually the whole force was summoned, and +Gem was left to hold up the curtain with the assistance of a small +boy, the brother of General Stark. At length, after severe labor, the +cows were brought up behind the sheet and attached to the plough, but +before Putnam could take his position, one of them, a frisky animal, +put down her head and shook her horns so threateningly that Gem +abandoned her corner of the sheet and fled in terror, leaving the +mortified patriots to the full blaze of public ridicule. Tom was +furious, but he reserved his rage for another time. "Bring those cows +together by main force and hold 'em still, boys," he said in a +concentrated tone as he picked up the corner of the sheet. "Take hold +of the plough, Jim. Now, Dick, say your piece." The Classic Muse +advancing before the curtain obeyed, in the following language: +"Behold the peaceful Putnam tilling the soil. His gentle oxen feed +among the clover. But the noble Declaration of Independence rouseth +his manly heart. He leaveth his team in the furrow and goeth to Bunker +Hill!" declaimed the Muse at the top of his voice as the sheet was +dropped disclosing the spectacle of ten boys fiercely holding the two +cows in position while Putnam, in full uniform as usual, peacefully +read a huge paper document apparently all unmindful of the struggles +of his team. + +The effect of this tableau was, like the first, far greater than +anticipated. The audience laughed till they cried; and not the least +part of the amusement was the retreat of the "peaceful oxen," wildly +careering back to the pasture, their harness fluttering behind their +frightened heels. + +After a short pause the Battle of Bunker Hill began in earnest, and +was esteemed a great success. The cannon raked the asparagus-bed very +effectively, and the musketry of torpedoes and fire-crackers, was +really deafening; the British flag was ignominiously hauled down from +the Bunker Hill Monument, and the Stars and Stripes raised in its +place; every now and then, also, the shrieks and groans of the +wounded, were heard from the corn-patch, which added, of course, the +pathetic element to the scene. At last, when all the ammunition was +exhausted, peace was declared, and the American forces assembling +around the monument, listened to General Stark, as he vehemently burst +forth into "To be, or not to be," pointing aloft, at intervals, to the +Banner of Freedom, and closing with,-- + + "The Flag of our Union! At Lexington first + Through clouds of oppression its radiance burst; + But at brave Bunker Hill rolled back the last crest, + And, a bright constellation, it blazed in the West. + Division! No, never! The Union forever! + And cursed be the hand that our country would sever!" + +as a highly appropriate termination, giving a local and military +coloring to Hamlet's celebrated soliloquy. + +The battle well over, and generous applause bestowed upon the army, +the episode of the spy was introduced, and Gem retrieved her character +by patiently holding up her end of the sheet while the tent was +constructed out of some poles and colored blankets,--a real camp-fire +along side being relied upon to give a life-like resemblance to +"Valley Forge." The sheet removed, General Putnam was discovered +seated within his tent, writing a letter. Enter, from the potato-patch, +an orderly, who reported in a deep voice, "General Tryon demands +Nathan Palmer." + +"Ha! Doth he so! British miscreant! thus will I fell him!" exclaimed +Putnam, brandishing his sword with so much ferocity that the whole +tent fell to the ground, covering him with blankets and confusion. +Rescued from the wreck by the orderly, the general stammered out his +next sentence: "Behold what I have written to Tryon! Take the letter +and read it to the army!" he said sternly, and retired--to what was +once his tent. The enemy filed in from the chicken-yard, presented +arms, and stood motionless while the orderly read as follows:-- + + "MARCH 8th, 1777. + + "------ TRYON,--Sir: + + "Nathan Palmer, a lieutenant in your king's + service, was taken in my camp as a spy, He was + tried as a spy; he was condemned as a spy; and + he shall be hanged as a spy. + PUTNAM. + + "P. S.--Night. He is hanged." + +This celebrated letter having been read, Putnam's part was over, and +he retired backwards to the corn-patch to slow music from the +orchestra hidden behind the currant-bushes, while the army marched +away in the opposite direction,--the two effects having been contrived +by Tom to imitate a dissolving view. This pantomime was received by +the merry audience with great applause. + +The next scene exhibited, after long preparation, the body of the +unfortunate Palmer hanging from a tree, suspended by his hands, with a +rope conspicuously coiled around his neck. The Classic Muse again +appeared, and took his position near by, while the American army in +masks, with dark-lanterns and muffled drums, filed in softly, and +formed a circle around the tree. "Friends!" said one of the band +stepping forward, "I am Ethan Allen, and I cannot leave this man, +although a British subject, suspended to this tree. We will bury him, +friends, 'darkly, at dead of night, by the struggling moonbeams' misty +light, and our lanterns dimly burning.'" + +The army agreed to these sentiments, and, deputing two of their number +to act as bearers, marched away to the sound of the muffled drums. But +the body, which had conveniently dropped to the ground in the +meantime, proved too heavy for the bearers. John Chase, who had been +thoughtlessly allowed to take the part of the Spy, was a particularly +heavy boy, and the bearers pulled and tugged in vain. The army, +absorbed in the muffled drums (each boy had one), was already at some +distance, and the final tableau, in which the body took a part, was +still to be enacted; the bearers made another effort, the perspiration +rolled down their faces, but all in vain. There was nothing to be done +but signal to the Classic Muse to come forward and help. He hastily +tucked up his robes and took hold. With his aid the spy was hurried +after the retreating army, reaching it just in time to spring to his +feet under the flag-staff where floated the Star-Spangled Banner, Red, +White, and Blue, and exclaim fervently, "Fellow-citizens, I am not +dead! Behold me a changed man! From this moment I am a true and loyal +patriot. Long live the Sword of Bunker Hill!" As the resuscitated spy +uttered these words, the army formed an effective tableau around him, +and the Classic Muse, still breathless from his late exertions, waved +his laurel-wreath in the foreground, and struck up the "Star-Spangled +Banner," in which the audience joined with enthusiasm. + +The patriotic drama being over, great applause ensued, and then the +army was invited in to lunch in Aunt Faith's cool dining-room; here +ice-cream, cakes, and other camp-dishes were provided in great +abundance, the soldiers stacked arms, and seemed to enjoy themselves +as easily as private citizens. The numerous young sisters of the +B. B.'s gradually forgot their shyness, and the afternoon was spent in +games and merriment,--the Old Stone House being entirely given up to +the young folks early in the evening, when the weary warriors +departed. + +"It's been a splendid Fourth!" said Tom, throwing himself into a chair +when the last guests had taken their departure; "I wish we could have +such fun every day!" + +"If you had it every day you would soon be tired of it," said Aunt +Faith smiling. + +About midnight, when all was still, Aunt Faith, who had not been +asleep, thought she heard a slight sound; she listened, and +distinguished faint sobs coming from Gem's room, as though the child +had her head buried in the pillows. Throwing on a wrapper, she hurried +thither, and found her little niece with flushed cheeks and tearful +eyes, tossing uneasily on her bed. "What is the matter, dear?" asked +Aunt Faith, anxiously. + +"Oh, is it you, Aunt Faith? I am so glad you have come!" said Gem. +"There is nothing the matter, only I cannot sleep, and I feel so +badly." + +Do you feel ill? Are you in any pain?" + +"No; only hot, and, and--a little frightened." + +"Frightened? My dear child, what do you mean?" + +"I don't know, auntie. I woke up, and kept thinking of dreadful +things," sobbed Gem, burying her head in the pillows. Aunt Faith saw +that the child was trembling violently, and, sitting down on the edge +of the bed, she drew the little form into her motherly arms, and +soothed her as she would have soothed a baby. "Come into my room, +dear," she said; "you are tired and excited after this busy day. I +have not slept, either, and I shall be glad to have you go with me." + +So the two went, back across the hall, Gem clinging to her aunt, and +glancing fearfully around, as though she expected to see some ghostly +object in every well-known corner. When she had crept into her bed, +however, she felt more safe, and nestled down with a deep sigh of +relief. After some conversation on various subjects, Aunt Faith said: +"And now, my little girl, you must tell me what frightened you. I have +always thought you a brave child. What was it you fancied?" + +"Oh, I don't know, auntie; all kinds of things. Ghosts, and +everything." + +"Gem, you know very well there are no such things as ghosts." + +"Really and truly, Aunt Faith?" asked Gem, in a low tone. + +"Certainly not. I am surprised that you have any such ideas. Where did +you get them?" + +"I have heard the girls talking about them, sometimes, in the kitchen. +They believe in them, Aunt Faith." + +"That is because they are ignorant, my dear. Ignorant people believe +a great many things that are false. You know there _are_ no fairies, +Gem? You know there is no such person as Santa Claus, don't you?" + +"Of course, aunt. Only very little children believe in Santa Claus." + +"Well, my dear, ignorant people are like little children; they will +tell and believe stories about ghosts just as little children tell and +believe stories about Santa Claus and his coming down the chimney. My +dear little girl, never think of those silly ghost-stories again. +People die, and the good Lord takes them into another life; where they +go or what they are doing we do not know, but we need _never_ fear +that they will trouble us. It is of far more consequence that we +should think of ourselves, and whether we are prepared to enter into +the presence of our Creator. Our summons will come and we know not how +soon it may be. When I think of our family circle, six of us under the +roof to-night, I know that it is possible, I may even say probable +that among so many a parting will come before very long. And, my +little Gem, if it should be you, the youngest, I pray that you may be +ready. I do not want you to think of death as anything dreadful, dear. +It is not dreadful, although those who are left behind feel lonely and +sad. I look forward with a happy anticipation to meeting my brothers +and sisters, my father and mother, and my husband; it will be like +going home to me. But, although I am old, the summons does not always +come to the oldest, first. Tell me, my child, are you trying to be +good, to govern your temper, and to do what is right as far as you are +able?" + +"I try when I think of it, Aunt Faith," said Gem, "but half the time I +don't think; I forget all about it." + +"I do not expect you to think of it all the time, dear; but when you +do think of it, will you promise me to try as hard as you can? Will +you try to speak gently to Tom, to forgive him when he teases you, to +give up your own way when your playmates desire something else, and, +above all, to pray night and morning with your whole heart?" + +"Yes, Aunt Faith," whispered Gem, "I will try as hard as I can." + +"God bless you, my darling," said Aunt Faith, kissing her little niece +affectionately. "And now, go to sleep; it is very late." + +With the happy facility of youth, Gem was soon asleep, but Aunt Faith +lay wakeful through several hours of the still summer night. Her +heart, was disturbed by thoughts of Sibyl and her worldly ambition, of +Hugh and his unsettled religious views, of Bessie and her lack of +serious thoughts on any subject. Again the sore feeling of trouble +came to her, the doubt as to her own fitness for the charge of +educating and training the five little children left in her care. "I +fear I am not strong enough," she thought; "I fear both my faith and +my perseverance have been weak. Have I entirely failed? When I look at +Sibyl, and Hugh, and Bessie, I fear I have. Even the younger children +are by no means what I had hoped they would be." + +A terrible despondency crept into Aunt Faith's heart, and the slow +tears of age rolled down her cheeks; but with a strong effort of will +she conquered the feeling, and kneeling down by the bedside, she +poured out her sorrows in prayer. She laid all her troubles at the +feet of her Saviour, and besought Him to strengthen her and give her +wisdom for her appointed task. Again and again she asked for faith, +earnest faith, which should never falter, although the future might +look dark to her mortal eyes, and again and again she gave all her +darlings into the Lord's hand. "Give me strength to do my best," she +prayed, "and faith to leave the rest to Thee,"--and gradually there +came to her a peace which passeth all understanding, a peace which +cometh after earnest prayer, and which those who pray not earnestly, +can never know. + +Aunt Faith knelt a while longer, but no words formed themselves in her +mind; she seemed to feel a benediction falling around her, and a sweet +contentment came into her heart. When she lay down again, sleep came, +and for the rest of the night all was quiet in the old stone house. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SUNDAY. + + +Breakfast at the old stone house was later on Sunday morning than on +week days, by Aunt Faith's especial direction. She gave all the family +a longer sleep than usual to mark the day of rest and give it a +pleasant opening, but they all understood that when the first bell +rang there must be no further delay, and at the sound of the second +bell they all assembled in the sitting-room in their fresh Sunday +attire for morning prayers. Aunt Faith's rule was gentle, but there +were some regulations which the cousins had been brought up to obey +implicitly; this way of beginning the Lord's day _was_ one of them, +and unless prevented by illness they never failed to assemble promptly +in the sitting-room, carefully dressed, and with pleasant, quiet +demeanor at the sound of the second bell. This bright July Sunday, +Aunt Faith received them with a smile, and when they were seated, she +opened her Bible, and read in her clear voice the seventeenth chapter +of the Gospel according to St. John, the beloved disciple of our Lord. +Then Sibyl went to the cabinet organ, and all the young voices joined +in singing a morning hymn, simple and cheerful like the praise of +creation at the dawn of day, when from the forest ascends the song of +thousands of God's creatures, praising their Maker in the only way +they know. The hymn ended, Aunt Faith knelt down, and they all joined +in the Lord's prayer. Then came the petition for the day, for a better +realization of God's goodness, and a reverent spirit in the worship of +this temple; for forgiveness of sins and aid in forgiving the faults +of others; and above all, for a spirit of hearty thankfulness and +praise to the Maker of the universe, and loving remembrance of His Son +the Saviour of mankind. With a final petition for the aid of the Holy +Spirit, Aunt Faith closed her prayer, and the morning worship was +concluded by the ancient ascription of praise to Jehovah. The +conversation at the breakfast-table was bright and happy; there was no +gloomy or sullen look, no fault-finding. When the children were +little, their tempers often showed themselves on Sunday as well as on +other mornings, but patience overcomes many obstacles, and Aunt +Faith's unvarying effort had been so far crowned with success, that as +they grew older, they grew to remember and even love the brightness of +the Sunday morning breakfast-table. Habit is a powerful agent, and +perhaps also the fact that Aunt Faith did not severely rebuke every +manifestation of ill temper on week days, but allowed them to come +naturally to the surface, helped to produce the placid atmosphere of +Sunday morning. Her children were not afraid of her; they never +hurried out of her presence to vent their bad feelings; she saw the +worst of it, whatever it was, and at some quiet hour she sought the +offender alone, and reasoned or rebuked as the case required. The +cousins loved her dearly, and as her rule was easy, it was generally +obeyed; love is a great aid to authority where children are concerned. + +Aunt Faith, on her part, also, never transgressed her own rules; no +matter what her cares, feelings, or bodily ailments might be, she +never allowed them to darken the opening of the Lord's day. They were +thrown aside as far as possible, and, in after years when the old +stone house was tenantless and its inmates dispersed, their thoughts +often turned with affectionate regret towards the bright Sunday +morning breakfast table. + +An hour later, the faint sound of the church-bells brought the family +together again in the front hall, and, as every one was dressed for +the day before breakfast, there was no hurry, no confusion. Aunt Faith +had in early life seen much of tardiness, haste, and consequent ill +temper on Sunday morning; at the last moment somebody would be late, +something lost, and everybody cross in consequence; little biting +speeches would be spoken, unnecessary comments made, and the result +was, that the family almost always arrived at the church-door in +anything but a peaceful state. Indeed, "Sunday headaches," and "Sunday +temper," were by-words in the house, and, as a child once expressed +it, "everybody's cross on Sunday." + +With this example, (and it is a very common one) before her, Aunt +Faith had striven to bring about; a different order of things in the +old stone house. She had not confined herself to theory, but, for +years she had made it a rule to examine personally on Saturday all the +clothes to be worn on Sunday, to inspect the strings and buttons which +are apt to give way under impatient, childish fingers, and to see that +all was in order from the hat to the shoe-strings. She superintended +the Saturday-night bath, for she was rigid in her ideas of personal +neatness, and the five little children always tumbled into their five +little beds on Saturday night, as fresh and clean as it was possible +to make them. Not that this was the only cleansing time in the week, +for they were taught to jump into their bath-tubs daily, but on +Saturday more time was given to the work, and it was made pleasant +with nice soaps, soft towels, and all the little luxuries that +children love; for children are made as happy by gentle purification +as other little animals, and it is a mistake to suppose they dread the +water. It is the rough hand they dread; to be caught up roughly, +smeared with coarse soap, sent into a shivering fit with cold water, +rubbed the wrong way with torturing towels, rasped against the grain +with stiff hair-brushes, and left to stand on an icy oil-cloth, +naturally excites their terror. I imagine there are few grown persons +who could endure it with equanimity. But Aunt Faith had no such +method. She made the bathing-hour a happy time, and showed the little +children all the luxuries of personal neatness, so that as they grew +older, they kept up themselves all the habits she had taught them, as +matters of necessity for _their_ own comfort. + +Thus, trained in these habits, the children grew into men and women +with physical health to help them in their contest with evil. And it, +is a great help. Aunt Faith knew that all the cleanliness in the world +could not compensate for the lack of godliness, but she reasoned that +while first attention should be paid to the inside of the platter, +certainly second attention should be given to the outside that both +may be clean together. A clean heart in a clean body, she thought, was +better than a clean heart in a dirty body; health and steady nerves +help a man to be orderly and even-tempered, while nervousness, +dyspepsia and weakness are so many additional temptations besetting +him on every side. + +This July Sunday, the cousins started from the old stone house with +time enough for a leisurely walk amid the music of the bells, arriving +at the church-door before the service commenced, without hurry, quiet +and composed, and ready to join in the worship without distracting +thoughts. The church was full, Aunt Faith had two pews, one for +herself with Gem and Tom, another immediately behind for Sibyl, +Bessie, and Hugh. As the organ was pealing out the opening voluntary, +a young girl came up the aisle and entered the first seat; Aunt Faith +looked up and recognizing Margaret Brown, she smiled and pressed her +hand cordially. When she visited Margaret, she asked her to accept a +seat in her pew when ever she desired to come to that church, but the +invitation had passed from her mind among the occupations of her busy +life, so that she was surprised as well as pleased when the young girl +appeared. Aunt Faith had no respect for persons; she thought of them +only as so many souls sent into the world, all equally dear to the +Creator, and precious to the Saviour of mankind. That there were great +differences in their lot on earth, that some were more easily tempted +than others, that, some had apparently small chance for improvement +and religious privileges while others found all ready to their hand, +that some suffered trouble, affliction, sickness and hard labor while +others seemed to pass through life without a cloud, she well knew, but +she did not attempt to explain it. She left it all in the hands of a +Higher Wisdom and addressed herself to the evident duty that lay +before her. Some of her friends said that she was narrow minded, that +she had no interest in the progress of humanity; it is true that she +cared more about having the children of the Irish laborer, down on the +flats, washed and comfortably dressed, than about an essay on +philanthropy, and took more pleasure in aiding Margaret Brown than in +talking about the sufferings of human nature; but perhaps she was none +the worse for that. Once when an enthusiastic lady called to ask her +aid in establishing an International Society for Reform, Aunt Faith +listened quietly, and then said, "I will join you, Mrs. B------, when +I have the leisure time at my disposal." She never found the time, but +in her answer, she was not insincere. If she had been left unemployed, +she might have joined some organization for religious work, and +esteemed it a pleasant privilege, but as it was, her daily home duties +stood first, and as long as they surrounded her, she did not lift her +eyes beyond. + +The minister was an old man, who had officiated in the same church +many years of his life, and hoped to die, as he expressed it, "in the +harness." The people loved him, and respected his wishes with more +unanimity than they might have given to a younger man; there was no +discord, no restless desire for novelty among the congregation, and +the various good works connected with the church moved forward at a +steady pace, growing with the growth of the town, but not running into +any violent extremes to the right hand or the left. + +Mr. Hays, the venerable minister, was a gentle, kind-hearted man; the +children in the Sunday school listened to him with attention, and +their parents loved to hear his sermons. He had the rare faculty of +interesting children, and when he addressed them, the teachers had no +difficulty in keeping their classes in order, because the children +really wished to hear what he said. In church, among older hearers, +the effect was the same; his sermons were simple, but all liked to +hear them. As he grew older, he seemed to think more and more of the +beautiful words, "God so loved the world that He gave His only +begotten son;" on this text all that he said and did was founded, and +he never wearied of telling his hearers about this great love, and +urging them to give their reverent affection in return. + +"If we were all like Mr. Hays, the world would be a very different +place, Aunt Faith," said Hugh, as they walked home together; "I +suppose he has had nothing but love all his life." + +"You are greatly mistaken, Hugh. He has endured severe suffering, and +no doubt the want of earthly affection has taught him to appreciate +the dearer worth of heavenly love." + +"I thought he had lived here in Westerton for forty years without +anything to disturb his quiet," said Hugh. + +"Because his troubles came to him long ago, they were none the less +heavy to bear, Hugh. Before he came here, a half-brother to whom he +had trusted all his little fortune, disappeared, carrying the whole +with him; and not only that, but upon hearing of his loss, the young +girl to whom he was engaged, broke her promise and married another. +Thus he was left doubly bereft; not only forsaken and injured, but +also wounded by the discovery of treachery in those he trusted with +all his heart." + +"I could never recover from such a blow," said impulsive Hugh; "the +thought of being deceived and betrayed by those we love and trust is +fearful to me." + +"It was fearful to Mr. Hays also, Hugh; after a short time he came to +Westerton, and threw his whole strength into his work. It may have +been a hard struggle at first, but you can yourself see how he has +conquered at last; love is the groundwork of all he says and all he +does, and his sufferings instead of turning his heart into bitterness, +seem rather to have given it a new sweetness." + +"Yes, that is why I like Mr. Hays. He is not censorious. He does not +denounce sin so continually that he has no time to tell of +forgiveness; he does not keep us so constantly trembling over the past +that we have not the courage to hope for better things in the future; +I like him for that." + +Aunt Faith did not reply. She knew when to be silent, and she had long +hoped that the gentle, fervent words of the good old man would yet +bring her impulsive nephew into the right path. She knew that much +harm was sometimes done by too much urging, and when she saw that Mr. +Hays' words had made an impression upon Hugh, she left the impression +to sink by its own weight. + +The Sunday-noon meal at the old stone house was always a simple lunch, +prepared the previous day in order to give the servants full liberty +to attend church. It was, however, abundant and attractive. In the +winter, Aunt Faith added a hot soup, prepared by her own hands, but at +this season of the year, cold dishes were the most appetizing. +Directly after lunch the family dispersed, Sibyl, Bessie, and Hugh +going to their rooms, and Aunt Faith remaining in the sitting-room +with Tom and Gem while they looked over their Sunday school lessons. +At half-past two, the children started for the church, and then Aunt +Faith rested quietly on the sofa until it was time to prepare for +afternoon service at the chapel where Mr. Leslie officiated, a mission +in whose welfare she was much interested. There was never any +regularity about attending this afternoon service; sometimes Aunt +Faith would go alone, sometimes Sibyl would accompany her, and +sometimes the three cousins would all go. This afternoon they all came +down, and Aunt Faith welcomed them pleasantly; she knew that Hugh +might have been influenced by the beauty of the weather, Bessie by +Hugh's companionship, and Sibyl by the opportunity of seeing Mr. +Leslie; but she believed that all her children were truly reverent at +heart, and she had large faith in the solemn influence of the house of +God, so she always encouraged them to go to church whenever they +would, and on this occasion she made the walk pleasant with her +cheerful conversation. + +The chapel stood in one of the suburbs of Westerton, where the houses +of the railroad workmen were crowded together in long rows, with the +smoke from the mills and shops hanging in a cloud over them all the +week. Busy, grimy men lived there, careless, tired women, and a throng +of children, some neglected, some apparently well-tended, but all +poor. In the midst of this bustle and smoke Mr. Leslie lived and +worked. When he first came to Westerton, this chapel was almost +deserted, but now it was filled with a congregation of its own, a +congregation drawn from the neighboring houses, the laborers and their +families whose zeal and liberty according to their means, might have +put to shame many a church record in the rich quarters of the town. + +Aunt Faith and her party entered the door as the little bell rang out +its last note, and took their seats upon the benches, for there were +no pews, and the sittings were free to all. The organ was played by a +young workman, a German, with the national taste for music, and when +the hymn was given out, the congregation as with one voice took up the +strain, and in a powerful burst of melody, carried the words, as it +were, high towards heaven. The music was inspiring, as true +congregational music always is. All sang the air, but the harmony was +well supplied by the organ; all sang, men, women, and children, and if +there were any discordant voices, they were lost in the powerful +melody. Hugh liked to sing, and he liked the simple hymns which Mr. +Leslie always selected for his congregation; so he found all the +places and sang with real enjoyment, while Bessie, looking over the +same book, joined in after awhile in her low alto, as if borne along +by his example. Then came the sermon, and, as Mr. Leslie gave out his +text, Aunt Faith recognized it as one of the verses which she had read +in the morning,--St. John, the seventeenth chapter, and the fifteenth +verse, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but +that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." "My friends," said Mr. +Leslie, speaking as usual without notes, "we often hear and read of +the great desire felt by Christians of this and all ages to leave this +world, this world of sickness and sorrow, of labor and poverty, and +enter immediately into another life. Young persons who have lost dear +friends wish to go and join them, for life looks dreary without love, +and the days seem very long when they are not broken by the sound of +that well-known footstep on the walk, and the words of love in that +well-known voice which they can never hear on earth again. 'I cannot +stay on earth alone,' they cry; 'I shall grow wicked in my wild grief. +Let me go to them, since they cannot come back to me.' The middle-aged +who have outlived the quick feelings of youth, sigh over the years +still before them, years neither dark nor light, neither hard nor +easy, the dull, monotonous path lengthening out before them, with +neither great joy to lighten it, or great sorrow to darken it, the +same commonplace cares and duties until the end. 'This is doing us no +good,' they think; 'life is slowly withering, zeal is gone. A flower +cannot bloom in the desert! Let me go to a better country.' + +"The old, who are past all labor, sometimes grow weary of waiting. 'I +am of no use,' they say; 'I am only a burden to myself and every one +else. I have outlived my time, and it would be better for the world if +I was taken out of it. My day is over. Let me go.' Thus they all +lament, and thus they sometimes pray, forgetting that the Lord knoweth +best. + +"The feeling is natural, and is founded upon the innate aspiration of +the soul towards immortality, the consciousness and certainty that +better things are laid up in store for us in another world. This +innate consciousness of immortality is found in all men, even the most +ignorant heathen possessing a glimmering of the idea, and this fact is +an eternal contradiction to the arguments of the atheist; he cannot +destroy this soul hope, for even if he should succeed in blighting it +in the father, it would be there to confront him in the child, and so +on from generation to generation. That there are persons who have +wilfully stifled this divinely-given hope, that there are persons who +have brought themselves to contradict their very being is an idea so +awful that we shudder to think of it. A man may murder his companion +and yet repent and be forgiven; but a man who murders his soul, a man +who turns his back upon his Creator cannot repent, for he does not +believe in his sin, and he cannot ask for forgiveness because he +cannot believe in the existence of a power to forgive. My friends, the +idea of such a man is almost super-human; and some wise persons have +said that no such men have ever existed. They may think they have +stifled their consciences and souls, and even live a long life in this +belief, but sooner or later the terrible certainty of their mistake +will overwhelm them, and they will find themselves stripped of their +poor sophistries, of all sinners the most miserable. + +"I hope and believe that there are no such persons in this +congregation to-day. Do you not, on the contrary, feel in your hearts, +the certainty of another and better life? I feel sure that you +do,--that there is not one of you who is not looking forward to that +happiness which God has prepared for those who love Him; a happiness +which eye has not seen, which ear has not heard, and which it has not +entered into the heart of men to conceive. + +"But this precious engrafted hope must not be abused. It must not be +twisted into an excuse for neglecting our duties here on _earth_. We +are put into the world to live in it, and the duties which lie nearest +to us must be faithfully performed, no matter how humble or how +commonplace they may be. We must not go sighing through life, deluding +ourselves with the idea that we are too good for our lot, and that it +is praiseworthy to hold ourselves above common labor and dull routine, +and devote our time to so-called religious aspiration. If the labor +and routine are placed before us, it is our duty to accept them, and, +whatever we do, do it with our _might_. I tell you, my friends, our +path is clear before us, and we are sinning if we turn out of it. +Suppose we are afflicted, suppose our loved ones are taken from us; we +may weep, for Jesus wept. But we must not throw down our appointed +work, and sit with idle hands and gloomy regret, while the precious +time slips by. The mourner who stays in her darkened room, and refuses +to interest herself in anything but her sorrow, is far less a +Christian mourner than she who goes forth to take up her tasks again, +thinking of her lost ones as only 'gone before.' + +"Those of us who have dull lives, with neither the sunshine nor the +thunder-cloud to vary the monotonous gray of our horizon, must still +strive to perform faithfully our uninteresting duties. We must not +murmur over our lot, or think we are fitted for better things; we are +not so fitted if the Lord keeps us there. There is, perhaps, some +fatal weakness in our character which needs just that routine; we must +learn patience and humility in the world, not _out_ of it. _Here_ is +our school-house. _This_ is our appointed lesson. + +"The old, also, who are full of eagerness to go,--they, too, are wrong. +To them, life with its joys and sorrows, its labor and care, is over, +and they look uneasily around them; their occupation is gone. Perhaps +they were busy workers, and it is hard to be idle; perhaps they were +self-reliant, and it is hard to become a care to others; perhaps they +have had powerful intellects, and it is hard to endure the +consciousness that their mental powers are failing, day by day. Still, +there is one duty remaining, and that they must learn. It is this: to +wait. To wait patiently for the Lord in the world in which He has +placed them. And this is, sometimes, the hardest duty of a long life. + +"My friends, I cannot too heartily condemn the spirit of scorn for +this world which we sometimes meet among Christians. The world is full +of beauty. God Himself pronounced it very good. The evil, and the +sorrow in it, are owing to man. What can be more fair than this very +summer afternoon? What more beautiful than that lake, with those white +clouds heaped over the horizon? Let us enjoy it, and praise God for +His goodness; it is ungrateful not to admire and love His tender care +for us in every flower by the roadside, in every tree that shades the +heated land. I say, then, love this fair world; notice its beauties; +take pleasure in the gifts it offers to you, its fruits and its +flowers, its spring-time and harvest. Learn to admire them; thank God +for them, and teach your children to appreciate them. The same words +apply here which the beloved disciple used in reference to our love +for our fellow-men: 'For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath +seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?' That is, if we have +never tried to love on earth, if our hearts have never been softened +by unselfish affection for those of our own household, how can we +expect to love in heaven? And, in the same manner, it seems to me that +if we scorn this world, if we neglect the innocent pleasures it offers +us, and never pause to admire and love its beauties, it will be very +hard for us to love the Celestial country. We must learn to love here +on earth if we would love in heaven. + +"My friends, the text is a part of our Saviour's last prayer before +he entered the garden of Gethsemane. He was praying for his disciples, +so soon to be left to temptation and danger. Notice the words: 'I pray +not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou +shouldest keep them from the evil.' He did not ask that they should be +taken _away_ from the earth, but that strength should be given them to +fulfil their duty _on_ the earth; they were men, the earth was their +home, and on the earth were their duties. + +"And so it is with us now. We have our work to do, and the time is +none too long to accomplish it; every day brings its task and the man +who stays among his fellows, doing his part with energy, actuated by +firm religious principles, is a far better Christian than he who shuts +himself up apart, scorning the fair world, unmindful of the suffering +he might relieve, neglecting his own plain duties, and occupied only +with his own brooding thoughts and gloomy self-analysis. + +"No, my friends; we are not to be taken out of the world until our +Lord so wills, we must not think of it, must not pray for it. He knows +best. And, while He leaves us on the earth, let us work with all our +might. Let us see to it that our faith is earnest, and that our +gratitude and praise are expressed in our daily lives. + +"I fear we do not think sufficiently of the great part which praise +should hold in our worship; whereas if there is any lesson taught us +by the whole created universe, and by the long testimony of holy men +from the beginning of the world until now, it is this: 'Praise ye the +Lord. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.'" + +Such were some of the points in Mr. Leslie's sermon. He spoke in a +direct manner, using all the powers of eloquence which nature and +cultivation had given him, but his ideas were plain and his words +simple, and the charm of the discourse lay in its earnestness. He +spoke as though his heart was in his words; and so it was. Another +great attraction was that his sermons were short; before the attention +of the congregation flagged in the least, the sermon was done. There +was no looking at watches, no stifled yawning, no uneasy change of +position, no watching the clock; strangers visiting the chapel +listened, at first, from real interest, with a feeling that by-and-by +they would relapse into their usual listlessness, but before they had +time to _relapse_, behold the sermon was done. This afternoon there +was the accustomed attention, and then after the closing hymn, the +congregation streamed out into the late afternoon again to enjoy the +quiet of the Sabbath, the working-man's blessed day of rest. + +The party from the old stone house walked homeward by a circuitous +route, taking in the bank of the lake on their way. Here on the grassy +slope they found a religious service going on, under the direction of +the Young Men's Christian Association, and they lingered to hear the +final hymn which sounded sweetly on the evening breeze with the pathos +of open-air music. The lake looked very beautiful, the sinking sun lay +behind a screen of white clouds, and in the distance vessels could be +seen sailing gayly before the wind with all their canvas up, or +beating up against it with the patience that belongs to inland +navigation. Towards the west extended the headland of Stony Point, and +still farther the faint outline of White River beach, looking like an +enchanted island floating in the sky. + +"The lake looks very beautiful this evening," said Aunt Faith; "it +makes one think of the sea of glass mingled with fire." + +"It is treacherous with all its beauty," said Bessie; "these +fresh-water seas cannot be relied upon for two hours at a time. They +are more dangerous than the ocean." + +"You make too much of the little ponds," said Hugh. + +"They may be ponds," returned Bessie, "but they are deep enough to +drown men, and cruel enough to tear vessels to pieces. I should feel +safer on the ocean in a storm than on our lake, for there you can run +away from it, or scud before it, but here there is no place to run to, +no offing, and always a lee shore." + +"Where did you learn your nautical terms?" said Hugh, laughing, as +they turned towards home. + +"You may laugh, Hugh, but I am in earnest. You have not watched the +storms as I have; you do not know how suddenly they come. Even in the +summer, a speck of a cloud will grow into a thunder-storm in a few +minutes, and in the autumn the gales are fearful. I remember last year +in September, two vessels were lost in plain sight from the bank where +we were standing a moment ago. One came driving down the lake at +daylight and went ashore on the spiles of the old pier; the crew were +all lost, we saw them go down before our eyes. The next, a fine +three-master, came in about noon and anchored off the harbor, hoping +that the wind might go down before night; but, as the gale increased, +the captain made an attempt to enter the river. The vessel missed and +ran ashore below; only two of the men were rescued, for the surf was +tremendous." + +"Well, Bessie, are there not wrecks at sea, also?" + +"Yes; but one expects danger on the great ocean, whereas here on the +Lakes, a stranger would not dream of it." + +"As far as that goes," said Hugh, "a fall down-stairs might kill a man +quite as effectually as a fall from Mount Blanc." + +"But he would so much prefer the latter," said Bessie. + +"Well,--for hair-splitting differences, give me a young lady of +sixteen," said Hugh as they rejoined the others. "Aunt Faith, you have +no idea how romantic Bessie is!" + +"Oh yes, I have!" said Aunt Faith smiling. "A girl who plays the harp +as Bessie plays, and who paints such pictures as Bessie paints, must +necessarily be both romantic and poetical; and I use both adjectives +in their best sense." + +Bessie colored at Aunt Faith's praise. "I only play snatches, and +paint fragments," she said quickly. + +"I know it, my dear," replied her aunt; "that is your great fault, you +do not finish your work. But I hope you will correct this defect, and +give us the pleasure of--" + +"Of hearing you play one tune entirely through, and seeing one picture +entirely finished: before old age deafens and blinds our senses," +interrupted Hugh, laughing. "You don't know the studio as well as I +do, Aunt Faith; there are heads without bodies, and bodies without +heads, but no poor unfortunate is completely finished. Sometimes I +think Bessie is studying the antique. Antiques, you know, are +generally dismembered." + +Bessie had now quite recovered her composure; praise disconcerted her, +but she _was_ accustomed to raillery, and parried Hugh's attack with +her usual spirit. They reached the old stone house before sunset, and +soon assembled in the dining-room for the pleasant meal which might be +called a tea-dinner, or a dinner-tea, although not exactly +corresponding to either designation. Tom and Gem had returned from +Sunday School some time before, and since then they had been absorbed +in reading their library-books, their customary employment at that +hour. After the meal was over, the family went into the sitting-room +and seated themselves near the open windows. They rarely attended +evening service, although they were at liberty to go if they pleased; +the church was at some distance, and Aunt Faith always kept the +children with her on Sunday evening, so that generally they were all +at home, talking quietly, reading, or singing sacred music; this last +occupation giving pleasure to all, as the five cousins were naturally +fond of music, and Aunt Faith had taken care that their taste should +be rightly directed and enlarged. + +"I went into the brick church a few Sundays ago," said Hugh, "but I do +not like the choir there at all. They sing nothing but variations." + +"What do you mean?" asked Sibyl. + +"Why, when I hear a lady playing a long uninteresting piece of music, +it always turns out to be something with variations. That choir is +just the same; everything they sing is long and unintelligible. I +wonder at the patience of the congregation in listening to it. However +they had a doxology after the sermon, sung--to the tune of 'Old +Hundred;' everybody joined in and let off their feelings in that way. +It acted as a sort of safety-valve." + +"There is nothing in worship so inspiring as congregational singing," +said Aunt Faith, "and I always wonder why it is not general in our +churches." + +"It is difficult to introduce it when the people are not accustomed to +it," said Sibyl; "only a particular kind of music can be sung, broad, +plain tunes with even notes like 'Old Hundred,' or the German Chorals. +Then the organist must understand his duties thoroughly; he has to +supply the harmony and lead the congregation at the same time." + +"The music in a church depends greatly upon the pastor," said Bessie. +"If his musical ideas are correct, and his taste good, his choir will +be good also." + +"Not always," said Hugh, laughing; "choirs are apt to be despotic. I +remember when I was at Green Island, last summer, I used to go up to +the little fort chapel to attend service on Sunday; I knew the +chaplains quite well. One Sunday I was late; as I went in, the choir +were busy with something in the way of music. I have no idea what it +was, but it went on and on, seemingly a race between the soprano and +tenor, with occasional bursts of hurried sentences from the alto and +bass, until my patience and ears were weary. The next day I met the +chaplain, and, in the course of conversation, I spoke of the music the +previous day. 'Was it an anthem or a motet?' I asked." + +"Oh, don't ask me," said the old gentleman, lifting his hands and +shaking his head; "I have not the least idea myself. They had been at +it a long time when you came in!" + +"Poor chaplain!" said Bessie, laughing. + +As sunset faded into twilight, Sibyl took her seat at the organ, the +cousins gathered around her, and the evening singing began. They all +had their favorites, and sang them in turn, beginning with Gem's, and +ending with Aunt Faith's, which was Wesley's beautiful hymn, "Jesus, +Saviour of my Soul." Hugh selected, "Brightest and Best of the Sons of +the Morning;" Sibyl, "Luther's Judgment Hymn;" and Bessie, "Come ye +Disconsolate," in order that Hugh should sing the solo. Aunt Faith sat +by the window and listened, looking out into the night, and thinking +of her circle of loved ones beyond the stars. + +The young voices sang on from hymn to chant, from chant to anthem, and +from anthem back to simple choral. At nine o'clock Tom and Gem went to +bed, and at half-past nine, Sibyl closed the organ and said +"good-night;" Aunt Faith was left with Bessie and Hugh, who joined her +on the broad-cushioned window-seat and looked out with her into the +night. "I like the darkness of a summer night," said Hugh; "how bright +the stars are!" + +"We do not know where heaven is," said Aunt Faith, "but it is a +natural thought that our loved and lost are 'beyond the stars.' We too +shall go there some day. How beautiful and happy our life will be, +there! How precious the certainty of our hope!" + +"That is what Mr. Leslie said to-day," said Bessie. + +"I liked that sermon," said Hugh; "what he said about the beauty of +this world, and the plain duty of taking our faithful, active share in +the work of this world, struck me as sensible and true. Perhaps I am +uncharitable, but I cannot understand the religion that sits apart and +makes life miserable with its gloomy asceticism." + +"I liked what he said about love," said Bessie; "that if we do not +love here on earth, it will be very hard to love in heaven. I wonder +if people could love each other better if they tried. That is, whether +one could learn love as one learns patience, by steady trying." + +"Oh, no," said Hugh; "love is not to be learned! It comes naturally." + +"I think you are mistaken, Hugh," said Aunt Faith. "I think love may +be acquired. At least it may grow from a little seed to a great tree, +with proper care. If we earnestly try to see all the good traits in a +friend, we shall end by loving him at last. And if we earnestly try to +care for some helpless, dependent person, we shall end by loving that +person very dearly. Don't you remember your flying-squirrel, Hugh? You +did not care much for the little thing, when you found it on the +ground, but, as you took care of it and held it in your warm hands, +night after night, to keep it warm, you grew to love it very dearly, +and when it died I remember very well how you cried, although you were +quite a large boy." + +"Poor little Frisky!" said Hugh; "when I brought in a branch and put +him on it, how he capered about; and then he was so cunning! Do you +remember, Aunt Faith, how one day I left him in your care, shut up in +his basket, while I went down town. When I came back and asked about +him, you said, 'Oh, he's safe in his basket. I think he must be asleep +he is so quiet.' And all the while you were speaking, the little scamp +was looking at me with his bright eyes out from under your arm as you +sat sewing! I was very fond of Frisky; I have never had a pet since." + +"You loved him because you had tended him so carefully," said Aunt +Faith. "It is the same feeling, intensified, that influences and +inspires many of the weary fathers and mothers we see around us. Mr. +Leslie was right. It is better to patiently fulfil our earthly duties, +no matter how dull or how hard, as long as we are on the earth, than +to sit apart nourishing lofty ideas and sighing for release. That +sentence which Mr. Leslie took for his text has always been a favorite +of mine. Do you care to hear some verses I once made upon it?" + +"Oh, yes, Aunt Faith!" said Hugh and Bessie eagerly. + +Aunt Faith took a little blank-book from her desk and read as +follows:-- + +"St. John; 17th Chapter, 15th Verse. + +"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world." + + "Not out of the world, dear Father, + With duties and vows unfulfilled, + With life's earnest labors unfinished, + Ambition and passion unstilled; + Not out of the world, dear Father, + Until we have faithfully tried + To burnish the talent Thou gavest, + And gain other talents beside, + + Not out of the world, kind Father, + But rather our lowly life spare, + While those Thou hast lent us from heaven + Are needing our tenderest care; + Not out of the world, kind Father, + While dear ones are trusting our arm + To work for them hourly, and save them + From poverty, terror, and harm. + + Not out of the world, good Father, + Until we have suffered the loss + Of self-loving ease and indulgence + In willingly bearing the Cross; + Not out of the world, good Father, + Till bowed with humility down, + The weight of the Cross is forgotten + In the golden light of the Crown. + + Not out of the world, our Father, + Until we have fought a good fight,-- + Until to the last we have guarded + The lamp of Thy Faith burning bright; + Until the long course is well finished, + Until the hard race has been won, + And we hear, as we rest from our labors, + Well done, faithful servant, well done." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE PICNIC. + + +"Monday morning, bright and early, what shall we do to-day?" chanted +Gem, as she entered the dining-room. + +"Yes; what shall we do?" repeated Tom; "something out of the common +run, of course, for it's vacation, and besides, it will be so hot +pretty soon that _we can't_ do anything,--and Hugh's going to New York +in the fall,--and Sibyl's going to Saratoga before long, and when _I_ +enter college, of course I shan't care about such things any more; so +I've got to hurry up." + +"Bravo, Tom! you've made out a strong case!" said Hugh, laughing, +"Aunt Faith cannot resist such a mountain of arguments!" + +"I do not intend to resist anything reasonable," said Aunt Faith, +smiling; "what do you wish to do, Tom?" + +"Tableaux!" said Gem, excitedly. + +"No; I veto that instanter," said Tom, decidedly. "Girls always want +to dress up in old feathers and things, and call themselves kings and +queens! For my part, I'm tired of being 'Captain John Smith,' and the +'Sleeping Beauty in the Wood.'" + +"May I ask when you took the last-named character?" said Hugh. + +"He never took it at all," said Gem, indignantly; "Annie Chase was the +Princess, and she looked perfectly beautiful with her sister's satin +dress, and pearls, and--" + +"There you go!" interrupted Tom; "fuss and feathers, silks and satins! +I was the 'Prince,' wasn't I? and that's the very same thing! Besides, +I've been 'Cupid' over and over again, because I'm the only one who +can hang head downward from the clothes-line as though I was flying. +You can't deny that, Gem Morris!" + +"You got up one tableau which was really astonishing," said Hugh; "I +remember it very well; an inundation, where all the company in +clothes-baskets, were paddling with rulers for their very lives. The +effect was thrilling!" + +"I remember a charade, too, which was really unique," said Sibyl. "The +first part was simply little Carrie Fish standing in the middle of the +room; the second and last was audible, but not visible, consisting +merely of a volley of sneezes behind the scenes. The whole was +supposed to be 'Carry-ca-choo,'--or 'Caricature.'" + +"It may all be very funny for you people who only have to look on," +said Tom; "but _I_ am tired of the whole thing, and I vote for a +picnic." + +"Oh, Tom!" said Sibyl in dismay, "if tableaux are old, picnics are +worn threadbare!" + +"I have not had _my_ share in wearing them, then!" said Tom; "I never +went to but one picnic in my life, and then I fell in the river, and +had to come home before dinner." + +"I have attended a great many," said Sibyl, "and the amount of work I +have done in washing dishes and drawing water, casts anything but a +pleasant reflection. Last year, when we had that mammoth picnic at +Long Point, the gentlemen ordered twelve dozen plates, cups, saucers, +goblets, spoons, and forks, to be sent out from a crockery store, in +order to save trouble; and when I reached the Point in my fresh, white +dress, there they were in crates, covered with straw, just as they +stood in the warehouse. The guests were expected in half an hour. I +was one of the managers, and, after standing a few moments in dismay, +we rolled up our sleeves and began. Two gentlemen and two ladies, in +gala attire, washing seventy-two dozen dishes in a violent hurry, with +a limited supply of water and towels, on an August afternoon with the +thermometer at eighty-eight. That is _my_ idea of a picnic!" + +The cousins laughed merrily at Sibyl's description, and Bessie said, +"I have never been to a 'full-grown picnic,' as Gem calls it. My +experience is confined to the days we used to spend out on the lake +shore four or five years ago. We no sooner got there, than all the +boys disappeared as if by magic, and we had to do all the work, make +the fire, draw the water, and cook the dinner, Then the boys would +appear on the scene with dripping hair, eat up everything on the +table-cloth, like young bears, and off down the bank again until it +was time to go home." + +"As you are all giving your ideas of a picnic," said Hugh, "_I_ will +give you mine. Ride five miles in a jolting wagon in the hot sun, walk +five more through tangled underbrush, arrive at the scene; pick up +sticks one hour, try to make the fire burn and the kettle boil another +hour; and finally sit down very uncomfortably on the ground, with +burnt fingers and limp collar, to eat buttered pickles and vinegared +bread, and drink muddy coffee; clear everything up, and ruin your +clothes with grease-spots, wristbands hopelessly gone; sit down again +under a tree, to hear the young lady you _don't_ like read poetry, +while the one you do like goes off before your very eyes with your +rival; devoured by mosquitoes, gnats and spiders; ice melted and water +tepid; another fire to make, more bad coffee, more _grease spots_, and +a silver spoon _lost_; hunt for the spoon until dark, and then find it +was a mistake; walk back five miles through the underbrush, get into +the wagon, perfectly exhausted with heat and fatigue; force yourself +to sing until you are as hoarse as a frog, and reach home worn out, +wrinkled, haggard, parched with thirst, famished for food, and utterly +ruined as to common clothes. That is _my_ idea of a picnic!" + +Everybody laughed at this cynical picture, and Aunt Faith said, "I +remember just after the war, when a number of our Westerton +soldier-boys had returned, it was proposed to celebrate the +home-coming by a grand picnic. The project, however, came to the ears +of the returned volunteers, and I happened to be present when one of +them, Lieutenant John Romer, expressed his opinion. 'See here, Katie,' +said he to his sister, 'I understand that you young ladies are getting +up a picnic to welcome us back from the war. I wish you would gently +extinguish the plan. We have had picnic enough for all our lives; the +very sight of a camp-fire and a kettle takes away any romance we may +have possessed, and as for out-door coffee, it is fairly hateful to +us.'" + +"I remember old Deacon Brown used to say, that when, once in ten +years, he went to New York to visit his relatives, the first thing +they did was to get up a ride into the country for him," said Hugh +laughing. "They did not understand that what he wanted was that very +bustle and crowd that annoyed them." + +"In the mean time," said Tom impatiently, "what has become of my +picnic in all this talk?" + +"Oh Tom! do you really insist upon it?" said Sibyl with a sigh. + +"Of course I do! and the B. B.'s must all be invited, too." + +"No, indeed?" said all the family in a chorus, "_that_ is too much." + +"I would as soon go into the woods with a set of pirates," said Sibyl. + +"They howl so," said Bessie. + +"We could never carry enough for them to eat," said Gem. + +"I could not take such a responsibility," said Aunt Faith; "something +might happen, they might get into the lake." + +"They would be sure to get in; they take to the water like young +ducks," said Hugh. + +Before this mass of testimony, Tom was obliged to give way. "Well," he +said, after a pause, "never mind about the B. B.'s so long as you have +the picnic." + +"Of course we cannot go to-day," began Sibyl. + +"Why not?" interposed Tom; "no time like the present. I'll agree to do +all the running round; I can run like a tiger." + +Sibyl sighed, and glanced out into the sun-shine with a foreboding of +heat and freckles. + +"Who shall we have?" said Bessie. + +"Mr. Leslie will go, I presume," said Aunt Faith; "I know that +clergymen often make a holiday of Monday." + +Sibyl's face cleared, and she made no further objection to the plan. + +"As I do not like to be hurried," continued Aunt Faith, "I propose +that we do not start until after dinner; we will have a tea instead of +a dinner in the woods, and come home at twilight." + +At first Tom objected to this idea, but as the others liked it, he +yielded, and the question of invitations was taken up. + +"I propose we leave that to Aunt Faith," said Bessie; "if we once +begin discussing it, we shall sit here all the morning, for we never +can agree." + +"Where shall we go?" said Hugh. + +Aunt Faith suggested Oak Grove. + +"Oh no!" said Tom, "that is too near town. Let us go somewhere ever so +far away, so that we shall feel like Robinson Crusoe on a desert +island." + +Hugh, who had a secret plan for driving a four-in-hand, seconded Tom's +idea, and finally it was decided that they should go to Mossy Pond, a +beautiful glen ten miles from Westerton, in a rocky region on the lake +shore apart from the farming country. Sibyl took the list, and went +out to deliver the invitations which Aunt Faith had wisely confined to +the immediate neighbor-hood. Mr. Leslie was the only one who lived at +some distance, and immediately after the early dinner, Hugh drove over +and brought back, as he said, "_vi et armis_." "Here is Mr. Leslie, +Aunt Faith," he called, as he opened the dining-room door. "Walk in, +sir, if you please." Having thus safely accomplished his charge, Hugh +disappeared to arrange the means of transportation. Aunt Faith +supposed they were to go in two wagons drawn by their own bays, and +Mr. Marr's blacks. She little knew the truth! + +Mr. Leslie thus unceremoniously introduced into the family circle, took +a seat at the table, and watched the proceedings with amused interest. +"Surely we do not need all that coffee, Mrs. Sheldon," he said, as +Aunt Faith filled a tin box with the fragrant mixture,--ground coffee +and egg all prepared for the boiling water. + +"My only fear is that it will not be enough," replied Aunt Faith, with +a smile. + +"And those biscuits! Do you keep stores for an army on hand night and +day?" + +"Oh, no; I sent to a bakery for these. But, with all my efforts, I +have not been able to get enough cold meat." + +"You say that in the face of this mountain of cold tongue? Do we, +then, turn into gormandizers by going a few miles into the country?" + +"I fear we do, Mr. Leslie," said Bessie, as she packed the loaves of +fresh cake in a long basket. "I, for one, am always ravenous; I do not +remember that I ever had as much as I wanted at a picnic." + +At this moment Sibyl entered the dining-room, and the color rose in +her face as she saw the young clergyman at the table. He rose and +offered his hand, as he said, "Good-morning, Miss Warrington, we are, +I trust to be companions for the day; I shall take good care of you in +the wilderness." + +John Leslie's way of speaking was often a puzzle to Aunt Faith; he +seemed so frank, and yet if he had planned each sentence, he could not +have contrived words so well adapted to carry their point. He always +seemed confident that Sibyl agreed with him, and that their views +coincided on all points. He took the lead, and never seemed to have a +doubt but that she would follow, and, when he was present, Sibyl +generally did follow; it was only when he was absent that the wide +difference in the motives which actuated their lives became clearly +visible, and Aunt Faith saw worldliness on one side, and unworldliness +on the other, with an apparently impassible gulf between. When Mr. +Leslie spoke, therefore, Sibyl smiled, and took a seat by his side +while she occupied herself in wrapping up the cups and saucers ready +for the hamper which Nanny and Bridget were packing on the back +piazza. + +At two o'clock everything was ready, and the family assembled on the +front piazza to wait for the expected guests. "Are they all coming, +Sibyl?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"Most of them, aunt. We shall have Edith Chase and Annie, Lida Powers, +Walter Hart, Rose Saxon and Graham Marr, Mr. Gay, Gideon Fish, William +Mount, and one of the B. B.'s,--Jim Morse." + +"Oh, General Putnam!" said Bessie: "so much the better. He will give a +military air to the scene." + +"Seventeen in all," said Aunt Faith; "the two wagons will be well +loaded." + +Bessie turned away her head, but not before Mr. Leslie had seen the +smile on her face. "Miss Bessie is laughing at the idea of a possible +break down," he said: "but for my part I am quite well able to walk +home, and even help draw the wagon if necessary." + +"Aunt Faith, how could you put Gideon Fish on the list?" said Bessie, +as Sibyl and Mr. Leslie strolled off into the garden. + +"Because I think you are somewhat unjust to him, Bessie; he has +excellent qualities." + +"Well, aunt, if you like him, will you be so kind as to entertain him +when he comes?" said Bessie impatiently. + +"Hey," said Tom, looking up, "Bess is getting mad! What fun!" + +"There's Rose Saxon!" said Bessie; "how do you do, Rose? You are the +first and shall have the heartiest welcome." + +"What has gone wrong, Bessie? There is a wrinkle between your eyes +that betokens something vexatious, I know," said Rose, taking a seat +on the step. + +"It is Gideon Fish," answered Bessie, in a low tone as Aunt Faith went +into the sitting-room for a shawl. + +"Is _he_ coming?" exclaimed Rose. + +"Yes; he was invited, and of course he will not decline when cake and +coffee are in question." + +"And when Miss Darrell is in question," said Rose, laughing. + +"Do not tease, Rose. I am vexed in earnest this time." + +"What do you say to having a little fun out of him, Bessie?" + +"By all means, if you can extract it from such material." + +"Well, then, I have thought of something. Come down in the arbor and I +will tell you about it." The two girls walked away, and Aunt Faith was +left alone to welcome the guests as they gradually assembled on the +piazza. Mr. Gay, the Boston bachelor, was the last to arrive. + +"Now we are all here," said Aunt Faith; "I will tell Hugh to have the +wagons brought round." + +"I will go, Aunt," said Bessie, and running through the house she went +down to the stable-yard where Hugh sat expectant in his car of +triumph. Slowly the equipage came round the house and drew up in front +of the piazza, it was a circus band-wagon, gayly painted, and drawn by +four horses, two bays and two blacks, while Hugh as charioteer sat on +the high front-seat and held the reins with a practised hand. + +"Hugh Warrington!" exclaimed Aunt Faith, "Four horses! I shall never +dare to ride after them!" + +"Do you suppose we are going to make spectacles of ourselves in that +wagon, Hugh?" asked Sibyl scornfully. + +"Yes, I suppose you are," replied Hugh, laughing. "Aunt Faith, I have +driven a four-in-hand over and over again, so you need not feel +alarmed. And, as to the circus-wagon, I consider it the crowning +attraction of the picnic." + +"Certainly," said Mr. Gay calmly. "The West is a country of new +sensations. I vote for the circus-wagon, by all means." + +The majority of the guests agreed with Hugh, and climbed into the +decorated chariot with great hilarity. Even the fastidious Miss Chase +was pleased to be amused with the idea, and quietly secured the seat +nearest the driver, which gentle manoeuvre having been observed by +Bessie, that wilful young lady took the very last seat at the extreme +end of the wagon, and devoted her entire attention to Mr. Walter Hart. +The provisions had been sent out in a cart some time previously, and +the merry party laughed and talked all the way to Mossy Pond, amused +with the sensation they created on the road, amused with themselves, +amused with everything; the four-in-hand carried them safely in spite +of Aunt Faith's fears, although one of the leaders showed some signs +of restlessness, wishing, Hugh said, to have his share of the fun. + +Mossy Pond was a small, deep pool, skirted with moss and shaded with +evergreens; the brook which issued from it ran down the glen, jumping +over the rocks in a series of waterfalls, reaching the lake a quarter +of a mile distant where it disappeared under a sand-bar, after the +manner of the streams that ran into the western lakes. On the shore +the headland was bold, rugged and treeless, commanding a fine view of +the water, but back in the glen the shade was dense, and there was a +faint spicy odor in the air, coming from the cedars, a rare tree on +the fresh-water seas. Altogether it was a wild, secluded spot, and but +few of the company had ever visited it, so that the charm of novelty +was added to the other attractions, and parties of explorers scaled +the rock, penetrated up the glen or down towards the lake shore, +coming back with wild-flowers, vines, cones, and mosses,--treasures of +the forest by whose aid they transformed themselves into nymphs and +woodmen, not even Aunt Faith escaping without a spray of grasses in +her hat. + +There were however some disadvantages in the wildness of the locality; +as there was no shed for the horses. Hugh and Jonas the man-servant +were obliged to unharness them and fasten them as well as they could +to the trees, not without misgivings as to the result; but the blacks +and bays stood quietly eating their dinner, and, at length, leaving +them to the care of Jonas, Hugh went back to the glen to assist in +making the fire. + +"Mr. Warrington, you are not to do anything," said Rose Saxon as he +approached; "it is understood that you regard picnics as devices for +extracting severe labor from unwilling young men, and we have resolved +to convince you of your error. This, sir, is a strong-minded picnic; +we are standing upon our rights, and request you to take a back seat +upon that log with the other despots, and see us throw off our +chains." + +On the log, in a row, sat all the gentlemen of the party,--Mr. Gay, +Mr. Leslie, Graham Marr, Walter Hart, William Mount, Tom, and "General +Putman," Hugh gravely joined the band. "When are you going to throw +off the chains, Miss Saxon?" he asked. + +"We are throwing them off now. Don't you hear them clank?" + +"Not a clank!" said Hugh. + +"That is because you do not choose to hear; you will find, sir, that +we are _no_ longer down-trodden," said Rose, brandishing a +carving-knife which she had just unpacked. + +"If there is anything down-trodden here except the grass, I shall like +to know it," said Hugh. "For my part I feel quite sorry for the tender +little blades under the ruthless tread of fourteen French heels." + +Here there was a general laugh, and all the pretty little boots +peeping in and out, disappeared as if by magic, all save the sturdy +Balmorals of Gem and her friend Annie Chase, darting hither and +thither in search of sticks. + +The ladies were very busy. They were going to make a fire, and such a +fire! They were going to make coffee, and such coffee. The supper was +to be altogether unparalleled in picnic annals, and it was to be +prepared by feminine hands alone. + +"See how glorious it burns!" exclaimed Rose, as the first flame shot +up from the pile of sticks. + +"See how gloriously it smokes!" said Hugh, as the fickle blaze +vanished, and Rose inhaled a puff of the stinging smoke. + +"I can make it burn!" said Bessie, coming to the rescue with +fresh newspapers. A match,--another blaze,--another cry of +exultation,--another failure, and a red burn on Bessie's hand +to mark it. + +"Let me try," said Edith Chase, kneeling gracefully beside the +obstinate pile. More newspapers, more flames, more smoke, ending in +another failure, and a grimy mark on Miss Chase's delicate dress. + +"Oh ye strong-minded!" said Hugh, jumping up, and lifting the pile of +sticks; "don't you know that you cannot start a fire in the sunshine? +Down under this stump, now, it will burn like a _furnace_." So saying, +Hugh rearranged the fuel, while Rose coughed, Edith furtively rubbed +her dress, and Bessie bound up her burned hand in her handkerchief. At +this moment Sibyl came into view, carrying a pail of water. Mr. Leslie +got up and took the pail out of her hand in spite of her objections. +"It is too heavy for you," he said decidedly; "don't attempt anything +of the kind again, I beg." + +"The kettle must be hung up," said Lida Powers, coming forward with a +tea-kettle in her hand. Will Mount and Walter Hart understood this +duty, while Gideon Fish and Mr. Gay laid the cloth, the former eyeing +the cake with pleasant anticipation. + +"It seems to me, young ladies, that the gentlemen are doing the work +after all," said Aunt Faith. + +"Of course, aunt," said Hugh, blowing his fire with a scarlet face: +"did I not predict we should have to work like slaves." + +"The meat! The meat! Turk has got the meat!" cried Gem from a +neighboring rock, where she and Annie where making wreaths of wild +flowers. There was a general exclamation of dismay as the curly back +of the old depredator was seen through the trees making off with the +booty. "How did Turk get here?" asked Aunt Faith; "Tom, I suspect you +are the culprit!" + +"Well, aunt, I just thought I'd let him come out with Jones and the +cart; they might be of use, you know, in case of tramps or gipsies." + +"They! You do not mean to say all the dogs are here?" + +But doubt was soon dispelled by the appearance of Pete Trone in +person, attracted by the provisions spread out upon the ground. Too +well-bred to snatch,--for, as Tom said, "Pete was a truly gentlemanly +dog,"--Pete sat upon his hind legs with fore paws drooping on his +breast, eying the company gravely as if to call attention to his +polite demeanor. "He certainly is a funny little fellow," said Rose +Saxon, as Hugh gave the terrier a fragment of cake. + +"He is the wisest dog I ever saw," said Hugh. + +"There is no end to his knowledge. I was fishing one day last summer +down over the dam at Broad River, and caught a large cat-fish. My line +was too slender to haul him up, and I was considering what to do when, +much to my astonishment, Pete jumped over, ran out on the stones, and +caught the struggling fish in his mouth. That was the first time I +ever heard of a dog going fishing." + +"The rascal seems to reason, too. Once I belonged to the choir, you +remember, and of course I could not allow Pete to go to rehearsals, +although he was in the habit of following me almost everywhere else. +So, after many futile attempts to send him back, and consequent +annoyance at the church, one Saturday before starting, I shut him up +in the carriage-house and fastened the door. I looked back several +times but saw nothing of Pete, and was congratulating myself upon the +success of my plan, when, just before I reached the church, at the +corner of Huron and South Streets, there he was waiting for me. He had +escaped, gone down town another way, and did not show himself until I +was so far from home that he knew I would not take him back. Then, +what did he do, as soon as he saw me coming, but up on his hind legs +with the most deprecating air, sitting there, a ridiculous little +black image on the pavement, so that everybody laughed to see him." + +The meal was a merry one although the meat was gone and the cream +sour; there was an abundance of cake, the coffee was strong, and the +good spirits of the company supplied the rest. + +"There is no more sugar for your coffee, Mr. Warrington," said Edith +Chase, as she poured out Hugh's second cup. + +"Smile on it, please," said Hugh, gayly. + +"Now, Miss Chase, if you neglect my cup any longer," said Walter Hart, +"I shall grow desperate; I shall be obliged to give you--" + +"Fitz," interrupted Hugh. + +"Bad puns are excluded from this picnic," said Rose Saxon; "and, by +the way, Mr. Warrington, why do you drop the first syllable of your +name?" + +"Because it is never pronounced rightly," said Hugh; "it is either +called 'Fitz-He-yew,' or 'Fitchew.'" + +"Pronunciation is a matter of taste," said Mr. Leslie, laughing. "A +lady once asked me if I did not think Walter Scott's _Rock-a-by_ was a +'sweet thing.' At first I supposed she was alluding to some +cradle-song with which I was not familiar, and it was sometime before +I discovered that she meant _Rokeby_." + +"I have often been puzzled myself with the names of books," said Aunt +Faith. "Years ago there was a book published called _Ivar or the +Skujts-boy_? I liked it but I never dared to venture on the name." + +"And since then," said Mr. Gay, "the names of the heroes and heroines +in magazine-stories are really astonishing. The favorite letter, now +is 'Y.' They have 'y's' in the most unexpected places. Such names as +'Vivian' and 'Willis,' for instance. They spell them 'Vyvyan' and +'Wyllys'" + +The meal over, the company dispersed through the woods. Graham Marr +took a book from his pocket. "Miss Warrington," he said, in his slow +way, "I have brought out a new poem; if you care to hear it, there is +a mossy rock which will make an admirable sofa." + +Sibyl smiled and accepted this proposal, seating herself on a heap of +shawls, and looking at languid Graham as he read, with much apparent +interest. + +Mr. Leslie was sitting by Aunt Faith's side under the trees at some +distance. "Mrs. Sheldon, I have a plan for yourself and Miss +Warrington," he said, after a pause. "You have been kind enough to +take an interest in Margaret Brown, and I know you will like to help +her through the summer. The warm weather is telling on her strength; +she has not been able to sew as steadily as usual, and she needs an +entire rest. Do you think you could, between you, advance her a small +sum of money? She will repay you with her work in the fall." + +"I shall be glad to help her," said Aunt Faith; "I consider it a +precious opportunity to help a truly deserving woman." + +"And Miss Warrington will aid her also," said Mr. Leslie. Aunt Faith +looked towards the rock and caught the smile with which Sibyl received +some remark of the reader's. + +"I cannot answer for Sibyl," she said gravely; "she is going soon to +Saratoga, and she is much occupied with her preparations." + +"To Saratoga?" repeated Mr. Leslie; "I was not aware of that. Will she +be long away?" + +"It is uncertain how long; she may return home for a short visit +before she goes to Washington for the winter," replied Aunt Faith. "I +shall miss her, but I must make up my mind to losing her before long. +Sibyl is very fond of fashionable life and gayety." Aunt Faith spoke +with a purpose; she wished to open the young clergyman's eyes to her +niece's faults. + +Mr. Leslie did not reply immediately; after a while he rose and stood +leaning against a tree. "Mrs. Sheldon," he said, looking down at her +with a smile, "you will not lose Sibyl." + +"What do you mean, Mr. Leslie?" + +"Only this; she will not go to Saratoga," replied the clergyman, +walking away towards the ravine. + +"Well!" thought Aunt Faith, as she recovered from her astonishment, +"if I did not know Sibyl so well, I should be inclined to think Mr. +Leslie was right. If any one can break through her worldliness, he +can; but I fear it is too strong even for him." + +In the meanwhile the rest of the party were loitering in the glen by +the brook. Gideon Fish after gorging himself with jelly-cake, was +inclined to be sportive. + +"Oh!" he cried, throwing himself back upon the moss, "I feel like a +child let loose from school! Let us indulge our lighter natures; let +us for once give up deep thought! Mr. Leslie, it will do _you_ good +also. I remember once when some of my college-mates happened to meet +at our house last summer, we were sitting on the piazza talking +together, and all unwittingly we got so deep down among the ponderous +mysteries of psychology; so wrought with the mighty thoughts evolved +from our own brains; so uplifted in grappling with gigantic +reasonings, that, fearful for our very sanity, we rushed out upon the +lawn like children; we rolled upon the grass; we found a ball and +tossed to each other; anything,--anything to keep ourselves down to +earth." + +"But, Gideon," said Mr. Leslie, smiling, "my reason is in no danger of +any such overthrow. I never climbed to such heights as you describe." + +"Probably not; very few, if any, mortal minds have ever ascended as +high as ours did that afternoon," replied Gideon. "Miss Darrell, I see +a delicate little tendril on the other side of the brook. Shall we go +over and pluck it?" + +"No," said Bessie, shortly; "I don't care for tendrils." + +"I will go with you, Mr. Fish," said Rose Saxon rising, and of course +Gideon was obliged to accompany her, although she was not the +companion he preferred. As Rose turned away, she looked meaningly at +Bessie, who started, and then smiled to herself. After five or ten +minutes when the tendril-hunters had disappeared on the other side of +the glen, Bessie suddenly proposed that they should all cross over, +and, after some persuasion, she succeeded in getting the whole party +across the brook. Then she lured them on slowly, turning here and +there, until she caught the sound of voices. "Hush!" she said, "what +is that?" They all stopped, and distinctly heard Rose Saxon's voice, +somewhat louder than usual, coming from behind some high bushes. "No, +Mr. Fish!" she said, emphatically, "it can never be. I must request +you to say no more; this subject must be set at rest forever." Then +they heard Gideon; "Excuse me Miss Saxon, but--" "Not another word, +Mr. Fish!" interrupted Rose, cutting short his sentence. "I would not +wound you needlessly, but we are not suited to each other. I have long +known your secret,--I have tried to ward off this avowal,--I beg you +to say no more." + +"Miss Saxon, I assure you--" began Gideon, in an agitated voice, but +Rose stopped him again; "Mr. Fish, if you _will_ persist in speaking, +I must leave you," she said, pushing aside the bushes and disclosing +the party on the other side to her companion's gaze. "What, +Bessie!--all of you here? How very embarrassing!" Gideon Fish gave one +look at the company and then turned and retreated down the glen; when +he was out of hearing, the two girls ran away into the wood to indulge +in a hearty laugh. They made no confessions to the others, but every +one suspected the truth, and when poor Gideon returned to take them +aside, one by one, and assure them that he had "no idea what Miss +Saxon meant," that he "admired her exceedingly, but as for anything +serious the thought had never occurred to him," that he was "speaking +to her of the tendrils, when suddenly, without any connection, she +began talking in the most singular way," his auditors would laugh +merrily and turn away, leaving Gideon more miserable than ever. + +"My good fellow," said Hugh gravely, when his turn came, "let me give +you a piece of advice. Don't try to back out of it now. We all heard +you; and we all feel for you. Miss Saxon is a charming young lady, but +if she does not like you, you must bear it like a man." + +"But I never intended,--I never thought of such a thing,--it is all a +mistake!" stammered the unfortunate Gideon. + +"Of course it was a mistake," replied Hugh. "You thought she liked you +and she didn't. If I was you I wouldn't say any more about it." + +So poor Gideon got but cold comfort in his trouble. He wandered about +looking half-angry, half-perplexed; he almost began to think he had +said something to Rose, after all! + +"The mighty thoughts evolved from his brain are in some confusion, I +fear," whispered Bessie to Rose; "he will have no trouble in keeping +himself down to earth _this_ afternoon, I think." + +After some hours, the party assembled in the glen to join in a round +game. "It is very dark," said Aunt Faith, looking up through the thick +foliage; "I fear we are going to have a storm." + +"Let us run down to the lakeshore and look," said Bessie, and several +of the young people started down the glen, followed by the rest of the +party at a slower pace; all but Sibyl who still remained on the rock +with Graham Marr. + +When they reached the beach, a threatening expanse of sky and water +met their gaze; the lake was unusually still, but its blue changed +into a leaden gray, and out in the west a white streak followed by a +black line told of the approaching squall. In the south, and east, the +sky was clear and summer-like, but from the north-west great clouds +came rolling up, looking black and menacing, and the air was +oppressively close. + +"A thunder-storm!" said Hugh, "and close upon us too!" + +"Oh, I am so terribly afraid of thunder!" said Edith Chase, turning +pale. "What shall we do?" + +"Why did we not notice the storm before?" said Aunt Faith, in dismay; +"it must have been some time coming up." + +"No, Aunt," said Bessie; "probably not more than ten minutes. That is +what I mean when I call the western lakes treacherous; the changes are +so sudden." + +"You are right, Miss Darrell," said Mr. Gay, looking over the dark +water with an uneasy expression in his face; "I don't think much of +these fresh water mill-ponds. On the ocean, now, we know what to +expect." + +"Isn't there some house near by, Hugh?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"No, Aunt. I selected this place because it was so solitary, you +remember; there is no house within two miles." + +"Could we not get there, by driving rapidly, before the storm reaches +us?" said Mr. Gay, mindful of his rheumatism. + +"I am afraid not, sir," replied Hugh: "it would take some time to +harness the horses, and besides, the house is not on the road, but +across the fields towards the south." + +"What _shall_ we do?" said Edith Chase, as the sullen water began to +break with a low sound on the beach at her feet. + +"The lake is beginning to growl already," said Hugh. "Come, Aunt +Faith, let us go back to the woods; we will make the best shelter we +can for you, all. A summer thunder-storm is not such a terrible +disaster after all." + +"We can't trim up the wagon with all the beautiful wreaths we made," +lamented Gem. "It's too bad!" + +"The shower will prevent the show," said Hugh, laughing. + +"Why is Hugh like Tennyson's Brook," said Rose Saxon, as the party +made their way back to the glen. + +"Because he is _idyl_," said Bessie. + +"Good, but not correct. Because he,-- + + 'Chatters, chatters, as he goes, + Till all our nerves do quiver,-- + For we may talk, or we may stop, + But Hugh puns on forever, + Ever, + Hugh puns on forever.'" + +sang Rose, taking up the well-known air as she sprang over the rocks +in advance of the rest. + +"We shall have to make an impromptu wigwam under the shelter of those +rocks and beech-trees," said Mr. Leslie, collecting the shawls and +water-proof cloaks; "the foliage of the beech is very thick, and the +rock will protect you from the west, in which direction the storm is +coming. Mr. Marr, please throw down those shawls." + +"What is the matter, Mr. Leslie?" said Sibyl, descending from her +perch. + +"A thunder-storm!" said Hugh, "and close upon us, too!" + +"Surely, then, you are not thinking of remaining here under the +trees," said Graham Marr, hastily putting on his water-proof coat. + +"The ladies will be in more danger from the drenching rain, than from +the lightning," replied Mr. Leslie, breaking down branches for his +wigwam. "Here, Jonas! Jonas! have you a hatchet there?" + +But Jonas did not answer, and Hugh, upon going up to the platform, +discovered that he had started homeward with his cart, having first +harnessed the four-in-hand. The horses were standing tied to the +trees, but they looked uneasy, and one of the leaders pawed the ground +restlessly. "I shall have to stay here with them," thought Hugh, "or +they may break away when the storm strikes them." He ran back and +called over the edge of the cliff. "Jonas has gone home, Mr. Leslie, +and I shall be obliged to stay with the horses; but here is the +hatchet." + +"Very well!" said the clergyman, catching the hatchet with the +dexterity of an Indian as Hugh threw it down; "go back to the horses, +Mr. Warrington. We can attend to the ladies." + +Under his direction an impromptu wigwam was speedily built of long +boughs, with the high rock as a background; this was thatched with +bushes, and the shawls and cloaks spread over the whole as the first +muttering of thunder was heard. "Oh!" said Edith Chase, "what shall I +do? I cannot stand the lightning!" + +"Come inside with me!" said Aunt Faith; "you can hide your head in my +lap." + +The ladies hurried inside the wigwam, Aunt Faith, Sibyl, Rose Saxon, +Edith Chase, Lida Powers, Bessie, Annie Chase and Gem. + +"I see there is room for the gentlemen, too," said Gideon Fish, +creeping in. + +"I really think we had better all be together," said Graham Marr, +following his example. + +"Tom!" called Aunt Faith, pulling aside a cloak that formed part of +the wall, "come inside directly." + +"Oh, Aunt Faith! we've found a splendid cave up here; it holds Jim and +me first-rate," answered a voice from above. + +"They've squeezed themselves into a little cranny in the rock, Mrs. +Sheldon," said Mr. Leslie, looking up and laughing to see the +'splendid cave;' "I think they will keep dry by force of compression." + +"Aren't you coming inside, Mr. Mount?" said Lida Powers. + +"No. I shall go and help Hugh with the horses; you had better come +too, Walter. We may have some trouble with them." + +"Mr. Leslie, you will join us, I hope?" said Rose Saxon, peeping out +from between the leaves. + +"I think not, Miss Rose. I am hardened, you know; I have camped out in +winter storms too many times to dread a July shower. But I insist upon +Mr. Gay's going inside. The 'Boston man' will now have an opportunity; +he can 'to a wigwam with a squaw go,'" quoted Mr. Leslie, helping the +old bachelor under the overhanging branches. + +In a few moments the storm was upon them; first a tornado of wind, +then intense and almost continuous lightning, followed by heavy +rolling thunder. Edith Chase trembled, and buried her face in her +hands. + +"This war of the elements affects my nerves," whispered Graham to +Sibyl, by whose side he was crouching. + +"Does it?" she replied coldly; "I was not aware you were so timid." + +Then came the rain, falling in sheets, the drenching torrent of a +summer thunder-shower. In spite of the foliage, the wet began to +penetrate the wigwam; Sibyl, who sat on the outside of the huddled +circle, felt the drops on her shoulder through her light dress. + +"Take this coat, Miss Warrington," said Mr. Leslie, stooping down and +parting the branches. + +"Oh no!" replied Sibyl; "you need it more than I do." + +But the coat was thrown around her, and Mr. Leslie was gone before she +could remonstrate. + +At last, after half an hour, the fury of the storm was over, but the +rain still fell steadily. + +"I am afraid it will not clear immediately," said Mr. Leslie, coming +to the wigwam entrance; "I have been down to the lake, and the sky +looks as though we should have a wet night." + +"How dark it is!" said Aunt Faith; "What time is it?" + +"Half-past seven," said Mr. Leslie, looking at his watch. + +"Oh, how shall we ever get home?" sighed Edith Chase. + +"We had better start immediately, I think," said Mr. Gay; "it will be +very unpleasant to ride in the darkness as well as in the rain." + +"And the horses!" said Lida Powers; "I hope they will be quiet. That +black was inclined to dance a little when we came out." + +"Now, ladies!" said Mr. Leslie, coming towards the wigwam again, "I +have been up on the plateau; the horses are ready, and the sooner we +start the better, as more black clouds are gathering in the west. Mrs. +Sheldon, let me help you up the bank." + +"Oh, Mr. Leslie, how wet you are!" exclaimed Aunt Faith, as she +emerged from the wigwam. "Where is your coat?" + +"Miss Warrington has it," he replied; "I made her take it." + +"Here it is, Mr. Leslie," said Sibyl, stepping from under cover. + +"Keep it, Sibyl," said the clergyman in a low tone. "It gives me +pleasure to see you protected." + +"It is still raining steadily, I perceive," said Graham Marr, peeping +out from the sheltering branches; "don't you think we had better +remain here awhile longer, ladies?" + +"The rain won't wash us away, Graham," said his cousin Rose. + +"It washes out dyes, however? and shows us all in our true colors," +whispered Bessie to Lida Powers. "Look at Graham! He looks like a +faded ray!" + +"He always was a fair-weather piece of goods," answered Lida; "high +color, you know, don't stand soaking." + +Reaching the wagon, the company climbed inside, the cushions had been +kept dry, but the floor was wet, and the rain still fell with the +persistence that betokens what farmers call a "steady soaker." Edith +Chase sat with Aunt Faith at the rear end of the wagon, but Bessie in +Edith's old place, felt her spirits rising with every plunge of the +restless leaders. + +"Do you think you can manage them, Hugh?" she whispered, just before +they started. + +"I hope so," he replied confidently. But the blacks had had their +nerves tried by the flies, the thunder, and the lightning; besides, +they had never been driven four-in-hand before, and they had their +doubts as to what the bays were doing behind them. For the first mile +or two they kept the road, and then they whirled suddenly round to the +left, and stood still. + +"Oh!" cried Edith Chase, "we shall all be killed!" + +However, after some persuasion, the blacks started on again as +suddenly as they had stopped, for wonderful are the ways of balky +horses. But the increasing darkness brought new terror; black clouds +settled down over the earth and the narrow, winding road grew +invisible before them. After several more miles a flash of lightning +and a peal of thunder startled the party, the leaders veered round +again, jumping violently, and carrying the wagon perilously near the +gully. William Mount and Walter Hart sprang to the horses' heads, +while the ladies screamed in concert. Aunt Faith was an arrant coward +where riding was concerned. "I would rather get out and walk all the +way home than sit in this wagon a moment longer," she said, earnestly. + +"Take me with you, aunt," said Gem, who was crying aloud. + +"I will go, too," said Edith Chase, climbing down with alacrity; "it +cannot be very far, now." + +"We are still four miles from Westerton," said Hugh. "There is no +danger, Aunt Faith; do get in again. The horses are only a little +balky; they will be quiet soon." + +"Do you call that quiet?" said Rose Saxon, as a flash of lightning +revealed the plunging leaders with William Mount and Walter Hart at +their heads. + +"By all means, let us walk," said Graham Marr, getting out quickly. + +"Of course if the ladies insist upon walking, it is our duty to +accompany them," said Gideon Fish, following his example. + +"Mrs. Sheldon," said Mr. Gay, "if you will walk, pray take my arm." + +"Miss Darrell, I shall be happy to help you down," said Gideon Fish. + +"Thank you, but I shall stay where I am; I am not at all afraid," +replied Bessie. + +After a few moments, the horses started again; and the walking party +plodded along behind; Hugh drove very slowly so as to keep near them, +and, in the darkness, Bessie climbed up on the driver's seat beside +him. "Bravo, little woman! I knew _you_ would not be afraid," said +Hugh. + +"Afraid, Hugh! With you!" exclaimed Bessie. + +At the other end of the wagon sat Sibyl and Mr. Leslie, who also +preferred the wagon to the road. The rain still fell, and the wind had +grown cold, but although Sibyl still wore the coat, her companion did +not seem to notice his uncovered shoulders. They talked earnestly +together in low tones all the way, and when at last the lights of +Westerton appeared in the darkness ahead, and the pedestrians, +emboldened by these signs of civilization, took their seats in the +wagon again, Sibyl's face was so bright that Aunt Faith noticed it. +"You do not look at all cold, my dear," she said, as the light from +the first street lamps fell across the wagon, "and yet the air is very +chilly." + +"I fear I shall have an attack of dumb-ague," said Graham Marr, +shivering. + +Edith Chase sat on the edge of the seat, ready to spring, watching the +leaders with intent gaze; as they approached the old stone house she +heaved a deep sigh of relief. "I am so glad it is over," she said, +audibly. + +"I hope you will all come in and have a cup of hot coffee after the +exposure," said Aunt Faith, as, one by one, the tired guests climbed +down from the circus-wagon. + +"We _are_ all so wet, I think we had better go directly home," said +Lida Powers. + +"Thank you, Mrs. Sheldon," said Edith Chase, "but we really must go +directly home; come, Annie." + +"Excuse me, Mrs. Sheldon," said Mr. Gay, "but my seventy years require +hot flannels. Good-night." + +Mr. Leslie had accompanied Sibyl up the long walk to the piazza in +order to take back his coat when she was under shelter. All the other +guests made their excuses at the gate, all but Gideon Fish, and when +Bessie saw him lingering, she pretended to be very obtuse. "Well, as +you won't any of you come in, I will say 'good-night' to all of you," +she said, closing the gate and turning away. "I couldn't help it, Aunt +Faith," she whispered, as they went up the walk; "Gideon wanted some +of your coffee, but we have had enough of him for one day, I think." +Mr. Leslie, however, put on his coat and took his coffee with the +cousins as though unconscious of his wet clothes; Hugh made up a +bright wood fire on the hearth, and they all talked over the incidents +of the day, and laughed over its disasters together. It is always +amusing to look back on discomfort when it is well over. + +"Where now is your beautiful 'Monday morning, bright and early,' Tom?" +said Aunt Faith, remembering the conversation at the breakfast-table. + +"_Sic_ transit _gloria Monday_!" said Hugh. + +"Incorrigible," said Mr. Leslie, laughing as he said good-night. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +RIGHT AT LAST. + + +"Sibyl," said Aunt Faith, the day after the picnic, "have you +completed all your preparations for Saratoga?" + +"You speak as though my going was a matter-of-course, Aunt," said +Sibyl slowly. + +"Is it not, dear? I supposed your decision was made several weeks +ago," said Aunt Faith, thinking of the written paper which Sibyl had +given her to read. + +"I think I shall go," said Sibyl, after a pause. "Everything is ready +but the pearls; I can buy them any time." + +"I hope you will enjoy the summer, my dear," said Aunt Faith, taking +her niece's hand affectionately. + +"Then you approve of my going, Aunt?" + +"You must make your own decision, Sibyl. No one can aid you in such a +question as this," replied Aunt Faith gravely. + +Sibyl sat awhile in silence; then she rose and left the room. + +An hour or two afterwards, Bridget came upstairs to tell Aunt Faith +that Mr. Leslie wished to see her; she went down, somewhat surprised +at so early a call, and found the young clergyman waiting for her in +the parlor. + +"Mrs. Sheldon," he said, after the first words of greeting, "poor +Margaret Brown is in great trouble. You remember our conversation +about her yesterday? Calling in to tell her of it this morning, I +found two of the children stricken down with fever, seriously ill, the +doctor says; and I have come directly to you for aid; to you and Miss +Warrington." + +"Sibyl has gone out, Mr. Leslie, but I shall be glad to do anything I +can. Shall I go there at once, or send a nurse?" + +"I hardly know yet; I came to talk the matter over with you. I do not +like to ask you to go there, for the fever may be dangerous, and yet +Margaret needs sympathy as much as money. Perhaps if they could all be +moved into a purer air,--into the country, for instance,--away from +that crowded neighborhood, it would be the wisest course." + +"But can the sick children bear a journey now?" + +"I think they could go a few miles in an easy carriage, but, as they +are growing worse every hour, it must be done at once if done at all. +Do you know of any farm-house where they could be received for a +time?" + +"Mr. Green might take them," said Aunt Faith; "he would probably +expect ample payment, however. Mr. Leslie, I am sorry I cannot give +you _carte blanche_; but owing to outside circumstances, I have but a +small sum at my disposal at present." + +"We will put our means together, Mrs. Sheldon. I have something laid +by, and perhaps Miss Warrington will assist us." + +"Sibyl has other uses for her money, I fear." + +"Surely none more worthy than this, Mrs. Sheldon." + +Aunt Faith grew somewhat impatient. "Mr. Leslie," she said +emphatically, "you do not understand my niece." + +"I think I understand Miss Warrington's character, and I think she +will help Margaret Brown," replied the young clergyman gravely. + +At this moment a step on the gravel-walk was heard, and Sibyl herself +crossed the piazza and entered the hall. + +"Have you been down town, Sibyl?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"Yes, aunt," replied Sibyl, coloring slightly, as she returned Mr. +Leslie's greeting. + +"Have you made any purchases?" continued Aunt Faith, glancing at an +oblong box in her niece's hand. + +Sibyl hesitated; then, as if impelled by a sudden impulse, she took +off the wrapping-paper and opened the case. "I have bought my pearls +at last, Aunt Faith. Are they not beautiful?" she said. + +The fair jewels lay on a velvet bed, white and perfect, and looking +from them to Sibyl's blonde beauty, one could not help noticing their +adaptation to each other. + +"They are very lovely, my dear," said Aunt Faith, passing the case to +Mr. Leslie. He took the jewels, looked at them a moment, and retaining +the case in his hand, said, "I came here this morning to ask your +assistance in a case of distress, Miss Warrington. Margaret Brown is +in need of instant aid; two of the children are ill, and I wish to +have them removed into the country, if possible, before they grow +worse. I rely upon you to help us." + +Sibyl sat with downcast eyes a moment. Then she said in a low voice, +"I am sorry, Mr. Leslie; but I have just spent all my spare money upon +those pearls." + +"The jeweller will take them back; I will arrange it for you, if you +wish," said the clergyman, looking at her intently. + +The color deepened painfully in Sibyl's cheeks, and the tears came +into her eyes, but she did not speak. Aunt Faith saw the struggle, and +came to her niece's assistance with her usual kindliness. "You must +not expect young ladies to give up their pretty ornaments so easily," +she said to Mr. Leslie, trying to shield Sibyl's embarrassment. + +"I am not speaking to a young lady; I am speaking to a fellow +Christian," said Mr. Leslie, gravely. "Miss Warrington and I have +often spoken of the duty of giving. Only last evening we had a very +serious conversation on that and kindred subjects. Mrs. Sheldon has +said that I do not understand her niece. But I am unwilling to believe +myself mistaken. I still think I understand her better even than her +own aunt does,--better even than she understands herself." + +Still Sibyl did not speak. Aunt Faith looked at her in surprise. Could +it be that her worldliness was conquered after all? "Sibyl," she said, +gently, "you must decide, dear. Shall Mr. Leslie take back the +pearls?" + +"No," replied Sibyl, rising and struggling to regain her composure, "I +wish the pearls, and there is no justice in asking me to give them up. +I shall keep them, and as I have to write to Mrs. Leighton that I will +meet her next week as she desired, my time is more than occupied, and +I will ask Mr. Leslie to excuse me." + +She left the room, taking the pearls with her, and not a word more did +Mr. Leslie say in allusion to her. He turned the conversation back to +Margaret Brown, discussed the various arrangements for removing the +family into the country, and then took his departure. + +"I was very sorry about the money, Aunt Faith," said Sibyl, after he +had gone, standing at the sitting-room window and watching the tall +figure disappearing in the distance. + +"Sincerity first of all, my dear," replied Aunt Faith. + +"How will he get the money, aunt?" + +"He is going to apply to Mrs. Chase, I believe. Although she has never +attended the chapel-services, he knows her to be generous and +kind-hearted." + +"Rich, too, Aunt Faith. It is very easy to be generous when one is +rich," said Sibyl, with a shade of bitterness in her tone. + +"Riches are comparative, Sibyl. Mrs. Chase is rich, but she has very +many depending upon her assistance." + +"Mr. Leslie had no right to make such a demand of me," said Sibyl, +after a pause. + +"Perhaps he thought you had given him the right to guide you," said +Aunt Faith. + +"I have never given him any right," said Sibyl, hastily. "I presume he +thinks I am a selfish, hard-hearted creature," she added in another +tone. + +"He thinks more highly of you than your own aunt did, Sibyl; he said +so himself. He believes, or has believed, firmly in the purity of your +religious faith and firm principle. I have several times been +surprised to see how sure he was of you." + +"He asked too much," said Sibyl; "he is too severe with me." + +"Not more severe than he is with himself, my dear. He has taken all +his little savings for Margaret Brown, and I presume those savings +represent comforts, not luxuries like pearls." + +"Mr. Leslie should not try me by the same test he uses for himself; I +cannot stand it." + +"That is where he made his mistake, my dear. He thought you could." + +Sibyl colored angrily. "Mr. Leslie is an enthusiast," she said; "he +expects people to throw down all their treasures at his feet." + +"Not at his feet; at the foot of the cross, dear." + +"Aunt Faith, do you really believe people can be happy in such a +life?" said Sibyl vehemently. + +"Mr. Leslie is happy, my child." + +"He is a single man with few cares. I am alluding to married people, +burdened with responsibility and anxiety." + +"If they are so burdened, my dear, so much the more reason why they +should seek help from Him who said 'come unto me all ye that are heavy +laden, and I will give you rest.'" + +"But in every-day life there are so many petty annoyances, aunt." + +"Will they be any the less annoying without His aid, dear?" + +"They will be less annoying if people are rich, Aunt Faith." + +"Some of the most unhappy women I have ever known, have been rich, +Sibyl." + +"But I would not be one of those, aunt. I would be rich and happy at +the same time." + +"If you could, my dear. But wealth brings with it its own troubles; +sometimes in the shape of the donor; I trust you would not marry for +money?" + +"Not for money alone, aunt. But I see no reason why a rich man might +not be loved for himself as well as a poor man. It does not follow +that because a man is rich he must therefore be selfish or +ill-tempered." + +"Certainly not, my dear; but we will not discuss it any longer, at +present. You are young, and I wish you to understand yourself +thoroughly. Take no rash steps, and remember that wealth is as nothing +compared to a true heart, and that this world's best treasures are +perishable, while religious faith abides with us through life and +death into eternity." + +In the afternoon Mr. Leslie came again to the old stone house, and +inquired for Mrs. Sheldon. "I have come to ask for your horses," he +said, as Aunt Faith entered the parlor; I have secured a large +carriage that will take all the family, and now, if you will send +Jonas down with the horses, we can hope to have Margaret safely +established at Mr. Green's before night." + +"Certainly, Mr. Leslie. Is there nothing more I can do?" + +"Not to-day, thank you. I shall go out with them myself." + +"How are the children?" + +"Worse, I fear; but I have large faith in country air." + +"I shall be anxious to know how they bear the ride." + +"I will stop on my way home as I must come back with the carriage," +said the young clergyman as he went away. + +"Was not that Mr. Leslie?" asked Hugh, coming in from the dining-room +a few moments afterward. + +"Yes," replied Aunt Faith; "he came to see me on business." + +"Didn't he ask for Sibyl?" said Hugh. + +"No," replied Aunt Faith, with a warning look at her nephew, as Sibyl +came in. But Hugh was not to be warned. "Sibyl," he said, "Mr. Leslie +has been here and did not ask for you." + +"Is that so very surprising?" said his sister coldly; she had regained +all her composure and her face was calm and quiet. + +"Of course it is surprising," said Hugh bluntly. "He has been in the +habit of coming here to see you for months, and, let me tell you, +Sibyl, he is one in a thousand; he is a hero, every inch, and I +heartily respect and like him." + +"I have said nothing to the contrary, Hugh." + +"Don't be a hypocrite, Sibyl," said Hugh with brotherly frankness. "I +am not good at splitting hairs, but there is no more comparison +between Mr. Leslie and Graham Marr, than there is between an eagle and +a sickly chicken." + +"I have never thought of comparing them, Hugh. I do not like +comparisons, and yours is entirely unjust. But even supposing it was +correct, _I_ have no taste for standing on a mountain-peak, in the icy +air of unknown heights, and gazing at the sun all day as an eagle +does," said Sibyl, as she crossed the hall into the parlor. In a few +moments the Spring-Song sounded forth from the piano, and under cover +of the music, Hugh said to Aunt Faith, "There is nothing wrong between +them I hope?" + +"There is nothing between them either right or wrong," replied Aunt +Faith with a sigh. "Sibyl is not suited to Mr. Leslie." + +"Then it is her fault," said Hugh warmly. "There is no doubt in my +mind that John Leslie is deeply interested in her, and I should be +proud and glad to have him for a brother. He is the truest, most +honest man I know." + +"That is because he is such a sincere, earnest Christian." + +"I know it, aunt. He works hard, and he thoroughly believes in his +work. He really thinks there is nothing in the city so vitally +important as that little chapel, and those workmen." + +"He is right, Hugh. To _him_ there should be nothing so important as +their welfare." + +"Yes, I suppose so; that is, if I could look at it with his eyes. But +it is rare to see practice so consistent with theory in every-day +life." + +"It is, as you say, rare indeed; but he is a rare man, Hugh." + +"He is, truly. That is the reason why I feel Sibyl's manner. Can it be +possible that she really prefers Graham Marr?" + +"I do not know, Hugh. Graham will be rich some day." + +"That is the worst of it, aunt. Who would have thought Sibyl could be +so mercenary!" + +"Do not judge her harshly, dear. She has none of that impulse which +you admire, but her heart has always been true,--at least so far," +said Aunt Faith gently. Then, after a pause, she continued in a lower +tone, "Hugh, if you like and admire Mr. Leslie so much, why are you +not willing to follow his example?" + +"What! Become a clergyman, Aunt Faith?" + +"Not that, unless you feel an inward call towards the blessed +vocation," replied Aunt Faith reverently; "but why do you delay to +come forward and make your open profession of faith? Is it honest, is +it manly, to hang backward?" + +"Oh, Aunt Faith, I am not good enough!" said Hugh quickly. + +"Goodness is not required of any of us, Hugh; only repentance, and an +earnest endeavor to improve. My dear boy, I never see you come and go, +without an aching desire to have you enrolled under His banner, to +have you a soldier of the Cross, openly, before all men. Have you +thought over our last conversation on this subject?" + +"Yes, aunt, many times; but I have such a high idea of a professing +Christian. It seems to me that such an one ought to be like Mr. +Leslie, working with all his might for the salvation of souls." + +"It is not required that all professing Christians should be ministers +of the word, Hugh. There are many other spheres of action, and many +qualifications, varied according to our varied temperaments and +positions. The Bible makes that point very clear. You read it, I +hope?" + +"Yes; but I always read the same part, the Gospel of St, John. I like +it best of all. There are so many beautiful verses in it which are +found nowhere else, so much love and warm faith! For instance; 'Let +not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' And 'I will not +leave you comfortless, I will come unto you.' And, 'woman, behold thy +son; behold thy mother;' to me one of the most touching incidents in +the Gospel. Then there is the story of Lazarus, and the verse 'Jesus +wept.' _He_ sorrowed for the mourners, too! Oh, I cannot understand +how true Christians can mourn so bitterly for their dead, when they +believe that this loving Saviour cares for them." + +"It is not always so much for their lost ones as for themselves, Hugh; +their own loneliness, their crushed hopes, and perhaps their remorse +that in the lifetime of those they mourn they did not do more for +their happiness." + +"You have lost many dear ones, Aunt Faith," said Hugh thoughtfully. + +"Yes; my husband, my parents, and among my intimate friends, all my +generation." + +"Do you often think of them, aunt?" + +"Yes, Hugh, very often. At first with tears and sadness, but gradually +with hope, and a certain looking forward instead of backward. At first +I kept all my anniversaries sacred, the many days hallowed by +associations with my dear ones; but gradually I tried to break up the +habit, and now I only think of their heavenly birthdays,--the days +when they left the earth,--and even these have come to be pleasant. I +have always been fond of autumn. There is something that charms me in +the hazy air and colored foliage. It is not sadness,--it is not +joy,--but a sweet peace. Then, my dead always seem near to me. If you +like, I will give you something I once wrote on the subject, +expressing this _feeling_." + +"Do, aunt!" said Hugh, earnestly: for so seldom did Aunt Faith allude +to her past life and its sorrows, that all the cousins held it in +reverent respect, and although they often spoke of it among +themselves, they never broke through the bounds of Aunt Faith's +silence. In her own room hung the portrait of her husband, Lester +Sheldon, a young man's face, with blue eyes, and thick golden hair, +tossed carelessly back from the white forehead, while below, the firm +mouth told of decision and self-control beyond his years. Once, when +Bessie was a child, she sat looking at this portrait for some time in +silence. Then she said, "Aunt Faith, if that is your husband, what +makes him so young when you are so old?" + +"He died when he was a young man, little Bessie." + +"But he won't know you when you go to heaven, I'm afraid," continued +the child, looking anxiously at her aunt's gray hair. + +"Oh, I shall be young then, too, Bessie. Here is a picture of me when +I was eighteen," said Aunt Faith, taking a box from her drawer, and +drawing out a miniature. It was one of those lovely, old-fashioned +ivory pictures, showing a fresh young face with dimples, and a sunny +smile. + +"Oh, auntie, _that_ isn't you!" Bessie had exclaimed, and the other +children having come into the room, the picture was shown to them +also. Since that day they had never seen it, but Hugh retained a vivid +remembrance of the picture, and, as Aunt Faith looked through her desk +to find the paper, something in her face recalled it to his mind, and +there came across him, like a revelation, a vision of what she was at +eighteen. Faith Warrington at eighteen! Faith Warrington, who had long +been Mrs. Sheldon with her gray hair and pale face. Going up to his +room, Hugh seated himself by the window, and opening the paper, read +the following lines:-- + + "Far back within the cycles of the past, + A train of centuries rolls, + From out whose cloudy borders came the day + Of memory for all souls. + How long it seems, a thousand years ago! + How dark and weary, if we did not know + A thousand years are but as yesterday within His + sight, + Seeing that it is past like one brief watch within the + night! + + Could they have known, those men of childlike faith, + Half ignorant, half sublime, + The fitness of the souls' memorial day + Falling within the time + Of Nature's holy calm, her blest repose,-- + When all the land with loving fervor glows, + And from the naked woods, the empty fields, through + the soft haze, + Her work well done, her garners full, she offers up + her praise. + + A stillness fills the consecrated air,-- + The blustering winds that swept + The red and yellow leaves in giddy rounds, + By mighty hands are kept + In their four corners, while the liquid gold + And purple tints over the earth unrolled, + And full of mystery and heavenly peace, as though + the skies + Had opened, and let out the atmosphere of Paradise. + + Departed souls! Their memory may _come_ + With grief in Spring's soft hours,-- + With weary, lonely sadness when our hands + Are gathering summer flowers,-- + With wild despair in winter: when the graves + Are white with drifted snow, and wildly raves + The wind among the stones and monuments, in + accents dread, + Calling in vain the sculptured names of our beloved + dead. + + But in this golden dream-time of the year, + Our bitter murmurs cease;-- + We seem to feel the presence of the dead, + Their shadowy touch of peace; + We seem to see their faces as we gaze + Longingly forth into the purple haze, + And hear the distant chorus of the happy souls at + rest,-- + And catch the well-known accents of the voice we + loved the best." + + All Souls' Day, November 2nd. + +In the evening, as Aunt Faith was sitting on the piazza with Bessie, +Mr. Leslie came up the walk; Sibyl was in the parlor playing soft +chords on the piano, but she could hear his words as he spoke. Mr. +Leslie's voice was deep, but clear, and his pronunciation perfectly +distinct without any apparent effort. He did not obtrude the alphabet +unpleasantly upon his hearers; he was not so anxious to show his +correct pronunciation of "Been" as to force it to rhyme with "Seen;" +he was not so much concerned with "Institute," as to te-u-ute the last +syllable into undue importance; neither did he bombard his hearers +with the arrogance of rolling _rr's_. Although his voice was not loud, +any one occupying even the last seat in the chapel could not only hear +him, but was absolutely invited to listen by the pleasant distinctness +of the words. + +"I am pleased to be able to tell you that Margaret and the children +are safe in the farm-house, Mrs. Sheldon," he said, taking a seat on +the piazza. "Poor girl, how glad she was to get there! She sent her +grateful thanks to you." + +"How did the children bear the ride?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"Better than I expected. Indeed, the novelty, and perhaps the pleasant +country air, seemed to revive them, and lessen the fever. They even +walked about the garden when we arrived there, and began to make +bouquets of flowers, but before I left, the reaction had come and they +looked very tired." + +"You look tired, also, Mr. Leslie," said Aunt Faith; the light from +the hall-lamp shone on the young clergyman's face and showed its pale +weariness. + +"I am tired," he replied, "but a night's rest is all I need." Then he +leaned back in his chair and sat talking pleasantly with Bessie and +Aunt Faith. "This is a charming old house," he said, "it must have +been built a long time ago." + +"Yes," replied Aunt Faith; "for a western town it is quite venerable. +The main portion was built in 1822, and the wings were added as the +family increased, without much regard for architectural regularity. +The stairs were originally out-doors on the back piazza, but father +finally had them enclosed. You may have noticed that the west side has +only two windows, and that those are singularly placed. It is amusing +to think that so implicit was grandfather's belief in the growth of +Westerton, then hardly more than a pioneer village, that he built up +that side without any windows so as not to interfere with the blocks +of dwellings which he was sure would press up against this house as +the town grew into a city. It was only after many years that father +was allowed to pierce the thick wall and with great difficulty insert +those two windows." + +"That is something like my old home, a little village in the interior +of New York," said Mr. Leslie. "One old man was so impressed by the +growth of the town, that meeting my father he shook him by the hand +and exclaimed, 'how it do grow, Judge! Please heaven, we'll make a +seaport of it yet!'" + +They all laughed at this story. Then Aunt Faith said, "I should like +to think that some of the children would occupy this old house after I +am gone. But in America, and especially in the Western States that is +hardly possible." + +"I will live here, if I can, Aunt Faith," said Bessie warmly. "I love +every stone in the old house, and every old flower in the old garden." + +"Are flowers ever old, Miss Darrell?" said Mr. Leslie, smiling. + +"Oh, yes. Flowers grow old-fashioned and out of date just like people. +We have a genuine old-fashioned garden here, and all the neighbors +laugh at it in comparison with their smooth lawns and choice plants. +We have bachelor's-buttons, lady-slippers, tiger-lilies, +flower-de-luce, hollyhocks, and pinks, besides bushes of lilac and +matrimony; then we have old cedars clipped into shape, and ever so +many little paths and garden-beds edged with box. Oh, we are entirely +behind the times! But for all that, I love the old garden better than +the smoothest trimmed lawn, and I can pick you a bunch of violets +which you cannot match in Westerton; real violets, too, not flaring +pansies." + +"I too am fond of old-fashioned gardens, Miss Darrell," said Mr. +Leslie. "My mother had one, not so large as this, but resembling it in +general arrangement. I remember we had a little patch of trailing +arbutus; it grew wild, and I can distinctly recall its perfume as the +snow melted. I have never seen it in the West." + +"No, it does not grow here," replied Aunt Faith; "our climate is too +warm for it." + +"There is a great difference between the climate of the lake country +and that of New England," said Mr. Leslie; "there is so little snow +here." + +"Snow!" exclaimed Bessie. "I scarcely know what snow is; and as for +stories of drifts over the fences, and tunnels cut through them, I can +scarcely believe anything of the kind. They are as much like legends +to me as the fairy tale of little Kay and the Robber Maiden. Once at +Featherton Hall the eastern girls were talking about sleigh-riding, +and I told them that snow was so scarce in Westerton that when a few +snow-flakes actually fell, they were immediately fenced in and guarded +by the police, and then the whole population assembled in sleighs, +cutters, and pungs, to ride over them in alphabetical order. Of +course, as aunt's name began with S, there was not much left of the +snow-flakes when our turn came." + +"You ridiculous child!" said Aunt Faith, laughing, "how can you invent +such exaggerations?" + +"Oh, Bessie can invent anything!" said Hugh, coming out from the +sitting-room; "if she had charge of even the Patent-Office Reports, +she would gild them into veritable romances." + +Later in the evening, Graham Marr came up the garden walk. +"Good-evening, Mrs. Sheldon!" he said; "is Miss Warrington at home?" + +"Yes; she is in the parlor," said Aunt Faith. "Will you go in, Mr. +Marr?" + +"Thank you, yes. I came especially to see her," replied Graham, taking +off his straw hat, and passing through the group on the piazza. + +"Excuse me, Miss Darrell. Is that you, Hugh? Ah!--Mr. Leslie, I +believe. I did not observe you in the darkness. I hope you experienced +no ill feeling after your exposure yesterday?" + +"None at all, Mr. Marr. And you?" + +"I took cold, as I expected; but, so far, my head has given me no +severe pain," said Graham, passing on into the parlor. + +"Is Mr. Marr subject to pain in his head?" inquired Mr. Leslie, as +Graham disappeared. + +"Chronic inflammation of the brain, produced by intense study and +seething, poetical thoughts," said Hugh, in a dramatic whisper. + +Soon afterwards, Mr. Leslie rose to take leave. "I feel very tired, so +I will say good-night," he said. "I will let you know the condition of +the children some time to-morrow, Mrs. Sheldon." + +"Thank you. If it is quite convenient I shall be glad to know," +replied Aunt Faith. + +Graham Marr stayed until a late hour, so late that Bessie and Hugh had +gone upstairs when he took leave, and Sibyl, coming in to the +sitting-room, found Aunt Faith alone. + +"You look tired, my dear," said the elder lady kindly. + +"I am tired, aunt. Graham talked a long time. He had something to tell +me. His uncle is dead, and he has come into the fortune." + +"Ah!--" said Aunt Faith. She made no other comment, but waited for her +niece to speak. + +"Graham is going to Saratoga next week," continued Sibyl slowly. "He +thinks of removing to New York for a permanent home; he likes city +life, you know." + +"Yes," said Aunt Faith again; but she said no more. + +Sibyl closed the windows, replaced the chairs, and fastened the +front-door; then, as she carelessly turned the leaves of a book on the +table, she said at last, "Mr. Leslie was here, I believe?" + +"Yes: he came to tell me that Margaret Brown and the children were +safely established in the farm-house." + +"Did he ask for me?" said Sibyl, as she extinguished the hall lamps. + +"No, my dear," answered Aunt Faith, and Sibyl went to her room without +another word. + +Two days came and went, and Mr. Leslie did not appear. + +"I say, you people!" said Tom, bursting into the dining-room at +tea-time. "Did you know that Mr. Leslie was sick? Dangerously sick, +Jim Morse says; not expected to live, I believe." + +"Thomas!" said Aunt Faith with unusual severity, "what do you mean? +Tell the truth." + +"Well, he's sick, any way; and Jim heard his mother say it was a +dangerous fever. Hallo, Sibyl! what's the matter? How pale you are!" + +"No more pale than the rest of us," interrupted Bessie, with a quick +glance at Sibyl; "we all like Mr. Leslie, don't we?" + +"Of course we do. He's the best man in the world," said Gem fervently. + +"I shall go and see him immediately," said Hugh, rising. + +"Oh, Hugh, it is probably the same fever the Brown children have!" +said Aunt Faith anxiously. "You must not expose yourself needlessly." + +"In this call I consider it necessary, Aunt Faith," said Hugh. "Mr. +Leslie has no near relatives, and although he is loved by his +congregation, dread of the fever will keep most of them away; besides, +they cannot leave their work. He will be left to hired nurses and you +know what Westerton nurses are!" + +"Go, then, my boy, and may God be with you," said Aunt Faith, with +tears in her eyes. + +The tea-table was soon deserted. Sibyl went to her room, Tom and Gem +took refuge in the back garden with the three dogs to bear them +company, but Aunt Faith and Bessie sat on the piazza waiting for +Hugh's return. + +"After all," said Bessie, "we need not feel so anxious. The report has +passed through several mouths; no doubt it is exaggerated." + +"I hope so," replied Aunt Faith; "and still I have a strong +presentiment that Mr. Leslie is very ill. His face looked strangely +worn and pallid as he sat there that last evening, and when fever +attacks a man as strong and full of life as he is, the contest is far +more severe than with a more feeble patient." + +Eight o'clock struck, but still Hugh did not return. A step sounded up +the walk in the dusky twilight, but it was not his; Graham Marr +appeared, and again asked for Miss Warrington. + +"Go and tell Sibyl, my dear," said Aunt Faith to Bessie with an inward +sigh. Then, as Bessie went into the house, she said, "Have you heard +of Mr. Leslie's illness, Mr. Marr?" + +"No," replied Graham, as he stood in the doorway carelessly twirling +his hat in his hand; "is he very ill?" + +"We do not know; we have heard only a rumor. Hugh has gone to find out +the exact truth." + +"Ah--yes. If it is fever, no doubt he caught it in that unpleasant +locality where his chapel stands," said Graham. "I have often wondered +how he could endure the life he leads, but I suppose he is not +fastidious. His nature is not so finely wrought, or his nerves so +delicately strung as those of some other organizations." + +"His nature is strong and manly," replied Aunt Faith, with a shade of +indignation in her voice. + +"Ah, yes, exactly. A man in his position has need of strength," said +Graham loftily. Then, after a pause, "You have heard of my good +fortune, Mrs. Sheldon?" + +"I have heard that your uncle was dead, Mr. Marr." + +"Ah--yes. Poor old gentleman! I never knew him well; we were not at +all sympathetic. My grandfather's singular will has now been +fulfilled, and the estate, which has rolled up to double its original +value, will now be divided between my two Southern cousins and +myself." + +"I congratulate you, Mr. Marr." + +"Thank you. I think I shall not discredit my fortune; I have long +endeavored to cultivate the tastes which belong to wealth," said +Graham with languid pride. + +At this moment Bessie returned. "Sibyl is in the parlor, Mr. Marr," +she said; "will you walk in?" + +"Thanks, kind messenger," said Graham, bowing gracefully as he passed +her; "Hebe could not be fairer!" + +"How ridiculous he is, Aunt Faith," she said, as the young man +disappeared. "How can Sibyl like him? I do not really think she does +like him, but I cannot make her out. When I went to her room she was +as pale as a ghost, but while she was smoothing her hair, the color +rose, and she began to laugh and talk as gayly as possible. Listen, +now; hear her laugh. How can she be so heartless!" + +"Do not be too severe, Bessie. I suspect Sibyl is putting a great +strain on herself to-night. She has so many good traits," said Aunt +Faith with a sigh. "She has so much energy! She only needs to have the +right direction given to it and she will accomplish a wonderful amount +of good work if her life is spared." + +"But that right direction, Aunt Faith; is Graham Marr to give it?" +asked Bessie with a tinge of scorn in her voice. + +"I do not know, dear. But Sibyl has a true heart at bottom." + +"I do believe you are made of charity, aunt. Your name ought to be +Faith, Hope, and Charity, instead of Faith alone," said Bessie warmly. + +"I have learned one lesson by the experience of a long life," replied +Aunt Faith, smiling; "the lesson of patience." + +"How else could you have brought up such a troublesome set of nephews +and nieces?" exclaimed Bessie. "We must have tried your patience +severely, Aunt Faith. But we do love you dearly, every one of us." And +the impulsive girl threw her arms around her aunt and kissed her +affectionately. + +About half-past nine they heard the sound of the gate, and recognized +Hugh's step on the gravel walk. + +"How is he, Hugh?" said Bessie, before he came in sight. + +"He is a very sick man," replied Hugh gravely, as he came up the +steps. "The doctors are perplexed, for the case is not like ordinary +fever. They think he will either be much better or much worse before +morning." + +"Oh, Hugh; you do not mean that he is in any danger?" + +"Yes; so the doctors say. There is trouble with the brain, +threatenings of congestion, I believe. As I said before, he will +probably be out of danger before morning, or,--or, gone where he is +fully prepared to go," said Hugh with emotion. + +"Then I shall go to see him now,--directly," said a strange, muffled +voice behind them. + +"Sibyl!" exclaimed Aunt Faith. + +"Yes, aunt," said Sibyl, stepping forward and speaking in the same +muffled voice. "I heard what Hugh said, and I wish to go directly to +see Mr. Leslie; you must go with me." + +They all looked at her as she stood in the lighted hall; her face was +deadly pale, and her eyes had a far-off look as though she saw +something terrible in the distance. Behind her was Graham Marr looking +perplexed and angry; he did not know what to do or say, and his usual +graceful manner had given place to confused irritation. As Sibyl spoke +he made an effort to regain his composure. + +"Ah!" he said, with studied carelessness, "so Leslie is sick, is he? I +must really send a nurse to take care of him. I will do what I can for +him, poor fellow!" + +"I shall be his nurse," said Sibyl, in the same strange, still voice. + +"You are joking, Miss Warrington. Of course you would not expose +yourself so foolishly," said Graham angrily. + +"_I_ shall be his nurse. I shall go to-night," repeated Sibyl, without +changing her attitude. + +Graham looked at her a moment as if about to continue the argument, +but something in the set expression of her face convinced him of the +hopelessness of the attempt. Curbing his annoyance under an appearance +of amusement, he smiled and turned to Aunt Faith. "There is no use in +combating a young lady, I suppose, Mrs. Sheldon. Really,--I had no +idea it was so late. I must go. I will bid you good-night, ladies, and +at the same time good-bye, as I shall soon leave Westerton for the +summer." Then he turned again to Sibyl; "I shall meet you in Saratoga +next week, I trust, Miss Warrington?" + +"No," said Sibyl, with the same far-off look in her eyes. "Aunt Faith, +are you ready to go with me?" + +"Ah!" said Graham lightly; "you ladies change your minds so rapidly +that it is difficult to follow you. But it is your privilege, I know, +Farewell, then, Miss Warrington. Life is long,--we may meet again." + +"Good-bye, Mr. Marr," said Sibyl, hardly noticing his departure. + +As the young man disappeared, Aunt Faith spoke; "Are you in earnest, +Sibyl? Do you really wish to visit Mr. Leslie to-night?" + +"I am in earnest, and I _must_ go, Aunt Faith. Do not try to prevent +it." + +"But there may be danger for you, dear." + +"Hugh has seen him, and am I to be kept back?" cried Sibyl +passionately. "I must go! I will go! Aunt Faith, do not desert me +now!" + +"I am not deserting you, poor child," said Aunt Faith, rising and +putting her arms around her niece with motherly affection. "If you +wish to see Mr. Leslie to-night, I will go with you. You approve of +your sister's wish, Hugh?" + +"Yes," said Hugh decidedly. "Sibyl, you are right at last." + +They found Mr. Leslie unconscious and breathing heavily; two +physicians were in attendance, and a nurse sat by the bedside. + +"He does not know me," whispered Sibyl, clinging convulsively to Aunt +Faith, as the sufferer opened his eyes and looked blankly at them. + +"No, dear, he is unconscious," replied Aunt Faith, herself much moved +at the sight of one whom she had so lately seen full of young life, +stricken down almost to death. + +The doctors were watching their patient closely; they expected a +crisis before morning. + +"I shall stay," said Sibyl, quietly taking off her hat and sitting +down on the sofa. + +Aunt Faith spoke a few words of objection, but the mute appeal of +Sibyl's eyes silenced her; she said no more, but sitting down by her +niece, took her cold hand and held it in both her own. She had felt +sorrow herself, and she could feel for others; she knew that in +Sibyl's heart the depths were broken up. + +Hugh went back to the old stone house and returned about midnight; +from that time on, there was silence in the sick-chamber, and anxious +eyes watched the unconscious face with painful interest. The night +seemed endless; only those who have watched by a sick bed can know how +minutes can lengthen themselves! As the gray twilight of dawn came +into the room the sick man moved restlessly upon his pillow and +moaned. Sibyl's heart throbbed; any change seemed for the better. But +one of the physicians after bending over the patient, shook his head +gravely. + +"Let us pray," said Aunt Faith in a low tone, and, falling upon her +knees, she bowed her head in silent prayer. Sibyl knelt beside her, +and, after a moment, Hugh too joined them, and throwing his arm around +his sister, drew her to his side. + +"Oh, Hugh, I cannot bear it!" she murmured; "he will die,--he will +never know,--and I--" here her voice was broken by stifled sobs and +low moans of anguish, strangely touching in the proud, self-reliant +Sibyl. + +Hugh held his sister in his arms, and soothed her as one would soothe +a child. From that hour Sibyl's coldness left her never to return. + +As the first sunbeams brightened the sky, Mr. Leslie again opened his +eyes, the doctors bent over him, and it seemed to Aunt Faith as if she +could hear all the hearts in the room throbbing aloud in the intense +anxiety of the moment. + +"The worst is over," whispered Doctor Gregory, stepping back and +shaking hands with Aunt Faith; "we shall bring him through, now, I +think." + +Sibyl sat with her head hidden on Hugh's shoulder; she heard the +doctor's words, but a sudden timidity had come over her. "Let us go," +she whispered, turning towards the door. + +But Hugh had been watching the sick man. + +"He is conscious; he knows us!" he said suddenly, and leading his +sister forward, he left her at the bedside, pale and trembling with +joyful emotion. + +"Sibyl," said Mr. Leslie in a faint voice, "is it you? Have you come +to me at last, dear?" + +"Yes, John," said Sibyl, bending over him with tears in her eyes. "I +have brought myself and my life to you,--if you care for them." + +"If?" said Mr. Leslie, with the ghost of a smile on his pale face; "as +if there was any doubt--" but here the doctors interfered, and the +rest of the sentence was postponed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER + + +Mr. Leslie improved slowly; when he was able to leave his room most of +his days of enforced idleness were spent in the shaded parlor of the +old stone house, or riding through the narrow country lanes, sometimes +with all the cousins, sometimes with Sibyl alone. A friend had come +from the interior of the State to take charge of the chapel during +July and August, for the physicians had forbidden any active work +during that time; but, although Mr. Vinton preached and attended to +the duties of the position, Mr. Leslie retained all his interest in +the congregation, and his people felt, that he was with them in +spirit, hour by hour, and day by day. They came to him also,--came in +greater numbers and with more open affection than ever before; they +showed their interest in many different ways,--and the young pastor's +heart was filled with joy at these evidences of love from the flock +for which he had labored. + +"It takes sickness or affliction to bring hidden love and sympathy to +the surface," he said, one afternoon, as he sat in the parlor with +Aunt Faith, Hugh, Bessie, and Sibyl. "We do not see the rainbow until +the storm comes; and so people may live on for years in prosperity, +and never know, save by intuition, the deep affection in each other's +hearts. But when sorrow strikes them, then love comes to the surface, +doubly precious and comforting in the hour of trial." + +"But, Mr. Leslie," said Hugh, "would it not be far better for the +world if people were taught to express their love and sympathy at +other times as well as in the house of affliction and sickness? Is +there any reason why we should all go on through life in cold silence, +living in the same house with those we love the best, and taking +everything 'for granted,' and leaving it 'for granted' also? Why! +people may live and die without ever knowing the great joy of +expressing how much they love, or of hearing in return how much they +are loved, so hard is it to break down these barriers of reserve." + +"We are tongue-tied, here, Hugh. We do not know how to speak the +language of the heavenly country, and our best efforts are but +stammering, half-expressed utterances. It is a great mercy, however, +that the touch of sickness, or affliction, seems for the moment to +loosen the bonds, and allow us a few sentences of the heavenly love." + +"It is indeed," said Aunt Faith. "I remember in the darkest hours of +my affliction, people with whom I had but slight acquaintance came to +me with tender sympathy, and kind messages were sent from many whom I +had always thought cold, and even disagreeable." + +"Still," said Hugh, "I think it would be better if people tried to +express their love more freely, without waiting until the household is +clouded with grief." + +"It would certainly be better, but it may not be possible," said Mr. +Leslie; the world has gone on in the same old way for many centuries, +and I am inclined to think, Hugh, that this free expression of love +will only be given to us in another life. It will form one of the +blessings of heaven." + +"What is heaven?" said Hugh abruptly. + +"It is perfect peace," said Aunt Faith. + +"It is wonderful new life and hope," said Bessie. + +"It is love," said Sibyl. + +"It is all this and more," said Mr. Leslie reverently. "Speculations +are useless, and our time should be too full of earnest labor to allow +us to indulge in them. We should be content to leave it to our Maker, +who has made even this world so beautiful, and this life, rightly +used, so glorious." + +July gave place to August, and the family of cousins, into whose +circle Mr. Leslie had been received, lived a happy life in the old +stone house. The heat of the dog-days was tempered by the lake breeze. +At ten in the morning it came sweeping over the water from Canada, and +men walking through the hot streets, felt its gentle coolness on their +foreheads, and took off their straw hats with a sigh of relief. In the +evening it came again, rustling through the trees with a refreshing +sound as though the leaves were reviving from their parched stillness; +people came out to meet it, the piazzas and door-steps were crowded, +and all the closed blinds were thrown wide open to catch the blessed +coolness which promised refreshing sleep. + +"You dwellers by the lake-shore know nothing of the real August heat +in the lowlands," said Mr. Vinton, one evening as he sat among a group +of visitors on the piazza of the old stone house. "Here the lake +breeze is invariable, but a hundred miles south, days and nights pass +with alternate blazing heat and close, lifeless darkness, the latter +even more trying than the former. The country where I live is the +richest agricultural land in the State; it is a valley with a broad, +slow river rolling through it, the very water dark and sluggish with +the fertility of the soil. As long as the grain is growing, there is +some vitality in the air in spite of the heat, but when the harvest +comes, and field after field is shorn, it seems as though the +superfluous richness rose from the earth into the air, and filled it +with heavy rankness. The sun shines through a haze in the daytime, and +the moon through a mist at night; everybody and everything is languid. +One goes to bed oppressed with fatigue, sleeps heavily, and rises +without refreshment; there is no fresh morning air, nothing but a +weary looking forward to the next twelve hours of heat." + +"What a forlorn description!" said Mr. Gay, laughing. "Is this all you +can say for the great, rich state of Ohio?" + +"It's very richness brings about what I am describing," said Mr. +Vinton. "But perhaps some of your eastern farmers would endure the +Ohio dog-days for the sake of the miles of level grain-fields without +a stone, without a break of any kind, which extend through the midland +counties. When I first came West, I was overpowered with homesickness +for the hills of New England; the endless plains were hateful to me, +and I fairly pined to see a rock, or a narrow, winding road. While in +this mood, I happened to be riding in a stage-coach through one of the +midland counties in company with two New England farmers. They had +never been West before, and they were lost in astonishment and +admiration at the sight of the level fields on either side of the +broad, straight road, stretching away to the right and the left, +unbroken by the slightest elevation. 'This country is worth farming +in,' said number one; 'Ethan would admire to see it, but he'd hardly +believe it, I guess, without seeing.' + +"'Not a stone nor a rock nowhere; none of them plaguey hills neither,' +said number two. 'Well, now! _this_ is what I call a be-a-utiful +country! Western farmers must have an easy life of it.' You can +imagine with what feelings I listened to these men. There I was, +longing for the sight of a hill with the longing of a homesick child +for its mother." + +"I am afraid you are prejudiced, George," said Mr. Leslie, with a +smile. "You dwell upon the heat of August in Ohio, but you say nothing +about the other eleven months of the year." + +"The other eleven months are beautiful, I must acknowledge," replied +Mr. Vinton. "As soon as the frosts come, nothing can surpass the +climate; colored October, hazy November, and bright, open December are +all perfect. Any New Englander,--even you, Mr. Gay,--would be obliged +to yield the palm to the West in respect of winter climate." + +"No sir," replied the Boston bachelor emphatically; "I would yield no +palm under any circumstances. I even prefer a Boston east wind to the +mildest western zephyr." + +"Oh, you are prejudiced!" said Bessie, laughing. + +"Of course I am, Miss Darrell. It is a characteristic of Massachusetts +Bay. We do not deny it,--on the contrary we are rather proud of it." + +Thus, in many conversations, the dog-days passed along. + +"It seems to me we do nothing but talk," said Bessie, after a long +evening on the piazza with several visitors. + +"The dog-days were intended for conversation," said Hugh. "Our hands +and our brains are busily employed all the rest of the year, but when +the thermometer gets up into the nineties, the tongue talks its share +and gives the other members a rest." + +"I hope you don't mean to insinuate that our brains are not employed +in our conversation," said Bessie. + +"Not much brain in dog-day conversation," said Hugh, laughing. "I know +that I have been talking nonsense this evening, and from what I have +overheard, I suspect the others have not done much better." + +"Oh, you slanderer!" cried Bessie. + +"But nonsense is appropriate to the season, Queen Bess. We don't eat +much solid food now; then how can we hear much solid talk! Aunt +Faith's 'trifle' is the chief of our diet, and the result is, +naturally, trifling conversation." + +August was a happy month to Aunt Faith. She rejoiced in Sibyl's +happiness, and she rejoiced in the triumph of unselfish love and +Christian humility over the worldliness and ambition which had sullied +her niece's good qualities. Sibyl was not impulsive; it was not an +impulse which had led her to renounce a life of fashionable gayety and +wealth for Mr. Leslie. It was a sudden realization of the truth, a +sudden conviction of the strength of her own feelings, a sudden horror +of the wickedness of falsifying them, and a sudden appreciation of the +hollowness of worldly ambition when brought face to face with death. +There was no hesitating vacillation in Sibyl's character. She had been +self-deceived, but, as soon as she felt the truth, she threw aside +errors with all her might, and gave herself up boldly, wholly and +heartily to her new life. Aunt Faith understood her niece thoroughly, +and she knew there would be no danger of a relapse into the mistakes +of the past; other faults, other temptations would assail her, but +these were harmless. Having once seen and realized the falsity of +worldliness when compared with religion, the worthlessness of mere +money, when compared with true affection, Sibyl could never forget the +lesson, for firm reason and resolve were parts of her nature. + +Aunt Faith saw, also, that Sibyl was very happy. She was calm as +usual, but there was a new light in her eyes, and a new glow on her +cheeks. She found a new pleasure in instructing the children of the +Chapel Sunday School, and her scholars loved her dearly; she went +about among the poor, and devoted much of her time and means to their +service. She assisted in the household work; not the light graceful +labors which generally fall to the daughters, but the real burden of +the day, lifting it from Aunt Faith's patient shoulders with cordial +good will; and in all she did there was a new charm,--the charm of a +rare humility, the most difficult of all Christian graces to a proud, +self-reliant spirit. + +One afternoon, towards the end of August, Aunt Faith found Sibyl +resting on the lounge in the sitting-room. The house was still, the +children were in the garden, and Bessie and Hugh had gone up to the +studio; Sibyl had been out visiting the sick all the morning, and, +wearied with the walk, she had thrown herself down on the lounge for +a rest before tea-time. + +"Do I disturb you, dear?" said Aunt Faith, as she entered. + +"Oh, no, aunt. I am not sleeping, only resting." + +"I fear you are doing too much, Sibyl." + +"I think not, aunt. I know how much I can bear, and I would not be so +foolish as to overwork myself. It would be a poor preparation for the +life to which I look forward with so much hope." + +"It will be a pleasant life, I hope, my dear child." + +"Oh aunt! pleasant seems too cold a word to express it! I never knew +what life was before; I was blind and deaf to real beauty and real +happiness. I thought of nothing but money, ease and social fame. I +shudder to think how near I came to bartering my life for what I +supposed would give me the most happiness; whereas, now I know how +great would have been my misery, and how surely and quickly I should +have discovered it. I was entirely blinded, but now I see plainly; it +is as though a great ray of light had come into my heart to show me +life as it really is, and myself as I really am." + +"God be thanked for this--mercy, my child." + +"I thank Him daily and hourly, Aunt Faith. It was a narrow escape, and +no one can appreciate how great was the danger but myself. If I had +gone astray I might, indeed, have come back to Him at last, but +through what trials, what bitter suffering! Now, I feel that my feet +are upon a firm rock, and although trouble and temptation will of +course come to me, I know that if I cry for help, it will not be +refused." Sibyl's face glowed as she spoke, and Aunt Faith offered up +a silent thanksgiving that one of her little band had found the safe +abiding place, that one of the souls given into her charge had entered +the only safe pathway in the many roads leading across this troubled +earth. + +"How is Margaret Brown to-day, Sibyl?" she asked, after a pause. + +"Much better, aunt. I sat with her for an hour or two, and she asked +me to read to her." + +"The children are well now, I believe?" + +"Yes; we are going to keep them in the country until cold weather; +Margaret must not be allowed to work at present." + +"Mr. Leslie has not asked for the remainder of the sum I promised to +give him," said Aunt Faith; "I suppose Mrs. Chase must have given more +than he expected." + +Sibyl blushed deeply. "No, aunt," she said in a low tone, "I gave him +my pearls as a thank-offering, perhaps I ought to say a sin-offering." + +Aunt Faith bent over and kissed the suffused cheek; then the two had +a long conversation about the future, and gradually and surely a more +joyous tone crept into their words, as is apt to be the case when the +talkers hear in the distance the sound of future wedding-bells. The +marriage was to take place before December, and Mr. Leslie had already +selected the little house which was to be their home; Aunt Faith, with +true housewifely interest, was already making plans for the furniture +and stores of fair linen, which her old-fashioned ideas deemed a +necessary part of the household outfit, and even Bessie had set her +unskilful fingers to the work of manufacturing various little +ornaments to brighten the simple rooms. But her chief present was to +be a picture representing the piazza of the old stone house with Aunt +Faith, Hugh, Tom, and herself sitting or standing in their accustomed +attitudes, while Sibyl going down the garden-walk with Mr. Leslie, +turned her head for a farewell smile, and Gem threw a bunch of roses +after her. Bessie prided herself upon this picture; the likenesses +were all completed save Hugh's, for the first object was to finish his +portrait before he went East, and from that she could fill in the +other face at her leisure. + +"You are all so kind to me, Aunt Faith," said Sibyl, as the long +conversation came to a close; "I am so happy in your love, and so +happy in the future opening before me; it is almost too much +happiness." + +Aunt Faith possessed a fund of native humor which neither age nor care +had been able to subdue. As her niece rose to go to her room, she said +with a merry glance, "By the way, Sibyl, how about the smell of the +flannels from the kitchen on washing-days?" + +"I will have them washed at the extreme end of the back garden," +replied Sibyl, echoing Aunt Faith's laugh, as she escaped from the +room. + +The thirty-first of August came,--Hugh's last day at home. His +departure was hastened by his wish to return to Sibyl's wedding; he +hoped to get initiated into the duties of his new position, conquer +the first difficulties, and gain a few days of leisure for a short +visit home before the busy winter season commenced. Mr. Hastings, the +second-cousin who had offered Hugh a place in his counting-room, was a +New York merchant, a stern, practical man, who expected full measure +of work from all his subordinates. Yet, with all his rigor, he had a +kind heart in his breast, and was inclined to treat his young relative +with favor: he had seen him but once, when, during school-life, Hugh +had spent a vacation at his house; but the old man had been more +pleased than he would acknowledge, with the boy's overflowing spirits +and bright intellect. He had no sons; his daughters were married, and +the next year he had written to Aunt Faith proposing to take Hugh into +his business on the completion of his education, promising, if the +young man stood the test well, that he would give him a small share of +the profits after a certain period, and intimating that there would be +no bar to his becoming a partner eventually, if he showed the proper +qualifications. The business men among Aunt Faith's acquaintances told +her that this was a fine opening for Hugh, that the house of J. B. +Hastings & Co. stood well in New York, and that they would gladly +accept such an opportunity for their sons. Hugh himself was pleased +with the idea, and, when it was finally decided that he should go, he +wrote a letter full of enthusiastic thanks and hopes to Mr. Hastings, +and finished his remaining two years at college with many pleasant +visions of his future life floating in his brain. + +"'Tis the last day of summer, left blooming alone," chanted Tom, as he +entered the dining-room where the rest of the family were at +breakfast. "To-morrow Hugh will be gone,--to-morrow Estella Camilla +Wales must pine in vain for her mistress, who will be engrossed in +decimal fractions, and to-morrow I must take down from the dusty shelf +that dismal old _Latin Prose_. I wonder who cares for _Romulus_ and +_Remus_? I don't!" + +"Don't talk about it beforehand," said Gem; "let's pretend it's the +very first day of vacation." + +"Oh, what dismal faces!" said Aunt Faith, laughing. "School is not +such a trial after all. I should be sorry to hear you spell +deficiency, 'd-e-f-i-s-h-u-n-s-y,' as Annie Chase did, Gem." + +"Or to say, '_il est la plus mauvais garcon que je sais de_,' as +Jennie Fish did," added Gem, laughing at the remembrance. + +"Or like Ed. Willis in the Bible class, last term," said Tom. "Mr. +Stone was talking about the Jews and Gentiles. 'I'm not a Gentile,' +said Ed. getting real mad; 'I'm a Presbyterian.'" + +Everybody laughed at this story, and Aunt Faith said "You are as +liable to make mistakes as the rest, children, so do not complain +about your lessons, but rather try to make them a pleasure. +School-days will be soon over," and she looked at Hugh with a half +sigh. + +"Come along, Gem," said Tom, when he had finished his breakfast. +"Let's have all the fun we can to-day; let's crowd it in, and pack it +down tight. We'll get all the B. B.'s and have a regular training day +in the back yard." + +The children vanished, and their merry voices came back through the +open windows where the others still sat at the table. + +"The boat leaves at seven," said Hugh, pushing away his plate, and +leaning back in his chair. "I am something like Tom; I feel like +'_crowding_' my last day with pleasant things, and 'packing them in +tight.' I hardly know where to begin." + +"I will tell you; begin with the morning and give it to me in the +studio," said Bessie. + +"Oh no," said Sibyl; "Hugh is going to finish that bracket for me." + +"Hugh will not go away without keeping his promise to me; there is +some unfinished reading for him in my room," said Aunt Faith with a +smile. + +"My face, my hands, and my tongue are all in demand, it seems," said +Hugh, laughing. "We never know how much we are valued until it is too +late to fix our price, as the Irishman said, when he lost both arms +and could no longer saw wood for his family. I cannot subdivide +myself, so I had better subdivide the time." + +"Well then, Hugh, I spoke first. Walk right upstairs," said Bessie, +leading the way. + +"Will you walk into my parlor, said the spider to the fly," sang Hugh, +as he followed her. "I go, Bessie, from sheer compassion for my nose; +you have made it Grecian, and I am sure it is Roman!" + +"How gay they seem," said Sibyl, as they disappeared, "and yet Bessie +will miss Hugh sadly. They have been devoted companions since +childhood, and through our school-days Bessie was always looking +forward to vacation, and spending her spare time in writing letters to +Hugh. They have, of course, been parted for months together, but this +parting is different. Hugh will be back again soon, and he may make us +many visits, but still his home will now be in New York, and, absorbed +in his new duties, and in the new interests and attractions of a great +city, he will no longer be the same." + +"Yes; I too feel this, Sibyl," said Aunt Faith; "I feel it very +deeply. My child, my little boy, will go from me forever, when I say +good-bye to Hugh to-night. The young man, the kind nephew, the +successful merchant may all come back at different times, but the +little boy, never! Hugh is very dear to me. It is hard to let him go. +God grant that in the dangers of his new life, he may be preserved. We +can only pray for him, Sibyl." + +Two tears rolled down Aunt Faith's cheeks, but she hastily wiped them +away as Sibyl kissed her affectionately. "Dear Aunt Faith," she said, +"do not be down-hearted. Hugh has the seeds in his heart planted by +your faithful hand, and although they have not blossomed yet, I feel +sure they are growing." + +"Yes, dear; I cannot help feeling as you do," replied Aunt Faith, +trying to smile. But her heart was heavy. + +Upstairs in the studio Bessie was painting rapidly, while Hugh in the +old arm-chair sat gazing out through the open window, much as he had +done on that bright June morning three months before, when Bessie had +confessed the secret of the unpaid bill. + +"How does the picture progress, Queen Bess?" he asked. + +"Very well, excepting the eyes; I cannot get the right expression, I +have tried over and over again. They are never the same two minutes at +a time; I almost wish they were made of glass," said Bessie +impatiently. + +"Then I would be the bully boy with a glass eye," said Hugh, laughing. + +"And a wax nose," said Bessie. + +"And a tin ear," continued Hugh. + +"And a cork leg," added Bessie. + +"And a brass arm, finis," said Hugh; "the weather is too warm for +further studies in anatomy." + +"What does it all mean, anyway, Hugh? I have heard Tom and his friends +say the whole string over and over again with the greatest apparent +satisfaction; but to me they convey not a shadow of an idea." + +"Nor to any one else, I imagine," said Hugh. "If the phrases ever had +any meaning, it has long ago vanished into obscurity. I have seen +explanations given of many popular terms but never of these. After I +am gone, though, Bessie, you had better give up slang. It is all very +well with me, and to tell the truth, _I_ have taught you all you know, +but it would not do with any one else." + +"Just as though I should ever speak a word of it to any one else," +said Bessie indignantly. "With you, it is different; you are like +another myself." + +"_Alter_ ego," said Hugh. + +"I don't know anything about alter ego, but I know I shall miss you +dreadfully," said Bessie, throwing down her brush as the thought of +Hugh's departure came into her mind with vivid distinctness. + +"I shall be back again in November, Bessie." + +"Yes; but only for a day or two." + +"Perhaps I shall come home in the spring, also." + +"But it won't be the same. You will change,--I know you will," +murmured Bessie, with a half sob. + +"I shall not change towards any of you here at home, but of course I +shall grow older, and I hope I shall improve. You remember all I told +you about my plans for the future?" + +"Yes, Hugh. But it is such a long way off." + +"It does not seem long to me, Bessie; I have so much to accomplish +that the time will be short. I love to look forward,--I love to think +of all I shall do, of all the beautiful things I shall buy,--of all +the unfortunate people I shall help. I shall succeed,--I know I shall +succeed, because I shall work with all my might and main,--and also +because I shall try to do so much good with my money." + +"Yes; but all this time where shall we be? Where shall I be?" said +Bessie, sadly. + +"You shall come down to visit me with Aunt Faith: you have only one +more year of school-life, and then you can spend a part of every +winter in New York." + +"That will be nice," said Bessie, slowly, taking up her brush again; +but, child-like, the present seemed more to her than the future. Hugh +was silent, gazing out through the window 'over the summer +landscape,--the pasture, the grove, and the distant lake. "Aunt Faith +will miss you," said Bessie, after a pause. + +"Dear Aunt Faith," replied Hugh, "she does not know how much I love +her! She will miss me, but I shall miss her still more. All my life +she has been my guardian angel. And to think how I have deceived her!" + +"Oh, Hugh, such little things!" + +"The principle is the same. I think, before I go, I will tell her +all,--all the numerous escapades we have been engaged in; then I shall +have a clear conscience to start with. After I am gone, Bessie, you +will not be tempted to transgress in that way, and who knows but that +we shall turn out quite well-behaved people in our old age." + +"I have tempted you, not you me, Hugh." + +"Call it even, then. Why! what are you crying about, Brownie?" + +"You are going away,--you are going away!" was all that Bessie could +say. + +Hugh's eyes softened as he saw his cousin's grief. "Don't cry, dear," +he said gently. "We shall not be parted long. And while we are parted, +I want to think that you are happy, that you, too, are trying to +improve as I am trying. I want to think that my little Bessie is +growing into a stately, beautiful Elizabeth. You are part of my +future, dear, and you can help me to succeed." + +"How, Hugh?" said Bessie, wiping away her tears. + +"By being happy, trying to improve yourself, and writing me all you +are doing. Such letters will be very pleasant to me when I am working +hard in the great city. We have never, either of us, taken a serious +view of life, but for once, to-day, I feel very serious, Bessie; I am +going to try to be good,--I am going to try to be a good man. And I +want you to try and be good too." + +"I will try, Hugh," whispered Bessie, affected by his serious tone. + +"That is right. And now let us have no more sadness to spoil my last +day at home. Whatever the future may bring to me,--and I have full +confidence in the future, you know,--all of you here at home will have +the first place in my heart. I have a great many plans, and all of +them are bright; I have a great many hopes, and all of them are +certain; life seems very beautiful to me, and I thank my Creator for +my health and strength. I ask nothing better than what lies before me, +and I am willing to take the labor for the pleasures it will bring." + +Hugh paused, and an expression of glowing hope lit up his face and +shone in his blue eyes. Bessie seized her brush, and, filled with a +sudden inspiration, worked intently at her portrait for some time in +silence. + +"There is the first dinner-bell, Queen Bess," said Hugh; "I have idled +away the whole morning up here. Good-bye, little studio," he +continued, rising as he spoke; "I hope one day to see you altered into +a beautiful, luxurious abode of art, filled with striking pictures, +the work of America's greatest artist, Elizabeth Darrell!" + +"If I should paint the best pictures in the world, you would not allow +my name to be connected with them in public, Hugh. You are so +prejudiced." + +"Prejudiced, is it? Well, perhaps it is. I own I do not think that +types adorn a woman's name. A woman ought not to appear 'in the +papers' but twice; when she marries, and when she dies." + +"So if she don't marry, she never has a chance of being anybody until +she is dead; I don't call that fair, Hugh." + +"Surely, Elizabeth Darrell, you are not shrieking for suffrage!" + +"Never!" said Bessie, "I'm only shrieking for my name." + +"What's in a name!" replied Hugh, laughing. "Paint away, little +artist; I will buy all your pictures, and pay you so well for them +that you won't care for fame. By the way, am I not to ------ + +[Transcriber's Note: There is some dialogue missing here, although +there are no pages missing in the images.] + +"No," replied Bessie, moving the easel; "but I've got your eyes at +last!" + +"I'm glad of that; good-bye, Brownie," and Hugh ran off down the +stairs to prepare for dinner. + +"And my bracket!" said Sibyl, as he came into the dining-room. + +"And my poems!" added Aunt Faith, with a smile. + +"All in good time, ladies," replied Hugh. "The first hour after dinner +is to be devoted to packing; the second, to Sibyl and her bracket; the +third, to Aunt Faith and her book; the fourth I give to the family as +a collective whole, and all the rest of the time I reserve for tea, +general farewells, and embarkation." + +"Highly systematic! You are practicing business habits already, I +see," said Sibyl. + +"The B. B.'s are all coming to see you off, Hugh," said Tom. + +"What an honor! I am overwhelmed with the attention of the band! What +time may I expect them?" + +"A little after six. They are going to form on both sides of the front +walk, and hurrah like troopers." + +"Oh Hugh, I am real sorry you are going," said Gem suddenly, dropping +her knife and fork as though the idea had only just become a reality +to her. "I shall hate to see your empty chair in the morning when I +come down to breakfast; I know I shall." + +There was an ominous tremor in Gem's voice as she spoke. + +"Come, little girl, no tears," said Hugh, bending to kiss his little +cousin; "everybody must be cheerful or I shall not like it. And as for +the chair, take it out of the room if you like, but be sure and bring +it back in November when I come home again." + +"I'll keep it in my room, and bring it down myself the day you come +home," said Gem eagerly. + +A little after three, Hugh tapped at Sibyl's door. "Is it you, +brother? Come in," said Sibyl, and entering, Hugh sat down by the +table and began to work on the half-finished bracket. They talked on +many subjects, but principally on Hugh's New York life, and his plans +for the future; then gradually they spoke of November, and the +approaching wedding-day. "Before I go, Sibyl, I want to tell you in so +many words how pleased I am to give you into Mr. Leslie's care. If I +could have chosen from all the world, I know no one to whom I would +more willingly have given my only sister; no one so welcome as a +brother-in-law." + +"How glad I am that you feel so, Hugh," said Sibyl warmly. + +"And you yourself Sibyl; you have improved so much. It is not often +that brothers and sisters express the affection they feel for each +other, but you know I do not believe in such reserve, and I want you +to know, dear, how thoroughly I appreciate the change in you. Leaving +you, as I must, it is very pleasant to think that my one sister is +growing into a noble good woman, such as our mother would have wished +to have her." + +Sibyl threw her arms around Hugh's neck; she was much moved. In her +new life and new love, her brother had become doubly dear to her, and +perhaps for the first time, she realized how much she loved him. + +"No tears, I hope, sister," said Hugh, gently raising her head. "This +is my 'good-bye' to you, dear. You know I do not like formal +leave-taking. Here is your little bracket all done, but I shall bring +you a better present from New York, a set of wedding pearls. You will +have to wear them if I give them to you, although you are a +clergyman's wife." + +Aunt Faith was sitting by the window in her room when she heard her +nephew's step outside. "Come in!" she said; and when he entered she +pointed to a chair next her own. "My dear boy, I cannot realize that +you are going to leave me." + +"Only for a few weeks, Aunt Faith; I shall be back in November." + +"Not to stay, dear. No, I feel that this is our first real separation, +although for years you have been absent at school and college many +months at a time. You are the first to leave the old stone house,--the +first bird to fly away from the nest." + +"I am the oldest, aunt, and therefore naturally the first to go." + +"That is true, but the old bird feels none the less sad." + +"You must not feel sad, Aunt Faith; the future looks very bright to +me. Let me tell you all my plans." Sitting there in the quiet room, +the young spirit full of hope, told to the old spirit full of +resignation, all its bright dreams and plans. + +"I hope they will all come true, dear," said Aunt Faith, after they +had talked long on these subjects. + +"I hope,--I think they will, if human energy can bring it about. But +now, aunt, to look back on the past, I want to make a confession to +you, I want you to hear and forgive me before I go." + +Then Hugh told of all the secret horseback rides, and many other wild +adventures of past years, in which he and Bessie had each borne a +part. "It has been all my fault, Aunt Faith," he said, as he +concluded. "I was the elder and the stronger, and I led Bessie on. +Without me she would have done none of those things. Poor little +Bessie! she is very dear to me. You will be kind to her when I am +gone?" + +"I will, Hugh. I, too, am very fond of Bessie. But do not take all the +blame upon yourself; she is by nature rash and way ward." + +"I know she is, aunt. But, at the same time, if it had not been for my +influence, Bessie would have been a very different girl; if she had +thought that I disapproved of any of her actions that would have been +the last of them, whereas instead of this, I have encouraged her. +Whatever the blame may be I take it all upon myself. But Bessie is +changing, I think; you will have no trouble with her hereafter, she +will grow into a noble woman yet. And now, aunt, I will leave no work +undone, but finish that volume, if you wish it." + +So saying, Hugh took up the book which Aunt Faith had placed ready for +him, and began reading aloud; he read well, and it was one of her +greatest pleasures to listen to him. She often kept volumes by her +side for weeks with the pages uncut, waiting until he could find time +to read them aloud. "And now I will say good-bye!" said Hugh, as he +finished the little book; "you know I dislike formal leave-takings in +the presence of all the family." + +"Good-bye, my dear boy!" said Aunt Faith, with a motherly embrace. +"May God bless you and keep you in all your ways, in danger, sickness, +temptation and perplexity, for the sake of His dear Son, our Saviour +Jesus Christ. Oh, Hugh, can you not gladden my heart by saying those +two sentences before you go,--you know what I mean?" + +"I will try to say them soon, aunt. I feel that I have changed lately, +but I want to know that it is not the mere excitement of parting and +anticipation of a new life which has affected me. I am going to try +hard to be a good man,--indeed I am; and if I find that these new +feelings outlast my present excitement, I will write you word. +Sometimes I almost feel as though I could make my public profession of +faith now; but the next two months will show me the exact truth, and +perhaps, Aunt Faith, the time of Sibyl's wedding will also be the time +when I shall come forward to join the church." + +"God be thanked," said Aunt Faith, fervently; "the feelings will last, +Hugh, for they are holy and true. Go, my boy; I give you up freely +now, for you are virtually enrolled in the army of the Lord, and He +will aid you in all times of trial if you call upon Him." + +A little before six all the family, together with Mr. Leslie, +assembled in the sitting-room; there was an undercurrent of sadness in +their minds, but Hugh would allow no melancholy words or looks. + +"First we will have tea, then Bessie shall play 'Bonnie Dundee' for +us, then we will all make a triumphal arch of flowers through which I +shall pass, in token of the grand success which awaits me in the +mercantile world, and then I shall go. No one must accompany me to the +boat; I want to see you all on the piazza as the carriage drives away, +and if there is so much as one tear-drop, I shall know it and be ready +to inflict condign punishment therefor," said Hugh, laying down the +law with a magisterial air. + +Tea was soon over, and then Bessie with trembling fingers managed, +with severe self-control, to play 'Bonnie Dundee' to the end without a +tear. Another note, however, she could not play, but replaced the +cover of her harp in silence. Then Tom and Gem brought in from the +garden all the flowers they could find, and a long wreath was made and +twined around and over the two pillars of the front piazza. + +"There comes the carriage!" said Tom, "and there come the B. B.'s, +too. Here, boys, form on both sides of the walk; Hugh's going in a +minute." + +The trunk was carried out, and Hugh took up his coat and valise. "Now +I want you all to come out on the piazza," he said. "Aunt Faith, here +is your chair. Gem, you stand by Aunt Faith's side: Sibyl and John, +please stand opposite to them; and Tom,--where is Tom?" + +"Here I am!" answered Tom from the back of the house; "I'm getting the +dogs together for the group." + +"That's right, the dogs by all means, for they are an important part +of the family," said Hugh, laughing. "Sit over that side, Tom, and +keep them by you. Bessie, I want you to stand in the centre just under +the arch; there, that is perfect. I shall turn round and look at you +all when I reach the gate." So saying, Hugh bent down and kissed +Bessie's pale cheek, and then passing under the arch, walked rapidly +down the long garden-walk. The B. B.'s in martial array on either +side, gave him three cheers as he passed, and when he reached the gate +he turned and looked back with a smile, waving his hat in token of +farewell. In another moment he was gone, then the carriage rolled down +the street out of sight, and Aunt Faith, rising, said solemnly, "May +God bless our dear Hugh, now and forever." + +"Amen," said Mr. Leslie. + +Bessie had disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE HOME-COMING. + + +"A forlorn, gloomy day," said Bessie at the breakfast-table the next +morning, "and I'm glad of it!" + +"I don't know that I care," said Tom. "When a fellow has got to go to +school, it don't make much difference." + +"It must have rained very hard in the night," said Sibyl, looking out +into the garden where the vine-leaves were strewed all over the +ground. + +"It rained, but there was not much wind," replied Aunt Faith; "I was +awake part of the night and listened to the storm. There was not wind +enough to make any sea, and Hugh is probably in B------ by this time." + +"What a jolly ride he will have on the cars to-day, whirling through +the country and getting nearer to New York every mile, while I am +digging away at these old books," said Tom discontentedly. + +"Hurry, children!" said Aunt Faith, looking at the clock; "you must +not be late the very first day of school." + +"Here comes Mr. Leslie!" called out Tom, slinging his books over his +shoulder. + +"John is very early this morning," said Sibyl, going out to meet him +as he came up the walk. + +"That is the way it will be all the time now, I suppose," said Bessie +with some irritation; "Hugh gone, and Sibyl so absorbed that she is +good for nothing as a companion. Aunt Faith, you and I are like the +last roses of summer left blooming alone." + +Aunt Faith smiled. She was very gentle with Bessie this morning; she +remembered her promise to Hugh, and she saw also that the young girl +was suffering under her share of the sorrow of parting, a sorrow +always heavier for the one that stays than for the one who goes. + +"I shall go upstairs and paint," said Bessie after a pause; "I +succeeded at last in giving the right expression to Hugh's eyes. You +may see the picture, now, Aunt Faith; it is so like him." + +At this moment Mr. Leslie came into the sitting-room, but Sibyl was +not with him; his face was pale, he went up to Aunt Faith and took her +hand with tender solemnity. + +"What is it?" she asked, sinking into a chair; her voice was quiet, +she had too often endured affliction not to recognize its messenger at +a glance. Mr. Leslie, in his ministration in times of trouble, had +learned never to hide or alter the plain truth. + +"The morning boat from B------ has just come in," he said. "The +captain reports that the evening boat of the same line, the _America_, +which left Westerton last night, collided with a schooner off Shoreton +about midnight, and sank in ten minutes. The night was very dark, but +many of the passengers were picked up by the 'Empire' as she came +along two hours afterward, some clinging to fragments of the wreck, +and some in one of the _America's_ small boats. The other boats are +missing, but there is hope that they are safe, as the storm was not +severe, and the lake is now quite calm. The rescued passengers think +that some may have been picked up by a propeller whose lights they saw +in the distance." + +"You have come to tell us that Hugh is among the rescued," said Aunt +Faith in a faint voice, hoping against hope. + +"Hugh is drowned!" said Bessie with hard, cold distinctness; then she +sat down by the table and buried her face in her hands. + +"Hugh is not among those brought back by the 'Empire,'" said Mr. +Leslie, "but I have strong hope that he is safe. Tugs have already +started for the scene of the accident, the water is still at summer +heat, and besides, among the many vessels and propellers constantly +passing over that very spot, there is every probability that many have +been picked up before this time. Hugh is very strong, and an excellent +swimmer, also." + +"Hugh is drowned!" said Bessie in the same hard voice; "He will never +come back to us alive." + +"Bessie, Bessie!" cried Sibyl, rushing into the room, "you shall not, +you dare not say such cruel words!" Sibyl's face was discolored with +violent weeping, and her whole frame shook with agitation; she and her +cousin seemed to have changed places, for Bessie did not shed a tear. + +"I say what is true," she answered; "Hugh is drowned! Hugh is dead!" + +Mr. Leslie went over to her, and took her cold hand; "Bessie," he said +gently, "why do you give up all hope? There are a great many chances +for Hugh." + +"Go away!" said Bessie in the same dull monotone; "Hugh is dead, I +tell you! Go put crape on the door!" + +"She is ill," said Mr. Leslie in a low tone to Aunt Faith; "you had +better take her upstairs." + +Aunt Faith roused herself from her own grief; "come, dear," she said, +rising. + +"I shall not go," said Bessie; "I shall wait here for Hugh." + +At this moment Tom and Gem ran into the room. + +"Oh, Aunt Faith! what is it?" began Tom. "We met some boys and they +told us that the _America_ was run into last night." + +Gem looked at Bessie and Sibyl, and then without a word, she sat down +in her little chair and began to cry bitterly. Aunt Faith could not +answer Tom, the sound of Gem's violent weeping, and Sibyl's sobs, +seemed to choke the words on her lips. + +"I don't believe a word of it!" cried Tom indignantly. "Hugh can swim +better than any one in Westerton, and he's as strong as a lion! I'm +going right down to the dock, and you'll see him coming back with me +before night." + +"Hugh is dead!" said Bessie again; "Hugh is dead!" + +The hours passed slowly in those long minutes of weary waiting in +which young hearts grow into old age in a single day. Friends and +neighbors flocked into the old stone house, and their voices were +hushed as they came and went with kindly but useless sympathy. Mr. +Leslie had gone to the scene of the accident on a fast tug, +accompanied by some of Hugh's young companions, and as, during the +day, different vessels came into port, they were boarded by anxious +friends and the latest reports eagerly sought. The bank of the lake +was thronged, people stood there with glasses, in spite of the steady +rain, scanning the eastern horizon in the hope of discovering the +smoke of approaching propellers. Others had friends on board the +_America_ besides the family at the old stone house. But Hugh was well +known and well liked, and his was the only young life among those +still missing from Westerton; the others were middled-aged or old, and +with that universal sympathy which the death of a bright vigorous +youth always awakens, the whole town mourned for Hugh, and stories of +his generous, manly nature, flew from mouth to mouth, until even +strangers felt that they knew him. + +At five o'clock a tug returned bringing a man and wife exhausted with +twelve hours in the water lashed to floating spars; but they soon +revived, and the good news flew through the city, and friends told it +to the family in the old stone house, clustered together around +Bessie, who had not changed her attitude or tasted food since morning. +"If they were saved, why not Hugh?" they said hopefully. + +"Hugh is dead!" repeated Bessie; "they will bring him home, poor +drowned Hugh!" Sibyl broke forth into violent weeping, and Aunt Faith +shuddered at Bessie's words. "Can you not persuade Bessie to go +upstairs and lie down?" said a lady friend, looking apprehensively at +the young girl's fixed eyes. + +Aunt Faith shook her head. "We must leave her to herself for the +present," she answered sadly; "her grief is beyond expression now." + +Later in the day, the tug Mr. Leslie had taken was sighted from the +bank, and a crowd assembled on the dock, with the feeling that +suspense would soon be over. + +"They would not have come back so soon unless they had found him," +said one; "they would have cruised around there for a day or two as +long as there was any hope." + +"But they don't hoist any signal," said another; "they must know we +are waiting here." + +The little tug came rapidly in, watched by hundreds of eyes, and when +at last she approached the dock, the anxiety grew intense. There came +no shout from those on board, the quiet was ominous, and, chilled by a +sudden awe, the crowd stepped back, and awaited the result in silence. +The boat was made fast, and then, after a short delay, the young men +came forth bearing the shrouded form of their late companion, now +still in death. Hugh was dead, then? Yes, Hugh was dead! + +But he had not died in vain, and the story of his death was repeated +from mouth to mouth throughout the city; women heard it and sobbed +aloud, as they held their darlings closer; men heard it and spoke a +few brief words of praise and regret to which their wet eyes gave +emphasis. + +About half-past eleven the previous night, the _America_ had been +struck amidships by an unknown schooner driving down unseen in the +intense darkness of the storm. Most of the passengers had gone to +their state-rooms, but Hugh was still in the cabin; rushing out on +deck he saw and heard that the boat would sink, and, accompanied by +the captain, ran back through the cabin, arousing the passengers and +telling them of the danger. In an instant all was confusion, agony, +and despair; some of the men leaped overboard, but the women with +their instinctive shrinking from the dark water, could not be +persuaded to leave the deck. A few passengers and part of the crew got +off in one of the small boats, but the other boats were swamped by the +rush into them; a cry went up that the steamer was sinking, and Hugh +was seen to jump overboard with a little child in his arms, a baby +whose mother had held it imploringly towards him, as he tried to +persuade her to take the dangerous leap. "Take the child," she said; +"I will follow you," and then as they disappeared, with a wild cry the +poor woman flung herself over after them. In the mean time the captain +and some of the hands and passengers had ascended to the hurricane +deck, and when the _America_ sank, the force of the waves separated +the deck from the hull, and it floated off, a frail support for the +little group it carried. The lake was strewn with fragments, spars and +barrels, and to these many persons were clinging. Hugh had managed to +secure a piece of broken mast with spars attached, and with its aid he +supported the mother and child until an iron-bound cask, caught in the +cordage, struck him heavily in the darkness. The mother heard him +groan, and his grasp loosened, "Quick!" he said hoarsely; "I cannot +hold you. I must fasten you with these floating ropes; I am badly +hurt, but I think I can hold the child." + +He bound the ropes and rigging about her, and told her how she could +best support herself; then he was silent, but every now and then she +heard him moaning as though in pain. How long they floated in this way +the mother could not tell; it seemed to her many hours,--it was, in +reality, less than four. They saw the lights of the _Empire_ in the +distance, but they could not make themselves heard, although they +shouted with all their strength. At the first glimmering of dawn they +discovered the hurricane deck not far distant, and Hugh said, "shout +with all your might. I cannot hold on much longer, my head is on +fire!" So the mother exerted all her strength in a piercing scream, +and to her joy, an answering cry came back through the rain. Hugh made +an effort to steer the spars towards the floating deck, and those on +board pushed their raft towards him as well as they could. Still it +was slow work, and as the dawn grew brighter, the mother saw her +preserver's haggard face, and the blood matted in his curly hair. He +did not speak, as, holding the baby in one arm, with the other he +tried to guide the broken mast, but his eyes were strangely glazed and +the shadow of death was on his brow. They reached the deck at last, +and kind hands lifted them on board; it was only a raft, but it seemed +a support after the deep, dark water. The mother took her baby, and +Hugh sank down at her feet. Some one had a flask of brandy, and they +succeeded in pouring a little through his clenched teeth; after a +moment or two he revived, sat up, looked about him, and murmured some +incoherent words. Then he tried to take out his little note-book, but +it was wet, and the pencil was gone; the captain gave him his own, and +Hugh had scrawled a few words upon it, spoke to the mother and smiled +when she held up the child. But gradually he relapsed into +unconsciousness, grew more and more death-like, and, after breathing +heavily for an hour, passed away without a struggle. The mother and +her child were safe; all the others on the floating deck were +rescued,--but Hugh, dear Hugh was dead! + +Mr. Leslie had preceded the funeral cortege by a few moments; slowly +he alighted from the carriage and passed up the garden-walk towards +the old stone house. His heart was heavy, and words of comfort came +not to his lips; in the presence of so great a sorrow he bowed his +head in silence. The friends who were in the house, came out to meet +him, but no one spoke; they knew by his face that the worst was true. +They did not follow him into the presence of the mourners, but going +down to the gate, they waited there. + +Mr. Leslie entered the sitting-room. "The Lord gave and the Lord hath +taken away," he said solemnly. "Blessed be the name of the Lord. Hugh, +our dear Hugh is dead." + +Sibyl screamed and fell back fainting, the children burst into tears, +and Aunt Faith knelt down by her chair and hid her face in her hands. +Bessie alone was calm. "Are they bringing him home?" she asked, +lifting her tearless eyes to Mr. Leslie's face. + +"Yes Bessie; they will soon be here, now." + +Without reply she rose, smoothed her disordered curls and arranged her +dress. "Sibyl," she said, "do not cry; Hugh never could bear to hear +any one cry! Aunt Faith, Hugh is coming. Let us go to meet him." + +Her strange composure awed the violent grief of the others into +silence, and they followed her mechanically as she led the way to the +piazza; involuntarily they all took the positions of the previous +evening, and, with Bessie standing alone in the centre, they waited +for their dead. + +The young men bore their burden up the walk slowly and solemnly, and +behind followed a train of sorrowing friends, two and two, thus +rendering respect to the youth who had so suddenly been taken from +them in all the flush and vigor of early manhood. On came the sad +procession, and when the bearers reached the piazza, the friends fell +back and stood with uncovered heads, as up the steps, and under the +faded triumphal arch, Hugh Warrington came home for the last time to +the old stone house. + +At midnight Aunt Faith went softly into the parlor; a faint light +shone from the chandelier upon the still figure beneath, and Bessie +with her face hidden in her hands, sat by its side. She did not move +as Aunt Faith came to her; she did not answer when Aunt Faith spoke to +her; she seemed almost as cold and rigid as the dead. + +"Bessie dear, I have something to show you," said Aunt Faith, in a low +tone; "I have a letter to you from Hugh." + +Bessie started and looked up; her face was pinched and colorless, and +her dark eyes wild and despairing. + +"I have a letter to you, dear, from Hugh," repeated Aunt Faith; "he +wrote it on board the floating deck just before he died." + +"Give it to me," said Bessie hoarsely, holding out her cold hands. + +"In a moment, dear. Come upstairs with me and you shall see it," +answered Aunt Faith, trying to lead her away. But Bessie resisted +wildly. "I will not go!" she said. "I shall stay with Hugh until the +last. Give me my letter! It is mine! You have no right to keep it. +Give it to me, I say!" + +Alarmed at the expression of her eyes, Aunt Faith took out the +captain's note-book, opened it, and handed it to her niece. The words +were scrawled across the page in irregular lines; there seemed to be +two paragraphs. The first was this: "Bessie, try to be good, dear; I +love you." The second: "I can say the two sentences, Aunt Faith,--I am +saying them now.--Hugh." + +The writing was trembling and indistinct, and the last words barely +legible; the signature was but a blur. + +As Bessie deciphered the two messages, a sudden tremor shook her +frame; then she read them over again, speaking the words aloud as if +to give them reality. "Oh Hugh! Hugh!" she cried, "how can I live +without you!" + +With a quick movement, Aunt Faith turned up the gas and threw back the +pall; then she put her arms around the desolate girl and raised her to +her feet. "Look at him, Bessie!" she said earnestly; "look at dear +Hugh, and think how hard it must have been for him to write those +words, how hard he must have tried, how much he must have loved you!" + +Hugh's face was calm, the curling, golden hair concealed the cruel +wound on his temple, and there was a beautiful expression about the +mouth, that strange peace which sometimes comes after death, as if +sent to comfort the mourners. His right hand, bruised by the hard +night's work, was covered with vine-leaves, but the left, the hand +that had held the little child, was folded across his breast; he was +dressed as he had been in life, and some one had placed a cross on his +heart,--a little cross of ivy simply twined. "My soldier, true soldier +of the cross," murmured Aunt Faith, stooping to kiss the cold brow. +"In those hours it all became clear to you. 'Lord, I believe, help +Thou mine unbelief;'--'Lord be merciful to me a sinner.' With these +two sentences on your lips, you passed into another country. Farewell, +Hugh! You will not return to us, but we shall go to you." + +Bessie had not raised her head from Aunt Faith's shoulder. She had not +looked upon Hugh since they brought him home, and now she stood +holding the note-book in her hands, and trembling convulsively. + +"Look at him, Bessie," said Aunt Faith again; "look at dear Hugh. He +is speaking to you now, in that dying message." + +At last Bessie raised her head and looked upon the still face long and +earnestly; then, throwing herself down upon her knees, she burst into +a passion of wild grief, calling upon Hugh, beseeching him to speak to +her, and listening for his answer in vain. Aunt Faith did not try to +check her, for these were her first tears; she knew they would relieve +that tension of the head and heart, which, if long continued, must +have ended in physical and mental prostration. After a few moments, +Sibyl came in, and the two watched over Bessie until she sank +exhausted to the floor, when they lifted her slight form and bore her +upstairs. + +Then, from the sitting-room, two of Hugh's friends came in, turned +down the light, covered the still face, and went back to keep their +watch in the desolate hours of mourning. + +The sun was sinking towards the west in unclouded brightness when a +throng gathered in the old stone house to pay their last tribute of +respect to the dead. "Fitz Hugh Warrington, aged twenty years and ten +months," said the inscription on the coffin-lid, and many tears +dropped upon it, as, one by one, the friends bent over to take a +farewell look at the handsome face with its clustering golden hair. +Then came the voice of the aged pastor, reading the words of the +Gospel of St. John,--Hugh's favorite chapter, the fourteenth. A hymn +followed,--Hugh's favorite hymn, "Brightest and best of the sons of +the morning," and then they all knelt in prayer, the fervent prayer +mingled with tears which ascends from the house where the dearest one +of all is dead. + +Mr. Leslie took no part in the services; he stood with Sibyl as one of +the family. Aunt Faith leaned upon the arm of Mr. Hastings, who had +come from New York immediately upon hearing of the accident. Tom and +Gem stood together, but Bessie was alone; she wished no support, she +said; she only wanted to stay by Hugh until the last. So they let her +stand by the head of the coffin alone,--alone with her dead, and with +her God. + +Then came another hymn, and slowly the bearers lifted all that was +left of their friend, and bore it forth under the same faded +flower-arch, and down the garden-walk, where the throng made way for +them on either side as they passed. + +The sun was setting, and, standing on the piazza, the choir sang,-- + + Abide with me; fast falls the even tide, + The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide; + When other helpers fail, and comforts Bee, + Help of the helpless, Oh abide with me. + + I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless, + Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness; + Where is death's sting, where, grave, thy victory? + I triumph still, if Thou abide with me." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +CONCLUSION. + + +A year had passed, and the colored leaves were dropping for the second +time upon Hugh's grave. Aunt Faith and Bessie were in the sitting-room +of the old stone house, and the voices of Tom and Gem sounded through +the open hall-door from the back garden, where they were sitting under +the oak-tree. Hugh's portrait stood upon an easel, with living ivy +growing around it from the little bracket which he had made that last +day of summer. The afternoon sun struck the picture, and gave it a +vivid realistic expression; Bessie saw it, and laying down her work, +looked lovingly into the bright face. "It is very like Hugh, is it +not, Aunt Faith?" she said at last. + +Aunt Faith put on her glasses, and drew nearer the easel. "It is +indeed a wonderful likeness, especially the eyes," she replied. "How +came you to succeed so well?" + +"I had been working at it all summer, aunt, but the eyes I could not +copy to my satisfaction, they varied so constantly. It was Hugh's last +day at home; don't you remember how I begged for the morning? He was +sitting in the old arm-chair by the window, looking out towards the +lake, talking about the future; he was so full of life and hope that +morning,--so sure of success,--so happy in the thought of the good he +could accomplish, that his eyes fairly shone. Something came over me; +I took the brush, and, by a sudden inspiration, I succeeded in copying +the expression exactly." + +"It is a comfort to have the picture," said Aunt Faith, "and a blessed +thought that we shall see that dear face again, and know it when we +see it." + +"You believe so, aunt? So do I. I believe that we shall love each +other there as here, only far, far better. To be with those we love, +away from affliction, care, and temptation,--that is heaven." + +"I often think of the meetings there, Bessie. Hugh found his father +and his mother there. While we were mourning here, they were rejoicing +there." + +"I no longer mourn, Aunt Faith; I have found comfort." + +"I know that, my dear, and am thankful for it; but you are sad at +times." + +"I feel sad over myself, aunt, over my loneliness, and my faults. I +feel sorry for myself as one feels sorry for a child; I sympathize +with myself as though I was another person. Sometimes it seems as if +my soul sat apart peaceful and quiet, while all the rest of me gave +way to deep despondency. But all the while I know that Hugh is safe; +that I shall go to him, and that through the mercy of our Saviour we +shall find eternal joy. And I always try to remember that Hugh +disliked morbid grief; that he used to say the world was a beautiful +place; that we had no right to despise it; that as long as we were in +it, it was our duty to make others happy and be happy ourselves. +Therefore I try to be cheerful, and when I think of Hugh, I am +cheerful. It is only when I think of myself that despondency comes +back to me." + +"You have done well, dear," said Aunt Faith; "I have seen your +struggles, and rejoiced over your victories. I have confidence in you, +Bessie, and if I am called away, I can leave the children in your +charge with an easy heart." + +"They are no longer children, Aunt Faith." + +"True! Gem is thirteen, but she will need watchful care for many years +yet. And Tom, although tall and strong, is still a thorough boy at +heart, and the next five or six years are full of danger for him." + +"Tom is a fine fellow," said Bessie warmly; "he is full of generosity +and courage." + +"Yes, but there are corresponding dangers for his sanguine +temperament. However, although still young, he has an earnest faith; +Hugh's death was a lesson which he will never forget, and all though +he may often go astray, I feel sure he will _come_ back again at the +last. Gem, too, is one of the lambs of the flock; she has improved +greatly the past year. I have had deep cause to be thankful, and I am +thankful," said Aunt Faith, folding her hands reverently. "The +children Thou gavest to me are all Thine; Thou hast cared for them and +brought them to a knowledge of Thy goodness. One hast Thou taken, the +dearest of all; taken him away from trouble to come. Lord, I thank +Thee, for all Thy goodness." As Aunt Faith murmured these words, she +leaned back in her chair and closed her own heart in silence. + +After a few moments, Bessie went out on the piazza to welcome Mr. +Leslie and Sibyl as they came up the walk. + +"Aunt Faith is resting in her chair," she said, smiling; "we will sit +out here, if you please. How well you look, Sibyl!" + +Mrs. Leslie threw off her bonnet, and the light shone in her golden +hair. She looked well, better than she had ever looked as Sibyl +Warrington; for, although her skin had lost something of its extreme +delicacy, her face had gained in animation, and her manners in +cordiality, so that people who could not love her before, loved her +now with sincere affection. Her beautiful hair was coiled gracefully +around her head, and she was dressed with as much care as ever, for +Sibyl was Sibyl still, and could no more change her love for harmony +and taste than the leopard could change his spots. But everything +_was_ simple, inexpensive, and fashioned by her own fingers, so that +although all admired, not even the most censorious could find fault +with the appearance of the pastor's wife. + +Mr. Leslie, too, was somewhat altered; he looked well and vigorous, +but his manner was more gentle. The poor said he was more +compassionate, the sick said he was more gentle, his congregation said +he was more eloquent; Hugh's death and Sibyl's sorrow had not been +without their lessons for him, also. + +The little chapel was still poor and struggling, but husband and wife +worked together with heart and strength. Sibyl was invaluable; she +threw her system, her energy, and her tact into the week-day work, and +her husband found his Sunday labors doubly successful, because they +were followed up and carried out during the six working days as well +as on the day of rest. + +"I have had a letter from Mrs. Stanly, to-day, Bessie," said Mr. +Leslie; "she says little Hugh is beginning to talk, and already can +say 'Aunt Bessie.' He associates you with the Noah's Ark you sent him. +Here is his picture, enclosed in the letter." The photograph +represented a chubby boy with large, wondering eyes and curly hair. + +"Brave little man!" said Sibyl, looking over Bessie's shoulder. "What +a wonder he lived through that night!" + +"Oh, Hugh held him up out of the water most of the time," said Bessie +quickly; "the mother told me that his little knitted shirt was +scarcely wet at all. I must certainly go East to see the child next +spring, now that his father is dead, I feel more at liberty to assist +Mrs. Stanly, and, between us, we are going to give little Hugh the +best education the country will allow." + +"Is that you, Sibyl?" said Aunt Faith's voice within. + +"Yes, aunt. Shall we come in?" said Mrs. Leslie, rising. + +"No, dear, I will come out;" and Aunt Faith joined the group on the +piazza, taking her seat in an arm-chair. + +"What a beautiful afternoon!" she said, "and how brilliant those +maple-leaves are! Have you seen the monument, John?" + +"No," answered Mr. Leslie; "is it in place?" + +"Yes, the work was all finished this morning, and Bessie and I went +over to look at it. Why not walk over now? We can all go, and these +lovely days cannot last long." + +"I should like to go, John, if you have the time," said Sibyl. + +"Yes; I can postpone the visit I intended to make. As Aunt Faith says, +these warm, still days cannot last long." + +The cemetery was about half a mile distant, a forest glade sloping to +the lake, with a brook in a little ravine running through the centre. +But few graves were there, for the land was but newly consecrated to +its use, but the great forest-trees were old, and in the spring, wild +flowers grew everywhere, and wild birds sang in the foliage. Now, the +trees were dyed in scarlet and gold, and the colored leaves dropped +slowly down upon the ground, for the air was still and hazy with the +purple mists of Indian summer. Hugh's monument stood on a little +eminence overlooking the lake. It was of marble, a slender shaft +broken at the top, with a profusion of roses growing over the broken +place, carved in the marble with life-like fidelity, so that the stone +itself seemed to have blossomed. Below, on one side of the base was +Hugh's name and age, and on the opposite face was the sentence, "I +shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." + +"I like it;" said Mr. Leslie, standing with uncovered head beside the +grassy mound; "it expresses the idea of the broken young life, and the +roses of hope, faith, and even joy which have grown up to cover the +place." + +"It is appropriate that it stands here overlooking the lake," said +Sibyl. "Hugh was so fond of the water, and, on this very lake he lost +his life,--gave it up for the sake of others." + +"And _I_ like the monument on account of the sentence," said Bessie, +who sat by the side of the grave arranging a bunch of autumn leaves. + +"The monument is only raised to Hugh's earthly memory," said Aunt +Faith. "Hugh is not here; I never feel that I am nearer to him here +than at home. But I like to honor the place where his mortal body +lies, and I like to think when I die, those who love me will likewise +honor my grave." + +Bessie completed her wreath and laid it on the mound, and then they +all went back to the old stone house, quiet and thoughtful, but not +sad; the faith within their hearts was too earnest, and the hope too +bright for sadness. + +After tea they sat together on the piazza; the night was warm, and the +full-moon shone through the haze, giving the landscape a magical +softness and beauty. Tom and Gem were there also, and at, Tom's feet +were the three dogs, Turk, somewhat sobered, Grip, less hilarious than +formerly, but Pete Trone, Esquire, as vivacious as ever, investigating +every corner of the garden as though he never saw it before, and +coming back after each foray with increased importance, the air of a +philosopher who had discovered all the secrets of the moonlight. +Friends came in and joined the family circle. Rose Saxon, Edith Chase, +who had become one of Bessie's firm friends, and Walter Hart. An hour +or two of pleasant conversation ensued, and Tom delivered some bright +sayings, retiring within the shadow, overcome with boyish +embarrassment when the company applauded him. Finally, when the +visitors had all gone, Aunt Faith rose; "I hope you will stay to +prayers, John," she said; "it is late, but the bright moonlight seems +to postpone the hour of sleeping." + +"Yes, Aunt Faith," replied Mr. Leslie; "we will stay, and Sibyl can +play the hymn." + +He read a chapter from the Bible, then they all sang a hymn and knelt +a few moments in prayer. With affectionate farewells, they parted for +the night, Sibyl and her husband going home through the moonlight, and +the others separating to their respective rooms. + +As Bessie stood before her dressing-table, brushing out her thick +curls, she noticed the lines about her mouth, and the hollows in her +temples. "I am growing old," she thought, with a half-smile, "and yet, +I am only seventeen. How long this year has been; it is like a +lifetime. But yet, it has been a precious year; it has taught me hope +and peace, I shudder when I think how I felt a year ago." + +Going across the room, she lifted a little curtain which hung before a +picture; the frame contained only a fragment of paper, and through the +glass the faint pencilled words of Hugh's last message could be seen. +"Bessie, try to be good, dear. I love you." Bessie read the words over +several times, and then, dropping the little curtain, she fell on her +knees by the bedside, and prayed Hugh's prayer. "Lord I believe; help +Thou mine unbelief. Lord, be merciful to me a sinner." + +Seasons of despondency came to Bessie Darrell; often her pillow was +wet with tears; often she was obliged to mourn over her shortcomings, +often she prayed in deep contrition for forgiveness of sins,--sins +belonging to her quick impulsive nature, besetting sins with which she +must struggle to the last. But she never lost her faith, she never +ceased to look forward to the other country. Through trouble, through +care, through sickness, through affliction, through life, and through +death she held fast to the hope that abideth forever. Busy and active, +she gave her time first to her Aunt Faith, then to Tom and Gem, and +afterwards to the poor and afflicted. She worked hard, and in the very +labor she found peace at the last; she tried to make others happy, +and, in the end, she found happiness for herself. + +Aunt Faith sat by her table, thinking. She was thinking of her loved +ones, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters, her husband, +and last of all, of Hugh. "For the past month my strength has seemed +to fail; it may be that I am nearer home than I know," she thought. + +"But all my times are in Thy hand, dear Lord, and whether I go soon, +or whether I must tarry many years longer, Thou knowest. Only grant me +Thy constant aid, for without Thee I can do nothing." She knelt in +prayer, prayed for her children as well as herself. Many tears had she +shed over them, many times of trial and apparent failure had darkened +her way since the five orphans were given into her charge. But the +promise was sure, and although this life may not be long enough for +the harvest, although the laborer may see only the bud here on earth, +that bud will surely blossom and ripen into fruit in heaven. + +"He that goeth on his way weeping, and beareth forth good seed, shall +doubtless come again with joy, and bring his sheaves with him." +Psalm CXXVI. + + The faithful laborer toils on + In spite of present sorrow,-- + He heeds not toil, he heeds not storm, + But labors for the morrow; + To him the harvest comes in overflowing measure, + To him the fields pour out their overflowing treasure. + + He that goeth on his way + Bearing seed, though weeping,-- + Shall doubtless come again with joy + Loaded from the reaping, + Loaded with the precious sheaves of faith, and hope, + and love, + Bearing them, rejoicing, to his Father's house above. + +There is quiet now in the old stone house. One of its inmates has gone +from earth; one has gone to another home, and those who are left under +the roof are all sleeping. The soft moonlight shines on the gray +walls, caressing them as though it loved them. Dear old house! thy +rooms are haunted with memories of happiness, and hallowed with +memories of sorrow. We leave thee regretfully, and turn back again and +again as we go, for a last + + FAREWELL! + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Old Stone House, by Anne March + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OLD STONE HOUSE *** + +***** This file should be named 6679.txt or 6679.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/6/7/6679/ + +Produced by Wendy Crockett + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: The Old Stone House + +Author: Anne March + +Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6679] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on January 12, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OLD STONE HOUSE *** + + + + +This e-text was converted to ASCII by Wendy Crockett +from .pdf images provided for public use at: +http://www.cwru.edu/UL/preserve/general.htm + + + + +THE OLD STONE HOUSE + +by ANNE MARCH + +(CONSTANCE FENIMORE WOOLSON) + + + + +"He that goeth on his way weeping, and beareth forth good seed, shall +doubtless come again with joy and bring his sheaves with him." +--_Psalms cxxvi_. + + + + +CONTENTS + + I.--THE FIVE COUSINS + II.--LIFE AT THE OLD STONE HOUSE + III.--THE EDITOR'S SANCTUM + IV.--HUGH + V.--FOURTH OF JULY + VI.--SUNDAY + VII.--THE PICNIC + VIII.--RIGHT AT LAST + IX.--THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER + X.--THE HOME-COMING + XI.--CONCLUSION + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE FIVE COUSINS. + + +Aunt Faith sat alone on the piazza, and sad thoughts crowded into her +heart. It was her birthday,--the first day of June,--and she could +look back over more than half a century, with that mournful retrospect +which birthdays are apt to bring. Aunt Faith had seen trouble, and had +met affliction face to face. When she was still a bride, her husband +died suddenly and left her lonely forever; then, one by one, her +brothers and sisters had been taken, and she was made sole guardian of +their orphan children,--a flock of tender little lambs,--to be +nourished and protected from the cold and the rain, the snare and the +pitfalls, the tempter and the ravening wolf ever prowling around the +fold. Hugh and Sibyl, Tom and Grace, and, last of all, wild little +Bessie from the southern hill-country,--this was her charge. Hugh and +Sibyl Warrington were the children of an elder brother; Tom and Grace +Morris the children of a sister, and Bessie Darrell the only child of +Aunt Faith's youngest sister, who had been the pet of all her family. +For ten long years Aunt Faith had watched over this little band of +orphans, and her heart and hands had been full of care. Children will +be children, and the best mother has her hours of trouble over her +wayward darlings; how much more an aunt, who, without the delicate +maternal instinct as a guide, feels the responsibility to be doubly +heavy! + +And now, after years of schooling and training, Aunt Faith and her +children were all together at home in the old stone house by the +lake-shore, to spend a summer of freedom away from books and rules. +Hugh was to leave her in the autumn to enter upon business life with a +cousin in New York city, and Sibyl had been invited to spend the +winter in Washington with a distant relative; Grace was to enter +boarding-school in December, and Tom,--well, no one knew exactly what +was to be done with Tom, but that something must be done, and that +speedily, every one was persuaded. There remained only Bessie, "and +she is more wilful than all the rest," thought Aunt Faith; "she seems +to be without a guiding principle; she is like a mariner at sea +without a compass, sailing wherever the wind carries her. She is +good-hearted and unselfish; but when I have said that I have said all. +Careless and almost reckless, gay and almost wild, thoughtless and +almost frivolous, she seems to grow out of my control day by day and +hour by hour. I have tried hard to influence her. I believe she loves +me; but there must be something wrong in my system, for now, at the +end of ten years, I begin to fear that she is no better, if indeed, +she is as good as she was when she first came to me, a child of six +years. I must be greatly to blame; I must have erred in my duty. And +yet, I have labored so earnestly!" Another tear stole down Aunt +Faith's cheek as she thought of the heavy responsibility resting upon +her life. "Shall I be able to answer to my brothers and sisters for +all these little souls?" she mused. "There is Hugh also. Can I dare to +think he is a true Christian? He is not an acknowledged soldier of the +Cross; and, in spite of all the care and instruction that have been +lavished upon him, what more can I truthfully say than that he is +generous and brave? Can I disguise from myself his faults, his +tendencies towards free-thinking, his gay idea of life,--ideas, which, +in a great city, will surely lead him astray? No; I cannot! And yet he +is the child of many prayers. How well I remember his mother! how +earnestly she prayed for the little boy! Have I faithfully filled her +place? If she had lived, would not her son have grown into a better +man, a better Christian?" Here Aunt Faith again broke down, and buried +her face in her hands. Hugh was her darling; and, although he was now +twenty years of age, and so tall and strong that he could easily carry +his aunt in his arms, to her he was still the curly-haired boy, +Fitzhugh Warrington, whom the dying mother gave to Aunt Faith for her +own. "There is Sibyl, also," she thought, as she glanced towards the +garden, where her niece sat reading under the arbor; "she is at the +other extreme, as unlike her brother as snow is unlike fire. Sibyl +never does wrong. I believe I have never had cause to punish her, even +in childhood. But she is so cold, so impassive; I can never get down +as far as her heart; I am never sure that she loves me." Aunt Faith +sighed heavily. Sibyl's coldness was harder for her to bear than +Hugh's waywardness. + +Then her thoughts turned towards the younger children. "Grace is too +young to cause me much anxiety; but still I seem to have made no more +impression upon her religious nature than I could have done upon a +running brook; and as for Tom,--" Here Aunt Faith's musings were +rudely interrupted by a shout and a howl. Through the hall behind her +came a galloping procession. First, "Turk," the great Newfoundland +dog, harnessed to a rattling wagon, in which sat "Grip," the mongrel, +muffled in a shawl, his melancholy countenance encircled with a white +ruffled cap; then came Tom, as driver, and behind him "Pete" the +terrier, fastened by a long string, and dragging Miss Estella Camilla +Wales, in her little go-cart, very much against his will. "Miss +Estella Camilla Wales" was Grace's favorite doll, and no sooner did +she behold the danger of her pet, than she sprang from the +sitting-room sofa and gave chase. But Tom flourished his whip, old +Turk galloped down the garden-walk with the whole train at his heels, +and Miss Wales was whirled across the street before Grace could reach +the gate. + +"Tom, Tom Morris! stop this minute, you wicked boy! You'll break +Estella's nose!" she cried, as they pursued the cavalcade toward the +grove opposite the house. Here Pete, excited by the uproar, began +barking furiously, and running around in a circle with a speed which +soon brought Estella to the ground, besides tying up Tom's legs in a +complicated manner with the cord which served as a connecting link +between the team in front and the team behind. Old Turk, after taking +a survey of the scene, gently laid himself down, harness and all, and +wagged his ponderous tail; while poor Grip, in his efforts to free +himself from the shawl, managed to pull his cap over his eyes, and +howled in blind dismay. In the midst of the confusion, Grace rescued +Miss Wales from her perilous position, and, finding her classic nose +still unbroken, laid her carefully in the crotch of a tree, and +prepared for revenge. In his desire to secure the obedience of his +dog-team, Tom had fastened them securely, by long cords, to his belt; +Pete had already managed to wind his tether tightly around Tom's legs, +and Grace incited Turk to rebellion, so that he, too, began to gambol +about in his elephantine way, and Tom was soon tangled in another net. +"I say, Grace, let the dogs alone, will you!" he said angrily, as he +vainly tried to disentangle himself. "Here, Turk! lie down sir! Where +in the world is my knife? Pete Trone, you are in for a switching, +young man, as soon as these cords are cut!" During this time Grip had +been pulling at his night-cap with all the strength of his paws; but +as he only succeeded in drawing it farther over his nose, he finally +gave up in despair, and, hearing Grace's voice, patiently sat up on +his hind legs, with fore-paws in the air, begging to be released. He +looked so ridiculous that both Tom and his sister burst into a fit of +laughter. Good humor was restored, the tangles cut, and the procession +returned homeward, Grip released from his cap, but still wearing his +trailing shawl. + +When they reached the gate Tom stopped, and calling the dogs in a +line, he began an address: "Turk, Grip, and Pete Trone, Esquires, you +have all behaved very badly, and deserve condign punishment!" At these +words, uttered in a harsh voice, Pete Trone gave a short bark, and +Grip instantly sat up on his hind legs, as if to beg for mercy. "None +of that, gentlemen, if you please!" continued Tom; "special pleading +is not allowed before this jury. Turk, Grip, and Pete Trone, Esquires, +you are hereby sentenced to walk around the--garden on the top of the +fence. Up, all of you! jump!" said Tom, picking up a switch. Now, +indeed, all the culprits knew what was before them. That fence was a +well-known penance,--for when they did anything wrong this was their +punishment. Old Turk felt the touch of the switch first, and mounted +heavily to his perch, his great legs curved inward to keep a footing +on the narrow top; then came Pete, and, last of all, Grip, who, being +a heavy-bodied cur, crouched himself down as low as he could, and +crawled along with extreme caution. The fence was high, with a flat, +horizontal top about four inches wide. It ran around three sides of +the garden, and often, as Aunt Faith sat at her work in the +sitting-room, the melancholy procession of dogs passed the window on +this fence-top, followed by Tom with his switch. But Aunt Faith never +interfered. She knew that Tom was a kind master, who never ill-treated +or tormented any creature. Tom was a large-hearted boy, and, although +full of mischief, was never cruel or heartless; he found no pleasure +in ill-treating a dog or a cat, nor would he suffer other boys to do +so in his presence. Many a battle had he fought with boys of mean and +cruel natures, to rescue a bird, or some other helpless creature. "It +is only cowards," he would say, "who like to torment birds, cats, and +dogs. They know the poor things can't fight them back again." + +Old Turk,--a giant in size among dogs,--had been in the family for +many years; Grip was rescued from the canal, where some cruel boys had +thrown him, by Tom himself; and Pete Trone, Esquire, was bought with +Tom's first five-dollar bill, and soon proved himself a terrier of +manifold accomplishments,--the brightest and most mischievous member +of the trio. All the dogs had been carefully trained by Tom. They +could fetch and carry, lie down when they were bid, sit up on their +hind legs, and do many other tricks. Aunt Faith used to say, that if +Tom would only learn his lessons half as well as he made his dogs +learn theirs, there would be no more imperfect marks in his weekly +reports. + +In the meantime, the dogs had turned the corner of the fence, and were +slowly advancing towards the house; while Grace, carrying Estella, +came up the garden-walk. "Halt!" said Tom, and the three dogs stopped +instantly; Turk, not daring to turn his head to see what was the +matter, for fear of losing his balance, blinked out of the corner of +his eye, as much as to say, "I wouldn't turn round if I could." "Pete +Trone," said Tom gravely, "it is evident that this punishment is not +severe enough for you; a dog that has time to wag his tail and yawn, +cannot be in much anxiety to keep his position on the fence. Pete +Trone, Esquire, for the rest of the way you shall wear Grip's cap." So +the terrier's black face was encircled with the white frill, and, this +accomplished, the march was resumed, and the three dogs disappeared +behind the house. + +"Aunt Faith," said Grace, as she reached the piazza, "that wicked Tom +put Estella Camilla Wales in her wagon, and made Pete draw her all +over. It's a wonder her nose wasn't broken and her eyes knocked out. +If they had been, that would have been the end of her, like the last +ten dolls I have had." + +"Not ten, surely, my dear?" + +"Yes, Aunt Faith, ten whole dolls! Polly he painted black to make her +like the Queen of Sheba; he made Babes in the Woods of Beauty and +Jane, and it rained on them all night; Isabella and Arabella I found +on the clothes-line all broken to pieces, and he said they were only +dancing on a tight rope; he sent Rose and Lily,--the paper-dolls, you +know,--up in the air tied to the tail of his kite; the rag-baby he +took for a scarecrow over his garden; and surely, Aunt Faith, you have +not forgotten how he made Jeff Davis on the apple-tree, out of my dear +china Josephine, or how he blew up Julia Rubber with his cannon last +Fourth of July, when I lent her to him for the Goddess of Liberty?" + +"Well, Gem, I did not realize that you had suffered so much. Take good +care of Estella, and perhaps Santa Claus will make up your losses." + +Grace, or Gem, as she was called from the three initials of her names, +Grace Evans Morris,--G. E. M.,--ran off into the house to look up +Estella, leaving Aunt Faith once more alone. + +On a rustic seat in the arbor sat Sibyl Warrington reading. Her golden +hair was coiled in close braids around her well-shaped head, her firm +erect figure was arrayed in a simple dress of silver gray, and +everything about her, from the neat little collar to the trim boot, +pleased the eye unconsciously without attracting the attention. Sibyl +Warrington knew what was becoming to her peculiar style of beauty, and +nothing could induce her to depart from her inflexible rules. Fashion +might decree a tower of frizzed curls, and Sibyl would calmly watch +the elaborate structure raised on the heads of all her friends, but +her own locks, in the meanwhile, remained plainly folded back from her +white forehead with quaker-like smoothness. Fashion might turn her +attention to the back of the head, and forthwith waterfalls and +chignons would appear at her behest, but Sibyl, while congratulating +her friends upon the wonders they achieved, would still wind her thick +golden braids in a classical coil, so that her head in profile brought +up to the beholder's mind a vision of an antique statue. Rare was her +taste; no clashing colors or absurd puffs and furbelows were ever +allowed to disfigure her graceful form, and thus her appearance always +charmed the artistic eye, although many of her schoolmates called her +"odd" and "quakerish." Sibyl had already obtained her little triumphs. +An artist of world-wide fame had asked permission to paint her head in +profile, as a study, and whenever she appeared at a party the +strangers present were sure to inquire who she was, and follow her +movements with admiring glances, although there were many eyes equally +bright, and many forms equally graceful in the gay circle of Westerton +society. But in spite of her beauty, Sibyl was not a general favorite; +she had no intimate friends among her girl companions, and she never +tried to draw around her a circle of admirers. She had no ambition to +be "popular," as it is called, and she did not accept all the +invitations that came to her as most young girls do; for, as she said, +"occasionally it is better to be missed." Thus, in a small way, Miss +Warrington was something of a diplomatist, and it was evident to Aunt +Faith that her niece looked beyond her present sphere, and cherished a +hidden ambition to shine in the highest circles of the queen cities of +America,--Boston, New York, and Washington. With this inward aim, +Sibyl Warrington held herself somewhat aloof from the young gentlemen +of Westerton; there were, however, two whom she seemed to favor in her +gentle way, and Aunt Faith watched with some anxiety the progress of +events. Graham Marr was a young collegian, the only child of a widowed +mother who lived in Westerton during the summer months. He had a +certain kind of fragile beauty, but his listless manner and drawling +voice rendered him disagreeable to Aunt Faith, who preferred manly +strength and vivacity even though accompanied by a shade of bluntness. +But Sibyl always received Graham Marr with one of her bright smiles, +and she would listen to his poetry hour after hour; for Graham wrote +verses, and liked nothing better than reclining in an easy chair and +reading them aloud. + +"What Sibyl can see in Gra-a-m'ma, I cannot imagine," Bessie would +sometimes say; "he is a lazy white-headed egotist; a good judge of +lace and ribbons, but mortally afraid of a dog, and as to powder, the +very sight of a gun makes him faint." + +But Aunt Faith had heard of the fortune which would come to Graham +Marr at the death of an uncle, and she could not but fear that Sibyl +had heard of it also. The grandfather, displeased with his sons, had +left a mill tying up his estate for the grandchildren, who were not to +receive it until all of the first generation were dead. Only one son +now remained, an infirm old man of seventy, and at his death the +hoarded treasure would be divided among the heirs, two girls living in +North Carolina, and Graham Marr, who was just twenty-one. Sibyl was +eighteen, and self-possessed beyond her years; could it be that she +really found anything to like in Graham Marr? Aunt Faith could not +tell. As she sat on the piazza, looking down into the garden, the gate +opened and a young man entered,--the Rev. John Leslie, a clergyman who +had recently come to Westerton to take charge of a new church in the +suburbs, a struggling little missionary chapel, where it required a +large faith to see light ahead in the daily toil and slow results. Mr. +Leslie caught the shimmer of Sibyl's gray dress under the arbor, and +turning off to the right through a box-bordered path, he made his way +to her side and seated himself on the bench. Aunt Faith could not hear +their conversation, for the old-fashioned garden was large and wide, +but now and then she caught the tones of the young man's earnest +voice, although Sibyl's replies were inaudible, for she possessed that +excellent thing in woman, a clear, low voice. + +John Leslie was poor. He had only his salary, and that was but scanty. +Energetic and enthusiastic, he loved his work, and his whole soul was +in it. He was no plodding laborer, who had taken the field because it +happened to be nearest to him; he was no loiterer, who had entered the +field because he thought it would give him a larger chance for +idleness than the close-drawn ranks of business life. He had felt the +inward call which is given to but few, and he obeyed it instantly. To +him the world was literally a harvest field, and he, one of the hard +working laborers; he had no worldly ambition; he looked upon life with +the eyes or a true Christian; his little chapel was as much to him as +a large city church, influential and wealthy, could have been, as he +loved his small and somewhat uninteresting congregation with his whole +heart. Older men called him an enthusiast. Would that the world held +more enthusiasts like him; men who have forsaken all to follow Him, +men to whom the whole world and its riches are as nothing compared to +the souls waiting to hear the tidings of salvation. For even in +Christian America, there are in all our streets souls who have not +heard the tidings. It is their own fault, do you say? They can come to +our churches at any time. Nay, my friend; we must go out into the +highways and hedges and force them to come in with kindly sympathy and +brotherly aid. + +John Leslie was the other friend whom Sibyl Warrington had selected +from the large circle of Westerton society. Did she really like him? +Aunt Faith could not decide this either, but she noticed the +increasing interest in the young clergyman's manner, as he came and +went to and from the old stone house. Free from guile as Nathanael of +old, John Leslie felt an increasing attachment to the beautiful Miss +Warrington, who came occasionally to his little church, and seemed, +whenever he spoke on the subject, so truly interested in the work of +his life; he talked with her about his Sunday School, and her +suggestions had been of service to him; for Sibyl possessed a talent +for organization, and a ready tact quite unusual for one so young. And +in this work she was no hypocrite; she enjoyed her conversations with +Mr. Leslie, and looked forward to his visits with real pleasure. What +wonder that he thought her a true child of God, an earnest Christian, +a fellow-laborer in the vineyard? Sometimes, when Aunt Faith was +present and heard Mr. Leslie's conversation, her old heart glowed +within her breast, and she felt herself carried back to the ancient +days when the young converts went about the world with ardent +enthusiasm, preaching the new gospel to every creature in spite of +perils by land and sea, perils of torture, and perils of death itself. +Then she would look at Sibyl. Sometimes the girl's cheek glowed with +an answering enthusiasm, and for the time being, Aunt Faith would +think that her heart was touched, and her soul uplifted by the earnest +love of God which shone out from John Leslie's words. But the next +day, perhaps, a letter from her cousin in Washington would come, and +Sibyl's face would light up over the descriptions of some great ball, +and her thoughts turn towards the approaching winter with double +interest. + +A mist came with the twilight, and a slight chill in the air soon +brought Sibyl to the shelter of the piazza; she never trifled with her +health, her good looks were of serious importance to her, and she +never hazarded them for the sake of such sentiment as sitting in an +arbor when the dew was falling, or loitering in the moonlight when the +air was chilly. + +"Good-evening, Mrs. Sheldon," said Mr. Leslie as they approached, +holding out his hand in cordial greeting; "we have come up to the +shelter of your pleasant piazza to finish our conversation in safety." + +"I hope there was no danger," replied Aunt Faith with a smile; "a hot +argument, for instance." + +"Oh, no; on the contrary the danger, if there was any, came from the +opposite direction. I was afraid the dew might dampen Miss +Warrington's dress." + +"And her enthusiasm also," said Aunt Faith, with a shade of merriment +in her pleasant voice. + +"Certainly not her enthusiasm," replied the young clergyman gravely; +"I think it would take more than dew-drops to dampen such enthusiasm +as hers." As he spoke, his eyes were turned full towards Sibyl's face, +but he met no answering glance; Sibyl was occupied in spreading out +the folds of her skirt to counteract any possible injury from the +dampness. "He does not doubt her sincerity in the least," thought Aunt +Faith; "perhaps, after all, his influence will be strong enough to +cure her one fault, the one blemish of her character, the tendency +towards worldliness which I have noticed in her since early +childhood." + +"We were speaking of Margaret Brown, Mrs. Sheldon," said Mr. Leslie +when they were all seated on the piazza; "that girl has made a brave +battle with fate, and I have been trying to help her. Miss Warrington +has also been much interested in her; no doubt she has told you +Margaret's history?" + +"No," replied Aunt Faith, "I have heard nothing of her." Sibyl +colored, and Mr. Leslie looked surprised; a slight shade rested on his +frank face a moment, but soon vanished in the interest of the story. +"Margaret Brown is a poor working girl about twenty years of age, Mrs. +Sheldon; an orphan with a younger sister and two younger brothers to +support, and nothing but her two busy hands to depend upon. She is a +sewing-girl and a skilful workwoman, so that by incessant labor over +her machine, day after day, she is able to keep her little family +together, and, more than all, to send them to school. She realizes the +disadvantages of her own ignorance, and she feels a noble ambition to +educate those orphan children. Her faith is great; it is like the +faith of the primitive Christians who lived so near the times of the +Lord Jesus, that, in their prayers, they asked for what they needed +with childish confidence. It was her great faith which first drew me +towards her; she was a regular attendant at the chapel service, and in +the course of my visits, I went to see her in the little home she has +made in the third story of a lodging house at South End. It was +Saturday, and I saw the three children, already showing evidences of +improved education in their words and looks, while, busily sewing on +her machine, sat the sister-mother, pale and careworn, but happy in +the success of her plan. It seemed to me a great load for one pair of +shoulders, and I said so. The children had gone into another room, and +as I spoke, rashly perhaps, the overworked girl burst into tears. 'Oh, +sir,' she said, 'it is the wish of my life to give them a good +schooling, and I don't mind the work. But sometimes it is _so_ hard! +If it was not for the prayers, I could not get through another day.' + +"'Your prayers are a comfort to you,' I asked. + +"'They are more than that, sir,' she replied earnestly; 'they are life +itself. Every morning I kneel down and just put the whole day into the +Lord's hands, asking Him to give us bread, and help us all,--me in my +work and the children in their lessons. And while I'm asking, some way +a kind of peace comes over me, and although I may know there is not a +crumb in the closet, or a cent in my purse, I always get up with a +light heart. The Bible is true, indeed, sir; I can't read it myself, +but my little sister, she reads to me evenings. It says, 'the Lord +will provide.' He does; He has. So far, me and mine have not suffered, +although I can never see my way a week ahead.'" + +"Mr. Leslie," said Aunt Faith, "I must try and help Margaret; please +give me her address." + +"Miss Warrington has it; I think she has already been there," replied +Mr. Leslie. At this moment a form approached the house through the +dusk of evening, a step sounded up the walk, and Graham Marr appeared. +"Ah, good evening, ladies!" he said, in his languid voice. "Mr. +Leslie, I believe! Your servant, sir. Miss Warrington, I have brought +that new poem from the French; I am sure you will like it." + +"Thank you," said Sibyl, smiling. "Pray be seated, Mr. Marr." + +But the enthusiasm died away, the conversation languished, and Mr. +Leslie soon rose to take leave. Then Sibyl stepped forward, and +accompanied him part way down the garden-walk, pausing for a few +moments earnest conversation before he said "good night." + +"Now what made her do that?" thought Aunt Faith, as she tried to keep +up a conversation with the languid Mr. Marr; "does she like Mr. Leslie +better than she is willing to acknowledge?" + +But Sibyl returned to her place on the piazza, and soon entered into +an animated discussion of the last volume of poems, in which Aunt +Faith's old-fashioned ideas found little to interest them. + +"Well, young people," she said pleasantly, after half an hour of +patient listening, "I _am_ afraid I do not appreciate modern poetry. +I am behind the times, I suppose; but I really like to understand what +a poet means, and, now-a-days, that is almost impossible." + +"The mystery of poetry is its highest charm," said Graham Marr; "true +poetry is always unintelligible." + +"Then I fear I am not poetical, Mr. Marr. But I am, as you see, frank +enough to acknowledge my deficiencies, and, if you will excuse me, I +will go into the sitting-room and finish some work that lies in my +basket." + +Want of courtesy was not one of Graham's faults; indeed, he prided +himself upon his polished manners; so he accompanied Aunt Faith within +doors, placed an arm-chair by the table, drew up a footstool for her +comfort, and even lingered a moment to admire the shaded worsteds in +her basket, before he returned to the piazza and Sibyl. Once back in +the moonlight, however, the poetical conversation soon began again, +and the murmur of the two voices came faintly to Aunt Faith's ear as +she sat by the table, while the light breeze brought up from the +garden the fragrance of the flowers, always strongest after nightfall. + +Back of the old stone house on the north side, the ground sloped down +towards the lake; first grassy terrace and bank, then a large +vegetable and fruit garden, terminating in a pasture and grove. The +stable and carriage-house stood off to the left, and the place was +somewhat carelessly kept, more like a farm than a residence; but an +air of cosy comfort pervaded the whole, and the grounds seemed to be +as full of chickens and ducks, cats and dogs, doves and sparrows, +horses and cows, as the house was full of canary and mocking-birds, +gold-fish, kittens, and plants, besides a large aquarium. Up from the +back pasture, at this moment, two shadowy forms were stealing. As they +drew nearer, sharp eyes might have discovered that they were two +persons on horseback coming up from the road which ran east and west +across the foot of the pasture. At the garden-fence they stopped, the +gentleman dismounted and lifted the lady to the ground. It was Bessie +Darrell and her cousin Hugh Warrington. + +"Hush, Hugh; don't make me laugh so! we shall be discovered," she +said, as she gathered up her long skirt. + +"But it is such a good joke!" said Hugh, mounting his horse again. +"Think of the fun we've had! And you ride like a little witch." + +"We can go again to-morrow night, can't we, Hugh?" + +"I suppose so; if you can get away unobserved." + +"Of course I can. Oh, it is such fun! I like it better than anything +I ever did, Hugh; and you are a dear good fellow to teach me." + +"Teach you!" exclaimed Hugh, with a laugh; "that's good! Why, you took +to it as a duck takes to water. What a glorious gallop we have had! By +the way, Bessie, Gideon Fish would look well on horseback!" + +"Or Graham Marr," said Bessie laughing. "I do believe he is on the +piazza with Sibyl this very moment." + +"If he is, I propose we extinguish him. Out, little candle," said +Hugh, striking a dramatic attitude. + +"You won't be gone long, Hugh?" + +"No; the man will be waiting at the road." + +"Then I will run upstairs, lock up my riding skirt, and come down and +wait for you." + +Bessie went through the garden and up to her room, while Hugh, riding +one horse and leading the other, crossed the pasture and the grove, +and gave them to a man who was waiting near the fence: he led them +down the narrow road towards the west, for the old stone house was in +the east suburb of Westerton, more than two miles from the business +portion of the town. + +Bessie Darrell was sixteen,--a tall, slender maiden, with irregular +features, brown complexion, dark eyes, and a quantity of dark, curling +hair which defied all restraint, whether of comb, net, or ribbon. Her +eyes were bright and her expression merry, but beyond this there was +little beauty in her face. A quick student, Bessie always stood at the +head of her classes for scholarship, and at the foot as regards +demeanor. Twice had she been expelled for daring escapades in defiance +of rule, and Aunt Faith's heart had ached with anxiety, when the +truant returned home in disgrace. But her merry vivacity had made home +so pleasant, that the seasons of penance were, as Tom said, "the +jolliest of the year," and Gem openly hoped that Bessie would soon be +expelled again. Poor Aunt Faith sometimes thought there must be a +tinge of gypsy blood in Bessie's ancestors on the Darrell side of the +house, for in no other way could she account for her niece's taste for +wild rambles and adventure. "Bessie, my child," she said one evening +during the previous year, when she had happened to discover her +wayward niece returning from a solitary drive with Sultan, one of the +carriage horses, in Hugh's high buggy, "if you are fond of driving, +you shall go when you please. I will hire a low basket phaeton for +your especial use, and I shall be glad to go with you when you wish." + +"Oh, Auntie! if I can go when I please, there is no fun in it," said +Bessie, laughing. + +"Then I am to conclude, my dear, that the fun, as you call it, +consists in deceiving me," said Aunt Faith, gravely. + +"Oh no, Auntie; not you especially, but all the world, you know. 'It's +against the rule!' That sentence has always been my greatest +temptation. I do so long to try all those forbidden things; if I had +been Eve, and if the forbidden fruit had been a delicious peach +instead of a commonplace apple, I should certainly have taken it. Now +there was Miss Sykes at Corry Institute; she was always saying, 'Young +ladies, it is against the rule to go into the garret. Three bad marks +to any one who even opens the door.' That was enough for me; I slipped +off my shoes and climbed up the stairs, while a crowd of girls stood +in the hall to see what happened. I opened the door and went in, and +after a moment I stepped right through the lath and plastering and +hurt myself severely. Of course I got the bad marks, and a big bill +for lath and plastering in addition to my lame leg, and the whole +thing was Miss Sykes' fault." + +"You deliberately disobeyed her rule, Bessie." + +"Why have such a goose of a rule, then? Why didn't she say right out +that we must not go into the garret because there was no flooring +there? Then we would have understood the whole thing. For my part, I +don't believe in piling temptation in people's way like that." + +"My dear child, we cannot always know. We must all sometimes be +content to give up our wills to the guidance of a Wiser Hand,--be +content simply to _trust_." + +"I don't think that time will ever come to me, Aunt Faith; Hugh says +the human mind is sufficient for itself." + +Aunt Faith sighed, and laid her hand gently on the young girl's dark +curls. "My child," she said in a low voice, "I cannot bring myself to +pray that you may learn the lesson of trust, for it is a very hard +one. But I fear it will come to you, as, sooner or later, it comes to +almost all of us." + +"Dear Aunt Faith," said the impulsive Bessie, throwing her arms around +her aunt's neck, "of all your children, not one loves you more truly +than I do!" + +"I believe you do, my child," said Aunt Faith, returning the caress. + +Arrayed in her ordinary dress, Bessie Darrell went down the back +stairs and seated herself on the porch steps. In a few moments Hugh +joined her. "Do you feel tired?" he asked. + +"Tired! No, indeed. Horseback riding never tired me. You will take me +again to-morrow night?" + +"I think it is you that takes me, Brownie. Is Marr there?" + +"Yes; quoting poetry like everything. I heard him out of the +front-hall window; something about 'a rosy cloud,' I believe." + +"Are they sitting directly under the hall window?" asked Hugh. + +"Yes; in two arm-chairs, side by side." + +"Let us go up and have a look at them," said Hugh. So up they stole, +and took their places at the upper window. + +The old stone house was two stories high, with wings on each side, +which projected out beyond the main building; the space enclosed by +stone walls on three sides was floored with stone, and lofty stone +pillars ran up to the overhanging room. There was no intersection at +the second story, so that the view of the piazza from the upper +windows was uninterrupted. It was a pleasant piazza, fronting towards +the south, overlooking the old-fashioned garden with its little +box-bordered paths, and entirely cut off from the lake winds, which +are apt to have an easterly sharpness in them. On this piazza sat +Sibyl and Graham Marr, and the two listeners above caught fragments of +their poetical conversation. "I say, Bessie, do you know what a +'lambent waif' is?" whispered Hugh. "What a calf that Marr is! How can +Sibyl listen to him? He has not common sense." + +"I believe he is to have uncommon cents, sometime," said Bessie, +punning atrociously. "However, if my knowledge of Sibyl is worth +anything, I should say she really prefers Mr. Leslie." + +"What, the minister!" exclaimed Hugh; "I am surprised. Not that I +object at all, but ministers' wives sometimes have a hard life." + +"Gideon Fish says, that ministers' wives ought to be the happiest +women on earth, because their husbands are always at home, brightening +the domestic shrine with their presence," quoted Bessie, with a +dramatic tone. + +"That is a fish-story; I know it by the sound. I say, Bessie, wouldn't +it be fine fun to throw the great red blanket down on their heads in +the middle of the next verse?" + +As Bessie highly approved of this suggestion, the two conspirators +crept away softly to find their blanket. But it was safely packed away +in the bottom of a chest, and some search was necessary to bring it to +the surface; in the midst of which, Tom and Gem appeared on the scene, +curious to know what was going on. + +"Run away, children, and shut the door after you!" said Hugh, coming +up from the chest with a red face. + +"No, Mr. Fitz!" replied Tom, deliberately seating himself on a box; +"not one step do I go until I know what you're up to--some fun, I +know. Come, Bessie; tell us, that's a good fellow." + +"We shall have to tell them, Hugh," said Bessie, "or they might spoil +the whole thing." So the plan was hastily explained. + +"Come along, Gem," said Tom, in great glee. + +"All right, Bessie, we won't spoil your fun." + +The two children ran off down the back stairs and out upon the terrace +behind the house. "Don't you say one word, Gem Morris," said Tom in an +excited whisper, "but I'm going to be in this game, if I know myself. +The blanket's very well, but the dogs are better, and Graham Marr is +terribly afraid of 'em. I never liked him since he called me 'my lad,' +and this will be a good chance to pay him off." So saying, Tom started +towards the carriage-house, closely followed by Gem; for, as Hugh +said, they always hunted in couples, and whether they played or +quarrelled, they were always together. + +Opening a side door of the carriage-house, Tom called out Pete and +Grip; Turk had a kennel of his own, and sleepily obeyed his master's +summons. + +"Now Gem," said Tom, "I shall go round to the big barberry-bush, and +when the blanket comes down I shall send the dogs at it. They won't +hurt anybody,--they never do,--but they'll make believe to be awful +savage, and Grip will bark like mad. You'd better slip round into the +parlor and look through the blinds; it's dark there." Gem obeyed +softly, and Tom disappeared around the corner of the house, followed +by the dogs, who understood from their master's low order, that a +secret reconnaissance was to be made, and moved stealthily behind him +single file, big Turk first, then Pete Trone, Esq., and last of all +plebeian Grip, his tail fairly sweeping the ground in the excess of +his caution. + +On the piazza all was peaceful and romantic. No thought of coming +danger clouded the poet's fancies, as he repeated a stanza composed +the previous evening by the light of the moon. "I never write by +gas-light, Miss Warrington," he said, "but I keep pencil and paper at +hand to transcribe the poetical thoughts that come to me in the +moonlight. Here is a verse that floated into my mind when the moon was +at its highest splendor last night:-- + + 'Shine out, Oh moon! in the wide sky,-- + The creamy cloud,--the dreamy light-- + My heart is seething in the night. + Shine out, Oh moon! and let me die.'" + +"I think we'd better let him, don't you?" whispered Hugh to Bessie at +the upper window. She assented, and down went the great blanket on the +heads of the two below, enveloping them in sudden darkness. At the +same instant the three dogs plunged forward and pawed at the dark +mass; Grip barking furiously, and Pete nosing underneath as if he was +in search of a rat-hole. The noise brought Aunt Faith to the door. + +"What is it?" she said in alarm, gazing at the struggling blanket with +her near-sighted eyes. + +"Nothing, Aunt Faith, but some of the children's nonsense," answered +Sibyl, extricating herself, and stepping out from the stifling +covering. "Mr. Marr, I hope you are not alarmed or hurt." + +"Not in the least,--oh!--oh!--" gasped poor Graham, crawling out of +the blanket. "Those dogs!--oh!--get out!--get down, sir!" + +"They will not hurt you," said Sibyl, coming to the rescue. "Grip, be +quiet! Pete get down, sir! You are not going, Mr. Marr?" + +"I think,--yes,--I think I will," said the discomfited poet; "it is +getting late. I was on the point of making my adieu when,--when the +children played their little joke. Ha!--ha!--really, a very good joke. +Quite amusing! Good-evening, ladies! Really,--quite amusing!" + +When Graham had gone, Aunt Faith stepped out on the piazza. "Tom," she +said, in a severe tone, "I am ashamed of you! Such pranks are only fit +for a child!" But no answer came from the silent garden. + +"Grace, you are there somewhere! come out and show yourself," said +Aunt Faith. But still no reply. Then she called the dogs, but they, +too, had mysteriously disappeared. + +"Sibyl," she said, going back into the sitting room, "I am very sorry +the children were so rude. I am afraid Mr. Marr will feel seriously +offended." + +"Oh, as to that, Aunt Faith, it is a matter of small consequence what +he feels. But I see Pete has torn off part of the trimming of my +skirt; I will mend it before I go to bed. Good-night,--" and Sibyl +kissed her aunt in her gentle way, and went off to her room in the +wing. + +"I don't believe she cares for the calf after all," whispered Hugh to +Bessie, as, after watching this scene from the top of the stairs, they +separated for the night. + +A few minutes later, when Aunt Faith went up to her room, all her +children seemed to be unusually sound asleep; the lights were all out, +and Tom's snores came through his half-opened door with astonishing +regularity. + +"It's of no use, my dears," called out Aunt Faith, standing at the +door of her room; "I know you are all wide awake, and know you were +all in that blanket-and-dog affair." A burst of stifled laughter +greeted this announcement, and, when Aunt Faith got safely in her own +room and closed the door, she laughed too. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +LIFE AT THE OLD STONE HOUSE. + + +"Come, come, children," said Aunt Faith, as she went down the stairs, +"do not waste so much time in talking or you will be late for +prayers." + +The talking consisted of a dialogue between Tom and Gem, carried on +through the half-closed door of their respective rooms during the +morning toilet, and the subject, as usual, was Pete Trone, Esq. "Who +did Pete vote for?" began Gem. + +"Pete voted the Republican ticket, like a sensible dog!" replied Tom, +in a high key. + +"He did not! I watched him at the polls. He is an out-and-out +Democrat!" returned Gem, at the top of her voice. + +"No such thing!" shouted back her brother; "he attended a rat-ification +meeting last night in the cellar, and made a speech from the text, +'_aut rates aut bones_.'" + +"Oh, if you're going to quote Latin, I give up," said Gem, "and +besides, there's the bell." + +In a few moments the family assembled in the sitting-room,--Tom, Gem, +Sibyl, and after some delay, Bessie; Hugh did not appear, and Aunt +Faith, with an inward sigh, opened her Bible and read a chapter from +the New Testament. Then they all met in prayer, and the mother-aunt's +heart went up in earnest petition for help during the day, and a +thanksgiving for the peaceful rest of the previous night; as she rose +from her knee--, she kissed each one of her children with a fervent +blessing, and the day was begun. + +The sitting-room was large and sunny and the old-fashioned windows +were set low down in the thick stone walls, so that a recess was +formed in which a cushioned seat was fitted; Gem's favorite resort, +with Estella Camilla Wales. A cabinet organ, a harp, and a violin, +betrayed the musical tastes of the family, and an easel, with a +picture in water-colors, as well as the books and papers on the table +showed their varied occupations. Aunt Faith believed that music was a +safeguard against danger. The love of harmony kept young people +together around a piano, and filled their evenings with enjoyment; it +was always a resource, and opened a field of interest and employment +which increased the store of life's innocent pleasures. In addition to +this negative virtue, Aunt Faith believed in the duty of taking part +in the worship of the sanctuary; she believed that every voice, unless +absolutely disqualified, should join in the praises of the great +Creator, and some of her happiest moments, were those when her +children gathered around the cabinet organ to sing the hymns she had +taught them, or took their part in the congregational worship of song. + +Sibyl played correctly both upon the piano and organ; Grace was +already an apt scholar; Hugh sang, when in the mood, with a wonderful +expression in his rich baritone; and Bessie, although negligent in +practising, sometimes brought a world of melody out of her harp, +charming all ears with her wild improvisations. + +Tom owned the violin. The cousins united in the declaration that he +had no musical ability, but Aunt Faith stood by him, and even +encouraged his spasmodic attempts to find the tune. His favorite air +was "Nelly Bly." On this he would progress satisfactorily until he +came to "Hi," when he was sure to waver. "Hi," E flat; "Hi," E +natural; "Hi," F natural; and finally, when all within hearing were +driven nearly to frenzy, out would come the missing F sharp, and the +tune go on triumphantly to its close. + +The breakfast table at the old stone house was always a pleasant +scene; Aunt Faith presided behind the coffee urn, and before the meal +was over, the postman came with letters and papers, which caused +another half hour of pleasant loitering. This morning Sibyl had her +usual heap,--letters from various schoolmates, and one from Mrs. +Leighton, her relative in Washington, which seemed to be full of +interest. Aunt Faith also had several letters, and Bridget handed one +to Bessie,--a large, yellow envelope, whose ill-formed address +attracted general curiosity. "I say, Bess, who's your friend?" said +Tom. + +"Never mind," answered his cousin, with flushing cheeks, as she put +the unopened letter into her pocket and went on hastily with her +breakfast. Hugh, who had entered a moment before, glanced at Bessie, +and then diverted the attention by a word-assault upon his sister. +"What a mass of writing, Sibyl," he began, stretching out his hand; +"I'll help you to read it. That rose-colored sheet will do; the one +crossed over four times." But Sibyl quietly secured her correspondence, +and went on with her reading. "Does she tell you what she wore at the +last ball, dear? Was it blue, with rose ruffles, or pink with green +puffles," continued Hugh. Sibyl smiled; her temper was never disturbed +by her brother's banter. "If you could see Louisa May, you would be +sure to admire her, Hugh, ruffles and all," she said, calmly. + +"Undoubtedly; but as I cannot see her, ruffles and all, give me the +nearest thing to it, a sight of that page,-- + + 'Tis but a little criss-cross sheet, + But oh,--how fondly dear! + 'Twill cheer my breakfast while I eat, + And keep the coffee clear," + +chanted Hugh, in a melo-dramatic tone. + +"Aunt Faith," said Sibyl, as she rose to leave the table, "Mrs. +Leighton has invited me to go to Saratoga next month, to stay four +weeks." + +"Saratoga!" exclaimed Bessie. "Well, you are always lucky, Sibyl. But +why don't you do something instead of standing there so quietly?" + +"What would you have me do?" said Sibyl, smiling. + +"Why, dance,--sing,--hurrah,--anything to give vent to your +excitement." + +"But I am not excited, Bessie," answered Sibyl, quietly. + +"I don't believe you'd be excited if the house was on fire," said Tom, +looking up from his plate. + +"No, probably not," said Aunt Faith; "and for that reason, Sibyl would +be of more use in such an emergency than all the rest of you put +together. Does Mrs. Leighton fix any time for the journey, dear?" + +"Yes, aunt; about the fifteenth of July." + +"Would you like to go?" continued Aunt Faith, somewhat anxiously. + +"Of course she would!" exclaimed Bessie. "Four weeks at Saratoga. +Think of it!" + +"Of course she would!" said Hugh. "Four weeks of puffs and ruffles!" + +"Of course she would!" said Gem. "Four weeks of dancing!" + +"Of course she would!" said Tom. "Ice cream every day!" + +"I believe I will not decide immediately," said Sibyl, slowly; "I will +think over the matter before I write." As her niece left the room, +Aunt Faith's eyes followed her with a perplexed expression, but +recalling her thoughts, she rang the bell, and then set about her +daily task of washing the delicate breakfast-cups, and polishing the +old-fashioned silver until it reflected her own face back again. + +In the garret over the old stone house, a small room had been finished +off as a "studio" for Bessie. It was but a rough little den with +board walls and ceiling, but two south windows let in a flood of +light, and the boards were covered with pictures in all stages of +completion,--fragments of landscape, and portraits of all the members +of the family circle, more or less caricatured according to Bessie's +mood when she executed them. A strong patent-lock secured the door of +this treasure-house, and seldom was any one admitted save Hugh. In +vain had Tom bored holes in the walls, in vain had Gem pleaded +pathetically through the key-hole, Bessie was inexorable and the door +was closed. Chalked upon the outside of this fortress were some of +Tom's sarcastic comments intended as a revenge for his exclusion,-- + + "Turn, stranger, turn, and from this sanctum rush,-- + The fires of genius burn when Bessie wields the brush." + +And this: "She won't let me in! _Hinc illae lachrymae_!" This legend +was accompanied by a chalk picture of himself shedding large +tear-drops into a tub. + +This morning, however, the studio was not in a state of siege, as Tom +and Gem were both engaged in a work of great importance in the garden. +Seated near one of the windows was Bessie, her eyes full of tears, and +her face the image of despair. A low knock at the door interrupted her +reverie. "Is it you, Hugh?" she said, rising. + +"Yes," replied her cousin, and in a minute he was admitted. "What is +the matter, Bessie?" he said kindly. "I saw at breakfast that +something was wrong. You will tell me, won't you?" + +Bessie hesitated, and a flush rose in her dark face. "I suppose I +must!" she answered, after a pause; "I always tell you everything +Hugh, and I want your advice; but I don't know what you will think of +me after you have read this letter." + +"Never mind; give it to me, Brownie. You have always been my dear, +little cousin, and it will take more than a letter to separate us," +said Hugh, opening the envelope. The letter was as follows; "Miss B. +Daril: I don't want to trouble you, but I must have that money. Bills +is coming in every day. It belongs to me, as you know yourself, Miss, +very well, and I've a right to every cent. If it don't come soon I +shall have to send a lawyer for it, which I hate to do, Miss; and am +yours respectful, J. Evins." + +"What can this mean, Bessie?" asked Hugh, in astonishment. + +"It means, last winter, at Featherton Hall, Hugh, I got into a wild +set of girls there, and one of our amusements was sending out for +suppers late in the evening; the servants would do anything for money, +and they were always willing to go over to Evins, and get what we +wanted for a small bribe. The bill was allowed to run on in my name, +for, although it was understood that all the dormitory girls should +share in the expense, it was more convenient to order in one name. +Then the end of the term came, and there was so much confusion and +hurry, that most of the girls forgot all about the bill, and went home +without paying anything towards the suppers. I fully intended to give +my share to Evins before I left, but the amount was so large I could +not come near it," concluded Bessie, with two tears rolling down her +cheeks. + +"You have not told Aunt Faith, then," asked Hugh. + +"No; I do not want to tell her, for it would make her feel badly, and +besides, she would pay it herself, and I don't want her to do that, +for she has already taken ever so much of her own little income to buy +me new summer dresses in place of those I have torn and stained." + +"How much do you owe this man?" said Hugh gravely. + +"Two hundred and fifty dollars," said Bessie desperately. + +"How could you contrive to run up such a bill in one winter?" +exclaimed Hugh in astonishment. + +"Why, you see there were a good many girls in the dormitory, and we +always had plum-cake, eclairs, and French candy; and then I have no +doubt but that the servants took their share," said Bessie, with a +half sob. + +"And why was your name selected for the bills?" + +"I don't know, unless because I was,--the,--the,--" + +"The ringleader?" suggested Hugh. + +"I am afraid so," murmured Bessie, hiding her face. + +"Have you got this man's bill?" said Hugh, after a pause. + +"Ah! yes. He sent it to me weeks ago." + +"Let me have it, please." + +"Oh, Hugh! what are you going to do with it?" + +"Pay it, of course." + +"Pay it! How can you?" + +"So long as it is paid, what do you care about it, Brownie?" + +"But I do care, Hugh; and I shall not give it to you unless you tell +me." + +"Well then, listen, Miss Obstinate. You may not know that Sibyl and I +have some money coming to us this month. We shall be quite rich. I +shouldn't wonder if there were five hundred dollars in all. Quite a +fortune, you see! And I shall take mine to pay the debts of my foolish +little cousin, who must be a real sugar-dolly to have eaten so much +candy," said Hugh, laughing. + +"Oh, Hugh! you splendid, generous fellow," said Bessie, with the tears +still shining in her eyes; "but I shall not let you do it." + +"Yes you will, Bessie; you would do the same for me." + +"That is true enough; but I hate to take your money, Hugh." + +"You don't take it; 'J. Evins' takes it," said Hugh merrily. "Come, +give me the bill, and say no more about it, or we shall quarrel." So +it was settled, and there were two light hearts in the studio that +bright June morning. + +While Aunt Faith was busy with her house-keeping duties, she heard +Sibyl's touch on the piano,--giving full value to every note, and +exact time to every measure. Sibyl was an accurate musician, and +several hours of each day were invariably devoted to piano practice. +She never turned over a pile of sheet-music, trying now a little of +this, and now a little of that; but, having made her selections, she +played the piece entirely through, note for note, exactly as it was +written. Most people liked to hear Miss Warrington play, for the +performance was very complete. She sat gracefully at the piano, showed +no nervous anxiety, interpreted the notes conscientiously, and +finished the music to the very last octave. But Aunt Faith detected a +want of expression in this studied mechanism; it seemed to her that +Sibyl did not, in her heart, feel the spirit of the music which her +fingers played. Coming in from the kitchen, this morning, after +setting in motion the household wheels for the day, she again noticed +this automatic execution in the strains of Mendelssohn's +"Spring-Song," and it grated on her ear as she tended the hanging +baskets on the piazza. Continuing her round from her plants to her +birds and gold-fish, Aunt Faith kept listening to the monotonous sound +of the piano. "I wonder if Sibyl has a heart?" she thought; "sometimes +I am tempted to think she has none. How can she practise so steadily +when she has so much to decide? This visit to Saratoga will mean more +than it looks. The decision will be between religion and the world. If +she deliberately makes up her mind to go, it will show me that Mr. +Leslie's influence has not been strong enough to subdue her +worldliness and secret ambition. Poor child! she is like her mother. +And yet, Mabel Fitzhugh became an earnest Christian before she died. +God grant that her daughter may grow in grace also. Hugh, now, is all +Warrington; he is like his father, with all his father's faults and +all his father's generosity. Dear James! my favorite brother!" and +Aunt Faith wiped away a tear, as she crossed the hall and entered the +parlor where Sibyl was practising. + +The parlor in the old stone house was the counterpart of the +sitting-room, large and square, with two north and two south +windows,--for the main body of the house contained only the length of +the apartments finished by a north and south piazza, while the other +rooms ran off on either side in wings and projections, as though the +designer had tried to cover as much ground as possible. The parlor was +plainly furnished as regards cost, for there was no superb set of +furniture, no tall mirror, no velvet carpet or lace curtains. +Easy-chairs of various patterns were numerous, the carpet was small +figured, in neutral tints, and the plain, gray walls brought out the +beauties of the two fine pictures which lighted up the whole room with +their vivid idealism; the piano was a perfect instrument, filling a +corner of its own, and opposite to it was an open book-case filled +with pleasant-looking, well-used books, well worn too, like old +friends, so much better than new ones. The crimson lounge seemed to +invite the visitor with its generous breadth and softness, and the +white muslin curtains were in perfect keeping with the old-fashioned +windows, through which came the perfume of the old-fashioned flowers +in the garden. + +"Sibyl," said Aunt Faith, as her niece paused in her practising; +"shall we talk over your plans for the summer now?" + +"Yes, if you please, aunt; I can finish my practising another time," +said Sibyl, carefully replacing the sheet-music in its portfolio. + +"Mrs. Leighton is very kind to invite you, Sibyl; such a summer +excursion will be expensive." + +"Yes, Aunt, I suppose so; but cousin Jane knows that the addition of a +young lady will add to the attractions of her party." + +"Do you really wish to go, dear?" + +"I have been thinking it over, Aunt Faith. While I was practising I +looked at the subject in all lights, and I have almost decided to go; +there is nothing to keep me here, and no doubt the society at Saratoga +and Newport would be of great advantage to me." + +"In what way, Sibyl?" + +"In giving me the acquaintance of persons and families who will be +desirable friends for a lifetime. I am not rich, as you know, Aunt +Faith, and I do not wish to be a burden upon Hugh. I consider it +prudent to look to the future, and see life as it really is; I do not +believe in fancies,--I must have something sure." + +Aunt Faith looked at the speaker in silence for a moment. Then she +said, "There is nothing sure in this life, Sibyl, but our trust in +God." + +"I know that, Aunt; I hope you do not think I have been remiss in my +religious duties?" + +"No, child no," replied Aunt Faith with a half-sigh; "but are you sure +there is nothing in Westerton that interests you more than the +fashionable life at Saratoga!" + +"Nothing, Aunt; except affection for all of you, of course." Sibyl's +voice did not waver, neither did the shade of color in her oval cheek +deepen; Aunt Faith, who was watching her closely, said no more on that +subject, but turned the discussion towards the arrangements for the +journey. "You will need some additions to your wardrobe, I suppose, my +dear?" + +"Yes, Aunt; I think I shall take that money that is coming to me this +month for the purpose. I do not care for many dresses, but they must +be perfect of their kind, and I think I shall purchase that antique +set of pearls at Carton's," + +"But they are very costly, Sibyl." + +"Of course they are. I should not wish them if they were not rare. +Pearls become me, and the antique setting will set me off far better +than anything modern; a white organdie, long and flowing, with the +pearls, would be just my style," said Sibyl in a musing voice, as +though she saw herself so arrayed. As she spoke, a vision rose before +Aunt Faith's eyes: Sibyl at Saratoga, her classical head and hair +adorned with the antique circlet, rising in simple beauty from the +soft, white draperies. "She will look like a Greek statue," thought +the elder lady; "after all, how beautiful she is!" + +The discussion went on, arranging the details of the various toilets, +a committee of ways and means highly important in Sibyl's eyes. + +"At any rate, you need not begin immediately, Sibyl," said Aunt Faith; +"if you only wish two or three dresses; and those are to be so simple, +a week will be time enough to devote to them. You can have a full +month of quiet here with all of us, dear; and, after all, something +may happen to change your plans." + +"I think not, Aunt Faith. Are you going? Then I may as well finish my +practising;" and for the next hour the Spring-song filled the parlor +with its oft-repeated harmony. + +Down in the back garden, Tom and Gem were deeply engaged in the +construction of an underground shanty. The grassy terrace behind the +north piazza sloped down in a gentle declivity towards the vegetable +garden, and at the base of this small hill the two sappers and miners +were at work, their operations being marked by a convenient growth of +currant-bushes at the top. The three dogs watched the proceedings with +great interest. Turk, always thoughtful of his own comfort, had +stretched himself out near by under the shadow of the bushes, and Pete +Trone, in the excess of his zeal, had burrowed so far into the hill +that nothing was to be seen but his tail and hind legs; Grip, however, +persisted in tearing around the garden in wild circles, barking +furiously every time he passed his master as if to encourage him in +his labors. "This will never do!" said Tom, pausing and wiping his +forehead; "Grip will spoil everything with his ridiculous barking, and +the whole neighborhood will come to see what is the matter. Here, +Grip! Here, this minute! Very well, sir! _ver-y_ well! _ex-treme-ly_ +well! You'd better come, sir! You'd _bet-ter_,--oh! you're coming, are +you? There! get into that tub, sir, and don't let me see you so much +as wag your tail without permission!" + +So Grip sat mournfully _in his_ tub, and watched the work in silence, +resting his nose on the side, and blinking his eyes at every fresh +shovel-full of earth. The sun shone out warmly, and the laborers felt +the perspiration on their heated faces. Gem was the first to drop her +shovel. "Oh, Tom!" she said, wiping her forehead, "my hands are all +blistered!" + +"What of that?" said Tom, shovelling steadily; "the honest hand of +toil, you know." But Gem didn't know, and betook herself to the shade +of the bushes for a rest. "There's Dick Nelson coming up through the +pasture, Tom," she said, after a few moments. + +"Is it? oh, how jolly! Now we'll have a shanty that will beat the +town. I'll get Dick to bring all the B. B.'s to help." + +So saying, Tom ran down to meet his friend, and the two, after some +conversation, darted away to the right and the left, returning in +about fifteen minutes with the "Band of Brothers," as they called +themselves, a number of boys who lived in the vicinity, and hunted in +a herd, as the neighbors said, for they were seldom seen apart. + +"The B. B.'s have come, Gem! the B. B's have come!" cried Tom, as they +approached; "now you'll see a shanty fit for a king! Just run in and +get all the shovels you can find, will you?" + +Gem obeyed, and having confiscated those in use in the kitchen, she +went up to the garret to find the fire utensils belonging to the other +rooms, stored away there for the summer. Collecting a number, she +started to return, but, loaded as she was, this was no easy matter. +First one shovel fell, then another, and finally to save the whole +load from going, she sat down on the stairs and considered the +situation. + +Hugh and Bessie were still in the studio; for, her troubles over, +Bessie's good spirits had returned, and she had persuaded Hugh to give +her a sitting in order that she might satisfy a long-cherished desire +to paint his portrait. "But what can you make out of my stupid phiz?" +Hugh had said, laughing. + +"I can make Fitz Hugh Warrington out of it; fair and golden, Saxon and +strong; ruddy and stalwart; lithe and long. Now sit still, Hugh, and I +will do my best. If you had black eyes I would not paint you; black +eyes are _snaky_; that's the reason I don't like Gideon Fish." + +"But he likes you, Queen Bess." + +"No, he only likes Aunt Faith's cake. If he had to choose between me +and pie, I am afraid I should not have a chance. As for jelly, he +fairly gloats over it. Do you know, Hugh, I shall feel _so_ sorry for +his wife when he marries; how tired she will be of him!" + +"Oh, no, she won't," said Hugh; "she will think he is perfect, and +cook for him all her life without ever once finding out what a humbug +he is." + +"Well, perhaps it is better so. Deception is sometimes a blessing," +said Bessie. At this point a singular noise was heard outside the +door; then another, and still another. + +"What can that be?" said Hugh, opening the door; "Gem, what are you +doing?" + +"Oh, Hugh, don't make any noise," said Gem, in a whisper. + +"_I_ am not making any noise. It is you with your shovels. What are +you doing with them?" asked Hugh, laughing. + +"Oh, Hugh, please don't tell! but Tom and the B. B.'s are making an +underground shanty, and they sent me for all the shovels, and I got +all I could find, and now I can't carry them," said Gem dolefully. + +"An underground shanty! What in the world are you going to do with it, +and who are the B. B.'s?" asked Hugh, relieving his little cousin from +her load, and carrying it down the stairs for her. + +"Live in it, like Robinson Crusoe, you know, and roast potatoes and +everything." + +"It will be rather hot, won't it, Pussy?" + +"Oh, no!" said Gem decisively; "Tom says it will be delightfully cool. +We're going to have a stove, and chairs, and a table, and candles, and +things to eat; and then the dogs can stay there too. Grip has never +had a regular house, you know, and Tom says it isn't respectable for +him to be loose round the garden at night any more, and so he's going +to let him live in the shanty." + +"Happy Grip!" said Hugh, as he delivered the shovels at the foot of +the stairs; "but who are the B. B.'s, Gem?" + +"Oh! the Band of Brothers,--a secret society. Don't let them see you, +please, Hugh, for I promised not to tell, and I'm almost afraid of +them, they've got such a dreadful motto." + +"What is it, Pussy?" + +"Ruin, Riot, and Revenge," said Gem in a solemn whisper. + +"Well done, B. B.'s!" said Hugh laughing; "truly, a terrific motto! +There, take your shovels and run, little one. I won't betray you." + +So the shovels disappeared, and Hugh, returning to the studio, related +the adventure to Bessie with a hearty laugh. "Do you know anything +about the B. B.'s?" he asked, as Bessie resumed her work. + +"Oh, yes!" she replied; "I know them to my cost. They are ruin to +water-melons, riot on peaches, and revenge to anyone who interferes +with them. A few weeks ago, they frightened Mrs. Lane and her sister +almost into a fainting-fit. You know that high board fence below here? +Well! one evening the B. B.'s happened to find out that they were over +at Mrs. Reed's, so they waited until the ladies came along, and then +they laid themselves down on the ground close behind the fence, and +putting their mouths against the boards, groaned out, one by one, +'seven years ago I was murdered and buried under this fence, +oh!--oh!--oh!'--each boy keeping up the groan until the next one took +it up as the ladies hurried by." + +Hugh laughed; "What did they do it for?" he asked. + +"Oh, I believe Mrs. Lane had ordered them out of her garden, one day, +when they were playing there with her Johnny." + +"I am afraid if Aunt Faith knew they were undermining her terrace, she +would order them out of her's, too." + +"I think not, Hugh. Aunt Faith likes boys, and she never seems to see +their pranks." + +"Dear Aunt Faith! she is certainly the kindest aunt a graceless nephew +ever had," said Hugh warmly. + +"That she is; I love her dearly, and I do mean to try not to vex her +any more," said Bessie earnestly. + + "But, the horseback-riding, Bessie!" + "But, the horseback-riding, Hugh!" + +The two offenders looked at each other a moment in silence, and then +burst into a peal of laughter. + +"It's of no use," said Bessie; "we can't be good." + +"Do you think Aunt Faith would be very much shocked if we should tell +her?" asked Hugh. + +"Of course she would. She does not like to see a lady on horseback, +because her cousin was killed by a fall from a horse, you know. Still, +she might not forbid my going, provided I would ride quietly on a +country road; but that is just what I do not want to do. The whole +excitement is in the racing, you know." + +"Well, I suppose it would be better not to tell her, then," said Hugh +slowly. + +Dinner-time came, and the family assembled in the dining-room, Sibyl +attired in a fresh muslin, and Bessie and Hugh somewhat dusty after +their morning in the studio. Tom and Gem came in with flushed +faces;--the B. B.'s were to return after dinner and finish the +excavation, and the afternoon was to be full of glory. + +"Sibyl," said Aunt Faith, when the others had left the dining-room, +"would you like to go with me to see Margaret Brown, about four +o'clock? You have been there before, I believe?" + +"No, Aunt Faith, I have never been there." + +"I thought Mr. Leslie said so." + +"He did, but he was mistaken," replied Sibyl calmly. "I will go with +you, however, this afternoon, aunt, if you wish." + +"Do not go merely to oblige me, my dear. I thought you seemed to be +interested in Mr. Leslie's description. For my part, I have thought of +it ever since." + +A slight flush rose in Sibyl's fair face. "I was much interested, +aunt," she said quickly, "and I shall be glad to go with you, if you +will allow it." + +So Aunt Faith went upstairs for her afternoon siesta, and soon fell +asleep on the cool chintz lounge, in her shaded room, where the +old-fashioned furniture, high bedstead, spindle-legged chairs, and +antique toilet-table, had remained unchanged from her youth, when the +oval mirror reflected back a merry, rosy girl-face, instead of the +pale, silver-haired woman. + +But Sibyl did not sleep. She went into the still parlor, and seated +herself by the window with a book; but her thoughts were busy, and +only her eyes were fixed upon the page, as her mind wandered far away +from the author's subject. "Shall I or shall I not go to Saratoga?" +she mused. "This is more than the mere question of a summer journey; +I know that very well. It is, I feel it, a turning-point in my life. +Can I deliberately give up my ambition, my hopes, all my prospects for +a bright and prosperous future? Is it, after all, wrong to like wealth +and ease? Is it wrong to like elegance and refinement, the society of +cultivated people, and the charming surroundings which only money can +bring? I have an innate horror of misery,--an inability to endure the +want of all that is beautiful in life. I think I could be a very good +woman in an elegant city home, with all my little wishes gratified, +and nothing to offend my taste. But I fear, yes, I know, I should be +a miserable, if not a wicked woman, in a poor home, with nothing but +rasping, wearing poverty, day after day. Why, the very smell and steam +of the wet flannels coming from the kitchens of small houses where I +have happened to be on washing-days, has made me uncomfortable for +hours. I know I am not heroic, but I am afraid I was not intended for +a heroine. I know myself and all my faults thoroughly. I am sure I +should be generous with my money if I was rich,--kind to the poor, and +regular in the discharge of all my religious duties. People would love +me; I should make them happy, and be happy myself. Now the question +is, am I right in thinking such a life far better for me, constituted +as I am, than any other? + +"Let me look at the opposite side, now. It is not likely I should ever +be obliged to work at severe manual labor; but the annoyances and +privations of a limited income seem to me almost worse than that. I +think I would rather be a washerwoman, provided I could acquire the +strength, than the wife of a struggling man who has all the refined +tastes and sensitive nerves of a gentleman, without a gentleman's +income. I should see him growing more and more careless, more and more +haggard, day after day; I should see myself growing old, ugly, +ill-tempered, and sick, hour after hour. I have not the moral force of +mind, or the physical force of body, to make a cold, half-furnished +house seem a haven of rest, a piece of corned-beef and potatoes +continued indefinitely through the week seem a delicious repast, or an +old-fashioned cloak and dowdy bonnet seem like my present pretty fresh +attire. Well! this being the case, I am afraid I am but a worldly +woman, and, as such, would I not wrong a poor man if I consented to be +his wife? Would he not be sure to repent when it was too late,--when +he had discovered the selfishness and love of luxury which are in me? +I know he would. I will not put myself in such a position. I will do +the best I can; but, as I cannot make myself over, I will select the +life which is best suited to me." + +Here Sibyl sighed, and tried to bring her mind back upon her book. In +vain; her thoughts would wander. "There is poor Aunt Faith. I can +easily see how anxious she is about me, and how her heart aches over +my worldliness. I do love her dearly; all the good in me I owe to her, +and if I ever do anything right, it will be the result of her loving +guidance. Sometimes I am tempted to tell her all that is in my +heart,--all I have been thinking this afternoon, for instance. I +believe I will write it down now, and give it to her. She will +understand me better, then; and, if I request it, she will never +allude to the paper in words. Yes, I think I will do it." So Sibyl +took a sheet of paper from the drawer, and, in her clear handwriting, +wrote out her thoughts of the afternoon, adding a request that the +subject might not be brought into discussion, and also, that the paper +should be destroyed. "I will not take any false steps," she thought; +"I will be true to my determination, and therefore I will not go to +see Margaret Brown this afternoon; there would be a double motive in +the visit, I fear." Rising, she went slowly up the stairs to Aunt +Faith's room; the door was partly open, and she could hear the rustle +of book-leaves. "Aunt Faith!" she said, standing outside in the hall, +"I have decided not to go with you this afternoon, if you will excuse +me. I shall go over to the cottage to see Rose Saxon. And I have +written down some ideas of mine on this paper; perhaps you may be +interested in reading them." + +She did not wait for a reply, but laying down the folded paper on a +chair by the door, she went down the stairs, took her little straw +round hat, and walked over to the cottage, the residence of Mrs. Marr, +whose niece, Rose Saxon, had been one of her schoolmates. Aunt Faith +laid aside her book and read Sibyl's paper several times over; then +she arranged her dress, and went alone to see Margaret Brown, leaving +an order for some work, and inviting the children to come and play in +the large garden at the old stone house. Her voice was gentle, her +words cordial, and Margaret felt cheered by the visit; but the +visitor's heart was sad, and when, on her way home, she met Mr. +Leslie, she merely bowed, without stopping as usual to exchange a +pleasant greeting. But the young clergyman joined his old friend in +spite of her constrained manner, and began talking: "You have been to +see Margaret Brown, I presume, Mrs. Sheldon. I am very glad. I am sure +she will interest you, and she has so few friends to help her, that I +feel anxious to gain for her your good will. Miss Warrington has also +visited her, I believe?" + +"No, Mr. Leslie," replied Aunt Faith; "Sibyl has never been to see +Margaret, and she did not care to accompany me this afternoon." + +A shade came over the young clergyman's face, but he made no comment. + +"Westerton is very dull for Sibyl; she is better fitted for the gay +society of the busy city," pursued Aunt Faith, determined at any cost +to prevent Mr. Leslie from looking at her niece with blinded eyes. + +"Miss Warrington is fitted for any life," replied the young clergyman +gravely; "if you please, Mrs. Sheldon, I will accompany you home. I +would like to see Miss Warrington." + +Poor Aunt Faith! what could she do but murmur an invitation. As they +reached the old stone house and Sibyl greeted them with a bright +smile, poor Aunt Faith felt very much like the spider in the old song +of the spider and the fly. + +The tea-table was inviting, and the circle around it as pleasant as +six handsome young faces and one handsome old face could make +it,--faces handsome with vivacity and good nature as well as artistic +beauty. Mr. Leslie was there, and being a general favorite, the +conversation was full of life and interest. + +"He's just splendid!" said Gem to Tom after the meal was over, "and I +wish we dared to show him the shanty. He'd like it ever so much; I've +heard him tell such funny stories about what he did when he was a +boy." + +"But he would not like our keeping it all from Aunt Faith." + +"That's true. Well, I suppose, then, we'd better not tell him now. +But, oh! Tom, how I wish I could stay up with the B. B.'s to-night." + +"No; girls must always stay in nights. I've always thought it a great +pity you could not be a boy, Gem. But it can't be helped now. +Remember, if I fling a stone up, it will mean that we want something, +and you must be sure to get it." + +Aunt Faith spent the evening in the sitting-room busily engaged in her +fancy work. On the piazza, Sibyl and Mr. Leslie talked in low tones, +and now and then she caught a word or two which seemed to indicate the +serious character of the conversation. "I fear I am doing wrong to +allow it," she thought; "there is no doubt in my mind as to John +Leslie's liking for Sibyl, and the child is so worldly! Still, what +can I do? The way in which he put aside my little endeavors this +afternoon and walked boldly into the very danger! It certainly looks +as though he was not afraid of anything, and, to tell the truth, I do +not think he is. I shall have to let him take care of himself; he +looks fully able to do it," and Aunt Faith smiled at her own +discomfiture, as a vision of the clergyman's resolute face and broad +shoulders rose before her eyes. + +Later in the evening Bessie came in and slipped into the sofa corner +by her aunt's side. + +"How flushed you are," said Aunt Faith, stroking the young girl's +cheek; "do you feel quite well, dear?" + +"Oh yes, auntie," said Bessie with downcast eyes; "the evening is +warm, you know." + +"Do you find it warm also?" asked Aunt Faith, as Hugh entered, fanning +himself with his straw hat. Hugh, who had just taken the horses down +through the pasture, murmured some inarticulate reply and crossed the +hall into the parlor. "Let us have some music, Bessie," he called out +as he opened the piano. Then as his cousin joined him, he said in a +low tone, "I cannot bear this deception, Bessie. It makes me feel like +a puppy." + +"Oh Hugh, you are not going to tell, and spoil all my fun?" + +"You are a second Eve with her apple, Brownie." + +"I am not Eve, and I don't like apples," said Bessie indignantly. +"Don't spoil my fun, now, Hugh. The summer will soon be over, and you +will be gone. Then I shall be oh!--_so_ good." + +"When you have no longer a chance to be naughty," said Hugh, laughing. + +At eleven o'clock the lights were all extinguished in the old stone +house, and every one was soon asleep. After awhile a sharp rap on the +closed blinds awoke Gem; at first she was startled, but instantly +remembering the night-watch in the underground shanty, she stole to +the window and peeped out. There stood Tom! "We want something to +eat," he said in a loud whisper; "the B. B.'s are awful hungry. Come +down and open the back door." + +"Oh, Tom, I don't dare to do it!" said Gem, trembling. + +"Don't be a baby, Gem! Come down, or I'll tell, the B. B.'s you're +afraid of the dark." + +This taunt aroused Gem's failing courage, she stole down the stairs +and slipped back the bolt, regaining her room with the speed of a +little pussy cat. She heard nothing more for some time, and was almost +asleep when another tap on the blinds aroused her. + +"We want more candles," whispered Tom; "I can't find 'em. Of course +you know where they are. Hurry up!" + +"Oh, Tom! must I come down again?" pleaded Gem. + +"Of course you must! hurry up!" + +So Gem got the candles and crept back to her bed with a lessening +respect for the delights of the underground shanty. In a few moments +another tap was heard. "Oh, Tom! what is it now?" + +"I want my fiddle; the B. B.'s are awful sleepy, and they say they'll +all go home if I don't play for them." + +"Oh, Tom, somebody will hear you!" + +"Not under the ground, you silly! Come down and get the fiddle; I +can't go in the sitting-room with my boots on." + +So the violin was handed out, and poor Gem at last fell asleep, with a +vague intention of being a good girl, and giving up the society of Tom +and the B. B.'s forever. + +About half past twelve Aunt Faith awoke; "I certainly hear music!" she +thought. Opening the blinds she heard the faint strains of "Nelly +Bly," with the well known "Hi," E flat; "Hi," E natural; "Hi," F +natural, and at the same time saw a light proceeding mysteriously from +the ground. Hastily dressing herself, she ran over to Tom's room; it +was empty. Much disturbed, she knocked at Hugh's door; "Hugh! Hugh!" +she called; "something is wrong. Please get up." + +"What is it, Aunt Faith?" said a sleepy voice. + +"Get up at once! Tom is gone; there is music somewhere, and the +strangest light coming out of the ground in the back garden." + +"The B. B.'s, I'll be bound," said Hugh with a laugh, as he threw on +his clothes. "Don't be frightened, Aunt Faith; it's Ruin, Riot and +Revenge." + +"Dreadful!" murmured Aunt Faith outside the door. + +By this time the whole household was awake, and a group of persons +stole out of the back door and went down the garden walk. Finding a +barricade of boards at the base of the hill, they opened it, and +discovered a little den in the earth containing one chair, a table, +the three dogs, and Tom; a candle stuck in a bottle gave light to the +scene, and the table was covered with the remains of a feast, cake and +pies having evidently once filled the empty dishes. Tom was playing +dismally upon his violin, and the three dogs sat mournfully at his +feet. + +"Thomas, what does this mean?" said Aunt Faith severely. + +Tom looked up and saw the extent of his audience. "It's just my +underground shanty, Aunt Faith," he said dejectedly; "I've worked like +a slave over it all day, and the B. B.'s agreed to sit up here all +night and have lots of fun, so I climbed out of the back window and +came down. But first they wanted things to eat, and I had to get 'em; +and then, when they'd eaten up everything, they said if I didn't play +they'd go home, so I had to get my fiddle. And I only knew one tune, +and they got tired of it after a while, and a few minutes ago they all +skedaddled and left me here alone with the dogs. However, I wasn't +going to give it up, so I was just playing to amuse myself a little +before daylight." + +"Before daylight?" said Aunt Faith; "what time do you think it is +now?" + +"I suppose about four or five," said Tom. + +"It isn't one yet," said Hugh laughing. "Come in and go to bed, you +young brigand." + +At first Tom objected, but the dogs had already taken advantage of the +open door to depart, the candle burned dimly, and the air was damp. He +yielded, and the underground shanty was left to its earthy seclusion. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE EDITOR'S SANCTUM. + + +"Justice has never been done to the month of months," said Hugh, +coming in to the breakfast-table one morning, bringing a spray of +roses with the dew shining on their fragrant petals. "I propose we +celebrate the day, the fifteenth of June; the most perfect day of the +most perfect month of this most perfect year of our lives. Who knows +where we shall be before another June comes round? 'We have lived and +loved together through many a changing year; we have shared each +other's pleasures and wept each other's tears.' But _tempus fugit_, +oh, how fast! and before we know it we shall all be old! Friends, fill +your coffee-cups to the brim, and let us resolve to celebrate." + +"A picnic!" said Gem. + +"A torch-light procession and fireworks!" said Tom. + +"A croquet-party!" said Sibyl. + +"A dance!" said Bessie. + +"An editor's sanctum," said Hugh. + +The novelty of this suggestion made a favorable impression. "Explain +yourself, Hugh," said Aunt Faith; "I am afraid your project is too +large for the field." + +"Oh, no, Aunt Faith, it is not so large as you fancy. There is a store +of hidden genius in this family, and I propose, to bring it out and +let it scintillate in the light of day! We will invite a few friends +to spend the evening, give them notice that they must bring to the +'Sanctum' an original contribution, in prose or verse as they please, +and at nine o'clock we, will all assemble in the parlor to hear them +read aloud. I will act as editor, receive manuscripts, throw them into +a basket, and when the appointed time comes, take them out and read +them aloud, as they happen to come." + +"Splendid!" said Tom; "I'll go right away and begin mine." + +"Oh, I can never think of anything to say!" said Gem in a despairing +voice. + +"I have never noticed any difficulty of that kind in you, Pussy," said +Hugh, laughing. + +"Oh, I mean to _write_, of course," said Gem; "I don't know what I +shall do unless you'll take my last composition?" + +"Anything you like as long as it's original," said Hugh. + +So Gem went upstairs with a lightened heart and the others discussed +the list of invitations. + +"We will have old Mr. Gay," began Bessie; "he is always an addition. I +wish he would stay here permanently instead of going back to Boston." + +"A Boston man will never forsake the 'Rub,'" said Hugh; "that is too +much to expect. We will have Mr. Leslie, of course." + +"Rose Saxon and Graham Marr," said Sibyl. + +"Now, Sibyl, how can you?" said Hugh. "Graham is not a congenial +spirit." + +"He is congenial to me," replied Sibyl calmly. + +"Of course we will have the Marrs," said Aunt Faith; "and Gideon Fish +also." + +"Oh, Aunt Faith! Not Gideon?" said Bessie. + +"Poor Gid! If he could hear you say so," said Hugh, laughing. + +"I wish he could," answered Bessie hotly; "he does not understand a +hint." + +"How should he, doubly enrolled as he is in his own self-importance?" +said Hugh. + +"I am inclined to think there are good points in Gideon Fish," said +gentle Aunt Faith. + +"Have you ever seen him eat?" asked Bessie with marked emphasis. + +"No, my dear; but we all eat, do we not?" said Aunt Faith, smiling. + +"Not like Gideon Fish, I hope, auntie. He never has enough; he is +always eyeing the baskets at picnics, and the supper-table at parties. +And then he never openly takes what he wants,--as Hugh does for +instance,--but he always pretends he does not care for anything, that +he is too much absorbed in intellectual conversation to attend to +anything so sublunary as eating, while all the time he is gloating +over the nice things, and sure to outstay everybody at the table. The +very way he gets a piece of cake is a study. He never takes it boldly, +like any one else, but eyes it awhile; then he turns the plate to the +right or the left, edging it a little nearer; then he looks furtively +at the slices, and gradually he gets hold of a piece, his little +finger carefully extended all the time, and his face wearing an +expression of pure self-sacrifice to an arduous duty." + +Everybody laughed at this description, but Aunt Faith said, "Gently, +Bessie, gently. If that is all you have against Gideon, he has fewer +faults than most young persons of his age." + +Somewhat conscience-stricken, Bessie did not reply, and the discussion +went on until the list was fully made out, and Hugh departed to +deliver the invitations and explain the conditions connected with the +editor's sanctum. He returned in an hour with acceptances from most of +the invited guests, and then silence reigned in the old stone house +for the remainder of the day, while all the contributors wooed the +Muses, ransacked their brains, or paced their floors in desperation, +according to their various temperaments. Aunt Faith having been +exempted from duty, moved about the house, arranging flowers and +decorating the pretty supper-table which stood in the sitting-room. +Gem had nothing to do but copy her composition, and yet she consumed +the whole day in a battle with the ink, and came out with a blotted +page at the last. Tom had disappeared; no one knew where he was. Sibyl +came down to dinner in her usual unruffled state, but Bessie's curly +hair stood on end, and there was a deep wrinkle between her eyes. +"Well, Sibyl, have you made a commencement?" she asked, as her cousin +took her seat at the dinner-table. + +"I have finished my contribution entirely," said Sibyl. + +"Did it take you all the morning? I have not heard a sound from your +room." + +"Oh no! I finished it some time ago, and since then I have been making +a new underskirt for my Swiss muslin; the old one was not quite +fresh." + +"There it is," said Bessie, half laughing, half vexed; "you are always +ahead of me, Sibyl. Your contribution will be perfect, and your dress +will be perfect,--and I am always just--" + +"Bessie Darrell!" interrupted Hugh; "and I would not have you +different if I could." + +"Thank you, Hugh; but the rest of the world may not agree with you." + +"If you mean Gideon Fish," began Hugh, merrily, but something in his +cousin's face stopped him. It was seldom that the keenest observer +could detect anything like wounded feelings in Bessie Darrell's bright +eyes, but when it did come, they were like the eyes of a wounded fawn. + +"How has your contribution advanced, Hugh?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"Done! madam, at your service," said Hugh with a low bow. "The muses +visited me in a body, and I had hard work to choose between the +numerous gifts they offered." + +"Very well," said Bessie, "I see I am entirely behind you all. I shall +shut myself into the studio this afternoon, and my ghost will come out +at tea-time, deliver a manuscript written in blood, and vanish into +thin air. Farewell, my friends, farewell!" + +Evening came, and found Sibyl seated on the piazza looking like a lily +in her white draperies. Tom and Gem were in the parlor, in their best +attire, trying to look grown-up and dignified; Tom's collar was +especially imposing. The guests assembled slowly; Hugh received their +folded papers as they entered, and placed them in a covered basket. +Nine o'clock struck, and the merry party seated themselves in the +parlor, Sibyl by the side of Graham Marr, and Rose Saxon on the +opposite side of the room with Mr. Leslie. When they were all in +place, the door opened and Hugh appeared, carrying the basket. His +entrance was greeted with applause; an arm-chair by the table, and a +shaded light were ready, and, with much solemnity, the reader took his +seat. Placing the basket on the floor before him, he coughed, unfolded +a pocket-handkerchief, and laid it on the table at his elbow, brought +out a box of troches and placed them in position by the handkerchief, +gravely asked for a glass of water, which was also ranged in order, +and then, putting on a pair of green spectacles, bowed to the company +and began his preliminary speech:-- + +"Ladies and gentlemen; the humble individual who now addresses you +asks in advance for your kind sympathy for his present embarrassing +position. Of a gentle nature, timid as the wild rabbit, blushing as +the rosy dawn, he yet finds himself called upon to address the +public,--and such a public! (applause ). Ladies and gentlemen,--his +feelings are too much for him, and, withdrawing to the basket, he +hides his own personality in the following no doubt brilliant +effusions taken at random from this intellectual vortex. Ladies and +gentlemen,--I beg your attention to the story of:-- + + 'THE UNSEEN VISITOR + +"'While I was still a school-girl, I paid a visit to a young lady +friend in the pleasant city of C------. We occupied a room together in +the second story, and were the only persons on that floor, as the +other members of the family slept down-stairs, the house being large, +with irregular one-story wings on each side in the old-fashioned +style. C------ is a city of a hundred-thousand inhabitants, the +streets closely built up, lighted, paved, and guarded by a +well-regulated police force. It is a new town also, with no old +associations, old legends, or old people to cast a veil of mystery +over its new houses and young history; thus, it, would seem to be the +last place for anything mysterious, and yet it was there that a +singular incident occurred which I have never been able to explain. +One night I had been asleep perhaps two hours, when suddenly I +awoke,--it was about half-past ten when Kate and I went to our +room,--and soon after I awoke, I heard the clock strike one. The +street lamps were not lighted, in accordance with the almanac which +predicted a fine moon without any regard for the possibility, now a +certainty, of heavy clouds; not a gleam, therefore, came in through +the blinds to lighten the dark, still house. Our room was large, +opening into the hall which was long and broad, extending from one end +of the house to the other; the stairs from below came up into this +hall, and there was no way of getting to the back part of the house, +where the servants slept, without going entirely through it to the +west end. + +"'Waking suddenly in the night always gives me a strange sensation. I +feel as though some one must have called me, and, involuntarily, I +listen for a second summons. This night I listened as usual, and +distinctly heard a step in the hall. Our door stood partly open, but +the darkness was intense. At first I thought it might be a member of +the family in search of something in the upper story, for there were +several unoccupied rooms and a medicine-closet opening into the hall; +but, after a moment, I noticed that the step did not pause or enter +these chambers, but seemed to keep in the hall, going back and forth, +from one end to the other, with perfect regularity and steadiness. +Much perplexed, I gently awakened Kate, and, placing my hand over her +lips, I whispered in her ear, 'listen!' She obeyed, and, with beating +hearts, we heard the footstep pacing back and forth before our door, +now at the west end, now at the east, in a measured gait to which we +could almost beat time, so regularly came the sound. The hall was +carpeted, and the footfalls soft, yet not as though the unseen visitor +was trying to deaden the sound. It was a natural step. From the light +tread we might have supposed it to be a woman's foot, but from the +stride it was more like a man. I do not know how long we lay there +motionless. I felt myself growing more and more nervous, and Kate's +hand, as it pressed mine, was cold and trembling. I think we would +have been relieved if the step had paused, or even entered our room; +that, at least, would have been like an ordinary burglar. But this +steady march, to and fro, seemed so unaccountable. If the steps, too, +had been soft and muffled, if we could have supposed the person was +creeping about after booty of some kind, we should have been +frightened, no doubt, but not so appalled as we were now at this +singular, easy, and apparently aimless promenade. We did not speak, +but lay trembling, and scarcely daring to breathe. Our room was long, +and the distance to the open door so great that we could not hope to +reach it unnoticed in the darkness, before the step would be upon us +again. Besides, the lock was out of order, so that even if we could +have summoned courage to shut it, it could not be fastened. The +stairway, too, was at such a distance beyond our door, that we did not +dare to try that way of escape, bringing us, as it would, face to face +with our unseen visitor. There was nothing left but silent endurance, +and thus we lay counting the footsteps through the long hours. We +could not hope, either, that the other members of the family would be +aroused, as their sleeping-rooms were not directly below us, but +beyond, in the wings. The clock struck two, and half-past, and +steadily the step kept on its regular sound, passing and repassing our +door. It grew insupportable. It seemed as though I should not be able +to keep from shrieking aloud each time it drew near. If we could have +spoken to each other we might have regained some courage, but we were +paralyzed with nervous fear; our throats were parched, and our muscles +rigid with long continued tension, for we dared not move. It was like +a spell, and the fact that we did not know what it was we feared, made +the fear all the more intense. At length, after what seemed a century +of suffering, the strange footsteps paused. Our hearts gave a leap. +Was it coming in? Who was it? Would it come and stand by the bedside, +and look at us in the darkness? No! Slowly--and steadily it went down +the stairs. We counted every step to the bottom. Then a pause. Would +it go towards the dining-room, where the silver was, or towards the +sleeping-rooms? We almost hoped it would, for that would prove a +desire for plunder. Still silence! We dared not move for fear it might +have crept softly up the stairs; it might even now be crawling towards +us in the darkness. We shuddered; the silence seemed worse than the +regular footfalls. Suddenly we heard a distinct snap in the hall +below. We instantly recognized the bolt of the front door, and +simultaneously we sprang from the bed. _It_--whatever _It_ was,--was +going. We ran across the room, hearing, as we went, the sound of the +footfalls on the stone walk outside, which led from the door to the +street. We rushed down-stairs and alarmed the house. The front-door +was found open, but no trace of our unseen visitor remained, although +the neighborhood was carefully searched. Investigation showed that +entrance had been effected through a dining-room window. But the +silver was untouched; nothing had been disturbed, although the house +contained many valuables, and it was evident that none of the +sleeping-rooms had been visited. It, whatever it was, had entered, +passed up the stairs, spent the night pacing to and fro in the upper +hall, and then, just before dawn, had departed as strangely as it +came. + +"'Who or what it was, we never knew. The only possible solution was, +that it might have been some somnambulist; and, in that case, it must +have been some acquaintance who bad been in the house in his waking +moments. But even this solution seemed unsatisfactory, and finally +Kate and I gave up trying to solve the enigma, content to let it rest +as the mystery of our Unseen Visitor. + + SIBYL WARRINGTON.'" + +"Oh, Sibyl! you never told us anything about it before!" exclaimed +Gem, who had listened with breathless interest. "Is it all really +true?" + +"Entirely true," replied Sibyl; "it is an exact description of what +happened during my visit to C------ last summer." + +After a little general conversation upon somnambulism, and the stories +connected with it, Hugh took up another paper. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "the next manuscript, which I have +taken at random from the basket, seems to be poetical. It is prefaced +by the following note:-- + +"'To the Editor,--Sir: I am a Boston man; I do not deny it, but glory +in the title! Some winters ago I was tempted to go west on business, +and found myself snowed up in that great Metropolis of the Lakes,--the +Pride of the West,--the Garden City,--in a word, Chicago! It was +before the great fire; the hotels were crowded; I was in the fifth +story, and, need I say it, I was miserable! In addition to my bodily +sufferings, my ear was tortured by the various pronunciations given to +the city's name. No sooner had I mastered one than I heard another! At +last, driven to desperation, I tried to while away the time in +composing the following 'Ode,' in which my feelings, and the three +different pronunciations are expressed:-- + + 'ODE TO CHICAGO. + + The wind is loud, and on the road + The snow lays an embargo, + While, in his room, a Boston man + Sits snow-bound in Chi-CAR-go. + + A monkey when he is so sick + That he can't make his paw go, + Feels better than a Boston man + When storm-bound in Chi-CAW-go. + + A spinster, when she cannot make + Her thin and grayish hair grow, + Feels happier than a Boston man + When storm-bound in Chi-CARE-go. + + A Boston man would sooner lose + His credit, cash, and cargo, + He'd sooner be a beggar than + A dweller in Chi-CAR-go. + + A Boston man would sooner far + To wigwam with a squaw go, + Than to enjoy domestic bliss + In the best house in Chi-CAW-go. + + All the extreme and dreadful lengths + A Boston man would dare go, + Could ne'er include the direful thought + Of DWELLING in Chi-CARE-go. + + ELIJAH GAY.'" + +There was a general laugh over this effusion of the Boston bachelor. +Mr. Gay was a genial, pleasant man, and although approaching his +three-score years and ten, he enjoyed the companionship of young +people, and, what is more unusual, the young people sought his +company; he entered into their feelings and interests, and was not so +devoted to memories of the past but that; he could see the advantages +and improvements of the present. + +"The next article to which I shall call your attention," said Hugh, +taking another paper from the basket, "is a grave and scholarly essay +upon that momentous subject, ambition. After the story and the poem, +no doubt our minds will receive much enjoyment from the contemplation +of this instructive theme:-- + + 'AMBITION + +Ambition is the curse of nations. + +If it was not for ambition, America would be a better country. + +Ambition is wrong. + +Americans are very ambitious. + +It is always better to be content with what we have got. + +Especially when we have got so much. + +It is not right to be too ambitious. + +It is said we are going to have Cuba, Mexico and Canada. + +Of course we can have them if we want to. + +Or anything else. + +But we must always remember that ambition is wrong. + + THOMAS MORRIS.'" + +"Very good, my boy," said Mr. Gay to Tom, whose scarlet face had +betrayed the authorship of this profound essay long before his name +was read; "adhere to that moral, and, mark my words, you will--never +be President of the United States." + +Tom's embarrassment checked the smiles of the audience, and Hugh took +up another paper. "Ah!" he said with enthusiasm, "this seems to be a +poem in earnest, breathing the real afflatus, written with the pen of +Melpomene! With your permission, ladies and gentlemen, I will refresh +myself with a glass of water before I begin:-- + + 'A JUNE LYRIC. + + After all, not to labor only,-- + But to breathe in the essence of vivified sheen, + The fragrance of rarefied thoughts as they surge to and + fro, + Heaving the unknown depths up to mountains of night. + Crystalline, luminous, rare, opalescently rare,-- + This,--this is June! + + GRAHAM MARR'" + +"Ah, blank verse," said Sibyl to her companion, with admiring +interest. He bowed and stroked his moustache with a dreamy air. + +"_Very_ blank, I should say," murmured Bessie to Mr. Gay. + +"It seems to me as though I had heard the beginning of it before, +somewhere," answered the Boston bachelor in the same tone. + +"The next contribution consists of a series of illustrations," said +Hugh, unfastening some loose sheets of drawing paper; "the following +introduction is appended:-- + +'The hand is not only an index of character, but it has a character of +its own. We may disguise or droll our features, cultivate our voices +and expression, but our hands betray us; I propose to illustrate this +principle by a series of sketches. To begin: when you see an irregular +hand with large, broad palm, strong wrist, but shapely, tapering +fingers, you may know that hand betokens a duplex temperament, where +opposite characteristics are constantly struggling for the mastery. +The palm may denote strength and industry, but the fingers may +overbalance these qualities by their love of ease or generous +prodigality. For instance, when you see a hand of this nature, you may +know that its owner might give you half his fortune, might even give +you his life, and yet would be very likely to keep the household in +discomfort for months, for want of one new shingle on the roof. In +short, my friends, you might know it was--'" + +Here the reader paused, and held up a large drawing of two hands, so +lifelike and alive with character that the whole company cried out +with one voice, "Hugh!" + +"Rather embarrassing for the editor," said Hugh, hastening on with his +task as the laughter subsided. "Here, my friends is another design. +When you see a hand proportioned in careful outlines, beautiful, but +also firm; white, but also strong to the playing of a sonata, you may +know the owner will be prompt, even-tempered and calm; you may know +the owner will be such a one as--" here Hugh held up another design; +"Sibyl!" said the audience, as the two hands appeared. + +Mr. Leslie rose, and crossed the room to examine the drawing; he did +not lay it aside, but carried it back to his seat, as though it was +the most natural thing in the world. Sibyl's color rose, but she +turned with marked interest towards Graham Marr, and listened to his +remarks with a bright smile. + +"The next design," Hugh read, "requires no explanation. It is the +strong, broad, long palm, and strong, long, shapely fingers of the +well-balanced, resolute man, who will fight the battle of life with +all his strength, and never give up until it is won. In short, it +is--" + +"Mr. Leslie!" said the audience, as the illustration was held up for +inspection. Sibyl's eyes brightened as she saw the life-like picture, +but she sat silent as the others poured forth criticisms and comments. + +"Go on, Hugh!" said Mr. Leslie laughing; "this is quite an ordeal, I +find." + +"The next design," read Hugh, "shows all the faults of nature's worst +handiwork. (No pun intended.) A scraggy little paw, brown, knotted and +shapeless; of course every one will know that it is--" + +"Bessie!" cried the laughing audience, as two ridiculous caricatures +of Bessie's little brown hands came into view. + +"Last of all, I present the fat-simile of a perfect hand. Our other +designs have been youthful, but this one has borne the burden and heat +of the day. Originally beautiful and shapely, it is now worn with +labor for others; it has given to the poor, it has tended the sick, it +has guarded the young, and soothed the afflicted. It is,--I am sure +you will recognize it,--" + +"Aunt Faith!"--"Mrs. Sheldon!" cried the company, as the last drawing +was displayed. + +"Bravo, Bessie!" said Tom; "your contribution is the best so far." + +When the buzz of conversation had subsided, Hugh took another paper +from the basket. + +"The next contribution is poetical," he said; "it is entitled:-- + + 'A JUNE RHAPSODY. + + The lovely month of June has come, + The sweetest of the year,-- + (I've heard this somewhere;--never mind;) + The meadows green and sear;-- + Sear's not the word; there's something wrong,-- + I fear my muse will drop + The fire of genius' flowing song, + And so I'd better stop! + + ROSE SAXON.'" + +A general laugh followed this effusion, and no one joined in it more +heartily than the authoress, a bright little brunette with sparkling +eyes, in whose expression merriment predominated. + +"Our next manuscript seems to be of a serious nature," said Hugh; "it +treats of a solemn subject, and I beg you to give it your attentive +consideration:-- + + 'BOYS. + +Boys are funny sometimes, but girls are more dignified for their age. +Boys are rude, but girls are polite and lady-like. It is a pity boys +are not lady-like too. Once I knew a boy, a very little boy, and he +had a pair of boots. Real boots,--the first he ever had. One night +when his father came home, he found Jimmy sitting on the stairs in the +hall. The boots were outside the parlor door,--against the wall. "What +are you doing here, Giant Grimm?" said his father. (His father called +him "Giant Grimm," sometimes; for fun, I suppose.) "I'm seein' how my +boots 'ud look if they was stood outside the door at a hotel to be +cleaned," said Jimmy. He could not speak very plain, so I have not +written it plain. + + GRACE EVANS MORRIS.'" + +"Very good, little girl," said Aunt Faith, drawing her youngest child +to her side, and signing to Hugh to go on in order to divert attention +from her; "I didn't know you could write so well." + + "THE OHIO CAPTAIN," + +read Hugh. + +"When the war for the Union broke out, I had just completed my studies +and entered the ministry. My intention had been to enter upon my new +duties in a little village not far from my home, but as the excitement +spread through the country, and the young men left their fields, their +workshops, and their homes, to join the army, I could not overcome my +desire to go with them. I could not sleep, through many exciting +weeks; in imagination I saw this one, and that one, friends that I +knew, cold in death, or lying wounded alone in the night. I seemed to +walk through crowded hospitals and to hear the 'ping' of the balls; I +felt that if ever there was a place where the gospel words were +needed, it was after the battle, when men were left with the awful +shadow of death hanging over them. My youth and inexperience would be +obstacles in the well-regulated quiet village, but in the army might +they not be overlooked, if accompanied by willing hands and heart? In +the great haste, in the great excitement, in the great agony, might +not the great tidings be delivered acceptably even by an inexperienced +messenger? Thus I thought, and soon after the battle of Bull Run, I +obtained an appointment as chaplain, joined the army, and remained +with it until the close of the war. + +"Part of this time I was with an Ohio volunteer regiment; the colonel +belonged to the regular army, but all the other officers were +volunteers. I grew to know them all, and among them I found many noble +hearts, and, had I the time, I could relate many incidents of +generosity and true courage, part of that unwritten history of the war +which will never come into print. Among these officers there was one +young captain whom I especially liked. He was quiet and reserved, and +although he never talked with me as his companions sometimes did, +although he told me nothing of his life and history, I still felt +that, he was a Christian at heart, probably one of those who have +never been drawn out of themselves, or taught the pleasure of +sympathetic fellowship. Captain Worthington often came to the Sunday +service, when I was able to hold one, and his voice joined in the +hymns, which gave the greatest charm to those military prayer-meetings; +but beyond this I could not pass. He was reserved and silent; I could +not force myself upon him. Sensitive natures abhor an intruder. + +"One evening in September, while passing through the camp, I met +Captain Worthington walking up and down under the trees; he spoke to +me with unusual cordiality, and we continued the walk together, +strolling through the forest at, random, and talking upon any subject +which happened to suggest itself. The week had been hard and annoying. +The brigade had been marching and counter-marching in an apparently +purposeless way, although, no doubt, there was a concealed motive in +every movement; the ground was stony, and broken by deep ravines, the +forage wretched, and rain had been falling almost continuously, so +that deep mud alternated with sharp stones, making every mile seem +two. There had, also, been no enemy in sight to keep up the ardor of +the soldiers, and make them forget their discomfort; it had been, as +I said before, a wretched week, and Allan Worthington, always grave, +seemed this evening almost sad. We sat down upon a fallen tree, and in +the still gloom of that night he first spoke of his home. + +"'I have been thinking about my mother,' he said; 'I cannot explain +it, but home seems very near to me to-night. I can see the house as +plainly as though it stood here before me, and I see mother sitting in +her arm-chair by the table, knitting. Poor mother! how lonely she +looks.' + +"'Has she no other children?' I asked. + +"'No; I am her only child. She let me go because I would not stay; I +sometimes think perhaps I was wrong to leave her. We lived alone on +the hill, and when I rode into the country town and heard the latest +news, I seemed to be all on fire; I would ride back over the quiet +road, my blood fairly tingling with excitement. At last, as the story +of the battles began to come, I could stand it no longer, and I told +mother I must go. The regiments from my part of the country were all +full, but I got a lieutenant's place in another county, and marched +away. That was more than two years ago, and I have never felt homesick +until this evening. I don't know what has come over me.' + +"'In what part of Ohio does your mother live, captain?' I asked. + +"'At Benton Fails, South county. I hope to get a furlough before long. +I want to go home, if only for a few days; there is one there besides +mother whom I want to see; I never knew how much until now.' + +"These last words were spoken in a low tone, almost as if the young +soldier had forgotten my presence and was talking to himself. He was +sitting on the log, with his back against a large oak-tree, resting as +though he was in an arm-chair. He said no more, and I strolled away +for a moment, thinking that if he resumed the subject when I returned, +I would gladly pursue it, but unwilling to take advantage of what +might have been an inadvertent utterance. I was absent several +minutes, climbing down the bank to the spring to get a drink of water; +then I returned and took my place upon the log again. + +"'I suppose you often hear from your mother, captain?' I said. + +"He did not answer. I repeated the question; no reply. I was +perplexed. Could he have fallen into a brown study? His eyes were +open, and he appeared to be looking off through the forest. At length +I touched his shoulder, but he did not move. I took his hand; he was +dead! Shot through the heart. The roaring of the brook, and the steep +bank, had prevented my hearing the report; but, as I sat there holding +the dead hand, suddenly the woods seemed to grow alive with noise and +light. Our camp had evidently been surprised by the enemy, and a sharp +conflict began. I took poor Allan's note-book and watch, and, +remembering his mother, I managed to cut off a lock of his curly hair; +but, before I had gone far, I myself was struck by a stray shot, and +knew nothing more until I awoke in a border hospital two months +afterwards, pale and weak, the very shadow of my former self. As +memory came back, I thought of the captain. The relics had been +preserved, and, as soon as I was able, I sent them to the poor mother, +with a letter describing my last conversation with her boy,--his last +words on earth. I supposed, of course, that she knew from other +sources all the details of the attack, but I felt that I must also +tell her what _I_ knew; possibly it would be some comfort to her. In +about a week I received a letter written in a careful, old-fashioned +handwriting. The poor mother had known nothing all that long time save +this: 'Captain A. Worthington reported missing.' Our regiment had +suffered severely. The camp had been abandoned, and the dead left on +the field. The suspense had been dreadful, and she had prayed for +relief. It had come in the inward conviction that her boy was dead; +that he was not in the southern prisons or languishing in a hospital, +but gone from earth forever. My letter brought her the first definite +tidings, and my description of that last conversation, the first +comfort. 'I shall go to him though he shall not return to me,' wrote +the afflicted mother; and she gave me her blessing in such solemn, +tender words, that I can never forget them. In the letter she enclosed +a picture of Allan, sent home to her during the previous year; and +with it another, a picture of the one of whom Allan said, 'I want to +see her; I never knew how much until now.'" + +As Hugh finished reading, he took the photographs from an envelope, +and handed them to Aunt Faith. They were passed from hand to hand, +with gentle comments, and some tear-dimmed eyes gazed on the pictured +faces,--a resolute, grave young soldier, with earnest eyes, and a +little, delicate, wistful maiden, as fair and simple as a wild-flower. + +"The war made many partings," said Aunt Faith, as she replaced the +pictures in their envelope, and returned them to Mr. Leslie; "but the +lost ones are only gone before. There are no partings there." + +The gayety had subsided into a quiet thoughtfulness, by common consent +the reading was abandoned, and, as it was growing late, Aunt Faith led +the way into the sitting-room, where the pretty supper-table soon +aroused the vivacity of the young people. Youth is buoyant, and, as +for Aunt Faith, she was never saddened by the thought of death. She +had lost so many loved ones, that her home seemed more there than +here. In a few moments all the company were talking and laughing as +merrily as ever, and in the crowd around the table no one noticed that +Rose Saxon had slipped away. If they noticed anything beside +themselves, it was the amount of chocolate-ice which Gideon Fish +consumed! + +Rose was in the parlor. The basket was still in its place, and she was +looking over the remaining manuscripts. "'Gideon Fish,'" she +murmured, "no one wants to hear that; 'Lida Powers,' 'William Mount,' +'Edith Chase,'--oh, here is something! I know the handwriting, +although there is no name. Let me see,--yes; this is Hugh's. It is +sure to be good, and I mean to have it read." So, just before the +company broke up, Rose rapped on the table with her plump little fist. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," she began, in her merry voice, "I presume you +all know Mr. Pete Trone, the distinguished terrier, whose +accomplishments and sagacity are in every mouth." + +"Oh, we know him!" answered the company; "we know him well." "He is +the celebrated dog of republican principles,"--"who climbs trees;"--"and +walks the tight-rope;"--"and dances the hornpipe!" + +"I perceive that you know him," said Rose, "and therefore you will be +pleased to hear an epic poem in his honor. Indeed, it is supposed that +he wrote it himself. He speaks with modesty of his achievements, +alludes with feeling to his fancy for digging in the garden, and begs +for sympathy. With your permission, I will read the:-- + + 'COMPLAINT OF PETE TRONE, ESQ. + + I'm only a poor little terrier, + Very small, black-and-tan, + But a dog who is brighter or merrier + Never breathed, never ran. + I'm death on piratical cats, + And, mangled and gory, + The bodies of hundreds of rats + Testify to my glory. + + My duty I try to fulfil + Whenever I know it; + If I do not accomplish your will + You've only to show it; + Yet, though I'm thus honest and square + In all my dealings, + It is plain that you are not aware + A dog has his feelings. + + If master is kept in at school + Why must I feel the stick? + If sweetheart is distant and cool, + Why should I get a kick? + If Turk steals the mutton for dinner, + And goes off to gulp it, + Why screen HIM, the solemn old sinner, + And call ME the culprit? + + And if I am fond of the sand-banks, + And fresh garden-soil, + Why should you molest with your brickbats + My hard, honest toil? + And why should you call it a 'dusty muss,' + And make me abandon + My labor? Remember, 'DE GUSTIBUS + NON EST DISPUTANDUM!' + + The world should remember a canine + Has a heart in his breast; + If you knew all you never could say mine + Was worse than the rest. + Then help me to gain the position + To which I aspire, + And grant this poor dog-gerel petition + Of Pete Trone, Esquire!'" + +"Excellent! excellent!" cried the audience, as Rose finished reading +the verses. + +"I propose we have the hero in person," said Mr. Gay. + +So Tom went out, and after some delay returned with Mr. P. Trone, who +had been hastily attired in his red suit for the occasion, four red +pantaloons, a red coat, and little cap with a red feather. He was +received with applause, and, after being regaled with macaroons, went +through all his tricks, concluding with a slow horn pipe to the tune +of "Lochinvar." + +About midnight the guests took their departure, and the cousins +assembled in the parlor for a few moments before going to bed. + +"I think the sanctum was real fun," said Gem; "but you did not read +all the papers, Hugh?" + +"No; it would have taken too much time," answered Hugh; "what a good +thing you made of those hands, Bessie. We must keep the drawings. +Why!--where is Sibyl's?" + +"Mr. Leslie took it away;--he laid a paper over it and put it in his +pocket, just as though it belonged to him," said Tom; "but of all the +contributions, _I_ liked Mr. Gay's 'Chicago' the best." + +"And I liked Mr. Leslie's story," said Aunt Faith; "it is singular he +never before mentioned his army life." + +"Oh! he isn't one of the talking kind like Gideon Fish," said Hugh. +"Gid is always telling everybody about his 'emotional nature,' and his +inner 'consciousness.' He seems to think his mental condition, a +subject of public interest, and constantly sends out bulletins for the +benefit of anxious friends. His manuscript was poetical, but I took +good care to hide it in the bottom of the basket. By the way, Sibyl, +how did you like Graham Marr's Lyric? Pretty deep, wasn't it?" + +Sibyl was arranging the books and music in their proper places. "You +know I am not myself poetical," she answered calmly; "but I like Mr. +Marr, and therefore I like his verses, Hugh." + +"Oh, Sibyl! surely not so well as Mr. Leslie's story?" said Bessie +earnestly. + +"Poetry and prose cannot be compared, neither can Mr. Marr and Mr. +Leslie be compared," said Sibyl; "they are very different." + +"I should think they were!" said Hugh. + +"And tastes are different also," added Sibyl, as she finished her +task. "Good-night all." + +The cousins dispersed, while Aunt Faith turned out the lights. "I +almost think she likes that Marr, after all," whispered Hugh to Bessie +as they went up the stairs; "she was with him all the evening." + +"Let me tell you, Hugh Warrington, that if Sibyl likes anybody, it is +Mr. Leslie," returned Bessie emphatically. + +"When did you discover that, Brownie?" + +"I have always suspected it, but to-night I saw it plainly," replied +Bessie. + +"To-night! Why, she was with Marr all the time!" + +"Men are as blind as bats," said Bessie scornfully; "good-night." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +HUGH. + + +One bright morning towards the last of June, Bessie and Hugh were +together in the studio; Bessie was working at her picture, and her +cousin, seated in an old arm-chair, was gazing dreamily out through +the open window over the pasture, and grove, and the blue lake beyond. +"I think life is very beautiful," he said, after a long pause. "I have +no patience with people who are always sighing and complaining, always +talking of the cold world, the hard lot of man, and the sufferings of +humanity. I always felt sure that they themselves have no taste for +beauty, no affection for their friends, or enthusiasm for great deeds, +and, judging others by themselves, of course they are always looking +for double motives in the kindest actions, and hypocrisy in the most +unselfish impulses." + +"What has brought these thoughts to the surface, Hugh?" + +"The beauty of the sky and the lake. How can any one look at them and +not be happy?" + +"If you were very poor, Hugh, you might not have time to look at +them," said Bessie, taking up the other side. + +"Why not? One can work and not be blind! I expect to work all my life, +but I am going to be happy too." + +"But suppose you should lose all those you love,--suppose they should +all die," said Bessie, pursuing the argument. + +"Even then I should be happy on such a day and with such a sky. I +cannot understand how people who believe God's word can brood over +their sorrows in such a gloomy way. Are not the dead with their great +Creator? Can we not trust them to Him? Why, when I look up into this +blue sky, I can almost see them there. My mother,--how often I think +of her; not with sadness, always with pleasure, and a bright +anticipation of meeting her again. Bessie, if I should die, you must +not mourn for me. Think of me as gone into another world where sooner +or later you will come too." + +"Why do you say such things, Hugh?" said Bessie, laying down her brush +with her eyes full of tears. + +"Because they happened to come into my mind, I suppose. Why, you are +not crying! Nonsense, Brownie! look at me. Do I look like dying? Am I +not a young giant, with every prospect of outliving all my family? I +fully expect to live to a hale old age, and you have no idea how full +and busy my life is going to be. Go to work again, and I will tell you +all my plans; I have never told them to any one before. In the first +place, I shall go, of course, to New York, and enter Cousin John's +establishment. I shall work with all my might, and, with the aid of my +relationship, I shall no doubt be able to obtain a good position there +in the course of a few years. Gradually I shall mount higher and +higher, I shall make myself indispensable to the firm, and at the end +of ten years you will see me a partner; at the end of twenty, a rich +man. I shall then retire from active business, and spend part of my +time in travelling, although I intend to be very domestic, also. I +shall buy beautiful pictures, choice books, and fine statues; I shall +give private concerts, and, if possible, have a small orchestra of my +own; I shall entertain my friends in the easiest and most charming +manner. In addition to my city home, I shall have a yacht for summer +cruises, and a pretty cottage on the seashore, and I shall invite +pleasant people to visit me; not the rich and the fashionable merely, +but others who are shut out from all such luxuries, young authors, +poor artists, musicians, and many others who are obliged to work night +and day while their intellectual inferiors live in ease. Oh! I shall +have a beautiful, happy life, Bessie. Do you not think so?" + +"Yes, Hugh. But will it be so easy to get rich?" + +"Twenty years of hard labor and earnest application will do it, with +the opening I have. I suppose it sounds conceited, but I have +unbounded confidence in myself. What man has done man can do, you +know; and why am not I the man?" + +"I think you can do anything, Hugh." + +"Thank you, Miss Flattery. But, really Bessie, there is something +stirring within me that makes me feel sure I can take my place in the +world, and make my mark among men. I do not, mean that I am wiser or +stronger than my fellows, but only, that my courage is indomitable, +and that I am determined to succeed. I _will succeed_!" + +"Of course you will," said Bessie, laying down her brush again, and +looking at her cousin's kindling eyes and flushed cheeks with +sympathetic excitement. + +"And then," pursued Hugh, "when I have got my money, I shall not hoard +it; I shall make others as well as myself happy with it. I shall use +it worthily; I shall not be ashamed to render my account at last. Oh, +Bessie, it is a glorious future! Life is so beautiful,--so full of +happiness!" Hugh paused, and his eyes wandered over the blue horizon; +Bessie went on with her painting, and there was silence in the studio +for many minutes. At length Aunt Faith's voice was heard at the foot +of the stairs; "Hugh! Hugh!" she called. + +"Coming, aunt," said Hugh, opening the door and going down to the +second story; "do you want me?" + +"Yes, will you come into my room, dear." + +The two went in and the door was closed. Aunt Faith's room was like +herself, old-fashioned and pleasant; the sunshine streamed in through +the broad windows across the floor, and the perfume of the garden +filled the air. Hugh took a seat on the chintz lounge, and Aunt Faith +having taken a letter from her desk, sat down in her arm-chair by the +table. "I wish to consult you, my dear boy, on a matter of business," +she said. "You know the condition of my property and the amount of my +income, I am anxious to make some necessary repairs in that little +house of mine in Albion, where poor Mrs. Crofts lives, a second cousin +of mine, you remember, a widow with very limited means of support. The +repairs ought to be made at once, and, just at present, I have not the +money on hand; I could borrow it, of course, elsewhere, but I prefer +to borrow it of you, the amount that came to you a week or two ago. +Sibyl will need hers for her summer wardrobe, but you will have no use +for yours at present, and on the first of August, I shall repay you; +with interest," added Aunt Faith, smiling; "I am not sure but that I +shall _pay_ twenty-five per cent." + +A flush rose in Hugh's face; he did not raise his eyes, but trifled +with a piece of string. + +"Well, my dear?" said Aunt Faith in some surprise at his silence. + +"I am very sorry, Aunt," said Hugh in a low tone; "I have not got the +money, I have spent it all." + +"Spent it?" echoed Aunt Faith in astonishment. "My dear boy, is it +possible!" + +"Yes, it is all gone," said Hugh, with downcast eyes. + +A shade of trouble clouded Mrs. Sheldon's gentle face, and she sighed; +the old heart-ache came back, the same pain which had assailed her on +the first of June, her birthday, when doubts came thronging into her +mind, doubts as to her own fitness for her position with its heavy +responsibility of training five young souls in the path of duty and +righteousness. "Hugh must have got into some trouble," she thought, +"and something, too, which he has not confided to me. I fear it is a +debt; perhaps a debt of which he is ashamed. Oh, my poor, poor boy!" +Hugh did not speak, and at length his aunt said gently, "I fear you +have had some debts, dear; if you had told me, I could have helped you +before this." + +"I know you are always ready to help me, Aunt Faith." + +"Then it was a debt, Hugh?" + +"Yes; it was a debt, Aunt Faith," said Hugh gravely. + +"Is it all paid now?" + +"Yes; every cent. I have the receipt." + +"I am glad of that; but have you any other debts?" + +"No, not one," said Hugh, raising his eyes at last with a brighter +expression. "I cannot tell you about that debt, Aunt Faith, but I +_can_ tell you that it was no disgrace to me." + +The shadow melted away from Mrs. Sheldon's face, she laid her hand +upon her nephew's golden hair, and looked lovingly into his dark blue +eyes. "Hugh," she said earnestly, "you are like your father, and he +was my favorite brother. I love you very much, more than you know, and +I believe you would not willingly grieve me. You are still under +twenty-one, and you are soon to leave me to enter the busy life of a +great city. I am so anxious for you, Hugh! If I could only know that +you had that firm faith which is man's only safeguard in temptation!" + +Tears stood in her eyes as she spoke, and Hugh felt that she loved him +indeed. + +"What is faith?" he said thoughtfully. + +"A firm belief in the mercy of God through His son, our Lord Jesus +Christ, and a realization of the necessity of a Saviour to atone for +our sins," said Aunt Faith reverently. + +"I believe in God, Aunt Faith. I believe in Him implicitly. I cannot +understand how a reasonable being can deny His personal and omnipotent +majesty. The sky alone would be enough to convince me, without +counting the wonders of the earth and our every-day life. How can any +one look out of the window, at night, and see those myriad lights on +high, without bowing in adoration before the incomprehensible +greatness of the Creator? What do we know of the stars, after all? How +much has the most profound science discovered? Next to nothing! Not +but that I read all that has been written by the late astronomers, for +the subject is very fascinating; it is the fairy tale of science. But +still, the nursery rhyme expresses it best:-- + + 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star! + How I wonder what you are!'" + +"What we know not now, we shall know here-after," said Aunt Faith; +"but in addition to your belief in the Creator, do you not also +recognize the necessity for a Saviour?" + +"There it is, Aunt Faith! Are we all really such miserable sinners? Is +there none good? Must we always answer, 'no, not one?' Even in my +short life, I have known so many who are good and generous! I never +could endure whining, you know. I never could endure a gloomy, tearful +religion. If we were put into the world, it surely was intended that +we should enjoy its beautiful life, and be happy with our fellow +mortals. I believe men should try to be good sons, good husbands, and +good citizens, and should try to be happy themselves, as well as to +make others happy. I can never believe in the virtue of morbid +self-analysis, gloomy depression, and harsh judgment. 'Worms of the +dust!' they say. Well, if the worms are created, and put into the +dust, that is the state of life to which they are called, and they +will be better worms if they fulfil the duties of a worm, no matter +how humble, than they would be if they crawled up on a solitary stone, +and wilfully starved themselves to death." + +"Surely, Hugh, there is nothing in the idea of a merciful Saviour to +forbid a reasonable enjoyment of life." + +"There ought not to be, Aunt Faith; and if I was not so weary of +hypocrisy, I think I could almost throw myself at His feet and give my +life into His hands. I want to believe in Him; indeed, I may say I do +believe in Him. But I have been kept from coming forward as an 'avowed +disciple,' by the contempt I cannot help feeling for some whom I know +as 'avowed disciples.' If there is a contemptible fault in the world +it is hypocrisy. I will not believe that God loves the rich +church-member, who makes long prayers, and puts five cents in the +plate, better than the poor outcast who goes half-starved for days in +order to help a sick companion." + +"But, Hugh, no one asks you to believe anything of the kind. Do you +not remember our Saviour's parable of the Good Samaritan who saved the +wounded man, while the priest and the Levite, men supposed to be +particularly religious, passed by on the other side! The world was the +same in our Saviour's day that it is now, and there is no class +against which He utters more severe reproaches than these very +religious hypocrites." + +"But, Aunt Faith, these hypocrites are so often prominent in the +churches. That is what offends me." + +"It was so then, Hugh. Our Saviour saw it, and repeatedly tore off the +masks." + +"But if the hypocrites are in the church, is it not better to stay +out?" + +"By no means, my dear boy. God has commanded us to make an open +profession before men, and we must obey with reverent humility. It is +not enough to believe; we must also openly avow our belief. Because +there are tares in the field we must not, therefore, stay out in the +desert. Because there are hypocrites in the church, we must not, +therefore, give ourselves up to evil." + +"Oh, I don't mean that, aunt! We could be just as good Christians all +the time." + +"No, Hugh. That is a fatal error. Men are weak, and God mercifully +helps them to conquer themselves by sending them the safeguards of +religious vows and duties. It is His appointed way, and we must not +question His wisdom. The dangers are ten times greater outside the +church than within it, and a blessing is given to obedience. God +requires obedience. He distinctly says, 'he that is not with me, is +against me, and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth abroad.' And +as regards hypocrisy, Hugh, it is indeed a wretched fault; but, are +there not other faults equally bad?" + +"No, aunt; not to me. I can never go to church in the winter without +a bitter feeling towards old Mr. Braine, who always leaves his poor +horse tied outside through the long service, during the severest +weather. Then there is Gideon Fish, too. How very, very good he is! +When he was a little boy he always took the highest place in school +for good conduct, and yet, there was not a meaner boy in town. He +copied the other scholars' exercises, peeped into the books, and had +a key to his Arithmetic. He never got into trouble at recess, and why? +Because he was too cowardly to take his share of the sport. As he grew +older, he grew to be more and more of a pattern. He was always talking +about his feelings. He always 'felt it to be his duty' to do just what +he most wished to do, and he always had some wonderfully +self-sacrificing motive for the greatest self-indulgence. He 'felt it +to be his duty' to stay at home from church to warn truant boys not to +steal the peaches on the Sabbath-day, and how many do you suppose he +himself ate that morning?" + +"It seems to me, Hugh, that you and Bessie _are_ unreasonably severe +upon Gideon's love of eating," said Aunt Faith smiling. "Perhaps some +time there will come a revelation to Gideon Fish; perhaps some great +affliction or disappointment will open his eyes and cause him to see +his selfish propensities as they are. In the meantime, let us not +forget the beam in our own eyes while we are talking of the mote in +our brother's eye. To go back to our subject; you have acknowledged +your belief in God and also, I hope, in His Son our Saviour Jesus +Christ?" + +"Yes, Aunt Faith; but I cannot acknowledge that the world is a +miserable place and life a failure." + +"I do not ask you to acknowledge that, Hugh; you are young and it may +be that you have not yet been assailed by the terrible temptations +which come, sooner or later, to most of us. Perhaps you have not yet +learned from sad experience how hard is the struggle against evil +inclinations, and how many are the relapses into which the best of men +are apt to fall. It was only when worn with the contest and depressed +by repeated failures that the good men of all ages have sent up those +cries of abasement and gloom which you so much dislike. This time has +not yet come to you; you know nothing of its power. I do not ask you +to be wise beyond your years; I only wish you to become as a little +child and reverently say, 'Lord I believe; help Thou mine unbelief.' +The rest will come in due time. There is a blessing given to prompt +obedience, and this blessing I want you to gain." + +For several minutes there was silence in the pleasant room, and then +Hugh rose. "Dear Aunt Faith," he said, "you and I will have many more +talks on this subject. Who knows but I shall be a pillar of the church +in my old age?" + +"I hope so, Hugh. But do not put off till old age a plain duty of the +present. Give the best of your life to your Maker; after all, the +present is all you can call your own." + +"Oh, no, Aunt Faith, the future is mine too. How glorious, how bright +it looks! You will be proud of your nephew some day." + +"I am proud of him now," said Aunt Faith, with an affectionate smile; +"but I want to feel secure as to his safety. Oh, Hugh! if you could +only say in perfect sincerity these two sentences: 'Lord I believe; +help Thou mine unbelief,' and 'Lord be merciful to me a sinner,' I +should rest content." + +"Well, Aunt Faith, when I can say them with all my heart, I will tell +you first of all." + +"God grant that it may be soon," and then Hugh left her. + +Bessie was still busy with her painting when she heard a tap at the +door. "Is it you, Hugh?" she said; "I am so glad you have come back. I +cannot get the exact color of your eyes. Sit down, please, and let me +try again." Hugh sat down in the old arm-chair, and for some minutes +he said nothing; at last, however, he burst forth, "Bessie, shall we +not tell Aunt Faith about the horseback-riding." + +"Oh, Hugh! and give up all our fun?" + +"I do so hate hypocrisy, Bessie; and here I have been rating away +against Gideon Fish without even a thought that all the time I myself +was deceiving Aunt Faith." + +"I don't call that hypocrisy, Hugh." + +"What is hypocrisy, then?" + +"A hypocrite is a person who pretends to be very good, and I am sure +you never pretended to be good at all." + +Hugh laughed; "That is true," he said "but I hate all underhand +dealings." + +"But you won't tell, Hugh? Please don't." + +"_Et tu Brute_?" + +"And don't quote Latin either." + +"I only meant that you should help my good intentions instead of +thwarting them," said Hugh. + +"I am not good myself, Hugh, and never was." + +"Oh, yes, you are, Brownie." + +"No, I am not. I have been expelled twice." + +"I believe it is your nature to be naughty, Bessie." + +"I don't know about that, Hugh; but, at any rate, I ought to have some +allowances made because I am so homely. It is easy to be good if one +happens to be good-looking too. Everybody loves beautiful children, +everybody admires beautiful girls; people are predisposed to like +them, and make the best of everything they do. Beauty is of little +consequence to a boy, but it makes or mars many a girl. I presume, +now, if my nose had been Grecian, and my complexion lily fair, I +should have been far more amiable." + +Hugh laughed merrily at this tirade. "But, Brownie," he said, "_I_ +have always thought you pretty." + +A shade of color rose in Bessie's dark cheek "Thank you, cousin," she +said quickly, "you are kind to say so. But your real taste is for a +very different style; a dove-eyed blonde, fair as a lily, and gentle +as Griselda." + +"Like Edith Chase, I suppose," said Hugh, with a merry twinkle in his +eye. "Well, a man might do worse. I venture to say the fair Edith +never took a horseback-ride after dark in her life." + +"Certainly not; is she not a pattern?" said Bessie sharply. "And, by +the way, Hugh, of course you will give me my ride to-night." + +"Oh, Bessie, Bessie, you are incorrigible! Well, if I must, I must! +The musicale is to-night, you know." + +"I had forgotten it; but we can go afterwards." + +"That is, if you will mend my gloves." + +"Do get a new pair, Hugh." + +"No; I have only ten dollars left; I shall not have any more until +August, and my heart is set upon a little picture at Gurner's. You +have no idea how much I want it; I stop to look at it every time I +pass the window, and the liking has, grown into a positive longing. +I really must have it." + +"What is the subject?" + +"It is, I suppose, an allegorical design, but what attracted me was +the beauty of the coloring and its fidelity to nature. It represents +a youth standing in a little shaded valley, looking forward and upward +through a vista which gradually rises into a bold mountain peak. The +atmosphere is all morning, early morning, with purple hues on the +hill-side, mists rising from the river, and a vague remoteness even in +the nearest forest; deep shadows lie over the valley, but the rising +sun shines on the mountain-peak, lighting it up with a golden +radiance, while behind it, there seemed to spread away into distance +the atmosphere of another country, a beautiful unseen Paradise. +Towards this mountain-peak the youth is looking with ardent eyes; one +feels sure that his hopes are there, and that sooner or later he will +reach the golden country beyond." + +"I remember the picture. Is there not a crown shining in the sunlight +over the mountain-top, and the outline of a great cross in the dark +shadow over the steep path which leads up to the summit?" + +"I believe so; but it was the figure of the youth that attracted me. +His face expressed aspiration, that bright confidence in the future +which Aunt Faith and I have been discussing this morning." + +"So you were in her room all that time, were you?" + +"Yes; and that reminds me that I must do a little reading. I am +growing shamefully lazy. Good-bye, Queen Bessie. Be sure and make my +picture as handsome as you can." + +"I shall do my best;"--"but I cannot hope to make it as handsome as +the original," she added, after the door closed. + +Twilight came and the two cousins were riding in a country lane +several miles from the old stone house; they had left the turnpike +where they usually rode, and, instead of going at headlong speed, the +horses were walking slowly over the grassy path as if the summer +evening had influenced their riders with its peaceful quiet. + +"I have never been here before," said Bessie; "where does that path +lead?" + +"To Rocky brook where we used to go a fishing." + +"Let us go that way, please. I have not been to Rocky brook for years +and years." So the horses were turned, and, after a pleasant ride +through the woods, they reached the edge of the ravine; the path, an +Indian trail, came to an end, and down below they could hear the +rushing sound of the water. + +"Oh I must get down, Hugh!" said Bessie eagerly; "I want to go down to +the brook." + +"It will be hard climbing in that long skirt, Bessie. I will bring you +out some other time." + +"No, Hugh; I want to go now, this very minute." + +"I suppose you must have your way, then," said her cousin, as he +lifted her to the ground; "wait until I fasten the horses so that I +can help you." + +But Bessie had already disappeared, swinging herself from rock to rock +by aid of the bushes, as actively as a squirrel; she had reached the +bottom of the ravine as Hugh appeared at the top. "Don't go too near +the bridge," he shouted; "wait till I come down." + +Bessie looked down the ravine, and seeing the plank which served for +a bridge high in the air over the foaming water, she was seized with a +sudden desire to cross it; Hugh's warning, as usual, only stimulated +this desire. If there was any danger, she wanted to be in it +immediately. So she clambered over the rocks towards the forbidden +locality with a pleasant excitement, not really believing in the +danger, but lured on by the spirit of adventure strong within her from +childhood. + +"Don't go near the bridge!" shouted Hugh again, by this time half way +down the bank. + +"Hugh is too despotic," thought his cousin, as she climbed up on the +wet stones. "I shall certainly do as I please. If he wants implicit +obedience, he must go to Edith Chase." In another instant she was on +the plank, and balancing herself, walked forward over the torrent, +holding her long skirt over her arm; her head was steady, she did not +know what fear was; many a time she had crossed deeper chasms in +safety, and she laughed to herself as she heard Hugh crashing through +the bushes down the bank behind her. "He will like me all the better +for my courage," she thought, somewhat surprised at his silence, for +she had expected to hear further remonstrance. Suddenly, when she had +reached the middle of the bridge, the plank cracked, gave way +entirely, and in an instant she was in the foaming torrent below. She +sank, and for one moment, one dreadful moment, she was under water, +suffocating and terror-stricken, while all the events of her life +seemed to rush before her like an instantaneous panorama. Then she +felt the air again, and opening her eyes, found herself in Hugh's +arms, as he strode out of the water and laid her down on the bank. +"Oh, Hugh!" she gasped, "it was dreadful!" + +"Are you hurt, dear? Did your head strike the rocks?" asked her cousin +anxiously. + +"No, I think not; but I feel rather dizzy," said Bessie, closing her +eyes. + +"Can you stay here for a moment alone, while I run back to the +farm-house? Fortunately the weather is so warm there is not much +danger of your taking cold." + +"Oh, yes," said Bessie, smiling, as her cousin chafed her hands with +anxiety that belied his words. He sprang up the bank, and after some +delay reappeared carrying shawls and wrappings. "Do you feel better? +Are you faint?" he asked, as he enveloped her in the shawls. + +"I feel quite well now," said Bessie, trying to rise. + +"Stop; I am going to carry you," said Hugh. + +"You shall do nothing of the kind, Hugh. I am able to walk, and the +bank is steep." + +"I shall take you round by the path, so don't make any objection, for +it will be useless. The farmer will have his carriage waiting for us, +and we shall drive home as rapidly as possible." + +"Oh, Hugh, I am so heavy! You will never be able to do it," said +Bessie, as Hugh lifted her slight form muffled in shawls. + +"Very heavy! Really, quite elephantine! A matter of ninety pounds, I +should say!" + +"Nonsense, sir! I weigh one hundred and ten." + +"And what is that to a man of muscle? Don't you know that I pride +myself upon my strength! The old proverb _says_ that cleanliness is +next to godliness; if that is so, I give the third place to strength. +What a pity we cannot say 'muscleness,' to keep up the rhythm! Do you +know, Bessie, if ministers had more muscle, I should like them +better." + +"Mr. Leslie has muscle, Hugh." + +"Yes; he has got a good strong fist of his own. I like him, too, in +every way. He is so manly in his goodness, and so frank in his +religion! He is one of those fine, large-hearted men who give their +very best to the cause. He did not take to the ministry because he was +not fitted for anything else; he has the capabilities and +qualifications for a first-rate business man, civil engineer, or +soldier. But it is evident that the whole world was as nothing to him +compared to the great work of salvation. I honor him. He is a man to +be envied, for he is living up to his ideal." + +"Why, Hugh! I had no idea you admired him so much! Are you thinking of +following his example?" + +"Don't joke, Bessie. The subject is too serious." + +"I am not joking," said Bessie, in a low voice. + +"I am no hero," said Hugh, with a half sigh, as they reached the lane; +"I could never do as Mr. Leslie has done. I can only hope to make +others happy in my small way by--" + +"By helping ill-behaved cousins out of their troubles," interrupted +Bessie, "paying their debts, saving their lives, and so forth and so +forth." + +The ride home was pleasant, in spite of wet clothes. Hugh drove the +farmer's horse in an old carryall, and the farmer himself rode Hugh's +horse, leading the other alongside. When they reached the back-pasture +it was quite dark. Hugh lifted Bessie out, threw the shawls back into +the carryall, and farmer Brown, after fastening the saddle-horses +behind, drove away towards the town, where he was to leave them at the +livery-stable according to agreement. + +"Now, Bessie, take up that skirt, and let us have a run across the +garden," said Hugh. "I am so afraid you will take cold." + +But Bessie's long, wet skirt proved such an obstacle, that in spite of +her objection, Hugh lifted her up again, and carried her across the +pasture, through the garden, and up the terrace into the house. + +"Shall you go to the musicale?" he whispered, as he put her down in +the dark hall. + +"No," said Bessie; "I wish you would make it all right with Aunt +Faith. I have a headache; the fright, I suppose." + +Hugh went off to his room, and in an incredibly short time he was +down-stairs again, in evening dress. Aunt Faith came in a few moments +afterwards, dressed in gray silk with delicate white lace around her +throat and wrists; "Is it not time to go?" she said. "Where is Sibyl?" + +"Here, Aunt," said Sibyl from the parlor; "I have been ready some +time." + +"Come in, child, and let us see you" + +Sibyl crossed the hall and stood in the door-way. Her dress of soft +blue harmonized with her fair beauty, and brought out the tints of her +hair and complexion; she wore no ornaments, and the flowing drapery +floated around her devoid of any kind of trimming. "Her dress was +nothing; just a plain, blue tarleton," said one of her companions the +next day to a mutual friend. "But Sibyl herself looked lovely." This +was Sibyl's art; her dress was always subordinate to herself. + +"You look like the evening star, sister," said Hugh. + +"Thank you, brother. A compliment from you is precious, because rare," +said Sibyl, smiling; "and as for you, you look like the Apollo in +Guido's _Aurora_." + +"Bravo! That's a compliment worth having," said Hugh, tossing back his +golden locks. "And now that we are both gorged with compliments, let +us start for the halls of Euterpe." + +"Where is Bessie?" said Aunt Faith, as Hugh rose. + +"She is not going. She has a headache," answered Hugh. + +"Poor child! I will run up and see her before I go." + +"That is not necessary, Aunt. I think she would rather not be +disturbed," said Hugh. "Let us start; it is late." + +The musicale was held at the residence of Mrs. Arlington, on the +opposite side of the avenue, but a short distance from the old stone +house, and Bessie, after taking off her wet clothes, dressed herself +in a wrapper, and took her seat at the open hall-window in the second +story, where she could see the lights through the trees, and even hear +an occasional strain of the music on the night breeze. She felt +depressed; her head ached, and her conscience likewise. "I am always +doing something wrong," she thought ruefully; "I let Hugh pay that +debt; then I teased him out of his idea of telling Aunt Faith, and +made him take me riding again, and when he was kind enough to give in +to my wish, I deliberately went out on that plank when he told me not +to go, and the result was I came near being drowned, and poor Hugh +must have had a struggle to get me out in that current. I suppose he +is over there now talking with Edith Chase! she is an affected, silly +girl, but I suppose Hugh does not understand her as well as I do. +However, perhaps she is better than I am! I am dreadful, I know; and +so homely, too! I look just like an Indian. Edith is considered +pretty. To be sure _I_ think she looks just like a white cat; but +then, some people think white cats are pretty. Well, her looks are +nothing to me. _I_ don't care anything about it!" And in truth of this +assertion, Bessie crouched down among the cushions of the lounge, and +had what girls call "a good cry." + +About an hour afterwards she heard a step on the gravel walk in front +of the house, and the sound of a latch-key in the front-door; in +another minute Hugh came up the stairs on the way to his room. "Hugh! +Hugh!" called out a voice in the darkness. + +"Is that you, Bessie? What are you doing here?" said her cousin, +lighting a burner in the chandelier. "Why, you have been crying! Does +your head ache? Do you feel faint?" + +"My head is better, Hugh; but I _am_ wicked," murmured Bessie from the +heap of cushions. + +"Wicked! What do you mean, Brownie?" + +"Just what I say. I am always in trouble myself and drawing you in +too. You would be a great deal better without me, Hugh. I shall be +glad when you go to New York." + +"Glad, Bessie!" + +"I mean it will be better for you," murmured Bessie. + +"And how about yourself?" + +"Oh, I shall never be good at all; I shall stay at home and be wicked, +I suppose," said Bessie, with the sound of tears in her voice. Hugh +did not reply, but he put out his hand and stroked the dark curls +gently. After a moment or two Bessie suddenly recovered her spirits. +"How was Miss Chase?" she asked gayly. + +"Lovely as a lily," said Hugh, laughing; "I told her so, too." + +"Was Graham Marr there?" + +"Yes; I left him with Sibyl." + +"Did he quote poetry?" + +"I presume so, in the intervals of the music, Gid was there, too." + +"At the door of the supper-room, I suppose?" + +"Yes, he was looking at the salad when I came away." + +"That reminds me; why did you leave so early, Hugh?" + +"I believe, after all, I am a little tired; I strained my wrist +slightly in the brook." + +"Let me get some arnica for you; do, Hugh." + +"Oh, no! the strain is very slight. It will be all over in a day or +two." + +"Was there really any danger, Hugh?" + +"Yes; I think it right that you should know it, because you may be +tempted to do the same thing again. The water was deep there, and the +brook swollen by the last rains; the current was very strong, and +there is a fall just below. But your greatest danger was from the +sharp jagged rocks; when I plunged after you I cannot express how +alarmed I was!" + +Bessie covered her face with her hands. "It was all owing to my +obstinate wilfulness," she said in a low tone, "Oh, Hugh! can you +forgive me?" + +"Do not think of it any more." said her cousin, "but come down and +give me some music." + +"What! In this old wrapper, Hugh?" + +"There speaks feminine vanity. As though I knew a wrapper from a +dress?" + +So Bessie went down to the sitting-room, and, taking the cover off her +harp, sat down in her old wrapper to play for Hugh. When she was in +the mood she brought very spirited music out of the silver strings, +but to-night she played soft airs, and minor chords, weaving in among +them Hugh's favorite plaintive melodies, with her now wild +improvisations between. At last she rose and replaced the harp-cover. +"It is late; I must go," she said. "They will be coming home before +long, Of course _you_ won't say anything about our ride, Hugh. It +would only frighten Aunt Faith. But I have decided not to go again; +what happened to-night seems like a warning." + +"Superstitious, Bessie?" + +"No; I am only trying to stop before I drag you into any more danger. +Think how much trouble I have given you, too! And, oh, Hugh! you had +to pay that farmer," added Bessie, as the idea came to her for the +first time. + +"Run upstairs, Brownie; it is late." + +"I shall not run, Hugh. I know very well you had to pay him that ten +dollars, and I have robbed you of your last cent," said Bessie +tragically. + +"Oh, what a dismal face! Run, before Aunt Faith comes." + +"And the picture you were going to buy," said Bessie, with tearful +eyes. + +"Foolish child! as if I cared for the picture; when I am rich I shall +buy a whole gallery. Now run; I positively hear their voices at the +gate." + +As Bessie went away with a full heart, Aunt Faith, Sibyl, and Graham +Marr came up the garden-walk and entered the house. "You came away +early, Hugh," said Aunt Faith; "do you feel well?" + +"I am tired, aunt; that is all." + +"It was a pleasant party," continued Aunt Faith; "did you not think +so, Sibyl?" + +"I enjoyed it!" said Sibyl quietly. + +"It was a rare feast," said Graham; "one seldom meets such a +combination of aesthetic talent in Westerton." + +"Mr. Leslie was not there, however," said Hugh. + +"Ah,--no. But ministers are not generally cultivated musicians," +said Graham, in his slow way. "They have not the time to,--ah,--to +muse upon the mystery of harmony." + +"Mr. Leslie is a fine musician," said Hugh bluntly; "I have seldom +heard so fine a baritone,--so rich and manly." + +Now Graham sang tenor,--a very delicate tenor, and naturally he could +not sympathize with Hugh's fancy for a rich baritone. As he rose to +take leave, Sibyl said, "I wish you would bring over your music, Mr. +Marr, and sing for us. We were all charmed with that little German +song you sung this evening; it was so full of pathos." + +"Pathos!" whispered Hugh to Aunt Faith, as Sibyl accompanied the poet +into the hall. "How can Sibyl endure that calf!" + +"As Pete Trone said, '_de gustibus_' and so forth, Hugh," said Sibyl's +voice from the hall as she closed the door behind Graham. + +"Well, Sibyl; I did not intend you to hear the epithet, but I cannot +with sincerity take it back," said Hugh. + +"I like calves," said Sibyl, "they have beautiful eyes! Good-night!" + +"I never can make Sibyl out!" said Hugh, as his sister disappeared. +"She never loses her temper, and truth always comes out with the +temper, you know. Well, Aunt Faith, I have been a very bad boy all +day. Will you pardon all my misdeeds?" + +"If you are penitent," said Aunt Faith, smiling. Then, more seriously, +"You will not forget what I said to you this morning, Hugh?" + +"No, aunt; I shall not forget. Your words sank deeper than you knew," +said Hugh gravely. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +FOURTH OF JULY. + + +The first of July came, and with it the summer heat. Hugh hung up a +hammock in the second story hall, between the north and south windows, +so as to catch every wandering zephyr; and, armed with a book, he +betook himself to this airy retreat for the purpose of study. At least +that was his announcement at the breakfast-table. "For the purpose of +sleep?" suggested Sibyl. "Day-dreaming!" said Bessie. "Lazying!" said +Tom, coining a word for the occasion with true American versatility. + +"Very well, fellow-citizens, laugh on," said Hugh; "these are the last +strawberries of the season, and I have no inclination to discuss +anything at present but their sweetness. But I will venture to assert +that at six o'clock this evening I shall have imbibed more knowledge +in that very hammock then any of you in your prosy chairs." + +"I shall go and see Miss Skede about my white dresses," said Sibyl, +rising. + +"Not this warm morning," exclaimed Bessie. + +"The very time. I could not have chosen a better day. Miss Skede has +no imagination; she can _never_ lift herself beyond the present. If I +had gone to her in June, she would have made my dresses heavy, in +spite of all my orders and descriptions. Even yesterday, for instance, +she would have been unable to conceive anything more than half-way +effects; but to-day it is so warm that the heat may inspire her, and +I hope to get out of her something as flowing and delicate as a summer +cloud." + +"I see now, Sibyl, where all your poetry goes," said Hugh, laughing; +"the puffs and ruffles get it all!" + +"Fortunately Graham has enough for two," said Bessie, looking up with +a malicious smile. + +But Sibyl's temper was never ruffled: "I like Graham, as you know, +Bessie. You, also, have your likes and dislikes, but _I_ do not tease +you about them." + +"That is true, Sibyl," said Bessie, warmly; "you certainly have the +best disposition in the family. I wish I had half your amiability." + +Soon after breakfast, Tom and Gem went out into the garden, and sat +down under the shade of the great elm-tree. The three dogs were not +long in discovering their place of retreat, and invited themselves to +join the party with their usual assurance,--Turk stretching himself on +the ground alongside, Grip under a currant-bush, and Pete Trone +occupying himself in tilling the soil. + +"What are you going to do to-day, Tom?" said Gem, as she adorned +Turk's shaggy back with flowers. + +"Well, I don't exactly know," replied Tom; "the B. B.'s are coming, +and we've thought a little of building a house up a tree." + +"What for?" said Gem rather languidly,--for when the thermometer +stands in the eighties, the idea of building becomes oppressive. + +"What for!" repeated Tom indignantly; "that's just like a girl! For +fun, of course. What else, do you suppose? But you needn't have +anything to do with it. You can go right into the house this very +minute, if you like." + +"I don't want to go into the house; you know that very well, Tom +Morris. I always like to see the B. B.'s, and I think a house in a +tree will be splendid!" said Gem quickly. + +"Won't it, though! We're going to take the big cask over there, and +hoist up all the boards, and nails, and things. There's a place in the +main branches where we can build a real room, big enough for all of +us, if we squeeze tight. We're going to have a floor, and roof, and +sides, and a hole in the bottom to climb in,--a sort of sally-port, +you know. It will be a regular fort, and I rather guess those +south-end fellows will wink out of the wrong sides of their eyes when +they see it." + +"Won't it be rather warm up there?" suggested Gem. + +"I never saw such a baby!" exclaimed Tom. "Warm? of course it will be, +and what then? The monitors were warm, I reckon, but you never caught +our soldiers whining about it. The B. B.'s will stand up to their work +like men, and they'll stay in that house when it's built, even if they +melt down to their very backbones!" + +"I wonder what Pete is doing?" said Gem, after a pause, wisely making +a diversion in the conversation. + +"Oh! burying bones, I suppose," said Tom; "He's always at it. I +believe he'd dig a hole in an iron floor if he was chained up on it. +Hallo, Pete! stop that! You're making too much dust. Do you hear me, +sir? Very well! you'd--a--bet--" When Tom got as far as "bet," +pronounced in an awful voice, Pete knew that a stick was forthcoming. +He accordingly paused in his digging, his little black nose covered +with yellow earth, and his eyes fixed mournfully on the half-finished +hole. "Let us go and dig up some of his bones and show them to him," +said Tom; "it always makes him feel so ashamed! I know where they are; +he has his favorite places, and I've often seen him toiling up and +down from one to the other, as important as the man that goes round +with the panorama and jaws at the people." + +"What an expression!" said Gem, with an air of superiority; "you boys +are so common!" + +"And you girls are so soft!" said Tom. "I'd rather be a boy than a +girl, any day. Come, now!" + +But Gem was not inclined to argue this point, so they carried out +their bone-hunting project, much to the discomfiture of Pete Trone, +Esq., who followed behind as if fascinated, watched the disinterment +of each relic with mortified interest, and, when the last was brought +into view, drooped his head and tail, and sought refuge in the +corn-field where he relieved his feelings by burrowing wildly in +twenty different places. + +"There come the B. B.'s!" exclaimed Gem, interrupting Tom in a search +for artichokes; "eight of them, as sure as you live!" + +"What an expression," said Tom, imitating his sister's voice; "you +girls are so common!" But the approach of the visitors made a truce a +matter of necessity, and soon the project of the tree-house engrossed +the entire attention. Boards were brought from the little tool-house, +saws were in demand, and Gem was deputed to confiscate all the hammers +and nails in the house for the use of the builders; the work went +bravely on, and by noon the walls of the fortification were up, and +the roof well advanced towards completion. A ladder brought from the +barn, took the workmen half-way up the trunk; but the old tree was +lofty, and a long space intervened between the end of the ladder and +the lowest branches, which must of necessity be ascended in that +squirming manner peculiar to boys, wherein they delight to bark their +shins, tear their trousers, and blister their hands in the pursuit of +glory. Gem, of course, could not hope to emulate the B. B.'s in this +mode of progression towards the fortification, but she brought nails +and carried boards with great energy. When there was no call for her +services, she watched with intense interest the B. B. who happened to +be squirming up. If there was no B. B. squirming up, there was sure to +be one squirming down, for a principal part of the time seemed to be +devoted to journeys below and aloft, besides elaborate contrivances +for slinging boards and tools to the climbers' backs; indeed, to a +looker-on, this seemed to be the chief interest of the fortification. + +At last it was done, all but the floor; Tom said it did not matter +about that, as the boys could easily stand on the branches. Word was +given to ascend, and, one by one, all the B. B.'s squirmed up the tree +and took their places inside; nothing was to be seen but their feet, +huddled together on the branches. It took ten minutes for all the band +to assemble on high, but in less than two, down they squirmed again. +"What is the matter?" said Gem in astonishment; she had not expected +to see the B. B.'s for hours, absorbed as they would be in their leafy +abode. + +"We're going to take up the dogs," said Tom, who came first; "we're +going to sling 'em up in a basket. It will be such fun, and they'll +like it first-rate." + +"Oh, don't, Tom!" exclaimed Gem; "Turk is too big, Grip will be sure +to fall out, and it will make Pete Trone seasick." + +But no attention was paid to her remonstrances, and the B. B.'s +inspired to new exertions, made numerous journeys up and down, rigging +a pulley and making various preparations for the aerial voyage. When +all was ready there was a discussion as to which dog should go. Turk +_was_ too big, no basket would hold him; and Grip, Tom said, had "no +common sense," and would not appreciate the situation. Pete Trone was +evidently the man for the place, and he jumped gayly into the basket +at Tom's command, without any suspicion of danger; and when he found +himself hanging in mid-air, he did not flinch, but settled down +resolutely on his haunches, looking over the side with one eye as much +as to say, "Who's afraid?" + +"Didn't I tell you?" said Tom enthusiastically. "I knew Pete would +come out strong. It will take a good while to get him up there. I say, +boys, let's sing 'Up in a Balloon.' It will be appropriate to the +occasion." + +So all the B. B.'s joined in the chorus with so much power that Aunt +Faith came to the back door to listen. + +"Tom! Tom!" she called, when the song was finished; "what are you +doing?" + +"It's only the B. B.'s, Aunt Faith. We're hoisting Pete Trone up into +the tree," shouted Tom. + +"Dinner will be ready in a few moments; you had better come in and +rest; you must be very warm," said Aunt Faith from the shaded piazza. + +When the basket reached the air-shanty, the B. B.'s who were there to +receive it, suddenly remembered that there was no floor, and Pete, +although a dog of varied accomplishments, could hardly be expected to +keep his footing on the branches. So there was nothing to be done but +let him down again, which was accordingly effected with great care, +Pete sitting composedly in the basket without moving a muscle, and +jumping out when he reached the ground with conscious importance +wagging in his tail. It was one o'clock, and the B. B.'s, after +promising to return, adjourned for dinner; Tom and Gem bathed their +burning faces, and joined the family circle in the cool dining-room. + +"You are as bad as a fire-ball, Tom," said Hugh, looking at his red +face; "what have you been doing?" + +"Splendid fun! We've been building a house in a tree." And forthwith +Tom launched into a full description of the fortification. + +"'Oh for a lodge in some vast wilderness, some boundless contiguity of +shade!' That was the motive which actuated the Band of Brothers, I +suppose," said Hugh. + +"The B. B.'s don't know anything about poetry," said Tom, with scorn; +"they've got other things to attend to, I can tell you." + +"They're coming again this afternoon," said Gem, "to talk over what we +shall do on Fourth of July." + +"To be sure; the Birthday of Freedom is close upon us," said Hugh; +"whatever you do, my countrymen, let it be worthy of the occasion." + +"We've got two or three plans," began Gem, but Tom interrupted her; +"Don't breathe a word, it will spoil all, Gem." + +"I hope it is not dangerous," said patient Aunt Faith, who associated +the Birthday of Independence with visions of boys disfigured for life +with gunpowder, and girls running madly towards the house with their +muslin dresses blazing. + +"None of the plans are dangerous, Aunt Faith," said Tom; "but we don't +want anybody to know anything about them beforehand; especially Hugh." + +"I smell a rat,--I see him floating in the air,--but I shall yet be +able to nip him in the bud," quoted Hugh, with pointed emphasis. + +"Now don't, Hugh! just promise that you won't cross the back terrace +until after the Fourth," pleaded Gem. "It will be twice the fun for +you, too, if you don't know anything about it beforehand." After some +delay the two conspirators wrenched the required promise from their +cousin, who pretended to be deeply curious about the plot, and +heroically unselfish in abandoning his designs upon it. + +At three o'clock the meeting was held under the elm-tree on the +terrace; the B. B.'s reinforced to the number of twelve were there, +and Tom and Gem did the honors with cordial hospitality. Many plans +were brought forward for the consideration of the patriots, but +objections were found to one and all; at length Gem disappeared and +after a long delay, returned carrying some books under her arm. "I +have thought of something," she said, taking a seat under the tree; +"we will have the battle of Bunker Hill and the life of General Israel +Putnam." The word "battle" stimulated the B. B.'s, who were lying +about on the grass, worn out with their efforts to arrange a +programme. "Bunker Hill forever!" said one, tossing up his hat. Tom +said nothing; he was not going to be carried away by any of Gem's +nonsense, not he! "My plan is this," began Gem, encouraged by the +general attention; "we will have a real battle,--we've got torpedoes, +fire-crackers, and Tom's cannon, you know,--and we'll make a big +monument of boards for Bunker's Hill; I've been there and know just +how it looks." + +"It wasn't there when the battle was fought, Goosey," said Tom. + +"How do you know?" retorted Gem; "_you_ were not there, I guess. And +as to history, who got ten imperfect marks in one week?" + +The B. B.'s not being strong in history, did not take sides in this +contest, and Gem went on triumphantly. "Jim Morse can be General +Putnam, because his uncle's name is Putnam; you see, I thought of +that," said Gem, with conscious pride. + +"Hurrah for Jim!" said the enthusiastic B. B. before mentioned. + +"Then there will be the wolf-scene," continued Gem. "You remember how +Putnam went down in a cave when everybody else was afraid, and shot a +great wolf there. They had a rope around his legs, and when he pulled +it they jerked it up, and out he came holding the wolf by the ears. +Now that will do splendidly for us, for we can have the underground +shanty for the cave, and Turk will just do for the wolf." + +This last idea was received with applause, and the discussion became +general, even Tom forgetting his scorn in the interest of the +occasion, and actually taking some importance upon himself because his +sister was the originator of so much brilliancy. Books were consulted, +suggestions and changes made, and the whole plot of the drama altered +again and again. Each B. B. felt himself called upon to be a general, +and they had all selected the names of revolutionary heroes, when some +one suggested that an army composed entirely of generals would be +difficult to manage. Then, there was the question of time, also. +Should they confine themselves to Bunker Hill, or give an abstract of +the whole war? Tom was for the whole war; but that was because he had +already announced himself as George Washington, and naturally wished +for as many battles as possible. He intended, also, to throw in the +episode of the hatchet; "It will be real easy," he said, advocating +his plan, "I know it all, out of the reader, and besides, we've got a +cherry-tree." + +But another boy maintained that more than one battle would spoil the +effect; a number of the forces must of course be left dead and wounded +upon the field, and it would not look well for them to come to life +over and over again, right before everybody. + +It was finally decided to adopt a circuitous course, steering between +the impossibilities, yet bringing in all the desired effects. The +drama was to open with the wolf-hunt. Then the scene was to change; +Putnam, peacefully engaged in ploughing, was to hear the glorious news +and depart instantly for Bunker Hill. The battle was to rage fiercely +on the terrace slope, and in the vegetable garden, while a masked +battery did terrible execution in the asparagus bed, and whole ranks +of the enemy were to be mowed down in the cornfield conveniently out +of sight. As Tom said, "Something must be left to the imagination." +The third scene was to bring in the hanging of the spy, Nathan Palmer, +in order that Putnam might read his famous letter on the subject; but +as Gem objected to the tragical end, it was decided to alter history a +little, and let Nathan escape by night, which change would also give a +fine chance for dark-lanterns, masks, and a muffled drum. The whole +was to close with a tableau, and the singing of the "Star-Spangled +Banner," in which the audience were to be especially requested to +join. + +The outline of the performance was now arranged and nothing remained +but to fill in the details; the whole afternoon was consumed in this +labor, and still the work was not completed. For several days the +B. B.'s studied severely; United States histories were in great +demand, and the pages of Shakespeare were turned over for inspiration. +Each boy was to compile his own speeches, and many hurried +consultations were held over back fences, and in haylofts; one boy, +who represented General Stark, selected Hamlet's 'to be or not to be.' +A companion objected to the lines as inappropriate, but General Stark +replied, "Well, I know the piece because I've spoken it in school, and +I ain't going to learn another, I can tell you! I don't see why it +won't do as well as anything else." + +Fourth of July came, and with it, great excitement in the vicinity of +the old stone house. The B. B.'s belonged to the neighboring families, +and their fathers, mothers and sisters were to compose the audience +for whom benches had already been placed on the terrace under the +trees. The day was warm, but enthusiasm was warmer, and although there +was some foreboding of suffering among the audience as they looked out +from their cool parlors into the vivid sunshine, there was no +flinching among the actors. + +There had, however, been great difficulty with the cows who were to +represent General Putnam's oxen, for the horses' harness did not fit +them very well, and they objected to dragging the plough as +well-regulated oxen should have done; so at the last moment it was +decided to give up the idea of a moving scene, and simply attempt a +tableau; General Putnam at his plough in the field, reading the +Declaration of Independence. A sheet could be held up until the cows +were in position, then it was to be dropped and the tableau revealed +to the audience. "The effect would be grand," Tom said. + +At ten o'clock the actors were all in the vegetable garden, and the +audience under cover of straw hats and parasols were slowly assembling +on the benches above. The cannon was loaded at the top of an earthwork +commanding the asparagus-bed, torpedo ammunition was stored in a box +half way down the hill, and fire-crackers were everywhere, provided by +the combatants who had clubbed their spending-money for the purpose. +A hole had been made in the roof of the underground shanty through +which Putnam was to be let down by a rope, and Turk, as the wolf, had +been imprisoned there since early morning, with Grip to keep him +company. At last all was ready, and the orchestra opened the +entertainment with "Hail Columbia" on the violin, by Tom, accompanied +by the jews-harp, tambourine and triangle, and a flute which could +only play two notes, but made up in power what it lacked in variety. +Tom had tried hard to learn "Hail Columbia" for this occasion. He +thought he knew it, and the family thought so too, from the amount of +practising they had heard. But the excitement confused the performer, +and the violin, after careering around among "Independence be your +boast," ended in the well-known "Nelly Bly," Tom's chef-d'oeuvre. +Fortunately the change made no difference to the rest of the +orchestra, their accompaniment was the same to all tunes, and "Nelly +Bly" was finished in triumph, and received with applause by the +good-natured audience and calls for "first-violin." + +But the orchestra had already dispersed to aid in the grand opening +scene, the wolf-hunt, an "historical incident in the life of General +Israel Putnam of glorious memory," as the written programme designated +it. First appeared one of the B. B.'s attired as the "Classic Muse," +with a wreath of laurel around his brow. He recited the following +lines taken from the "Putnam Memorial:--" + + "Hail! Hero of Bunker's Hill. + Thy presence now my soul doth thrill! + This is a sacred and heavenly spot + Where thou, Putnam, didst thy body drop; + May future generations be blest + With the patriotic spirit thou possessed! + Thy memory is like a sweet balm, + That will bless and do no harm." + +This remarkable ode concluded, the Muse retired, and Putnam himself +appeared, dressed in full uniform with a sword by his side, and a +majestic feather in his hat. The general made a bow to the audience +and repeated the following verse, also extracted from the "Memorial." + + "I am Israel Putnam the brave, + Who in Pomfret shot the wolf in the cave; + And by her ears did draw her out,-- + I am no coward, but rash and stout!" + +Having thus announced his character, General Putnam walked towards the +shanty and brandished his sword. "Ha!" he said, snorting fiercely, +"there is a wolf here! I shall descend and slay him!" + +"Nay, nay!" shouted the B. B.'s in a chorus, as they rushed from the +currant-bushes where they had remained hidden to give full effect to +the scene. "Putnam, descend not; the wolf is wild!" cried one. +"Putnam, descend not; remember thy child!" said another. (This was +considered highly poetical by the B. B.'s). But Putnam was not to be +persuaded, and the rope was therefore carefully secured to his belt. +He took leave of all his friends, shaking them all by the hand, and +then, feather and all, he was lowered into the cave, _i.e._ underground +shanty. It was intended that there should be no delay in this part of +the scene; Turk had been through his portion of the programme many +times, and had allowed himself to be hauled up and down with his usual +good-nature. As it was expected, therefore, that Putnam would vanquish +the wolf in no time, no dialogue had been provided for the friends and +neighbors waiting outside, and as time passed and no signal to "draw +up," came, they grew somewhat embarrassed. Tom, urged by necessity, +spoke impromptu: "He fighteth the wolf!" he cried; "he fighteth +fiercely!" Then, in an undertone to his next neighbor, "say something, +Will; anything will do." But Will could think of nothing but "He +fighteth the wolf!" also; so he said it to Dick and kicked him on the +shin as a signal to proceed. "Doth he?" said Dick after a long pause; +then, at his wits' end as he received another and fiercer kick, he +varied the phrase and stammered out, "Doth he?" in a despairing voice, +at which all the audience laughed uproariously. Still there was no +signal from below, and Tom grew desperate. Stooping down he called +through the aperture, "I say, Putnam, why don't you jerk out that +wolf?" But no answer came from the den. "Sing something," said Tom to +the B. B.'s in an undertone, "'Battle Cry of Freedom' will do; while I +run down and see what is the matter." So all the friends and neighbors +joined in singing a song, probably to intimidate the wolf, while Tom +hurried down to the door at the bottom of the hill. + +"What _is_ the matter, Jim?" he cried, bursting in to the underground +shanty; "you've almost spoilt the whole thing! Why don't you hurry +up?" + +"It's all very well to say 'hurry up,'" said General Putnam, +indignantly, "but Turk won't let me come near him. He's worse than a +wolf any day." + +"I suppose he's tired; he's been shut up here since daylight," said +Tom looking at the angry old dog. "Well, I suppose you'll have to take +Grip, then. Hurry,--they're at the last verse." + +So the signal was given, and the friends and neighbors, rejoiced that +their embarrassment was over, began to pull with such a will that Tom +had hardly time to run back and repeat his prepared speech. "He is +safe! Our noble Putnam is safe!" cried Tom, with enthusiasm. "He +bringeth out the wolf, the great, the dreadful wolf!" At this instant +the General hove into view, his feathered hat knocked over his eyes, +the rope girding his chest with alarming tightness, and wee little +Grip suspended by the nape of his neck as the wolf, "the great, the +dreadful wolf!" A burst of irrepressible laughter from the audience +greeted this tableau, and Putnam's mother cried out in great anxiety, +"Jimmy, Jimmy, take off that rope directly; it will hurt your chest!" + +The first part over, the scene was supposed to be changed. Half of the +B. B.'s were required to bring the two cows from the cow-house where +they were standing already harnessed, and the others put the plough in +position and hold up the sheet. But the cows were obstinate and would +not walk together, so that gradually the whole force was summoned, and +Gem was left to hold up the curtain with the assistance of a small +boy, the brother of General Stark. At length, after severe labor, the +cows were brought up behind the sheet and attached to the plough, but +before Putnam could take his position, one of them, a frisky animal, +put down her head and shook her horns so threateningly that Gem +abandoned her corner of the sheet and fled in terror, leaving the +mortified patriots to the full blaze of public ridicule. Tom was +furious, but he reserved his rage for another time. "Bring those cows +together by main force and hold 'em still, boys," he said in a +concentrated tone as he picked up the corner of the sheet. "Take hold +of the plough, Jim. Now, Dick, say your piece." The Classic Muse +advancing before the curtain obeyed, in the following language: +"Behold the peaceful Putnam tilling the soil. His gentle oxen feed +among the clover. But the noble Declaration of Independence rouseth +his manly heart. He leaveth his team in the furrow and goeth to Bunker +Hill!" declaimed the Muse at the top of his voice as the sheet was +dropped disclosing the spectacle of ten boys fiercely holding the two +cows in position while Putnam, in full uniform as usual, peacefully +read a huge paper document apparently all unmindful of the struggles +of his team. + +The effect of this tableau was, like the first, far greater than +anticipated. The audience laughed till they cried; and not the least +part of the amusement was the retreat of the "peaceful oxen," wildly +careering back to the pasture, their harness fluttering behind their +frightened heels. + +After a short pause the Battle of Bunker Hill began in earnest, and +was esteemed a great success. The cannon raked the asparagus-bed very +effectively, and the musketry of torpedoes and fire-crackers, was +really deafening; the British flag was ignominiously hauled down from +the Bunker Hill Monument, and the Stars and Stripes raised in its +place; every now and then, also, the shrieks and groans of the +wounded, were heard from the corn-patch, which added, of course, the +pathetic element to the scene. At last, when all the ammunition was +exhausted, peace was declared, and the American forces assembling +around the monument, listened to General Stark, as he vehemently burst +forth into "To be, or not to be," pointing aloft, at intervals, to the +Banner of Freedom, and closing with,-- + + "The Flag of our Union! At Lexington first + Through clouds of oppression its radiance burst; + But at brave Bunker Hill rolled back the last crest, + And, a bright constellation, it blazed in the West. + Division! No, never! The Union forever! + And cursed be the hand that our country would sever!" + +as a highly appropriate termination, giving a local and military +coloring to Hamlet's celebrated soliloquy. + +The battle well over, and generous applause bestowed upon the army, +the episode of the spy was introduced, and Gem retrieved her character +by patiently holding up her end of the sheet while the tent was +constructed out of some poles and colored blankets,--a real camp-fire +along side being relied upon to give a life-like resemblance to +"Valley Forge." The sheet removed, General Putnam was discovered +seated within his tent, writing a letter. Enter, from the potato-patch, +an orderly, who reported in a deep voice, "General Tryon demands +Nathan Palmer." + +"Ha! Doth he so! British miscreant! thus will I fell him!" exclaimed +Putnam, brandishing his sword with so much ferocity that the whole +tent fell to the ground, covering him with blankets and confusion. +Rescued from the wreck by the orderly, the general stammered out his +next sentence: "Behold what I have written to Tryon! Take the letter +and read it to the army!" he said sternly, and retired--to what was +once his tent. The enemy filed in from the chicken-yard, presented +arms, and stood motionless while the orderly read as follows:-- + + "MARCH 8th, 1777. + + "------ TRYON,--Sir: + + "Nathan Palmer, a lieutenant in your king's + service, was taken in my camp as a spy, He was + tried as a spy; he was condemned as a spy; and + he shall be hanged as a spy. + PUTNAM. + + "P. S.--Night. He is hanged." + +This celebrated letter having been read, Putnam's part was over, and +he retired backwards to the corn-patch to slow music from the +orchestra hidden behind the currant-bushes, while the army marched +away in the opposite direction,--the two effects having been contrived +by Tom to imitate a dissolving view. This pantomime was received by +the merry audience with great applause. + +The next scene exhibited, after long preparation, the body of the +unfortunate Palmer hanging from a tree, suspended by his hands, with a +rope conspicuously coiled around his neck. The Classic Muse again +appeared, and took his position near by, while the American army in +masks, with dark-lanterns and muffled drums, filed in softly, and +formed a circle around the tree. "Friends!" said one of the band +stepping forward, "I am Ethan Allen, and I cannot leave this man, +although a British subject, suspended to this tree. We will bury him, +friends, 'darkly, at dead of night, by the struggling moonbeams' misty +light, and our lanterns dimly burning.'" + +The army agreed to these sentiments, and, deputing two of their number +to act as bearers, marched away to the sound of the muffled drums. But +the body, which had conveniently dropped to the ground in the +meantime, proved too heavy for the bearers. John Chase, who had been +thoughtlessly allowed to take the part of the Spy, was a particularly +heavy boy, and the bearers pulled and tugged in vain. The army, +absorbed in the muffled drums (each boy had one), was already at some +distance, and the final tableau, in which the body took a part, was +still to be enacted; the bearers made another effort, the perspiration +rolled down their faces, but all in vain. There was nothing to be done +but signal to the Classic Muse to come forward and help. He hastily +tucked up his robes and took hold. With his aid the spy was hurried +after the retreating army, reaching it just in time to spring to his +feet under the flag-staff where floated the Star-Spangled Banner, Red, +White, and Blue, and exclaim fervently, "Fellow-citizens, I am not +dead! Behold me a changed man! From this moment I am a true and loyal +patriot. Long live the Sword of Bunker Hill!" As the resuscitated spy +uttered these words, the army formed an effective tableau around him, +and the Classic Muse, still breathless from his late exertions, waved +his laurel-wreath in the foreground, and struck up the "Star-Spangled +Banner," in which the audience joined with enthusiasm. + +The patriotic drama being over, great applause ensued, and then the +army was invited in to lunch in Aunt Faith's cool dining-room; here +ice-cream, cakes, and other camp-dishes were provided in great +abundance, the soldiers stacked arms, and seemed to enjoy themselves +as easily as private citizens. The numerous young sisters of the +B. B.'s gradually forgot their shyness, and the afternoon was spent in +games and merriment,--the Old Stone House being entirely given up to +the young folks early in the evening, when the weary warriors +departed. + +"It's been a splendid Fourth!" said Tom, throwing himself into a chair +when the last guests had taken their departure; "I wish we could have +such fun every day!" + +"If you had it every day you would soon be tired of it," said Aunt +Faith smiling. + +About midnight, when all was still, Aunt Faith, who had not been +asleep, thought she heard a slight sound; she listened, and +distinguished faint sobs coming from Gem's room, as though the child +had her head buried in the pillows. Throwing on a wrapper, she hurried +thither, and found her little niece with flushed cheeks and tearful +eyes, tossing uneasily on her bed. "What is the matter, dear?" asked +Aunt Faith, anxiously. + +"Oh, is it you, Aunt Faith? I am so glad you have come!" said Gem. +"There is nothing the matter, only I cannot sleep, and I feel so +badly." + +Do you feel ill? Are you in any pain?" + +"No; only hot, and, and--a little frightened." + +"Frightened? My dear child, what do you mean?" + +"I don't know, auntie. I woke up, and kept thinking of dreadful +things," sobbed Gem, burying her head in the pillows. Aunt Faith saw +that the child was trembling violently, and, sitting down on the edge +of the bed, she drew the little form into her motherly arms, and +soothed her as she would have soothed a baby. "Come into my room, +dear," she said; "you are tired and excited after this busy day. I +have not slept, either, and I shall be glad to have you go with me." + +So the two went, back across the hall, Gem clinging to her aunt, and +glancing fearfully around, as though she expected to see some ghostly +object in every well-known corner. When she had crept into her bed, +however, she felt more safe, and nestled down with a deep sigh of +relief. After some conversation on various subjects, Aunt Faith said: +"And now, my little girl, you must tell me what frightened you. I have +always thought you a brave child. What was it you fancied?" + +"Oh, I don't know, auntie; all kinds of things. Ghosts, and +everything." + +"Gem, you know very well there are no such things as ghosts." + +"Really and truly, Aunt Faith?" asked Gem, in a low tone. + +"Certainly not. I am surprised that you have any such ideas. Where did +you get them?" + +"I have heard the girls talking about them, sometimes, in the kitchen. +They believe in them, Aunt Faith." + +"That is because they are ignorant, my dear. Ignorant people believe +a great many things that are false. You know there _are_ no fairies, +Gem? You know there is no such person as Santa Claus, don't you?" + +"Of course, aunt. Only very little children believe in Santa Claus." + +"Well, my dear, ignorant people are like little children; they will +tell and believe stories about ghosts just as little children tell and +believe stories about Santa Claus and his coming down the chimney. My +dear little girl, never think of those silly ghost-stories again. +People die, and the good Lord takes them into another life; where they +go or what they are doing we do not know, but we need _never_ fear +that they will trouble us. It is of far more consequence that we +should think of ourselves, and whether we are prepared to enter into +the presence of our Creator. Our summons will come and we know not how +soon it may be. When I think of our family circle, six of us under the +roof to-night, I know that it is possible, I may even say probable +that among so many a parting will come before very long. And, my +little Gem, if it should be you, the youngest, I pray that you may be +ready. I do not want you to think of death as anything dreadful, dear. +It is not dreadful, although those who are left behind feel lonely and +sad. I look forward with a happy anticipation to meeting my brothers +and sisters, my father and mother, and my husband; it will be like +going home to me. But, although I am old, the summons does not always +come to the oldest, first. Tell me, my child, are you trying to be +good, to govern your temper, and to do what is right as far as you are +able?" + +"I try when I think of it, Aunt Faith," said Gem, "but half the time I +don't think; I forget all about it." + +"I do not expect you to think of it all the time, dear; but when you +do think of it, will you promise me to try as hard as you can? Will +you try to speak gently to Tom, to forgive him when he teases you, to +give up your own way when your playmates desire something else, and, +above all, to pray night and morning with your whole heart?" + +"Yes, Aunt Faith," whispered Gem, "I will try as hard as I can." + +"God bless you, my darling," said Aunt Faith, kissing her little niece +affectionately. "And now, go to sleep; it is very late." + +With the happy facility of youth, Gem was soon asleep, but Aunt Faith +lay wakeful through several hours of the still summer night. Her +heart, was disturbed by thoughts of Sibyl and her worldly ambition, of +Hugh and his unsettled religious views, of Bessie and her lack of +serious thoughts on any subject. Again the sore feeling of trouble +came to her, the doubt as to her own fitness for the charge of +educating and training the five little children left in her care. "I +fear I am not strong enough," she thought; "I fear both my faith and +my perseverance have been weak. Have I entirely failed? When I look at +Sibyl, and Hugh, and Bessie, I fear I have. Even the younger children +are by no means what I had hoped they would be." + +A terrible despondency crept into Aunt Faith's heart, and the slow +tears of age rolled down her cheeks; but with a strong effort of will +she conquered the feeling, and kneeling down by the bedside, she +poured out her sorrows in prayer. She laid all her troubles at the +feet of her Saviour, and besought Him to strengthen her and give her +wisdom for her appointed task. Again and again she asked for faith, +earnest faith, which should never falter, although the future might +look dark to her mortal eyes, and again and again she gave all her +darlings into the Lord's hand. "Give me strength to do my best," she +prayed, "and faith to leave the rest to Thee,"--and gradually there +came to her a peace which passeth all understanding, a peace which +cometh after earnest prayer, and which those who pray not earnestly, +can never know. + +Aunt Faith knelt a while longer, but no words formed themselves in her +mind; she seemed to feel a benediction falling around her, and a sweet +contentment came into her heart. When she lay down again, sleep came, +and for the rest of the night all was quiet in the old stone house. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SUNDAY. + + +Breakfast at the old stone house was later on Sunday morning than on +week days, by Aunt Faith's especial direction. She gave all the family +a longer sleep than usual to mark the day of rest and give it a +pleasant opening, but they all understood that when the first bell +rang there must be no further delay, and at the sound of the second +bell they all assembled in the sitting-room in their fresh Sunday +attire for morning prayers. Aunt Faith's rule was gentle, but there +were some regulations which the cousins had been brought up to obey +implicitly; this way of beginning the Lord's day _was_ one of them, +and unless prevented by illness they never failed to assemble promptly +in the sitting-room, carefully dressed, and with pleasant, quiet +demeanor at the sound of the second bell. This bright July Sunday, +Aunt Faith received them with a smile, and when they were seated, she +opened her Bible, and read in her clear voice the seventeenth chapter +of the Gospel according to St. John, the beloved disciple of our Lord. +Then Sibyl went to the cabinet organ, and all the young voices joined +in singing a morning hymn, simple and cheerful like the praise of +creation at the dawn of day, when from the forest ascends the song of +thousands of God's creatures, praising their Maker in the only way +they know. The hymn ended, Aunt Faith knelt down, and they all joined +in the Lord's prayer. Then came the petition for the day, for a better +realization of God's goodness, and a reverent spirit in the worship of +this temple; for forgiveness of sins and aid in forgiving the faults +of others; and above all, for a spirit of hearty thankfulness and +praise to the Maker of the universe, and loving remembrance of His Son +the Saviour of mankind. With a final petition for the aid of the Holy +Spirit, Aunt Faith closed her prayer, and the morning worship was +concluded by the ancient ascription of praise to Jehovah. The +conversation at the breakfast-table was bright and happy; there was no +gloomy or sullen look, no fault-finding. When the children were +little, their tempers often showed themselves on Sunday as well as on +other mornings, but patience overcomes many obstacles, and Aunt +Faith's unvarying effort had been so far crowned with success, that as +they grew older, they grew to remember and even love the brightness of +the Sunday morning breakfast-table. Habit is a powerful agent, and +perhaps also the fact that Aunt Faith did not severely rebuke every +manifestation of ill temper on week days, but allowed them to come +naturally to the surface, helped to produce the placid atmosphere of +Sunday morning. Her children were not afraid of her; they never +hurried out of her presence to vent their bad feelings; she saw the +worst of it, whatever it was, and at some quiet hour she sought the +offender alone, and reasoned or rebuked as the case required. The +cousins loved her dearly, and as her rule was easy, it was generally +obeyed; love is a great aid to authority where children are concerned. + +Aunt Faith, on her part, also, never transgressed her own rules; no +matter what her cares, feelings, or bodily ailments might be, she +never allowed them to darken the opening of the Lord's day. They were +thrown aside as far as possible, and, in after years when the old +stone house was tenantless and its inmates dispersed, their thoughts +often turned with affectionate regret towards the bright Sunday +morning breakfast table. + +An hour later, the faint sound of the church-bells brought the family +together again in the front hall, and, as every one was dressed for +the day before breakfast, there was no hurry, no confusion. Aunt Faith +had in early life seen much of tardiness, haste, and consequent ill +temper on Sunday morning; at the last moment somebody would be late, +something lost, and everybody cross in consequence; little biting +speeches would be spoken, unnecessary comments made, and the result +was, that the family almost always arrived at the church-door in +anything but a peaceful state. Indeed, "Sunday headaches," and "Sunday +temper," were by-words in the house, and, as a child once expressed +it, "everybody's cross on Sunday." + +With this example, (and it is a very common one) before her, Aunt +Faith had striven to bring about; a different order of things in the +old stone house. She had not confined herself to theory, but, for +years she had made it a rule to examine personally on Saturday all the +clothes to be worn on Sunday, to inspect the strings and buttons which +are apt to give way under impatient, childish fingers, and to see that +all was in order from the hat to the shoe-strings. She superintended +the Saturday-night bath, for she was rigid in her ideas of personal +neatness, and the five little children always tumbled into their five +little beds on Saturday night, as fresh and clean as it was possible +to make them. Not that this was the only cleansing time in the week, +for they were taught to jump into their bath-tubs daily, but on +Saturday more time was given to the work, and it was made pleasant +with nice soaps, soft towels, and all the little luxuries that +children love; for children are made as happy by gentle purification +as other little animals, and it is a mistake to suppose they dread the +water. It is the rough hand they dread; to be caught up roughly, +smeared with coarse soap, sent into a shivering fit with cold water, +rubbed the wrong way with torturing towels, rasped against the grain +with stiff hair-brushes, and left to stand on an icy oil-cloth, +naturally excites their terror. I imagine there are few grown persons +who could endure it with equanimity. But Aunt Faith had no such +method. She made the bathing-hour a happy time, and showed the little +children all the luxuries of personal neatness, so that as they grew +older, they kept up themselves all the habits she had taught them, as +matters of necessity for _their_ own comfort. + +Thus, trained in these habits, the children grew into men and women +with physical health to help them in their contest with evil. And it, +is a great help. Aunt Faith knew that all the cleanliness in the world +could not compensate for the lack of godliness, but she reasoned that +while first attention should be paid to the inside of the platter, +certainly second attention should be given to the outside that both +may be clean together. A clean heart in a clean body, she thought, was +better than a clean heart in a dirty body; health and steady nerves +help a man to be orderly and even-tempered, while nervousness, +dyspepsia and weakness are so many additional temptations besetting +him on every side. + +This July Sunday, the cousins started from the old stone house with +time enough for a leisurely walk amid the music of the bells, arriving +at the church-door before the service commenced, without hurry, quiet +and composed, and ready to join in the worship without distracting +thoughts. The church was full, Aunt Faith had two pews, one for +herself with Gem and Tom, another immediately behind for Sibyl, +Bessie, and Hugh. As the organ was pealing out the opening voluntary, +a young girl came up the aisle and entered the first seat; Aunt Faith +looked up and recognizing Margaret Brown, she smiled and pressed her +hand cordially. When she visited Margaret, she asked her to accept a +seat in her pew when ever she desired to come to that church, but the +invitation had passed from her mind among the occupations of her busy +life, so that she was surprised as well as pleased when the young girl +appeared. Aunt Faith had no respect for persons; she thought of them +only as so many souls sent into the world, all equally dear to the +Creator, and precious to the Saviour of mankind. That there were great +differences in their lot on earth, that some were more easily tempted +than others, that, some had apparently small chance for improvement +and religious privileges while others found all ready to their hand, +that some suffered trouble, affliction, sickness and hard labor while +others seemed to pass through life without a cloud, she well knew, but +she did not attempt to explain it. She left it all in the hands of a +Higher Wisdom and addressed herself to the evident duty that lay +before her. Some of her friends said that she was narrow minded, that +she had no interest in the progress of humanity; it is true that she +cared more about having the children of the Irish laborer, down on the +flats, washed and comfortably dressed, than about an essay on +philanthropy, and took more pleasure in aiding Margaret Brown than in +talking about the sufferings of human nature; but perhaps she was none +the worse for that. Once when an enthusiastic lady called to ask her +aid in establishing an International Society for Reform, Aunt Faith +listened quietly, and then said, "I will join you, Mrs. B------, when +I have the leisure time at my disposal." She never found the time, but +in her answer, she was not insincere. If she had been left unemployed, +she might have joined some organization for religious work, and +esteemed it a pleasant privilege, but as it was, her daily home duties +stood first, and as long as they surrounded her, she did not lift her +eyes beyond. + +The minister was an old man, who had officiated in the same church +many years of his life, and hoped to die, as he expressed it, "in the +harness." The people loved him, and respected his wishes with more +unanimity than they might have given to a younger man; there was no +discord, no restless desire for novelty among the congregation, and +the various good works connected with the church moved forward at a +steady pace, growing with the growth of the town, but not running into +any violent extremes to the right hand or the left. + +Mr. Hays, the venerable minister, was a gentle, kind-hearted man; the +children in the Sunday school listened to him with attention, and +their parents loved to hear his sermons. He had the rare faculty of +interesting children, and when he addressed them, the teachers had no +difficulty in keeping their classes in order, because the children +really wished to hear what he said. In church, among older hearers, +the effect was the same; his sermons were simple, but all liked to +hear them. As he grew older, he seemed to think more and more of the +beautiful words, "God so loved the world that He gave His only +begotten son;" on this text all that he said and did was founded, and +he never wearied of telling his hearers about this great love, and +urging them to give their reverent affection in return. + +"If we were all like Mr. Hays, the world would be a very different +place, Aunt Faith," said Hugh, as they walked home together; "I +suppose he has had nothing but love all his life." + +"You are greatly mistaken, Hugh. He has endured severe suffering, and +no doubt the want of earthly affection has taught him to appreciate +the dearer worth of heavenly love." + +"I thought he had lived here in Westerton for forty years without +anything to disturb his quiet," said Hugh. + +"Because his troubles came to him long ago, they were none the less +heavy to bear, Hugh. Before he came here, a half-brother to whom he +had trusted all his little fortune, disappeared, carrying the whole +with him; and not only that, but upon hearing of his loss, the young +girl to whom he was engaged, broke her promise and married another. +Thus he was left doubly bereft; not only forsaken and injured, but +also wounded by the discovery of treachery in those he trusted with +all his heart." + +"I could never recover from such a blow," said impulsive Hugh; "the +thought of being deceived and betrayed by those we love and trust is +fearful to me." + +"It was fearful to Mr. Hays also, Hugh; after a short time he came to +Westerton, and threw his whole strength into his work. It may have +been a hard struggle at first, but you can yourself see how he has +conquered at last; love is the groundwork of all he says and all he +does, and his sufferings instead of turning his heart into bitterness, +seem rather to have given it a new sweetness." + +"Yes, that is why I like Mr. Hays. He is not censorious. He does not +denounce sin so continually that he has no time to tell of +forgiveness; he does not keep us so constantly trembling over the past +that we have not the courage to hope for better things in the future; +I like him for that." + +Aunt Faith did not reply. She knew when to be silent, and she had long +hoped that the gentle, fervent words of the good old man would yet +bring her impulsive nephew into the right path. She knew that much +harm was sometimes done by too much urging, and when she saw that Mr. +Hays' words had made an impression upon Hugh, she left the impression +to sink by its own weight. + +The Sunday-noon meal at the old stone house was always a simple lunch, +prepared the previous day in order to give the servants full liberty +to attend church. It was, however, abundant and attractive. In the +winter, Aunt Faith added a hot soup, prepared by her own hands, but at +this season of the year, cold dishes were the most appetizing. +Directly after lunch the family dispersed, Sibyl, Bessie, and Hugh +going to their rooms, and Aunt Faith remaining in the sitting-room +with Tom and Gem while they looked over their Sunday school lessons. +At half-past two, the children started for the church, and then Aunt +Faith rested quietly on the sofa until it was time to prepare for +afternoon service at the chapel where Mr. Leslie officiated, a mission +in whose welfare she was much interested. There was never any +regularity about attending this afternoon service; sometimes Aunt +Faith would go alone, sometimes Sibyl would accompany her, and +sometimes the three cousins would all go. This afternoon they all came +down, and Aunt Faith welcomed them pleasantly; she knew that Hugh +might have been influenced by the beauty of the weather, Bessie by +Hugh's companionship, and Sibyl by the opportunity of seeing Mr. +Leslie; but she believed that all her children were truly reverent at +heart, and she had large faith in the solemn influence of the house of +God, so she always encouraged them to go to church whenever they +would, and on this occasion she made the walk pleasant with her +cheerful conversation. + +The chapel stood in one of the suburbs of Westerton, where the houses +of the railroad workmen were crowded together in long rows, with the +smoke from the mills and shops hanging in a cloud over them all the +week. Busy, grimy men lived there, careless, tired women, and a throng +of children, some neglected, some apparently well-tended, but all +poor. In the midst of this bustle and smoke Mr. Leslie lived and +worked. When he first came to Westerton, this chapel was almost +deserted, but now it was filled with a congregation of its own, a +congregation drawn from the neighboring houses, the laborers and their +families whose zeal and liberty according to their means, might have +put to shame many a church record in the rich quarters of the town. + +Aunt Faith and her party entered the door as the little bell rang out +its last note, and took their seats upon the benches, for there were +no pews, and the sittings were free to all. The organ was played by a +young workman, a German, with the national taste for music, and when +the hymn was given out, the congregation as with one voice took up the +strain, and in a powerful burst of melody, carried the words, as it +were, high towards heaven. The music was inspiring, as true +congregational music always is. All sang the air, but the harmony was +well supplied by the organ; all sang, men, women, and children, and if +there were any discordant voices, they were lost in the powerful +melody. Hugh liked to sing, and he liked the simple hymns which Mr. +Leslie always selected for his congregation; so he found all the +places and sang with real enjoyment, while Bessie, looking over the +same book, joined in after awhile in her low alto, as if borne along +by his example. Then came the sermon, and, as Mr. Leslie gave out his +text, Aunt Faith recognized it as one of the verses which she had read +in the morning,--St. John, the seventeenth chapter, and the fifteenth +verse, "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but +that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." "My friends," said Mr. +Leslie, speaking as usual without notes, "we often hear and read of +the great desire felt by Christians of this and all ages to leave this +world, this world of sickness and sorrow, of labor and poverty, and +enter immediately into another life. Young persons who have lost dear +friends wish to go and join them, for life looks dreary without love, +and the days seem very long when they are not broken by the sound of +that well-known footstep on the walk, and the words of love in that +well-known voice which they can never hear on earth again. 'I cannot +stay on earth alone,' they cry; 'I shall grow wicked in my wild grief. +Let me go to them, since they cannot come back to me.' The middle-aged +who have outlived the quick feelings of youth, sigh over the years +still before them, years neither dark nor light, neither hard nor +easy, the dull, monotonous path lengthening out before them, with +neither great joy to lighten it, or great sorrow to darken it, the +same commonplace cares and duties until the end. 'This is doing us no +good,' they think; 'life is slowly withering, zeal is gone. A flower +cannot bloom in the desert! Let me go to a better country.' + +"The old, who are past all labor, sometimes grow weary of waiting. 'I +am of no use,' they say; 'I am only a burden to myself and every one +else. I have outlived my time, and it would be better for the world if +I was taken out of it. My day is over. Let me go.' Thus they all +lament, and thus they sometimes pray, forgetting that the Lord knoweth +best. + +"The feeling is natural, and is founded upon the innate aspiration of +the soul towards immortality, the consciousness and certainty that +better things are laid up in store for us in another world. This +innate consciousness of immortality is found in all men, even the most +ignorant heathen possessing a glimmering of the idea, and this fact is +an eternal contradiction to the arguments of the atheist; he cannot +destroy this soul hope, for even if he should succeed in blighting it +in the father, it would be there to confront him in the child, and so +on from generation to generation. That there are persons who have +wilfully stifled this divinely-given hope, that there are persons who +have brought themselves to contradict their very being is an idea so +awful that we shudder to think of it. A man may murder his companion +and yet repent and be forgiven; but a man who murders his soul, a man +who turns his back upon his Creator cannot repent, for he does not +believe in his sin, and he cannot ask for forgiveness because he +cannot believe in the existence of a power to forgive. My friends, the +idea of such a man is almost super-human; and some wise persons have +said that no such men have ever existed. They may think they have +stifled their consciences and souls, and even live a long life in this +belief, but sooner or later the terrible certainty of their mistake +will overwhelm them, and they will find themselves stripped of their +poor sophistries, of all sinners the most miserable. + +"I hope and believe that there are no such persons in this +congregation to-day. Do you not, on the contrary, feel in your hearts, +the certainty of another and better life? I feel sure that you +do,--that there is not one of you who is not looking forward to that +happiness which God has prepared for those who love Him; a happiness +which eye has not seen, which ear has not heard, and which it has not +entered into the heart of men to conceive. + +"But this precious engrafted hope must not be abused. It must not be +twisted into an excuse for neglecting our duties here on _earth_. We +are put into the world to live in it, and the duties which lie nearest +to us must be faithfully performed, no matter how humble or how +commonplace they may be. We must not go sighing through life, deluding +ourselves with the idea that we are too good for our lot, and that it +is praiseworthy to hold ourselves above common labor and dull routine, +and devote our time to so-called religious aspiration. If the labor +and routine are placed before us, it is our duty to accept them, and, +whatever we do, do it with our _might_. I tell you, my friends, our +path is clear before us, and we are sinning if we turn out of it. +Suppose we are afflicted, suppose our loved ones are taken from us; we +may weep, for Jesus wept. But we must not throw down our appointed +work, and sit with idle hands and gloomy regret, while the precious +time slips by. The mourner who stays in her darkened room, and refuses +to interest herself in anything but her sorrow, is far less a +Christian mourner than she who goes forth to take up her tasks again, +thinking of her lost ones as only 'gone before.' + +"Those of us who have dull lives, with neither the sunshine nor the +thunder-cloud to vary the monotonous gray of our horizon, must still +strive to perform faithfully our uninteresting duties. We must not +murmur over our lot, or think we are fitted for better things; we are +not so fitted if the Lord keeps us there. There is, perhaps, some +fatal weakness in our character which needs just that routine; we must +learn patience and humility in the world, not _out_ of it. _Here_ is +our school-house. _This_ is our appointed lesson. + +"The old, also, who are full of eagerness to go,--they, too, are wrong. +To them, life with its joys and sorrows, its labor and care, is over, +and they look uneasily around them; their occupation is gone. Perhaps +they were busy workers, and it is hard to be idle; perhaps they were +self-reliant, and it is hard to become a care to others; perhaps they +have had powerful intellects, and it is hard to endure the +consciousness that their mental powers are failing, day by day. Still, +there is one duty remaining, and that they must learn. It is this: to +wait. To wait patiently for the Lord in the world in which He has +placed them. And this is, sometimes, the hardest duty of a long life. + +"My friends, I cannot too heartily condemn the spirit of scorn for +this world which we sometimes meet among Christians. The world is full +of beauty. God Himself pronounced it very good. The evil, and the +sorrow in it, are owing to man. What can be more fair than this very +summer afternoon? What more beautiful than that lake, with those white +clouds heaped over the horizon? Let us enjoy it, and praise God for +His goodness; it is ungrateful not to admire and love His tender care +for us in every flower by the roadside, in every tree that shades the +heated land. I say, then, love this fair world; notice its beauties; +take pleasure in the gifts it offers to you, its fruits and its +flowers, its spring-time and harvest. Learn to admire them; thank God +for them, and teach your children to appreciate them. The same words +apply here which the beloved disciple used in reference to our love +for our fellow-men: 'For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath +seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?' That is, if we have +never tried to love on earth, if our hearts have never been softened +by unselfish affection for those of our own household, how can we +expect to love in heaven? And, in the same manner, it seems to me that +if we scorn this world, if we neglect the innocent pleasures it offers +us, and never pause to admire and love its beauties, it will be very +hard for us to love the Celestial country. We must learn to love here +on earth if we would love in heaven. + +"My friends, the text is a part of our Saviour's last prayer before +he entered the garden of Gethsemane. He was praying for his disciples, +so soon to be left to temptation and danger. Notice the words: 'I pray +not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou +shouldest keep them from the evil.' He did not ask that they should be +taken _away_ from the earth, but that strength should be given them to +fulfil their duty _on_ the earth; they were men, the earth was their +home, and on the earth were their duties. + +"And so it is with us now. We have our work to do, and the time is +none too long to accomplish it; every day brings its task and the man +who stays among his fellows, doing his part with energy, actuated by +firm religious principles, is a far better Christian than he who shuts +himself up apart, scorning the fair world, unmindful of the suffering +he might relieve, neglecting his own plain duties, and occupied only +with his own brooding thoughts and gloomy self-analysis. + +"No, my friends; we are not to be taken out of the world until our +Lord so wills, we must not think of it, must not pray for it. He knows +best. And, while He leaves us on the earth, let us work with all our +might. Let us see to it that our faith is earnest, and that our +gratitude and praise are expressed in our daily lives. + +"I fear we do not think sufficiently of the great part which praise +should hold in our worship; whereas if there is any lesson taught us +by the whole created universe, and by the long testimony of holy men +from the beginning of the world until now, it is this: 'Praise ye the +Lord. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.'" + +Such were some of the points in Mr. Leslie's sermon. He spoke in a +direct manner, using all the powers of eloquence which nature and +cultivation had given him, but his ideas were plain and his words +simple, and the charm of the discourse lay in its earnestness. He +spoke as though his heart was in his words; and so it was. Another +great attraction was that his sermons were short; before the attention +of the congregation flagged in the least, the sermon was done. There +was no looking at watches, no stifled yawning, no uneasy change of +position, no watching the clock; strangers visiting the chapel +listened, at first, from real interest, with a feeling that by-and-by +they would relapse into their usual listlessness, but before they had +time to _relapse_, behold the sermon was done. This afternoon there +was the accustomed attention, and then after the closing hymn, the +congregation streamed out into the late afternoon again to enjoy the +quiet of the Sabbath, the working-man's blessed day of rest. + +The party from the old stone house walked homeward by a circuitous +route, taking in the bank of the lake on their way. Here on the grassy +slope they found a religious service going on, under the direction of +the Young Men's Christian Association, and they lingered to hear the +final hymn which sounded sweetly on the evening breeze with the pathos +of open-air music. The lake looked very beautiful, the sinking sun lay +behind a screen of white clouds, and in the distance vessels could be +seen sailing gayly before the wind with all their canvas up, or +beating up against it with the patience that belongs to inland +navigation. Towards the west extended the headland of Stony Point, and +still farther the faint outline of White River beach, looking like an +enchanted island floating in the sky. + +"The lake looks very beautiful this evening," said Aunt Faith; "it +makes one think of the sea of glass mingled with fire." + +"It is treacherous with all its beauty," said Bessie; "these +fresh-water seas cannot be relied upon for two hours at a time. They +are more dangerous than the ocean." + +"You make too much of the little ponds," said Hugh. + +"They may be ponds," returned Bessie, "but they are deep enough to +drown men, and cruel enough to tear vessels to pieces. I should feel +safer on the ocean in a storm than on our lake, for there you can run +away from it, or scud before it, but here there is no place to run to, +no offing, and always a lee shore." + +"Where did you learn your nautical terms?" said Hugh, laughing, as +they turned towards home. + +"You may laugh, Hugh, but I am in earnest. You have not watched the +storms as I have; you do not know how suddenly they come. Even in the +summer, a speck of a cloud will grow into a thunder-storm in a few +minutes, and in the autumn the gales are fearful. I remember last year +in September, two vessels were lost in plain sight from the bank where +we were standing a moment ago. One came driving down the lake at +daylight and went ashore on the spiles of the old pier; the crew were +all lost, we saw them go down before our eyes. The next, a fine +three-master, came in about noon and anchored off the harbor, hoping +that the wind might go down before night; but, as the gale increased, +the captain made an attempt to enter the river. The vessel missed and +ran ashore below; only two of the men were rescued, for the surf was +tremendous." + +"Well, Bessie, are there not wrecks at sea, also?" + +"Yes; but one expects danger on the great ocean, whereas here on the +Lakes, a stranger would not dream of it." + +"As far as that goes," said Hugh, "a fall down-stairs might kill a man +quite as effectually as a fall from Mount Blanc." + +"But he would so much prefer the latter," said Bessie. + +"Well,--for hair-splitting differences, give me a young lady of +sixteen," said Hugh as they rejoined the others. "Aunt Faith, you have +no idea how romantic Bessie is!" + +"Oh yes, I have!" said Aunt Faith smiling. "A girl who plays the harp +as Bessie plays, and who paints such pictures as Bessie paints, must +necessarily be both romantic and poetical; and I use both adjectives +in their best sense." + +Bessie colored at Aunt Faith's praise. "I only play snatches, and +paint fragments," she said quickly. + +"I know it, my dear," replied her aunt; "that is your great fault, you +do not finish your work. But I hope you will correct this defect, and +give us the pleasure of--" + +"Of hearing you play one tune entirely through, and seeing one picture +entirely finished: before old age deafens and blinds our senses," +interrupted Hugh, laughing. "You don't know the studio as well as I +do, Aunt Faith; there are heads without bodies, and bodies without +heads, but no poor unfortunate is completely finished. Sometimes I +think Bessie is studying the antique. Antiques, you know, are +generally dismembered." + +Bessie had now quite recovered her composure; praise disconcerted her, +but she _was_ accustomed to raillery, and parried Hugh's attack with +her usual spirit. They reached the old stone house before sunset, and +soon assembled in the dining-room for the pleasant meal which might be +called a tea-dinner, or a dinner-tea, although not exactly +corresponding to either designation. Tom and Gem had returned from +Sunday School some time before, and since then they had been absorbed +in reading their library-books, their customary employment at that +hour. After the meal was over, the family went into the sitting-room +and seated themselves near the open windows. They rarely attended +evening service, although they were at liberty to go if they pleased; +the church was at some distance, and Aunt Faith always kept the +children with her on Sunday evening, so that generally they were all +at home, talking quietly, reading, or singing sacred music; this last +occupation giving pleasure to all, as the five cousins were naturally +fond of music, and Aunt Faith had taken care that their taste should +be rightly directed and enlarged. + +"I went into the brick church a few Sundays ago," said Hugh, "but I do +not like the choir there at all. They sing nothing but variations." + +"What do you mean?" asked Sibyl. + +"Why, when I hear a lady playing a long uninteresting piece of music, +it always turns out to be something with variations. That choir is +just the same; everything they sing is long and unintelligible. I +wonder at the patience of the congregation in listening to it. However +they had a doxology after the sermon, sung--to the tune of 'Old +Hundred;' everybody joined in and let off their feelings in that way. +It acted as a sort of safety-valve." + +"There is nothing in worship so inspiring as congregational singing," +said Aunt Faith, "and I always wonder why it is not general in our +churches." + +"It is difficult to introduce it when the people are not accustomed to +it," said Sibyl; "only a particular kind of music can be sung, broad, +plain tunes with even notes like 'Old Hundred,' or the German Chorals. +Then the organist must understand his duties thoroughly; he has to +supply the harmony and lead the congregation at the same time." + +"The music in a church depends greatly upon the pastor," said Bessie. +"If his musical ideas are correct, and his taste good, his choir will +be good also." + +"Not always," said Hugh, laughing; "choirs are apt to be despotic. I +remember when I was at Green Island, last summer, I used to go up to +the little fort chapel to attend service on Sunday; I knew the +chaplains quite well. One Sunday I was late; as I went in, the choir +were busy with something in the way of music. I have no idea what it +was, but it went on and on, seemingly a race between the soprano and +tenor, with occasional bursts of hurried sentences from the alto and +bass, until my patience and ears were weary. The next day I met the +chaplain, and, in the course of conversation, I spoke of the music the +previous day. 'Was it an anthem or a motet?' I asked." + +"Oh, don't ask me," said the old gentleman, lifting his hands and +shaking his head; "I have not the least idea myself. They had been at +it a long time when you came in!" + +"Poor chaplain!" said Bessie, laughing. + +As sunset faded into twilight, Sibyl took her seat at the organ, the +cousins gathered around her, and the evening singing began. They all +had their favorites, and sang them in turn, beginning with Gem's, and +ending with Aunt Faith's, which was Wesley's beautiful hymn, "Jesus, +Saviour of my Soul." Hugh selected, "Brightest and Best of the Sons of +the Morning;" Sibyl, "Luther's Judgment Hymn;" and Bessie, "Come ye +Disconsolate," in order that Hugh should sing the solo. Aunt Faith sat +by the window and listened, looking out into the night, and thinking +of her circle of loved ones beyond the stars. + +The young voices sang on from hymn to chant, from chant to anthem, and +from anthem back to simple choral. At nine o'clock Tom and Gem went to +bed, and at half-past nine, Sibyl closed the organ and said +"good-night;" Aunt Faith was left with Bessie and Hugh, who joined her +on the broad-cushioned window-seat and looked out with her into the +night. "I like the darkness of a summer night," said Hugh; "how bright +the stars are!" + +"We do not know where heaven is," said Aunt Faith, "but it is a +natural thought that our loved and lost are 'beyond the stars.' We too +shall go there some day. How beautiful and happy our life will be, +there! How precious the certainty of our hope!" + +"That is what Mr. Leslie said to-day," said Bessie. + +"I liked that sermon," said Hugh; "what he said about the beauty of +this world, and the plain duty of taking our faithful, active share in +the work of this world, struck me as sensible and true. Perhaps I am +uncharitable, but I cannot understand the religion that sits apart and +makes life miserable with its gloomy asceticism." + +"I liked what he said about love," said Bessie; "that if we do not +love here on earth, it will be very hard to love in heaven. I wonder +if people could love each other better if they tried. That is, whether +one could learn love as one learns patience, by steady trying." + +"Oh, no," said Hugh; "love is not to be learned! It comes naturally." + +"I think you are mistaken, Hugh," said Aunt Faith. "I think love may +be acquired. At least it may grow from a little seed to a great tree, +with proper care. If we earnestly try to see all the good traits in a +friend, we shall end by loving him at last. And if we earnestly try to +care for some helpless, dependent person, we shall end by loving that +person very dearly. Don't you remember your flying-squirrel, Hugh? You +did not care much for the little thing, when you found it on the +ground, but, as you took care of it and held it in your warm hands, +night after night, to keep it warm, you grew to love it very dearly, +and when it died I remember very well how you cried, although you were +quite a large boy." + +"Poor little Frisky!" said Hugh; "when I brought in a branch and put +him on it, how he capered about; and then he was so cunning! Do you +remember, Aunt Faith, how one day I left him in your care, shut up in +his basket, while I went down town. When I came back and asked about +him, you said, 'Oh, he's safe in his basket. I think he must be asleep +he is so quiet.' And all the while you were speaking, the little scamp +was looking at me with his bright eyes out from under your arm as you +sat sewing! I was very fond of Frisky; I have never had a pet since." + +"You loved him because you had tended him so carefully," said Aunt +Faith. "It is the same feeling, intensified, that influences and +inspires many of the weary fathers and mothers we see around us. Mr. +Leslie was right. It is better to patiently fulfil our earthly duties, +no matter how dull or how hard, as long as we are on the earth, than +to sit apart nourishing lofty ideas and sighing for release. That +sentence which Mr. Leslie took for his text has always been a favorite +of mine. Do you care to hear some verses I once made upon it?" + +"Oh, yes, Aunt Faith!" said Hugh and Bessie eagerly. + +Aunt Faith took a little blank-book from her desk and read as +follows:-- + +"St. John; 17th Chapter, 15th Verse. + +"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world." + + "Not out of the world, dear Father, + With duties and vows unfulfilled, + With life's earnest labors unfinished, + Ambition and passion unstilled; + Not out of the world, dear Father, + Until we have faithfully tried + To burnish the talent Thou gavest, + And gain other talents beside, + + Not out of the world, kind Father, + But rather our lowly life spare, + While those Thou hast lent us from heaven + Are needing our tenderest care; + Not out of the world, kind Father, + While dear ones are trusting our arm + To work for them hourly, and save them + From poverty, terror, and harm. + + Not out of the world, good Father, + Until we have suffered the loss + Of self-loving ease and indulgence + In willingly bearing the Cross; + Not out of the world, good Father, + Till bowed with humility down, + The weight of the Cross is forgotten + In the golden light of the Crown. + + Not out of the world, our Father, + Until we have fought a good fight,-- + Until to the last we have guarded + The lamp of Thy Faith burning bright; + Until the long course is well finished, + Until the hard race has been won, + And we hear, as we rest from our labors, + Well done, faithful servant, well done." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE PICNIC. + + +"Monday morning, bright and early, what shall we do to-day?" chanted +Gem, as she entered the dining-room. + +"Yes; what shall we do?" repeated Tom; "something out of the common +run, of course, for it's vacation, and besides, it will be so hot +pretty soon that _we can't_ do anything,--and Hugh's going to New York +in the fall,--and Sibyl's going to Saratoga before long, and when _I_ +enter college, of course I shan't care about such things any more; so +I've got to hurry up." + +"Bravo, Tom! you've made out a strong case!" said Hugh, laughing, +"Aunt Faith cannot resist such a mountain of arguments!" + +"I do not intend to resist anything reasonable," said Aunt Faith, +smiling; "what do you wish to do, Tom?" + +"Tableaux!" said Gem, excitedly. + +"No; I veto that instanter," said Tom, decidedly. "Girls always want +to dress up in old feathers and things, and call themselves kings and +queens! For my part, I'm tired of being 'Captain John Smith,' and the +'Sleeping Beauty in the Wood.'" + +"May I ask when you took the last-named character?" said Hugh. + +"He never took it at all," said Gem, indignantly; "Annie Chase was the +Princess, and she looked perfectly beautiful with her sister's satin +dress, and pearls, and--" + +"There you go!" interrupted Tom; "fuss and feathers, silks and satins! +I was the 'Prince,' wasn't I? and that's the very same thing! Besides, +I've been 'Cupid' over and over again, because I'm the only one who +can hang head downward from the clothes-line as though I was flying. +You can't deny that, Gem Morris!" + +"You got up one tableau which was really astonishing," said Hugh; "I +remember it very well; an inundation, where all the company in +clothes-baskets, were paddling with rulers for their very lives. The +effect was thrilling!" + +"I remember a charade, too, which was really unique," said Sibyl. "The +first part was simply little Carrie Fish standing in the middle of the +room; the second and last was audible, but not visible, consisting +merely of a volley of sneezes behind the scenes. The whole was +supposed to be 'Carry-ca-choo,'--or 'Caricature.'" + +"It may all be very funny for you people who only have to look on," +said Tom; "but _I_ am tired of the whole thing, and I vote for a +picnic." + +"Oh, Tom!" said Sibyl in dismay, "if tableaux are old, picnics are +worn threadbare!" + +"I have not had _my_ share in wearing them, then!" said Tom; "I never +went to but one picnic in my life, and then I fell in the river, and +had to come home before dinner." + +"I have attended a great many," said Sibyl, "and the amount of work I +have done in washing dishes and drawing water, casts anything but a +pleasant reflection. Last year, when we had that mammoth picnic at +Long Point, the gentlemen ordered twelve dozen plates, cups, saucers, +goblets, spoons, and forks, to be sent out from a crockery store, in +order to save trouble; and when I reached the Point in my fresh, white +dress, there they were in crates, covered with straw, just as they +stood in the warehouse. The guests were expected in half an hour. I +was one of the managers, and, after standing a few moments in dismay, +we rolled up our sleeves and began. Two gentlemen and two ladies, in +gala attire, washing seventy-two dozen dishes in a violent hurry, with +a limited supply of water and towels, on an August afternoon with the +thermometer at eighty-eight. That is _my_ idea of a picnic!" + +The cousins laughed merrily at Sibyl's description, and Bessie said, +"I have never been to a 'full-grown picnic,' as Gem calls it. My +experience is confined to the days we used to spend out on the lake +shore four or five years ago. We no sooner got there, than all the +boys disappeared as if by magic, and we had to do all the work, make +the fire, draw the water, and cook the dinner, Then the boys would +appear on the scene with dripping hair, eat up everything on the +table-cloth, like young bears, and off down the bank again until it +was time to go home." + +"As you are all giving your ideas of a picnic," said Hugh, "_I_ will +give you mine. Ride five miles in a jolting wagon in the hot sun, walk +five more through tangled underbrush, arrive at the scene; pick up +sticks one hour, try to make the fire burn and the kettle boil another +hour; and finally sit down very uncomfortably on the ground, with +burnt fingers and limp collar, to eat buttered pickles and vinegared +bread, and drink muddy coffee; clear everything up, and ruin your +clothes with grease-spots, wristbands hopelessly gone; sit down again +under a tree, to hear the young lady you _don't_ like read poetry, +while the one you do like goes off before your very eyes with your +rival; devoured by mosquitoes, gnats and spiders; ice melted and water +tepid; another fire to make, more bad coffee, more _grease spots_, and +a silver spoon _lost_; hunt for the spoon until dark, and then find it +was a mistake; walk back five miles through the underbrush, get into +the wagon, perfectly exhausted with heat and fatigue; force yourself +to sing until you are as hoarse as a frog, and reach home worn out, +wrinkled, haggard, parched with thirst, famished for food, and utterly +ruined as to common clothes. That is _my_ idea of a picnic!" + +Everybody laughed at this cynical picture, and Aunt Faith said, "I +remember just after the war, when a number of our Westerton +soldier-boys had returned, it was proposed to celebrate the +home-coming by a grand picnic. The project, however, came to the ears +of the returned volunteers, and I happened to be present when one of +them, Lieutenant John Romer, expressed his opinion. 'See here, Katie,' +said he to his sister, 'I understand that you young ladies are getting +up a picnic to welcome us back from the war. I wish you would gently +extinguish the plan. We have had picnic enough for all our lives; the +very sight of a camp-fire and a kettle takes away any romance we may +have possessed, and as for out-door coffee, it is fairly hateful to +us.'" + +"I remember old Deacon Brown used to say, that when, once in ten +years, he went to New York to visit his relatives, the first thing +they did was to get up a ride into the country for him," said Hugh +laughing. "They did not understand that what he wanted was that very +bustle and crowd that annoyed them." + +"In the mean time," said Tom impatiently, "what has become of my +picnic in all this talk?" + +"Oh Tom! do you really insist upon it?" said Sibyl with a sigh. + +"Of course I do! and the B. B.'s must all be invited, too." + +"No, indeed?" said all the family in a chorus, "_that_ is too much." + +"I would as soon go into the woods with a set of pirates," said Sibyl. + +"They howl so," said Bessie. + +"We could never carry enough for them to eat," said Gem. + +"I could not take such a responsibility," said Aunt Faith; "something +might happen, they might get into the lake." + +"They would be sure to get in; they take to the water like young +ducks," said Hugh. + +Before this mass of testimony, Tom was obliged to give way. "Well," he +said, after a pause, "never mind about the B. B.'s so long as you have +the picnic." + +"Of course we cannot go to-day," began Sibyl. + +"Why not?" interposed Tom; "no time like the present. I'll agree to do +all the running round; I can run like a tiger." + +Sibyl sighed, and glanced out into the sun-shine with a foreboding of +heat and freckles. + +"Who shall we have?" said Bessie. + +"Mr. Leslie will go, I presume," said Aunt Faith; "I know that +clergymen often make a holiday of Monday." + +Sibyl's face cleared, and she made no further objection to the plan. + +"As I do not like to be hurried," continued Aunt Faith, "I propose +that we do not start until after dinner; we will have a tea instead of +a dinner in the woods, and come home at twilight." + +At first Tom objected to this idea, but as the others liked it, he +yielded, and the question of invitations was taken up. + +"I propose we leave that to Aunt Faith," said Bessie; "if we once +begin discussing it, we shall sit here all the morning, for we never +can agree." + +"Where shall we go?" said Hugh. + +Aunt Faith suggested Oak Grove. + +"Oh no!" said Tom, "that is too near town. Let us go somewhere ever so +far away, so that we shall feel like Robinson Crusoe on a desert +island." + +Hugh, who had a secret plan for driving a four-in-hand, seconded Tom's +idea, and finally it was decided that they should go to Mossy Pond, a +beautiful glen ten miles from Westerton, in a rocky region on the lake +shore apart from the farming country. Sibyl took the list, and went +out to deliver the invitations which Aunt Faith had wisely confined to +the immediate neighbor-hood. Mr. Leslie was the only one who lived at +some distance, and immediately after the early dinner, Hugh drove over +and brought back, as he said, "_vi et armis_." "Here is Mr. Leslie, +Aunt Faith," he called, as he opened the dining-room door. "Walk in, +sir, if you please." Having thus safely accomplished his charge, Hugh +disappeared to arrange the means of transportation. Aunt Faith +supposed they were to go in two wagons drawn by their own bays, and +Mr. Marr's blacks. She little knew the truth! + +Mr. Leslie thus unceremoniously introduced into the family circle, took +a seat at the table, and watched the proceedings with amused interest. +"Surely we do not need all that coffee, Mrs. Sheldon," he said, as +Aunt Faith filled a tin box with the fragrant mixture,--ground coffee +and egg all prepared for the boiling water. + +"My only fear is that it will not be enough," replied Aunt Faith, with +a smile. + +"And those biscuits! Do you keep stores for an army on hand night and +day?" + +"Oh, no; I sent to a bakery for these. But, with all my efforts, I +have not been able to get enough cold meat." + +"You say that in the face of this mountain of cold tongue? Do we, +then, turn into gormandizers by going a few miles into the country?" + +"I fear we do, Mr. Leslie," said Bessie, as she packed the loaves of +fresh cake in a long basket. "I, for one, am always ravenous; I do not +remember that I ever had as much as I wanted at a picnic." + +At this moment Sibyl entered the dining-room, and the color rose in +her face as she saw the young clergyman at the table. He rose and +offered his hand, as he said, "Good-morning, Miss Warrington, we are, +I trust to be companions for the day; I shall take good care of you in +the wilderness." + +John Leslie's way of speaking was often a puzzle to Aunt Faith; he +seemed so frank, and yet if he had planned each sentence, he could not +have contrived words so well adapted to carry their point. He always +seemed confident that Sibyl agreed with him, and that their views +coincided on all points. He took the lead, and never seemed to have a +doubt but that she would follow, and, when he was present, Sibyl +generally did follow; it was only when he was absent that the wide +difference in the motives which actuated their lives became clearly +visible, and Aunt Faith saw worldliness on one side, and unworldliness +on the other, with an apparently impassible gulf between. When Mr. +Leslie spoke, therefore, Sibyl smiled, and took a seat by his side +while she occupied herself in wrapping up the cups and saucers ready +for the hamper which Nanny and Bridget were packing on the back +piazza. + +At two o'clock everything was ready, and the family assembled on the +front piazza to wait for the expected guests. "Are they all coming, +Sibyl?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"Most of them, aunt. We shall have Edith Chase and Annie, Lida Powers, +Walter Hart, Rose Saxon and Graham Marr, Mr. Gay, Gideon Fish, William +Mount, and one of the B. B.'s,--Jim Morse." + +"Oh, General Putnam!" said Bessie: "so much the better. He will give a +military air to the scene." + +"Seventeen in all," said Aunt Faith; "the two wagons will be well +loaded." + +Bessie turned away her head, but not before Mr. Leslie had seen the +smile on her face. "Miss Bessie is laughing at the idea of a possible +break down," he said: "but for my part I am quite well able to walk +home, and even help draw the wagon if necessary." + +"Aunt Faith, how could you put Gideon Fish on the list?" said Bessie, +as Sibyl and Mr. Leslie strolled off into the garden. + +"Because I think you are somewhat unjust to him, Bessie; he has +excellent qualities." + +"Well, aunt, if you like him, will you be so kind as to entertain him +when he comes?" said Bessie impatiently. + +"Hey," said Tom, looking up, "Bess is getting mad! What fun!" + +"There's Rose Saxon!" said Bessie; "how do you do, Rose? You are the +first and shall have the heartiest welcome." + +"What has gone wrong, Bessie? There is a wrinkle between your eyes +that betokens something vexatious, I know," said Rose, taking a seat +on the step. + +"It is Gideon Fish," answered Bessie, in a low tone as Aunt Faith went +into the sitting-room for a shawl. + +"Is _he_ coming?" exclaimed Rose. + +"Yes; he was invited, and of course he will not decline when cake and +coffee are in question." + +"And when Miss Darrell is in question," said Rose, laughing. + +"Do not tease, Rose. I am vexed in earnest this time." + +"What do you say to having a little fun out of him, Bessie?" + +"By all means, if you can extract it from such material." + +"Well, then, I have thought of something. Come down in the arbor and I +will tell you about it." The two girls walked away, and Aunt Faith was +left alone to welcome the guests as they gradually assembled on the +piazza. Mr. Gay, the Boston bachelor, was the last to arrive. + +"Now we are all here," said Aunt Faith; "I will tell Hugh to have the +wagons brought round." + +"I will go, Aunt," said Bessie, and running through the house she went +down to the stable-yard where Hugh sat expectant in his car of +triumph. Slowly the equipage came round the house and drew up in front +of the piazza, it was a circus band-wagon, gayly painted, and drawn by +four horses, two bays and two blacks, while Hugh as charioteer sat on +the high front-seat and held the reins with a practised hand. + +"Hugh Warrington!" exclaimed Aunt Faith, "Four horses! I shall never +dare to ride after them!" + +"Do you suppose we are going to make spectacles of ourselves in that +wagon, Hugh?" asked Sibyl scornfully. + +"Yes, I suppose you are," replied Hugh, laughing. "Aunt Faith, I have +driven a four-in-hand over and over again, so you need not feel +alarmed. And, as to the circus-wagon, I consider it the crowning +attraction of the picnic." + +"Certainly," said Mr. Gay calmly. "The West is a country of new +sensations. I vote for the circus-wagon, by all means." + +The majority of the guests agreed with Hugh, and climbed into the +decorated chariot with great hilarity. Even the fastidious Miss Chase +was pleased to be amused with the idea, and quietly secured the seat +nearest the driver, which gentle manoeuvre having been observed by +Bessie, that wilful young lady took the very last seat at the extreme +end of the wagon, and devoted her entire attention to Mr. Walter Hart. +The provisions had been sent out in a cart some time previously, and +the merry party laughed and talked all the way to Mossy Pond, amused +with the sensation they created on the road, amused with themselves, +amused with everything; the four-in-hand carried them safely in spite +of Aunt Faith's fears, although one of the leaders showed some signs +of restlessness, wishing, Hugh said, to have his share of the fun. + +Mossy Pond was a small, deep pool, skirted with moss and shaded with +evergreens; the brook which issued from it ran down the glen, jumping +over the rocks in a series of waterfalls, reaching the lake a quarter +of a mile distant where it disappeared under a sand-bar, after the +manner of the streams that ran into the western lakes. On the shore +the headland was bold, rugged and treeless, commanding a fine view of +the water, but back in the glen the shade was dense, and there was a +faint spicy odor in the air, coming from the cedars, a rare tree on +the fresh-water seas. Altogether it was a wild, secluded spot, and but +few of the company had ever visited it, so that the charm of novelty +was added to the other attractions, and parties of explorers scaled +the rock, penetrated up the glen or down towards the lake shore, +coming back with wild-flowers, vines, cones, and mosses,--treasures of +the forest by whose aid they transformed themselves into nymphs and +woodmen, not even Aunt Faith escaping without a spray of grasses in +her hat. + +There were however some disadvantages in the wildness of the locality; +as there was no shed for the horses. Hugh and Jonas the man-servant +were obliged to unharness them and fasten them as well as they could +to the trees, not without misgivings as to the result; but the blacks +and bays stood quietly eating their dinner, and, at length, leaving +them to the care of Jonas, Hugh went back to the glen to assist in +making the fire. + +"Mr. Warrington, you are not to do anything," said Rose Saxon as he +approached; "it is understood that you regard picnics as devices for +extracting severe labor from unwilling young men, and we have resolved +to convince you of your error. This, sir, is a strong-minded picnic; +we are standing upon our rights, and request you to take a back seat +upon that log with the other despots, and see us throw off our +chains." + +On the log, in a row, sat all the gentlemen of the party,--Mr. Gay, +Mr. Leslie, Graham Marr, Walter Hart, William Mount, Tom, and "General +Putman," Hugh gravely joined the band. "When are you going to throw +off the chains, Miss Saxon?" he asked. + +"We are throwing them off now. Don't you hear them clank?" + +"Not a clank!" said Hugh. + +"That is because you do not choose to hear; you will find, sir, that +we are _no_ longer down-trodden," said Rose, brandishing a +carving-knife which she had just unpacked. + +"If there is anything down-trodden here except the grass, I shall like +to know it," said Hugh. "For my part I feel quite sorry for the tender +little blades under the ruthless tread of fourteen French heels." + +Here there was a general laugh, and all the pretty little boots +peeping in and out, disappeared as if by magic, all save the sturdy +Balmorals of Gem and her friend Annie Chase, darting hither and +thither in search of sticks. + +The ladies were very busy. They were going to make a fire, and such a +fire! They were going to make coffee, and such coffee. The supper was +to be altogether unparalleled in picnic annals, and it was to be +prepared by feminine hands alone. + +"See how glorious it burns!" exclaimed Rose, as the first flame shot +up from the pile of sticks. + +"See how gloriously it smokes!" said Hugh, as the fickle blaze +vanished, and Rose inhaled a puff of the stinging smoke. + +"I can make it burn!" said Bessie, coming to the rescue with +fresh newspapers. A match,--another blaze,--another cry of +exultation,--another failure, and a red burn on Bessie's hand +to mark it. + +"Let me try," said Edith Chase, kneeling gracefully beside the +obstinate pile. More newspapers, more flames, more smoke, ending in +another failure, and a grimy mark on Miss Chase's delicate dress. + +"Oh ye strong-minded!" said Hugh, jumping up, and lifting the pile of +sticks; "don't you know that you cannot start a fire in the sunshine? +Down under this stump, now, it will burn like a _furnace_." So saying, +Hugh rearranged the fuel, while Rose coughed, Edith furtively rubbed +her dress, and Bessie bound up her burned hand in her handkerchief. At +this moment Sibyl came into view, carrying a pail of water. Mr. Leslie +got up and took the pail out of her hand in spite of her objections. +"It is too heavy for you," he said decidedly; "don't attempt anything +of the kind again, I beg." + +"The kettle must be hung up," said Lida Powers, coming forward with a +tea-kettle in her hand. Will Mount and Walter Hart understood this +duty, while Gideon Fish and Mr. Gay laid the cloth, the former eyeing +the cake with pleasant anticipation. + +"It seems to me, young ladies, that the gentlemen are doing the work +after all," said Aunt Faith. + +"Of course, aunt," said Hugh, blowing his fire with a scarlet face: +"did I not predict we should have to work like slaves." + +"The meat! The meat! Turk has got the meat!" cried Gem from a +neighboring rock, where she and Annie where making wreaths of wild +flowers. There was a general exclamation of dismay as the curly back +of the old depredator was seen through the trees making off with the +booty. "How did Turk get here?" asked Aunt Faith; "Tom, I suspect you +are the culprit!" + +"Well, aunt, I just thought I'd let him come out with Jones and the +cart; they might be of use, you know, in case of tramps or gipsies." + +"They! You do not mean to say all the dogs are here?" + +But doubt was soon dispelled by the appearance of Pete Trone in +person, attracted by the provisions spread out upon the ground. Too +well-bred to snatch,--for, as Tom said, "Pete was a truly gentlemanly +dog,"--Pete sat upon his hind legs with fore paws drooping on his +breast, eying the company gravely as if to call attention to his +polite demeanor. "He certainly is a funny little fellow," said Rose +Saxon, as Hugh gave the terrier a fragment of cake. + +"He is the wisest dog I ever saw," said Hugh. + +"There is no end to his knowledge. I was fishing one day last summer +down over the dam at Broad River, and caught a large cat-fish. My line +was too slender to haul him up, and I was considering what to do when, +much to my astonishment, Pete jumped over, ran out on the stones, and +caught the struggling fish in his mouth. That was the first time I +ever heard of a dog going fishing." + +"The rascal seems to reason, too. Once I belonged to the choir, you +remember, and of course I could not allow Pete to go to rehearsals, +although he was in the habit of following me almost everywhere else. +So, after many futile attempts to send him back, and consequent +annoyance at the church, one Saturday before starting, I shut him up +in the carriage-house and fastened the door. I looked back several +times but saw nothing of Pete, and was congratulating myself upon the +success of my plan, when, just before I reached the church, at the +corner of Huron and South Streets, there he was waiting for me. He had +escaped, gone down town another way, and did not show himself until I +was so far from home that he knew I would not take him back. Then, +what did he do, as soon as he saw me coming, but up on his hind legs +with the most deprecating air, sitting there, a ridiculous little +black image on the pavement, so that everybody laughed to see him." + +The meal was a merry one although the meat was gone and the cream +sour; there was an abundance of cake, the coffee was strong, and the +good spirits of the company supplied the rest. + +"There is no more sugar for your coffee, Mr. Warrington," said Edith +Chase, as she poured out Hugh's second cup. + +"Smile on it, please," said Hugh, gayly. + +"Now, Miss Chase, if you neglect my cup any longer," said Walter Hart, +"I shall grow desperate; I shall be obliged to give you--" + +"Fitz," interrupted Hugh. + +"Bad puns are excluded from this picnic," said Rose Saxon; "and, by +the way, Mr. Warrington, why do you drop the first syllable of your +name?" + +"Because it is never pronounced rightly," said Hugh; "it is either +called 'Fitz-He-yew,' or 'Fitchew.'" + +"Pronunciation is a matter of taste," said Mr. Leslie, laughing. "A +lady once asked me if I did not think Walter Scott's _Rock-a-by_ was a +'sweet thing.' At first I supposed she was alluding to some +cradle-song with which I was not familiar, and it was sometime before +I discovered that she meant _Rokeby_." + +"I have often been puzzled myself with the names of books," said Aunt +Faith. "Years ago there was a book published called _Ivar or the +Skujts-boy_? I liked it but I never dared to venture on the name." + +"And since then," said Mr. Gay, "the names of the heroes and heroines +in magazine-stories are really astonishing. The favorite letter, now +is 'Y.' They have 'y's' in the most unexpected places. Such names as +'Vivian' and 'Willis,' for instance. They spell them 'Vyvyan' and +'Wyllys'" + +The meal over, the company dispersed through the woods. Graham Marr +took a book from his pocket. "Miss Warrington," he said, in his slow +way, "I have brought out a new poem; if you care to hear it, there is +a mossy rock which will make an admirable sofa." + +Sibyl smiled and accepted this proposal, seating herself on a heap of +shawls, and looking at languid Graham as he read, with much apparent +interest. + +Mr. Leslie was sitting by Aunt Faith's side under the trees at some +distance. "Mrs. Sheldon, I have a plan for yourself and Miss +Warrington," he said, after a pause. "You have been kind enough to +take an interest in Margaret Brown, and I know you will like to help +her through the summer. The warm weather is telling on her strength; +she has not been able to sew as steadily as usual, and she needs an +entire rest. Do you think you could, between you, advance her a small +sum of money? She will repay you with her work in the fall." + +"I shall be glad to help her," said Aunt Faith; "I consider it a +precious opportunity to help a truly deserving woman." + +"And Miss Warrington will aid her also," said Mr. Leslie. Aunt Faith +looked towards the rock and caught the smile with which Sibyl received +some remark of the reader's. + +"I cannot answer for Sibyl," she said gravely; "she is going soon to +Saratoga, and she is much occupied with her preparations." + +"To Saratoga?" repeated Mr. Leslie; "I was not aware of that. Will she +be long away?" + +"It is uncertain how long; she may return home for a short visit +before she goes to Washington for the winter," replied Aunt Faith. "I +shall miss her, but I must make up my mind to losing her before long. +Sibyl is very fond of fashionable life and gayety." Aunt Faith spoke +with a purpose; she wished to open the young clergyman's eyes to her +niece's faults. + +Mr. Leslie did not reply immediately; after a while he rose and stood +leaning against a tree. "Mrs. Sheldon," he said, looking down at her +with a smile, "you will not lose Sibyl." + +"What do you mean, Mr. Leslie?" + +"Only this; she will not go to Saratoga," replied the clergyman, +walking away towards the ravine. + +"Well!" thought Aunt Faith, as she recovered from her astonishment, +"if I did not know Sibyl so well, I should be inclined to think Mr. +Leslie was right. If any one can break through her worldliness, he +can; but I fear it is too strong even for him." + +In the meanwhile the rest of the party were loitering in the glen by +the brook. Gideon Fish after gorging himself with jelly-cake, was +inclined to be sportive. + +"Oh!" he cried, throwing himself back upon the moss, "I feel like a +child let loose from school! Let us indulge our lighter natures; let +us for once give up deep thought! Mr. Leslie, it will do _you_ good +also. I remember once when some of my college-mates happened to meet +at our house last summer, we were sitting on the piazza talking +together, and all unwittingly we got so deep down among the ponderous +mysteries of psychology; so wrought with the mighty thoughts evolved +from our own brains; so uplifted in grappling with gigantic +reasonings, that, fearful for our very sanity, we rushed out upon the +lawn like children; we rolled upon the grass; we found a ball and +tossed to each other; anything,--anything to keep ourselves down to +earth." + +"But, Gideon," said Mr. Leslie, smiling, "my reason is in no danger of +any such overthrow. I never climbed to such heights as you describe." + +"Probably not; very few, if any, mortal minds have ever ascended as +high as ours did that afternoon," replied Gideon. "Miss Darrell, I see +a delicate little tendril on the other side of the brook. Shall we go +over and pluck it?" + +"No," said Bessie, shortly; "I don't care for tendrils." + +"I will go with you, Mr. Fish," said Rose Saxon rising, and of course +Gideon was obliged to accompany her, although she was not the +companion he preferred. As Rose turned away, she looked meaningly at +Bessie, who started, and then smiled to herself. After five or ten +minutes when the tendril-hunters had disappeared on the other side of +the glen, Bessie suddenly proposed that they should all cross over, +and, after some persuasion, she succeeded in getting the whole party +across the brook. Then she lured them on slowly, turning here and +there, until she caught the sound of voices. "Hush!" she said, "what +is that?" They all stopped, and distinctly heard Rose Saxon's voice, +somewhat louder than usual, coming from behind some high bushes. "No, +Mr. Fish!" she said, emphatically, "it can never be. I must request +you to say no more; this subject must be set at rest forever." Then +they heard Gideon; "Excuse me Miss Saxon, but--" "Not another word, +Mr. Fish!" interrupted Rose, cutting short his sentence. "I would not +wound you needlessly, but we are not suited to each other. I have long +known your secret,--I have tried to ward off this avowal,--I beg you +to say no more." + +"Miss Saxon, I assure you--" began Gideon, in an agitated voice, but +Rose stopped him again; "Mr. Fish, if you _will_ persist in speaking, +I must leave you," she said, pushing aside the bushes and disclosing +the party on the other side to her companion's gaze. "What, +Bessie!--all of you here? How very embarrassing!" Gideon Fish gave one +look at the company and then turned and retreated down the glen; when +he was out of hearing, the two girls ran away into the wood to indulge +in a hearty laugh. They made no confessions to the others, but every +one suspected the truth, and when poor Gideon returned to take them +aside, one by one, and assure them that he had "no idea what Miss +Saxon meant," that he "admired her exceedingly, but as for anything +serious the thought had never occurred to him," that he was "speaking +to her of the tendrils, when suddenly, without any connection, she +began talking in the most singular way," his auditors would laugh +merrily and turn away, leaving Gideon more miserable than ever. + +"My good fellow," said Hugh gravely, when his turn came, "let me give +you a piece of advice. Don't try to back out of it now. We all heard +you; and we all feel for you. Miss Saxon is a charming young lady, but +if she does not like you, you must bear it like a man." + +"But I never intended,--I never thought of such a thing,--it is all a +mistake!" stammered the unfortunate Gideon. + +"Of course it was a mistake," replied Hugh. "You thought she liked you +and she didn't. If I was you I wouldn't say any more about it." + +So poor Gideon got but cold comfort in his trouble. He wandered about +looking half-angry, half-perplexed; he almost began to think he had +said something to Rose, after all! + +"The mighty thoughts evolved from his brain are in some confusion, I +fear," whispered Bessie to Rose; "he will have no trouble in keeping +himself down to earth _this_ afternoon, I think." + +After some hours, the party assembled in the glen to join in a round +game. "It is very dark," said Aunt Faith, looking up through the thick +foliage; "I fear we are going to have a storm." + +"Let us run down to the lakeshore and look," said Bessie, and several +of the young people started down the glen, followed by the rest of the +party at a slower pace; all but Sibyl who still remained on the rock +with Graham Marr. + +When they reached the beach, a threatening expanse of sky and water +met their gaze; the lake was unusually still, but its blue changed +into a leaden gray, and out in the west a white streak followed by a +black line told of the approaching squall. In the south, and east, the +sky was clear and summer-like, but from the north-west great clouds +came rolling up, looking black and menacing, and the air was +oppressively close. + +"A thunder-storm!" said Hugh, "and close upon us too!" + +"Oh, I am so terribly afraid of thunder!" said Edith Chase, turning +pale. "What shall we do?" + +"Why did we not notice the storm before?" said Aunt Faith, in dismay; +"it must have been some time coming up." + +"No, Aunt," said Bessie; "probably not more than ten minutes. That is +what I mean when I call the western lakes treacherous; the changes are +so sudden." + +"You are right, Miss Darrell," said Mr. Gay, looking over the dark +water with an uneasy expression in his face; "I don't think much of +these fresh water mill-ponds. On the ocean, now, we know what to +expect." + +"Isn't there some house near by, Hugh?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"No, Aunt. I selected this place because it was so solitary, you +remember; there is no house within two miles." + +"Could we not get there, by driving rapidly, before the storm reaches +us?" said Mr. Gay, mindful of his rheumatism. + +"I am afraid not, sir," replied Hugh: "it would take some time to +harness the horses, and besides, the house is not on the road, but +across the fields towards the south." + +"What _shall_ we do?" said Edith Chase, as the sullen water began to +break with a low sound on the beach at her feet. + +"The lake is beginning to growl already," said Hugh. "Come, Aunt +Faith, let us go back to the woods; we will make the best shelter we +can for you, all. A summer thunder-storm is not such a terrible +disaster after all." + +"We can't trim up the wagon with all the beautiful wreaths we made," +lamented Gem. "It's too bad!" + +"The shower will prevent the show," said Hugh, laughing. + +"Why is Hugh like Tennyson's Brook," said Rose Saxon, as the party +made their way back to the glen. + +"Because he is _idyl_," said Bessie. + +"Good, but not correct. Because he,-- + + 'Chatters, chatters, as he goes, + Till all our nerves do quiver,-- + For we may talk, or we may stop, + But Hugh puns on forever, + Ever, + Hugh puns on forever.'" + +sang Rose, taking up the well-known air as she sprang over the rocks +in advance of the rest. + +"We shall have to make an impromptu wigwam under the shelter of those +rocks and beech-trees," said Mr. Leslie, collecting the shawls and +water-proof cloaks; "the foliage of the beech is very thick, and the +rock will protect you from the west, in which direction the storm is +coming. Mr. Marr, please throw down those shawls." + +"What is the matter, Mr. Leslie?" said Sibyl, descending from her +perch. + +"A thunder-storm!" said Hugh, "and close upon us, too!" + +"Surely, then, you are not thinking of remaining here under the +trees," said Graham Marr, hastily putting on his water-proof coat. + +"The ladies will be in more danger from the drenching rain, than from +the lightning," replied Mr. Leslie, breaking down branches for his +wigwam. "Here, Jonas! Jonas! have you a hatchet there?" + +But Jonas did not answer, and Hugh, upon going up to the platform, +discovered that he had started homeward with his cart, having first +harnessed the four-in-hand. The horses were standing tied to the +trees, but they looked uneasy, and one of the leaders pawed the ground +restlessly. "I shall have to stay here with them," thought Hugh, "or +they may break away when the storm strikes them." He ran back and +called over the edge of the cliff. "Jonas has gone home, Mr. Leslie, +and I shall be obliged to stay with the horses; but here is the +hatchet." + +"Very well!" said the clergyman, catching the hatchet with the +dexterity of an Indian as Hugh threw it down; "go back to the horses, +Mr. Warrington. We can attend to the ladies." + +Under his direction an impromptu wigwam was speedily built of long +boughs, with the high rock as a background; this was thatched with +bushes, and the shawls and cloaks spread over the whole as the first +muttering of thunder was heard. "Oh!" said Edith Chase, "what shall I +do? I cannot stand the lightning!" + +"Come inside with me!" said Aunt Faith; "you can hide your head in my +lap." + +The ladies hurried inside the wigwam, Aunt Faith, Sibyl, Rose Saxon, +Edith Chase, Lida Powers, Bessie, Annie Chase and Gem. + +"I see there is room for the gentlemen, too," said Gideon Fish, +creeping in. + +"I really think we had better all be together," said Graham Marr, +following his example. + +"Tom!" called Aunt Faith, pulling aside a cloak that formed part of +the wall, "come inside directly." + +"Oh, Aunt Faith! we've found a splendid cave up here; it holds Jim and +me first-rate," answered a voice from above. + +"They've squeezed themselves into a little cranny in the rock, Mrs. +Sheldon," said Mr. Leslie, looking up and laughing to see the +'splendid cave;' "I think they will keep dry by force of compression." + +"Aren't you coming inside, Mr. Mount?" said Lida Powers. + +"No. I shall go and help Hugh with the horses; you had better come +too, Walter. We may have some trouble with them." + +"Mr. Leslie, you will join us, I hope?" said Rose Saxon, peeping out +from between the leaves. + +"I think not, Miss Rose. I am hardened, you know; I have camped out in +winter storms too many times to dread a July shower. But I insist upon +Mr. Gay's going inside. The 'Boston man' will now have an opportunity; +he can 'to a wigwam with a squaw go,'" quoted Mr. Leslie, helping the +old bachelor under the overhanging branches. + +In a few moments the storm was upon them; first a tornado of wind, +then intense and almost continuous lightning, followed by heavy +rolling thunder. Edith Chase trembled, and buried her face in her +hands. + +"This war of the elements affects my nerves," whispered Graham to +Sibyl, by whose side he was crouching. + +"Does it?" she replied coldly; "I was not aware you were so timid." + +Then came the rain, falling in sheets, the drenching torrent of a +summer thunder-shower. In spite of the foliage, the wet began to +penetrate the wigwam; Sibyl, who sat on the outside of the huddled +circle, felt the drops on her shoulder through her light dress. + +"Take this coat, Miss Warrington," said Mr. Leslie, stooping down and +parting the branches. + +"Oh no!" replied Sibyl; "you need it more than I do." + +But the coat was thrown around her, and Mr. Leslie was gone before she +could remonstrate. + +At last, after half an hour, the fury of the storm was over, but the +rain still fell steadily. + +"I am afraid it will not clear immediately," said Mr. Leslie, coming +to the wigwam entrance; "I have been down to the lake, and the sky +looks as though we should have a wet night." + +"How dark it is!" said Aunt Faith; "What time is it?" + +"Half-past seven," said Mr. Leslie, looking at his watch. + +"Oh, how shall we ever get home?" sighed Edith Chase. + +"We had better start immediately, I think," said Mr. Gay; "it will be +very unpleasant to ride in the darkness as well as in the rain." + +"And the horses!" said Lida Powers; "I hope they will be quiet. That +black was inclined to dance a little when we came out." + +"Now, ladies!" said Mr. Leslie, coming towards the wigwam again, "I +have been up on the plateau; the horses are ready, and the sooner we +start the better, as more black clouds are gathering in the west. Mrs. +Sheldon, let me help you up the bank." + +"Oh, Mr. Leslie, how wet you are!" exclaimed Aunt Faith, as she +emerged from the wigwam. "Where is your coat?" + +"Miss Warrington has it," he replied; "I made her take it." + +"Here it is, Mr. Leslie," said Sibyl, stepping from under cover. + +"Keep it, Sibyl," said the clergyman in a low tone. "It gives me +pleasure to see you protected." + +"It is still raining steadily, I perceive," said Graham Marr, peeping +out from the sheltering branches; "don't you think we had better +remain here awhile longer, ladies?" + +"The rain won't wash us away, Graham," said his cousin Rose. + +"It washes out dyes, however? and shows us all in our true colors," +whispered Bessie to Lida Powers. "Look at Graham! He looks like a +faded ray!" + +"He always was a fair-weather piece of goods," answered Lida; "high +color, you know, don't stand soaking." + +Reaching the wagon, the company climbed inside, the cushions had been +kept dry, but the floor was wet, and the rain still fell with the +persistence that betokens what farmers call a "steady soaker." Edith +Chase sat with Aunt Faith at the rear end of the wagon, but Bessie in +Edith's old place, felt her spirits rising with every plunge of the +restless leaders. + +"Do you think you can manage them, Hugh?" she whispered, just before +they started. + +"I hope so," he replied confidently. But the blacks had had their +nerves tried by the flies, the thunder, and the lightning; besides, +they had never been driven four-in-hand before, and they had their +doubts as to what the bays were doing behind them. For the first mile +or two they kept the road, and then they whirled suddenly round to the +left, and stood still. + +"Oh!" cried Edith Chase, "we shall all be killed!" + +However, after some persuasion, the blacks started on again as +suddenly as they had stopped, for wonderful are the ways of balky +horses. But the increasing darkness brought new terror; black clouds +settled down over the earth and the narrow, winding road grew +invisible before them. After several more miles a flash of lightning +and a peal of thunder startled the party, the leaders veered round +again, jumping violently, and carrying the wagon perilously near the +gully. William Mount and Walter Hart sprang to the horses' heads, +while the ladies screamed in concert. Aunt Faith was an arrant coward +where riding was concerned. "I would rather get out and walk all the +way home than sit in this wagon a moment longer," she said, earnestly. + +"Take me with you, aunt," said Gem, who was crying aloud. + +"I will go, too," said Edith Chase, climbing down with alacrity; "it +cannot be very far, now." + +"We are still four miles from Westerton," said Hugh. "There is no +danger, Aunt Faith; do get in again. The horses are only a little +balky; they will be quiet soon." + +"Do you call that quiet?" said Rose Saxon, as a flash of lightning +revealed the plunging leaders with William Mount and Walter Hart at +their heads. + +"By all means, let us walk," said Graham Marr, getting out quickly. + +"Of course if the ladies insist upon walking, it is our duty to +accompany them," said Gideon Fish, following his example. + +"Mrs. Sheldon," said Mr. Gay, "if you will walk, pray take my arm." + +"Miss Darrell, I shall be happy to help you down," said Gideon Fish. + +"Thank you, but I shall stay where I am; I am not at all afraid," +replied Bessie. + +After a few moments, the horses started again; and the walking party +plodded along behind; Hugh drove very slowly so as to keep near them, +and, in the darkness, Bessie climbed up on the driver's seat beside +him. "Bravo, little woman! I knew _you_ would not be afraid," said +Hugh. + +"Afraid, Hugh! With you!" exclaimed Bessie. + +At the other end of the wagon sat Sibyl and Mr. Leslie, who also +preferred the wagon to the road. The rain still fell, and the wind had +grown cold, but although Sibyl still wore the coat, her companion did +not seem to notice his uncovered shoulders. They talked earnestly +together in low tones all the way, and when at last the lights of +Westerton appeared in the darkness ahead, and the pedestrians, +emboldened by these signs of civilization, took their seats in the +wagon again, Sibyl's face was so bright that Aunt Faith noticed it. +"You do not look at all cold, my dear," she said, as the light from +the first street lamps fell across the wagon, "and yet the air is very +chilly." + +"I fear I shall have an attack of dumb-ague," said Graham Marr, +shivering. + +Edith Chase sat on the edge of the seat, ready to spring, watching the +leaders with intent gaze; as they approached the old stone house she +heaved a deep sigh of relief. "I am so glad it is over," she said, +audibly. + +"I hope you will all come in and have a cup of hot coffee after the +exposure," said Aunt Faith, as, one by one, the tired guests climbed +down from the circus-wagon. + +"We _are_ all so wet, I think we had better go directly home," said +Lida Powers. + +"Thank you, Mrs. Sheldon," said Edith Chase, "but we really must go +directly home; come, Annie." + +"Excuse me, Mrs. Sheldon," said Mr. Gay, "but my seventy years require +hot flannels. Good-night." + +Mr. Leslie had accompanied Sibyl up the long walk to the piazza in +order to take back his coat when she was under shelter. All the other +guests made their excuses at the gate, all but Gideon Fish, and when +Bessie saw him lingering, she pretended to be very obtuse. "Well, as +you won't any of you come in, I will say 'good-night' to all of you," +she said, closing the gate and turning away. "I couldn't help it, Aunt +Faith," she whispered, as they went up the walk; "Gideon wanted some +of your coffee, but we have had enough of him for one day, I think." +Mr. Leslie, however, put on his coat and took his coffee with the +cousins as though unconscious of his wet clothes; Hugh made up a +bright wood fire on the hearth, and they all talked over the incidents +of the day, and laughed over its disasters together. It is always +amusing to look back on discomfort when it is well over. + +"Where now is your beautiful 'Monday morning, bright and early,' Tom?" +said Aunt Faith, remembering the conversation at the breakfast-table. + +"_Sic_ transit _gloria Monday_!" said Hugh. + +"Incorrigible," said Mr. Leslie, laughing as he said good-night. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +RIGHT AT LAST. + + +"Sibyl," said Aunt Faith, the day after the picnic, "have you +completed all your preparations for Saratoga?" + +"You speak as though my going was a matter-of-course, Aunt," said +Sibyl slowly. + +"Is it not, dear? I supposed your decision was made several weeks +ago," said Aunt Faith, thinking of the written paper which Sibyl had +given her to read. + +"I think I shall go," said Sibyl, after a pause. "Everything is ready +but the pearls; I can buy them any time." + +"I hope you will enjoy the summer, my dear," said Aunt Faith, taking +her niece's hand affectionately. + +"Then you approve of my going, Aunt?" + +"You must make your own decision, Sibyl. No one can aid you in such a +question as this," replied Aunt Faith gravely. + +Sibyl sat awhile in silence; then she rose and left the room. + +An hour or two afterwards, Bridget came upstairs to tell Aunt Faith +that Mr. Leslie wished to see her; she went down, somewhat surprised +at so early a call, and found the young clergyman waiting for her in +the parlor. + +"Mrs. Sheldon," he said, after the first words of greeting, "poor +Margaret Brown is in great trouble. You remember our conversation +about her yesterday? Calling in to tell her of it this morning, I +found two of the children stricken down with fever, seriously ill, the +doctor says; and I have come directly to you for aid; to you and Miss +Warrington." + +"Sibyl has gone out, Mr. Leslie, but I shall be glad to do anything I +can. Shall I go there at once, or send a nurse?" + +"I hardly know yet; I came to talk the matter over with you. I do not +like to ask you to go there, for the fever may be dangerous, and yet +Margaret needs sympathy as much as money. Perhaps if they could all be +moved into a purer air,--into the country, for instance,--away from +that crowded neighborhood, it would be the wisest course." + +"But can the sick children bear a journey now?" + +"I think they could go a few miles in an easy carriage, but, as they +are growing worse every hour, it must be done at once if done at all. +Do you know of any farm-house where they could be received for a +time?" + +"Mr. Green might take them," said Aunt Faith; "he would probably +expect ample payment, however. Mr. Leslie, I am sorry I cannot give +you _carte blanche_; but owing to outside circumstances, I have but a +small sum at my disposal at present." + +"We will put our means together, Mrs. Sheldon. I have something laid +by, and perhaps Miss Warrington will assist us." + +"Sibyl has other uses for her money, I fear." + +"Surely none more worthy than this, Mrs. Sheldon." + +Aunt Faith grew somewhat impatient. "Mr. Leslie," she said +emphatically, "you do not understand my niece." + +"I think I understand Miss Warrington's character, and I think she +will help Margaret Brown," replied the young clergyman gravely. + +At this moment a step on the gravel-walk was heard, and Sibyl herself +crossed the piazza and entered the hall. + +"Have you been down town, Sibyl?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"Yes, aunt," replied Sibyl, coloring slightly, as she returned Mr. +Leslie's greeting. + +"Have you made any purchases?" continued Aunt Faith, glancing at an +oblong box in her niece's hand. + +Sibyl hesitated; then, as if impelled by a sudden impulse, she took +off the wrapping-paper and opened the case. "I have bought my pearls +at last, Aunt Faith. Are they not beautiful?" she said. + +The fair jewels lay on a velvet bed, white and perfect, and looking +from them to Sibyl's blonde beauty, one could not help noticing their +adaptation to each other. + +"They are very lovely, my dear," said Aunt Faith, passing the case to +Mr. Leslie. He took the jewels, looked at them a moment, and retaining +the case in his hand, said, "I came here this morning to ask your +assistance in a case of distress, Miss Warrington. Margaret Brown is +in need of instant aid; two of the children are ill, and I wish to +have them removed into the country, if possible, before they grow +worse. I rely upon you to help us." + +Sibyl sat with downcast eyes a moment. Then she said in a low voice, +"I am sorry, Mr. Leslie; but I have just spent all my spare money upon +those pearls." + +"The jeweller will take them back; I will arrange it for you, if you +wish," said the clergyman, looking at her intently. + +The color deepened painfully in Sibyl's cheeks, and the tears came +into her eyes, but she did not speak. Aunt Faith saw the struggle, and +came to her niece's assistance with her usual kindliness. "You must +not expect young ladies to give up their pretty ornaments so easily," +she said to Mr. Leslie, trying to shield Sibyl's embarrassment. + +"I am not speaking to a young lady; I am speaking to a fellow +Christian," said Mr. Leslie, gravely. "Miss Warrington and I have +often spoken of the duty of giving. Only last evening we had a very +serious conversation on that and kindred subjects. Mrs. Sheldon has +said that I do not understand her niece. But I am unwilling to believe +myself mistaken. I still think I understand her better even than her +own aunt does,--better even than she understands herself." + +Still Sibyl did not speak. Aunt Faith looked at her in surprise. Could +it be that her worldliness was conquered after all? "Sibyl," she said, +gently, "you must decide, dear. Shall Mr. Leslie take back the +pearls?" + +"No," replied Sibyl, rising and struggling to regain her composure, "I +wish the pearls, and there is no justice in asking me to give them up. +I shall keep them, and as I have to write to Mrs. Leighton that I will +meet her next week as she desired, my time is more than occupied, and +I will ask Mr. Leslie to excuse me." + +She left the room, taking the pearls with her, and not a word more did +Mr. Leslie say in allusion to her. He turned the conversation back to +Margaret Brown, discussed the various arrangements for removing the +family into the country, and then took his departure. + +"I was very sorry about the money, Aunt Faith," said Sibyl, after he +had gone, standing at the sitting-room window and watching the tall +figure disappearing in the distance. + +"Sincerity first of all, my dear," replied Aunt Faith. + +"How will he get the money, aunt?" + +"He is going to apply to Mrs. Chase, I believe. Although she has never +attended the chapel-services, he knows her to be generous and +kind-hearted." + +"Rich, too, Aunt Faith. It is very easy to be generous when one is +rich," said Sibyl, with a shade of bitterness in her tone. + +"Riches are comparative, Sibyl. Mrs. Chase is rich, but she has very +many depending upon her assistance." + +"Mr. Leslie had no right to make such a demand of me," said Sibyl, +after a pause. + +"Perhaps he thought you had given him the right to guide you," said +Aunt Faith. + +"I have never given him any right," said Sibyl, hastily. "I presume he +thinks I am a selfish, hard-hearted creature," she added in another +tone. + +"He thinks more highly of you than your own aunt did, Sibyl; he said +so himself. He believes, or has believed, firmly in the purity of your +religious faith and firm principle. I have several times been +surprised to see how sure he was of you." + +"He asked too much," said Sibyl; "he is too severe with me." + +"Not more severe than he is with himself, my dear. He has taken all +his little savings for Margaret Brown, and I presume those savings +represent comforts, not luxuries like pearls." + +"Mr. Leslie should not try me by the same test he uses for himself; I +cannot stand it." + +"That is where he made his mistake, my dear. He thought you could." + +Sibyl colored angrily. "Mr. Leslie is an enthusiast," she said; "he +expects people to throw down all their treasures at his feet." + +"Not at his feet; at the foot of the cross, dear." + +"Aunt Faith, do you really believe people can be happy in such a +life?" said Sibyl vehemently. + +"Mr. Leslie is happy, my child." + +"He is a single man with few cares. I am alluding to married people, +burdened with responsibility and anxiety." + +"If they are so burdened, my dear, so much the more reason why they +should seek help from Him who said 'come unto me all ye that are heavy +laden, and I will give you rest.'" + +"But in every-day life there are so many petty annoyances, aunt." + +"Will they be any the less annoying without His aid, dear?" + +"They will be less annoying if people are rich, Aunt Faith." + +"Some of the most unhappy women I have ever known, have been rich, +Sibyl." + +"But I would not be one of those, aunt. I would be rich and happy at +the same time." + +"If you could, my dear. But wealth brings with it its own troubles; +sometimes in the shape of the donor; I trust you would not marry for +money?" + +"Not for money alone, aunt. But I see no reason why a rich man might +not be loved for himself as well as a poor man. It does not follow +that because a man is rich he must therefore be selfish or +ill-tempered." + +"Certainly not, my dear; but we will not discuss it any longer, at +present. You are young, and I wish you to understand yourself +thoroughly. Take no rash steps, and remember that wealth is as nothing +compared to a true heart, and that this world's best treasures are +perishable, while religious faith abides with us through life and +death into eternity." + +In the afternoon Mr. Leslie came again to the old stone house, and +inquired for Mrs. Sheldon. "I have come to ask for your horses," he +said, as Aunt Faith entered the parlor; I have secured a large +carriage that will take all the family, and now, if you will send +Jonas down with the horses, we can hope to have Margaret safely +established at Mr. Green's before night." + +"Certainly, Mr. Leslie. Is there nothing more I can do?" + +"Not to-day, thank you. I shall go out with them myself." + +"How are the children?" + +"Worse, I fear; but I have large faith in country air." + +"I shall be anxious to know how they bear the ride." + +"I will stop on my way home as I must come back with the carriage," +said the young clergyman as he went away. + +"Was not that Mr. Leslie?" asked Hugh, coming in from the dining-room +a few moments afterward. + +"Yes," replied Aunt Faith; "he came to see me on business." + +"Didn't he ask for Sibyl?" said Hugh. + +"No," replied Aunt Faith, with a warning look at her nephew, as Sibyl +came in. But Hugh was not to be warned. "Sibyl," he said, "Mr. Leslie +has been here and did not ask for you." + +"Is that so very surprising?" said his sister coldly; she had regained +all her composure and her face was calm and quiet. + +"Of course it is surprising," said Hugh bluntly. "He has been in the +habit of coming here to see you for months, and, let me tell you, +Sibyl, he is one in a thousand; he is a hero, every inch, and I +heartily respect and like him." + +"I have said nothing to the contrary, Hugh." + +"Don't be a hypocrite, Sibyl," said Hugh with brotherly frankness. "I +am not good at splitting hairs, but there is no more comparison +between Mr. Leslie and Graham Marr, than there is between an eagle and +a sickly chicken." + +"I have never thought of comparing them, Hugh. I do not like +comparisons, and yours is entirely unjust. But even supposing it was +correct, _I_ have no taste for standing on a mountain-peak, in the icy +air of unknown heights, and gazing at the sun all day as an eagle +does," said Sibyl, as she crossed the hall into the parlor. In a few +moments the Spring-Song sounded forth from the piano, and under cover +of the music, Hugh said to Aunt Faith, "There is nothing wrong between +them I hope?" + +"There is nothing between them either right or wrong," replied Aunt +Faith with a sigh. "Sibyl is not suited to Mr. Leslie." + +"Then it is her fault," said Hugh warmly. "There is no doubt in my +mind that John Leslie is deeply interested in her, and I should be +proud and glad to have him for a brother. He is the truest, most +honest man I know." + +"That is because he is such a sincere, earnest Christian." + +"I know it, aunt. He works hard, and he thoroughly believes in his +work. He really thinks there is nothing in the city so vitally +important as that little chapel, and those workmen." + +"He is right, Hugh. To _him_ there should be nothing so important as +their welfare." + +"Yes, I suppose so; that is, if I could look at it with his eyes. But +it is rare to see practice so consistent with theory in every-day +life." + +"It is, as you say, rare indeed; but he is a rare man, Hugh." + +"He is, truly. That is the reason why I feel Sibyl's manner. Can it be +possible that she really prefers Graham Marr?" + +"I do not know, Hugh. Graham will be rich some day." + +"That is the worst of it, aunt. Who would have thought Sibyl could be +so mercenary!" + +"Do not judge her harshly, dear. She has none of that impulse which +you admire, but her heart has always been true,--at least so far," +said Aunt Faith gently. Then, after a pause, she continued in a lower +tone, "Hugh, if you like and admire Mr. Leslie so much, why are you +not willing to follow his example?" + +"What! Become a clergyman, Aunt Faith?" + +"Not that, unless you feel an inward call towards the blessed +vocation," replied Aunt Faith reverently; "but why do you delay to +come forward and make your open profession of faith? Is it honest, is +it manly, to hang backward?" + +"Oh, Aunt Faith, I am not good enough!" said Hugh quickly. + +"Goodness is not required of any of us, Hugh; only repentance, and an +earnest endeavor to improve. My dear boy, I never see you come and go, +without an aching desire to have you enrolled under His banner, to +have you a soldier of the Cross, openly, before all men. Have you +thought over our last conversation on this subject?" + +"Yes, aunt, many times; but I have such a high idea of a professing +Christian. It seems to me that such an one ought to be like Mr. +Leslie, working with all his might for the salvation of souls." + +"It is not required that all professing Christians should be ministers +of the word, Hugh. There are many other spheres of action, and many +qualifications, varied according to our varied temperaments and +positions. The Bible makes that point very clear. You read it, I +hope?" + +"Yes; but I always read the same part, the Gospel of St, John. I like +it best of all. There are so many beautiful verses in it which are +found nowhere else, so much love and warm faith! For instance; 'Let +not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.' And 'I will not +leave you comfortless, I will come unto you.' And, 'woman, behold thy +son; behold thy mother;' to me one of the most touching incidents in +the Gospel. Then there is the story of Lazarus, and the verse 'Jesus +wept.' _He_ sorrowed for the mourners, too! Oh, I cannot understand +how true Christians can mourn so bitterly for their dead, when they +believe that this loving Saviour cares for them." + +"It is not always so much for their lost ones as for themselves, Hugh; +their own loneliness, their crushed hopes, and perhaps their remorse +that in the lifetime of those they mourn they did not do more for +their happiness." + +"You have lost many dear ones, Aunt Faith," said Hugh thoughtfully. + +"Yes; my husband, my parents, and among my intimate friends, all my +generation." + +"Do you often think of them, aunt?" + +"Yes, Hugh, very often. At first with tears and sadness, but gradually +with hope, and a certain looking forward instead of backward. At first +I kept all my anniversaries sacred, the many days hallowed by +associations with my dear ones; but gradually I tried to break up the +habit, and now I only think of their heavenly birthdays,--the days +when they left the earth,--and even these have come to be pleasant. I +have always been fond of autumn. There is something that charms me in +the hazy air and colored foliage. It is not sadness,--it is not +joy,--but a sweet peace. Then, my dead always seem near to me. If you +like, I will give you something I once wrote on the subject, +expressing this _feeling_." + +"Do, aunt!" said Hugh, earnestly: for so seldom did Aunt Faith allude +to her past life and its sorrows, that all the cousins held it in +reverent respect, and although they often spoke of it among +themselves, they never broke through the bounds of Aunt Faith's +silence. In her own room hung the portrait of her husband, Lester +Sheldon, a young man's face, with blue eyes, and thick golden hair, +tossed carelessly back from the white forehead, while below, the firm +mouth told of decision and self-control beyond his years. Once, when +Bessie was a child, she sat looking at this portrait for some time in +silence. Then she said, "Aunt Faith, if that is your husband, what +makes him so young when you are so old?" + +"He died when he was a young man, little Bessie." + +"But he won't know you when you go to heaven, I'm afraid," continued +the child, looking anxiously at her aunt's gray hair. + +"Oh, I shall be young then, too, Bessie. Here is a picture of me when +I was eighteen," said Aunt Faith, taking a box from her drawer, and +drawing out a miniature. It was one of those lovely, old-fashioned +ivory pictures, showing a fresh young face with dimples, and a sunny +smile. + +"Oh, auntie, _that_ isn't you!" Bessie had exclaimed, and the other +children having come into the room, the picture was shown to them +also. Since that day they had never seen it, but Hugh retained a vivid +remembrance of the picture, and, as Aunt Faith looked through her desk +to find the paper, something in her face recalled it to his mind, and +there came across him, like a revelation, a vision of what she was at +eighteen. Faith Warrington at eighteen! Faith Warrington, who had long +been Mrs. Sheldon with her gray hair and pale face. Going up to his +room, Hugh seated himself by the window, and opening the paper, read +the following lines:-- + + "Far back within the cycles of the past, + A train of centuries rolls, + From out whose cloudy borders came the day + Of memory for all souls. + How long it seems, a thousand years ago! + How dark and weary, if we did not know + A thousand years are but as yesterday within His + sight, + Seeing that it is past like one brief watch within the + night! + + Could they have known, those men of childlike faith, + Half ignorant, half sublime, + The fitness of the souls' memorial day + Falling within the time + Of Nature's holy calm, her blest repose,-- + When all the land with loving fervor glows, + And from the naked woods, the empty fields, through + the soft haze, + Her work well done, her garners full, she offers up + her praise. + + A stillness fills the consecrated air,-- + The blustering winds that swept + The red and yellow leaves in giddy rounds, + By mighty hands are kept + In their four corners, while the liquid gold + And purple tints over the earth unrolled, + And full of mystery and heavenly peace, as though + the skies + Had opened, and let out the atmosphere of Paradise. + + Departed souls! Their memory may _come_ + With grief in Spring's soft hours,-- + With weary, lonely sadness when our hands + Are gathering summer flowers,-- + With wild despair in winter: when the graves + Are white with drifted snow, and wildly raves + The wind among the stones and monuments, in + accents dread, + Calling in vain the sculptured names of our beloved + dead. + + But in this golden dream-time of the year, + Our bitter murmurs cease;-- + We seem to feel the presence of the dead, + Their shadowy touch of peace; + We seem to see their faces as we gaze + Longingly forth into the purple haze, + And hear the distant chorus of the happy souls at + rest,-- + And catch the well-known accents of the voice we + loved the best." + + All Souls' Day, November 2nd. + +In the evening, as Aunt Faith was sitting on the piazza with Bessie, +Mr. Leslie came up the walk; Sibyl was in the parlor playing soft +chords on the piano, but she could hear his words as he spoke. Mr. +Leslie's voice was deep, but clear, and his pronunciation perfectly +distinct without any apparent effort. He did not obtrude the alphabet +unpleasantly upon his hearers; he was not so anxious to show his +correct pronunciation of "Been" as to force it to rhyme with "Seen;" +he was not so much concerned with "Institute," as to te-u-ute the last +syllable into undue importance; neither did he bombard his hearers +with the arrogance of rolling _rr's_. Although his voice was not loud, +any one occupying even the last seat in the chapel could not only hear +him, but was absolutely invited to listen by the pleasant distinctness +of the words. + +"I am pleased to be able to tell you that Margaret and the children +are safe in the farm-house, Mrs. Sheldon," he said, taking a seat on +the piazza. "Poor girl, how glad she was to get there! She sent her +grateful thanks to you." + +"How did the children bear the ride?" asked Aunt Faith. + +"Better than I expected. Indeed, the novelty, and perhaps the pleasant +country air, seemed to revive them, and lessen the fever. They even +walked about the garden when we arrived there, and began to make +bouquets of flowers, but before I left, the reaction had come and they +looked very tired." + +"You look tired, also, Mr. Leslie," said Aunt Faith; the light from +the hall-lamp shone on the young clergyman's face and showed its pale +weariness. + +"I am tired," he replied, "but a night's rest is all I need." Then he +leaned back in his chair and sat talking pleasantly with Bessie and +Aunt Faith. "This is a charming old house," he said, "it must have +been built a long time ago." + +"Yes," replied Aunt Faith; "for a western town it is quite venerable. +The main portion was built in 1822, and the wings were added as the +family increased, without much regard for architectural regularity. +The stairs were originally out-doors on the back piazza, but father +finally had them enclosed. You may have noticed that the west side has +only two windows, and that those are singularly placed. It is amusing +to think that so implicit was grandfather's belief in the growth of +Westerton, then hardly more than a pioneer village, that he built up +that side without any windows so as not to interfere with the blocks +of dwellings which he was sure would press up against this house as +the town grew into a city. It was only after many years that father +was allowed to pierce the thick wall and with great difficulty insert +those two windows." + +"That is something like my old home, a little village in the interior +of New York," said Mr. Leslie. "One old man was so impressed by the +growth of the town, that meeting my father he shook him by the hand +and exclaimed, 'how it do grow, Judge! Please heaven, we'll make a +seaport of it yet!'" + +They all laughed at this story. Then Aunt Faith said, "I should like +to think that some of the children would occupy this old house after I +am gone. But in America, and especially in the Western States that is +hardly possible." + +"I will live here, if I can, Aunt Faith," said Bessie warmly. "I love +every stone in the old house, and every old flower in the old garden." + +"Are flowers ever old, Miss Darrell?" said Mr. Leslie, smiling. + +"Oh, yes. Flowers grow old-fashioned and out of date just like people. +We have a genuine old-fashioned garden here, and all the neighbors +laugh at it in comparison with their smooth lawns and choice plants. +We have bachelor's-buttons, lady-slippers, tiger-lilies, +flower-de-luce, hollyhocks, and pinks, besides bushes of lilac and +matrimony; then we have old cedars clipped into shape, and ever so +many little paths and garden-beds edged with box. Oh, we are entirely +behind the times! But for all that, I love the old garden better than +the smoothest trimmed lawn, and I can pick you a bunch of violets +which you cannot match in Westerton; real violets, too, not flaring +pansies." + +"I too am fond of old-fashioned gardens, Miss Darrell," said Mr. +Leslie. "My mother had one, not so large as this, but resembling it in +general arrangement. I remember we had a little patch of trailing +arbutus; it grew wild, and I can distinctly recall its perfume as the +snow melted. I have never seen it in the West." + +"No, it does not grow here," replied Aunt Faith; "our climate is too +warm for it." + +"There is a great difference between the climate of the lake country +and that of New England," said Mr. Leslie; "there is so little snow +here." + +"Snow!" exclaimed Bessie. "I scarcely know what snow is; and as for +stories of drifts over the fences, and tunnels cut through them, I can +scarcely believe anything of the kind. They are as much like legends +to me as the fairy tale of little Kay and the Robber Maiden. Once at +Featherton Hall the eastern girls were talking about sleigh-riding, +and I told them that snow was so scarce in Westerton that when a few +snow-flakes actually fell, they were immediately fenced in and guarded +by the police, and then the whole population assembled in sleighs, +cutters, and pungs, to ride over them in alphabetical order. Of +course, as aunt's name began with S, there was not much left of the +snow-flakes when our turn came." + +"You ridiculous child!" said Aunt Faith, laughing, "how can you invent +such exaggerations?" + +"Oh, Bessie can invent anything!" said Hugh, coming out from the +sitting-room; "if she had charge of even the Patent-Office Reports, +she would gild them into veritable romances." + +Later in the evening, Graham Marr came up the garden walk. +"Good-evening, Mrs. Sheldon!" he said; "is Miss Warrington at home?" + +"Yes; she is in the parlor," said Aunt Faith. "Will you go in, Mr. +Marr?" + +"Thank you, yes. I came especially to see her," replied Graham, taking +off his straw hat, and passing through the group on the piazza. + +"Excuse me, Miss Darrell. Is that you, Hugh? Ah!--Mr. Leslie, I +believe. I did not observe you in the darkness. I hope you experienced +no ill feeling after your exposure yesterday?" + +"None at all, Mr. Marr. And you?" + +"I took cold, as I expected; but, so far, my head has given me no +severe pain," said Graham, passing on into the parlor. + +"Is Mr. Marr subject to pain in his head?" inquired Mr. Leslie, as +Graham disappeared. + +"Chronic inflammation of the brain, produced by intense study and +seething, poetical thoughts," said Hugh, in a dramatic whisper. + +Soon afterwards, Mr. Leslie rose to take leave. "I feel very tired, so +I will say good-night," he said. "I will let you know the condition of +the children some time to-morrow, Mrs. Sheldon." + +"Thank you. If it is quite convenient I shall be glad to know," +replied Aunt Faith. + +Graham Marr stayed until a late hour, so late that Bessie and Hugh had +gone upstairs when he took leave, and Sibyl, coming in to the +sitting-room, found Aunt Faith alone. + +"You look tired, my dear," said the elder lady kindly. + +"I am tired, aunt. Graham talked a long time. He had something to tell +me. His uncle is dead, and he has come into the fortune." + +"Ah!--" said Aunt Faith. She made no other comment, but waited for her +niece to speak. + +"Graham is going to Saratoga next week," continued Sibyl slowly. "He +thinks of removing to New York for a permanent home; he likes city +life, you know." + +"Yes," said Aunt Faith again; but she said no more. + +Sibyl closed the windows, replaced the chairs, and fastened the +front-door; then, as she carelessly turned the leaves of a book on the +table, she said at last, "Mr. Leslie was here, I believe?" + +"Yes: he came to tell me that Margaret Brown and the children were +safely established in the farm-house." + +"Did he ask for me?" said Sibyl, as she extinguished the hall lamps. + +"No, my dear," answered Aunt Faith, and Sibyl went to her room without +another word. + +Two days came and went, and Mr. Leslie did not appear. + +"I say, you people!" said Tom, bursting into the dining-room at +tea-time. "Did you know that Mr. Leslie was sick? Dangerously sick, +Jim Morse says; not expected to live, I believe." + +"Thomas!" said Aunt Faith with unusual severity, "what do you mean? +Tell the truth." + +"Well, he's sick, any way; and Jim heard his mother say it was a +dangerous fever. Hallo, Sibyl! what's the matter? How pale you are!" + +"No more pale than the rest of us," interrupted Bessie, with a quick +glance at Sibyl; "we all like Mr. Leslie, don't we?" + +"Of course we do. He's the best man in the world," said Gem fervently. + +"I shall go and see him immediately," said Hugh, rising. + +"Oh, Hugh, it is probably the same fever the Brown children have!" +said Aunt Faith anxiously. "You must not expose yourself needlessly." + +"In this call I consider it necessary, Aunt Faith," said Hugh. "Mr. +Leslie has no near relatives, and although he is loved by his +congregation, dread of the fever will keep most of them away; besides, +they cannot leave their work. He will be left to hired nurses and you +know what Westerton nurses are!" + +"Go, then, my boy, and may God be with you," said Aunt Faith, with +tears in her eyes. + +The tea-table was soon deserted. Sibyl went to her room, Tom and Gem +took refuge in the back garden with the three dogs to bear them +company, but Aunt Faith and Bessie sat on the piazza waiting for +Hugh's return. + +"After all," said Bessie, "we need not feel so anxious. The report has +passed through several mouths; no doubt it is exaggerated." + +"I hope so," replied Aunt Faith; "and still I have a strong +presentiment that Mr. Leslie is very ill. His face looked strangely +worn and pallid as he sat there that last evening, and when fever +attacks a man as strong and full of life as he is, the contest is far +more severe than with a more feeble patient." + +Eight o'clock struck, but still Hugh did not return. A step sounded up +the walk in the dusky twilight, but it was not his; Graham Marr +appeared, and again asked for Miss Warrington. + +"Go and tell Sibyl, my dear," said Aunt Faith to Bessie with an inward +sigh. Then, as Bessie went into the house, she said, "Have you heard +of Mr. Leslie's illness, Mr. Marr?" + +"No," replied Graham, as he stood in the doorway carelessly twirling +his hat in his hand; "is he very ill?" + +"We do not know; we have heard only a rumor. Hugh has gone to find out +the exact truth." + +"Ah--yes. If it is fever, no doubt he caught it in that unpleasant +locality where his chapel stands," said Graham. "I have often wondered +how he could endure the life he leads, but I suppose he is not +fastidious. His nature is not so finely wrought, or his nerves so +delicately strung as those of some other organizations." + +"His nature is strong and manly," replied Aunt Faith, with a shade of +indignation in her voice. + +"Ah, yes, exactly. A man in his position has need of strength," said +Graham loftily. Then, after a pause, "You have heard of my good +fortune, Mrs. Sheldon?" + +"I have heard that your uncle was dead, Mr. Marr." + +"Ah--yes. Poor old gentleman! I never knew him well; we were not at +all sympathetic. My grandfather's singular will has now been +fulfilled, and the estate, which has rolled up to double its original +value, will now be divided between my two Southern cousins and +myself." + +"I congratulate you, Mr. Marr." + +"Thank you. I think I shall not discredit my fortune; I have long +endeavored to cultivate the tastes which belong to wealth," said +Graham with languid pride. + +At this moment Bessie returned. "Sibyl is in the parlor, Mr. Marr," +she said; "will you walk in?" + +"Thanks, kind messenger," said Graham, bowing gracefully as he passed +her; "Hebe could not be fairer!" + +"How ridiculous he is, Aunt Faith," she said, as the young man +disappeared. "How can Sibyl like him? I do not really think she does +like him, but I cannot make her out. When I went to her room she was +as pale as a ghost, but while she was smoothing her hair, the color +rose, and she began to laugh and talk as gayly as possible. Listen, +now; hear her laugh. How can she be so heartless!" + +"Do not be too severe, Bessie. I suspect Sibyl is putting a great +strain on herself to-night. She has so many good traits," said Aunt +Faith with a sigh. "She has so much energy! She only needs to have the +right direction given to it and she will accomplish a wonderful amount +of good work if her life is spared." + +"But that right direction, Aunt Faith; is Graham Marr to give it?" +asked Bessie with a tinge of scorn in her voice. + +"I do not know, dear. But Sibyl has a true heart at bottom." + +"I do believe you are made of charity, aunt. Your name ought to be +Faith, Hope, and Charity, instead of Faith alone," said Bessie warmly. + +"I have learned one lesson by the experience of a long life," replied +Aunt Faith, smiling; "the lesson of patience." + +"How else could you have brought up such a troublesome set of nephews +and nieces?" exclaimed Bessie. "We must have tried your patience +severely, Aunt Faith. But we do love you dearly, every one of us." And +the impulsive girl threw her arms around her aunt and kissed her +affectionately. + +About half-past nine they heard the sound of the gate, and recognized +Hugh's step on the gravel walk. + +"How is he, Hugh?" said Bessie, before he came in sight. + +"He is a very sick man," replied Hugh gravely, as he came up the +steps. "The doctors are perplexed, for the case is not like ordinary +fever. They think he will either be much better or much worse before +morning." + +"Oh, Hugh; you do not mean that he is in any danger?" + +"Yes; so the doctors say. There is trouble with the brain, +threatenings of congestion, I believe. As I said before, he will +probably be out of danger before morning, or,--or, gone where he is +fully prepared to go," said Hugh with emotion. + +"Then I shall go to see him now,--directly," said a strange, muffled +voice behind them. + +"Sibyl!" exclaimed Aunt Faith. + +"Yes, aunt," said Sibyl, stepping forward and speaking in the same +muffled voice. "I heard what Hugh said, and I wish to go directly to +see Mr. Leslie; you must go with me." + +They all looked at her as she stood in the lighted hall; her face was +deadly pale, and her eyes had a far-off look as though she saw +something terrible in the distance. Behind her was Graham Marr looking +perplexed and angry; he did not know what to do or say, and his usual +graceful manner had given place to confused irritation. As Sibyl spoke +he made an effort to regain his composure. + +"Ah!" he said, with studied carelessness, "so Leslie is sick, is he? I +must really send a nurse to take care of him. I will do what I can for +him, poor fellow!" + +"I shall be his nurse," said Sibyl, in the same strange, still voice. + +"You are joking, Miss Warrington. Of course you would not expose +yourself so foolishly," said Graham angrily. + +"_I_ shall be his nurse. I shall go to-night," repeated Sibyl, without +changing her attitude. + +Graham looked at her a moment as if about to continue the argument, +but something in the set expression of her face convinced him of the +hopelessness of the attempt. Curbing his annoyance under an appearance +of amusement, he smiled and turned to Aunt Faith. "There is no use in +combating a young lady, I suppose, Mrs. Sheldon. Really,--I had no +idea it was so late. I must go. I will bid you good-night, ladies, and +at the same time good-bye, as I shall soon leave Westerton for the +summer." Then he turned again to Sibyl; "I shall meet you in Saratoga +next week, I trust, Miss Warrington?" + +"No," said Sibyl, with the same far-off look in her eyes. "Aunt Faith, +are you ready to go with me?" + +"Ah!" said Graham lightly; "you ladies change your minds so rapidly +that it is difficult to follow you. But it is your privilege, I know, +Farewell, then, Miss Warrington. Life is long,--we may meet again." + +"Good-bye, Mr. Marr," said Sibyl, hardly noticing his departure. + +As the young man disappeared, Aunt Faith spoke; "Are you in earnest, +Sibyl? Do you really wish to visit Mr. Leslie to-night?" + +"I am in earnest, and I _must_ go, Aunt Faith. Do not try to prevent +it." + +"But there may be danger for you, dear." + +"Hugh has seen him, and am I to be kept back?" cried Sibyl +passionately. "I must go! I will go! Aunt Faith, do not desert me +now!" + +"I am not deserting you, poor child," said Aunt Faith, rising and +putting her arms around her niece with motherly affection. "If you +wish to see Mr. Leslie to-night, I will go with you. You approve of +your sister's wish, Hugh?" + +"Yes," said Hugh decidedly. "Sibyl, you are right at last." + +They found Mr. Leslie unconscious and breathing heavily; two +physicians were in attendance, and a nurse sat by the bedside. + +"He does not know me," whispered Sibyl, clinging convulsively to Aunt +Faith, as the sufferer opened his eyes and looked blankly at them. + +"No, dear, he is unconscious," replied Aunt Faith, herself much moved +at the sight of one whom she had so lately seen full of young life, +stricken down almost to death. + +The doctors were watching their patient closely; they expected a +crisis before morning. + +"I shall stay," said Sibyl, quietly taking off her hat and sitting +down on the sofa. + +Aunt Faith spoke a few words of objection, but the mute appeal of +Sibyl's eyes silenced her; she said no more, but sitting down by her +niece, took her cold hand and held it in both her own. She had felt +sorrow herself, and she could feel for others; she knew that in +Sibyl's heart the depths were broken up. + +Hugh went back to the old stone house and returned about midnight; +from that time on, there was silence in the sick-chamber, and anxious +eyes watched the unconscious face with painful interest. The night +seemed endless; only those who have watched by a sick bed can know how +minutes can lengthen themselves! As the gray twilight of dawn came +into the room the sick man moved restlessly upon his pillow and +moaned. Sibyl's heart throbbed; any change seemed for the better. But +one of the physicians after bending over the patient, shook his head +gravely. + +"Let us pray," said Aunt Faith in a low tone, and, falling upon her +knees, she bowed her head in silent prayer. Sibyl knelt beside her, +and, after a moment, Hugh too joined them, and throwing his arm around +his sister, drew her to his side. + +"Oh, Hugh, I cannot bear it!" she murmured; "he will die,--he will +never know,--and I--" here her voice was broken by stifled sobs and +low moans of anguish, strangely touching in the proud, self-reliant +Sibyl. + +Hugh held his sister in his arms, and soothed her as one would soothe +a child. From that hour Sibyl's coldness left her never to return. + +As the first sunbeams brightened the sky, Mr. Leslie again opened his +eyes, the doctors bent over him, and it seemed to Aunt Faith as if she +could hear all the hearts in the room throbbing aloud in the intense +anxiety of the moment. + +"The worst is over," whispered Doctor Gregory, stepping back and +shaking hands with Aunt Faith; "we shall bring him through, now, I +think." + +Sibyl sat with her head hidden on Hugh's shoulder; she heard the +doctor's words, but a sudden timidity had come over her. "Let us go," +she whispered, turning towards the door. + +But Hugh had been watching the sick man. + +"He is conscious; he knows us!" he said suddenly, and leading his +sister forward, he left her at the bedside, pale and trembling with +joyful emotion. + +"Sibyl," said Mr. Leslie in a faint voice, "is it you? Have you come +to me at last, dear?" + +"Yes, John," said Sibyl, bending over him with tears in her eyes. "I +have brought myself and my life to you,--if you care for them." + +"If?" said Mr. Leslie, with the ghost of a smile on his pale face; "as +if there was any doubt--" but here the doctors interfered, and the +rest of the sentence was postponed. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER + + +Mr. Leslie improved slowly; when he was able to leave his room most of +his days of enforced idleness were spent in the shaded parlor of the +old stone house, or riding through the narrow country lanes, sometimes +with all the cousins, sometimes with Sibyl alone. A friend had come +from the interior of the State to take charge of the chapel during +July and August, for the physicians had forbidden any active work +during that time; but, although Mr. Vinton preached and attended to +the duties of the position, Mr. Leslie retained all his interest in +the congregation, and his people felt, that he was with them in +spirit, hour by hour, and day by day. They came to him also,--came in +greater numbers and with more open affection than ever before; they +showed their interest in many different ways,--and the young pastor's +heart was filled with joy at these evidences of love from the flock +for which he had labored. + +"It takes sickness or affliction to bring hidden love and sympathy to +the surface," he said, one afternoon, as he sat in the parlor with +Aunt Faith, Hugh, Bessie, and Sibyl. "We do not see the rainbow until +the storm comes; and so people may live on for years in prosperity, +and never know, save by intuition, the deep affection in each other's +hearts. But when sorrow strikes them, then love comes to the surface, +doubly precious and comforting in the hour of trial." + +"But, Mr. Leslie," said Hugh, "would it not be far better for the +world if people were taught to express their love and sympathy at +other times as well as in the house of affliction and sickness? Is +there any reason why we should all go on through life in cold silence, +living in the same house with those we love the best, and taking +everything 'for granted,' and leaving it 'for granted' also? Why! +people may live and die without ever knowing the great joy of +expressing how much they love, or of hearing in return how much they +are loved, so hard is it to break down these barriers of reserve." + +"We are tongue-tied, here, Hugh. We do not know how to speak the +language of the heavenly country, and our best efforts are but +stammering, half-expressed utterances. It is a great mercy, however, +that the touch of sickness, or affliction, seems for the moment to +loosen the bonds, and allow us a few sentences of the heavenly love." + +"It is indeed," said Aunt Faith. "I remember in the darkest hours of +my affliction, people with whom I had but slight acquaintance came to +me with tender sympathy, and kind messages were sent from many whom I +had always thought cold, and even disagreeable." + +"Still," said Hugh, "I think it would be better if people tried to +express their love more freely, without waiting until the household is +clouded with grief." + +"It would certainly be better, but it may not be possible," said Mr. +Leslie; the world has gone on in the same old way for many centuries, +and I am inclined to think, Hugh, that this free expression of love +will only be given to us in another life. It will form one of the +blessings of heaven." + +"What is heaven?" said Hugh abruptly. + +"It is perfect peace," said Aunt Faith. + +"It is wonderful new life and hope," said Bessie. + +"It is love," said Sibyl. + +"It is all this and more," said Mr. Leslie reverently. "Speculations +are useless, and our time should be too full of earnest labor to allow +us to indulge in them. We should be content to leave it to our Maker, +who has made even this world so beautiful, and this life, rightly +used, so glorious." + +July gave place to August, and the family of cousins, into whose +circle Mr. Leslie had been received, lived a happy life in the old +stone house. The heat of the dog-days was tempered by the lake breeze. +At ten in the morning it came sweeping over the water from Canada, and +men walking through the hot streets, felt its gentle coolness on their +foreheads, and took off their straw hats with a sigh of relief. In the +evening it came again, rustling through the trees with a refreshing +sound as though the leaves were reviving from their parched stillness; +people came out to meet it, the piazzas and door-steps were crowded, +and all the closed blinds were thrown wide open to catch the blessed +coolness which promised refreshing sleep. + +"You dwellers by the lake-shore know nothing of the real August heat +in the lowlands," said Mr. Vinton, one evening as he sat among a group +of visitors on the piazza of the old stone house. "Here the lake +breeze is invariable, but a hundred miles south, days and nights pass +with alternate blazing heat and close, lifeless darkness, the latter +even more trying than the former. The country where I live is the +richest agricultural land in the State; it is a valley with a broad, +slow river rolling through it, the very water dark and sluggish with +the fertility of the soil. As long as the grain is growing, there is +some vitality in the air in spite of the heat, but when the harvest +comes, and field after field is shorn, it seems as though the +superfluous richness rose from the earth into the air, and filled it +with heavy rankness. The sun shines through a haze in the daytime, and +the moon through a mist at night; everybody and everything is languid. +One goes to bed oppressed with fatigue, sleeps heavily, and rises +without refreshment; there is no fresh morning air, nothing but a +weary looking forward to the next twelve hours of heat." + +"What a forlorn description!" said Mr. Gay, laughing. "Is this all you +can say for the great, rich state of Ohio?" + +"It's very richness brings about what I am describing," said Mr. +Vinton. "But perhaps some of your eastern farmers would endure the +Ohio dog-days for the sake of the miles of level grain-fields without +a stone, without a break of any kind, which extend through the midland +counties. When I first came West, I was overpowered with homesickness +for the hills of New England; the endless plains were hateful to me, +and I fairly pined to see a rock, or a narrow, winding road. While in +this mood, I happened to be riding in a stage-coach through one of the +midland counties in company with two New England farmers. They had +never been West before, and they were lost in astonishment and +admiration at the sight of the level fields on either side of the +broad, straight road, stretching away to the right and the left, +unbroken by the slightest elevation. 'This country is worth farming +in,' said number one; 'Ethan would admire to see it, but he'd hardly +believe it, I guess, without seeing.' + +"'Not a stone nor a rock nowhere; none of them plaguey hills neither,' +said number two. 'Well, now! _this_ is what I call a be-a-utiful +country! Western farmers must have an easy life of it.' You can +imagine with what feelings I listened to these men. There I was, +longing for the sight of a hill with the longing of a homesick child +for its mother." + +"I am afraid you are prejudiced, George," said Mr. Leslie, with a +smile. "You dwell upon the heat of August in Ohio, but you say nothing +about the other eleven months of the year." + +"The other eleven months are beautiful, I must acknowledge," replied +Mr. Vinton. "As soon as the frosts come, nothing can surpass the +climate; colored October, hazy November, and bright, open December are +all perfect. Any New Englander,--even you, Mr. Gay,--would be obliged +to yield the palm to the West in respect of winter climate." + +"No sir," replied the Boston bachelor emphatically; "I would yield no +palm under any circumstances. I even prefer a Boston east wind to the +mildest western zephyr." + +"Oh, you are prejudiced!" said Bessie, laughing. + +"Of course I am, Miss Darrell. It is a characteristic of Massachusetts +Bay. We do not deny it,--on the contrary we are rather proud of it." + +Thus, in many conversations, the dog-days passed along. + +"It seems to me we do nothing but talk," said Bessie, after a long +evening on the piazza with several visitors. + +"The dog-days were intended for conversation," said Hugh. "Our hands +and our brains are busily employed all the rest of the year, but when +the thermometer gets up into the nineties, the tongue talks its share +and gives the other members a rest." + +"I hope you don't mean to insinuate that our brains are not employed +in our conversation," said Bessie. + +"Not much brain in dog-day conversation," said Hugh, laughing. "I know +that I have been talking nonsense this evening, and from what I have +overheard, I suspect the others have not done much better." + +"Oh, you slanderer!" cried Bessie. + +"But nonsense is appropriate to the season, Queen Bess. We don't eat +much solid food now; then how can we hear much solid talk! Aunt +Faith's 'trifle' is the chief of our diet, and the result is, +naturally, trifling conversation." + +August was a happy month to Aunt Faith. She rejoiced in Sibyl's +happiness, and she rejoiced in the triumph of unselfish love and +Christian humility over the worldliness and ambition which had sullied +her niece's good qualities. Sibyl was not impulsive; it was not an +impulse which had led her to renounce a life of fashionable gayety and +wealth for Mr. Leslie. It was a sudden realization of the truth, a +sudden conviction of the strength of her own feelings, a sudden horror +of the wickedness of falsifying them, and a sudden appreciation of the +hollowness of worldly ambition when brought face to face with death. +There was no hesitating vacillation in Sibyl's character. She had been +self-deceived, but, as soon as she felt the truth, she threw aside +errors with all her might, and gave herself up boldly, wholly and +heartily to her new life. Aunt Faith understood her niece thoroughly, +and she knew there would be no danger of a relapse into the mistakes +of the past; other faults, other temptations would assail her, but +these were harmless. Having once seen and realized the falsity of +worldliness when compared with religion, the worthlessness of mere +money, when compared with true affection, Sibyl could never forget the +lesson, for firm reason and resolve were parts of her nature. + +Aunt Faith saw, also, that Sibyl was very happy. She was calm as +usual, but there was a new light in her eyes, and a new glow on her +cheeks. She found a new pleasure in instructing the children of the +Chapel Sunday School, and her scholars loved her dearly; she went +about among the poor, and devoted much of her time and means to their +service. She assisted in the household work; not the light graceful +labors which generally fall to the daughters, but the real burden of +the day, lifting it from Aunt Faith's patient shoulders with cordial +good will; and in all she did there was a new charm,--the charm of a +rare humility, the most difficult of all Christian graces to a proud, +self-reliant spirit. + +One afternoon, towards the end of August, Aunt Faith found Sibyl +resting on the lounge in the sitting-room. The house was still, the +children were in the garden, and Bessie and Hugh had gone up to the +studio; Sibyl had been out visiting the sick all the morning, and, +wearied with the walk, she had thrown herself down on the lounge for +a rest before tea-time. + +"Do I disturb you, dear?" said Aunt Faith, as she entered. + +"Oh, no, aunt. I am not sleeping, only resting." + +"I fear you are doing too much, Sibyl." + +"I think not, aunt. I know how much I can bear, and I would not be so +foolish as to overwork myself. It would be a poor preparation for the +life to which I look forward with so much hope." + +"It will be a pleasant life, I hope, my dear child." + +"Oh aunt! pleasant seems too cold a word to express it! I never knew +what life was before; I was blind and deaf to real beauty and real +happiness. I thought of nothing but money, ease and social fame. I +shudder to think how near I came to bartering my life for what I +supposed would give me the most happiness; whereas, now I know how +great would have been my misery, and how surely and quickly I should +have discovered it. I was entirely blinded, but now I see plainly; it +is as though a great ray of light had come into my heart to show me +life as it really is, and myself as I really am." + +"God be thanked for this--mercy, my child." + +"I thank Him daily and hourly, Aunt Faith. It was a narrow escape, and +no one can appreciate how great was the danger but myself. If I had +gone astray I might, indeed, have come back to Him at last, but +through what trials, what bitter suffering! Now, I feel that my feet +are upon a firm rock, and although trouble and temptation will of +course come to me, I know that if I cry for help, it will not be +refused." Sibyl's face glowed as she spoke, and Aunt Faith offered up +a silent thanksgiving that one of her little band had found the safe +abiding place, that one of the souls given into her charge had entered +the only safe pathway in the many roads leading across this troubled +earth. + +"How is Margaret Brown to-day, Sibyl?" she asked, after a pause. + +"Much better, aunt. I sat with her for an hour or two, and she asked +me to read to her." + +"The children are well now, I believe?" + +"Yes; we are going to keep them in the country until cold weather; +Margaret must not be allowed to work at present." + +"Mr. Leslie has not asked for the remainder of the sum I promised to +give him," said Aunt Faith; "I suppose Mrs. Chase must have given more +than he expected." + +Sibyl blushed deeply. "No, aunt," she said in a low tone, "I gave him +my pearls as a thank-offering, perhaps I ought to say a sin-offering." + +Aunt Faith bent over and kissed the suffused cheek; then the two had +a long conversation about the future, and gradually and surely a more +joyous tone crept into their words, as is apt to be the case when the +talkers hear in the distance the sound of future wedding-bells. The +marriage was to take place before December, and Mr. Leslie had already +selected the little house which was to be their home; Aunt Faith, with +true housewifely interest, was already making plans for the furniture +and stores of fair linen, which her old-fashioned ideas deemed a +necessary part of the household outfit, and even Bessie had set her +unskilful fingers to the work of manufacturing various little +ornaments to brighten the simple rooms. But her chief present was to +be a picture representing the piazza of the old stone house with Aunt +Faith, Hugh, Tom, and herself sitting or standing in their accustomed +attitudes, while Sibyl going down the garden-walk with Mr. Leslie, +turned her head for a farewell smile, and Gem threw a bunch of roses +after her. Bessie prided herself upon this picture; the likenesses +were all completed save Hugh's, for the first object was to finish his +portrait before he went East, and from that she could fill in the +other face at her leisure. + +"You are all so kind to me, Aunt Faith," said Sibyl, as the long +conversation came to a close; "I am so happy in your love, and so +happy in the future opening before me; it is almost too much +happiness." + +Aunt Faith possessed a fund of native humor which neither age nor care +had been able to subdue. As her niece rose to go to her room, she said +with a merry glance, "By the way, Sibyl, how about the smell of the +flannels from the kitchen on washing-days?" + +"I will have them washed at the extreme end of the back garden," +replied Sibyl, echoing Aunt Faith's laugh, as she escaped from the +room. + +The thirty-first of August came,--Hugh's last day at home. His +departure was hastened by his wish to return to Sibyl's wedding; he +hoped to get initiated into the duties of his new position, conquer +the first difficulties, and gain a few days of leisure for a short +visit home before the busy winter season commenced. Mr. Hastings, the +second-cousin who had offered Hugh a place in his counting-room, was a +New York merchant, a stern, practical man, who expected full measure +of work from all his subordinates. Yet, with all his rigor, he had a +kind heart in his breast, and was inclined to treat his young relative +with favor: he had seen him but once, when, during school-life, Hugh +had spent a vacation at his house; but the old man had been more +pleased than he would acknowledge, with the boy's overflowing spirits +and bright intellect. He had no sons; his daughters were married, and +the next year he had written to Aunt Faith proposing to take Hugh into +his business on the completion of his education, promising, if the +young man stood the test well, that he would give him a small share of +the profits after a certain period, and intimating that there would be +no bar to his becoming a partner eventually, if he showed the proper +qualifications. The business men among Aunt Faith's acquaintances told +her that this was a fine opening for Hugh, that the house of J. B. +Hastings & Co. stood well in New York, and that they would gladly +accept such an opportunity for their sons. Hugh himself was pleased +with the idea, and, when it was finally decided that he should go, he +wrote a letter full of enthusiastic thanks and hopes to Mr. Hastings, +and finished his remaining two years at college with many pleasant +visions of his future life floating in his brain. + +"'Tis the last day of summer, left blooming alone," chanted Tom, as he +entered the dining-room where the rest of the family were at +breakfast. "To-morrow Hugh will be gone,--to-morrow Estella Camilla +Wales must pine in vain for her mistress, who will be engrossed in +decimal fractions, and to-morrow I must take down from the dusty shelf +that dismal old _Latin Prose_. I wonder who cares for _Romulus_ and +_Remus_? I don't!" + +"Don't talk about it beforehand," said Gem; "let's pretend it's the +very first day of vacation." + +"Oh, what dismal faces!" said Aunt Faith, laughing. "School is not +such a trial after all. I should be sorry to hear you spell +deficiency, 'd-e-f-i-s-h-u-n-s-y,' as Annie Chase did, Gem." + +"Or to say, '_il est la plus mauvais garcon que je sais de_,' as +Jennie Fish did," added Gem, laughing at the remembrance. + +"Or like Ed. Willis in the Bible class, last term," said Tom. "Mr. +Stone was talking about the Jews and Gentiles. 'I'm not a Gentile,' +said Ed. getting real mad; 'I'm a Presbyterian.'" + +Everybody laughed at this story, and Aunt Faith said "You are as +liable to make mistakes as the rest, children, so do not complain +about your lessons, but rather try to make them a pleasure. +School-days will be soon over," and she looked at Hugh with a half +sigh. + +"Come along, Gem," said Tom, when he had finished his breakfast. +"Let's have all the fun we can to-day; let's crowd it in, and pack it +down tight. We'll get all the B. B.'s and have a regular training day +in the back yard." + +The children vanished, and their merry voices came back through the +open windows where the others still sat at the table. + +"The boat leaves at seven," said Hugh, pushing away his plate, and +leaning back in his chair. "I am something like Tom; I feel like +'_crowding_' my last day with pleasant things, and 'packing them in +tight.' I hardly know where to begin." + +"I will tell you; begin with the morning and give it to me in the +studio," said Bessie. + +"Oh no," said Sibyl; "Hugh is going to finish that bracket for me." + +"Hugh will not go away without keeping his promise to me; there is +some unfinished reading for him in my room," said Aunt Faith with a +smile. + +"My face, my hands, and my tongue are all in demand, it seems," said +Hugh, laughing. "We never know how much we are valued until it is too +late to fix our price, as the Irishman said, when he lost both arms +and could no longer saw wood for his family. I cannot subdivide +myself, so I had better subdivide the time." + +"Well then, Hugh, I spoke first. Walk right upstairs," said Bessie, +leading the way. + +"Will you walk into my parlor, said the spider to the fly," sang Hugh, +as he followed her. "I go, Bessie, from sheer compassion for my nose; +you have made it Grecian, and I am sure it is Roman!" + +"How gay they seem," said Sibyl, as they disappeared, "and yet Bessie +will miss Hugh sadly. They have been devoted companions since +childhood, and through our school-days Bessie was always looking +forward to vacation, and spending her spare time in writing letters to +Hugh. They have, of course, been parted for months together, but this +parting is different. Hugh will be back again soon, and he may make us +many visits, but still his home will now be in New York, and, absorbed +in his new duties, and in the new interests and attractions of a great +city, he will no longer be the same." + +"Yes; I too feel this, Sibyl," said Aunt Faith; "I feel it very +deeply. My child, my little boy, will go from me forever, when I say +good-bye to Hugh to-night. The young man, the kind nephew, the +successful merchant may all come back at different times, but the +little boy, never! Hugh is very dear to me. It is hard to let him go. +God grant that in the dangers of his new life, he may be preserved. We +can only pray for him, Sibyl." + +Two tears rolled down Aunt Faith's cheeks, but she hastily wiped them +away as Sibyl kissed her affectionately. "Dear Aunt Faith," she said, +"do not be down-hearted. Hugh has the seeds in his heart planted by +your faithful hand, and although they have not blossomed yet, I feel +sure they are growing." + +"Yes, dear; I cannot help feeling as you do," replied Aunt Faith, +trying to smile. But her heart was heavy. + +Upstairs in the studio Bessie was painting rapidly, while Hugh in the +old arm-chair sat gazing out through the open window, much as he had +done on that bright June morning three months before, when Bessie had +confessed the secret of the unpaid bill. + +"How does the picture progress, Queen Bess?" he asked. + +"Very well, excepting the eyes; I cannot get the right expression, I +have tried over and over again. They are never the same two minutes at +a time; I almost wish they were made of glass," said Bessie +impatiently. + +"Then I would be the bully boy with a glass eye," said Hugh, laughing. + +"And a wax nose," said Bessie. + +"And a tin ear," continued Hugh. + +"And a cork leg," added Bessie. + +"And a brass arm, finis," said Hugh; "the weather is too warm for +further studies in anatomy." + +"What does it all mean, anyway, Hugh? I have heard Tom and his friends +say the whole string over and over again with the greatest apparent +satisfaction; but to me they convey not a shadow of an idea." + +"Nor to any one else, I imagine," said Hugh. "If the phrases ever had +any meaning, it has long ago vanished into obscurity. I have seen +explanations given of many popular terms but never of these. After I +am gone, though, Bessie, you had better give up slang. It is all very +well with me, and to tell the truth, _I_ have taught you all you know, +but it would not do with any one else." + +"Just as though I should ever speak a word of it to any one else," +said Bessie indignantly. "With you, it is different; you are like +another myself." + +"_Alter_ ego," said Hugh. + +"I don't know anything about alter ego, but I know I shall miss you +dreadfully," said Bessie, throwing down her brush as the thought of +Hugh's departure came into her mind with vivid distinctness. + +"I shall be back again in November, Bessie." + +"Yes; but only for a day or two." + +"Perhaps I shall come home in the spring, also." + +"But it won't be the same. You will change,--I know you will," +murmured Bessie, with a half sob. + +"I shall not change towards any of you here at home, but of course I +shall grow older, and I hope I shall improve. You remember all I told +you about my plans for the future?" + +"Yes, Hugh. But it is such a long way off." + +"It does not seem long to me, Bessie; I have so much to accomplish +that the time will be short. I love to look forward,--I love to think +of all I shall do, of all the beautiful things I shall buy,--of all +the unfortunate people I shall help. I shall succeed,--I know I shall +succeed, because I shall work with all my might and main,--and also +because I shall try to do so much good with my money." + +"Yes; but all this time where shall we be? Where shall I be?" said +Bessie, sadly. + +"You shall come down to visit me with Aunt Faith: you have only one +more year of school-life, and then you can spend a part of every +winter in New York." + +"That will be nice," said Bessie, slowly, taking up her brush again; +but, child-like, the present seemed more to her than the future. Hugh +was silent, gazing out through the window 'over the summer +landscape,--the pasture, the grove, and the distant lake. "Aunt Faith +will miss you," said Bessie, after a pause. + +"Dear Aunt Faith," replied Hugh, "she does not know how much I love +her! She will miss me, but I shall miss her still more. All my life +she has been my guardian angel. And to think how I have deceived her!" + +"Oh, Hugh, such little things!" + +"The principle is the same. I think, before I go, I will tell her +all,--all the numerous escapades we have been engaged in; then I shall +have a clear conscience to start with. After I am gone, Bessie, you +will not be tempted to transgress in that way, and who knows but that +we shall turn out quite well-behaved people in our old age." + +"I have tempted you, not you me, Hugh." + +"Call it even, then. Why! what are you crying about, Brownie?" + +"You are going away,--you are going away!" was all that Bessie could +say. + +Hugh's eyes softened as he saw his cousin's grief. "Don't cry, dear," +he said gently. "We shall not be parted long. And while we are parted, +I want to think that you are happy, that you, too, are trying to +improve as I am trying. I want to think that my little Bessie is +growing into a stately, beautiful Elizabeth. You are part of my +future, dear, and you can help me to succeed." + +"How, Hugh?" said Bessie, wiping away her tears. + +"By being happy, trying to improve yourself, and writing me all you +are doing. Such letters will be very pleasant to me when I am working +hard in the great city. We have never, either of us, taken a serious +view of life, but for once, to-day, I feel very serious, Bessie; I am +going to try to be good,--I am going to try to be a good man. And I +want you to try and be good too." + +"I will try, Hugh," whispered Bessie, affected by his serious tone. + +"That is right. And now let us have no more sadness to spoil my last +day at home. Whatever the future may bring to me,--and I have full +confidence in the future, you know,--all of you here at home will have +the first place in my heart. I have a great many plans, and all of +them are bright; I have a great many hopes, and all of them are +certain; life seems very beautiful to me, and I thank my Creator for +my health and strength. I ask nothing better than what lies before me, +and I am willing to take the labor for the pleasures it will bring." + +Hugh paused, and an expression of glowing hope lit up his face and +shone in his blue eyes. Bessie seized her brush, and, filled with a +sudden inspiration, worked intently at her portrait for some time in +silence. + +"There is the first dinner-bell, Queen Bess," said Hugh; "I have idled +away the whole morning up here. Good-bye, little studio," he +continued, rising as he spoke; "I hope one day to see you altered into +a beautiful, luxurious abode of art, filled with striking pictures, +the work of America's greatest artist, Elizabeth Darrell!" + +"If I should paint the best pictures in the world, you would not allow +my name to be connected with them in public, Hugh. You are so +prejudiced." + +"Prejudiced, is it? Well, perhaps it is. I own I do not think that +types adorn a woman's name. A woman ought not to appear 'in the +papers' but twice; when she marries, and when she dies." + +"So if she don't marry, she never has a chance of being anybody until +she is dead; I don't call that fair, Hugh." + +"Surely, Elizabeth Darrell, you are not shrieking for suffrage!" + +"Never!" said Bessie, "I'm only shrieking for my name." + +"What's in a name!" replied Hugh, laughing. "Paint away, little +artist; I will buy all your pictures, and pay you so well for them +that you won't care for fame. By the way, am I not to ------ + +[Transcriber's Note: There is some dialogue missing here, although +there are no pages missing in the images.] + +"No," replied Bessie, moving the easel; "but I've got your eyes at +last!" + +"I'm glad of that; good-bye, Brownie," and Hugh ran off down the +stairs to prepare for dinner. + +"And my bracket!" said Sibyl, as he came into the dining-room. + +"And my poems!" added Aunt Faith, with a smile. + +"All in good time, ladies," replied Hugh. "The first hour after dinner +is to be devoted to packing; the second, to Sibyl and her bracket; the +third, to Aunt Faith and her book; the fourth I give to the family as +a collective whole, and all the rest of the time I reserve for tea, +general farewells, and embarkation." + +"Highly systematic! You are practicing business habits already, I +see," said Sibyl. + +"The B. B.'s are all coming to see you off, Hugh," said Tom. + +"What an honor! I am overwhelmed with the attention of the band! What +time may I expect them?" + +"A little after six. They are going to form on both sides of the front +walk, and hurrah like troopers." + +"Oh Hugh, I am real sorry you are going," said Gem suddenly, dropping +her knife and fork as though the idea had only just become a reality +to her. "I shall hate to see your empty chair in the morning when I +come down to breakfast; I know I shall." + +There was an ominous tremor in Gem's voice as she spoke. + +"Come, little girl, no tears," said Hugh, bending to kiss his little +cousin; "everybody must be cheerful or I shall not like it. And as for +the chair, take it out of the room if you like, but be sure and bring +it back in November when I come home again." + +"I'll keep it in my room, and bring it down myself the day you come +home," said Gem eagerly. + +A little after three, Hugh tapped at Sibyl's door. "Is it you, +brother? Come in," said Sibyl, and entering, Hugh sat down by the +table and began to work on the half-finished bracket. They talked on +many subjects, but principally on Hugh's New York life, and his plans +for the future; then gradually they spoke of November, and the +approaching wedding-day. "Before I go, Sibyl, I want to tell you in so +many words how pleased I am to give you into Mr. Leslie's care. If I +could have chosen from all the world, I know no one to whom I would +more willingly have given my only sister; no one so welcome as a +brother-in-law." + +"How glad I am that you feel so, Hugh," said Sibyl warmly. + +"And you yourself Sibyl; you have improved so much. It is not often +that brothers and sisters express the affection they feel for each +other, but you know I do not believe in such reserve, and I want you +to know, dear, how thoroughly I appreciate the change in you. Leaving +you, as I must, it is very pleasant to think that my one sister is +growing into a noble good woman, such as our mother would have wished +to have her." + +Sibyl threw her arms around Hugh's neck; she was much moved. In her +new life and new love, her brother had become doubly dear to her, and +perhaps for the first time, she realized how much she loved him. + +"No tears, I hope, sister," said Hugh, gently raising her head. "This +is my 'good-bye' to you, dear. You know I do not like formal +leave-taking. Here is your little bracket all done, but I shall bring +you a better present from New York, a set of wedding pearls. You will +have to wear them if I give them to you, although you are a +clergyman's wife." + +Aunt Faith was sitting by the window in her room when she heard her +nephew's step outside. "Come in!" she said; and when he entered she +pointed to a chair next her own. "My dear boy, I cannot realize that +you are going to leave me." + +"Only for a few weeks, Aunt Faith; I shall be back in November." + +"Not to stay, dear. No, I feel that this is our first real separation, +although for years you have been absent at school and college many +months at a time. You are the first to leave the old stone house,--the +first bird to fly away from the nest." + +"I am the oldest, aunt, and therefore naturally the first to go." + +"That is true, but the old bird feels none the less sad." + +"You must not feel sad, Aunt Faith; the future looks very bright to +me. Let me tell you all my plans." Sitting there in the quiet room, +the young spirit full of hope, told to the old spirit full of +resignation, all its bright dreams and plans. + +"I hope they will all come true, dear," said Aunt Faith, after they +had talked long on these subjects. + +"I hope,--I think they will, if human energy can bring it about. But +now, aunt, to look back on the past, I want to make a confession to +you, I want you to hear and forgive me before I go." + +Then Hugh told of all the secret horseback rides, and many other wild +adventures of past years, in which he and Bessie had each borne a +part. "It has been all my fault, Aunt Faith," he said, as he +concluded. "I was the elder and the stronger, and I led Bessie on. +Without me she would have done none of those things. Poor little +Bessie! she is very dear to me. You will be kind to her when I am +gone?" + +"I will, Hugh. I, too, am very fond of Bessie. But do not take all the +blame upon yourself; she is by nature rash and way ward." + +"I know she is, aunt. But, at the same time, if it had not been for my +influence, Bessie would have been a very different girl; if she had +thought that I disapproved of any of her actions that would have been +the last of them, whereas instead of this, I have encouraged her. +Whatever the blame may be I take it all upon myself. But Bessie is +changing, I think; you will have no trouble with her hereafter, she +will grow into a noble woman yet. And now, aunt, I will leave no work +undone, but finish that volume, if you wish it." + +So saying, Hugh took up the book which Aunt Faith had placed ready for +him, and began reading aloud; he read well, and it was one of her +greatest pleasures to listen to him. She often kept volumes by her +side for weeks with the pages uncut, waiting until he could find time +to read them aloud. "And now I will say good-bye!" said Hugh, as he +finished the little book; "you know I dislike formal leave-takings in +the presence of all the family." + +"Good-bye, my dear boy!" said Aunt Faith, with a motherly embrace. +"May God bless you and keep you in all your ways, in danger, sickness, +temptation and perplexity, for the sake of His dear Son, our Saviour +Jesus Christ. Oh, Hugh, can you not gladden my heart by saying those +two sentences before you go,--you know what I mean?" + +"I will try to say them soon, aunt. I feel that I have changed lately, +but I want to know that it is not the mere excitement of parting and +anticipation of a new life which has affected me. I am going to try +hard to be a good man,--indeed I am; and if I find that these new +feelings outlast my present excitement, I will write you word. +Sometimes I almost feel as though I could make my public profession of +faith now; but the next two months will show me the exact truth, and +perhaps, Aunt Faith, the time of Sibyl's wedding will also be the time +when I shall come forward to join the church." + +"God be thanked," said Aunt Faith, fervently; "the feelings will last, +Hugh, for they are holy and true. Go, my boy; I give you up freely +now, for you are virtually enrolled in the army of the Lord, and He +will aid you in all times of trial if you call upon Him." + +A little before six all the family, together with Mr. Leslie, +assembled in the sitting-room; there was an undercurrent of sadness in +their minds, but Hugh would allow no melancholy words or looks. + +"First we will have tea, then Bessie shall play 'Bonnie Dundee' for +us, then we will all make a triumphal arch of flowers through which I +shall pass, in token of the grand success which awaits me in the +mercantile world, and then I shall go. No one must accompany me to the +boat; I want to see you all on the piazza as the carriage drives away, +and if there is so much as one tear-drop, I shall know it and be ready +to inflict condign punishment therefor," said Hugh, laying down the +law with a magisterial air. + +Tea was soon over, and then Bessie with trembling fingers managed, +with severe self-control, to play 'Bonnie Dundee' to the end without a +tear. Another note, however, she could not play, but replaced the +cover of her harp in silence. Then Tom and Gem brought in from the +garden all the flowers they could find, and a long wreath was made and +twined around and over the two pillars of the front piazza. + +"There comes the carriage!" said Tom, "and there come the B. B.'s, +too. Here, boys, form on both sides of the walk; Hugh's going in a +minute." + +The trunk was carried out, and Hugh took up his coat and valise. "Now +I want you all to come out on the piazza," he said. "Aunt Faith, here +is your chair. Gem, you stand by Aunt Faith's side: Sibyl and John, +please stand opposite to them; and Tom,--where is Tom?" + +"Here I am!" answered Tom from the back of the house; "I'm getting the +dogs together for the group." + +"That's right, the dogs by all means, for they are an important part +of the family," said Hugh, laughing. "Sit over that side, Tom, and +keep them by you. Bessie, I want you to stand in the centre just under +the arch; there, that is perfect. I shall turn round and look at you +all when I reach the gate." So saying, Hugh bent down and kissed +Bessie's pale cheek, and then passing under the arch, walked rapidly +down the long garden-walk. The B. B.'s in martial array on either +side, gave him three cheers as he passed, and when he reached the gate +he turned and looked back with a smile, waving his hat in token of +farewell. In another moment he was gone, then the carriage rolled down +the street out of sight, and Aunt Faith, rising, said solemnly, "May +God bless our dear Hugh, now and forever." + +"Amen," said Mr. Leslie. + +Bessie had disappeared. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE HOME-COMING. + + +"A forlorn, gloomy day," said Bessie at the breakfast-table the next +morning, "and I'm glad of it!" + +"I don't know that I care," said Tom. "When a fellow has got to go to +school, it don't make much difference." + +"It must have rained very hard in the night," said Sibyl, looking out +into the garden where the vine-leaves were strewed all over the +ground. + +"It rained, but there was not much wind," replied Aunt Faith; "I was +awake part of the night and listened to the storm. There was not wind +enough to make any sea, and Hugh is probably in B------ by this time." + +"What a jolly ride he will have on the cars to-day, whirling through +the country and getting nearer to New York every mile, while I am +digging away at these old books," said Tom discontentedly. + +"Hurry, children!" said Aunt Faith, looking at the clock; "you must +not be late the very first day of school." + +"Here comes Mr. Leslie!" called out Tom, slinging his books over his +shoulder. + +"John is very early this morning," said Sibyl, going out to meet him +as he came up the walk. + +"That is the way it will be all the time now, I suppose," said Bessie +with some irritation; "Hugh gone, and Sibyl so absorbed that she is +good for nothing as a companion. Aunt Faith, you and I are like the +last roses of summer left blooming alone." + +Aunt Faith smiled. She was very gentle with Bessie this morning; she +remembered her promise to Hugh, and she saw also that the young girl +was suffering under her share of the sorrow of parting, a sorrow +always heavier for the one that stays than for the one who goes. + +"I shall go upstairs and paint," said Bessie after a pause; "I +succeeded at last in giving the right expression to Hugh's eyes. You +may see the picture, now, Aunt Faith; it is so like him." + +At this moment Mr. Leslie came into the sitting-room, but Sibyl was +not with him; his face was pale, he went up to Aunt Faith and took her +hand with tender solemnity. + +"What is it?" she asked, sinking into a chair; her voice was quiet, +she had too often endured affliction not to recognize its messenger at +a glance. Mr. Leslie, in his ministration in times of trouble, had +learned never to hide or alter the plain truth. + +"The morning boat from B------ has just come in," he said. "The +captain reports that the evening boat of the same line, the _America_, +which left Westerton last night, collided with a schooner off Shoreton +about midnight, and sank in ten minutes. The night was very dark, but +many of the passengers were picked up by the 'Empire' as she came +along two hours afterward, some clinging to fragments of the wreck, +and some in one of the _America's_ small boats. The other boats are +missing, but there is hope that they are safe, as the storm was not +severe, and the lake is now quite calm. The rescued passengers think +that some may have been picked up by a propeller whose lights they saw +in the distance." + +"You have come to tell us that Hugh is among the rescued," said Aunt +Faith in a faint voice, hoping against hope. + +"Hugh is drowned!" said Bessie with hard, cold distinctness; then she +sat down by the table and buried her face in her hands. + +"Hugh is not among those brought back by the 'Empire,'" said Mr. +Leslie, "but I have strong hope that he is safe. Tugs have already +started for the scene of the accident, the water is still at summer +heat, and besides, among the many vessels and propellers constantly +passing over that very spot, there is every probability that many have +been picked up before this time. Hugh is very strong, and an excellent +swimmer, also." + +"Hugh is drowned!" said Bessie in the same hard voice; "He will never +come back to us alive." + +"Bessie, Bessie!" cried Sibyl, rushing into the room, "you shall not, +you dare not say such cruel words!" Sibyl's face was discolored with +violent weeping, and her whole frame shook with agitation; she and her +cousin seemed to have changed places, for Bessie did not shed a tear. + +"I say what is true," she answered; "Hugh is drowned! Hugh is dead!" + +Mr. Leslie went over to her, and took her cold hand; "Bessie," he said +gently, "why do you give up all hope? There are a great many chances +for Hugh." + +"Go away!" said Bessie in the same dull monotone; "Hugh is dead, I +tell you! Go put crape on the door!" + +"She is ill," said Mr. Leslie in a low tone to Aunt Faith; "you had +better take her upstairs." + +Aunt Faith roused herself from her own grief; "come, dear," she said, +rising. + +"I shall not go," said Bessie; "I shall wait here for Hugh." + +At this moment Tom and Gem ran into the room. + +"Oh, Aunt Faith! what is it?" began Tom. "We met some boys and they +told us that the _America_ was run into last night." + +Gem looked at Bessie and Sibyl, and then without a word, she sat down +in her little chair and began to cry bitterly. Aunt Faith could not +answer Tom, the sound of Gem's violent weeping, and Sibyl's sobs, +seemed to choke the words on her lips. + +"I don't believe a word of it!" cried Tom indignantly. "Hugh can swim +better than any one in Westerton, and he's as strong as a lion! I'm +going right down to the dock, and you'll see him coming back with me +before night." + +"Hugh is dead!" said Bessie again; "Hugh is dead!" + +The hours passed slowly in those long minutes of weary waiting in +which young hearts grow into old age in a single day. Friends and +neighbors flocked into the old stone house, and their voices were +hushed as they came and went with kindly but useless sympathy. Mr. +Leslie had gone to the scene of the accident on a fast tug, +accompanied by some of Hugh's young companions, and as, during the +day, different vessels came into port, they were boarded by anxious +friends and the latest reports eagerly sought. The bank of the lake +was thronged, people stood there with glasses, in spite of the steady +rain, scanning the eastern horizon in the hope of discovering the +smoke of approaching propellers. Others had friends on board the +_America_ besides the family at the old stone house. But Hugh was well +known and well liked, and his was the only young life among those +still missing from Westerton; the others were middled-aged or old, and +with that universal sympathy which the death of a bright vigorous +youth always awakens, the whole town mourned for Hugh, and stories of +his generous, manly nature, flew from mouth to mouth, until even +strangers felt that they knew him. + +At five o'clock a tug returned bringing a man and wife exhausted with +twelve hours in the water lashed to floating spars; but they soon +revived, and the good news flew through the city, and friends told it +to the family in the old stone house, clustered together around +Bessie, who had not changed her attitude or tasted food since morning. +"If they were saved, why not Hugh?" they said hopefully. + +"Hugh is dead!" repeated Bessie; "they will bring him home, poor +drowned Hugh!" Sibyl broke forth into violent weeping, and Aunt Faith +shuddered at Bessie's words. "Can you not persuade Bessie to go +upstairs and lie down?" said a lady friend, looking apprehensively at +the young girl's fixed eyes. + +Aunt Faith shook her head. "We must leave her to herself for the +present," she answered sadly; "her grief is beyond expression now." + +Later in the day, the tug Mr. Leslie had taken was sighted from the +bank, and a crowd assembled on the dock, with the feeling that +suspense would soon be over. + +"They would not have come back so soon unless they had found him," +said one; "they would have cruised around there for a day or two as +long as there was any hope." + +"But they don't hoist any signal," said another; "they must know we +are waiting here." + +The little tug came rapidly in, watched by hundreds of eyes, and when +at last she approached the dock, the anxiety grew intense. There came +no shout from those on board, the quiet was ominous, and, chilled by a +sudden awe, the crowd stepped back, and awaited the result in silence. +The boat was made fast, and then, after a short delay, the young men +came forth bearing the shrouded form of their late companion, now +still in death. Hugh was dead, then? Yes, Hugh was dead! + +But he had not died in vain, and the story of his death was repeated +from mouth to mouth throughout the city; women heard it and sobbed +aloud, as they held their darlings closer; men heard it and spoke a +few brief words of praise and regret to which their wet eyes gave +emphasis. + +About half-past eleven the previous night, the _America_ had been +struck amidships by an unknown schooner driving down unseen in the +intense darkness of the storm. Most of the passengers had gone to +their state-rooms, but Hugh was still in the cabin; rushing out on +deck he saw and heard that the boat would sink, and, accompanied by +the captain, ran back through the cabin, arousing the passengers and +telling them of the danger. In an instant all was confusion, agony, +and despair; some of the men leaped overboard, but the women with +their instinctive shrinking from the dark water, could not be +persuaded to leave the deck. A few passengers and part of the crew got +off in one of the small boats, but the other boats were swamped by the +rush into them; a cry went up that the steamer was sinking, and Hugh +was seen to jump overboard with a little child in his arms, a baby +whose mother had held it imploringly towards him, as he tried to +persuade her to take the dangerous leap. "Take the child," she said; +"I will follow you," and then as they disappeared, with a wild cry the +poor woman flung herself over after them. In the mean time the captain +and some of the hands and passengers had ascended to the hurricane +deck, and when the _America_ sank, the force of the waves separated +the deck from the hull, and it floated off, a frail support for the +little group it carried. The lake was strewn with fragments, spars and +barrels, and to these many persons were clinging. Hugh had managed to +secure a piece of broken mast with spars attached, and with its aid he +supported the mother and child until an iron-bound cask, caught in the +cordage, struck him heavily in the darkness. The mother heard him +groan, and his grasp loosened, "Quick!" he said hoarsely; "I cannot +hold you. I must fasten you with these floating ropes; I am badly +hurt, but I think I can hold the child." + +He bound the ropes and rigging about her, and told her how she could +best support herself; then he was silent, but every now and then she +heard him moaning as though in pain. How long they floated in this way +the mother could not tell; it seemed to her many hours,--it was, in +reality, less than four. They saw the lights of the _Empire_ in the +distance, but they could not make themselves heard, although they +shouted with all their strength. At the first glimmering of dawn they +discovered the hurricane deck not far distant, and Hugh said, "shout +with all your might. I cannot hold on much longer, my head is on +fire!" So the mother exerted all her strength in a piercing scream, +and to her joy, an answering cry came back through the rain. Hugh made +an effort to steer the spars towards the floating deck, and those on +board pushed their raft towards him as well as they could. Still it +was slow work, and as the dawn grew brighter, the mother saw her +preserver's haggard face, and the blood matted in his curly hair. He +did not speak, as, holding the baby in one arm, with the other he +tried to guide the broken mast, but his eyes were strangely glazed and +the shadow of death was on his brow. They reached the deck at last, +and kind hands lifted them on board; it was only a raft, but it seemed +a support after the deep, dark water. The mother took her baby, and +Hugh sank down at her feet. Some one had a flask of brandy, and they +succeeded in pouring a little through his clenched teeth; after a +moment or two he revived, sat up, looked about him, and murmured some +incoherent words. Then he tried to take out his little note-book, but +it was wet, and the pencil was gone; the captain gave him his own, and +Hugh had scrawled a few words upon it, spoke to the mother and smiled +when she held up the child. But gradually he relapsed into +unconsciousness, grew more and more death-like, and, after breathing +heavily for an hour, passed away without a struggle. The mother and +her child were safe; all the others on the floating deck were +rescued,--but Hugh, dear Hugh was dead! + +Mr. Leslie had preceded the funeral cortege by a few moments; slowly +he alighted from the carriage and passed up the garden-walk towards +the old stone house. His heart was heavy, and words of comfort came +not to his lips; in the presence of so great a sorrow he bowed his +head in silence. The friends who were in the house, came out to meet +him, but no one spoke; they knew by his face that the worst was true. +They did not follow him into the presence of the mourners, but going +down to the gate, they waited there. + +Mr. Leslie entered the sitting-room. "The Lord gave and the Lord hath +taken away," he said solemnly. "Blessed be the name of the Lord. Hugh, +our dear Hugh is dead." + +Sibyl screamed and fell back fainting, the children burst into tears, +and Aunt Faith knelt down by her chair and hid her face in her hands. +Bessie alone was calm. "Are they bringing him home?" she asked, +lifting her tearless eyes to Mr. Leslie's face. + +"Yes Bessie; they will soon be here, now." + +Without reply she rose, smoothed her disordered curls and arranged her +dress. "Sibyl," she said, "do not cry; Hugh never could bear to hear +any one cry! Aunt Faith, Hugh is coming. Let us go to meet him." + +Her strange composure awed the violent grief of the others into +silence, and they followed her mechanically as she led the way to the +piazza; involuntarily they all took the positions of the previous +evening, and, with Bessie standing alone in the centre, they waited +for their dead. + +The young men bore their burden up the walk slowly and solemnly, and +behind followed a train of sorrowing friends, two and two, thus +rendering respect to the youth who had so suddenly been taken from +them in all the flush and vigor of early manhood. On came the sad +procession, and when the bearers reached the piazza, the friends fell +back and stood with uncovered heads, as up the steps, and under the +faded triumphal arch, Hugh Warrington came home for the last time to +the old stone house. + +At midnight Aunt Faith went softly into the parlor; a faint light +shone from the chandelier upon the still figure beneath, and Bessie +with her face hidden in her hands, sat by its side. She did not move +as Aunt Faith came to her; she did not answer when Aunt Faith spoke to +her; she seemed almost as cold and rigid as the dead. + +"Bessie dear, I have something to show you," said Aunt Faith, in a low +tone; "I have a letter to you from Hugh." + +Bessie started and looked up; her face was pinched and colorless, and +her dark eyes wild and despairing. + +"I have a letter to you, dear, from Hugh," repeated Aunt Faith; "he +wrote it on board the floating deck just before he died." + +"Give it to me," said Bessie hoarsely, holding out her cold hands. + +"In a moment, dear. Come upstairs with me and you shall see it," +answered Aunt Faith, trying to lead her away. But Bessie resisted +wildly. "I will not go!" she said. "I shall stay with Hugh until the +last. Give me my letter! It is mine! You have no right to keep it. +Give it to me, I say!" + +Alarmed at the expression of her eyes, Aunt Faith took out the +captain's note-book, opened it, and handed it to her niece. The words +were scrawled across the page in irregular lines; there seemed to be +two paragraphs. The first was this: "Bessie, try to be good, dear; I +love you." The second: "I can say the two sentences, Aunt Faith,--I am +saying them now.--Hugh." + +The writing was trembling and indistinct, and the last words barely +legible; the signature was but a blur. + +As Bessie deciphered the two messages, a sudden tremor shook her +frame; then she read them over again, speaking the words aloud as if +to give them reality. "Oh Hugh! Hugh!" she cried, "how can I live +without you!" + +With a quick movement, Aunt Faith turned up the gas and threw back the +pall; then she put her arms around the desolate girl and raised her to +her feet. "Look at him, Bessie!" she said earnestly; "look at dear +Hugh, and think how hard it must have been for him to write those +words, how hard he must have tried, how much he must have loved you!" + +Hugh's face was calm, the curling, golden hair concealed the cruel +wound on his temple, and there was a beautiful expression about the +mouth, that strange peace which sometimes comes after death, as if +sent to comfort the mourners. His right hand, bruised by the hard +night's work, was covered with vine-leaves, but the left, the hand +that had held the little child, was folded across his breast; he was +dressed as he had been in life, and some one had placed a cross on his +heart,--a little cross of ivy simply twined. "My soldier, true soldier +of the cross," murmured Aunt Faith, stooping to kiss the cold brow. +"In those hours it all became clear to you. 'Lord, I believe, help +Thou mine unbelief;'--'Lord be merciful to me a sinner.' With these +two sentences on your lips, you passed into another country. Farewell, +Hugh! You will not return to us, but we shall go to you." + +Bessie had not raised her head from Aunt Faith's shoulder. She had not +looked upon Hugh since they brought him home, and now she stood +holding the note-book in her hands, and trembling convulsively. + +"Look at him, Bessie," said Aunt Faith again; "look at dear Hugh. He +is speaking to you now, in that dying message." + +At last Bessie raised her head and looked upon the still face long and +earnestly; then, throwing herself down upon her knees, she burst into +a passion of wild grief, calling upon Hugh, beseeching him to speak to +her, and listening for his answer in vain. Aunt Faith did not try to +check her, for these were her first tears; she knew they would relieve +that tension of the head and heart, which, if long continued, must +have ended in physical and mental prostration. After a few moments, +Sibyl came in, and the two watched over Bessie until she sank +exhausted to the floor, when they lifted her slight form and bore her +upstairs. + +Then, from the sitting-room, two of Hugh's friends came in, turned +down the light, covered the still face, and went back to keep their +watch in the desolate hours of mourning. + +The sun was sinking towards the west in unclouded brightness when a +throng gathered in the old stone house to pay their last tribute of +respect to the dead. "Fitz Hugh Warrington, aged twenty years and ten +months," said the inscription on the coffin-lid, and many tears +dropped upon it, as, one by one, the friends bent over to take a +farewell look at the handsome face with its clustering golden hair. +Then came the voice of the aged pastor, reading the words of the +Gospel of St. John,--Hugh's favorite chapter, the fourteenth. A hymn +followed,--Hugh's favorite hymn, "Brightest and best of the sons of +the morning," and then they all knelt in prayer, the fervent prayer +mingled with tears which ascends from the house where the dearest one +of all is dead. + +Mr. Leslie took no part in the services; he stood with Sibyl as one of +the family. Aunt Faith leaned upon the arm of Mr. Hastings, who had +come from New York immediately upon hearing of the accident. Tom and +Gem stood together, but Bessie was alone; she wished no support, she +said; she only wanted to stay by Hugh until the last. So they let her +stand by the head of the coffin alone,--alone with her dead, and with +her God. + +Then came another hymn, and slowly the bearers lifted all that was +left of their friend, and bore it forth under the same faded +flower-arch, and down the garden-walk, where the throng made way for +them on either side as they passed. + +The sun was setting, and, standing on the piazza, the choir sang,-- + + Abide with me; fast falls the even tide, + The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide; + When other helpers fail, and comforts Bee, + Help of the helpless, Oh abide with me. + + I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless, + Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness; + Where is death's sting, where, grave, thy victory? + I triumph still, if Thou abide with me." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +CONCLUSION. + + +A year had passed, and the colored leaves were dropping for the second +time upon Hugh's grave. Aunt Faith and Bessie were in the sitting-room +of the old stone house, and the voices of Tom and Gem sounded through +the open hall-door from the back garden, where they were sitting under +the oak-tree. Hugh's portrait stood upon an easel, with living ivy +growing around it from the little bracket which he had made that last +day of summer. The afternoon sun struck the picture, and gave it a +vivid realistic expression; Bessie saw it, and laying down her work, +looked lovingly into the bright face. "It is very like Hugh, is it +not, Aunt Faith?" she said at last. + +Aunt Faith put on her glasses, and drew nearer the easel. "It is +indeed a wonderful likeness, especially the eyes," she replied. "How +came you to succeed so well?" + +"I had been working at it all summer, aunt, but the eyes I could not +copy to my satisfaction, they varied so constantly. It was Hugh's last +day at home; don't you remember how I begged for the morning? He was +sitting in the old arm-chair by the window, looking out towards the +lake, talking about the future; he was so full of life and hope that +morning,--so sure of success,--so happy in the thought of the good he +could accomplish, that his eyes fairly shone. Something came over me; +I took the brush, and, by a sudden inspiration, I succeeded in copying +the expression exactly." + +"It is a comfort to have the picture," said Aunt Faith, "and a blessed +thought that we shall see that dear face again, and know it when we +see it." + +"You believe so, aunt? So do I. I believe that we shall love each +other there as here, only far, far better. To be with those we love, +away from affliction, care, and temptation,--that is heaven." + +"I often think of the meetings there, Bessie. Hugh found his father +and his mother there. While we were mourning here, they were rejoicing +there." + +"I no longer mourn, Aunt Faith; I have found comfort." + +"I know that, my dear, and am thankful for it; but you are sad at +times." + +"I feel sad over myself, aunt, over my loneliness, and my faults. I +feel sorry for myself as one feels sorry for a child; I sympathize +with myself as though I was another person. Sometimes it seems as if +my soul sat apart peaceful and quiet, while all the rest of me gave +way to deep despondency. But all the while I know that Hugh is safe; +that I shall go to him, and that through the mercy of our Saviour we +shall find eternal joy. And I always try to remember that Hugh +disliked morbid grief; that he used to say the world was a beautiful +place; that we had no right to despise it; that as long as we were in +it, it was our duty to make others happy and be happy ourselves. +Therefore I try to be cheerful, and when I think of Hugh, I am +cheerful. It is only when I think of myself that despondency comes +back to me." + +"You have done well, dear," said Aunt Faith; "I have seen your +struggles, and rejoiced over your victories. I have confidence in you, +Bessie, and if I am called away, I can leave the children in your +charge with an easy heart." + +"They are no longer children, Aunt Faith." + +"True! Gem is thirteen, but she will need watchful care for many years +yet. And Tom, although tall and strong, is still a thorough boy at +heart, and the next five or six years are full of danger for him." + +"Tom is a fine fellow," said Bessie warmly; "he is full of generosity +and courage." + +"Yes, but there are corresponding dangers for his sanguine +temperament. However, although still young, he has an earnest faith; +Hugh's death was a lesson which he will never forget, and all though +he may often go astray, I feel sure he will _come_ back again at the +last. Gem, too, is one of the lambs of the flock; she has improved +greatly the past year. I have had deep cause to be thankful, and I am +thankful," said Aunt Faith, folding her hands reverently. "The +children Thou gavest to me are all Thine; Thou hast cared for them and +brought them to a knowledge of Thy goodness. One hast Thou taken, the +dearest of all; taken him away from trouble to come. Lord, I thank +Thee, for all Thy goodness." As Aunt Faith murmured these words, she +leaned back in her chair and closed her own heart in silence. + +After a few moments, Bessie went out on the piazza to welcome Mr. +Leslie and Sibyl as they came up the walk. + +"Aunt Faith is resting in her chair," she said, smiling; "we will sit +out here, if you please. How well you look, Sibyl!" + +Mrs. Leslie threw off her bonnet, and the light shone in her golden +hair. She looked well, better than she had ever looked as Sibyl +Warrington; for, although her skin had lost something of its extreme +delicacy, her face had gained in animation, and her manners in +cordiality, so that people who could not love her before, loved her +now with sincere affection. Her beautiful hair was coiled gracefully +around her head, and she was dressed with as much care as ever, for +Sibyl was Sibyl still, and could no more change her love for harmony +and taste than the leopard could change his spots. But everything +_was_ simple, inexpensive, and fashioned by her own fingers, so that +although all admired, not even the most censorious could find fault +with the appearance of the pastor's wife. + +Mr. Leslie, too, was somewhat altered; he looked well and vigorous, +but his manner was more gentle. The poor said he was more +compassionate, the sick said he was more gentle, his congregation said +he was more eloquent; Hugh's death and Sibyl's sorrow had not been +without their lessons for him, also. + +The little chapel was still poor and struggling, but husband and wife +worked together with heart and strength. Sibyl was invaluable; she +threw her system, her energy, and her tact into the week-day work, and +her husband found his Sunday labors doubly successful, because they +were followed up and carried out during the six working days as well +as on the day of rest. + +"I have had a letter from Mrs. Stanly, to-day, Bessie," said Mr. +Leslie; "she says little Hugh is beginning to talk, and already can +say 'Aunt Bessie.' He associates you with the Noah's Ark you sent him. +Here is his picture, enclosed in the letter." The photograph +represented a chubby boy with large, wondering eyes and curly hair. + +"Brave little man!" said Sibyl, looking over Bessie's shoulder. "What +a wonder he lived through that night!" + +"Oh, Hugh held him up out of the water most of the time," said Bessie +quickly; "the mother told me that his little knitted shirt was +scarcely wet at all. I must certainly go East to see the child next +spring, now that his father is dead, I feel more at liberty to assist +Mrs. Stanly, and, between us, we are going to give little Hugh the +best education the country will allow." + +"Is that you, Sibyl?" said Aunt Faith's voice within. + +"Yes, aunt. Shall we come in?" said Mrs. Leslie, rising. + +"No, dear, I will come out;" and Aunt Faith joined the group on the +piazza, taking her seat in an arm-chair. + +"What a beautiful afternoon!" she said, "and how brilliant those +maple-leaves are! Have you seen the monument, John?" + +"No," answered Mr. Leslie; "is it in place?" + +"Yes, the work was all finished this morning, and Bessie and I went +over to look at it. Why not walk over now? We can all go, and these +lovely days cannot last long." + +"I should like to go, John, if you have the time," said Sibyl. + +"Yes; I can postpone the visit I intended to make. As Aunt Faith says, +these warm, still days cannot last long." + +The cemetery was about half a mile distant, a forest glade sloping to +the lake, with a brook in a little ravine running through the centre. +But few graves were there, for the land was but newly consecrated to +its use, but the great forest-trees were old, and in the spring, wild +flowers grew everywhere, and wild birds sang in the foliage. Now, the +trees were dyed in scarlet and gold, and the colored leaves dropped +slowly down upon the ground, for the air was still and hazy with the +purple mists of Indian summer. Hugh's monument stood on a little +eminence overlooking the lake. It was of marble, a slender shaft +broken at the top, with a profusion of roses growing over the broken +place, carved in the marble with life-like fidelity, so that the stone +itself seemed to have blossomed. Below, on one side of the base was +Hugh's name and age, and on the opposite face was the sentence, "I +shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." + +"I like it;" said Mr. Leslie, standing with uncovered head beside the +grassy mound; "it expresses the idea of the broken young life, and the +roses of hope, faith, and even joy which have grown up to cover the +place." + +"It is appropriate that it stands here overlooking the lake," said +Sibyl. "Hugh was so fond of the water, and, on this very lake he lost +his life,--gave it up for the sake of others." + +"And _I_ like the monument on account of the sentence," said Bessie, +who sat by the side of the grave arranging a bunch of autumn leaves. + +"The monument is only raised to Hugh's earthly memory," said Aunt +Faith. "Hugh is not here; I never feel that I am nearer to him here +than at home. But I like to honor the place where his mortal body +lies, and I like to think when I die, those who love me will likewise +honor my grave." + +Bessie completed her wreath and laid it on the mound, and then they +all went back to the old stone house, quiet and thoughtful, but not +sad; the faith within their hearts was too earnest, and the hope too +bright for sadness. + +After tea they sat together on the piazza; the night was warm, and the +full-moon shone through the haze, giving the landscape a magical +softness and beauty. Tom and Gem were there also, and at, Tom's feet +were the three dogs, Turk, somewhat sobered, Grip, less hilarious than +formerly, but Pete Trone, Esquire, as vivacious as ever, investigating +every corner of the garden as though he never saw it before, and +coming back after each foray with increased importance, the air of a +philosopher who had discovered all the secrets of the moonlight. +Friends came in and joined the family circle. Rose Saxon, Edith Chase, +who had become one of Bessie's firm friends, and Walter Hart. An hour +or two of pleasant conversation ensued, and Tom delivered some bright +sayings, retiring within the shadow, overcome with boyish +embarrassment when the company applauded him. Finally, when the +visitors had all gone, Aunt Faith rose; "I hope you will stay to +prayers, John," she said; "it is late, but the bright moonlight seems +to postpone the hour of sleeping." + +"Yes, Aunt Faith," replied Mr. Leslie; "we will stay, and Sibyl can +play the hymn." + +He read a chapter from the Bible, then they all sang a hymn and knelt +a few moments in prayer. With affectionate farewells, they parted for +the night, Sibyl and her husband going home through the moonlight, and +the others separating to their respective rooms. + +As Bessie stood before her dressing-table, brushing out her thick +curls, she noticed the lines about her mouth, and the hollows in her +temples. "I am growing old," she thought, with a half-smile, "and yet, +I am only seventeen. How long this year has been; it is like a +lifetime. But yet, it has been a precious year; it has taught me hope +and peace, I shudder when I think how I felt a year ago." + +Going across the room, she lifted a little curtain which hung before a +picture; the frame contained only a fragment of paper, and through the +glass the faint pencilled words of Hugh's last message could be seen. +"Bessie, try to be good, dear. I love you." Bessie read the words over +several times, and then, dropping the little curtain, she fell on her +knees by the bedside, and prayed Hugh's prayer. "Lord I believe; help +Thou mine unbelief. Lord, be merciful to me a sinner." + +Seasons of despondency came to Bessie Darrell; often her pillow was +wet with tears; often she was obliged to mourn over her shortcomings, +often she prayed in deep contrition for forgiveness of sins,--sins +belonging to her quick impulsive nature, besetting sins with which she +must struggle to the last. But she never lost her faith, she never +ceased to look forward to the other country. Through trouble, through +care, through sickness, through affliction, through life, and through +death she held fast to the hope that abideth forever. Busy and active, +she gave her time first to her Aunt Faith, then to Tom and Gem, and +afterwards to the poor and afflicted. She worked hard, and in the very +labor she found peace at the last; she tried to make others happy, +and, in the end, she found happiness for herself. + +Aunt Faith sat by her table, thinking. She was thinking of her loved +ones, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters, her husband, +and last of all, of Hugh. "For the past month my strength has seemed +to fail; it may be that I am nearer home than I know," she thought. + +"But all my times are in Thy hand, dear Lord, and whether I go soon, +or whether I must tarry many years longer, Thou knowest. Only grant me +Thy constant aid, for without Thee I can do nothing." She knelt in +prayer, prayed for her children as well as herself. Many tears had she +shed over them, many times of trial and apparent failure had darkened +her way since the five orphans were given into her charge. But the +promise was sure, and although this life may not be long enough for +the harvest, although the laborer may see only the bud here on earth, +that bud will surely blossom and ripen into fruit in heaven. + +"He that goeth on his way weeping, and beareth forth good seed, shall +doubtless come again with joy, and bring his sheaves with him." +Psalm CXXVI. + + The faithful laborer toils on + In spite of present sorrow,-- + He heeds not toil, he heeds not storm, + But labors for the morrow; + To him the harvest comes in overflowing measure, + To him the fields pour out their overflowing treasure. + + He that goeth on his way + Bearing seed, though weeping,-- + Shall doubtless come again with joy + Loaded from the reaping, + Loaded with the precious sheaves of faith, and hope, + and love, + Bearing them, rejoicing, to his Father's house above. + +There is quiet now in the old stone house. One of its inmates has gone +from earth; one has gone to another home, and those who are left under +the roof are all sleeping. The soft moonlight shines on the gray +walls, caressing them as though it loved them. Dear old house! thy +rooms are haunted with memories of happiness, and hallowed with +memories of sorrow. We leave thee regretfully, and turn back again and +again as we go, for a last + + FAREWELL! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Old Stone House, by Anne March + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OLD STONE HOUSE *** + +This file should be named tldsh10.txt or tldsh10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, tldsh11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, tldsh10a.txt + +This e-text was converted to ASCII by Wendy Crockett +from .pdf images provided for public use at: +http://www.cwru.edu/UL/preserve/general.htm + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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