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diff --git a/old/67184-0.txt b/old/67184-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6042219..0000000 --- a/old/67184-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,9152 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Elsie and the Raymonds, by Martha -Finley - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Elsie and the Raymonds - -Author: Martha Finley - -Release Date: January 30, 2022 [eBook #67184] - -Language: English - -Produced by: MWS, Quentin Campbell and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELSIE AND THE RAYMONDS *** - - - - Transcriber’s Note - -In the following transcription, italic text is denoted by _underscores_. -Small capitals in the original text have been transcribed as ALL -CAPITALS. - -See end of this document for details of corrections and other changes. - - ————————————— Start of Book ————————————— - - - A LIST OF THE ELSIE BOOKS AND - OTHER POPULAR BOOKS - - BY - - MARTHA FINLEY - - ——————————— - - _ELSIE DINSMORE._ - _ELSIE’S HOLIDAYS AT ROSELANDS._ - _ELSIE’S GIRLHOOD._ - _ELSIE’S WOMANHOOD._ - _ELSIE’S MOTHERHOOD._ - _ELSIE’S CHILDREN._ - _ELSIE’S WIDOWHOOD._ - _GRANDMOTHER ELSIE._ - _ELSIE’S NEW RELATIONS._ - _ELSIE AT NANTUCKET._ - _THE TWO ELSIES._ - _ELSIE’S KITH AND KIN._ - _ELSIE’S FRIENDS AT WOODBURN._ - _CHRISTMAS WITH GRANDMA ELSIE._ - _ELSIE AND THE RAYMONDS._ - _ELSIE YACHTING WITH THE RAYMONDS._ - _ELSIE’S VACATION._ - _ELSIE AT VIAMEDE._ - _ELSIE AT ION._ - _ELSIE AT THE WORLD’S FAIR._ - _ELSIE’S JOURNEY ON INLAND WATERS._ - _ELSIE AT HOME._ - _ELSIE ON THE HUDSON._ - _ELSIE IN THE SOUTH._ - _ELSIE’S YOUNG FOLKS._ - _ELSIE’S WINTER TRIP._ - _ELSIE AND HER LOVED ONES._ - - —————————— - - _MILDRED KEITH._ - _MILDRED AT ROSELANDS._ - _MILDRED’S MARRIED LIFE._ - _MILDRED AND ELSIE._ - _MILDRED AT HOME._ - _MILDRED’S BOYS AND GIRLS._ - _MILDRED’S NEW DAUGHTER._ - - —————————— - - _CASELLA._ - _SIGNING THE CONTRACT AND WHAT IT COST._ - _THE TRAGEDY OF WILD RIVER VALLEY._ - _OUR FRED._ - _AN OLD-FASHIONED BOY._ - _WANTED, A PEDIGREE._ - _THE THORN IN THE NEST._ - - - - - ELSIE AND THE RAYMONDS - - - BY - - MARTHA FINLEY - - AUTHOR OF “ELSIE DINSMORE,” “ELSIE’S WOMANHOOD,” - “ELSIES’S KITH AND KIN,” “THE MILDRED BOOKS,” - “WANTED—A PEDIGREE,” ETC., ETC. - - - —————————— - - - NEW YORK - DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1889, - BY - DODD, MEAD & COMPANY. - - - - - ELSIE AND THE RAYMONDS. - - - CHAPTER I. - - -“Excuse me, Miss, but do you know of any lady who wants a seamstress?” -asked a timid, hesitating voice. - -Lulu Raymond was the person addressed. She and Max had just alighted -from the Woodburn family carriage—having been given permission to do -a little shopping together—and she had paused upon the pavement for -a moment to look after it as it rolled away down the street with her -father, who had some business matters to attend to in the city that -afternoon, and had appointed a time and place for picking the children -up again to carry them home. - -Tastefully attired, rosy, and bright with health and happiness, Lulu’s -appearance was in strange contrast to that of the shabbily dressed -girl, with pale, pinched features that wore an expression of patient -suffering, who stood by her side. - -“Were you speaking to me?” Lulu asked, turning quickly at the sound -of the voice, and regarding the shrinking figure with pitying eyes. - -“Yes, Miss, if you’ll excuse the liberty. I thought you looked kind, -and that maybe your mother might want some one to do plain sewing.” - -“I hardly think she does, but I’ll ask her when I go home,” replied -Lulu. “Are you the person who wants the work?” - -“Yes, Miss; and I’d try to give satisfaction. I’ve been brought up -to the use of my needle, and the sewing machine too. And—and”—in a -choking voice—“I need work badly; mother’s sick, and we’ve only what -I can earn to depend on for food and clothes, and doctor, and medicine, -and to pay the rent.” - -“Oh, how dreadful!” cried Lulu, hastily taking out her purse. - -“You are very kind, Miss; but I’m not asking charity,” the girl said, -shrinking back, blushing and shamefaced. - -“Of course not, you don’t look like a beggar,” returned Lulu with -warmth. “But I’d be glad to help you in some suitable way. Where do -you live?” - -At this instant Max, whose attention had been drawn for a moment to -some article in the show-window of a store near at hand, joined his -sister, and with her listened to the girl’s reply. - -“Just down that alley yonder, Number five,” she said. “It’s but a poor -place we have; a little bare attic room, but—but we try to be content -with it, because it’s the best we can do.” - -“What is it she wants?” Max asked, in a low aside to Lulu. - -“Sewing. I’m going to ask Mamma Vi and Grandma Elsie if they can find -some for her. But we’ll have to know where she can be found. Shall we -go with her to her home?” - -“No; papa would not approve, I think. But I’ll write down the address, -and I’m sure papa will see that they’re relieved, if they need help.” - -Turning to the girl again, as he took notebook and pencil from his -pocket, “What is the name of the alley?” he asked. - -“Rose,” she answered, adding, with a melancholy smile, “though there’s -nothing rosy about it except the name; it’s narrow and dirty, and the -people are poor, many of them beggars, drunken, and quarrelsome.” - -“How dreadful to have to live in such a place!” exclaimed Lulu, looking -compassionately at the speaker. - -“Rose Alley,” murmured Max, jotting it down in his book, “just out of -State Street. What number?” - -“Number five, sir; and it’s between Fourth and Fifth.” - -“Oh, yes; I’ll put that down, too, and I’m sure the place can be found -without any difficulty. But what is your name? We will need to know -whom to inquire for.” - -“Susan Allen, sir.” - -The girl was turning away, but Lulu stopped her. - -“Wait a moment. You said your mother was sick, and I’d like to send her -something good to eat. I dare say she needs delicacies to tempt her -appetite. Come with me to that fruit-stand on the corner,” hurrying -toward it as she spoke, the girl following at a respectful distance. - -“That was a good and kind thought, Lu,” Max remarked, stepping close -to his sister’s side as she paused before the fruit-stand, eagerly -scanning its tempting display of fruits and confections. - -“You don’t doubt papa’s approval of this?” she returned interrogatively, -giving him an arch look and smile. - -“No; not a bit of it; he always likes to see us generous and ready to -relieve distress. I must have a share in the good work.” - -“Then they’ll have all the more, for I shan’t give any less because -you’re going to give, too. Oh, what delicious looking strawberries!” - -“And every bit as good as they look, Miss,” said the keeper of the -stand. - -“What’s the price?” - -“Dollar a box, Miss. They always come high the first o’ the season, -you know; they were a dollar-ten only yesterday.” - -“Do you think your sick mother would enjoy them?” Lulu asked, turning -to Susan, who was looking aghast at the price named. - -“Oh, yes, indeed, Miss; but—but it’s too much for you to give; we have -hardly so much as that to spend on a week’s victuals.” - -“Then I’m sure you ought to have a few luxuries for once,” said Lulu. -“I’ll take a box for her,” addressing the man, and taking out her purse -as she spoke. - -“A dozen of those oranges, too, a pound of your nicest crackers, -and one of sugar to eat with the berries,” said Max, producing his -porte-monnaie. - -They saw the articles put up, paid for them, put them into Susan’s -hands, and hurried on their way, followed by her grateful looks. - -In trembling, tearful tones she had tried to thank them, but they would -not stay to listen. - -“How glad she was,” said Lulu. “And no wonder, for she looks half -starved. And, O Max, just think, if we hadn’t a father to take care of -and provide for us we might be as poor and distressed as she is!” - -“That’s so,” returned Max; “we’ve hardly a thing worth having that -hasn’t come to us through my father.” - -“_My_ father, sir,” asserted Lulu, giving him a laughing glance. - -“Yes, our father; but he was mine before he was yours,” laughed her -brother. “Well, here we are at Blake’s, where you have an errand; at -least, so you said, I think.” - -They passed into the store, finding so many customers there that all -the clerks were engaged; and while waiting till some one could attend -to their wants, they amused themselves in scrutinizing the contents of -shelves, counters, and show-cases. Some picture-frames, brackets, and -other articles of carved wood attracted their attention. - -“Some of those are quite pretty, Max,” Lulu remarked in an undertone; -“but I think you have made prettier ones.” - -“So have you; and see,” pointing to the prices attached, “they pay -quite well for them. No, I’m not so sure of that, but they ask good -prices from their customers. Perhaps we could make a tolerable support -at the business, if we had to take care of ourselves,” he added in a -half-jesting tone. - -“Earn enough to buy bread and butter maybe, but not half the good -things papa buys for us,” said Lulu. - -“Is no one waiting upon you?” asked the proprietor of the store, -drawing near. - -“No, sir; they all seem to be busy,” answered Lulu. - -“Yes. What can I show you? Some of this carved work? We have sold a -good deal of it, and I’m sorry to say that the young lady who supplied -it has decided to give up the business—and go into matrimony,” he -added, with a laugh. - -A thought seemed to strike Lulu, and she asked, coloring slightly as -she spoke, “Does it pay well?” - -The merchant named the prices he had given for several of the articles, -and asked in his turn if she knew of any one who would like to earn -money in that way. - -“I—I’m not quite sure,” she answered. “I know a boy, and a girl too, -who are fond of doing such work, and I think can do a little better -than this, but—” - -“You doubt if they would care to make a business of it, eh?” he said -inquiringly, as she paused, leaving her sentence unfinished. - -“Yes, sir; I’m not sure they would want to, or that their parents would -be willing to have them do so. If you please, I should like to look at -materials for fancy work.” - -“Yes, Miss. This way, if you please. We have them in great variety, and -of the best quality.” - -Captain Raymond expected a friend on an incoming train, and had -directed the children to be at the depot a few minutes before it was -due. Punctuality was one of the minor virtues he insisted upon, and -while interested in their shopping, they were not forgetful of the -necessity for keeping their appointment with him. Their watches were -consulted frequently, and ample time allowed for their walk from the -last store visited to the depot. - -“We are here first; our carriage isn’t in sight yet,” remarked Lulu -with satisfaction, as they reached the outer door of the building. - -“Yes,” said Max, “but papa will be along presently, for it wants but -ten minutes of the time when the train is due.” - -“And he’s never a minute late,” added Lulu. - -Max led the way to the ladies’ room, seated his sister comfortably in -an arm-chair, and asked if there was anything he could get, or do for -her; treating her with as much gallantry as if she had been the sister -of somebody else. - -“Thank you, Maxie, I’m really comfortable, and in want of nothing,” she -replied. “I’ll be glad if that gentleman doesn’t come,” she went on, -“for it’s so much nicer to have papa all to ourselves driving home.” - -“Yes; and afterward too. But we mustn’t be selfish, and perhaps he -would be disappointed if his friend shouldn’t come.” - -“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that! And if papa would rather have him come, -I hope he will.” - -“Of course you do. Ah, here comes papa now,” as a tall, remarkably -fine-looking man, of decidedly military bearing, entered the room and -came smilingly toward them. - -“Good, punctual children,” he said. “I hope you have been enjoying -yourselves since we parted?” - -“Oh, yes, papa,” they answered, speaking both at once; “we did all our -errands, and are ready to go home.” - -“The train is just due,” he said, consulting his watch. “Ah, here it -comes,” as its rush and roar smote upon their ears. - -Lulu sprang up hastily. - -“Wait a little, daughter,” the captain said, laying a gently detaining -hand on her shoulder; “we need not be in haste, as we are not going on -the train.” - -“Everybody else seems to be hurrying out, papa,” she said. - -“Yes; they are probably passengers. Ah, the train has arrived and come -to a standstill, so we will go now. Max, you may help your sister into -the carriage, while I look about for our expected guest.” - -The captain scanned narrowly the living stream pouring from the cars, -but without finding him of whom he was in quest. He turned away in -some disappointment, and was about to step into his carriage, when a -not unfamiliar voice hailed him. - -“Good-evening, Captain Raymond. Will you aid a fellow-creature in -distress? It seems that by some mistake my carriage has failed to meet -me, though I thought they understood that I would return home by this -train. If you will give me a lift as far as your own gate I can easily -walk the rest of the way to Briarwood.” - -“It will afford me pleasure to do so, Mr. Clark, or to take you quite -to Briarwood,” responded the captain heartily. “We have abundance of -room. Step in, and I will follow.” - -This unexpected addition to their party gave Lulu some slight feeling -of vexation and disappointment, but her father’s proud look and -smile, as he said, “My son Max and daughter Lulu, Mr. Clark,” and the -affectionate manner in which, on taking his seat at her side, he put -his arm about her waist and drew her close to him, went far to restore -her to her wonted good-humor. - -Mr. Clark said, “How do you do, my dears?” then engaged the captain in -conversation, taking no further notice of the children. - -But they were intelligent, well-instructed children, and when the talk -presently turned upon one of the political questions of the day they -were interested; for their father had taken pains to give them no -little information on that and kindred topics. He did not encourage -their reading of the daily secular papers—indeed forbade it, because -he would not have their pure minds sullied by the sickening details of -crime, or love of the horrible cultivated by minute descriptions of its -punishment in the execution of murderers; but he examined the papers -himself and culled from them such articles, to be read aloud in the -family, as he deemed suitable and instructive or entertaining; or he -would relate incidents and give instruction and explanations in his own -words, which the children generally preferred to the reading. - -The gentlemen were in the midst of their conversation, and the great -gates leading into the avenue at Woodburn almost reached, when Mr. -Clark caught sight of his own carriage approaching from the opposite -direction. - -He called and beckoned to his coachman, and with a hasty good-by -and hearty thanks to Captain Raymond, transferred himself to his -own conveyance, which at once faced about and whirled away toward -Briarwood, while the Woodburn family carriage turned into the avenue -and drove up to the house. - -Violet and the three younger children were on the veranda, waiting for -its coming, and ready with a joyful welcome to its occupants. - -“Papa, papa!” shouted little Elsie, as they alighted, “Max and Lu, -too! Oh, I’se so glad you all tum back adain!” - -“Are you, papa’s sweet pet?” returned the captain, bending down to take -her in his arms with a tender caress. - -Then he kissed his wife and the lovely babe crowing in her arms and -reaching out his chubby ones to be taken by his father, evidently as -much rejoiced as Elsie at his return. - -“In a moment, Ned,” laughed the captain, stooping to give a hug and -kiss to Gracie waiting at his side; then taking possession of an -easy-chair, with a pleasant “Thank you, my dears,” to Max and Lulu, who -had hastened to draw it forward for him, he took a baby on each knee, -while the three older children clustered about him, and Violet, sitting -near, watched with laughing eyes the merry scene that followed. - -“Gracie and Elsie may search papa’s pockets now and see what they can -find,” said the captain. - -Promptly and with eager delight they availed themselves of the -permission. - -Grace drew forth a small, gilt-edged, handsomely bound volume. - -“That is for your mamma,” her father said; “you may hand it to her; and -perhaps, if you look farther, you may find something for yourself.” - -Violet received the gift with a pleased smile and a hearty “Thank you, -Gracie. Thank you, my dear. I shall be sure to prize it for the sake of -the giver, whatever the contents may be.” - -But the words were half drowned in Elsie’s shouts of delight over a -pretty toy and a box of bon-bons. - -“Hand the candy round, pet; to mamma first,” her father said. - -“May Elsie eat some too, papa?” she asked coaxingly, as she got down -from his knee to obey his order. - -“Yes; a little to-night, and some more to-morrow.” - -Grace had dived into another pocket. “Oh! is this for me, papa?” she -asked, drawing out a small paper parcel. - -“Open it and see,” was his smiling rejoinder. - -With eager fingers she untied the string and opened the paper. - -“Three lovely silver fruit-knives!” she exclaimed. “Names on ’em, too. -Lu, this is yours, for it has your name on it; and this is mine, and -the other Maxie’s,” handing them to the owners as she spoke. “Thank -you, papa, oh, thank you very much, for mine!” holding up her face for -a kiss. - -Bestowing it very heartily, “You are all very welcome, my darlings,” he -said, for Max and Lulu were saying thank you too. - -And now they hastened to display their purchases of the afternoon and -present some little gifts to Grace and Elsie. - -These were received with thanks and many expressions of pleasure, -and Lulu was in the midst of an animated account of her shopping -experiences when her father, glancing at his watch, reminded her that -she would have barely time to make herself neat for the tea-table if -she repaired to her room at once. - -“Max and I, too, must pay some attention to our toilets,” he added, -giving the babe to its nurse, who had just appeared upon the scene. - -“Now, papa, let’s run a race, and see who’ll be down first,”—proposed -Lulu laughingly, as she went skipping and dancing along the hall just -ahead of him. - -“Very well, and I’ll give you a dollar if you are first,—and there are -no signs of haste or negligence in your appearance.” - -“And is the offer open to me too, papa?” asked Max, coming up behind. - -“Yes; I shall not be partial,” answered the captain, suddenly lifting -Lulu off her feet and starting up the stairs with her in his arms. - -“O papa, you’ll tire yourself all out!” she exclaimed with a merry -laugh; “I’m so big and heavy.” - -“Not a bit,” he said. “I’m so big and strong. There, now for our -race,” as he set her down in the upper hall. - -“It’s nice, nice, to have such a big, strong papa!” she said, lifting a -flushed, happy face to his and reaching up to give him a hug and kiss. - -“I’m glad my little daughter thinks so,” he returned, smiling down on -her and laying his hand tenderly on her head for an instant. - -The captain and Lulu met in the upper hall just as the tea-bell rang, -and at the same instant Max came down the stairs from the third story -almost at a bound. - -A merry peal of laughter from all three, and the captain said, “So -nobody is first; we shall all reach the tea-room together.” - -“And you won’t have any dollar to pay, papa,” said Lulu, her face very -bright and no disappointment in her tone. She was clinging to her -father’s hand as they went down the stairs, Max close behind them. - -“But I don’t care to save it,” was the reply, “so what shall be done -with it? Suppose I divide it between you and Max.” - -“And yourself, papa,” added Max laughingly. - -His father smiled. “Perhaps a better plan would be to put it into our -missionary box,” he said. - -“Oh, yes, sir!” exclaimed both the children, “that would be the best -thing that could be done with it.” - -They had taken their seats at the table, and all were quiet while the -captain asked a blessing on their food. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - -“I have something to tell you, my dear,” Violet began, giving her -husband a bright smile from behind the coffee urn as she filled his cup. - -“Ah?” he said, returning the smile. “I am all attention. I have no -doubt it is something worth hearing.” - -“Perhaps you remember that mamma’s fiftieth birthday will come early -next month,” Violet resumed. - -“No, not the fiftieth surely!” exclaimed the captain. “Really I think -that, judging from her looks alone, no one would take her to be over -forty.” - -“So we all think, and everybody says she has a remarkably young face. -But it will be her fiftieth birthday, and we, her children, want to do -her unusual honor. Of course, as you know, my dear, we always remember -the day, and each of us has some little gift for her, but this, being -her semi-centennial, we think should be observed in some special -manner.” - -“I agree with you, and what do you propose doing in order to celebrate -it appropriately?” - -“We have not fully decided that question, and would be glad of -suggestions and advice from you, if you will kindly give them.” - -“I am sensible of the honor you do me, but must take a little time to -reflect,” was his pleasant rejoinder. - -“Papa, how old are you?” asked Grace with sudden animation, as if the -question had just occurred to her. - -“About twenty-four years older than Max,” replied the captain, turning -upon his first-born a look of fatherly pride and affection. - -“And I’m almost fifteen,” added Max. - -“That makes papa thirty-nine,” remarked Lulu. “You’ll be forty next -birthday, won’t you, papa?” - -“Yes, daughter.” - -“Then Grandma Elsie is only about ten years older than you, not nearly -enough older to be your real mother.” - -“Quite true,” he said, with a humorous look, “but I find it not at all -unpleasant to have so young and beautiful a mother; a lady so lovely -in character, as well as in form and feature, that I should greatly -rejoice to know that my daughters would grow up to resemble her in all -respects.” - -“I’d like to be exactly like her, except—” But there Grace paused, -leaving her sentence unfinished. - -“Except in being fifty years old?” her father asked, regarding her with -laughing eyes. - -“Yes, sir; I’d rather be a little girl for a good while yet; your -little girl, papa, who can sit on your knee whenever she wants to.” - -“That’s right,” he said heartily. “I am by no means ready to part with -my little Gracie yet.” - -“I feel just as Gracie does about it,” said Lulu. “I want to be a -little girl for a while longer, then a young lady; but when I get to -be fifty years old I’d like to be as nearly like Grandma Elsie as -possible.” - -“I hope not to be,” remarked Max facetiously; “but I know a gentleman I -would like to resemble so much when I’m forty, that people would say of -me, ‘He’s just a chip off the old block,’” and with the last words the -lad turned a proud, admiring, affectionate look upon his father. - -The captain’s countenance expressed pleasure, and Violet, looking -pleased also, said, “I hope you will have your wish, Max, and I think -there is every prospect of it.” - -“What plans are thought of for the coming celebration, my dear?” asked -the captain. - -“We talk of a garden or lawn party, if the weather is fine; all the -relatives to be invited, and perhaps a few intimate friends beside. -Certainly our minister and his wife.” - -“I don’t think I could suggest anything better,” the captain said. - -“But you may be able to give some useful hints in regard to plans for -the entertainment of the guests, and suitable gifts for mamma.” - -“Possibly; and you must help me to decide upon mine.” - -“I shall be only too glad,” she answered with a bright, pleased look. - -“And we children may give something nice to Grandma Elsie too, mayn’t -we, papa?” they asked, all three speaking at once. - -“Most assuredly,” he replied, “the very nicest thing, or things, -you can think of that will come within the limits of your financial -ability.” - -“Papa,” remarked Grace doubtfully, “I don’t believe I know exactly what -that means.” - -“You understand the meaning of ability, surely?” returned her father. - -“Yes, sir; but that other word—fi—” - -“Financial? as I used it then, it means the amount of money you -children may have at your disposal at the time of making your -purchases.” - -“Oh, I’m glad I have some money saved up!” she remarked with -satisfaction. - -“How much?” he asked. - -“A good deal, papa; about five dollars, I think.” - -“Ah, so much as that? quite a fortune,” he said, with a look of -amusement. - -“I suppose, wife, your mother is to be consulted in regard to the -manner of the proposed celebration? about the party, the guests to be -invited, and so forth?” - -“Oh, yes, sir; about everything but the gifts she is to receive.” - -The babies had had their evening romp with papa and been carried off -to the nursery, Gracie going along at Elsie’s urgent request, and all -the more willingly because she had heard her father say he must write -a letter immediately, that it might be in time to go by the next mail, -so she knew that for the present she and Max and Lulu must do without -their usual bit of chat with him. - -Lulu was particularly desirous for an opportunity for a talk with him, -for she had a scheme in her head about which she wished to ask his -advice and permission. She would not have minded broaching the subject -before Max and Gracie, but thought it would be still more enjoyable to -talk it over with papa alone. - -“I’ll not go far away,” she said to herself, “and when papa has -finished his writing maybe I’ll get a chance to talk a little with him -before anybody else comes.” - -She took a book and seated herself in the veranda; but she did not -read. The captain, stepping to the door presently, saw her sitting -with the book lying unopened in her lap, her attitude and expression -denoting profound thought. She did not seem aware even of his approach -as he drew near her side, but started and looked up in surprise as he -laid his hand gently on her head, saying, “A penny for my little girl’s -thoughts! She looks as if she had the affairs of the nation on her -shoulders.” - -“I’m sure they’re not worth a penny, papa, but you are welcome to them -for nothing,” she returned laughingly, “if you have time to let me talk -to you.” - -She rose as she spoke, and taking the chair, he drew her to his knee. - -“Plenty of time, now that that letter has been dispatched,” he said. -“But are you to do all the talking?” - -“Oh no, indeed, papa; I hope you’ll do the most of it, but I suppose I -must begin by telling you my thoughts.” - -“Yes.” - -“I was thinking about a poor girl that spoke to me in the street to-day -and asked for sewing to do to earn money to support herself and her -sick mother. - -“I told her I would try to get some work for her. Afterward Max and I -went into a store where we saw brackets and picture frames, and other -things, carved out of wood as we do it, only they were not so pretty -as some we have made; at least we both thought so, and we wondered how -much was paid for such work. The price they were asking for them was on -them, and Max thought it a good one. We were talking together about it -when the merchant came up and asked if we wanted to buy any of those -things. - -“He said he had sold a good many, and was sorry the lady who had carved -them for him was going to give up doing it. I asked if it paid well, -and he told me how much he gave, and asked if I knew anybody who would -like to earn money in that way.” - -“And what answer did you make to that?” - -“I said I wasn’t sure; I knew a boy and girl who were fond of that kind -of work, and I thought could do it a little better than those were -done, but I didn’t know whether they would want to do it for pay, or -whether their parents would be willing to let them.” - -“And the boy and girl you referred to were Max and yourself?” - -“Yes, sir; would you let us do it if we wanted to?” - -“That would depend upon circumstances; it is a question to be -considered.” - -“Well, papa, this is what I was thinking of when you spoke to me. You -know I spend some of my spare time sewing for the poor, and you know I -don’t like to sew—I mean I don’t enjoy doing it—and I do enjoy carving; -and that poor girl wants sewing to do, because she needs to earn her -living, and that’s her way of doing it; and I was trying to decide -whether or not it would be right for me to give her the sewing to do -and pay her for doing it with money I could earn by carving. Would it -be right, papa? and will you let me do it?” - -“I say yes to both questions; I think it a good idea; for you will be -doing good in two ways—helping the poor to whom the garments go, and -the poor girl who wants employment; and that without indulging yourself -in laziness.” - -“Oh, I am so glad you approve, papa!” Lulu exclaimed in delight. “I -was afraid you would not; I was afraid that perhaps I ought to do the -sewing myself if only because I dislike it so.” - -“No, my child, there is nothing praise-worthy in doing a thing merely -because it is unpleasant to us. If another is needing help which we can -give in that way and no other, duty bids us to perform the unpleasant -task; but in this case it seems you can do more good by allowing the -young sewing-girl to act as your substitute, helping her at the same -time that you help those to whom the garments will go. - -“But the sewing you can give will not be really enough to keep even -one seamstress busy.” - -“Oh, no, sir; but I am going to tell Mamma Vi and Grandma Elsie about -her, and I think they will find her work and recommend her to other -ladies who want sewing done, if they find that she does it well.” - -“Did you learn her name and where she lives?” - -“Yes, sir; and I wanted to go and see the place, but Max said you would -not approve; so I didn’t go.” - -“Max was quite right. You must never venture into strange places about -the city without my knowledge and consent, unless with Grandma Elsie or -some other equally wise and trustworthy person.” - -“I will not, papa,” she answered, smiling lovingly into his eyes. “I do -hope I shall never again disobey you in anything.” - -“I hope not, indeed,” he said, smoothing her hair caressingly. “So far -as I know, you have been very good and obedient for the last six months -or more.” - -Just then Violet and Grace joined them, followed almost immediately by -Max, and as he stepped from the doorway the Ion family carriage was -seen coming up the drive. - -It brought Violet’s grandparents, mother, and young brother and -sister—Rosie and Walter. They spent the evening. The proposed birthday -celebration was under discussion for some time, several questions in -regard to it were settled, then Lulu found an opportunity to tell of -Susan Allen and her needs. - -Grandma Elsie—always ready for every good work—said: “If you will -accompany me, Captain, I will hunt them up to-morrow and inquire into -their needs, should nothing unforeseen happen to prevent.” - -“I shall be at your service, mother, then, or at any other time,” -returned the captain gallantly. “And we will take Lulu with us, if you -have no objection,” he added, as he caught an entreating look from her. - -“Not the slightest,” replied Mrs. Travilla, smiling kindly upon the -little girl. - -“Oh, thank you, Grandma Elsie! Thank you, papa; I should like to go -very much indeed”, exclaimed Lulu joyously. - -While Lulu talked with Susan Allen in the city street that afternoon, -the girl’s mother lay on a bed of straw in the small attic room -they called home; a very forlorn specimen of a home it was, though -everything in and about it was scrupulously neat and clean; the floor -was bare, save a strip of carpet beside the bed; there were three -unpainted wooden chairs, a little table to match, and a tiny stove; -their few changes of raiment hung on hooks along the wall back of the -bed, and a few cheap dishes and cooking utensils were ranged in an -orderly manner on some shelves in one corner. - -The one window was shaded by a paper blind and short white curtain, -both bearing evidence of careful mending, as did the night-dress worn -by the invalid, the sheets and pillowcases of her bed. - -She was not an old woman; Susan was but sixteen, and her mother, who -had married very young, little more than twice that age. But toil and -privation had broken down her health, and aged her before her time, -so that she looked full forty; there were very perceptible lines in -her forehead, and the dark hair was streaked with gray; yet it was a -pleasant face to look upon—so full of sweet patience and resignation. - -A well-worn Bible lay beside her, and one hand rested upon the open -page; but her eyes were closed and tears trickled down her wasted -cheek, while her lips moved as if in prayer. - -One standing very near might have heard the low, murmured words, but -they reached only the ear of Him who has said: “Call upon me in the day -of trouble; I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me.” - -It was that promise she was pleading. - -“Lord,” her pale lips whispered, “I believe thy word and obey thy kind -command; it is the day of trouble with me and my beloved child. We are -in sore straits; the last cent is gone, the last crust eaten; we have -neither barn nor storehouse, yet I know thou wilt feed us as thou dost -the sparrows; for thou hast said, ‘Are not ye much better than they?’ -and, ‘Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these -things.’ Lord, increase my faith and let me never for one moment doubt -thy word—thy promise to deliver those who call upon thee in the day of -trouble, and never to leave or forsake any who put their trust in thee. -Oh, blessed be thy holy name, for all the great and precious promises -thou hast given thy people, and upon which thou hast taught me to lean -in every time of trouble!” - -She was still pouring out her soul in prayer and praise when Susan’s -light step came up the stairs, the door was hastily thrown open, and -she entered with flushed, beaming face, and arms full of bundles, half -breathless with excitement and exertion. - -“Mother, dear mother!” she cried, as she hastened to deposit her -burdens on the table, “I know you have been praying for help, and God -has sent it. See here! the very luxury I have been longing to get you, -but without the least hope of being able to do so; great, lovely, -luscious strawberries!” gently pouring them from the paper bag in which -she had carried them, on to a plate. “I’ll put some of the finest on -a saucer for you. Here is sugar for them, too, and delicate crackers -to eat with them. And here are oranges; the finest in the market! O -mother, eat and grow strong!” she added, tears springing to her eyes, -as she put a saucer of berries into her mother’s hand and laid a fine -orange by her side. “I won’t keep you waiting till I can stem the -berries, but just give you some sugar on another saucer to dip them -into. Oh, if I only had some of the rich cream for you that we used to -have before we left the farm!” - -“Oh, child, our Father has sent us so much, so much, don’t let us fret -after anything more!” cried the mother at length, recovering the power -of speech, of which surprise and joy had robbed her ever since her -daughter’s entrance so richly laden. - -“No, mother, no indeed! only I should so love to give you every comfort -and luxury to make you well. You are so thin and weak! There, do lie -back on your pillows and let me feed you. Isn’t that delicious?” -putting a berry into her mouth. - -“Oh, very, very! But let me thank God, and then do you eat with me.” - -They were very hungry, having scarcely tasted food that day, but when -the edge of their appetites had been taken off, Mrs. Allen remarked, -with an inquiring look at her daughter, “But you haven’t told me yet -where you got all these good things?” - -“No, mother, but I’ll do it now. You know I went out in search of work. -I can’t beg, but I am willing to ask for employment. I asked at some -private houses, and two or three stores, but no one seemed to care to -risk trying me. - -“Then I saw a carriage (a very handsome one it was, with match horses) -stop at a street crossing, and a boy and girl step out on the pavement. -A tall, fine-looking gentleman handed the little girl out, then stepped -back into the carriage, and it drove off. - -“You can’t think how pretty and beautifully dressed the little girl -was; she had bright dark eyes, rosy cheeks, and a smiling mouth, and -as the gentleman set her down they gave each other such a loving look! -I felt sure she had a kind heart, so I stepped up to her, as she stood -looking after the carriage as it drove away down the street, and asked -her if she knew of anybody wanting a seamstress. - -“She turned round quickly and answered in a very pleasant tone. She -promised to tell her mother about me when she went home, and see if she -could get me work to do. She opened her purse—such a lovely one with -gold clasps—as if she meant to give me money, and I felt my face grow -hot at being taken for a beggar. I said it wasn’t charity I was asking -for, but work. - -“Then she said, in the kindest tone, ‘Of course not, you don’t look -like a beggar. But I’d be glad to help you in some suitable way’; and -asked where I lived. - -“While I was telling her a boy came up and stood beside her listening. -He asked me questions, too, and took out a note-book and wrote down my -name and address. He was as nice and kind-looking as his sister—as I -suppose she is, for they resemble each other strongly; the gentleman, -too, that helped her out of the carriage; I think he must be their -father. - -“They called each other Max and Lu, and talked between themselves about -what would please or displease papa. - -“I had told her that you were sick, and we’d nothing to depend on but -what I could earn, and as I was turning to go, after her brother had -taken my address, and promised that somebody would hunt us up soon, she -told me to wait a moment and go with her to a fruit-stand; she wanted -to get something nice for my sick mother to eat. - -“And there they bought all these things; she the berries—at a dollar -a box, mother! only think of it!—and he the oranges and crackers and -sugar. - -“Oh, I remember I saw her slip something into the bag with the -oranges, I wonder what it was, I must look!” she exclaimed, turning -hastily to the table, where she had deposited the bag. - -She took the oranges out one by one till the bag was nearly empty, then -catching sight of something shining at the bottom, made a dive for it -and drew it out with a little cry of joy. - -“Oh, it’s half a dollar! Now mother, you shall have some tea and a bit -of broiled steak, or a lamb chop. I’ll run out to the nearest provision -store now and get them.” - -She began putting on her hat as she spoke. - -“Child, you must buy for yourself too,” her mother said, with tears -shining in her eyes. - -“O mother, no! I shall do nicely without meat, but you are so weak you -must have it to strengthen you.” - -She stepped to the side of the bed again, bent over her mother, and -kissed her tenderly. - -“Dear child, I cannot enjoy it unless you share it with me; you need -nourishing food quite as much as I,” returned the mother, gazing fondly -into the eyes looking so lovingly into hers. “The Lord has sent us -money enough to buy what we need for to-day, and we will trust him for -to-morrow. A text—a precious promise—has been running in my mind ever -since you came in laden with so many good things: ‘Before they call I -will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear.’ I had been -asking him very earnestly to send us help in our sore extremity, and -while I was yet speaking it came. - -“O daughter, let us ever stay our hearts on him, never for a moment -doubting his loving-kindness and faithfulness to his promises, no -matter how dark and threatening the cloud may be.” - -“I’ll try, mother. Ah, I wish I had your faith. Now I must go; but I’ll -be back again in five or ten minutes. But I’ll put some more berries in -your saucer, first, and I don’t want to find a single one in it when I -come back,” she added with playful gayety. “Aren’t they making you feel -a little better already, you dear, patient mother?” - -“Yes, dear, they are very refreshing. But you are giving me more than -my fair share.” - -“No, indeed, mamma, they were all given to you, and I have eaten a good -many. I want you to finish the rest, for I do hope they will do more -for you than any medicine could. Now I’m off. Don’t be lonesome while -I’m gone,” and she hurried away with a light, free step, tears of joy -and thankfulness shining in her eyes. - -Not many minutes had passed ere she returned with the materials for -what was to them a feast indeed. - -“See mother,” she said, displaying her purchases, “just see how -extravagant I have been! two nice lamb chops, two fresh eggs, a loaf -of bread, half a dozen potatoes, a quarter of a pound of tea, and five -cents’ worth of butter. Oh, but we shall have a feast! I’ll broil the -chops, bake the potatoes, toast a few slices of the bread, and make -you a cup of tea. I’d have bought a few cents’ worth of milk, but I -remembered that you like your tea quite as well without.” - -“But you don’t drink tea, dear, and should have bought some milk for -yourself.” - -“No, no, mother. I’m very fond of cold water and fortunately a very -good article in that line can be had for the going after, no farther -than to the hydrant in front of the street door,” she answered with a -merry look and smile. - -As she talked she was moving about with light, quick step between -table and stove, performing her tasks with the ease and dexterity -of a practiced hand, and without noise or bustle, her mother’s eyes -following her with loving glances. - -“You are very bright and cheery to-night, dear child,” she said. - -“Yes, mother, I haven’t been in such spirits for weeks. I do believe -better days are dawning for us, mother dear, and all in answer to your -prayers.” - -She paused at the bedside to bend lovingly over the dear parent and -touch her lips to the pale cheek. - -“Yes, my Susie, and yours too. The Bible tells us that God is the -hearer and answerer of prayer, and many times I have proved it in my -own experience; but he is no respecter of persons, but ready to hear -and help any, however humble and unworthy, who come in the name of -Jesus and pleading his merits.” - -“Yes, mother, I know it. I have been praying for help, and I’m sure he -sent it; and while I feel very grateful to that dear little girl and -boy, I’m thanking God with all my heart for all these good things; for -they were only his messengers, and the gifts were more from him than -from them even—the dear, kind children!” - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - -The sun was half an hour high when Susan Allen opened her eyes the next -morning. - -Her mother greeted her with a smile and a cheery “Good-morning, my -child. You have slept sweetly ever since I have been awake to watch -you, and I have had the best night’s rest I have known for weeks.” - -“Oh, I am so glad to hear that, mother!” Susan exclaimed, raising -herself on her elbow to give the invalid a searching look, “and you -feel better and stronger, don’t you?” - -“Yes, indeed! almost as if I could sit up and sew a little, if we had -any work on hand.” - -“Oh, no, I should not think of letting you do that yet!” the girl -answered; “not if we had any quantity; and as we have none at all, -you can surely lie still quite contentedly. I’ll get up now and have -breakfast ready in a few minutes. - -“It is only to make a few slices of toast, boil the eggs, and draw the -tea. Then I’ll tidy the room and my mother and myself, and we’ll be all -ready to receive our hoped-for visitors.” - -“Yes; we need not expect them for two or three hours, at the very -earliest,” Mrs. Allen said in reply. “Even if they lived in town they -wouldn’t be likely to come before the middle of the forenoon, and -probably their home is in the country, as you saw them getting out of a -carriage.” - -Events proved her conjectures correct; it was near the middle of the -afternoon when in answer to a rap on the door Susan opened it, to find -a lady and gentleman there, accompanied by her little girl acquaintance -of the day before. - -“Oh, yes, papa, it’s the right place!” exclaimed Lulu, in a very -pleased tone. “Susan, I’ve brought my grandma and father to see you.” - -“You are all very kind to come,” said Susan, blushing vividly. “Will -you please walk in and take some seats?” - -She made haste to bring forward the chairs as she spoke, but with a -word of thanks Mrs. Travilla and the captain turned toward the invalid, -asking: “Is this the sick mother Lulu has been telling about?” - -“Yes, ma’am; yes, sir,” said Susan. Mrs. Allen adding, with a grateful -look from them to Lulu, “But better already for the kind gifts of the -little girl and boy. I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I am -very sure God sent them to our relief in answer to prayer. But, dear -lady, won’t you be seated? and you, too, sir?” addressing the captain. -“It is extremely kind in you to call on us—strangers and living in this -poor and unpleasant locality.” - -“It is nothing—it is a privilege, if in so doing we bring succor to one -of God’s dear children,” Grandma Elsie replied, taking the wasted hand -in hers and seating herself close by the bedside. “How glad I am to -learn that you are one of his. I had heard only that you were ill and -in want.” - -“And you, too, are his, dear lady? Ah, one look into your face would -tell us that.” - -“It is the joy of my heart to be numbered among his followers, and to -own him as my Lord and Master,” returned Mrs. Travilla, the light of -joy and love shining in her eyes. - -“As it is mine,” added the captain. “We belong to one family, we own -one Lord and King, and it is his command that we love one another, and -that we do good to all men as we have opportunity, ‘especially to them -who are of the household of faith!’” - -A conversation of some length followed, in which, by questions put with -delicacy and kindness, Grandma Elsie and her son-in-law contrived to -draw from Mrs. Allen the story of the trials and struggles with poverty -and privation which had reduced her to her present state of feebleness -and distress. - -Her husband had been an intelligent, industrious farmer, and working -and saving together, they were looking forward with hope to getting -their land clear of encumbrance and finding themselves in comfortable -circumstances by the time they should reach middle life; but sickness -entered the house, child after child was taken away, till Susan was the -only one left; then Mr. Allen sickened and died, and the foreclosure of -a mortgage robbed the widow and her daughter of their home. - -They came to the city seeking employment by which to earn their daily -bread, but found it scarce and ill-paid, and had been growing poorer -and poorer, till, but for the precious promises of God’s Word, they -would have been in utter despair. - -Her listeners seemed deeply interested; tears rolled down the cheeks -of Grandma Elsie and Lulu more than once during the course of the -narrative, and Captain Raymond was evidently deeply moved. - -It was he who broke the momentary silence that fell upon the little -company at the conclusion of the tale. - -“This close, filthy alley is no place for one brought up in the pure -air of the country; I have not the least doubt that the tainted air -you breathe here is largely responsible for your feeble condition; we -must get you out of it as speedily as possible. I own a little cottage -on the outskirts of Union,—a village some two or three miles from us; -it is at present without a tenant, and you and your daughter may take -possession to-day if you wish and feel strong enough for the necessary -exertion.” - -“O sir, how kind, how wonderfully kind you are!” exclaimed Mrs. -Allen, as soon as astonishment would let her speak, tears of joy and -thankfulness coursing freely down her cheeks. “Country air is what I -have been longing for more than words can express.” - -“But you are by far too generous in offering us a whole house; one room -will hold us and our few belongings.” - -“But will not hold all that we hope to see in your possession before -very long,” he replied, with a benevolent smile; “your daughter—and -you also when you are well enough to desire it—shall be provided with -abundance of employment, at remunerative prices, and so will soon be -able to gather about you many more comforts than I see here,”—sending a -sweeping glance about the room. - -“And it shall be my care, my great pleasure, to anticipate somewhat -the time when you will be able to provide such things for yourselves,” -Mrs. Travilla said, rising to go, taking the poor woman’s hand in hers -and holding it for a moment in a kindly pressure. “You must be made as -comfortable as possible without delay.” - -Mrs. Allen tried to speak her thanks, but was too much overcome by -emotion. - -“I shall send a conveyance for you and your goods day after to-morrow,” -the captain said, as he also rose to take his departure, “and I trust -you will be well enough to bear the short journey; but if you are not, -you must not hesitate to say so, and the opportunity shall be given you -again, whenever you send me word that you are ready.” - -“We brought you some work, Susan,” Lulu said, giving her hand to the -girl in parting; “it is down in the carriage.” - -“And shall be sent up at once,” added the captain. - -“Oh, thank you, sir!” returned the girl. “But,”—looking from Lulu to -Mrs. Travilla,—“will I not need some instruction in regard to how you -want it done?” - -“I think not,” said the lady; “the garments are all cut and basted, and -written directions given with them. If you want more work when they are -done you have only to ask for it. But do not over-work yourself in the -effort to accomplish more than your strength is equal to.” - -With kindly good-bys the visitors went, refusing to allow Susan to -accompany them to the outer door of the house, saying that she had -doubtless to climb those steep flights of stairs far too often for her -good. - -In a very few moments a rap called Susan to the door again, to find -there a large covered basket. No one was with it, but she heard the -retreating footsteps of its bearer hurrying down the stairs. - -She lifted it inside and closed the door, then began with eager, -trembling hands to unpack it and examine the contents. - -There was the promised roll of work, a note pinned to it, on opening -which she found, not only the promised directions, but liberal pay in -advance. - -She read the note aloud in tones faltering with emotion and eyes so -dimmed with tears that she could scarcely see. - -“Mother,” she cried, “did you ever hear of such kind, generous people?” - -“It is because they are Christians; they do it for the dear Master’s -sake,” responded Mrs. Allen, her own voice quivering with feeling. - -“I’m sure of it, mother, and that he sent them to help us in our sore -need. Just look! just look!” as she took out one article after another -from the basket and laid it upon the table. “How we shall feast for the -next few days! Here are tea, coffee, sugar, a cold chicken, delicious -looking bread and rolls, fresh-laid eggs (I am sure they’re that from -their appearance), and a pot of currant jelly. It’s wonderful how many -things they have thought of! I shall try very hard to do the work to -please them. - -“What a lovely, beautiful lady Mrs. Travilla is! But I don’t know how -to believe she’s really grandmother to Miss Lulu.” - -“Perhaps a step-grandmother,” suggested Mrs. Allen. “She can’t be the -captain’s mother, though I noticed he called her that.” - -“What a noble-looking man he is! and the little girl! Weren’t you -pleased with her, mother?” - -“Yes; with both her looks and her behavior.” - -The palatable, nourishing food, and the cheering prospect for the -future opened up before her by these new and kind friends, had so -beneficial an effect upon Mrs. Allen that when the captain’s promised -conveyance came she was up, dressed, and ready for her journey. - -Great were her surprise and gratitude when she learned that he had -sent his own luxurious family carriage to take her and Susan to their -destination, while a wagon was to convey their effects. - -It was a lovely day, and their drive took them through a beautiful -country, diversified by hill and valley, meadow and woodland, all -clothed in the charming verdure of spring; now they crossed a dancing -streamlet, now flew past a lordly dwelling, with its lawn of emerald -green and avenue or grove of noble trees, its cultivated fields -spreading far on either hand, now traversed pine woods or skirted the -banks of a flowing river, and anon from some slight eminence caught a -distant view of the ever-restless sea. - -The easy motion of the smoothly running carriage, the soft, sweet air, -bringing gratefully to the nostrils the mingled spicy odor of the pines -and the refreshing saltness of the sea, the beautiful sights and sounds -that greeted eye and ear, were all so intensely enjoyable to the mother -and daughter, after their long sojourn in the stifling atmosphere of -the close and filthy alley they were leaving behind, that even the -invalid was scarcely sensible of fatigue until they had reached their -destination and found themselves in the new home, which, though small -and humble, seemed to them almost an earthly paradise. - -It was a four-roomed cottage, with a trim little flower garden and -grass plat in front and on each side, fruit trees, currant and -gooseberry bushes, and space for raising vegetables at the back. -Porches, richly festooned with flowering vines, and two giant oaks that -cast their shadows from front gate to porch, made the house seem from -the outside a bower of beauty, and gave promise of delightful shelter -from the too fervid rays of the sun when the sultry summer heats -should come. - -“This surely cannot be the place!” exclaimed Mrs. Allen, as the -carriage drew up at the gate. - -“No, hardly,” said Susan. “Haven’t you made a mistake?” addressing the -coachman. - -“I reckon I habn’t, Miss; dis darkey gin’rally knows what he’s ’bout,” -laughed the man. “Dar’s Miss Elsie a-settin’ in de poach, an’ hyar -comes de cap’n fo’ to help you light.” - -Captain Raymond was there, sure enough, hurrying down the path. - -“Welcome to your new home,” he said, with a benevolent smile, as he -threw open the carriage door. “Mrs. Allen, you must be very weary, -though you are looking much brighter than when I saw you the other day. -Let me help you into the house.” - -“You are wonderfully kind, sir,” she returned with feeling, as he -lifted her out. “And, oh, what a paradise you have provided for us -here! I can hardly believe it is really to be our home; and I feel that -it is far beyond our deserts. The flowers, the vines, the grand old -trees, and the green grass,—how lovely they all are!” - -“Yes,” he returned pleasantly; “as some one has said, ‘God made the -country, and man made the town,’ and I for one have no desire to make -my home in the man-made city.” - -Max and Lulu had come racing down the path after their father, and were -now bringing up the rear with Susan in tow. - -“How do you like it?” Lulu was asking eagerly: “is it any improvement -upon Rose Alley?” - -“Oh, Miss Lulu, it’s too sweet and beautiful for anything!” exclaimed -Susan, clasping her hands in an ecstasy of delight. “What lovely -flowers, what a delicious perfume from them! Oh, I think myself the -happiest girl alive, to be going to live here! I never dreamed of -anything half so delightful!” - -“And Grandma Elsie has made it nearly, if not quite, as inviting -indoors as out,” remarked Max. - -“What a kind, kind lady!” said Susan, in tones tremulous with grateful -emotion; “the kindest and most generous I ever saw.” - -Grandma Elsie was at that moment standing at the entrance to the porch, -with hand outstretched in friendly greeting to Mrs. Allen, and to -assist her up the steps. - -“Welcome home,” she said, with her own rarely sweet smile. “I hope you -will find it a happy home.” - -“Dear madam, it seems to me a paradise upon earth,” returned the poor -woman, tears of joy and gratitude coursing down her wasted cheeks. - -Her strength seemed giving way, and the captain half-carried her in -and laid her down on a lounge which was so placed that it commanded a -partial view of each of the four rooms. - -Parlor, living-room, bedroom were all simply and inexpensively, yet -tastefully, furnished, every comfort, including a luxuriously easy -chair, provided for the invalid. White curtains at the windows, and -vases of flowers set here and there, lent an air of elegance to the -otherwise unpretending, modest apartments. - -In the neat little kitchen a tidy, pleasant-faced colored woman was -moving briskly about, evidently preparing the evening meal, while in -the living-room a table was laid for two. - -It was a delight to Lulu to lead Susan from room to room, calling her -attention to all the beauties and conveniences, and explaining that -Grandma Elsie had provided this, papa or Mamma Vi that. - -“Mamma Vi,” repeated Susan inquiringly; “is it your mother you mean?” - -“No—yes, my second mother, but not old enough to be really my mamma; -that’s why Max and I put the Vi to it.” - -“Come, daughter,” the captain said to Lulu as she and Susan re-entered -the parlor, where they had left the others, “put on your hat; we are -going home now.” - -“Yes, it is time,” Mrs. Travilla said, taking Mrs. Allen’s hand in -farewell. “We will leave you to rest, my good woman, for you look -sadly in need of it. Sally has your supper nearly ready. I hope you -will both enjoy it, and she will stay to wash the dishes and set -everything to rights; so that you will have no occasion for exertion -till to-morrow.” - -“I think they are very happy,” Lulu remarked, as the carriage rolled -away toward Woodburn; “and how delightful it is to be able to make -other folks happy!” - -“Yes,” said her father; “‘it is more blessed to give than to receive.’ -We should be very thankful that we are in circumstances to be -givers—stewards of God’s bounty. He has given largely to us, in order -that we may distribute to others. He never intended that we should -spend all on ourselves.” - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - -Grandma Elsie took tea at Woodburn, but drove home to Ion directly -after. Edward, her eldest son, met her in the veranda with a face full -of pleasurable excitement. - -“It is over, mamma,” he said; “most happily over!” - -“Ah, how thankful I am!” she exclaimed. “Can I see her?” - -“Yes, oh yes! She is sleeping, though, the influence of the ether -having not yet passed off.” - -“It is a surprise,” she said. “I should have hastened home if I had had -the least idea of what was going on.” - -“It was sudden and unexpected; rather quickly over, too, or you should -have been sent for. Fortunately Cousin Arthur happened in just as I was -about to summon him.” - -“Which is it?” - -“Both,” he returned, with a joyous laugh. - -“Indeed! that too is a surprise. But none the less delightful.” - -He was leading the way to the suite of apartments occupied by himself -and wife, his mother following. - -They passed into the bedroom, where Zoe lay extended on her couch in -placid slumber. They drew near and stood looking down at her, each face -a trifle anxious. - -She stirred and opened her eyes sleepily: “Mamma,” she murmured, -“Edward—” - -“Yes, love, we are both here,” he answered in tender tones. Then -bending over her and pressing a tender kiss upon her cheek: “Do you -know how rich you are, my darling?” - -“Rich?” she repeated with a bewildered look up into his face, still -only half awake. - -“Yes; both you and I; we have more than doubled our wealth since you -went to sleep two hours ago.” - -“Oh!” rousing to full consciousness, “is it all over? Which is it? Show -it to me, do, dear.” - -“It’s both,” he said, with a low, gleeful laugh. - -“Look! they are close beside you,” folding back the covers of the bed, -and bringing into view a pair of tiny forms and faces. “Your son and -daughter, young Mrs. Travilla.” - -She raised herself slightly to get a better view. “Oh, the darlings, -the lovely darlings! Indeed we are rich! You may have the girl, but the -boy’s mine,” she added, with a silvery laugh. “But they’re like as two -peas. If they were both boys, or both girls, I should never be able to -tell them apart. So it’s a blessing they’re one of each.” - -“There, lie down now,” he said. “They’re great treasures, but both -together worth less to me than their mother; and I can’t have her -running any risks. Mamma, dear, what do you think of your new -grandchildren?” - -“Just what the new-made parents do,” she answered, bending over them -from the other side of the bed. “Welcome, welcome, little strangers! -there is plenty of room in grandma’s heart for you both.” - -“Our birthday gift to you, mamma,” said Zoe. - -“What, giving them away already?” queried Edward playfully, “and that -without consulting me!” - -“Only as grandchildren,” she answered in the same tone. “You and I -are papa and mamma. Ah, how delightfully odd it seems! Poor little -dears, to have such a silly young thing for their mother,” she added -sorrowfully, reaching out a hand and softly touching the tiny faces -with the tips of her fingers. “But then they have a good papa, and such -a dear, wise grandma. Are you pleased? Will you take them for your -birthday gift from me, mamma?” lifting loving, entreating eyes to the -sweet face of her mother-in-law. - -“Indeed I will, dear child. You could have given me nothing more -acceptable,” bending down to touch her lips softly to the velvet cheek -of first the one and then the other. “Which is the boy and which the -girl, Ned?” - -“I really don’t know, mamma,” he said, laughing, “for, as their mother -says, they are as like as two peas.” - -“We’ll have to put some sort of mark on them,” said Zoe, gloating -over her new treasures, “else one may often be blamed for the other’s -faults. Ah, I wonder whether they will be wise and good like their -father, or silly like their mother.” - -“You are slandering their mother, and I can’t allow it,” Edward said, -frowning in mock indignation. “But you weren’t to talk. You must be -quiet, or I’ll have to run away.” - -“We’ll have use for both our names, Ned,” remarked Zoe, smiling up into -her husband’s face, the next time he came to her bedside. - -“Yes,” he said, with a glance of pride and pleasure, from her to the -little ones. - -Then turning to his mother, “You must understand, mamma, that we had -selected a suitable name for the expected little stranger, whether -it should prove to belong to the one sex or the other. Of course we -desired to name for you or my father; but there are already so many -Elsies and Neds in the family connection that we decided to add -another name, as you did in my case, to avoid confusion; that if a boy, -it should be named Edward Lawrence, for both Zoe’s father and mine, and -commonly called Laurie; but if a girl, should be Lily, for the dear -little sister who went to heaven so many years ago.” - -“I entirely approve your choice,” said his mother, her eyes shining -through tears of mingled joy and sorrow, as her thoughts were carried -back to the husband and child whose loved presence would cheer her -earthly pilgrimage no more. “Laurie and Lily; the two names go nicely -together. It will be sweet to have a Lily in the family again, and I -trust she and her brother may be spared to their parents, even to be -the stay and staff of their old age.” - -“How cunningly you have managed to catch up with Elsie and me in the -matter of providing mamma with grandchildren,” was Violet’s jesting -remark to Zoe, when she came for the first time to look at the new -arrivals. - -“Yes, haven’t I?” laughed Zoe. “We have two apiece now, making six in -all. Mamma says she is growing rich in grandchildren.” - -“Six of her own, and four others who address her by that title, though -it has always seemed ridiculous to me, considering how young my darling -mother looks.” - -“Yes, to me too. But these darlings are her very own and—Vi, don’t you -think they’re the sweetest things that ever were made?” - -“O Zoe, don’t ask quite so much as that of me!” returned Violet, with -playful look and smile. “I do really think them as sweet as they can -be, but my own two no less so!” - -“Oh, of course!” laughed Zoe. “It was just like my silliness to ask -such a question. I tell mamma they are Ned’s and my birthday gift to -her; though they came three weeks before the time.” - -“They’ll not be less worth having for being three weeks old,” remarked -Violet. - -“No; they develop new beauties every day. Mamma herself says so. And -I am glad there is time for me to recover sufficiently to enjoy the -festivities of the occasion.” - -Zoe hovering over her babies made a pretty picture to look upon. -She would scarcely let them out of her sight; rejoiced over them -with singing and laughter, full of mirth and gladness, as though the -veriest child herself. Yet at times her mood changed, her face wore a -pensive expression akin to sadness, and caressing them with exceeding -tenderness, she would murmur softly: - -“My wee bit darlings, my precious treasures, what trials and sufferings -may be yours before you reach the end of life’s long journey! Ah, if -your mother might but bear all your pains and troubles for you, how -gladly she would do it.” - -“Dear daughter,” Grandma Elsie said on overhearing the words one day, -“that is one of the cares we are privileged to cast on Jesus. He dearly -loves the little ones, and he has all power in heaven and in earth. -‘I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee,’ is one of the -many great and precious promises of his Word. ‘Train up a child in the -way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.’ Seek -wisdom for that work by prayer and the study of God’s word.” - -“I will, mamma,” Zoe answered thoughtfully. “I am quite sure Edward -will make a good father, and I shall try very hard to be a good mother; -I shall take you, dear mamma, for my pattern, for there couldn’t be a -better mother than you are, and always have been.” - -“I have tried to be—tried in the way I have recommended to you—but I -sometimes made mistakes, and I would have you follow me only in so far -as I have followed Christ, and the teachings of his Word,” Grandma -Elsie answered, in sincere humility. - -“Mamma,” said Zoe, “I do not believe it possible for any frail human -creature to follow more closely in the Master’s footsteps than you do.” - -The Ion twins were objects of great interest to all the children of -the connection, and from the first news of their arrival they were -eager to see them. It was not allowed, however, till the proud young -mother was able to exhibit them herself. - -Rosie and Walter had of course a look at them on the day of their -birth, but they were nearly two weeks old before the others were -admitted to Zoe’s room, where she insisted on keeping her precious -treasures all the time. - -The Woodburn children were anxious for their turn, and at last it -came. Lulu and Grace rode over to Ion one pleasant afternoon, on their -ponies, Fairy and Elf, the captain and Max accompanying them on their -larger steeds. - -The little girls did not know when they started that Ion was their -destination, and on arriving were still in doubt whether they were to -see the babies; but the greetings were scarcely over when they asked if -they might. - -“Yes; Zoe is feeling very well to-day, and I think it will do her no -harm to see you all for a few moments,” replied Grandma Elsie, leading -the way. “You may come, too, Captain; Zoe is always delighted with an -opportunity to exhibit her treasures.” - -“Thank you, mother, I accept your invitation with pleasure,” he -answered, following with his children. - -Zoe, lying on a couch with a dainty crib close beside her, greeted her -visitors with smiles and words of welcome. - -“It seems an age since I last saw your pleasant countenance, Captain,” -she said, as he took her hand. - -“You could hardly miss me with such companionship as you have here,” he -returned playfully, as he bent over the crib and took a scrutinizing -look at its tiny occupants. “They are really worth showing, little -mother.” - -“I should say they were,” she responded, laughing; a low, gleeful, -silvery laugh. - -Grandma Elsie had led Lulu and Grace to the other side of the crib. “O -Aunt Zoe, what lovely little darlings!” they both exclaimed. “And it’s -such a pretty sight, two babies just the same size and exactly alike!” - -“So it is,” said the captain, but added playfully, “both together, -though, would hardly make one of our Ned; so Aunt Zoe need not propose -to swap.” - -“Aunt Zoe has not the remotest idea of making such a proposition,” she -returned gayly. “No, indeed, mother’s darlings,” raising herself on one -elbow that she might have a good look at each tiny face, “you needn’t -fret,”—for one stirred in its sleep and gave a faint little cry—“no one -could persuade mamma to give even one of you for the biggest baby in -the land.” - -“Was that Laurie? or Lily, Aunt Zoe?” asked Lulu. “Such pretty names as -you have given them!” - -“Yes, I think so. It was Laurie that cried out then; he’s not so quiet -as Lily; but one must expect a boy to make more noise in the world than -a girl.” - -“But how can you tell which is which, Aunt Zoe,” queried Grace; “they -look exactly alike to me.” - -“To me too; but see, we have put a gold chain round Lily’s neck, and -Laurie has none.” - -“Ah, no wonder he cries out at such favoritism,” remarked the captain -sportively. - -“Sure enough!” exclaimed Zoe; “strange I had not thought of it before. -But he shall have that excuse no longer; he shall wear that lovely -necklace of pink coral beads Ned gave me on my last birthday. Lu, if -you will go to my jewel-case and get it, I’ll be much obliged.” - -“I will, Aunt Zoe; I’m delighted with the errand,” exclaimed Lulu, -hurrying into the adjoining dressing-room. - -She had been there often enough to know where to find what she had been -sent for, and was back again in a moment with it in her hand. - -“Thank you, Lu. Hand it to mamma, please,” said Zoe. “She will put it -on him; I’d like to do it myself, but presume I wouldn’t be allowed, -they are all so exceedingly—I’d almost said absurdly—careful of me.” - -“It would be better for you not to make the effort, my dear,” Grandma -Elsie said, taking the necklace from Lulu’s hand. - -All eyes were upon her as she gently raised the tiny head just enough -to enable her to slip it under and around the child’s neck, then -fastened the clasp in front. - -“I don’t know,” she remarked in a doubtful tone, “that he will be quite -as comfortable with as without it, and I’m positively certain he will -not appreciate the honor.” - -The babe was fast asleep, and did not rouse himself to give his opinion. - -Rosie had come softly into the room, and was standing beside the crib -with the others. - -“Aren’t they the loveliest, darlingest wee pets that ever were seen?” -she exclaimed. “I think it would be delightful to have one baby in the -house—really belonging here—but to have two such pretty pets is doubly -delightful.” - -“Yes, but I think you’ll find it better still when they’re grown to be -as large as ours, and can run about and talk,” said Lulu. “They do say -such smart things sometimes.” - -“Yes; what fun it will be when these two begin to talk!” Zoe exclaimed, -with a low, gleeful, happy laugh, touching each tiny face caressingly. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - -The celebration of Grandma Elsie’s approaching semi-centennial was -now the most important event in the near future, the principal theme -of conversation in the connection, and grand preparations for it were -going forward. - -By her express wish, all the poor of the neighborhood—white and black, -in two distinct assemblies—were invited to spend a large part of the -day on the plantation, amusing themselves with outdoor games and -enjoying a bountiful feast spread for them in the shade of the wood in -which Mr. Leland, the uncle of the present occupant of Fairview, had -once concealed himself when attacked by the Ku Klux. - -Another party, consisting of all the relatives, connections, and -intimate friends residing in the vicinity, would be given the freedom -of the house and grounds to enjoy themselves as they should please. - -Circumstances were auspicious; all the preparations had been thoroughly -well attended to; the day dawned bright and beautiful, and found every -one in high health and spirits. - -She whom all were seeking to honor and make the happiest of the happy, -awoke with a heart full of love and gratitude for the unnumbered -mercies and blessings of her lot in life. Her first act was to rise -from her bed, and, kneeling beside it, pour out her thanksgivings and -praises, mingled with confession of sins, petitions for herself and -others, and a renewal of her oft-repeated consecration to His service. - -She had scarce completed her morning toilet, singing the while in low, -sweet strains, a song of praise, when a light tap at the door was -followed by her father’s entrance. - -He folded her in his arms, and holding her close to his heart, wished -her, in moved tones, many happy returns of the day. - -“I know not how to believe that you have seen fifty years,” he said, -holding her off a little to gaze searchingly into her face,—still as -sweet, and well-nigh as fair and smooth, as it had been thirty years -before—“there are no silver threads in your hair, no lines on your -forehead, or about your eyes or mouth; you are no less beautiful than -you were in your early girlhood; my darling’s charms have only matured, -not lessened.” - -“Ah, papa,” she returned, shaking her head with an incredulous smile, -“you always did see me through rose-colored glasses. I dare say any -eyes but yours—so blinded by love—can readily perceive many traces left -by the passing years. - -“Yet, dear father, why should we regret it? Why care that we are both -growing old, since each day as it passes brings us a step nearer to our -heavenly home.” - -“That is a delightful thought,” he responded, with a smile and a sigh; -“a thought that more than reconciles me to the inevitable in my own -case.” - -“And surely in mine, too, papa, for you would not want to be in heaven -without me,” she said, creeping closer into his embrace and half hiding -her face on his breast. - -“No,” he replied with emotion, tightening the clasp of his arm about -her waist and pressing his lips again and again to her cheek and brow, -“not for long; but in the course of nature I shall probably be called -away first, and for your children’s sake I hope you may yet live many -years, and that those years may be for you as free as possible from the -infirmities of age.” - -“And it is that I wish for you, dear father, for _your_ children’s -sake; my own especially,” she returned, gazing lovingly into his eyes. - -Another tap at the door, and Edward and Zoe entered, each carrying a -baby. - -“Here we come, mamma, with your birthday gifts,” cried Zoe gayly, “and -wishing you many, many happy returns of the day.” - -“Thank you, my dears; but O Zoe, this is too much exertion for you! -you should not have done it, my child!” Elsie answered, stepping -hastily forward and taking little Laurie from his young mother’s arms, -while Zoe sank into an easy-chair, panting a little, the color coming -and going in her cheeks. - -“The nurse carried him to the very door, mamma,” she said; “and I -thought I was stronger than I am.” - -“It is my fault,—I should not have allowed it,” said Edward, looking -anxiously at Zoe. - -“Don’t be alarmed, my dear; I am not injured in the least,” she -responded, smiling up into his face as he stood over her, forgetting -everything else in concern for her. “You haven’t presented your half of -the gift to mamma; nor any good wishes either.” - -“As if both halves didn’t belong to both of us,” he responded, with an -amused smile. “Mamma, I wish you many, many happy returns of the day, -and beg to present you with what I consider a priceless treasure—my -little daughter, your youngest granddaughter,” laying the babe in the -arms she held out to receive it, having already resigned the other to -its great-grandsire. - -“They are indeed priceless treasures, and very dear to their -grandmamma’s heart,” she said, cuddling it close in her arms and -pressing kisses on the tiny velvet cheek. - -“Now, mamma, it’s Laurie’s turn,” remarked the young mother laughingly; -“you didn’t take time to kiss him, in your concern for me, and it will -never do to be partial.” - -“No, certainly not,” Grandma Elsie said, exchanging babies with her -father, “but they are so exactly alike in looks that one will have to -be a little careful to make sure of avoiding such a mistake.” - -But now came Mrs. Dinsmore, Rosie, and Walter with their -congratulations and good wishes. - -The scene was a lively one for a little while; then the old people, and -Zoe and Edward with their babies, withdrew, leaving Grandma Elsie alone -with the youngest two of her flock. - -They spent a short time together in the usual way, then the breakfast -bell rang, and at the same moment the family carriage drove up to the -door bringing her college boys, who had arrived in the village by an -early train which the carriage had been sent to meet. - -Each in turn must hold his mother in a long, tender embrace; then -greetings with the others were to be exchanged, questions asked and -answered on both sides; so that it was some time before any attention -was paid to the summons to the breakfast-table; and when they did -gather about the board the flow of talk was such as to seriously -interfere with the business of eating, so that the meal was prolonged -to twice its ordinary length. - -Zoe, down for the first time since the advent of the twins, was -smiling, happy, eager to show her darlings to the young uncles. - -They had already given congratulations by letter to her and Edward, and -had not been many minutes in their company before renewing them. - -“I am quite in haste to see my new niece and nephew,” said Harold. “I -presume, Zoe, they are the prettiest, brightest, sweetest wee mortals -that ever were seen. Isn’t it so?” - -“Of course they are to their mother,” she answered laughingly, “but -she doesn’t expect anybody else, except papa,”—with an arch look at -Edward—“to see the darlings through the same rose-colored glasses. You -and Herbert shall judge for yourselves presently though; they will be -on exhibition as soon as prayers are over.” - -“We may judge for ourselves, you say, Zoe, but dare we express our -opinions freely, should they not coincide with that of the parents?” -queried Herbert, in a bantering tone. - -“At a safe distance I think you may venture,” returned Zoe demurely. - -“But Zoe won’t be the only one to take part with Laurie and Lily should -anybody have the bad taste to utter a word in depreciation of them,” -remarked Rosie warningly. - -“And yet this is called a free country!” exclaimed Harold, with an -expressive shrug of his shoulders. - -“Ion’s to be a monarchy to-day,” remarked Walter. “Mamma’s to be -crowned queen of it in the arbor.” - -“Indeed!” exclaimed his mother in surprise and amusement. “It is the -first hint I have had that such doings were in contemplation.” - -“Yes, mamma,” said Rosie, “we have been keeping it a secret from you, -and Walter’s communication is a little premature. But it really doesn’t -signify, for you would have had to know very soon.” - -“Yes, I suppose so, for some of our guests—the nearest relations at -least—will soon begin to arrive. But when is this important ceremony to -take place?” - -“I suppose as soon as the guests are all here, mamma.” - -“The other ceremony—the presentation of the babies to their newly -arrived uncles—will be gone through with first, doubtless?” Harold -remarked, in an inquiring tone. - -“Oh, yes; of course,” answered several voices, as they all rose from -the table and withdrew to the library to unite in the usual morning -worship. - -The babies’ dainty crib had been brought down to an adjoining room for -the day, and there they lay sweetly sleeping. - -As soon as the short service had come to an end, Zoe, motioning to -Harold and Herbert to follow, led the way to the side of the crib, and -laying back the cover brought the two tiny forms to view lying side by -side, the little plump faces turned toward each other, round, rosy, and -dimpled. - -“There, aren’t they beauties, boys?” exclaimed Zoe, bending over her -treasures in a perfect rapture of mother-love and admiration. “Did you -ever see anything half so sweet?” - -“Well, really, they are quite passable, considering their extreme -youth,” returned Harold sportively. “I say, Ned, what would you take -for them?” - -“They are not in the market, sir,” replied the young father, regarding -them with pride and admiration. “Though you should offer every dollar -you possess it would be utterly contemned.” - -“Ah, ’tis just as well, Ned, for I should not know what to do with such -tender, delicate little morsels of humanity if I had them.” - -“You don’t half appreciate them,” said Zoe, half jestingly, half in -earnest, “you don’t deserve the honor of being their uncle.” - -“We’ll enjoy and appreciate them more a year or two hence, when they -can be romped and played with,” remarked Herbert. “But, really, Zoe, -they’re as pretty as any young baby I ever saw.” - -Rosie looked in at the door with the announcement, “The Woodburn -carriage is coming up the avenue,” and the three brothers hurried out -to greet its occupants. They were the whole Raymond family, from the -captain down to baby Ned, and scarcely had greetings been exchanged -with them when the Lelands from Fairview arrived, and Grandma Elsie had -all her children about her. - -She was the centre of attraction; everybody had an embrace, good -wishes, and a gift for her, and all were most graciously received. - -But her daughters presently hurried her away to her private apartment, -where they busied themselves in attiring her for the day in such manner -as suited their own ideas of what would be most fitting and becoming, -she smilingly submitting to their will. - -“You must wear white, mamma,” said Violet; “nothing could be more -suitable to the weather or more becoming to you. Do you not say so, -Elsie?” - -“Yes,” replied Mrs. Leland, opening her mother’s wardrobe and glancing -over the dresses hanging there; “and it will please grandpa better than -anything else. There,” taking down a nun’s veiling, “this is just the -thing.” - -“My dears, remember how many years have flown over your mother’s head, -and don’t dress me too youthfully,” Grandma Elsie said, with an amused -look and smile. - -“Never fear, mamma,” returned Violet in her sprightly way, “how can you -fear for a moment that your daughters would do such discredit to the -training of so good and wise a mother as theirs?” - -“What ornaments shall mamma wear?” asked Rosie. - -“Only flowers—natural flowers,” returned her sisters, both speaking at -once. - -“Oh, yes; and they must be roses and lilies; a knot of them at her -throat, and another at her waist. I’ll go and get them myself,” -exclaimed Rosie, hurrying from the room. - -In one of the lower apartments of the mansion she found Zoe, Edward, -and his brothers, Mr. Leland and Evelyn, Captain Raymond and his -children, all busy with flowers from conservatories, gardens, fields, -and woods, which were piled in fragrant heaps upon tables and in -baskets, making them into bouquets, wreaths, garlands, and arranging -them in vases. - -With deft fingers Zoe was weaving a beautiful wreath. - -“Oh, Zoe, how lovely!” exclaimed Rosie. “It is to be mamma’s crown, -isn’t it?” - -“Yes; and everything in it has a meaning; these laurel leaves are to -say to mamma, and everybody, that she is the glory of this house; this -calla lily, that she is beautiful (though of course no one who looks -at her can help seeing that without being told); this sweet alyssum, -that she has worth beyond beauty; this white jessamine, that she is -amiability itself; the yellow, that she has grace and elegance; this -china rose means the same; this moss rose, superior merit; this myrtle, -that we all love her dearly, dearly!” - -“Oh, what a nice story they tell!” exclaimed Rosie; “the wreath has my -entire approval,” she added, with a merry laugh. - -“What a relief to my mind!” said Zoe, joining in the laugh. “We’re -going to make a perfect bower of the dining-room, the only room in the -house that will be much used by the company to-day.” - -“That’s a nice idea; we must have flowers everywhere to-day in mamma’s -honor. I have come to select some for the adornment of her person.” - -“This is for that very purpose,” said Zoe, holding up her nearly -completed wreath, and regarding it with satisfaction. - -“Yes, I know; but I want a knot of flowers for her throat, and another -for her belt. Roses, lilies, and heliotrope.” - -“Grandma Elsie is versed in the language of flowers, isn’t she?” asked -Evelyn. - -“Yes, indeed!” answered Rosie. - -“Oh, then, wouldn’t it be a nice idea for each of us to select a few -flowers expressing our feelings of love, admiration, and so forth; -then, after Grandpa Dinsmore has put the crown on her head, go one at -a time, kneel before her on one knee, kiss her hand, and present the -little floral offering?” - -“Capital!” “Quite a bright thought, Eva!” “Just the thing!” exclaimed -several voices, in response to the suggestion. - -“Oh, let’s do it!” said Lulu. “I think it would be ever so nice!” - -“All in favor say aye,” said Harold. - -A chorus of “Ayes,” in response. - -“Contrary, no!” - -A dead silence. - -“The ayes have it,” he announced; “but of course everybody is at -liberty to do exactly as he or she pleases.” - -“I don’t know anything about the language of flowers,” remarked Grace -shyly. - -“And my memory needs refreshing on the subject,” Herbert said, smiling -pleasantly on the little girl. “So I’ll bring a book from the library -that will tell us what we want to know.” - -“Will it be objectionable if several of us choose the same flower?” -asked Lulu. - -“Oh no, not at all,” replied Harold. “I shall take some of these -beautiful pinks. This one means pure affection; this clove pink, -dignity; this double red, pure, ardent love; this white one, ‘You are -fair.’ I should like to say all that to mamma.” - -“So should I,” said Grace. “May I take some of the same flowers, Uncle -Harold?” - -“Surely, dear child,” he returned, selecting them for her. - -“A bit of myrtle, too, please,” she said; “because I do love Grandma -Elsie dearly.” - -“I want a bit of that, too,” Lulu said, “and all the kinds of lilies -and roses that mean something nice. I do think they are the loveliest -flowers!” - -“I’ll have heliotrope, ‘I love you,’ pansy, ‘Think of me,’ purple -heartsease, some of the myrtle, and honeysuckle, ‘bond of love,’” -Evelyn said, after consulting the book Herbert had brought, and culling -them from the fragrant heaps as she spoke. - -In the mean time Rosie had made up the two bouquets she had come for. -“See!” she said, holding them up to view, “aren’t these roses and -lilies just the perfection of beauty? They’ll put the finishing touch -to mamma’s attire, and I’ll be back presently to select others as my -offering to the queen of the day.” - -So saying she tripped gayly away. - -“There, the crown is done!” said Zoe, turning it about in her hands and -viewing it with a satisfied smile. - -The others pronounced it beautiful. - -“Now I’ll help with the wreaths for the rooms.” - -“No, no, my dear, you have exerted yourself quite enough for one day,” -said her husband. “Just lie back in that easy-chair and give as many -directions as you please.” - -“Nonsense!” she exclaimed, laughing, “you are as careful of me as if I -were made of the finest china or glass.” - -“A great deal more so,” he returned, with a look that spoke volumes of -loving appreciation, and bending over her to bring his lips close to -her ear, “Your price is above rubies, my darling,” he added, in a low -aside. - -“Dear Ned, you are so good to me!” she responded, lifting to his eyes -as full of love as his own. - -“The queen of the day! the queen of all our hearts!” announced Rosie, -preceding her mother and sisters into the room. - -“We are all ready to do her homage,” said the captain, stepping forward -and saluting his mother-in-law with much respect and affection. - -The others were prompt to follow his example, all crowding about her -with expressions of love and admiration. - -“You are too good to me, my dear children and grandchildren,” she said, -glad tears springing to her eyes. “I am quite sensible that I am by no -means the beautiful and admirable person your affectionate appreciation -leads you to imagine.” - -“O mamma,” exclaimed Zoe, “there’s no imagination about it! Girls, you -have shown great taste in arraying her for the occasion; it only needs -the addition of my floral crown to make her dress quite perfect.” - -But carriages were driving up the avenue, and near friends and -relatives came pouring in with their congratulations and gifts, which -last were received with grateful thanks and bestowed, for the present, -in a small reception-room set apart for the purpose. - -When the last of the guests had arrived all repaired to the grounds, -wending their way toward the arbor where the heroine of the day was -seated on an extemporized throne garlanded with flowers, while her -father made a neat little speech and placed the floral crown on her -head, then, dropping on one knee at her feet, kissed her hand and -presented a bouquet of calla lilies, pinks, and roses. - -It was altogether a surprise to her, and a vivid blush mantled her -cheek. - -“My dear father,” she said, low and tenderly, looking up into his face, -with eyes half filled with tears, as he rose and stood by her side, -“you should never have knelt to me—your own child.” - -“Only in sport, dearest,” he said, bending down and imprinting a kiss -upon her lips; “you know young lads like myself must be allowed to -indulge in a trifle of that kind occasionally.” - -He stepped aside, and amid much jesting and mirth, the others followed -his example till the throne and its occupant were half hidden in the -fragrant heaps of floral offerings. - -But father and sons, coming to the rescue, extricated her without -damage to person or attire, and she went about among her guests doing -the honors of the place with a sweet and gentle dignity all her own. - -There were no strangers among them, however, and everybody felt at home -and free to follow his or her own inclinations, to sit and converse in -the grateful shade of the fine old trees, wander about lawn, shrubbery, -and gardens, or take part in the active sports with which the children -and youth of the company were delighting themselves. - -But it was not in the kind heart of Grandma Elsie to neglect her poorer -guests. Her father, sons, and a few others accompanying her, she paid -a short visit to each assembly, went about among them with kindly -inquiries concerning their health and welfare (no air of condescension -marring their enjoyment of her sweet looks and words), and distributing -gifts—from a large basket carried by two men-servants—of such articles -of food and clothing as she knew would be acceptable; for, ever, like -her Master, going about doing good, she was a frequent visitor in their -dwellings and well acquainted with their needs. - -And they looked upon her as a kind, powerful friend, from whom they -might ever expect with confidence, sympathy and help in their trials and -struggles with life’s hard problems. - -The birthday feast at the mansion was served somewhat later in the -day; a banquet, not only of such things as appease the hunger of the -physical man, but also “a feast of reason and a flow of soul.” - -The celebration of Grandma Elsie’s semi-centennial was pronounced by -every one so fortunate as to have a share in it to have been from -beginning to end a most decided success. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - -Max and Lulu were on the veranda at Woodburn,—its only occupants. -The western sky was all aglow with the gorgeous hues of a brilliant -sunset; rich masses of purple, gold, amber, pale-green, and delicate -rose color were piled from the horizon half way up to the zenith, while -flecks, patches, and long streaks of flame, changing every moment—here -spreading and deepening, there contracting and fading to paler -tints—stretched above and beyond on every side. - -It was a grand scene, and Max, who was whittling a bit of soft wood, -paused for several minutes to gaze upon it with admiration and delight. - -“What a splendid sunset!” he exclaimed, turning toward his sister. - -But she was absorbed in a story-book, holding it in a way to catch -the last beams of the fading light, and reading on with eager haste, -utterly oblivious to the glories of the sunset sky, and the beauties of -the grounds arrayed in all the verdure of June. - -“Lu, you’re straining your eyes, reading by this fading light,” said -Max. “If papa were here he would certainly tell you to stop at once.” - -Lulu made no reply, but continued to read as if she had not heard the -remark. - -Max waited a moment, then began again, “Lu—” - -“Oh, Max, do be quiet!” she exclaimed impatiently, without moving her -eyes from the page. - -Max gazed at her for another minute without speaking, an odd sort of -smile in his eyes and playing about the corners of his mouth. - -“Yes, I’ll do it,” he muttered under his breath; “now’s as good a time -as any for the experiment.” - -At that instant their father’s voice was heard in grave, slightly -reproving accents, coming apparently from the hall. “Lulu!” - -“Sir,” she answered promptly, dropping her book, while a vivid color -suffused her cheek. - -“Don’t read any longer; you will injure your eyes. Lay aside your book -and come here to me.” - -She obeyed at once, hurrying into the hall. Max looking after her with -a gleam of mingled fun and triumph in his eyes. - -“Why, papa, where are you?” he heard her ask the next moment; then she -came rushing back with a face full of astonishment and perplexity. -“Max, where can papa be? didn’t you hear him call me? I was sure he was -in the hall, but he isn’t; and I can’t find him in any of the rooms. -And oh, now I remember he drove away with Mamma Vi not half an hour -ago, and they were going to the Oaks, and he couldn’t possibly be back -by this time, even if they didn’t stop there long enough to get out of -the carriage. Besides, we would have seen it drive up from the gate.” - -“Couldn’t they have come back through the wood, as you and I do -sometimes?” - -“Yes, so they could; but even then we should have seen and heard -them, and—no, they can’t have come back. Papa can’t be at home; and -yet I heard him call me as plainly as ever I did in my life. Oh!—” -and she dropped into a chair with a look of dread and alarm that half -frightened her brother. - -“Max,” she went on in low, half-tremulous tones, “I—I—do believe it -means that I’m going to die.” - -“Why, Lu!” he exclaimed, “I should never have thought you could be so -silly! What on earth can have put that notion into your head?” - -“I’ve heard stories of people hearing themselves called in that -mysterious way and dying very soon afterward,” she answered, looking -rather ashamed. - -“Well, that’s all nonsense,” he returned with an air of superior -wisdom. “I’m perfectly sure papa would tell you so.” - -“Maybe you wouldn’t care if you thought it did mean that?” she said, -half-interrogatively. - -“Oh, of course not; you don’t suppose I care anything about you, do -you?” - -“Yes; I know you do. And if you didn’t, you know papa loves me, and -would be grieved to lose me, and you love him well enough to be sorry -on his account.” - -“Well, maybe so; though I hadn’t thought it out. But you’re very -healthy, and I’ve a notion are going to outlive all the rest of us.” - -“Dear me, how awful that would be!” she cried; “to be left all alone, -after seeing you all dead and buried. I believe I’d rather go first.” - -“But not very soon?” - -“No, I—think I’d like to live a little longer; we do have such good -times nowadays—in our own home with papa. But—Max, who could have -called me like that?” she queried, with a look of anxious perplexity. -“You heard it, too, didn’t you?” - -“Yes.” - -“But why do you laugh, and look so pleased and amused? I should think -you’d be troubled by the mysteriousness of it, same as I am.” - -“No, I’m not,” he answered, “because it isn’t really very mysterious to -me. Lu, to save you from worrying, I’ll explain.” - -She looked at him in wide-eyed surprise. - -“Then you know who it was?” - -“Yes; it was I—myself.” - -“You? why how—what do you mean, Max?” - -“That I’ve found out that I’m a ventriloquist, like Cousin Ronald.” - -“Oh, Maxie! is that so? Oh, how nice!” - -“Yes; I wondered if I could do it, and I asked him to tell me exactly -how he did it, and if people could learn how if they tried very hard. -He said it depended upon practice and dexterity, and explained and -showed me as nearly as he could; and I tried, and would go off into the -wood yonder, when I could get a chance without anybody noticing, and -practice. To-night I thought I’d try it on you, and I’m just delighted -that I succeeded so well.” - -“Indeed you did!” she exclaimed. “I don’t believe Cousin Ronald himself -could have done it any better. Oh, Max, I think it’s ever so nice! what -fun we shall have! Try it on papa when he comes home; do! He wouldn’t -be vexed; papa enjoys fun just as much as we do, and is never angry, -even if the joke is at his expense.” - -“No, indeed! and I never had a boy friend that was better company, or -even as good, going gunning or fishing, or in a game of base-ball, or -anything else.” - -“And I never enjoy our parlor games half so much when he doesn’t take -part.” - -“No; but he always does, unless he’s too busy or has company to -entertain. I tell you, Lu, it’s just splendid to have a father you can -talk to just as freely as if he was a boy like yourself—tell him all -you think and feel, and see that he’s interested, and know that if your -thoughts and feelings aren’t right he’ll show you it’s so without being -angry or stern, or making you feel that he considers you a simpleton or -a fool. I like to be reasoned with as if I had some sense; and that’s -the way papa does with me; and sometimes he asks my opinion, as if he -thought it was worth something.” - -“Yes, I know he does; and mine too, and I’m younger than you, and not -nearly so far along in my studies. But, oh, Max, let’s be thinking -of the tricks you can play with your ventriloquism. What will you do -to-night to astonish papa and Mamma Vi?” - -“I don’t know; have you any suggestion to make?” - -She had several, and was very eager to see one or more of her plans -tried. Max had some of his own too, and they made themselves very merry -talking them over. - -The sunset glow had faded from the sky, but the moon had risen and -was flooding the beautiful grounds with silvery light. Suddenly a -mocking-bird in a tree close at hand began to pour forth a perfect -flood of melody. The children ceased talking to listen to its song. - -“Oh, isn’t that delicious music?” cried Lulu, as the bird paused for a -moment. “Max, you couldn’t do that, could you?” - -“No, indeed,” laughed Max. “I’d give a great deal if I could. But hark, -he’s beginning again.” - -“It sounds as if he’s praising God,” Lulu remarked, at the next pause; -“he sings as if his little heart is so full of joy and thankfulness -that he doesn’t know how to express it.” - -“Yes,” said Gracie’s voice, close at her side. “I think he’s rejoicing -in the beautiful moonlight, Lu; and isn’t it lovely? It makes a rainbow -in the spray of the fountain, and I can see the dewdrops glitter in the -grass. And look at the fireflies dancing in and out among the trees and -bushes.” - -“Some of them soaring away above the tree-tops,” put in Max. - -“And maybe birdie is rejoicing in the sweet scent of the roses and -honeysuckle, the mignonette, the moon-flowers, and others too numerous -to mention,” said Lulu. “But where have you been all this time, Gracie?” - -“With Elsie and baby Ned. Mamma put them to bed as usual before she -and papa went, but she couldn’t stay till Elsie went to sleep, and I -offered to stay beside Elsie and sing to her and tell her stories, and -mamma said I might, and she would be very much obliged to me for it.” - -“That was good in you, Gracie,” Lulu said, pulling Grace down into her -lap, and putting her arm round her; “I suppose it was my place to do -it, really, as I’m the oldest, but I never thought of it. But you are -always such a dear, kind, unselfish girl.” - -“And so you are,” said Max and Grace, speaking together, Max adding, -“Who was it was so brave the night the burglars got into the strong -room, and so unselfish as to prefer to risk her own life, locking them -in there, rather than have papa risk his?” - -“Lulu, of course,” said a voice that sounded like Evelyn Leland’s, -speaking near at hand, on the other side of the little girls, “for who -else would have done it?” - -Even Lulu was startled enough to turn her head, half-expecting to see -her friend standing there, while Grace sprang up and turned in the -direction of the sound, exclaiming, “Why, Eva when did you come? I -didn’t know you were here! Oh, she isn’t there! How quickly she got -away—into the hall, I suppose,” running toward the door. “Eva, Eva,” -she called, “where can you have gone to so fast?” - -Max and Lulu looked after her with a low, gleeful laugh. - -“Another success for you, Max,” Lulu said. - -“Oh, I hope Gracie won’t be frightened!” he exclaimed, in sudden fear -of the effect of his experiment upon his timid, nervous little sister, -and just then Grace came hurrying back, looking a little alarmed and -very much perplexed. - -“Why,” she said, “where could Eva have gone to? I’ve looked all about -and can’t find her.” - -“Shall I tell her, Max?” asked Lulu. - -“Yes,” he answered, and Lulu went on, “Max has learned to be a kind of -Cousin Ronald, Gracie, and we shall have lots of fun because of it, -don’t you think so?” - -“A ventriloquist, do you mean?” asked Grace in astonishment. “Why, how -can he?” - -“Because he is so smart, I suppose,” laughed Lulu. “Aren’t you proud of -being the sister of such a genius? I am.” - -“Yes,” returned Grace promptly. “I always was proud of Maxie. But this -astonishes me very much indeed. Oh, I’m ever so glad of it! I’m sure he -can make a great deal of fun for himself and us. Does papa know?” - -“No,” said Max, “and you mustn’t tell him. When he comes home we’ll -see if we can’t have some fun out of him. He’ll enjoy it as much as we -will.” - -“Of course; and be as proud of you, Maxie, as Lu and I are.” - -Just then they saw the carriage, bringing their parents, turn in at the -great gates leading from the highway into the Woodburn grounds, and -come rapidly up the drive. - -It drew up before the entrance, and the captain alighted and handed out -his wife. - -The children, always delighted to see them return after even the -shortest absence, sprang up and ran forward with eager, joyous -greetings. - -“I hope you have not been lonely, dears?” said Violet, bending down to -receive and return an ardent kiss from Grace. “But I must hurry up to -the nursery to see how the babies are doing.” - -“Papa, sit down in this easy-chair, please,” said Lulu. - -“And let me take your hat and hang it on the rack,” added Max. - -“And may I get you a glass of ice-water?” - -“And I a fan?” asked Lulu and Grace. - -“Thank you, my darlings, I do not feel the need of either,” he -answered, seating himself and drawing Grace to his knee, Lulu to his -side, and putting an arm affectionately around each. - -Max drew up a chair close to his father’s side. “Had you a pleasant -time, papa?” he asked. - -“Very; we happened upon quite a number of the relatives—Dr. Conly and -his brother Calhoun, from Roselands, the Fairview family, Grandpa and -Grandma Dinsmore, and Grandma Elsie. Some of them were spending the -day, while others, like ourselves, had just dropped in for a call.” - -At the sound of the carriage-wheels on the driveway, Prince, Max’s big -Newfoundland dog, had come rushing round from the back of the house -with a joyous welcoming bark. He was devotedly attached to every member -of the family, to no one of them more than to the captain. He had -followed Max into the hall and out again, and stood close beside him -now, evidently considering himself entitled to make one of the little -group; pushing himself a little farther in among them, he laid his head -on Grace’s lap, wagging his tail in pleased expectancy, and looking up -wistfully into the captain’s face. - -“Good Prince! good dog!” the captain said kindly, stroking and patting -the dog’s head. “How are you to-night, old fellow?” - -“Wide awake, and glad to see you home, sir,” were the words that seemed -to come from Prince’s own mouth in reply. - -“What!” exclaimed the captain, hastily putting Grace off his knee to -rise and turn round toward the open hall door, “Cousin Ronald here? -Children, why didn’t you tell me he had come?” - -He was moving quickly in the direction of the doorway as he spoke, -the children exchanging amused glances and finding some difficulty in -suppressing an inclination to laugh aloud. - -The captain glanced within the hall, saw no one, though it was -brilliantly lighted, then turning toward the little group, “Max,” he -asked, “where is Mr. Lilburn?” - -“I don’t know, papa; not here; at least, I have not seen or heard -anything of him.” - -“Strange!” said his father, with a look of perplexity. “Ah, I see you -are all laughing. Come, if you can explain Prince’s sudden power of -speech, do so at once.” - -Captain Raymond’s tones were perfectly pleasant; evidently he was not -at all angry at the liberty taken with him. - -He sat down again, and they crowded round him, Max answering, “Yes, -sir”; the little girls, “Max can tell you, papa,” generously resigning -to him the pleasure of revealing the secret. - -The captain began to have an inkling of the truth. “Out with it, Max,” -he said, pretending to be very stern; “so you’ve been playing tricks on -your father, have you? I never expected such disrespectful treatment -from you.” - -Max had dropped his eyes and did not see the twinkle of fun in his -father’s. - -Coloring deeply, “Papa,” he said in a remorseful tone, “I—I wouldn’t -for anything have been disrespectful to you; I didn’t mean it; there’s -nobody else I so sincerely respect as I do you. Please forgive me, and—” - -“My boy, don’t you see that I am only in jest?” the captain asked, -taking his hand and holding it in a kindly pressure. “But come,” he -added sportively, “make a clear breast of it now, and let me judge -whether you have sinned beyond forgiveness.” - -Max answered with a full confession and explanation, making them as -brief as possible; and his sisters gave a mirthful account of the -exhibitions of his power that he had given them. - -“Well, my son,” the captain said, “this newly discovered talent may be -made a source of innocent amusement to yourself and others, but I trust -you will never use it to injure or annoy—unless the victim of a slight -annoyance is to be more than recompensed for it by the after results,” -he added in a playful tone, laying his hand affectionately on the boy’s -head. - -Max heaved a sigh of relief. “I’ll try not to, papa,” he said, with an -arch look and smile up into his father’s face, “and you’ll forgive me -for tricking you, won’t you?” - -“Yes; taking into consideration the extenuating circumstance of its -being the first offense.” - -“Thank you, sir. But I hope you don’t forbid me to try it on Mamma Vi, -one of these times?” returned Max insinuatingly, and with another arch -look and smile. - -“No, I shall not, as I incline to the opinion that she would rather -enjoy it,” laughed his father. - -“Oh, Max, when will you do it?” cried Lulu. “Gracie and I will want to -be there to see and hear it all, for you know it’s only once you can -play the trick on any one person; at least if you try it again they’re -very apt to think immediately that it’s you doing it.” - -“I’ll take some time when you two girls are by,” said Max; “papa also. -But perhaps,” with an inquiring glance at his father, “I’d better not -try any more of it to-night.” - -“No; it is time now for prayers,” the captain answered. “We will go in, -and, Max, you may ring for the servants.” - -They all repaired to the library, where Violet and the servants -presently came also, and the short service was held. - -At its conclusion, as the children were bidding good-night, Violet -noticed a large doll sitting in state in its own tiny chair. She picked -it up, saying, “Ah, Elsie has forgotten her favorite Fatima, and will -probably be crying out for her before morning.” - -Max’s eyes twinkled, and he sent a questioning, wishful glance in his -father’s direction. - -The captain smiled, and gave a nod of acquiescence. - -“Where’s my little mamma?” asked a tiny voice, that seemed to issue -from Fatima’s lips. “Please take me to my little mamma.” - -Violet started and opened her eyes wide in astonishment, then glancing -quickly around the room, “Cousin Ronald!” she exclaimed. “But where is -he?” - -No answer but a half-suppressed giggle from the little girls, and an -exchange of amused glances between them, their father, and Max. - -“Captain, is Cousin Ronald here? have you seen him? What does it all -mean?” Violet asked, piling one question upon another. - -“No, my dear, but it seems he has left a representative behind him,” -returned her husband pleasantly, laying a hand on Max’s shoulder, and -giving him a little playful shake. - -“Max!” she cried in fresh astonishment; “is it possible that you can -imitate his powers as a ventriloquist so well, Maxie?” - -Max modestly repeated the explanation already made to his father and -sisters; they gave a laughing account of his exploits witnessed by -them, then the captain bade Lulu and Grace say good-night and seek -their nests. - -“But you, Max, my son,” he added, “may stay a little longer. I have -something to say to you.” - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - -The captain opened his secretary, took a letter from one of its -pigeon-holes, glanced over the contents, restored the missive to its -place, then turned to Max, who stood patiently waiting by his side. - -“We will go out on to the veranda and have our talk there, my boy,” he -said, leading the way, Max following, “the air is so much pleasanter -there than within doors this warm evening.” - -“Yes, sir; perfectly delightful, I think, papa; I don’t know where a -lovelier, happier home than ours can be found.” - -“Ah, I am very glad you appreciate it, my dear boy,” the captain said, -with a pleasant look, beginning to pace the length of the veranda to -and fro, Max keeping close at his side, “and I shall miss my eldest -hope sadly when the time comes for him to leave the home nest. Have you -made up your mind yet as to what calling you would like best to pursue?” - -“I have been thinking a great deal about it of late, papa, and if you -are willing, and there is an opening for me, I want to go into the -navy.” - -“I willing? Entirely so. I have not lost my old love for the service, -and shall not grudge my son to it.” - -“Perhaps I inherit my love for it from you, papa,” remarked Max. “Any -way, I know that your having been in it, and hearing you speak so -highly of it, has had a good deal to do with my desire to go into it; -and your son could hardly fail to be patriotic and full of love to the -old flag. Then you have furnished me with so much interesting reading -about the doings of our navy in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, -and the Civil War, that it’s no wonder I feel a strong desire to help -in its work if we ever have another one.” - -“No, I suppose I have only myself to blame,” his father said -pleasantly, “yet I am not at all sure that I should act otherwise if I -could go back to the time of your babyhood and begin over again. - -“Well, Max, to-day’s mail brought me the offer of an appointment to a -naval cadetship for my son, if I desired it. My boy, shall I accept for -you?” - -“If you think best, papa, I’ll be delighted to have you do it,” Max -said, in a joyous tone. “But am I old enough to go this year?” - -“Just the right age,” answered his father, half-sighing at the thought -of the separation the acceptance of the offered appointment must -involve. “But, Max, I fear I may have shown you the pleasant side of -the life too exclusively. I must discourse to you of its hardships, -before allowing you to decide for or against it.” - -“I hope, papa, you don’t think me such a milksop or coward that I’d -be frightened at the thought of a little hardship?” Max said, with -heightened color. “I’m sure I ought to be willing to stand as much of -such things as my father did.” - -“No, my boy, I should not be the proud and happy father I am if I -were compelled to entertain so mean an opinion of you,” returned the -captain, looking down at the boy with a smile of fatherly pride and -affection. “Perhaps love blinds me to the faults of my first-born, but -to me he seems a son that any man might be proud to call his own; and -if ever tempted to an unworthy act, let the remembrance that it would -go nigh to break your father’s heart to hear of it restrain you from -yielding to the temptation.” - -He paused in his walk and laid a hand affectionately on the lad’s -shoulder. - -“Papa,” returned Max with emotion, “I think no punishment could be too -bad for a boy that could grieve such a father as mine. I—I think I’d -rather die than know I had hurt you so!” - -“I believe it, my son,” responded the captain with feeling; “I have -not the least doubt that you have a very strong affection for me, and -would be very loath to cause me pain. I hope, too, that you are quite -as anxious to please and honor your heavenly Father; much more so, -indeed. - -“But let us sit down here while I tell you of the hardening process a -naval cadet must pass through, and the trials of his after-life as an -officer in the service if he be so fortunate as to secure a permanent -place in it.” - -“Yes, sir, I’ll be glad to hear anything you can tell me about both. I -suppose I’m not quite sure of getting into the academy, even if I do -accept this offer, am I?” - -“No, not quite; there is an examination to pass through, as to both -your physical and educational qualifications. To be accepted, a boy -must be physically sound and of robust constitution; both of which you -are, so far as I can judge; you have never been seriously ill in your -life. - -“Beside, the applicant must have a sufficient knowledge of reading, -writing, spelling, geography, English grammar, United States history, -arithmetic, and algebra. You are well grounded in all these, and must -review during your summer vacation, under the tutor who has had charge -of you for some time past,” he added with playful look and tone. - -“Papa,” Max said, a little tremulously, “shall I ever have such -another? so kind, so patient, and always so ready to take any amount of -trouble to explain things and make them clear to me?” - -“It is not at all impossible that you may find one or more who will be -all that, my boy,” the captain responded, “but certainly none that can -have the same affection for you, the same fatherly joy and pride in -seeing your progress; it would not be natural for any other than your -own parent.” - -“No, sir; I know that; and of course I couldn’t feel the same toward -any other teacher.” - -“I shouldn’t want you to, Max,” laughed the captain; “I must -acknowledge that I couldn’t be quite willing to have my son loving any -other man with the same filial affection that he gives me. - -“But to return to the subject in hand: you will have to resign many -of the luxuries you enjoy at home. You will not be allowed a room to -yourself; you must share it with another cadet, and with him take week -about in keeping it in the most perfect order; sweeping, dusting, and -arranging its contents every morning for inspection; every article will -have a place, and must be found there when not in use. - -“Your furniture will be severely plain; an iron bedstead, a wooden -chair, a washstand, looking-glass, wardrobe, rug, and a table which -you will share with your room-mate. You can have no curtains to your -windows, no maps or pictures to adorn your walls.” - -“I shouldn’t expect the government to provide such things,” remarked -Max, “but can’t I take some from home?” - -“No; it is not allowed.” - -“That seems odd, papa. What harm could it do for a boy to have such -things, if his father could afford to provide them?” - -“It is because some of the lads may come from very poor families, and -the government chooses—very wisely, I think—that all shall fare alike -while students in that national college.” - -“Yes, to be sure,” returned Max thoughtfully; “I think that’s just -as it ought to be; and it will be a trifling hardship to have to do -without such things while I’m there.” - -“The discipline is very strict,” the captain went on, “but my boy has -learned to obey one naval officer, and perhaps will in consequence find -it at least comparatively easy to obey others.” - -“Yes, sir; I hope so.” - -“Your academic standing, number of demerits, and so forth, will be -reported to me once a month, and will gratify or distress me according -to what they are. I am sure the thought of that will be a restraint -upon any inclination my boy may have to idleness or breaches of -discipline.” - -“I ought to be called an ungrateful wretch if it doesn’t, papa. How -long is the course?” - -“If appointed, you will have to take an oath to serve for eight years, -including the probationary period. After graduating two years are spent -at sea, then there is another examination, and if passed successfully -and there is a vacancy to be filled, there will be an appointment to -the line, and to the marine or the engineer corps of the navy.” - -“But if there is no vacancy, papa?” - -“The candidate is, in that case, given an honorable discharge, a -certificate of graduation, and one year’s pay.” - -“I hope I’ll get through all right and that there’ll be a vacancy ready -for me to fill,” said Max. - -“I hope so, my son, if that is your desire; but don’t forget that -there are hardships in a seafaring life that do not fall to the lot -of landsmen: many and long separations from their families, exposure -to danger from disasters at sea or on foreign shores, and others too -numerous to mention at present. Yet it is a life that has many and -great attractions for me. But those I have often told you of.” - -“Yes, sir; and all you have told me to-night does not frighten me out -of my wish; life is very easy here at home, and perhaps it may be good -for me to go through some rougher experiences. Don’t you think so, -papa?” - -“Yes, I rather agree with you in that; a life of luxury and ease is -not the best for the development of a strong, manly, self-reliant -character.” - -“Then you will write and accept for me, will you, sir?” - -“Yes.” - -“How soon do I go to the academy, papa?” - -“In September; and I have a plan for you in the mean time, with which -you will be pleased, I think. - -“I find I must pay a visit to some property that I own in the far West, -and I want my son’s companionship on the trip, supposing he fancies -taking it with me.” - -The captain looked smilingly into the lad’s eyes as he spoke. - -“Oh, papa, how delightful!” cried Max. “Will you really take me with -you?” - -“Such is certainly my intention, if nothing happens to prevent,” the -captain replied, smiling to see how pleased the boy was with the -prospect. - -“Mamma Vi can hardly be going along on such a trip, I suppose?” Max -said inquiringly. - -“Oh no! we could not take the babies along, and she would not be -willing to leave them.” - -“Then are you and I to be the whole party, sir?” - -“I have some thought of inviting Lulu to go with us,” replied his -father. “Do you think she would like it, and that we two could take -proper care of her?” - -Max laughed. “I shouldn’t be a bit afraid to trust anybody to your -care, sir,” he said, “and I’d do anything I could to help. Beside, I -don’t believe Lu’s the sort of girl to give much trouble on such a -journey, and I’m sure she’ll be fairly wild with delight when you tell -her about it, and that she is to go along.” - -“I am of the same opinion, and enjoying the prospect of witnessing her -pleasure on hearing the news. - -“Well, my son, our talk has been a long one, and it is late; time for a -growing boy, such as you, to be in bed. Bid me good-night and go.” - -They both had risen to their feet. Captain Raymond held out his hand -as he spoke. Max promptly put his into it, saying with a bright, happy, -affectionate look up into his father’s face, “Thank you very much, -papa, for all your kind plans for me. Is Lu to hear about the journey -to-night?” - -“I think not,” was the reply; “she is so excitable that I fear such -surprising news might keep her awake. I dare say, though, she is -already in bed and asleep.” - -To make sure of that, he went softly into her room on his way to his -own. He rarely failed to look in upon his little girls after they had -gone to their rooms for the night, and when he did fail it was a sore -disappointment to them. - -Lulu was in bed and had fallen into a doze, but woke at his approach, -albeit he moved with a very quiet step, and started up to a sitting -posture. - -“Papa,” she exclaimed in an undertone, mindful not to rouse Grace -from her slumbers in the adjoining room, “oh, I’m so glad you came!” -throwing her arms round his neck as he reached the bedside and bent -down to give her a kiss. “You must have talked a long time to Maxie. I -was really growing jealous,” she added, with a laugh. - -“Were you?” he asked, seating himself on the edge of the bed and -drawing her into his arms. “Isn’t Maxie entitled to a fair share of -papa’s attentions, as well as of his love?” - -“Oh, yes, indeed! and I wouldn’t want to rob him of a bit of either; -but I do so love the little bedtime chat with you that I’d rather miss -’most anything else.” - -“Well, dear child, perhaps we can have an unusually long talk in the -morning to comfort you for the loss to-night. So go to sleep as fast -as you can, that you may be ready for an early waking,” he said. Then -with another kiss and fervent, “Good-night, my darling, and may He who -neither slumbers nor sleeps have you in his kind care and keeping,” he -left her. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - -Lulu’s first waking thought was of her father’s promise. - -“Perhaps he is going to tell me what he and Maxie were talking -about last night,” she said to herself. “Likely it was something of -importance to keep them so long. I wonder what? Maybe about going to -the seashore, or somewhere, for the hot months, as we always do.” - -She slipped out of bed and began a brisk toilet, determined to be ready -to receive her father whenever he might come. - -She and Gracie were together in their own little sitting-room looking -over their tasks for the day, when hearing his approaching footsteps -they hastily laid aside their books and ran to meet him. - -“Good-morning, my darlings; you look well and bright,” he said, bending -down and opening his arms to receive them. - -“Good-morning, dear papa,” they answered, running into them, and -putting theirs about his neck. “Yes, we are well, and hope you are -too,” hugging and kissing him with ardent affection. - -“Now, papa, won’t you give me that long talk you said I should have -this morning?” pleaded Lulu. - -“Yes; don’t I always keep my promises?” he asked, taking possession of -an easy-chair and allowing them to seat themselves one upon each knee. - -“Yes, indeed you do, papa; sometimes when I’d rather you wouldn’t,” -returned Lulu laughingly. - -“Would you be willing to lose faith in your father’s word, dear child?” -he asked, with sudden gravity. - -“No, papa; no indeed!” she answered earnestly; “that would be worse -than being punished, when I deserve it, for naughtiness that you’ve -said you’d have to punish me for.” - -“I trust there will never again be any call for me to keep such -promises,” he said caressing her. “You have been very good for some -time past, and intend to keep on trying to be so, do you not?” - -“Yes, sir; but I’m afraid the badness that I still feel inside -sometimes will crop out again one of these days,” she said, half-sadly, -half-jestingly. - -“The same danger threatens your father, too,” he said, “and the only -safety for either of us lies in constant watching and prayer.” - -“But, papa, how can we be praying all the time?” - -“The Bible,” he replied, “bids us ‘Pray without ceasing,’ not meaning -that we are to live on our knees, or with words of prayer always on -our lips, for that would be impossible without neglecting other duties -enjoined in God’s Word—such, for example, as ‘Six days shalt thou -labor and do all thy work,’ ‘Distributing to the necessity of saints,’ -and so forth—but that we are to live near to God and with so much of -the spirit of prayer in our hearts that they will be often sending up -swift, silent petitions, or songs of praise and thankfulness. - -“Well, Lulu, I know you are curious to hear what Max and I were -conversing about last night.” - -“Oh, yes, sir, indeed! if you are willing I should know,” she responded -eagerly. - -“Quite willing,” he said. “It was of his choice of a business or -profession. I had received a letter offering an appointment for my -son as a naval cadet; so, as I wish Max to choose for himself, it was -necessary for him to decide, and to do so promptly, whether he would -accept that offer or decline it.” - -“Oh! which did he choose to do, papa?” - -“He said he had quite made up his mind to go into the navy, if he -might, and asked me to write an acceptance for him; which I did before -I went to my bed.” - -“You are always so prompt, papa,” remarked Lulu, putting her arm round -his neck and gazing with loving admiration into his face. - -“Yes,” he said, “I must try to be all I would have my children, for -‘example is better than precept.’” - -“And Maxie will have to go away and not be in school with us any more?” -Grace said, half-inquiringly, tears filling her eyes. - -“Yes, daughter,” her father answered with a slight sigh; “boys can’t be -always kept at home; but I hope to keep my girls a long while yet,” he -added, drawing them into a close embrace as he spoke. - -“Dear, dear! how we will miss Max!” exclaimed Lulu, “but then how nice -it will be when he comes home for his vacations!” - -“So it will,” said the captain. “But now I have something else to tell -you; something which concerns you, Lulu, a little more nearly.” - -“I hope it isn’t that I am to go away too! you can’t make a cadet of -me, though Aunt Beulah called me a tom-boy when I was with her,” Lulu -remarked laughingly. - -“No; but there are other places more suitable for girls,” her father -replied, with a grave look and tone that she was at a loss to interpret. - -“Oh, papa, you can’t mean that really I—I’m going away too?” - -“Perhaps some better instructor than your present one might be found -for you,” he began meditatively, then paused, as if considering the -matter. - -“Oh, no, no, no!” she cried, “there couldn’t be a better one, I’m sure, -and I just love to be taught by you, and couldn’t bear to have anybody -else teach me; ’specially if I had to go away from you. And wouldn’t -you miss me a little, papa?” she asked, with tears in her voice and -hiding her face on his shoulder. - -“Yes; a great deal more than a little should I miss the darling -daughter always so ready, even eager, to run papa’s errands and wait -upon him lovingly,” he said, pressing his lips again and again to her -cheek. “In fact, her companionship is so sweet to me that, having to go -upon a long journey, I would prefer to take her with me. - -“But I shall not force her inclination; if you would rather stay at -home with Mamma Vi and the little ones, you may do so.” - -“Oh, papa, what do you mean?” she asked, looking up in joyful surprise, -not unmixed with perplexity. “Won’t you please explain?” - -“Yes; I am going out to the far West on a business trip, shall take Max -with me, and you, too, if you care to go.” - -“Care to go! wouldn’t I!” she cried, clapping her hands in delight, -and half smothering him with caresses. “Oh, I think I never dreamed -of anything so, so, _so_ delightful! Papa, you are such a dear, dear -father! so, _so_ good and kind to me! Oh, I ought to be the best girl -that ever was made! and if I’m not it shan’t be for want of trying.” - -But tears were rolling down Gracie’s cheeks, and with a little sob she -drew out her handkerchief to wipe them away. - -“O Gracie, dear, I wish you could go too!” exclaimed Lulu. - -“If she were only strong enough,” her father said, caressing her with -great tenderness, “she too should have her choice of going or staying; -but I know the fatigue of the journey would be more than she could -endure.” - -“I don’t want to have a journey,” sobbed Grace; “but how can I do -without papa? without Maxie? and without Lulu? all gone at once?” - -“But mamma and the babies will be left, and you love them dearly, I -know.” - -“Yes, papa, but I love Max and Lu, and oh, I love you better than -anybody else, in all the world!” clinging about his neck and laying her -little wet cheek to his. - -“Sweet words for papa to hear from your lips, darling,” he returned, -holding her close and kissing her many times, “and papa’s love for you -is more than tongue can tell.” - -“Then why will you go away and leave me, papa?” - -“Because business makes it necessary for me to go, darling, and you are -not strong enough to go with me. But cheer up; it will be very pleasant -at home with mamma and the babies; Grandma Elsie and the others coming -over from Ion and Fairview very often; and after a while you will all -be going to some nice seaside resort, where I hope to join you with Max -and Lulu before it is time to come home again.” - -“That will be nice, papa,” she said a little more cheerfully. - -“And how would you like to get a letter from papa now and then? from -Max and Lulu too? and to answer them? You can write very nicely now, -and a talk on paper to your father will be better than none at all, -won’t it?” - -“Oh, I’d enjoy it ever so much, if you’ll excuse the mistakes, papa!” -she exclaimed with animation. - -“Indeed, I will,” he said; and just then the breakfast-bell rang. - -Violet’s face as she met them in the breakfast-room was not quite -so sunny as husband and children were accustomed to see it. She was -feeling very much as Gracie did about the captain’s contemplated -absence from home; also it was a sad thought to her that Max was not -likely ever to be again a permanent resident of his father’s house; he -would be at home now and then for a vacation, but that probably would -be all, for after graduating he would go out into the world to make a -career for himself; and it seemed hard to give him up, for she was fond -of the lad—her husband’s son, and like a dear younger brother to her. -She noted the traces of tears on Gracie’s cheeks with a fellow-feeling -for the child’s distress. - -“So papa has been telling you, dear?” she said, bending down to kiss -the little girl. “Well, we won’t fret; we’ll try to just keep thinking -of the joyful time we shall have when they come back to us.” - -“Oh, that will be nice, won’t it?” exclaimed Lulu. “I’m just wild with -delight at the prospect of going, but I know I’ll be ever so glad to -get back; for this is such a dear, sweet home.” - -“And papa will be in it again when you get back; you’ll have him all -the time going and coming. I’m glad for you, Lu,” Grace said, smiling -affectionately on her sister, through her tears. - -But they had taken their places at the table, and all were quiet for a -moment while the captain craved a blessing on their food. - -Lulu asked a question the instant she was free to do so. “Papa, when -will we start on our journey?” - -“In about a week. Can you get ready in that time?” - -“Oh, yes, indeed, sir! I don’t believe I have anything to do but pack -my trunk. I have plenty of nice clothes and pretty things ready to -wear!” - -“Yes, plenty of them, such as they are; but you will need something -plainer and more durable than the dresses you wear at home.” - -“Shall I, papa?” she asked, in surprise and dismay. “Surely, papa, you -won’t want me to look shabby, and I’ve heard that people dress quite as -handsomely and fashionably away out West as they do here or anywhere -else.” - -“That may be so, daughter,” he said, “but sensible people dress -according to circumstances; suitably for time, place, and occupation; -for instance, a sensible lady wouldn’t put on a ball dress in the -morning and when about to engage in domestic duties, any more than she -would wear a calico wrapper to a ball.” - -“Nor I wouldn’t think of doing either of those things, papa,” she -returned laughing. “But you don’t expect to set me to doing housework -out there, do you?” - -“Perhaps we are to live in a tent and have you for our housekeeper, -Lu,” suggested Max. - -“Oh, is that it?” she exclaimed, with a look of delight. “Oh, that -would be fun! Papa, are we to do so?” - -“I have no such scheme in contemplation,” he said, smiling kindly into -her excited face. “I rather think we will find a place to board, and -that it will not be one where you will find occasion for much fine -dressing. Beside I shall not care to take any one tricked out in laces -and ribbons with me to climb mountains, roam through forests, or go -down into mines, or to ride an Indian or Mexican pony, or a mule, over -rough roads, and that not always in fine weather.” - -“O papa, are you going to let me do such things as that!” she cried, -laying down knife and fork to clap her hands in glee, and feeling a -strong inclination to jump up and dance about the floor. - -“Some, or possibly all of them, if I can have you in suitable attire,” -he answered; “but certainly not otherwise.” - -“What additions to her wardrobe do you wish made, my dear?” asked -Violet. - -“Two or three dresses of some material not easily torn or soiled; -flannel perhaps; and they must be plainly and strongly made, no -flounces, furbelows, or trimming of a kind that would be liable to -catch on twigs or bushes or points of rock.” - -“I shall look like a fright, I’m afraid,” remarked Lulu uneasily, and -coloring deeply; “but I’m willing to for the sake of pleasing you, -papa, and being taken everywhere with you.” - -“That’s right, dear child,” he said, giving her a smile of approval. - -“And I think you will look very nice and neat, Lu,” said Violet. “My -dear, mamma and I are going into the city this morning for a little -shopping, and if you can trust our taste and judgment we will willingly -purchase the goods for Lulu’s dresses. Then I will set Alma to work -upon them at once, and try to get Susan Allen to help her; for I think -it will take both to finish them in season.” - -“An excellent plan, my dear,” the captain replied, “and I shall be -exceedingly obliged if you will undertake it, for I should sooner trust -your and mother’s taste and judgment in such things than my own.” - -“Can’t I go along and help choose my own dresses, papa?” pleaded Lulu. - -“If it didn’t involve neglect of lessons, you might, daughter,” the -captain answered in a very kind tone, “but as that is the case, we must -leave the selection to your mamma and Grandma Elsie.” - -A slight cloud gathered on Lulu’s brow, but it cleared again, when Max -said, “You know, Lu, our school days together are almost over, and you -don’t want to miss any of them; at least I don’t, for I shall never -have another teacher so good at explaining, so kind and so fond of his -pupils, as papa.” - -The lad’s voice trembled a little with the concluding words, in spite -of himself. - -“I’m sure you won’t, Max, and I’m sorry for you,” returned Lulu, with a -slight sigh; “for myself too, that I’m not to have your company in the -school-room after this week.” - -“Please don’t talk about it,” begged Grace, hastily wiping away a tear. -“I’ll just have to try not to think of it, or I’ll be crying all the -time.” - -“Which would not be at all good for your eyes,” added her father, “so -you would better take your mamma’s advice and turn your thoughts upon -pleasant subjects. I have something to suggest; make out a list of all -the toys, books, and other presents you would like to have (supposing -some fairy should come and offer to supply them),” he interpolated with -playful look and tone, “the places you would like to visit, and all the -agreeable ways of spending your time this summer that you can manage to -contrive; and when your list is done let me see it.” - -Grace knew her father well enough to feel quite certain that the making -out of such a list at his suggestion would not be labor lost. - -“I will, papa,” she said, smiling through her tears; “I think I’ll -begin this afternoon, soon as my lessons are learned.” - -Lulu found no small difficulty in fixing her attention upon her tasks -that morning; her thoughts would fly off, now to the Naval Academy, -where her brother was likely to be domiciled in the fall, now to the -far West, with the fresh pleasures there awaiting her father, Max, and -herself. - -Glancing toward her the captain saw that, though a book lay open on the -desk before her, her eyes were fixed on vacancy. He called her to come -to him. She started, coloring deeply, rose, and obeyed. - -“You are not studying,” he said, in a grave, though not unkindly, tone. - -“No, sir; I meant to, but—O papa, I just can’t study when I have so -much else to think about.” - -“Can’t is a lazy word, my daughter,” he replied. “You have a strong -will—which is not altogether a bad thing, though it has given both you -and me a good deal of pain and trouble in past days. I want you to -exert it now and force your truant thoughts to fix themselves upon the -business in hand. Will you not? because it is your duty, and to please -your father who loves you so dearly?” - -“Indeed, I will, papa; and perhaps I shall succeed if I try with all -my might,” she answered, holding up her face for a kiss, which he gave -very heartily. - -Returning to her seat, she set to work with such earnestness and -determination that when summoned to recite she was able to do so to the -entire satisfaction of both her father and herself. - -Max and Grace did equally well, and tutor and scholars withdrew from -the school-room in a happy frame of mind. - -A carriage was coming up the drive, bringing Grandma Elsie and Mrs. -Raymond on their return from the proposed shopping expedition, and at -once Lulu was all excitement to see what they had bought for her. - -“May I see my dresses, Mamma Vi?” she asked, following Violet and her -mother through the hall and up the wide stairway. - -“Yes, Lu, certainly,” replied Violet, “though I’m afraid you will not -think them very pretty to look at,” she added, with a deprecatory -smile. “You know I could only try to carry out your father’s wishes and -directions.” - -“And that I am sure is just what a little girl who loves her father so -dearly, and has such confidence in his judgment, would wish to have -done,” Grandma Elsie remarked, in a pleasant tone. “I think the goods -we have selected will make up into very neat dresses, entirely suitable -for the occasions on which you expect to wear them, Lulu, my dear -child.” - -“Yes, Grandma Elsie, and I mean to be satisfied, even if they don’t -look pretty to me, because I know that you and papa and Mamma Vi are -much wiser than I, and if papa is satisfied with my appearance, I -suppose it really doesn’t make any difference what other folks think,” -returned Lulu, seating herself on a sofa in her mamma’s boudoir and -undoing the package handed her by a servant. - -“Three flannel dresses—a dark brown, a dark blue, and a dark green; all -beautiful shades and nice, fine material,” she commented. “I like them -better than I expected to, but—” - -“Well, dear?” inquired Violet, as the little girl paused without -finishing her sentence. - -“They are very pretty shades,” repeated Lulu, “but I think red—a -dark shade, most black in some lights—would be more becoming to my -complexion. Don’t you, papa?” looking up into his face as he came and -stood by her side. - -“Possibly,” he answered, sitting down and drawing her to his knee, “but -there might be times when it would prove dangerous. Some animals have a -great hatred to that color, and with a red dress on you might be chased -by a turkey gobbler or some large animal,” he concluded laughingly, -hugging her up in his arms and kissing her first on one cheek, then on -the other. - -“Oh, yes! I didn’t think of that!” she exclaimed with a merry laugh. - -“Beside,” he continued in the same sportive tone, “so thoroughly -patriotic a young American as my Lulu surely does not want to be a -redcoat?” - -“No, papa, no, indeed! that would never do for a blue-jacket’s -daughter, would it? Blue’s the right color, after all, and I’m glad -that it was the color chosen for one of the dresses.” - -“And now the next thing is to go up to the sewing-room and have them -cut and fitted,” said Violet. “Alma is there, and will attend to it at -once.” - -“And we’re going to have Mrs. Allen and Susan here to help too, aren’t -we?” queried Lulu, leaving her father’s knee and gathering up the new -purchases. - -“There will be some parts they can work on at home,” said Violet. - -“You and I will drive over with some work for them this afternoon, -Lulu,” said the captain; “and call at Fairview and Ion on our way home, -so that you can have the pleasure of telling your little friends, -Evelyn and Rosie, about the trip you are expecting to take. Here, give -me that bundle; it is a trifle heavy for you to carry, and I’ll go with -you to the sewing-room.” - -“Oh, you’re just the goodest papa!” she returned merrily, readily -yielding up the package, putting her hand into his, and dancing along -by his side as he led her to the sewing-room; “you’re always contriving -something to give me pleasure. It’ll be fun to tell the girls, and I’m -in ever such a hurry to have a chance.” - -“Yes, my daughter Lulu is very apt to be in a hurry,” he said, smiling -down indulgently upon her, “and it is well not to dilly dally when -there is anything to be done, yet sometimes wisest to make haste -slowly.” - -“Papa, don’t tell Alma or Susan that, please,” she whispered, -in a merry aside—for they were nearing the open door of the -sewing-room—“because I want them to make haste fast this time.” - -“No, only that they must be deliberate enough to make sure of doing -the work right; for otherwise it would but be the ‘more haste the less -speed.’” - -“Yes, sir; I remember that old saw, and how I’ve sometimes found it -true.” - -In the neat living-room of their cottage home Mrs. Allen and Susan sat -that bright June afternoon, the mother busily plying her needle, the -daughter running a sewing-machine. - -The little garden was gay with flowers and the vines over the porch -were in full bloom; the drowsy hum of the bees came pleasantly in -at the open door and window, accompanied by the sweet scents of the -flowers, and now and then from an adjacent field or wood the cheery -bird call, “Bob White! Bob White!” - -“How delightful it is here,” remarked Susan, stopping her machine for -a moment to readjust her work; “the air is so sweet; the sounds are -too. I like to hear that bird calling out so cheerily.” - -“Yes,” rejoined her mother, “it is a very agreeable change from the old -sounds of scolding, quarrelling, screaming, and crying that used to -assail our ears in our former abode.” - -“In Rose Alley? Yes, I was just thinking of that, and how hot and -stifling the air must be there to-day. O mother, I do believe I should -have been left alone in the world before now if we had had to stay on -there! When I think of that I feel that I owe a debt of gratitude to -Mrs. Travilla and Captain Raymond that I can never, never pay.” - -“To them and to Him who put it into their hearts to do such great -kindness and gave them the ability,” responded her mother. “I feel like -another woman—find it a pleasure to busy myself with this beautiful -napery. See, I am at the last dozen napkins, and will be ready to -begin on those linen sheets presently. Yes, this is easy and pleasant -employment, yet I should prefer something that would keep me out of -doors most of the day. Dr. Conly says it would be the best thing for -my health, and I have a plan in my head that perhaps I may be able -to carry out if our kind friends approve, and will give me a little -assistance at the start.” - -“What is that, mother?” asked Susan; then glancing from the door, “Oh, -there is the Woodburn carriage!” - -She sprang up and ran down the path to open the gate for its occupants -and bid them welcome. - -They were Grandma Elsie, the captain, and Lulu. They greeted her with a -pleasant, “Good-afternoon,” and kindly inquiries about her mother; then -Lulu, handing out a bundle, said, “I’ve brought you some more work, -Susan; parts of dresses for me. Alma says they are all cut and basted, -so that you won’t need any directions about them; and Mamma Vi says you -may please lay aside other work and do this as promptly as you can.” - -“Yes, Miss Lulu; but won’t you all ’light and come in? A bit of -chat with you and the captain always does mother so much good, Mrs. -Travilla.” - -They had not intended doing so, but that plea was powerful to Grandma -Elsie’s kind heart. - -“Yes, I can spare a few minutes,” she said, in reply to the captain’s -inquiring look. - -He at once alighted, assisted her to do so, and then Lulu. - -They made only a short call, yet it was long enough for Grandma Elsie’s -sympathetic listening and questioning to draw from Mrs. Allen the -secret of her desire for outdoor employment of a kind not too laborious -for her slender strength, and her idea that she might find it in -bee-raising, had she the means to buy a hive, a swarm of the insects, -and a book of instructions. - -“You shall have them all,” Grandma Elsie said, “everything that is -necessary to enable you to give the business a fair trial.” - -“Many thanks, dear Mrs. Travilla,” returned the poor woman, tears of -gratitude springing to her eyes; “and if you will kindly consider -whatever you may advance me as a loan, I accept your kind offer most -gladly.” - -“It shall be as you wish,” Mrs. Travilla replied, “but with the -distinct understanding that the loan is not to be repaid till you can -do it with perfect ease.” - -“And I should be glad to have a share in the good work,” remarked -the captain. “Let it be my part to gather information on bee culture -for you, and help in raising flowers for them to gather honey from. -Doubtless they fly long distances in search of such, but it must be an -advantage to have plenty near at hand.” - -“Ah, sir,” returned Mrs. Allen, “you too are always ready to do -every kindness in your power. I hope God, our heavenly Father, will -abundantly repay you both. I always think of you when reading the words -of the psalmist, ‘Blessed is he that considereth the poor’; for you -give not only money, but time and thought and sympathy, considering -their needs and how you may best supply them.” - -While this talk went on in the parlor Lulu was telling Susan, out in -the living-room, what the dresses were needed for, and going into -ecstasies of delight over the prospect of her journey to the far West -with her father and Max. - -Susan sympathized in her pleasure, and promised to do her best toward -getting her dresses done in season. - -“To Fairview,” was the captain’s order to the coachman, when again they -were seated in the carriage. - -It was but a few minutes’ drive, and on their arrival Lulu was -pleased to find Rosie there with Evelyn, so that she could have the -satisfaction of telling her news to both together, and enjoying their -surprise. It was quite as great as she had expected. - -“How splendid!” cried Rosie. “You are a fortunate girl, Lu. I wonder if -I couldn’t persuade mamma and grandpa to get up some such expedition -and take me along!” - -“I’m very glad for you, Lu, and hope it will be one long pleasure from -beginning to end,” Eva said; “you couldn’t have a more delightful -care-taker than your father, and Max will be good company too. But, -oh dear, how I shall miss you!” she concluded with a sigh, putting her -arms round Lulu and holding her in a close embrace. - -“And I you,” said Lulu. “But when we talk that way at home papa says we -should not think about that, but about the joy of reunion when we get -home again.” - -“Well, Gracie, what progress have you made with that list? Is it ready -for papa’s inspection?” the captain asked, as the children clustered -about him on the veranda after tea that evening. - -“I’ve put down some things, papa, but maybe I can think up some more -before long, if I may have a little more time,” she answered, with an -arch smile up into his face. - -“You can have all the time you want, darling,” he said, caressing her; -“but suppose you let me see what you have already set down.” - -At that she drew a half-sheet of note-paper from her pocket and put it -into his hand. - -He glanced over it and a look of amusement stole over his face. “A -spade, rake, and hoe! I thought you had garden tools,” he said. - -“Yes, papa, but these are to be big ones for Sam Hill to make his -mother’s garden with. He says he always has to borrow now, and the -neighbors get tired lending to him.” - -“Ah, very well, you shall have money to buy them for him. But what do -you want with twenty yards of calico and a piece of muslin?” - -“Sam needs shirts, and his mother some dresses, papa.” - -“And the slates and books are for the younger children?” - -“Yes, sir; and those other things are for the Jones children. You know -their father doesn’t buy them anything to wear, and sometimes he takes -the clothes other folks give them and sells them to buy liquor.” - -“Yes, it is very sad, and we must do the best we can for them. But you -have not put down anything for my little Grace; is there nothing she -would like to have?” - -“I don’t need anything at all, papa. I have so many, many nice things -already.” - -“But I want to give you something to help to keep you from being lonely -while Lulu is enjoying herself in the far West. Ah, I see there is -something! What is it?” - -“A canary bird, papa, that will sing beautifully.” - -“Dear child,” he said, holding her close, “you shall have the finest -that money can buy; a pair of them; and the handsomest cage we can -find. I shall take you to the city to-morrow and let you choose them -for yourself.” - -“Oh, how nice, papa!” she cried, clapping her hands in delight; “then -they will have a pretty home and be company for each other. I was -afraid one would be lonesome all by itself. I was thinking, too, that -I’d be ever so lonely, at night especially, without Lu; but mamma says -she will take me in with her while you are gone.” - -“Very kind and thoughtful in mamma,” was the captain’s comment. - -“You’ll take me to buy them to-morrow afternoon, will you, papa?” she -asked. - -“Yes; if nothing happens to prevent.” - -“And mayn’t Lu and Max go along?” - -“Certainly; if they want to.” - -“Thank you, papa; I’ll be very much pleased to go,” Lulu said; Max -adding, “I too. So there’ll be four of us to choose your two birds, -Gracie.” - -“Perhaps we may be able to persuade your mamma to go too,” the captain -said, as at that moment Violet joined them, “and then there’ll be five -of us.” - -“Go where, my dear?” asked Violet, seating herself by his side. - -He explained, and she accepted the invitation, with the remark that she -did not want to lose his company for a moment of the week he would be -with her before starting on his journey to the West. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - -They all enjoyed their trip to the city the next day, Grace perhaps -more than any of the others. She was allowed to buy everything on her -list, and some others she thought of while on the way or in the stores, -selecting them herself. - -But the first business attended to was the purchase of the canaries. -They succeeded in getting a beautiful pair, fine singers, and a very -handsome cage. Grace was full of delight, and her father pleased -himself with the hope that the new pets would save her from the -loneliness Lulu’s absence would otherwise have caused her. - -They left her all drowned in tears when they set out upon their long -journey, but, as Violet reported to the captain in a letter written on -the evening of that same day, the canaries set up a song so melodious -and full of joy that she presently dried her eyes and hushed her sobs -to listen. - -Violet herself indulged in a few tears over the parting, but for the -sake of Grace and the little ones soon forced herself to assume an air -of cheerfulness. - -Max and Lulu were sorry for those left behind, yet so delighted with -their own good fortune in being permitted to accompany their father, -that they speedily recovered from the sadness of leave-taking and were -never in better spirits. - -It was on Saturday morning they began their journey; the Lord’s day was -spent in a strange city, very much as they would have spent it at home, -and on Monday they started on again, taking a through train that would -carry them to their destination, and on which they spent several days -and nights, finding excellent accommodations for eating and sleeping. - -The captain watched over his children with tenderest care—Lulu -especially, as being the younger and of the weaker sex—and Max was -constantly on the alert to wait upon both her and his father. - -The journey, the longest the children had ever taken, was without -accident; there was no detention, and the luxurious appointments of the -cars prevented it from being very fatiguing. - -They made some pleasant acquaintances, among them an English gentleman -and his son,—a lad about Max’s age. - -Mr. Austin, a man of wealth and refinement, was travelling for his -health and to see the country, and had brought his son with him as a -companion; thinking, too, as he explained to Capt. Raymond, after they -had arrived at terms of comparative intimacy, that travel in a foreign -land would be improving to the boy in an educational way. - -The acquaintance began with the children. Albert had been watching Lulu -admiringly for a day or so, from the opposite side of the car. - -“That’s a pretty little girl over there, papa,” he at length remarked -in an undertone. “I fancy she’s English too.” - -“I think you are mistaken,” returned his father. “The gentleman is -assuredly an American, and from his manner toward the children I fancy -they are his own. There is a strong resemblance, also, between the -three.” - -“But she has quite an English complexion, sir; so rosy.” - -“Yes, but such complexions are not so very unusual among the American -women and girls.” - -“No, sir, perhaps not. The boy’s a nice-looking fellow and has very -gentlemanly manners. Don’t you think so, sir?” - -“Yes; they are evidently people of education and refinement. But what -is the train stopping for?” glancing from the window. “Ah, I see; they -are taking on a fresh supply of fuel for the engine.” - -The same question had been just asked by Lulu and answered by her -father in the same way, as he rose and took his hat from the rack -overhead. - -“You are going out, papa?” Lulu said inquiringly. “Oh, don’t get left, -please!” - -“I certainly do not intend to,” he answered with a look of amusement. -“I only want to stretch my limbs for a moment, and shall not go any -distance from the train.” - -“Oh, can’t we go too?” she asked. - -“Max may, but you, I think, would better content yourself with moving -about the car.” - -“May I go out on the platform?” - -“No, decidedly not,” he answered, in a firm though kind tone, then -hurried out, Max following. - -Lulu rose and stood at the window, watching for their appearance -outside. They were there in a moment, right below it. - -“Papa,” she called softly. - -He looked up with a smile. “Dear child,” he said, “move about the car, -it will rest you. I know you are tired sitting so long.” - -He walked on, and she stepped out into the aisle and promenaded it -up and down several times, stopping occasionally, now at one window, -now at another, to gaze out over the landscape; a seemingly boundless -prairie on one side, with a great herd of cattle feeding in the -distance; on the other, woods and low-lying hills; no sign of human -habitation or of human occupancy anywhere to be seen, except the little -coaling station before which the train was standing. - -The car was nearly empty now, almost all the passengers, excepting -a few children and those in charge of them, having, like her father -and Max, taken advantage of the halting of the train to get a little -outdoor exercise, Mr. Austin and Albert among the rest. - -The latter, however, returned almost immediately. As he stepped in at -the car door his eyes fell upon a dainty white pocket-handkerchief -lying on the floor. He stooped and picked it up, glancing around the -car in search of the owner. - -Lulu, standing at the window near by, with her back toward him, seemed -most likely to be the one, and he approached her at once, asking in a -polite tone, “Is not this your property, Miss? Excuse the liberty, but -I found it lying on the floor, and it seemed likely to belong to you,” -holding out the article as he spoke. - -Lulu had turned round at the first sound of his voice. “Thank you,” she -said; “yes, it is mine, for there is my name in the corner; in papa’s -own handwriting.” - -“I’m glad to have had the happiness of restoring it to you,” he said. -“How extremely warm it is to-day. Do you not think so?” - -“Yes; especially now that the train is standing still, but when it is -in motion there’s a nice breeze.” - -“There are some things I like vastly about America,” he went on, “but -the climate does not suit me so well as that of old England; it’s so -hot and dry, you know; at least, don’t you think so?” - -She gave him a slightly puzzled look. “I—I believe I’ve heard that the -weather in England is rather cooler in summer, and that it rains very -often; but I never was there.” - -“Why, aren’t you a little English girl?” - -“English?” she exclaimed, opening her eyes wide in surprise, “no, -indeed, I’m American, every inch of me!” with a flash of joy in her -dark eyes and a little exultant laugh, as though to be able to call him -or herself an American were the proudest boast any one could make. - -“I meant it as a compliment, most assuredly,” he said, coloring with a -sense of mingled annoyance and mortification. “I’m very proud of being -English.” - -“And that’s quite right,” she said; “papa says each one should love his -own native land above all others.” - -“Certainly. But you are of English descent surely.” - -“I really don’t know,” laughed Lulu. “I know that my parents, and -grandparents, and great-grandparents were all born in America, and I -never thought of asking about my ancestors any farther back than that.” - -“We think a great deal of family in England; it’s a grand thing—a -thing to be proud of—if one can boast of a long line of noble -ancestors.” - -“Yes; papa says the knowledge that we’re descended from honest, -upright, pious people is something to be very thankful for. He says -it’s easier for such folks to be good—I mean honest and truthful and -all that—than it is for the descendants of wicked people.” - -“Perhaps so; though I never thought of it before,” and with a slight -bow he withdrew to his own seat, for the passengers were flocking in -again as the call, “All aboard!” warned them that the train was about -to start. - -Captain Raymond was among the first, and just in time to perceive that -the English lad had been making acquaintance with his little girl. He -was not altogether pleased. His countenance was unusually grave as he -took Lulu’s hand and led her back to her seat. But there was too much -noise and confusion at the moment for anything like conversation, and -he made no remark. - -Lulu felt that he was displeased, and several times her eyes were -lifted to his face for an instant with a timid, half-imploring, -half-deprecating glance. - -At length as the train began to move more quietly, he bent down and -spoke close to her ear. “I do not want a daughter of mine to be too -forward in making acquaintance with strangers, especially men and -boys. I would have her always modest and retiring. But I will not blame -you unheard, dear child. Tell me about it.” - -“I didn’t make the first advances, papa,” she said, putting her arm -around his neck, her lips close to his ear. “Please don’t think I could -be so bold. I had dropped my handkerchief and didn’t know it till the -boy picked it up and handed it to me. He behaved in a very gentlemanly -way, and when I had thanked him he began to talk about the weather, -and presently asked me if I wasn’t an English girl. Just think of it, -papa!” she added, with a gleeful laugh. - -“And what did you say to that?” he asked, with an amused look; “that -you were not, but wished you were?” - -“Oh, papa, no, indeed! wish I was English? or anything else but -American? I’m sure you know I don’t.” - -“Yes,” he returned, putting his arm about her waist and giving her an -affectionate hug. “I am happy in the knowledge that all my darlings are -intensely patriotic.” - -“Because you’ve taught us to be so—to love our dear native land and the -beautiful old flag, the emblem of our nation’s glory!” she responded, -her cheeks flushing and her eyes sparkling. - -Max sitting directly in front of them, had caught the last two -sentences of their colloquy. - -“Yes, papa,” he said, “every one of us is that; even Baby Ned laughs -and crows and claps his hands when he looks up at the flag waving in -the breeze. I noticed it at Ion, on Grandma Elsie’s semi-centennial, -where they had so many floating from the veranda and tree-tops.” - -“Ah!” laughed the captain, “that was doubtless an evidence of good -taste, but hardly of patriotism in so young a child.” - -Mr. Austin was beginning to share his son’s interest in the Raymonds, -and the two had been furtively watching the little scene, attracted by -the animated expression of the faces of the captain, Max, and Lulu, as -they talked. - -“They seem a happy and affectionate trio,” Mr. Austin remarked to -Albert. - -“Yes, sir; and you were right about their being Americans. I asked the -little girl if she wasn’t English, and to my astonishment she seemed -almost indignant at the bare idea.” - -“Ah, indeed! then I fancy she has never seen England.” - -“No, sir, she said she never had; but if you had seen the look in her -eyes when she told me she was every inch an American, you would hardly -expect even a sight of old England to make her change her mind.” - -“It’s a great country, certainly; immensely larger than our favored -isle; and had it been our birthplace, it is quite possible we might -have shared her feeling; but as it is, we assuredly looked upon Great -Britain as the most favored land the sun shines on.” - -“And he shines always upon some part of the empire,” responded Albert, -with proudly beaming eyes. - -It was not until in the afternoon of the next day the Raymonds reached -their destination,—Minersville, a town not yet three years old, that -had sprung up within that period of time, upon a tract of land owned by -the captain, and grown with a rapidity that might well remind one of -Jonah’s gourd, “which came up in a night.” It was all the result of the -discovery of gold in the immediate vicinity. The mine—a very productive -one—was still largely owned by Captain Raymond, also the greater part -of the town, and a coal mine at no great distance from the place. - -The two yielded him a large income—augmented by the fortunate -investment of very considerable sums realized on the sales of stock and -town lots; so that he was indeed a wealthy man. - -He and Mr. Austin had made acquaintance by this time, and were -mutually pleased. The same thing had happened with their sons, and the -Englishman, after learning from the captain what was his destination, -the history of Minersville, and something of the opportunities and -facilities for hunting bears, deer, and other game in that region, had -decided to make a halt there for a few days or weeks, Captain Raymond -having given him a cordial invitation to inspect the mines and join him -in hunting expeditions. - -The town already boasted several thousand inhabitants, two churches, a -bank, post-office, a fine public school building, dry goods and grocery -stores, mills, factories, and two hotels. - -To one of these last went Mr. Austin and Albert, but Captain -Raymond—particularly on account of having his children with -him—preferred a private boarding-house, and, through his business agent -and mine-superintendent, Mr. John Short, had already engaged rooms with -a Scotch lady, Mrs. McAlpine by name, whom Short recommended as a good -housekeeper and one who kept an excellent table. - -Our party had scarcely left the train when a gentlemanly looking man -approached, and lifting his hat, said, “My name is Short. Do I address -Captain Raymond?” - -“That is my name, sir,” rejoined the captain, offering his hand, which -the other took and shook heartily. - -“Glad to meet you, sir; very glad; have often wished you would come out -and see your property here for yourself. It’s well worth looking after, -I assure you.” - -“I am quite convinced of that,” the captain said, with a smile. “Also -I do not doubt that it has been well looked after by my agent, Mr. -Short.” - -“Thanks, sir,” returned Short, bowing and smiling in acknowledgment. -“And these are the son and daughter you wrote me you would bring with -you?” he remarked, with an inquiring glance at the children. - -“Yes,” replied the captain, looking down at the two with fatherly pride -and affection. “Max and Lulu are their names. I am so domestic a man -that I could not persuade myself to leave all my family behind when -expecting to be absent so long from home.” - -“Yes, sir; I’m not surprised at that. Well, sir, I think Mrs. McAlpine -will make you comfortable. She has two sets of boarders, mill -operatives and miners, who eat in the kitchen, and a few gentlemen and -a lady or two who take their meals in the dining-room. But she has -agreed to give up her own private sitting-room at meal times to you and -your family (as you stated in your letter of instruction you wished -a private table for yourself and children); for a consideration, of -course,” he added with a laugh. “But knowing you could well afford it, -and were not disposed to be close, I did not hesitate to accept her -terms.” - -“Quite right,” replied the captain. “And as to sleeping accommodations?” - -“She can let you have a room of pretty good size for yourself and son, -with a small one opening into it for the little girl—or perhaps I -should rather say the young lady—your daughter.” - -“She is only a little girl,—her father’s little girl, as she likes -to call herself,” returned the captain, smiling down at Lulu and -affectionately pressing the hand she had slipped into his while they -stood talking. - -“Yes,” she said, laughing and blushing, “I do like it; I’m not in a bit -of a hurry to be a young lady.” - -“No, Miss, I wouldn’t if I were you,” laughed Mr. Short. “Those -changes come to us all only too fast. Shall I show you the way to your -quarters, captain? I did not order a carriage, as it is hardly more -than a step; and judging by my own past experience, I thought you’d be -glad of a chance to use your limbs after being cramped up in the cars -for so long.” - -“You were not mistaken in that. I think we all feel it rather a -relief,” the captain made answer, as they moved on together. - -A very short walk brought them to the door of the boarding-house. They -were admitted by a rather comely girl, apparently about fifteen years -of age, whom their conductor addressed as “Miss Marian,” and introduced -as the daughter of Mrs. McAlpine. She invited them into the parlor, and -went in search of her mother, returning with her almost immediately. -She was a middle-aged woman, with a gentle, ladylike manner, that was -very pleasing, and the remains of considerable beauty, but had, Captain -Raymond thought, one of the saddest faces he had ever seen; there were -depths of woe in the large gray eyes that touched him to the heart; -yet the prevailing expression of her countenance was that of patient -resignation. - -“She is evidently a great sufferer from some cause,” he said to -himself; “probably an inconsolable widow, as I have heard no mention of -a Mr. McAlpine.” - -She bade them welcome, and inquired what they would have for their -evening meal, and how soon they would like it served. - -The captain answered these questions, then requested to be shown to the -sleeping-rooms set apart for their use during their stay. - -“I fear, sir, they will seem but poor and mean after such as you and -the young folks have no doubt been accustomed to,” she said, leading -the way: “but they are the best I can provide, and I trust you will -find them clean and comfortable. - -“Our nights are cool, even when the days are very warm, and you will -get the mountain breeze here; which is a thing to be thankful for, to -my way of thinking,” she added, drawing back the curtain from an open -window of the room into which she had conducted them. - -The captain stepped to it and looked out. “Yes,” he said, “and a -fine view of the mountains themselves, with a pretty flower-garden -and orchard in the foreground, a river and wooded hills between; a -beautiful prospect; another cause for thankfulness, I think. The room, -too, is of fair size,” turning from the window and glancing about him. -“That open door I presume leads into the one my little girl is to -occupy?” - -“Yes, sir. It is not large, but I have no other communicating bedrooms, -and Mr. Short said you wrote particularly that they must be such, or -yours large enough for a corner of it to be curtained off for the young -miss.” - -“Yes; so I did: and she, I know, would prefer a small room with an -open door into mine, to a large and better one with a separating wall -between,” smiling down into Lulu’s eager, interested face, at that -instant upturned to his. - -“Indeed, I should, papa,” she responded, slipping a hand confidingly -into his and returning his smile with one of ardent, filial affection. - -Tears sprang to the sad eyes of Mrs. McAlpine at the sight, and it was -a moment before she could command her voice to speak. When able to do -so, excusing herself upon the plea that domestic duties required her -attention, she left them. - -“I want to see my room,” said Lulu, hurrying toward the open door; -then, as she gained a view of the whole interior, “I should say it -was small! one window, one chair, a single bed, a little bit of a -wash-stand, and just barely room to move back and forth beside the bed. -How different from my lovely rooms at home!” she ended with a pout and -frown. - -“I am sorry it is not more to your liking, my dear child,” the captain -remarked, in a kindly, sympathizing tone, “but it cannot be helped now. -Does my little girl begin to wish her father had left her at home?” he -asked, laying his hand tenderly on her head, for he had followed her -and now stood close at her side. - -“Oh, no, no, dear papa! and I’m quite ashamed of my grumbling,” -she returned, taking his hand in both of hers and laying her cheek -affectionately against it. - -“You wouldn’t do to go into the navy, Lu, if you can’t put up with -narrow quarters sometimes,” remarked Max sportively. “So it’s a good -thing you’re not a boy.” - -“Of course it is,” she answered in a sprightly tone. “Who that might be -a girl would ever want to be a boy? Not I, I’m sure.” - -“Not even for the sake of being able to grow up into such a man as -papa?” - -“No, I couldn’t have any hope of that anyhow, for there’s nobody in -all the world like papa—so dear and good and kind and handsome and—” - -“There, that will do,” laughed the captain, bending down and stopping -the next word with a kiss full upon her lips; “it is enough, and more -than enough, and we must be getting rid of the dust of travel and -making ourselves neat for the tea-table,” he added. - -“Yes, sir; I’m glad to be out of the cars for a while, after being in -them so long; and these rooms are neat as wax, if the furniture is -scanty, and poor, and plain. I shan’t mind that a bit, as it’s only for -a short time, and I wouldn’t have been left behind for anything. I hope -I’ll not complain any more, papa; I don’t intend to. But,” in sudden -dismay, “oh, where am I to put my trunk?” - -Her father and brother both laughed at her perplexed, woebegone -countenance. - -“You’ll have to decide that question very soon, for here they come,” -said Max, glancing from the window. - -“Don’t be troubled, dear child; we will find a place for it in this -outer room,” added her father cheerily, and glancing about in search -of one. “Ah, it can stand in this corner close by your door. Does that -suit your ideas and wishes, daughter?” - -“Yes, sir; it will be the most convenient place for me,” she answered, -in a bright, cheery tone, quite restored to good-humor. - -The trunks had already been brought in and deposited according to -directions. - -“Will you have anything out of this, daughter?” the captain asked, -unstrapping Lulu’s. - -“Another dress, papa, if you are willing to let me change; this -travelling one feels hot and dusty.” - -“My dear child, can you suppose I would want you to be uncomfortable?” -he asked. “Give me your key, and we will have the dress out -immediately.” - -“Thank you, papa,” she said, taking the key from her travelling bag -and handing it to him. “Please choose for me, the one you think most -suitable.” - -“Do you feel inclined for a stroll about the town with your father and -Max after tea?” he asked. - -“Oh, yes, sir, yes indeed!” - -“You are not too tired?” he questioned, smiling at her eager, joyous -tone. - -“Oh, no, sir, not at all. I think I shall feel as fresh as a lark after -I have washed and dressed and had my supper.” - -“Then this will be quite suitable,” he said, lifting out a -cream-colored serge with collar and cuffs of red velvet and a bordering -of Indian embroidery in which the same shade was quite prominent. - -“The very dress I’d have chosen myself, papa,” she remarked, with a -pleased laugh. “And when we take our walk I must wear the hat that -matches. I do like to wear things that match or contrast prettily and -suit my complexion.” - -“Well, daughter, since our kind heavenly Father has made so many things -beautiful to our eyes, the sunset clouds with their gorgeous hues, the -myriads of lovely flowers and fruits, to mention only a few—I think it -cannot be wrong for us to enjoy pretty things. Still, my dear little -girl must be on her guard against vanity and pride, because of being -well and tastefully attired, and careful not to give too much of her -time and thoughts to dress.” - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - -“Well, it is nice to be going to eat in a house again and no strangers -by,” remarked Lulu when they had seated themselves at the table in Mrs. -McAlpine’s sitting-room, and the captain had asked a blessing on their -food. - -“So it is,” responded Max; “it would seem something like home, if we -had Mamma Vi, Gracie, and the little ones here with us.” - -“Yes,” assented their father with a slight sigh, “they make the best -part of home. We must look for the post-office when we are out. I hope -we shall find letters there from home, and I have one to mail to your -mamma.” - -“Why, when did you write it, papa?” asked Lulu. - -“While you were dressing.” - -“Was I so very slow?” - -“No, but you see I had the advantage of you in not needing to change my -dress.” - -With that Marian, who had just brought in a plate of hot cakes, glanced -admiringly at Lulu’s costume. - -“What a pretty girl that little Miss Raymond is, and so beautifully -dressed!” she remarked to her mother on going back to the kitchen. “It -must be a grand thing to be the daughter—” - -“Don’t allow yourself to envy her, my child,” interrupted the mother, -“’tis God appoints our lot, and we must strive to be submissive and -content.” - -“Mother,” cried the girl, almost fiercely, “ye needna tell me God -appointed this lot for you and me. I’ll never believe it, never! ’Twas -the father o’ lies brought us here an’ keeps us here, and oh, but I wad -we had never left bonny Scotland!” - -“Hush, hush, child! bairn, your wild words but add to the weight o’ the -cross already almost too heavy for your mother to bear,” returned Mrs. -McAlpine, catching her breath with a half sob. “Here, carry this to the -guests in the sitting-room,” giving her another plate of cakes, just -taken from the griddle. - -“Can you tell me where to find the post-office, Miss Marian?” Captain -Raymond asked, as she again stood at his side, offering her cakes. - -“Yes, sir; ’tis just around the corner, on the way to the mine. If you -want to send there, sir, Sandy, my brother, will go for you willingly. -They must be making up the mail for the East now, and it will close -presently.” - -“Then I accept your offer of your brother’s services, with thanks,” he -said, taking a letter from his pocket and giving it to her. “Please ask -him to carry this at once to the post-office, and see that it gets into -the mail; then inquire for letters for Captain L. Raymond, Master Max, -and Miss Lulu Raymond.” - -“I will, sir,” she replied, taking the letter and hurrying from the -room with it. - -A few minutes later a boy who looked to be two or three years younger -than Marian came briskly in and, laying a handful of letters on the -table beside the captain, said, “Several for you, sir, and one apiece -for Master and Miss. And the one I took for you is gone with the rest -o’ the mail for the East.” - -“I am much obliged,” the captain said, putting a dime into his hand. - -The boy glanced down at it. “That’s too much, sir, by half, the errand -wasn’t worth a nickel, and in fact I didn’t expect any pay for doing -it.” - -“Then take the dime as a gift, my boy; I like your honesty,” returned -the captain. - -“Thank you, sir,” responded the lad heartily, and with a grin of -satisfaction, as he turned and hastened away again. - -“Papa, is there one for me?” asked Lulu, as her father took up the -letters and glanced at the superscriptions. - -“Yes, daughter; and one for Max. But as we have all finished eating we -will go to our room to read them.” - -The letters brought only good news; the dear ones left behind were all -well, and, though missing the absentees, content and happy, at least so -far as could be gathered from the cheerful tone of their epistles. - -Lulu’s was the joint production of Eva and Grace, and gave an -interesting account of the doings and sayings of the babies and the -parrot. - -The last-named, they said, was continually calling “Lu, Lu, what you -’bout? Where you been?” - -The letter told, too, of the beautiful singing of Gracie’s canaries, -the doings of her kitten, and of Max’s big dog Prince. There was more -about the last-named in Max’s own letter, which was from Violet, with a -postscript by Grace. - -The captain read his letter from Violet, first to himself, then -portions of it aloud to the children; then they offered him theirs, and -he read them aloud in turn, and chatted pleasantly with them about the -contents of all three. - -“Well,” he said at length, “if we are going to take that walk, it is -about time we were setting out. Lulu, you may put on your hat, while I -glance over these other letters.” - -That was a welcome order to the little girl, and it did not take her -many minutes to obey it. They found Mr. Short on the pavement before -the front gate as they went out. - -“Ah, captain,” he said, “I was just coming to ask if you did not feel -inclined for a stroll about the town. May I have the pleasure of acting -as your guide?” - -“It will be conferring a favor, sir, if you will do so,” replied the -person addressed, and the two walked on, leaving Max and Lulu to follow. - -“I wish he hadn’t come,” she muttered discontentedly. “I thought I was -going to have the pleasure of walking beside papa with my hand in his.” - -“That’s very pleasant for you,” said Max, “but I think you might care -almost as much to walk with me, considering that you’ll probably not -have many more such opportunities to do so.” - -“Oh, I forgot that! Oh, I wish you weren’t going away from home, Max!” -she exclaimed. “I seem to grow fonder of you than ever when I think of -that!” - -“Yes, blessings brighten as they take their flight,” he returned, with -a little laugh that sounded rather forced. - -The new home made by his father for him and the others, and especially -the being taken by that father into a close intimacy, friendship, and -confidence, such as are seldom given by a parent to a son of his age, -had been so delightful that the thought of going away among strangers, -leaving all the dear ones behind, and having communication with his -father only by letter, instead of the pleasant daily and hourly -familiar intercourse, could not fail to cause the boyish heart a pang. - -Yet, on the other hand, there was joy and exultation in the thought -that he was about to enter upon special preparation for his chosen -profession, the work that he was to do as a man; it seemed to him the -beginning of the putting away of childish things, the putting on of -the armor, and the gathering up of the weapons, for the great battle -of life, and at times he was eager for the day when he should appear -before the examiners at Annapolis. - -“Yes, and you _are_ a blessing to me, Maxie; you always have been,” -Lulu said in reply. “And I am sure papa thinks you a very great one to -him.” - -The captain’s quick ear caught the words, and he glanced smilingly -round at the two without pausing in his talk with his agent. - -Mr. Short gave the names of the streets as they passed along, pointed -out the public buildings and the prettiest private residences, -telling to whom each one belonged, and sometimes adding a little -character sketch in a humorous or slightly satirical vein. He seemed a -good-natured, jovial sort of man, and anxious to entertain and amuse. - -It did not take long to traverse the town, and having presently reached -the outskirts, they ascended an eminence from whence might be obtained -a bird’s-eye view of the whole place and its surroundings of valley and -wooded hills. - -They paused here to gaze upon the landscape spread out at their feet, -and Lulu, stepping to her father’s side, quietly slipped her hand into -his. His fingers closed affectionately over it, and he gave her a -pleased, loving look, though he seemed to be listening attentively to -something Mr. Short was saying about the mine. - -“I must visit it to-morrow, if the weather is favorable,” the captain -said in reply. “I want to take my children with me, and as I expect to -be in the vicinity for several weeks, there is no special haste; no -need of hurrying out there through a storm.” - -“Oh, I do hope the weather will be good!” exclaimed Lulu, while she and -Max exchanged glances of delight. - -“I think there is every indication of pleasant weather for some days to -come,” remarked Mr. Short. - -“Is it far to the mine?” asked Lulu; “will we have to ride or drive?” - -“No, Miss; I think even you could easily walk it,” replied Mr. Short. -“The distance is not over a mile.” - -“Then I can,” she said; “I’ve walked more than two miles many a time.” - -“No doubt of it,” said her father; “but you must have a pony for longer -excursions. Have you succeeded in securing a suitable one, Mr. Short? -Horses for myself and son, also?” - -Short replied to the effect that he had succeeded in procuring a steed -for each of them, which, though probably by no means equal to those -they were accustomed to at home, would, he hoped, answer their purpose -quite well. - -“Are you accustomed to riding horseback, Miss?” he asked. - -“Oh, yes,” Lulu said. “Papa gave me a pony of my own more than a year -ago, and before that I used to ride one belonging to somebody else.” - -“Here come Mr. Austin and Albert up the hill,” said Max, and the next -moment the English gentleman and his son had joined themselves to the -little group. - -They and Mr. Short had already made acquaintance. Polite greetings were -exchanged, and then all stood together watching the sun as he sank -behind the western hills. - -It was a grand sunset, the whole western horizon ablaze with gold, -orange, and flame color, shading off here and there into the more -delicate shades—rose, pale-green, and amber. - -They lingered for many minutes, silently gazing upon the ever-changing -panorama until most of its glories had faded away, then slowly -descended the hill and wended their way back to their temporary abodes. - -It was growing dark, the stars coming out one by one overhead, and a -young moon showing herself above the hilltops, when the captain and his -children re-entered Mrs. McAlpine’s gate and walked up the path leading -to the front porch. - -There were several persons sitting there, among them the lady of the -house. She rose, said “Good-evening,” and turning to a gentleman who -had risen also, introduced him as the Rev. Mr. Green. - -He and Capt. Raymond shook hands cordially, each expressing pleasure at -the meeting, and when Max and Lulu had also been introduced, and all -were seated, the two gentlemen fell into earnest discourse, the mission -work and its interests and needs in that region of country being their -principal theme. - -The children listened in silence, and presently learned from the -remarks of the minister, what was news to them—that their father had -given town lots for church, parsonage, and schoolhouse, and nearly the -whole amount of money their erection had cost. - -“Papa must be rich, very rich, Max,” whispered Lulu in her brother’s -ear. - -“Yes; and generous too; far more generous and liberal than most folks,” -Max whispered back. “I’m proud as can be of being his son.” - -“And I of being his daughter,” she returned. - -They gave expression to these sentiments in talking with their father -when, a little later, they found themselves alone with him in his room. - -“My dears,” he said, “as I have often told you, the money is the Lord’s -and I am only his steward. How, then, could I do otherwise than use it -for the advancement of his cause and kingdom?” - -“Yes, papa, and you did it for the good of our dear country, too, -didn’t you?” asked Lulu, taking a seat upon his knee and putting an arm -affectionately about his neck. - -“Yes, daughter; for if we would ensure her safety, we must all do -battle earnestly against the threatening evils of ignorance, error, and -superstition; the only way to preserve the liberties of this land, and -make her a power for good to the rest of the world, is to instruct and -evangelize all classes, whether native or foreign born. - -“Now,” he continued, opening a Bible which he had taken from his trunk -and laid upon a table, before going out, “we will close the day with -reading and prayer, as we do at home, and go to our rest, for we are -all in need of it, I think.” - -He kept Lulu on his knee while he read, one arm about her waist, and -Max’s chair was drawn close up on the other side; then they all knelt -together, while the father gave thanks for all the blessings of the -past day, made confession of sins, and implored the protecting care -of their heavenly Father through the silent watches of the night; for -themselves and the dear ones far away. - -The captain had always been careful not to make family worship seem -long and tedious to his children, and to-night it was shorter than -usual, in consideration for their weariness, consequent upon the long -journey but just completed. - -When they had risen from their knees he took Lulu in his arms and -kissed her tenderly two or three times, saying, “Now you may go to your -own little room, my darling, and when you are quite ready for bed set -the door wide open, so that you can feel that papa is near enough to -hear you speak, should you want anything in the night.” - -“Max, too,” said her brother laughingly, and giving her a kiss in his -turn, “so that if any danger threatens you there’ll be two knights to -fly to the rescue.” - -“Thank you,” she returned gayly, “but if anything frightens me I shall -run right to papa,” giving him another hug as she spoke. - -It was a very warm evening, and the windows of the room were wide open -to admit the air. Through one of them, looking upon the garden, Marian -McAlpine witnessed the little scene; the words spoken did not reach her -ear, but she saw the expression of the countenance of the captain and -his children, and the caresses given and received. - -“What a good, kind father! and what happy, happy children!” she -murmured half aloud, as she turned away with a sigh that seemed to say -her own lot was not so blessed. - -Passing round the house and into the porch she found her mother, now -sitting there alone. - -Taking a chair close by her side, “Mother,” she said, “I think that -Captain Raymond must be a very good man.” - -“I dare say he is, child; certainly he has been extremely liberal to -the mission cause in this town.” - -“And he looks so good and kind and seems so fond of his children,” -Marian went on. “I saw him reading to them to-night—the little girl -sitting on his knee and the boy as close as he could well get by his -side; the Bible I suppose it was, for when he closed it they all three -knelt down together, and I could hear his voice as if he was praying, -though not the words. Then they got up and hugged and kissed each -other good-night. They’re the very happiest looking people I ever saw.” - -“So I think. But, Marian, you shouldn’t be spying out what they are -doing in the privacy of their own room.” - -“I didn’t mean to, mother, but I happened to look up at their -window—the light was so bright, you know—and I saw the girl help -herself to a seat on her father’s knee, just as if she was sure he’d -like her to, and put her arm round his neck, and it was such a pretty -scene I couldn’t help standing there and watching them a bit. They -don’t have to share their father with a lot of other children that are -not their mother’s too,” she added, in a suppressed and bitter tone. - -“Marian, Marian, hush!” exclaimed Mrs. McAlpine, in a low voice -quivering with pain; “is your end of the cross heavier than mine?” - -“No, mother, dear, not half so heavy: the cruelest part of it is seeing -you suffer—you, who are as good and pure as an angel!” returned the -girl passionately. - -“Then for my sake, lass, try to suffer and be still. I’ve a hard enough -fight with my own rebellious heart; at times I feel I shall never be -able to bring it into meek submission to His will who doeth all things -well.” - -“But it isn’t His will! it isn’t His doing! I’ll never believe it, no, -never!” cried the girl, clinching hands and teeth in impotent fury; -“it’s the will and the doings of the adversary of souls, the father o’ -lies, him that the Bible tells us was a murderer from the beginning, -and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.” - -“Marian, Marian, ye’re tempting your mother to the sin she maun ficht -against nicht and day,” groaned Mrs. McAlpine, relapsing into Scotch, -as they were both apt to do under strong excitement, “an’ oh, beware, -lassie, that you dinna wrest Scripture to ye’r ain destruction and to -mine.” - -“Wrest Scripture! ’tis they wrest it,” cried the girl, in tones of -fierce indignation; but before the words had fairly left her lips her -mother had risen from her chair and fled from her presence, as one -would fly from temptation. - -Marian too rose, closed the house, and went to bed, while alone in her -own apartment the mother spent a long time upon her knees wrestling in -prayer for submission and strength to endure the cross she mistakenly -deemed that He, her loving Lord and Master, had laid upon her. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - -Marian McAlpine was setting the breakfast-table for the Raymonds, when -Lulu came into the room looking bright and fresh in one of the new -dresses her father had directed to be made for such excursions as that -proposed for the day. - -“Good-morning,” she said, in a pleasant, sprightly tone. - -Marion returned the salutation, and Lulu went on, “We are going to -visit the mine today, and papa sent me to ask if you would like to go -with us.” - -“Thank you, Miss; it’s very kind in your father and yourself to invite -me, and I should be blithe to go if mother could spare me; but I’m -afraid she can’t. Good help is very scarce about here, and we have to -do a great deal of the cooking and other work ourselves.” - -“I’m sorry,” said Lulu; “I’d like very much to have you go, for my own -sake as well as yours, for there will be no lady in the party, and no -girl but me, if you don’t go.” - -“But you’ll not mind that, with such a kind, tender father as yours,” -Marian said, a little tremulously, and with a wistful glance into -Lulu’s bright, happy face. - -“No, I’d not mind going to the world’s end with papa, and nobody else,” -returned Lulu, her cheeks flushing and her eyes shining with joy and -filial love. “But how did you find out what a dear, kind father I have?” - -“Surely, Miss, just the way he looks at you (as if to his mind there -was nothing else so sweet and fair in all the world) is enough to tell -the tale to any one but the dullest of the dull.” - -The girl sighed involuntarily as she spoke, and turned away—busying -herself at the china closet—to hide her emotion. - -“And you have none, I suppose? Oh, I am so sorry for you!” Lulu said, -in a gentle, pitying tone. - -Marian turned toward her a pale, set face, opened her lips to speak, -but closed them again as her mother entered the room. - -“Good-day, lassie, you look bright and blithe as the morning,” Mrs. -McAlpine said, addressing Lulu, with a smile that was sadder than -tears; and the little girl noticed that her face was paler than on the -previous day, her countenance fuller of grief and woe, though she was -evidently striving to be cheerful. - -“Did you find your bed comfortable last night?” she asked. - -“Oh, yes, ma’am; but I had hardly touched it before I went fast -asleep, and I never moved, I believe, till the sun was up.” - -“It must have seemed a short night to you. Sound sleep is a very great -blessing,” responded the lady. Then asked, “And what are your plans -for the day? I fear you will find little to interest you in this small -town.” - -“Papa is going to take us to look at the mine,” said Lulu, “and we -would be pleased to take your daughter with us, if you can spare her.” - -“Certainly; Marian gets few holidays, and I would be glad to have her -go. Tell your papa I thank him for the invitation, and she will be -ready in good season.” - -Marian’s eyes sparkled, and her face wore a glad, eager look for a -moment: then it changed and she said, “No, mother, I can’t go and leave -you everything to do.” - -“There is not so much to-day, lass, not more than I can easily do -myself,” returned the mother kindly, “and I shall enjoy hearing your -report when you get back.” - -Thus kindly urged, Marian gladly accepted the invitation. Few of what -young folks are wont to call “good times” came into her life, and a -visit to the mine had never been one of them. - -They set out shortly after breakfast, the party consisting of Captain -Raymond with his children and Marian, Mr. Austin and Albert, and Mr. -Short, who acted as guide. - -The two girls walked together, but Lulu managed to keep very near her -father. That pleased him, both as an evidence of her ardent affection -and because, knowing so little what sort of companion Marian would -prove, he wanted to be near enough to overhear their talk, that -he might be able to judge what influence she was likely to exert -over his child. Mindful of the declaration of Holy Writ that “evil -communications corrupt good manners,” he was very careful in regard -to the choice of his children’s associates. Poverty, if not united to -viciousness or vulgarity, was considered no ground of objection, while -wealth, fine dress, or fine manners could not atone for lack of moral -purity and refinement. - -Marian’s appearance and manners had pleased him, and nothing that he -saw or heard during the walk had any tendency to lower her in his -estimation. It was a pleasant walk, much of the way being shaded -by forest trees, and a refreshing breeze tempering the heat of the -weather. The girls were almost sorry when it came to an end. - -But they found much to interest them in and around the mine. When they -had seen all that was to be seen and were about to return to the town, -Mr. Short proposed their doing so by a different route from that by -which they had come. It was a little longer, he said, circling around -among the hills, but would give them some fine views and an opportunity -to gather a variety of beautiful wild-flowers. - -“Oh, then, do please let us go that way, papa!” exclaimed Lulu, looking -up at him with a very bright, eager face. - -“If it suits the wishes of all the party, we will,” he answered in an -indulgent tone. “What do you say to it, Mr. Austin?” - -“That it suits my inclination exactly,” returned the English gentleman. - -“Mine also,” added Albert, as the captain looked inquiringly at him. - -“And it’s just what I’d like, too, papa,” said Max. - -“And I offer my services as guide,” said Mr. Short. - -“Then the question is settled in the affirmative,” Captain Raymond -said. “Mr. Short, will you lead the way?” - -It was just dinner-time when they reached home, the girls bright-eyed -and rosy-cheeked and with hands full of flowers. - -“Are you tired, daughter?” the captain asked, as Lulu was taking off -her hat. - -“Oh no, indeed, papa! not a bit,” she answered. “What a delightful -morning we have had! Now what are we going to do this afternoon?” - -“The first thing is to eat your dinner,” he said, smiling and pinching -her cheek, then stooping to give her a hearty kiss. - -“Yes, sir; I feel ready to do it justice,” she returned, putting her -hand into his, that he might lead her to the table. - -“I too,” said Max, following them, “I don’t know when I’ve been so -hungry.” - -The captain had asked the blessing, and Marian began passing the plate -of bread, when a voice, apparently that of a boy speaking from the -garden, said, “Please, Miss, gimme a piece. I’m awful hungry! Didn’t -have a mouthful o’ anything to eat to-day.” - -Marian started in surprise, then went toward the window, saying, “A -beggar. We don’t often have them about here. Why,” glancing out, “where -is he?” - -A loud barking, that seemed to come from round the corner of the house, -then a shrill cry, “Oh, oh, call him off! he’s got me by the leg! -he—he’ll tear me to pieces!” - -“Towser, Towser!” called Marian, putting her head out of the window, -“let him go, I tell you! Come here, sir! come here, and let that fellow -alone!” - -Then she rushed out to the porch to look for the boy and dog, but was -back again in a moment all breathless with bewilderment and exertion. - -“I can’t find either of them,” she panted, “and where they could go so -quickly I canna conjecture.” - -Lulu was casting mirthful glances at Max, but he avoided her eye and -went on with his dinner as if much too hungry to think of anything else. - -“Both boys and dogs can move very rapidly sometimes,” remarked the -captain, in reply to the girl. “But don’t be alarmed, Miss Marian, I -dare say the beggar has come to no worse harm than a fright sufficient -to send him off to get a meal elsewhere. And now, if you please, will -you replenish the bread plate? Max is emptying it very fast.” - -“Oh, yes, sir, and I hope you will excuse me for neglecting my -business,” she answered smilingly, taking up the plate and leaving the -room. - -“Now, Max, own up that that was you,” said Lulu laughing. - -“That what was?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows in mock astonishment. -“Do you mean to insinuate that I’m either a beggar or a dog?” - -“No,” laughed Lulu merrily, “but you needn’t pretend ignorance; you -know well enough what I mean. Well, I shan’t let Marian into the secret -if I can help it; for I hope we’ll have some more fun out of it. Papa, -it was right good in you not to explain.” - -“Was it?” he asked. - -But Marian’s entrance with a fresh supply of bread put an end to talk -on that subject for the time. - -“Papa,” said Lulu, “you haven’t told me yet what we are going to do -this afternoon.” - -“How would you like to try the pony Mr. Short has engaged for your use -while here?” he asked in return. - -“Oh, very much, if you will go with me!” - -“I shall most certainly not allow you to go without me,” he answered -with a tender, loving look into the bright eyes she had lifted to his. - -“You couldn’t trust her alone, could you, papa?” Max said teasingly. - -“No, nor with you, nor you alone,” answered his father with sportive -look and tone. - -“There now, Maxie, don’t you wish you’d kept quiet?” laughed Lulu. “You -see papa doesn’t consider you so very much older or wiser than I am.” - -“I don’t hope I’ll ever be too old or wise to be the better and happier -of papa’s company,” Max answered, bestowing upon his father a look of -deepest respect and affection. - -“I’m glad to hear that, my boy,” the captain responded, his eyes -shining with pleasure. - -“Well, then, I think we are all satisfied that the arrangement is for -the three of us to ride out together.” - -“And Mr. Short to go along to show us the way?” queried Lulu. - -“Yes; he has kindly offered to do so.” - -“I do think he has the wrong name altogether,” she said laughingly, “he -ought to be Mr. Long.” - -“People hardly ever do get a name that fits,” remarked Max sagely; “Mr. -Carpenter will be a shoemaker, like as not, or a merchant, and Mr. -Shoemaker a hotel keeper, and so on.” - -“Yes, that is rather apt to be the case,” assented his father, “but -occasionally a man does follow the trade that fits his name; for -instance, I used to know a Mr. Cobbler who made, and doubtless mended, -shoes, too.” - -“Max, don’t you remember the Browns that lived next door to Aunt -Beulah?” asked Lulu. - -“Yes; they were all very fair, and had light hair and eyes. And Tom -White, who went to the same school I did, was dark-complexioned and had -eyes as black as sloes.” - -“Papa,” asked Lulu, “will the horses and ponies be here soon? Will we -take our ride soon as we are done eating?” - -“No, not quite; ‘after dinner rest awhile,’ is the rule, don’t you -know? You may do that for fully half an hour while I write to your -mamma.” - -“Oh, mayn’t I write too? I’m not tired.” - -“Certainly, if you wish to; you and Max are both at liberty to amuse -yourselves during the interval before our ride. Well, what is it, -daughter?” noticing a slight expression of trouble and perplexity in -her speaking countenance. - -“Only that sometimes I forget how to spell a word, papa, and what am I -to do about it? At home you always tell me to look in the dictionary, -but we haven’t any here.” - -“How will your father answer for one?” he asked, with sportive look and -tone. - -“Oh, nicely, if you’ll let me use you,” she returned, laughing. - -“I will when there’s no printed one at hand.” - -“Thank you, sir; it will be a great deal less trouble than hunting for -the word in a dictionary. But why don’t you let me use you always when -you’re with me?” - -“Because I think the spelling will be more likely to be impressed upon -your memory by the trouble of having to search out the word; beside, -I want my children to learn the lesson of self-help. We should never -trouble others to do for us what we can do for ourselves.” - -“I’ll try always to remember and act upon that, papa,” said Max. “Isn’t -it the people that help themselves all they can, who are most apt to -succeed in life?” - -“Most assuredly, my boy,” replied the captain, as they left the table -and retired to their own apartments. - -“My letter is going to be to Gracie,” Max remarked as he took out his -writing materials. - -“Mine too,” said Lulu; “I’m going to tell her about our walk this -morning, and our visit to the mine.” - -“Just what I intended doing,” Max said. - -“Suppose you both carry out your intentions, and then compare accounts, -to see how they differ,” suggested their father. “Very likely each of -you will tell something that the other will omit, and between the two -letters Gracie will get a better idea of the little excursion than she -could from either one alone.” - -“And shall we show them to you, papa, when done?” asked Lulu. - -“You may do exactly as you please in regard to that,” he answered. - -All three pens were presently scratching away, the captain’s more -rapidly, and with fewer pauses, than the other two. Presently he laid -it down and began folding his sheet. - -Then Max did the same, remarking to Lulu a trifle triumphantly, “I’m -done first.” - -“Why!” she exclaimed, “I haven’t finished telling about the mine, and -have all the story about the walk home to tell yet.” - -“Probably you are going more into detail than Max did,” their father -said, “and that is just what Gracie will enjoy.” - -At that instant Sandy appeared at the open door with the announcement -that the horses had come and Mr. Short was waiting. - -“And my letter isn’t finished!” exclaimed Lulu in dismay. - -“No matter, daughter, it is not one requiring special haste, and you -can finish it at your leisure, to-night or to-morrow; no, on Monday, -to-morrow is Sunday,” the captain said. “Lay it in your writing-desk -and put on your hat. We will not keep Mr. Short waiting any longer than -necessary.” - -She obeyed with cheerful alacrity, wondering aloud the while what her -new pony would be like. - -“Better tie that hat on tight, Lu,” Max said, in sportive tone; “he may -rear and make it fall off, if he doesn’t throw you.” - -“I’ll fasten it as tight as I can,” she said. “Oh, I wish I had Gracie -or somebody to tie my veil for me!” - -“You have two somebodies; isn’t that enough?” asked her father, -stepping up behind her where she stood in front of the mirror, and -tying it for her as deftly as if he had been a woman. “You will always -find your father, and doubtless your brother also, ready to perform any -such little service for you. As for the danger of your pony throwing -you, I think you may dismiss any such fear. Mr. Short told me he had -secured a safe one for you.” - -“Oh, I’m glad of that, papa! I thought you wouldn’t let me try a -dangerous one. And thank you for tying my veil. I’m quite ready now,” -drawing on her gloves as she spoke. - -“Well, captain, what do you think of them?” Mr. Short asked, with a -look and tone that spoke confidence of a favorable judgment. - -The captain and his children stood on the sidewalk in front of the -boarding-house, ready to mount the steeds the agent had provided. - -“They are far better in appearance, at least, than I had expected to -see,” replied Captain Raymond pleasantly. “That horse is a Spanish -Mexican, is it not?” - -“Yes, sir; and what I call a grand piece of horseflesh for such work as -you are likely to put them to. He’ll stand a longer, harder gallop than -any other horse I ever rode. - -“And those Indian ponies for the use of the young folks are hardy, -strong, and well broken, and though not the handsomest steeds that ever -were seen, will, I think, give good satisfaction to their riders.” - -“I presume they will,” the captain said, lifting Lulu to her saddle and -putting the bridle into her hands, while Max mounted his pony without -assistance. - -“You’ll ride beside me, won’t you, papa?” she asked, her tone -expressing some slight timidity. - -“Yes, dear child: so near that I can seize your pony’s bridle at any -moment,” he replied. “But I think you need have no fear that he will -misbehave with you on his back.” - -His horse was close at hand, and with the concluding words of his -sentence he vaulted into the saddle. - -Away they went through the town, down the valley, passing near the mine -they had visited in the morning, over the hills and far out on the -grassy plains beyond. - -Lulu found her pony manageable, so that soon she could partly forget -him and give her attention to the country they were passing through, -and the talk of her companions. - -She and Max thought they would never forget that ride; it was so full -of pleasure to them; the air was delightfully fresh and pure, the -motion of their steeds rapid and easy, and everything they saw was -interesting, if only because of its dissimilarity to whatever they had -heretofore been accustomed to. - -The principal topics of discourse between the two gentlemen were the -natural resources of the territory and their development, the incoming -tide of immigration, its character and probable influence upon the -future of that region of country. - -“You have some Mormon citizens?” the captain said, half in assertion, -half inquiringly. - -“Yes, sir; quite a good many, though they are decidedly in the -minority. By the way, you Eastern folks have little idea, I take it, -of the aggressive character of Mormonism, its enmity to the Federal -Government, and far-reaching schemes to gain the balance of power in, -not Utah alone, but as many more Territories and States as possible. -Believe me, the Union has no bitterer foes, and none who need to be -more vigilantly watched and guarded against.” - -“I believe you,” the captain returned, with a look of grave concern; -“and I think too that the Eastern people are at least beginning to -awake to the danger. One object I had in view in coming out here was -to see for myself the extent of the evil and the best remedy to be -applied; also to decide the important question of my own duty in the -matter.” - -“They are mostly an ignorant set,” remarked Mr. Short; “the foreign -portion know so little about our government that they believe the lying -assertions of their hierarchy that it is the worst and most despotic in -the world.” - -“Whereas, it is the very best and freest!” exclaimed Max indignantly. -“Isn’t it, papa?” - -“Certainty, my boy,” returned the captain, smiling at the lad’s heat. - -Mr. Short smiled too, and giving Max an approving look, remarked that -he liked nothing better than to see boys full of patriotism. - -“I wouldn’t be my father’s son if I didn’t love my country,” said Max. - -“Like father, like son, eh?” laughed Short. “Well, it is very apt to be -the case.” - -“There’s a cattle ranch I must take you to see, Captain,” pointing in -a southwesterly direction, where, far in the distance, might be dimly -discerned a dwelling with out-buildings, and herds of cattle grazing -near by. “It’s too far for us to go to-night, but some time next week, -perhaps, it may suit your plans to ride out there, and I think you will -find it pay to do so, as I understand you want to learn all about this -region of country.” - -The captain assented to the proposal, adding that he thought it was now -time to turn their horses’ heads toward home. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - -Tea was not quite ready when they arrived at their boarding-house, and -they sat on the porch while waiting for it, Captain Raymond looking -over the daily paper just taken from the mail. - -Sandy McAlpine and a younger brother named Hugh were sitting near by -looking over a picture-book together. - -“Is your mother not well, boys?” asked the captain, glancing from his -paper to them. “I think I have not seen her at all to-day.” - -“No, sir,” replied Sandy; “She’s lying down with a headache.” - -“She got a letter,” added Hugh; “one of those letters that always make -her cry and get a bad headache. I wish they wouldn’t come, ever any -more.” - -“Hush, hush, Hugh!” muttered Sandy, frowning at his brother and nudging -him with his elbow. “You know mother wouldn’t like you talking so, -especially to a stranger.” - -“I haven’t said anything wicked,” returned the little fellow. “May be -you like to see mother cry and have a headache, but I don’t, and I’d -just thrash the man that sends her such horrid letters, if I could; and -I will, too, when I’m a big, strong man.” - -Captain Raymond was seemingly quite occupied with his paper during -this little aside between the lads, but he heard every word, and was -thinking to himself, “It is probably some financial trouble, and I must -see what I can do for her relief; there are very special promises to -widows, and as one of the Lord’s stewards it becomes me to be ready to -assist them in distress.” - -Marian came to the door at that moment with the announcement that tea -was ready. - -The Raymonds at once rose and obeyed the summons, the captain with his -newspaper still in his hand. He laid it aside before sitting down to -his meal, and forgot it on leaving the room after supper. - -He presently remembered it, however, and went back in search of it. He -found Mrs. McAlpine there alone, in tears, and with an open letter in -her hand. He would have retreated, but perceived that it was already -too late. She was aware of his presence, and opening her lips to speak. - -“Excuse me, my dear madam,” he said. “I had no thought of intruding -upon your privacy, but—” - -“You are entirely excusable, sir,” she answered gently, and with an -effort to recover her composure; “this room is public to you and your -children, and you have a perfect right to enter it unceremoniously when -you will. Will you take a seat?” - -“Although I merely stepped in to get my paper, which I carelessly left -here, I shall accept your invitation with pleasure, dear madam, if you -will allow me the privilege of talking with you as a friend,” he said, -in a deeply sympathizing tone. “I can not be blind to the fact that you -are in trouble, and if in any way I can assist you, it will give me -sincere pleasure to do so.” - -Then with the greatest delicacy he offered financial assistance, if -that were what she stood in need of. - -“Sir, you are most kind,” she said, with grateful emotion, “but it is -not that; it is something far worse;—it is that this wicked, rebellious -heart will not submit, as it ought, to the cross He—my blessed Lord and -Master—has laid upon me. Oh!” clasping her hands together, while the -big tears streamed down over her pale and sunken cheeks, “I fear—I very -much fear—I hae loved the creature more than the Creator, and that this -is why this cross has been laid upon me; this cross, so heavy that it -bears me to the earth!” - -She sank sobbing into a chair. - -He drew up another and seated himself beside her. “Dear madam,” he -said, in moved tones, “we have not a high-priest who cannot be touched -with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted -like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the -throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in -time of need. - -“I know not what your trouble is, but sure I am that thus you may find -grace, mercy, peace, and the fulfillment of the promise, ‘As thy days, -so shall thy strength be!’” - -“Yes, yes, I know,” she sobbed, covering her face with her hands, “and -whiles I’m willing to bear whatever He sends; but at times the cross -seems heavier than mortal strength can endure, so that it crushes me to -the very earth! O Willie, my Willie, how happy we were in those early -years o’ our married life, when you were all the world to me and I was -all the world to you! but now—I can no longer feel that you are mine. -Others hae come between us; they have stolen your love from me, and my -heart is breaking, breaking! - -“But, oh, this is sinful, sinful! Lord, help a poor, frail worm of the -dust to be obedient and submissive to Thy will!” She seemed to have -forgotten the captain’s presence, but light was dawning upon him. - -“I think you are accusing yourself unjustly, my dear madam,” he said, -in pitying tones; “you are mistaking God-implanted feelings for the -suggestions of the evil one.” - -“Alas, no!” she sighed. “Has not God given a new revelation to his -prophet, ordaining that ‘it is the duty of every woman to give other -wives to her husband, even as Sara gave Hagar to Abram, and that if she -refuses it shall be lawful for the husband to take them without her -consent, and she shall be destroyed for her disobedience’?” - -“No,” returned the captain, and there was stern indignation in -his tone—not against the poor, deluded woman, but toward her base -deceivers—“a thousand times, no! any pretence to a new revelation, no -matter by whom it may be set up, must be a base fabrication. Listen!—” - -“Ah, sir, you mean kindly,” she said, “but I must not listen to you, -for I perceive—what I had already suspected—that you are not one of the -saints; that you do not believe the teachings of the new gospel.” - -“New gospel!” he exclaimed, his eyes kindling. “Tell me, Mrs. McAlpine, -were you not brought up to believe the Bible?” taking out a pocket -edition constantly carried with him, as he spoke. - -“Surely, sir, and I may say with the Psalmist, ‘Unless thy law had been -my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.’” - -He opened his Bible, and turning to the first chapter of Galatians, -read aloud: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that -called you into the grace of Christ, unto another gospel; which is -not another; but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the -gospel of Christ. - -“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto -you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As -we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel -unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” - -“Could anything be plainer or stronger than that?” he asked, with -emphasis. - -“No,” she said slowly, looking like one waking from a dream. “Why -have I not remembered those words before? But—there has been a new -revelation; at least, they told me so.” - -“A new revelation!” he repeated, in a tone of utter incredulity. -“Listen again to God’s own word, inspired and written many hundreds of -years before the birth of your so-called prophets, (‘false prophets, -dreamers of dreams, who have spoken to turn you away from the Lord your -God ... to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded -thee to walk in’).” - -Opening to the very last page of the New Testament he read again: “I -testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this -book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him -the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take -away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away -his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from -the things which are written in this book.” - -She gazed at him for an instant in awestruck silence, then rousing -herself, said slowly, “But they say there are corruptions, -mis-translations.” She paused, leaving her sentence unfinished. - -“There is no lack of proof that the Scriptures are the revealed word of -God, that the writers were inspired by God, and that if any corruptions -or mis-translations have crept in they are so few and slight as to be -of little account, making small difference in the meaning,” he said. -“The proofs of the authenticity and inspiration of the Scriptures are -so many that it would take a long time to state them all.” - -“There is no need in my case, sir,” she interrupted. “I know they are -divine; the internal evidence alone would be all-sufficient to me.” - -“And yet their teachings are directly opposed to those of Mormonism.” - -“Not against polygamy, surely? God knows I would be glad to think so; -but how many of the prominent characters of the Old Testament had a -plurality of wives. Even David, ‘the man after God’s own heart,’ had -many more than one.” - -“But the Bible nowhere tells us that God approved of the practice; and -how often the history it gives shows that polygamy brought sin and -misery on those who practised it. God made but one wife for Adam.” - -“But Sarai gave Hagar to Abram.” - -“But God did not command it, nor are we anywhere told that he approved -it. It was a sinful deed done in unbelief, and brought forth the bitter -fruits of sin.” - -For a moment or more she sat silent, evidently in deep thought. Then -she spoke: - -“I believe you are right, sir; though it has not struck me in that -way before. It did bring ‘forth the bitter fruits of sin,’ very much -the same fruits that polygamy brings forth here and in this day,” she -concluded with a heavy sigh. - -Captain Raymond was again turning over the leaves of his Bible. “Listen -to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said. - -“Have ye not read, that he who made them at the beginning made them -male and female, and said, ‘For this cause shall a man leave father -and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one -flesh! Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.’” - -“That passage is from Matthew, and Mark also gives these words of the -Master,” the captain said. “And have you not noticed how Paul in his -epistles always seems to take it for granted, when speaking of the -marriage tie, that a man can lawfully have but one wife at a time? - -“‘For the husband is the head of the wife’ (not wives). - -“‘He that loveth his wife loveth himself,’ ... ‘Let every one of you in -particular so love his wife even as himself.’ - -“‘A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife.’ - -“But Mormonism teaches that bishops may have, and ought to have, many -wives. Polygamy is encouraged on the ground that the rank and dignity -of its members is in proportion to the number of their wives and -children. Is not that the fact?” - -“Yes,” she answered with a heavy sigh, “it is according to the -revelation made to Bishop Young.” - -“A revelation indeed! though, as we have seen, the record was closed in -the time of the Apostle John, and a fearful curse pronounced on any who -should add to it. A revelation opposed to all the teachings of God’s -word on that subject. It came from the father of lies, for God never -contradicts himself; all the teachings of every part of his word are -consistent with each other, which is one of the proofs of the divine -inspiration of the Scriptures. - -“From Genesis to Revelation the teaching, both direct and implied, is -that God made of twain one flesh, and a man may have but one wife. Adam -had but one, and in the book of Revelation John tells us the angel -said to him, ‘Come hither, and I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s -wife,’—not wives, you will observe; there was but one.” - -“You shake my faith in Mormonism,” she said, with a startled, troubled -look. - -“I rejoice to hear it,” he responded; “would that I could shake it to -its utter destruction. - -“Popery has been well called ‘Satan’s masterpiece,’ and Mormonism is -another by the same hand; the points of resemblance are sufficient to -prove that to my mind.” - -“Points of resemblance?” she repeated inquiringly, “I have never -thought there were any, and I have a heart hatred to Popery, as you may -well suppose, coming, as I do, from a land where she slew, in former -ages, so many of God’s saints. But surely in one thing the two are very -different—the one forbidding to marry, the other encouraging men to -take many wives.” - -“The difference in regard to that is not so great as may appear at -first sight,” he returned; “both pander to men’s lusts—for what are -nunneries but ‘priests’ prisons for women,’ as one who left the ranks -of the Popish priesthood has called them? - -“Both teach children to forsake their parents; both teach lying and -murder, when by such crimes they are expected to advance the cause of -their church.” - -“Oh, sir, so bad as that?” she exclaimed, with a shudder. - -“It is computed that Popery has slain fifty millions of those she -calls heretics, and oftentimes she has secured her victims by the -basest treachery. All that in past ages, to be sure, but she claims -infallibility and denies that she has ever done wrong; besides, to this -day she shows the same persecuting spirit, and actually kills, too, -wherever she has the power. - -“As to Mormonism doing likewise, look at the Mountain Meadow massacre, -the lying and perjury to prevent convictions for polygamy, and the -private assassinations committed to carry out their fearful and wicked -doctrine of blood atonement. - -“In that doctrine also—asserting that the blood of Christ does not -cleanse from all sin those who accept his offered salvation—they agree -with the Church of Rome, whose teaching is that forgiveness of sins -and final salvation are to be obtained by penance and good works -supplementing the finished work of Christ; that good works are to be -done not—as the Bible teaches—_because_ we _are_ saved, but in order to -_earn_ salvation; thus flatly contradicting God’s word, which says: - -“‘A man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.’ - -“‘By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it -is the gift of God.’ - -“‘The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.’” - -Again he opened his Bible and read: “‘Ye are of your father the devil, -and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the -beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in -him; when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar -and the father of it.’ - -“‘He that is of God heareth God’s words; ye therefore hear them not, -because ye are not of God.’ - -“Are not those words of the Master peculiarly applicable to all those -teaching doctrines so diametrically opposed to his?” he asked. - -“They certainly are applicable to any who teach false doctrine,” she -replied. - -“And can you call the Mormon doctrine of ‘blood atonement,’ by any -softer name?” - -“No, for I believe God’s word, ‘the blood of Jesus Christ his Son -cleanseth us from all sin’; and its teaching that he is the one -sacrifice for sin.” - -“And yet you call yourself one of them?” - -“I have done so. I stood out against it for a time—in the old home in -Scotland—but the man—a Mormon missionary—was very plausible and seemed -very devout, quoted Scripture, won Willie, my husband, over first, and -they both kept at me till I grew fairly bewildered and half crazed, -and at last, when Willie told me he was bound to come over to America -and join the Latter-day Saints, I gave up and agreed to do the same; -for how could I part from him? and no word at all had been breathed to -either of us about polygamy; we had not thought it was one of their -doctrines.” - -A spasm of pain convulsed her features, and for a moment she seemed -unable to go on. - -“Does that speak well for their honesty?” he asked, in stern -indignation. - -She shook her head. “No,” she said chokingly; “and the thought of that -has sometimes made me grow weak in the faith till my heart would almost -stand still with fright.” - -The last words were spoken in a suppressed tone, little louder than a -whisper, and with a half-terrified glance from side to side, as if she -feared they might be overheard. - -“And no wonder, considering their fiendish practice of ‘blood -atonement,’” he responded, regarding the poor, trembling woman with -deep commiseration. “I presume you had not been long a dweller in -Mormondom before you were more fully instructed in regard to those two -important doctrines?” - -“No, sir, not long,” she replied, “as to polygamy at least; and when -my husband declared his intention of carrying that into practice, I -was heart-broken and entreated him to forbear, remembering his solemn -marriage vow to cleave to me only so long as we both should live. - -“He tried argument with me at first, coaxing and persuasion, but -finding I was not to be moved by those, he grew very angry and abusive, -and hinted darkly at the danger of the blood atonement doctrine being -carried out in my case if I continued obstinate in refusing my consent.” - -“And so you gave it?” - -“Yes. Oh, sir, it was like consenting to have my heart torn from my -bosom!” she exclaimed in a low tone tremulous with pain. “But to -withhold it would do no good, and would endanger my life—my life, no -longer valuable save for the sake of my dear children: but for their -sake I did desire to live. Ah, sir, I could not but ask myself, ‘Is -this what it is to live in free America?’” - -“I blush for my country, in view of the outrages she has allowed -in the name of religion!” he exclaimed, his fine, manly countenance -flushing with shame and indignation as he spoke. “And yet,” he -continued interrogatively, “you came to believe it right for a man thus -to break his marriage vow?” - -“I grew bewildered with misery,” she said. “I had no choice but to -submit, and felt that I should go mad with the thought of my husband’s -wickedness if I held fast to the teachings of my childhood. I could not -answer their arguments (ah, I see now that more prayer and searching -of the Scriptures might have enabled me to do so; yet the result would -have been a violent death; probably by Willie’s own hand, making him -a murderer as well as—a breaker of the seventh commandment), so I -resigned myself to my fate—so far as I could—and have ever since been -fighting with the anguish and rebellion in my broken heart.” - -She was silent for a moment, struggling with her emotion, then with a -grateful look at him, “I don’t know how it is, sir, that you have so -quickly won my confidence,” she said. “I have never before breathed a -word of all this into any mortal ear. Even Marian knows no more than -that I suffer because—other women share the affection that in former, -happier days was all my own.” - -“It is sometimes a relief to unburden our hearts to a fellow-creature,” -he replied; “there is healing and comfort in human sympathy, and I -assure you, dear madam, that you have mine in no slight measure. The -man who can so wound the heart of a loving wife must be worse than a -brute. - -“But the government has at last come to the rescue of these oppressed -wives. I trust the Edmunds Bill will prove the complete destruction of -polygamy, and efface this bar sinister from my country’s scutcheon.” - -“I cannot but desire it, if only for my daughter’s sake,” she returned. -“Marian will soon be a woman, and, if your government does not help, -may be forced into a polygamous marriage. She would never go into it -of her own free will; she is no Mormon, but, young as she is, has -always declared intense hatred and abhorrence of both polygamy and the -blood atonement doctrine—and practice,” she added, after a moment’s -hesitation. - -“Oh, sir, no small part of my suffering is occasioned by the change in -my child’s feelings toward her father; from loving him with an ardent -affection, she has turned to hating him with a bitter hatred, as the -destroyer of her mother’s peace and happiness.” - -She ended with a burst of uncontrollable weeping. - -Captain Raymond’s kind heart was sorely pained by the sight of her -distress. He felt himself powerless to give relief, but spoke gently -to her of the love and sympathy of Jesus, the “Friend that sticketh -closer than a brother,” and to whom “all power is given in heaven and -in earth.” - -“Carry all your griefs, your fears, and anxieties to Him,” he said. -“There is no trouble too great for his power to remove, too small for -his loving attention. His love to his people is infinite, and he never -regards their sorrows with indifference. - -“In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the Angel of his -presence saved them.” - -“It is true,” she said tremulously; “I have found it true in my own -experience. ‘In his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare -them, and carried them all the days of old.’ And so he has done with -me—his most unworthy and doubting servant. Ah, sir, you, I am sure, are -one of God’s own people, whatever may be your views with regard to the -Mormon creed, and I beseech you to pray for me that my faith in God, in -Jesus, and his gospel may be strengthened and increased.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - -On leaving the tea-table Max and Lulu had seated themselves in the -porch, along with their father, and just as he went in search of his -paper they were joined by Albert Austin. - -“Ah, good-evening, Albert,” said Max, making haste to place a chair for -him near his own, “I’m pleased to see you.” - -“Thanks; I’m pleased to come,” returned the English lad, accepting -the offered seat. “I was bored with listening to papa and some other -gentlemen talking on some subject that didn’t interest me in the least, -so I slipped away after telling papa where I could be found when -wanted.” - -“He doesn’t object to our society then?” remarked Max, in a playfully -interrogative tone. - -“No, indeed! I fancy he thinks I could hardly be in better company. -He’s taken a strong liking to your father, and I think I may add to -yourselves, also,” glancing admiringly at Lulu as he spoke. - -“In spite of my not being an English girl?” she returned laughingly. - -“Oh, assuredly, Miss Lulu! That could make no difference; in fact, I -believe Englishmen are, as a class, great admirers of American ladies.” - -“In which they show their good taste,” laughed Max. “My father says -American ladies compare favorably with those of any other nation. I -wish you could see Mamma Vi and Grandma Elsie.” - -“Who are they?” asked Albert, with a puzzled look. - -“Mamma Vi is papa’s wife; his second wife, while we are the children -of the first. Her name is Violet; she isn’t old enough to be our real -mother, so she told us to call her Mamma Vi. Grandma Elsie is her -mother, and we call her that to distinguish her from an older lady whom -we call grandma also.” - -“Ah, yes, I think I understand. That’s one of your American ways, I -suppose. And where are those ladies you would like to show me? not in -this state, I fancy, as I remember seeing you on the cars long before -we entered it.” - -“Yes,” replied Max, with an amused look, “our home is so far away that -we crossed several states in coming here. But this is not a state.” - -“Isn’t? What then?” - -“A territory.” - -“Ah, excuse me, but I don’t know the difference.” - -“I’ll try to explain,” said Max. “Papa has taken some pains to give us -a clear understanding of our government and its workings. - -“Each of the thirty-eight states has its own constitution, elects -its own governor, legislators, and judges. It elects two senators to -send to Congress, too, and from one to thirty-four representatives, -according to its population. - -“But the territories can send only one delegate to Congress, and he has -no vote; they are governed by Congress, with a governor appointed by -the president.” - -“Ah, yes, I see the difference, and that the states have the best of -it. The territories, I presume, look forward to becoming states?” - -“Yes; but they must have a certain number of inhabitants before they -can hope to be admitted into the Union?” - -“Your father’s an army officer, isn’t he?” - -“No; he belonged to the navy, but resigned not very long ago.” - -“The American navy is quite small, isn’t it?” - -“It isn’t so large as it ought to be,” returned Max shortly. - -“Britannia rules the wave!” quoted Albert, in an exultant tone. - -“Yes; when Columbia isn’t there to interfere with her,” retorted Max, a -little mischievously. - -“I’m thinking ’twill be a sorry day for Columbia when she attempts -that,” sneered Albert. - -“It hasn’t always been in the past,” remarked Max quietly. - -“When wasn’t it?” asked Albert. - -“When John Paul Jones in the Bon Homme Richard fought Capt. Pearson in -the Serapis, for instance.” - -“Well, yes; but that was a very close fight. Beside, you had six -vessels and we only two.” - -“Two of ours were pilot boats and kept out of the fight altogether,” -said Max. - -“So did the Vengeance; though she had been ordered to render the larger -vessels any assistance in her power; she didn’t even try to overhaul -the band of flying merchantmen. - -“Then the Alliance, commanded by that bad-tempered Frenchman Landais, -who was so envious of Jones, went into the battle only at the last -moment, and instead of helping her allies, fired her broadsides into -the Richard. The fight was between the Richard, with forty guns, and -the Serapis with forty-four; the Pallas, twenty-two guns, and the -Countess of Scarborough, with twenty-two. So there was no advantage on -our side. If Landais had been in command of the Richard he wouldn’t -have tried to fight the Serapis at all.” - -“Why do you think that?” - -“Because, as he dashed past her in the Alliance, pushing ahead to -reconnoitre, before the fight began, he cried out that if the enemy -proved to be a forty-four, the only course for the Americans was -immediate flight. He practiced on that idea, too, hauling off and -leaving the Richard and the Pallas to do the fighting. - -“Our French allies did us more harm than good in the naval battles of -the Revolutionary War. If Captain Landais wasn’t crazy, he must have -been one of the greatest scoundrels that ever trod a quarter-deck.” - -“Yes, indeed,” said Lulu, “when I read about his firing into the Bon -Homme Richard—when the poor fellows on it had been fighting so hard and -long, so many of them dreadfully wounded, and the ship almost sinking -already—I felt as if I could hardly stand it to think he escaped being -well punished for it. He ought to have been hung; for his fire killed -some of our poor fellows.” - -“So he ought, the miserable coward!” assented the English lad. “I’m not -partial to the French anyway,” he added. “Of course my own countrymen -come first in my estimation, but I put the Americans next. We’re a sort -of cousins, you know.” - -“Yes,” said Max. “But wasn’t it a crazy idea that this great big -country should go on being ruled by that little one across the sea? -Most absurd, I think.” - -“At the beginning of the trouble between them it must have looked like -great folly for the thirteen weak colonies to go into the fight with -England,” remarked Albert. - -“Particularly to the English, who didn’t know how in love with liberty, -and determined to keep her, the Americans were,” said Max. “Papa says -we triumphed at the last because our cause was the cause of right, and -God guided our counsels and gave success to our arms.” - -“I don’t believe I’m as well-read on the subject as you are,” remarked -Albert. “I presume I would naturally take less interest in it than you -would.” - -“Yes, I suppose so,” replied Max. “I’ve studied the history of the -United States, my native land, a great deal, especially in the last -year or two, and have had many talks with papa about the events, and -especially the doings of the navy; they interested me more than any -other part; first, because papa was a naval officer, and then because -I’m hoping to go into the navy myself.” - -“And those studies didn’t increase your love for us—the English, I -mean?” said Albert interrogatively. - -“No, not a bit,” returned Max with a slight laugh. He paused a moment, -then went on more gravely. - -“The treatment they gave the Americans they took prisoner, was simply -barbarous; unworthy of a civilized—not to say Christian—nation.” - -“Yes, perfectly dreadful!” chimed in Lulu. - -“Now I really don’t remember any such barbarity,” remarked Albert, -rather apologetically. “But you know the Americans were considered -rebels, and I—suppose the British officers may have thought it a duty -to—refrain from coddling them.” - -“Coddling indeed!” exclaimed Max. “Do you remember about the ‘Old -Jersey’ prison-ship?” - -“Can’t say that I do.” - -“It was a dismasted hulk—an old sixty-four gun-ship moored in Wallabout -Bay, near New York City. She was so old and worn-out and rotten that -she wasn’t fit to go to sea; so they used her as a prison for Americans -whom they captured, and starved them and treated them so horribly in -every way, that eleven thousand died in her.” - -“Wouldn’t it be charitable to suppose the starving may have been -because of an unavoidable scarcity of provisions?” queried Albert -mildly. - -“There was no such unavoidable scarcity,” asserted Max, “yet the poor -prisoners were sometimes so hungry as to be glad to eat cockroaches -and mice when they could catch them.” - -“On that vessel?” asked Albert. - -“I think it was on that very vessel,” said Max musingly; “but possibly -I might be mistaken; there were other prison-ships, but the Old Jersey -was the worst. But I’m certain it was American prisoners in the hands -of the British near New York. A piece of wanton cruelty the jailors -were guilty of, was bringing in a kettle of boiling soup, or mush, and -setting it down before those starving prisoners of war, with never a -spoon or anything to dip it up with.” - -“Yes,” said Lulu, “and another time they marched some prisoners for -four days without a mouthful to eat, then rolled out barrels of salt -pork for them to eat raw. And another time, when they were exchanging -prisoners with the Americans, they put pounded glass into the last -meal’s victuals they gave to the American soldiers before they let them -go.” - -“Well, if they did that ’twas mean and wicked enough,” admitted Albert. -“But don’t you think the world has grown a little better since those -days, and that then other nations were quite as cruel, if not more -so? always excepting the Americans, of course,” he added, with a -mischievous twinkle in his eye. - -“I believe that’s so,” admitted Max. - -“And some Americans—the Tories—were worse than the British,” said -Lulu; “some of their deeds were perfectly dreadful, shockingly wicked -and cruel! beside, it was so contemptible in them to turn against -their own country and ill-use—even to robbing and murdering—their own -countrymen.” - -“Well, yes,” said Albert, “but then, we must remember that the way they -looked at it ’twas only being loyal to their king.” - -“The English king, you mean,” she retorted. “But most of them—the -Tories—were low, mean, wicked fellows that really cared for neither -king nor country, and were only glad of an excuse to rob wherever they -could.” - -“Then please don’t blame my country with what they did,” said Albert. - -“No; it isn’t worth while; she has sins enough of her own to answer -for,” returned Lulu demurely. “And then she’s so little, poor thing!” - -Albert looked nettled at that. “The sun never sets on the British -Empire,” he said, straightening himself proudly. “And, big as your -country is, I don’t believe either her army or navy can compare with -ours.” - -“Yes, our regular army is small, I know,” admitted Max; “but we have -a great army of militia, and all so devoted to their country that -they make splendid fighters when called on to defend her. Our navy’s -small, too, but compares better in size with yours than it did at the -beginning of the war of 1812–14, and it came out of that with flying -colors.” - -“Really, I don’t remember what was the difference then, or just what -the fight was about,” acknowledged Albert modestly. - -“Don’t you?” asked Max, in some surprise. “Well, I shouldn’t either, -if papa hadn’t turned my attention to such subjects and talked with us -about them in such an interesting way. He says he wants his children to -be well acquainted with history, especially that of their own country. -That’s how I happen to be posted on those questions. - -“When the United States declared war against England in 1812, our navy -consisted of twenty vessels, the largest carrying forty-four guns, most -of the others rating under thirty, while England had over a thousand -ships on the rolls of her navy, two hundred and fifty-four of them -ships of the line, mounting over seventy-four guns each. - -“It really wasn’t much wonder the British laughed at the idea of our -attempting to fight them; especially as Britannia had ruled the wave up -to that time.” - -“Yes; the Americans must have been a plucky little nation to try -it,” laughed Albert, “they must have been desperately angry about -something.” - -“They were, and with good reason,” returned Max. “Oh, such wrongs as -our poor sailors had endured for years from British naval officers! It -makes my blood boil just to read, at this late day, of their arrogance -and injustice, and the dreadful cruelties they were guilty of toward -Americans they kidnapped from our vessels.” - -“Kidnapped?” repeated Albert. - -“Yes; what else could you call it when a British man-of-war would stop -an American merchant-vessel on the high seas—in time of peace—board -her, order the crew mustered aft, pick out any man they chose to say -was an Englishman, and carry him off to their own vessel against his -will?” - -“Oh yes, I see you refer to the right of search.” - -“Right of search, indeed!” exclaimed Max hotly, “there was no right -about it, it was all an outrageous wrong. The British had no more right -to search our ships than we had to search theirs.” - -“But deserters should be caught and punished,” said Albert. - -“Perhaps that’s so,” said Max: “I don’t say it is, or it isn’t; but -they often and often took native-born Americans, asserting, without a -shadow of proof, that they were English. American captains said they -always chose the most ship-shape sailors in the crew, and, of course, -those wouldn’t always be the Englishmen, supposing there were any -Englishmen among them. - -“One can imagine that it was exceedingly exasperating to be forced in -that way into foreign service, especially that of a nation their own -country had been having a bloody war with only a little while before; -under the red flag of England, too, instead of the beautiful Stars and -Stripes they loved so well. - -“And if one of them showed any unwillingness to serve his kidnappers, -he was triced up and flogged till his back was cut to ribbons, and the -blood spurted at every blow. - -“Of course they detested the service they had been forced into, and -that was made so dreadful to them, would desert whenever they had a -chance; and if they were caught again they were speedily hung at the -yardarm.” - -“It was hard when a mistake was made and a real American impressed,” -conceded Albert, “but, of course, the English government had a right to -take her own men wherever she could find them.” - -“I have no objection to Englishmen submitting to such tyranny, if they -choose,” sneered Max, “but Americans are made of different stuff; they -are free and glory in their freedom, and never would, and never will, -put up with such treatment. And I say again, British officers had no -right to board our ships without leave or license, and forcibly rob -them of part of their crew. It was an abominably cruel and tyrannical -thing for them to do, even before the Revolution, and most outrageously -insulting beside, after the war when we were no longer colonies of -Great Britain, but free and independent states.” - -“I don’t recall the occurrence you refer to,” said Albert, “but surely -before the war they had the same right to impress American subjects as -they had to take their fellow-subjects of Great Britain.” - -“Let me recall one incident to your memory, and see if even an -Englishman can approve of it in these days,” said Max. - -“In 1764—eleven years before the beginning of the war, you will -remember—the British man-of-war ‘Maidstone’ lay in the harbor of -Newport. It was a time of peace, and the officers had nothing to do; so -they amused themselves sending out press-gangs to seize any luckless -American sailor who happened to be on shore, and force him into his -Majesty’s service aboard their vessel. - -“The life on board a British man-of-war was a dreadful one in those -times, for any sailor; the cat-o’-nine-tails was flourished so often, -and for such slight offenses, and even a boy midshipman could order a -poor fellow to the grating to have his back cut to ribbons. - -“So no wonder American sailors dreaded being forced into it; they had -no peace of their lives with those press-gangs roaming the streets in -search of them every night, and breaking into the taverns where a group -of them might be smoking and chatting together, to seize and carry them -off. - -“But the incident I was going to speak of was this: One day a brig came -sailing up the bay into the harbor of Newport. She had been on a long -voyage—to the west coast of Africa—and the poor fellows aboard of her -were just wild with joy to think they had reached home at last and were -going ashore presently to see their mothers and wives and sweethearts, -and all the rest of their dear ones they had been separated from so -long, and who had crowded on the dock to watch the brig coming in. - -“Oh, I can imagine how they felt! for I remember how glad we always -were when papa’s vessel came in from a long voyage, and we knew that -he’d be with us presently; and so I know something of how terrible, -how perfectly unbearable, it must have seemed to them, when just as -their ship was anchored, a couple of longboats from the man-of-war came -pulling up alongside of the brig, and two or three officers and a lot -of sailors climbed on board, and the head one ordered the American -captain to call his men aft, saying ‘His Majesty has need of a few fine -fellows for his service.’ - -“It was bad enough when they thought he was going to take some of them, -each poor jackie fearing he might be the unfortunate one, yet hoping he -might not; but just think of it! the officer ordered every one of them -to go below and pack up his traps. - -“The American captain expressed his astonishment and indignation, -saying that the poor fellows were just home from a long voyage and -hadn’t seen their families yet. But it did no good; every man jack of -them was carried off to the man-of-war and forced to serve aboard of -her. - -“It was such acts of tyranny as this that drove the colonies to rebel, -and finally to be determined to be free and independent.” - -“And that drove them into the war of 1812, too,” said Lulu, “Oh, the -States, I mean; they were not colonies then, though the British did not -seem to have found it out.” - -“It was a plucky little nation to declare war with England,” again -remarked Albert good humoredly. “I don’t know how they ever got up -courage to pit their twenty vessels against her thousand.” - -“Love of liberty, and self-respect, and abhorrence of insult and -tyranny nerved them to it,” said Max. “Do you remember that affair of -the Chesapeake and Leopard?” - -“Not at all; if I ever heard of it, it must have made but little -impression on my mind.” - -“Well, I suppose it would naturally make a deeper one on an American -boy’s,” said Max. - -“It happened in 1807, when we were at peace with England, and it seems -to me the most insulting thing ever heard of. - -“The Chesapeake, an American man-of-war lying at the navy-yard at -Washington, was put in commission and ordered to the Mediterranean to -relieve the Constitution. - -“It took nearly a month to get her ready, and while that was being -attended to the British minister informed our naval authorities that -three deserters from His British Majesty’s ship ‘Melampus’ had joined -the crew of the Chesapeake, and asked to have them given up. - -“Our government was willing to do it, but on inquiring into the matter -found that the men were really native-born Americans who had been -impressed by the British and forced into their service. They were able -to prove it. So, of course, they weren’t given up. - -“The facts were stated to the British minister, and as he didn’t -protest any further, it was supposed he was satisfied. - -“A few weeks after this the Chesapeake left the navy-yard and dropped -down the river to Hampton Roads. There she stayed for some days, -taking on guns and stores and adding to her crew till she had three -hundred and seventy-five men; then she weighed anchor and started on -her voyage. - -“But she started before she was in really proper condition. A quantity -of things, such as stores, ropes, lumber, trunks, and furniture, were -piled on the decks, instead of being stowed away in their proper -places. Somebody was to blame for that, of course, though papa says it -was not Commodore Barron, who was in command, and nobody could have -dreamed of the mischief the confusion was to cause, remembering that it -was in a time of peace, and right on our own coast. - -“But there were four English men-of-war lying quietly at anchor in Lynn -Haven Bay, and as our ship passed out into the ocean there was a stir -on their decks; then one of them weighed anchor, set her sails, and -started in pursuit. The Chesapeake had to tack frequently, on account -of a stiff breeze that was blowing, and the American officers noticed -that the Leopard—the British ship—did the same, and kept right in their -wake; but it never occurred to them that she had any but peaceful -intentions. The ship kept on her course, and the sailors set busily to -work putting the decks in order. - -“Presently the Leopard bore down rapidly, and when she got near enough, -hailed, saying that she had a dispatch for Commodore Barron. So the -Chesapeake hove to and waited for a boat to be sent. Now the two ships -were lying broadside to broadside, less than a pistol-shot apart. -Still the commodore did not suspect any mischief. Some of the younger -officers noticed that the Leopard had her cannon all ready to fire, and -they ought to have told the commodore; but they didn’t. - -“Soon a boat put off from the Leopard, bringing an English officer. One -of the American officers received him and took him to the commodore’s -cabin. There he produced an order from the British Admiral Berkeley, -commanding all British ships to watch for the Chesapeake and search her -for deserters. - -“Commodore Barron said he didn’t harbor deserters, and couldn’t permit -his crew to be mustered by an officer of any foreign power. Just -then there was a signal from the Leopard recalling her officer. Then -Commodore Barron came out of his cabin, and was much surprised to see -that the Leopard was quite in fighting trim.” - -Sandy McAlpine had drawn near the little group, and was listening with -profound interest to Max’s story. “And did they have a fight between -the two ships?” he burst out, as Max made a momentary pause in his -narrative. - -“A fight!” echoed Max. “No; there was a disgraceful, insulting attack -by the Leopard, which the Americans had not power to respond to, -because, though their guns were loaded and they ready to use them -with a will, no matches, powder-flasks, wads, rammers or gun-locks -could be found. - -“While they were hunting for them, there was a hail from the Leopard. -Commodore Barron shouted back that he did not understand. They hailed -again: - -“‘Commodore Barron must be aware that the orders of the vice-admiral -must be obeyed.’ - -“The commodore again answered that he didn’t understand, and after -another hail or two the British fired a gun at the Chesapeake, then -poured in a full broadside. The heavy shot crashed through the sides of -the American ship, wounding a number of men.” - -“And they couldn’t fire back?” queried Sandy. - -“For want of matches and the other necessary things that were not to be -found, they had to let their guns keep silence, though they were filled -with fury that they had no chance at all to defend themselves and show -their insolent foe how American blue-jackets can fight. They heated -pokers red-hot in the galley fire, but they cooled too much before they -could get them to the guns. - -“So for eighteen minutes the Leopard kept on firing at a helpless, -unresisting foe. Then the Chesapeake’s flag was hauled down, two -British lieutenants and some midshipmen came in a boat from the -Leopard, boarded the Chesapeake, and again demanded the deserters. - -“Of course, there was no choice but to give them up. Four sailors were -seized and carried aboard the Leopard in triumph. One of them they -hung, one died before he could escape, but five years later the other -two got back to the Chesapeake.” - -“Max, you are forgetting that one shot was fired from the Chesapeake?” -said Lulu. - -“Yes, you tell about it.” - -“There was a Lieutenant Allen among the officers of the Chesapeake, who -cried out in his anger, ‘I’ll have one shot at those rascals, anyhow,’ -ran to the galley fire, picked up a live coal in his fingers, and, -never caring for the pain, ran with it to one of the guns and fired it -off just as the flag came fluttering down.” - -“He was a brave fellow,” commented Sandy. “Well, I s’pose the British -didn’t fire any more after they got what they wanted. But hadn’t their -shot made some big holes in the Chesapeake?” - -“I presume so,” replied Lulu. “Anyhow, she turned and went back. - -“Everybody in the whole country was furious on hearing the news—which -I don’t blame them for, I’m sure; but it was a great shame that the -government punished Commodore Barron, by suspending him from the -service, without pay, for five years. Papa says it was very unjust, for -it wasn’t his fault that things were not in order on the vessel, but -the fault of the fitting-out officers. And I feel perfectly certain -that the commodore and everybody else on the Chesapeake would have -fought bravely if they’d had half a chance, and whipped the insolent -British well. Oh, I do wish they had had a chance!” - -“Well, never mind,” said Max. “We whipped them well in the war that -followed a few years later.” - -“Now, if I remember right, the Americans didn’t always whip in that war -either on land or on water,” said Albert. - -“No, not always,” acknowledged Max, “but a good many times; and the war -accomplished what we went into it for: putting a stop to their insolent -claim to a right to search our vessels, and their impressment of our -seamen.” - -“Was that mentioned and given up in the treaty of peace?” - -“No,” acknowledged Max, “but they haven’t tried it since, and they’d -better not, as I guess they know.” - -“Perhaps you mightn’t have fared so well if we hadn’t had another war -on our hands at the same time,” retorted Albert. - -But just here the talk was interrupted by Captain Raymond and Mr. -Austin joining them, the former coming from his interview with Mrs. -McAlpine in the sitting-room, the latter entering from the street. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - -“Can’t we go to our own rooms now, papa?” asked Lulu, when their -English friends had bidden good-night and gone. - -“Yes,” he said, taking her hand and leading the way, Max following not -at all unwillingly. - -“I suppose you want to finish your letter now, Lulu?” the captain said, -as they entered his bedroom, which they made their sitting-room also -when desirous of being quite to themselves. - -“No, sir, I don’t. I’d rather let it wait till Monday, if I may sit on -your knee a little while and have you talk to me.” - -“Have me talk to you? or let you talk to me?” he asked with playful -look and tone, as he sat down and drew her to the coveted place. - -“Both, you dear papa,” she answered, putting her arms around his neck -and giving him an ardent kiss. - -“And am I to do nothing but listen?” asked Max, pulling forward a chair -and seating himself close beside them. - -“Just as you please, young man,” laughed his father; “but I doubt if -you can refrain from putting in a word now and then.” - -“He’s been talking ever so fast almost all the evening,” said Lulu; -“only letting me have a word now and then.” - -“Ah, indeed! I hope it has been good-humored and sensible talk?” - -“Very sensible (I was quite proud of my brother)” replied Lulu, giving -Max a laughing glance, “but I’m not so sure about the good-humor. I -shouldn’t wonder if Albert Austin had made up his mind by this time -that Max and I are not very partial to the English.” - -“I hope you haven’t been rude to Albert, my children?” the captain -said, with sudden gravity. - -“I hope not, papa; I don’t think we were, though we stated a few -historical facts—perhaps a little strongly,” replied Lulu. - -“What were they?” he asked, “you may tell me about it if you like.” - -They then repeated the substance of their conversation with Albert, -their father listening with evident interest. - -At the conclusion of the story, he said, “I think from your account -that Albert showed much good temper and moderation in the way he bore -your strictures on his country and countrymen. You can not be too -patriotic to please me, my dears, but I want you to be careful of the -feelings of others, never wounding them unnecessarily. Albert and his -father may be considered, to some extent, our guests, as strangers -visiting our country, so that we should be doubly careful to be kind -and considerate toward them.” - -“I’ll try to keep that in mind, papa,” said Max, “standing up for my -own country always but not abusing his—when I can help it. Just as we -were separating to-night he said to me in a low tone, ‘We must have -some more talks on the subject we were on to-night. I haven’t any books -at hand to consult, but I must inform myself by questioning papa, and -then I’ll be better prepared to stand up for old England.’” - -“Did he look cross when he said it?” asked Lulu. - -“No,” replied Max; “he’s quite a gentleman, I think.” - -“As his father is,” remarked the captain. “‘Like father, like son,’ is -an old saying, so remember, my children, that people will judge of me -by your behavior.” - -“Yes, sir,” said Max, “I think I shall be the more careful to behave -well on that account.” - -“I too,” chimed in Lulu. “It would be a dreadful thing if we should -disgrace our father. Wouldn’t it, Max?” - -“Yes, indeed!” exclaimed the lad earnestly. “I have often felt, oh, so -thankful that I had a father I could respect and reverence and honor; -for I’ve known boys whose fathers were drunken, wicked, men, that they -couldn’t help being ashamed of.” - -“Give all the glory and thanks to God, who has kept your father from -drunkenness and crime, my boy,” the captain said, laying his hand -affectionately on his son’s shoulder, and giving him a look full of -fatherly affection. “But for His restraining grace I might have been -the worst of criminals.” - -Then taking up the Bible and opening it, “Now, we will have our reading -and prayer,” he said, “and then go to our beds.” - -“I just know Gracie is longing for this, if she’s awake,” said Lulu, as -her father took her in his arms, after prayers, to give her a goodnight -kiss. - -“I trust she is asleep ere this, the dear pet!” he replied. “I seem to -see the dear little face lying on my pillow with the sweet blue eyes -closed in sleep and almost a smile on her lips; the babies asleep in -the nursery, with the door open between, and Mamma Vi seated somewhere -near, writing a letter to her absent husband. Ah, I should be homesick -to-night if I hadn’t these two of my loved flock with me.” - -“And I’d be dreadfully homesick if I wasn’t with my dear father,” she -responded, clinging lovingly to him. “You are a good deal more than -half of home to me, papa; and, oh, but you were good and kind to bring -me with you!” - -“And me, too,” added Max. “Papa, I am sure this trip to the far West -will be something to remember all my life.” - -“I hope so, my boy,” his father said. “It has been my desire to make it -so enjoyable to you both that it will be to you a pleasant memory all -your days. - -“To-morrow we will attend morning and evening service at the mission -church—Sunday school also—and in the afternoon have our usual home -exercises, going on with our regular Bible and catechism lessons -exactly as if we were at Woodburn. - -“On Monday I expect to take you to see the cattle ranch Mr. Short -pointed out in the distance, this afternoon.” - -Both thanked him, expressing themselves pleased with the plans he had -mapped out for the two days. - -“Papa, shall I dress for church when I get up in the morning?” asked -Lulu. - -“Yes,” he answered. “Wear one of your plainer dresses. I think we -should not dishonor God’s house by being shabby or slovenly in our -attire, nor should we dress in a way to attract attention and divert -the thoughts of others from the service.” - -“Yes, sir, I know that’s what you have told me at home, and that you -never let me wear my gayest things to church. And I suppose it would -make even more difference here, where most of the congregation must be -quite poor and ignorant?” - -“I think so,” he said; “and also that you will be less likely to be -taken up with thoughts of yourself and your own appearance if you are -not gayly dressed.” - -Captain Raymond’s arrangements for spending the holy hours of the -Lord’s Day were duly carried out. The hour for morning service in the -church he had provided for Minersville, found him and his son and -daughter seated among the worshippers. The Austins were there also; and -it was the same again in the evening. - -They all visited the Sunday school, too, and took part in its -exercises. The two gentlemen had not been acquainted many hours before -discovering that they were followers of the same Saviour, and each felt -it to be a closer bond of union than would have been that of the same -nativity without it. - -The Austins joined the Raymonds by invitation, in Monday’s excursion, -and indeed in almost every other one taken while they all remained in -Minersville, which was for several weeks. - -Captain Raymond took his children with him almost everywhere that he -went; to Lulu’s extreme satisfaction her days were spent principally -in walks and rides, the latter becoming more enjoyable as she made -better acquaintance with her pony and grew confident of her ability to -guide and control it. Her father, however, always rode by her side, and -kept constant watch over her safety. - -Their evenings were apt to be spent on the porch, as the weather was -such as to make that the most enjoyable spot at that time. Often one or -more of the McAlpine family would be there—perhaps at the farther end -of the porch, so as not to seem to intrude upon the Raymonds and their -guests, for Mr. Austin and Albert were apt to be with them; Mr. Short, -too, not unfrequently. - -But occasionally the young people were there without their elders, the -captain, perhaps, busied with some writing in his own room. - -The lads, Albert and Max, were very good friends, in spite of an -occasional tilt over the respective claims of the two countries to -preeminence in one thing or another, usually in regard to the bravery -and competence of her soldiers and sailors. - -One evening Albert began lauding Nelson as the greatest naval hero the -world had ever seen, winding up his eulogy with a challenge to Max to -mention any one to compare to him in seamanship, fighting qualities, or -bravery. - -“Well, I don’t know of any other Englishman to compare to him,” replied -Max coolly, “but we’ve had a number of officers in our navy that I -think were quite equal to him.” - -“Which, pray?” sneered Albert. - -“There was Commodore McDonough, who whipped the British in the battle -of Lake Champlain. It was so terrible a fight that one of the British -sailors engaged in it, and who had been with Nelson at Trafalgar, said -that battle was a mere flea-bite in comparison.” - -“But in the action at Trafalgar Lord Nelson defeated the combined -navies of France and Spain.” - -“Yes, the British whipped them, and the Americans whipped the British,” -said Max. “You ought to think it a greater feat to whip the British -than to conquer in fight with Frenchmen and Spaniards,” he added -laughingly. - -“But the odds against Nelson were very much greater. Our force in the -battle of Lake Champlain was only slightly superior.” - -“I am not so sure about that,” replied Max, “I know at least one -historian says it was _decidedly_ superior. But McDonough was a -Christian, and before going into the fight he called his officers about -him, and kneeling on the quarter deck, asked help of God in the coming -battle.” - -“Then, if his prayer was granted, he had better help than all the -navies of the world could have given him.” - -“That’s so,” said Max. “And he gave the glory of the victory where it -belonged; in his dispatch to the Secretary of the Navy he said God had -granted it. - -“He was gallant and generous as a conqueror; when the British officers -tendered him their swords after the surrender, he put them back, -saying, ‘Gentlemen, your gallant conduct makes you worthy to wear your -weapons. Return them to their scabbards.’ - -“Commodore Perry was another of our naval heroes. He won the victory -in the battle of Lake Erie in the war of 1812, and wrote that famous -dispatch, ‘We have met the enemy, and they are ours, two ships, two -brigs, one schooner, and one sloop.’ - -“Then there were the great naval commanders of our civil war,” Max went -on. “I don’t believe a greater one than Farragut ever lived, or as -great a one, unless it might be Porter, who had a large share in the -taking of New Orleans; helping ever so much with his mortar boats. - -“Why, the undertaking was so difficult, that a number of English and -French naval officers who visited Farragut while he was in the lower -Mississippi completing his preparations for passing on up to take -the city, told him they had carefully examined the defences of the -Confederates, and that it would be sheer madness for him to attack the -forts with wooden ships such as his; he’d be sure to be defeated. - -“But he was not to be discouraged—the brave old man! He said, ‘You -may be right, but I was sent here to make the attempt. I came here to -reduce or pass the forts, and to take New Orleans, and I shall try it -on.’ And so he did try it on, and succeeded.” - -“I admire such grit,” said Albert. “I’ve read quite a good deal about -that war—a tremendous one it was—and I think there were some very -plucky things done on both sides.” - -“Yes,” returned Max; “I’m proud of the bravery shown by both the -‘Yanks’ and the ‘Johnnies,’ as they called each other.” - -Here Lulu, who had thus far contented herself with listening, put in a -word: - -“I don’t believe there ever was or could be a braver or more wonderful -feat than Lieutenant Cushing performed when he blew up the rebel ram -Albemarle. He dashed up along side of it, in his little vessel, through -a perfect shower of bullets, then, finding that the ram was behind -a wall of logs, he sheered off and dashed over that, he standing up -in the stern of his boat, with the tiller ropes in one hand and the -lanyard of a torpedo in the other, never flinching, though a big gun -was trained right on him; but he got his torpedo just where he wanted -it under the ram, gave his lanyard a jerk, and fired the thing off, so -that it blew up the ram at the same instant that their great gun sent -a hundred pound shot right through the bottom of his boat. Oh, such -a roar as the two—the torpedo and the gun—must have made, going off -together in that way!” - -“It was a wonderfully brave deed!” exclaimed Albert with enthusiasm. -“Did Cushing himself, or any of his crew, escape alive? I have -forgotten, if ever I knew about it.” - -“Yes,” replied Lulu; “he escaped to the Union fleet, after almost -incredible hardships and dangers, the only one of thirteen who had set -out on the expedition two days before.” - -“And the ram was destroyed?” - -“Yes, she was a total wreck. Cushing wasn’t sure of it till, while -he was lying in hiding in a swamp and half covered with water, two -Confederate officers passing along near him, said to each other that -the Albemarle was a total wreck. - -“They didn’t see him, but he heard what they said, and it was such good -news that it gave him fresh courage to bear his sufferings and exert -himself to get back to the Federal fleet.” - -“Your father was on the Union side, I suppose?” Albert said inquiringly. - -“Yes, indeed!” replied Max and Lulu, both speaking at once; then Max -went on, “but he was only a boy, younger than I am now, when the war -began.” - -“And what was it all about?” asked Albert. “I’m not sure I ever clearly -understood that?” - -“The Confederates were trying to break up the Union, and the Federals -fought to save it,” replied Max. “Papa has made it very clear to -me that the Revolutionary War was fought to win freedom from Great -Britain’s galling yoke, and make ourselves a nation; the War of 1812 -to convince the British that we were free and independent, and not to -be maltreated with impunity. Those two wars did that for us;—_made_ -the dear old Union; and the Civil War saved it from being destroyed by -those who ought to have been ready to defend and preserve it at the -risk of their lives. I do believe they would now,” he added; “or rather -the new generation, who have taken their places, would. I believe, if -England or France or any other nation should attack us, the people of -the Southern states would fight for the Union quite as bravely and with -as much fury and determination as any men of any other part of our -great big country.” - -“Is that so?” said Albert. “Well, I trust there will be no more wars -between England and the United States.” - -“I am sure I can echo that wish,” returned Max. “It seems a dreadful -thing for two Christian nations to go to war with each other.” - -“Very true,” said Albert; “it would certainly look strangely -inconsistent to the heathen peoples we are both trying to convert.” - -“It couldn’t fail to do so,” assented Max. “War is a dreadful thing; -reading descriptions of the awful scenes of bloodshed and carnage on -board of vessels, and in land battles, too, I’ve sometimes thought -Satan must take great and fiendish delight in it.” - -“Yes,” said Lulu, again joining in the talk; “I’ve heard papa make a -remark like that, but he said at the same time that there were worse -things than war, when it was waged to secure liberty, not only for -ourselves, but for others; that war could never be right on both sides, -but it often was on one. On the side of America in her two wars with -England, for instance.” - -“My father surprised me by saying the same thing when I questioned him -on the subject after that talk we had about it before,” said Albert. -“He added that, of course, England being his native land, he loved her -better than any other, and always should, but for all that he couldn’t -shut his eyes to the fact that she had not always been in the right. - -“The colonies were oppressed, and had a right to be free if they -desired separation from the mother country; and that after they had -been acknowledged free and independent states, they were no more -under English rule than any other foreign nation, and as, according -to international law, the public and private vessels of every nation -are subject, on the high seas, to the jurisdiction of the State they -belong to, and to no other, and no nation has the right of visitation -and search of the vessels of another nation, Americans were justly -indignant over the insistence upon, and the carrying out, of the -so-called right of search by British men-of-war; especially, as -native-born Americans had no security against being impressed as -Englishmen, and indeed very often were. It must have been awfully hard -on them, I’m sure.” - -“Yes,” returned Max, “and your father must be an honorable and just man -to acknowledge it.” - -“Just my opinion,” Albert said, with a frank, good-humored smile; “but -if it’s noble to acknowledge one’s own individual faults, why not to -own that your country may have sometimes been in the wrong?” - -“Certainly,” said Max, “and I’ve heard papa say he thought we were the -aggressors in the war with Mexico, and that our government had done -grievous wrong to the poor Indians.” - -“It’s very true that a good many Americans were impressed,” remarked -Lulu; “thousands of them; even while we were fighting France and so -helping England, she kept on impressing our sailors and seizing our -ships whenever she could find the smallest excuse for doing so; they -didn’t respect even the ships belonging to our government when they—the -British, I mean—were enough stronger to put resistance out of the -question on the part of the Americans. - -“And they even impressed three of our sailors after the War of 1812 -had begun. I read about it not long ago, and remember very well how -shamefully they were treated. - -“They refused to serve against their country, and for that were -punished with five dozen lashes, well laid on. Still they refused, and -two days later got four dozen more, and two days after that two dozen -more. - -“But all the beating the British could give them wouldn’t make them -fight against their country; so they put them in irons for three -months, till the ship reached London. - -“There they heard of the glorious victory of the Constitution over the -Guerriere and were so rejoiced that they made a flag by tearing up -some of their clothes into strips and sewing them together, then hung -it on a gun and cheered for the Stars and Stripes. Of course, they got -another flogging for that. - -“But there were twenty thousand American seamen in the British -navy, five times as many as we had in our own navy, and quite too -many to beat into subjection, so they imprisoned thousands of them -in old hulks, where they froze in winter and sweltered in summer and -suffocated all the time—so crowded together they were hardly able to -get a breath of fresh air; eaten up by vermin also, and only half-fed; -on very poor food, too. - -“Of course they grew sick, and altogether had a dreadful, dreadful -life; all because they wouldn’t fight against their country.” - -“It was awfully hard on them,” admitted Albert, “but please, Miss Lulu, -don’t hold Englishmen of the present day responsible for what was done -so many years ago.” - -“I’ll try not to,” she said with a smile; “certainly I shall not hold -you responsible, for I feel quite sure you would never be so unjust and -cruel.” - -“Thanks,” he returned with a gratified look, and she went on. - -“I know there were Englishmen, even in that day, who wouldn’t have -had one poor sailor so treated if they could have helped it. Captain -Dacres, of the Guerriere, for one. - -“He had an American captain prisoner on his vessel at the time of his -battle with the Constitution, and before the fight began politely told -him, as he supposed he didn’t want to fight against his country, he -might go below, if he chose; and he gave the same privilege to ten -American sailors who had been impressed on to his ship.” - -“Yes,” said Max, “He was a fine fellow; and if all his countrymen had -been like him, I don’t believe there would have been any war between -England and America.” - -“I admire his conduct,” Albert said, “and hope I should have acted as -he did, had I been in his place.” - -“I dare say you would,” said Max. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - -“Papa,” said Max, on finding himself alone with his father and sister -that evening, “we’ll spend the Fourth here, won’t we?” - -“Probably, my son,” was the reply. “I do not now expect to leave -Minersville before the middle or perhaps the last of July. But why do -you ask?” - -“I was thinking whether we mightn’t get up some sort of a celebration,” -said Max. - -“Oh, yes, do let us, papa!” cried Lulu. “It would be such fun.” - -“Would it?” he said, smiling at her eagerness. “I should think that -would depend on how we celebrate. What would you two like to do to show -your patriotism on the nation’s birthday?” - -“We shall want your help in deciding what might be done, papa,” said -Max. - -“We might treat the mission school, couldn’t we, papa?” asked Lulu. - -“I like that idea,” he answered, “but we must consider what sort of -treat it shall be.” - -“Good things to eat, such as they do not get every day—nuts, candies, -raisins, oranges, figs, cakes, anything nice that we can get. Could we -send away somewhere for such things, papa? I’m afraid they are not to -be had in the stores here; at least not many of them.” - -“I think I can order by telegraph and have them brought in season by -express on the railroad,” he answered. “We have about a week in which -to make our arrangements.” - -“Oh, good! then you’ll do it, won’t you, papa?” - -“I think so,” he said, in an indulgent tone. - -“And let’s distribute some small flags among the children,” said Max. -“And have fireworks in the evening.” - -“Oh, yes, yes!” exclaimed Lulu, clapping her hands and jumping up and -down in delight. “Mayn’t we, papa?” - -“I think we will,” he said; “but before we quite decide the question we -will talk the matter over with Mr. Short. He knows the tastes of the -people here much better than we do, and may have some good suggestions -to make.” - -“Perhaps the minister and the teacher might give some good suggestions, -too,” Max said. - -“Very likely,” replied his father. “We will consult them also.” - -The proposed consultations were held early the next morning, and the -necessary orders dispatched to the nearest points where they could be -filled. - -Max and Lulu were very full of the subject, and talked of it at the -table not a little, exciting a good deal of interest and curiosity -in the mind of Marian, as she overheard a remark now and again while -attending to their wants. - -There was a fine natural grove of forest trees on the outskirts of -the village, and there it had been decided the town’s people were to -be invited to assemble on the morning of the Fourth to listen to an -oration by the foremost lawyer of the place, and the reading of the -Declaration of Independence by Captain Raymond; also to join in the -singing of patriotic songs. - -The children of the mission-school would be taken to the grove in a -body, marching in procession, carrying flags and banners. After the -exercises were over they would be marched back to the schoolroom and -treated to cakes, candies, fruits and ices. - -There were to be fire-works in the evening, set off in front of Mrs. -McAlpine’s boarding-house, which, cornering on two very wide streets, -was quite a good place for the display. - -“Mr. Short seemed really pleased with the idea of having a celebration, -didn’t he, papa?” Lulu said, at the dinner table. - -“I thought so,” returned her father. “And it was fortunate that he knew -some one capable of delivering an oration on the subject at so short -notice, and that arrangements could be made in season for a little -advertisement of our plans for the Fourth, in this week’s issue of the -county paper.” - -“I daresay it will be the first celebration of the Fourth of July ever -seen by Albert or his father,” remarked Max. “I hope every thing will -go off nicely, so that they may be favorably impressed.” - -On leaving the table Lulu seated herself in the porch with a book. She -was still sitting there alone when Marian came out with her hat on and -a basket in her hand. - -“Do you feel inclined for a walk, Miss Lulu?” she asked. “I am going -down town on an errand for mother, and should be delighted to have your -company if you would like to go.” - -“Yes, I should,” returned Lulu. “I’ll go if I can get permission. Papa -is in his room writing letters; can you wait a minute while I run and -ask him?” - -“Oh, yes, indeed; two minutes, if you wish,” replied Marian sportively, -and Lulu hurried into the house. - -She was back again almost immediately, with hat, gloves and parasol. - -“Papa says I may go with you to do your errand, but must come directly -home again.” - -“I didn’t suppose you would have to ask permission just to go down town -with me,” remarked Marian, in surprise, as they walked on together; -“your father seems to pet you so that I had an idea you could do -exactly as you pleased.” - -“Oh, no, indeed!” Lulu answered, with a contented little laugh. “Papa -pets and indulges us all, but still he is very strict about some -things. I must never go anywhere without asking leave; not outside of -the grounds, by myself, when I’m at home.” - -“I suppose that is because he’s afraid something might harm you? -something or somebody?” Marian said, interrogatively. - -“Yes, I know that’s his reason, and it’s because he loves me so dearly. -If it wasn’t for that I’d be very rebellious sometimes, I’m afraid; for -I’m naturally very wilful, always wanting to have my own way.” - -“Yes; but one would bear almost any thing for the sake of being loved -so,” Marian said with an involuntary sigh; then suddenly changed the -subject. - -“Miss Lulu, won’t you tell me about the celebration you were talking -of at breakfast and dinner to-day! I mean particularly why Americans -should make so much of that day? I’m afraid you must think I ought -to be ashamed of my ignorance, and I suppose I ought; but you must -remember that I’ve lived in America only a few years, and have not -mingled much with native-born citizens. - -“It was a Mormon missionary that persuaded father and mother to come -over, and most of the people I’ve known about here have been Mormons -from foreign lands, and they are all taught by the Mormon leaders -to believe that the United States Government is the worst and most -tyrannical in the world, and to hate it accordingly. - -“So, of course, they haven’t made anything of celebrating the Fourth of -July. I do know enough to be aware that it’s the patriotic people who -do that.” - -“We keep it because it’s the nation’s birthday,” said Lulu; “and we’ve -good reason to be glad, and thankful to God, that our nation was born; -for instead of our government being the worst and most tyrannical, it -is the very best and freest in the world.” - -“The nation’s birthday? How do you mean? I don’t quite understand.” - -“It was the day of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The -Continental Congress signed it. - -“You see, when the colonies began the struggle with England that we -call the Revolutionary War, they had not thought of separating from -her (they loved her, and called her the mother country), but as the -fight went on the breach grew wider and wider, till, after a while, -the people began to see that it could never be healed; and that the -only thing to do, if they would be anything better than slaves to Great -Britain, was to become a separate nation; declare themselves free and -independent, and fight the British till they forced them to go back -where they belonged and let us alone. - -“Of course the declaration had to be made and signed by the leaders of -the people, and that made us a new nation—one by ourselves—and so we -call it the nation’s birthday; although most of the fighting to carry -it out, and make the British and other nations own that we were really -what we called ourselves, had to be done afterwards. - -“It’s quite a nice story about the signing, and if you like I’ll tell -it to you some time. To-morrow, papa and Mr. Austin and Max and Albert -are all going with a hunting party, and I shall be at home alone; that -will give me a good opportunity to tell the story, if you can find time -to sit with me for awhile.” - -“Thank you, Miss Lulu,” said Marian; “I shall certainly try to find the -time, and will be very glad to hear the story.” - -Here the conversation came to an end, as they were just on the -threshold of the store to which Marian’s errand led her. - -While she attended to that, Lulu, glancing curiously about, spied a -box of narrow ribbons of various colors, asked to be allowed to look -at them, inquired the price, and selecting a red, a white, and a blue -piece, said, “You may please wrap these up for me,” and taking out her -purse, paid for them. - -She noticed that Marian watched the proceeding with some little -surprise and curiosity, though she asked no question and made no remark. - -“I suppose you are wondering what I bought these ribbons for?” Lulu -said, as they left the store. - -“Yes,” replied Marian, “but still more that you should buy them without -asking permission, when you couldn’t even walk down the street with me -till you had asked your father if you might.” - -“Oh, that was quite a different thing:” said Lulu. “Papa allows me to -spend my pocket money as I please,—at least, within certain bounds. He -wouldn’t let me buy whiskey or tobacco or dime novels, of course,” she -added, with a laugh. - -“I should think not, indeed,” said Marian, joining in the laugh; “yet I -dare say he would be as likely to let you, as you to wish to do so.” - -“Yes; I can’t say that I have any inclination to spend my money so, -even to prove my independence; though, now I come to think of it, I’m -pretty sure I would be allowed to buy tobacco if it was as a present -to some of our old colored people who are very fond of it.” - -“It must be fine to have money of your own to do as you will with,” -remarked Marian, “I never was so fortunate, but I hope to earn for -myself some day. Poor mother has always had a struggling time,” she -went on, “and I could never have the heart to take pocket money from -her, if she offered it, but the folk about town say your father is -very, very rich, Miss Lulu.” - -“Just say Lulu, Marian; you needn’t call me Miss,” Lulu said. “I -suppose it is true that papa is rich, but he never says so, and -always tells us he is only the Lord’s steward, bound to use the money -entrusted to him for the upbuilding of Christ’s cause and kingdom, -and that no one—no matter how rich—has any right to be wasteful, -extravagant, or idle. And he says that not only money, but time and -ability to do anything useful, are talents entrusted to us to be used -and increased—the money and talents, I mean, are to be increased—that -at last the Lord may say to us each, ‘Well done, good and faithful -servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.’” - -“I think your father must be a very good, Christian man,” was Marian’s -answering remark. - -“Indeed he is!” returned Lulu emphatically, “he’s always a Christian, -always loving Jesus, and trying his very best to please and honor him -by doing exactly as the Bible says.” - -The captain had finished his correspondence and gone out to mail his -letters, and as Max, too, was out, Lulu found no one in their rooms -when she went back to them on her return from her walk with Marian. - -But on the table beside which her father had been sitting lay a pile of -clothes fresh from the iron; just brought in from the wash. - -“There,” thought Lulu to herself, “if Mamma Vi were here she would soon -take papa’s clothes from that pile and see if there were any buttons to -sew on or stockings to darn; and if there were she’d sit right down and -attend to it. She lets Christine or Alma attend to Max’s clothes, but -unless she is sick, no one but herself must do papa’s, because, as she -says, it is a great pleasure to her to care for her husband’s comfort. - -“I always love to do things for papa, too, and I like to be kind and -helpful to Max, for he’s a dear, kind brother to me. And of course -my own mending belongs to me; so I’ll just sit down to this pile of -clothes and put them all in order.” - -She hastened to put away her hat and gloves and get out her -work-basket, which was thoroughly furnished with all the needed -articles and implements, and when her father came in he found her -seated in a low chair between table and window, busily plying her -needle. - -“My little busy bee,” he said, regarding her with a pleased smile, then -bending down, kissed her forehead. - -She laughed and held up her rosy lips in mute invitation. He kissed -them, too, then laying his hand tenderly on her head, said, “My little -girl looks quite matronly. Are you playing at being Mamma Vi?” - -“Yes, sir, I am like her in at least one thing.” - -“What is that?” - -“In feeling it a pleasure to do anything for you, sir. Papa, I thought -it was just dreadful when you wouldn’t let me wait on you for four -whole days, because I’d been disobedient and rebellious.” - -“Yes, I know you did; and it was hard for me, too; hard to do without -my dear little daughter’s loving services.” - -“But you denied yourself for my sake—to make me good, because you know -no one can be happy who is not good—you dear papa!” she said, with a -grateful loving look up into his face. - -“Yes, my darling, that was exactly it,” he said, repeating his -caresses, “and it makes me very happy that of late I have rarely needed -to punish, or even reprove you. It is so much pleasanter to commend and -reward my children, than to punish them.” - -He had drawn up a chair and seated himself by her side. “I did better -for myself than I was aware of in bringing my eldest daughter along,” -he remarked. “I had no thought of making use of you to keep my clothes -and Max’s in order.” - -“But you are pleased to have me do it, papa?” - -“I am.” - -“Papa, I bought something when I was at the store with Marian. See!” -opening a brown paper parcel, which she took from the table beside her, -and displaying the ribbons. - -“Ah! what use do you expect to make of your purchases?” he asked. - -“Badges for the school children. They are the national colors, you see, -papa.” - -“Yes; it is a good idea, and I presume the children will be much -pleased. When do you propose to make your badges?” - -“To-morrow, papa, while you and Max are off on your hunting expedition. -But I mean to finish all this mending first.” - -“That’s right. I am glad you have found something to do to keep you -from being lonely while we are away. I should like to take you along -but for exposing you to danger.” - -“Mightn’t I as well be exposed to it as Max?” she asked in a playful -tone. - -“Max is older, and a boy,” he said. “You are very fearless, I know, -but women and girls are not so strong physically as our sex, and it is -not to be expected that they can endure the same amount of exposure and -fatigue. You could hardly be of much assistance in fighting a grizzly, -for instance,” he added laughingly, bending over her and softly -smoothing her hair as he spoke. - -“No, sir,” she returned, laughing a little; “I’m not fearless enough to -enjoy the idea of facing one of them. And it frightens me to think of -you and Max fighting one. Oh, papa, don’t try it!” - -“My child, would you have your father a coward?” he asked. - -“No, sir; oh, no, indeed! I know you are brave, as brave as can be, and -it makes me very proud; but what’s the use of fighting bears?” - -“To rid the country of them, as dangerous enemies to settlers. Also -their flesh is good for food, and the skin, too is valuable. But here -comes Max, and there is our tea-bell. Put up your work and let me lead -you to the table.” - -Max met them in the hall. - -“Where have you been, my son!” asked the captain. - -“Out to the mine, with Albert, papa. You know you gave me permission to -walk with him when I chose, provided we did not go farther than that -from the town.” - -“So I did; I’m glad you went, for I should not wish you to be cooped up -in the house in such weather as this.” - -They sat down to the table, and after the blessing had been asked, Max -began telling about his walk. - -“We found the sun rather hot, going,” he said, “but coming back it was -very pleasant, indeed; there was a nice breeze from the mountains.” - -“Had you any adventures,” asked Lulu. - -“No, hardly that,” he answered with a slight laugh; “but as we were -going, Albert thought he heard a little child crying in the bushes, -and started off to hunt for it. I kept straight on, and he was much -disgusted with what he called my heartlessness. - -“I said, ‘I don’t believe there is any child there’; and he answered, -‘There is, then; I’m certain of it, for I heard it cry, and dare say -it’s some poor little thing that has wandered away from home and is -lost. Didn’t you hear it?’ - -“Then I said, ‘I heard something, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a -child. I’ve read that a panther will imitate the cry of a child so that -almost any one would be deceived, and hunting for the child might get -so near the panther that it could spring on him before he could get out -of its way, or even knew it was there. But, if you think best, I’ll go -with you into the bushes and make sure whether there is a baby there -or not.’” - -“Oh, Max, you knew what it was all the time; didn’t you?” laughed Lulu. - -“Yes; but we went and hunted thoroughly through the bushes without -finding anything. Albert never suspected and wondered very much that we -found neither child nor panther. I presume he’s wondering about it yet.” - -“I’m glad he didn’t find you out,” Lulu said, with satisfaction; -“because I hope we’ll have some more fun with him. You’ll try it one of -these evenings when we’re all together on the porch, won’t you, Max?” - -“Perhaps; if I can think of something. - -“Albert’s very full of the bear hunt for to-morrow, papa; says he -wouldn’t miss it for the world.” - -“Ah? And how does my boy feel about it?” - -“Pretty much the same, I believe, papa,” Max answered, with a light -laugh. “I’m sorry for Lu that she’s only a girl and can’t have the -pleasure of going along.” - -“I could if papa would let me,” replied Lulu demurely; “but I wouldn’t -be a boy for the sake of being allowed to go.” - -“You think a boy’s privileges are more than counterbalanced by a -girl’s?” - -“Yes; papa takes me on his knee, while you can only sit by his side; -and I shall stay at home with him, while you will have to go away to -the Academy at Annapolis.” - -“I go of my own free will,” returned Max; “I don’t believe papa would -compel me against my will.” - -“Not at all,” said the captain, “and I am glad you are both so well -satisfied.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - -The hunters started the next morning, shortly after an early breakfast. - -“Papa, when do you expect to be back?” asked Lulu, as she helped her -father with the last of his preparations, some anxiety showing itself -in her tone. - -“Toward evening, daughter; I can’t set the hour,” he answered cheerily. -“Better not expect us too soon, lest it should make you feel lonely -and disappointed. Your better plan will be to keep yourself busy with -reading, writing, sewing—as you prefer, and you may take a walk about -town with Marian, if you choose, but don’t go outside of it. - -“Perhaps you will find letters at the post-office after the mail comes; -maybe have the pleasure of handing me one from your mamma when I get -back. Now good-by, my darling.” - -He held her in a close embrace for a moment, kissing her tenderly two -or three times, released her, and was gone. - -Max was following, with a hasty “Good-by, Lu,” but she ran after him, -calling, “Max, kiss me, let me kiss you. Suppose the bear should get -hold of you and hug you so tight that I’d never have a chance to do it -again,” she added, laughing to hide an inclination to cry. - -“Just imagine now that he has hold of you,” Max said, throwing his arms -round her and squeezing her so hard that she screamed out, “Oh, let me -go! you’re bear enough for me!” - -“Bears must be allowed to hug, for ’tis their nature to,” he said, with -a laugh, giving her another squeeze and a resounding kiss. “Good-by, I -must be off now, to catch up with papa.” - -Lulu hurried out to the porch to watch them mount and ride away, her -father throwing her a kiss from the saddle, then went back, rather -disconsolately, to her work of sorting over the clean clothes and -giving them the needed repairs. - -She had finished that and begun upon her badges, when Marian came in -with some sewing, and asked if she might sit with her and hear the -promised story of the signing of the Declaration. - -“Yes, indeed! I’ll be glad of your company and glad to tell the story; -for it’s one I like very much,” said Lulu. - -“Thank you,” Marian said, “but before you begin, may I ask what those -pretty badges are for? You forgot to tell me what you were going to do -with the ribbons.” - -“Oh, so I did! These are our national colors, and I’m making badges of -them for the mission-school children to wear on the Fourth. I’m glad -you think them pretty. Now for my story: - -“It was in Philadelphia it all happened, on the 4th of July, 1776. But -I must go back and tell of something that happened before that. - -“Of course you know about the Pilgrims coming over from England and -settling in the wilderness that America was then, so that they might -be free to worship God as they thought right; and about the settling -of all the others of the thirteen colonies; and how King George the -Third and the British Parliament oppressed them, taxing them without -representation, passing that hateful Stamp Act, and so on, till the -people couldn’t stand it any longer. - -“They just wanted to make all they could off the American people and -give them nothing in return. But the Americans wouldn’t stand it; they -weren’t the sort of stuff to be made slaves of; so when a tax was put -on tea they said they wouldn’t buy any; they would sooner go without -drinking tea than pay that tax. - -“Great ship-loads were sent over, but they wouldn’t let it be landed, -and at last they grew so angry that they boarded a ship loaded with tea -and lying in Boston harbor, and threw the chests of tea into the water. - -“That was the Boston ‘tea-party’ that is so often spoken of in talking -about the struggle between the colonies and Great Britain. That -happened in 1773; then the next year—1774—there was another tea-party -or something like it, though not exactly, in New Jersey. It was at a -small place called Greenwich on the Cohansey. - -“A brig named the Greyhound, commanded by Captain Allen, came up the -river to Greenwich, and on the 22d of November landed her load of tea -there. - -“It was put into a cellar not very far from the wharf, and somebody -that saw it ran and told some one else. - -“The news spread very fast. People were astonished and angry; they had -never expected such a cargo to come there, and they had no notion of -letting it stay; for most of them were quite as patriotic as the Boston -people. - -“So a party of them disguised themselves, assembled together in the -dusk of the evening, got the chests of tea out of that cellar, carried -them to an old field, piled them up there and set them on fire; burned -them entirely up.” - -“Quite as good a way to get rid of them as by throwing them into the -sea, I think,” commented Marian. “But wasn’t any one punished for it?” - -“Not that I ever heard or read of,” replied Lulu. “I suppose nobody who -would have wanted to tell knew who the men were that did the deed.” - -“I think they had something of the spirit of our Scotch folk of early -times, who would never submit to be ruled by the English,” remarked -Marian. - -“Yes; papa has told me that a good many who did good service to their -country in the Revolution, were of Scotch, and Scotch-Irish descent. He -says it is a race that never would brook oppression. - -“Well, the next spring after the burning of the tea at Greenwich—that -is on the 19th of April, 1775—the war began—with the battle of -Lexington. Still, most of the Americans didn’t think of anything but -forcing the English government to treat them better; but the fight went -on; the British had no idea of giving up their oppressive doings, and -soon the wise ones among the Americans began to see that there was no -way to get their rights but by separating from England and setting up -for themselves; and that was what brought them to writing and signing -the Declaration of Independence.” - -“But who did it? the officers of your army who were fighting the -British?” - -“No, oh, no! it was the Continental Congress assembled at Philadelphia. -They appointed a committee to draw up the paper, and when it was read -to them every one voted for it; then, one after another, each of the -fifty-six members present signed his name to it. - -“It was a very dangerous thing to do, for the English king and his -government would call it treason, and put the signers to death if they -could catch them. So the people were quite afraid the hearts of the -congressmen would fail them when it came to the signing, and the thing -be given up. - -“A great crowd was gathered on the day of the signing, in the street -outside of the State House, where Congress met, and there they waited, -oh, so anxiously, to hear that the deed was done. - -“There was a bell at the top of the State House, and the ringer was -there ready to let the crowd know by ringing the bell when the signing -was done. He was an old man, and down on the landing by the stairs -leading to the belfry sat a little blue-eyed boy who was to call up the -news to him. - -“All was very quiet indoors and out; the crowd listening for the -news—the old man and the little boy also—and the congressmen feeling -very solemn because of the great risk they were running, and the -necessity for taking it if they would save their country. - -“There was a death-like stillness in the room while one after another -went from his seat to the table and wrote his name at the bottom of the -paper; and when all had signed, oh, how still it was for a moment! till -Franklin broke the silence by saying: ‘Now, gentlemen, we must all -hang together, or we shall surely hang separately!’ - -“I suppose somebody then stepped to the door and spoke to the little -boy. The old man in the belfry was saying sadly to himself, ‘They’ll -never sign it! they’ll never sign it!’ when all at once the little boy -clapped his hands and shouted, ‘Ring! ring!’ - -“The old man was all ready, with the bell-rope in his hands, and he did -ring without waiting one instant, and with the first peal the great -crowd in the street below set up a wild ‘Hurrah! hurrah!’ almost going -wild with joy. - -“Then people farther off heard and caught up the shout, and I suppose -not many minutes had passed before everybody else in the whole city -knew that the Declaration was signed.” - -“And everybody was glad?” - -“Everybody but the Tories, I think. No doubt there were some of them -even there.” - -“But it seems to me the rejoicing was premature, as they could not be -certain of winning in the fight that was hardly more than begun.” - -“Perhaps so; but they had been so very patient and borne repeated -wrongs till they felt that they could bear no more, but would fight on -till death, if victory didn’t come before that. - -“Oh, I must tell you of a strange coincidence in connection with the -bell that rang to tell that the deed was done! It had been cast years -before, and there was a motto on it that couldn’t have been made more -suitable to what it did on that 4th of July, if all the doings of that -day had been foreseen. - -“Oh, I’d forgotten that I’ve read that the declaration was only adopted -on the 4th of July and proclaimed on the 8th.” - -“But what was the motto?” asked Marian. - -“It was a verse from the Bible,” Lulu answered. “‘Proclaim Liberty -throughout all the land, to all the inhabitants thereof.’ Wasn’t it a -strange coincidence!” - -“Very, I think,” Marian replied. “I’d like to see that old bell. I -suppose they keep it in memory of that time?” - -“Yes, oh yes, indeed! I’ve seen it; when we were in Philadelphia not -very long ago, Papa took me to the State House or Independence Hall—it -gets both names—and showed me the old bell (it isn’t in use, because -it has a large crack in it: but they keep it for people to see), and -the Declaration—the very paper those brave men signed—and the pen they -wrote their names with, and a great many other things connected with -revolutionary and colonial times. Did you ever hear of Patrick Henry?” - -“No, never. Who was he?” - -“I think you will like to hear about him because, though born in -America, he was the son of a Scotchman. He lived in the times -we’ve been talking about, and was one of our very patriotic men and -greatest orators. He was a Virginian, and in 1765—ten years before the -Revolutionary War began, and when George the Third was oppressing the -colonies so, and had the Stamp Act passed—he belonged to the House of -Burgesses. - -“They were debating about the Stamp Act, and Patrick Henry was wanting -resolutions passed declaring that no one but the House of Burgesses and -the governor had a right to lay taxes and imposts on that colony. - -“Some of the other members were very much opposed to his resolutions -and grew very angry and abusive toward him; but he wouldn’t give up -to them; he went on with his speech and said some brave words that -startled even the patriots and have been famous words ever since. They -were: - -“‘Cæsar had his Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George -the Third’—just there he was interrupted by cries of ‘Treason! -treason!’—‘may profit by their example,’ he added. ‘If this be treason, -make the most of it.’” - -“That was fine!” Marian exclaimed, her eyes shining. “I’m thinking he -was a worthy descendant of some of our Scotch heroes. But did they pass -his resolutions?” - -“Yes; by a majority of one.” - -“Ten years after that—just a few weeks before the battle of Lexington, -that began the war—he was talking in a convention at Richmond, in -Virginia. He wanted to organize the militia and make the colony ready -for defence against Great Britain; but some of the others were very -much opposed. - -“He made a grand speech to them, trying to convince them that what -he wanted done was the wisest thing they could do, and in it he -said some brave words which I admire so much that I learned them by -heart,—committed them to memory, I suppose would be the more proper -expression.” - -“Oh, say them over to me!” entreated Marian, her eyes sparkling with -enthusiasm, “I dearly love to hear brave, bold words that speak a -determination to be free from tyranny of man, whether he would lord it -over soul or body, or both.” - -“So do I,” said Lulu, “and no one was more capable of saying such words -than Patrick Henry. These are the ones I spoke of. - -“‘There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Our chains are -already forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston. -The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring the clash of -resounding arms. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, -give me liberty or give me death.’ - -“I think the convention couldn’t hold out against such brave and -eloquent words, for they passed his resolutions without any one saying -a word against it.” - -“I’m proud that he was a Scotchman’s son,” Marian said. - -“And I that he was a native-born American,” said Lulu. - -“And your government is really a free one, though the Mormons say so -much against it?” queried Marian. - -“Yes, indeed! But I wish it had broken up Mormonism long ago.” - -“So do I,” responded Marian, almost fiercely, “Yes, before it had time -to get well started and could send out its missionaries to deceive -folks in other countries and persuade them to come over here, where the -women, at least, are nothing but slaves!” - -Lulu looked at her in surprise and sympathy, for she detected in her -tones a bitter sense of personal wrong. - -“Was that how you came to emigrate to this country, Marian?” she asked. -“Are you and your mother Mormons?” - -“_I’m_ no Mormon!” exclaimed the girl, through her clenched teeth. -“But they made one of my father, and led him to break my poor mother’s -heart, so that I hate him—I that used to love him next to her—and -would never set eyes on him again if I could help myself.” - -“Hate your own father!” cried Lulu, aghast at the very idea. “Oh, how -can you?” - -“He isn’t like yours,” Marian returned, in quivering tones: “if he was -I’d love the very ground he walks on. He used to be kind, but now—he’s -cruel and heartless as—I’d almost said the father o’ lies himself!” - -“Oh, Marian, what has he done to grieve your mother so?” - -“What the Mormons teach that every man ought to do if he wants a high -place in heaven; taken other wives.” - -“Why!” exclaimed Lulu, “that’s very, _very_ wicked! They send men to -the penitentiary for doing it.” - -“They deserve worse than that,” said Marian, her eyes flashing. “I’m no -Mormon, I say again. Do you know they teach the women that they can’t -go to heaven unless they have been married?” - -“I know better than that,” Lulu said emphatically; “for the Bible says -‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ And I know -some very good Christian ladies who have never been married. I don’t -see how anybody who believes the Bible can be a Mormon.” - -“No, nor I,” said Marian; “for a good many things they say one -must believe, are directly the opposite of what the Bible says. For -instance, that the blood of Christ doesn’t atone for all sin, but -some sins have to be atoned for by shedding the sinner’s own blood. I -think that—beside contradicting the Scriptures—it is the same thing as -saying that Jesus’ blood is not of sufficient value to pay for all the -wickedness men have done, and buy their salvation, if only they choose -to accept it as a free gift at his hands, believe in him, and love him -with all their hearts, so that they will be his servants forever.” - -“But,” said Lulu, “I know that is the way the Bible tells us we may -be saved, and the only way, and I’ll believe the Bible—God’s own -word—though every human creature should contradict it.” - -“So will I,” Marian said firmly. “I’ll never forget the good teaching -of my minister and Sunday-school teacher in old Scotland. Everything -they taught they proved by Scripture; and from them I learned that -man’s teachings are not worthy of the smallest consideration, if they -do not agree with the teachings of God’s word.” - -“And I’ve learned the same from papa. How good our Heavenly Father was -to give us His holy word, that we might learn from it just what he -would have us believe and do! I feel sorry for the poor heathen who -haven’t it, and I want to do all I can to send it to them.” - -“Have you ever read anything of Scotland’s martyrs, who laid down their -lives for the love of Jesus and his word?” asked Marian. - -“Yes, indeed; and papa has told me about them; as well as of martyrs -who suffered in other parts of the world. How strange it is that men -should want to persecute each other so, and pretend they do it to -please God, who is so kind and merciful. You know the Bible says he -proclaimed himself to Moses: - -“‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and -abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving -iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the -guilty.’” - -“How do you explain that?” asked Marian; “I mean the not clearing the -guilty, yet forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin?” - -“For Jesus’ sake, you know,” returned Lulu. “Papa explained it to me, -saying ‘God’s law does not call him guilty for whom Christ has borne -the punishment.’” - -“Ah, yes, I see; Christ takes the sinner’s guilt and gives him of his -righteousness; and to try to add some of our own is like fastening -filthy rags on a beautiful white wedding garment; and what better is it -to try to pour some of the sinner’s own polluted blood into that pure -fountain opened for sin and uncleanness?” - -“Not one bit better, and Mormonism cannot be a true religion; indeed, -there can be but one true religion, I know—that which teaches salvation -through the blood and righteousness of Christ.” - -But the dinner hour was approaching, and Marian found she must go to -her mother’s assistance. - -Lulu spent most of the afternoon alone, but amused herself with writing -letters to Evelyn and Gracie. Marian went with her to the post-office -to mail them when done, and to Lulu’s great satisfaction there were -letters from home for her father, for Max, and for herself. - -“One of these is from Mamma Vi,” she said to Marian, “and I’m so glad -I shall have the pleasure of handing it to papa; of course he’s always -very glad to get her letters.” - -“Your mamma, did you say?” asked Marian. - -“My young step-mother,” explained Lulu. “She’s not old enough to be my -own mamma. My mother had been dead two or three years when papa married -again.” - -“It’s all right, then,” Marian commented, with some bitterness of tone, -thinking of Mormon teaching that a man may have many wives living at -the same time, “I never heard of any religion that teaches it is wrong -for a man to marry again after his wife is dead.” - -They had entered the house and passed on into the sitting-room. At that -moment there was the sound of horses’ hoofs on the street and some -seemed to pause at Mrs. McAlpine’s gate. - -“Oh, I do believe they’ve come back!” cried Lulu, in joyous tones, -“Yes, I hear papa’s voice,” and she ran to meet him, Marian’s eyes -following her with a wistful, longing look. - -The captain had just stepped across the threshold as his little -daughter came flying to him, crying, “Oh, papa, I’m so glad you’re -safely back again! I was so afraid you might get hurt.” - -He bent down, caught her in his arms, and giving her a loving kiss, -said, “Yes, I have been taken care of and brought back unhurt. My -little girl should have trusted me to our Heavenly Father’s care, and -not tormented herself with useless, unavailing fears.” - -“It was foolish and wrong,” she acknowledged. Then catching sight of -her brother, “Oh, Maxie, I’m glad to see you safe, too!” - -“Are you?” he returned, in a sportive tone. “I was beginning to wonder -if it made any particular difference to you.” - -“Oh, did you see any bears?” she asked, as they moved on into their own -rooms. - -“Yes,” answered her father, and Max added, “Papa shot him; right -through the heart, so that he fell dead instantly.” - -“I was almost sure papa would be the one to shoot him,” Lulu exclaimed -with a look of triumph. Then with a sudden change of tone, “Papa, -you’re very tired, aren’t you?” - -“Rather tired, daughter, and have a slight headache,” he answered. -“Were there any letters for me?” - -He was taking off his coat, preparatory to ridding himself of the dust -gathered during his ride. - -“Yes, sir; one of them from Mamma Vi,” replied Lulu. “Papa, won’t you -sit down in this easy-chair while you read it, and let me stand beside -you and brush your hair gently to see if that won’t help your head?” - -“Yes, dear child; I shall enjoy having you do so, if you do not find it -too wearisome.” - -“It won’t tire me at all, papa,” she asserted with warmth, “and -there’s nothing else I enjoy so much as doing something to make you -comfortable.” - -“My own dear little loving daughter,” he responded, giving her a look -that filled her heart with gladness. - -Max, no less ready than Lulu to wait upon their father, had seized a -clothes-brush and the captain’s coat, and carrying them to the window -was giving the coat a vigorous shaking and brushing. - -“Thank you, my dear boy,” the captain said, as Max presently brought -the garment to him, looking much better for what it had just gone -through; “truly I think no man was ever more fortunate in his children -than I am in mine.” - -“If there’s anything good about our conduct, papa, I think your -training deserves all the credit of it,” replied Max; “your training -and your example, I should have said,” he corrected himself. - -“If so it is by God’s blessing upon it all in the fulfillment of his -promise, ‘Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old -he will not depart from it.’ I hope, my children, you will never depart -from it in youth or in later days.” - -“I hope not, papa,” said Lulu. “Now please sit down and let me try -to help your poor head. I’ll brush very softly. There, how does that -feel?” after passing the brush gently over his hair two or three times. - -“Very soothing, darling. You may go on while I open and read my -letters.” - -There were several home letters, and they enjoyed them together as -usual, the captain reading aloud, while Lulu continued her labor of -love, and Max attended to his own toilet—brushing his clothes and hair -and washing hands and face. There was nothing of the dandy about the -lad, but he liked to be neat; for his own comfort, and because it -pleased his father to see him so. - -By the time the letters were disposed of and the tea-bell sounded -out its summons, the captain was able to assure Lulu that his head -was almost entirely relieved. He gave the credit to her efforts, and -rewarded her with a kiss. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - -“Good-evenin’, Cap’n. So they tell me as ’twas you shot and killed that -big b’ar?” - -The speaker was an elderly man, in his shirt sleeves, and with a pipe -in his mouth, who stepped into the porch and took a seat near Captain -Raymond as he made the remark. - -“I reckon now we’ll have to own that yer a better marksman than most o’ -the fellers about these here diggin’s,” he added, puffing away at his -pipe. - -“That does not follow, by any means, Mr. Riggs,” returned the captain -modestly. “I happened to get the best opportunity to aim at a vital -part. That was all.” - -“Well, now, I’ll say fer you that you don’t seem to be noways stuck up -about it, an’ I’ve seen fellers as proud as a peacock over a smaller -streak o’ luck (or maybe ’twas skill) than that. But you’re a lucky -man, sir; nobody kin deny that, seein’ how this ere tract o’ land that -they tell me ye bought for a mere trifle, has riz in value.” - -“Yes, I have been very fortunate in that and many other things,” -replied the captain, with a glance at his son and daughter, seated -near, that seemed to include them among the blessings that had been -granted him, “though wealth has sometimes proved a curse rather than a -blessing to its owner.” - -“It’s a curse as most folks is glad to git,” laughed the old man, “and -I tell you I was wild with joy when it fell to my lot to come upon the -biggest nugget as has ever been seen in these parts. I began life poor, -and never had no eddication to speak of, but I’ve more money now than -half the fellers that’s rubbed their backs agin’ a college.” - -“But education has other uses than enabling a man to accumulate wealth. -Also, there are things that contribute more to one’s happiness than -money. How many millions do you suppose would tempt me to part with -my son or daughter, for instance?” and with the question the captain -turned his gaze upon his children, his eyes full of fatherly pride and -affection. - -“Well, Cap’n, I don’t s’pose you’d be for sellin’ of ’em fer no price,” -returned the old man, with a grin. “They’re a likely lookin’ lot, and -you’ve plenty o’ the evil fur them and yourself, too.” - -Lulu, mistaking the old man’s meaning, shot an angry glance at him, -moved nearer to her father, and slipped her hand into his. - -Riggs observed it with a laugh. “I wasn’t sayin’ nothin’ agin your -dad, miss,” he said. “I was only referrin’ to the way folks has o’ -callin’ money the root o’ all evil; but I obsarve there’s precious few -on ’em that isn’t glad to git all he kin lay his hands on.” - -“Yes,” said the captain; “but do you know where they get that idea?” - -“Well, now, they do tell me there’s Scripter fer it.” - -“That’s a mistake, my friend; the Bible says, ‘the _love_ of money -is the root—or a root—of all evil.’ But it does not say it of money -itself; _it_ is a very good thing, if honestly got and put to right -uses.” - -“And what do you call right uses?” - -“‘Providing things honest in the sight of all men,’ relieving the wants -of the destitute, helping every good cause, and especially sending the -light of the gospel into all the dark places of the earth.” - -“Well, sir, that’s purty good doctrine, and I rayther think ye’re -livin’ up to it, too, by all I hear. - -“As for me, I’ve been a hard-workin’ man all my days, ’cept since I -come upon that are nugget, and I ’low to take my ease fer the rest o’ -my days. I’m goin’ ter fix up my house as fine as I know how. My gal -she says ’taint nowheres big ’nough fer rich folks, and I’m goin’ to -build a condition to it with a portfolio at the back.” - -“What’s that? he! he! never heard o’ such a thing!” cried a squeaky -little voice that seemed to come from behind the old man’s chair. - -He sprang up and turned round, asking in a startled tone, “Who’s that? -who spoke? Why, why, why! where’s the feller gone to?” rolling his eyes -in wild astonishment, as he perceived that no one was there. - -“Where are your eyes, man? Here I am.” - -It was the same voice, now coming apparently from behind a large tree -growing a few feet from the porch, its spreading branches reaching to, -and partly resting upon its roof. - -“Humph!” ejaculated Mr. Riggs, hurrying down the porch steps and round -to the farther side of the tree, “What are you up to, you rascal?” - -“I’m no rascal, sir. What do you call me that for?” queried the voice, -sounding as if the speaker was making the circuit of the tree, keeping -always on the side farthest from the old man who was pursuing him. - -“You were making fun o’ me, that’s why I call you a rascal, sir,” -panted Riggs. - -“Oh no, sir; I was only wanting to know what your conditions and -portfolios were; such odd things to talk of adding to a house.” - -“Odd, indeed! I reckon you’ll sing another song when you see ’em. But -where under the sun are you?” - -“Here, right up here.” - -The voice now seemed to come from among the branches overhead. - -“Well, if you ain’t the spryest rogue ever I see! I’ve a notion to -climb after you and throw you down.” - -“Come ahead then; who’s afraid?” the sentence ended in a mocking laugh. - -“I’ll find a stone, and I guess that’ll fetch ye,” muttered Riggs, -stooping and feeling about on the ground. - -“Ho, ho! better be careful; you might happen to break a window. -Good-by; I’m off.” - -The voice came from the roof this time, and was immediately followed by -a sound as of scrambling and of shuffling footsteps; at first, near at -hand, then gradually dying away in the distance. - -Meanwhile the captain was fairly shaking with suppressed mirth, and -Lulu nearly convulsed with her efforts to control an inclination to -burst into uproarious laughter. Max laughed a little when Riggs was -talking, but was sober as a judge when the strange voice answered. - -Riggs came stumbling up into the porch again, and dropping into his -chair, panted out, “Well, if that isn’t the beatenest thing ever I -hearn tell on! how that fellar could git away so—keepin’ out o’ sight -all the time—is more’n I can understand. I thought I knowed everybody -about these diggins, but that there woice didn’t belong to none on ’em. -It sounded like the woice of an oldish man, but the villain sartainly -did skedaddle equal to any youngster ever I see. Did ye ketch sight o’ -him, cap’n?” - -“I saw no one but ourselves,” returned Captain Raymond, in a quiet tone. - -The four had had the porch to themselves, the other boarders being -out, the McAlpine’s at supper. But at this moment the gate opened and -several gentlemen—Mr. Short and Mr. Austin among them—came in. Most of -them had taken part in the hunt that day, one or two others were old -hunters who were interested in the affair and desirous to talk it over -with the captain. Also to tell of past experiences of their own. - -There were stories told of encounters with panthers, bears, deer, -buffaloes, and smaller game; all interesting, some amusing, some -thrilling because of danger or death narrowly escaped. - -One told by a very old man whose business had been hunting and trapping -in the early days when great herds of buffaloes roamed over the plains -of the far West, was both thrilling and mirth-provoking. - -He said that on one occasion he had fallen in with a company of young -army officers who were very desirous to shoot one buffalo or more; -they must have a taste of the sport, however dangerous. - -“And it is mighty dangerous,” he went on, “mighty dangerous, as I told -’em. They’re shy critters, them buffaloes, but if you wound one and -don’t kill him, he’s very apt to turn and charge head down, gore you -with his big horns, toss you up, and when you come down again, stamp -you to death with his heavy hoofs. - -“But those young chaps wasn’t to be skeared out o’ the notion; bein’ -soldiers, they was bound to show themselves afeard o’ nothing, I -’spose. So I led ’em along the buffalo tracks to one o’ the critters’ -drinkin’ places, and, sure enough, we found a big herd gathered round -it. They was to windward of us, but we’d hardly come up with ’em when -by sight or scent some of ’em become aware of our vicinity, and off -started the whole herd, we after ’em. - -“One young officer (I furgit his name now) had a swifter horse than the -others, and presently he got near enough the hindermost ones to send a -bullet into a big bull. The critter was hurt purty bad, but not killed -by a good bit; so round he wheels and charges toward the feller that -had hit him. He put spurs to his horse and it was a race fer life, now -I tell you. - -“And to make matters worse, somehow the man lost his balance, or the -saddle turned, and there he was a-hangin’ with one foot in the stirrup -and clingin’ to the horse’s neck with his left arm, the pistol in his -right hand, the buffalo comin’ up on t’ other side o’ the horse, and it -a runnin’ like mad. - -“Fer a bit it seemed the poor young chap would never come out o’ that -alive, but one o’ his mates put another bullet into the buffalo so he -staggered and fell dead just as it seemed there wasn’t no escape for -horse or man; and somehow the feller had got back into his saddle in -another minute, though the horse was still tearin’ over the praries at -a thunderin’ pace. - -“So it all ended well, after all; he’d killed a buffalo—leastways he -and the feller that fired the last shot into the critter—and ’scaped -without no hurt worse’n a purty bad scare. - -“But here comes the fun o’ the thing. He told us he’d about give -himself up fer lost when he found hisself hangin’ by the stirrup and -the horse’s neck, and that mad buffalo bull after him, bellowing and -pawin’ up the ground and comin’ on as if he’d a mind to gore and -toss man and beast both, so he thinkin’ there wasn’t no earthly help -for him, concluded he’d better fall to prayin’, but when he tried he -couldn’t fer the life o’ him think of nothin’ to say but the words his -mother’d taught him when he was a leetle shaver, ‘Now I lay me down -to sleep,’ and they didn’t seem no ways appropriate to that perticlar -occasion. - -“No; I’m wrong thar; he did say that, finally, somethin’ else come into -his head, but it warn’t much improvement on t’ other; it was the fust -words o’ the blessin’ his father was used to ask afore eatin’. ‘Fer -what we are about to receive make us truly thankful.’” - -When the laugh that followed the old hunter’s story had subsided Mr. -Austin remarked: “That goes to show the folly and danger of neglecting -prayer on ordinary occasions,—one is not prepared to employ it in -emergencies.” - -“True as preachin,’ sir,” replied the hunter. Then, rising, he bade -good-night, saying he was used to early hours, and thought it likely -the gentlemen who had been out that day would feel ready to go to bed. - -At that the others followed his example, and the captain and his -children went to their own rooms. - -“What a funny old man that Mr. Riggs is!” remarked Lulu, laughing at -the remembrance of his talk that evening. “Papa, what did he mean when -he said he was going to build a condition to his house with a portfolio -at the back’?” - -“An addition with a portico, I suppose.” - -“And he couldn’t imagine who or where the fellow was that laughed at -him. Max, you did that splendidly!” - -“_I_ did it?” exclaimed Max, in astonishment so well feigned that for -an instant she doubted the correctness of her surmise; though before it -had almost amounted to certainty. - -But the next moment she laughed merrily, saying, “Oh, you needn’t -pretend innocence! for I’m sure you were the naughty fellow. Didn’t he -do it well, papa?” - -“Very, I thought,” replied their father, regarding his son with a -proudly affectionate smile. - -“Papa, shall I call you dad?” asked Lulu merrily, taking possession of -his knee and putting her arm round his neck. - -“No, I shall think you very disrespectful if you do. You may say either -papa or father, but I shall answer to no other titles from you—unless I -should, some time when you have been very naughty, forbid you to call -me anything but Captain Raymond.” - -“Oh, papa, dear, don’t ever do that?” she pleaded, hugging him tight, -“I think it would be a worse punishment than you have ever given me; -for it would seem as if you were saying, ‘You don’t belong to me any -longer; I won’t have you for my own.’” - -“No, my darling,” he returned, holding her close, “I shall never say -that, however ill you may behave.” - -“And I do mean to be good; always obedient, and never in a passion -again; but I can’t be sure that I shall; it’s sometimes so much easier -to be naughty.” - -“Yes, sad to relate, we all find it so,” he sighed. “What a happy place -heaven will be! for when we get there we shall have no more inclination -to sin, but shall be always basking in the sunshine of God’s love and -favor.” - -“Yes, papa; being so happy when you are entirely pleased with me -helps me to understand how happy we shall all be when we are with our -Heavenly Father and he smiles on us and has no fault to find with us. -I like that Bible verse, ‘Like as a father pitieth his children, so -the Lord pitieth them that fear him,’ because I know you pity and love -me when I’m in trouble, even when I’ve brought it on myself by being -naughty.” - -“I do, indeed, my child; and God’s love for his children is infinitely -greater than that of any earthly father for his.” - -“It seems to me,” Max remarked, “that if that officer the old hunter -told about had been used to thinking of God as his kind, loving Father, -and praying to him, it would have been easy enough for him to ask for -help when in such danger.” - -“I think you are quite right,” his father said; “and now,” opening the -Bible, “we will read a portion of his word, then ask for his kind, -protecting care while we sleep.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - -Mr. Short took great interest in the plans and preparations for -celebrating the Fourth, and was quite anxious that “the captain’s young -folks” should have their every wish in regard to them satisfied. - -Also he thought it would be a fine thing to give them an agreeable -surprise. He had a private consultation with Captain Raymond, and one -result was that Max and Lulu were unexpectedly roused from sleep at -sunrise of the important day by the firing of cannon and the ringing of -all the church bells, while at the same moment a flag was flung to the -breeze from every public building. - -“Oh, it’s the Fourth, the glorious Fourth!” cried Lulu, springing out -of bed and running to her window. “It’s a lovely day, too; and there -are flags flying. Papa,” she called, “is it too early for me to get up?” - -“No,” he answered, “not if you wish to; Max and I are going to rise -now. You may close your door and dress yourself for the day.” - -She made haste with her toilet, arraying herself in white, which she -considered the most suitable thing for the “glorious Fourth,” and -adding one of her badges to her adornment. - -Her father smiled approval when she came to him for the usual -good-morning caress. - -“My little girl looks sweet and pure in papa’s partial eyes,” he said. - -“It’s nice to have you look at me with that kind of eyes, you dear -papa,” she returned, giving him a vigorous hug, and laughing merrily. - -“I think it’s with that kind of eyes papa looks at all his children,” -remarked Max, “and I believe it is for our happiness and his, too.” - -“Very true, my son,” rejoined the captain. - -Lulu was full of pleasurable excitement. “Papa, do you know if all the -things you have sent for have come?” she asked. - -“I think it likely the last of them came on the midnight train, which -brings the express,” he answered. “I will make inquiry after breakfast. -Now try to forget these matters for a little, while we have our reading -and prayer.” - -She sobered down at that, and earnestly tried to give her thoughts to -the teachings of the portion of Scripture her father read, and to join -with her heart in the prayer that followed. - -That duty attended to, and the breakfast bell not having rung yet, they -repaired to the front porch to wait for it. - -There seemed an unusual stir in the town, people passing to and fro, -early though it was, and fire-crackers going off here and there. - -“You seem to have stirred up the patriotism of the people here, -Captain,” Mr. Short said laughingly, as he came in at the gate and up -the path to the porch steps. “Good-morning, sir. Good-morning, young -folks. We are favored with as good weather as one could ask for, and -your packages all arrived by last night’s train; so that everything -looks propitious for your celebration, so far. I had the things taken -directly to the school-house, and doubtless they will be unpacked in -good season.” - -The captain said “Thank you,” and invited Mr. Short to walk in and take -breakfast with them. The bell rang at the moment, and the invitation -was accepted. - -“You are honoring the day, I see, Miss Lulu,” remarked Mr. Short, with -a smiling glance at her attire. - -“Oh, yes,” she said, looking down at her badge, “I want everybody to -know that I’m a patriotic American girl. I made this badge and a whole -boxful beside for the school children to wear. - -“Papa, mayn’t I carry them to the schoolhouse myself, after breakfast, -and help the teacher fasten them on?” - -“You may go, and I’ll go with you,” he said; “and if the children fancy -wearing them, and the teacher will accept our services, we will do as -you propose.” - -“I’ll be bound the children won’t object, but will be delighted with -the gift of the pretty bunch of ribbons, whether they have, or have -not, any patriotism in their make-up,” laughed Mr. Short. - -“By the way, Captain, I met Riggs on the street as I came here, and he -informed me that he would be present at the oration, reading of the -Declaration, and so forth, and that he hoped the people would turn out -‘copiously.’ He’s rather original in the use of words.” - -“So I have discovered,” was the captain’s quiet reply. - -“Has he told you of his plans for improving his house?” asked Mr. -Short, with a humorous look. - -“Yes, and how he obtained his wealth in spite of entire lack of -education.” - -“It was a lucky find, and he’s one of the richest men of the town; but -if he had education he would get twice the satisfaction out of his -wealth that he does as it is; at least, I think so.” - -“And I do not doubt that you are right,” assented Captain Raymond. - -“Well, Miss Lulu, how many pounds of fire-crackers do you expect to set -off to-day?” asked Mr. Short. “So patriotic a young lady will hardly -be satisfied with less than two or three, I suppose.” - -“Indeed, sir, I do not expect to fire one,” she returned gaily. “Papa -has promised me something else in place of them; I don’t know yet what -it is, but as he says I will enjoy it more I’m quite sure I shall.” - -“Now, I shouldn’t wonder if I could guess what it is,” returned Mr. -Short with a twinkle in his eye. - -“Perhaps so, sir; but I don’t want to be told till papa’s time for -telling me comes, or by anybody but him.” - -“Good girl; uncommonly loyal and obedient,” he said laughingly. - -“No, sir, you are mistaken in thinking me that,” she said, with -heightened color; “I’m naturally very wilful, so that papa has had any -amount of trouble to teach me to obey.” - -“But the lesson has been pretty thoroughly learned,” said her father -kindly, Mr. Short adding, “I’m sure of it; and she is certainly honest -and frank.” - -The school children were delighted with the badges, the teacher glad of -Lulu’s help in pinning them on, and of the gentlemen’s assistance in -forming her procession. All were on their best behavior, and everything -went prosperously with the celebration. - -The captain and his children following in the wake of the procession, -returned to the schoolroom to see and assist in the distribution of the -candies, cakes, and fruits. The delight and gratitude of the recipients -was a pretty and pleasant thing to behold. - -By the time that was over the Raymond’s dinner hour had arrived, and -they hastened to their boarding-house. - -As they left the table the captain caught an inquiring look from Lulu. - -“Yes, child, you shall know now; you have waited very patiently,” he -said. “I am going to teach you how to handle a pistol and shoot at a -mark.” - -“Oh, good, good!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. “I -always did want to know how to shoot, but I didn’t suppose you’d ever -let me touch a pistol or gun, papa.” - -“I won’t, except when I’m close beside you,” he said, “at least, not -for a long time to come. But I am going to teach you, because there -may be times in a woman’s life when such knowledge and skill may be of -great value to her.” - -“Max will take part, too, won’t he?” she asked. - -“Yes, certainly; it is even more important for him to know how to use -fire-arms than for you. Mr. Short will join in the sport, too, and you -may invite Marian to do so also, if you choose.” - -“Oh, thank you, papa! I will,” she said, running back to the room they -had just left, while her father went on to his. - -Marian was clearing the table as Lulu came rushing in, half breathless -with haste and excitement. - -“O Marian,” she said, “papa is going to teach me to use a pistol; to -shoot at a mark; and he told me I might ask you if you would like to -learn too. Would you?” - -“Thank you, yes; it’s just what I’ve been longing to learn, for if the -United States Government can’t, or won’t, protect me from the Mormons, -I want to know how to protect myself,” returned the girl, her eyes -flashing: “helpless women are their victims, but I don’t mean to be a -helpless one. I’ll learn, if your father will teach me; then I’ll get a -pistol of my own and use it, too, if I have occasion.” - -“Marian, what makes you so fierce at them?” asked Lulu in surprise. “Is -it because they persuaded your father to be a Mormon and leave his own -country?” - -“Yes; and because they force women to marry against their will: they -force them into sin, making them marry horrid creatures (calling -themselves men, but not worthy of the name) that already have wives; -sometimes a number of them. - -“And if a woman dares resist they say she is weakening in the -faith—supposing she is called a Mormon—and according to their wicked, -fiendish, blood atonement doctrine she must be put to death; and so -they murder her in the name of religion. - -“I know of one poor creature that ran away from her husband to escape -that dreadful fate; for he told her they thought she was weakening in -the faith and that he was to kill her. Every night he hung a dagger at -the head of her bed, and he told her that some night she would hear a -tap at the window at midnight, and that would be a signal for him to -stab her to death with that dagger. - -“Now do you wonder I think it would be well for me to have a pistol and -know how to use it?” - -“No, indeed!” exclaimed Lulu. “I’m sure I should in your place; and -I’m dreadfully ashamed that my government doesn’t protect you so well -that no one would dare do such things to you or to any woman or girl, -or anybody. It’s just awful! I shall tell papa about it, and ask him if -something can’t be done. I think he’ll find a way; and I can tell you, -if he sets out to do a thing it’s pretty sure to be done.” - -“You have great confidence in him,” Marian returned, with a sad sort of -smile. “Ah, you’re very fortunate, Miss Lu, to have such a father.” - -“Don’t I know it?” replied Lulu, exultantly. “Max and Gracie and I -think he’s just the best man and kindest father that ever lived. He -knows all about fire-arms, too, and if anybody can teach us how to use -them he can.” - -“When do we take the lesson, Miss Lu?” inquired Marian. - -“I suppose in a few minutes, but you can come just when you are ready. -I must run back now and tell papa that you will join us.” - -She was full of what Marian had just told her of Mormon doings, and at -once repeated it all to her father, winding up with “Oh, papa, isn’t it -dreadful? Can’t something be done to put a stop to such wicked, cruel -doings? I do think it’s a perfect disgrace that such deeds can be done -in our country.” - -“And I quite agree with you,” he sighed, “and am resolved to exert -myself to the utmost to put a stop to the commission of such crimes in -the name of religion. - -“Talk of the right of Mormon _men_ to civil and religious liberty,” he -went on, rather thinking aloud than speaking to her, “what has become -of the _woman’s_ right to the same, if they are to be permitted to -murder her when she ceases to believe as they do, or to conform her -conduct to the will of their hierarchy? Oh, it is monstrous, monstrous, -that this thing called Mormonism has been allowed to grow to its -present proportions!” - -“Can’t you put a stop to it, papa?” she asked. - -“_I_, child? _I_ put a stop to it?” he returned, smiling slightly with -amusement. “You may well believe that if I had the power I would need -no urging to exercise it.” - -“I’m sure I wish you had, papa,” said Max. “But as you haven’t, I’m -afraid we may be obliged to fight one of these days to rid the country -of that tyrannical Mormon hierarchy that is aiming to destroy our free -institutions. - -“So, Lu, you will do well to make the best of your opportunities to -learn the use of firearms; for there is no knowing how much help we men -and boys may need from the women and girls, if that tug of war comes,” -he added, suddenly dropping the serious tone in which he had begun and -adopting a sportive one. - -“You needn’t make fun of us, Max,” she retorted, “for I’m sure women -and girls have sometimes done good service in time of war.” - -“I willingly acknowledge it,” he said; “history gives us a number of -such instances. They have carried dispatches at the risk of their -lives, concealed and befriended patriots when pursued by the enemy, -taken care of the sick and wounded soldiers, made many sacrifices for -their country, and in some instances even put on men’s attire and -fought in the ranks. Perhaps that last is what you’d like to do,” he -wound up, laughingly. - -“No, I wouldn’t,” she said; “but I think I could and would do the -others if there should be any need for me to.” - -“I believe it,” her father said, “because I know you are both -courageous and patriotic. I will give you this when you have learned -how to use it,” he added, taking a small, silver-mounted pistol from -his pocket and putting it into her hands. “It is not loaded, and you -may examine it and learn all you can in that way, while we are waiting -for Mr. Short to come. He will bring the target and set it up in the -shade of those large trees down yonder by the river, where we can shoot -at it without danger of a stray shot striking where it might harm any -one or any thing.” - -Mr. Short came presently, the little party repaired to the designated -spot, and the two girls took their first lesson in the use of the -pistol. - -At first their bullets went wide of the mark, but after a number of -trials they were able to come pretty near it, and were told they did -very well—all things considered. - -The gentlemen, and Max also, took their turns, and the girls watched -them with a feeling akin to envy at their superior skill. Max was a -very respectable shot, Mr. Short still better, while the captain showed -uncommon dexterity. - -“As I ought,” he said, laughingly, when complimented on it, “that -being a part of my profession.” - -At length they had all had enough of it, and putting up their empty -pistols, returned to the house. - -They seated themselves in the shaded porch, and had hardly done so when -they were joined by Mr. Austin and Albert. - -“I heard some one say you were target-shooting,” remarked Albert to -Max, “and that the captain hit the center of the mark every time.” - -“So he did,” said Max, “but shooting at a target is nothing to papa; -he shoots a bird on the wing. Indeed, I’ve seen him bring down several -of a flock with one shot; also throw up two potatoes and send a bullet -through them both before they reached the ground.” - -“I’d like very much to see him do that last,” Albert said, “though I -don’t in the least doubt your word; especially as all the men about -here who have hunted with him say he’s a capital shot.” - -At that Max turned to Sandy McAlpine, standing near, and asked if he -could get him two potatoes. - -“Cooked or raw?” asked the boy. - -“Raw, of course,” laughed Max, “and I’ll hand them back when I’m done -with them. I don’t think they’ll be hurt much for cooking and eating.” - -Sandy ran off round the house in the direction of the kitchen, and was -back again almost immediately with the desired articles. - -“Papa,” said Max, holding them up to view, “won’t you load your pistol -and show what you can do with it and these?” - -“Yes, to please you, my boy,” the captain replied, taking out and -loading the little weapon of warfare that Lulu began already to look -upon as her property. Then taking the offered potatoes he threw them -high in the air, fired, and they came down each with a hole through it. - -“Admirably done, Captain!” exclaimed Mr. Austin. “I am considered a -very fair marksman at home, but I could not do that.” - -“There is nothing like trying, sir; and probably you excel me in many -another thing,” the captain said pleasantly, as he stepped into the -porch again and resumed his seat. - -Then the gentlemen fell into discourse about the event commemorated by -that day’s celebration. - -“Your Declaration of Independence handles King George the Third with -much severity,” remarked Mr. Austin, addressing Captain Raymond. - -“Yes, sir; the truth is sometimes the severest thing that can be said,” -returned the captain, with a good-humored smile. - -“You are right there, sir,” pursued the Englishman. “I cannot say that -I altogether admire the character of that monarch, though he had some -excellent traits, and in reading of the struggle of the colonies for -freedom, my sympathies have always been with them. - -“As you are no doubt aware, many of the English of that day sympathized -with them and rejoiced over their success. Fox, Burke, and Chatham had -kept the merits of their cause well before the public mind.” - -“For which we owe them a debt of gratitude,” responded the captain; “as -we do John Bright, also, for his outspoken sympathy with our Federal -Government in its efforts to put down the late rebellion,—a time of -sore trial to Union-loving Americans; a time ‘when days were dark and -friends were few,’ and even such men as Gladstone and Guthrie showed -themselves sympathizers with the would-be destroyers of our nation. - -“It seemed passing strange to loyal Americans of that day that the -English, who had for many years so constantly reproached our land for -allowing the existence of negro slavery within her borders, should, -when the awful struggle was upon us, side with those whose aim and -purpose it was to found an empire upon the perpetual bondage of -millions of that race—their fellow-men; for, as the Bible tells us, God -‘hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face -of the earth.’” - -“I acknowledge the inconsistency,” returned Mr. Austin; “but do not -forget that not _all_ Englishmen were guilty of it. Mr. Bright, -according to your own showing, was a notable exception; and there were -many others. - -“Nor is inconsistency a fault confined to Englishmen,” he added, with -a slightly mischievous smile; “the readers of your Declaration, in the -days when negro slavery flourished in this country, must sometimes -have felt uncomfortably conscious of the inconsistency of the two,—the -contradiction between creed and manner of life.” - -“No doubt,” acknowledged Captain Raymond, “and thankful I am that the -blot is removed from the scutcheon of my country.” - -“‘Slaves cannot breathe in England!’” quoted Albert, with pride and -satisfaction. - -“I think they were never deprived of that privilege in America,” -remarked Max soberly, but with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. - -“Ah, it is not meant in that sense, but Englishmen have never been -guilty of holding men in bondage—in their own land, at least.” - -“Haven’t they?” cried Max, pricking up his ears. “Why, then, did your -Alfred the Great make laws respecting the sale of slaves?” - -“I had forgotten that for the moment,” returned Albert, reddening: “but -I was thinking only of negro slavery.” - -“White slaves, they were to be sure,” admitted Max, in a slightly -sarcastic tone, “but I can’t see that it’s any less cruel and wicked to -enslave white men than darkies.” - -“But those were very early times, when men were little better than -savages.” - -“Alfred the Great among the rest?” - -“Assuredly Alfred the Great was no savage,” returned Albert, -slightly nettled, “but then he was far ahead of his time, and I must -still insist that you go very far back to fasten the reproach of -slave-holding upon Great Britain.” - -The two fathers had paused in their discourse to listen to the talk -of the lads, and they seemed to have forgotten the presence of their -elders. - -“Well, then, to come down to a later day,” said Max, “don’t you -remember the statute made by Edward the Sixth, that if anybody lived -idly for three days, or was a runaway, he should be taken before two -justices of the peace, branded with a V with a hot iron on the breast, -and given as a slave to the one who brought him for two years; and if -during that time he absented himself for fourteen days he was to be -branded again with a hot iron, on the cheek, with the letter S, and -to be his master’s slave forever! The master might put a ring of iron -round his neck, leg, or arm, too, feed him poorly, and beat, chain, or -otherwise abuse him. - -“That white slavery in England was worse than ever negro slavery was in -the United States of America.” - -“Well, they who practiced it were the ancestors of Americans as truly -as of those of the present race of Englishmen, that have to bear the -reproach of the slavery of the very early times you first spoke of,” -retorted Albert. - -“Maybe so,” said Max; “and I suppose they—the Americans—inherited their -ancestors’ wicked propensities (same as the Englishmen), which may -account for their becoming slaveholders.” - -“Well,” Albert said, “you can’t deny that England has always been a foe -to the slave trade, and—” - -“Oh! oh! oh! how you forget!” exclaimed Max. “History says that she -began in 1563 to import slaves from Africa into the West Indies; and -the trade was not finally abolished till the spring of 1807. Also, -that by the Peace of Utrecht, in 1713, England obtained a monopoly -of the slave-trade, and engaged to furnish Spanish America with one -hundred and forty-four thousand negroes in thirty-three years; that -a great slave-trading company was formed in England, and Queen Anne -took one-quarter of the stock; that the King of Spain took another -quarter, so that the two sovereigns became the greatest slave-dealers -in Christendom. - -“That company brought slaves into the American colonies, and to some -extent slavery was forced upon them by what they then called the -mother country. Queen Anne directed the New York colonial government -to encourage the Royal African Company, and see that the colony was -furnished with plenty of merchantable negroes at moderate rates. - -“In the face of such facts, can you deny that England was largely -responsible for the slavery that has proved such a curse to this -country in years past?” - -Albert’s countenance wore a discomfited expression, and instead of -replying to Max’s query, he turned to his father with the question, “Is -he correct, sir, in the statements he has been making?” - -“I am afraid he is,” replied Mr. Austin, “though some of his facts had -slipped my memory till he brought them up. Europe has no right to twit -America on the subject of slavery or the slave trade; especially now -when negro slavery no longer exists in any part of the Union.” - -“And our government abolished the slave trade in the same year that -yours did,” remarked Captain Raymond. - -“Yes,” acknowledged Mr. Austin, “but the act for the abolition of -slavery throughout the British colonies was passed thirty years before -Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation set the last of the negroes free in -this country.” - -“True; but as a set-off against that, remember that the first negroes -brought to Massachusetts (the first in New England) were sent home at -the public expense, by the General Court of the colony. - -“That was in 1640. In 1652, Roger Williams and Gorton made a decree -against slavery in Rhode Island; while as late as 1672, white slaves -were sold in England, to be transported to Virginia.” - -“Not sold into perpetual slavery, however,” said Mr. Austin. - -“No; but for a term of years; still, it can not be denied that they -were slaves for the time being. - -“But I give England all credit for her persistent efforts to suppress -the slave-trade since she abolished it in 1807.” - -“By the way,” said Mr. Austin, “I have been, since coming into this -community, using every opportunity for studying the Mormon problem, and -it strikes me as a strange thing that such a system of hierarchical -tyranny and outrage has been so long permitted to exist and grow in -this land of boasted freedom—civil and religious.” - -“It can not seem stranger, or more inconsistent, to you than to me, -sir,” replied Captain Raymond, flushing with mortification. “I am -exceedingly ashamed of this bar sinister on the scutcheon of my -country; but I trust that vigorous measures are about to be taken for -its expunging. - -“Some have defended the let-alone policy on the ground that to restrain -and punish them would be to abridge religious liberty; but I cannot -see it so. We have, in fact, allowed a most tyrannical hierarchy to -persecute even to putting to death, those who, having unfortunately -fallen into its power, attempted an escape from it, or refused to -submit to its dictation in regard to either belief or practice. - -“Women have been forcibly detained among them (the self-styled -“Latter-day Saints”) horribly ill-used, and when caught in an attempt -to escape, foully murdered.” - -“The perpetrators and abettors of such deeds of darkness mistake -liberty for license; every man or woman has a right to life, liberty, -and the pursuit of happiness—yet only so far as he does not interfere -with the exercise of the same rights by others. The victims of Mormon -tyranny and intolerance have most certainly a right to complain that -they have been deprived of both civil and religious liberty.” - -“Very true,” responded Mr. Austin; “and I have learned with -mortification, that the ranks of the Mormons are largely recruited from -Great Britain.” - -“Yes; I wish your government were as anxious to keep that class of its -citizens as its sailors, particularly its man-of-war’s-men,” returned -the captain laughingly. - -A short discussion as to the comparative amount of freedom enjoyed by -the citizens of the two countries, and the comparative security of life -and property, followed, each gentleman maintaining that his own was the -more favored land. - -“Mormonism has for years destroyed in a great measure the personal -liberty of the citizens of this part of your country, where it -flourishes,” remarked Mr. Austin, “and certainly there is neither civil -nor religious liberty enjoyed within the walls of the monasteries and -convents scattered over the whole length and breadth of your land.” - -“That is true, only too true!” sighed the captain, “but, as regards -monastic and conventual institutions, as true of your country as of -mine. - -“Who can tell what suffering—what martyrdoms, may be endured by the -hapless inmates of those prisons for innocent victims? - -“Some will say they should not be interfered with, because the shutting -up of men and women in that way is part of the Romish religion, and -that the victims go into their confinement voluntarily; but it is -certain that some do not do so voluntarily, and that others are -wheedled in by false representations of the life to be led there. - -“When they learn by experience what it really is, they often abhor -it and long for the restoration of their freedom, but, alas, find -themselves in the hands of jailors, fastened in by bolts and bars, -and so forced to remain, no matter how unwillingly they are detained. -Where for _them_ is the liberty guaranteed by our Constitution to every -citizen, from the highest to the lowest?” - -“It is a great wrong, both here and in Great Britain,” Mr. Austin said. -“One occasionally escapes, and thrills the public mind for a time by -her tale of the horrors of her prison, but they—her tormentors—assert -that she is insane, her tale the fabrication of an unsound mind—and -presently it is all forgotten by the fickle populace; drowned in -thoughts of other matters. - -“But what remedy would you propose? the abolition of monasteries and -convents?” - -“No; that would savor of interference with their religious liberty; -but I would have them obliged to open their doors to the visits and -inspection of the police at any and all times, without previous -warning; and the fact made certain that every grown person in the -establishment was left entirely free to come and go at his or her -pleasure. While that liberty is not secured to them, it cannot be said -with truth that they are free citizens of a free country.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - -The little party gathered on the porch again after tea, and amused -themselves with conversation while waiting till the setting of the sun, -and the fading away of the twilight should give a better opportunity -for the display of the fireworks. - -“I fancy,” remarked Mr. Austin, half-interrogatively, half in -assertion, “that our present sovereign is more highly appreciated in -America than was her royal grandfather George the Third?” - -“There is no comparison,” replied Captain Raymond. “Americans highly -appreciated your queen’s kindly expressed sympathy in the sad days of -our poor Garfield’s suffering, and she has many admirers among us.” - -Just then Mr. Riggs came up the path from the front gate, and greeting -the company, “Good-evenin’, cap’n, Mr. Austin, and young folks,” took a -seat in their midst. - -“Well, we’ve had a riglar old-time glorious Fourth,” he went on, -addressing no one in particular, “on’y ’tisn’t done yit, thank fortin’, -an’ I’ve come round to see them fireworks set off. The folks did turn -out copiously this mornin’, and I don’t mistrust that they won’t do it -agin to-night.” - -“Of course they will. Who wouldn’t turn out to see fireworks?” - -It was the squeaky little voice again right behind his chair, as on the -former occasion. - -He sprang up as if he had been shot, faced about, and with a scared -look asked, “Why, where is he—the old raskil?” - -“Rascal, indeed! I’m no rascal, sir, but a patriotic, honest American -citizen.” - -It was the squeaky voice again, and this time sounded a trifle farther -off, as if the speaker might be descending the porch steps; but though -distinctly heard, he could not be seen. - -“Well, now, if it isn’t the beatenest thing! I wonder ef I’m a-gittin’ -crazy!” exclaimed Riggs, staring wildly round from side to side. “You -all heered him, didn’t ye? but has anybody seen the raskilly feller?” - -The Austins and Mr. Short were struck dumb with astonishment; the -Raymonds did not speak either, but the next moment a loud, “Ha, ha, -ha!” coming apparently from among the branches of the nearest tree, was -followed by the squeaky voice: - -“You can’t see me? That’s only because you don’t look in the right -place; I’m big enough to be seen by the naked eye, even at a -considerable distance.” - -“But ye’r always playing at hide and seek,” said Riggs, “and a body -can’t never find ye.” - -“Why who is he? and where is he?” queried Albert, staring up into the -tree; “his voice seems to come from among those branches, but I see -nothing there.” - -“It is growing dark,” remarked Captain Raymond in reply. - -“Yes, sir; but still I think I could see a man or boy if he were really -there.” - -“Come up on to the porch roof, all of you,” called the voice, now -seeming to come from there; “it’ll be the best place to see the -fireworks from.” - -“It is time to begin setting them off; isn’t it, papa?” asked Lulu. - -“Yes,” he said, and Max, springing down the steps and the walk to the -gate, in another minute had sent up a sky-rocket, and as it darted -skyward the same squeaky voice cried out from the upper air, “Up I go!” - -“There, did ye hear that?” screamed Riggs. “He’s gone up with the -rocket. He must be a wizard.” - -“Ha! there is certainly a ventriloquist among us!” exclaimed Mr. Austin. - -“I agree with you,” said the captain, “it is the only rational -explanation of the phenomenon.” - -“And it is yourself, sir?” - -“No, sir; if I have any talent in that line it remains to be discovered -by myself even.” - -And without waiting for further embarrassing questions, the captain -hurried to Max’s assistance. - -Mr. Short did likewise, and for the next hour or more the display of -the fireworks absorbed the attention of every one present, almost to -the exclusion of thoughts on other matters. - -It was quite a fine display—for the captain had been generous in his -outlay for the celebration of the Fourth, and many were the expressions -of delight and admiration from the crowd of spectators who had gathered -to witness it. - -There were rockets, squibs, Roman candles, Bengal lights, Catherine -wheels, and others of more complicated structure, some of which sent -out figures of men and animals. - -One of these Max reserved for the last, and as a tiny figure of a man -issued from the brilliant coruscation and darted upward, it cried out -in the squeaky little voice that had troubled Mr. Riggs so often, -“Good-by; I’m off!” - -“There the feller is at last. I seen him this time,” screamed the old -man. “Now did ye ever? how did he git in there? and how did he git out?” - -The faces of the crowd were full of surprise and perplexity as they -first gazed upward, then turned toward each other in half-breathless -astonishment. - -“There is a ventriloquist among us,” repeated Mr. Austin; “there must -be, without doubt.” - -“Ven—ven—what is it anyway?” asked Riggs. - -“Ventriloquist; one who can speak without moving his lips, and cause -his voice to seem to come from somewhere outside of himself; from some -person or animal, or place near at hand or farther off.” - -“You don’t say. I never heered o’ sech doins!” exclaimed Riggs. While -several others standing near cried out, “A ventriloquist. Is there one -here? If there is, let him give us some more of his tricks. We’d like -no better fun.” - -“Just you keep quiet then, all of you, and perhaps he will,” said Mr. -Short, who, though he knew nothing absolutely in regard to the matter, -began to have strong suspicions that Captain Raymond could tell all -about it if he would. - -A short, sharp bark, that seemed to come from the coat-pocket of the -speaker, made him start involuntarily and thrust his hand deep into it. - -He drew it out with a laugh. “Nothing there, as I might have known,” he -said. - -But the words were hardly out of his mouth when a loud, furious -barking, growling and snarling began in the midst of the crowd, -causing them to scatter pell-mell to the sidewalks, women and children -screaming, men and boys shouting, bursts of laughter following, as they -perceived that the cause of their fright was but another trick of the -ventriloquist. - -“Who is he! who is he!” was the question bandied from one to another, -but answered by no one. - -“Hoo, hoo, hoo!” came from amid the branches of a tree in Mrs. -McAlpine’s yard. - -It sounded like the cry of an owl, but was followed by a human voice, -“Good-night, friends. We have had a glorious Fourth, and now it is time -to go home and to bed.” - -“That means the show is done for to-night, I s’pose,” remarked Riggs, -“and we may as well git fer home. But I just wisht I could find out who -the feller is,” he mumbled to himself, as he moved down the street. - -The crowd dispersed and the Raymonds retired to their own apartments. - -“Oh, Max, how good it is that nobody’s found you out yet?” laughed Lulu -gleefully. - -“I’m glad they haven’t,” returned Max. “Papa, did I do anything -objectionable?” - -“I have no fault to find with you, my boy,” his father replied, with a -slight smile and a very affectionate look at his son. - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - - -Captain Raymond lingered some time longer in Minersville. - -It was near the middle of July, and his arrangements had been made for -starting upon the homeward journey in a day or two, when early one -morning he, Max, Mr. Short and the Austins set out upon their final -hunt together. - -Lulu was, of course, left behind in the boarding-house. - -As her father kissed her good-by he said, “I am very sorry to leave -you alone, dear child, but I trust that you will be able to pass the -time agreeably in reading, sewing or letter-writing—whatever employment -you fancy that can be attended to in the house—for I want you to stay -within doors; the day is a very warm one, and I much prefer that you -should not be exposed to the heat of the sun. - -“I hope to be back in season to take you for a walk or ride in the cool -of the evening.” - -“I shall like that, if you don’t come home too tired, dear papa,” she -replied, clinging about his neck for a moment. “Oh, do take good care -of yourself! and don’t be a bit troubled lest I should be lonesome. I -shall do nicely and be oh, so glad to see you when you come back.” - -She followed him out to the porch, with a book in her hand, and after -seeing the hunting party disappear down the street, took a seat in a -comfortable arm-chair in the shade of the vines, and amused herself -with reading until joined by Marian with a basket of mending. - -“There!” exclaimed Lulu, closing her book. “I have some stockings to -darn. I’ll go and get them and my work-basket, and we’ll have a nice -time together.” - -“I’d like that very much,” Marian said, “but don’t let me hinder you -from reading your book.” - -“I’d rather stop reading and talk awhile. I’m remarkably fond of -talking,” laughed Lulu, as she hurried into the house. - -She was back again almost immediately, and as she resumed her seat -Marian said, “I was glad to hear you say you were fond of talking, -because I wish very much you would tell me about your home and your -brothers and sisters—if you have any beside the one that is here.” - -Lulu willingly complied with a glowing description of Woodburn, “Mamma -Vi,” Gracie and the babies, and the happy life led there by the whole -family. - -Marian listened with deep interest, tears sometimes starting to her -eyes as she was struck by the contrast between that life and her -own, most of all in the tender fatherly love and care in which the -Woodburn children rejoiced, and which had been so sadly lacking in her -experience since the blighting curse of Mormonism had fallen upon the -McAlpine household. - -Lulu noticed her emotion, guessed at the cause, and made an effort to -divert the poor girl’s thoughts from the sorrows of her lot, by telling -amusing anecdotes of little Elsie’s sayings and doings. - -“Of course,” she said, “Mamma Vi began as soon as Elsie was able to -talk, to teach her to say the little prayer, ‘Now I lay me.’ She soon -said it nicely, but whenever she came to the part, ‘If I should die,’ -she would put in ‘but I _won’t_ die!’ - -“Not long ago Mamma Vi told her she thought she was old enough now to -learn the Lord’s prayer. ‘It is a good deal longer than the other,’ she -said, ‘do you think you can remember it?’ ‘Yes’m,’ Elsie said, ‘I’ll -set it down.’ - -“Then Mamma Vi began teaching it to her, but she has never succeeded in -getting her to say it all right yet, for she always will ask for ‘daily -_corn_ bread.’ We have corn bread on the table at least once every day, -and Elsie likes it much better than wheat. - -“She often says things that make us all laugh. Once Mamma Vi had just -finished a very pretty new dress for the little darling and put it on -her for the first time; then she took her to Grandma Elsie, who was -visiting us, to ask what she thought of it. - -“‘See, ganma,’ little Elsie said, walking up to her. - -“Grandma Elsie said, ‘Ah! just from Paris?’ And little Elsie nodded her -head, saying, ‘Yes’m, ganma, just from parasol.’” - -“She must be a dear, amusing little thing,” said Marian. “Is she -pretty?” - -“She is a perfect beauty!” replied Lulu, with enthusiasm. - -“Ah, here comes Edith Kingsley!” Marian exclaimed, as the gate opened -and a girl a year or two younger than herself, a neighbor and intimate -friend of hers, came tripping up the path. - -Lulu had met Edith several times and liked her, for she was a pleasant, -sunny-tempered child, innocent and artless. - -“Good-morning, girls,” she said. “I just ran over for a minute to tell -you that a party of us are going berrying this afternoon, and to ask -you both to go along.” - -“I’d like to, if mother can spare me,” said Marian. “But isn’t it very -warm!” - -“Not so warm as it was,” replied Edith; “there are floating clouds now, -so that the sun doesn’t shine so hot, and a nice breeze has sprung up. -You’ll go, won’t you, Lulu?” turning to the latter. - -“Thank you; I feel a strong inclination to go, but I can’t, as papa is -not here to give me leave.” - -“Oh, I’m sure he’d say you might go,” returned Edith, with eager -entreaty in her tones; “the place we are going to is only a little -beyond the edge of town, and the berries are so thick we shall fill our -baskets directly and be back long, long before dark. So what objection -could he find?” - -“He said he wanted me to stay in the house till he came back,” replied -Lulu, “he didn’t want me exposed to the heat of the sun, and hoped -to be back in time to take me for a walk or ride in the cool of the -evening.” - -“Oh, if that was all, I’m sure he would say you could go, because the -sun isn’t hot any longer. And he didn’t positively forbid you, did he?” - -“No,” Lulu said slowly, as if striving to recall his exact words; “he -only said he wanted me to stay within doors, and gave that reason for -it; and I’m pretty sure if he were here he would give me permission to -go.” - -“Then you will, won’t you?” - -Lulu considered a moment. The temptation to yield was very strong, but -the more she reflected, the deeper grew her conviction that to do -so would be disobedience; disobedience to the kindest, dearest, most -indulgent of fathers; one who never denied her any pleasure that he -deemed good for her. - -“Come now, do say you will,” urged Edith, coaxingly. “Even if your -father should be a little vexed at first, he will soon forgive you.” - -“Perhaps so; but it would be a long time before I could forgive -myself,” Lulu said, then added firmly, “No, Edith, I thank you very -much for your invitation, but I can’t go. I am quite sure it would be -disobedience, and how could I be so ungrateful as to so grieve such a -father as mine? I couldn’t bear to see the sorry look that would come -into his eyes when he heard of it.” - -“Oh, we won’t tell on you,” Edith said laughingly. - -Lulu looked indignant at that. “I should tell on myself,” she said. “I -could never be happy while concealing anything from papa.” - -Marian had left them to consult with her mother in regard to her own -acceptance of the invitation, and now came back to report a favorable -reply. She was much disappointed to hear that Lulu would not go, and -joined her entreaties to Edith’s that she would reconsider and accept. - -But Lulu was firm, both then and later, when, ready to start on their -little expedition, they again urged her to accompany them. - -“I think we’ll have a nice time,” Edith said; “it’s just a pleasant -walk, winding about a little way among the hills, and there are lovely -wild flowers to gather as well as berries. Oh, do change your mind and -come along with us!” - -“I do wish you would, Lulu,” put in Marian, “I shan’t half enjoy myself -without you, and thinking how lonely you’ll be here by yourself.” - -“Please don’t urge me any more,” returned Lulu. “I think you wouldn’t -if you knew how very much I’d like to go with you, if I could have -papa’s permission; but I know I couldn’t enjoy myself going without -that. My conscience wouldn’t give me any peace at all.” - -So they left her. She sat on the porch watching them out of sight, -then opened her book, and presently forgot her disappointment in the -interest of the story. - -She read on and on, taking no note of the lapse of time, though full -two hours had passed since the berry gatherers disappeared round the -corner, till suddenly she became conscious that some unusual excitement -was abroad in the streets of the town; men armed with muskets, -revolvers, and other weapons, were rushing past in the direction the -girls had taken; women and children were running hither and thither, -calling wildly to each other, some crying, all seeming full of anxiety -and fright. - -“Oh, what is it? what’s the matter, Sandy?” asked Lulu, dropping her -book and springing to her feet, as the lad came tearing in at the gate, -his face white with terror and distress. - -“A bear!” he gasped; “a big grizzly got after the girls, and they all -had to run for their lives, and he—he caught Edith—they say, and—and -he’s hugging her to death.” - -“Oh! oh!” cried Lulu, bursting into tears and sobs, “can’t anybody save -her? Oh, I wish papa was there with his gun to shoot the bear, he’d do -it, I know he would. And, oh, where’s Marian?” - -“She’s safe now; they all got away from the beast but Edith. But Marian -was so out of breath with fright and running and crying because she -couldn’t save Edith, that she had to stop farther down the street.” - -Mrs. McAlpine had heard enough of the bustle in the streets to alarm -her, and now came hurrying out, asking, “What’s happened, Sandy? -Where’s your sister?” - -The boy repeated his story, had scarce finished when Marian came in at -the gate, her form drooping, her head bowed on her breast, sobs shaking -her whole frame. - -“Have they got her?” asked Sandy. - -“Marian, my poor child, is Edith much hurt?” questioned her mother, -drawing the weeping girl into the house. - -Marian did not lift her head; she seemed unable to speak. - -But Hugh came running in from the street, tears rolling down his -cheeks. “Oh, oh, Edith’s killed! she’s dead! I heard a man say so. -They’ve killed the bear, but he’d a’ready squeezed Edith to death, and -tore her awful with his big claws and teeth.” - -“Oh, don’t! don’t tell it!” shrieked Marian, covering her ears with her -hands. “Oh, if we only hadn’t gone there!” - -“Her poor mother, her poor, poor mother! how will she ever bear it?” -sobbed Mrs. McAlpine, dropping into a chair and hiding her face with -her apron. - -Lulu, too, was weeping bitterly. - -“What have they done with her, Hugh?” asked Sandy, in a loud whisper. - -“Who? Edith, or the bear?” - -“Edith, I meant, of course, Stupid,” returned the elder brother -contemptuously. - -“They’re goin’ to bring her home; I guess they’re doin’ it now,” as a -sound as of the trampling of many feet smote upon their ears. - -The body was being carried past on a hastily improvised litter, and in -another moment, as it crossed the threshold of the home she had left -two hours before in the heyday of life and health, a woman’s wail of -heart-breaking anguish rent the air. - -“It’s her mother, her poor mother!” sobbed Mrs. McAlpine. “Wae’s me for -the puir heart-broken thing! but, oh! thank God my lassie has come safe -home to me!” - -Marian burst into wild weeping, and Lulu, unable to bear any more, ran -swiftly from the room to that of her father, where, falling on her -knees by the bedside, she buried her face in the clothes and cried as -if her heart would break. - -She seemed to see Edith standing before her, bright and beautiful, -full of life and health, as she had seen her—oh, such a little while -ago!—then in the cruel embrace of the ferocious wild beast, crushed, -bitten, torn, bleeding, and dying—dead. Then the poor body, at last -rescued from the clutches of the bear, but with no life left in it, -carried along the high road on its rude litter, borne into the house -over the way—the happy home of the morning now darkened and made -desolate by that sudden, fearful stroke of doom—the mother, bereaved in -a manner so fearful, of her only child, bending over it in an agony of -woe unutterable. - -“And I might have been the one the bear attacked, if I had gone with -them, papa mourning over his dead daughter, his heart breaking with -the thought that she’d been killed in the very act of disobeying him,” -thought Lulu. “I can never, never be thankful enough that I didn’t do -it; that God helped me resist the temptation.” - -A hand rested lightly, tenderly on her head, and she started up to find -her father standing by her side. - -She threw herself into his arms, and as he folded her close to his -heart, hid her face on his breast, sobbing convulsively. “Oh, papa, it -is so, so dreadful! so terrible!” - -“Yes,” he said, in tones tremulous with emotion, “my heart aches for -the bereaved parents. Oh, thank the Lord that I have my darling safe -in my arms!” caressing her with exceeding tenderness, as he sat down, -still holding her fast as a treasure he would suffer no earthly power -to snatch from his grasp. “You were not with them?” - -“No, papa; you bade me stay within doors—at least, you said you wanted -me to—and how could I disobey such a dear, kind father? Oh, I couldn’t, -though I wanted to go very badly! And if I had—oh, I might have been -the one to be killed in that dreadful way!” - -“And your father the heart-broken parent weeping over his lost -treasure. My dear child, I think you will never regret resisting the -temptation to disobey the father who loves you as his life.” - -“Oh, no, I’m sure I shall not! Papa, what a good thing for me that -you have trained me to obedience, for otherwise I should have gone -with them and maybe have been killed, killed in that horrible way! You -didn’t say I must stay in the house—only that you wanted me to—but I -suppose it would have been disobedience if I’d gone, wouldn’t it?” - -“Yes; a truly obedient child will not go against the known wishes of -a parent. I trusted my daughter loved me enough to obey my slightest -wish, so did not think it necessary to put my injunction in the form of -a command. We all prefer to be requested rather than ordered.” - -“But I have really learned to love even to be ordered by you, my own, -own dearest father!” she said, creeping closer in his embrace. - -“Had I been quite sure of that it would have saved me some moments of -great alarm and anxiety,” he said. - -She looked up inquiringly, and he went on. “As our party came into -town, on the side opposite to that where this dreadful accident -occurred, a man hailed us with the news that some little girls, out -gathering berries, had been attacked by a bear, one of them killed, and -others badly hurt. - -“That last was a mistake, as we presently learned, but, oh, the pang -that shot through my heart with the sudden fear that my dear little -daughter might be among the injured, perhaps even the slain one. How I -wished that I had positively forbidden you to leave the house at all in -my absence!” - -“But even then you couldn’t have been sure that I wasn’t with those -girls, because there have been times when I’ve disobeyed your most -positive commands,” she said, in a remorseful tone. - -Her heart leaped with joy at his answering words. “But you have been so -perfectly obedient for a long time now, that I have come to have great -confidence in your careful observance of any order from me to do or not -to do.” - -Max, who had lingered in the street trying to learn all the particulars -of the sad occurrence, which was the absorbing subject of thought and -speech with every one for the time being, now came quietly in, looking -thoughtful and distressed. - -“They say she’s terribly crushed and mangled,” he said, half-chokingly. -“Oh, Lu, what a fright papa and I had, thinking it might be you!” - -“But I could have been spared much better than poor Edith,” she said; -“she was an only child, and papa would have four still left if he lost -only me.” - -“I should not know how to spare you or any one of my darlings,” -responded her father, in moved tones, smoothing her hair with tender, -caressing hand, and kissing her on cheek and lip and brow. - -“I’m glad we’re almost ready to go away from here,” remarked Max, -“We’ve been having a merry, happy time, but it will seem very sad after -this.” - -“When do we go, papa?” asked Lulu. - -“I have set day after to-morrow,” he answered. “But while we are here, -let us strive rather to sympathize in the grief and suffering of -those so sorely bereaved than to be thinking of ourselves and our own -enjoyment. The Bible bids us weep with those that weep, as well as to -rejoice with those that do rejoice!” - -The captain earnestly strove to carry out that teaching, and nothing -was omitted or neglected that he could do to show his sympathy with -Edith’s heart-broken parents; or with Marian, who grieved sorely over -the loss of her friend—snatched from her in so sad a manner—and the -news that Lulu, to whom she had become warmly attached, was soon to -leave Minersville, probably never to return. - -Lulu had been seized with a longing for the dear ones at -home—especially Gracie—and expected to feel only joy in turning her -back upon the little Western town in which she had sojourned so -pleasantly for the last four weeks, but, when the time came, found she -was a sharer to some extent in the grief at parting, that set Marian -to weeping bitterly. - -“Don’t cry so, Marian,” Lulu said, with emotion. “I didn’t think you -cared so much for me.” - -“Oh, I love you almost as if you were my sister!” sobbed Marian, “and -it nearly breaks my heart to think I shall never, never see you again.” - -“But perhaps you may. Isn’t it possible, papa?” and Lulu turned -inquiringly to her father. - -“Yes,” he said; “I may be visiting my property here again one of these -days, and in that case will be very likely to bring my eldest daughter -along. - -“And Marian, my good girl, if ever you should be in need of a friend, -remember that Captain Raymond will be glad to do you any kindness in -his power.” - -Marian and her mother both thanked him with earnest gratitude; both -felt that the day might not be far distant when they would stand in -sore need of his friendly offices, and with the knowledge they had -gained of his character in the last few weeks of daily intercourse, -they could not doubt the sincerity of his offer. - -But the train that was to carry the Raymonds on their eastward way was -nearly due; the rest of the good-byes were hastily said, and in a few -moments they were seated in the cars and speeding onward. - -It was a beautiful summer morning, and the spirits of the children soon -rose to such a height that they must find vent in chat and laughter. - -“Papa,” exclaimed Lulu, “you actually haven’t told us where we are -going next!” - -“To the sea-shore, as the end of this journey.” - -“But that’s very indefinite; for the sea-shore of our big country is a -long, long strip,” she said laughingly. - -“So it is; but can’t you trust me to take you to a pleasant part of it?” - -“Oh, yes, sir, yes, indeed! and I’m always glad to go anywhere with -you,” resting her cheek affectionately against his shoulder and -squeezing his hand in both of hers. - -“And we are perfectly willing to wait for the information till you are -ready to give it, sir,” added Max. - -“Good children,” the captain said, smiling approvingly upon them. “I -had thought of giving you a surprise, but have no objection to telling -you now, that we have taken again the cottages we occupied the first -summer after my marriage to your Mamma Vi, and that she and Gracie and -the babies—the Ion and Fairview people too—are already there waiting -for us to join them. Are you satisfied with the arrangement, my dears?” - -“I am, perfectly, papa,” Max replied. - -“And I, too,” said Lulu. “Oh, I do think it will be very pleasant to -spend a while there again! And I hope I’ll be a great deal better child -to you than I was before, dear papa,” she whispered in his ear, her arm -about his neck. - -“Dear child!” was all he said in reply, but the accompanying look and -smile spoke volumes of fatherly love and confidence. - - - THE END. - - ————————————— End of Book ————————————— - - - - - Transcriber’s Note (continued) - - -Errors in punctuation have been corrected. Inconsistencies in spelling, -grammar, capitalisation, and hyphenation are as they appear in the -original publication except where noted below: - - Page 9 – “port-monnaie” changed to “porte-monnaie” (producing his - porte-monnaie) - - Page 21 – “of” changed to “off” (a chip off the old block) - - Page 49 – “It was delight” changed to “It was a delight” (It was - a delight to Lulu) - - Page 53 – “yon” changed to “you” (Are you pleased?) - - Page 91 – “retuned” changed to “returned” (returned Max - insinuatingly) - - Page 102 – “hath” changed to “had” (They both had risen to their feet) - - Page 108 – “half inquiringly” changed to “half-inquiringly” (Grace - said, half-inquiringly,) - - Page 179 – “leter” changed to “letter” (with an open letter) - - Page 182 – “are mistaking” changed to “you are mistaking” (in pitying - tones; “you are mistaking) - - Page 183 – “empire” changed to “Empire” (British Empire) - - Page 183 – “year” changed to “years” (many hundreds of years before) - - Page 184 – “mistranslations” changed to “mis-translations” - (corruptions or mis-translations) - - Page 230 – “insistance” changed to “insistence” (indignant over the - insistence) - - Page 246 – “brave can” changed to “brave as can” (as brave as can be) - - Page 249 – “one these” changed to “one of these” (You’ll try it one - of these evenings) - - Page 253 – “something” changed to “or something” (or something like it) - - Page 261 – “qnivering” changed to “quivering” (in quivering tones) - - Page 283 – “spite of” changed to “in spite of” (in spite of entire - lack of education) - - Page 292 – “in air” changed to “in the air” (high in the air) - - Page 296 – “peace” changed to “Peace” (Peace of Utrecht) - - Page 297 – “Alfred’s” changed to “Albert’s” (Albert’s countenance) - - Page 300 – “nasteries” changed to “monasteries” (walls of the - monasteries) - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELSIE AND THE RAYMONDS *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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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