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BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 "BETSEY AND I ARE OUT." 
 
 P n > 
 
THE 
 
 NITED STATEO 
 
 LIFE 
 
 INSURANCE COMPANY, 
 
 IN THE OITT or NEW TOEK, 
 Sei, aeS, S03 BICOA.r>M^A.Y. 
 
 ORGANIZED I860. 
 
 JAMES BUELL, . . President. 
 
 ASSETS,, - - - $4,827,176.52 
 SURPLUS, - - - $820,000.00 
 
 Jffvery approved form of Policy issued on most 
 favorable terms. 
 
 ALL ENDOWMENT POLICIES AND APPROVED CLAIMS 
 
 MATURINO IN 1877 
 
 Win be DISCOUNTED - '* 
 
 OS PRX1SMNXA.TION. 
 
 HENRY ^V. BALDW^IN, 
 
 Bupt. Middle Department. 
 
 PfRICE : pRBXBL fiuiLDINQ, COR. ^ALL AND ^ROAD ^TS., 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
Popular Fifty Cent Books. 
 
 The best selling and most attractive in 
 the market. 
 
 1. TOM'S WIFE ; and How He Managed Her, By 
 
 A Married Bachelor. 
 
 2. THAT HOllIl.II> OIRL.. By the author of 
 
 "Margaret's Engagement." 
 
 3. HE AWI> I. By the author of "Annals of a Baby." 
 
 4. THAT AWFUL BOY. By the author of " That 
 
 Bridget of Ours." 
 
 5. ME ; JULY AIV1> AUGUST. A Summer in the 
 
 Country. 
 
 6. AMNALS OF A BABY. By Sarah Bridges Stebbins. 
 
 7. WHY IVIFE AMD I QUAKISEErE®. By 
 
 the author of "Betsey and I are Out." 
 
 All published uniform with this volume, price 50 cents in ^aper 
 
 covers and $1.00 beautifully bound in cMA. Copies sent 
 
 by mail, postage free^ on receipt of price, by 
 
 G. W. CARIiBTON & CO., Publishers, 
 
 Madison Square, New York. 
 
Why 
 
 "Wife and I 
 
 Quarreled. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 
 
 "Betsey and I are 
 
 Out. 
 
 n 
 
 INCLUDING 
 
 
 
 THAT FAMOUS POEM. 
 
 
 / 
 
 t/fpage 63.) 
 
 
 
 
 '/'>*'-^ 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 Copyright, 1877, by 
 
 G. W. Carleton & Co.^ Publishers. 
 
 LONDON: S. LOW, SON & CO. 
 MDCCCLXXVII. 
 

TO 
 
 MV MOTHER 
 
 (Wjgo WILL Recognize every Actor in this Homely Drama) 
 
 J pEDICATE At Y ^OOK, 
 
 WISHING ONLY IT WERE BETTER WORTH 
 
 ^\t patient anb partial ^erKsal 
 
 , . THAT I KNOW 
 
 SHE WILL GIVE iT. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I • PAGB 
 
 The Story 9 
 
 II. 
 
 Aunt Prudence's Story . 38 
 
 [Odin's Boyhood.] 
 
 III. 
 
 Cousin Luke's Story . 54 
 
 [Odin's Love Experience.] 
 
 IV. • 
 
 Uncle 'Liab's Story 63 
 
 [" Betsey and I are Out."] 
 
 V. • ■ 
 
 Aunt Betsey's Story 71 
 
 [How Husband and I Made Up.] 
 
 VI. 
 
 Uncle Luke's Story • 7^ 
 
 [Going to Channing's Meeting.] 
 
 VII. 
 
 Cousin John's Story ....... 86 
 
 [In California.] 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Uncle King's Story . 90 
 
 [Pat's Dream of Heaven.] 
 
 IX. 
 
 Deacon Munroe s Story 94 
 
 [Church Discipline.] 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 X . PAGB 
 
 Cousin Nannette's Story loo 
 
 [One Thanksgiving.] 
 
 XI. 
 
 Cousin Laurette's Story ii8 
 
 [Will, My Brother.] 
 
 XII. 
 
 Cousin Tom's Story 128 
 
 [Youthful Experience,] 
 
 XIII. 
 
 Aunt Margaret's Story 134 
 
 [The Octoroon.] 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Little Phil's Story 146 
 
 [A Legend of the Virgin.] 
 
 XV. 
 
 Cousin Nettie's Story . 149 
 
 [Naming the Baby.] 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Aunt Hepzibah's Story 154 
 
 [That Mr. Reporter.] 
 
 XVII. 
 
 Uncle Nat's Story 163 
 
 [Threescore Years.] 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 Cousin Lawrence's Story 167 
 
 [The Christmas Gift.] 
 
 XIX. 
 
 Cousin Kate's Story 173 
 
 [Legend of the Waltzes.] 
 
 XX. 
 
 Cousin Emily's Story . i 178 
 
 [The Temple of Vesta.] "^ 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 I. 
 
 THE STORY. 
 
 *Tis Christmas eve ! The snow is falling fast, 
 The sky is thick with clouds, that hurry by 
 Like chariots of midnight, wreathed in smoke ; 
 And not a living thing is out o' doors. 
 Within, the firelight glows upon the hearth. 
 The ruddy hearth, with polished fire-dogs graced, 
 Shines yellower on the yellow-sanded floor, 
 Touches the tall, old-fashioned, cuckoo clock, 
 And lights the crook-necks, and the almanac, 
 Hung on a friendly beam, half out of sight. 
 Ah ! blessed firelight, flickering through the room, 
 As if to compensate for lack of moon 
 And shining stars outside. 
 
 We gather round, 
 While yet the candles stand unlighted near. 
 Like white-robed maidens, dainty, shy, and prim, 
 Until their crown of glory comes to bring 
 Life, usefulness, and martyrdom, and death. 
 Almost as strangers gather we, yet bound 
 By viewless cord of sympathy, or kin, 
 Or marriage covenant, which, more than tie 
 Of consanguinity, seems sacred now ; 
 For we've been summoned from far-distant homes 
 On a strange errand. 
 
 Listen, while I try 
 To make it plain to you, though this, I say, 
 1* 
 
lO THE STORY. 
 
 That it is more like dreamland e'en to me, 
 
 Than sober, staid. New England verity. 
 
 There's Grandsire, in the chimney-corner wide, 
 
 And Grandma, nestled cosily beside, 
 
 In their two high-backed, wide-armed, oaken chairs, 
 
 That they have sat in almost every night 
 
 For more than sixty years. 
 
 Grandma, for once, 
 Lets her thin hands lie idle in her lap 
 Without their knitting, and the 'customed click 
 Of swiftly-moving needles. 
 
 Grandsire says, 
 That, fifty years ago, they filled those chairs 
 Plump full, from arm to arm ; but now they might 
 Both sit in one, and still have room to spare. 
 For they are old, are very old indeed. 
 Oh, happy fate, to live so long on earth, 
 And bear such strong, fond, loving hearts through alL 
 Yet they have tasted sorrow, walked with grief, 
 And shrunk away from trouble oft, ere now. 
 Of their twelve children five have gone before 
 To faith's bright haven ; and the golden door 
 Swings lightlier on its hinges every time ; 
 And nearer draws the Heaven toward which they climb, 
 And brighter glows the star of hope, and still 
 More radiant burns the light on Zion's hill. 
 And six are living still — are here to-night. 
 I hear their voices talking o'er old times, 
 And soon they will be' telling stories quaint, 
 And laughing at each other's kindly jests. 
 But one — alas ! we know not where he is ; 
 Or if the sea has 'whelmed him, or the strife 
 Of battle stricken out his changeful life. 
 We do not often talk of him. But now, 
 
THE STORY. 1 1 
 
 Just now, I cuddle down at Grandma's feet, 
 And, prompted, sometimes, by her gentle tones, 
 Will tell you of the children, one and all. 
 The eldest (Thomas) was a wild, bright boy. 
 For whose impatient spirit home seemed small ; 
 And all the weary details of the farm 
 Were too much cost, and far too little gain. 
 Nor did he love his books. When sent to school 
 He ofttimes wandered off alone all day. 
 Through tangled wood, or by the river side, 
 Or drifting on his rude and treacherous raft, 
 O'er dangerous rapids and 'mid rocks and snags, 
 Down toward the sea. 
 
 At twelve, he ran away. 
 And Grandma mourned as only mothers can. 
 Meanwhile the first twins, Mark and Martha, came, 
 And lived their little lives of four bright years, 
 And died, of fever, in a single night. 
 Then little Nathan, Grandma always said 
 He was a good boy — frolicsome, but kind. 
 And easy managed. 
 
 He is here to-night. 
 His hair, like Grandsire's, almost snowy white ; 
 But his fair, happy face, and bright gray eyes 
 Proclaim him always young. 
 
 When he was twice 
 A twelvemonth, came wee Prudence, always quaint,^ 
 And wise, and womanly before her time. 
 I cannot think of her as of a wild , 
 And merry-hearted girl, alive with mirth, 
 Laughing and dancing with the birds and flowers. 
 She never married, but just staid at home. 
 Caring for such grandchildren as were left 
 Like lambs without a fold. 
 
12 THE STORY. 
 
 But, oh, I wish 
 [ could look in between the folded leaves 
 Of her shut heart, and find the golden core, 
 And read the deep, sweet romance hidden there. 
 No use ! She seldom talks ; and, good or ill 
 The wind may blow, she is Aunt Prudence still. 
 Before she reached her sober life's fourth year, 
 Another pair of twinnies drifted here, 
 Eliab and Eliza ; and they lived, 
 And both were married one bright summer morn. 
 Eliab ? Yes ! He married Betsey Flint, 
 "Old Parson Flint's first gal," so Grandma says. 
 The aged parson died some years ago, 
 But Uncle 'I^iab in the firelight sits. 
 His wife beside him and their Bessie near. 
 Eliza married Gregory Munroe — 
 "Deacon Munroe's one only precious son." 
 And Grandma never saw her face again. 
 After that wedding morning ; for she died ! 
 Lost with her brave young husband, on their way 
 From Afric's golden shore, where they had been 
 For five long years, upon their mission bent, 
 Teaching the dark-skinned children of the sun 
 The story of the gentle " Prince of Peace." 
 'Twas in the Macedonia that they sailed, 
 And she was wrecked, and many lives were lost, 
 They two among the number. 
 
 But their child, 
 Their one wee boy, scarce three years old, was saved. 
 The sailors cared for him and brought him home. 
 The rough old captain had been Grandsire's friend. 
 And so he took in tow the little craft, 
 And anchored him safe here at Ingleside. 
 His name was " Thomas Pratt Munroe," he said ; 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 13 
 
 "Mamma had named him for her dear papa" — 
 
 And Grandma took him as a precious boon, 
 
 Left by her daughter, and thanked God for him. 
 
 I think too she was glad to hear his name ; 
 
 It gave her an excuse for saying oft — 
 
 " Thomas, my boy," " Thomas, my child, be good." 
 
 But when those second twins were three years old, 
 
 Came Luke, then John ; both grew to manhood's prime, 
 
 And John died suddenly, leaving one son, 
 
 Our cousin Luke, who always since has lived 
 
 At Ingleside. I hear him talking with 
 
 His Uncle Luke and Aunt Priscilla, now. 
 
 Their children, John, Priscilla, and Nannette, 
 
 Are with them. John, a dignified young man, 
 
 Has brought his pretty wife and baby boy. 
 
 Prissie is married, too ; her little ones 
 
 Are sweet as sweetest blossoms — but Aunt Nan 
 
 Is just a good-for-nothing ; people say ; 
 
 She has no skill at housework — so she writes. 
 
 But then, when Uncle John was two years old, 
 Came stately Margaret ; brown-eyed Patience next. 
 (She married young Squire Osborne, long ago, 
 And died, leaving one child — a fair, sweet girl, 
 Who since has married, and — they've just come in-^ 
 Captain and Mrs. Philip Brown — good friends, 
 And Philip's mother, old Aunt Hepsy Brown.) 
 And last, the warmest heart, the merriest laugh, 
 The most do-nothingness, that ever lurked 
 In one boy-mortal frame, came Christopher. 
 And now I've told you all the children's names, 
 Let us go back to Thomas, the first son. 
 For on his life and its strange incidents. 
 Hinges and turns our visit here to-night. 
 
14 
 
 THE STORY. 
 
 As Grandma says, when he was twelve years old 
 He ran away. And weary years crept by, 
 In which no word of tidings came from him. 
 And other boys grew up about the hearth, 
 But never from his mother's evening prayer 
 His name was missed. 
 
 And when the nights were dark, 
 Or winds were high, or storms were beating wild, 
 She oft would press her face against the pane. 
 While the slow tears fell like a heavy rain. 
 And look out anxiously, and speak no word ; 
 But then she prayed for him. 
 
 Grandsire was stern 
 As kindly, in his moods. It hurt his pride 
 That his first-born should prove a lawless lad, 
 And though no doubt he often thought of him. 
 The name of Thomas never passed his lips. 
 But one cold, stormy, drifting, Christmas eve 
 (That might have been a prototype of this) 
 They heard a sound of voices in the yard, 
 Strong, hearty voices, merry laughter too, 
 And stamping of great boots, and shaking oflf 
 Of clinging snow from caps and coats, and then 
 The old shed-door swung on its leathern hinge, 
 And in the wanderer strode. 
 
 His mother knew, 
 At the first glance, the boy who erst had lain 
 Upon her breast, and drawn his life from thence ; 
 And while the others wondered who had come. 
 She fell atween his strong and muscular arms, 
 ^.nd kissed his face, and kissed his happy eyes, 
 And laughed and cried, and said, "My child," "My boy." 
 Then Grandsire rose and stretched a trembling hand 
 Toward him who had, been lost and now was found, 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 And tried to make his voice sound calm and firm, 
 To speak the one word — " Thomas." 
 
 Out it came, 
 Bearing the pardon which the truant one 
 Had never thought to ask, and freighted full 
 Of faith, forgiveness, hope, and welcome home. 
 It must have been a rare and goodly sight. 
 To see those two, long-severed, sire and son, 
 .Meet and clasp hands across the vanished years. 
 In which the sire had grown to middle age. 
 The son from boy to manhood. 
 
 Then, full soon. 
 The shy-eyed little ones were taken up, 
 And kissed and called by the familiar names, 
 And all miscalled. 
 
 For John Avas little Nat, 
 And baby Margaret was little Prue, 
 And who that tall young fellow (Nathan) was, 
 He could not even guess. 
 
 But V)^hile all eyes 
 And hearts and thoughts were fixed on brother Tom, 
 A stranger stood unnoticed at the door. 
 Prudy was first to see and speak to him ; 
 She said, " My brother is so much engrossed 
 With home and parents, and the young folks there, 
 He does not heed his friend. But come you in. 
 For his sake you will find a welcome warm." 
 Arid the fair stranger, with his ruddy cheeks. 
 And locks of tawny gold, and blue bright eyes, 
 Laughed out, and said, " My heart is full of glad 
 To see such happy. I forgot myself 
 But you — you call him brother ; he has told 
 Me, when we lay upon the frozen deck, 
 Counting the cold, white stars, or when we built 
 
 IS 
 
l6 THE STORY. 
 
 Our camp-fires on the snow, and wolves' eyes gleamed 
 
 About among the shadows, then, in talk, 
 
 He told me of his home, his mother dear, 
 
 His small, young brother, and a younger girl ; 
 
 And, sometimes, he would heave a sigh, and say, 
 
 ' I wonder if the little Prue can sing. 
 
 And if she talks of me or speaks my name ? 
 
 No, no ! they will not teach her that,' he said ; — 
 
 And can it be you are that little girl-? " 
 
 'Tween smiles and blushes Prudence answered him 
 
 (Though half abashed at his admiring gaze 
 
 And his frank boyishness) : "I must, I think, 
 
 Be the same little Prue of whom he talked ; 
 
 But I cannot remember when he left ; 
 
 And now I've grown so very large and tall, 
 
 He does not know or think of me at all." 
 
 Then Thomas turned and sought his friend, and said 
 
 Some words in foreign speech (they knew not what), 
 
 And then he led him forward to the group, 
 
 Who watched him silently, and said to them, 
 
 By way of introduction : " This is he 
 
 Who saved my life in the far Northern sea, 
 
 And risked his own, and won this ugly scar, 
 
 That, lacking gentle treatment, serves to mar 
 
 His brow's fair beauty. This is my one friend ! 
 
 His name, Eric Fitzeric, and a goodly name 
 
 In his own country, where the snow lies white 
 
 Nine-twelfths the year." 
 
 And Grandsire greeted him 
 With kindly words, and Grandma clasped his hand, 
 And all the yonkels laughed to see him laugh. 
 And wondered why the tears should fill his eyes 
 When he was happy. 
 
 That wild Christmas eve 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 Was full of joy ; and long ere light, next morn, 
 The air was ringing with the children's shouts, 
 Their merry shouts that would not be repressed ; 
 The sun came up, and looked his benison 
 Upon the white-robed earth ; 
 
 The farmers drove 
 A long team through the drift-encumbered roads, 
 Adding another yoke of restless steers 
 Or patient oxen from qach farm-house yard. 
 As they drew near it, heralded by calls 
 Of " Merry Christmas ! " from the crowd of boys 
 Who slipped and balanced on the ilting logs 
 Chained to the clumsy sled. 
 
 Nathan and Luke 
 Were out with Buck and Star at the first sound 
 Of distant echo from the coming throng. 
 And soon the curious news was circled round, 
 That Squire Pratt's Thomas had come home again, 
 Alive and well. And many hurried in 
 To offer words of welcome and good cheer ; 
 And Grandsire gave them cider and hot flip, 
 And looked the proud and happy man he was. 
 But Thomas and the stranger, Eric, drew 
 The hght sleigh out, and hitched the colts to it. 
 And just as they were ready for a start, 
 Thomas called out, " Say, Mother, would you like 
 A drive to Salem ? We are going down 
 To bring our sea traps home. We wo'nt be long! " 
 '^nd Eric whispered, " Ask the little Prue." 
 But Mother quick made answer : " Are you wild, 
 To think of driving, such a day as this, 
 Ten blessed miles o'er these half-trodden roads?" 
 A.nd Thomas laughed, and said, 
 
 " If we should fail 
 
 17 
 
1 8 THE STORY. 
 
 To make our way, we'll leave the little sledge, 
 And taking each a horse up' in our arms, 
 We'll travel on with them." 
 
 And with one snap, 
 And flourish of a long, lithe whip, that made 
 The boys' eyes shine with envy, off they went. 
 Soon, as they promised, they were back again, 
 And, oh ! the wondrous store of foreign things 
 Those wondrous chests contained. For there were hid 
 All kinds of fishing-tackle, nets, and seines, 
 Flies, poles, floats, bobs and sinkers, cords and reels, 
 Lines, jointed rods, bright signals, spears and coys. 
 That set the boys half-wild with dreams of sport, 
 And vague, bewildering plans and rude device 
 For lighting fires and fishing through the ice. 
 Then there were bear-skins, shaggy, coarse, and black, 
 White wolf skins, fine as fleece, and soft as snow, 
 And garments strangely fashioned ; bows and clubs. 
 That, sometime, in their rude way, must have served 
 As implements of warfare or defence ; 
 A-nd pictures of strange people ; branching horns, 
 From the wild mountain goat, and rare, bright shells— 
 That Grandma, with all praiseful reverence, called 
 "Beautiful dust from off the Great One's feet" — 
 And skins of snakes, and fishes, and stuffed birds. 
 And bits of coral, and brown, sunny cones 
 That grew on tall Norwegian pines", that nod 
 Above eternal snows. 
 
 The house was like 
 A museum to the quiet village folk. 
 For years thereafter. Aye ! and even now 
 A-re many traces left of all that gave 
 That queer collection its strange interest. 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 19 
 
 But that wild winter marked an era bright 
 In the whole village. 
 
 Each would vie with each 
 In merry-andy pulls, and sewing-bees, 
 And junketings, that seemed to seek to make 
 The time pass lightly for the strangers twain 
 Who sojourned there. 
 
 And Thomas and his friend 
 Were always ready for the merriest sport, 
 The maddest frolic, and the keenest mirth ; 
 Sometimes they wore their monstrous fur-topped boots, 
 And danced quaint, awkward dances, and sang songs 
 In foreign dialect. 
 
 And Eric taught 
 The little Prue to sing, and dance with him 
 In wild, fantastic measure, clicking out 
 The time with ivory castanets, and oft 
 Striking her brazen heels, and ringing soft 
 The tiny silver bells that hung upon 
 The Polish boots he gave her. 
 
 I have seen, 
 Hidden away, in an old trunk, upstairs, 
 Those same old boots, yellow and faded now, 
 But once blue satin, laced with silver cord, 
 And edged with eider. 
 
 But the young men oft 
 Journeyed away for days, sometimes for weeks, 
 To distant cities, studying laws, and rules, 
 And forms of government, and different ways 
 Of settling and arranging troublous points. 
 
 Spring came at last, with tardy feet and slow, 
 And winter gathered up his robe of snow, 
 And walked away to hide on some far hill, 
 
20 THE STORY. 
 
 Whence often his hoarse breathing, loud and chill, 
 Would fright the violets and snowdrops pale, 
 As -they looked up and trembled in the vale. 
 
 Came also letters, covered all outside 
 
 With postmarks that betrayed their wanderings wide, 
 
 And the young men held confabs long and low. 
 
 And Grandma's heart asked sadly, "Must they go?" 
 
 Thomas went first, while the March winds were blowing, 
 
 And gave no reason for his sudden going. 
 
 But while he journeyed, letters often came, 
 Mostly to Eric. He would read them o'er. 
 And say, " Now I must go to-morrow sure." 
 And still " to-morrow," and " to-morrow," then, 
 Like one who dreads to leave a cosey nook. 
 And battle with the world. 
 
 Once he did start, 
 And rode away toward a near sea-port town, 
 And hurried back, and flung himself full length 
 Upon the floor, like some too-petted child. 
 And hid his tearful face in Grandma's lap. 
 And moaned, " Oh, save me, save me from my fate ! " 
 And Grandma said, "You are a brave, good boy; 
 If you have troubles you have borne them well. 
 Nor burdened others with their weary weight. 
 But if without betraying any trust, 
 Or breaking any pledge or confidence, 
 You can talk freely, tell me what it is 
 That troubles you so sadly. 
 
 I have seen 
 The bitten lip, the tightly closed hand. 
 And heard the words half uttered, half repressed. 
 
THE STORY. 21 
 
 Yet could not offer sympathy the while 
 You asked not for it." 
 
 Then he answered her : 
 " Oh, mother, I am sad and full of grief; 
 \ am a Norman ! and I love my home, 
 My country, with a Norman's honest love ; 
 But I have no desire to rule, no love of power, 
 And all my father's high, ambitious plans 
 I cannot share. 
 
 " When I was ten years old. 
 They carried me to Paris to a school. 
 And one long year I staid there ; 
 
 " Then news came 
 That I might make one leetle visit home. 
 I went, and found — how can I iell it you. 
 Who, breathing always the free, bracing air 
 Of a Republic, cannot understand 
 The small, small turmoils and perpetual strife 
 That aggravate a monarchy ? . 
 
 " I found 
 My precious mother, weary, sick, and sad, 
 And father, burdened with affairs of state, 
 Full of ambitious plans, and most for me. 
 The Bonaparte was moving, and the souls 
 Of all our people had been deeply stirred ; 
 And I — boy as I was — I was betrothed 
 To one whom I had never seen before, 
 A woman thrice my age, and forty times 
 My overmatch in world experience, 
 In deep and cunning craft that moves the world ; 
 My heart turned sick within me, when I looked 
 Upon her dark French face, and saw the lines 
 Of diplomatic strategy and skill. 
 And all the whirlpool of ambition there. 
 
22 THE STORY. 
 
 My father is a ruler. Every word 
 
 He uttered was a law from that hour forth. 
 
 And when I gladly would have pleased myself 
 
 With boyish sports, or nestled down in peace 
 
 Beside my mother, entertaining her 
 
 With stories of my school life, boyish themes, 
 
 Or listening to the legends, quaint and old, 
 
 She knew so well, about the Vikings bold. 
 
 Who sailed the frosty Norland seas about, 
 
 Clad all in seal-skins, then his iron will 
 
 Held me to do his bidding ; and, with him, 
 
 I passed through some strange ceremonial, 
 
 That made me chosen ruler by the laws, 
 
 And made me, too, the promised spouse and lord 
 
 Of that old witch. 
 
 " Then, when they took me back 
 To school again, I — yes — I ran away." 
 " Oh, child ! " I can imagine Grandma's voice, 
 Plaintive and gentle in its chiding tones, 
 *' Oh, child, my boy ! why did you run away ? " 
 Then his eyes brightened, and his breath came qiiick. 
 " It was the sea," he said, " the beautiful sea ; 
 She lures me so I cannot say her nay ; 
 When I was yet a little dimple boy, 
 She used to run far up the shining sand, 
 And kiss my bare brown toes, and draw her hair 
 About my ankles, and slip back again, 
 And toss her white arms up and call to me. 
 And when first time I crept alone, unseen, 
 Into a boat, drawn high upon the sand. 
 The sea laughed out, and sang a song of joy, 
 And came and stirred the boat with gentle hand, 
 And lifted it and let it down again, 
 
THE STORY. ' 
 
 And rocked it lightly, laughing all the time, 
 While I laughed back, in answer. 
 
 "Soon she grew 
 Stronger, and sucked the barque from off the beach, 
 And launched it fairly out among the rocks. 
 Just- then I thought of mother ; 
 
 " Thought if she 
 Should see me there, that she would surely die, 
 And 'twould be I that killed her. 
 
 " So I prayed, 
 * Oh, pretty sea, if you will take me home, 
 And not let mother know what I have done, 
 I'll grow to be a man, and build for you 
 A monstrous ship, ^nd call her only " Thanks," 
 And give her to you for your very own, 
 To be your plaything for a hundred years.^ 
 I thought the sea was angry, for she gave 
 The boat a push among the jagged rocks, 
 And it stuck fast, and threw me on my face, 
 Just as my careless nurse appeared in sight, 
 And would have rushed into the boiling surf, 
 And waded out to me waist-deep, save that 
 A fisher lad, her lover, drew her back. 
 And came for me himself, and took me up 
 In his wet arms, and bore me safely home. 
 And mother knew not, till long afterward, 
 The story of my peril. 
 
 " But I felt 
 That I had made a covenant with the sea. 
 And often walking on the rocky shore 
 I whispered, ' T/ianks,' and often murmured o'er 
 My promise that I never might forget. 
 But as I said before, I ran away. 
 And went to sea, when I was twelve years old. 
 
 23 
 
24 
 
 THE STORY. 
 
 Wrecked on the coast, the Penguin picked us up, 
 And there I found your Thomas. 
 
 We were both 
 Mere truant schoolboys, sadly out of place 
 Before the mast, and both (we liked to think) 
 Made for advancement, and for better things. 
 We clung together as year followed year. 
 And taught each other all each other knew, 
 And often talked of home and mother-love. 
 At last we made a compact, and agreed 
 That he should go to Norway, home with me, 
 And stay a year ; and then that we should both 
 Come to America, and here, perhaps, 
 If we could be contented, on dry land, 
 Make us a home, and settle down and live 
 Together. For I longed to read the laws 
 That gave equality to every man. 
 And let the people choose their rulers just. 
 
 We went to Norway. It was when the death 
 Of that great masterpiece of selfishness, 
 The. Bonaparte, was heralded as news, 
 And told from lip to lip, from land to land. 
 But still our own home troubles had not ceased, 
 And there were rumors of impending wars. 
 Sweden was murmuring like a wind-swept wood, 
 Prussia was shrinking from approaching fate. 
 But dear old Norway held, with swerveless grip 
 Her constitution, and the rights it gave. 
 My precious mother, for whose sake alone 
 I had returned, was lying very ill. 
 They said I could not see her, but she knew, 
 By some quick instinct, that her boy was near, 
 And bade them haste to call me to her side. 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 Long time we talked, she lying in my arms, 
 And blessing me with every feeble breath, 
 And telling me how patient I must be 
 With father, in the future. 
 
 For her sake, 
 I promised not to quarrel with his will ; 
 And lingering on, hour after hour, she seemed 
 To live but in my presence. 
 
 Oft she said, 
 ' I knew God would be kind to me at last, 
 And let me see my darling once again. 
 Before mine eyes were closed forever, or 
 My heart had ceased to beat.' 
 
 And so she lay. 
 And breathed her happy, happy life away. 
 And left me desolate. 
 
 Oh, in that hour 
 How deeply did I pray to follow her, 
 To lie down in a calm and dreamless sleep, 
 Close at her side ; or, if the soul can live 
 After its mortal garb is lain aside, 
 To go with her to our Nirvana blest, 
 And there drink deeply from the fount of peace. 
 
 But there was father, scarcely giving time 
 To decorous burial of his saintly wife, 
 Then hurrying back to business. 
 
 He was glad 
 To have me there just then, to carry out 
 Some plan of his ; and so, when the great bells 
 Were scarce done tolling, they were bade to ring 
 A merry j)eal for my approaching bridal. 
 
 I heard the edict, and I hurried out 
 2 
 
 25v 
 
26 THE STORY. 
 
 From the gray castle walls I so abhorred, 
 And said to Thomas, ' Let us leave to-night ; 
 I cannot bring my conscience to endure 
 This senseless mockery.' 
 
 But Thomas said, 
 ' You promised your dear mother, now in heaven 
 That you would not oppose your father's will.' 
 And while we talked my fatlier came that way, 
 Walking with slow, uncertain, troubled steps. 
 I saw, or thought I saw, on his stern brows 
 The traces of a conflict and a grief 
 Beyond all telling. 
 
 When he spoke, his voice 
 Was low but earnest, and he said to us, 
 * Boys, would you like to go to sea again ? ' 
 I answered, ' If it please you, Sire, I think 
 I'd like to visit foreign countries more. 
 And learn the laws that govern them, before 
 I take my place as guide or ruler here.' 
 Then father's voice dropped lower as he said, 
 ' It shall be so, my boy. I do not wish 
 To be, or e'en to seem, a cruel sire ! 
 If I have erred, it hath been for thy sake, 
 For I have only planned, and hoped, and wrought 
 That every plan and hope might be fulfilled 
 In thy young life. 
 
 My boy, my froward boy, 
 Why canst thou not take up, with hearty will, 
 Tlie office I am ready to resign, 
 And give our people what they now most need, 
 A friendly ruler and a ruling friend.' 
 
 In penitent and sorry zeal, I said, 
 
 *My sire, I will. Henceforth, my only thought 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 Shall be the keeping of our Norland home 
 
 In peace with all the world, and strong and firm 
 
 In her own safety. 
 
 " ' I will study well 
 Her wants and needs, and lay aside all dreams 
 Of selfish happiness, or love, or fame.' 
 And then he spoke again, as though the words 
 Must come, and shamed him with their bitter power. 
 ' Thy bridal ? Shall it be deferred for yet 
 A little while ? Or shall the bells ring on ? ' 
 Then springing up in savage, quick revolt, 
 My soul arose and struck him through my eyes ; 
 And then, at his keen look of proud distress. 
 Sank back abashed, and plead in silent woe. 
 
 And Thomas broke the awkward pause that fell 
 Like heavy cloud atween us. 
 
 ' Honored Sire, 
 You asked us would we like to go to sea ; 
 Have you a plan for us ? ' 
 
 ' We have a plan,' 
 My sire made answer. 'We will tell it you, 
 And if you have aught better to propose. 
 We will consider your proposal then. 
 My plan is, that the appointed bridal-hour 
 Be not deferred. But that the grand old house 
 Of Dauphin Bassompierre thus lend its strength 
 To the young pride of our Fitzeric, now ; 
 And when the rites are o'er, the papers signed, 
 Then if you wish to go abroad again 
 We'll not deter you. 
 
 " ' For a single year 
 You can return to the old boyish life. 
 Still bearing with you, wheresoe'er you go, 
 
28 THE STORY. 
 
 The thought, the purpose you have just expressed, 
 To keep before your muid and in your heart. 
 The good of Norway.' 
 
 " So the bells rang on, 
 And people gathered from the hamlets near, 
 Half sad, half sullen, wholly without hope, 
 And well-nigh ready for revolt or war, 
 But keeping up the mockery of joy, 
 The ghost of revelry." 
 
 Then hot tears came 
 And dripped a quiet shower on Grandma's hands, 
 And the blue eyes burned strangely, and the voice 
 Fell to a hoarse, low whisper, as he said : 
 " And I was married ! 
 
 " Ah, you free-born folk. 
 Who love and hate at will, and choose your friends. 
 And choose your Avork, and set your price for it, 
 And wed because you love, and if the love • 
 Wears out, as all earth's perishable things 
 May do, through time and trouble, then you find 
 In your own lives and laws some mete return 
 For every wrong and sorrow — little you 
 Can know of all the bitterness that lies 
 Beneath the gilded chains, the hopeless forms, 
 And senseless rituals, that go to give 
 Strength to our feudal government. 
 
 " But I 
 Was glad, at any price, to win again 
 My freedom for a year. Thus was I wed ; 
 And then we hurried off, and pleasant days 
 We dallied through upon the deep blue sea. 
 The storms were only pastimes to our ken ; 
 The calms were long delicious hours of rest, 
 For we were free. 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 29 
 
 " At last, when half our year 
 Of holiday had passed, we drifted here ; 
 A new world opened to my wondering eyes. 
 I thought, in Paris, I had grown blase, 
 Boy, as I was, and weary of the world. 
 But like a strange, sweet problem, hard to solve, 
 Yet well worth solving, seemed you Yankee folk. 
 Un-French, un-English — true American — 
 Brave, frugal, self-respectful, fond of home ; 
 And every one, man, matron, maid and youth, 
 Eager to learn. 
 
 " I have been happy here ; 
 So happy, mother, that I quite forget 
 The bitter past. But it will all come back 
 Keener and bitterer, far, than ever, now. 
 For I must go. From day to day there come 
 Letters and messages that bid me haste. 
 Oh, mother !* save me — save me from my fate — 
 You have been kind to me ! O, hide me here, 
 And let me stay with you and little Prue." 
 
 Then Grandma smoothed the tangled, tawny hair, 
 And said — " Be brave, my boy — to you is given 
 A solemn trust which you must ne'er neglect. 
 You are a ruler ! For your Norland home 
 You must give up all petty, selfish plans, 
 And let your people feel that they can trust, 
 And lean upon you. 
 
 " Build yourself a name 
 Worthy all generous and abiding faith. 
 If you have learned aught from our simple waj-s 
 Of ministering justice, heed it well ; 
 And when your father to your care resigns 
 The office he has held, is holding now, 
 
30 
 
 THE STORY. 
 
 Bear ye it nobly for his noble sake. 
 
 And, Eric, more than this : do you forget 
 
 You are a husband ? Wrong as it may be 
 
 To marry without love, the vow once breathed 
 
 Should ne'er be lightly held, or lain aside. 
 
 Go home to Norway. To your mother's home. 
 
 For her sake prove yourself a worthy son, 
 
 A faithful ruler, and a husband true ; 
 
 Remember always that she waits for you, 
 
 Just out of sight, but never far away. 
 
 That, though she may not know what changeful path 
 
 Your weary feet are walking, or what work 
 
 Your hands have chosen, she will always know 
 
 If you have kept your heart pure, and have tried 
 
 To do your duty. 
 
 " Let me thank you now, 
 For all your kindness to my wandering boy, 
 The faithful brother-love that brought you here 
 And made you seem as one of us. 
 
 " You know 
 My blessing will go with you where you go, 
 And I shall aye be glad to hear from you." 
 
 Then there were farewells spoken, sad and low, 
 And eyes unused to tears were strangely dim. 
 And sobs were smothered, and the stranger boy 
 Went out from that bright home as drifts a ship 
 From some safe harbor far upon the sea, 
 To battle with the winds that bear it on 
 And waves that beat against it. 
 
 For a time 
 Letters came often from the truant lads, 
 Telling how Eric reached his Norway home. 
 And there met Thomas ; and how oft they talked 
 
THE STORY. ^i 
 
 Of dear New England, and the loved ones there. 
 Then came the news of trouble in the state, 
 Of revolution threatened, and revolt ; 
 And then the letters stopped. 
 
 Months grew to years, 
 And crept along their uneventful way ; 
 But Grandma was not forced to bear again 
 The ban of silence added to her grief. 
 For oft the name of Thomas found a place 
 In Grandsire's evening prayers ; and sometimes, too, 
 He prayed for blessings on " Our absent ones." 
 And then she thought of Eric, and her lips 
 And heart gave echo to the formal words 
 That seemed to bring God's kindness near to her. 
 
 Three times a twelvemonth ! 
 
 Grandma Avished sometimes 
 She coirld not count the lagging days so well. 
 No word had reached her from her absent boys ; 
 But one fair morning in the early spring 
 A stranger to the gray old farm-house came, 
 Wearing the garb of a seafaring man, 
 A rough frieze jacket, and big, fur-topped boots, 
 That made the children stop him, to inquire — 
 " Have you a brother Eric ? " " Is he well ? " 
 " And will he soon again come home to us ? " 
 The sailor did not heed them. On he strode, 
 Up to the kitchen door, and entered in, 
 And dropped a clumsy bundle on the floor. 
 The burden shook itself and fell apart. 
 And out came, like a chicken from its shell, 
 A live boy baby, with a little head 
 All covered o'er with tangled flaxen hair. 
 Two blue, bright eyes, a ruddy, dimpled face, 
 
32 THE STORY. 
 
 Plump, sturdy limbs, and frock of ragged fur. 
 
 The little fellow laughed and rubbed his eyes, 
 
 Then, seeing the strange faces, pouted out 
 
 A grieved and quivering lip, and 'gan to cry. 
 
 Aunt Prudence took the stranger baby up. 
 
 And kissed his brown, pink face, and smoothed his hair ^ 
 
 And he, well pleased with all her gentle care, 
 
 Nestled his head against her sheltering arm. 
 
 And cooed contentedly, while Grandsire strove 
 
 To learn whence came the stranger, and what meant 
 
 His broken speech, and what the news he bore. 
 
 Two words of English only could he speak, 
 
 " Thomas" and " Baby." But by gestures swift, 
 
 And sounds more eloquent than any words. 
 
 He made them understand that there had been 
 
 A battle on the land, a wreck at sea. 
 
 And from the shattered debris he had caught 
 
 This little waif, and found upon his back 
 
 A package wrapped in parchment, bouijd about, 
 
 And sealed with many seals. 
 
 Upon its face 
 Was written, in a clear, bold EngUsh hand 
 (Though stained and faded by the salt sea waves). 
 The Country, State, and Town, and Grandsire' s name. 
 
 They gave the rugged sailor food and rest. 
 And then he went away, leaving a kiss 
 On the wee baby's either dimpled cheek. 
 With trembling hands, that quite belied the look 
 Of stern, forced calmness, on his eager face, 
 Grandsire made careful haste to cut the cords 
 That bound the curious packet ; and within 
 He found two long, strange letters, written'o'er 
 
THE STORY. 33 
 
 With foreign words, and signed with foreign names, 
 
 But on them both he recognized no more 
 
 Of meaning than was hidden or expressed 
 
 In the plain EngUsh name of " Thomas Pratt." 
 
 Still o'er and o'er he tm-ned the mystic things, 
 
 And pondered long, and yet learned nothing new. 
 
 The baby staid, perforce, and cooed and laughed, 
 And cried plain English • but the few strange words 
 His young lips spoke were only Greek to them. 
 
 When evening came he clasped his dimpled hands, 
 And looking upward to the solemn stars. 
 With eyes as solemn, murmured broken sounds. 
 And 'mong them, oft-repeated, full of grave 
 And reverent meaning, they could understand 
 The one word " Odin." It might mean, perchance, 
 Or "Sire," or "Mama," or his own sweet name; 
 But though he soon was christened " Thomas Pratt," 
 The children always called him Odin. Soon 
 He came to know and answer to this name. 
 At first with wondering looks, and half-abashed ; 
 Then laughing light as seeming to enjoy 
 The half-familiar sound. 
 
 So time passed on. 
 The little stranger throve and grew, and held 
 A warm, bright* corner in that formal home, 
 Where each one loved him. 
 
 When he went to school 
 The stern-faced teacher bade him tell his name. 
 He had been taught, as country children are, 
 The formula of name and age, as part 
 Of that inquisitorial device 
 Yclept the Shorter Catechism. 
 
34 
 
 THE STORY. 
 
 But he 
 Forgot it all in the new strangeness there. 
 And said — *' My name is Odin." 
 
 Down it went 
 Upon the teacher's book — ^just "Odin Pratt," 
 And so from that time forth they never tried 
 To call him aught beside. 
 
 A score of years 
 Went by and Odin found his share of all 
 The ups and downs, and ins and outs of life ; 
 More than a common share, perhaps ; but when 
 They thought he was content to settle down 
 And stay at home in peace and quietness, 
 And study medicine, as he commenced. 
 And gi'ow ambitious, in a way, perchance. 
 And, by and by, do something grand and great, 
 Then he with Helen Winthrop fell in love. 
 For many years the Winthrops and the Pratts 
 Had held a bitter and unreasoning feud ; 
 Commencing first, I think, in that some Pratt 
 Had joined the Baptists, in the early time, 
 When Baptist-whipping was a legal sport. 
 And some old Winthrop being then in power, 
 Had flayed the culprit with unholy zeal. 
 Since then the foolish jealousies of pride 
 Had kept a formal coolness, passing down 
 From sire to son. The women folks had tried 
 To overlook the trouble and be friends. 
 But stern New England men are not to lay 
 The great first principles of strife aside 
 For any woman's effort. So Squire Pratt 
 Held his back stiff, and good Squire Winthrop bowed; 
 And neither spoke, without some grand excuse. 
 Poor Odin must have known this trouble well, 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 But he forgot or quite ignored it all, 
 
 And went his frank, straight-forward, earnest way, 
 
 Until he found himself wronged and abused ; 
 
 Aunt Prudence knows it all. — She soon will tell 
 
 It, like a story, if we wait to hear. 
 
 But be it -how it may, I only know 
 
 Odin left suddenly, and went away. 
 
 He had been gone three months ere we received 
 A single line to tell what way he went. 
 Then came a letter, written on ship-board. 
 And he was bouiid for Norway. 
 
 Three months more 
 And came another letter, plain and brief, 
 Yet thridded with a jubilant undertide, 
 Which one must know our Odin long and well 
 To understand. 
 
 " Call all hands home," it said. 
 " Set all the chimneys roaring with great fires, 
 And I'll be with you ere the midnight bells 
 Ring in the glory of the Christmas morn. 
 And peace and good-will once again are born." 
 The summons crept about from one to one, 
 And each one " Rather guessed it would not pay 
 To go a-'histing round — 'twas always cold 
 
 At Christmas-time ; true, all the crops were in, 
 
 There was not much to do — but then — but then — ^ 
 
 The fact is, reader, we're a homely clan. 
 
 With very little romance in our lives ; 
 
 Silver and golden wedding-days go by, 
 
 And every kind of anniversary ; 
 
 Yet nothing ever served to draw us back 
 
 Together to the old home nest, till this 
 
 Wild bugle-call echoed across the sea, 
 
 35 
 
36 THE STORY. 
 
 And, answering to its summons, — here we are. 
 Though each one " Rather guessed it would not pay 
 To come," yet each one came. 
 
 From the far coast 
 Of Cahfornia Cousin Tom Munroe 
 Has brought a heart as merry as a boy 
 Ten summers old. From Colorado comes 
 Uncle Luke's John, bringing his wife and child. 
 Oliio sends us kindly Uncle Nat, 
 With his two children, Kate, and Cousin Nat, 
 (His wife has long since passed away from earth.) 
 While up from Squam drives jolly Uncle Kit, 
 With sweet Aunt Minnie, and their bright-faced girl, 
 Laurette. They have a son, too, but he went 
 Away out West, more than a year ago. 
 They did expect him home last fall, but, now, 
 They have not told me why he did not come. 
 'Twas Cousin Tom who welcomed Uncle Kit 
 With, " So you thought you'd navigate this way ? 
 Well, get inside and warm your frozen toes ; 
 Deacon Munroe is there, and all the rest ; 
 You'll find them playing euchre or old sledge ; 
 Give them my compliments, and they'll be sure 
 To find a place for you beside the board." 
 Then Uncle Christopher shook his long whip, 
 And tried to give the merry rogue a cut, 
 While dear Aunt Prue with her severest tone 
 Said, " Tom, I am ashamed ! For, I declare, 
 You do worse credit to your bringing up 
 Than any boy I ever took in hand." 
 "Now, Prudence, Prudence," Tom began again, 
 Mimicking Grandmother's reproving tone, 
 " Don't let me hear another word from you ; 
 The Deacon is a relative of mine." 
 
THE STORY. 
 
 And still the guests keep coming — every kith 
 
 And kin has been invited, with their friends, 
 
 And all their friends' friends. But the house is large 
 
 And help is plenty. And Aunt Prudence knows 
 
 Which nook or corner every one can fill. 
 
 Aunt Margaret and her husband came, last night, 
 
 Most unexpectedly from Washington. 
 
 He is a Congressman ; and who could think 
 
 That they would leave the whirl of social life 
 
 At the gay Capital in winter-time. 
 
 To spend the holidays at Ingleside ? 
 
 Grandsire I know is very proud of them — 
 
 " My son, Judge King ; my daughter, Mrs. King." 
 
 How often I have heard him try to hide 
 
 The conscious tone and accent in his voice 
 
 When introducing them. 
 
 But long ago 
 I promised you a story from Aunt Prue. 
 Now listen ; very soon you'll hear her tell, 
 To twice a score of young folks gathered in 
 The sitting-ropin, the story of her boy. 
 
 37 
 
38 AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 
 
 II. 
 AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 
 
 [Odin's Boyhood.] 
 
 Now, children, you know I'm no poet ; 
 
 But sometimes the world seems so fair. 
 My thoughts set themselves, half unconscious, 
 
 To a changeful and rhythmical air. 
 And thus they slip down on the paper, 
 
 A kind of a journal; and so 
 I'll read to you all about Odin, 
 
 Who came to our home long ago. 
 
 One year, when the May flowers were lifting 
 
 Each pink-white, pale face from the sod, 
 And the Bobolinks and Orioles were calling 
 
 " Praise God in the highest, praise God," 
 A shy little flaxen-haired stranger 
 
 Found shelter within our home nest. 
 Like some tiny birdling, storm-beaten, 
 
 Dropped down to a haven of rest. 
 
 We found him a wonderful treasure ; 
 
 He was petted and loved and caressed. 
 And in caring for him in his weakness, 
 
 All the household seemed brightened and blest. 
 He told us no sweet baby story 
 
 Of why he was left so alone, 
 Nor parent nor friend came to claim him, 
 
 So they gave him to me for my own. 
 
AUNT .PRUDENCE'S STORY. 
 
 In joy and gladness year followed year, 
 But a fearful hour for my boy drew near ; 
 The terrible scourge of childhood came 
 With masque of scarlet and breath of flame. 
 It stole the life from his ruddy blood, 
 And filled his heart with a molten flood ; 
 Poured a tide of fire through each knotted vein, 
 And touched with fever his burning brain. 
 
 Down, down to the brink of the river of death, 
 
 With weakened pulses and bated breath, 
 
 Where wild delirium painted still 
 
 His horrible phantoms with fearful skill. 
 
 Till, the bounds of consciousness reached and passtid, 
 
 My boy was afloat 'mong the shades, at last. 
 
 He heard us mourning beside his bed, 
 Yet he could not tell us he was not dead ; 
 His hands lay folded, his eyes were sealed, 
 No tell-tale heart-throb his life revealed. 
 We bore him away to the churchyard green ; 
 You cannot believe it, 'tis like a dream. 
 We paused in silence beside his bier ; 
 He has told me since he could plainly hear 
 The words of the Pastor, low and clear. 
 Telling the mourners in God to trust. 
 And murmuring solemnly, " Dust to dust." 
 
 Poor Odin, still tranced in that breathless sleep, 
 
 Felt his strength fail slowly, and still and deep 
 
 Despair was settling upon his soul. 
 
 But the sexton was feeble and very old ; 
 
 He had loved the boy with the winsome face, 
 
 Who lay in that narrow resting-place. 
 
 39 
 
40 AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 
 
 And the hot tears came to his dim gray eye, 
 As over and over he wondered why 
 The old hve on, and the young must die ! 
 
 He could not fasten the coffin lid, 
 
 The tools he was holding slipped and slid — 
 
 A sudden crash, and a crimson streak 
 
 Stained brow and temple and pallid cheek. 
 
 Two eyes flashed open, the pale lips stirred. 
 
 And the frightened sexton with terror heard 
 
 A moan of pain ; — then — I cannot tell 
 
 How the next hour passed, but the fearful spell 
 
 Was broken at last, and at close of day, 
 
 Weak, but conscious, our darhng lay, 
 
 Not in the night of the noisome tomb, 
 
 But hushed to sleep in the twilight gloom 
 
 Of his own dear dream-haunted, pleasant room. 
 
 Up from his couch, as by magical power, 
 Odin grew stronger Avith each passing hour ; 
 Out in the world with its busy train 
 Sooi'ijhe was taking his place again. 
 What'could be freer from cares and fears, 
 Than life for him with his twice seven years ? 
 
 Fourteen ! Oh venturesome, heyday hour 
 
 Of youth, scarce conscious of manhood's power, 
 
 Yet turning with smile of ineffable scorn 
 
 From the toys and treasures of childhood's morn. 
 
 Fourteen — and the world had "a charming look. 
 More tempting by far than his dull school-book. 
 I saw how impatient and restless he grew 
 As health and vigor came back j but I knew 
 
AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. ^j 
 
 He never would leave us to run away, 
 So I watched him anxiously day by day. 
 
 Day by day, as the weeks crept on, 
 
 Month by month, till three years had gone ; 
 
 Then Father came home from the seaport town, 
 
 That lay below us all gray and brown, 
 
 And said (and I fancied his face looked pale), 
 
 " In four days more will the Kepler sail." 
 
 I never knew by v/hat trick or plan 
 
 He gained the consent of that grave, stern man ; 
 
 But soon our Odin, still strong and free 
 
 At heart, found the place where he longed to be, 
 
 A sailor, afloat on the broad, blue sea. 
 
 He stood on the deck of the outward-bound, 
 The winds and waters sang paeans around, 
 The shore receded ; and if some tears 
 Dimmed his loving eyes, and some homesick fears 
 Lay deep in his heart, as he thought with pain 
 Of the friends he never might see again ; 
 Yet he would not turn from his chosen way ; 
 He was too earnest to pause or stay. 
 
 He learned to cling to the giddy shroud 
 When the winds were piping fierce and loud, 
 And he never shrank from the swaying mast 
 When the blinding sleet was driving fast 
 O'er the slippery deck, and the Captain's voice 
 Rose high and hoarse 'bove the tempest's noise. 
 ****** 
 
42 
 
 AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 
 
 Then dawned the glory of tropical skies ; 
 
 He saw from the waters the Southern Cross rise. 
 
 Green grew the shores of that fair foreign land, 
 Bright in the sunshine was gleaming the sand. 
 
 Strange, dusky forms flitted forward and fro, 
 Friendliest greeting they came to bestow. 
 
 Rarest-hued blossoms and rich-fruited trees 
 Shook down their tribute with each passing breeze. 
 
 Oh 'twas a blessing no landsman can ken, 
 Just to enjoy terra-firma again. 
 
 Lying all night 'mong the shadowy vines, 
 Sipping the fruit-juices sweeter than wines. 
 
 Roaming abroad, ere the fierce god of day 
 Burned the faint breath of the spices away. 
 
 Fearless of danger his path often turned 
 Through jungle grasses where tiger eyes burned. 
 
 And without dreaming of caution or fear, 
 One day he passed a fierce tigress so near. 
 
 Almost her breath scorched his feet as he trod. 
 Marking her footprints along the fresh sod. 
 
 But gorged with the blood of a wild goat, she lay 
 Too lazy to lift her huge paw for more prey. 
 
AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 43 
 
 Time came at last when Odin knew 
 That deep withhi his nature grew 
 
 One wish that would not die. 
 He longed to see his home once more, 
 To tread the old, familiar shore, 
 To clasp the hands he clasped of yore, 
 ■ And meet some loving eye. 
 
 For he had garnered golden store, 
 With all the simple savage lore 
 
 Which that free life couid teach ; 
 Had launched with them the frail canoe. 
 Had gathered gems of rarest hue, 
 
 And learned their curious speech. 
 
 Until that very freedom came 
 
 To haunt him like a spectre flame 
 
 That burns without consuming. 
 And so he bade them all farewell, 
 Each balmy breeze and palmy dell, 
 To seek again the chilling night, 
 Where northern stars were burning bright, 
 
 And northern frost-flowers blooming. 
 
 He trod again the vessel's deck, 
 He saw his island home, a speck. 
 
 Fade in the distance dim. 
 The world of waters widened round. 
 Far to the dark horizon's bound. 
 The mermaid sang with lulling sound, 
 
 And brought new hfe to him. 
 
 But oh ! what pen has power to trace 
 Each varying phase of nature's face, 
 
^4 
 
 AUNT PRUDENCES STORY. 
 
 Upon the wide, wide sea. 
 The listless calm day after day ; 
 The burning sunbeams as they lay, 
 Like fiery arrows falling fine 
 Above the strange equator line ; 
 The round red sun, with bronze-dark face, 
 Slow rolling through its breathless space ; 
 The wondrous phosphorescent light 
 That turns the sea to fire at night ; 
 The long, deep, undulating swell ; 
 The rising breeze, that comes to tell 
 The calm is over ; and the gray 
 Horizon, stretching far away, 
 Where, like a boat at anchor, lay 
 A small dark cloud with edge of snow. 
 Ah ! looking on it who could know 
 That, lurking in that filmy cloud, 
 A demon strove to weave a shroud 
 For Odin in the sea. 
 
 The voyage was almost o'er at last ; 
 It seemed the dangers all were passed ; 
 They saw beneath the sunset skies 
 The distant shores of home arise. 
 And said, " If but the morn is bright 
 " We'll anchor ere to-morrow night." 
 But soon the winds howled like a pack 
 Of hungry hounds, let loose to track 
 Some flying fugitive \ and high 
 The fierce waves rose against the sky ; 
 And on the good ship hurried fast, 
 A helpless thing before the blast. 
 And labored on the laboring sea, 
 Like chained inonster, to be free. 
 
AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 45 
 
 The reef-points rattled on the sail, 
 That shivered in the fearful gale. 
 The sailors heard the water-sprite, 
 Muttering of wreck, the live-long night, 
 And caught above the tempest's roar, 
 The sound of breakers on the shore. 
 Near, nearer, came that fearful sound, 
 High, higher, rose the waves around, 
 Keen, keener, cut the driving sleet, 
 Swift, swifter yet, and yet more fleet. 
 With helm, and sail, and rudder gone, 
 The good ship Kepler hurried on ; 
 Until, with one terrific shock. 
 She struck upon a sunken rock. 
 
 Over the deck the great waves rolled, 
 And every shrieking timber told 
 Its story of defiance bold. 
 But mate and captain lay, 
 Stricken as by a single blow. 
 Senseless and breathless, lying low ; 
 The sailors bore them down below, 
 And helpless turned away. 
 
 Then Odin raised his boyish face, 
 
 Where not the keenest eye could trace 
 
 One line of doubt or fear. 
 
 He knew how slight their chance must be 
 
 For safety on that boiling sea. 
 
 And yet he manned the minute-gun, 
 
 Calmly, as though the setting sun 
 
 Shone over waters clear. 
 
 Perhaps his young heart faltered, when 
 
 He saw those sun-browned, stern-browed men, 
 
4.6 AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 
 
 Look with despair athwart the skies, 
 And then into each other's eyes, 
 With silent, long farewell. 
 But aye, his steady eye and lip 
 Said still, " We wont give up the ship." 
 And so, until the early dawn, 
 Those signals of distress boomed on, 
 Like some grand funeral knell. 
 
 "No answer came. But when at length 
 The storm had spent its furious strength, 
 And morning looked with timid eye 
 And rosy cheek across the sky. 
 Out from the rocky line of shore, 
 A score of wretched wreckers bore, 
 With voices toned like beasts of prey, 
 And eyes like starving wolves at bay. 
 
 They thought to find no sign of life, 
 
 After that elemental strife. 
 
 But Odin took them all aboard, 
 
 A sin-benighted, hungry horde ; 
 
 He lightened half the cargo's weight. 
 
 And when, released from burdening freight, 
 
 The good ship rose and floated, then 
 
 He set the pumps at work again. 
 
 And like a weary, wounded swan, 
 
 With wings a-droop and beauty gone. 
 
 They kept her on her perilous way. 
 
 Slow and more slowly, up the bay. 
 
 On through the seething Gates of Hell, 
 
 Where baffled demons seemed to yell ; 
 
AUNT PR,UDENCE'S STORY. 47 
 
 Around the light-house tower, 
 Across the uneasy harbor bar, 
 Till 'neath the placid evening star 
 They anchored safe, with liome in sight ; 
 And Odin's heart again grew light, 
 
 With the conqueror's conscious power. 
 They bore the captain safe to land. 
 And with firm clasp on Odin's hand, 
 
 He said, " I owe to you 
 The life which has come back again 
 Through terrible ordeal of pain ; 
 And as God hears me, I will keep, 
 For your sake, till in death I sleep, 
 
 One bond of friendship true." 
 How glad he was to leave again 
 His life upon the stormy main. 
 And with what joyous feet he trod 
 Again New England's soil and sod. 
 
 He marked the cit/s growth and change, 
 And the country looking cold and strange. 
 Following the tropic's regal sheen 
 And rich luxuriance of green. 
 
 But nothing charmed him like the snow. 
 So pure and cold, its wondrous glow 
 Allured him from the fireside warm, 
 To search amid the driving storm 
 For fancied pleasures, till he found 
 The far-off mountains closing round ; 
 With all their wild, mysterious gloom. 
 They might have been a marble tomb. 
 
 
48 • AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY, 
 
 He walked until the day grew dim, 
 And all the world was lost to him. 
 A faint, delicious languor crept 
 Across his brain. Almost he slept. 
 Almost his breathing seemed to cease ; 
 He fell upon the mountain's fleece, 
 Its cool touch woke him ; up he sprang, 
 And quick and sharp hisjrifle rang, 
 Waking the echoes far and clear, 
 To mock him as with answering cheer. 
 
 Again ! again ! and yet again ! 
 And peak and point and distant plain 
 Seemed filled with echoing battle strife, 
 And yet all sound or sign of life 
 In that white wilderness was gone ! 
 He fell, and rose, and staggered on, 
 And fell again, at last, so low. 
 Beside the cliff, that all the snow, 
 O'erhanging, heavier than a cloud, 
 Fell too, and wrapped him like a shroiu^. 
 "And did he die that fearful night, 
 In spotless panoply of white ? " 
 Not he ! But if by searching hound 
 Or passing traveller he was found. 
 He knew not, till the morning broke. 
 And he from strangest dreaming woke, 
 To find a camp-fire burning near, 
 And loggers at their simple cheer. 
 
 When he came home, each thrilling nerve 
 And aching limb I thought would serve 
 To keep him with us many a day, 
 But business called him next away, 
 
AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 49 
 
 Far to the bright Pacific's shore, 
 With all its wealth of golden ore. 
 
 ****** 
 
 Then his life grew the life of a pilgrim, 
 And change followed change very fast ; 
 His letters were full of adventure, 
 Each seeming more strange than the last. 
 
 Sometimes he was up on the mountains, 
 Alone with his half-tamed mustang ; 
 Then down in the warm, pleasant valleys, 
 That brighten that wide Western land. 
 
 And once he was lost on the desert. 
 Beyond e'en the cactus flowers bright, 
 Where no grateful shade intercepted 
 The sun, with its terrible light. 
 
 His horse had grown restless and lagging, 
 He heard the loose click of a shoe. 
 And so to remove it, dismounting. 
 The bridle his fingers slipped through. 
 
 And with one vicious snort, full of freedom, 
 The treacherous beast sped away. 
 While seven shining hours burned and brightened 
 Before the cool close of the day. 
 
 On he walked in the gleam and the glitter, 
 The sand yielded under his feet ; 
 His brain seemed on fire, and his eyeballs 
 And throat were parched dry by the heat. 
 3 
 
so 
 
 AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY, 
 
 And still he toiled on, ever hoping 
 Some shelter or shade he might find, 
 And his horse still eluded his grasping. 
 And mockingly left him behind. 
 
 But at last, over-wearied and fainting, 
 He fell with his face to the sun ; 
 He thought his good angel had left hira. 
 That his life and its labor were done. 
 
 And while he lay there on the desert, 
 With reason and consciousness fled, 
 Some friend, far away in the Bay State, 
 Said suddenly, " Odin is dead." 
 
 In the borderland, dreamless and silent. 
 He wandered unconsciously, then, 
 But he was so strong that his spirit 
 Struggled back to his form once again. 
 
 And again his strange life of adventure 
 Flowed on, with its varying tide, 
 'Till it drifted him back to find anchor, 
 Once more, safe and fond, at my side. 
 
 So having lived through flood and frost. 
 Sun-burned, snow-chilled, and tempest tost, 
 
 Through suffering and pain, 
 I thought he would be satisfied 
 To linger here at Ingleside, 
 
 Nor wish to roam again. 
 
 But oh, in one fair mystic hour 
 
 His heart thrilled with the unconscious power, 
 
AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 
 
 All other powers above. 
 The blind, blind god an arrow sent, 
 With most perverse and dire ifitent. 
 
 And Odin fell in love. 
 
 He chose from out the world's gay throng 
 One star, whose radiance, pure and strong. 
 
 Should gild life's darkest places ; 
 One flower more sweet than others are, 
 And one face brighter than a star, 
 
 Fairer than other faces. 
 
 He chose her for her gentle pride, 
 Her life's sweet, swerveless undertide 
 
 Of purity and power ; 
 To guide him on forevermore. 
 From stormy sea to sunny shore, 
 
 Through every changeful hour. 
 
 And she ? the wild ecstatic bliss • 
 Of her first lover's first fond kiss 
 
 Fell on her like a charm ; 
 It came, her waiting lips to greet, 
 Blessing and benediction sweet. 
 
 The echo of a psalm. 
 
 It told of cares and troubles o'er. 
 Peace for the present — hope in store, 
 
 A future long and bright. 
 It hinted, happiest dream on earth. 
 Of home and children at the hearth. 
 
 Light leading unto light. 
 
 if 
 
52 
 
 AUNT PRUDENCE'S STORY. 
 
 ■ And yet she strove with fluttering sigh 
 To put the proffered treasure by, 
 
 He was so gay and young, 
 The very love he thought a boon 
 To-day, might prove a trouble soon ; 
 
 But closer kisses clung 
 
 About her brow, and lip, and cheek ; 
 He smiled the faith he would not speak, 
 
 And blessed her o'er and o'er. 
 The only truth their love could teach 
 Was this : that each belonged to each, 
 
 Forever, evermore. 
 
 Alas ! that those young hearts must find, 
 The bitter core beneath the rind 
 
 That seemed so fair to view. 
 Alas ! that pride of wealth or birth 
 Should crush the brightest hopes of earth, 
 
 And make the truth less true. 
 
 ****** 
 Aunt Prudence paused, the radiant happy light 
 Was fading from her brown eyes, soft and bright, 
 When meriy cousin Tom spoke next, as if 
 To exorcise the faintest hint or shade 
 Of sadness from our minds : 
 
 ''We all have heard, 
 That in some foreign country there are mines 
 Of salt, hid in great caverns underground. 
 And there the most unsightly stick or stone, 
 Or bit of jet-black coal or chalk-white bone, 
 Takes on itself a wondrous fairy dress 
 Of pure, clear crystals, beautified by salt. 
 Now, everybody knows that our Aunt Prue 
 
A UNT PR UDENCE' S STOR V. 
 
 Is nothing else but salt, all the way through. 
 
 Her heart, a cavern where she keeps her friends, 
 
 And*by some mystic process all her own. 
 
 She crystallizes them, and beautifies 
 
 And so adorns them, that they would not know 
 
 Themselves ; to make no mention of the chance 
 
 Of being recognized by friend Or foe. 
 
 So with all grateful and most praiseful thanks, 
 
 For all the sweet and rhythmical device. 
 
 By which her pen and voice have charmed us here, 
 
 The last half-hour (and happier time ne'er sped), 
 
 Suppose we coa^ and flatter cousin Luke 
 
 To tell us all how Odin fell in love, 
 
 And how his suit was prospered," 
 
 With one voice 
 Grandsire and Grandma, yes, and all the rest, 
 Laughed pleasantly at this ingenious mode 
 Of coaxing on the story-telling treat ; 
 But after some discussion, pro and con. 
 Some faint demur, some talk of substitute. 
 Then, cousin Luke took up the broken thread 
 Of rhyming talk, a little awkwardly. 
 Perhaps, at first, but full of earnest zeal, 
 Of family preference and family spite, 
 And; always, love for Odin. 
 
 53 
 
^4 COUSIN LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 III. 
 COUSIN LUKE'S STORY. 
 [Odin's Love Experience.] 
 
 Our Odin was a handsome lad, 
 
 With eyes of deepest bkie, 
 And soft bright hair, hke curls of flax, 
 
 And sunlight shining through ; 
 The dimples in his cheek and chin 
 
 Gave him a baby air, 
 But by the firm grip of his hand, 
 
 One knew him strong, as fair. 
 
 Judge Wiiithrop is a pompoiis man, 
 
 Whose hair and eyes and skin 
 Are all one silky mousey gray ; 
 
 Deceitful, too, as sin. 
 He has one daughter, Helen, 
 
 As proud as Lucifer ; 
 I can't see where Aunt Prudence, here, 
 
 Finds so much good in her. 
 
 I wish, for my part, she had been 
 
 In Tophet, ere she set 
 Her wicked wits at work to catch 
 
 Our Odin in her net. 
 You needn't shake your head at me, 
 
 Aunt Prudence, for you know 
 She planned the whole thing out, for weeks. 
 
 But there ! We'll let that go. 
 
COUSIN LUKE'S STORY, ■ 55 
 
 She always rode the wildest colt 
 
 Upon her father's place. 
 One morning she was cantering ofl^ 
 
 At her usual break-neck pace, 
 When a dusky gypsy baby 
 
 Lay before her in the road, 
 And just as she drew near to it; 
 
 The baby kicked, and crowed^ 
 
 The horse, a vicious beast at best. 
 
 Reared high with sudden fright, 
 But Helen kept her seat, and would 
 
 Have brought him down all right. 
 Save that the treacherous bridle-rein 
 
 Snapped, like a slender thread ; 
 The bit was loosed ; and so, of course, 
 
 The beastie had his head. 
 
 Just then a strong young arm reached, out, 
 
 All muscle, nerve, and brawn, 
 And Helen from her dangerous place 
 
 As quick as light was drawn ; 
 While on his haunches crouched that horse 
 
 In sudden quietness. 
 Odin was giant-like in strength. 
 
 Child-like in gentleness. 
 
 He took the trembling figure in 
 
 His arms, and laid her there 
 With apple-blooms a-falling thick 
 
 As snow-flakes on her hair, 
 And when her two eyes opened, and 
 
 With tears of pain brimmed o'er, 
 The boy blushed— he had never been 
 
 So near a girl before. 
 
56 COUSIN LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 He had to lift her up again, 
 
 And bring her to Aunt Prue ; 
 Of course she took and cuddled her, 
 
 And knew just what to do ; 
 Then Odin went and caught that colt. 
 
 And rode him up the lane, 
 And told the Judge's stableman 
 
 About the broken rein. 
 
 They sent a carriage down for her, 
 
 She smiled, and rode away ; 
 But she had stolen Odin's heart. 
 
 That sunny summer day. 
 Aye, stolen ! and I've cursed her 
 
 'Till I could not breathe, for hate. 
 To think she dared to make herself 
 
 An instrument of fate, 
 
 And drive our boy away from home— 
 
 Oh, yes ! I know. Aunt Prue, 
 She called him her preserver, and 
 
 The Judge, he thought so too ; 
 So he wrote a pompous letter, full 
 
 Of thanks, and words of praise, 
 And wished the young man all success 
 
 And length of future days. 
 
 " But he did not like to feel himself 
 Indebted to a Pratt, 
 So if he'd accept a present — 
 They'd call it square on that." 
 
COUSIN LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 He wasn't like the other Pratts — 
 Our Odin — or there'd been 
 
 A wider breach than ever 
 Between the famiUes, then. 
 
 He threw the letter in the fire, 
 
 And laughed, and called it fudge, 
 And said "he'd really like to take 
 
 A gift from that old Judge." 
 Then he met Helen every night, 
 
 And rode with her, and walked, 
 And told her all his plans for life, 
 
 And hoped, and dreamed, and talked. 
 
 Why ! he had always been so shy, 
 
 It didn't once occur 
 To us that he could fall in love. 
 
 And least of all with her. 
 But she was born for flirting 
 
 As a fish is made to swim, 
 And Odin, quite too earnest, 
 
 To suspect a snare for him. 
 
 Called on that blamed old demagogue. 
 
 And in his own frank way 
 Told him he loved his daughter 
 
 Far more than words could say ; 
 And asked his blessing and consent 
 
 That she should be his wife. 
 When he had won a home for her, 
 
 And was ready to start in life. 
 3* 
 
 57 
 
58 COUSIN LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 The ol(i Judge didn't hear him out j 
 
 He raved and swore like mad, 
 Enough to frighten anything, 
 
 But a brave, true-hearted lad. 
 Said he, " Do you think my daughter 
 
 Was born a natural fool, 
 That she should wait for any boy 
 
 To starve his way through school ? 
 
 '' And you ? Who are you, beggar ? 
 
 Who knows your name is Pratt ? 
 What saves you from the alms-house fate 
 
 Of any pauper brat ? 
 Where were you born — if born at all ? 
 
 What was your mother's name ? 
 What word or line have you to save 
 
 Her memory from shame ? " 
 
 Then all the slow, cool blood rushed up 
 
 Through Odin's veins, like fire, 
 And burned his cheek, and lit his eye 
 
 With fierce and sudden ire. 
 His clear-toned voice rang strangely out 
 
 With a burst of foreign speech, 
 His two hands seemed to clench themselves 
 
 For something out of reach, 
 
 And fell so near the Judge's head, 
 
 It made him shrink away, 
 As though from some young lion who 
 
 Would claim him for its prey. 
 
 4s ^ « « 4c 4 
 
COUSIN LUKE'S STORY. 59 
 
 " I never really knew what happened next," 
 Said cousin Luke, " but Grandma knows it all." 
 "Yes, children," Grandma's voice crept softly in, 
 " Odin came home, looking as he had seen 
 A dozen ghosts, or something stranger still ; 
 And leaning his bright head on his two hands. 
 Asked, ' Grandma, who am I ? oh, tell me, now, 
 Or, I am certain, I shall die, shall die^ 
 I told him — what you all have heard before — 
 About his" coming to us, and I said, 
 ' I have no doubt that Thomas and his wife 
 Were on that vessel, coming home to us. 
 But those strange countries always are at war, 
 And they were lost, and only you were left.' 
 Then father took from some place in his desk 
 The two old letters that for twenty years 
 Had lain there, catching dust and fading- out ; 
 And Odin glanced them o'er with wistful eyes, 
 Then folded them, and said, ' Give them to me , 
 They are the book of fate, and I must read.' 
 Next morn he went away — to Boston first, 
 And then to Washington, and after that 
 (His letter said) to Norway. So we wait. 
 And 'tis my daily hope and nightly prayer 
 That he will yet come home with tidings true 
 About my boy, my Thomas. 
 
 " None can know. 
 Save those whose hearts have ached from such a cause, 
 How terrible is waiting and suspense." 
 
 A silence fell upon the gathered group. 
 Then dear Aunt Margaret raised her voice a bit, 
 Just making it scarce louder, but more clear, 
 And said, " Do you remember, Father, when, 
 
6o COUSIN LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 One winter, we were living in New York, 
 
 And j'ou and mother came to visit us ? " 
 
 " Why, surely, child, I never shall forget," 
 
 Said Grandsire, glowing with grave interest ; 
 
 " My friend, the General, lived on the next block. 
 
 His daughter Anna since has made a book — 
 
 * Hand-book of English Literature,' I think 
 
 They call it — and it brings its winsome share 
 
 Of fame to the young writer. It was there 
 
 I saw the Quaker poet, Whittier ; 
 
 He came with his friend Channing, for a day. 
 
 And, though I must have been threescore years old, 
 
 And nearly tWoscore a professor strict, 
 
 I never seemed to know or think before 
 
 About the Love of God. The kindly care 
 
 Which the All Father never ceasing keeps. 
 
 Through all His means, and over all His works, 
 
 It was a blessed thing to hear those men, 
 
 Cultured and kindly, talk of the divine 
 
 And universal love that rules the world. 
 
 There, too, came Lucy Hooper, Henry Clay, 
 
 And Frederika Bremer, noble souls. 
 
 Each trained in different schools of worldly life. 
 
 But every one complete in their own way. 
 
 How few of them are living now," he said, 
 
 And breathed a sigh ; then presently resumed : 
 
 " The General was a strong and steadfast man, 
 
 He swore by Chalmers with such earnest faith, 
 
 As I by Calvin ; but, I think we both 
 
 Grew liberal while listening to the words 
 
 Of gentle Channing." 
 
 Grandsire paused and mused ; 
 And Uncle 'Liab was the first to break 
 The silent charm. 
 
COUSIN LUKE'S STORY. 6 1 
 
 " Father ! you never knew 
 Hoiv near your wakened love for Channing came 
 To making trouble in the family ? " 
 " To making trouble ! How ? " and Grandsire's face 
 Put on a look of wonder, queer to see. 
 " Well ! you and mother know that Parson Flint 
 Had always some strange tenets in his creed, 
 About fore-ordination, and the like ; 
 Something of close communion, too ; but that 
 I never cared so much about. At first 
 I did not know that Betsey meant to keep 
 Those most objectionable forms of faith ; 
 And when I found she did, I used to sneer, 
 Sometimes, about them ; and it angered her. 
 And so we went from bad to something worse, 
 'Till, finally, the Unitarians 
 Started their meetings in the old Town Hall. 
 Channing was coming there to preach for them ! 
 And then I spoke of going. Well ; it seemed 
 As though the vials of eternal wrath 
 Were being poured through Betsey's tongue on me ; 
 'Twas only scold, scold, scold, from morn 'till night , 
 Nothing I did was right or could be right. 
 But, spite of all she said, and I said too. 
 Spite of her scolding, and me answering back. 
 When that bright, sunny Sunday morning came 
 I walked with Betsey to the Baptist church, 
 And left her there, and went with surly steps 
 Across the common, to the old Town Hall, 
 And took a seat, and listened. 
 
 In the desk 
 There stood a pale-browed, quiet, delicate man. 
 With, even then, a slight, sharp, hacking cough ; 
 But oh, his eyes were brighter than two stars ; 
 
62 COUSIN LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 And the deep, thrilling sweetness of his voice, 
 Possessed me like the haunting of a dream, 
 For many days. 
 
 Then how I tried to talk 
 With Betsey, of the beautiful new truths 
 That seemed to be just dawning on my soul. 
 But 'twas no use ; she only scolded more ; 
 And I more angry and impatient grew. 
 She twitted me of every scaly thing 
 I ever said or done. While I, you know, 
 Was never very ready wath my tongue ; 
 But that was no excuse for us at all. 
 At last, I swore, by all most sacred things, 
 I wouldn't bear with her another day. 
 I'd go and find a lawyer, and we'd have 
 The farm divided, and I'd go away." 
 " Oh, child ! my boy ! " here Grandma's voice broke in, 
 " You ■v\Tonged yourself in thinking to obtain 
 Comfort or peace from human justice then; 
 You should have gone straight to the throne of grace." 
 " Mother," said Uncle 'Liab, with a smile. 
 "The throne of grace seemed too far off iust then, 
 And human justice was a very near 
 And very spiteful thing ; easy to reach. 
 At any rate I carried out my threat — 
 I went to see a lawyer, and says I— 
 
UNCLE 'LIAB'S STORY. 63 
 
 IV. 
 
 ■ ~ UNCLE 'LIAB'S STORY. 
 [Betsey and I are Out.] 
 
 Draw up the papers, lawyer, 
 
 And make 'em good and stout, 
 For things at home are crosswise. 
 
 And wife and I are out. 
 You ask me "What's the matter?" 
 
 I vow it's hard to tell ; 
 Our married life for so far 
 
 Has passed by tol'rable well ; 
 
 I have no othep woman, 
 
 She has no other man, 
 Only we've lived together 
 
 As long as we think we can. 
 So I have talked with Betsey, 
 
 And Betsey has talked with me, 
 And we have agreed together 
 
 That we can't never agree. 
 
 Not that Ave've catched each other 
 
 In any terrible crime, 
 But trouble has been a breAvin' 
 
 Between us for quite a time. 
 The first thing very essential 
 
 Whereon we disagreed, 
 Was something concernin' Heaven — 
 
 A difference in our creed. 
 
64 UNCLE 'LIAB'S STORY. 
 
 We argued the thing at breakfast, 
 
 We argued the thing at tea, 
 And the more we argued the question 
 
 The more we didn't agree ; 
 And the next that I remember 
 
 Was, when we lost a cow — 
 The critter had kicked the bucke*, 
 
 The question was only how. 
 
 I held my own opinion. 
 
 And Betsey another had, 
 And as we talked about it 
 
 We both of us grew mad. 
 And the next was when I called hei 
 
 A Pusseyite, half for a joke, 
 And full for a week thereafter 
 
 No word to me she spoke. 
 
 And then I scolded sharply 
 
 When she broke a china bowl ; 
 And she said I was mean and stingy, 
 
 And hadn't any soul ; 
 And so that bowl kep' pourin' 
 
 Dissensions in our cup, 
 And so that blamed cow critter 
 
 Was always a-comin' up. 
 
 And so the Heaven we argued 
 
 No nearer to us came, 
 But it gave us a taste of something 
 
 With a hotter-sounding name. 
 And so the trouble gathered 
 
 All in the self-same way — 
 Always something to argue, 
 
 And something sharp to say. 
 
UNCLE 'LIAB'S STORY. 65 
 
 'Till down on us come the neighbors, 
 
 A couple o' dozen 'Strong, 
 And lent their kindesi sarvice, 
 
 To help the thing along ; 
 And there have been days together, 
 
 And many a weary week, 
 We were both of us proud and spunky, 
 
 And both too cross to speak. 
 
 And I have been thinkin' and thinkin', 
 
 For the whole of the summer and fall, 
 If I can't live kind with a woman, 
 
 I wont live with her at all. 
 So what is hers shall be hers, 
 
 And what is mine be mine ; 
 You just make out the agreement 
 
 And I'll take it to her to sign. 
 
 Now, then ! Put down on the paper, 
 
 The very first paragraph, 
 That of all the farm and live stock, 
 
 Betsey shall have her half; 
 For she has helped to earn it. 
 
 Through many a weary day. 
 And it's nothing more than justice 
 
 She has her honest pay. 
 
 Give her the house and homestead ; 
 
 A man can thrive and roam, 
 But women are skeery critters 
 
 Unless they have a home. 
 And I have always determined. 
 
 And never failed to say, 
 That Betsey should have a home of 'ler own 
 
 If I was tiken away. 
 
66 UNCLE 'LIAB'S STORY. 
 
 Then there's a little hard money 
 
 Laid by for a rainy day ; 
 Just a few hundred dollars, 
 
 That's drawing tol'rable pay, 
 Safe in the hands of good men, 
 
 And easy to come at ; 
 Put in another clause there, 
 
 And give her half of that. 
 
 Yes, I see you smile, sir. 
 
 At iny giving her so much ; 
 You say divorce is cheap, sir, 
 
 But I take no stock in such j 
 True and fair I married her, 
 
 When she was blithe and gay, 
 And she sha'n't have cause to blame me, 
 
 Now I am going away. 
 
 Once, when I was young as you, 
 
 And not so smart, perhaps, 
 For me she mittened a lawyer, 
 
 And several other chaps ; 
 And all of them was flustered 
 
 And mightily taken down. 
 And I for a time was counted 
 
 The luckiest man in town. 
 
 And after we were married. 
 
 Oh, she was happy and strong j 
 It made my heart feel lighter 
 
 To hear her merry song. 
 She nursed me through a fever 
 
 When the doctors said I'd die ; 
 I or seven nights hand-running 
 
 She never shut her eye. 
 
UNCLE 'LIAB'S STORY. 
 
 And if ever a house was tidy, 
 
 And ever a kitclien clean, 
 Her house and kitchen were tidy 
 
 As any I've ever seen. 
 So I don't complain of Betsey 
 
 For anything she's done, 
 It's only for the thorning 
 
 Of her everlasting tongue. 
 
 And I don't blame it all on Betsey, 
 
 I'm willin' to take my share. 
 Only her constant scolding 
 
 Is more than I can bear. 
 60 make out the papers, lawyer, 
 
 And I'll go home to-night 
 And read the agreement to her, 
 
 And see if it's all right. 
 
 And then I'll sell in the morning 
 
 To a trading man I know. 
 And I'll kiss our little Bessie 
 
 And out in the world I'll go. 
 You see that's one great reason 
 
 I couldn't divorce my wife, 
 'Twould be a disgrace to Bessie 
 
 For all the rest of her life. 
 
 And one thing put in the paper. 
 
 That first to me didn't occur — ■ 
 That, when I die, I want some one 
 
 To take me back to her, 
 And lay me under the maples 
 
 I planted so long ago, 
 Wlien Betsey and I was happy, 
 
 Before we quarrelled so. 
 
 67 
 
68 UNCLE 'LIAB'S STORY. 
 
 And when she dies, it's my wish 
 
 That she should be lain by me ; 
 And, lying together in silence, 
 
 Perhaps we'll learn to agree : 
 And when we meet in Heaven, 
 
 I wouldn't think it queer 
 If we loved each other better 
 For having quarrelled here. 
 * * * * * % 
 
 '" That was a strange idea of yours, I think," 
 Said Grandsire, gravely ; " Failing to agree 
 On earth could scarcely be supposed to be 
 A passport for much harmony in Heaven," 
 "And, too," said cousin John, respectfully, 
 "Begging your pardon, sir, for what may seem 
 Presumption on my part, I think divorce 
 Should never be considered a disgrace ; 
 It only means : We two thought we could live 
 In peace and harmony for all our lives ; 
 We tried and failed ; we therefore wish henceforth 
 To go our separate ways on life's highway. 
 Free from all bond or ban." 
 
 Then Grandma said 
 "Children, we will not here and now discuss 
 A question of such serious import." 
 
 And Grandsire, turning to Aunt Betsey, asked, 
 " But, daughter, had you no wise word to say, 
 When things had taken such a serious turn?" 
 Aunt Betsey's face flushed brightly as she said, 
 " Oh, father, I am ashamed that you should know 
 Our folly and our weakness and our sin ; 
 Let's drop the unpleasant subject, if you please." 
 " And have a song ; the theme is growing sad 
 And solemn as a church," cried cousin Tom ; 
 
UNCLE 'LIAS'S STORY. 6g 
 
 *' Here, take this fragment ; I have scribbled it 
 While Uncle 'Liab talked." And so they sang — • 
 
 The First Quarrel. 
 
 The church-bells were ringing, 
 
 The wild birds were singing, 
 When 'Liab and I started out from our door, 
 With Bessie between us. 
 
 Her dimpled hands swinging. 
 Her laugh was so light that it would bubble o'er. 
 
 Three weeks I'd been waiting, 
 
 'Twixt hoping and hating, 
 For this Sunday morning ; and now it had come ; 
 
 I'd coaxed him and petted. 
 
 And scolded and fretted, . 
 And hoped the new preacher might be stricken dumb. 
 
 3- 
 
 But slow and more slowly, 
 
 The day seemed so holy. 
 In silence we walked, till we reached the church-door ; 
 " I'm going to hear Channing," 
 
 Said 'Iviab's voice, lowly, 
 " I'll call for you here when the service is o'er." 
 
 4- 
 
 Then love's eyes grew glassy, 
 My wedding-ring brassy ; 
 
70 
 
 UNCLE 'LIAB'S STORY. 
 
 A thousand small demons laughed out with a cry, 
 
 And all through the singing 
 
 Their voices were ringing, 
 "You've quarrelled" — I knew they meant 'Liab and I. 
 
 4: ^ ^ H: ^ ^ 
 
 But Grandma could not let the matter rest, 
 
 For she was grieved and puzzled; so she said-: 
 
 " Can it be, Betsey, that a boy of mine 
 
 Could be so rash aijd foolish as to treat 
 
 His own home troubles in that public way ? " 
 
 Aunt Betsey blushed again, and put her hair 
 
 Back, with a weary gesture from her brows, 
 
 Her thin gray hair, that once was brown and bright. 
 
 " I do not like to talk of it," she said ; 
 
 But all their questioning eyes decided her, 
 
 And hesitating shyly, she began — 
 
AUNT BETSEY'S STORY. yj 
 
 V. 
 • AUNT BETSEY'S STORY. 
 [How Husband and I Made Up.] 
 
 Yes ! 'Liab brought home from the lawyer's 
 
 That paper for me to sign, 
 Saying, what was his should be his, 
 
 And what was mine be mine. 
 For 'Liab and I had quarrel' d 
 
 So many times, you see, 
 That at last we agreed together 
 
 We couldn't never agree. 
 
 ■% 
 So I read the paper over, 
 
 Each separate paragraph, 
 And found, that of all our property 
 
 He'd given me the better half; 
 For he gave me the house and homestead,, 
 
 And kept the Wolf Rock hill, 
 He gave me the colt Saladin, 
 
 And kept the lame horse, Bill. 
 
 He gave me the brindled heifer, '>'■ 
 
 (The line-back cow was dead,) in 
 
 But he gave me the sheep and oxen, w 
 
 And kept the steers, instead ; '!' 
 
 I was mad because he favored me, | 
 
 And made it show so plain. 
 And I 'spose if he hadn't done so much, 
 
 I should only been mad again ; 
 
72 AUNT BETSEY'S STORY. 
 
 But looking along the paper, 
 
 The next thing that I read, 
 Was, " Lay us under the maples 
 
 Together, when we're dead." 
 Then I knew the one choice left me, 
 
 Was a flood of tears or tongue ; 
 So I told him, "I wouldn't sign the thing 
 
 To save him from bein' hung. 
 
 " In his mean old farm and live-stock, 
 
 I scorned any part or share ; 
 I was goin' home to my mother, 
 
 And 'twas none of his business ! There." 
 Then straight in my face looked 'Liab, 
 
 Till I turned my head away ; 
 And he walked out through the kitchen, 
 
 Not another word to say ; 
 
 I heard his steps fall heavy, 
 
 But I didn't see him go ; 
 The maples were blushing scarlet 
 
 He plante'^ so long ago. 
 And under tliem played our Bessie, 
 
 Child of our happy years, 
 I heard her calling " Papa," 
 
 And then came a rush of tears ; 
 
 But before I could reach the door-way 
 
 Click went the garden gate. 
 And to all my sorrowful feelings 
 
 It seemed to say — '* too late." 
 Then Bessie came in from her playing, 
 
 A tear on each round red cheek ; 
 And asked, " Where's Papa going ? 
 
 He kissed me, but did not speak." 
 
AUNT BETSEY'S STORY. 
 
 Then up in my arms I caught her, 
 
 And murmured and sobbed her name, 
 BewaiHng that ever my darHng 
 
 Was born to such woe and shame. 
 Forgetting all thought of doctrine, 
 
 Or halving of stock and store, 
 I wanted my baby's father 
 
 Safe in my heart once more. 
 
 But 'Liab was gone ! the sunshine 
 
 Lay golden along the lane, 
 I strained my eyes with watching, 
 
 But he didn't turn back again; 
 And thinkin' the whole thing over, 
 
 I blamed him bitter and strong ; 
 I was glad he had held his tongue once, 
 
 He always was in the wrong. 
 
 I thought he'd be back that evening, 
 
 But the sleepless night dragged on. 
 And still no whisper told me 
 
 What way had my husband gone. 
 'Twas Thursday when he left me, 
 
 At last came Saturday night ; 
 How slowly I swept the dooryard 
 
 And set the old house to rights. 
 
 Then I cuddled and rocked my Bessie, 
 
 While she said, " Now I lay me," sweety 
 Till her eyes drooped, and I laid her 
 
 In her old crib, fast asleep. 
 But oh ! how I did miss 'Liab — 
 
 I'd ha' given half my life 
 To hear his dear voice saying, 
 
 " Where are you, Betsey, wife ? " 
 4 
 
 73 
 
74 
 
 AUNT BETSEY'S STORY. 
 
 But there was a prayer-meeting gathered 
 
 That night by Deacon Munroe, 
 I thought I'd stay at home first, 
 
 And then I concluded to go ; 
 For the neighbors know'd we'd quarrelled, 
 
 And, as 'Liab always said, 
 They'd lent their kindest sarvice 
 
 For to help the thing ahead. 
 
 But that night they turned up their noses, 
 
 With a smile that was more a sneer, 
 And said, "Where's Mr. Pratt, pray? 
 
 Why isn't he with you here ? " 
 I was mad as a pestered hornet, 
 
 Though I tried to be proud and cool, 
 But I blamed them all for hypocrites, 
 
 And hated myself for a fool ! 
 
 So, when I could bear it no longer, 
 
 And the Deacon was praying still, 
 I slipped out and hurried homeward, 
 
 Alone, by the Wolf Rock hill ; 
 Silent I entered the kitchen, 
 
 And silently crossed the floor ; 
 But my heart stood still a minute, 
 
 As I opened the bedroom door. 
 
 For there was my dear old 'Liab 
 
 A kneeling by Bessie's bed ; 
 And some tears shone on the pillow 
 
 That Bessie never had shed. 
 One look ! and the very next minute 
 
 I was kneeling beside him there ; 
 And more tears fell on the pillow, 
 
 And some on our darling's hair. 
 
AUNT BETSEY'S STORY. 75 
 
 Well ! under the old rose blankets, 
 
 That were new on our wedding-day, 
 And under the patchwork coverlet, 
 
 We found it was better to lay. 
 Than under the thrifty maples 
 
 (They've doubled in size since then), 
 And if the Recordin' Angel 
 
 Came down with his book and pen 
 
 That night, I know the last record 
 
 He took to his higher sphere 
 Was, "Betsey, wife, are you sorry?". 
 
 " Husband, I'm glad you're here." 
 Next morning we burned the paper 
 
 We both had forgotten to sign. 
 I didn't ask his forgiveness, 
 
 And he didn't beg for mine. 
 
 But we both pretty much concluded, 
 
 Without any words to tell, 
 That what was mine was his'n, 
 
 And his'n was mine as well. 
 And when we meet in Heaven, 
 
 I wouldn't think it queer. 
 If we loved each other better 
 
 For bein' patient here. 
 ****** 
 I saw the tears shining in Grandma's eyes ; 
 But as Aunt Betsey finished with a smile, 
 Her hand slid under Uncle 'Liab's palm. 
 And rested there. Then Uncle Luke looked up j 
 A droll and quizzical smile was on his face, 
 And without form or prelude he began. 
 
76 UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 VI, 
 
 UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 
 [Going to Channing's Meeting.] 
 
 Bein' we're at confession, 
 
 And 'Liab's had his say, 
 And Betsey's told her story 
 
 In her own forgivin' way. 
 Though you mayn't have quite suspected 
 
 The nater of the fuss. 
 Yet goin' to Channing's meeting 
 
 Came near upsetting us. 
 
 I, too, heard father talkin' 
 
 About the light and love 
 That raised this wondrous preacher 
 
 All meaner souls above. 
 And I said, I meant to hear him ; 
 
 But Priscilla, she said, " Nay ; 
 From the teachin's of our fathers 
 
 It wouldn't do to stray." 
 
 I arger'd personal freedom, 
 
 Especially for a man. 
 And said we couldn't grow a bit 
 
 On any other plan. 
 So evenin' after evenin' 
 
 I'd stop, awhile, to hear 
 Some earnest Unitarian 
 
 Discuss their doctrines queer. 
 
UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 77 
 
 I knew it fretted Prissie, 
 
 I see it in her eye ; 
 And if I spoke about it, 
 
 She was allers sure to cry. 
 But when the famous Channing, 
 
 With his words of love for all, 
 Was comin' for one Sunday 
 
 To preach in the old Town Hall, 
 
 Sez I, "It's no use talkin' ; 
 
 I've nothin' more to say ; 
 But I'll go to that there meetin', 
 
 If I die for't on the way." 
 Well ! so I went, next Sunday, 
 
 Just as I vowed I would ; 
 The words were mild and gentle, 
 
 I hope they done me good. 
 
 But while I listened, steady, 
 
 A voice seemed whispering through, 
 " There's Prissie up to the Baptists 
 
 A thinkin' hard of you." 
 After the meetin' was over. 
 
 They didn't much mind me. 
 But I heard more'n one say softly, 
 
 •' Therms Deacon 'Liab — see f" 
 
 I know'ed he'd get a scoldin' 
 
 When he got home from church, 
 Which I rather guessed he dreaded 
 
 As a school-boy dreads the birch. 
 Though I hadn't much to brag on, 
 
 For all to myself I said, 
 I'd rather a woman would scold me. 
 
 Than cry the eyes out of her head. 
 
78 UNCLE LUKE'S STORY.- 
 
 So home I went, with a feelin' 
 
 As though I'd done su'thin' wrong, 
 And would Hke to cuss somebody, 
 
 If somebody 'd come along. 
 And, just as I expected, 
 
 Priscilla was hidin' away, 
 A crying about my futur', 
 
 As she did for many a day ; 
 
 Till it made me mad as the mischief 
 
 Only to see her cry. 
 I tried first to pacify her, 
 
 And fin'ly I sez, sez I : 
 "I ain't a-going to stan' it. 
 
 Now ; I tell you what it is, 
 I've borne with these proceedin's 
 
 Till my dander's fairly riz. 
 
 " I've tried to live in quiet. 
 
 As becomes a man and wife, 
 But I'll pull in single harness 
 
 For the rest o' my nateral life 
 Afore I'll bear this frettin' 
 
 And yowlin' night an' day, 
 That don't do you no sort o' good, 
 
 And wears my life away. 
 
 " I am going to our parson, 
 
 To tell him where I've been, 
 And if I hev committed 
 
 The unpardonable sin, 
 I'll leave the place forever, 
 
 And not be stayin' here. 
 To di-ag you to perdition. 
 
 Or break your heart with fear." 
 
UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 So off in a huff I started, 
 
 But scarcely reached the gate, 
 When I met my friend, Squire Osborne, 
 
 With Channing. I didn't wait 
 To stand on ceremony. 
 
 But immejitly asked 'em in. 
 We talked of the crops and the weather, 
 
 And then of original sin ; 
 
 Of the old Town Hall, and the taxes, 
 
 Of the efhcacy of prayer, 
 And finally of the meeting 
 
 Last Sunday — and who was there. 
 Then the Squire went off to the village, 
 
 And Channing he staid with me ; 
 'Twas then I told him my troubles. 
 
 And what they was like to be. 
 
 He said 'twas my selfish temper 
 
 Was shadowin' all my life, 
 That I must respect the conscience 
 
 And principles of my wife, 
 As her individual privilege. 
 
 And not as a cause for strife. 
 Then, to make it sound religious, 
 
 He said such trials were given 
 To teach us strength and patience, 
 
 And lead us up to Heaven. 
 
 He said, her weak complainin'. 
 Was a cross that I must bear ; 
 
 And if I bore it bravely, 
 I'd be rewarded there. 
 
 ;9 
 
8o UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 It comforted me to hear him 
 Talking that kind of a way ; 
 
 I made up my mind I'd scolded 
 Too much, and so from that day, 
 
 I'd be sort o' kind to Prissie, 
 
 And just let her cry it out, 
 And not be continually asking 
 
 What she was cryin' about. 
 So I walked down town with Channing, 
 
 Shook hands, and said, good-by ; 
 Went home, and wife was a lookin' 
 
 As though she'd forgot how to cry. 
 
 I spoke kind o' pleasant to her, 
 
 She smiled, and I went along ; 
 And soon in the yard I heard her 
 
 Humming a sweet old song. 
 That night 'twas the same, and next day, 
 
 With not a tear to be seen ; 
 Never a home was brighter, 
 
 Or sunshine more serene ; 
 'Till at last I begun to wonder 
 
 Whatever it all could mean. 
 
 I'd talk, and Priscilla would answer — 
 
 Sober, sometimes, it's true, 
 And her lip would sorter quiver, 
 
 And her eyes shine brighter, too. 
 But never a fretful word came, 
 
 And never a tear-drop fell. 
 Bimeby I thought of the story 
 
 That Deacon Munroe used to tell. 
 
UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 8l 
 
 About his wife, and the crooked wood 
 
 You don't remember it ? No ? 
 Well, I dunno as I can tell it, 
 
 But I b'lieve 'twas somehow so : 
 The Deacon was talkin' with 'Liab 
 
 'Bout the minister's meetin' near, 
 And 'Liab said he was anxious 
 
 To know how many 'd be here, 
 
 So 's he could talk with Betsey 
 
 'Bout askin' of em home. 
 The Deacon said, 'twan't easy 
 
 To tell how many 'd come. 
 " But surely in a household 
 
 So large and well-to-do, 
 A few guests more, I'm thinkin'. 
 
 Can't make much odds to you." 
 
 **No," 'Liab answered slowly, 
 
 As though 'twas wrong he told, 
 " But anything unexpected 
 
 Is sure to make wife scold." 
 " Sho ! " said the Deacon gravely, 
 
 As though he'd heard some news; 
 " But my wife never scolds me, 
 
 So I have no excuse." 
 
 "Never?" sez 'Liab, questioning; 
 
 " Never a frown on her brow ? " 
 " Never ! " the Deacon answered, 
 
 " I expect she don't know how. 
 She allers sez what ain't right 
 
 Will be right, by and by. 
 And if we want a thing done. 
 
 We've only jest to try. 
 4* 
 
82 UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 "Till sometimes, she's so quiet 
 
 It agravates me wuss 
 Than any sort o' scoldin' 
 
 Or any amomit o' fuss." 
 " Well ! neov/, I think," says 'Liab, 
 
 "If you hanker arter a scold, 
 I kin tell you how to git one ; 
 
 I know the way, of old. 
 
 " Jest take her a load o' crooked wood, 
 
 An' if she don't fret at that, 
 Why, the day o' the minister's meetin' 
 
 I'll give you a Sunday hat." 
 So the Deacon went to his wood lot 
 
 Himself, and cut a load 
 Of the gnarliest, meanest, crooked stuff, 
 
 I swan, that ever growed. 
 
 An' he took it home, an' waited, 
 
 An' watched, day after day. 
 Clean down to one last armful, 
 
 To hear what she would say. 
 An' when she found 'twas all gone, 
 
 Sez she, " I wish, my dear, 
 I had another load o' wood 
 
 Like the last you brought me here. 
 
 " The sticks were kinder curvin, 
 
 And sorter seemed to slide 
 And fit round the pots an' kittles 
 
 The best I ever tried." 
 The Deacon didn't answer 
 
 Aloud, but all to himself, 
 Sez he, " Old hat ! hereafter 
 
 Your place is on the shelf." 
 
UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 83 
 
 Well ! So, as I was sayin', 
 
 I thought o' that load o' wood, 
 And wondered if some apple-tree brush 
 
 Wouldn't be quite as good, 
 For trying a woman's patience ; 
 
 For everybody knows 
 That women do hate apple-tree brush 
 
 The wust of all wood that grows. 
 
 So out I went to the orchard. 
 
 And trimmed, and trimmed those trees, 
 And drove home a load to the door-yard, 
 
 As solemn as ever you please. 
 Priscilla, she saw it a coming, 
 
 And wondering, looked at me ; 
 Then she burst out laughin' as merry 
 
 As a mocking-bird on a tree. 
 
 Sez she, " There's nothin' like brush, Luke, 
 
 On wash-days, for b'ilin' the clothes ; 
 And as for my cryin' about it. 
 
 Now would I, do you suppose ? " 
 That made me feel sort 'er sheepish; 
 
 I expect I looked so, too ; 
 But sez I, " Now, Prissie, tell me ! 
 
 What has come over you ? 
 
 I never find you frettin' ; 
 
 You don't appear to cry; 
 It must be yoii, that's changed so, 
 
 I'm sure it can't be I." 
 Sez she, " I heerd that lesson 
 
 By your good friend, Channing, given, 
 /sha'n't be made a scape-goat 
 
 For carryin' j'^Z(! to Heaven." 
 
84 UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 
 
 So then we talked it over ; 
 
 An' if she cried a bit 
 Her face was hid on my shoulder, 
 
 So I didn't notice it ; 
 But the boys had a jolly bonfire 
 
 Of apple-tree brush that night, 
 And you might have seen a farmer 
 
 Kissing his wife by its light. 
 
 While all the others laughed, Grandma looked sad, 
 And said, " My boys, 1 really am afraid 
 You do not do as I have always taught. 
 And make your troubles subjects of home prayer." 
 The brothers looked askance, but answered not. 
 For a loud shout came ringing on the air, 
 And a gay voice called out, " Shure it's meself 
 As towld ye spalpeens I wad let ye know 
 Whin I was ready to shet up the barn. 
 Turn out if so be you would like to see 
 The beasties once ag'in." Then Cousin Tom, 
 And Uncle Christopher, and Uncle King 
 All hastened barnward with the troop of boy?, 
 And Pat, the hostler, whistling as they went. 
 But as Tom left the room, grave Cousin John 
 Looked up and said : " There goes the truest soul 
 That ever kept a living flame of faith. 
 And love for all mankind, through every ill. 
 You laugh at his light jest^, and merry words, 
 But reck not of the depth of kindly thought, 
 Self-abnegation, and true courtesy 
 That underlie them all. 
 
 He too has wrought, 
 And toiled, and suffered. SCriven long and well. 
 
UNCLE LUKE'S STORY. 85 
 
 And just when he had thought to stand upon 
 
 The very brink of triumph, sorrow came. 
 
 We were together long ago at school, 
 
 And somewhat later, when I studied law 
 
 And he plunged into medicine ; I knew 
 
 He had some philanthropic hopes and plans ; 
 
 But, when we went to California, 
 
 The golden glitter tempted him. He thrust 
 
 Aside, in one ambitious, reckless hour, 
 
 His loved profession and the hopes he held. 
 
 And launched one more frail barque upon the tide 
 
 Of speculation. Everything he touched 
 Seemed to have felt the old King Midas' power, t 
 
 And turned to gold. 
 
 I knew he was engaged 
 To Mercy Lincoln. Some of you have seen 
 Her faii: child-face, as lovely as a dream ; 
 You know her father was a strange old man ; 
 A miser and a monomaniac. 
 He seemed to think that every one he met 
 Was striving to obtain the hoarded wealth 
 That he had saved for Mercy. 
 
 Tom soon learned 
 The only passport to the old man's heart 
 Was by a golden key. He knew before, 
 That Mercy never would be coaxed to wed 
 Without his blessing. So by day and night 
 He strove for money — thus to win his bride, 
 Poor Tom ! I found a bit of rhyme one day 
 That Nettie wrote of him : I'll read it now 
 And it shall serve as ' story ' told by me." 
 
86 COUSIN JOHN'S STORY. 
 
 VII. 
 
 COUSIN JOHN'S STORY. 
 
 [In California.] 
 
 He climbed the wild heights of ambition and pride, 
 
 Wealth poured at his feet her bewildering tide, 
 
 Friends gathered about him to court and caress 
 
 (Friends always appreciate certain success). 
 
 And fairer than old ruined temple or tower 
 
 His home rose in beauty and light hour by hour, 
 
 His home, where full soon, as he dreamed, would be heard 
 
 The musical voice of his own precious bird. 
 
 Their home ! where all beautiful ideals were ; 
 
 He had fashioned, and furnished, and decked it for her. 
 
 He would go soon to bring her. When — never a word 
 
 Of warning or trouble or doubt had he heard. 
 
 No breath in the air, and no cloud in the sky, 
 
 Had hinted what awful bereavement was nigh. 
 
 But suddenly came, like a messenger dread, 
 
 A letter that told him his darling was dead. 
 
 Dead ! Dead ! And he loved her, aye, worshipped her so ! 
 
 Dead ! How his heart sickened and reeled 'neath the 
 
 blow. 
 How all hope's gay sunshine paled strangely and fled. 
 As he thought of his darling, his precious love, dead ! 
 No kiss on her cold lips, no whispered farewell, 
 No murmur of faith or endearment to tell 
 To his agonized heart, that she took o'er the river 
 One memory of him that would linger forever. 
 
COUSIN JOHN'S STORY. 87 
 
 Ah ! what to hhn, now, was the pretty home nest 
 With every adornment that Love could suggest ? 
 The cup that had ahnost been raised to his lips 
 Dashed suddenly down in that awful eclipse. 
 'Twas hard to relinquish that beautiful dream ; 
 Cold, dark, and uncertain the future must seem, 
 As he took up again the dropped shuttle of fate, 
 And hopelessly wove on his life-web — to wait., 
 
 But soon to his soul-life, with comforting power 
 The angel of Faith brought a beautiful dower ; 
 He thought of the hopes that had lighted her way 
 Down through the dark valley, where, day after day, 
 The angels talked with her, and walked by her side, 
 And brought her sweet peace, his dear love, but deatlHi 
 
 bride. 
 And then, as his life -path greAv harder to climb. 
 As he dreamed more and more of her presence divine, 
 She drew nearer to him in spirit and thought ; 
 He fancied she cared for the labor he wrought. 
 
 That, when he had turned from the glare of the day. 
 
 The gold and the glitter, the fret and the fray, 
 
 She lingered beside him forever the same ; 
 
 So his darling an angel of mercy became. 
 
 Then his life was no more filled with sorrow and pain ; 
 
 The dreams of his boyhood came back once again. 
 
 He left the excitement, the turmoil, the strife, 
 And bravely returned to his worthier life ; 
 Wherever was darkness, or danger, or death, 
 Contagion, or trouble, or fever's hot breath. 
 There stood the physician, the brother, the friend, 
 Unflinching an i steadfast, and true to the end. 
 
88 COUSIN JOHN'S STORY. 
 
 If he falls, he will fall with his face to the light, 
 For Mercy is with him — his guardian bright. 
 
 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ i{fi 
 
 When Cousin John stopped talking, and a hush 
 Of sympathy and sorrow fell upon 
 The earnest listeners, Captain Philip Brown 
 Said gently, speaking to his fair-haired wife : 
 " Emily, was it for him you wrote the song 
 I often hear you trilling to yourself. 
 About the roses, and the work to do ? " 
 Emily smiled, and nodded. " Sing it, please," 
 Pleaded the cousins ; and so Emily sang — 
 
 My Darling. 
 
 Under the roses and myrtles bright, 
 Under the lilies so daintily white, 
 Under the blue forget-me-nots true, 
 My beautiful darling is sleeping. 
 Hushed is the voice that I loved to hear, 
 Closed are the brown eyes, soft and clear, 
 
 Heart-beat and breath 
 
 Are frozen in death ; 
 Lonely and sad I am weeping. 
 
 Years have passed since they laid her there, 
 Years of trouble, and grief, and care, 
 Yet over the space gleams an angel face, 
 
 Guiding and blessing me ever. 
 Though her voice is hushed to mine outward ear, 
 In spirit its echoing tones I hear. 
 
 I know she will wait 
 
 By the golden gate 
 To meet me where death cannot sever. 
 
COUSIN JOHN'S STORY. g^ 
 
 Therefore I pause not for dreaming or dread ; 
 The sad call for comfort, the hungry for bread ; 
 Why should I fear, when angels are near, 
 
 Or shrink from the Summer-land portal ? 
 The way is long, but the goal is bright, 
 Dawn will follow the darkest night. 
 And I know she will come 
 
 To welcome me home, " ' 
 
 My darling, for love is immortal. 
 
 The song was scarce done echoing when there came 
 
 A burst of merry laughter, and the boys 
 
 Came iiishing in, and gathered round the fire. 
 
 And Pat, the hostler, and a friend of his 
 
 Came with them ; Pat explaining that he heard 
 
 That they were telling stories hereabouts. 
 
 And his old friend was such a master hand 
 
 To be a-telling shtories — never yet 
 
 He'd heerd of one too big for him to tell ; 
 
 Or yet to take and swallow. 
 
 Pat's bright eyes 
 Were twinkling full of drollery ; but his face 
 Was calm and solemn. 
 
 Then his friend drew back 
 Within the shadow, tipped his battered hat, 
 And swinging his shillalah, 'gan to talk : 
 
 " Shure it's no shtory I -wud till ye now, 
 
 But just a dhrame my frind Pat tells me he ¥ 
 
 Enjoyed one summer even." f 
 
 Thus says Pat : 
 
 I 
 
go 
 
 UNCLE KINGS STORY. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 UNCLE KING'S STORY. 
 [Pat's Dream of Heaven.] 
 
 I dhramed I wint to Hiven one night, 
 
 And knocked at the big white gate, 
 And the good Saint Pater opened it, 
 
 But he towld me I'd have to wait 
 While he looked for me name in the howl)' book; 
 
 And when he had found it there, 
 He bad me come in, though he towld me plain 
 
 That me comin' that way was rare. 
 
 Well, I shtopped a bit to chat wid him, 
 
 And I axed, " Could I look around ? " 
 He said, *' Oh yis ! as you've once got in, 
 
 Yer frae to the whole of the ground — 
 Frae to walk by the River of Life, 
 
 To resht in the Mansions of Light, 
 To stand in the Temple not made by hands, 
 
 Wid the Sunburst of Glory bright." 
 
 I saw the Martyrs of owlclen times. 
 
 The saints and the angels fair. 
 And millions and millions of young spalpeens 
 
 All playin' t'gither there ; 
 And Mary the Mother, wid love in her ey(js, 
 
 Looked down on each littlq child. 
 And the blissed tacher was tachin' them. 
 
 So gintle and un defiled. 
 
UNCLE KING'S STORY. 
 
 I saw the Apostles a mending their nets, 
 
 And I axed, " What need of thim now ? " 
 Then a howly hght shone round about 
 
 Each lowly Apostle's brow, 
 As they said : " Our nets must nades be shtrong 
 
 For -to lift men's sowls away 
 From the darkness and doubt they're clingin' in, 
 
 To. the light of the perfect day." 
 
 But away in a corner I heard a noise ; 
 
 I thought 'twas a bit of a row. 
 So 1 loosed my Shillalah — "Be gorra," sez I, 
 
 "If it's fightin', I'll jist show 'em how." 
 But when I drew nearer I heard them shpake. 
 
 And Paul was a-tellin' aloud 
 A shtory of Joseph the Carpenter, 
 
 To a listening bit of a crowd. 
 
 Now, Joseph, it sames, was a good-natured sow!. 
 
 And what he was towld he belaved ; 
 And man/s the frind, on his recommind, 
 
 By Pater had been resaved. 
 But Pater at last found this wouldn't do, 
 
 So he towld to the Carpenter Joe, 
 That no more frinds on his recommind 
 
 Inside of the gates should go. 
 
 Then what does Joseph the Carpenter do, 
 
 But, bein' so deft at his thrade. 
 He wint to work wid hammer and plane, 
 
 And a long shtrong ladder he made ; 
 And thrustin' it out of a windy high, 
 
 Afore they guessed what he's about, 
 He was snakin' his frinds by the dozens in; 
 
 And that was what caused the rout. 
 
 91 
 
92 
 
 UNCLE KING'S STORY. 
 
 For Paul the pr'acher, the earnest heart, 
 
 Had found what was goin' on, 
 And he wus a-tellin' the shtory shtrange 
 
 To Mathew and Mark and John ; 
 And Pater the doorkaper left his place, 
 
 And dhrew near and listened too, 
 Till he waxed very wroth, " Now, Joseph," sez he, 
 
 " We've had too much throuble with you. 
 
 Let me hear no more of these wicked pranks, 
 
 Or we'll howld a council of war, 
 And see if there's no way of makin' you 
 
 Abide by the common Law. 
 Why ! we'll have you turned out as our inemy 
 
 The Dhragon was, long ago, 
 And thin you must wandher in fear and doubt 
 
 For a thousand years, you know." 
 
 Thin Joseph the Carpenter sadly said : 
 
 "Is it turnin' me out, you mane ? 
 Shure I'll go at wunst if you think it's best, . 
 
 And niver a word I'll complain. 
 But a man has a right to his family, Paul," 
 
 Here he winked his eye, and shmiled, 
 "And 'twould break up your whole institution, sure, 
 
 If I take my wife and child." 
 
 Then all the Apostles took up their nets, 
 
 And silently walked away ; 
 And Pater moved off, a scratchin' his head 
 
 Wid the end of the golden kay ; 
 And Joseph the Carpenter whistled a tune, 
 
 I thought 'twas a bit of a joke. 
 But I feared to laugh, so I made up my mind 
 
 'Twas all a dhrame, and I woke. 
 
 lie ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
UNCLE KING'S STORY. 93 
 
 A roar of laughter shook the farm-house roof 
 That might have scared the owls. 
 
 Pat's friend threw off 
 His ragged jacket and his battered hat; 
 Pat caught them quick, and with a parting grin 
 Hurried away, while straight before us stood — 
 Why ! Uncle King. His bright eyes brimming o'er 
 With merriment he did not try to hide, 
 Half at the wicked story he had told. 
 And half at the strange wonder he beheld 
 On every face ! 
 
 " I knew how it would be," 
 He said, and rubbed his hands with hearty glee. 
 "I knew you'd keep on telling stories here, 
 And I should have no peace 'till I would add 
 My quota to the general merriment ; 
 So I forestalled the possible invite 
 And won my parents' disapproval too, 
 I sadly fear ! — oh ! mother mine, forgive 
 The careless jest, and I will promise now 
 To be a -better boy henceforth ! " And down 
 He bent his graceful form and grand great head 
 Whereon the frosts of threescore years lay white ; 
 And grandma smiled, and blessed him, and forgave. 
 
 " Now pass along the stories ! Whose turn next ? " 
 Called Cousin Tom, and " Yours ! Why, yours, of course," 
 Came quick for answer ; but he said, " No ! No ! " 
 " 1 have been gone so long, I want to hear 
 More of the village news. I heard the bells 
 From Woodend Parish ringing long ere night. 
 Grandsire, do you know what the cause could be ? 
 Your home is thereabouts now, as of old." 
 And then for answer came : 
 
94 DEACON MUNROE'S STORY. 
 
 IX. 
 
 DEACON MUNROE'S STORY. 
 
 [Church Discipline.] 
 
 Yes, surely the bells in the steeple 
 
 Were ringing ; I thought you knew why. 
 No ? Well, then, I'll tell you, though mostly 
 
 It's whispered about on the sly ; 
 Some six weeks ago, a church meeting 
 
 Was held, for^ — nobody knew what ; 
 But we went, and the Parson was present, 
 
 And I don't know who, or who not. 
 
 Some twenty odd members, I calc'late, 
 
 Which mostly was wimmin, of course , 
 But I don't mean to say aught agin 'em, 
 
 I've seen many gatherings look worse. 
 And, in the front row sat the deacons, 
 
 The eldest was old Deacon Pryoi", 
 A man countin' fourscore and seven. 
 
 And ginerally full of his ire ! 
 
 Beside him, his wife, aged fourscore, 
 
 A kind-hearted, motherly soul ; 
 And next to her, young Deacon Hartley, 
 
 A good Christian man, on the whole ! 
 Miss Parsons, a si')inster of fifty. 
 
 And long ago laid on the shelf. 
 Had wedged herself next, and beside her 
 
 Was Deacon Munroe. That's myself. 
 
DEACON MUNROeS STORY. 
 
 The meeting was soon called to order, 
 
 The parson looked glum as a text ; — 
 We silently stared at each other, 
 
 And every one wondered, "What next ? " 
 When straightway uprose Deacon Hartle}^, 
 
 His voice seemed to tremble with fear 
 As he said : " Boy and man, you have known me, 
 
 My friends, for this nigh forty year. 
 
 And you scarce may expect a confession 
 
 Of error from me — but — you know 
 My dearly loved wife died last Christmas — 
 
 It's now over ten months ago. 
 The winter went by long and lonely — 
 
 But the springtime crep' forward apace, 
 The farm work begun, and I needed 
 
 A woman, about the old place. 
 
 My children were wilder than rabbits, 
 
 And all growing worse every day ; 
 I could find no help in the village, 
 
 Although I was willing to pay. 
 I declare I was near 'bout discouraged, 
 
 And everything looked so forlorn, 
 Wlaen good little Patience McAlpine 
 
 Skipped into our kitchen one morn. 
 
 She had only run in of an errand. 
 
 But she laughed at our woe-begone plight, 
 And set to Avork just like a woman, 
 
 A putting the whole place to rights. 
 And though her own folks was so busy, 
 
 And illy her helpin' could spare, 
 She'd flit in and out like a sparrow, 
 
 And most every day she was there. 
 
 95 
 
96 
 
 DEACON MUNROE'S STORY. 
 
 So the summer went by, sort o' cheerful j 
 
 But, one night, my baby, my Joe, 
 Was restless and feverish, and woke me, 
 
 As babies will often, you know. 
 I was tired with my day's work and sleepy, 
 
 And couldn't no way keep him still ; 
 So at last I grew angry, and spanked him, 
 
 And then he screamed out, with a will. 
 
 'Twas just then I heard a soft rapping 
 
 Away at the half-open door — 
 And then little Patience McAlpine 
 
 Stepped shyly across the white floor. 
 Says she : ' I thought Josie was crying ; 
 
 I guess I'd best take him away ; 
 I knew you'd be getting up early 
 
 To go to the marshes for hay. 
 
 So I staid here to-night, to get breakfast ; 
 
 I guess he'll be quiet with me ; 
 Come, baby, kiss papa and tell him 
 
 What a nice little man he will be.' 
 She was bending low over the baby — 
 
 And saw the big tears on his cheek ; 
 But her face was so near to my whiskers 
 
 I daresn't move, scarcely, or speak. 
 
 Her arms were both holding the baby, 
 
 Her eyes by his shoulder was hid — 
 But her mouth was so near and so rosy 
 
 That — I kissed her — that's just what I did." 
 Then down sat the trembling sinner : 
 
 The sisters they murmured " For shame ! " 
 And " She shouldn't oughter a let him; 
 
 No doubt she was mostly to blame." ' 
 
DEACON MUNROE'S STORY. 
 
 When slowly uprose Deacon Pryor. 
 
 " Now brethren and sisters," he said ; 
 (And we knowed then that suthin' was coming, 
 
 And we sot as still as the dead.) 
 * We've heard Brother Hartley's confession. 
 
 And, I speak for myself, when I say, 
 That if my wife was dead, and my children 
 
 Were all growing wuss every day ; 
 
 " And if my house needed attention, 
 
 And Patience Mac Alpine should come 
 And tidy the cluttered-up kitchen, 
 
 And make the place seem more like home — 
 And if I was tired out and sleepy, 
 
 And my baby wouldn't lie still, 
 But cried out at midnight and woke me, 
 
 As babies, we know, sometimes will ; 
 
 "And if Patience came in to hush him, 
 
 And 'twas all as our good brother says, 
 I think, friends — I think I should kiss her, 
 
 'And abide by the consequences." 
 Then down sat the elderly deacon ; 
 
 The younger one lifted his face. 
 And a smile rippled over the meeting, 
 
 Like light in a shadowy place. 
 
 Perhaps, then, the matronly sisters 
 
 Remembered their far-away youth, 
 Or the daughters at home by their firesides, 
 
 Shrined each in her shy, modest truth. 
 For their judgments grew gentle and kindly ; 
 
 And — well ! as I started to say, 
 The solemn old bells in the steeple. 
 
 Were ringing a bridal to-day. 
 5 
 
 97 
 
98 DEACON MUNROE'S STORY. 
 
 * * * * * * " 
 
 Then Grandsire shook his head, and laughed, until 
 
 The tears filled all the furrows of his face ; 
 
 And Grandma sighed, and said : "I thought old age 
 
 Would quench the fire of fun that with such zest 
 
 Has all your life long burned within your breast." 
 
 Then while they fell to talking of the news ; 
 
 And who was dead or married ; or what need 
 
 Existed for Church discipline ; with whom, 
 
 Aunt Margaret slipped into another room. 
 
 And called for Prissie Hart : " Where are you, dear, 
 
 And what have you been doing this last hour ? " 
 
 Prissie came forward in her shy, sweet way, 
 
 And sang a song, with " Here I am, dear aunt !" 
 
 "Wishing." 
 
 I was hiding in the parlor, 
 
 Dreaming out the Christmas eve, 
 
 Listening idly to the children 
 
 Their vague web of Avishing weave. 
 
 They are such a merry party, 
 
 Lu and Jasper, Fred and Claire, 
 And our youngest, Little Glory, 
 
 With her shining golden hair. 
 
 Claire spoke first ; she wished some fay might 
 
 Weave for her a ribbon blue, 
 And about her white neck clasp it, 
 
 With a diamond clear as dew. 
 
 Lu (the sturdy little Brownie) 
 
 Wished no trinket at her throat. 
 But she wanted place to stand in, 
 
 Power to speak, and right to vote. 
 
DEACON MUNROES STORY. 
 
 Fred for books alone petitioned ; 
 
 Jasper for a red roan steed ; 
 Was the little one a dreaming, 
 
 That she gave their words no heed ? 
 
 No ! at last her wish was spoken, 
 
 While her eyes looked large and bright : 
 
 " There are just two splendid people 
 I wish I could see to-night." 
 
 " Who are they ? " the others questioned, 
 And, with hushed and reverent pause, 
 
 Little Glory answered softly, 
 
 " They are Dod, and Santa Claus." 
 
 ^ ^ 4: ^ H< 41 
 
 " But, Auntie, tell us all a story ! do ! " 
 
 " No ! you must tell me one. I want to hear 
 About your pleasant life." 
 
 " I have no skill 
 At story-telling craft, but sister Nan 
 Is always ready with some lively talk ; 
 Let's call on her." Nannette shook back her hair, 
 *' I'll tell you, if you'll listen long and well, 
 A true Thanksgiving story." 
 
 ^ So she told, 
 
 99 
 
100 COUSIN NANNETTE' S STORY. 
 
 X. 
 
 COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 
 
 [One Thanksgiving,] 
 
 Out in the beautiful country, 
 
 When the yellow moon was high, 
 When the Autumn fruits were garnered, 
 ■ And the Winter nights were nigh, 
 
 Old Farmer Pratt was counting 
 
 His herds of lowing kine, 
 His sheep with growing fleeces, 
 
 His lazy, fattened swine ; 
 
 And, as he reckoned slowly, 
 
 The calm and frosty night 
 Called him to barn and sheepfold, 
 
 To see if all was right 
 
 Under a sheltering hay-rick 
 
 He paused to muse awhile, 
 When two young voices hear him 
 
 Awoke a passing smile : 
 
 One was his eldest daughter, 
 
 Piiscilla, speaking low, 
 And the other was one of the neighbors, 
 
 He guessed, but he did not know. 
 
COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. iqi 
 
 " I can't ! " Priscilla was saying, 
 
 " I can't ! it's going too far ; 
 It would make me doubly wretched 
 
 To be deceiving ma. 
 
 Aiid father " — he felt the shudder 
 
 That he could not hear or see ; 
 And he said, "I b'lieve Priscilla 
 
 Is fairly afraid of me. 
 
 She's a skeery thing, like her mother; 
 
 But I vow I didn't suppose 
 The words I've said so keerless 
 
 Was goin' home so close. 
 
 I've laughed about Reuben, and called him 
 
 A sort of a shiftless lad, 
 But I never supposed the fellow 
 
 Was anything very bad. 
 
 It seems he's been coaxin' and teasin' 
 
 My Prissie to run away ; 
 It can't do no harm, (I'm her father,) 
 
 To listen to what they say. 
 
 If he gives her up for fear o' me, 
 
 I don't think much o' him. 
 And I wonder, should she lose him, 
 
 Would it make her bright eyes dim ?" 
 
 "Priscilla, darling," 'twas Reuben, 
 
 Speaking soft and low — % 
 
 " I've waited in hope and patience | 
 
 Two weary years, you know, 
 
I02 
 
 COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 
 
 And loved you as only a man loves 
 The woman he means to wed ; 
 
 And only for your sake, Prissie, 
 No word have I ever said 
 
 To any one on the subject; 
 
 But to-night — now, listen, dear ! 
 We must have this matter settled ; 
 
 I can't wait another year. 
 
 I'll talk with your father to-morrow, 
 And learn his objections to me." 
 
 *' Oh, no ! " said Priscilla in terror, 
 For then he would think that we — 
 
 That I — had been talking about him, 
 And that makes him angriest of all." 
 
 Then Reuben's voice grew firmer, 
 And seemed to clearer fall : 
 
 " Your father is not an ogre ; 
 
 I do not dread his wrath, 
 'Tis better for us to be honest, 
 
 And keep a straightforward path. 
 
 But I know what a faint-hearted chicken 
 You are, and have always been, 
 
 And though I believe your father 
 Is one of the best of men, 
 
 If he hates me as bad as you think for, 
 Of course, he'll refuse outright. 
 
 All consent to our future wedding. 
 And leave us no chance for flight ; 
 
COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 103 
 
 For you never would dare to marry 
 
 Right in the face and eyes 
 Of his plain commands against it, 
 
 Though they be neither kind nor wise. 
 
 I'vQ nothing to say of your parents, 
 
 They're honest, and true, and good. 
 And you've served them and loved and obeyed 
 them, 
 
 As a dutiful daughter should. 
 
 But I've made up my mind to one thing-: 
 
 If you persistently say 
 That I mustn't speak to your father, 
 
 Why, then, we must run away." 
 
 *' Oh, Reuben ! " " Now Prissie, darUng, 
 
 I leave it to you to choose, 
 I've lost my heart and nay patience, 
 
 But my wife I'm not willing to lose. 
 
 I shan't discuss the subject 
 
 By another word to-night. 
 But the day before Thanksgiving, 
 
 If everything's fair and bright, 
 
 I'll hitch up my roan colt Major, 
 
 And drive to the village, and see' 
 If old Parson Emerson's willing 
 
 To do a favor for me. 
 
 And then, when the stars are shining — ^" 
 
 The young folks moved away. 
 And old Farmer Pratt stared, dumbly, 
 
 With his head against the hay. 
 
I04 
 
 COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 
 
 Next morning he watched Priscilla, 
 Her blue eyes were swimming in tears, 
 
 And her quivering chin told plainly 
 That her heart was full of fears. 
 
 Sometimes she'd look so earnest, 
 
 As though she had something to say ; 
 
 Then the tears would seem to choke her, 
 And she'd turn her head away. 
 
 But the day before Thanksgiving 
 Dawned crisp and bright and clear, 
 
 And every farmer's kitchen 
 Was crowded with good cheer. 
 
 All day the wide brick ovens 
 
 Were kept at pie-bake heat. 
 And merry voices echoed 
 
 To the tread of busy feet. 
 
 All day the golden cider 
 
 Slow trickled from the mill, 
 And all day long the farmer 
 
 Was thinking, thinking still ; 
 
 Towards night he jammed his hat on 
 
 With most unusual vim, 
 And went across the meadow 
 
 At a rapid stride, for .him. 
 
 And then, ten minutes later, 
 
 He paused beside a doo^ 
 That he left in bitter anger 
 
 Some fifteen years before. 
 
COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 105 
 
 Out stepped a cheery matron : 
 
 " Wh}^, Brother Pratt ! You here ? 
 I'm sure I'm glad to see you ; 
 
 Walk in and take a cheer. 
 
 The weather's gettmg chilly. 
 
 How is your wife this fall ? 
 I often see your boys round, 
 
 Handsome, and strong, and tall." 
 
 And so she chatted lightly, 
 
 With deft, unconscious air, 
 And never even hinted 
 
 'Twas strange to see him there. 
 
 But while he questioned to himself 
 • If she'd take Reuben's part, 
 The outer door swung slowly, 
 And in walked Deacon Hart ; 
 
 No angry words Avere spoken, 
 
 But Farmer Pratt learned then 
 That the plan he had discovered 
 
 Was all unknown to them ; 
 
 The young folks asked no favors ; 
 
 They knew an old feud lay 
 Smouldering between the fathers ; 
 
 So they would run away. 
 
 But when the two men parted 
 
 Beside the meadow stile, 
 Both faces wrinkled kindly 
 
 With a grim and sober smile. 
 5* 
 
jr6 COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 
 
 Hours after came the roan colt, 
 Shaking his handsome head, 
 
 The bells were off the harness, 
 And he seemed to lightly tread. 
 
 Priscilla hushed her sobbing, 
 And hurried down the stair ; 
 
 But just as she was stepping 
 Out into the frosty air. 
 
 The kitchen-door flew open, 
 
 Two tallow-dips ablaze 
 Filled her with sudden terror, 
 
 And Reuben with amaze ; 
 
 But her father's voice was calling : 
 " Here, John, you hurry now — 
 
 Go get the ewe and cossets ; 
 Drive round the brindle cow ; 
 
 Roll out that barrel of apples. 
 And the white Chenangoes fine ; 
 
 And bring a keg of cider, 
 And a jug of currant wine. 
 
 Willie, tie up the feather bed, 
 
 And iDUt the pillows in ; 
 And, mother, where' s the pillow-slips> 
 
 And sheets and quilts and things ? 
 
 Bring out the new rose blankets 
 That in the clothes-press l^y ; 
 
 Prissie must have her setting out — 
 She's going to rua away." 
 
COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. loy 
 
 Imagine all the wonder 
 
 That from this was sure to come ! 
 Imagine tears and kisses 
 
 Thrown in ad libitum 1 
 
 'And tvvo shame faced young people 
 
 Waiting another day, 
 And then concluding quietly 
 They wouldn't run away. 
 
 The happiest Thanksgiving 
 
 That e'er New England knew 
 Dawned on the village homes next day, 
 
 Where hearts beat warm and true. 
 
 Old feuds were all forgotten — 
 
 Old troubles lain aside — 
 And Reuben lived to bless the day 
 
 He won his happy bride. 
 
 ****** 
 Aunt Margaret, laugliing merrily, spoke out : 
 "Oh, Nan, you bad, bad girl ! Poor Prissie's face 
 Is pinker than a rose. 
 
 Whose turn comes next ? " 
 " Oh, let the children say their verses now," 
 Said Cousin Nan — adding, sotto voce, 
 " I've drilled them -to within a half an inch 
 Of their dear lives, and yet I warrant you 
 That every one of them will miss two-thirds 
 Of all I meant for them to say. Come, Claire 1 " 
 Claire drew her tiny figure up, and spoke 
 As easily as though she thought the world 
 Was made for her especial heritage : 
 " As story-telling is the rule this eve, 
 
I08 COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 
 
 I'll tell my story of a little girl, 
 Whose parents died while she was yet a babe, 
 And left her to her grand sire's tender care j 
 A quaint old German basket-maker, he." 
 
 Little Machen. 
 
 " Up a few steps higher, Machen, 
 
 Only up anoder flight ; 
 Are your little feet aweary 
 
 Mit der walk dey took to-night ? 
 
 Ah, you could not sell der baskets, 
 
 And your very step is sad. 
 Come and sing to me, my darling. 
 
 It will make my old heart glad. 
 
 Yes ! your voice is growing stronger ; 
 
 It was always sweet and clear ; 
 Softly, Machen, sing more softly. 
 
 Lest some one outside should hear. 
 
 Now remember what I tell you, 
 
 Never sing a vord or note 
 On d' street or in d' alley ; 
 
 Keep der song-birds in your throat ; 
 
 Keep them all for me, my Machen ; 
 
 Never mind if we are poor ; 
 We will never sell our music 
 
 For der money, dat is sure. 
 
 Sing again ! Your voice revives me 
 Like a draught of cool, red wine. 
 
 And I seem to hear der echoes 
 Of d' falling of d' Rhine. 
 
COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY, jOQ 
 
 Hand me down my dear old viol, 
 
 Let me hear it wailing low ; 
 I shall e'en forget my blindness, 
 
 It will charm avay my woe ; 
 
 Dear! you know der rent is heavy, 
 
 And we move to-morrow night, 
 Up anoder story, Machen, 
 
 Only up anoder flight." 
 
 Little Machen listened sadly, 
 
 To her Grand sire's rambhng talk ; 
 True it was, her feet were weary 
 
 With her long and fruitless walk ; 
 
 And -her heart was full of trouble, 
 
 For their little store of gold 
 Lessened slowly, lessened surely. 
 
 As the passing days were told ; 
 
 She could count the landlord's visits 
 By the plaintive news at night : 
 " Up anoder stor)^, Machen, 
 Only up anoder flight." 
 
 "I am going, little Machen;" 
 
 Grandsire's voice was weak and low ; 
 
 " I was wrong to hush d' song-birds 
 In your throat — dey warble so, 
 
 Dey would bring you food, and fortune, 
 Dey would bring you gold, and gear ; 
 
 Ah, 'tis late ! too late, my Machen, 
 Hush ! your mutter's voice I hear, 
 
no COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 
 
 Come to guide me on my journey, 
 
 To her home of love and Hght ; 
 Up a little higher, Machen, 
 
 Only up anoder flight." 
 
 Years went by ; a glorious, singer, 
 
 Makes a million hearts rejoice, 
 With her life's pure, quiet beauty, 
 
 And the magic of her voice. 
 
 And we know her music thrills us 
 With such wondrous power to-night, 
 
 Just because her heart is always 
 Ready for higher flight. 
 
 4: ^ ^ ^ 4: ^ 
 
 "Well done, dear girlie !" Grandma softly says; 
 
 But Nan is in a hurry ; — she breaks in : 
 ** Now, Lu — you good folks please to understand 
 
 Lu is thirteen, and studies woman's rights ; 
 
 She wrote her piece for some school festival." 
 
 Lu stood by Auntie and recited thus : 
 
 The Question. 
 
 Schoolmates — girls, I mean, — one question 
 
 Rises now to be discussed ; 
 And I think, if we can meet it, 
 
 That we ought to, and we must. 
 
 It has reference to our future. 
 
 And it tells us, plain and true, 
 That, whatever may siuTound us, 
 
 We, ourselves, have work to do. 
 
COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. m 
 
 True, we may have friends, to guide us, 
 They, with love, our paths may pave, 
 
 And our homes may be kept safe, by 
 Father strong, and brothers brave. 
 
 But, when father's brow grows furrowed, 
 
 And his hair with silver blended. 
 Then we know too welt how soon his 
 
 Earthly journey may be ended. 
 
 And our brothers care far more 
 
 (Though they may not be unkind) 
 For some other fellow's sister 
 
 Than their own, we often find. 
 
 More than this, we know a lesson. 
 
 Taught us in our early youth, 
 That, though words may be mistaken, 
 
 Figures always speak the truth. 
 
 And the truth is not a secret ; 
 
 For the stern statistics say 
 There are seventy thousand women 
 
 More than men alive, to-day, 
 
 In the limits of New England ; 
 
 And the Bay State has her share, 
 Counting, as her steady surplus. 
 
 Forty thousand daughters fair. 
 
 Girls, this may seem a misfortune ; 
 
 But, — old things must pass away, 
 And we'll hold a large majority 
 
 Of votes, some coming day. 
 
112 CO USIN NANNE TTE'S STOR Y. 
 
 Therefore, let us never falter 
 
 In the path of education, 
 For our truth and trust may yet be 
 
 The salvation of the nation. 
 
 And through any storm or sunshine 
 
 One plain fact we'll keep in view, 
 That whatever may surround us. 
 
 We, ourselves, have work to do. 
 
 ^ H: ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 Lu had her generous share of praise, be sure ; 
 
 But soon Aunt Nan, impatient, called, " Here, Fred ! " 
 
 And Fred brushed up his sunny hair, and said : 
 
 " Friends, if I must apologize, my ' piece ' 
 
 Is very local in significance ; 
 
 'Twas written when our town gave up her name, 
 
 And took another, prettier, we think." 
 
 " Wakefield." 
 
 In a time long since departed, 
 So the ancient legends tell us. 
 Came a handful of brave workers, 
 Sturdy men and women, true. 
 And they built a little hamlet, 
 Close beside a brawling river, 
 Wliere the " waterfalls" were plenty, 
 Though the silken gowns were few. 
 
 First a dozen log-built houses, 
 Then a church, and then a saw-mill, 
 Then a school-house, for the children 
 
 Grow, like field-flowers, everywhere ; 
 
COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 113 
 
 Then the half-fledged baby village 
 Must be christened ; in due order ; 
 And their truant hearts turned backward 
 To old England, stern but fair. 
 
 Wide and wild the little township 
 Stretched away o'er hill and meadow, 
 And they called the clearing Reading, 
 For the home across the sea ; 
 And their children's children's children 
 Scattered ; founded other hamlets ; 
 And, by adding points of compass 
 Grew, like one great family ; 
 
 Reading West, and North, and South, too, 
 Daughters of old mother Reading. 
 But a change comes o'er the spirit 
 Of the matron's household dream, 
 For her youngest child has vanished, 
 Like the "Ancient Arrow Maker's," 
 And South Readifig lives no longer 
 Save in memory's fading gleam. 
 
 In the fairest pillared mansion 
 
 That ere graced our lake's green border. 
 
 Where no childish footsteps fall on 
 
 Terraced walk or marble pave, 
 
 Where the pea-fowls flaunt their gorgeous plumes 
 
 And tropic blossoms brighten, 
 There, there lives our noble patron, f| 
 
 Who this patronymic gave. 
 
 And in honoring his bounty, 
 May we each, as faithful students, 
 
114 ' COUSIN NANNETTES STORY. 
 
 "Wake to fields of progress brighter 
 Than we've ever known before ; 
 And with thanks to Mother Reading 
 For her early care and training, 
 Heart and voice we turn to Wakefield ; 
 Wakefield now and evermore. 
 
 V ^ ^ ■ ^ ^ H* 
 
 ' Tliree cheers for Wakefield ; " shouted Cousin Tom ; 
 And every boy rings out a lusty cheer 
 As if to air his lungs. " Now, Jasper dear." 
 Aunt Nan's fond look of happy pride tells well, 
 Which child among them all she loves the best ; 
 She puts her arm about him, as he says : 
 
 The Walking Doll. 
 
 Did you think it was fashioned of wax or of wood. 
 With a main-spring inside to be wound with a key? 
 
 Did you think it would turn round its bright little head, 
 And smile upon you, as it smiles upon me ? 
 
 I saw how politely you lifted your hat, 
 
 And I guessed at the sneer that your lip let fall ; 
 
 You were chatting of her at the club, last night, 
 
 And you called her — I heard you — a "Walking Doll 
 
 You are counting the cost of her dresses, you say, 
 And you scold that her style is so faultlessly calm ; 
 
 You hint that a crown would look well on her brow. 
 And a sceptre rest light in her firm rosy palm. 
 
 But her heart is as true as her beauty is fair. 
 
 And herwarm blush comes quick at a fond whisper's call, 
 
 And a story of trouble or sorrow will bring 
 
 Two tears to the eyes of that "Walking Doll !" 
 
COUSIN NANNETTE'S STORY. 
 
 115 
 
 By the way ! did I tell you ? A card for you here ! 
 
 A reception next Wednesday. Oh yes, I shall go. 
 You had better look in ; no ! there'll not be a crowd ; 
 
 At three hundred and twenty ! her father's, you know. 
 
 Well, yes ! There's a wedding that morning at ten ; 
 
 The reception is later. Now, don't fail to call, 
 For the fact is — the fact is — don't stare so, old friend, 
 
 I'm going to marry that " Walking Doll." 
 
 Aunt Nannette stared as though she thought the boy 
 Had taken sudden leave of all his wits ; 
 His father laughed ! " You quizzical young rogue, 
 Where did you learn that bit of nonsense ; say ! 
 Can't you repeat the pretty New Year's rhymes, 
 Aunt Margaret wrote, a long long time ago, 
 Before your Uncle Willie went to Heaven ? " 
 Then the spoiled Laddie shrugged his shoulders up, 
 And spoke again. 
 
 The Snow- Storm, 
 
 " With never a plume by the wind set humming," 
 The snow has come and still is coming. 
 Soft and slow, through the pathless air, 
 Like millions of messenger birdlings fair. 
 
 Floating with measureless, matchless grace. 
 Through the mystical, cloud-circled, silvery space, 
 And the children are planning with boisterous zeal 
 Some sport for the morrow as children will. 
 
 But John, a young gentleman, turns away 
 With impatient words from their merry play, 
 
r 
 
 1 1 6 CO USIN NAMNE TTE'S STOR Y. 
 
 And looks with half-angry, regretful eyes, 
 At the cool soft gray of the sunset skies. 
 
 For John is intending, to-morrow, to ride, 
 With his lady fair, down to Ingleside ; 
 And he vows that to usher the New Year in, 
 With that nasty storm, seems a deuced sin. 
 
 Stephen laughs loudly, and shakes his head, 
 As he ties a new rope to his half-worn sled ; 
 Prissie grows pink 'neath her hair's sunny gleam, 
 As sleigh-bells and moonlight enliven her dream. 
 
 Nan hums a song, and her eyes flash bright. 
 As she rattles her skates with impatient delight ; 
 But dear little Willie turns round in his chair. 
 Saying gravely, " Oh ! John, you should be 'shonied to 
 swear. 
 
 On'y see how the dirty black road grows white ; 
 The Angels are shedding their fedders to-night ; 
 Shedding their fedders to keep us warm, 
 They don't know it's a nasty storm." 
 
 Darling Willie ! Our household joy ; 
 John stands rebuked by the sober-faced boy, 
 Mother bends low with a kiss for her pet, 
 ^nd he wonders what makes his forehead wet. 
 
 But the wild North wind that is rising and humming, 
 And the snow that has come, and still is coming. 
 Bring a deeper peace and a kindlier rest 
 For the quaint sweet thought by the child expressed. 
 
 ^ % ^ ^ H< ^ 
 
CO USIN NANNE TTE' S STOR V. jiy 
 
 Then Uncle Christopher's Laurette drew near, 
 Joined the gay group, and told a story bright, 
 Of a defiant, brave-eyed country-girl. 
 Who valued patriotism more than pride. 
 And gave her handsome city lover up, 
 Becaiise he shirked his duty, as she thought. 
 
Il8 COUSIN LAURETTE'S STORY. 
 
 XI . 
 
 COUSIN LAURETTE'S STORY. 
 
 [Will, My Brother.] 
 
 Will, my brother, has bright blue eyes, 
 And his high white brow is broad and fair. 
 
 And seventeen summers have dipped and browned 
 The golden curls that he used to wear. 
 
 But Claude, my lover, has eyes of jet. 
 
 And hair like the gloss of the raven's plume ; 
 
 His lips are redder than coral, wet. 
 
 And his cheek is dark, with its bearded bloom. 
 
 And Claude is twenty-seven years old ; 
 
 A man on Wall Street's crowded mart, 
 With his scheming brain and his gleaming gold ; 
 
 But little Will is a man, in heart. 
 
 For when far and wide had the summons flown, 
 " Men to arms ! for your country's sake ! " 
 
 *' Liberty totters upon her throne ! " 
 
 " Freedom is jeopardized ! " " Right at stake ! " 
 
 Though Claude belonged to the First Brigade, 
 And held a Lieutenant's commission too, 
 
 Though he liked the glitter of dress parade, 
 Yet there came a rumor, whence, none knew, 
 
COUSIN LAURETTAS STORY, 
 
 That he had decided not to go ; 
 
 Had taken his name from the company's roll. 
 Resigned his commission and left the ranks. 
 
 Oh, Claudius ! Claudius ! where was your soul ? 
 
 But I spurned the thought that he feared to die, 
 So I fashioned shirts of the softest wool ; 
 
 And knit such socks as no wealth could buy, 
 And stitched upon each his name in full, 
 
 And w^aited and watched, day after day ; 
 
 Upon tlie morrow the troops would start ; 
 And the lagging hours could scarce keep pace 
 
 With the weary throbs of my anguished heart. 
 
 But he came, at last 1 In the twilight gloom, 
 When the busy cares of the day were o'er ; 
 
 He came from his far away city home, 
 And sat him down by my father's door. 
 
 The hand that I gave him grew cold with fear, 
 
 And his welcoming kiss touched a tear-wet cheek ; 
 
 I shuddered, to think of our parting, so near, 
 And chided my fond heart for being so w^eak. 
 
 But what were the words he said, think you ? 
 
 As v/e sat alone by the parlor grate ? 
 Why ! that all the story I'd heard was true, 
 
 And to leave home, now, would be tempting fate. 
 
 " For you knovv^," he remarked, with a glance of pride, 
 " 'Tis not as though I were a laboring man ; 
 
 I have gold to win for my promised bride, 
 And work to do that no other can." 
 
 119 
 
I20 COUSIN LAURETTES STORY, 
 
 At first I listened with speechless scorn, 
 To the soft excuses he murmured o'er ; 
 
 Then I called him " a coward," " a traitor born/'" 
 And bade him leave me forevermore. 
 
 And Claude, my lover, grew angry then, 
 
 And cursed a " Yankee girl's swerveless grit ; " 
 
 I tossed him a taunt for "New York men," 
 And thus we parted — " Peace follow it." 
 
 Next morn down the staircase came brother Will, 
 Wearing his uniform dress throughout ; 
 
 His graceful figure looked slighter still, 
 But his heart was brave and strong, no doubt. 
 
 I gave him the package of clothes I had wrought 
 
 For a taller form and a stronger arm ; 
 His face grew dark with a troubled thought, 
 
 But he said, " I take them; a sister's charm." 
 
 Then he added proudly, " You know my place, 
 I am standard-bearer for ' Company A,' 
 
 And I never held our beautiful flag 
 
 With a firmer hand than I shall to-day." 
 
 ' Father ! your blessing is all I crave. 
 
 Mother ! one kiss ! and now, good-by. 
 No nobler bed than a soldier's grave 
 
 I ask, when my country calls to die." 
 
 O Claude, my lover, to-night has pressed 
 His beautiful couch in his marble home ; 
 
 While Will, my brother, lies down to rest, 
 
 Wrapped in his blanket, 'neath Heaven's blue dome. 
 
COUSIN LAUREATE'S STORY. 12 1 
 
 And which in the great All Father's sight 
 
 Does best the mission of man fulfil ? 
 Which walks nearest to God and the right — 
 
 Claude, my lover, or brother Will ? 
 
 He ^ ^ ^ H< ^ 
 
 " They were not lovers," murmured Cousin Bess. 
 ** She did not love him, or she never could 
 Have given him up so easily." 
 
 " Oh, fie," 
 Said Cousin Kittie. "Don't talk sentiment, 
 I'd rather hear war stories, even though 
 They must be sad. I'll tell you now about 
 Little boy blue — Aunt Betsey's sister's boy." 
 
 Charlie. 
 
 " The boys are going to enlist," 
 
 Cried Charlie ; " and to-day 
 I'll put my name down next to theirs j 
 
 Say, father, if I may ? ' 
 
 But father only shook his head, 
 
 And answered very slow : 
 " You're such a little, pale-faced boy, 
 
 They'll never let you go. 
 
 " Why, Will is twenty-four years old. 
 
 And 'Liab scarcely less ; 
 Just fit to rough it in the camp ; 
 
 They'll stand it well, I guess." 
 
 "But, father, I am strong, you know. 
 
 And growing older fast ; " 
 And so with many eager words 
 
 The cause was won at last. 
 
122 COUSIN LAURETTE'S STORY. 
 
 And Charlie, o'er whose slender form 
 Scarce seventeen years have fled, 
 
 With Will and 'Liab sleeps to-night 
 Upon his soldier bed. 
 
 The sturdy Germans rise as though 
 
 'Twere Faderland at stake, 
 And Erin's jolly sons pour forth 
 
 For Mother Countrie's sake. 
 
 And more — our pale-browed Yankee boys 
 Leave home and school and farm, 
 
 To face a cruel enemy. 
 Mid every kind of harm. 
 
 Therefore we know, though foreign hearts 
 Are stout and arms are strong, 
 
 We can depend on native strength 
 To right our country's wrong. 
 
 God keep thee, Charlie. Danger ne'er 
 
 Shall dim thy laughing eye. 
 Or steal the dimples from thy cheek, 
 
 Or make thee fear to die. 
 
 And while our troubled country needs 
 
 The strength of thy right arm. 
 We know thy brave heart will not shrink 
 
 From any coming harm. 
 H< * * * * * 
 
 Po'.'.' Charlie ! He came home all wearied out, 
 Witi"v camp and march and sound of battle strife. 
 And kissed his mother, and just drooped and died. 
 
 Then some young urchin told of 
 
COUSIN LAURETTE'S STORY. 
 
 Corporal Jim. 
 
 123 
 
 He bade us farewell wiih a droll, sober smile, 
 
 That told us how fearless his heart felt, the while ; 
 
 But he said when he left us : "I never shall write. 
 
 Come murder or mercy, come frolic or fight ; 
 
 So don't watch the mails till your dear eyes grow dim." 
 
 Oddest of mortals is Corporal Jim. 
 
 We sent him a box full of treasures, one day, 
 Which he shared with his messmates in his sober way. 
 "And now," cried the boys, "you will certainly write 
 To acknowledge the gift that has reached us to-night." 
 " Oh, the candles are out, and the camp-fires are dim ; 
 You don't catch me writing," laughed Corporal Jim. 
 
 But we know, in his heart, he was breathing a prayer 
 Of thanks for New England, and cherished friends there. 
 Though southward his feet and his fancies may roam. 
 He will not forget that the Northland is home. 
 His few quiet words are sufficient for him, 
 We're willing to wait for you, Corporal Jim. 
 
 In quick response came quiet Cousin Jim 
 
 Who told a story of his soldier life ; 
 
 While all the little ones were kissed "good-night !' 
 
 And borne upstairs and tucked away in bed. 
 
 Then Cousin Tom pretended he had found 
 Nannette's portfolio, and from that he read 
 
124 COUSIN^ LAURETTE'S STORY. 
 
 Anniversary Eve. 
 
 *Twas just such a night as this 
 
 Not a thousand winters ago, 
 I sat in this very parlor dim, 
 Watching the moonbeams flickering in. 
 
 And the firehght's steadier glow. 
 
 And there was another here ; 
 
 Oh memory full of pain ; 
 The words he whispered so low in mine ear 
 I fancied the angels might smile to hear, 
 
 While the old clock throbbed a refrain. 
 
 He asked, '■'■ Will my Nannie walk 
 
 By my side through our coming life? j 
 
 Will you lay your beautiful hands in mine, \ 
 
 Thiough the winter's chill and the summer's shine, | 
 
 And be my bride, my wife ? " 
 
 With never a thought of fear 
 
 I answered him, sober and true ; 
 " Life is lonely and dark and drear, 
 Love is sweet and friends are dear — 
 
 Allan, I'll go with you." 
 
 Then he placed on my finger white 
 
 My blue betrothal ring, 
 And bade me wear it until my life 
 Was merged in his ; his bride, his wife, 
 
 Whatever fate might bring. 
 
COUSIN lAurette's story. 125 
 
 Oh, ring in thy velvet case ! 
 
 With thy diamond eye gleaming still, 
 Oh, cruel lover, with all thy grace ! 
 Sad, sad is the memory-haunted place 
 
 In my weary heart, that ye fill. 
 
 God pity thee ! faithless one ! 
 
 God pity thy fair young bride ! 
 Her life will be darkened forevermore 
 By the curse that lieth at thy heart's door. 
 
 Thy perjury and thy pride. 
 
 ^ :{: ^ ^ ^ 4: 
 
 The cousins, looking at each other, said : 
 " Who would believe that merry-eyed Nannette 
 Had ever known such trouble as that tells ? " 
 But Tom read on : 
 
 Here is another bit 
 She calls " Profitless Work" — Let's see what 'tis. 
 
 Profitless Work. 
 
 " I have been spinning, Allan, 
 
 Spinning a golden thread, 
 Rarely bright — and the spinning-wheel 
 
 Was only my foolish head. 
 Only the wild, sweet fancies 
 
 Of my happy heart and brain. 
 Forming themselves into visions 
 
 That never may come again. 
 And I have been v»^eaving, Allan, 
 
 Weaving my thread of gold." 
 
 * Now, Cousin Nettie," called Nannette's gay voice 
 " Or you or Cousin Tom, no more excuse 
 Will we accept from either one of you." 
 
126 COUSIN LAURETTE'S STORY. 
 
 " I've said my verses," promptly answered Tom, 
 
 Hiding the stolen paper out of sight, 
 
 " While you were oif upstairs. They read like this ; 
 
 The Faded Rose. 
 
 I overturned my writing desk 
 
 And found — oh, pity me ! 
 The pale ghost of a buried love 
 
 I never thought to see. 
 
 I grasped it as the miser grasps 
 
 His hoarded golden ore. 
 And scorned myself for touching it, 
 
 And only held it more. 
 
 A lover's gift, a faded rose 
 
 Pinned to a tiny sheet. 
 On which he wrote, " I'm coming soon, 
 
 Your waiting lips to greet. 
 
 Don't watch your eyes out, darling. 
 
 For the lighted evening train, 
 You'll see me when the Sabbath bells. 
 
 Ring out their sweet refrain." 
 
 And so he came ! How memory paints 
 
 That long, bright summer day ; 
 And all the loving words he spoke 
 
 In the hours we dreamed away. 
 
 Weak, foolish words ; I thought they were 
 
 Forgotten long ago. 
 When first I learned their teachery, 
 
 And reeled beneath the blow. 
 
COUSIN LAURETTE'S STORY. 
 
 Oh glistening wealth, oh golden lure, 
 
 You tempted his vain pride, 
 I thought he counted love worth more 
 
 Than all the world beside. 
 
 But I would not that his pretty wife 
 Should guess what bonds he brake, 
 
 Or know the cruel wrong he wrought 
 For less than her sweet sake. 
 
 Then stay, old rose — I'll keep you now 
 Lest some day, who knows who 
 
 May speak such fond sweet words as those, 
 And I believe them true. 
 
 ^ * * :Js * ijt 
 
 Nannette flushed painfully, and turned away. 
 
 But Tom puts out a pleading, coaxing hand : 
 
 " O Cousin, don't be angry, for you know 
 
 I would not hurt your feelings for the world. 
 
 Forgive me, please, and I'll hunt up for you 
 
 A reminiscence of my vanished youth." 
 
 " Don't do it, Tom," Aunt Prudence gravely says, 
 
 " Your youth time was quite bad enough at best ; 
 
 And, having passed, you'd better let it rest." 
 
 "Now, Auntie, if you hadn't said a word," 
 
 Tom answers quick, "I wouldn't have betrayed 
 
 Your influence upon my early life ; 
 
 I'll do it now. So listen, for here goes : 
 
 1:27 
 
128 COUSIN TOM'S STORY \ 
 
 XII. 
 
 COUSIN TOM'S STORY. 
 
 [Youthful Experience.] 
 
 Aunt Prue was a little particular, 
 
 And I was a little gay, 
 So when she caught me doing things 
 
 She thought were out of the way — 
 
 She'd drive me into a corner 
 
 With her questions, cute and clear^ 
 
 And sometimes, dodge or no dodge 
 I couldn't quite keep clear. 
 
 At last, when I grew a big fellow, 
 
 A score of years or so, 
 I fell in love with a beauty ; 
 
 Her name was Nettie Snow. 
 
 'Twas then Aunt Prue made manifest 
 Her righteous Baptist ire ; 
 
 For Nettie sang first treble 
 In the Unitarian choir. 
 
 She told me all the awful texts 
 A Parson ere could show forth 
 
 About '* the unbelieving soul ; " 
 " Be ye not yoked," and so forth ; 
 
COUSIN TOM'S STORY. 
 
 ,'TiIl she .thought the thing was settled 
 
 Beyond a chance for doubt ; 
 But I hankered after Nettie 
 
 And this was what came about : 
 
 One day, in the hottest weather, 
 
 (I won't forget it soon, 
 The Baptist meeting was over 
 
 Quite early, that afternoon,) 
 
 Aunt Prue heard a sound of music, 
 That throbbed on the summer air, 
 
 So she stole in softly, to listen 
 To the Unitarian choir. 
 
 Unconscious of any danger, 
 
 I stood by Nettie's side, 
 My soul on her voice floating outward, 
 
 Like a barque on a sunny tide. 
 
 And after the benediction, 
 
 I lingered to see her home, 
 And loitered, and talked, and murmured, 
 
 'Till the stars began to come. 
 
 Then I hurried me home to supper ; 
 
 Aunt Prue, with a quiet air. 
 Asked, " Tom, do you know who sings tenor 
 
 In the Unitarian choir ? " 
 
 I thought perhaps some one had told her 
 That I had been there that day ; 
 
 So I said — " It's a fellow who looks like me, 
 But what his name is, I can't say." 
 6* 
 
 I2Q 
 
130 
 
 COUSIN TOM'S STORY. 
 
 Said she — That fellow who looks like you 
 Must have borrowed your coat to wear, 
 
 And she took from my tell-tale shoulder 
 A long, bright golden hair. 
 
 Well ! I found Aunt Prue was worried, 
 
 And so for a time I tried 
 To give up all thoughts of Nettie, 
 
 At least as my future bride. 
 
 But the old love was earnest and faithful, 
 I could not persuade it to die ; 
 
 I wanted to see my treasure 
 
 Once more ; just to say good-by. 
 
 So I went with Aunt Prue to the Baptists 
 
 All day, (Good boy, you see,) 
 And when she was reading her hymn-book 
 
 In the parlor after tea — 
 
 I did not wait for permission, 
 
 As you may well suppose, 
 But I took a bee-line through the meadows 
 
 On my way to Dr. Snow* s. 
 
 And soon I peeped in at the window, 
 And who do you think was there ? 
 
 Why, my cousin John a-sitting, 
 As straight as a cob, in a chair. 
 
 His best Sunday-meeting clothes on. 
 He looked well enough ; but then, 
 
 If some one had routed that fellow. 
 How glad I'd have said Amen. 
 
COUSIN TOM'S STORY. 
 
 But Nettie, the blessed angel, 
 
 Her face flushed pink with surprise ; 
 
 I knew she was glad to see me, 
 By the curious look in her eyes. 
 
 We chatted till John grew angry; 
 
 " I guess I'll be going, said he ; " 
 And I feared the old folks would scold her, 
 
 For they liked him better than me. 
 
 So I said, " I'd go too," and together 
 We climbed the old meadow stile ; 
 
 And he said "he had just concluded 
 To go out West, for awhile." 
 
 I tried to express my sorrow, 
 And "wished I was going too ; " 
 
 But I was religiously lying, 
 
 A fact which he very well knew. 
 
 Soon after he left us, the young folks 
 
 Were going to ride one day ; 
 I wanted to go and take Nettie, 
 
 So I studied and planned a way. 
 
 The morning came ; I was shaving, 
 And Odin was cutting around ; 
 
 A ten-year-old, fuller of mischief 
 Than a church-bell is of sound. 
 
 I thought I must hear from Nettie, 
 
 So I told him to go to see 
 If she was getting ready, 
 
 And be sure to call her he. — 
 
 131 
 
132 
 
 COUSIN TOM'S STORY. 
 
 For I was determined Aunt Prudence 
 Should think I had gone with a man ; 
 
 " Oh, yes," said the good-natured monkey, 
 "I'll hurry as fast as I can." 
 
 Off he went, and was back in a jiffy ; 
 
 I asked : " Well, what did he say ? " 
 '■'■He said, 'he was almost ready; 
 
 He is glad it's a pleasant day.' " 
 
 " And what was he doing ? " Aunt Prue asked, 
 
 With such a grave, innocent air, 
 I knew my poor trick was discovered ; 
 
 I was angry enough to swear. 
 
 " He was, ah ! he was, ma'am ! he was, ah ! " 
 I strangled myself with a cough ; 
 
 " He was just putting on his new bonnet ; " 
 And the mischievous imp ran off. 
 
 I sank down, as weak as a baby ; 
 
 She'd up and tell grandsire, of course, 
 And then, he could keep me from going, 
 
 By fussing about the horse. 
 
 I was sulkily thinking it over ; 
 
 There was not a word to be said, 
 I hated myself so badly ; 
 
 When a hand fell light on my head. 
 
 I looked up ; Aunt Prue's eyes were smiling; 
 
 " My foolish boy," said she, 
 " If you find that new bonnet becoming. 
 
 You'd better ask him home to tea." 
 
COUSIN TCM'S STORY. 133 
 
 Dear, patient, long-suffering Auntie, 
 
 She never would teaze me again ; 
 My heart brimmed over with gladness, 
 
 And whispered, Amen, Amen. 
 
 She knew that nor creed nor doctrine, 
 Two loving young hearts should divide ; 
 
 And now, you all want me to tell you. 
 How fair Nettie looked as a bride ? 
 
 Well, yes ; she was married next spring-time, 
 Aunt Prue knows just how she was drest ; 
 
 And I was the bridegroom ? Not any ! 
 'Twas my cousin John, from the West. 
 
 ^ ^ H: ^ 4: ^ 
 
 The hearty echoing laugh, that once or twice 
 
 Had broken up the solemn monotone 
 
 Of Cousin Tom's recital, rang again 
 
 As he ceased speaking, and the girls cried out, 
 
 " Oh, what a shame for you to cheat us so 
 
 Of the one grain of romance, that we thought 
 
 Lay hidden in your story. Surely, then, 
 
 You should have married Nettie." " Well, perhaps," 
 
 And Tom sighed mockingly. " We never know 
 
 Just what we should do, dears." And then he turned 
 
 With, "Who speaks next?" And dear Aunt Margaret 
 
 said, 
 'There's John's wife crooning o'er her baby boy j 
 I know she likes to chatter." 
 
 " After you. 
 Dear Auntie," pleaded pretty Mrs. John ; 
 And so Aunt Margaret, being hardly urged, 
 Tells us a story of her Southern life. 
 
134 
 
 AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 [The Octoroon.] 
 
 In the palmy days of slavery, 
 
 A score of years ago, 
 A pretty, dark-skinned Octoroon, 
 
 Was singing, soft and low, 
 A song, to please her baby, 
 
 As in her arms it lay — 
 A dainty, dimpled, fair-haired boy, 
 
 A twelvemonth old that day. 
 
 Strange home for child or woman ; 
 
 Her quick ear often heard. 
 Mid the click of dice and glasses, 
 
 Many a loud and angry word. 
 For her Philip was a gambler ; 
 
 But she never dreamed or thought 
 Of any shame or sorrow 
 
 For the wrong he might have wroughc. 
 
 She called him " Phil," or " Philip," 
 
 "My man," sometimes "my boy," 
 And took, in baby, home, and him, 
 
 A woman's natural joy. 
 " He plays seven-up till midnight," 
 
 She often, laughing, told; 
 " And then, like other gentlemen, 
 
 Comes home and counts his gold. 
 
AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 "Save when he's up the river 
 
 On the Princess or Dian, 
 Then me and baby wait for him 
 
 And do the best we can." 
 And he was always kind to her, 
 
 "He gave her jewels rare, 
 And praised her graceful figure, 
 
 And her long and shining hair. 
 
 While she was always happy, 
 
 Singing French songs sweet and wild, 
 With a voice as full of music 
 
 As the laughter of a child. 
 But one midnight, she was waiting 
 
 For his footstep on the stair, 
 Came a tramp of measured meaning, 
 
 Throbbing on the silent air. 
 
 Came a sound of troubled voices, 
 
 Filling all her heart with dread ; 
 Comrades bearing up a burden. 
 
 Cold and lifeless ! Phil was dead ! 
 Like a sudden blow it smote her 
 
 With a desolate sense of grief; 
 No faintness came to shield her, 
 
 And no tears to bring relief. 
 
 Oh ! to escape that heart-ache. 
 
 And the dumb, bewildering pain. 
 How gladly would she fall asleep. 
 
 And never wake again; 
 Only baby must be cared for. 
 
 He was Philip's baby still. 
 With his father's Saxon beauty, 
 
 I^er own darling little Phil. 
 
 135 
 
136 AUNT MARGARET' S STORY. 
 
 Then she wondered, vaguely dreaming, 
 
 As a weary child might do, 
 If her Philip left a heap of gold. 
 
 For her, and baby too ; 
 Still she watched, with heart near bm-sting, 
 
 When they bore his form away, 
 Then she listened to the prosing 
 
 Of two lawyers old and gray, 
 
 As they talked of debts of honor, 
 
 Of the house and horses fine, 
 Of the furniture and jewelry. 
 
 Of plate, perhaps, and wine; 
 Then ! Ah then, what was the meaning 
 
 Of the words they muttered o'er, 
 As they said the " Wench and baby 
 
 Ought to bring a thousand more." 
 
 Quickened ear and comprehension 
 
 Caught each careless tone and word ; 
 Knew too well the tricks of trade, to 
 
 Doubt the cruel truth she heard ; 
 But when they so gruffly told her 
 
 There would be a sale to-morrow, 
 Then her voice wailed out in 
 
 Piteous cry of bitterness and sorrow. 
 
 " Oh ! I know Phil never meant that 
 
 Me and baby should be sold ; 
 Why ! I've been his 'little woman' 
 
 Since I'se only twelve years old. 
 He won me from the Cap' en 
 
 When they played sev'n-up one night; 
 An he's tole me more'n a thousand times 
 
 He's sure to make it right. 
 
AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 The Cap'n was my father, 
 
 Cap'n Winslow, of Belleaire ; 
 And you can't sell me and baby — 
 
 Oh ! you can't, you'll never dare." 
 Those men, so used to suffering. 
 
 And callous as they were, 
 Looked in each other's faces. 
 
 And paused to pity her. 
 
 But many a case was just as bad, 
 
 And some perhaps were worse ; 
 They could do nothing, any way. 
 
 The law must take its course ; 
 The broken-hearted mother tried, 
 
 In vain, to sleep that night ; 
 Her busy brain would conjure up 
 
 Some possible means of flight. 
 
 She shuddered with a vision 
 
 Of the bloodhounds on her track, 
 As she felt how deadly certain 
 
 They would be to bring her back. 
 Then she thought of little Philip, 
 
 As he slumbered in her arms, 
 With a burly-visaged trader 
 
 Gloating o'er his baby charms. 
 
 Counting up the money value 
 
 Of his sunny, waving hair, 
 Of his dainty lip's soft curving. 
 
 And his brow so broad and fair. 
 Oh ! She could not — could not bear it, 
 
 She would kill herself and him. 
 But across her 'wildered memory 
 
 Stole an echo, faint and dim. 
 
 137 
 
138 AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 Of some reverent childish teaching, I 
 
 Prayer to God, and faith and fear, 
 *' Lead us not into temptation ! " 
 
 Was He Ust'ning? Did He hear? 
 Then she thought of old Aunt Dinah 
 
 Who had taught her thus to pray. 
 Living, free, in Opelousas, 
 
 Half a score of miles away. 
 
 Well she knew she was a prisoner, 
 
 And the house was thronged with men'; 
 But she knew, too, that for years the 
 
 Place had been a gambler's den ; 
 And a long, low, vaulted chamber 
 
 Ran beneath the basement floor, 
 Opening far beyond detection 
 
 In a heavy hidden door. 
 
 Quick as thought her heart decided 
 
 That the danger should be braved; 
 Though her life should pay the forfeit. 
 
 Little Philip would be saved. 
 For they would not heed or miss her 
 
 Till the morning sun was high. 
 And she'd trust it all to Auntie ; 
 
 Any way, she could but die. 
 
 So she wrapped her sleeping treasure 
 
 In a mantle dark and thin, 
 Tied a gaudy-hued bandanna 
 
 'Neath her smoothly rounded chin, 
 Planned her flight to 'scape detection. 
 
 And removing every trace. 
 With the supple, stealthy movement 
 
 Of a leopard, left the place. 
 
 < 
 
AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 139 
 
 Soon the city lay behind her, 
 
 And the country opened fair, 
 Bathed in beauty, with thermoonHght 
 
 FalHng golden through the air. 
 But she paused not with her burden ; 
 
 Life or death still lay before, | 
 
 Till she struggled, worn and weary, | 
 
 To Aunt Dinah's cabin door. ^ 
 
 Hush ! A voice of prayer and pleading, I 
 
 On the midnight calm, she heard : 
 " Teach us, Lord, through all our blindness 
 
 To believe Thy precious Word ; . 
 
 Help us when our hearts are fainting, i 
 
 Guide us when we go astray, \ 
 
 Lead us in the paths we know not. 
 
 Nearer to Thee, day by day." i 
 
 \ 
 
 With her prescient soul awakened, '^ 
 
 By the strange magnetic thrill. 
 That beyond the outer senses 
 
 Whispers of some coming ill ; 
 With her spirit vision opened 
 
 By some viewless inner sight, 
 Old Aunt Dinah had arisen. 
 
 And was praying in the night. 
 
 In her strong black arms she gathered 
 
 Weary mother, wondering child. 
 And she listened to the story 
 
 Full of anguish deep and wild. 
 Knowing well she could not save them ; 
 
 For her love, though strong and bright, 
 Was as chaff before the whirhvind, 
 
 To the white man's power and might. 
 
140 
 
 AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 I vvould give my poor old heart's blood, 
 
 Every drop, for yours and you, 
 If I could but keep you, honey, 
 
 From this path yer walking through. 
 But I'se seen it all too often ; 
 
 Dey Vv^ill hunt yer if yer hide, 
 Dey will catch yer if yer fleeing, 
 
 Dey will scourge yer from my side. 
 
 Dey will take yer baby from ye ! 
 
 Stop ! De Lord's own voice I hear ! 
 Will yer trust yer precious treasure, 
 
 To my care, and leave him here ? 
 I will keep him from all danger, 
 
 Hide him where no eye can see, 
 And 'twill be a comfort, dearie, 
 
 If you allers know he's free. 
 
 Fifty years I served my massa ; 
 
 Toward the last he promised, sure, 
 I should have my freedom papers. 
 
 And it helped me to endure ; 
 But I bore him twenty children, 
 
 And while I've been growing old, 
 I have lived to see the last one 
 
 Taken from me ; yes ! and sold. 
 
 Gladly would I give the remnant, 
 
 Of my worn-out life to save 
 Either one of 'em, from being, 
 
 Just for one short hour, a slave. 
 Don't look so ! Give me the baby I 
 
 An' de moon is goin' down — 
 You mus' take my little donkey, chile, 
 
 And hurry back to town. 
 
AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 Ride him jus' as fur's yer dare to, 
 
 Den tie up de bridle rein, 
 Turn his head, and he's done sart'in 
 
 To come right smart home again. 
 I will pray for you to-morrow ; 
 
 Yes ! I know how hard it is ; 
 But we do the Father's bidding, 
 
 Not in our way, but in His." 
 
 Human nature shrank and quivered, 
 
 But the mother heart was brave ; 
 Giving up her child to freedom, 
 
 Turning back herself a slave. 
 When, next morning, she was summoned 
 
 From her room, she walked alone ; 
 Though her soft brown eyes burned darkly. 
 
 They were tearless, dry as stone. 
 
 And the lawyers, and the keepers, 
 
 Looking at her crouched away, 
 Minded by her wondrous beauty, 
 
 Of a tigress turned at bay ; 
 But a query ran among them, 
 
 Of the baby— " Where was he? " 
 Till she heard their words, and answered, 
 
 Very calmly — " He is free." 
 
 Free ? The house was strongly guarded, 
 
 Every window, every door ; 
 They had seen both child and mother. 
 
 Safely caged the night before ; 
 Not a human thing had ventured 
 
 O'er the threshold, that they knew, 
 And the hounds, with hungry voices. 
 
 Bayed outside, the whole night through. 
 
 141 
 
142 AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 Rapid search sufficed to show them 
 
 That the youngling was not there ; 
 Neither hint, nor trace, nor clue, 
 
 Could they discover anywhere. 
 Then, with threatening look and gesture, 
 
 To the mother they returned ; 
 And she said, with voice triumphant, 
 
 While her eyes still clearer burned, 
 
 " Strike me, minions, I expect it ; 
 
 Scourge me, burn me, beat and kill, 
 But it will not help you find him ; 
 
 He is free ! my darling Phil. 
 Think you I would fear to hide him 
 
 In the darkness of the grave. 
 Ah ! my baby's father's baby 
 
 Was not born to be a slave," 
 
 Superstitious, flushed with anger, 
 
 Yet with terror turning pale, 
 Sudden, selfish interest told them 
 
 It would hurt their chattel sale, 
 If the lash should sting her shoulders now, 
 
 Or mar her graceful hips, 
 And they knew no pain or torture 
 
 Could unseal a mother's lips. 
 
 So with furtive eyes they watched her. 
 
 Talking loud 'tween fear and fright, 
 Half afraid, 'mid their bravado. 
 
 She would vanish from their sight. 
 But she stood as stands the martyr 
 
 When his last frail hope dies out, 
 And the murmuring sea of voices 
 
 Rises to an awful shout; 
 
AUNT MARGARET'S STORY, 143 
 
 When he sees far oif the fagots piled, 
 
 The blazing torch beside, 
 And no kindly v/hisper greets liim 
 
 O'er that surging human tide. 
 Aye ! she stood as stands the niartjr 
 
 Hedged about by cruel wrong, 
 Save that, as the martyr raises 
 
 His triumphant voice in song, 
 
 All the ransomed harps of Heaven 
 
 Tuned to welcome he can hear, 
 While the angels and archangels 
 
 Seem to bend and hover near, 
 Bidding him be strong and patient 
 
 Through his one brief hour of pain. 
 That the victor's palm and conqueror's 
 
 Crown of glory he may gain. 
 
 But for her, alas ! the auction block 
 
 Was not a portal bright 
 Leading unto life eternal. 
 
 Far beyond earth's dreary night. 
 It was but the gate to perils 
 
 Which she knew not, could not know, 
 And a neAV life opened suddenly 
 
 Before her, full of woe. 
 
 Truly she was dark but comely ; 
 
 Cooler blood or colder sky 
 Never could have lit the changeful fire 
 
 That burned in her dark eye. 
 Never with such rare vermilion 
 
 Could have touched her lips soft red, 
 Or on cheek and brow such rosy 
 
 Tints of brown and amber spread. 
 
144 AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 But she thought not of her beauty, 
 
 As her heart beat fast and faster, 
 Gazing on those stranger faces, 
 
 Wond'ring which would be her master. 
 Scarce she heard the slow bids lagging, 
 
 Or the auctioneer's last call, 
 Heeded scarce the breathless silence, 
 
 Or the hammer's clinking fall. 
 
 But the horrid truth awoke her : 
 
 Going ! Going ! Gone ! it told, 
 That beyond all hope or dreaming 
 
 She was sold — to slavery ! Sold. 
 ****** 
 ** Come, children, children," Grandma's voice breaks in, 
 " Your auntie's story makes your eyes too bright, 
 Those troublous times are long since passed away, 
 It is not well to dwell upon them now." 
 " Oh ! please, Aunt Margaret, tell us more," they say, 
 
 " Tell us if she was treated kindly, do. 
 And did the little Philip grieve and die 
 Because he lost his mother ? Did she ne'er 
 See his sweet face again" — oh tell us more. 
 
 " Yes, dears, I'll tell you briefly what befell 
 
 The pretty Marian, — and how she fared. 
 
 A trader bought her — I have heard them tell 
 
 His name — I think they called him Captain Moore. 
 
 But soon he found some legal fault or flaw, 
 
 By which his claim was open to dispute ; 
 
 He dared not sell her for the liberal price 
 
 He hoped to gain, and so he talked with her, 
 
 Telling her, if she chose to go upon 
 
 The river, he would find for her a place 
 
 •i 
 
AUNT MARGARET'S STORY. 
 
 'Where she could easy earn a heap of gold,' 
 And so, by paying him a certain sura 
 Each week, (which they would both agree upon ;) 
 At last she might be free and own herself. 
 
 She clutched at the idea — and went at work 
 With such a ready zeal as only those 
 Can know who sometime in their lives have striven 
 For more than life or death. 
 
 Weeks grew to years, 
 And each their toil and compensation brought. 
 And still she floated on her palace home, 
 Forward and fro, and sometimes stole away 
 To Opelousas, where her baby boy, 
 Though frail and delicate, was living yet. 
 
 I cannot tell you how the debt at last 
 Was paid — it makes another story, dears. 
 But fate was kind, she found a happy home 
 Where love's warm sunshine dried her bitter tears. 
 And little Phil grew up, a thoughtful lad ; 
 I saw him at West Point not long ago 
 He gave me (with much hesitation, though) 
 A copy of a theme he wrote one day — 
 Only an old, old story, told in rhyme. 
 I'll read it, if you care to hear it now ; 
 And that shall end my story." 
 So she reads, 
 7 
 
 H5 
 
146 LITTLE PHIVS STORY. 
 
 XIV. 
 LITTLE PHIL'S STORY. 
 
 [A Legend of the Virgin.] 
 
 There is an ancient legend quaint and holy, 
 
 A story of a nun, 
 Who wearied of her convent life, so lowly 
 
 Ere it was well begun. 
 And watching, one day, when the gate was swinging 
 
 She fled, and ran away 
 Out to the wide bright world, whose voice seemed ringing 
 
 With music all the day. 
 
 They called her Angela, this erring sister, 
 
 So blind with discontent ; 
 But ere from out the convent walls they missed her, 
 
 The blessed Virgin went 
 And took the truant's place, and morn and even, 
 
 With patient love and care, 
 Performed the tasks, late to the wanderer given ; 
 
 The penance and the prayer. 
 
 Poor nun ! She found the brightness would not save her ; 
 
 The world was drear and lone ; 
 And when she asked for bread they only gave her 
 
 Words ! — colder than a stone. 
 Starving, at last, she thought ; starving and dying, 
 
 Back to the convent fold 
 She crept, in dread despair and lowly lying, 
 
 Begged of the Portress old, 
 
LITTLE PHIUS STORY. 
 
 Only a cup of water for the fever 
 
 That burned her hfe away ; 
 And when in death her eyes were closed forever, 
 
 That for her soul they'd jpray. 
 The Portress hasted eager to befriend her ; 
 
 But as she passed from sight, 
 A woman came, with face serenely tender 
 
 And eyes divinely bright, 
 
 And bending down with all her wondrous beauty. 
 
 She said : " Child, do not fear ; 
 Arise, and take again your 'customed duty. 
 
 No one has missed you here ; 
 See ! Am I not yourself? Not the wild maiden, 
 
 With thoughtless, curious face. 
 But what you might have been in this bright aiden. 
 
 For I have kept your place." 
 
 The blessed Virgin vanished ; and the sister 
 
 Took up the flowery cross. 
 Left by her shadow, where the sun had kissed her 
 
 Upon the wall's dark moss, 
 And when the Portress came, no wan one lay there, 
 
 Begging for bread and wine. 
 But Sister Angela pausing to pray there. 
 
 As usual, by the shrine. 
 
 And leaving as her gift that holy token, 
 
 The Cross, with blossoms wreathed. 
 As though, from every word she might have spoken, 
 
 Some angel presence breathed. 
 Thus, weary mortal, when your bright hopes fail you, 
 
 And seem to leave no trace. 
 Remember, they will, somewhere, yet avail you ; 
 
 Some angel keeps your place. 
 
 147 
 
148 LITTLE PHIVS STORY. 
 
 Immortal power is but from the immortal, 
 
 And truth can never lie ; 
 Soul speaks to soul, beyond form's cringing portal, 
 
 And Love can never die. 
 Though we may falter from our bright ideal. 
 
 Again, and yet again. 
 We always may be somewhere, strong, and real, 
 
 Whate'er "we might have been." 
 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
 
 " Oh, Auntie, that is lovely," said the girls ; 
 And tears, and smiles, and earnest, eager words 
 Came thick and fast as little birds in spring. 
 But when the comments and the chat ebbed low, 
 Then they turned back again to Mrs. John : 
 " Now, Cousin Nettie, you have no excuse ; 
 Remember, you have promised ; " but she said, 
 "Having been made a heroine, to-night. 
 An honor altogether undesired, 
 I think you might excuse me, for the time, 
 From further notoriety." But no ! 
 They'd have a story, at whatever price. 
 And so she told them what she knew about 
 Naming The Baby. 
 
COUSIN NETTIE'S STORY. 149 
 
 XV. 
 
 COUSIN NETTIE'S STORY. 
 [Naming the Baby.] 
 
 Seven years had we been married, 
 
 When this wee baby-boy 
 Came first to claim his share of love. 
 
 And bring his share of joy. 
 
 I remember I was sitting 
 
 In the twilight, cool and gray, 
 And waiting for my husband. 
 
 He was three weeks old, that day. 
 
 (The baby, not the husband. 
 
 Was three weeks old, you know,) 
 And soon I saw him coming, 
 
 And he kissed us, bending low. 
 
 The husband — not the baby — 
 
 Bent and kissed us, where we sat ; 
 And I said " This boy must have a name ; 
 
 John, what do you think of that ? " 
 
 ** Of course," he answered, promptly, 
 
 " The child must have a name ; 
 Do you know that I've been thinking, 
 
 All day, the very same." 
 
ISO 
 
 COUSIN NETTIE'S STORY. 
 
 " Well, then, why don't you name him," 
 
 I asked, and he replied, 
 " Oh you can name him — suit yourself, 
 
 And I'll be satisfied." 
 
 With sudden breath of fervor, 
 
 And patriotic thrill, 
 I said, " Let's name him Sheridan, 
 
 And call him Little Phil." 
 
 " Well ! yes ! Perhaps ! " John doubtful said, 
 
 And a frown crept in between 
 His quiet brows, " But then, you know, 
 
 It makes a man feel mean 
 
 To think he's named a baby for 
 
 Some public puppet, who. 
 Before the world turns over, 
 
 May fall completely through." 
 
 Now brave-eyed keen Phil Sheridan 
 
 Was quite my hero then, 
 I did not like to hear him classed 
 
 With common public men. 
 
 However, naming baby was 
 
 The work to do that night ; 
 So I said, " rd call him Willie, 
 
 If I only thought I might." 
 
 " Pshaw ! Willie ! That's too common," 
 
 John instantly replied. 
 " Well, what do you think of Herman ? " 
 
 " It's rather dignified !" 
 
COUSIN NETTIE'S STORY. 151 
 
 " And how do you like Augustine ? " 
 " Augustine ! . That sounds weak." 
 
 ♦* Well, Moses ! There ! " indignantly ; 
 "No, love, that's quite too meek." 
 
 " Then name him for yourself, you, John, 
 
 I'll promise to agree ; 
 But I'll not suggest another name ; 
 
 You find such fault with me." 
 
 " Oh don't be nervous, wifie," 
 
 John said, and stooped to give 
 The baby's face a little pinch; 
 
 " I guess this boy will live 
 
 A few days more without a name ; 
 
 I leave it all to you ; 
 Just please yourself with anything, 
 
 And I'll be suited too." 
 
 Then off he went to brush his han*, 
 
 And whistled Nellie Ely, 
 While I bent over baby, 
 
 And had a little cry. 
 
 But when I spoke about a name, 
 
 'Twas always, "Please yourself." 
 Until the child M^as three months old ; 
 
 Poor nameless little elf 
 
 Then I was quite disgusted ; 
 
 And, so, one night I said. 
 While dreaming o'er my treasure, 
 
 And fixing him for bed, 
 
I C 2 CO US IN NE TTIE' S S TOR Y. 
 
 My pretty babe shall have a name 
 
 Before this night is gone ; 
 Now just to plague your papa, 
 
 I'm going to call you John. 
 
 I know it is a homely name, 
 
 And it needs no witch to tell, 
 That for any sound of loving, 
 
 I might call you boy as well ; 
 
 But you see 'twill make him angry, 
 
 Or at least he'll be ashamed ; 
 And then, before you know it, sir, 
 
 We'll have the baby named. 
 
 So then, a moment later, 
 
 I checked a yawn to say, 
 " Here, husband, do take little John, 
 
 He's been so cross to-day." 
 
 Oh what a flood of happy pride 
 
 And tenderness and joy 
 Lit up that fellow's features, as 
 
 He gazed upon his boy. 
 
 *' Well ! well ! You're going to call him John, 
 
 That's sensible, I'm sure ; 
 Look up here, little woman. 
 
 What makes you so demure ? 
 
 John Jr. has a solid sound. 
 
 And then, you know, I knew 
 If you would only please yourself, 
 
 I should be suited too." 
 
COUSIN NETTIE'S STORY, 
 
 How could I crush such vanity, 
 
 By telling hiin my jest ? 
 Or hinting that his name was not 
 
 The siweetest and the best 
 
 That ever graced a baby's brow, 
 
 Like coronal of fame ; 
 And after all I questioned 
 
 Of myself, " What's in a name ? " 
 
 And so I gave the matter up, 
 
 And so the time ran on. 
 And so my husband thinks, I think, 
 
 I named that baby John. 
 
 H: ^ :{{ ^ H< ^ 
 
 Then came a laugh at Cousin John's expense, 
 And as it hushed, Aunt Hepsy Brown said, 
 
 " Friends, 
 I haven't been invited here to speak. 
 But you all know I've had a checquered life." 
 " Oh tell us now a story, Aunty, do ! 
 
 All about Phil, and how he went to sea." 
 
 So good Aunt Hepsy tells her story quaint 
 7* 
 
 153 
 
154 
 
 AUNT HEPZIBAH'S STORY. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 AUNT HEPZIBAH'S STORY. 
 
 [That Mr. Reporter.] 
 
 I WAS sitting alone, half dreaming, 
 
 Watching the sunset pale ; 
 Em'ly had gone with her letters 
 
 Down to the evening mail ; 
 When a man came up the garden, ■' 
 
 And opened the outer door. 
 And sez I — (for I thought by his actions 
 
 He'd been that way before), 
 
 "Your name is Mr. Reporter ? Eh ! 
 
 And you've just come up from town, 
 To find a writing woman, 
 
 Who lives with Hepzibah Brown ? 
 I'm getting to know your family, 
 
 A brother of yours, I guess, 
 Was here last night, and a couple 
 
 A week ago or less. 
 
 You must be doin' some business ; 
 
 For travelling expense aint small, 
 But it don't seem to benefit Em'ly, 
 
 As I can see any, at all ; 
 By the way — it's lucky for you, sir, 
 
 That Emily's just gone out ; 
 She wouldn't sit here a chatting, 
 
 And wandering all about ; 
 
AUNT HEPZIBAWS STORY, 155 
 
 She'd give you one look from her big eyes, 
 
 Steady and straight and cool, 
 And you'd think that a man about your size 
 
 Was making himself a fool. 
 But the country is sort o' lonesome ; 
 
 And I don't object to talk ; 
 If you think it's going to pay you 
 
 For a ten-mile ride and walk. 
 
 In the first place, Emily Osborne, 
 
 She's not my daughter at all ; 
 Her father is old Squire Osborne, 
 
 Ugly, and rich, and small. 
 Her mother was always feeble, 
 
 And Emily was all she had \ 
 No doubt she loved her fondly. 
 
 As I loved Phil, my lad. 
 
 But when I was young and bonnie, 
 
 The Squire came a-courtin' me ; 
 I jilted him for a sailor, 
 
 And that made him mad, you see ; 
 So when my boy grew older, 
 
 And his little pale-faced girl, 
 With eyes like gentian blossoms. 
 
 And soft white hair acurl, 
 
 Begun to go, one summer, 
 
 To the school on Munroe's hill, 
 That mean old varmint told her 
 
 She was never to speak to Phil. 
 But twice she fell in the horse-pond, 
 
 And Phil didn't let her drown ; 
 And once she climbed up a cherry-tree, 
 
 And Phil had to bring her down ; 
 
156 AUNT HEPZIBAH'S STORY, 
 
 And then, when they cleared the Hart lot, 
 
 She set her white apron afire, 
 And Phil wrapped her up in his overcoat, 
 
 And kerried her home. And the Squire 
 Was up in the northern county ; 
 
 But his wife e'en a'most went wild, 
 And she kissed my boy, and blessed him, 
 
 For savin' her darling child. 
 
 So things went on between 'em — - 
 
 I forgot how the years do fly ; 
 They were just a couple o' babies 
 
 To my old heart and eye — 
 Till one day (I was astonished) 
 
 The Squire came and called on me — 
 I tried to treat him perlitely — 
 
 And he sez, "Mrs. Brown," sez he, 
 
 " I've come here to ask you a question : 
 
 Have you ever encouraged j'(?2/r son 
 To think he could marry my daughter ? 
 
 Just answer me that, and I've done." 
 Lordy Massy ! That roused my temper. 
 
 And made me most desp'rit mad. 
 I sez, sez I, " Mr. Osborne, 
 
 My Phil is his father's own lad; 
 
 Do you think he could bring his great heart, 
 
 So noble, and strong, and true, 
 To think of lovin' or marryin' 
 
 A thing that's related to yoxi, ? " 
 The Squire gave me back an answer 
 
 That was anything else but sweet ; 
 And some things were said on both sides 
 
 I don't care now to repeat. 
 
AUNT HEPZ^BAH'S STORY. 
 
 But one thing we seemed t' agree on : 
 
 We'd see both the children dead, 
 And laid out straight in theii- grave-clothes, 
 
 Afore we'd allow 'em to wed. 
 That night poor Phil was moody 
 
 And restless, and sez to me, 
 "Mother, how long do you think 'tis 
 
 Since father went off to sea ? " 
 
 " How long do I think 'tis, Phijip ? 
 
 Why, he left on the tenth of May, 
 Two years ago come plantin' — 
 
 I'll never forget that day." 
 " And where did he date his last letter ? " 
 
 " Where ? Out in the China Sea ; 
 But Philip, my boy ! my baby ! 
 
 You don't think of leaving me ? " 
 
 He went ! There was no use talking ! 
 
 The baby had grown a man ; 
 And soon I received two letters 
 
 From the far-away coast of Japan ; 
 One from my sailor husband. 
 
 Full of the welcomest joy ; 
 One with a stern-voiced courage, 
 
 Straight from my sailor boy. 
 
 In nigh 'bout a year, my husband 
 
 Come home ! "He was Captain, then ; 
 And of all the time he was with me, 
 
 The happiest hours were when 
 We talked of our brave boy Philip ; 
 
 And what he was yet to be. 
 And blamed Squire Osborne's daughter, 
 
 For drivin' him off to sea. 
 
 157 
 
1^8 AUNT HEPZIBAH'S STORY, 
 
 But when the good ship Kepler, 
 
 With favoring tide and wind, 
 Sailed out from Salem harbor, 
 
 Her captain was left behind. 
 He died with his head on my shoulder ; 
 
 There was no one to comfort me ; 
 And later came news that told me 
 
 M}" Philip was lost at sea. 
 
 My heart broke,then — God knows it— 
 
 And I prayed and prayed to die. 
 I was stricken down with fever, 
 
 And weary weeks went by, 
 In which I knew nor noontide, 
 
 Nor night, nor dawn of day ; 
 But the wild delirium held me. 
 
 And I raved of my boy alway. 
 
 'Twas then that Emily found me. 
 
 Her angry father swore 
 That, if once she crossed my threshold, 
 
 She never should darken his door. 
 But her mother and Phil were in heaven 
 
 She hoped soon to meet them there ; 
 And all for his sake she came here 
 
 My trouble and grief to share. 
 
 And if half the strength of her lovm' 
 
 Could be changed to silver and gold, 
 I never should want for comforts 
 
 Were I twice as helpless and old. 
 But we have grown poor and poorer, 
 
 And Emily stitched away 
 At the finest kind of 'broideries 
 
 That didn't begin to pay. 
 
AUNT HEPZIBAH'S STORY. 159 
 
 Always a stitchin' and stitchin', 
 
 Till the needle turned a dart, 
 And ever}'' time she moved it, 
 
 I felt it in my heart. 
 Till at last she took to writin', 
 
 Copying first and sich ; 
 And it seemed a little better 
 
 Than the everlasting stitch. 
 
 Then her verses — there's little. in 'em 
 
 Save the moan of the sea, and Phil, 
 But I like to hear her read 'em, 
 
 And they pay her, better still. 
 So I call my Em'ly a poet, 
 
 But she answers shyly, " No ! 
 Poets should be the world's teachers, 
 
 And lead the crowds up from below. 
 
 To sunnier heights of beauty. 
 
 Where truths like stars shine pure. 
 And love takes on new meanings. 
 
 And faith in God grows sure." 
 So I was a dronin' and dreamin', 
 
 While Emily's step drew near 
 Which me and that Mr. Reporter 
 
 Was both too forgetful to hear. 
 
 " How long since you heard from Philip ? " 
 
 "My PhiUp ! " 'twas Emily's tone. 
 Love looks through all disguises, 
 
 And always claims its cum. 
 The days of our trouble were over, 
 
 For there, in the twilight gray, 
 In the arms of that Mr. Reporter, 
 
 My precious Emily lay. 
 
l6o AUNT HEPZIBAH'S STORV. 
 
 ,'Twas Philip ! my boy, my baby ! 
 
 Taller than me by a head ; 
 Bearded, and rich and handsome ; 
 
 The sea had gi'n up its dead. 
 And so next day they were married, 
 
 When the Christmas bells rang low ; 
 It seems like yesterday mornin', 
 
 Can it be 'twas a year ago ? 
 
 And now we are all so happy, 
 
 After the care and strife. 
 While Emily's "bread on the waters" 
 
 Comes back to refresh her life. 
 Only I think she often 
 
 Wishes arid longs to see 
 Her father, that same Squire Osborne 
 
 Who once came a-courting me. 
 
 ****** 
 While we were listening to Aunt Hepsy's voice, 
 And while she talked, another guest came in 
 Unheralded, unnoticed for a time ; 
 Until a whisper ran about the room, 
 And when the old dame paused, and dropped her head 
 In deep and silent thought, then forward strode 
 The late new-comer, and beside her chair 
 He stopped ! One moment and all eyes were fixed 
 Upon him. Then he spoke : " I want my girl ; 
 I want to clasp hands with my old-time friends, 
 And see again my parents." Then a ciy 
 Thrilled every heart, and pretty Emily Brown 
 Sprang up and hung about the stranger's neck, 
 And sobbed, " Oh, father ! father ! " 
 
 Graiidsire spoke 
 With a strange, touching quiver in his voice : 
 
AUNT HEFZIBAWS STORY. \(^\ 
 
 "• I do rejoice to bid )'0u welcome here, 
 In memory of her whose gentle face 
 Brightened your home-life for a few brief years, 
 And fading, left the daughter God had sent 
 For you to care for. Let there be no thought 
 Of difference or trouble here to-night." 
 And wiping both his eyes he introduced 
 " My son ! Squire Herbert Osborne." 
 
 Then came words 
 Of greeting, earnest, unequivocal, 
 Through which the breath of coldness faded out. 
 And left them friends all round. 
 
 Squire Osborne then 
 Shook hands with Philip, calling him " My son." 
 And now, with Emily's head still resting on 
 His arm, I hear him talking very low : 
 " Hepsy, had you been kinder, long ago, 
 Our lives might both have held more shine than shadi; , 
 I had not been so stern or you so sharp." 
 I cannot hear her answer, but I guess 
 The four of them will not hereafter need 
 More than one home ! 
 
 There come the butternuts. 
 And apples and sweet cider circling round. 
 And Tom calls out, "Pass on the stories ! you ! 
 Whose turn comes next." 
 
 Of course all laugh at him 
 Then Cousin Nat tells of 
 
 The "Might Have Been." 
 
 Oh a wonderful path is the "Might have been," 
 
 Leading up from the world's highway, 
 Through vales of verdure and bowers of bloom, 
 Through faintest breathings of sweet perfume, 
 To the realms of a brighter da.v. 
 
1 63 AUNT HEPZIBAH'S STORY. 
 
 The world's highway it is weary and lone, 
 
 But the " Might have been" path is fair ; 
 Fair and pleasant, and cool and wide, 
 With lilies leaning on either side, 
 
 And a whisper of hope in the air. 
 
 Up that mystical, magical path I see 
 
 A dainty white cottage, a home ; 
 Where a brown-haired, happy-eyed woman stands — ■ 
 My wife, dear public, with outstretched hands, 
 
 Half beckoning me to come. 
 
 And why should I mourn, that I have not dragged 
 
 Her down to the world's highway, 
 To bear and share through the dust and heat. 
 With aching brows and faltering feet, i 
 
 The burden and toil of my day ? 
 
 ■ 
 
 It is better so ! My attic nest 
 
 May be cold, and my larder lean, 
 
 But "my wife," "our children," each precious word. 
 
 With a loving echo is faintly heard 
 
 From the heights of the " Might have been." 
 
 So I walk and work on the world's highway 
 Content that in God's good time 
 
 1 shall know why the radiant 
 
 " Might have been," 
 
 That came so near to my eager ken 
 Was not, and is not mine. 
 
 He is a poet, is our cousin Nat, 
 
 His rhymes are floating everywhere, and when 
 
 They call upon his father. Uncle Nat, 
 
 I'o add his story to the storied eve. 
 
 We'll find it ready written. Here it is : 
 
UNCLE NAT'S STORY. 163 
 
 XVII . 
 
 UNCLE NAT'S STORY. 
 
 [Threescore Years.] 
 
 The year was dying in the night. 
 
 The bells were ringing loud and clear; 
 
 The snow upon the earth lay white, 
 As a bride upon her bier ; 
 
 And as the Old Year slipped away, 
 
 Solemn and silent, sad and slow, 
 A mother found her New Year's gift, 
 
 Just threescore years ago. 
 
 Oh, mother heart, o'erflowing then 
 With hope and blessing, saddest joy ; 
 
 What unknown future could you ken, 
 For that wee baby boy ? 
 
 Ah, how you prayed that God would guard 
 The changeful paths those feet must go — 
 
 Fair dimpled feet on life's rough road, 
 Just threescore years ago. 
 
 But babyhood in childhood merged, 
 
 And childhood sprang to manhood fleet ; 
 
 The city set its wildering snares 
 To catch those untried feet ; 
 
1 64 UNCLE NAT'S STORY. 
 
 Then wide and bright the prairie land^ 
 
 The Eldorado of the West, 
 Called him from all the household band 
 
 For newer home in quest. 
 
 And full of faith and hope he went, 
 
 Ready to battle fate or foe ; 
 With youth and health his only wealth, 
 
 Just twoscore years ago. 
 
 But soon a radiant star appeared 
 
 On the horizon of his life, 
 The future new importance wore, 
 
 He won a lovely wife. 
 
 Oh, blessing of all blessings best, 
 
 Companion, helpmate, faithful heart ; 
 
 Whom God hath joined forevermore 
 No power on earth can part. 
 
 Then time ran on in happy tides ; 
 
 Years came, and went, and brought their sharfi 
 Of busy labor and reward, 
 
 Of household love and care. 
 
 And first a blossom of a girl 
 
 Beside the quiet hearthstone grew, 
 
 And later, and as welcome quite, 
 A bright-eyed boy came too. 
 
 The children grew to youth in turn. 
 And bright the fire of love did glow , 
 
 Naught could be happier than that home 
 A score of years ago. 
 
UNCLE NAT'S STORY. 163 
 
 But the mother's health was faiUng then : 
 
 Slowly but surely, day by day, 
 As fade the leaves in autumn time, 
 
 Her slight strength ebbed away. 
 
 Her step grew light, her breath grew short. 
 
 And yet she kept her wonted place, 
 No sorrow in her loving heart, 
 
 No shadow on her face. 
 
 And he, the husband of her youth, 
 
 Watched her with tenderest patience ever ; 
 
 He bore her in his strong fond arms 
 Close to the shining river. 
 
 She only fell asleep, one night. 
 
 Her head upon his shoulder lying ; 
 So gently came the messenger. 
 
 We did not think her dying. 
 
 But in the bright eternal world. 
 
 Escaped from every care below, 
 She woke to angel life, just half 
 
 A score of years ago. 
 
 And loneliness with sorrow came. - 
 
 He missed the dear familiar face, 
 The presence of the fragile form 
 
 From its accustomed place. 
 
 And half in doubt and half in hopes 
 
 His weary aching heart to fill, 
 He tried to rear another shrine 
 
 Beside his hearthstone still. 
 
£66 UNCLE NAT'S STORY. 
 
 He tried and failed. The shrine would fall 
 In dust aiid ashes. And his life, 
 
 Though true and upright, frank and free, 
 Was darkened by the strife. 
 
 But as the ship outrides the storm, 
 And sturdy oak defies the blast, 
 
 So did his honest pride return 
 Triumphantly at last. 
 
 And now from every shackle free, 
 
 Slow drifting toward life's sunset hour. 
 
 He knows his loved wife waits for him 
 Upon the shining shore ; 
 
 For often, when the twilight comes, 
 He seems to hear her loving tone, 
 
 And almost feel her gentle hand 
 Reach down to clasp his own. 
 
 And all his friends — he has no foes — 
 Unite to wish him hearty cheer, 
 
 And hope his life may yet be spared 
 Another score of years. 
 
COUSIN LAWRENCES STORY. jgp, 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 - COUSIN LAWRENCE'S STORY. 
 
 [The Christmas Gift.] 
 
 Home again ! Home again ! Mother, dear, 
 Pleasantest words for a man to hear : 
 Your boy, you call me, your brave boy still ; 
 Ah, mother, mine, I have wandered long. 
 
 And, as wanderers will, 
 Have learned, perhaps, less good than ill. 
 But list, while I tell you, half story, half song, 
 Where I've been, what I've done ; judge me then, right oi 
 wrong. 
 
 I had been lapped in San Anguile 
 All summer long, where the winds blow cool. 
 Regaining the health I lost at school, 
 And losing the slight and hacking cough, 
 For which you remember you sent me off, 
 To that magical sea-swept isle. 
 
 And there I found a birdie brown, 
 A shy, wild sparrow, with soft, bright eyes ; 
 'Twould have filled me then with a queer surprise. 
 If that birdie brown had fluttered down, 
 And begged to rest on my grausome breast 
 For even a little while. 
 
 But I snared and tempted the flattering thing, 
 And all unwittingly clipped its wing, 
 'Till it did not try to soar or sing, 
 
1 58 COUSIN LAWRENCE'S STORY. 
 
 But left the mountains free and blue 
 To follow wherever I might roam, 
 And so, dear mother, I brought it home, 
 As a Christmas gift to you. 
 
 And there I found a Mexic maid, 
 With soft, black hair in shining braid. 
 
 And eyes like a wild gazelle ; 
 She came with milk from the ranche hard ty, 
 And fruits from God's great vineyard near ; 
 I watched her ways with a curious eye, 
 
 More close than I like to tell. 
 And often and often I saw her peer 
 At the books and papers lying about ; 
 Sometimes she would smile almost in fear. 
 And sometimes timidly reaching out 
 Her small brown hand, she would touch with awe 
 The mystical printed page she saw. 
 
 'Till it minded me, in a dreamy way, 
 
 (As low in my wind-rocked hammock I swung. 
 
 And watched the oriole as she hung 
 
 Her tinier hammock with daintier sway, 
 
 Far up 'mong the leaves at play ;) 
 It minded me as a kindly deed, 
 That perhaps I might teach the child to read, 
 
 So I 'gan my lessons that very day. 
 
 She was apt and merry, and loved to learn ; 
 Her cheek would flush and her dark eye burn 
 When I talked of our northern ladies fair ; 
 Her father, it seems, was a northman too. 
 But her mother was Spanish through and thro sgh. 
 Both had passed from this world of care, 
 Leaving, with all her beauty rare, 
 
COUSIN LAWRENCE'S STORY. 
 
 This bright Httle waif, so strangely ahied, — 
 Northern ambition and Southern pride. 
 
 At last I knew I must say farewell 
 To my idle life, and that sea-swept isle, 
 To the dreamy languor of San Anguile, 
 
 And I told the Mexic maiden so. • 
 Never a tear from her bright eyes fell. 
 But a look of helpless and hopeless woe 
 Crept and quivered about her lips, 
 And shadowed her face with its strange eclipse, 
 Until I knew, by her troubled looks — 
 She did not like to give up her books. 
 
 But she stitched me a belt with her fingers deft, 
 
 Such as the traders wear, to hold 
 
 Safely hidden their store of gold ; 
 
 And she tossed me a light " good-by," as I 'eft. 
 
 Low on the beach I saw her stand. 
 
 Shading her eyes with her slender hand. 
 
 I was almost sorry to leave her there ; 
 
 But the tide was up and the wind was fair. 
 
 And off I went to the rough mainland. 
 
 Thence to the town whence the coach would start, 
 
 Where I lingered a week or more, 
 Loth from that pleasant place to part, 
 
 And wishing my journey o'er. 
 But launched at last on the lonely road, 
 
 Slowly climbing the mountain side. 
 Soon we left all trace of human abode j 
 
 I shall never forget that ride. 
 Two rough boys from some mining camp, 
 
 Two tall Mexicans, evil-eyed. 
 And one who belonged to neither stamp, 
 8* 
 
 169 
 
170 CO USIN LA WRENCE'S STOR V. 
 
 A small, dark man, in a slouching hat, 
 Who still as death in his corner sat. 
 
 The miners slept as night drew near ; 
 
 The Mexicans chatted and grumbled and laughed, 
 
 And many a draught of liquor quaffed, 
 
 Which I only half refused to share, 
 'Till one to the other, leering, spoke, 
 " Suppose we go outside for a smoke." 
 And they tossed me a flask, and said, "Drink deep, 
 Comrade, 'tis good. 'Twill help you sleep." 
 I heard the fall of their heavy feet. 
 As they slowly climbed to the driver's seat ; 
 Then I poured from the flask a brimming cup, 
 And smiling thoughtfully, held it up. 
 
 The small, dark man, with the slouching hat. 
 Sprang out of the corner where he sat, 
 Sprang out with a quick and stealthy bound, 
 And striking the cup and turning it o'er, 
 And spilling the liquid along the floor, 
 Said, hoarsely whispering, " Drink no more ! 
 The stuff" is drugged." I turned around. 
 The man in the corner silent crouched, 
 And lower his hat o'er his forehead slouched. 
 The miners slept in the fitful gleam — 
 I thought for a moment 'twas all a dream — 
 That my vision blurred, and the red wine spilled. 
 So again the cup from the flask I filled, 
 And raised it slowly. That voice again 
 Shrieked low in my ear, as if in pain, 
 Saying, " The stuff" is drugged, I swear, 
 And little those black-browed villains care. 
 
COUSIN LAWRENCE'S STORY. . 
 
 If you never wake, so they share and share 
 The gold that is stitched in the belt you wear." 
 
 My life was saved, for I drank no more, 
 Nor slept ; and the rangers muttered and swore ; 
 But I wondered much why that man should guess, 
 I'd a golden belt 'neath my plain coarse dress. 
 
 Far up on the mountains a storm came down, 
 Fierce and sudden, and sharp and swift ; 
 The coach stuck fast in a monstrous drift, 
 
 Twenty good miles from town. 
 In vain we struggled to dig her out; 
 The fine flakes eddied and swirled about, 
 'Till, at last, the driver, all wearied out, 
 
 Unhitched the horses and started off. 
 Ploughing his way through the cruel sleet ; 
 And the miners ploughed after that driver, Jem, 
 And the evil-eyed Mexicans ploughed after them. 
 But I could not drag my freezing feet 
 
 Through the treacherous snow, so soft. 
 
 I was tired and sleepy, and longed to rest. 
 E'en there on the cold white mountain's breast , 
 So, sinking slowly, I dreamed of you ; 
 'Till a whisper came on the wings of the storm, 
 And something thrilled my pulses through \ 
 The summery breath of San Anguile, 
 Or the music of dreamland's haunted isle, 
 Was never so sweet and warm. 
 
 I woke ! The man with the slouching liat 
 Deep in the drift beside me sat. 
 His arm about me, his clinging lips 
 Sending the blood to my finger tips. 
 
 i;i 
 
172 
 
 COUSIN LAWRENCE'S STORY. 
 
 Mother — that man — was — ^my giiiie dear. 
 She had followed me from the sea-swept shore, 
 And saved my poor life, o'er and o'er; 
 I could not freeze with her so near, 
 And — she is the sparrow shy and swift, 
 I brought you home for a Christmas gift. 
 
 Mother— thank Heaven I see you smile, 
 
 Did you guess what was coming, all the while ? 
 
 Bat, oh ! forgive me, do ! 
 And kiss, for my sake, my Mexic maid ; 
 All, mother, dear, I was half afraid — 
 
 But she is so fond and true. 
 
 ^ ^: ^ :{: ^ 
 
 Then brave Aunt Margaret came forward, with 
 Her arm twined close about the Mexic maid. 
 (Aunt Prue was crying so she could not speak) 
 And every one seemed to forget to be 
 Angry, or even sorry, when they saw 
 The look of deep ineffable content. 
 That filled, at least, two pairs of loving eyes, 
 And brightened all the others. 
 
 Listen now, 
 As Cousin Kate from somewhere brings to light 
 A little book of sweet imperfect rhymes. 
 Written by Emily Osborne. 
 
 And she reads. 
 In her soft, low-toned, sympathetic voice : 
 
COUSIN KATE'S STORY. 173 
 
 XIX. 
 
 COUSIN KATE'S STORY. 
 
 [Legend of the Waltzes.] 
 
 In a gray, old, Austrian tower, 
 At the mystic twilight hour, / 
 Sat a youth and maiden, dreaming. 
 
 Watching down the setting sun ; 
 Wliile around them, rising, swelling. 
 Came the vesper music, telling 
 That another twelve hours' labor 
 
 In the world below was done. 
 
 Suddenly, athwart their dreaming. 
 Broke a sound of harsher meaning, 
 And the Royal Princess, summoned 
 
 From her teacher, bade farewell 
 To the twilight and the tower, 
 And the passion-freighted hour, 
 And the lesson love had taught her 
 
 In the music's echoing swell. 
 
 And the youth, alone and lonely, 
 Saw a radiant vision only, 
 Saw two violet eyes that lighted 
 
 All the spaces, dusk and dim, 
 Heard above the music's swelling. 
 Something to his spirit telling 
 That his own heart's treasure waited 
 
 With a loyal faith for him. 
 
1/4 COUSIN KATE'S STORY. 
 
 But through castle, court, and garden, 
 Rang the voice of groom and warden — 
 " Ope' the great portcullis ! Open ! 
 
 For the Earl is drawing near ; " 
 And far up the winding stair, 
 Came the bidding to prepare 
 Music for the coming bridal 
 
 Of the Princess, sweet Sophia. 
 
 Heavy heart and brow of sorrow 
 Could not stay the coming morrow. 
 Could not give the young musician 
 
 Freedom from the King's command. 
 So he wrought, with varying feeling. 
 Pride and grief and anger stealing 
 Through the sounding chords that echoed 
 
 From his busy brain and hand. 
 
 Once again, at twilight hour. 
 
 Pealed the bells from dome and tower, 
 
 As the glittering bridal party swept 
 
 Within the castle keep. 
 Bright the banquet hall was glowing. 
 Red the wine cups gleamed, o'erfiowing, 
 Pale the bride was, as a lily, in the 
 
 Moonlight hushed to sleep. 
 
 But at midnight, weird and eerie. 
 Summoned from his Donjon eyrie. 
 Came the wondrous young musician, 
 
 Graver far than e'er before. 
 And the guests made way before him, 
 And the banners fluttered o'er him, 
 And the harpers tuned their viols. 
 
 And the waltzers beat the floor. 
 
COUSIN KATE'S STORY. 175 
 
 Hush ! A breath of music thrilling 
 Every pulse a moment stilling, 
 Stole across the mute assemblage — 
 
 Rose, and soared, and sank, and died. 
 Then a ripple stirred the measure, 
 Like a sigh of wordless pleasure, 
 And a low exultant murmur 
 
 Thridded the melodious tide. 
 
 Then a sweet harmonious rolling; 
 Were the vesper-bells slow tolling ? 
 Were the little children singing. 
 
 Or the sad-voiced nuns at prayer ? 
 Nay ! 'twas but the midnight dirges 
 Of the ocean's solemn surges. 
 Breaking on the lonely beaches 
 
 With an echo of despair. 
 
 Still the waltzers circled fleeter, 
 And the music clearer, sweeter. 
 Held them like a tropic serpent. 
 
 With its wizard coil and fold. 
 Till the light feet lagged more slowly. 
 And some fell, and fainted, wholly. 
 And some left the witching circle 
 
 Pale and breathless, still and cold. 
 
 Yet the melody clomb higher 
 On its wings of liquid fire. 
 Guided by the young composer. 
 
 Swaying slowly, left and right. 
 Watching but his own heart's treasure 
 Floating through the dreamy measure, 
 With her smiling lips half parted. 
 
 And her radiant eyes alight. 
 
176 
 
 COUSIN KATE'S STORY. 
 
 Not a word by either spoken 
 
 Told that two fond hearts were broken ; 
 
 Not a flush of rose or crimson 
 
 On the bride's pale bosom slept. 
 Every eye was fixed unaltering, 
 But the music, never faltering, 
 Held its strange, remorseless power, 
 
 While the viols wailed and wept. 
 
 Suddenly, her hands outreaching, 
 
 As with passionate prayer, beseeching 
 
 Her young lover not to leave her ; 
 
 His dear name she murmured o'er; 
 *' Strauss, mein Strauss." Her soul had risen 
 From its frail but beauteous prison, 
 And, borne upward on the music, 
 
 She was his forevermore. 
 
 We praise the poem, never questioning 
 If the sad story be or true or false. 
 And now we turn to Cousin Kate for "more;" 
 She gives the book to Emily, saying, " Here ; 
 No one can know so well as your dear self 
 The spirit of these words. Please read to us." 
 And Emily, turning o'er the written leaves. 
 Says, "Here I find a mere schoolgirlish theme, 
 All bright with imagery. Some traveller 
 Has told me that he saw in Italy 
 A small, dark ruin of a darker age. 
 Now called the Vestal Temple. 
 
 But I think 
 My own description far outrivals his ; 
 And so if one would not have anything 
 
COUSIN KATE'S STORY. 
 
 177 
 
 To disappoint one, let him stay at home, 
 And draw upon his own imaginings 
 For foreign scenes." 
 
 " But if," says Cousin Tom, 
 " One has no bright imaginative store ; 
 Whattlien?" 
 
 "Ah, then," laughs Emily in reply, 
 " Tracking the power to build such temples fair, 
 Why, one must needs endure the long fatigue 
 Of travel and sea-sickness, but to find 
 How poor is any ancient ruined pile 
 Compared with pictures conjured in the brain; 
 However, if you'll listen, I will read." 
 
1/8 COUiSIN EMILTS STORY, 
 
 XX. 
 COUSIN EMILY'S STORY. 
 
 [The Temple of Vesta.J 
 
 By the side of the River of Roses, 
 
 That flows from the Apennine hills, 
 On its way to the blue Adriatic, 
 
 With a murmur that time never stills, 
 There once stood the Temple of Vesta, 
 
 The temple to fire consecrate ; 
 And fire was the synonym sacred 
 
 Of mystery, life, light, and fate. 
 
 This temple was builded of marble. 
 
 Its dome like a mound of pure snow, 
 Its corner-stone carven in jasper, 
 
 Its foundations of porphyry below. 
 It had portals of sard and sardonyx, 
 
 With arches of malachite gi-een, 
 And pillars of columnar crystal, 
 
 With pavings of agate between. 
 
 There were Altars— three altars — where always 
 
 The quenchless fires burned, day and night, 
 And each altar was shaped pentahedral — 
 
 One blue, and one green, and one white. 
 There first was the Altar of Effort, 
 
 The Altar of learning and youth. 
 All fashioned of deep-tinted Sapphire, 
 
 Symbolic of friendship and truth. 
 
COUSIN EMILY'S STORY. lyg 
 
 And second, the Altar of Action, 
 
 Of knowledge by effort acquired, 
 Was builded of pale-tinted beryl, 
 
 Symbolic of labor inspired. 
 And third was the Altar Fruition, 
 
 The Altar of teaching so fair, 
 Carved quaintly from pure alabaster. 
 
 Symbolic of guidance and care. 
 
 And every seven years there were chosen, 
 
 From royalest households in Rome, 
 Four maidens, mere seven-summered childien, 
 
 The blessing and sunshine of home. 
 For three times seven years, they were chosen 
 
 To plenish the Vestaline fires. 
 And under the vow of the priestess. 
 
 They banished all human desires. 
 
 With reverent heads bowed, and hands folded 
 
 Half proudly, and yet half in awe, 
 They promised the holiest allegiance 
 
 And faith, to the Vestaline law. 
 Young creatures, they scarce comprehended 
 
 The mystical goal to be won. 
 In their long years of self-abnegation 
 
 That numbered just one score and one. 
 
 In which they were never to falter, 
 
 Or shrink from their tasks day or niglit, 
 But to fuel the fianies on the altars. 
 
 To keep them, as beacon-fires bright. 
 To garland the temple with blossoms. 
 
 To purify chancel and nave. 
 And to guard from all stain or dishonor, 
 
 Each corridor, pillar and pave. 
 
l8o COUSIN EMILY'S STORY. 
 
 But the hand of the priestess of Vesta, 
 
 Hand of man must not clasp it, or press, 
 And the heart of the priestess of Vesta 
 
 Must not thrill at love's kiss or caress. 
 So in that far-off age, half forgotten, 
 
 As seen through time's mystical night, 
 They wrought in the Temple of Vesta, 
 
 Twelve maidens, all virginal white. 
 
 Were their garments, with girdles of lilies, 
 
 And sandals of ivory fair, 
 And helmets of pure beaten silver, 
 
 And fillets of pearls for their hair ? 
 These maidens, the virgins of Vesta, 
 
 Had each her own work, and her shrine, 
 Where travellers knelt to do homage, 
 
 Where the famished were nourished with wirie, 
 
 Where torches burned out or extinguished 
 
 Were kindled, and lighted anew, 
 Where eyes that saw only the false light 
 
 Were opened, at last, to the true. 
 Where the weary found rest, and were car ad for, 
 
 The erring were taught, and forgiven, 
 The lost and benighted were guided. 
 
 And all pointed upward to Heaven. 
 
 Round the altar of Effort were clustered 
 
 Brave, bright little hearts, strong and pure. 
 They feared not, alas ! for they knew not. 
 
 What they yet might be called to endure. 
 They were Learners, and all looking forward 
 
 To futures of usefulness rai-e ; 
 Joy, Innocence, Trust, and Devotion, 
 
 Were the names that were given them there. 
 
CO USIN EMIL V'S ST OR Y. 1 8 1 
 
 Rose-tinted of quartz and cornelian, 
 
 Gold paved, with no hint of alloy, 
 And echoing with music and laughter, 
 
 Was the shrine of the virgin of Joy ; 
 In a shrine made from pearl and white onyx, 
 
 Untarnished by metal or clay, 
 And pure as the moonbeams at midnight, 
 
 The virgin of Innocence lay. 
 
 Like a couch in the great rock of ages, 
 
 Safe hidden from mildew and rust, 
 And cushioned and pillowed with eider. 
 
 Was the shrine of the virgin of Trust. 
 The sbrine of the virgin Devotion 
 
 Was fashioned of Chrysoprase rare, 
 Its echoless portals were silent, 
 
 Made sacred to worship and prayer. 
 
 By the Altar of Labor, of Action, 
 
 The Workers, self centred and true. 
 Pride, Faith, Hope, and Patience, were gathered, 
 
 Each ready to dare and to do ; 
 Nor forward, nor backward, their eyes turned, 
 
 Enough for the day was the task, 
 And for future result or rewarding 
 
 The workers paused never to ask. 
 
 Like a fortress impregnably guarded, 
 
 That a myriad shocks had defied. 
 All builded of granite and iron. 
 
 Was the shrine of the virgin of Pride. 
 The shrine of the virgin of Faith, rose 
 
 A tower of strength for the weak. 
 And opened its Amethyst portals 
 
 With shelter, for all who might seek. 
 
1 82 COUSIN EMILY'S STORY. 
 
 The shrine of the virgin of Hope glowed 
 
 With the tints of the rainbow at even, 
 The pale, changeful, flame-hearted Opal, 
 
 To her tireless keeping was given. 
 The shrine of the virgin of Patience 
 
 Was builded, and fashioned of thorns 
 She had taken from brows that were bleeding, 
 
 And hearts that were weary and torn. 
 
 By the radiant altar Fruition, 
 
 The Teachers so gentle and wise. 
 Look back on their work well accomplished, 
 
 With love in their beautiful eyes. 
 They were Memory, Mercy, and Power, 
 
 With Charity, greatest of all, 
 And they felt that as guides of the children, 
 
 They never must falter or fall. 
 
 There, touched with the faint loving glamour 
 
 Of backward bewitching old time. 
 With hints that no future could brighten. 
 
 Stood Memory's crystalline shrine ; 
 The shrine of the virgin of Mercy 
 
 Was builded of Jacinth, and crowned 
 With a prayer from a young heart made happy, 
 
 That lonely and sad she had found. 
 
 The shrine of the virgin of Power, 
 
 The virgin whom mortals call Might, 
 Was builded of Jasper, with pillars 
 
 Of rubies and emeralds bright. 
 But Charity, blessedest virgin. 
 
 Little recked how her shrine might be wrought, 
 So its portals admitted each wanderer 
 
 And gave to them all some kind thought. 
 
COUSIN EMILY'S STORY. 1 83. 
 
 We travellers on Life's weary highway, 
 
 Slow wandering by time's mystic stream, 
 We know that the temple of Vesta 
 
 Is not all a fable, a dream. 
 We have striven at the altar of Effort, 
 
 At the altar of Action have wrought, 
 And knelt at the altar Fruition, 
 
 Perhaps not in life, but in thought. 
 
 And sometimes when storm clouds have gathered, 
 
 And wrapped us in terror and doubt, 
 And fear lights her Will O'Wisp lantern. 
 
 And tauntingly swings it about, 
 Benighted, and heart-sick, and weary. 
 
 We falter on, ready to fall. 
 Then far off the Temple lights shining. 
 
 Proclaim "There is rest here for all." 
 
 ^ ^ ^ H: 4: 4c 
 
 " And here," continued Emily, " is a bit 
 
 Of rhyme I wrote, intending to compare 
 
 Our Odin to that mythical old god. 
 
 The Odin of the Scandinavians, 
 
 Whose picture haunts our public now and then." 
 
 Odin. 
 
 Symbol of all might and power 
 Was the War God of the North ; 
 Fearing naught, and all defying. 
 
 Leading his great -armies forth 
 From each mountain gorge and fastness ; 
 
 From Valhalla's silent hails. 
 Came the troops and hordes of Odin, 
 
 Answering dumbly to his call. 
 
s 
 
 l34 COUSIN EMILY'S STORY, 
 
 In his hand a spear he carried, 
 
 On his feet he sandals wore ; 
 And the mantle wrapped about him 
 
 Was a storm-cloud dark and hoar ; 
 Near him sailed a snowy j^etrel 
 
 Telling him when hope was bright ; 
 At his side a raven fluttered, 
 
 Memory, strange and dark as night. 
 
 And when forth he strode to battle, 
 
 At his feet twin wolves crouched back ; 
 Geri, the subduer, snow white ; 
 
 Fenri, the destroyer, black. 
 Thus the mighty War God Odin, 
 
 Type of strength and earnest thought, 
 Ever to his myriad subjects 
 
 Some new scheme for conquering taught. 
 
 But our gentler age and culture 
 
 Old time types hath cast away, 
 And the strength of worth and wisdom 
 
 Marks the Odin of to-day. 
 Firm as patient — wise as loving, 
 
 Strong warm hands and brave true hearty, 
 In the world of care and trouble 
 
 Ready still to bear his part ; 
 
 In his merry fashion scorning 
 
 All our paltry pride of birth, 
 Counting fame an idle bauble, 
 
 Gold and gear as little worth ; 
 Yet we know, where'er he wanders, 
 
 Deeds of kindness mark his way, 
 And the charm of true affection 
 
 Guards the Odin of to-day. 
 
COUSIN EMILY'S STORY. 185 
 
 4: H: H< H: H: ^ 
 
 Now once again the tide of talk ebbs low, 
 And through the driving storm we hear a sound 
 Of sleigh-bells ! In an instant every eye 
 Lights up with hope, and every eager face 
 Turns toward the door ; but hope and eagerness 
 Fade slowly in a dumb, bewildered stare ; 
 There stand two muffled figures in our midst ; 
 The snow is shining on their garments dark, 
 And dripping slowly on the sanded floor. 
 Grandma goes forward first, and reaches out 
 Her trembling hands, and says, " My little girl." 
 And Helen Winthrop drops the heavy wraps 
 That cling about her, and her wan, white face 
 And large dark eyes look weird and sorrowfuL 
 Her father stands beside her ; all his pride 
 Subdued into a gentle dignity. 
 " My friends," he says, " day after day I've seen 
 My daughter, whose bright eyes and ruddy bloora 
 Were once the joy and glory of my life, 
 Fading as fade the flowers in Autumn time ; 
 She made no moan, she uttered no complaint. 
 But since her friend, your kinsman, Odin Pratt 
 Left us so suddenly, alas ! alas ! 
 The sunshine from my home has vanished with 
 The merry music from her ringing laugh. 
 I blame myself, no doubt you blame me too, 
 But will you not beheve me when I say 
 I knew not what I did ? The demon pride 
 Possessed me ; and my one and only thought 
 Was, ' Here is mine old enemy at last 
 By representative placed in my power. 
 Now will I glut mine ire, and punish him ; ' 
 I am ashamed for the harsh, foolish words, 
 9 
 
1 86 CO U:SIN- £.MIL Y'S S TOR Y. 
 
 My temper made me speak ; I knew no harm 
 Of the young man, nor had I ever heard 
 A breath to his discredit, and for weeks 
 After he went away, I had no thought 
 That his departure could have aught to do 
 With Helen's listless manner : but I asked, 
 ' Why do you stay so much at home, my dear ? 
 What keeps you watching at the window-pane 
 All day, and, too, for aught I know, all night.' 
 * Father, I wait for Odin Pratt,' she said : 
 A flood of anger swept across my soul ; 
 But when she raised her pleading, wistful eyes, 
 Although the words I spoke were cold and stem, 
 My heart ached for her. Weary weeks have passed 
 Since then, in which our lives have struggled on 
 Hopeless and bitter : but this morn I heard 
 Down at the village that you had received 
 Late news from Odin. Not a word I spake 
 At home concerning this, but long ere night 
 Some prating tongue told Helen he was dead ; 
 That tidings had been brought from Washington, 
 Telling you when and where he passed from earth. 
 Then (looking at my daughter's pallid face) 
 I said, ' I'll send a servant to inquire 
 If this report be true.' 
 
 'I cannot trust 
 A servant,' she replied. ' But I will ask 
 That they shall send the letter straight to you.' 
 Then her eyes blazed ! ' And think you they will send 
 The record of their anguish and their grief 
 To you who caused it ? ' And she covered up 
 Her tense, calm face, with her white wasted hands, 
 And moaned, but wept not. 
 
COUSIN EMILY'S STORY. jg; 
 
 Long, slow hours crept by ; 
 I srit alone and watched the study fire, 
 And Helen took her place again beside 
 The western window. Suddenly her voice 
 Rang sharp and wofuUy. ' Oh, father, see ; 
 The lights are flitting swiftly round the house 
 At Grandsire Pratt's ! I see a crowd of men ! 
 Something has happened — Father ! take me there.' 
 I tried to reason with her ; useless task ! 
 Her sensitive, unreasoning, woman's heart, 
 That ne'er asserted its weak self before. 
 Now plead and called, and would not be repressed. 
 ' Oh, father, let me go to Grandma Pratt. 
 Aunt Prudence loves me, she will care for me. 
 And if they've brought my Odin, home to-night — 
 Oh, father, take me — ^ A quick, gasping sob 
 Told me more plainly than her broken words 
 That somethina: must be done ! And so ! and so — ^" 
 
 The tall, strong man looks round and hesitates. 
 Helen is nestled 'mong white pillows deep. 
 Between Aunt Prue and Grandma, and a smile 
 Flits round her quivering mouth, and lights her eyes 
 Like moonlight, 'mong the shadows. At her feet 
 Are Nan, and Kate, and Bessie looking up 
 With happy faces, to her happy face, 
 While just behind her chair stands merry Tom 
 And graceful Cousin Nat. 
 
 A dozen more 
 Are hoVring round her like a swarm of bees 
 About a clover blossom. Uncle King 
 Is talking with Judge Winthrop, fast and low ; 
 Tfeey both look pleased and earnest. 
 
1 88 COUSIN EMILY'S STORY. 
 
 Grandsire stands 
 Between them, speaking little, feeling much. 
 And now Squire Osborne goes to join their talk, 
 And Uncle 'Liab follows Uncle Luke. 
 'Tis hard for them to give a welcoming hana 
 To one whom they have made a point to slight 
 For many years, — but he has swallowed first 
 The bitter pill of pride, and taken first 
 A step toward reconciliation true. 
 And so they talk till Tom creeps slyly round 
 And says, " Tell us a story. Grandma, do. 
 You haven't told us one to-night, you know." 
 Aunt Prudence laughs. " Will your insatiate greed 
 For stories never cease ? " But Grandma says : 
 "No, children, we must stop our chatter now, 
 It is not like that any one can come 
 From any distance in this driving storm. 
 The night wanes late. You have already had 
 Too much excitement. Let us now compose 
 Our minds, and so make ready for the hour 
 Of family worship. Helen, love, draw up 
 The shawl about your shoulders ; Bessie dear, 
 Give her that hassock, lest her feet are damp." 
 But Helen's father says : " Daughter, you've had 
 A draught from some Elysian spring, I think. 
 Now let us homeward hie with happy hearts." 
 
 '^Not in this storm," a dozen voices cry : 
 
 " Oh stay with us \ we've room enough, for all 
 
 The horses in their stalls are safely housed, 
 
 And Pat and Pete, with old Bartholomew, 
 
 Are roasting apples, filling cider mugs, 
 
 And finding comfort in the servants' room." 
 
 Judge Winthrop shakes his head. "It will not do ; 
 
COUSIN EMILY'S STORY. jgp 
 
 r am a happier man for coming here, 
 
 And Helen is, I know, a happier girl, 
 
 But we must not intrude upon your joy. 
 
 Let's have one hymn, and then we'll say ' Good-night.' " 
 
 A few words more, and then the hymn-books come, 
 Brought from their shelf beside the oaken desk, 
 And scattered liberally among the guests. 
 Now Grandma finds a favorite hymn, and says 
 ' You all can sing this 1 Let the tune be that 
 To which the old One Hundredth psalm is set." 
 And now the choral rises, grandly sweet. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 Father of all, Thy care we bless, 
 Which crowns our families with peace ; 
 From Thee they spring and by Thy hand 
 They have been and are still sustained. 
 
 To God, most worthy to be praised, 
 Be our domestic altars raised ; 
 He bids the noisy tempest cease ; 
 He calms the raging seas to peace. 
 
 Oh may each future age proclaim 
 The honors of Thy glorious name, 
 While pleased and thankful we remove 
 To join the family above. 
 
 Doddridge. 
 
 The hymn is hushed ! each reverent head bends low, 
 
 And every heart is heavy with Amen ! 
 
 When ! Hark ! A tramp of hoofs, a sound of bells. 
 
 A shout of merry voices strong and deep ; 
 
 A dozen reaching hands fling wide the door ; 
 
 A score of feet rush out into the night; 
 
190 
 
 CO USIN EMIL Y'S S TOR Y. 
 
 The storm has ceased, the moon is looking fortli, 
 And by her radiant lustre all can see 
 A pair of prancing horses and a sleigh 
 Holding three figures — there are surely three — 
 Now rings a shout from the approaching team. 
 '"Tis Odin's voice ! " " Odin is coming home ! " 
 " Our Odin ! God be praised ! " "Hurrah ! Hurrah ! " 
 Oh babble of interminable tongues ! 
 But who comes with him ? 
 
 They are at the door. 
 Pat takes the horses ! they all three come in, 
 Odin — and the two strangers, — can it be — 
 (See them kiss Grandma) — ^yes, 'tis Uncle Tom 
 And— Eric, — for he greets Aunt Prudence next, 
 Aiid standing by her, hear him introduce 
 To her, perhaps more than the rest, 
 
 " My son 
 Eric Fitz Eric Fitz Ericsen, friends." 
 Odin — our Odin with that sounding name. 
 
 Now Eric tells, in rapid broken words. 
 About the old-time trouble, coming when 
 Christiania was blockaded in the south 
 And Trondjean barricaded in the north. 
 " I could not leave my Norman fastness then 
 (And all our sturdy honest country folk), 
 Knowing my father had such need of me ; 
 And so I thought to send my child to you 
 After his mother died. Thomas was there ; 
 He volunteered to pass the enemy's lines 
 (' Run the blockade ' I think you call it here.) 
 For this we had the documents made out, 
 T' establish' his identity, and vmt 
 On clearest parchment, in good English, too, 
 
CO USIN EMIL Y'S STOR Y. 1 9 1 
 
 A.S M ell as in our Scandinavian text ; 
 And father blessed the sturdy little waif, 
 And gave him to an honest sailor's care, 
 After he lisped for one last time his prayer 
 And the old mythologic nursery rhyme, 
 To Odin, for deliverance and success. 
 But tiaey were followed, and the ship we sent 
 Was boarded by the enemy, and sunk. 
 Thomas was taken prisoner, and the child 
 Vanished as vanishes a flake of snow 
 The sun shines on. 
 
 Of course, news soon came back 
 Of the lost ship, and, after many days, 
 Thomas was ransomed, and returned to me. 
 And, later, when we took the very ship 
 That captured ours, we found among her stores 
 Some remnants of the English written scrip 
 We left with baby ; then we called him lost, 
 And gave up e'en the last faint hope we held, 
 That he too had been kept a prisoner. 
 .Then Tom and I, true, faithful brother hearts^ 
 Struggled along through darkness and despair, 
 So poor and sad, we had no heart to write 
 Our poverty and sadness. But at last 
 We reinstated father in his place, 
 And settled all the troubles how we could. 
 Then, just as we were talking with some hope 
 Of going to America once more, 
 You send this brave young giant o'er the sea. 
 To call me father ! 
 
 Ah, you should have seen 
 His Grandsire kiss him. He is very old. 
 Is father, but he bade us all God-speed 
 On this our journey, and I promised him 
 
•192 COUSIN EMILVS STORY. 
 
 I'd bring him back a daughter, fond and true — 
 Vou see, Heart' s-best, I thought of Uttle Prue. 
 
 On flows the tide of question and reply, 
 Of explanation asked and freely given ; 
 But through it all we hear a far-off sound, 
 A chime of bells, slow throbbing on the air. 
 'Tis midnight ! and beyond this mystic hour 
 The Sabbath and the Christmas morning lie. 
 To Grandsire's dim ear comes the solemn sound, 
 And raising his rapt, joyous, thankful eyes, 
 He murmurs, " Let us pray." 
 
 Each bended knee 
 Touches the floor, and every eye is closed 
 The while his voice repeats, " Our Father blest, 
 Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. 
 Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth 
 As 'tis in Heaven. Give us each this day 
 Our daily bread. Forgive us all our sins, 
 And lead us not into temptation's paths, 
 But from all evil, oh, deliver us, 
 For Thine the Kingdom is, the power divine, 
 A.nd Thine the glory be forevermore. 
 
 Amen. Amen." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 h^- 
 
UNITED state™ INSURANCE CO. 
 
 This company is one of the oldest in this city, and has a higli 
 reputation for conservative and skilful management. Its Board 
 of Directors comprises a number of the best known, most influ- 
 ential, and vpealthiest of our merchants and bankers. Its officers 
 are men of proved integrity and ability. 
 
 The annual statement, submitted last January, and accepted 
 by the State Commissioner of Insurance as correct, shows the 
 assets to be $4,654,274, and the surplus, as already stated, to be 
 over $800,000, or more than twenty per cent, of all the 
 liabilities. 
 
 The United States Life Insurance Co. is known in Life Insur- 
 ance circles as one of the most carefulljf handled institutions in 
 the city. 
 
 So well has it been managed tliat its business has increased 
 rather than retrograded during tlie past year, as bad as it has 
 been for all kinds of business. And its losses have been less 
 this year than in any of the five preceding. 
 
 Its officers are among the best known and most highly 
 esteemed citizens of New York. James Bdell, Esq., the Presi- 
 dent, is the President of tlic Importers and Traders' Bank, a 
 man whose name is a synonym for integrity and skill in finance, 
 and its stockholders are men equally well known in business 
 circles, and hold an equal share of public esteem. 
 
 JAMES BUELL, President. 
 
 C. P. FRALEIGH, Sec'y. T. H. BROSNAN, Supt Agencies. 
 
 HENRY W, BALDWIN, 
 
 Supt. Middle Department, 
 
 Office : Drexel Building, cor. Wall & Broad Streets, 
 
BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 "BETSEY AND I ARE OtiT. 
 
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 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 Treatment Date; Sept. 2009 
 
 PreservationTechnologies 
 
 A WORLD LEADER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION 
 
 1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
 Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
 (724)779-2111 
 

 
 
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