THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE Vi'ILMER COLLECTION 
 
 OF CIML \X'AR NOVELS 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. 
 
*lU«iaC0LUJC110N 
 
 vr 
 
 
 
 -iiM: 
 
 ^ /t7f 
 

 The Draft. — Page 32. 
 
MMMirS SOlLlDIIEiaS 
 
KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 BY 
 
 AMANDA M. DOUGLAS, 
 
 AornoR OF " kathie's three wishes," " katoie's aunt kuth," "kathie's 
 
 SUMMER AT CEDABWOOD," " IS THE RANKS," " KATHIE'S HABVESX 
 DAYS," "in TEUSX," BXC. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS. 
 
 1877. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, 
 
 BY LEE AND SHEPARD, 
 
 i& the OflBce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 University Press : Welch, Bigelow, & Co., 
 Cambridge. 
 
TO 
 
 JENNIE M. SUYDAM. 
 
 "Nor to thyself the task shall be 
 "Without reward ; for thou shalt learn 
 The wisdom early to discern 
 True beauty in utility." 
 
 WOODSIDE, 1870. 
 
 602860 
 
lUlIji^ Slorus^ 
 
 1. KATHIE'S THREE WISHES. 
 
 2. KATHIE'S AUNT RUTH. 
 
 3. KATHIE'S SUMMER AT CEDARWOOD. 
 
 4. KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 6. IN THE RANKS. 
 
 6. KATHIE'S HARVEST DAYS. 
 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Pagi 
 
 EsTilSTINO IN THE GrAND ArMY 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Drafted 27 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 True to one's Colors 42 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 Little Steps by the Way 60 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 One of the Small Deeds .... o . 80 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Giving and Receiving ........ 98 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 A Visit 116 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Comfort in Need 135 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Thorns in the Path 151 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Under Fire . . 172 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 In Another's Stead 192 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 Home again 208 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Good News 223 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Pof TO THE Test 241 
 
KATHIE'S SOLDIERS 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMY. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " exclaimed Eobert Alston, swinging 
 his hat in the air, as he came np the path ; " hur- 
 rah I there 's going to be a draft at Brookside ! 
 Won't it be jolly ? " 
 
 The group assembled glanced up at him, — a fair, 
 fresh, rosy boy, without any cowardly blood in his 
 veins, as you could easily tell, but given, as such 
 natures often are, to underrating the silent bravery 
 of others. 
 
 "What will there be so jolly about it, Rob?" 
 asked his uncle, with a peculiar light in his eye. 
 
 " Wliy, — the whole tiling," — and Rob made a 
 little pause to think, though it did not seem half 
 so funny now as out on the street with a crowd of 
 boys, who had been singing at the top of their lungs, 
 " John Brown's Body," and " My Johnny has gone 
 
10 - kathie's soldiers. 
 
 for a Soldier," — " the surprise, Uncle Eobert, when 
 some of the fellows who have been skulking back 
 and afraid to go find themselves compelled." 
 
 " So you think it rather funny to be forced to do 
 what you would not choose of your free-will ? " and 
 Uncle Eobert gave a queer little smile. 
 
 " But — " and Eob looked around considerably 
 perplexed at not finding his argument at hand, and 
 overwhelming. "0, you know what I mean ! " throw- 
 ing himself down upon the grass. " If men have n't 
 patriotism enough to volunteer when their country 
 needs them, why, I think they ought — I just wish 
 I was old enough ! I 'd go in a moment. I 'd like 
 the fun of ' marching on ' ! " 
 
 "There is something beside marching," said Ka- 
 thie, in her soft voice, thinking in a vague way of 
 General Mackenzie. 
 
 " WeU, I 'd like aU of it ! " 
 
 " The being drafted as well ? " 
 
 It was Uncle Eobert who spoke. 
 
 " No, I 'd never be drafted ! " and Eob's fair face 
 flushed with a boy's impulsive indignation ; " I 'd go 
 at once, — at the first call." 
 
 " Bat if you were a man and had a wife, as weU as 
 
 -^ 
 
ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMY. 11 
 
 bairnies, three or four, or half a dozen, and were com- 
 pelled to leave them to poverty ? " 
 
 " Tliere is the bounty, and the pay." 
 
 " Neither of which would be as much as a man 
 could earn in a year at home. And if he never came 
 
 back — " 
 
 " But, Uncle Eobert, don't you think it right for a 
 man to be patriotic ? " asked his nephew, in a little 
 amaze. 
 
 "Yes. One can never approve of cowardice in 
 any act of .life. Still, I fancy there may be a great 
 many brave and good men who have not volimteercd, 
 and who, if they are drafted, will do their country 
 loyal service. It may not look quite so heroic, but 
 God, who can see all sides of the question, will judge 
 differently." 
 
 "The soldiers don't feel so, Uncle Eobert. It 
 seems to me that the men who volunteer do deserve 
 a good deal of credit." 
 
 " A great many of them do ; but stiU numbers go 
 for the novelty, or, as you say, the fun. They like a 
 rambling, restless life, and care little for danger, little 
 for death; but is it an intelligent courage, — tlio 
 hi<diest and noblest kind ? Does not the man who 
 
12 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 says, * If my country in her sorest strait needs me, I 
 will go and do my duty to the utmost,' deserve some 
 credit, especially if lie gives up what most men hold 
 most dear ? " 
 
 " I believe I did n't look at it in that light al- 
 together. It seemed to me that it was only tlie 
 cowards and the selfish men who waited to be 
 drafted." 
 
 " Then you think I ought to volunteer ? " said 
 Uncle Eobert, with a dry but good-natured smile. 
 
 There was a very general exclamation. 
 
 " You ! " exclaimed Eob, aghast at the unlooked-for 
 application. 
 
 " I have neither wife nor children. I am young, 
 strong, in good health, and though I do not fancy a 
 military life above all others, I still think I could 
 endure the hardships like a good soldier, and if I 
 stood in the front ranks to face the enemy I do 
 not believe that I should run away." 
 
 He rose as he said this, and, folding his arms 
 across his chest, leaned against the vine-covered 
 column of the porch, looking every inch a soldier 
 without the uniform. 
 
 It would break his mother's heart to have Uncle 
 
ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMY. 13 
 
 Eobert go, and there was Aunt Euth, and Kathie, 
 and Freddy ; but — what a handsome soldier he 
 woidd make ! Major Alston, or Colonel Alston, — 
 how grand it would sound ! So you see Eob was 
 quite taken with military glory. 
 
 Kathie came and slipped her hand within Uncle 
 riobert's. " We could not spare you," she whispered, 
 softly. 
 
 " But if I were drafted ? " 
 
 " AVell," exclaimed Eob, stubbornly clinging to his 
 point, " the boys over in the village think it will 
 make some fun. There 's a queer little recruiting 
 shanty on the green, and a fifer and a drummer. 
 If our quota is n't filled by next Wednesday, — and 
 they all say it won't be, — the draft is to commence. 
 I 'm glad I 'm not going away until the first of 
 October. I only wish — " 
 
 " I wish you were, if that will do you any good,'* 
 answered Mr. Meredith, glancing up from his book 
 which he had been pretending to read. 
 
 " I 'd rather enlist than go to school." 
 
 " Maybe enlisting in the home-guard will prove 
 a wise step for the first one." 
 
 " Home-guard ? " and Rob looked a bit perplexed. 
 
14 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "Yes. We all do considerable soldiering in our 
 lives unconsciously ; and if it conies hard to obey 
 our captains here, I am not sure that we should 
 always find it so easy out on the field. There are 
 some things that take more coui-age than to march 
 down to the valley of death as did the ' Six Hun- 
 dred.' " 
 
 " O/' said Eob, fired again with a boy's enthusiasm, 
 "that 's just the grandest thing that ever was writ- 
 ten ! I don't Kke poetry as a general thing, it always 
 sounds so girlish to me ; but Marco Bozzaris and 
 that are so fine, especially the lines, — 
 
 * Theirs not to reason why, 
 Theirs but to do and die.' 
 
 "After aU, dying is not the grandest thing," said 
 Aunt Euth, quietly ; " and the detached instances of 
 heroism in one's life have not always required the 
 most courage." 
 
 " No, indeed," answered Mr. Meredith, wajmly. 
 " I know men who have acquitted themselves 
 bravely under fire, who at home possessed so small 
 an amount of moral coumge that they really could 
 not resist temptations which were to their mental 
 and physical detriment." 
 
ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMY. 15 
 
 "But it is the fighting that interests me," said 
 
 Eobert. 
 
 " One may be a brave soldier with purely physical 
 courage, but to be a good soldier one needs moral 
 courage as well." 
 
 Just then Ada Meredith came down on the porch. 
 She was Kathie's little New York friend, and lier 
 uncle had brought her to Cedarwood for a few days. 
 She was growing tall rapidly, and considered herself 
 quite a young lady, especially as she had been to 
 Saratoga with her mother. 
 
 So this made a little break in the conversation. 
 Bob somehow did n't get on very well w4th her ; but 
 then he admitted that he did n't like girls anyhow, 
 except !Miss Jessie. He was rather glad, therefore, 
 to see Dick Grayson coming up the path, taking it 
 for an excuse to get away. 
 
 Ada looked after them with secret mortification. 
 Dick w^as quite a young man in her estimation, and 
 only that morning he had been very gallant. Slie 
 liated to have Eob take him off to the lake or any other 
 haunt, so she bethought herself of a little stratagem. 
 
 " You promised me a game of croquet," she said to 
 Kathie, with great earnestness. 
 
f 
 
 16 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Katliie glanced up in surprise. When she had 
 proposed it that morning Ada declared it stupid, 
 and said she had grown tired of it. Uncle Robert, 
 knowing nothing of this, answered for her. " Of 
 course," he said ; " there are the boys. Eob, don't 
 go away, you are wanted." 
 
 Eob made an impatient gesture with his hand, 
 as if he would wave them all out of sight. Uncle 
 Eobei-t walked down to the boys. " Ada would like 
 to play croquet," he remarked, pleasantly. 
 
 " I 'm just in the humor for a game myself," 
 answered Dick; but Eob's brow knit itself into a 
 little fro\vn. 
 
 '' Come, girls 1 " 
 
 Mr. Meredith accompanied them. "We will be 
 umpires," he declared. 
 
 Ada chose Dick for a partner. Eob thought it 
 was n't much fun playing with Kathie. He was 
 rather careless, and in the first game they were 
 badly beaten, which made Eob altogether out of 
 humor. Wliy could n't the girls have stayed on 
 the balcony and talked ? 
 
 " I can't play ! " he said, throwing down his mal- 
 let. 
 
ENUSTIN'G IN THE GRAND ARMY. 17 
 
 Uncle Edward picked it up. " Now, Kathie, let 
 us beat them all to ribbons and fragments !" he ex- 
 claimed, gayly, taking her brother's place. 
 
 Eob fell out of the ranks to where his uncle stood 
 iu the shade of a great tulip-tree. 
 
 " Soldiers !" he said, in a low, haK-laughing tone. 
 
 Eob colored. "I did n't want to play a bit 1 I 
 
 wish girls — " 
 
 "But a brave soldier goes off of the field after a 
 defeat in good order. If he has done his best, that 
 is all that is required of him." 
 
 Rob knew that he had not done his best at all, 
 although he was angry with the mortification of 
 lusmg the game. 
 
 «* Theirs not to reason why, 
 Theirs but to do and die," 
 
 said Uncle Robert, using liis quotation agamst him. 
 
 "But that does n't mean paltry little matters like 
 this ! " — with aU a boy's disdain in his voice. 
 
 " It means everything when one is right. As Mr. 
 :\reredith said a few moments ago, there is a good 
 deal of soldiering in life which must be all volun- 
 tary. That ought to suit your ideas. And T tliink 
 the gi-eat Captain is often very patient with us, Rob. 
 
18 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 He bought us all with a price, you know, whether we 
 serve him or not." 
 
 "But it is so hard for me to be" — Eob made a 
 great effort and said, frankly — " good-tempered." 
 
 " I do not think that is it altogether." 
 
 " What then ? " and Eob looked up in a little as- 
 tonishment. 
 
 " We will put it on a military basis, — shirking 
 one's duty because it is not pleasant." 
 
 " There was no particular duty about playing 
 croquet ! " — in the same surprised tone. 
 
 " Why did you do it at all then ? " 
 
 " Because — " 
 
 " Courtesy to a guest becomes a duty in a host." 
 
 "But there was Kathie. Dick and I were going 
 down to take a row." 
 
 " I have a fancy Dick likes the croqueting as well 
 as he woiild have liked the rowing" 
 
 Dick Grayson's pleasant laugh floated over to them 
 as he said, " Not so bad a J^eat, after all, Mr. Mere- 
 dith." 
 
 " The life soldiering is not quite so arbitrary. A 
 good deal of it is left to conscience. But if a sentinel 
 at some outpost followed his own devices and let a 
 spy pass the line — " 
 
ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMY. 19 
 
 " He would be sliot, of course." 
 "It seems liard, does n't it, just for one little 
 thing ? Yet if one or two men escaped punishment 
 the Ivmy would soon be in a state of insubordination. 
 Then when a captain came to lead them in battle 
 each man might consider his way and opinion best. 
 Would it answer?" 
 
 « No, it would n't," replied the boy. " But, Uncle 
 Robert, if God had made us — stronger." 
 " He offers us liis strength daily." 
 « But it is so — I mean you never can think of it 
 at the right moment." 
 
 " That is the secret of our duty to him, — to think 
 of his wishes at the right tune. He means, in this 
 liie, that we shall not seek to please ourselves al- 
 together ; but there is no guard-house, no bread-and- 
 water rations, only a stiU, small voice to remind us." 
 Eob was silent for some moments, watching the 
 players, and wondering why ever^^hing fretted him 
 so easily. Were all the rest of the world to have 
 their own way and pleasures, and he never ? " XTn- 
 cle Eobert," he began, presently, '' don't you tliink it 
 fair that I should foUow out my own wishes some-^ 
 times I Is it not unjust to ask me to give up always ? ' 
 
20 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Are you asked to give up always ? " — and the 
 elder smiled. 
 
 " Well — " Eob grew rather red and confused. 
 
 "Wliich would give you the most satisfaction, — 
 to know that you had made two or three people 
 happy, or to enjoy some pleasure alone by yourself ? 
 This is the chief thing the Captain asks of us vol- 
 untary soldiers ; and did not a wise man say tliat 
 ' he wdio ruleth his own spirit is greater than he who 
 taketh a city ' ? " 
 
 " There is more in volunteering than I thought," 
 Eob said, gravely, after a long jDause ; " I am afraid, 
 after all, that I am one of the kind waiting for a 
 draft." 
 
 " And, if you wait for that, you may be left out al- 
 together. Eob, it is not very easy work to march and 
 countermarch, to dig trenches, throw up earthworks, 
 keep your eyes open and your senses keen through 
 dreary night-watches and the many other duties tliat 
 fill up a soldier's life. It' is harder for some men to 
 keep faithful to these than to go into battle and die 
 covered with glory. But on the other side there will 
 be a few cjuestions asked. "What was the man's life ? 
 I often think of what the Saviour said, — not be faith- 
 
ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMY. 21 
 
 fill in death, but be ' faithful inito death.' There, we 
 have had quite a sermon. Next month you will be 
 a new recruit, you know." 
 
 " Two games ! " exclaimed Dick, as they advanced. 
 "Each party has won one." 
 
 " And I am tired," said Ada, languidly. 
 
 " Just one more," pleaded Dick ; " I know that 
 I shall have better luck." 
 
 " I can't," Ada replied. 
 
 Eob's first impulse was to say, " I '11 take her 
 place " ; but he felt that would leave Ada to lier own 
 resources again. He did not care anytliing about 
 Ada's noticing him, — indeed, she rather ignored him 
 when Dick was around ; but he had a fancy that 
 Dick was his friend, and did not belong so exclu- 
 sively to the girls. 
 
 " Eob, I '11 try you," Mr. Meredith exclaimed, 
 remarking the wistful face. 
 
 So Ada and Dick had a ramble about the grounds, 
 as Kathie, feeling she was not very earnestly desired, 
 lingered to watch the i)layers. It was a pretty sharp 
 game, but Kobert beat. 
 
 "Though I do not tliink you played your best 
 at the last," the boy said. 
 
22 ' KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Uncle Edward gave a queer little smile that set 
 Eob to musing. What if people sometimes acted a 
 little differently, for the sake of sparing his unlucky 
 temper ! 
 
 "I shall have to fight giants," he confessed to 
 himself, imderstanding, as he never had before, how 
 serious a warfare life really is. 
 
 Dick could not be persuaded to remain to supper, 
 though Ada made herseK very charming. But they 
 passed a pleasant evening without him. Indeed, it 
 seemed to Eob that there was some new element in 
 their enjoyment. Was it because Ada was more 
 gi'acious than usual ? 
 
 Uncle Eobert could have told the secret easily. 
 * " Don't you get dreadfully dull sometimes ? " Ada 
 asked as they were alone in their room, for Ada had 
 chosen to share Kathie's. 
 
 " Dull ! " and Kathie gave her pleasant little laugh. 
 
 " Wlien there is no company ? For it is not quite 
 like the city, where one can have calls and evening 
 amusements." 
 
 " I hardly ever tliink of it. You know I was not 
 here last winter, and the summer has been so very 
 delightful ! " Kathie's cheeks glowed at the remem- 
 brance. 
 
ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMY. 23 
 
 " But your brother will be away this coming 
 winter." 
 
 " Yes." It would make some difference, to be sure, 
 but Kathie fancied that she should not be entirely 
 miserable. 
 
 " If I were you, I should want to go to boarding- 
 school. A\niere there is a crowd of girls they always 
 manage to have a nice time." 
 
 " But I have nice times at home. I do not want 
 to go away." 
 
 " ^Miat a queer girl you are, Kathie ! " 
 
 It was not the first time she had been called queer. 
 But she said, rather gayly, " In what respect ? " 
 
 " I should n't like to do as you have to. Why, 
 there are five servants in our house, and only one 
 in tliis great place ! And we have only four children, 
 while your mother has three. It is hardly fair for 
 you to be compelled to do so much work when there 
 is no necessity." 
 
 " Mamma thinks it best," Kathie answered. 
 
 "If you expected to be very poor — or would 
 have to do housework — " 
 
 " I might," returned Kathie, pleasantly. " People 
 are sick sometimes, and servants go away." 
 
24 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Is n't your uncle willing that you sliould have a 
 chambermaid ? " 
 
 " I suppose he would be if mamma desired it." 
 
 "So you have to keep your own room in order, 
 and dust the parlor, and do all manner of little odds 
 and ends. I believe I saw you wiping some dishes 
 in the kitchen this morning." 
 
 " And it did not injure me," returned Kathie, 
 laughingly. 
 
 " But all this work makes your hands hard and 
 red. Mine are as soft as satin. I believe no money 
 would tempt me to sweep a room ! " 
 
 Ada uttered this in a very lofty fashion. 
 
 "Mamma thinks it best for me to learn to do 
 everything. She was brought up in a good deal of 
 luxury, but met ^^^th reverses afterward." 
 
 Kathie smiled inwardly at the picture she remem- 
 bered of the little room where her mother used to sit 
 and sew, and how she did errands, swept, washed 
 dishes, and sometimes even scrubbed floors. Her 
 hands were not large or coarse, for all the work they 
 had done. 
 
 " I think it would be hard enough if one was com- 
 pelled to do it. I am thankful that I have no taste 
 
ENLISTING IN THE GRAND ARMV. 2j 
 
 for such menial employments. I do not believe tliat 
 I could even toast a piece of bread " ; and Ada leaned 
 back in the low rocker, the very picture of compla- 
 cency. 
 
 Kathie was silent, revolving several matters in her 
 mind "all in a jumble," as she would have said. 
 She knew it would be useless to undertake to explain 
 to Ada tlie great difference between their lives. 
 Mamma, Aunt Euth, and Uncle Robert believed in 
 the great responsibility of existence. Weeks, months, 
 and yeai-s were not given to be squandered away in 
 frivolous amusement. To do for each other was one 
 of the first conditions, not merely the small family 
 circle, but all the wide world outside who needed 
 help or sympathy. And if one did not know how to 
 do anything — 
 
 "But when you go to school you cannot do s^^ 
 much," pursued Ada. " There will be all your les- 
 sons. I suppose you will study French and Italian 
 You cannot think how I was complimented on mj 
 singing while I was at Saratoga. Several gentlemen 
 said my pronunciation was wonderful in one so young. 
 I hope I shall be able to come out next summer." 
 
 " Come out ! " repeated Kathie, bewildered. 
 
26 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "Yes, be regularly introduced to society. I am 
 past fifteen, and gro^Ying tall rapidly. I hope I shall 
 have an elegant figure. I want to be a belle. Don't 
 you suppose you shall ever go to Saratoga ? " 
 
 '' I don't know," — dubiously. 
 
 "It would be a shame for you to grow up here 
 wliere there is no society. You would surely be an 
 old maid, like your Aunt Euth." 
 
 " She is n't so very old," returned Kathie, warmly. 
 
 " But every woman over twenty-five is an old 
 maid. I mean to be married when I am eighteen." 
 
 Kathie brushed out her hair, hung up her clothes, 
 and waited for Ada to get into bed so that she might 
 say her prayers in peace. Ada had outgro^ATi " Our 
 Father w^hich art in heaven," and " had no knack of 
 making up prayers," she said. 
 
 But it seemed to Kathie that there were always so 
 many things for which to give thanks, so many fresh 
 blessings to ask. She almost wondered a little, some- 
 times, if God did n't get tired of listening. 
 
DRAFTED. 27 
 
 CHAPTER TI. 
 
 DRAFTED. 
 
 Miss Jessie smiled a little at Ada's assumption of 
 womanhood when the two girls came over to drink 
 tea. 
 
 "Ah," said Grandmother Darrell, wiping her 
 glasses, " she 's no such a girl as Kathie ! The 
 child 's worth half a dozen of her. After all, there 's 
 no place like the country to bring up boys and girls." 
 
 For Grandmother Darrell, like a good many other 
 people, fancied everything that came from the city 
 must be more or less contaminated. 
 
 "I tliink Miss Darrell v:oulcl make your uncle a 
 very nice wife," Ada said, graciously. "Do you 
 suppose there is anything in it ? " 
 
 Katliie flushed scarlet, remembering the pain and 
 trouble of last winter. " I don't want to talk about 
 it," she answered, in a low tone. 
 
 Ada nodded her head sagaciously. It was quite 
 evident that she had hit upon the trutk 
 
28 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Some of the Brookside girls thought Ada "so 
 splendid," Lottie Thome among them, who now 
 treated Kathie in a very amiable manner, and al- 
 ways took pains to speak with her as they came 
 out of church. Of course, Lottie w^as growing older 
 and a little more sensible, as well as worldly wise. 
 
 They took Ada to all the pleasant haunts, rowed 
 over the lake, made two or three visits, and Mrs. 
 Alston invited some girls, or rather young ladies, 
 to tea ; but Ada showed a decided preference for 
 the young gentlemen. Even unsuspicious Kathie 
 remarked how soon her headaches disappeared, and 
 liow ready she was to sing if some of the boys would 
 stand at the piano and turn her music. 
 
 "A budding coquette," said Aunt Euth, with a 
 quiet smile. 
 
 " What a pity that girls should be reared to such 
 idle, frivolous lives, and have their minds so filled 
 with vanity and selfishness ! " Mrs. Alston replied. 
 " Can such blossoming bring forth good, wholesome 
 fruit?" 
 
 Mr. Meredith felt a little annoyed. The visit 
 was not quite the success he had hoped, and he 
 saw more clearly than ever the difference between 
 
DRAFTED. 20 
 
 the two girls ; "but ah, how unlike their mothers 
 
 were 
 
 Was he growing more serious, clearer - eyed ? 
 AVhat was there about this family that charmed so 
 insensibly ? The higher motives, the worthier lives, 
 with a more generous outlook for neighbor and 
 friend ! 
 
 Katliie was ashamed to confess it even to her- 
 self, but she said good by at the station with a 
 sense of relief. For days a horrible thought had 
 been haunting her, — suppose Uncle Eobert sJwidd 
 be drafted ! The abruptly terminated conversation 
 had not been renewed ; indeed, there had been so 
 many pleasures at Cedarwood that one hardly want- 
 ed to bring in such a subject. But if it did happen, 
 Kathie felt she should want no- stranger eyes to 
 witness her grief. 
 
 For when the question came directly home, she 
 felt that she could not give him up ; yet how brave 
 she had been last winter ! If General Mackenzie 
 could look into her heart, he would find that she 
 hardly deserv^ed all his praise. 
 
 But all Brookside was much excited over tlie 
 prospect. Business was very dull and bounties 
 tempting ; so numbers enlisted. 
 
so KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Uncle Ptobert," Katliie said, as they were riding 
 homeward, " could a drafted man offer a substitute 
 just the same ? " 
 
 *' Why, yes, to be sure." 
 
 He uttered the w^ords in such a light-hearted 
 manner that she felt quite relieved, but lacked cour- 
 age to pursue the subject further. A little quiver 
 would keep rising from her heart to her throat, 
 interfering with the steadiness of her voice. 
 
 By Monday night seventy men were still needed 
 to complete the quota. That gave Brookside about 
 forty. 
 
 Kathie wondered how they could all go on with 
 their usual routine. Aunt Euth, even, sat by the 
 window and sang " Bonnie Doon," as she sewed 
 upon Eob's outfit. His uncle had decided upon a 
 school about sixty miles distant, a flourishing col- 
 legiate institution, in a healthy locality, — a quaint, 
 quiet, old-fashioned town, with a river where the 
 boys could have boating and swimming. 
 
 " It is so far ! " Mrs. Alston had said at first. 
 
 " Xot too far, though. Of course we do not expect 
 him to come home eveiy few weeks. That always 
 unsettles a boy." 
 
DRAFTED. 31 
 
 So she jnade no further demur. The principal, 
 Dr. Goldthwaite, was a truly religious man, and the 
 place was held in higli esteem. Perhaps tliis took 
 their thoughts a little from the subject that was so 
 absorbing to Kathie. 
 
 Piob went over to the hall and hung about all the 
 morning. He did find a good deal of amusement in 
 it. The crowd w^as disposed to be rather jolly, and 
 several of the men took their luck ^vith great good- 
 humor. It was as his uncle had said. Wliile they 
 would not willingly leave their homes and families, 
 still, if the country had need of them in her immi- 
 nent peril, they would go. Others, sure of a substi- 
 tute, took the news with unconcern. Only a few 
 exhibited any anger, or declared loudly what they 
 would and w^liat they would not do. 
 
 At three o'clock the printed list was complete, and 
 the notices were being made up. 
 
 " So your uncle 's in for it, Pob ! " exclaimed a voice 
 at his side. 
 
 " No, you 're mistaken. I listened to every name." 
 
 " Here it is, — Ptobert Conover ! " 
 
 Ptob followed the grimy finger down the list. Sure 
 enough ! His heart stood still for a moment. 
 
32 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " He will get a sub, though ! He 'd be a fool to go 
 when he 's rich enough to stay at home ! " 
 
 ^ Yes, that *s it ! " and a burly fellow turned, 
 facing them with a savage frown. " It 's the poor 
 man this 'ere thing comes hard on ! Eich men are 
 all cowards ! They kin stay to hum and nuss 
 themselves in the chimbly-comer. I say they 're 
 cowards ! " 
 
 Ptob's heart swelled within him for a twofold 
 reason. First, the shock. He had not been able to 
 believe that the draft would touch them, and the 
 surprise was very great. Then to have his uncle 
 Galled a coward ! All the boy's hot, unreasoning 
 indignation was ablaze. 
 
 " He is not ! " he answered, fiercely. 
 
 " Say that agin and I '11 knock you over ! " 
 
 Eob was not to be dared or to be bullied into 
 silence. He stood his ground manfully. 
 
 " I say that my uncle is no coward, whether he 
 gets a substitute or not ! " 
 
 The fellow squared off. It was Kit Kent, as he 
 was commonly called, a blacksmith of notoriously 
 imsteady habits. 
 
 " None of that ! " and a form was interposed be- 
 
DRAFTED. 33 
 
 tween Rob and his assailant. " Hit a fellow of your 
 size, Kent, not a boy like that." 
 
 " Let the youngster hold his tongue then ! Much 
 he knows ! " 
 
 Eob did not stir, but his lips turned blue and al- 
 most cold with the pressure. If he had been a little 
 larger, it seemed to him that he could not have let 
 Kent alone. 
 
 " There 's a chance for you to make some money," 
 exclaimed a voice in the crowd. "Six or seven 
 hundred dollars, and you *re grumbling about being 
 out of work ! It 's a golden opportunity, and you 'U 
 never find another like it." 
 
 That turned the laugh upon Kent. Rob walked 
 off presently. Turning into a quiet street, he nearly 
 ran over two men who stood talking. 
 
 " The trouble is that you can hardly find a substi- 
 tute. Most of the able-bodied men who will go have 
 enlisted or been drafted. The look is mighty poor ! " 
 
 That startled Rob again. He began to feel pretty 
 sober now. Wliat if — 
 
 Kathie and Aunt Ruth had gone out into the 
 garden, and were taking up some flowers for winter. 
 
 " Rob ! " exclaimed Kathie, with a cry, " is there 
 
 3 
 
34 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 any news ? It 's the worst, I know," answering iier 
 own question, her breath almost strangling her. 
 
 " Yes, it is the worst ! " 
 
 " Uncle Eobert has been drafted !" Kathie dropped 
 her trowel and flew to her mother. " But he won't 
 go," she sobbed ; " do you tliink he will ? How can 
 we spare him ? " 
 
 " It would be no worse for us than for hundreds 
 of others," replied her mother. " Kathie, my darling, 
 be brave until we know, at least." 
 
 " Where is he ? " 
 
 " He went to Connor's Point with Mr. Langdon. 
 Hush, dear, don't cry." 
 
 Kathie wiped away her tears. " It is very hard," 
 she said. " I never realized before how hard it was." 
 
 But the flowers lost their charm. Kathie put 
 away her implements, laid off her garden-dress, as 
 she called it, — a warm woollen sack and skirt, — 
 and sat down, disconsolately enough, to practise her 
 music. Next week she was going to school 
 
 She heard Uncle Eobert's voice on the porch at 
 the side entrance. Eob was talking in great earnest ; 
 but somehow she could n't have gone out, or trusted 
 the voice still so full of tears. 
 
DRAFTED. 35 
 
 He came in at length. "You have heard the 
 news, Kitty ? " 
 
 She rose and went to his arms, hid her face upon 
 liis shoulder. " Uncle Robert ! " 
 
 '* What ouglit I to do, little one ? " 
 
 It was such a solemn question that she could not 
 answer it readily, selfishly. 
 
 " Eob came very near getting into a row on my 
 behalf. It was rather funny. Poor boy ! I believe 
 he would go willingly in my stead." 
 
 The story interested Katliie a good deal, and 
 turned tlie current of her feeUngs somewhat. Then 
 one or two of the neighbors came in, and they had 
 no more quiet until they gathered round the supper- 
 table. Freddy thought it a great honor to be drafted. 
 
 " Is it true that there is a scarcity of substitutes ? " 
 asked Rob of his uncle. 
 
 " I believe it is. Mr. Langdon put in one about a 
 month ago, and paid a thousand dollars." 
 
 " But you could afford that," said Rob, decisively. 
 
 " AMiat about the cowardice of the proceeding ? " 
 
 Rob colored. The matter appeared so different to 
 him now. 
 
 " Uncle Robert ! " ~ in a most deprecating tone. 
 
36 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "I will not perplex you, nor keep you in sus- 
 pense/' he said, gravely. " If your father was alive 
 I think I should not hesitate a moment. The coun- 
 try is at her sorest need, and calls upon her loyal chil- 
 dren for assistance. It is the duty of every man who 
 can be spared to answer the call, to swell the list 
 so that the struggle may be brief. It seems to me 
 that another year will certainly see our war ended, 
 now that we have such brave and able generals in 
 the field, but if the stress should be any greater, I 
 must respond. Now, however, I shall do my best to 
 procure a substitute." 
 
 They all drew a relieved breath. Kathie looked 
 up with a tender light in her eyes. 
 
 " I am so glad ! " she said afterward, nestling be- 
 side him upon the sofa. " Did it surprise you when 
 you heard that you were drafted ? " 
 
 " I must confess that it did. I had a presentiment 
 that I should escape, so it seems such things are not 
 always to be depended upon." 
 
 Kathie was silent for some time, her eyes en- 
 grossed with a figure in the carpet. 
 
 " Well, Miss Thoughtful, what is it now ? Are you 
 not satisfied to have me stay, or am I less of a hero 
 in j^our eyes ? " 
 
DRAFTED. 37 
 
 " No, Uncle Eobert. I was only thinking of the 
 men who were compelled to go 'and did not want to, 
 who liad families to leave — " 
 
 " ^ly darling, it is not necessary to lay the cares of 
 others so deeply to heart. Instead, we must do all 
 we can for those who are left behind." 
 
 " I don't tliink a draft quite a fair thing, after all," 
 declared Eob, coming out of a brown study. 
 
 Mrs. Alston entered the room. " Mr. Morrison is 
 over here and wishes to see you, — Ethel's father." 
 
 Uncle Kobert rose and went out. 
 
 In the mean while Aunt Euth and Eob had quite 
 a warm discussion concerning the draft. Kathie 
 somehow felt very tender-hearted, and was silent. 
 
 Presently they heard steps in the haU and the 
 door opened. 
 
 " I have brought Mr. Morrison in to see you all," 
 Mr. Conover said, " and to explain to you that he de- 
 sires to go in my stead, a willing substitute." 
 
 There was something very solemn and withal 
 sweet in Uncle Eobert's voice. Eob winked away a 
 tear. Kathie walked over to Mr. Morrison and laid 
 her hand in his, — a pretty white hand if she did 
 dust the rooms and do gardening with it 
 
38 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " It is SO very kind and generous in you," she be- 
 ^gan, falteringly, tliin&ng of another love and another 
 substitute. 
 
 " No, Miss Kathie, it is n't all pure generosity, so 
 don't praise me too soon. If I 'd been real lucky 
 about getting work, maybe I should n't have taken 
 the idea so strongly into my mind, or if poor Ethel's 
 mother had Lived. But times are unsettled, and 
 business of all kinds is so very dull that I 'd half 
 made up my mind to 'list and get the bounty. That 
 would be something for my little girl in case she did 
 n't have me. Then when I heard talk of the draft 
 1 thought to myself, ' If JVIr. Conover gets taken I '11 
 offer to go in his place ' ; and so I waited. Being an 
 Englishman, I am not hable, you know." 
 
 "And that makes it the more noble," returned 
 Kathie, softly. "It was so good to — to think of 
 him " ; and her voice sank to a whisper. 
 
 "You have all been so kind to my poor old 
 mother, and to me, for that matter, as weU. I seem 
 to owe some sort of duty to you first." 
 
 " Did you mean to enlist any way ? " asked Ka- 
 thie. 
 
 " Yes, miss, it would have come to that ; for, said 
 
DKAFTED. 39 
 
 I, ' Here is a country and a government battling in a 
 good cause, begging for men, and willing to provido 
 for the little ones they may leave behind.' Thougli I 
 should be no skulk, nor eye-server, Miss Kathie, if I 
 did go for the money." 
 
 " We should never think that of you," returned 
 Uncle Kobert, warndy. 
 
 " So I '11 be glad to go in your place, sir, if it 's 
 any favor ; and if you '11 look after Ethel a little, if 
 anything should happen to me. If I 'm too bold in 
 asking — " 
 
 " No," said Aunt Euth ; " it will be a sacred duty, 
 and a pleasure as well ; but we shall count upon 
 your return." 
 
 " Life is imcertain with us all," was the grave 
 reply. With that he rose and bowxd. Uncle Kob- 
 ert left the room with him, for he had much more 
 to say. 
 
 " I could n't have uttered a word," exclaimed Eob, 
 his voice still a little tremulous. " Why, it 's just 
 like a dream ! There are noble and heroic men who 
 may go to war even for the money, though I think 
 they are a good deal sneered at, — subs, as the boys 
 call them ; but I shall never ridicule tliem again, — 
 never, although bad men may do the same thing." 
 
40 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " It is not quite the same," subjoined Kathie. 
 
 " 'No, the motive makes a great difiference." 
 
 Uncle Eobert returned and took his seat between 
 the children. He appeared to be invested ^vith a 
 new virtue in their eyes, as if he had just escaped an 
 imminent and deadly peril And there is something 
 in the simplest act of chivalry that touches one's 
 soul. 
 
 " It was so good in Mr. Morrison to think of you," 
 Eob said, after a while. 
 
 " Yes ; going farther back,. I don't know but we 
 owe it all to Kathie. If she had not thought of 
 our trusty and efficient gardener, we should never 
 have known his brother. The lodge has made a 
 charming home for them, and they feel deeply 
 grateful." 
 
 " It is worse to go away to war than I imagined," 
 Eob continued, gravely following out his own musings. 
 
 " You have been looking at the glory and listening 
 to the music, my boy ; but there is quite another 
 side to it. It is one thing to go out as a mounted 
 officer, in glittering uniform, with a servant to wait 
 upon you, and if you fall in battle to have whole 
 cities weep your loss, and quite another to tramp as 
 
DRAFTED. 41 
 
 a commom soldier, often weary and footsore, to be 
 subject to the caprice of those in authority, to work 
 night and day sometimes, to stand in the front rank 
 and be swept down by a terrific charge, be trampled 
 under foot and thrown into a nameless grave, per- 
 haps forever lost to your kindred. It is no light 
 matter, Eob, and requires a good deal of courage 
 when a man does it intelligently." 
 
 "You would n't have gone out as a private, 
 though ! " 
 
 A grave smile crossed Uncle Eobert's face. "I 
 should not have gone for the glory, but the duty. 
 Yes, Rob, I should have taken my place in the ranks, 
 and if the great Captain of all had said, 'Friend, 
 come up higher,' I should have trusted through 
 his grace to be ready for the promotion. But one 
 goes in my stead." 
 
 Kathie thought of the One who had gone in the 
 place of us all, been mocked, derided, spit upon, and 
 put to a cruel death. Maybe the rest remembered it 
 too, for there was no more talking. Their hearts 
 were too full 
 
42 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 TRUE TO one's COLORS. 
 
 There was a week of great excitement at Brook- 
 side. Head-quarters were established on the confines 
 of the town to render it accessible to Taunton and 
 the adjacent places. Hundreds thronged the camp 
 daily; uniforms were sent down, and drilling com- 
 menced in good earnest. 
 
 Kathie began school on Monday morning. A 
 large, pleasant room had been obtained, and Mrs. 
 Wilder opened with ten young ladies, though nearly 
 as many more had been enrolled. 
 
 " I feel as if I were drafted," she declared to Uncle 
 Eobert. " I know it is my duty to go and do the 
 best that I can, but I would so much rather have 
 remained at home." 
 
 " You find, then, that no one is quite exempt from 
 the warfare ? " and he smiled. " Still, I think I can 
 trust you to be a good soldier." 
 
 " I am second in the reofiment," she said. " Mr. 
 Morrison must always stand first." 
 
TRUE TO ONE'S COLOES. 43 
 
 It seemed very quiet and lonesome in that largo 
 room, where you were put upon your honor not to 
 speak, and the silence was broken only by the recita- 
 tions, or some remark of ^Irs. AVilder. A long, dull 
 day, though the session closed at two, there being no 
 intermission. 
 
 Lottie Thome was the only girl Kathie was well 
 acquainted with. That ambitious young lady had 
 pleaded very hard for boarding-school, and, being dis- 
 appointed, was lather captious and critical. Emma 
 Lauriston sat next to her, and Kathie fancied she 
 might like her very much. She had met her in the 
 summer at the rowdng-matches. 
 
 But she was glad enough to get home. Kob had 
 his head full of Camp Schuyler, and Freddy had 
 arrayed himself in gorgeous regimentals and sat out 
 on a post dnimming fearfully. 
 
 " I want a little more talk about this substitute 
 business," said Uncle Robert, at the table. "Mr. 
 Morrison offered to go for seven hundred dollars. 
 He has three hundred of his own. Now what do 
 you think we ought to give him ? " 
 
 He addressed the question more particularly to 
 Rob and Kathie. 
 
44 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Eob considered. In his boy's way of thinking he 
 supposed what any one asked was enough. 
 
 " Would a thousand dollars be too much ? " Kathie 
 ventured, timidly. " It does n't seem to me that any 
 money could make up to Ethel for — '* 
 
 There Kathie stopped. 
 
 " He will come back/' exclaimed Eob. 
 
 " We were talking over Ethel's future this morn- 
 ing. Mr. Morrison would like to have her educated 
 for a teacher. I am to be appointed her guardian in 
 case of any misfortune." 
 
 " It ought not to be less than a thousand," said 
 Aunt Euth. 
 
 "I thought so myself. And I believe I shall 
 pledge my word to provide a home for Ethel in case 
 of any change at her uncle's.'* 
 
 Kathie's deep, soft eyes thanked him. 
 
 The next day the bargain was concluded. Mr. 
 Morrison handed his small sum over to Mr. Conover 
 for safe-keeping, and the whole amount, thirteen hun- 
 dred dollars, was placed at interest. Then he. re- 
 ported himself at Camp Schuyler for duty. 
 
 Kathie tried bravely to like her school, but home 
 was so much dearer and sweeter. It was quite hard 
 
TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS. 45 
 
 after her desultory life, and spasmodic studying made 
 so very entertaining by Uncle Eobert's explanations, 
 to come down to methodical habits and details. She 
 meant to be a good soldier, even if it did prove dif- 
 ficult in the early marches. 
 
 But this week was one of events. On Thursday 
 afternoon ^Ir. Meredith surprised them all again. It 
 seemed to Kathie that there was something unusual 
 in his face. Uncle Eobert was absent on important 
 business, and at first he appeared rather disap- 
 pointed. 
 
 " It is such a glorious afternoon, Kitty, that I 
 think you will have to invite me out to drive, by way 
 of comfort. Are the ponies in good order ? '* 
 
 " Yes, and at home. How fortunate that Eob did 
 not take them ! " 
 
 Kathie ordered them at once. 
 
 "You have had great doings here. So you came 
 near losing your dear uncle, my child ? " 
 
 Kathie winked away a tear. There would always be 
 a tender little spot in her heart concerning the matter. 
 
 "It is best under the circumstances," was Mr. 
 Meredith's grave comment. " I should not want 
 him to go." 
 
46 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 They took their seats in the phaeton. "Where 
 shall we drive ? " Kathie asked. " To — " breaking 
 off her sentence with a little blush. 
 
 " Miss Darrell is away from home. It is owing to 
 that circmnstance that you are called upon to enter- 
 tain me " ; and he laughed a little, but less gayly than 
 usual. 
 
 It was a soft, lovely autumn day, full of whisper- 
 ings of oaks and pines and cedars, fragmentary chirps 
 of bkds, and distant river music. Kathie* drew a 
 few long breaths of perfect content, then with her 
 usual consideration for others she stole a shy glance 
 to see if jVIr. Meredith was enjoying it as well, he 
 was so very quiet. 
 
 "I am afraid something troubles you," she said, 
 softly ; and her voice sounded as if it might have 
 been a rustle of maple branches close at hand. "Is 
 it about Uncle Kobert ? " 
 
 " No, child," in a grave, reflective tone ; " it is — 
 about myseK." 
 
 She did not like to question him as she would 
 have done with Uncle Eobert. 
 
 " Kitten," he began, presently, "I have been think- 
 ing this good while, and thinking slow]y. A greal 
 
TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS. 47 
 
 many things puzzle me, and all my perplexities have 
 culminated at last in one grand step ; but Avhether 
 I am quite prepared for it — " 
 
 The sentence was a labyrintli to Kathie, and she 
 was not quite sure that she held the clew. 
 
 " I am going to enlist — at least, I am going out 
 for three months — with my regiment. They have 
 volunteered, most of them." 
 
 "And what troubles you?" in her sweet, tender 
 voice, and glancing up with an expression that no 
 other eyes save Kathie Alston's could have had. 
 
 " Child," he asked, " how did you stand fire last 
 winter when you were so suddenly brought to the 
 front? About the singing, I mean." 
 
 She understood. He referred to the Sunday even- 
 ing at Mrs. Meredith's when she had refused to join 
 Ada in singing songs. The remembered pain still 
 made her shiver. 
 
 "There is something about you, Kathie, just a 
 little different from other children, — other girls. 
 You often carry it in your face ; and for the life 
 of me I cannot help thinking how the wise virgins 
 must liave been illuminated with their tiny lamps 
 while the others stood in darkness. Is it a natural 
 gift or grace ? " 
 
48 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 She knew now what he meant. She was called 
 upon to give testimony here, and it was almost as 
 hard as in Mrs. Meredith's grand drawing-room. 
 She felt tlie warm blood throbbing through every 
 pulse. 
 
 *' You did a brave thing that night, little girl I 
 shall never forget it — never. Can you answer my 
 question ? What is it ? " 
 
 She could only think of one thing, one sentence, 
 amid the whirl and confusion of ideas and the 
 girlish shrinking back, — " The love of Clirist con- 
 straineth us." 
 
 " It was n't merely your regard for your mother or 
 Uncle Eobert ? " 
 
 " It was all" — in her simple, earnest fashion. 
 
 " I 'm going out there, Kathie," nodding his head 
 southward, " to stand some pretty hard fire, doubtless. 
 I am not afraid of physical pain, nor the dropping 
 out of life, though existence never was sweeter than 
 now ; but if, in the other country, the record of my 
 useless years rises sharp against me, what shall I 
 answer ? I have never tried to do anything for the 
 glory of God! Child, you shame all our paltry- 
 lives!" 
 
TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS. 49 
 
 " 0, don't ! " with a suggestion of pain in her voice ; 
 " what I can do is such a very little." 
 
 She would never know how tlie simple acts of her 
 life, springing from the hidden centre that was deeper 
 even than her every-day thought, was to bear fruit on 
 wide-spread branches. 
 
 " And yet we — I — do nothing. I should have 
 to go empty-handed." 
 
 She cast about for some words of comfort. As 
 girl of woman Kathie Alston would never be able to 
 realize all the frivolousness, to say nothing of vanity, 
 selfishness, and deeper sins, crowded into this man's 
 life, which still looked so fair by outward comparison 
 with others. 
 
 " Ever since Mr. Morrison offered to go in Uncle 
 Eobert's place this verse has been lingering in my 
 mind : ' Greater love hath no man than this, that a 
 man lay down his life for his friends,' It seems to me 
 that it does n't mean physical life altogether, but all 
 the times and places when we take something pre- 
 cious out of our own lives and put it into that of 
 others. And every man who goes now may be called 
 upon to suffer in some other's stead. If he do it 
 bravely, is it not a little of the good fruit ? I can't 
 
 4 
 
50 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 explain all I mean, only just as the Saviour loved lis 
 we ought to love every one else." 
 
 Edward Meredith had listened to many an elo- 
 quent sermon, and dissected it in a purely intel- 
 lectual fashion, his heart never warming with any in- 
 ward grace, or hungering after the true bread. But 
 he understood now the secret of this little girl's life. 
 Not doctrine, not so much creed, or form, or rule, 
 *' but the taking something precious out of her daily 
 existence and noiselessly placing it in that of others." 
 And the same love which enabled her to do this 
 rendered her brave, pure, and sweet. A child's relig- 
 ion, that a year or two ago he would have sneered 
 at, and now he had come to learn of her because he 
 was too proud to ask others, and perhaps ashamed. 
 
 " But you had a substitute ! " she said, presently, 
 bethinking herself. 
 
 " Yes. He has served his time out honorably, has 
 had the good fortune to come home without harm of 
 any kind. You remember how Mackenzie bantered 
 me last winter, though he was in dead earnest. But 
 the country is at her extremest need now ; if Grant, 
 Sherman, and our other generals, are strengthened 
 by good reinforcements, it seems to me that in six 
 
TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS. 51 
 
 months we might have peace. I have done a good 
 deal of holiday soldiering in my life, but this is to 
 be sober earnest." 
 
 He looked as if it might be. 
 
 ''When will you go?" 
 
 " We start for Washington on Saturday morning.** 
 
 " So soon ! Does — Miss Jessie know ? " Kathie 
 could not help but ask it, though the lids trembled 
 over her shy, downcast eyes. 
 
 "She should have received my note this morn- 
 ing. I suppose she did not, or she would have been 
 at home. Katliie, I ought to thank you for your 
 rare delicacy in keeping our secret. There are some 
 matters that one does not like to have talked about." 
 
 What would Mss Jessie say ? Of course she 
 loved Mr. Meredith very much. Kathie's heart 
 ached a little in silence, but this was one of the bur- 
 dens that could not be borne by another. 
 
 On they went through lovely scenery, now and 
 then catching a glimpse of the river that wound 
 around like a silver cord through its bed of green. 
 Here in the stillness they heard the chatter of squir- 
 rels and the sound of dropping nuts, or an autumn- 
 tinted leaf went floating on the air like some gor- 
 
52 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 geous "bird with his wings all aflame. Golden-rod 
 and great clumps of purple Michaelmas daisies starred 
 the roadside, with frequent clusters of scarlet su- 
 mach, pendent bitter-sweet berries with the still 
 glossy green leaves, and the dark tint of spruce and 
 fir. 
 
 Kathie began to realize how her heart and intel- 
 lect had expanded. She was no longer a little girl. 
 How she had grown within and without was a great 
 mystery, as well as how her soul had enriched itself . 
 with drawing near to others, and going forth again 
 with the sweet, half-comprehending sympathies of 
 girlhood. 
 
 "I have been a dull companion," Mr. Meredith 
 said, at length. " But, Kathie, I shall never forget 
 the happy days I have spent at Cedarwood. To have 
 known you is one of the bright events in my life." 
 
 They were coming up the avenue, and saw Uncle 
 Eobert standing on the broad porch. She might 
 never have another opportunity to speak, and he had 
 been so peculiarly serious this afternoon. 
 
 "O Mr. Meredith, you won't forget — when you 
 are out there — that there is another service, and an- 
 other Captain — " 
 
TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS. 5iJ 
 
 " Pray for me, Kathie, that I may be one of His 
 faithful soldiers to my life's end." 
 
 She ran up stairs afterward, and the two gentle- 
 men had a long talk in the library. After supper 
 Mr. Meredith said good by, as he expected to leave 
 the Darrells' to take the early morning train. 
 
 " I do believe everybody is going to war ! " ex- 
 claimed Eob, rather ruefully. "I wonder if we shall 
 ever have such good times again." 
 
 Eob spent the next forenoon in packing. 
 
 " How all these things are to be gotten into one 
 trunk I cannot imagine ! " he exclaimed, in de- 
 spair. 
 
 " I fancy that you had better put the clothes in 
 first, and leave the 'things,' as you call them, until 
 the last," said Aunt Ruth, with a quiet smile. 
 
 " But I shall want them all, I 'm sure." 
 
 " Not your whole tool-chest ! " 
 
 "Some of the articles would come in so han- 
 
 dy." 
 
 " To assist you in learning your lessons ? " asked his 
 mother. 
 
 " 0, you know what I mean. Now, motlier, you 
 won't let Freddy meddle with them while I am gone, 
 
54 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 — will you ? He always does manage to get into 
 everything." 
 
 " The best way wiU be to put all that you can in 
 the closet of your play-room, and give Uncle Robert 
 the key. Lock all your drawers as welL" 
 
 One would have fancied that Eob was going to 
 Europe, to say the very least. After he had tumbled 
 the articles in and out about twenty times, he con- 
 cluded that he would go down to the stable to see 
 about some trifle. 
 
 So his mother soon had the trunk in order, though 
 she quietly restored half the " traps " to their place 
 in the play-room, and I doubt if Eob ever missed 
 them. 
 
 Saturday was another very busy time with him. 
 He had to take a farewell glimpse of Camp Schuyler, 
 to visit hosts of the boys, to take a last row, a last 
 ride, a last game of ball, and one might have 
 imagined from all these preparations that he was 
 about to enter a dungeon and leave the cheerful ways 
 of life behind. 
 
 But Rob was beginning to have quite serious 
 moods occasionally ; and the last Sunday at home was 
 one of them. He did not feel nor understand the 
 
TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS. 55 
 
 transition state as keenly as Kathie, hQ was such 
 a thorough, careless, rollicking boy. He would play 
 until the last gasp, — "until whiskers began to 
 sprout," he said, — and he would make one of the 
 men to whom recollections of boyish fun would 
 always be sweet. 
 
 The sermon* in the morning touched him a little, 
 and then the talk with Charlie Darrell. The Dar- 
 rells felt very badly over the present loss of their 
 dear friend; and Kathie just pressed Miss Jessie's 
 fingers, but spoke no word. 
 
 " I do mean to try^' Eob said, that evening, to 
 Kathie. " It seems almost as if I were really going 
 to war, as well as the rest of them." 
 
 " Yes," she answered, gravely ; " you will find 
 enough fighting to do, — foes without and with- 
 in." 
 
 " I have learned some things, though," — with a 
 confident nod, — " and I shall never forget about the 
 giants. What odd times we have had, Kathie, from 
 first to last ! " 
 
 " I wonder if you will be homesick ? " 
 
 " Pshaw ! No. A great boy like me ! No doubt 
 there '11 be lots of fun." 
 
56 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " But I hope you will not get into any troubles or 
 scrapes. Eob ! it is real difficult to always do 
 just what is right, when oftentimes wrong things 
 seem so much pleasanter." 
 
 " I wonder why it is, Kathie ? It always looked 
 rather hard to me. Wliy did n't God make the 
 wrong so that you could see it plainly ? " 
 
 "If we see it, that is sufficient. Maybe if we 
 kept looking at it steadily it would grow larger; 
 but you know we often turn to the pleasant side 
 when we should be watching the danger." 
 
 " I don't believe that I can ever be real good ; 
 but I '11 never tell a lie, nor be mean, nor shirk, nor 
 cheat ! I want to be a real splendid man like Mr. 
 Meredith ! " 
 
 Eob would never outgrow that boyish admiration. 
 Edward ^Meredith would have felt a good deal hum- 
 bled if he had known how this boy magnified some 
 of his easy-going ways into virtues. 
 
 They had a sweet, sad time singing in the even- 
 ing. Kathie had begun to play very nicely, with 
 a great deal of expression and tenderness ; and to- 
 night all the breaks, all the farewells, and the loneli- 
 ness to come, seemed to be struggling in her soul. 
 
TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS. 57 
 
 She was glad that no one saw her face, for now and 
 then a tear dropped unbidden. 
 
 Kob and his mother had their last talk at bed- 
 time. Her heart was sad enough at the thought of 
 the nine montlis' absence, for at Westbury there 
 were no short vacations. True, she would have the 
 privilege of visiting him, but such inter\dews must, 
 of necessity, be brief. 
 
 He lay awake a long while, thinking and resolv- 
 ing. How many times he had " tried to be good." 
 Why could n't he remember ? What was it that 
 helped his mother, and Uncle Eobert, and Kathie ? 
 The grace of God ; but then how was one to get 
 this grace ? 
 
 Wandering off into the fields of theology, Kob fell 
 asleep, and never had another thought until the 
 breakfast-bell rang. Then, as he recalled his per- 
 plexity, he said slowly to himself, " I don't believe 
 religion comes natural to boys." 
 
 The parting w^as sad, after all. A thousand 
 thoughts rushed into his mind. What if he should 
 be homesick ? Here was the roomy playhouse, 
 with its store of tools, books in abundance, the 
 ponies, the lake, the boys, — O, everything ! and 
 Rob's fast-coming breatli was one great sob. 
 
58 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "A gooa soldier," Kathie whispered, as his arms 
 Were round her neck. 
 
 Uncle Robert did not return until the next day. 
 The accounts were very encouraging. Clifton Hall 
 had taken Rob's fancy at once. The boys were 
 coming in on Monday ; so there was little done 
 beside fraternizing and being classified and shown 
 to their dormitories. He had written a little scrap 
 of a note stating that " everything was lovely." 
 
 They missed him very much. Kathie began to 
 wonder if her winter would n't be lonesome. No 
 gay Mr. Meredith to drop in upon them now and 
 then ; no noisy, merry boys such as had haunted the 
 grounds aU summer. She began to feel sadly dis^ 
 consolate. 
 
 But she rallied presently. " I must fight as well 
 as my soldi€!i"S," she said to herself. 
 
 The next event was Mr. Morrison's departure. 
 Uncle Robert took both families over the day they 
 "broke camp." 
 
 Mr. Morrison wrung Uncle Robert's hand warm- 
 ly. " It will be all right, whatever comes," he 
 said. "If I had not gone for you I should have done 
 it for some one else, so never give yom-self an anx- 
 
TRUE TO ONE'S COLORS. 59 
 
 ioiis thought about it. I know my little lass is in 
 good hands." 
 
 . He kissed Ethel many, many times, and she clung 
 to him with an almost breaking heart. Kathie's 
 quick eyes saw a duty here. 
 
60 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 
 
 But Kathie found that the regiment's marching 
 off to Virginia had not taken all the interest of life. 
 They had left the woods behind, glowing with rich 
 autumnal coloring, the glorious blue heavens, the 
 ripening fruits, and the changeful scenes, that opened 
 afresh every day. 
 
 Her afternoons were quite a delight. Uncle Robert 
 always held himself in readiness, and they had either 
 a ride or a ramble. There were new collections of 
 ferns to make, and with these she often had an en- 
 tertaining lesson in botany. 
 
 October was very pleasant indeed. There was no 
 frost to mention until the middle of the month, and 
 by that time the flowers were safely housed. Hugh 
 Morrison had built a conservatory against the south 
 side of the barn, and promised Kathie bouquets all 
 winter. 
 
 Kathie began to look up her old friends as well. 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY- 61 
 
 and she joined the girls in several nutting expedi- 
 tions, at which they had rare fun. 
 
 AVithal she had a brief note from Ada, who won- 
 dered if she approved the foolish step Uncle Edward 
 had taken. Papa was positively angry about it] 
 And then the idea of going out as a private, even if 
 it was in a " crack " regiment. However, they really 
 did n't mean to fight, and that was some comfort. 
 He would be at home by the first of January. 
 
 But General Grant evinced no desire to go into 
 winter quarters, while at the South and West there 
 was unusual activity." 
 
 " It looks as if there might be considerable fight- 
 ing before Christmas ! " declared Uncle Eobert. 
 
 For the few who chose to find them there were 
 duties enough. Brookside, as well as other places, 
 began to feel the effects of the war. There were sol- 
 diers' widows and orphans, the sick and the wounded 
 who were sent home to make room for newer cases. 
 Then the churches at Brookside decided to give a 
 grand Fair and Festival for this benevolent object, 
 to be held Thanksgiving week. 
 
 l^thie found her hands quite full. Still she found 
 time to dust the parlor every morning and take care 
 
62 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 of her own room, and often managed to get half an 
 hour for her music practice. To be sure, she did 
 not dawdle over her dressing, neither was there a 
 waterfall wonderfully constructed, and adorned with 
 puffs and braids. 
 
 " I mean to keep my little girl simple in her tastes 
 as long as I can," Mrs. Alston replied to the dress- 
 maker. " Nothing can be prettier than her hair as it 
 is, and I do not feel justified in dressing her expen- 
 sively when there are so many children suffering with 
 cold and hunger." 
 
 " But young girls feel so sensitive on these mat- 
 ters," was the reply. " They all want to look like 
 their companions." 
 
 " I hope there are some sensible mothers left," re- 
 turned Mrs. Alston with a smile. 
 
 Kathie was very much interested in gettiug con- 
 tributions and making fancy articles, though hers 
 tended rather to the useful. And Aunt Euth, to her 
 great amusement, made np a dozen stout gingham 
 kitchen aprons vrith bibs, a stack of kettle-holders, 
 and knitted some dishcloths out of soft cotton. 
 
 In the mean while Kathie was delighted with a 
 letter from Mr. Meredith. He was in the gayest 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 63 
 
 spirits and related a host of comical episodes. He 
 had been in several skirmishes, but no regular battle, 
 was well and hearty, and brown as a berry already. 
 Just at the last he said, " I have not forgotten our 
 pleasant ride, and the other fighting we talked about." 
 
 Mr. Morrison was doing very well also. Kathie 
 began to think that it was not such a terrible thing 
 to go to war, after all. 
 
 As for Eob, his record was pretty fair. He did 
 confess to being a little homesick at first. The Latin 
 was "awful tough work," and some of the rules 
 "rather hard on a fellow who was new to them/' 
 But they had a "jolly set of boys," and he liked it 
 first-rate. 
 
 So Kathie had no need to worry about her soldiers. 
 She said a little prayer for them night and morning, 
 and thought of them often. But she was so busy 
 and so happy that she was little inclined to look upon 
 the dark side. 
 
 The Fair was a decided success. It was held at 
 Mason's Hall and opened on Monday evening. 
 Emma Lauriston, and a number of the larger girls, 
 were in attendance upon the tables. The band came 
 up from Connor's Point and discoursed patriotic 
 
64 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 music. Tlie hall was large, well lighted, and pre- 
 sented a very gay appearance. 
 
 But the most amusement was created by a " Dutch 
 kitchen." Several ladies had transformed a small 
 ante-room into a very attractive place of resort. 
 There were great brown rafters overhead, from which 
 depended hams, flitches of bacon, strings of onions, 
 bunches of herbs, and at the edge were stowed away 
 miscellaneous articles. A great eight-day clock, 
 chairs, and an old brass-handled dresser that might 
 have come over in the Mayflower, while four pretty 
 young girls, in the quaint old costume of their grand- 
 mothers, waited upon the table with all grace and 
 ease. This was crowned with an immense dish of 
 beans and pork, and a stout, rosy Dutch woman was 
 baking waffles. Altogether this was the place for 
 fun. 
 
 Kathie had been in and out half a dozen times. 
 Her Fortunatus's purse was full to repletion, and 
 every time she passed the door she saw some chil- 
 dren standing there with wistful eyes. It was such 
 a delightful thing to make any one happy. 
 
 Sauntering round, she came to a rather oddly ar- 
 ranged table, — Miss Weston's. She was the primmest 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 65 
 
 and queerest of old maids, — a little body with weak 
 eyes and flaxen hair, who always looked at you 
 sharply through gold-bowed spectacles. 
 
 " dear ! " she exclaimed, " how you young things 
 do go flyin' round ! As for me, I 'm that tired I 'ni 
 just ready to drop. I 've been here ever sence two 
 o'clock and never set down a minnit. I fixed all 
 my table myself, and I made nigh onto all the things. 
 Cousin Hitty, she sent me them there child's aperns ; 
 but land ! what a sight of folly it is to do all that 
 braidin' and nonsense ! I never had no sech thing 
 when I was little ! Been in the Dutch kitchen ? " 
 
 " yes, time and again." 
 
 " I 'd like to go, I 'm sure. I 've been standin' 
 stiddy on my feet sence two o'clock. If some one 
 would come along and take my table ! " 
 
 " Could n't I ? " asked Kathie. 
 
 " 0, you 're so flighty ! All gals are nowadays. 
 Why, when I was no older 'n you I had seven 
 bed-quilts pieced, and had begun to lay by sheets anc: 
 pillow-slips, and had a dozen pairs of as han'some 
 hum-knit stockings as you 'd find in a day:'s 
 walk ! " 
 
 Miss Weston really did look tired. Kathie was 
 
66 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 debating whether she should not insist, though this 
 was an out-of-the-way corner, and rather dull. 
 
 " "Well, I guess I '11 go. You won't be likely to 
 sell anything ; nothing much sells the first night, 
 and I hain't no nonsense and flummeiy. Good use- 
 ful articles, but nobody can see their virtue nowadays. 
 It 's the way of the world ! " — a little spitefully. " All 
 the prices are marked in plain figgers, and t won't 
 have a thing undersold. dear, I am a'most beat 
 out." 
 
 " I *11 do my best," said Kathie, sweetly. 
 
 After giving about a dozen more orders Miss Wes- 
 ton moved slowly away, though, truth to tell, she 
 was more anxious to go than she appeared; and 
 w^hom should she meet just at the entrance but Mr. 
 Denslow, who paid the ten cents' admittance fee. 
 Mr. Denslow, moreover, was a widower, and Miss 
 Weston had not quite given up the hope that the 
 bed-quilts and the stores of linen might some day 
 be called into use. 
 
 Kathie took her place behind the table, and, when 
 the moments began to hang heavy, ventured upon a 
 few improvements. The passers-by just gave the 
 place a glance, and prefeiTed to go where there were 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 67 
 
 some pretty girls or some fun. Kathie found it 
 exceedingly dull. 
 
 At last ^lary Cox spied her out. Charlie Darrell 
 was escorting her roimd. 
 
 "Why, Miss Weston," he said, softly, "where [s 
 your specs ? And why is n't your hair done up in 
 queer little puffs ? " 
 
 " What an ugly table ! " exclaimed Mary. " How 
 did you come to take it ? " 
 
 " Miss Weston was so tired." 
 
 " She is in the Dutch kitchen, desperately sweet 
 upon Mr. Denslow. It 's so seldom that she gets 
 a beau that you need n't expect her for the next 
 hour. ^Vhat a lovely time you will have waiting ! " 
 
 Charlie would have been very well satisfied to 
 stay and talk to Kathie, but Mary wanted the 
 amusement of rambling round and laughing with 
 every one ; and though Kathie said, beseechingly, 
 " Don't go ! " Mary replied, " 0, we must ! " and the 
 child w^as left alone again. 
 
 Down at the end of the hall they \vere having 
 a merry time. She saw grave Emma Lauriston 
 laughing, and Aunt Euth was talking and smiling. 
 Why did n't some one think of her ? 
 
68 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " How mucli fur these caliker apems ? " asked 
 a country woman. 
 
 Kathie roused a little at the question, and took 
 her eyes from the entertaining circle. 
 
 "HaK a doUar!" 
 
 " Half a dollar ! " — in the utmost surprise. " Why, 
 they ain't wuth it ! Ain't more 'n two yards of cali- 
 ker in 'em, and I kin buy jest sich for fifteen cents 
 a yard." 
 
 " But the making," suggested Kathie. 
 
 " 0, that was throwed in ! Always is in char'table 
 objects. Tell you what I '11 do, — give three shil- 
 lin's apiece for two of 'em. It 's a good object." 
 
 Now Kathie knew that the calico could not be 
 bought for less than eighteen cents a yard, which 
 would give just one cent profit ; besides. Miss Wes- 
 ton had charged her particularly not to undersell. 
 "The table is not mine," she answered; "I am 
 keeping it for a friend." 
 
 Perhaps the woman considered there was a better 
 chance of bargain-making ; at all events she lingered 
 and haggled until Kathie grew nervous, and wished 
 Miss Weston would come. 
 
 "Well, you 're dreadful dear, — that 's all I 'vo 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 69 
 
 got to say " ; and the woman flounced off angrily. 
 " It 's just the way at these fairs and things ; but 
 you can't cheat me out of my eyes, char'ty or not." 
 Then Kathie was left alone again. 
 
 Presently Harry Cox ran over. "We 're having 
 such fun, and Charlie sent me for you. There 's no 
 one here, so why can't you shut up shop ? " 
 
 Kathie longed to very much. She might keep an 
 eye on the table and have a little fun besides; but 
 it would be deserting her post. No true soldier 
 would do that. " I 'm obliged to you, but I think 
 I had better stay ; Miss Weston will soon be here." 
 
 " She 's an old humbug ! " 
 
 The sights and sounds were so tantalizing ! What 
 luas Mss Weston doing in the Dutch kitchen all this 
 while? 
 
 At last a bit of good-fortune befell Kathie. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Adams and Mr. Langdon came along. Mr. 
 Langdon had been away from Brookside for several 
 weeks, and had a host of questions to ask. 
 
 " But what are you doing over here ? You look 
 as if you had quarrelled with your neighbors, and 
 gone off in disdain." 
 
 Kathie explained that it was not her table. 
 
70 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Have you sold anj^hing ? " 
 
 " Not a penny's worth ! " 
 
 "Then I must patronize you a little," declared 
 Mrs. Adams. 
 
 She found a number of useful articles, and some 
 that she could give away to her poor parishioners. 
 Kathie was quite proud of the four dollars in the 
 small cash-box. 
 
 At last she was relieved, and gave a great breath 
 of thankfulness. 
 
 " Is that all you 've taken in ? " asked Miss Wes- 
 ton, rather sharply. "Are you sure you Ve been 
 here all the time ? But you never can find any 
 one who will do for you as you do yourself" 
 
 " I did not have but one customer," returned 
 Kathie, in justification ; and she felt that Mrs. 
 Adams had made her purchases from a sense of 
 personal friendship. 
 
 " I might better 'a' stayed with my table," was 
 the ungracious answer ; and that was all the thanks 
 Kathie received for her kind deed and the discom- 
 fort. But she solaced herself with the consciousness 
 that a great many good deeds meet with no reward 
 in this world. IVIiss Weston must certainly have 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 71 
 
 had some pleasure, or she would not have stayed 
 so long. 
 
 Kathie was glad to get back to her mother and 
 Aunt Euth. The great source of amusement over 
 here was the confectionery table with packages of 
 "gift" candy, each parcel of which contained a 
 present, and some of them were exceedingly comi- 
 cal. 
 
 " We have had such fun ! " exclaimed Mary. 
 " You don't know what you have missed ! " 
 
 But Charlie glanced up and met Kathie's eyes 
 with a look that seemed to understand it all; and 
 Miss Jessie said afterward, " I think you were very 
 good to keep Miss Weston's table such a long while. 
 I did n't know but she meant to spend the whole 
 evening in the kitchen." 
 
 At ten o'clock they began to put everything in 
 order for closing up. The evening had been a won- 
 derful success, considering that it was the first. 
 Kathie was full of delight and excitement, and de- 
 clared that she did not feel a bit sleepy, though it 
 was after eleven when she went to her room. 
 
 The sleepiness came the next morning. Lessons 
 were rather dull work, and she counted the moments 
 
72 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 eagerly until school closed. At first she had half a 
 mind to run over to the hall to see how matters were 
 progressing. 
 
 " But then it will be so much gayer this evening," 
 she thought to herself, " and I must study my lessons 
 a little." 
 
 She had sufficient courage to refuse all entreaties, 
 and walked home by herself, trying to recall several 
 subjects on which she had not been very perfect to- 
 day. Mrs. Wilder w^as a little indulgent, for she 
 knew how much the Fair had engrossed their atten- 
 tion. 
 
 The house was very quiet, so Kathie studied and 
 had a good long music practice before mamma and 
 Aunt Euth returned. But as they were planning 
 at the supper-table Mrs. Alston said, "I would 
 rather not have you go to-night, Kathie." 
 
 " mamma, why ? " — with a touch of entreaty 
 in her voice. 
 
 " You were up late last night, and you will want 
 to be there again on Wednesday evening. You 
 certainly need a little rest between." 
 
 " But last evening was like — lost time to me, or 
 pretty nearly. I stayed at Miss Weston's table in that 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 73 
 
 dull comer for more than an hour, while the other 
 girls were enjoying themselves." 
 
 " Was it really lost time ? " and a half-smile crossed 
 Mrs. Alston's face. 
 
 KatSie bethought herself. "I suppose it ought 
 not to have been, but it was very dull." 
 
 " Are you sorry that you did it ? " 
 
 " Why, no," — in a tone of faint surprise. " And 
 yet she did not seem very much obliged to me. Not 
 that I cared so much for the thanks," — rather hastily. 
 
 "I was glad to see you ^villing to give up that 
 much of your pleasure. Miss Weston is peculiar, but 
 she was very ready to help everybody all the after- 
 noon, and had her pins, scissors, strings, tacks, and 
 hammer always ready. She did a great deal of work." 
 
 " But what a pity she cannot be — " 
 • " Well," said Uncle Eobert, filling the long pause. 
 
 " A little more gracious, I believe I was going to 
 say, or not quite so ' queer.' " 
 
 " It is unfortunate, when Miss Weston is so good- 
 hearted in the main. But then she always talks 
 about the trouble she has taken, the hard work she 
 has done, and really dims the grace of her kind 
 deeds." 
 
74 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "I came very near doing it myseK," admitted 
 Kathie, quite soberly. 
 
 " I do not believe Kathie desired any extra indul- 
 gence to-night because she gave up hers last even- 
 ing," exclaimed Uncle Kobert, with that namelessly 
 appreciative light in his eyes. 
 
 " no, do not think that of me, mamma, only I should 
 like to go to-night. All the girls are to be there." 
 
 " Three nights' dissipation in succession is rather 
 too much for a little girl, unless there was an urgent 
 necessity. You will enjoy Wednesday evening all 
 the better for having had a rest." 
 
 Kathie entreated no further, but it was a great dis- 
 appointment, the more so because it had come so un- 
 expectedly. And it seemed to her that she felt rested 
 and bright enough to keep awake until midnight. 
 She had studied all her lessons too. 
 
 However, she kissed her mother cheerfully. Aunt 
 Euth was tired, and did not mean to go either. 
 
 "You might put me to bed," exclaimed Freddy, 
 lingering in the sitting-room. 
 
 Kathie somehow could not feel generous all at 
 once. The idea of nursing her disappointment awhile 
 looked rather tempting. 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 75 
 
 « Wliy, I never do it now," she answered. 
 
 « No, you don't," — considerably aggrieved. " Nor 
 ever tell me stories, either ! And it 's so lonesome 
 since Rob went to school." 
 
 Kathie had a faint consciousness that not to tliink 
 of herself would be the best thing she could do. 
 
 " And you never told me about the Fair, either ! " 
 
 " Well, run up to bed, and I will come presently," 
 she said, in her bright, pleasant way. 
 
 Freddy kissed Aunt Euth and went off in high 
 feather. It was quite like old times to sit beside 
 him and talk, and Kathie w^as not a little amused by 
 his questions, some of which were very wise for a 
 little head, and others utterly absurd. Then came 
 some very slow, wandering sentences, and Kathie 
 knew then that dusky-robed Sleep was hovering about 
 the wondering brain until it could wonder no more. 
 
 " Good night," — with a soft kiss. 
 
 Aunt Ruth w^as lying on the lounge, so she ran 
 down to the drawing-room and had half an hour's 
 study over some "accidentals," that had tried her 
 patience sorely in the afternoon. Delightful and all 
 as music was, how much hard labor and persistence 
 it required ! 
 
76 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 But by and by she could play the troublesome 
 part with her eyes shut, counting the time to every 
 note. 
 
 " Mr. LawTence cannot find any fault with that ! " 
 she commented inwardly. 
 
 So she went back to Aunt Euth in a very sweet 
 humor, and, drawing an ottoman to the side of the 
 lounge, sat do\vn with Aunt Euth's arm around her 
 neck. 
 
 The room looked so lovely in its soft light. The 
 shadowy flowers and baskets of trailing vines in the 
 great bay-window, the dusky pictures on the waU, 
 and the crimson tint given by the furniture. It was 
 so sweet and restful that Kathie felt like having a 
 good talk, so she drew a long breath by way of in- 
 spiration. 
 
 " Aunt Euth," she said, in a little perplexity, " why 
 is it that a person is not always willing to try to 
 do right first of all ? One wishes to and does not in 
 the same breath." 
 
 " I suppose that is the result of our imperfect na- 
 tures ; but it is good to have tke desire even." 
 
 " Yet when one means to try — is trying — will it 
 never come easy ? " 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 77 
 
 " Do you not find it easier than you did two years 
 ago ? " 
 
 " But I am older, and have more judgment." 
 
 " And a stronger will on the wrong side as well as 
 on the right, beside many more temptations." 
 
 " You conquer some of them, though." 
 
 " Yet with every new state of life others spring up. 
 Life is a continual warfare." 
 
 " And you never get perfect ! " 
 
 " Never in this life." 
 
 " It is discouraging, — is n't it, Aunt Paith ? " 
 
 " Is it discouraging to eat when you are hungry ? " 
 
 " Why, no ! " — with a little laugh. 
 
 " It seems to me the conditions of spiritual life are 
 not so very unlike the conditions of physical life. It 
 is step by step in both. The food and the grace are 
 sufficient for the day, but they will not last to-mor- 
 row, or for a month to come." 
 
 " Yet the grace was to be sufficient always," Kathie 
 said, with some hesitation. 
 
 " And have you proved it otherwise ? " The voice 
 was very sweet, and Aunt Kuth's tone almost in- 
 sensibly lured to confidence. 
 
 " But what troubles me is — that little thinirs — " 
 
78 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 and Kathie's voice seemed to get tangled up with 
 emotion, " should be such a trial sometimes. Now I 
 can understand how any great sacrifice may call for 
 a great effort ; but after we have been used to doing 
 these little things over and over again — " 
 
 " One becomes rather tired of making the effort ; 
 and it is just here where so many people who mean 
 to be good go astray. They leave the small matters 
 to take care of themselves, and aspire to something 
 greater ; so, without being really aware of it, they are 
 impatient, selfish, thoughtless for others, and fall into 
 many careless ways. Would one really grand action 
 make amends for all ? " 
 
 " No, it would not," Kathie answered, reflectively. 
 
 " So we have to keep a watch every moment, be 
 fed every day and hour, or we shall hunger." 
 
 Kathie sighed a little. Why had it not been as 
 easy to be good and pleasant to-night as some other 
 times when mamma did not think a coveted indul- 
 gence necessary ? Yet her .perplexity appeared so 
 trivial that she hardly had the courage to confess 
 it even to this kind listener. 
 
 "You took the right step to-night, Kathie," said 
 Aunt Euth, presently. " I was glad to see you do it. 
 
LITTLE STEPS BY THE WAY. 79 
 
 Brooding over any real or fancied burden never 
 lightens it. And though it seems a rather sharp 
 remedy in the midst of one's pain to think of or 
 help some other person, it works the speediest 
 cure." 
 
 She saw that. So little a thing as entertaining 
 Freddy had soothed her own disappointment. 
 
 " But I ought not — " and Kathie's voice trembled. 
 
 "Stoicism is not the highest courage, little one. 
 And God does n't take away our natural feelings when 
 he forgives sin. There is a good deal of sifting and 
 winnowing left for us to do. And I believe God is 
 better pleased with us when we have seen the danger, 
 and struggled against it, than if it had not touched 
 us at all The rustle of the leaves seems to give 
 promise of fruit." 
 
 " I think I see," Kathie answered, slowly. " Tliere 
 is some marching as well as all battle." 
 
 " Yes " ; and Aunt Ruth kissed the tremulous scarlet 
 lips. 
 
 Kathie was so soundly asleep that she^'did not hear 
 mamma and Uncle Robert come home. But she was 
 bright and winsome as a bird the next morning. 
 
80 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 ONE OF THE SIVIALL DEEDS. 
 
 Kathie's lessons, even to her music, were perfect 
 the next day. Indeed, Mr. Lawrence quite compli- 
 mented her. 
 
 Mrs. Alston said, " Kathie, if you would like to 
 come over after school and relieve me a little while, 
 I should be very glad." 
 
 So Kathie went straight from school. There was 
 quite a crowd already. Whole families had come in 
 from the country, farmers with their wives and little 
 ones. * 
 
 " Wliat taste you do see displayed ! " Lottie re- 
 marked, sauntering to Kathie's vicinity. " Look at 
 that woman's shawl with a yellow centre. Is n't it 
 hideously ugly? And that purple bonnet with red 
 flowers ! Why did n't she put blue, by way of con- 
 trast?" 
 
 The wearer of the purple bonnet glanced at the two 
 girls "svith a flushed and rather indignant face, — 
 
m S i 
 
 AT THE FAIK. Page 80. 
 
ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS. 81 
 
 a hard-featui'ed countrywoman, neither young nor 
 pretty. 
 
 " don't," whispered Kathie. ^ She heard you." 
 
 " As if I cared ! Any person who outrages taste 
 in that manner is a fit subject for criticism. How 
 hoiTidly that gored skirt hangs ! Home-made to the 
 last thread. If I could n't have a dressmaker I would 
 not have any new dresses." 
 
 Kathie was feeling quite distressed. She disliked 
 to have Lottie to stand here and make remarks on 
 every one who passed by. 
 
 " How do you make them 'ere tilings ? " inquired a 
 coarse but fresh young voice at her side. 
 
 Lottie tittered, and put her handkerchief to her 
 face. 
 
 " What ? " asked Kathie, in great confusion, 
 
 " These 'ere," pointing to some very pretty moss 
 and lichen brackets. 
 
 " The moss is fastened to a piece of wood just the 
 right shape, — like this " ; and she turned the bracket 
 round. 
 
 " Pasted on ? " 
 
 " You could use paste or glue, — anything that 
 adheres quickly." 
 
 6 
 
82 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Adheres ? " — with a kind of wondering stare. 
 
 *' Sticks ! " exclaimed Lottie, in a peculiar tone. 
 
 " I was n't talking to you," said the girl, rather gruffly. 
 
 Lottie tossed her head with a world of scorn, and 
 moved a little lower down to speak to some stylish 
 friends that she saw coming. 
 
 " Thinks she 's dre'dful fine ! " continued the girl. 
 " You find them things in the woods. I have lots of 
 *em, but I never thought o' puttin' them up any- 
 wheres. I 've some a good deal bigger 'n any you 
 have here." 
 
 She was referring to the lichens now. 
 
 " They must be very fine," said Kathie. 
 
 " Some of 'em are pinky, and all streaked, in rows 
 like this. Don't you s'pose I could put 'em up ? 
 And I know Jim 'd make me some fine things to 
 stick the moss on. He 's powerful handy with tools. 
 Means to be a carpenter." 
 
 She was a nice, wholesome-looking girl of fifteen 
 or thereabout. Kathie wished that she dared to cor- 
 rect her words and sentences a little. 
 
 " You might make your parlor or y6ur own room 
 look very pretty with some of these adornments," she 
 remarked, with quiet interest. 
 
ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS. 83 
 
 " The youngsters would soon smash 'em up in my 
 room," slie said, with rough good - nature ; " but 
 ma'am will let me fix up the parlor, I know. And 
 if you 'd only tell me — " The girl wriggled around 
 with painful hesitation. 
 
 " Well ? " Katliie went on, encouragingly. 
 
 " About them 'ere frames that look like straw." 
 
 " They are straw." 
 
 " There, I was sure of it ! Ain't they han'some ! 
 Do you know how to make 'em ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " S'pose you would n't like to tell me ? " — bash- 
 fully. 
 
 " Why, yes," answered Kathie, smiling. " First, 
 you find some nice, long pieces of straw that are 
 smooth and round, and, holding them together this 
 way, — four or five or six, as wide as you want your 
 frame, — sew them backwards and forwards with a 
 fine needle and cotton. Wlien you have made your 
 four pieces cross them so, and fasten them through 
 on the pictures at the corner. Then you tie a little 
 bow over the sewing," 
 
 " Well, now, it is n't hard, after all ! I mean to 
 make some. What 's the price of that ? " 
 
84 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Fifty cents." 
 
 " I mean to have one of 'em. I '11 hunt up mother 
 and come back." With that the girl dashed into the 
 crowd. 
 
 " Profitable customer ! " sneered Lottie. 
 
 Just then there was a rush to the table, and Ka- 
 thie was kept very busy for ten minutes or so, while 
 Lottie went over to ]\Ir3. Wilder's table and began to 
 " take off " Kathie's young woman, as she called her. 
 It sounded very funny to the group of girls, exagger- 
 ated a little by Lottie's love of a good story. 
 
 Half an hour afterwards, when Kathie had almost 
 forgotten, the girl came dragging her mother rather 
 um\n'1h'ngiy up to the table. 
 
 " Here she is 1 I 've made her come, though she 
 said fust she would n't. But you was so real sweet 
 to me that I could n't give it up." 
 
 Kathie recognized the identical purple bonnet and 
 dull red roses, and she flushed a little at the woman's 
 sharp scrutiny. 
 
 "You ain't the one that laughed awhile ago," 
 she said, the features relaxing a little. "City gals 
 may think themselves a heap finer than country folk, 
 but I can see bad manners as quick as the next one." 
 
ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS. 85 
 
 '• I was very sorry for it/' exclaimed Kathie, in a 
 low tone. 
 
 " Then my gal would n't give me any peace till I 
 come back " — ap^^arently much mollified. " Now, 
 Sary Ann, where 's the picter you want ? " 
 
 " 0, they 're all so heio-tiiul I " exclaimed the girl. 
 " And I know I * can make the frames after I go 
 home. Look at this 'ere cross and this basket of 
 flowers, and these roses ! dear ! " — in despair. 
 
 " She 's so fond o' flowers, — is Sary Ann. She 's 
 had the beautifuUest garden this summer that you 
 ever see. Well, Sary Ann ? I 'd take the basket of 
 flowers." 
 
 " But the cross ! " exclaimed the girl, longingly. 
 
 They looked them over while Kathie w^ent to wait 
 upon another customer. 
 
 " I 've concluded to get 'em both for her," an- 
 nounced the woman. " Sary Ann 's a real good girl, 
 and a powerful sight o' help to me. There 's six 
 younger 'n she, and Jim older ; but boys can't do 
 much about a house." 
 
 Kathie did up the pictures with a little sensation 
 of triumph. 
 
 " mother, look what a pretty baby's cap ! Would 
 
86 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 n't it be sweet for Lily, and you promised to buy her 
 one the fust time you went' to town." 
 
 " She would have the baby called Lily," said the 
 woman, as if in apology. "What 's the price of 
 this ? " 
 
 " Two dollars and a haK." 
 
 " 0, that 's too dear." 
 
 " We have cheaper ones." 
 
 " But this is such a beauty," said Sary Ann. 
 
 " I crocheted it myself," Kathie returned, quietly. 
 
 " mother, I 'd like to have something she 's 
 done her own very self! Did you make the 
 frames ? " 
 
 " No, my aunt did those, but I know how," — wdth 
 a sweet smile. 
 
 After a good deal of talking they concluded to 
 take the cap ; then Sary Ann wanted a pretty white 
 apron for the " patron " of it, she declared. 
 
 " Xonsense ! " said her mother. 
 
 But Sary Ann carried the day, and after^^ard she 
 found something else. 
 
 Altogether the bill amounted to seven dollars and 
 sixty-four cents. Xot so bad, after all. The woman 
 paid it without a bit of grumliling. 
 
ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS. 87 
 
 " It 's a good cause," she said. " I often think of 
 tlie poor fellows out there," nodding her head ; " and 
 sence the Lord gives 'em strength and courage to go, 
 we ought to do something besides prayin' for 'em. 
 My old man he put up a lot of turkeys an' chickens, 
 an' apples and onions, an' sez he, * Though we ain't 
 any children out there, we 've neighbors and friends, 
 and every chap among the lot deserves a Thanksgiv- 
 ing dinner.' " 
 
 Kathie forgot all about the red and purple, think- 
 ing of the red, white, and blue, and of the tender 
 place in this woman's heart 
 
 " I want to give you a little picture to frame," she 
 said to " Sary Ann " ; " it will help you to remember 
 me, as well as the cause." 
 
 It was a pretty colored photograph of two chil- 
 dren, — " The Keconciliation." 
 
 The girl was so delighted that the quick tears sprang 
 to her eyes. " There 's no fear of my forgetting you," 
 she declared, warmly. " I 've had a splendid time ! " 
 
 Kathie opened her portmonnaie and dropped the 
 quarter in the drawer. Her mother had taught her 
 to be scrupulously honest about such matters, and 
 she wanted the gift to be altogether hers. 
 
88 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 It was getting quite dusky now. Uncle Robert 
 had brought Mrs. Alston over in the pony-carriage, 
 and was to take Kathie back, " to smooth her ruf- 
 fled plumes," the child said; for the knot of girls 
 around Emma Lauriston had been discussing what 
 they would wear. 
 
 " There '11 be a great jam here to-night," said one. 
 ''Everybody will turn out, and I want to look as 
 pretty as possible." 
 
 Kathie had begun to have some rather trouble- 
 some thoughts on the subject of dress. The larger 
 girls at school talked considerably of the fashions. 
 She realized her own position much better than she 
 had a year ago, and knew that a certain style was 
 expected of her.- She hated to be considered mean 
 or shabby, or, worst of all, deficient in taste ; yet how 
 much of it was right ? Need it occupy all one's 
 time and one's desires ? 
 
 She felt very strongly inclined to make herself 
 " gorgeous " to-night, as Rob would have phrased it ; 
 yet the only ornament she indulged in was a little 
 cluster of flowers at her throat. 
 
 A jam it was, sure enough. Everybody had to 
 look half a dozen ways at once. The hum of the 
 
ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS. 89 
 
 laughing and talking almost drowned the music. By 
 nine o'clock some of the tables began to wear a rather 
 forlorn aspect, and two or three "shut up shop," 
 having been entirely sold out. 
 
 Miss Weston's luck appeared less brilliant than 
 that of many others. 
 
 " I wish you could take some one there who would 
 buy ever so many things," Kathie said to Uncle 
 Robert ; " I am afraid she is feeling a good deal 
 discouraged." 
 
 He smiled at the thoughtfulness, but made no 
 inmiediate reply. Only Kathie noticed his stand- 
 ing there a considerable length of time. 
 
 When he came back to her he said, softly, " Ka- 
 thie, will you not come and keep her table for a 
 little while ? I want to take her to the supper-room 
 for some refreshments." 
 
 Kathie gave him a rather beseeching look. 
 
 " I '11 be sure and not let her spend more than 
 fifteen minutes. After that we will have a gay 
 promenade." 
 
 Was it selfish not to want to stay here ? Yet 
 Kathie put on her most attractive smiles and actu- 
 ally sold several articles while Miss Weston was gone. 
 
90 'KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Then, hunting up Emma Lauriston, they set out on 
 a tour, Uncle Eobert said. Th*ey went to the Dutch 
 kitchen, where Miss Jessie was one of the "young 
 ladies " to-night ; and very pretty she looked, though 
 Uncle Robert insisted that she could not talk a word 
 of Dutch. They had cream afterward, candy, nuts, 
 and fruit, until it appeared to Kathie that she had 
 eaten enough to last a week 
 
 There had been a discussion at first about continu- 
 ing the Fair on Thanksgi\dng day, but, as the articles 
 were so nearly sold out, it was decided to have an 
 auction. That made great fun indeed. By. eleven 
 o'clock the tables were emptied, and the refreshments 
 reduced to a rather fragmentary state. The crowd, 
 too, began to thin out. 
 
 Such a hunting for baskets and hampers and boxes 
 of every description, such a hurrying and scurrying 
 and confusion of voices, was seldom witnessed in 
 quiet Brookside. In the crowd Kathie ran over 
 Lottie. 
 
 " O dear ! " the latter exclaimed, fretfully, " are n't 
 you half tired to death, Kathie Alston ? I 've ruined 
 my dress too, — - this lovely blue silk ! I am sure I 
 don't know what ma will say. Some one trod on it. 
 
ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS. 91 
 
 as I was sitting down, and tore off the trimming, 
 and that clumsy Harry Cox spilled lemonade on me. 
 Children ought not to be allowed in such places, espe- 
 cially boys who do not know how to behave ! " and 
 slie uttered tliis with a great deal of emphasis. " And 
 I 've lost one of my new kid gloves. They were sucli 
 a lovely shade. There is nothing in Brookside like 
 them ! 
 
 " She ought to have known better than to dress in 
 sucli state, as if she was going to a party," whispered 
 Emma Lauriston, " I am cream and pie and cake- 
 crumbs, and goodness only knows what, and devoutly 
 thankful that I shall not have to go to school to-mor- 
 row. But it has been a success. i\Irs. Wilder made 
 one hundred and forty dollars at her table, — our 
 table," with a laugh. 
 
 " And mamma has made nearly two hundred." 
 
 " I long to hear the aggregate." 
 
 " It will not be less than two thousand," exclaimed 
 Uncle Eobert, trjdng to open a path for the girls. 
 
 Kathie was very tired when she reached home, and 
 with a good-night kiss ran off to her own room, 
 where she fell asleep with a strange jumble of ideas 
 in her head. 
 
92 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Two thousand three hundred and twenty dollars 
 for the widows and orphans when all expenses were 
 paid. Everybody felt very well satisfied, and, after a 
 good Thanksgiving dinner, affairs at Brookside rolled 
 on as calmly as before. 
 
 Except, perhaps, that there were more anxious 
 hearts. General Sherman was sweeping on to the sea, 
 and brave Sheridan was carrying consternation to the 
 heart of the enemy by his dariQg raids. Grant was 
 drawing nearer and nearer to Eiclunond, but there 
 would be some pretty hard work at the last, every 
 one thought. 
 
 Some days afterward Kathie finished a letter to 
 Mr. IMeredith, giving him a glowing account of their 
 labors at home. 
 
 " If he could come back to keep Christmas with 
 us ! " Kathie said, longingly. " And dear Eob — and 
 O, the hundreds more who are away from pleasant 
 firesides ! " 
 
 Uncle Eobert decided to pay Eob a Christmas 
 visit, and they concluded to pack a small box to 
 send. He was so fond of "goodies" that Kathie 
 tried her hand at some of the Fair recipes and had 
 excellent success. A few new articles were needed 
 
ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS. 93 
 
 for eveiy-day use, but these comprised only a very 
 small share. . 
 
 " He will have quite a feast," Kathie said, delight- 
 edly. " And there is not much fear of Eob being 
 like Harry in the story." 
 
 Uncle Eobert would be back by Christmas. They 
 had planned to have a tree again, but Kathia 
 declared that she could not think of a single thing 
 she needed. She was quite busy with various other 
 little matters, however, that required strict seclusion 
 in her own room. 
 
 How different it was from last year ! She and 
 Aunt Euth talked it over, — the waiting, the disap- 
 pointment, and the sacrifice that after all had ended 
 so happily. 
 
 " It seemed as if everything must have happened 
 then, and that there would be nothing left for this 
 year," she said. 
 
 Uncle Robert brought most satisfactory accounts 
 from his nephew. Rob was well, contented and 
 happy, and growing tall in an astonishing manner. 
 He sent oceans of love and thanks to everybody, and 
 wished that he could come home and see them. 
 "And here is a letter for you," said Kathie, taking 
 
94 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 it from the rack on his desk. " It is from Mr. !Mere- 
 dith. See if he is not going to surprise us. The 
 ninety days will soon be ended." 
 
 Uncle Eobert sat before the grate fire, sunning 
 himself in the cheerful glow, but Kathie remarked 
 that his face grew very grave. 
 
 " What is it ? " she asked, anxiously. " He is not 
 sick, or — " 
 
 " He is well. You may read this." 
 
 He folded down a little slip at the top and handed 
 the letter to the child, who read : — 
 
 " Tell Kathie that I have seen General Mackenzie, 
 her hero of last winter, and that he was delighted to 
 have some tidings of her. And that during the last 
 fortnight my ideas and sphere of duty seem to have 
 enlarged. I think she ^^dll approve of my decision, — 
 my brave little Captain who stood by her colors so 
 nobly last winter, and preferred to minister to her 
 suffering aunt rather than share the most tempting 
 pleasures. So I shall give up my own comfort and 
 idleness awhile longer, and stand by the dear country 
 that needs every man in this last great struggle." 
 
 " Oh ! " with a tender little cry. " He is not com- 
 ing home ! " 
 
ONE OF THE SMALL DEEDS. 95 
 
 ** No. He has resolved to stay and see the war 
 through," was the grave reply. 
 
 Kathie looked into the glowing foe. It was very 
 brave and noble in him for he did not like mili- 
 tary life under the auspices in which he was see- 
 ing it. 
 
 " There is a little more," Uncle Eobert said. 
 
 The " little more " brought the tears to her eyes. 
 She stooped and laid her head on Uncle Eobert's 
 shoulder, nestling her face in the corner by his curly 
 beard. 
 
 " He thinks — it will be — all right with him," 
 she whispered, tremulously, a little sob quivering in 
 her voice. 
 
 "Living or dying," returned Uncle Eobert, sol- 
 emnly. "My darling, I am very grateful for your 
 share in the work.' It seems to me that Mr. Mere- 
 dith is capable of something really grand if he can 
 once be roused to a sense of the responsibility and 
 preciousness of life. There is so much for every one 
 to do." 
 
 " But it does n't seem as if I did anything." 
 
 "No act is without some result, my dear child, 
 when we think that it must all bear fruit, and that 
 
96 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 we shall see the result in the other country, whether 
 it be brambles or leaves or fruit ; and we cannot bear 
 fruit except we abide in the Master." 
 
 It seemed to Kathie, cliild as she was, that she had 
 a blessed glimpse of the light and the work, the inter- 
 est and sympathy, the prayers and earnest endeavor, 
 which were to go side by side with the Master's. 
 A warm, vivifying glow sped through every pulse. 
 Was tliis the love of God, — the grace which was 
 promised to well-doing ? She hardly dared believe, 
 it was so solemnly sweet and comfortiag, — too good 
 for her, she almost thought. 
 
 "You see, little one, that He puts work for us 
 everywhere, that his love and presence is beside 
 it always. We may wait a long while for the re- 
 sult, yet it is sure. And we need not be sparing 
 of our seed ; the heavenly storehouse is forever open 
 to us. He is always more ready to give than we to 
 receive." 
 
 " Uncle Eobert ! I am so glad for — for Mr. 
 Meredith. It seems as if I could n't take it aU in at 
 once ! " and both of Kathie' s arms were around his 
 neck, her soft, rosy cheek, wet with tears, pressed 
 against his. 
 
ONE OF THE SMaLL DEEDS. 97 
 
 "It is something to think of for all time, my 
 darling." 
 
 " Uncle Robert," she said, after a long, thoughtful 
 pause, in which she appeared to have glimpses of the 
 life stretching out before her, and leading to tlie gate 
 of the other country, " I used to wish that I could 
 ]^ave — religion — myself, like mamma and Aunt 
 Ruth — " 
 
 " My little Kathie, the ' kingdom of heaven ' is 
 within you. We have only to do His will, and we 
 shall know of the doctrine. That is the grand secret 
 of it alL" 
 
98 KATHIE'S SOLDIEBS. 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. ^ 
 
 GIVING AND RECEIVING. 
 
 KA.THIE had begged, instead of having anything 
 grand herself, that she might be allowed to play- 
 Santa Glaus. To be sure, there were gifts to the 
 Morrisons, to Lucy and Annie Gardiner, and sev- 
 eral of her olden schoolmates, but that was not 
 quite it. 
 
 " I mean the highways and byways," she said to 
 her mother ; " some of the poor people wtio really 
 have no Christmas." 
 
 They made out quite a list, — three or four 
 widows with little children, some old women, and 
 several homes in which there was sickness. Aunt 
 Ruth fashioned some garments, — Kathie buying the 
 material out of her Fortunatus's purse ; two or three 
 good warm shawls had been provided, and different 
 packages of provisions, some positive luxuries. They 
 stood in a great pile at the lower end of the haU, 
 all ready for distribution. 
 
GIVING AND RECEIVING. 99 
 
 " If you were not too tired — " Kathie said, after 
 supper. 
 
 " I am not utterly worn out," and Uncle Robert 
 sraHed a littl J^ " What is it ? " 
 
 " I wish you and I could go out with the gifts, 
 instead of Mr. Morrison." 
 
 " Why not, to be sure ? " reading the wistful glance 
 in the soft eyes. 
 
 " It would be so delightful. And as we are not to 
 have our Christmas until to-morrow — " 
 
 " Bundle up then, for it is pretty sharp out. I 
 will go and order the horses." 
 
 It was so easy to ride around and dispense benefits 
 that Kathie almost wondered if there was any real 
 merit in it. 
 
 " My little girl," Uncle Robert said, " you must not 
 begin to think that there can be no religion without 
 sacrifice. God gives us all things richly to enjoy, 
 and it would be ungrateful if we did not accept the 
 good, the joy." 
 
 All things. As they hurried softly on, the roads 
 being covered with a light fall of snow, she drank in 
 the beauty around her, — a glimmer of silvery moon- 
 light flooding the open spaces, the shadowy thickets 
 
100 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 of evergreens, whose crisp clustering spines were 
 stirred dreamily with the slow wind, making a dim 
 and heavenly music, as if even now it might lead 
 kings and shepherds to the place where the Christ 
 Child had been born, the myriad of stars overhead in 
 that blue, spacious vault, and the heaven above it all. 
 And thinking of the distant plains of Judsea brought 
 her to the plains nearer home, — the broad fields of 
 Virginia dotted with its camps and tents, and brist- 
 ling with forts. Thousands of men were there, 
 keeping Christmas eve, and among them Mr. Mere- 
 dith. How many beside him saw the star and came 
 to worsliip the Saviour ! 
 
 She felt the living Presence in the awe of this 
 hush and beauty. Her child's soul was hovering on 
 the point of girlhood, to open into something rare 
 and precious, perhaps, having greater opportunities 
 than many others. She was not so fearful or doubt- 
 ing as she had been an hour ago, for it seemed to her 
 now that she had only to go forward. 
 
 They paused first at a little tumble-down cottage. 
 There were seven people housed in it, — the old 
 folks, Mrs. Maybin, whose husband liad gone to the 
 war, and four children. Mrs. Maybin went out wash- 
 
GIVING AND RECEIVING. 101 
 
 ing and house-cleaning. Jane, the eldest daughter, 
 thirteen, worked in the paper-mill. 
 
 Uncle Eobert looked at the label by moonlight. 
 " I '11 just put it down on the door-step and knock," 
 he said. " You hold the ponies." 
 
 The knock made Kathie's own heart beat. Uncle 
 Eobert ran back to the carriage, which stood in the 
 shade of a great black-walnut tree. 
 
 Kathie leaned over. Jane Maybin came to the 
 door, lamp in hand, and looked around w^onderingly. 
 Then, spying the great bundle, she cried, loudly, " 
 mother, come here, quick ! " 
 
 The ponies wore no bells to-night, so they drove 
 off noiselessly, a peculiar smile illuminating Kathie's 
 face. If the Maybins thought their good fortune 
 rained down from heaven, so much the better. The 
 child was always a Little shy of her good deeds, a 
 rare and exquisite humility being one of her virtues. 
 And though any little act of ingratitude touched her 
 to the quick, she never wxnt about seeking praise. 
 
 A dozen homes made glad by unexpected gifts, 
 and three times that number of hearts. In several 
 instances they had difiicult work to escape detec- 
 tion, but that added to the fun and interest of it. 
 
102 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Kathie declared ; and she came home in a bright, 
 beautiful glow, her cheeks glowing with a winter- 
 rose tint, and her pretty mouth smiling in a more 
 regal scarlet than the holly berries nodding their wise 
 little heads above picture-frames. 
 
 Aunt Kuth kissed her quietly. It seemed as if 
 she understood the steps in the new life which the 
 child was taking, and knew by experience that silent 
 ways were sometimes the most pleasant. 
 
 Of all Kathie's Christmas remembrances — and 
 even Dr. Markham sent her a beautiful gift — there 
 was one so unexpected and so touching that it 
 brought the tears to her eyes. She was running 
 through the hall just before church-time, when the 
 door-bell rang ; the Alstons did not consider it 
 necessary that Hannah should always be summoned 
 from her duties to attend the call, so Kathie opened 
 the door. 
 
 A stout, country-looking lad, just merging into 
 awkward young-manhood, with a great shock of 
 curly, chestnut-colored hair, and a very wide mouth, 
 stood with a parcel in his hand. 
 
 "I want to see Miss Kathie Alston," he said, 
 blushing as red as a peony. 
 
GIVINQ AND RECEIVINO. 103 
 
 " I am the person," she answered, simply. 
 
 He stared in surprise, opening his mouth until 
 there seemed nothing but two rows of white, strong 
 teeth. 
 
 "Miss — Kathie — Alston?" in a kind of aston- 
 ished deliberation. 
 
 « Yes." 
 
 "I was to give this to you. She," nodding to 
 some imaginary person, " told me to be sure to put 
 it into your hands for fear. She thought you 'd 
 like it." 
 
 "Who is she?" and Kathie could not forbear 
 smiling. 
 
 " She writ a letter so 's you 'd know. That 's all 
 she said, only to ask if you were well ; but you look 
 jest like — a picter." 
 
 The compliment was so honest and so involuntary 
 that Kathie bowed, her bright face flushing. 
 
 He ran down the steps and sprang into a common 
 country sleigh, driving off in a great hurry. 
 
 There was a letter attached to the parcel. She tore 
 off the wrapping of the package first, however, and 
 found that it had been done up with great care. In- 
 side of all, the largest and most beautiful lichen she 
 
104 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 had ever seen, — a perfect bracket in itself. The 
 rings of coloring were exquisite. The soft woody 
 browns, the bright sienna, the silvery drab and pink, 
 like the inside of a sea-shell. The vegetation was so 
 rank that it resembled the pile of velvet 
 
 Like a flash a consciousness came over her, and 
 although she heard Aunt Euth's voice, she could not 
 resist the desire to look at her letter. 
 
 A coarse, irregular hand, with several erasures and 
 blotted words, but the name at the bottom — Sarah 
 Ann Strong — made it aU plain. The'Sary Ann of 
 the Soldiers' Fair. Kathie's heart gave a great 
 bound. 
 
 '^ Come ! " exclaimed Uncle Bobert ; " are you 
 ready?" 
 
 There was no time for explanations. She laid 
 the letter and parcel in her drawer in the great 
 bookcase, thrust her ungloved hands into her muff, 
 and ran out to Aunt Euth, who stood on the step, 
 waiting to be assisted into the carriage. 
 
 " Was it some more Christmas ? " asked Uncle 
 Eobert, " or is it a secret ? " 
 
 " It is no secret, but a very odd circimistance, and 
 has quite a story connected with it. I think I wiU 
 
GIVING AND RECEIVING. 1U5 
 
 wait until we get home," she continued, slowly, re- 
 membering how short the distance was to church, 
 and that a break in the narrative would spoil it. 
 
 But she had very hard work to keep her mind from 
 wandering during the service, she wondered so what 
 Sarah had to say, and how she cftme to remember the 
 simple talk about the bmckets. And was Sarah 
 having a bright Christmas ? 
 
 Afterward she told her small audience, beginning 
 with the unlucky remarks about the purple bonnet. 
 Uncle Eobert admired the lichen very much, and 
 Aunt Ruth declared that she had never seen its equal 
 
 Then came Sarah's letter. What pains and trou- 
 ble and copying it had cost the poor girl Kathie 
 would never know, 
 
 " To Miss Kathie Alston," it began. " I take my 
 pen in hand to let you know that " — here were two 
 or three words crossed out — "I want to send you a 
 cristmas present. I haint forgot about the fair, and 
 how good you was to me. I made some straw frames 
 and they 're real hansum, and I put the picture you 
 give me in one and it hangs up in the parlor, and 
 I 've got some brackets, but Jim found this splendid 
 one, and I want to send it to you for cristmas, for I 
 
106 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 don't think you have forgotten all about me. I 've 
 been going to school a Httle this winter again, for 
 Martha is big enough to help mother and i only stay 
 home to wash. I always remember how beautiful 
 you talked and my teacher says its grammar which 
 I 'm studying, but i cant make head nor tail of it, 
 but he told me never to say this ere, and I don't any 
 more, but I never could be such a lady as you are. 
 I spose you 've got beautiful long curls yet. I do 
 love curls so and my hair 's straight as a stick. 
 Mother says i must tell you if you ever come to 
 Middleville to stop and see us, we live on the back 
 road, Jotham Strong, and we '11 aU be glad to see 
 you. I hope you '11 Hke the bracket, and I wish you 
 merry cristmas a thousand times. Jim went to town 
 one day and found out who you was — he seen you 
 the night of the fair too. Excuse aU mistakes. I 
 aint had much chance for schooling, but I 'm going 
 to try now. I spose you are a lady and very rich, 
 and don't have to do housework, but you 're real 
 sweet and not stuck up, and so you 'U forgive the 
 boldness of my writing this poor letter. 
 " Yours respectfully, 
 
 "Saeah Ann Stkong." 
 
GIVING AND RECtrVING. 107 
 
 Kathie had been leaning her arm on Uncle Eobert's 
 knee as she read aloud. 
 
 " Not such a bad letter," he said. " I have known 
 some quite stylish ladies * who did n't have to do 
 housework' to make worse mistakes than this girl, 
 who evidently has had very little chance. And then 
 country people do not always understand the advan- 
 tages of education." 
 
 " I wanted to ask her that evening not to say ' this 
 *ere,' or * that 'ere ' so much, but I was afraid of 
 wounding her feelings. I thought there was some- 
 thing nice about her, and her mother was very 
 generous in buying. But to think that she should 
 have remembered me all this while — " 
 
 "'A cup of cold water,' " repeated Aunt Kuth, softly. 
 
 " It was such a very little thing." 
 
 " One of the steps." 
 
 Yes. It was the little things, the steps, that fiUed 
 the long, long path. A warm glow suffused Kathie's 
 face. She was thinking far back, — an age ago it ap- 
 peared, yet it was only two years, — that her mother 
 had said the fairies were not aU dead. If Puck and 
 Peas-blossom and Cobweb and Titania no longer 
 danced in cool, green hoUows, to the music of lily 
 
108 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 bells, there were Faitli and Love and Earnest En- 
 deavor, and many another, to run to and fro with 
 sweet messages and pleasant deeds. 
 
 " I am very glad and thankful that you were polite 
 and entertaining," Uncle Eobert remarked, presently. 
 " We never know what a kind word or a little pains, 
 rightly taken, may do. It is the grand secret of a 
 useful life, — sowing the seed." 
 
 " I must answer her letter, and express my thanks. 
 But 0, is n't it funny that she thinks me such a great 
 lady!" 
 
 " Suppose we should drive out to see her on some 
 Saturday ? Where is Middle\alle ? " 
 
 " North of here," returned Aunt Euth, " in a little 
 sort of hollow between the mountains, about seven 
 or eight miles, I should think." 
 
 " How delightful it would be ! " exclaimed Kathie. 
 
 "We will try it some day^ I am very fond of 
 plain, social country people, whose manners may be 
 unpolished, but whose lives are earnest and honest 
 nevertheless. We cannot aU be moss-roses, with a 
 fine enclosing grace," said Uncle Robert. 
 
 Kathie read her letter over again to herself, feeling 
 quite sure that Sarah had made some improvement 
 since the evenincr of the Fair. 
 
GIVING AND RECEIVING. 109 
 
 "Do you want to put the liclien up in your 
 room ? " asked Uncle Eobert. 
 
 " Not particularly, — why ? " 
 
 " It is such a rare and beautiful specimen that I 
 feel inclined to confiscate it for the library." 
 
 " I wiU give it up with pleasure," answered Kathic, 
 readily, " since it remains mine all the same." 
 
 The Alstons had a quiet Christmas dinner by 
 themselves. Uncle Eobert gave the last touches to 
 the tree, and just at dusk the small people who had 
 been in\dted began to flock thither. Kathie had not 
 asked any of her new friends or the older girls. She 
 possessed by nature that simple tact, so essential to 
 fine and true womanhood, of observing the distinc- 
 tions of society without appearing to notice the 
 different position of individuals. 
 
 Ethel Morrison came with the rest. She was 
 beginning to feel quite at home in the great house, 
 and yielded to Kathie's peculiar influence, which was 
 becoming a kind of fascination, a power that might 
 have proved a dangerous gift but for her exceeding 
 truth and simplicity. 
 
 The tree was very brilliant and beautiful. If the 
 gifts were not so expensive, they appeared to be just 
 
110 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 what every one wanted. Kathie was delighted with 
 the compliment to her discernment. 
 
 Charlie Darrell made his appearance quite late in 
 the evening, with Dick Grayson. The tapers were 
 just burning their last. 
 
 " Farewell to thee, Christmas tree ! " sang Dick. 
 " Was Santa Claus good to you, Miss Kathie ? " 
 
 " Very generous indeed." 
 
 " But 0, did n't you miss Eob ?" 
 
 Kathie had to tell them about Uncle Eobert's visit. 
 *' And then, you know, I was n't home last year " — in 
 answer to their question. 
 
 " True. There was a gay time here at Cedarwood. 
 When Eob sets out, he is about as funny as any boy 
 I know. Don't you suppose he is just aching to be 
 at home ? " 
 
 " I expect to get off next year," said Dick, " to 
 Yale. But I shall be dreadfully homesick at first." 
 
 "So should I," responded Charlie; "but Eob is 
 such a jolly, happy-go-lucky fellow." 
 
 " Has he been in any scrapes yet, Miss Kathie ? " 
 
 " Not that I have heard," said Kathie, laughing. 
 
 A group around the piano were clamoring for Ka- 
 thie to play. She had promised tliem some carols. 
 
GIVING AND RECEIVING. HI 
 
 Dick and Charlie joined. A happy time they had, 
 singing everything they knew. Kathie had become a 
 very fair musician already. 
 
 While the little ones were hunting up their wr|ps, 
 Kathie lingered a moment beside Charlie. 
 
 " How is Miss Jessie to-night ? " she asked. 
 
 " Quite well." Then, looking into her eyes, 
 "You have heard — " 
 
 "About Mr. Meredith? yes." 
 
 " It is too bad, — is n't it ? And he has had a sub- 
 stitute in the war. I think he ought to have come 
 back." 
 
 Kathie was silent. How much duty did a man or 
 a woman owe to these great life questions ? And 
 was there not something grander and finer in this 
 last act of heroism than many people were capable 
 of ? If she could have chosen for him, like Charlie, 
 she would have desired his return ; but if every wife 
 and every mother felt so about their soldiers ? 
 
 She kissed Ethel with a peculiar sympathy when 
 she bade her good night. Mr. Morrison was well 
 and satisfied with the new life, — liked it, indeed. 
 
 For the next fortnight it seemed to Kathie that 
 nothing happened, — school life and home life, and 
 
112 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 she a little pendulum vibrating between the two, 
 waiting for some hour to strike. 
 
 She answered Sarah's letter, and promised that she 
 and her uncle would drive up when there came a 
 pleasant Saturday with the roads in comfortable 
 order. 
 
 There had been quite an accession to the school on 
 the first of January. Mrs. Wilder had twenty-one 
 pupils now. Mr. Lawrence came in to give them 
 lessons in music, French, and penmanship. Kathie 
 felt quite small, there were so many young ladies. 
 
 Several new families had moved into Brookside 
 the preceding summer, and the Alstons' acquaint- 
 ance had slowly widened among the better class. 
 Kathie remembered how grand she had once consid- 
 ered Miss Jessie, and now she was really beyond that 
 herself. 
 
 At twelve the guis had fifteen minutes' intermis- 
 sion. Sometimes they took a little run through the 
 long covered walk, but oftener gathered around the 
 stove or ^dsited at one another's desks. There was 
 always a vein of school-girlish gossip on dress, or 
 amusements, or parties, or perhaps the books they 
 were reading. This generally took in the circle just 
 
GIVING AND RECEIVING. 113 
 
 above Ivathie, yet she used occasionally to listen, and 
 it always brought a thought of Ada to her mind. 
 
 She sat puzzling over some French verbs one rainy 
 day, while Emma brouglit out her cathedral that she 
 was doing in India-ink The talk from the group be- 
 fore them floated to their hearing. It was styles and 
 trimming, velvet and laces that were "real," and 
 gloves w^ith two buttons. 
 
 Emma glanced up with an odd smile. Kathie, 
 seeing it, smiled too. 
 
 " Let us take a turn in the walk," Emma said. 
 She was so much taUer that she put her arm 
 around Kathie with an odd, elder-sisterly feeling. 
 
 " They seem never to get tired of it," she began. 
 "I wonder if there is n't something better to this 
 life than the clothes one wears ? " 
 
 "Yes," Kathie answered, in a slow, clear tone, 
 though she shrank a little from giving her opinion. 
 She had a shy desire to escape these smaU responsi- 
 bilities, yet the consciousness of "bearing witness" 
 always brought her back. 
 "What is it?" 
 The blunt question startled her, and a faint color 
 
 stole into her face. 
 8 
 
114 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " I watch you sometimes when I suppose you are 
 not dreaming of it. We have been sitting here to- 
 gether for three months, we were at the Fair, — and 
 there is something different about you from what I 
 find in most girls. I wonder if it is your taste or 
 your nature." 
 
 " We are none of us* alike," said Kathie, with a 
 peculiar half-smile. 
 
 "It is not that specific difference which we all 
 have. You appear to be thinking of others, you 
 never answer crossly, you often give up your own 
 ease and comfort, and there is a little light in your 
 eyes as if sometliing out of your soul was shining 
 through them. And all tliis talk about dressihg and 
 what one is going to do by and by never touches you 
 at all. I suppose you could have everything you 
 want 1 Lottie Thorne says your uncle idolizes you, 
 and — he is rich, I know." 
 
 " I have all that is necessary, and many luxuries," 
 Kathie answered, slowly. 
 
 " But what makes you — what keeps you in such 
 a heaven of content ? 0, I can't explain what I 
 mean ! I wonder if you have religion, Kathie 
 Alston." 
 
GIVING AND RECEIVING. 115 
 
 Do her best, Kathie coiildnot keep the tears out of 
 her eyes. What was there to cry about ? But some- 
 how she felt so strange and shy, and full of tender pain. 
 
 " I think we ought all to try," she answered, with 
 a sweet seriousness in her voice. " Even if we can- 
 not take but one step — " 
 
 " I wish I knew what it was ! " 
 
 Kathie's heart was in her throat. She only under- 
 stood part of the steps herself. How could she direct 
 another ? So they took two or three turns in silence, 
 then the bell rang. 
 
 " There ! I had so much to say, and maybe I shall 
 never feel in the mood again. About dress, too. 
 Some of it troubles me sadly." 
 
 She stooped suddenly and kissed Kathie on the 
 forehead, gave her hand a sudden, earnest pressure, 
 and then was her olden grave self. 
 
 And Kathie wondered a little if she had not 
 shirked a duty ! It seemed now as if it would be 
 very easy to say, " I have enlisted in that greater 
 army of the Lord, and will do what service I can." 
 AMiy had it been so hard a moment ago ? Had she 
 been challenged at the outpost and found without a 
 coimtersign ? 
 
116 KATSIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 A VISIT. 
 
 "Do you think we could go to Middleville to- 
 day ? " Kathie asked, one bright Saturday morning. 
 
 It was a sharp, keen winter's day, but the roads 
 had been worn tolerably smooth with the sleighing, 
 and it was by far too cold for alternate freezing and 
 thawing ; but the sky was of a clear, steely blue, and 
 the sun as brilliant as a midwinter's sun could be. 
 
 " If you did not mind the cold. What is your 
 opinion, Dora ? " — turning to Mrs. Alston. 
 
 " I suppose you could stand it if you were wrapped 
 up good and warm." 
 
 " Would you take the buggy ? " asked Aunt RutL 
 
 " yes ! " answered Kathie, eagerly ; " I cannot 
 bear to be shut up in a close prison, as if I was being 
 taken off somewhere for my misdeeds." 
 
 " It will be a good deal colder." 
 
 Uncle Robert laughed as he met Kathie's mirth- 
 ful eyes. > 
 
A VISIT. 117 
 
 "I shall not freeze, auntie. I like the sensation 
 of this strong, fresh wind blowing square into my 
 face; it takes the cobwebs out of my brains." 
 
 So the ponies had orders, and pricked up their ears 
 as if they were rather interested in trying the bracing 
 wind as well. 
 
 Kathie bundled herself up quite to mamnia's lik- 
 ing. She slipped a little parcel under the seat, — 
 twd books that she had read time and again, and 
 which she fancied might interest Sarah, and a few 
 other little matters, the giving of which depended 
 upon circumstances. 
 
 They said good by, and were off. " Up in the 
 mountains " was always spoken of rather sneeringly 
 by the Brookside community. They really were not 
 mountains, but a succession of rough, rocky lulls, 
 where the vegetation was neither lovely nor abim- 
 dant. Several different species of cedar, scrubby oaks, 
 and stunted hemlocks, were the principal variety, 
 with a matted growth of underbrush ; and as there 
 were many finer "woods" around Brookside, these 
 were seldom haunted by pleasure-lovers or wonder- 
 seekers. 
 
 The dwellers therein were of the oldest-fashioned 
 
118 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 kind. You could always tell them when they came 
 to shop at Brookside by their queer bonnets and out- 
 of-date garments, as well as by the wonderful contrast 
 of colors. But the small settlements enjoyed their 
 own manner of living and their o^vn social pleasures 
 as thoroughly as their more refined neighbors. 
 
 For quite a stretch the road was level and good, 
 then the ascent began, the houses were wider apart, 
 and with an air of indifference as to paint and repairs, 
 while fences seemed to be vainly trying to hold each 
 other up. 
 
 The ponies were fresh and frisky, and did not 
 mind the tug. Kathie was silent for the most part, 
 her brain in a kind of floating confusion, not at all 
 unpleasant, but rather restful. 
 
 " Now, which is the back road, I wonder ? " said 
 Uncle Robert, slowly, checking the horses a trifle. 
 
 Both roads were exceedingly di-eary- looking, but 
 they decided to take the one farther north, and be- 
 fore they had gone a quarter of a mile they met a 
 team, driven by a young lad. 
 
 "Is this Lliddleville ? " asked Uncle Eobert. 
 
 « Yes." 
 
 '' Which is the back road ? " 
 
A VISIT. 119 
 
 " Keep straight along. You 're right." 
 
 " Where does ]\Ir. Jotham Strong live ? " 
 
 " Over there in that yaller house," the boy an- 
 swered, nodding his head. 
 
 The place began to take on quite a village look. 
 There was a browm, weather-beaten meeting-house, a 
 small country store, and houses scattered around at 
 intervals. Some were quite tidy-looking, but the 
 most had a kind of dilapidated air. 
 
 Mr. Strong's w^as large and roomy on the ground- 
 lioor, as numerous additions had been made on three 
 sides of the building. There was a door-yard in 
 front, where in summer they must have an abun- 
 dance of roses, and tw^o wide flower-beds down the 
 path. Such signs went to Kathie's heart at once. 
 
 Uncle Eobert sprang out and knocked at the door. 
 The hard-featured face that Kathie remembered so 
 well in connection with the purple bonnet peered 
 through the kitchen window. 
 
 The child would have laughed at the commotion 
 inside, if she could have seen it, — how Sary Ann. 
 dragged the floating ends of her hair into a knot, 
 caught up a towel and wiped her face, making it 
 redder than before, jerked down her sleeves, which, 
 
120 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 having neither hooks nor buttons, hung round her 
 wrists. 
 
 She stared as she opened the door to a strange 
 man, but glanced past him to the carriage. 
 
 "I have brought Miss Kathie Alston up to see 
 you," Mr. Conover announced, in his warm, cheer- 
 ful voice, for he recognized Sarah from Kathie's 
 graphic description. 
 
 " my ! and I 'm all in a heap ; but I 'm so 
 glad ! " and she ran out to the wagon, but stopped 
 at the gate with a sudden sensation of bashfulness, 
 and a wonder if she ought not to have said some- 
 thing more to the gentleman. 
 
 " How do you do, Sarah ? " Kathie's voice was 
 like the softest of silver bells pealing on the frosty air. 
 
 " 0, 1 'm so glad ! I did n't hardly believe you 'd 
 come. I looked last Sat'day. Your letter was so 
 nice. I 'm glad you liked the lichen. Jim and me 
 himted over hundreds of 'em, and found the very big- 
 gest. Do get out and come in the house ; you must 
 be perished ! Is that the uncle you wrote about in 
 your letter ? " 
 
 "Yes." Uncle Eobert had come down the path by 
 this time. "My uncle, Mr. Conover," Kathie said, 
 gmcefully, " and IVIiss Sarah Strong." 
 
A VISIT. 121 
 
 Sarah made a dash at her hair again as if she was 
 afraid of its tumbling down, and courtesied to Uncle 
 Kobert so in the style of a country school-girl that he 
 smiled inwardly. " 0, coax her to get out ! " she ex- 
 claimed, appealingly. " I 've got a fire all ready to 
 light in the best room, and I want you to see my 
 pictures," — with a very long emphasis on the last 
 syllable. " Mother 'xpects you to stay to dinner, and 
 my Sat'day's work is 'most done. Come in, — do." 
 
 By this time Mrs. Strong had made herself tidy 
 and appeared at the hall door. 
 
 " Come in," she exclaimed, cordially, — " come in. 
 Sary Ann, show the gentleman how to drive right 
 down to the bam. Jim 's there thrashin', and he '11 
 see to the bosses ! " 
 
 Kathie was handed out. Sarah turned the horses 
 to face the path to the barn. 
 
 " Down there," she said. " Steve, come here ! " 
 
 Steve, thirteen or thereabout, sheepislily obeyed, 
 and took the rest of his sister's order in silence. 
 
 " Don't you go," said Mrs. Strong to Mr. Conover. 
 " There 's boys enough to the barn, and they know all 
 about bosses. Come in an' get warm. You must be 
 about froze ! I 'm right glad to see you, child." 
 
122 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Kathie introduced Uncle Eobert again. They 
 were marshalled into a large, uucarpeted kitchen, 
 full of youngsters, with a great red-hot stove in their 
 midst. 
 
 " Get out of the way, childem ! Sary Ann, run 
 light the fire in the parlor while they 're gettin' warm." 
 
 " It is not worth while to take that trouble," re- 
 turned Uncle Eobert. " We came up for a call, but 
 judged it best to take the pleasantest part of such a 
 cold day. So do not let us iuterfere with your usual 
 arrangements." 
 
 " You ain't a goin' to stir a step imtH after dinner. 
 Sary 'U be awful disapp'inted. We 've plenty of 
 everything, and you won't put us out a bit. We 've 
 been looking for you, like, ever sence Sary Ann had 
 her letter. Take off your things, child ! Ain't your 
 feet half froze?" 
 
 "Ono." 
 
 There was no resisting, however. Mrs. Strong 
 talked and worked, tumbled over the children, picked 
 them up and set them on chairs, bidding them keep 
 out of the way, insisted that Kathie should sit beside 
 the roasting stove, and presently Sarah returned. 
 She had brushed her hair into a more respectable 
 
A VISIT. 123 
 
 shape, and tied a most unnecessary scarlet ribbon in 
 it, seeing that the liair was of a sandy reddish color. 
 
 But her clean calico dress certainly did improve 
 her. Yet as she entered the room she was seized 
 with a fit of awkward bashfulness. 
 
 " I believe I will go out and look at the ponies," 
 remarked Mr. Conover. 
 
 " Mind they 're put out. You 're not going to stir 
 a step till you 've had your dinner. Marthy, you 
 peel them taters ; quick now." This to a rather 
 pretty girl of ten, who had been writing with a pin 
 on the steamed window-pane. 
 
 " Come in the other room," said Sarah to Kathie. 
 
 The child followed. It was not very warm yet, 
 but there was a great crackling, blazing fire upon the 
 hearth, which was a delightful picture in itself. 
 
 Sarah stood and viewed her guest wonderingly. 
 The long golden curls, the clear, fine complexion, the 
 neat-fitting dress, the small w^hite hands, and the 
 dainty kid boots, were all marvels to her. 
 
 " You 're very rich," she said, presently, in a pe- 
 culiar manner, as if she could almost find it in her 
 heart to envy Kathie and grow discontented with 
 herself. Katliie's fine sense and tact detected it. 
 
124 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 She stretched out her hand and took Sarah's, — a 
 little rough, but soft and plump. " My uncle is," 
 she answered ; " he is very good to us children. My 
 father died when I was a tiny little girl." 
 
 " Did he ? " Sarah knelt down, and began to wind 
 the silken curls over her finger. " But you are so — 
 so different. You don't have to work, — do you ? " 
 
 "A little," and Kathie smiled. 
 
 " What ! a lady like you ? Don't you keep ser- 
 vants ? For Jim said the place was like a palace ! " 
 
 "We keep one servant only, and a gardener. 
 Mamma thinks it right that every one should learn 
 to be useful." 
 
 " But if I was rich I would n't do a thing ! I 
 actually would n't." 
 
 " I am afraid you would soon get tired of idleness.'* 
 
 " 0, 1 'd have books, and read, and paint pictures, 
 and a pianny — " 
 
 "Piano," corrected Kathie, gravely, as if she had 
 been a teacher with her class. 
 
 Sarah turned scarlet, then gave a little embarrassed 
 laugh. " I never can get the words all right. They 
 do plague me so ; but I have n't been to school for 
 two years. Mother wanted me home, for Martha was 
 
A VISIT. 125 
 
 so little. That 's why I 'd like to be a lady, and 
 know just what was right to do and say. I thought 
 you was so elegant that night ! " 
 
 " There are a great many 'ladies,' as you call them, 
 much poorer than you ; and some rich people who 
 are coarse and ignorant." 
 
 " There ain't only two or three men in Middleville 
 any richer than father. He owns sights of land and 
 timber, but he thinks that if you can read and write 
 and cipher a little it is enough. I don't suppose I 
 could ever be as nice as you are, though," — with a 
 sadness in her tone and a longing in her eyes. 
 
 " In what respect ? " Kathie smiled encouragingly. 
 
 i< Well — to talk as you do. I thought that night 
 at the Fair that it was just like a story-book or music. 
 I know I 'm always makin' mistakes." 
 
 " Then you must try to be careful. Does not your 
 teacher correct you ? " 
 
 " Well, I am learning a little ; but it seems to be 
 such hard work How did you do it ? " 
 
 " I have always been sent to school, and then my 
 mother has taken a good deal of pains with me. It 
 seems unfortunate that people should fall into such 
 careless habits of pronouncing, and oftentimes of 
 spelling." 
 
126 KATHTE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "Was my letter all right?" Sarah asked, vnth. 
 quick apprehension. " I tried so hard, and wrote it 
 over ever so many times." 
 
 " I let my uncle read it, and he said he had seen 
 letters from older women that would hardly bear 
 comparison. There were very few mistakes in it." 
 
 Kathie's honesty impelled her to say this, though 
 under some circumstances she would have uttered no 
 comment. 
 
 "Tell me what they were. I think I could do 
 better now." 
 
 " Do you really wish me to ? " 
 
 " Yes, I do," with a good deal of rising color. 
 
 "Your pronoufi I, when you speak of yourself, 
 must always be a capital, — never a small i, and 
 dotted." 
 
 " But how can you tell ? " 
 
 "It is a personal pronoun, and is never used in 
 any other way. A single I must always be a capital." 
 
 " Always ! I 'U be sure to remember that," Sarah 
 answered, with great earnestness ; " and what else ? " 
 
 " Christmas was n't quite right. That begins with 
 a capital, because it is a proper name, and the first 
 syllable is spelled just like Christ." 
 
A MSIT. 127 
 
 " Is it ? Why, I never tliought ! and I 've seen it 
 so many times too. What other mistakes were there ? '* 
 
 "I really cannot remember," said Kathie, laugh- 
 ing ; and she spoke the truth. " The lichen was so 
 lovely. Uncle Robert put it up in the library. Where 
 do you find such beautiful specimens ? " 
 
 " Over in the swamp, about a mile south of here. 
 There are so many pretty things. Do you know 
 Indian pipe ? " 
 
 " Yes ! " exclaimed Kathie, with a touch of enthu- 
 siasm. 
 
 " Is n't it lovely ? — just as if it was cut out of white 
 wax. I like to go rambling round to find aU manner 
 of odd things ; but I never thought of putting them 
 up anywhere, or making frames. 0, come see mine ! " 
 
 Both girls rose, and Kathie really took her first 
 survey of the parlor. There was a duU-colored in- 
 grain carpet on the floor, the flowers of which ran all 
 over it ; a square, stiff-backed sofa, studded with brass 
 nails ; some rush-bottomed chairs, two old family 
 portraits; and a pair of high brass candlesticks on 
 the mantelpiece. 
 
 But above this Sarah had hung her two pictures, 
 and put up the lichen brackets. 
 
128 KATHIE'6 SOLDIERS. 
 
 " I could n't make my frame as pretty as yours/' 
 she said ; " and I broke ever so many straws.'* 
 " But you succeeded very well, I think." 
 " And I made this. I took the picture out of a book." 
 It was a moss frame, very neatly manufactured, 
 but the picture was a rather coarsely colored fashion- 
 plate. 
 
 "I do love pictures so! I wish I had a whole 
 houseful ! And if I could only make 'em myself, — 
 them, I mean," coloring, and correcting her speech. 
 
 " I have brought you two more — 0, they were left 
 in the wagron ! — and some books." 
 
 o 
 
 Sarah's eyes sparkled. " Would you mind running 
 out ? The boys have some rabbits down to the bam, 
 and there 's a great swing, — 0, and loads of nuts ! 
 Do you ever go chestnutting ? " 
 
 " I have been, but there are not a great many trees 
 around Brookside." 
 
 "Here 's a shawl; just wrap yourself head and 
 ears in it. We 're going down to the barn, mother." 
 
 They found Uncle Kobert entertaining Jim and 
 Steve, the latter of whom sat in wide-eyed astonish- 
 ment; but the entrance of the girls broke up the 
 conclave. 
 
A VISIT. 129 
 
 Sarah took Kathie all round, showed Her White- 
 foot and Jenny, both of whom wliiniiied gratefully. 
 Then there was the beautiful little Durham heifer 
 that Jim was raising, hens of every variety, the 
 rabbits, the loft strewn with corn, nuts, and strings, 
 and packages of seeds. 
 
 Then Katliie must swing. Steve pushed her until 
 the dainty kid boots touched the beam, and she expe- 
 rienced the sensation of standing upon her head. 
 
 In the midst of this a shrill blast from a horn 
 readied their ears. Kathie started. 
 
 " That 's for dinner. Father 's gone to mill to-day 
 with Mr. Ketcham, and he won't be home." 
 
 a 
 
 The three younger ones took the lead, while Uncle 
 Kobert and Jim lingered behind, discussing ways and 
 means of making money at farming. 
 
 Such a table full of youngsters looked strange 
 to Kathie's eyes. On the whole they behaved very 
 well, a little awed, perhaps, by the presence of 
 strangers. Sarah paused now and then to watch 
 Kathie, whose quiet manners were " so like a lady." 
 She made no clatter with her knife and fork, did not 
 undertake to talk with her mouth full, and said 
 " Thank you " to everything that was handed to her. 
 
130 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "I never can be like that!" she thought with a 
 despairing sigh, and yet unconsciously her manners 
 took tone from this unobtrusive example. 
 
 Uncle Eobert and Kathie made themselves at ease 
 with truest politeness. Mrs. Strong talked over the 
 Fair, and how much she enjoyed it, and told Kathie 
 that the children were delighted ^vith their gifts. 
 Then followed some conversation on the war. The 
 Strongs were very patriotic, to say the least Sarah 
 was excused from helping to wash the dishes, so she 
 and Kathie went to the parlor again, and the package 
 was opened. 
 
 A very pretty story-book, one of Kathie' s favorites, 
 and a copy of Longfellow's Evangeline, illustrated. 
 She had also brought two colored photographs, — the 
 sad-eyed Evangeline, and the " Children," companion 
 pictures. 
 
 " I don't know .whether you like poetry or not, but 
 it always seems to me that it is pleasant to know the 
 story of anything that interests you." 
 
 " I like — some verses — " Sarah returned, rather 
 hesitatingly, " and the book is beautiful. But — I 
 can't say anytliing at all — " 
 
 The tears were so near to her voice that it rendered 
 her almost ungracious. 
 
A \1SIT. 131 
 
 " You will enjoy them better by and by," Kathio 
 went on, softly. " Some day you may be able to 
 make pretty frames for the pictures. And I brought 
 you a set of crochet-needles. Can you crochet ? " 
 
 " Only to make a chain. I can do that with my 
 fingers. I wish I did know how. And if I could 
 ever knit a cap like the baby's ! " 
 
 " We will sit down here and talk, and I can show 
 you one or two patterns of edgings that are simple 
 and pretty." 
 
 " How good you are ! " 
 
 Sarah was no dullard, after all. Though her fingers 
 appeared rather clumsy at fu^t, she soon managed to 
 conquer the intricate loops, turnings, and stitches. 
 
 " Why, I would n't have believed it ! " — in great 
 joy. " I 've done a whole scallop by myself." 
 
 Kathie laughed in answer. 
 
 " Now, if you '11 oidy tell me something more 
 about grammar, and putting the right word in — the 
 place where it belongs. You see all the big girls at 
 school know so much more than I do — " 
 
 Kathie understood. She explained several matters 
 that had been great mountains to her in the begin- 
 
132 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Now and then a bright light illumined the clear 
 hazel eye, and 'a pleased smile played around the 
 lips. " How good you are to take so much trouble ! " 
 she exclaimed, gratefully. 
 
 By and by Mrs. Strong came in to have a little 
 visit with their guests. Sarah displayed the books 
 and pictures, and the three inches of rather soiled 
 crocheted edging. 
 
 " Sary Ann 's a curis girl," explaiaed her mother ; 
 " she has a great notion of larnin', and all that, but 
 her father has n't much faith lq it. He thinks gals 
 and wimmen were a good deal better when they did 
 n't know so much ; and then you begin to want — 
 everything. There 's so much dressin' and foolin' 
 goin' on nowadays." 
 
 "It is rather the lack of education, I should 
 imagine. True knowledge expands one's soul as 
 well as one's mind," said Uncle Eobert. 
 
 "Well, mebbe, if it 's the right sort; but this 
 gettin' their heads so full of dress — " 
 
 " Which is a sign that something better should be 
 in them," was the pleasant response. 
 
 " And then they 're ashamed of their homes, and 
 their parents as slaved to bring them up, and make 
 
A VISIT. • 133 
 
 fun of everything that is n't right according to their 
 thinking. I Ve seen it more 'n once." 
 
 Katliie bhished, remembering Lottie Thome's criti- 
 cism. INIrs. Strong certainly did look prettier in thi^ 
 clean calico gown and white collar than in her 
 purple bonnet with red roses. 
 
 " Yes," he answered ; " it does happen, I know. 
 But it seems to me that any daughter or sister who 
 acquired with her other knowledge true views of her 
 duty towards God and those around her could hardly 
 fail to be benefited by an enlargement of her narrow 
 sphere of thought. Our first duty is at home, but we 
 do not stop there." 
 
 " Few people think of duties of any kind nowa- 
 days." 
 
 " Does not God leave a little to us ? We who 
 know them ought to make them attractive to 
 others." 
 
 " It 's so much easier to be bad ; and I often 
 wonder at it," whispered Sarah, through Kathie's 
 shimmering curls. " But if some one would make 
 all that is right and good attractive, as your imcle 
 says — I wish I could live with you awhile. I don't 
 believe you ever have anything to worry you ! " 
 
134 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Yes, I do," answered Kathie ; " I have to try 
 pretty hard sometimes.'* 
 
 Sarah studied her in surprise. " But if I were to 
 %try I never could be half so good." 
 
 " Will you try ? " Kathie uttered it with uncon- 
 scious earnestness, and the. light that so often shone 
 about her came out in her face. 
 
 But Uncle Eobert, looking at his watch, declared 
 that it was time for them to go. Mrs. Strong was so 
 sorry not to have "Father" see them, and begged 
 them to come agairu 
 
 " It 's been such a beautiful visit," exclaimed 
 Sarah, with a tremble in her voice. " I '11 try to 
 remember everything you have told me ! " 
 
 Steve brought a bag of nuts to put in the wag- 
 on, and Jim shook hands rather sadly with Uncle 
 Eobert. 
 
 " He is one of the right kind " ; and with that he 
 went back to the barn, whistling thoughtfully. 
 
COMFORT IN NEED. 135 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 COMFORT IN NEED. 
 
 ** Well, Katliie, was the visit a success ? " 
 They had ridden a long way before Uncle Robert 
 asked this question. He had been remarking the 
 changes that passed over Kathie's face like light 
 drifts of summer clouds. 
 
 " I am very glad that we went," 
 " \Vliat perplexes you then, Kitty^ ? " 
 " A good many things. Uncle Eobert. Some grave 
 questions that I cannot understand," in a haK- 
 besitating way. 
 
 " Can I help you ? " The tone was gravely sweet. 
 " You always do," — smiHng. " Something Mrs. 
 Strong said troubled me. Sarah is ambitious, she 
 has a desire for education, and a longing for refine- 
 ment," — with deliberation in her slow tones. " But 
 what if — she slwuld be ashamed of her home, after 
 all ? It is not so very attractive, — pretty, I mean. 
 ^^^ly, the only lovely thing in that great parlor was 
 the bright blazing fii-e." 
 
136 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " If Sarah takes hold of the right end of life, she 
 will try to make her home more pleasant for the 
 others as well as herself." 
 
 " But, Uncle Eobert, it is so hard to see when yon 
 are right in the midst of a thing, — a sort of muddle. 
 A person standing on the outside would be likely to 
 discover the best paths. And I thought — what if 
 I should be the means of making her discontented 
 instead of happy." 
 
 " So you are not quite convinced that it is wisest 
 to sow beside all waters ? " — with his peculiar smile. 
 
 " If I was certain I had the right seed." 
 
 " The seed is all alike, — love, faith, patience. Yes, 
 I can catch your meaning," — as the little face grew 
 very sober. " You do not want to rouse her to a sense 
 of and love for beauty to wjiich she can never attaiii." 
 
 " That is it." 
 
 " I do not imagine you need begin to feel anxious 
 immediately. Her crude attempts at beautifying wiU 
 be very good exercise for her awakening brain, and 
 she has so much of the practical to learn that she 
 will be less Likely to run into vanity, at least no more 
 than one would naturally expect. If you choose, 
 Kathie, you might help her in a very good work." 
 
COMFORT IN NEED. 137 
 
 " I do choose." 
 
 " When you find that you have too much on your 
 small hands, you must pass the heaviest over to me. 
 Eemember that I shall always stand ready. And 
 doing these bits of girl-work for girls will make the 
 woman-work plainer by and by. It is taking up the 
 little opportunities as they come, not waiting for a 
 great deed to be shaped to your hand presently." 
 
 "I think I must always do little deeds. They 
 seem so much safer to me than the large ones." 
 
 "I heard Sarah ask if she might write to you; 
 what did you answer ? " 
 
 " I said that I should be glad to hear. And I shall 
 want to know how she likes her books. You do not 
 think mamma would object ? " 
 
 " no. It is the best and wisest act that you 
 could do for her. There was something so sweet and 
 grateful in her sending you the lichen that I have 
 a good deal of faith in her capabilities. It will be 
 good ground in which to sow seed. Sarah's whole 
 life may be the better for the chance friendship." 
 
 " But if she should become refined and — " 
 
 " That is looking to the flavor of the fruit, my 
 dear. God means that we shaU not see it any faster 
 than it can giow." 
 
138 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 # 
 
 She smiled, satisfied. 
 
 The air was very keen indeed now. A bitterly 
 cold night it would be. The tender heart went out 
 to the thousands on "tented field," and prayed for 
 peace, that they might return to warm, pleasant fire- 
 sides. 
 
 Aunt Euth ran do^vn stairs as she saw them coming. 
 
 " Let Freddy take the horses," she said. " A tele- 
 gram has come for you, and it may be important." 
 
 Freddy was elated with the permission. He was 
 indulged now and then with short drives, but, being 
 rather anxious to display his skiU, he was sometimes 
 quite venturesome. 
 
 Kathie drew a long, anxious breath. As was natu- 
 ral, her first thought was for Eob. 
 
 An expression serious almost to pain crossed Uncle 
 Kobert's face. 
 
 " Sad tidings for the close of our happy day," he 
 said. " I am summoned to Alexandria immediately. 
 Mr. Meredith — " Then he handed the slip of paper 
 to Kathie. 
 
 Mr. Meredith had been severely wounded, and sent 
 to the hospital at Alexandria, whether fatally or not 
 the messaiie did not state. 
 
COMFORT IN NEED. 139 
 
 "The express tmin goes through at six," Uncle 
 Ivobert said, " and in this case there is no time to be 
 lost." 
 
 They all felt that when Mr. Meredith sent, the 
 summons must be urgent indeed. Mr. Conover had 
 more than an hour to make the few preparations he 
 would require. But there were two or three letters 
 to answer, so he went to the library, wliile Mrs. 
 Alston hurried the tea. 
 
 Kathie stood by the window in a mood of peculiar 
 silence. Somehow, though she had known the dan- 
 ger all along, with* the confidence of love she could 
 hardly believe that any evil would betide her soldiers. 
 Numbers of men had served their three years with- 
 out any serious mishap, and it seemed as if God 
 would watch over these two among the many thou- 
 sands. 
 
 " Aunt Euth, do you suppose — " 
 
 " My darling, we can suppose nothing, only hope 
 for the best." 
 
 "But it is so terrible to think of him — in any 
 great peril" 
 
 So gay and laughing always, so. fuU of vivacity 
 with aU his gentlemanly indolence, so strong and 
 
140 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 buoyant ! In fancy she saw him stretched upon a hos- 
 pital pallet, very white, like Aunt Euth, last winter, 
 or perhaps ha^dng undergone some fearful operation. 
 
 And then there came to Kathie a remembrance of 
 the last drive together, of the few lines in the letter. 
 It was so precious to know that, living or dying, all 
 was weU with him. Kathie clung to that comfort 
 with all her fond, trembling heart. Was it God's love 
 and grace that brought human souls so near together 
 and made them one great family ? 
 
 "I have one request to make," exclaimed Uncle 
 Eobert, entering the room ; " if you should see any 
 of the Darrells do not mention this circumstance, 
 unless they may have heard. I will telegraph home 
 as soon as I reach the hospital, and write at my ear- 
 liest convenience. Kathie, will you run over to the 
 Lodge and ask Mr. Morrison to drive me to the 
 station by six ? " 
 
 Kathie wrapped up head and ears in a blanket- 
 shawl, and ran down the drive. When she came 
 back supper was ready and Uncle Eobert's port- 
 manteau packed. 
 
 They bade him a tender good-by, and Kathie 
 whispered a fond and precious message. 
 
CO^rFORT IN NEED. 141 
 
 Aiterward they went to Aunt Ruth's sitting-room. 
 Kathie felt rather drowsy and indolent with her ride 
 through the keen air, and took possession of Aunt 
 Euth's lounge; for she was in no mood to read or 
 sew, or even to take up her fancy crocheting. 
 
 " Did you have a nice visit ? " asked her mother, at 
 length. 
 
 Tliat roused Kathie, " It was very peculiar, mam- 
 ma, and I enjoyed it a good deal. I like Sarah, 
 although she is not — " 
 
 "Not much cultivated, I suppose," said Aunt 
 Ruth. 
 
 "Mamma, why did not we, when we were very 
 poor, grow careless ? I don't know as I can explain 
 just what I mean." Kathie raised her face, per- 
 plexed and rosy. 
 
 " I think I understand. It is not the result of 
 a few years, or even of poverty, but the lack of cul- 
 ture. Often a whole village or settlement, where 
 there is no particular ambition for education, will 
 fall into careless and rough habits of action and 
 speech. Every one does the same, and it is hardly 
 remarked." 
 
 " But I suppose there has always been a school at 
 
142 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Middleville, — and it is so near Brookside and other 
 towns." 
 
 " Many of these old country settlers are very sen- 
 sitive. They think their way as good as any one's, 
 and, if a few families are particularly refined, accuse 
 tliem of holding themselves in high esteem, and being 
 above their neighbors. It often proves difficult to 
 overcome old habits of pronunciation and the man- 
 ners and customs to which one has always been used. 
 It was different in our case. Aunt Euth and I were 
 brought up in a city, and had the best advantages. I 
 was not very likely to forget what I had learned as a 
 girl" 
 
 It did make some difference, then, whether a per- 
 son was rich or poor ; and if one could not help his 
 or her position — 
 
 " Mamma, was n't it very hard to lose your for- 
 tune ? " 
 
 " Yes, dear," Mrs. Alston answered, simply. 
 
 '•' But we might have been poorer stilL There are 
 all the Maybins — and the Aliens --' and we had a 
 very comfortable home." 
 
 " Yes. We owned our cottage, and had an income 
 of just seventy dollars a year. It was a great deal 
 
COMFORT IN NEED. 143 
 
 better than nothing, though many a stitch had to be 
 taken to provide for the rest of our needs." 
 
 Kathie remembered, — staying in the house to sew 
 long simple seams for mamma, doing errands, wash- 
 ing dishes, sweeping rooms, and wearing dresses that 
 were faded, shoes a little shabby, and never having 
 more than a few pennies to spend. How gi-eat the 
 change was ! And it did not end with personal 
 comforts merely. Nearly all the rich people in the 
 neighborhood came to visit them. Every one nodded 
 to her as she drove out in her pony-carriage. Yet, if 
 she lost her fortune, would they let her drop out 
 of sight and out of mind ? Ah, how very cruel it 
 would be ! 
 
 "It is a very delightful thing to have an abun- 
 dance," Mrs. Alston went on, as if she held the key 
 to her daughter's thoughts. " Not that it ever makes 
 a person better, socially or morally, though the world, 
 society, generally gives the precedence to money. It 
 affords you leisure for cultivation ; it frees you from a 
 great many harassing cares, though it may bring 
 others in their stead, for no life is exempt. And it 
 certainly does add many new duties." 
 
 "It is right to have the cultivation, the pretty 
 
144 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 houses, the beautiful furniture and pictures and — - 
 dresses ? " 
 
 Kathie asked her question with a sort of hurried 
 abruptness, as if a definite answer was of the utmost 
 importance to her, as if, indeed, she longed for a fuller 
 undei'standing of the subject. 
 
 " Yes," answered her mother, slowly. " All these 
 things were given to us to. enjoy, to use, yet not 
 abuse. But when we sec3k them selfishly, when we 
 think of nothing beyond our own personal needs, and 
 of ministering to our vanity and self-love, they do 
 become a great snare and temptation." 
 
 " If one could teU just where the dividing line 
 ought to be," Kathie said, shyly. 
 
 " It is quite easily found if one searches in earnest : 
 to think of others rather than of one's seK; to give 
 as well as to receive, not merely money or clothes, 
 but sympathy, love, tender thoughts, little acts of 
 pleasure ; to minister to the poor in spirit as weU as 
 the poor in purse." 
 
 "And that brings me back to Sarah, mamma. 
 Her fatlier may be as rich as — we are," rather hesi- 
 tatingly. " At all events Mrs. Strong spent a good 
 deal at our table at the Fair, and never seemed to 
 
COMFORT IN NEED. 145 
 
 mind it a bit. But their house has such a barren 
 look. They have very few books or pictures or pretty 
 articles of any kmd, yet I do believe Sarah would 
 be very fond of them. She has not been to school 
 for nearly two years, so she has had very little chance 
 to improve. Her father is afraid that if she should 
 learn a great deal she will be ashamed of her home, 
 and all that. I do not see how she could like it very 
 much, because there is so little in it to please." 
 
 " Some old-fashioned people seem to be afraid of 
 education, but I believe it is from a lack of true ap- 
 preciation of it. Whether rightly or not, civilization 
 has made our wants extend beyond the mere neces- 
 sities of life. We need some food for the soul as 
 well as for the body." 
 
 " But if education should make Sarah discontented 
 and unhappy ? " 
 
 " We cannot always see what the result will be, 
 but we are exhorted to work, nevertheless." 
 
 " She asked me to write to her again, mamma. You 
 do not think it will be — " Kathie could hardly get 
 hold of the right word to use. 
 
 " Injudicious, I suppose you mean ? No, I do not. 
 You may learn something as well." 
 
 10 
 
146 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Kathie was glad that her mother looked upon it in 
 that light, and yet she smiled a little to herself, not 
 exactly discerning her own lesson in the matter. 
 
 " Our Saviour said, ' Freely ye have received, freely 
 give ' ; and, my little girl, it seems to me that we 
 have received very generously. When I was prosper- 
 ous before, I "am afraid that I did not think much of 
 the needs of those around me ; but in my poverty I 
 saw so often where a little would have been of great 
 assistance to me. I feel now as if God had placed a 
 great treasure in my hands to be accounted for to the 
 uttermost farthing at the last day. It will be good 
 then to have other lips speak for us." 
 
 Kathie understood. " Yes, it will, mamma." 
 Then she lapsed into silence. How all these things 
 crowded upon one as the years went by ! FoiirteeB 
 now ; m three years she would be quite a young lady. 
 Looking at it caused her to shrink back to the clois- 
 ters of girlhood. 
 
 Afterward her heart wandered out with Uncle 
 Eobert on his lonesome night-journey, and to the 
 other face pictured still and white before her. All 
 she could do in this case was to pray. 
 
 They went to church on Sunday, and saw Miss 
 
COMFORT IN NEED. 147 
 
 Jessie, bright and smiling as usual. Then she did 
 not know ! It actually startled Katliie a little. 
 
 " Where is your uncle ? " Charlie asked, as they 
 were standing together. 
 
 " He was called a^vay upon some business," Mrs. 
 Alston answered for Kathie. 
 
 The telegram came on Monday. " Arrived safely," 
 it said. " No .change in Mr. Meredith. Look for a 
 letter to-morrow." 
 
 So they could still tell nothing about him. Kathie 
 had grown so very anxious that it appeared as if she 
 could not wait. The day was a little cloudy, and' she 
 made that an excuse for not driving out. Even her 
 music failed to interest. She just wanted to sit and 
 wonder, never coming to any definite conclusion. 
 
 The Tuesday letter was long, ^vritten at inter- 
 vals, and contained the whole story. Mr. Meredith 
 was out with a scouting-party early in the week 
 Ijefore, when they were surprised by the enemy and 
 made a desperate resistance. But for his coolness 
 and bravery none of them would have escaped. Two 
 or three were killed* and several wounded, — he very 
 seriously indeed ; and he had been sent immediately 
 to Alexandria. The journey had doubtless aggravated 
 
148 KATHIE'S SOLDIEBS. 
 
 the injury. He was in a high fever now ; and though 
 he had recognized Mr. Conover at first, he soon lapsed 
 into forgetfulness again. Mr. George Meredith had 
 been on, and was unable to remain ; but Uncle Eobert 
 had decided that this was his post of duty for the pres- 
 ent. He had also written to Miss Jessie, he said. 
 
 " We must give him up willingly, therefore," Mrs. 
 Alston remarked. 
 
 Yes; Kathie least of all felt inclined to grudge 
 another the cheerful, comforting presence. 
 
 " But it is terrible ! " she said ; " it did not seem to 
 me as if Mr. Meredith could die." 
 
 " He may not. If they can succeed in keeping the 
 fever under control there will be hope. The wound 
 itself is quite manageable. Uncle Eobert believes." 
 
 But by the end of the week IVIiss Jessie and her 
 father had been summoned. There was very little if 
 any hope. 
 
 One of Ada's occasional letters reached Kathie 
 about this time. " Is n't it dreadful ? " she wrote. 
 "Mamma says that she can hardly forgive Uncle 
 Edward for going in the first place, when there really 
 was no need, and he was crazy to enlist afterward ; 
 and it puts everything out so ! I must tell you that 
 
COMFORT IN NEED. 149 
 
 wiamma intended to give a grand party. The cards 
 liad been printed, and some of the arrangements 
 made, "but when gapa came home he would not hear 
 a word about it. I have been out quite a good deal 
 this winter, and have several elegant party dresses. 
 I was to have a beautiful new pink silk for this, but 
 mamma would n't buy it when she heard the worst 
 news. It 's too bad ; and if Uncle Edward should be 
 lame or crippled — 0, I cannot bear to think of 
 it ! If he had been an officer there would have been 
 a great fuss made about it. I really felt ashamed to 
 see just ' Edward Meredith, wounded,' as if he were 
 John Jones, or any common fellow ! But I hope he 
 will not die. Death is always so gloomy, and mam- 
 ma would have to wear black ; so there would be an 
 end to gayeties all the rest of the winter." 
 
 Kathie felt rather shocked over this, it sounded so 
 heartless. Was death only an interruption to pleas- 
 ure ? As for her, she carried the thought in her 
 heart day and night, and began to feel what the 
 Saviour meant when he said, " Pray without ceasing." 
 How easy it seemed to go to him in any great sor- 
 row ! 
 
 " But 0, is n't it lonely ? " she said to her mother. 
 
150 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " If Uncle Eobert had been compelled to go, how 
 could we have endured it ? — and Rob away too, — 
 dear Eob ! " 
 
 That reminded her that she owed him a letter. It 
 was such an effort nowadays to rouse herself to any 
 work of choice or duty. "Which is not marching 
 steadily onward," she thought to herself. "I can 
 only pray for Mr. Meredith, but I may work for 
 others. Eouse thee, little Kathie!" 
 
THORNS m THE PATH. 151 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THORNS IN THE PATH. 
 
 It appeared to Kathie that she had never known 
 t/ • long a fortnight as the first two weeks of Uncle 
 Pobert's absence ; yet everything -had gone on just 
 the same, none of the duties were changed, only the 
 absence and the dreadful suspense. 
 
 Yet something else had happened, or was working 
 itself out slowly day by day. Among the new schol- 
 ars were several quite stylish and fashionable girls, 
 who felt inclined to draw a line, or make some kind 
 of a social distinction. 
 
 Foremost among these was Isabel Hadden, a 
 tall, showy girl, who prided herself upon her figure 
 and style. Her father had made a fortune as an 
 army contractor, and was now in Washington. He 
 had purchased a very pretty country residence at 
 Brookside, and installed his family there, though 
 Mrs. Hadden frequently joined him for weeks at a 
 time. 
 
152 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Belle had been at a second-rate boarding-school for 
 a year before the family had attained their present 
 grandeur. Now a distant connection filled the posi- 
 tion of governess to the host of younger children ; 
 but Belle considered herself too large to come in 
 with " that crowd," as she rather disdainfully termed 
 them. 
 
 She was sent to school every morning in the car- 
 riage, and it not. infrequently came for her in the 
 afternoon. Bather distant and haughty at first, she 
 had not made friends very easily. Mrs. Thome hap- 
 pened to meet Mrs. Hadden at an evening party, and 
 it was followed by a mutual acquaintance. There- 
 upon Isabel and Lottie became friends, though the 
 latter was somewhat younger. Lottie's mother was 
 very ambitious for her, and since Mr. Thorne would 
 not consent to the expense of a boarding-school, she 
 sent Lottie to Mrs. Wilder, as it was so much more 
 genteel. 
 
 Belle became the leader of the small clique who 
 discussed fashions habitually. She criticised the 
 dresses, cuffs, collars, and laces for the edification of 
 her youthful hearers, until Ermna Lauriston said one 
 day, " Miss Hadden is as good as a fashion-magazine. 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. 153 
 
 I don't know but she would be invaluable in a fancy 
 goods' store.'* 
 
 Lottie still kept to her old habit of calling upon 
 Kathie for assistance when lessons were puzzling. 
 For several days in succession she had occupied 
 Kathie's short intermission, and Mrs. Wilder found 
 that she began to depend too much upon this kindly 
 help. 
 
 « Miss Kathie," her teacher said at length, "I have 
 a request or a command in my mind, — you can con- 
 sider it as which ever is easiest to obey," and Mrs. 
 Wilder smiled. 
 
 Kathie smiled as well, in her pleasant fashion. 
 
 " I am sorry to find fault with any generous deed 
 that school-girls do for one another, but I think Lot- 
 tie Thome has come to depend altogether too much 
 upon you. It is hardly fab* to occupy your few 
 moments of recreation when by a little closer appli- 
 cation she could solve her own problems and transla- 
 tions. Tliis is really necessary for her own good." 
 
 "I did not like to be disobliging," Kathie answered, 
 by way of excuse. 
 
 "Your generosity is carried almost to a fault at 
 times. You ^lust learn to say ' No ' occasionally." 
 
154 KATHIE'S SOLDixsrwS. 
 
 Kathie's soft eyes were downcast. It vjould be 
 very hard to refuse. 
 
 " Lottie has as much time to study her lessons at 
 home as you have, and I am always ready to explain 
 any difficulty. That is one of my duties towards my 
 pupils. I am in a measure answerable for her im- 
 provement ; and if she slips through upon the assist- 
 ance of others she will be the loser in the end. You 
 understand what I mean ? — that while I do not wish 
 to discourage a helpful feeling among the girls, I 
 desire that each one should study for herself." 
 
 " Yes," Kathie said, in a low tone. 
 
 " And, my little friend, it is necessary that one 
 should learn to be just as well as generous." 
 
 Katliie felt the force of the remark. Uncle Eobert 
 had explained this occasionally to her in connection 
 with Eob, who was rather fond of making her ex- 
 tensively useful. Then she always hated to say no 
 to others. It was easier to sacrifice her own pleas- 
 ures or desu'es. 
 
 To smooth the matter for her, Mrs. Wilder, an- 
 nounced, that morning that she wished each girl's 
 translations to be exclusively her own work, and if 
 there was any great difficulty she would be glad to 
 have them apply to \Ler. 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. 155 
 
 Kathie left the school-room the instant recess 
 began. Lottie was still puzzling over her algebra, 
 and, having finished that, slie took up her imperfect 
 French, meaning to go in search of her little helper. 
 
 Two or three girls were discussing a party. 
 
 " I helped Hattie Norman make out her list last 
 night," said Belle Hadden. " It is to be very select. 
 Her mother insisted that all the Brookside rabble 
 should not be invited." 
 
 Hattie Norman was one of the new-comers. Lot- 
 tie's heart beat a little faster as she wondered whether 
 she would be classed among the rabble. 
 
 "The Norman boys are elegant," pursued Belle. 
 "They have all been to dancing-school; and there 
 will be two of Hattie's cousins from the city, — five 
 young gentlemen of one's own." 
 
 "You might tell us who the lucky ones are," 
 pleaded a voice. 
 
 " That is my secret. The invitations are to be sent 
 out to-day. I would n't miss it for anything. Mam- 
 ma brought me an elegant tarlatan overskirt the last 
 time she came from New York. It is just a mass of 
 fluted ruffling. I shall wear it over my blue silk, I 
 think ; blue is so becoming to me." 
 
156 KATHIE'S SOLDIEKS. 
 
 Lottie lingered, talking and listening, and before 
 she imagined the moments were half gone the beU 
 on IVIrs. Wilder's table rang. 
 
 " Kathie, just stop an instant ! " she cried ; but 
 the girls were hurrying in, and somehow Kathie 
 passed on with them. Fifteen minutes after, the 
 French class was summoned. 
 
 " You must write your translation over for to- 
 morrow. Miss Thome ; and yours, ^liss Hadden, is 
 not very perfect ; a little revision would improve it." 
 
 Much as she disdained the patient governess at 
 home, Belle found her very useful 
 
 Kathie kept out of Lottie's way. It looked rather 
 mean to her, but it was better than an open refusal 
 
 The trial came the next day, however. To Lottie's 
 great delight, she was invited to the party, and her 
 head had been so full of it that all the lessons suf- 
 fered. She was casting about in her mind what she 
 could have new, or what could be altered to look Kke 
 new. 
 
 " Kathie ! " she exclaimed at recess, " just help 
 me out with these few lines. I made so many blun- 
 ders yesterday, and I was so busy last evening." 
 
 " You remember what Mrs. Wilder said on Tues- 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. 157 
 
 day." Kathie's heart beat rapidly with the effort, 
 and she felt quite inclined to run away like a little 
 coward. 
 
 "What? — 0, about asking her! but then she 
 never tells one anything. You might, I am sure ; 
 or if you will just let me read over your transla- 
 tion." 
 
 " It would not be quite fair." Kathie's tone was 
 rather slow and hesitating. 
 
 « You need n't be so afraid ! I should not copy," 
 was the sharp answer. " Just tell me this case." 
 
 One answer surely would not be a crime. 
 
 " And this line ; I can't make beginning nor end 
 of it." 
 
 "I am sorry, Lottie; but Mrs. Wilder said the 
 girls were not to help each other so much, — that 
 each one was to get her own translation — " 
 
 " Well, I mean to get my own ; I just asked you a 
 question. You are very short and hateful about it ! " 
 
 " Lottie, I do not want to disobey Mrs. Wilder ! 
 I would help you if I could — if it was right." Kathie 
 uttered the words hurriedly, as if after a moment she 
 should not have the courage to say them at all. 
 
 " You arc setting up for a saint, we all know ; and 
 
158 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 it is very convenient to talk about right when one 
 means to be cross and disobliging ! I would do any- 
 thing / could for a friend, I am sure." 
 
 Kathie was silent. She knew by experience that 
 Lottie had a habit of teasiag until she accomplished 
 her purpose. 
 
 " So you really won't do that little favor ? " 
 
 " Mss Alston ! " called one of the girls ; and Ka- 
 thie was glad to go. 
 
 Lottie dropped two or three tears of mortification 
 and disappointment. She had come to depend a 
 great deal upon Kathie, and it was hard doing with- 
 out the help. " She is a hateful little thing, after all," 
 was her internal comment. 
 
 Belle Hadden let her look over her translation 
 "just a moment." Lottie had a quick eye and a good 
 memory; but the lesson was not so perfect that it 
 could escape Mrs. Wilder's attention. 
 
 " Please take a little more pains, Miss Thorne," 
 she said ; " I shall have to mark you for both 
 days." 
 
 Coming out of school, they paused, in girl fashion, 
 to say a few last words. A rather rusty-looking 
 rockaway wagon passed by, in wliich were two 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. 159 
 
 females, one of whom was driving. The other 
 leaned out suddenly, with a cry of joy : " Miss 
 Katliie ! Mother, stop, — do ! " 
 
 Katliie colored a little. There was the identical 
 purple bonnet and red roses, and Sarah Ann had two 
 long rooster-feathers stuck in her jockey hat, which 
 certainly were waving in the breeze rather ungrace- 
 fully ; but the child went straight up to the wagon, 
 thrusting aside the cowardly shame. 
 
 " I 'm so glad to see you ! Do you go to school 
 there ? my ! what a lot of — young ladies ! " and 
 Sai-ali blushed. "There 's the one that laughed at 
 mother when we were at the Fair ! Do you like 
 her ? " 
 
 " We are all schoolmates, you know," said Kathie, 
 in a peculiar, but gentle tone. " Are you well ? 
 This is quite a surprise ! " 
 
 "You are a good, sensible gal," remarked Mrs. 
 Strong, with a meaning look, which showed Ka- 
 thie that she was not so deficient in perception, 
 after all. 
 
 " yes ! How is your uncle ? Jim thinks he 's 
 just splendid ! We did have such a nice time that 
 day ! I Ve commenced a long letter to you, and 
 
160 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 I Ve read both books aloud. We liked the story so 
 much ! and I cried over the Evangeline, — I could 
 n't help it, I 'm so glad to have the picture ! Was 
 n't it sad ? " and the ready tears came into Sarah's 
 eyes. 
 
 "It *s a real pleasure to meet you"; and Mrs. 
 Strong's face softened to a motherly glow. "I *ve 
 come down to get a cousin whose husband was killed 
 in Tennessee fightin', and the poor thing 's a'most 
 begged her way back with one little child, so I want' 
 her to come up and make a good visit while she 's 
 gettin' over the worst. Sez I to father, ' We ain*t 
 suffered any from the war, and gettin' good prices all 
 the time for farmin' truck, and it 's a pity if we can't 
 make it a little easier for them who have.' She was 
 such a nice young gal, and used to teach school there 
 at Middleville; but she 's seen sights o' trouble sence. 
 And then Sary Ann begged to come, 'cause her father 
 give her money to buy a new gown." 
 
 "And I coaxed mother to go to your house, but she 
 would n't," said Sarah, shyly. " I wanted to hear 
 something about you so much ! I 'm so glad ! " 
 
 " And so am I," returned Kathie, warmly. 
 
 Plain and unrefined as ]\Irs. Strong was, she had a 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. ' 161 
 
 good, generous heart. " AVe must not keep Miss Ka- 
 thie standin' here in the cold," she said. "Which 
 way you goin' ? " 
 
 "Straight on to Crosby Street." 
 
 "I wish you 'd jump in and ride." 
 
 " do ! " pleaded Sarah. 
 
 The girls had pretty well dispersed. Even Emma 
 Lauriston was walking slowly down the street. Ka- 
 thie declined at first, but they urged so strongly that 
 finally she acceded; and, driving slowly, they had 
 quite a nice talk, though Mrs. Strong insisted upon 
 taking her nearly home, as their shopping was all 
 done. 
 
 But the episode had not been suffered to pass 
 unremarked. 
 
 "What an elegant turnout ! " sneered Belle Hadden. 
 " Some of Katliie Alston's country relations, I sup- 
 pose." 
 
 " No," answered Lottie, " it is some people she met 
 at the Fair." 
 
 "^^^lat horrid taste, — and what coarse, uncouth 
 creatures ! Who is Kathie Alston, anyhow ? A 
 decided parvenu, to my thinking. Are they really 
 rich, — the Alstons ? " 
 11 
 
162 • KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "No, it is Kathie's uncle, Mr. Conover. He 
 made a fortune off in Australia, I believe. They 
 were poor enough before ! " Lottie uttered this ra- 
 ther spitefully. Kathie's refusal to assist her that 
 noon still rankled in her mind. 
 
 " Did they live here then ? " 
 
 " O yes ! in one of a row of little cottages ; and 
 Mrs. Alston had to sew for a living." 
 
 The murder was out. Lottie had a misgiving that 
 this was decidedly mean and treacherous ; and yet, 
 she said to hei^elf, it was every word true. Why 
 should the Alstons be ashamed of it ? Only it did 
 seem mortifying. 
 
 " This is just about what I thought. Kathie Als- 
 ton has n't a bit 'of style or dignity ; and how they 
 do dress her ! There was some common linen edging 
 on that ruffle she wore to-day, and I don't believe 
 she ever has more than two dresses at the same time. 
 Plebeian blood will tell. Hattie Norman asked me 
 about them, but I told her Kathie was only a little 
 clut that she would n't care to invite. I don't sup- 
 pose they let her go to parties, or that she knows 
 how to dance. What is the inside of their house 
 Hke?" 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. 1C3 
 
 " It is very beautiful." 
 
 " Tawdry and cheap, I fancy. Such people have 
 no taste. Tliere is a great deal in birth. My mother 
 was one of the Van Cortlands, of New York, — real 
 old blue blood ; and I can always tell commoners. I 
 wish there could be some distinction here." 
 
 " Mrs. Alston is considered very ladylike," said 
 Lottie, with a touch of remorse. 
 
 " By people who are no judges, I suppose. And 
 Mrs. Wilder treats Kathie as if she were the greatest 
 lady in the land ! I think we ought to put her 
 down. Where I went to boarding-school we had 
 two parties, — patricians and plebeians, — and the 
 plebeians were made to keep their places. There 
 ought to be just such a distinction 'here. The idea 
 of being intimate with a girl whose mother has 
 worked for a living! Why, we should n't think 
 of recognizing our dressmaker in society ! " 
 
 This sounded quite grand to foolish Lottie. That 
 she was considered good enough to go to the Nor- 
 mans' to a party was a great thing. And then 
 Lottie remembered about some great-grandmother 
 of hers, who had belonged to the French nobility, 
 and escaped during one of the revolutions. Did n't 
 
164 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 that make her blood a little blue ?• If it would only 
 make the French exercises come easy as well ! 
 
 Lottie scarcely noticed Kathie the next day. It was 
 rainy, and the "patricians" lingered about the stove, 
 discussing the Norman party. Eight or ten played 
 blind-man's-buff in the walk, and had a gay time, 
 bringing the roses to their cheeks. 
 
 Two or three of them had bantered Kathie a little 
 about her " friends," but she accepted it in a very 
 good-natured way. 
 
 A day or two after, Emma Lauriston took her 
 drawing over to the window where it was lighter, and 
 stiU lingered at the table when school closed. After- 
 ward they all fell into a pleasant talk. 
 
 " So you have come over to our side," exclaimed 
 Miss Hadden. 
 
 " Your side ? " — with a look of surprise. 
 
 " Yes, the patricians." 
 
 Emma Lauriston had always been called proud, 
 and it was well known that she was to be quite an 
 heiress by and by, her grandmother having left her a 
 considerable fortune. 
 
 " I think there can be no question about my tastes 
 or sympatliies," she said, rather haughtily. " Eefine- 
 ment, truth, and honor make my nobility." 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. 165 
 
 "Eefinement is absolutely necessary to me," re- 
 marked Belle, with an elegant air. " Sometimes I am 
 teased about it, but all kinds of coarseness and vul- 
 garity are odious to me, whether it is in dress or 
 behavior. And loud voices or loud manners are 
 equally my detestation." 
 
 Emma did not dissent. One or two thoughts of 
 her own took up her attention, and the rest of the 
 talk seemed to float around her like the waves of a 
 distant sea. 
 
 Kathie remarked the change very quickly, for she 
 was keenly sensitive. That Lottie should be vexed 
 with her she did not so much w^onder at, but why 
 should the other girls shun her ? She certainly had 
 done nothing to them. And it gave her a pang to see 
 some small circle fall apart when she joined it, each 
 girl giving knowing glances to the others. Then, 
 too, she was left out of the plays and talks, and 
 though they did nothing absolutely rude, she seemed 
 to understand that there was a kind of social ostra- 
 cism, and she was being pushed over to the side she 
 did not admire, — to the half-dozen rather coarse girls. 
 
 Belle was not slow in spreading abroad the report. 
 The Alstons were mushroom aristocracy. Nobody 
 
166 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 knew Iwiv the uncle had made his fortune. People 
 did everything in Australia, — robbed, cheated, even 
 murdered. And IVIrs. Alston had actually sewed for 
 a living ! 
 
 Yet it must be confessed that these very girls 
 fairly envied her the pony phaeton and the elegant 
 house. 
 
 " Uncle Eobert is coming home," said her mother, 
 one afternoon. " We have received a good long letter 
 from him, and some news that will surprise you." 
 
 Kathie's face was aglow mth interest. 
 
 " You may read it all yourseK. He had not time 
 to write any more than one letter." 
 
 Kathie sat down to her treasure. 
 
 " mamma ! And Miss Jessie is married to — 
 Mr. Meredith ! AVhat will Ada say ? But 0, will 
 he never get well ? It would be harder than ever to 
 have him die. How strange it seems ! Dear ^Miss 
 Jessie ! " 
 
 The doctors had conquered the fever, but there 
 were some serious complications mth his wound, 
 and he was so reduced that it appeared almost impos- 
 sible for him to rally. Kathie could see that Uncle 
 Kobert had very little hope. 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. 1G7 
 
 " Still he is very happy and resigned," the letter 
 said. " Since his marriage he seems to have not a 
 wish left ungratitied. Mr. and Mrs. George Meredith 
 were present, and the lady was considerably surprised 
 by this unlooked-for termination ; still, she was very 
 gi*acious to Jessie, But the best of all is his perfect 
 peace and trust. A precious hope the Saviour's love 
 has been, and in his mind his whole brief religious 
 life seems connected with our darling little Kathie. 
 Every day he speaks of her. It is true that God has 
 ordained praise out of the mouths of babes." 
 
 The loving messages brouglit the tears to Kathie's 
 eyes. And most delightful of all was the hope of 
 seeing dear Uncle Eobert again. So for two days 
 satirical school shafts fell harmless. 
 
 Eob had a flying visit first of all, but the joy at 
 Cedarwood was delightful. Uncle Eobert reached 
 home just at dusk, and Kathie could do nothing all 
 the evening but watch him and talk. All the story 
 had to be told over again, and with it many incidents 
 that could not be writtcD, — the heroic bravery, tlie 
 patient endurance and sweet faith. 
 
 " Then he is not sorry that he re-enlisted ? " Kathie 
 asked, anxiously. 
 
168 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "No, my darling. He tliinks that his country 
 needed him, and his last act was to procure some 
 very valuable information. He would like to live if it 
 is God's will, but it will be well with him either way." 
 
 Uncle Robert held the little hand in his and gave 
 it a fond pressure. Kathie knew what it said, but 
 her heart felt very humble. 
 
 The next morning she had to tell him about Sarah 
 Strong. 
 
 " And how kind it is in Mrs. Strong to take home 
 this poor cousin ! " Kathie said. " I liked her manner 
 of speaking of it so much. But I think — " 
 
 Kathie made a long pause. 
 
 " A remarkable thought it must be ! " said her 
 uncle, smiling. 
 
 Fred ran in to have his pencil sharpened, and also 
 to announce that one of the cunning little guinea- 
 pigs was dead. So Kathie's school discomfort passed 
 out of her mind. 
 
 But it met her on the threshold again. She was 
 rather early at school, as Uncle Eobert wished to 
 drive about the village to do several errands. 
 
 HaK a dozen girls were discussing tableaux. 
 Kathie joined them with a face full of interest. 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. 169 
 
 " 0," she exclaimed, " I do love to hear about 
 tableaux ! Are you really going to have them ? " 
 
 There was a coolness and silence in the small 
 circle. 
 
 " It was a little matter of our own that we were 
 discussing," said Belle Hadden, loftily. 
 
 Kathie turned. She had been in such a happy 
 mood that she was ready for anything. And the two 
 or three experiences in tableaux had left such a de- 
 lightful memory that she was fain to try it again. 
 
 She went to her seat quietly. The voices floated 
 dimly over to her. 
 
 " It is mean not to ask her ! " 
 
 "Girls, I know Mrs. Wilder will notice it, and 
 speak of it." 
 
 " You can all do as you like, but if you want Tom, 
 Dick, and Harry, and everybody in them, I beg leave 
 to be excused," said a rather sharp, haughty voice. 
 
 "But Kathie Alston is n't— " 
 
 " I would as soon have Mary Carson, or any one of 
 that class. They are all alike." 
 
 Mary Carson's father had made a fortune in buy- 
 ing and selling iron. She was as coarse as Sarah 
 Strong, without her ambition or good, tender heart. 
 
170 KATHIFS SOLDIERS. 
 
 Somehow Kathie rebelled at being placed in the 
 same category. She took up her book and tried to 
 study, but her heart was swelling with a sense of in- 
 justice. ^Miat had she done to these girls ? She 
 was not coarse, or vuls^ar, or mean. 
 
 "Plebeian and patrician," some one said with a 
 laugh, as they dispersed at Mrs. Wilder's entrance. 
 
 Kathie heard of the plan through the course of the 
 day. Some of the larger girls had proposed that 
 they should give a little entertainment for the benefit 
 of the wife and children of a Captain Duncan who 
 had been killed in one of the recent battles. ]\Irs. 
 Duncan was staying at Brookside, quite prostrated 
 by her misfortunes. 
 
 Thirteen of the school-girls had been asked. JVIrs. 
 Coleman, Mrs. Duncan's warmest friend, had offered 
 her parlor and dining-room. Sue Coleman was hand 
 and glove with Belle Hadden. 
 
 Now and then Kathie glanced over to Mary Car- 
 son. Vulgarity was written in every line of her 
 broad, freckled face. Something beside plainness, — 
 snub nose, wiry brown hair, and the irregular teeth, 
 which looked as if they were never brushed, — an 
 air of self-sufficiency, as if she considered herself 
 
THORNS IN THE PATH. 171 
 
 as good as the best. She was continually talking of 
 what they had at home, and made the most absurd 
 blimders, which Mrs. Wilder patiently corrected. 
 The small satires of the other girls never pierced the 
 armor of her complacency. "And they think me 
 like her ! " Kathie mused, with a sad, sore heart. " I 
 suppose because our fortune came so suddenly ; and 
 yet mamma always was a lady. However, I must 
 bear it patiently." 
 
 Uncle Eobert, seeing her so grave, fancied that 
 it was on account of Mr. Meredith ; and he was so 
 busy that for a few days they had no confidential 
 talks. 
 
 It was very hard to feel so entirely alone. Even 
 Emma Lauriston was at home sick with a sore throat. 
 
172 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 UNDER FIRE. 
 
 Emma Laueiston was absent from school three days, 
 and then took her place, looking somewhat pale 
 and languid; but several of the girls were rather 
 impatient to see her. 
 
 " Have you heard bad news ? " she asked of Ka- 
 thie. " My cousin said your uncle had returned." 
 
 "Yes," in a grave tone, rather unlike the sun- 
 shiny Kathie. 
 
 "That was quite a romance about your friend 
 IVIiss Darrell. Do they think Mr. Meredith will 
 — never get well ? " 
 
 "They are afraid." 
 
 The little bell sounded to call them to order, and 
 then began the usual lessons. Kathie's were always 
 perfect, and yet, oddly enough, it seemed to Emma 
 that her whole heart was not in them. 
 
 She had fallen into the habit of watching Kathie 
 very narrowly. The " something different from other 
 
UNBF.T^ FTRK. 173 
 
 girls " was still a puzzle to lior ; and when the doctor 
 had said, a few days ago, " You just missed having a 
 severe attack of diphtheria," it startled Emma a good 
 deal. She knew several who had died of diphtheria ; 
 and if she were to die — 
 
 Of course she wanted to live. She was young, 
 and full of hope ; and there would be the fortune by 
 j^na by, — one of those odd bequests of which she 
 reaped little benefit now, as it was to go on accumu- 
 lating until she was twenty-one ; but then she would 
 be able to do a great many delightful things with it. 
 That was not all, however. There was something 
 very terrible in the idea of death. 
 
 " Miss- Lauriston, we have ever so much to tell 
 you and to talk about!" exclaimed Sue Coleman. 
 " We are o-oing to have some tableaux for a charita- 
 ble object, and we want you to stand in several of 
 them. You will make such a lovely Sister of Charity 
 in Consolation." 
 
 With that the ball was fairly opened. Emma was 
 pleased and interested at once. 
 
 "You are all to come over to my house after 
 school. Belle Hadden has planned everything. She 
 is a host in herself." 
 
174 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Katliie had been walking up and down with two 
 or three girls that she did not care much about, only 
 they had joined her, and were, perhaps, better com- 
 pany than her lonely thoughts. 
 
 " You are going over to Mrs. Coleman's, — are you 
 not ? " asked Emma, in surprise. " Don't you like 
 tableaux ? " 
 
 " Very much, but — Good by " ; and Kathie made 
 a feint of kissing her hand. 
 
 " Girls, have n't you asked Kathie Alston ? " ex- 
 claimed Emma, in the first lull, for the talk had been 
 very energetic ; " she would make up lovely in ever 
 so many characters." 
 
 There was a silence, and the girls glanced at each 
 other with determination in their faces. 
 
 " What is the matter ? Has she offended you ? 1 
 noticed something a little peculiar in school to-day." 
 
 " Kathie Alston is well enough — in her place." 
 
 Emma colored. " Her place is as good as any of 
 Q,urs, I suppose," she made answer, slowly. 
 
 " Well, I don't quite think it is " ; and Belle took up 
 the glove. " There are some social distinctions — " 
 The rest of the sentence was rather troublesome. 
 
 " I am sure the Alstons are rich, if that is what 
 you mean." 
 
UNDER HRE. 175 
 
 " Tliat is not altogether what I mean " ; yet Belle 
 was a trifle embarrassed at being forced to meet the 
 issue so squarely, though every girl felt in her secret 
 soul that Emma was undeniably aristocratic. " If we 
 are to take up everybody who becomes suddenly rich, 
 tliere is Mary Carson and several others ; and I Ve 
 never been used to it. Mamma is particular about 
 my associates." 
 
 " But the Alstons are educated, refined, and were 
 always wealthy until they met with a reverse of for- 
 tune when Mr. Alston died." 
 
 "And Mrs. Alston used to sew for th6 whole 
 neighborhood, I 've heard. Fancy being compelled 
 to meet your seamstress as an — an equal ! Mrs. 
 "Wilder ought to be more exclusive about her schol- 
 ars. Mamma said so herself. And only a few days 
 ago some horrid county clowns stopped right in 
 front of the school, and she went off to take a ride 
 in their forlorn old wagon. Our cook is actually 
 related to these people ! Their name is Strong, — a 
 coarse, vulgar set, I know." 
 
 Belle talked very rapidly, and her face flushed ^\dth 
 excitement. For several moments Emma hesitated. 
 Tlie distinction appeared paltry and mean to her. 
 
176 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Then she really did like Kathie. "Girls," she be- 
 gan, at length, "I think you are unjust. I have 
 been at Cedarwood, and met all the family. They 
 are refined, intelligent, have a lovely home, and are 
 — truly noble and Christian people." Emma ut- 
 tered the last in spite of herself. 
 
 " Well, every one can do as she likes " ; and Belle 
 gave her head a haughty toss. " I don't think be- 
 cause a man digs up a nugget of gold in Australia he 
 is entitled to a king's position at once. There are 
 some girls at school that I should not associate with 
 under any circumstances." 
 
 Emma had a feeling that this was really absurd ; 
 yet most of the girls had ranged themselves on tliis 
 side, and it did require a good deal of courage to go 
 against the opinions of her mates and friends. Still, 
 when she came to think of it, Mrs. Grayson visited 
 the Alstons, the Darrells were their firm friends, and 
 that rich and elegant Mr. Meredith ! But Kathie 
 was rather inclined to be hand and glove with people 
 beneath her. 
 
 " And Katliie Alston does take up everybody," said 
 one of the girls. " Every few days you see her hav- 
 ing some common thing in that pony-phaeton of hers. 
 
[ 
 
 t* UNDER FIRE. 177 
 
 She has n't a bit of pride or good taste, and it seems 
 to me that is next of kin to refinement." 
 
 " Let us go on with the tableaux." 
 
 Emma listened to the arrangements in silence. 
 This made such a beautiful scene, — that was so 
 brilliant, or so pathetic, and must not be left out. 
 And before they were aware the dusky evening 
 dropped down about them. 
 
 " Girls," she said at length, in a soft, low voice, 
 " I have decided that I will not take part in the 
 tableaux. Kathie Alston and I have been friends, 
 and I shall do nothing that I am quite sure to be 
 ashamed of afterward. You have been very kind to 
 ask me, and I am not angry with any of the opinions 
 I have heard expressed, though they may not please 
 me. Good night." 
 
 " Let her go over to the plebeians ! " said some one, 
 with a laugh. , 
 
 At home Kathie had two pleasant surprises. First, 
 a letter from IVIiss Jessie all to herself, in which they 
 hoped, very faintly indeed, that Mr. Meredith liad 
 taken a turn for the better. If the good news should 
 prove true, they meant, as soon as it would be safe, 
 to remove to a private house. And then she said, 
 
 12 
 
178 kathie's soldiers. a 
 
 " My darling little Kathie, we often feel that we would 
 give half the world to see you." 
 
 The other was from Sarah, — a decided improve- 
 ment upon her Christmas epistle, — not a word mis- 
 spelled, and the sentences veiy fairly constructed. 
 The last part was filled with Cousin Ellen and her 
 little boy. Sarah told the whole story in her inno- 
 cence, without the least intention of boasting. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Strong had offered these poor wayfarers a 
 home until they could do better. 
 
 " It is very good of them, — is n't it ? " said Ka- 
 thie. " If the Strongs are not polished, they have 
 generous hearts." 
 
 " It certainly is most kind ; and I am wonderfully 
 pleased with the improvement in Sarah." 
 
 " Uncle Eobert, would it be rude to send Sarah 
 a pretty blue hair-ribbon, and tell her a little about 
 contrasting colore? I wish she would not wear so 
 much scarlet. Is it wrong for eveiybody to look 
 as pretty as he or she can ? " 
 
 " No, my dear ; and sometimes a delicate hint 
 proves very useful. Sarah has entirely too much 
 color for scarlet; she needs something to tone her 
 down." 
 
UNDER FIRE. 179 
 
 Kathie had been casting about for some time how 
 to manage this matter nicely, and her present idea 
 appeared both delicate and feasible to her. Looking 
 over her store, she found a fresh, pretty ribbon, and 
 forgot all about the school trouble. 
 
 The tableaux progressed rapidly. A number of 
 the Academy boys were invited to join. Mr. Cole- 
 man had some tickets printed, which sold rapidly, 
 and tlie affair promised to be successful 
 
 But one evening Dick Grayson said, " Emma 
 Lauriston w^ould look prettier in Consolation, and 
 make the best Evangeline, of any girl in Brookside. 
 Why have n't you asked her and Kathie Alston ? " 
 
 " Emma declined," was the almost abrupt answer. 
 
 " But Kathie is the sweetest little girl I ever saw. 
 She is always ready for everything." 
 
 There was no response. Belle Hadden had gone 
 quite too far to admit that her line of distinction had 
 been wrongly drawn. Lottie Thome felt both sorry 
 and ashamed ; but there was no going back without 
 a rather humiliating admission. And yet if she only 
 had not spoken that day ! 
 
 But Emma and Kathie drew nearer together in a 
 quiet way through tlicse troubled times. Tliere were 
 
180 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 some petty sHghts to endure, and many unkindnesses. 
 Friends and companions can wound each other so 
 often in a noiseless manner, — pain and sting mthout 
 the buzzing of a wasp,' so patent to all the world, — 
 and I often think these unseen hurts are the hardest 
 to bear. 
 
 The evening at ]\Irs. Coleman's was both delightful 
 and profitable. The Brookside Standard contained 
 quite a glowing account of the entertainment, and 
 praised the yoimg ladies for their labor in so good a 
 cause. The sum received, with several donations, 
 amounted to eighty-seven dollars. 
 
 " Why did you not speak of it, Kathie ? " asked 
 Uncle Eobert. "We would all have gone." 
 
 Now, there had not been even a ticket offered to 
 Kathie. Indeed, the space being limited. Sue and 
 Belle had made out a list of guests beforehand. 
 
 Katliie colored violently, and Uncle Eobert looked 
 quite astonished. Seeing that she was expected to 
 answer, she summoned her courage. 
 
 " It was a — a party affair of the larger girls in 
 school. They did not ask every one." 
 
 " But we might have sent a gift, the object was 
 so very worthy." 
 
UNDER FIRE. 181 
 
 Katliie made no reply to that. Uncle Eobcrt 
 studied the grave face, and decided that sometliing 
 had gone wrong. 
 
 Dick Grayson dropped in that evening. " I was so 
 disappointed about your not being there," he said. 
 *' You would just have fitted in two or three of the 
 tableaux." 
 
 But Kathie did not appear to be disposed to con- 
 verse on the subject, so they wandered off into a talk 
 about Eob, and then Mr. Meredith claimed their at- 
 tention. 
 
 The patricians flourished in grand style. It w^ould 
 have been really laughable to sensible people to see 
 how one after another copied Belle Hadden's airs and 
 graces, and how the gulf widened in school. Several 
 of the girls asked to have their seats changed, until 
 the plebeians were left quite to themselves. 
 
 And yet the matter worked out a very odd and 
 rather mortifying retaliation. One afternoon Dick 
 Grayson overtook Emma Lauriston walking home- 
 ward. He had that day received a letter from her 
 brother Fred, and repeated some of the contents. 
 
 "Are you going to Belle Hadden's party?" he 
 asked, presently. 
 
182 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "I have not had any invitation." Emma's tone 
 was rather curt. 
 
 " No ? " in the utmost surprise. " What has hap- 
 pened among you girls ? You and Kathie were not 
 at the tableaux. Is there a standing quarrel ? " 
 
 Dick and Emma were excellent friends in boy-and- 
 girl fashion. 
 
 "There is something very mean and foolish. I 
 wish somebody could look at it with clear eyes and 
 give Belle Hadden a lesson ! " 
 
 Emma's usually soft voice was indignant, and her 
 face crimsoned with excitement. 
 
 " But how did Kathie Alston come to get mixed 
 up with it. It seems to me that she is the last one 
 to quarrel" 
 
 " There was no quarrel, at least no words. There 
 are some very aristocratic girls in school, and Belle 
 is forever talking about her mother's family. So they 
 have divided the girls into patricians and plebeians." 
 
 " But Mr. Conover is a gentleman, and the Alstons 
 are all refined. The idea of putting Kathie on the 
 plebeian side is absurd ! And you too — " 
 
 " I went over there," she said, sharply. " I would 
 not take part in the tableaux on that accountw 
 
UNDER FIRE. 183 
 
 Kathie had done nothing to them. It was because 
 her mother used to sew, I beheve, and then Katliie 
 herself is not a bit proud. I suppose if they made 
 a great show and parade like the Haddens — " 
 
 " I did not think Belle was that small ! And you 
 are a splendid champion, Emma. But Katliie is 
 worthy of the best friendship in the world. She is 
 never mean or envious, or looking out for the best 
 places, and ^Ir. Conover is just royal. The idea of 
 the Haddens setting themselves up ! Wliy, ^frs. 
 Alston used to sew for my mother, and mother is one 
 of her warmest friends. Is n't there something very 
 unjust about girls, — some girls, I mean ? " blushing 
 as he corrected himseK. " And why does not Mrs. 
 Wilder interfere, or is she on the patrician side ? " 
 
 " Mrs. Wilder really does n't know anything about 
 it. The little hateful acts are done on the sly, just 
 looks and tones, or some sentence that no one can 
 take hold of. It would seem silly to complain of 
 not being noticed. But it takes away the pleasant 
 feeling that used to exist." 
 
 " And how does Kathie bear it ? " 
 
 "Like a little angel. It hurts her cruelly too. 
 About the time this first began, some very common- 
 
184 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 looking people spoke to Kathie in tlie street, and 
 the girls have laughed and sneered at that. -Indeed, 
 nothing that she does escapes them. I almost wish 
 that I was n't a girl ! " 
 
 " Boys don't badger a fellow that way, if they did 
 there would be some thrashing ! But I know just 
 how to come up with Belle Hadden, and I '11 do it !'* 
 
 With that Dick laughed. 
 
 Emma was so much exasperated that the thought 
 rather delighted her. 
 
 "What will you do?" 
 
 " I can't tell you until afterward. Don't I wish 
 Eob Alston was home, though ! He would enjoy 
 the fun." 
 
 They separated at Emma's gate. She was not alto- 
 gether sure that she was right in her desire, but she 
 determined not to worry herself on that score. 
 
 Belle's party was to be quite a grand affair. A 
 number of the Academy boys were in^dted, those 
 who were rich and stylish ; Belle did not come to 
 school the next day, and the girls were rather in- 
 discreet without their leader. 
 
 The rooms were beautiful, the supper elegant, the 
 music fine, but — there were so few young gentle- 
 
UNDER FIRE. 185 
 
 men ! Not Dick Grayson, nor Walter Dorrance, nor 
 Charlie Darrell, nor — ever so many others that had 
 been counted upon sure. 
 
 Emma guessed as she heard the floating talk. 
 
 " I do suppose BeUe Hadden was as deeply mortified 
 last night as she could be/' Emma said to Kathie. 
 ' If ever I have another cause that I want righted I 
 will place it in Dick Grayson's hand. He is equal 
 to Arthur's knights." 
 
 "What did he do?" 
 
 " He said he had a plan. I know now that it must 
 have been to keep the nicest boys away from the 
 party. Belle likes Dick so much too. It must have 
 been worth seeing, — their disappointment. A host 
 of waU-flowers with no one to lead them out to 
 dance ! " 
 
 "You did n't ask him to do it?" Kathie's face 
 was full of pain and regret. 
 
 " No, not exactly. Indeed, I did not know luhat 
 he meant to do, only I was telling him about Belle 
 Hadden's meanness, and he thought of a way to pay 
 her back." 
 
 " I am so sorry it was — that way." 
 
 « Kathie!" 
 
186 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Emma dear, don't think me ungrateful ! You 
 have stood by me of your own accord, I know/" and 
 Kathie clasped her hand. " I am so much obliged to 
 you. They had nothing against you at first, and they 
 were very sorry not to have you at the tableaux. 
 But it always troubles me to know that other peo- 
 ple have suffered — " 
 
 " Not when they deserve it, surely ! " 
 
 " Always — if it can be helped." 
 
 " And you would not have done this ? You think 
 it was not right for me to teU ? " 
 
 What could Kathie say, — blame her brave com- 
 rade ? 
 
 " No, you do not think it right. I can see that in 
 your face ! Kathie, how can you bear everything 
 so patiently ? " 
 
 "God makes it aU right at last. He asks us to 
 wait his time. And though it is very hard — " Ka- 
 thie's lip quivered and her voice grew unsteady. 
 
 " It seems to me this has been the meanest tlnng I 
 ever knew. You cannot guess what gave it the first 
 start." 
 
 " Yes. It was while you were sick that the girls 
 — took a dislike to me. I spoke to some people one 
 
UNDER FIRE. 187 
 
 day, some friends/' correcting herself, "and Belle 
 laughed at them.- Then the girls talked about — 
 mamma." 
 
 " It was shameful ! " 
 
 "We loere poor, and we had to work. Mamma 
 could not help all that. And then Uncle Kobert 
 came, and we have been so very happy ever since. 
 Thinking 6f it all, I don't mind this little trouble 
 much. All that Belle says cannot make us coarse and 
 vulgar and ignorant, and I have been trying all the 
 time to look on the best and brightest side." 
 
 Emma put her arm suddenly around Kathie. 
 
 " ^Miat is it," she asked, in a husky voice, — " what 
 is it that makes you sweet and patient and tender 
 and forgiving, always ready to minister to others and 
 to the poor, even if you are laughed at and teased ? 
 Maybe it 's the same grace that takes away the fear of 
 death ! O, I wish I knew ! I wish I had it ! I am 
 sometimes so miserable, Kathie. Do you believe that 
 your God could love and pity me a little ? " 
 
 " ' Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
 out.'" 
 
 It was aU that Kathie could think of to say as 
 Emma stopped short in her walk, trembling, excited, 
 and tearful. 
 
188 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 *'But how to come?" 
 
 Kathie hesitated. It seemed that she knew so 
 little herself, how then could she direct another ? 
 She remembered the other time when she failed to 
 bear witness, and though her shy, delicate nature 
 shrank from anything like a parade of her most 
 sacred feelings, strength was given her when she 
 asked for it. 
 
 " I do not know how it is always — "in her sweet, 
 faltering voice, " but when I first wanted to try — to 
 be good, — to follow Him even a little, it was just as 
 if I reached out my hand and prayed him to take it, 
 and kept close to him by endeavoring to do what he 
 wishes — " 
 
 " And you did not have — any great light — " 
 
 "I had only a love and a desire 'to obey him. 
 And it seemed as if everybody helped me, — mam- 
 ma. Aunt Euth, and Uncle Eobert. But there is 
 always something to overcome, some battle to fight.* 
 
 "And I am a pooB> raw recruit. Do you tliink 
 He wHl accept me, Kathie ? " 
 
 " Every one — to the uttermost." 
 
 They walked to the corner, where their paths di- 
 verged. 
 
UNDER FIRE. 189 
 
 "I wish you would come and see me," Kathie said, 
 with her ready grace. " Fred was there occasionally 
 last summer, and Uncle Kobert liked him so much ! " 
 
 " And you will forgive that — revenge ? Perhaps 
 I ought to have waited." 
 
 Kathie's look was sufficient, though she could not 
 have spoken. 
 
 But the child went home in a gravely sweet frame 
 of mind. She was in a mood to tell Uncle Eobert 
 the whole story that evening ; but there were several 
 guests, so there coidd be no confidences. 
 
 The next morning, after school was opened, Mrs. 
 Wilder rose and told them she had a few words to say 
 upon a subject that had been a source of much dis- 
 quiet for" several days ; and then she very kindly but 
 wisely took up the matter that had so divided and 
 agitated the girls, and severely condemned the folly 
 of which some of them had been guilty. "They 
 would find as they grew older," she said, " that with 
 people of culture and refinement social distinctions 
 did not depend so much on a little more or a little 
 less money, but nobleness of soul, thought, and feel- 
 ing, — deeds that could brave and endure the scrutiny 
 of clear eyes, and not those which must always slink 
 
190 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 away and liide themselves behind whispered insinua- 
 tions." 
 
 It seemed, after all, as if, in some mysterious 
 way, Mrs. Wilder had learned all the particulars. 
 She mentioned no names, and did not in the least 
 seek to exalt Kathie ; but the child knew by the kiss 
 and the lingering glance bestowed upon her that 
 afternoon that all her silence and pain had been 
 appreciated. 
 
 If BeUe needed anything further to lower her self- 
 esteem, she had it on her return home. Mr. Conover, 
 Mrs. Alston, and Mrs. Grayson had met at the house 
 of a mutual friend when Mrs. Hadden happened to 
 caU. 
 
 "Belle," she began, sharply, "how could you have 
 committed such a blunder as to omit that pretty lit- 
 tle Miss Alston from your party-list ? Her mother 
 and her uncle are very charming people, and they 
 have a host of elegant friends in New York. Mrs. 
 Havens was here last summer to visit them, and 
 those aristocratic Merediths are warm friends of 
 theirs. I am so sorry it should have happened 1 " 
 
 " Miss Alston is a regular little Methodist, — too 
 good to go to parties," returned Belle, rather crossly. 
 
UNDER FIRE. 191 
 
 And so ended the reign of the patricians. Belle 
 somehow lost prestige at school. Even Lottie began 
 to be pleasant again witli Kathie, secretly hoping that 
 Belle would never repeat her unlucky remark. 
 
 Dick Gmyson and Charlie had to tell Kathie one 
 evening how they spoiled a good deal of the fun 
 at Belle Hadden's party. 
 
 " I felt so sorry," Kathie said, gravely. 
 
 " Well, you are the queerest girl I ever saw," was 
 Charlie's comment ; yet something inside told him 
 she was a noble one as well. 
 
 But the sweetest of all was the talk with Uncle 
 Eobert. 
 
192 KATHIE'S SOLDIEES. 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 IN another's stead. 
 
 Closer pressed the ranks of brave men who were 
 to strike a final blow for the good cause, nearer, 
 nearer, marching on with a steady, crushing step. 
 The nation rejoiced over victories, but firesides, from 
 palace to hovel, missed and mourned some dear, famil- 
 iar face, some cheerful voice that would never speak 
 again. 
 
 Kathie used to watch daily. The campaign was 
 growing more exciting as it approached the end. 
 Her heart used to beat chokingly as she glanced 
 down the lists. And this was what she saw one day : 
 " Missing, William Morrison." 
 
 " mamma ! " with a quick ciy, " did you read 
 this ? " 
 
 Mrs. Alston looked. " Oh ! " she exclaimed, T\dth 
 sudden pain. " Uncle Eobert and Mr. Morrison have 
 gone to the nursery to select a few more fruit-trees. 
 They will doubtless hear of it at the village." 
 
IN ANOTHER'S STEAD. 193 
 
 " You do not think — he has been — killed ! " 
 
 Kathie's face was very pale and her sweet voice 
 faltered. 
 
 "Hardly," returned Mrs. Alston. "But one can 
 never be quite certain what becomes of the missing." 
 
 Kathie put on her shawl and hood presently, and 
 walked slowly down the winding drive. She had 
 not sufficient courage to enter the cottage, though 
 through the window she saw Ethel and Jamie hav- 
 ing a game of romps. The child's cheeks were like 
 roses, and now and then a careless laugh floated out 
 to Kathie, who shivered with something more than 
 cold. 
 
 Presently the wagon approached slowly. When 
 Uncle Robert caught sight of his little niece he 
 sprang out and greeted her warmly. 
 
 " I have some good news for you, Elitty," he said, 
 in his bright, breezy tone. " Mr. Meredith is really 
 better. They hope to bring him home before long. 
 Why — is n't it delightful ? " seeing that she made 
 no answer. 
 
 " Yes, I am very, very thankful." 
 
 " But, Kathie — what has happened, little one ? ** 
 
 " Our other soldier — " 
 
 13 
 
194 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " ]Mr. Morrison — child, what tidings of him ? '* 
 
 " There has been another battle, and he is — miss- 
 ing." 
 
 " The news might be worse then. There is a- little 
 hope, so do not despair at once." 
 
 Kathie grasped his arm tighter, and they walked 
 nearly to the house in silence. Then he said, " Of 
 what are you tliinking, my darling ? " 
 
 There were tears in her soft, violet eyes. 
 
 " Uncle Eobert, what a strange and solemn thing 
 it is to have any one die for you, — in your stead." 
 
 " Yes. I wonder if we do " not sometimes forget 
 the One who died eighteen hundred years ago ? But 
 this brings it home to you and me in a manner 
 that we shall always remember." 
 
 "And, looking at that, all our little trials and 
 burdens seem as nothing. I thought it quite hard 
 to be treated so unjustly at school, but what was it 
 compared with giving up one's life ? " 
 
 " It is something, my darling, when we bear reviling 
 from that highest of all motives, — His sake. Even 
 the little steps are precious in his sight. We are 
 not all called upon to walk the sorrowful way he 
 trod." 
 
IK ANOTHER'S STEAD. 195 
 
 " But poor little Ethel ! " 
 
 " We promised, you know, to make all tlie amends 
 in our power to her." 
 
 " But it seems to me that nothing could comfoi-t 
 me if you were gone," 
 
 He took the cold little face in his hands, as they 
 were standing on the broad porch now, at the very 
 door. 
 
 "Do you love me so well, my cliild? But we 
 must not forget that those who stay at home are 
 sometimes called from the earthly ranks. God asks 
 of us that his will and pleasure shall be ours as 
 well." 
 
 " Yes, I know " ; but her voice was quite faint as 
 he kissed her. 
 
 It was dusk, and as he opened the door the cheer- 
 ful light and warmth of the hall were most grateful. 
 Kathie gave a shiver as if she were shaking off the 
 wintry cold. 
 
 " Do not anticipate the worst," he said, pleasantly. 
 " To-morrow's news may be different." 
 
 She smiled faintly. " I am not a very good soldier, 
 after all," she returned, with a little faltering in her 
 tones. 
 
196 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "My darling, when our Captain calls us out to 
 fight, he always gives us grace and strength. But 
 we must never look away from him ; that is part of 
 the promise." , 
 
 She hung up her hood, smoothed her hair, that had 
 been blown about by the wind, and went in to sup- 
 per. They aU talked a little about Mr. Morrison, 
 but it appeared to Kathie that they were wonderfully 
 hopeful. Indeed, the news from Mr. Meredith was 
 so very encouraging that it seemed to dim the force 
 of the other. 
 
 Afterward Mr. Conover went doAvn to the cottaf^e 
 Freddy brought his solitaire-board to Kathie. 
 . " I 've forgotten how it is done," he said, " and 1 
 want you to show me. Let me take them out, and 
 you just tell me when I go wrong." 
 
 It reaUy seemed that Fred had a marvellous faculty 
 for going wrong. Kathie felt veiy much as if she 
 did not care to be bothered. She was restless and 
 nervous, and wanted to curl herself up on Aunt 
 Ptuth's lounge and think a little. 
 
 "Greater love hath no man — " the words kept 
 running throu.Ejh her mind. But the love beo-an in 
 little things, even the love which suffered at last 
 
m ANOTHER'S STEAD. 197 
 
 upon tlie cross. So she roused herself to patience 
 and interest. 
 
 Uncle Robert looked quite grave* when he returned. 
 The Morrisons had heard the tidings, and were very- 
 anxious. 
 
 " I must wTite to Mr. Morrison's captain to-mor- 
 row," he said. " We must make every effort to find 
 him. He may have been wounded and carried off of 
 the field unnoticed." 
 
 Kathie prayed fervently for Mr. Morrison's safety. 
 Uncle Eobert made immediate inquiries, and they 
 waited in half fear, half hope. In the mean while 
 events in Virginia had the stirring ring of near 
 victories. All was breathless excitement through- 
 out the land. Sorties, sui-prises, battles, Sherman 
 coming up from his march to the sea, Sheridan brave 
 and dashing as ever, and Grant going slowly w^ith his 
 men, like some ponderous machine that was to crush 
 at last. 
 
 And then the telegraph flashed the news far and 
 wide : " Lee has surrendered ! " "Pdchmond has been 
 taken!" 
 
 It seemed so odd to Kathie to be going on in her 
 quiet, uneventful fashion. School lessons, music 
 
198 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 practices, home duties, — nothing grand or heroic. 
 Mrs. Wilder's lecture to the girls had been produc- 
 tive of a little good, beside breaking the foolish cabal ; 
 for in it she had touched upon dress and parties, and 
 tried to set before them the urgency of paying some 
 attention to their studies. So there were fewer bows, 
 a plainer arrangement of hair, and less talk of 
 fashion. 
 
 " I think it was mean to crowd Kathie Alston 
 out," declared Sue Coleman. " ]\Iamma says the Al- 
 stons are people one might be proud of anywhere; 
 and they are extremely well connected. She met 
 them one evening at Mrs. Adams's, and that elegant 
 IVIr. Langdon thinks Mr. Conover about perfect. 
 Mamma is so sorry that we did not have her in 
 the tableaux. Every one noticed it. That was your 
 fault, BeUe ! '' 
 
 " Of course you are all quite at liberty to choose 
 your own friends," Belle answered, loftily ; " I 'm sure 
 you agreed to it. You did not want Mary Carson 
 and all that rabble." 
 
 " Mary and Kathie are not friends in our accepta- 
 tion of the term. She is polite to ]\Iary, and I am 
 not sure but that a ladylike courtesy is more efifec- 
 
IN AKOTHER'S STEAD. 199 
 
 tiial in keeping people at a distance than absolute 
 rudeness. I believe Kathie and Emma Lauriston are 
 the only two girls in the school who have not in- 
 dulged in rudeness in some form or other." 
 
 " If she is not hand and glove with Mary Carson, 
 she has another friend who is no better, whom she 
 visits and sends pictures to, and I don't know what 
 all. It 's a second or third cousin of our cook. Of 
 course these Strongs are rich ; so it is not the breed- 
 ing as much as the money. But, as I said, you can 
 all do as you like. It seems to me that half of the 
 town has gone crazy on the subject of Kathie Alston." 
 
 Emma was a little troubled with these talks 
 about Sarah Strong. She had a certain delicacy 
 w^hich held her aloof from any such associations. 
 " Kathie," she said at length, " I wish you would tell 
 me how you came to take a fancy to those people 
 who were at — the Fair, I believe." 
 
 Kathie colored a little. "I don't know as you 
 would understand it," she answered, slowly. 
 
 " I am beginning to comprehend some things," her 
 eyes drooping a little, and glancing past Kathie. 
 
 " I noticed them at the Fair — because — some- 
 thing was said to hurt their feelings — " 
 
200 KATIIIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " 0, 1 know ! Lottie Thome came o\'er to our table 
 and made fun of the woman. But — do you not 
 think — such people always take advantage of a 
 little notice ? — and then it leads to mortifying 
 embarrassments." 
 
 " Maybe that is just one of the things God puts in 
 the daily warfare to make us good soldiers. It is 
 like being a private in the army. Sometimes people 
 sneer at the hard, rough work the soldiers have to do, 
 and yet it often helps the officers to gain the vic- 
 tory." 
 
 "And the officers have the credit. That looks 
 rather unjust, does n't it ? " 
 
 "It would seem hard if God did not remember 
 it aU." 
 
 " But how did you come to \dsit the Strongs ? " 
 
 Kathie told the whole story. " I cannot explain 
 these things to you just as Uncle Piobert does," she 
 went on, with a rather perplexed smile. "Always 
 when I am in any doubt or trouble I go to him. 
 He thinks when people are anxious for mental or 
 social improvement a helping hand does them so 
 much good. Persons in their own station cannot 
 give it, as a general thing. And the Saviour said. 
 
The Comforter. — Page 203. 
 
IN ANOTHER'S STEAD. 201 
 
 'Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of 
 these — '" 
 
 " Yes, I see. But it is harder to do your good in 
 that way, Kathie." 
 
 " DiL'sins in the trenches " : and Kathie smiled. 
 
 " Ah, you have gone out as a private in the ranks ; 
 and I am afraid, after all, that very few of us like to 
 be privates," Emma returned. " But it certainly did 
 show a good deal of delicate feeling and remembrance 
 when Sarah Strong sent you the lichen." 
 
 " I thought so. And our visit was very pleasant." 
 
 " Only, if she had not spoken to you that day in 
 the street, it would have saved you a good deal of 
 pain and trouble," returned Emma. 
 
 " Maybe it was just what I needed. Life is so 
 pleasant and lovely to me that I might forget who 
 gives it all if every once in a while something did 
 Qot bring me back to Him. And it is so good, when 
 others misunderstand and blame, to know that God 
 sees all, and never makes a mistake in his judg- 
 ment." 
 
 Emma was silent. It was the keeping near to Him 
 that rendered Kathie meek, patient, and full of love. 
 And it seemed to Emma as if she strayed continually. 
 
202 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Was it because Kathie always had some good work 
 in hand ? 
 
 But aniid all the rejoicing, and the certainty that 
 Mr. Meredith would recover, the other shadow seemed 
 to be growing deeper. Three weeks, and not a word 
 of Mr. Morrison yet. His captaiu remembered the 
 man, and could only account for the disappearance 
 by supposing that he had been buried among the 
 rebel dead. Twice since the battle they had ex- 
 changed prisoners, and he had not been returned 
 among the well or wounded ; and now every one 
 was flocking to the Union lines. 
 
 " Mr. Darrell went to Washington to-day," Uncle 
 Eobert announced to Kathie. " He is to bring Jessie 
 and ]\Ir. Meredith home." 
 
 " Here, — to Brookside ? " 
 
 " Yes," with a smile. " He needs the quiet and 
 the country air, and I fancy there are two or thre« 
 people here whom he is longing to see." 
 
 Kathie's heart beat with a great bound. 
 
 By and by she found herself rambling slowly 
 toward the cottage. Hugh was busy with some 
 spring preparations, pruning trees and vines. He 
 nodded to her, but did not seem inclined to stop and 
 
IN ANOTHER'S STEAD. 203 
 
 talk, and Jamie caught hold of her dress, begging her 
 to come in. 
 
 Grandmother took off her spectacles and wiped 
 them ; she often did this now, for her eyes grew dim 
 many times a day. 
 
 " So you have had good news," she said, after the 
 first greeting. " I am glad there is a little joy saved 
 out of the great wreck. Such a handsome young 
 man as Mr. Meredith was too ; but there 's many 
 a bonny lad sleeping under the sod, who was fair 
 enough to his mother." 
 
 Kathie slipped her hand within the one so wrin- 
 kled and trembling. 
 
 " It is such a sorrow to us all," she said, in her 
 soft, comforting tone. " I keep thinking of it day and 
 night. It was so noble in him to go — to suffer — " 
 
 " It is the one thing. Miss Kathie, that gives me a 
 little resignation. I shall always feel thankful that 
 he went in your dear uncle's stead, not for the money 
 merely. And if it has saved him — if it has kept 
 you aU together ; but this is too sad a talk for you, 
 dear child." 
 
 The tears were dropping from Kathie's long bronze 
 lashes. 
 
204 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Dear grandmother, there has not been a morning 
 nor night but that I have remembered him and his 
 generous deed. I know his life was as precious to 
 you as Uncle Eobert's was to us, and now poor little 
 Ethel is an orphan — for my sake. How strange 
 that the whole world keeps doing for one another, and 
 that, after all, no one really stands alone in it ! " 
 
 " We are nearer than we think for — rich and poor, 
 when one takes God's word aright. We can't any of 
 us do without the other unless there comes a sense 
 of loss and something that is not quite right. You 
 and yours see further into it than most folk. I 'm 
 glad to have the precious comfort of knowing that 
 William went safely, and that in the other country 
 he has met his dear wife. I shaU. soon go to them, 
 and I know well that little Ethel will never lack for 
 friends. William felt it with great certainty." 
 
 Another duty was laid upon Kathie. This orphan 
 was to be more to her than any chance friend. WTiat 
 could she do of her own self? Only to show her 
 now how truly she appreciated the sacrifice and loss, 
 and to put a few simple pleasures in her life, to give 
 her tenderness and affection that might make some 
 slight amends. 
 
IN ANOTHER'S STEAD. 205 
 
 She thought of something else that evening. 
 
 " Uncle liobert," she said, " do you believe there is 
 any hope that ]\Ir. Morrison may still be alive ? " 
 
 " It is very slight now," he answered. " And yet 
 I can hardly be reconciled to the loss amid this gen- 
 eral rejoicing. It seems so much harder to have him 
 dead now that the war is over and many of the sol- 
 diers will soon return home." 
 
 "I feel so sorry that he had to die out there 
 alone. If some one could have given him only a 
 cup of cold water — " 
 
 " Perhaps they did." 
 
 " But if it had been you ! " Kathie clung closely 
 to him as if there might be danger yet. 
 
 " It was not, my darling. God seems to hold me 
 in the hollow of his hand, and while he takes such 
 care of me I feel more than ever the need of doin^r 
 
 o 
 
 his work. And now little Ethel* has been added 
 to us." 
 
 " Uncle Eobert, I think I ought to take a special 
 share in it, since God has left me the delight of your 
 love." 
 
 " As Ethel grows ohlor, there will be many things 
 that vou can do." 
 
206 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " But I have thought of tliis one now. The 
 interest on Ethel's little fortune amounts to almost 
 one hundred dollars." 
 
 " A little more than that. I put it in bonds." 
 
 " And if it could be saved for her, — since she will 
 want but very little. She will have her home with 
 her aunt, and need only her clothes. I 'd like to buy 
 those for her as a kind of thank-offering." 
 
 " But, my darling, in a few years more you will be 
 a young lady, and there will come parties, journeys, 
 and pleasures of different kinds, where it may be ne- 
 cessary for you to be dressed in something besides 
 the simple garments of childhood. Perhaps you will 
 want more money yourself ! " 
 
 " I never have to give up anything needful, but I 
 was tlunking that I should like now and then to 
 make a real sacrifice, relinquish some article that I 
 wanted very miich, and use it for her instead. It 
 would help*me to remember what her father had done 
 for me." 
 
 Uncle Robert stooped and kissed her, touched to 
 the heart by her simple act of self-denial. 
 
 "It shall be as you wish," he replied, tenderly. 
 " And, my dear cliikl, I am glad to see you willing to 
 
IN ANOTHER'S STEAD. 207 
 
 take your share in the great work there is to be done 
 in the world." 
 
 " It is so little, after all, and so many blessings come 
 to me." 
 
 Ah, was it not true that God restored fourfold ? 
 After many days the bread we have cast upon the 
 waters comes floating back to us. Well for us then 
 if we are not shamed by niggardly crumbs and crusts 
 flung out impatiently to some wayside beggar while 
 we ourselves feasted. For God's work and love go 
 together, and there is always something for the will- 
 ing hand. 
 
208 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 HOME AGAIN. 
 
 The pony phaeton stood before the school-house^ 
 Jasper and Hero nodding their heads impatiently in 
 the April sunshine. The prettiest striped lap-robe 
 imaginable was thrown over the empty seat, the plat- 
 ing of the harness made a silvery glitter, and alto- 
 gether it was a turnout that one might be rather 
 proud of, if one's self-complacency was nurtured upon 
 such things. 
 
 And the driver thereof was not to be despised. 
 The girls, as they trooped down stairs, thought Ka- 
 thie Alston " so lucky ! " No one in Brookside had a 
 father or uncle or brother so devoted, — not old, by 
 any means, and certainly good-looking, but, best of 
 all, showing his affection in a manner that made her 
 envied of others. 
 
 Sue Coleman had met him several times through 
 the course of the winter, and pronounced him " mag- 
 nificent," in hrr enthusiastic fashion. Indeed, he was 
 
 i 
 
HOJfE AGAIN. 209 
 
 the kind of man to be very attractive to young girls. 
 She bowed now in her most gracious manner. Belle 
 bit her lip angrily. If she had taken up Kathie 
 instead of that insignificant little gossiping Lottie 
 Thorne! Her mother had been to call at Cedar- 
 wood, but it was n't at all likely that she would be 
 invited within its charmed precincts. Of course she 
 said she did not care ; but there was a gnawing jeal- 
 ousy at her heart. 
 
 Uncle Eobert was so in the habit of coming for 
 Kathie that she sprang in, nodded a gay farewell 
 to the group, and went on for some distance before 
 she thought it anything more than a pleasure drive. 
 
 Suddenly her heart gave a quick bound. "You 
 are going to the Darrells' ? " she said. 
 
 " Yes." Disguise it as he might, there was a glow 
 in the half-averted eyes. 
 
 " 0, Mr. Meredith has n't — come home ! " 
 
 " Has n't he ? Are you quite sure ? " — with a 
 little smile. 
 
 "0 Uncle Robert!" 
 
 "They came at twelve. I was in there half an 
 hour, when he insisted that I should drive over for 
 you." 
 
 14 
 
210 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 It was very flattering to be remembered first of 
 all ; and yet there was something connected ^vith it 
 which made Kathie's heart beat in an unwonted 
 manner, and a quiver came into her throat almost 
 as if she wanted to cry. Six months ago ! — how 
 much had happened since then ! 
 
 He fastened the horses, and entered tlie hall with 
 Katbie, who seemed strangely shy. 
 
 " They took him riglit up to Miss Jessie's room," 
 said her uncle. 
 
 Thither they went, tbougb there was a sound of 
 joyous voices in grandmother's room, just across the 
 ball. The two halted a moment, then Uncle Robert 
 pushed the door a little wider open. 
 
 " Have you brougbt her ? " 
 
 The dear, well-known voice, sounding a bit busky 
 and tremulous, and witb something in it whicb brought 
 tbe tears to Kathie's eyes. TVHiat with the flood of 
 sunshine, the white bed and pillows a little tumbled, 
 and a gray travelling-wrap thrown partly o^er some- 
 body, she seemed to see nothing but confusion at 
 first; then a thin white hand was stretched out. 
 
 " I am so tired that I cannot rise. Dear Katliie ! 
 Dear child ! " 
 
HOME AGAIN. 211 
 
 They were both crying then, and neither felt 
 ashamed. Just a miracle that he was here at all; 
 and if he had gone to the other country, the golden 
 key opening the gates set with jasper and pearl must 
 have been Kathie's precious words. 
 
 " ;My dear Kathie, I 've lost all the little sense I 
 ever did have. I sent Jessie away for fear she might 
 indulge in a scene, and here I am crying like a baby ! 
 But there are so many things to think of, and it is so 
 delightful to see familiar faces once more ! " 
 
 Then Kathie took a look at him. He was very 
 thin and pale, the hair and beard cropped quite close, 
 the eyes sunken, yet with the old bright glow she had 
 watched so many times ; and, oddest of all, the once 
 plump hands looking, as Hannah would have said, 
 like "chickens' claws." 
 
 " Well, should you know me ? " 
 
 "Yes, but you are changed." 
 
 " And if you had seen me a month ago ! The doc- 
 tors have cut me open, turned me inside out, and run 
 up and down my body with lodestone in search of a 
 stray rebel ball. When they had me nearly killed, 
 they would leave off a little while ; but as soon as 
 they saw signs of coming to life they went at it 
 
212 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 again. It 's a kind of gymnastics that a man can't 
 get fat on, try his best." 
 
 " I should think not " ; and Kathie could n't help 
 laugliing. 
 
 " But it 's through now. I feel like saying, with 
 Joe Gargery, ' And now, Pip, old chap,' (Pip, in this 
 instance, standing for country^) ' we 've done our duty 
 by one another.' School is out, and Uncle Sam is 
 sending us home as fast as possible. I 've nothing to 
 do now but to be gloriously lazy, and have every one 
 wait upon me." 
 
 " 0, 1 am so glad, so thankful," and Kathie pressed 
 the thin hands in her own, so soft and warm, "to 
 have you back here, when we were afraid — " 
 
 "It has been a hard struggle. Little Kathie. I 
 shall never see a blue coat again without thinking 
 of what many a brave feUow has had to suffer. I 
 seem to have been feasted upon roses ; but hundreds 
 of them had no such luck." 
 
 " And to come to peace at last, — to know there 
 will be no more calls!" 
 
 " It certainly is good tidings of great joy. And 
 though I could n't be in at the last, losing all the 
 triumph and glory, I feel that I did a little good 
 work, and shall never regret the rest." 
 
HOME AGAIN. 213 
 
 Her soft eyes answered him. 
 
 " And there is something else. I want to tell you 
 that your precious words bore good fruit after many 
 days. My dear child," drawing her closer to him 
 until the silken curls swept his cheek, " I owe you 
 more than I can ever express, ever pay. It was your 
 sweet, simple daily life, and your unconscious hero- 
 ism that first led me to think. I have heard hun- 
 dreds of sermons, and had hosts of religious friends, 
 but nothing ever touched me like your gentle firm- 
 ness that night so long ago at my brother's, and your 
 rare modesty afterward, and all your straightforward 
 course, even when it involved pain and sacrifice. I 
 can't exactly tell you how the truth and the peace 
 came to me, enabling me to do my duty to God and 
 man ; but when I was ill and helpless, and hovering 
 on the verge of death, I want you to know that His 
 love was infinitely precious to me. It took away all 
 perplexity, all care and trouble, and gave me rest in 
 the dreariest of nights. And as He suffered for us, so 
 ought we to be willing to suffer for one another. I 
 never realized before what a great and grand thing 
 life was when obedience to God crowns it first of alL 
 And even out there it seemed as if I was always tak- 
 
214 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 ing lessons of you, remembering what you had said 
 and done." 
 
 " no, no ! " she cried, with her utmost sweet 
 humility. " I am not worthy of so much." 
 
 " My darling friend, I think you are one of God's 
 own messengers. Through you I have found him, 
 come to see him as he is, a tender, loving Father." 
 
 She hardly dared to taste the rich ripe fruit gath- 
 ered here to her hand. It was such a sacred work 
 to have guided another soul ever so little, and she 
 could scarcely believe that it had come through her. 
 
 " Are you going to keep Kathie all the afternoon ? " 
 asked a soft, pleading voice. 
 
 Both started. For many minutes they had been 
 silently thinking of the little steps that reached to 
 God, made so much more simple and easy by the 
 tender spirit-leading than all the learned philosophy 
 of the world. 
 
 "0 Miss Jessie!" 
 
 " Mrs. Meredith, if you j)lease," he exclaimed T\dth 
 a little laugh in his tone. " There, you have kissed 
 enough. Come, sit down and look at me. I am 
 afraid you will forget about my being one of oui 
 country's noble sons." 
 
HOME AGAIN. 215 
 
 Jessie might have been a little thinner with all 
 her anxiety and watching, but she was the same 
 dear, sweet friend, and Kathie thought prettier than 
 ever, with her half shy, tender grace. 
 
 " He has grown very exacting," the young wife 
 said, with a smile. 
 
 Kathie blushed. " It seems so odd for you to — 
 be—" 
 
 " Married," exclaimed Mr. Meredith. " Why, what 
 else could I do ? AVhen I was a poor, helpless log, 
 unable to stir hand or foot, some one had to take 
 pity upon me. She was very good, I assure you." 
 
 " As if I had not knowTi it long before ! " and a 
 host of old memories rushed over Kathie. 
 
 " Is n't it odd," Mr. Meredith said, in a lower tone, 
 taking liis wife's hand, " that it was through Kathie 
 we came to know each other ? I can just see the 
 picture she made in the great haU of the hotel, like 
 a little wild-flower blown astray by a gust of wind.'* 
 
 Jessie thought of something else, — how she and 
 Charlie were sitting by the cheerful fire one winter 
 night, when he had expressed* a desire to make her 
 happy in some way, because she was always studying 
 the pleasure of others. But fur that she might never 
 
216 . KATHIFS SOLDIERS. 
 
 have known the Alstons so intimately, and of 
 course — 
 
 There she had to stop with a dainty blush. 
 
 It was very odd, Kathie decided, in her simple 
 child's way. 
 
 " And we have to thank Kathie for a good deal of 
 delicacy in keeping our secret," ^Mr. Meredith said. 
 " Circumstances gave it into her hands long ago." 
 
 She smiled a little. "What did Ada say?" she 
 asked, rather shyly. 
 
 " I have not been favored with Ada's opinion, but 
 she and her mother are to pay me a short visit pres- 
 ently. George wanted me to come immediately to 
 New York, but I fancied Jessie must be a trifle 
 homesick; and, to confess the truth, I was longing 
 for a glimpse of Brookside. Have you begun garden- 
 ing yet, Kathie ? And tell me the story of the whole 
 winter. I 'm just famishing for gossip." 
 
 Uncle Eobert proposed returning presently, but 
 they would not listen to his taking Kathie. JMr. 
 Meredith begged her and Jessie to have tea up in 
 the room, where he could look at them. His side was 
 still very weak, and his journey had fatigued him too 
 much to admit of his sitting up. " But I shall soon 
 be about with a crutch," he announced, gayly. 
 
HOME AGAIN. 217 
 
 Passing the lodge cottage again that evening, Ka- 
 thie gave a tender thought to its inmates, and the 
 childish longing for fairy power came back to her. 
 Xo wand, nothing but a Fortunatus's purse with one 
 piece of gold in it, and that could not do everytliing. 
 
 Kathie was up betimes the next morning. There 
 were lessons to study, an exercise to write, and a 
 music practice to be sandwiched in somewhere, for 
 Mr. Lawrence was to come that afternoon. And her 
 head was still so full of Mr. Meredith and dear 
 Jessie. 
 
 "It will not do," she said, presently, to herself, 
 when she found that she was listening to iBvery bird, 
 and watching the cloud of motes in the sunshine ; so 
 with that she set to work in good earnest. 
 
 Belle Hadden was loftier than ever on this day, and 
 seemed to hold herseK quite apart. " A new kink of 
 grandeur," Emma Lauriston said. 
 
 Lottie Thome always had the earliest news. Now 
 she made sundry mysterious confidences, prefaced 
 with, " Would you have believed it ? " 
 
 " AATiat is that, Lottie ? " asked one of the girls. 
 
 " 0, have n't you heard ? " the face aglow with 
 a sense of importance. "Papa told us last night. 
 
218 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 though I suppose it is all over. Poor Belle ! Why, 
 it would kill me I " 
 
 " But what is it V 
 
 " About ;Mr. Hadden. He has been embezzling, or 
 making false returns, or something, and charged the 
 government with, a great deal more than he supplied. 
 Why, I believe it is almost a million ! And he is in 
 prison ! " 
 
 "Not so bad as that," subjoined Sue Coleman, 
 quietly. 
 
 " But he is in prison." 
 
 • "Yes, there is some trouble, but maybe it will 
 not amount to much." 
 
 " I should think she would be ashamed to show 
 her face ! " 
 
 " How can she help it ? " said the softest and sweet- 
 est of voices. " It is very hard to punish her or 
 make her answerable for her father's faults." 
 
 " Wliat should you do, Kathie Alston, if you had 
 been intimate with her ? " It was Sue Coleman who 
 spoke, and there was a husky strand in her voice. 
 
 " I should keep on just the same. It will be very 
 painful for her to bear anyhow. Suppose it was one' 
 of us!" 
 
HOME AGAIN. 219 
 
 "You don't know what hateful things she said 
 about your uncle ever so long ago," pursued Lottie. 
 
 " But if they were false, her merely saying them 
 could not make them true, you know." 
 
 It was a bit of philosophy quite new to the girls, 
 though each one might have thought of it long be- 
 fore, and was one of the things that had been a 
 great comfort to Kathie many a time. 
 
 " But this is true." 
 
 " It will be bitter enough to bear, then, without our 
 adding to the burden " ; and a tremulous color flitted 
 over Kathie's fair face, not so much at what she had 
 been saying as the fact that these girls were grouped 
 around listening for her verdict. 
 
 "I don't believe she will come to-morrow," two 
 or three voices decided. 
 
 They never knew how hard her coming was, how 
 she had begged and entreated her mother to let her 
 stay at home, and finally threatened not to go, when 
 Mrs. Hadden had taken her in the carriage. There 
 was no pride in her soul as she stepped out of it, 
 only a bitter, haughty hatred. 
 
 " Don't act like a fool ! " was her mother's parting 
 advice. " The matter will soon blow over." 
 
220 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 For Mrs. Hadden felt that she should not be ut- 
 terly crushed. The deed of the house was in her 
 name, and the furniture bills had been made out in 
 the same manner, consequently that much was se- 
 cure. Mr. Hadden had probably not done more than 
 hundreds of others, and she felt confident that he 
 would get out of it somehow. They had plenty of 
 money, and could start afresh in a new place, but the 
 people here should see that she was able to hold her 
 head as high as the best of themu 
 
 There was a little bouquet on Belle's desk. No one 
 knew who put it there. They would have suspected 
 Kathie Alston, of course, if they had not seen her 
 come in empty-handed, but no one guessed it was 
 her second coming that morning. 
 
 The Brookside Standard copied the report, stating 
 also that Mr. Hadden had asked a suspension of pub- 
 lic opinion for the present. 
 
 " Do you suppose it is really true ? " inquired Ka- 
 thie of Uncle Eobert. 
 
 " I believe Mr. Hadden's reputation does not stand 
 very high, at the best. I can forgive a man who is 
 tempted to retrieve himself by some desperate step, 
 when on the brink of ruin; but the men who 
 
HOME AGAIN. 221 
 
 wron<^ed our poor brave boys with clothing that was 
 but half made, and food of the poorest kind, enriching 
 themselves while the country was at her sorest need, 
 do deserve punishment. Still, it would be hardly 
 land to begin by meting it out to his cliildren." 
 
 " How terrible it must be. Uncle Eobert, to know 
 that some one you held dear was guilty of such a 
 crime ! " 
 
 " Yes, I think it would be worse than taking up 
 poor and uncultivated people " ; and a peculiar smile 
 crossed his face. " You will have an opportunity to 
 show your blue blood, Kathie. I believe I never 
 knew a Conover who struck a fallen foe." 
 
 "Yes," she answered, wondering if it would be 
 foolish to tell him about the flowers ; but just then 
 Freddy ran in, full of tribulation as usual 
 
 Mr. Meredith improved rapidly. Kathie had to 
 take liim in her way some time during the day, or 
 there was a most heart-rending complaint. 
 
 " It is so delightful to have them all love him so 
 well ! " she said to Aunt Kuth. " Charlie has a hero 
 of his o%vn now." 
 
 They received a long and characteristic letter from 
 Eob. who wished he was a bombshell and could be 
 
222 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 dropped down into Brookside. The war was actually 
 ended, and " Johnny was marching home/' and every- 
 thing had happened about right. " Only I am awful 
 sorry about Mr. Morrison. I can't seem to believe 
 but that he will come to light somewhere yet. It 
 gave me such a strange feeling, — thinking, for a mo- 
 ment, if it had been Uncle Eobert. We will tiy all 
 our lives to make it up to Ethel. I will never tease 
 her again, at any rate." AMiich was all the resolve 
 in Eob's power at present. 
 
GOOD NEWS. 223 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 GOOD NEWS. 
 
 It seemed to Kathie in these days as if she had 
 her hands very full. The w^eeks were hardly lohg 
 enough. Yet what could be left out ? The daily 
 call at the Darrells', or the Morrisons', for now Ethel 
 looked to see her every day, and used to confide to 
 her the sums that bothered, the thoughts that puz- 
 zled, and the many things which come to trouble 
 little girls ; and if sometimes Kathie considered them 
 tiresome or foolish, she remembered how patient dear 
 Aunt Euth used to be with her in the old times, — 
 and now she had Uncle Eobert saved to her by 
 Ethel's loss. 
 
 N'o, neither of those could be given up, nor the 
 school-lessons, nor the music, nor even Sarah, who 
 vjos improving. 
 
 The blue ribbon had delighted her exceedingly. 
 Kathie said, very gently indeed, — that is, prefacing 
 and ending it with something pleasant, — "I think it 
 will be much prettier for your hair than any other 
 color." That started Sarah upon a new tack. 
 
224 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "I wish you would tell me something about col- 
 ors," she begged in her next letter. " I always 
 remember how lovety you looked that night at the 
 Fair, and some of the ladies too. I can't be pretty, I 
 know, but I 'd like to look nice, so that people would 
 n't laugh at me. Now that I have beonin, there are 
 so many things that I want to know. Cousin Ellen 
 helps me a good deal, and she is such a rest to 
 mother. She has the pleasantest way of managing 
 the children, and does such a deal of sewing. Fa- 
 ther said I might raise all the chickens I wanted 
 to this summer, and I think I '11 buy a nice rocking- 
 chair for the parlor. 0, I have crocheted two beau- 
 tiful tidies, and one of them is about as good as sold 
 for two dollars and a half. If it is n't too much 
 trouble, I would like to send the money to you, and 
 let you buy me some books. You know what is 
 pretty and interesting. And if you would only tell 
 me what would be nice for summer dresses and a hat." 
 
 The ice being once broken, discussions upon dress 
 followed quite frequently. When Kathie was in 
 any doubt she referred the subject to Aunt Euth. 
 It was plain that Sarah was emerging from her 
 crude and barbaric state, yet she showed no disposi- 
 
GOOD NEWS. 225 
 
 tion thus far to drift over into the frothy waves of 
 vanity. With her other knowledge seemed to come 
 slirewd, practical self-knowledge. 
 
 Jim too had been made the happy recipient of 
 some useful books. He seemed to have a great taste 
 for wood- working, — "conjuring," his father said, — 
 and talked a little of going to the city to learn a 
 trade, but Mr. Strong had no fancy for giving him 
 up now, when he was such a help. 
 
 " The farm is plenty large, enough for two," Mr. 
 Strong said, "and there 's no life so independent." 
 
 But Mr. Conover felt that it ought to be rendered 
 interesting as well. So he asked Jim to come down 
 to Cedarwood and take a look around, w^hich delighted 
 the youth greatly, and gave him some new ideas. 
 
 The rumors concerning Belle Hadden's father proved 
 too true. It w^as an aggravated case, and each day 
 brought new circumstances to light. It was useless 
 to think of holding tEeir position in Brookside. Ac- 
 quaintances began to make ceremonious calls, or bow 
 coldly. A few of the girls in school openly rejoiced. 
 
 "Thank the Lord my father never stole nor 
 cheated," said Mary Carson. " I 'd rather be a ple- 
 beian than a thief." 
 
 15 
 
226 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 The mortificatiou was too much. Belle begged and 
 prayed that she might be allowed to leave Brookside, 
 and finally a visit to an aunt was determined upon. 
 She was a queen to the last moment, though, and said 
 her good-bys to the few with a haughty grace. 
 
 " Thus endeth the reign of the patricians," com- 
 mented Emma Lauriston. 
 
 There was a grave, perplexed light in Sue Cole- 
 man's eyes. 
 
 " Belle was real fascinating," she said ; " but I won- 
 der that we — that some of us had n't more sense last 
 winter. We all went to persecuting and ruling out 
 Kathie Alston, who bore it all like a saint. Belle had 
 courage and pride, but there was something nobler in 
 Kathie." Yet Sue knit her brows in silent per- 
 plexity. 
 
 " But there is another view of it that puzzles me, 
 after all," she said, breaking her long silence. 
 "^Miere do people make a distinction ? Now sup- 
 pose Kathie Alston invited this iiroUgh of hers to 
 her house, and you or I should drop in — it would 
 look ill-bred to take Kathie away from her guest, and 
 yet it is not likely her talk would interest us much. 
 Then as Kathie otows larger — well, it is all of a 
 
GOOD NEWS. 227 
 
 muddle in my brain. I dare say these Strongs are 
 good, lionest, respectable people, and — there is no use 
 in smoothing it over — IVIr. Hadden was dreadfully 
 dishonest. All their grandeur and fine clothes belong 
 by right to some one else. And yet they are allowed 
 to go into the best society. Is it quite right ? " 
 
 "Not the very best, perhaps," returned Emma, 
 slowly. " A good many people do insist upon worth, 
 virtue, honesty, and all that." 
 
 " And then, as Kathie said. Belle was not to blame 
 for her father's sins." 
 
 " It seems to me now that Belle's mistake was in 
 trying to decide who should be greatest, and pushing 
 down all who did not exactly suit her. She had no 
 right to be the judge." 
 
 " Who of us has ? And here is another question. 
 You remember Mrs. Duncan ? She went to the city 
 about a fortnight ago, and had a business offer. First, 
 I must teU you that she was very elegantly brought 
 up, but her father died, and somehow the fortune 
 melted into thin air. She went to visit an aunt, and 
 met Mr. Duncan, who was cashier in a bank. They 
 have always lived very nicely, — stylishly, Belle would 
 sav, — but now tliey liave nothing, and Mrs. Duncan 
 
228 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 has no friends who can take care of her. She has 
 forgotten a good deal of her French and her other 
 accomplishments, and teachers' situations are hard to 
 get. Well, a Mrs. Marsh in the city has offered IMrs. 
 Duncan eight hundred dollars a year to take a posi- 
 tion in her millinery establishment. She has a mar- 
 vellous faculty for trimming, — equal to any French 
 woman. And why would n't she be just as good and 
 just as much of a lady if she did take it ? Will it 
 make her coarse and ^Tilgar ? " 
 
 " Xo," answered Emma, decisively. 
 
 " Yet I dare say the Hadden children would not 
 be allowed to associate with the Duncan girls. I 
 cannot seem to get at the wrong, nor where it 
 comes in." 
 
 " I believe, after all, Kathie Alston has the secret, 
 — the little leaven which leavens the whole lump." 
 
 " Only some of us object to being leavened " ; and 
 Sue finished with a lajigh. 
 
 But though Kathie had not heard the talk, there 
 was a secret uneasiness in her soul as well. Sarah 
 Strong was begging her to come up to Middleville 
 again, and Uncle Eobert believed the relaxation 
 would do her good. 
 
GOOD JIEWS. 229 
 
 " Mamma," she said, thoughtfully, " there are one 
 or two puzzles that I cannot make quite clear to my 
 owTi mind." 
 
 " What is the matter now ? Any new gift for 
 Sarah?" 
 
 " Not a gift exactly, but — a great pleasure. When 
 I was with them in the wagon that day, and they 
 were both so cordial and warm-hearted, it appeared 
 rude, or at least impolite, wt to ask them to call 
 here. Mrs. Strong said, ' Sarah would n't look well 
 among your grand people ' ; but there was such a sad, 
 ^ wistful look in Sarah's eyes, as if somehow she felt 
 that she was shut out." 
 
 "And you would like to have her come?" returned 
 r Mrs. Alston, with a smile. 
 
 ^ " I was thinking how happy it would make her, 
 mamma. I don't believe she ever saw so many 
 pretty tilings together in her life, — and she is so 
 fond of them." 
 
 "And what puzzles you?"' 
 
 " Whether it would be quite — I don't mean that 
 F I am too proud," catcliing herself with a quick 
 breath, while a scarlet flush quivered from brow to 
 chin. 
 
230 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Whether it would be proper, — is that what you 
 mean ? " asked her mother. 
 
 " Yes " ; and Kathie began to twist the fringe of 
 the nearest tidy. 
 
 " Miss Jessie asked you to her house, you know. 
 We lived very plainly then, and you had to wear 
 a cheap delaine for best dress all winter." 
 
 " Then you think I may ? " she exclaimed, joy- 
 ously, while her soft eyes brightened. 
 
 " It all depends upon the manner of the asking. I 
 think she might come some Saturday when you were 
 alone and have a very pleasant visit. It is not likely 
 she would enjoy meeting several of the girls here." 
 
 " mamma, I should ask no one ! " 
 
 " Not because we should be so ashamed of Sarah, 
 but on account of her feelings. It is best for little 
 girls to exercise tact, as weU as grown-up people ; 
 and sometimes it proves awkward work tiying to 
 make different kinds or sets harmonize. By observ- 
 ing a few simple rules, and studying the comfort of 
 both parties, you may be able to give aU greater 
 happiness." 
 
 "Then, when I go up, I shall invite Sarah in so 
 cordial a manner that her mother wiU see that I 
 mean every word." 
 
GOOD NEWS. 231 
 
 " Yes ; for tlie unkindest invitation of all is to ask 
 people purely out of compliment." 
 
 The smooth brow was slightly shadowed again. 
 " Mamma," she said, in a low tone, " can people — 
 grown-up ladies, I mean — get along without sapng 
 or doing things that they really do not mean to have 
 taken in earnest ? " 
 
 " They had better not say them. A Christian 
 woman will be truthful first of all ; but it is not ne- 
 cessary to make candor a cloak for the indulgence of 
 unkind or heartless remarks. Eeligion, it seems to 
 me, holds the essence of true politeness, — to do 
 unto others as you would have them do unto you." 
 
 The next day Kathie was quite late in getting 
 home, having stopped at the Darrells'. Uncle Eob- 
 ert and mamma were up in Aunt Euth's room. 
 
 " What will you give me for a letter with a grand 
 seal as if it came from the very Commander-in-Chief 
 or the President ? Look ! To ' Miss Kathie Alston.' 
 "WTiat correspondent have you in Washington, we 
 would all like to know ? " 
 
 Uncle Eobert held the letter above her head. A 
 bold, peculiar handwriting that she had never seen 
 before. Whose could it be ? 
 
232 KATIilE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " I am sure I don't know," coloring -svitli interest 
 and excitement. " I have a gold piece in my purse." 
 
 " I will not be quite so mercenary as that. You 
 shall tell us whom it is from." 
 
 Kathie took the letter and broke it open so as not 
 to destroy the seal, saw the beginning, — " ^ly dear 
 little friend," — ran her eye over the two pages with- 
 out taking in anything, and looked at the signature. 
 
 "0," with a cry of. surprise, "it is from General 
 Mackenzie ! "Wliy," — and then she began to read 
 in good earnest, — " Mr. Morrison is alive, safe ! 
 General Mackenzie found him. Uncle Eobert ! " 
 
 She could not finish the rest, but buried her head 
 on Uncle Eobert's shoulder to have a good little cry 
 out of pure joy and thankfulness. 
 
 "ShaU I read it aloud?" 
 
 She placed the letter in his hand. 
 
 " My dear little Friend, — I dare say you will be 
 surprised at recei\T.ng a letter from a busy old soldier 
 like me, but I met with an incident a few days ago 
 with which you are so intimately connected that I 
 cannot resist the good excuse. Of course all the 
 glorious news and rejoicing has reached you, but we 
 
GOOD NEWS. 233 
 
 here on the spot are hearing new things daily, some 
 joyful, but many sad. We went up the James River 
 one morning to a small settlement originally negro 
 quarters, where we heard a number of wounded 
 prisoners had been taken. We found thirty poor 
 fellows in all, who had suffered terribly from neglect, 
 for though the negroes were well-meaning and very 
 warm-hearted, they were miserably poor and ignorant. 
 Half a dozen of the soldiers- had been very ill from 
 fevers, and upon questioning them I found one was 
 — whom do you think ? — your uncle's substitute, a 
 William Morrison. That took me back to last win- 
 ter at once, and to my little friend, so do not wonder 
 if we had a good long talk about you and the beauti- 
 ful Cedarwood of which I have heard so much. I 
 believe it did the poor fellow a world of good. He 
 was wounded and taken prisoner, and brought up 
 here by the negroes, as far as I can learn. In those 
 few days of our final successes the small events were 
 overlooked in tlue glory of the grander ones. His 
 wound was not very severe, but fever set in, and for 
 three weeks he was delirious. About ten days ago 
 Jie wrote home, but he was not sure that his mes- 
 senger was reliable. He was much better, and we 
 
234 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 despatched those wlio could travel to head-quarters at 
 once. I fancy that he avlU be mustered out as soon 
 as possible. If his friends should not have heard, 
 will you please inform them ? He holds you aU in 
 such Tvarm and grateful remembrance that it was de- 
 lightful to talk to him. I rejoice with you that he is 
 safe, and I do not question but that he has done a 
 soldier's whole duty. I thought I discerned in him 
 the spirit of another little soldier, who I dare say 
 finds some battles to fight. Give my regards to your 
 family, and do not feel surprised when I tell you that 
 you may expect me at Cedarwood some day before 
 long. 
 
 "Truly yours, 
 
 " W. IVlACKEXZIE, U. S. A." 
 
 " It hardly seems possible ! " Kathie said, with a 
 sob. " But they have not heard, and they will be so 
 glad!" 
 
 Uncle Eobert began to pace the room, much moved. 
 Of late death had appeared such a certainty, and 
 though he knew the life had been freely given for 
 his, his first emotions were those of devout gratitude 
 to God that this sacrifice had not been required. 
 
GOOD NEWS. 235 
 
 Then he paused before Kathie. " My little darling," 
 he said, "it is your good news. And though the 
 Morrisons may hear it in a day or two from other 
 sources, we owe it to them immediately. Will you 
 go?" 
 
 Kathie wanted to very much, but 0, how was she 
 ever to get through with it ! Her voice seemed to be 
 all a quiver of tears. 
 
 " Would you like me to accompany you ? 
 
 " If you will." 
 
 So Kathie bathed her face and tried to rub the 
 little throbs out of her temples. In a few moments 
 she was ready, and the two walked down the avenue. 
 
 " There cannot be any mistake ? " she exclaimed, 
 pausing at the door. 
 
 " no." 
 
 Grandmother was holding the baby, who had a 
 slight cold and fever. Ethel sat at the window, hem- 
 ming some breadths of ruffling. She sprang up and 
 brought out chairs for them, and after one or two lit- 
 tle inquiries went back to her work. Oddly enough 
 the conversation ceased for a few moments, and in 
 the silence Kathie fancied that she heard her heart 
 beat, it was in such a tumult. 
 
236 KAXniE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "I believe Katliie has some news for you/' an- 
 nounced Mr. Conover, gravely. 
 
 Kathie rose and twined her arms around Ethel's 
 neck 
 
 ' " It is this," she said, all in a tremble, — "I cannot 
 tell it as I ought, but your dear father is alive, Ethel, 
 and is coming home soon." 
 
 " ISTot William ! ]\Iiss Kathie ! " and grandmother 
 almost let the baby fall. 
 
 " Yes," replied Mr. Conover ; " we heard to-day. I 
 have brought the letter." 
 
 " The Lord be praised ! " Then grandmother came 
 over to Kathie, but she and Ethel were crying softly 
 in each other's arms. 
 
 " Child, are you one of God's own — Heaven-sent ? 
 for you bring us joy continually." 
 
 " But it was sent to me," Kathie said, over a great 
 break and falter. " If I could have made it so in the 
 beginning, — but I could n't, and God kept him 
 safely. We all waited and prayed." 
 
 " And I despaired ! I am worse than doubting 
 Thomas ! Ah, how good God is to us all ! " 
 
 Mrs. Morrison entered with a pail of milk " 0," 
 she exclaimed, " you have had news ! Have they 
 found his body ? " 
 
GOOD NEWS. 237 
 
 "His body and soul. He will be back shortly. 
 The tidings came throngh a friend of Kathie." 
 
 " Dear Ethel, little one, it is blessed news ! You 
 would never have wanted for love and kindness 
 while Hugh and I were alive ; but there 's no love 
 quite like a parent's. How Hugh will rejoice ! He 
 never could give liim up altogether." 
 
 "Mr. Conover has a letter to read," said grand- 
 mother. 
 
 Little did General Mackenzie imagine that his 
 words would bring so gTeat a joy. They all listened 
 breathlessly, and then wanted it read over again to 
 lengthen out the good news. And when at dusk 
 Uncle Eobert declared they must go, they all begged 
 for Katliie to stay and drink tea, and would take no 
 refusal. 
 
 " But I must return," said Uncle Eobert, " or the 
 table ^viU be kept for us both." 
 
 Mrs. Morrison made some biscuits, and brouo^ht 
 out her china, as well as a damask table-cloth. 
 Hugh, coming in, wondered at the feast; but Eth- 
 el's first word told him all. She, poon child, was 
 brimful of joy. It did one good to look at tlie roses 
 on her cheeks, and hear the little lauglis that came 
 for joy, and y^t wore so near to tears. 
 
238 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 When Katliie reached home she was absolutely 
 tired with all the excitement, and mamma said there 
 must be no lessons that night; so they took the 
 lounge in the shaded half-light of the library, and 
 Kathie laid her head in Uncle Eobert's lap, for it 
 almost ached. And there they had a tender talk. 
 
 " But we shall never forget it," she said. " It 
 seems as if it would help me to remember all the 
 pains and sorrows and burdens that we can try to 
 bear for one another." 
 
 "It is what God means us to learn and to do. 
 ' For no man liveth unto himseK, and no man dieth 
 unto himself.' " 
 
 "And we are all so oddly linked in with one 
 another, — such a little thing brought the Morrisons 
 here, and then my meeting General Mackenzie gave 
 him an interest. The news would have come in a 
 *day or two, I suppose ; but. Uncle Eobert, it seemed 
 so good, since he risked his life in your place, that 
 we should be the first to take the joyful tidings 
 to them. I have n't anything in the world to 
 ask." 
 
 " Yes, my darling, I am so glad that General Mac- 
 kenzie did find him : and more than ^lad that our 
 
GOOD NEWS. 239 
 
 brave soldiers can return to their own pleasant fire- 
 sides." 
 
 " Neither of our soldiers was YQTy grand in the 
 world's e^imation, that is, as to position, but they 
 have both suffered a good deal for the cause. It is so 
 sweet to think that, though the world knows nothing 
 about it, God remembers." 
 
 "And that no act of self-denial or heroism goes 
 without its reward there. It is hard sometimes to 
 see it passed so unnoticed in this world, but I sup- 
 pose that is where patience needs to have her perfect 
 work." 
 
 Kathie wrote a little note to Eob the next morn- 
 ing, beside getting her lessons ; and before the day 
 ended they had a letter from Mr. Morrison himself, 
 announcing that he was to be sent home on a fur- 
 lough. 
 
 "I shall have a dangerous rival," exclaimed Mr. 
 Meredith, in his teasing tone, ; " and when General 
 Mackenzie comes I expect to be quite overshadowed 
 No stars nor bars nor shoulder-straps, — nothing but 
 a poor unknown private ! What good could he do ? " 
 
 " He followed his captain and did his duty." 
 
 " Good ! " exclaimed Charlie, wlio was standing be- 
 
240 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 side his brother-in-law. " You will never find Kathie 
 being caught by the glitter and show." 
 
 The old smile twinkled in Mr. Meredith's eyes. 
 
 "Well, I will promise not to be very jealo\js. Only 
 you know you sent me off to war, so you ought to 
 allow me some special indulgence." 
 
 " I ! " exclaimed Kathie, coloring violently. 
 
 " Yes, you cannot disowTi me ; I am one of your 
 soldiers. Dear little Kathie, I hope always to be 
 true to my colors." 
 
 The last was uttered in a low tone, but it brought 
 a more vivid flush than the preceding sentence. 
 Though now her eyes were downcast, yet in her 
 heart of hearts she understood. 
 
 " It seems as if Eob ought to come home in the 
 ■general returning. How glad I shall be to see the 
 dear old fellow ! " 
 
 Was Eob fighting the good fight ? 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 241 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PUT TO THE TEST. 
 
 The days were so long and pleasant now that 
 Uncle Eobert thought they would not start for 
 Middleville until after dinner, especially as there 
 would be a bright moon in the evening. Katliie had 
 written a little note to Sarah, and now the two 
 started in high satisfaction. For since the good news 
 about Mr. Morrison Kathie seemed full of happiness 
 and content. 
 
 The place looked less dreary than in winter, though 
 the houses appeared rather more shabby by contrast. 
 One or two were being painted, which would shame 
 the rest sadly. But the hillsides were taking on an 
 emerald tint, and groups of cows were wandering 
 about as if patiently waiting for the grass to grow 
 into nibbling length. 
 
 Sarah was standing by the gate, watching for them. 
 A very decided change had come over her. She was 
 taller and looked less stout, her complexion was not 
 
 16 
 
242 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 SO rough and red, her dress, a striped green and white 
 gingham, fitted nicely, and was finished at the throat 
 by a linen collar. She had eschewed waterfalls and 
 rolls, though she laugliingly admitted to Kathie after- 
 wards that it was because she could n't get her hair 
 up to look like anything. But the great tliick coil 
 was really beautiful, and the green ribbon very be- 
 coming. 
 
 She had changed somewhat in manners as well, 
 being less boisterous and effusive. Indeed, Kathie 
 thought her very lady-like as she ushered them into 
 the house. 
 
 " Is your brother anywhere about ? " asked Uncle 
 Eobert. " If so, I wiU go and find him while you 
 girls have a talk." 
 
 " He is up in the lot. Steve will show you, or, bet- 
 ter yet, call him." 
 
 Then she led Kathie into the parlor. There were 
 green paper shades at the ^vindows, which softened 
 the light in the room, and Katliie's first glance took 
 in a world of improvements. 
 
 Sarah colored with a little conscious pride as she 
 led her to a veritable modem sofa, instead of the old 
 stiff one, worn at the edges. 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 243 
 
 "Take off your hat and sack," she said, with a 
 touch of bashfulness. 
 
 Kathie complied. 
 
 " I am so glad to see you. I have such a host of 
 things to tell you." 
 
 " And you have been out gathering violets. How 
 pretty and spring-like they are ! " 
 
 "Yes, Jim helped me. We thought you wotdd 
 like them so much. And I have been trying to — 
 to get fixed up a little. It cannot be anything like 
 your house, but somehow I want it as nice as I can 
 make it. Jim is so good too, and Cousin Nelly; 
 and I am so happy sometimes that I really wonder 
 if I be I, like the old woman." 
 
 " I am very glad " ; and Kathie gave the hand a 
 squeeze in her own tender little fashion. 
 
 " I want to tell you all before any one comes in. 
 Is n't it delightful to have this sofa ? I made father 
 half a dozen shirts all by myself, and he was so 
 pleased, — you can hardly think ! He gave me 
 twelve dollars to spend just as I pleased ; but I told 
 mother I would rather let it go towards a new sofa 
 than to buy the finest dress. Nelly said it would be 
 so much more comfortable than that hard, shabby 
 
244 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 thing, that looked as if it might have come out of 
 l^oah's Ark. So mother gave me fifteen, — she has 
 all the money for the milk and butter and eggs, — 
 and when father heard of it he added three more. I 
 was afraid he would think I wanted to be too fine, 
 but he only laughed a little. Mother and Nelly 
 went to the city and bought it. I was so glad that I 
 could have cried for joy, and I know father is very 
 proud of it, though he does not say it in so many 
 words." 
 
 " It is a very nice one, and furnishes the room 
 quite prettily, beside the comfort of it." 
 
 " Jim made me this table, and Cousin Nelly and I 
 covered it with paper and then varnished it over, 
 and we have a pretty chintz one up stairs. Nelly 
 and I have a room together now. I can keep every- 
 thing so much more tidy than when the children 
 pulled all the rubbish about. And look at my two 
 new pictures ! " 
 
 They were large colored engra\ings, — one, " The 
 Wood-Gatherers," and the other the interior of a 
 German peasant's cottage, where the mother was 
 putting a babe to sleep in its odd wicker cradle. 
 
 " Jim bought them at a newspaper-stand one day, 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 245 
 
 and only paid twelve cents apiece for them. He 's 
 powerful — no, I mean very fond of them. I am 
 trying to leave off aU those old-fashioned words and 
 expressions. Then he made the frames, and Nelly 
 and I covered them with pine-cones." 
 They certainly w^ere very creditable. 
 "But how industrious you must be!" exclaimed 
 Kathie. " You still go to school ? " 
 
 " Yes. I would n't give that up for half the world. 
 You see Cousin [NTelly helps mother a good deal, and 
 she helps me too. I have been telling her ever so 
 much about you, how good and lovely you were. 
 But 0, w^as n't I a clown and an ignoramus when 
 you first saw me ! I don't wonder that girl laughed, 
 though it was hateful in her; but I shall never, never 
 forget how kind you were. ]VIiss Kathie, it seems 
 to me if the real nice people in the world would 
 only help the others a bit, we should get along so 
 much faster. I feel as if I 'd had it in me all the 
 time, — a great hungry longing for sometliing, — 
 and I find now that it is beauty and order and 
 knowledge." 
 
 Sarah's face was in a glow, and her steady, ardent 
 eyes held in them a soft and tender light. It seemed 
 
246 KATHIFS SOLDIERS. 
 
 to Katliie that she was really pretty, or something 
 more than that, — electrified with soul beauty. 
 
 " Father pretends that he is afraid I shall get too 
 proud and not be good for anything, though he was 
 ever so much pleased when he saw the parlor in such 
 nice order. And he thought the shirts a wonder. I 
 shall not be sixteen until November, and there are 
 girls older than I who could not do it. In vacation I 
 am going to make Jim a whole new set of nice ones 
 with linen bosoms." 
 
 It seemed to Kathie that there was very little dan- 
 ger of Sarah's being spoiled by acquiring knowledge. 
 
 " You deserve the utmost credit," she returned, in 
 her simple manner, that had in it no shade of patron- 
 age or condescension. 
 
 " I ought to do something for the pains and trouble 
 you have taken." 
 
 " It is a pleasure too." 
 
 " IViiss Kathie, you are so different from some rich 
 people. I wonder what makes it ? " 
 
 A soft color stole up into her face. She would 
 fain have kept silence, but she saw that Sarah was 
 waiting for an answer. " I think it is because mam- 
 ma and Uncle Kobert believe that wealth was not 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 247 
 
 given for purely personal or selfish purposes. It is 
 God's treasure, and we are to put it out at usury, like 
 the parable of the talents, and the usury means mak- 
 ing other people happy if we can." 
 
 " Then I suppose I ought to try and make some 
 one happy ? " 
 
 " Do you not ? " asked Kathie, simply. 
 
 " Yes, I do occasionally when it is quite a trouble. 
 The children beg me to read to them, — they are 
 so fond of stories ; and now father always wants me 
 to read our paper to him. It comes on Saturday and 
 he is always so tired that night. Sti]', that is n't — " 
 and Sarah paused as if she despaired of rendering her 
 meaning clear to her young listener, 
 
 " I think Uncle Robert would say that is it surely. 
 Once in a while we can do larger things ; but is n't 
 it the little deeds that require the most patience ? It 
 is the stips that make up the whole path." 
 
 " So it is. I never thought of it before " ; and she 
 smiled, relieved. " You believe. Miss Kathie, that 
 what we do at home is just as good in God's eyes as 
 if we did it for a stranger ? It almost seemed to me 
 as if I ought to go out and look for some poor igno' 
 rant person instead." 
 
248 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " Both are doing good in different ways. Maylxi it 
 is best to learn to do the good at home first " ; and 
 Kathie remembered her early efforts in assisting her 
 mother. 
 
 "I want father to see that all my knowledge and 
 my queer likes, as he calls them, will not really spoO. 
 me. Grandmother Strong has just such old-fash- 
 ioned notions. She thinks my going to school per- 
 fectly absurd. But Cousin Ellen says the world has 
 changed a good deal since grandmother was young." 
 
 "And I have brought your books," said Kathie, 
 when there was a pause of sufficient length. " The 
 three are half of a pretty set ; some time you may 
 like to get the others." 
 
 " You are so kind. I hated to bother you, but I 
 knew you could make the best choice." 
 
 *' It was no trouble at all, — Uncle Eobert did it, 
 and he bought them for half a dollar less than their 
 usual price." 
 
 " I am so much obliged ! " and Sarah's face was in 
 a grateful glow. 
 
 Kathie had wanted very much to supply the other 
 three. 
 
 "If Sarah were poor," replied Uncle Eobert, "I 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 249 
 
 should not object ; but when such a person asks you 
 to do a favor, it is best to keep simply to the letter 
 of the request. If you gave her so much more, she 
 would hesitate about asking you to do such a thing a 
 Second time, that is, if she possessed any real delicacy." 
 
 Kathie saw the force of the reasoning. 
 
 Presently Cousin Ellen came down. She was a 
 neat, commonplace-looking woman of about thirty, 
 but with a good deal of shrewd sense in her dark 
 gray eyes. Her black calico dress was the perfection 
 of tidiness, and the merest little ruJGP of book-muslin 
 edged it round the neck. 
 
 Kathie Liked her very much. She had been in the 
 midst of the war operations for the last three years, 
 and to please Sarah she related numberless incidents 
 that interested Kathie exceedingly. Then she had 
 to go up stairs and see their room, take a tour around, 
 and have all the flower-beds explained to her, to go 
 to the barn and inspect several new articles Jim was 
 making. Uncle Eobert and the boys joined them 
 here, and Kathie was introduced to Mr. Strong. 
 
 "Don't you have a little too much in-doors and 
 study ? " he asked, pleasantly. " I should n't like to 
 see one of my gals look as white as you do." 
 
250 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 " 0, she is always white, father," said Sarah, ad- 
 miringly. 
 
 " And she has plenty of roses too, for the most 
 part," explained Uncle Eobert, " only for the last few 
 weeks she has been rather overtaxed, I think. W5 
 have had a returned soldier, a very dear friend, ill, 
 and been in great anxiety about another." 
 
 " Thank the Lord for all w^ho 've come home safe," 
 said Mr. Strong, in his clear, forcible tone, and every 
 one of them felt like adding an " Amen " to it. 
 
 Martha ran out to caU them to tea. 
 
 There was the great table spread, and all the chil- 
 dren around it, even to fatherless Willie, who would 
 never need a friend while Jotham Strong lived. 
 
 It was a very enjoyable supper. The new in- 
 fluence was perceptible even in sturdy Mrs. Strong, 
 who took a little pains that she might not shame 
 Sarah before her company. 
 
 Kathie asked Mrs. Strong to let Sarah come down 
 some Saturday and make her a visit. 
 
 " I can't exactly explain, Miss Kathie, and I hate 
 to be ungrateful for your kindness, but I feel as if 
 you and your friends were above Sarah. Folks ain't 
 all alike, and I s'pose the Lord did n't mean 'em to 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 251 
 
 be, but I don't want Sarah laughed at, and I don't 
 want any one to think she 's trying to crowd in 
 We 're plain, old-fashioned people " — 
 
 !Mrs. Strong paused, very red in the face. 
 
 " No one will think that at Cedarwood," answered 
 Kathie, softly. 
 
 So presently the promise was given. In a fort- 
 night Cousin Ellen and Sarah were to go down to 
 Brookside to do some shopping. Ellen wanted to 
 call on several of the relatives, but Sarah might go 
 at once to Cedarwood. 
 
 " I expect it will be like a little bit of heaven," the 
 girl whispered. " I never was in a real elegant house 
 in all my life." 
 
 Kathie described her visit to Aunt Euth in glow- 
 ing terms. " I think it is delightful to be rich, after 
 all," she said, contentedly. " You can make so many 
 people happy." 
 
 " And while you study the happiness of others and 
 your duty towards them the riches will hardly prove 
 a snare," returned Aunt Euth. 
 
 Before another week had ended they had a new 
 joy for which to be very thankful, — the return of 
 Mr. Morrison. He still looked a little pale and thin. 
 
252 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 but had improved wonderfully since the day when 
 General Mackenzie found him in the forlorn negro 
 quarters. Glad enough he was to get home to his 
 little Ethel, who hardly let him go out of her sight. 
 Nothing would do but that the whole family must 
 •come down to the cottage and drink tea. 
 
 " I must express my obligations once more to 
 you," said Uncle Eobert, in the evening ; " and I 
 am most grateful to God for your return, and that 
 he did not require so costly a sacrifice at my hands." 
 
 "He knows that I am glad enough to come back; 
 but if you '11 believe me, sir, it was a great comfort, 
 when I thought myself dying, that it was in your 
 stead, and that your life, so much more valuable than 
 ^ mine, had been spared. I believe you would have 
 sorrowed for me truly, — and Miss Kathie here, — 
 as well as my own." 
 
 Kathie took liis hand. " I Ve been thinking of 
 this ever since the night you offered to go : ' Greater 
 love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his 
 life for his friends.' " 
 
 The sweet voice trembled a little. It would al- 
 ways have a tender strand in it when it came to that 
 verse. 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 253 
 
 "Ah, j\Iiss Kathie, those precious words were for 
 the Saviour of us all. What can we ever do to merit 
 them ? " and the soldier drew the back of his hand 
 across his eyes. 
 
 " God gives the grace to weak human nature," 
 Uncle Eobert said, with solemn sweetness. 
 
 Walking home, Kathie started from her revery. 
 " Now if Eob could only come back," she exclaimed, 
 " our soldiers would all be together. You remember 
 the day he was so elated about the draft ? " 
 
 " Yes. Dear Eob ! I hope he has done good ser- 
 vice. I am very anxious to see him again." 
 
 Then Kathie began to count on the promised visit. 
 " It is not because I am so proud of Cedarwood, or 
 the handsome things in it," she explained to Uncle 
 Eobert, " though I do think them all very lovely ; 
 but it will be such a pleasure to her, — just as my 
 going to Miss Jessie's when we were so poor." 
 
 " I understand " ; and he smiled. 
 
 There had been quite a discussion about having 
 a second girl. Uncle Eobert fancied that Kathie's 
 further knowledge of household details had better 
 be postponed until she had less upon her hands. 
 Jane Maybin, who had been a good deal out of 
 
254 KATHTE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 healtli lately, and unable to work in the factory, as 
 the dust irritated her lungs and made her cough, was 
 quite anxious to take the situation. "What with 
 company and increasing social duties, Mrs. Alston 
 found her time much interrupted. 
 
 Hannah did all the sweeping on Friday, but it was 
 a heavy tax ; so Kathie only dusted awhile on Satur- 
 day morning, cut fresh flowers and arranged them, 
 and busied herself about little odds and ends. Mrs. 
 Alston decided to have Jane, and Aunt Euth took a 
 walk over to the cottage. 
 
 Kathie waited in a peculiar state of anxiety. Lucy 
 and Annie Gardiner had proposed to come over that 
 very afternoon, but she preferred to have Sarah quite 
 alone, that she might feel free to enjoy ever}i;hing. 
 
 It was almost twelve when she reached Cedar- 
 wood. Kathie was haunting the cettage, where she 
 could have a good look down the street, but she 
 hardly recognized the figure at first. It seemed as 
 if Sarah grew every week. She looked quite like a 
 young lady, Kathie thought. Her light gray dress 
 was trimmed with several rows of blue ribbon, and 
 the sack, matching it, made a very neat suit. Her 
 white straw hat was trimmed with blue, and a clus- 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 255 
 
 ter of crisp, fresh flowers, that looked almost good 
 enough to he natural. There was nothing in that 
 outfit to he ashamed of. 
 
 " O," she exclaimed, -^Wth a long hreath, " it 's like 
 going into the Garden of Eden ! The house and the 
 trees, and that lovely lake ! I should want to be out 
 of doors forever." 
 
 " Uncle Eohert has promised to row us around the 
 lake this afternoon. A month later it will be much 
 more beautiful. Did you finish your shopping ? " 
 
 " yes, though we were bothered a good deal, and 
 that made me later. Nelly wanted me to go to din- 
 ner at Cousin Eachel's." 
 
 " I am glad that you did not." 
 
 Sarah could not be hurried into the house. She 
 wanted to view the fountain, the groups of ever- 
 greens, the broad porch, and fancy just how the 
 roses and honeysuckle would look. But presently 
 they entered. Kathie led her up stairs to her room, 
 to lay aside her hat. 
 
 " 0, I don't wonder Jim said it was a palace ! " 
 she exclaimed, with breathless delight. "AVhat a 
 lovely room ! Why, it 's pretty enough for any one's 
 parlor ! " 
 
256 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 Katliie smiled a little, remembering the day on 
 wHch she had thought it wonderful as well 
 
 Sarah was hardly satisfied with her inspection 
 when the bell rang for dinner. In the hall they met 
 Aunt Euth, and in the dining-room Kathie intro- 
 duced Sarah to her mother. 
 
 A girl with less natural adaptation or ambition 
 might have been very awkward. But Sarah had 
 watched Kathie to some purpose, and now gave her- 
 self courage with the thought that she could not go 
 far astray if she copied Kathie. To be sure she 
 blushed and hesitated a little, and, as she afterward 
 confessed at home, " trembled all over " ; but she did 
 acquit herself very creditably. 
 
 "I can scarcely realize that it is the same girl 
 who ^vrote you the Christmas letter," whispered Mrs. 
 Alston in a soft aside, and Kathie smiled gratefully 
 at her mother's commendation. 
 
 Then the two girls began a regular tour about the 
 house. The pictures, the statues, the furniture. Aunt 
 Euth's beautiful bay-window still full of vines and 
 flowers, and the abundance of books, were so many 
 marvels to Sarah. And here, in the midst of all 
 this beauty, hung her lichen. The tears of delight 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 257 
 
 came to her eyes, in spite of her strong effort at re- 
 pression. 
 
 " Now if you would only play and sing for me/* 
 she pleaded, bashfully. " You 're so good that I hate 
 to ask anything." 
 
 " With pleasure." 
 
 It seemed as if Sarah could never get enouorh 
 music. She listened as if she was entranced, the 
 new spiritual light coming into her eyes, showing 
 the strong and earnest capabilities of her soul. 
 
 Uncle Kobert looked in upon them. 
 
 " I think you had better go out on the lake now," 
 he said. " The air is so delightfully soft." 
 
 Sarah sighed. "I cannot imagine which is the 
 best, everything is such a pleasure." 
 
 " We will have some music when we return. You 
 will like the sail, I know." 
 
 They found their hats and ran down the broad 
 steps. Quite a party were coming up the drive. 
 Charlie and Dick, jVIr. and Mrs. Meredith, and O, 
 joy ! this tall, soldierly man could be no other than 
 General Mackenzie ! 
 
 " My dear, dear young friend " ; and, stooping, he 
 kissed the forehead in his grave, tender fashion. 
 17 
 
258 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 "So you see I have surprised you this time," 
 laughed IVIr. Meredith. "Where were you going 
 gypsy fashion ? " 
 
 " To the lake, but it does n't matter." There was 
 no Uncle Eobert to help her, so she turned to where 
 Sarah stood blushing and abashed, drew her kindly 
 forward, and gave her an introduction to each one. 
 Dick connected her with the party and BeUe Hadden 
 at once. 
 
 " Kathie was right to stand up for her," was his 
 mental verdict. " There are plenty of worse-looking 
 and worse-behaved girls in the world." 
 
 At this junction Uncle Eobert joined them. The 
 whole party entered the parlor. Kathie seated Sarah 
 by herself, and General Mackenzie joined them. 
 Mrs. Alston and Aunt Euth were summoned, and the 
 conversation became most genial And when Sarah 
 ventured a remark, frightened half to death the 
 moment afterward. General Mackenzie smiled and 
 answered her. Dick Grayson, anxious to see " what 
 kind of stuff she was made of," came round to the 
 back of the Ute-a-tete, and joined the talk. 
 
 • But the wonders had not all come to an end. The 
 door-bell sounded again, and Hannah ushered two 
 
PUT TO TUE TEST. 259 
 
 young ladies into the licalL Katliie caught a glimpse 
 of the faces, — Sue Coleman and Emma Lauriston. 
 
 They saw Dick and Charlie and the grand soldier 
 beside this plain-looking girl, — some of the Darrells, 
 maybe, — and, accepting Kathie's cordial invitation, 
 joined the group. 
 
 " Miss Strong," Kathie said, with sweet, gracious 
 simplicity; and Sue for a moment was abashed. 
 Something in Dick's face announced the truth. 
 
 General Mackenzie did not seem to think her 
 beneath him. Just now she was speaking of her 
 cousin's husband and their having Mrs. Gilbert and 
 Willie at home.* 
 
 "Miss Strong," he said, gravely, "I honor your 
 parents for the act. There will be so many widows 
 and orphans for whom the scanty pension will be as 
 nothing. But the generous-hearted men and women 
 who open their houses to these poor unfortunates 
 pay our dead soldiers a higher compliment, and 
 evince a truer appreciation of their gallant heroism, 
 than if they made grand processions and built marble 
 monuments." 
 
 Sarah blushed with embarrassment, and some deep, 
 delicate feeling that she coidd not have expressed. 
 
260 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 She had not done it boastingly ; indeed, until this 
 moment, she had hardly thought of any special kind- 
 liness in the deed. 
 
 Actually complimented by General Mackenzie ! 
 Lottie Thorne would have died of envy. 
 
 Somehow the time ran away very fast. They 
 went out on the la^vn in the sunshine, when Sue 
 and Emma discovered that they must go, and the 
 two boys walked with them. Then it came Sarah's 
 turn, as she had promised to be at Cousin Eachel's by 
 five. 
 
 " I 've had such a lovely, lovely time. Miss Kathie, 
 though I felt dreadfully frightened when your grand 
 company came ; but they were all so — so nice that I 
 quite forgot about being an awkward country girl. 
 And is n't General Mackenzie plain and charming ? 
 — yes, that is the very word. I don't believe Gen- 
 eral Grant is a bit nicer. I shall tell mother just 
 what he said. It will help to make up for the girls 
 laughing about her bonnet." 
 
 Kathie had a simple gift to send to Baby Lily. 
 Then the girls said a lingering good-by to each other, 
 and Kathie went back to her hero. 
 
 " I must take the night return train," he declared, 
 
PUT TO THE TEST. 2Gl 
 
 "on account of important business in Washington; 
 but if you will allow me to visit you in the summer, 
 and bring my son, I will accept it as a great favor." 
 
 Uncle Robert gave him a most cordial invitation. 
 
 "And, my little friend, I must congratulate you 
 that your soldiers did their duty without flinching, 
 even in the most trying moments. It is not our lives 
 only, but our wiUs, our comforts and pleasures, that 
 we are required to give up. And I am thankful that 
 God watched over them every hour, and sent them 
 back safely at last." 
 
 "I think they were braver than I, sometimes," 
 Kathie answered, in a low tone. " After all, I have 
 done so little; I do not deserve the praise." Her 
 voice seemed to lose itself in a tender humility. 
 
 " My dear child, I know what you thought of the 
 other warfare. It is a soldier's duty to bring in aU 
 the recruits that he can. God will clothe them in 
 his righteousness, and make the path plain before 
 them as they go to do battle with the arch-enemy. 
 He only asks us to lead them to him. You are do- 
 ing this in a brave, steady manner." 
 
 There were tears in Kathie's downcast eyes; but 
 Mr. Meredith's hand stole over her shoulder, and 
 
262 KATHIE'S SOLDIERS. 
 
 tlieir fingers met with a clasp that was more ex- 
 pressive than words. 
 
 " People often look too far off for duties," continued 
 the old soldier. "We are to take up the task that 
 lies before us, even if it does not seem to wear the 
 grace of the heroic. God knows when and where to 
 add the golden fruit. Some day, my little girl, we 
 will have a long talk about these matters." 
 
 The soft spring-twilight was falling as they said 
 good-by to General ^lackenzie. The grave, kindly 
 eyes rested last of all on the child's simple, earnest 
 face. 
 
 Mr. and !Mrs. Meredith went also when Uncle 
 Eobert drove the General to the station. Kathie sat 
 by the window, peering out into the darkness, long 
 after the sound of the wheels had ceased. One star 
 came out presently. 
 
 Shining on and on. The old, old lesson, the child's 
 purpose growing stronger with the passing years, and 
 Kathie prayed that as her soldiers had been faithful, 
 she also might be faithful unto the end. 
 
 Cambridge : Electrotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co. 
 
RARE BOOK 
 COLLECTION 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT 
 
 CHAPEL HILL 
 
 Wilmer 
 367