EVELYN RAYMOND

 
 REELS AND SPINDLES 
 
 W CALIF. LIBRARY. LOS ANGELES
 
 SHE PULLED A BOOK FROM HER POCKET AND BEGAN TO READ.
 
 REELS AND SPINDLES 
 
 A Story of Mitt Life 
 
 BY 
 
 EVELYN RAYMOND 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A DAUGHTER OF THE WEST," "A LITTLE 
 LADY OF THE HORSE," ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY FRANK T. MERRILL 
 
 BOSTON AND CHICAGO 
 W. A. WILDE COMPANY
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1900, 
 
 BY W. A. WILDE COMPANY. 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 REELS AND SPINDLES.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IT was love for others which made Amy Kaye make 
 use of the first opportunity which offered, even though 
 it was an humble one and she was handicapped by igno- 
 rance. But having once decided what course was right 
 for her, she followed it with a singleness of purpose 
 and a thoroughness of effort which brought a prompt 
 success. The help she was to others was no small part 
 of this success. For in an age of shams and low ideals 
 the influence of even one sincere girl is far-reaching ; 
 and when to that sincerity she adds the sympathy which 
 makes another's interests as vital to her as her own, 
 this influence becomes incalculable for good. 
 
 It is the author's hope that the story of " Reels and 
 Spindles " may aid some young readers to comprehend 
 and make their own this beauty of simplicity and this 
 charm of sympathy which are the outcome of unself- 
 ishness. 
 
 E. R. 
 
 BALTIMORE, April 3, 1900.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGB 
 
 I. A BYWAY OF THE ARDSLEY u 
 
 II. THE MILL IN THE GLEN 23 
 
 III. FAIRACRES 33 
 
 IV. HALLAM 47 
 
 V. A KINSMAN OF THE HOUSE 60 
 
 VI. SETTLEMENTS 70 
 
 VII. THE " SPITE HOUSE " OF BAREACRE ... 82 
 
 VIII. NEEDS AND HELPERS 93 
 
 IX. THE WATERLOO OF BONAPARTE LAFAYETTE . 105 
 
 X. HOME-MAKING 117 
 
 XL THE YOUNG OLD MAN AND OLD YOUNG GIRL . 130 
 
 XII. BAD NEWS FROM BURNSIDE 142 
 
 XIII. AMY PAYS A BUSINESS CALL 154 
 
 XIV. PEPITA FINDS A NEW HOME . . . .167 
 XV. FACING HARD FACTS 181 
 
 XVI. AMY BEGINS TO SPIN 192 
 
 XVII. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BALAAM . . . 210 
 
 XVIII. THE FASCINATION OF INDUSTRY .... 224 
 
 XIX. MOTIVES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS . . . 236 
 
 XX. IN THE OLD HOME 248 
 
 7
 
 8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXI. A PECULIAR INVITATION 264 
 
 XXII. Two WANDERERS RETURN 279 
 
 XXIII. FREDERIC KAYE'S WELCOME HOME . . . 292 
 
 XXIV. FAIRACRES is CLOSED 304 
 
 XXV. MYSTERIES "AND MASTERIES . . . .315 
 
 XXVI. A PICNIC IN THE GLEN 324 
 
 XXVII. A DOUBLE INHERITANCE IN A SINGLE DAY . 333 
 
 XXVIII. ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY . . -345 
 
 XXIX. CONCLUSION 363
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 " She pulled a book from her pocket and began to 
 
 read " . . . . . . Frontispiece 12 
 
 " ' Take care ! You'll drop sperm on the rug, tipping 
 
 that candlestick so ! ' " .68 
 
 " ' Then I'm glad, glad that you are to have Pepita ' " . 173 
 
 " She so gently manipulated the swollen ankle and bound 
 
 it with the lotions "...... 262 
 
 " He began to gather up the coins " 334
 
 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A BYWAY OF THE ARDSLEY. 
 
 THE white burro had a will of her own. So, dis- 
 tinctly, had her mistress. As had often happened, 
 these two wills conflicted. 
 
 For the pair had come to a point where three ways 
 met. Pepita wanted to ascend the hill, by a path she 
 knew, to stable and supper. Amy wished to follow 
 a descending road, which she did not know, into the 
 depths of the forest. Neither inclined toward the safe 
 middle course, straight onward through the village, now 
 picturesque in the coloring of a late September day. 
 
 " No, Pepita. You must obey me. If I'm not firm 
 this time, you'll act worse the next. To the right, 
 amiable beastie ! " 
 
 Both firmness and sarcasm were wasted. The burro 
 rigidly planted her forefeet in the dust and sorrowfully 
 dropped her head. 
 
 Amy tugged at the bridle.
 
 12 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "Pepita! To the right! Goon. In your native 
 Calif ornian Vamos ! " 
 
 The " Californian " budged not, but posed, an image 
 of dejection. The happiness of life had departed; 
 the tale of her woe seemed pictured in every hair of 
 her thickly coated body; she was a broken-hearted 
 donkey. 
 
 Amy Kaye was neither broken-hearted nor broken- 
 spirited, and she was wholly comfortable. Her saddle 
 was soft and fitted well. The air was delightful. She 
 pulled a book from her pocket and began to read. 
 In five minutes she was so absorbed that she had 
 forgotten Pepita's little mannerisms. 
 
 After a while the " Californian " moved her head just 
 enough to gain a corner-wise glimpse of a calm and 
 unresponsive face beneath a scarlet Tam ; and evidently 
 realizing that she had become a mere support to the 
 maid who owned her, uttered her protest. 
 
 " Bra-a-ay ! Ah-umph ! Ah-umph umph mph 
 ph h!" 
 
 Amy read on. 
 
 Pepita changed her tactics. She began to double 
 herself together in a fashion disconcerting to most 
 riders ; whereupon Amy simply drew her own limbs 
 up out of harm's way and waited for the burro's anat- 
 omy to settle itself in a heap on the ground. 
 
 "All right, honey." 
 
 Then she resumed her book, and the beast her
 
 A BYWAY OF THE ARDSLEY. 1 3 
 
 meditations. Thus they remained until the rumble 
 of an approaching wagon caused the now submissive 
 animal to rise and move aside out of the road. 
 
 Again Amy tested the bridle, and found that she 
 might now ride whither she pleased. 
 
 " Is it so, beloved ? Well, then, that's right ; and 
 when you do right because I make you, it is one lump 
 of sugar. Open your mouth. Here. But, Pepita, when 
 you do right without compulsion, there are always two 
 lumps. Into the forest go ! " 
 
 Pepita went. Suddenly, swiftly, and so recklessly 
 that Amy nearly slid over her head. 
 
 " Very well ! What suits you suits me. I'm as good 
 a sticker-on as you are a shaker-off. Besides, a word 
 in your ear. It would be quite the proper, story-book 
 sort of thing for you to try and break my neck, as a 
 punishment, since I'm almost running away." 
 
 Though she had always lived within a few miles 
 of the spot the girl had never before visited it. That 
 she did so now, without knowledge of anybody at 
 home, gave her a sense of daring, almost of danger, 
 as new as it was fascinating. True, she had not been 
 forbidden, simply because nobody had thought of her 
 wandering so far afield ; yet the habit of her life had 
 been such as to make anything out of the common 
 seem strange, even wrong. 
 
 " However, since I'm here, I'll see what there is to 
 see and tell them all about it afterward that is, if
 
 14 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 they will care to hear," she ended her remark to the 
 burro with a sigh, and for a bit forgot her surround- 
 ings. Then she rallied, and with the spirit of an 
 explorer, peered curiously into all the delightful nooks 
 and corners which presented ; not observing that the 
 road grew steadily more steep and rough, nor that 
 Pepita's feet slipped and stumbled, warningly, among 
 the loose stones, which were so hidden by fallen leaves 
 that Amy could not see them. Along the sides, season- 
 ing at convenient intervals, were rows of felled timber, 
 gay with a summer's growth of woodbine and clematis, 
 now ripened to scarlet and silvery white. 
 
 Amy was an artist's daughter. At every turn her 
 trained eye saw wonderful " bits " of pictures, and she 
 exclaimed to Pepita: 
 
 " If father were only here ! See that great rock with 
 its gray-green lichens and its trailing crimson tendrils ! 
 Just that on a tiny canvas, say six by eight or, even, 
 eight by twelve, how it would brighten mother's room ! " 
 
 The " Calif ornian " kicked the leaves impatiently. 
 She had no eye for "bits" of anything less material 
 than sugar, and she had long since finished her one 
 lump ; she was tired of travelling in the wrong direc- 
 tion, with her head much lower than her heels, and she 
 suddenly stopped. 
 
 It was quite time. Another step forward would have 
 sent them tobogganing into a brawling stream. With a 
 shiver of fear Amy realized this.
 
 A BYWAY OF THE ARDSLEY. I 5 
 
 " O-oh ! Oh ! You knew best, after all ! You 
 wouldn't come till I made you ; and now how shall 
 we get out ! Hark ! What's that ? " 
 
 The burro had already pricked up her ears. There 
 was a shout from somewhere. 
 
 Amy managed to slide off and fling herself flat 
 against the slope. When she tried to climb back to a 
 less dangerous spot the twigs she clutched broke in her 
 hands and the rocks cut her flesh. The adventure 
 which had been fascinating was fast becoming frightful. 
 
 " Hil-loa ! Hil-1-loa ! " 
 
 Clinging desperately to the undergrowth, she man- 
 aged to move her head and look down. Far below in 
 the ravine somebody was waving a white cloth. 
 
 " Hilloa, up there ! " 
 
 She was too terrified to speak ; yet, after the salute 
 had reached her several times, she dared to loose one 
 hand and wave a returning signal. 
 
 "You just hold on! I '11 come and get you!" 
 
 As " holding on " was all that either Amy or Pepita 
 could do just then, they obeyed, perforce; although, 
 presently, the burro had scrambled to a narrow ledge, 
 whence she could see the whole descent and from 
 which, if left to herself, she would doubtless have found 
 a way into the valley. 
 
 They clung and waited for so long that the girl grew 
 confused ; then tried to rally her own courage by 
 addressing the " Californian."
 
 1 6 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " It's so so absurd I mean, awful ! If that man 
 doesn't come soon, I shall surely fall. My fingers ache 
 so, and I'm slipping. I am slipping! Ah!" 
 
 Fortunately, her rescuer was near. He had worked 
 his way upward on all fours, his bare feet clinging 
 securely where shoe-soles would have been useless. He 
 approached without noise, save of breaking twigs, until 
 he was close beside them, when Pepita concluded it was 
 time to bid him welcome. 
 
 " Br-r-r-ray ! A-humph ! A-humph umph mph 
 ph h!" 
 
 The climber halted suddenly. 
 
 " Sho-o ! " 
 
 Also startled, Amy lost her hold and shot downward 
 straight into the arms of the stranger, who seized her, 
 croaking in her ear : 
 
 " Hilloa ! What you up to ? Can't you wait a 
 minute ? " 
 
 Then, with a strong grasp of her clothing, he wrig- 
 gled himself sidewise along the bank to a spot where 
 the rock gave place to earth and shrubs. 
 
 " Now catch your breath and let her go ! " 
 
 The girl might have screamed, but she had no time. 
 Instantly, she was again sliding downward, with an 
 ever-increasing momentum, toward apparent destruc- 
 tion, yet landing finally upon a safe and mossy place ; 
 past which, for a brief space, the otherwhere rough 
 stream flowed placidly. She caught the hum of happy
 
 A BYWAY OF THE ARDSLEY. 17 
 
 insects and the moist sweet odor of growing ferns, then 
 heard another rush and tumble. But she was as yet 
 too dazed to look up or realize fresh peril, before Pepita 
 and the other stood beside her. 
 
 " Sho ! That beats huckleberries ! " 
 
 Amy struggled to her feet. She had never heard a 
 voice like that, which began a sentence with mighty vol- 
 ume and ended it in a whisper. She stared at the 
 owner curiously, and with a fresh fear. " He looks as 
 queer as his voice," she thought. 
 
 She was right. His physique was as grotesque as 
 his attire; which consisted of a white oilskin blouse, 
 gayly bordered with the national colors, trousers of 
 the most aggressive blue, and a helmet-shaped hat, 
 adorned by a miniature battle-axe, while a tiny broom 
 was strapped upon his shoulders. 
 
 " Huh ! pretty, ain't I ? The boys gave 'em to me." 
 
 "Did they?" 
 
 "Yes. You needn't be scared. I shan't hurt you 
 I'm a Rep-Dem-Prob." 
 
 "Ah, indeed?" 
 
 "Yes. I march with the whole kerboodle. I tell 
 you, it's fun." 
 
 It was " Presidential year," and Amy began to under- 
 stand, not only that the lad before her was a " natural," 
 but, presumably, that he had been made the victim of 
 village wit. She had heard of the " marching bands," 
 and inferred that the strange dress of her rescuer
 
 1 8 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 was made up by fragments from rival political uni- 
 forms. 
 
 " Yes. I'm out every night. Hurrah for Clevey- 
 Harris ! " 
 
 " You must get very tired." 
 
 " No. It's fun. I drag the gun carriage. That's on 
 account o' my strength. Look a' there for an arm ! " 
 And he thrust out his illy proportioned limb with a 
 pitiable pride. 
 
 "I see. But now that you've helped me down the 
 bank, will you as kindly show me the way home ? " 
 
 " Never slid that way before, did you ? Only thing, 
 though. I'll show you all right if you'll let me ride 
 your donkey. Funny, ain't she ? Make her talk." 
 
 " I think she's very pretty ; and you may ride her, 
 certainly, if she will let you." 
 
 A puzzled and angry expression came over the 
 youth's face as he looked toward the burro, who had 
 already begun to make hay for herself out of the lush 
 grasses bordering the Ardsley. 
 
 " Make her talk, I say." 
 
 " She'll do that only to please herself. She's rather 
 self-willed, and besides " 
 
 " Who do you march with ? " 
 
 " March ? March ! I ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Why, nobody. Of course not. Why should you 
 think it?"
 
 A BYWAY OF THE ARDSLEY. IQ 
 
 The lad scrutinized her dress and gazed abstractedly 
 upon the white " Californian." Just then, a "parade" 
 was the dominant idea in the poor fellow's limited in- 
 telligence. Amy's simple white flannel frock, with 
 its scarlet sash, and the scarlet cap upon her dark 
 curls, suggested only another "uniform." The girls 
 with whose appearance he was familiar were not so 
 attired. 
 
 Neither did they ride upon white donkeys. Yet a 
 donkey of venerable and unhappy appearance did 
 nightly help to swell the ranks of the country's patriots, 
 and the beast which he knew enjoyed a sort of honor : 
 it drew an illuminated "float" wherein rode a greatly 
 envied fifer. 
 
 " What makes you ask that ?" again demanded Amy, 
 now laughing; for she had just imagined what her 
 mother's face would express, should her daughter be- 
 come a part of a " parade." 
 
 " Oh ! because." 
 
 Pepita now took share in the conversation. " Br-r-r- 
 r-a-y ! Ah-huh-um-umph ! Ah-umph u-m-ph ah- 
 umph umph mph ph h-h-h ! " she observed. 
 
 Never was a remark more felicitous. The lad threw 
 himself down on the grass, laughing boisterously. Amy 
 joined, in natural reaction from her former fear, and 
 even the " Californian " helped on the fun by observing 
 them with an absurdly injured expression. 
 
 "She is funny, I admit; though she is as nothing
 
 2O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 compared to her brother Balaam. If you like that kind 
 of music, you should hear their duet about breakfast 
 time. Which is the shortest way to some real road ? " 
 
 " Come on. I'll show you." 
 
 " Thank you ; and, you are so tall, would you mind 
 getting me that bunch of yellow leaves just there? 
 They are so very, very lovely I'd like to take them 
 home to put in father's studio." 
 
 " What's that ? Where's it at ? Who are you, any- 
 how ? " 
 
 " Amy Kaye." 
 
 "I'm ' Bony,' Bonaparte Lafayette Jimpson. Who's 
 he ? " 
 
 " My father is Cuthbert Kaye, the artist. Maybe 
 you know him. He is always discovering original 
 people." 
 
 The speech was out before she realized that it was 
 not especially flattering. Her father liked novel 
 models, and she had imagined how her new acquaint- 
 ance would look as a " study." Then she reflected that 
 the lad was not as pleasing as he was "original." 
 
 " No. I don't know him. He don't live in the vil- 
 lage, I 'low ? " 
 
 " Of course not. We live at Fairacres. It has been 
 our home, our family's home, for two hundred years." 
 
 "Sho! You don't look it. An' you needn't get 
 mad, if it has. I ain't made you mad, have I ? I'd 
 like to ride that critter. I'd like to, first rate."
 
 A BYWAY OF THE ARDSLEY. 21 
 
 Amy flushed, ashamed of her indignation against 
 such an unfortunate object, and replied : 
 
 "I'd like to have you ' first rate,' too, if Pepita is will- 
 ing. You get on her back and show me which way to 
 go, and I'll try to make her behave well. I have some 
 sugar left. That turning ? All right. See, Pepita, 
 pretty Pepita ! Smell what's in my fingers, amiable. 
 Then follow me, and we'll see what we shall see." 
 
 " Bony " was much impressed by Amy's stratagem 
 of walking ahead of the burro with the lump of sugar 
 held temptingly just beyond reach. For the girl knew 
 that the " Californian " would pursue the enticing titbit 
 to the sweetest end. 
 
 Yet this end seemed long in coming. For more than 
 a mile their path lay close to the water's edge, through 
 bogs and upon rocks, over rough and smooth, with the 
 bluff rising steeply on their right and the stream pre- 
 venting their crossing to the farm lands on its left. 
 But at length they emerged upon a wider level and a 
 view that was worth walking far to see. 
 
 Here the lad dismounted. He was so much too large 
 for the beast he bestrode that he had been obliged to 
 hold his feet up awkwardly, while riding. Besides, 
 deep in his clouded heart there had arisen a desire to 
 please this girl who so pleased him. 
 
 " Hmm. If you like leaves, there's some that's 
 pretty," he said, pointing upward toward a brilliant 
 branch, hanging far out above the stream.
 
 22 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Yes, those are exquisite, but quite out of reach. 
 We can get on faster now ; and tell me, please, what 
 are all those buildings yonder ? How picturesque they 
 look, clustered amid the trees on the river's bank." 
 
 Her answer was a rustle overhead. She fancied that 
 a squirrel could not have climbed more swiftly ; for, 
 glancing up, she discovered the witless youth already 
 upon the projecting branch, moving toward its slender 
 tips, which swayed beneath his weight, threatening 
 instant breakage. Below him roared the rapids, hurry- 
 ing to dash over the great dam not many yards away. 
 
 " Oh ! how dare you ? Come back at once ! " 
 
 " Scare you, do I ? Sho ! This is nothing. You 
 just ought to see what I can do. Catch 'em. There 
 you are. That's prettier than any. Hello ! Yonder's 
 a yellow-robin's nest. Wait. I'll get it for you ! " 
 
 Amy shut her eyes that she might not see ; though 
 she could not but hear the snapping of boughs, the 
 yell, and the heavy splash which followed.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE MILL IN THE GLEN. 
 
 " T 1 1 ! ! ducked myself that time, sure ! " 
 
 I 1 Amy ventured to open her eyes. There, drip- 
 ping and grinning, evidently enjoying the fright he had 
 given her, stood her strange new acquaintance. His 
 hand still clutched the scarlet branch with its swinging 
 nest that he had risked his safety to secure, nor would 
 relinquish for so trivial a matter as a fall into the water. 
 
 " You you might have been drowned ! " 
 
 " But I wasn't." 
 
 "I should have felt that it was all my fault!" she 
 exclaimed, now that her fear was past, growing angry 
 at his hardihood. 
 
 He stared at her in genuine surprise ; all the gayety 
 of his expression giving place to disappointment. 
 
 " Don't you like it? They always build far out." 
 
 " Oh, yes. It's beautiful, and I thank you, of course. 
 But I want to get home. You must show me the way." 
 
 " Make the donkey carry 'em." 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 So they piled the branches upon the back of the 
 23
 
 24 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 dumbly protesting " Californian," Amy retaining the 
 delicate nest and gently shaking the water from it. 
 
 " She don't like 'em, does she ? " 
 
 " Not at all. Idle Pepita likes nothing that is labor. 
 But I love her, even though she's lazy." 
 
 " What'll you take for her ? " 
 
 " Why nothing." 
 
 " Won't swop ? " 
 
 " No, indeed." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Oh ! dozens of ' whys.' The idea of my selling 
 Pepita! For one thing, she was a gift." 
 
 " Who from ? " 
 
 " My uncle Frederic." 
 
 " When ? Where ? What for ? ' ' 
 
 " Oh ! what a question asker. Come, Pepit ! Tcht !" 
 
 Shaking her body viciously, but unable to rid herself 
 of her brilliant burden, the burro started swiftly along 
 the footpath running toward the distant buildings, and 
 over the little bridge that crossed just there. Both path 
 and bridge were worn smooth by the feet of the opera- 
 tives from the mills, which interested Amy more and 
 more, the nearer she approached them. Once or twice, 
 on some rare outing among the hills where her home 
 lay, she had caught glimpses of their roofs and chim- 
 neys, and she remembered to have asked some ques- 
 tions about them; but her father had answered her so 
 indifferently, even shortly, that she had learned little.
 
 THE MILL IN THE GLEN. 25 
 
 Seen from this point they impressed her by contrast 
 to all she had ever known. There was a whirl and 
 stir of life about them that excited and thrilled her. 
 Through the almost numberless windows, wide open to 
 the air, she could see hundreds of busy people moving 
 to and fro, in a sort of a rhythmic measure with the 
 pulsating engines. 
 
 As yet she did not know what these engines were. 
 She heard the mighty beat and rumble, regular, un- 
 changing, like a gigantic heart of which this many- 
 storied structure was the enclosing body ; and she 
 slowly advanced, fascinated, and quite heedless of 
 some staring eyes which regarded her curiously from 
 those wide windows. 
 
 A discontented bray and the touch of a hand upon 
 her shoulder suddenly recalled her, to observe that she 
 had reached the bottom of a steep stairway, and was 
 face to face with another stranger. 
 
 " Beg pardon, but can I be of service to you? " 
 " Oh ! sir. Thank you. I I don't know just where 
 I am." 
 
 " In the yard of the Crawford carpet mill." 
 " Is that the wonderful building yonder ? " 
 " Yes. Have you never seen it before ? " 
 " Not at near hand. I am here by accident. I was 
 lost on the river bank, a long distance back, and a 
 strange lad helped me so far. I don't see him now, and 
 I'm rather frightened about him, for he fell into the
 
 26 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 water, getting me this nest. He doesn't act just like 
 other people, I think." 
 
 " No. Poor ' Bony ' ! He has run up into the street 
 above us, yet even he knew better than to have brought 
 you just here," and he glanced significantly toward a 
 large sign of "No Admittance." 
 
 " Is it wrong ? I'm very sorry. I'll go away at once, 
 when I'm shown how." 
 
 Gazing about, her perplexity became almost distress ; 
 for she found herself shut in a little space by buildings 
 of varying heights. Behind her lay the difficult route 
 over which she had come, and on the east uprose a 
 steep bank or bluff. Against this was placed a nearly 
 perpendicular sort of ladder, and this steep stair was 
 the only visible outlet from the ravine. 
 
 The gentleman smiled at her dismay. 
 
 " Oh, that isn't as bad as it looks. I fancy you could 
 easily climb it, as do our own mill girls ; but this pretty 
 beast of yours, with the fanciful burden, how about 
 him ? " 
 
 "I don't know. She might. She's right nimble- 
 footed when she chooses to be." 
 
 "So 'he' is a young lady, too? Well, I have great 
 faith in girls, even girl donkeys, as well as in those who 
 own them. There will certainly be a way out ; if not 
 up the bank, then through the mill. By the by, if 
 you've never visited such a place, and have come to it 
 ' by accident,' wouldn't you like to go through it now ?
 
 THE MILL IN THE GLEN. 2/ 
 
 I'm the superintendent, William Metcalf, and am just 
 about to make my rounds, before we shut down for the 
 night. I'd be pleased to show you about, though we 
 must first find a safe place where we can tie your don- 
 key. She looks very intelligent." 
 
 " Oh, indeed, sir, she is ! She's the dearest burro. 
 She and her brother Balaam were sent to my brother 
 and me from California. Her name is Pepita, and I am 
 Amy Kaye. I live at Fairacres." 
 
 At this announcement the gentleman looked as if he 
 were about to whistle, though courtesy prevented. He 
 bowed gravely : 
 
 " I'm very glad to know you. If you'll excuse me 
 for a moment, I'll find something with which to tie the 
 burro." 
 
 He soon returned, bringing a leather strap. 
 
 " We'll fasten her to the stair, but it will be better to 
 put these branches on the ground. Having them on 
 her back frets her." 
 
 "Thank you. You're very kind." 
 
 Pepita did not endorse this opinion. In the matter 
 of tying she gave them all the trouble she could, and 
 allowed them to depart only after a most indignant 
 bray. Her racket brought various heads to the win- 
 dows, and the visitors were as much of interest to the 
 artisans as themselves were to Amy. 
 
 She followed her guide eagerly, too self-unconscious 
 to be abashed by any stare ; and though he had shown
 
 28 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 many strangers "over the works," he felt that explain- 
 ing things to this bright-eyed girl would be a pleasanter 
 task than ordinary. 
 
 " I like to begin all things at the foundation," he 
 remarked, with a smile, " so we'll go to the fire-room 
 first." 
 
 This was down another short flight of steps, and over 
 a bridge spanning the race, which deep, dark water- 
 course immediately caught Amy's attention. 
 
 " How smooth and swift it looks ; and so black. 
 Isn't that man afraid to stand there?" indicating a 
 workman stationed upon the sluice gate, engaged in 
 the endless task of raking fallen leaves away from the 
 rack. 
 
 " Oh, no ! not afraid ! The work is monotonous, but 
 it must be done, or there'll be the mischief to pay. 
 Now, here are the fires." 
 
 A soot-grimed man approached the door of the 
 furnace room, and respectfully touched his forehead to 
 his superior, then glanced toward Amy. 
 
 " I'm afeared the little lady will soil her pretty frock," 
 he remarked, with another pull at his forelock. 
 
 "Thank you for thinking of it. I'll try to be care- 
 ful," she answered, tiptoeing across the earthen floor, 
 to stoop and peer into the roaring furnaces. " I should 
 be afraid it would burn the whole place up. How hot 
 it is! Is it all right?" 
 
 " Yes ; they're doing prime to-day. We takes care
 
 THE MILL IN THE GLEN. 2Q 
 
 of the danger, miss. But hot ? Well, you should ought 
 to be here about midsummer, say. Ah ! this isn't bad, 
 is it, boss ? " 
 
 "Very comfortable, You like your job, eh, Ben ? " 
 
 " Sure ; it's a good one. Steady, an' wages regular. 
 Good day, miss, you're welcome, I'm sure," he con- 
 cluded, as she thanked him again for opening the fur- 
 nace doors and explaining how it was he managed the 
 great fires. 
 
 " Now, the engine room ; to see the object of all 
 that heat," said Mr. Metcalf. 
 
 "If only Hallam were here! " exclaimed Amy. 
 
 "Is he your brother ? " 
 
 "Yes. Oh! it all seems just like fairyland; even 
 better, for this is useful, while fairyland is merely 
 pleasant." 
 
 " Then you deem useful things of more account than 
 pleasant ones ? Hmm ; most young ladies who have 
 visited us have seemed afraid rather than pleased. The 
 whir of the machinery frightened them." 
 
 "It frightens me, too, and yet I like it. The 
 power of it all awes me." 
 
 " Well, your enthusiasm is certainly agreeable." 
 
 Nor was he the only one who found it so. Even 
 the usually silent workmen in the fireproof storehouse, 
 where the bales of wool were piled to the ceiling with 
 little aisles of passage between, were moved to explana- 
 tion by the alert, inquiring glances of this dainty visitor.
 
 3O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 So she quickly learned the difference between Turkish 
 and Scottish fleeces, and remarked to her guide on the 
 oddity of the sorted ones, " that look just like whole 
 sheepskins, legs and tail and all, with the skins left 
 out." In the scouring room she saw the wool washing 
 and passing forward through the long tanks of alkaline 
 baths ; and in the " willying " house her lungs were filled 
 by the dust that the great machines cleaned from the 
 freshly dried fleeces. Indeed, she would have lingered 
 long before the big chute, through which compressed 
 air forced the cleansed fibres to the height of four 
 stories and the apartment where began its real manu- 
 facture into yarn. 
 
 Mr. Metcalf took her next to this top floor; and 
 though the deafening noise of the machinery made her 
 own voice sound queerly in her ears, she managed to 
 ask so many questions, that before she again reached 
 the ground floor and passed outward to the impatient 
 Pepita, she had gained a clear general idea how some 
 sorts of carpets are made. 
 
 "And now, Miss Amy, that our little tour is over, 
 I'd like to hear what, of all you've seen, has most 
 impressed you," said Mr. Metcalf, kindly. 
 
 " The girls." 
 
 " The girls ? In the spinning room ? " 
 
 "Everywhere; all of them. They are so clean, so 
 jolly, and think ! They are actually earning money." 
 
 "Of course; else they wouldn't be here. Does it
 
 THE MILL IN THE GLEN. 31 
 
 strike you oddly that a girl should earn her own 
 living ? " 
 
 " I think it's grand." 
 
 "Hmm. You caught but a fleeting glimpse of 
 them. There's a deal of reality in their lives, poor 
 things." 
 
 " Why ! Are you sorry for them ? " 
 
 " No, and yes. They haven't much leisure, and I 
 dare say that you are an object of envy to every mill 
 girl who has seen you to-day." 
 
 " Oh ! I hope not. I liked them so. It seems so 
 fine to really earn some of the money which everybody 
 needs so much, just by standing before one of those 
 ' jennies ' and doing what little they did. They laughed 
 often, as if they were glad. Nobody looked sorrowful, 
 so I don't see why you pity them," 
 
 " It may be misplaced, for, after all, they are happy 
 in their way. I do not think it is always the best way; 
 still Why, here's 'Bony.' Well, young man, what 
 mischief's up now? Do you march again to-night?" 
 
 " No. I'm going with her." 
 
 " Best wait till you're invited," suggested the super- 
 intendent. 
 
 The lad said nothing, but kept on tying into a com- 
 pact bundle all the branches heaped upon the ground, 
 and to which he had made a considerable addition dur- 
 ing Amy's inspection of the mill. He had begged a 
 bit of rope from the office in the street above; and
 
 32 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 when he had secured the boughs to his satisfaction, he 
 slung them across his shoulder. 
 
 " Come on. I'll pack 'em for you to where you live." 
 
 He seemed none the worse for his fall into the water, 
 and Amy laughed ; not only at the readiness with which 
 he constituted himself her assistant, but also at Pepita's 
 frantic efforts to ascend the steep stairway. 
 
 " Thank you. But if we can get her up there, above, 
 she can carry the stuff herself. I can walk, when I am 
 told the road." 
 
 " Up she goes she ! " shouted the startling Lafayette, 
 and gave the unprepared burro a sharp prod with a 
 stick he held. 
 
 Astonished, Pepita leaped to escape the attack and 
 landed her forefeet upon the fourth stair. 
 
 " Hi ! There you be ! You're a regular Rep-Dem- 
 Prob ! Up you go I tell you ! " 
 
 " Oh ! you dreadful boy ! " exclaimed Amy, and 
 tried to take the stick from the fellow's hand. 
 
 "Don't. He isn't hurting her, and she is going up!" 
 laughed the superintendent, as the burro made another 
 skyward spring. But his merriment suddenly ceased. 
 
 The " Californian " could use her nimble feet for 
 more than one purpose. She resented the indignity 
 of her present position in the only manner possible to 
 her, and when a third prod touched her dainty flesh, 
 she flung one heel backward, with an airy readiness 
 that might have been funny save for its result.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 FAIRACRES. 
 
 HOW dreadful! Is he killed?" cried Amy, pale 
 with fear. 
 
 For the indignant Pepita had planted her active hoof 
 squarely in the mouth of the lad who was tormenting 
 her, and had knocked him backward from the stair. 
 During a brief time he lay, dazed by the blow, with a 
 trickle of blood rapidly staining his features. 
 
 "Wait. Don't get frightened. There may not be 
 much damage done. That boy has as many lives as a 
 cat. I'll see to him," returned Mr. Metcalf, quietly. 
 
 With a strong, kindly touch, the gentleman helped 
 the unfortunate "Bony" to his feet; whereupon, the 
 lad flew into a fearful rage and started up the ladder, 
 in pursuit of the burro. 
 
 His movement roused Amy also to action, and she 
 followed him so swiftly that she reached the top, and the 
 broad road there, almost as soon as he. Before then, 
 however, he had caught up a barrel stave, which hap- 
 pened to be lying in a too convenient spot, and was 
 belaboring Pepita with all his might. 
 
 The latter, after her ascent of the steps, had 
 " 33
 
 34 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 remained standing at their head, gazing dreamily 
 downward in her own demure manner and evidently con- 
 sidering that she had quite properly adjusted matters. 
 
 Amy succeeded in reaching them just as the third 
 blow was descending upon Pepita's flank and by a deft 
 movement arrested the stroke. The stave flew out of 
 the lad's grasp, and his astonishment at her strength 
 cooled his anger. 
 
 " Don't you strike her again ! You shall not. Aren't 
 you ashamed of yourself to beat a helpless creature like 
 that? If you are still able to act so so brutally 
 you can't be much hurt. I was terribly frightened and 
 sorry, but now I don't care. She served you just right." 
 
 Then the red Tarn dropped on the burro's neck and 
 a torrent of affectionate words was poured into the 
 creature's indifferent ears. 
 
 " Sho ! Huckleberries ! She's drove my teeth clean 
 down my throat ! " slowly ejaculated the youth. 
 
 This was about half true. One tooth had been 
 broken out by the blow upon the lad's jaw and another 
 had been loosened. The copious bleeding of these 
 wounds gave him a startling appearance, and when 
 Amy looked up a shudder of repellent pity ran through 
 her. Then she seemed to see her mother's gentle face 
 and, conquering the aversion she felt, she pulled out 
 her handkerchief and began to wipe the discolored, ill- 
 shapen lips of the half-wit. 
 
 He submitted to the operation in amazed silence.
 
 FAIRACRES. 35 
 
 Even Mr. Metcalf had nothing to say, though he 
 watched with keen interest the outcome of this little 
 transaction. 
 
 " There. If I had some water, I could do it nicely. 
 I'm sorry you were hurt. But don't you ever strike my 
 Pepita again ! Next time she might kill you. It was 
 her only way of defending herself, for she hasn't sense 
 like you " 
 
 Regarding the imbecile face before her, Amy's sen- 
 tence ended in confusion. Nor did it add to her com- 
 fort that the unhappy fellow now began to weep in a 
 whimpering sort of way, that might have suited a 
 spoiled child of a few years. 
 
 " Why, what is it ? Do you suffer so terribly ! Oh ! 
 I am so sorry ! " 
 
 " There, my dear Miss Amy, let it pass. This is 
 only one of ' Bony's ' charming habits," said Mr. Met- 
 calf, smiling derisively. " He has rather outgrown his 
 age. Haven't you, lad ? Well, it's all right. I'm 
 sorry for you. You're sorry for yourself ; and our 
 young lady here is sorry for us both. Come. Brace 
 up. Be a man. What would the ' boys ' think of you, 
 in this uniform, crying ? Eh ! " 
 
 " Huh huh huh huh-h-h ! " responded the nat- 
 ural. 
 
 " I'm going home, Bonaparte. Good night. Thank 
 you for the leaves. Mr. Metcalf, will you tell me the 
 nearest way, please ? "
 
 36 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Amy picked up the fallen bundle of boughs, which 
 the superintendent had brought with him from the 
 yard below, and laid them upon Pepita's back. 
 
 " These have given us some trouble, but they are still 
 too beautiful to lose." 
 
 The gentleman directed her, courteously escorted her 
 through the gateway, which bore another of those pro- 
 hibitory " No Admittance " signs, and watched her walk 
 briskly away, thinking what a bright feature of the 
 landscape she made. 
 
 " Not a beautiful girl, by any means, yet one of the 
 most wholesome, honest, and engaging ones who ever 
 stepped foot within this old mill. Odd, too ! A Kaye. 
 I wonder if she will ever come again to what, if all had 
 gone as was expected, might easily have been her own 
 great property. Well, that was pretty to see : the way 
 in which she wiped the face of poor ' Bony.' The lad 
 grows sillier every day, it seems, and the ' boys ' are 
 making him worse by their nonsense. Where is he 
 now ? I'll have a talk with him and try to keep him 
 out of the parades. They are not good for him," 
 reflected Mr. Metcalf. 
 
 But the talk had to be postponed ; for there was 
 " Bony " already far along the road toward Fairacres, 
 following doggedly in Amy's footsteps, though she 
 repeatedly assured him that she could manage quite 
 well without him and preferred to be alone. 
 
 "No, I'm going," he asserted; and when she could
 
 FAIRACRES. 37 
 
 not dissuade him, she gave up trying to do so and led 
 him to talk of himself his most interesting subject. 
 So that, by the time they had come to the front of the 
 old mansion, she knew his simple history completely, 
 and her pity had almost outgrown her aversion. 
 
 " See, Cleena ! Cleena Keegan ! See what I have 
 brought ! " 
 
 The shout summoned a large woman to the door, 
 who threw up her arms with the answering cry : 
 
 " Faith, an' I thought you was lost ! Whatever has 
 kept you such gait, Miss Amy ? " 
 
 " Oh ! adventures. Truly, Cleena. Real, regular 
 adventures. See my leaves? See this lad! He got 
 them for me. He is Bonaparte Jimpson." 
 
 " An' a curious spalpeen that same," casting a sus- 
 picious glance over the youth's strange attire. 
 
 " I'm Bonaparte Lafayette Jimpson," he explained 
 gravely and, to Amy's surprise, timidly. 
 
 " The mischief, you be ! An' what's Napoleon Bony- 
 party's gineral's pleasure at Fairacres, the night ? " 
 
 " Cleena, wait. I'll tell you. Yes, you will have 
 time enough. The train isn't due till after six, and 
 they'll be a half-hour longer getting home from the 
 station. Sit you down, Goodsoul, just for one little 
 bit of minute. The scrubbing must surely be done by 
 now. Isn't it ? " 
 
 " Humph ! The scrubbin's never done in this dirty 
 world. Well, an' what is it ? Be quick with you ! "
 
 38 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Amy coaxed the old servant down upon the doorstep 
 of the freshly cleaned kitchen, whither they had now 
 gone, and speedily narrated her afternoon's experiences. 
 
 "So you see, dear old Scrubbub, that he must have a 
 fine feast of the best there is in the house. Besides," 
 and she pulled the other's ear down to her lips, " I'd 
 just like to have father see him. He isn't pretty, of 
 course, but he's new. I wonder, could he pose ? " 
 
 " Pose, is it ? " groaned Cleena, with a comical gri- 
 mace. " Pose ! Sure, it's I minds the time when the mas- 
 ter caught me diggin' petaties an' kept me standin', 
 with me foot on me spade, an' me spade in the ground, 
 an' me body this shape," bending forward, " till I got 
 such a crick in me back I couldn't walk upright, for 
 better 'n a week. Posin', indeed ! Well, he might. He 
 looks fit for naught else." 
 
 " Pooh, Cleena ! you know it's an honor. But, come 
 now, I want to put all these leaves up in the dining 
 room. Will you help me ?" 
 
 " Will I what such truck ! No, me colleen, not a 
 help helps Cleena the day." 
 
 "Oh, yes, you will. I'll bring the step ladder and 
 hand them to you, while you put them over the doors 
 and windows. We'll make the place a perfect bower of 
 cheerfulness, and if our dears, when they come Oh, 
 Cleena! they may need the cheerfulness very much." 
 
 However, it was not Amy's habit to borrow trouble, and 
 she ran lightly away, calling to the boy on the porch :
 
 FAIRACRES. 39 
 
 " I'm going to put Pepita in the stable. If you'd 
 like to see her brother, you can come with me." 
 
 " Sho ! Ain't he black ! " exclaimed " Bony," as they 
 led Pepita into the great stables and he discovered 
 Balaam. 
 
 Amid ample accommodations for a dozen horses, the 
 two burros seemed almost lost ; but they occupied 
 adjoining box-stalls which, if rather time-worn and 
 broken, were still most roomy and comfortable. 
 
 " Why, huckleberries ! It's bigger 'n the mill sheds. 
 And only them two. Will he swop ? " 
 
 As he asked this question the lad pulled from his 
 pocket a miscellaneous collection of objects, and in- 
 vitingly displayed them upon the palm of his long hand. 
 
 " No, I think not. I fancy we are not a ' swopping ' 
 family. But I must choose some name for you besides 
 that dreadful ' Bony.' Bonaparte is too long. So is 
 Lafayette. Let me see. Suppose we make it just 
 ' Fayette ' ? That is short and pleasant to speak, and 
 I like my friends to have nice names. Would you like 
 it?" 
 
 " Bully ! " 
 
 "Why why, Fayette! That doesn't sound well." 
 
 " Sho ! Don't it ? One all black an' t'other all white. 
 Hum." 
 
 " Br-r-r-ray ! Ah-umph h-umph umph mph 
 ph h-h-h ! " observed Balaam to his sister. 
 
 Fayette laughed, so noisily and uproariously that
 
 4O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 the burros brayed again ; and they kept up this amus- 
 ing concert until Amy had brought each an armful of 
 hay, and had directed her companion where to find a 
 pail and water for their drink. 
 
 Then they returned to the house and beheld Cleena 
 in the dining room, already mounted upon the step-lad- 
 der, trying to arrange the branches with more regard to 
 the saving of time than to grace. But she made to the 
 picture-seeing girl a very attractive "bit." 
 
 Indeed, Cleena Feegan was a person of sufficient 
 importance to warrant a paragraph quite to herself. 
 She was a woman of middle age, with a wealth of curl- 
 ing, iron-gray hair,, which she tucked away under a 
 plain white cap. Her figure was large and grandly 
 developed. She wore a blue print gown, carefully 
 pinned back about her hips, thus disclosing her scarlet 
 flannel petticoat ; both garments faded by time and fre- 
 quent washings to a most "artistic" hue. Upon her 
 shoulders was folded a kerchief of coarse white muslin, 
 spotlessly clean ; and as she stood, poised among the 
 glowing branches, with the dying sunset light touching 
 her honest face to unusual brightness, she was well 
 worth Amy's eager wish : 
 
 " Oh, Cleena ! That father were only here to see and 
 paint you just as you are this minute ! " 
 
 " Humph ! It's meself's glad he isn't." 
 
 " Why ! That's not nice of you, Goodsoul. Yet it's 
 a great pity that a body who is such a ' study ' in her-
 
 FAIRACRES. 4! 
 
 self can't fix those branches a bit more gracefully. 
 You're jamming the leaves all into a little mess and 
 showing the stems ! Oh, Cleena, I wonder if I can't 
 reach them." 
 
 " Truth, it's meself 's willin' you should try. Belike 
 I'd be handier at the pullin' them down nor the puttin' 
 them up." 
 
 With head erect she descended from the ladder, and 
 stood, arms akimbo, regarding the results of her labor. 
 Even to her it suggested something not " artistic," and 
 at Fairacres anything inartistic was duly frowned upon. 
 
 " Faith, it's not the way the master would do it, I see 
 that, but " 
 
 Before either she could finish her sentence or Amy 
 mount the ladder, Fayette had run to its top and stood 
 there rapidly pulling from the wall the branches Cleena 
 had arranged. Thrusting all but one between his 
 knees, he fastened that over the window-frame so 
 deftly and charmingly that Amy clapped her hands in 
 delight. 
 
 " Oh, that's lovely ! Try another and another ! " 
 
 He obeyed. His vacant face flushed with a glow of 
 enthusiasm equalling, if not exceeding her own, and 
 even Cleena spent some moments of her rarely wasted 
 time in watching him. 
 
 Her own face had again become a " study," yet of a 
 sort to provoke a smile, as her gaze roved from his 
 handiwork, over the length of his ungainly person, to
 
 4 2 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 rest upon his bare and not too cleanly feet; then trav- 
 elled slowly upward again, trying to settle once for all 
 his rightful position in the social scale. Her thought 
 might have been thus expressed: 
 
 "His foot's heathen. His head's the same. His 
 clothes they're the heathenest of all. I'd disdain 'em. 
 But, arrah musha ! The hand of him ! The master him- 
 self couldn't better them fixin's." 
 
 Then she hastened to her kitchen, and soon the appe- 
 tizing odor of a well-cooked meal was in their nostrils, 
 and the two young decorators realized that they were 
 very hungry. 
 
 " There, that will do. It is perfect. Thank you 
 ever and ever so much, Fayette." 
 
 "Shucks!" 
 
 " Now I'll light the candles. I always do when the 
 people are coming home from town. They go there 
 quite often ; at least father does, though mother hasn't 
 been before in months. The candles are terrible extrav- 
 agance, Cleena says, but they're so pretty." 
 
 Fayette carried away the step-ladder, then returned 
 to watch Amy as she set the old-fashioned candelabra 
 upon the already daintily spread table. She had bor- 
 dered the white cloth with some of the most dazzling- 
 hued leaves, and when the wax tapers threw their soft 
 radiance over the whole charming interior, poor Fayette 
 felt his weak head grow dizzy and confused by the 
 beauty of it all.
 
 FAIRACRES. 43 
 
 He dimly realized that he was in a new world, which 
 soothed and appealed to his clouded nature as did the 
 birds and the flowers. That impulse, which he could 
 neither express nor understand, which sent him so con- 
 stantly into the woods and solitudes, was gratified now. 
 This was as delightful as his favorite pastime of lying 
 upon the grass and gazing upward into the sunlit sky. 
 
 " Sho ! It's pretty. I like it. I'm glad I come. I'll 
 stay." 
 
 Amy had almost forgotten him. 
 
 "Yes, of course you'll stay till after supper. I'll 
 
 But a shadow fell across the threshold of the still 
 open door, and looking up she saw a stranger, an old 
 man of rather forbidding aspect, whose glance passed 
 swiftly from herself to the youth near the big fireplace. 
 
 There followed an instant of mutual and frowning 
 recognition between these two; then Fayette disap- 
 peared through an inner doorway, while the newcomer 
 remained at the entrance, his hat in his hand, and 
 an assumed suavity in his manner. 
 
 Yet there was still a note of anger in the tone with 
 which he observed: 
 
 " I have called upon business with Cuthbert Kaye. 
 Your father, I presume. Is he at home ? " 
 
 " Not yet. He went to the city, yesterday, with my 
 mother and brother. I expect them back on the next 
 train. Will you come in ? " 
 
 " Yes, thank you. I'll wait."
 
 44 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 He accepted the great chair Amy rolled toward him, 
 and let his gaze slowly sweep the cheerful apartment. 
 Yet he knew it by heart, already, and his face bright- 
 ened as he saw how little it had been changed since 
 these many years. Apparently not one of its quaint 
 and rich old furnishings was missing, and the passage 
 of time had but added to the remembered charm of the 
 place. Even the chair into which he sank had a famil- 
 iar feel, as if his back had long ago fitted to those 
 simple, comfortable lines. The antique candelabra 
 how often had he watched his grandmother's fingers 
 polishing them to brilliancy. 
 
 But the girl was new. The only modern thing, save 
 the freshly gathered leaves, which also seemed but a 
 memory of his childhood, to remind him of the pres- 
 ent and the errand upon which he had come. 
 
 " She's Kaye, though, to the bone. Dark, crisp hair. 
 Those short curls are like a boy's. Her eyes are the 
 Kaye eyes ; and that toss of her head, like her great- 
 grandmother come to life again. All our women had 
 it. Ah, well. If things hmm." 
 
 The visitor became absorbed in his thoughts, and his 
 wandering gaze came home to rest, seemingly, upon 
 the tips of his own boots, for he did not notice when 
 Amy disappeared and Cleena entered. 
 
 " Alanna ! But this is a smart decent piece of work, 
 now, isn't it? " 
 
 At this sudden and derisive remark the gentleman 
 looked up.
 
 FAIRACRES. 45 
 
 " Oh, ho ! You, is it ? " 
 
 " Faith an' it is. An' likin' to know what brings 
 you this gait." 
 
 " Keep a civil tongue in your head, woman. I'm 
 not to be put off this time by any false stories. Here 
 I am, and here I shall stay until I see your master." 
 
 Steadily and silently confronting one another for 
 some seconds, they measured each other's wills. The 
 unwelcome guest was not sure but that the woman 
 would lift him bodily and fling him out of doors. She 
 looked ably strong and quite minded so to do ; but, 
 after a further reflection, she appeared to change her 
 mind as well as her tone. 
 
 " Hmm yes. There's no irreverence meant. 
 Come in by, to the library yon. There's pictures to 
 see, an' books a plenty. Leave the master be, like a 
 gentleman now, as you was born, till he eats his meal 
 in peace. A body can bear trouble better on a full 
 stummick nor an empty. Come by." 
 
 To his own amazement, the caller rose and followed 
 her. He told himself he was a simpleton to have left 
 the cheery supper room and the certain presence of the 
 man he wished to see for an hour of solitary waiting 
 in an unknown place. 
 
 " Library." There had been none in his grand- 
 mother's time. But he knew it well from the out- 
 side. A detached, strong little building, of hewn 
 stone like the mansion ; one of Cuthbert Kaye's many
 
 46 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " follies." Planned with a studio on the second floor 
 above the spacious book room on the first. Well, it 
 made the property so much the more valuable. Yes, 
 after all, he would better visit it while the coast was 
 clear. 
 
 " Sure, sir, an' it's here the master do be spending 
 all his time. Here an' above. You was never in the 
 paintin' study,- now was you ? " she asked suggestively. 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Alanna ! An' you two of the same blood ! " 
 
 " Hmm yes, of course I'll go, since I'm here." 
 
 So he followed her up the graceful staircase, with its 
 softly covered steps, and into a room which rumor said 
 was worth travelling far to see ; and though thus pre- 
 pared, its half-revealed beauty astonished him. 
 
 "Well, it is a fine apartment. It must have cost a 
 power of money. And it explains many things." 
 
 " Money, says you ? It did that," echoed Cleena, 
 with a pious sigh. 
 
 " Yes, yes. I suppose so. It's rather dark, however, 
 for me to see as I would like. Isn't there a lamp here ? " 
 
 " Lamp, is it ? Askin' pardon for forgettin' me 
 manners, but it's never a lamp will the master have 
 left in this place. If one comes, indeed, 'tis himself 
 brings it. Forby, on occasion like this, I'll fetch it 
 an' take all the blame for that same. It's below. I'll 
 step down ; " and she departed hastily, leaving him 
 alone.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 HALLAM. 
 
 AS the stage from the railway station rolled up to 
 Fairacres, Amy was waiting upon the wide porch. 
 She had put on her daintiest frock, white, of course, 
 since her father liked her to wear no other sort of 
 dress ; and she had twisted sprays of scarlet woodbine 
 through her dark hair and about her shoulders. Before 
 the vehicle stopped, she called out eagerly : 
 
 " Oh ! how glad I am you're here ! It's been such a 
 long two days ! Are you all well ? Is everything right, 
 mother dearest ? Did you have a nice time ? " 
 
 The father reached her first, remarking, with a fond 
 smile : 
 
 " You make a sweet picture, daughter, with that open 
 doorway behind you, with the firelight and candlelight, 
 and Ah! did you speak, Salome?" turning toward 
 his wife. 
 
 " The man is waiting, Cuthbert. Has thee the money 
 for him ? " 
 
 Mr. Kaye fumbled in one pocket, tried another, 
 frowned, and appeared distressed. 
 
 " Never mind, dear. Hallam can attend to it." 
 47
 
 48 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 But the crippled lad had already swung himself over 
 the steps upon his crutches, and the artist remarked, 
 with a fresh annoyance : 
 
 " He must put it in the bill, Salome. Why always 
 bother with such trifles ? If one could only get away 
 from the thought and sound of money. Its sordidness 
 is the torment of one's life." 
 
 Mrs. Kaye sighed, as she paid the hackman from her 
 own purse, then followed her husband into the house. 
 
 His face had already lost all its expression of annoy- 
 ance, and now beamed with satisfaction as he regarded 
 Amy's efforts to celebrate the home-coming. 
 
 " Good child. Good little girl. Truly, very beauti- 
 ful. Why, my darling, you'll be an artist yourself some 
 day, I believe." 
 
 " The saints forbid ! " murmured a voice from the 
 further side the room, where Cleena had appeared, 
 bearing a tray of dishes. 
 
 Nobody heard the ejaculation, however, save Hallam, 
 and he didn't count, being of one and the same opinion 
 as the old serving-woman. All the lad's ambitions lay 
 toward a ceaseless activity, and the coloring of can- 
 vases attracted him less than even the meanest kind of 
 manual labor. 
 
 Nor did Amy share in her father's hope, though 
 she loved art for his sake, and she answered, with 
 conviction : 
 
 " Never such an one as you are, father dear."
 
 HALLAM. 49 
 
 But all this while the daughter's eyes had been study- 
 ing her mother's face, with the keen penetration of 
 sympathy, and the whispered advice : 
 
 " Be especially gentle with Hallam to-night, my 
 child," but confirmed the answer she had already found 
 in that careworn countenance. 
 
 Yet Hallam showed no need of consolation as he 
 sturdily stumped across the room and exclaimed, cheer- 
 fully enough : 
 
 " Fetch on the provender, Goodsoul. We're all as 
 hungry as bears. What's for us ? " 
 
 " What should be ? save the best rasher of bacon ever 
 blessed eyesight, with tea-biscuits galore. For second 
 course My ! but that pullet was a tender bird, so she 
 was. An' them east-lot petaties would fain melt in 
 your mouth, they're so hot-foot to be ate." 
 
 "The pullet? Not the little brown one you have 
 cared for yourself, Cleena ? " 
 
 " What for no ? Eat your victuals askin' no ques- 
 tions, for that's aye bad for the appetite." 
 
 Both Amy and Cleena knew, without words, that this 
 last city trip had been a failure, like so many that had 
 preceded it. Once more had the too sanguine father 
 dragged his crippled son to undergo a fresh examina- 
 tion of his well-formed though useless limbs ; and once 
 more had an adverse verdict been rendered. 
 
 This time the authority was of the highest. A Euro- 
 pean specialist, whose name was known and reverenced
 
 5O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 upon two continents, had come to New York and had 
 been consulted. Interested more than common by the 
 boy's fair face and the sweet womanliness of the mother, 
 the surgeon had given extra attention to Hallam, and his 
 decision had been as reluctantly reached as it was final. 
 
 " Only a miracle will ever enable him to walk. Yet 
 a miracle may occur, for we live in an age of them, and 
 nothing seems impossible to science. However, in all 
 mortal probability, he is as one dead below his knees. 
 My lad, take your medicine bravely and be a man in 
 spite of it all. Use your brain, thanking God for it, 
 and let the rest go." 
 
 " That's an easy thing for you to say, but it is I who 
 have to bear it ! " burst forth the unhappy boy, and was 
 at once ashamed of his rude speech, even if it in no 
 wise offended the sympathetic physician. 
 
 The return journey had been a sad and silent one, 
 though Hallam had roused at its end with the sort of 
 bravado that Amy had seen, and which deceived her no 
 more than it did any of the others; but she loyally 
 seconded his assumed cheerfulness, and after they had 
 gathered about the table, gave them a lively descrip- 
 tion of her afternoon's outing, ending with : 
 
 " For, mother dear, you hadn't said just where I 
 might or might not ride, and I'd never seen the carpet 
 mills, though I now hope to go there often ; and, 
 indeed, I think I would like to work in that busy place, 
 among all those bright, active girls."
 
 HALLAM. 51 
 
 Then her enthusiasm was promptly dashed by her 
 father's exclamation : 
 
 " Amy ! Amy Kaye ! Never again say such a thing ! 
 Let there be no more of that mill talk, not a word." 
 
 Mr. Kaye's tone was more stern than his child had 
 ever heard, and as if he recognized this he continued, 
 more gently : 
 
 "But I am interested in that silly Bonaparte. I 
 almost wish you had kept him till I came." 
 
 Amy happened to glance at Cleena, who had warned 
 her not to mention the fact of the strange gentleman 
 calling; nor had she known just when Fayette went 
 away, though she supposed he had done so after so 
 suddenly leaving the dining room. 
 
 "Why, Goodsoul, you are as beaming as if you had 
 found a treasure." 
 
 " Faith, an' I have. Try a bit of the chicken, mis- 
 tress, now do ; " and she waved the dish toward the lady, 
 with a smile that was more than cheerful. 
 
 " Well, Cleena, it's heartening to see anybody so 
 bright. The work must have gone finely to-day, and 
 thee have had plenty of time for scrubbing. No, thank 
 thee ; nothing more. Not even those delicious baked 
 apples. The best apples in the world grow on that old 
 tree by the dairy door, I believe," replied the mistress, 
 with another half-suppressed sigh. 
 
 As she rose to leave the table, she turned toward her 
 husband :
 
 52 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " I hope thee'll soon be coming upstairs, Cuthbert." 
 
 It was noticeable that Cleena paused, tray in hand, 
 to hear the answer, which was out of common, for the 
 old servant rarely presumed upon the fact that she was 
 also the confidential friend of her employers. 
 
 " Well, after a little, dear ; but, first, I must go over 
 to the studio." 
 
 " Arrah, musha, but, master ! The painting's all 
 right. What for no ? Indeed, then, it's the mistress 
 herself needs more attention this minute nor any picture 
 ever was drawed." 
 
 " Why, Cleena ! " exclaimed the lady, in surprise. 
 Such an interference had never been offered by the 
 devoted creature to the head of the house. 
 
 "Asking pardon, I'm sure; though I know I know. 
 I've lighted a fire in the sittin' room above, an' it's sure 
 for the comfort of both that yous make yourselves easy 
 the night." 
 
 "That's true, husband. Do leave the picture till 
 morning. We're all tired and needing the rest." 
 
 Always easily persuaded where physical comfort was 
 at stake, the artist acquiesced, and with his arm about 
 his wife's slender waist he gently led her from the room. 
 
 Cleena heard him murmuring tender apologies that 
 he had not before observed how utterly fatigued she 
 looked; and a whimsical smile broke on the Irish- 
 woman's face as she cleared the table and assured the 
 cups and saucers, with a vigorous disdain, that :
 
 HALLAM. 53 
 
 " Them two's no more nor a couple of childer still. 
 But, alanna ! Never a doubt I doubt there'll be trouble 
 with old Cleena when the cat leaps the bag. Well, he's 
 in it now, tied fast and tight." 
 
 Whereupon, there being nobody to see, the good 
 woman executed a sort of jig, and having thus relieved 
 her feelings departed to the kitchen, muttering : 
 
 " It wasn't for naught Miss Amy fetched a simpleton 
 home in her pocket. Sure, I scared the life clean out 
 of him, so I did, an' he'll stay where he's settled till he's 
 wanted, so long as I keep fillin' his stummick with 
 victuals like these. Will I carry a bit o' the fowl to the 
 Hb'ry will I no ? Hmm. Will I nill I ? " 
 
 Having decided, Cleena passed swiftly from the 
 house into the darkness and in the direction of the 
 distant library. 
 
 Meanwhile, up in the little chamber which had once 
 been their nursery and was still their own sitting room, 
 Amy had drawn a lounge before the grate, and, after 
 his accustomed fashion, Hallam lay upon it, while his 
 sister curled upon the rug beside him. 
 
 But she did not look at him. She rested her chin 
 in her palms and gazed at the dancing flames, as she 
 observed : 
 
 " Even a king might envy us this fire of pine cones, 
 mightn't he ? Isn't it sweet and woodsy ? and so bright. 
 I've gathered bushels and bushels of them, while you 
 were away, and we can have all the fun we want up
 
 54 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 here. So now can't you just begin and tell, Hal 
 dear ? Part of it I guess, but start as you always do : 
 ' I went from here ' and keep right on till you get 
 back again to me and this." 
 
 She purposely made her tone light, but she was not 
 surprised when her answer was a smothered sob. In- 
 deed, there was such a lump in her own throat that she 
 had to swallow twice before she could say : 
 
 " No, darling, you needn't tell one word. I know it 
 all all all ; and I can't bear it. I won't I will 
 not have it so ! " 
 
 Then she turned and buried her face in the pillow 
 beside her brother's, crying so passionately that he 
 had to become comforter himself ; and his thin fingers 
 stroked her hair until she grew ashamed of her weak- 
 ness and looked up again, trying to smile. 
 
 " Forgive me, brotherkin. I'm such a baby, and I 
 meant to be so brave ! If I could only take your lame- 
 ness on myself, and give you my own strong, active 
 legs ! " 
 
 " Don't, Amy ! Besides, how often have you said 
 that very same thing ? Yet it isn't any use. Nothing 
 is of any use. Life isn't, I fancy." 
 
 Even the vehement Amy was shocked by this, and her 
 tears stopped, instantly. 
 
 "Why, Hal!" 
 
 " Sounds wicked, doesn't it ? Well, I feel wicked. 
 I feel like, was it Job or one of his friends? that it
 
 HALLAM. 55 
 
 would be good to ' curse God and die.' Dying would 
 be so much easier than living." 
 
 The girl sprang up, clinching her brown hands, and 
 staring at her brother defiantly. 
 
 " Hallam Kaye, don't you talk like that ! Don't you 
 dare ! Suppose God heard you ? Suppose He took 
 you at your word and made you die just now, this 
 instant ? What then ? " 
 
 Hallam smiled, wanly, " I won't scare you by saying 
 what then, girlie. If He did, I suppose it would all be 
 right. Everything is right to the folks who don't 
 have to suffer the thing. Even the doctor and I liked 
 him as much as I envied him even he preached to me 
 and bade me not to mind, to ' forget.' Hmm, I wish 
 he could feel, just for one little minute, the helplessness 
 that I must feel always, eternally." 
 
 Hallam was dearer to his sister than any other human 
 being, and the despair in her idol's tone promptly 
 banished her anger against his irreverence. She went 
 down on her knees and caught away the arm with 
 which he had hidden his face, kissing him again and 
 again. 
 
 " Oh ! there will be some way out of this misery, 
 laddie. There must be. It wouldn't be right, that 
 anybody as clever and splendid as you should be left 
 a cripple for life. I won't believe it. I won't ! " 
 
 " How like father you are ! " 
 
 Amy's head tossed slightly, and a faint protest came
 
 $6 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 into her eyes, but was banished as soon because of its 
 disloyalty. 
 
 " Am I ? In what way ? and why shouldn't I be ? " 
 
 " You never know when you're down nor why you 
 shouldn't have all that you want." 
 
 " Isn't it a good thing ? Would it help to go moping 
 and unbelieving ? " 
 
 "I suppose not. Anyway, it makes things easier 
 for you and him, and so, maybe, for the rest of us." 
 
 The sister dropped back into her favorite attitude 
 upon the rug and regarded her brother curiously. 
 
 " Hal, you're as queer as can be, to-night. Seems 
 as if there was something the matter with you, beyond 
 what that know-nothing doctor said. Isn't there ? " 
 
 " Don't call the poor man hard names, girlie. He 
 was fine, and I was impertinent enough for the whole 
 family. Only, I reckon he was too high up to feel any- 
 thing we could say. But there is something. Some- 
 thing I must tell you, and I don't know how to begin. 
 Promise that you won't get into a tantrum, or run and 
 disturb the little mother about it." 
 
 " Hallam Kaye ! Do I ever ? " 
 
 " Hmm ! Sometimes. Don't you ? Never mind. 
 Sit closer, dear, and let me get hold of your hand. 
 Then you'll understand why I am so bitter ; why this 
 disappointment about my lameness is so much worse 
 than any that has gone before. And I've been dis- 
 appointed often enough, conscience knows."
 
 HALL AM. 57 
 
 Amy crept up and snuggled her dark head against 
 Hallam's fair one, remarking, with emphasis : 
 
 " Now I'm all ready. I'll be as still as a mouse, and 
 not interrupt you once. What other dreadful trouble has 
 come ? Is it a grocery bill, or Clafflin's for artists' stuff ? " 
 
 " Something far worse than that." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "Did you ever think we might have might have 
 oh, Amy! I can't tell you 'gently,' as mother bade 
 all it is well, we've got to go away from Fairacres. 
 If s not ours any longer" 
 
 "Wh-a-at?" cried the girl, springing up, or striving 
 to do so, though Hallam's hold upon her fingers drew 
 her down again. 
 
 " I don't wonder you're amazed. I was, too, at first. 
 Now I simply wonder how we have kept the place so 
 long." 
 
 " Why isn't it ours ? Whose is it ? " 
 
 " It belongs to a cousin of mother's, Archibald Win- 
 gate. Did you ever hear of him ? " 
 
 " Never. How can it ? " 
 
 "I hardly understand myself, though mother's law- 
 yer tried to explain. It's something about indorsing 
 notes and mortgages and things. Big boy as I am, I 
 know no more about business than you do." 
 
 " Thanks, truly. But I do know. I attended to the 
 marketing yesterday when the wagon came. Cleena 
 said that I did very well."
 
 $8 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Glad of it. You'll have a chance to exercise your 
 talents in that line." 
 
 " But, Hal, mother will never let anybody take away 
 our home. How could she ? What would father do 
 without his studio that he had built expressly after his 
 own plan ? or we without all this ? " sweeping her arm 
 about to indicate the cosiness of their own room. 
 
 " Mother can't help herself, dear. She was rich 
 once, but she's desperately poor now." 
 
 " I knew there was trouble about money, of course. 
 There never seems to be quite enough, but that's been 
 so since I can remember. Why shouldn't we go on 
 just as we have ? What does this cousin of our mother's 
 want of the place, anyway ? " 
 
 " I don't know. I don't know him. I hate him 
 unseen." 
 
 " So do I. Still, if he's a cousin, he should be fond 
 of mother, and not bother." 
 
 "Amy, we're all a set of simpletons, I guess, as a 
 family, and in relation to practical matters." 
 
 " ' Speak for yourself, John.' " 
 
 " That isn't all. There's something something 
 wrong with father." 
 
 "Hallam Kaye ! Now I do believe you're out of 
 your head. I was afraid you were, you've talked and 
 acted so queerly. I'm going for Cleena. Is your face 
 hot ? Do you ache more than usual ? " 
 
 " Don't be silly. I'm as right as I ever shall be.
 
 HALLAM. 59 
 
 Listen. I found it all out in the city. Father had 
 gone to some exhibition, and mother and I were wait- 
 ing for the time to go to the doctor. A gentleman 
 called, and I never saw anybody look so frightened 
 and ill as mother did when she received him, though 
 I knew it wasn't about me. She hadn't hoped for 
 anything better in that line. She called the man 
 ' Friend Howard Corson,' and he was very courteous 
 to her; but all of a sudden she cried out: 
 
 " ' Don't tell me that the end has come ! I can't 
 bear both sorrows in one day ! ' And then she looked 
 across at me. I smiled as bravely as I could, and, 
 Amy, I believe our mother is the very most beautiful 
 woman in this world." 
 
 " Why, of course ; and father's the handsomest man." 
 
 " Certainly," agreed the lad, with rather more haste 
 than conviction. 
 
 "Well, what next?" 
 
 Before the answer could be given, there burst upon 
 their ears an uproarious clamor of angry voices, such 
 as neither had ever heard at Fairacres ; and Amy 
 sprang up in wild alarm, while Hallam groped blindly 
 for the crutches he had tossed aside.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A KINSMAN OF THE HOUSE. 
 
 " IT'S from the library ! " reported Amy, who had 
 
 1 first reached and opened the window. " I can't 
 make out anything except yes, it is! That's Fay- 
 ette's voice. Hear that croak ? " 
 
 " The foolish boy ? Here yet ? " 
 
 " So it seems. I'll go and find out." 
 
 " Wait. That's Cleena talking now, and another 
 voice, a man's. What can it all mean ? " 
 
 Amy ran down the stairs and out of the house so 
 swiftly that she did not observe her father following 
 with almost equal haste. Behind him sped Mrs. Kaye, 
 far more anxious concerning her husband than the 
 noise outside. 
 
 " Slowly, Cuthbert. Please do take care. Thee 
 must not hurry so, and I hear Cleena. She'll look out 
 for everything. For my sake, don't run." 
 
 Hallam upon his crutches came last of all, and for 
 a moment the entire family stood in silent wonder at 
 the scene before them. 
 
 Two men were wrestling like angry schoolboys ; and 
 the light from a lantern in Cleena' s hand fell over them 
 60
 
 A KINSMAN OF THE HOUSE. 6 1 
 
 and showed the distorted face of " Bony " in one of his 
 wildest rages. His contestant was gray haired and 
 stout, and was evidently getting the worst of the 
 struggle. The library door was open, and it seemed 
 as if the half-wit were trying to force the other back- 
 ward into the building. 
 
 One glance revealed something of the situation to 
 Mrs. Kaye, and, as the wrestlers paused for breath, 
 she moved forward and laid her hand upon the old 
 man's arm. 
 
 " Archibald, what does this mean ? " 
 
 The low voice acted like magic. Fayette slunk 
 away, ashamed, and the other paused to recover him- 
 self. But his anger soon returned and was now 
 directed against the astonished woman herself. 
 
 " Mean ! mean ? That's for you to say. Since 
 when has a Kaye stooped to the pettiness of locking 
 up an unwelcome visitor like a rat in a trap ? A pretty 
 greeting and meeting, Cuthbert, after all these years ! " 
 he cried, turning next toward the artist, with indignant 
 contempt. 
 
 But the object of his wrath scarcely heard what he 
 said. His own eyes were fixed upon the ruined panel 
 of his beautiful library door, and he caught up the 
 lantern and peered anxiously to learn the extent of the 
 disaster. 
 
 The wife again answered, as if speaking for both : 
 
 " Archibald, no. Whatever indignity thee has suf-
 
 62 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 fered, none of thy kin know anything about it or could 
 be parties to it. Thy own heart must tell thee that ; 
 and now explain what it all means." 
 
 At the old familiar speech, the man's expression 
 altered, and when he replied it was in a far gentler 
 tone. 
 
 " I came to see Cuthbert ; for the thousandth time, 
 isn't it ? Failing him again, though I didn't mean to 
 fail, I had to talk with thee," his voice tripping 
 slightly over the pronoun, "and that virago brought 
 me here to wait. Then she locked me up and set this 
 idiot to watch. There are no windows to get out of 
 from above, nothing but that skylight, so I finally 
 forced the door at the foot ,of the stairs, and then again 
 this. Here was that ruffian, armed with a cudgel, and 
 the rest thee knows." 
 
 " I am very sorry, cousin. I can but apologize for 
 what I would never have permitted had I known," and 
 the mistress's gaze rested upon Cleena most reproach- 
 fully. 
 
 Yet that bold-spirited creature was in no wise dis- 
 turbed, and replied, with great enjoyment: 
 
 "Sure, mistress, I did but do what I'd do again, 
 come same chance. What for no ? If it wasn't for 
 him, yon, there'd be peace an' plenty at Fairacres the 
 now. Faith, I harmed him none." 
 
 "Cleena!" 
 
 "Askin' pardon if I overstepped me aut'ority, mis-
 
 A KINSMAN Of THE HOUSE. 63 
 
 tress. Come, Gineral Bonyparty, I'm surmisin' you an' 
 me better be fixin' things up whiles the family goes 
 home to their beds." 
 
 Just then Mr. Kaye's silent examination of the injury 
 done his beloved studio came to an end. He set down 
 the lighted lantern with the ultra caution of one who 
 dreads fire above all accidents, and turned toward his 
 wife. However, he took but few steps forward before 
 he paused, staggered, and would have fallen had not 
 the ill-treated visitor sprung to his aid, to be himself 
 pushed aside, while Cleena caught up her master and 
 strode off toward the house, as if she were but carry- 
 ing an overgrown child in her strong arms. Indeed, 
 the artist's weight was painfully light, nor was this 
 the first time that Cleena's strength had thus served 
 his need; though this fact not even Hallam nor Amy 
 knew. 
 
 The wife hurried after her fainting husband, and 
 Amy started also ; then reflected that it was she who 
 had brought Fayette to the house, and was, in a 
 measure, responsible for what had since happened 
 there. 
 
 But the lad gave her time for neither reproof nor 
 question, as he eagerly exclaimed : 
 
 " 'Twa'n't none o' my doin's. She made me. She 
 told me to set here an' keep Mr. Wingate in, an' if he 
 broke out I wasn't to let him. I don't know what for. 
 I didn't ask questions. 'Twa'n't none o' my business,
 
 64 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 anyway. So I was just trying to jab him back. She 
 fed me first rate. Say, is that your brother ? " 
 
 " Yes. Oh, Hal ! what shall we do ? " 
 
 " You run to the house and see if mother wants any- 
 body to go for the doctor, while I try to help this boy 
 stop up the doorway. It's going to rain, and it would 
 break father's heart if anything here were harmed." 
 
 A curious smile crossed the stranger's face, but he 
 advanced to lend his aid to the lad, Fayette, and suc- 
 ceeded in getting the parts of the door so far into place 
 that they would prevent any damage by rain, except in 
 case of severe storm. The broken lock was, of course, 
 useless, and as the mill lad saw the cripple fingering it, 
 he remarked : 
 
 "You needn't be scared. I'll stay an' watch. I 
 won't march to-night. Oh, I can do it all right. I 
 often stay with the watchmen round the mill, an' I've 
 got a good muscle, if anybody wants to tackle it," 
 with which he glared invitingly toward the late 
 prisoner. 
 
 A protesting groan was the only reply ; and the lad 
 received this with a snort of disdain. 
 
 " Druther let old scores rest, had ye ? All right. 
 Suits me well enough now, but I ain't forgot the lickin's 
 you've given me, an' I ain't goin' to forget, neither." 
 
 Fayette's look was again so vindictive that Hallam 
 interposed, fearing another battle between these unin- 
 vited guests.
 
 A KINSMAN Of THE HOUSE. 6$ 
 
 " Well, I wish you would watch here for a while. As 
 soon as Cleena can be spared, she shall bring you a 
 blanket. And anyway, if you'll keep everything safe, 
 I'll try to find something to pay you for your trouble." 
 
 " Hmm, I'd take your donkey an' give back con- 
 siderable to boot." 
 
 " My donkey ? Balaam ? Well, I guess not." 
 
 " I could do it. I could, first rate. I've got money. 
 It's in the savings bank. ' Supe ' put it in for me." 
 
 " I couldn't think of it, not for a second. Mr. Win- 
 gate is it? " 
 
 " Archibald Wingate, and your kinsman, young sir." 
 
 " So I heard my mother say. She would wish you to 
 come to the house with me, and we'll try to make you 
 comfortable. I must go I am wild to know what is 
 wrong with my father." 
 
 " We will, at once," answered the other, coldly. 
 "Your father was always weak was never very 
 rugged, and he hasn't lived in a way to make himself 
 more robust. A man's place is in the open ; not penned 
 like a woman behind closed doors and windows." 
 
 " Beg pardon, but you are speaking of my father." 
 
 "Exactly, and of my cousin. Oh, I've known him 
 since we sat together under our grandmother's table, 
 munching gingerbread cakes. Ah, she was a famous 
 cook, else the flavor of a bit of dough wouldn't last that 
 long." 
 
 "I've heard of my great-grandmother's talent for
 
 66 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 cookery. Father and mother often speak of it, and 
 some of her old recipes are in use in our kitchen 
 to-day." 
 
 Mr. Wingate had kept an even pace with Hallam's 
 eager swings upon his crutches, and they were speedily 
 at the old house door, with a kindly feeling toward one 
 another springing into life within the heart of each ; 
 though but a little while before Hallam had exclaimed 
 to Amy, in all sincerity, " I hate him unseen." 
 
 With the ready trustfulness of youth, Hallam began 
 to think his mother's and the lawyer's words had not 
 meant literally what they expressed. 
 
 On Mr. Wingate's side, the sight of Hallam's physi- 
 cal infirmity had roused regret at the action he must 
 take. Up till this meeting he had lived with but one 
 object in view the possession of Fairacres ; nor did 
 he now waver in his determination. There had simply 
 entered into the matter a sentiment of compassion 
 which was a surprise to himself, and which he banished 
 as completely as he could. 
 
 Amy met them at the door with the gratifying 
 report : 
 
 " Father is about all right again. It was a sudden 
 faint. Cleena says that he has had them before, but 
 that mother had not wished us told. There is no need 
 of a doctor, and Cleena is to get the west chamber 
 ready for Mr. Wingate to sleep in. I'm to freshen the 
 fire and here is mother herself."
 
 A KINSMAN OF THE HOUSE. 67 
 
 The house mistress came toward them, vial and 
 glass in hand, on her way back to the sick-room. The 
 hall was dimly lighted, and as she turned at the stair's 
 foot and passed upward, with that soft gliding motion 
 peculiar to herself, she seemed to the entering guest 
 like a sad-faced ghost of a girl he had known. Half- 
 way up she paused upon the landing and smiled down 
 upon them ; and the serenity of that smile made the 
 hard facts of the case illness, poverty, and home- 
 breaking seem even more unreal than anything else 
 could have done. 
 
 Amy looked into Mr. Wingate's eyes, which were 
 fixed upon their mother. " Isn't she like the Madonna ? 
 Father has so often painted her as such." 
 
 " Yes hmm. He ought to. A Madonna of 
 Way and Means. Say, little girl, you are bright 
 enough, but you act a good deal younger than your 
 years. How happens it you've never learned to look 
 after your father yourself, and so spare your mother ? 
 Can you do anything useful ? " 
 
 "That depends. I can arrange father's palette, 
 and crack his eggs just right, and buy things when 
 there's money," she finished naively. 
 
 "It all seems 'father.' What about your mother? 
 What can you do, or have you done, to help her, eh ? " 
 
 Amy flushed. She thought this sort of cross-ques- 
 tioning very rude and uncalled for. As soon as she 
 had heard this man's name she had realized that it
 
 68 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 must be he of whom Hallam had spoken, and whom 
 she, also, had decided she " hated unseen. " But, in 
 truth, hatred was a feeling of which the carefully 
 sheltered girl knew absolutely nothing, though it came 
 very near entering her heart at that instant when the 
 shrewd, penetrating gaze of her kinsman forced her 
 to answer his question. 
 
 " Why nothing, I'm afraid. Only to love her." 
 
 "Hmm. Well, you'll have to add a bit of practical 
 aid to the loving, I guess, if you want to keep her with 
 you. She looks as if the wind might blow her away 
 if she got caught out in it. Now, good night. You 
 and your brother can go. I'll sit here till that saucy 
 Irishwoman gets my room ready. Take care ! If you 
 don't mind where you're going, you'll drop sperm on 
 the rug, tipping that candlestick so ! " 
 
 Hallam had been standing, leaning against the 
 newel post, with his own too ready temper flaming 
 within him. But there was one tenet in the Kaye 
 household which had been held to rigidly by all its 
 members : the guest within the house was sacred from 
 any discourteous word or deed. Else the boy felt he 
 should have given his new-found relative what Cleena 
 called "a good pie-shaped piece of his mind." 
 
 He had to wait a moment before he could say " good 
 night" in a decent tone of voice, then swung up the 
 staircase in the direction of his mother's room. 
 
 Amy was too much astonished to say even thus much.
 
 TAKE CARE I YOU'LL DROP SPERM ON THE RUG, TIPPING THAT 
 CANDLESTICK SOI"'
 
 A KINSMAN OF THE HOUSE. 69 
 
 She righted the candlestick, amazed at the interest in 
 rugs which Mr. Wingate displayed, and followed her 
 brother very slowly, like one entering a dark passage 
 wherein she might go astray. 
 
 She stopped where Hallam had, before their mother's 
 door, which was so rarely closed against them. Even 
 now, as she heard her children whispering behind the 
 panel, Mrs. Kaye came out and gave them each their 
 accustomed caress ; then bade them get straight to bed, 
 for she would be having a long talk with them in the 
 morning, and she wanted them to be "as bright as 
 daisies," to understand it. 
 
 " Mother, that man ! He he's so dreadful ! He 
 scolded me about the candlestick, and and you and 
 he made me feel like a great baby." 
 
 " I wish he might have waited ; but, no matter. 
 Good night." 
 
 It was a very confused and troubled Amy who crept 
 into bed a little while afterward, and she meant to lie 
 awake and think everything out straight, but she was 
 too sound and healthy to give up slumber for any such 
 purpose, and in a few minutes she was asleep.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SETTLEMENTS. 
 
 ON the following morning the guest was the first 
 person astir at Fairacres, not even excepting 
 Cleena, who rose with the birds ; and when she opened 
 her kitchen door, the sight of him pacing the grass- 
 grown driveway did not tend to put her in good humor. 
 
 But there was little danger of her breaking bounds 
 again, in the matter of behavior. A short talk had 
 passed between her mistress and herself, before they 
 bade each other good night, that had not left the too 
 devoted servant very proud of her overzeal ; and she now 
 turned to her stove to rattle off her indignation among 
 its lids and grates. But she kept " speakin' with her- 
 self," after her odd fashion, and her tone was neither 
 humble nor flattering. 
 
 " Arrah musha ! The impidence of him ! Hasn't 
 he decency to wait till all's over 'fore he struts about 
 that gait? But, faith, an' I'll show him one thing: 
 that's as good a breakfast as ever he got in the old 
 lady's time, as one hears so much tell of." 
 
 Whereupon, with this praiseworthy ambition, a calm 
 70
 
 SETTLEMENTS. /I 
 
 fell upon poor Cleena's troubled spirit, and when, a 
 couple of hours later, the family assembled in the 
 dining room, everybody was astonished at the feast 
 prepared ; while all but the stranger knew that a week's 
 rations had been mortgaged to furnish that one meal. 
 However, nobody made any comment, though Mr. 
 Wingate found in this show of luxury another expla- 
 nation of the Kayes' financial straits. 
 
 " Cuthbert will not be down this morning, Archibald. 
 I hope thee rested well. Hallam, will thee take thy 
 father's place ? " 
 
 Mrs. Kaye's manner, as she greeted her kinsman, 
 betrayed little of what must have been her real feeling 
 toward him, nor had her children ever seen her more 
 composed and gentle, though Hallam noticed that she 
 was paler than ever, and that her eyes were dull, as if 
 she had not slept 
 
 " It's going to be a miserable day outside," remarked 
 the guest, a little stiffly. 
 
 " Inside, too, I fancy," answered Amy. " I hate 
 undecided things. I like either a cheerful downpour 
 or else sunshine. I think wobbly weather is as bad as 
 wobbly folks trying to a body's temper." 
 
 Mr. Wingate laughed, though rather harshly. Amy 
 was already his favorite in that household, and he 
 reflected that under different circumstances than those 
 which brought him to Fairacres, he would have found 
 her very interesting.
 
 72 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " The weather should not be allowed to affect one's 
 spirits," said Mrs. Kaye. 
 
 " No, mother ; I suppose not. Yet, it was so pretty 
 here, last night ; and now the leaves over the windows 
 are all shrivelled up, while this border on the tablecloth 
 is as crooked as can be. It all has such an afterward 
 sort of look. Ah, it is raining, good and fast." 
 
 Mrs. Kaye excused herself and went to look out toward 
 the library. The wind was howling in that direction, 
 and she exclaimed, anxiously : 
 
 " Cleena, go at once and see if it is doing any harm 
 out there ! That broken door and window put some- 
 thing against them, if it is." 
 
 " I don't think there's any danger of harm. I've sent 
 for a carpenter more than an hour ago," observed Mr. 
 Wingate. 
 
 "Thee?" 
 
 For a moment there was a flash in the matron's eyes, 
 but she did not remark further, though Hallam took up 
 her cause with the words : 
 
 " I suppose you meant it for kindness, but my father 
 does not allow any one to interfere with that place. 
 Even if it rained in, I think he would rather give his 
 own orders." 
 
 " Probably," answered the guest, dryly, while Cleena 
 deposited a dish of steaming waffles upon the table with 
 such vigor as to set them all bouncing. 
 
 "Sure, mistress, you'll be takin' a few of these, why
 
 SETTLEMENTS. 73 
 
 not. I never turned me finer, an' that honey's the last 
 of the lot, three times strained, too, an' you please." 
 
 "Waffles, Cleena? Did thee take some up to the 
 master? I am sure he would enjoy them." 
 
 "Indeed, I did that. Would I forget? So eat, to 
 please Cleena, and to be strong for what comes." 
 
 Even Mrs. Kaye's indifference was not proof against 
 the tempting delicacy, and doubtless the food did give 
 her strength the better to go through a trying inter- 
 view. For immediately breakfast was over, she rose, 
 and, inviting the visitor into the old parlor, bade her 
 children join them. 
 
 "What our cousin Archibald has to say concerns us 
 all. I leave it to him to tell the whole story," and 
 she sat down with Amy snuggled beside her, while Hal- 
 lam stood upon his crutches at her back. 
 
 Somehow, Mr. Wingate found it a little difficult to 
 begin, and after several attempts he put the plain ques- 
 tion abruptly : 
 
 " When can you leave, Salome ? " 
 
 She caught her breath, and Amy felt the arm about 
 her waist grow rigid, but she answered by another 
 question : 
 
 " Must thee really turn us out, Archibald ? " 
 
 The plain, affectionate "thee" touched him, yet for 
 that reason he settled himself all the more firmly in his 
 decision. 
 
 " What has to be done would better be done at once.
 
 74 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 It is a long time, Salome, since I have had any recom- 
 pense for the use of this my property " 
 
 " Your property ? " cried Hallam. 
 
 " Yes, mine. Mine it should have been by lawful 
 inheritance, save for a rank injustice and favoritism. 
 Mine it is now, by right of actual purchase, the pur- 
 chase of my own ! Your mother seems to desire that 
 you should at last learn the whole truth, and I assure 
 you that I have advanced more than twice the money 
 required to buy this place, even at an "inflated market 
 value. So, lad, don't get angry or indignant. I make 
 no statements that I cannot prove, nor can your parents 
 deny that I notified them to vacate these premises more 
 than two years ago." 
 
 " Mother, is that so ? " 
 
 " Yes, Hallam." 
 
 " Why didn't we go, then ? " 
 
 " Our cousin had a heart and did not force us." 
 
 " Why do you now, sir ? " 
 
 " Because I'm tired of waiting. The case grows 
 worse each day. I'm sick of throwing good money 
 after bad, while, all the time, such folly as is yonder 
 goes on," pointing toward the distant studio. " One 
 man is as good to labor as another. Cuthbert Kaye 
 has had money all his life ; my money, of which I was 
 defrauded " 
 
 "Archibald! Beg pardon, but that is not so." 
 
 " But it is so, Salome. If you have been hoodwinked
 
 SETTLEMENTS. 75 
 
 and believed false tales, it is time these youngsters 
 learned the facts. They are Kayes, like you and me. 
 It is honest blood, mostly, that runs in all our veins. 
 Well then, the life they are living is not an honest life. 
 No man has a right to more than he can pay for. Can 
 Cuthbert " 
 
 " Archibald, thee shall leave him out of the ques- 
 tion ! " cried the wife, roused from her firm self-control. 
 There was something so appealing in her tone that her 
 children watched her in alarm. 
 
 "Very well. So be it. Since he is not man enough 
 to stand by you in the trouble he has brought upon 
 you 
 
 "If thee continues, we will leave the room." 
 
 " Why haven't I been able ever to meet him then ? 
 Why has he always thrust you between himself and 
 me ? If he thought because you were a woman I would 
 forever put off the day of judgment, he has for once 
 reckoned without his host. I tell you the end has come." 
 
 Mrs. Kaye sank back in her chair, trembling ; but still 
 her lips were closed until the angry guest had finished 
 his speech and had walked off some of his excitement 
 in a hasty pacing of the long room. At length he 
 paused before her and said, more quietly : 
 
 "There is no need of our having recourse to legal 
 force. You should leave without being put out. That 
 is why I came, to arrange it all to your satisfaction. 
 You are a good woman, Salome, as good as any of
 
 76 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 your race before you, and just as big a simpleton when 
 your affections are touched. A little more firmness on 
 your part, a little less devotee sort of worship of a " 
 
 " Archibald, remember thee is speaking of what does 
 not concern thee. There is no need for rudeness, nor, 
 indeed, ' legal ' violence. Had I understood, two years 
 ago, that thee needed needed this old home for thy- 
 self, I would have left it then. It has, of course, been to 
 our advantage to occupy it, but it has also been to thine. 
 An empty house goes swift to ruin. Everything here 
 has been well cared for, as things held in trust should 
 be. We will leave here as soon as I can find a house 
 somewhere to shelter us." 
 
 Mrs. Kaye rose, as if to terminate the interview ; but 
 Mr. Wingate cleared his throat and lifted his hand as 
 if he had something further to say. 
 
 " I suppose you have thought about this many times, 
 Salome. What are your plans ? " 
 
 " They are not definite. House-hunting is the first, I 
 suppose, since we cannot do without a roof to cover us." 
 
 " How I can't forget that we are kinsfolk, Salome 
 how do you propose to live ? I am a plain business 
 man, as practical as I mean, use common sense. 
 There are few houses to rent in this out-of-the-way 
 town, where everybody, except the mill folks, owns his 
 own home, and even some of them do. I've come into 
 possession of a house which might suit you ' Hard- 
 scrabble.' I'll let you have it cheap."
 
 SETTLEMENTS. 77 
 
 " ' Hardscrabble ' ! The ' Spite House ' ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Oh, Archibald ! " 
 
 " Exactly. I knew how it would strike you. We 
 both know the story of the place, but our grandfather's 
 enemy took good care to make his tenement comfortable 
 inside, even if it was ugly as sin outside." 
 
 For a while Mrs. Kaye remained silent, debating with 
 herself. Very soon she was able to look up and smile 
 gratefully. 
 
 " Thee knows as well as I what a stab thee has 
 given my pride, Archibald; but there is that saving 
 ' common sense ' in the offer, and love is stronger than 
 pride. Tell me what rent thee will ask, and I will take 
 the place if I can." 
 
 "Ten dollars a month." 
 
 The prompt, strictly business-like answer fairly star- 
 tled its hearer. Then she smiled again. 
 
 " I have never lived anywhere save at Fairacres, thee 
 knows. I must trust thee in the matter. I have no 
 definite ideas about the values of houses, but I think I 
 can pay that. I must. There is nowhere else to go. 
 Yes, I will take it." 
 
 " It's dirt cheap, Salome. You will never think 
 kindly of me, of course, but I'm dealing squarely, even 
 generously by you. If 'thee'd,'" for the second time 
 he dropped into the speech of his childhood, which his 
 cousin Salome had always retained, and she was quick
 
 78 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 to observe this, " if thee had trusted me years ago, 
 things might have gone better with us both. When 
 will thee move ? " 
 
 " To-day." 
 
 " To-day ? There's no need for quite such haste." 
 
 "Thee said 'the sooner the better,' and I agree. 
 Get the lease ready as soon as possible, and I will sign 
 it. I've only one thing to ask about that : please don't 
 have the name put as either ' Hardscrabble ' or ' Spite 
 House.' I'd like it called ' Charity House.' " 
 
 " Upon my word, Salome, you're the queerest mixture 
 of business and sentiment that I ever met. You're as 
 fanciful as a girl, still. But the name doesn't matter. 
 Call the place ' Faith ' and ' Hope ' as well as ' Charity,' 
 if you wish, after you get there ; but I won't alter the 
 lease which I brought along with me last night." 
 
 " Brought already, Archibald ? Thee expected me 
 to go to that place, then ? " 
 
 " Under the circumstances, Salome, and, as you've 
 just admitted, I didn't see what else you could do. I've 
 sent ' Bony ' into the village for my lawyer, because I 
 want you should have things all straight. He'll witness 
 our signatures to the lease, and if you'll pick out such 
 furniture as you most especially care to have, I'll try 
 to spare it, though the mortgage covers all." 
 
 But the speaker's glance moved so reluctantly and 
 covetously over the antique plenishing that Mrs. Kaye 
 promptly relieved his anxiety.
 
 SETTLEMENTS. 79 
 
 " It would be a pity to disturb these old, beloved 
 things in their appropriate places " 
 
 "You're right," interrupted the gentleman. "I've a 
 better notion than that. I'll leave whatever is in ' Spite 
 House ' for your use, and not break up Fairacres at all." 
 
 " Is it still furnished, then ? " 
 
 "Yes, according to old Ingraham's ideas for hard 
 use and no nonsense. He had a big family and noth- 
 ing much but his temper to keep it on. However, if 
 there's anything actually needed, I suppose I could 
 advance a trifle more. It would be for your sake, only, 
 Salome." 
 
 " Thank thee, but I hope not to run further into thy 
 debt, Archibald, save in case of direst need. And do 
 not think but that I fully understand and appreciate all 
 the kindness which has permitted us to stay at Fairacres 
 so long. In some things, as thee will one day discover, 
 thee has mistaken and misjudged us ; but in one thing 
 I have understood and sympathized with thee, always, 
 and with all my heart: the passionate love which a 
 Kaye must feel for his home and all this." 
 
 There was pathos and dignity in the quiet gesture 
 which Salome Kaye swept over the apartment that had 
 been her own for all her life ; but there was also cour- 
 age and determination in her bearing as she walked out 
 of it, leaning lightly upon Amy's shoulder, and with 
 Hallam limping beside her. Somehow, too, Archibald 
 Wingate did not feel quite as jubilant and successful as
 
 80 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 he had anticipated, and he welcomed, as an agreeable 
 diversion, the approach of a buggy, conveying his friend, 
 Lawyer Smith, to witness the lease and to give any need- 
 ful advice in the matter. 
 
 " Hello, Smith. Quite a rainy day, isn't it ? I've been 
 studying that row of old pines and spruces. How do 
 you think the avenue'd look if I was to have 'em trimmed 
 up, say about as high as your head, from the ground ? 
 Give a better view of the old Ardsley Valley, wouldn't 
 it ? " 
 
 The lawyer stepped down from his vehicle, backward 
 and cautiously, then turned, screwed up his eyes, and 
 replied deliberately : 
 
 " Well, it might ; and then again it mightn't. It's 
 taken a good many years for those branches to grow, 
 and once they're off they can't be put back again. If 
 I was in your place, I'd rather let things slide easy for 
 a spell; then go as you please. Have you come to a 
 settlement ? Will they quit without lawing ? " 
 
 " Yes, they'll quit at once. Say, woman ! You, 
 Cleena, bring me a hatchet, will you ? I'll just lop 
 off a little limb on one side, and see the effect. Hurry 
 up!" 
 
 "Faith, I'll fetch it!" responded Cleena, loudly. 
 But when she did so, she advanced with such a men- 
 acing gesture upon the new proprietor of her old home 
 that he shrank back, doubtful of her intent. " Ain't it 
 enough to break hearts, without breakin' the helpless
 
 SETTLEMENTS. 8 1 
 
 trees your own forebears planted long by ? Aha, my 
 fine gineral, so you're bad penny back again? Well, 
 then, you're the handle o' time. By the way you 
 tacked up them boughs, you'll be clever at packin'. 
 Come by. I'll give ye a job." 
 
 Thus, partly to Lawyer Smith's caution and partly to 
 Cleena's indignation, the fine evergreens of Fairacres 
 owed the fact that they, for the time being, escaped 
 mutilation.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE " SPITE HOUSE " OF BAREACRE. 
 
 BY nightfall' it was all over ; and Cleena, Hallam, 
 and Amy, with their self-constituted bodyguard, 
 Fayette, were gathered about a big table in the kitchen 
 of the " Spite House," to eat a supper of bread and 
 milk, and to discuss the events of that memorable day. 
 Strangely enough, as Amy thought, none of them real- 
 ized anything clearly except the facts of fatigue and 
 hunger. 
 
 " Arrah musha ! but the face of that lawyer body, 
 when I tells him I was takin' the loan of his bit buggy 
 wagon for the master an' mistress to ride to Burnside 
 the morn, an' how as old Adam would sure send it back 
 by a farm-hand, which he did that same. An' them 
 two goin' off so quiet, even smilin", as if But there, 
 there ! Have some more milk, Master Hal. It's like 
 cream itself, so 'tis ; an' that neighbor woman in the 
 cottage yon is that friendly she'd be givin' me three 
 pints to the quart if I'd leave her be." 
 
 " Well, dear old Adam will be glad to see them on 
 any terms, he is so fond of father and mother. But 
 82
 
 THE " SPITE HOUSE " OF BAREACRE. 83 
 
 knowing they're in such trouble, he'll have the best of 
 everything for them to-night." 
 
 " Yes, Adam Burns is as likely as any man creature 
 can be, which I've never been bothered with meself, 
 me guardian angel be praised." 
 
 " Well, Cleena, I've seen you work hard before, but 
 you did as much as ten Cleenas in one to-day." 
 
 The good woman sighed, then laughed outright. 
 " It's been a hard row for that wicked body to hoe." 
 
 " Who, Cleena ? " 
 
 " That sweet, decent kinsman o' your own. Was 
 many an odd bit o' stuff went into the van 't he never 
 meant should go there. The face of him when I went 
 trampin' up the libr'y stairs, an' caught him watchin' 
 Master Hallam packing the paint trash that he'd 
 allowed the master might have. ' Take anything you 
 want here, my boy,' says he. So, seein' Master Hal 
 was working dainty an' slow, I just sweeps me arm over 
 the whole business; an' I'm thinkin" there'll be 'tubes' 
 a plenty for all the pictures master'll ever paint In a 
 fine heap, though, an' that must be your job, Master 
 Hal, come to-morrow, to put them all tidy, as 'tis himself 
 likes." 
 
 ."I'll be glad to do it, Cleena; but in which of these 
 old rooms am I to sleep? " 
 
 Cleena had taken a rapid survey of the dusty, musty 
 bedchambers, and her cleanly soul revolted against her 
 " childer " using any of them in their present condition.
 
 84 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 So for Amy she had put Mrs. Kaye's own mattress on 
 the floor of what might be a parlor, and spread it with 
 clean sheets ; for Hallam there was in another place his 
 father's easy lounge ; and for herself and Fayette, who 
 insisted upon staying for the night, there were "shake- 
 downs " of old, warm " comforts." 
 
 " And it's time we were all off to Noddle's Island. 
 It's up in the mornin' early we must be. So scatter 
 yourselves, all of ye, an' to sleep right away. Not for- 
 gettin' your prayers, as good Christians shouldn't." 
 
 " Of course not," answered Amy, drowsily ; but Fay- 
 ette looked as if he did not understand. 
 
 " Sure, you'll have to be taught then, my fine sir, an' 
 I'll tackle that job with the rest of to-morrow's." 
 
 But when daylight broke and roused the active 
 Cleena to begin her formidable task of scrubbing away 
 the accumulated dirt of years there was no Fayette to 
 be found. Dreamily, she recalled the sound of musical 
 instruments, the shouts of voices, and the squealing of 
 the rats that had hitherto been the tenants of " Spite 
 House " ; but which of these, if any, was answerable 
 for the lad's absence, she could not guess. 
 
 " Well, I was mindin' to keep him busy, had he stayed ; 
 but since he's gone, there's one mouth less to feed." 
 
 It did not take the observant woman long to discover 
 that the outlook for the comfort of " her folks " was 
 even less by daylight than it had seemed the night 
 before. Her heart sank, though she lost no time in use-
 
 THE "SPITE HOUSE" OF BAREACRE. 85 
 
 less regrets, and she did most cordially thank that 
 "guardian angel" to whom she so constantly referred 
 for having prevented her spending the last twenty-five 
 dollars she possessed. This would long ago have wasted 
 away had it not been placed in the care of that true 
 friend of the family, Adam Burns, with whom her mas- 
 ter and mistress had now taken refuge. 
 
 " Alanna, that's luck ! I was for usin' it long syne, 
 but the old man wouldn't leave me do it. ' No, Cleena, 
 thee's not so young as thee was, an' thee might be 
 wantin' it for doctor's stuff,' says he. Twenty-five dol- 
 lars ! That'd pay the rent an' buy flour an' tea, an' 
 what not; " and with cheerful visions of the unlimited 
 power of her small capital, the old servant stooped to 
 fill her apron with the stray chips and branches the bare 
 place afforded. 
 
 At that moment there fell upon her ears the familiar 
 sound of Pepita and Balaam braying in concert for their 
 breakfast. 
 
 " Now what's to feed them is more nor I know ; yet 
 never a doubt I doubt it would clean break the colleen's 
 heart must she part with her neat little beast." 
 
 The braying roused Hallam and Amy, also, from a 
 night of dreamless sleep ; and as they passed out from 
 the musty house into the crisp air of a frosty morning, 
 they felt more cheerful than they considered was quite 
 the proper thing, under the circumstances. Then Amy 
 looked at her brother and laughed.
 
 86 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Isn't it splendid after the rain ? and isn't it funny 
 to be here ? Yesterday it seemed as if the world had 
 come to an end, and now it seems as if it had just been 
 made new." 
 
 " ' Every morn is a fresh beginning,' " quoted Hallam, 
 who loved books better than his sister did. 
 
 " Let's go down to the gate, or place where a gate 
 should be, and take a good look at our home." 
 
 " All right. Though we've seen it at a distance, I 
 suppose it will appear differently to us at near hand." 
 
 "And uglier. Oh, but it's horrid! Jiorrid!" and 
 with a sudden revulsion of feeling Amy buried her face 
 in her hands and began to cry. " I hate it. I won't 
 stay here. I will not. I'd rather go home and live in 
 the old stable than here." 
 
 "That wouldn't have been a bad idea, only we 
 shouldn't have been allowed." 
 
 " Who could have hindered that ? Who'd want an 
 empty stable ? " 
 
 " Our cousin Archibald ! " answered Hallam, with 
 scornful emphasis. " I believe he feels as if he had 
 a mortgage on our very souls. Indeed, he said I might 
 sometime be able to earn enough to buy the place back, 
 as well as pay all other debts. He said he couldn't 
 live forever, and it was but fair he should have a few 
 years' possession of 'his own.' He Well, there's no 
 use talking. I wish I wish I were " 
 
 " No, no ! you don't ! No, you don't either, Hallam
 
 THE "SPITE HOUSE" OF BAREACRE. 87 
 
 Kaye ! I know what you began to say, and you shall 
 not finish. You shall not die. You shall get well and 
 strong and do all those things he said. I'm ashamed 
 of myself that I cried. I felt last night as if my old 
 life were all a beautiful dream, and that I had just 
 waked up into a real world where I had to do things 
 for myself and for others ; not have others do for me 
 any longer." 
 
 " That was about the state of the case, I fancy." 
 
 " Well, that isn't so bad. It shouldn't be, that is ; 
 for I have such health and strength and everything. 
 Nothing matters so much as long as we are all to- 
 gether." 
 
 " Nobody knows how long we shall be. I don't like 
 these ' attacks ' of father's, Amy. I'm afraid of them. 
 It will kill him to live here." 
 
 It needed but the possibility of giving comfort to 
 somebody to arouse all Amy's natural hopefulness, and 
 she commanded with a shake of her forefinger : 
 
 " Hallam Kaye, you stop it ! I won't have it ! If 
 you keep it up, I shall have to to cuff you." 
 
 " Try it ! " cried the brother, already laughing at her 
 fierce show of spirit; yet to tempt her audacity he 
 thrust his fingers through her short curls and wagged 
 her head playfully. 
 
 She did not resent it; she could resent nothing 
 Hallam ever did save that morbid talk of his. She 
 had been fighting with this spirit ever since she could
 
 88 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 remember, and their brief "tussle" over, she crept 
 closer to him along the old stone wall and begged : 
 
 " Cleena has tied the burros out to graze in the 
 weeds, and that will be their breakfast, and while we're 
 waiting for ours, I wish you'd tell me all you know 
 about 'Spite House.' I've heard it, of course, but it's 
 all mixed up in my mind, and I don't see just where 
 that cousin Archibald comes in." 
 
 " Oh, he comes in easily enough. He's a descend- 
 ant of old Jacob Ingraham as well as of the house of 
 Kaye. I believe it was in this way : our great-grand- 
 father Thomas Kaye and Jacob were brothers-in-law, 
 and there was some trouble about money matters." 
 
 "Seems to me all the mean, hateful troubles are 
 about money. I don't see why it was ever made." 
 
 " Well, they had such trouble anyway. Great-grand- 
 father had just built Fairacres, and had spent a great 
 deal to beautify the grounds. He was a pretty rich 
 man, I fancy, and loved to live in a great whirl of 
 society and entertain lots of people and all that. He 
 was especially fond of the view from the front of the 
 house and had cut away some of the trees for ' vistas ' 
 and 'outlooks' and 'views.' There were no mills on 
 the Ardsley then. They came in our own grand- 
 father's time. It was just a beautiful, shimmering 
 river " 
 
 " Hal, you're a poet ! " 
 
 " Never," said the boy, with a blush.
 
 THE "SPITE HOUSE" OF BAREACRE. 89 
 
 " But you are. You tell things so I can just see 
 them. I can see that shimmering river this instant, 
 in my mind, with my eyes shut. I can see boats full 
 of people sailing on it, and hear music and laughter 
 and everything lovely." 
 
 " Who's the poet now ? " 
 
 " I'm not. But go on." 
 
 " It seems that old Mr. Ingraham thought he had 
 been cheated by great-grandfather 
 
 " Likely enough he had. Else I don't see where he 
 got all that money to do things." 
 
 " But, missy, he was our relative. He was a Kaye." 
 
 " There might be good Kayes and bad Kayes, 
 mightn't there ? " 
 
 " Amy, you're too honest for comfort. You may think 
 a spade's a spade, but you needn't always mention it." 
 
 " Go on with the story. In a few minutes Cleena 
 will call us to our ' frugal repast,' like the poor children 
 in stories, and I want to hear all about this 'ruined 
 castle' I've come to live in, I mean 'dwell,' for story- 
 book girls 'maidens' never do anything so common- 
 place as just 'live.' Rally, boy, there's a lot of humbug 
 in this world." 
 
 " How did you find that out, Miss Experience ? " 
 
 " I didn't trouble to find it, I just read it. I thought 
 it sounded sort of nice and old, so I said it." 
 
 " Humph ! Well, do you want to hear, or will you 
 keep interrupting?"
 
 9C REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " I do want to hear, and I probably shall interrupt. 
 I am not blind to my own besetting sins." 
 
 " Listen. Just as great-grandfather had everything 
 fixed to his taste and was enjoying life to the utmost, 
 old Jacob came here to this knoll that faces Fairacres 
 Oh, you needn't turn around to see. The trees have 
 grown again, and the view is hidden. On this knoll, if 
 there was anything tall, it would spoil the Fairacres' 
 view. So Jacob built this ' Spite House.' He made it 
 as ugly as he could, and he did everything outrageous to 
 make great-grandfather disgusted. He named this rocky 
 barren ' Bareacre,' and that little gully yonder he called 
 ' Glenpolly,' because his enemy had named the beautiful 
 ravine we know as ' Glenellen.' Polly and Ellen were 
 the wives' names, and I've heard they grieved greatly 
 over the quarrel. Mr. Ingraham painted huge signs 
 with the names on them, and hung up scarecrows on 
 poles, because he wouldn't let a tree grow here, even 
 if it could. There are a few now, though. Look like 
 old plum trees. My, what a home for our mother! " 
 
 Amy's face sobered again, as she regarded the ugly 
 stone structure which still looked strong enough to defy 
 all time, but which no lapse of years had done much 
 to beautify. Nothing had ever thrived at Bareacre, 
 which was, in fact, a hill of apparently solid stone, 
 sparsely covered by the poorest of soil. The house was 
 big, for the Ingraham family had been numerous, but it 
 was as square and austere as the builders could make it.
 
 THE " SPITE HOUSE " OF BAREACRE. QI 
 
 The roof ended exactly at the walls, which made it 
 look, as Amy said, " like a girl with her eyelashes cut 
 off." There were no blinds or shutters of any sort, and 
 nothing to break the bleak winds which swept down 
 between the hills of Ardsley, and which nipped the 
 life of any brave green thing that tried to make a hold 
 there. A few mullein stalks were all that flourished, 
 and the stunted fruit trees which Hallam had noticed 
 seemed but a pitiful parody upon the rich verdure of 
 the elsewhere favored region. 
 
 " Has nobody ever lived here since that wicked old 
 man ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes. I think so. But nobody for long, nor 
 could anybody make it a home." 
 
 "It looks as if it had been blue, up there by the 
 roof." 
 
 " I believe it was. I've heard that every color pos- 
 sible was used in painting it, so as to make it the more 
 annoying to a person of good taste, such as great- 
 grandfather was." 
 
 " Heigho! Well, we've got to live here." 
 
 " Or die. It's hopeless. I can't see a ray of light in 
 the whole situation." 
 
 " You dear old bat, you should wear specs. I can 
 see several rays. I'll count them off. Ray one : the 
 ugly all-sorts-of-paint has been washed away by the 
 weather. Ray two : the air up here is as pure as it's 
 sharp, and there's nothing to obstruct or keep it from
 
 92 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 blowing your ' hypo ' away. Ray three : there are our 
 own darling burros already helping to 'settle' by mowing 
 the weeds with their mouths. What a blessing is 
 hunger, rightly utilized ! And, finally, there's that 
 worth-her-weight-in-gold Goodsoul waving her pudding- 
 stick, which in this new, unique life of ours must mean 
 'breakfast.' Come along. Heigho ! Who's that? 
 Our esteemed political friend, ' Rep-Dem-Prob.' I'd 
 forgotten him. Now, by the lofty bearing with which 
 he ascends to our castle of discontent, I believe he's 
 been out 'marching.' " 
 
 It was, indeed, Fayette whom they saw climbing over 
 the rocks. He wore his oilcloth blouse and his gay 
 helmet, and soon they could hear his rude voice singing 
 and see the waving of his broom. 
 
 " He ? Coming back again ? Why, we can't keep 
 him. We can't even ' keep ' ourselves." 
 
 "Yet never a doubt I doubt he means to tarry," 
 quoted Amy, laughing at her brother's rueful counte-
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NEEDS AND HELPERS. 
 
 " OURE, I thought ye had lost yourself or been ate 
 
 <3 by the rats ! " cried Cleena, as Fayette rather 
 timidly peered in at the open kitchen door. " But all 
 rogues is fond o' good atin', so I suppose you've come 
 for your breakfast, eh ? " 
 
 " No. I've et." 
 
 " Must ha' been up with the lark then. No, hold on. 
 Don't go in there. They're master Hallam an' Miss 
 Amy still, an' always will be. They eats by them- 
 selves, as the gentry should. If there's ought left 
 when they're done, time enough for you an' me." 
 
 " I've had my breakfast, I told you." 
 
 " Didn't seem to set well on your stummick either, 
 by the way your temper troubles ye. Are ye as ready 
 to work as ye was yesterday ? " 
 
 " Yes. What I come back for." 
 
 Cleena .paused and studied the ill-shaped, vacant, 
 though not vicious, face of the unfortunate waif. Some- 
 thing drew her sympathy toward him, and she pitied 
 him for the mother whom he had never known. In the 
 adjoining room she could hear the voices of her own 
 93
 
 94 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "childer," with their cultured inflection and language, 
 which was theirs by inheritance and as unconsciously 
 as were "Bony's" harsh tones and rude speech his 
 own. 
 
 " Arrah musha ! but it's a queer world, I d'know. 
 There's them an' there's him, an' the Lord made 'em 
 both. Hear me, me gineral. Take a hold o' that 
 broom o' yours, an' show me what it's made for. If 
 you're as clean as you're homebly, I might stand your 
 good friend. What for no ? " 
 
 Fayette had returned Cleena's cool stare with an- 
 other as steady. He liked her far better and more 
 promptly than she liked him, yet in that moment of 
 scrutiny each had measured the other and formed a 
 tacit partnership. " For the family," was Cleena's 
 watchword, and it had already become the half-wit's. 
 
 Cleena went to the well, tied her clothesline to the 
 leaky old bucket and lowered it. On the night before 
 she had obtained a pail of spring water from the cottage 
 at the foot of the knoll, from the same friendly neighbor 
 who had sold her the milk. But their own well must 
 be fixed. To her dismay she found that it was very 
 deep, and that the bit of water which remained in the 
 bucket when it was drawn up was quite unfit even for 
 cleaning purposes. 
 
 This worried her. A scarcity of water -was one of 
 the few trials which she had been spared, and she could 
 hardly have met a heavier. As she turned toward the
 
 NEEDS AND HELPERS. 95 
 
 house she saw that Fayette had carefully set out of 
 doors the old chairs and the other movable furniture 
 which the kitchen had contained, and that, before 
 sweeping, he was using his broom to brush the cob- 
 webs from the ceiling. The sight filled her with joy 
 and amazement. 
 
 " Saints bless us ! That's the first man body I ever 
 met that had sense like that!" and she lifted up her 
 voice in a glad summons : 
 
 " You, Napoleon Gineral Bonyparty, come by ! " 
 
 " Before I finish here ? " 
 
 " Before the wag o' dog's tail. Hurry up ! " 
 
 " The wind'll blow it all over again." 
 
 " Leave it blow. Come by. Here's more trouble 
 even nor cobwebs, avick! First need is first served." 
 
 This summoned Hallam and Amy out to see what 
 was going on, and after learning the difficulty and peer- 
 ing into the depths of the old pit they offered their sug- 
 gestions. Said Amy : 
 
 " We might draw it up, bucket by bucket, and throw 
 it away. Then I suppose it would fill with clean water, 
 wouldn't it ? " 
 
 "If we did, 'twould break all our backs an' there's 
 more to do than empty old wells. Master Hal, what's 
 your say ? " 
 
 "Hmm, we might rig up some sort of machinery and 
 stir it all up, and with chemicals we could clear it 
 and "
 
 96 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Troth we could, if we'd a month o' Sundays to do 
 it in an' slathers o' time an' money spoilin' to be spent." 
 
 Hallam was disgusted. Already he had blamed him- 
 self for his haughty refusal of Mr. Wingate's offer, on 
 the previous day, to send a practical man to look over the 
 premises and " set them going," as any landlord would. 
 
 But the lad had replied, as one in authority to decide 
 for his absent parents : " We won't trouble you, sir. 
 What happens to us, after we leave Fairacres, is our 
 own affair. If you get your rent, that should be suffi- 
 cient for you." 
 
 After that the offer was not renewed ; for Mr. Win- 
 gate was not the man to waste either money or service, 
 and the lad's tone angered him. 
 
 Regrets were now, as always, useless, and Cleena's 
 open disdain of Hallam's suggestion sent him limp- 
 ing angrily away ; though Amy laughed over her own 
 "valuable contribution to the solution of the dilemma," 
 and by^her intentional use of the longest words at hand 
 caused Fayette to regard her with a wonderment that 
 was ludicrous in itself. 
 
 " Well, Goodsoul, we've helped a lot. Ask our ' Rep- 
 Dem-Prob ' what his ' boys ' would do." 
 
 " What for no ? Sure, he's more sense nor the whole 
 of us. Say, me gineral, what's the way out ? " 
 
 Fayette colored with pride. He had an inordinate 
 vanity, and, like most of his sort, he possessed an almost 
 startling keenness of intelligence in some respects, as
 
 NEEDS AND HELPERS. 97 
 
 contrasted with his foolishness in others. Moreover, he 
 had been disciplined by poverty, and had always lived 
 among working people and, for a long time, about the 
 carpet mills. 
 
 " Well, the ' Supe's ' force-pump." 
 
 " Hmm, I know, I know. But what's the 'Supe' 
 an' his pump ? Is he fish, flesh, or fowl, eh ? " 
 
 " He's the 'Supe ' to the mill. Ain't ye any sense ? " 
 
 " No. None left after botherin' with you. What's 
 it, Miss Amy ? " 
 
 " I know. You mean Mr. Metcalf, don't you ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " What would he do ? How could he help us ? " 
 
 " Lend me the donkey. I'll ride and tell him. All 
 them houses see them mill cottages, down yonder ? " 
 
 " Certainly. They look very pretty from here, with 
 all the trees about them." 
 
 " They've got wells. Once in six months the wells 
 has to be cleared out. That's orders. Me an' an- 
 other fellow goes down 'em, after the pump's drawed 
 out all it can. We bail 'em out. I clean cisterns, too. 
 Ain't another fellow in the village as good at a cistern 
 as me. See, I'm slim. I can get down a man-hole 't 
 nobody else can. Shall I go ? " 
 
 " I'll ask Hallam." 
 
 Who, upon consultation, replied: 
 
 " I suppose it's the only thing we can do, but it does 
 go against my inclination to ask favors of anybody."
 
 9 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "Hal, that's silly. We must send Fayette to 
 Mr. Metcalf, and will you write the note, or 
 shall I?" 
 
 "You, since you've seen him, personally." 
 
 " Which is the only way I could see him," laughed 
 the girl, and ran into the house to find a sheet of paper. 
 Then the mill boy was given his choice of the burros, 
 to ride as messenger ; and having selected Balaam, 
 departed down the slope in high glee. When he 
 reached the mill, and Mr. Metcalf was at liberty to see 
 him, he began a voluble description of all that had oc- 
 curred since his chance meeting with Amy in the wood ; 
 but the superintendent cut the story short. 
 
 " Now, see here, 'Bony.' This is the chance of your 
 life. Understand ? They are, I should think, the very 
 nicest folks you ever saw. Well, treat them square. 
 None of your monkey shines nor nonsense. Do every- 
 thing you can to help them. Of course you can have 
 the pump, though you can't carry it up to ' Hard- 
 scrabble ' donkey-back. That fellow is as black as 
 his brother, or sister, is white. They're the prettiest 
 donkeys I ever saw. How my youngsters would like 
 such. Well, go round to John. There's no teaming to 
 be done this morning, and he shall take the pump there 
 in the wagon. He'll help you too, no doubt, for a small 
 payment." 
 
 " Say, ' Supe.' " 
 
 "Well?"
 
 NEEDS AND HELPERS. 99 
 
 " I don't believe they've got any money. Don't look 
 so they had a cent. Ain't it queer ? With all them 
 purty things an' the way they act an' talk. Ain't like 
 nobody I ever saw before Ain't never saw anybody 
 liked each other so much. I'm goin' to stay." 
 
 " Have they asked you ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Well, run along and get hold of John before he 
 goes home for a nap, as he might, with nothing needed 
 here." 
 
 Then, when Fayette had left him, Mr. Metcalf took 
 up Amy's note and reread it. 
 
 The second perusal pleased the gentleman even more 
 than the first. He thought that the little letter was 
 very characteristic of the girl he had met, and he 
 specially liked her statement that his former kindness 
 presupposed a later one. So he stopped John, the 
 teamster, as he was driving out of the mill yard, with 
 the request : 
 
 " You stay up there all day, if you can be of any 
 use. Got your dinner with you ? and the horses' ? 
 Good enough. I've heard about that family being 
 turned out from their old home, and whether it was 
 justly done or not doesn't alter the fact of its hardness. 
 Lend them a hand, as if it were for me, John, and I'll 
 make it all right with you." 
 
 " It's all right already, sir. I saw that girl, when 
 she was down here that day ; saw her take her fine
 
 IOO REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 little handkerchief out of her pocket and wipe that 
 idiot's, or next door to idiot, wipe his lips as nice as 
 if he was her own brother. Ain't one of the mill girls'd 
 do that. They'd be too dainty. She wasn't, because 
 she was quality. It always tells. Pity though that 
 such folks have so little common sense. Now 
 
 But Mr. Metcalf warded off any further talk of the 
 good John, who had lived at Ardsley all his life and 
 knew the history of the Kaye household almost better 
 than they knew it themselves. 
 
 " I'll ask you to tell me about them another time. 
 Just now I guess you'd better hurry to get them a 
 decent drink of water. Hold on, ' Bony.' Ride over 
 to the office door. I'll send a note back to Miss Kaye, 
 and want you to carry her a little basket." 
 
 So this was the note which answered Amy's, and 
 that proved its writer to be a gentleman, even though 
 he had begun life a humble ash-boy in just such a 
 mill as he now managed so ably : 
 
 " MY DEAR Miss AMY : The kindness is wholly 
 on your side in allowing me to serve you, and I hope 
 you will command me in any further matter wherein 
 I can be of use. 
 
 " I am sending the pump by John Young, our 
 teamster, with instructions to remain under your orders 
 for the rest of the day. You will find that 'Bony' 
 thoroughly understands the business of well-cleaning,
 
 NEEDS AND HELPERS. IOI 
 
 but you will have to restrain him from venturing into 
 any great hazard, because, poor lad, he has not the 
 caution to balance his daring. 
 
 " I am offering, also, a little basket of fruit which 
 came my way this morning, and which looks, I fancy, 
 as if it wanted to be eaten by just such a girl as you. 
 " Faithfully yours, 
 
 "WILLIAM METCALF." 
 
 When Amy read this note aloud to Hallam and 
 Cleena, she did so in a proud and happy voice. 
 
 " Well, I've written letters for mother, and father, 
 too, sometimes, but I've not had many of my own. 
 This is. I'm going to keep it always. The very first 
 one that has come here. Isn't he just the dearest 
 man ? Oh ! I am so happy I must just sing. It's 
 such a beautiful world, after all, and maybe we've had 
 all our old things taken away just to teach us that folks 
 are better than things. I feel as if I'd come out of a 
 musty room into the open air." 
 
 " Amy Kaye ! You should be ashamed of yourself. 
 Have you no heart at all ? As for musty rooms, if you can 
 find any to beat these at ' Spite House/ you'll do well." 
 
 "I know. I'm 'bad,' of course, but come on. I'll 
 fetch you all father's tubes and brushes that are in 
 such a muddle, and you can sort them right near the 
 well, and watch John fix it, and take care of Fayette ; 
 I'm going in and help Cleena, in any way I can."
 
 IO2 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Amy's cheerfulness was certainly infectious. It was 
 also helpful to Hallam's gloomy mood that just then 
 there should be the well and cistern cleaning, Mr. 
 Young having discovered a cistern beneath a pile of 
 decayed boards, at a little distance from the house. 
 But the water in both being unfit for use, Amy bravely 
 picked up a couple of pails and started down hill to 
 their new neighbor's cottage. 
 
 "Wait, Amy, I'll rig up something," called the crip- 
 ple ; and by the aid of a rope, a barrel stave, and some 
 wire he managed to hang the pails on either side 
 Pepita's saddle. " So all you'll have to do will be walk 
 up and down and make her behave," referring to 
 Pepita's uncertain temper. 
 
 " If I had a barrel I'd better that job," said John 
 the teamster. " I'd drive down once and get all you 
 needed for the day." 
 
 " But there isn't any barrel that will hold water," 
 answered the girl. "So I'll play 'Jack and Jill' with 
 Pepita, as long as Cleena wishes. Besides, the cottage 
 children think she's beautiful, and they are so kind they 
 help me fill the pails each trip, as well as give us the 
 water in them." 
 
 John wiped his brow and looked admiringly upon her. 
 " Keep that spirit, lass, and it'll make small difference 
 to you whether your purse is empty or full. But ' give ' 
 you the water ? I should say yes. The Lord gave it 
 to them in the first place, free as the air of heaven.
 
 NEEDS AND HELPERS. 1 03 
 
 Well, there'll be water to spare up here, too, soon, for 
 we've got the pump about ready for work." 
 
 It was a long time, though, before any impression was 
 made upon the accumulation of water in the deep well. 
 After a while, however, less came with each draft, and it 
 was thicker and fouler. Finally, the pump ceased to 
 be of any use, and was drawn up and laid beside the 
 broken curb. Then came the interesting part of the 
 task, as well as the perilous. 
 
 Keeping an eye upon all of Fayette's movements, 
 John had allowed him "to boss the job," partly because 
 the lad did fully understand his business, and partly to 
 give him pleasure. But now was need for utmost 
 caution. 
 
 " Will you fetch me a candle ? " the teamster asked 
 Cleena; and when she had done so he fastened it to 
 the end of the clothesline and slowly lowered it into the 
 shaft. The flame was instantly extinguished. 
 
 " Hmm, have to wait a spell, I reckon. Might as 
 well tackle the cistern." 
 
 "What made the candle go out? Was there a 
 wind ? " asked Amy. 
 
 " Carbonic acid gas," answered her brother. 
 
 " Huh," said Fayette, contemptuously, " 'twa'n't 
 neither. Just choke damp an' fixed air. Soon's the 
 candle'll stay lighted, I'll go down. Cistern's the same, 
 only wider. Got a powder here'll fix it, if it don't clear 
 soon."
 
 IO4 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 After the cistern was cleaned, and this was a much 
 easier task than the well, Fayette returned to the curb, 
 again lighted the candle, and lowered it. The foul and 
 poisonous gases had mostly passed away, and the flame 
 continued to burn as far down as the clothesline would 
 reach. 
 
 " That's all right; I'll tackle it now." 
 
 " No, you'll not. None o' your foolhardiness here." 
 
 "Who made you boss o' me, John Young ? " 
 
 " I did. I'll prevent you, if I have to hold on to you. 
 Best leave it open till to-morrow, or longer even," said 
 John. " I'm going to eat my dinner now. Come and 
 have some." 
 
 " Bime-by. I'm goin' to take off my shoes. Work 
 best when I'm barefoot." 
 
 The answer gave John no concern, for he knew this 
 peculiarity of Fayette's ; so he walked quietly away 
 toward the old shed where he had tied his horses, to 
 give them their food and secure his own. Before he 
 reached them, however, he heard a loud shout, and, 
 turning, saw the foolish boy capering about on the beam 
 which had been laid across the top of the well, and from 
 which the rope and bucket were still suspended. 
 
 " ' Bony,' you fool, get off that ! A misstep and 
 you're gone ! " 
 
 " All right, I'll get off ! " 
 
 There was a wild waving of arms, a burst of derisive 
 laughter, and " Bony " had disappeared.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE WATERLOO OF BONAPARTE LAFAYETTE. 
 
 THE teamster's cry of horror brought everybody to 
 the scene. Cleena was the first to reach it and 
 to find John standing by the mouth of the well, white- 
 faced and trembling. 
 
 "What's it? What's down there? What mean ye 
 yellin' that gait ? Speak, man, if ye can." 
 
 He could only point downward, while he strained his 
 ears to catch any sound that might come from below. 
 
 Then Cleena shook him fiercely. " Speak, I tell ye ! 
 Where's the boy ? " 
 
 The other still pointed down into the shaft, but he 
 made out to say : 
 
 " I heard him laugh, then shout, and he must have 
 gone stark crazy." 
 
 " He down there ? That poor, senseless gossoon ? 
 Where was you that you'd leave him do it ? " 
 
 " I was walking wait ! I hear something." 
 
 Four white, terror-stricken faces now bent above the 
 old well, while Cleena's arms clasped her " childer " 
 tightly, fearing they, too, might be snatched away from 
 her.
 
 IO6 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Saints save us, it's bewitched ! Oh, the day, the 
 day ! " 
 
 " Shut up, woman ! Keep still. I hear something." 
 
 Again they stooped and listened, and Amy's keen 
 ears reported, joyfully : 
 
 " It's Fayette ! It is, it is ! It sounds as if he were 
 speaking from the far end of a long, long tube. But 
 he's alive, he's alive ! " 
 
 " He might as well be dead. His bones must be 
 broken, and he can't live long in such an air as that," 
 said Hallam. 
 
 " I don't know. That he's alive at all proves that 
 the air isn't as bad as I thought. Besides, he may not 
 have broken any bones. He's had fearful falls, before 
 this, and he always came out about sound. But the 
 rope doesn't reach much more than two-thirds down. 
 I've heard they dug this well a hundred and fifty feet 
 deep. They had to, to reach water from top this 
 rock." 
 
 "A hundred and fifty feet! How can we possibly 
 reach him ? " 
 
 " Not by standin' talkin'. Whisk to the cottage, 
 Amy, an' beg the length of all the rope they have. To 
 save a lad's life be nimble ! " 
 
 The girl was away long before Cleena finished speak- 
 ing, while the latter herself darted into the house, 
 caught off the sheets and blankets from the beds, and 
 tore them into strips. Never wasting one motion of
 
 THE WATERLOO OF BONAPARTE LAFAYETTE. IO/ 
 
 her strong hands, and praying ceaselessly, she tied each 
 fresh length and tested it with all her force. 
 
 Meanwhile Amy almost flew over the space between 
 " Spite House " and the cottage, arriving there nigh 
 breathless ; but gasping out her errand, she rushed 
 straight to the line in the drying yard and began to tear 
 it from its fastenings on the poles. 
 
 " You're wanting my rope, miss ? Somebody in the 
 well ? Heaven help him ! But wait ! If it's cleaning 
 the well he is, why of course he'd be down there. Who 
 is it ? " 
 
 " Fayette. Maybe you know him as ' Bony.' " 
 
 "The half-wit? Pshaw, Miss. Don't look that 
 frightened. He's all safe, never fear. Nothing hurts 
 him. The Lord looks after him. I'm afraid this rope 
 won't hold, it's so old. Wait, I'll go, too. Never mind 
 the children, they'll have to take care of themselves." 
 
 All the while she was talking the kindly woman had 
 been rolling the line, retying it where their haste broke 
 its worn strands, and following Amy up over the slope. 
 Now she paused for one second to remonstrate: 
 
 " You, Victoria, go back ! There's William Gladstone 
 trying to creep after us. Beatrice, Belinda, go home. 
 You mustn't follow mother every time she turns her 
 back! Go home, I tell you. Go right straight 
 back home. My ! but this is steep ! " 
 
 A shriek, shrill and piercing as only infant lungs 
 could utter, made even Amy stop, eager though she
 
 108 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 was to reach the well where poor " Bony " might 
 already have breathed his last. The one backward 
 glance she cast showed the numerous children of the 
 house of Jones toiling industriously skyward, in their 
 mother's footsteps. Victoria, who was " eight and should 
 have known better," had left William Gladstone to take 
 care of himself, with the result that, being less than two 
 years old and rather unsteady on his legs, he had 
 toddled up to the biggest stone in the path, tried to 
 step over it, lost his balance, and fallen. The hill was 
 so steep that once the fat little fellow began to roll 
 downwards he could not stop, and the terrified outcry 
 first showed the mother his danger. 
 
 " He'll bump his head against a rock and " 
 
 Mrs. Jones did not finish her sentence, but faced 
 about and ran frantically down the slope, catching up 
 her baby and smothering it with kisses, although she 
 had assured the little fellow, at least a dozen times that 
 day, that "he was the very plague of her life." She 
 had dropped the rope, and Amy caught it, then turned 
 and ran as fast upward as her neighbor was going in 
 the other direction. Behind Amy still followed Vic- 
 toria, Beatrice, and Belinda. 
 
 "You should go back. Your little brother's hurt," 
 shouted she. 
 
 "Yes'm. He is often," coolly replied Victoria, who 
 could have the minor excitement of examining the 
 baby's bruises any day, but who did not intend to lose
 
 THE WATERLOO OF BONAPARTE LAFAYETTE. lOQ 
 
 the greater one of " a man down the well " for any 
 commonplace home matter. 
 
 Just before she came to the crest of the knoll Amy 
 hesitated, and stood still. It seemed to her she could 
 not go on and face the possible, even probable, tragedy 
 at the top, and into the midst of her awestruck waiting 
 there was hurled this startling question : 
 
 " Say, miss, where do you s'pose you'll have the 
 funeral ? May I come ? " 
 
 " Ugh ! Oh, you horrid little thing ! " 
 
 Victoria appeared so amazed at the effect of her 
 inquiry that she stared back into Amy's face, wide- 
 eyed and open-mouthed. 
 
 "Wh-h why!" 
 
 " I shouldn't have said that. But you go right 
 straight back home. Your mother wants you. I 
 don't. Oh, dear! How could you say it?" 
 
 " Why, 'cause I like to go to funerals. I go to every 
 one Ma does. She's got a real nice 'funeral dress/ 
 an' so have I." 
 
 Amy fled. She had never seen anything like little 
 Victoria, and she was so indignant that she almost for- 
 got her dread of what might lie before her. She 
 reached the group about the well, who were now 
 utterly silent, and seemed to be watching with more 
 astonishment than terror something happening within 
 it. 
 
 Amy, also, stretched her neck to see, though she
 
 IIO REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 shut her eyes, and this naturally prevented; nor did 
 she open them till she felt Cleena clutch the skirt of 
 her frock and heard her exclaim : 
 
 " Faith, but he's the biggest monkey out o' the 
 Zoo ! Arrah musha ! I'll teach him scaring folks out o' 
 their wits, an' wastin' good bedclothes on such havers ! 
 Huh!" 
 
 For this was the marvel that now presented. Poor, 
 silly Fayette, looking more foolish and grotesque than 
 ever, climbing upwards into the daylight, blinking and 
 sputtering, his back against the stones of one side the 
 shaft, his feet against the other, his hands clutching, 
 pulling ; both feet and hands almost prehensile, like 
 the creature's to which Cleena had likened him, yet 
 safe, unbruised, and only mud-splashed and laughing. 
 
 With a final, agile movement he reached the top, 
 threw his arms about the beam, and leaped to the 
 ground beside them. Then he laughed again, hilari- 
 ously, uproariously, and not for long. 
 
 In Cleena Keegan's indignant soul a plan had been 
 rapidly forming. 
 
 " So you'd be givin' us all the terrors, would ye, 
 avick ? Sure, a taste o' the same medicine's good for 
 the doctor as his patient. I'll just give ye a try of it, 
 an' see what ye say. Hmm, them sheets might ha' 
 lasted for years, so they might; an' them blankets, 
 my heart ! " 
 
 Before anybody, least of all the astonished " Bony,"
 
 THE WATERLOO OF BONAPARTE LAFAYETTE. Ill 
 
 could comprehend what she would be about, Cleena 
 had tripped and thrown the lad to the ground. She 
 was more powerful than even his boasted muscle, and 
 he quite unprepared for what she meant to do. The 
 life-line made from her cherished bedclothing was 
 twisted about his wet shoulders like a flash. Yet there 
 seemed nothing violent nor vindictive as she rolled him 
 over and over, wisely winding and binding first his 
 hands and feet. After that the punishment she ad- 
 ministered was but a question of endurance on her 
 part, and the length of the line. 
 
 " There, you blatherskite ! What's your guardian 
 angel thinkin' of ye the now, you poor, ignorant, 
 heathen gossoon ? Well for ye that old Cleena has met 
 up with ye to beat some bits o' sense into your idle pate. 
 Tight, is it ? Well, not so tight as the bands o' me 
 heart when I looked to see ye brought up to me dead. 
 'Twon't hurt. Lie there an' rest." 
 
 Cleena finished her harangue and her task together. 
 After that she stood up straight and strong, and re- 
 garded the teamster with a questioning eye. 
 
 "Is it true, what he says, that he's nor kith nor kin, 
 hereabouts ? " 
 
 " I guess it's true, " answered John, laughing at the 
 ludicrous appearance of Fayette upon the ground. 
 "He was born in the poorhouse, an' I've heard his 
 mother died. His father had before then, I know. I 
 used "
 
 H2 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Cleena was in no mood for long stories, and she fore- 
 saw that one was imminent. She interrupted without 
 ceremony : 
 
 " So, if I take him in hand to train him a bit, what 
 for no ? There'll be no one botherin' an' interferin', is 
 it ? " 
 
 " I guess there won't anybody worry about ' Bony.' 
 He's right handy around the mill, an' he does odd jobs 
 for a many people ; but if you want him, I 'low you can 
 have him ' for a song.' " 
 
 " I'll have no song singin', not I, nor from him. But 
 if I don't make a smart, decent lad where there lies 
 a fool, my name isn't Cleena Keegan, the day. Now 
 what's about the well ? " 
 
 " That's what I want to know, Cleena," cried Amy. 
 " How did he, could he, fall into it and climb out of it 
 alive?" 
 
 " Easier than you think, miss. He slid down the 
 rope as far as it went, I suppose, then caught his feet 
 in the stones of the sides, then his hands, and went 
 down just as he came up. He didn't go into the water 
 in the bottom, of course ; but he's proved that the well 
 is safe enough, and to-morrow morning he ought to be 
 made to go down, properly fixed, with a rope around his 
 waist and the tackle for bailing it out. It'll be a job, 
 then, even after to-day's beginning. But I'll tell the 
 boss about it, and I don't doubt he'll send the other 
 man that helps ' Bony ' in the mill village, and get
 
 THE WATERLOO OF BONAPARTE LAFAYETTE. 113 
 
 things right this time. What say, boy ? Think you'll 
 take matters a little soberer to-morrow, if I come back 
 to help ? " 
 
 Fayette lay with closed eyes and made no answer, 
 but Cleena spoke for him, and as one in authority : 
 
 " Faith an' he will. An' I'm thankin' ye, sir, for all 
 ye've done the day. Sure, by this hour to-morrow, we 
 should begin to see daylight 'twixt the dirt." 
 
 " I 'low you will. You're a master scrubber, and no 
 mistake. Well, good-by. Anything I can do for you 
 village way ? " 
 
 " I'm beholden to you, sir, an' so are my folks, but 
 there's not. I'm for sending the childer down on their 
 donkeys to see how fares the mistress an' master ; an' 
 they'll fetch back what's lackin' o' food an' so on, when 
 they come. It's hungerin' sore will the sweet lady be 
 for a sight of her own." 
 
 "Oh, Cleena, is that so? May we go? But that 
 will leave you quite alone," said Amy. 
 
 Hallam smiled. " She'll not be so very much alone, 
 after all, dear," and he nodded significantly toward the 
 still apparently sleeping Fayette. 
 
 Then they went away to saddle the burros, and 
 after having received a mysterious message which 
 they were to deliver to Adam Burn, to the effect 
 that "he'll know what to send o' them things in his 
 box." 
 
 " And it's as clear as the sunshine just what you are
 
 114 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 asking, dear old Gooclsoul. That Friend Adam shall 
 give us your dollars out of his box. You transparent 
 old pretender! Well, never mind, Scrubbub. Some 
 day our ships will come home, and then you shall 
 live in lavender," said Amy, hugging the faithful 
 woman, and smiling, though tears of gratitude were in 
 her dark eyes. 
 
 Which eyes, happening to look downward, saw Fay- 
 ette's own half open, and watching this little affection- 
 ate by-play with deep interest. No sooner, however, 
 did he perceive that Amy had discovered this fact than 
 his lids went down with a snap. 
 
 " Ah, ha, Fayette ! I saw you. I'm sorry for you, 
 but just you tell Goodsoul, here, that you'll remember 
 not to shame your 'guardian angel' any more, and 
 she'll let you up. I know her. Her heart's made of 
 honey and sugar, and everything soft and sticky. I 
 believe she's caught you in it, now, bad as you are, and 
 if she has, you'll never get quite clear of her love and 
 too demonstrative kindness." 
 
 Then she cried to Hallam, who was limping toward 
 the tethered burros : " Now for a race. These dear 
 little beasties would trot a good pace if they realized 
 they were on the road to mother and father and Friend 
 Adam Burn's big oat-bin ! " 
 
 As they passed through the gateless entrance to 
 " Bareacre," Hallam turned, and with something of 
 Amy's cheerfulness waved his hand to Cleena.
 
 THE WATERLOO OF BONAPARTE LAFAYETTE. 1 15 
 
 " We'll be back before dark, Goodsoul. Don't keep 
 that lad tied any longer. Don't." 
 
 "Arrah musha ! Can't I do what I will with me 
 own ? There's somewhat to pass 'twixt him an' me 
 afore he gets free o' them bonds." 
 
 Evidently, there was ; nor was she sorry to see all go 
 and leave her alone with Fayette. Of what occurred 
 during their brief absence at the Clove, nobody ever 
 heard; but when the brother and sister rode up the 
 slope, just as the evening fell, Fayette appeared to meet 
 them and take their burros for them. His manner was 
 subdued and gentle, and on his homely face was a look 
 of exceeding peace. 
 
 Amy nudged Hallam mischievously. " Another lull 
 before another storm, isn't it ? " 
 
 Hallam regarded the half-wit critically. " No. But 
 I think he's ' met his Waterloo.' " 
 
 " Oh, is that what we are to call her in future ? 
 She's already as many names as a Spanish princess." 
 Then she lifted her voice to summon Cleena. 
 
 " Heigho, ' Waterloo ' ! Father and mother are doing 
 finely, and send love, and dear old Adam sent some- 
 thing much more substantial, but not what you asked 
 for. Just plain beefsteak and potatoes, and a jolly 
 chicken pie that's in a basket on Hallam's crutch. 
 Those crutches are the handiest things ! " 
 
 " Faith, so they be. An' there's a fire out of some 
 wood the cottage woman sent, an' the steak'll broil
 
 I 1 6 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 while the taties roast, like the whisk of a squirrel in the 
 tree." 
 
 So " Waterloo " became another of good Cleena's 
 " love names." For it's ever the tone and not the 
 words that makes a sweet sound in one's ears, and the 
 woman's heart thrilled, and her weary shoulders lifted 
 because of the love which sang through Amy's inno- 
 cent jest.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOME-MAKING. 
 
 FOR one whole week the artist and his wife remained 
 . at the Clove. During that time " Spite House " had 
 undergone the most thorough cleaning and overhauling 
 of its existence. The walls had been scraped of the 
 ancient and discolored whitewash that covered them, 
 and a fresh coat of sweet-smelling lime applied. 
 
 " It's like a new-mown field, I think," said Amy, on 
 the day that this whitewashing had taken place, to 
 Fayette who was artisan in chief always under 
 Cleena's orders. 
 
 " An' I must be the daisy that grows in it," he re- 
 turned, catching a glimpse of his lime-splashed face in 
 the tiny pocket mirror he always carried. 
 
 "A whole bunch of daisies, indeed. But isn't it 
 jolly ? I never did so much hard work in my life ; my 
 hands are all blistered and sore, my feet ache whew ! 
 And I never, never was so happy." 
 
 Fayette paused midway to the shed, which he had 
 repaired with bits of boards, begged or offered in 
 various sources. The whitewash brush over his shoul- 
 der dripped a milky fluid upon his bared head, and 
 n;
 
 U 8 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 occasionally a drop trickled as far as the corner of his 
 capacious mouth. 
 
 But he minded nothing so trivial as this, and he 
 stared at Amy in the same wonderment with which he 
 had regarded her from the beginning of their acquaint- 
 ance. She also paused and returned his gaze with an 
 amused scrutiny. 
 
 "Fayette, that stare of yours is getting chronic. I 
 wish you'd give it up. Everything I do or say seems 
 to astonish you. What's the matter with me ? Am I 
 not like other girls? You must know many down at 
 the mill." 
 
 " No, you ain't." 
 
 " How different ? I'd really like to know." 
 
 " Ain't seen you cry once, or not more 'n once," he 
 corrected truthfully. " An' you left all them things up 
 there, an' the trees, an' the posies, an' everything like 
 that way." 
 
 For one moment Amy's breast heaved and her voice 
 choked. Then she jerked her head in a fashion she 
 had when she wished to throw aside unpleasant things 
 and replied : 
 
 " What would be the use of crying ? If it would 
 bring them all back, I'd cry a bath-tub full. But it won't. 
 Thinking about it only makes it worse. // had to be, 
 and in some ways I'm thankful it did. It was all unreal 
 and dreamlike up there. I knew nothing about the 
 sorrows and hardships in the real world. But how I
 
 HOME-MAKING. IIQ 
 
 am talking ! I wonder, do you understand at all what 
 I have said ? " 
 
 " I couldn't help cryin' when the bluebird's nest fell 
 an' smashed all the eggs," remarked Fayette, whim- 
 pering at the recollection. His words were "like a 
 bit of blue sky, showing through a cloud," as the girl 
 often expressed it, when the untaught lad revealed 
 something of his intense love of nature, so strongly in 
 contrast to his otherwise limited intelligence. 
 
 " Well, we must forget what's past and go to work. 
 I'll tether the burros out of the roadside while you 
 clean up their shed ; and when they come back to find 
 it all sweet and white, like Pepita herself, they'll be as 
 pleased as Punch. Wonder we never thought of having 
 the old stable at Fairacres whitewashed." 
 
 " Didn't have me, then," answered the lad. 
 
 " Fayette, you're as vain as a peacock. You always 
 say ' ME ' as if it were spelled with the biggest kind of 
 capital letters." 
 
 " Do I ? Hmm," responded Fayette, with a vacant 
 smile. 
 
 Then Amy went into the house where Hallam and 
 Cleena were arguing about what" rooms should be 
 arranged for the personal use of master and mistress, 
 because Hallam thought his father's likes and habits 
 should take precedence of all others. 
 
 During this time of separation from him, the son had 
 grown to think of his parent as a whimsical invalid,
 
 I2 Q REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 only. Oddly enough, with his own physical infirmity, 
 he had come to look upon any bodily weakness of other 
 lads or men as something almost degrading. He had 
 always felt himself disgraced by his own lameness. 
 It was this which had given him so bitter and distorted 
 an outlook upon life, and involuntarily there had crept 
 into his love for his father a feeling of contempt as 
 well. 
 
 Something of this showed in his talk with his sister, 
 over this selection of rooms, and shocked her. Then, 
 with loyal indignation she proceeded to enlighten him 
 as to her own view of the subject. 
 
 " Now, see here, Hallam Kaye. I don't believe, I 
 can't believe, and I never will believe that from being 
 a brilliant scholar and a wonderfully talented artist my 
 darling father has suddenly become a a the sickly, 
 selfish man you seem to imagine." 
 
 " Amy ! I never said that. I never thought it. I 
 only remember that he has always had the best of 
 everything, and I supposed he always should." 
 
 The tears of excited protest rushed into her eyes, but 
 she dashed them away. " Queer, I never cry, hardly 
 ever, unless I'm mad. I am mad at you, Hal Kaye, 
 right straight clear through. You wait and see how 
 father is, after this trouble. All his life he has been 
 petted by mother, who adores him ; and that not too 
 agreeable cousin Archibald said the truth about his 
 having had so easy a path all his life. I tell you it
 
 HOME-MAKING. 121 
 
 isn't for his children to sit here in judgment upon him, 
 nor criticise anything he does ; but one thing I believe, 
 he's had a good hard waking up. He hasn't realized 
 the truth. How should he ? Mother has always smiled 
 and smiled and seen to everything. He was a genius. 
 He was never to be disturbed. He never has been. 
 Not till now. Now he has been tumbled off his cushions 
 whack ! and presently he'll get up all right." 
 
 " Whe-e-ew ! You don't mince matters in speaking 
 of your relatives, do you, sweet sister ? " 
 
 " Not a bit. Just you wait. All the histories we've 
 ever read, all the tales we've ever heard, of gentlemen 
 and gentlewomen, 'aristocrats,' who have had to suffer 
 anything dreadful, show that they have borne the 
 troubles as no meaner person could. The good there 
 is in being of 'family,' it seems to me, is the self-respect 
 that holds us upright, no matter what blows are dealt." 
 
 Again Hallam blew a long note. But he looked at 
 his excited little sister with a new admiration. 
 
 " Upon my word, Amy, my dear, you are positively 
 eloquent. Who knows but you may one day take to 
 the 'stump,' become a public orator, and lecture, to fill 
 the coffers of that 'family' of which you are so proud." 
 
 " No, thank you. I don't need to go abroad to lec- 
 ture. I find enough subjects right in my own house- 
 hold. Between you and ' Bony ' and Miss Scrubbub 
 my life's a burden to me. Now hear me, both of you ; 
 for in the language of ' Bonaparty Gineral Lafayette,'
 
 I2 2 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 'there ain't none o' ye got no sense 'cept me/ and 
 'me' says: Fix up the north chamber for a studio. 
 Put all father's things in there. Fix the middle room, 
 which faces east and the sunrise, for a bedroom ; and 
 this warm southwestern one for a private sitting room, 
 for mother darling, where she can retreat to think upon 
 her husband's greatness and her children's folly; and 
 where the sweet blessed thing will never be alone one 
 single minute, unless every other member of the family 
 is sound asleep. So that's for the ' retreating ' of Friend 
 Salome Kaye. Oh, that she were here this minute ! 
 that I could hug the heart right out of her ! Fly around, 
 Amy, ' an' set the house to one side,' a la Friend Adam's 
 old housekeeper." 
 
 It was wonderful what four pairs of arms could 
 accomplish when love actuated them. " Spite House " 
 had seemed hopelessly bare and dirty when the little 
 household first entered it, but it was far from that by 
 the end of a week's stay. Bare and bleak and unadorned 
 it was still, and the surroundings seemed to forbid that 
 it would ever be any better. But there was not an inch 
 of its surface, outside or in, that had not been cleaned 
 and polished, by scrubbing or whitewash brush. Even 
 the moss-grown roof had been swept by Fayette, stand- 
 ing barefooted and unsupported on the sloping shingles, 
 while he vigorously attacked them. To Hallam this 
 seemed a desecration. The moss had been the one 
 redeeming feature of the roof's ugliness.
 
 HOME-MAKING. 123 
 
 " Saints save us ! If we leave go that muck up yon, 
 it'll be like me dressin' for mass an' no rackin' down 
 me hair, so it would. No, Master Hal, if riches we 
 can't have, cleanness we can. An' that's aye more 
 pleasin' to God." 
 
 The plain, strong furniture which had been in the 
 house had been placed to best advantage ; and in the 
 parents' rooms above, as well as the one family living 
 room below, were gathered all that had been brought 
 from dear Fairacres. 
 
 A load of wood and another of coal, which Cleena 
 supposed had been sent by Friend Adam and paid for 
 with her money, gave a comfortable look to the wood- 
 shed, and in the storeroom was a bag of flour, a side 
 of bacon, a fair supply of vegetables, and a barrel of 
 apples. These the village grocer's lad had brought in 
 his delivery wagon, and it was useless to ask him by 
 whose order. Since they were needed, however, it was 
 well to take them in and to consider them as belonging 
 with the wood and coal. 
 
 Finally, the Saturday afternoon arrived on which Hal- 
 lam and Amy were to go to the Clove, to pass First Day 
 with Adam Burn and their parents, returning before 
 nightfall with the latter, to begin their reunited family 
 life. 
 
 Dressed in their freshest clothes, upon Balaam and 
 Pepita, groomed by the willing hands of Fayette, they 
 journeyed gayly down the slope over the familiar road,
 
 124 
 
 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 eager for their visit and the warm welcome awaiting 
 them. 
 
 "Do you know, Amy, it's queer that we've never 
 been about alone much, even on these country roads, 
 till now ? Losing our home seems to have broken down 
 ever so many restrictions." 
 
 " Well, don't you like it ? Doesn't it make you feel 
 freer and healthier ? " 
 
 " Maybe. I'm not enthusiastic over our poverty. I'd 
 be glad enough to go back to Fairacres." 
 
 "So would I, if we could live there honestly. I 
 wouldn't go, not for one clay, if I could help it, to 
 live in debt as we did." 
 
 "Aren't we living in debt just the same now, and 
 much more uncomfortably ? " 
 
 " I suppose so ; though it's different. This time 
 it isn't going to last, and we haven't shut our eyes 
 to it." 
 
 "Why isn't it going to last? How can we stop it? 
 I see nothing ahead except starvation." 
 
 " Hallam Kaye, the very first thing you ought to learn 
 is to be cheerful. You don't want to be a dead weight 
 on anybody, do you ? Well, you will be if you can't 
 look ahead at all to anything bright. You and I are 
 going to work and mend the family fortunes. Then 
 we're going back to Fairacres and do all the good we 
 can with the money we've earned." 
 " If I were sound "
 
 HOME-MAKING. 125 
 
 " And sensible, you'd race me again to the gate of 
 the Clove." 
 
 Burnside-in-the-Clove was a bonny place. The 
 "burn," from which the farm took its name almost 
 as much as from the family which had dwelt there 
 for generations, ran through the velvet lawn and was 
 spanned by a rustic bridge where the well kept drive- 
 way curved toward the roomy house. 
 
 " Oh ! it's so lovely here. The many, many windows, 
 each more cheery and inviting than its neighbor; the 
 old-fashioned door, opened almost all the time ; the 
 hammocks, the benches, the flowers, the cool, sweet 
 dairy this is a home. I guess I'll make ours here 
 instead of at Fairacres, after all," laughed Amy, as 
 they paced sedately over the gravel, the better to enjoy 
 the scene, and now that they had arrived, in no such 
 haste for the meeting with their people. 
 
 " I like to go slowly now, don't you, Hal ? Because 
 that makes the pleasure ' long-drawn out ' and all the 
 sweeter. In a minute mother's face will be in the door- 
 way, with father looking over her shoulder. "Friend 
 Adam, blessed man, will hobble after, if he is not too 
 lame; and then we shall jump off and the 'man' will 
 take the burros, and we will go in and hug everybody 
 all round, and eat the biggest kind of a supper living 
 on dry bread and milk two meals a day can give an ap- 
 petite ! And then one of dear old Adam's ' Spirit ' talks ; 
 and bed and sleep, and breakfast and meeting, and "
 
 126 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " ' Spite House ' ! " 
 
 "No, Hallam, truly not. Our mother couldn't live 
 in such a place. To-morrow a new life will begin on 
 the barren knoll. 'Charity House" she will have it, 
 and wherever our mother goes, softness and kindness 
 and loveliness are sure to follow." 
 
 "Yes, that is so," answered the cripple, thought- 
 fully. "Well, hear me, Amy. I guess I have been 
 about as much of a wet blanket as I could be, but I'm 
 going to try my very hardest to make things easy for 
 father and mother. Just now, as we rode down the 
 valley into all this peace and quiet, I seemed to see myself 
 exactly as I am. Heigho ! but look how green the grass 
 is still, late in the year as it is, and how beautiful the 
 vines on the stone walls. The maples are like a golden 
 glory. My father must have been wonderfully soothed 
 by so much loveliness about him, though he's going 
 to feel it all the " 
 
 " Take care, Sir Optimist, that is to be. You're tak- 
 ing the wrong turn, comrade. Come away from the 
 down to 'has been,' and climb to 'will be,' short 
 metre." 
 
 It was all as they said. The mother's gentle face in 
 the doorway, looking rested and less faded for the week 
 passed in the society of a simple, noble man; the 
 father's gay and debonair, as Amy remembered it 
 how long ago, was it ? And last of all Friend Adam, in 
 gray attire, his broadbrim crowning his snowy hair, his
 
 HOME-MAKING. 12? 
 
 expression one of childlike happiness and freedom from 
 care. 
 
 He welcomed them both with all heartiness, but Amy 
 was dearest. She had always been, perhaps because 
 she bore the name of his long dead wife, and had always 
 seemed to stand as a child to his childless life. 
 
 So after the fine supper was over, while before a 
 blazing fire in another room Mr. and Mrs. Kaye dis- 
 cussed with Hallam all the events of the past week, 
 Amy and the old man who had lived for more than 
 eighty years a blameless, helpful life sat by a window in 
 another place and looked out into the moonlight saying 
 little, but enjoying all. 
 
 " Dear father Adam, shall I tell thee " for with him 
 she always drifted into the sweet speech which was hers 
 by birthright and his for all his life "shall I tell thee 
 how it seems to me, as if thee had learned every 
 single lesson life and God has had to teach. Thee has 
 had poverty and sorrow, and endured the wrong that 
 others have done thee. Thee has seen thy kindred go 
 away and leave thee alone. It is just like a good sol- 
 dier who has been in a thick fight and a sailor who has 
 swam in deep waters, but has come out safe on the 
 other side. Thee is so calm and happy, like Mrs. Jones's 
 little Belinda, who sits in the sun and sings and croons 
 to herself, with never a plaything or anything good 
 about her except her own serene happiness. Isn't it ? " 
 
 "Maybe, child. It may be. It should be, certainly.
 
 128 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 There should be no care in either extreme of life. 
 Both ends are so close to the Father's house. 
 
 " Thee is right though, about the middle of life, little 
 Amy. It is a time of struggle and rebuff." 
 
 " But to-night it seems as if it could never have been 
 so with thee. Tell me, father Adam, how thee has kept 
 thyself so simple and good." 
 
 " Nay, little one, not that. Simple, indeed, but not 
 good. There is none good but One. Yet there are 
 certain things that help. I'll tell thee what has helped 
 me most, that is, in my daily life in the world, from 
 which we can never escape while the heart beats." 
 
 The dear old man rose, limped toward an ancient 
 secretary, and took from it a small book. Just an ordi- 
 nary account book, ruled for the keeping of small affairs, 
 but arranged with every page inscribed by the trembling 
 fingers of this all-thoughtful friend. 
 
 " I have been thinking what a muddle it would be to 
 thee, Amy, and I fixed this for thee. On one side is 
 the debt and the other side the credit. Thee will have 
 to keep the reckonings for thy family, I foresee ; for 
 thee is practical. Look. Is the light sufficient ? " 
 
 Amy held the little volume so that the rays of the 
 harvest moon fell clearly over them, and the old, quaint 
 script was as legible as copperplate. She questioned, 
 and he explained just how the book should be kept, and 
 she found his "system" exceeding plain and direct, as 
 was everything about him. But there were two legends
 
 HOME-MAKING. 129 
 
 inscribed upon the covers which had little in common 
 with the figuring to be done between them, or so Amy 
 thought ; and when she asked him what they meant, he 
 quietly explained : 
 
 " They have been my rules of life, Amy, and I think 
 it would be well for thee if thee also adopted them. 
 They are short and easy to remember, but they cover all. 
 1 Simplicity, Sincerity, Sympathy,' on the front page ; 
 and on the last, when the first rule seems sometimes to 
 fail and the heart needs cheer, there is this other : 
 1 Love is all powerful.' " 
 
 "Thank thee, dear Adam, so much. Not only for the 
 book and the help it will be, but for the ' Rules ' and 
 for thyself. I will make them mine, and thee shall tell 
 me if I am succeeding. Now, I know thee is sitting up 
 beyond thy time. I'll help thee to the living room and 
 then to thy own." 
 
 Nor was Amy ever to forget that peaceful hour with 
 this ripe old Christian ; and she never again sat in the 
 rays of the harvest moon without recalling the lessons 
 she learned that night.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE YOUNG OLD MAN AND THE OLD YOUNG GIRL. 
 
 IT seemed to Amy that she had never remembered so 
 lovely a First Day as that one at Burnside Farm. 
 Things happened just as she had foretold. Mrs-. Kaye 
 and Adam went to meeting in the little phaeton into 
 which it was so easy for him to climb, and Hallam 
 and she rode beside it ; for " Old Shingleside," as the 
 meeting-house was called, was at some distance from 
 the Clove. It crowned a wooded hill-top, and behind it 
 lay the peaceful burying-ground, with its rows of modest 
 tombstones and wider rows of grass-covered, unmarked 
 mounds. 
 
 The windows of the meeting-house were all open, 
 and the mild air came in and warmed them ; for as 
 yet the plain box stoves held no blazing logs within, 
 and the rows of old-time foot-stoves reposed securely 
 upon their tops. Later, when the weather turned, these 
 little wood-rimmed, perforated tin boxes would be filled 
 with coals from the fire and placed beneath the feet of 
 the elderly folk who came to worship. 
 
 The girl looked into her mother's face and found it 
 beaming with the still delight of one whose heart was 
 130
 
 THE YOUNG OLD MAN AND THE OLD YOUNG GIRL. 131 
 
 deeply moved. She had always been a member of this 
 simple congregation, but of late years Salome Kaye 
 had been obliged to forego the pleasure of gathering 
 with it. The distance from Fairacres was too great for 
 her to walk, and it was long since the horses and carriages 
 that had once filled Fairacres stables had disappeared. 
 
 Hallam, also, from his place on the men's side, saw 
 the joy in the face he loved, and thought : 
 
 " I wish mother would consent to ride one of the 
 burros to meeting, then she could come as often as she 
 wished. But she doesn't think it decorous. Well, 
 I'm glad she's having the comfort to-day; but what is 
 Friend Adam saying ? It sounds like a farewell." 
 
 He shot a startled glance across to Amy, among 
 the women, and she responded. Then both regarded 
 Adam anxiously. He stood in the speaker's place, 
 where he was always found in meeting time. His body 
 swayed gently back and forth, though his hands rested 
 upon his cane as if he needed its support. His voice 
 fell into the rhythmic measure to which they were 
 accustomed whenever he became the mouthpiece of the 
 Spirit, but his words were as of one who departs for a 
 distant country and wishes many things to be remem- 
 bered. 
 
 His message was brief, yet delivered with all the fire 
 and eloquence of youth ; but when he had finished and 
 cast his eyes about him, something like a sob burst from 
 his withered lips :
 
 132 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " It's so queer. He looks so happy and yet so sad. 
 Well, he's giving the hand of greeting to his neighbor, 
 and so meeting's over." 
 
 There was no trace of sadness now. In the friendly 
 hand-shaking that became general was, as Amy had 
 seen, the signal for the closing of the meeting, where- 
 upon old neighbors and friends fell promptly to giving 
 and receiving news of mutual welfare or trouble, as the 
 case might be ; and after a while there was a driving 
 away of vehicles, the nods and signals of gray bonnets 
 and broad brims, until the while party from the Clove 
 were the very last left lingering on the grass before the 
 steps. 
 
 " Well, it's been a good day, Salome. And now the 
 Word comes : ' For here we have no continuing city, but 
 seek one to come.' " 
 
 The old man's eyes fixed themselves earnestly upon 
 the weather-beaten structure ; then with a bright smile 
 he turned away and climbed into the phaeton which 
 Amy had brought. 
 
 Old Fanny mare trotted homeward at an almost 
 giddy pace, and the burros did their utmost to keep 
 up with her, though their chronic laziness overcame 
 them at times, and they fell behind. After which 
 Hallam and Amy would prod their indolent beasts till 
 they had " made a spurt and caught up." 
 
 " No use, children," laughed Adam Burn. " Fanny 
 is a well-trained ' Quaker.' She knows meeting days as
 
 THE YOUNG OLD MAN AND THE OLD YOUNG GIRL. 133 
 
 well as I do, and she never fails to go there as slowly 
 as she returns swiftly. She thinks, if horses think, and 
 I think they think doesn't thee think so, Amy ? She 
 thinks she has done her duty, and her conscience is as 
 clear as her stomach is empty. On meeting days she 
 has always an extra feed. That's why she spins along 
 like this." 
 
 He was very jolly, and as full of fun as Amy herself. 
 They found Mr. Kaye pacing the driveway, waiting for 
 them, and as eager for his dinner as Fanny for hers. 
 
 They were soon gathered about the table, and again 
 old Adam's jest was the readiest, his cheerfulness the 
 most contagious, and his suggestions the most practical. 
 
 " I advise thee, Cuthbert, to have a lot of good soil 
 drawn up and spread over the top of Bareacre knoll. 
 Thee can have the use of the team here till for some 
 time. There is plenty of muck in the hollow, and I'd 
 be glad to have it cleared out. Then thee must sow 
 grass, or grain and grass mixed, and Salome can have 
 as many roots and cuttings of the green things here as 
 she wishes. Get them all in this autumn. By another 
 spring they will begin to grow, and a little greenery 
 will transform the place." 
 
 Mrs. Kaye thanked him, but Amy looked up from 
 her dish of rice pudding and smiled. 
 
 " Thee isn't helping us to keep the rule of ' don't run 
 in debt' that thee told me was so good." 
 
 " Cuthbert and I will settle that. Eat thy pudding,
 
 134 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 child." But he shook his head at her so merrily she 
 did not mind the rebuff. 
 
 After dinner came the big carryall, with its back part 
 loaded so that the springs touched, and with the " man " 
 upon the front seat, ready to drive the Kayes to their 
 new home. 
 
 " Why, Adam, dear old friend, this is too much ; it 
 really is. I cannot let thee do it," protested Mrs. 
 Kaye, astonished at the sight. For there were vege- 
 tables of every sort that grew at Burnside, with hams 
 and bacon, some very lively chickens, and baskets 
 heaped with the grapes and pears for which the Clove 
 was famous. 
 
 " Too much, Salome ? I think not. Not judging by 
 the samples of appetites I've seen this noon. Say noth- 
 ing. Thee knows how gladly I give it, and would give 
 much more. Here, Amy, is a little letter for thee. I 
 wish thee to keep it without reading until " he hesi- 
 tated, looked at her gravely, and finished his sentence 
 " until thy own heart tells thee that the right time is 
 come. For Hallam, too, there is a bit of writing, and 
 that he may read at any time he chooses." 
 
 "That's right now, then," laughed the lad, and 
 eagerly tore the sealed envelope. 
 
 Adam Burn winced a little at the ragged edge this 
 made on the paper, for he was a careful person and 
 hated slovenliness. But he could not refrain a smile as 
 he saw the expression of disappointment growing upon
 
 THE YOUNG OLD MAN AND THE OLD YOUNG GIRL. 135 
 
 Hallam's face, where he sat upon black Balaam, his 
 crutches crossed before him, looking down at the open 
 sheet he had found. The envelope dropped to the 
 ground, and Amy picked it up ; but her brother did 
 not show her the message he had received, and she 
 was puzzled to hear their old friend say : 
 
 " The truth which I have written there is better for 
 thee than a fortune, Hallam." 
 
 " It may be, but, under the circumstances, I'd rather 
 have the fortune." 
 
 " Thee'll find it, lad, never fear. Thee'll find it." 
 
 Amy thrust the envelope into her pocket, along with 
 the letter Adam had given her, and a moment later they 
 all passed out of the yard, and turned toward the 
 knoll of Bareacre. The last glimpse they had of their 
 friend showed him standing in the sunshine, leaning 
 upon his cane, and gazing after them as they vanished 
 from his sight. 
 
 " There is something different about that blessed old 
 man to-day," said Amy to Hallam, riding with him 
 beside the carryall. 
 
 " Well, I suppose it makes him feel badly to know 
 we are not going back to Fairacres. He always does 
 feel other people's troubles more than his own." 
 
 " What was in your letter, Hal ? " 
 
 " Humph ! It couldn't be called a letter. From 
 anybody else I would have thought it insulting." 
 
 " Not from him, dear. He couldn't insult anybody.
 
 j^g REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 He'd not have the heart to do it. Do you mind tell- 
 ing?" 
 
 " Not a bit. I dare say you could take example by 
 it too. For it was a sort of sermon in few words, 
 'The perfection of a man is the stature of his soul.' 
 That's all." 
 
 " I don't see yet just what it means, but I think it 
 is that you shouldn't mind being lame. That you 
 should let your soul grow so big you would forget your 
 poor legs, and other folks would forget them too." 
 
 Nothing more was said, and even Amy felt that they 
 had had enough of " sermons " for one day, and it was 
 a relief to the thoughtfulness upon them all to reach 
 Bareacre, and to see Cleena/with Fayette beside her, 
 waiting to welcome them. 
 
 " Hal, isn't it odd ? The poorer we are the more 
 folks we have. Fayette means to live there with us, 
 and so, it seems, do all the little Joneses. My ! Who 
 is that ? " 
 
 " A scarecrow, I should think. Nobody I ever saw 
 before." 
 
 Seated upon a rocking-chair which she had herself 
 brought out from the house was a young girl of about 
 Amy's age, though from her dress and manner she 
 might have been at least several years older. Amy 
 caught a vision of something very gay and brilliant, 
 rivalling the forests upon the hillsides in variety of tint, 
 but never in their harmony.
 
 THE YOUNG OLD MAN AND THE OLD YOUNG GIRL. 137 
 
 " Whew ! Whoever she is she makes my eyes ache ; 
 and what a picture for father to see, the first at his new 
 threshold ! " 
 
 Yet apparently without noticing anything unpleasing, 
 Mr. Kaye assisted his wife from the carryall and walked 
 with her to where the stranger still sat and rocked. She 
 did not rise at their approach, and returned the courteous 
 greeting of the master and mistress of the house with 
 the barest of nods. 
 
 " How do ? I come to pay a call." 
 
 But not upon them. For the first time in their lives 
 the artist and his lovely wife were relegated by this self- 
 possessed young person to the land of "old folks," in 
 whom she felt no interest. 
 
 With a twinkle in his eye that met an answering one 
 in hers, the gentleman handed Mrs. Kaye on toward the 
 eager Cleena, and turned to his children : 
 
 " My dears, a visitor for you, I think." 
 
 So Amy and Hallam rode up and dismounted, while 
 the former went forward slowly, smiling a welcome, 
 yet feeling oddly disconcerted before this unknown 
 girl. 
 
 " I'm Gwendolyn Jones. Ma said it wasn't no more 'n 
 friendly to come an' call. I don't have no time 'cept 
 Sunday an' Saturday-half. Then I generally go to Wall- 
 burg to do my shopping. It's such a trouble, shopping 
 is, ain't it ? " 
 
 " I don't know. I never did any," answered Amy,
 
 138 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 simply. She was amused by Gwendolyn, but regret- 
 ful that the visit had been timed just then. She had 
 counted upon showing the interior of the new home to 
 her parents, with all the best features accented, and now 
 she must leave them to see things for themselves. Be- 
 sides, she was conscious that she had herself been 
 noticed only in the slightest degree by this maiden 
 whose big brown eyes were fixed upon Hallam with a 
 steady gaze that annoyed him exceedingly. He was 
 always more conscious of his lameness in the presence 
 of a stranger, and the people he had met, heretofore, 
 had been so well bred that beyond the first involuntary 
 surprise at his condition they had ignored it entirely. 
 
 To his amazement Gwendolyn exclaimed : 
 
 " So you're the lame fellow, are you ? Well now, 
 you don't look it, not above your waist. You look real 
 likely in your face, and your shoulders is broader than 
 Lionel Percival's. He's considered well growed, too." 
 
 " Is he ? " asked poor Hallam, understanding that 
 some sort of reply was expected. 
 
 " Yes ; ' Bony ' feels real sot up, don't he, taking 
 care of them donkeys? Oh, I tell you, 'Bony' is a 
 case." 
 
 " Is he ? " again feebly ejaculated Hallam. He looked 
 helplessly toward Amy, but she was disappearing in- 
 doors, too eager to be with her parents to loiter with 
 this unprepossessing guest. 
 
 "Yes, he's telling all over the mill, and village too,
 
 THE YOUNG OLD MAN AND THE OLD YOUNG GIRL. 139 
 
 how that he belongs to your folks now. He's going to 
 live here, ain't he ? " 
 
 " He may be. It will be just as Cleena wishes, I 
 fancy. She is the one who has taken him in charge." 
 
 " That's the work girl, ain't it ? " 
 
 To the young Kayes and their parents their faithful 
 servant had never been anything save just "Cleena." 
 Her position in their family was as assured as their 
 own, and that she might be thought a " work girl " by 
 others, was a novel idea to the lad. It gave him some- 
 thing natural to think about ; and he stood leaning on 
 his crutches, with a smile upon his face, looking down 
 upon the girl in the rocking-chair, chewing gum and 
 swaying so composedly. 
 
 " Why, yes ; I suppose she is. She certainly works, 
 and all the time. But I should hardly call her a ' girl.' " 
 
 " Say, you must be tired, standing so long. Take 
 this chair. I'll step in and get another." 
 
 Again Hallam smiled. The girl, in her ignorant 
 kindness of heart, had broken a minor law of that cour- 
 tesy in which he had been educated. She had offered 
 him the chair in which she had herself been sitting, 
 instead of the fresh one she meant to get. But he 
 declined both, saying : 
 
 " Please don't trouble. I can easily bring one for 
 myself." 
 
 Because she was curious to see how he would do 
 this, she watched him and sat still. Now he was quite
 
 I4O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 able to wait upon himself in most ways, and handled 
 his crutches so deftly that they often seemed to Amy, 
 as to him, " but an extra pair " of feet or hands, as the 
 case might be. 
 
 So he swung himself into the house and out again, 
 once more looking for his sister, and hearing her voice 
 above stairs explaining, exhibiting, and regretting : 
 
 " Isn't it too bad, mother, that this young lady should 
 have come just now? Hal has worked so hard and 
 done so much. Anyway, father, you must not, indeed 
 you must not, go into your studio till he can take you 
 there. It would be such a disappointment, for he's 
 arranged and rearranged till I'm sure even your fine 
 taste will be pleased." 
 
 He lingered a moment to catch the answer, and it 
 filled his foreboding soul with great content. 
 
 " It is all very excellent thus far, dear, and we'll 
 surely leave the studio for him to show. I had no idea 
 you could so transform this barn of a place. From the 
 outside it was ugliness itself, but you have all done 
 wonders. We shall be very happy here." 
 
 " Can that really be father speaking ? and we feared 
 he would be utterly crushed. Amy was right. Blood 
 tells. And there's something better even than blood to 
 help him now. That's love. Dear old Adam was 
 right, too : so long as we have each other we can be 
 happy." 
 
 Then he caught up a light chair under his arm and
 
 THE YOUNG OLD MAN AND THE OLD YOUNG GIRL. 14! 
 
 swung himself back to play knight-errant to this un- 
 known damsel. 
 
 She found him very agreeable, for he was a gentle- 
 man and could not fail in courtesy toward any woman, 
 old or young. So agreeable, indeed, that she remained 
 rocking, chewing, and talking, till the shadows of the 
 autumn evening crept round them, and Cleena, watchful 
 for her " child," and indignant at the intrusion of this 
 stranger, appeared. 
 
 " Arrah musha, Master Hallam, will you be sittin' 
 here catchin' your death ? Come in by, immediate. 
 The supper is on, an' the master waitin'. Sure, that's 
 bad luck, for the first meal we're all together in the new 
 home. Come by." 
 
 Hallam rose. It was impossible for him to avoid ask- 
 ing Gwendolyn to remain, and she, utterly ignoring the 
 sniffs and scowls of Cleena, promptly accepted. 
 
 Of that meal it is not worth while to write. The girl 
 did have the grace to keep reasonably quiet, though 
 occasionally she would feel that this silence was not 
 doing herself justice, and would break into the cheerful 
 conversation of the others with a boldness and self-asser- 
 tion that made Amy stare. 
 
 Finally she departed, and Mr. Kaye sighed his relief. 
 
 "Well, Friend Adam is the youngest old person, and 
 Gwendolyn Jones is the oldest young person I ever saw," 
 remarked Hallam, as he lighted his mother's bedroom 
 candle and bade her good night.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 BAD NEWS FROM BURNSIDE. 
 
 " WES, it is to be ' Charity House ' now," said Salome 
 I Kaye, with that quiet decision of hers which, as 
 Amy described it, " Never makes any fuss, and never 
 wobbles." 
 
 " That's the best and the worst about mother. She 
 never says ' yes ' when she means ' no,' and she never 
 says either till it's all settled. I remember how, when I 
 was little, I used to ask, ' Is it decided ? ' and when she 
 answered, ' Yes, it's decided,' I gave up teasing. Moun- 
 tains might crush, but never move her." 
 
 " So it's ' Charity House ' forever and a day. The 
 trouble with you, mother, is that all you say or the 
 little you say always means something. ' Charity 
 House ' is, I suppose, just as full of meaning as every- 
 thing else. Isn't it? Let me guess. It's 'Charity' 
 because cousin Archibald lets us live here for what he 
 calls a 'starvation rent.' That's the meanest kind of 
 ' Charity,' and it's a lie, too." 
 
 "Hallam!" 
 
 " But, mother, it is. I've heard these people talk, 
 and they all say that the old curmudgeon " 
 142
 
 BAD NEWS FROM BURNSIDE. 143 
 
 " Hallam, thee is proving that a ' Charity House ' is 
 the very sort of home thee needed." 
 
 "Well, motherkin, it's true. He is curmudgeon-y. 
 He's tried for years to get a tenant for this property, 
 and not even the mill folks would touch it. He took 
 advantage of us and made us think we were getting a 
 great deal for nothing." 
 
 " Are we not ? Look about thee." 
 
 " Of course, it's big enough." 
 
 " What a curious place it is," said Amy ; " like a box 
 that eggs come in. See, this is it," and she rapidly 
 sketched upon a paper the diagram. " Two partitions 
 run this way, north and south, and two run at right 
 angles. That's three rooms deep on each floor, look 
 at it from any point of view. Each room is as like its 
 neighbor as its twin. Hmm, I didn't realize it, but 
 there are eighteen rooms if we count the halls and the 
 'black hole.' " 
 
 " Almost as large as ' Fairacres,' thee sees." 
 
 11 It's not so bad, if it weren't so fearfully bare," 
 remarked Hallam, examining Amy's sketch. " But it's 
 queer." 
 
 The entrance hall was the middle front room of the 
 old building. From this a flight of stairs ran up and 
 ended in "the middle room " above, with a narrow 
 flight behind into the attic. The upper middle room was 
 therefore an open space, from the sides of which a nar- 
 row gallery had been reserved to surround the well-like
 
 144 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 opening of the stairway. Next the stairs the gallery 
 was furnished with a strong plain railing, to prevent 
 the accident of falling into the " well," and all the bed- 
 rooms had doors opening upon it. 
 
 This upper space was dark, save when the bedroom 
 doors were open and gave it light. So, also, was the 
 room below ; and beneath this, still, was the " black 
 hole," the extension of a cellar under the kitchen. 
 
 Whatever the original purpose of this "hole," which 
 received no light nor ventilation except through the 
 kitchen cellar, it was now the terror and despair of 
 Cleena's cleanly soul. She had wasted many good 
 candles in trying, by their light, to sweeten and make 
 wholesome this damp, miserable place. But despite 
 all it remained almost as she found it. 
 
 "The pit of. original sin," Hallam named it, advising 
 her to give over the task of purification. " You've 
 sprinkled pounds of chloride, splashed whitewash galore, 
 swept and scrubbed and worn yourself out, and it's hope- 
 less. Well, I never heard that any of the Ingrahams 
 died of pestilence bred down there, so I fancy it won't 
 hurt us." 
 
 " Faith, it shan't that. I'll keep the front cellar door 
 open into it incessant, an' I'll " 
 
 "Waste your substance in lime. Don't, Goodsoul. 
 But it's on my mind as it is on yours. If I were as 
 strong as I wish, I'd turn rabbit and burrow galleries 
 out from the middle vault under the middle rooms
 
 BAD NEWS FROM BURNSIDE. 145 
 
 each side of the house. That would give light and 
 air and keep everything dry." 
 
 Neither Cleena nor Hallam noticed that Fayette had 
 been a close listener to this conversation, nor heard the 
 muttered exclamation : 
 
 " I'll do it ! Huckleberries ! I'll s'prise 'em ! " 
 
 This had been some days before Amy drew the 
 diagram of the house, which she now tossed into the 
 waste-basket. From that it was rescued by the half- 
 wit and treasured carefully ; for to the purpose formed 
 in his mind it would prove a great help. 
 
 " But go on, mother dear. What's the other sort of 
 charity you mean ? " 
 
 " That by all the advantages which we have had over 
 these new neighbors we should be helpful to them. We 
 possess nothing of our own, absolutely, not even our 
 better training and " 
 
 " Arrah musha ! Sure the pullet was bad enough, 
 but this baby'll be me death ! An' me steppin' me 
 great foot There, there, darlin'. Cry no more, cry 
 no more ! " 
 
 The interruption was Cleena, and the cause " Sir " 
 William Gladstone. 
 
 " Again, Goodsoul," jeered Amy. 
 
 " Again is it ? An' me goin' down that hill betimes 
 this mornin' to remind me neighbor as how it wasn't 
 necessary to send all the childer up here to wonst. Not 
 aUI" 
 
 L
 
 146 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 One of the first things which Cleena had made Fay- 
 ette do was cut and smooth a path from the door of 
 " Charity House " to that of the cottage below. She 
 foresaw that there would be frequent errands to and 
 fro, and the loose stones, with the tangle of running 
 blackberry vines, were dangerous to life and limb. 
 Then, because Hallam's lameness was also in her 
 mind, she had persuaded the mill boy to add a row 
 of driven stakes with rope strung along their tops. 
 
 " But never at all has Master Hal, for whom it was 
 made, gone down or up by that same. Me fathers, 
 what's a body to do ! " 
 
 " We're living in ' Charity,' Goodsoul. And I've 
 observed that, look out of window when I will, there's 
 always a yellow headed Jones-let ascending to us by 
 the easy road you've fixed. Belinda, the small, is apt 
 to lead the way. She likes it up here. She likes it very 
 much." 
 
 " Hmm, that's what the mother be's sayin'. But 
 is that any reason at all, avick, why they should be 
 let ? " 
 
 "Mrs. Jones thinks it is. She feels that we are 
 flattered by the preference her offspring show for our 
 society ; but between ourselves, Cleena, I think it's more 
 raisin-bread than affection. You made a dire mistake 
 in beginning to feed them." 
 
 " An' isn't it I that knows it ? Now, this baby " 
 
 " Yes, that baby. What's happened to him ? He's
 
 BAD NEWS FROM BURNSIDE. 147 
 
 spotted white and black, like a coach-dog. What's he 
 licking from his fingers ? " 
 
 " It's spoilin' the bakin' o' bread is he the day. 
 Takin' the coals from the bucket, each by each, an' 
 pressin' them deep in that beautiful dough. Will I 
 wash his face, eh ? Never a wash I wash, but home to 
 his mother he goes the same as he is. If the sight does 
 not shame her, I'd know." 
 
 " I'll take him, Cleena, and I'll bring back the milk 
 for the day." 
 
 So with her pail in one hand and the other guiding 
 the still uncertain steps of William Gladstone, Amy 
 started. 
 
 "It's a pity, Sir William, it really is a pity that you 
 ever learned how to climb. You've progressed so 
 alarmingly. First time you tried it you could only 
 stumble and fall backward. Now you hitch along 
 famously. Heigho'! here's Victoria. All the high per- 
 sonages of Merrie England are honoring us 'the day.' 
 Well, Victoria Regina, what's the errand now ? " 
 
 "Nothing, only thought I'd tell you about that old 
 Quaker man you like." 
 
 " Everybody likes. What about him ? " 
 
 " He's gone away. Ma says he won't never live to 
 come back again." 
 
 " Victoria Jones, what are you saying ? " 
 
 "That Mr. Quaker Burn, up Clove way, had been 
 took to Ne' York."
 
 148 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " I guess you're mistaken. We would have heard 
 about it if it were so. Now, if you please, though, I 
 should like Master Gladstone to be 'took' home. If 
 you'll hold his other hand we'll get him there the 
 quicker." 
 
 "I guess I'll go up and set a spell; you take him," 
 remarked Victoria, and turned to ascend the slope. 
 
 Amy sighed : " Something must be done to stop 
 this ! " Then she lifted her eyes and scanned the 
 white dusty road which circled Bareacre knoll, and 
 across which lay the Jones's cottage. A wagon was 
 driving leisurely along this highway, and it had a most 
 familiar appearance. A moment's watching showed it 
 to belong to the Clove Farm, and it was Adam Burn's 
 " hired man " who was driving in it. Her heart sank. 
 What if Victoria had spoken the truth ? 
 
 So she hurried her young charge to his home, and 
 waiting only to have her pail filled with the milk, ran 
 back to intercept the approaching vehicle. 
 
 " Good morning, Israel. How's dear old Adam ? " 
 
 " Only the Lord knows. Sarah Jane's got him." 
 
 " She hasn't ! Don't tell me ! " 
 
 " But she has, though." 
 
 " Where ? " 
 
 " York." 
 
 " When ? " 
 
 " Yesterday." 
 
 "Why?"
 
 BAD NEWS FROM BURNSIDE. 149 
 
 " Same old story. If she hadn't gone to Europe, 
 she'd had him last year. I knew how 'twould be when 
 she come home this summer an' begun to send him 
 the letters. She's the powerfulest hand to do her duty 
 that ever was. Everything else has to give way." 
 
 Amy's hand trembled so that her milk began to 
 trickle over the sides of her pail. 
 
 " That's what it meant, then, that dear, precious 
 old fellow. He knew he was going to leave us, that 
 First Day we spent at the farm. That was why his 
 words in the meeting-house were so like a farewell. 
 It is too bad ! It must have broken his heart." 
 
 " No, it didn't. He didn't want to go, not a mite ; 
 but there wasn't no heart-break, not in sight. If there 
 was, he kept it hid. But he went all round the place, 
 into every shed and building, pointing out things that 
 should be done, and being most particular about the 
 flowers and garden. He told me to take care of every- 
 thing just as if he was coming back to-morrow. But 
 he'll never. He'll never." 
 
 " Israel, you shall not say that ! He must come 
 back ! " 
 
 " Oh, he'll come, of course, one way : that's feet fore- 
 most. He's a sight feebler 'n he ever let on, an' this 
 riotous livin' at York, what with balls and parties and 
 wine suppers, he won't last long. They'll kill him out 
 of hand amongst 'em." 
 
 "Oh, Israel, the idea of Adam Burn at 'balls and
 
 I5O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 parties and wine suppers,' when he's so simple and 
 sweet and abstemious. I don't believe he ever tasted 
 wine during all his pure, beautiful life. I'm not 
 worrying about that. It's the leaving the things he 
 loved will hurt him so. Why couldn't Sarah Jane have 
 left him in peace ? O dear ! O dear ! This will be a 
 fresh sorrow for mother." 
 
 "So I suppose. For all of us, too. It's going to be 
 lonesome for me, I reckon. Though Mis' Boggs won't 
 have so much to do. She wants to give up the job, an' 
 go live with our son, Jim. But Sarah Jane told us to 
 stay, an' so we'll have to." 
 
 " Is this dreadful woman who's spirited Adam away 
 any kin to you ?" 
 
 "Course not. But you needn't laugh. You don't 
 know that lady. She's masterful, and she's rich 
 'rich as Croesus,' and don't know what to do with her 
 money. When the old man was lookin' around an' 
 chargin' me 'bout things, she broke in with : ' Oh, don't 
 worry, father-in-law. The trumpery stuff isn't worth 
 so much thought. I'm not a relic hunter, and let it 
 go,' says she. Then he reminds her that he wanted 
 it kept right for Whew ! I near let the secret out, 
 didn't I ? He told me he wrote you a letter. He gave 
 it to you, didn't he ? Well, if you'll carry the message 
 for me, I won't climb ' Spite ' hill this morning. There's 
 a few things to fetch up in the open wagon, and I'll 
 see your folks about hauling that muck. Good-by.
 
 BAD NEWS FROM BURNSIDE. 15! 
 
 The spirit's taken clean out of me. Twenty-five years 
 me and him has lived together, and to part sudden like 
 this. Twenty-five years by the clock, and a better man 
 than him never trod the footstool." 
 
 With that Israel brought the mare around, and giving 
 a mournful nod of his head drove dejectedly away. 
 
 Amy flew up the hill. She paid little heed now to 
 the spilling of the milk, for she began to realize in 
 all its force the calamity which had befallen them ; 
 and she burst into her mother's sitting room flushed 
 and indignant, demanding : 
 
 "What right had Sarah Jane to take him away ? " 
 
 Mrs. Kaye's heart sank. She understood what this 
 hysterical question implied. It had been a contingency 
 long foreboded by her, though against its justice she 
 could find nothing to say. 
 
 " Every right, dear. She is his son's widow. She 
 is acting, no doubt, as she thinks her husband would 
 wish." 
 
 " But he didn't want to go." 
 
 " She probably felt he was too old to live alone, with- 
 out relatives. Indeed, I know that she would have 
 taken him long ago, if she had been living in this coun- 
 try herself. As soon as she came home she has at- 
 tended to her her duty, as she sees it. As I suppose, 
 anybody would see it, who was indifferent whether he 
 went or stayed. I hope, though, that she'll bring him 
 back to Burnside in the spring."
 
 152 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Do you know her, mother ? " 
 
 " Not well. When we were both younger I used to 
 see her sometimes. She was never very fond of Burn- 
 side, however. It was too quiet for her. She is 
 a wealthy woman, who likes to do a great deal of good. 
 She is at the head of many charitable associations, and 
 she has always had wonderful executive ability." 
 
 " Does that mean being what Israel called ' master- 
 ful'?" 
 
 " About the same thing." 
 
 " Will she be good to our dear Adam ? " 
 
 " Certainly. She will see that he has every comfort 
 possible. He will, doubtless, have a servant especially 
 appointed to wait upon and care for him, and he will 
 be made to share in all the enjoyments of the house. 
 She believes that it is the duty of all to live actively 
 in the world and do good aggressively, so to speak. 
 But Adam is so old and feeble, he has passed his days 
 in such simplicity, I can feel what a change for him 
 it will be. Still, if he were to fall seriously ill, he 
 would be better off at his daughter-in-law's than here. 
 Ah, yes. I suppose it is for the best for him. For 
 us well, it will be hard to think of Burnside without 
 his gracious presence. He was my parents' oldest, 
 closest friend, as he has been mine." 
 
 Mrs. Kaye rose, folded up her mending, and left the 
 room. " I must tell Cuthbert," she remarked, as if to 
 herself, and her face was very sad.
 
 BAD NEWS FROM BURNSIDE. 153 
 
 When Amy found her brother and told him the news 
 his comment was : 
 
 " That's a bad business for us, girlie." 
 
 " Of course. Don't you suppose I feel it ? " 
 
 " As long as Adam Burn was near, mother would 
 never have been allowed to really surfer for anything. 
 I mean that he would have managed to keep an eye 
 upon her and have helped us out, till we could help 
 ourselves. Do you know where that letter is he gave 
 you ? Have you read it ? I should think this might 
 be that ' right time ' of which he spoke." 
 
 "The letter? In my other dress pocket. I'll get it." 
 
 But when she had searched not only in her pockets 
 but in every other possible place, the letter could not 
 be found; and though Mrs. Kaye assured them that 
 there was probably very little of importance in it, her 
 children could not help imagining something quite to 
 the contrary ; and to learn the unread message became 
 the great desire of their hearts. 
 
 " Well, in any case, we have what he said to you, 
 Hal, about soul growth and that." 
 
 " Humph ! Such talk is all well enough, but how is 
 it going to help when we reach our last dollar ? Did 
 you ever think, Amy, seriously think how we are going 
 to live ? Just where our actual bread and butter is to 
 come from ? " 
 
 " No. Why, no, not really." 
 
 "Then it's high time you did."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 AMY PAYS A BUSINESS CALL. 
 
 AT about the same moment, on a " Saturday-half ' 
 in November, Amy Kaye and Gwendolyn Jones 
 left each her own home to visit that of the other. 
 They met on the slope of " Bareacre " and paused for 
 mutual greetings. 
 
 "How do? I was just going up to your house," 
 said Gwendolyn, turning her back to the wind that just 
 then blew strongly. 
 
 " Good afternoon. Were you ? And I was going to 
 yours." 
 
 " My ! How cold it is. Winter'll be here before we 
 know it. Makes a body think about her clothes. 
 That's why I was coming. I thought, maybe, you'd 
 like to go shopping with me." 
 
 " You're forgetting, I fancy, that I told you I never 
 did that. I shouldn't know how to shop, nor scarcely 
 what it means," laughed Amy. 
 
 "That's what me and ma was saying. You seem 
 such a little girl, yet ' Bony ' says you're 'most as old 
 as I am." 
 
 " But I don't feel old, do you ? I wish I might never
 
 AMY PAYS A BUSINESS CALL. 155 
 
 grow a day older, except that if I do I may be more 
 useful to my people." 
 
 " Won't you go, then ? " 
 
 " Maybe, if you will do something for me, too. I'm 
 not on the road to buy anything, but to sell. I thought 
 that you might know of somebody who would like 
 a burro. Do you ? " 
 
 "I'd like one myself, first-rate, only I'm saving for 
 a wheel. I'm buying it on the instalment plan. I pay 
 a dollar a week, and after I get my winter things I'll 
 pay more. Do you ride ? " 
 
 " Nothing so fine as a bicycle ; just either Pepita or 
 Balaam." 
 
 " It's awful hard to have to walk everywhere, and the 
 good thing about a wheel is that it don't have to eat." 
 
 " And the bad thing about a burro is that it does." 
 
 " Are you in earnest ? Do you want to sell it ? " 
 
 "No; I don't want to at all, but I'm going to if I 
 can. Do you know anybody who really might buy 
 Pepit ? " 
 
 " Guess I do. Guess the ' Supe ' would." 
 
 " The ' Supe ' Mr. Metcalf ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I heard him say he'd like to get such a pair 
 of mules or donkeys, or whatever they are, for his 
 children. He's got a slew of them, and he gets 'em 
 every conceivable thing. I wouldn't wonder if he did, 
 if you was to ask him." 
 
 " Will he be at the mill to-day ? "
 
 156 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " No ; he's at his house, I guess. The mill's shut 
 up, only the watchman there. The ' Supe ' don't hang 
 around there himself so much since the new ' boss ' 
 came." 
 
 " Maybe his house would be out of your way. If 
 you'll tell me how to find it, I can go by myself. I 
 wouldn't like to give you trouble." 
 
 " Oh, 'twouldn't be a mite. I'd like it. There'd 
 be time enough afterward for Mis' Hackett's. She 
 keeps open till near midnight, Saturdays. She gets 
 lots of the mill trade, and she'd like to have it all. 
 But Wallburg's far nicer. Don't you love Wallburg ? " 
 
 " I was never there except once, when father had 
 a guest from town. Then mother sent for a carriage, 
 and they took their friend to see the city. Hallam 
 and I rode our burros, but we were very tired when it 
 was over. Even then we passed through the residence 
 streets only." 
 
 " Pshaw ! It's where the stores are that I like. I 
 always wish I was made of money when I'm in a store. 
 They do have such lovely things." 
 
 " Doesn't your mother buy your clothes ? " 
 
 "My mother? My mother? Well, I guess not. 
 The idea! If a girl earns her own money and pays 
 for all she has, I guess she's a right to pick 'em out. 
 Don't you ? " 
 
 "Why yes. I suppose she has a right, if her 
 mother allows. But I should think it would be very
 
 AMY PAYS A BUSINESS CALL. 157 
 
 trying to select one's own things. I should be so 
 afraid I wouldn't choose correctly, and not please her 
 taste." 
 
 "My land! What if you didn't? It's you that has 
 to wear them, isn't it ? Have a piece of this gum. It's 
 a new sort. Mis' Hackett keeps it and charges two 
 cents a stick. Other kinds are only one cent, but this 
 is prime." 
 
 Gwendolyn was kind-hearted. She was also very 
 vain. She felt that it was a fine thing to be acquainted 
 with " aristocratics " like the Kayes ; yet in her heart 
 she was rather ashamed of Amy's plain attire, the 
 simplicity of which seemed to Gwendolyn a proof 
 of Mrs. Kaye's incapacity to " shop " ; and its being 
 white though of soft warm wool of her want of 
 taste. She supposed, also, that any girl who could, 
 would buy gum, and decided that her new acquaintance 
 must be very poor indeed. 
 
 " Take it. I can get plenty more. I earn real good 
 wages now." 
 
 " Do you ? " asked Amy, so wistfully that the other 
 was confirmed in her opinion of the poverty. 
 
 " I should think you would like to work in the mill, 
 wouldn't you ? If your folks have lost their money, it 
 would seem real handy to have a little coming in." 
 
 " Yes, it would, indeed. But I couldn't do it." 
 
 " Why not ? You're strong enough, I guess, if you 
 aren't so big."
 
 IjjS REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Yes, I'm strong and well. But father has forbidden 
 me to think of it." 
 
 " Pshaw ! He'd come round. If you want to do it, 
 I would ; and once you were settled he wouldn't care, 
 or he couldn't help himself, anyway. He's kind of 
 queer, isn't he ? I've heard that." 
 
 " Queer ? Yes ; just as queer as a splendid gentleman 
 like him must always seem to common people," flashed 
 the daughter, all the more disturbed because she realized 
 that there had been once, if not now, just a little truth 
 in the suggestion. 
 
 " Pshaw ! I didn't mean to make you mad. O' course, 
 I hadn't ought to have spoke so about your own father. 
 I s'pose I'd be mad, too, if anybody said things about 
 pa. They do, sometimes, or about ma, their naming 
 us children by fancy names, as they did. You see, 
 they're English, pa and ma are, and so they named us 
 after English aristocratics. Ma's a master hand for 
 reading novels, too, and she gets notions out of them. 
 We take the Four Hundred Story Paper, and the Happy 
 Evening Gazette. Do you take them ? " 
 
 " No ; I never heard of them." 
 
 " My land ! you didn't ? Ain't that queer ? Why, 
 they're splendid. They have five serial stories running 
 all the time. As fast as one is finished another is com- 
 menced. Umm, they're awful exciting. You can't 
 hardly wait from week to week to get the new instal- 
 ments. Trouble is, ma says, we'd ought to each of us
 
 AMY PAYS A BUSINESS CALL. 1 59 
 
 have a copy, we're so crazy to get hold of it when it 
 comes. Some of the girls take fashion papers, and we 
 lend them 'round. Some lend, I mean. Some are 
 stingy, and won't. They have patterns in them. You 
 can get some of the patterns free, and some cost ten 
 or fifteen cents. Say, how do you like my dress ? " 
 
 Amy looked critically at her companion's attire. She 
 admired it far less than Gwendolyn had her own simple 
 frock, and she found the question difficult to answer 
 without giving offence. She compromised by say- 
 ing: 
 
 " Your mother must be very industrious to have 
 made it, with all the housework and the children." 
 
 " If you ain't the greenest girl I know ! My mother 
 couldn't make a dress like this to save her life'." 
 
 " O oh ! " stammered Amy. 
 
 " Indeed, she couldn't. This was made by a dress- 
 maker. The best one in Ardsley, too. She charged me 
 five dollars, and ma said it was too much. I think it 
 was, myself, but what can you do? You must look 
 right, you know ; if you don't the girls will make fun 
 of you, and the boys won't take you any place. Is 
 there any boy you like, much ? " 
 
 "Why, of course; though I know only three. Is 
 this the way, around the corner?" 
 
 "Three? Who're they?" 
 
 " Hallam, and Fayette, and William Gladstone. 
 Doesn't the mill village look cosy ? The cunning little
 
 I6O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 houses with their porches and gardens and neat pal- 
 ings. Such a lot of folks living together should have 
 good times, I think." 
 
 " Oh, they do ; prime. That's the ' Supe's ' house, 
 that big one, upon that little hill. That whole row 
 belongs to the different 'bosses,' of the setting room, 
 the weavers, and the rest The ' Supe ' is real nice, I 
 think, though some say he's stuck up. He was a poor 
 boy, once, as poor as a church mouse. Say, don't you 
 feel sort of afraid to call on him, after all ? " 
 
 " Why ? No, indeed. Afraid ? Why should I ? " 
 
 "Oh, because." 
 
 Amy laughed and hastened forward. Nothing more 
 was said until they reached the door, shadowed by 
 vines from which not even yet all the leaves had 
 fallen. The whole place had a sheltered, homelike 
 appearance, which spoke well for the taste and kindli- 
 ness of its owners. 
 
 "Yes; Mr. Metcalf is in. Would you like to see 
 him? Ah, Gwendolyn, is it you? Walk in." Yet 
 even Amy noticed that the maid's manner in welcom- 
 ing her companion was less cordial than in welcoming 
 herself. She concluded that there might be some truth 
 in the assertion of this family considering themselves 
 rather better than their neighbors. 
 
 They were ushered into a cheery sitting room, which 
 seemed also a sort of library, for there were bookcases 
 around the walls, and a table was spread with the
 
 AMY PAYS A BUSINESS CALL. l6l 
 
 current literature of the day. The room was small by 
 comparison with those to which Amy had been accus- 
 tomed, but what it lacked in size it made up for in 
 comfort. A coal fire glowed on the hearth, a bird 
 sang in its cage before the window, and about the floor 
 were scattered the playthings that told that it was the 
 resort of children. 
 
 The girls were not kept waiting. Mr. Metcalf entered 
 almost at once, nodded kindly to Gwendolyn, and cor- 
 dially extended his hand to Amy. 
 
 " I am very pleased to see you, Miss Amy. Sit 
 nearer the fire, for it's right cold to-day." 
 
 "Thank you, but I'm not cold, and I don't wish to 
 detain you. Gwendolyn tells me that it is your holiday, 
 too, and that you go to Wallburg." 
 
 Mr. Metcalf glanced across at the other girl, who 
 bridled and simpered as she adjusted her hat and set- 
 tled her skirts. 
 
 " She goes there herself, I fear, rather too much. 
 Eh, Gwendolyn ? " 
 
 " I go when I please," answered the mill girl, pertly. 
 She resented something in the tone of her superintend- 
 ent, feeling that out of work hours he had no authority 
 over her. 
 
 " Oh, of course. By the way, there's the stage just 
 ready for the other end of the village. Do you see it, 
 Miss Amy? The shop mistress, Mrs. Hackett, sends 
 one over every Saturday afternoon to carry our folks
 
 1 62 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 free to her place of business. She's an enterprising 
 person, but, unfortunately, as soon as she had adopted 
 this plan, two other merchants of the town set up rival 
 stages also. It's very funny, sometimes, to see the 
 respective drivers' efforts to secure passengers, and 
 therefore custom." 
 
 At the mention of stages, Gwendolyn rose and looked 
 through the window. Then she turned toward Amy like 
 a person in great haste. 
 
 " Tell the ' Supe ' what you came for, Amy, so we 
 can get a ride over, that is, if you want to go shop- 
 ping with me after all." 
 
 But poor Amy could not reply just then. It had 
 come over her with a rush what her errand really meant 
 to her, and she was wholly indifferent to the charms of 
 a stage or even " shopping." 
 
 " Don't wait for me, please, that is, of course, I will 
 keep my word, but 
 
 " All right, then, some other day. I'll be up to see 
 how you made out, and if Mr. Metcalf don't want it 
 maybe I'll hear of somebody else who does. By, by. 
 Good day, sir," and off she tore, banging the door and 
 shouting loudly to the driver of Mrs. Hackett's stage. 
 
 Mr. Metcalf watched her in silence till she had 
 climbed the steps at the rear of the omnibus, and then 
 he remarked : 
 
 " That girl has so much sense that she ought to have 
 more."
 
 AMY PAYS A BUSINESS CALL. 163 
 
 " That's a doubtful compliment, isn't it ? " asked 
 Amy, smiling. 
 
 " I suppose so, though it's quite true. She is warm- 
 hearted, generous to a fault, and as silly as they make 
 them. However, she has given me the pleasure of 
 seeing you to-day, and I hope that you will tell me 
 how I can be of use to you. From Gwendolyn's 
 words I judge that you came upon some special 
 errand." 
 
 " Yes ; I came to ask if you would like to buy my 
 white burro." 
 
 "Ah, you are tired of her? I mean you wish to sell 
 her ? Has she been misbehaving or interfering with 
 ' Bony ' again ? " 
 
 " No, she has been very, very good, and I don't at all 
 wish to part with her ; but I want some money very 
 badly, and that is the only thing the only way I could 
 get it." 
 
 " I am very glad you came to me. Ever since I made 
 Miss Pepita's acquaintance, that day .at the mill, I've 
 wished I could find another like her for my little Nan- 
 ette. How much do you ask for the burro ? " 
 
 " I don't ask anything. That is, I don't know how 
 much she is worth." 
 
 " I think you told me that she was a gift to you ? " 
 
 "Yes, from my uncle in California." 
 
 " Hmm, I've heard of him," commented the gentle- 
 man, briefly. " Now, I am almost as much in the dark
 
 164 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 in regard to the value of such animals as you are, but, 
 at a rough estimate, I will offer you fifty dollars. Then 
 I will make inquiries, and if I find I have named too 
 small a price, I will add the balance. Is that satis- 
 factory ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, indeed. Thank you. I I shall be glad 
 to have Pepita in such a nice place." 
 
 At home Amy had spoken to none save Cleena about 
 this intention of hers, and that good creature had sighed 
 and wiped her eyes, but had not uttered one word of 
 protest. The girl sighed, too, now, and the superintend- 
 ent felt it would be kind to cut the matter short. 
 
 " When can I send for her ? " 
 
 "Oh, at at any time, I suppose. Or, if you don't 
 mind, I'd like to ride her here myself. Just once more." 
 
 Mr. Metcalf looked at his watch. 
 
 " In a few moments John will be passing by Bare- 
 acre on his way to the other village. You might drive 
 up with him and ride her down here afterward. There 
 will be ample time before dark, and you must tell your 
 people not to be anxious, should there be any delay." 
 
 "Very well; and maybe Hallam, my brother, will 
 come, also. Though he hasn't been told yet, and might 
 not 
 
 " Very well. Excuse me for a moment. I will speak 
 to John." 
 
 He did not add, nor Amy reflect, that it was a very 
 long and roundabout way to reach " the other village,"
 
 AMY PAYS A BUSINESS CALL. 165 
 
 by passing over rough and steep Bareacre hill; but 
 John was willing enough to take it, when he was told 
 who was to be his companion on the route. He had 
 liked Amy from the first, and had grown to know her 
 fairly well during his time of helping the Kaye house- 
 hold to settle. 
 
 " All right, boss. Sorry the little thing is to give up 
 her donkey. She set a powerful store by it, I 'low. 
 Well, all ready ? How do, Miss Amy ? So me an' 
 you're going to take a trip together, eh? Then I can 
 find out for myself how the well is doing. Don't see 
 much of ' Bony ' since your folks took him in hand. 
 Giddap, there, Jinny ! Here we go ! " 
 
 To pass the time agreeably John talked of everything 
 which he imagined might be of interest to the silent girl 
 beside him, but he elicited few replies, and had the 
 stream of his words flow, for once, without interruption. 
 Yet it seemed a very, very slow ride to Amy, and when 
 it came to an end, she scarcely waited to thank John 
 for his " lift " before she sped to the shed where Pepita 
 was tied, and shutting the door behind her, threw her 
 arms around the neck of the gentle beast, to cry as 
 freely as she pleased. 
 
 " Bray ! Br-a-ay ! Ah-umph ! Ah-u-umph ! " in- 
 quired the burro, turning her head around as far as 
 she could by reason of Amy's embrace. , 
 
 " Oh, you darling, you dear old darling. Don't talk 
 to me. Don't look at me as if you thought I had no
 
 1 66 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 heart. Do you think I don't love you, that I will sell 
 you, Pepit' ? But it must be. It must be. Better 
 you than Balaam, and even he " 
 
 " Ah-umph ! A-ah-umph ! Br-r-r-ay ! Bray-bray- 
 bray ! B-r-a-y-a-u-m-p-h ! ! " protested Balaam, with 
 great haste and emphasis ; and this sound was an 
 added pang in the heart of the unhappy Amy, who 
 felt that she was not only breaking her own heart by 
 this separation, but the hearts of this four-footed pair 
 as well. 
 
 Then she heard a sound along the frozen ground, 
 and instantly she lifted her head, pulled her Tarn over 
 her eyes to hide the traces of tears, and called out, 
 gayly: 
 
 "Is that you, Hal dear? What do you think? You 
 and I are to ride down to Mr. Metcalf's, right away now. 
 Is Fayette in the house ? I want him to help me groom 
 Pepita to 'the Queen's taste,' as he says. Halloo to 
 him, for me, please." 
 
 But instead of that the brother hobbled into the shed 
 and asked : 
 
 " Why should we go there ? I don't want to. I've 
 no fondness for paying visits." 
 
 " But you must go this time, Hal. You really, really 
 must. I'll tell you why, by and by."
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PEPITA FINDS A NEW HOME. 
 
 WHEN the cripple firmly declined the visit, Cleena 
 found some errand for Fayette to do at the " gen- 
 eral store " in the mill village. Hallam thought it a 
 little queer that he was not greatly urged in the mat- 
 ter, and that Cleena should ask him to let Fayette ride 
 Balaam. 
 
 " For you know, Goodsoul, how I hate to have any- 
 body ride him, except myself. Not even Amy is really 
 welcome, though she does sometimes. I don't see why 
 she goes, anyway. What have we to do with any of 
 these people ? When mother is ill, too. If I were a 
 daughter, I'd stay at home." 
 
 Cleena wheeled about from scrubbing the kitchen 
 table and retorted, impatiently : 
 
 " Don't you go throwing blame on Miss Amy, lad. 
 Arrah musha! but she's the more sense of the lot of 
 us, so she has, bless her bonny heart. An' that sun- 
 bright an' cheerful, no matter " 
 
 " She's not very cheerful this afternoon, Cleena. I 
 believe she'd been crying, just now, when I found her 
 in the shed. I fancy she'll find a ride anything but 
 167
 
 1 68 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 funny, on such a day as this. I like the warm fire 
 better than the road in such weather." 
 
 " Get back to it then, child. There's your book yon, 
 on the settle. Wait. Carry in a bowl of porridge to the 
 mistress, an you can ? Heigh ! Move them crutches 
 easy now, an' not spill the stuff all over me nice floor." 
 
 In her heart Cleena was very proud of her deft- 
 handed " child," who could do so many helpful things, 
 even though a cripple, and she watched him cross the 
 wide room, swinging easily along on his " other feet," 
 yet holding the bowl of steaming liquid upright and 
 safely. Then she sighed, and going to the door 
 called : 
 
 "Me Gineral Bonaparty, come by ! " 
 
 Fayette was digging, even though the ground was 
 frozen, and it would be months before anything could 
 grow again. But the simple fellow was a "natural 
 farmer," and it was his intention to " let her lie fallow 
 this winter. Next summer I'll show you a garden'll 
 make your eyes bung out. I'm the best gard'ner any- 
 where's round, I am." 
 
 He now replied : 
 
 " What fer ? I want to get this side gone over, this 
 afternoon. Then come Monday I'm goin' to get some 
 trees down brook way, an' get John to haul 'em up an' 
 set 'em out, an' get Miss Amy " 
 
 " Faith, what else'll you ' get ' with your ' get ' an' 
 ' get,' I'd know. Come by, I tell ye, to wonst."
 
 PEPITA FINDS A NEW HOME. 169 
 
 When Cleena spoke in that tone, it was noticeable 
 that Fayette always obeyed. He now threw down his 
 spade, though reluctantly, and sauntered to the kitchen 
 door. 
 
 "A woman hain't got no sense nohow, stopping a 
 man from his work." 
 
 " An' all the sense a man body has, me fathers, is 
 to keep a woman standin' in her doorway. I'm wantin' 
 ye to go to the store down below. Master Hallam's 
 for lettin' ye ride Balaam. Off with ye, now, an' clean 
 the beast's coat, sayin' nothin' of Miss Amy's own 
 little white. Will she ride with ye ? What for no ? 
 Proud you be, says I, to be escortin' of the like o' 
 her." 
 
 Fayette's eyes shone. The desire of his heart was 
 to possess Balaam for himself; failing this, to have 
 the privilege of using the pretty creature occasionally. 
 
 " How happened it ? How does she want to go 
 there in such a wind ? Blows the hair right off your 
 head, I 'low. I'd ruther go alone, I would." 
 
 " ' Ruthers ' is all froze up. Haste along with ye 
 now, an' be off. Mind ye talk pretty to my colleen, 
 'cause No matter." 
 
 Fayette made swift work of the grooming, and only 
 a few moments later Amy and he rode out of the 
 enclosure. As she descended the slope, the girl turned 
 and waved her hand cheerfully to Cleena, then set her 
 face toward the valley and relapsed into silence.
 
 I TO REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Fayette endured this as long as he could, for though 
 he rarely needed anybody else to speak, this afternoon 
 he was annoyed by his companion's preoccupation. 
 
 " What's the matter, Amy ? You ain't said a word 
 since we started." 
 
 " Haven't I ? and we're almost there, already. Well, 
 I was thinking. That's all. I'll try to do better on 
 the way home." 
 
 " Feelin' bad about your ma ? Land, she'll get well. 
 All she wants is a bit o' boneset tea, or sage an' sassa- 
 fras. I'll go yarb hunting to-morrow, if I get my garden 
 ploughed. Cleena'll stew it. Say, have you heard my 
 new one ? Hark to this." 
 
 He pulled from his pocket a small jewsharp and 
 began to "play" upon it in the most nerve-rasping 
 manner. 
 
 "Oh, Fayette, another? Why, you must have a 
 half-dozen already. I come upon them everywhere 
 about the house, in the rooms where you are." 
 
 " Ain't got none now but this. I bought it to Mis' 
 Hackett's. Cleena's took my others. Got 'em all in 
 her kitchen draw '. 'Low she'll get this if you tell on 
 me." 
 
 "I'll not need. You'll have it out to show her how 
 talented you are, and then away goes your pride, 
 your jewsharp, and all." 
 
 " Hmm, she better try. I'll teach her a lesson 
 some day she ain't goin' to ferget. That woman bosses
 
 PEPITA FINDS A NEW HOME. 17! 
 
 me too much. I ain't a-goin' to stand it. You'll see. 
 I'll clear out an' leave the whole kerboodle first you 
 know. Sho ! Here we be." 
 
 11 Indeed. Well, I'm sorry to have reached the 
 place so soon, though it is pretty cold." 
 
 "You go in and see the 'Supe's' folks. I'll ride 
 along an' do my arrants. Cleena'd ruther trust me 
 than you, wouldn't she? I'm a master hand for a trade, 
 an' she knows it. Say, I do wish he'd sell me Balaam." 
 
 " You must drop that subject, really, Fayette. Even 
 if Hallam were to part with his burro, it would not be 
 to you." 
 
 The simple lad's fierce temper rose in full force at 
 Amy's blunt words. 
 
 " Like to know why not ? Ain't my money as good 
 as anybody's? Ain't I 'stuck up' enough to suit? He 
 never rode in a parade, he didn't. Told me so him- 
 self." 
 
 " Nor do I think he ever will, and, of course, one 
 person's money is as good as another's, excepting that 
 we could never trust how long you would be kind to 
 dear old Balaam. Hal would take much less to have 
 the creature well treated than I mean Oh, don't 
 get so angry; it's not worth while." 
 
 The more she tried to smooth matters over, the more 
 indignant the other became. His harp was still between 
 such discolored teeth as Pepita's former assault had 
 left him, and added to the grotesqueness of his appear-
 
 172 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 ance as he glared upon Amy. To finish what she had 
 begun, she remarked : 
 
 "Just tie him there, at that second post, please, and 
 you'd best put his blanket on him." 
 
 " Tie him ? I'm goin' to ride him to the village to let 
 the boys see him an' try him. I promised I would. 
 Tie him ! I shan't neither ! " 
 
 " You certainly will not ride him to wherever those 
 dreadful boys are. Nobody shall touch him, except 
 you or me, and you ought not." 
 
 Fayette gave her one more angry glance, leaped from 
 his saddle with a jerk, and bestowed upon the unoffend- 
 ing burro a vicious kick. Then he disappeared down 
 the street, and Amy tied Pepita in haste, that she might 
 look after the other animal also. 
 
 Just then she heard a step upon the path behind her, 
 and the superintendent's pleasant voice, saying : 
 
 "Well, young lady, you are certainly prompt, and 
 promptness is a cardinal virtue from a business man's 
 point of view. See, here is the little girl for whom you 
 are giving up your pet." 
 
 "Ah, indeed." 
 
 Amy smiled upon the child, who might have been ten 
 years of age, and the fragile little creature appeared to 
 smile in return. Then it came over the visitor that 
 there was something out of common in that uplifted, 
 happy face, and that the smile was not in response to 
 her own greeting. The wide blue eyes looked up-
 
 '"THEN I'M GLAD, GLAD THAT YOU ARE TO HAVE PEPITA."
 
 PEPITA FINDS A NEW HOME. 1/3 
 
 ward, truly, but with the blank stare of one who sees 
 nothing. 
 
 " Ah, is it so ? " cried Amy, a second time, watching 
 with what hesitation the little girl moved along the path, 
 and how persistently she clung to her father's hand. 
 
 "Yes, blind; quite blind from her birth," said Mr. 
 Metcalf, sadly. 
 
 Amy was on her knees in a moment, clasping the 
 child's slight body in her arms and saying: 
 
 "Then I'm glad, glad that you are to have Pepita. 
 She is the dearest, nicest burro except when she's 
 bad and will carry you wherever you want to go, 
 that is, if she is willing. You dear little girl, she shall 
 be yours, without that money either. I never knew 
 about you before, or you should have had her before, 
 too." 
 
 Mr. Metcalf 1 smiled, well pleased. His blind daugh- 
 ter was the idol of his flock, and anybody who was 
 attracted by her became interesting to him. Amy had 
 been so, even before this incident, but he liked her 
 heartily now. 
 
 " So, Miss Amy, though you hated to part with your 
 burro for money, you would do so willingly for love and 
 sympathy?" 
 
 "Why, of course. If I'd only known 
 
 " You will not make a good business woman, at this 
 rate. But this wind is sharp. I mustn't keep Nanette 
 out here long, else her mother will worry, and that
 
 174 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 wouldn't do. Suppose, since you know more about 
 donkeys than I do, that you give my girl her first rid- 
 ing lesson. Reach Miss Amy your hand, dear heart." 
 
 Amy caught the little white-mittened fingers in her 
 own and kissed them impulsively. Then she rose and 
 placed the child on Pepita's saddle. 
 
 " Take hold of the bridle, so, in both hands, now, till 
 you learn how. I'll keep my arm about you. No, 
 dear, you cannot fall. I wouldn't let you, even if Pepita 
 would, and she's in a gentle mood to-day. Aren't you, 
 Pepit' ? " 
 
 " Br-a-ay ! Ah-ump ! " responded the burro. She did 
 not always have her replies so ready, and, for an instant, 
 it seemed as if she would frighten her new mistress. 
 But there was always something absurdly amusing 
 in Pepita's tones, and after the first shock of hearing 
 them had passed, Nanette burst into a merry laugh 
 that made the others laugh too. 
 
 "Oh, doesn't she talk nicely! Does she always 
 answer so quick ? " 
 
 " No, indeed. Sometimes the naughty little beast 
 will not say a single bray. She has many moods, has 
 Pepit'. You'll find them all out, though, after a while. 
 Now, how do you like it? Isn't the motion soft and 
 gentle ? " 
 
 "Oh, if mamma could see!" cried the happy little 
 girl, turning her sunny face toward Amy. Then she 
 suddenly pulled off her mittens and drew her new
 
 PEPITA FINDS A NEW HOME. 175 
 
 friend's head down so that she could feel the un- 
 familiar features. Swiftly, lightly, the tiny finger-tips 
 passed over every one, then travelled upward and lost 
 themselves in the close rings of hair under the scarlet 
 Tarn. " Now, I'll know you forever. What color is 
 your hair ? What is your hood, or bonnet ? " 
 
 " My hair is very dark brown, or almost black, 1 
 think. My Tarn is red. But do you know colors ? " 
 
 " I know what they are like to me. Papa says that 
 maybe that is not the same as they are in the truly 
 world, but I don't care. They are pretty and suit me, 
 my blind colors do. I like you. I like you very much. 
 I think you are lovely, lovely to give me your don- 
 key 
 
 " But I didn't. That is, I will, since I know about 
 you ; but I asked your father to buy her first. I 
 wouldn't " 
 
 " Oh, never mind. It's all the same, isn't it ? It 
 would be in my blind world. She was yours and now 
 she is mine, and you're lovely. Oh, I wish mamma 
 could see ! " 
 
 " Why, can't she, dear ? Is she " 
 
 " No," interrupted the superintendent, smiling. " No, 
 she isn't blind. The only body in our household who 
 is able to see beautiful things with her eyes shut is 
 Nanette, here; and the only trouble with the mother 
 is that there is a new baby in her room just now, so 
 she hasn't time or strength to get up and look out of
 
 176 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 window at new burros. She thinks the new babies are 
 the nicer of the two sorts. Eh, Nan, child ? " 
 
 " I suppose she does, but I don't. Pooh ! there have 
 been three new baby sisters that I can remember, and 
 once I was a new baby sister myself, to my brothers. 
 They're so common, you know; but I don't think of 
 any girl anywhere, except you, and now me, that has 
 had a new snow-white donkey. Do you ? " 
 
 " No, I do not," laughed Amy. 
 
 Mr. Metcalf invited Amy into the house, while he led 
 the burro around to the little stable in the rear, which 
 was to be Pepita's new home. Amy would have liked 
 to throw her arms about the hairy white neck, but pride 
 forbade, and so the parting was made without any sign 
 of distress on either side. Pepita was eager for shelter, 
 and her late mistress to hear what the blind child was 
 saying. 
 
 " It's right this way into the sitting room. I love 
 the sitting room best. That's where papa has his 
 books and papers, and it smells like him. He smokes, 
 you know, but only in this room or out of doors. Oh, 
 do help me think ! Mamma, dear heart, says I am to 
 name this last little new baby. Just fancy it ! I, my- 
 self ! And it bothers me terrifically. I would want a 
 nice long name, the longest that's in the books ; but papa 
 says that there are so many little folks who like us and 
 come to live with us, that we mustn't spend time on 
 long names. Oh, I've just thought! I'll name her
 
 PEPITA FINDS A NEW HOME. 177 
 
 'Amy.' That's short, isn't it? Could a body nick- 
 name it? We don't like nicknames here. I'm the 
 only one. I'm sometimes ' Nan ' to papa. When the 
 baby last before this one came, mamma named her 
 Abby after Grandmother Abigail. Then she thought 
 we couldn't ever stop to say Ab-i-ga-il, so she shortened 
 it to Abby. Next thing, listen. Abby was crying one 
 day and Rex heard her, and grandmother asked, 
 ' What's that ? ' 'cause she's deaf and doesn't hear 
 straight* and Rex said, 'Oh, that's nothing but little 
 Ab ! ' She was just three days old then, and mamma 
 thought if her name got cut in two so quick as that, 
 she wouldn't have any at all in a week or two longer. 
 So she's just Ruth now ; and when the boys say 
 ' Ruth-j,' papa makes them put a nickel in the box. 
 Do you have a nickel box on your bookcase ? " 
 
 "No, indeed. Tell me about it. I've never heard 
 of such a thing." 
 
 " Why, it's this way. Feel me your hand. I'll show 
 you." And as if she could see perfectly, Nanette 
 guided Amy to the further side of the room, where 
 stood a pretty, polished box upon the bookshelf. The 
 box had a slit in its cover, and it jingled merrily in the 
 blind child's hand. 
 
 " Hear ! We must have been pretty bad this month. 
 But that makes it all the better for the little 'fresh 
 airers,' doesn't it? Sometimes, when I think about 
 them, I just want to do things not nice things all
 
 1/8 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 the time, so as to make more money for them. But of 
 course it wouldn't be honorable, and I wouldn't do it." 
 
 " Do you put the nickels in when you are ' naughty ' ? " 
 
 " Yes, for crossness and unpolite words and mess- 
 ing at table and lots of things. Once " Nanette 
 paused and turned her eyes toward Amy for a long 
 time. Then she again passed those delicate finger-tips 
 over the other's face, and decided : 
 
 " Yes, I can trust you. Once one of us, I couldn't 
 tell you which one, but one of us told a wrong story, a 
 falsehood, an untruth. One of the dreadful things that 
 made our dear Lord kill Ananias and Sapphira dead. 
 Wasn't that awful? Mamma and papa didn't know 
 what to do. A nickel didn't seem much pay for a lie, 
 did it ? So they made it a dollar. Yes, ma'am, one 
 whole dollar. That's twenty nickels. Oh, it was so 
 unhappy those days ! I was gladder than ever that I 
 was blind. I think I should have died to see the bad 
 face of the one that did it while it was bad. But 
 mamma says such a lesson is never, never forgotten. 
 You see, we haven't any right to be bad, have we ? " 
 
 " I suppose not, dear. What a wise little thinker you 
 are!" 
 
 " Papa says I think too much. That's why, one why, 
 he was so glad to get me the burro. He hopes it will 
 stop me some. But in a home a body must remember 
 it isn't his home nor her home, but the home of every- 
 body that belongs. If I should be naughty, it would
 
 PEPITA FINDS A NEW HOME. 179 
 
 throw things all out of of smoothness, don't you 
 know. I can't be naughty all by myself. If I could 
 no, I wouldn't like it either. When I'm selfish or 
 bad, I always feel as if I had on a dirty apron, and I 
 do just hate dirty clothes ! " 
 
 " And you do just love to talk, little one," cried the 
 superintendent, coming in and catching up his daughter 
 in his strong arms. " We tell her, Miss Amy, that she 
 makes up for what she doesn't see by what she does 
 say. Eh, midget?" 
 
 Nanette cuddled her fair head against her father's 
 beard, and turned her eyes toward Amy. It seemed 
 impossible to believe that those beautiful eyes could not 
 really behold whereon they rested, and the tears of sym- 
 pathy rose to Amy's own as she tried to comprehend 
 this. 
 
 "Isn't he a dear, funny papa? But you just wait 
 until you see my mother. She's the nicest thing in this 
 whole world. Oh, papa, shall I call the baby ' Amy ' ? " 
 
 " If you like, darling. It's a pleasant, old-fashioned 
 name." 
 
 " I'll tell you a better one, though it's longer. That 
 is ' Salome.' " 
 
 " Who's she ? " asked Nanette. 
 
 " My mother. As you feel about yours, I think she 
 is the sweetest thing in this whole world." 
 
 "Sa-lo-me, Sa-lo-me," repeated the child, slowly. 
 " That is pretty. What do you say about that, papa ? "
 
 ISO REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " As you and mother please, darling. It is a good 
 name. But now, dear, run away. I have to talk busi- 
 ness with this new friend of yours, and where you are 
 eh?" 
 
 " Yes, I do talk, don't I ? I love to talk. Good-by, 
 Amy. Please come again to see me, and every time 
 you must ride on Peppy what is her name ? " 
 
 " Pe-pi-ta. It is Spanish and very pretty, I think." 
 
 " Pay-pee-tah," repeated Nanette, imitating the sound 
 and ignorant of the spelling. 
 
 " Now, Miss Amy, I've had your saddle put upon 
 your brother's burro. You can ride him home, and 
 I will have ' Bony ' carry the other saddle. To-morrow 
 .he shall bring the girl's saddle back to Nanette, and 
 I echo her invitation that you should come often to 
 visit us and ride upon your own, old favorite. Here 
 is the envelope with the money, and since you must go 
 at all, I'll urge you to go at once. There is another 
 squall coming, and it will darken early." 
 
 As she rode homeward a doctor's phaeton passed 
 her. It was being driven rapidly, and a face peered out 
 at her from beneath the hood. Then it stopped and 
 waited for her to approach. 
 
 " Do you belong at the ' Spite House ' ? " 
 
 "Yes; why?" 
 
 " Make haste. Drive on,"
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 FACING HARD FACTS. 
 
 haste. Drive on." 
 
 The words sang themselves into Amy's brain 
 as she urged Balaam up the slope, and for days there- 
 after they returned to her, the last vivid memory of 
 that happy time before bereavement came. 
 
 Then followed a season of confusion and distress; 
 and now that a fortnight was over she sat beside a 
 freshly made mound in Quaker burying-ground, trying 
 to collect her thoughts and to form a definite plan for 
 her future. 
 
 The end of a gentle, beneficent life had come with 
 merciful suddenness, and the face of Salome Kaye was 
 now hidden beneath this mound where her child sat, 
 struggling with her grief, and bravely endeavoring to 
 find the right way out of many difficulties. Finally, 
 she seemed to have done so, for she rose with an air 
 of grave decision and kneeling for one moment in that 
 quiet spot, rose again, and passed swiftly from the 
 place. 
 
 Hallam was at the cemetery gate, resting sadly 
 against the lichen-covered stone post, and waiting for 
 181
 
 1 82 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 her return. Indian summer had come, a last taste of 
 warmth and brightness before the winter closed, and 
 despite their sorrow nature soothed them with her love- 
 liness. In any case, whether from that cause or from 
 her own will, the girl found it easier than she had 
 expected to speak with her brother upon their material 
 affairs. 
 
 " Shall we stop here a little while, Hal dear, to talk, 
 or will we go on slowly toward home ? I've been 
 thinking, up up there beside mother, and I've found 
 a way, I hope." 
 
 " I don't care where, though I'd rather not talk. 
 What good does it do? I hate it. I hate home. I 
 hate this place worse Oh, it's wicked! It's cruel! 
 Why did she ever have to leave Fairacres ! She might 
 be " 
 
 Amy's hand went up to Hallam's lips. " Hush ! 
 Do you suppose God blunders ? I don't. If He had 
 meant her to stay with us, He would have found a way 
 to cure her. To think otherwise is torture. No. No, 
 no, indeed no! Father is left and so are we. We 
 have got to live and take care of him and of ourselves." 
 
 " I should like to know how. I a miserable good- 
 for-naught, and you a girl." 
 
 " Exactly, thank you, just a girl But a girl who 
 loves her brother and her father all the more because 
 she loved them too. A girl who has made up her 
 mind to do the first thing and everything that offers,
 
 FACING HARD FACTS. 183 
 
 which will help to make them comfortable; who is 
 going to put her family pride in her pocket and go to 
 work. There, it's out!" 
 
 " Go out to work, Amy Kaye ! " 
 
 " Yes, indeed. Don't take it so hard, dear." 
 
 In spite of himself he smiled. Then he remembered. 
 " I don't see how you can laugh or jest so soon. As 
 if but you must care." 
 
 " Just because I do care, so very, very much. Oh, 
 Hal, don't dream I'm not missing her every hour of the 
 day. I fancy I hear her saying now, this moment, as 
 she used to say when I'd been naughty and was peni- 
 tent : ' If thee loves me so much, dear, thee will try to 
 do the things I like.' The one thing she liked, she 
 lived, was a brave helpfulness toward everybody she 
 knew. She didn't wait for great things, she did little 
 things. Now, the first little things that are facing us 
 are : the earning of our rent and of our food." 
 
 Hallam said nothing. He knocked a stone aside 
 with the end of his crutch, and groaned. 
 
 " I'm going to work in the mill," she continued. 
 
 " Amy ! Father expressly forbade that, or even any 
 mention of it. You, a Kaye ! " 
 
 " He has given me permission, even though I am a 
 Kaye." She tried to smile still, but found it hard in 
 the face of his want of sympathy, even indignation. 
 
 " Do you think he knew what he was saying when 
 he did it?"
 
 1 84 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Yes, Hallam, I do. It seems to me that father is 
 more like other folks since this trouble came than he 
 was before. I was worried and asked the doctor, for I 
 remembered mother always used to spare him every- 
 thing painful or difficult that she could. The doctor 
 said : 
 
 " ' It may be that this blow will do more to restore 
 him than all her tender care could do.' 
 
 "And then I asked him something else. It was 
 what was the matter with him if it was all his heart. 
 He said, ' No, indeed. It's his head.' He was in a great 
 fire, at a hotel where he was staying, a long time ago. 
 He was nearly killed, and many other people were 
 killed. For a while he thought that mother had been 
 burned, they had gotten separated some way, and it 
 made him insane, I suppose. But when she was 
 found, in a hospital where he was taken, he got better. 
 He isn't at all insane now, the doctor says, but is only 
 a little confused. Mother never had us told about it, 
 because she wanted we should think our father just 
 perfect, and for that reason she drew him into this 
 quiet life that we always have lived. If he wanted to 
 spend money foolishly, she never objected. She hoped 
 that by not opposing any wish he would get wholly 
 well. Part of this Cleena has told me, for she thought 
 we ought to know, now, and part the doctor said. Oh, 
 Hal, I think it will be grand, grand, to take care of him 
 as nearly like she did as we can. Don't you ? "
 
 FACING HARD FACTS. 185 
 
 Hallam's eyes sparkled. "Amy, I always said she 
 was the most beautiful woman in the world, in char- 
 acter as well as person." 
 
 " To us, she certainly was. My plan is this : I will 
 go to Mr. Metcalf and ask him to give me a place in 
 the mill. If those other girls can work, so can I." 
 
 " Do you know who owns the mills now ? " 
 
 " Yes ; our cousin Archibald Wingate." 
 
 " And you would work for him ? You would demean 
 yourself to that ? Yet you know how, when he offered 
 us money last week, or to do other things for us, both 
 father and I indignantly declined." 
 
 " Yes, I know. I, too, was glad we didn't have to 
 take it, though I do not believe he is as bad as we 
 think. We look at him from this side ; but if we could 
 from the other, he might not seem so hard-hearted. He 
 said he was sorry. He seemed to feel very badly." 
 
 " Yes, and when he came and asked Cleena to let 
 him see her, just once more, she gave him a reproof 
 that must have struck home. She told him he was 
 practically the cause of mother's death, his driving 
 her from Fairacres, and I shall always feel so, too." 
 
 " I hope not, dear." 
 
 "Well, I hate him. I hope I can sometime make 
 him suffer all he has made us." 
 
 " But, Hal, that is vindictive. To be vindictive is 
 not half as noble as to be just. Mother was just. 
 While it grieved her to leave her home, she fully
 
 1 86 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 appreciated how much he must long for it. It was 
 their grandmother's, you know, and he felt he had a 
 right there. I do not blame him half as much as 
 I pity him. He's such a lonely old fellow, it seems 
 to me." 
 
 " Humph ! I wouldn't work for him and take his 
 money. I should feel as if it were tainted." 
 
 For a moment Amy was staggered by this view of 
 her brother's. Then it dropped into its proper place in 
 the argument, and she went on : 
 
 " It would be pleasanter to work for somebody else. 
 But there is nobody else. I think Mr. Wingate has 
 very little to do with the employees of the mill. It's 
 Mr. Metcalf who pays them, and he's a dear, good 
 friend already. I'm going to see him this afternoon. 
 I asked Gwendolyn to tell him I was coming, but I 
 suppose he thinks it is about selling Balaam. He's 
 ready to take him off your hands if you want to part 
 with him. That seventy-five dollars he paid for Pepita 
 and the saddle and harness was such a blessing. It 
 carried us through ; we couldn't have done without 
 it, unless we'd let Mr. Wingate help." 
 
 " Never ! Well, I suppose he'll have to take him. If 
 I can't work, I can give up, as well as you." 
 
 " No, Hal, I don't want to sell him yet. Wait till the 
 last thing and we can't help it. Do try to think kindly 
 of what I'm doing, dear. Down in my heart I'm pretty 
 proud, too. But you start home. I'll take a bit of lunch
 
 FACING HARD FACTS. 187 
 
 and then start out to seek my fortune. Wish me luck, 
 laddie; or, rather, bid me God-speed." 
 
 She lifted her face for his kiss, and he gave it heartily. 
 It was to the sensitive, proud, undisciplined boy the 
 very hardest moment of his life, save and apart from 
 his bereavement. 
 
 " To think, Amy, little sister, that I, who should be 
 your protector and supporter, am just this ! " 
 
 " Hush ! you shall not point so contemptuously to 
 those poor legs. I think they are very good legs, 
 indeed. There's nothing the matter with them except 
 that they won't move. They've been indulged so 
 long " 
 
 " Amy, I don't understand you. First you seem so 
 cheerful ; then you make light of my lameness. Are 
 you forgetful, or what ? " 
 
 " Not forgetful, nor hard-hearted. Just ' what,' 
 which means that I believe you could learn to walk if 
 you would." 
 
 " Amy ! Amy!! " 
 
 " Hallam ! " 
 
 " Do you suppose I wouldn't if I could ? " 
 
 " Hal, do you ever try ? " 
 
 He looked at her indignantly ; then he reflected that, 
 in fact, he never did try. But to convince her he made 
 an effort that instant. Tossing his crutches to the 
 ground, he tried to force his limbs forward over the 
 ground. They utterly failed to respond to his will, and
 
 1 88 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 he would have fallen had not Amy's arms caught and 
 supported him. 
 
 "There, you see ! " 
 
 " For the first attempt it was fine. Bravo ! Encore! " 
 
 Yet she picked up his "other legs" and gave him, 
 then led Balaam away from the late thistle blooms he 
 was browsing. Hallam mounted, crossed his crutches 
 before him, and lifted his cap. Amy tossed him a kiss 
 and turned millward, while he ascended the hill road. 
 But no sooner was she out of sight than her assumed 
 cheerfulness gave way, and for a time it was a sad-faced 
 girl who trudged diligently onward toward duty and a 
 life of toil. 
 
 Gwendolyn had delivered her message, and the super- 
 intendent welcomed Amy to his office at the mill with 
 a friendly nod and smile ; but, at that moment, he was 
 deep in business with a strange gentleman, negotiating 
 for a large sale of carpets, and after his brief greeting 
 he apparently forgot the girl. She remained standing 
 for some moments, then Mr. Metcalf beckoned an 
 attendant to give her a chair and the day's newspaper. 
 
 Her heart sank even lower than before. The superin- 
 tendent appeared a different person from the friend she 
 had met in his own home. Her throat choked. She 
 felt that she should cry, if she did not make some des- 
 perate effort to the contrary ; so she began to read the 
 paper diligently, though her mind scarcely followed the 
 words she saw, and would deflect to those she heard,
 
 FACING HARD FACTS. 189 
 
 which were very earnest, indeed, though all about a 
 matter no greater than one-eighth cent per yard. 
 
 " How queer ! Two great grown men to stand there 
 and argue about such a trifle. Why, there isn't any such 
 coin, and what does it mean ? Well, I'm eavesdropping, 
 and that's wrong. Now I will read. I will not listen." 
 
 Running in this wise, her thoughts at last fixed them- 
 selves upon a paragraph which she had perused several 
 times without comprehending. Now it began to have 
 a meaning for her, and one so intense that she half rose 
 to beg the loan of the newspaper that she might show 
 it to Hallam. 
 
 " The very thing. The very thing I heard those doc- 
 tors talking about in mother's room. I'll ask for it, 
 or copy it, if I can, and show my boy. Who knows 
 what it might do ? " 
 
 There was a little movement in the office. The gen- 
 tleman in the big top-coat, with his eyeglasses, his gold- 
 handled umbrella, and his consequential air, was leav- 
 ing. He was bowing in a patronizing sort of way, and 
 Mr. Metcalf was bowing also, smiling almost obsequi- 
 ous. He was rubbing his hair upward from his fore- 
 head, in a way Amy had already observed to be habitual 
 when he was pleased. Evidently he was pleased now, 
 and greatly so, for even after the stranger had passed 
 out and entered the cab in waiting, the superintendent 
 remained before the glass door, still smiling with pro- 
 found satisfaction.
 
 ICjO REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Then, as if he had suddenly remembered her, he 
 turned toward Amy. 
 
 " Well, miss, what can I do for you to-day ? I saw 
 you were interested in our argument over the fraction 
 of a cent, and I'm glad to tell you I won. Yes, I carried 
 my point." 
 
 The girl was disgusted. Though she liked to know 
 her friends from every side of their characters, she was 
 not pleased by this glimpse of Mr. Metcalf's. 
 
 He saw her feeling in her face and took it merrily, 
 dropping at last into the manner which she knew and 
 liked best. 
 
 " A small business, you're thinking, eh ? Well, Miss 
 Amy, let me tell you that on this one deal, this one sale, 
 my gaining that fraction of a cent means the gaining 
 to my employer of several thousand dollars. And that 
 is worth contesting, don't you think?" 
 
 " It doesn't seem possible. Just that tiny eighth ! 
 Why, how many, many yards you must sell ! " 
 
 " Indeed, yes. The mills are constantly turning out 
 great quantities and, fortunately, the market is free. 
 We dispose of them as fast as we can finish. We could 
 sell more if we could manufacture more. But this is not 
 what has brought you here, I fancy. Tell me your 
 errand, please. I have much to get through with be- 
 fore closing." 
 
 The return to his business manner again chilled 
 Amy's enthusiasm, but she thought of her father and
 
 FACING HARD FACTS. IQI 
 
 what she hoped to do for him, and needed no other aid 
 to her courage. 
 
 " I've come to ask a place in the mill. I want to 
 work and get paid." 
 
 "Certainly. If you work, you will be paid. What 
 makes you want to do it ? Does your father know ? " 
 
 " He has consented. I think he understands, though 
 he didn't seem to care greatly, either way. I must do 
 it, sir, or something. It was the only thing I knew about." 
 
 " You know nothing about that, really. The girls 
 here are from an altogether different class than that to 
 which you belong. You would not find it pleasant." 
 
 " That wouldn't matter. And aren't we all Ameri- 
 cans ? Equal ? " 
 
 " Theoretically. How much do you suppose you 
 could earn?" 
 
 " I don't know. Whatever my work was worth." 
 
 " That, at the beginning, would be not more than two 
 dollars a week, and probably less. It would be fatigu- 
 ing, constant standing in attending to your 'jenny.' I 
 really think that you would better abandon the idea at 
 once. Try to think of something nearer what you have 
 known." 
 
 Yet he saw the deepening distress in her face and it 
 grieved him. He was bound, in all honesty to her, to 
 set the dark side of things before her, and he waited for 
 her decision with some curiosity. 
 
 " If you'll let me try, I would like to do so."
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 
 
 " AX 7" ELL, deary, it's time. Oh, me fathers, to 
 
 V V think it ! Wake up, Amy, me colleen, me 
 own precious lamb." 
 
 Six o'clock of a gray November morning is not an 
 inspiriting hour to begin any undertaking. Amy turned 
 in her comfortable bed, rubbed her eyes, saw Cleena 
 standing near with a lighted candle in her hand, and 
 inquired, drowsily : 
 
 "Why what's happened? Why will you get up in 
 the middle of the night ? Don't bother me yet." 
 
 " Faith, an' I won't. Upon honor it's wrong, it's all 
 wrong. What'll your guardian angel think of old 
 Cleena to be leavin' you do it! Body an' bones, I'll 
 do naught to further the business not I ! " 
 
 The woman's voice was tremulous with indignation 
 or grief, and all at once Amy remembered. Then she 
 sprang from her cosy nest, wide-awake and full of 
 courage. 
 
 " Hush, dear old Goodsoul, I forgot. I forgot, 
 entirely. I was dreaming of Fairacres. It was a beau- 
 tiful dream. The old house was full of little children 
 192
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 1 93 
 
 and young girls. They were singing and laughing 
 and moving about everywhere. I can hardly believe 
 it wasn't real; but, I'm all right now. I'll be down 
 stairs in a few minutes. Don't wake anybody else, for 
 there's no need. Is it six o'clock already ? It might be 
 midnight or any time. Why, what's this ? " 
 "A frock I've made for you, child." 
 " You made a frock for me ? Why, Cleena ! " 
 " Sure, it's not so handy with the needle as the broom 
 me fingers is. But what for no ? Them pretty white 
 ones will never do for the nasty old mill. This didn't 
 need so much. The body'll about fit, thinks I, if I sew 
 it fast in the front an' split it behind. The skirt's not 
 so very long. She was a mite of a woman, God rest 
 her. Well, I'll go an' see the milk doesn't boil over, an' 
 be back in a jiffy to fasten it for you. Ah, me lamb ! 
 Troth, a spirit 's brave like your own will be prospered, 
 I know." 
 
 Then Cleena went hurriedly out of the room. The 
 frock which she had prepared for Amy's use in the mill 
 was remodelled from an old one of her mistress's. As 
 has been said, Amy had never worn any sort of dress 
 except white. The fabric was changed to suit the 
 season, but the color was not. Even her warm winter 
 cloak was of heavy white wool, faced here and there 
 with scarlet, to match the simple scarlet headgear that 
 suited her dark face so well. Quite against the habits 
 of her own upbringing, Mrs. Kaye had clothed her
 
 194 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 daughter to please the taste of her artist husband, and 
 therefore it had not greatly mattered that this taste 
 dictated a style more fanciful than useful. 
 
 Now everything was altered, and Cleena had con- 
 sulted Mrs. Jones with the result just given. But from 
 a true delicacy, the faithful old servant did not stay to 
 watch the girl as she adopted the new garb which be- 
 longed to the new fortunes, though she need not have 
 been afraid. 
 
 For a moment Amy held the gray dress in her hand, 
 feeling it almost a sacrilege to put it on. She remem- 
 bered it as the morning gown of her mother, plain to 
 the extreme, yet graceful and precious in her sight be- 
 cause of the dear wearer. Then she lifted the garment 
 to her lips, and touched it lightly. 
 
 " Mother, darling, it is a good beginning. It seems 
 to me it is like a sister of mercy putting on her habit for 
 the first time. It is a protection and a benediction. If 
 I can only put on my mother's beautiful character with 
 her clothing, I shall do well, indeed." Then she ex- 
 amined the alterations which Cleena had been instructed 
 by the cottager to make, and was able to smile at them. 
 
 "The new sewing and the old do not match very 
 well, but it will answer, and it does fit me much better 
 than I would have thought. My ! but I must already 
 be as large, or nearly so, as she was. Well, no time for 
 thinking back now. It's all looking forward, and must 
 be, if I am to keep my courage."
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 195 
 
 Then she knelt beside her bed, prayed simply and in 
 full faith for success in her efforts to provide for her 
 beloved ones, and went below, smiling and gay. 
 
 "Think of it, Cleena Keegan. This is Monday 
 morning. On seventh day I expect to bring back two 
 splendid dollars and put into your hands. I, just I, 
 your own little Amy. Think of the oatmeal it will 
 buy." 
 
 It was not in Cleena's heart to dampen this ardor by 
 remarking how small a sum two dollars really was, 
 considered in the light of a family support ; and, after 
 all, oatmeal was cheap. Fortunately, it also formed 
 the principal diet of this plainly nurtured household, 
 and even that very breakfast to which the young bread- 
 winner now sat down. 
 
 But the meal was exquisitely cooked, and the hot 
 milk was rich and sweet. Also, there lay, neatly 
 wrapped in a spotless napkin, the mid-day luncheon, 
 which Cleena had been told to prepare, and which 
 Mrs. Jones suggested should be of something " hearty 
 and strong" for "working in the mill beats all for 
 appetite." 
 
 Then Amy took the big gingham pinafore, that 
 Cleena had also prepared, and with her little parcels 
 under her arm, skipped away down the slope to the 
 Joneses' cottage, where Gwendolyn was to meet and 
 escort her to her first day's work. 
 
 " Pshaw ! I thought you wasn't coming. We'll be
 
 196 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 late if we don't hurry. Hmm. Wore your white cloak, 
 didn't you ? Well, I guess the girls won't laugh at you 
 much. A dark one would have been better." 
 
 " But I have no dark one, so it was this or nothing. 
 How fast you walk, almost as if you were running ! " 
 
 " We'll be late, I tell you. I don't want to get 
 docked, if yon do." 
 
 " What is ' docked ' ? " 
 
 "Why, having something taken from your wages." 
 
 " Would that be done for just so short a time ? " 
 
 "Yes, indeed. The time-keeper watches out and 
 nobody has a chance to get off. To be late five 
 minutes means losing a quarter day's wages. They 
 count off a quarter, a half, three-quarters, or a whole, 
 according to time." 
 
 "Then Gwendolyn, let's run. I wouldn't make you 
 lose for anything." 
 
 "All right." 
 
 When they arrived at the mill, Gwendolyn said : 
 
 " You come this way with me. Hang your cap and 
 coat right here, next to mine. Never mind if the girls 
 do stare, you'll get used to that. I felt as if I should 
 sink the first day I came, though that was ages ago." 
 Hello, Maud, where was you last night ? " 
 
 Amy did not feel in the least like "sinking." She 
 had overcome her drowsiness, and the light was already 
 growing much stronger. She looked around upon these 
 strangers who were to be her comrades at toil, with a
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 1 97 
 
 friendly interest and curiosity. Some of her new mates 
 regarded her with equal curiosity, though few with so 
 kindly an interest as her own. The unconscious ease 
 of Amy's bearing they esteemed "boldness," or even 
 " cheek," and her air of superior breeding was distaste- 
 ful to them. 
 
 " My, ain't she a brazen thing ! Looks around on 
 the whole crowd as if she thought she could put on all 
 the airs she pleased, even in the mill. Well, 'ristocrat 
 or no 'ristocrat, she'll have to come down here. We're 
 just as good as she is and " 
 
 " A little better, too, you mean," commented a lad, 
 just passing. 
 
 The girl who scorned " 'ristocrats " paused in fasten- 
 ing her denim apron and looked after the youth, who 
 was, evidently, a personage of importance in the eyes 
 of herself and mates. They watched his jaunty move- 
 ments with undisguised admiration, and his passing 
 left behind him a wake of smiles and giggles which 
 to Amy seemed out of proportion to the wit of his 
 remark. 
 
 However, there was little loitering, and the long 
 procession of girls, with its sprinkling of men and boys, 
 swiftly ascended the narrow open staircase to the upper 
 floors. This staircase was built along the side wall of 
 the great structure, flight above flight, an iron frame 
 with steps of board. The only protection from falling 
 upon the floor below, should one grow dizzy-headed, was
 
 198 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 a gas-pipe hand-rail ; and even this might not have been 
 provided had not the law compelled. 
 
 As she fell into line behind Gwendolyn and began 
 the upward climb, Amy grasped this slender support 
 firmly; but everything about her seemed very unlike 
 her memory of her first visit here. Then the sun was 
 shining, she was under the guidance of the genial 
 superintendent, and the scene was novel like a pic- 
 ture exhibited for her personal entertainment. Now the 
 novelty was past, the scene had become dingy, and her- 
 self a part of it. 
 
 All around her were voices talking in a sort of mill 
 patois concerning matters which she did not understand. 
 But nobody, not even Gwendolyn, spoke to her, and a 
 sudden, overpowering dismay seized her stout heart and 
 made her head reel. Then she made a misstep and her 
 foot slipped through the space between two stairs. This 
 brought the hurrying procession to a standstill, and re- 
 called attention to the "new hand." 
 
 " My sake ! Somebody's fell. Who ? Is she hurt ? 
 Oh, that donkey girl. Well, she ain't so used to these 
 horrid stairs as we be." 
 
 "Hold back! She's sort of giddy-headed, I 
 guess." 
 
 Amy felt an arm thrown round her waist, a rather 
 ungentle pull was given her dangling foot, and she was 
 set right to proceed. But for an instant she could not 
 go on, and she again felt the arm supporting and fore-
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 1 99 
 
 ing her against the bare brick wall, so that those below 
 might not be longer hindered. 
 
 Then she half gasped : 
 
 "Oh, I am so sorry. I didn't mean " 
 
 " Of course you didn't. Never mind. You ain't the 
 first girl has had her foot through these steps, and you 
 won't be the last. After somebody has broke a leg or 
 two, then they'll put backboards to 'em. Not before. 
 Is your head swimming yet ? " 
 
 " It feels queerly. It jars so." 
 
 " That's the machinery and the noise. The whole 
 building just shakes and buzzes when we get fairly 
 started. Don't be scared. You're all safe. Lots of 
 girls feel just that way when they first come. Lots of 
 'em faint away. Some can't stand it at all. But you'll 
 get used, don't fear. I was one of the fainters, and I 
 kept it up quite a spell. The ' boss ' of the room got 
 so mad he told me if I didn't quit fainting I'd have to 
 quit spinning. So I made a bold face and haven't 
 fainted since. You see, I couldn't afford to. I had to 
 do this or starve." 
 
 By this time Amy's fright was past, and she was re- 
 garding her comforter with that friendly gratitude which 
 won her the instant liking of the other, who resumed : 
 
 " Pshaw ! The girls didn't know what they were say- 
 ing. You don't look a mite stuck up. You aren't, are 
 you ? " 
 
 "Indeed, no. Why should I be? But I do thank
 
 2OO REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 you so much for your kindness just now, and I'm sorry 
 if my blundering has made you late. Will you be 
 'docked'?" 
 
 " Oh, no. We've time enough. Gwen is always in 
 a desperate hurry. She likes a chance to talk before 
 she begins work. She's a nice girl, but she isn't very 
 deep. Say, have you seen her new winter hat ? " 
 
 " No ; has she another than that she wore this 
 morning ? " 
 
 " My ! yes." 
 
 The "old hand" and the "new" were now quietly 
 climbing to the top floor where their tasks were to be 
 side by side, and Amy had time to examine her com- 
 panion's face. It was plain and freckled, boasting none 
 of that " prettiness " of which Gwendolyn was so openly 
 proud, but it was gentle and intelligent, and had a look 
 of delicacy which suggested chronic suffering, patiently 
 borne. Amy had not far to seek the cause of this 
 pathetic expression, for Mary Reese was a hunchback. 
 In her attire there was as much simplicity as in Amy's 
 own, but without grace or harmony of coloring. 
 
 " You're looking at my clothes, aren't you ? Well, 
 they're the great trouble of my life. After I pay my 
 board and washing, I don't have more than fifty cents 
 left. I do the best I can, but I'm no hand with a needle, 
 and Saturday-halves are short. I thought you were the 
 loveliest thing I ever saw, that day you went round the 
 mill with the ' Supe.' "
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 2OI 
 
 " Oh, did you see me then ? Did I see you ? What 
 is your name ? Ah, are we up there already ? " 
 
 "You can ask questions, can't you? Yes, I saw 
 you. My name is Mary Reese. If you saw me, you 
 certainly didn't notice me, and I'm always mighty 
 glad when folks don't turn for a second stare at my 
 poor shoulders." 
 
 " Mary, nobody would, surely," cried Amy, and flung 
 her arm protectingly across the deformity of her new 
 friend. 
 
 " You dear, to think you'd do that when you know 
 me so little. Well, there's many a body touches my 
 hump ' for luck,' but I can't remember when anybody 
 did for love. I'm not going to forget it, either. Even 
 a homely little hunchback has her own power among 
 these people. There, we're here. This is our 'jenny.' 
 I'm so glad we are to work on the same machine. 
 There'll be another girl on your side till you learn ; 
 then she'll be taken off and we'll be alone. I'll like 
 that. Shall you?" 
 
 "I think so," responded Amy, absently, her 
 attention now engrossed by the excitement about her. 
 Girls were hurrying to take their places before the long 
 frames filled with reels, on which fine woollen threads 
 were being wound by the revolutions of the machinery 
 overhead. These reels whirled round so rapidly that 
 Amy could not follow their motion, and the buzz-buzz, 
 as of a thousand bees humming, filled her ears and con-
 
 2O2 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 fused the instructions of the girl who was to give her 
 her first lesson in winding and " tending." 
 
 Across the great frame Mary nodded encouragingly, 
 but it is safe to say that Amy had never felt so incom- 
 petent and foolish as she did while she was striving to 
 understand what was expected of her. 
 
 " No, no, no ; you must be quicker. See, this spool 
 is full. This is how. ' Doffer,' here ! " 
 
 The lad who had created the ripple of admiration on 
 his passage to this room, now approached. His motions 
 were exact and incredibly swift. It was his duty to 
 remove full spools and replace them by empty ones, 
 and he did this duty for sixteen spinning frames. See- 
 ing the " new hand's " astonishment at his deftness he 
 became reckless and, intending an unusually dexterous 
 movement, miscalculated his reach, and the result was 
 a momentary tangle among the whirling spindles. 
 
 "Stupid, see what you're at!" cried Amy's instructor, 
 as by a swift movement of her foot she brought the 
 rapidly circling frame to a standstill. " Now, you've 
 done it ! " 
 
 " And I'll undo it," he returned, casting a side glance 
 at the stranger. 
 
 " If those who've worked here so long make mistakes, 
 I'll not give up," she thought ; and Mary came round 
 from behind the frame in time to read this thought. 
 
 " Don't you mind. You see, we have to be on 
 guard all the time. If we're not, something happens
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 2O3 
 
 like this. Wait. While they're fixing those spools, 
 you watch me tie these threads. That's what you 
 have to do. To keep everything straight and fasten 
 on the new ends as the old ones run out." 
 
 " But I don't see you ' tie ' it. There is no knot." 
 
 " Of course not. We couldn't have rough things in 
 the thread that is going to make a carpet. We just twist 
 it so. Do you see ? It can't pull apart, and it makes 
 no roughness. Try ; keep on trying ; and after you 
 have practised awhile, you'll be as swift as swift." 
 
 " I feel as slow as slow. " 
 
 The " new hand " smiled into the eager face of her 
 willing helper, and the poor hunchback's heart glowed. 
 That so bright a creature should ever come to be a 
 worker in that busy mill, side by side with her own self, 
 was stranger than the strangest of the cheap novels she 
 read so constantly. 
 
 "It beats all, don't it?" demanded Mary, clasping 
 Amy's little brown hand. 
 
 "What, dear? What beats what? Have I done 
 that one better? Do you think "I'll ever, ever be able 
 to keep up my side of the 'frame' after this other one 
 leaves me ? " 
 
 Mary's laugh was good to hear. Mr. Metcalf, enter- 
 ing the room, heard it and smiled. Yet his smile was 
 fleeting, and his only comment a reprimand to " Jack 
 doffer " for his carelessness. 
 
 " It must not happen again. Understand ? "
 
 204 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Yes, sir," answered the youth, humbly. 
 
 Of Amy herself the superintendent took no notice 
 whatever beyond a curt nod. She did not understand 
 this, and a pain shot through her sensitive heart. Then 
 she reflected that he might not have seen her. 
 
 " Do you suppose he did, or that he knew me ? 
 You see, I've always worn white before, and maybe 
 he did not recognize me." 
 
 " Oh, he saw you all right. He wouldn't more 'n 
 nod to his own wife, if he's on his rounds, and full of 
 business. I've heard that he was very pleasant outside 
 the mill and among his folks, but I never saw him any 
 different from just now. Seems to me he looks on us 
 like he does the spools on the spinners. I always feel 
 as if I were part of the machine the poorest part 
 and I guess you will, too. There, it's fixed and start- 
 ing up. Hurry to your place and don't get scared. 
 Sallie's cross, but she can't help it. She used to be one 
 of the 'fainters.' Yes; that's right. Now all there 
 is, is to keep at it till twelve o'clock whistle." 
 
 That meant nearly five hours of the steadiest and 
 most difficult labor which Amy had ever undertaken. 
 Yet these others near her, and the crowds of spinners 
 all through the great apartment, appeared to take this 
 labor very easily, and were even able to carry on a 
 conversation amid the deafening noise. 
 
 Amy watched so intently, and tried so faithfully to 
 do just what and all that was expected of her that she
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 2O$ 
 
 did, indeed, make a rapid progress for one beginning; 
 and when the welcome whistle sounded, she was sur- 
 prised to see how instantly every frame was stopped, 
 and to hear Mary saying : 
 
 "If you don't want to go with anybody else, I'd 
 admire to have you eat your lunch with me." 
 
 " I'd like to, certainly, but I don't believe I can 
 eat. My head is whirling, whirling, just like those 
 dreadful spools. Isn't it terrible?" 
 
 " No, I don't think so. I don't notice them now, 
 except to make them say things. But come along, we 
 have a half-hour nooning. We might have a whole 
 hour, but most of the hands like to give up part of 
 their dinner-time every day and then take the afternoon 
 off on Saturday. The 'Supe' doesn't care, so that's 
 the way we get our 'Saturday-half.' I sometimes wish 
 we worked the other way, but of course we couldn't. 
 If part stops, the other part has to, 'cause every room 
 depends on some other room to keep it going." 
 
 "Why, I think that's beautiful, don't you? Like a 
 big whole, and all of us the needed parts." 
 
 " No, I don't. I don't see one single beautiful thing 
 about this hateful old mill. At least, I didn't before 
 this morning, when you came." 
 
 Amy looked into Mary's face a moment. Then she 
 stooped and kissed it gently. Small though Amy her- 
 self was, for her age, she was still taller than her new 
 friend, and felt herself far stronger.
 
 2O6 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Away in another place Gwendolyn and her mates 
 observed this little by-play, and one girl remarked : 
 
 " Hmm. That settles Jicr hash. If she's going to 
 take up with that horrid Mary Reese, there won't any- 
 body go with her. Not a single girl, and as for the 
 fellows my ! " 
 
 To this flirtatious young person to be ignored by 
 "the fellows" meant the depth of misfortune. Hap- 
 pily, however, Amy had never hear the word "fellow," 
 as at present applied, and to do anything for the sake 
 of attracting attention to herself she would have con- 
 sidered the extreme of vulgarity. 
 
 Mary guided her to a quiet corner behind some bales, 
 and filling a tin cup with water from a faucet, pro- 
 ceeded to open her own luncheon. Then she watched 
 Amy, who, almost too weary to eat, loitered over the 
 untying of the dainty parcel Cleena had made up. When 
 she at last did so, and quietly sorted the contents of 
 the neat box, she was surprised by Mary's astonished 
 stare. 
 
 " What is it, dear ? Aren't you hungry ? " 
 
 "Hungry? I'm starved. But see the difference. 
 It goes even into our victuals. Oh dear, there isn't 
 any use ! " and, with a bitter sob, the mill girl tossed 
 aside her own rude parcel of food and dropped her 
 face in her hands. 
 
 Girlhood is swiftly intuitive. The boarding-house 
 lunch which the hunchback had brought was quite
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 2O7 
 
 sufficient in quantity, but it was coarse in extreme, and 
 meats had been wrapped in one bit of newspaper along 
 with the sweets, so that the flavor of each article spoiled 
 the flavor of all. Yet it was the first time that Mary 
 had rebelled against such an arrangement. 
 
 Now it was different. Amy's speech, Amy's manner 
 and belongings, opened before the slumbering ambition 
 of the mill girl a picture of better things, which she 
 recognized as unattainable for herself. 
 
 Then she felt again the clasp of firm, young arms 
 about her own neck, and a face that was both smiling 
 and tearful pressed close to her own. 
 
 " You dear little girl. I see, I understand. But 
 you've never had a chance to try how I've lived and 
 I've never tried how you do. Let's change. Yes; I 
 insist, for this once. You eat my lunch, and I'll eat 
 yours. It will do Goodsoul's great heart no end of 
 good when I tell her about it, and it will make me com- 
 prehend just how life looks from your side. Remem- 
 ber, we're both poor girls together now, and I insist." 
 
 Amy had a will, as has been remarked. So, in a 
 few seconds, the two lunches were exchanged, and for 
 almost the first time in her life Mary Reese knew what 
 it was to feed daintily and correctly. 
 
 " It makes me feel as if I was straighter, somehow. 
 And you're a dear, dear girl." 
 
 " Thank you, of course it does. I wouldn't like to 
 do anything that hurt my own self-respect, even in such
 
 208 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 a little thing as eating. But, you see, I had my darling 
 mother. Now I've had to let her go; yet if you'll let 
 me, I'll be so glad to teach you all she taught me. It 
 will be keeping her memory green in just the very way 
 she'd like." 
 
 " Teaching isn't all. The difference is born in us." 
 
 " Nonsense. Think of Mr. Metcalf. They say he 
 was a foundling baby, and yet he's a gentleman." 
 
 " Even if he doesn't speak to you in work hours ? " 
 asked Mary, with a mischievous glance that would have 
 surprised her mill mates had they seen it. Already the 
 leaven of kindness was working in her neglected life, 
 and for the moment she forgot to be upon the defensive 
 against the indifference of others. 
 
 " Even anything. But, hear me, Mary Reese. Here 
 am I, as poor as poor can be, but determined to succeed 
 in doing something grand. Guess what ? " 
 
 "I couldn't tell. The whistle will blow again in a 
 minute." 
 
 " I'm going to build a Home for Mill Girls, where 
 they shall have all things that any gentlewoman should 
 have. I haven't the least idea how nor when nor 
 where. But I'm going to do it. You'll see. And you 
 shall help. Maybe that's just why God let me come 
 here and be a mill girl myself." 
 
 After a pause the other spoke. " It seems queer to 
 hear you say such things. Yet you're not what I call 
 ' pious,' I guess."
 
 AMY BEGINS TO SPIN. 2CX) 
 
 "Don't be afraid. I'm not goody-goody, at all. But 
 it's the most interesting thing mother taught me : the 
 watching how everything ' happens ' in life, like a won- 
 derful picture or even a curious, beautiful puzzle. Each 
 part, each thing, fits so perfectly into its place, and it's 
 such fun to watch and see them fit. Yes, I believe 
 that's the key to my coming." 
 
 For a moment these girlish dreamers clasped hands 
 and saw visions. The next, a whistle sounded and, 
 still hand in hand, they returned to their frame and to 
 this toil which was part of a far-reaching " plan." On 
 the way they passed " Jack doffer," wearing his most 
 fetching smile, and a new necktie, recklessly disported 
 during work hours for the sole purpose of dazzling the 
 bright eyes of the pretty " new hand." 
 
 Unfortunately for his vanity, the " new hand " never 
 saw him, because of those still lingering visions of a 
 Home with a capital H ; and oddly enough, the youth 
 respected her the more since she did not. Later on 
 things would be altered ; but neither of them knew that 
 then.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BALAAM. 
 
 " II /I E Gineral Bonyparty, come by ! " 
 
 1 V 1 The lad in the depths of the cellar vouchsafed 
 no reply. He heard distinctly, and Cleena knew that 
 he did. This did not allay her rising wrath. 
 
 " The spalpeen ! That's what comes o' takin' in folks 
 to do for. Ah, Fayetty," she called wheedlingly. 
 
 Good Cleena had almost as many titles for her 
 "adopted son" as her " childer " had for her. Each 
 one suggested to the simple fellow some particular 
 mood of the speaker. " Gineral " meant mild sarcasm, 
 and when " Bonyparty " was added, there was indicated 
 a need for prompt and unquestioning obedience. " Fay- 
 etty " was the forerunner of something agreeable, to 
 which might or might not be appended something 
 equally disagreeable. 
 
 Said Hallam, once : " Freely translated, ' Fayetty ' 
 stands for ginger cookies, and sometimes the cookies 
 must be earned." 
 
 The call came the third time : 
 
 " Napoleon Bonyparty Lafayette Jimpson, come out
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BALAAM. 211 
 
 o' that ! Two twists of a lamb's tail an' I'll fasten ye 
 down ! " 
 
 The reconstruction of Fayette gave Cleena plenty of 
 employment, and in one thing he disappointed her, 
 sorely and continually : he utterly and defiantly refused 
 to work in the mill or elsewhere that would bring in 
 wages. Since Amy had become a daily toiler, this 
 attitude on his part angered the poor woman beyond 
 endurance. 
 
 Yet there was not any laziness about Fayette. No- 
 body could have been more industrious, or more illy 
 have directed his industry. As long as it was possible 
 to work in the ground he had labored upon the barren 
 soil of Bareacre, and those who understood such matters 
 assured the Kayes that they would really have a fine 
 garden spot, when another spring came round. 
 
 " Surely, he that makes the wilderness to blossom is 
 well engaged, Cleena," Mr. Kaye had remonstrated once, 
 in his quiet way. 
 
 " Faith, yes, master, but till them roses bloom there 
 might be better doin'," she had returned. In her heart 
 she respected Mr. Kaye's judgment less even than the 
 mill boy's, though she veiled this contempt by an 
 outward deference. 
 
 To-day was a crisis. For good or ill, Cleena had de- 
 termined to have the question of wage-earning settled. 
 Either the lad must go to work and bring in something 
 to pay for his keep, or he must " clear himself out."
 
 212 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " D 'ye mean it?" 
 
 " Yes, avick, I means it ! Up with ye, or stay below 
 for as long as I please." 
 
 Fayette threw down his pick and crawled forward 
 through the trench he was digging. The idle sugges- 
 tion of Hallam had taken firm hold of the natural's 
 mind, and with a dogged persistence, that he showed 
 also in other matters, he had now been daily laboring 
 upon the cross-shaped excavation which was to ventilate 
 the cellars of "Charity House." He had made a fine 
 beginning, and so explained to Cleena, as his mud- 
 stained face appeared above the cellar stairs. 
 
 " A beginnin' o' nonsense. When all's done, what 
 use ? Sit down an' taste the last o' the cakes me 
 neighbor sent up. Here, you William, keep out o' 
 that ! It's for Miss Amy, dear heart. Four weeks an' 
 longer she's been up before light, trudgin' away as gay 
 as a mavis, with never a word that she's bothered. 
 Alanna, Mister Gladstone, what's now ? " 
 
 A surplus of small Joneses had swarmed over the 
 lower floor of the house on the hill, and their presence 
 was now accepted by Cleena with little opposition, 
 because of the generosity of their parents. 
 
 "True for ye, the babies be forever under me foot, 
 but one never comes atop the rise but there's doubled 
 in his little fist the stuff to make him welcome. It may 
 be a cake, or a biscuit, or a bowl o' milk even. It's 
 something for some one."
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BALAAM. 213 
 
 " The ' some one ' is generally the bearer of the loaf, 
 or cake, eh, Cleena ? " asked Hallam, who was linger- 
 ing in the kitchen, gathering what warmth he could 
 from the stove there. The coals provided in the 
 autumn were long ago consumed, and out of the scanty 
 supply she had been able to procure since then, Cleena 
 wasted little below stairs. In the master's studio above 
 a fire was always burning, and if, as he sometimes did, 
 he asked whence the supply, the faithful servant put his 
 inquiry aside with some evasive remark. 
 
 He had now work at hand which engrossed him 
 entirely, and to which heat and physical comfort were 
 a necessity. He was painting a life-sized portrait of his 
 wife, and not one of the household could do aught but 
 wish him God-speed on so precious a labor. 
 
 Meanwhile, Hallam lay so silent upon the settle 
 beside the stove that neither of them, Cleena nor Fay- 
 ette, noticed him. 
 
 " Here you, William, Beatrice, Belinda, come by ! 
 Set yourselves down in the corner, yon. Here's a fine 
 bag o' scraps for you two little maids. Pick 'em over 
 that neat your mother'll be proud ; and, William, take 
 out these things from Miss Amy's box till you puts 
 them back as straight as straight. Sure, it's long since 
 herself's had the time, an' he's a smart little gossoon, 
 so he is." 
 
 The little girls emptied the bag of pieces on the floor, 
 and sorting them into piles began to roll them into tidy
 
 214 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 bundles. Along with improving Fayette, Cleena had 
 early set out upon the same lines with the small Joneses. 
 Even William Gladstone, the mite, was already learning 
 to distinguish between soiled hands and clean, and to 
 enjoy the latter. 
 
 So now, while she talked, Cleena set the child to take 
 out and replace with exactness the few treasured letters 
 and cards, or papers, which were Amy's own, and kept 
 in her big japanned box. 
 
 Once, idly, Cleena observed the child lingering over 
 a square packet, like an old-time letter, sealed with red 
 wax. It was this bit of color which the little one fan- 
 cied, and she smiled to see his delight in it. 
 
 " The blessed baby ! Sure, he's the makings of a 
 fine man in him, so he has. Take a look, Fayetty, if 
 yerself would copy yon." 
 
 " You'll let that youngster play with your things once 
 too often. He's a hider, Lionel Percival says so." 
 
 " Humph ! An' what that silly heeram-skeeram says 
 means naught. Now, hear me, me gineral. This ends 
 it. You goes to work, or you goes to play. Which 
 is it ? " 
 
 "I I won't." 
 
 "Which is it?" repeated Cleena, sternly. 
 
 The natural fidgeted. In his heart he was afraid 
 of his self-constituted "mother." He had no wish to 
 return to the drudgery of the mill. He was wholly 
 interested in his cellar-digging. He had heard tales of
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BALAAM. 21 5 
 
 mining, and in some way he had obtained a miner's 
 lantern. This he fastened to his "parade hat," and 
 wore to lighten his underground labors. 
 
 Vague visions of untold wealth floated in his dull 
 brain. Somewhere in the world he knew that other 
 men were digging in other trenches for gold. He had 
 heard the " boys " say so often, and some of them had 
 even gone to do likewise. He had seen gold some- 
 times in Mr. Metcalf's office safe. Not much of it, 
 indeed, but enough to fire his fancy. All the time he 
 toiled he was looking for something round and glisten- 
 ing, like the coins he had seen. He was not in the 
 least discouraged because he had found none. There 
 was time enough, for he had not much more than 
 begun what he hoped to complete. Yet, as Cleena 
 knew, he had made a considerable opening under the 
 west room and had carried out many barrowfuls of 
 earth. This he had utilized upon his garden, which 
 was almost as interesting to him as his mining. 
 
 "Which is it, avick ? " 
 
 "Must I?" 
 
 "Troth, must ye? Indeed, look here." Leaning 
 over the table she spread before her charge's eyes 
 a dilapidated pocket-book. It had been the recepta- 
 cle for the family funds, but it was now quite empty. 
 Fayette stared hard. Then he whistled. 
 
 " You don't say so ! All gone ? Every cent ? " 
 
 Cleena nodded. Her face was very grave. It fright-
 
 2l6 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 ened the lad. He glanced toward Hallam, apparently 
 asleep on the settle, and whispered : 
 
 " Where's hers ? What she earns ? " 
 
 " Humph ! That little ! Well, it's gone. The last 
 week's wage to buy her shoes. Faith, the poor little 
 feet! Steppin' along to her duty with never a turn 
 aside, an' the holes clean through the soles. Oh, me 
 fathers, that ever I should see the day ! " 
 
 Overcome by her memories of far different circum- 
 stances, Cleena bowed her gray head upon her arms 
 above the empty purse and shook in suppressed grief. 
 So faithful was she that she would not have counted 
 even her life of value if by sacrificing it she could have 
 restored unto her " folks " the departed joy and comfort 
 of their house. 
 
 Fayette reached over and lifted the purse. He 
 was not satisfied until he had examined it for him- 
 self. Then he rose and took the lantern from his 
 hat. 
 
 " I'll fetch some," he said briefly, and turned toward 
 the door. 
 
 But Hallam had not been so fast asleep as he seemed, 
 and he demanded whither Fayette was bound. 
 
 "It's nothin' to worry about, Master Hal. Just a 
 little matter o' business 'twixt me gineral here an' me- 
 self. Can't a body wear out her shoes without so much 
 ado ? " she asked, thrusting into view her great foot with 
 its still unbroken, stout, calfskin brogan upon it.
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BALAAM. 2 1/ 
 
 Hallam smiled. "You can't deceive me, dear old 
 Scrubbub. It's not you that's wanting new shoes, and 
 if Fayette is going millward, I am going too." 
 
 " Master Hal, what for now ? An' what'll the 
 master be sayin' if he's wantin' you betimes? Isn't 
 it bad enough to keep him content without Amy, let 
 alone yerself ? No, no; go up by. It's warmer in 
 the paintin' room, an' sure a body's still as you can't 
 bother nobody, even a artist." 
 
 But the cripple limped across the room and took 
 from a recess his cap and the short top-coat he wore 
 when he rode Balaam. It was as warm as it was 
 clumsy, and gave his slender figure a width that was 
 quite becoming. Like Amy's, his headgear was always 
 a Scotch Tarn, and when it crowned his fair face Cleena 
 thought him exceeding good to look upon. 
 
 " Arrah musha, but you're the lad for me ! An' after 
 all, no matter if the winds be cold, a ride'll do ye fine, 
 an' make the oatmeal taste sweet in your mouth." 
 
 " It's time something did. Oatmeal three times a 
 day is a trifle monotonous. Heigho ! for one of your 
 chicken pies, Goodsoul." 
 
 He was sorry as soon as he said that. Not to be 
 able to give her " childer " what they desired was always 
 real distress to Cleena. So he laughed her regret away, 
 with the question : 
 
 " If I bring home a pair of fowls, will you cook 
 them ? "
 
 2l8 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Will I no ? Fetch me the birds, an' I'll show you. 
 Go on, Fayetty, an' saddle the beast." 
 
 But Fayette was not, at that moment, inclined to do 
 this office for the other lad. He had resolved upon a 
 kindly deed, one which involved self-sacrifice on his 
 part, and like many other wiser people he was inclined 
 to let the one generous act cover several meaner ones. 
 
 It was his heart's desire to own Balaam. If he took 
 some of the money which the superintendent was keep- 
 ing for him and gave it to Cleena for the housekeeping, 
 he lessened his chance of obtaining his object by just 
 that much. If he gave Cleena the money, he wanted 
 everybody to understand that he fully realized, himself, 
 how magnanimous he was. 
 
 However, in many respects Hallam was his hero, and 
 between the two there had been, of late, a little secret 
 which Fayette was proud to share. Each day he would 
 ask, with extreme caution : 
 
 " You hain't told nobody yet, have ye ? " 
 
 Commonly the cripple would answer : " No ; nor 
 shall I. There's no use." 
 
 " Sho ! Yes, there is. Read it an' see. If it's in 
 the paper, it's so. Huckleberries ! You ain't no more 
 pluck than a skeeter." 
 
 Then Hallam would reread the scrap of newspaper 
 he carried in his pocket; and each time, after such a 
 reading, a brighter light shone in the eyes of both boys, 
 and the foundling would observe :
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BALAAM. 2IQ 
 
 " It's worth tryin'. I say, it's worth tryin'. / ain't 
 tired yet. Keep her up." 
 
 Hallam knew the half-column of print by heart. It 
 had been brought him by Amy, on the day she went 
 to Mr. Metcalf's office. She had asked the loan of the 
 newspaper, and had received it as a gift. She had hur- 
 ried home, full of enthusiasm, and showed it to Hallam. 
 He had not been enthusiastic, and had apparently tossed 
 the article aside as worthless to him. Amy was too 
 busy to give the matter further thought, and did not 
 know that after she had left the room her brother had 
 read the paragraph a second time, and had then care- 
 fully preserved it. 
 
 Even now, as they started for the mill, Fayette 
 requested to "hear it again," but Hallam declined. 
 
 " It's too cold. And if I don't hurry and do what I 
 set out to, I'm afraid I'll back out." 
 
 " Is it somethin' ye hate to do ? " 
 
 " Yes ; it Don't let's talk about it." 
 
 "Just the way I feel. I'd ruther live on one meal a 
 day 'n do it. Once I give it to her, I shan't never see 
 no more of it. Oh, I know her ! She's a regular boss, 
 she is." 
 
 " Cleena ? But she's a dear old creature, even so." 
 
 " Oh, I like her. I like her first rate. She's a good 
 cook an' middlin' good-lookin'. I hain't got nothin' 
 again her. They say, to the village, how 't John Young 
 talks o' sparkin-' her."
 
 22O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "What? Teamster John? Our Cleena ? Well, 
 he'd better not ! " 
 
 In his indignation Hallam nearly slipped from his 
 saddle. He did let one of his crutches fall, and Fay- 
 ette picked up that, took the other, and cheerfully 
 " packed " them to the end of their journey. 
 
 "Why not? His wife's. dead." 
 
 " Yes. But our Cleena ! Cleena Keegan ! Well, 
 there's no danger of her encouraging him. Between 
 her own ' folks,' yourself, and the Joneses, I think she 
 has all she can attend to without taking in a man to 
 worry with." 
 
 The subject was idlest village gossip, but it served to 
 divert Hallam's thoughts from his impending errand, 
 and he arrived at the office of the mill in good spirits. 
 Then he remembered a saying he had heard in the 
 community: 
 
 "All roads lead to the mill," and quoted it for Fay- 
 ette's benefit. 
 
 " That's so. But, say, I hate that old Wingate that's 
 got it now. He licked me when I worked for him. 
 Licked me more 'n once, just because I fooled a little 
 with his horses. I was bound out to him from the poor- 
 farm, an' I run away. He treated me bad. I'm goin' 
 to get even with him some day. You watch an' see." 
 
 " Well, here we are. Is this the office ? Will you go 
 in with me and help me find the superintendent? I've 
 never been here, you know."
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BALAAM. 221 
 
 "Huckleberries! Ain't that queer? And Amy 
 comes every day." 
 
 Fayette meant no reproach. His thoughts were 
 never profound, but Hallam flushed and felt ashamed. 
 
 " That's true. The more disgrace to me. Well, crip- 
 ple or not, that's the last time anybody shall ever say, 
 truthfully, that my little sister has set me an example of 
 courage and effort. Hurry up. Open the door." 
 
 A moment later both lads stood within the little room 
 wherein so many big money transactions took place ; 
 and it is doubtful if any speculator coming there had 
 felt greater anxiety over the outcome of his visit than 
 these two whose " operations " were to be of such a 
 modest limit. 
 
 " Boss, I've come after my money. I want the whole 
 lot." 
 
 " Good day, ' Bony ' ; good day, Hallam Kaye, I 
 believe." 
 
 Hallam bowed, and before his courage could wane, 
 replied : 
 
 "Yes; I'm sorry to interrupt you in business hours, 
 but will you buy Balaam, Pepita's brother ? " 
 
 Before the gentleman could answer, Fayette had 
 clutched Hallam's shoulder. 
 
 "What's that? Did you come here to sell that 
 donkey ? " 
 
 " I came to try to sell it, certainly." 
 
 "Then I'm sorry I ever touched to help you. I
 
 222 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 want him myself. I come to get my money a purpose. 
 My money is as good as his. He shan't have it. I'll 
 have it myself." 
 
 Mr. Metcalf interrupted : 
 
 " But, ' Bony,' you can't afford to keep such an ani- 
 mal. It would take all your capital to pay for him. 
 Wait. Sometime, if you're industrious, you'll be rich 
 enough to have a horse and carriage. Indeed, I mean 
 it ; and, yes, Hallam, I will very gladly buy your burro. 
 I've wanted him ever since Amy let us have Pepita. 
 I " 
 
 " You shan't have him, then. You never shall. I 
 want him, an' I'll keep him. You see ! " 
 
 The door opened and shut with a bang. Whether 
 purposely or not, it was impossible to say, but in his 
 outward rush the half-wit brushed so rudely past Hal- 
 lam that he knocked his crutch from his grasp, so that 
 he would have fallen, had not the superintendent caught 
 and steadied the lad to a seat. 
 
 " That's ' Bony ' all over. As irresponsible as a child 
 and ungovernable in his rage. Yet, never fear; he'll 
 be back again, sometime." 
 
 " But he has taken Balaam. What can I do 
 now?" 
 
 Mr. Metcalf walked to the window and looked out. 
 There was a dash of something black disappearing at 
 the turn of the road. 
 
 " Humph ! That's bad. He's taken the road to the
 
 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF BALAAM. 223 
 
 mountains. When his ' wood fit ' comes over him, sum- 
 mer or winter, he vanishes. Sometimes he is gone for 
 months." 
 
 " And he's taken Balaam with him, " repeated the 
 other. 
 
 "Yes; he certainly has;" but when the superin- 
 tendent looked toward Hallam he was startled by the 
 hopeless expression of the lad's fine face.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE FASCINATION OF INDUSTRY. 
 
 IT down, lad, and rest. It will not be long before 
 noon, and then I will send for your sister to come 
 here." 
 
 " Thank you. Do you think he will stay long, this 
 time? " 
 
 " ' Bony ' ? It's just as the fit takes him. There's 
 no accounting for his whims, poor unbalanced fellow. 
 In some respects he is clever and remarkably clean- 
 handed. In fixing parts of the machinery, I would 
 rather have his help than that of most professionals, he 
 is so careful about the minutest details. Yet, of course, 
 it would be out of the question to rely upon him. 
 There's another thing. He's a most excellent nurse. 
 For days at a time, when there's been sickness in the 
 mill village, he has devoted himself faithfully to who- 
 ever seemed to take his fancy. His big, ungainly hand 
 has a truly wonderful power of soothing. When I had 
 rheumatic fever, he was the only person I could endure 
 to have in the room with me. His step was lighter 
 even than that of my wife, and I really believe I should 
 have died but for his care." 
 224
 
 THE FASCINATION OF INDUSTRY. 225 
 
 The superintendent was talking, simply to entertain 
 and divert his visitor from the lad's own present annoy- 
 ance, but he little knew how full of import his casual 
 remarks were to his hearer. 
 
 "Do you mean that he is magnetic? that there is 
 something in the claim he makes of being a ' healer ' ? " 
 
 " Quite as much as in the claim of any such person. 
 There are, of course, some human beings so constituted 
 that they can influence for good the physical conditions 
 of other people. I am very sorry that his present whim 
 has seized him. I would like the burro, and you would 
 like the price of him. Well, all in good time. Mean- 
 while, if I can help you, please tell me." 
 
 " There was only one way in which you could, so far 
 as I know. That was by buying my pet. I I don't 
 suppose," Hallam continued, with hesitancy, "that there 
 is anything such a a useless fellow as I could do to 
 earn money here ? " 
 
 " I am not so sure about that. What sort of work 
 would you like ? " 
 
 " Any sort." 
 
 Mr. Metcalf went into another room and presently 
 returned with some oblong pieces of cardboard. These 
 had a checked surface, and upon these checks were 
 painted or stained partial patterns, designs for the car- 
 pets woven in the mills. 
 
 "Your father is an artist. Have you learned any- 
 thing about his work, or of coloring ? " 
 Q
 
 226 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "Something, of course, though very little. I would 
 not be an artist." 
 
 " Indeed ? But there are artisans whose work is sim- 
 ple, mechanical, and reasonably lucrative. Our design- 
 ers, for instance, make an excellent living. Do you see 
 these numbers at the sides of the patterns ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " They are for the guidance of the weavers. The 
 threads of the carpets are numbered, and these numbers 
 correspond. Therefore, the weaver can make his carpet 
 from his pattern with mathematical exactness. We 
 require many such copies of the original design. If 
 you would like to try this sort of work, I will give you a 
 temporary job. The boy who usually does it is ailing, 
 and I have allowed him a vacation. The wages are 
 small, no more than Amy earns, but the work isn't diffi- 
 cult, and is the only thing I have now, suitable for you." 
 
 Incidentally the gentleman's eyes turned toward Hal- 
 lam's crutches leaning against the arm of the chair where 
 he sat ; but instead of feeling humiliated by the glance, 
 as the sensitive cripple often did, this casual one fired 
 his heart with a new ambition. He recalled the words 
 of the surgeon, and was no longer angry with them. 
 
 " I will be a man in spite of it all," flashed through 
 his brain. Aloud he said : 
 
 " I will be very glad to try the work." 
 
 " Very well. When can you begin ? " 
 
 " Now."
 
 THE FASCINATION OF INDUSTRY. 227 
 
 Mr. Metcalf smiled. 
 
 " All right. A lad so prompt is the lad for me. But 
 I had imagined another sort of fellow, not so energetic, 
 indeed." 
 
 " I've not been worth much. I've been lazy and sel- 
 fish ; but I mean to turn over a new leaf. I'll try to 
 be useful, and if I fail I fail." 
 
 " But you'll not fail. God never sent anybody into 
 this world for whom He did not provide a place, a duty. 
 You will succeed. You may even get to ' the top,' that 
 roomy plane where there are so few competitors. I 
 want you to count me your friend. I, too, am a self- 
 made man. There are few obstacles one cannot con- 
 quer, given good health and determination." 
 
 Then once more the employer's gaze rested upon the 
 crutches, and his heart misgave him that he had roused 
 ambitions which could not be realized. The poor cripple 
 was handicapped from the start by his infirmity. 
 
 Hallam again saw the expression of the other's face, 
 and again it nerved him to a firmer will. 
 
 " Even that shall not hinder, sir ; and now if you will 
 explain to me the work, I'll make a try at it right away." 
 
 Mr. Metcalf placed the designs upon a sloping table, 
 at one side the office, and Hallam took the chair before 
 it, as requested. Then the superintendent went over 
 the system of numbering the designs, and illustrated 
 briefly. 
 
 " Now you try. I'll watch. Go on as if I were not
 
 228 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 here. If I do not speak, consider that you are working 
 correctly." 
 
 Hallam's intelligence was of a fine order, and he had 
 always been a keen observer. Before Mr. Metcalf had 
 finished his explanations the lad had grasped the whole 
 idea of the work, and he took up the pen the gentleman 
 laid down with the confidence of one who understood 
 exactly what he had to do. 
 
 " ' Knowledge is power,' there is no truer saying," 
 remarked the teacher, watching the tyro's eager efforts. 
 " It's as easy as A B C to you, apparently." 
 
 " It seems very simple. I think I would enjoy it bet- 
 ter, though, if I could see the application." 
 
 " How the patterns are used ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Come this way." 
 
 Which was not by the shorter one of the stairway on 
 the cliff, up which Fayette had once forced the reluc- 
 tant Pepita, but around by the sloping wagon track and 
 into the lower rooms of the great building. Already 
 the lad knew most of these by the descriptions his sister 
 had given him, but no description could equal the facts. 
 As she had done, so he experienced that thrill of excite- 
 ment, as he realized the mighty, throbbing life all 
 around him, of which the wonderful machinery and 
 the human hands and brains which controlled it seemed 
 but parts of one vast whole. His eyes kindled, his 
 cheeks flushed, and, as Amy had done, he forgot in
 
 THE FASCINATION OF INDUSTRY. 22Q 
 
 his eagerness over the new scene that others might be 
 observing him and his deformity. 
 
 At the weavers' looms he was " all eyes and ears," as 
 one remarked. Seeing the woollen threads stretched up 
 and down, perfectly colored and looking like a greatly 
 elongated pattern, gave him a complete insight of the 
 task for which he had been engaged. 
 
 " I thought I understood it before. I think I could 
 not make a mistake now. A mistake would mean disas- 
 ter wouldn't it ? " 
 
 "It would," answered the superintendent, delighted 
 to find his new helper such a promising aid. "See, 
 here is the pattern. Watch the weaver awhile, then 
 come with me to the ' setting room.' There is where 
 Amy will be if she keeps on as industriously as she has 
 begun. I tell you brains count. You are both gifted 
 with them, and it should make you grateful helpful, 
 too. I think the least of all a man's possessions that he 
 has a right to keep to himself is his brain." 
 
 Hallam looked up in surprise. Amy's acquaintance 
 with the superintendent had begun most auspiciously, 
 and he had desired to be considered her " friend," even 
 as now her brother's. Yet since her coming to work in 
 the mill, Mr. Metcalf had not exchanged a dozen sen- 
 tences with her. She saw him daily, almost hourly. 
 He was everywhere present about the great buildings. 
 In no department was anybody sure of the time of 
 his appearance, yet not one was overlooked. This kept
 
 23<D REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 the operators keyed to an expectancy which brought 
 out from them their best, for the approbation of this 
 observant 'boss' meant much to each. Yet he rarely 
 spoke in a harsh tone to any, nor had any ever heard 
 him utter an oath. This, in itself, gave him a distinc- 
 tion from all other mill superintendents under which 
 most of these operatives had served, and added, it may 
 be, a greater awe to their respect of him. 
 
 " I've been color mixer in a carpet mill these forty 
 years, and Metcalf's the only ' Supe ' I ever knew could 
 run one without swearing," often remarked the master 
 of the dyeing room. " He does ; and a fellow may 
 count himself lucky to work under such a man." 
 
 The color mixer, being a most important personage 
 in the institution, had influence among his confreres, 
 with good reason. His trade was an art and a secret. 
 Like all trade secrets it commanded its own price. He 
 was said to enjoy a salary " among the thousands," and 
 to have rejected even richer offers for the sake of the 
 peaceful discipline at Ardsley. 
 
 Then the two visited the " setting room," where the 
 mill girls reached the highest promotion possible in 
 their business. The " setting " is the arrangement upon 
 frames of the threads of the carpet, perfectly adjusted. 
 A girl sits upon each side the frame, which holds from 
 two hundred threads to slightly an advance upon that 
 number. It is clean and dainty work, and the operator 
 is fortunate who can secure the position. It is the same
 
 THE FASCINATION OF INDUSTRY. 231 
 
 "thread" which, drawn over wires, in the weaver's 
 hands, makes the looplike surface of Brussels carpet- 
 ing, which was the only sort manufactured at Ardsley. 
 
 "You find it fascinating, don't you? So did Amy. 
 Well, if you work here, in any department, you will 
 have opportunity to study the whole science, from 
 beginning to end. But I'm to meet Mr. Wingate in ten 
 minutes in his private office. Let us go back." 
 
 Amy, away up on the fourth floor where she worked, 
 knew nothing of this visit, and was a little dismayed 
 when she received a summons to go down "to the 
 ' Supe's ' room for her nooning." 
 
 She was now alone with Mary at her " jenny," and 
 had already become so expert that those who under- 
 stood such matters prophesied she would soon be 
 promoted to the " twisting and doubling." That 
 very morning the "boss" of their room had said to 
 her:- 
 
 " We never had a girl come here who got on so fast. 
 It mostly takes months to learn a half-machine. After 
 another three she can mind both sides. That means 
 about four dollars and a half a week. Well, you've 
 been quick and faithful, and nobody could envy your 
 good luck." 
 
 As she picked up her lunch basket and descended 
 toward the office, more than one called after her a good 
 wish. 
 
 " Don't you be scared of the ' Supe.' If he scolds
 
 232 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 and you aren't to blame, just tell him so, and he'll like 
 you the better." 
 
 " Maybe he's going to promote you a'ready, though I 
 don't see how he could. I won't be jealous if he does, 
 though," cried another ; and Gwendolyn, the inquisitive, 
 resolved to keep up Amy's spirits by accompanying her 
 to the interview. 
 
 " But, Gwen, did he send for you ? " 
 
 " No ; course not. If he did, I shouldn't feel so 
 chipper. There ain't no love lost 'twixt the ' Supe ' and 
 me." 
 
 "Then maybe 
 
 " Trash ! I'm going. Ain't I the one that fetched 
 you here in the first place ? Hadn't I ought to stand 
 by you, thick or thin ? " 
 
 "Yes, I suppose so," answered Amy, more frightened 
 by Gwendolyn's suggestive manner than by any con- 
 sciousness of blunders made. Nor did she remind her 
 neighbor that for a time, at first, while Amy's popularity 
 had not been determined, the other had shrewdly held 
 aloof, waiting the turn of the tide. Fortunately, this 
 had been in the "new hand's" direction, and since 
 then Gwendolyn's attentions had been almost over- 
 powering. 
 
 But, indeed, Amy did not even think this. " Simplic- 
 ity, sincerity, sympathy" she was faithfully striving 
 to make this the rule of her own life, and therefore she 
 could not imagine anything lower in the lives of others.
 
 THE FASCINATION OF INDUSTRY. 233 
 
 But she still kept her frank tongue, and she gave it 
 rein, as the pair hurried office ward. 
 
 " Dear Gwen, if you only wouldn't chew that gum ! 
 It makes you look so queer, and spoils all the pretty 
 outline of your cheek. Besides, I'm sure Mr. Metcalf 
 doesn't like it. He always frowns when a gum-chewer 
 has to speak with him about her work." 
 
 " Pshaw, what a fuss you are ! There, then, though 
 that's the first bit off a new stick, I've thrown it out 
 the window. Is my cheek pretty ? How do you man- 
 age to see things without looking ? I never see you 
 take your eyes off your frame, yet not a thing goes on 
 in that room you don't seem to hear or know." 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know, unless it's because having 
 lived all alone, without other girls, I love to hear the 
 voices and see the bright faces. Oh, I do \ovefolks ! 
 And it seems to me that every single girl in that mill is 
 far more interesting than the best story book I ever 
 read." 
 
 " Well, if you don't beat ! But, say, Amy ! " 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " I don't believe there's another girl there would tell 
 me I was pretty without saying something else would 
 spoil it." 
 
 " Oh, indeed, there must be. If it's the truth, why 
 shouldn't one say it ? But if it's the truth, again, you 
 have no right to deface the beauty. Do give up the 
 gum."
 
 234 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Why haven't I a right ? " 
 
 "I don't know why. I simply know you haven't, 
 any more than I have to be untidy or disagreeable. I 
 never realized until I came to be always among so many 
 people how each one could pain or please her neighbor. 
 And it seems to me each of us should be the sweetest, 
 the best natured, the truest, it is possible. Heigho ! 
 I'm turning a preacher, and it's a good thing that 
 there's the office, and I must stop. Brace your cour- 
 age, Amy, and knock at the door." 
 
 She did so and was promptly admitted ; but did 
 not see the superintendent, who thus served her, for he 
 purposely stepped behind the door, so that her first 
 glance fell upon Hallam seated at the sloping table and 
 busily at work. She caught her breath, regained it, 
 and rushed forward with a little shriek. 
 
 "Hallam! Hallam Kaye! You here! you work- 
 ing ? " 
 
 "Yes; I'm here. My first day at wage-earning. 
 Didn't provide any lunch. Can you spare some for 
 me ? Ah, Gwendolyn, good day." 
 
 Then another person appeared in the doorway one 
 whom nobody present cared to see just then, though 
 the superintendent stepped from his hiding-place, the 
 mirth dying out of his genial face as he bowed re- 
 spectfully to his superior, Mr. Archibald Wingate, the 
 owner of Ardsley Mill and of most of the surrounding 
 property.
 
 THE FASCINATION OF INDUSTRY. 235 
 
 " Good day, Metcalf. Eh? What? Amy? Hallam ? 
 You here ? " 
 
 "Yes, cousin Archibald. We are both here and 
 working for you," answered Amy, quietly. Then she 
 surprised even herself by extending her hand in greeting.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MOTIVES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 
 
 FOR an instant it seemed as if the old man would 
 respond to the proffered civility ; but his hand 
 dropped again to his side, and Amy had the mortifica- 
 tion of one who is repulsed. However, she had little 
 time for thought. The master of the mill passed onward 
 into his " den " and closed its door with a snap. 
 On the ground glass which admitted light through the 
 upper half the door, yet effectually screened from ob- 
 servation any who were within, was printed in large 
 letters: 
 
 " Private. No Admittance." 
 
 Then the girl turned an inquiring face toward the 
 superintendent, who took her hand and shook it warmly. 
 
 " Allow me to congratulate you, Miss Amy. You 
 have done well, famously, even. There's not been a 
 girl in the mill, since I've had charge, who has learned 
 so swiftly and thoroughly. What's the secret of it ? 
 Can you guess ? " 
 
 She had not been summoned for a reprimand, then. 
 In her relief at this, the young operative scarcely heard 
 236
 
 MOTIVES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 237 
 
 the question put to her, and the gentleman replied to it 
 himself. 
 
 " I can tell you. It's your untiring perseverance, 
 your persistent effort to do your best, without regard to 
 anything or anybody about you. If all our girls would 
 take example by you, promotions would be more fre- 
 quent." 
 
 Gwendolyn resented the glance with which the super- 
 intendent now favored her, and Amy would have pre- 
 ferred not to be so openly praised. She drew a chair 
 to the table where Hallam sat, and hastily spread her 
 luncheon upon it. 
 
 " Come, Gwendolyn, bring yours. While we're eat- 
 ing, Hal shall tell us what this all means." 
 
 He did so, rapidly, and between mouthfuls, for the 
 half-hour's nooning had already been cut short by the 
 unexpected meetings; and when the whistle sounded 
 and the girls hurried back to their room, Amy carried a 
 very thoughtful face. 
 
 " Why, what a funny girl you are ! You look as if 
 you'd been scolded, after all, 'stead of praised and 
 promised promotion. What's wrong ? " 
 
 " Fayette. To think he could run away with Balaam, 
 after all we or Cleena has done for him. Of course, 
 he's done things for us, too ; but I thought if we were 
 kind to him, and made him feel that he was dear to 
 somebody, he would improve and grow a splendid man." 
 
 " ' Can't make a purse out of a pig's ear,' " quoted
 
 238 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Gwendolyn, seriously. " But don't you fret. He'll be 
 back again, as humble as a lamb. You couldn't dog 
 him away from ' Charity House,' I believe. He's been 
 just wild over you all ever since he first saw you and 
 your white burro. Say, Amy, I'm going to try and not 
 chew any more. Your brother don't like it, does he, 
 either ? " 
 
 " No ; he detests it. He doesn't like anything that 
 is unwomanly or coarse." 
 
 Then they separated, but in the heart of each was a 
 fresh determination : in Gwendolyn's that she would 
 make herself into a "real lady," according to the stand- 
 ard of this brother and sister whom she admired, or saw 
 admired of others ; and in Amy's, to better deserve the 
 encouragement of her employers, and to support Hallam 
 to the utmost in his new ambition. 
 
 But as she resumed her work she reflected, with much 
 perplexity : " I don't understand yet why Mr. Metcalf 
 is so delightful out of mill and so different here ; nor 
 why cousin Archibald still persists in being unfriendly, 
 since he has gotten everything he wants." 
 
 But she was still too ignorant of life to know that it 
 is commonly the inflicter of an injury who shows ill 
 feeling, and not the recipient of it. 
 
 The afternoon passed swiftly, as all her days did now, 
 and at the signal for leaving labor, both the girls hurried 
 to don their outer things and join Hallam. But Amy 
 had still a word for Mary.
 
 MOTIVES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 239 
 
 " To-morrow is half-holiday, you know, dear, and I've 
 talked with Cleena. She wishes you to come and 
 spend the night at ' Charity House/ and we'll fix things 
 about that club all right." 
 
 " What's that about a club ? " asked another girl, 
 noticing how the hunchback's face brightened. " Are 
 you two going to join ours ? " 
 
 " Maybe ; maybe not. Maybe we'll compromise and 
 have but one. Though we can do little until after 
 Christmas, it's so near now." 
 
 " Oh, don't get up another. We have just lovely 
 times in ours. All the boys come and but I'll not 
 tell. I'll leave you to see. They wanted I should ask 
 you, and your brother, too. He's real nice looking, 
 ' Jack doffer ' says, even if he is lame." 
 
 Amy's cheek burned, and her quick temper got her 
 into trouble. 
 
 " My brother Hallam is a very, very handsome boy. 
 Even with his lameness he's a thousand times better 
 looking than any boy in this mill, and what's more, 
 he's a gentleman ! " 
 
 Then this champion of the aristocracy, which she 
 thought she disdained but now discovered she was 
 proud to call her own class, walked off with her nose 
 in the air and her dark eyes glittering with an angry 
 light. 
 
 " There, now you've done it ! " cried Gwendolyn, 
 in amazement. " But ma said it wouldn't last. She
 
 24O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 says that's the way with all the heroines in her novels 
 that lose their money and pretend to be just plain folks 
 afterward. They never are. They're always 'risto- 
 cratics an' they can't help it." 
 
 " Oh, well, they shouldn't try," remarked this young 
 " heroine," fiercely. " I don't care at all what they 
 say about me, but they'd best let my Hal alone." 
 
 " Hoity-toity, I don't see as he's any better than 
 anybody else." 
 
 Amy stopped short on the path from the mill to the 
 ladder upon the bluff. Suddenly she reflected how her 
 mother would have regarded her present mood. " He 
 that ruleth his own spirit." 
 
 The words seemed whispered in her ear. A moment 
 later she turned and spoke again, but her voice was now 
 gentle and appealing. 
 
 " Yes, he is better, though I'm not. He is better 
 because he is just what he seems. There is no pre- 
 tence about him. He doesn't think that plastering his 
 hair with stuff, and wearing ugly, showy clothes, and 
 a hat on the back of his head, or swaggering, or smok- 
 ing nasty cigarettes, or being insolent to women, are 
 marks of a gentleman. He's the real thing. That's 
 what Hal is, and that's why I'm so proud of him, so 
 so touchy about him." 
 
 "Amy, what does make a gentleman, anyway, if it 
 isn't dressing in style and knowing things ? " 
 
 "It's the simplest thing in the world; it's just being
 
 MOTIVES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 24! 
 
 kind out of one's heart instead of one's head. It's 
 being just as pure-minded and honest as one can be, 
 and believing that everybody else is as good or a 
 little better than one's self. So it seems to me." 
 
 " We are different, then. I never should know how 
 to say such things. I don't know how to think them. 
 It isn't any use. You are you, and I am me, and that 
 ends it." 
 
 Amy did not even smile at the crooked grammar. 
 This was the old cry of Mary, too, and it hurt her. 
 
 "Oh, Gwen, I am so sorry. It is of use. There 
 isn't any difference, really. We are both girls who 
 have to earn our living. Our training has been dif- 
 ferent, that is all. I want to know all you know ; I 
 want you to know all I do. I want to be friends; oh, 
 I want to be friends with every girl in the world ! " 
 
 "Pshaw! do you? Well, I don't. I don't want 
 but a few, and I want them to be stylish and nice. 
 You'd have a lot of style if you could dress different." 
 
 Poor Amy. This was like a dash of cold water over 
 her enthusiasm. Just when she fancied that Gwen- 
 dolyn was aspiring to all that was noble and uplifting, 
 down she had dropped again into that idea of "style" 
 and fashion and good times. But she remembered Mary. 
 In the soul of that afflicted little mill girl was, indeed, 
 a true ambition, and she felt glad again, from thoughts 
 of her. 
 
 " Hallam, how can you climb all the way to ' Charity
 
 242 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 House ' ? You will drop by the way. It's hard, even 
 for me." 
 
 " I can do it. I must. There is nothing else to be 
 done." 
 
 So they set out together, through the darkness. The 
 days were at the shortest, and Christmas would come 
 the following week. Hallam and Amy looked forward 
 with dread to the festival, remembering their mother 
 had striven, even under disadvantages, to keep the 
 holiday a bright one for her children. There had 
 never been either many or costly gifts at Fairacres, 
 but there had been something for each and all ; and 
 the home-made trifles were all the dearer because 
 Salome's gentle fingers had fashioned them. 
 
 Now Gwendolyn was full of anticipation, and from her 
 talk about it her neighbors judged she meant to expend 
 a really large sum of money in presents for her friends. 
 
 " But, Gwendolyn, how can you buy all these things ? 
 You told me you earned about five dollars a week, and 
 you've bought so many clothes; and I guess I'm not 
 good at figures. My poor little two dollars and a half, 
 that I get now, wouldn't buy a quarter of all you say." 
 
 " Oh, that's all right. Mis' Hackett, she charges it. 
 I always run an account with her." 
 
 "You? a girl like you ? What is your mother think- 
 ing about ? I thought to buy a wheel that way was 
 queer ; but how dare you ? " 
 
 " Why, I'm working all the time, ain't I ? Anybody
 
 MOTIVES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 243 
 
 that has regular work can get anything they want at 
 Mis' Hackett's, or other places, too. Ma and pa do the 
 same way." 
 
 "But that's debt. It must be horrible. It seems 
 like going out of one debt into another as fast as you 
 can. Oh, Gwen, don't do it." 
 
 " Pshaw ! that isn't anything. Why, look here, that's 
 the very way your own folks did. If they hadn't been 
 in debt, they wouldn't have had to move from Fair- 
 acres, and all that. Would they ? " 
 
 Both Hallam and Amy were silent. The keen com- 
 mon sense of the mill girl had struck home, and again 
 Amy realized that her vocation was not that of " preach- 
 ing." Finally, the cripple spoke: 
 
 " It's like it, yet it isn't. We had something left to 
 pay our debts. It wasn't money, but it was money's 
 worth. We paid them. We are left poor indeed, but 
 we haven't mortgaged our future. That's all. But we 
 are too young to talk so wisely. If your parents 
 approve, they probably know best. Hark ! there is a 
 wagon coming." 
 
 They all paused, and drew aside out of the road to 
 let the vehicle pass. It was so dark that they could 
 distinguish nothing clearly, and the lantern fastened to 
 the dashboard of the buggy seemed but to throw into 
 greater shadow the face of the occupant. To their sur- 
 prise, the traveller drew rein and saluted them : 
 
 " Hello. Just getting home, eh ? "
 
 244 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 All recognized the voice. It belonged to Mr. Wingate. 
 
 "Yes, just getting home," answered Amy, cheerily. 
 
 "Growing pretty dark, isn't it? Hmm, yes. Heard 
 you lost your donkey, Hallam." 
 
 " For the time, I have, sir," responded the lad, rather 
 stiffly. He hated this man " on sight," or out of it, and 
 it was difficult for him to conquer his aversion. All the 
 kindness he had felt toward him, on the night of Mr. 
 Wingate' s first unwelcome visit to Fairacres, had been 
 forgotten since; because in his heart he believed that 
 his mother's death was due to her removal from her 
 home. Yet he wished to be just, and he would try 
 to feel differently by and by. Meanwhile, his unused 
 strength was fast waning. He had met with a great 
 disappointment that day, for he was going home empty- 
 handed. He had lost his beloved Balaam, and he had 
 nothing to show for it In all his life he had never 
 walked so far as from the mill to the Bareacre knoll, 
 and even his crutches seemed to wobble and twist with 
 fatigue. Amy had noticed this, and made him pause 
 to rest more than once ; but the night was cold, and he 
 felt it most unwise to risk taking cold by standing in the 
 wind. Poverty was teaching Hallam prudence, among 
 many other excellent things. 
 
 " None of us can afford to be sick now," he reflected. 
 
 "Hmm. That half-witted fellow ought not to be 
 allowed to go free. He's done me a lot of mischief, 
 and I guess he injures everybody who befriends him.
 
 MOTIVES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 24$ 
 
 The last thing he ought to be trusted with is horse-flesh, 
 or mule-flesh either. Well, I'm going your way, and 
 it's a tough pull on a pair of crutches. If you'll get in, 
 I'll give you a lift as far as the bars." 
 
 Everybody was astonished, and everybody waited for 
 Hallam's reply in some anxiety. Amy knew his mind, 
 and she knew, also, that he was very weary. She hoped 
 that he would say : 
 
 " Thank you ; I'll be glad to accept," but his answer 
 was a curt : " Thank you ; I would rather walk." 
 
 " Very well. Suit yourself." 
 
 The horse was touched sharply, and bounded up the 
 hill road at an unusual pace. 
 
 " Oh, Hal, why didn't you ride ? You are so tired." 
 
 "Well because." 
 
 " You'd better. Old man don't like to have his favors 
 lost," remarked Gwendolyn. " I've heard lots say that, 
 even though he hasn't been at Ardsley so very long." 
 
 Now, in the lad's heart, besides his unwillingness to 
 " accept favors from an enemy," there had been another 
 motive. Until that evening he had not realized how 
 lonely and dark was the homeward walk for his sister, 
 after her long day of toil, and even with the company 
 of Gwendolyn. In this his first experience it had come 
 upon him with a shock, that it was neither pleasant 
 nor safe for Amy, and he resolved she should never 
 again be left without his escort, if he were possibly able 
 to be with her.
 
 246 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 But he could not, or felt that he could not, tell this 
 to the girls ; much less to Mr. Wingate, finding it easier 
 to be misjudged than to explain. Yet had the mill 
 owner known the fact, it would have gone far toward 
 propitiating him, and toward rousing his admiration for 
 his young kinsman. 
 
 So with the best intentions all around, the breach 
 between Fairacres and "Charity House" was duly 
 widened. 
 
 The trio of mill workers trudged wearily upward, and 
 the mill master hurried recklessly through the gloom 
 toward a home he had coveted, but found a lonely, 
 " ghost-haunted " solitude. For though there are no 
 real spectres to frighten the eye, there are memories 
 which are sadder to face than any " haunt " would be. 
 
 " Stir up the fire, man. Don't you know it's a bitter 
 night outside ? " he cried, as he entered it. 
 
 The master's tone boded ill for the servant if obedi- 
 ence were not prompt. So though a great blaze roared 
 upon the wide hearth in the old room where we first 
 met this gentleman he was not content, nor was the 
 good dinner which followed appreciated. Nothing was 
 right that night for Archibald Wingate. 
 
 Nothing? Yes, one thing gave him great satisfac- 
 tion, so that, late in the evening, sitting before the 
 blaze he had complained of, he rubbed his hands with 
 a quiet glee. 
 
 " If you please, sir, there's a black donkey wandered
 
 MOTIVES AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS. 247 
 
 into the place to-night. It went straight to the stable 
 and to one of the box stalls on the west. It seemed 
 to know the way. The stable boy says it's one of them 
 belonged to the the folks was here before we came. 
 I thought you'd like to know, sir ; and, if you please, 
 is it to remain ? " 
 
 "Yes, Marshall, it is to remain." 
 
 And again the old gentleman smiled into the danc- 
 ing flames and rubbed his smooth palms.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 IN THE OLD HOME. 
 
 AFTER one o'clock on the afternoon before Christ- 
 mas was a mill holiday ; and while the great looms 
 were silent, those who usually toiled at them took their 
 way into Wallburg city to do their Christmas shopping. 
 Though a few, indeed, were able to satisfy their needs 
 at the local stores, and among these, for once, was 
 Gwendolyn. She had come up the knoll after dinner 
 hour, to invite Amy's presence at the gift buying, and 
 concluded her invitation by saying : 
 
 " Even if you won't get anything yourself, you might 
 come and look at the pretty things. It's surprising 
 how many you find you can pick out in a few minutes. 
 They've the loveliest dolls there 't I'm going to get for 
 Beatrice and Belinda. Victoria's so big she's outgrown 
 doll " 
 
 Cleena could hold her tongue no longer. 
 
 " Toys, is it, alanna ! Better be shoes for their feet ; 
 
 an' as for Queen Victory an' her dolls, more's the shame 
 
 to you as sets her the example o' growin' up before her 
 
 time. Vases for the mother, is it? An' she after 
 
 248
 
 IN THE OLD HOME. 249 
 
 patchin' the sheets off her bed. Pardon unasked advice, 
 which same is unsavory, belike, an' get the makin' of a 
 new pair. That's sense, so it is." 
 
 It was sense. As such it commended itself to 
 Gwendolyn, during her walk to the village, and bore 
 results for the comfort of her family ; for though she 
 did run in debt to make her Christmas gifts, at least 
 she now altered her usual habit completely, and for 
 each member of the household provided some article 
 of use. Even Mrs. Hackett paused in her busy attend- 
 ance upon the crowd of customers to remark : 
 
 " Well, now, Gwen, that's a good plan. I guess your 
 folks will be proud of what you're giving them this 
 year. Yes, I'm more 'n willing to trust you for 'em. 
 A girl that'll spend her money as you are, isn't going 
 to cheat me in the long run. Yes, the wagon'll be 
 going out late to-night and will fetch 'em all for you. 
 Flannel and sheeting and such are a mighty sight 
 heavier to carry than notions. But say, I'll put in a 
 little candy for the youngsters, seeing they're disap- 
 pointed of their dolls. 
 
 Meanwhile, up at " Charity House," Amy had drawn 
 Cleena into a corner to discuss their own plans, and 
 especially to ask concerning a proposed trip to the city, 
 by her father, and immediately after the holidays. 
 
 " You know, Goodsoul, that he hasn't been there 
 alone in a long time. Is it safe for him to go now ? 
 If he should have one of his attacks, what would hap-
 
 25O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 pen? Should Hallam go with him? and worst of 
 all how can we spare the money?" 
 
 " Faith, Miss Amy, I'd leave the master be. It's the 
 fine sense he's gettin' the now. It would hearten the 
 mistress could she see how he does be pickin' up. 
 Always that gentle I d' know, as if the sorrow had 
 been a broom sweepin' his soul all free of the moilder 
 an' muss was in it long by. Only yesternight, whilst 
 I was just washin' off me table afore layin' me cloth, 
 into the kitchen he steps an' sits himself down by the 
 door, lookin' out toward Fairacres. It was as soft as 
 summer, like it is this eve, but faith ! a ' green Christ- 
 mas makes a fat graveyard.' " 
 
 The very word made them both silent for a moment, 
 and then Amy resumed : 
 
 " Father has packed up a half a dozen or more of his 
 small canvases, studies of heads most of them are, I 
 believe, and all are unframed. What do you suppose 
 he means to do with them ? " 
 
 " Sell them. What for no ? " 
 
 " But mother never liked to have him. These are all 
 pictures he did long ago." 
 
 " The quicker they'll go off the hand then." 
 
 " Do you approve ? " 
 
 "With all me heart." 
 
 Amy dropped her face on her palms and considered 
 the matter. Even with her habit of dealing with facts 
 rather than fancies, she still found life a most perplex-
 
 IN THE OLD HOME. 2$ I 
 
 ing and complex affair. The only help she gained 
 toward understanding it was that clew taught her by 
 her mother of matching the days and the events as one 
 matches a fascinating puzzle. Out of this thought she 
 spoke at last, though quite to the bewilderment of hon- 
 est Cleena. 
 
 " It seems as if our losing all that belonged to us 
 were making us sturdier folks, improving us all. 
 Mother needed no improvement, so she hadn't to face 
 the battle long. Well, one thing I know, she would 
 be glad for us all, and some way I feel her very near 
 to-day. Only, if I could just talk with her and ask 
 her things." 
 
 " Sure ye can, me colleen. I mind it's no far to the 
 land where she's gone. But about the money. See 
 here ; how got I this ? " 
 
 And Cleena whipped out a handkerchief from her 
 jacket pocket and unfolded it with utmost care. In 
 this were a number of silver pieces, from half-dollars to 
 dimes, and added together made the "smart decent 
 sum " of five dollars and fifteen cents. 
 
 " Why, Cleena ! Where ? I thought all ours was 
 spent as soon as earned." 
 
 " Where ? An' I to be mendin' a few clothes for me 
 neighbors. Even that man John fetches me a blouse 
 now an' again, to put in a fresh pair o' sleeves or set 
 on a button that's missin'. Sure, ye didn't think 
 Cleena was one would be leavin' her childer bring in all
 
 252 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 the wage. Only " and the good creature's fine face 
 clouded dismally. 
 
 Amy's arms were around the other's neck, and her 
 soft cheek pressed against the shoulder that had borne 
 so many burdens for her and hers. 
 
 " Only what, you darling Scrubbub ? " 
 
 " Only I was mindin' to buy a few trinkets for you 
 an' Master Hal. Tis Christmas comes but once a year, 
 an' sure me heart should give good cheer 
 
 " Cleena, Cleena ! A poet ! What next ? " 
 
 " Arrah musha, no ! Not one o' them sort. But it's 
 in the air, belike. Christmastide do set the blood 
 running hitherty-which. So they say in old Ireland. 
 It's this way, me darling. Gifts for you an' Hal or 
 the trip to town for the master. Which, says you ? 
 For here's the silver will pay either one, an' it's you an' 
 him shall decide." 
 
 " Then it's decided already. At least, I'm sure 
 Hallam will so agree when he comes in. You know he's 
 stopped at Mr. Metcalf's to see some books on design- 
 ing. Hallam thinks that either he might learn to do it 
 or that perhaps even father might give some odd mo- 
 ments to it, though I don't know as he would hardly 
 dare propose it. The idea was Mr. Metcalf's, and he 
 hasn't much 'sentiment' about him. He said that if 
 there was any way in which father could make a living, 
 he would be happier if so employed. It sounded dread- 
 ful to me at first, and then it seemed just sensible."
 
 IN THE OLD HOME. 253 
 
 " That last it was, and so I b'lieve the master'll say 
 himself. But child, child, you do be gettin' too sober 
 notions into your bonny head. Oh, for that Balaam the 
 spalpeen stole ! But since ye can't ride, why then it's 
 aye ye must walk. Either way, get into the open. 
 There's not many such a day 'twixt now and Easter. 
 Away with ye ! Haven't I me pastry to make an' 
 to-morrow Christmas ? Go where ye've no thought, an' 
 let the spirit carry ye. Then there'll be rest. But be 
 home by nightfall, mind." 
 
 "Cleena, you dear, the kindest, truest, best woman 
 left in this world ! " 
 
 " Indeed, that's sweet decent speech, me dear ; but 
 seein' your ' world's ' no bigger nor Ardsley township, 
 I 'low I'll not be over set up by that same. Run away, 
 child, run away ! " 
 
 " Cleena, you're watching down the road. Why ? 
 Why ? I demand ; and you talk of pastry, the which 
 hasn't been in "Charity House" since we came to it, save 
 and except that dried apple pie sent in by Mrs. Jones." 
 
 " Ugh ! " cried Cleena, making a face of contempt. 
 " The match o' that good soul's pastry for hardness an' 
 toughness isn't found this side of the Red Sea." 
 
 "Cleena, is that old John coming here to-day? Is 
 it he you are watching for ? " 
 
 " Why for no ? If a man's more nor his share an' 
 nobody to cook it, why shouldn't he be a bringin' it up 
 an' lettin' a body fix it eatable ? Sure, it's John himself.
 
 254 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Ye're too sharp in the wits, an' I don't mind tellin' ye ; 
 it's all charity, Miss Amy. Him livin' by his lone an' 
 gettin' boardin'-house truck. If he says to me, says he, 
 ' Shall I fetch the furnishin' o' the best Christmas 
 dinner ever cooked an' you be after preparin' it,' says 
 he, ' only givin' me one plateful beside your nice kitchen 
 fire,' says he, could I tell the man no, and me a good Chris- 
 tian ? Ye know better, Miss Amy. Think o' the master, 
 an' Master Hal, to-morrow comes. What's the good 
 o' John, then, but to find food for me folks ? Run along ! " 
 
 Mr. Kaye had already gone off for one of his long 
 tramps, over the fields and through the woods, to which 
 he was now much given. He had taken such, at first, 
 to subdue the restlessness which followed upon his 
 wife's death, and as some sort of break in his unuttera- 
 ble loneliness. But nature had helped him more than 
 he had dreamed ; and to the pure air, the physical fa- 
 tigue, and consequent sound sleep was due much of the 
 cure of his mental illness that all who knew him now 
 noticed. 
 
 So there was nobody who needed Amy just then, and 
 she set off from "Charity House" at a brisk pace, 
 resolved, as Cleena had advised, to forget all worry and 
 labor, and "just have one good, jolly time." 
 
 She took the road upward toward the woods behind 
 Fairacres, meaning to gather a bunch of late ferns for 
 the decoration of the morrow's dinner table, since Cleena 
 promised it should be a feast day, after all.
 
 IN THE OLD HOME. 255 
 
 Before she quite realized it even, she had deflected 
 from her course, remembering just then a certain glen 
 in the grounds of her old home where rare ferns grew 
 to prodigious size, and where no cold of winter seemed 
 to harm them. Then once upon the familiar path every 
 step was suggestive of some bygone outing, and led her 
 to explore farther and still farther. 
 
 " Ah, the frost-bleached maiden-hair. Nowhere else 
 does it last like this. It's almost as white as edelweiss, 
 and far more graceful. I must put that in my basket, 
 if nothing else." So she pulled it gently and with 
 infinite care, lest she should break the delicate fronds 
 that had outlasted their season by so long. Then there 
 were others, dainty green and still fragrant, which she 
 gathered eagerly ; with here and there a bit of crimson- 
 berried vine, or a patch of velvet moss. 
 
 Always she kept to the depth of the little ravine, 
 through which ran a tiny, babbling brook. This had 
 long ago been named " Merry water," nor had it ever 
 seemed gayer and more winsome than then. It was 
 like reunion with some old beloved playmate, and Amy 
 forgot everything but the present enjoyment as she 
 stooped and dabbled in the water here and there. 
 Sometimes she came to the fantastic little bridges which 
 Hallam had used to lie upon the bank and construct out 
 of the roots and pebbles she brought him. Where these 
 had fallen into decay she repaired them; and at one 
 time was busily endeavoring to force a grapevine into
 
 256 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 place when she heard a sound that made her pause in 
 her task and spring to her feet. 
 
 " Ah-umph ! A-h-u-m-ph ! A-H-U-M-P-H ! ! ! " 
 
 " Pepita ! No Balaam ! Balaam, Balaam Ba- 
 laam ! " 
 
 She was off up the bank in another instant. The 
 sound was from the old stable, so dear, so familiar to 
 her. As she ran she caught up here and there great 
 tufts of sweet grass, such as had been neglected by the 
 mowers, but were dear to donkey appetites. 
 
 " Oh, the precious ! The blessed little beast ! Won't 
 Hallam be glad ! Won't this be a Christmas gift indeed, 
 to bring him back his own pet ! How glad I am I took 
 this way to walk, and how queer it is that he should be 
 back in his very own old home. Is it so queer, though ? 
 Wouldn't I come, too, if I were just a burro and were 
 set free to follow my own will ? I can hardly wait to 
 reach him." 
 
 In a moment she had done so, and had filled the 
 manger with the still luscious grass, while climbing 
 upon its front she had thrown her arms about the ani- 
 mal's neck and was assuring him, as she might a human 
 being, that he had been sadly missed and would be most 
 welcome home. 
 
 On his part the burro was fortunately silent, though 
 his great, dark eyes looked volumes of affection, and he 
 laid his big ears gently back to be out of Amy's way, 
 while she caressed him. She smoothed his forelock,
 
 IN THE OLD HOME. 257 
 
 ran her fingers through his mane, patted his shaggy 
 head, and told him that his " big velvet lips were the 
 softest things on earth." 
 
 " Ahem ! " 
 
 This remark, if such it could be called, fell upon 
 Amy's ears so suddenly that she half tumbled back- 
 ward from her perch upon the manger, and just saved 
 herself by springing lightly down, or she thought it was 
 lightly, until she wheeled and faced the intruder. 
 
 None other than Archibald Wingate, making a horri- 
 ble grimace, and holding up one of his pudgy feet as if 
 he were in great pain. 
 
 " Oh, I beg your pardon ! I didn't know it was your 
 foot, or you were you I thought it was only the hay 
 on the floor." 
 
 " Ugh ! Great goodness ! Umm. If you ever have 
 the gout, young woman, you will understand how it feels 
 to have anybody jump down full force upon your toes. 
 Ouch ! O dear ! O dear ! " 
 
 Amy had never been accustomed to seeing people 
 make ado over physical suffering. She did not under- 
 stand this man before her, and a thrill of distress ran 
 through her own frame, like the touch of an electric 
 battery. 
 
 "Oh, I am so sorry! I wouldn't have done it for 
 anything if I had known. Can't I do something now 
 to help you ? Let me rub it or or lead you. You 
 look " In spite of her good intentions, the horrible
 
 258 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 contortions by which Mr. Wingate's countenance ex- 
 pressed his feelings affected her sense of the ridiculous, 
 and she smiled. As instantly ashamed of the smile, 
 she buried her face in her hands, and waited what 
 would come next. 
 
 " Huh ! Yes, you look sorry, of course you do, 
 laughing at an old man after you've nearly broken 
 his foot in two. Hmm. You're a sorry lot, the whole 
 of you ; yes, you are ! O-oh ! " Yet he, too, and in 
 spite of himself, laughed ; but it was at his own pitiful 
 joke about his kinsmen being a " sorry lot." 
 
 Fortunately, Amy did not understand a jest of this 
 nature, but she was swift to see the brightening of his 
 face. She put her hand on his arm, and tried to draw 
 his hand within her own. 
 
 " Maybe it won't be so bad. Lean on me, and I'll 
 help you to a seat or to the house. And thank you, 
 thank you so much for putting Balaam in the stable, 
 and taking such good care of him. If Hal had known, 
 he wouldn't have worried so about the little beast. 
 He's been so tenderly cared for, we couldn't bear to 
 think of him as off in the open fields with nobody but 
 Fayette." 
 
 Mr. Wingate said not a word. He simply ceased 
 groaning and grimacing, and he slipped his arm 
 through Amy's, while a curious expression settled on 
 his face. He did not lean at all heavily upon her, 
 however, and he merely glanced toward the burro as
 
 IN THE OLD HOME. 259 
 
 the pair walked to the stable door. Then the animal 
 thought it time to protest. Amy had brought him 
 fresh grass, but she had dropped it all outside his 
 manger, where he could not reach it. This was aggra- 
 vation in the extreme. More than that, whenever, in 
 the old days, she had been afflicted with one of these 
 outbursts of affection, there had generally been a lump 
 of sugar connected with it. To lose affection, hay, and 
 sugar, all in one unhappy moment, was too much even 
 for donkey patience. 
 
 " AH-UMPH ! H-umph ! A-h-u-m-p-h ! " 
 
 "Whew! he's split my ears open. Plague take 
 the beast ! " cried Mr. Wingate, hurrying forward, 
 and now stepping with suspicious freedom from lame- 
 ness. 
 
 Amy hurried, too, wondering at his sudden recovery. 
 "Oh, do you dislike his talk? I love it. I always 
 laugh when I hear it, it is so absurd, and Pepita's was 
 even funnier, She had a feminine note, so to speak, 
 and she whined like a spoiled baby." 
 
 " What do you know about spoiled babies ? " 
 
 "Why nothing only William Gladstone, he's a 
 trifle self-Willed, I think." 
 
 "William Gladstone! What do you mean? Who 
 are you talking about ? Are you all crazy together ? " 
 
 " Not the English statesman, certainly. Just Mrs. 
 Jones's youngest son. And I don't think we're crazy." 
 
 "I think you are, the whole lot. Well, will you
 
 26O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 come into the house with me ? How did you know the 
 donkey was here ? Who told you ? " 
 
 "He told me," laughed Amy. "Yes, I'll go in if 
 you wish, if I can help you." 
 
 " How did he tell you ? " 
 
 " I was gathering these ferns in the glen, and I heard 
 him bray. See, aren't they beautiful ? They're for the 
 table to-morrow. The prettiest ferns in all Fairacres 
 grow along the banks of ' Merry water.' " 
 
 " Yes, I know. I used to gather them when I was a 
 child. My grandmother liked them, though she called 
 them plain 'brakes.' So you're not afraid to trespass, 
 then ? And you're able to have a dinner-party even so 
 soon after and with all the pretended devotion. But 
 Cuthbert " 
 
 Amy's hand went up to her kinsman's lips. It was a 
 habit of hers, sometimes playfully sometimes earnestly 
 used, to ward off anything she did not wish another to 
 say to her, and she had done it before she thought ; 
 but having so done she would not withdraw her silent 
 protest. This man should never say, nor would she 
 ever hear, a word against her father. Of that she was 
 determined, even though she must be rude to prevent. 
 
 For a moment Archibald Wingate resented the girl's 
 correction. Then, as her hand dropped to her side and 
 her gaze to the ground, he spoke : 
 
 " You are right. I had no business to so speak. I 
 honor you for your filial loyalty and Come into the
 
 IN THE OLD HOME. 26l 
 
 house. I have something I wish to discuss with you. 
 So you want to thank me for taking care of Balaam, do 
 you? You may feel differently after you have heard 
 what I have to say. Oh, you did give me a twinge, I 
 tell you ! " 
 
 " Would it relieve the pain if I bathed the foot for 
 you ? Or is there anybody else to do it ? " 
 
 " Would you do that for me ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " Ring that bell." 
 
 Amy obeyed. It was the familiar one which sum- 
 moned, or had summoned, Cleena from her kitchen. 
 
 A man answered the call. 
 
 " Marshall, have a foot-bath brought in here. This 
 young lady is going to dress my foot for me. For 
 once there'll be no blundering heavy-handed servant to 
 hurt me." 
 
 Over and over and over Amy washed and soothed 
 the red, misshapen foot. The repugnance she had felt 
 to touching it had all vanished when she saw how acute 
 must have been the old man's suffering and his now 
 evident relief. 
 
 " I thought you made a big fuss. Now I don't see 
 how you walk about at all." 
 
 " I walk on my will," answered he, grimly. "You're 
 a good girl ; yes, you are. You're a real Kaye. Our 
 women were all good nurses and tender-handed. It's 
 a pity such a pity ! "
 
 262 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Amy thought the prodigious sigh that moved his 
 mighty breast was for his own distress, and echoed his 
 regret sincerely. " Yes ; it is a pity. It seems to me it 
 should be cured. I wish it could." 
 
 " So do I. Say, little woman, suppose you and I try 
 to cure it. " 
 
 Amy looked up. She had been speaking simply of 
 his disease. She now saw that he had not been think- 
 ing of that at all. For the moment, while she so gently 
 manipulated the swollen ankle and bound it with the 
 lotions Marshall handed her, he had been quite comfort- 
 able, and the keen twinkle in his eye set her thinking. 
 Was it the family feud he wished might be healed ? 
 He, who was the very foundation and cause of it ? 
 
 She caught his hand in both hers, eagerly. 
 
 " Do you mean that we might live at peace ; in 
 love, as kinsfolk should? Now this peace day 
 when the Christ child comes ? Is it that ? " 
 
 But Marshall made a little motion which might be 
 warning or contempt. The old man's face hardened 
 again. 
 
 " What are you asking ? Look, you've wet my 
 cuffs! Your hands just out of hot water and all 
 liniment ! " 
 
 " Never mind your cuffs. Look out for your heart. 
 You're a poor, lonely old fellow, and I'm sorry for 
 you." 
 
 Before he knew what she was about, Amy had
 
 JIPULATED THE SWOLLEN ANKLE AND BOUND IT 
 WITH THE LOTION."
 
 IN THE OLD HOME. 263 
 
 thrown her arms about her cousin's neck and imprinted 
 a kiss somewhere. It didn't much matter that it 
 landed squarely on the tip of his pudgy nose. Archi- 
 bald Wingate was so little in the habit of receiving 
 kisses that he might easily have imagined this was 
 quite the customary place for their bestowal.
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 A PECULIAR INVITATION. 
 
 IT would be difficult to tell which was the most 
 startled. Amy stepped back from the unrespon- 
 sive object of her affectionate impulse and blushed 
 furiously. She feared that he would think her bold 
 and silly, yet she had only meant to be kind, to com- 
 fort him because she pitied him. Now, she was pain- 
 fully conscious that Marshall was standing near, coolly 
 observant, with a cynical smile upon his thin lips. It 
 was a curious fact, which Amy instantly recognized, 
 that this master of whom so many people stood in awe 
 should himself stand in awe of his own valet. 
 
 " Ahem shall I remove the bath, sir ? Has the 
 young person finished?" 
 
 Amy had not been accustomed to hearing herself 
 spoken of as a "person," and the word angered her. 
 This restored her self-possession. She looked up, 
 laughing. 
 
 " I don't know how I came to do that, cousin Archi- 
 bald. I hope you'll forgive me." 
 
 " Oh, I'll forgive you. I don't know how you did it, 
 either. Well, man, why are you standing there, grin- 
 264
 
 A PECULIAR INVITATION. 265 
 
 ning like a Cheshire cat. I tell you she has finished. 
 You can take away the things." 
 
 " Very well ; it is time for your nap, sir." 
 
 The worm turned. "What if I don't take one to-day? 
 What will happen ? " 
 
 " I don't know, sir, except that you will probably be 
 ill. The doctor's orders are, when you have an 
 attack " 
 
 " Hang you and the doctor and the attacks, all to- 
 gether ! You can leave the room, can't you ? When I 
 want you, I'll ring." 
 
 Because he was too astonished to do otherwise, Mar- 
 shall obeyed. He was a privileged person. His master 
 did not often cross his will. There being no other 
 apparent heirs, Marshall had, in his own imagination, 
 constituted himself Mr. Wingate's heir. Why not ? A 
 lifelong service, an untiring devotion to whims of all 
 sorts, a continual attention to the "creature comforts" 
 which were so greatly a part of Archibald's life these 
 merited a rich reward. Marshall intended to receive 
 this reward, should he be lucky enough to outlive his 
 employer. He felt that he would fill the position of 
 owner of Fairacres with dignity and profit. He did 
 not like this new interest Mr. Wingate was taking, by fits 
 and starts, in the deposed family who were his relatives 
 and enemies. In Marshall's opinion the breech be- 
 tween these kinsfolk ought not to be healed. Amy's 
 presence in the house was a disastrous portent. She
 
 266 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 must be gotten out of it as soon as possible, and in such 
 a way that she would not care to come again. But how ? 
 
 The servant revolved this question, as he carried 
 away the bath, and so profoundly that he failed to 
 notice where he was going and stepped down a forgot- 
 ten stair so unexpectedly that he fell and drenched him- 
 self with the water from the tub. 
 
 " Plague on her ! Now, I'm in for it ! " Which 
 meant that before he could remove the damage to his 
 attire Amy would probably have gained whatever she 
 came to seek. He did not believe that anybody would 
 visit his master without having " an axe to grind," for 
 he judged all men by himself. 
 
 However, having tasted the sweets of rebellion 
 against this iron rule of Marshall, Mr. Wingate deter- 
 mined to enjoy it further. 
 
 " He's a meddling old fool. He's a good servant, 
 too. There isn't another man in the world would put 
 up with my tempers as he does. Never a word in 
 return, and as smooth as silk." 
 
 Amy laughed. " He looks to me as if he had had his 
 hair licked by kittens. It's so slick and flat Do you 
 have to mind him always ? " 
 
 " Mind him ? / mind my servant, eh ? " 
 
 " Oh, I beg your pardon. Of course " 
 
 Mr. Wingate's face was scarlet. The weakness 
 which he had hardly acknowledged to himself had been 
 instantly discovered by this bright-eyed girl. It wasn't
 
 A PECULIAR INVITATION. 267 
 
 a pleasant thing to have so observant a person about. 
 He had something to say to her, however, and he would 
 do it at once and get rid of her. All his newly aroused 
 affection died in his resentment against her judgment. 
 
 " I want to go to the studio. There is something 
 there I don't mean to keep, and don't wish to destroy, 
 without consulting some of you." 
 
 Amy followed him quietly out of the house toward 
 the building where her father had spent so many hours, 
 and which she held in strictest veneration. Did it 
 not still enclose the " great picture " which even she had 
 never seen, and which had been kept screened from the 
 sight of all ? 
 
 So she still expected to find the white curtain undis- 
 turbed; and as she entered the studio, paused amazed. 
 The canvas covered the end of the apartment ; but 
 after one hasty glance Amy shielded her eyes in a dis- 
 tress that was almost terror. 
 
 " Hmm. It is very realistic, isn't it ? The thing is 
 horrible. I don't wonder that Cuthbert's wits got scat- 
 tered, working on it. It would drive me crazy in a 
 week, and I'm a hard, matter-of-fact man. I kept it, 
 because by right I might have kept everything that was 
 here. I supposed I was getting something worth while. 
 But this ! I don't want it. I couldn't sell it. I hate to 
 destroy it. What's to be done ? " 
 
 " Oh, I wish I hadn't seen it ! " 
 
 " So do I. I see it sometimes in the night and then
 
 268 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 I can't sleep. I mean I imagine I see it, for I never 
 come here after dark. It's a wonderful picture, sure 
 enough. A horrible one." 
 
 The canvas fascinated Amy. It depicted a great fire. 
 It was ugly in extreme. The big, bare building was in 
 flames, everywhere. The windows seemed numberless, 
 and at almost every window a face ; on these faces all 
 the gamut of fright, appeal, and unutterable despair. 
 They were human living. The girl felt impelled 
 to run and snatch them from their doom ; also the 
 impulse to hide her eyes, that she might not see. 
 
 Mr. Wingate had taken a chair before the painting, 
 and was looking at it critically. 
 
 " I tell you that's a marvellous thing, and it's as 
 dreadful as masterly. There's only one way I can 
 see by which a man could get any money out of it: 
 that's by cutting out the separate faces and selling 
 them singly. A body might endure to see one such 
 countenance in his collection, but not more ; or, it might 
 be destroyed altogether. It explains why Cuthbert 
 never recovered from the shock of the accident he was 
 in. He never lost sight of it. He must have begun 
 this while it was fresh in his brain, and he did his 
 utmost to keep it fresh. Poor Salome, she had a hard 
 life." 
 
 " She had a happy life. She loved my father. He 
 loved her. Whatever he did was right, just right in 
 her eyes. You needn't pity her. But, oh, if she were
 
 A PECULIAR INVITATION. 269 
 
 only here to consult! Why did you show it to me? 
 Why did I have to see it ? " 
 
 "Because it couldn't be helped. The thing is; it 
 exists. Now what is to be done with it ? " 
 
 " I will ask my father." 
 
 " I don't know that that is wise. It might bring 
 about a return of his malady, and I'm told he is improv- 
 ing in all respects." 
 
 " I must do it ; it is his. There is no other way." 
 
 " What if it makes him worse again ? " 
 
 Poor Amy ! All her Christmas cheer had died from 
 her heart. She felt that it would be almost wicked to 
 remind her father of this, his " life work," of which she 
 had not heard him speak since he left Fairacres. Yet 
 it was his. He had given years to its completion, so 
 far as it had neared that point. 
 
 Mr. Wingate regarded her keenly. " Well ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know what to say. Have you nothing 
 to propose ?" 
 
 " Only what I did. To cut it up and sell the faces 
 as so many small canvases. That would partially 
 repay me for the things he still owes for the paints 
 and so on. But I detest the thing so I hate to spread 
 the misery of it." 
 
 " Repay you ? Do you mean that you believe you 
 have a right you own that picture ? " 
 
 " Certainly."
 
 2/0 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "Why, it is the labor of it means many years out 
 of my poor father's life. Can such a thing be ' owned ' 
 by anybody except him ? " 
 
 "Yes, of course. Hark you. You go home and 
 tell him what I offer. I will take the picture off his 
 hands and allow him hmm maybe two hundred 
 dollars; or, he can take it and owe me that much 
 more. In any case I want to get rid of it. I won't 
 have it left here much longer. I shall have other uses 
 for this room, maybe. Anyway, I mean to get that off 
 the place." 
 
 Amy moved slowly toward the door. She did not 
 know how to reply, and she felt her cousin was a very 
 hard, unjust man. Yet she agreed with him that the 
 picture was enough to make a person wish it out of 
 sight, even out of existence. 
 
 At the doorway he arrested her steps, by laying his 
 hand upon her shoulder. 
 
 "Help me down; I'm afraid of stairs. And there's 
 another thing that donkey." 
 
 " Oh, yes ; I had forgotten Balaam. May I ride 
 him home ? Will you have him brought around for me ? " 
 
 " Eh ? What ? Not so fast not quite so fast ! No, 
 I don't mean the stairs. I can manage this pace for 
 them. I mean the donkey. It came here of its own 
 accord. It gave me an idea. If your brother wants to 
 sell him By the way, how do you expect to pay the 
 rent ? "
 
 A PECULIAR INVITATION. 2^1 
 
 Amy stopped short, halfway down the stairs, and so 
 suddenly that Mr. Wingate remonstrated. 
 
 "If you'd give warning of these spasmodic actions 
 of yours, it would be more comfortable for those depend- 
 ing on you. There, please move along.' 
 
 " The rent ? I had not thought. Didn't my mother 
 attend to that ? " 
 
 " For the first quarter year, she did. To whom must 
 I look now ? " 
 
 Unmindful, since this new distressing question had 
 been raised, how much she inconvenienced him, Amy sat 
 plump down and leaned her head against the hand-rail. 
 
 It always appeared to aid her reflective powers if she 
 could rest her troubled head against something material. 
 
 " I'll try to think. I earn two dollars and a half a 
 week." 
 
 " Oh, my foot hurts again. Let's get into a decent 
 room and talk it over there. I hate draughty halls and 
 unwarmed rooms. There's a fire in the little side 
 parlor off the dining room. That's my own private 
 den. I want to get there and lie down. That rabbit 
 pie I had for lunch doesn't agree with me, I'm afraid. 
 Do you like rabbit pie ? " 
 
 " No, indeed ; I wouldn't eat one for anything." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " I should fancy the pretty creatures looking at me 
 with their soft eyes. They're the gentlest animals in 
 the world."
 
 2^2 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "The most destructive, you mean." 
 
 She did not contest. Besides, she was now in great 
 haste to leave Fairacres and regain the shelter of her 
 own home. Strange, she reflected, how quickly she 
 had ceased to think of this house, her birthplace, as 
 a home ; since all that went to make it such had gone 
 elsewhere. 
 
 " About that rent money. If Hallam is able to keep 
 at work we may together earn five dollars a week. 
 That would be twenty dollars a month. The rent is 
 ten. We will be able to pay it, I think." 
 
 "Do you imagine you will be able to live upon the 
 remainder ? Upon two and a half dollars a week, 
 four grown persons ? " 
 
 " If we have no more, we shall have to do so, shan't 
 we ? " 
 
 " Excuse me ; but what would you eat ? I saw no 
 sign of scrimping and pinching that day I first came 
 here to stay." 
 
 " Oh, then Cleena was determined you should say 
 no blame of her housekeeping. She gave you all in 
 one meal. We've often laughed over it since." 
 
 " Humph ! But this two and a half per week, 
 what would it buy ? " 
 
 " Meal and milk. Sometimes oat meal, sometimes 
 corn. Once and again an egg or something for father. 
 Oh, we'd manage." 
 
 "Hmm, hmm; you'd rather live on that than run
 
 A PECULIAR INVITATION 273 
 
 in debt ? You younger Kayes, who are all I seem to 
 take account of now Salome is gone." 
 
 " We will run in no debt we cannot pay, unless we 
 are ill and it is impossible to help. Hal and I settled 
 that long ago. So far we have managed, and now he 
 is working too, I feel as rich as rich." 
 
 " Exactly. Amy, if this old house were yours, what 
 would you do with it ? " 
 
 The answer was prompt and decided. 
 
 " Make it into a Home for Mill Girls." 
 
 "Whew! What in the world! Fairacres? The 
 proudest old mansion in the country, or in this part of 
 it ! Are you beside yourself ? " 
 
 " I should be with delight, if I could make that 
 dream a reality." 
 
 "I gave you credit for more sense. But, business 
 that donkey. How much did Mr. Metcalf intend to 
 pay for it ? " 
 
 " I suppose the same as he did for Pepita. Seventy- 
 five dollars burro, harness, and all." 
 
 " At ten dollars a month, that would take you along 
 well into next summer. Tell Hallam that I will keep 
 the animal and allow him eight months' rent for 
 it. That's giving you a half month, you see. Will 
 you ? " 
 
 "Yes, I'll tell him," answered she, with a catch in 
 her voice. " Only I had hoped to take him home with 
 me. It would have made such a delightful Christmas
 
 2^4 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 for us all. You don't know how much we love those 
 pretty creatures." 
 
 " Pretty ! Opinions differ." 
 
 "And would it be quite right to make any such 
 arrangements, after having asked the superintendent 
 to buy it, and he agreeing ? Wouldn't he be the one 
 to say something about it ? " 
 
 "Amy, you're incorrigible. You're a radical. A 
 thing is either absolutely right or it is absolutely wrong 
 according to your standard. You'll be in trouble 
 as long as you live, for you'll find nobody else with such 
 antiquated notions as yours. There are a great many 
 things that are expedient." 
 
 " I hate expedient things. I like just the easy, simple 
 ' no ' and ' yes ' that was my darling mother's rule. 
 I'm glad I'm at least a birthright Friend." 
 
 Mr. Wingate was silent. He seemed to drop into 
 a profound reverie, and the girl hesitated to disturb 
 him, eager as she now was to be away. Finally, as 
 she had made up her mind to speak, he did so himself. 
 
 " Amy, do you ever use the plain speech now ? " 
 
 " Sometimes between ourselves. For mother's 
 sake we can never let it die." 
 
 " Will thee use it to me now and then ? It was the 
 habit of my boyhood. Salome was my oldest friend. 
 We've played together in this very room, again and 
 again. She was my good angel. Until No matter. 
 You are her child. Not like her at all in face or
 
 A PECULIAR INVITATION. 275 
 
 manner. She was always gentle, and shrank from 
 giving pain. Truthful and puritanical as she was in 
 her ideas, she had the tact, the knowledge to say things 
 without hurting those whom she corrected. She cor- 
 rected me often and often, when we were young, but 
 she hurt me never. Now, you heigho ! " 
 
 "Now, I hurt thee. Of course. I speak first and 
 think afterward. But does thee know, cousin Archi- 
 bald, thee is the very queerest man I ever met ? " 
 
 " Have you has thee known many ? " 
 
 " Very few. Thee is so good on one side and so 
 so not nice on the other. Like a half-ripened pear. 
 But I am sorry for. thee. I wish I could do thee good. 
 Do I speak it as thee wishes ? " 
 
 " Indeed, yes. It is music, even though the words 
 are unflattering enough. Well, I'll not keep thee longer. 
 And I don't ask you to call attention to this whim of 
 mine by saying 'thee' in public," he remarked, himself 
 falling back into the habit of their intercourse. 
 
 "No; if I say 'thee,' it is to be always, whenever 
 I remember like a bond to remind me I must be 
 kind to thee for my mother's sake. If she did thee 
 good, I must try to do thee good too." 
 
 " In what way ? " 
 
 Amy reflected. The first, most obvious way, would 
 be by cheering his solitude. Yet she hesitated. The 
 thing which had come into her mind involved the 
 desires of others also. She had no right, until she
 
 276 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 consulted them, to commit herself. Yet she disliked to 
 leave this lonely old fellow, without trying to make him 
 glad. 
 
 She sat down again in the chair from which she had 
 risen and regarded him critically. 
 
 " Oh, cousin Archibald, if thee were only a little bit 
 different!" 
 
 " Thee, too ! " he laughed actually laughed ; and the 
 action seemed to clear his features like a sunburst. 
 
 " Oh, of course. Well, it's this way. To-morrow's 
 Christmas, isn't it? " 
 
 " So I've heard." 
 
 " And somebody Teamster John has sent Cleena 
 ' the furnishing of a good dinner,' she told me. I 
 don't know when we may have another such a meal, 
 one that thee would think fit to eat. I'd like to ask 
 thee to come and share it with us, instead of staying 
 here alone, all grumpy with the gout. But it isn't my 
 dinner, thee sees, and I'm going home to tell my people 
 everything. About the picture and the donkey and 
 all. If, after that, they agree with me that it would be 
 nice to ask thee to spend the holiday with us, I'll bring 
 thee word. If I do, will thee come ? " 
 
 Mr. Wingate leaned back in his easy-chair and 
 hugged his gouty foot for so long and so silently that 
 Amy grew impatient and rose. 
 
 " Anyway, I must go home. I've been here ever so 
 much later than I meant to stay. Good-by."
 
 A PECULIAR INVITATION. 2/7 
 
 "Wait! How impetuous you thee is. Well, I've 
 received a great many invitations to dine, from the 
 banquets of bank presidents down to the boiled dinners 
 of my own workmen, but I doubt if I ever received 
 one so honest and so honestly expressed." 
 
 " Will thee come, if thee is asked ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I'll come if I'm asked. Don't thee bother 
 to walk all the way back again, though. If by nine 
 o'clock to-night I have heard nothing to the contrary, 
 I shall understand that I am expected to dine with my 
 tenants at ' Spite House.' At what hour, please ? " 
 
 " On Christmas, dinner is usually at three o'clock. 
 And, if thee pleases, it is no longer 'Spite' but 'Charity 
 House.' My mother changed all that. Thee must not 
 dishonor her wishes if thee loves her." 
 
 A wonderful, an almost beautiful change passed over 
 the old man's face. 
 
 " Amy, thee speaks as if she were here still." 
 
 " She is to me. She always will be. Good-by." 
 
 She was gone, and the house seemed bigger and 
 emptier after she had left it. But Archibald Wingate 
 would not have had anybody know with what almost 
 childish anxiety he waited the striking of the clock, as 
 the hour of nine drew near. He had been judged a 
 hard and bitter man. He was very human, after all. 
 The small brown hand of his young cousin was point- 
 ing a new, strange way, wherein he might happily 
 walk, and in secret he blessed her for it. But he was
 
 2/8 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 a man who liked his own will and to follow his own 
 road still ; though he might do his utmost to bend that 
 road in the direction she had elected. Meanwhile, he 
 would have his supper sent in and sitting at ease before 
 his own hearth-blaze review many plans. 
 
 So he did, and after the supper a comfortable nap, 
 from which he roused with a start, fancying the old 
 clock in the hall was striking the hour. 
 
 " Eh ? What ? Is it nine already ? That timepiece 
 must be fast." 
 
 " It's only me, sir, Marshall, with a bucket of coals. 
 And, if you please, there's a young person outside 
 insists upon seeing you, sir. Am I to bid him go away 
 until morning ? " 
 
 In his disappointment the master's face really paled. 
 Marshall noticed it and wondered, but he knew enough, 
 sometimes, to hold his tongue. This seemed to him to 
 be one of the times, and he therefore made no comment, 
 nor even inquired for the master's health. 
 
 " No, don't send anybody away. I fancy that was 
 never the custom at Fairacres, on Christmas Eve, be 
 the visitor who he might. We'll not disturb the old 
 ways, more than we can help. After all Bid the mes- 
 senger come in."
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 TWO WANDERERS RETURN. 
 
 THE "young person" to whom Marshall referred 
 in such contemptuous terms was Lionel Percival 
 Jones. He so announced himself, as he was ushered 
 into the presence of the great man. 
 
 " I've come to bring a letter from Amy Kaye." 
 
 " Indeed ; would it not sound better if you said 
 ' Miss Kaye,' or ' Miss Amy ' ? She is a kinswoman of 
 mine." 
 
 Lionel Percival was astonished. He had prepared 
 himself for this visit with the utmost care. He had 
 oiled his curly auburn locks with a scented pomatum, 
 and parted them rakishly in the middle. He wore his 
 most aggressive necktie and his yellowest shoes, also 
 his Sunday suit of clothes. With the exception of the 
 necktie and the pomatum, he would not have attracted 
 attention to himself anywhere, and so would have been 
 well dressed. With these, he seemed to be all-pervad- 
 ing. He had instantly, by means of them, offended 
 Mr. Wingate's taste, and put himself at disadvantage. 
 
 "Why, I'd just as lief say ' Miss,' but she's a mill girl, 
 same as my own sister. I didn't go to mean no harm." 
 279
 
 28O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 The mill owner winced. Then inquired : 
 
 "Is there an answer expected? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Very well. Wait here." 
 
 The master of Fairacres limped into the adjoining 
 room and turned his back toward the .door between, 
 hiding his face from the lad's observation as he read. 
 
 " Humph ! She left it open, which is correct enough 
 with reliable messengers. Probably, though, he had 
 the curiosity to read what she had to say," in which 
 he wholly wronged the bearer. But Mr. Wingate had 
 yet to learn that even lads who attire themselves atro- 
 ciously may still be true gentlemen at heart, and sin in 
 taste through ignorance only. 
 
 This was the note : 
 
 " DEAR COUSIN ARCHIBALD WINGATE : My father 
 and Hallam will be very happy to have thee dine with 
 us to-morrow, Christmas Day. Cleena says that dinner 
 will be served at three o'clock. If thee knew her as 
 well as I do, thee would understand that she means not 
 a minute before nor one afterward. If thee pleases, I 
 would rather not have any ' business ' talk of any sort 
 to-morrow. I would like it to be a day of peace, as my 
 mother always kept it for us. Thee may meet some 
 other guests, but we will try to make thee happy. 
 "Good night, 
 
 " AMY."
 
 TWO WANDERERS RETURN. 28 1 
 
 It was a very cheerful and smiling old gentleman 
 who returned to the room where Lionel Percival waited 
 for the reply, a brief but stately acceptance of the 
 invitation ; for since Amy had set him the example, the 
 mill owner considered that she regarded such formality 
 essential. 
 
 Then he called in Marshall and bade him see that the 
 messenger had a bit of supper before his return walk, 
 which proceeding made the valet stare, and the boy 
 feel exceedingly proud. It would be something of 
 which 'to boast among his comrades at the mill. 
 
 The morning proved a cloudless one, mild and mer- 
 ciful to such as suffered from gout, and Mr. Wingate 
 drove himself to " Charity House " in his own little phae- 
 ton. He felt this was an occasion when Marshall's too 
 solicitous attentions might be in the way. He held 
 a debate with himself, before setting off, whether he 
 should or should not add to the feast from his own 
 larder, and he decided against so doing by the simple 
 test of " put yourself in his place." 
 
 But there was plenty and to spare. Teamster John 
 did nothing by halves. Those who have least of this 
 world's goods are always the most generous. Cleena 
 had prepared each dish with her best skill and waited 
 upon her guests with smiling satisfaction. Afterward, 
 in the kitchen, she and John discussed the strange 
 reunion of their " betters," and Cleena speculated upon 
 it in her own fashion :
 
 282 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Sure, there's never fish, flesh, nor fowl could with- 
 stand the loving ways of me little colleen. And to hear 
 them talkin' together, like lambs in the field. Them 
 
 " I never heerd lambs talkin'," observed John, face- 
 tiously. 
 
 " Then it's deaf ye've been belike. Oh, me fathers, 
 if here doesn't come me own Gineral Napoleon 
 Bony party ! Where have ye been avick, avick ? " she 
 demanded, pushing hastily back from the board and 
 hurrying out of doors. " Well, it's proof o' yer sense 
 ye comes back in due time for a bit o' the nicest turkey 
 ever was roast. But it's shamefaced ye be, small won- 
 der o' that ! Howsomever, it's a day o' good will. Come 
 by. Wash up, eat yer meat, an' give thanks. To-mor- 
 row /'// settle old scores. Come by." 
 
 Yet when Fayette entered the kitchen and learned 
 from John who were the guests in the dining room 
 beyond, he scowled and would have gone away again. 
 However, he had forgotten Cleena. That good woman, 
 having received her prodigal back, did not intend to 
 relinquish him. She saw his frown, his hasty move- 
 ment, and shutting the door put her back against it. 
 
 " You silly omahaun ! If your betters forgives an' 
 eats the bread o' peace, what's you to be settin' such a 
 face on the matter ? Come by. Be at peace. There's 
 the blessed little hunchback eatin' cranberry sauce cheek 
 by jowl with her ' boss,' an' can't you remember the 
 Child was born for such as you, me poor silly lad? 
 Come by."
 
 TWO WANDERERS RETURN. 283 
 
 Fayette " came by " at last, silently and because he 
 was half famished, and could not resist the savory odors 
 of the tempting food Cleena offered him. Yet in his 
 heart there was still anger and evil intent ; and though 
 he was amazed to find Mary Reese a guest at the 
 Kayes' table, as well as their "mortal enemy," Mr. 
 Wingate, he made no further comment, and as soon as 
 the meal was over retreated without a word to his 
 chamber and shut the door. 
 
 " It's like he might ha' just stepped out yesternight, 
 he drops into ways so quick," said Cleena. 
 
 " But he's not the same lad. He'll give somebody 
 trouble before long. You do wrong, woman, to harbor 
 him. He's vindictive and dangerous." 
 
 The trustful Cleena laughed the teamster to scorn. 
 
 " Faith, give a dog a bad name an' he'll earn it. Let 
 the lad be. In old Ireland we call such the ' touched 
 of God.' We judge not, an' that's the size of a man 
 how he betreats the helpless ones. Put that in your 
 pipe an' smoke it." 
 
 Surely, John thought, there was a deal of good sense 
 and heart kindness in this stalwart daughter of Erin. 
 He was Yankee himself, to the backbone ; yet, as he 
 pushed back from the table, satisfied and at ease, he 
 pulled from his pocket a small paper parcel. It was 
 his Christmas gift for his hostess, and intended to sug- 
 gest many things. She was bright enough to compre- 
 hend his meaning, if she chose. Would she ? She
 
 284 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 gave no sign, if she did, as she unrolled the package 
 and placed its contents a small flag of Ireland and its 
 mate, in size, of the United States behind the kitchen 
 clock, where the blended colors made a bit of gayety 
 upon the whitewashed wall. 
 
 " Long may they wave ! " cried the donor. 
 
 " Troth, I'm not seein' no wavin'. They're best as 
 they be, with the timepiece betwixt. Each in its place, 
 as the Lord wills, an' mine's here. So here I bides till 
 I'm no longer wanted." 
 
 " It's a biggish house," quoth the undismayed suitor. 
 " There's room in it for me, too, I cal'late." 
 
 But if Cleena heard this remark she ignored it, pass- 
 ing swiftly into the dining room to remove the dishes of 
 the first course, and substituting the luxury of a basket 
 of fruit which she had accumulated somehow, as only 
 herself could have explained. 
 
 Maybe there is no trivial thing that so greatly helps 
 to bridge over a trying situation as good breeding. The 
 breeding which is really good, out of the inner life: 
 kindness and the reluctance to inflict pain. It was such 
 breeding that enabled the oddly assorted company at 
 that Christmas dinner table to pass the hours of their 
 intercourse not only in peace, but with absolute enjoy- 
 ment. 
 
 Finally, when the elders pushed back their chairs, 
 Mr. Kaye proposed that Amy should sing some of the 
 old-time ballads familiar to the childhood of both him-
 
 TWO WANDERERS RETURN. 285 
 
 self and his kinsman. So Hallam took out his mother's 
 guitar and tuned it, and his sister placed herself beside 
 him. 
 
 "Ah, how well I remember that little instrument," 
 cried Mr. Wingate, " and the commotion it caused 
 among the Friends. Music used to be the most 
 ' worldly ' and undesirable thing, but they are more 
 tolerant now. Give us ' Lang Syne,' youngsters. It's 
 the song for the day and this hour." 
 
 It was. They sang it lustily, and Amy was amazed 
 to hear how finely that deep voice of their cousin could 
 fill in the pauses of her own treble, sweet but not 
 strong. Then there was " Annie Laurie," and " Edin- 
 boro' Toon," and " Buy my Caller Herrin'," and others; 
 till Cleena drew John to the door to listen and applaud, 
 forgetting for once the big pile of dishes standing 
 unwashed upon her kitchen table. 
 
 " For, aye, it's a time o' peace, thank God. An' her 
 that has gone is among us never a doubt I doubt. 
 What's a bit o' idlin' when a sight for saints is afore 
 ye ? If Fayetty, now 
 
 But Fayette was not there. Neither was he in his 
 own room when Cleena sought him there. He had 
 left it while she was off guard and had made his escape 
 unseen. Forces of good and evil were tormenting him : 
 the struggle to do right and please these good friends, 
 and the greater yearning to seek the wrong path to 
 revenge.
 
 286 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Yet, after all, what was this poor human waif to 
 these happier folk ? So he asked himself as he sneaked 
 away in the twilight which hid his departure. 
 
 Had Amy heard the question, she would have answered 
 it promptly : " Much, Fayette. Everybody one knows 
 is something to one's self." 
 
 But she did not even hear of his brief visit, for, 
 having discovered his fresh defection, Cleena decided 
 to keep the matter to herself. 
 
 It was getting quite late when Archibald Wingate 
 drove away from " Charity House " toward Fairacres, 
 and as he went he pondered of many things. Once or 
 twice he fancied he saw a lurking shadow in the road, 
 that was not due to either bush or tree which bordered 
 it. But he thought little of the matter, so engrossed 
 was he with the recollections of the evening. 
 
 " Queer, what a pleasant time I had. Yet we are 
 all, practically, enemies. Each side feels that the other 
 side has been at fault. Anyway, I seem to hear Salome 
 saying : ' Judge not my children by the mistakes of 
 their parents.' Nor will I ; of that I am resolved. 
 I'll give even that top-lofty lad, Hallam, a fair show, 
 by and by. I must test him a little longer first, then 
 I'll begin. That is, if he's" made of the right stuff. As 
 for Amy, she's a witch. She's wheedled the heart right 
 out of me with her bright, unflinching, honest eyes. 
 Talked to me about getting up a 'club' for the mill 
 folks. ' The right sort of club, with books and pictures
 
 TWO WANDERERS RETURN. 287 
 
 and everything helpful.' The saucebox ! and she earn- 
 ing the mighty wage of two-fifty per week. Well, all 
 in good course. I haven't toiled a lifetime to attain my 
 object, then relinquish it without a little enjoyment of 
 it ; though, after all, possession isn't everything. The 
 struggle was about as enjoyable as the result. But I 
 succeeded ! I am master of Fairacres, of Ardsley 
 Mills, of half all Ardsley township. The old family 
 is still on top. But, I'll buy Cuthbert's great picture 
 and burn it up sometime. Hmm. Wonder where 
 that visionary Frederic Kaye is, of whose unpractical 
 schemes I am reaping the benefit. Odd buried him- 
 self in California, so to speak, and the only visible 
 proofs that he had ever reached that happy land are 
 a couple of braying burros. Hello ! hello, I say ! 
 Who's that? What's up?" 
 
 The shadow which had dogged the track of the mill 
 owner's phaeton had suddenly become a reality. His 
 horse was seized, forced backward, the horsewhip 
 wrenched from its socket, and before he could defend 
 himself Mr. Wingate's head and shoulders felt the cuts 
 of the whip, delivered in swift and furious intensity. 
 
 "Hold on! hold on! What who stop, stop, 
 s-t-o-p ! You're killing me! What's wanted? It's 
 murder murder ! " 
 
 And again after another visitation of stripes, that 
 awful cry of "mur-der!" 
 
 The word holds its own horror. No one can thus
 
 288 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 hear it shouted, in the stillness of the night, unmoved. 
 It affected even the ferocious assailant of the lonely old 
 man, and arrested his further blows. 
 
 " Murder." That meant death, prison, everything 
 that was hateful. Even to Fayette's dull brain there 
 penetrated some realization of what his present deed 
 implied. For this was he who had waylaid an 
 " enemy " on the highroad and beaten him into un- 
 consciousness. 
 
 Then he remembered his own wrongs, and his anger 
 flamed afresh. 
 
 " Thought you could do all the lickin', did ye ? How 
 many times didjw* have me thrashed? What did you 
 care if the man who thrashed me 'bout killed me ? 
 What was I, only ' Bony,' out o' the poor farm ! Ugh, 
 you old rascal ! Take that, and that, and that. Huckle- 
 berries ! but it's fun to settle such scores." 
 
 The old horse which Mr. Wingate drove stood quiet 
 in the road, else the matter might have had a differ- 
 ent ending ; for had she run and dragged her now help- 
 less master, he would surely have been killed. As it 
 was, she did not move, so there was nothing 'to deaden 
 the sound of the sharp blows Fayette administered ; 
 and in the silence of the place and night this sound 
 carried far. 
 
 It reached the ears of a foot passenger, toiling up the 
 mill road toward Fairacres and quickened his pace. 
 So that when the half-wit finally paused for breath, he
 
 TWO WANDERERS RETURN. 289 
 
 felt himself caught by his collar and heard a stern voice 
 demanding : 
 
 "What's this? Hold! Stop! This here, in 
 Ardsleyf" 
 
 Fayette looked up. The man who had gripped him 
 was much taller than he, and seemed in that dim light 
 a giant for strength. The capture brought back all 
 those visions of punishment and the prison. In a twin- 
 kling the agile lad had writhed himself free from his 
 short coat and leaped away into the darkness. 
 
 The newcomer heard a sound of retreating footsteps 
 and mocking laughter, then turned his attention to the 
 injured man in the phaeton. 
 
 " An old fellow, too, he seems. Hello ! Are you 
 alive ? Hey ! Can't you speak ? That's serious." 
 
 The stranger's actions were alert and decided. He 
 gently raised the bent figure of the unconscious Mr. 
 Wingate to as comfortable a position as he could, 
 stepped into the vehicle, and took up the reins. 
 
 " If nothing is changed, the nearest house is old 
 Fairacres. But I didn't look for such a home-coming. 
 Get up there, nag ! " 
 
 Not since the days of her youth had the sorrel mare 
 been forced into such a pace as then. The rescuer 
 drove for life and death, and as if all turnings of the 
 old road were familiar to him. Nor did he slacken 
 rein until he reached the front door of the mansion, 
 and sung out in a voice to wake great echoes:
 
 2QO REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Hello, there ! Come out ! A man in distress ! " 
 
 This hello reached the stable, where Fayette was 
 loosing Balaam, and roused that intelligent beast to 
 speak his opinion concerning these disturbances of his 
 rest. 
 
 Marshall, hurrying to answer the imperative demand 
 at the front door, heard the burro's bray of protest, 
 though he paid it small attention then, because of the 
 nearer demand. Holding his candle high above his 
 head, he slid back the bolts and peered out, but the 
 sight which met his gaze set him trembling like an 
 aspen. 
 
 " Why my land ! Master, what what's hap- 
 pened ? Have they murdered you out of hand ? Ah, 
 but my mind misgave me how 'twould be. To think 
 it to think it!" 
 
 " Hush ! Put down the candle. Give a lift ; he's 
 powerful heavy. Is this your master?" 
 
 The servant retreated. This might be the very 
 person who had done the mill owner such terrible 
 injury. He would put his own precious anatomy out 
 of harm's reach. 
 
 " Oh, you fool ! Come back. You're safe. Leave 
 that door open. I'll bring him in myself. Make way 
 there quick ! " 
 
 Marshall tried to barricade the entrance to the 
 room beyond the hall by means of his own plump 
 body, and was promptly kicked aside, as the stranger
 
 TWO WANDERERS RETURN. 2QI 
 
 strode past him, bearing the unconscious man upon 
 
 his shoulder, very much as if he had been a bag of 
 
 meal. 
 
 "Is this your master?" 
 
 " Y-ye-s. Who are you ordering 
 
 " Hot water lights a doctor everything at 
 
 once. I'm Frederic Kaye."
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 FREDERIC KAYE'S WELCOME HOME. 
 
 THE excitement at Ardsley was intense. Never 
 had its quiet precincts been disturbed by a crime 
 so unprovoked and dastardly. 
 
 " To strike a man in the dark." 
 
 " To waylay an old fellow like that. The man is 
 a coward, whoever he be, that did it." 
 
 " Poor old ' boss.' He wasn't to say over lovable, 
 in ordinary, but I'd pity even a scoundrel got treated 
 that way." 
 
 " He ought to be punished with his own stripes." 
 
 "Oh, he'll get what he deserves. Never fear. If 
 old man Wingate had been poor well, you might 
 say. But a rich man has friends." 
 
 Such talk all through the mill, on that day after 
 Christmas, interfered seriously with the customary 
 labor. But it was small wonder ; and though he tried 
 to enforce discipline and keep things running smoothly, 
 even Mr. Metcalf himself was greatly disturbed and 
 anxious. 
 
 The news of the assault upon the mill owner had 
 292
 
 FREDERIC KAYE'S WELCOME HOME. 293 
 
 spread rapidly. At first the story told by the stranger, 
 who had so suddenly and opportunely appeared upon 
 the scene, was given credence. Then, when it was 
 remembered that this stranger, now known to be 
 Frederic Kaye, had been injured and supplanted by 
 Archibald Wingate, a faint suspicion began to rise in 
 men's minds. 
 
 Only those who have suffered from it know with 
 what terrible rapidity an unjust rumor grows and 
 spreads. Inoculated by this evil germ, even the fair- 
 est judgment becomes diseased. Those who had best 
 known Frederic Kaye, the old people who recalled 
 his frank, impetuous, happy-go-lucky boyhood, here 
 in the town where he was born and bred ; those who 
 had received good from his hand, and nothing but 
 good; even these joined with the baser sort in con- 
 sidering the night attack upon the mill owner "quite 
 natural. Just what might have been expected." 
 
 " Of course no one knows what sort of life Kaye's 
 led out there in Calif orny. The jumping-off place 
 of creation." 
 
 So, instead of finding himself among friends, the 
 returned citizen discovered that he was among enemies, 
 under the basest of suspicions. He had remained all 
 night at Fairacres, with the doctor so hastily sum- 
 moned there. This gentleman was an old acquaintance, 
 and from him Mr. Frederic, as he had always been 
 called in distinction from Mr. Kaye, the artist and his
 
 294 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 brother-in-law, learned the history of the past weeks. 
 Yes, even of years. 
 
 "It's a pity, a great pity ! When I failed to pay 
 what I owed on the property here, and Salome, my 
 sister, saw that I would lose everything unless some- 
 body came to my aid, she did so. I hoped, I fully 
 expected, to be able to return what she advanced. All 
 the world knows now that I was not." 
 
 " She was not the first person who has been ruined 
 by injudicious indorsement." 
 
 The Californian winced. His home-coming was prov- 
 ing a terrible disappointment to him, and he little 
 dreamed how much worse than disappointment was yet 
 in store. 
 
 "Well, bad luck has pursued me. I have lost in 
 every speculation I ever undertook. The last I tried 
 was the evaporation of fruits. There's money in it, if I 
 had the capital " 
 
 " Then you did not know how badly things were going 
 with your sister ? " 
 
 " I never dreamed it. You knew her well Salome 
 was never a whiner. If she had even intimated the 
 straits which she was in, I would have thrown up every 
 chance and come back at once, to put my shoulder to 
 the wheel in some shape. I wouldn't have permitted 
 it." 
 
 " How happen you here just now ? " 
 
 " My niece, Amy, wrote me of her mother's death. It
 
 FREDERIC KAYE'S WELCOME HOME. 295 
 
 was a brief, heart-broken little letter. I have it here. 
 It brought me home, but I still fancied that home was 
 this house." The gentleman took from his pocket a 
 small envelope and read its enclosure aloud. It was, as 
 he had stated, extremely short and gave only the facts. 
 
 " MY DEAR UNCLE FREDERIC : Our mother is dead. 
 She is buried at Quaker cemetery. My father and 
 Hallam are well. So is Cleena. I don't know how to 
 write to you because you are really a stranger to me. 
 The burros are both well. Your loving 
 
 " AMY KAYE." 
 
 "There, that's all. It was enough to bring me 
 clear across the continent, however. My heart aches ; 
 I should have come sooner. Oh, for one sight of 
 Salome's beautiful face before " He dropped his 
 head on his hand and a sob shook the strong frame. 
 
 The doctor rose and busied himself about his patient. 
 He respected the brother's grief, and he liked this man, 
 unthrifty and neglectful as he might have been. 
 
 Then Marshall made a sign, and the physician left 
 the room so quietly that Mr. Kaye did not hear him go. 
 Outside, in the hall, the valet was waiting, almost breath- 
 less with eagerness. 
 
 " Will he live ? " he questioned in a whisper. 
 
 " Time will tell. I hope so," was the unsatisfactory 
 response.
 
 296 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Well, if he don't, that's his murderer." 
 
 The other sprang back as if he had been struck. 
 
 " Man, take care what you say ! How dare you ?" 
 
 " Ain't it reasonable? Didn't he say he was the man 
 that owned the mill, this house, everything before mas- 
 ter did ? Who else had a grudge against the poor old 
 man ? " 
 
 " Lots of people, I reckon. It won't hurt him to tell 
 the truth. He was as testy as a snapping turtle you 
 know that. Plenty of folks disliked him. Most likely 
 the person who attacked him was a tramp who hoped 
 to find money. By the way, did anybody look to see if 
 there had been robbery as well as assault ? " 
 
 " I did. No ; there wasn't anything stole, so far as 
 I know. That's what, one thing why it must have 
 been " 
 
 Dr. Wise laid his hand on Marshall's shoulder. 
 
 " Look here, man, you stop that talk. Not another 
 word of it. How dare you, I say how dare you, thrust 
 suspicion upon an innocent man ? I'd stake my life on 
 the integrity of any Kaye was ever born. Unfortunate 
 this returned wanderer may be, but If you let me 
 hear one single word more of such fol-de-rol, I'll 
 make it hot for you. Understand? Haven't we got 
 enough on our hands to keep your master alive ? There 
 must be quiet here, absolute quiet. It's your busi- 
 ness to have it maintained; and if you don't, I'll have 
 you punished as accessory to the deed. Hear me ? "
 
 FREDERIC KAYE'S WELCOME HOME. 297 
 
 All this had been delivered in the lowest tone pos- 
 sible, yet each syllable was as distinctly enunciated as 
 if it had been shouted. The doctor knew Marshall. 
 He chose that idle threat of " accessory " as the safest 
 means to accomplish his own object. 
 
 This was all very well, so far as it went. Unfortu- 
 nately, the doctor was not the only person to whom the 
 valet had already announced his suspicion. There were 
 other servants in the kitchen, and they had been swiftly 
 poisoned by his opinion. So that when, after a sleep- 
 less night of watching beside his kinsman's bed, Fred- 
 eric Kaye set off for " Charity House " and his relatives, 
 he was even then a marked man. 
 
 Into the sacredness of reunion, when the little family 
 on the knoll were discussing all that had befallen them, 
 on either side, and the two men were renewing old affec- 
 tions, while Hallam and Amy were forming new ones 
 for this new uncle, there came an alarming summons. 
 
 A local officer of the law presented himself before the 
 group and on behalf of the public safety arrested the 
 stranger. 
 
 "Arrest me? Why, what in the name of justice do 
 you mean ? " 
 
 "Just what I say. For the attack upon a peaceful 
 citizen, who lies at the point of death, brought there 
 by your villainous hand," repeated the sheriff, solemnly. 
 He so seldom had opportunity to exercise his office that 
 he now embellished it with all the dignity possible.
 
 298 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "Indeed, take care of your words, friend! It was 
 a case of rescue, not attack. You are slightly mixed in 
 your ideas, sir. I found him suffering a terrible horse- 
 whipping at the hands of somebody whom I do not 
 know, who slipped away from me when I seized him, 
 and disappeared in the darkness. I was too anxious 
 over Mr. Wingate to notice, or even care, which direc- 
 tion the rascal took. But aha, it's too absurd ! " 
 
 "Remember that whatever you say will be used 
 against you," cautioned the officer of the law. 
 
 " Let it. I could ask no better treatment." 
 
 " You say you grabbed a fellow. What was he like ? " 
 
 "It was too dark to see distinctly. He appeared 
 rather tall and slim. I don't remember that he said 
 a word, but he laughed harshly as he ran. Somehow, 
 that laugh gave me the impression that the man was 
 demented. But I have nothing else to judge by, and I 
 would not be unjust. The thing for which to be thank- 
 ful is that Dr. Wise hopes my kinsman's injuries are 
 not fatal." 
 
 " Hmm. All the same, sir, you will have to go with 
 me." 
 
 Frederic Kaye turned toward his friends a counte- 
 nance which expressed as much amusement as annoy- 
 ance. Cuthbert Kaye had risen, and his face was white 
 with indignation. The sight of this, determined his 
 brother-in-law to yield quietly to the inevitable. He 
 had heard much during his night with Dr. Wise of the
 
 FREDERIC KAYE'S WELCOME HOME. 299 
 
 artist's recent condition, and he felt it would be crimi- 
 nal to let him become excited now. So he laid his 
 hand affectionately upon the trembling shoulder, and 
 remarked, with laughing disdain : 
 
 "Why, lad, don't think of it. It's a ludicrous mis- 
 take, of course, and the best, the simplest way to cor- 
 rect it is for me to go with this gentleman ; and I doubt 
 not I'll be back in time for dinner. Why, Cleena, 
 woman, take care ! It's delightful to find you so loyal 
 to your ' black sheep,' but fisticuffs won't answer, nor 
 even a shillalah." 
 
 This was a diversion, and everybody laughed. For 
 Cleena had advanced threateningly toward the sheriff, 
 raising her rolling-pin, that she happened to have in 
 hand, as if she would bring it down upon his offending 
 head. Her hand dropped to her side, but her eyes did 
 not cease to hurl contempt upon the officer, as, under 
 cover of the merriment resulting, Frederic Kaye him- 
 self led the way out of the house toward the " bar of 
 justice." 
 
 Because Cleena fancied that Amy had taken cold, 
 the girl had remained at home that morning, but she 
 now begged to be allowed to return to the mill. 
 
 " I want to go and see Mr. Metcalf. He'll be the 
 very one to help Uncle Frederic, if he needs help, and 
 I'd rather tell him the story myself." 
 
 " If you go, I will too," said Hallam, quickly. " I'll 
 have no holidays you do not share."
 
 30O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Nonsense ! Your work is ' piece work.' If you get 
 behind at one time, you can make it up at another. 
 The superintendent told me you could soon bring it 
 home to do, if you wished." 
 
 " But I shall not wish not for the present. Let us 
 both go." 
 
 Mr. Kaye looked up as if he would remonstrate. 
 Then he took up a western newspaper that their guest 
 had laid down, and began to read. But his children 
 had seen his glance, and interpreted it to themselves by 
 a swift exchange of their own. Amy's eyes spoke to 
 her brother's, as plainly as words : 
 
 "We mustn't leave him alone to-day," and Hallam's 
 had telegraphed back : 
 
 " No, I see that. One of us must stay." 
 
 " Well, father, Hal is not half so necessary to the 
 success of Ardsley Mill as I am. He's going to help 
 you mount those sketches this morning, while I hunt 
 up Uncle Frederic, and try to get a ' day off ' to visit 
 with him. Cleena must dish up the remains of the 
 yesterday dinner for us, and we'll keep Christmas over 
 again. Isn't it just lovely, lovely, to have one's rela- 
 tives turn up in this delightful fashion ? First, Cousin 
 Archibald, behaving just like other folks ; and now this 
 romantic arrival of the long-lost uncle. Good-by. I'll 
 be back as soon as I can." 
 
 Mr. Kaye and Hallam repaired to the upper floor 
 as Amy went away, but Cleena remained standing for a
 
 FREDERIC KAYE'S WELCOME HOME. 301 
 
 long time, motionless in the middle of the room. Her 
 head was bent, and her gaze fixed, as if she were study- 
 ing some matter deeply. Finally she roused with a 
 mighty sigh and stalked out of the room. 
 
 " Sure, the pother o' life. It's an' up an' down, so 
 fast it makes a body dizzy in their wits. That boy, 
 Fayetty, one day as good as a fine fish o' Friday ; 
 the next eatin' me heart out with the worry. Never 
 a doubt I doubt 'twas himself belabored the old man on 
 his road home. There's bad blood 'twixt 'em. But I'll 
 aye see if he's in his bed the now." 
 
 So she ascended to the back chamber that Fayette 
 used. To her knock there came, at first, no response ; 
 but she kept on with her tapping and interspersed this 
 with coaxing tones, and finally a voice answered her. 
 
 " What you want ? " 
 
 " Yerself, avick." 
 
 "Well, you can't have me." 
 
 " Can I no ? It's two makes a bargain." 
 
 " Clear out." 
 
 " After you is manners for me. Come by." 
 
 " Leave me alone." 
 
 " I'd take shame to myself. Have ye heard the fine 
 doin's ? No ? " 
 
 "What doings?" 
 
 "The lad's back from foreign parts, Miss Amy's 
 uncle. He's the one has donkeys in his pocket. Heard 
 ye ever o' him ? "
 
 3O2 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Where's he at ? " 
 
 " Faith, I d' know. Belike he's after takin' a stroll 
 about, meetin' old friends. What for no ? Come on 
 an' help me get a fine dinner out o' scraps." 
 
 " Suppose he'd give me one ? " 
 
 " Never a doubt I doubt, he II give ye all ye deserve. 
 Come by. There's kindlin' to split an' praties to peel, 
 an ' _. Whist ! What's that I hear ? " 
 
 Fayette's curiosity was very strong. It had led him 
 into trouble more than once. It now induced him to 
 open the door and peep through. 
 
 " What's that, Cleena ? Anything happenin' ? " 
 
 " Arrah musha, but I think yes ! " 
 
 " What ? " 
 
 " Sure, if ye're askin', I'm believin' it's Willyum 
 Gladstone happenin' down in your minin' hole." 
 
 " Huckleberries ! " 
 
 The door flew open, Fayette rushed by as if he could 
 not move half fast enough. It seemed to Cleena he 
 cleared the stairs with two bounds, and an instant after 
 she heard him hurrying into the cellar at the same 
 headlong pace. 
 
 " Hmm. I thought that'd fetch him," she chuckled. 
 Then she suddenly remembered that she had once 
 heard the lad speak of using " giant powder," or some 
 such explosive in his work of the underground passage. 
 She had strictly forbidden this, and had carefully 
 watched lest any suspicious material might be brought
 
 FREDERIC KAYE'S WELCOME HOME. 303 
 
 upon the premises. She had even persuaded Teamster 
 John to examine the trench and the articles which 
 Fayette had placed there. He had found nothing 
 wrong, and the pick and the shovel had been so long 
 disused that they had rusted. Of late Cleena had let 
 William Gladstone play down there in the soft dirt, 
 while she was busy at other things. 
 
 " Alanna, the day ! " 
 
 Cleena followed her leader only a trifle less swiftly, 
 and reached the top of the cellar stairs just in time to 
 receive a whirling object plump in her arms. The 
 object was the incipient statesman, and in a second 
 more the half-wit had also reached the kitchen floor 
 and had shut the door behind him. 
 
 " I'll teach him to interfere with my gold mine ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 FAIRACRES IS CLOSED. 
 
 , Mr. Metcalf, may I come in ? " 
 The superintendent was alone in his office and 
 admitted Amy at once. "Such strange things have 
 happened, I've not come to work to-day, but to ask 
 your help. My Uncle Frederic " 
 
 " Sit down, child, you are breathless with haste. You 
 needn't talk. I have heard your news. Dr. Wise has 
 sent me a message. I am expecting him here imme- 
 diately." 
 
 " Isn't it dreadful ? " 
 
 " Very," answered the gentleman, and his grave face 
 emphasized his words. He knew Archibald Wingate 
 better than anybody else could know him. He was the 
 rich man's confidential employee, from whom no weak- 
 nesses were hid. He believed the mill owner to be vin- 
 dictive, and he had heard his often-expressed contempt 
 for the "whole family of Kaye, so far as its men are 
 concerned." Of course, this had been some time ago ; 
 before Fairacres had become Mr. Wingate's home. 
 Since then his enmity toward his relatives had seemed 
 to slumber, it had even altered to a sort of friendli- 
 34
 
 FAIRACRES IS CLOSED. 305 
 
 ness; yet Mr. Metcalf had no faith in the endurance 
 of this friendliness should any test be put upon it. The 
 attack of the night before had pointed suspicion very 
 strongly toward one of "the Kayes," and should the 
 victim recover, he would, doubtless, prosecute to the 
 full extent of the law the person who had assaulted 
 him. 
 
 " Do you know how he is ? " 
 
 " Of whom do you ask ? " 
 
 " Cousin Archibald, of course. I am so sorry for 
 him. If I hadn't to work, I would go and take care of 
 him, if he'd let me." 
 
 " I don't think he would. Besides, you would not be 
 either strong or wise enough. He must have trained 
 nursing, the best obtainable. I hear that he has recov- 
 ered consciousness and is resting quietly. What com- 
 plications may arise one cannot foresee. He has been 
 a high liver, and he is an old man ; but I hope for the 
 best. I hope it not only for his sake, but everybody's 
 concerned." 
 
 "Wasn't it queer that that man, that officer, a sher- 
 iff he called himself, should come after my uncle ? 
 It frightened my father, so Hallam stayed with him. I'm 
 sorry to be away from my place to-day, but Cleena fan- 
 cies I have taken cold. Then, too, since Uncle Frederic 
 came, of course I should devote myself to him. He's 
 just splendid. So big and strong and jolly. Even 
 under his sorrow about my mother he is as sunshiny as
 
 306 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 possible. He's like a fresh west wind that ' airs ' a 
 house so wonderfully. I do want you to see him ; and I 
 came to ask if you'd just go and explain to that sheriff 
 how silly it is to suspect him." 
 
 Mr. Metcalf regarded Amy for a moment in silence. 
 With all her good sense, she was as ignorant as a child 
 of many things in practical life. He answered her very 
 gently : 
 
 " I expect to see him soon, that is my intention. 
 Dr. Wise and I will become his ' bail ', so that he can 
 soon be set at liberty." 
 
 " I do not understand you. What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Why, this : your uncle has been arrested upon 
 suspicion of waylaying and assaulting Mr. Wingate. 
 He will be imprisoned unless somebody becomes surety 
 for him, that he will appear at court when summoned 
 to stand his trial and prove his innocence if he can. It 
 is right you should know this, though extremely dis- 
 agreeable for me to speak of it." 
 
 Amy's face paled as he talked. She did not wonder 
 that her father had been frightened. The thing was 
 horrible, and the disgrace of it crushed her. She bowed 
 her head beneath its weight, and sat silent so long that 
 the superintendent was moved to rise and comfort her. 
 
 " Don't take it so to heart, my child ; there is, of 
 course, some great mistake. The thing is to find 
 out who the real assailant was and bring him to jus- 
 tice. This, unfortunately, will be a difficult matter."
 
 FAIRACRES IS CLOSED. 
 
 307 
 
 " No ; I won't mind it. Why should I ? If he had 
 done this wicked thing, I should be right to feel shame ; 
 but he didn't. Oh ! I've just thought of something 
 that might help. Uncle Frederic said he caught the 
 man by the collar, and the man slipped out of his 
 coat and ran away. Where is the coat ? Has anybody 
 looked for it ? " 
 
 " Several persons, my own messenger among others. 
 There is no trace of any garment anywhere near the 
 highroad. If we could find that, as you say, it would 
 simplify matters greatly. Come with me ; I heard Nan- 
 ette wishing she could show you her Christmas gifts. 
 To hear her describe each, one would imagine she could 
 see them. She is so interested about Balaam, too. 
 She wonders where he is, and if he misses Pepita as 
 much as she would miss one of her numerous sisters. 
 When Dr. Wise has been here and we have concluded 
 our business, I will call for you, probably, with your 
 uncle. I have a new horse I'm anxious to try, and 
 things are so unsettled here to-day " 
 
 "Unsettled?" 
 
 "Yes; Ardsley doesn't often have such a sensation 
 as its wealthiest citizen being horsewhipped. It's diffi- 
 cult to get the hands to work regularly. It's just as 
 well you do not try, till it's blown over. You would be 
 asked no end of questions, idle as the people who would 
 put them." 
 
 In his kind heart he wished to save her not only the
 
 308 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 questions, but the shadow which might rest upon her 
 because of her misjudged relative. By nightfall, or 
 earlier, he was determined to have the Californian set 
 at liberty. It was an outrage that one who acted the 
 good Samaritan should receive such reward, and he be- 
 lieved that two as influential townsmen as Dr. Wise 
 and himself could, by their indorsement of the pris- 
 oner, turn the tide of public opinion in his favor. 
 
 So Amy went again to the Metcalf home and forgot 
 all her cares in the midst of its bright young people. 
 The hours went swiftly round,"and it was not till the 
 gate clicked and a trio of gentlemen came striding up 
 the path that she remembered how anxious she had 
 been. 
 
 Then she sped out of the house and flung herself- 
 into her uncle's arms. 
 
 " Oh, I'm so glad they found out their mistake ! 
 How ashamed that sheriff will be ! Please, Mr. Met- 
 calf, may I show him his own little Pepita, that was ? 
 And thank you for helping him to explain, or for the 
 ' bail,' and everything. Thank you, too, Dr. Wise. Do 
 you know how Mr. Wingate is ? " 
 
 " Improving. He's pretty badly scared and shocked, 
 but I think he will come out all right." 
 
 "Can he tell who struck him? That would clear 
 everything up all right." 
 
 " Yes ; it would be a simple solution of the matter. 
 I am hoping he will be able to tell, after a while ; but
 
 FAIRACRES IS CLOSED. 309 
 
 for the present my object is to prevent, as far as possi- 
 ble, his recalling the incident. He must not be excited, 
 else there may be fever. But all in good time, I think. 
 Now Mr. Metcalf has invited us to ride behind his new 
 horse. I have an hour of leisure, and I propose to show 
 this old Ardsley boy the changes a few years have made, 
 even in our quiet town. Did I hear anything about a 
 small girl named Amy being one of the party ? " 
 
 " Indeed, you did. Oh, what a treat! A real Christ- 
 mas gift. To ride behind a brand new horse, beside a 
 brand new uncle, in a brand new carriage, is enough to 
 turn my head; so forgive me if I'm silly sillier than 
 common. And oh, Mr. Metcalf, can't Nanette go too ? 
 She's so little she takes up no room worth mentioning, 
 and I love her." 
 
 It was a merry party. Amy believed that all the 
 morning's trouble had been overcome, and did not real- 
 ize that being out on bail was in itself sort of an impris- 
 onment to a man of honor. Until the real culprit was 
 found Frederic Kaye would still be under suspicion ; yet 
 he could enjoy his parole, and this ride had been pur- 
 posely planned by his friends as a means of influencing 
 that variable public opinion which had first promptly 
 misjudged him. 
 
 Therefore, they drove through the principal streets of 
 the town, past all its business places, and lingered by 
 the haunts of the village gossips, that Ardsleyites might 
 see and comment.
 
 3IO REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "Well, if that don't beat all ! " exclaimed Mrs. Hack- 
 ett to her customers. "There's Dr. Wise and the 
 ' Supe ' driving Mister Fred all over creation. I guess 
 they don't believe anything against him, bad as things 
 look. I don't know as 'tis right, either. I guess I'll 
 wait and see before I make up my mind." 
 
 But having already spread the " news " by means of 
 every villager who had visited her place of business that 
 morning, this was rather late in season to stem the tide 
 of rumor ; though on the principle of " better late than 
 never," it may have done some good. 
 
 When the ride was over and the Kayes deposited at 
 the door of "Charity House," Amy was in the wildest of 
 spirits. It seemed to her as if the world were the love- 
 liest, friendliest place, and her gayety infected all 
 about her. The gentlemen accompanied Mr. Frederic 
 into the new home and spent an hour delightfully with 
 the artist, amid his pictures. Then Cleena, aided by 
 Amy, brought in a tray of luncheon, and they stayed to 
 share it. 
 
 " Blessings on Teamster John's turkey. What a lot of 
 comfort it has given lots of folks ! " remarked Amy to 
 Cleena, in the kitchen, as she surveyed the neatly 
 arranged tray. 
 
 " Yes, so be. Arrah musha, were the man as sensible 
 as his fowl I'd know. But, colleen, keep an eye to that 
 back door. Fayette's behind, in the store closet. It's 
 behind he must stay or there's mischief a-brewin'."
 
 FAIRACRES IS CLOSED. 311 
 
 " Indeed, I wonder he isn't putting himself forward, 
 to attract Uncle Frederic's notice, as he always does of 
 strangers. Well, poor lad, I fancy the introduction can 
 wait. When you've carried in the tray, I'll go and 
 serve them." 
 
 But after the light meal was over and the guests 
 departed, Hallam became absorbed in the new maga- 
 zines that his uncle produced from his valise ; while the 
 elder Kayes dropped back into the reminiscences that 
 were so interesting to themselves and so dull to Amy. 
 Try as she would, now that all was quiet, she could not keep 
 from her mind a picture of Archibald Wingate, riding 
 home from a pleasant visit and suffering such mischance. 
 
 " My first little dinner-party, too. I must go and see 
 him. I must tell him that I am sorry. I must offer to 
 help." 
 
 So, after a while, as the afternoon waned, Amy put on 
 her outdoor things, and telling only Cleena her errand, 
 set off for Fairacres. She was admitted by a strange 
 servant, and was passing straight toward the room 
 which her cousin occupied when she was met and 
 prevented by Marshall. 
 
 " If you please, miss, he's allowed to see nobody." 
 
 " Not even me ? Surely, I will not disturb him. I 
 won't even speak to him, if that will hurt him. I just 
 want to satisfy myself how badly he's injured, and 
 maybe smile at him. Just that little bit. Oh, Mr. 
 Marshall, isn't it so sad ! I'm so very, very sorry."
 
 312 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "Yes, and well you might be, miss. No, not even 
 to look at him. He's not to be worried by nobody." 
 
 So Amy went sorrowfully home again, and as she 
 had to resume her labor in the mill at such an early 
 hour the following day, she could not repeat her visit 
 until another night came round. Frederic Kaye had 
 gone to the mansion, however, and had been coldly 
 assured by the officious Marshall that "the master was 
 doing well." This bulletin had been issued through 
 the upper half of the old-fashioned door, which opened 
 across its middle, and to effect an entrance the caller 
 would have had to force the bolts of the lower half. 
 The valet regarded the Californian with suspicion that, 
 as the latter admitted, was not ill-founded ; and he had 
 not forgotten the feel of the stranger's boot-toe on the 
 night of the accident. So he kept a safe barricade of 
 the premises, and Frederic also went away unsatisfied. 
 
 For several days these visits were repeated, with simi- 
 lar results ; but when Sunday came round and she had 
 daylight for her purpose, Amy again hurried to Fair- 
 acres. 
 
 " I'll see him this time, if I have to climb over Mar- 
 shall's objecting shoulders," she merrily cried to Cleena, 
 as she departed. 
 
 But when she reached the old homestead she found it 
 desolate. The light snow which had fallen overnight lay 
 everywhere undisturbed. No paths had been cleared 
 nor entrances swept. The windows were closed and
 
 FAIRACRES IS CLOSED. 313 
 
 shuttered as Amy never had seen them. Even the 
 stables were shut up and deserted; and after a half 
 hour of vain efforts to arouse somebody, the disap- 
 pointed girl returned to "Charity House." 
 
 " Troth, ye went away like a feather, an' you come 
 home like a log. What's happened, me colleen ? " 
 
 " He's gone. I can't see him. I can't tell him. Oh, 
 I'm so sorry, so sorry ! " 
 
 To comfort her, Uncle Frederic paid a visit to Dr. 
 Wise, and came back with news that was not very satis- 
 factory. Without consulting the physician, Mr. Win- 
 gate had suddenly decided to go south for the winter. 
 Marshall had attended to everything. The horses and 
 cattle had been sent from Fairacres to one of the out- 
 lying farms belonging to the estate. There was no 
 reference to future return, and Mr. Metcalf had been 
 instructed to settle all accounts. Beyond this there was 
 no mention of anybody, and no address was left except 
 that of the mill owner's city bankers, who would for- 
 ward any necessary papers. Mr. Wingate had gone 
 away for absolute rest, and wished not to hear from 
 Ardsley unless under extreme necessity. 
 
 So Amy's dream of a reunited family, of that peace 
 and happiness which should exist between Fairacres and 
 " Charity House," came to an end. But other hopes and 
 plans took its place, and she returned to her mill work 
 on the Monday, too busy and eager to spend time in 
 useless regret.
 
 314 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " The best thing about life," observed this wise young 
 person to her Uncle Frederic, " is that it has to keep 
 right on. There's so much to do, and the days are so 
 short, if a body grieves one moment he's sure to laugh 
 the next. And, uncle, I've such a lovely idea about a 
 ' club ' for the mill folks. To take the place of one that 
 doesn't seem to help them much. I believe you're 
 the very man to arrange everything, and that you were 
 sent home just in time." 
 
 "Wh-e-w! A Daniel come to judgment? No, a 
 faithful daughter of a brave, unselfish woman. You'll 
 never be Salome, little girl, but maybe you will be an 
 improvement even on her. All her good sense with a 
 little more snap." 
 
 "Considerable more snap than wisdom, I fancy," 
 laughed she, and sped down the hill to join Gwendolyn 
 for her walk millward.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 MYSTERIES AND MASTERIES. 
 
 "OURE, Mister Frederic, I'd be proud to show ye the 
 O cellar that's doin' below. Would he mind comin' 
 the now ? " 
 
 " A ' cellar below ' is surely in its proper place. I'll 
 be delighted to view it, Mistress Goodsoul." 
 
 " Alanna, it was ever yourself had a jest an' a twist 
 of a body's words ! To my notion, it's a tidy job, but I 
 sometimes misgives it's no all right for the house." 
 
 " Then it surely should be looked after. Who's doing 
 it for you?" 
 
 "That silly one I was tellin' you about. He's 
 he's " The woman glanced over her shoulder, as if 
 she feared to be heard. This was a curious circum- 
 stance in the case of one so frank as she, and her old 
 friend commented on it. 
 
 "Why so mysterious, Cleena? Secrets afoot? But 
 it's after Christmas, not before it." 
 
 " Come by." 
 
 He followed her gayly down the stairs into the one 
 central cellar, and from this slightly farther into another, 
 being opened toward the side. She carried a lighted
 
 316 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 candle in her hand, and painted with pride to the neat- 
 ness of the work as far as it had proceeded. 
 
 " Nobody could ha' done it finer, eh ? " 
 
 " It seems all right. The walls will have to be sup- 
 ported, of course, though it looks a solid rock. Old 
 Ingraham obeyed the Scripture injunction in letter, if 
 not in spirit. What does Cuthbert think of this ? " 
 
 " The same as of most things nothin' at all. So 
 long as he's his bit pictures an' books to pore over, the 
 very house might tumble about his ears an' no heed. 
 There's been no nerve frettin' nor crossness since the 
 mistress was called not once. He's a saint the now. 
 But it's aye good ye're come home, Mister Fred." 
 
 " And it's good to hear you say so, old friend. Yet 
 if it suits you just as well, I'd prefer to have you say it 
 up in the open. I'm not a lover of dark cellars, or of 
 holes that may be cellars some day. Come out of it ; 
 it gives me the 'creeps.' " 
 
 " Ye believe it's all safe, eh ? " 
 
 " Safe enough so far." 
 
 " Come by. If you like not this place, you must e'en 
 bide the kitchen a bit. I've somewhat to speak to you." 
 
 Cleena started back over the way they had come, and 
 Mr. Kaye was following her, when he stumbled against 
 something soft, and fell headlong in the mud; but he 
 was up again in an instant, no worse for the accident 
 save by the soil upon his clothing. He had grasped 
 the thing over which he had tripped, and held it up to 
 the candle-light.
 
 MYSTERIES AND MASTERIES. 317 
 
 " Hello ! Seems to me I've seen this garment, or felt 
 it, before. That peculiarity of a cloth coat with a 
 leather collar is noticeable. Whose is it, Cleena?" 
 
 " Fetch it," she commanded tersely, and he obeyed 
 her. Once in the better lighted kitchen she extin- 
 guished the candle, carefully closed all the doors, and 
 seated herself near her visitor. She had taken the coat 
 from him, and laid it upon her own knees. Her man- 
 ner was still full of that mystery which consorted so 
 oddly with her honest, open face. 
 
 " I thought so. I thought so, so I did." 
 
 "Very likely." 
 
 "Cease yer haverin', lad. There's matter here." 
 
 " Considerable. Upon my clothes, too. The matter 
 seems to be of the same sort rather brown and sticky, 
 what the farmers call ' loom.' " 
 
 " Know you whose coat this be ? " 
 
 " Never a know I know," he mimicked, enjoying his 
 bit of nonsense with this old friend of his youth. 
 
 " It's Fayetty's." 
 
 " Your superior cellar digger ? Whew ! " 
 
 He had now become quite as serious as she desired. 
 " Cleena, this is a bad business. This coat was on the 
 back of the man who horsewhipped Mr. Wingate." 
 
 " I thought it ; but, mind you, me lad, he's not for 
 punishin'." 
 
 " Hold on, he certainly is. Don't you know that 
 I I, a Kaye, am under suspicion of this dastardly
 
 318 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 thing? Of course you do. Well, then, I'm going to 
 step out from under the suspicion with neatness and 
 despatch. How long have you been hiding this, 
 Cleena ? " 
 
 " The poor chap's been here ever since. Only once 
 a day he slips out, but he's back by night. Oh, he's 
 safe enough the now." 
 
 " Glad of it. Like to have him handy ; and as soon 
 as you've finished what you have to say, I'll walk into 
 the village and inform the sheriff, or somebody who 
 should know." 
 
 "You'll do naught like it." 
 
 " Why, Cleena, woman, have you lost your good 
 sense ? " 
 
 " Have I saved it, no ? Hear me. I know 'twas me 
 poor little Gineral Bonyparty 't did the deed. I knew, 
 soon as I heard the tale o' the coat. You're no so stu- 
 pid yerself. You recognized it immediate. It was a 
 part o' his uniform he wore a-paradin'. His notion 
 'twould save the collar clean o' the jacket I fixed him. 
 He's never no care in all his hard life till he met up 
 with me. The poor little gossoon ! " 
 
 " Cleena, Cleena, turncoat ! Wasn't I once, on a day 
 gone by, another ' poor little gossoon ' ? But come, 
 drop nonsense; it's a disgracefully serious business 
 for me and for your whole family." 
 
 " It's because o' the family I say it. The lad's for no 
 punishin'. Not yet. You're big an' strong, an' uncom-
 
 MYSTERIES AND MASTERIES. 319 
 
 mon light o' heart. It'll do ye no harm. The suspi- 
 cioned you must be till Wait lad. You loved the 
 mistress, Salome ? " 
 
 "Why, Cleena, you know it! " 
 
 " Love you her childer ? " 
 
 " Dearly ; for their sakes I must shake off this 
 obnoxious misjudgment." He shrugged his shoulders 
 as if the obloquy were a tangible load that could be 
 shifted. 
 
 " Hallam, the cripple, that's walked never a step 
 since a diny dony thing, an' a bad nurse set him prone 
 on the cold stones o' the nasty cellar house where 
 her kind lived. That winter in the town, an' me 
 mindin' the mistress with Miss Amy a babe. How 
 could we watch all the time ? He must have the air, 
 what for no ? An' her with a face as smooth as bees- 
 wax. Down on the cold, damp stones she'd put him, 
 whiles off with her young man she'd be trapesin', an' 
 him made a cripple for life." 
 
 "Yes, Cleena, I remember it all. And how, as 
 Amy tells me, almost a fortune has been spent to re- 
 store him. But if ever I earn enough to try again, I'll 
 never rest till every doctor in the world, who under- 
 stands such things, shall tell me there is no hope." 
 
 " Good lad. Aye, aye, good lad ! " 
 
 The gentleman looked at her in amazement. This 
 had been the old servant's term of commendation when 
 he had refrained from some of his youthful and natural
 
 32O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 mischievousness. She seemed to mean it just as ear- 
 nestly now. Suddenly she leaned forward and placed 
 her hands upon his knees. 
 
 " Say it again, avick. You'd do all in your power for 
 me darlin' Master Hallam, what for no ? " 
 
 "What idleness to ask! I would give anything in 
 this world to see him cured." 
 
 " The Kayes are aye proud, in troth. Yer honor, 
 lad ; even yer honor ? " 
 
 " Hmm, well yes. Even my honor." 
 
 " Hark to me." 
 
 For five minutes thereafter Cleena talked, and not 
 once did her listener interrupt. Her words were spoken 
 in that sibilant whisper that is louder than ordinary 
 speech, and not one of them was lost. When she had 
 finished, she rose and demanded, laying her hand upon 
 Mr. Kaye's shoulder : 
 
 " Now, Mister Fred, will ye leave me gineral be ? " 
 
 " Yes, Cleena. For the present, till a final test comes, 
 he shall be safe from any interference from me. I'll 
 take him under my personal protection. I'll make my- 
 self his friend. He shall have a fair chance. If he 
 fails " 
 
 " He'll no fail ! he'll no fail, laddie ! Such as him is 
 the Lord's own. Whist, alanna, here he comes." 
 
 Fayette approached the entrance, walking stealthily, 
 and casting furtive glances toward that part of the 
 building where the guest had hitherto remained. Ap-
 
 MYSTERIES AND MASTERIES. 321 
 
 parently satisfied that the coast was clear, he crept to 
 the door and tapped it twice. 
 
 Cleena nodded her head, and Frederic Kaye opened 
 to admit the boy, who would have retreated when he saw 
 the stranger, had not his arm been caught and held so 
 firmly he could not writhe himself free. 
 " Leave me alone. What you doin' ? " 
 " Why, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you 
 since Christmas night." 
 
 " 'Twasn't me. I never done it. Leave me be. 
 Huckleberries! I'll smash ye!" 
 
 "Why, Fayette, I'm astonished. Be quiet, listen. 
 I know you I know all about you. You have got to 
 behave. You must stay here and do exactly what 
 Cleena and I tell you to do. You'll be treated well. 
 I'll show you how you can make a lot of that money 
 you like so much ; upon condition, though upon the 
 one condition that you simply behave correctly. You 
 are wise enough to understand me. If you disobey or 
 prove tricky well, I have but to hand you over to 
 the law and you're settled. Do you understand ? " 
 " You mean, if I don't mind, they'll jail me ? " 
 " That's it, exactly. You're cleverer than I hoped." 
 " All right ; I'll do it. Say, I believe Balaam's sick." 
 " Balaam ? Have you got him, too ? Are you a 
 horse thief as well as highwayman ? Well, poor fel- 
 low, it's lucky your lot is cast in this peaceful valley 
 instead of on the frontier. Where is he ? "
 
 322 , REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " I rode him to a place I know. There was plenty o' 
 fodder once, but it's been took. He hain't had much 
 to eat, an' maybe that's it. I was bound old Wingate 
 shouldn't get him." 
 
 " Look here, young man, call nobody names. 
 That's not allowed. And now you travel after Balaam. 
 If he's too sick for you to manage alone, I'll go with 
 you ; if not, you must do it. How far away is he ? " 
 
 " Not more 'n a mile." 
 
 " Fetch him. I've something to tell you, for your 
 own benefit. I'll teach you how to grow mushrooms, 
 down in that cellar you're digging. Well-grown ones 
 will bring you a dollar a pound. I know, I've raised 
 them. I'd made a fortune only I love daylight and 
 hate darkness. If you can stand the underground part 
 just for fun, you'll make it pay." 
 
 " Huckleberries ! I'll get him. I'll hurry back." 
 
 As if he expected the new enterprise to begin that 
 very night the lad started down the hill. Already there 
 was a manlier bearing about his ill-shaped body. The 
 necessity for hiding which he had felt had been removed, 
 and he was a free lad again. 
 
 An hour later Frederic Kaye saw him reappear, riding 
 the apparently restored burro, and smiled grimly. 
 
 " Hmm. Well, I'm in for it. I'm to remain under 
 the cloud for an indefinite time. If it succeeds I'll 
 not regret. If it doesn't, maybe the Lord will square 
 it up to my account, against the thoughtless neglect I
 
 MYSTERIES AND MASTERIES. 323 
 
 showed Salome. Now, I'll go out and interview my 
 old acquaintance of the Sierras. I wonder is his voice 
 as mellifluous as erstwhile ! " 
 
 " Br-a-a-ay ! Ah-umph ! A-h-h-u-m-p-h ! ! " responded 
 Balaam, from afar.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 A PICNIC IN THE GLEN. 
 
 IT is amazing how fast time flies when one is busy. 
 At "Charity House" all were busy, and to all the 
 winter passed with incredible swiftness. 
 
 To Amy each day seemed too short to accomplish 
 half she desired, and each one held some new, fascinat- 
 ing interest in that study of life which so absorbed her. 
 
 " You're the funniest girl, Amy. Even the lengthen- 
 ing of the days, getting a little lighter in the mornings, 
 week by week, so we can see the sun rise and such 
 things, as we walk to work I'd never think of it, 
 'cept for you." 
 
 " Now you do think of it, isn't it interesting ? " 
 
 " Yes, I like it. Things seem to mean something, 
 now I know you. Before, well 'pears like I didn't 
 think at all; I just slid along and took no notice." 
 
 " But it's so wonderful. Everything is wonderful, 
 even the way the months have gone. Here it is spring, 
 the bloodroot lying in a white drift along the brookside, 
 and the yellow lilies opening their funny tooth-shaped 
 petals everywhere in the woods. Yet only a minute 
 ago, as it seems, the dead leaves were falling, and I was 
 324
 
 A PICNIC IN THE GLEN. 32$ 
 
 on my way for the first time to work in the mill. I 
 belong there now, a part of it. I have almost forgotten 
 how it used to be when I was so idle." 
 
 " Seems to me you could never have been idle, Amy. 
 Anyway, you've got on splendid. The ' Supe ' says he 
 never had a girl go ahead so fast. Isn't it grand, 
 though, to be out of the mill this lovely day ? Satur- 
 day-half means ever so much more fun now than it used 
 to do, and doesn't cost half so much money. Don't 
 worry you half so much either, as it did to go shopping 
 all the time. Say, Amy, I've about got Mis' Hackett 
 paid up." 
 
 "I'm delighted; it must be wretched to feel one's 
 self in debt, I think." 
 
 " It's mighty nice to feel one's self out of it. I've 
 got you to thank for that, too, 'long of lots of other 
 things. Isn't the club doing fine ? We wouldn't have 
 had that, either, but for you." 
 
 " Nonsense ! Indeed, you would. Hallam was as 
 interested as I in the subject; and as soon as we told 
 Uncle Fred, he was even more eager than we. But it 
 is to father we all owe the most, I think." 
 
 " So do I. To dream of a splendid gentleman like 
 him, and such a painter, taking so much time and 
 trouble just for a lot of mill folks, I think it's grand. 
 I don't understand how he can." 
 
 " Seeing that his own two children are ' mill folks,' 
 I can, readily," answered Amy, laughing. "But,
 
 326 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 indeed, I know he would go on with it now just as 
 thoroughly, even if we were not in the case at all." 
 
 This talk occurred one lovely afternoon when the 
 half-holiday made a club picnic a possible and most 
 delightful thing. The two girls, Gwendolyn and Amy, 
 were a little earlier than the others, and were on their 
 way to the appointed meeting place, " Treasure Island," 
 a small piece of wooded ground rising in the middle of 
 the Ardsley's widest span. From the island to the 
 banks, on either side, were foot-bridges, and in the 
 grove tables and benches had been built by the lads 
 of the organization. It was an ideal picnic ground, 
 and these were ideal picnickers ; for those who toil the 
 hardest on most days of the week enter most heartily 
 into the recreations they do secure. 
 
 The girls were passing down into the glen where 
 Amy had once lost her way and been rescued by 
 Fayette. It seemed so long ago that she could hardly 
 realize how few months had really elapsed. 
 
 She spoke of the matter to her companion, who 
 seemed to be in a reflective mood that afternoon, and 
 who again remarked upon the change in the mill boy, 
 also. 
 
 " Your uncle and Cleena Keegan have made him 
 different, too. He's as proud as Punch of his mush- 
 room raising, isn't he ? He owes that to Mister Fred ; 
 but, odd ! he's as scared of Cleena as if she owned 
 him. He didn't forgive that thing about Balaam, and
 
 A PICNIC IN THE GLEN. 327 
 
 seems to feel he has a right to him, same's Mr. Metcalf 
 has." 
 
 " Poor old Balaam, he's made a lot of trouble, first 
 and last ; but I guess he's all right now, only Cleena 
 won't let Fayette talk of him. She says it's ' punish- 
 ment,' the only sort she can inflict. I don't under- 
 stand why she wants him punished, anyway." 
 
 " Maybe for stealing him that Christmas night out 
 of Mr. Wingate's stable." 
 
 "Possibly; I don't know. She's like a mother puss 
 with her kitten. One minute she pets him to foolish- 
 ness, the next she gives him a mental slap that reduces 
 him to the humblest, most timid mood. Well, I'm glad 
 the burro business is settled, though it's odd how Fay- 
 ette covets that animal ; and the exercise of going up 
 and down to his work, the days he has to go, isn't hurt- 
 ing Hallam at all. I never knew him to be so well and 
 strong as he seems this spring." 
 
 " Amy, how was it about Balaam ? Ma says she 
 never heard the rights of it yet. And say, she likes 
 that book you lent her, about the woman went round 
 the world alone, visiting them hospitals, better 'n any 
 novel she ever read. She's going to give up the other 
 story papers soon as the subscription runs out an' take 
 one o' them library tickets you were telling about, or 
 your uncle, where they send the books to you by 
 mail and you can have your choose of hundreds. Say, 
 wouldn't it be prime if we could get a big library here ? "
 
 328 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Grand ! We will, some day, too." 
 
 " My ! You say such things as if you expected them 
 to be. How, I'd like to know?" 
 
 "Well, if in no other way, by just us mill folks band- 
 ing together and making a beginning. Indeed, I think 
 my father would give his own little library as a start. 
 There's a fine one at Fairacres, and I'm hoping when 
 Cousin Archibald comes back he'll get interested in our 
 work and help along." 
 
 " Might as well look for miracles." 
 
 " I do. I'm always finding them, too. There's one 
 at your very feet. Don't tread upon it, please." 
 
 Stooping, the girl pulled Gwendolyn's dress away 
 from a tiny green speck, growing in dangerous proximity 
 to the wood road. 
 
 " What's it ? " 
 
 "This baby fern." 
 
 " All that fuss about a fern ! " 
 
 " It's life, it's struggle. See, so dainty, so fine, yet 
 so plucky, forcing its soft frond up through the earth, 
 among all these bits of rocks; never stopping, never 
 fearing, just trusting the Creator and doing its duty. 
 It would be a pity to end it so soon." 
 
 "Amy, did I ever! Well, there it is again. I 
 shall never be able to crush anything like that without 
 remembering what you've said just now. I I wish 
 you wouldn't. It makes me feel sort of wicked. And 
 that's silly, just for a fern."
 
 A PICNIC IN THE GLEN. 329 
 
 " Gvven, anything that makes us more merciful can't 
 be silly. Heigho ! there are the picnickers all coming 
 along the banks and over the bridges. Truly, a goodly 
 company, yet we began with just you and Lionel, Mary 
 Reese, Hallam, and me. Now there are a hundred 
 members, old and young. There's one of the everyday 
 miracles for you ! " 
 
 The vigorous young association which went by the 
 name of the " Ardsley Club " flourished beyond even 
 Amy's most sanguine expectation. Three rooms of 
 " Charity House," the sunny western side of the higher 
 story, had been cheerfully offered by Mr. Kaye as a 
 home for the club. These rooms he had had fitted up 
 under his own supervision, though the work had been 
 done by the members themselves, in hours after mill 
 duties were over. The color mixer had supplied the 
 material with which the once ugly white walls were 
 tinted ; and upon the soft-hued groundwork there had 
 been stencilled a delicate conventional design. At one 
 end of the large room designated the " reading room " 
 a scroll bore the legend which old Adam Burns had 
 given Amy as a "rule of life" : "Simplicity, Sincerity, 
 Sympathy," and opposite gleamed in golden letters the 
 other maxim : " Love Conquers All." 
 
 " Love, Simplicity, Sincerity, and Sympathy, which 
 is the synonym of Love, and forms with it the golden 
 circle," was adopted as one of the by-laws, and it is true 
 that each member endeavored to keep this one law
 
 33O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 inviolably. The result was a spirit of peace and good- 
 will rarely found in a gathering of so many varying 
 natures. It had been Mr. Kaye's idea to make the 
 affair one of no expense to the members, outside of his 
 own household, but Frederic promptly vetoed that. 
 
 "In the first place, there are none of us rich enough 
 to do such a thing. There will be lights, firing, musi- 
 cal instruments, books, current literature, games any 
 number of things that cost money. Amy's idea is fine. 
 A club of the right sort will be a powerful factor for 
 good in this community of mill workers, but it must be 
 made self-supporting. If you give the use of the rooms 
 and will act as instructor along some lines, art and 
 literature, which you comprehend better than finan- 
 ciering, respected brother, you will have done your 
 generous share. Amy and Cleena will keep the rooms 
 in order, with occasional aid from the girl members 
 after we secure them. A small sum, contributed by 
 each member, will run the whole concern. People who 
 are as constantly employed as these mill operatives have 
 not the leisure nor means to acquire a book education, 
 but a more intelligent, wider-awake, more receptive 
 class is not to be found. Yet let nobody dare to 
 approach them with anything at all in the nature of 
 ' charity ' or mental almsgiving. Your democrat beats 
 your aristocrat in the matter of pride every time, and 
 that is a paradox for you to consider. I relinquish the 
 floor."
 
 A PICNIC IN THE GLEN. 331 
 
 " After having exhausted the subject," laughed Hal- 
 lam. But the subject had not been exhausted. Amy 
 proposed the matter the very next day, at " nooning," 
 and secured the members as mentioned by her to 
 Gwendolyn. In a week the membership had doubled; 
 and as soon as the affair was really comprehended, that 
 it was a mutual benefit organization in the highest sense 
 of the word, applications were plentiful. 
 
 Uncle Frederic had been a literal globe-trotter, and 
 his journeyings on foot made him able to discourse in 
 a familiar way of things no guide-book ever points out. 
 Nor did Cleena's good cookery come in for any poor 
 show among these healthy, happy folk. The club paid 
 for the simple refreshments provided at their weekly 
 "socials," and Cleena prepared them. Even this day, 
 for their out-of-door reunion, she had made all the need- 
 ful preparations, and had been so busy she had scarcely 
 remembered to keep a close watch upon Fayette. 
 
 " But troth, it's no more nor right he should take his 
 bit fun with the rest," she remarked to herself, as she 
 pulled the last tin of biscuits from the chimney oven 
 and spread them with sweet butter and daintily sliced 
 tongue. "He's aye restless betimes; and but it's 
 comin', it's comin', me blessed gossoon ! " 
 
 But to whom Cleena's exclamation referred it would 
 have been difficult to say, though possibly to Fayette, 
 as her next words seemed to indicate. For the good 
 creature still "conversed with Cleena " in every instance
 
 332 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 when she happened to be left alone, it being a necessity 
 of her friendly nature that she should talk to somebody. 
 
 " Me gineral's never got over the burro business yet, 
 alanna ! An' it do seem hard how 't one has so little 
 an' t' other so much. That Mr. ' Super ' Metcalf now, 
 as fine a man as treads shoe leather, never a doubt I 
 doubt, yet himself judgin' it fair, since the man Win- 
 gate wanted the beast, the man Wingate should have 
 him. Anyway, there he stands, brayin' his head off in 
 the ' Supe's ' stable, in trust for the old man'll never 
 bestride him. Nobody rides him at all, Miss Amy says; 
 yet here's me gineral heart-broke for him ; an' the 
 cripple goin' afoot ; an' all them little Metcalfs envyin' 
 an' covetin' ; an' all because a man who's word is law 
 said he'd take him for rent an' just kept him, whether 
 or no. But a good job it was when Mister Fred come 
 home, with money for rent an' a few trifles, but not 
 much besides. Well, where's the need ? Eight dollars 
 a week is Miss Amy's wage now, God bless her ! an' 
 Master Hal's nigh the same, let alone them bit 
 pictures the master's be's doin' constant. Mister Fred's 
 the knack o' sellin' 'em too. Well, if the mistress 
 could see and hark, me fathers ! What's that ? " 
 
 Down in the fragrant glen and on the little island the 
 hungry " Ardsleyites " waited long for the promised sup- 
 per ; and up on Bareacre knoll things were happening 
 that would provide another sensation for the little town, 
 quiet now since the Christmas horsewhipping episode.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 A DOUBLE INHERITANCE IN A SINGLE DAY. 
 
 ALMOST before she asked it, Cleena answered her 
 own question. 
 
 " The powder ! the powder ! It's Fayetty a-med- 
 dlin' ! Oh, is he killed, the witless gossoon ? " 
 
 Then she turned toward the stairway leading into 
 the cellar, and from whence she had heard the dull 
 roar, and now imagined she saw smoke as she certainly 
 did smell suggestive fumes. She needed not to descend, 
 however, for at the stair's head the lad rushed against 
 her, bruising her with something hard and heavy that 
 he carried, and thus dispelling her first fear of his per- 
 sonal injury. 
 
 " Fayetty Fayetty ! Hold by ! What's amiss ? 
 What's" 
 
 He deposited a box upon the kitchen table, plump in 
 the tray of biscuits, and catching Cleena about the waist 
 began to execute a grotesque dance with her for help- 
 less partner. After a moment she was able to extricate 
 herself from his frantic clutch and to demand sternly : 
 
 " Ye omahaun, are ye gone daft ? " 
 
 " It's money, Cleena Keegan ! It's money! The cel- 
 333
 
 334 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 lar's full of it ! Money, money, money ! Chests full, 
 cellars full oh ! oh! oh!" 
 
 Then did her eye fall upon the box and the spot 
 where it rested, and indignation seized her soul. With 
 one grasp of her strong hands she flung it to the floor, 
 where it fell heavily, cracked, and burst asunder. 
 
 Both were then too astonished to speak. Fayette's 
 wildest dreams had, evidently, come true. Cleena could 
 not believe her eyes. Never in all her life had she seen 
 so many precious coins. They were dimmed by age and 
 moisture, yet, unmistakably, they were of gold, with a 
 few that might be silver. All the fairy tales of her 
 beloved Ireland rushed through her mind, and she 
 regarded the half-wit with a new veneration. 
 
 " Sure, you're one o' them elf -men, I believe ; that 
 different from ordinary you can even make dollars o' 
 doughnuts. Arrah musha, 'twas a smart decent day 
 when Miss Amy fetched you home to Fairacres ! 
 Sent, was ye, to make the old family rich ; and the 
 marvel o' cure in your long, lean hands. Troth, I'm 
 struck all of a heap." 
 
 But Fayette was not He had never been so active. 
 He began to gather up the coins which had been scat- 
 tered by the breaking of the chest and, for want of some- 
 thing better in which to store them, pulled Cleena's 
 apron from her waist and piled them in that. She sat 
 on, silently regarding him. For a few minutes she 
 honestly believed that he was a genuine specimen of
 
 "HE BEGAN TO GATHER UP THE COINS.'
 
 A DOUBLE INHERITANCE IN A SINGLE DAY. 335 
 
 the " little people " who were said to make green Erin 
 their favorite home. But when he began to gabble in 
 a hoarse, excited tone of how he had long been expect- 
 ing this " find " ; how he had watched his opportunity 
 when all the household should be absent that he might 
 disobey and use the explosive that would lessen his 
 labor so greatly, she came back to common sense. 
 
 " So you've been lookin' for it, have ye ? Well, now 
 you've got it, but ye might ha' been killed in the job. 
 What for no ? With Mister Fred gone to town an' him 
 tellin' ye most explicit ye should no touch nor meddle 
 at all. Was aught like this found in either of them 
 mushroom ones ? " 
 
 "I don't know," answered Fayette, slowly, still 
 stooping and tying his bundle. "If there was that 
 man's got it. It was mine. I begun the digging. I 
 
 "An' he finished, eh? Well, you take up your pack 
 an' put it here in my dresser. Then go wash your face. 
 Such a sight! Hold, did ye any more harm there 
 below ? " 
 
 " Harm ! harm ! to dig such a treasure as this out 
 of my mine ? Well, if I used only a little bit of powder 
 and got so much, what a lot I might have found if I'd 
 used more. I'll bet the whole ground is full." 
 
 " Oh, ye silly ! Put that stuff down. It's makin' ye 
 lose what little sense you've got An', me neighbor, 
 look here. See them beautiful biscuits all spoiled the 
 day, the day ! "
 
 336 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 This reminded the lad that he was hungry. He had 
 been hard at work all day in the underground passage, 
 the third and last of those he had set out to make beneath 
 " Charity House." The first two had been completed 
 the walls shored, the rich beds for mushroom-raising 
 made upon the dark damp floors. Already these beds 
 were dotted with the white growths, that in a marvellous 
 short time would be full-grown mushrooms and finding 
 a place upon many an epicure's table. 
 
 That very hour, even, Frederic Kaye was in the city 
 negotiating for their regular sale at profitable prices; 
 and wondering not a little, it may be, at the strange 
 fact that " Spite House," instead of being the barren, un- 
 productive spot at first supposed, would prove instead 
 a veritable mine of support to the whole household. Of 
 that other " mining," with its anticipated results in gold 
 of which Fayette had sometimes babbled, Mr. Kaye 
 took no account. Old Jacob Ingraham who built the 
 house had been a hard, close-fisted man, if all accounts 
 were true, and not at all likely to deposit his money in 
 the ground, when there were investments which would 
 help to increase it. But of old Jacob's wife, history 
 said little, and Frederic never thought. 
 
 Fayette placed the apron in the cupboard, as he had 
 been bidden, and when he would have added the 
 broken box also, Cleena prevented. 
 
 "Oh, ye dirty boy! That that mouldy, muddy, 
 nasty thing ! No, no ! No, no ! " and she tossed it
 
 A DOUBLE INHERITANCE IN A SINGLE DAY. 337 
 
 unceremoniously into the box of kindling-wood. In the 
 roomy " Dutch " oven in the wall she had baked many of 
 her picnic biscuits, and she regarded the ruin Fayette had 
 wrought among her sandwiches with an air absurdly sad. 
 
 Now he had no scruples against a bit of dirt, and had 
 already crammed his mouth full of the broken food, 
 when Cleena looked round and saw him. His mouth 
 was distended with laughter as well as bread, and this 
 provoked her still further. Sweeping her long arm 
 over the table, she brushed all the sandwiches into a 
 big pan that stood conveniently near, and remarked 
 grimly : 
 
 " Not another bite o' better food do you get till them's 
 all ate." 
 
 " All right. I like 'em. But what's the picnickers 
 goin' to do ? " 
 
 " The best they can. An' you're to help. Go wash 
 your hands." 
 
 " I have." 
 
 " Again, once more ; then show 'em to me." 
 
 The lad laughingly obeyed. Then demanded : 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 Cleena replied by action rather than word. She tied 
 a fresh gingham apron about his shoulders and brought 
 the strings around in front so that his mud-stained 
 clothing was entirely covered. Then she led him to 
 her kneading-table and set a bucket of sifted flour 
 before him.
 
 338 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Make biscuit." 
 
 " How many ? " 
 
 " Three hundred. Fall to, measure, I'll count" 
 
 She did. For two whole hours the pair labored in 
 that kitchen, Fayette kneading, cutting out, slipping 
 the pans into the ovens and removing them ; while 
 Cleena spread and cut tongue after tongue, till even 
 more than the original supply had been reproduced. 
 Then she paused and looked up. 
 
 There stood Teamster John in the doorway, smiling and 
 watching Fayette's new occupation with genuine surprise. 
 
 " Shucks ! makin' a cook out of him ? Ain't ye rather 
 late with your luncheon ? I drove up to carry the 
 baskets down to the 'Island.'" 
 
 "Humph! Ready they was, fast enough. But 
 man, look here," and she opened the cupboard door to 
 draw forth the apron of gold. 
 
 " No, you shan't ! He shan't touch it ! It's mine 
 it's mine ! " cried Fayette, and snatched the bundle from 
 her hands. He had not tied it securely, and again the 
 long-buried coins rolled into the sunlight and spread 
 themselves over the floor. 
 
 " To the land's sake ! " 
 
 "They're mine they're all mine every single 
 one. I found 'em. I blasted 'em out. Nobody shall 
 touch them nobody ! " 
 
 " You blasted them out ? From the cellar of 
 this house ? You simpleton ! "
 
 A DOUBLE INHERITANCE IN A SINGLE DAY. 339 
 
 " Like to ha' done it yourself, hey ? " 
 
 " No ; but I'm sorrier than I can tell that ever you 
 were let to fool with powder. How'd Mister Frederic 
 allow it ? " 
 
 Cleena answered promptly, " He didn't. He strict 
 forbid it. Yes, I know, I know. It was a chance. If 
 me guardian angel hadn't been nigh, you might never 
 ha' seen old Cleena again. Arrah musha, but I'm that 
 shook up I'd know! What say? Is it time yet for 
 their supper down yon, or what ? " 
 
 " It'll be a little late, maybe, but never mind. My, 
 my ! Chests o' gold ! Who'd believe it ? Like a story 
 book, now, ain't it ? And where, in the name of common 
 sense, did you get all this flour and meat an' fixings, 
 Cleena, woman ? " 
 
 " Mister Fred. The last day he went to town. He 
 was to buy enough for one picnic, so he brought home 
 enough for two. That's ever his way. He's the good 
 provider, is Mister Fred. Bless him ! " 
 
 " Exactly. Well, I'll tell you, it is late, so I'll 
 just drive down to tell the youngsters they'd better come 
 up here and eat their supper. They'll be crazy wild for 
 a sight of that chest and what was in it ; and if they 
 don't come to-day, they'll be besieging you all day to- 
 morrow. When a thing like this happens, it belongs to 
 the town." 
 
 "Don't neither; belongs to me. I found it. I'll 
 keep it. I dare ye ! "
 
 34O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " All right, lad. Don't worry. I wouldn't touch it 
 with a ten-foot pole. I've heard of such things afore 
 now, and never once that they didn't bring trouble. 
 All I'm thankful for is you didn't kill anybody nor 
 smash up the house with your fool blastin'. You won't 
 get another chance to try, if I have to come right here 
 and stay myself ; " and he smiled sweetly toward 
 Cleena, who ignored the smile, but agreed with the 
 suggestion. 
 
 "Yes; that's right. That's sense. What for no? 
 Troth, to-morrow's a Sunday, an' not to be disturbed o' 
 none such havers. What's a bit of old dollars dug out 
 o' the mud ? An' Monday's me wash. Faith, it's sense 
 in small matters ye're havin', Teamster John. Drive 
 yon an' make haste back. I'll spread me a cloth on the 
 grass an' each may eat like a heathen, does he like, that 
 same as he was down in the woods." 
 
 " But they shan't touch it they shan't even see it ! 
 It's mine. I'll keep it, understand ? " 
 
 Cleena understood not only the words, but the lad 
 with whom she had to deal. 
 
 "Whist, alanna, would you hide yourself, then? 
 Faith, no ; run avick. Put on your Sunday suit, 
 brush yer hair, make yerself tidy, then stand up like 
 a showman at Donnybrook fair, an' pass the time o' 
 day with who comes. What for no ? The box an* the 
 gold must be showed. Such a thing can't be hid. 
 Well, then, gossoon, just show it yerself."
 
 A DOUBLE INHERITANCE IN A SINGLE DAY. 34! 
 
 So when, not long after, the whole band of merry- 
 makers came trooping over the knoll of Bareacre, they 
 found not only their belated supper spread for them, 
 but a sight to amuse their curiosity in the buried treas- 
 ure, estimated at various sums by the excited behold- 
 ers, and with an ever increasing value as the story 
 passed from mouth to mouth. 
 
 " It will belong to ' Bony,' of course." 
 " No ; to the Kayes. He doesn't own the house." 
 " Nor they. If they did, they wouldn't take it from 
 him. They're not that sort of folks." 
 " But they're as poor as anybody now." 
 " Archibald Wingate owns the property. I should 
 think it belonged to him." 
 
 " The ' Supe ' will probably take it in charge." 
 So the talk bandied back and forth till poor Fayette's 
 weak brain was in a whirl; and amid it all there was 
 one name that fell upon his hearing with a sense of 
 pain, "Archibald Wingate." The man he hated. 
 Well, of one thing he was resolved this unearthed 
 treasure might be the mill owner's, but if it were, he 
 should never, never touch it. 
 
 Poor Fayette ! So he still stood and proudly exhib- 
 ited the wonder, and told over and again exactly how 
 he had long suspected its existence, and had watched 
 his opportunity, with this result. Since he was happy 
 and watchful, Cleena felt he was secure for the pres- 
 ent. But all the time she longed for Mr. Frederic's
 
 342 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 return, or even for that of Mr. Kaye, who was abroad 
 upon a sketching ramble. There should be somebody 
 in authority present, since Hallam and Amy were both 
 too young, and Teamster John well, he might "do at 
 a pinch." In any case, he must remain on guard till a 
 better man appeared. 
 
 This better man did arrive, just as the evening fell, in 
 the person of Uncle Fred, riding up the driveway in old 
 Israel Boggs's farm wagon. Amy was first to discover 
 their approach and ran gayly to meet them, beginning 
 her tale of the afternoon's adventure with her very salu- 
 tation ; but long before she reached the side of the 
 wagon she saw that something was amiss with her jolly 
 uncle. His face was very grave, and even his voice was 
 hushed, so that though his greeting to his niece was 
 even kinder than usual, it startled her by its solem- 
 nity. 
 
 " Why, Uncle Fred, what is the matter ? What has 
 happened ? " 
 
 " I'll tell you presently. But how come so many 
 here ? I thought the picnic was at 'Treasure Island.' " 
 
 She nodded cheerfully to Israel, whose face was even 
 more sad than Frederic Kaye's, and gave a rapid his- 
 tory of events. Strangely enough, neither of the two 
 newcomers appeared much interested. It was as if 
 some greater matter absorbed them, and their manner 
 subdued Amy to silence ; while the farmer tied old 
 Fanny, and then followed his friend into the front part
 
 A DOUBLE INHERITANCE IN A SINGLE DAY. 343 
 
 of the house, quite away from the excited groups sur- 
 rounding Fayette and his wonderful exhibit. 
 
 Once inside the shelter of the passage, Mr. Frederic 
 laid his hand upon Amy's shoulder, and said, very 
 gently : 
 
 " Prepare for a great sorrow, Amy dear. I have 
 just come from the death-bed of our good friend, Adam 
 Burn." 
 
 Never till that moment had the girl known how well 
 she loved the saintly old man. Rarely meeting, he had 
 still exercised over her young life one of its most 
 powerful influences, and an influence all for good. 
 
 " Oh, Uncle Fred, it can't be. It mustn't be. He 
 was so good, so kind, so 
 
 " Altogether lovely. Yes, dear, all that. Old Israel, 
 here, needs comfort. Talk to him a little." 
 
 So she led the heart-broken Israel into the farthest 
 room, and sitting down beside him persuaded him to 
 speak with her of the one that had passed on, and in 
 the act to find relief. Then she slipped away a moment 
 and, found Hallam, who, when he had heard this later 
 news, quietly dismissed the club and brought the happy 
 holiday to a reverent close. 
 
 " Land ! that makes all such ilk," said Teamster 
 John, pointing to Fayette's glittering heap, "to seem 
 of small account. What's a litter of gold alongside of 
 such as him ? " 
 
 And not one among them all who had ever known
 
 344 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Adam Burn found anything now worth discussing save 
 the goodness and simplicity of their dead neighbor and 
 friend. 
 
 But late that night, after Israel had gone back to the 
 desolate Clove, to make such arrangements for the old 
 man's burial as his friends at " Charity House " had 
 deemed fitting, Uncle Frederic remarked, casually : 
 
 " By the way, Amy, Mrs. Burn (' Sarah Jane/ you 
 know) told me a bit of news, to the effect that you are 
 the old man's heiress, because of your name that was 
 his wife's. She says he gave you a sealed letter before 
 he left Ardsley, which letter explained everything, 
 where the will was to be found, and the few directions 
 necessary for the settlement of the estate. Your father 
 and I are trustees, she thinks, until you come of age, 
 but you are the heir. Good night." 
 
 " No, no, uncle, I don't want to be ! I want nothing 
 that is gained by his death. And I lost that letter, 
 anyway." 
 
 " Lost it ? That's serious. However, it can doubt- 
 less be arranged. Good night."
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY. 
 
 THE months flew by. The summer came and went. 
 It was the hour for closing on a " Saturday-half," 
 a whole year since Amy Kaye first visited the mills of 
 Ardsley, and now she felt as they were a part of her 
 very life. Beginning at the bottom she had industri- 
 ously worked her way upward till she had just been 
 promoted to the pleasant and well-paying task of 
 " setter," in the big clean room, where the open win- 
 dows admitted the soft air of another Indian summer. 
 
 Away, at the extreme end of the long apartment, 
 was a sunshiny office, lately constructed for the personal 
 use of Archibald Wingate. This office was partitioned 
 from the setting room by a glass sliding door, and 
 through this, as Amy now lifted her eyes, she could 
 see the broad back of her relative bending above a desk 
 full of correspondence. 
 
 At every setting frame there are two operators, for 
 left hand and for right ; and it was Amy's good fortune 
 to have Mary Reese for her comrade, and a more sun- 
 shiny pair of workers could be found nowhere. 
 
 For Hallam, also, it had been a busy, happy year. 
 345
 
 346 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Like Amy, having begun with the humblest task and 
 smallest wage, he had now advanced to be bookkeeper 
 in one department, while he still retained his work of 
 coloring and preparing the patterns for use in the weav- 
 ing of the famous Ardsley carpets. He looked a far 
 stronger, healthier lad than of old, and his disposition 
 to think upon the dark side of things had now no time 
 to develop, for activity effectually prevents brooding. 
 
 Fayette was still a member of the Kaye household, 
 and seemed to belong there as much as any of the 
 others. He had been busy, too, all the year through, 
 with his mushroom-raising, his gardening, and now that 
 the autumn had come round again, with odd jobs at the 
 mill. His deftness would always procure him employ- 
 ment of some sort, yet only that morning Mr. Metcalf 
 had remarked to Hallam, confidentially : 
 
 " Queer, but I can never trust ' Bony.' He seems as 
 honest and reliable as possible for a time, and then, sud- 
 denly, he will do something to disappoint me. I don't 
 like his demeanor toward the ' boss.' Ever since Mr. 
 Wingate returned, late this summer, and took to com- 
 ing here every day, ' Bony ' has come too. Have you 
 noticed ? " 
 
 " I know he comes. I hadn't connected the two com- 
 ings, however. I guess he's all right. There's a splen- 
 did side to that poor lad's nature, if you but knew it. 
 Some day, I hope before very long now, he and I are to 
 surprise the world."
 
 ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY. 347 
 
 "Why, Hal, you're as gay as a blackbird. What's 
 the surprise, eh ? Too precious to disclose even to me?" 
 
 "At present, yes. In a little while, a few days 
 Heigho ! " and the lad looked significantly toward his 
 crutches, leaning against the desk where he wrote. 
 
 But the superintendent did not observe the glance. 
 His mind was full of misgiving. Within a day or two 
 he had had occasion to suspect that the half-wit had some 
 uncanny scheme on hand. The lad's dislike of the old 
 mill owner appeared to grow with the passage of time. 
 The dull brain never forgot an injury, and it always 
 seemed to Fayette that Mr. Wingate had wronged him. 
 From the old days of his "bound out" life on the farm, 
 when whippings and punishments were of almost daily 
 occurrence, to the present, there had been no diminution 
 in the mill boy's resentment. Now there was this later 
 injury, or injustice, as he believed, about the money 
 found in the cellar of " Charity House." 
 
 The facts were these : the glittering coins had, when 
 estimated, been of about one thousand dollars' value. 
 To Fayette this seemed an enormous sum; to Mr. 
 Wingate, a trifle. In the chest with the treasure had 
 been also a time-yellowed letter, or memorandum, signed 
 by the wife of Jacob Ingraham, and decreeing that the 
 property thus hidden had been placed by her own 
 hands in the wall of the cellar of "Spite House" for 
 the " benefit of my nearest of kin." 
 
 The document, in itself, was as curious as its hiding-
 
 348 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 place, and proved that the ancient dame had been a 
 keen observer of men's failings, if not their virtues. 
 
 " For I have seen, in this, my lifetime, that gold prof- 
 its a man nothing. It is ever a bone of contention, and 
 he who has it is poorer than he who has it not. I hope 
 this chest will do him good who finds it ; and if it is 
 never found, then the earth will be so much the richer 
 by this small portion of the wealth it has lost. In any 
 case, to prevent evil, and, if possible, to secure a bless- 
 ing, I have said one prayer over each coin herein dis- 
 posed, and so, in duty to my conscience, I lock the box 
 and throw the key down the old well of this Bareacre 
 knoll." 
 
 The letter had further added that nobody, not even 
 Jacob Ingraham, had known of this bestowal of the 
 chest, because had anybody, " most of all, he," so known, 
 it would have been excavated and its contents scattered. 
 
 Now Archibald Wingate was, on his mother's side, 
 the last direct descendant of Mrs. Ingraham, and the 
 property was clearly his. To him, as soon as he re- 
 turned from his prolonged stay out of town, the broken 
 chest and intact contents had been given by the super- 
 intendent, who, Mr. Kaye promptly decided, would be 
 the proper guardian of the treasure until his employer 
 returned. 
 
 There had been a terrible scene with Fayette when 
 Cleena told him this decision, and for several days 
 thereafter the lad had not been visible. Some thought
 
 ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY. 349 
 
 he had gone off in one of his wanderings through the 
 woods and fields ; but the truth was, he had been kept 
 under lock and key by the energetic and masterful 
 Cleena Keegan. She had assured that patient listener, 
 herself, that : 
 
 " Sure, it do be right. Will I lose all the good we 
 have gained for the sake o' bad temper ? The end's in 
 sight, the blessed end o' the secrecy, an' the weary 
 struggle o' keepin' me gineral's nose to the grindstone, 
 and now to leave go ? Not while Cleena Keegan draws 
 a free breath, an' can handle a silly gossoon, like him 
 yon." 
 
 From the first it had been a strange and powerful 
 influence that this good woman exercised over the 
 foundling she adopted, and fortunately his imprison- 
 ment was not so very long, else it would have been 
 impossible to conceal it from the rest of the household ; 
 not one of whom did, however, suspect such a pro- 
 ceeding. 
 
 When the object for which she had restrained him of 
 his liberty seemed quite gained, Cleena let Fayette go ; 
 and, oddly enough, after his liberty was granted him, he 
 no longer cared for it. He kept close to Bareacres, 
 bare no longer, but teeming with the rich vegetation 
 resulting from his own labor, guided by Frederic Kaye's 
 trained judgment. The summer had proved a most 
 interesting as well as busy one to both these gardeners. 
 The results of their mutual labor were harvested and
 
 35O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 stored for the family's winter use, and Fayette had 
 returned to the mill. Idleness, or the want of that 
 regular employment he had enjoyed, now reawoke the 
 dark thoughts which had disturbed his clouded brain 
 during the time of his " retreat " under Cleena's com- 
 pelling will. 
 
 This day, when Amy watched her cousin through the 
 glass partition, and waited with Mary for Hallam to 
 complete his own task in a room adjoining the private 
 office of Mr. Wingate, Fayette was hanging about the 
 mill, as if himself waiting for some one. 
 
 Amy called to him once, and received a surly 
 answer : 
 
 " I'll go when I get ready. I ain't hurting nobody 
 -yet." 
 
 "Of course not, who'd suppose so? I'd think you'd 
 like a run in the woods after hours. There was a frost a 
 few nights ago. There may be hickory nuts to gather." 
 
 " Gather 'em, then, if you want 'em. I don't. I've 
 got other fish to fry. I'll fry 'em, too." 
 
 " Well, you're cross, ' Fayetty, me gineral.' I'll not 
 wait much longer, even for Hal. You can come home 
 with him, and help him bring the patterns he is to show 
 father, please." 
 
 " I thought you wanted to see Mr. Wingate, too, 
 Amy," observed Mary, "about that legacy of yours. 
 You're the queerest girl. Any other would be wild to 
 have things fixed, but you don't seem to care a bit."
 
 ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY. 351 
 
 " Why should I ? We are very comfortable at 
 'Charity House.' Mrs. Burn, dear Adam's daughter- 
 in-law, has gone abroad again. If she had time, she'd 
 cheerfully help us if she could. We think the letter 
 of instruction will sometime be found, and that will 
 make all clear. We don't like law, and Adam would 
 have hated it. No ; we'll wait for a time longer, but 
 I promised father I'd consult Cousin Archibald, and see 
 when he would meet either father or Uncle Fred to 
 discuss it. 
 
 " Meanwhile, old Israel and his wife are doing just 
 the same at Burnside as if their master were still there. 
 All I could think of taking the property for, it seems 
 to me, would be to give my father such a lovely home 
 again." 
 
 "Well, Amy, I must go. I want to finish reading 
 that book Mr. Kaye lent me, this afternoon. I'll see 
 you at the club to-night. Good-by." 
 
 With a kiss and a hand pressure, which revealed the 
 depth of their friendship, Mary departed, and Amy 
 turned to the open window to watch the cloud shadows 
 drift over the lovely valley, wherein the Ardsley leaped 
 and sparkled. As she gazed, thinking of many things, 
 she became conscious, in an idle sort of fashion, that 
 Fayette had passed out of doors, and was walking close 
 beneath, or along the building's wall, and in a stealthy 
 manner, suspicious in itself. 
 
 " Heigho ! What now, I wonder. He's up to some
 
 352 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 mischief, I'm afraid. How queer he is at times. Why, 
 even when he was told that Mr. Wingate knew him for 
 the person who horsewhipped him last Christmas and 
 had refused to take any notice of it, except to thank 
 Uncle Fred for his rescue even then Fayette would 
 not say that he thought my cousin good. All he did 
 say was : ' Well, he better not. He knows too much. 
 If he locked me up or had me fined, I'd lick him again 
 soon's I got out. He ain't no fool. But that don't 
 make me feel any different. He ain't jailed me, but 
 he's got my money. Mine ; I dug it out the cellar an' 
 blasted, to the risk o' my life. He keeps it, when he's 
 got a bank full, they say. Kept Balaam, too, or give 
 him to one of them Metcalf youngsters. Well, his time'll 
 come. I'm not forgettin', if I do keep my mouth shut 
 for a spell.' " 
 
 Recalling this speech, Amy tried to put herself in the 
 half-wit's place, which effort made her pity him the 
 more, yet watch his present manoeuvres none the less 
 closely. But presently he disappeared in a distant 
 lower doorway, and she forgot him and returned to 
 her happy day-dreams. 
 
 Fayette had bided his time. On such an afternoon, 
 at such an hour, he judged that nobody would be in the 
 mill building save the distant watchman and that inde- 
 fatigable toiler, Archibald Wingate, with whom was the 
 half-wit's present business. He had seen the last whisk 
 of Mary's blue skirt disappearing above the bank-stair-
 
 ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY. 353 
 
 way, and, knowing that Amy and she were waiting for 
 Hallam, concluded that the trio had departed together. 
 
 So he entered the little basement door gleefully. All 
 seemed propitious, yet he meant once more and care- 
 fully to examine the preparations he had made, to see 
 if there was any flaw anywhere. He was so absorbed, 
 so excited, that he scarcely breathed as he crept slowly 
 along the inside of the wall, just as a moment before 
 he had passed along its outer surface. At one spot he 
 paused and tried a simple-looking tube that had been 
 brought from the outside, through a convenient aper- 
 ture, into the inside of the building. The thing looked 
 harmless, yet it ran along the groove where the floor 
 and wall joined, clear into that cheery inner office, 
 where Archibald Wingate sat that very moment, sign- 
 ing his name to one of the most generous letters of his 
 life. 
 
 " There," he reflected, as he leaned back in his chair 
 and tossed aside his pen ; " there, that is foolish enough 
 to satisfy even my impractical small kinswoman, bless 
 her! A thousand dollars isn't much, but it's a thou- 
 sand dollars ; and when I double it by another thousand, 
 which has never been buried by any ancient ancestress, 
 it makes a tidy sum for a foundling lad. Poor ' Bony,' 
 he hates me like poison. I wonder, when he finds out 
 that I've done this for him, when I place it in his hands 
 myself, and tell him, furthermore, that I have asked 
 Fred Kaye to send west for several more of those
 
 354 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 burros he's given us a sample of, and that one is for 
 the ' Rep-Dem-Prob ' himself I wonder, will there 
 rise in his stunted heart some perception of what life 
 should mean ; of what it shall mean, during my last 
 brief hold of it, to me? and all because of a girl's 
 bright trustfulness and love." 
 
 It was a day for musings. Even Fayette, intent on 
 evil, had his own like Amy and the lonely old man in 
 the silent office. He wondered, pausing for a moment, 
 how " it would feel to be blown up. That day when I 
 found the money he's took from me, if I'd had a bigger 
 charge of powder, would I ha' knowed what struck me, 
 if it had gone off sudden ? Hmm. I almost hate to do 
 it. He seems he'll never guess, though, and he 
 hadn't any right. He's been again' me from the first. 
 I'll do it. He hain't had no mercy I won't, neither." 
 
 So he crept softly back to the low entrance, and 
 stooping, struck a match. The match burned well, 
 and in an instant had communicated its own flame to 
 the cheap fuse that ran along the wall. In the far-off 
 office, concealed beneath the mill owner's desk, there 
 was already waiting a powerful explosive, which Fay- 
 ette had purloined from the store of the workmen who 
 were excavating for the new wing of the building. In 
 a moment more the fuse would have burned unnoticed 
 to its fatal end, and an awful crime, of whose enormity 
 the dull criminal had no real comprehension, would 
 have been committed.
 
 ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY. 355 
 
 But Hallam had caught the prevailing mood. He, 
 like the others left lingering about the silent building, 
 had fallen into a reverie which, judging by his bright 
 expression, was full of happiness. For many months, 
 and for the first time in his life, he had kept a secret 
 from his father and Amy. If that can be called a 
 secret which was known also to Cleena, to Uncle 
 Frederic, and to Fayette, upon whose aid alone the 
 success of this mystery had depended. The lad had 
 been faithful. At most times his help had been ren- 
 dered freely, out of love and sympathy ; at others there 
 had been compulsion on Cleena's side and from the 
 other one of the quartette, who had himself suffered 
 false blame and the disgrace of suspicion because of 
 the secret. 
 
 " To-morrow, please God, it shall end. I couldn't 
 bear to tell them, who love me so, until I was sure, 
 sure. The old surgeon said it might be a miracle 
 would be enacted for my benefit. Well, it has, it has ! 
 I've known it, really, almost from the beginning, though 
 it's been so hard and at times so seemingly hopeless. 
 But if I hadn't loved them even more than myself, I 
 wouldn't have kept on trying. To-morrow the ex- 
 periment in their presence ! Will it ever come ! " 
 
 The lad stood up and arranged the papers in his own 
 desk. Then he heard, or fancied that he did, a slight 
 sound in the deserted building. The corps of opera- 
 tives had been well drilled to watch for any sign of
 
 356 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 that dreaded element, fire, and he was alert now, the 
 more that, following this, there was a slight odor, pun- 
 gent and more alarming than even the first sound. 
 
 He wheeled about and what was that ? In the 
 dimness of the angle where it lay, away out toward 
 that closed office with its unsuspecting occupant, a tiny 
 spark was making- its steady, creeping progress. For 
 an instant Hallam gazed at it astonished, the next he 
 realized its full meaning and horror. Could he reach 
 it ? Was there time ? 
 
 With a shriek of warning he rushed forward, stum- 
 bling against, leaping over obstacles, gaining upon 
 that menacing point of fire and fume, which now 
 seemed to race him like a living thing. 
 
 The miracle was wrought two miracles ! A few 
 more seconds, and it would have been too late ; but now 
 the lame walked and, as it were, the dead came back 
 to life. 
 
 Hallam's shriek, the uproar of overturned obstruc- 
 tions, reverberated through the empty building and 
 brought Archibald Wingate, Amy, and poor Fayette 
 face to face with the panting, excited rescuer. All 
 comprehended at once what had been attempted and 
 how prevented. The mill owner laid an iron grip upon 
 the half-wit's shoulder, who made no effort to escape ; 
 for at last, at last, there had penetrated to his dim intel- 
 ligence the wide^he awful difference between good and 
 evil. When he saw the once crippled lad, whom his
 
 ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY. 357 
 
 own hands had restored to health, thus fling away his 
 life with unstinted hand, that he might save the life 
 of another, once his enemy also, there had roused 
 within the dormant brain of the foundling a sudden 
 perception of Hallam's nobility and his own baseness. 
 Therefore, stunned by this new knowledge, he stood 
 humble and unresisting. 
 
 Amy's great heart comprehended just what and how 
 her poor protege was suffering. With her, to think 
 was to act. She sprang to him and laid her small hand 
 on his other shoulder, and the tender sympathy of this 
 touch thrilled him more than the hard grasp of his 
 master. 
 
 " Oh ! but Hallam Hallam you walked! walked! 
 you ran ! You you who never 
 
 Her voice choked, ceased, and she turned from Fay- 
 ette to fling herself headlong into her brother's arms. 
 For the first time in their lives he could receive her and 
 support her firmly. Then she stepped back and shook 
 him. Gently at first, then violently. His crutches were 
 nobody cared where, though certainly not at hand; 
 yet he stood fixedly, resisting her attacks, and again 
 catching her to him with that overflowing joy that only 
 such as he could guess. 
 
 " But I don't understand. Tell tell ; not here, 
 though. Is all safe? No danger any more?" 
 
 "No," said Fayette to her demand, "there ain't no 
 danger. Not 'less the fuse had burned out to the end.
 
 358 REELS- AND SPINDLES. 
 
 It's under the desk. He'll find it. I I but it's put 
 out. I 
 
 " You didn't mean it, did you, boy ? You could not. 
 You didn't understand." 
 
 " No, I didn't, I didn't," whimpered the stricken fellow. 
 
 Mr. Wingate relaxed his hold. How could he retain 
 his fury against such an enemy ? It was too unequal. 
 The lad was dangerous, he must be punished, he 
 
 Hallam read these unspoken thoughts. 
 
 " For my sake, Cousin Archibald, forgive him. It is 
 he who has made me able to save you this day, even 
 though it was he who put you in such peril. Months 
 ago, Amy read in a paper how a lad was cured whose 
 case was just like mine. There was only will power 
 on the cripple's part, and the daily, sometimes hourly 
 massage by one of those persons whose physical mag- 
 netism, or whatever it is, was strong. ' Bony ' was such 
 a person, and I just such a cripple. We began. For 
 weeks I couldn't move my legs without using my hands 
 to help. Then one day I found, just after the rubbing 
 was over, that I could push one foot along the floor a 
 tiny way. That gave us both courage. He has been 
 untiring. We were soon on the road to what I believed, 
 though with lots of set-backs, would be a cure. Uncle 
 Fred knew ; that's why he wouldn't let Fayette be 
 arrested or punished for assaulting you. He took the 
 blame himself, if the boy would stick to me. Cleena 
 knew, too "
 
 ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY. 359 
 
 " And not us, father nor me ! " exclaimed Amy, in a 
 hurt tone. 
 
 " No ; that was to be my blessed surprise for you 
 two. It was to your own suggestion, which I suppose 
 you forgot soon after, with the newspaper scrap you 
 brought, that I owe the beginning. It was Cleena kept 
 us at it. She wouldn't let us give it up, no, not if she 
 had the whole crowd under lock and key on a bread 
 and water diet ; eh, Fayette ? " 
 
 The shamefaced fellow looked up, with a slight 
 gleam in his eye, then dropped his gaze again. 
 
 Hallam went on : " To-morrow, the First Day that 
 mother loved, I was going to make an experiment 
 before you all my surprise. I have practised in pri- 
 vate continually, and uncle, as well as Cleena, has 
 urged me to tell you before ; but I kept it till the anni- 
 versary you know." 
 
 " Ah," said Archibald Wingate, with a sudden recol- 
 lection, "so it is. She was my best friend, my best 
 beloved. You are her children. All my hard middle 
 life seems to have slipped out of my memory, like a bad 
 dream, and I am back in our youth-time again, with 
 Salome and Cuthbert and Fred, all gay and glad 
 together. I wonder, I wonder what she would bid me 
 do to you, poor fellow," he finished, regarding the ab- 
 ject natural with a pitying air. 
 
 " I know ! Forgive him, else thy Salome and my 
 mother were not one."
 
 36O REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 "Amy, thee is right. Come into the office, all of 
 you." 
 
 " Is it safe ? " she asked, hanging back. 
 
 " We'll make it safe. ' Bony,' or Fayette, take that 
 stuff you put under the desk and step out there to the 
 Ardsley. Behind that rock is a deep hole. I used to 
 fish there as a lad. I can see if you obey. Drop that 
 death powder into the stream and come back." 
 
 Fayette obeyed, and they watched him, shivering. 
 But when the water flowed on after an instant, undis- 
 turbed and merrily singing its deathless song, they 
 breathed deeply and with complete relief. 
 
 "Look here, Fayette; you think I've been a hard 
 man. So I have so I have. You've been a bad boy 
 too, eh ? " 
 
 "Yes; I won't never " 
 
 " Of course you won't. Look here, I say. What's 
 this this heap of stuff I took out of the safe? Did 
 you ever see it before?" 
 
 " Yes ; it's the money I blasted out." 
 
 " Well, if it were yours, would you promise never 
 again to blast anything or anybody or anywhere ? 
 Your very own to keep forever, if you liked." 
 
 " Huckleberries ! Do you mean it ? " 
 
 "If you promise, I mean it." 
 
 "Oh, I do I do. I'll keep my word. I meant to 
 try and I did. But it's over. I'm glad; I wasn't 
 happy, never. I promise, whether or no, money or not."
 
 ONE WONDERFUL AUTUMN DAY. 361 
 
 " I believe you'll keep that promise : Hallam and 
 Amy, here, are witnesses. Now, listen : I, too, promise. 
 I'll not only give you this old hoard, but this besides." 
 He swept into view a pile of golden eagles, larger than 
 any there save himself had ever seen, and placed it 
 beside that time-worn lot of similar material. In be- 
 stowing his gift he had provided to have it in such 
 shape as he knew the half-wit would best comprehend. 
 " This is for you, also. It is just as much more as you 
 found. I give it to you because my little cousin here 
 has taught me it is better to give than to receive. You 
 must take both piles, in this new hand-bag, and ask 
 Mr. Metcalf to take care of it for you. You trust him, 
 don't you ? " 
 
 "Yes yes," answered Fayette, in breathless eager- 
 ness. 
 
 " Now, the condition : if you ever again, by word 
 or deed, do any sort of injury to any human being or 
 to any helpless animal, I will have you punished, pun- 
 ished in full for all you have done wrong in the past. 
 Do you understand ? " 
 
 " Yes," sobbed the grateful and greatly excited youth. 
 Somewhere he had heard, maybe from Cleena's lips, 
 something about heaping coals. He felt at that moment 
 as if the living coals were lying upon his own poor head. 
 
 " Then go ; and if it will give you any pleasure to 
 know it, I believe that you are now about the richest 
 of the mill operatives living in Ardsley village."
 
 362 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Stumbling, through his tears, and truly far more 
 grateful for the prevention of his crime than even for 
 his unexpected good fortune and full forgiveness, 
 Cleena's Fayetty went. 
 
 As his footsteps died away, Amy, who seemed given 
 to outbursts to relieve her full heart, threw her arms 
 about the old man's neck and kissed him over and over. 
 
 "That's better, child, that's better. The first time 
 thee planted it on my nose, I seemed to have a dim 
 perception that this was not the regulation feature for 
 such gifts, but it answered; though I like them better 
 on my cheek, child. Thee's improving. Now let's go 
 home. Yes ; it's the carryall. There's room for us 
 all. On the way I'll tell thee " 
 
 " No, no ; wait till we get home. Don't let's leave 
 anybody out any more. By thy face I can see it's 
 something delightful thee is going to tell. Oh, make 
 the old horse travel, travel fast, fast ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 ON half-holidays Cleena had always the best din- 
 ner of the week. To its enjoyment were usu- 
 ally brought the best appetites of the week as well ; for 
 there was leisure and talk and laughter, and that inter- 
 change of experiences which kept their family life so 
 united. 
 
 Archibald Wingate joined the party at this present 
 half-holiday dinner ; yet even with such cheerfulness 
 about him could not but shiver now and then, as he 
 recalled his narrow escape of the afternoon. To have 
 taken his meal alone, on that day, would have been to 
 suffer greatly. 
 
 But Amy had brought him in and placed him in the 
 seat of honor, and amid the general rejoicing over Hal- 
 lam's wonderful recovery and surprise, they had made 
 him feel that he was a sharer. They had just drawn 
 back from the table, and were going into the sitting 
 room, when there came a tap at the door that Cleena 
 answered. It was a small tap, very low down on the 
 panel, but it was given due importance ; for wasn't the 
 visitor Master " Willyum Gladstone Jones," and wasn't 
 363
 
 364 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 Cleena just making fine progress in teaching him his 
 " manners " ? 
 
 So they all paused to wait the child's important en- 
 trance, and to smile over Goodsoul's greeting : 
 
 " The top o' the evenin' to you, Mister Jones. An' 
 what may be givin' us the pleasure of a visit from your 
 lordship the now ? A what ? Speak up ; a box is 
 it ? Miss Amy's box. Never a doubt I doubt you've 
 made messes of its insides, by the way. No ? Then 
 your improvin', to that extent I must even be givin' ye 
 a bite o' this fine apple pie. Hmm ; exactly. Well, 
 give the young lady her bit property, again' I slips on 
 a plate an' teaches ye how to eat decent, as ye should." 
 
 So the little fellow, who had just been promoted to 
 his first trousers and felt as all boys do in such a case, 
 walked proudly across the room and offered Amy a 
 japanned casket. 
 
 " Why, Sir William, how came you by that ? I 
 haven't seen it for ever so long. I used to keep my 
 few letters in it. I wonder if they're here now." 
 
 " Ev'y one. My mamma seen 'em all. She said 
 the top one I don't know. Somefin." 
 
 " Arrah musha ! but I remember one day, long syne, 
 he was aye botherin' an' I set him to orderin' the box 
 neat an' nice. He must ha' took it away with him an' 
 me not payin' no attention. Well, a box o' such truck's 
 neither here no more there, I forecast." 
 
 Amy had stopped to admire the new garment, fash-
 
 CONCLUSION. 365 
 
 ioned from an old one of Hallam's, and having thus 
 satisfied the little one's innocent pride, now opened her 
 recovered keepsake. She lifted the letters idly, dropped 
 them, and again catching one that had, indeed, lain upon 
 the top, sprang up and waved it overhead. 
 
 " The letter ! the letter ! The lost one of Adam ! " 
 
 " No ; is it really ? To come in such a way " 
 
 " On such a day oh, Hal ! " 
 
 She caught her brother's hands and wrung them in 
 delight, then ran to her father and placed the letter 
 before him. 
 
 He looked at it critically. 
 
 " Yes ; that is Adam Burn's handwriting. His own 
 familiar seal. These people who have had it in keep- 
 ing " 
 
 " I hided it. Zen I dugged it out. Same like 
 Fayetty," explained Sir William, between mouthfuls. 
 
 "The blessed baby ! that explains." 
 
 " Let us go into the parlor and read it. It is yours, 
 daughter ; you must yourself break the seal." 
 
 " Oh, I'll break it fast enough." 
 
 " Hmm. Young lady, I thought you were the girl 
 who didn't want to be an heiress," commented Uncle 
 Fred, teasingly. 
 
 Amy's face sobered. 
 
 "You are right. I didn't so wish then, when the 
 shock and sorrow were fresh ; but now I do. Just think 
 of all the comfort for all you folks in that lovely home."
 
 366 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 " Then I must lose my tenants, eh ? " asked Mr. Win- 
 gate, smiling. 
 
 " Thee'll lose nothing ! Wait. If thee has plans to 
 tell, so have I." 
 
 The letter was a simple one, plain, and leaving no 
 room for any sort of legal difficulty. Amy could enter 
 upon her heritage that day, if she wished. The place 
 where the will was stored was designated, and they 
 knew it would there be found. But after the reading 
 a little silence fell upon them all. 
 
 The old mill owner was the first to break this. He 
 did it almost reverently. 
 
 " Speaking of wills, and after the events of the day, 
 I've been thinking of mine. By the way, Amy, I 
 suppose thee'll cease to work for me now." 
 
 " I don't see why I should, unless my father needs 
 me at home. We will see about that afterward. Tell 
 us thy plans, please. I'd like to hear them." 
 
 " And I'd like to have thee make them for me." 
 
 " Make them ? I ? " 
 
 " Yes ; in truth and deed. If thee were me and 
 had as much money as I have, and were just such a 
 lonely, childless, forlorn old man, what would thee do, 
 that would accomplish the most good ? according to 
 thy judgment, which I have found a fairly sound one." 
 
 The elder Kayes listened in astonishment. They 
 had been prepared by various matters for a great 
 change in their kinsman, though not for one so radi-
 
 CONCLUSION. 367 
 
 cal. But the father began to perceive how this change 
 had been wrought, and his heart gave thanks for the 
 devoted, sunshiny daughter who seemed to shed an 
 influence for happiness and goodness on all whom she 
 knew. It was due to her, he believed, that this new 
 Archibald had replaced the old. 
 
 " Does thee mean it, truly ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I mean it. Let me hear. If it is possible, I 
 will carry out the wishes thee expresses, knowing they 
 will be all for the benefit of somebody deserving." 
 
 " Well, then, I'd help the unpractical Kaye family to 
 get settled at Burnside Farm, on the condition that for 
 my services I was given a big, delightful room in the 
 old farmhouse, to live in and with them, forever and 
 ever and ever, so long as the dear Lord permitted 
 that's if I were thee, Cousin Archibald." 
 
 " But would that ne'er-do-well Kaye family take in 
 an old curmudgeon, does thee think ? " 
 
 " Never. A curmudgeon is a thing they detest. 
 They'd take in a nice, fat, old fellow, whose heart was 
 so big it made his body grow to hold it, and who meant 
 to do all the good with his money that his money would 
 do, and not leave it for anybody to squabble over after 
 he died." 
 
 " Excellent, Miss Wisdom ; proceed." 
 
 " After I'd got a niche at Burnside, I'd take ' Charity 
 House ' and remodel it into a Modern Industrial School. 
 I'd have ' designing ' taught, in regular classes, by a
 
 368 REELS AND SPINDLES. 
 
 well-known artist, named Cuthbert Kaye. I'd have 
 agriculture under the instruction of another expert, 
 Frederic Kaye. I'd have a school of scientific cookery 
 
 not by you, my Cleena, but by somebody who hates 
 pies and adores oatmeal and et cetera. No, really, I 
 do think the mill folks should understand more about 
 foods and their uses. They'd save so much money and 
 
 dyspepsia." 
 
 " Hurry up. Where do I come in ? " 
 " At the mercantile college end of the establishment, 
 learned brother. There should be a splendid library, a 
 gymnasium, a swimming pool 
 
 " A swimming pool on the top of Bareacre knoll ! " 
 " Please don't interrupt, Hal. It's impolite. I'd 
 have it somewhere. I'd have a paddock full of 
 burros " 
 
 "They're already ordered," cried Archibald, forget- 
 ting everything in his enjoyment of her happy face. 
 " Am I to continue ? May I let my fancy riot ? " 
 " Yes, indeed ; give thyself full freedom for once." 
 "Then I'd take beautiful Fairacres, that has been a 
 happy home for generations, and I'd make it a Happy 
 Home, with capital letters. I'd call to it all the tired 
 and ailing mill folks in the country. I'd make its dis- 
 used studio and book rooms into a hospital, and where 
 father painted his picture of pain, that he destroyed, 
 let all pain be soothed ; and all the other big chambers 
 into havens of rest for other girls who, unlike me, have
 
 CONCLUSION. 369 
 
 no fathers, nor Uncle Freds, nor Hallams, nor Cousin 
 Archibalds, nor anybody. I'd have Mary Reese trained 
 to be its Little Mother ; and Archibald Wingate should 
 be full manager of all, beloved and venerated, reaping 
 the happiness he has himself bestowed ; and oh, cousin, 
 if it might be true ! and if I were not out of breath ! 
 There ! have I ' rioted ' enough ? " 
 
 Mr. Wingate turned his head sidewise and looked 
 admiringly upon the unselfish girl who had planned so 
 much for others, and had not, apparently, remembered 
 to plan anything for herself. 
 
 " Yes ; thee has rioted enough. But, little one, if 
 thee pleases, if my other kinsfolk here so please ; if the 
 dead past is indeed the dead past, and the future may 
 be our happy own, there is no reason under the blue 
 heaven why thee has not prophesied aright. What say, 
 my friends ? Shall Amy's word be that which the 
 Spirit has moved her to say ? Shall we make it real 
 and tangible, this beautiful, helpful dream of hers ? 
 You are all interested alike. You are my next of kin. 
 After me you will inherit or these others whom she 
 has named. Was Amy's word the true Word, Cuth- 
 bert ? The word Salome would have spoken ? " 
 
 " It was the true Word, Archibald. Let it be as 
 Salome's child has spoken," said Cuthbert Kaye, grasp- 
 ing his kinsman's hand. 
 
 And all Ardsley now knows that as it was then 
 agreed, so it is, and will remain. 
 
 2 B
 
 A DAUGHTER 
 OF THE WEST 
 
 THE STORY OF AN AMERICAN PRINCESS 
 By Evelyn Raymond 
 347 PP- Cloth. $z.jo 
 
 California ranch life is the setting of this bright story for 
 young people. It will read like a fairy tale to those who 
 know nothing of the wideness of life on a great ranch as 
 compared with our overcrowded Eastern city existence. The 
 story "moves." Incident follows incident with rapidity 
 enough to maintain interest, and the teachings of the book 
 tend to a sturdy wholesomeness throughout. Epworth 
 Herald. 
 
 
 
 It is not often that a woman succeeds in writing an Indian 
 story, exciting enough to commend itself to boys, yet with a 
 girl for its principal character, and with the noblest of teach- 
 ings throughout the tale; but in "A Daughter of the West" 
 Evelyn Raymond has accomplished precisely that feat. The 
 scene is laid among the broad valleys and lofty mountains of 
 California, and every chapter is crowded full of incident. 
 Christian Endeavor World. 
 
 
 
 This story of our western plains will appeal to many a 
 youthful reader. The heroine, beloved by her people, the 
 community, and even by the neighboring Indian tribes, carries 
 the interest of the reader to the final page. Her courage in 
 time of personal danger, her sweet disposition in her relations 
 with those around her, are well depicted by the author. The 
 book is well illustrated and attractively bound, and cannot 
 fail to be a success. Journal of Education.
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE WEST 
 
 This "Daughter of the West" is one of the freshest, 
 breeziest, most wholesome stories we have read in a long 
 time. The scene has a California ranch for its setting. But 
 the writer tells her story in such a natnral and charming 
 style, that we relish every word of it. Christian Observer. 
 
 
 
 "A Daughter of the West," by Evelyn Raymond, is a story of 
 California ranch life, of which Patience Eliot is the heroine. 
 By severe experience she comes to hold herself and all her 
 large belongings of wealth as a sacred trust, to be spent in the 
 service of others. The story is one which will tend to quicken 
 the nobler aspirations of all young women. The Advance. 
 
 
 
 This story of Evelyn Raymond's is not lacking in exciting 
 incident, at least, even though it is not a love tale. Patience 
 Eliot, the heroine, a California girl born and bred, as much 
 at home in the saddle as the wildest rider of the plains, 
 exhibits her training in season and out, and though she 
 startles certain more conventional people with her ways, she 
 illustrates well the excellence of the training of Nature's 
 child. The atmosphere of the greater pait of the story is 
 that of Southern California, with its mingled society of 
 Mexicans, Indians and reckless frontiersmen, and among them 
 the heroine lives and thrives. It is a healthful out-of-door 
 story, wholesomely interesting and alive. Colorado School 
 Journal. 
 
 
 
 "A Daughter of the West," by Evelyn Raymond, the story 
 of an American princess, is a narrative of California ranch life. 
 It Affords a pleasant picture of that sort of life, and portrays 
 effectively a certain type of training for the young. It also 
 illustrates the striking changes that sometimes occur in per- 
 sonal careers in a country like our own. It is full of incident, 
 and will promote patriotism and a high ideal of life. The 
 Congregationalist.
 
 A GIRL OF '76 
 
 By Amy E. Blanchard 
 331 pp. Cloth. $1.30 
 
 "A Girl of '76," by Amy E. Blanchard, is one of the best 
 stories of old Boston and its vicinity ever written. The value 
 of the book as real history, and as an incentive to further 
 historical study can hardly be over-estimated. The Book- 
 seller. 
 
 This is one of the season's books that deserves a wide 
 reading among the girls. The events in which Elizabeth 
 Hall, the heroine, took part occurred in those stirring times, 
 beginning with the Boston Tea Party. The call to Lexing- 
 ton, Battle of Bunker Hill, and the burning of Charlestown 
 follow, and in all these the little maid bears her share of the 
 general anxiety and privation with a fortitude which makes 
 wholesome reading. Watchman. 
 
 
 The manners and customs of that time are vividly pictured 
 in this interesting and well written story, and while we joy- 
 fully reach the "peace" chapter with which it ends, we are 
 truly sorry to part with this charming girl of "76. Journal. 
 
 
 The tale is told with sentiment and vivacity, giving bright 
 pictures of a singing school, a quilting bee, and other old- 
 time entertainments. It is just the book for the youngest of 
 the D. A. R. societies, and is dedicated to " My Revolution- 
 ary Sires." Literary World. 
 
 
 
 It is a thoroughly well-told tale, and of so genuine a charm 
 as to challenge the interest of readers other than the young- 
 sters. Here too, the pictures are of actual merit, and de- 
 mand a share in the well deserved praise bestowed upon the 
 book as a whole. S. S. Times.
 
 A REVOLUTIONARY MAID. 
 
 A STORY OF THE MIDDLE PERIOD 
 O F T H E W A R FOR INDEPENDENCE. 
 
 321 pp. Cloth. $150. 
 
 It is charmingly written, and the young reader will not 
 only enjoy it as a story, but will also get a very clear 
 knowledge of that part of history which relates to the war of 
 the Revolution. The little " Revolutionary Maid," Kitty 
 DeWitt, is a plucky little Whig, and full of courage; her 
 presence of mind, on many occasions, saves her and others 
 from the Red coats. Christian Observer. 
 
 n 
 
 Amy E. Blanchard's " A Revolutionary Maid " sets a 
 charming heroine in the middle period of the Revolutionary 
 War, and keeps her a stanch little patriot in spite of her 
 Tory surroundings. Detroit Free Press. 
 
 
 
 The plot of the story before us, without being intricate, is 
 ingenious and the interest in the characters is fully sustained 
 throughout. The trying experiences of Kitty DeWitt were 
 those of a multitude of girls and women, and their decision 
 for patriotism was a power in shaping the great national 
 events which followed. Such books are educational in 
 patriotism. The more American girls are made to feel and 
 know their power and influence in national affairs the better. 
 
 The Inter-Ocean. 
 
 
 
 Among the large number of Revolutionary Books in the 
 new literature, "A Revolutionary Maid" is not merely re- 
 markably entertaining, but also unique. Boston Journal. 
 
 
 
 There could be no better material with which to give an 
 historical flavoring to a story than the New Jersey campaign, 
 the battle of Germantown, and the winter at Valley Forge. 
 Miss Blanchard has made the most of a large opportunity, 
 and produced a happy companion book to her " Girl of '76." 
 
 The Christian Endeavor World.
 
 AN HISTORICAL NOVEL 
 
 A SON OF THE 
 REVOLUTION 
 
 IN THE DAYS OF 
 BURR'S CONSPIRACY 
 
 By Elbridge S. Brooks 
 301 pages. Cloth, $1.50 
 
 Mr. Brooks knows how to catch and hold the attention of 
 boys and girls. In this story of Aaron Burr's conspiracy he 
 is very happy, choosing scenes and incidents of picturesque 
 American history and weaving them into a patriotic and stir- 
 ringly romantic narrative. The young hero is a fine character 
 strongly presented, and from first page to last the interest is 
 lively. We heartily recommend the book to our young readers 
 as one sure to please and instruct them. The Independent. 
 
 
 
 Elbridge S. Brooks has written nothing better than " A 
 Son of the Revolution." Designed for boys, it is so spirited 
 and interesting, dealing as it does with little known episodes 
 in our past history as a nation, that it will gain many readers 
 in the ranks of the grown up. It is really as the sub-title 
 says, "an historical novel" of the days of Aaron Burr, when 
 he was conspiring to create a western empire. A young 
 fellow full of enthusiasm and patriotism, named Tom Ed- 
 wards, comes under the fascination of Burr, and works with 
 him for quite a period before considering his true aims and 
 real character. When the day of awakening comes, the fight 
 with his conscience is thrilling. No better book for boys 
 can be mentioned, nor one so rich in lessons of true patri- 
 otism. The Publishers Weekly.
 
 A SON OF THE REVOLUTION 
 
 Elbridge S. Brooks has told in " A Son of the Revolution " 
 a story which will stimulate the patriotism of all young 
 Americans. He relates the adventures of an Ohio lad who 
 was a relative of Aaron Burr and had implicit faith in that 
 brilliant but unprincipled statesman. The story is remark- 
 ably well told and it is finely illustrated. The San Francisco 
 Chronicle. 
 
 
 
 Mr. Brooks in this volume presents to his readers a new 
 field of interest and importance. No one incident in the his- 
 tory of our country, as a nation, is so full of the picturesque 
 as the wild scheme of treason which stirred the soul of Aaron 
 Burr to plot against the country he had struggled to estab- 
 lish. Every boy ought to know the history of this arch 
 traitor. The Awakener. 
 
 
 
 In this volume the author touches upon a field of interest 
 but little known, and concerning which but slight attention 
 has been given by historians and novelists. 
 
 Burr's conspiracy, although not now considered as an his- 
 torical event of marked importance, yet, during the period of 
 opening up the middle western states was a serious episode 
 in the nation's career. With this period and the events con- 
 nected therewith the author has interested himself, and has 
 presented to the reader a novel of intense feeling of patri- 
 otism and loyalty to the government. 
 
 Coming at this time, when national affairs are strongest 
 in the minds of the people, we predict for this story a wide- 
 spread success. Journal of Education. 
 
 
 An historical of Aaron Burr's time, by Elbridge S. Brooks, 
 presenting the story of the adventures of the "young son" 
 as faithful facts of history, but in an interesting and inspiring 
 way which will hold and help the young reader. The Inter- 
 national Evangel.
 
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