5 S 53 - i 1 1 "%r THREE SUCCESSFUL :RLS. JTXIA CROUCH. NEW YORK: PUBLISHED BY HUKD AXD HOUGHTOX. 1871. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by JULIA CROUCH, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. ITVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: STEREOTYPE!) A ! D PRINTED Bt n. 0. HOUfiUTOX ASD COMPANV. DEDICATION. To MY FATHER AND MOTHER, WHOSE AFFECTIOS FOR ICE, AXD ESTKSXST IS ALL MT FLAX*, IIAVB AILED; TO JTT BBOTHEB ASD SISTEES a THIS WORLD, ASD IS THE WORLD BETO3TD. AJO) TO THE DEAR OLD HOME WHERE WE HAVE ALL LIVED ASD LOVED ASD BEES HAFFT, WITH TKXDKR AFFECT1OS, 75 ZXSCRISEO. S3S8GO CONTEXTS. CHAPTER I. VTASHLSG DAT .... CHAPTER IL AGALS5T THE TIDE - ... . CHAPTER IIL THE OBCHA2D CHAPTER IV. so CHAPTER V. IX SEW YORK 60 CHAPTER VL . ..... . . . . .76 CHAPTER VII. PLTMOCTH CHITKCH ... 91 CHAPTER VHI. 107 CHAPTER IX. THE LOSE LITTLE WIDOW 134 CHAPTER X. DARK CLOUDS . 140 vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XL PAGE A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE 157 CHAPTER XII. A TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE 177 CHAPTER XIII. AFTER THE BALL 190 CHAPTER XIV. THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS . . 209 CHAPTER XV. CHRISTMAS DAY . CHAPTER XVI. HOPES AND FEARS 237 CHAPTER XVII. A NEW EMPLOYMENT AND A NEW ACQUAINTANCE . . . .250 CHAPTER XVIII. CHARITY 264 CHAPTER XIX. THE OLD STORY CHAPTER XX. A DISAPPOINTMENT 291 CHAPTER XXI. MAKY'S LETTER 304 CHAPTER XXII. THE REVIVAL 313 B CHAPTER XXIII. HOPE AND PEACE . . aOR CHAPTER XXIV. TWO LETTERS CONTESTS. CHAPTER XXV. CBAPTER CHAPTER AJLV1L .ara THREE SUCCESSFUL, GIKLS. CHAPTER L WASHDfG DAT. -HERE. Mary, b the last of this tubfoL Tuck them into the boiler, please, and put a stick of wood into the stove, t 44 How red your free is, Kate ! Don't work over that hot suds any longer now, but help me rinse these clothes in this cold water." the summer before she found herself in New York chy. Washing day may be considered an unfavorable time to introduce young ladies in their home ; but in this case it is pardonable, as I am aware that my three girls never appeared to better advantage than on this day. and were never in better spirits, or enjoyed then- Monday morning is generally considered one of the bugbears of domestic fife, and is looked forward to with dread and ifcJifa^ an unnecessary but famM*M^ fret. However, this was 'not die case with die Wind- sor iamlly . There was no day during the whole week pleasanter or more enjoyed. The great Qppr boiler on the stove had a cheery, 2 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. The tubs, washboard, and other implements of wash- ing placed in pompous array on the old shady porch made everybody laugh merrier, and step about with nimbler feet. No hired washerwoman ever came around to put restraint on the busy tongues that hact so much more to communicate on this day than any other. Hannah, Kate, and Mary took the washing into their own hands, and left mother with the general housework ; for she was not over strong, and had done enough hard work in her life, the girls declared, to warrant her a little rest. They were not remark- ably early risers, which fact made known may be a detriment to them in the eyee of many farmers ; but this was in part owing to the somewhat peculiar notion of their mother, that youth needed plenty of sleep, and one was not necessarily lazy who took a pleasant nap in the morning. Therefore it often occurred that neigh- bor Dyke's clothes-line had a few fluttering white gar- ments pinned to it before the Windsor wash was com- menced ; and the girls would espy them, laugh good- naturedly, and often hold a conversation something like the following : " Come here, girls, and look across the field ! I should think Sally's wash was .half out, certain, and ours isn't commenced," was the very common remark of one of them. " The clothes look white, too," Hannah would say ; " but, dear me ! Sally doesn't enjoy it at all, and I dare sav she hardly gives herself time to eat her break- fast." Then Kate : "It is a day of ' tremendous jerks,' Adonijah says ; ' everything tubs, and hot water, and soft soap, and Sally in a fret and a worry, and nothing but crumbs for breakfast and dinner.' " ASHLXG DAT. 3 " I like our way best," says Mary, " because we have such a splendid dine ; and Fm sore we find as much leisure as Sally, if we don't get up quite so early ia the morning." * ** Sally makes everything hard work, and seems to think the beauty of life if she thinks it has any beauty is scrubbing floors white, etc. We try to combine work and pleasure together, and I think we succeed very well," Hannah remarks ; and so they chat away merrily. I shall give a description of one washing day, which is similar to all the rest, and proves that even this much abused and dreaded day may be made pleasant and enjoyable. There they are, all three of them, on the porch in the midst of washing implements ; no crinoline short calico dresses, displaying little stout boots and clean stockings ; arms and hands gleaming white, for somehow these girls would have white hands, in spite of all their housework ; and, above all, smiling, intelligent faces, and {he busiest tongues, that kept up such a continual clatter that a person hearing them at a distance would be impressed with the idea that a half-dozen magpies were somewhere in the vicinity. To say that no gossip entered into die conversation would be a ridiculous thing to say of three merry young girls, who went to meeting on Sunday ; bat gossip, though it entered in largely, was by no means the chief topic. "There!" said Kate, if this suds doesn't look for aD the world hie that heap of clouds yonder ! " straight- ening herself over the wash-tub, and looking first at the bubbles of snowy suds, and then up at the sky. "What a comparison!" said Hannah, " soap-sods and floating clouds!" 4 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " That is only combining the ornamental with the useful," said Kate ; " and when I'm at work, I want to find as many beauties in the labor as possible." " You'll find all there is to find, you little matter-of- fact," said Mary. " I wonder if Sally ever thought of her soap-suds looking like the clouds." " Doubtful," said Hannah. , " Clouds receive very little of her attention, I'm thinking, except when they threaten to bring rain, and sprinkle her clothes more than is desirable. Yesterday, as I came along a little distance with her from church, I remarked that the sky appeared unusually attractive. She turned up her face quickly, scanned the whole heavens, and then said, 'I do hope it will be pleasant to-morrow, so I can get my clothes out ; for last week I was obliged td leave them in the rinsing water till Tuesday morning. I had a mind to ask her if nothing ever really pleased her eye or tickled her fancy, but I didn't." " Well, I do pity Sally," said Kate ; " I don't see how she can have any real enjoyment ; for, really, if I couldn't see beyond my work, if I couldn't live above it, I mean, I should be perfectly miserable." "Why, no, you wouldn't," said Hannah ; "you of course wouldn't enjoy what you do now, but you wouldn't have any taste or idea of it, and therefore wouldn't long for it or miss it. Sally is happy enough in her way ; but it cannot be the best or highest way, I am s.ure." " I don't see what ails Sally, to be so entirely re- gardless of beauty and abstract ideas," said Mary. " Adonijah is more appreciative than she is, and he often makes some original remark that causes me to feel like bursting out into laughter ; but I never dare to even smile, he is so sensitive." -.,,*, WASSIXG DAY. 5 "He can combine the ornamental with the useful quite as well as Kate," said Hannah. " Here is an apron for you to starch, Mary. That strawberry stain positively never will come out, Tor I gave it a danger- ous rubbing." . "Mother can get it out- easy .enough," said Kate; 44 can't you, mother ? ", she asked in a louder voice. Mother was in the kitchen, but she went and looked out on the porch. 44 What is it that I can do ?" she said. 44 Get the strawberry stain out of my apron," said Kate. " Adonijah brought me a bunch of wild straw- berries yesterday ; and before I knew he had any, for he carried them behind him, he put them right into my apron." 4 * Just like Adonijah," laughed mother ; "he wanted to surprise and please you at the same time ; but the stain will come out easily by pouring hot water upon it," 44 So I thought,", said Kate, as she flung a snowy skirt into a white clothes-basket. There was silence for a short time, and then Hannah said abruptly, " Twenty dollars ! what is that ? only a drop in the bucket." 44 However, it's five more than fifteen," put in Mary understandingly. " And it only lacks five of being twenty-five," said K - . 44 O, that's all plain enough to be seen ; but because , it's more or less than something else don't make it anything but twenty dollars," said Hannah; "and MJiat will twenty dollars do ? " 44 Why, it is a heap of money, and will do a good deal. It will pay your fare to New York, and board fou quite a little time," said Mary encouragingly. '* " Yes, quite a little time, sure enough," said Han- 6 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. nah, smoothing her brown hair back with her wet hands, and leaning against the great blue tub. " Mamie is such a little goosie, I do believe she thinks twenty dollars would board me half the winter ; but I know something about how money goes in cities. You might keep a dollar at home here six months, but a dollar in New York would vanish away before one was aware. Don't you believe it, Kate ? " " Well, I suppose we should have to pay for every- thing in New York, and that would be different from what it would be at home ; but we might be economi- cal, and not make a purchase at every peanut stand we come to," said Kate. " I like peanuts most dreadfully," said Mary, " but I'd no more spend a cent of my fifteen dollars for one than I would go a-begging. What are peanuts in comparison to music ? " Mary had been exercising, and her cheeks were very red as she stood in the door that led from the porch to the kitchen, with her thumbs in the bib of her apron, and her eyes sparkling. The girls stood up and laughed merrily, and Mary- joined them, but said, after the laughter had some- what subsided, ''Well, I don't see what you are laughing at, after all. I mean that I wouldn't spend my money for sweetmeats. I think it's foolish, don't you, mother ? " " Mary thinks she has advanced an original idea," laughed Kate, " and goes to mother for sanction, when it is just what mother has always taught her." " I think you all understand the sweetmeat subject pretty well ; but how is it " about useless articles of dress?" said mother. " Mary must answer that," said Hannah. " You all know I never trouble myself with such things." WASHING DAT. 7 "I think a charming little hat, trimmed in French pink rose-bads, would tempt Mary before the peanuts would," said Kate. u Who was it that was longing far a black silk vel- vet dress and a diamond ring last night? Jim know, Hannah," said Mary a little triumphantly. "Well, I should* think that was the height of ex- travagance," said mother, looking at Kate, and Laugh- ing. * Well, it was of coarse," said Kate, but I was only referring to the time when I shall be rich, and then it won't be extravagance. I hardly think my twenty-five dollars will help get it." " Perhaps such fancies do no harm," said mother, "but I don't think a velvet dress would make you feel any happier than your white lawn one does, that you have just washed so nicely." " I guess it would," said Mary; "for she said yes- terday it was getting to be so old and thin, she was ashamed of it " Mary is. little tell-tale, there T' said Kate, blush- ing and laughing. "Fin not really ashamed of it, bat I was thinking I would like a new one. There ! here is a basket of clothes to take to the line : who'll go with me?" " 1 wuV said Hannah, "if you Tl pass me my sun- bonnet and gloves. Now, Mary, yon take those clothes from the boiler while we are gone, and have them ready to rinse when we get back." In long sun-bonnets, and gloves with half of each finger gone, together the girls lifted the clothes-basket, and bore it out to the long clothes-line, beneath which die grass was fresh and green. Talking busily and earnestly, they pinned the white garments one by one 8 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. to the line, and the June breeze swayed and folded and unfolded them ; and the sun, yet in the east, flung warm rays upon them, and made them as white as snow. When the last garment was gone from the basket, the two little washerwomen sat down under an old pear-tree near, and with their feet in the cool grass they plucked at the daisies and clover, and talked earnestly. " I must go," said Kate ; " I must learn something. I am old enough, as old as Daniel Stearns was when he went away from home, two years older ; and he is a rich man now. Shall I be a silly girl, and sacri- fice the mines of knowledge I might explore ? Shall the mere fact that I am a girl keep me from being what my heart yearns for ? " The black eyes flashed. Firm lines settled around the red lips, as Kate changed her easy, idle position, and sat stiffly looking into her sister's face". "I have always been sorry that I wasn't a boy," she continued ; " but because I'm a girl, I won't be a ninny. You may take note of that, Han- nah." Very serious note was taken of it by Hannah, who tore the crimson clover-tops in pieces, and pushed her long bonnet a little back from her face. " O, dear Kate," she said, "if we only could go! If we were sure it would be best ! You must go, Kate. I am sure you have talent, and here it will be cramped, and at last lost from sight. Take my money with yours, which, with that you expect to make before fall, will keep you a few months at least, and go to New York. We will all help you, and you can go comfortably." " No," said Kate, shaking her head, " not a cent of your money when you are as anxious to go as I. Be- WASHING DAT. 9 rides, money would not do me half the good that yourself would, and yon must go with me." -It would be pfcasanter," said Hannah, "but it takes twice as much to support two as one. And then Mary nerer would stay at home if we should go." " Yes, that is just what worries me a little. Mazy is so enthusiastic on the subject, and I don't think she mines the hardships we must endure ; and then what can she do if she goes?" There wasa sudden spring behind the girls, a Ktde sudden laugh, and Mary darted between them with her hands full of clover, which she tossed into their "I've heard what yon said about me, yon lazy washerwomen, sitting in the shade while the sun is almost at the noon point, and the wash not out. Yon ' undoubtedly would hare sat here till sunset without your dinner or supper, if I hadn't come to break up your slanderous conversation. I *haU go to Xew York, though; yon may have as many sly talks about it as you please. I have got fifteen dollars toward it, and I can do as much as you can." " I wish yon had stayed away a whue longer, Miss Eavesdropper ; but as you have forced your company upon us, we will not mind you, but keep on with our talk," said Hannah. * I don't know why Mary can't stay at home this winter; she isn't but eighteen and a half. By next winter, you know, Mary, we shall be accustomed to die city ; and then it win be 90 much easier for yon. Only think what a time we'll have with yon tagging us about, homesick and discouraged, hungry and everything !" " Tagging you about l n said Mary scornfully. "IH do no such thing, m take care of myself and I shan't 10 THREE f SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. get any more homesick, discouraged, or hungry than you will. Pooh ! I guess I'm not quite a ninny, and I can live on crackers a good while ; I like them." " How are you going to pay for your music les- sons ? " asked Kate. " Father'll give me the money. He will give all of us some, and I shall get a few scholars, and live quite respectably. I shall go ; I've settled it thor- oughly in my mind. So don't waste your time trying to persuade me differently. I have no idea of being persuaded ; but if we remain idle much longer, the wash won't be through till dinner time. There comes old Dan Pike and Maurice. I wonder where they're going to." The girls took more dignified positions, and brushed the clover from their aprons as the rough old farmer and his son passed along through the green yard. " You're a-takin' it easy, gals, takin' it easy," said Daniel, in a voice which sounded much like the bark of a little spaniel. " Wai, I've no adjictions to't though marm to hum keeps the gals there a-trottin' smartly, then she scolds 'em case they don't get no more liter- ary knowledge, like some of their neighbors ; but I tell her how't they don't get time. A dryin' day for yer close, but the sky looks a leetle too rainy to warrant us dry weather long." Daniel didn't cease his heavy tramp as he relieved his mind of a thought or two, without giving the young ladies in the grass opportunity to reply. Maurice, full six feet tall, with his face burned and tanned, blood- red to the roots of his sandy hair, tramped on behind his father with a nod of his head, and a grunt of rec- ognition. The girls were silent until they had well by ; then Kate said, in low, musing tone, WASHING DAY. 11 41 " They think we are lazy. Don't you know what Mrs. Daniel said about us ? Maurice is the greatest tell-tale made, and he will tell all over the neighbor- hood about our lying on the grass Monday morning. He'll be sure to say lying." " Let him tell then," said Hannah. " I think we can manage our own aflairs, and I guess we have a right to manage them as we please." " He was pretty short to-day, wasn't he ? " said Mary. " You see I snubbed him yesterday. Con- ceited fellow ! His father has got a good deal more sense than he has, and that isn't saying much. He's the chap that said I wasn't fit for a wife, but could only sit up and pound on that great 4 pianner.' Ever since, I've taken every opportunity to snub him." " I think we have ' taken it easy ' long enough now ; let us hurry and finish our work. I want to see if I can make that gate look any better in my sketch," said Kate, rising, and taking the clothes-basket. They went back leisurely to the porch. The smell of savory meats came stealing out from the kitchen. They worked a little livelier than before, pounding, rubbing, and rinsing, but talking as busily as ever. "This is the last," shouted Hannah* after a little time, as she tossed a garment which she had been starching into the basket. " Three cheers, and honor to ourselves ! Only eleven 6*clock ; plenty of time for clearing away things, making our toilets, and eating our dinners. All through, mother." " You have been very smart, and had very good luck," said mother ; " and now, mind you, don't sit in the wind and take cold, but bring in the clothes that are already dry." " Nothing goes * contrairy ' to-day," said Mary, 12 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " only you girls don't want me to go to New York with you ; but I shall, and I was careful of my gray poplin this spring, so I could have it for my travelling and street dress. I shall go in to see Madame Demorest, when I am there ; not to employ her, of course, but because I want to see how the woman looks who de- signs such elegant toilets." " I opine that you'll find something else to do, be- sides looking up a lady so little necessary to your hap- piness," said Hannah. " How high>flown and prudent you are ! " said Mary. At the dinner-table wqre three shining faces, not heated, or anxious, or disturbed, but placid and satis- fied ; and with appetites sharpened by pleasant labor, they partook of the palatable food before them, each declaring in her own mind what had been a settled fact with them years ago, that mother was the best cook and the best mother in the world. Adonijah, who had come over with his great yoke of oxen to give father "a lift" about "breaking up " a piece of new land, thought that his hands must be all thumbs, or his knife and fork had the very " deuce " in them, as they " slid around like eels," and his fork at last dropped on the floor with a hot potato attached to it. By this time his face had become very red, for he never once lost sight of the fact that three pairs of bright eyes belonging to* three young ladies were taking note of his awkwardness and confusion. Han- nah, however, though like the rest, inwardly con- vulsed with laughter, helped him to regain his com- posure. "Never mind that potato, 'Nijah. Here's another and a better one. Didn't you find stones plenty in the north field to-day?" ' WASHING DAY. 13 " Plenty? by yes, thick 's hail-stuns. I thought the plough-nose must smell danger there one while." Of course, this speech allowed everybody an oppor- tunity to give vent to their feelings, and the laugh went round. After dinner, before going back to the field, Adoni- jah took occasion to slip into Kate's hand a small roll, tied with a black thread, saying in a tone which meant to be a whisper, but which could be heard through from the porch to the sitting-room, " It's the meetin'- house. I made it yesterday settin' on an -old stump in the brush paster. I haven't showed it to a livin' bein', and I want you to see if you think it's a bit nat'ral. Tell me to-night when I come round to supper." "Yes, I will, 'Nijah," said Kate kindly, as she slipped the roll into her pocket, and Adonijah cleared the door-steps with one leap, and strided off to take his " noonin' " under the apple-trees back of the house, where the oxen were lazily eating their dinner. " That boy has got considerable ingenuity," said Kate, as she unrolled the paper in the presence of the girls, and proceeded to examine the drawing ; " but, really, I don't believe he will ever make an artist." " However, I wish he could have an opportunity to develop his tastes," said Hannah. " Why couldn't he make a draughtsman ? This isn't a very bad-looking picture, Kate. I'm sure I should know he meant it for a meeting-house, though I should have no idea what he meant that for in the background." " O, what a looking thing ! " laughed Mary. " Poor 'Nijah never need attempt to be a Raphael. He would do better holding a plough in the north field. Dear me ! Kate, what will you say to him ? " " O, something encouraging," said Kate. " An at- 14 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. tempt deserves appreciation at least, if it is ever so rude and untimely. 'Nijah is more original than most people we meet, and he does have now and then a re- markably bright idea. He don't have any opportunity to develop his refined notions, the family are all so coarse, and think manual labor the only commendable thing." " Yes, and Sally never will give him an encourag- ing word ; but it's always ' Here, 'Nijah, bring me a pail of water, or an armful of wood, and don't be droning over that old^book.' I've heard her many a time. She can't understand him at all," said Mary. " He must suffer from being so bashful," said Han- nah, " and, instead of outgrowing it, I believe he grows into it. I never thought of his being so terribly awkward and bashful when we went to school. He is nearly as old as Kate but good-day. I can't spend my time moralizing or gossiping this afternoon. I am going to write a startling story, with Adonijah for hero." Hannah darted away, ran lightly up the old back- stairs, and was soon comfortably seated in a retired corner, where she spent the entire afternoon in solitude, oblivious to all around her, even the continual drill on the piano in the parlor below, while she lived in an ideal world of her own, laughing or crying over her manuscript as the sentiment dictated. Kate and Mary were also absorbed in their own favorite employment. Kate hid away in a flowery nook, where she could see in the distance the old farm- house, and the tall, red gate leading into the barn- yard ; and with her book and pencil sketched away quietly, or sat back in her rough but comfortable seat, and looked dreamily around her, weaving her WASHING DAY. 15 thoughts into visions of future opportunity and attain- ments. Mary, sitting at the piano, with the wind steal- ing in through the open window, lifting gently the stray curl at her neck, and adding a deeper tint to her cheek, run her fingers in quick succession over the keys, practicing the scales for hours, wholly forgetful of time or surroundings. Thus passed away the afternoon of this washing day, which was similar to all of the rest, and, as the girls declared, was productive of more good results than almost any other day in the week. Somehow, working together on the old porch, with the soft breeze fluttering the myriads of leaves on the numerous apple-trees, where the birds sang in a chorus of melody, making grand strains of oratorio music, as Mary said, had a tendency to draw their hearts nearer together, and call out those thoughts which inspired their souls to lofty hopes and desires. Each one was an inspiration for all ; the hopes of one increased the hopes of the other ; and the expression of these hopes, desires, and ambitions, which was unreserved on wash- ing day, bound the hearts and the souls of the cheerful workers into a firmer and sweeter friendship, which was sure to do much toward developing their individ- ual' talents and tastes. Having from their own exer- tions and commendable perseverance, and the cheerful assistance of their parents, been educated for above the commonality of farmers' daughters, they lived above the manual labor they performed, in a sphere of thought elevated, lofty, and pure. Owing to their limited resources, to educate them- selves respectably had taken more time than is usually given to finishing young ladies' education ; but their close application to their studies, their constant em- 16 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. ployment, and their limited means, gave them little time or opportunity, even if they had desired it, to at- tend to the minor points of dress, fashion, looks, or the many frivolities which are attended to by too many young ladies, and therefore they were as fresh and merry and bright as girls of eighteen, while their minds were stored with useful knowledge , and their hopes and desires were far above those of a majority of their sex. Washing day came in with gladsome voices to welcome it, and went out with soft tones half weary, and eyelids drooping, but wartn hearts bless- ing it, and stimulated to greater action and livelier ambition. Huddled together on the old sofa, in the soft country twilight, leaning upon each other, and filled with unutterable emotions, they watched dreamily the moonbeams lying white upon the carpet, and only spoke after long intervals of thought and silence. The whippoorwill's clear notes floating over the green dewy lawn from the still woods, gave a touch of pathos to their thoughts, and softened their ambitious dreams into gentle hopes of future usefulness and per- sonal elevation. AGAINST THE TIDE. 17 CHAPTER H. AGAINST THE TIDE. " GUESS the oddest thing that ever could occur," said Mary, as she rushed into the sitting-room one sultry September afternoon, where her sisters were reading and trying to keep cool Kate lounging on the sofa, and Hannah sitting in a stiff rocker. " A little air in motion ; I am nearly suffocated with the heat," said Hannah, without lifting her eyes from the book she was reading. " A glass of iced lemonade brought to me on a sil- ver salver," said Kate lazily. " O you selfish things ! do give a thought to your neighbors. Self-abnegation, somebody says, forms the most heavenly trait of woman's nature." " You mean human nature," said Hannah. " Well, woman's nature and human nature are all the same," said Mary, " but why don't you guess ? " " Is there really some news on the wing ? " askeu Kate, shutting her book with a finger between the leaves, and displaying a small amount of lazy interest. " Of course there is ; else why am I rushing around in this way ? " said Mary. " Good or bad ? " asked Hannah. " Startling because of its rarity," said Mary. " A cloud in the sky portending a shower of rain," guessed Kate. 2 18 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " The mouse caught, that gnawed a hole through my scrap-book," guessed Hannah. " How many times must I refer you to your neigh- bors?" said Mary. "I don't trouble myself about rats and mice just now, or showers of rain. It's some- thing to do with the human race. Now guess with some sense and reason." "Perhaps Sally's got a beau, or Deacon Price and old Aunt Patty are married, or Dan Pike's pigs have been destroying somebody's fine garden," said Kate. " Or Maurice has invited you to a picnic," put in Hannah, now thoroughly awake, and pll of interest. " Pooh ! a Yankee ought to guess nearer right. Something odd, I told you." " Well, haven't we guessed the oddest things in the world, except about the pigs ? " asked Kate. " 'Tisn't anything about New York, is it ? " " Not exactly. You are too lazy to have a keen thought ; so listen." " We are giving the closest attention," said Han- nah, closing her book, and laying it on the table. " Why, it's just this. Hark ! do you hear that pounding ? " " Yes, I do, and I've been wondering what it was for the last hour. Is anybody putting up a new house in the vicinity ? " said Kate. " No, but Sally is going to have a tea-party next Thursday afternoon in the maple grove at the foot of the knoll south of the house, and 'Nijah is making the table and seats." " I never should have guessed that, if I had tried from now till spring," said Hannah. " It is the very last thing that would have entered my mind," said Kate. " Are we invited ? " AGAINST THE TIDE. 19 " Of course. I've just seen Sally. She says 'Nijah put it into her head, and promised to do every- thing but the cooking. She wouldn't hear a word to it at first ; but he ' hung on so,' to use Sally's words, and seemed so set on it, and promised to make her a new kneading-board if she would, and churn the but- ter as early as she wanted him to for two weeks, and seemed so anxious about it, that she finally consented." " Good for 'Nijah ! " laughed Hannah. " A treat for us just before going to New York." "I half think 'Nijah thought of it too," said Kate. " He wouldn't have told Sally if he had, and I'm con- ceited enough to believe this party is a farewell honor to us." " There, isn't that a grand idea ! " said Hannah, " too good to prove only a fancy of a surmising brain. Don't let us get disenchanted, but accept the supposi- tion as a fact, and act accordingly." " And dress in our best, and wear wreaths ? " asked Mary. " Dress in our best by all means," said Kate ; " but as for the wreaths, let each one decide for herself^ For my part, I think it would look affected." '* Imagine me in a wreath ! " laughed Hannah. " How conspicuous it would make my high cheek- bones and freckles ! Anything else but ornaments that will make those prominent." " O fie ! don't prate on that," said Mary. " I don't think your cheek-bones are so very high, and I' in sure from where I am now, I don't see over half a dozen freckles ; do you, Kate ? " " I can't exert myself sufficiently to count them," said Kate, " but I think Hannah and I can both easily dispense with the wreath. Have you heard anything about wreaths that caused vou to mention them ? " 20 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " Well, just a hint. I think all the girls will wear them," said Mary. " Why, what makes you think so ? " asked Hannah with a wise look, as if she suspected Mary to be the originator of the plan. " Because I heard a hint that way. I don't know much about it, but I think it would be fantastic, and rather fairy-like. 1 think I shall wear one, for I don't like to be odd," said Mary, pulling off her fingerless "Confess now, Mary, that you originated the idea, and mentioned it to Sally," said Kate, with a very sly twinkle in her eye, as she changed her position on the old sofa a little. " Well, whaj: if I did ? Haven't I as good a right to propose things as anvbody ? and isn't it just as good an idea as if somebody else proposed it?" said Mary, a little chagrined that her secret had been divined, especially as she had proposed the wearing of wreaths because she had that afternoon made one, and, stand- ing before the mirror with it poised on her head, had thought it exceedingly becoming, and wanted an excuse to wear one at the tea-party. Like the world at large, she had thought to gratify herself, and not appear strange by causing others to follow her example. " Why, the idea is all the better because you pro- posed it," said Hannah, taking up her book again as if to recommence her reading. " I would like to see the girls all have wreaths on their heads, and flowers all about them ; for we'll not have much more time to play with and admire the beauties of summer." " But we shall see the great city, the thousand things we have read about, street cars, omnibuses, Broadway stores, Fifth Avenue residences, magnifi- AGAINST THE TIDE. 21 cent churches, crowds of people, ferry-boats, every- thing grand, exciting, and splendid; and we shall learn L! For my part, I am tired of being an ignora- Mary, flinging herself by the side of Kate on the sofa, and tying back on its unoccupied arm. * I wish I knew what everybody thinks about it." **I can guess what everybody thinks of it in this neighborhood who has heard of it. They think it preposterous, rash, and dangerous, I am sure," said Kate. " If snot a wonder, either, that they do. I suppose," said Hannah, M they don't know our plans and ideas as we do, nor how very anxious we are to learn some- thing; besides, it's a new idling for girls to do anything independent. If we were boys, now, it would be all right enough; but J think girls can do something as well as boys." 44 At least I hare a curiosity to find out whether they can or not," said Kate. <* Well show them what can be done," said Mary, as she scrutinized the book Kate had been reading. "Marble Faun P Dear me! Kate, how many times are yon going to read that odd story over ? " Tin not decided," said Kate," opening her book and looking over the pages. " Don't talk any more now, Mary ; it" s too warm." Thursday proved to be a very propitious and charm ing day, and the girls were delighted with the bright prospect of a gay afternoon. An undercurrent of news had stolen very slyly through the air that there would be a dance after supper, under the large maple, a little in the rear of the grove, after which the com- pany was to be refreshed with sweetmeats and lemon- ade. 22 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. A little later than most of the party had started (owing more to Mary's bad luck with her hair, and Kate's inability to find one of her slippers, than a desire to be like fine and showy ladies), the three girls at last ran down the front steps, and walked on toward the maple grove. " Do keep on this side of me, Kate, toward the sun," said Mary, " or my. face will be blistered; besides, it looks awful green in me not to have a parasol. If Sally hadn't bounced on mine so last Sunday, it would be in good working order now ; but I do wish I had a better fan. I think it looks so elegant to see a lady with a handsome fan. I know I look like a dowdy. I feel so. My dress was starched too stiff, and these frills on my sleeves are too limp to compare." " She looks very nice, don't she, Kate ? " said Han- nah, looking with a half squint in her eyes at Mary's airy little figure cap-a-pie. " Why, I never saw you look better, Mary," said Kate, holding her parasol so as to shade both of their faces as well as possible from the sun. " I don't think your dress is too stiff. I like to see dresses stand out considerably. I think they make persons look more elegant and graceful." " Well, don't Kate look just artistic in that new col- lar and scarlet bow, and the scarlet ribbon on her hair ? " asked Mary, well pleased with her compliments, and ready to please others in turn. Hannah was the one addressed, and replied, as usual on such matters, with little interest. As they drew nearer the grove, they heard merry voices, and saw now and then a glimpse of an airy figure, the flutter of a white dress or crimson scarf, and their own faces began to shine with anima- AGAINST THE TIDE. Lo tion. They were walking in a little narrow path* ' through a clover field, and the " second crop " looked green and cool and delightful. At the end of the field was a pair of bars, half hidden by an old wild cherry- tree, and shrubbery forming a thicket drooped its dense Mage over the rode bar-posts, making it a charming place to linger and lean on the rustic rails. The girls were so OUST with an animated conversation, that al- most before they had thought of such a thing, the bars were dropped in a heap at one end, and there stood Adonjiah blushing and laughing before diem. "Why, how you did startle us, "Nijah ! Where did you whisk from so quick? " said Mary. "Bight there in the alders. Fve been a-waitm' for you here for fan half an hour," said 'Ngah. M Fm sure it's Tery kind of you to wait for us, *Nijah; but hasn't the company 'missed you, think, and wondered where you were?* 7 ' said Kate. "No, I guess not. Nobody seldom misses me. I'm allers an odd one at picnics and such things. Good many folks says yon girls is 'stuck up,' but I don't think so. I know I'm jest the awkwardest fel- ler that ever was, and Tm sure I never see you turn up your nose at me, though I can't help expectm* it every time I see ye, 'cause you understand the ways of the world so well," said Adonijah, as the girls stood on the opposite side of the bars, and stopped whfle he put them up. "Ofie! 'Nijah," said Hannah; "who cares for awkwardness? We would be a sOly mess of girls to turn up our noses at anybody as kind as you are. How many are there in the grove ? " "I guess everybody that was invited, 'cept Martha an' Jane Wood. They've got the measles," said 24 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. Adonijah. " I begun to be 'fraid you wouldn't come 'tall, and that would a been a bad hit, far " here Adonijah stopped, and blushed redder than ever. " For what, 'Nijah ? " asked Mary, in a voice that betrayed great curiosity. " Why, because the ' time ' was got up on your accounts," blurted out 'Nijah, as he took long strides which threatened near separation, if the girls didn't either walk faster, or he slacken his pace. " Was it really all for us ? " asked Kate ; " and we must thank you for it too, because I know it was your invention. Besides, I don't believe there is another young man in the neighborhood who has got enough enterprise to start such a thing." This one speech of Kate fully repaid Adonijah for all his trouble, and if the whole thing had been broken up then, he would have been perfectly satisfied. Even his labor with the rough table and seats, the blood-blister on the end of his thumb, the working for his Uncle Jim, after the chores were done at home, to procure money for the sweetmeats and lemonade, sank into insipid insignificance by the side of Kate's com- pliment. But he only walked faster than ever, with his long arms swinging by his side, and his new stiff boots squeaking tremendously at every step. "Don't go so fast, 'Nijah," called Hannah, in as low a tone as possible, that the picnickers might not hear. Adonijah halted with a sudden jerk, and in his em- barrassment and confusion stooped awkwardly, and picked up a stone, which he aimed at a red squirrel running along the fence, without the least intention of hitting it. " There's Emma and Dill," said Mary, as they neared the grove, and saw a merry group of young AGAIXST THE TIDE. 25 people walking, sitting, and enjoying themselves gener- ally. " Don't they make a beautiful picture ? " said Kate. In a few moments they were in the midst of the company themselves, laughing, asking questions, and making merry with the rest. Several of the company stood a little aloof, and looked on grimly. " I hope they're late enough," Mary heard some- body say. " How they do try to put on style ! Pa says their father and mother must be perfectly crazy to think of letting them go to New York ; and pa knows just what Xew York is, for he stayed there nearly six weeks, once, when he was at work a-carpentering, and he says it's no place for lone young girls ; and he won- ders their father will be so rash." Mary gave Kate's sleeve a slight jerk, but Kate had not heard the gossip. She was too busily engaged ; so, as soon as opportunity offered, Mary whispered the news to Hannah, who said she wasn't at all surprised, and she thought they were treated rather coolly, but it wasn't the least consequence. Not long after this, as the three sisters and several others sat in a group together, Maurice Pike approached them. " Heard you was goin' to New York," he said, look- ing at Hannah, who, as the oldest, generally had all the questions to answer. - We talk of it," answered Hannah, who was with the other girls making a wreath of maple leaves for the table. You won't stay there long, I'm thinkin'," said Maurice. ' It's a bad enough place for men ; most on 'em gets their pockets picked, and some on 'em gits murdered ; but for girls to think of goin' there, it's like running into confusion and distress." 26 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " O dear ! how can you think of such a thing as going there ? " said little pale-faced Dill, who sat at Hannah's knee, and furnished her with bits of straw to pin the leaves together. " We don't intend to get robbed, or anything of the kind," spoke up Kate, as if she intended to convince them all at once. " Daniel Stearns didn't get injured by going there, and we Hannah and I are older than he was." " But you are girls," said Maurice, as if that settled the whole matter on his side. " But that don't keep us from having common sense," said Kate. " Well, I wouldn't resk a sister of mine there," said Maurice. Kate wanted to tell him that he would risk her to nearly work herself to death, and run and wait upon him when she was too tired to stand, while he sat and did nothing ; but she wisely refrained from making any personal remarks. " It's a crazy thing to do, and no mistake," said a tall, sharp-eyed girl, standing a little outside of the circle. " I wouldn't make such a boy of myself, such a daring, bold girl, as one must be to go unprotected, without a single friend or relation, in the worst place in the world." The sisters' faces grew red with indignation, and Hannah, who was sometimes a little hasty, was about to make a sharp reply, but she caught a glimpse of slender little Dill's face, white and anxious, and she said in as calm a voice as possible, " We have friends everywhere, among the good, and I am sure there are good people in New York. We shall attend to our own affairs, and I don't think any one will harm us. Anvhow, I am not afraid." AGAINST TOE TIDE. 27 " Nor I either,*' said Mary ; " we are going to New York for the good we can get out of it. We shall have no time to give any attention to the bad, even if we wished to." " I'll tell you what I've heard lately, that happened right in the midst of the city," said the black-eyed girl. "A young lady who was visiting there went out alone one day, only just a little ways, to match some ribbon, and never came back again in the world ; and her poor mother went crazy, and is now in the insane asylum ; and that is what New York is." To the three young girls who were anxious to seek ir fortunes in the great city, this was an unpleasant y ; and they made no reply, which seemed to give the speaker* courage to continue. " I heard of a man besides," she said, " who was killed in broad daylight, and robbed of all his money. Whj r it would really take, I think, a week to tell all I have heard about the city, especially what a dreadral place it is for unprotected females." " Didn't yon never hear none of these stories ? " asked Maurice, dropping an apple at the Joe of his heavy boots, and then kicking it off in the distance. " They actually hain't got no end. I've heard Uncle Blade tell one after another, hours at a time." " I don't care about hearing so many frightful things," said Kate, a little uneasy, and anxious to change the subject of the conversation. *' Of course, cities are worse than the country, and no doubt there is danger; but we shall try to keep out of it, and accomplish our purpose." " Strange purpose ! " muttered the black-eyed girl. tt It would do better for a harum-scarum boy." " I suppose every one has a right to her own opin- 28 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. ion," said Hannah, sorry the next instant she had said it. " Don't talk this way any longer," said Dill. " Look ! Adonijah and Sally are coming to set the table, and the wreath isn't finished." " Yes it is, just finished," said Hannah, holding it up to be admired ; " it shall be placed in the middle of the table. Come, let us help Sally." Sally, with a covered dish, and Adonijah, with a large basket, drew near them, and then preparations went on for supper. The snowy cloth was thrown over the rough boards which formed a temporary table, and busv hands made the earthenware fly, while their tongues followed the example. " O Sally, you are just the best cook in the world, said Mary, as she cut a light cake, with sharpened appetite. " Wait'll you've tasted of it," said Sally, who was a stout buxom girl, with a very full red face, and hands which much resembled Adonijah's in color and hard- iness. " It's all nonsense to set the table out here," she continued. "Goodness! there's a spider now, and the leaves keep a-dropping from the trees, and make the table look like confusion ! It'll keep somebody busy to keep them off." " O don't mind if they come on ; let us leave them," said Kate ; " they have begun to turn ; here is one of a beautiful crimson dropped pat into this plate. How pure and sweet it looks, lying on the white china ! " While Kate was so busy admiring the stray leaf, Sally was brushing them off from the table with a nap- kin. " Sally's too neat," said Mary. " Don't, Sally, brush the wreath off. Don't you think it is pretty? " AGAIXST THE TIDE. 29 AC, it's good enough for them who don't have noth- ing else to do but make such things," said Sally, busily engaged over a loaf of cake which she didn't feel quite satisfied with, because it didn't have the right "bake"pnit. " Say, Sally, are we going to dance after supper? " whispered Mary in the busy hostess' ear, as they stood a little apart from the rest. " So Adonijah says," answered Sally ; " why, do von want to ? I thought vou folks didn't believe in it." " Well, they don't believe in balls, or anything like that ; but they think a little dance under the trees, when we are all acquainted, is well enough," said Mary. " Maurice has got his fiddle up to die house, I be- lieve ; so I guess there'll be something after supper." And there was a merry good time, a genuine dance, not a dawdling, dreamy walk through the figures, but animated, though not altogether graceful move- ments. Maurice, sitting on a rough bench, played over and over the same old tunes on a violin of very in- ferior quality and harsh tone ; but the hearts of the merry dancers were all in tune, and they .balanced and turned, chasseed and promenaded, their faces all aglow with the exercise and enjoyment. The leaves on the maples continued to drop in gentle silence, the air grew cooler and sweeter as the twilight approached, and at last, in the glow of the brilliant tints of the west, they rested, and ate the sweetmeats Adonijah had prepared. It was altogether a pleasant party to the three girls ; yet the talk about New York, the stories concerning the great citv, though not unheard before, threw a little shadow across their hopes and their enjoyment. 30 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. As thev were about to depart, Sally called Hannah one side, and said in a low tone, " You don't really intend to go to New York, do you, Hannah, without nobody in the world to protect you girls ? I heard so, but I told the folks I couldn't believe it." " We can't tell about the future much," said Han- nah, " but we expect to go." " Adonijah was sure you was going, but I couldn't be. I wish you could talk with pa 'bout it. I shouldn't really think you'd go for the world. I should think you'd rather stay at home this winter ; there ain't near so much to do in the winter, you know, as there is in the sumner ; and I should think you might enjoy yourselves here." " Why, Sally," said Hannah, " we are not going to enjoy ourselves at all. We are going to learn some- thing, or try to. There are no opportunities here, and we want to go where there are some." " What makes you be so different from all the other girls ? There isn't one but you that could be hired to go, and I do think it's foolish ; and I think it has a bad influence. Everybody kind of talks about it." " Well, Sally, we can't help it if they do ; and I can't believe it will be in the end a bad influence. You have given us a great treat, you and 'Nijah, and I think all have enjoyed it immensely. You had such ' a nice supper, and everything went off so well." "I think I had pretty good luck with everything but that one loaf of cake that had the kiss-candy in the middle. That didn't bake ju*t right, but it went off pretty well, after all. I hope you've all had a good time." Slowly the girls wended their way homeward, some- what weary, but a little distitrbed and unsatisfied on AGAINST THE TIDE. 31 the New York question. Each one, as she gathered her skirts away from the cool moist clover, walked on silently, and thought of the dangers to be met in the city. Few words were spoken; and when they got home, they pot away their "fixings" unbound their hair, and took their accustomed place on the old sofa. The house was still, the twilight grew deeper, and the wind arose and sighed and moaned in the branches of tho. old cherry-trees. New York had never seemed to jthem before as it did that night ; never so gloomy and dark and unfriendly. Whether it was the opposition they had met with at the party, or some unseen influence, they could not tell. Nei- ther dared or wished to speak her thoughts to the others, and each hoped the others felt less discourage- ment. The shadows grew thicker, but they did not wish for a light ; and when they were entirely hidden in the darkness, the door opened, and their father stood on the threshold and said, " Children, are you all here?" "Yes," answered Hannah, wondering what was coming, and taking a position a little more erect. Steps and a deeper shadow told them that father had advanced into the room, and taken a seat in the stiff rocker. ~ I have been thinking." he said, as he settled him- self in the chair, " that it's a great undertaking for you to go to New York. It don't seem quite the thing for three girls to go into a great city, and find their way around unprotected. If there was some one there who would take a little care of you ; but there isn't one in the whole city to depend on, and I am afraid it is rash. I didn't think so much about it when it was first proposed, because the time to go was in the die- 82 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. tance, and I hardly realized that it would ever come around ; but now the first of October is drawing near, and there isn't much more time to consider. I suppose vou have set your hearts on it, and I don't wonder at all that you want to go somewhere to learn something ; but if anything dreadful should happen to one or all of you, all the learning you would get wouldn't be of much consequence. Why don't you conclude to stay at home, after all ? I hear that a portrait-painter is coming to town this winter ; and Kate can go once a week, and take lessons of him. Mary can go at the same time, and take her lessons as she did last winter ; and Hannah can stay at home and write. Wouldn't this be a better way than to go away off to New York when you are unused to cities, and are unsuspecting, and therefore liable to be imposed upon ? " He ceased to speak, but for a moment there was no answer from the old sofa, where three hearts were throbbing with disappointment, feeling that their hopes were about to be crushed. Then Kate said, in a voice which, in spite of her efforts to the contrary, betrayed somewhat her feelings, " We can depend on each other, father. We will take care of each other; three girls together are so different from one, you know." " Yes, of course, that is true. I wouldn't have con- sented for a moment for one to go alone ; but the question is whether you will really gain anything by going? Wouldn't you do better to stay at home, and do as I said ? " " For my part," said Mary, " I don't feel as if I could take lessons any longer from Miss Branch. Besides, everything is so stale and ' humdrummy ' here." AGAINST THE TIDE. 33 I want to go where I can see some pictures," said her ambition *^**minig as it came in contact with opposition. Hannah said nothing, for she well knew that Kate and Mazy were the ones to decide, because they had a, very conspicuous object, to take lessons, and prepare themselTes for fires of usefulness and activity, while her object was not so plainly to be seen, for she was to take no lessons in authorship, except those fegwns which could be understood wholly only by her own heart. They heard the gentle, undecided tap of fcther s fingers against die arm of the rocker, and the crickets sung their solemn songs in their hidden nooks, and the wind continued to moan strangely in the boughs of the cherry-trees. M Fm afraid it isn't wise," said &ther,at last, as he tapped louder against the chair arm. " If I had plenty of money, so that I could get yon a good boarding- place, and leave you in the care of some responsible person but there is no use to think of that, and you will have a hard time, and Fm afraid will regret you ever undertook such a dung. Fm afraid your ambi- tion is too great. Ton can be comfortable at home, free from danger; and when you are older, you may have a better opportunity." "lam already twenty4wo," said Hannah,'* and there are a plenty of girls older than I who stay in one place year after year, and have no better opportunities. I begin to dunk opportunities come to those who seek them and make diem." "It does seem so in your case," said father, <* but dbere is such a dung as being rash and imprudent; and somehow tins New York project has a very doubt- 34 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. fill look. However, think it over carefully, and per- haps you'll decide, after all, that staying at home is the wisest and best thing you can do." A few moments more, and father was gone ; and the girls, after a moment of silence, arose, and, groping their way to their chamber, lighted a lamp, and without their usual merry laughs or little plans for the mor- row, lay down upon their beds to think anxiously, and then fall asleep. They had settled themselves thor- oughly for this, when they heard a slight squeak from the old back-stairs, a light step in the outer room, and the door soon opened, and there stood mother with a little lamp in her hand, and her face shining all over with that rare mother-look, as she advanced lightly into the room, and placed the lamp upon the stand. " What is the matter ? " asked all three together, bobbing their heads up from their pillows, and looking curiously into their mother's face. " O, nothing is the matter," said mother ; " only I thought I would come up a moment before you went to sleep. Your father has been talking rather discour- aging about New York, hasn't he ? " She sat down on the side of one of the beds, where she could look into all their faces. " Yes," answered Kate, her black eyes searching her mother's face to find some ray of hope ; "he thinks we had better not go. Do you think so, mother ? " There was a world of anxiety and interest in her voice as she said this ; for Kate had been thinking of New York for a long, long time, and it was crushing her brightest hopes to give up a winter there. Han- nah and Mary waited anxiously for their mother's an- swer, which, after all, would decide their fate. AGAINST THE TIDE. 35 " I came up," said mother, " to tell you not to worry about it, but to go to sleep ; and in the morning we'll talk about it. I don't think it a very frightful thing to go to New York, three of you together ; and if you don't like it after you get there, you can come home again easy enough. You don't know what you can do without trying. But whatever the future brings about, don't let us borrow trouble ; for if we do the best we know, our mistakes won't really amount to much, and we shall come out well in the end. Morning is the time for thought and consideration ; the night is the tune to sleep." The three heads, wreathed around with unbound hair, began already to settle easily on their pillows, for the soothing, cheerful voice swept away all their burdens and fears, and the lips relaxed into half smiles ; for they felt that the tide was turning in their favor, and the way no longer looked dark or fright- ful, but pleasant and quiet; for mother had a sweet and wonderful power of lifting burdens from her chil- dren's hearts. 36 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. CHAPTER III. IN THE ORCHARD. IT was all settled. The obstacles were overcome at last, and New York was destined to receive three un- sophisticated and trusting young girls into its wicked heart. Three little trunks were all packed even a day be- fore their departure, and stood in a row in the great airy chamber which was soon to be vacated and lonely, three old-fashioned little trunks, containing nearly all the personal effects of their owners ; a small collection, but neat, clean, and in good order. It was the last day of September, a still, happy day, full of far-off sunshine, and deep, cool shadows. Until noon, there had been an unusual bustle and stir in the old farm-house, running up and down stairs, and to and fro from one room to another ; numberless unnecessary steps taken, much forgotten and then remembered, things misplaced and searched for, and a general time of confusion. But afternoon found everything quiet, all things in order, and the girls ready for a pleasant time all to themselves. They left the farm-house, and wandered to the old orchard, a favorite and delightful resort. The orchard ! what a host of memories this one word calls up in the minds of men and women whose childhood was passed on a great rambling farm, free from the village smoke, and IN THE ORCHARD. 37 the city's bustle, memories of cool shadows, gay breezes, broken and twisted by the dense branches and foliage, and perfumed with the honey drops in the crimson clover, and the sweets from a world of blossoms ; of tumbles in heaps of new-mown hay, of scrambles after golden fruit that an unexpected flurry in the air whisked from the branches down upon the cool grass ; of innocence, freedom from care and sin, and of every sweet and pleasant thing that clusters round the childhood of a country lad or lass ! The orchard is not the least among the many things which guard the lives of those who wander frqm the warm home-nest out into a world of temptations ; not the least to keep fragrant and green the beautiful fields of the heart, and preserve the seeds of the inno- cence and simplicity of childhood, to blossom in after ye^rs into delightful harvests of sincerity and good works. O that grand old orchard of the Windsor farm! long, and rolling, and wide, surrounded by a mossy stone wall, and shadowed by numerous apple- trees, not the trim, stately apple- trees of modern times, but leaning, and crooked, and bent, with now and then a straggling limb brushing against the dark grass, and forming a mysterious nook, where long- stemmed dandelions sprang up, and opened their charming crowns of gold in all modesty and simplicity. Such a long, shady orchard, with a clinging grape- vine at one end, coiled and twisted in and out of the branches of a tree distinguished for its longevity ; a mossy ledge at the other end, where a bed of ferns fluttered their soft fronds, and sang unceasingly of the deep ^pleasant woods, a ledge with inviting little seats, soft with moss, where oft and oft the Windsor girls had sat, and dreamed, and hoped, and planned. 38 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. What more fitting place for them to wander on the memorable day before their journey away from all the sweet influences of a pure and quiet home, into a place darkened by ambition, love of gain, want, misery, and crime ? Here they came, walking one after the other in the autumn grass, that was decked no longer with the dandelion's yellow disk, but with light still leaves from the apple-boughs, which were strewn about like glow- ing emeralds on a bright green vest. With slow steps and pensive looks they filed through the long orchard, taking note of the dropping leaves, but saying nothing concerning them, and, clambering up the old ledge, sat down side by side on the mossy seats, and looked off over the still pastures and deep woods which were already testimonies of summer's departure. Intuitively hand sought hand, while each heart was filled with unspoken thoughts and feelings. Each had her own little musings of self, which would never be spoken. Hannah had her romance of love, which in the years gone had been all her life, and joy, and hope : but it had faded ; yet in her heart only as the planets fade ; for as often as the fit of meditation was upon her, the dream came back fresh and strong to taunt her with its vanished joys and bright anticipations. She sat and looked over the landscape as she had done many times before. The scenery she had beheld in its every phase and variety ; yet never had it seemed quite so dear to her as on this day ; never so beautiful and sweet. "The old dream must be laid away now," she thought ; it was only selfishness to nourish and cherish it in her heart. There was no reality for the future in it, nothing to help her in her struggles upward through 7.V THE ORCHARD. 39 the thorny path to success, nothing in it to cheer and encourage her; but it only cloyed, and so she must lay it away, and, if possible, forget that she ever had hoped or dreamed of what she was now sure -would never be realized. Ah! the countless disappointments and crushed hopes that young hearts hare been doomed to expe- rience! where are they? Through all the ages of time, they hare filled the air with their sighs so soft and subtle, that the inexperienced hear them not, and only the aching hearts suffer, and are silent. The tones of funereal bells proclaim to the world that a new-made grave must receive some earthly idol, and we listen solemnly, and are sad and sympathetic ; the black dress and sweeping veil may tell us that we look upon a mourner : but only the keenest and most sensitive will guess what a fond young heart may suffer, that has dreamed a dream of happy love, and seen it lade away. The death of loved ones has a promise in it, a promise of restoration, of future meetings more beautiful and sweet than those of the past, of freedom from all pain to the lost one,- of a great gain in the unseen City ; and hearts may look up smiling through their tears, and feel the sweet pres- ence of the departed around them. But there is no hope like this to the trusting young heart, that in its freshness and simplicity has laid its tenderest first love on the altar of hope and perfect trustfulness, and seen it crumble away into ashes that can have no resurrec- tion. Alone in its grief, there is no comfort but forget- fulness, from which it shrinks, as we all shrink from forgetting that which has been dearest to us, and has given us the liveliest joy. Are all these experiences nothing but a vanishing dream, a mere vision of beauty 40 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. which we see for a moment as we pass along, and then lose forever ? May we not hope that they are all re- membered and treasured up in the great heart of God, to be returned, only far more beautiful than before, to our longing, unsatisfied hearts ? Can we not cherish the dream, and forget the idol ? Hannah thought something of this, though vaguely, as she looked steadily, beyond wood and pasture, to the far-off silver rim of the ocean. Her sisters spoke to each other, but their voices seemed like distant sounds in her ears, uncertain and unreal. She was not unhappy. Her life had been too active and useful to give room for morbid Sentimentality ; there had been too much freshness, beauty, and blessed reality in her life, to make her desponding ; it was only the sweet dream of love which she looked back upon in regretful silence, wondering if ever in the future it would be renewed. " Hannah ! Hannah ! are you asleep ? you haven't spoken for a long time, and Kate and I have been jab- bering close to you." At these words she started, and the present all came back to her. " I believe I was looking at the ocean," she said. "It is such a fathomless, endless -thing to look at." " No more so than your thoughts have been, from the way you appeared," said Kate. " I thought we were going to put by sentimentality for a time." " Did you? " answered Hannah. " I haven't heard any such decision, but I suppose that was what I was thinking about so busily ; or at least, summed up to gether, it would amount to that." " I imagine this is our last opportunity for senti- mentality for some time to come, whether we decide to 7.V THE ORCHARD. 41 put it by or not," said Mary. " Just to-morro\v, only to-morrow, and we shall be gone." " And mother will miss us so much ! that worries me some," said Hannah. " However, we may be obliged to come back in a few weeks, you know. We may find that we have made a great mistake in going so helpless into the city." " As long as we have our health and minds unim- paired, the word helpless does not apply to us," said Kate. " Perhaps not," answered Hannah, " in the sense you interpret it. I meant with little money and no friends, which is our case" exactlv." " Yes, I know it is ; but we can try it, as mother says ; there is o harm in that," said Kate, expressing this sentiment for the twentieth time, to settle doubts, and restore ambition. " We can be as seclusive as we like in New York," said Mary, " and one won't feel so embarrassed to wear one dress all the season, because we shall hardly see the same person twice." " Girls, do you think we shall be missed much in the neighborhood ? " asked Hannah earnestly. " There is one who will miss us," said Mary, " or, at least, he will miss Kate ; and that is Adonijah." " Yes, he will miss us, I am sure," said Hannah, "not only for an hour, but for all the time we are gone. 'Nijah is a good friend, but I hardly see why he takes to us so, and understands us so well. I have half a mind to believe he will make his mark in the world." " O how can he ? there is no possible chance," said Marv. " He has onlv a very tolerable education, speaks roughly and ungrammatically, and hasn't the least encouragement at home." 42 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. "I know that," said Kate, "but he is original and appreciative of fine things, and we cannot judge a person's future by outward appearance. But there is another who will miss us ; or rather, she will miss Hannah, little Dill." " Dear little thing ! so she will," said Hannah, " and I shall miss her too. Her face is so pale, it makes me think that she will be missed from earth soon." " O no ; she is stronger this fall, her father said, than she has been before for, years. Did you see her crying last Sunday in church?" said Mary. " 1 did," said Hannah, " and she told me after meet- ing that the sermon frightened her, causing her to fear that she could never be gathered with the redeemed in heaven, because of her sin. How wicked the world must be, if little Dill is wicked ! " " What did you tell her ? " asked Kate. " I can hardly tell you. I tried to comfort her, but I am so weak myself." " You are not so weak but that you know little Dill needn't be afraid of future punishment, I hope," said Kate. " Well, but how could I make her believe it ? I said all the encouraging and kind things I could to her, and promised to write long letters when in New York, and she seemed to feel better, but not convinced." " I generally feel oppressed whenever I listen to a sermon of Mr. Hayes's," said Mary, " and no wonder slender little Dill is so much influenced. I do wonder if such sermons are a benefit or not." ''Not" said Kate emphatically, "at least not for me. They always make me feel rebellious, they are so conservative. As if a particular creed would take a person to heaven, and as if God desired us all to be gloomy and afraid ! " IN THE ORCHARD. 43 44 As for me," said Hannah, * I require and desire more light on the subject of religion, and I mean to think about it, and make investigations concerning it when I go to New York, and learn at least something more than I know, that I may talk with Dill with more confidence. I am now so ignorant that I can only say that I believe God wifl deal with us with tenderness and mercy, and such things as my faith causes me to believe ; but as for any real knowledge which I can explain satisfactorily even to myself, I believe I do not punas it." 44 How can you find it in New York ? " asked Mary in all earnestness.* "No better than I could anywhere, perhaps ; but as I am to be there this winter, it must be there where I shall think of it. Were I to remain at home, I would do the same, perhaps." 44 1 shall go to hear Beecher. I do not think he will frighten any one,'* said Kate. " There is where we will all go," said Hannah, 44 and see if we can learn at least what has made the man so popular." "And hear that great organ," said Mary. " I find religion in music; but they drawl so in the church here, it makes me feel as if I were on nettles to listen to them, instead of being transported beyond the earth into visions of bliss, as I am sure I should be by the music in Beecher's." "Let us not be too expectant. True religion is, after all, in our own hearts ; and perhaps if we were just right, the hymns sung in the church here would inspire us." " They might inspire some, but not me," said Mary. "I feel, every time I hear them sing, as though I 44 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. wanted to spring into the midst of them, and with a baton in my hand rouse some life into them, and keep them from murdering such words as, ' Joy to the world ! the Lord has come ! Let earth receive her King ; Let every heart prepare Him room, And heaven and nature sing.' Last Sunday they drawled through it so lazily, an in- telligent person could not have believed them very joyful or glad, but thought they were lamenting over some misfortune. I do like to see anybody stand erect, and look, if they can't sing, as though they meant and felt it." " However, I expect they are more sincere than most New York choirs," said Hannah ; " but I agree with you, Mary. I actually smiled last Sunday to see how entirely the singing disagreed with the hymn, and everybody looked so verv solemn, as if a dirge was be- ing chanted instead of a hymn of rejoicing sung. We haven't seen much of the world yet, and probably are not good judges." " Undoubtedly we are not," said Kate. " Wait till we try New York a while, then we shall be more competent to express our opinions. There comes 'Nijah through the orchard with a couple of gray squirrels. Has he seen us, think ? " " I think not ; but call him up here, Kate. I want to see those squirrels, they have such beautiful bushy tails," said Mary, half rising in her seat, and gazing at the young rustic, who, with rapid strides was passing them by, without discovering their retreat. " 'Nijah, don't you see us ? " called Kate. " Come up to the ledge, do, if you are not in a hurry, and let us see those squirrels." IN THE ORCHARD. 45 'Nijah heard the voice, stopped suddenly, looked down at his boots, then up at the sky, then at the game in his hand, and finally ascended the knoll, and threw the soft grays at the girls' feet. " O how cruel you were to kill them ! " said Mary. " O, they didn't know what hurt 'em," said 'Nijah ; " caught 'em under traps, and brought 'em round you see I thought you mightn't get a chance to have a dinner of squirrels in New York ; and they're good fat ones, and will make a good meal well dressed, and so I brought 'em round to give to you. Doubtful if you'll get any in New York." " Yes, so it is, very doubtful," said Kate, " and we will have a feast to-morrow. Won't you come over and dine with us, 'Nijah ? " " I'm 'bliged," said 'Nijah, whipping at the ferns with a stick he carried in his hands, " but I can't. I'm engaged to work fur Uncle Jim to chop down some trees, and put up some fence ; and you see I have plenty of squirrel dinners. Sally knows exactly how to cook 'em." " I've no doubt of that," said Mary ; " Sally can cook anything well. I haven't forgotten the tea-party yet, have you?" " Me ? Catch a weasel 'sleep fust. I thought it was just the thing to take comfort at, but some didn't. Ye see it leaked out that 'twas on your accounts." " Well, we shall soon be gone," said Hannah ; " to- morrow night we shall sleep on the water, and find ourselves in New York the next morning." " Blazes ! wouldn't I like that ? " and 'Nijah whipped more severely at the ferns ; threatening to demolish them entirely, to the great dissatisfaction of the girls. " Stay all winter, I s'pose ? " 46 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " If we don't get sick of it, and come back," said Kate, smiling. " No danger of your backing down ; tell a feller, won't you, what New York is made of, when you get back?" " Yes, you come over, and we'll have enough stories to last all summer," said Mary. " Be sure and notice how all the meetin'-houses is built, in what kind of shape I mean, and how Cendril Park is laid out." " You mean Central Park," said Kate ; " and we'll be sure to tell you the whole story." " Wai, I must be a-goin', if these gray things gets their hides took off to-night, fur it's very near sun- down. I shan't be likely to see ye agin ; so take good care of yourselves, an' don't get too proud to speak to a feller when you get back." " Not a bit," said Kate. " We'll see who will im- prove most in drawing this winter, 'Nijah." 'Nijah could laugh with the best, and at this speech of Kate's, he laughed so uproariously, the girls were afraid, so they said, that there wouldn't be a button left on his vest ; and then what would Sally say ? " Well, agreed," said he at last, after which he burst out again into laughter. " Blamed if I won't try with ye," he said. " Of course you will," said Kate ; " I mean it, and we'll compare notes when I get home." " All right," said 'Nijah, still laughing, as he took up his game. " Good-by, all of ye ; take good care of yerselves, and come home in the spring." " We'll try to," said they all ; " good-by, good-by, good-by." The sun had gone down when the girls left their 7-V THE ORCHARD. 47 seat* in the orchard, and wended their way home. Dark shadows were creeping under the walls, and the wind had begun to moan in the apple-trees. The farm-house windows were aglow with the blazing re- flection from the west, and the unseen autumn insects sung in a kind of cheerful sadness. Up through the front lawn the girls walked, where the fell blossoms were in their glory, but were tossed about by the fresh breeze blowing briskly from die west. They stopped on the rough old door-steps and looked back. "Everything is beautiful," said Kate. " Girls, how we shall long for home ! " M Don't, Kate," said Mary, turning away and brush- ing a tear from her eye. Well, suppose we do," said Kate, sorry she had said anything to cause sadness. "Suppose we do; we are to come home any time we please, yon know, and it would be strange if we forgot it entirely." "All of this beauty will soon be gone," said* Hannah, " and there will be nothing here to greet our eyes but bare trees and frozen ground ; and when everything begins to grow lovely again, we are coming home; so don't let us get. homesick to-night." ** We have been so determined to go," said Kate, "that we mustn't get sad and discouraged now, or father will begin to think surely that we are too much children or helpless girls to go into the city." " Wett, I wouldn't give up going," said Mary, in a brave tone, " but it does seem rather dubious to-night ; but I shall feel better in the morning. Of course, I'd not act so sflly before any one but you." u Let us have a song," said Kate. "Yes, a song always does us good; what shall it be ? " said Hannah. 48 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " ' Falling leaves,' of course : what is there more appropriate ? " said Kate, untying her hat-strings and entering the parlor. Mary at the piano, and Hannah and Kate on either side, they sang in sweet and sub- dued voices a song, the words to which Hannah had composed, and Mary the music. FALLING LEAVES. Dropping, dropping, Crimson and yellow and red, Sighing so softly and sadly In the boughs over my head. One by one they come fluttering, Or fall in a tremulous shower, Scarlet and amber and purple, Dyed by an unseen Power. Falling, falling, Down, down in the purling stream ; The lovely summer is passing Away like a happy dream ; And the water is gayly dancing With the dying leaves on its breast, Bearing them onward, onward, Away to eternal rest. Whispering, whispering Words of a long farewell ; Nestling in heaps together, To sleep in the woody dell. Dying in wondrous beauty, Whispering sad as they go, . O beautiful, beautiful leaflets, We have loved and admired you so. Dying, dying, And leaving the forest trees bare, The voices of unseen spirits We seem to hear in the air. Farewell, beautiful leaflets ! The wind is ajnerciless foe, And every b/art that knows gladness, Also deep sorrow must know. IX THE ORCHARD. The music ceased, and the girls turned about to find their father and mother sitting in the shadow, where they had listened silently to the last strain of their three daughters, before they went oat from their care into the world of intrigue and false allurements ; and the wind moaned, the crickets sang, and the world moved on the same. i 50 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. CHAPTER IV. " GOOD-BY." WHY, Dill ! " Hannah stood on the old shadowy porch to rest a moment, and take a breath of fresh air. She had been busily at work since early morning ; for when three young ladies are going on a journey, there is no end to the preparations until they are well started toward their destination. Unexpectedly, as she stood there, a delicate, slender young girl appeared before her. It was Dill her face paler than usual, and her eyes brighter and darker. " Did I startle you ? " she asked. " I came to say good-by, and tell you this is my sixteenth birthday. What an easy way I shall have to remember your farewell ! I haven't had one present." " Here is one," said Hannah, kissing the white cheek, " and with it my love, which is the most I can give." " And the best," answered Dill, returning the ca- ress. " It is the first kiss I have received to-day, and I shall remember it. Are you almost ready to start ? " " Yes, I suppose we are. Kate and Mary are in the garret, stowing away some things ; and we have only to change our dresses, and then we are ready." " And, O dear, how lonesome it will be ! 'Nijah GOOD-BY." 51 was over to our house last night, and seemed rather gloomy, and it was all because you were going. I told him he was cross, but I don't suppose he meant to be. When will you write me the first letter ? " 44 When I am well settled, which will be in a week perhaps. What shall I write about first ? " " O, about the city, what you see that is beautiful, and I suppose there are a great many ministers in New York. Suppose you tell me what some of them say. I have heard few sermons except Mr. Hayes's, and I have thought perhaps all I mean those who belong to the same denomination may not believe fust like him ; and if there is anything true that is a little pleasanter, I would like it. Father says I am only rebellious against the wiH of God, and I suppose it is true ; but I don't see a bit of chance to feel other- wise, so long as I see so much to dread and fear. I wonder that father, or even Mr. Hayes himself, can be happy." " I shall try to learn much more on this subject than I know now," said Hannah, " and I will tell you all I learn. Sometimes I feel a bit unhappy, because you know I do not belong to the church ; yet when I think it all over reasonably, I see nothing to fear. The ser- mon delivered at poor old Thomas Flat's funeral affected me more than any I ever heard. Thomas didn't belong to the church, you know, and Mr. Hayes made it such a terrible warning. I am trying to find if it would really help me to join any church, especially when I see so much which is to me censurable in all I know: but perhaps I ought not to talk thus to you, Dill." " Yes, I think ft does me good, for I actually get confused at home. Father talks so much about eternal 52 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS., punishment, and sin, and how easily we may be lost to heaven ; and my head swims so sometimes that I catch hold of it with my hands to steady it. I talk about it only to you, and I hope to feel peaceful soon ; if I don't, I shall be crazy. I actually told father so once when he had talked to me a long time ; and he said the devil was tempting me, and if I didn't fight against him, he would gain the whole power over me. That terrified me worse than ever, and I could hardly sleep that night for seeing strange, terrible images crawling around and glaring at me." " Why, Dill, I am sure that does not please Jesus Christ, who said, ' Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.' Those words always comfort me, and make me feel peaceful ; and what has an innocent little thing like you to fear ? Do you suppose a kind, pitying Father would make you suffer eternally for sins you never dreamed of? Why, Dill, I believe this is a very ab- surd idea. Don't grieve yourself any more about it ; and so long as you are innocent of sin as now, I am sure you will be safe, and time will make thing's clear to you." Dill shook her head slowly, yet there was a gleam of hope in her eye. " If only a minister would talk to me in that way," she said ; " but I am afraid you don't know. Still, you do me good ; and if only you will learn this winter if any ministers believe as you do, I think it would com- fort me." " I will learn all I can, be assured of that, and you shall have the benefit of it all," said Hannah. " Thank you," was the choking reply, and the un- happy young girl gave Hannah a parting kiss with - GOOD-BT." .53 trembling lips. " I cannot stay to see the girls,** die said. " Give mj lore to them,' and teD them 4 Good- by.' Don't forget to write. Good-by." " Good-by. Ill not forget, 71 answered HMmah, g*z- ing sadly at the disappearing little figure, and won- dering if she had not said just the wrong things to her, and if in this world she should ever behold her again. She left the porch, and went up to the old garret, where she found the girls sitting on die quaint blue chest. Now, that old garret was by no means the least useful or patronized pan of the house, and the girls had known and realized its worth since early childhood. Here were heaps of papers, old-fashioned books, an- cient and musty; but many times they had been thoroughly tumbled over, and their contents searched by curious eyes. Here was the old spinning-wheel that their mother had used in her young days, rem- nants of old-fashioned costume, a few curiosities from foreign shores, and a number of clean rag-bags, which made nice seats and even couches fat the girls in then meditative or lazy moods. The small window at the west supplied the freshest and sweetest air on the farm, and it was sure to be cool and breezy, though die heat was often oppressive there under die low roof. Each of die girls had had her dreams here alone, and altogether they had spent here hours of blissful enjoyment, so that the old garret was destined to live foreTer in their memory, creating always pleasurable emotions. In die brae chest, there were their early efforts at writing, drawing, and music, yellow man- uscript, consisting of unfinished stories, melancholy strains of poetry, sketches commenced, but not ended, and one long poem caned an " epic " by its author, and tied with a bit* of blue ribbon, which was a sign 54 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. of the high place it once had occupied in her mind. Here also were numerous pieces of drawing paper, with life sketches upon them, a bird, a leaf, a flower , many a face which seemed to represent some living visage ; glimpses of water, pleasant nooks, old farm houses, well-sweeps, pictures full of comic suggestions, and numerous designs, all imperfectly drawn, but dis- playing considerable talent and ingenuity. Scraps of music blanks were also here, filled with strains of mu- sic, notes imperfectly made and blotted, accompani- ments difficult and intricate, little songs, a march com- menced, but unfinished, variations to some simple piece, a chant, and the hint of an anthem. Kate and Mary had been looking them over, and packing them neatly together ; and when all were in order, they had closed the chest, and sat down upon it for a little talk. *' We have been looking in the blue chest," said Kate, as Hannah made her appearance, " and we have tied everything snugly that belonged together, and we have been thinking how they will look to us years hence, when we come up here in the garret and examine them." " I thought I would burn that old manuscript of mine, it is such a heap of nonsense. I should be ashamed to have it read outside the family," said Han- nah, sitting down in front of the girls on an old box. " What have you done with that heap of papers I left here by the chest ? I was going to pack them into this box." " They are all in there," said Mary, " but I should be afraid the rats would gnaw them." " I care very little if they do," said Hannah. " There are only a few sketches 6T mine there that I GOOD-BY." 55 am not ashamed of. I thought of burning them all up, but finally I concluded I'd stow them away, and let them be and mould. It's a pity I ever had to write such stuff, or ever did do it. Somehow, if one starts on the wrong track, it's hard work to change. If I had never seen one of those sensational papers, I don't know but I should be better off, though I did try the first-class magazines, but I never could earn a cent. My great aim is to^earn enough money this way to give me time and opportunity to write something bet- ter ; and if that time ever comes, I'll make a bonfire of the trash I have already written." "New York will open- your heart," said Mary; " there's a good time coming, but I am opposed to the bonfire. I say keep all your old writings, just for future amusement and fun." " They never would give me any," said Hannah ; *' and as to giving other people amusement in such a way as that, I have not enough generosity to do it. How long are you going to stay up here in the garret ? '' " We ought not to stay another minute," said Kate, springing up from the old chest, and starting toward the stairway. " Come, let us go down-stairs, and act rational, and not be hiding ourselves out of sight. It is almost time to start." Down into the kitchen they flew, one after the other, where the three trunks were locked and strapped, and ready to be tumbled into the wagon. Mother was busy and smiling, though the girls did not know what an anxiety the smile concealed, nor how the night before she had lain and thought until past midnight, picturing to herself every possible danger that might befell three young girls in a great city. Everything seemed so comfortable and cheery in 56 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. the kitchen. The shiny tea-pot sent out an inviting flavor, and a basket of fair yellow apples on the table spoke of plenty, and peace too ; while the tea-kettle sung blithely, and a cricket chirped under the hearth. It would have been strange if this pretty home pic- ture had not met with appreciation in the young girls' hearts, and held up to their fancy a cheerless room in the city. Why should they go, after all ? Wasn't it foolish to leave such a sweet, peaceful home, where they could live in happy retirement, supplied with all the necessaries of life ? What could they expect to find in the world better or more satisfying ? Why not settle down, and be content to do like the other girls of their acquaintance, sew and knit, and crochet tidies, collars, and edging ; help about the house-work, and read newspapers, and now and then a book ? Why couldn't they be content ? There were many charms at home. The fine rosewood piano, procured through Mary's exertion and her father's kindness and gener- osity, was a great charm of itself. Then there was the game of chess, which they often played in the long winter evenings ; their slight knowledge of embroidery, and the merry and mysterious preparations for Christ- mas. Was it not almost a sin in them to leave so much from discontent, and go into a strange place to rely wholly upon themselves ? Thoughts similar to these passed like a flash through their minds, as they looked into the cozy, warm kitchen, and saw its comforts and enjoyments. " Yes, blessings brighten as they take their flight," Hannah said to herself ; but she was heard distinctly by Kate, who gave the strap on her trunk an extra jerk, as if to make sure that it was sufficiently secured, and then proceeded to lay the cloth for supper without making any reply. " GOOD-BY." 57 "Go, now, girls, and change your dresses," said mother ; " you ought to start certainly in half an hour. I will have supper ready when you come down, and then the wagon will be ready." Reluctantly the girls obeyed ; and in the great cham- ber together they donned the dresses which had been altered and remodeled for the occasion, plain, but neat and becoming. Somehow they dressed in a flutter of excitement, for the time was drawing so very near ; and after ail, how should they make out ? what should they do ? Mary's teeth actually chattered, which could not have been owing altogether to the weather, though it was a little chilly, and her voice trembled with ex- citement. " O dear," she exclaimed, " where i my collar ? I laid it just here on the stand. Who hag seen it ? " " Where are your eyes ? " asked Kate. " There's the collar in plain sight." "Well, I'm just stupid, and its atcful cold. Do, Hannah, shut t^at window," said Mary, trying with tremulous hands to fasten her collar. "This pin is such an old-fashioned thing ; but then it is pure gold, that is one consolation." " Don't work over that pin any longer," said Kate. " Do see if I have tied this ribbon well on my neck, and see if you think my dress really seems too short." " Not a bit," said Mary, taking a survey. " I should think it just the style from what I read about the last fashions ; and the bow is all right." " Girls, are you ready ? " called mother from the foot of the stairs. " Almost," answered Hannah, with her mouth full of pins. They went down to the kitchen soon, and took their 68 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. accustomed seats at the table. Everything was so fresh and good, the golden butter and cheese, and the huge doughnuts, and soft, new bread. How long- ingly in the future they would look back to this meal ! They ate almost in silence, or tried to eat, but some- how they were too full, and the food choked them. They tried to drink the tea which mother insisted would do them good ; but it was too hot, they said, and left it almost untasted. Father took occasion to give a few more words of caution to the numberless ones which he had already said. "Be sure and not trust to strangers," he said, it seemed for the twentieth time. " No matter how kind a person may seem, or how respectable he may look, don't trust him till you know something about him ; and remember fine clothes often form the dress of a villain. Look out for your money, and don't get care- less after a while, and think there is no danger. That is just the time people get their pockets picked. Go together as much as possible, and don't go out much evenings. Don't rely upon any one to point out the way to you, but a policeman. Keep it fresh in your minds continually that no stranger is to be trusted, and don't be careless about crossing the streets." This he said, and much more similar to it ; and the girls, though they listened respectfully, and said " yes," and " we will," etc., over and over, thought, after all, that the advice was hardly necessary, as they should be careful enough with what little money they had, and never trust a stranger. The boy who was to take them to the depot cracked his whip impatiently, the trunks were placed in the express- wagon, and the girls hurried on their shawls and hats, drew on their gloves hastily, and were all ready to say good-by. - GOOD-BT." 59 hare told yon," said mother, still smiling, -especially about your heahh; and if joa are in want of anything, don't V^**^*"* about teDing of it, for we can contrire some way to help TOO." "Be sore and get TOOT trunks checked, and don't lose the checks," said "&ther. - Tnej were in the wagon at last ; and as the hone started' onward they looked behind them, choked back die tears, said good-by, and were gone. 60 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. CHAPTER V. IN NEW YORK. " SAFE so far," said Kate, dropping into a chair. " What a strange little room ! " said Mary. " Climbing four flights of stairs is enough to exhaust a person," said Hannah, drawing a very long sigh, and sitting on the edge of a little white bed. " "Well, what do you think of our new quarters ? How do you like appearances ? " asked Kate. " I am so glad to get by ourselves once more, that I'm not capable of judging yet. I thought one while we never should get here," said Hannah, pulling off her gloves. " I knew cities were confusing, but I never supposed they would make one deaf and dumb and blind before. Once I thought we should surely get separated and lost ; and I wanted to give Mary a good shaking, she stopped and gazed so much. All at once I would miss her, and then would wait and look, and grow frightened, and at last espy her completely absorbed in looking at some silly thing." "Well, if anybody could have avoided looking at that monkey, I would like to see the person. It act- ually had on a blue velvet basque, and it brought its cap to me for a penny," said Mary. " And of course you put one in," laughed Kate. " That is one of the ways to spend money." " Yes, I did give him a penny ; he was so cunning, IN XEW YORK. 61 I couldn't refuse," said Mary, going to the window and looking out into the street. ** O, we've got a splendid view," she said. " There is a man selling newspapers in a little hovel. It is so high, np here, it almost makes me dizzy to look down. Do see that car ! it looks for all the world, viewed from here, like a great mud-tur- tle creeping along. I shall like this. 7 * "I am so tired," said Kate, "that I can't take another step at present, and I do believe my feet are blistered. I should think we walked at feast three miles out of our war, and lost our way twenty times "Let us take off our shoes, and he down and rest us a while," said Hannah. M It seems to me I never was so tired before in all my life. Why, we were up at four o'clock this morning. Don't you feel tired, Mary?" " Tired? " said Mary, turning away from the win- dow, and putting on an exhausted look. "Now I have time to think of h, yes, entirely 'done out,' as Debby Pike says ; and l" don't doubt m the feast but that my feet are blistered ; and my eyes, why, they feel as though they were full of pins ; and my head, well, you can't imagine how that aches." " There are three little beds," said Hannah, "one apiece. Mine will be first, Kate's in the middle, and Mary's against the wall. Let us take them far so&s, lie down upon them, and then take a * bird's-eye view ' of the surroundings." "Agreed!" said Mary, taking off her boots with amaring quickness, throwing her hat one side, and dropping her head on die hair pfflow with a long-drawn breath. "Mercy, girls! what do you call this?" she ex- 62 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. claimed, as soon as her head touched the pillow. " Harder than a brickbat ! Kate, what is this, anyhow ? Not feathers certain, and not straw either : what then is it? " The pillows were thoroughly examined. " I should call them decidedly flat at least," said Kate ; " and there is no shaking them up." " They are hair-pillows, I suppose," said Hannah ; " and for my part, if I can find any place to lay my head at present, I shall not complain." " But they are so decidedly comical," said Mary. " No doubt but that we could rest on the floor to-day ; " and down the three heads dropped on the hard pillows, three sighs mingled together, and then they were ready for a talk. The room, which had been procured for them be- fore they went to the city, was a small affair, and for furniture contained only three chairs, three single beds, a wash-stand, a little table, and a stove. The street which it overlooked was a respectable one, though ex- ceedingly noisy and bustling. The house was let by a man who had a friend in the vicinity of the girl's home, and through him the room had been procured. It was on the fourth floor; and though it was tedious to climb the four flights of stairs, yet when it was done, the air was found to be clearer, purer, and sweeter than below, and from the windows one could look over the great city and get a glimpse of the ocean, flecked with white sails. As the three girls are such inveter- ate talkers, I shall leave further description of their new situation for them to explain in conversation. " A short time ago, and a long time ago, we were dreaming of this hour, and time at last has brought it along, and here we are in the great bewildering city, I should think about in the centre," said Hannah. IN NEW YORK. 63 "Bewildering! yes, that is just the word," said Mary. " I believe it would take a century to see all the sights, if one kept steadily looking all the time." " I keep thinking of 4 Tom Brown's ' visit here, the result of which John G. Saxe sung about, and I begin to realize the truth of what he says about the city." " What is it ? I don't remember," said Mary. " I don't recollect the first few lines of the stanza, but I remember these : ' Indeed, I'll be bound that if Nature and Art (Though the former, being older, has gotten the start) IB some new Crystal Palace of suitable size Should show their chefe d'cenvre, and contend for the prize, The latter would prove when it came to the scratch, Whate'er you may think, no contemptible match. For should old Mrs. Nature endeavor to stagger her, By presenting at hist her majestic Niagara, Miss Art would produce an equivalent work In her great, overwhelming, unfinished New York.' " "We shall realize the truth of those words more fully after we have been here at least a day or two," said Kate. " Isn't the stove a minute affiiir ? " " Everything is minute in these quarters," said Mary ; " and when our trunks arrive, there will be very little spare room left. We shall have to walk around on the beds, chairs, and trunks." " What would everybody say at home if they knew just where we are now ? " asked Hannah. "Nothing very agreeable, probably," said Kate; " but there is one thing to encourage us. Though we have very little money, limited wardrobes, and this lit- tle bare room to live in, the whole city is ours as far as sight goes, and we can enjoy and learn a great deal for nothino*." " Yes, and I am willing, for one, to live in close quarters, and dress exceedingly plain for such a privi- lege," said Hannah. 64 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " I am too," said Mary, " because no one will know anything about it here, and we can do just as we like." " A great advantage over a village or small town, and I am glad we are here," said Kate ; " but if we don't learn any more than Emily Lawson did when she spent a winter here, we shall have our labor for our pains. During the whole time she was here, she didn't go into the streets once alone, she said; and all she could talk about were theatres, and those she had a very superficial knowledge of." " Yes, and she said to me when I expressed a desire to see New York's many curiosities, ' I felt just so when I first went there ; but you won't see much, after all. I don't know much more about New York than I did before I went there, and you won't either. The fact is, it is a real task to get around the city, and find an escort whenever you want one ; besides, when one is where she feels that she can go if she likes, she has less desire to do so, and postpones everything till the time comes to leave the city, and then she regrets that she didn't make greater efforts to look around.' I said to myself then that we would be our own escorts, and go wherever we desired, not asking the consent or opinion of any one ; but of course I didn't say a word of it to her." " No one disturbed us to-day, did they ? " said Mary seriously, "but every one was exceedingly kind and obliging, I thought, all but the old apple-women. They did nothing but mutter, and I'm sure I couldn't understand a word they said. No one made any attempts to pick our pockets or impose upon us, and I don't feel half so afraid as I thought I should." " I had no time to think of anything but the noise IN NEW YORK. 65 and confusion. What a thundering racket those stages make, rattling over the stones, and the great carts, loaded with vegetables and everything else ! Why, really a person can't think in the street," said Kate. " What kind of people do you suppose live in this house ? " asked Mary in a half whisper. " Respectable ones, Mr. Anns said; that is as far as my curiosity goes at present," answered Hannah. * 4 There is a notice outside that says, * Rooms let with and without board.' I hope no one will disturb us, and that is all I ask of them since I know they are re- spectable, which knowledge makes me ieel easy. Do you think, girls, we could ever go to sleep here so long as that noise was kept up in the street ?" " It seems impossible now," said Kate, " but people must necessarily get accustomed to it, else New York would be a sleepless place." " Which I think quite probable," answered Hannah. " I like my bed best of any," Mary said, abruptly changing the subject. " I can look out of the window as I lie here, and see the corner of the street, and that stand of apples and oranges, and the tops of people's heads as they pass along ; so my bed is last, but not least." " I like my bed best," said Hannah, " because I cant see the dusty, noisy street, but can look straight up into the sky ; and how delightful it will be at night to watch the stars, and perhaps at times to get a glimpse of the moon!" " I like my bed best, because it is protected on both sides by two brave knights, and I can lie in all safety, and look over the tops of the buildings, and see the great tossing, billowy ocean, besides looking at the sky when I choose," said Kate. 66 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " I can see the ocean also," said Hannah. "And I can see both ocean and sky," said Mary. " It is fortunate that we are all satisfied," said Han- nah, in a tone which was growing drowsy in spite of the clatter in the streets. " Which shows," answered Kate, " that possessions need not necessarily be the same in order to satisfy the possessors." The sentences grew shorter, and the intervals be- tween them longer, until closed eyes and regular breathing announced that all three had fallen asleep, though the commotion in the street grew no less, and notwithstanding their belief that sleep was impossible when noise was so prevalent. The night before, which was spent on a steamer, their slumbers had been broken and disturbed; besides, at four o'clock they had arisen, and gone to the outer deck to watch for the great city which they were rapidly approaching ; and then their long walk on the pavements had wearied them to ex- haustion, and they slept soundly. For several hours they slept on, and at last were roused by a loud pounding on their door. They all started up in a trice, and looked at each other in be- wilderment. The noise of the streets buzzed into their ears as soon as awakened, and the pounding on the door was continued. " O, it is the trunks," said Hannah at last, rubbing her eyes and springing toward the door. She was right, and the three little trunks were soon tumbled into the room, and quiet again restored. " O, dear, I am hungry," said Mary. " Let us open the trunk, and get out some of the cold chicken." "No, don't let us eat that the very first day," said Hannah, as she unstrapped one of the trunks, and pro- 7.V yEW YORK. 67 ceeded to unlock it ; " besides, it's not time for supper yet, and yon know we must commence with some reg- ularity in our meals, or we snail all get the dyspepsia, just as mother said." " There's one thing certain, and that is I shall have dyspepsia very shortly if I don't have something to eat. Talk about supper ! We haven't had any regu- lar dinner yet," said Mary, looking with longing eyes at the bundles of food Hannah took from the trunks. '* Well, let us have some boiled eggs, and bread and butter. Don't you think that will be good, Kate ? " asked Hannah. " As for me," said Kate, " I could eat anything, even raw codfish ; so don't consult my wishes, but bring along anything there is there. It is all excellent, thanks to mother." " Well, I'll give up the chicken if I can get any- thing else," said Mary. " Shall we set the table ? " " Yes, here is the cloth ; spread it on the table. We might as well commence being orderly first as last," said Hannah, as she rolled out the boiled eggs, and bread and butter. " Apples for dessert," she continued, taking out three red-cheeked Baldwins and placing them in the centre of the table. " Now don't be bashful, but take hold and help yourselves; we don't stop for ceremonies here." " Thank you," said Kate ; " it is well you don't, for you would be obliged to stop some time before they would come, I fear. What shall -we do after supper, go into the street ? " " Yes, do let us, if we can ever find our way back again. I dread roaming all over everywhere, and get- ting frightened at last," said Mary, picking at the shell of an egg. 68 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " I ought to go to Cooper's this very day," said Kate, " and see if I can attend the School of Design. Of course I can, but I want to feel settled and com- mence work as soon as possible. There isn't any time 10 lose, you know." " Have you any idea which way it is from here, or how far? " asked Hannah. "Not the least," replied Kate, "but a policeman will tell us. We must find it sometime, you know, and why not to-night ? " " We might go and learn the way," suggested Hannah, " and go in or not as we like. For my part, I think we ought to have this day to rest in." " Well, then, we will only walk out for pleasure, and just see how Cooper's looks," said Kate. " I am wonderfully rested." " So am I," said Hannah ; " and this evening, when we return, we will write home, and I shall then con- sider the day well spent." "Now, Mary, don't keep me continually looking after you when we get in the street," said Hannah, as she locked the door after they had left their room, having started for their walk. " Keep at my elbow, and if there is anything you want to stop and see, nudge me, and I'll stop ; but don't be lingering and loitering when I know nothing about it, for there is danger of getting separated. There is such a crowd passing and repassing all the time it is enough to scat- ter the wits of any one. I don't know what to do with this key. What shall I ? If I put it in my pocket, I may lose it, or somebody may pick it out ; there's no dependence." " Pin it in," said Kate, " and I'll risk it. Here is a large pin." IN NEW YORK. 69 The key was secured, and the girls passed on through the long hall, down the four flights of stairs, and were soon on the pavement. " Isn't it lively ? " whispered Mary, clinging to Han- nah's sleeve as commanded. " I wonder if we appear like green country girls," said Kate, " and if we act anything like the country girls we read about," " It isn't easy to judge of our own actions correctly, but really I think we act quite resp^tably," said Hannah. " Nearly all the ladies glance at the shop windows or stop to look in them ; and if they didn't, what would be the use of the display ? and we only do that, you know." " They don't play tricks on girls as on men," said Mary, " or else we might look out for pocket-books dropped in our way. "It seems to me girls are much safer in the city than boys," said Hannah, " notwithstanding most peo- ple's different opinions. We are not tempted to enter mock auction rooms, as honest Tom Brown was, and all the gilded saloons hi the city could not induce us to take a glass of liquor ; and yet people are all crying out on every side of a girl who goes into the city, the dangers, and risks, and inconsistencies of such a course. For my part, I don't believe it was originally designed for women to be conventuals ; but I do believe, if they really desire it, they can make their mark in the world, and, if possible, I shall confirm my belief by expe- rience." " No one seems to take any notice of us," said Mary ; " and how can there be any danger when there are so many people on every side of us ? " 70 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " I suppose there is danger everywhere," said Kate, " and it is our business to avoid it. If we took no pre- cautions, we might all be run over by some of these great lumbering teams ; and even at home we might get burned up if we didn't keep out of the fire. The fact is, girls, we must keep our eyes open, or we shall be sure to fall into- danger. Isn't it nice that we neither smoke, nor drink wine, nor play billiards, nor have any desire to do either? " " It is a mercy," said Hannah ; " and if we don't get infatuated with fashion and dress, we shall undoubtedly go on briskly." " We shall not be likely to do that, for we have no money to spend in that way ; so I think we are safe there," said Kate. " It is a temptation," said Mary, " to see so many pretty things, and so many women in becoming cos- tumes ; for one would like to look pretty." " Yes, but when we reason on the subject, we find it is much more to our advantage as regards happiness, convenience, health, and comfort, to clothe our minds with beauties which can never escape us," said Han- nah. " The study of dress and fashion must be a very- shallow enjoyment, and give people a great deal of uneasiness, especially if their purse is light." " There is time enough for us," said Kate, " when we make our fortunes ; then I'm to have a black vel- vet dress, vou know." And so the girls talked and walked, and often a policeman turned, when Hannah lightly touched his arm, to behold three pairs of bright eyes looking in- nocently into his face while inquiries were made. Cooper Institute was pointed out to them at last, that great building, so suggestive of human benevolence and appreciation of the wants and needs of the people. IN NEW YORK. 71 " I believe," said Kate, looking at the building with shining eyes, " I believe I feel enough gratitude for that building and its advantages, to pay for its erec- tion. I really feel like expressing my gratitude to Mr. Cooper personally ; but I suppose it would only trouble him. Are such men and their benevolent acts appreciated ? " " No, not as they should be, I am sure," said Han- nah, " though they often get applauded, and gain no- toriety; but I suppose it is impossible for people to fully realize the good such a building as this does to generation after generation." They entered the Institute, and roamed about from one room to another, taking note of everything they saw, and becoming bewildered as they wandered up- stairs and down. The reading-room was to them the chief attraction, where many men were reading the news ; and though they were busy with their thoughts, they kept silent until they were again in the hall. " I don't see why people need complain of a lack of opportunities to improve their minds, if they can visit this place," said Hannah. " Did you notice," said Kate, " not one woman was there reading, but a large number of men ? What do you think is the meaning of it ? " " Perhaps the women don't find time to go there," suggested Mary. ** A poor set of slaves they are then," said Han- nah. " It seems more probable that they choose to go somewhere else, shopping perhaps, or parading the streets ; and men, you know, must keep a little posted on the -news of the day, if they have any pride or self- respect." "We are not going to allow," said Kate, "that 72 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. women haven't the ability to grow as wise as men, nor that they have no natural taste for knowledge and literature, until we have proved our own powers thoroughly ; so it becomes necessary to devise some reason for the absence of women from the public libra- ries and reading-rooms, besides a natural disinclina- tion to visit such places." " False education," said Mary. " Wouldn't I have been just as uninterested in these matters, and just as interested in dress and all the pretty things of a fashion- able life, as the most insipid you can find, had I been bred in luxury, and taught that to work was a disgrace to a girl, and making herself attractive and getting a rich husband must be her one aim in life ? " " It might have been so with us all, and I think Mary has the right key to the mystery," said Hannah ; " and it is such a pity that women are so educated. They surely cannot enjoy life so well as they other- wise would ; and how grateful we should be that we are bred to higher aims and objects ! " " I think," said Kate, " we are a great help and strength to each other, and one alone would be much more liable to fall. Now we talk these subjects over and over, which causes us to think more and more; and in time perhaps we shall become strong enough to stand alone against the temptations and allurements of the whole world." " What a delightful picture that calls to my mind ! " said Hannah. This conversation was carried on as they descended side by side the long, heavy stairs. When they found themselves in the street again, they were undecided which way to turn, and the twilight was stealing on. No policeman was in sight, as is often the case when most needed. HT NEW YORK. To Let iis ask a woman," said Mary . " I think ft is safe to ask women die way, and there is one who looks good-natured. A corpulent, broad-freed woman drew near; but after several vain attempts to make her understand, as she proved to be renr deaf, the ghfe gave up all hope, " This is a warning never to make inquiries of &t fJA . .rj y, ii. on women, saxi ^"^- "It was too comical for me to keep quiet,'' said Mary. "I had hard work to keep from bursting out to see yon two trying to make her hear, first "Yes, I knew yon were behind us tittering. It's a wonder the old laoV didn't keep an hour or so. I .After several adventures --ir to BUS, they found themselves well on their wy home, congratulating each other on their good hick. - 1 hope we are near home,-' said Mary, after they dark, and look! there is a man lighting a street lamp. I wfeh onry for the danger that we could slay all the M*JP* are lighted, just to see the "Some evening we can, when better acquainted,'* ff^ Tfaimakp and they hurried on. "Good evening, misses," said a man at Kate's They all looked up, and perceived that they had VfO' iiaijai tlM> | J i -I must say something to him,*' whispered Kate; 74 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " I cannot resist the temptation ; " and so she said in the most cutting, sarcastic tone possible, " Let us alone, if you please, sir ; we neither know you nor wish to know you." A moment after this, they glanced behind them, but he had vanished. " The impudent thing ! " said Hannah. " It does one good to speak up to them so ; but they say it is better not to notice them at all." " He has left us, any way," said Kate, " and that is all we ask of him." " He may follow us slyly and rob us," said Mary. " O fie ! " laughed Kate. " I'm not afraid of him, and it's not the least consequence ; and here we are at home, so there is no more danger or cause for fear." A couple was ascending the steps before them, an old lady dressed in black, and a young man lean- ing upon her arm. He seemed feeble, and ascended very slowly ; and at last, turning his head, the girls caught sight of a very thin, pale face, and large mourn- ful eyes. " Poor boy ! " sighed Mary. " Mother and son, no doubt, and if so, he has the best of care." " But what a sad, pitiful face he has ! " whispered Hannah. " It is intelligent, too. I shall be haunted with it now for a long time. I wonder if they are poor, and if he has consumption." " I hope not," said Kate ; " perhaps he is recovering from some fever." " His eyes looked as though his soul was full of poe- try," said Mary. " I hope we shall meet him some time." They entered the hall just after the interesting IN NEW YORK. 75 couple, and, ascending three flights of stairs, saw them enter a room just beneath their own and close the door after them ; then they climbed another flight, and, when in their own room, soon lay down upon their little beds to rest, for they were very tired. 76 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. CHAPTER VI. ADVERTISING. THE second day in New York was to the three sisters a day of work. They could not afford to be idle when there was so much to be accomplished, so many hopes to beckon them on, so much dependent upon their exertions. They expected no ease or idle pleasure ; their object was to benefit themselves and prepare for future usefulness : yet there is no heart so prescient as fully to comprehend what it has antici- pated, except through a thorough realization of the an- ticipation ; and though they knew trials and disappoint- ments must overtake them, yet they could not under- stand or discern how very disheartened and weary they would become as the days advanced. They went to work, therefore, with brave hearts, and a determination to overcome all obstacles. Their means were limited, and they were therefore obliged to make the increase of them their first consideration. However anxious they might be to commence their studies and observations at once, and go on improving without interruption, their desires could not be. grati- fied ; but they must build the ladder as they climbed, and they commenced with willing hands and hopeful hearts. And so when the morning light stole in upon the little white beds, and the busy stir had commenced in the streets, three pairs of eyes opened one after the ADVERTISING. 77 other, three hearts gave sudden bounds of recognition of things around them after an instant's bewilderment, and then the tongues were loosed, and the thoughts busy. Full of hope and ambition, they arose and prepared themselves for a day of activity. One little looking- glass was all they had in which to view their bright faces ; but the eyes were keen and sparkling, and a few glances were sufficient to show them that they were presentable, though their ornaments were few and modest. The noise and bustle in the street excited and animated them ; they had never been where there was so much commotion before, so much hurry and confusion ; and the sound of many feet upon the pave- ment below was to them an incitement ; for were not numberless people busy and active, and are not we influenced by that which is going on around us ? The time, however, was destined to come to them when the continuous tramp and hurry in the streets would discourage instead of animate, would weary in- stead of excite ; for the strongest and bravest, who are striving for high and worthy attainments, must find shadows as well as sunshine along their way. They ate their breakfasts in the liveliest and brightest moods, and declared they had never felt better appetites at home when there were hot coffee and toast to tempt them. After the meal was finished, and the things cleared away, Hannah procured paper and pen, saving, ' Now for the advertisement." Advertising, it is said, is the key to wealth and worldly distinction. It is certainly an avenue through which unknown persons may make their desires known to the public, and gain people's attention and interest. 78 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. The three sisters had little money, but much faith ; no experience, but great hopes and tireless energy ; and though they tried to anticipate many failures, yet they could not but believe that the advertisement, which they could hardly afford, would bring to Mary a suffi- cient number of scholars to insure her a living, at least, in the city. "Now," said Hannah, taking a seat by the table, " now we must have the ' Herald ' to look at. I have been told that that is the paper to advertise in." " Well, then, I will go down to the stand below here and get one," said Mary. " It will be a good time to get out into the street alone. I want to try it." " You don't think you would get lost, do you ? " asked Kate. " No indeed, how could 1^ " said Mary, preparing to go down. " Don't linger, and forget everything but the ' sights,' " said Hannah. " I will stay at the window and watch for you, and see you buy the paper at the stand, and also if you start the right way to come back again." Maiy started bravely on her way; but her heart beat faster when she reached the street and passed along with hurrying feet to the first corner, then on to the second, where was the news-stand on which the window of their room looked, and from which Hannah watched for the trim, little figure in gray poplin, half afraid some harm would come to the child, she said, even in that little walk ; but Mary was successful, and with the damp sheet of the " Herald " in her hand, walked around the corner again without stopping to look into the showy shop windows, though the tempta- tion was strong to do so. She entered the house safely, ADVERTISING. 79 and the girls in their room were soon much surprised to see the door burst open, and Mary fly through with her face flushed and expressive of great excitement. " O dear, I'm just mortified beyond description," she said, flinging die li Herald " on the table and her- self into a chair. " I have just disgraced myself, and I don't see what makes me blunder so. I really thought I had got up four flights of stairs, and so I must rush into the room just below this and make a dunce of myself. As soon as I unlatched the door, I must scream out, * All safe ! here's the paper ; now for the advertisement ; ' and then looking in, there sat the pale young man, looking at me with his great melan- choly eyes, and a smile about his lips ; while I was so completely amazed, I stopped still an instant and looked straight into his* face, and then, as if I had never been taught a particle of politeness, I rushed away, slammed the door, and here I am. O dear ! these horrid houses, with so many flights of stairs ' " " Was he the young man we saw with his mother lut Bight ? " asked Hannah. 4k Yes, of course ; I knew him in an instant," an- swered Mary, " and I am so ashamed of myself." " Well, you are not to blame," said Kate, " though I should have thought you would have apologized." " So should I," said Mary ; " and he must think me so very green, or silly, or something. Suppose I should go down now and apologize. Is it too late ? " " I think it better to let it pass by now. We want to avoid making any acquaintances, and so the least said the better ; you have done him no injury, and he will understand it to be a mistake, and will excuse you," said Hannah. " How did it look in his room anything like ours ? " 80 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " O no, not at all. I don't know one thing it contained ; only there was more room, and it had a cozy look. I could see nothing but the pale face and great brown eyes of the young man, and I do pity him." " So do I," said Kate ; " but don't let us get inter- ested ; we can't afford it. If AVC don't concentrate our minds wholly on the object for which we left home and came to the city, we shall surely miss of acquiring it. I am going* to Cooper's, and alone too, and you may write the advertisement. I shall be no help to you." After some discussion about the propriety of Kate's going alone, and a decision that she could safely do so, Hannah and Mary commenced the study of the adver- tising sheet of the " Herald." " Good-by, girlies," said Kate, with her hands on the door-knob ; " don't go to the ' Herald ' office till I come back, and don't worry about me in the least, for I can take care of myself. I want to see the adver- tisement before it goes into the paper." " Don't stay long, then," said Mary ; " and do be careful and count the flights of stairs when you come back. I have a mind to carry a card with me after now, and keep an account as I rise." " Don't lose yourself in thought while in the street," said Hannah ; " and when you display those drawings, don't act as though you were ashamed of them. I think they are good. Good-by ; come back as soon as possible." " Now," said Mary, as soon as Kate had gone, " here is an advertisement that suits me pretty well." " That is very good," said Hannah, reading it ; " and I will now write one, and then we will see how it sounds." There was a silence for some time, while ADVERTISING. 81 Hannah thought and Maiy read ; and at last with a long breath Hannah announced that she had written something, but she didn't suppose it was good ; where- upon she proceeded to read it. It ran thus : " A thorough and competent teacher of music would like to obtain a few scholars. She will be faithful in her instructions and reasonable in her charges. Ad- dress, W. M., * Herald ' office." "Well," said Mary, after she had heard it for the fourth time, " that is probably as well as we can do. I wish I could get at least eight scholars ; that would help us all a good deal/' ** We wfll see what can be done, or what this adver- tisement will do," said Hannah, as she copied it care- fully in preparation for its appearance in the columns of the "Herald." Kate was absent until nearly noon ; and her sisters had begun to grow somewhat uneasy, when they heard her decisive step in the hall, and very shortly she stood before them, smiling and apparently well sat- " What luck ? " asked Mary the first thing. Excellent," answered Kate ; "I had no trouble at all in the street, and was very pleasantly received at the Institute, and shall commence my lessons there to- morrow. My sketches were pronounced very good; and I am so much encouraged and feel so free, now it is all settled. I went in among the alcoves, where the busts and easels were ; and I know it is a delightful place to draw." " I wonder if we can't go in some day," said Han- nah. "I knew your sketches would be considered good." It was afternoon when the three girls started far 6 82 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. the " Herald " office ; and the merchant who sends in his advertisement to the amount of a thousand dollars, does not feel it of such importance as did they the slip of paper on which was only a few lines, costing them only fifty cents per day. " Dear me ! I'm afraid I shall meet the pale young man," said Mary, drawing her veil closely over her face. " I couldn't endure to see him ; so let us hurry out of the hall as soon as possible." It was a long walk down to the " Herald " office ; but the distance seemed short to the girls, who took note of all around them, and chattered merrily on the way. At one of the advertising windows they left the slip of -paper, and the clerk smiled, and took the fifty cents ; and with great expectations, they turned their steps homeward. " Only one letter ! " said Mary despondingly, on her return from the " Herald " office, whither she had gone to hear from her advertisement. She threw the letter on the table, and looked the very picture of discourage- ment. " That's all the good advertising does. I ex- pected at least a dozen letters, and have received only just one, and that is of no consequence. I only read the first line, which informs me that my services are not required, but only my attention for a moment." " Maybe the letter is of some consequence ; you don't know, if you haven't read it," said Hannah, draw- ing the letter from the envelope, and unfolding it. " What consequence can it be," said Kate, " if it brings her no scholars ? If advertising will do no good what will ? We have no influence, no acquaintances, and no recommendations." Here was a disappointment, so soon after their ar- ADVERTISING. 83 rival ; and the girls sat a moment and looked at each other in silence. " Let us see what this one letter says ; perhaps there is some encouragement in it," said fiumah. She read it aloud and here is a copy of it : - NEW YORK, October 5dL 44 W. M., I do not address you to obtain your ser- vices, but your attention for a few moments. This morning, in looking over the advertising sheet of the 4 Herald,' I noticed your advertisement, and was par- ticularly attracted toward it. The reason for the attrac- tion is unknown to me, as the advertisement is exceed- ingly commonplace, and gives no hint whether you are young or old, in comfortable or trying circumstances. However, I am through some means impressed that you are a young lady with tittle experience, and that is why I address you with a few words of advice. I think from my experience in advertising that this is the only letter you will receive at the 4 Herald ' office ; and if you are anxious to obtain scholars, you must make your desire known to the public in a more attractive manner. You must offer some inducement. Place your terms a tittle below the common price, and you will be noticed. 44 1 thought that by writing there might be a possi- bility of doing you a favor ; and if my suggestion is not needed, it surely will do no harm. If you should wish to ask me for any information or favor, address "Well!" exclaimed Hannah, dropping the letter in her lap. 44 Indeed ! " said Kate, in the tone she always used when suddenly struck with surprise. 84 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " If I had mistrusted what the letter contained, I should have read it long ago," said Mary, throwing aside somewhat her despondent air. " Who knows but this may be worth the dozen let- ters expected ? " said Hannah. " Perhaps," said Kate ; " but what a mystery ! It is well-timed advice, and how near he guessed Mary's circumstances ! He must be a man of wonderful im- pressions." " A man ? how do you know that ? " asked Mary. " It may have been written by a woman." " I never thought of it's being a woman," said Han- nah, looking the letter over again, " but it may be : however, it doesn't seem like one." " I have no idea it is a woman," said Kate. " It neither seems like a woman to write it, nor sounds like a woman's composition. The writer is no doubt a man, and he has made an excellent suggestion." " And why didn't we think of it before ? Here we were discouraged about advertising, just because we were not keen enough to write a suitable advertisement. This shows how often failures come from inability instead of bad luck, as we often think," said Hannah. " Well, shall we try our luck again, on the advised plan ? " asked Mary, with a lighter heart. " Of course we are not going to give up so easily as this," said Kate. " O dear ! " said Mary, " a few moments ago I was afraid I should be obliged to go home ; I can't go home any way, girls, now I have come. Something must be done. Let us write another advertisement now, and take it down for the morning's paper." " Too late," said Hannah ; " yet, as we have nothing else to do, we can write it to-night, and carry it in to- ADVERTISING. 85 morrow. I wanted to see if I could dispose of any of those sketches of mine, but I can't go to-night. It really makes me shiver to think of it. I begin to realize how much bravery is necessary to posh our way through the world. While at home, I though! it would be a pleasure to go into the publishing houses, and talk with the publishers; but I think so no longer. I shrink from it so, and I wonder if it is all in me or if such a thing would affect any one. Do you suppose a man would hare such feelings ? " "I don't know," said Kate, "but I think it doubt- fuL It is really harder far 'a woman than a man, any way. In the first place, most of the publishers or all of them are men, and they stare at a girl so. and em- barrass her ; but then there is no use in shrinking or dreading it w - ** I know it, and I anu* overcome these feelings ; but h wfll be exceedingly hard work, especially as I have no confidence in the sketches I hare to dispose of." " Well, it wfll do you good probably to make an effort eren if you do not succeed, and perhaps you. can find out some of the fimhs in your sketches, and then l igm^y^M. j-im^nfaL.** to try, though I have little When Mary" is well settled, I shaU commence to write; and I am determined to write something that wfll sett. I must, you know, or go home, and it is a kind of necessity.'' 44 Weu, if you are determined to do it, you cam, do it, there is no doubt about that," said Kate. "If die 'paper yon write for now would only take more of TOUT fikrlrliPiVt you could be (|uile independent; but they have so Tery many writer*." *O, I can't depend on that paper at all, though 86 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. the money I received from it seemed quite an income while at home, with so few expenses ; but here it would not half support me, even in the economical way we are living ; and there must be other ways for me than that, and I shall do all I can to find them out." " I did not intend," said Kate, " to make any refer- ence to my condition, until Mary was well settled ; but I suppose I ought to be looking about for some kind of employment ; for although my lessons at the Institute are free, thanks to Peter Cooper, yet it costs something to live ; and my money will not last very long." " For the present, though, you are safe," said Han- nah ; " and your chief aim should be now to learn as fast as possible ; for the time will come probably when your attention will necessarily be called to earning your support. You must give all your attention to your studies now. I can't help having a hope that I can assist in supporting us all soon." " You are generally having hopes that way," said Kate, laughing ; " but we haven't come to want-yet ; so let us be joyful ; there is time enough for despond- ency. Mary, what are you thinking about ? " " My advertisement, of course," said Mary, starting suddenly from the reverie into which she had fallen. " Well, have you come to any conclusion ? " asked Hannah. " No ; you are the one to conclude in the matter ; but I think it very singular that this letter was writ- ten to me, and I have a curiosity to know who wrote it." " But there is no way to learn," said Kate ; " so we might as well take the advice, and drown our curi- osity." ADVERTISING. 87 11 Mine cannot be drowned," said Hannah ; " and I am in favor of dropping the writer a line expressing our gratitude for his timely suggestion." "It may not tarn out well," said Kate. "It looks too much like an adventure." " And what is the harm in adventures, if they are good ones ? " asked Mary. " But how are we to know whether they are good or not ? Our motives are to learn, and fit ourselves for future usefulness ; and we can't afford die time to attend to everything which comes along," said Kate. " I know that," answered Hannah ; " but somehow I feel that it might be a benefit to us to write to the author of this letter. I don't see how any harm could come from it." " Well, I don't either," said Kate, poising her head on one side to look at the sketch she was drawing. * Bother can I see what good may come from it ; but then you and Mary are the advertisers, and can do as you like." "As that is the case," said Mary, "let us design another advertisement, and make my terms nine dol- lars for twenty lessons." "Too little," said Kate. " I know that," answered Mary ; " but ten doDars is quite a common price, and according to this letter, I must make my terms low enough to induce people to " It seems hard," said Hannah ; "but we must sac- rifice much in order to do anything at last." The next morning Hannah and Mary went again to the "Herald 1 ' office; and this time their advertise- ment ran thus : " A young lady, who is a stranger in the city, in 88 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. order to obtain scholars in music, will give lessons at the reduced rate of nine dollars for twenty lessons. She is a thorough and competent teacher, and those who wish to secure her services should address W. M., ' Herald ' office." This was sure to be noticed ; and the young man who took it, together with the fifty cents, smiled and told them so ; adding that there would be enough let- ters for them the next day. Filled with hope, they went home to their little room, to talk and make further plans. Not dull of apprehension, quick to observe and discriminate, they had already become somewhat accustomed to the city, and could find their way about the streets with con- siderable ease. Though unsophisticated country girls, their intelligence, shrewdness, and elevated ideas pre- vented them from appearing green or ignorant, and secured to them an independent passport through the crowded streets. As was so hopefully expected, more than a dozen letters came in answer to the last advertisement ; and Mary, dancing into the room, threw them into Han- nah's lap, exclaiming, " Read, read ! I could hardly wait to get home, and I ran pat against a half-dozen persons, in my haste. Now break the seals, quick." " Fourteen letters ! " said Hannah, counting them. " There must be some hope for business," said Kate. " Do read one of them as soon as possible." Hannah broke one seal after another, and read the letters, to the delight and amusement of them all. A half-dozen of them were good, earnest letters ; the rest were doubtful. Some were exceedingly laughable, and the room rang with merry voices when they were read; others were somewhat insinuating, and were therefore treated with contempt. ADVERTISING. 89 " Here are six, which seem to me honest ones," said Hannah, when she had read them all ; " and you will have business for a while, Mary, to answer them all and make engagements." ** You will have a task to find them all too, I im- agine," said Kate, examining the letters. " Here is one from Perry Street," she continued ; " and where that is, is more than I know. I must say, Mary dis- plays more bravery thus far than I thought she would ; but then it's not time to be homesick yet."^ " I don't know but she will succeed better than you or I, Kate," said Hannah, "-in spite of our fears to the contrary. She beats me now in finding her way around the city." " You are good for making acknowledgments at least," said Mary, looking over the six letters carefully. " Six scholars at nine dollars a piece will be fifty-four dollars for ten weeks, or five dollars and forty cents per week. A pretty good income, isn't it ? " " How fortunate we are, thus far ! " said Kate. The next day after the reception of these letters, Mary called at the places where she thought there would be hope of obtaining scholars ; and among the six which she felt so sure of obtaining she engaged only four. Somewhat disappointed that all had not proved bond fide, yet after all delighted with her suc- cess, she walked briskly homeward deep in thought, and anxious to tell her adventures and experiences to her sisters. At the foot of the steps she again saw the young man with the pale face and great melancholy eyes, leaning on the arm of the old woman who had been pronounced by the girls his mother. " Let me rest a moment," she heard the young man say. " I can't climb those steps now, I am so weary." 90 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. Mary forgot her embarrassment in her pity and sympathy for the invalid ; and quite unlike her usual diffident and bashful manner, she stopped, and said respectfully, " Can I render you any assistance ? " " Thanks for your kindly oifer," said the old lady in the tone of a gentlewoman. " My son, I fear, has walked a little too far for his strength. If you would give him your arm, it would assist him much in ascend- ing the steps." " I will do so with pleasure," said Mary, stepping to the side of the young man and offering her arm. He rested his hand, as slender and white as her own, upon it, smiling and thanking her feebly. Slowly they as- cended the steps, Mary's heart gathering more and more sympathy, as the hand upon her arm trembled slightly ; and the old woman said in a tender motherly tone, as if talking to a child ; " We will rest in the hall, Davie, and we are almost there." In the hall the young man sat dow r n to rest before attempting the first flight of stairs. He seemed ex- hausted, and closed his great beautiful eyes ; and Mary glanced at him in timid pity, received again the old woman's thanks, and then fled to her room. PLYMOUTH CHURCH. 91 CHAPTER VU. PLYMOUTH CHURCH. SUNDAY morning never &Qs to make its appearance every seventh day, no matter what is die state of a- fairs in village or nation. Its pleasant peaceful light steals up from die eastern hflk, and spreads itself out Eke a benediction over chy and country, exposing die want and shame and misery in die dens of die busy towns,, as well as die purity and glory of Nature's Tms Sabbath morning of which I speak dawned with all die beauty and sweetness that October in her happiest mood can give. The group of maples on die Windsor firm appeared in dieir brightest array, and stood up in their brilliant robes against a sky rosy widi die tints of die expected sun. The hidden nooks of the old orchard began to grow viable ; and die delicate ferns, cooled and dried by the night's brisk breeze, looked as fresh and bright as on die summer mornings long passed away. The old firm- house, hedged in widi apple-trees, stood still and gave no sign of die absence of die three young hearts which for years had a wakened on these Messed greet die quiet Sabbath widi til pines*. It told no tales, unless by its uncommon still- ness, of the lone old chamber where die quilts were upon die beds, and die snowy piUows, impressed 92 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. by placid cheeks, and free from tangled hair, looked stiff and cheerless. It spoke neither of the mother's daily visits to this dear old room, hushed and silent, disturbed no more by the merry laughs of her happy girls, nor of the tender light of her mild eye as she patted a pillow complacently, or stooped over the little vase of dried asters, with a prayer for her absent daughters. The gleaming white church on the hill, with its silent bell poised in the quaint steeple, was kissed all over by the coming sunlight ; and Adonijah, thus early in his Sunday suit, sat on the rough rails of a pair of bars not many rods away, and whittled dex- terously at a piece of pine, his heart drinking in the stillness and beauty around him, though his unculti- vated mind could not form his vague thoughts and feelings into the fullest and highest appreciation of the picturesque scenery around him, and the sweet, divine influence of the dawning Sabbath, that seemed to per- meate every leaf and flower. At an open window, behind a row of maples, ap- peared a little pale sad face with golden locks stream- ing down on either side, and pensive gray eyes peering through the gay rustling foliage tqward the brighten- ing east, where the sun was coming up in all his pageantry and pride. It was Dill, kneeling there in her snowy night-robe, longing for that peace to fill her heart which breathed so sweetly in all around her. Nature strove to drive all fears away by her teach- ings of peace and simplicity ; but the cold, hard teach- ings of man refused to withhold its impressions, and so the innocent young heart, which should have been filled with the most joyful emotions, throbbed painfully against its iron bars, catching glimpses of the fair sun- shine of simple holiness, but unable to lift the latch of the iron gate. PLYMOUTH CHURCH. 93 The little blue-reined hands were clasped on the window-all, and the delicately moulded ear caught the low peculiar whistle of Adonijah, whittling on the bars. She knew just where he sat, though she could not discover him through the maples, far many a Sab- bath morning before he had sat there in the same list- less manner, whistling very soft and low some quaint old hymn, and whittling absently at a stick of pine. Across the great square field, scattered here and there with brown and golden leaves, Sally bustled about in the cool milk-room, skimming the milk, and piling the pans into heaps to be washed. The coming up of the great sun was not to her a scene of wonder and admiration, but only an incitement to labor the fester, that the work might be " out of the way " in good season. Everything was viewed from a stand-point so mat- ter-of-fact and worldly wise that "God aright hare made the nh bring fanh The. Without a flower at aD," without deducting a particle from Sally's desires or happiness. The cool blue asters by the well she had flung away because troublesome, she said ; and the sprigs of golden-rod, which "Xijah with vague appre- ciation dropped upon the white pine table, she threw from the window with unappreciative ejaculations, and gave no thought to the glorious golden beauty of that fair October Sabbath. And so, while everything was so still and sweet and beautiful on and around the Windsor farm, there was apparently no lull in the noisy streets of New York city. The car-bells jingled lazily, the heavy stages 94 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. rumbled along over the rough streets, the tramp of numberless feet made a continual clatter on the side- walks, and the signs of the Sabbath were mostly in the hearts of those who loved the day of rest. In the rude little room, high up in the dull brick building, the som- bre sweetness of the morning twilight softened angular lines into curves of beauty, and kissed with its dusky lips the sleeping faces of the three young girls who were to spend the first Sabbath in the great city. All night they had slept calmly and sweetly, for the clat- ter in the streets no longer disturbed them, and their dreams were of home and its many comforts. They had retired to rest with unexpressed but home- sick feelings at their hearts, and had comforted them- selves with the thought of Beecher's on the morrow, and a whole day to forget all cares and feel justified, . aye, sanctified in a rest from all their labors. They no longer laughed at the hard hair pillows, but slept as soundly upon them as they were wont to sleep on the downy ones at home. Hannah had resolved, as she lay looking up into the fathomless patch of blue sky studded with the cool stars of October, that the morrow should find her in thorough search for some consolation in religion, for little Dill and for herself. Perhaps Beecher would say just what she needed, or inspire her to understand the hidden things. Kate had gazed in silent meditation off to where the ocean lay, and her thoughts were a medley of past experiences i and future hopes. Mary turned her face to the wall, and tried to stifle back the tears that would creep under the eyelids and moisten her cheeks, as she thought of the blessed peace at home, and the beautiful Sabbath the morning would PLYMOUTH CHURCH. 95 bring, and gather together the familiar faces in the old church ; bat not one of them spoke, and slumber stole upon them at last, and the night was passed in refresh- ing sleep ; and so the morning twilight found them calm and peaceful, and the coming light and active life renewed swept away the sad feelings of the evening, and made them happy and merry again. Breakfast was eaten, die room put in nice order, and the toilets nearly completed, when some quick, stiff-sounding steps approached their door, and a sudden, decisive knock warned them that some one sought admittance. Curi- ous looks passed from one to the other ; and Mary, who was least engaged, opened the door, and displayed to the astonished gaze of them all a very prim-looking woman, with sharp gray eyes and sallow cheeks. She was tall and spare, with a peculiar garb of dull brown, and carried in her hand a hymn-book and Bible. She made a very stiff bow, and said good-morning in a very stiff way. She looked around the room with quick, curious glances, and said " Pardon me," and '* I beg pardon," several times before she made known her errand. " Walk in," said Hannah after a little pause, not knowing what else to say. " We haven't much room, but here is a chair." M Thank you," thank you," said she, entering the room, and taking the offered chair. "I felt it my duty, as a Christian woman, to call on you this morn- ing, the holy Sabbath day, and look after your souls. I hear you are strangers here in the city, and no doubt you need advisers, and I thought maybe you would go to church with me. I am a boarder in this house. My name is Desire Brechandon. and I am an un- worthy member of die Street Church." 96 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " We are very much obliged to you," said Hannah, "for your interest in us, and your kind invitation ; but we had decided to go to Brooklyn this morning, to hear Henry "Ward Beecher." " Like all the rest," said Miss Brechandon, throw- ing up her skinny hands in holy horror, " like all the rest who come to the city and desecrate the holy Sabbath by going to the theatre ! " " Indeed, madam, you misunderstand us," said Kate. " We are not going to the theatre, but to Plymouth Church, to hear Henry Ward Beecher preach." " Just like the rest ! " repeated the woman, shaking her head and showing the whites of her eyes. " The Sabbath is the day for piety, but none can be found in the pulpit of Plymouth Church. You'll get no relig- ion there, and I don't suppose you go there for the purpose of getting any." " Why," spoke up Mary, with large eyes. " I thought Mr. Beecher was a common preacher, and had sermons like other ministers." "An error many fall into," said Miss Brechandon. " The Sabbath is too holy a day, young ladies, to parade about the city, cross the river, and listen at last to Henry Ward Beecher. In the first place, I consider it breaking the Sabbath to go over in the ferry-boat, and I hope you will understand that I "talk for duty's sake. I have an interest in the souls of all humanity, and it is my aim to bring all I can into the fold of Christ." " Breaking the Sabbath to cross the river ? " said Hannah, in a tone of surprise. " Indeed, Miss Bre- chandon, I can see no religion in such strictness as that. I cannot but have a higher idea of Christianity." " Please tell us," said Mary, " why you think it wrong to do so. I cannot understand it." PLYMOUTH CHURCH. 97 " You cannot understand it, because your hearts are not ready for it," Said Miss Brechandon, with a sigh ; " but such a conversation as this is sacrilegious on the Sabbath." "Did you ever hear Beecher? " asked Kate, " No, and I never intend to. His sermons are not religious, but secular ; and laughter is a common thing among his congregation." "You never heard Beecher?" said Mary; "and live in New York ? " " There are a great many people who live in New York, and even in Brooklyn, who never heard him. Country people get high notions about him, and rush to hear him when they come to the city, as they would go to a Jim Crow performance." " But how can you judge him so harshly when you have never heard him ? " asked Hannah. " I don't judge any one harshly. I only state facts. I am not obliged to go to a circus, am I, to know it is not a fit place to go to ?" "Well, but this is quite a different thing," said Kate. " Won't you go over with us just this once, and hear for yourself? " Miss Brechandon arose from her chair with a jerk. " Well, I don't know what kind of people will come into this house next. In the room below they are Roman Catholics, mother and son, and I've tried all I can to convert them to the true religion ; but they are as stubborn as mules, and there is the young man on the brink of the grave with those false ideas. I'm sure I've prayed over him, and besought him to come into the true church ; but these Catholics are so set in their ways, there is no doing anything with them." The girls were full of interest on hearing this bit of 7 98 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. news, and full of surprise that the pale young man, with his beautiful, melancholy eyes, was a Catholic ; for there were associated in their minds with Catholics, cloistered walls, dreadful penances, false priests, and wicked father confessors. " I cannot believe but that he is good, however," said Hannah. " His face is so spiritual." " Good ! " repeated Miss Brechandon ; " if he had the true Christian religion, he would be a saint. He is as patient as Job and as harmless as a lamb." "Poor boy ! I thought so," said Kate. " Is he an American ? " " His father was a Frenchman of high blood ; his mother, an American. He was born in France ; but I never gossip on the Sabbath. I would like to have you go with me to church. Nothing will comfort us on our dying beds but religion." "We are very much obliged to you for calling," said Hannah, " and we hope you will call again. We are not opposed to religion, but rather desire to possess it in truth and purity ; but we go somewhat on the plan of investigation." " Just the plan that has ruined thousands," said Miss Brechandon. " Beecher will do you no good, mark my words ; he will drive you farther away from Christ, instead of bringing you nearer to him. He is a novelist and a joker." There was silence a moment, then Miss Brechandon continued : " Sometime you will see that what I have told you is true. I have already said too much, and should have been engaged in holy meditation and prayer-; but I see that you are lone young girls, in the midst of wickedness. Call on me if you will ; my room is the first at the right, on the second floor." PLYMOUTH CHURCH. 99 " Thank you," said Hannah. " We shall no doubt be glad to do so, and you will always be welcome to our room." " Thank you, thank you. Good morning ; may you learn the true way that leads to life everlasting." With these words and a stiff bow, she was gone ; and the girls turned, looked at each other, and then very irreverently burst out into subdued laughter. " I suppose we shouldn't laugh," said Hannah, " but she is such an odd character"! I am glad she called ; I rather like her ; she possesses genuine good- ness, I am sure, though it is crusted over rather stiffly."* * " What a name Desire Brechandon," said Mary. *' We should start immediately, if we are going to Beecher's," said Kate, who for a wonder was first ready, and waiting at the door for a start. " I do wish people would leave us more to ourselves. If we begin to make acquaintances, what will become of our inde- pendence ? " They passed out into the hall and down the first flight of stairs, and there they met the pale young man and his mother coming home from, mass ; and his eyes seemed brighter, and his step a trifle stronger. He recognized Mary, smiled and bowed pleasantly, and received in return a flushed but happy look, while his mother made some pleasant remark. " They don't look at all like Catholics, do they ? " asked Mary in a whisper, as they passed on. The Catholics she had been accustomed to see were the low Irish, and this fair-faced young man, with the air of a gentleman and scholar, could not be associated in her mind with the brawny, brawling Irish she was accustomed to meet. 100 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. And now they were well on their way to the Plym- outh Church, a place unrivaled in all the country in fame and popularity, and in the number of its weekly attendants. Troops of strangers in the city went there, as Miss Brechandon had said, with the same or almost the same, purpose that they attended a place of amuse- ment, for pleasure and curiosity ; but this fact, contrary to Miss Brechandon's ideas, was in no way a hindrance or detriment to religion, or a fault of the church or its pastor. Henry Ward Beecher, with his native tact, eloquence, and good nature, could no more help being popular than a rose could help being sweet. It is born in some men to be great, the same as it is born in some men to be small ; and as there are many who cannot be lifted out of obscurity, so there are some who cannot be kept from notoriety ; but popularity is not a synonym with perfection, and a person's own identity alone is the only thing, after all, that will keep his mind clear and vigorous, and bear him straight on in the path of life. A person must think for himself, and never accept a statement as truth because made by a great man or stated in an eloquent manner ; for origi- nality of thought alone will bring people towards an in- tellectual equality. Great and even good men some- times fall into errors ; and a person who talks much and often, not unfrequently makes mistakes, and some- times grave ones. Desire Brechandon's words of dis- paragement concerning Beecher were a benefit to the sisters, though not in the way she had anticipated. Having been accustomed to hear only praise of this orator of the pulpit, they had set him up in their hearts as almost an object of perfection, and Hannah had long dreamed of his church as a place to find the true religion. PLYMOUTH CHURCH. 101 Originality of thought is never perfected until the mind has met with the spirit of opposition ; and the belief of one person earnestly expressed has a greater influence than is generally understood. That is why earnestness is eloquence, because we are bound to re- spect die honest opinions of individuals; for if a person seems truly converted to a belief, we cannot help think- ing he has some reason for his conversion, and are in - fluenced accordingly. Miss Brechandon's words, then, from their opposition to the three girls' ideas and senti- ments, had prepared them to be more independent jodgrT of what they should see and hear in the famous church. The morning was cool and delightful, and of the nature to give activity to the highest and best part of the mind, and lift the soul nearer to its Cre- ator. The noisy streets of the dry, however, are not the places to awaken the purest and most divine as- pirations ; and this way of going to church was so different from the way the girls had always known, that they tailed to catch the Sabbath's soothing influ- ence, and busied themselves as they rode or walked in noticing the various objects that met their vision, and mmfr'-g comments. This was such a contrast from going to church in the country, where the sky and the meadows were silent, but full of sacred and sweet in- fluence, and where the one bell in the quaint steeple awakened the green little valleys and rolling hills, and the pathway was strewn with flowers. The girls al- ways had declared the journey to and from church by far the most beautiful and inspiring duty of the Sab- bath, and die best sermons they listened to were those which Nature preached to them ; but now, as they walked through Fulton Market, with its stands of sweetmeats and refreshments, and that far from in* 102 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. vigorating smell of vegetables and decayed fruit, they were not sufficiently heedless of things around them to pass on thinking only of the spiritual. However, when they walked up Hicks Street in the shadow of the numerous old trees that mingle their boughs to- gether from sidewalk to sidewalk, something of those pleasant feelings came over them ; for the fallen leaves rustled under their feet, and the wind made a pleasant, familiar sighing in the spreading branches. " This seems like Sunday," said Hannah, " and I am grateful for the seeming, for I was just thinking it would be terrible to lose those dear old Sunday feel- ings." They soon turned the corner on to Orange Street, and their hearts began to beat high ; for they knew they were near the church of which they had long heard, but never seen. People were passing up the steps in front of a great brick building ; but it couldn't be Beecher's church, they thought, it Avas so entirely plain, and had no steeple at all. Only a great square red structure, blocked in on each side, with no prominent feature, nothing to tell of its popularity and world- wide renown. Still the crowd increased around it ; and, drawing near, the girls looked up over the great doors, and read, " Plymouth Church, 1848." They looked at each other in astonishment, and felt somewhat disappointed. Thicker and faster the people came ; and, fearing they should find no seats, they entered the hall, and saw that on each side of the church door there were crowds of people, and the gray-haired usher in his elegant black suit, and a tuft of rare blossoms attached to his coat, was saying over and over, making gestures with his hands, " Strangers, please step one side and wait till the pew-holders take their seats ; " and so the girls, PLYMOUTH CHURCH. 103 stepping aside, soon found themselves blocked in nd squeezed by the fast increasing crowd. At last the great bell began to ring, and then the pew-holders came pouring in ; and O, what a variety and elegance of costume they represented ! These simple country girls had never witnessed any display of dress so rich and costly. Sweeping trains of richest silk, flashing bracelets, and diamond pins, satins and laces, and costly trimmings^ of every variety. Somehow this great display of attire didn't seem much like religion ; and then the most of them passed on with such impor- tant and sweeping airs that the girls, even in their be- wilderment, didn't quite admire, and thought how very plain and simple their own very best dresses were, and what heaps of money it must have taken to fit out so many in such elegant style. The usher now began to give the strangers seats ; and the girls in a kind of dream followed him through the aisle, and fortu- nately received seats very near together. When fairly seated, they looked around them, and to their astonish- ment beheld no pulpit, but only a plain platform with a miniature desk, a quaint-looking chair, and a little stand, but O the beautiful flowers drooping over the high and elegant vases on each side of the desk ! At these they gazed with lips apart. Such huge bouquets, and such a rich variety of colors! What wouldn't they give to go near them and touch them ? In their enthusiasm over the flowers, they forgot to watch for the eloquent preacher ; and before they were aware he had taken his seat behind the desk, and suddenly there came a peal from the mammoth organ that made them start from their seats and lookup. None of them had ever seen before an organ so great and powerful as this ; and as it gave forth strain after strain, under the 104 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. fingers of the organist, of wonderful, startling, and rav- ishing music, Hannah and Kate mutely pressed each other's hands and listened, awe-stricken and entranced. Mary, who sat in the pew behind them, involuntarily clasped her hands together, and overcome with unut- terable emotions, the tears rolled down her cheeks, while the blood in her veins seemed to grow cold, and she shivered as if in an ague fit. The organist never played better or made a better selection, and a new world was open to Mary ; her soul seemed to leap forth into delightful places, before unknown, into endless fields, and beauties untold, and discerned only when the spirit seemed to escape for a moment from its house of clay. The voices of the choir awakened her from the enchanted state of delirious joy into which she had fallen ; but the enchantment lingered still as the grand oratorio, with its solos and duets, filled the great house with its power and melody. The prayer was offered in a low tone, arid the sisters forgot, in their curiosity and excitement, to pay due reverence, and silently join in the petition. Hannah was busy ex- amining the preacher's physique, and thinking how lit- tle of the spiritual there was in his looks, but how much there was of animal life and vitality. Kate was thinking of the boyish look about his mouth, the thin light hair put so smoothly behind his ears, and how much his pictures resembled him. Mary was busy in counting the pipes of the organ, the number of which she made out to be twenty-seven, and looking at the trumpets on each side, at the top, and the little brown angel perched in the middle, and wondering if ever she could touch the keys of a similar instrument. The sermon did not bid fair, at first, to be anything but ordinary ; but it grew more and more interesting PLYMOUTH CHURCH. 105 and absorbing as the speaker continued, and the great audience was soon almost breathless with interest. Its tone and import, and the impression it made upon the sisters, is better expressed in a letter from Hannah to Dill than I can express it ; and as the letter is in- serted in the next chapter, I will pass the discourse by for the present. When the services were closed, and the people arose en masse to leave the church, the sisters remained quiet until the greater part had gone, and then, accord- ing to previous agreement, they passed on toward the platform. They went close to the flowers, touched them, and inhaled then* fragrance ; and then they waited for an opportunity to shake hands with Mr. Beecher. Hannah was determined. She had seen great men only at a distance ; and though she would have much preferred an introduction, yet to speak with him at all seemed a great privilege ; and so she lingered and lingered near, with Kate and Mary a little behind, feeling somewhat shy and backward. Several times Mr. Beecher glanced at them as if suspecting their ob- ject and desire ; but there were so many filing along to speak with him, he had no time to make advances, but could only attend to those made upon himself. At last, however, Hannah saw an opportunity ; and, stepping forward, she offered her hand, saying, " I wanted to speak with you very much, Mr. Beecher, and have been waiting some time for an opportunity to do so. These are my sisters." How heartily the great preacher pressed those maid- ens' hands, and how pleasantly he spoke, inquiring after their health ! They never forgot it, but the memory of it was a blessing to them always. No doubt great men have much to do, and much to try them, 106 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. but no one should voluntarily take upon himself too much to allow him sufficient time to be pleasant and kind, and attentive always to little " acts of kindness." Great men, especially those known as philanthro- pists, should make it one of their chief aims in life to spare enough time always to treat individuals with gen- tleness as well as politeness. It is a duty ; for many a heart has lost confidence in professors of philanthropy, through being repulsed or ignored by some one before worshipped almost as a god. SUNDRY MATTERS. 107 CHAPTER VIH. STTXDRY MATTERS. THESE are so many things to tell about in the his- tory of three young girls, with different aims and objects, that at times one knows hardly what thread of the narra- tive to take up, and therefore gets into some little con- fusion and doubt. If, therefore, this feeling makes itself at times apparent, the reader must consider the difficult position of the writer, and be governed accord- ingly. The visit to Plymouth Church, with all its attrac- tions, had a great influence on the sisters' minds, and gave them food for thought for many days. It also quickened their aspirations, and caused them to feel greater confidence in their final success. On Monday they commenced their duties with redoubled energy. Mary started off in high spirits to give her first lesson. Kate went, as usual, to Cooper's ; and Hannah, after their steps had died away in the long hall, took a heap of manuscript from her trunk, and, piling it upon the table, sat down to inspect it. It consisted of several sketches, and one story of half a dozen chapters. They had been written at different times, and she had very little confidence in them, though she hoped they might realize to her a few dollars. She had a list of a number of sensational papers, and the places of their publication ; and it was there 108 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. where her hopes lay of disposing of the manuscript. Hannah had a more just idea of her powers than most young authors, and more modest hopes and desires for the future. Long in the past, it seemed to her, she had thought of fame and popularity, when she saw her simple verses in family papers, and built air-castles of the glorious time when she should be crowned with a laurel wreath, and applauded by the world ; but with her growth of mind and experience, such vanity had passed away, and left her ambitious only for suffi- cient success to benefit the world, and secure to her- self a comfortable income. She was not a genius, and she knew it ; but she hoped that there accompanied her love for authorship sufficient talent to enable her to follow the profession she loved with profit to herself and others. She had already seen dark days, but her darkest were yet to come. Perseverance and labor alone would bring her success, and she was willing to give both ; and she thought all this, as she looked over the manuscript that invigorating Monday morning. " I hope these few stories will not prove detrimental to any one who may read them," she said to herself, "and I don't think they will, for I tried to have a good moral to them all." But her conscience was not at rest; she was working beneath the standard of her noblest ideas and her highest light. How much like trash those sketches were, passion, revenge, suicide, and lunacy ! She felt her face flush as she read them over ; but then such stuff was in good demand. She was not brilliant enough to write for any high-toned journal, and receive any emolument, and she must live ; and what harm was there in it, after all ? In this way she tried to reason herself into the belief that it was well and justifiable ; and though she succeeded SUNDRY MATTERS. 109 in partially stifling die voice of conscience, she did not overcome it ; and there was on her face an expression not entirely frank and clear, as she took her manu- script in her hand and started oat into the hall. Down to the lower part of the city she wended her way, and at last came to a sign on Fulton Street, which made her heart beat fast, for here she had decided to make her first calL With a mighty effort she ran np the steps, not daring to trust herself to walk, through fear she should be tempted to turn back ; and climbing two flights of dirty, narrow, dingy stairs, guided by a no- tice, she rapped at a door, and a sallow-faced lad opened it. The editor came, a small, black-eyed, slovenly dressed man, and told her he could not attend to her manuscript for two months at least, and seemed hur- ried and out of sorts ; and Hannah gave a long sigh of relief when she found herself safely in the street again ; but this repulse had made her bold, instead of timid, and caused her to say to herself with a little de- cided nod of her head, "F ve a right to try my luck, and I will. I expect to be repulsed ; but that won't discourage me.*' At the next office, which was that of a popular sensational paper, she met with a kinder reception. " Leave your manuscript by all means," the proprietor said, " and we will read it within a few days, and, if it proves suitable to our columns, win be glad to buy it of you ; " and so the manuscript was left ; and receiv- ing the promise that it would be looked over by the next Saturday, Hannah ran down the stairs, feeling as though she had left behind her a burden of many pounds' weight. She walked home briskly, and, seat- ing herself at the table, wrote a letter to little Dill ; and 110 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. in no better way can I give the state of her mind than by inserting it. "MY DEAR LITTLE DILL, By this time I think you are looking for a letter from me ; and that you may not be disappointed, I will write you one. We are now comfortably settled and doing nicely, and are fast becoming acquainted with the great city, which at first bewildered and deafened us. We get around quite easily, often alone, which latter fact you may keep to yourself. There is so much to be seen here, one hardly knows what to give attention to, except it is the pictures. We never feel in doubt concerning those, and stop to look at them wherever they appear. It is so very lively and busy here, you would think from appearances that it was an extra occasion. Every- body seems to be in a hurry, and the merchants bring their goods, even to stoves, out on the sidewalks for display. We have had one caller, and I wish you could have seen her. She reminded me some of Dan Pike's sister Jerusha, though she had a city air about her, which Jerusha hasn't got. She came to invite us to go to church with her, and introduced herself as Desire Brechandon. We laughed a good deal after she was gone, which I think wasn't quite proper and right, as she talked very solemnly to us. She is a very stiff church-woman, and would make an excellent dea- con, if a man ; and now I think of it, I don't see why she wouldn't do just as well as she is, for if a man, she couldn't be more solemn, stiff, or earnest. We were almost ready to start for Beecher's, and so of course were obliged to decline her invitation. " I suppose I ought to say to you, before I tell how beautiful was Mr. Beecher's sermon, that there are MATTERS. Ill some church-people who think it wrong to go to hear him, and say he is not a real, genuine, pious minister of the gospel ; bat the question which I am now trying to solve is, whether religion is made for the good of man and the world, instituted by a wise Father, who loves us, or whether it is made simply for God's glory and praise. Perhaps I do not make the idea quite plain to yon, as I am somewhat confused myself; but thus far I can see neither use, or beauty, or benefit, in such religion as Miss Brechandon preaches. Some- how it doesn't seem to amount to anything, and seems to draw people within themselves, and confine them to putting on long faces, going through certain dry cere- monies, and strictly obeying some old Mosaic law, to the neglect of the beautiful commandments of Christ, the sum and substance of which is love. Why it is that people make such prominent mistakes in their de- sire to obey the will of God, I cannot tell. Why they should make such selections among the command- ments, and adhere to them so strongly, is a- wonder to me. If there b anything harsh or fearful, they are sure to find it, and overlook the merciful, loving pas- sages. The life of Christ was so liberal and grand. He did not confine himself to sect or country ; and we as Christians are to be followers of Him. His crown- ing glory was love, good-will, and mercy ; and to be his followers, our crowning glory, it seems to me, must be the same. I cannot see quite clearly, yet on the question of church and creeds ; but there is one thing that I begin to grow sure of, and that is this. If we feel a love for all our fellow-creatures, if we de- sire to benefit them in every way possible, are charita- ble, kind, and forgiving, the spirit of Christ is within us. It must be so ; and you, my dear little friend, 112 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. have but to think over calmly your feelings in this respect, and if you love all your fellow-creatures with a desire to see them all happy, you love Christ. The sermon we heard yesterday was so grand and elevat- ing, it went through and through me, and coincided so thoroughly with my nature, that I can give you only its spirit, and that was charity. It was not at all like Mr. Hayes's ; and instead of drawing the hearers into a narrower circle, as it always seemed to me that his did, it cut away the bars of superstition, self-righteous- ness, and sectarianism, and left them in a great field where real practical work was to be performed, and self was left in an insignificant corner. I can see no better way, then, Dill, to gain for yourself a lasting peace, than to forget yourself and try to make others happy ; for if there is anything which will blind us and make us wretched, it is selfishness. I feel that I have written enough this time ; and hoping you may find some comfort in what I have written, I am . " Your loving friend, " HANNAH." Hannah was somewhat venturesome, and possessed curiosity in a greater degree than her sisters ; and after she had finished the letter to Dill, she took the myste- rious answer to Mary's advertisement, and read it several times over, with a very keen desire to know the author. In her imagination he was an old, white- haired man, with a kind fatherly face, to whom she would much like to offer her thanks, at least for his timely advice. The chirography was of such a char- acter as to give no clew to the writer, whether man or woman, a running hand not very distinct, and not at all even and elegant, but representative of the author's familiarity with the pen. SCXDRY MATTERS. 113 Hannah sat silent a long time over this letter ; but her thoughts were busy in revolving in her mind whether she should throw it aside, and forget it, as her sisters would be sure to do, or whether she should an- swer it, and express her gratitude. Of course it was Mary's letter, but then it made no difference ; she con- sidered the advice as much a favor to herself as to her sister ; and then, Mary never fancied writing, and she was always interested that way. The result of her thoughts was the conclusion to write an answer ; and she did so, a very expressive and characteristic reply, in which she offered her thanks and best wishes, and daringly signed her own name, accompanied by the street and number of her res- idence. Had she waited an hour after this was done the letter never would have been sent ; but on the im- pulse of the moment she dropped it, together with Dill's, into the letter-box ; and the moment it slid down out of sight she repented, and would have given much to have it in her hand again. She lingered around the lamp-post till she was ashamed, and finally went back to her room oppressed and frightened. What would the girls say ? Why should she have been so silly ? If only she hadn't signed her own name ! What an oversight that was ! This was the burden of her thoughts as she ascended to her room, and sat down dejected. "I hope this will teach me a lesson," she said, bringing her hand down hard upon the table. " Now I've made myself this trouble for nothing, and to think I should be writ- ing to an unknown person so soon after coming to the city ! Now I think of it, he may be some flirt or pickpocket; who wrote the letter just to see what wuuM come of it. If this won't teach me deliberation, 114 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. nothing will." She heard quick, tripping steps in the hall, and Mary came laughing into the room, but stopped suddenly on beholding Hannah's dubious countenance. " What is the matter ? " she exclaimed. " What has happened ? " " Why, what do you mean ? " asked Hannah, look- ing up as if surprised. " Your face," said Mary, " is like a book, and I am skilled in reading it; and it tells me something has gone wrong to-day." "I've only been so foolish as to write an answer to that mysterious letter," said Hannah, making a clean breast of it, " and I was just thinking perhaps I ought not to have done it." " O, is that all ? I'm glad you've done it ; the good man ought to receive a reply," said Mary in a relieved tone. " And now," she continued, " do ask me some- thing about my luck." " Tell without being asked, won't you ? I'm anx- ious enough to hear, and should have overwhelmed you with questions the first thing, if I hadn't been busily indulging in regret." " Well, I had such a funny time trying to find the place ! I went in the wrong direction, took the wrong car, and it seemed as though I never should find the place ; and when I did well, I was amazed. It was a tenement house, and I kept going up-stairs, and finally, away up in an attic, I found a piano, that must have been very fine in its day, and a little boy. O, dear, I just want to cry whenever I think of him. He was cruelly deformed, but his face was beautiful, only it had an old look, and was so very white ; and he is my scholar. His mother was there sewing at the window, and hardly looked up once or spoke while I stayed. MATTERS. 115 The room was almost bare of furniture, a mattress in the corner on the floor, no carpet, a small table, lit- tle stove, two old chairs, and the piano. I kept think- ing all the time how brave and unselfish that mother was, and I wanted to speak to her in sympathy and praise; but her reserve forbade it. The boy, whose name is Neil Blossom, is eight years old, and is a gen- ius. I looked on with astonishment as he touched with so much feeling and understanding the keys with his slender little fingers ; but I am afraid he will never live to be a man, poor thing ! " " And this is the first one of your scholars that you have seen ? " " Yes, and what a beginning ! I don't actually feel as though I could take one penny from that poor woman. I wish I could afford to give all such poor little geniuses lessons for nothing." " Mary, this is a singular world, a very strange, un- even world. It is no trifle for a girl to earn just what she requires to eat and wear and be comfortable, with- out giving one thought further ; but to earn one's living and education besides is a larger item than can be understood without experience : but we can do it, Mary, you and Kate and I ; and as to this poor lit- tle scholar of yours, teach him all you can, and see what time will bring about." " That's consoling, and the only way to do ; and now that I have my class engaged, I want to commence taking lessons, Hannah. How it hurts and humbles me to think I can't have some old master to teach me, but must drill away with some common teacher ! " " We can only hope for that in the future ; " and as Hannah s.iid this, she thought how hard she would work, and try to give, or help to give, both Kate and 116 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. Mary the advantages they longed for. She thought of her morning calls in Fulton Street, and wondered if her manuscript would be accepted ; but she said noth- ing of this, and silently Mary arose and began to make preparations for going out again. " Where are you going now ? " asked Hannah. "To the l Conservatory of Music' on Broadway," answered Mary, her lip quivering slightly. " It is the only way I know. O Hannah, Hannah, I want to be an organist." " And you shall be one ; there is time enough. Learn all you can now, dear, and a way will be opened for you, I am sure." So Mary passed down into the street, with the ten dollars her fattier had given her pinned snugly in the belt of her dress, for her lessons were to be paid for in advance. On her way back, having made satisfactory arrangements at the Conservatory, she fell to thinking in great earnestness of how she should find a piano to practice on. She had tried at several piano establish- ments for an opportunity to practice there, but without success ; and their room was so small at home, there was no use in trying to get one in there. What should she do? for do something she must; but her troubled brain could devise no means, so she wound up her speculations on the subject, as was her custom, with the encouraging thought, " Perhaps the girls can invent some plan," and then she hurried home to find consolation and rest. What a comfort and help these three sisters were to each other ! Three busy minds were much better than one ; and so unselfishly did each plan and work for the other that it would have been impossible to separate their interests. How to find a piano for Mary was now SUNDRY MATTERS. 117 the main point of consideration ; and at night, when Kate had come from Cooper's, an earnest consultation was held, and many impracticable ways proposed and abandoned ; but at last Kate, who had often been termed the inventor of the family, straightened herself from the leaning position she had been occupying, and exclaimed, " I have it, girls ; and why I didn't think of it be- fore is a wonder. You see that niche in the comer there, don't you, made by the chimnev ? " "Yes." *' Well, you haven't seen an upright piano, but I have ; and it's my opinion that niche is just large enough for one. I am always peering into all the music stores I come to ; and Saturday, when going up the Bowery, I saw an upright piano, but thought it a very odd thing, nor had an idea we should ever want it-; but I can see no other way now, but to get such a one." " Why, what is it ? " said Mary. " I don't want some horrid, old-fashioned thing. I never can endure to touch it.*' " All you have got to do is to go and see it ; and if you don't like it, we must contrive some other way." And Mary did go to see it the next morning ; and though she would have preferred one of greater mag- nitude, yet she found the tone tolerable, and the price five dollars per month ; and after much whispering with Kate, and a reckoning over and over concerning the money, the piano was at last engaged and sent to their room. Trunks were piled together, to give space for it ; and though there was hardly comfortable paths about the room, yet the girls declared the piano was a great improvement, and was sure to be a pleasure to 118 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. them, as well as profit. And so the arduous labor of the winter commenced, only to increase as the days went by. Mary drilled at the upright piano all her spare moments. Hannah commenced her writing, and Kate worked from morning till night at her easel. Hannah, in spite of her endeavors to forget the circum- stance, looked anxiously for a reply to the letter she had so imprudently written, though she never men- tioned it to her sisters ; and when the letter was at last put into her hands, she trembled, and, going back to her room, locked the door, and, sitting down at the table, broke the seal and glanced the first thing at the signature. As she did this, she drew a long sigh of relief, for it was a woman's name, Lisa Waterhouse, and only a few words were written ; but they were very significant. " Miss WINDSOR, I am delighted with your letter ; would be happy to make your acquaintance. Call around at No. Twelfth Street, some afternoon at four, and we will have a pleasant chat. " Don't be afraid. I am only a lone little widow, and shall expect you. Truly yours, " LISA WATERHOUSE." To say that Hannah was pleased with this letter would hardly express the true state of her feelings. Having chosen authorship as her profession, she was ever on the lookout for characters and incidents ; be- sides, she was naturally fond of adventure and of mak- ing new discoveries, and delighted in solving mysteries. Her quiet home teaching, liberal, yet pure, and full of caution, always warned her against rashness and im- pulse ; but this once, in answering this letter, she had SUNDRY MATTERS. 119 felt that she had not used caution ; and when, after all her conjectures and fears, she found she had been writ- ing only to a " little widow," and the harmless indi- vidual had invited her to call on her, she was at the same time relieved of the anxiety she had felt, and delighted with her good luck, as she called it. How- ever, she resolved to go no farther with the acquaint- ance until she had discussed the matter freely with the girls ; and so, when all three sat at the table eat- ing their supper of bread and cheese, the pretty little note was produced and read and commented on. " And so the dear old gray-headed man of our im- agination has proved to be only a ' little widow,' " said Kate. "Widows, I have heard, are artful," said Mary; " but then it is folly to be afraid of them. There is one thing plain to be understood. Hannah will not be satisfied until she calls on the mysterious lady, and so there is no kind of policy in opposing the affair." " I want to act wisely in the matter, anyhow," said Hannah ; " and if you girls think it would be better to pay no more attention to it, I will give it up ; but then the lady has done us a * good turn, 1 and might be a good friend to us. For my part, I see no harm in call- ing, as she invited me." "I haven't the least objection," said Kate. " You might, by doing so, gain some new and valuable ideas. If a man, instead of a woman, I would say, ' Let him alone entirely, and as soon as possible ; ' for above all other things, let us avoid everything that has a ten- dency to bflng the heart in danger of the darts of Cupid. That would be sure death to our plans. Don't you know how they have talked at home ? How many times they have said, ' It's all nonsense and 120 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. time lost for those Windsor girls to study so much ; they never'll make any use of their learning, but will be married in a year or. two, and forget all their high- flown education.' It would be splendid to have gen- tlemen friends if only it wasn't dangerous j and pray don't let us run any risk." "As for me," said Hannah, "my day is past; be- sides, I am neither pretty nor attractive, and therefore consider myself safe, and destined to use my educa- tion to earn my living for many years to come." " For my part," said Mary, " I must confess that I think it nice and agreeable and pleasant to have a ' beau ; ' somebody to think you are prettier and better than anybody else, and give you rides and nice bows ; and I'm afraid nothing but music, my glorious music, keeps me from being vain and silly, like so many girls who seem to live only to dress, and simper, and have beaux ; for though I often long to have a great many pretty clothes and ornaments, yet I can wil- lingly sacrifice them all for music." " Brave little sister! " said Hannah, hastily brushing a tear from her eye ; " there is something in your heart besides your love of music, that makes you so persevering and determined ; and nothing could ever make you vain and silly.'' " As for me," said Kate, drawing a long breath, as though she had been deep in thought, " I never expect to marry. I am not of the marrying kind ; besides, I believe there is nothing that will so enchain and bind and satisfy a person like the study of Art. Marrying is one of the easiest and commonest Aings in the world ; and there will be enough of it done undoubt- edly, if I remain single." " Which is to say that you don't feel it a duty en- SUNDRY MATTERS. 121 joined upon you to marry," said Hannah ; " but this talk is all moonshine, Kate ; when the right one comes, you'll not refuse him." " But I am so bold as to class myself among those who never find the right one. However, this is not to the point exactly. Maybe we shall all marry ; but we are not ready jet." " And we don't want to give Cupid any encourage- ment to come near us, especially while we are lodged in this little room, with the hopes of past years to weave into realities. All of our time is required for the advancement of our objects ; and I hope none of us will be silly enough to disturb our stay here with even the hint of a love affair." "I think we are all agreed on that point," said Mary ; " and I hope the little widow will in some way be a help to us. Call on her to-morrow, won't you, Hannah?" " Perhaps that will J>e as good a time as any," said Hannah, much pleased with the way the conversation had terminated. "I forgot to tell you," said Kate, as they all arose .from the table, "that I saw Miss Brechandon to- night." O did you? where? what did she say?" asked Hannah, all in a breath. Yes, I did," said Kate, laughing, " down in the hall ; and she said ' Good evening.' " "Is that afl?" "No; she condescended to ask me how I liked Beecher, and gave me this tract. She belongs to die Lutheran Church." " No wonder, then, she objects to Beecher," said Hannah. 122 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. "What do the Lutherans believe?" asked Mary. " I mean, how do they differ from Beecher ? " " Well, in a good many ways, I should think, though I don't know much about their creed. For one thing, they believe in the total depravity of man's nature." " It's not strange, then, perhaps, that Miss Brechan- don is so uncharitable toward Plymouth Church and the Catholics," said Kate. " She looked tired, and I thought she looked friendless ; so I gave her a tiny lit- tle bouquet that I bought of a blind woman for you." " I'm sure that was very kind and thoughtful of you, Kate, and shows that your nature at least isn't wholly depraved," said Hannah. " You didn't ask her about the pale young man, did you?" asked Mary. " No, I didn't ask her ; but she told me, of her own accord, that he Avalked out alone to-day, and she seemed pleased with the fact. She appears to have a lively interest in him, in spite of his Catholic senti- ments." " Did you get any idea of what she does, or who she is ? " asked Mary. "No, but I had a glance into her room, and it actu ally looked cozy. There was a white kitten curled up on the rug, just where a sunbeam lay ; and the carpet was bright and pretty." " She has asked us to call on her, and why can't we, some time ? " said Mary. " We can as well as not. She invited us again to- night." " What did she say to the flowers ? " asked Han- nah. " She didn't say much, but I know she was pleased with them. She is so odd, and seems so afraid of dis- SUXDBT MATTERS. 128 playing an emotion, except on religion. I wish we knew something of her history, poor thing ! " '~ I don't think she would relish that epithet applied * to. herself though," said Hannah. ** She is a poor thing enough, however, if she be- lieves our natures are totally depraved," said Mary, who had been busv thinking for some mnrngnts on this belief. The girls laughed, and Mary soon commenced an uproarious march on the piano, which threatened to drown entirely the rumble in the street. It was nearly dark now, and so they lighted their little lamp ; and after singing, M Do they pray for me at home ? " they gathered around the little table, and while Kate mended her gloves, and Mary darned her stockings, Hannah read from a well-worn volume of Tennyson, which they had brought from home, and d passed pleasantly. * 124 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. CHAPTER IX. THE LONE LITTLE WIDOW. THE house was one of the finest and pleasantest on Twelfth Street, and was shaded by an old sycamore tree. I mean the house where the " lone little widow " had rooms, and spent many listless, idle moments. Her parlor was a delightful little place of ease, elegance, and comfort ; and here she louhged away many hours which might as well never have come to her, for all the good she derived from them. Hannah trembled with excitement, when, at four o'clock the next day, she rung the bell, and stood waiting to be presented to the fashionable little widow. She had dressed herself with unusual care, and in her very best ; but the house was grand, and she felt of her hair, and the bow at her throat, and glanced down at her plain gray poplin with some anxiety. The door opened. Was Mrs. Waterhouse at home ? she inquired of the servant ; an would she tell her that Hannah Windsor had called ? In a few moments she found herself following the servant up a wide and elegant stairway ; and every step she advanced, her heart beat faster, until it seemed to flutter in her bosom. Her cool and well- defined thoughts of an hour before had vanished ; and her mind was in a state of confusion. i THE LONE LITTLE WIDOW. 125 Mrs. Waterhouse was half reclining in an easy-chair by the window ; and when Hannah entered the room, she arose, shook her hand cordially, saying, " This is my unknown correspondent ; be seated, Miss Windsor ; I am glad to meet you." She said this with the air of one who knew no such thing as embarrassment or con- fusion of ideas. Hannah, who had hardly spoken, sat down ; and Mrs. Waterhouse, sitting opposite, scrutin- ized her from head to foot. " I am very glad," stammered Hannah, " to be able to thank you in person for your kind advice to my sister." The lady laughed merrily. " You are welcome to the advice," she said ; " but I am not the one to thank for it, after all." Hannah's face grew red. " Then you are not the lady who answered my sis- ter's advertisement?" she asked. " Well, no, not exactly. You are disappointed and shocked, Miss Windsor, I see it in your face ; but it's no trick, I assure vou ; and you might not have received the advice, but for me." Mrs. Waterhouse was intently looking at Hannah as she sai " O HANNAH ! is that time ? " " Yes, dearies, it is true, and I am for once discour- aged ; " and brave-hearted Hannah sank into a chair, and, dropping her face in her hands, burst into tears. " How could it be so ? " asked Mary, kneeling at Hannah's side. " You felt so sure it would be ac- cepted, and so did we all. I hardly thought of such a disappointment." " What objections did they have to it ? " asked Kate, leaning on the back of Hannah's chair. " I hardly know. I can't think. I was so surprised when he gave me back the manuscript. I suppose I haven't enough ability to write a good story. I can find no other excuse," returned Hannah, raising her head, and wiping her tearful eyes. " I thought as I came home through the street that the better way for me was to stop this foolish scribbling, and go to work by the week, and earn a decent living, and be content, like a thousand other girls." The sisters had now been in the city more than a month, and the money they had taken from home was wholly exhausted. Kate had become so absorbed in her work that so long as a penny lasted, she would sit at her easel from morning till night ; and though her improvement was rapid, and praise from her teacher DARK CLOUDS. 141 frequent, yet her means were passing away ; and often as she lay on her little beo^ she tossed her arms, and thought far into the night, trying to devise some means to earn a few more dollars. Mary had continued to give lessons to her four schol- ars while she took her own at the Conservatory, and practiced all her spare moments on the upright piano. The little boy, Neil Blossom, had gained both her pity an$ affection; and to no place did she go with more cheerfulness or pleasure than into that little bare room, so suggestive of poverty, where the pale mother sat always at the window, sewing steadily, as though her life depended on her industry ; and so it did. Poor woman ! like how many other mothers she was giving away her strength and life for the benefit of her child ! but the brightening of her pale face, and the smije that came to her thin lips, as the boy played, as only the inspired can, showed that she was well re- paid for all her labor ; and so Mary found it both a joy and benefit to teach the crippled boy, where she had expected only an^jety and city. Hannah, had been wholly unsuccessful in trying to dispose of her manu- script. The sketches, and story of several chapters, which she had left^with a publisher on Fulton Street, had not been, accepted. With what strange emotions, that Saturday afternoon, she had climbed the dirty stairs ! and how her heart had fluttered, as she in- quired, with an effort, if the manuscript was read ! Yes, it was read, the man told her ; but they had concluded not to purchase, as it was hardly adapted to their columns. Too much description and moralizing, and too little plot. It was well written, he said, and it was probable that with some effort she might do well ; he had noticed the disappointment that crept into her face. 142 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. Perhaps, he said, she could succeed in writing a serial; they were in wanj of one. It must contain eighteen or twenty chapters of ordinary length, and be of such a character as to absorb the reader, and make him always anxious for the next number. They bought very few sketches, except from their regular contributors, unless they were uncommonly interest- ing. Hannah caught at the idea of writing a seriaj. She would suit, she thought, she must succeed when so de- termined ; and so she told him she wished to try, and asked how soon he wished to use it. In a fortnight, he said, and gave her a few hints concerning the style. Hannah had gone home with the rejected manuscript in her hand, but a hope in her heajt that in two weeks she might receive thirty dollars, the price offered for the serial, if it suited. Kate should ha^ve her paints then, she thought, and not be obliged to go to work for a living, but could continue to work at her easel. The girls had listened eagerly to her plans, and had entire faith in her success. How nice it would be ! they said ; and undoubtedly she could write more after that was finished, and at that price would soon make her fortune. Thirty Collars in two weeks ! More than they had dreamed of ; and with this money they could all get well started, and ^ery soon they could, earn enough to pay her ; for they should pay her every cent. She would suit the publisher any way, Hannah said, she was determined ; and she had already thought of an excellent plot, and she could find plenty of incident by going into the streets. As for those sketches, she said, it was not at all strange that he re- fused them, for they were rather tame, now she thought of it ; though before, she had thought them DARK CLOUDS. 143 startling in the extreme. Kate, she said, must continue to work at Copper's, and learn as fast as she could, and she should be sure to get the thirty dollars and more to do after it ; so there was nothing to fear. Long they had talked that night, and planned, lying in their little white beds; and had at last fallen asleep with their hearts, full of hope and ambition. The next morning, Hannah had arisen an hour earlier than usual ; and while Kate and Mary were fast asleep, she commenced the first chapter of the forthcoming story, and by the time her sisters had awakened, had nearly finished it. Her face was flashed, and her pen flew along rapidly, but not rapidly enough to keep pace with the thoughts that were flooding her brain. " Why, Hannah ! ".Kate had said, rubbing her eyes ; and Mary had repeated the words, springing from her pillow, and throwing from her face the wealth of brown hair. what a day of hope that was ! and how Han- nah wrote and wrote, only growing weary at night, and then going out into the streets to freshen her thoughts and invigorate her mind ! How the girls gathered around the little table every night to listen to what had been written during the day, and how they laughed and cried over it, and declared it intensely interesting, certain it would be accepted ; how could it be otherwise ? And so the two weeks had passed away; and the story was finished. During the time even the little widow had been forgotten and neglected ; and the in- vitation she had promised them, had not been re- ceived from her ; but even if it had, it would have been refused, for no visiting was on that two weeks* programme. Miss Brechandon, too, had received very little of 144 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. Hannah's attention, though her sisters had been twice to her room, where they met the pale young man, and found him, they said, such a gentleman, and so pleasant and agreeable, and Miss Brechandon so odd, but so very kind in her own way. And when the story was really finished, and the manuscript lay in a heap, so neat and plain, on the table, what a time of rejoicing it was ! Hannah's flushed cheeks were kissed a half-dozen times by her enthusiastic sisters ; and when she wrapped it snugly in a paper, and took it under her shawl, she could really hear her heart beat ; and the girls somehow felt a sensation they had never felt before ; and Kate, almost before she was aware, exclaimed, " O Hannah, what if it should be rejected ! " and Mary had replied, "But it won't be, for it is so beautiful ; "and Hannah had gone on her way to Fulton Street ; and her suc- cess is explained in the conversation with which this chapter opens. The very next day they had read it, and rejected it. "Yes," continued Hannah, "I half concluded, while coming home, that I would give up writing ; for it is evident I have no ability or tact ; for only think how steadily and hard I have worked for two weeks, and all to no purpose. I'd better have been at work in a factory." " O dear, it is such a disappointment," said Kate'; "but do tell us why it was rejected." " The same old story, not startling enough ; and I'm sure I couldn't make anything any more so ; but they had just received one they liked better." " There, that's why they rejected yours, I know ; and the rejection don't prove that you have no abil- ity." DARK CLOUDS. 145 " And I have got a bit of good news, after all," said Kate. " Good news ! What is it ? though I'm sure nothing can raise mv spirits now." " Well, I have got some work to do. Look here ! " and Kate displayed heaps of black silk fcord in a paper bag. " I am to make these into cloak trimmings like this sample. It is quite easy ; and I shall have eight- een cents per dozen." "Where did you get it?" " Miss Brechandon told me of the place, though she didn't know I wanted work. She was telling Mary and me a story of a poor work-girl who had formerly made these trimmings, but was now sick. I inquired the number and street where the work was to be ob- tained, and I do not think she had an idea I wanted work ; and then I went there almost immediately, and got all this cord ; so there is no danger of starving." " Is there enough for me ? " asked Hannah. " O yes ; but you'll not give up writing." " I must, for the present at least, because I cannot sell my manuscript ; and I can't work for nothing. I have only a dollar in my pocket, and that will last only a short time." " What will you do with your story ? " asked Mary. " Won't somebody buy it ? " " It will be some time before I can get courage to offer it to any one else ; and I am so ashamed of my- self, too, for allowing the publisher to see my great dis- appointment. I hardly stayed a moment, fearing I should burst into tears. I might have known it was at least doubtful about its being accepted ; but I felt so very sure. I shall never again have confidence in anything I write." 146 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " Can it be possible that Mary and I are no judges at all ? We were so deeply interested." " Probably because of your interest in me. If you had read it without any knowledge of the author, you would have thought it probably a failure." " No, no, we shouldn't, I am sure," said Mary. " It would have interested me wherever I had read it. Little Jim, .only think what a comical character he was ! and that old darkey, and the poor, little sick girl. I'm sure the man had no taste or judgment who refused it." "It is probable that ours are inferior to his ; for he has had more experience, and is less prejudiced, than we," said Hannah. " Well, allowing all this," spoke up Kate, with flashing eyes, " I am sure of one thing, and that is this. Your story is infinitely better than many I have read ; and it must be there is somebody in the city who would buy it." " But if my courage rises on no higher key than it is now, I can never offer it to another publisher ; and I shall work on this trimming. I am so glad you got it, Kate. It is well we made the acquaintance of Miss Brechandon. She has such a good heart, and her religion is only false teaching ; her heart is full of charity. Only think how kind she is to Mr. De Witt." " She is greatly attached to him," said Mary. " You see, when he was very sick a few weeks ago, she stayed with him a great deal, for his mother is an old woman and feeble ; and in this way she became ac- quainted and attached to him, in spite of his being a Catholic.." " Well, I must go to work immediately," said Han- DARK CLOUDS. 147 nah, rising and throwing aside her hat and shawl. "I have no time to waste ; please give me a little infor- mation about this work, Kate. Perhaps I can make a dozen to-night." ** O no, you can't possibly," said Kate, " because it is new work ; but you can learn ; and I am going to work too immediately ; " and so they gathered around the table, the inseparable three, and all sewed in the Mpt lamp-light. "Now," said Kate, while they sewed, ** let us forget all about the manuscript to-night, and I will tell yon a plan of mine. You see I have been thinking if I could only get five dollars, I would buy me some water-col- ors, and learn to color photographs. They say it is excellent business ; and there is a girl at the Institute who says she will show me how to mix the paints ; and Fm sure I could learn the rest myself, if I had a sample." " Who would you color them for ? " asked Mary. "Why, just go around to the galleries, and get work ; arid I have been thinking besides, girls, that I must have some oil paints and brushes, and they will cost me twelve dollars sure. How hard it is to do anything!" " Everything would have been right, if I had only written a good story. O girls, why did I fail when so confident and determined ? " " It is probably all for the best," said Kate ; " we can't expect to sail in clear waters always ; and if I could only get my paints now, I am sure I could do something." Well, let us work for them," said Hannah. 44 1 will work too," said Mary, " and we can soon earn five dollars." 148 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. So the girls worked as fast as their fingers would fly ; but the cord was stiff, and they did not accom- plish so much as they had anticipated. Yet they tried to be cheerful and hopeful, and the days went by. But there was the rent to pay, and then washer- woman and the baker ; and they began to despair of ever getting the five dollars together ; but a bit of good luck was in store for them. One morning Kate started, as usual, for Cooper's, and left Hannah busily sewing, and Mary at the piano. She had not been gone long before her step was heard in the hall, which was a sure sign that she had brought a letter. " From mother, girls ! from mother ! " said she, bursting into the room, and flourishing a yellow envel- ope ; and then tearing it open, lo and behold, a green- back, soiled but genuine, fluttered out and fell directly on Hannah's lap. " Five dollars ! " exclaimed Hannah, picking it up. " Five dollars ! just what you need, Kate ; read the letter now, don't wait ; " and Kate read the letter ; and as usual, all brushed tears from their eyes, which left them bright as stars. " We send you five dollars," the letter said ; " you will undoubtedly need it ; and we will try to send you some more soon." ".Will it be right," said Kate, "to take it for my- self ? " " Right ? " exclaimed Hannah and Mary in a breath. " Of course ; we don't need it." " But, girls, I have changed my mind about the water-colors. It is time I commenced to paint in oil ; and shall I take this money to start with ? " " Yes, yes, by all means," said Hannah. DARK CLGUIsS. 149 And soon Eate commenced painting in oil ; and this was her forte. A new world opened to her ; and the inexpressible joy of the artist began to swell in her bosom. Her teacher looked on surprised, and told her he never saw one who had a better eye for color ; but the lack of means held her back, and she could only paint a few hours in a day. How reluc- tantly she would leave her easel and pallet ! and how she became more and more absorbed in her work, un- til poverty was forgotten, although it stared at her per- sistently, while often one dry cracker served for her supper ! Hannah sat at the little table and sewed from morning till night ; for she dared not spend her tune to write again with no promise of success. A few dollars came to her now and then from a publisher who at times published a sketch for her ; but it was only as a drop in the bucket. Ah ! these were trying days; but the three sisters determined to succeed, comforted each other, and worked on. Early and late they worked, their interests all in common, helping ami cheering and blessing each other. Their letters to uieir friends at home betrayed not the trials they were obliged to endure ; and none knew but themselves how hard they labored, and how indomitably they per- severed. As a natural and unavoidable consequence, their wardrobes began to grow shabby ; their boots, from so much tramping in the streets, lost then- pretty, stiff, and genteel look, which was most mortifying to their sense of taste and elegance. Their gloves became soiled and worn ; and often they lay down upon their little beds, and looked off at the stars hungry and dis- heartened. A few dollars came from home sometimes, but there was always a use for such receipts in another direction than food or clothes. Their improvement 150 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. could not be rapid, they had so little time for practice. As for Hannah, she continued to sew as if for dear life, and was only happy in assisting her sisters. Kate at last obtained the water-colors she so much longed for, and made a trial of coloring photographs. She had received some instruction from a friend ; and with high hopes after a little practice, and the praise of her enthusiastic sisters, she went out to look for work in the picture galleries. Along the Bowery she took her way ; and owing to her lack of confidence in herself, she selected the most insignifi- cant gallery she could find, and, entering, made known her errand. O yes, the artist said, he had work enough, and would be glad to engage her ; but then of course he must see some of her work. So he gave her several pictures to color as specimens. Flushed and happy, she almost ran down the stairs and through the streets, until she arrived home. Hannah stopped her sewing, and Mary her playing, when Kate came into the room, and exclaimed, " I'm going to work immediately ; for I can get plenty of work if only I can color these photographs to please the artist; " and before the girls had time to answer, she had taken her place by the window, with her paints before her, and there she worked and worked, her courage failing, instead of increasing, with every touch of her brush ; but she was determined to do her best, however poorly that might be ; and she told none of her misgivings to her sisters, who waited anxiously for the pictures to be finished. When they were done, the girls scrutinized them with some misgivings. " The fact is," said Hannah, after she had gazed in silence a 1'ong time, " you can't expect to paint as well DARK CLOUDS. 151 as those who have received instructions, and had much practice." Kate laughed constrainedly. " Which is as much as to say the coloring isn't good." " Why, no, maybe they will like them, Kate ; I am no judge ; but it does seem that they are rather highly colored." " I don't believe they are," said Mary. " Anyhow, don't be afraid to take them home." So Kate wrapped them up carefully, and with fal- tering steps sought the gallery where she had received them. The artist received her kindly ; but when he saw the photographs, which were really colored wretch- edly, he told the anxious young girl politely that she might do veiy well undoubtedly with practice, but those were hardly up to the mark, at least not just what he wished; and, blushing deeply, Kate went away ; and her face was still rosy red when she en- tered the room again, where Hannah and Mary were anxiously awaiting her return. The affair seemed just at that moment to strike them as ludicrous ; and so they all burst out into laughter, and Kate said, '* We might as well laugh as cry. I wasn't very much disappointed that he refused to give me any more work. I was in reality sure they were not done good ; but I must confess I felt ashamed to have him look at the pictures, and my face felt like fire." "So that plan has played out?" said Mary, still laughing. " No, indeed," said Kate. " I'll show you yet that I can color a photograph that none of us need be ashamed of." " We might have known," said Hannah, " that you 152 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. could do nothing with no instruction and no practice. I do believe we are a parcel of ninnies." " I believe so too, and I'll just go to work again on that trimming, and wait till I learn a little more, before I beg any more photographs to color." " There is Miss Brechandon's step," said Hannah. " I wonder what errand she has now." " A letter for Miss Windsor," said Miss Brechan- don, standing in the door-way, " and a note for Miss Mary," flinging two letters on the table, and vanishing as suddenly as she had entered. " From the little widow," said Hannah, opening hers. " And mine, why, girls ! " and Mary stopped, and looked confused. " What is it ? no bad news, I hope," said Kate. " Why, it is really from David De Witt ; and what can he want, and how beautifully he writes ! O girls ! I see what it is, an invitation to St. Stephen's Church to-morrow, to hear the organ. Girls, girls, shall I go with him ? I never went to a Catholic church in my life ; and St. Stephen's is such a grand one, they say." The letter was passed from one to the other, and read silently. " O no, there's no use, after all ; I've nothing decent to wear," said Mary after a moment ; " and what ex- cuse can I give ? " " Would you really stay at home for that reason ? " asked Hannah earnestly. " Why, wouldn't you ? only think of my boots and gloves." " That reminds me of my new discovery," said Kate. " This morning, while vou two were out, I looked down at my boots, and was actually discouraged, DARK CLOUDS. 153 they were robbed so, and looked so shabby; so I caught the first thing of a liquid nature near me, which happened to be my bottle of mucilage, and rubbed some on the toe of one of my boots, and you would hare been surprised at the improvement it made. So, Mary, there's a remedy for your boots." " The fact is," said Hannah, "we might go alone to St. Stephen's, just as well, and then no one would recognize us, or perhaps think of our dress; but to go with Mr. De Witt is quite another thing. I am almost sorry, girls, that we have made any acquaint- ances ; but then we ought to be glad to find friends at all times, and Mr. De Witt doesn't dress so elegantly as " But wouldn't it look strange to go off with a Ro- man Catholic? What would the people at home y" " They wffl never know it. What would they say if they knew how we sew on that trimming, and live in this little room and on a crust of bread, we who were thought almost haughty at home ? I would like to go with Mr. De Witt, he is so appreciative of music : and then I like him somehow ; he is very agreeable. 7 ' " So I think, and what is the harm ? " said Kate. "You and I, Hannah, can go to Dr. Chapin's, as we intended ; and there will .be something new to talk about, if Mary goes to St. Stephen's." "Well, Fm sure there's no harm in it; so let us see what the little widow writes this time. Another invitation, as sure as the world ! What are we coming to, girls? we, poor creatures, who can hardly get enough to eat, invited to a ball!" "A ball!" shrieked Kate. "AbaH! Hannah, are we crazy, or is the little widow losing her reason ?" 154 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " A real ball ! " exclaimed Mary. " We invited to a real hall? No, you are joking. How we would look at a ball? Gray poplins, nearly worn thread- bare, boots plastered over with mucilage, and soiled gloves ; " and all laughed merrily. " And these invitations have come in our most poverty-stricken time. Suppose the little widow, with all her comforts, could have a faint realization of our circumstances," said Kate. " Perhaps it would be well to hear all she says on the subject ; " and Hannah read the letter through aloud. " O, it's to be in a hall, and we can go in street cos- tume and sit in the gallery, and only look on ; and that odd uncle of hers will go with us, and we needn't dance at all ; that seems a little more reasonable, doesn't it ? " said Kate. " What a shrewd little thing she is for contriving," said Mary ; " we are to go up there, and start with them. Do, now, girls, let us go ; we never went to a real ball in the world, and this is such a good op- portunity ; besides, our spirits are not very lively just now, and it might do us good ; though, dear me ! I am really afraid we would shock the little widow with our plain dress ; but the odd uncle, somehow I don't care at all for him." " Doesn't it look reckless and rash ? " asked Han- nah. " And wouldn't it be better to keep a little more secluded ? " asked Kate. " If we make acquaintances, we shall get ashamed of our clothes, and that will give us extra trouble." " But why need we get ashamed of our clothes ? are we so small-minded as that ? Haven't we learned yet DARK CLOUDS. 155 that such feelings are all foolishness ? and if we wish to learn anything, why not take the opportunities offered to do so, and be thankful for them ? Our clothes are still neat and clean ; and if the little widow and her odd uncle are not ashamed to accompany us, why should we be ashamed to go ? The fact is, girls, we are poor ; and we can't help it ; but if we chose to, we could go to work by the day or week, and spend all our money for clothes, and look much better, or at least more fashionable and showy, than we do now ; but would we be any better ? should we, after all, feel any more independent, or have any more self-respect ? I'm sure I like to see people dressed well, but always according to their means and circumstances. Don't, then, let us stay at home from the ball on account of our dress. If we thought of nothing but dress, it would then be so different ; but we have higher aims, and we need not feel ashamed or afraid." " How often do you think it is, girls, that we have just such a talk as this ? " said Mary. " Every time occasion requires it," said Kate, " and that is quite often. How much good such talks do us ! They make us feel so much stronger and better." "And it's no wonder, is it, that so many girls go farther and farther into fashion and show, when they have no such dear good talks as we do to encourage them to be independent ? I really need my independ- ence strengthened quite often." " People in general think too little," said Hannah. " An hour of sound thought and reasoning would keep many a person from utter shipwreck. Now, girls, we have a right to judge by ourselves, as we think our- selves somewhat sensible, and like other people in na- ture. Who would you respect the more, a lady who 156 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. dressed charmingly, and spent all her money to do so, or a woman who dressed even exceedingly plain in order to elevate her mind and prepare herself for future usefulness and happiness ? " " Why, the latter of course; that is reason." " And reason is what we should make use of," said Hannah. " And now, dears, do you think we could gain anything by going to this ball anything that will in after years be of use to us ? If you do, let us go by all means, in spite of our dresses." Neither of the girls spoke, and Hannah continued : " I am inclined to think it would be a benefit to us. I am anxious from curiosity to go. Let us see for once what they do at these balls that is fascinating enough to detain them till five o'clock in the morn- ing." " Yes, let us by all means. I always wanted to know," said Kate. " I'm sure it will do us good," said Mary, delight- edly. " I would like to go in full dress and dance. How they must enjoy it, to dress just as they please, and then dance well! Sometimes, O how I long to have nothing to do more than these rich ladies ! " " Sometimes I think it would be so delightful, but then" " We can talk of these things better on our return from the ball ; and we have hindered already too long," said Hannah, sewing with redoubled energy. And so it was that the three sisters formed acquaint- ances through these invitations that were to affect their whole lives. A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE. 157 CHAPTER XI. A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE. "DON'T lose my lace handkerchief, now ; you know it's my last pretense to elegance ; and I wouldn't have it used if it wasn't quite necessary that you have some- thing that speaks of refinement," said Kate, giving Mary's dress an extra brush ; " and don't soil it either, because you know I want to carry it to the ball." " Don't let Mr. De Witt convert you to the Catho- lic faith," said Hannah, looking over her box of trin- kets with the hope of finding something to improve Mary's wardrobe, but without success. " Let me see your boots again. Why, they look almost like new ; that mucilage, without mistake, is an invention. I mean the idea of putting it on shoes ; and, Kate, you ought to just color it black, get it patented, and ad- vertise ' Windsor's Liquid Blacking for Ladies' Boots ; * but then Mary will persist in wearing off one side of the heel, which gives her a kind of sideways look." " You don't think there is any impropriety in Mary's going, do you ? " asked Kate. " Well, I've thought it over carefully, and I can't see that there is. She knows how to take care of her- self; and Mr. De Witt is a gentleman," said Han- nah. " But how about our conclusions concerning gentle- men friends ? " 158 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " What matters it whether he is a gentleman or not ? he is simply to me a musician and an agreeable person, and as such I shall treat him. I shall wait till circumstances are more favorable, and my wardrobe not quite so limited, before I fall in love," said Mary ; " besides, I couldn't be safer with any one so far as love is concerned, than with a Roman Catholic ; so, anxious hearts, be at rest. Music is my one lover, and I'm a faith- ful lassie ; " and Mary made a graceful little courtesy. " Mother wouldn't care, think she would ? " asked Hannah. " Not if she knew the whole c^se ; of course," said Kate. " Mother isn't prudish, and she trusts us." " Try to remember one thing," Said Hannah, with gravity, " and that is to talk at least enough to prove vou have a tongue. One wouldn't think, to hear you chattering with us, that you would turn into a mute when with a stranger. Such bashfulness does very well for young misses who have just left off pinafores ; but for a young lady who is independently earning her own living, and trying to make a useful woman, it is altogether in the way. Of course if you have noth- ing to say, it will be better to say nothing ; but you will have something to say, if only you can raise enough spirit to say it. Perhaps Mr. De Witt will have the power of ' calling you out,' as they say." " I shall talk, if it is in my power to do so," said Mary. " I thought that subject over pretty thoroughly last night ; and I concluded that I should make a dunce of myself if I didn't talk, and I'm bound to say something, if it isn't quite so nice ; and if Mr. De Witt will talk about music, there will be no trouble, and I am almost sure he will ; and coming home, you know, we can talk about the church. Maybe I can appeal- quite respectably." A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE. 159 " Don't do anything for effect, however," said Kate. % " Act out your own dear self," said Hannah, " and you will satisfy yourself and others too." "It's wonderful how much advice I need," said Mary, " when I go away for about two hours ; but I'll remember it. Adieu, fail 1 ladies ; it is time I went to Miss Brechandon's room to meet my escort," " Remember all you see and hear," said Kate. " And tell us how you would like to be a Catholic," said Hannah ; " and don't for the world give a thought to your clothes ; for it will only disturb you, and you look good enough ; indeed, you look very good,' and whoever slights you because you are not dressed more fashionably, isn't the person you wish for an associate ; but you understand all this, you've heard it many times." " Anything more ? " said Mary, striking an attitude of meekness and patience. "Yes," said Kate, "remember and not lose my handkerchief. Don't get so absorbed in the music as ' to drop the handkerchief, and never think of it again till I remind you." " I'll keep it in one corner of my mind the whole time, Kate ; and now I go ; good morning." Mr. De Witt, though his face was pale, and his eyes expressive of melancholy, had, after all, a sufficient degree of vivacity and humor, and this morning was especially good-natured and pleasant. His health was much improved, and to Mary he hardly seemed the same young man she assisted up the steps when she first came to the city. He was dressed very genteelly too, and gave her a bow and a smile so frank and gra- cious, she felt easy at once, and somehow they fell to conversing without any effort. 160 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " Shall I help you to descend these steps, as you once assisted me in ascending them ? " he said, when they had closed the outer door of the hall. "It is much easier, they say," said Mary, "to go down than up, though the journey is usually pleas- anter going up than down, I should think." After this was said, Mary thought it a most untimely remark ; but it started a pleasant conversation. " Undoubtedly the path is pleasanter going up than down as regards our lives," said Mr. De Witt ; " but climbing always requires exertion and self-sacrifice, and so there are comparatively few climbers ; but I hope we are among the number, Miss Windsor." " I hope so," stammered Mary ; " but sometimes I am afraid I rise very slowly, and fall back very often." " But what if you do. If your face is always toward the ' palace Beautiful,' and your heart is set on reach- ing it, you will surely arrive there at last." " But time may not Tie long enough to take me there." " But the end of time is only the beginning of eter- nity ; and how can we labor in vain ? ' What time denies, eternity will give.' Don't you believe it? " " I don't know, but sometimes it seems that we have a very short time given us to accomplish great objects, especially for those who are poor." Mr. De Witt smiled, but the old melancholy settled a moment on his face. " It is hard to be poor," he said ; " but it is harder to be sick, and lie days and days, and think how the time is passing away, while we are unable to improve it. While we can work, even if it is merely to support the wants of the body, we can feel ourselves growing strong, and time will not be lost; but to lie helpless, A SACRIFICE FOB PRINCIPLE. 161 with the fire of ambition burning in TOUT heart, while you have no power to posh forward TOOT aims toward the object you long to attain, and count the days as they go by as entirely void of any accomplishment of yours, if ever there is a time to think life short, Miss Windsor, it is then." Just then they entered a car, and the conversation was discontinued. "How grand!" said Mary, when they stood in front of St. Stephen's Church on Twenty-eighth Street, that imposing structure, built in the Romanesque style of architecture, which is a transition between the old Roman and mediaeval Gothic style, and said to be the most magnificent church in the city. "Its greatest attractions are within," said Mr. De Witt, and they mounted the steps, and passed into the church. He did not stop to sprinkle himself with holy water, or kneel and cross himself, as so many did ; but when they had entered a pew in front of the high altar, he knelt and bowed his head as if in prayer. Mary looked about her with wondering eyes. She looked above, and her eyes were dazzled ; for the ceiling was painted after the style of many of the oldest cathe- drals of Europe, of an exquisite shape of lapis lazuli, or ultramarine blue, and studded over with golden stars. The upper part of the church was filled with rainbow tints ; made from the light which was thrown through the gorgeous frames of stained glass of the two immense rose windows in the ends of the transept above the galleries, while the body of the church was lighted by four large arched windows on each side of the nave above the galleries, and a corresponding num- ber below, filled with rich stained glass. But most magnificent of all were the chancel and 162 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. altars, ornamented with gilded tracery upon the pillars and around the fretted frame-works that inclosed the paintings and ornaments, that literally covered the whole space from floor to ceiling. Back of the high altar was the picture of the Crucifixion, which cov- ered eleven hundred and fifty feet in space. Mary studied this wonderful picture with intense interest, and wished many times that Kate was with her. .It represented the moment when the Saviour cried with a loud voice, " Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." Above the clouds was the dimly sketched pic- ture of the Father, with arms extended, and the Heav- enly Dove, the Paraclete, issuing from his bosom and descending on a beam of light to the crucified Son, whose r upturned face showed that He had caught a glimpse of the beautiful vision. Upon the right hand stood Mary the mother of Jesus, her attitude and face expressive of anguish divinely supported. On the left, clasping the foot of the cross, was Magdalen ; and the Apostles were grouped around. The ladder, the sponge and spear, and all the instruments of the execution, lay around on the ground, while in the foreground the rude Ro- man soldiery were " casting lots for his garments." The light from an unseen window above shone down upon this picture, and half startled Mary into the belief that she was looking at the reality instead of a repre- sentation. Her heart was touched ; and she half wished to kneel, as Mr. De Witt had done, in adoration and wonder. How earnest and devout all seemed ! with what longing, trustful eyes they seemed to look at the picture and statue of the crucified Son ! and how ear- nestly many of them thumbed a string of black beads, A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE. 103 saying their prayers. But O, the ceremonies were so long, and so much alike, that but for the music Mary would have grown tired; but even with this attrac- tion she was glad when it was over, and she stood again with Mr. De Witt on the pavement. " Did you like the music ? " he asked. " Like it ? how could I help it ? but somehow its grandeur seemed somewhat lessened by the tedious ceremonies," said Mary frankly. " Undoubtedly it seemed so to you," said he, smiling, " but it is the boasted temple of ecclesiastical music in New York. Jenny Lind, Piccolomini, and most of the celebrated artists from Europe who have visited this country have sung or performed there." The day was cool and delightful, and they did not take a car, but walked on slowly. " Everything was so overwhelmingly grand," said Mary, " that really, when in the midst of it, I should think people would find it wholly impossible to concen- trate their minds, and have a true understanding of worship and religion ; and then all those ceremonies, which surely cannot be understood by the most of the congregation, seem to me so superfluous." " Undoubtedly. Indeed, Miss Windsor, they often seem so to me ; but they are to keep hi memory the crucifixion of Christ ; and though many do not under- stand them wholly apart from each other, yet as a whole they comprehend their teaching." " But what good does the teaching do ? does it ele- vate them ? " " If you consider the contemplation of Christ's suf- ferings for us and the worship of Divinity elevating, then I would say yes to your question." " All seemed very devout and earnest," said Mary ; 164 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " and at first when I saw that most magnificent picture of the Crucifixion, I felt like falling down before it in adoration ; but it was probably only the stirring up of my veneration and reverence, my religious nature, which would find something to worship if 'I had never heard of the true God. The fact is, Mr. De Witt, that which we are taught from infancy cannot leave us en- tirely ; and everything was so new to me there I could not possibly feel lifted up or drawn nearer the Father and Son, though the pictures and ceremonies, you say, were, all to keep fresh in our minds the divinity and sufferings of Christ." " Early teaching exerts a great influence," said Mr. De Witt ; " but there are those who come from the Protestant Church to the Catholic. Their childhood's teaching is set aside by the original thought and expe- rience of maturer years." " So people are changing continually in every direc- tion ; but circumstances and influence often have more to do with it than independent thought. The building and furnishing of St. Stephen's Church must have cost a great deal, Mr. De Witt." " So it did ; but the number of communicants in the parish is over twenty-five thousand." " Yes, but many of them must be poor, and can ill afford to support such splendor." " But they are willing to sacrifice much for the church ; and every one feels a kind of ownership in the magnificent building." . " I am undoubtedly prejudiced by the teachings I have always received ; but really I could feel the pres- ence of Christ better to stand in the open field, with the great blue sky over my head, and only Nature's murmurings around me, than beneath that ceiling of A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE. 165 blue studded with golden stars, with the beams of light streaming through the stained glass, and even that boasted and cultivated music charming me ; but YOU will pardon me for speaking so plainly, sir. They say my sisters and I are hardly like other girls ; and we talk a great deal on all these subjects." " You must hare thought or'talked of them to have your own ideas so positively," said Mr. De Witt, " and it is a pleasure to hear you express them. I have often thought of the money which is expended on the churches, Protestant as well as Catholic, and doubted myself whether it makes people any better, or whether any more are converted. If we could prove that it does increase the Christian flock, I suppose we would raise no more objections ; but so long as we are in doubt, we indulge in doubtful speculations. Do you telong to any church, Miss Windsor ? " . "No; but on account of this, do you suppose I re- ceive any the less care and love from God ? Do you think He any the less forgives my errors when I re- pent?" Mr. De Witt was silent, and looked into Mary's bright face earnestly. "Well, Miss Windsor," he said at last, "I see you have opinions of your own, and I am glad to see it. As for me, I have attended the Catholic Church ever since I can remember ; and when I was twelve years oldest was decided that I should be a priest. But ill health changed the decision, and I think 'tis better so ; for otherwise I should have lost what I have found in music. And now I've come to what I wish to say to yon ; and my invitation to you to go with me to- day was partly that I might say it. I know some- thing of your situation from Miss Brechandon, who is 166 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. a clever soul, though stiff enough in religious creed ; and I can feel your great desire to study music and re- ceive first-class instruction. "Pis seldom that I give much individual aid ; for being ill so much gives me less time for action than most have ; and when I am well, to make up for lost time, I devote myself to mu- sic, and therefore make few acquaintances, and learn the wants of persons seldom. For some wise purpose we have met, and your kind assistance up those tedious steps awoke in me an interest in you ; for believe me, few young girls would have given their arm to a young man and a perfect stranger, forgetting the girl's diffidence and fear of seeming bold, in the desire to lend assistance. It was a little thing, but it touched my heart ; and I did not forget you, and often won- dered who you were, till Miss Brechandon told me what she knew of you, and at last, not much against my- will, persuaded me to play eavesdropper. Then I've met you since, and one time heard you sing alto to a little piece, when your sister sung soprano. I have been thinking for weeks how I could assist you ; and a way is now opened, an opportunity that might not come again in years." " Indeed, Mr. De Witt, I did not expect this," said Mary, her heart beating quick, and a thousand thoughts flooding her brain all circled round with hope. " I have done nothing to merit this interest and kind- ness from you." " Don't talk of that ; you are striving to attain a worthy object, and all such merit assistance. I shall only aid you to help yourself. You already know that I am organist in Church. Only last Wednesday the lady who has sung first alto in our choir for six years at least, suddenly married, and went away to A SACRIFICE FOB PRINCIPLE. 167 the West ; and her place shall be occupied by your- self, with your consent ; and your salary shall be four hundred dollars." He ceased speaking, and Mary stopped suddenly in the street an instant, and then went on. She did not speak. The pretty, rosy tinge had fled from her cheeks, and she looked pale and troubled, instead of joyous, as Mr. De Witt had expected. They walked on some time in silence, while Mary thought and thought. Should she accept? Four hundred dolllars a year would make her independent ; and then how much she should enjoy the singing, and how much it would benefit her ! It pricked her conscience to think of it. What would her parents say, and friends ? Would the girls agree to it, when they so much needed the money ? O what a temptation it was ! Mr. De Witt saw that her face was pale, and that she was undecided. She might think of it, and talk about it with her sisters, he said kindly, and let him know in the morning. Mary made an effort to speak; but the first word choked her, and her face grew red. "You are very kind," she said finally; "and I thank you very, very much, and consider myself highly honored by your offer ; but it has so confused me. To-morrow morning, as you say, I will let you know my decision." Somehow Mary did not feel at all lively or bois- terous ; and she opened the door of her little room softly. It was very still inside ; and she was some- what surprised to find the girls, Hannah and Kate, sitting side by side on one of the little beds, with their arms about each other, and their faces drawn down solemnly and dolefully. " What is the matter ? " said Mary, stopping short. 168 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " Well, we are hungry," said Kate ; " and there is nothing to eat but that loaf of dry bread and the mug of syrup. We want some meat, and we were just con- doling with ourselves a little, that's all." The four hundred dollars a year offered her, Mary thought of with such a flutter of her heart, and such a rush of blood to her face, that she could not speak ; so she sat down on the little bed with the girls, and dropped her head on Hannah's shoulder. "I am hungry too," she said, after a moment's silence ; " and the sight of all the splendor of St. Stephen's did not appease my hunger." " Dear little girl," said Hannah, with her hand on Mary's head, " you should be at home, and run about as you like, and not have such trials so young. Don't you .want to go home, dear, and let Kate and I remain ? You can be so comfortable there." " O, that's what you and Kate have been condoling about, to get rid of me, I understand," said Mary, bobbing her head up and looking into the girls' faces. In a moment she grew serious. *' Really, girls," she said, " would you be better off without me ? " " O, dear me, no," said Kate. " Why, that's not the point at all," said Hannah ; "but we think you would be better off; and you are young, you know, and have time enough to learn ; that is why we suggest your going home." " If that is all, girls, I shan't go. I can go hungry as long as you can ; and I want to stay with you ; be- sides, I don't want to leave my scholars, especially little Neil Blossom ; and I just wish you would give up your private confabs on that subject." " Well, we will consider it settled now," said Han- A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE. 169 nab ; -and we wffl all stay together, and do the best we can; and I am to glad, Mary, that you wish to star after all/* M It would be awful to hare you go," said Kate; " but that dry bread and syrup ! I am hungry enough, but I shall be hungrier than now before I can relish "Girls!" Mary looked very grave and "What? whatsit?" asked Hannah anxiously. " I hare got some news," said Mary. * Weft, it's the first time you didn't mention it the first tiling." said Kate. " If it is anything to increase our anxieties, I hardly know how we can endure it. Tell it, though, whatever it is." " In the first place, I want to ask you if you think the Catholic Church is so very bad? I can't see but that Mr. De Witt talks like a Christian." " Dear me ! " said Hannah, " I suppose there are as good people among the Catholics as ever lived ; and so it is in every denomination, of course ; but I think it Ls a false church." "Why, have you been having an argument with Mr. De Witt?" said Kate. "But that isn't the idea,' 1 said Mary. "How, girls, would you do anything to uphold this church? " " Why don't yon ask us if we would do anything to uphold what we didn't believe right ?" asked Han- " Which is to say you wouldn't," said Mary. "I knew it would be so*; 'and so here is the news, Mr. De Witt has made me an offer/* " Made you an offer! " exclaimed Hannah, giving Mary a sudden little shake, that sent her hair over her 170 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " An offer of what ? " screamed Kate, springing up and stamping her foot not very gently on the floor. " O what a time ! " said Mary, beginning to laugh ; " not an offer of marriage, you silly girls ! so keep quiet and listen, or I'll comb my hair that Hannah has shaken down before I tell you." Kate sat down in a chair, and Hannah looked sober. " Do you suppose," began Mary again, " that it would be wrong to write an article in favor of some- thing which was against our belief,- for a heap of money, if we really needed the money very much ? " *' What is the child driving at ? are you crazy, Mary ? " said Hannah. " Well, I will tell you now, sure. Mr. De Witt has offered me a salary of four hundred dollars a year to sing in the church where he plays." " O, I wish he hadn't," groaned Kate. " What an excellent chance if you had no con- science ! " said Hannah. " But what hurt can it do to sing beautiful hymns and chants to people ? " asked Mary. " I am only one among many. I could go there quietly every Sun- day, you know, and come away quietly; and what harm could possibly result from it? " " What a lift it would be out of the Slough of De- spond ! " said Kate. " I know it ; but could you do it, Mary, and feel as free and as independent as you do now ? Wouldn't there be something always heavy on your conscience, even if you received the four hundred dollars, which I must allow would make you quite independent in a pecuniary point of view." " Well, only think how we need the money, and how much good it would do us. We may lose our A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE. 171 health living in this way ; and by accepting the offer, I could take lessons and practice more." " Do you realty think of accepting the ofier, Mary?" asked Kate, 44 O dear, girls, it is so hard to give it up, it is such a good opportunity ; bat I couldn't accept, after aD." ** Good I good ! Mary, your decided words are meat and drink for me," said Kate, "and I feel stronger this minute. How we should despise ourselves, should we do what we believe not right ! If you should sing in the Catholic church, yon would be lending your influence in that direction ; and that must be wrong." " Still it may be only a superstitious notion," said Mary ; " and I may be Tery sffly in giving up such a rare opportunity. Don't yon know, by accepting: this position, we could all get along fester, and fit ourselves sooner to work in the world ; and Hannah can write good articles, which will benefit people, and singing, yon know, never did harm any one ; and when I have gotten well started, I can resign my position, and take one more influential for good; besides, the Catholics do a great deal for humanity. St. Stephen's Church, they say, has a temperance society of one thousand mem- bers ; and I am sure the preaching to-day was excel- lent. I wouldn't have thought of the minister's being a Catholic if I hadn't known. Mr. De Witt seems liberal too, much more so even than Miss Brechandon ; and he doesn't observe all the forms of the church although he is a member. So why can't I believe the good part, and sing for them ; nor feel responsible for that which I do not believe? The feet is, girls, I'm afraid we should find something to disbelieve in every church. At home we thought Mr. Hayes too strict and even uncharitable ; and even Mr. Beecher we exit- 172 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " But that's not at all on the subject," said Hannah. " In the Catholic Church there is an aristocracy. I don't mean among the members ; that is observable in every church : but it is an aristocratic form of govern- ment, so to speak, and the poor people are kept ignor- ant, and believe that if they confess their sins to the priest, they are safe. I know such intelligent members as Mr. De Witt understand the matter on a higher plane, but most do not ; and then they pray to the Virgin Mary, and other departed beings they call saints ; when we believe our prayers are heard and answered only when sincerely offered to our Heavenly Father. It is probable and even certain that they do much good by their benevolent institutions, etc. ; but we think the general teaching is wrong and detrimen- tal to the world. That the sincere members of that church are just as good as members of the Protestant church, and will be as surely saved, I have no doubt ; but so long as we believe the church lends an influence which is not good, then is it not our duty not to lend our influence toward sustaining it? " " For my part," said Kate, " I think I am some- what prejudiced against the Catholics ; and I think the Protestants are generally ; and this feeling surely can- not be quite right." " Of course it isn't right," said Hannah ; " and the world cannot be united in good-will, and all the people feel as brethren, until this selfish sectarianism is dead. Because we do not quite agree with a creed does not condemn it, though we are to act according to our highest light, and try always to climb higher, and make improvements. None of man's institutions are perfect enough to need no improvement ; and if any church lives, it must grow more liberal and charitable ; and A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE. 173 when the Catholics and Protestants throw aside preju- dice, and meet as brothers, in my humble opinion the false ideas of the Catholic Church will be abolished lit- tle by little, and an improvement be apparent in many directions." " Hannah, why don't you found a new society ? I do believe you are capable, and I will join it," said Kate. " We are a society, we three," answered Hannah. "and have preaching oftener than most societies, I think." " Hannah, why don't you write a book on religion ? " asked Mary. " I believe you express some ideas worth knowing. Do tell me something about Dr. Chapin and his church. I forgot to ask. How did you like the sermon ? " ** To tell the plain truth, we didn't listen to it as we ought, for Horace Greeley sat in front of us, and we gave most of our attention to him," said Hannah. " Then you saw Mr. Greeley ? good ! Did he look at all as you thought ? " " I knew him at once," said Kate " though it's doubtful if I should have known him but for the news- papers stuffed in his pockets." " O did he really have newspapers with him in church ? how significant ! " laughed Mary. " I wish I could have seen him." "His head is bald, and his hair white; and he seemed to be very sleepy, and nodded a good part of the time," said Hannah. " I presume he didn't sleep much the night before." " The collar of his overcoat was half turned in, and I had half a mind to pull it out ; I dare say I could without his knowing; but others would have seen me," remarked Kate. 174 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. "He seemed very good-natured and easy," said Hannah, " and shook hands heartily with as many as a dozen after meeting was over, and talked and laughed like a common mortal." "And undoubtedly had a good dinner when he went home. I wonder what he would have done had he known exactly how we felt sitting there behind him, and what we were obliged to eat for our dinners if we ate anything," said Kate. " Dear me ! if it isn't hard enough for a girl to do anything, and no wonder when only one in a thousand attempts it. How the women do dress ! I should think they would get dis- gusted with it, and turn their attention to something else. I believe, if ever I get rich, I'll prepare some kind of an arrangement for all girls who are trying to make their way in the world like us, to work a few hours in the day, just to earn their living, and give them most excellent wages, and good opportunity to study what they please." " I'll assist you," said Mary ; " but we must eat our dinners, or I shall starve." Thev ate their dinners, after which they wrote their letters home as usual ; and the sensitive mother's heart detected in them a tone of despondency, though they tried to write cheerfully. Mary hardly felt rec- onciled to giving up the rare chance which had been offered her ; and she could hardly resist thinking yet of the good time they all might have if only she could earn four hundred dollars a year ; and she wondered what Mr. De Witt would say, and if he would think her overscrupulous. But in the morning she gave him a refusal of his offer ; and he looked at her in blank amazement, which changed to one of admiration ; and then he gave her his hand, and simply said, " I didn't A SACRIFICE FOR PRINCIPLE. 175 expect such a sacrifice for principle in a young lady like you ; " and then he called Miss Brechandon, for her door was open, and they stood in the hall near it. " Come here," he said ; " Miss Windsor has refosed that nice offer I made her. What do you think of such a young lady ? " Miss Brechandon looked a moment at Mary's pretty, flushed face, and then straight into the eyes of Mr. De Witt. 44 If there's no trick of selfishness about it anywhere, 1*11 say I'm surprised, for one thing," she said ; " and to think not one of them belongs to any church at all ! I say such a course is worthy of the strictest Lutheran ; for I'm sure the money's needed bad enough." Miss Brechandon was obliged to blow her nose furi- ously just here, and Mary said : 44 1 don't deserve any praise at aH. I simply thought it would be wrong to accept, and so refused ; though I shall never forget the favor." . u No, you never will, that's certain," said Miss Bre- chandon, striking lier hands together, making a noise like a percussion cap; "such folks never do. You just go on now, David De Witt, you are needed here no longer ; and, Miss Mary, you just come here, I've got something for you." So, with a bow and a smile, Mr. De Witt passed out into the street, and Mary followed Miss Brechan- don into her neat little room. 44 Just sit down there, child, a minute," she said ; and very soon she came with a glass of sparkling wine. 44 Now just drink that ; it will do you so much good." 44 No, I can't, Miss Brechandon ; I never drink wine,*' said Mary with an effort 176 * THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " Well, there ! " and the glass went down suddenly on the table, and some of the purple juice was spilled. " Real little Puritans you are, in everything but religion." "Doing always what we think is right is our re- ligion," said Mary, feeling for some reason the happiest she had for days. " Well, well, go home, do, and give me time to think," said Miss Brechandou ; and Mary ran home, glad enough to tell her eager sisters what had trans- pired. A TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. 177 CHAPTER XII. A TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. " Gorso to a ball ! " exclaimed Miss Brechandon. " Well, then, it's all up with you. Mind what I say. It will turn your heads." She shook her head dole- fully, and continued as if to herself: " Yes, that's what ruins them, just what ruins them ; they get bewitched, then, before you know it, they are in love, and then there's no more hope." She rubbed her hands to- gether nervously, and the girls had never seen her act so strangely. " There is not much danger in our case," said Han- nah ; " we shall hardly be likely to be drawn into the whirlpool of fashion, dressed in this manner." " No matter about that. She wasn't dressed in ball costume," said Miss Brechandon, in a mysterious man- ner. It'll turn your heads. O what an age of delu- sions it is ! " " O, but just one ball, Miss Brechandon," said Kate ; " the very first we ever attended." " Yes, * only one ! the very first ! ' that's just what she said. Didn't you ever hear of the only one's be- ing one too many? Fresh from the country, that's what they'll say, mark my words. They know just how to flatter and bewitch young girls. It's just what comes from not belonging to the church, and it's just what I told her. The church is the only safeguard 12 178 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. against the wiles of the devil. I did think, but then no matter what I thought. There's no use in talking ; I found that out years ago." Miss Brechandon talked in such a mysterious, du- bious manner, the girls felt a little gloomy. " O fie ! Miss Brechandon," said Mary. " We've no notion of getting bewildered over one ball, trust us for that;" and Mary gave Miss Brechandon's sleeve an affectionate pat. " Almost the same words she said, and her eyes shone as full of innocence as the angels'," said Miss Brechandon. The girls wondered who she was ; but Miss Bre- chandon's face forbade questioning ; and suddenly she turned about with a jerk, saying sharply, " Go, and be done with it ; I'm always making a fool of my- self; " and, going straight into her room, she slammed the door hard after her, and left the girls standing astonished in the hall. They had started for the little widow's, from whence they were to proceed to Irving Hall. They had worked with renewed energy that week. The sacrifice of the four hundred dollars made them feel stronger and even more encouraged than before. Monday morn- ing, while it was yet twilight in the hall, Miss Bre- chandon had knocked at the door, and appeared before them with a plate of steaming hot cakes, which she de- clared she wanted to get rid of, and she didn't know but it might save them some trouble, as they were always busy. When she was gone, the girls had fallen to eating them with a relish. The weather was frosty, but they could afford no fire when there was no use for it but to keep them warm ; and for an hour or two they sat as usual at the little table, and sewed steadily while A TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. 179 they chattered merrily. They felt a little blue and cold, though their shawls were pinned closely about them ; but they worked on without making any allusion to it. When Kate and Mary had gone to their respective labors, Hannah, whose mind felt a little lighter and more courageous than it had been for some time, fell to thinking of her manuscript. The result of her cogi- tations may be summed up in her concluding thoughts, as she put her work by. " The walk will undoubt- edly do me good. I am almost shivering with cold ; it will take but a short time ; and if it isn't accepted, it won't make me any the worse off. How I wish I could afford to write all day or as long as I please ! I feel just like it ; but at least I'll leave this manuscript with some publisher." So she prepared herself for the walk, and, taking her manuscript, started on her er- rand. The walk did do her good. It warmed her blood, and sent it leaping through her veins ; and she had felt so new and bright, that the publisher she called to see seemed to catch some of the same spirit, and shuffled the leaves of her manuscript in quite an enthusiastic manner, and treated her with considerable deference. " I've no idea," she had said to herself, when in the street again, " that he will accept it; but I'm glad I brought it, for I feel better, and there's no harm in trying ; " and she went home with renewed courage. Kate also had felt some of the same ambitious spirit, and had taken again to coloring photographs ; not for work, but for practice, working at odd spells, and im- proving continually, though she had no teacher. Mary kept on the same line of duty, but was much cheered by the progress of her scholars, and the sheet of charm- ins music which Mr. De Witt left with Miss Brechan- 180 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. don for her, with a pretty French phrase, and his own name marked upon it. " It was so kind in Mr. De Witt," they had all said ; and Mary set herself to learning it immediately. So the night of the ball came at last ; and after a great deal of fixing and chattering, the girls had de- clared themselves " fixed " as much as they could be with nothing to fix with, and had started on their way feeling a little odd and strange. As usual, when Miss Brechandon heard them tripping down the stairs one after the other, she put her head into the hall and asked by her manner where they were going. After she had expressed herself and then slammed the door so unceremoniously, the girls walked on, smiling amus- edly and speaking in whispers until they reached the street. It was dark when they arrived at the little widow's, and the gas in the great carved chandeliers was lighted ; and the little widow sat as usual in her lounging chair by the window. As she greeted them, she scanned them closely, and a close observer might have noticed that her pretty lip curled slightly, and that she gave a little shrug to her sloping shoulder ; but she said in an absent kind of way, " Yes, these are your sisters ; not much like you. Take seats ; there are a good two hours yet before we start for the ball." " We thought it would be better to come early," suggested Hannah. " O yes, it's not at all the thing for girls to be out alone in the streets. I told uncle you wouldn't accept the invitation, for you were not at all fashionable ; but he declared you would, and insisted that I should send you one at least. He has no belief in women's not being fashionable from choice ; and I presume he is A TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. 181 right." There was a touch of sarcasm in her tone, the cause of which might be explained by the feet that her uncle had promised her a new gold chain enameled with black, with a gem attached containing a diamond, if the girls refused the invitation ; but she did not tell this, and they tried to feel easy and welcome ; but somehow they much dreaded the odd uncle, and they moved nearer each other on the crimson sofa, and seemed as green and unsophisticated as country girls we read about. The little widow excused herself for a moment ; and when she was gone, a confused whis- pering commenced. " This is a pretty scrape ! " said Hannah. " Mrs. Waterhouse and her uncle evidently bet on our accept- ing the invitation. Dear me ! I wish we had stayed at home." 44 She didn't expect us to accept," whispered Mary, in a tone fall of disgust not to be misunderstood, even under cover of the whisper, " and / saw her looking at our clothes sharply, and she isn't pleased with us ; but fie ! let us fight it out on this line, and make be- lieve we haven't the least suspicion of the truth." 44 That is evidently the best way to do," said Kate ; "but I do wish hark!" There were heavy steps in the hall. The door was slightly ajar, and they heard a man's voice, deep and rich, but sneering and bitter. "I told you so," he said. 4A Three silly girls, no doubt hunting for beaux, and I've got to escort them. The Furies! on time too, bah ! don't try to make me believe any more of your nonsense. Literary, artistic, musical ! " and then there followed a forced laugh. 44 Help you out of the fix now ? I'll do as I agreed. Come, don't stand shivering there ; take me in and in- 182 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. troduce me to the" the word was lost; the girls clung closer together. They entered the parlor, the little widow in her elegant black dress, and behind her a tall, muscular man, with dark face and heavy hair all in confusion, and dropping over his wide forehead. His eyes were of an exquisitely soft and melting blue ; but the expression of distrust and almost fierceness as much obscured the color as the stormy, billowy waves break up the gentle azure of a sleeping lake. The lower part of his face was obscured by a heavy growth of shaggy beard ; but his form, though muscular, was most harmoniously proportioned, and his manners, though somewhat reckless and fierce, were graceful, and would display a native polish which he seemed to try to avoid. He scowled on the three young girls sitting closely together on the sofa; and Kate, who had been studying the matter with resentment, flashed back upon him a look as defiant and significant at least as his own. " Good evening, sir," she said as they all arose and bowed to him. " We are very glad of an opportunity to go to a ball, and generally take advantage of all our opportunities, which are few enough." She said this scornfully, and received a sly nudge on both sides from the girls. " You like balls, then ? " he said, flinging himself into a chair, and assuming a most " don't care " attitude. " How do we know till we have tried them ? It's no virtue in a person to like or dislike a thing that she knows nothing of," said Kate, inwardly thinking she would like to see the man imprisoned for a short time at least. "Which one is the artist ? " he said, abruptly turn- ing to Mrs. Waterhouse. ^1 TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. 183 " I am," said Kate decisively, resolving in her mind to meet the man with his own weapons. " And you are the blue-stocking, I know," he said, pointing to Hannah, whose face colored instantly with indignation ; and she heartily wished she ha4 never been so silly as to answer the letter, for the man was a bear at least, she thought. " I write a little when I please," she said, not rec- ognizing the fib till she had told it ; for if there was any- thing she didn't do, it was to write when she pleased. " And you teach music ? " to. Mary. " I endeavor to, sir," with a most comical display of dignity. The man laughed again, loud and harsh, the girls thought. " You'll do," he said, and, wheeling himself near the gas-light, drew from his pocket a rumpled paper, and soon seemed oblivious to all but its contents. The girls sat as still as mice a long, long time, it seemed to them an age, while the uncle read ; and the little widow, at the farther end of the parlor, worked over a pile of worsted. " Uncle," she said after a while, " it's time to go." He threw his paper down in a heap, and looked as if he had just been awakened out of a deep sleep. " O, the ball, that's it, these ladies wish to go to the ball ; " and he gave them a sharp look from under his scowling brows. How those three girls wished them- selves at home in their little room ! How they rjf| gretted accepting the invitation, and how they wanted to flee away ! but they had started, and they meant to go through with it. They were not afraid of the man ; but they despised him, and shrank somewhat from his fierce look and words. It was an adventure 184 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. at least, Mary thought, though she clung to Hannah's sleeve with her arm behind Kate's back. " Well, Lisa, are you ready ? " asked her uncle. " I am not going," said the little widow, absorbed in drawing a green thread of worsted through the canvas. " O, you are not going ? " he sneered ; " you back down, and leave me to fight the battle." He started up, and strode into the hall, coming back soon, muffled in an overcoat and a strange fur cap. " Well, ladies, if you are readv, we will start for the ball." The girls arose. " Good night," they said to Mrs. Waterhouse. " Good night," she replied shortly, and kept* on with her work ; and the girls passed out into the hall feeling much as if they had done something of which they were ashamed. When they reached the street, they had a strong desire to leave Mr. St. Maur, and walk hflpie as quickly as possible ; but he said, " This way," with so much authority that almost before they knew it, they were walking after him. He seemed to act as odd and ungallant as possible, and hardly spoke a word the whole way, which, however, was but a short distance. " I feel just like a fool," whispered Hannah ; " and if ever we get through with this scrape it will be some time before I get into another like it." " Only think, that little goose of a widow has sent us off alone with this great bear," said Kate, making a grimace at the great overcoat and fur cap. " Yes, and we shall be disgraced forever if he goes on in this way," whispered Mary. When they arrived at the hall, they found that the band had just begun to play. They followed Mr. St. Maur around the A TASTE OF FASHIOXABLE LIFE. 185 gallery, where sat a few persons, looking down on the waxed floor, where were the managers walking briskly around in their dress-coats and white gloves. They sat down, side by side : and in a moment all was forgot- ten bat the brilliant scene which was soon spread out before them, for couples began to ponr in through the doors and promenade slowly around the room, while the band kept plaving; and everything grew merry and exciting. What a brilliant array of dress there was, what long trains, what beautiful women ! A subtle perfumery floated through the room ; and the air seemed full of intoxicating draughts. The music ceased for a moment ; and then there came the hum of voices, and sets began to form for a quadrille. Soon the dancing commenced. " O dear, girls, how I wish I was down there ! " said Mary, leaning forward and gazing with wide-open eyes. *' There is one lady with a street suit on, yes, two. Don't they look splendid, all of them I mean ? It's no wonder they stay till five o'clock, is it? *I should think they never would want to go home. Don't they feel happy ? " " Why were we born to be excluded from such pleasure?" said Kate. "Isn't that pink-cheeked girl just down there dressed in the most charming style ? She looks like a feiry ; and how graceful she ill - Hannah, usually so regardless of dress and fashion, looked on this scene, so new to her and so gorgeous, and thought, though she did not say it, " How nice it is to be pretty, and graceful ! I won- der why it is some are made so plain, and some so beautiful. How would I look, I wonder, on the floor?" 186 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. Mr. St. Maur, as soon as they were seated, had left them ; but looking up suddenly, as she thought this, Hannah saw him standing just behind them, gazing at them intently ; but when she met his eye, he turned about suddenly and strode off. He came back soon, however, and touched her on her shoulder, saying, in his authoritative way, " Ladies ! " They all looked around ; a slender young man stood by his side in ball costume. " I've brought Mr. Early to talk to you," he said. " The Misses Windsor, Tommy." The girls blushed and bowed; and Tommy, who had a few freckles on his nose, and a slight mustache, made one of his most charming bows, with his eves fixed on Mary's pretty face. Kate's lip curled slightly, and Hannah's nose took a turn upward, while the tw'o nudged each other, and looked steadily down at the scene below, which was just then the bewildering waltz. Tommy stationed himself near Mary, and directed his conversation to her entirely. " Do you dance ? " he asked. " Not at balls," said Mary. " The next dance is a cotillon. You can dance that," he said. " Go down with me please, and enjoy it." " I would like to," said Mary, looking longingly down upon the merry dancers ; " but then " " O, yes, go ; it's no harm, and I'm sure you'll be delighted," said he. " I should like to dance, it is so enchanting," said Mary, looking sideways at Hannah and Kate, who looked as solemn as though listening to a dry sermon. Hannah shook her head* without looking up, and Kate arched her brows and looked forbidding; but Mary said to herself, A TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. 187 44 They don't like it, but what's the harm ? I'm old enough to know something, and it would do me good, I am sure, to dance once ; and I want to go down there and see them when in their midst ; it will be so much more satisfactory. I dare say Hannah and Kate are too strict ; besides, it all came through Hannah that we are here, and I mean to go. It can't do any harm." The waltzing was finished, and a promenading and laughing and talking commenced. " You will go, Miss Windsor, I am sure," said Tommy ; and Mary, having concluded that she had a right to do as she pleased, consented. " I shall go down with Mr. Early to dance a cotil- lon," she said to her sisters, in a very independent tone. " Mary ! " said Hannah in a reproachful tone, Tommy had stepped one side for a moment, " you must not go f really you ought to know better. That fop ! We have been silly enough already ; pray don't let us entirely lose our senses and reason." "She won't go," said Kate. "I shall think her crazy if she does." " Yes, I am going," said Mary, using as little reason as people generally do in the whirl and excitement of a ball. " I have promised Mr. Early, and I want to dance at a real ball, it's no harm ; " and almost before they were aware, the animated young girl, be- witched by the splendor and display and the fascinat- ing music, threw her hat and cloak in Hannah's lap, and, taking the young man's arm, marched off. As soon as she had gone, Mr. St. Maur took her seat. " I suppose you would like to dance too, if you had partners ? " said he, in a sarcastic tone. 188 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " I don't know who has a better right than we," said Kate, determined his sneers should not frighten her into trying to make a good impression. " We did not come to dance ; but then I suppose we might by trying." " O yes, if you had partners ; there's that sister of yours marching along as proud as a belle." " Which she has a right to do," said Kate again, exceedingly vexed with Mary, but determined not to show it. " Why are you not on the floor ? " " Why ? because I don't choose to be there. I'm not so fond of making a fool of myself, by mixing in with such a parcel of flirts and dandies." " I dare say," said Kate saucily, " there are as good people on the floor dancing as you are." " So you don't have an exalted opinion of me, Miss Artist ? " " I think you have treated us with as little kindness and politeness as I at least expected," said 'Kate ; " and I shall be most heartily glad when this is over, and I am at home." " You are decidedly plain in your remarks ; you would like me to dawdle, and flatter you," sneered he. " I don't care what you do. I dare say we can take care of ourselves." " For mercy's sake ! Kate, don't get the lion roused," whispered Hannah, who had been intently watching Mary's maneuvers. " I'm not afraid of him ; and I am going to give him a piece of my mind," Kate whispered back. In the mean time Mary was among the dancers. She had gone down very briskly with Mr. Early, for- getful of her dress, and everything but the exciting A TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. 189 music and flying feet. They promenaded very re- spectably through the room, and took their places in an obscure corner. They commenced to dance, but the dance was unlike what Mary expected ; and she became confused and embarrassed, and all at once stepped full upon the long train of a lady in the set next to theirs, and then stumbled herself. The lady looked back over her shoulder with a most scornful flash of her eyes, and said, so that Mary heard her plainly, " Mr. Early has got a perfect little dowdy and bungler for a partner," and some one replied, " A miss from the country ! awkward and green." O, how Mary's face flushed then ; and how sorry she was that she had not remained with the girls. She wondered if they saw her blunder, and hoped Mr. Early hadn't heard the remarks. After a while, how- ever, becoming more accustomed to the figure, she was dancing very well, and enjoying it, when suddenly, as she turned toward the wall, she met, to her amazement, the great mournful eyes of Mr. De Witt fixed upon her. Again she became confused, and again blun- dered ; and how glad she was when the dance was through ! Mr. De Witt approached her immediately, and cordially shook her hand. " You are enjoying it ? " " No, I am not," answered she frankly ; *' and I don't want to stay down here another minute. I didn't know before that you danced." " Neither do I," he said, smiling. " I met a friend on the street a short time ago, and he insisted on my coming in for a few moments ; so I have been L ing on. I didn't think you were going to dance, Windsor." "Neither did 1," said Mary, in a not very 190 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. tone, " and neither will I again. I am going up to the gallery where my sisters are. Good-night, Mr. De Witt." She took Mr. Early's arm, and started toward the door. " Good night. Miss Mary," said Mr. De Witt, watching her in an abstracted manner until " she had disappeared. " You didn't stay on the floor long," said Mr. St. Maur, when Mary stood near him and her sisters, and Mr. Early had vanished. " Why didn't you try a waltz?" " I don't know how to waltz," said Mary. " O, you don't ? Did you enjoy the cotillion ? " " No, sir." " Didn't, eh ? What was the matter ? " " I suppose she simply didn't enjoy it," said Kate, moving and giving Mary a seat. " I would like to go home. I am sleepy, and tired of the affair." " So am I," said Hannah. " It must be very late." " Only half past twelve," said Mr. St. Maur. " Five o'clock is the time to break up ; and supper comes at two. You'll stay for that ? " " We ate our supper at a respectable hour before we came," said Kate ; " and eating at two o'clock is not our habit ; and so, if you please, we will go home." " You are decided, then ? " said Mr. St. Maur, look- ing at Kate with a strange, quizzical look, and speaking in a tone a trifle more polite. " We have stayed as long as we wish," said Hannah. " If you wish to stay longer, we can go alone." " I am at your service," he said, " and glad to get away so early." And so they went. A TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. 191 They passed Mr. De Witt on the stairs, and he bowed to them pleasantly. " Who is that white-faced young man ? " said Mr. St. Maur, abruptly. " A friend of ours," answered Kate, in a tone that forbade any more questions. " Don't you think I have done my part toward escorting the ladies to the ball ? " asked Mr. St. Maur. " Undoubtedly," answered Kate, who seemed to take upon herself the responsibility of answering all his questions. " There is a car, sir, that will take us home ; and we will trouble you no longer." " Very well," he said, hailing the car. He assisted the girls to enter, and then passed in after them, and, sitting down, remained silent the whole distance ; while the girls, tired, sleepy, and dis- heartened, leaned on each other, and wished they were at home. When they arrived at their place of desti- nation, Mr. St. Maur assisted Kate to alight last, and said to her in a half whisper, " You think me a bear ? " " You are responsible for my impressions concerning yon," said Kate. "'Yes ? am I ? What are you painting ? " " A design." " Will you tell me what it is ? " " In the Orchard." " And you attempt a design like that ? " "We attempt many things, sir, which we cannot accomplish." " But you will accomplish this ? " " I hope to." " And sell it? " " I don't know, sir. Good night." 192 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. They were at the foot of the steps. " Good night," he said to all, and instantly walked away. " O dear, I'm so tired ! " said Mary. " I'm sick of balls." " All but codfish," said Kate, dragging herself up the steps. Miss Brechandon opened the door. " So soon ? " she said. " How happened it ? " " We don't like balls, and we got as much of them as we want," said Kate. Miss Brechandon shook her head. " O, no," she said. " You are tired now ; but then you do seem to feel different from her. She was so full of animation, and stayed until five ; but it won't be long before you will be bewitched to go to another." " Never," said Hannah, with a scowl ; and they went to their room. " I have seen some trials in my life," said Hannah, when they had entered their room ; " but I will say I never passed such a disagreeable, wretched evening before." " Nor I," said Kate ; " but if Mary had stayed in her place, we shouldn't be quite so much in disgrace as we are now. She acted like one possessed. Going down there in that threadbare suit of hers, and with that little dandy too ! I do believe there is a spirit of evil in such places, that takes possession of people. At first I was charmed. I was bewitched 4o be on the floor ; but I got so tired of it ; and I arn ng>w just as much at a loss to know how they can stay till five o'clock, as I was before I went." " I knew you would commence on me as soon as we were alone, and I suppose it's well enough ; but I can A TASTE OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. 193 tell you one thing, it won't do any good ; for I am as ashamed and disgusted with it as you are ; and that little fop ! O how I would just like to box his ears this minute ! " " Why, wasn't he polite ? " " I don't know, and I don't care. I only know I despise the little simpering dandy." ** You are the only one in fault after all," said Han- nah. "Poor Tommy probably acted as usual; and because yon think you disgraced yourself with him, you despise him." " Who said I disgraced myself? " said Mary, who was tired and irritable ; " but then I did," she con- tinued, " and Mr. De Witt saw it all." " Didn't you dance well ? " asked Kate. " Dance * well? I didn't donee at all. I just hopped around in confusion ; and I don't think I'll ever again have a desire to be a fashionable woman. They lace till they can hardly breathe, and powder their faces, and no doubt paint ; and then they are so a --." " All of them ? " asked Hannah, laughing in spite of her weariness. " They are all alike probably ; and the one that had that horrid long train acted like a snapping turtle. How magnificent she thought she looked ! I'm just disgusted with fine clothes." " Well, this is a lesson I shan't soon forget ; and I haven't forgotten that it all came out of mv answering that letter either," said Hannah ; " but if only the lit- tle widow and her uncle had treated us a little more respectfully, I would have found less fault ; for it was really a treat to go to a ball." " I really hope," said Kate, " that we never shall 13 194 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. see that man again. The little widow said he was a saint. She must have a poor opinion of saints. She said, too, that he was always helping the poor. He showed little signs of it to-night. Dear me ! " "How shall we feel to-morrow, do you think?" asked Mary. " You know we can't rest as we used to at home ; and such doings don't pay for us at least." " Mr. St. Maur will haunt me all night, I am sure," said Kate ; " those distrustful, vigilant eyes of his, the heavy, rumpled hair, and shaggy beard ; and that voice, how it makes me shudder to think of it ! " " Somehow I shan't think of him so much as of Mr. De Witt, as he looked when I first saw him in the ball-room. That mournful look in his great eyes seemed a reproof to me ; and his face was paler than usual," said Mary. *' I shall think of the little widow as much as any- thing, sitting so stiff at the farther end of the room, and not deigning to notice us. O, what a mortifica- tion that was ! " said Hannah. And so they did dream and mutter in their sleep, and their slumbers were not sweet nor refreshing. AFTER THE BALL. 195 ^ ? CHAPTER XUL R THB BALL. Ix the morning the girls awoke with blinding headaches, and their tempers sadly soared. Every- thing looked so cold and dismal and burdensome ; and then they were so dissatisfied with themselves. Be- sides, Mary had a severe cold in her head, and kept sneezing very load and forcibly, and breaking in upon her own or her sisters' remarks. " I do think,' 1 said Kate at last, " that you sneeze loader than there is any necessity for. You jar every- thing near TOO." " WeD, I don't," answered Mary, sneezing again. '* I can't help it ; and I guess it troubles me as much as it does yon ; and I*m going to have a fire too ; what is the use in hoarding up a little coal forever? I guess we needn't freeze to death." "I think we need a fire now, if any time," said Han- nah, shivering. "I can't sit here and sew to-day without a little warmth in the room." So a fire was built in the little stove, and it shone and sparkled in the grate, and gave things a more cheerful aspect. 44 Good luck for us that to-4ay is Saturday,*' said Kate, when they all sat around the fire, ** This work must be carried home this afternoon ; and after paying our rent, we shall have a little money. Do let us take 196 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. it and buy us something to eat for to-morrow. I can't live another Sunday on dry bread and syrup. It does very well when we are busy at work ; but when we are idle, it becomes a nuisance." " I'm agreed," said Hannah. " I am going for my story to-day, too. If I don't wear it out lugging it from one place to another all over the city, it will be a wonder. How this thread kinks and breaks ! " " Yes, and how stiff the cord is ! I can hardly get my needle through it ; and my fingers are pricked in a half-dozen places. I wish I was tucked into a feather- bed this minute. That horrid ball ! " " Don't mention it," said Hannah. "I was going to suggest that we entirely drop the subject ; for it only aggravates us." " I want to ask one question first," said Kate. " Do you suppose Mr. St. Maur introduced ' Tommy ' to us to tempt us to make fools of ourselves?" " Yes, I do ; and that is all I shall say on the sub- ject," said Hannah. " I don't care for him," said Mary ; " he isn't worth minding any way ; " and the subject was dropped, and seldom referred to afterward. It was a drizzly, disagreeable day, and the streets were lined with black mud, that would cling to one with impertinent tenacity. Yet in spite of this, in the afternoon, Hannah and Kate started on their respec- tive errands, Kate with a bundle of work, and Han- nah with a little hope, which she tried to smother, by saying over and over to herself, " Don't be silly ; it won't be accepted, you know it won't. Of course not, there's no hope of it at all ; but then it will be bettor to get the manuscript, and not leave it in their hands forever." AFTER THE BALL. 197 So she trudged on down town, and Kate up town, crossing the streets and splashing the mnd over their boots at every step. Their success was thoroughly dis- cussed at night when they returned, as they sat close together in the dim twilight. Kate arrived first, as out of sorts and discouraged as one could imagine. Her shawl was dripping with water, and her skirts bespattered and besmeared with mud, while her boots looked more like the cow-hides* of an old farmer than the dainty boots of a ladv. " What a time you must have had ! " said Mary, trying to do something, she hardly knew what, to bet- ter the poor girFs situation. " Does it rain ? " "Rain? yes, and everything else disagreeable. What a wretched time I have had ! " " Of course you have," said Mary, taking off the wet shawl from her sister's shoulders. " It's too bad. Here ! Let me unbutton your boots. Why do you think it is Hannah don't come ? " " I don't know ; but I pity her if she has had such bad luck as I have." "Bad luck? what is it ?" '* Couldn't get any more work : now what are we going to do ? " Hannah opened the door then. " Kate could get no more work," burst out Mary, the first thing. "Couldn't?" said Hannah, in a not very dubious tone. " Don't worry over that, girlies, look here ; " and Hannah drew a roll of bills from the bosom of her dress. " A bad beginning makes a good ending." Mary, who had been unbuttoning Kate's boots, sprang to her feet and gave Hannah a lively hug over her dripping shawl, and a kiss on her wet cheek. 198 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " O, O, O ! you got paid for your story. Hurrah for the ' Mystery of Murky Hollow ! ' " she exclaimed. Kate forgot her misfortunes in an instant, and stood up with one boot half off, and took the greenbacks from Hannah's hand, and began to count them. " Ten, twelve, seventeen, twenty. Twenty dollars. O Hannah, we are rich ; but the best of it is, your story was accepted. Pooh ! I wouldn't care now if I was soaked in mud. It seems rather a luxury than other- wise ; " and Kate looked at her besmeared skirts com- placently ; and then they all joined in a happy, merry laugh. " Just what I thought," said Hannah, " as I was coming home ; and I do believe there was a grin on my face the whole way. I never knew mud and rain to seem of so little consequence before, and I never felt quite so important. I was so anxious to get home, it seemed as if I couldn't get along fast enough ; and what must I do, when coming up the stairs, but rush straight against Mr. De Witt, mud and all, and we both came near falling down ; and what a fall would there have been, my countrymen ! " They all laughed again. " Now this has happened," said Kate, " my adven- tures seem more ludicrous than disheartening ; but tell us what the publisher said. Did he like the story?" " He didn't say much about it, only that he would pay me twenty dollars for it, though he shouldn't use it for several weeks ; but I was surprised that he took it at all. I didn't wait for praise, but took my twenty dol- lars, and came home as soon as possible." "" I knew it was a good story," said Mary. " Kate and I are not so poor judges, after all. Twenty dol- AFTER THE BALL. 199 lars ! O you dear children, can you realize the grand- eur of that? " and Mary bustled around, hanging up wet shawls and hoods. " I had only just the * least little feint hope,' and chided myself for that." "Now I want to hear about your luck and adven tores," said Hannah to Kate. * Tm almost glad you couldn't get any more work, on my account, for I am going to write another story." "Perseverance has done so much for yon, I shall try coloring photographs again," said Kate, with a gleam of renewed ambition in her eye ; " but I haoan adventure that I must tell yon about. After I had round that I could get no more work, I started for home with a heavy heart, revolving in my mind what should now be done. I was so busy thinking, that I hardly knew where I was going or what I was doing, and so walked straight into a ridiculous mud-puddle. If that had been all, it would hardly be worth relating ; but I fell down, for the first time since I came to New York^flat into the mud, which spattered into my face, and entirely covered my hands. I got up as quickly as I could, so ashamed and disgusted and everything ; and looking up, what should I behold but the great over- coat and fur cap of Mr. St. Maur ? and there was such a look on his fece ! I can't define it; but though he seemed inwardly convulsed with laughter, there was, or else I imagined it, a look of pity in his eye. I was hurrying away as fast as I could ; but he caught hold of my shawl, and said, as he pulled a large handker- chief from his pocket, ' Here, Miss Windsor, take this ; ladies' handkerchiefs are so small ; ' and dropping it on my arm, he walked away. I could have screamed with vexation and mortification; but seeing I was in the street, I contented myself with shedding a few tears. 200 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. That man is bound to see us in our worst moods ; and I kept wishing over and over we never had set our eyes on him." " Perhaps we never shall again ; and after all, why need we care for him? he is nothing to us," said Hannah. This was one of the joyful times for the Windsor girls, and caused them to think there was no use in de- sponding, for good luck would come around once in a while to the persevering and determined. After this times seemed a little easier ; and Hannah wrote busily, while Kate put on the finishing touches to her design, and practiced photograph coloring during her leisure moments until she began to think herself competent to attempt coloring for remuneration. Then she went again to an artist's gallery ; this time choosing one of considerable note and reputation. She took some photographs home as usual to color for specimens, and worked over them long and carefully, and saw herself how much she had improved since her last attempt. She carried the pictures home, and the artist said they were very good, but she needed more practice ; and then he told her a little incident, which pleased and even encouraged her. " Ten years ago," he said, " a man came to me for work, just as you did. I talked with him, and thought him well skilled in the business of coloring. I had had less experience then than now ; and having a picture I was anxious to have colored for the window, I gave it to him. He brought it back in a few days so wretchedly done, I could hardly tell if the object be- longed to the human species. Of course I gave him no more work ; but now he is one of the first artists and photograph colorists in the city, and he has a AFTER THE BALL. 201 studio on Broadway ; so take courage, perseverance will overcome all obstacles. I see at once that you have talent, but you have not practiced sufficiently yet to do first-class work ; " and so Kate was encouraged, and continued to practice a few moments now and then, hunting all the galleries in the city, and asking for photographs thrown by. She tried to get more needle-work, but was unsuccessful ; and times began to grow hard again. Letters often came from home full of consoling and comforting words, and often con- taining a few dollars, which helped them greatly ; but they laid their plans wholly independent of this help, determined to help themselves as far as possible. Mary continued to teach her scholars, and they all learned to love her ; but one had ceased to take lessons on account of illness, and so there were only three to add to her income. Hannah's twenty dollars grew less and less, while she wrote on, relating, in the most startling manner pos- sible, murder scenes, robberies, disclosing mysteries, and making astonishing denouements. It was one very cold, bleak day, when she and Kate were returning home in a car from a walk up town, that she first saw a few chapters of the first story she had sold, in print. She bought the paper containing it of a little dirty- faced newsboy ; and sitting closely together, she and Kate began to read it over eagerly. It was illustrated by the most startling picture of a man in the act of hurling a beautiful girl into the "seething waters. While they read, they were conscious of a person's entering the car and taking a seat by the side of Han- nah ; but they were too much absorbed to look up un- til the story was finished ; then glancing around, they saw those blue, penetrating eyes of Mr. St. Maur. 202 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. Hannah's first thought was to hide the paper; but her next told her that would be folly ; so both bowed to him a little stiffly. He touched the paper with a scornful gesture. " Do you read trash like this ? " he asked, and looked straight at the illustration of Hannah's story. The fictitious name told no tales. " There are a great many things that are injurious to people's minds," he said, " and this paper is one of them ; and the writ- ers had better go out to service than help fill these pages." He looked straight at Hannah, as if he suspected the truth ; and she dared not look up, through fear of com- mitting herself. He seemed a little less fierce than usual ; but Hannah felt as if she had no word of justi- fication to utter, and was silent ; but Kate said, looking resolutely in the man's eyes, " Wealthy people cannot understand the wants of the poor, and condemn them for much which, if in their place, they would do themselves." " That may be in most cases, but it does not make a wrong thing right." He said this almost kindly ; and Hannah ventured to look into his face. How strong and grand he looked ! and she thought, " If one could be shielded and assisted by a great man like this one, even with all his fierceness and plain speaking, how restful it would be ! " but she said in her usual decisive way, " Yet, sir, though wrong surely can never be right, the person may sometimes be justified for committing a wrong act." He looked at her intently an instant, as though the expression was an excuse for something he could not forgive. He glanced at the paper again. " The AFTER THE BALL. 203 writers of these stories," he said, " injure themselves, as well as the public ; as wrong actions always injure the actors. People who can use their minds only to excite the most heathenish propensities in their readers, are a pitiable set of beings." Hannah dropped her eyes with a sense of shame, and the paper fell from her lap to the floor ; nor did she touch it again only with her foot. Little more was said until they arose to leave the car. " You stop here ? " said Mr. St. Maur. " Yes," replied Hannah, drawing her shawl closely about her, and passing on. " Good day, sir." " Good day," he said ; and then to Kate, " Is your design finished ? " " Nearly ; good day ; " and the two girls left the car, and walked on without glancing back. " I told you," said Kate, " that man is destined to see the very weakest and worst phases of our char- acter." " I almost wish we hadn't bought that paper," said Hannah. " It costs six cents^and I left it on the floor. No doubt Mary would like to see it. I am sure he mistrusted that I wrote that story we were reading when he entered the car." This little incident exerted a great influence over Hannah's mind ; and continually as she wrote, the scorn in those blue eyes haunted her; and she only consoled herself by saying over and over, " In just a little time I will give up this style of writing, and do better." And so she wrote on, often laying aside her pen to go into the streets to make observations ; and as Kate no longer had work, and Mary's scholars were now only three, their future began to look very dark again. 204 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " If only I can finish this story, so as to get the pay for it before Christmas, I shall be perfectly satis- fied," said Hannah one day to her sisters. "But suppose you can't, what then? " asked Mary. " If I can't, then our Christmas will be the saddest we ever knew," said Hannah, as she numbered the pages of her manuscript. "It is weakness to borrow trouble, mother says," said Kate ; " and I have a little project in view, which may give us a Christmas dinner." " Then make it known immediately," said Mary ; " for if there is anything we are in need of just now, it is a new project." And Kate replied, with a very wise look, " My pic- ture is nearly finished, and my teacher says it is very good; and when he says that, you may be sure he means it decidedly ; and I am going to try to sell it." "But will he allow it ? " answered Hannah. ** He must, for we need the money ; and I have be- sides, you know, a half-dozen drawings and one paint- ing for the exhibition." " But it is very difficult, I am sure," said Hannah, " for an obscure artist like you to sell a picture ; and I must confess that I have little hope in that direction." " But I can try ; and if I fail, it will not be the first failure I have known ; and therefore I can bear it." " But where will you try to sell it ? " asked Mary. " O, I shall try to have it hung in one of the gal- leries on Broadway ; and it being just before Christ- mas, it may find a sale of some kind." " But don't get your expectations too high," said Hannah, remembering her own disappointment when her manuscript was rejected. " I'll try not to," said Kate, thinking of that same AFTER THE BALL. 205 unhappy time, and how Hannah had cried, and they all had felt so disheartened ; but she started for Cooper's with higher hopes and ambitions than she would con- fess she felt, and went to work on her picture with re- newed courage. It was almost night when she gave it the last touch with her brush, and, having carefully wrapped it in paper, started for home. " O, she has brought it," exclaimed Mary, as Kate entered the room. " Quick, quick, Kate, for our ex- citement and curiosity are intense." ** Turn your faces away," said Kate, laughing, " until I have placed it in a good light." So the girls looked toward the street, until bidden to look at the picture ; then they turned about quickly, and beheld for the first time what Kate had been patiently working upon for weeks. Hannah's eyes filled with tears as she gazed upon it, while she said, " It is so much better than I expected, dear, and it is so very natural and beautiful. I should-never grow tired of gazing upon it." " What do you think, Mary ? " asked Kate. "I think you are a true-born artist," answered Mary, giving Kate an affectionate squeeze. " At first the teacher said it was too elaborate a de- sign for a young artist like me ; but I was so interested in it, and the picture was so indelibly stamped on my mind, it was not so very hard, though sometimes I grew disheartened, but only to feel better the next day; and now it is finished, and I am not sorry I attempted it." "In the Orchard" being the title of one of the chapters in this story, the reader can easily imagine what was the design of the picture, three young 206 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. girls sitting together on the old mossy ledge in the orchard, with the waving ferns at their feet, and the autumn glory all around them. Their hats were thrown aside, and the breeze had blown their hair into little curls and waves ; and all seemed deep in thought. The eyes of one were fixed on the distant rim of the ocean, which the sunset crowned with gold and silver ; while the others looked down at the ferns with a less dreamy expression ; and all clasped hands, which was an emblem of their affection and constancy. " There is nothing lacking in the picture, except 'Nijah," said Mary, after they had all gazed upon it some moments in silence. " I wanted to paint him just as we saw him last with the gray squirrels ; but I dared not attempt it ; and now do you think any one will be pleased with it be- sides ourselves? " " I don't know," said Hannah. " I haven't much confidence in my own opinions of late ; but really I can't see how it can fail to get admiration." " I will try it at least," said Kate, " and see what will become of it." A few days after this, when the picture was var- nished, and thought to be as near perfection as it could be made, Kate sought one of the galleries on Broad- way, where she had spent many hours in gazing upon the pictures there ; and asked the dealer to allow her to leave her design there for sale ; but he would not even look at it. " There is no use," he said. " I have not the least shadow of a place to hang it in ; and though I am sorry to disappoint you, I cannot take it. If you had come in yesterday morning, I would have looked at it." So Kate went out, her hope decreased to a consider- AFTER THE BALL. 207 able extent, but her perseverance as strong as ever. She sought another gallery; but the dealer only- glanced at the picture. "No room.*' he said ; and she was about to torn away, when he said kindly, "If yon are anxious to sell the picture, take it down to die auction room, and it may find a purchaser there." "Just what I wffl do," said Kate to herself as she left the gallery. At the auction room she left her picture, hung in an obscure corner, where she said to herself no one would ever notice it; and half tempted to cry, she went out into the street, thinking CTery step she took that she would go back and get it, and not try to have it sold; but she didn't go back, and when she ar- rived home, she had given up all hope of selling the picture, even if she left it in that obscure place a month. Christmas drew nearer and nearer, and Hannah wrote fester and fester; and at last her story was finished, all in good time, and rejoiced over and pro- nounced charming., as usual. "The day before Christmas," she should receive an answer concerning its rejection or acceptation, the pub- lisher, Solon Drew, said; and that would be time enough to get the Christmas dinner, Hannah thought, and went home well satisfied, especially as the pub- lisher had said, as she was about leaving him, " There wfll be no doubt about its being accepted. Your other story was very good, and I have no doubt about this one ; but then we must read it, you know." " We must have just a little Christmas dinner," said Mary, when Hannah had told of her good hack, " because, von know, it wffl be so lonesome here, and he M 208 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " Of course we must," said Kate. " Christmas is always such a glorious time at home, and it will be so different here. So we must try to make it just a little pleasant you know." " We shall miss making and receiving presents," said Hannah ; " but we can write a long letter to father and mother ; and I'm sure no present would suit them better." " Well, I don't see but our circumstances just now look quite favorable," said Maiy ; and they all grew merry, and the hours sped on. THE XIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 209 CHAPTER XIV. THE XIGHT BEFORE CHKI3TMA3. " Fo* one, I am tired of living in this war," said Mary, drawing nearer to the little store, and shivering slightly. " I never shall he anything, for what can I learn with only a few hours a day to practice, and with a teachd^who has a large class and no particular interest in it ? I feel to-night just like going home to the country and settling down " " As the wife of Maurice Pike," put in Kate, with a roguish twinkle in her eye. '* I don't feel like being teased ; everything has gone wrong to-day. My scholars were unusually dull ; and when I undertook to sing in the class, my voice cracked and I choked, and then those ill-mannered girls all giggled. I'd like to know what I came to New- York for? Fm sure I was comfortable at home. I never had to put myself on an allowance about eating, nor be all the time in a tremor about rent's coming due. People make themselves a great deal of trouble for nothing. Why didn't we stay at home, and be contented?" " Because it isn't in us, I suppose. Fm sure I'm in a tight place just now ; and it would seem nice to be at home, where we could go to sleep, as we used to, with no cares on our minds. I shall have to content myself with only a few dry crackers for my supper ; and only u 210 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. think, it is the night before Christmas. There is one comfort; they at home don't know our hardships." " Yes, that is what I keep thinking ; but Hannah is coming. Let us light the lamp. It is not really dark yet ; but the weather is so dismal, a light may make the room seem a little more cheerful." The door opened, and Hannah entered. " How do you feel to-night ? " inquired Mary. " I know you haven't had good luck by the looks of your eyes. Why, how wet your cloak is ! " " Sit down by the fire as soon as possible," said Kate, " and dry your feet. I'll hang up your cloak." " It's wretchedly stormy," said Hannah ; " and I walked all the way home from Fulton Sta^et ; and the wind blew directly in my face. I nearly froze my fingers too, for I forgot my mittens." " It's too bad," said Mary ; " let me unbutton your boots ; and you shall wear my slippers ; here they are, all ready." " Thank you," said Hannah. " It's nice to have even this little uncarpeted room all to ourselves, this bitter cold night. I'm sure I am glad enough to get here. How have you progressed on your picture, Kate ? and, Mamie, have you found any time to prac- tice?" " My picture would get along well enough if I could work on it every day as I have to-day ; but I can't, you know." "I haven't practiced but one hour," said Mary, " and that seemed to be on wings. Do tell us, Hannah, what luck you have had. I couldn't really gain cour- age to ask you, for I knew by your looks you hadn't been successful." " Not so unsuccessful as I might have been," said THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 211 Hannah. " The stair is accepted, hut the pay doesn't come tin it is- published, which will he in a few weeks." " Why couldn't Mr. Drew have known how much we want a Christinas dinner ? " said Kate. "Because people in general attend only to then- own wants," said Hannah. "I thought at first I would tell him how much we needed the money ; hut somehow I couldn't do it. I thought about the differ- ence in people's circumstances to-night as I walked up from Fulton Street in the storm, because I could not afford to ride, when it would hare cost but six cents, while so many were leaning back in the cush- jonsofclosffeftrriages." _ "Yes," 3A Kate, " and go home to find nice sup- pers awaiting them. O dear, how I wish I was a man " " If constant wishing ever brought anything about," said Mary, " you would have been a man long ago." "Wefl, only think what advantages men have, Mr. St. Maur, for instance. How important and " " I saw him to-night," said Hannah, looking stead- fly into the fire, and speaking slowly. "You saw him?" exclaimed Kate and Mary to- gether. " Why didn't you tell us before ? You are in a strange mood, Hannah. Did you speak with him?" "No, he didn't see me, but was giving his atten- tion to a ragged urchin, who got hurt in die street. The last I saw of him, he had the poor boy in his arms, bearing him away. O girls, there never was such a handsome man before, I am sure ; and undoubt- edly he is much more of a saint than we thought him. I begin to think the little widow was right. I believe men are more splendid than women," 212 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " All because they have so many more advantages," said Kate. " I see you are charmed with Mr. St. Maur, Hannah." " And so would you be, had you seen him lift that ragged boy so tenderly in his strong arms, and his eyes I caught one glance were as tender and soft as Mary' are now. He isn't a bear, Kate; we were wrong." " And I am .glad of it ; but if he is not a bear, I'm sure he is a mystery," said Kate. " O, if I were a man, I could endure anything." " But men have many temptations ; and how few young men there are who are honest and true ! " "Don't girls have temptations as well?" said Kate quickly. " O dear, I believe the city is no place for a girl ; and if I didn't want to be an artist so very, very much, and have the advantages for learning art which the country cannot give me, wouldn't I go home to my quiet little home nest and be at peace ? Why were we not born contented to be common people, to marry some good farmers, we have all had chances enough, and settle down to domestic comfort, to wash dishes and mend clothes, free from those aspirations that, haunt us, and drive us into hardships and disappointments ? Think of Sally ; I suppose she is perfectly happy and contented. And Annie Dame, she has nothing to fret about. She gets up in the morning and goes through a regular routine of domestic duties. I can see her now in the warm sitting-room with her mother, perhaps at work on patch-work, or knitting on a coarse blue sock for her father." " Den't, Kate, bring up so pleasant a picture to dis- tract us to-night," said Mary. " I can see just how it looks in that* warm room. The white kitten is lying THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 213 on the rug all curled up ; and Annie looks as placid as a June sky, and has nothing to worry about, nothing worth worrying about I mean. She is sure of a good warm breakfast in the morning; and there is no unpaid rent to worry over." " And more than all that," said Hannah, " there is not in her heart that unsatisfied longing to t>e some- thing, to rise, and to learn everything. She is content to be comfortable, expecting of course to marry some time, and have a house of her own to keep." " Why couldn't we have stayed at home and been the same ? " said Mary. " Think how merry we might have been this winter, going to singing-schools, spell- ing-schools, parties, and evening meetings, just as the other girls do in the neighborhood. Don't the fried ham and eggs and apple-sauce at home seem good ? " " Yes, and mother's nice bread and golden butter," suggested Kate. " And brown bread, corned beef and cabbage, pickles and doughnuts. O dear, I feel as if I could eat a bushel of the good things mother cooks," said Mary. " Don't, girls, you'll drive me crazy," said Hannah. " Just hear the wind blow, and then that everlasting clatter, clatter in the streets. It deafens me. How quiet it must be at home to-night ! Do you remem- ber how we used to hang our stockings on the old chimney, and find them stuffed full in the morning ? " " I remember," said Mary, brushing from her eye a little round tear ; " and I am tired of working, and working, and learning so little. It must be so pleas- ant at home now ; and how dismal it is here." . " Always darkest just before day," said Hannah, trying to be lively ; " and, after all, what is the use of 214 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. this talk ? You know not one of us is sorry we have done just as we have ; and we wouldn't be in Annie Dame's place for the world. We had rather struggle, live on crackers, and endure many hardships, than set- tle down to an unaspiring life." " That is all true enough," said Mary, " but isn't it a misfortune to be born with such unsatisfied ambi- tion ! Of course we know very well that we were not satisfied to remain at home, and never would have been, to do no more than most girls ; but why couldn't we have been ? " " You have asked an unanswerable question, Mary," said Kate. " You might as well have asked why the world was made." " We must accept it as a fact," said Hannah, " that a quiet life with few hardships, and no achievements of mark, would not satisfy us ; and probably this very discontent will cause us to prosper, for we shouldn't be likely to be determined to do something we never could do ; and if we were sure we should in the future accomplish our objects, we shouldn't fret about being ambitious and aspiring. It is the fear that we can never be what we wish to be, that gives us the ' blues,' makes us discouraged, and causes us to long for the quiet, unassuming life of Annie Dame ; and if we were satisfied, we should not rise higher. There is Miss Brechandon's step, and I am glad she is com- ing." " All huddled together as usual," said Miss Bre- chandon, entering the room. " I thought I'd drop in for a moment, as it's the night before Christmas. To- morrow'll be a great day with the Catholics. David De Witt is down at the church practicing on the or- gan like one possessed." THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 215 " There is no day in the year equal to Christmas with us," said Hannah. " Why didn't you go home, then, and not stay in this dismal hole ? " "O, we couldn't well do that," said Kate. "It costs more than we can afford." " What girls ! I never saw your like before, and I often wonder what will become of you ; but girls, you know, never succeed." "Never? Why, Miss Brechandon, you really do not mean that," said Hannah, in a tone of surprise. " Seldom, I will say then, if that suits you better. I thought once there might be such a thing ; but I have no more faith. You seem to be in earnest, but you must fail to be anything more than women, with women's hearts; and undoubtedly you'll spend your strength in vain." " If it is spent in vain, it will be in earnest," said Kate ; " but why should we fail, Miss Brechandon ? " " Because it's not women's place to be more than old maids, wives, and mothers." " But women have been successful," said Hannah. "Seldom," said Miss Brechandon, shaking her head. " I had high hopes once, but I see they were founded on imagination." "Tell us about it," said Mary, who was always ready to hear a story. " It is a painful story," said Miss Brechandon, " and I have never related it ; but it is stormy and dismal to-night, and the twelfth anniversary of that dreadful day she left me, and it may do you good." She drew nearer the little stove, and the girls gathered around her. She sat silent a moment, look- ing at the bright coals, then she commenced. 216 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " It was thirty years ago, just thirty last night," she said musingly, " that I sat with my old aunt be- fore the blazing fire in the old-fashioned kitchen, knit- ting away on a pair of mittens for a Christmas present to poor old Sammy Wilcox. I was sixteen then ; how strange it seems ! Only sixteen, and I hoped for great things in the future. . My old aunt was nodding in her chair, and I was thinking and knitting together, when suddenly there came such a ring from the old brass knocker as I hadn't heard for many a day. I sprang up, and actually ran to the door, impressed that something terrible had happened. I unbarred and unlocked the door, and saw a man with a bundle in his arms standing on the step below. I thought him a stranger at first ; but just then the moon, which had been hidden behind a cloud, shone out, and re- vealed to me my second cousin Joseph Graf. ' I have brought little Annie,' he said, as he followed me into the room. ' Her father is dead, and wished her brought here.' Little Annie was my poor dead sister's baby, only a year and a half old, a rosy, plump little thing ; and I took her in my arms and hugged -her close to my bosom. * She shall be mine,' I said ; and after that I devoted myself to the child, and made her my idol. My old aunt died soon after, and little Annie and I lived all alone in the great farm-house ; and every- thing a mother could do for a child, I did for her." Miss Brechandon stopped here, and for a little time was silent. She seemed to have forgotten she was not alone ; but, suddenly recollecting herself, she con- tinued : " Little Annie was the brightest and smartest scholar in every school which she attended, and everybody prophesied for her a glorious future, and I felt sure she THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 217 would make her mark in the world. I was not able to educate her, as I desired" here Miss Brechandon ceased speaking, and began rocking backwards ana forwards rapidly. The girls were silent a moment, looking at her in astonishment ; then Mary touched her cheek gently. M Please tell the rest,' Miss Brechandon," she said ; but Miss Brechandon shook her head. "I can't tefl the rest," she said. "I thought I would when I commenced, but he wouldn't like it; and I can only tell yon that *jnst one ball' was the ruin of her ; and just twelve years ago to-night she kissed me many times before she went out, just for a. few moments she said; but she never came back again. She had every advantage to be more than an ordinary woman ; but she preferred to run away with a senseless fop than remain at home and have all the good things ever a woman enjoyed. That was twelve years ago, and only once since have I seen her. She was in the street; how she looked, as pale as a ghost," Miss Brechandon shuddered, " and dressed in threadbare garments. She called to me, but I passed on. She had chosen her way, and must walk in it. I haven't seen her since ; and where she is, I never expect to know." She had but just ceased speaking, when Hannah, filled with sympathy for the poor little Annie, ex- claimed excitedly. It is no wonder, Miss Brechandon, that yon be- lieve God to be so fuD of wrath and vengeance, if you turned away from the pleading face of one who had erred, but who called to yon again probably for for- giveness. It is not strange you so thoroughly believe in your stern and stiff religion. I have often before 218 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. wondered why you, with the tender heart I believed you possessed, could believe our Heavenly Father to be so cruel ; but I understand now, and shall never wonder again. Perhaps we judge God by ourselves, and do not know it.. If we are uncharitable and sus- picious, if we think there are only a few worthy to be saved, perhaps we believe God judges the same way." Miss Brechandon stared at Hannah as if hardly com- prehending her meaning. " But it wasn't I," she said after a moment, " who brought the trouble upon her, but she who brought it upon herself, and upon me and him." " But haven't you enough charity in your heart to understand wherefore she might have been tempted to err, and then repent? And how can you be happy since you met her in the street, and turned away from her ? Doesn't her pleading voice haunt you continu- ally ? -Ah ! Miss Brechandon, for what purpose do you think religion was instituted ? It isn't of the ministers after all, that we learn what is the true religion ; one loving, forgiving act is a more powerful sermon than a most profound theological dissertation, and one unfor- giving and unloving deed, committed and unretracted, cannot be covered by countless sermons and seeming piety." Miss Brechandon looked stiffly into the fire, and did not speak. " Dear Miss Brechandon," said Mary, who was the favorite, " how will God forgive your sins if you do not forgive poor little Annie her sins ? " Still she did not speak. " I don't want the religion," said Kate, " that hard- ens my heart toward a poor erring sister. The creed THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. 219 of a religion sinks into insignificance by the side of charitable deeds and loving kindness ; and a true, warm) forgiving heart wfll surely find favor in the sight of God, whether the person is Protestant or Catholic, orthodox or otherwise." Miss Brechandon looked op at the three earnest faces around her. "If one of you three should ruin the happiness of- the others, would yon forgive and embrace her as you do now ? " she asked. The three sisters drew nearer together, and silently clasped hands. u What is love and friendship worth," said Hannah earnestly, "if it only lives while the object is in pros- perity ? If we should dft off our friends because they err, we should retain but few." " But he was the noblest man that ever fired," said Miss Brechandon in measured tones, as if to herself " and he can't forgive, or at least he thinks she merits all the sorrow she has found." She arose and looked at the girls a moment as they were nestled closely together in the dim lamp-light ; then she turned abruptly and opened the door in the hall. " Good night," she said, and, walking out, closed the door after her. " There is nothing in life that could part us, dears," said Hannah, drawing the girls nearer to her. * Nothing," answered both ; and the storm raged on, and the clatter continued in the streets. "Well not hang up our stockings to-night," said Kate ; " but I have got a present for us all, just some- thing to look at." " And I have got something for you to listen to," saii Marj. "And I have made a Christmas poem to read to 220 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. you," said Hannah ; " and who knows but our Christ- inas will be delightful ? " " I shall go to see little Neil Blossom, and sing him my new song ; and I shall tell his poor mother not a cent shall I charge for the last six weeks of his lessons, for she really isn't able to pay it, and I am afraid is working herself into the grave. Of course we need the money; but I'm sure she needs it more, now her poor boy. is sick." " It is noble in you, Mary," said Kate, " and I am sure we shall lose nothing by considering others. I am sorry my picture didn't sell; but I shall take it away after Christmas. It never will be noticed there, with no frame, and in that obscure corner." " How pleasant it is/ V said Hannah musingly, " to be together, we three ! why should we complain, while we have each other, and a dear beautiful home in the country to which we can fly at any time, should sick- ness or misfortune come upon us ? How many there are in the city with no one to love them or comfort them, and no dear home to think about as all ready to receive them ! " " Poor things ! " sighed Kate, " how I wish I could comfort and bless them all ! and after all, girls, what is there in this life so beautiful as helping eacn other and doing our duties faithfully ? Wealth and fame are as dross in comparison." " I am sure of it," answered Hannah, " and let it be our aim and object to make ourselves, and those around us, better. Let us strive and not get selfish, but keep our hearts full of charity and love ; then we shall have something that will never fail us ; and we can bear prosperity and adversity, and see good in both." " I feel so much better than I did," said Mary, " and THE yiGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. I think we shall sleep sweetly and enjoy our ' with the best." With these consoling words and comforting thoughts, the three young girls retired, determined to make the best of aH that should happen to them, bat not once dreaming of the pleasoie which the morning was des- tined to bring; and while they slept, die snow grew deeper in the streets, and Christmas grew nearer and nearer. 222 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. CHAPTER XV. CHRISTMAS DAY. THE girls were still sleeping sweetly and soundly, when a heavy pounding on the door awakened them ; and they started up, and looked at each other bewil- deringly. " What can it mean ? " said Hannah, rubbing her eyes. " It's I," said Miss Brechandon's voice impatiently. " You'd better not lie in bed any longer ; there's a gen- tleman in the hall who wants to see you ; and I should say he has taken anearly start." " Mercy ! " exclaimed Kate, giving her black hair a toss back from her face. * " A gentleman caller at this hour ! We don't know any one but Mr. St. Maur, and it can't be he. How does he look ? " she inquired in a loud voice of Miss Brechandon. " Tall and green," answered Miss Brechandon bluntly. " Did he wear a fur cap ? " asked Mary. " I should say he did, but still I don't know cer- tain ; but don't ask me any more questions ; just get ready and go down. He broke in upon my morning devotions, and I don't want to have any more trouble with him ; " and the girls heard her steps retreating. " Now, girls, don't yawn and gape, but be quick. Remember it is Christmas morning '; and who knows CHRISTMAS DAY. 223 "f but something good is in store for us. Last night, you know, we were almost despairing, though not so much so as to call to our presence the ' Genius of Despair and Suicide ' that once sat at the fire of the Baron of Grog- zwig. I dreamed of him, though, last night, and thought he came into our little room here, and Kate drove him out with a pair of brass-handled tongs ; and he fled so precipitately that one of the coffin handles that ornamented his tunic fell off, and Mary caught it up and flung it at his head ; and then we all laughed so loud that I awoke." They laughed and shivered, and hurried about with their teeth chattering with the cold and the excite- ment. " Who can it be ? " asked Mary. " Shall we all go down together ? " " Of course," said Hannah, braiding her hair with chilled fingers. " Miss Brechandon said he wanted to see us ; and who are us, but all three ? If it should be Mr. St. Maur ! but it can't be, only I can't think of any one else." In a short time their toilets were made ; and throw- ing their shawls around them, they left their room, and went down the stairs to the lower hall. At the farther end, leaning against the door, they saw a tall man ; but there was too little light to tell them who he was, even if they had seen him before. They advanced hesitat- ingly ; but he approached them with rapid strides ; and Kate, with a little spring forward, exclaimed, " 'Nijah ! can it be ! yes, girls, as sure as you live, it is 'Nijah himself; " and never before did the bashful young man receive such a hearty welcome ; and his good-natured face glowed all over with rapture. " I should a known you anywheres," he said when the girls gave him time to speak. 224 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " Of course you would," said Mary, who still contin- ued to squeeze his great brown hand with both her own. " I'm afraid, however, this is a dream, 'Nijah, because I can't conceive of anything that would bring you to New York." 'Nijah was about to break forth in one of his loud laughs; but a step and the sound of a door opening and shutting prevented it ; and he gave a most unnat- ural sneeze and forced cough. " How is everybody at home ? have you seen father and mother ? did they know you were coming ? If it is a dream, answer these questions before we awake," said Hannah eagerly. ." Everybody's all right to home, I b'lieve, 'cept old Dan Pike : he's dead and buried yesterday forenoon ; kind of a fit he had, and died sudden. Your folks was the last folks I see in our neighborhood ; and they sent so many words, blamed if I can remember half on 'em ; but they're all well, and sent you some things." " 'Nijah, what did you come to New York for ? I must know that, before I know another thing. Did you come to see the city, or what ? " asked Mary, with a serious air. "It's kind of a story, you see," said he, looking around him in a hesitating way, as though every- thing wasn't just right for telling a story. " Dear, dear ! " whispered Hannah to Kate, " what shall we do ? We can't stand in the hall much longer. I'm nearly frozen ; besides, people will begin to pass through here soon." "If our room was only in order," whispered Kate in return, "I wouldn't mind taking him up there, would you ? " " No, not a bit ; and I'll go up and have every- CHRISTMAS DAY. 225 thing all ready in a few moments ; and then we can talk without fear of interruption ; " and away went Hannah, while the girls explained the cause of her leaving them. It wasn't long before she beckoned to them from the top of the stairs, and 'Nijah followed the girls to their room. " Now," said Kate, turning about just as they were going to enter the little room, " now, 'Nijah, remember you are not to tell a word about our household affairs." " I won't tell nothing you don't want me to," said 'Nijah ; and they passed in. There was a very strange stare on the young man's face as he looked about him, and saw the little white beds, the upright piano, and the limited space to walk around in ; and he stood silent a moment, and gazed at one thing and then at an- other. " Then this is how you've done it," he said at last. " Everybody to home, you know, is a sayin', ' Jacob Windsor must have a mine of money I don't know on to send three gals like his'n to school in New York city all winter long ; or else he's a spendin' every cent he's wo'th to do it ; ' and I must say I wondered over it. I see just how 'tis now ; and I'd like to give Malidy Frow a sly hint, for she's always sayin', * There, I guess I could be somethin' if I had a chance ; ' but, gracious, she don't know how chances come." " You are not to say a word about it, you know, 'Nijah," said Hannah, motioning him to a little seat at the stove. " No, you just set there ; I shan't," said he ; " I'm not a bit cold, and I know you be." He looked very awkward and out of place in that little room, and seemed also to feel stiff and uncomfortable in his new suit of clothes and paper collar. 15 226 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " We are so glad to see you," said Kate, when at last they were all seated near the fire ; " and now you must tell us every bit of the news, first explaining why you are in New York this Christmas morning." " Goodness me, how Sally did fume and fret about it at first ! but then pa, you know he's kind of easy, and I got along all right. I'll begin at the beginnin', and tell the hull story just how it all come about. " In the first place, when you'd gone, the neighbor- hood didn't seem like the same place. Everything was dull ; and nobody didn't seem to try to do anything but plod, plod, plod in one track ; and so I got to thinkin' ; and when I'd thought a spell, I got ashamed of myself. What ! ' I thought, ' shall three pretty girls, with little white hands and hearts tender as chickens, go off and make their fortunes, and I, a great man six foot tall, with these stout hands, stay on a rocky old farm forever, and do the same things over and over, and get 'to be some old codger at last? ' But what could I do ? that was the pint ; and blamed if I could think of a single thing. I didn't tell nobody what I thought, but Dill ; and she couldn't think of nothin' neither ; and I was in the worst kind of a fix, for you see I got as uneasy as a fish out of water ; and pa, he got discouraged of me ; and there I was. All to once one Sunday mornin', when I was thinkin' the same thing over, I got an idea ; and as quick as that come into my mind, I felt like another bein'. I was bound, you see, to go away from home, for I knew that was what I needed ; and I thought New York would be the very best place I could go to ; and my idee was that I'd earn enough money to go there ; and you bet- ter believe the next day I went to work with a will. Pa actually gazed at me in surprise, and Sally said she CHRISTMAS DAT. 227 was glad to see me act sensible agin ; but they didn't know, you see, what was in my head. I told Dill 'bout it, and she cried, poor little thing, and said everybody was goin' off, and what was the use of living ? but I told her I'd come back soon, and be enough better to pay ; and she kind of got reconciled. I 'ranged it with pa so I made some money of my own, though it didn't come very fast ; and all the time I kept a thinkin' and thinkin'. Just about a month ago it was when Dill came along by the field where I was to work, and beckoned me out to the path. She asked me the first thing how I would like to learn a carpen- ter's trade. I jest told her I'd like to boss great meetin'-houses, for I'd no idee what she was drivin' at ; and then she said her uncle William had come from New York, and he was a carpenter, and would like an apprentice. How I did jump about then ! and Dill she actually laughed, though she was half crying ; and that, you see, is just why I'm here. I made a bar- gain with her uncle William to come after Christmas ; but I come one day earlier, so I could see you and the city before I went to work." " And yon are going to stay here in the city, and work ? " said Mary, as if hardly comprehending the story. " That's it ; but I know I'm tremenjous green, and I've concluded, you see, to keep cool, till I've learnt something." Here he looked at Kate with a very red face, and thrust his hands into his pockets. "Boys don't learn so fast as girls anyhow," he continued; "and the dickens! they feel so awkward, they can't get 'round no ways decent. It mav be all owin' to their big hands and feet, and long legs and arms ; blamed if I know what to do with mine half the time." 228 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " You'll soon learn," said Hannah. " How do you like the city ? " " Wai, 'tain't nothin's I thought 'twas. Every- thing's all jined together ; so, you see, a feller can't tell what's what." "So old Dan Pike is dead ? " said Mary, who was thinking about home. . " Yes, and Maurice'll have the farm now. He's a strange chap. When you went away, he bet that you'd be home agin in less than a month." " It's strange we heard nothing of your coining to New York," said Kate. " No, 'tisn't ; for many didn't know of it, and they promised not to tell. I wanted to surprise you ; but you won't take no offense, I'm sure, when I tell you I'm surprised to find you in this little room up so high. Not but what it's comfortable, but it's so small. Couldn't do much at dancing here. Where'n the dig- gins do you eat ? " " On this table," laughed Hannah. " Do you really, now ? But where do you get your victuals ? Of course you don't cook in here." " Yes, we do too," said Kate, " if we cook at all ; " and then she nudged Hannah, and whispered, " What shall we do about breakfast ? Of course 'Nijah hasn't had any. Probably he came directly from the boat." " You are a-talkin' 'bout breakfast, but I've eat, and I'm in your way about getting yourn ; besides, I shouldn't wonder if there was somethin' good to eat in that sachel. I was in to your house the day before I came away, and I was agoin' to say I smelt a rat, but I didn't ; I smelt somethin' nice a cookin', and your ma had flour on her apron, and was beatin' eggs, and there was raisins lyin' round loose ; and I took the CHRISTMAS DAT. llM' hint, and asked no questions. Does she know what kind of a room you HTC in ? " "No, she doesn't of course: how could she? and you mustn't tell her, 'Nijah, because it would do no good, and we get along nicely,*' said Hannah anxiously. "No danger of my tellin* ; besides, you'll go home before I wflL and there's no chance of your ma and I getting up a plan of writin' letters to each other." " How long are you going to stay ? " asked Kate. " O, a long time, perhaps years. I don't think I shall get a bit homesick," said *Nijah in a confident tone. " I hope you won't," said Mary, sympathetically. "You haven't told us where you wffl stay." " AH I know Txmt ft," said 'Xijah, with a grin, " is what there is on a piece of paper in my pocket. One place is the same to me as another in this confusion. Mr. Lake writ it down for me, and told me to inquire.'' Here he produced from the depth of his pocket a card, and passed it to the girls. " O it's not fer from here, 'Nijah," said Hannah ; "is it with Mr. Lake you wffl board?" "Yes, right with him, and he is jist the clererest man you ever see. I want you to come there some day. Now say you wflL" "Perhaps," said Kate; "have you been there yet?" "No, and blamed if I don't dread goin'. It's hard on a feller now, ain't it, to go amongst strangers?" and 'Nijah rested one heavy boot on his knee, and sat un- , easily in his chair. " I told Mr. Lake I must come here first anyhow, and he came to the very door with 230 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. me, and told me not to stay long, for breakfast would be ready ; but I had a doughnut and some cheese in my pocket, that Sally gave me, and I eat that, and don't feel hungry. Howsomever, I must go, and give you a chance to eat your breakfasts, and see what your ma sent you ; for it's jist like you not to look till I'm gone, if I stay all day ; " and 'Nijah began to arise from the little low chair in which he was sitting. He rose up six feet, shook down his satinet pants, and looked at the girls hesitatingly. " We would like to see what mother has sent," said Hannah, frankly ; " but we haven't seen you half enough yet, 'Nijah, and we are so glad you have come." "Yes, indeed we are," said Kate; "for there are hundreds more questions we want to ask you ; and if you'll only come in again, and if you would like, some- time in the day we'll go around the city with you, though of course it won't be so lively as though it weren't Christmas." " Just exactly what I wanted to ask of you," said 'Nijah, a bland smile breaking over his face ; " but I dassent hardly, for I didn't know as you'd want to go round with such a green chap ; and gracious, I didn't blame you; and I mean to learn, you know: any- body with brains can learn, can't he ? " " With brains and heart, yes," said Hannah ; " but don't learn to be less good and true than you are now, 'Nijah." The young rustic's face grew very red, and he looked at Kate in that quick, anxious way he often had before. " Yes, 'Nijah, they say the city is a bad place for young men, and most of them get ruined. It don't CHRISTMAS DAT. 231 pay to gain knowledge of the ways and manners of the world, and lose Tirtue and goodness. Better be rough and green, as you call yourself and true, than polished and fine and felse." 'Nijah was whirling his hat rapidly about, poised on one finger ; but when he looked up to reply, there was a pure, honest look in his eyes, and a slight quiver on his lip. "I mean to resist all evil temptations," he said earnestly ; " and if I can't be a gentleman without be- ing a rowdy, Fll be nobody but Adonijah. And if I can only see you sometimes," here he glanced par- ticularly at Kate, "it'll encourage me so. You've got jest that faculty. It seems as if vou understand a feller." " We know you are a good, dear boy," said Mary, who was growing hungry and impatient to look into the sachel ; ** and we shall want you to come and see us ever so often ; " and she gave the fire a little poke. " I won't hender you no longer ; and shall I come after dinner ? " " Yes, just after dinner," said Hannah ; and she and Kate went with him to the stairs, and when he had gone, ran back to their room to find Mary opening the sachel. " I couldn't wait," she said ; " not only curiosity, but hunger, has overpowered me." The satchel was full of nice things, which a mother's hands had prepared ; and there was a little note, which the girls read eagerly. Here is an extract : 44 1 shall miss you on Christmas ; but I shall not mind that, if only you are comfortable and well, and think it best to stay, as you do. We send you five dollars, and would send more ; but you know our 232 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. expenses have increased since poor Ruth and her chil- dren came home, and money is scarce. I shall be glad when spring comes, and you can be home again. I can imagine how glad you will be to see 'Nijah, and I hope he will do well in the city. You must not for- get him ; but do him all the good you can." " So we will," said Kate. " What unthought of things happen ! 'Nijah is the last one I expected to see in New York city." " Haven't things taken a good turn ? " said Mary, while they were eating their breakfast. " 'Nijah always was our champion, and I'm really so glad he has come ; and his awkward ways actually do me good. I wouldn't be ashamed of him, would you ? " " I am proud of him," said Hannah. " There are not many boys in this city equal to him in real worth." " I wonder what Mr. De Witt would think of him," said Mary. " I suppose we shan't see him to-day. I must go to see little Neil Blossom this morning ; there'll be no time in the afternoon." " I shall unveil my picture after breakfast. You can see it's very small, but then I thought it would please us all a little." " You thought right," said Mary ; " and after we see it, I will sing my little new song ; the poetry is some that Hannah made long ago ; but it is pretty for all that." " You excite my curiosity," said Hannah ; " but after you have sung, I shall read my poem, which of course isn't elegant at all ; for somehow the poetical fever has about vanished, and this is very simple." " That will suit us," said Kate, "for we are simple girls ; there never could be anything elegant made out CHRISTMAS DAY. 233 of us. We have played in the open air too much, and run about the free country too much to have any of the precise about us ; and I don't believe we shall ever be real old maids, even if we never marry." " Not if we keep busy, and do our duties faithfully, and keep our hearts young and warm. Selfish brood- ing and isolation make women old-maidish and taci- tiirti, and I shall try and be a model old maid. The world needs one." After breakfast was over, and all things in good order, the little painting was displayed, admired, and praised, Mary's pretty song heard and appreciated, and Hannah's poem listened to with closest attention ; then Mary, having with her sister's help put into a lit- tle basket a few of the nice eatables sent them from home, started with them to call on her sick pupil. She met Mr. De Witt at the foot of the steps in the street. " A merry Christmas to you," he said, in such a brisk, lively tone that Mary wondered what had happened. " Thank you," she replied, " I hope you will have many ; how. snowy and cold it is ! " " Yes, so it is ; and where can you be going all alone with a little basket on your arm ? " " To see a scholar of mine, who is ill." " Can I go with you ? " " I would be glad of your company, but they might not like to see a stranger." " Very true, I'll see you again to-day. Miss Mary, there is something I wish to say to you ; " and, saying this, he ran lightly up the steps. " I wonder what it is," thought Mary, as she walked on against the wind. " If only he wasn't a Catholic. What a misfortune ! He has such splendid eyes, and 234 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. is such a gentleman, and he is good too, as good as ever a Protestant was in the world ; but he would seem so different if only he wasn't a Catholic." So busily did she think on this same subject, the journey seemed very short ; and before she hardly knew it, she was mounting the stairs that led to the humble home of little Neil Blossom and his mother, who greeted her with looks and words of welcome. Neil was a little better, and listened delightedly to the new song Mary sung to him, while Mrs. Blossom wiped her eyes silently. " It is very sweet," she said, when Mary had finished. u It reminds me so much of my childhood ; " but this was all she would say, and Mary made no in- quiries, but started for home with very pleasant feel- ings in her heart. She had made two hearts happier, and given in her mite toward relieving the poor ; and what joys does this world give in which there is more satisfaction ? 'Nijah came after dinner as was expected ; and though he saw Miss Brechandon in the hall, he passed on up the stairs without making any inquiries, and, without making one mistake, knocked on the door of the girls' room. Hannah opened it. " O, it's you, 'Nijah," she said ; " come in ; we were just talking about you." He had only just taken his seat when he com- menced fumbling in his pockets. " O, here they be, confound it all," he said at last, drawing out a stiff-looking* package. " I didn't know but some of them fellers had picked my pocket. I've brought you some Christmas presents. They ain't much, of course ; but I thought you didn't have many CHBISTXAS DAT. 285 trinkets, and these was cheap, so I bought 'em ; " and he proceeded to open the package, and soon displayed, to the girls* astonishment, three sets of cheap jewelry, pins and ear-rings. Mary actually choked in trying to keep from laughing ; and for a moment no one spoke. As if suddenly struck with a new idea, 'Nijah looked quickly at the girls' ears, and then his face began to flame as usuaL "Yon don't wear rings in your ears," he said. "What a dunce I was to think you did ! bat can't you wear them ? Sally does. Ain't there no holes in your ears ?" "Not a hole," said Kate, bursting out into laughter. "It's all right, 'Nijah ; the pins are pretty, but we con- sider our ears better off just as they are. They feel comfortable, yon know, and we have something to do besides piercing them and distressing ourselves." " Blamed if I ever thought of that before," said *2ujah. " Ear-rings certain ain't no kind of use ; be- sides, I don't like the looks on 'em ; they always make me shudder, ever since Sally got her ear torn out so ; but I thought girls must have 'em. Sally said she couldn't get along nohow without 'em." " Well, we can very easily," said Hannah; "but we thank yon just the same for your kindness as though we wore them. We will keep them to remember you by." *Kijah was satisfied, and answered all the girls' ques- tions with patience and pleasure. With considerable satisfactory pride, the girls prepared to escort the young man around the city, and show him the sights ; but as rack would have it, Mr. De Witt met them in the hall, and took Mary with him to attend church. 236 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " He ain't a beau, is he ? " asked 'Nijah, when they were in the street. " No," answered Kate, with a disdainful toss of her head. " He's only a friend." " All right," answered 'Nijah, and they all laughed ; but Hannah and Kate were not quite pleased that Mary had left them. To tell of the sight-seeing of this country lad, his wonder, ignorance, and astonishment, would be but re- peating an old story ; yet it was none the less inter- esting to them, and the three heartily enjoyed and ap- preciated their Christmas afternoon. HOPES AND FEARS. 237 CHAPTER XVL HOPES AND FEARS. " ' Joys cluster ; rare are solitary joy* ; They love a train ; they tread each other's heel.' " THAT is what I should have written instead of woes, as Young did ; " and saying this, Mary ran her fingers over the keys of the piano, bringing forth a lively waltz. " Joys sometimes turn to grief," suggested Hannah, without raising her voice, and speaking more to Kate than to Mary. " I've concluded that it's a better way to speak one's mind than keep silent," said Kate tartly, " and I mean to have the matter well understood in the begin- ning. There is no use in affecting simplicity and igno- rance, and all that ; and there is no use in trusting one's self to extremities." " What do you mean?" demanded Mary, whirling around on the piano-stool, and looking at Kate with a flushed face. " I mean just this," answered Kate, " that you are becoming too interested in Mr. De Witt, and you know it never will answer; and I say we are old enough to use judgment and forethought, and look into matters, and not sit down like three babies, until the thing goes so far it can't be mended." " Pooh ! what do I care for Mr. De Witt, only as a 238 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. nice gentleman and a good friend ? I just wish you wouldn't mention him in that way. You just set me to thinking about it." " Well, I say there is danger," said Kate ; " and now, since he has offered to give you lessons, you will meet him continually ; and I just want to warn you in season, and remind you that he is a Catholic." " At least," said Hannah, glad the subject was in- troduced, " I don't think it is well for you to go with him again to church, or anywhere else ; but of course it is nice to take lessons of him, for I'm sure that will be a great benefit to you." " I'd like to know where the harm is ? " said Mary, thumping on the low keys of the piano, and looking a little disheartened. " Where is the harm in anything ? " asked Kate. " Don't you see there is danger of one or the other or both of you becoming attached, or, to speak more plainly, falling in love ? " " No, I don't see anything of the kind ; and I wish you wouldn't make me think about it," said Mary. " What is the harm in thinking of a liability, and a most natural consequence ? " suggested Hannah. " Mr. De Witt is a young gentleman, and you are a young lady ; and it is just as necessary to think of such things as it is to think of anything else. Nothing is more natural than falling in love ; and nothing is more important than to try and govern our affections." " Well, but I think it looks silly to talk about love in this matter. I dare say Mr. De Witt would feel imposed upon if he should hear you." " But we don't intend he shall hear us, and we don't intend to impose upon any one ; but you know noth- ing pleases you so well as to hear of Mr. De Witt, and HOPES AND FEARS. 239 you would talk of nothing else if we would listen," said Kate, who in reality was getting a little jealous. M Of coarse I hare to say something about him, since he is going to give me lessons on the organ ; and I see him quite often," said Mary, her face growing redder. " He doesn't act at all like a bean. I don't even take his arm in the street." 44 But he gave you that sentimental love-song; and I've heard it till it is really distasteful to me."* said Hannah. " I do believe yon would like to sing it all the time if you could. It's too bad if Mr. De Witt, a Catholic, breaks in upon our peace." ** I thought you professed to be charitable," said Mary; "and you have always told me Catholics are as good as anybody, if they behave as well." 44 So is an Tndian, or an African, or a Chinese as good as anybody ; but I shouldn't want you to marry one of them. Catholics should marry Catholics, and then they will agree," said Kate. 44 But I thought we believed in practical Christian- ity, and didn't care much about creeds and sects. Practical Christians can live peaceably together, what- ever their theological belief, I thought," 44 Ton didn't talk in that way once," said Kate, her eyes getting larger, and her voice more anxious. 44 Ton said at first you never would fall in love with a Catholic; and now here you are talking as if there would be no harm in it, trying all you can to vindi- 44 Why, I* ve no notion of falling in love with Mr. De Witt, especially without any cause for it I want nothing to do with love unrequited ; and I wish you wouldn't talk about it; yon set me to thinking, and spoil my comfort." 240 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. "Why need it spoil your comfort, if there is no danger and no liability of anything coming out of it but friendship ? It has gone farther than I like already, and farther than we anticipated anything of the kind would be carried when we came to New York," said Hannah. " You remember we decided to have nothing to do with young men," said Kate, " and dear me, don't let us set everybody saying, ' I told you so,' by getting interested in beaux. No wonder girls don't succeed any oftener, and no wonder Mr. St. Maur and Miss Brechandon have no faith in them. Do let us try and get through our education without getting entrapped in a love affair. What is the use in the sacrifices we have made and the struggles we have had, if we throw by everything and fall in love ? " " I'm not going to give up my object," said Mary ; " don't you w T orry. I'm as anxious to succeed as you are ; and Mr. De Witt will assist me instead of hin- dering me." " Well, I suppose there is no use in talking," said Hannah ; " but if you do get enamored of Mr. De Witt, it will spoil all of our fun, and break up our united ambition ; besides, he is not the one for you at all, being a Catholic." " How people do change with circumstances ! " said Mary ; " but I do wish you wouldn't say anything more about it ; I don't like to hear it ; and I must go now to take my lesson ; he asked me to be prompt, for he don't like to stay away from his mother any longer than is necessary, as she is quite feeble." " He is kind to his mother, and I honor him for that," said Hannah ; "but do appear rather stiff, Mary, and don't get much acquainted. I think it will be bet- ter under the circumstances." HOPES AND FEARS. 241 Who ever heeded such advice as this ? What young lady ever felled to forget such advice when in die pres- ence of an agreeeable young man ? Mary stood before the glass an unusual length of time, arranging her hair this way and that way, and tying and retying the bright blue ribbon at her pretty white throat ; but she thought, as she walked through the street toward die room wherein was the organ, and Mr. De Witt awaiting her, of all that the girls had said, and determined to be rather cool and polite, as they suggested ; though she declared to herself that it was all nonsense about felling in love, for she never should think of such a thing, and die girls were afraid without die least reason. When she opened the door into the music room, she found Mr. De Witt playing ; and he did not notice her entrance. But the music thrilled her through and through, so that she forgot all her resolutions and fears, and, when the young musician turned about, greeted him with looks and voice expressive of delightful emo- tions. Stiff ways and cool politeness were all forgotten, and for an instant they looked at each other as if their souls had been for a moment united by the delicious melody that seemed to be still dimly echoing through the room. It was a soft pathetic piece which he had been playing, so .tender and touching that Mary's eyes swam in a liquid light, and she exclaimed, *' O Mr. De Witt, if ever, ever I can play like that ! " " You liked the piece, dien ? " he said, pleased with her compliment. " I more than liked it, I am in love with it," she said ; " where did you get it ? " " It is my own composition," he explained moc By this revelation, Mr. De Witt had unknowingly 242 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. invested himself with a potent charm for Mary, which no amount of personal fascinations, upon which many young men depend to win hearts, could have gained for him. He immediately received from her an in- crease of respect and reverence, which was only his just due ; for as far as persons succeed in worthy ob- jects, as far as they display merit through perse- verance and accomplishment, and perform deeds no- ble or beautiful, so far they are invested with dignity and merit, respect and appreciation. And so it is that we often see persons of genius with few personal attractions flattered and worshipped, and not falsely. Mary had not thought of Mr. De Witt as a com- poser, and she looked at the piece of music, which he had been playing, and to which his name was attached, with astonishment and pleasure. " You did not tell me " she said hesitatingly. " I never thought that you didn't know it," he re- plied, smiling. " I meant to have presented you with a new piece of mine on Christmas, but I finished it too late for publication. Will you hear it ? " " O yes, do play it, if you will." He turned to the organ again, and this time played a piece varied with joyful strains, and touches of pa- thos. When he had finished, he gave Mary his seat. " Do you ever attempt composition ? " he asked. " O yes, I attempt it, but I have no one but my sis- ters to judge of my pieces, and they are too partial to be correct," answered Mary, blushing slightly. " Some time shall I hear them ? " " If you will be so kind." " If I can be so favored." This was Mary's first lesson on the organ ; and when HOPES AND FEARS. 243 it was over, and she was in the street again, she walked thoughtfully on towards home. " Mr. De Witt has genius, I am sure/' she said to herself; " hut I haven't, and I don't know as I ever thought I did ; hut I'll cany him that song the girls like so well when I go again, and see what he says of it. How grand and sweet his pieces are, and how masterful too ! How little I thought him the man he is, the first time I saw him ! I wish Hannah and Kate could hear him play; they never have." So she thought on and on in the same strain, until she arrived at the foot of the steps, and some one gave her a little shake. She started, and, seeing it was Kate, blushed deeply. "How you frightened me!" she said; "what is the matter? yon look as though something delightful had happened. 71 "Do I? then I look just the truth. I hare just come from the auction room, and my picture " " Is sold for how much ? " broke in Mary. " Only for twelve dollars ; but guess who bought it." "I can't: who? teH quick." "Mr. St. Idaur." "How do you know?" "The proprietor told me, and Fm so glad I know where it is. Mr. St. Manr must have known it was mine ; and if he didn't buy it for its merit, he must have bought it to benefit me ; and in either case I am greatly obliged." " How did you feel when you saw it was gone ? " * Excited, as much as anything. Don't times grow bright?" " Didn't I teD you, Joyt cluster ? ' " 244 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. " They love a train," said Hannah's voice near them. " Well, if we haven't all met at the foot of the lad- der ! " exclaimed Kate, laughing ; " what news have you brought ? " " Mine is too good to tell in the street," said Han- nah, in a lively tone ; " and as for Kate's, I know hers already." " You do ? Have you been listening ? " " No ; come up to our room, and I'll tell you all about it." When in their little room, even before the door was closed after them, Kate exclaimed, " Tell me how you knew my picture was sold." " Mr. St. Maur told me." " Well, if that isn't exciting ! " exclaimed Kate. " Where did you see him." " At his office." " Mercy ! who knew he had an office before ? and how came you there ? " " If you are any more surprised than I was, I don't think you'll survive it," said Hannah, drawing a long breath. "Tell the story, do," said Mary. "Don't say so many unnecessary things." "It's an elegant office on Broadway," said Hannah; " and I came upon it all of a sudden." " But what business had you to go in, and why were you so surprised ? " asked Kate. " Why was I so surprised ? because I couldn't help it. There was a notice outside, which said, ' Two good writers wanted to copy manuscript.' A good chance for Kate and I, thought I ; arid without looking once at the name or sign, I walked right in, and ad- HOPES AND FEARS. 245 vanced toward the man who it seemed occupied the most prominent position. I hardly looked np until I was near him. Dear me, I feel faint to think of it actually ; " and Hannah rolled her eyes around, and began to sink backwards. " O, don't stop at such an interesting point. Tell the rest, do," said Mary. Hannah commenced again. " Well, I looked up, and there was O mercy ! everything swam before me, there was Mr. St. Maur, looking as fierce as ever, with his heavy hair in confusion, and a look in his eyes that said, 'If you have any business with me, proceed at once ; * but I was struck dumb with surprise and confusion ; besides, I felt afraid of him for a moment." M What did you do ? no wonder you were surprised. I'm sure I should have swooned immediately," said Kate. "My brain whirled, I am sure," said Hannah, "and I didn't know anything certain for a while, I don't know how long; and there that frightful man kept looking at me without any mercy. 'I didn't know you were here,' I said after several efforts to speak ; * and I came in to see if there was any chance for my sister and I to copy for you.' ' Which sister ? ' he asked. - The artist,' said L " He drew from a drawer some manuscript, gave me a pen and some paper, and requested me to copy four lines. The first glance I had at the manuscript, my hopes forsook me for fear that I never could decipher it. I felt as if Mr. St. Maur's eyes were watching my every motion, and that was no assistance toward self- possession. The next glance at the chirography, how- ever, more favorably impressed me, and I read and 246 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. copied the four lines as requested, though I fear not in a very short space of time. He gave it a short, but scrutinizing glance when I passed it to him, and then threw it one side, while I held my breath. ' You will do,' he said. " For the first time I remembered then that I hadn't asked him a question about the pay or the hours for working. He seemed to divine my thoughts. ' I shall pay you so much a page,' he said, ' and you must come here to this office a few hours a day.' ' And my sister ? ' I inquired. ' 1 will employ if I find her com- petent,' he said. There was a painting at his elbow which it seemed had just been brought in, as the wrap- ping paper and twine were near by. I could only get a glance at it, and wrong side up too ; but somehow I thought it looked familiar, and must have looked toward it sharply. He held it up an instant, and I saw it was yours, and couldn't resist asking him if he bought it ; and he replied, ' Certainly,' and laid it down again, and I came away ; and it does seem to me my feet didn't touch the pavement at all ; but I flew right along." " If I can only suit him ! Do you think I can, Han- nah ? " asked Kate eagerly. " I think so, if you can only read the manuscript readily ; for you write as well as I do," said Hannah. " Did he tell you how much he should pay per page ? " asked Kate. " No ; he said he would see how we progressed." " I dread working under his eye," said Kate, " but then I'll endure considerable and sacrifice some pride to make a little money ; for I need some badly." " I want to earn enough to go home respectably," said Hannah. " It won't answer to go looking like a I HOPES AND FEARS. 247 parcel of beggars ; and in the morning, Kate, you must go around with me. and find if he will employ you ; and won't it be grand to work together ? " " I do believe 'Xijah is coming/' exclaimed Mary as they heard a heavy step in the hall ; and she ran and opened the door. " No, it isn't either ; it's that fat boy ; " and she was about to shut the door, when the 44 fat boy," who was forever making rhymes, exclaimed recklessly, " Miss De Witt is in a fit ; and her son isn't come." "Who is with her?" asked Mary, rushing down- stairs without waiting for the question to be an- swered. 44 Who ?" asked Hannah, running to the door. 44 Go and see, and you'll find Miss B .," said the boy, going up to the attic. The girls ran down-stairs, and saw Mary standing Tery pale near the open door of Mr. De Witt's room. u She's dead! and what wfll her son do when he comes ? " whispered Mary. 44 Has the doctor come ? " 44 Yes, and gone again ; but they don't know where to look for Mr. De Witt. Let us go np-stairs ; he may come in, you know ; and we never can tell him his mother is dead." They were about to go up-stairs, when the door opened, and the young man so suddenly made motherless entered the hall smiling pleasantly. Something in their faces seemed to startle him ; and as he passed into his own room, they ascended the stairs, and left him with his sorrow. They were sad and silent that night, though they had anticipated a joyful evening ; for they kept thinking continually of the still cold form below, of the mother's voice hushed forever, and the mother's tender loving heart silent, 248 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. and they walked carefully and spoke in low tones. They thought too of their own mother, and shuddered as they contemplated what the world would be without her tender solicitude, her beautiful smile, her unselfish love and care ; and home joys and comforts rose up before them in all their tempting loveliness. Silently they lay down on their little beds ; and Hannah and Kate looked up at the cold starry sky, and thought long and seriously ; but Mary hid her face in the pil- low and wept for the young man in the room below, so suddenly left without a mother's sympathy and care. They were tender, quiet little tears that wet her cheeks ; and through them she saw a pair of soft mournful eyes, while strains of beautiful music seemed floating about her, the same that had thrilled her so that afternoon, coming from the organ, and the heart of the organist. She lay very quiet and still, with her hands clasped together, and her face as placid as a rose dripping with dew, while her thoughts were a tender mixture of sadness and undefined joy, of sympathy and vague, trembling hope. Was she losing her heart, and experiencing those painfully rapturous feelings that once during a life-time take possession of the soul ? Was there stealing over her that subtle power, so sweet to feel, and felt but once in its most perfect freshness and beauty ? Was she sinking into that delicious bondage that deifies a human being, and gives to him every beautiful and noble attribute of which a heart can conceive ? Were her sisters' fears founded upon reality, and their doubts upon truth ? These were not Mary's thoughts ; and hardly knowing the state of her mind, or but dimly guessing the state of her heart, she fell asleep with the tears of sympa- HOPES AND FEARS. 249 thy still lingering on her cheeks, and strains of en- chanting melody floating in the ear of her imagina- tion. David De Witt did not sleep all the night through ; and with his face in his hands sat and thought of his loss. The friend of all his days and years had left him. Who would care for him now ? Who would watch at his bedside when he was sick? As these thoughts floated through his brain dimly, he saw a pair of soft blue eyes and a full, rosy mouth ; and a little hand seemed wandering across his hair. In vain he tried to banish the picture from his vision ; it would appear before him, and shut out for a moment the dead white face of her who had so suddenly passed into a new existence, and bring him a ray of comfort. " All alone," he cried ; but instantly he felt the presence of a fair young face, and a sweet low voice saying, " I am here," and he put forth his arms only to draw them back empty. And so the night passed awav ; and a dull cold morning came, but found the dead face more rigid, and the bereaved heart more desolate. 250 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. _ CHAPTER XVII. A NEW EMPLOYMENT AND A NEW ACQUAINTANCE. STEPHEN ST. MAUR was not so wonderful or mys- terious a character as might be inferred from his singu- lar appearance in the presence of the three young girls who had accidentally made his acquaintance, and were destined to continue it. He was simply a man with intense feeling, baffled in the greatest attempt of his life, and suddenly disappointed in the highest and brightest hopes of his existence. The next morning, when Hannah and Kate entered his office, he sat at his desk engaged only in deep thought. This was not an unusual thing, though what his thoughts were no 'one ever knew but himself. He did not seem to notice the girls until they had spoken ; and then he looked up in an absent kind of way, as though the cause of their appearance was a mystery to him. Kate, however, who was anxious to know her fate, immediately made known her errand, and after copying four lines of the manuscript, as Hannah had done, was accepted in the same quick, decided way. She was so delighted with her success that she couldn't resist giving Han- nah a sly nudge expressive of her delight ; and Mr. St. Maur looked at them sharply an instant. " I have your picture at home," he said to Kate. "I heard of it," answered Kate; "and I am very glad it has fallen into your hands." NEW EMPLOYMENT. 251 " What are you painting now ? " he asked, not seem- ing to notice her remark. " A portrait" "Of whom?" 9 " One of the scholars." " How can you make any progress in it, if you work here?" " I don't expect to make much,'-' replied Kate with a little tremor on her lips which she tried to conceal. Whether the keen blue eyes of Mr. St. Maur no- ticed the emotion or not, was not apparent; but he spoke in a kinder tone. " I would let you take the manuscript home," he said, " only that we ofo not like to have it go from the office. You can come at any hour you choose to copy." " Thank you," said Hannah ; " then we will come at two in the afternoon, for in the morning we are busy." " Very well, come at two if you wish, and stay m long as you please ; only remember the manuscript must be finished in three weeks without fail." But little more was said ; and though the office was cozy, warm, and comfortable, the girls were glad when they were out of it and in the slippery street. They went directly to Cooper's, for Hannah wished to look at the morning papers, and Kate was anxious to be at work on her portrait. They separated at the door of the reading-room ; and Kate ran up the stairs, and was soon seated at her easel, while Hannah glanced over the morning news. She saw nothing of much in- terest, and obtaining the last number of the " Atlantic Monthly " at the desk, sat down, and was soon deeply absorbed in its contents. She had sat there perhaps a 252 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. half-hour when she was suddenly startled by a tap on her shoulder, and, looking up, saw Kate standing near her, and beckoning her out into the hal. They -had only passed the threshold when Kate whispered, in a quick hurried tone, " I have got a caller up-stairs. You see I was so surprised to find a perfect stranger as I thought. I was just shading the nostrils of my portrait, when I was informed some one wished to see me. I thought it was you, and was a little vexed be- cause you called so soon, and ran out in haste, for I wanted to be back again at work. I looked around for you, but only saw a very portly and white-haired gentleman sitting there ; and then I began, to get a little confused. " Was I Miss Windsor ? he inquired, and I replied that I was, and then we shook hands ; and he said he was Mr. Worth, an old friend of my father and uncles ; and of course I had heard of him a great many times, and we saw him once, you know, a long time ago. He is the pleasantest, handsomest gentleman you ever saw really, and looks so saintly, with white hair and beard." " Has he gone ? " " No ; he wants to see you. He said he heard I was attending the School of Design; and he thought this morning, as he was passing the Institute, that he would call and see me ; and then I told him you were in the reading-room, and he wished me to call you ; and I tell you, Hannah, his opinions will suit you exactly ; they do me. But here we are at the door, and you must judge for yourself." Mr. Worth arose as the girls entered, a handsome man, about fifty years of age, with an eye that had lost none of the brightness and sparkle of youth, though NEW EMPLOYED* 253 his hair was as white as the snow. He greeted Hannah with that easy kindness that won her heart at once ; and very soon^they were seated in a gronp together and conversing pleasantly. " What are you doing in this gredt city ? " he asked, Jooking at Hannah and smiling. She blushed a little, for she hardly knew what reply to make. " I write some," she said at last, "and learn a great deal." He understood her at once, and expressed her own thoughts more clearly than she could have expressed them herself. " It is necessary," he said, " to gain knowledge from books ; but it is also necessary to learn by experience, to see a* well as read about objects, to become acquainted with .people and their numberless inventions, and to gain an insight into the mystery of human nature and human projects." He said this in a quick, decided way peculiar to himself, and in a tone so positive, no one would have attempted to doubt or disbelieve him, even if he had asserted something less probable. "It is a great pleasure and satisfaction to me," he continued, " to see young ladies trying to do something, to educate themselves, to work independ- ently ; " and the pleasure and satisfaction that he men* tioned shone in his very face as he spoke. " It is working against the tide, however," said Kate. " Yes, it is now, that is true ; but the tide isn't always 'going out, and if more women would set to paddling their own canoes, instead of sitting idle, and letting it drift, always looking out for an oarsman, you may be sure the tide would turn very soon. Rather than row the boat themselves you know, they often accept of very poor sailors, who paddle the canoe down stream, and then lef it drift on the rocks. But were I a young 254 THREE SUCCESSFUL GIRLS. lady, I should greatly prefer rowing against than with such a tide of fashion and display as there is now. " " Yes, indeed," said Hannah, delighted with the ideas thus expressed, " I think, after all, those who float with such a tide have a much more tedious life to live." "You are right, arid I wish all girls and women could see it in the same light," he said ; " and I am gratified and pleased to find the daughters of my friend so well started in the right path. It is one of the strongest desires of my life to see women lifted up, and educated with all the thoroughness and advantages of the other sex." Kate glanced at Hannah with a look that said, " Didn't I tell you so ? Hasn't he got splendid opin- ions ? " and Hannah's face shone with the pleasure and hope that his words gave to her. He stayed but a short time, but long enough to make an impression so deep on the girls' minds that it never wore away. He asked them few questions, for his keen eye dis- covered a diffidence in speaking of their circumstances ; but he left them a beautiful and ennobling book, which he had brought as a present, and which the girls sub- sequently read over and over with interest and benefit. They passed into the hall with him when he went, and somehow the clasp of his hand and the pleasant gleam of his magnetic eye increased their aspirations, and encouraged them in their efforts. Few persons are blessed with this mysterious influence over others ; but fewer, if possessed of it, use it for good. "When, therefore, such a person is found, happy are they who gain him as a friend ; for his friendship is more valu- able than much gold. His presence gives vigor to the mind of those he appreciates, and his affection revives the high aspirations of the soul, and elevates the long- NEW EMPLOYMENT, 255 ings of the heart. Mr. Worth could only be a very wicked or a very good man ; for his animal and spirit- ual propensities and powers were exceedingly strong; bat the intellectual being placed on the side of the spiritual, it triumphed, and the natural desires of the * flesh were obliged to submit to die divine qualities of the spirit. Nothing more sublime God ever created than a man overruling his animal nature by his intel- lectual and spiritual. Mr. Worth had had many bitter experiences, and passed through many trials ; but he had borne all with that cheerful submission that comes only through hope of better things in the eternal hie ; and his step was firm and buoyant, and his voice the very tone of cheer- fulness and hope. Yet he was a man at die head of an extensive business, a keen calculator, a shrewd inspector, but ever honest in his dealings with rich and poor, and always highly respected and honored. It is difficult to find a man with a character so varied, and composed of so many Different phases, as was his ; and yet there was harmony in it all. One would only need to look into his handsome face to pronounce him at once a man of uncommon benevo- lence and generosity. There was nothing hard or cynical in his face, as is so often apparent u| the faces of business men ; no mark of selfishness, of greediness for gain, no sternness or look of repulsion, but a quiet firmness, a touch of seriousness, and a gentle gravity. He was a character fit for a hero, and one altogether necessary to be introduced into this history of my brave young girls ; but they did not at this first pleas- ant meeting realize how much their future success de- pended upon his generosity and kindness. Hannah and Kate, howevfr, worked with renewed hope that day. an