Chapter I
At halfpast six oclock on Sunday night Barnabas came out of his bedroom The Thayer house was only one story high and there were no chambers A number of little bedrooms were clustered around the three square rooms—the north and south parlors and the great kitchen
Barnabas walked out of his bedroom straight into the kitchen where the other members of the family were They sat before the hearth fire in a semicircle—Caleb Thayer his wife Deborah his son Ephraim and his daughter Rebecca It was May but it was quite cold there had been talk of danger to the apple blossoms there was a crisp coolness in the back of the great room in spite of the hearth fire
Caleb Thayer held a great leatherbound Bible on his knees and was reading aloud in a solemn voice His wife sat straight in her chair her large face tilted with a judicial and argumentative air and Rebeccas red cheeks bloomed out more brilliantly in the heat of the fire She sat next her mother and her smooth dark head with its carven comb arose from her Sunday kerchief with a like carriage She and her mother did not look alike but their motions were curiously similar and perhaps gave evidence to a subtler resemblance in character and motive power
Ephraim undersized for his age in his hitching homemade clothes twisted himself about when Barnabas entered and stared at him with slow regard He eyed the smooth scented hair the black satin vest with a pattern of blue flowers on it the blue coat with brass buttons and the shining boots then he whistled softly under his breath
“Ephraim” said his mother sharply She had a heavy voice and a slight lisp which seemed to make it more impressive and more distinctively her own Caleb read on ponderously
“Where ye goin Barney” Ephraim inquired with a chuckle and a grin over the back of his chair
“Ephraim” repeated his mother Her blue eyes frowned around his sister at him under their heavy sandy brows
Ephraim twisted himself back into position “Jest wanted to know where he was goin” he muttered
Barnabas stood by the window brushing his fine bell hat with a white ducks wing He was a handsome youth his profile showed clear and fine in the light between the sharp points of his dicky bound about by his high stock His cheeks were as red as his sisters
When he put on his hat and opened the door his mother herself interrupted Calebs reading
“Dont you stay later than nine oclock Barnabas” said she
The young man murmured something unintelligibly but his tone was resentful
“I aint going to have you out as long as you were last Sabbath night” said his mother in quick return She jerked her chin down heavily as if it were made of iron
Barnabas went out quickly and shut the door with a thud
Illustration “Barnabas went out quickly”
“If he was a few years younger Id make him come back an shut that door over again” said his mother
Caleb read on he was reading now one of the imprecatory psalms Deborahs blue eyes gleamed with warlike energy as she listened she confused King Davids enemies with those people who crossed her own will
Barnabas went out of the yard which was wide and deep on the south side of the house The bright young grass was all snowed over with cherry blossoms Three great cherrytrees stood in a row through the centre of the yard they had been white with blossoms but now they were turning green and the appletrees were in flower
There were many appletrees behind the stonewalls that bordered the wood The soft blooming branches looked strangely incongruous in the keen air The western sky was clear and yellow and there were a few reefs of violet cloud along it Barnabas looked up at the apple blossoms over his head and wondered if there would be a frost From their apple orchard came a large share of the Thayer income and Barnabas was vitally interested in such matters now for he was to be married the last of June to Charlotte Barnard He often sat down with a pencil and slate and calculated with intricate sums the amounts of his income and their probable expenses He had made up his mind that Charlotte should have one new silk gown every year and two new bonnets—one for summer and one for winter His mother had often noted with scorn that Charlotte Barnard wore her summer bonnet with another ribbon on it winters and moreover had not had a new bonnet for three years
“She looks handsomer in it than any girl in town if she hasnt” Barnabas had retorted with quick resentment but he nevertheless felt sensitive on the subject of Charlottes bonnet and resolved that she should have a white one trimmed with gauze ribbons for summer and one of drawn silk like Rebeccas for winter only the silk should be blue instead of pink because Charlotte was fair
Barnabas had even pondered with tender concern before he bought his fine flowered satin waistcoat if he might not put the money it would cost into a bonnet for Charlotte but he had not dared to propose it Once he had bought a little bluefigured shawl for her and her father had bade her return it
“I aint goin to have any young sparks buyin your clothes while you are under my roof” he had said
Charlotte had given the shawl back to her lover “Father dont feel as if I ought to take it and I guess youd better keep it now Barney” she said with regretful tears in her eyes
Barnabas had the blue shawl nicely folded in the bottom of his little haircloth trunk which he always kept locked
After a quarter of a mile the stonewalls and the spray of apple blossoms ended there was a short stretch of new fence and a new cottagehouse only partly done The yard was full of lumber and a ladder slanted to the roof which gleamed out with the fresh pinky yellow of unpainted pine
Barnabas stood before the house a few minutes staring at it Then he walked around it slowly his face upturned Then he went in the front door swinging himself up over the sill for there were no steps and brushing the sawdust carefully from his clothes when he was inside He went all over the house climbing a ladder to the second story and viewing with pride the two chambers under the slant of the new roof He had repelled with scorn his fathers suggestion that he have a onestory instead of a storyandahalf house Caleb had an inordinate horror and fear of wind and his father who had built the house in which he lived had it before him Deborah often descanted indignantly upon the folly of sleeping in little tuckedup bedrooms instead of good chambers because folks fathers had been scared to death of wind and Barnabas agreed with her If he had inherited any of his fathers and grandfathers terror of wind he made no manifestation of it
In the lower story of the new cottage were two square front rooms like those in his fathers house and behind them the great kitchen with a bedroom out of it and a roof of its own.
Barnabas paused at last in the kitchen and stood quite still leaning against a window casement The windows were not in and the spaces let in the cool air and low light Outside was a long reach of field sloping gently upward In the distance at the top of the hill sharply outlined against the sky was a black angle of roof and a great chimney A thin column of smoke rose out of it straight and dark That was where Charlotte Barnard lived
Barnabas looked out and saw the smoke rising from the chimney of the Barnard house There was a little hollow in the field that was quite blue with violets and he noted that absently A team passed on the road outside it was as if he saw and heard everything from the innermost recesses of his own life and everything seemed strange and far off
He turned to go but suddenly stood still in the middle of the kitchen as if some one had stopped him He looked at the new fireless hearth through the open door into the bedroom which he would occupy after he was married to Charlotte and through others into the front rooms which would be apartments of simple state not so closely connected with everyday life The kitchen windows would be sunny Charlotte would think it a pleasant room
“Her rockingchair can set there” said Barnabas aloud The tears came into his eyes he stepped forward laid his smooth boyish cheek against a partition wall of this new house and kissed it It was a fervent demonstration not towards Charlotte alone nor the joy to come to him within those walls but to all life and love and nature although he did not comprehend it He half sobbed as he turned away his thoughts seemed to dazzle his brain and he could not feel his feet He passed through the north front room which would be the littleused parlor to the door and suddenly started at a long black shadow on the floor It vanished as he went on and might have been due to his excited fancy which seemed substantial enough to cast shadows
“I shall marry Charlotte we shall live here together all our lives and die here” thought Barnabas as he went up the hill “I shall lie in my coffin in the north room and it will all be over” but his heart leaped with joy He stepped out proudly like a soldier in a battalion he threw back his shoulders in his Sunday coat
The yellow glow was paling in the west the evening air was like a cold breath in his face He could see the firelight flickering upon the kitchen wall of the Barnard house as he drew near He came up into the yard and caught a glimpse of a fair head in the ruddy glow There was a knocker on the door he raised it gingerly and let it fall It made but a slight clatter but a womans shadow moved immediately across the yard outside and Barnabas heard the inner door open He threw open the outer one himself and Charlotte stood there smiling and softly decorous Neither of them spoke Barnabas glanced at the inner door to see if it were closed then he caught Charlottes hands and kissed her
“You shouldnt do so Barnabas” whispered Charlotte turning her face away She was as tall as Barnabas and as handsome
“Yes I should” persisted Barnabas all radiant and his face pursued hers around her shoulder
“Its pretty cold out aint it” said Charlotte in a chiding voice which she could scarcely control
“Ive been in to see our house Give me one more kiss Oh Charlotte”
“Charlotte” cried a deep voice and the lovers started apart
“Im coming father” Charlotte cried out She opened the door and went soberly into the kitchen with Barnabas at her heels Her father mother and Aunt Sylvia Crane sat there in the red gleam of the firelight and gathering twilight Sylvia sat a little behind the others and her face in her white cap had the shadowy delicacy of one of the flowering apple sprays outside
“How dye do” said Barnabas in a brave tone which was slightly aggressive Charlottes mother and aunt responded rather nervously
“Hows your mother Barnabas” inquired Mrs Barnard
“Shes pretty well thank you”
Charlotte pulled forward a chair for her lover he had just seated himself when Cephas Barnard spoke in a voice as sudden and gruff as a dogs bark Barnabas started and his chair grated on the sanded floor
“Light the candle Charlotte” said Cephas and Charlotte obeyed She lighted the candle on the high shelf then she sat down next Barnabas Cephas glanced around at them He was a small man with a thin face in a pale film of white locks and beard but his black eyes gleamed out of it with sharp fixedness Barnabas looked back at him unflinchingly and there was a curious likeness between the two pairs of black eyes Indeed there had been years ago a somewhat close relationship between the Thayers and the Barnards and it was not strange if one common note was repeated generations hence
Cephas had been afraid lest Barnabas should all unperceived in the dusk hold his daughters hand or venture upon other loverlike familiarity That was the reason why he had ordered the candle lighted when it was scarcely dark enough to warrant it
But Barnabas seemed scarcely to glance at his sweetheart as he sat there beside her although in some subtle fashion perhaps by some finer spiritual vision not a turn of her head nor a fleeting expression on her face like a wind of the soul escaped him He saw always Charlottes beloved features high and pure almost severe but softened with youthful bloom her head with fair hair plaited in a smooth circle with one long curl behind each ear Charlotte would scarcely have said he had noticed but he knew well she had on a new gown of delaine in a mottled purple pattern her workedmuslin collar and her mothers gold beads which she had given her
Barnabas kept listening anxiously for the crackle of the hearth fire in the best room he hoped Charlotte had lighted the fire and they should soon go in there by themselves They usually did of a Sunday night but sometimes Cephas forbade his daughter to light the fire and prohibited any solitary communion between the lovers
“If Barnabas Thayer cant set here with the rest of us he can go home” he proclaimed at times and he had done so tonight Charlotte had acquiesced forlornly there was nothing else for her to do Early in her childhood she had learned along with her primer her fathers character and the obligations it imposed upon her
“You must be a good girl and mind its your fathers way” her mother used to tell her Mrs Barnard herself had spelt out her husband like a hard and seemingly cruel text in the Bible She marvelled at its darkness in her light but she believed in it reverently and even pugnaciously
The large loosely built woman with her heavy sliding step waxed fairly decisive and her soft meeklidded eyes gleamed hard and prominent when her elder sister Hannah dared inveigh against Cephas
“I tell you it is his way” said Sarah Barnard And she said it as if “his way” was the way of the King
“His way” Hannah would sniff back “His way Keepin you all on rye meal one spell an not lettin you eat a mite of Injun an then keepin you on Injun without a mite of rye Makin you eat nothin but greens an garden stuff an jest turnin you out to graze an chew your cuds like horned animals one spell an then makin you live on meat Lettin you go abroad when he takes a notion an then keepin you an Charlotte in the house a year”
“Its his way an I aint goin to have anything said against it” Sarah Barnard would retort stanchly and her sister would sniff back again Charlotte was as loyal as her mother she did not like it if even her lover intimated anything in disfavor of her father
No matter how miserable she was in consequence of her acquiescence with her fathers will she sternly persisted
Tonight she knew that Barnabas was waiting impatiently for her signal to leave the rest of the company and go with her into the front room there was also a tender involuntary impatience and longing in every nerve of her body but nobody would have suspected it she sat there as calmly as if Barnabas were old Squire Payne who sometimes came in of a Sabbath evening and seemed to be listening intently to her mother and her Aunt Sylvia talking about the spring cleaning
Cephas and Barnabas were grimly silent The young man suspected that Cephas had prohibited the front room he was indignant about that and the way in which Charlotte had been summoned in from the entry and he had no diplomacy
Charlotte under her calm exterior grew uneasy she glanced at her mother who glanced back It was to both women as if they felt by some subtle sense the brewing of a tempest Charlotte unobtrusively moved her chair a little nearer her lovers her purple delaine skirt swept his knee both of them blushed and trembled with Cephass black eyes upon them
Charlotte never knew quite how it began but her father suddenly flung out a dangerous topic like a longargued bone of contention and he and Barnabas were upon it Barnabas was a Democrat and Cephas was a Whig and neither ever forgot it of the other None of the women fairly understood the point at issue it was as if they drew back their feminine skirts and listened amazed and trembling to this male hubbub over something outside their province Charlotte grew paler and paler She looked piteously at her mother
“Now father dont” Sarah ventured once or twice but it was like a sparrow piping against the north wind
Charlotte laid her hand on her lovers arm and kept it there but he did not seem to heed her “Dont” she said “dont Barnabas I think theres going to be a frost tonight dont you” But nobody heard her Sylvia Crane in the background clutched the arms of her rockingchair with her thin hands
Suddenly both men began hurling insulting epithets at each other Cephas sprang up waving his right arm fiercely and Barnabas shook off Charlottes hand and was on his feet
“Get out of here” shouted Cephas in a hoarse voice—“get out of here Get out of this house an dont you ever darse darken these doors again while the Lord Almighty reigns” The old man was almost inarticulate he waved his arms wagged his head and stamped he looked like a white blur with rage
“I never will by the Lord Almighty” returned Barnabas in an awful voice then the door slammed after him Charlotte sprang up
“Set down” shouted Cephas Charlotte rushed forward “You set down” her father repeated her mother caught hold of her dress
“Charlotte do set down” she whispered glancing at her husband in terror But Charlotte pulled her dress away
“Dont you stop me mother I am not going to have him turned out this way” she said Her father advanced threateningly but she set her young strong shoulders against him and pushed past out of the door The door was slammed to after her and the bolt shot but she did not heed that She ran across the yard calling “Barney Barney Barney Come back” Barnabas was already out in the road he never turned his head and kept on Charlotte hurried after him “Barney” she cried her voice breaking with sobs—“Barney do come back You arent mad at me are you” Barney never turned his head the distance between them widened as Charlotte followed calling She stopped suddenly and stood watching her lovers dim retreating back straining with his rapid strides
“Barney Thayer” she called out in an angry imperious tone “if youre ever coming back you come now”
But Barney kept on as if he did not hear Charlotte gasped for breath as she watched him she could scarcely help her feet running after him but she would not follow him any farther She did not call him again in a minute she turned around and went back to the house holding her head high in the dim light
She did not try to open the door she was sure it was locked and she was too proud She sat down on the flat cool doorstone and remained there as dusky and motionless against the old gray panel of the door as the shadow of some inanimate object that had never moved
The wind began to rise and at the same time the full moon impelled softly upward by force as unseen as thought Charlottes fair head gleamed out abruptly in the moonlight like a pale flower but the folds of her mottled purple skirt were as vaguely dark as the foliage on the lilacbush beside her All at once the flowering branches on a widespreading appletree cut the gloom like great silvery wings of a brooding bird The grass in the yard was like a shaggy silver fleece Charlotte paid no more attention to it all than to her own breath or a clock tick which she would have to withdraw from herself to hear
A low voice which was scarcely more than a whisper called her a slender figure twisted itself around the front corner of the house like a vine “Charlotte you there” Charlotte did not hear Then the whisper came again “Charlotte”
Charlotte looked around then
A slender white hand reached out in the gloom around the corner and beckoned “Charlotte come come quick”
Charlotte did not stir
“Charlotte do come Your mothers dreadful afraid youll catch cold The front door is open”
Charlotte sat quite rigid The slender figure began moving towards her stealthily keeping close to the house advancing with frequent pauses like a wary bird When she got close to Charlotte she reached down and touched her shoulder timidly “Oh Charlotte dont you feel bad Hed ought to know your father by this time hell get over it and come back” she whispered
“I dont want him to come back” Charlotte whispered fiercely in return
Sylvia stared at her helplessly Charlottes face looked strange and hard in the moonlight “Your mothers dreadful worried” she whispered again presently “She thinks youll catch cold I come out of the front door on purpose so you can go in that way Your fathers asleep in his chair He told your mother not to unbolt this door tonight and she didnt darse to But we went past him real still to the front one an you can slip in there and get up to your chamber without his seeing you Oh Charlotte do come”
Charlotte arose and she and Sylvia went around to the front door Sylvia crept close to the house as before but Charlotte walked boldly along in the moonlight “Charlotte Im dreadful afraid hell see you” Sylvia pleaded but Charlotte would not change her course
Just as they reached the front door it was slammed with a quick puff of wind in their faces They heard Mrs Barnards voice calling piteously “Oh father do let her in” it implored
“Dont you worry mother” Charlotte called out “Ill go home with Aunt Sylvia”
“Oh Charlotte” her mothers voice broke in sobs
“Dont you worry mother” Charlotte repeated with an unrelenting tone in the comforting words “Ill go right home with Aunt Sylvia Come” she said imperatively to her aunt “I am not going to stand here any longer” and she went out into the road and hastened down it as Barnabas had done
“Ill take her right home with me” Sylvia called to her sister in a trembling voice nobody knew how afraid she was of Cephas and she followed Charlotte
Sylvia lived on an old road that led from the main one a short distance beyond the new house so the way led past it Charlotte went on at such a pace that Sylvia could scarcely keep up with her She slid along in her wake panting softly and lifting her skirts out of the evening dew She was trembling with sympathy for Charlotte and she had also a worry of her own When they reached the new house she fairly sobbed outright but Charlotte went past in her stately haste without a murmur
“Oh Charlotte dont feel so bad” mourned her aunt “I know it will all come right” But Charlotte made no reply Her dusky skirts swept around the bushes at the corner of the road and Sylvia hurried tremulously after her
Neither of them dreamed that Barnabas watched them standing in one of the front rooms of his new house He had gone in there when he fled from Cephas Barnards and had not yet been home He recognized Charlottes motions as quickly as her face and knew Sylvias voice although he could not distinguish what she said He watched them turn the corner of the other road and thought that Charlotte was going to spend the night with her aunt—he did not dream why He had resolved to stay where he was in his desolate new house and not go home himself
A great grief and resentment against the whole world and life itself swelled high within him It was as if he lost sight of individual antagonists and burned to dash life itself in the face because he existed The state of happiness so exalted that it became almost holiness in which he had been that very night flung him to lower depths when it was retroverted He had gone back to first causes in the one and he did the same in the other his joy had reached out into eternity and so did his misery His natural religious bent inherited from generations of Puritans and kept in its channel by his training from infancy made it impossible for him to conceive of sympathy or antagonism in its fullest sense apart from God
Sitting on a pile of shavings in a corner of the north room he fairly hugged himself with fierce partisanship “What have I done to be treated in this way” he demanded setting his face ahead in the darkness and he did not see Cephas Barnards threatening countenance but another gigantic with its vague outlines which his fancy could not limit confronting him with terrible negative power like a stone image He struck out against it and the blows fell back on his own heart
“What have I done” he demanded over and over of this great immovable and silent consciousness which he realized before him “Have I not kept all thy commandments from childhood Have I ever failed to praise thee as the giver of my happiness and ask thy blessing upon it What have I done that it should be taken away It was given to me only to be taken away Why was it given to me then—that I might be mocked Oh I am mocked I am mocked” he cried out in a great rage and he struck out in the darkness and his heart leaped with futile pain The possibility that his misery might not be final never occurred to him It never occurred to him that he could enter Cephas Barnards house again ask his pardon and marry Charlotte It seemed to him settled and inevitable he could not grasp any choice in the matter
Barnabas finally threw himself back on the pile of shavings and lay there sullenly Great gusts of cold wind came in at the windows at intervals a loose board somewhere in the house rattled the trees outside murmured heavily
“There wont be a frost” Barnabas thought his mind going apace on its old routine in spite of its turmoil Then he thought with the force of an oath that he did not care if there was a frost All the trees this spring had blossomed only for him and Charlotte now there was no longer any use in that let the blossoms blast and fall
Chapter II
Sylvia Cranes house was the one in which her grandmother had been born and was the oldest house in the village It was known as the “old Crane place” It had never been painted it was shedding its flapping gray shingles like gray scales the roof sagged in a mossy hollow before the chimney the windows and doors were awry and the whole house was full of undulations and wavering lines which gave it a curiously unreal look in broad daylight In the moonlight it was the shadowy edifice built of a dream
As Sylvia and Charlotte came to the front door it seemed as if they might fairly walk through it as through a gray shadow but Sylvia stooped and her shoulders strained with seemingly incongruous force as if she were spending it to roll away a shadow On the flat doorstep lay a large round stone pushed close against the door There were no locks and keys in the old Crane place only bolts Sylvia could not fasten the doors on the inside when she went away so she adopted this expedient which had been regarded with favor by her mother and grandmother before her and illustrated natures full of gentle fallacies which went far to make existence comfortable
Always on leaving the house alone the Crane women had bolted the side door which was the one in common use gone out the front one and laboriously rolled this same round stone before it Sylvia reasoned as her mother and grandmother before her with the same simplicity “When the stones in front of the door folks must know there aint anybody to home because they couldnt put it there if they was”
And when some neighbor had argued that the evildisposed might roll away the stone and enter at will Sylvia had replied with the innocent conservatism with which she settled an argument “Nobody ever did”
Tonight she rolled away the stone to the corner of the doorstep where it had lain through three generations when the Crane women were at home and sighed with regret that she had defended the door with it “I wish I hadnt put the stone up” she thought “If I hadnt mebbe hed gone in an waited” She opened the door and the gloom of the house deeper than the gloom of the night appeared “You wait here a minute” she said to Charlotte “an Ill go in an light a candle”
Charlotte waited leaning against the doorpost There was a flicker of fire within Then Sylvia held the flaring candle towards her “Come in” she said “the candles lit”
There was a bed of coals on the hearth in the best room Sylvia had made a fire there before going over to her sisters but it had burned low The glow of the coals and the smoky flare of the candle lighted the room uncertainly scattering and not dispelling the shadows There was a primly festive air in the room The flagbottomed chairs stood by twos finely canted towards each other against the wall the one great haircloth rocker stood ostentatiously in advance of them facing the hearth fire the long level of the haircloth sofa gleamed out under stiff sweeps of the white fringed curtains at the window behind it The books on the glossy cardtable were set canting towards each other like the chairs and with their gilt edges towards the light And Sylvia had set also on the table a burnished pitcher of a rosy coppercolor full of apple blossoms
She looked at it when she had set the candle on the shelf It seemed to her that all the light in the room centred on it and it shone in her eyes like a copper lamp
Charlotte also glanced at it “Why Richard must have come while you were over to our house” she said
“It dont make any odds if he did” returned Sylvia with a faint blush and a bridle Sylvia was much younger than her sister Standing there in the dim light she did not look so much older than her niece Her figure had the slim angularity and primness which are sometimes seen in elderly women who are not matrons and she had donned a little white lace cap at thirty but her face had still a delicate bloom and the wistful wonder of expression which belongs to youth
However she never thought of Charlotte as anything but a child as compared with herself Sylvia felt very old and the more so that she grudged her years painfully She stirred up the fire a little holding back her shiny black silk skirt carefully Charlotte stood leaning against the shelf looking moodily down at the fire
“I wouldnt feel bad if I was you Charlotte” Sylvia ventured timidly
“I guess wed better go to bed pretty soon” returned Charlotte “It must be late”
“Had you rather sleep with me Charlotte or sleep in the spare chamber”
“I guess Ill go in the spare chamber”
“Well Ill get you a nightgown”
Both of their faces were sober but perfectly staid They bade each other goodnight without a quiver but Charlotte after she had said her dutiful and unquestioning prayer and lay folded in Sylvias ruffled nightgown in the best bed shook with great sobs “Poor Barney” she kept muttering “Poor Barney poor Barney”
The doors were all open and once she thought she heard a sob from below then concluded she must be mistaken But she was not for Sylvia Crane was lamenting as sorely as the younger maiden upstairs “Poor Richard” she repeated piteously “Poor Richard There he came and the stone was up and he had to go away”
The faces which were so clear to the hearts of both women as if they were before their eyes had a certain similarity Indeed Richard Alger and Barnabas Thayer were distantly related on the mothers side and people said they looked enough alike to be brothers Sylvia saw the same type of face as Charlotte only Richards face was older for he was six years older than she
“If I hadnt put the stone up” she moaned “maybe he would have thought I didnt hear him knock an hed come in an waited Poor Richard I dunno what he thought Its the first time its happened for eighteen years”
Sylvia as she lay there looked backward and it seemed to her that the eighteen years were all made up of the Sunday nights on which Richard Alger had come to see her as if they were all that made them immortal and redeemed them from the dead past She had endured grief but love alone made the past years stand out for her Sylvia in looking back over eighteen years forgot the father mother and sister who had died in that time their funeral trains passed before her eyes like so many shadows She forgot all their cares and her own she forgot how she had nursed her bedridden mother for ten years she forgot everything but those blessed Sunday nights on which Richard Alger had come She called to mind every little circumstance connected with them—how she had adorned the best room by slow degrees saving a few cents at a time from her sparse income because he sat in it every Sunday night how she had had the bed which her mother and grandmother kept there removed because the fashion had changed and the guilty audacity with which she had purchased a haircloth sofa to take its place
That adorning of the best room had come to be a religion with Sylvia Crane As faithfully as any worshipper of the Greek deity she laid her offerings her haircloth sofa and rocker her coppergilt pitcher of apple blossoms upon the altar of love
Sylvia recalled sobbing more piteously in the darkness sundry dreams which had never been realized of herself and Richard sitting side by side and hand in hand as confessed lovers on that sofa Richard Alger during all those eighteen years had never made love to Sylvia unless his constant attendance upon Sabbath evenings could be so construed as it was in that rural neighborhood and as Sylvia was fain to construe it in her innocent heart
It is doubtful if Sylvia in her perfect decorum and longfostered maiden reserve fairly knew that Richard Alger had never made love to her She scarcely expected her dreams of endearments to be realized she regarded them except in desperate moods with shame If her old admirer had indeed attempted to sit by her side upon that haircloth sofa and hold her hand she would have arisen as if propelled by stiff springs of modest virtue She did not fairly know that she was not made love to after the most honorable and orthodox fashion without a word of endearment or a caress for she had been trained to regard love as one of the most secret of the laws of nature, to be concealed with shamefaced air even from herself but she did know that Richard had never asked her to marry him and for that she was impatient without any selfreserve she was even confidential with her sister Charlottes mother
“I dont want to say anything outside” she once said “but I do think it would be a good deal better for him if we was settled down He aint half taken care of since his mother died”
“Hes got money enough” returned Mrs Barnard
“That cant buy everything”
“Well I dont pity him I pity you” said Mrs Barnard
“I guess I shall get along a while longer as far as that goes” Sylvia had replied to her sister with some pride “I aint worried on my account”
“Women dont worry much on their own accounts but theyve got accounts” returned Mrs Barnard with more contempt for her sister than she had ever shown for herself “Youre gettin older Sylvy”
“I know it” Sylvia had replied with a quick shrinking as if from a blow
The passing years as they passed for her stung her like swarming bees with bitter humiliation but never for herself only for Richard Nobody knew how painfully she counted the years how she would fain have held time back with her thin hands how futilely and pitifully she set her loving heart against it and not for herself and her own vanity but for the sake of her lover She had come in the singleness of her heart to regard herself in the light of a species of coin to be expended wholly for the happiness and interest of one man Any depreciation in its value was of account only as it affected him
Sylvia Crane sitting in the meetinghouse of a Sunday used to watch the young girls coming in as radiant and flawless as new flowers in their Sunday bests with a sort of admiring envy which could do them no harm but which tore her own heart
When she should have been contrasting the wickedness of her soul with the grace of the Divine Model she was contrasting her fading face with the youthful bloom of the young girls “Hed ought to marry one of them” she thought “hed ought to by good rights” It never occurred to Sylvia that Richard also was growing older and that he was moreover a few years older than she She thought of him as an immortal youth his face was the same to her as when she had first seen it
When it came before a subtler vision than her bodily one there in the darkness and loneliness of this last Sunday night it wore the beauty and innocent freshness of a child If Richard Alger could have seen his own face as the woman who loved him saw it he could never have doubted his own immortality
“There he came an the stone was up an he had to go away” moaned Sylvia catching her breath softly Many a time she had pitied Richard because he had not the little womanly care which men need she had worried lest his stockings were not darned and his food not properly cooked but tonight she had another and strange anxiety She worried lest she herself had hurt him and sent him home with a heavy heart
Sylvia had gone about for the last few days with her delicate face as irresponsibly calm as a sweetpea nobody had dreamed of the turmoil in her heart On the Wednesday night before she had nearly reached the climax of her wishes Richard had come departing from his usual custom—he had never called except on Sunday before—and remained later It was ten oclock before he went home He had been very silent all the evening and had sat soberly in the great best rockingchair which was in a way his throne of state with Sylvia on the sofa on his right Many a time she had dreamed that he came over there and sat down beside her and that night it had come to pass
Just before ten oclock he had arisen hesitatingly she thought it was to take leave but she sat waiting and trembling They had sat in the twilight and young moonlight all the evening Richard had checked her when she attempted to light a candle That had somehow made the evening seem strange and freighted with consequences and besides the white light of the moon full of mystic influence there was something subtler and more magnetic which could sway more than the tides even the passions of the human heart present and they both felt it
Neither had said much and they had been sitting there nearly two hours when Richard had arisen and moved curiously rather as if he was drawn than walked of his own volition over to the sofa He sank down upon it with a little cough Sylvia moved away a little with an involuntary motion which was pure maidenliness
“Its getting late” remarked Richard trying to make his voice careless but it fell in spite of him into deep cadences
“It aint very late I guess” Sylvia had returned tremblingly
“I ought to be going home”
Then there was silence for a while Sylvia glanced sidewise timidly and adoringly at Richards smoothly shaven face pale as marble in the moonlight and waited her heart throbbing
Illustration “Sylvia glanced timidly at Richards smoothlyshaven face”
“Ive been coming here a good many years” Richard observed finally and his own voice had a solemn tremor
Sylvia made an almost inarticulate assent
“Ive been thinking lately” said Richard then he paused They could hear the great clock out in the kitchen tick Sylvia waited her very soul straining although shrinking at the same time to hear
“Ive been thinking lately” said Richard again “that—maybe—it would be wise for—us both to—make some different arrangement”
Sylvia bent her head low Richard paused for the second time “I have always meant—” he began again but just then the clock in the kitchen struck the first stroke of ten Richard caught his breath and arose quickly Never in his long courtship had he remained as late as that at Sylvia Cranes It was as if a lifelong habit struck as well as the clock and decided his times for him
“I must be going” said he speaking against the bell notes Sylvia arose without a word of dissent but Richard spoke as if she had remonstrated
“Ill come again next Sunday night” said he apologetically
Sylvia followed him to the door They bade each other goodnight decorously with never a parting kiss as they had done for years Richard went out of sight down the white gleaming road and she went in and to bed with her heart in a great tumult of expectation and joyful fear
She had tried to wait calmly for Sunday night She had done her neat household tasks as usual her face and outward demeanor were sweetly unruffled but her thoughts seemed shivering with rainbows that constantly dazzled her with sweet shocks when her eyes met them Her feet seemed constantly flying before her into the future and she could scarcely tell where she might really be in the present or in her dreams which had suddenly grown so real
On Sunday morning she had curled her soft fair hair and arranged with trepidation one long light curl outside her bonnet on each side of her face Her bonnet was tied under her chin with a green ribbon and she had a little feathery green wreath around her face inside the rim Her wide silk skirt was shot with green and blue and rustled as she walked up the aisle to her pew People stared after her without knowing why There was no tangible change in her appearance She had worn that same green shot silk many Sabbaths her bonnet was three summers old the curls drooping on her cheeks were an innovation but the people did not recognize the change as due to them Sylvia herself had looked with pleased wonder at her face in the glass it was as if all her youthful beauty had suddenly come up like a withered rose which is dipped in a vase
“I shant look so terrible old side of him when I go out bride” she reflected happily smiling fondly at herself All the way to meeting that Sunday morning she saw her face as she had seen it in the glass and it was as if she walked with something finer than herself
Richard Alger sat with the choir in a pew beside the pulpit at right angles with the others He had a fine tenor voice and had sung in the choir ever since he was a boy When Sylvia sat down in her place which was in full range of his eyes he glanced at her without turning his head he meant to look away again directly so as not to be observed but her face held him A color slowly flamed out on his pale brown cheeks his eyes became intense and abstracted A soprano singer nudged the girl at her side they both glanced at him and tittered but he did not notice it
Sylvia knew that he was looking at her but she never looked at him She sat soberly waving a little brown fan before her face the light curls stirred softly She wondered what he thought of them if he considered them too young for her and silly but he did not see them at all He had no eye for details And neither did she even hear his fine tenor still sweet and powerful leading all the other male voices when the choir stood up to sing She thought only of Richard himself
After meeting when she went down the aisle several women had spoken to her inquired concerning her health and told her with wondering eyes that she looked well Richard was far behind her but she did not look around They very seldom accosted each other unless it was unavoidable in any public place Still Sylvia going out with gentle flounces of her green shot silk knew well that Richards eyes followed her and his thought was close at her side
After she got home from meeting that Sunday Sylvia Crane did not know how to pass the time until the evening She could not keep herself calm and composed as was her wont on the Sabbath day She changed her silk for a common gown she tried to sit down and read the Bible quietly and with understanding but she could not She turned to Canticles and read a page or two She had always believed loyally and devoutly in the application to Christ and the Church but suddenly now as she read the restrained decorously chanting New England lovesong in her maiden heart had leaped into the fervid measures of the oriental King She shut the Bible with a clap “I aint giving the right meaning to it” she said sternly aloud
She put away the Bible went into the pantry and got out some bread and cheese for her luncheon but she could eat nothing She picked the apple blossoms and arranged them in the coppergilt pitcher on the bestroom table She even dusted off the haircloth sofa and rocker with many compunctions because it was Sunday “I know I hadnt ought to do it today” she murmured apologetically “but they do get terrible dusty and need dusting every day and he is real particular and hell have on his best clothes”
Finally just before twilight Sylvia unable to settle herself had gone over to her sisters for a little call Richard never came before eight oclock except in winter when it was dark earlier There was a certain halfshamefaced reserve about his visits He knew well enough that people looked from their windows as he passed and said facetiously “There goes Richard Alger to court Sylvy Crane” He preferred slipping past in a halflight in which he did not seem so plain to himself and could think himself less plain to other people
Sylvia detained at her sisters by the quarrel between Cephas and Barnabas had arisen many a time to take leave all palpitating with impatience but her sister had begged her in a distressed whisper to remain
“I guess you can get along without Richard Alger one Sunday evening” she had said finally quite aloud and quite harshly “I guess your own sister has just as much claim on you as he has I dunno whats going to be done I dont believe Charlottes father will let her in the house tonight”
Poor Sylvia had sunk back in her chair To her sensitive conscience the duty nearest at hand seemed always to bark the loudest and the precious moments had gone by until she knew that Richard had come found the stone before the door and gone away and all her sweet turmoil of hope and anticipation had gone for naught
Sylvia lying there awake that night her mind carrying her back over all that had gone before had no doubt that this was the end of everything Not originally a subtle discerner of character she had come insensibly to know Richard so well that certain results from certain combinations of circumstances in his life were as plain and inevitable to her as the outcome of a simple sum in mathematics “Hed got most out of his track for once” she groaned out softly “but now hes pushed back in so hard he cant get out again if he wants to I dunno how hes going to get along”
Sylvia with the roof settling over her head with not so much upon her few sterile acres to feed her as to feed the honeybees and birds with her heart in greater agony because its string of joy had been strained so high and sweetly before it snapped did not lament over herself at all neither did she over the other woman who lay upstairs suffering in a similar case She lamented only over Richard living alone and unministered to until he died
When daylight came she got up dressed herself and prepared breakfast Charlotte came down before it was ready “Let me help get breakfast” she said with an assumption of energy standing in the kitchen doorway in her pretty mottled purple delaine The purple was the shade of columbine and very becoming to Charlotte In spite of her sleepless night her fine firm tints had not faded she was too young and too strong and too full of involuntary resistance She had done up her fair hair compactly her chin had its usual proud lift
Sylvia shrinking as if before some unseen enemy as she moved about her face all wan and weary glanced at her half resentfully “I guess she aint had any such night as I have” she thought “Girls dont know much about it”
“No I dont need any help” she replied aloud “I aint got anything to do but to stir up an Injun cake Youve got your best dress on Youd better go and sit down”
“It wont hurt my dress any” Charlotte glanced down half scornfully at her purple skirt It had lost all its glory for her She was not even sure that Barney had seen it
“Set down Ive got breakfast most ready” Sylvia said again more peremptorily than she was wont and Charlotte sat down in the hollowbacked cherry rockingchair beside the kitchen window leaned her head back and looked out indifferently between the lilacbushes The bushes were full of pinkishpurple buds Sylvias front yard reached the road in a broad slope and the ground was hard and green with dampness under the shade of a great elmtree The grass would never grow there over the roots of the elm which were flung out broadly like great recumbent limbs over the whole yard and were barely covered by the mould
Across the street seen under the green sweep of the elm was an orchard of old appletrees which had blossomed out bravely that spring Charlotte looked at the white and rosy masses of bloom
“I guess there wasnt any frost last night after all” she remarked
“I dunno” responded Sylvia in a voice which made her niece look around at her There was a curious impatient ring in it which was utterly foreign to it There was a frown between Sylvias gentle eyes and she moved with nervous jerks setting down dishes hard as if they were refractory children and lashing out with spoons as if they were whips The long steady strain upon her patience had not affected her temper but this last had seemed to bring out a certain vicious and waspish element which nobody had suspected her to possess and she herself least of all She felt this morning disposed to go out of her way to sting and as if some primal and evil instinct had taken possession of her She felt shocked at herself but all the more defiant and disposed to keep on
“Breakfast is ready” she announced finally “if you dont set right up an eat it it will be gettin cold I wouldnt give a cent for cold Injun cake”
Charlotte arose promptly and brought a chair to the table which Sylvia always set punctiliously in the centre of the kitchen as if for a large family
“Dont scrape your chair on the floor that way it wears em all out” cried Sylvia sharply
Charlotte stared at her again but she said nothing she sat down and began to eat absently Sylvia watched her angrily between her own mouthfuls which she swallowed down defiantly like medicine
“It aint much use cookin things if folks dont eat em” said she
“I am eating” returned Charlotte
“Eatin Swallowin down Injun cake as if it was sawdust I dont call that eatin You dont act as if you tasted a mite of it”
“Aunt Sylvy what has got into you” said Charlotte
“Got into me I should think youd talk about anything gettin into me when you set there like a stick I guess you aint got all there is to bear”
“I never thought I had” said Charlotte
“Well I guess you aint”
They went on swallowing their food silently the great clock ticked slowly and the spring birds called outside but they heard neither The shadows of the young elm leaves played over the floor and the white tablecloth It was much warmer that morning and the shadows were softer
Before they had finished breakfast Charlottes mother came advancing ponderously with soft thuds across the yard to the side door She opened it and peered in
“Here you be” said she scanning both their faces with anxious and deprecating inquiry
“Cant you come in an not stand there holdin the door open” inquired Sylvia “I feel the wind on my back and Ive got a bad pain enough in it now”
Mrs Barnard stepped in and shut the door quickly in an alarmed way
“Aint you feelin well this mornin Sylvy” said she
“Oh yes Im feelin well enough It aint any matter how I feel but its a good deal how some other folks do”
Sarah Barnard sank into the rockingchair and sat there looking at them hesitatingly as if she did not dare to open the conversation
Suddenly Sylvia arose and went out of the kitchen with a rush carrying a plate of Indian cake to feed the hens “I cant set here all day Ive got to do something” she announced as she went
When the door had closed after her Mrs Barnard turned to Charlotte
“Whats the matter with her” she asked nodding towards the door
“I dont know”
“She aint sick is she I never see her act so Sylvys generally just like a lamb You dont spose shes goin to have a fever do you”
“I dont know”
Suddenly Charlotte who was still sitting at the table put up her two hands with a despairing gesture and bent her head forward upon them
“Now dont you poor child” said her mother her eyes growing suddenly red “Didnt he even turn round when you called him back last night”
Charlotte shook her bowed head dumbly
“Dont you spose hell ever come again”
Charlotte shook her head
“Mebbe he will I know hes terrible set”
“Whos set” demanded Sylvia coming in with her empty plate
“Oh I was jest sayin that I thought Barney was kinder set” replied her sister mildly
“He aint no more set than Cephas” returned Sylvia
“Cephas aint set Its jest his way”
Sylvia sniffed She looked scornfully at Charlotte who had raised her head when she came in but whose eyes were red “Folks had better been created without ways then” she retorted “Theyd better have been created slaves theyd been enough sight happier an better off an so would other folks that they have to do with than to have so many ways an not sense enough to manage em I dont believe in freewill for my part”
“Sylvy Crane you aint goin to deny one of the doctrines of the Church at your time of life” demanded a new voice Sylvias other sister Hannah Berry stood in the doorway
Sylvia ordinarily was meek before her but now she faced her “Yes I be” said she “I dont approve of freewill and I aint afraid to say it”
Sylvia had always been considered very unlike Mrs Hannah Berry in face and character Now as she stood before her a curious similarity appeared even her voice sounded like her sisters
“What on earth ails you Sylvy” asked Mrs Berry ignoring suddenly the matter in hand
“Nothin ails me that I know of I dont think much of freewill an I aint goin to say I do when I dont”
“Then all Ive got to say is youd ought to be ashamed of yourself Why I should think you was crazy Sylvy Crane settin up yourself agin the doctrines of the Word Id like to know what you know about them”
“I know enough to see how they work” returned Sylvia undauntedly “an I aint goin to pretend Im blind when I can see”
Sylvias serene arc of white forehead was shortened by a distressed frown her mild mouth dropped sourly at the corners and the lips were compressed Her white cap was awry and one of yesterdays curls hung lankly over her left cheek
“You look an act like a crazy creature” said Hannah Berry eying her with indignant amazement She walked across the room to another rockingchair moving with unexpected heaviness She was in reality as stout as her sister Sarah Barnard but she had a long thin and rasped face which misled people
“Now” said she looking around conclusively “I aint come over here to argue about freewill I want to know what all this is about”
“All what” returned Mrs Barnard feebly She was distinctly afraid of her imperious sister yet she was conscious of a quiver of resentment
“All this fuss about Barney Thayer” said Hannah Berry
“How did you hear about it” Mrs Barnard asked with a glance at Charlotte who was sitting erect with her cheeks very red and her mouth tightly closed
“Never mind how I heard” replied Hannah “I did hear an thats enough Now I want to know if youre really goin to set down like an old hen an give up an let this match between Charlotte an a good smart likely young man like Barnabas Thayer be broken off on account of Cephas Barnards crazy freaks”
Sarah stiffened her neck “There aint no call for you to speak that way Hannah They got to talkin over the lection”
“The lection Id like to know what business they had talkin about it Sabbath night anyway I aint blamin Barnabas so much hes younger an easier stirred up but Cephas Barnard is an old man an he has been a churchmember for forty year an he ought to know enough to set a better example Id like to know what difference it makes about the lection anyway What odds does it make which one is President if he rules the country well An that they cant tell till theyve tried him awhile anyway I guess they dont think much about the country its jest to have their own way about it Id like to know what mortal difference its goin to make to Barney Thayer or Cephas Barnard which man is President He wont never hear of them an they wont neither of them make him rule any different after hes chose Its jest like two little boys—one wants to play marbles cause the other wants to play pussinthecorner an thats all the reason either one of ems got for standin out Men aint got any too much sense anyhow when you come right down to it They dont ever get any too much grown up the best of em Id like to know what Cephas Barnard has got to say because hes drove a good likely young man like Barnabas Thayer off an broke off his daughters match It aint likely shell ever get anybody now young men like him with nice new houses put up to go right to housekeepin in as soon as they are married dont grow on every bush They aint quite so thick as wild thimbleberries An Charlotte aint got any money herself an her father aint got any to build a house for her Id like to know what hes got to say about it”
Mrs Barnard put up her apron and began to weep helplessly
“Dont mother” said Charlotte in an undertone But her mother began talking in a piteous wailing fashion
“You hadnt ought to talk so about Cephas” she moaned “Hes my husband I guess you wouldnt like it if anybody talked so about your husband Cephas aint any worse than anybody else Its jest his way He want any more to blame than Barney they both got to talkin I know Cephas is terrible upset about it this mornin he aint really said so in so many words but I know by the way he acts He said this mornin that he didnt know but we were eatin the wrong kind of food Lately hes had an idea that mebbe wed ought to eat more meat hes thought it was more strengthenin an wed ought to eat things as near like what we wanted to strengthen as could be Ive made a good deal of bone soup But now he says he thinks mebbe hes been mistaken an animal food kind of quickens the animal nature in us, an that wed better eat green things an garden sass”
“I guess garden sass will strengthen the other kind of sass that Cephas Barnard has got in him full as much as bone soup has” interrupted Hannah Berry with a sarcastic sniff
“I dunno but hes right” said Mrs Barnard “Cephas thinks a good deal an looks into things I kind of wish hed waited till the garden had got started though for there aint much we can eat now but potatoes an turnips an dandelion greens”
“If you want to live on potatoes an turnips an dandelion greens you can” cried Hannah Berry “What I want to know is if youre goin to settle down an say nothin an have Charlotte lose the best chance shell ever have in her life if she lives to be a hundred—”
Charlotte spoke up suddenly her blue eyes gleamed with steely light She held her head high as she faced her aunt
“I dont want any more talk about it Aunt Hannah” said she
“Hey”
“I dont want any more talk about it”
“Well I guess youll have more talk about it girls dont get jilted without there is talk generally I guess youll have to make up your mind to it for all you put on such airs with your own aunt who left her washin an come over here to take your part I guess when you stand out in the road half an hour an call a young man to come back an he dont come that folks are goin to talk some Whos that comin now”
“Its Cephas” whispered Mrs Barnard with a scared glance at Charlotte
Cephas Barnard entered abruptly and stood for a second looking at the company while they looked back at him His eyes were stolidly defiant but he stood well back and almost shrank against the door There seemed to be impulses in Hannahs and Sylvias faces confronting his
He turned to his wife “When you comin home” said he
“Oh Cephas I jest ran over here a minute I—wanted to see—if—Sylvy had any emptins Do you want me an Charlotte to come now”
Cephas turned on his heel “I think its about time for you both to be home” he grunted
Sarah Barnard arose and looked with piteous appeal at Charlotte
Charlotte hesitated a second then she arose without a word and followed her mother who followed Cephas They went in a procession of three with Cephas marching ahead like a general across the yard and Sylvia and Hannah stood at a window watching them
“Well” said Hannah Berry “all Ive got to say is Im thankful I aint got a man like that an you ought to be mighty thankful you aint got any man at all Sylvy Crane”
Chapter III
When Cephas Barnard and his wife and daughter turned into the main road and came in sight of the new house not one of them appeared to even glance at it yet they all saw at once that there were no workmen about and they also saw Barnabas himself ploughing with a white horse far back in a field at the left of it
Illustration “They came in sight of the house”
They all kept on silently Charlotte paled a little when she caught sight of Barney but her face was quite steady “Hold your dress up a little higher the grass is terrible wet” her mother whispered once and that was all that any of them said until they reached home
Charlotte went at once upstairs to her own chamber took off her purple gown and hung it up in her closet and got out a common one The purple gown was part of her wedding wardrobe and she had worn it in advance with some misgivings “I dunno but you might jest as well wear it a few Sundays” her mother had said “youre goin to have your silk dress to come out bride in I dunno as theres any sense in your goin lookin like a scarecrow all the spring because youre goin to get married”
So Charlotte had put on the new purple dress the day before now it looked as it hung in the closet like an effigy of her happier self
When Charlotte went downstairs she found her mother showing much more spirit than usual in an altercation with her father Sarah Barnard stood before her husband her placid face all knitted with perplexed remonstrance “Why I cant Cephas” she said “Pies cant be made that way”
“I know they can” said Cephas
“They cant Cephas There aint no use tryin It would jest be a waste of the flour”
“Why cant they Id like to know”
“Folks dont ever make pies without lard Cephas”
“Why dont they”
“Why they wouldnt be nothin more than— You couldnt eat them nohow if they was made so Cephas I dunno how the sorrel pies would work I never heard of anybody makin sorrel pies Mebbe the Injuns did but I dunno as they ever made pies anyway Mebbe the sorrel if it had some molasses on it for juice wouldnt taste very bad I dunno but anyway if the sorrel did work the other wouldnt I cant make pies fit to eat without any lard or any butter or anything any way in the world Cephas”
“I know you can make em without” said Cephas and his black eyes looked like flint Mrs Barnard appealed to her daughter
“Charlotte” said she “you tell your father that pies cant be made fit to eat without I put somethin in em for shortnin”
“No they cant father” said Charlotte
“He wants me to make sorrel pies Charlotte” Mrs Barnard went on in an injured and appealing tone which she seldom used against Cephas “Hes been out in the field an picked all that sorrel” and she pointed to a pan heaped up with little green leaves on the table “an I tell him I dunno how that will work but he wants me to make the piecrust without a mite of shortnin an I cant do that nohow can I”
“I dont see how you can” assented Charlotte coldly
Cephas went with a sudden stride towards the pantry “Ill make em myself then” he cried
Mrs Barnard gasped and looked piteously at her daughter “What you goin to do Cephas” she asked feebly
Cephas was in the pantry rattling the dishes with a fierce din “Im agoin to make them sorrel pies myself” he shouted out “if none of you women folks know enough to”
“Oh Cephas you cant”
Cephas came out carrying the mixingboard and rollingpin like a shield and a club he clapped them heavily on to the table
Mrs Barnard stood staring aghast at him Charlotte sat down took some lace edging from her pocket and began knitting on it She looked hard and indifferent
“Oh Charlotte aint it dreadful” her mother whispered when Cephas went into the pantry again
“I dont care if he makes pies out of burrs” returned Charlotte audibly but her voice was quite even
“I dont blieve but what sorrel would do some better than burrs” said her mother “but he cant make pies without shortnin nohow”
Cephas came out of the pantry with a large bowl of flour and a spoon “He aint sifted it” Mrs Barnard whispered to Charlotte as though Cephas were not there then she turned to him “You sifted the flour didnt you Cephas” said she
“You jest let me alone” said Cephas grimly “Im goin to make these pies an I dont need any help Ive picked the sorrel an Ive got the brick oven all heated an I know what I want to do an Im goin to do it”
“Ive got some pumpkin that would make full as good pies as sorrel Cephas Mebbe the sorrel will be real good I aint sayin it wont though I never heard of sorrel pies but you know pumpkin is good Cephas”
“I know pumpkin pies have milk in em” said Cephas “an I tell you I aint goin to have anything of an animal nature in em Ive been studyin into it an thinkin of it an Ive made up my mind that Ive made a mistake along back an weve ate too much animal food Weve ate a whole pig an half a beef critter this winter to say nothin of eggs an milk that are jest as much animal as meat accordin to my way of thinkin Ive reasoned it out all along that as long as we were animals ourselves an wanted to strengthen animal that it was commonsense that we ought to eat animal It seemed to me that nature had so ordered it I reasoned it out that other animals besides man lived on animals except cows an they bein ruminatin animals aint to be compared to men—”
“I should think wed be somethin like em if we eat that” said Mrs Barnard pointing at the sorrel with piteous sarcasm
“Its the principle Im thinkin about” said Cephas He stirred some salt into the flour very carefully so not a dust fell over the brim of the bowl
“Horses dont eat meat neither an they dont chew their cuds” Mrs Barnard argued further She had never in her life argued with Cephas but sorrel pies after the night before made her wildly reckless
Cephas got a gourdful of water from the pail in the sink and carried it carefully over to the table “Horses are the exception” he returned with dignified asperity “There always are exceptions What I was comin at was—Id been kind of wrong in my reasonin That is I aint reasoned far enough I was right so far as I went”
Cephas poured some water from the gourd into the bowl of flour and began stirring
Sarah caught her breath “Hes makin—paste” she gasped “Hes jest makin flour paste”
“Jest so far as I went I was right” Cephas resumed pouring in a little more water with a judicial air “I said Man was animal an he is animal an if you dont take anything else into account hed ought to live on animal food jest the way I reasoned it out But youve got to take something else into account Man is animal but he aint all animal Hes something else Hes spiritual Man has command over all the other animals an all the beasts of the field an it aint because hes any better an stronger animal because he aint Whats a man to a horse if the horse only knew it but the horse dont know it an theres jest where Man gets the advantage Its knowledge an spirit that gives Man the rule over all the other animals Now what we want is to eat the kind of things that will strengthen knowledge an spirit an selfcontrol because the first two aint any account without the last but there aint no kind of food thats known that can do that If there is I aint never heard of it”
Cephas dumped the whole mass of paste with a flop upon the mixingboard and plunged his fists into it Sarah made an involuntary motion forward then she stood back with a great sigh
“But what we can do” Cephas proceeded “is to eat the kind of things that wont strengthen the animal nature at the expense of the spiritual We know that animal food does that we can see how it works in tigers an bears Now its the spiritual part of us we want to strengthen because that is the biggest strength we can get an its worth more Its what gives us the rule over animals Its better for us to eat some other kind of food if we get real weak and pindlin on it rather than eat animal food an make the animal in us stronger than the spiritual so we wont be any better than wild tigers an bears an lose our rule over the other animals”
Cephas took the rollingpin and brought it heavily down upon the sticky mass on the board Sarah shuddered and started as if it had hit her “Now if we cant eat animal food” said Cephas “what other kind of food can we eat There aint but one other kind thats known to man an thats vegetable food the product of the earth An thats of two sorts one gets ripe an fit to eat in the fall of the year an the other comes earlier in the spring an summer Now in order to carry out the plans of nature, wed ought to eat these products of the earth jest as near as we can in the season of em Some had ought to be eat in the fall an winter an some in the spring an summer Accordin to my reasonin if we all lived this way we should be a good deal better off our spiritual natures would be strengthened an we should have more power over other animals an better dispositions ourselves”
“Ive seen horses terribly ugly an they dont eat a mite of meat” said Sarah with tremulous boldness Her right hand kept moving forward to clutch the rollingpin then she would draw it back
“Aint I told ye once horses were the exceptions” said Cephas severely “There has to be exceptions If there want any exceptions there couldnt be any rule an there bein exceptions shows there is a rule Women cant ever get hold of things straight Their minds slant off sideways the way their arms do when they fling a stone”
Cephas brought the rollingpin down upon the paste again with fierce impetus “Youll break it” Sarah murmured feebly Cephas brought it down again his mouth set hard his face showed a red flush through his white beard the veins on his high forehead were swollen and his brows scowling The paste adhered to the rollingpin he raised it with an effort his hands were helplessly sticky Sarah could restrain herself no longer She went into the pantry and got a dish of flour and spooned out some suddenly over the board and Cephass hands “Youve got to have some more flour” she said in a desperate tone
Cephass black eyes flashed at her “I wish you would attend to your own work an leave me alone” said he But at last he succeeded in moving the rollingpin over the dough as he had seen his wife move it
“He aint greasin the pieplates” said Sarah as Cephas brought a piece of dough with a dexterous jerk over a plate “there aint much animal in the little mite of lard it takes to grease a plate”
Cephas spread handfuls of sorrel leaves over the dough then he brought the molassesjug from the pantry raised it and poured molasses over the sorrel with an imperturbable air
Sarah watched him then she turned to Charlotte “To think of eatin it” she groaned quite openly “it looks like pison”
Charlotte made no response she knitted as one of the Fates might have spun Sarah sank down on a chair and looked away from Cephas and his cookery as if she were overcome and quite done with all remonstrance
Never before had she shown so much opposition towards one of her husbands hobbies but this galloped so ruthlessly over her own familiar fields that she had plucked up boldness to try to veer it away
Somebody passed the window swiftly the door opened abruptly and Mrs Deborah Thayer entered “Goodmornin” said she and her voice rang out like a heralds defiance
Sarah Barnard arose and went forward quickly “Goodmornin” she responded with nervous eagerness “Goodmornin Mis Thayer Come in an set down wont you”
“I aint come to set down” responded Deborahs deep voice
She moved a stately highhipped figure her severe face almost concealed in a scooping green barège hood to the centre of the floor and stood there with a pose that might have answered for a statue of Judgment She turned her greenhooded head slowly towards them all in turn Sarah watched her and waited her eyes dilated Cephas rolled out another pie calmly Charlotte knitted fast her face was very pale
“Ive come over here” said Deborah Thayer “to find out what my son has done”
There was not a sound except the thud of Cephass rollingpin
“Mr Barnard” said Deborah Cephas did not seem to hear her
“Mr Barnard” she said again There was that tone of command in her voice which only a woman can accomplish It was full of that maternal supremacy which awakens the first instinct of obedience in man and has more weight than the voice of a general in battle Cephas did not turn his head but he spoke “What is it ye want” he said gruffly
“I want to know what my son has done an I want you to tell me in so many words I aint afraid to face it What has my son done”
Cephas grunted something inarticulate
“What” said Deborah “I cant hear what you say I want to know what my son has done Ive heard how you turned him out of your house last night and I want to know what it was for I want to know what he has done Youre an old man and a Godfearing one if you have got your own ideas about some things Barnabas is young and apt to be headstrong He aint always been as mindful of obedience as he might be Ive tried to do my best by him but he dont always carry out my teachins I aint afraid to say this if he is my son I want to know what hes done If its anything wrong I shall be jest as hard on him as the Lord for it Im his mother but I can see his faults and be just I want to know what he has done”
Charlotte gave one great cry “Oh Mrs Thayer he hasnt done anything wrong Barney hasnt done anything wrong”
But Deborah quite ignored her She kept her eyes fixed upon Cephas “What has my son done” she demanded again “If hes done anything wrong I want to know it I aint afraid to deal with him You ordered him out of your house and he didnt come home at all last night I dont know where he was He wont speak a word this mornin to tell me Ive been out in the field where hes to work ploughin and I tried to make him tell me but he wouldnt say a word I sat up and waited all night but he didnt come home Now I want to know where he was and what hes done and why you ordered him out of the house If hes been swearin or takin anything that didnt belong to him or drinkin I want to know it so I can deal with him as his mother had ought to deal”
“He hasnt been doing anything wrong” Charlotte cried out again “you ought to be ashamed of yourself talking so about him when youre his mother”
Deborah Thayer never glanced at Charlotte She kept her eyes fixed upon Cephas “What has he done” she repeated
“I guess he didnt do much of anything” Mrs Barnard murmured feebly but Deborah did not seem to hear her
Cephas opened his mouth as if perforce “Well” he said slowly “we got to talkin—”
“Talkin about what”
“About the lection I think accordin to my reasonin that what we eat had a good deal to do with it”
“What”
“I think if youd kept your family on less meat and given em more gardenstuff to eat Barney wouldnt have been so up an comin Its what hes eat thats made him what he is”
Deborah stared at Cephas in stern amazement “Youre tryin to make out as near as I can tell” said she “that whatever my son has done wrong is due to what hes eat and not to original sin I knew you had queer ideas Cephas Barnard but I didnt know you want sound in your faith What I want to know is what has he done”
Suddenly Charlotte sprang up and pushed herself in between her father and Mrs Thayer she confronted Deborah and compelled her to look at her
“Ill tell you what hes done” she said fiercely “I know what hes done you listen to me He has done nothing—nothing that youve got to deal with him for You neednt feel obliged to deal with him He and father got into a talk over the lection and they had words about it He didnt talk any worse than father not a mite Father started it anyway and he knew better he knew just how set Barney was on his own side and how set he was on his he wanted to pick a quarrel”
“Charlotte” shouted Cephas
“You keep still father” returned Charlotte with steady fierceness “Ive never set myself up against you in my whole life before but now Im going to because its just and right Father wanted to pick a quarrel” she repeated turning to Deborah “hes been kind of grouty to Barney for some time I dont know why he took a notion to I suppose When they got to having words about the lection father begun it I heard him Barney answered back and I didnt blame him I would in his place Then father ordered him out of the house and he went I dont see what else he could do And I dont blame him because he didnt go home if he didnt feel like it”
“Didnt he go away from here before nine oclock” demanded Deborah addressing Charlotte at last
“Yes he did some time before nine he had plenty of time to go home if he wanted to”
“Where was he then Id like to know”
“I dont know and I wouldnt lift my finger to find out I am not afraid he was anywhere he hadnt ought to be nor doin anything he hadnt ought to”
“Didnt you stand out in the road and call him back and he wouldnt come nor even turn his head to look at you” asked Deborah
“Yes I did” returned Charlotte unflinchingly “And I dont blame him for not coming back and not turning his head I wouldnt if Id been in his place”
“Youll have to uphold him a long time then I can tell you that” said Deborah “He wont never come back if hes said he wont I know him hes got some of me in him”
“Ill uphold him as long as I live” said Charlotte
“I wonder you aint ashamed to talk so”
“I am not”
Deborah looked at Charlotte as if she would crush her then she turned away
“Youre a hard woman Mrs Thayer and I pity Barney because hes got you for a mother” Charlotte said in undaunted response to Deborahs look
“Well youll never have to pity yourself on that account” retorted Deborah without turning her head
The door opened softly and a girl of about Charlottes age slipped in Nobody except Mrs Barnard who said absently “How do you do Rose” seemed to notice her She sat down unobtrusively in a chair near the door and waited Her blue eyes upon the others were so intense with excitement that they seemed to blot out the rest of her face She had her blue apron tightly rolled about both hands
Deborah Thayer on her way to the door looked at her as if she had been a part of the wall but suddenly she stopped and cast a glance at Cephas “What be you makin” she asked with a kind of scorn at him and scorn at her own curiosity
Cephas did not reply but he looked ugly as he slapped another piece of dough heavily upon a plate
Deborah as if against her will moved closer to the table and bent over the pan of sorrel She smelled of it then she took a leaf and tasted it cautiously She made a wry face “Its sorrel” said she “Youre makin pies out of sorrel A man makin pies out of sorrel”
She looked at Cephas like a condemning judge He shot a fiery glance at her but said nothing He sprinkled the sorrel leaves in the pie
“Well” said Deborah “Ive got a sense of justice and if my son or any other man has asked a girl to marry him and shes got her weddin clothes ready I believe in his doin his duty if he can be made to but I must say if it want for that Id rather hed gone into a family that was more like other folks Im goin to do the best I can whether you go half way or not Im goin to try to make my son do his duty I dont expect he will but I shall do all I can tempers or no tempers and sorrel pies or no sorrel pies”
Deborah went out and shut the door heavily after her
Chapter IV
After Deborah Thayer had shut the door the young girl sitting beside it arose “I didnt know she was in here or I wouldnt have come in” she said nervously
“That dont make any odds” replied Mrs Barnard who was trembling all over and had sunk helplessly into a rockingchair which she swayed violently and unconsciously
Cephas opened the door of the brick oven and put in a batch of his pies and the click of the iron latch made her start as if it were a pistolshot
Charlotte got up and went out of the room with a backward glance and a slight beckoning motion of her head and the girl slunk after her so secretly that it seemed as if she did not see herself Cephas looked sharply after them but said nothing he was like a philosopher in such a fury of research and experiment that for the time he heeded thoroughly nothing else
The young girl who was Rose Berry Charlottes cousin followed her panting up the steep stairs to her chamber She was a slender little creature and was now overwrought with nervous excitement She fairly gasped for breath when she sat down in the little wooden chair in Charlottes room Charlotte sat on the bed The two girls looked at each other—Rose with a certain wary alarm and questioning in her eyes Charlotte with a dignified confidence of misery
“I didnt sleep here last night” Charlotte said at length
“You went over to Aunt Sylvys didnt you” returned Rose as if that were all the matter in hand
Charlotte nodded then she looked moodily past her cousins face out of the window
“Youve heard about it I suppose” said Charlotte
“Something” replied Rose evasively
“I dont see how it got out for my part I dont believe he told anybody”
Rose flushed all over her little eager face and her thin neck She opened her mouth as if to speak then shut it with a catch of her breath
“I cant imagine how it got out” repeated Charlotte
Rose looked at Charlotte with a painful effort she clutched her hands tightly into fists as she spoke “I was coming up here cross lots last night and I heard you out in the road calling Barney” she said as if she forced out the words
“Rose Berry you didnt tell”
“I went home and told mother thats all I didnt think that it would do any harm Charlotte”
“Itll be all over town thats all Its bad enough anyway”
“I dont believe itll get out I told mother not to tell”
“Mrs Thayer knew”
“Maybe Barney told her”
“Rose Berry you know better You know Barney wouldnt do such a thing”
“No I dont spose he would”
“Dont suppose Dont you know”
“Yes of course I do I know Barney just as well as you do Charlotte Oh Charlotte dont feel bad I wouldnt have told mother if Id thought I didnt mean to do any harm I was all upset myself by it Dont cry Charlotte”
“I aint going to cry” said Charlotte with spirit “Ive stopped cryin” She wiped her eyes forcibly with her apron and gave her head a proud toss “I know you didnt mean to do any harm Rose and I suppose it would have got out anyway Most everything does get out but good deeds”
“I truly didnt mean to do any harm Charlotte” Rose repeated
“I know you didnt We wont say any more about it”
“I was just running over across lots last night” Rose said “I supposed youd be in the front room with Barney but I thought Id see Aunt Sarah Id got terrible lonesome mother had gone to sleep in her chair and father had gone to bed When I got out by the stonewall next the wood I heard you then I ran right back Dont you—suppose hell ever come again Charlotte”
“No” said Charlotte
“Oh Charlotte” There was a curious quality in the girls voice as if some great hidden emotion in her heart tried to leap to the surface and make a sound although it was totally at variance with the import of her cry Charlotte started without knowing why It was as if Roses words and her tone had different meanings and conflicted like the wrong lines with a tune
“I gave it up last night” said Charlotte “Its all over Im goin to pack my wedding things away”
“I dont see what makes you so sure”
“I know him”
“But I dont see what youve done Charlotte he didnt quarrel with you”
“That dont make any odds He cant get married to me now without he breaks his will and he cant He cant get outside himself enough to break it Ive studied it all out Its like ciphering Its all over”
“Charlotte”
“What is it”
“Why—couldnt you go somewhere else to get married Whats the need of his comin here if hes been ordered out and hes said he wouldnt”
“Thats just the letter of it” returned Charlotte scornfully “Do you suppose he could cheat himself that way or Id have him if he could When Barney Thayer went out of this house last night and said what he did he meant that it was all over that he was never going to marry me nor have anything more to do with us and hes going to stand by it I am not finding any fault with him Ive made up my mind that its all over and Im going to pack away my weddin things”
“Oh Charlotte you take it so calm”
“What do you want me to do”
“If it was anybody else I should think they didnt care”
“Maybe I dont”
“I couldnt bear it so anyhow I couldnt” Rose cried out with sudden passion “I wouldnt bear it Id go down on my knees to him to come back” Rose flung back her head and looked at Charlotte with a curious defiance her face grew suddenly intense and seemed to open out into bloom and color like a flower The pupils of her blue eyes dilated until they looked black her thin lips looked full and red her cheeks were flaming her slender chest heaved “I would” said she “I dont care I would”
Charlotte looked at her and a quivering flush like a reflection was left on her fair steady face
“I would” said Rose again
“It wouldnt do any good”
“It would if he cared anything about you”
“It would if he could give up to the care Barney Thayer has got a terrible will that wont always let him do what he wants to himself”
“I dont believe hes enough of a fool to put his own eyes out”
“You dont know him”
“Id try anyway”
“It wouldnt do any good”
“I dont believe you care anything about him Charlotte Barnard” Rose cried out “If you did you couldnt give him up so easy for such a silly thing You sit there just as calm I dont believe but what youll have another fellow on the string in a month I know one thats dying to get you”
“Maybe I shall” replied Charlotte
“Wont you now” Rose tried to speak archly but her eyes were fiercely eager
“I cant tell till I get home from the grave” said Charlotte “You might wait till I did Rose” She got up and went to dusting her bureau and the little giltframed mirror behind it Her lips were shut tightly and she never looked at her cousin
“Now dont get mad Charlotte” Rose said “Maybe I ought not to have spoken so but it did seem to me you couldnt care as much— It does seem to me I couldnt settle down and be so calm if I was in your place and all ready to be married to anybody I should want to do something”
“I should if there was anything to do” said Charlotte She stopped dusting and leaned against the wall reflecting “I wish it was a real mountain to move” said she “Id do it”
“Id go right down in the field where he is ploughing and Id make him say hed come to see me tonight”
“I called him back last night—you heard me” said Charlotte with slow bitterness Her square delicate chin dipped into the muslin folds of her neckerchief she looked steadily at the floor and bent her brow
“Id call him again”
“You would would you” cried Charlotte straightening herself “You would stand out in the road and keep on calling a man who wouldnt even turn his head Youd keep on calling and let all the town hear”
“Yes I would I would I wouldnt be ashamed of anything if I was going to marry him Id go on my knees before him in the face and eyes of the whole town”
“Well I wouldnt” said Charlotte
“I would if I was sure he thought as much of me as I did of him”
Charlotte looked at her proudly “Im sure enough of that” said she
Rose winced a little “Then I wouldnt mind what I did” she persisted stubbornly
“Well I would” said Charlotte “but maybe I dont care Maybe all this isnt as hard for me as it would be for another girl” Charlottes voice broke but she tossed her head back with a proud motion she took up the dustingcloth and fell to work again
“Oh Charlotte” said Rose “I didnt mean that Of course I know you care Its awful It was only because I didnt see how you could seem so calm it aint like me Of course I know you feel bad enough underneath Your weddingclothes all done and everything They are pretty near all done aint they Charlotte”
“Yes” said Charlotte “Theyre—pretty near—done” She tried to speak steadily but her voice failed Suddenly she threw herself on the bed and hid her face and her whole body heaved and twisted with great sobs
“Oh poor Charlotte dont” Rose cried wringing her own hands her face quivered but she did not weep
“Maybe I dont care” sobbed Charlotte “maybe—I dont care”
“Oh Charlotte” Rose looked at Charlottes piteous girlish shoulders shaken with sobs and the fair prostrate girlish head Charlotte all drawn up in this little heap upon the bed looked very young and helpless All her womanly stateliness which made her seem so superior to Rose had vanished Rose pulled her chair close to the bed sat down and laid her little thin hand on Charlottes arm and Charlotte directly felt it hot through her sleeve “Dont Charlotte” Rose said “Im sorry I spoke so”
“Maybe I dont care” Charlotte sobbed out again “Maybe I dont”
“Oh Charlotte Im sorry” Rose said trembling “I do know you care dont you feel so bad because I said that”
Rose tightened her grasp on Charlottes arm her voice changed suddenly “Look here Charlotte” said she “Ill do anything in the world I can to help you I promise you that and I mean it honest”
Charlotte reached around a hand and clasped her cousins
“Im sorry I spoke so” Rose said
“Never mind” Charlotte responded chokingly She sobbed a little longer from pure inertia of grief then she raised herself shaking off Roses hand “Its all right” said she “I neednt have minded I know you didnt mean anything It was just—the last straw and—when you said that about my weddingclothes—”
“Oh Charlotte you did speak about them yourself first” Rose said deprecatingly
“I did so nobody else would” returned Charlotte She wiped her eyes drooping her stained face away from her cousin with a kind of helpless shame then she smoothed her hair with the palms of her hands “I know you didnt mean any harm Rose” she added presently “I got my silk dress done last Wednesday I wanted to tell you” Charlotte tried to smile at Rose with her poor swollen lips and her reddened eyes
“Im sorry I said anything” Rose repeated “I ought to have known it would make you feel bad Charlotte”
“No you hadnt I was terrible silly Dont you want to see my dress Rose”
“Oh Charlotte you dont want to show it to me”
“Yes I do I want you to see it—before I pack it away Its in the north chamber”
Rose followed Charlotte out of the room across the passageway to the north chamber Charlotte had had one brother who had died some ten years before when he was twenty The north chamber had been his room the bureau drawers were packed with his clothes and the silk hat which had been the pride of his early manhood hung on the nail where he had left it and also his Sunday coat His mother would not have them removed but kept them there with frequent brushings to guard against dust and moths
Always when Charlotte entered this small long room which was full of wavering lines from its uneven floor and walls and ceiling and the long arabesques on its old blueandwhite paper whose green paper curtains with fringed white dimity ones drooping over them were always drawn and in summertime when the windows were open undulated in the wind she had the sense of a presence dim but as positive as the visions she had used to have of faces in the wandering design of the old wallpaper when she had studied it in her childhood Ever since her brothers death she had had this sense of his presence in his room now she thought no more of it than of any familiar figure All the grief at his death had vanished but she never entered his old room that the thought of him did not rise up before her and stay with her while she remained
Now when she opened the door and the opposite green and white curtains flew out in the draught towards her they were no more evident than this presence to which she now gave no thought and pushed by her brothers memory without a glance
Rose followed her to the bed A white linen sheet was laid over the chintz counterpane Charlotte lifted the sheet
“I took the last stitch on it Wednesday night” she said in a hushed voice
“Didnt he come that night”
“I finished it before he came”
“Did he see it”
Charlotte nodded The two girls stood looking solemnly at the silk dress
“You cant see it here its too dark” said Charlotte and she rolled up a window curtain
“Yes I can see better” said Rose in a whisper “Its beautiful Charlotte”
The dress was spread widely over the bed in crisp folds It was purple plaided vaguely with cloudy lines of white and delicate rosecolor Over it lay a silvery lustre that was the very light of the silken fabric
Rose felt it reverently “How thick it is” said she
“Yes its a good piece” Charlotte replied
“You thought youd have purple”
“Yes he liked it”
“Well its pretty and its becoming to you”
Charlotte took up the skirt and slipped it loud with silken whispers over her head It swept out around her in a great circle she looked like a gorgeous inverted bellflower
“Its beautiful” Rose said
Charlottes face gazing downward at the silken breadths had quite its natural expression It was as if her mind in spite of herself would stop at old doors
“Try on the waist” pleaded Rose
Charlotte slipped off her calico waist and thrust her firm white arms into the flaring silken sleeves of the weddinggown Her neck arose from it with a grand curve She stood before the glass and strained the buttons together frowning importantly
“It fits you like a glove” Rose murmured admiringly smoothing Charlottes glossy back
“Ive got a spencercape to wear over my neck to meeting” Charlotte said and she opened the uppermost drawer in the chest and took out a worked muslin cape and adjusted it carefully over her shoulders pinning it across her bosom with a little brooch of her brothers hair in a rim of gold
“Its elegant” said Rose
“Ill show you my bonnet” said Charlotte She went into a closet and emerged with a great green bandbox
Rose bent over watching her breathlessly as she opened it “Oh” she cried “Oh Charlotte”
Charlotte held up the bonnet of fine Dunstable straw flaring in front and trimmed under the brim with a delicate lace ruche and a wreath of feathery white flowers Bows of white gauze ribbon stood up from it stiffly Long ribbon strings floated back over her arm as she held it up
“Try it on” said Rose
Charlotte stepped before the glass and adjusted the bonnet to her head She tied the strings carefully under her chin in a great square bow then she turned towards Rose The fine white wreath under the brim encircled her face like a nimbus she looked as she might have done sitting a bride in the meetinghouse
“Its beautiful” Rose said smiling with grave eyes “You look real handsome in it Charlotte” Charlotte stood motionless a moment with Rose surveying her
“Oh Charlotte” Rose cried out suddenly “I dont believe but what youll have him after all” Roses eyes were sharp upon Charlottes face It was as if the bridal robes which were so evident became suddenly proofs of something tangible and real like a garment left by a ghost Rose felt a sudden conviction that the quarrel was but a temporary thing that Charlotte would marry Barney and that she knew it
A change came over Charlottes face She began untying the bonnet strings
“Shant you” repeated Rose breathlessly
“No I shant”
Charlotte took the bonnet off and smoothed the creases carefully out of the strings
“If I were you” Rose cried out “Id feel like tearing that bonnet to pieces”
Charlotte replaced it in the bandbox and began unfastening her dress
“I dont see how you can bear the sight of them I dont believe I could bear them in the house” Rose cried out again “I would put that dress in the ragbag if it was mine” Her cheeks burned and her eyes were quite fierce upon the dress as Charlotte slipped it off and it fell to the floor in a rustling heap around her
“I dont see any sense in losing everything you have ever had because you havent got anything now” Charlotte returned in a stern voice She laid the shining silk gown carefully on the bed and put on her cotton one again Her face was quite steady
Rose watched her with the same sharp question in her eyes “You know you and Barney will make it up” she said at length
“No I dont” returned Charlotte “Suppose we go downstairs now Ive got some work I ought to do”
Charlotte pulled down the green paper shades of the windows and went out of the room Rose followed Charlotte turned to go downstairs but Rose caught her arm
“Wait a minute” said she “Look here Charlotte”
“What is it”
“Charlotte” said Rose again then she stopped
Charlotte turned and looked at her Roses eyes met hers and her face had a noble expression
“You write a note to him and Ill carry it” said Rose “Ill go down in the field where he is on my way home”
Tears sprang into Charlottes eyes “Youre real good Rose” she said “but I cant”
“Hadnt you better”
“No I cant Dont lets talk any more about it”
Charlotte pushed past Roses detaining hand and the girls went downstairs Mrs Barnard looked around dejectedly at them as they entered the kitchen Her eyes were red and her mouth drooping she was clearing the débris of the pies from the table there was a smell of baking but Cephas had gone out She tried to smile at Rose “Are you goin now” said she
“Yes Ive got to Ive got to sew on my muslin dress When are you coming over Aunt Sarah You havent been over to our house for an age”
“I dont care if I never go anywhere” cried Sarah Barnard with sudden desperation “Im discouraged” She sank in a chair and flung her apron over her face
“Dont mother” said Charlotte
“I cant help it” sobbed her mother “Youre young and youve got more strength to bear it but mines all gone I feel worse about you than if it was myself an theres so much to put up with besides I dont feel as if I could put up with things much longer nohow”
“Uncle Cephas ought to be ashamed of himself” Rose cried out
Sarah stood up “Well I dont spose I have so much to put up with as some folks” she said catching her breath as if it were her dignity “Your Uncle Cephas means well It did seem as if them sorrel pies were the last straw but I hadnt ought to have minded it”
“You havent got to eat sorrel pies have you” Rose asked in a bewildered way
“I dont spose theyll be any worse than some other things we eat” Sarah answered scraping the pieboard again
“I dont see how you can”
“I guess they wont hurt us any” Sarah said shortly and Rose looked abashed
“Well I must be going” said she
As she went out she looked hesitatingly at Charlotte “Hadnt you better” she whispered Charlotte shook her head and Rose went out into the spring sunlight She bent her head as she went down the road before the sweet gusts of south wind the white appletrees seemed to sing for she could not see the birds in them
Roses face between the green sides of her bonnet had in it all the quickened bloom of youth in spring her eyes had all the blue surprise of violets she panted softly between red swelling lips as she walked pulses beat in her crimson cheeks Her slender figure yielded to the wind as to a lover She passed Barney Thayers new house then she came opposite the field where he was at work ploughing driving a white horse stooping to his work in his blue frock
Rose stood still and looked at him then she walked on a little way then she paused again Barney never looked around at her There was the width of a field between them
Finally Rose went through the open bars into the first field She crossed it slowly holding up her skirts where there was a wet gleam through darker grass and getting a little nosegay of violets with a busy air as if that were what she had come for She passed through the other bars into the second field and Barney was only a little way from her He did not glance at her then He was ploughing with the look that Cadmus might have worn preparing the ground for the dragons teeth
Rose held up her skirts and went along the furrows behind him “Hullo Barney” she said in a trembling voice
“Hullo” he returned without looking around and he kept on with Rose following
“Barney” said she timidly
“Well” said Barney half turning with a slight show of courtesy
“Do you know if Rebecca is at home”
“I dont know whether she is or not”
Barney held stubbornly to his rocking plough and Rose followed
“Barney” said she again
“Well”
“Stop a minute and look round here”
“I cant stop to talk”
“Yes you can just a minute Look round here”
Barney stopped and turned a stern miserable face over his shoulder
“Ive been up to Charlottes” Rose said
“I dont know what that is to me”
“Barney Thayer aint you ashamed of yourself”
“I cant stop to talk”
“Yes you can Look here Charlotte feels awfully”
Barney stood with his back to Rose his very shoulders had a dogged look
“Barney why dont you make up with her”
Barney stood still
“Barney she feels awfully because you didnt come back when she called you last night”
Barney made no reply He and the white horse stood like statues
“Barney why dont you make up with her I wish you would” Roses voice was full of tender inflections it might have been that of an angel peacemaking
Barney turned around between the handles of the plough and looked at her steadily “You dont know anything about it Rose” he said
Rose looked up in his face and her own was full of fine pleading “Oh Barney” she said “poor Charlotte does feel so bad I know that anyhow”
“You dont know how I am situated I cant—”
“Do go and see her Barney”
“Do you think Im going into Cephas Barnards house after hes ordered me out”
“Go up the road a little way and shell come and meet you Ill run ahead and tell her”
Barney shook his head “I cant you dont know anything about it Rose” He looked into Roses eyes “Youre real good Rose” he said as if with a sudden recognition of her presence
Rose blushed softly a new look came into her eyes she smiled up at him and her face was all pink and sweet and fully set towards him like a rose for which he was a sun
“No I aint good” she whispered
“Yes you are but I cant You dont know anything about it” He swung about and grasped his ploughhandles again
“Barney do stop a minute” Rose pleaded
“I cant stop any longer theres no use talking” Barney said and he went on remorselessly through the opening furrow Just before he turned the corner Rose made a little run forward and caught his arm
“You dont think Ive done anything out of the way speaking to you about it do you Barney” she said and she was half crying
“I dont know why I should think you had I suppose you meant all right” Barney said He pulled his arm away softly and jerked the right rein to turn the horse “Glang” he cried out and strode forward with a conclusive air
Rose stood looking after him a minute then she struck off across the field Her knees trembled as she stepped over the soft ploughridges
When she was out on the road again she went along quickly until she came to the Thayer house She was going past that when she heard some one calling her name and turned to see who it was
Rebecca Thayer came hurrying out of the yard with a basket on her arm “Wait a minute” she called “and Ill go along with you”
Chapter V
Rebecca walking beside Rose looked like a woman of another race She was much taller and her full luxuriant young figure looked tropical beside Roses slender one Her body undulated as she walked but Rose moved only with forward flings of delicate limbs
“Ive got to carry these eggs down to the store and get some sugar” said Rebecca
Rose assented absently She was full of the thought of her talk with Barney
“Its a pleasant day aint it” said Rebecca
“Yes its real pleasant Say Rebecca Im awful afraid I made Barney mad just now”
“Why what did you do”
“I stopped in the field when I was going by Id been up to see Charlotte and I said something about it to him”
“How much do you know about it” Rebecca asked abruptly
“Charlotte told me this mornin and last night when I was going to her house across lots I saw Barney going and heard her calling him back I thought Id see if I couldnt coax him to make up with her but I couldnt”
“Oh hell come round” said Rebecca
“Then you think itll be made up” Rose asked quickly
“Of course it will Were having a terrible time about poor Barney He didnt come home last night and its much as ever hes spoken this morning He wouldnt eat any breakfast He just went into his room and put on his other clothes and then went out in the field to work He wouldnt tell mother anything about it I never saw her so worked up Shes terribly afraid hes done something wrong”
“He hasnt done anything wrong” returned Rose “I think your mother is terrible hard on him Its Uncle Cephas he just picked the quarrel He hasnt never moren half liked Barney So you think Barney will make up with Charlotte and theyll get married after all”
“Of course they will” Rebecca replied promptly “I guess they wont be such fools as not to for such a silly reason as that when Barneys got his house most done and Charlotte has got all her weddingclothes ready”
“Aint Barney terrible set”
“Hes set enough but I guess youll find he wont be this time”
“Well Im sure I hope he wont be” Rose said and she walked along silently her face sober in the depths of her bonnet
They came to Richard Algers house on the righthand side of the road and Rebecca looked reflectively at the white cottage with its steep peak of Gothic roof set upon a ploughed hill “Its queer how hes been going with your aunt Sylvy all these years” she said
“Yes tis” assented Rose and she too glanced up at the house As they looked a man came around the corner with a basket He was about to plant potatoes in his hilly yard
“There he is now” said Rose
They watched Richard Alger coming towards them past a great tree whose new leaves were as red as flowers
“What do you suppose the reason is?” Rebecca said in a low voice
“I dont know I suppose hes got used to living this way”
“I shouldnt think theyd be very happy” Rebecca said and she blushed and her voice had a shamefaced tone
“I dont suppose it makes so much difference when folks get older” Rose returned
“Maybe it dont Rose”
“What is it”
“I wish youd go into the store with me”
Rose laughed “What for”
“Nothing Only I wish you would”
“You afraid of William” Rose peered around into Rebeccas bonnet
Rebecca blushed until tears came to her eyes “Id like to know what Id be afraid of William Berry for” she replied
“Then what do you want me to go into the store with you for”
“Nothing”
“Youre a great ninny Rebecca Thayer” Rose said laughing “but Ill go if you want me to I know William wont like it You run away from him the whole time There isnt another girl in Pembroke treats him as badly as you do”
“I dont treat him badly”
“Yes you do And I dont believe but what you like him Rebecca Thayer you wouldnt act so silly if you didnt”
Rebecca was silent Rose peered around in her face again “I was only joking I think a sight more of you for not running after him and so does William You havent any idea how some of the girls act chasing to the store Mother and I have counted em some days and then we plague William about it but he wont own up they come to see him He acts more ashamed of it than the girls do”
“Thats one thing I never would do—run after any fellow” said Rebecca
“I wouldnt either”
Then the two girls had reached the tavern and the store Roses father Silas Berry had kept the tavern but now it was closed except to occasional special guests He had gained a competency and his wife Hannah had rebelled against further toil Then too the railroad had been built through East Pembroke instead of Pembroke the old stage line had become a thing of the past and the tavern was scantily patronized Still Silas Berry had given it up with great reluctance he cherished a grudge against his wife because she had insisted upon it and would never admit that business policy had aught to do with it
The store adjoining the tavern which he had owned for years he still retained but his son William had charge of it Silas Berry was growing old and the year before had had a slight shock of paralysis which had made him halt and feeble although his mind was as clear as ever However although he took no active part in the duties of the store he was still there and sharply watchful for his interests the greater part of every day
The two girls went up the steps to the store piazza Rose stepped forward and looked in the door “Fathers in there and Tommy Ray” she whispered “You neednt be afraid to go in” But she entered as she spoke and Rebecca followed her
There was one customer in the great country store a stout old man on the grocery side His broad red face turned towards them a second then squinted again at some packages on the counter He was haggling for garden seeds William Berry who was waiting upon him did not apparently look at his sister and Rebecca Thayer but Rebecca had entered his heart as well as the store and he saw her face deep in his own consciousness
Tommy Ray the great whiteheaded boy who helped William in the store shuffled along behind the counter indeterminately but the girls did not seem to see him Rose was talking fast to Rebecca He lounged back against the shelves stared out the door and whistled
Out of the obscurity in the back of the store an old mans narrow bristling face peered watchful as a cat his body hunched up in a roundbacked armchair
“Mr Nims will go in a minute” Rose whispered and presently the old farmer clamped past them out the door counting his change from one hand to the other his lips moving
William Berry replaced the seed packages which the customer had rejected on the shelves as the girls approached him
“Rebeccas got some eggs to sell” Rose announced
Illustration “‘Rebeccas got some eggs to sell’”
William Berrys thin wideshouldered figure towered up behind the counter he smiled and the smile was only a deepening of the pleasant intensity of his beardless face with its high pale forehead and smooth crest of fair hair The lines in his face scarcely changed
“How dye do” said he
“How dye do” returned Rebecca with fluttered dignity Her face bloomed deeply pink in the green tunnel of her sunbonnet her black eyes were as soft and wary as a babys her full red lips had a grave innocent expression
“How many dozen eggs have you got Rebecca” Rose inquired peering into the basket
“Two mother couldnt spare any more today” Rebecca replied in a trembling voice
“How much sugar do you give for two dozen eggs William” asked Rose
William hesitated he gave a scarcely perceptible glance towards the watchful old man whose eyes seemed to gleam out of the gloom in the back of the store “Well about two pounds and a half” he replied in a low voice
Rebecca set her basket of eggs on the counter
“How many pound did you tell her William” called the old mans hoarse voice
William compressed his lips “About two and a half father”
“How many”
“Two and a half”
“How many dozen of eggs”
“Two”
“You aint offerin of her two pound of sugar for two dozen eggs”
“I said two pounds and a half of sugar father” said William He began counting the eggs
“Be you gone crazy”
“Never mind” whispered Rebecca “Thats too much sugar for the eggs Mother didnt expect so much Dont say any more about it William” Her face was quite steady and selfpossessed now as she looked at William frowning heavily over the eggs
“Give Rebecca two pounds of sugar for the eggs father and call it square” Rose called out
Silas Berry pulled himself up a joint at a time then he came forward at a stiff halt his face pointing out in advance of his body He entered at the gap in the counter and pressed close to his sons side Then he looked sharply across at Rebecca “Sugar is fourteen cents a pound now” said he “an eggs aint fetchin moren ten cents a dozen You tell your mother”
“Father I told her Id giver her two and a half pounds for two dozen” said William he was quite pale He began counting the eggs over again and his hands trembled
“Ill take just what youre willing to give” Rebecca said to Silas
“Sugar is fourteen cents a pound an eggs is fetchin ten cents a dozen” said the old man “you can have a pound and a half of sugar for them eggs if you can give me a cent to boot”
Rebecca colored “Im afraid I havent got a cent with me” said she “I didnt fetch my purse Youll have to give me a cents worth less sugar Mr Berry”
“Its kinder hard to calkilate so close as that” returned Silas gravely “you had better tell your mother about it an you come back with the cent byanby”
“Why father” cried Rose
William shouldered his father aside with a sudden motion “Im tending to this father” he said in a stern whisper “you leave it alone”
“I aint goin to stan by an see you givin twice as much for eggs as theyre worth cause its a gal youre tradin with That want never my way of doin business an I aint goin to have it done in my store I shouldnt have laid up a cent if Id managed any such ways an I aint goin to see my hard earnins wasted by you You give her a pound and a half of sugar for them eggs and a cent to boot”
“You shant lose anything by it father” said William fiercely “You leave me alone”
The sugarbarrel stood quite near William strode over to it and plunged in the great scoop with a grating noise He heaped it recklessly on some paper and laid it on the steelyards
“Dont give me moren a pound and a half” Rebecca said softly
“Keep still” Rose whispered in her ear
Silas pushed forward and bent over the steelyards “Youve weighed out nigh three” he began Then his sons face suddenly confronted his and he stopped talking and stood back
Almost involuntarily at times Silas Berry yielded to the combination of mental and superior physical force in his son While his own mind had lost nothing of its vigor his bodily weakness made him distrustful of it sometimes when his son towered over him in what seemed the might of his own lost strength and youth brandishing his own old weapons
William tied up the sugar neatly then he took the eggs from Rebeccas basket and put the parcel in their place Silas began lifting the eggs from the box in which William had put them and counted them eagerly
“There aint but twentythree eggs here” he called out as Rebecca and Rose turned away and William was edging after them from behind the counter
“I thought there were two dozen” Rebecca responded in a distressed voice
“Of course there are two dozen” said Rose promptly “You aint counted em right father Go along Rebecca its all right”
“I tell ye it aint” said Silas “There aint but twentythree Its bad enough to be payin twice what theyre wuth for eggs without havin of em come short”
“I tell you I counted em twice over and theyre all right You keep still father” said Williams voice at his ear in a fierce whisper and Silas subsided into sullen mutterings
William had meditated following Rebecca to the door he had even meditated going farther but now he stood back behind the counter and began packing up some boxes with a busy air
“Aint you going a piece with Rebecca and carry her basket William” Rose called back when the two girls reached the door
Rebecca clutched her arm “Oh dont” she gasped and Rose giggled
“Aint you William” she said again
Rebecca hurried out the door but she heard William reply coldly that he couldnt he was too busy She was half crying when Rose caught up with her
“William wanted to go bad enough but he was too upset by what father said You mustnt mind father” Rose said peering around into Rebeccas bonnet “Why Rebecca what is the matter”
“I didnt go into that store a step to see William Berry You know I didnt” Rebecca cried out with sudden passion Her voice was hoarse with tears her face was all hot and quivering with shame and anger
“Why of course you didnt” Rose returned in a bewildered way “Who said you did Rebecca”
“You know I didnt I hated to go to the store this morning I told mother I didnt want to but she didnt have a mite of sugar in the house and there wasnt anybody else to send Ephraim aint very well and Doctor Whiting says he ought not to walk very far I had to come but I didnt come to see William Berry and nobody has any call to think I did”
“I dont know who said you did I dont know what you mean Rebecca”
“You acted as if you thought so I dont want William Berry seeing me home in broad daylight when Ive been to the store to trade and you neednt think thats what I came for and he neednt”
“Good land Rebecca Thayer he didnt and I was just in fun Hed have come with you but he was so mad at what father said that he backed out Williams just about as easy upset as you are I didnt mean any harm Say Rebecca come into the house a little while cant you I dont believe your mother is in any great hurry for the sugar” Rose took hold of Rebeccas arm but Rebecca jerked herself away with a sob and went down the road almost on a run
“Well I hope youre touchy enough Rebecca Thayer” Rose called out as she stood looking after her “Folks will begin to think you did come to see William if you make such a fuss when nobody accuses you of it if you dont look out”
Rebecca hastened trembling down the road She made no reply but she knew that Rose was quite right and that she had attacked her with futile reproaches in order to save herself from shame in her own eyes Rebecca knew quite well that in spite of her hesitation and remonstrances in spite of her maiden shrinking on the threshold of the store she had come to see William Berry She had been glad although she had turned a hypocritical face towards her own consciousness that Ephraim was not well enough and she was obliged to go Her heart had leaped with joy when Rose had proposed Williams walking home with her but when he refused she was crushed with shame “He thought I came to see him” she kept saying to herself as she hurried along and there was no falsehood that she would not have sworn to to shield her modesty from such a thought on his part
When she got home and entered the kitchen she kept her face turned away from her mother “Heres the sugar” she said and she took it out of the basket and placed it on the table
“How much did he give you” asked Deborah Thayer she was standing beside the window beating eggs Over in the field she could catch a glimpse of Barnabas now and then between the trees as he passed with his plough
“About two pounds”
“That was doin pretty well”
Rebecca said nothing She turned to go out of the room
“Where are you going” her mother asked sharply “Take off your bonnet I want you to beat up the butter and sugar this cake ought to be in the oven”
Deborahs face as she beat the eggs and made cake looked as full of stern desperation as a soldiers on the battlefield Deborah never yielded to any of the vicissitudes of life she met them in fair fight like enemies and vanquished them not with trumpet and spear but with daily duties It was a village story how Deborah Thayer cleaned all the windows in the house one afternoon when her first child had died in the morning Today she was in a tumult of wrath and misery over her son her mouth was so full of the gall of bitterness that no sweet on earth could overcome it but she made sweet cake
Rebecca took off her sunbonnet and hung it on a peg she got a box from the pantry and emptied the sugar into in still keeping her face turned away as best she could from her mothers eyes
Deborah looked approvingly at the sugar “Its nigher three pounds than anything else I guess you were kind of favored Rebecca Did William wait on you”
“Yes he did”
“I guess you were kind of favored” Deborah repeated and a halfsmile came over her grim face
Rebecca said nothing She got some butter and fell to work with a wooden spoon creaming the butter and sugar in a brown wooden bowl with swift turns of her strong white wrist Ephraim watched her sharply he sat by a window stoning raisins His mother had forbidden him to eat any as she thought them injurious to him but he carefully calculated his chances and deposited many in his mouth when she watched Barney but his jaws were always gravely set when she turned his way
Ephraims face had a curious bluish cast as if his blood were the color of the juice of a grape His chest heaved shortly and heavily The village doctor had told is mother that he had heartdisease which might prove fatal although there was a chance of his outgrowing it and Deborah had set her face against that
Ephraims face in spite of its sickly hue had a perfect healthiness and naturalness of expression which insensibly gave confidence to his friends although it aroused their irritation A spirit of boyish rebellion and importance looked out of Ephraims black eyes his mouth was demure with mischief his gawky figure perpetually uneasy and twisting as if to find entrance into small forbidden places There was something in Ephraims face when she looked suddenly at him which continually led his mother to infer that he had been transgressing “What have you been doin Ephraim” she would call out sharply many a time with no just grounds for suspicion and be utterly routed by Ephraims innocent wondering grin in response
The boy was set about with restrictions which made his life miserable but the labor of picking over plums for a cake was quite to his taste He dearly loved plums although they were especially prohibited He rolled one quietly under his tongue and watched Rebecca with sharp eyes She could scarcely keep her face turned away from him and her mother too
“Say mother Rebeccas been cryin” Ephraim announced suddenly
Deborah turned and looked at Rebeccas face bending lower over the wooden bowl her black lashes rested on red circles and her lips were swollen
“Id like to know what youve been cryin about” said Deborah It was odd that she did not think that Rebeccas grief might be due to the worry over Barney but she did not for a minute She directly attributed it to some personal and strictly selfish consideration which should arouse her animosity
“Nothing” said Rebecca with sulky misery
“Yes youve been cryin about something too I want to know what tis”
“Nothing I wish you wouldnt mother”
“Did you see William Berry over to the store”
“I told you I did once”
“Well you neednt bite my head off Did he say anything to you”
“He weighed out the sugar I know one thing Ill never set my foot inside that store again as long as I live”
“Id like to know what you mean Rebecca Thayer”
“I aint going to have folks think Im running after William Berry”
“Id like to know who thinks you are If its Hannah Berry she neednt talk after the way her daughter has chased over here Mebbe its all you Rose Berry has been to see but Ive had my doubts What did Hannah Berry say to you”
“She didnt say anything I havent seen her”
“What was it then”
But Rebecca would not tell her mother what the trouble had been she could not bring herself to reveal how William had been urged to walk home with her and how coldly he had refused and finally Deborah in spite of baffled interest turned upon her “Well I hope you didnt do anything unbecoming” said she
“Mother you know better”
“Well I hope you didnt”
“Mother I wont stand being talked to so”
“I rather think I shall talk to you all I think I ought to for your own good” said Deborah with fierce persistency “I aint goin to have any daughter of mine doin anything bold and forward if I know it”
Rebecca was weeping quite openly now “Mother you know you sent me down to the store yourself there wasnt anybody else to go” she sobbed out
“Your goin to the store want anything I guess you can go to the store to trade off some eggs for sugar when Im makin cake without William Berry thinkin youre runnin after him or Hannah Berry thinkin so either But there want any need of your makin any special talk with him or lookin as if you was tickled to death to see him”
“I didnt I wouldnt go across the room to see William Berry You havent any right to say such things to me mother”
“I guess Ive got a right to talk to my own daughter I should think things had come to a pretty pass if I cant speak when I see you doin out of the way I know one thing you wont go to that store again Ill go myself next time Have you got that butter an sugar mixed up”
“I hope you will go Im sure I dont want to” returned Rebecca She had stopped crying but her face was burning she hit the spoon with dull thuds against the wooden bowl
“Dont you be saucy Thats done enough give it here”
Deborah finished the cake with a master hand When she measured the raisins which Ephraim had stoned she cast a sharp glance at him but he was ready for it with beseechingly upturned sickly face “Cant I have just one raisin mother” he pleaded
“Yes you may if you aint eat any while you was pickin of em over” she answered And he reached over a thumb and finger and selected a large fat plum which he ate with ostentatious relish Ephraims stomach oppressed him his breath came harder but he had a sense of triumph in his soul This depriving him of the little creature comforts which he loved and of the natural enjoyments of boyhood aroused in him a blind spirit of revolution which he felt virtuous in exercising Ephraim was absolutely conscienceless with respect to all his stolen pleasures
Deborah had a cookingstove She had a progressive spirit and when stoves were first introduced had promptly done away with the brick oven except on occasions when much bakingroom was needed After her new stove was set up in her back kitchen she often alluded to Hannah Berrys conservative principles with scorn Hannahs sister Mrs Barnard had told her how a stove could be set up in the tavern any minute but Hannah despised new notions “Hannah wont have one nohow” said Mrs Barnard “I dunno but I would if Cephas could afford it and want set against it It seems to me it might save a sight of work”
“Some folks are rooted so deep in old notions that they cant see their own ideas over them” declared Deborah Often when she cooked in her new stove she inveighed against Hannah Berrys foolishness
“If Hannah Berry wants to heat up a whole brick oven and work the whole forenoon to bake a loaf of cake she can” said she as she put the pan of cake in the oven “Now you watch this Rebecca Thayer and dont you let it burn and you get the potatoes ready for dinner”
“Where are you going mother” asked Ephraim
“Im just goin to step out a little way”
“Cant I go too”
“No you set still You aint fit to walk this mornin You know what the doctor told you”
“It wont hurt me any” whined Ephraim There were times when the spirit of rebellion in him made illness and even his final demise flash before his eyes like sweet overhanging fruit since they were so strenuously forbidden
“You set still” repeated his mother She tied on her own green sunbonnet stiffened with pasteboard and went with it rattling against her ears across the fields to the one where her son was ploughing The grass was not wet but she held her dress up high showing her thick shoes and her blue yarn stockings and took long strides Barney was guiding the plough past her when she came up
“You stop a minute” she said authoritatively “I want to speak to you”
“Whoa” said Barney and pulled up the horse “Well what is it” he said gruffly with his eyes upon the plough
“You go this minute and set the men to work on your house again You leave the horse here—Ill watch him—and go and tell Sam Plummer to come and get the other men”
“Glang” said Barney and the horse pulled the plough forward with a jerk
Mrs Thayer seized Barneys arm “You stop” said she “Whoa whoa Now you look here Barnabas Thayer I dont know what you did to make Cephas Barnard order you out of the house but I know it was something I aint goin to believe it was all about the election There was something back of that I aint goin to shield you because youre my son I know jest how set you can be in your own ways and how you can hang on to your temper Ive known you ever since you was a baby you cant teach me anything new about yourself I dont know what you did to make Cephas mad but I know what youve got to do now You go and set the men to work on that house again and then you go over to Cephas Barnards and you tell him youre sorry for what youve done I dont care anything about Cephas Barnard and if Id had my way in the first place I wouldnt have had anything to do with him or his folks either but now youve got to do whats right if youve gone as far as this and Charlottes all ready to be married You go right along Barnabas Thayer”
Barnabas stood immovable his face set past his mother as irresponsively unyielding as a rock
“Be you goin”
Barnabas did not reply His mother moved and brought her eyes on a range with his and the two faces confronted each other in silence while it was as if two wills clashed swords in advance of them
Then Mrs Thayer moved away “I aint never goin to say anything more to you about it” she said “but theres one thing—you neednt come home to dinner You shant ever sit down to a meal in your fathers and mothers house whilst this goes on”
“Glang” said Barnabas The horse started and he bent to the plough His mother stepped homeward over the ploughridges with stern unyielding steps as if they were her enemies slain in battle
Just as she reached her own yard her husband drove in on a rattling farm cart She beckoned to him and he pulled the horse up short
“Ive told him he neednt come home to dinner” she said standing close to the wheel
Caleb looked down at her with a scared expression “Well I spose you know whats best Deborah” he said
“If he cant do whats right hes got to suffer for it” returned Deborah
She went into the house and Caleb drove clanking into the barn
Before dinner the old man stole off across lots keeping well out of sight of the kitchen windows lest his wife should see him and pleaded with Barnabas but all in vain The young man was more outspoken with his father but he was just as firm
“Your mothers terrible set about it Barney Youd better go over to Charlottes and make up”
“I cant its all over” Barney said in reply and Caleb at length plodded soberly and clumsily home
After dinner he went out behind the barn and Rebecca going to feed the hens found him sitting under the wildcherry tree fairly sobbing in his old red handkerchief
She went near him and stood looking at him with restrained sympathy
“Dont feel bad father” she said finally “Barneyll get over it and come to supper”
“No he wont” groaned the old man—“no he wont Hes jest like your mother”
Chapter VI
The weeks went on and still Barnabas had not yielded The story of his quarrel with Cephas Barnard and his broken engagement with Charlotte had become an old one in Pembroke but it had not yet lost its interest A genuine excitement was so rare in the little peaceful village that it had to be made to last and rolled charily under the tongue like a sweet morsel However there seemed to be no lack now for the one had set others in motion everybody knew how Barnabas Thayer no longer lived at home and did not sit in his fathers pew in church but in the gallery and how Richard Alger had stopped going to see Sylvia Crane
There was not much walking in the village except to and from church on a Sabbath day but now on pleasant Sabbath evenings an occasional couple or an inquisitive old man with eyes sharp under white brows and chin set ahead like a pointers strolled past Sylvias house and the Thayer house Barneys new one and Cephas Barnards
They looked sharply and furtively to see if Sylvia had a light in her best room and if Richard Algers head was visible through the window if Barney Thayer had gone home and yielded to his mothers commands if any more work had been done on the new house and if he perchance had gone acourting Charlotte again
But they never saw Richard Algers face in poor Sylvias best room although her candle was always lit they never saw Barney at his old home the new house advanced not a step beyond its incompleteness and Barney never was seen at Charlotte Barnards on a Sabbath night Once indeed there was a rumor to that effect A mans smooth dark head was visible at one of the frontroom windows opposite Charlottes fair one and everybody took it for Barneys
The next morning Barneys mother came to the door of the new house “I want to know if its true that you went over there last night” she said her voice was harsh but her mouth was yielding
“No I didnt” said Barney shortly and Deborah went away with a harsh exclamation Before long she knew and everybody else knew that the man who had been seen at Charlottes window was not Barney but Thomas Payne
Presently Ephraim came slowly across to the gardenpatch where Barney was planting He was breathing heavily and grinning When he reached Barney he stood still watching him and the grin deepened “Say Barney” he panted at length
“Well what is it”
“Youve lost your girl did you know it Barney”
Barney muttered something unintelligible it sounded like the growl of a dog but Ephraim was not intimidated He chuckled with delight and spoke again “Say Barney Thomas Paynes got your girl did you know it Barney”
Barney turned threateningly but he was helpless before his brothers sickly face and Ephraim knew it That purple hue and that panting breath had gained an armistice for him on many a battlefield and he had a certain triumph in it It was power of a lugubrious sort certainly but still it was power and so to be enjoyed
“Thomas Paynes got your girl” he repeated “he was over there acourtin of her last night asettin up along of her”
Barney took a step forward and Ephraim fell back a little still grinning imperturbably “You mind your own business” Barney said between his teeth and right upon his words followed Ephraims hoarse chuckle and his “Thomas Paynes got your girl”
Barney turned about and went on with his planting Ephraim standing a little aloof somewhat warily since his brothers threatening advance kept repeating his one remark as mocking as the snarl of a mosquito “Thomas Paynes got your girl Barney Say did you know it Thomas Paynes got your girl”
Finally Ephraim stepped close to Barney and shouted it into his ear “Say Barney Barney Thayer be you deaf Thomas Payne has got—your—girl” But Barney planted on his nerves were quivering the impetus to strike out was so strong in his arms that it seemed as if it must by sheer mental force affect his teasing brother but he made no sign and said not another word
Ephraim worsted at length by silence beat a gradual retreat Halfway across the field his panting voice called back “Barney Thomas Payne has got your girl” and ended in a choking giggle Barney planted and made no response but when Ephraim was well out of sight he flung down his hoe with a groaning sigh and went stumbling across the soft loam of the gardenpatch into a little woody thicket beside it He penetrated deeply between the trees and underbrush and at last flung himself down on his face among the soft young flowers and weeds “Oh Charlotte” he groaned out “Oh Charlotte Charlotte” Barney began sobbing and crying like a child as he lay there he moved his arms convulsively and tore up handfuls of young grass and leaves and flung them away in the unconscious gesturing of grief “Oh I cant I cant” he groaned “I—cant—Charlotte I cant—let any other man have you No other man shall have you” he cried out fiercely and flung up his head “you are mine mine Ill kill any other man that touches you” Barney got up and his face was flaming he started off with a great stride and then he stopped short and flung an arm around the slender trunk of a whitebirch tree and pulled it against him and leaned against it as if it were Charlotte and laid his cheek on the cool white bark and sobbed again like a girl “Oh Charlotte Charlotte” he moaned and his voice was drowned out by the manifold rustling of the young birch leaves as a human grief is overborne and carried out of sight by the soft resistless progress of nature.
Barney although his faith in Charlotte had been as strong as any mans should be in his promised wife had now no doubt but this other man had met with favor in her eyes But he had no blame for her nor even any surprise at her want of constancy He blamed the Lord for Charlotte as well as for himself “If this hadnt happened she never would have looked at any one else” he thought and his thought had the force of a blow against fate
This Thomas Payne was the best match in the village he was the squires son goodlooking and collegeeducated Barney had always known that he fancied Charlotte and had felt a certain triumph that he had won her in the face of it “You might have somebody thats a good deal better off if you didnt have me” he said to her once and they both knew whom he meant “I dont want anybody else” Charlotte had replied with her shy stateliness Now Barney thought that she had changed her mind and why should she not A girl ought to marry if she could he could not marry her himself and should not expect her to remain single all her life for his sake Of course Charlotte wanted to be married like other women This probable desire of Charlottes for love and marriage in itself, apart from him thrilled his male fancy with a certain holy awe and respect from his love for her and utter ignorance of the attitude of womankind Then too he reflected that Thomas Payne would probably make her a good husband “He can buy her everything she wants” he thought with a curious mixture of gratulation for her and agony on his own account He thought of the little bonnets he had meant to buy for her himself and these details pierced his heart like needles He sobbed and the birchtree quivered in a wind of human grief He saw Charlotte going to church in her bridal bonnet with Thomas Payne more plainly than he could ever see her in life for a torturing imagination reflects life like a magnifyingglass and makes it clearer and larger than reality He saw Charlotte with Thomas Payne blushing all over her proud delicate face when he looked at her he saw her with Thomas Paynes children “O God” he gasped and he threw himself down on the ground again and lay there face downward motionless as if fate had indeed seized him and shaken the life out of him and left him there for dead but it was his own will which was his fate
“Barney” his father called somewhere out in the field “Barney where be you”
“Im coming” Barney called back in a surly voice and he pulled himself up and pushed his way out of the thicket to the ploughed field where his father stood
“Oh there you be” said Caleb Barney grunted something inarticulate and took up his hoe again Caleb stood watching him his eyes irresolute under anxiously frowning brows “Barney” he said at length
“Well what do you want”
“Ive jest heard—” the old man began then he stopped with a jump
“I dont want to hear what youve heard Keep it to yourself if youve heard anything” Barney shouted
“I didnt know as you knew” Caleb stammered apologetically “I didnt know as youd heard Barney”
Caleb went to the edge of the field and sat down on a great stone under a wildcherry tree He was not feeling very well his head was dizzy and his wife had given him a bowl of thoroughwort and ordered him not to work
Caleb pushed his hat back and passed his hand across his forehead It was hot and his face was flushed He watched his son following up his work with dogged energy as if it were an enemy and his mind seemed to turn stupid in the face of speculation like a boys over a problem in arithmetic
There was no human being so strange and mysterious such an unknown quantity to Caleb Thayer as his own son He had not one trait of character in common with him—at least not one so translated into his own vernacular that he could comprehend it It was to Caleb as if he looked in a glass expecting to see his own face and saw therein the face of a stranger
The wind was quite cool and blew full on Caleb as he sat there Barney kept glancing at him At length he spoke “Youll get cold if you sit there in that wind father” he sang out and there was a rude kindliness in his tone
Caleb jumped up with alacrity “I dunno but I shall I guess youre right I want goin to set here but a minute” he answered eagerly Then he went over to Barney again and stood near watching him Barneys hoe clinked on a stone and he stooped and picked it out of the loam and threw it away “Theres a good many stone in this field” said the old man
“Theres some”
“It was a heap of work clearin of it in the first place You want moren two year old when I cleared it My brother Simeon helped me It was five year before he got the fever an died” Caleb looked at his son with anxious pleading which was out of proportion to his words and seemed to apply to something behind them in his own mind
Barney worked on silently
“I dont believe but what—if you was—to go over there—you could get her back again now away from that Payne fellar” Caleb blurted out suddenly then he shrank back as if from an anticipated blow
Barney threw a hoeful of earth high in air and faced his father
“Once for all father” said he “I dont want to hear another word about this”
“I shouldnt have said nothin Barney but I kinder thought—”
“I dont care what you thought Keep your thoughts to yourself”
“I know she allers thought a good deal of you an—”
“I dont want another word out of your mouth about it father”
“Well I aint goin to say nothin about it if you dont want me to Barney but you know how mother feels an— Well I aint goin to say no more”
Caleb passed his hand across his forehead and set off across the field Just before he was out of hearing Barney hailed him
“Do you feel bettern you did father” said he
“What say Barney”
“Do you feel bettern you did this morning”
“Yes I feel some better Barney—some considerable better” Caleb started to go back to Barney then he paused and stood irresolute smiling towards him “I feel considerable better” he called again “my head aint nigh so dizzy as twas”
“Youd better go home father and lay down and see if you cant get a nap” called Barney
“Yes I guess I will I guess twould be a good plan” returned the old man in a pleased voice And he went on clambered clumsily over a stonewall disappeared behind some trees reappeared in the open then disappeared finally over the slope of the hilly field
It was just five oclock in the afternoon Presently a woman came hurrying across the field with some needlework gathered up in her arms She had been spending the afternoon at a neighbors with her sewing and was now hastening home to get supper for her husband She was a pretty woman and she had not been married long She nodded to Barney as she hurried past him holding up her gayflowered calico skirt tidily Her smooth fair hair shone like satin in the sun she wore a little blue kerchief tied over her head and it slipped back as she ran against the wind She did not speak to Barney nor smile he thought her handsome face looked severely at him She had always known him although she had not been one of his mates she was somewhat older
Barney felt a pang of misery as this fair severe and happy face passed him by He wondered if she had been up to Charlottes and if Charlotte or her mother had been talking to her and if she knew about Thomas Payne He watched her out of sight in a swirl of gay skirts her blue and golden head bobbing with her dancing steps then he glanced over his shoulder at his poor new house with its fireless chimneys If all had gone well he and Charlotte would have been married by this time and she would have been bestirring herself to get supper for him—perhaps running home from a neighbors with her sewing as this other woman was doing All the sweet domestic comfort which he had missed seemed suddenly to toss above his eyes like the one desired fruit of his whole life its wonderful unknown flavor tantalized his soul All at once he thought how Charlotte would prepare supper for another man and the thought seemed to tear his heart like a panther “He shant have her” he cried out quite loudly and fiercely His own voice seemed to quiet him and he fell to work again with his mouth set hard
In half an hour he quitted work and went up to his house with his hoe over his shoulder like a bayonet The house was just as the workmen had left it on the night before his quarrel with Cephas Barnard He had himself fitted some glass into the windows of the kitchen and bedroom and boarded up the others—that was all He had purchased a few simple bits of furniture and set up his miserable bachelor housekeeping Barney was no cook and he could purchase no cooked food in Pembroke He had subsisted mostly upon milk and eggs and a poor and lumpy quality of cornmeal mush which he had made shift to stir up after many futile efforts
The first thing which he saw on entering the room tonight was a generous square of light Indian cake on the table It was not in a plate the edges were bent and crumbling and the whole square looked somewhat flattened Barney knew at once that his father had saved it from his own supper had slipped it slyly into his pocket and stolen across the field with it His mother had not given him a mouthful since she had forbidden him to come home to dinner and his sister had not dared
Barney sat down and ate the Indian cake a solitary householder at his solitary table around which there would never be any faces but those of his dead dreams Afterwards he pulled a chair up to an open window and sat there resting his elbows on the sill staring out vacantly The sun set and the dusk deepened the air was loud with birds there were shouts of children in the distance gradually these died away and the stars came out The wind was damp and sweet over in the field pale shapes of mist wavered and changed like phantoms A woman came running noiselessly into the yard and pressed against the door panting and knocked Barney saw the swirl of light skirts around the corner then the knock came
Illustration “Barney sat staring at vacancy”
He got up trembling and opened the door and stood there looking at the woman who held her hooded head down
“Its me Barney” said Charlottes voice
“Come in” said Barney and he moved aside
But Charlotte stood still “I can say what I want to here” she whispered panting “Barney”
“Well what is it Charlotte”
“Barney”
Barney waited
“Ive come over here tonight Barney to see you” said Charlotte with solemn pauses between her words “I dont know as I ought to I dont know but I ought to have more pride I thought at first I never—could—but afterwards I thought it was my duty Barney are you going to let—anything like this—come between us—forever”
“Theres no use talking Charlotte”
Charlottes hooded figure stood before him stiff and straight There was resolution in her carriage and her pleading tone was grave and solemn
“Barney” she said again and Barney waited his pale face standing aloof in the dark
“Barney do you think it is right to let anything like this come between you and me when we were almost husband and wife”
“Its no use talking Charlotte”
“Do you think this is right Barney”
Barney was silent
“If you cant answer me I will go home” said Charlotte and she turned but Barney caught her in his arms He held her close breathing in great pants He pulled her hood back with trembling strength and kissed her over and over roughly
“Charlotte” he half sobbed
Charlottes voice full of a great womanly indignation sounded in his ear “Barney you let me go” she said and Barney obeyed
“When I came here alone this way I trusted you to treat me like a gentleman” said she She pulled her hood over her face again and turned to go “I shall never speak to you about this again” said she “You have chosen your own way and you know best whether its right or youre happy in it”
“I hope youll be happy Charlotte” Barney said with a great sigh
“That doesnt make any difference to you” said Charlotte coldly
“Yes it does it does Charlotte When I heard about Thomas Payne I felt as if—if it would make you happy I—”
“What about Thomas Payne” asked Charlotte sharply
“I heard—how he was coming to see you—”
“Do you mean that you want me to marry Thomas Payne Barney Thayer”
“I want you to be happy Charlotte”
“Do you want me to marry Thomas Payne”
Barney was silent
“Answer me” cried Charlotte
“Yes I do” replied Barney firmly “if it would make you happy”
“You want me to marry Thomas Payne” repeated Charlotte “You want me to be his wife instead of yours and go to live with him instead of you You want me to live with another man”
“It aint right for you not to get married” Barney said and his voice was hoarse and strange
“You want me to get married to another man Do you know what it means”
Barney gave a groan that was half a cry
“Do you”
“Oh Charlotte” Barney groaned as if imploring her for pity
“You want me to marry Thomas Payne and live with him—”
“Hed—make you a good husband Hes—Charlotte—I cant Youve got to be happy It isnt right—I cant—”
“Well” said Charlotte “I will marry him Goodnight Barney Thayer” She went swiftly out of the yard
“Charlotte” Barney called after her as if against his will but she never turned her head
Chapter VII
On the north side of the old tavern was a great cherry orchard In years back it had been a source of considerable revenue to Silas Berry but for some seasons his returns from it had been very small The cherries had rotted on the branches or the robins had eaten them for Silas would not give them away Rose and her mother would smuggle a few small baskets of cherries to Sylvia Crane and Mrs Barnard but Silass displeasure had he found them out would have been great “I aint agoin to give them cherries away to nobody” he would proclaim “If folks dont want em enough to pay for em they can go without”
Many a great cherry picnic had been held in Silas Berrys orchard Parties had come in great rattling wagons from all the towns about and picked cherries and ate their fill at a most overreaching and exorbitant price
There were no cherries like those in Silas Berrys orchard in all the country roundabout There was no competition and for many years he had had it all his own way The young peoples appetite for cherries and their zeal for pleasure had overcome their indignation at his usury But at last Silass greed got the better of his financial shrewdness he increased his price for cherries every season and the year after the tavern closed it became so preposterous that there was a rebellion It was headed by Thomas Payne who as the squires son and the richest and most freehanded young man in town could incur no suspicion of parsimony Going one night to the old tavern to make terms with Silas for the use of his cherry orchard for a party which included some of his college friends from Boston and his fine younglady cousin from New York and hearing the preposterous sum which Silas stated as final he had turned on his heel with a strong word under his breath “You can eat your cherries yourself and be damned” said Thomas Payne and was out of the yard with the gay swagger which he had learned along with his Greek and Latin at college The next day Silas saw the party in Squire Paynes big wagon with Thomas driving and the cousins pink cheeks and white plumed hat conspicuous in the midst pass merrily on their way to a cherryless picnic at a neighboring pond and the young college men shouted out a doggerel couplet which the wit of the party had made and set to a rough tune
“Who lives here” the basses demanded in grim melody and the tenors responded “Old Silas Berry who charges sixpence for a cherry”
Silas heard the mocking refrain repeated over and over between shouts of laughter long after they were out of sight
Rose who had not been bidden to the picnic heard it and wept as she peered around her curtain at the gay party William who had also not been bidden stormed at his father and his mother joined him
“Youre jest aputtin your own eyes out Silas Berry” said she “you hadnt no business to ask such a price for them cherries its more than they are worth folks wont stand it You asked too much for em last year”
“I know what Im about” returned Silas sitting in his armchair at the window with dogged chin on his breast
“You wait an see” said Hannah “Youve jest put your own eyes out”
And afterevents proved that Hannah was right Silas Berrys cherry orchard was subjected to a species of ostracism in the village There were no more picnics held there people would buy none of his cherries and he lost all the little income which he had derived from them Hannah often twitted him with it “You can see now that what I told you was true” said she “you put your own eyes out” Silas would say nothing in reply he would simply make an animal sound of defiance like a grunt in his throat and frown If Hannah kept on he would stump heavily out of the room and swing the door back with a bang
This season Hannah had taunted her husband more than usual with his illjudged parsimony in the matter of the cherries The trees were quite loaded with the small green fruit and there promised to be a very large crop One day Silas turned on her “You wait” said he “mebbe I know what Im about moren you think I do”
Hannah scowled with sharp interrogation at her husbands shrewdly leering face “What be you agoin to do” she demanded But she got no more out of him
One morning about two weeks before the cherries were ripe Silas went halting in a casual way across the south yard towards his daughter Rose who was spreading out some linen to bleach He picked up a few stray sticks on the way ostentatiously as if that were his errand
Rose was spreading out the lengths of linen in a wide sunny space just outside the shade of the cherrytrees Her father paused tilted his head back and eyed the trees with a look of innocent reflection Rose glanced at him then she went on with her work
“Guess theres goin to be considerable many cherries this year” remarked her father in an affable and confidential tone
“I guess so” replied Rose shortly and she flapped out an end of the wet linen The cherries were a sore subject with her
“I guess theres goin to be more than common” said Silas still gazing up at the green boughs full of green fruit clusters
Rose made no reply she was down on her knees in the grass stretching the linen straight
“Ive been thinkin” her father continued slowly “that—mebbe youd like to have a little—party an ask some of the young folks an eat some of em when they get ripe You could have four trees to pick off of”
“I should think wed had enough of cherry parties” Rose cried out bitterly
“I didnt say nothin about havin em pay anything” said her father
Rose straightened herself and looked at him incredulously “Do you mean it father” said she
“Aint I jest said you might if you wanted to”
“Do you mean to have them come here and not pay father”
“There aint no use tryin to sell any of em” replied Silas “You can talk it over with your mother an do jest as youre a mind to about it thats all If you want to have a few of the young folks over here when them cherries are ripe you can have four of them trees to pick off of I aint got no more to say about it”
Silas turned in a peremptory and conclusive manner Rose fairly gasped as she watched his stiff onesided progress across the yard The vague horror of the unusual stole over her A new phase of her fathers character stood between her and all her old memories like a supernatural presence She left the rest of the linen in the basket and sought her mother in the house “Mother” she called out in a cautious voice as soon as she entered the kitchen Mrs Berrys face looked inquiringly out of the pantry and Rose motioned her back went in herself and shut the door
“What be you ashuttin the door for” asked her mother wonderingly
“I dont know what has come over father”
“What do you mean Rose Berry He aint had another shock”
“Im dreadful afraid hes going to Im dreadful afraid somethings going to happen to him”
“Id like to know what you mean” Mrs Berry was quite pale
“Father says I can have a cherry party and they neednt pay anything”
Her mother stared at her “He didnt”
“Yes he did”
They looked in each others eyes with silent renewals of doubt and affirmation Finally Mrs Berry laughed “Hm Dont you see what your fathers up to” she said
“No I dont Im scared”
“You neednt be You aint very cute Hes an old head He thinks if he has this cherry party for nothin folks will overlook that other affair an next year theyll buy the cherries again Mebbe he thinks theyll buy the other trees this year after the party How many trees did he say you could have”
“Four Maybe that is it”
“Of course tis Your fathers an old head Well youd better ask em They wont see through it and itll make things pleasanter Ive felt bad enough about it I guess Mis Thayer wont look down on us quite so much if we ask a party here and let em eat cherries for nothin Its moren shed do Ill warrant”
“Maybe they wont any of them come” said Rose
“Hm Dont you worry about that Theyll come fast enough I never see any trouble yet about folks comin to get anything good that they didnt have to pay for”
Rose and her mother calculated how many to invite to the party They decided to include all the available young people in Pembroke
“We might jest as well while were about it” said Hannah judiciously “There are cherries enough and the Lord only knows when your father ll have another freak like this I guess its like an eclipse of the sun an wont come again very soon”
Within a day or two all the young people had been bidden to the cherry party and as Mrs Berry had foretold accepted Their indignation was not proof against the prospect of pleasure and moreover they all liked Rose and William and would not have refused on their account
The week before the party when the cherries were beginning to turn red and the robins had found them out was an arduous one to little Ezra Ray a young brother of Tommy Ray who tended in Silas Berrys store He was hired for twopence to sit all day in the cherry orchard and ring a cowbell whenever the robins made excursions into the trees From earliest dawn when the birds were first astir until they sought their little nests did Ezra sit uncomfortably upon a hard peaked rock in the midst of the orchard and jingle his bell
He was whiteheaded and large of his age like his brother His pale blue eyes were gravely vacant under his thick white thatch his chin dropped his mouth gaped with stolid patience There was no mitigation for his dull task he was not allowed to keep his vigil on a comfortable branch of a tree with the mossy trunk for a support to his back lest he might be tempted to eat of the cherries and turn pal of the robins instead of enemy He dared not pull down any low bough and have a surreptitious feast for he understood well that there were likely to be sharp eyes at the rear windows of the house that it was always probable that old Silas Berry of whom he was in mortal fear might be standing at his back and moreover he should be questioned and had not falsehood for refuge for he was a good child and would be constrained to speak the truth
They would not let him have a gun instead of a bell although he pleaded hard Could he have sat there presenting a gun like a sentry on duty the week in spite of discomfort and deprivations would have been full of glory and excitement As it was the dulness and monotony of the jingling of the cowbell made even his stupid childish mind dismal All the pleasant exhilaration of youth seemed to have deserted the boy and life to him became as inane and bovine as to the original ringer of that bell grazing all the season in her own shadow over the same pastureground
And more than all that twopence for which Ezra toiled so miserably was to go towards the weaving of a rag carpet which his mother was making and for which she was saving every penny He could not lay it out in redandwhite sugarsticks at the store He sat there all the week and every time there was a whir of little brown wings and the darting flash of a red breast among the cherry branches he rang in frantic haste the old cowbell All the solace he obtained was an occasional robinpecked cherry which he found in the grass and then Mr Berry questioned him severely when he saw stains around his mouth and on his fingers
He was on hand early in the morning on the day of the cherry picnic trudging half awake with the taste of breakfast in his mouth through the acres of white dewy grass He sat on his rock until the grass was dry and patiently jingled his cowbell It was to young Ezra Ray although all unwittingly as if he himself were assisting in the operations of nature. He watched so assiduously that it was as if he dried the dewy grass and ripened the cherries
When the cherry party began to arrive he still sat on his rock and jingled his bell he did not know when to stop But his eyes were upon the assembling people rather than upon the robins He watched the brave young men whose ignominy of boyhood was past bearing ladders and tossing up shining tin pails as they came He watched the girls swinging their little straw baskets daintily his stupidly wondering eyes followed especially Rebecca Thayer Rebecca in her black muslin with her sweet throat fairly dazzling above the halflow bodice and wound about twice with a slender gold chain with her black silk apron embroidered with red roses and beautiful face glowing with rich color between the black folds of her hair held the instinctive attention of the boy He stared at her as she stood talking to another girl with her back quite turned upon all the young men until his own sister touched him upon the shoulder with a sharp nudge of a bony little hand
Amelia Rays face blonde like her brothers but sharp with the sharpness of the thin and dark was thrust into his “You must go right home now” declared her high voice “Mother said so”
“Im going to stay and help pick em” said Ezra in a voice which was not affirmative
“No you aint”
“I can climb trees”
“Youve got to go right straight home Mother wants you to wind balls for the rag carpet”
And then Ezra Ray with disconsolate gaping face over his shoulder retreated with awkward lopes across the field the cowbell accompanying his steps with doleful notes
There were about forty young people at the party when all were assembled They came mostly in couples although now and then a little group of girls advanced across the field and young men came singly Barnabas Thayer came alone and rather late Rebecca had come some time before with one of her girl mates who had stopped for her Barnabas slender and handsome in his best suit advancing with a stern and almost martial air tried not to see Charlotte Barnard but it was as if her face were the natural focus for his eyes which they could not escape However Charlotte was not talking to Thomas Payne he was not even very near her He was already in the top of a cherrytree picking busily Barney saw his trim dark head and his bright blue waistcoat among the branches and his heart gave a guilty throb of relief But soon he noted that Charlotte had not her basket and the conviction seized him that Thomas had it and was filling it with the very choicest cherries from the topmost branches as was indeed the case
Charlotte never looked at Barney although she knew well when he came She stood smiling beside another girl her smooth fair hair gleaming in the sun her neck showing pink through her embroidered lace kerchief and her gleaming head and her neck seemed to survey Barney as consciously as her face Suddenly the fierceness of the instinct of possession seized him he said to himself that it was his wifes neck no one else should see it He felt like tearing off his own coat and covering her with rude force It made no difference to him that nearly every other girl there his sister among the rest wore her neck uncovered by even a kerchief he felt that Charlotte should not have done so The other young men were swarming up the trees with the girls baskets but he stood aloof with his forehead knitted it was as if all his reason had deserted him All at once there was a rustle at his side and Rose Berry touched him on the arm he started and looked down into her softly glowing little face
Illustration “Charlotte stood beside another girl”
“Oh here you are” said she and her voice had adoring cadences
Barney nodded
“I was afraid you werent coming” said she and she panted softly through her red parted lips
Roses crisp pink muslin gown flared scalloping around her like the pink petals of a hollyhock her slender white arms showed through the thin sleeves Barney could not look away from her wideopen unfaltering blue eyes which suddenly displayed to him strange depths Charlotte during all his courtship had never looked up in his face like that He could not himself have told why but Charlotte had never for one moment lost sight of the individual, and the respect due him in her lover Rose in the heart of New England bred after the precepts of orthodoxy was a pagan and she worshipped Love himself Barney was simply the statue that represented the divinity another might have done as well had the sculpture been as fine
“I told you I was coming” Barney said slowly and his voice sounded odd to himself
“I know you did but I was afraid you wouldnt”
Rose still held her basket Barney reached out for it “Let me get some cherries for you” he said
“Oh I guess you hadnt better” Rose returned holding the basket firmly
“Why not”
“Im—afraid Charlotte wont like it” Rose said Her face upturned to Barney was full of pitiful seriousness like a childs
“Give me the basket” demanded Barney and she yielded She stood watching him as he climbed the nearest tree then she turned and met Charlottes stern eyes full upon her Rose went under the tree herself pulled down a low branch and began to eat several other girls were doing the same Thomas Payne passed the tree bearing carefully Charlottes little basket heaped with the finest cherries Rose tossed her head defiantly “She neednt say anything” she thought
The morning advanced the sun stood high and there was a light wind which now and then caused the cherryleaves to smite the faces of the pickers There were no robins in the trees that morning there were only swift whirs of little wings in the distance and sweet flurried calls which were scarcely noted in the merry clamor of the young men and girls
Silas Berry stood a little aloof leaning on a stout cane looking on with an inscrutable expression on his dry old face He noted everything he saw Rose talking to Barney he saw his son William eating cherries with Rebecca Thayer out of one basket but his expression never changed The predominant trait in his whole character had seemed to mould his face to itself unchangeably as the face of a huntingdog is moulded to his speed and watchfulness
“Dont Mr Berry look just like an old miser” a girl whispered to Rebecca Thayer then she started and blushed confusedly for she remembered suddenly that William Berry was said to be waiting upon Rebecca and she also remembered that Charlotte Barnard who was within hearing distance was his niece
Rebecca blushed too “I never thought of it” she said in a constrained voice
“Well I dont know as he does” apologized the girl “I suppose I thought of it because hes thin I always had an idea that a miser was thin” Then she slipped away and presently whispered to another girl what a mistaken speech she had made and they put their heads together with soft averted giggles
The girls had brought packages of luncheon in their baskets which they had removed to make space for the cherries and left with Mrs Berry in the tavern At noon they sent the young men for them and prepared to have dinner at a little distance from the trees where they had been picking where the ground was clean William and Rose also went up to the tavern and Rose beckoned to Barney as she passed him “Dont you want to come” she whispered as he followed hesitatingly “theres something to carry”
When the party returned Mrs Berry was with them and she and Rose bore between them a small tub of freshlyfried hot doughnuts Mrs Berry had utterly refused to trust it to the young men “I know better than to let you have it” she said laughing “Youd eat all the way there and there wouldnt be enough left to go round Me and Rose will carry it it aint very heavy” William and Barney each bore two great jugs of molassesandwater spiced with ginger
Silas pulled himself up stiffly when he saw them coming he had been sitting upon the peaked rock whereon Ezra Ray had kept vigil with the cowbell Full of anxiety had he been all day lest they should pick from any except the four trees which he had set apart for them and his anxiety was greater since he knew that the best cherries were not on those four trees Silas sidled painfully towards his wife and daughter he peered over into the tub but they swung it remorselessly past him even knocking his shin with its ironbound side
“What you got there” he demanded huskily
“Dont you say one word” returned his wife with a fierce shake of her head at him
“Whats in them jugs”
“Its nothing but sweetened water Dont father” pleaded Rose under her breath her pretty face flaming
Her mother scowled indomitably at Silas tagging threateningly at her elbow “Dont you say one word” she whispered again
“You aint goin to—give em—”
“Dont you speak” she returned hissing out the “s”
Silas said no more He followed on and watched the doughnuts being distributed to the merry party seated in a great ring like a very garland of youth under his trees he saw them drink his sweetened water
“Dont you want some” asked his wifes defiantly pleasant voice in his ear
“No I dont want none” he returned
Finally long before they had finished eating he went home to the tavern There was no one in the house He stole cautiously into the pantry and there was a reserve of doughnuts in a large milkpan sitting before the window Silas crooked his old arm around the pan carried it painfully across the great kitchen and the entry into the best room and pushed it far under the bureau Then he returned and concealed the molassesjug in the brick oven He stood for a minute in the middle of the kitchen floor chuckling and nodding as if to the familiar and confidential spirit of his own greed then he went out and a short way down the road to the cottage house where old Hiram Baxter lived and kept a little shoemakers shop in the L He entered and sat down in the little leatherreeking place with Hiram and was safe and removed from inquiry when Mrs Berry returned to the tavern for the remaining doughnuts and to mix more sweetened water The doughnuts could not be found but she carried a pail across to the store got more molasses from the barrel and so in one point outwitted her husband
Mrs Berry was famous for her rich doughnuts and the first supply had been quite exhausted William went up to her at once when she returned to the party “Wheres the rest of the doughnuts” he whispered
“Your fathers hid em” she whispered back “Hush dont say anything”
William scowled and made an exclamation “The old—”
“Hush” whispered his mother again “go up to the house and get the sweetened water Ive mixed another jug”
“Where is he” demanded William
“I dunno He aint to the store”
William strode off across the field and he searched through the house with an angry stamping and banging of doors but he could not find his father or the doughnuts “Father” he called in an angry shout standing in the doorway “Father” But there was no reply and he went back to the others with the jug of sweetened water Rebecca watched him with furtive anxious eyes but he avoided looking at her When he passed her a tumbler of sweetened water she took it and thanked him fervently but he did not seem to heed her at all
After dinner they played romping games under the trees—hunt the slipper and button and Copenhagen Mrs Barnard and two other women had come over to see the festivity and they sat at a little distance with Mrs Berry awkwardly disposed against the trunks of trees with their feet tucked under their skirts to keep them from the damp ground
Copenhagen was the favorite game of the young people and they played on and on while the afternoon deepened Clinging to the rope they formed a struggling ring looping this way and that way as the pursuers neared them Their laughter and gay cries formed charming discords their radiant faces had the likeness of one family of flowers through their one expression The wind blew harder the girls muslin skirts clung to their limbs as they moved against it and flew out around their heels in fluttering ruffles The cherry boughs tossed over their heads full of crisp whispers among their dark leaves and red fruit clusters Over across the field under the lowswaying boughs showed the old red wall of the tavern and against it a great mass of blooming phlox all vague with distance like purple smoke Over on the left fence rails glistened purple in the sun and wind—a bluebird sat on a crumbling post and sang But the young men and girls playing Copenhagen saw and heard nothing of these things
They heard only that one note of love which all unwittingly and whether they would or not they sang to each other through all the merry game Charlotte heard it whether she would or not and so did Barney and it produced in them as in the others a reckless exhilaration in spite of their sadness William Berry forgot all his mortification and annoyance as he caught Rebeccas warm fingers on the rope and bent over her red averted cheek Barney when he had grasped Roses hands which had fairly swung the rope his way kissed her with an ardor which had in it a curious fierce joy because at that moment he caught a glimpse of Thomas Paynes handsome audacious face meeting Charlottes
Barney had not wished to play but he played with zeal only he never seemed to see Charlottes fingers on the rope and Charlotte never saw his The girls cheeks flushed deeper their smooth locks became roughened The laughter waxed louder and longer the matrons looking on doubled their broad backs with responsive merriment It became like a little bacchanalian rout in a New England field on a summer afternoon but they did not know it in their simple hearts
At six oclock the mist began to rise the sunlight streamed through the trees in slanting golden shafts long drawn out like organ chords The young people gathered up their pails and baskets and went home flocking down the road together calling back farewells to Rose and William and their mother who stood in front of the tavern watching them out of sight
They were not quite out of sight when they came to Hiram Baxters little house and Silas Berry emerged from the shop door “Hullo” he cried out and they all stopped smiling at him with a cordiality which had in it a savor of apology Indeed Thomas Payne had just remarked with a hearty chorus of assents that he guessed the old man wasnt so bad after all
Silas advanced towards them he also was smiling He fumbled in his waistcoat pocket and drew out a roll of paper which he shook out with trembling fingers He stepped close to Thomas Payne and extended it
“What is it” asked the young man
Silas smiled up in his face with the ingenuous smile of a child
“What is it” Thomas Payne asked again
The others crowded around
“Its nothin but the bill” replied Silas in a wheedling whisper His dry old face turned red his smile deepened
“The bill for what” demanded Thomas Payne and he seized the paper
“For the cherries you eat” replied Silas “Ive always been in the habit of chargin more but Ive took off a leetle this time” His voice had a ring of challenge his eyes were sharp while his mouth smiled
Thomas Payne scowled over the bill The other young men peered at it over his shoulder and repeated the amount with whistles and halflaughs of scorn and anger The girls ejaculated to each other in whispers Silas stood impervious waiting
The young men whipped out their purses without a word but Thomas motioned them back “Ill pay and well settle afterwards We cant divide up here” he said and he crammed some money hard in Silass eagerly outstretched hand “Thank you for your hospitality Mr Berry” said Thomas Payne his face all flaming and his eyes flashing but his voice quite steady “I hope youll have as good luck selling your cherries next year”
There was a little exulting titter over the sarcasm among the girls in which Rebecca did not join then the party kept on The indignant clamor waxed loud in a moment they scarcely waited for the old mans back to be turned on his return to the tavern
But the young people crying out all together against this last unparalleled meanness had not reached the foot of the hill where some of them separated when they heard the quick pound of running feet behind them and a hoarse voice calling on Thomas Payne to stop They all turned and William came up pale and breathing hard “What did you pay him” he asked of Thomas Payne
“See here William we all know you had nothing to do with it” Thomas cried out
“What did you pay him” William repeated in a stern gasp
“Its all right”
“You tell me what you paid him”
Thomas Payne blushed all over his handsome boyish face He half whispered the amount to William although the others knew it as well as he
William pulled out his purse and counted out some money with trembling fingers “Take it for Gods sake” said he and Thomas Payne took it “We all know that you knew nothing about it” he said again The others chimed in with eager assent but William gave his head a shake as if he shook off water and broke away from them all and pelted up the hill with his heart so bitterly sore that it seemed as if he trod on it at every step
A voice was crying out behind him but he never heeded There were light hurrying steps after him and a soft flutter of girlish skirts but he never looked away from his own self until Rebecca touched his arm Then he looked around with a start and a great blush and jerked his arm away
But Rebecca followed him up quite boldly and caught his arm again and looked up in his face “Dont you feel bad” said she “dont you feel bad You arent to blame”
“Isnt he my father”
“You arent to blame for that”
“Disgrace comes without blame” said William and he moved on
Rebecca kept close to his side clinging to his arm “Its your fathers way” said she “Hes honest anyway Nobody can say he isnt honest”
“It depends upon what you call honest” William said bitterly “Youd better run back Rebecca You dont want them to think youre going with me and they will Im disgraced and so is Rose Youd better run back”
Rebecca stopped and he did also She looked up in his face her mouth was quivering with a kind of helpless shame but her eyes were full of womanly courage and steadfastness “William” said she “I ran away in the face and eyes of them all to comfort you They saw me and they can see me now but I dont care And I dont care if you see me I always have cared but I dont now I have always been terribly afraid lest you should think I was running after you but I aint afraid now Dont you feel bad William Thats all I care about Dont you feel bad nobody is going to think any less of you I dont I think more”
William looked down at her there was a hesitating appeal in his face as in that of a hurt child Suddenly Rebecca raised both her arms and put them around his neck he leaned his cheek down against her soft hair “Poor William” she whispered as if he had been her child instead of her lover
A girl in the merry party speeding along at the foot of the hill glanced around just then she turned again blushing hotly and touched a girl near her who also glanced around Then their two blushing faces confronted each other with significant halfshamed smiles of innocent young girlhood
They locked arms and whispered as they went on “Did you see” “Yes” “His head” “Yes” “Her arms” “Yes” Neither had ever had a lover
But the two lovers at the top of the hill paid no heed The party were all out of sight when they went slowly down in the gathering twilight William left Rebecca when they came opposite her house
Chapter VIII
When Rebecca entered the house her mother was standing over the stove making milktoast for supper The boiling milk steamed up fiercely in her face “What makes you so long behind the others” she demanded without turning stirring the milk as she spoke
“I guess I aint much am I” Rebecca said evasively She tried to make her voice sound as it usually did but she could not It broke and took on faltering cadences as if she were intoxicated with some subtle wine of the spirit
Her mother looked around at her Rebeccas face was full of a strange radiance which she could not subdue before her mothers hard inquiring gaze Her cheeks burned with splendid color her lips trembled into smiles in spite of herself her eyes were like dark fires shifting before her mothers but not paling
“Ephraim see em all go by half an hour ago” said her mother
Rebecca made no reply
“If” said her mother “you stayed behind to see William Berry I can tell you one thing once for all you neednt do it again”
“I had to see him about something” Rebecca faltered
“Well you neednt see him again about anything You might jest as well understand it first as last if youve got any idea of havin William Berry youve got to give it up”
“Mother Id like to know what you mean” Rebecca cried out blushing
“Look round here at me” her mother ordered suddenly
“Dont mother”
“Look at me”
Rebecca lifted her face perforce and her mother eyed her pitilessly “You aint been tellin of him youd have him now” said she “Why dont you speak”
“Not—just”
“Then you neednt”
“Mother”
“You neednt talk You can jest make up your mind to it You aint goin to marry William Berry Your brother has had enough to do with that family”
“Mother you wont stop my marrying William because Barney wont marry his cousin Charlotte There aint any sense in that”
“Ive got my reasons an thats enough for you” said Deborah “You aint goin to marry William Berry”
“I am if you havent got any better reason than that I wont stand it mother it aint right” Rebecca cried out
“Then” said Deborah and as she spoke she began spooning out the toast gravy into a bowl with a curious stiff turn of her wrist and a superfluous vigor of muscle as if it were molten lead instead of milk and indeed she might from the look in her face have been one of her female ancestors in the times of the French and Indian wars casting bullets with the yells of savages in her ears—“then” said she “I shant have any child but Ephraim left thats all”
“Mother dont” gasped Rebecca
“Theres another thing if you marry William Berry against your parents wishes you know what you have to expect You remember your aunt Rebecca”
Rebecca twisted her whole body about with the despairing motion with which she would have wrung her hands flung open the door and ran out of the room
Deborah went on spooning up the toast Ephraim had come in just as she spoke last to Rebecca and he stood staring grinning with gaping mouth
“Whats Rebecca done mother” he asked pleadingly catching hold of his mothers dress
“Nothin for you to know Go an wash your face an hands an come in to supper”
“Mother whats she done” Ephraims pleading voice lengthened into a whine He took more liberties with his mother than any one else dared he even jerked her dress now by way of enforcing an answer But she grasped his arm so vigorously that he cried out “Go out to the pump an wash your face an hands” she repeated and Ephraim made a little involuntary run to the door
As he went out he rolled his eyes over his shoulder at his mother with tragic surprise and reproach but she paid no attention When he came in she ignored the great painful sigh which he heaved and the podgy hand clapped ostentatiously over his left side “Draw your chair up” said she
“I dunno as I want any supper Ive got a pain Oh dear” Ephraim writhed with attentive eyes upon his mother he was like an executioner turning an emotional thumbscrew on her But Deborah Thayers emotions sometimes presented steel surfaces “You can have a pain then” said she “I aint goin to let you go to ruin because you aint well not if I know it Youve got to mind sick or well an you might jest as well know it Ill have one child obey me whether or no Set up to the table”
Ephraim drew up his chair whimpering but he fell to on the milktoast with ardor and his hand dropped from his side He had eaten half a plateful when his father came in Caleb had been milking the cows had been refractory as he drove them from pasture and he was late
“Suppers been ready half an hour” his wife said when he entered
“The heifer run down the old road when I was adrivin of her home an I had to chase her” Caleb returned meekly settling down in his armchair at the table
“I guess that heifer wouldnt cut up so every night if I had the drivin of her” remarked Deborah She filled a plate with toast and passed it over to Caleb
Caleb set it before him but he did not begin to eat He looked at Rebeccas empty place then at his wifes face long and pale and full of stern rancor behind the sugarbowl and the creampitcher
“Rebecca got home” he ventured with wary eyes upon her
“Yes shes got home”
Caleb winked meekly “Aint she comin to supper”
“I dunno whether she is or not”
“Does she know its ready” Deborah vouchsafed no reply She poured out the tea
Caleb grated his chair suddenly “Ill jest speak to her” he proclaimed courageously
“She knows its ready You set still” said Deborah And Caleb drew his chair close again and loaded his knife with toast bringing it around to his mouth with a dexterous sidewise motion
“She aint sick is she” he said presently with a casual air
“No I guess she aint sick”
“I spose she eat so many cherries she didnt want any supper” Caleb said chuckling anxiously His wife made no reply Ephraim reached over slyly for the toastspoon and she pushed his hand back
“You cant have any more” said she
“Cant I have jest a little more mother”
“No you cant”
“I feel faint at my stomach mother”
“You can keep on feelin faint”
“Cant I have a piece of pie mother”
“You cant have another mouthful of anything to eat tonight”
Ephraim clapped his hand to his side again and sighed but his mother took no notice
“Have you got a pain sonny” asked Caleb
“Yes dreadful Oh”
“Hadnt he ought to have somethin on it” Caleb inquired looking appealingly at Deborah
“He can have some of his doctors medicine if he dont feel better” she replied in a hard voice “Set your chair back now Ephraim and get out your catechism”
“I dont feel fit to mother” groaned Ephraim
“You do jest as I tell you” said his mother
And Ephraim heaving with sighs muttering angrily far under his breath lest his mother should hear pulled his chair back to the window and got his catechism out of the top drawer of his fathers desk and began droning out in his weak sulky voice the first question therein “What is the chief end of man”
“Now shut the book and answer it” said his mother and Ephraim obeyed
Ephraim was quite conversant with the first three questions and their answers after that his memory began to weaken either he was a naturally dull scholar or his native indolence made him appear so He had been drilled nightly upon the “Assemblys Catechism” for the past five years and had had many a hard bout with it before that in his very infancy when his general health admitted—and sometimes it seemed to Ephraim when it had not admitted
Many a time had the boy panted for breath when he rehearsed those grandly decisive stately replies to those questions of all ages but his mother had been obdurate He could not understand why but in reality Deborah held her youngest son who was threatened with death in his youth to the “Assemblys Catechism” as a means of filling his mind with spiritual wisdom and fitting him for that higher state to which he might soon be called Ephraim had been strictly forbidden to attend school—beyond reading he had no education but his mother resolved that spiritual education he should have whether he would or not and whether the doctor would or not So Ephraim laboriously read the Bible through a chapter at a time and he went step by step through the wisdom of the Divines of Westminster No matter how much he groaned over it his mother was pitiless Sometimes Caleb plucked up courage and interceded “I dont believe he feels quite ekal to learnin of his stint tonight” he would say and then his eyes would fall before the terrible stern pathos in Deborahs as she would reply in her deep voice “If he cant learn nothin about books hes got to learn about his own soul Hes got to whether it hurts him or not I shouldnt think knowin what you know youd say anything Caleb Thayer”
And Calebs old face would quiver suddenly like a childs he would rub the back of his hand across his eyes huddle himself into his armchair and say no more and Deborah would sharply order Ephraim spying anxiously over his catechism to go on with the next question
It was nearly dark tonight when Ephraim finished his stint he was slower than usual his progress being somewhat hindered by the surreptitious eating of a hard red apple which he had stowed away in his jacketpocket Hard apples were strictly forbidden to Ephraim as articles of diet and to eat many during the season required diplomacy
The boys jaws worked with furious zeal over the apple during his mothers temporary absences from the room on household tasks and on her return were mumbling solemnly and innocently the precepts of the catechism after a spasmodic swallowing His father was nodding in his chair and saw nothing and had he seen would not have betrayed him After a little inefficient remonstrance on his own account Caleb always subsided and watched anxiously lest Deborah should discover the misdemeanor and descend upon Ephraim
Tonight after the task was finished Deborah sent Ephraim stumbling out of the room to bed muttering remonstrances his eyes as wild and restless as a cats his ears full of the nocturnal shouts of his playfellows that came through the open windows
“Mother cant I go out an play ball a little while” sounded in a long wail from the dusk outside the door
“You go to bed” answered his mother Then the slamming of a door shook the house
“If he want sick Id whip him” said Deborah between tight lips the spiritual whip which Ephraim held by right of his illness over her seemed to sing past her ears She shook Caleb with the force with which she might have shaken Ephraim “Youd better get up an go to bed now instead of sleepin in your chair” she said imperatively and Caleb obeyed staggering halfdazed across the floor into the bedroom Deborah was only a few years younger than her husband but she had retained her youthful vigor in much greater degree She never felt the drowsiness of age stealing over her at nightfall Indeed oftentimes her senses seemed to gain in alertness as the day wore on and many a night she was up and at work long after all the other members of her family were in bed There came at such times to Deborah Thayer a certain peace and triumphant security when all the other wills over which her own held contested sway were lulled to sleep and she could concentrate all her energies upon her work Many a long task of needlework had she done in the silence of the night by her dim oil lamp in years past she had spun and woven and there was in a clothespress upstairs a wonderful coverlid in an intricate pattern of blue and white and not a thread of it woven by the light of the sun
Illustration “Many a long task of needlework had she done”
None of the neighbors knew why Deborah Thayer worked so much at night they attributed it to her tireless industry “The days want never long enough for Deborah Thayer” they said—and she did not know why herself
There was deep in her heart a plan for the final disposition of these nightly achievements but she confided it to no one not even to Rebecca The blueandwhite coverlid many a daintily stitched linen garment and laceedged pillowslip she destined for Rebecca when she should be wed although she frowned on Rebeccas lover and spoke harshly to her of marriage Tonight while Rebecca lay sobbing in her little bedroom the mother knitted assiduously until nearly midnight upon a wide linen lace with which to trim dimity curtains for the daughters bridal bedstead
Deborah needed no lamplight for this knittingwork she was so familiar with it having knitted yards with her thoughts elsewhere that she could knit without seeing her needles
So she sat in the deepening dusk and knitted and heard the laughter and shouts of the boys at play a little way down the road with a deeper pang than Ephraim had ever felt over his own deprivation
She was glad when the gay hubbub ceased and the boys were haled into bed Shortly afterwards she heard out in the road a quick manly tread and a merry whistle She did not know the tune but only one young man in Pembroke could whistle like that “Its Thomas Payne goin up to see Charlotte Barnard” she said to herself with a bitter purse of her lips in the dark That merry whistler passing her poor castout son in his lonely halffurnished house whose dark shadowy walls she could see across the field smote her as sorely as he smote him It seemed to her that she could hear that flutelike melody even as far as Charlottes door In spite of her stern resolution to be just a great gust of wrath shook her “Lettin of him come courtin her when it aint six weeks since Barney went” she said quite out loud and knitted fiercely
But poor Thomas Payne striding with his harmless swagger up the hill whistling as loud as might be one of his college airs need not although she knew it not and he knew it not himself have disturbed her peace of mind
Charlotte at the cherry party had asked him with a certain dignified shyness if he could come up to her house that evening and he had responded with alacrity “Why of course I can” he cried blushing joyfully all over his handsome face—“of course I can Charlotte” And he tried to catch one of her hands hanging in the folds of her purple dress but she drew it away
“I want to see you a few minutes about something” she said soberly and then she pressed forward to speak to another girl and he could not get another word with her about it
Charlotte after she got home from the party had changed her pretty new gown for her everyday one of mottled brown calico set with a little green sprig and had helped her mother get supper
Cephas however was late and did not come home until just before Thomas Payne arrived Sarah had begun to worry “I dont see where your father is” she kept saying to Charlotte When she heard his shuffling step on the doorstone she started as if he had been her lover When he came in she scrutinized him anxiously to see if he looked ill or disturbed Sarah Barnard during all absences of her family dug busily at imaginary pitfalls for them had they all existed the town would have been honeycombed
“There aint nothin happened has there Cephas” she said
“I dunno of anythin thats happened”
“I got kind of worried I didnt know where you was” Sarah had an air of apologizing for her worry Cephas made no reply he did not say where he had been nor account for his tardiness he did not look at his wife standing before him with her pathetically inquiring face He pulled a chair up to the table and sat down and Charlotte set his supper before him It was a plate of greens cold boiled dock and some ryeandIndian bread Cephas still adhered to his vegetarian diet although he pined on it and the longing for the fleshpots was great in his soul However he said no more about sorrel pies for the hardness and the flavor of those which he had prepared had overcome even his zeal of invention He ate of them manfully twice then he ate no more and he did not inquire how Sarah disposed of them after they had vainly appeared on the table a week She with no pig nor hens to eat them was forced with many misgivings as to the waste to deposit them in the fireplace
“They actually made good kindlin wood” she told her sister Sylvia “Poor Cephas he didnt have no more idea than a baby about makin pies” All Sarahs ire had died away tonight she set a large plump applepie slyly on the table—an applepie with ample allowance of lard in the crust thereof and she felt not the slightest exultation only honest pleasure when she saw without seeming to Cephas cut off a goodly wedge after disposing of his dock greens
“Poor father Im real glad hes tastin of the pie” she whispered to Charlotte in the pantry “greens aint very fillin”
Charlotte smiled absently Presently she slipped into the best room and lighted the candles “You expectin of anybody tonight” her mother asked when she came out
“I didnt know but somebody might come” Charlotte replied evasively She blushed a little before her mothers significantly smiling face but there was none of the shamed delight which should have accompanied the blush She looked very sober—almost stern
“Hadnt you better put on your other dress again then” asked her mother”
“No I guess this ll do”
Cephas ate his pie in silence—he had helped himself to another piece—but he heard every word After he had finished he fumbled in his pocket for his old leather purse and counted over a little store of money on his knee
Charlotte was setting away the dishes in the pantry when her father came up behind her and crammed something into her hand She started “What is it” said she
“Look and see” said Cephas
Charlotte opened her hand and saw a great silver dollar “I thought mebbe youd like to buy somethin with it” said Cephas He cleared his throat and went out through the kitchen into the shed Charlotte was too amazed to thank him her mother came into the pantry “What did he give you” she whispered
Charlotte held up the money “Poor father” said Sarah Barnard “hes doin of it to make up He was dreadful sorry about that other an hes tickled most to death now he thinks youve got somebody else and are contented Poor father he aint got much money either”
“I dont want it” Charlotte said her steady mouth quivering downward at the corners
“You keep it Hed feel all upset if you didnt Youll find it come handy I know youve got a good many things now but you had ought to have a new cape come fall you cant come out bride in a muslin one when snow flies” Sarah cast a halftimid halfshrewd glance at Charlotte who put the dollar in her pocket
“A green satin cape lined and wadded would be handsome” pursued her mother
“I shant ever come out bride” said Charlotte
“How you talk There hes comin now”
And indeed at that the clang of the knocker sounded through the house Charlotte took off her apron and started to answer it but her mother caught her and pinned up a stray lock of hair “I most wish you had put on your other dress again” she whispered
Sarah listened with her ear close to the crack of the kitchen door when her daughter opened the outside one She heard Thomas Paynes hearty greeting and Charlottes decorous reply The door of the front room shut then she set the kitchen door ajar softly but she could hear nothing but a vague hum of voices across the entry she could not distinguish a word However it was as well that she could not for her heart would have sunk as did poor Thomas Paynes
Thomas with his thick hair brushed into a shining roll above his fair high forehead in his best flowered waistcoat and blue coat with brass buttons sat opposite Charlotte his two nicely booted feet toeing out squarely on the floor his two hands on his knees and listened to what she had to say while his boyish face changed and whitened Thomas was older than Charlotte but he looked younger It seemed too as if he looked younger when with her than at other times although he was always anxiously steady and respectful and lost much of that youthful dash which made him questioningly admired by the young people of Pembroke
Charlotte began at once after they were seated Her fair grave face colored her voice had in it a solemn embarrassment “I dont know but you thought I was doing a strange thing to ask you to come here tonight” she said
“No I didnt I didnt think so Charlotte” Thomas declared warmly
“I felt as if I ought to I felt as if it was my duty to” said she She cast her eyes down Thomas waited looking at her with vague alarm Somehow some college scrapes of his flashed into his head and he had a bewildered idea the she had found them out and that her sweet rigid innocence was shocked and she was about to call him to account
But Charlotte continued raising her eyes and meeting his gravely and fairly
“Youve been coming here three Sabbath evenings running now” said she
“Yes I know I have Charlotte”
“And you mean to keep on coming if I dont say anything to hinder it”
“You know I do Charlotte” replied Thomas with ardent eyes upon her face
“Then” said Charlotte “I feel as if it was my duty to say this to you Thomas If you come in any other way than as a friend if you come on any other errand than friendship you must not come here any more It isnt right for me to encourage you and let you come here and get your feelings enlisted If you come here occasionally as a friend in friendship I shall be happy to have you but you must not come here with any other hopes or feelings”
Charlottes solemnly stilted words and earnest severe face chilled the young man opposite His face sobered “You mean that you cant ever think of me in any other way than as a friend” he said
Charlotte nodded “You know it is not because theres one thing against you Thomas”
“Then it is Barney after all”
“I was all ready to marry him a few weeks ago” Charlotte said with a kind of dignified reproach
Thomas colored “I know it Charlotte I ought not to have expected—I suppose you couldnt get over it so soon I couldnt if I had been in your place and been ready to marry anybody But I didnt know about girls I didnt know but they were different I always heard they got over things quicker I ought not to have thought— But oh Charlotte if I wait if you have a little more time dont you think you will feel different about it”
Charlotte shook her head
“But he is such a goodfornothing dog to treat you the way he does Charlotte” Thomas cried out in a great burst of wrath and jealous love
“I dont want to hear another word like that Thomas Payne” Charlotte said sternly and the young man drooped before her
“I beg your pardon Charlotte” said he “I suppose I ought not to have spoken so if you— Oh Charlotte then you dont think you ever can get over this and think a little bit of me”
“No” replied Charlotte in a steady voice “I dont think I ever can Thomas”
“I dont mean that I am trying to get you away from any other fellow Charlotte—I wouldnt do anything like that but if he wont— Oh Charlotte are you sure”
“I dont think I ever can” repeated Charlotte monotonously looking at the wall past Thomas
“Ive always thought so much of you Charlotte though I never told you so”
“Youd better not now”
“Yes Im going to now Ive got to Then Ill never say another word—Ill go away and never say another word” Thomas got up and brought his chair close to Charlottes “Dont move away” he pleaded “let me sit here near you once—I never shall again Im going to tell you Charlotte I used to look across at you sitting in the meetinghouse Sabbath days when I was a boy and think you were the handsomest girl I ever saw Then I did try to go with you once before I went to college perhaps you didnt know that I meant anything but I did Barney was in the way then a little but I didnt think much of it I didnt know that he really meant to go with you You let me go home with you two or three times—perhaps you remember”
Charlotte nodded
“I never forgot” said Thomas Payne “Well father found it out and he had a talk with me He made me promise to wait till I got through college before I said anything to you he was doing a good deal for me you know So I waited and the first thing I knew when I came home they said Barney Thayer was waiting on you and I thought it was all settled and there was nothing more to be done I made up my mind to bear it like a man and make the best of it and I did But this spring when I was through college and that happened betwixt you and Barney when he—didnt come back to you and you didnt seem to mind so much I couldnt help having a little hope I waited and kept thinking hed make up with you but he didnt and I knew how determined he was Then finally I began to make a few advances but—well its all over now Charlotte Theres only one thing Id like to ask if I hadnt waited as I promised father would it have made any difference Did you always like Barney Thayer”
“Yes it wouldnt have made any difference” Charlotte said There were tears in her eyes
Thomas Payne arose “Then that is all” said he “I never had any chance if I had only known Ive got nothing more to say I want to thank you for asking me to come here tonight and telling me It was a good deal kinder than to let me keep on coming That would have been rather hard on a fellow” Thomas Payne fairly laughed although his handsome face was white “I hope it will all come right betwixt you and Barney Charlotte” he said “and dont you worry about me I shall get on Ill own this seems a little harder than it was before but I shall get on” Thomas brushed his bell hat carefully with his cambric handkerchief and stowed it under his arm “Goodbye Charlotte” said he in his old gay voice “when you ask me Ill come and dance at your wedding”
Charlotte got up trembling Thomas reached out his hand and touched her smooth fair head softly “I never touched you nor kissed you except in games like that Copenhagen today” said he “but Ive thought of it a good many times”
Charlotte drew back “I cant Thomas” she faltered She could not herself have defined her reason for refusing her castoff lover this one comfort but it was not so much loyalty as the fear of disloyalty which led her to do so In spite of herself she saw Barney for an instant beside Thomas to his disadvantage and her love could not cover him extend it as she would The conviction was strong upon her that Thomas was the better man of the two although she did not love him
“All right” said Thomas “I ought not to have asked it of you Charlotte Goodbye”
As soon as Thomas Payne got out in the dark night air and the door had shut behind him he set up his merry whistle Charlotte stood at the front window and heard it from far down the hill
Chapter IX
One Sunday evening about four months after the cherry party Barnabas Thayer came out of his house and strolled slowly across the road Then he paused and leaned up against some pasture bars and looked around him There was nobody in sight on the road in either direction and everything was very still except for the vibrating calls of the hidden insects that come to their floodtide of life in early autumn
Barnabas listened to those calls which had in them a certain element of mystery as have all things which reach only one sense They were in their humble way the voices of the unseen and as he listened they seemed to take on a rhythmic cadence Presently the drone of multifold vibrations sounded in his ears with even rise and fall like the mighty breathing of Nature herself The sun was low and the sky was full of violet clouds Barney could see outlined faintly against them the gray sweep of the roof that covered Charlottes daily life
Soon the bell for the evening meeting began to ring and Barney started People might soon appear on their way to meeting and he did not want to see them Barney avoided everybody now he had been nowhere since the cherry party not even to meeting He led the life of a hermit and seldom met his kind at all except at the store where he went to buy the simple materials for his solitary meals
Barney turned aside from the main road into the old untravelled one leading past Sylvia Cranes house It appeared scarcely more than a lane the old wheelruts were hidden between green weedy ridges the bordering stonewalls looked like long green barrows being overgrown with poisonivy vines and rank shrubs For a long way there was no house except Sylvia Cranes There was one cellar where a house had stood before Barney could remember There were a few old blackened chimneybricks still there the stepstone worn by dead and forgotten feet and the old lilacbushes that had grown against the front windows Two poplartrees too stood where the front yard had met the road casting long shadows like men Sylvia Cranes house was just beyond and Barney passed it with a furtive anxious glance because Charlottes aunt lived there He saw nobody at the windows but the guardianstone was quite rolled away from the door so Sylvia was at home
Barney walked a little way beyond then he sat down on the stonewall and remained there motionless He heard the meetingbell farther away then it ceased The wind was quite crisp and cool and it smote his back from the northwest He could smell wildgrapes and the pungent odor of decaying leaves The autumn was beginning and over his thoughts raised like a ghost from the ashes of the summer stole a vague vision of the winter He saw for a second the driving slant of the snowstorm over the old drifting road he saw the white slant of Sylvias houseroof through it And at the same time a curious pleasant desire which might be primitive and coeval with the provident passion of the squirrels and honeybees thrilled him Then he dismissed it bitterly What need of winterstores and provisions for sweet homecomfort in the hearts of freezing storms was there for him What did he care whether or not he laid in stores of hearthwood of garden produce of apples just for himself in his miserable solitude The inborn desire of Northern races at the approach of the sterile winters containing as do all desires to insure their fulfilment the elements of human pleasure failed suddenly to move him when he remembered that his human life in one sense was over
Illustration “He remained there motionless”
Opposite him across the road in an old orchard was a tree full of apples The low sun struck them and they showed spheres of rosy orange as brilliant as Atalantas apples of gold against the background of dark violet clouds Barney looked at this tree which was glorified for the time almost out of its common meaning as a tree as he might have looked at a gorgeous procession passing before him while his mind was engrossed with his own misery seeming to project before his eyes like a veil
Presently it grew dusky and the glowing apples faded the townclock struck eight Barney counted the strokes then he arose and went slowly back He had not gone far when he saw at a distance down the road a man and woman strolling slowly towards him They disappeared suddenly and he thought they had turned into a lane which opened upon the road just there He thought to himself and with no concern that it might have been his sister Rebecca—something about the womans gait suggested her—and William Berry He knew that William was not allowed in his mothers house and that he and Rebecca met outside He looked up the dusky lane when he came to it but he saw nobody
When he reached Sylvia Cranes house he noticed that the front door was open and a woman stood there in a dim shaft of candlelight which streamed from the room beyond He started for he thought it might be Charlotte then he saw that it was Sylvia Crane leaning out towards him shading her eyes with her hand
He said “Goodevening” vaguely and passed on Then he heard a cry of indistinct words behind him and turned “What is it” he called But still he could not understand what she said her voice was so broken and he went back
When he got quite close to the gate he understood “You aint goin past Richard You aint goin past Richard” Sylvia was wailing over and over clinging to the old gatepost
Barney stood before her hesitating Sylvia reached out a hand towards him clutching piteously with pale fingers through the gloom Barney drew back from the poor hand “I rather think—youve—made a mistake” he faltered out
“You aint goin past Richard” Sylvia wailed out again She flung out her lean arm farther towards him Then she wavered Barney thought she was going to fall and he stepped forward and caught hold of her elbow “I guess you dont feel well do you Miss Crane” he said “I guess you had better go into the house hadnt you”
“I feel—kind of—bad—I—thought you was goin—past” gasped Sylvia Barney supported her awkwardly into the house At times she leaned her whole trembling weight upon him and then withdrew herself all unnerved as she was with the inborn maiden reticence which so many years had strengthened once she pushed him from her then drooped upon his arm again and all the time she kept moaning “I thought you was goin right past Richard I thought you was goin right past”
And Barney kept repeating “I guess youve made a mistake Miss Crane” but she did not heed him
When they were inside the parlor he shifted her weight gently on to the sofa and would have drawn off but she clung to his arm and it seemed to him that he was forced to sit down beside her or be rough with her “I thought you was goin right past Richard” she said again
“I aint Richard” said Barney but she did not seem to hear him She looked straight in his face with a strange boldness her body inclined towards him her head thrown back Her thin faded cheeks were burning her blue eyes eager her lips twitching with pitiful smiles The room was dim with candlelight but everything in it was distinct and Sylvia Crane looking straight at Barney Thayers face saw the face of Richard Alger
Suddenly Barney himself had a curious impression The features of Richard Alger instead of his own seemed to look back at him from his own thoughts He dashed his hand across his face with an impatient bewildered motion as if he brushed away unseen cobwebs and stood up “You have made—” he began again but Sylvia interrupted him with a weak cry “Set down here set down here jest a minute if you dont want to kill me” she wailed out and she clutched at his sleeve and pulled him down and before he knew what she was doing had shrunk close to him and laid her head on his shoulder She went on talking desperately in her weak voice—strained shrill octaves above her ordinary tone
“Ive had this—sofa ten years” she said—“ten years Richard—an you never set with me on it before an—youd been comin—here a long while before that came betwixt us last spring Richard Aint you forgiven me yet”
Barney made no reply
“Cant you put your arm around me jest once Richard” she went on “You aint never an youve been comin here a long while Ive had this sofa ten years”
Barney put his arm around her seemingly with no volition of his own
“Its six months today sence you came last” Sylvia said—“its six whole months an when I see you goin past tonight it didnt seem as if I could bear it—it didnt seem as if I could bear it Richard” Sylvia turned her pale profile closer to Barneys breast and sobbed faintly “Ive watched so long for you” she sighed out “all these months Ive sat there at the window strainin my eyes into the dark Oh you dont know Richard you wont never know”
Barney trembled with Sylvias sobs He sat with a serious shamefacedness his arm around the poor bony waist staring over the faded fair head which had never lain on any lovers breast except in dreams For the moment he could not stir he had a feeling of horror as if he saw his own double There was a subtle resemblance which lay deeper than the features between him and Richard Alger Sylvia saw it and he saw his own self reflected as Richard Alger in that straining mental vision of hers which exceeded the spiritual one
“Cant you forgive me an—come again the way—you used to” Sylvia panted out “I couldnt get home before that night nohow I couldnt Richard—twas the night Charlotte an Barney fell out They had a dreadful time I had to stay there It want my fault If Barney had come back I could have got here in season but poor Charlotte was settin out there all alone on the doorstep an her father wouldnt let her in an Sarah took on so I had to stay I thought I should die when I got back an found out youd been here an gone Aint you goin to forgive me Richard”
Barney suddenly removed his arm from Sylvias waist pushed her clinging hands away and stood up again “Now Miss Crane” he said “Ive got to tell you Youve got to listen and take it in I am not Richard Alger I am Barney Thayer”
“What” Sylvia said feebly looking up at him “I dont know what you say Richard I wish youd say it again”
“I aint Richard Alger I am Barney Thayer” repeated Barney in a loud distinct voice Sylvias straining questioning eyes did not leave his face “You made a mistake” said Barney
Sylvia turned her eyes away she laid her head down on the arm of the haircloth sofa and gasped faintly Barney bent over her “Now dont feel bad Miss Crane” said he “I shant ever say a word about this to anybody”
Sylvia made no reply she lay there half gasping for breath and her face looked deathly to Barney
“Miss Crane are you sick” he cried out in alarm When she did not answer he even laid hold of her shoulder and shook her gently and repeated the question He did not know if she were faint or dying he had never seen anybody faint or die He wished instinctively that his mother were there he thought for a second of running for her in spite of everything
“Ill go and get some water for you Miss Crane” he said desperately and seized the candle and went with it flaring and leaving a wake of smoke out into the kitchen He presently came back with a dipper of water and held it dripping over Sylvia “Hadnt you better drink a little” he urged But Sylvia suddenly motioned him away and sat up “No I dont want any water I dont want anything after this” she said in a quick desperate tone “I can never look anybody in the face again I can never go to meetin again”
“Dont you feel so about it Miss Crane” Barney pleaded his own voice uncertain and embarrassed “The room aint very light and its dark outside maybe I do look like him a little It aint any wonder you made the mistake”
“It want that” returned Sylvia “I dunno what the reason was it dont make any difference I cant never go to meetin again”
“I shant tell anybody” said Barney “I shant ever speak of it to any human being”
Sylvia turned on him with sudden fierceness “You had better not” said she “when youre doin jest the same as Richard Alger yourself an youre makin Charlotte sit an watch an suffer for nothin at all jest as he makes me You had better not tell of it Barney Thayer when it was all due to your awful will that wont let you give in to anybody in the first place an when you are so much like Richard Alger yourself that its no wonder that anybody that knows him body and soul as I do took you for him You had better not tell”
Again Barney seemed to see before his eyes that image of himself as Richard Alger and he could no more change it than he could change his own image in the lookingglass He said not another word but carried the dipper of water back to the kitchen returned with the candle setting it gingerly on the white mantelshelf between a vase of dried flowers and a mottlebacked shell and went out of the house Sylvia did not speak again but he heard her moan as he closed the door and it seemed to him that he heard her as he went down the road although he knew that he could not
It was quite dark now all the light came from a pale wild sky The moon was young and feebly intermittent with the clouds
Barney hastening along was all trembling and unnerved He tried to persuade himself that the woman whom he had just left was ill and laboring under some sudden aberration of mind yet in spite of himself he realized a terrible rationality in it Little as he had been among the village people of late and little as he had heard of the village gossip he knew the story of Richard Algers desertion of Sylvia Crane Was he not like Richard Alger in his own desertion of Charlotte Barnard and had not Sylvia been as little at fault in taking one for the other as if they had been twin brothers Might there not be a closer likeness between characters than features—perhaps by a repetition of sins and deformities and might not one now and then be able to see it
Then the question came was Charlotte like Sylvia Was Charlotte even now sitting watching for him with that awful eagerness which comes from a hunger of the heart He had seen one womans wounded heart and like most men was disposed to generalize and think he had seen the wounded hearts of all women
When he had reached the turn of the road and had come out on the main one where his house was and where Charlotte lived he stood still looking in her direction He seemed to see her a quarter of a mile away in the darkness sitting in her window watching for him as Sylvia had watched for Richard
He set his mouth hard and crossed the road He had just reached his own yard when there was the pale flutter of a skirt out of the darkness before him and a little shadowy figure met him with a soft shock The was a smothered nervous titter from the figure Barney did not know who it was he muttered an apology and was about to pass into his yard when Rose Berrys voice arrested him It was quite trembling and uncertain all the laughter had gone out of it
“Oh its you” said she “you frightened me I didnt know who it was”
Barney felt suddenly annoyed without knowing why “Oh is it you Rose” he returned stiffly “Its a pleasant evening” then he turned
“Barney” Rose said and her voice sounded as if she were weeping
Barney stopped and waited
“I want to know if—youre mad with me Barney”
“No of course I aint why”
“I thought youd acted kind of queer to me lately”
Barney stood still frowning in the darkness “I dont know what you mean” he said at length “I dont know how Ive treated you any different from any of the girls”
“You havent been to see me and—youve hardly spoken to me since the cherry party”
“I havent been to see anybody” said Barney shortly and he turned away again but Rose caught his arm “Then you are sure you arent mad with me” she whispered
“Of course Im sure” Barney returned impatiently
“It would kill me if you were” Rose whispered She pressed close to him he could feel her softly panting against his side her head sunk on his shoulder “Ive been worrying about it all these months” she said in his ear Her soft curly hair brushed his cheek but her little transient influence over him was all gone He felt angry and ashamed
“I havent thought anything about it” he said brusquely
Rose sobbed faintly but she did not move away from him Suddenly that cruel repulsion which seizes mankind towards reptiles and unsought love seized Barney He unclasped her clinging hands and fairly pushed her away from him “Goodnight Rose” he said shortly and turned and went up the path to his own door with determined strides
“Barney” Rose called after him but he paid no attention She even ran up the path after him but the door shut and she turned back She was trembling from head to foot there was a great rushing in her ears but she heard a quick light step behind her when she got out on the road and she hurried on before it with a vague dread
She almost ran at length but the footsteps gained on her A dark skirt brushed her lightcolored one and Charlottes voice full of contempt and indignation said in her ear “Oh I thought it was you”
“I—was coming up—to your—house” Rose faltered she could hardly get her breath to speak
“Why didnt you come then” demanded Charlotte “What made you go to Barney Thayers”
“I didnt” said Rose in feeble selfdefence “He was out in the road—I—just stopped to—speak to him—”
“You were coming out of his yard” Charlotte said pitilessly “You followed him in there—I saw you Shame on you”
“Oh Charlotte I havent done anything out of the way” pleaded Rose weakly
“You have tried your best to get Barney Thayer all the time you have been pretending to be such a good friend to me I dont know what you call out of the way”
“Charlotte dont—I havent”
“Yes you have I am going to tell you once for all what I think of you Youve been a false friend to me and now when Barney dont notice you you follow him up as no girl that thought anything of herself would And you dont even care anything for him you havent even that for an excuse”
“You dont know but what I do” Rose cried out desperately
“Yes I do know If anybody else came along youd care for him just the same”
“I shouldnt—Charlotte I should never have thought of Barney if he—hadnt left you you know I shouldnt”
“Thats no excuse” said Charlotte sternly
“You said yourself he would never come back to you” said Rose
“Would you have liked me to have done so by you if you had been in my place”
Rose twitched herself about “You cant expect him never to marry anybody because he isnt going to marry you” she said defiantly
“I dont—I am not quite so selfish as that But he wont ever marry anybody he dont like because she follows him up and I dont see how that alters what youve done”
Rose began to walk away Charlotte stood still but she raised her voice “I am not very happy” said she “and I shant be happy my whole life but I wouldnt change places with you Youve lowered yourself and thats worse than any unhappiness”
Rose fled away in the darkness without another word and Charlotte crossed the road to go to her Aunt Sylvias
Rose as she went on felt as if all her dreams were dying within her a dull vision of the next morning when she should awake without them weighed upon her She had a childish sense of shame and remorse and a conviction of the truth of Charlottes words And yet she had an injured and bewildered feeling as if somewhere in this terrible nature at whose mercy she was there was some excuse for her
Rose was nearly home when she began to meet the people coming from meeting She kept close to the wall and scudded along swiftly that no one might recognize her All at once a young man whom she had passed turned and walked along by her side making a shy clutch at her arm
“Oh its you” she said wearily
“Yes do you care if I walk along with you”
“No” said Rose “not if you want to”
An old pang of gratitude came over her It was only the honest overgrown boy Tommy Ray of the store She had known he worshipped her afar off she had laughed at him and half despised him but now she felt suddenly humble and grateful for even this devotion She moved her arm that he might hold it more closely
“Its too dark for you to be out alone” he said in his embarrassed tender voice
“Yes its pretty dark” said Rose Her voice shook They had passed the last group of returning people Suddenly Rose in spite of herself began to cry She sobbed wildly and the boy full of alarm and sympathy walked on by her side
“There aint anything—scared you has there” he stammered out awkwardly at length
“No” sobbed Rose
“You aint sick”
“No it isnt anything”
The boy held her arm closer he trembled and almost sobbed himself with sympathy Before they reached the old tavern Rose had stopped crying—she even tried to laugh and turn it off with a jest “I dont know what got into me” she said “I guess I was nervous”
“I didnt know but something had scared you” said the boy
They stood on the doorsteps the house was dark Roses parents had gone to bed and William was out The boy still held Roses arm He had adored her secretly ever since he was a child and he had never dared as much as that before He had thought of Rose like a queen or a princess and the thought had ennobled his boyish ignorance and commonness
“No I wasnt scared” said Rose and something in her voice gave sudden boldness to her young lover
He released her arm and put both his arms around her “Im sorry you feel so bad” he whispered panting
“It isnt anything” returned Rose but she half sobbed again the boys round cheek pressed against her wet burning one He was several years younger than she She had half scorned him but she had one of those natures that crave love for its own sweetness as palates crave sugar
She wept a little on his shoulder and the boy half beside himself with joy and terror stood holding her fast in his arms
“Dont feel bad” he kept whispering Finally Rose raised herself “I must go in” she whispered “goodnight”
The boys pleading face his innocent passionate lips approached hers and they kissed each other
“Dont you—like me a little” gasped the boy
“Maybe I will” Rose whispered back His face came closer and she kissed him again Then with a murmured “goodnight” she fled into the house and the boy went down the hill with sweeter dreams in his heart than those which she had lost
Chapter X
On the Sunday following the one of Barnabas Thayers call Sylvia Crane appeared at meeting in a black lace veil like a Spanish señorita The heavily wrought black lace fell over her face and people could get only shifting glimpses of her delicate features behind it
Richard Alger glanced furtively at the pale face shrinking austerely behind the network of black silk leaves and flowers and wondered at some change which he felt but could not fathom He scarcely knew that she had never worn the veil before And Richard Alger had he known could never have fathomed the purely feminine motive compounded of pride and shame which led his old sweetheart to unearth from the depths of a bandbox her mothers workedlace veil and tie its narrow black drawingstring with trembling fingers over her own bonnet
“Id like to know what in creation youve got that veil on for” whispered her sister Hannah Berry as they went down the aisle after meeting
“I thought I would” responded Sylvias muffled voice behind the veil
“Youve got the flowers right over your eyes I shouldnt think you could see to walk You aint never worn a veil in your life I cant see what has got into you” persisted Hannah
Sylvia edged away from her as soon as she could and glided down the road towards her own house swiftly although her knees trembled Sylvias knees always trembled when she came out of church after she had sat an hour and a half opposite Richard Alger Today they felt weaker than ever after her encounter with Hannah Nobody knew the terror Sylvia had of her sisters discovering how she had called in Barnabas Thayer and in a manner unveiled her maiden heart to him When Charlotte had come in that night after Barnabas had gone and discovered her crying on the sofa she had jumped up and confronted her with a fierce instinct of concealment
“There aint nothin new the matter” she said in response to Charlottes question “I was thinkin about mother Im apt to when it comes dusk” It was the first deliberate lie that Sylvia Crane had ever told in her life She reflected upon it after Charlotte had gone and reflected also with fierce hardihood that she would lie again were it necessary Should she hesitate at a lie if it would cover the maiden reserve that she had cherished so long
However Charlotte had suspected more than her aunt knew of the true cause of her agitation A similar motive for grief made her acute Sylvia mourning alone of a Sabbath night upon her haircloth sofa struck an old chord of her own heart Charlotte dared not say a word to comfort her directly She condoled with her for the fifteenyearsold loss of her mother and did not allude to Richard Alger but going home she said to herself with a miserable qualm of pity that poor Aunt Sylvia was breaking her heart because Richard had stopped coming
“Its harder for Aunt Sylvia because shes older” thought Charlotte on her way home that night But then she thought also with a sorer qualm of self-pity that Sylvia had not quite so long a life before her to live alone Charlotte had nearly reached her own home that night when two figures suddenly slunk across the road before her She at once recognized Rebecca Thayer as one of them and called out “Goodevening Rebecca” to her
Rebecca made only a muttered sound in response and they both disappeared in the darkness There was a look of secrecy and flight about it which somehow startled Charlotte engrossed as she was with her own troubles and her late encounter with Rose
When she got into the house she spoke of it to her mother Cephas had gone to bed and Sarah was sitting up waiting for her
“I met Rebecca and William out here” said she untying her hat “and I thought they acted real queer” Sarah cast a glance at the bedroom door which was ajar and motioned Charlotte to close it Charlotte tiptoed across the room and shut the door softly lest she should awaken her father then her mother beckoned her to come close and whispered something in her ear
Charlotte started and a great blush flamed out all over her face and neck She looked at her mother with angry shame “I dont believe a word of it” said she “not a word of it”
“I walked home from meetin with Mrs Allen this evenin” said her mother “an she says its all over town She says Rebeccas been stealin out an goin to walk with him unbeknownst to her mother all summer You know her mother wouldnt let him come to the house”
“I dont believe one word of it” repeated Charlotte
“Mis Allen says its so” said Sarah “She says Mis Thayer has had to stay home from evenin meetin on account of Ephraim—she dont like to leave him alone he aint been quite so well lately—an Rebecca has made believe go to meetin when shes been off with William Mis Thayer went to meetin tonight”
“Wasnt Mr Thayer there”
“Yes he was there but he wouldnt know what was goin on Taint very hard to pull the wool over Caleb Thayers eyes”
“I dont believe one word of it” Charlotte said again When she went upstairs to bed that whisper of her mothers seemed to sound through and above all her own trouble It was to her like a note of despair and shame quite outside her own gamut of life She could not believe that she heard it at all Rebeccas face as she had always known her came up before her “I dont believe one word of it” she said again to herself
But that whisper which had shocked her ear had already begun to be repeated all over the village—by furtive matrons behind their hands when the children had been sent out of the room by girls blushing beneath each others eyes as they whispered by the lounging men in the village store it was sent like an evil strain through the consciousness of the village until everybody except Rebeccas own family had heard it
Barnabas saw little of other people and nobody dared repeat the whisper to him and they had too much mercy or too little courage to repeat it to Caleb or Deborah Indeed it is doubtful if any woman in the village even Hannah Berry would have ventured to face Deborah Thayer with this rumor concerning her daughter
Deborah had of late felt anxious about Rebecca who did not seem like herself Her face was strangely changed all the old meaning had gone out of it and given place to another which her mother could not interpret Sometimes Rebecca looked like a stranger to her as she moved about the house She said to many that Rebecca was miserable and was incensed that she got so little sympathy in response Once when Rebecca fainted in meeting and had to be carried out she felt in the midst of her alarm a certain triumph “I guess folks will see now that I aint been fussin over her for nothin” she thought When Rebecca revived under a sprinkle of water out in the vestibule she said impatiently to the other women bending their grave concerned faces over her “Shes been miserable for some time I aint surprised at this at all myself”
Deborah watched over Rebecca with a fierce pecking tenderness like a bird She brewed great bowls of domestic medicines from nuts and herbs and made her drink whether she would or not She sent her to bed early and debarred her from the night air She never had a suspicion of the figure slipping softly as a shadow across the north parlor and out the front door night after night
She never exchanged a word with Rebecca about William Berry She tried to persuade herself that Rebecca no longer thought much about him she drove from her mind the fear lest Rebeccas illness might be due to grief at parting from him She looked at Thomas Payne with a speculative eye she thought that he would make a good husband for Rebecca she dreamed of him and built bridal castles for him and her daughter as she knitted those yards of lace at night when Rebecca had gone to bed in her little room off the north parlor When Thomas Payne went west a month after Charlotte Barnard had refused him she transferred her dreams to some fine stranger who should come to the village and at once be smitten with Rebecca She never thought it possible that Rebecca could be persisting in her engagement to William Berry against her express command Her own obstinacy was incredible to her in her daughter she had not the slightest suspicion of it and Rebecca had less to guard against
As the fall advanced Rebecca showed less and less inclination to go in the village society Her mother fairly drove her out at times Once Rebecca utterly overcome sank down in a chair and wept when her mother urged her to go to a huskingparty in the neighborhood
“Youve got to spunk up an go if you dont feel like it” said her mother “Youll feel better for it afterwards There aint no use in givin up so Im goin to get you a new crimson woollen dress an Im goin to have you go out moren youve done lately”
“I—dont want a new dress” returned Rebecca with wild sobs
“Well Im goin to get you one tomorrow” said her mother “Now go an wash your face an do up your hair an get ready You can wear your brown dress with the cherry ribbon in your hair tonight”
“I dont—feel fit to mother” moaned Rebecca piteously
But Deborah would not listen to her She made her get ready for the huskingparty and looked at her with pride when she stood all dressed to go in the kitchen
“You look better than youve done for some time” said she “an that brown dress dont look bad either if you have had it three winters Im goin to get you a nice new crimson woollen this winter Ive had my mind made up to for some time”
After Rebecca had gone and Ephraim had said his catechism and gone to bed Deborah sat and knitted and planned to get the crimson dress for Rebecca the next day
She looked over at Caleb who sat dozing by the fire “Ill go tomorrow if he aint got to spend all that last interestmoney for the parish taxes an cuttin that wood” said she “I dunno how much that woodcuttin come to an he wont know tonight if I wake him up I cant get it through his head But Ill buy it tomorrow if theres money enough left”
But Deborah was forced to wait a few weeks since it took all the interestmoney for the parish taxes and to pay for the woodcutting She had to wait until Caleb had sold some of the wood and that took some time since seller and purchasers were slowmotioned
At last one afternoon she drove herself over to Bolton in the chaise to buy the dress She went to Bolton because she would not go herself to Silas Berrys store and trade with William She could send Caleb there for household goods but this dress she would trust no one but herself to purchase
She had planned that Rebecca should go with her but the girl looked so utterly wan and despairing that day that she forbore to insist upon it Caleb would have accompanied her but she would not let him “I never did think much of menfolks standin round in stores gawpin while womenfolks was tradin” said she She would not allow Ephraim to go although he pleaded hard It was quite a cold day and she was afraid of the sharp air for his laboring breath
A little after noon she set forth all alone in the chaise slapping the reins energetically over the white horses back a thick green veil tied over her bonnet under her chin and the thin sharp wedge of face visible between the folds crimsoning in the frosty wind
While she was gone Rebecca sat beside the window and sewed Caleb shelled corn in the chimneycorner and Ephraim made a pretence of helping him “You set down an help your father shell corn while I am gone” his mother had sternly ordered
Occasionally Ephraim addressed whining remonstrances to his father and begged to be allowed to go outofdoors and Caleb would quiet him with one effectual rejoinder “You know she wont like it if you do sonny You know what she said”
Caleb as he shelled the corn with the pottering patience of old age and constitutional slowness glanced now and then at his daughter in the window He thought she looked very badly and he had all the time lately the bewildered feeling of a child who sees in a familiar face the marks of emotions unknown to it
“Dont you feel as well as common today Rebecca” he asked once and cleared his throat
“I dont feel sick as I know of any day” replied Rebecca shortly and her face reddened
As she sewed she looked out now and then at the wild December day the trees reeling in the wind and the sky driving with the leaden clouds It was too cold and too windy to snow all the afternoon but towards night it moderated and the wind died down When Mrs Thayer came home it was snowing quite hard and her green veil was white when she entered the kitchen She took it off and shook it sputtering moisture in the fireplace
“Theres goin to be a hard storm its lucky I went today” said she “I kept the dress under the buffalorobe an that aint hurt any”
Deborah waxed quite angry when she proudly shook out the soft gleaming crimson lengths of thibet because Rebecca showed so little interest in it “You dont deserve to have a new dress you act like a stick of wood” she said
Rebecca made no reply Presently when she had gone out of the room for something Caleb said anxiously “I guess she dont feel quite so well as common tonight”
“Im gettin most out of patience I dunno what ails her Im goin to have the doctor if this keeps on” returned Deborah
Ephraim sucking a stick of candy brought to him from Bolton cast a strange glance at his mother—a glance compounded of shrewdness and terror but she did not see it
It snowed hard all night in the morning the snow was quite deep and there was no appearance of clearing As soon as the breakfast dishes were put away Deborah got out the crimson thibet She had learned the tailoring and dressmaking trade in her youth and she always cut and fitted the garments for the family
She worked assiduously by the middle of the forenoon the dress was ready to be tried on Ephraim and his father were out in the barn she and Rebecca were alone in the house
She made Rebecca stand up in the middle of the kitchen floor and she began fitting the crimson gown to her Rebecca stood drooping heavily her eyes cast down Suddenly her mother gave a great start pushed the girl violently from her and stood aloof She did not speak for a few minutes the clock ticked in the dreadful silence Rebecca cast one glance at her mother whose eyes seemed to light the innermost recesses of her being to her own vision then she would have looked away but her mothers voice arrested her
“Look at me” said Deborah And Rebecca looked it was like uncovering a disfigurement or a sore
“What—ails you” said her mother in a terrible voice
Then Rebecca turned her head her mothers eyes could not hold her any longer It was as if her very soul shrank
“Go out of this house” said her mother after a minute
Rebecca did not make a sound She went bending as if there were a wind at her back impelling her across the kitchen in her quilted petticoat and her crimson thibet waist her white arms hanging bare She opened the door that led towards her own bedroom and passed out
Presently Deborah still standing where Rebecca had left her heard the front door of the house shut After a few minutes she took the broom from its peg in the corner went through the icy north parlor past Rebeccas room to the front door The snow heaped on the outer threshold had fallen in when Rebecca opened it and there was a quantity on the entry floor
Deborah opened the door again and swept out the snow carefully she even swept the snow off the steps outside but she never cast a glance up or down the road Then she beat the snow off the broom and went in and locked the door behind her
On her way back to the kitchen she paused at Rebeccas little bedroom The waist of the new gown lay on the bad She took it out into the kitchen and folded it carefully with the skirt and the pieces then she carried it up to the garret and laid it away in a chest
When Caleb and Ephraim came in from the barn they found Deborah sitting at the window knitting a stocking She did not look up when they entered
The corn was not yet shelled and Caleb arranged his baskets in the chimneycorner and fell to again Ephraim began teasing his mother to let him crack some nuts but she silenced him peremptorily “Set down an help your father shell that corn” said she And Ephraim pulled a grating chair up to his father muttering cautiously
Caleb kept looking at Deborah anxiously He glanced at the door frequently
“Wheres Rebecca” he asked at last
“I dunno” replied Deborah
“Has she laid down”
“No she aint”
“She aint gone out in the snow has she” Caleb said with deploring anxiety
Deborah answered not a word She pursed her lips and knitted
“She aint has she mother”
“Keep on with your corn” said Deborah and that was all she would say
Presently she arose and prepared dinner in the same dogged silence Caleb and even Ephraim watched her furtively with alarmed eyes
When Rebecca did not appear at the dinnertable Caleb did not say anything about it but his old face was quite pale He ate his dinner from the force of habit of over seventy years during which time he had always eaten his dinner but he did not taste it consciously
He made up his mind that as soon as he got up from the table he would go over to Barneys and consult him After he pushed his chair away he was slipping out shyly but Deborah stopped him
“Set down an finish that corn I dont want it clutterin up the kitchen any longer” said she
“I thought Id jest slip out a minute mother”
Deborah motioned him towards the chimneycorner and the baskets of corn with a stern gesture and Caleb obeyed Ephraim too settled down beside his father and fell to shelling corn without being told He was quite cowed and intimidated by this strange mood of his mothers and involuntarily shrank closer to his father when she passed near him
Caleb and Ephraim both watched Deborah with furtive terror as she moved about washing and putting away the dinnerdishes and sweeping the kitchen
They looked at each other when after the afterdinner housework was all done she took her shawl and hood from the peg and drew some old wool socks of Calebs over her shoes She went out without saying a word Ephraim waited a few minutes after the door shut behind her then he ran to the window
“Shes gone to Barneys” he announced rolling great eyes over his shoulder at his father and the old man also went over to the window and watched Deborah plodding through the snow up the street
It was not snowing so hard now and the clouds were breaking but a bitter wind was blowing from the northwest It drove Deborah along before it lashing her skirts around her gaunt limbs but she leaned back upon it and did not bend
The road was not broken out and the snow was quite deep but she went along with no break in her gait She went into Barneys yard and knocked at his door She set her mouth harder when she heard him coming
Barney opened the door and started when he saw who was there “Is it you mother” he said involuntarily then his face hardened like hers and he waited The mother and son confronted each other looked more alike than ever
Deborah opened her mouth to speak twice before she made a sound She stood upright and unyielding but her face was ghastly and she drew her breath in long husky gasps Finally she spoke and Barney started again at her voice
“I want you to go after William Berry and make him marry Rebecca” she said
“Mother what do you mean”
“I want you to go after William Berry and make him marry Rebecca”
“Mother”
“Rebecca is gone I turned her out of the house this mornin I dont know where she is Go and find her and make William Berry marry her”
“Mother before the Lord I dont know what you mean” Barney cried out “You didnt turn Rebecca out of the house in all this storm What did you turn her out for Where is she”
“I dont know where she is I turned her out because I wouldnt have her in the house You brought it all on us if you hadnt acted so I shouldnt have felt as I did about her marryin Now you can go an find her and get William Berry an make him marry her I aint got anything more to do with it”
Deborah turned and went out of the yard
“Mother” Barney called after her but she kept on He stood for a second looking after her retreating figure struggling sternly with the snowdrifts meeting the buffets of the wind with her head up then he went in and put on his boots and his overcoat
Barney had heard not one word of the village gossip and the revelation in his mothers words had come to him with a great shock As he went up the hill to the old tavern he could hardly believe that he had understood her rightly Once he paused and turned and was half inclined to go back He was as pureminded as a girl and almost as ignorant he could not believe that he knew what she meant
Barney hesitated again before the store then he opened the great clanging door and went in A farmer in a blue frock stiff with snow had just completed his purchases and was going out William who had been waiting upon him was quite near the door behind the counter At the farther end of the store could be seen the red glow of a stove and Tommy Rays glistening fair had Some one else who had shrunk out of sight when Barney entered was also there
Barney saw no one but William He looked at him and all his bewilderment gathered itself into a point He felt a sudden fierce impulse to spring at him
William looked at Barney and his faced changed in a minute He took up his hat and came around the counter “Did you want to see me” he said hoarsely
“Come outside” said Barney And the two men went out and stood in the snow before the store
“Where is Rebecca” said Barney He looked at William and again the savage impulse seized him William did not shrink before it
Illustration “‘Where is Rebecca’ said Barney”
“What do you mean” he returned His lips were quite stiff and white but he looked back at Barney
“Dont you know where she is”
“Before God I dont Barney What do you mean”
“She left home this morning Mother turned her out”
“Turned her out” repeated William
“Come with me and find her and marry her or Ill kill you” said Barney and he lashed out suddenly with his fist in Williams face
“You wont need to for Ill kill myself if I dont” William gasped out Then he turned and ran
“Where are you going” Barney shouted rushing after him in a fury
“To put the horse in the cutter” William called back And indeed he was headed towards the barn Barney followed him and the two men put the horse between the shafts Once William asked hoarsely “Any idea which way” and Barney shook his head
“What time did she go”
“Some time this forenoon”
William groaned
The horse was nearly harnessed when Tommy Ray came running out from the store and beckoned to Barney “Rose says she see her going up the turnpike this morning” he said in a low voice “She was up in her chamber that looks over the turnpike and she see somebody goin up the turnpike She thought it looked like Rebecca but she supposed it must be Mis Jim Sloane It must have been Rebecca”
“What time was it” William asked thrusting his white face between them The boy turned aside with a gesture of contempt and dislike “About halfpast ten” he answered shortly Then he turned on his heel and went back to the store Rose was peering around the halfopen door with a white shocked face Somehow she had fathomed the cause of the excitement
“Well go up the turnpike then” said Barney William nodded The two men sprang into the cutter and the snow flew in their faces from the horses hoofs as they went out the barn door
The old tavern stood facing the old turnpike road to Boston but the store and barn faced on the new road at its back and people generally approached the tavern by that way
William and Barney had to drive down the hill then turn the corner and up the hill again on the old turnpike
There was not a house on that road for a full mile William urged the horse as fast as he could through the fresh snow Both men kept a sharp lookout at the sides of the road The sun was out now and the snow was blinding white the north wind drove a glittering spray as sharp and stinging as diamonddust in their faces
Once William cried out with a dry sob “My God shell freeze in this wind if shes out in it”
And Barney answered “Maybe it would be better for her if she did”
William looked at him for the first time since they started “See here Barney” he said “God knows its not to shield myself—Im past that but Ive begged her all summer to be married Ive been down on my knees to her to be married before it came to this”
“Why wouldnt she”
“I dont know oh I dont know The poor girl was near distracted Her mother forbade her to marry me and held up her Aunt Rebecca who married against her parents wishes and hung herself before her all the time Your trouble with Charlotte Barnard brought it all about Her mother never opposed it before I begged her to marry me but she was afraid or something I dont know what”
“Cant you drive faster” said Barney
William had been urging the horse while he spoke but now he shook the whip over him again
Mrs Jim Sloanes house was a long unpainted cottage quite near the road The woman who lived alone there was under a kind of indefinite ban in the village Her husband who had died several years before had been disreputable and drunken and the mantle of his disgrace had seemed to fall upon his wife if indeed she was not already provided with such a mantle of her own Everybody spoke slightingly of Mrs Jim Sloane The men laughed meaningly when they saw her pass wrapped in an old plaid shawl which she wore summer and winter and which seemed almost like a uniform Stories were told of her dirt and shiftlessness of the hens which roosted in her kitchen Poor Mrs Jim Sloane in her blue plaid shawl tramping frequently from her solitary house through the village was a byword and a mocking to all the people
When William and Barney came abreast of her house they saw the blue flutter of Mrs Jim Sloanes shawl out before above the blue dazzle of the snow
“Hullo” she was crying out in her shrill voice and waving her hand to them to stop
William pulled the horse up short and the woman came plunging through the snow close to his side
“Shes in here” she said with a knowing smile The faded fair hair blew over her eyes she pushed it back with a coquettish gesture there was a battered prettiness about her thin pinkandwhite face turning blue in the sharp wind
“When did she get here” asked Barney
“This forenoon She fell down out here couldnt get no farther I came out an got her into the house Didnt know but she was done to but I fixed her up some hot drink an made her lay down I sposed youd be along” She smiled again
William jumped out of the cutter and tied the horse to an old fencepost Then he and Barney followed the woman into the house Barney looked at the old blue plaid shawl with utter disgust and revulsion He had always felt a loathing for the woman and her being a distant relative on his fathers side intensified it
Mrs Sloane threw open the door and bade them enter as if to a festival “Walk right in” said she
There was a wild flutter of hens as they entered Mrs Sloane drove them before her “The henhouse roof fell in an I have to keep em in here” she said and shooed them and shook her shawl at them until they alighted all croaking with terror upon the bed in the corner
Then she looked inquiringly around the room “Why” she cried “shes gone she was settin here in this rockinchair when I went out She must have run when she see you comin”
Mrs Sloane hustled through a door the tattered fringes of her shawl flying and then her voice shrilly expostulating was heard in the next room
The two men waited standing side by side near the door in a shamed silence They did not look at each other
Presently Mrs Sloane returned without her shawl Her old cotton gown showed tattered and patched and there were glimpses of her sharp white elbows at the sleeves “She wont come out a step” she announced “I cant make her Shes takin on terribly”
William made a stride forward “Ill go in and see her” he said hoarsely but Mrs Jim Sloane stood suddenly in his way her slender back against the door
“No you aint goin in” said she “I told her I wouldnt let you go in”
William looked at her
“Shes dreadful set against either one of you comin in an I told her you shouldnt” she said firmly She smoothed her wild locks down tightly over her ears as she spoke All the coquettish look was gone
William turned around and looked helplessly at Barney and Barney looked back at him Then Barney put on his hat and shrugged himself more closely into his greatcoat
“Ill go and get the minister” he said
Mrs Sloane thrust her chin out alertly “Goin to get her married right off” she asked with a confidential smile
Barney ignored her “I guess its the best way to do” he said sternly to William and William nodded
“Well I guess tis the best way” Mrs Sloane said with cheerful assent “I dont blieve you could hire her to come out of that room an go to the ministers nohow Shes terrible upset poor thing”
As Barney went out of the door he cast a look full of involuntary suspicion back at William and hesitated a second on the threshold Mrs Sloane intercepted the look “Ill look out he dont run away while youre gone” she said then she laughed
Williams white face flamed up suddenly but he made no reply When Barney had gone he drew a chair up close to the hearth and sat there bent over with his elbows on his knees Mrs Sloane sat down on the foot of the bed close to the door of the other room as if she were mounting guard over it She kept looking at William and smiling and opening her mouth to speak then checking herself
“Its a pretty cold day” she said finally
William grunted assent without looking up Then he motioned with his shoulder towards the door of the other room “Aint it cold in there” he half whispered
“I rolled her all up in my shawl I guess she wont ketch cold its thick” responded the woman effusively and William said no more He sat with his chin in his hands and his eyes fixed absently The fire was smoking over a low red glow of coals the chimneyplace yawned black before him the hearth was all strewn with pots and kettles and the shelf above it was piled high with a vague household litter It had leaked around the chimney and there was a great discolored blotch on the wall above the shelf and the ceiling Two or three hens came pecking around the kettles at Williams feet
To this young man brought up in the extreme thrift and neatness of a typical New England household this strange untidiness as he viewed it through his strained mental state seemed to have a deeper significance and reveal the very shame and squalor of the soul itself, and its own existence and thoughts by material images
He might from his own sensations as he sat there have been actually translated into a veritable hell from the utter strangeness of the atmosphere which his thoughts seemed to gasp in William had never come fully into the atmosphere of his own sin before but now he had and somehow the untidy pots and kettles on the hearth made it more real He was conscious as he sat there of very little pity for the girl in the other room of very little love for her and also of very little love or pity for himself he felt nothing but a kind of horror He saw suddenly the alien side of life and the alien side of his own self which he would always have kept faced out towards space away from all eyes like the other side of the moon and that was for the time all he could grasp
Once or twice Mrs Sloane volunteered a remark but he scarcely responded and once he heard absently her voice and Rebeccas in the other room Otherwise he sat in utter silence except for the low chuckle of the hens and the taps of their beaks against the iron pots until Barney came with the minister and the ministers wife
Barney had taken the minister aside and asked him stammeringly if he thought his wife would come He could not bear the thought of the Sloane womans being a witness at his sisters wedding The minister and his wife were both very young and had not lived long in Pembroke They looked much alike the ministers small pale peaked face peered with anxious solicitude between the folds of the great green scarf which he tied over his cap and his wife looked like him out of her great wadded green silk hood when they got into the sleigh with Barney
The minister had had a whispered conference with his wife and now she never once let her eyes rest on either of the two men as they slid swiftly along over the new snow Her heart beat loudly in her ears her little thin hands were cold in her great muff She had married very young out of a godly New England ministers home She had never known anything like this before and a sort of general shame of femininity seemed to be upon her
When she followed her husband into Mrs Sloanes house she felt herself as burdened with shame—as if she stood in Rebeccas place Her little face all blue with the sharp cold shrank shocked and sober into the depths of her great hood She stood behind her husband her narrow girlish shoulders bending under her thick mantilla and never looked at the face of anybody in the room
She did not see William at all He stood up before them as they entered they all nodded gravely Nobody spoke but Mrs Sloane vibrating nervously in the midst of her clamorous hens and Barney silenced her
“Well go right in” he said in a stern peremptory tone then he turned to William “Are you ready” he asked
William nodded with his eyes cast down The party made a motion towards the other room but Mrs Sloane unexpectedly stood before the door
“I told her there shouldnt nobody come in” said she “an I aint goin to have you all bustin in on her without she knows it Shes terrible upset You wait a minute”
Mrs Sloanes blue eyes glared defiantly at the company The ministers wife bent her hooded head lower She had heard about Mrs Sloane and felt as if she were confronted by a woman from Revelation and there was a flash of scarlet in the room
“Go in and tell her we are coming” said Barney And Mrs Sloane slipped out of the room cautiously opening the door only a little way Her voice was heard and suddenly Rebeccas rang out shrill in response although they could not distinguish the words Mrs Sloane looked out “She says she wont be married” she whispered
“You let me see her” said Barney and he took a stride forward but Mrs Sloane held the door against him
“You cant” she whispered again “Ill talk to her some more I can talk her over if anybody can”
Barney fell back and again the door was shut and the voices were heard This time Rebeccas arose into a wail and they heard her cry out “I wont I wont Go away and stop talking to me I wont Go away”
William turned around and hid his face against the corner of the mantelshelf Barney went up and clapped him roughly on the shoulder “Cant you go in there and make her listen to reason” he said
But just then Mrs Sloane opened the door again “You can walk right in now” she announced smiling her thin mouth sending the lines of her whole face into smirking upward curves
The whole company edged forward solemnly Mrs Sloane was following but Barney stood in her way “I guess youd better not come in” he said abruptly
Mrs Sloanes face flushed a burning red “I guess” she began in a loud voice but Barney shut the door in her face She ran noisily stamping her feet like an angry child to the fireplace caught up a heavy kettle and threw it down on the hearth The hens flew up with a great clamor and whir of wings Mrs Sloanes shrill mocking laugh arose above it She began talking in a highpitched voice flinging out vituperations which would seem to patter against the closed door like bullets Suddenly she stopped as if her ire had failed her and listened intently to a low murmur from the other room She nodded her head when it ceased
The door opened soon and all except Rebecca came out They stood consulting together in low voices and Mrs Sloane listened They were deciding where to take Rebecca
All at once Mrs Sloane spoke Her voice was still highpitched with anger
“If you want to know where to take her to I can tell you” said she “Id keep her here an welcome but I spose you think I aint good enough youre all such mighty particular folks an aint never had no disgrace in your own families William Berry cant take her to his home tonight for his mother wouldnt leave a whole skin on either of em Her own mother has turned her out an Barney cant take her in Shes got to go somewhere where theres a woman shes terrible upset There aint no other way but for you an Mis Barnes to take her home tonight an keep her till William gets a place fixed to put her in” Mrs Sloane turned to the minister and his wife regarding them with a mixture of defiance sarcasm and appeal
They looked at each other hesitatingly The ministers wife paled within her hood and her eyes reddened with tears
“I shouldnt spose youd need any time to think on it such good folks as you be” said Mrs Sloane “There aint no other way Shes got to be where theres a woman”
Mrs Barnes turned her head towards her husband “She can come if you think she ought to” she said in a trembling voice
The sun was setting when the party started William led Rebecca out through the kitchen—a muffled hesitating figure whose very identity seemed to be lost for she wore Mrs Sloanes blue plaid shawl pinned closely over her head and face—and lifted her into his cutter with the minister and his wife Then he and Barney walked along plodding through the deep snow behind the cutter The sun was setting and it was bitterly cold the snow creaked and the trees swung with a stiff rattle of bare limbs in the wind
The two men never spoke to each other The minister drove slowly and they could always see Mrs Jim Sloanes blue plaid shawl ahead
When they reached the Caleb Thayer house Barney stopped and William followed on alone after the sleigh
Barney turned into the yard and his father was standing in the barn door looking out
“Tell mother shes married” Barney sang out hoarsely Then he went back to the road and home to his own house
Chapter XI
Barney went to see Rebecca the next day but the ministers wife came to the door and would not admit him She puckered her lips painfully and a blush shot over her face and little thin throat as she stood there before him “I guess you had better not come in” said she nervously “I guess you had better wait until Mrs Berry gets settled in her house Mr Berry is going to hire the old Bennett place I guess it would be pleasanter”
Barney turned away blushing also as he stammered an assent Always keenly alive to the shame of the matter it seemed as if his sense of it were for the moment intensified The ministers wifes whole nature seemed turned into a broadside of mirrors towards Rebeccas shame and misery and it was as if the reflection was multiplied in Barney as he looked at her
Still he could not take the shame to his own nature as she could being a woman He looked back furtively at the house as he went down the road thinking he might catch a glimpse of poor Rebecca at the window
But Rebecca kept herself well hid After William had hired the old Bennet house and established her there she lived with curtains down and doors bolted Never a neighbor saw her face at door or window although all the women who lived near did their housework with eyes that way She would not go to the door if anybody knocked The caller would hear her scurrying away Nobody could gain admittance if William were not at home
Barney went to the door once and her voice sounded unexpectedly loud and piteously shrill in response to his knock
“You cant come in go away” cried Rebecca
“I dont want to say anything hard to you” said Barney
“Go away go away” repeated Rebecca and then he heard her sob
“Dont cry” pleaded Barney futilely through the door But he heard his sisters retreating steps and her sobs dying away in the distance
He went away and did not try to see her again
Rose went to see Rebecca stealing out of a back door and scudding across snowy fields lest her mother should espy her and stop her But Rebecca had not come to the door although Rose had stood there a long time in a bitter wind
“She wouldnt let me in” she whispered to her brother in the store when she returned She was friendly to him in a shamefaced evasive sort of way and she alone of his family His father and mother scarcely noticed him
“Much as ever as shell let me in poor girl” responded William looking miserably aside from his sisters eyes and weighing out some meal
“She wouldnt let mother in if she went there” said Rose She felt a little piqued at Rebeccas refusing her admittance It was as if all her pity and generous sympathy had been thrust back upon her and her pride in it swamped
“Theres no danger of her going there” William returned bitterly
And there was not Hannah Berry would have set herself up in a pillory as soon as she would have visited her sons wife She scarcely went into a neighbors lest she should hear some allusion to it
Rebeccas father often walked past her house with furtive wistful eyes towards the windows Once or twice when nobody was looking he knocked timidly but he never got any response He always took a circuitous route home that his wife might not know where he had been Deborah never spoke of Rebecca neither Caleb nor Ephraim dared mention her name in her hearing
Although Deborah never asked a question and although people were shy of alluding to Rebecca she yet seemed to know in some occult and instinctive fashion all about her
When a funeral procession passed the Thayer house one afternoon Deborah knew quite well whose little coffin was in the hearse although she could scarcely have said that anybody had told her
Caleb came to her after dinner with a strange defiant air “I want a clean dicky mother Im agoin” said he And Deborah got out the old mans Sunday clothes for him without a word She even brushed his hair with hard careful strokes and helped him on with his greatcoat but she never said a word about Rebecca and her babys funeral
“They had some white posies on it” Caleb volunteered tremblingly when he got home
Deborah made no reply
“There was quite a lot there” added Caleb
“Go an bring me in some kindlin wood” said Deborah
Ephraim stood by staring alternately at his father and mother He had watched the funeral procession pass with furtive interest
“It wont hurt you none to make a few lamplighters” said his mother “You set right down here an Ill get you some paper”
Ephraim clapped his hand to his side and rolled his eyes agonizingly towards his mother but she took no notice She got some paper out of the cupboard and Ephraim sat down and began quirling it into long spirals with a wretched sulky air
Since his sisters marriage Ephraim had had a sterner experience than had ever fallen to his lot before His mother redoubled her discipline over him It was as if she had resolved since all her vigorous training had failed in the case of his sister that she would intensify it to such purpose that it should not fail with him
So strait and narrow was the path in which Ephraim was forced to tread those wintry days so bound and fettered was he by precept and admonition that it seemed as if his very soul could do no more than shuffle along where his mother pointed
A scanty and simple diet had Ephraim and it seemed to him not so much from a solicitude for his health as from a desire to mortify his flesh for the good of his spirit Ephraim obeyed perforce he was sincerely afraid of his mother but he had within him a dogged and growing resentment against those attempts to improve his spirit
Not a bit of cake was he allowed to taste When the door of a certain closet in which poundcake for possible guests was always kept in a jar and had been ever since Ephraim could remember was opened the boys eyes would fairly glare with desire “Jest gimme a little scrap mother” he would whine He had formerly on rare occasions been allowed a small modicum of cake but now his mother was unyielding He got not a crumb he could only sniff hungrily at the rich spicy and fruity aroma which came forth from the closet and swallow at it vainly and unsatisfactorily with straining palate
Ephraim was not allowed a softstoned plum from a piece of mincepie the pie had always been tabooed He was not even allowed to pick over the plums for the pies unless under the steady watch of his mothers eyes Once she seemed to see him approach a plum to his mouth when her back was towards him
“What are you doing Ephraim” she said and her voice sounded to the boy like one from the Old Testament He put the plum promptly into the bowl instead of his mouth
“I aint doin nothin mother” said he but his eyes rolled alarmedly after his mother as she went across the kitchen That frightened Ephraim He was a practical boy and not easily imposed upon but it really seemed to him that his mother had seen him after some occult and uncanny fashion from the back of her head A vague and preposterous fancy actually passed through his bewildered boyish brain that the little tightly twisted knob of hair on the back of a feminine head might have some strange visual power of its own.
He never dared taste another plum even if the knob of hair directly faced him
Every day Ephraim had a double task to learn in his catechism for Deborah held that no labor however arduous which savored of the Word and the Spirit could work him bodily ill If Ephraim had been enterprising and daring enough he would have fairly cursed the Westminster divines as he sat hour after hour crooking his boyish back painfully over their consolidated wisdom driving the letter of their dogmas into his boyish brain while the sense of them utterly escaped him
There was one whole day during which Ephraim toiled laboriously conning over the majestic sentences in loud whispers and received thereby only a vague impression and maudlin hope that he himself might be one of the elect of which they treated because he was so strenuously deprived of plums in this life and might therefore reasonably expect his share of them in the life to come
That day poor Ephraim—glancing between whiles at some boys out coasting over in a field down a fine icy slope hearing now and then their shouts of glee—had a certain sense of superiority and complacency along with the piteous and wistful longing which always abode in his heart
“Maybe” thought Ephraim half unconsciously not framing the thought in words to his mind—“maybe if I am a good boy and dont have any plums nor go out coasting like them I shall go to heaven and maybe they wont” Ephraims poor purple face at the windowpane took on a strange serious expression as he evolved his childish tenet of theology His mother came in from another room “Have you got that learned” said she and Ephraim bent over his task again
Ephraim had not been quite as well as usual this winter and his mother had been more than usually anxious about him She called the doctor in finally and followed him out into the cold entry when he left “Hes worse than he has been aint he” she said abruptly
The doctor hesitated He was an old man with a moderate manner He buttoned his old greatcoat redolent of drugs closer his breath steamed out in the frosty entry “I guess you had better be a little careful about getting him excited” he said at last evasively “You had better get along as easy as you can with him” The doctors manner implied more than his words he had his own opinion of Deborah Thayers sternness of rule and he had sympathy with Rebecca
Deborah seemed to have an intuition of it for she looked at him and raised her voice after a manner which would have become the Deborah of the scriptures
“What would you have me do” she demanded “Would you have me let him have his own way if it were for the injury of his soul” It was curious that Deborah as she spoke seemed to look only at the spiritual side of the matter The idea that her discipline was actually necessary for her sons bodily weal did not occur to her and she did not urge it as an argument
“I guess you had better be a little careful and get along as easy as you can” repeated the doctor opening the door
“That aint all thats to be thought of” said Deborah with stern and tragic emphasis as the doctor went out
“What did the doctor say mother” Ephraim inquired when she went into the room again He looked half scared half important as he sat in the great rockingchair by the fire He breathed short and his words were disconnected as he spoke
His mother for answer took the catechism from the shelf and extended it towards him with a decisive thrust of her arm
“It is time you studied some more” said she
Ephraim jerked himself away from the proffered book “I dont want to study any more now mother” he whined
“Take it” said Deborah
Caleb was paring apples for pies on the other side of the hearth Ephraim looked across at him desperately “I want to play hollygull with father” he said
“Ephraim”
“Cant I play hollygull with father jest a little while”
“You take this book and study your lesson” said Deborah between nearly closed lips
Ephraim began to weep he took the book with a vicious snatch and an angry sob “Wont never let me do anythin I want to” he cried convulsively
“Not another word” said Deborah Ephraim bent over his catechism with halfsuppressed sobs He dared not weep aloud Deborah went into the pantry with the medicinebottle which the doctor had left she wanted a spoon Caleb caught hold of her dress as she was passing him
“What is it” said she
“Look here jest a minute mother”
“I cant stop father Ephraim has got to have his medicine”
“Jest look here a minute mother”
Deborah bent her head impatiently and Caleb whispered “No he cant I told him he couldnt” she said aloud and passed on into the pantry
Caleb looked over at Ephraim with piteous and helpless sympathy “Never you mind sonny” he said cautiously
“She—makes—” began Ephraim with a responsive plaint but his mother came out of the pantry and he stopped short Caleb dropped a pared apple noisily into the pan
“Youll dent that pan father if you fling the apples in that way” said Deborah She had a thick silver spoon and she measured out a dose of the medicine for Ephraim She approached him extending the spoon carefully “Open your mouth” commanded she
“Oh mother I dont want to take it”
“Open your mouth”
“Oh mother—I dont—want to—take it”
“Now sonny I wouldnt mind takin of it Its real good medicine that the doctor left you an fathers payin considable for it The doctor thinks its goin to make you well” said Caleb who was looking on anxiously
“Open your mouth and take it” said Deborah sternly She presented the spoon at Ephraim as if it were a bayonet and there were death at the point
“Oh mother” whimpered Ephraim
“Mebbe mother will let you have a little taste of lasses arter it if you take it real good” ventured Caleb
“No he wont have any lasses after it” said Deborah “Im atendin to him father Now Ephraim you take this medicine this minute or I shall give you somethin worse than medicine Open your mouth” And Ephraim opened his mouth as if his mothers will were a veritable wedge between his teeth swallowed the medicine with a miserable gulp and made a grotesque face of wrath and disgust Caleb watching swallowed and grimaced at the same instant that his son did There were tears in his old eyes as he took up another apple to pare
Deborah set the bottle on the shelf and laid the spoon beside it “Youve got to take this every hour for a spell” said she “an I aint goin to have any such work if you be sick you can make up your mind to it”
And make up his mind to this unwelcome dose Ephraim did Once an hour his mother stood over him with the spoon and the fierce odor of the medicine came to his nostrils he screwed his eyes tight opened his mouth and swallowed without a word There were limits to his mothers patience which Ephraim dared not pass He had only vague ideas of what might happen if he did but he preferred to be on the safe side So he took the medicine and did not lift his voice against it although he had his thoughts
It did seem as if the medicine benefited him He breathed more easily after a while and his color was more natural Deborah felt encouraged she even went down upon her stiff knees after her family were in bed and thanked the Lord from the depths of her sorely chastened but proud heart She did not foresee what was to come of it for that very night Ephraim induced thereto by the salutary effect of the medicine which removed somewhat the restriction of his laboring heart upon his boyish spirits perpetrated the crowning act of revolt and rebellion of his short life
The moon was bright that night The snow was frozen hard The long hills where the boys coasted looked like slopes of silver Ephraim had to go to bed at eight He lay well propped up on pillows in his little bedroom and he could hear the shouts of the coasting boys Now that he could breathe more easily the superiority of his enforced deprivation of such joys no longer comforted him as much as it had done His curtain was up and the moonlight lay on his bed The mystic influence of that strange white orb which moves the soul of the lover to dream of love and yearnings after it which saddens with sweet wounds the soul who has lost it forever which increases the terrible freedom of the maniac and perhaps moves the tides apparently increased the longing in the heart of one poor boy for all the innocent hilarity of his youth which he had missed
Ephraim lay there in the moonlight and longed as he had never longed before to go forth and run and play and halloo to career down those wonderful shining slants of snow to be free and equal with those other boys whose hearts told off their healthy lives after the Creators plan
The clock in the kitchen struck nine then ten Caleb and Deborah went to bed and Ephraim could hear his fathers snores and his mothers heavy breathing from a distant room Ephraim could not go to sleep He lay there and longed for the frosty night air the sled and the swift flight down the white hill as never lover longed for his mistress
At halfpast ten oclock Ephraim rose up He dressed himself in the moonlight—all except his shoes those he carried in his hand—and stole out in his stockingfeet to the entryway where his warm coat and cap which he so seldom wore hung Ephraim pulled the cap over his ears put on the coat cautiously unbolted the door and stepped forth like a captive from prison
He sat down on the doorstep and put on his shoes tying them with trembling fumbling fingers He expected every minute to hear his mothers voice
Then he ran down the yard to the wood shed It was so intensely cold that the snow did not yield to his tread but gave out quick sibilant sounds It seemed to him like a whispering multitude called up by his footsteps and as if his mother must hear
He knew where Barneys old sled hung in the woodshed and the woodshed door was unlocked
Presently a boyish figure fled swiftly out of the Thayer yard with a bobbing sled in his wake He expected every minute to hear the door or window open but he cleared the yard and dashed up the road and nobody arrested him
Illustration “A boyish figure fled swiftly out of the Thayer yard”
Ephraim knew well the way to the coastinghill which was considered the best in the village although he had never coasted there himself except twice or thrice surreptitiously on another boys sled and not once this winter He heard no more shouts the frosty air was very still He thought to himself that the other boys had gone home but he did not care
However when he reached the top of the hill there was another boy with his sled He had been all ready to coast down but had seen Ephraim coming and waited
“Hullo” he called
“Hullo” returned Ephraim panting
Then the boy stared “It aint you Ephraim Thayer” he demanded
“Why aint it me” returned Ephraim with a manful air swaggering back his shoulders at the other boy who was Ezra Ray
“Why I didnt know your mother ever let you out” said Ezra in a bewildered fashion In fact the vision of Ephraim Thayer out with a sled coasting at eleven oclock at night was startling Ezra remembered dazedly how he had heard his mother say that very afternoon that Ephraim was worse that the doctor had been there last Saturday and she didnt believe he would live long He looked at Ephraim standing there in the moonlight almost as if he were a spirit
“She aint let me for some time Ive been sick” admitted Ephraim yet with defiance
“I heard you was awful sick” said Ezra
“I was but the doctor give me some medicine that cured me”
Ephraim placed his sled in position and got on stiffly The other boy still watched “She know youre out tonight” he inquired abruptly
Ephraim looked up at him “Spose you think youll go an tell her if she dont” said he
“No I wont honest”
“Hope to die if you do”
“Yes”
“Well then I run out of the side door”
“Both on em asleep”
Ephraim nodded
Ezra Ray whistled “Youll get a whippin when your mother finds it out”
“No I shant Mother cant whip me because the doctor says it aint good for me You goin down”
“Cant go down but once Ive got to go home or mother ll give it to me”
“Does she ever whip you”
“Sometimes”
“Mine dont” said Ephraim and he felt a superiority over Ezra Ray He thought too that his sled was a better one It was not painted nor was it as new as Ezras but it had a reputation Barney had won many coasting laurels with it in his boyhood and his little brother who had never used it himself had always looked upon it with unbounded faith and admiration
He gathered up his sledrope spurred himself into a start with his heels and went swiftly down the long hill gathering speed as he went Poor Ephraim had an instinct for steering he did not swerve from the track The frosty wind smote his face his breath nearly failed him but halfway down he gave a triumphant whoop When he reached the foot of the hill he had barely wind enough to get off his sled and drag it to one side for Ezra Ray was coming down
Ezra did not slide as far as Ephraim had done Ephraim watched anxiously lest he should “That sled of yours aint no good” he panted when Ezra had stopped several yards from where he stood
“Guess it aint quite so fast as yours” admitted Ezra “Thats your brothers aint it”
“Yes”
“Well that sled cant be beat in town Mines bout as good as any cept that Ive always heard my brother say that your brothers sled was the best one he ever see”
Ephraim stood looking at his brothers old battered but distinguished sled as if it had been a bloodhorse “Guess it cant be beat” he chuckled
“No sir it cant” said Ezra He started off past Ephraim down the road with his sled trailing at his heels
“Hullo” called Ephraim “aint you goin up again”
“Cant got to go home”
“Less try it jest once more an see if you cant go further”
“No I cant nohow Mother wont like it as tis”
“Whip you”
“Spect so dont mind it if she does” Ezra brought a great show of courage to balance the others immunity from danger “Dont mind nothin bout a little whippin” he added with a brave and contemptuous air He whistled as he went on
Ephraim stood watching him He had enough brave blood in his veins to feel that this contempt of a whipping was a greater thing than not being whipped He felt an envious admiration of Ezra Ray but that did not prevent his calling after him
“Ezra”
“What say”
“You aint goin to tell my mother”
“Didnt I say I wasnt I dont tell fibs Hope to die if I do”
Ezras brave whistle as cheerfully defiant of his mothers prospective wrath as the note of a bugler advancing to the charge died away in the distance For Ephraim now began the one unrestrained hilarity of his whole life All by himself in the white moonlight and the keen night air he climbed the long hill and slid down over and over He ignored his feeble and laboring breath of life He trod upon he outspeeded all infirmities of the flesh in his wild triumph of the spirit He shouted and hallooed as he shot down the hill His mother could not have recognized his voice had she heard it for it was the first time that the boy had ever given full cry to the natural voice of youth and his heart A few stolen races and sorties up appletrees a few stolen slides had poor Ephraim Thayer had they had been snatched in odd minutes at the imminent danger of discovery but now he had the wide night before him he had broken over all his trammels and he was free
Up and down the hill went Ephraim Thayer having the one playtime of his life speeding on his brothers famous sled against bondage and deprivation and death It was after midnight when he went home all the village lights were out the white road stretched before him as still and deserted as a road through solitude itself Ephraim had never been outofdoors so late before he had never been so alone in his life but he was not afraid He was not afraid of anything in the lonely night and he was not afraid of his mother at home He thought to himself exultantly that Ezra Ray had been no more courageous than he although to be sure he had not a whipping to fear like Ezra His heart was full of joyful triumph that he was not wholly guilty since it was the outcome of an innocent desire
As he walked along he tipped up his face and stared with his stupid boyish eyes at the stars paling in the full moonlight and the great moon herself overriding the clouds and the stars It made him think of the catechism and the Commandments and then a little pang of terror shot through him but even that did not daunt him He did not look up at the stars again but bent his head and trudged on with the sledrope pulling at his weak chest
When he reached his own yard he stepped as carefully as he could still he was not afraid He put the sled back in the shed then he stole into the house He took off his shoes in the entry and got safely into his own room He was in his nightgown and all ready for bed when another daring thought struck him
Ephraim padded softly on his bare feet out through the kitchen to the pantry Every third step or so he stopped and listened to the heavy double breathing from the bedroom beyond So long as that continued he was safe He listened and then slid on a pace or two as noiseless as a shadow in the moonlight
Ephraim knew well where the mincepies were kept There was a long row of them covered with towels on an upper shelf
Ephraim hoisted himself painfully upon a mealbucket and clawed a pie over the edge of the shelf He could scarcely reach and there was quite a loud grating noise He stood trembling on the bucket and listened but the double breathing continued Deborah had been unusually tired that night she had gone to bed earlier and slept more soundly
Ephraim broke a great jagged half from the mincepie then replaced it with another grating slide Again he listened but his mother had not been awakened
Ephraim crept back to his bedroom There he sat on the edge of his bed and devoured his pie The rich spicy compound and the fat plums melted on his tongue and the savor thereof delighted his very soul Then Ephraim got into bed and pulled the quilts over him For the first and only occasion in his life he had had a good time
The next morning Ephraim felt very ill but he kept it from his mother He took his medicine of his own accord several times and turned his head from her that she might not notice his laboring breath
In the middle of the forenoon Deborah went out She had to drive over to Bolton to get some sugar and tea She would not buy anything now at Berrys store Caleb had gone down to the lot to cut a little wood he had harnessed the horse for her before he went It was a cold day and she wrapped herself up well in two shawls and a thick veil over her hood When she was all ready she gave Ephraim his parting instructions rearing over him with stern gestures like a veiled justice
“Now” said she “you listen to what I tell you When your father comes in you tell him I want him to set right down and finish parin them apples They are spoilin an Im goin to make em into sauce You tell him to set right down and go to work on em he can get em done by the time I get home an I can make the sauce this afternoon You set here an take your medicine an learn your catechism You can study over the Commandments too you aint got em any too well Do you hear”
“Yes maam” said Ephraim He looked away from his mother as he spoke and his panting breath clouded the clear space on the frosty windowpane He sat beside the window in the rockingchair
“Mind you tell your father about them apples” repeated his mother as she went out
“Yes maam” said Ephraim He watched his mother drive out of the yard guiding the horse carefully through the frozen ridges of the drive Presently he took another spoonful of his medicine He felt a little easier but still very ill His father came a few minutes after his mother had gone He heard him stamping in through the back door then his frostreddened old face looked in on Ephraim
“Mother gone” said he
“Shes jest gone” replied Ephraim His father came in He looked at the boy with a childish and anxious sweetness “Dont you feel quite as well as you did” he inquired
“Dunno as I do”
“Took your medicine reglar”
Ephraim nodded
“I guess its good medicine” said Caleb “it come real high I guess the doctor thought considble of it Id take it reglar if I was you I thought you looked as if you didnt feel quite so well as common when I come in”
Caleb took off his boots and tended the fire Ephraim began to feel a little better his heart did not beat quite so laboriously
He did not say a word to his father about paring the apples Caleb went into the pantry and came back eating a slice of mincepie
“I found there was a pie cut and I thought mother wouldnt mind if I took a leetle piece” he remarked apologetically He would never have dared take the pie without permission had his wife been at home “She aint goin to be home till arter dinnertime an I began to feel kinder gone” added Caleb He stood by the fire and munched the pie with a relish slightly lessened by remorse “Dont you want nothin” he asked of Ephraim “Mebbe a little piece of pie wouldnt hurt you none”
Calebs ideas of hygienic food were primitive He believed as innocently as if he had lived in Eden before the Prohibition that all food which he liked was good for him and he applied his theory to all mankind He had deferred to Deborahs imperious will but he had never been able to understand why she would not allow Ephraim to eat mincepie or anything else which his soul loved and craved
“No guess I dont” Ephraim replied He gazed moodily out of the window “Father” said he suddenly
“What say sonny”
“I eat some of that pie last night”
“Mother give it to you”
“No I clim up on the mealbucket an got it in the night”
“You might have fell an then I dunno what motherd ha said to you” said Caleb
“An I did somethin else”
“What else did you do”
“I went out acoastin after you an her was asleep”
“You didnt now”
“Yes I did”
“An we didnt neither on us wake up”
“You was asnorin the whole time”
“I dont spose youd oughter have done it Ephraim” said Caleb and he tried to make his tone severe
“I never went acoastin in my whole life before” said Ephraim “it aint fair”
“I dunno what mother d say if she was to find out about it” said Caleb and he shook his head
“Ezra Ray was the only one that was out there an he said he wouldnt tell”
“Well mebbe he wont mebbe he wont I guess you most hadnt oughter gone unbeknownst to your mother sonny”
“Barneys sled jest beat Ezras all holler”
“It did hey That allers was a good sled” returned the old man chuckling
Caleb went into the pantry again and returned rattling a handful of corn “Want a game of hollygull” he asked “Ive got a leetle time to spare now while mothers gone”
“Guess so” replied Ephraim He dragged his chair forward to the hearth he and his father sat opposite each other and played the old childish game of hollygull Ephraim was very fond of the game and would have played it happily hour after hour had not Deborah esteemed it a sinful waste of time When Caleb held up his old fist wherein he had securely stowed a certain number of kernels of corn and demanded “Hollygull hand full passel how many” Ephraims spirit was thrilled with a fine stimulation of which he had known little in his life If he guessed the number of kernels right and confiscated the contents of his fathers hand he felt the gratified ambition of a successful financier if he lost his heart sank only to bound higher with new hope for the next chance A veritable gambling game was hollygull but they gambled for innocent Indiancorn instead of the coin of the realm and nobody suspected it The lack of value of the stakes made the game quite harmless and unquestioned in public opinion
The waste of time was all Deborahs objection to the game Caleb and Ephraim said not a word about it to each other but both kept an anxious ear towards Deborahs returning sleighbells
At last they both heard the loud brazen jingle entering the yard and Caleb gathered all the corn together and stowed it away in his pocket Then he stood on the hearth looking like a guilty child Ephraim went slowly over to the window he did not feel quite so well again
Deborahs harsh “Whoa” sounded before the door presently she came in her garments radiating cold air her arms full of bundles
“What you standin there for father” she demanded of Caleb “Why didnt you come out an take some of these bundles Why aint you goin out an puttin the horse up instead of standin there starin”
“Im goin right off mother” Caleb answered apologetically and he turned his old back towards her and scuffled out in haste
“Put on your cap” Deborah called after him
She laid off her many wraps her hood and veil and mufflers and shawls folded them carefully and carried them into her bedroom to be laid in her bureau drawers Deborah was very orderly and methodical
“Did you take your medicine” she asked Ephraim as she went out of the room
“Yes maam” said he He did not feel nearly as well he kept his face turned from his mother Ephraim was accustomed to complain freely but now the coasting and the mincepie had made him patient He was quite sure that his bad feelings were due to that and suppose his mother should suspect and ask him what he had been doing He was also terrified by the thought of the hollygull and her unfulfilled order about the appleparing He sat very still his heart shook his whole body which had grown thin lately He looked very small in spite of his sturdy build
Deborah was gone quite a while she had left some work unfinished in her bedroom that morning Caleb returned before she did and pulled up a chair close to the fire He was holding his reddened fingers out towards the blaze to warm them when Deborah came in
She looked at him then around the room inquiringly
“Where did you put the apples” said she to Caleb
Caleb stared around at her “What apples mother” he asked feebly
“The apples I left for you to pare I want to put em on before I get dinner”
“I aint heard nothin about apples mother”
“Aint you pared any apples this forenoon”
“I didnt know as you wanted any pared mother”
Deborah turned fiercely on Ephraim
“Ephraim Thayer look here” said she Ephraim turned his poor blue face slowly his breath came shortly between his parted lips he clapped one hand to his side “Didnt you tell your father to pare them apples the way I told you to” she demanded
Ephraim dropped his chin lower
“Answer me”
“No maam”
“What have you been adoin of”
“Playin”
“Playin what”
“Hollygull”
Deborah stood quite still for a moment Her mouth tightened she grew quite pale Ephraim and Caleb watched her Deborah strode across the room out into the shed
“I guess she wont say much dont you be scared Ephraim” whispered Caleb
But Ephraim curious to say did not feel scared Suddenly his mother seemed to have lost all her terrifying influence over him He felt very strange and as if he were sinking away from it all through deep abysses
His mother came back and she held a stout stick in her right hand Caleb gasped when he saw it “Mother you aint goin to whip him” he cried out
“Father you keep still” commanded Deborah “Ephraim you come with me”
She led the way into Ephraims little bedroom and he stumbled up and followed her He saw the stick before him in his mothers hand he knew she was going to whip him but he did not feel in the least disturbed or afraid Ezra Ray could not have faced a whipping any more courageously than Ephraim But he staggered as he went and his feet met the floor with strange shocks since he had prepared his steps for those deep abysses
He and his mother stood together in his little bedroom She when she faced him saw how ill he looked but she steeled herself against that She had seen him look as badly before she was not to be daunted by that from her high purpose For it was a high purpose to Deborah Thayer She did not realize the part which her own human will had in it
She lifted up her voice and spoke solemnly Caleb listening all trembling at the kitchen door heard her
“Ephraim” said his mother “I have spared the rod with you all my life because you were sick Your brother and your sister have both rebelled against the Lord and against me You are all the child Ive got left Youve got to mind me and do right I aint goin to spare you any longer because you aint well It is better you should be sick than be well and wicked and disobedient It is better that your body should suffer than your immortal soul Stand still”
Deborah raised her stick and brought it down She raised it again but suddenly Ephraim made a strange noise and sunk away before it down in a heap on the floor
Caleb heard him fall and came quickly
“Oh mother” he sobbed “is he dead What ails him”
“Hes got a bad spell” said Deborah “Help me lay him on the bed” Her face was ghastly She spoke with hoarse pulls for breath but she did not flinch She and Caleb laid Ephraim on his bed then she worked over him for a few minutes with mustard and hotwater—all the simple remedies in which she was skilled She tried to pour a little of the doctors medicine into his mouth but he did not swallow and she wiped it away
“Go an get Barney to run for the doctor quick” she told Caleb at last Caleb fled sobbing aloud like a child out of the house Deborah closed the boys eyes and straightened him a little in the bed Then she stood over him there and began to pray aloud It was a strange prayer full of remorse of awful agony of self-defense of her own act and her own position as the vicar of God upon earth for her child “I couldnt let him go astray too” she shrieked out “I couldnt I couldnt O Lord thou knowest that I couldnt I would—have lain him upon—the altar as Abraham laid Isaac Oh Ephraim my son my son my son”
Deborah prayed on and on The doctor and a throng of pale women came in the yard was full of shocked and staring people Deborah heeded nothing she prayed on
Some of the women got her into her own room She stayed there with a sort of rigid settling into the spot where she was placed and she pleaded with the Lord for upholding and justification until the daylight faded and all night The women Mrs Ray and the doctors wife who watched with poor Ephraim heard her praying all night long They sat in grave silence and their eyes kept meeting with shocked significance as they listened to her Now and then they wet the cloth on Ephraims face About two oclock Mrs Ray tiptoed into the pantry and brought forth a mincepie “I found one that had been cut on the top shelf” she whispered She and the doctors wife ate the remainder of poor Ephraims pie
The two women stayed next day and assisted in preparations for the funeral Deborah seemed to have no thought for any of her household duties She stayed in her bedroom most of the time and her praying voice could be heard at intervals
Some other women came in and they went about with silent efficiency performing their services to the dead and setting the house in order but they said very little to Deborah When she came out of her room they eyed her with a certain grim furtiveness and they never said a word to her about Ephraim
It was already known all over the village that she had been whipping Ephraim when he died Poor old Caleb when the neighbors had come flocking in had kept repeating with childish sobs “Mother hadnt ought to have whipped him mother hadnt ought to have whipped him”
“Did Mrs Thayer whip that boy” the doctor had questioned sharply before all the women and Caleb had sobbed back hoarsely “She was jest awhippin of him I told her she hadnt ought to”
That had been enough “She whipped him” the women repeated to each other in shocked pantomime They all knew how corporal punishment had been tabooed for Ephraim
The Thayer house was crowded the afternoon of the funeral The decent blackclad village people with reddening eyes and mouths drooping with melancholy came in throngs into the snowy yard The men in their Sunday gear tiptoed creaking across the floors the women feeling for their pockethandkerchiefs padded softly and heavily after them folded in their black shawls like mourning birds
Illustration “The Thayer house was crowded the afternoon of the funeral”
Caleb and Deborah and Barney sat in the north parlor where Ephraim lay Deborahs hoarse laments which were not like the ordinary hysterical demonstrations of feminine grief being rather a stern uprising and clamor of herself against her own heart filled the house
The minister had to pray and speak against it scarcely any one beyond the mourners room could hear his voice It was a hard task that the poor young minister had He was quite aware of the feeling against Deborah and it required finesse to avoid jarring that and yet display the proper amount of Christian sympathy for the afflicted Then there were other difficulties The minister had prayed in his closet for a small share of the wisdom of Solomon before setting forth
The people in the other rooms leaned forward and strained their ears The ministers wife sat beside her husband with bright spots of color in her cheeks her little figure nervously contracted in her chair They had had a discussion concerning the advisability of his mentioning the sister and daughter in his prayer and she had pleaded with him strenuously that he should not
When the minister prayed for the afflicted “sister and daughter who was now languishing upon a bed of sickness” his wifes mouth tightened her feet and hands grew cold It seemed to her that her own tongue pronounced every word that her husband spoke And there was moreover a little nervous thrill through the audience Oddly enough everybody seemed to hear that portion of the ministers prayer quite distinctly Even one old deaf man in the farthest corner of the kitchen looked meaningly at his neighbor
The service was a long one The village hearse and the line of black covered wagons waited in front of the Thayer house over an hour There had been another fall of snow the night before and now the north wind blew it over the country Outside ghostly spirals of snow raised from the new drifts heaped along the roadsides like graves disappeared over the fields and moved on the borders of distant woods while indoors the minister held forth and the choir sang funeral hymns with a sweet uneven drone of grief and consolation
When at last the funeral was over and the people came out they bent their heads before this wild storm which came from the earth instead of the sky
The cemetery was a mile out of the village when the procession came driving rapidly home it was nearly sunset and the thoughts of the people turned from poor Ephraim to their suppers It is only for a minute that death can blur life for the living Still when the evening smoke hung over the roofs the people talked untiringly of Ephraim and his mother
As time went on the dark gossip in the village swelled louder It was said quite openly that Deborah Thayer had killed her son Ephraim The neighbors did not darken her doors The minister and his wife called once The minister offered prayer and spoke formal words of consolation as if he were reading from invisible notes His wife sat by in stiff scared silence Deborah nodded in response she said very little
Indeed Deborah had become very silent She scarcely spoke to Caleb For hours after he had gone to bed the poor bewildered old man could hear his wife wrestling in prayer with the terrible angel of the Lord whom she had evoked by the stern magic of grief and remorse He could hear her harsh solemn voice in selfjustification and agonized appeal After a while he learned to sleep with it still ringing in his ears and his heavy breathing kept pace with Deborahs prayer
Deborah had not the least doubt that she had killed her son Ephraim
There was some talk of the churchs dealing with her some women declared that they would not go to meeting if she did but no stringent measures were taken and she went to church every Sunday all the rest of the winter and during the spring
It was an afternoon in June when the doctors wife and Mrs Ray went into Deborah Thayers yard They paused hesitatingly before the door
“I think youre the one that ought to tell her” said Mrs Ray
“I think its your place to seeing as twas your Ezra that knew about it” returned the doctors wife Her voice sounded like the hum of a bee being full of husky vibrations her double chin sank into her broad heaving bosom folded over with white plaided muslin
“Seems to me it belongs to you as long as youre the doctors wife” said Mrs Ray She was very small and lean beside the soft bulk of the other woman but there was a sort of mental uplifting about her which made her unconscious of it Mrs Ray had never considered herself a small woman she seemed always to see the tops of other womens heads
The doctors wife looked at her dubiously panting softly all over her great body It was a warm afternoon The low red and white rosebushes sprayed all around the stepstone and they were full of roses The doctors wife raised the brass knocker “Well Id just as lieves” said she resignedly “Shed ought to be told anyway the doctor said so” The knocker fell with a clang of brass
Deborah opened the door at once “Goodafternoon” said she
“We thought wed come over a few minutes its so pleasant this afternoon” said the doctors wife
“Walk in” said Deborah She aided them in through the kitchen to the north parlor She always entertained guests there on warm afternoons
The north parlor was very cool and dark the curtains were down and undulated softly like sails Deborah placed the big haircloth rockingchair for the doctors wife and Mrs Ray sat down on the sofa
There was a silence The doctors wife flushed red Mrs Rays sharp face was imperturbable Deborah sitting erect in one of her best flagbottomed chairs looked as if she were alone in the room
The doctors wife cleared her throat “Mis Thayer” she began
Deborah looked at her with calm expectation
“Mis Thayer” said the doctors wife “Mis Ray and I thought we ought to come over here this afternoon Mis Ray heard something last night an she came over an told the doctor an he said you ought to know—”
The doctors wife paused panting Then the door opened and Caleb peered in He bowed stiffly to the two guests then with apprehensive glances at his wife slid into a chair near the door
“Mis Rays Ezra told her last night” proceeded the doctors wife “that the night before your son died he run away unbeknown to you an went slidin down hill The doctor says mebbe that was what killed him He said youd ought to know”
Deborah leaned forward her face worked like the breaking up of an icy river “Be you sure” said she
“Ezra told me last night” interposed Mrs Ray “I had a hard time gettin it out of him he promised Ephraim he wouldnt tell But somethin he said made me suspect an I got it out of him He said Ephraim told him he run away an he left him there slidin when he came home Twas as much as leven oclock then I remember I give Ezra a whippin next mornin for stayin out so late But then of course whippin Ezra want nothin like whippin Ephraim”
“The doctor says most likely that was what killed him after all an youd ought to know” said the doctors wife
“Be you sure” said Deborah again
“Ephraim want to blame He never had no show he never went aslidin like the other little fellers” said Caleb suddenly out of his corner and he snivelled as he spoke
Deborah turned on him sharply “Did you know anything about it” said she
“He told me on t that mornin” said Caleb “he told me how hed been aslidin an how he eat some mincepie”
“Eat—some—mincepie” gasped Deborah and there was a great light of hope in her face
“Well” said the doctors wife “if that boy eat mincepie an slid down hill too I guess you aint much call to worry about anything youve done Mis Thayer I know what the doctor has said right along”
The doctors wife arose with a certain mild impressiveness as if some mantle of her husbands authority had fallen upon her She shook out her ample skirts as if they were redolent of rhubarb and mint “Well I guess we had better be going” said she and her inflections were like the doctors
Mrs Ray rose also “Well we thought youd ought to know” said she
“Im much obliged to you” said Deborah
She went through the kitchen with them When the door was shut behind them she turned to Caleb who had shuffled along at her heels “Oh father why didnt you tell me if you knew why didnt you tell me” she gasped out
Caleb stared at her “Why mother” he returned
“Didnt you know I thought Id killed him father didnt you know I thought Id killed my son An now maybe I havent maybe I havent O Lord I thank thee for letting me know before I die Maybe I havent killed him after all”
“I didnt spose it would make any difference” said Caleb helplessly
Suddenly to the old mans great terror his wife caught hold of him and clung to him He staggered a little his arms hung straight at his sides “Why what ails you mother” he stammered out “I didnt tell you cause I thought youd be blamin him for t Mother dont you take on so now dont”
“I—wish—youd go an get Rebecca an Barney father” said Deborah faintly She suddenly wavered so that her old husband wavered with her and they reeled back and forth like two old trees in a wind
“Why what ails you mother what ails you” Caleb gasped out He caught Deborahs arm and clutched out at something to save himself Then they sank to the floor together
Barney had just come up from the field and was at his own door when his father came panting into the yard “What is it whats the matter” he cried out
“Mothers fell” gasped Caleb
“Fell has she hurt her”
“Dunno—she cant get up come quick”
As Barney rushed out of the yard he cast a glance up the hill towards Charlottes house in every crisis of his life his mind turned involuntarily to her as if she were another self to be made acquainted with all its exigencies But when he came out on the road he met Charlotte herself face to face she had been over to her Aunt Sylvias
“Something is wrong with mother” Barney said with a strange appeal Then he went on and Charlotte was at his side running as fast as he Caleb hurried after them panting the tears running down his old cheeks
“Father says shes fell” Barney said as they sped along
“Maybe shes only fainted” responded Charlottes steady faithful voice
But Deborah Thayer had more than fainted It might have been that Ephraim had inherited from her the hearttaint that had afflicted and shortened his life and it might have been that her terrible experiences of the last few months would have strained her heart to its undoing had its valves been made of steel
Barney carried his mother into the bedroom and laid her on the bed He and Charlotte worked over her but she never spoke nor moved again At last Charlotte laid her hand on Barneys arm “Come out now” said she and Barney followed her out
When they were out in the kitchen Barney looked in her face “Its no use shes gone” he said hoarsely Charlotte nodded Suddenly she put her arms up around his neck and drew his head down to her bosom and held it there stroking his cheek
“Oh Charlotte” Barney sobbed Charlotte bent over him whispering softly smoothing his hair and cheek with her tender hand
Caleb had gone for the doctor and Rebecca while they tried to restore Deborah and had given the alarm on the way Some women came hurrying in with white faces staring curiously even then at Barney and Charlotte but she never heeded them except to answer in the affirmative when they asked in shocked voices if Deborah was dead She went on soothing Barney as if he had been her child with no more shame in it until he raised his white face from her breast of his own accord
“Oh Charlotte you will stay tonight wont you” he pleaded
“Yes Ill stay” said Charlotte Young as Charlotte was she had watched with the sick and sat up with the dead many a time So she and the doctors wife watched with Deborah Thayer that night Rebecca came but she was not strong enough to stay The next day Charlotte assisted in the funeral preparations It made a great deal of talk in the village People wondered if Barney would marry her now and if she would sit with the mourners at the funeral But she sat with her father and mother in the south room and time went on after Deborah died and Barney did not marry her
Chapter XII
A few days after Deborahs funeral Charlotte had an errand at the store after supper When she went down the hill the sun had quite set but there was a clear green light The sky gave it out and there seemed to be also a green glow from the earth Charlotte went down the hill with the evening air fresh and damp in her face Lilacs were in blossom all about and their fragrance was so vital and intense that it seemed almost like a wide presence in the green twilight
She reached Barneys house and passed it then she came to the Thayer house Before that lay the garden The ranks of pease and beans were in white blossom and there was a pale shimmer as of a cobweb veil over it
Charlotte had passed the garden when she heard a voice behind her
“Charlotte”
She stopped and Barney came up
“Goodevening” said he
“Goodevening” said Charlotte
“I saw you going by” said Barney Then he paused again and Charlotte waited
“I saw you going by” he repeated “and—I thought Id like to speak to you I wanted to thank you for what you did—about mother”
“Youre very welcome” replied Charlotte
Barney ground a stone beneath his heel “I shant ever forget it and—father wont either” he said His voice trembled and yet there was a certain doggedness in it
Charlotte stood waiting Barney turned slowly away “Goodnight” he said
“Goodnight” returned Charlotte quickly and she fairly sprang away from him and down the road Her limbs trembled but she held her head up proudly She understood it all perfectly Barney had meant to inform her that his behavior towards her on the day his mother died had been due to a momentary weakness that she was to expect nothing further She went on to the store and did her errand then went home As she entered the kitchen her mother came through from the front room She had been sitting at a window watching for Charlotte to return she thought Barney might be with her
“Well youve got home” said she and it sounded like a question
“Yes” said Charlotte She laid her parcels on the table “I guess Ill go to bed” she added
“Why its dreadful early to go to bed aint it”
“Well Im tired I guess Ill go”
The candlelight was dim in the room but Sarah eyed her daughter sharply She thought she looked pale
“Did you meet anybody” she asked
“I dont know there wasnt many folks out”
“You didnt see Barney did you”
“Yes I met him”
Charlotte lighted another candle and opened the door
“Look here” said her mother
“Well” replied Charlotte with a sort of despairing patience
“What did he say to you I want to know”
“He didnt say much of anything He thanked me for what I did about his mother”
“Didnt he say anything about anything else”
“No he didnt” Charlotte went out shielding her candle
“You dont mean that he didnt say anything after the way he acted that day his mother died”
“I didnt expect him to say anything”
“Hes treated you mean Charlotte” her mother cried out with a half sob “Hed ought to be strung up after he acted so huggin an kissin you right before folks face and eyes”
“It was more my fault than twas his” returned Charlotte and she shut the door
“Then I should think youd be ashamed of yourself” Sarah called after her but Charlotte did not seem to hear
“I never see such work for my part” Sarah wailed out to herself
“Mother you come in here a minute” Cephas called out of the bedroom He had gone to bed soon after supper
“Anythin new about Barney” he asked when his wife stood beside him
“Barney aint no more notion of comin back than he had before in spite of all the talk I never see such work” replied Sarah in a voice strained high with tears
“I call it pretty doins” assented Cephas His pale face with its venerable beard was closely set about with his white nightcap He lay staring straight before him with a solemnly reflective air
“I wish you hadnt brought up lection that time father” ventured Sarah with a piteous sniff
“If the Democratic party had only lived different an hadnt eat so much meat there wouldnt have been any trouble” returned Cephas magisterially “If you go far enough youll always get back to that A man is what he puts into his mouth Meat victuals is at the bottom of democracy If there want any meat eat there wouldnt be any Democratic party an there wouldnt be any wranglin in the state Thered be one party jest as thered ought to be”
“I wish you hadnt brought it up father” Sarah lamented again “its most killin me”
“If we hadnt both of us been eatin so much animal food there wouldnt have been any trouble” repeated Cephas
“Well I dunno much about animal food but I know Im about discouraged” said Sarah And she went back to the kitchen and sat down in the rockingchair and cried a long time with her apron over her face Her heartache was nearly as sore as her daughters upstairs
Charlotte did not speak to Barney again all summer—indeed she scarcely ever saw him She had an occasional halfaverted glimpse of his figure across the fields and that was all Barney had gone back to the old house to live with his father and remained there through the summer and fall but Caleb died in November He had never been the same since Deborahs death whether like an old tree whose roots are no longer so firm in the earth that they can withstand every wind of affliction the shock itself had shaken him to his fall or the lack of that strange wontedness which takes the place of early love and passion had enfeebled him no one could tell He had seemed to simply stare at life from a sunny place on a stonewall or a doorstep all summer
When the autumn set in he sat in his old chair by the fire Caleb had always felt cold since Deborah died When the bell tolled off his years one morning in November nobody felt surprised People had said to each other for some time that Caleb Thayer was failing
Barney after his father died went back to his own forlorn new house to live and his sister Rebecca and her husband came to live in the old one Rebecca went to meeting now every Sunday wearing her mothers black shawl and a black ribbon on her bonnet and sitting in her mothers place in the Thayer pew She never went anywhere else her rosy color had gone and she looked old and haggard
Barney went into his sisters now and then of a Sunday night and sat with her and William an hour or so He and William would sometimes warm into quite an animated discussion over politics or theology while Rebecca sat silently by Barney went nowhere else not even to meeting Sundays he used to watch furtively for Charlotte to go past with her father and mother Quite often Sylvia Crane used to appear from her road and join them and walk along with Charlotte Barney used to look at her moving down the road at Charlottes side as at the merest supernumerary on his own tragic stage But every tragedy has its multiplying glass to infinity, and every actor has his own tragedy Sylvia Crane that winter all secretly and silently was acting her own principal rôle in hers She had quite come to the end of her small resources and nobody except the selectmen of Pembroke knew it They were three saturnine phlegmatic elderly men old Squire Payne being the chairman and they kept her secret well Sylvia waylaid them in byplaces she stole around to the back door of Squire Paynes house by night she conducted herself as if it were a guilty intrigue and all to keep her poverty hid as long as may be
Old Squire Payne was a widower a grave old man of few words He advanced poor Sylvia meagre moneys on her little lands and he told nobody There came a day when he gave her the last dollar upon her New England soil full of old ploughridges and dried weeds and stones
Sylvia went home with it in the pocket of her quilted petticoat under her dress skirt She kept feeling of it to see if it were safe as she walked along The snow was quite deep the road was not well broken out and she plodded forward with bent head her black skirt gathering a crusty border of snow
She had to pass Richard Algers house but she never looked up It was six oclock and quite dark it had been dark when she set out at five The housewives were preparing supper there was a smell of burning pinewood in the air and now and then a savory scent of frying meat Sylvia had smelled brewing tea and baking bread in Squire Paynes house and she had heard old Margaret the Scotch woman who had lived with the squires family ever since she could remember stepping around in another room Old Margaret was almost the only servant the only regular and permanent servant in Pembroke and she enjoyed a curious sort of menial distinction she dressed well wore a handsome cashmere shawl which had come from Scotland and held her head high in the squires pew People saluted her with respect and her isolation of inequality gave her a reversed dignity
Sylvia had hoped Margaret would not come in while she sat with the squire She was afraid of her eyes which flashed keen like a mans under shaggy brows She did not want her to see the squire counting out the money from his leather purse although she knew that Margaret would keep her own counsel
She had been glad enough to escape and not see her appear behind the bulk of the squire in the doorway Squire Payne was full of laborious courtesy and always himself aided Sylvia to the door when she came for money and that always alarmed her She would drop a meek courtesy on trembling knees and hurry away
Sylvia had almost reached the old road leading to her own house when she saw a figure advancing towards her through the dusk She saw it was a woman by the wide swing of the skirts and trembled She felt a presentiment as to who it was She held her head down and well to one side she bent over and tried to hurry past but the figure stopped
“Is that you Sylvy Crane” said her sister Hannah Berry
Sylvia did not stop “Yes its me” she stammered “Goodevenin Hannah”
She tried to pass but Hannah stood in her way “What you hurryin so for” she asked sharply “where you been”
“Where you been” returned Sylvia trembling
“Up to Sarahs Charlotte shes gone down to Rebeccas Shes terrible thick with Rebecca Well Ive been to see Rebecca an Rose shes been an I aint nothin to say William has got her for a wife an weve got to hold up our heads before folks an when it comes right down to it theres a good many folks cant say much If Charlotte Barnard wants to be thick with Rebecca she can Her mother wont say nothin She always was as easy as old Tilly an as for Cephas hes either eatin grass or he aint eatin grass an thats all he cares about unless he gets stirred up about politics the way he did with Barney Thayer I dunno but Charlotte thinks shell get him back again goin to see Rebecca I miss my guess but what she sees him there sometimes I wouldnt have a daughter of mine chasin a fellar that had give her the mitten but Charlotte aint got no pride nor her mother neither Where did you say youd been trapesin through the snow”
“Has Rose got her things most done” asked Sylvia desperately Distress was awakening duplicity in her simple straightforward heart All Hannah Berrys thought slid as it were in wellgreased grooves only give one a starting push and it went on indefinitely and left all others behind and her sister Sylvia knew it
“Well shes got em pretty near done” replied Hannah Berry “Her underclothes are all done an the quilts the weddindress aint bought yet an shes got to have a mantilla Do you know Charlotte aint never wore that handsome mantilla she had when she was expectin to marry Barney”
“Aint she”
“No she aint nor her silk gown neither I said all I darsed to I thought mebbe she or Sarah would offer they both of em know how hard it is to get anything out of Silas but they didnt an I want goin to ask nohow I shall get a new silk an a mantilla for Rose an not be beholden to nobody if I have to sell the spoons I had when I was married”
“I dont spose they have much to do with” said Sylvia She began to gradually edge past her sister
“Of course they havent I know that jest as well as you do But if Charlotte aint goin to get married she dont want any weddingown an mantilla an she wont ever get married She let Thomas Payne slip an there aint nobody else I can think of for her If she aint goin to want weddinclothes I dont see why she an her mother would be any poorer for givin hers away Twouldnt cost em any more than to let em lay in the chest Well Ive got to go home its suppertime Where did you say youd been Sylvy”
Sylvia was well past her sister she pretended not to hear “You aint been over for quite a spell” she called back faintly
“I know I aint” returned Hannah “Ive been tellin Rose wed come over to tea some afternoon before she was married”
“Do” said Sylvia but the cordiality in her voice seemed to overweigh it
“Well mebbe well come over tomorrow” said Hannah “Weve got some pillowslips to trim an we can bring them Youd better ask Sarah an Charlotte if she can stay away from Rebecca Thayers long enough”
“Yes I will” said Sylvia feebly over her shoulder
“Well come early” said Hannah Then the sisters sped apart through the early winter darkness Poor Sylvia fairly groaned out loud when her sister was out of hearing and she had turned the corner of the old road
“What shall I do what shall I do” she muttered
Her sisters to tea meant hot biscuits and plum sauce and pie and poundcake and tea Sylvia had yet a little damson sauce at the bottom of a jar although she had not preserved last year for lack of sugar but hot biscuits and pie the poundcake and tea would have to be provided
She felt again of the little moneystore in her pocket that was all that stood between her and the poorhouse every penny was a barrier and had its carefully calculated value This outlay would reduce terribly her little period of respite and independence yet she hesitated as little as Fouquet planning the splendid entertainment which would ruin him for Louis XIII
Her sisters and nieces must come to tea and all the food which was the village fashion and as absolute in its way as court etiquette must be provided
“Theyll suspect if I dont” said Sylvia Crane
She rolled away the stone from the door and entered her solitary house She lighted her candle and prepared for bed She did not get any supper She said to herself with a sudden fierceness which came over her at times—a mild impulse of rebellion which indicated perhaps some strain from faroff untempered ancestors which had survived New England generations—that she did not care if she never ate supper again
“Theyre all comin troopin in here tomorrow an its goin to take about all the little Ive got left to get victuals for em an Ive got to go without tonight if I starve” she cried out quite loud and defiantly as if her hard providence lurked within hearing in some dark recess of the room
She raked ashes over the coals in the fireplace “Ill go to bed an save the fire too” she said “itll take about all the wood Ive got left tomorrow Ive got to heat the oven Might as well go to bed an lay there forever anyway If I stayed up till doomsday nobodyd come”
Sylvia set the shovel back with a vicious clatter then she struck out—like a wilful child who hurts itself because of its rage and impotent helplessness to hurt aught else—her thin red hand against the bricks of the chimney She looked at the bruises on it with bitter exultation as if she saw in them some evidence of her own freedom and power even to her own hurt
When she went to bed she stowed away her money under the featherbed She could not go to sleep Some time in the night a shutter in another room upstairs banged She got up lighted the candle and trod over the icy floors to the room relentlessly with her bare feet There was a pane of glass broken behind the shutter and the wind had loosened the fastening Sylvia forced the shutter back in a strange rage she heard another pane of glass crack “I dont care if every pane of glass in the window is broken” she muttered as she hooked the fastening with angry trembling fingers
Her thin body in its cotton nightgown cramped with long rigors of cold her delicate face reddened as if before a fire her jaws felt almost locked as she went through the deadly cold of the lonely house back to bed but that strange rage in her heart enabled her to defy it and awakened within her something like blasphemy against life and all the conditions thereof but never against Richard Alger She never felt one throb of resentment against him She even wondered when she was back in bed if he had bedclothing enough if the quilts and bedpuffs that his mother had left were not worn out her own were very thin
The next day Sylvia heated her brick oven she went to the store and bought materials and made poundcake and pies While they were baking she ran over and invited Charlotte and her mother She did not see Cephas he had gone to draw some wood
“Id like to have him come too” she said as she went out “but I dunno as hed eat anything Ive got for tea”
“Land he eats anything when he goes out anywhere to tea” replied Mrs Barnard “He was over to Hannahs a while ago an he eat everything He eats piecrust with shortenin now anyway He got so he couldnt stan it without I guess hed like to come Hell have to draw wood some this afternoon but he can come in time for tea Ill lay out his clothes on the bed for him”
“Well have him come then” said Sylvia Sylvia was nearly out of the yard when Charlotte called after her “Dont you want me to come over and help you Aunt Sylvia” she called out She stood in the door with her apron flying out in the wind like a blue flag
“No I guess not” replied Sylvia “I dont need any help I aint got much to do”
“I think Aunt Sylvia looks sick” Charlotte said to her mother when she went in
“I thought she looked kind of peaked” said Sarah But neither of them dreamed of the true state of affairs how poor Sylvia Crane halfstarved and halffrozen in heart and stomach was on the verge of bankruptcy of all her little worldly possessions
Sylvias sisters practical enough in other respects were singularly ignorant and incompetent concerning any property except the few dollars and cents in their own purses
They had always supposed Sylvia had enough to live on as long as she lived at all They had a comfortable sense of generosity and selfsacrifice since they had let her have all the old homestead after her mothers death without a word and even against covert remonstrances on the parts of their husbands
Silas Berry had once said out quite openly to his wife and Sarah Barnard “That will had ought to be broke accordin to my way of thinkin” and Hannah had returned with spirit “It wont ever be broke unless its against my will Silas Berry I know it seems considerable for Sylvy to have it all but shes took care of mother all those years an I dont begrutch it to her an shes agoin to have it I dont much believe Richard Alger will ever have her now shes got so old an shed ought to have enough to live on the rest of her life an keep her comfortable”
Therefore Sylvias sisters had a conviction that she was comfortably provided with worldly gear Mrs Berry was even speculating upon the probability of her giving Rose something wherewith to begin housekeeping when her marriage with Tommy Ray took place
The two sisters with their daughters came early that afternoon Mrs Berry and Rose sewed knitted lace on pillowslips Mrs Barnard and Charlotte were making new shirts for Cephas Charlotte sat by the window and set beautiful stitches in her fathers linen shirtbosoms while her aunt Hannahs tongue pricked her ceaselessly as with small goading thorns
“I spose this seems kind of natural to you dont it Charlotte gettin pillowslips ready” said Mrs Berry
“I dont know but it does” answered Charlotte never raising her eyes from her work Her mother flushed angrily She opened her mouth as if to speak then she shut it again hard
“Let me see how many did you make” asked Mrs Berry
“She made two dozen pair” Charlottes mother answered for her
“An youve got em all laid away yellowin”
“I guess they aint yellowed much” said Sarah Barnard
“I dont see when youre ever goin to use em”
“Mebbe thered be chances enough to use em if some folks was as crazy to take up with em as some other folks” returned Sarah Barnard
“Id like to know what you mean”
“Oh nothin If folks want chances to make pillowslips bad enough theres generally poor tools enough layin round thats all”
“Id like to know what you mean Sarah Barnard”
“Oh I dont mean nothin” answered Sarah Barnard She glanced at her daughter Charlotte and smiled slyly but Charlotte never returned the glance and smile She sewed steadily Rose colored but she said nothing She looked very pretty and happy as she sat there sewing knitted lace on her weddingpillows and she really was happy Her passionate heart had really satisfied itself with the boyish lover whom she would have despised except for lack of a better She was and would be happy enough it was only a question of deterioration of character and the nobility of applying to the need of love the rules of ordinary hunger and thirst and eating contentedly the crust when one could not get the pie of drinking the water when one could not get the wine Contentment may be sometimes a degradation but she was happier than she had ever been in her life although she had a little sense of humiliation when she reflected that Tommy Ray younger than herself tending store under her brother was not exactly a brilliant match for her and that everybody in the village would think so So she colored angrily when her aunt Sarah spoke as she did although she said nothing But her mother although she had rebelled in private bitterly against her daughters choice was ready enough to take up the cudgels for her in public
“Well” said Hannah Berry “two old maids in the family is about enough accordin to my way of thinkin”
“Its better to be an old maid than to marry somebody you dont want jest for the sake of bein married” retorted Sarah Barnard fiercely
The two sisters clashed like two thorny bushes of one family in a gale the whole afternoon The two daughters sewed silently and Sylvia knitted a stocking with scarcely a word until she arose to get tea
Cephas and Silas both came to tea which was served in state with a fine linen tablecloth and Sylvias mothers green and white sprigged china Nobody suspected as they tasted the damson sauce with the thin silver spoons as they tilted the green and white teacups to their lips and ate the rich poundcake and pie what a very feast of renunciation and tragedy this was to poor Sylvia Crane Cephas and Silas indeed knew that money had been advanced her by the town upon her estate but they were far from suspecting and indeed were unwilling to suspect how nearly it was exhausted and the property lived out It was only a meagre estimate that the town of Pembroke had made of the Crane ancestral acres If Silas and Cephas had ever known what it was they had dismissed it from their minds they were interested in not knowing Suppose their wives should want to give her a home and support
The women knew nothing whatever
When they went home an hour after tea Hannah Berry turned to Sylvia in the doorway “I suppose you know the weddin is comin off pretty soon now” said she
“Yes I sposed twas” answered Sylvia trying to smile
“Well I thought Id jest mention it so you could get your present ready” said Hannah She nudged Rose violently as she spoke
“I dont care I meant to give her a hint” she said chuckling when they were outside “She can give you something jest as well as not she might give you some silver teaspoons or a table or sofa There she bought that handsome sofa for herself a few years ago an she didnt need it moren nothin at all I suppose she thought Richard Alger was comin steady but now hes stopped”
Rose was married in a few weeks The morning of the weddingday Sylvia went into Berrys store and called William aside
“If you can I wish youd come round byanby with your horse an your woodsled” said she
“Yes guess I can what is it you want” asked William eying her curiously She was very pale there were red circles around her eyes and her mouth trembled
“Oh it aint anything only a little present I wanted to send to Rose” replied Sylvia
“Well” said William “Ill be along byanby” He looked after her in a perplexed way as she went out
Silas was in the back of the store and presently he came forward “What she want you to do” he inquired of his son
William told him The old man chuckled “Hannah give her a hint tother day an I guess she took it” he said
“I thought she looked pretty poorly” said William—“looked as if shed been crying or something How do you suppose that property holds out father I heard the town was allowing her on it”
“Oh I guess itll last her as long as she lives” replied Silas gruffly “Your mother had ought to had her thirds in it”
“I dont know about that” said William “Aunt Sylvy had a hard time takin care of grandmother”
“She was paid for t” returned Silas
“Richard Alger treated her mean”
“Guess he sat out considerable firewood an candlegrease” assented the old man
A customer came in then and Ezra Ray sprang forward He was all excited over his brothers wedding and was tending store in his place that day His mother was making him a new suit to wear to the wedding and he felt as if the whole affair hung as it were upon the buttons of his new jacket and the straps of his new trousers
“Guess I might as well go over to Aunt Sylvys now as any time” said William
“Dont see what she wanted you to fetch the horse an sled for” ruminated Silas “Mother thought most likely shed give some silver teaspoons if she give anything”
William went out to the barn put the horse in the sled and drove down the hill towards Sylvias When he returned the old thin silver teaspoons of the Crane family were in his coatpocket and Sylvias dearly beloved and fondly cherished haircloth sofa was on the sled behind him
“What in creation did she send them old teaspoons and that old sofa for” his mother asked disgustedly
“I dont know” replied William soberly “but I do know one thing I hated to take them bad enough She acted all upset over it I think shed better have kept her sofa and teaspoons as long as she lived”
“Course she was upset givin away anything” scolded his mother “It was jest like her givin away a passel of old truck ruther than spend any money Well I spose you may as well set that sofa in the parlor It aint hurt much anyway”
Rose and her husband were to live with her parents for the present She was married that evening She wore a blue silk dress and some rosegeranium blossoms and leaves in her hair Tommy Ray sat by her side on Sylvias sofa until the company and the minister were all there Then they stood up and were married
Sylvia came to the wedding in her best silk gown she had trembled lest Richard Alger should be there but he had not been invited Hannah Berry cherished a deep resentment against him
“I aint goin to have any man thats treated one of my folks as mean as he has set foot in my house to a weddin not if I know it” she told Rose
After the marriagecake and cider were passed around the old people sat solemnly around the borders of the rooms and the young people played games William and his wife were not there Hannah had not dared to slight them but William could not prevail upon Rebecca to go
Barney also had not been invited to the wedding Mrs Berry had an open grudge against him on her nieces account and a covert one on her daughters Hannah Berry had a species of loyalty in her nature inasmuch as she would tolerate illtreatment of her kin from nobody but her own self
Charlotte Barnard came with her father and mother and sat quietly with them all the evening She was beginning insensibly to rather hold herself aloof from the young people and avoid joining in their games She felt older People had wondered if she would not wear the dress she had had made for her own wedding but she did not She wore her old purple silk which had been made over from one of her mothers and a freshlystarched muslin collar The air was full of the rich sweetness of cake there was a loud discord of laughter and high shrill voices through which yet ran a subtle harmony of mirth Laughing faces nodded and uplifted like flowers in the merry romping throngs in the middle of the room while the sober ones against the walls watched with grave elderly retrospective eyes
As soon as she could Sylvia Crane stole into her sisters bedroom where the womens outside garments were heaped high on the bed got her own opened the side door softly and went home The next day she was going to the poorhouse and nobody but the three selectmen of Pembroke knew it She had begged them almost on her knees to tell nobody until she was there
That night she rolled away the guardian stone from before the door with the feeling that it was for the last time All that night she worked She could not go to bed she could not sleep and she had gone beyond any frenzy of sorrow and tears All her blind and helpless rage against life and the obdurately beneficent force which had been her conception of Providence was gone When the battle is over there is no more need for the fury of combat Sylvia felt her battle was over and she felt the peace of defeat
She was to take a few necessaries to the poorhouse with her she had them to pack and she also had some cleaning to do
She had a vague idea that the town which seemed to loom over her like some dreadful shadowy giant of a childs story would sell the house and it must be left in neat order for the inspection of seller and buyer “I aint goin to have the town lookin over the house an sayin it aint kept decent” she said So she worked hard all night and her candle lit up first one window then another moving all over the house like a willothewisp
The man who had charge of the poorhouse came for her the next morning at ten oclock Sylvia was all ready At quarter past ten he drove out of the old road where the Crane house stood and down the village street The mans name was Jonathan Leavitt He was quite old but hearty with a stubbly fringe of white beard around a ruddy face He had come on a woodsled for the greater convenience of bringing Sylvias goods There were a featherbed bolster and pillows tied up in an old homespun blanket on the rear of the sled there was also a red chest and a great bundle of bedclothing Sylvia sat in her best rockingchair just behind Jonathan Leavitt who drove standing
“Its a pleasant day for this time of year” he observed to Sylvia when they started Sylvia nodded assent
Jonathan Leavitt had had a fear lest Sylvia might make a disturbance about going Many a time had it taken hours for him to induce a poor woman to leave her own doorstone and when at length they had set forth it was to an accompaniment of shrill piteous lamentations so strained and persistent that they seemed scarcely human and more like the cries of a scared cat being hauled away from her home Everybody on the road had turned to look after the sled and Jonathan Leavitt had driven on looking straight ahead his face screwed hard lashing now and then his old horse with a gruff shout Now he felt relieved and grateful to Sylvia for going so quietly He was disposed to be very friendly to her
“Youd better keep your rockinchair kind of stiddy” he said when they turned the corner into the new road and the chair oscillated like an uneasy berth at sea
Sylvia sat up straight in the chair She had on her best bonnet and shawl and her worked lace veil over her face Her poor blue eyes stared out between the black silk leaves and roses If she had been a dead woman and riding to her grave and it had been possible for her to see as she was borne along the familiar road she would have regarded everything in much the same fashion that she did now She looked at everything—every tree every house and wall—with a pang of parting forever She felt as if she should never see them again in their old light
The poorhouse was three miles out of the village the road lay past Richard Algers house When they drew near it Sylvia bent her head low and averted her face she shut her eyes behind the black roses She did not want to know when she passed the house An awful shame that Richard should see her riding past to the poorhouse seized upon her
The woodsled went grating on a chain rattled she calculated that they were nearly past when there was a jerk and Jonathan Leavitt cried “Hullo”
“Where are you going” shouted another voice Sylvia knew it Her heart pounded She turned her face farther to one side and did not open her eyes
Richard Alger came plunging down out of his yard His handsome face was quite pale under a slight grizzle of beard he was in his shirtsleeves he had on no dicky or stock and his sinewy throat showed
“Where you goin” he gasped out again as he came up to the sled
“Im a takin Sylvy home Why” inquired Jonathan Leavitt with a dazed look
“Home What are you headed this way for What are all those things on the sled”
“Shes lived out her place an the towns jest took it guess you didnt know Richard” said Jonathan Leavitt His eyes upon the other man were half shrewdly inquiring half bewildered
Sylvia never turned her head She sat with her eyes closed behind her veil
Illustration “Sylvia never turned her head”
“Just turn that sled round” said Richard Alger
“Turn the sled round”
“Yes turn it round” Richard himself grasped the bay horse by the bit as he spoke “Back back” he shouted
“What are you doin on Richard” cried the old man but he pulled his right rein mechanically and the sled slewed slowly and safely around
Richard jumped on and stood just beside Sylvia holding to a stake “Where dye want to go” asked the old man
“Back”
“But the town—”
“Ill take care of the town”
Jonathan Leavitt drove back Sylvia opened her eyes a little way and saw Richards back “Youll catch cold without your coat” she half gasped
“No I shant” returned Richard but he did not turn his head
Sylvia did not say any more She was trembling so that her very thoughts seemed to waver They turned the corner of the old road and drove up to her old house Richard stepped off the sled and held out his hands to Sylvia “Come get off” said he
“I dunno about this” said Jonathan Leavitt “Im willin as far as Im concerned Richard but Ive had my instructions”
“I tell you Ill take care of it” said Richard Alger “Ill settle all the damages with the town Come Sylvia get off”
And Sylvia Crane stepped weakly off the woodsled and Richard Alger helped her into the house “Why you cant hardly walk” said he and Sylvia had never heard anything like the tenderness in his tone He bent down and rolled away the stone Sylvia had rolled it in front of the door herself when she went out as she supposed for the last time Then he opened the door and took hold of her slender shawled arm and half lifted her in
“Go in an sit down” said he “while we get the things in”
Sylvia went mechanically into her clean fireless parlor it was the room where she had always received Richard She sat down in a flagbottomed chair and waited
Richard and Jonathan Leavitt came into the house tugging the featherbed between them “Well put it in the kitchen” she heard Richard say They brought in the chest and the bundle of bedding Then Richard came into the parlor carrying the rockingchair before him “You want this in here dont you” he said
“It belongs here” said Sylvia faintly Jonathan Leavitt gathered up his reins and drove out of the yard
Richard set down the chair then he went and stood before Sylvia
“Look here Sylvia” said he Then he stopped and put his hands over his face His whole frame shook Sylvia stood up “Dont Richard” she said
“I never had any idea of this” said Richard Alger with a great groaning sob
“Dont you feel so bad Richard” said Sylvia
Suddenly Richard put is arm around Sylvia and pulled her close to him “Ill look out and do better by you the rest of your life anyhow” he said He took hold of Sylvias veil and pulled it back Her pale face drooped before him
“You look—half—starved” he groaned Sylvia looked up and saw tears on his rough cheeks
“Dont you feel bad Richard” she said again
“Id ought to feel bad” said Richard fiercely
“I couldnt help it that night you come an found me gone It was that night Charlotte had the trouble with Barney Sarah she wouldnt let me come home any sooner I was dreadful upset about it”
“Ive been meaner than sin an I dont know as it makes it any better because I couldnt seem to help it” said Richard Alger “I didnt forget you a single minute Sylvia an I was awful sorry for you an there wasnt a Sabbath night that I didnt want to come more than I wanted to go to Heaven But I couldnt I couldnt nohow Ive always had to travel in tracks an no man livin knows how deep a track hes in till he gets jolted out of it an cant get back But Ive got into a track now an Ill die before I get out of it There aint any use in your lookin at me Sylvia but if you can make up your mind to have me Ill try my best an do all I can to make it all up to you in the time thats left”
“Im afraid youve had a dreadful hard time livin alone so long an tryin to do for yourself” said Sylvia pitifully
“Im glad I have” replied Richard grimly
He clasped Sylvia closer her best bonnet was all crushed against his breast He looked around over her head as if searching for something
“Wheres the sofa gone” he asked
“I gave it to Rose for a weddin present I thought I shouldnt ever need it” Sylvia murmured
“Well Ive got one it aint any matter” said Richard
He moved towards the rockingchair drawing Sylvia gently along with him
“Sit down Sylvia” said he softly
“No you sit down in the rockingchair Richard” said Sylvia She reached out and pulled a flagbottomed chair close and sat down herself Richard sat in the rockingchair
Sylvia untied her bonnet took it off and straightened it Richard watched her “I want you to have a white bonnet” said he
“Im too old Richard” Sylvia replied blushing
“No you aint” he said defiantly “youve got to have a white bonnet”
Sylvia looked in his face—and indeed hers looked young enough for a white bonnet it flushed and lit up like an old flower revived in a new spring
Richard leaned over towards her and the two old lovers kissed each other Richard moved his chair close to hers and Sylvia felt his arm coming around her waist She sat still “Put your head down on my shoulder” whispered Richard
And Sylvia laid her head on Richards shoulder She felt as if she were dreaming of a dream
Chapter XIII
When Richard Alger went home he wore an old brown shawl of Sylvias over his shoulders He had demurred a little “I cant go down the street with your shawl on Sylvia” he had pleaded but Sylvia insisted
“Youll catch your death of cold goin home in your shirtsleeves” she said “They wont know its my shawl Men wear shawls”
“Youve worn this ever since Ive known you Sylvia an I aint given to catchin cold easy” said Richard almost pitifully But he stood still and let Sylvia pin the shawl around his neck Sylvia seemed to have suddenly acquired a curious maternal authority over him and he submitted to it as if it were merely natural that he should
Richard Alger went meekly down the road wearing the old brown shawl that had often draped Sylvia Cranes slender feminine shoulders when she walked abroad since she was a young girl Sylvia had always worn it cornerwise but she had folded it square for him as making it more of a masculine garment Two corners waved out stiffly from his square shoulders He tried to swing his arms unconcernedly under it once the fringe hit his hand and he jumped
He was shamefaced when he struck out into the main road but he did not dream of taking off the shawl A very passion of obedience and loyalty to Sylvia had taken possession of him With every submission after long persistency there is a strong reverse action as from the sudden cessation of any motion Richard now yielded in more marked measure than he had opposed He had borne with his whimsical will against all his sweethearts dearest wishes during the better part of her life now he would wear any insignia of bondage if she bade him
He had gone a short distance on the main road when he met Hannah Berry She was hurrying along her face was quite red and he could hear her pant as she drew near She looked at him sharply she fairly narrowed her eyes over the shawl “Goodmornin” said she
Richard said “Goodmorning” gruffly The shawl blew out against Hannahs shoulder as she passed him She turned about and stared after him and he knew it He went on with dogged chin in the folds of the shawl
Hannah Berry hurried along to Sylvia Cranes When she opened the door Sylvia was just coming out of the parlor and the two sisters met in the entry with a kind of shock
“Oh its you” murmured Sylvia Sylvia cast down her eyes before her sister She tried not to smile Her hair was tumbled and there were red spots on her cheeks
“Has he been here all this time” demanded Hannah
“Hes just gone”
“I met him out here What in creation did you rig him up in your old shawl for Sylvy Crane”
“He was in his shirtsleeves an I wasnt goin to have him catch his death of cold” replied Sylvia with dignity
“In his shirtsleeves”
“Yes he run out just as he was”
“Land sakes” said Hannah The two women looked at each other Suddenly Hannah threw out her arms from under her shawl and clasped Sylvia “Oh Sylvy” she sobbed out “to think you was settin out for the poorhouse this mornin an we havin a weddin last night an never knowin it Why didnt you say anythin about it why didnt you Sylvy”
“I knew you couldnt do anything Hannah”
“Knew I couldnt do anything Do you suppose me or Sarah would have let all the sister weve got go to the poorhouse whilst we had a roof over our heads Wed took you right in either one of us”
“I was afraid Silas an Cephas wouldnt be willin”
“I guess theyd had to be willin I told Silas just now that if Richard Alger didnt come forward like a man you was comin to my house an have the best weve got as long as you lived Silas he said he thought youd ought to earn your own livin an I told him there want any chance for a woman like you to earn your livin in Pembroke that you could earn your livin enough livin at your own sisters Oh Sylvy I cant stand it when I think of your startin out that way an never sayin a word” Hannah sobbed convulsively on her sisters shoulder There were tears in Sylvias eyes but her face above her sisters head was radiant “Dont Hannah” she said “Its all over now you know”
“Is he—goin to have you now—Sylvy”
“I guess so maybe” said Sylvia
“I suppose youll go to his house this is so run down”
“Hes goin to fix this one up”
“You think youd rather live here then Well I spose I should I spose hes goin to buy it The town hadnt ought to ask much Sylvy Crane I cant get it through my head nohow”
“What” said Sylvia
“How you run out this nice place so quick I thought an Sarah thought youd got enough to last you jest as long as you lived an have some left to leave then”
Hannah stood back and looked at her sister sharply
“Ive always been as savin as I knew how” said Sylvia
“Well I dunno but you have You got that sofa that cost considerable I shouldnt have thought youd got that if youd known how things were Sylvy”
“I kinder felt as if I needed it”
“Well I guess you might have got along without that anyhow Richards got one aint he”
“Yes he says he has”
“I thought I remembered his mothers buyin one just before his father died Well youll have his sofa then if I remember right its a better one than yours that you give Rose Now Sylvy Crane you jest put on your hood an shawl an come home with me an have some dinner Have you got anything in the house to eat”
“Ive got a few things” replied Sylvia evasively
“What”
“Some potatoes an apples”
“Potatoes an apples” Hannah began to sob again “To think of your comin to this” she wailed “My own sister not havin anything in the house to eat an settin out for the poorhouse an everybody in town knowin it”
“Dont feel bad about it Hannah its all over now” said Sylvia
“Dont feel bad about it I guess youd feel bad about it if you was in my place” returned Hannah “I spose you think now youve got Richard Alger that theres nothin else makes any odds I guess Ive got some feelins Get your hood and shawl now do dinner was all ready when I come away”
“I guess Id better not Hannah” said Sylvia It seemed to her that she never would want anything to eat again She wanted to be alone in her old house and hug her happiness to her heart whose starvation had caused her more agony than any other Now that was appeased she cared for nothing else
“You come right along” said Hannah “Ive got a nice roast sparerib an turnip an squash an youre goin to come an have some of it”
When Hannah and Sylvia got out on the main road they heard Sarah Barnards voice calling them She was hurrying down the hill Cephas had just come home with the news Jonathan Leavitt had spread it over the village from the nucleus of the store where he had stopped on his way home
Sarah Barnard sat down on the snowy stonewall among the last years blackberry vines and cried as if her heart would break Finally Hannah after joining with her awhile turned to and comforted her
“Land sake dont take on so Sarah Barnard” said she “its all over now Sylvys goin to marry Richard Alger an there aint a man in Pembroke any better off unless its Squire Payne Shes goin to have him right off an hes goin to buy the house an fix it up an shes goin to have all his mothers nice things an shes comin home with me now an have some nice roast sparerib an turnip There aint nothin to take on about”
Hannah fairly pulled Sarah off the stonewall “Sylvy an me have got to go” said she “You come down this afternoon an well all go over to her house an talk it over I spose Richard will come tonight I hope hell shave first an put on his coat I never see such a lookin sight as he was when I met him jest now”
“I didnt see as he looked very bad” said Sylvia with dignity
“It seems as if it would kill me jest to think of it” sobbed Sarah Barnard turning tremulously away
“Dont you feel bad about it any longer Sarah” Sylvia said half absently Her hair blew out wildly from under her hood over her flushed cheeks she smiled as if at something visible past her sister and past everything around her
“I tell you there aint nothin to be killed about” Hannah called after Sarah she caught hold of Sylvias arm “Sarah always was kind of hystericky” said she “That sparerib will be all dried up an I wouldnt give a cent for it if you dont come along”
Richard Alger and Sylvia Crane were married very soon There was no wedding and people were disappointed about that Hannah Berry tried to persuade Sylvia to have one “Im willin to make the cake” said she “Ive jest been through one weddin but Ill do it If Id been goin with a feller as long as you have with him I wouldnt get cheated out of a weddin anyhow Id have a weddin an Id have cake an Id ask folks especially after whats happened Id let em see I want quite so far gone if I had set out for the poorhouse once Id have a weddin Richards got money enough I had real goodluck with Roses cake an I aint afraid to try yours I guess I should make it a little mite stiffer than I did hers”
But Sylvia was obdurate She did not say much but she went her own way She had gained a certain quiet decision and dignity which bewildered everybody Her sisters had dimly realized that there was something about her out of plumb as it were Her nature had been warped to one side by one concentrated and unsatisfied desire “Seems to me sometimes as if Sylvy was kind of queer” Hannah Berry often said “I dunno but shes kinder turned on Richard Alger” Sarah would respond Now she seemed suddenly to have regained her equilibrium and no longer slanted doubtfully across her sisters mental horizons
She and Richard went to the ministers house early one Sabbath morning and were married Then they went to meeting Sylvia on Richards arm They sat side by side in the Alger pew it was on the opposite side of the meetinghouse from Sylvias old pew It seemed to her as if she would see her old self sitting there alone as of old if she looked across She fixed her eyes straight ahead and never glanced at Richard by her side She held her whitebonneted head up like some gentle flower which had sprung back to itself after a hard wind She had a new white bridal bonnet as Richard had wished it was trimmed with white plumes and ribbons and she wore a long whiteworked veil over her face The wrought network as delicate as frost softened all the hard lines and fixed tints and gave to her face an illusion of girlhood She wore the two curls over her cheeks Richard had asked her why she didnt curl her hair as she used to do
All the people saw Sylvias white bonnet it seemed to turn their eyes like a brilliant white spot which reflected all the light in the meetinghouse But there were a few women who eyed more sharply Sylvias weddinggown and mantilla for she wore the very ones which poor Charlotte Barnard had made ready for her own bridal Sylvia was just about her nieces height the gown had needed a little taking in to fit her thinner form and that was all
Charlottes mother had brought them over to Sylvias one night all nicely folded in white linen towels
“Charlotte wants you to have em she says she wont ever need em poor child” she said in response to Sylvias remonstrances Mrs Barnards eyes were red as if she had been crying It had apparently been harder for her to give up the poor slighted weddingclothes than for her daughter Charlotte had not shed a tear when she took them out of the chest and shook off the sprigs of lavender which she had laid over them but it seemed to her that she could smell that faint elusive breath of lavender across the meetinghouse when Sylvia came in and the rustle of her bridalgown was as loud in her ears as if she herself wore it
“Somebody might just as well have them and have some good of them” she had told her mother and she spoke as if they were the garments of some one who was dead
“Seems to me as much as they cost youd ought to wear em yourself” said her mother
“I never shall” Charlotte said firmly “and they might just as well do somebody some good” Charlottes New England thrift and practical sense stretched her sentiment on the rack and she never made a sound
Barney watching out from his window that Sunday caught a flash of green and purple from Sylvias silken skirt as she turned the corner of the old road with Richard “Shes got on Charlottes weddingdress Shes—given it to her” he said with a gasp He had never forgotten it since the day Charlotte had shown it to him He had pictured her in it hundreds of times to his own delight and torment He had a fierce impulse to rush out and strip his Charlottes weddingclothes from this other brides back
“Shes gone and given it away and she hasnt got a good silk dress herself shes wearing her old cloak to meeting” he half sobbed to himself He wondered piteously thinking of his savings and of his property since his fathers death if he might not at least buy Charlotte a new silk dress and a mantilla “I dont believe shed be mad” he said “but Im afraid her father wouldnt let her wear it”
The more he thought of it the more it seemed as if he could not bear it unless he could buy Charlotte the silk dress “Her clothes aint as good as mine” he said and he thought of his best blue broadcloth suit and his flowered vest and silk hat It seemed to him that with all the terrible injury he was doing Charlotte he also injured her by having better clothes than she and that that was something which might be set right
As Barney sat by his window that Sunday afternoon he saw a man coming down the hill He watched him idly then his heart leaped and he leaned forward The man advanced with a careless stately swing his head was thrown back his mulberrycolored coat had a sheen like a leaf in the sun The man was Thomas Payne Barney turned white as he watched him He had not known he was in town and his jealous heart at once whispered that he had come to see Charlotte Thomas Payne came opposite the house then passed out of sight Barney sat with staring eyes full of miserable questioning upon the road Had he been to see Charlotte he speculated He had come from that direction but Barney remembered with a sigh of hope that Squire Payne had a sister an old maiden lady who lived a halfmile beyond Charlotte Perhaps Thomas Payne had been to see his aunt
Illustration “Thomas Payne advanced with a careless stately swing”
All the rest of the day Barney was in an agony of doubt and unrest over the unsettled question He had been living lately in a sort of wretched peace of remorse and misery now it was rudely shaken He walked the floor at night he could not sleep He seemed to be in a very torturechamber of his own making and the tortures were worse than any enemies could have devised Suppose Thomas Payne was sitting up with Charlotte this Sunday night Once he thought wildly of going up the hill to see if there was a light in her parlor but it seemed to him as if the doubt was more endurable than the certainty might be Suppose Thomas Payne was sitting up with Charlotte he called to mind all her sweet ways Suppose she was looking and speaking to Thomas Payne in this way or that way his imagination threw out pictures before him upon which he could not close his eyes He saw Thomas Paynes face all glowing with triumph he saw Charlottes with the old look that she had worn for him Charlottes caresses had been few and maidenly they all came into his mind like stings He knew just how she would put her tender arm around this other mans neck how she would lift grave willing lips to his He wished that they had never been for him for all they seemed worth to him now was this bitter knowledge His fancy led him on and on to his own torment There was a bridal mist around Charlotte He followed the old courses of his own dreams after his memories were passed and they caused him worse agony
The next morning Barney went to the store It was absolutely necessary for him to go but he shunned everybody He had a horrible fear lest somebody should say “Hallo Barney know Thomas Paynes goin to marry your old girl” He had planned the very words and the leer of sly exultation that would accompany it
But he made his purchase and went out and nobody spoke to him He had not seen Thomas Payne in the back part of the store behind the stove Presently Thomas got up and lounged leisurely out through the store exchanging a word with one and another on his way When he got out Barney was going down the road quite a way ahead of him Thomas Payne kept on in his tracks There was another man coming towards him and presently he stood aside to let him pass “Goodday Royal” said Thomas Payne
“Goodday Thomas” returned the other “When dye get home”
“Day before yesterday How are you this winter Royal”
“Well Im pretty fair to middlin” The mans face sunken in his feeble chest far below the level of Thomass eyes looked up at him with a sort of whimsical patience His back was bent like a bow he had had curvature of the spine for years from a fall when a young man
“Glad to hear that” returned Thomas The man passed him walking as if he were vainly trying to straighten himself at every step He held his knees stiff and threw his elbows back but his back still curved pitifully although it seemed as if he were half cheating himself into the belief that he was walking as straight as other men
Thomas walked on rapidly lessening the distance between himself and Barney As he went on he began to have a curious fancy which he could hardly persuade himself was a fancy It seemed to him that Barney Thayer was walking like the man whom he had just met that his back had that same terrible curve
Thomas Payne stared in strange bewilderment at Barneys back “It cant be that he has spine disease that he has got hurt in any way” he thought to himself The purpose with which he had started out rather paled in his mind He walked more rapidly It certainly seemed to him that Barneys back was bent He got within hailing distance and called out
“Hallo” cried Thomas Payne
Barney turned around and it seemed as if he turned with the feeble crooked motion of the other man He saw Thomas Payne and his face was ghastly white but he stood still and waited
“How are you” Thomas said gruffly as he came up
“How are you Thomas” returned Barney He looked at Thomas with a dogged expectancy He thought he was going to tell him that he was to marry Charlotte
But Thomas was surveying him still in that strange bewilderment “Look here Barney” said he bluntly “have you been sick I havent heard of it”
“No I havent” replied Barney wonderingly
Thomass eyes were fixed upon his back “I didnt know but you had got hurt or something” said he
Barney shook his head Thomas thought to himself that his back was certainly curved “I guess Ill walk along with you a little way” said he “Ive got something I wanted to say For Gods sake Barney you are sick”
“No I aint sick”
“You are white as death”
“Theres nothing the matter with me” Barney half gasped He turned and walked on and his back still bent like a bow to Thomas Paynes eyes
Thomas went on silently until they had passed a house just beyond Then he stopped again “Look here Barney” said he
“Well” said Barney He stopped but he did not turn or face Thomas He only presented to him that curved or semblance of a curved back
“I want to speak to you about Charlotte Barnard” said Thomas Payne abruptly Barney waited without a word
“I suppose youll think its none of my business and in one way it isnt” said Thomas “but I am going to say it for her sake I have made up my mind to It seems to me its time if anybody cares anything about her What are you treating Charlotte Barnard so for Barnabas Thayer Its time you gave an account to somebody and you can give it to me”
Barney did not answer
“Speak you miserable coward” shouted Thomas Payne with a sudden threatening motion of his right arm
Then Barney turned and Thomas started back at the sight of his face “I cant help it” he said
“Cant help it you—”
“I cant before God Thomas”
“Why not”
Barney raised his right hand and pointed past Thomas “You—met—Royal Bennet just—now” he gasped hoarsely
Thomas nodded
“You—saw—his—back”
“Yes”
“Well something like that ails me I—cant help it—before God”
“You dont mean—” Thomas said and stopped looking at Barneys back
“I mean thats why I cant—help it”
“Have you hurt your back” Thomas asked in a subdued tone
“Ive hurt my soul” said Barney “It happened that Sunday night years ago I—cant get over it I am bent like his back”
“I should think youd better get over it then if thats all” Thomas Payne said roughly
“I—cant any more than he can”
“Do you mean your backs hurt For Gods sake talk sense Barney” Thomas cried out in bewilderment
“Its more than my back its me”
Thomas stared at Barney a horror as of something uncanny and abnormal stole over him Was the mans back curved or had he by some subtle vision a perception of some terrible spiritual deformity only symbolized by a curved spine In a minute he gave an impatient stamp and tried to shake himself free from the vague pity and horror which the other had aroused
“Do you know that you are ruining the life of the best woman that ever lived” he demanded fiercely
Barney looked at him and suddenly there was a flash as of something noble in his face
“Look here Thomas” he said brokenly in hoarse gasps “Last night I—went mad almost because—I thought—maybe youd been to see—her I—saw you coming down the hill I thought—Id die thinking of—you—with her I cant tell you—what Ive been through what Ive suffered and—what I suffer right along I know I aint to be pitied I know—there aint any pity—anywhere for anything—like this I dont pity—myself But its awful If you could get a sight of it youd know”
Again to Thomas Payne looking at the other it was as if he saw a pale agonized face staring up at him from the midst of a curved mass of deformity He shuddered
“I dont know what to make of you Barney Thayer” he said looking away
“Theres one thing—I want to say” Barney went on “I think theres enough of a man left in me—I—think Ive got strength enough to say it She—ought to be happy I dont want her—wasting her whole life—God knows—I dont—no matter what it does—to me I—wish— See here Thomas I know you—like her Maybe shell—turn to you It seems as if she must I hope you will—oh for Gods sake be—good to her Thomas”
Thomas Paynes face was as white as Barneys He turned to go “Theres no use talking this way You know Charlotte Barnard as well as I do” he said “You know shes one of the women that never love any man but one I dont want another mans wife if shed have me” Suddenly he faced Barney again “For Gods sake Barney” he cried out “be a man and go back to her and marry her”
Barney shook his head with a kind of a sob he turned around and went his way without another word Thomas Payne said no more he stared after Barneys retreating figure and again the look of bewilderment and horror was in his face
That afternoon he asked his father with a casual air if he had heard anything about Barney Thayer getting his back injured in any way
“Why no I cant say as I have” returned the squire
“I saw him this morning and I thought his back looked as if it was growing like Royal Bennets I dare say I imagined it” said Thomas Then he went out of the room whistling
But during his few weeks stay in Pembroke he put the same question to one and another with varying results Some said at once with a sudden look of vague horror that it was so That Barney Thayer was indeed growing deformed that they had noticed it Others scouted the idea “Saw him this morning and hes as straight as he ever was” they said
Whether Barney Thayers back was indeed bowed into that terrible spinal curve or not Thomas Payne could not tell by any agreement of witnesses If some gifted with acute spiritual insight really perceived that dreadful warping of a diseased will and clothed it with a material image for their own grosser senses or if Barney through dwelling upon his own real but hidden infirmity had actually come unconsciously to give it a physical expression and walked at times through the village with his back bent like his spirit although not diseased Thomas Payne could only speculate He finally began to adopt the latter belief as he himself sometimes on meeting Barney thought that he walked as erect as he ever had
Thomas Payne stayed several weeks in Pembroke and he did not go to see Charlotte Once he met her in the street and stopped and shook hands with gay heartiness
“Hes got over caring about me” Charlotte thought to herself with a strange pang which shocked and shamed her “Most likely hes got somebody out West where he is” she said to herself firmly that she ought to be glad if he had and that she was and yet she was not although she never owned it to herself and was stanchly loyal to her old love
Charlotte herself often fancied uneasily that Barneys back was growing like Royal Bennets She watched him furtively when she could Then she would say to herself another time that she must have imagined it
Thomas Payne went away the first of May That evening Charlotte sat on the doorstep in the soft spring twilight Her mother had just come home from her sister Hannah Berrys “Thomas Payne went this afternoon” her mother said standing before her
“Did he” said Charlotte
“You might have had him if you hadnt stuck to a poor stick that aint fit to tie your shoes up” Sarah cried out with sudden bitterness Her voice sounded like Hannah Berrys Charlotte knew that was just what her aunt Hannah had said about it
“I dont ask him to tie my shoes up” returned Charlotte
“You can stan up for him all you want to” said her mother “You know hes a poor tool an hes treatin you mean You know he cant begin to come up to a young man like Thomas Payne”
“Thomas Payne dont want me and I dont want him dont talk any more about it mother”
“I think somebody ought to talk about it” said her mother and she pushed roughly past Charlotte into the house
Charlotte sat on the doorstep a long while “If Thomas Payne has got anybody out West I guess shell be glad to see him” she thought The fancy pained her and yet she seemed to see Thomas Payne and Barney side by side the one like a young prince—handsome and stately full of generous bravery—the other vaguely crouching beneath some awful deformity pitiful yet despicable in the eyes of men and her whole soul cleaved to her old lover “What weve got is ours” she said to herself
As she sat there a band of children went past with a shrill sweet clamor of voices They were out hanging Maybaskets and bunches of anemones That was the favorite sport of the village children during the month of May The woods were full of soft innocent seeking faces bending over the delicate bells nodding in the midst of whorls of dark leaves Every evening after sundown there were mysterious bursts of laughter and tiny scamperings around doors and great balls of bloom swinging from the latchets when they were opened but no person in sight only soft gurgles of mirth and delight sounded around a corner of darkness
After Charlotte went to bed that night she thought she heard somebody at the south door “It is the children with some mayflowers” she thought But presently she reflected that it was very late for the children to be out
After a little while she got up and stole downstairs to the door feeling her way through the dark house
She opened the south door cautiously and put her hand out There were no flowers swinging from the latch as she half expected Her bare feet touched something on the doorstep she stooped and there was a great package
Charlotte took it up and went noiselessly back to her room with it She lighted a candle and unfastened the paper wrappings She gave a little cry There were yards of beautiful silk shimmering with lilac and silver and rosecolor and there was also a fine lace mantle
Charlotte looked at them she was quite pale and trembling She folded the silk and lace again carefully and put them in a chest out of sight Then she went back to bed and lay there crying wildly
“Poor Barney poor Barney” she sobbed to herself
The next evening after Cephas and Sarah had gone to bed Charlotte crept out of the house with the package under her shawl It was still early She ran nearly all the way to Barney Thayers house she was afraid of meeting somebody but she did not
She knocked softly on Barneys door and heard him coming to open it at once When he saw her standing there he gave a great start and did not say anything Charlotte thought he did not recognize her in the dusk
“Its me Barney” she said
“I know you” said Barney She held out the package to him “Ive brought this back” said she
Barney made no motion to take it from her
“I cant take it” she said firmly
Suddenly Barney threw up his hands over his face “Cant you take just that much from me Charlotte Cant you let me do as much as that for you” he groaned out
“No I cant” said Charlotte “You must take it back Barney”
“Oh Charlotte cant you—take that much from me”
“I can take nothing from you as things are” Charlotte replied
“I wanted you to have a dress I saw you had given the other away I didnt think—there was any harm in buying it for you Charlotte”
“It isnt your place to buy dresses for me as things are” said Charlotte She extended the package and he took it as if by force She heard him sob
“You must never try to do anything like this again” she said “I want you to understand it Barney”
Then she went away and left him standing there holding his discarded gift
Chapter XIV
After a while the village people ceased to have the affairs of Barney Thayer and Charlotte Barnard particularly upon their minds As time went on and nothing new developed in the case they no longer dwelt upon it Circumstances like people soon show familiar faces and are no longer stared after and remarked The people all became accustomed to Barney living alone in his halffurnished house season after season and to Charlotte walking her solitary maiden path They seldom spoke of it among themselves sometimes when a stranger came to town they pointed out Barney and Charlotte as they would have any point of local interest
“Do you see that house” a woman bent on hospitable entertainment said as she drove a matronly cousin from another village down the street “the one with the front windows boarded up without any step to the front door Well Barney Thayer lives there all alone Hes old Caleb Thayers son all the son thats left the other one died There was some talk of his mothers whippin him to death She died right after but they said afterwards that she didnt that he run away one night an went slidin downhill an that was what killed him hed always had heart trouble I dunno I always thought Deborah Thayer was a pretty good woman but she was pretty set I guess Barney takes after her He was goin with Charlotte Barnard years ago—I guess twas as much as nine or ten years ago now—an they were goin to be married She was all ready—weddindress an bonnet an everything—an this house was most done an ready for them to move into but one Sunday night Barney he went up to see Charlotte an he got into a dispute with her father about the lection an the old man he ordered Barney out of the house an Barney he went out an he never went in again—couldnt nobody make him His mother she talked it most killed her an I guess Charlotte said all she could but he wouldnt stir a peg
“He went right to livin in his new house an he lives there now he aint married an Charlotte aint Shes had chances too Squire Paynes son he wanted her bad”
The visiting cousins mild interrogative face peered out around the black panel of the covered wagon at Barneys poor house her spectacles glittered at it in the sun “I want to know” said she with the expression of strained entertained amiability which she wore through her visit
When they passed the Barnard house the Pembroke woman partly drew rein again the old horse meandered in a zigzag curve with his head lopping “Thats where Charlotte Barnard lives” she said Suddenly she lowered her voice “There she is now out in the yard” she whispered
Again the visiting cousin peered out “Shes goodlookin aint she” she remarked cautiously viewing Charlottes straight figure and fair face as she came towards them out of the yard
“She aint so goodlookin as she used to be” rejoined the other woman “I guess shes goin down to her aunt Sylvys—Sylvy Crane as was She married Richard Alger a while ago after shed been goin with him over twenty year Hes fixed up the old Crane place It got dreadful run down an Sylvy she actually set out for the poorhouse an Richard he stopped Jonathan Leavitt he was carryin of her over there an he brought her home an married her right off That brought him to the point Sylvy lives on the old road we can drive round that way when we go home an Ill show you the place”
When they presently drove down the green length of the old road the visiting cousin spied interestedly at Sylvias house and Sylvias own delicate profile frilled about with lace drooping like the raceme of some white flower in one of the windows
“Thats her at the window” whispered the Pembroke woman “an theres Richard out there in the beanpoles” Just then Richard peered out at them from the green ranks of the beans at the sound of their wheels and the Pembroke woman nodded with a cough
They drove slowly out of the old road into the maintravelled one and presently passed the old Thayer house A womans figure fled hurriedly up the yard into the house as they approached There was a curious shrinking look about her as she fled her very clothes her muslin skirts her light barège shawl her green bonnet seemed to slant away before the eyes of the two women who were watching her
The Pembroke woman leaned close to her cousins ear and whispered with a sharp hiss of breath The cousin started and colored red all over her matronly face and neck She stared with a furtive shamed air at poor Rebecca hastening into her house The door closed after her with a quick slam
It was always to Rebecca years beyond her transgression admitted ostensibly to her old standing in the village as if an odor of disgrace and isolation still clung to her shaken out from her every motion from the very folds of her garments It came in her own nostrils wherever she went like a miserable emanation of her own personality She always shrank back lest others noticed it and she always would She particularly shunned strangers The sight of a strange woman clothed about with utter respectability and strictest virtue intimidated her beyond her power of self-control for she always wondered if she had been told about her and realized that if she had her old disgrace had assumed in this new mind a hideous freshness
After the door had slammed behind Rebecca the two women drove home and the guest was presently feasted on companyfare for supper and all these strange tragedies and histories to which she had listened had less of a savor in her memory than the fine green tea and the sweet cake on her tongue The hostess too did not have them in mind any longer she pressed the plumcake and hot biscuits and honey on her cousin in lieu of gossip for entertainment The stories were old to her except as she found a new listener to them and they had never had any vital interest for her They had simply made her imagination twang pleasantly and now they could hardly stir the old vibrations
It seemed sometimes as if their hard story must finally grow old and lose its bitter savor to Charlotte and Barney themselves Sometimes Charlottes mother looked at her inquiringly and said to herself “I dont believe she ever thinks about it now” She told Cephas so and the old man nodded “Shes a fool if she does” he returned gruffly
Cephas had never told anybody how he had gone once to Barney Thayers door and there stood long and delivered himself of a strange harangue wherein the penitence and desire for peace had been thinly veiled by a halfwild and eccentric philosophy but the gist of which had been the humble craving for pardon of an old man and his beseeching that his daughters lover separated from her by his own fault should forget it and come back to her
“I havent got anything to say about it” Barney had replied and the old man had seemed to experience a sudden shock and rebound as from the unexpected face of a rock in his path
However he still hoped that Barney would relent and come The next Sunday evening he had himself laid the parlor fire all ready for lighting and hinted that Charlotte should change her dress When nobody came he looked more crestfallen than his daughter she suspected although he never knew it
Charlotte had never learned any trade but she had a reputation for great natural skill with her needle Gradually as she grew older she settled into the patient singlewoman position as assister at feasts instead of participator When a village girl of a younger generation than herself was to be married she was in great demand for the preparation of the bridal outfit and the finest needlework She would go day after day to the house of the brideelect and sew from early morning until late night upon the elaborate quilts the dainty linen and the fine new weddinggowns
She bore herself always with a steady cheerfulness nobody dreamed that this preparing others for the happiness which she herself had lost was any trial to her Nobody dreamed that every stitch which she set in weddinggarments took painfully in a piece of her own heart and that not from envy Her faithful needle as she sewed seemed to keep her old wounds open like a harrow but she never shrank She saw the sweet foolish smiles and blushes of happy girls whose very wits were half astray under the dazzle of love she felt them half tremble under her hands as she fitted the bridalgowns to their white shoulders as if under the touch of their lovers
They walked before her and met her like doppelgängers wearing the self-same old joy of her own face but she looked at them unswervingly It is harder to look at the likeness of ones joy than at ones old sorrow for the one was dearer If Charlottes task whereby she earned her few shillings had been the consoling and strengthening of poor forsaken jilted girls instead of the arraying of brides it would have been a happier and an easier one
But she sat sewing fine even stitches by the light of the evening candle hearing the soft murmur of voices from the best rooms where the fond couples sat smiling like a soldier over her work She pinned on bridal veils and flowers and nobody knew that her own face instead of the brides seemed to smile mockingly at her through the veil
She was much happier although she would have sternly denied it to herself when she was watching with the sick and putting her wonderful needlework into shrouds for it was in request for that also
Except for an increase in staidness and dignity and a certain decorous change in her garments Charlotte Barnard did not seem to grow old at all Her girlish bloom never faded under her sober bonnet although ten years had gone by since her own marriage had been broken off
Barney used to watch furtively Charlotte going past He knew quite well when she was helping such and such a girl get ready to be married He saw her going home a swift shadowy figure after dark with her few poor shillings in her pocket That she should go out to work filled him with a fierce resentment With a childish and masculine disregard for all except bare actualities he could not see why she need to why she could not let him help her He knew that Cephas Barnards income was very meagre that Charlotte needed her little earnings for the barest necessaries but why could she not let him give them to her
Barney was laying up money He had made his will whereby he left everything to Charlotte and to her children after her if she married He worked very hard In summer he tilled his great farm in winter he cut wood
The winter of the tenth year after his quarrel with Charlotte was a very severe one—full of snowstorms and fierce winds and bitterly cold All winter long the swamps were frozen up and men could get into them to cut wood Barney went day after day and cut the wood in a great swamp a mile behind his house He stood from morning until night hewing down the trees which had gotten their lusty growth from the graves of their own kind Their roots were sunken deep among and twined about the very bones of their fathers which helped make up the rich frozen soil of the great swamp The crusty snow was three feet deep the tall blackberry vines were hooped with snow set fast at either end like snares it was hard work making ones way through them The snow was over the heads of those dried weeds which did not blow away in the autumn but stayed on their stalks with that persistency of life that outlives death but all the sturdy bushes which were almost trees the swamppinks and the wildroses waxed gigantic lost their own outlines and stretched out farther under their loads of snow
Barney hewed wood in the midst of this white tangle of trees and bushes and vines which were like a wild dumb multitude of deaththings pressing ever against him trying to crowd him away When he hit them as he passed they swung back in his face with a semblance of life If a squirrel chattered and leaped between some white boughs he started as if some dead thing had come to life for it seemed like the voice and motion of death rather than of life
Half a mile away at the right other woodcutters were at work When the wind was the right way he could now and then hear the strokes of their axes and a shout Often as he worked alone swinging his axe steadily with his breath in a white cloud before his face he amused himself miserably—as one might with a bitter sweetmeat—with his old dreams
He had no dreams in the present they all belonged to the past and he dreamed them over as one sings over old songs Sometimes it seemed quite possible that they still belonged to his life and might still come true
Then he would hear a hoarse shout through the still air from the other side of the swamp and he would know suddenly that Charlotte would never wait in his home yonder while he worked and welcome him home at night
The other woodcutters had families They had to pass his lot on their way out to the open road Barney would either retreat farther among the snowy thickets or else work with such fury that he could seem not to see them as they filed past
Often he did not go home at noon and ate nothing from morn until night He cut wood many days that winter when the other men thought the weather too severe and sat huddled over their fires in their homes shoving their chairs this and that way at their wives commands or else formed chewing and gossiping rings within the glowing radius of the redhot store stove
“See Barney Thayer goin cross lots with his axe as I come by” one said to another rolling the tobacco well back into his grizzled cheek
“Works as if he was possessed” was the reply in a halfinarticulate gruff murmur
“Well he can if he wants to” said still another “I aint goin to work outdoors in any such weather as this for nobody not if I know it an Ive got a wife an eight children an he aint got nobody” And the man cast defiant eyes at the great storewindows dim with thick blue sheaves of frost
On a day like that Barney seemed to be hewing asunder not only the sturdy fibres of oak and hemlock but the terrible sinews of frost and winter and many a tree seemed to rear itself over him threatening stiffly like an old man of death Only by fierce contest as it were could he keep himself alive but he had a certain delight in working in the swamp during those awful arctic days The sense that he could still fight and conquer something were it only the simple destructive force of nature, aroused in him new selfrespect
Through snowstorms Barney plunged forth to the swamp and worked all day in the thick white slant of the storm with the snow heaping itself upon his bowed shoulders
People prophesied that he would kill himself but he kept on day after day and had not even a cold until February Then there came a south rain and a thaw and Barney went to the swamp and worked two days kneedeep in melting snow Then there was a morning when he awoke as if on a bed of sharp knives and lay alone all day and all that night and all the next day and that night not being able to stir without making the knives cut into his vitals
Barney lay there all that time and his soul became fairly bound into passiveness with awful fetters of fiery bone and muscle sometimes he groaned but nobody heard him The last night he felt as if his whole physical nature was knitting about him and stifling him with awful coils of pain The tears rolled over his cheeks He prayed with hoarse gasps and he could not tell if anybody heard him A dim light from a window in the Barnard house on the hill lay into the kitchen opposite his bedroom door He thought of Charlotte as if he had been a child and she his mother The maternal and protecting element in her love was all that appealed to him then and all that he missed or wanted “Charlotte Charlotte” he mumbled to himself with his parched quivering lips
At noon the next day Cephas Barnard came home from the store he had been down to buy some molasses When he entered his kitchen he set the jug down on the table with a hard clap then stood still in his wet boots
Sarah and Charlotte were getting dinner both standing over the stove Sarah glanced at Cephas furtively then at Charlotte Cephas never stirred A pool of water collected around his boots his brows bent moodily under his cap
“Why dont you set down Cephas an take off your boots” Sarah ventured at length timidly
“Folks are fools” grunted Cephas
“I dunno what you mean Cephas”
Cephas got the bootjack out of the corner sat down and began jerking off the wet boots with sympathetic screws of his face
Sarah stood with a wooden spoon uplifted eying him anxiously Charlotte went into the pantry
“There aint anythin happened has there Cephas” said Sarah presently
Cephas pulled off the second boot and sat holding his blue yarn stockingfeet well up from the wet floor “There aint no need of havin the rheumatiz accordin to my way of thinkin” said he
“Whos got the rheumatiz Cephas”
“If folks lived right they wouldnt have it”
“You aint got it have you Cephas”
“I aint never had a tech of it in my life except once an then twas due to my not drinkin enough”
“Not drinkin enough”
“Yes I didnt drink enough water Folks with rheumatiz had ought to drink all the water they can swaller They had ought to drink moren they eat”
“I dunno what you mean Cephas”
“It stands to reason Ive worked it all out in my mind Rheumatiz comes on in wet weather because theres too much water an damp round Now if theres too much water outside you can kind of even it up by takin more water inside The reason for any sickness is—the balance aint right The weight gets shifted an folks begin to topple then theyre sick If it goes clean over they die The balance has got to be kept even if you want to be well When the swamps are fillin up with water an theres too much moisture in the outside air an too much pressure of it on your bones an joints if you swallow enough water inside it keeps things even If Barney Thayer had drunk a gallon of water a day he might have worked in the wet swamp till doomsday an he wouldnt have got the rheumatiz”
“Has Barney Thayer got the rheumatiz Cephas”
Charlottes pale face appeared in the pantry door
“Yes he has got it bad Aint stirred out of his bed since night before last been all alone nobody knew it till William Berry went in this forenoon Guess hed died there if hed been left much longer”
“Whos with him now” asked Charlotte in a quick strained voice
“The Ray boy is sittin with him whilst William is gone to the North Village to see if he can get somebody to come Theres a widow woman over there that goes out nussin Silas said an they hope they can get her The doctor says hes got to have somebody”
“Rebecca cant do anything of course” said Sarah meditatively “he aint got any of his own folks to come poor feller”
Charlotte crossed the kitchen floor with a resolute air
“What are you goin to do Charlotte” her mother asked in a trembling voice
Charlotte turned around and faced her father and mother “I shouldnt think youd ask me” said she
“You aint—goin—over—”
“Of course I am going over there Do you suppose I am going to let him lie there and suffer all alone with nobody to take care of him”
“Theres—the woman—comin”
“She cant come I know who the woman is They tried to get her when Squire Paynes sister died last week Aunt Sylvy told me about it She was engaged way ahead”
“Oh Charlotte Im afraid you hadnt ought to go” her mother said half crying
“Ive got to go mother” Charlotte said quietly She opened the door
“You come back here” Cephas called after her in a great voice
Charlotte turned around “I am going father” said she
“You aint goin a step”
“Yes I am”
“Oh Charlotte Ill go over” sobbed her mother
“You havent gone a step outdoors for a month with your own lame knee I am the one to go and I am going”
“You aint goin a step”
“Oh Charlotte Im afraid you hadnt better” wailed Sarah
Charlotte stood before them both “Look here father and mother” said she “Ive never gone against your wishes in my life but now Im going to Its my duty to I was going to marry him once”
“You didnt marry him” said Cephas
“I was willing to marry him and that amounts to the same thing for any woman” said Charlotte “It is just as much my duty to go to him when hes sick I am going Theres no use talking I am going”
“You neednt come home again then” said her father
“Oh Cephas” Sarah cried out “Charlotte dont go against your fathers wishes Charlotte”
But Charlotte shut the door and hurried upstairs to her room Her mother followed her trembling Cephas sat still dangling his stockingfeet clear of the floor He had an ugly look on his face Presently he heard the two women coming downstairs and his wifes sobbing pleading voice then he heard the parlor door shut Charlotte had gone through the house and out the front door
Sarah came in sniffing piteously “Oh Cephas dont you be hard on the poor child she felt as if she had got to go” she said chokingly
Cephas got up went padding softly and cautiously in his stockingfeet across the floor to the sink and took a long drink with loud gulps out of the gourd in the waterpail
“I dont want to have no more talk about it Ive said my say” said he with a hard breath wiping his mouth with the back of his hand
Charlotte with a little bundle under her arm hastened down the hill When she reached Barneys house she went around and knocked at the side door As she went into the yard she could see dimly a whitecapped womans head in a south window of the Thayer house farther down the road and she knew that Rebeccas nurse was watching her Rebeccas second baby was a week old so she could do nothing for her brother
Charlotte knocked softly and waited She heard a loud clamping step across the floor inside and a whistle A boy opened the door and stood staring at her half abashed half impudently important his mouth still puckered with the whistle
“Is there anybody here but you Ezra” asked Charlotte
The boy shook his head
“I have come to take care of Mr Thayer now” said Charlotte
She entered and Ezra Ray stood aside rolling his eyes after her as she went through the kitchen He whistled again half involuntarily a sudden jocular pipe on the brink of motion, like a bird Charlotte turned and shook her head at him and he stopped short He sat down on a chair near the door and dangled his feet irresolutely
Charlotte went into the bedroom where Barney lay a rigidly twisted groaning heap under a mass of bedclothing which Ezra Ray had kept over him with energy She bent over him “Ive come to take care of you Barney” said she His eyes half dazed in his burning face looked up at her with scarcely any surprise
Illustration “‘Ive come to take care of you’”
Charlotte laid back some of the bedclothes whose weight was a torture and straightened the others She worked about the house noiselessly and swiftly She was skilful in the care of the sick she had had considerable experience Soon everything was clean and in order there was a pleasant smell of steeping herbs through the house Charlotte had set an old remedy of her mothers steeping over the fire—a harmless oldwives decoction with which to supplement the doctors remedies and give new courage to the patients mind
Barney came to think that this remedy which Charlotte prepared was of more efficacy than any which the doctor mixed in his gallipots That is when he could think at all and his mind and soul was able to reassert itself over his body He had a hard illness and after he was out of bed he could only sit bent miserably over in a quiltcovered rockingchair beside the fire He could not straighten himself up without agonizing pain People thought that he never would and he thought so himself His grandfather his mothers father had been in a similar condition for years before his death People called that to mind and so did Barney “Hes goin to be the way his grandfather Emmons was” the men said in the store Barney could dimly remember that old figure bent over almost on allfours like a dog its wretched grizzled face turned towards the earth with a brooding sternness of contemplation He wondered miserably where his grandfathers old cane was when he should be strong enough in his painlocked muscles to leave his rockingchair and crawl about in the spring sunshine It used to be in the garret of the old house He thought that he would ask Rebecca or William to look for it some day He hesitated to speak about it He half dreaded to think that the time was coming when he would be strong enough to move about for then he was afraid Charlotte would leave him and go home He had been afraid that she would when he left his bed He had a childishly guilty feeling that he had perhaps stayed there a little longer than was necessary on that account One Sunday the doctor had said quite decisively to Charlotte “It wont hurt him any to be got up a little while tomorrow It will be better for him You can get William to come in and help” Charlotte had come back from the door and reported to Barney and he had turned his face away with a quivering sigh
“Why what is the matter Dont you want to be got up” asked Charlotte
“Yes” said Barney miserably
“What is the matter” Charlotte said bending over him “Dont you feel well enough”
Barney gave her a pitiful shamed look like a child “Youll go then” he half sobbed
Charlotte turned away quickly “I shall not go as long as you need me Barney” she said with a patient dignity
Barney did not dream against what odds Charlotte had stayed with him Her mother had come repeatedly and expostulated with her out in the entry when she went away
“It aint fit for you to stay here as if you was married to him when you aint and aint ever goin to be as near as I can make out” she said “William can get that woman over to the North Village now or I can come or your aunt Hannah would come for a while till Rebecca gets well enough to see to him a little She was sayin yesterday that it want fit for you to stay here”
“Im here and Im going to stay here till hes better than he is now” said Charlotte
“Folks will talk”
“I cant help it if they do Im doing what I think is right”
“It aint fit for an unmarried woman like you to be takin care of him” said her mother and a sudden blush flamed over her old face
Charlotte did not blush at all “William comes in every day” she said simply
“I think he could get along a while now with what William does an what we could cook an bring in” pleaded her mother “Id come over every day an set a while Id jest as lieves as not If youd only come home Charlotte Your father didnt mean anythin when he said you shouldnt He asked me jest this mornin when you was comin”
“I aint coming till hes well enough so he dont need me” said Charlotte “Theres no use talking mother I must go back now hell wonder what were talking about” and she shut the door gently upon her mother still talking
Her aunt Hannah came and her aunt Sylvia quaking with gentle fears She even had to listen to remonstrances from William Berry honestly grateful as he was for her care of his brotherinlaw
“I aint quite sure that its right for you to stay here Charlotte” he said looking away from her uncomfortably “Rebecca says—‘Hadnt you better let me go for that woman again’”
“I think I had better stay for the present” Charlotte replied
“Of course—I know you do better for him—than anybody else could but—”
“How is Rebecca” asked Charlotte
“She is getting along pretty well but its slow Shes kind of worried about you you know Shes had considerable herself to bear Its hard to have folks—” William stopped short his face burning
“I am not afraid if I know I am doing what is right” said Charlotte “You tell Rebecca I am coming in to see her as soon as I can get a chance”
One contingency had never occurred to Barney in his helpless clinging to Charlotte He had never once dreamed that people might talk disparagingly about her in consequence He had partly from his isolated life partly from natural bent a curious innocence and ignorance in his conception of human estimates of conduct He had not the same vantagepoints with many other people and indeed in many cases seemed to hold the identical ones which he had chosen when a child and first observed anything
If now and then he overheard a word of expostulation he never interpreted it rightly He thought that people considered it wrong for Charlotte to do so much for him and weary herself when he had treated her so badly And he agreed with them
He thought that he should never stand upright again He went always before his own mental vision bent over like his grandfather his face inclined ever downward towards his miserable future
Still as he sat after William had gotten him up in the morning bowed over pitifully in his chair there was at times a strange look in his eyes as he watched Charlotte moving about which seemed somehow to give the lie to his bent back Often Charlotte would start as she met this look and think involuntarily that he was quite straight then she would come to her old vision with a shock and see him sitting there as he was
At last there came a day when the minister and one of the deacons of the church called and asked to see Charlotte privately Barney looked at them startled and quite white They sat with him quite a long while when after many coercive glances between the deacon and the minister the latter had finally arisen and made the request in a trembling embarrassed voice
Charlotte led them at once into the unfinished front parlor with its boardedup windows Barney heard her open the front door to give them light and air He sat still and waited breathing hard A terrible dread and curiosity came over him It seemed as if his soul overreached his body into that other room Without overhearing a word suddenly a knowledge quite foreign to his own imagination seemed to come to him
Presently he heard the front door shut then Charlotte came in alone She was very pale but she had a sweet exalted look as her eyes met Barneys
“Have they gone” he asked hoarsely
Charlotte nodded
“What—did they want”
“Never mind” said Charlotte
“I want to know”
“It is nothing for you to worry about”
“I know” said Barney
“You didnt hear anything” Charlotte cried out in a startled voice
“No I didnt hear but I know The church—dont—think you ought to—stay here They are—going to—take it—up I never—thought of that Charlotte I never thought of that”
“Dont you worry anything about it” Charlotte had never touched him except to minister to his illness since she had been there Now she went close and smoothed his hair with her tender hands “Dont you worry” she said again
Barney looked up in her face “Charlotte”
“What is it”
“I—want you—to go—home”
Charlotte started “I shall not go home as long as you need me” she said “You need not think I mind what they say”
“I—want you to go home”
“Barney”
“I mean what—I say I—want you to go—now”
“Not now”
“Yes now”
Charlotte drew back her lips wore a white line She went out into the front south room where she had slept She did not come back Barney listened until he heard the front door shut after her Then he waited fifteen minutes with his eyes upon the clock Then he got up out of his chair He moved his body as if it were some piece of machinery outside himself as if his will were full of dominant muscles He got his hat off the peg where it had hung for weeks he went out of the house and out of the yard
His sister Rebecca was moving feebly up the road with her little baby in her arms She was taking her first walk out in the spring sunshine The nurse had gone away the week before Her face was clear and pale All her sweet color was gone but her eyes were radiant and she held up her head in the old way This new love was lifting her above her old memories
She stared wonderingly over the babys little downy head at her brother “It cant be Barney” she said out loud to herself She stood still in the road staring after him with parted lips The baby wailed softly and she hushed it mechanically her great happy startled eyes fixed upon her brother
Barnabas went on up the hill to Charlotte Barnards The spring was advancing All the trees were full of that green nebula of life which comes before the blossom Little wings bearing birds and songs cut the air A bluebird shone on a glistening fencerail like a jewel on a turned hand Over across the fields red oxen were moving down ploughridges the green grass was springing the air was full of that strange fragrance which is more than fragrance since it strikes the thoughts which comes in the spring alone being the very odor thrown off by the growing motion of life and the resurrection
Barney Thayer went slowly up the hill with a curious gait and strange gestures as if his own angel were wrestling with himself casting him off with strong motions as of wings
He fought as it were his way step by step He reached the top of the hill and went into the yard of the Barnard house Sarah Barnard saw him coming and shrieked out “Theres Barney theres Barney Thayer comin Hes walkin hes walkin straight as anybody”
When Barney reached the door they all stood there—Cephas and Sarah and Charlotte Barney stood before them all with that noble bearing which comes from humility itself when it has fairly triumphed
Charlotte came forward and he put his arm around her Then he looked over her head at her father “Ive come back” said he
“Come in” said Cephas
And Barney entered the house with his old sweetheart and his old self
THE END