THE COUNTRY OF THE POINTED FIRS

By Sarah Orne Jewett

Note:

SARAH ORNE JEWETT (1849-1909) was born and died in South Berwick, Maine. Her father was the region's most distinguished doctor and, as a child, Jewett often accompanied him on his round of patient visits. She beganwriting poetry at an early age and when she was only 19 her short story"Mr. Bruce" was accepted by the Atlantic Monthly. Her association withthat magazine continued, and William Dean Howells, who was editor atthat time, encouraged her to publish her first book, Deephaven (1877), a collection of sketches published earlier in the Atlantic Monthly. Through her friendship with Howells, Jewett became acquainted withBoston's literary elite, including Annie Fields, with whom she developedone of the most intimate and lasting relationships of her life. 

The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896) is considered Jewett's finestwork, described by Henry James as her "beautiful little quantum ofachievement. " Despite James's diminutives, the novel remains a classic. Because it is loosely structured, many critics view the book not asa novel, but a series of sketches; however, its structure is unifiedthrough both setting and theme. Jewett herself felt that her strengthsas a writer lay not in plot development or dramatic tension, but incharacter development. Indeed, she determined early in her career topreserve a disappearing way of life, and her novel can be read as astudy of the effects of isolation and hardship on the inhabitants wholived in the decaying fishing villages along the Maine coast. 

Jewett died in 1909, eight years after an accident that effectivelyended her writing career. Her reputation had grown during her lifetime, extending far beyond the bounds of the New England she loved. 

Contents

 I The Return II Mrs. Todd III The Schoolhouse IV At the Schoolhouse Window V Captain Littlepage VI The Waiting Place VII The Outer Island VIII Green Island IX William X Where Pennyroyal Grew XI The Old Singers XII A Strange Sail XIII Poor Joanna XIV The Hermitage XV On Shell-heap Island XVI The Great Expedition XVII A Country Road XVIII The Bowden Reunion XIX The Feast's End XX Along Shore XXI The Backward View

I. The Return

THERE WAS SOMETHING about the coast town of Dunnet which made it seemmore attractive than other maritime villages of eastern Maine. Perhapsit was the simple fact of acquaintance with that neighborhood whichmade it so attaching, and gave such interest to the rocky shore anddark woods, and the few houses which seemed to be securely wedged andtree-nailed in among the ledges by the Landing. These houses madethe most of their seaward view, and there was a gayety and determinedfloweriness in their bits of garden ground; the small-paned high windowsin the peaks of their steep gables were like knowing eyes that watchedthe harbor and the far sea-line beyond, or looked northward all alongthe shore and its background of spruces and balsam firs. When one reallyknows a village like this and its surroundings, it is like becomingacquainted with a single person. The process of falling in love at firstsight is as final as it is swift in such a case, but the growth of truefriendship may be a lifelong affair. 

After a first brief visit made two or three summers before in the courseof a yachting cruise, a lover of Dunnet Landing returned to find theunchanged shores of the pointed firs, the same quaintness of the villagewith its elaborate conventionalities; all that mixture of remoteness, and childish certainty of being the centre of civilization of which heraffectionate dreams had told. One evening in June, a single passengerlanded upon the steamboat wharf. The tide was high, there was a finecrowd of spectators, and the younger portion of the company followedher with subdued excitement up the narrow street of the salt-aired, white-clapboarded little town. 

II. Mrs. Todd

LATER, THERE WAS only one fault to find with this choice of a summerlodging-place, and that was its complete lack of seclusion. At first thetiny house of Mrs. Almira Todd, which stood with its end to the street, appeared to be retired and sheltered enough from the busy world, behindits bushy bit of a green garden, in which all the blooming things, twoor three gay hollyhocks and some London-pride, were pushed back againstthe gray-shingled wall. It was a queer little garden and puzzling toa stranger, the few flowers being put at a disadvantage by so muchgreenery; but the discovery was soon made that Mrs. Todd was an ardentlover of herbs, both wild and tame, and the sea-breezes blew intothe low end-window of the house laden with not only sweet-brierand sweet-mary, but balm and sage and borage and mint, wormwood andsouthernwood. If Mrs. Todd had occasion to step into the far cornerof her herb plot, she trod heavily upon thyme, and made its fragrantpresence known with all the rest. Being a very large person, her fullskirts brushed and bent almost every slender stalk that her feet missed. You could always tell when she was stepping about there, even when youwere half awake in the morning, and learned to know, in the course of afew weeks' experience, in exactly which corner of the garden she mightbe. 

At one side of this herb plot were other growths of a rusticpharmacopoeia, great treasures and rarities among the commoner herbs. There were some strange and pungent odors that roused a dim sense andremembrance of something in the forgotten past. Some of these mightonce have belonged to sacred and mystic rites, and have had some occultknowledge handed with them down the centuries; but now they pertainedonly to humble compounds brewed at intervals with molasses or vinegaror spirits in a small caldron on Mrs. Todd's kitchen stove. They weredispensed to suffering neighbors, who usually came at night as if bystealth, bringing their own ancient-looking vials to be filled. Onenostrum was called the Indian remedy, and its price was but fifteencents; the whispered directions could be heard as customers passedthe windows. With most remedies the purchaser was allowed to departunadmonished from the kitchen, Mrs. Todd being a wise saver of steps;but with certain vials she gave cautions, standing in the doorway, andthere were other doses which had to be accompanied on their healing wayas far as the gate, while she muttered long chapters of directions, andkept up an air of secrecy and importance to the last. It may not havebeen only the common aids of humanity with which she tried to cope; itseemed sometimes as if love and hate and jealousy and adverse winds atsea might also find their proper remedies among the curious wild-lookingplants in Mrs. Todd's garden. 

The village doctor and this learned herbalist were upon the best ofterms. The good man may have counted upon the unfavorable effect ofcertain potions which he should find his opportunity in counteracting;at any rate, he now and then stopped and exchanged greetings with Mrs. Todd over the picket fence. The conversation became at once professionalafter the briefest preliminaries, and he would stand twirling asweet-scented sprig in his fingers, and make suggestive jokes, perhapsabout her faith in a too persistent course of thoroughwort elixir, inwhich my landlady professed such firm belief as sometimes to endangerthe life and usefulness of worthy neighbors. 

To arrive at this quietest of seaside villages late in June, when thebusy herb-gathering season was just beginning, was also to arrive inthe early prime of Mrs. Todd's activity in the brewing of old-fashionedspruce beer. This cooling and refreshing drink had been brought towonderful perfection through a long series of experiments; it had wonimmense local fame, and the supplies for its manufacture were alwaysgiving out and having to be replenished. For various reasons, theseclusion and uninterrupted days which had been looked forward to provedto be very rare in this otherwise delightful corner of the world. Myhostess and I had made our shrewd business agreement on the basis of asimple cold luncheon at noon, and liberal restitution in the matter ofhot suppers, to provide for which the lodger might sometimes be seenhurrying down the road, late in the day, with cunner line in hand. It was soon found that this arrangement made large allowance for Mrs. Todd's slow herb-gathering progresses through woods and pastures. Thespruce-beer customers were pretty steady in hot weather, and there weremany demands for different soothing syrups and elixirs with which theunwise curiosity of my early residence had made me acquainted. KnowingMrs. Todd to be a widow, who had little beside this slender business andthe income from one hungry lodger to maintain her, one's energies andeven interest were quickly bestowed, until it became a matter of coursethat she should go afield every pleasant day, and that the lodger shouldanswer all peremptory knocks at the side door. 

In taking an occasional wisdom-giving stroll in Mrs. Todd's company, andin acting as business partner during her frequent absences, I found theJuly days fly fast, and it was not until I felt myself confronted withtoo great pride and pleasure in the display, one night, of two dollarsand twenty-seven cents which I had taken in during the day, that Iremembered a long piece of writing, sadly belated now, which I was boundto do. To have been patted kindly on the shoulder and called "darlin', "to have been offered a surprise of early mushrooms for supper, to havehad all the glory of making two dollars and twenty-seven cents in asingle day, and then to renounce it all and withdraw from these pleasantsuccesses, needed much resolution. Literary employments are so vexedwith uncertainties at best, and it was not until the voice of consciencesounded louder in my ears than the sea on the nearest pebble beach thatI said unkind words of withdrawal to Mrs. Todd. She only became morewistfully affectionate than ever in her expressions, and looked asdisappointed as I expected when I frankly told her that I could nolonger enjoy the pleasure of what we called "seein' folks. " I felt thatI was cruel to a whole neighborhood in curtailing her liberty in thismost important season for harvesting the different wild herbs that wereso much counted upon to ease their winter ails. 

"Well, dear, " she said sorrowfully, "I've took great advantage o' yourbein' here. I ain't had such a season for years, but I have never hadnobody I could so trust. All you lack is a few qualities, but with timeyou'd gain judgment an' experience, an' be very able in the business. I'd stand right here an' say it to anybody. "

Mrs. Todd and I were not separated or estranged by the change in ourbusiness relations; on the contrary, a deeper intimacy seemed to begin. I do not know what herb of the night it was that used sometimes to sendout a penetrating odor late in the evening, after the dew had fallen, and the moon was high, and the cool air came up from the sea. Then Mrs. Todd would feel that she must talk to somebody, and I was only too gladto listen. We both fell under the spell, and she either stood outsidethe window, or made an errand to my sitting-room, and told, it mightbe very commonplace news of the day, or, as happened one misty summernight, all that lay deepest in her heart. It was in this way that I cameto know that she had loved one who was far above her. 

"No, dear, him I speak of could never think of me, " she said. "Whenwe was young together his mother didn't favor the match, an' doneeverything she could to part us; and folks thought we both married well, but't wa'n't what either one of us wanted most; an' now we're left aloneagain, an' might have had each other all the time. He was above bein' aseafarin' man, an' prospered more than most; he come of a high family, an' my lot was plain an' hard-workin'. I ain't seen him for some years;he's forgot our youthful feelin's, I expect, but a woman's heart isdifferent; them feelin's comes back when you think you've done with'em, as sure as spring comes with the year. An' I've always had ways ofhearin' about him. "

She stood in the centre of a braided rug, and its rings of black andgray seemed to circle about her feet in the dim light. Her height andmassiveness in the low room gave her the look of a huge sibyl, while thestrange fragrance of the mysterious herb blew in from the little garden. 

III. The Schoolhouse

FOR SOME DAYS after this, Mrs. Todd's customers came and went past mywindows, and, haying-time being nearly over, strangers began to arrivefrom the inland country, such was her widespread reputation. SometimesI saw a pale young creature like a white windflower left over intomidsummer, upon whose face consumption had set its bright and wistfulmark; but oftener two stout, hard-worked women from the farms cametogether, and detailed their symptoms to Mrs. Todd in loud and cheerfulvoices, combining the satisfactions of a friendly gossip with themedical opportunity. They seemed to give much from their own store oftherapeutic learning. I became aware of the school in which my landladyhad strengthened her natural gift; but hers was always the governingmind, and the final command, "Take of hy'sop one handful" (or whateverherb it was), was received in respectful silence. One afternoon, whenI had listened, --it was impossible not to listen, with cottonlessears, --and then laughed and listened again, with an idle pen in my hand, during a particularly spirited and personal conversation, I reached formy hat, and, taking blotting-book and all under my arm, I resolutelyfled further temptation, and walked out past the fragrant green gardenand up the dusty road. The way went straight uphill, and presently Istopped and turned to look back. 

The tide was in, the wide harbor was surrounded by its dark woods, andthe small wooden houses stood as near as they could get to the landing. Mrs. Todd's was the last house on the way inland. The gray ledges of therocky shore were well covered with sod in most places, and the pasturebayberry and wild roses grew thick among them. I could see the higherinland country and the scattered farms. On the brink of the hill stood alittle white schoolhouse, much wind-blown and weather-beaten, which wasa landmark to seagoing folk; from its door there was a most beautifulview of sea and shore. The summer vacation now prevailed, and afterfinding the door unfastened, and taking a long look through one of theseaward windows, and reflecting afterward for some time in a shady placenear by among the bayberry bushes, I returned to the chief place ofbusiness in the village, and, to the amusement of two of the selectmen, brothers and autocrats of Dunnet Landing, I hired the schoolhouse forthe rest of the vacation for fifty cents a week. 

Selfish as it may appear, the retired situation seemed to possess greatadvantages, and I spent many days there quite undisturbed, with thesea-breeze blowing through the small, high windows and swaying the heavyoutside shutters to and fro. I hung my hat and luncheon-basket on anentry nail as if I were a small scholar, but I sat at the teacher's deskas if I were that great authority, with all the timid empty benches inrows before me. Now and then an idle sheep came and stood for a longtime looking in at the door. At sundown I went back, feeling mostbusinesslike, down toward the village again, and usually met the flavor, not of the herb garden, but of Mrs. Todd's hot supper, halfway up thehill. On the nights when there were evening meetings or other publicexercises that demanded her presence we had tea very early, and I waswelcomed back as if from a long absence. 

Once or twice I feigned excuses for staying at home, while Mrs. Toddmade distant excursions, and came home late, with both hands full anda heavily laden apron. This was in pennyroyal time, and when the rarelobelia was in its prime and the elecampane was coming on. One day sheappeared at the schoolhouse itself, partly out of amused curiosityabout my industries; but she explained that there was no tansy inthe neighborhood with such snap to it as some that grew about theschoolhouse lot. Being scuffed down all the spring made it grow so muchthe better, like some folks that had it hard in their youth, and werebound to make the most of themselves before they died. 

IV. At the Schoolhouse Window

ONE DAY I reached the schoolhouse very late, owing to attendance uponthe funeral of an acquaintance and neighbor, with whose sad decline inhealth I had been familiar, and whose last days both the doctor andMrs. Todd had tried in vain to ease. The services had taken place atone o'clock, and now, at quarter past two, I stood at the schoolhousewindow, looking down at the procession as it went along the lower roadclose to the shore. It was a walking funeral, and even at that distanceI could recognize most of the mourners as they went their solemn way. Mrs. Begg had been very much respected, and there was a large companyof friends following to her grave. She had been brought up on one ofthe neighboring farms, and each of the few times that I had seen hershe professed great dissatisfaction with town life. The people livedtoo close together for her liking, at the Landing, and she could notget used to the constant sound of the sea. She had lived to lamentthree seafaring husbands, and her house was decorated with West Indiancuriosities, specimens of conch shells and fine coral which they hadbrought home from their voyages in lumber-laden ships. Mrs. Todd hadtold me all our neighbor's history. They had been girls together, and, to use her own phrase, had "both seen trouble till they knew the bestand worst on 't. " I could see the sorrowful, large figure of Mrs. Toddas I stood at the window. She made a break in the procession by walkingslowly and keeping the after-part of it back. She held a handkerchiefto her eyes, and I knew, with a pang of sympathy, that hers was notaffected grief. 

Beside her, after much difficulty, I recognized the one strange andunrelated person in all the company, an old man who had always beenmysterious to me. I could see his thin, bending figure. He wore anarrow, long-tailed coat and walked with a stick, and had the same "cantto leeward" as the wind-bent trees on the height above. 

This was Captain Littlepage, whom I had seen only once or twice before, sitting pale and old behind a closed window; never out of doors untilnow. Mrs. Todd always shook her head gravely when I asked a question, and said that he wasn't what he had been once, and seemed to class himwith her other secrets. He might have belonged with a simple which grewin a certain slug-haunted corner of the garden, whose use she couldnever be betrayed into telling me, though I saw her cutting the topsby moonlight once, as if it were a charm, and not a medicine, like thegreat fading bloodroot leaves. 

I could see that she was trying to keep pace with the old captain'slighter steps. He looked like an aged grasshopper of some strange humanvariety. Behind this pair was a short, impatient, little person, whokept the captain's house, and gave it what Mrs. Todd and others believedto be no proper sort of care. She was usually called "that Mari' Harris"in subdued conversation between intimates, but they treated her withanxious civility when they met her face to face. 

The bay-sheltered islands and the great sea beyond stretched away tothe far horizon southward and eastward; the little procession in theforeground looked futile and helpless on the edge of the rocky shore. Itwas a glorious day early in July, with a clear, high sky; there were noclouds, there was no noise of the sea. The song sparrows sang and sang, as if with joyous knowledge of immortality, and contempt for those whocould so pettily concern themselves with death. I stood watching untilthe funeral procession had crept round a shoulder of the slope below anddisappeared from the great landscape as if it had gone into a cave. 

An hour later I was busy at my work. Now and then a bee blundered in andtook me for an enemy; but there was a useful stick upon the teacher'sdesk, and I rapped to call the bees to order as if they were unrulyscholars, or waved them away from their riots over the ink, which I hadbought at the Landing store, and discovered to be scented with bergamot, as if to refresh the labors of anxious scribes. One anxious scribefelt very dull that day; a sheep-bell tinkled near by, and called herwandering wits after it. The sentences failed to catch these lovelysummer cadences. For the first time I began to wish for a companionand for news from the outer world, which had been, half unconsciously, forgotten. Watching the funeral gave one a sort of pain. I began towonder if I ought not to have walked with the rest, instead of hurryingaway at the end of the services. Perhaps the Sunday gown I had put onfor the occasion was making this disastrous change of feeling, but I hadnow made myself and my friends remember that I did not really belong toDunnet Landing. 

I sighed, and turned to the half-written page again. 

V. Captain Littlepage

IT WAS A long time after this; an hour was very long in that coasttown where nothing stole away the shortest minute. I had lost myselfcompletely in work, when I heard footsteps outside. There was a steepfootpath between the upper and the lower road, which I climbed toshorten the way, as the children had taught me, but I believed that Mrs. Todd would find it inaccessible, unless she had occasion to seek me ingreat haste. I wrote on, feeling like a besieged miser of time, whilethe footsteps came nearer, and the sheep-bell tinkled away in haste asif someone had shaken a stick in its wearer's face. Then I looked, andsaw Captain Littlepage passing the nearest window; the next moment hetapped politely at the door. 

"Come in, sir, " I said, rising to meet him; and he entered, bowing withmuch courtesy. I stepped down from the desk and offered him a chair bythe window, where he seated himself at once, being sadly spent by hisclimb. I returned to my fixed seat behind the teacher's desk, which gavehim the lower place of a scholar. 

"You ought to have the place of honor, Captain Littlepage, " I said. 

"A happy, rural seat of various views, "

he quoted, as he gazed out into the sunshine and up the long woodedshore. Then he glanced at me, and looked all about him as pleased as achild. 

"My quotation was from Paradise Lost: the greatest of poems, I supposeyou know?" and I nodded. "There's nothing that ranks, to my mind, withParadise Lost; it's all lofty, all lofty, " he continued. "Shakespearewas a great poet; he copied life, but you have to put up with a greatdeal of low talk. "

I now remembered that Mrs. Todd had told me one day that CaptainLittlepage had overset his mind with too much reading; she had also madedark reference to his having "spells" of some unexplainable nature. Icould not help wondering what errand had brought him out in search ofme. There was something quite charming in his appearance: it was a facethin and delicate with refinement, but worn into appealing lines, as ifhe had suffered from loneliness and misapprehension. He looked, with hiscareful precision of dress, as if he were the object of cherishing careon the part of elderly unmarried sisters, but I knew Mari' Harris to bea very common-place, inelegant person, who would have no such standards;it was plain that the captain was his own attentive valet. He satlooking at me expectantly. I could not help thinking that, with hisqueer head and length of thinness, he was made to hop along the road oflife rather than to walk. The captain was very grave indeed, and I bademy inward spirit keep close to discretion. 

"Poor Mrs. Begg has gone, " I ventured to say. I still wore my Sundaygown by way of showing respect. 

"She has gone, " said the captain, --"very easy at the last, I wasinformed; she slipped away as if she were glad of the opportunity. "

I thought of the Countess of Carberry, and felt that history repeateditself. 

"She was one of the old stock, " continued Captain Littlepage, withtouching sincerity. "She was very much looked up to in this town, andwill be missed. "

I wondered, as I looked at him, if he had sprung from a line ofministers; he had the refinement of look and air of command which arethe heritage of the old ecclesiastical families of New England. Butas Darwin says in his autobiography, "there is no such king as asea-captain; he is greater even than a king or a schoolmaster!"

Captain Littlepage moved his chair out of the wake of the sunshine, and still sat looking at me. I began to be very eager to know upon whaterrand he had come. 

"It may be found out some o' these days, " he said earnestly. "We mayknow it all, the next step; where Mrs. Begg is now, for instance. Certainty, not conjecture, is what we all desire. "

"I suppose we shall know it all some day, " said I. 

"We shall know it while yet below, " insisted the captain, with a flushof impatience on his thin cheeks. "We have not looked for truth in theright direction. I know what I speak of; those who have laughed at melittle know how much reason my ideas are based upon. " He waved his handtoward the village below. "In that handful of houses they fancy thatthey comprehend the universe. "

I smiled, and waited for him to go on. 

"I am an old man, as you can see, " he continued, "and I have been ashipmaster the greater part of my life, --forty-three years in all. Youmay not think it, but I am above eighty years of age. "

He did not look so old, and I hastened to say so. 

"You must have left the sea a good many years ago, then, CaptainLittlepage?" I said. 

"I should have been serviceable at least five or six years more, " heanswered. "My acquaintance with certain--my experience upon a certainoccasion, I might say, gave rise to prejudice. I do not mind telling youthat I chanced to learn of one of the greatest discoveries that man hasever made. "

Now we were approaching dangerous ground, but a sudden sense of hissufferings at the hands of the ignorant came to my help, and I asked tohear more with all the deference I really felt. A swallow flew intothe schoolhouse at this moment as if a kingbird were after it, and beatitself against the walls for a minute, and escaped again to the openair; but Captain Littlepage took no notice whatever of the flurry. 

"I had a valuable cargo of general merchandise from the London docks toFort Churchill, a station of the old company on Hudson's Bay, " said thecaptain earnestly. "We were delayed in lading, and baffled by head windsand a heavy tumbling sea all the way north-about and across. Then thefog kept us off the coast; and when I made port at last, it was too lateto delay in those northern waters with such a vessel and such a crew asI had. They cared for nothing, and idled me into a fit of sickness;but my first mate was a good, excellent man, with no more idea of beingfrozen in there until spring than I had, so we made what speed we couldto get clear of Hudson's Bay and off the coast. I owned an eighth ofthe vessel, and he owned a sixteenth of her. She was a full-rigged ship, called the Minerva, but she was getting old and leaky. I meant it shouldbe my last v'y'ge in her, and so it proved. She had been an excellentvessel in her day. Of the cowards aboard her I can't say so much. "

"Then you were wrecked?" I asked, as he made a long pause. 

"I wa'n't caught astern o' the lighter by any fault of mine, " said thecaptain gloomily. "We left Fort Churchill and run out into the Bay witha light pair o' heels; but I had been vexed to death with their red-taperigging at the company's office, and chilled with stayin' on deck an'tryin' to hurry up things, and when we were well out o' sight o' land, headin' for Hudson's Straits, I had a bad turn o' some sort o' fever, and had to stay below. The days were getting short, and we made goodruns, all well on board but me, and the crew done their work by dint ofhard driving. "

I began to find this unexpected narrative a little dull. CaptainLittlepage spoke with a kind of slow correctness that lacked thelongshore high flavor to which I had grown used; but I listenedrespectfully while he explained the winds having become contrary, andtalked on in a dreary sort of way about his voyage, the bad weather, and the disadvantages he was under in the lightness of his ship, whichbounced about like a chip in a bucket, and would not answer the rudderor properly respond to the most careful setting of sails. 

"So there we were blowin' along anyways, " he complained; but looking atme at this moment, and seeing that my thoughts were unkindly wandering, he ceased to speak. 

"It was a hard life at sea in those days, I am sure, " said I, withredoubled interest. 

"It was a dog's life, " said the poor old gentleman, quite reassured, "but it made men of those who followed it. I see a change for the worseeven in our own town here; full of loafers now, small and poor as 'tis, who once would have followed the sea, every lazy soul of 'em. There isno occupation so fit for just that class o' men who never get beyondthe fo'cas'le. I view it, in addition, that a community narrows down andgrows dreadful ignorant when it is shut up to its own affairs, and getsno knowledge of the outside world except from a cheap, unprinciplednewspaper. In the old days, a good part o' the best men here knew ahundred ports and something of the way folks lived in them. They sawthe world for themselves, and like's not their wives and children saw itwith them. They may not have had the best of knowledge to carry with 'emsight-seein', but they were some acquainted with foreign lands an' theirlaws, an' could see outside the battle for town clerk here in Dunnet;they got some sense o' proportion. Yes, they lived more dignified, andtheir houses were better within an' without. Shipping's a terrible lossto this part o' New England from a social point o' view, ma'am. "

"I have thought of that myself, " I returned, with my interest quiteawakened. "It accounts for the change in a great many things, --the saddisappearance of sea-captains, --doesn't it?"

"A shipmaster was apt to get the habit of reading, " said my companion, brightening still more, and taking on a most touching air of unreserve. "A captain is not expected to be familiar with his crew, and forcompany's sake in dull days and nights he turns to his book. Most of usold shipmasters came to know 'most everything about something; one wouldtake to readin' on farming topics, and some were great on medicine, --butLord help their poor crews!--or some were all for history, and now andthen there'd be one like me that gave his time to the poets. I was wellacquainted with a shipmaster that was all for bees an' beekeepin'; andif you met him in port and went aboard, he'd sit and talk a terriblewhile about their havin' so much information, and the money that couldbe made out of keepin' 'em. He was one of the smartest captains thatever sailed the seas, but they used to call the Newcastle, a greatbark he commanded for many years, Tuttle's beehive. There was old Cap'nJameson: he had notions of Solomon's Temple, and made a very handsomelittle model of the same, right from the Scripture measurements, same'sother sailors make little ships and design new tricks of rigging and allthat. No, there's nothing to take the place of shipping in a place likeours. These bicycles offend me dreadfully; they don't afford no realopportunities of experience such as a man gained on a voyage. No: whenfolks left home in the old days they left it to some purpose, and whenthey got home they stayed there and had some pride in it. There's nolarge-minded way of thinking now: the worst have got to be best and ruleeverything; we're all turned upside down and going back year by year. "

"Oh no, Captain Littlepage, I hope not, " said I, trying to soothe hisfeelings. 

There was a silence in the schoolhouse, but we could hear the noise ofthe water on a beach below. It sounded like the strange warning wavethat gives notice of the turn of the tide. A late golden robin, with themost joyful and eager of voices, was singing close by in a thicket ofwild roses. 

VI. The Waiting Place

"HOW DID YOU manage with the rest of that rough voyage on the Minerva?"I asked. 

"I shall be glad to explain to you, " said Captain Littlepage, forgettinghis grievances for the moment. "If I had a map at hand I could explainbetter. We were driven to and fro 'way up toward what we used to callParry's Discoveries, and lost our bearings. It was thick and foggy, and at last I lost my ship; she drove on a rock, and we managed to getashore on what I took to be a barren island, the few of us that wereleft alive. When she first struck, the sea was somewhat calmer than ithad been, and most of the crew, against orders, manned the long-boat andput off in a hurry, and were never heard of more. Our own boat upset, but the carpenter kept himself and me above water, and we drifted in. I had no strength to call upon after my recent fever, and laid down todie; but he found the tracks of a man and dog the second day, andgot along the shore to one of those far missionary stations that theMoravians support. They were very poor themselves, and in distress;'twas a useless place. There were but few Esquimaux left in that region. There we remained for some time, and I became acquainted with strangeevents. "

The captain lifted his head and gave me a questioning glance. I couldnot help noticing that the dulled look in his eyes had gone, and therewas instead a clear intentness that made them seem dark and piercing. 

"There was a supply ship expected, and the pastor, an excellentChristian man, made no doubt that we should get passage in her. He washoping that orders would come to break up the station; but everythingwas uncertain, and we got on the best we could for a while. We fished, and helped the people in other ways; there was no other way of payingour debts. I was taken to the pastor's house until I got better; butthey were crowded, and I felt myself in the way, and made excuse to joinwith an old seaman, a Scotchman, who had built him a warm cabin, and hadroom in it for another. He was looked upon with regard, and had stood bythe pastor in some troubles with the people. He had been on one of thoseEnglish exploring parties that found one end of the road to the northpole, but never could find the other. We lived like dogs in a kennel, orso you'd thought if you had seen the hut from the outside; but the mainthing was to keep warm; there were piles of bird-skins to lie on, andhe'd made him a good bunk, and there was another for me. 'Twas dreadfuldreary waitin' there; we begun to think the supply steamer was lost, andmy poor ship broke up and strewed herself all along the shore. We got towatching on the headlands; my men and me knew the people were short ofsupplies and had to pinch themselves. It ought to read in the Bible, 'Man cannot live by fish alone, ' if they'd told the truth of things;'taint bread that wears the worst on you! First part of the time, oldGaffett, that I lived with, seemed speechless, and I didn't know what tomake of him, nor he of me, I dare say; but as we got acquainted, Ifound he'd been through more disasters than I had, and had troubles thatwa'n't going to let him live a great while. It used to ease his mind totalk to an understanding person, so we used to sit and talk togetherall day, if it rained or blew so that we couldn't get out. I'd got a badblow on the back of my head at the time we came ashore, and it painedme at times, and my strength was broken, anyway; I've never been so ablesince. "

Captain Littlepage fell into a reverie. 

"Then I had the good of my reading, " he explained presently. "I hadno books; the pastor spoke but little English, and all his books wereforeign; but I used to say over all I could remember. The old poetslittle knew what comfort they could be to a man. I was well acquaintedwith the works of Milton, but up there it did seem to me as ifShakespeare was the king; he has his sea terms very accurate, and somebeautiful passages were calming to the mind. I could say them over untilI shed tears; there was nothing beautiful to me in that place but thestars above and those passages of verse. 

"Gaffett was always brooding and brooding, and talking to himself; hewas afraid he should never get away, and it preyed upon his mind. Hethought when I got home I could interest the scientific men in hisdiscovery: but they're all taken up with their own notions; some didn'teven take pains to answer the letters I wrote. You observe that I saidthis crippled man Gaffett had been shipped on a voyage of discovery. Inow tell you that the ship was lost on its return, and only Gaffett andtwo officers were saved off the Greenland coast, and he had knowledgelater that those men never got back to England; the brig they shipped onwas run down in the night. So no other living soul had the facts, andhe gave them to me. There is a strange sort of a country 'way up northbeyond the ice, and strange folks living in it. Gaffett believed it wasthe next world to this. "

"What do you mean, Captain Littlepage?" I exclaimed. The old man wasbending forward and whispering; he looked over his shoulder before hespoke the last sentence. 

"To hear old Gaffett tell about it was something awful, " he said, goingon with his story quite steadily after the moment of excitement hadpassed. "'Twas first a tale of dogs and sledges, and cold and wind andsnow. Then they begun to find the ice grow rotten; they had been frozenin, and got into a current flowing north, far up beyond Fox Channel, and they took to their boats when the ship got crushed, and this warmcurrent took them out of sight of the ice, and into a great open sea;and they still followed it due north, just the very way they had plannedto go. Then they struck a coast that wasn't laid down or charted, butthe cliffs were such that no boat could land until they found a bay andstruck across under sail to the other side where the shore looked lower;they were scant of provisions and out of water, but they got sight ofsomething that looked like a great town. 'For God's sake, Gaffett!' saidI, the first time he told me. 'You don't mean a town two degrees farthernorth than ships had ever been?' for he'd got their course marked on anold chart that he'd pieced out at the top; but he insisted upon it, andtold it over and over again, to be sure I had it straight to carry tothose who would be interested. There was no snow and ice, he said, afterthey had sailed some days with that warm current, which seemed to comeright from under the ice that they'd been pinched up in and had beencrossing on foot for weeks. "

"But what about the town?" I asked. "Did they get to the town?"

"They did, " said the captain, "and found inhabitants; 'twas an awfulcondition of things. It appeared, as near as Gaffett could express it, like a place where there was neither living nor dead. They could see theplace when they were approaching it by sea pretty near like any town, and thick with habitations; but all at once they lost sight of italtogether, and when they got close inshore they could see the shapesof folks, but they never could get near them, --all blowing gray figuresthat would pass along alone, or sometimes gathered in companies as ifthey were watching. The men were frightened at first, but the shapesnever came near them, --it was as if they blew back; and at last they allgot bold and went ashore, and found birds' eggs and sea fowl, like anywild northern spot where creatures were tame and folks had never been, and there was good water. Gaffett said that he and another man came nearone o' the fog-shaped men that was going along slow with the look of apack on his back, among the rocks, an' they chased him; but, Lord! heflittered away out o' sight like a leaf the wind takes with it, or apiece of cobweb. They would make as if they talked together, but therewas no sound of voices, and 'they acted as if they didn't see us, butonly felt us coming towards them, ' says Gaffett one day, trying to tellthe particulars. They couldn't see the town when they were ashore. Oneday the captain and the doctor were gone till night up across the highland where the town had seemed to be, and they came back at nightbeat out and white as ashes, and wrote and wrote all next day in theirnotebooks, and whispered together full of excitement, and they weresharp-spoken with the men when they offered to ask any questions. 

"Then there came a day, " said Captain Littlepage, leaning toward me witha strange look in his eyes, and whispering quickly. "The men all sworethey wouldn't stay any longer; the man on watch early in the morninggave the alarm, and they all put off in the boat and got a little wayout to sea. Those folks, or whatever they were, come about 'em likebats; all at once they raised incessant armies, and come as if to drive'em back to sea. They stood thick at the edge o' the water like theridges o' grim war; no thought o' flight, none of retreat. Sometimesa standing fight, then soaring on main wing tormented all the air. And when they'd got the boat out o' reach o' danger, Gaffett said theylooked back, and there was the town again, standing up just as they'dseen it first, comin' on the coast. Say what you might, they allbelieved 'twas a kind of waiting-place between this world an' the next. "

The captain had sprung to his feet in his excitement, and made excitedgestures, but he still whispered huskily. 

"Sit down, sir, " I said as quietly as I could, and he sank into hischair quite spent. 

"Gaffett thought the officers were hurrying home to report and to fitout a new expedition when they were all lost. At the time, the mengot orders not to talk over what they had seen, " the old man explainedpresently in a more natural tone. 

"Weren't they all starving, and wasn't it a mirage or something of thatsort?" I ventured to ask. But he looked at me blankly. 

"Gaffett had got so that his mind ran on nothing else, " he went on. "Theship's surgeon let fall an opinion to the captain, one day, that 'twassome condition o' the light and the magnetic currents that let them seethose folks. 'Twa'n't a right-feeling part of the world, anyway; theyhad to battle with the compass to make it serve, an' everything seemedto go wrong. Gaffett had worked it out in his own mind that they wasall common ghosts, but the conditions were unusual favorable for seeingthem. He was always talking about the Ge'graphical Society, but he nevertook proper steps, as I viewed it now, and stayed right there at themission. He was a good deal crippled, and thought they'd confine him insome jail of a hospital. He said he was waiting to find the right men totell, somebody bound north. Once in a while they stopped there to leavea mail or something. He was set in his notions, and let two or threeproper explorin' expeditions go by him because he didn't like theirlooks; but when I was there he had got restless, fearin' he might betaken away or something. He had all his directions written out straightas a string to give the right ones. I wanted him to trust 'em to me, so I might have something to show, but he wouldn't. I suppose he's deadnow. I wrote to him an' I done all I could. 'Twill be a great exploitsome o' these days. "

I assented absent-mindedly, thinking more just then of my companion'salert, determined look and the seafaring, ready aspect that had come tohis face; but at this moment there fell a sudden change, and theold, pathetic, scholarly look returned. Behind me hung a map of NorthAmerica, and I saw, as I turned a little, that his eyes were fixed uponthe northernmost regions and their careful recent outlines with a lookof bewilderment. 

VII. The Outer Island

GAFFETT WITH HIS good bunk and the bird-skins, the story of the wreckof the Minerva, the human-shaped creatures of fog and cobweb, the greatwords of Milton with which he described their onslaught upon the crew, all this moving tale had such an air of truth that I could not arguewith Captain Littlepage. The old man looked away from the map as if ithad vaguely troubled him, and regarded me appealingly. 

"We were just speaking of"--and he stopped. I saw that he had suddenlyforgotten his subject. 

"There were a great many persons at the funeral, " I hastened to say. 

"Oh yes, " the captain answered, with satisfaction. "All showed respectwho could. The sad circumstances had for a moment slipped my mind. Yes, Mrs. Begg will be very much missed. She was a capital manager for herhusband when he was at sea. Oh yes, shipping is a very great loss. " Andhe sighed heavily. "There was hardly a man of any standing who didn'tinterest himself in some way in navigation. It always gave credit to atown. I call it low-water mark now here in Dunnet. "

He rose with dignity to take leave, and asked me to stop at his housesome day, when he would show me some outlandish things that he hadbrought home from sea. I was familiar with the subject of the decadenceof shipping interests in all its affecting branches, having been alreadysome time in Dunnet, and I felt sure that Captain Littlepage's mind hadnow returned to a safe level. 

As we came down the hill toward the village our ways divided, and whenI had seen the old captain well started on a smooth piece of sidewalkwhich would lead him to his own door, we parted, the best of friends. "Step in some afternoon, " he said, as affectionately as if I were afellow-shipmaster wrecked on the lee shore of age like himself. Iturned toward home, and presently met Mrs. Todd coming toward me with ananxious expression. 

"I see you sleevin' the old gentleman down the hill, " she suggested. 

"Yes. I've had a very interesting afternoon with him, " I answered, andher face brightened. 

"Oh, then he's all right. I was afraid 'twas one o' his flighty spells, an' Mari' Harris wouldn't"--

"Yes, " I returned, smiling, "he has been telling me some old stories, but we talked about Mrs. Begg and the funeral beside, and ParadiseLost. "

"I expect he got tellin' of you some o' his great narratives, " sheanswered, looking at me shrewdly. "Funerals always sets him goin'. Someo' them tales hangs together toler'ble well, " she added, with a sharperlook than before. "An' he's been a great reader all his seafarin' days. Some thinks he overdid, and affected his head, but for a man o' hisyears he's amazin' now when he's at his best. Oh, he used to be abeautiful man!"

We were standing where there was a fine view of the harbor and its longstretches of shore all covered by the great army of the pointed firs, darkly cloaked and standing as if they waited to embark. As we lookedfar seaward among the outer islands, the trees seemed to march seawardstill, going steadily over the heights and down to the water's edge. 

It had been growing gray and cloudy, like the first evening of autumn, and a shadow had fallen on the darkening shore. Suddenly, as we looked, a gleam of golden sunshine struck the outer islands, and one of themshone out clear in the light, and revealed itself in a compelling way toour eyes. Mrs. Todd was looking off across the bay with a face full ofaffection and interest. The sunburst upon that outermost island madeit seem like a sudden revelation of the world beyond this which somebelieve to be so near. 

"That's where mother lives, " said Mrs. Todd. "Can't we see it plain? Iwas brought up out there on Green Island. I know every rock an' bush onit. "

"Your mother!" I exclaimed, with great interest. 

"Yes, dear, cert'in; I've got her yet, old's I be. She's one of themspry, light-footed little women; always was, an' light-hearted, too, "answered Mrs. Todd, with satisfaction. "She's seen all the trouble folkscan see, without it's her last sickness; an' she's got a word of couragefor everybody. Life ain't spoilt her a mite. She's eighty-six an' I'msixty-seven, and I've seen the time I've felt a good sight the oldest. 'Land sakes alive!' says she, last time I was out to see her. 'How youdo lurch about steppin' into a bo't?' I laughed so I liked to have goneright over into the water; an' we pushed off, an' left her laughin'there on the shore. "

The light had faded as we watched. Mrs. Todd had mounted a gray rock, and stood there grand and architectural, like a caryatide. Presently shestepped down, and we continued our way homeward. 

"You an' me, we'll take a bo't an' go out some day and see mother, "she promised me. "'Twould please her very much, an' there's one or twosca'ce herbs grows better on the island than anywhere else. I ain't seentheir like nowheres here on the main. "

"Now I'm goin' right down to get us each a mug o' my beer, " sheannounced as we entered the house, "an' I believe I'll sneak in a littlemite o' camomile. Goin' to the funeral an' all, I feel to have had avery wearin' afternoon. "

I heard her going down into the cool little cellar, and then there wasconsiderable delay. When she returned, mug in hand, I noticed the tasteof camomile, in spite of my protest; but its flavor was disguised bysome other herb that I did not know, and she stood over me until I drankit all and said that I liked it. 

"I don't give that to everybody, " said Mrs. Todd kindly; and I felt fora moment as if it were part of a spell and incantation, and as if myenchantress would now begin to look like the cobweb shapes of the arctictown. Nothing happened but a quiet evening and some delightful plansthat we made about going to Green Island, and on the morrow there wasthe clear sunshine and blue sky of another day. 

VIII. Green Island

ONE MORNING, very early, I heard Mrs. Todd in the garden outside mywindow. By the unusual loudness of her remarks to a passer-by, and thenotes of a familiar hymn which she sang as she worked among the herbs, and which came as if directed purposely to the sleepy ears of myconsciousness, I knew that she wished I would wake up and come and speakto her. 

In a few minutes she responded to a morning voice from behind theblinds. "I expect you're goin' up to your schoolhouse to pass all thispleasant day; yes, I expect you're goin' to be dreadful busy, " she saiddespairingly. 

"Perhaps not, " said I. "Why, what's going to be the matter with you, Mrs. Todd?" For I supposed that she was tempted by the fine weather totake one of her favorite expeditions along the shore pastures to gatherherbs and simples, and would like to have me keep the house. 

"No, I don't want to go nowhere by land, " she answered gayly, --"no, notby land; but I don't know's we shall have a better day all the rest ofthe summer to go out to Green Island an' see mother. I waked up earlythinkin' of her. The wind's light northeast, --'twill take us rightstraight out, an' this time o' year it's liable to change roundsouthwest an' fetch us home pretty, 'long late in the afternoon. Yes, it's goin' to be a good day. "

"Speak to the captain and the Bowden boy, if you see anybody going bytoward the landing, " said I. "We'll take the big boat. "

"Oh, my sakes! now you let me do things my way, " said Mrs. Toddscornfully. "No, dear, we won't take no big bo't. I'll just git a handydory, an' Johnny Bowden an' me, we'll man her ourselves. I don't want noabler bo't than a good dory, an' a nice light breeze ain't goin' to makeno sea; an' Johnny's my cousin's son, --mother'll like to have him come;an' he'll be down to the herrin' weirs all the time we're there, anyway;we don't want to carry no men folks havin' to be considered every minutean' takin' up all our time. No, you let me do; we'll just slip out an'see mother by ourselves. I guess what breakfast you'll want's aboutready now. "

I had become well acquainted with Mrs. Todd as landlady, herb-gatherer, and rustic philosopher; we had been discreet fellow-passengers onceor twice when I had sailed up the coast to a larger town than DunnetLanding to do some shopping; but I was yet to become acquainted withher as a mariner. An hour later we pushed off from the landing in thedesired dory. The tide was just on the turn, beginning to fall, and several friends and acquaintances stood along the side of thedilapidated wharf and cheered us by their words and evident interest. Johnny Bowden and I were both rowing in haste to get out where we couldcatch the breeze and put up the small sail which lay clumsily furledalong the gunwale. Mrs. Todd sat aft, a stern and unbending lawgiver. 

"You better let her drift; we'll get there 'bout as quick; the tide'lltake her right out from under these old buildin's; there's plenty windoutside. "

"Your bo't ain't trimmed proper, Mis' Todd!" exclaimed a voice fromshore. "You're lo'ded so the bo't'll drag; you can't git her beforethe wind, ma'am. You set 'midships, Mis' Todd, an' let the boy hold thesheet 'n' steer after he gits the sail up; you won't never git out toGreen Island that way. She's lo'ded bad, your bo't is, --she's heavybehind's she is now!"

Mrs. Todd turned with some difficulty and regarded the anxious adviser, my right oar flew out of water, and we seemed about to capsize. "Thatyou, Asa? Good-mornin', " she said politely. "I al'ays liked the starnseat best. When'd you git back from up country?"

This allusion to Asa's origin was not lost upon the rest of the company. We were some little distance from shore, but we could hear a chuckleof laughter, and Asa, a person who was too ready with his criticism andadvice on every possible subject, turned and walked indignantly away. 

When we caught the wind we were soon on our seaward course, and onlystopped to underrun a trawl, for the floats of which Mrs. Todd lookedearnestly, explaining that her mother might not be prepared for threeextra to dinner; it was her brother's trawl, and she meant to just runher eye along for the right sort of a little haddock. I leaned over theboat's side with great interest and excitement, while she skillfullyhandled the long line of hooks, and made scornful remarks uponworthless, bait-consuming creatures of the sea as she reviewed them andleft them on the trawl or shook them off into the waves. At last we cameto what she pronounced a proper haddock, and having taken him on boardand ended his life resolutely, we went our way. 

As we sailed along I listened to an increasingly delightful commentaryupon the islands, some of them barren rocks, or at best giving sparsepasturage for sheep in the early summer. On one of these an eager littleflock ran to the water's edge and bleated at us so affectingly that Iwould willingly have stopped; but Mrs. Todd steered away from the rocks, and scolded at the sheep's mean owner, an acquaintance of hers, whogrudged the little salt and still less care which the patient creaturesneeded. The hot midsummer sun makes prisons of these small islandsthat are a paradise in early June, with their cool springs and shortthick-growing grass. On a larger island, farther out to sea, myentertaining companion showed me with glee the small houses of twofarmers who shared the island between them, and declared that for threegenerations the people had not spoken to each other even in times ofsickness or death or birth. "When the news come that the war was over, one of 'em knew it a week, and never stepped across his wall to tell theother, " she said. "There, they enjoy it; they've got to have somethin'to interest 'em in such a place; 'tis a good deal more tryin' to betied to folks you don't like than 'tis to be alone. Each of 'em tellthe neighbors their wrongs; plenty likes to hear and tell again; themas fetch a bone'll carry one, an' so they keep the fight a-goin'. I mustsay I like variety myself; some folks washes Monday an' irons Tuesdaythe whole year round, even if the circus is goin' by!"

A long time before we landed at Green Island we could see the smallwhite house, standing high like a beacon, where Mrs. Todd was born andwhere her mother lived, on a green slope above the water, with darkspruce woods still higher. There were crops in the fields, which wepresently distinguished from one another. Mrs. Todd examined them whilewe were still far at sea. "Mother's late potatoes looks backward; ain'thad rain enough so far, " she pronounced her opinion. "They look weedierthan what they call Front Street down to Cowper Centre. I expect brotherWilliam is so occupied with his herrin' weirs an' servin' out bait tothe schooners that he don't think once a day of the land. "

"What's the flag for, up above the spruces there behind the house?" Iinquired, with eagerness. 

"Oh, that's the sign for herrin', " she explained kindly, while JohnnyBowden regarded me with contemptuous surprise. "When they get enough forschooners they raise that flag; an' when 'tis a poor catch in the weirpocket they just fly a little signal down by the shore, an' then thesmall bo'ts comes and get enough an' over for their trawls. There, look!there she is: mother sees us; she's wavin' somethin' out o' the foredoor! She'll be to the landin'-place quick's we are. "

I looked, and could see a tiny flutter in the doorway, but a quickersignal had made its way from the heart on shore to the heart on the sea. 

"How do you suppose she knows it is me?" said Mrs. Todd, with a tendersmile on her broad face. "There, you never get over bein' a child long'syou have a mother to go to. Look at the chimney, now; she's gone rightin an' brightened up the fire. Well, there, I'm glad mother's well;you'll enjoy seein' her very much. "

Mrs. Todd leaned back into her proper position, and the boat trimmedagain. She took a firmer grasp of the sheet, and gave an impatient lookup at the gaff and the leech of the little sail, and twitched the sheetas if she urged the wind like a horse. There came at once a fresh gust, and we seemed to have doubled our speed. Soon we were near enough to seea tiny figure with handkerchiefed head come down across the field andstand waiting for us at the cove above a curve of pebble beach. 

Presently the dory grated on the pebbles, and Johnny Bowden, who hadbeen kept in abeyance during the voyage, sprang out and used manfulexertions to haul us up with the next wave, so that Mrs. Todd could makea dry landing. 

"You don that very well, " she said, mounting to her feet, andcoming ashore somewhat stiffly, but with great dignity, refusing ouroutstretched hands, and returning to possess herself of a bag which hadlain at her feet. 

"Well, mother, here I be!" she announced with indifference; but theystood and beamed in each other's faces. 

"Lookin' pretty well for an old lady, ain't she?" said Mrs. Todd'smother, turning away from her daughter to speak to me. She was adelightful little person herself, with bright eyes and an affectionateair of expectation like a child on a holiday. You felt as if Mrs. Blackett were an old and dear friend before you let go her cordial hand. We all started together up the hill. 

"Now don't you haste too fast, mother, " said Mrs. Todd warningly; "'tisa far reach o' risin' ground to the fore door, and you won't set an' getyour breath when you're once there, but go trotting about. Now don'tyou go a mite faster than we proceed with this bag an' basket. Johnny, there, 'll fetch up the haddock. I just made one stop to underrunWilliam's trawl till I come to jes' such a fish's I thought you'd wantto make one o' your nice chowders of. I've brought an onion with me thatwas layin' about on the window-sill at home. "

"That's just what I was wantin', " said the hostess. "I give a sighwhen you spoke o' chowder, knowin' my onions was out. William forgotto replenish us last time he was to the Landin'. Don't you haste soyourself Almiry, up this risin' ground. I hear you commencin' to wheezea'ready. "

This mild revenge seemed to afford great pleasure to both giverand receiver. They laughed a little, and looked at each otheraffectionately, and then at me. Mrs. Todd considerately paused, andfaced about to regard the wide sea view. I was glad to stop, being moreout of breath than either of my companions, and I prolonged the haltby asking the names of the neighboring islands. There was a fine breezeblowing, which we felt more there on the high land than when we wererunning before it in the dory. 

"Why, this ain't that kitten I saw when I was out last, the one that Isaid didn't appear likely?" exclaimed Mrs. Todd as we went our way. 

"That's the one, Almiry, " said her mother. "She always had a likely lookto me, an' she's right after business. I never see such a mouser forone of her age. If't wan't for William, I never should have housed thatother dronin' old thing so long; but he sets by her on account of herhavin' a bob tail. I don't deem it advisable to maintain cats just onaccount of their havin' bob tails; they're like all other curiosities, good for them that wants to see 'm twice. This kitten catches mice forboth, an' keeps me respectable as I ain't been for a year. She's a realunderstandin' little help, this kitten is. I picked her from among fiveMiss Augusta Pernell had over to Burnt Island, " said the old woman, trudging along with the kitten close at her skirts. "Augusta, she saysto me, 'Why, Mis' Blackett, you've took and homeliest;' and, says I, 'I've got the smartest; I'm satisfied. '"

"I'd trust nobody sooner'n you to pick out a kitten, mother, " said thedaughter handsomely, and we went on in peace and harmony. 

The house was just before us now, on a green level that looked as ifa huge hand had scooped it out of the long green field we had beenascending. A little way above, the dark, spruce woods began to climb thetop of the hill and cover the seaward slopes of the island. There wasjust room for the small farm and the forest; we looked down at thefish-house and its rough sheds, and the weirs stretching far out intothe water. As we looked upward, the tops of the firs came sharp againstthe blue sky. There was a great stretch of rough pasture-land roundthe shoulder of the island to the eastward, and here were all thethick-scattered gray rocks that kept their places, and the gray backsof many sheep that forever wandered and fed on the thin sweet pasturagethat fringed the ledges and made soft hollows and strips of green turflike growing velvet. I could see the rich green of bayberry bushes hereand there, where the rocks made room. The air was very sweet; one couldnot help wishing to be a citizen of such a complete and tiny continentand home of fisherfolk. 

The house was broad and clean, with a roof that looked heavy on its lowwalls. It was one of the houses that seem firm-rooted in the ground, asif they were two-thirds below the surface, like icebergs. The front doorstood hospitably open in expectation of company, and an orderlyvine grew at each side; but our path led to the kitchen door at thehouse-end, and there grew a mass of gay flowers and greenery, as if theyhad been swept together by some diligent garden broom into a tangledheap: there were portulacas all along under the lower step andstraggling off into the grass, and clustering mallows that crept as nearas they dared, like poor relations. I saw the bright eyes and brainlesslittle heads of two half-grown chickens who were snuggled down among themallows as if they had been chased away from the door more than once, and expected to be again. 

"It seems kind o' formal comin' in this way, " said Mrs. Toddimpulsively, as we passed the flowers and came to the front doorstep;but she was mindful of the proprieties, and walked before us into thebest room on the left. 

"Why, mother, if you haven't gone an' turned the carpet!" she exclaimed, with something in her voice that spoke of awe and admiration. "When'dyou get to it? I s'pose Mis' Addicks come over an' helped you, fromWhite Island Landing?"

"No, she didn't, " answered the old woman, standing proudly erect, andmaking the most of a great moment. "I done it all myself with William'shelp. He had a spare day, an' took right holt with me; an' 'twas allwell beat on the grass, an' turned, an' put down again afore we went tobed. I ripped an' sewed over two o' them long breadths. I ain't had sucha good night's sleep for two years. "

"There, what do you think o' havin' such a mother as that for eighty-sixyear old?" said Mrs. Todd, standing before us like a large figure ofVictory. 

As for the mother, she took on a sudden look of youth; you felt as ifshe promised a great future, and was beginning, not ending, her summersand their happy toils. 

"My, my!" exclaimed Mrs. Todd. "I couldn't ha' done it myself, I've gotto own it. "

"I was much pleased to have it off my mind, " said Mrs. Blackett, humbly;"the more so because along at the first of the next week I wasn't verywell. I suppose it may have been the change of weather. "

Mrs. Todd could not resist a significant glance at me, but, withcharming sympathy, she forbore to point the lesson or to connect thisillness with its apparent cause. She loomed larger than ever in thelittle old-fashioned best room, with its few pieces of good furnitureand pictures of national interest. The green paper curtains werestamped with conventional landscapes of a foreign order, --castleson inaccessible crags, and lovely lakes with steep wooded shores;under-foot the treasured carpet was covered thick with home-made rugs. There were empty glass lamps and crystallized bouquets of grass and somefine shells on the narrow mantelpiece. 

"I was married in this room, " said Mrs. Todd unexpectedly; and I heardher give a sigh after she had spoken, as if she could not help the touchof regret that would forever come with all her thoughts of happiness. 

"We stood right there between the windows, " she added, "and the ministerstood here. William wouldn't come in. He was always odd about seein'folks, just's he is now. I run to meet 'em from a child, an' William, he'd take an' run away. "

"I've been the gainer, " said the old mother cheerfully. "William hasbeen son an' daughter both since you was married off the island. He'sbeen 'most too satisfied to stop at home 'long o' his old mother, but Ialways tell 'em I'm the gainer. "

We were all moving toward the kitchen as if by common instinct. The bestroom was too suggestive of serious occasions, and the shades wereall pulled down to shut out the summer light and air. It was indeed atribute to Society to find a room set apart for her behests out thereon so apparently neighborless and remote an island. Afternoon visitsand evening festivals must be few in such a bleak situation at certainseasons of the year, but Mrs. Blackett was of those who do not live tothemselves, and who have long since passed the line that divides mereself-concern from a valued share in whatever Society can give and take. There were those of her neighbors who never had taken the trouble tofurnish a best room, but Mrs. Blackett was one who knew the uses of aparlor. 

"Yes, do come right out into the old kitchen; I shan't make any strangerof you, " she invited us pleasantly, after we had been properly receivedin the room appointed to formality. "I expect Almiry, here, 'll bedriftin' out 'mongst the pasture-weeds quick's she can find a goodexcuse. 'Tis hot now. You'd better content yourselves till you get nicean' rested, an' 'long after dinner the sea-breeze 'll spring up, an'then you can take your walks, an' go up an' see the prospect from thebig ledge. Almiry'll want to show off everything there is. Then I'll getyou a good cup o' tea before you start to go home. The days are plentylong now. "

While we were talking in the best room the selected fish had beenmysteriously brought up from the shore, and lay all cleaned and ready inan earthen crock on the table. 

"I think William might have just stopped an' said a word, " remarkedMrs. Todd, pouting with high affront as she caught sight of it. "He'sfriendly enough when he comes ashore, an' was remarkable social the lasttime, for him. "

"He ain't disposed to be very social with the ladies, " explainedWilliam's mother, with a delightful glance at me, as if she counted uponmy friendship and tolerance. "He's very particular, and he's all in hisold fishin'-clothes to-day. He'll want me to tell him everything yousaid and done, after you've gone. William has very deep affections. He'll want to see you, Almiry. Yes, I guess he'll be in by an' by. "

"I'll search for him by 'n' by, if he don't, " proclaimed Mrs. Todd, withan air of unalterable resolution. "I know all of his burrows down 'longthe shore. I'll catch him by hand 'fore he knows it. I've got somebusiness with William, anyway. I brought forty-two cents with me thatwas due him for them last lobsters he brought in. "

"You can leave it with me, " suggested the little old mother, who wasalready stepping about among her pots and pans in the pantry, andpreparing to make the chowder. 

I became possessed of a sudden unwonted curiosity in regard to William, and felt that half the pleasure of my visit would be lost if I could notmake his interesting acquaintance. 

IX. William

MRS. TODD HAD taken the onion out of her basket and laid it down uponthe kitchen table. "There's Johnny Bowden come with us, you know, " shereminded her mother. "He'll be hungry enough to eat his size. "

"I've got new doughnuts, dear, " said the little old lady. "You don'toften catch William 'n' me out o' provisions. I expect you might havechose a somewhat larger fish, but I'll try an' make it do. I shall haveto have a few extra potatoes, but there's a field full out there, an' the hoe's leanin' against the well-house, in 'mongst theclimbin'-beans. " She smiled and gave her daughter a commanding nod. 

"Land sakes alive! Le's blow the horn for William, " insisted Mrs. Todd, with some excitement. "He needn't break his spirit so far's to come in. He'll know you need him for something particular, an' then we can callto him as he comes up the path. I won't put him to no pain. "

Mrs. Blackett's old face, for the first time, wore a look of trouble, and I found it necessary to counteract the teasing spirit of Almira. It was too pleasant to stay indoors altogether, even in such rewardingcompanionship; besides, I might meet William; and, straying outpresently, I found the hoe by the well-house and an old splint basket atthe woodshed door, and also found my way down to the field where therewas a great square patch of rough, weedy potato-tops and tall ragweed. One corner was already dug, and I chose a fat-looking hill where thetops were well withered. There is all the pleasure that one can have ingold-digging in finding one's hopes satisfied in the riches of a goodhill of potatoes. I longed to go on; but it did not seem frugal to digany longer after my basket was full, and at last I took my hoe by themiddle and lifted the basket to go back up the hill. I was sure thatMrs. Blackett must be waiting impatiently to slice the potatoes into thechowder, layer after layer, with the fish. 

"You let me take holt o' that basket, ma'am, " said the pleasant, anxiousvoice behind me. 

I turned, startled in the silence of the wide field, and saw an elderlyman, bent in the shoulders as fishermen often are, gray-headed andclean-shaven, and with a timid air. It was William. He looked just likehis mother, and I had been imagining that he was large and stout likehis sister, Almira Todd; and, strange to say, my fancy had led me topicture him not far from thirty and a little loutish. It was necessaryinstead to pay William the respect due to age. 

I accustomed myself to plain facts on the instant, and we saidgood-morning like old friends. The basket was really heavy, and I putthe hoe through its handle and offered him one end; then we moved easilytoward the house together, speaking of the fine weather and of mackerelwhich were reported to be striking in all about the bay. William hadbeen out since three o'clock, and had taken an extra fare of fish. I could feel that Mrs. Todd's eyes were upon us as we approached thehouse, and although I fell behind in the narrow path, and let Williamtake the basket alone and precede me at some little distance the rest ofthe way, I could plainly hear her greet him. 

"Got round to comin' in, didn't you?" she inquired, with amusement. "Well, now, that's clever. Didn't know's I should see you to-day, William, an' I wanted to settle an account. "

I felt somewhat disturbed and responsible, but when I joined them theywere on most simple and friendly terms. It became evident that, withWilliam, it was the first step that cost, and that, having once joinedin social interests, he was able to pursue them with more or lesspleasure. He was about sixty, and not young-looking for his years, yetso undying is the spirit of youth, and bashfulness has such a powerof survival, that I felt all the time as if one must try to make theoccasion easy for some one who was young and new to the affairs ofsocial life. He asked politely if I would like to go up to the greatledge while dinner was getting ready; so, not without a deep sense ofpleasure, and a delighted look of surprise from the two hostesses, we started, William and I, as if both of us felt much younger than welooked. Such was the innocence and simplicity of the moment that whenI heard Mrs. Todd laughing behind us in the kitchen I laughed too, butWilliam did not even blush. I think he was a little deaf, and he steppedalong before me most businesslike and intent upon his errand. 

We went from the upper edge of the field above the house into a smooth, brown path among the dark spruces. The hot sun brought out the fragranceof the pitchy bark, and the shade was pleasant as we climbed the hill. William stopped once or twice to show me a great wasps'-nest close by, or some fishhawks'-nests below in a bit of swamp. He picked a few sprigsof late-blooming linnaea as we came out upon an open bit of pasture atthe top of the island, and gave them to me without speaking, but heknew as well as I that one could not say half he wished about linnaea. Through this piece of rough pasture ran a huge shape of stone like thegreat backbone of an enormous creature. At the end, near the woods, wecould climb up on it and walk along to the highest point; there abovethe circle of pointed firs we could look down over all the island, andcould see the ocean that circled this and a hundred other bits of islandground, the mainland shore and all the far horizons. It gave a suddensense of space, for nothing stopped the eye or hedged one in, --thatsense of liberty in space and time which great prospects always give. 

"There ain't no such view in the world, I expect, " said Williamproudly, and I hastened to speak my heartfelt tribute of praise; it wasimpossible not to feel as if an untraveled boy had spoken, and yet oneloved to have him value his native heath. 

X. Where Pennyroyal Grew

WE WERE a little late to dinner, but Mrs. Blackett and Mrs. Todd werelenient, and we all took our places after William had paused to wash hishands, like a pious Brahmin, at the well, and put on a neat blue coatwhich he took from a peg behind the kitchen door. Then he resolutelyasked a blessing in words that I could not hear, and we ate the chowderand were thankful. The kitten went round and round the table, quiteerect, and, holding on by her fierce young claws, she stopped to mewwith pathos at each elbow, or darted off to the open door when a songsparrow forgot himself and lit in the grass too near. William did nottalk much, but his sister Todd occupied the time and told all the newsthere was to tell of Dunnet Landing and its coasts, while the old motherlistened with delight. Her hospitality was something exquisite; she hadthe gift which so many women lack, of being able to make themselvesand their houses belong entirely to a guest's pleasure, --that charmingsurrender for the moment of themselves and whatever belongs to them, so that they make a part of one's own life that can never be forgotten. Tact is after all a kind of mindreading, and my hostess held the goldengift. Sympathy is of the mind as well as the heart, and Mrs. Blackett'sworld and mine were one from the moment we met. Besides, she had thatfinal, that highest gift of heaven, a perfect self-forgetfulness. Sometimes, as I watched her eager, sweet old face, I wondered why shehad been set to shine on this lonely island of the northern coast. It must have been to keep the balance true, and make up to all herscattered and depending neighbors for other things which they may havelacked. 

When we had finished clearing away the old blue plates, and the kittenhad taken care of her share of the fresh haddock, just as we wereputting back the kitchen chairs in their places, Mrs. Todd said brisklythat she must go up into the pasture now to gather the desired herbs. 

"You can stop here an' rest, or you can accompany me, " she announced. "Mother ought to have her nap, and when we come back she an' William'llsing for you. She admires music, " said Mrs. Todd, turning to speak toher mother. 

But Mrs. Blackett tried to say that she couldn't sing as she used, andperhaps William wouldn't feel like it. She looked tired, the good oldsoul, or I should have liked to sit in the peaceful little house whileshe slept; I had had much pleasant experience of pastures already in herdaughter's company. But it seemed best to go with Mrs. Todd, and off wewent. 

Mrs. Todd carried the gingham bag which she had brought from home, and asmall heavy burden in the bottom made it hang straight and slender fromher hand. The way was steep, and she soon grew breathless, so that wesat down to rest awhile on a convenient large stone among the bayberry. 

"There, I wanted you to see this, --'tis mother's picture, " said Mrs. Todd; "'twas taken once when she was up to Portland soon after shewas married. That's me, " she added, opening another worn case, anddisplaying the full face of the cheerful child she looked like still inspite of being past sixty. "And here's William an' father together. Itake after father, large and heavy, an' William is like mother's folks, short an' thin. He ought to have made something o' himself, bein' a manan' so like mother; but though he's been very steady to work, an' keptup the farm, an' done his fishin' too right along, he never had mother'ssnap an' power o' seein' things just as they be. He's got excellentjudgment, too, " meditated William's sister, but she could not arrive atany satisfactory decision upon what she evidently thought his failure inlife. "I think it is well to see any one so happy an' makin' the mostof life just as it falls to hand, " she said as she began to put thedaguerreotypes away again; but I reached out my hand to see her mother'sonce more, a most flowerlike face of a lovely young woman in quaintdress. There was in the eyes a look of anticipation and joy, a far-offlook that sought the horizon; one often sees it in seafaring families, inherited by girls and boys alike from men who spend their lives at sea, and are always watching for distant sails or the first loom of theland. At sea there is nothing to be seen close by, and this has itscounterpart in a sailor's character, in the large and brave and patienttraits that are developed, the hopeful pleasantness that one loves so ina seafarer. 

When the family pictures were wrapped again in a big handkerchief, weset forward in a narrow footpath and made our way to a lonely place thatfaced northward, where there was more pasturage and fewer bushes, and wewent down to the edge of short grass above some rocky cliffs where thedeep sea broke with a great noise, though the wind was down and thewater looked quiet a little way from shore. Among the grass grew suchpennyroyal as the rest of the world could not provide. There was a finefragrance in the air as we gathered it sprig by sprig and stepped alongcarefully, and Mrs. Todd pressed her aromatic nosegay between her handsand offered it to me again and again. 

"There's nothin' like it, " she said; "oh no, there's no such pennyr'yalas this in the state of Maine. It's the right pattern of the plant, andall the rest I ever see is but an imitation. Don't it do you good?" AndI answered with enthusiasm. 

"There, dear, I never showed nobody else but mother where to find thisplace; 'tis kind of sainted to me. Nathan, my husband, an' I used tolove this place when we was courtin', and"--she hesitated, and thenspoke softly--"when he was lost, 'twas just off shore tryin' to get inby the short channel out there between Squaw Islands, right in sight o'this headland where we'd set an' made our plans all summer long. "

I had never heard her speak of her husband before, but I felt that wewere friends now since she had brought me to this place. 

"'Twas but a dream with us, " Mrs. Todd said. "I knew it when he wasgone. I knew it"--and she whispered as if she were at confession--"Iknew it afore he started to go to sea. My heart was gone out o' mykeepin' before I ever saw Nathan; but he loved me well, and he made mereal happy, and he died before he ever knew what he'd had to know ifwe'd lived long together. 'Tis very strange about love. No, Nathan neverfound out, but my heart was troubled when I knew him first. There's morewomen likes to be loved than there is of those that loves. I spent somehappy hours right here. I always liked Nathan, and he never knew. Butthis pennyr'yal always reminded me, as I'd sit and gather it and hearhim talkin'--it always would remind me of--the other one. "

She looked away from me, and presently rose and went on by herself. There was something lonely and solitary about her great determinedshape. She might have been Antigone alone on the Theban plain. It is notoften given in a noisy world to come to the places of great grief andsilence. An absolute, archaic grief possessed this countrywoman; sheseemed like a renewal of some historic soul, with her sorrows and theremoteness of a daily life busied with rustic simplicities and thescents of primeval herbs. 

I was not incompetent at herb-gathering, and after a while, when I hadsat long enough waking myself to new thoughts, and reading a page ofremembrance with new pleasure, I gathered some bunches, as I was boundto do, and at last we met again higher up the shore, in the plainevery-day world we had left behind when we went down to the penny-royalplot. As we walked together along the high edge of the field we saw ahundred sails about the bay and farther seaward; it was mid-afternoon orafter, and the day was coming to an end. 

"Yes, they're all makin' towards the shore, --the small craft an' thelobster smacks an' all, " said my companion. "We must spend a little timewith mother now, just to have our tea, an' then put for home. "

"No matter if we lose the wind at sundown; I can row in with Johnny, "said I; and Mrs. Todd nodded reassuringly and kept to her steady plod, not quickening her gait even when we saw William come round the cornerof the house as if to look for us, and wave his hand and disappear. 

"Why, William's right on deck; I didn't know's we should see any more ofhim!" exclaimed Mrs. Todd. "Now mother'll put the kettle right on; she'sgot a good fire goin'. " I too could see the blue smoke thicken, and thenwe both walked a little faster, while Mrs. Todd groped in her full bagof herbs to find the daguerreotypes and be ready to put them in theirplaces. 

XI. The Old Singers

WILLIAM WAS sitting on the side door step, and the old mother was busymaking her tea; she gave into my hand an old flowered-glass tea-caddy. 

"William thought you'd like to see this, when he was settin' the table. My father brought it to my mother from the island of Tobago; an' here'sa pair of beautiful mugs that came with it. " She opened the glass doorof a little cupboard beside the chimney. "These I call my best things, dear, " she said. "You'd laugh to see how we enjoy 'em Sunday nights inwinter: we have a real company tea 'stead o' livin' right along justthe same, an' I make somethin' good for a s'prise an' put on some o' mypreserves, an' we get a'talkin' together an' have real pleasant times. "

Mrs. Todd laughed indulgently, and looked to see what I thought of suchchildishness. 

"I wish I could be here some Sunday evening, " said I. 

"William an' me'll be talkin' about you an' thinkin' o' this nice day, "said Mrs. Blackett affectionately, and she glanced at William, and helooked up bravely and nodded. I began to discover that he and his sistercould not speak their deeper feelings before each other. 

"Now I want you an' mother to sing, " said Mrs. Todd abruptly, withan air of command, and I gave William much sympathy in his evidentdistress. 

"After I've had my cup o' tea, dear, " answered the old hostesscheerfully; and so we sat down and took our cups and made merry whilethey lasted. It was impossible not to wish to stay on forever at GreenIsland, and I could not help saying so. 

"I'm very happy here, both winter an' summer, " said old Mrs. Blackett. "William an' I never wish for any other home, do we, William? I'm gladyou find it pleasant; I wish you'd come an' stay, dear, whenever youfeel inclined. But here's Almiry; I always think Providence was kindto plot an' have her husband leave her a good house where she reallybelonged. She'd been very restless if she'd had to continue here onGreen Island. You wanted more scope, didn't you, Almiry, an' to live ina large place where more things grew? Sometimes folks wonders thatwe don't live together; perhaps we shall some time, " and a shadow ofsadness and apprehension flitted across her face. "The time o' sicknessan' failin' has got to come to all. But Almiry's got an herb that's goodfor everything. " She smiled as she spoke, and looked bright again. 

"There's some herb that's good for everybody, except for them thatthinks they're sick when they ain't, " announced Mrs. Todd, with a trulyprofessional air of finality. "Come, William, let's have Sweet Home, an'then mother'll sing Cupid an' the Bee for us. "

Then followed a most charming surprise. William mastered his timidityand began to sing. His voice was a little faint and frail, like thefamily daguerreotypes, but it was a tenor voice, and perfectly trueand sweet. I have never heard Home, Sweet Home sung as touchingly andseriously as he sang it; he seemed to make it quite new; and when hepaused for a moment at the end of the first line and began the next, the old mother joined him and they sang together, she missing only thehigher notes, where he seemed to lend his voice to hers for the momentand carry on her very note and air. It was the silent man's real andonly means of expression, and one could have listened forever, and haveasked for more and more songs of old Scotch and English inheritance andthe best that have lived from the ballad music of the war. Mrs. Toddkept time visibly, and sometimes audibly, with her ample foot. I saw thetears in her eyes sometimes, when I could see beyond the tears in mine. But at last the songs ended and the time came to say good-by; it was theend of a great pleasure. 

Mrs. Blackett, the dear old lady, opened the door of her bedroom whileMrs. Todd was tying up the herb bag, and William had gone down to getthe boat ready and to blow the horn for Johnny Bowden, who had joined aroving boat party who were off the shore lobstering. 

I went to the door of the bedroom, and thought how pleasant it looked, with its pink-and-white patchwork quilt and the brown unpainted panelingof its woodwork. 

"Come right in, dear, " she said. "I want you to set down in my oldquilted rockin'-chair there by the window; you'll say it's the prettiestview in the house. I set there a good deal to rest me and when I want toread. "

There was a worn red Bible on the lightstand, and Mrs. Blackett's heavysilver-bowed glasses; her thimble was on the narrow window-ledge, andfolded carefully on the table was a thick striped-cotton shirt thatshe was making for her son. Those dear old fingers and their lovingstitches, that heart which had made the most of everything that neededlove! Here was the real home, the heart of the old house on GreenIsland! I sat in the rocking-chair, and felt that it was a place ofpeace, the little brown bedroom, and the quiet outlook upon field andsea and sky. 

I looked up, and we understood each other without speaking. "I shalllike to think o' your settin' here to-day, " said Mrs. Blackett. "I wantyou to come again. It has been so pleasant for William. "

The wind served us all the way home, and did not fall or let the sailslacken until we were close to the shore. We had a generous freight oflobsters in the boat, and new potatoes which William had put aboard, andwhat Mrs. Todd proudly called a full "kag" of prime number one saltedmackerel; and when we landed we had to make business arrangements tohave these conveyed to her house in a wheelbarrow. 

I never shall forget the day at Green Island. The town of Dunnet Landingseemed large and noisy and oppressive as we came ashore. Such is thepower of contrast; for the village was so still that I could hear theshy whippoorwills singing that night as I lay awake in my downstairsbedroom, and the scent of Mrs. Todd's herb garden under the window blewin again and again with every gentle rising of the seabreeze. 

XII. A Strange Sail

EXCEPT FOR a few stray guests, islanders or from the inland country, towhom Mrs. Todd offered the hospitalities of a single meal, we were quiteby ourselves all summer; and when there were signs of invasion, late inJuly, and a certain Mrs. Fosdick appeared like a strange sail on thefar horizon, I suffered much from apprehension. I had been living in thequaint little house with as much comfort and unconsciousness as if itwere a larger body, or a double shell, in whose simple convolutions Mrs. Todd and I had secreted ourselves, until some wandering hermit crab of avisitor marked the little spare room for her own. Perhaps now and then acastaway on a lonely desert island dreads the thought of being rescued. I heard of Mrs. Fosdick for the first time with a selfish senseof objection; but after all, I was still vacation-tenant of theschoolhouse, where I could always be alone, and it was impossible not tosympathize with Mrs. Todd, who, in spite of some preliminary grumbling, was really delighted with the prospect of entertaining an old friend. 

For nearly a month we received occasional news of Mrs. Fosdick, whoseemed to be making a royal progress from house to house in the inlandneighborhood, after the fashion of Queen Elizabeth. One Sunday afteranother came and went, disappointing Mrs. Todd in the hope of seeingher guest at church and fixing the day for the great visit to begin; butMrs. Fosdick was not ready to commit herself to a date. An assurance of"some time this week" was not sufficiently definite from a free-footedhousekeeper's point of view, and Mrs. Todd put aside all herb-gatheringplans, and went through the various stages of expectation, provocation, and despair. At last she was ready to believe that Mrs. Fosdick musthave forgotten her promise and returned to her home, which was vaguelysaid to be over Thomaston way. But one evening, just as the supper-tablewas cleared and "readied up, " and Mrs. Todd had put her large apronover her head and stepped forth for an evening stroll in the garden, theunexpected happened. She heard the sound of wheels, and gave an excitedcry to me, as I sat by the window, that Mrs. Fosdick was coming right upthe street. 

"She may not be considerate, but she's dreadful good company, " said Mrs. Todd hastily, coming back a few steps from the neighborhood of the gate. "No, she ain't a mite considerate, but there's a small lobster left overfrom your tea; yes, it's a real mercy there's a lobster. Susan Fosdickmight just as well have passed the compliment o' comin' an hour ago. "

"Perhaps she has had her supper, " I ventured to suggest, sharing thehousekeeper's anxiety, and meekly conscious of an inconsiderate appetitefor my own supper after a long expedition up the bay. There were sofew emergencies of any sort at Dunnet Landing that this one appearedoverwhelming. 

"No, she's rode 'way over from Nahum Brayton's place. I expect they werebusy on the farm, and couldn't spare the horse in proper season. Youjust sly out an' set the teakittle on again, dear, an' drop in a goodhan'ful o' chips; the fire's all alive. I'll take her right up to layoff her things, as she'll be occupied with explanations an' gettin' herbunnit off, so you'll have plenty o' time. She's one I shouldn't like tohave find me unprepared. "

Mrs. Fosdick was already at the gate, and Mrs. Todd now turned with anair of complete surprise and delight to welcome her. 

"Why, Susan Fosdick, " I heard her exclaim in a fine unhindered voice, asif she were calling across a field, "I come near giving of you up! I wasafraid you'd gone an' 'portioned out my visit to somebody else. I s'poseyou've been to supper?"

"Lor', no, I ain't, Almiry Todd, " said Mrs. Fosdick cheerfully, as sheturned, laden with bags and bundles, from making her adieux to the boydriver. "I ain't had a mite o' supper, dear. I've been lottin' all theway on a cup o' that best tea o' yourn, --some o' that Oolong you keep inthe little chist. I don't want none o' your useful herbs. "

"I keep that tea for ministers' folks, " gayly responded Mrs. Todd. "Come right along in, Susan Fosdick. I declare if you ain't the same oldsixpence!"

As they came up the walk together, laughing like girls, I fled, fullof cares, to the kitchen, to brighten the fire and be sure that thelobster, sole dependence of a late supper, was well out of reach of thecat. There proved to be fine reserves of wild raspberries and bread andbutter, so that I regained my composure, and waited impatiently for myown share of this illustrious visit to begin. There was an instant senseof high festivity in the evening air from the moment when our guest hadso frankly demanded the Oolong tea. 

The great moment arrived. I was formally presented at the stair-foot, and the two friends passed on to the kitchen, where I soon heard ahospitable clink of crockery and the brisk stirring of a tea-cup. I satin my high-backed rocking-chair by the window in the front room with anunreasonable feeling of being left out, like the child who stood atthe gate in Hans Andersen's story. Mrs. Fosdick did not look, at firstsight, like a person of great social gifts. She was a serious-lookinglittle bit of an old woman, with a birdlike nod of the head. I had oftenbeen told that she was the "best hand in the world to make a visit, "--asif to visit were the highest of vocations; that everybody wishedfor her, while few could get her; and I saw that Mrs. Todd felt acomfortable sense of distinction in being favored with the company ofthis eminent person who "knew just how. " It was certainly true that Mrs. Fosdick gave both her hostess and me a warm feeling of enjoymentand expectation, as if she had the power of social suggestion to allneighboring minds. 

The two friends did not reappear for at least an hour. I could heartheir busy voices, loud and low by turns, as they ranged from publicto confidential topics. At last Mrs. Todd kindly remembered me andreturned, giving my door a ceremonious knock before she stepped in, with the small visitor in her wake. She reached behind her and took Mrs. Fosdick's hand as if she were young and bashful, and gave her a gentlepull forward. 

"There, I don't know whether you're goin' to take to each other ornot; no, nobody can't tell whether you'll suit each other, but Iexpect you'll get along some way, both having seen the world, " saidour affectionate hostess. "You can inform Mis' Fosdick how we foundthe folks out to Green Island the other day. She's always been wellacquainted with mother. I'll slip out now an' put away the supper thingsan' set my bread to rise, if you'll both excuse me. You can come an'keep me company when you get ready, either or both. " And Mrs. Todd, large and amiable, disappeared and left us. 

Being furnished not only with a subject of conversation, but with a saferefuge in the kitchen in case of incompatibility, Mrs. Fosdick and I satdown, prepared to make the best of each other. I soon discovered thatshe, like many of the elder women of the coast, had spent a part ofher life at sea, and was full of a good traveler's curiosity andenlightenment. By the time we thought it discreet to join our hostess wewere already sincere friends. 

You may speak of a visit's setting in as well as a tide's, and it wasimpossible, as Mrs. Todd whispered to me, not to be pleased at the waythis visit was setting in; a new impulse and refreshing of the socialcurrents and seldom visited bays of memory appeared to have begun. Mrs. Fosdick had been the mother of a large family of sons anddaughters, --sailors and sailors' wives, --and most of them had diedbefore her. I soon grew more or less acquainted with the histories ofall their fortunes and misfortunes, and subjects of an intimate naturewere no more withheld from my ears than if I had been a shell onthe mantelpiece. Mrs. Fosdick was not without a touch of dignity andelegance; she was fashionable in her dress, but it was a curiouslywell-preserved provincial fashion of some years back. In a wider sphereone might have called her a woman of the world, with her unexpected bitsof modern knowledge, but Mrs. Todd's wisdom was an intimation of truthitself. She might belong to any age, like an idyl of Theocritus; butwhile she always understood Mrs. Fosdick, that entertaining pilgrimcould not always understand Mrs. Todd. 

That very first evening my friends plunged into a borderless sea ofreminiscences and personal news. Mrs. Fosdick had been staying with afamily who owned the farm where she was born, and she had visited everysunny knoll and shady field corner; but when she said that it might befor the last time, I detected in her tone something expectant of thecontradiction which Mrs. Todd promptly offered. 

"Almiry, " said Mrs. Fosdick, with sadness, "you may say what you like, but I am one of nine brothers and sisters brought up on the old place, and we're all dead but me. "

"Your sister Dailey ain't gone, is she? Why, no, Louisa ain't gone!"exclaimed Mrs. Todd, with surprise. "Why, I never heard of thatoccurrence!"

"Yes'm; she passed away last October, in Lynn. She had made her distanthome in Vermont State, but she was making a visit to her youngestdaughter. Louisa was the only one of my family whose funeral I wasn'table to attend, but 'twas a mere accident. All the rest of us weresettled right about home. I thought it was very slack of 'em in Lynnnot to fetch her to the old place; but when I came to hear about it, I learned that they'd recently put up a very elegant monument, and mysister Dailey was always great for show. She'd just been out to see themonument the week before she was taken down, and admired it so much thatthey felt sure of her wishes. "

"So she's really gone, and the funeral was up to Lynn!" repeated Mrs. Todd, as if to impress the sad fact upon her mind. "She was some yearsyounger than we be, too. I recollect the first day she ever came toschool; 'twas that first year mother sent me inshore to stay with auntTopham's folks and get my schooling. You fetched little Louisa to schoolone Monday mornin' in a pink dress an' her long curls, and she setbetween you an' me, and got cryin' after a while, so the teacher sent ushome with her at recess. "

"She was scared of seeing so many children about her; there was only herand me and brother John at home then; the older boys were to sea withfather, an' the rest of us wa'n't born, " explained Mrs. Fosdick. "Thatnext fall we all went to sea together. Mother was uncertain till thelast minute, as one may say. The ship was waiting orders, but the babythat then was, was born just in time, and there was a long spell ofextra bad weather, so mother got about again before they had to sail, an' we all went. I remember my clothes were all left ashore in the eastchamber in a basket where mother'd took them out o' my chist o' drawersan' left 'em ready to carry aboard. She didn't have nothing aboard, ofher own, that she wanted to cut up for me, so when my dress wore out shejust put me into a spare suit o' John's, jacket and trousers. I wasn'tbut eight years old an' he was most seven and large of his age. Quickas we made a port she went right ashore an' fitted me out pretty, butwe was bound for the East Indies and didn't put in anywhere for a goodwhile. So I had quite a spell o' freedom. Mother made my new skirtlong because I was growing, and I poked about the deck after that, realdiscouraged, feeling the hem at my heels every minute, and as if youthwas past and gone. I liked the trousers best; I used to climb theriggin' with 'em and frighten mother till she said an' vowed she'd nevertake me to sea again. "

I thought by the polite absent-minded smile on Mrs. Todd's face this wasno new story. 

"Little Louisa was a beautiful child; yes, I always thought Louisa wasvery pretty, " Mrs. Todd said. "She was a dear little girl in thosedays. She favored your mother; the rest of you took after your father'sfolks. "

"We did certain, " agreed Mrs. Fosdick, rocking steadily. "There, it doesseem so pleasant to talk with an old acquaintance that knows what youknow. I see so many of these new folks nowadays, that seem to haveneither past nor future. Conversation's got to have some root in thepast, or else you've got to explain every remark you make, an' it wearsa person out. "

Mrs. Todd gave a funny little laugh. "Yes'm, old friends is always best, 'less you can catch a new one that's fit to make an old one out of, "she said, and we gave an affectionate glance at each other which Mrs. Fosdick could not have understood, being the latest comer to the house. 

XIII. Poor Joanna

ONE EVENING my ears caught a mysterious allusion which Mrs. Todd made toShell-heap Island. It was a chilly night of cold northeasterly rain, andI made a fire for the first time in the Franklin stove in my room, andbegged my two housemates to come in and keep me company. The weather hadconvinced Mrs. Todd that it was time to make a supply of cough-drops, and she had been bringing forth herbs from dark and dry hiding-places, until now the pungent dust and odor of them had resolved themselves intoone mighty flavor of spearmint that came from a simmering caldronof syrup in the kitchen. She called it done, and well done, and hadostentatiously left it to cool, and taken her knitting-work becauseMrs. Fosdick was busy with hers. They sat in the two rocking-chairs, thesmall woman and the large one, but now and then I could see that Mrs. Todd's thoughts remained with the cough-drops. The time of gatheringherbs was nearly over, but the time of syrups and cordials had begun. 

The heat of the open fire made us a little drowsy, but something in theway Mrs. Todd spoke of Shell-heap Island waked my interest. I waited tosee if she would say any more, and then took a roundabout way back tothe subject by saying what was first in my mind: that I wished the GreenIsland family were there to spend the evening with us, --Mrs. Todd'smother and her brother William. 

Mrs. Todd smiled, and drummed on the arm of the rocking-chair. "Mightscare William to death, " she warned me; and Mrs. Fosdick mentioned herintention of going out to Green Island to stay two or three days, if thewind didn't make too much sea. 

"Where is Shell-heap Island?" I ventured to ask, seizing theopportunity. 

"Bears nor-east somewheres about three miles from Green Island; rightoff-shore, I should call it about eight miles out, " said Mrs. Todd. "Younever was there, dear; 'tis off the thoroughfares, and a very bad placeto land at best. "

"I should think 'twas, " agreed Mrs. Fosdick, smoothing down her blacksilk apron. "'Tis a place worth visitin' when you once get there. Someo' the old folks was kind o' fearful about it. 'Twas 'counted a greatplace in old Indian times; you can pick up their stone tools 'most anytime if you hunt about. There's a beautiful spring o' water, too. Yes, I remember when they used to tell queer stories about Shell-heap Island. Some said 'twas a great bangeing-place for the Indians, and an old chiefresided there once that ruled the winds; and others said they'd alwaysheard that once the Indians come down from up country an' left a captivethere without any bo't, an' 'twas too far to swim across to BlackIsland, so called, an' he lived there till he perished. "

"I've heard say he walked the island after that, and sharp-sighted folkscould see him an' lose him like one o' them citizens Cap'n Littlepagewas acquainted with up to the north pole, " announced Mrs. Todd grimly. "Anyway, there was Indians--you can see their shell-heap that named theisland; and I've heard myself that 'twas one o' their cannibal places, but I never could believe it. There never was no cannibals on the coasto' Maine. All the Indians o' these regions are tame-looking folks. "

"Sakes alive, yes!" exclaimed Mrs. Fosdick. "Ought to see them paintedsavages I've seen when I was young out in the South Sea Islands! Thatwas the time for folks to travel, 'way back in the old whalin' days!"

"Whalin' must have been dull for a lady, hardly ever makin' a livelyport, and not takin' in any mixed cargoes, " said Mrs. Todd. "I neverdesired to go a whalin' v'y'ge myself. "

"I used to return feelin' very slack an' behind the times, 'tis true, "explained Mrs. Fosdick, "but 'twas excitin', an' we always done extrawell, and felt rich when we did get ashore. I liked the variety. There, how times have changed; how few seafarin' families there are left! Whata lot o' queer folks there used to be about here, anyway, when we wasyoung, Almiry. Everybody's just like everybody else, now; nobody tolaugh about, and nobody to cry about. "

It seemed to me that there were peculiarities of character in the regionof Dunnet Landing yet, but I did not like to interrupt. 

"Yes, " said Mrs. Todd after a moment of meditation, "there was certaina good many curiosities of human natur' in this neighborhood years ago. There was more energy then, and in some the energy took a singular turn. In these days the young folks is all copy-cats, 'fraid to death theywon't be all just alike; as for the old folks, they pray for theadvantage o' bein' a little different. "

"I ain't heard of a copy-cat this great many years, " said Mrs. Fosdick, laughing; "'twas a favorite term o' my grandfather's. No, I wa'n'tthinking o' those things, but of them strange straying creatur's thatused to rove the country. You don't see them now, or the ones that usedto hive away in their own houses with some strange notion or other. "

I thought again of Captain Littlepage, but my companions were notreminded of his name; and there was brother William at Green Island, whom we all three knew. 

"I was talking o' poor Joanna the other day. I hadn't thought of her fora great while, " said Mrs. Fosdick abruptly. "Mis' Brayton an' I recalledher as we sat together sewing. She was one o' your peculiar persons, wa'n't she? Speaking of such persons, " she turned to explain to me, "there was a sort of a nun or hermit person lived out there for yearsall alone on Shell-heap Island. Miss Joanna Todd, her name was, --acousin o' Almiry's late husband. "

I expressed my interest, but as I glanced at Mrs. Todd I saw that shewas confused by sudden affectionate feeling and unmistakable desire forreticence. 

"I never want to hear Joanna laughed about, " she said anxiously. 

"Nor I, " answered Mrs. Fosdick reassuringly. "She was crossed inlove, --that was all the matter to begin with; but as I look back, I cansee that Joanna was one doomed from the first to fall into a melancholy. She retired from the world for good an' all, though she was a well-offwoman. All she wanted was to get away from folks; she thought she wasn'tfit to live with anybody, and wanted to be free. Shell-heap Island cometo her from her father, and first thing folks knew she'd gone off outthere to live, and left word she didn't want no company. 'Twas a badplace to get to, unless the wind an' tide were just right; 'twas hardwork to make a landing. "

"What time of year was this?" I asked. 

"Very late in the summer, " said Mrs. Fosdick. "No, I never could laughat Joanna, as some did. She set everything by the young man, an' theywere going to marry in about a month, when he got bewitched with a girl'way up the bay, and married her, and went off to Massachusetts. Hewasn't well thought of, --there were those who thought Joanna's moneywas what had tempted him; but she'd given him her whole heart, an' shewa'n't so young as she had been. All her hopes were built on marryin', an' havin' a real home and somebody to look to; she acted just like abird when its nest is spoilt. The day after she heard the news she wasin dreadful woe, but the next she came to herself very quiet, and tookthe horse and wagon, and drove fourteen miles to the lawyer's, andsigned a paper givin' her half of the farm to her brother. They neverhad got along very well together, but he didn't want to sign it, tillshe acted so distressed that he gave in. Edward Todd's wife was a goodwoman, who felt very bad indeed, and used every argument with Joanna;but Joanna took a poor old boat that had been her father's and lo'ded ina few things, and off she put all alone, with a good land breeze, rightout to sea. Edward Todd ran down to the beach, an' stood there cryin'like a boy to see her go, but she was out o' hearin'. She never steppedfoot on the mainland again long as she lived. "

"How large an island is it? How did she manage in winter?" I asked. 

"Perhaps thirty acres, rocks and all, " answered Mrs. Todd, taking up thestory gravely. "There can't be much of it that the salt spray don't flyover in storms. No, 'tis a dreadful small place to make a world of;it has a different look from any of the other islands, but there's asheltered cove on the south side, with mud-flats across one end of itat low water where there's excellent clams, and the big shell-heap keepssome o' the wind off a little house her father took the trouble to buildwhen he was a young man. They said there was an old house built o' logsthere before that, with a kind of natural cellar in the rock under it. He used to stay out there days to a time, and anchor a little sloop hehad, and dig clams to fill it, and sail up to Portland. They said thedealers always gave him an extra price, the clams were so noted. Joannaused to go out and stay with him. They were always great companions, soshe knew just what 'twas out there. There was a few sheep that belongedto her brother an' her, but she bargained for him to come and get themon the edge o' cold weather. Yes, she desired him to come for the sheep;an' his wife thought perhaps Joanna'd return, but he said no, an' lo'dedthe bo't with warm things an' what he thought she'd need through thewinter. He come home with the sheep an' left the other things by thehouse, but she never so much as looked out o' the window. She done itfor a penance. She must have wanted to see Edward by that time. "

Mrs. Fosdick was fidgeting with eagerness to speak. 

"Some thought the first cold snap would set her ashore, but she alwaysremained, " concluded Mrs. Todd soberly. 

"Talk about the men not having any curiosity!" exclaimed Mrs. Fosdickscornfully. "Why, the waters round Shell-heap Island were white withsails all that fall. 'Twas never called no great of a fishin'-groundbefore. Many of 'em made excuse to go ashore to get water at the spring;but at last she spoke to a bo't-load, very dignified and calm, and saidthat she'd like it better if they'd make a practice of getting water toBlack Island or somewheres else and leave her alone, except in case ofaccident or trouble. But there was one man who had always set everythingby her from a boy. He'd have married her if the other hadn't come aboutan' spoilt his chance, and he used to get close to the island, beforelight, on his way out fishin', and throw a little bundle way up thegreen slope front o' the house. His sister told me she happened to see, the first time, what a pretty choice he made o' useful things that awoman would feel lost without. He stood off fishin', and could see themin the grass all day, though sometimes she'd come out and walk rightby them. There was other bo'ts near, out after mackerel. But early nextmorning his present was gone. He didn't presume too much, but once hetook her a nice firkin o' things he got up to Portland, and when springcome he landed her a hen and chickens in a nice little coop. There was agood many old friends had Joanna on their minds. "

"Yes, " said Mrs. Todd, losing her sad reserve in the growing sympathyof these reminiscences. "How everybody used to notice whether therewas smoke out of the chimney! The Black Island folks could see her withtheir spy-glass, and if they'd ever missed getting some sign o' lifethey'd have sent notice to her folks. But after the first year or twoJoanna was more and more forgotten as an every-day charge. Folks livedvery simple in those days, you know, " she continued, as Mrs. Fosdick'sknitting was taking much thought at the moment. "I expect there wasalways plenty of driftwood thrown up, and a poor failin' patch ofspruces covered all the north side of the island, so she always hadsomething to burn. She was very fond of workin' in the garden ashore, and that first summer she began to till the little field out there, andraised a nice parcel o' potatoes. She could fish, o' course, and therewas all her clams an' lobsters. You can always live well in any wildplace by the sea when you'd starve to death up country, except 'twasberry time. Joanna had berries out there, blackberries at least, and there was a few herbs in case she needed them. Mullein in greatquantities and a plant o' wormwood I remember seeing once when Istayed there, long before she fled out to Shell-heap. Yes, I recall thewormwood, which is always a planted herb, so there must have been folksthere before the Todds' day. A growin' bush makes the best gravestone;I expect that wormwood always stood for somebody's solemn monument. Catnip, too, is a very endurin' herb about an old place. "

"But what I want to know is what she did for other things, " interruptedMrs. Fosdick. "Almiry, what did she do for clothin' when she needed toreplenish, or risin' for her bread, or the piece-bag that no woman canlive long without?"

"Or company, " suggested Mrs. Todd. "Joanna was one that loved herfriends. There must have been a terrible sight o' long winter evenin'sthat first year. "

"There was her hens, " suggested Mrs. Fosdick, after reviewing themelancholy situation. "She never wanted the sheep after that firstseason. There wa'n't no proper pasture for sheep after the June grasswas past, and she ascertained the fact and couldn't bear to see themsuffer; but the chickens done well. I remember sailin' by one springafternoon, an' seein' the coops out front o' the house in the sun. Howlong was it before you went out with the minister? You were the firstones that ever really got ashore to see Joanna. "

I had been reflecting upon a state of society which admitted suchpersonal freedom and a voluntary hermitage. There was somethingmediaeval in the behavior of poor Joanna Todd under a disappointment ofthe heart. The two women had drawn closer together, and were talking on, quite unconscious of a listener. 

"Poor Joanna!" said Mrs. Todd again, and sadly shook her head as ifthere were things one could not speak about. 

"I called her a great fool, " declared Mrs. Fosdick, with spirit, "but Ipitied her then, and I pity her far more now. Some other minister wouldhave been a great help to her, --one that preached self-forgetfulness anddoin' for others to cure our own ills; but Parson Dimmick was a vagueperson, well meanin', but very numb in his feelin's. I don't suppose atthat troubled time Joanna could think of any way to mend her troublesexcept to run off and hide. "

"Mother used to say she didn't see how Joanna lived without havingnobody to do for, getting her own meals and tending her own poor selfday in an' day out, " said Mrs. Todd sorrowfully. 

"There was the hens, " repeated Mrs. Fosdick kindly. "I expect she sooncame to makin' folks o' them. No, I never went to work to blame Joanna, as some did. She was full o' feeling, and her troubles hurt her morethan she could bear. I see it all now as I couldn't when I was young. "

"I suppose in old times they had their shut-up convents for just suchfolks, " said Mrs. Todd, as if she and her friend had disagreed aboutJoanna once, and were now in happy harmony. She seemed to speak with newopenness and freedom. "Oh yes, I was only too pleased when the ReverendMr. Dimmick invited me to go out with him. He hadn't been very long inthe place when Joanna left home and friends. 'Twas one day that nextsummer after she went, and I had been married early in the spring. Hefelt that he ought to go out and visit her. She was a member of thechurch, and might wish to have him consider her spiritual state. Iwa'n't so sure o' that, but I always liked Joanna, and I'd come to beher cousin by marriage. Nathan an' I had conversed about goin' out topay her a visit, but he got his chance to sail sooner'n he expected. Healways thought everything of her, and last time he come home, knowingnothing of her change, he brought her a beautiful coral pin from a porthe'd touched at somewheres up the Mediterranean. So I wrapped the littlebox in a nice piece of paper and put it in my pocket, and picked her abunch of fresh lemon balm, and off we started. "

Mrs. Fosdick laughed. "I remember hearin' about your trials on thev'y'ge, " she said. 

"Why, yes, " continued Mrs. Todd in her company manner. "I picked her thebalm, an' we started. Why, yes, Susan, the minister liked to have costme my life that day. He would fasten the sheet, though I advised againstit. He said the rope was rough an' cut his hand. There was a freshbreeze, an' he went on talking rather high flown, an' I felt someinterested. All of a sudden there come up a gust, and he gave a screechand stood right up and called for help, 'way out there to sea. I knockedhim right over into the bottom o' the bo't, getting by to catch hold ofthe sheet an' untie it. He wasn't but a little man; I helped him rightup after the squall passed, and made a handsome apology to him, but hedid act kind o' offended. "

"I do think they ought not to settle them landlocked folks in parisheswhere they're liable to be on the water, " insisted Mrs. Fosdick. "Thinkof the families in our parish that was scattered all about the bay, andwhat a sight o' sails you used to see, in Mr. Dimmick's day, standingacross to the mainland on a pleasant Sunday morning, filled withchurch-going folks, all sure to want him some time or other! Youcouldn't find no doctor that would stand up in the boat and screech if aflaw struck her. "

"Old Dr. Bennett had a beautiful sailboat, didn't he?" responded Mrs. Todd. "And how well he used to brave the weather! Mother always saidthat in time o' trouble that tall white sail used to look like anangel's wing comin' over the sea to them that was in pain. Well, there'sa difference in gifts. Mr. Dimmick was not without light. "

"'Twas light o' the moon, then, " snapped Mrs. Fosdick; "he was pompousenough, but I never could remember a single word he said. There, go on, Mis' Todd; I forget a great deal about that day you went to see poorJoanna. "

"I felt she saw us coming, and knew us a great way off; yes, I seemed tofeel it within me, " said our friend, laying down her knitting. "I keptmy seat, and took the bo't inshore without saying a word; there was ashort channel that I was sure Mr. Dimmick wasn't acquainted with, andthe tide was very low. She never came out to warn us off nor anything, and I thought, as I hauled the bo't up on a wave and let the ReverendMr. Dimmick step out, that it was somethin' gained to be safe ashore. There was a little smoke out o' the chimney o' Joanna's house, and itdid look sort of homelike and pleasant with wild mornin'-glory vinestrained up; an' there was a plot o' flowers under the front window, portulacas and things. I believe she'd made a garden once, when she wasstopping there with her father, and some things must have seeded in. Itlooked as if she might have gone over to the other side of the island. 'Twas neat and pretty all about the house, and a lovely day in July. We walked up from the beach together very sedate, and I felt for poorNathan's little pin to see if 'twas safe in my dress pocket. All of asudden Joanna come right to the fore door and stood there, not sayin' aword. "

XIV. The Hermitage

MY COMPANION and I had been so intent upon the subject of theconversation that we had not heard any one open the gate, but at thismoment, above the noise of the rain, we heard a loud knocking. We wereall startled as we sat by the fire, and Mrs. Todd rose hastily and wentto answer the call, leaving her rocking-chair in violent motion. Mrs. Fosdick and I heard an anxious voice at the door speaking of a sickchild, and Mrs. Todd's kind, motherly voice inviting the messenger in:then we waited in silence. There was a sound of heavy dropping ofrain from the eaves, and the distant roar and undertone of the sea. My thoughts flew back to the lonely woman on her outer island; whatseparation from humankind she must have felt, what terror and sadness, even in a summer storm like this!

"You send right after the doctor if she ain't better in half an hour, "said Mrs. Todd to her worried customer as they parted; and I felt awarm sense of comfort in the evident resources of even so small aneighborhood, but for the poor hermit Joanna there was no neighbor on awinter night. 

"How did she look?" demanded Mrs. Fosdick, without preface, as our largehostess returned to the little room with a mist about her from standinglong in the wet doorway, and the sudden draught of her coming beat outthe smoke and flame from the Franklin stove. "How did poor Joanna look?"

"She was the same as ever, except I thought she looked smaller, "answered Mrs. Todd after thinking a moment; perhaps it was only a lastconsidering thought about her patient. "Yes, she was just the same, andlooked very nice, Joanna did. I had been married since she left home, an' she treated me like her own folks. I expected she'd look strange, with her hair turned gray in a night or somethin', but she wore a prettygingham dress I'd often seen her wear before she went away; she musthave kept it nice for best in the afternoons. She always had beautiful, quiet manners. I remember she waited till we were close to her, and thenkissed me real affectionate, and inquired for Nathan before she shookhands with the minister, and then she invited us both in. 'Twas the samelittle house her father had built him when he was a bachelor, with onelivin'-room, and a little mite of a bedroom out of it where she slept, but 'twas neat as a ship's cabin. There was some old chairs, an' a seatmade of a long box that might have held boat tackle an' things to lockup in his fishin' days, and a good enough stove so anybody could cookand keep warm in cold weather. I went over once from home and stayed'most a week with Joanna when we was girls, and those young happy daysrose up before me. Her father was busy all day fishin' or clammin'; hewas one o' the pleasantest men in the world, but Joanna's mother had thegrim streak, and never knew what 'twas to be happy. The first minute myeyes fell upon Joanna's face that day I saw how she had grown to looklike Mis' Todd. 'Twas the mother right over again. "

"Oh dear me!" said Mrs. Fosdick. 

"Joanna had done one thing very pretty. There was a little piece o'swamp on the island where good rushes grew plenty, and she'd gathered'em, and braided some beautiful mats for the floor and a thick cushionfor the long bunk. She'd showed a good deal of invention; you seethere was a nice chance to pick up pieces o' wood and boards that droveashore, and she'd made good use o' what she found. There wasn't noclock, but she had a few dishes on a shelf, and flowers set about inshells fixed to the walls, so it did look sort of homelike, though solonely and poor. I couldn't keep the tears out o' my eyes, I felt sosad. I said to myself, I must get mother to come over an' see Joanna;the love in mother's heart would warm her, an' she might be able toadvise. "

"Oh no, Joanna was dreadful stern, " said Mrs. Fosdick. 

"We were all settin' down very proper, but Joanna would keep stealin'glances at me as if she was glad I come. She had but little to say; shewas real polite an' gentle, and yet forbiddin'. The minister found ithard, " confessed Mrs. Todd; "he got embarrassed, an' when he put on hisauthority and asked her if she felt to enjoy religion in her presentsituation, an' she replied that she must be excused from answerin', Ithought I should fly. She might have made it easier for him; after all, he was the minister and had taken some trouble to come out, though 'twaskind of cold an' unfeelin' the way he inquired. I thought he might haveseen the little old Bible a-layin' on the shelf close by him, an' Iwished he knew enough to just lay his hand on it an' read somethin'kind an' fatherly 'stead of accusin' her, an' then given poor Joanna hisblessin' with the hope she might be led to comfort. He did offer prayer, but 'twas all about hearin' the voice o' God out o' the whirlwind; and Ithought while he was goin' on that anybody that had spent the long coldwinter all alone out on Shell-heap Island knew a good deal more aboutthose things than he did. I got so provoked I opened my eyes and staredright at him. 

"She didn't take no notice, she kep' a nice respectful manner towardshim, and when there come a pause she asked if he had any interestabout the old Indian remains, and took down some queer stone gouges andhammers off of one of her shelves and showed them to him same's ifhe was a boy. He remarked that he'd like to walk over an' see theshell-heap; so she went right to the door and pointed him the way. Isee then that she'd made her some kind o' sandal-shoes out o' the finerushes to wear on her feet; she stepped light an' nice in 'em as shoes. "

Mrs. Fosdick leaned back in her rocking-chair and gave a heavy sigh. 

"I didn't move at first, but I'd held out just as long as I could, " saidMrs. Todd, whose voice trembled a little. "When Joanna returned from thedoor, an' I could see that man's stupid back departin' among the wildrose bushes, I just ran to her an' caught her in my arms. I wasn't sobig as I be now, and she was older than me, but I hugged her tight, justas if she was a child. 'Oh, Joanna dear, ' I says, 'won't you come ashorean' live 'long o' me at the Landin', or go over to Green Island tomother's when winter comes? Nobody shall trouble you an' mother finds ithard bein' alone. I can't bear to leave you here'--and I burst right outcrying. I'd had my own trials, young as I was, an' she knew it. Oh, Idid entreat her; yes, I entreated Joanna. "

"What did she say then?" asked Mrs. Fosdick, much moved. 

"She looked the same way, sad an' remote through it all, " said Mrs. Toddmournfully. "She took hold of my hand, and we sat down close together;'twas as if she turned round an' made a child of me. 'I haven't gotno right to live with folks no more, ' she said. 'You must never ask meagain, Almiry: I've done the only thing I could do, and I've made mychoice. I feel a great comfort in your kindness, but I don't deserve it. I have committed the unpardonable sin; you don't understand, ' says shehumbly. 'I was in great wrath and trouble, and my thoughts was so wickedtowards God that I can't expect ever to be forgiven. I have come toknow what it is to have patience, but I have lost my hope. You must tellthose that ask how 'tis with me, ' she said, 'an' tell them I want tobe alone. ' I couldn't speak; no, there wa'n't anything I could say, sheseemed so above everything common. I was a good deal younger then than Ibe now, and I got Nathan's little coral pin out o' my pocket and put itinto her hand; and when she saw it and I told her where it come from, her face did really light up for a minute, sort of bright an' pleasant. 'Nathan an' I was always good friends; I'm glad he don't think hard ofme, ' says she. 'I want you to have it, Almiry, an' wear it for loveo' both o' us, ' and she handed it back to me. 'You give my love toNathan, --he's a dear good man, ' she said; 'an' tell your mother, if Ishould be sick she mustn't wish I could get well, but I want her to bethe one to come. ' Then she seemed to have said all she wanted to, asif she was done with the world, and we sat there a few minutes longertogether. It was real sweet and quiet except for a good many birds andthe sea rollin' up on the beach; but at last she rose, an' I did too, and she kissed me and held my hand in hers a minute, as if to saygood-by; then she turned and went right away out o' the door anddisappeared. 

"The minister come back pretty soon, and I told him I was all ready, and we started down to the bo't. He had picked up some round stones andthings and was carrying them in his pocket-handkerchief; an' he sat downamidships without making any question, and let me take the rudder an'work the bo't, an' made no remarks for some time, until we sort of easedit off speaking of the weather, an' subjects that arose as we skirtedBlack Island, where two or three families lived belongin' to the parish. He preached next Sabbath as usual, somethin' high soundin' about thecreation, and I couldn't help thinkin' he might never get no further; heseemed to know no remedies, but he had a great use of words. "

Mrs. Fosdick sighed again. "Hearin' you tell about Joanna brings thetime right back as if 'twas yesterday, " she said. "Yes, she was one o'them poor things that talked about the great sin; we don't seem tohear nothing about the unpardonable sin now, but you may say 'twas notuncommon then. "

"I expect that if it had been in these days, such a person would beplagued to death with idle folks, " continued Mrs. Todd, after a longpause. "As it was, nobody trespassed on her; all the folks about thebay respected her an' her feelings; but as time wore on, after youleft here, one after another ventured to make occasion to put somethin'ashore for her if they went that way. I know mother used to go to seeher sometimes, and send William over now and then with something freshan' nice from the farm. There is a point on the sheltered side where youcan lay a boat close to shore an' land anything safe on the turf out o'reach o' the water. There were one or two others, old folks, thatshe would see, and now an' then she'd hail a passin' boat an' ask forsomethin'; and mother got her to promise that she would make some signto the Black Island folks if she wanted help. I never saw her myself tospeak to after that day. "

"I expect nowadays, if such a thing happened, she'd have gone out Westto her uncle's folks or up to Massachusetts and had a change, an' comehome good as new. The world's bigger an' freer than it used to be, "urged Mrs. Fosdick. 

"No, " said her friend. "'Tis like bad eyesight, the mind of such aperson: if your eyes don't see right there may be a remedy, but there'sno kind of glasses to remedy the mind. No, Joanna was Joanna, and thereshe lays on her island where she lived and did her poor penance. Shetold mother the day she was dyin' that she always used to want to befetched inshore when it come to the last; but she'd thought it over, anddesired to be laid on the island, if 'twas thought right. So the funeralwas out there, a Saturday afternoon in September. 'Twas a pretty day, and there wa'n't hardly a boat on the coast within twenty miles thatdidn't head for Shell-heap cram-full o' folks an' all real respectful, same's if she'd always stayed ashore and held her friends. Some went outo' mere curiosity, I don't doubt, --there's always such to every funeral;but most had real feelin', and went purpose to show it. She'd got mosto' the wild sparrows as tame as could be, livin' out there so long among'em, and one flew right in and lit on the coffin an' begun to singwhile Mr. Dimmick was speakin'. He was put out by it, an' acted as if hedidn't know whether to stop or go on. I may have been prejudiced, butI wa'n't the only one thought the poor little bird done the best of thetwo. "

"What became o' the man that treated her so, did you ever hear?" askedMrs. Fosdick. "I know he lived up to Massachusetts for a while. Somebodywho came from the same place told me that he was in trade there an'doin' very well, but that was years ago. "

"I never heard anything more than that; he went to the war in one o' theearly regiments. No, I never heard any more of him, " answered Mrs. Todd. "Joanna was another sort of person, and perhaps he showed good judgmentin marryin' somebody else, if only he'd behaved straight-forward andmanly. He was a shifty-eyed, coaxin' sort of man, that got what hewanted out o' folks, an' only gave when he wanted to buy, made friendseasy and lost 'em without knowin' the difference. She'd had a piece o'work tryin' to make him walk accordin' to her right ideas, but she'dhave had too much variety ever to fall into a melancholy. Some is meantto be the Joannas in this world, an' 'twas her poor lot. "

XV. On Shell-heap Island

SOME TIME AFTER Mrs. Fosdick's visit was over and we had returned toour former quietness, I was out sailing alone with Captain Bowden in hislarge boat. We were taking the crooked northeasterly channel seaward, and were well out from shore while it was still early in the afternoon. I found myself presently among some unfamiliar islands, and suddenlyremembered the story of poor Joanna. There is something in the fact of ahermitage that cannot fail to touch the imagination; the recluses area sad kindred, but they are never commonplace. Mrs. Todd had truly saidthat Joanna was like one of the saints in the desert; the loneliness ofsorrow will forever keep alive their sad succession. 

"Where is Shell-heap Island?" I asked eagerly. 

"You see Shell-heap now, layin' 'way out beyond Black Island there, "answered the captain, pointing with outstretched arm as he stood, andholding the rudder with his knee. 

"I should like very much to go there, " said I, and the captain, withoutcomment, changed his course a little more to the eastward and let thereef out of his mainsail. 

"I don't know's we can make an easy landin' for ye, " he remarkeddoubtfully. "May get your feet wet; bad place to land. Trouble is Iought to have brought a tag-boat; but they clutch on to the water so, an' I do love to sail free. This gre't boat gets easy bothered withanything trailin'. 'Tain't breakin' much on the meetin'-house ledges;guess I can fetch in to Shell-heap. "

"How long is it since Miss Joanna Todd died?" I asked, partly by way ofexplanation. 

"Twenty-two years come September, " answered the captain, afterreflection. "She died the same year as my oldest boy was born, an' thetown house was burnt over to the Port. I didn't know but you merelywanted to hunt for some o' them Indian relics. Long's you want to seewhere Joanna lived--No, 'tain't breakin' over the ledges; we'll manageto fetch across the shoals somehow, 'tis such a distance to go 'wayround, and tide's a-risin', " he ended hopefully, and we sailed steadilyon, the captain speechless with intent watching of a difficult course, until the small island with its low whitish promontory lay in full viewbefore us under the bright afternoon sun. 

The month was August, and I had seen the color of the islands changefrom the fresh green of June to a sunburnt brown that made them looklike stone, except where the dark green of the spruces and fir balsamkept the tint that even winter storms might deepen, but not fade. Thefew wind-bent trees on Shell-heap Island were mostly dead and gray, but there were some low-growing bushes, and a stripe of light green ranalong just above the shore, which I knew to be wild morning-glories. Aswe came close I could see the high stone walls of a small square field, though there were no sheep left to assail it; and below, there was alittle harbor-like cove where Captain Bowden was boldly running thegreat boat in to seek a landing-place. There was a crooked channel ofdeep water which led close up against the shore. 

"There, you hold fast for'ard there, an' wait for her to lift on thewave. You'll make a good landin' if you're smart; right on the port-handside!" the captain called excitedly; and I, standing ready with highambition, seized my chance and leaped over to the grassy bank. 

"I'm beat if I ain't aground after all!" mourned the captaindespondently. 

But I could reach the bowsprit, and he pushed with the boat-hook, whilethe wind veered round a little as if on purpose and helped with thesail; so presently the boat was free and began to drift out from shore. 

"Used to call this p'int Joanna's wharf privilege, but 't has worn awayin the weather since her time. I thought one or two bumps wouldn't hurtus none, --paint's got to be renewed, anyway, --but I never thought she'dtetch. I figured on shyin' by, " the captain apologized. "She's too gre'ta boat to handle well in here; but I used to sort of shy by in Joanna'sday, an' cast a little somethin' ashore--some apples or a couple o'pears if I had 'em--on the grass, where she'd be sure to see. "

I stood watching while Captain Bowden cleverly found his way back todeeper water. "You needn't make no haste, " he called to me; "I'll keepwithin call. Joanna lays right up there in the far corner o' the field. There used to be a path led to the place. I always knew her well. I wasout here to the funeral. "

I found the path; it was touching to discover that this lonely spot wasnot without its pilgrims. Later generations will know less and less ofJoanna herself, but there are paths trodden to the shrines of solitudethe world over, --the world cannot forget them, try as it may; the feetof the young find them out because of curiosity and dim foreboding;while the old bring hearts full of remembrance. This plain anchorite hadbeen one of those whom sorrow made too lonely to brave the sight of men, too timid to front the simple world she knew, yet valiant enough to livealone with her poor insistent human nature and the calms and passions ofthe sea and sky. 

The birds were flying all about the field; they fluttered up out of thegrass at my feet as I walked along, so tame that I liked to think theykept some happy tradition from summer to summer of the safety of nestsand good fellowship of mankind. Poor Joanna's house was gone exceptthe stones of its foundations, and there was little trace of her flowergarden except a single faded sprig of much-enduring French pinks, whicha great bee and a yellow butterfly were befriending together. I drank atthe spring, and thought that now and then some one would follow me fromthe busy, hard-worked, and simple-thoughted countryside of the mainland, which lay dim and dreamlike in the August haze, as Joanna must havewatched it many a day. There was the world, and here was she witheternity well begun. In the life of each of us, I said to myself, thereis a place remote and islanded, and given to endless regret or secrethappiness; we are each the uncompanioned hermit and recluse of an houror a day; we understand our fellows of the cell to whatever age ofhistory they may belong. 

But as I stood alone on the island, in the sea-breeze, suddenlythere came a sound of distant voices; gay voices and laughter from apleasure-boat that was going seaward full of boys and girls. I knew, asif she had told me, that poor Joanna must have heard the like on manyand many a summer afternoon, and must have welcomed the good cheerin spite of hopelessness and winter weather, and all the sorrow anddisappointment in the world. 

XVI. The Great Expedition

MRS. TODD never by any chance gave warning over night of her greatprojects and adventures by sea and land. She first came to anunderstanding with the primal forces of nature, and never trusted to anypreliminary promise of good weather, but examined the day for herself inits infancy. Then, if the stars were propitious, and the wind blewfrom a quarter of good inheritance whence no surprises of sea-turns orsouthwest sultriness might be feared, long before I was fairly awake Iused to hear a rustle and knocking like a great mouse in the walls, andan impatient tread on the steep garret stairs that led to Mrs. Todd'schief place of storage. She went and came as if she had already startedon her expedition with utmost haste and kept returning for somethingthat was forgotten. When I appeared in quest of my breakfast, she wouldbe absent-minded and sparing of speech, as if I had displeased her, and she was now, by main force of principle, holding herself back fromaltercation and strife of tongues. 

These signs of a change became familiar to me in the course of time, and Mrs. Todd hardly noticed some plain proofs of divination one Augustmorning when I said, without preface, that I had just seen the Beggs'best chaise go by, and that we should have to take the grocery. Mrs. Todd was alert in a moment. 

"There! I might have known!" she exclaimed. "It's the 15th of August, when he goes and gets his money. He heired an annuity from an uncle o'his on his mother's side. I understood the uncle said none o' Sam Begg'swife's folks should make free with it, so after Sam's gone it'll all bepast an' spent, like last summer. That's what Sam prospers on now, ifyou can call it prosperin'. Yes, I might have known. 'Tis the 15th o'August with him, an' he gener'ly stops to dinner with a cousin's widowon the way home. Feb'uary n' August is the times. Takes him 'bout allday to go an' come. "

I heard this explanation with interest. The tone of Mrs. Todd's voicewas complaining at the last. 

"I like the grocery just as well as the chaise, " I hastened to say, referring to a long-bodied high wagon with a canopy-top, like anattenuated four-posted bedstead on wheels, in which we sometimesjourneyed. "We can put things in behind--roots and flowers andraspberries, or anything you are going after--much better than if we hadthe chaise. "

Mrs. Todd looked stony and unwilling. "I counted upon the chaise, " shesaid, turning her back to me, and roughly pushing back all the quiettumblers on the cupboard shelf as if they had been impertinent. "Yes, Idesired the chaise for once. I ain't goin' berryin' nor to fetch home nomore wilted vegetation this year. Season's about past, except for a poorfew o' late things, " she added in a milder tone. "I'm goin' up country. No, I ain't intendin' to go berryin'. I've been plottin' for it the pastfortnight and hopin' for a good day. "

"Would you like to have me go too?" I asked frankly, but not without ahumble fear that I might have mistaken the purpose of this latest plan. 

"Oh certain, dear!" answered my friend affectionately. "Oh no, I neverthought o' any one else for comp'ny, if it's convenient for you, long'spoor mother ain't come. I ain't nothin' like so handy with a conveyanceas I be with a good bo't. Comes o' my early bringing-up. I expect we'vegot to make that great high wagon do. The tires want settin' and 'tisall loose-jointed, so I can hear it shackle the other side o' the ridge. We'll put the basket in front. I ain't goin' to have it bouncin' an'twirlin' all the way. Why, I've been makin' some nice hearts and roundsto carry. "

These were signs of high festivity, and my interest deepened moment bymoment. 

"I'll go down to the Beggs' and get the horse just as soon as I finishmy breakfast, " said I. "Then we can start whenever you are ready. "

Mrs. Todd looked cloudy again. "I don't know but you look nice enough togo just as you be, " she suggested doubtfully. "No, you wouldn't want towear that pretty blue dress o' yourn 'way up country. 'Taint dusty now, but it may be comin' home. No, I expect you'd rather not wear that andthe other hat. "

"Oh yes. I shouldn't think of wearing these clothes, " said I, withsudden illumination. "Why, if we're going up country and are likely tosee some of your friends, I'll put on my blue dress, and you must wearyour watch; I am not going at all if you mean to wear the big hat. "

"Now you're behavin' pretty, " responded Mrs. Todd, with a gay toss ofher head and a cheerful smile, as she came across the room, bringinga saucerful of wild raspberries, a pretty piece of salvage fromsupper-time. "I was cast down when I see you come to breakfast. I didn'tthink 'twas just what you'd select to wear to the reunion, where you'regoin' to meet everybody. "

"What reunion do you mean?" I asked, not without amazement. "Not theBowden Family's? I thought that was going to take place in September. "

"To-day's the day. They sent word the middle o' the week. I thought youmight have heard of it. Yes, they changed the day. I been thinkin' we'dtalk it over, but you never can tell beforehand how it's goin' to be, and 'taint worth while to wear a day all out before it comes. " Mrs. Toddgave no place to the pleasures of anticipation, but she spoke likethe oracle that she was. "I wish mother was here to go, " she continuedsadly. "I did look for her last night, and I couldn't keep back thetears when the dark really fell and she wa'n't here, she does so enjoya great occasion. If William had a mite o' snap an' ambition, he'd takethe lead at such a time. Mother likes variety, and there ain't but afew nice opportunities 'round here, an' them she has to miss 'less shecontrives to get ashore to me. I do re'lly hate to go to the reunionwithout mother, an' 'tis a beautiful day; everybody'll be asking whereshe is. Once she'd have got here anyway. Poor mother's beginnin' to feelher age. "

"Why, there's your mother now!" I exclaimed with joy, I was so glad tosee the dear old soul again. "I hear her voice at the gate. " But Mrs. Todd was out of the door before me. 

There, sure enough, stood Mrs. Blackett, who must have left Green Islandbefore daylight. She had climbed the steep road from the waterside soeagerly that she was out of breath, and was standing by the garden fenceto rest. She held an old-fashioned brown wicker cap-basket in her hand, as if visiting were a thing of every day, and looked up at us as pleasedand triumphant as a child. 

"Oh, what a poor, plain garden! Hardly a flower in it except your busho' balm!" she said. "But you do keep your garden neat, Almiry. Are youboth well, an' goin' up country with me?" She came a step or two closerto meet us, with quaint politeness and quite as delightful as if shewere at home. She dropped a quick little curtsey before Mrs. Todd. 

"There, mother, what a girl you be! I am so pleased! I was justbewailin' you, " said the daughter, with unwonted feeling. "I was justbewailin' you, I was so disappointed, an' I kep' myself awake a goodpiece o' the night scoldin' poor William. I watched for the boat tillI was ready to shed tears yisterday, and when 'twas comin' dark I kep'making errands out to the gate an' down the road to see if you wa'n't inthe doldrums somewhere down the bay. "

"There was a head-wind, as you know, " said Mrs. Blackett, giving methe cap-basket, and holding my hand affectionately as we walked up theclean-swept path to the door. "I was partly ready to come, but dearWilliam said I should be all tired out and might get cold, havin'to beat all the way in. So we give it up, and set down and spent theevenin' together. It was a little rough and windy outside, and I guess'twas better judgment; we went to bed very early and made a good startjust at daylight. It's been a lovely mornin' on the water. Williamthought he'd better fetch across beyond Bird Rocks, rowin' the greaterpart o' the way; then we sailed from there right over to the landin', makin' only one tack. William'll be in again for me to-morrow, so I cancome back here an' rest me over night, an' go to meetin' to-morrow, andhave a nice, good visit. "

"She was just havin' her breakfast, " said Mrs. Todd, who had listenedeagerly to the long explanation without a word of disapproval, while herface shone more and more with joy. "You just sit right down an' havea cup of tea and rest you while we make our preparations. Oh, I am sogratified to think you've come! Yes, she was just havin' her breakfast, and we were speakin' of you. Where's William?"

"He went right back; said he expected some schooners in about noon afterbait, but he'll come an' have his dinner with us tomorrow, unless itrains; then next day. I laid his best things out all ready, " explainedMrs. Blackett, a little anxiously. "This wind will serve him nice allthe way home. Yes, I will take a cup of tea, dear, --a cup of tea isalways good; and then I'll rest a minute and be all ready to start. "

"I do feel condemned for havin' such hard thoughts o' William, " openlyconfessed Mrs. Todd. She stood before us so large and serious that weboth laughed and could not find it in our hearts to convict so rueful aculprit. "He shall have a good dinner to-morrow, if it can be got, andI shall be real glad to see William, " the confession ended handsomely, while Mrs. Blackett smiled approval and made haste to praise the tea. Then I hurried away to make sure of the grocery wagon. Whatever might bethe good of the reunion, I was going to have the pleasure and delight ofa day in Mrs. Blackett's company, not to speak of Mrs. Todd's. 

The early morning breeze was still blowing, and the warm, sunshiny airwas of some ethereal northern sort, with a cool freshness as itcame over new-fallen snow. The world was filled with a fragrance offir-balsam and the faintest flavor of seaweed from the ledges, bare andbrown at low tide in the little harbor. It was so still and so earlythat the village was but half awake. I could hear no voices but those ofthe birds, small and great, --the constant song sparrows, the clink ofa yellow-hammer over in the woods, and the far conversation of somedeliberate crows. I saw William Blackett's escaping sail already farfrom land, and Captain Littlepage was sitting behind his closed windowas I passed by, watching for some one who never came. I tried to speakto him, but he did not see me. There was a patient look on the old man'sface, as if the world were a great mistake and he had nobody with whomto speak his own language or find companionship. 

XVII. A Country Road

WHATEVER DOUBTS and anxieties I may have had about the inconvenience ofthe Begg's high wagon for a person of Mrs. Blackett's age and shortness, they were happily overcome by the aid of a chair and her own valiantspirit. Mrs. Todd bestowed great care upon seating us as if we weretaking passage by boat, but she finally pronounced that we were properlytrimmed. When we had gone only a little way up the hill she rememberedthat she had left the house door wide open, though the large key wassafe in her pocket. I offered to run back, but my offer was met withlofty scorn, and we lightly dismissed the matter from our minds, untiltwo or three miles further on we met the doctor, and Mrs. Todd asked himto stop and ask her nearest neighbor to step over and close the door ifthe dust seemed to blow in the afternoon. 

"She'll be there in her kitchen; she'll hear you the minute you call;'twont give you no delay, " said Mrs. Todd to the doctor. "Yes, Mis'Dennett's right there, with the windows all open. It isn't as if my foredoor opened right on the road, anyway. " At which proof of composure Mrs. Blackett smiled wisely at me. 

The doctor seemed delighted to see our guest; they were evidently thewarmest friends, and I saw a look of affectionate confidence in theireyes. The good man left his carriage to speak to us, but as he took Mrs. Blackett's hand he held it a moment, and, as if merely from force ofhabit, felt her pulse as they talked; then to my delight he gave thefirm old wrist a commending pat. 

"You're wearing well; good for another ten years at this rate, " heassured her cheerfully, and she smiled back. "I like to keep a strictaccount of my old stand-bys, " and he turned to me. "Don't you let Mrs. Todd overdo to-day, --old folks like her are apt to be thoughtless;" andthen we all laughed, and, parting, went our ways gayly. 

"I suppose he puts up with your rivalry the same as ever?" asked Mrs. Blackett. "You and he are as friendly as ever, I see, Almiry, " andAlmira sagely nodded. 

"He's got too many long routes now to stop to 'tend to all his doorpatients, " she said, "especially them that takes pleasure in talkin'themselves over. The doctor and me have got to be kind of partners; he'sgone a good deal, far an' wide. Looked tired, didn't he? I shall have toadvise with him an' get him off for a good rest. He'll take the big boatfrom Rockland an' go off up to Boston an' mouse round among the otherdoctors, one in two or three years, and come home fresh as a boy. Iguess they think consider'ble of him up there. " Mrs. Todd shook thereins and reached determinedly for the whip, as if she were compellingpublic opinion. 

Whatever energy and spirit the white horse had to begin with were soonexhausted by the steep hills and his discernment of a long expeditionahead. We toiled slowly along. Mrs. Blackett and I sat together, andMrs. Todd sat alone in front with much majesty and the large basket ofprovisions. Part of the way the road was shaded by thick woods, but wealso passed one farmhouse after another on the high uplands, which weall three regarded with deep interest, the house itself and the barnsand garden-spots and poultry all having to suffer an inspection of theshrewdest sort. This was a highway quite new to me; in fact, most of myjourneys with Mrs. Todd had been made afoot and between the roads, inopen pasturelands. My friends stopped several times for brief dooryardvisits, and made so many promises of stopping again on the way homethat I began to wonder how long the expedition would last. I had oftennoticed how warmly Mrs. Todd was greeted by her friends, but it washardly to be compared with the feeling now shown toward Mrs. Blackett. A look of delight came to the faces of those who recognized the plain, dear old figure beside me; one revelation after another was made of theconstant interest and intercourse that had linked the far island andthese scattered farms into a golden chain of love and dependence. 

"Now, we mustn't stop again if we can help it, " insisted Mrs. Todd atlast. "You'll get tired, mother, and you'll think the less o' reunions. We can visit along here any day. There, if they ain't frying doughnutsin this next house, too! These are new folks, you know, from over St. George way; they took this old Talcot farm last year. 'Tis the bestwater on the road, and the check-rein's come undone--yes, we'd bestdelay a little and water the horse. "

We stopped, and seeing a party of pleasure-seekers in holiday attire, the thin, anxious mistress of the farmhouse came out with wistfulsympathy to hear what news we might have to give. Mrs. Blackettfirst spied her at the half-closed door, and asked with such cheerfuldirectness if we were trespassing that, after a few words, she went backto her kitchen and reappeared with a plateful of doughnuts. 

"Entertainment for man and beast, " announced Mrs. Todd withsatisfaction. "Why, we've perceived there was new doughnuts all alongthe road, but you're the first that has treated us. "

Our new acquaintance flushed with pleasure, but said nothing. 

"They're very nice; you've had good luck with 'em, " pronounced Mrs. Todd. "Yes, we've observed there was doughnuts all the way along; if onehouse is frying all the rest is; 'tis so with a great many things. "

"I don't suppose likely you're goin' up to the Bowden reunion?" askedthe hostess as the white horse lifted his head and we were sayinggood-by. 

"Why, yes, " said Mrs. Blackett and Mrs. Todd and I, all together. 

"I am connected with the family. Yes, I expect to be there thisafternoon. I've been lookin' forward to it, " she told us eagerly. 

"We shall see you there. Come and sit with us if it's convenient, " saiddear Mrs. Blackett, and we drove away. 

"I wonder who she was before she was married?" said Mrs. Todd, who wasusually unerring in matters of genealogy. "She must have been one ofthat remote branch that lived down beyond Thomaston. We can find outthis afternoon. I expect that the families'll march together, or besorted out some way. I'm willing to own a relation that has such properideas of doughnuts. "

"I seem to see the family looks, " said Mrs. Blackett. "I wish we'd askedher name. She's a stranger, and I want to help make it pleasant for allsuch. "

"She resembles Cousin Pa'lina Bowden about the forehead, " said Mrs. Toddwith decision. 

We had just passed a piece of woodland that shaded the road, and comeout to some open fields beyond, when Mrs. Todd suddenly reined in thehorse as if somebody had stood on the roadside and stopped her. She evengave that quick reassuring nod of her head which was usually made toanswer for a bow, but I discovered that she was looking eagerly at atall ash-tree that grew just inside the field fence. 

"I thought 'twas goin' to do well, " she said complacently as we went onagain. "Last time I was up this way that tree was kind of drooping anddiscouraged. Grown trees act that way sometimes, same's folks; thenthey'll put right to it and strike their roots off into new ground andstart all over again with real good courage. Ash-trees is very likely tohave poor spells; they ain't got the resolution of other trees. "

I listened hopefully for more; it was this peculiar wisdom that made onevalue Mrs. Todd's pleasant company. 

"There's sometimes a good hearty tree growin' right out of the barerock, out o' some crack that just holds the roots;" she went on to say, "right on the pitch o' one o' them bare stony hills where you can't seemto see a wheel-barrowful o' good earth in a place, but that tree'll keepa green top in the driest summer. You lay your ear down to the groundan' you'll hear a little stream runnin'. Every such tree has got its ownlivin' spring; there's folk made to match 'em. "

I could not help turning to look at Mrs. Blackett, close beside me. Herhands were clasped placidly in their thin black woolen gloves, andshe was looking at the flowery wayside as we went slowly along, with apleased, expectant smile. I do not think she had heard a word about thetrees. 

"I just saw a nice plant o' elecampane growin' back there, " she saidpresently to her daughter. 

"I haven't got my mind on herbs to-day, " responded Mrs. Todd, in themost matter-of-fact way. "I'm bent on seeing folks, " and she shook thereins again. 

I for one had no wish to hurry, it was so pleasant in the shady roads. The woods stood close to the road on the right; on the left were narrowfields and pastures where there were as many acres of spruces and pinesas there were acres of bay and juniper and huckleberry, with a littleturf between. When I thought we were in the heart of the inland country, we reached the top of a hill, and suddenly there lay spread out beforeus a wonderful great view of well-cleared fields that swept down tothe wide water of a bay. Beyond this were distant shores like anothercountry in the midday haze which half hid the hills beyond, and thefaraway pale blue mountains on the northern horizon. There was aschooner with all sails set coming down the bay from a white villagethat was sprinkled on the shore, and there were many sailboats flittingabout it. It was a noble landscape, and my eyes, which had grown used tothe narrow inspection of a shaded roadside, could hardly take it in. 

"Why, it's the upper bay, " said Mrs. Todd. "You can see 'way over intothe town of Fessenden. Those farms 'way over there are all in Fessenden. Mother used to have a sister that lived up that shore. If we started asearly's we could on a summer mornin', we couldn't get to her place fromGreen Island till late afternoon, even with a fair, steady breeze, andyou had to strike the time just right so as to fetch up 'long o' thetide and land near the flood. 'Twas ticklish business, an' we didn'tvisit back an' forth as much as mother desired. You have to go 'way downthe co'st to Cold Spring Light an' round that long point, --up here'swhat they call the Back Shore. "

"No, we were 'most always separated, my dear sister and me, after thefirst year she was married, " said Mrs. Blackett. "We had our littlefamilies an' plenty o' cares. We were always lookin' forward to the timewe could see each other more. Now and then she'd get out to the islandfor a few days while her husband'd go fishin'; and once he stopped withher an' two children, and made him some flakes right there and cured allhis fish for winter. We did have a beautiful time together, sister an'me; she used to look back to it long's she lived. 

"I do love to look over there where she used to live, " Mrs. Blackettwent on as we began to go down the hill. "It seems as if she must stillbe there, though she's long been gone. She loved their farm, --she didn'tsee how I got so used to our island; but somehow I was always happy fromthe first. "

"Yes, it's very dull to me up among those slow farms, " declared Mrs. Todd. "The snow troubles 'em in winter. They're all besieged by winter, as you may say; 'tis far better by the shore than up among such places. I never thought I should like to live up country. "

"Why, just see the carriages ahead of us on the next rise!" exclaimedMrs. Blackett. "There's going to be a great gathering, don't you believethere is, Almiry? It hasn't seemed up to now as if anybody was going butus. An' 'tis such a beautiful day, with yesterday cool and pleasant towork an' get ready, I shouldn't wonder if everybody was there, even theslow ones like Phebe Ann Brock. "

Mrs. Blackett's eyes were bright with excitement, and even Mrs. Toddshowed remarkable enthusiasm. She hurried the horse and caught up withthe holiday-makers ahead. "There's all the Dep'fords goin', six in thewagon, " she told us joyfully; "an' Mis' Alva Tilley's folks are nowrisin' the hill in their new carry-all. "

Mrs. Blackett pulled at the neat bow of her black bonnet-strings, andtied them again with careful precision. "I believe your bonnet's ona little bit sideways, dear, " she advised Mrs. Todd as if she were achild; but Mrs. Todd was too much occupied to pay proper heed. We beganto feel a new sense of gayety and of taking part in the great occasionas we joined the little train. 

XVIII. The Bowden Reunion

IT IS VERY RARE in country life, where high days and holidays are few, that any occasion of general interest proves to be less than great. Suchis the hidden fire of enthusiasm in the New England nature that, oncegiven an outlet, it shines forth with almost volcanic light and heat. Inquiet neighborhoods such inward force does not waste itself upon thosepetty excitements of every day that belong to cities, but when, atlong intervals, the altars to patriotism, to friendship, to the tiesof kindred, are reared in our familiar fields, then the fires glow, theflames come up as if from the inexhaustible burning heart of the earth;the primal fires break through the granite dust in which our souls areset. Each heart is warm and every face shines with the ancient light. Such a day as this has transfiguring powers, and easily makes friends ofthose who have been cold-hearted, and gives to those who are dumb theirchance to speak, and lends some beauty to the plainest face. 

"Oh, I expect I shall meet friends today that I haven't seen in a longwhile, " said Mrs. Blackett with deep satisfaction. "'Twill bring out agood many of the old folks, 'tis such a lovely day. I'm always glad notto have them disappointed. "

"I guess likely the best of 'em'll be there, " answered Mrs. Todd withgentle humor, stealing a glance at me. "There's one thing certain:there's nothing takes in this whole neighborhood like anything relatedto the Bowdens. Yes, I do feel that when you call upon the Bowdens youmay expect most families to rise up between the Landing and the far endof the Back Cove. Those that aren't kin by blood are kin by marriage. "

"There used to be an old story goin' about when I was a girl, " said Mrs. Blackett, with much amusement. "There was a great many more Bowdens thenthan there are now, and the folks was all setting in meeting a dreadfulhot Sunday afternoon, and a scatter-witted little bound girl camerunning to the meetin'-house door all out o' breath from somewheres inthe neighborhood. 'Mis' Bowden, Mis' Bowden!' says she. 'Your baby's ina fit!' They used to tell that the whole congregation was up on itsfeet in a minute and right out into the aisles. All the Mis' Bowdenswas setting right out for home; the minister stood there in the pulpittryin' to keep sober, an' all at once he burst right out laughin'. Hewas a very nice man, they said, and he said he'd better give 'em thebenediction, and they could hear the sermon next Sunday, so he kept itover. My mother was there, and she thought certain 'twas me. "

"None of our family was ever subject to fits, " interrupted Mrs. Toddseverely. "No, we never had fits, none of us; and 'twas lucky we didn't'way out there to Green Island. Now these folks right in front; dearsakes knows the bunches o' soothing catnip an' yarrow I've had to favorold Mis' Evins with dryin'! You can see it right in their expressions, all them Evins folks. There, just you look up to the crossroads, mother, " she suddenly exclaimed. "See all the teams ahead of us. And, oh, look down on the bay; yes, look down on the bay! See what a sight o'boats, all headin' for the Bowden place cove!"

"Oh, ain't it beautiful!" said Mrs. Blackett, with all the delight of agirl. She stood up in the high wagon to see everything, and when she satdown again she took fast hold of my hand. 

"Hadn't you better urge the horse a little, Almiry?" she asked. "He'shad it easy as we came along, and he can rest when we get there. Theothers are some little ways ahead, and I don't want to lose a minute. "

We watched the boats drop their sails one by one in the cove as wedrove along the high land. The old Bowden house stood, low-storied andbroad-roofed, in its green fields as if it were a motherly brown henwaiting for the flock that came straying toward it from every direction. The first Bowden settler had made his home there, and it was still theBowden farm; five generations of sailors and farmers and soldiershad been its children. And presently Mrs. Blackett showed me thestone-walled burying-ground that stood like a little fort on a knolloverlooking the bay, but, as she said, there were plenty of scatteredBowdens who were not laid there, --some lost at sea, and some out West, and some who died in the war; most of the home graves were those ofwomen. 

We could see now that there were different footpaths from along shoreand across country. In all these there were straggling processionswalking in single file, like old illustrations of the Pilgrim'sProgress. There was a crowd about the house as if huge bees wereswarming in the lilac bushes. Beyond the fields and cove a higher pointof land ran out into the bay, covered with woods which must have keptaway much of the northwest wind in winter. Now there was a pleasant lookof shade and shelter there for the great family meeting. 

We hurried on our way, beginning to feel as if we were very late, and itwas a great satisfaction at last to turn out of the stony highroad intoa green lane shaded with old apple-trees. Mrs. Todd encouraged the horseuntil he fairly pranced with gayety as we drove round to the front ofthe house on the soft turf. There was an instant cry of rejoicing, andtwo or three persons ran toward us from the busy group. 

"Why, dear Mis' Blackett!--here's Mis' Blackett!" I heard them say, asif it were pleasure enough for one day to have a sight of her. Mrs. Toddturned to me with a lovely look of triumph and self-forgetfulness. Anelderly man who wore the look of a prosperous sea-captain put up botharms and lifted Mrs. Blackett down from the high wagon like a child, andkissed her with hearty affection. "I was master afraid she wouldn't behere, " he said, looking at Mrs. Todd with a face like a happy sunburntschoolboy, while everybody crowded round to give their welcome. 

"Mother's always the queen, " said Mrs. Todd. "Yes, they'll all makeeverything of mother; she'll have a lovely time to-day. I wouldn't havehad her miss it, and there won't be a thing she'll ever regret, exceptto mourn because William wa'n't here. "

Mrs. Blackett having been properly escorted to the house, Mrs. Toddreceived her own full share of honor, and some of the men, with a simplekindness that was the soul of chivalry, waited upon us and our basketsand led away the white horse. I already knew some of Mrs. Todd's friendsand kindred, and felt like an adopted Bowden in this happy moment. Itseemed to be enough for anyone to have arrived by the same conveyance asMrs. Blackett, who presently had her court inside the house, while Mrs. Todd, large, hospitable, and preeminent, was the centre of a rapidlyincreasing crowd about the lilac bushes. Small companies werecontinually coming up the long green slope from the water, and nearlyall the boats had come to shore. I counted three or four that werebaffled by the light breeze, but before long all the Bowdens, small andgreat, seemed to have assembled, and we started to go up to the groveacross the field. 

Out of the chattering crowd of noisy children, and large-waisted womenwhose best black dresses fell straight to the ground in generous folds, and sunburnt men who looked as serious as if it were town-meeting day, there suddenly came silence and order. I saw the straight, soldierlylittle figure of a man who bore a fine resemblance to Mrs. Blackett, andwho appeared to marshal us with perfect ease. He was imperative enough, but with a grand military sort of courtesy, and bore himself with solemndignity of importance. We were sorted out according to some clear designof his own, and stood as speechless as a troop to await his orders. Eventhe children were ready to march together, a pretty flock, and atthe last moment Mrs. Blackett and a few distinguished companions, theministers and those who were very old, came out of the house togetherand took their places. We ranked by fours, and even then we made a longprocession. 

There was a wide path mowed for us across the field, and, as we movedalong, the birds flew up out of the thick second crop of clover, andthe bees hummed as if it still were June. There was a flashing ofwhite gulls over the water where the fleet of boats rode the low wavestogether in the cove, swaying their small masts as if they kept time toour steps. The plash of the water could be heard faintly, yet still beheard; we might have been a company of ancient Greeks going to celebratea victory, or to worship the god of harvests, in the grove above. It wasstrangely moving to see this and to make part of it. The sky, the sea, have watched poor humanity at its rites so long; we were no more a NewEngland family celebrating its own existence and simple progress; wecarried the tokens and inheritance of all such households from whichthis had descended, and were only the latest of our line. We possessedthe instincts of a far, forgotten childhood; I found myself thinkingthat we ought to be carrying green branches and singing as we went. So we came to the thick shaded grove still silent, and were set inour places by the straight trees that swayed together and let sunshinethrough here and there like a single golden leaf that flickered down, vanishing in the cool shade. 

The grove was so large that the great family looked far smaller than ithad in the open field; there was a thick growth of dark pines and firswith an occasional maple or oak that gave a gleam of color like a brightwindow in the great roof. On three sides we could see the water, shiningbehind the tree-trunks, and feel the cool salt breeze that began to comeup with the tide just as the day reached its highest point of heat. Wecould see the green sunlit field we had just crossed as if we lookedout at it from a dark room, and the old house and its lilacs standingplacidly in the sun, and the great barn with a stockade of carriagesfrom which two or three care-taking men who had lingered were comingacross the field together. Mrs. Todd had taken off her warm gloves andlooked the picture of content. 

"There!" she exclaimed. "I've always meant to have you see this place, but I never looked for such a beautiful opportunity--weather an'occasion both made to match. Yes, it suits me: I don't ask no more. Iwant to know if you saw mother walkin' at the head! It choked me rightup to see mother at the head, walkin' with the ministers, " and Mrs. Toddturned away to hide the feelings she could not instantly control. 

"Who was the marshal?" I hastened to ask. "Was he an old soldier?"

"Don't he do well?" answered Mrs. Todd with satisfaction. 

"He don't often have such a chance to show off his gifts, " said Mrs. Caplin, a friend from the Landing who had joined us. "That's SantBowden; he always takes the lead, such days. Good for nothing else mosto' his time; trouble is, he"--

I turned with interest to hear the worst. Mrs. Caplin's tone was bothzealous and impressive. 

"Stim'lates, " she explained scornfully. 

"No, Santin never was in the war, " said Mrs. Todd with loftyindifference. "It was a cause of real distress to him. He kep'enlistin', and traveled far an' wide about here, an' even took the bo'tand went to Boston to volunteer; but he ain't a sound man, an' theywouldn't have him. They say he knows all their tactics, an' can tell allabout the battle o' Waterloo well's he can Bunker Hill. I told him oncethe country'd lost a great general, an' I meant it, too. "

"I expect you're near right, " said Mrs. Caplin, a little crestfallen andapologetic. 

"I be right, " insisted Mrs. Todd with much amiability. "'Twas most toobad to cramp him down to his peaceful trade, but he's a most excellentshoemaker at his best, an' he always says it's a trade that gives himtime to think an' plan his maneuvers. Over to the Port they alwaysinvite him to march Decoration Day, same as the rest, an' he does looknoble; he comes of soldier stock. "

I had been noticing with great interest the curiously French type offace which prevailed in this rustic company. I had said to myself beforethat Mrs. Blackett was plainly of French descent, in both her appearanceand her charming gifts, but this is not surprising when one has learnedhow large a proportion of the early settlers on this northern coastof New England were of Huguenot blood, and that it is the NormanEnglishman, not the Saxon, who goes adventuring to a new world. 

"They used to say in old times, " said Mrs. Todd modestly, "that ourfamily came of very high folks in France, and one of 'em was a greatgeneral in some o' the old wars. I sometimes think that Santin's abilityhas come 'way down from then. 'Tain't nothin' he's ever acquired; 'twasborn in him. I don't know's he ever saw a fine parade, or met with thosethat studied up such things. He's figured it all out an' got his papersso he knows how to aim a cannon right for William's fish-house fivemiles out on Green Island, or up there on Burnt Island where thesignal is. He had it all over to me one day, an' I tried hard to appearinterested. His life's all in it, but he will have those poor gloomyspells come over him now an' then, an' then he has to drink. "

Mrs. Caplin gave a heavy sigh. 

"There's a great many such strayaway folks, just as there is plants, "continued Mrs. Todd, who was nothing if not botanical. "I know of justone sprig of laurel that grows over back here in a wild spot, an' Inever could hear of no other on this coast. I had a large bunch broughtme once from Massachusetts way, so I know it. This piece grows inan open spot where you'd think 'twould do well, but it's sort o'poor-lookin'. I've visited it time an' again, just to notice its poorblooms. 'Tis a real Sant Bowden, out of its own place. "

Mrs. Caplin looked bewildered and blank. "Well, all I know is, last yearhe worked out some kind of plan so's to parade the county conference inplatoons, and got 'em all flustered up tryin' to sense his ideas of aholler square, " she burst forth. "They was holler enough anyway afterridin' 'way down from up country into the salt air, and they'd beentreated to a sermon on faith an' works from old Fayther Harlow thatnever knows when to cease. 'Twa'n't no time for tactics then, --theywa'n't a'thinkin' of the church military. Sant, he couldn't do nothin'with 'em. All he thinks of, when he sees a crowd, is how to march 'em. 'Tis all very well when he don't 'tempt too much. He never did act likeother folks. "

"Ain't I just been maintainin' that he ain't like 'em?" urged Mrs. Todddecidedly. "Strange folks has got to have strange ways, for what I see. "

"Somebody observed once that you could pick out the likeness of 'mostevery sort of a foreigner when you looked about you in our parish, " saidSister Caplin, her face brightening with sudden illumination. "I didn'tsee the bearin' of it then quite so plain. I always did think Mari'Harris resembled a Chinee. "

"Mari' Harris was pretty as a child, I remember, " said the pleasantvoice of Mrs. Blackett, who, after receiving the affectionate greetingsof nearly the whole company, came to join us, --to see, as she insisted, that we were out of mischief. 

"Yes, Mari' was one o' them pretty little lambs that make dreadfulhomely old sheep, " replied Mrs. Todd with energy. "Cap'n Littlepagenever'd look so disconsolate if she was any sort of a proper personto direct things. She might divert him; yes, she might divert the oldgentleman, an' let him think he had his own way, 'stead o' arguingeverything down to the bare bone. 'Twouldn't hurt her to sit down an'hear his great stories once in a while. "

"The stories are very interesting, " I ventured to say. 

"Yes, you always catch yourself a-thinkin' what if they all was true, and he had the right of it, " answered Mrs. Todd. "He's a good sightbetter company, though dreamy, than such sordid creatur's as Mari'Harris. "

"Live and let live, " said dear old Mrs. Blackett gently. "I haven't seenthe captain for a good while, now that I ain't so constant to meetin', "she added wistfully. "We always have known each other. "

"Why, if it is a good pleasant day tomorrow, I'll get William to callan' invite the capt'in to dinner. William'll be in early so's to pass upthe street without meetin' anybody. "

"There, they're callin' out it's time to set the tables, " said Mrs. Caplin, with great excitement. 

"Here's Cousin Sarah Jane Blackett! Well, I am pleased, certain!"exclaimed Mrs. Todd, with unaffected delight; and these kindred spiritsmet and parted with the promise of a good talk later on. After thisthere was no more time for conversation until we were seated in order atthe long tables. 

"I'm one that always dreads seeing some o' the folks that I don't like, at such a time as this, " announced Mrs. Todd privately to me after aseason of reflection. We were just waiting for the feast to begin. "Youwouldn't think such a great creatur' 's I be could feel all over pinsan' needles. I remember, the day I promised to Nathan, how it come overme, just's I was feelin' happy's I could, that I'd got to have an owncousin o' his for my near relation all the rest o' my life, an' itseemed as if die I should. Poor Nathan saw somethin' had crossed me, --hehad very nice feelings, --and when he asked what 'twas, I told him. 'Inever could like her myself, ' said he. 'You sha'n't be bothered, dear, 'he says; an' 'twas one o' the things that made me set a good deal byNathan, he did not make a habit of always opposin', like some men. 'Yes, ' says I, 'but think o' Thanksgivin' times an' funerals; she's ourrelation, an' we've got to own her. ' Young folks don't think o' thosethings. There she goes now, do let's pray her by!" said Mrs. Todd, withan alarming transition from general opinions to particular animosities. "I hate her just the same as I always did; but she's got on a realpretty dress. I do try to remember that she's Nathan's cousin. Oh dear, well; she's gone by after all, an' ain't seen me. I expected she'dcome pleasantin' round just to show off an' say afterwards she wasacquainted. "

This was so different from Mrs. Todd's usual largeness of mind that Ihad a moment's uneasiness; but the cloud passed quickly over her spirit, and was gone with the offender. 

There never was a more generous out-of-door feast along the coast thenthe Bowden family set forth that day. To call it a picnic would make itseem trivial. The great tables were edged with pretty oak-leaftrimming, which the boys and girls made. We brought flowers from thefence-thickets of the great field; and out of the disorder of flowersand provisions suddenly appeared as orderly a scheme for the feastas the marshal had shaped for the procession. I began to respect theBowdens for their inheritance of good taste and skill and a certainpleasing gift of formality. Something made them do all these things in afiner way than most country people would have done them. As I looked upand down the tables there was a good cheer, a grave soberness that shonewith pleasure, a humble dignity of bearing. There were some who shouldhave sat below the salt for lack of this good breeding; but they werenot many. So, I said to myself, their ancestors may have sat in thegreat hall of some old French house in the Middle Ages, when battles andsieges and processions and feasts were familiar things. The ministersand Mrs. Blackett, with a few of their rank and age, were put in placesof honor, and for once that I looked any other way I looked twiceat Mrs. Blackett's face, serene and mindful of privilege andresponsibility, the mistress by simple fitness of this great day. 

Mrs. Todd looked up at the roof of green trees, and then carefullysurveyed the company. "I see 'em better now they're all settin' down, "she said with satisfaction. "There's old Mr. Gilbraith and his sister. Iwish they were sittin' with us; they're not among folks they can parleywith, an' they look disappointed. "

As the feast went on, the spirits of my companion steadily rose. Theexcitement of an unexpectedly great occasion was a subtle stimulantto her disposition, and I could see that sometimes when Mrs. Todd hadseemed limited and heavily domestic, she had simply grown sluggish forlack of proper surroundings. She was not so much reminiscent now asexpectant, and as alert and gay as a girl. We who were her neighborswere full of gayety, which was but the reflected light from her beamingcountenance. It was not the first time that I was full of wonder atthe waste of human ability in this world, as a botanist wonders atthe wastefulness of nature, the thousand seeds that die, the unusedprovision of every sort. The reserve force of society grows more andmore amazing to one's thought. More than one face among the Bowdensshowed that only opportunity and stimulus were lacking, --a narrow set ofcircumstances had caged a fine able character and held it captive. One sees exactly the same types in a country gathering as in the mostbrilliant city company. You are safe to be understood if the spirit ofyour speech is the same for one neighbor as for the other. 

XIX. The Feast's End

THE FEAST was a noble feast, as has already been said. There was anelegant ingenuity displayed in the form of pies which delighted myheart. Once acknowledge that an American pie is far to be preferred toits humble ancestor, the English tart, and it is joyful to be reassuredat a Bowden reunion that invention has not yet failed. Beside adelightful variety of material, the decorations went beyond all myformer experience; dates and names were wrought in lines of pastry andfrosting on the tops. There was even more elaborate reading matter on anexcellent early-apple pie which we began to share and eat, precept uponprecept. Mrs. Todd helped me generously to the whole word BOWDEN, andconsumed REUNION herself, save an undecipherable fragment; but the mostrenowned essay in cookery on the tables was a model of the old Bowdenhouse made of durable gingerbread, with all the windows and doors in theright places, and sprigs of genuine lilac set at the front. It must havebeen baked in sections, in one of the last of the great brick ovens, andfastened together on the morning of the day. There was a general sighwhen this fell into ruin at the feast's end, and it was shared by agreat part of the assembly, not without seriousness, and as if it werea pledge and token of loyalty. I met the maker of the gingerbread house, which had called up lively remembrances of a childish story. She had thegleaming eye of an enthusiast and a look of high ideals. 

"I could just as well have made it all of frosted cake, " she said, "but'twouldn't have been the right shade; the old house, as you observe, wasnever painted, and I concluded that plain gingerbread would represent itbest. It wasn't all I expected it would be, " she said sadly, as many anartist had said before her of his work. 

There were speeches by the ministers; and there proved to be a historianamong the Bowdens, who gave some fine anecdotes of the family history;and then appeared a poetess, whom Mrs. Todd regarded with wistfulcompassion and indulgence, and when the long faded garland of versescame to an appealing end, she turned to me with words of praise. 

"Sounded pretty, " said the generous listener. "Yes, I thought she didvery well. We went to school together, an' Mary Anna had a very hardtime; trouble was, her mother thought she'd given birth to a genius, an' Mary Anna's come to believe it herself. There, I don't know whatwe should have done without her; there ain't nobody else that can writepoetry between here and 'way up towards Rockland; it adds a great dealat such a time. When she speaks o' those that are gone, she feels itall, and so does everybody else, but she harps too much. I'd laid halfof that away for next time, if I was Mary Anna. There comes mother tospeak to her, an' old Mr. Gilbreath's sister; now she'll be heartenedright up. Mother'll say just the right thing. "

The leave-takings were as affecting as the meetings of these old friendshad been. There were enough young persons at the reunion, but it is theold who really value such opportunities; as for the young, it is thehabit of every day to meet their comrades, --the time of separationhas not come. To see the joy with which these elder kinsfolk andacquaintances had looked in one another's faces, and the lingering touchof their friendly hands; to see these affectionate meetings and then thereluctant partings, gave one a new idea of the isolation in which it waspossible to live in that after all thinly settled region. They did notexpect to see one another again very soon; the steady, hard work onthe farms, the difficulty of getting from place to place, especially inwinter when boats were laid up, gave double value to any occasion whichcould bring a large number of families together. Even funerals in thiscountry of the pointed firs were not without their social advantagesand satisfactions. I heard the words "next summer" repeated many times, though summer was still ours and all the leaves were green. 

The boats began to put out from shore, and the wagons to drive away. Mrs. Blackett took me into the old house when we came back from thegrove: it was her father's birthplace and early home, and she had spentmuch of her own childhood there with her grandmother. She spoke of thosedays as if they had but lately passed; in fact, I could imagine thatthe house looked almost exactly the same to her. I could see the brownrafters of the unfinished roof as I looked up the steep staircase, though the best room was as handsome with its good wainscoting and touchof ornament on the cornice as any old room of its day in a town. 

Some of the guests who came from a distance were still sitting in thebest room when we went in to take leave of the master and mistress ofthe house. We all said eagerly what a pleasant day it had been, andhow swiftly the time had passed. Perhaps it is the great nationalanniversaries which our country has lately kept, and the soldiers'meetings that take place everywhere, which have made reunions of everysort the fashion. This one, at least, had been very interesting. Ifancied that old feuds had been overlooked, and the old saying thatblood is thicker than water had again proved itself true, though fromthe variety of names one argued a certain adulteration of the Bowdentraits and belongings. Clannishness is an instinct of the heart, --it ismore than a birthright, or a custom; and lesser rights were forgotten inthe claim to a common inheritance. 

We were among the very last to return to our proper lives and lodgings. I came near to feeling like a true Bowden, and parted from certain newfriends as if they were old friends; we were rich with the treasure of anew remembrance. 

At last we were in the high wagon again; the old white horse had beenwell fed in the Bowden barn, and we drove away and soon began to climbthe long hill toward the wooded ridge. The road was new to me, as roadsalways are, going back. Most of our companions had been full of anxiousthoughts of home, --of the cows, or of young children likely to fallinto disaster, --but we had no reasons for haste, and drove slowly along, talking and resting by the way. Mrs. Todd said once that she reallyhoped her front door had been shut on account of the dust blowing in, but added that nothing made any weight on her mind except not to forgetto turn a few late mullein leaves that were drying on a newspaper in thelittle loft. Mrs. Blackett and I gave our word of honor that we wouldremind her of this heavy responsibility. The way seemed short, we hadso much to talk about. We climbed hills where we could see the greatbay and the islands, and then went down into shady valleys where the airbegan to feel like evening, cool and camp with a fragrance of wet ferns. Mrs. Todd alighted once or twice, refusing all assistance in securingsome boughs of a rare shrub which she valued for its bark, though sheproved incommunicative as to her reasons. We passed the house where wehad been so kindly entertained with doughnuts earlier in the day, andfound it closed and deserted, which was a disappointment. 

"They must have stopped to tea somewheres and thought they'd finish upthe day, " said Mrs. Todd. "Those that enjoyed it best'll want to getright home so's to think it over. "

"I didn't see the woman there after all, did you?" asked Mrs. Blackettas the horse stopped to drink at the trough. 

"Oh yes, I spoke with her, " answered Mrs. Todd, with but scant interestor approval. "She ain't a member o' our family. "

"I thought you said she resembled Cousin Pa'lina Bowden about theforehead, " suggested Mrs. Blackett. 

"Well, she don't, " answered Mrs. Todd impatiently. "I ain't one that'sord'narily mistaken about family likenesses, and she didn't seem to meetwith friends, so I went square up to her. 'I expect you're a Bowden byyour looks, ' says I. 'Yes, I can take it you're one o' the Bowdens. ''Lor', no, ' says she. 'Dennett was my maiden name, but I married aBowden for my first husband. I thought I'd come an' just see what wasa-goin' on!"

Mrs. Blackett laughed heartily. "I'm goin' to remember to tell Williamo' that, " she said. "There, Almiry, the only thing that's troubled meall this day is to think how William would have enjoyed it. I do so wishWilliam had been there. "

"I sort of wish he had, myself, " said Mrs. Todd frankly. 

"There wa'n't many old folks there, somehow, " said Mrs. Blackett, witha touch of sadness in her voice. "There ain't so many to come as thereused to be, I'm aware, but I expected to see more. "

"I thought they turned out pretty well, when you come to think of it;why, everybody was sayin' so an' feelin' gratified, " answered Mrs. Toddhastily with pleasing unconsciousness; then I saw the quick color flashinto her cheek, and presently she made some excuse to turn and steal ananxious look at her mother. Mrs. Blackett was smiling and thinking abouther happy day, though she began to look a little tired. Neither of mycompanions was troubled by her burden of years. I hoped in my heart thatI might be like them as I lived on into age, and then smiled to thinkthat I too was no longer very young. So we always keep the same hearts, though our outer framework fails and shows the touch of time. 

"'Twas pretty when they sang the hymn, wasn't it?" asked Mrs. Blackettat suppertime, with real enthusiasm. "There was such a plenty o' men'svoices; where I sat it did sound beautiful. I had to stop and listenwhen they came to the last verse. "

I saw that Mrs. Todd's broad shoulders began to shake. "There was goodsingers there; yes, there was excellent singers, " she agreed heartily, putting down her teacup, "but I chanced to drift alongside Mis' PeterBowden o' Great Bay, an' I couldn't help thinkin' if she was as far outo' town as she was out o' tune, she wouldn't get back in a day. "

XX. Along Shore

ONE DAY as I went along the shore beyond the old wharves and the newer, high-stepped fabric of the steamer landing, I saw that all the boatswere beached, and the slack water period of the early afternoonprevailed. Nothing was going on, not even the most leisurely ofoccupations, like baiting trawls or mending nets, or repairing lobsterpots; the very boats seemed to be taking an afternoon nap in the sun. I could hardly discover a distant sail as I looked seaward, except aweather-beaten lobster smack, which seemed to have been taken for aplaything by the light airs that blew about the bay. It drifted andturned about so aimlessly in the wide reach off Burnt Island, that Isuspected there was nobody at the wheel, or that she might have partedher rusty anchor chain while all the crew were asleep. 

I watched her for a minute or two; she was the old Miranda, owned bysome of the Caplins, and I knew her by an odd shaped patch of newishduck that was set into the peak of her dingy mainsail. Her vagariesoffered such an exciting subject for conversation that my heart rejoicedat the sound of a hoarse voice behind me. At that moment, before Ihad time to answer, I saw something large and shapeless flung from theMiranda's deck that splashed the water high against her black side, and my companion gave a satisfied chuckle. The old lobster smack's sailcaught the breeze again at this moment, and she moved off down the bay. Turning, I found old Elijah Tilley, who had come softly out of his darkfish-house, as if it were a burrow. 

"Boy got kind o' drowsy steerin' of her; Monroe he hove him rightoverboard; 'wake now fast enough, " explained Mr. Tilley, and we laughedtogether. 

I was delighted, for my part, that the vicissitudes and dangers of theMiranda, in a rocky channel, should have given me this opportunity tomake acquaintance with an old fisherman to whom I had never spoken. Atfirst he had seemed to be one of those evasive and uncomfortable personswho are so suspicious of you that they make you almost suspicious ofyourself. Mr. Elijah Tilley appeared to regard a stranger with scornfulindifference. You might see him standing on the pebble beach or in afish-house doorway, but when you came nearer he was gone. He was one ofthe small company of elderly, gaunt-shaped great fisherman whom I usedto like to see leading up a deep-laden boat by the head, as if it werea horse, from the water's edge to the steep slope of the pebble beach. There were four of these large old men at the Landing, who were thesurvivors of an earlier and more vigorous generation. There was analliance and understanding between them, so close that it was apparentlyspeechless. They gave much time to watching one another's boats go outor come in; they lent a ready hand at tending one another's lobstertraps in rough weather; they helped to clean the fish or to sliverporgies for the trawls, as if they were in close partnership; and whena boat came in from deep-sea fishing they were never too far out ofthe way, and hastened to help carry it ashore, two by two, splashingalongside, or holding its steady head, as if it were a willful sea colt. As a matter of fact no boat could help being steady and way-wise undertheir instant direction and companionship. Abel's boat and JonathanBowden's boat were as distinct and experienced personalities as the menthemselves, and as inexpressive. Arguments and opinions were unknownto the conversation of these ancient friends; you would as soon haveexpected to hear small talk in a company of elephants as to hear old Mr. Bowden or Elijah Tilley and their two mates waste breath upon any formof trivial gossip. They made brief statements to one another from timeto time. As you came to know them you wondered more and more thatthey should talk at all. Speech seemed to be a light and elegantaccomplishment, and their unexpected acquaintance with its arts madethem of new value to the listener. You felt almost as if a landmark pineshould suddenly address you in regard to the weather, or a lofty-mindedold camel make a remark as you stood respectfully near him under thecircus tent. 

I often wondered a great deal about the inner life and thought of theseself-contained old fishermen; their minds seemed to be fixed upon natureand the elements rather than upon any contrivances of man, like politicsor theology. My friend, Captain Bowden, who was the nephew of the eldestof this group, regarded them with deference; but he did not belong totheir secret companionship, though he was neither young nor talkative. 

"They've gone together ever since they were boys, they know mosteverything about the sea amon'st them, " he told me once. "They wasalways just as you see 'em now since the memory of man. "

These ancient seafarers had houses and lands not outwardly differentfrom other Dunnet Landing dwellings, and two of them were fathers offamilies, but their true dwelling places were the sea, and the stonybeach that edged its familiar shore, and the fish-houses, where muchsalt brine from the mackerel kits had soaked the very timbers into astate of brown permanence and petrifaction. It had also affected the oldfishermen's hard complexions, until one fancied that when Death claimedthem it could only be with the aid, not of any slender modern dart, butthe good serviceable harpoon of a seventeenth century woodcut. 

Elijah Tilley was such an evasive, discouraged-looking person, heavy-headed, and stooping so that one could never look him in theface, that even after his friendly exclamation about Monroe Pennell, thelobster smack's skipper, and the sleepy boy, I did not venture at onceto speak again. Mr. Tilley was carrying a small haddock in one hand, andpresently shifted it to the other hand lest it might touch my skirt. Iknew that my company was accepted, and we walked together a little way. 

"You mean to have a good supper, " I ventured to say, by way offriendliness. 

"Goin' to have this 'ere haddock an' some o' my good baked potatoes;must eat to live, " responded my companion with great pleasantness andopen approval. I found that I had suddenly left the forbidding coast andcome into the smooth little harbor of friendship. 

"You ain't never been up to my place, " said the old man. "Folks don'tcome now as they used to; no, 'tain't no use to ask folks now. My poordear she was a great hand to draw young company. "

I remembered that Mrs. Todd had once said that this old fisherman hadbeen sore stricken and unconsoled at the death of his wife. 

"I should like very much to come, " said I. "Perhaps you are going to beat home later on?"

Mr. Tilley agreed, by a sober nod, and went his way bent-shouldered andwith a rolling gait. There was a new patch high on the shoulder ofhis old waistcoat, which corresponded to the renewing of the Miranda'smainsail down the bay, and I wondered if his own fingers, clumsy withmuch deep-sea fishing, had set it in. 

"Was there a good catch to-day?" I asked, stopping a moment. "I didn'thappen to be on the shore when the boats came in. "

"No; all come in pretty light, " answered Mr. Tilley. "Addicks an' Bowdenthey done the best; Abel an' me we had but a slim fare. We went out'arly, but not so 'arly as sometimes; looked like a poor mornin'. I gotnine haddick, all small, and seven fish; the rest on 'em got more fishthan haddick. Well, I don't expect they feel like bitin' every day; wel'arn to humor 'em a little, an' let 'em have their way 'bout it. Theseplaguey dog-fish kind of worry 'em. " Mr. Tilley pronounced the lastsentence with much sympathy, as if he looked upon himself as a truefriend of all the haddock and codfish that lived on the fishing grounds, and so we parted. 

Later in the afternoon I went along the beach again until I came tothe foot of Mr. Tilley's land, and found his rough track across thecobblestones and rocks to the field edge, where there was a heavy pieceof old wreck timber, like a ship's bone, full of tree-nails. From this alittle footpath, narrow with one man's treading, led up across the smallgreen field that made Mr. Tilley's whole estate, except a stragglingpasture that tilted on edge up the steep hillside beyond the house androad. I could hear the tinkle-tankle of a cow-bell somewhere among thespruces by which the pasture was being walked over and forested fromevery side; it was likely to be called the wood lot before long, but thefield was unmolested. I could not see a bush or a brier anywhere withinits walls, and hardly a stray pebble showed itself. This was mostsurprising in that country of firm ledges, and scattered stones whichall the walls that industry could devise had hardly begun to clearaway off the land. In the narrow field I noticed some stout stakes, apparently planted at random in the grass and among the hills ofpotatoes, but carefully painted yellow and white to match the house, aneat sharp-edged little dwelling, which looked strangely modern for itsowner. I should have much sooner believed that the smart young wholesaleegg merchant of the Landing was its occupant than Mr. Tilley, since aman's house is really but his larger body, and expresses in a way hisnature and character. 

I went up the field, following the smooth little path to the side door. As for using the front door, that was a matter of great ceremony; thelong grass grew close against the high stone step, and a snowberry bushleaned over it, top-heavy with the weight of a morning-glory vine thathad managed to take what the fishermen might call a half hitch aboutthe door-knob. Elijah Tilley came to the side door to receive me; he wasknitting a blue yarn stocking without looking on, and was warmlydressed for the season in a thick blue flannel shirt with white crockerybuttons, a faded waistcoat and trousers heavily patched at the knees. These were not his fishing clothes. There was something delightful inthe grasp of his hand, warm and clean, as if it never touched anythingbut the comfortable woolen yarn, instead of cold sea water and slipperyfish. 

"What are the painted stakes for, down in the field?" I hastened to ask, and he came out a step or two along the path to see; and looked at thestakes as if his attention were called to them for the first time. 

"Folks laughed at me when I first bought this place an' come here tolive, " he explained. "They said 'twa'n't no kind of a field privilege atall; no place to raise anything, all full o' stones. I was aware 'twasgood land, an' I worked some on it--odd times when I didn't have nothin'else on hand--till I cleared them loose stones all out. You never seea prettier piece than 'tis now; now did ye? Well, as for them paintedmarks, them's my buoys. I struck on to some heavy rocks that didn't shownone, but a plow'd be liable to ground on 'em, an' so I ketched holtan' buoyed 'em same's you see. They don't trouble me no more'n if theywa'n't there. "

"You haven't been to sea for nothing, " I said laughing. 

"One trade helps another, " said Elijah with an amiable smile. "Comeright in an' set down. Come in an' rest ye, " he exclaimed, and led theway into his comfortable kitchen. The sunshine poured in at the twofurther windows, and a cat was curled up sound asleep on the table thatstood between them. There was a new-looking light oilcloth of a tiledpattern on the floor, and a crockery teapot, large for a householdof only one person, stood on the bright stove. I ventured to say thatsomebody must be a very good housekeeper. 

"That's me, " acknowledged the old fisherman with frankness. "There ain'tnobody here but me. I try to keep things looking right, same's poor dearleft 'em. You set down here in this chair, then you can look off an' seethe water. None on 'em thought I was goin' to get along alone, no way, but I wa'n't goin' to have my house turned upsi' down an' all changedabout; no, not to please nobody. I was the only one knew just how sheliked to have things set, poor dear, an' I said I was goin' to makeshift, and I have made shift. I'd rather tough it out alone. " And hesighed heavily, as if to sigh were his familiar consolation. 

We were both silent for a minute; the old man looked out the window, asif he had forgotten I was there. 

"You must miss her very much?" I said at last. 

"I do miss her, " he answered, and sighed again. "Folks all kep'repeatin' that time would ease me, but I can't find it does. No, I missher just the same every day. "

"How long is it since she died?" I asked. 

"Eight year now, come the first of October. It don't seem near so long. I've got a sister that comes and stops 'long o' me a little spell, spring an' fall, an' odd times if I send after her. I ain't near so gooda hand to sew as I be to knit, and she's very quick to set everythingto rights. She's a married woman with a family; her son's folks livesat home, an' I can't make no great claim on her time. But it makes mea kind o' good excuse, when I do send, to help her a little; she ain'tnone too well off. Poor dear always liked her, and we used to contriveour ways together. 'Tis full as easy to be alone. I set here an'think it all over, an' think considerable when the weather's bad to gooutside. I get so some days it feels as if poor dear might step rightback into this kitchen. I keep a-watchin' them doors as if she mightstep in to ary one. Yes, ma'am, I keep a-lookin' off an' droppin' o' mystitches; that's just how it seems. I can't git over losin' of her noway nor no how. Yes, ma'am, that's just how it seems to me. "

I did not say anything, and he did not look up. 

"I git feelin' so sometimes I have to lay everything by an' go out door. She was a sweet pretty creatur' long's she lived, " the old man addedmournfully. "There's that little rockin' chair o' her'n, I set an'notice it an' think how strange 'tis a creatur' like her should be gonean' that chair be here right in its old place. "

"I wish I had known her; Mrs. Todd told me about your wife one day, " Isaid. 

"You'd have liked to come and see her; all the folks did, " said poorElijah. "She'd been so pleased to hear everything and see somebody newthat took such an int'rest. She had a kind o' gift to make it pleasantfor folks. I guess likely Almiry Todd told you she was a pretty woman, especially in her young days; late years, too, she kep' her looks andcome to be so pleasant lookin'. There, 'tain't so much matter, I shallbe done afore a great while. No; I sha'n't trouble the fish a greatsight more. "

The old widower sat with his head bowed over his knitting, as if he werehastily shortening the very thread of time. The minutes went slowly by. He stopped his work and clasped his hands firmly together. I saw he hadforgotten his guest, and I kept the afternoon watch with him. At last helooked up as if but a moment had passed of his continual loneliness. 

"Yes, ma'am, I'm one that has seen trouble, " he said, and began to knitagain. 

The visible tribute of his careful housekeeping, and the clean brightroom which had once enshrined his wife, and now enshrined her memory, was very moving to me; he had no thought for any one else or for anyother place. I began to see her myself in her home, --a delicate-looking, faded little woman, who leaned upon his rough strength and affectionateheart, who was always watching for his boat out of this very window, andwho always opened the door and welcomed him when he came home. 

"I used to laugh at her, poor dear, " said Elijah, as if he read mythought. "I used to make light of her timid notions. She used to befearful when I was out in bad weather or baffled about gittin' ashore. She used to say the time seemed long to her, but I've found out allabout it now. I used to be dreadful thoughtless when I was a young manand the fish was bitin' well. I'd stay out late some o' them days, an'I expect she'd watch an' watch an' lose heart a-waitin'. My heart alive!what a supper she'd git, an' be right there watchin' from the door, withsomethin' over her head if 'twas cold, waitin' to hear all about it as Icome up the field. Lord, how I think o' all them little things!"

"This was what she called the best room; in this way, " he saidpresently, laying his knitting on the table, and leading the way acrossthe front entry and unlocking a door, which he threw open with an airof pride. The best room seemed to me a much sadder and more empty placethan the kitchen; its conventionalities lacked the simple perfection ofthe humbler room and failed on the side of poor ambition; it was onlywhen one remembered what patient saving, and what high respect forsociety in the abstract go to such furnishing that the little parlor wasinteresting at all. I could imagine the great day of certain purchases, the bewildering shops of the next large town, the aspiring anxiouswoman, the clumsy sea-tanned man in his best clothes, so eager to bepleased, but at ease only when they were safe back in the sailboatagain, going down the bay with their precious freight, the hoarded moneyall spent and nothing to think of but tiller and sail. I looked atthe unworn carpet, the glass vases on the mantelpiece with their primbunches of bleached swamp grass and dusty marsh rosemary, and I couldread the history of Mrs. Tilley's best room from its very beginning. 

"You see for yourself what beautiful rugs she could make; now I'm goingto show you her best tea things she thought so much of, " said the masterof the house, opening the door of a shallow cupboard. "That's realchiny, all of it on those two shelves, " he told me proudly. "I boughtit all myself, when we was first married, in the port of Bordeaux. Therenever was one single piece of it broke until-- Well, I used to say, long as she lived, there never was a piece broke, but long at the last Inoticed she'd look kind o' distressed, an' I thought 'twas 'count o' meboastin'. When they asked if they should use it when the folks was hereto supper, time o' her funeral, I knew she'd want to have everythingnice, and I said 'certain. ' Some o' the women they come runnin' to mean' called me, while they was takin' of the chiny down, an' showed methere was one o' the cups broke an' the pieces wropped in paper andpushed way back here, corner o' the shelf. They didn't want me to go an'think they done it. Poor dear! I had to put right out o' the house whenI see that. I knowed in one minute how 'twas. We'd got so used to sayin''twas all there just's I fetched it home, an' so when she broke that cupsomehow or 'nother she couldn't frame no words to come an' tell me. Shecouldn't think 'twould vex me, 'twas her own hurt pride. I guess therewa'n't no other secret ever lay between us. "

The French cups with their gay sprigs of pink and blue, the besttumblers, an old flowered bowl and tea caddy, and a japanned waiter ortwo adorned the shelves. These, with a few daguerreotypes in a littlesquare pile, had the closet to themselves, and I was conscious of muchpleasure in seeing them. One is shown over many a house in these dayswhere the interest may be more complex, but not more definite. 

"Those were her best things, poor dear, " said Elijah as he locked thedoor again. "She told me that last summer before she was taken away thatshe couldn't think o' anything more she wanted, there was everything inthe house, an' all her rooms was furnished pretty. I was goin' over tothe Port, an' inquired for errands. I used to ask her to say what shewanted, cost or no cost--she was a very reasonable woman, an' 'twas theplace where she done all but her extra shopping. It kind o' chilled meup when she spoke so satisfied. "

"You don't go out fishing after Christmas?" I asked, as we came back tothe bright kitchen. 

"No; I take stiddy to my knitting after January sets in, " said the oldseafarer. "'Tain't worth while, fish make off into deeper water an' youcan't stand no such perishin' for the sake o' what you get. I leave outa few traps in sheltered coves an' do a little lobsterin' on fair days. The young fellows braves it out, some on 'em; but, for me, I lay inmy winter's yarn an' set here where 'tis warm, an' knit an' take mycomfort. Mother learnt me once when I was a lad; she was a beautifulknitter herself. I was laid up with a bad knee, an' she said 'twouldtake up my time an' help her; we was a large family. They'll buy all thefolks can do down here to Addicks' store. They say our Dunnet stockin'sis gettin' to be celebrated up to Boston, --good quality o' wool an'even knittin' or somethin'. I've always been called a pretty hand to donettin', but seines is master cheap to what they used to be when theywas all hand worked. I change off to nettin' long towards spring, and Ipiece up my trawls and lines and get my fishin' stuff to rights. Lobsterpots they require attention, but I make 'em up in spring weather whenit's warm there in the barn. No; I ain't one o' them that likes to setan' do nothin'. "

"You see the rugs, poor dear did them; she wa'n't very partial toknittin', " old Elijah went on, after he had counted his stitches. "Ourrugs is beginnin' to show wear, but I can't master none o' them womanishtricks. My sister, she tinkers 'em up. She said last time she was herethat she guessed they'd last my time. "

"The old ones are always the prettiest, " I said. 

"You ain't referrin' to the braided ones now?" answered Mr. Tilley. "Yousee ours is braided for the most part, an' their good looks is all inthe beginnin'. Poor dear used to say they made an easier floor. I goshufflin' round the house same's if 'twas a bo't, and I always used tobe stubbin' up the corners o' the hooked kind. Her an' me was alwayshavin' our jokes together same's a boy an' girl. Outsiders never'd knownothin' about it to see us. She had nice manners with all, but to methere was nobody so entertainin'. She'd take off anybody's naturaltalk winter evenin's when we set here alone, so you'd think 'twas thema-speakin'. There, there!"

I saw that he had dropped a stitch again, and was snarling the blue yarnround his clumsy fingers. He handled it and threw it off at arm's lengthas if it were a cod line; and frowned impatiently, but I saw a tearshining on his cheek. 

I said that I must be going, it was growing late, and asked if I mightcome again, and if he would take me out to the fishing grounds someday. 

"Yes, come any time you want to, " said my host, "'tain't so pleasant aswhen poor dear was here. Oh, I didn't want to lose her an' she didn'twant to go, but it had to be. Such things ain't for us to say; there'sno yes an' no to it. "

"You find Almiry Todd one o' the best o' women?" said Mr. Tilley as weparted. He was standing in the doorway and I had started off down thenarrow green field. "No, there ain't a better hearted woman in the Stateo' Maine. I've known her from a girl. She's had the best o' mothers. Youtell her I'm liable to fetch her up a couple or three nice good mackerelearly tomorrow, " he said. "Now don't let it slip your mind. Poor dear, she always thought a sight o' Almiry, and she used to remind me therewas nobody to fish for her; but I don't rec'lect it as I ought to. I seeyou drop a line yourself very handy now an' then. "

We laughed together like the best of friends, and I spoke again aboutthe fishing grounds, and confessed that I had no fancy for a southerlybreeze and a ground swell. 

"Nor me neither, " said the old fisherman. "Nobody likes 'em, say whatthey may. Poor dear was disobliged by the mere sight of a bo't. Almiry'sgot the best o' mothers, I expect you know; Mis' Blackett out to GreenIsland; and we was always plannin' to go out when summer come; butthere, I couldn't pick no day's weather that seemed to suit her justright. I never set out to worry her neither, 'twa'n't no kind o' use;she was so pleasant we couldn't have no fret nor trouble. 'Twas never'you dear an' you darlin'' afore folks, an' 'you divil' behind thedoor!"

As I looked back from the lower end of the field I saw him stillstanding, a lonely figure in the doorway. "Poor dear, " I repeated tomyself half aloud; "I wonder where she is and what she knows of thelittle world she left. I wonder what she has been doing these eightyears!"

I gave the message about the mackerel to Mrs. Todd. 

"Been visitin' with 'Lijah?" she asked with interest. "I expect you hadkind of a dull session; he ain't the talkin' kind; dwellin' so much longo' fish seems to make 'em lose the gift o' speech. " But when I toldher that Mr. Tilley had been talking to me that day, she interrupted mequickly. 

"Then 'twas all about his wife, an' he can't say nothin' too pleasantneither. She was modest with strangers, but there ain't one o' her oldfriends can ever make up her loss. For me, I don't want to go there nomore. There's some folks you miss and some folks you don't, when they'regone, but there ain't hardly a day I don't think o' dear Sarah Tilley. She was always right there; yes, you knew just where to find her likea plain flower. 'Lijah's worthy enough; I do esteem 'Lijah, but he's aploddin' man. "

XXI. The Backward View

AT LAST IT WAS the time of late summer, when the house was cool and dampin the morning, and all the light seemed to come through green leaves;but at the first step out of doors the sunshine always laid a warm handon my shoulder, and the clear, high sky seemed to lift quickly as Ilooked at it. There was no autumnal mist on the coast, nor any Augustfog; instead of these, the sea, the sky, all the long shore line and theinland hills, with every bush of bay and every fir-top, gained a deepercolor and a sharper clearness. There was something shining in the air, and a kind of lustre on the water and the pasture grass, --a northernlook that, except at this moment of the year, one must go far to seek. The sunshine of a northern summer was coming to its lovely end. 

The days were few then at Dunnet Landing, and I let each of them slipaway unwillingly as a miser spends his coins. I wished to have one ofmy first weeks back again, with those long hours when nothing happenedexcept the growth of herbs and the course of the sun. Once I had noteven known where to go for a walk; now there were many delightful thingsto be done and done again, as if I were in London. I felt hurried andfull of pleasant engagements, and the days flew by like a handful offlowers flung to the sea wind. 

At last I had to say good-by to all my Dunnet Landing friends, and myhomelike place in the little house, and return to the world in which Ifeared to find myself a foreigner. There may be restrictions to such asummer's happiness, but the ease that belongs to simplicity is charmingenough to make up for whatever a simple life may lack, and the gifts ofpeace are not for those who live in the thick of battle. 

I was to take the small unpunctual steamer that went down the bay in theafternoon, and I sat for a while by my window looking out on the greenherb garden, with regret for company. Mrs. Todd had hardly spoken allday except in the briefest and most disapproving way; it was as if wewere on the edge of a quarrel. It seemed impossible to take my departurewith anything like composure. At last I heard a footstep, and looked upto find that Mrs. Todd was standing at the door. 

"I've seen to everything now, " she told me in an unusually loud andbusiness-like voice. "Your trunks are on the w'arf by this time. Cap'nBowden he come and took 'em down himself, an' is going to see thatthey're safe aboard. Yes, I've seen to all your 'rangements, " sherepeated in a gentler tone. "These things I've left on the kitchen tableyou'll want to carry by hand; the basket needn't be returned. I guessI shall walk over towards the Port now an' inquire how old Mis' EdwardCaplin is. "

I glanced at my friend's face, and saw a look that touched me to theheart. I had been sorry enough before to go away. 

"I guess you'll excuse me if I ain't down there to stand around on thew'arf and see you go, " she said, still trying to be gruff. "Yes, I oughtto go over and inquire for Mis' Edward Caplin; it's her third shock, andif mother gets in on Sunday she'll want to know just how the old ladyis. " With this last word Mrs. Todd turned and left me as if with suddenthought of something she had forgotten, so that I felt sure she wascoming back, but presently I heard her go out of the kitchen door andwalk down the path toward the gate. I could not part so; I ran afterher to say good-by, but she shook her head and waved her hand withoutlooking back when she heard my hurrying steps, and so went away down thestreet. 

When I went in again the little house had suddenly grown lonely, and myroom looked empty as it had the day I came. I and all my belongings haddied out of it, and I knew how it would seem when Mrs. Todd came backand found her lodger gone. So we die before our own eyes; so we see somechapters of our lives come to their natural end. 

I found the little packages on the kitchen table. There was a quaintWest Indian basket which I knew its owner had valued, and which I hadonce admired; there was an affecting provision laid beside it for myseafaring supper, with a neatly tied bunch of southernwood and a twig ofbay, and a little old leather box which held the coral pin that NathanTodd brought home to give to poor Joanna. 

There was still an hour to wait, and I went up the hill just above theschoolhouse and sat there thinking of things, and looking off to sea, and watching for the boat to come in sight. I could see Green Island, small and darkly wooded at that distance; below me were the houses ofthe village with their apple-trees and bits of garden ground. Presently, as I looked at the pastures beyond, I caught a last glimpse of Mrs. Toddherself, walking slowly in the footpath that led along, followingthe shore toward the Port. At such a distance one can feel the large, positive qualities that control a character. Close at hand, Mrs. Todd seemed able and warm-hearted and quite absorbed in her bustlingindustries, but her distant figure looked mateless and appealing, withsomething about it that was strangely self-possessed and mysterious. Nowand then she stooped to pick something, --it might have been her favoritepennyroyal, --and at last I lost sight of her as she slowly crossed anopen space on one of the higher points of land, and disappeared againbehind a dark clump of juniper and the pointed firs. 

As I came away on the little coastwise steamer, there was an old searunning which made the surf leap high on all the rocky shores. I stoodon deck, looking back, and watched the busy gulls agree and turn, andsway together down the long slopes of air, then separate hastily andplunge into the waves. The tide was setting in, and plenty of small fishwere coming with it, unconscious of the silver flashing of the greatbirds overhead and the quickness of their fierce beaks. The sea wasfull of life and spirit, the tops of the waves flew back as if they werewinged like the gulls themselves, and like them had the freedom of thewind. Out in the main channel we passed a bent-shouldered old fishermanbound for the evening round among his lobster traps. He was toilingalong with short oars, and the dory tossed and sank and tossed againwith the steamer's waves. I saw that it was old Elijah Tilley, andthough we had so long been strangers we had come to be warm friends, andI wished that he had waited for one of his mates, it was such hard workto row along shore through rough seas and tend the traps alone. As wepassed I waved my hand and tried to call to him, and he looked up andanswered my farewells by a solemn nod. The little town, with the tallmasts of its disabled schooners in the inner bay, stood high above theflat sea for a few minutes then it sank back into the uniformity of thecoast, and became indistinguishable from the other towns that looked asif they were crumbled on the furzy-green stoniness of the shore. 

The small outer islands of the bay were covered among the ledges withturf that looked as fresh as the early grass; there had been some daysof rain the week before, and the darker green of the sweet-fern wasscattered on all the pasture heights. It looked like the beginning ofsummer ashore, though the sheep, round and warm in their winter wool, betrayed the season of the year as they went feeding along the slopesin the low afternoon sunshine. Presently the wind began to blow and westruck out seaward to double the long sheltering headland of the cape, and when I looked back again, the islands and the headland had runtogether and Dunnet Landing and all its coasts were lost to sight.