produced by leslee suttee , mary mark ockerbloom , ben crowder

further chronicles of avonlea

all related by l . m montgomery

introduction

it is no exaggeration to say that what longfellow did for acadia , miss montgomery has done for prince edward island .

anne is as lovable a child as lives in all fiction .

there is nothing in her to disappoint hope or imagination .

part of the power of miss montgomery and the largest part is due to her skill in compounding humor and pathos .

the humor is shown not only in the presentation of quaint and unique characters , but also in the words which fall from their mouths .

you would recognize her at sight .

ismay meade 's disposition is summed up when we are told that she is " good at having presentiments after things happen . "

the poetic touch , too , never fails in the right place and is never too frequently introduced in her descriptions .

they throw a glamor over that northern land which otherwise you might imagine as rather cold and barren .

what charming springs they must have there !

" the eastern sky was a great arc of crystal , smitten through with auroral crimsonings . "

sentiment with a humorous touch to it prevails in the first two stories of the present book .

the one relates to the disappearance of a valuable white persian cat with a blue spot in its tail .

of course both sue and ismay detest cats ; ismay hates them , sue loathes them ; but aunt cynthia 's favor is worth preserving .

rather than bear the stigma of never having had a love-affair , this sentimental lady invents one to tell her mocking young friends .

the dramatic and unexpected denouement is delightful fun .

the story is both poignant and dramatic .

self-sacrifice , as the real basis of happiness , is a favorite theme in miss montgomery 's fiction .

miss montgomery loves to introduce a little child or a baby as a solvent of old feuds or domestic quarrels .

happiness generally lights up the end of her stories , however tragic they may set out to be .

in " the son of his mother , " thyra is a stern woman , as " immovable as a stone image . "

when chester falls in love , she is relentless toward the beautiful young girl and forces chester to give her up .

but a terrible sorrow brings the old woman and the young girl into sympathy , and unspeakable joy is born of the trial .

happiness also comes to " the brother who failed . "

the story of the revival at avonlea has also a good moral .

you feel that you are made familiar with a real town and its real inhabitants ; you learn to love them and sympathize with them .

further chronicles of avonlea is a book to read ; and to know .

nathan haskell dole .

contents

i aunt cynthia 's persian cat ii .

the materializing of cecil iii .

her father 's daughter iv .

jane 's baby v the dream-child vi .

the brother who failed vii .

the return of hester viii .

the little brown book of miss emily ix .

sara 's way x the son of his mother xi .

the education of betty xii .

in her selfless mood xiii .

the conscience case of david bell xiv .

only a common fellow xv .

tannis of the flats

further chronicles of avonlea

i aunt cynthia's persian cat

max always blesses the animal when it is referred to ; and i don't deny that things have worked together for good after all .

as for ismay , she hates cats and always did .

but aunt cynthia , who adored them , never could bring herself to understand that any one could possibly dislike them .

of all cats i loathed that white persian cat of aunt cynthia 's .

and , indeed , as we always suspected and finally proved , aunt herself looked upon the creature with more pride than affection .

she would have taken ten times the comfort in a good , common puss that she did in that spoiled beauty .

it was snow-white , with a bluish-gray spot on the tip of its tail ; and it was blue-eyed and deaf and delicate .

aunt cynthia was always worrying lest it should take cold and die .

ismay and i used to wish that it would we were so tired of hearing about it and its whims .

but we did not say so to aunt cynthia .

she would probably never have spoken to us again and there was no wisdom in offending aunt cynthia .

besides , we really liked aunt cynthia very much at times .

one day , in november , aunt cynthia came sailing out to spencervale .

that was a jonah day for us all through .

everything had gone wrong .

and on top of this came aunt cynthia 's call and request .

" dear me , " said aunt cynthia , sniffing , " don't i smell smoke ?

you girls must manage your range very badly .

mine never smokes .

but it is no more than one might expect when two girls try to keep house without a man about the place . "

" we get along very well without a man about the place , " i said loftily .

max hadn't been in for four whole days and , though nobody wanted to see him particularly , i couldn't help wondering why .

" men are nuisances . "

" i dare say you would like to pretend you think so , " said aunt cynthia , aggravatingly .

" but no woman ever does really think so , you know .

i imagine that pretty anne shirley , who is visiting ella kimball , doesn't .

i saw her and dr irving out walking this afternoon , looking very well satisfied with themselves .

if you dilly-dally much longer , sue , you will let max slip through your fingers yet . "

that was a tactful thing to say to me , who had refused max irving so often that i had lost count .

i was furious , and so i smiled most sweetly on my maddening aunt .

" dear aunt , how amusing of you , " i said , smoothly .

" you talk as if i wanted max . "

" so you do , " said aunt cynthia .

" if so , why should i have refused him time and again ? "

i asked , smilingly .

right well aunt cynthia knew i had .

max always told her .

there is something very fascinating about this anne shirley . "

" indeed there is , " i assented .

" she has the loveliest eyes i ever saw .

she would be just the wife for max , and i hope he will marry her . "

" humph , " said aunt cynthia .

" well , i won't entice you into telling any more fibs .

and i didn't drive out here to-day in all this wind to talk sense into you concerning max .

i 'm going to halifax for two months and i want you to take charge of fatima for me , while i am away . "

" fatima ! "

i exclaimed .

" yes .

i don't dare to trust her with the servants .

mind you always warm her milk before you give it to her , and don't on any account let her run out of doors . "

i looked at ismay and ismay looked at me .

we knew we were in for it .

to refuse would mortally offend aunt cynthia .

but i ventured to ask , " what if anything happens to her while you are away ? "

" it is to prevent that , i 'm leaving her with you , " said aunt cynthia .

" you simply must not let anything happen to her .

it will do you good to have a little responsibility .

and you will have a chance to find out what an adorable creature fatima really is .

well , that is all settled .

i 'll send fatima out to-morrow . "

" you can take care of that horrid fatima beast yourself , " said ismay , when the door closed behind aunt cynthia .

" i won't touch her with a yard-stick .

you had no business to say we 'd take her . "

" did i say we would take her ? "

i demanded , crossly .

" aunt cynthia took our consent for granted .

and you know , as well as i do , we couldn't have refused .

so what is the use of being grouchy ? "

" if anything happens to her aunt cynthia will hold us responsible , " said ismay darkly .

" do you think anne shirley is really engaged to gilbert blythe ? "

i asked curiously .

" i 've heard that she was , " said ismay , absently .

" does she eat anything but milk ?

will it do to give her mice ? "

" oh , i guess so .

but do you think max has really fallen in love with her ? "

" i dare say .

what a relief it will be for you if he has . "

" oh , of course , " i said , frostily .

" anne shirley or anne anybody else , is perfectly welcome to max if she wants him .

i certainly do not .

ismay meade , if that stove doesn't stop smoking i shall fly into bits .

this is a detestable day .

i hate that creature ! "

" oh , you shouldn't talk like that , when you don't even know her , " protested ismay .

" every one says anne shirley is lovely "

" i was talking about fatima , " i cried in a rage .

" oh ! " said ismay .

ismay is stupid at times .

i thought the way she said " oh " was inexcusably stupid .

fatima arrived the next day .

max brought her out in a covered basket , lined with padded crimson satin .

max likes cats and aunt cynthia .

of course i said no , as usual , but i was rather pleased .

max had been proposing to me about every two months for two years .

sometimes , as in this case , he went three months , and then i always wondered why .

i concluded that he could not be really interested in anne shirley , and i was relieved .

so i just beamed on him when i said no .

max began counting on his fingers .

when he got as far as eight he shook his head and began over again .

" what is it ? "

i asked .

" i 'm trying to count up how many times i have proposed to you , " he said .

" but i can't remember whether i asked you to marry me that day we dug up the garden or not .

if i did it makes "

" no , you didn't , " i interrupted .

" well , that makes it eleven , " said max reflectively .

" pretty near the limit , isn't it ?

my manly pride will not allow me to propose to the same girl more than twelve times .

so the next time will be the last , sue darling . "

" oh , " i said , a trifle flatly .

i forgot to resent his calling me darling .

i wondered if things wouldn't be rather dull when max gave up proposing to me .

it was the only excitement i had .

" very sweet girl , " said max .

" you know i always admired those gray-eyed girls with that splendid titian hair . "

i am dark , with brown eyes .

just then i detested max .

i got up and said i was going to get some milk for fatima .

i found ismay in a rage in the kitchen .

she had been up in the garret , and a mouse had run across her foot .

mice always get on ismay 's nerves .

" we need a cat badly enough , " she fumed , " but not a useless , pampered thing , like fatima .

that garret is literally swarming with mice .

you 'll not catch me going up there again . "

fatima did not prove such a nuisance as we had feared .

she even used to get up in the middle of the night and go out to see if fatima was warm .

max came in every day and , being around , gave us good advice .

when we came home fatima was gone .

huldah jane wept and was as one whom the gods had made mad .

when she came back the kitchen door had blown open and fatima had vanished .

ismay and i were frantic .

then ismay sat down on the front doorsteps and cried .

" she has got out and she 'll catch her death of cold and aunt cynthia will never forgive us . "

" i 'm going for max , " i declared .

max came over and we had another search , but without result .

days passed , but we did not find fatima .

i would certainly have gone crazy had it not been for max .

he was worth his weight in gold during the awful week that followed .

" we shall never see fatima again , " i said hopelessly to max and ismay one afternoon .

" i 'm afraid you won't , " said max .

" she must have perished from exposure long ere this . "

" aunt cynthia will never forgive us , " said ismay , dismally .

" i had a presentiment of trouble the moment that cat came to this house . "

we had never heard of this presentiment before , but ismay is good at having presentiments after things happen .

" what shall we do ? "

i demanded , helplessly .

" max , can't you find some way out of this scrape for us ? "

" advertise in the charlottetown papers for a white persian cat , " suggested max .

" some one may have one for sale .

if so , you must buy it , and palm it off on your good aunt as fatima .

she 's very short-sighted , so it will be quite possible . "

" but fatima has a blue spot on her tail , " i said .

" you must advertise for a cat with a blue spot on its tail , " said max .

" it will cost a pretty penny , " said ismay dolefully .

" fatima was valued at one hundred dollars . "

" we must take the money we have been saving for our new furs , " i said sorrowfully .

" there is no other way out of it .

it will cost us a good deal more if we lose aunt cynthia 's favor .

she is quite capable of believing that we have made away with fatima deliberately and with malice aforethought . "

so we advertised .

max went to town and had the notice inserted in the most important daily .

it was a type-written screed from halifax stating that the writer had for sale a white persian cat answering to our description .

" temper your joy , my friends , " said ismay , gloomily .

" the cat may not suit .

the blue spot may be too big or too small or not in the right place .

i consistently refuse to believe that any good thing can come out of this deplorable affair . "

just at this moment there was a knock at the door and i hurried out .

the postmaster 's boy was there with a telegram .

i tore it open , glanced at it , and dashed back into the room .

" what is it now ? " cried ismay , beholding my face .

i held out the telegram .

it was from aunt cynthia .

she had wired us to send fatima to halifax by express immediately .

for the first time max did not seem ready to rush into the breach with a suggestion .

it was i who spoke first .

" max , " i said , imploringly , " you 'll see us through this , won't you ?

neither ismay nor i can rush off to halifax at once .

you must go to-morrow morning .

go right to @number@ hollis street and ask for ' persian . '

if the cat looks enough like fatima , buy it and take it to aunt cynthia .

if it doesn't but it must !

you 'll go , won't you ? "

" that depends , " said max .

i stared at him .

this was so unlike max .

" you are sending me on a nasty errand , " he said , coolly .

" how do i know that aunt cynthia will be deceived after all , even if she be short-sighted .

buying a cat in a joke is a huge risk .

and if she should see through the scheme i shall be in a pretty mess . "

" oh , max , " i said , on the verge of tears .

it would be all in the day 's work then .

but as it is "

ismay got up and went out of the room .

" oh , max , please , " i said .

" will you marry me , sue ? " demanded max sternly .

" if you will agree , i 'll go to halifax and beard the lion in his den unflinchingly .

if necessary , i will take a black street cat to aunt cynthia , and swear that it is fatima .

i 'll do anything , say anything but it must be for my future wife . "

" will nothing else content you ? "

i said helplessly .

" nothing . "

i thought hard .

i knew in my secret soul that life would be a dreadfully dismal thing if max were not around somewhere .

" very well , " i said crossly .

max left for halifax in the morning .

next day we got a wire saying it was all right .

the evening of the following day he was back in spencervale .

ismay and i put him in a chair and glared at him impatiently .

max began to laugh and laughed until he turned blue .

" i am glad it is so amusing , " said ismay severely .

" if sue and i could see the joke it might be more so . "

" dear little girls , have patience with me , " implored max .

" if you knew what it cost me to keep a straight face in halifax you would forgive me for breaking out now . "

" we forgive you but for pity 's sake tell us all about it , " i cried .

" well , as soon as i arrived in halifax i hurried to @number@ hollis street , but see here !

didn't you tell me your aunt 's address was @number@ pleasant street ? "

" so it is . "

" 't isn't .

you look at the address on a telegram next time you get one .

she went a week ago to visit another friend who lives at @number@ hollis . "

" max ! "

" it 's a fact .

" ' max , ' she said , ' have you brought fatima ? '

" ' no , ' i answered , trying to adjust my wits to this new development as she towed me into the library .

' no , i i just came to halifax on a little matter of business . '

" ' dear me , ' said aunt cynthia , crossly , ' i don't know what those girls mean .

i wired them to send fatima at once .

and she has not come yet and i am expecting a call every minute from some one who wants to buy her . '

" ' oh ! '

i murmured , mining deeper every minute .

" ' well , of all the curious coincidences , ' i exclaimed .

' why , miss ridley , it was i who advertised for a persian cat on sue 's behalf .

she and ismay have decided that they want a cat like fatima for themselves . '

" you should have seen how she beamed .

she said she knew you always really liked cats , only you would never own up to it .

we clinched the dicker then and there .

good luck to your bargain ! "

" mean old thing , " sniffed ismay .

she meant aunt cynthia , and , remembering our shabby furs , i didn't disagree with her .

" but there is no fatima , " i said , dubiously .

" how shall we account for her when aunt cynthia comes home ? "

" well , your aunt isn't coming home for a month yet .

when she comes you will have to tell her that the cat is lost but you needn't say when it happened .

as for the rest , fatima is your property now , so aunt cynthia can't grumble .

but she will have a poorer opinion than ever of your fitness to run a house alone . "

when max left i went to the window to watch him down the path .

he was really a handsome fellow , and i was proud of him .

at the gate he turned to wave me good-by , and , as he did , he glanced upward .

even at that distance i saw the look of amazement on his face .

then he came bolting back .

" ismay , the house is on fire ! "

i shrieked , as i flew to the door .

" sue , " cried max , " i saw fatima , or her ghost , at the garret window a moment ago ! "

" nonsense ! "

i cried .

but ismay was already half way up the stairs and we followed .

straight to the garret we rushed .

there sat fatima , sleek and complacent , sunning herself in the window .

max laughed until the rafters rang .

" she can't have been up here all this time , " i protested , half tearfully .

" we would have heard her meowing . "

" but you didn't , " said max .

" she would have died of the cold , " declared ismay .

" but she hasn't , " said max .

" or starved , " i cried .

" the place is alive with mice , " said max .

" no , girls , there is no doubt the cat has been here the whole fortnight .

she must have followed huldah jane up here , unobserved , that day .

it 's a wonder you didn't hear her crying if she did cry .

but perhaps she didn't , and , of course , you sleep downstairs .

to think you never thought of looking here for her ! "

" it has cost us over a hundred dollars , " said ismay , with a malevolent glance at the sleek fatima .

" it has cost me more than that , " i said , as i turned to the stairway .

max held me back for an instant , while ismay and fatima pattered down .

" do you think it has cost too much , sue ? " he whispered .

i looked at him sideways .

he was really a dear .

niceness fairly exhaled from him .

" no-o-o , " i said , " but when we are married you will have to take care of fatima , i won't . "

" dear fatima , " said max gratefully .

ii .

the materializing of cecil

even nancy , my old nurse and servant , knew that , and pitied me for it .

nancy is an old maid herself , but she has had two proposals .

i had really often wondered why nobody had ever fallen in love with me .

neither was it the fact that i wrote poetry myself although not of george adoniram 's kind because nobody ever knew that .

it is nearly full now , because i have been writing poetry all my life .

it is the only thing i have ever been able to keep a secret from nancy .

i am convinced she would send for the doctor post-haste and insist on mustard plasters while waiting for him .

poor charlotte indeed !

i must not be uncharitable .

the sewing circle met at mary gillespie 's on my fortieth birthday .

i enjoyed every bit of that breakfast , and then i got up and dressed , putting on my second best muslin gown .

i watered my flowers and fed my cats , and then i locked myself up and wrote a poem on june .

i had given up writing birthday odes after i was thirty .

in the afternoon i went to the sewing circle .

when i was ready for it i looked in my glass and wondered if i could really be forty .

i was quite sure i didn't look it .

i always have my mirror hung in the darkest corner of my room .

nancy cannot imagine why .

i know the lines are there , of course ; but when they don't show very plain i forget that they are there .

we had a large sewing circle , young and old alike attending .

as for the other old maids , they talked gossip about every one , and i did not like that either .

there was a full attendance that day , for we were getting ready for a sale of fancy work in aid of parsonage repairs .

the young girls were merrier and noisier than usual .

wilhelmina mercer was there , and she kept them going .

the mercers were quite new to avonlea , having come here only two months previously .

i wasn't listening to their chatter at all , but presently georgie exclaimed teasingly :

" miss charlotte is laughing at us .

i suppose she thinks we are awfully silly to be talking about beaux . "

i meant to inscribe them in the little blank book when i went home .

georgie 's speech brought me back to harsh realities with a jolt .

it hurt me , as such speeches always did .

" didn't you ever have a beau , miss holmes ? " said wilhelmina laughingly .

just as it happened , a silence had fallen over the room for a moment , and everybody in it heard wilhelmina 's question .

i really do not know what got into me and possessed me .

i have never been able to account for what i said and did , because i am naturally a truthful person and hate all deceit .

it seemed to me that i simply could not say " no " to wilhelmina before that whole roomful of women .

it was too humiliating .

" yes , i had one once , my dear , " i said calmly .

for once in my life i made a sensation .

every woman in that room stopped sewing and stared at me .

most of them , i saw , didn't believe me , but wilhelmina did .

her pretty face lighted up with interest .

" that is right , miss mercer , " said josephine cameron , with a nasty little laugh .

" make her tell .

we 're all interested .

it 's news to us that charlotte ever had a beau . "

if josephine had not said that , i might not have gone on .

but she did say it , and , moreover , i caught mary gillespie and adella gilbert exchanging significant smiles .

that settled it , and made me quite reckless .

" in for a penny , in for a pound , " thought i , and i said with a pensive smile :

" nobody here knew anything about him , and it was all long , long ago . "

" what was his name ? " asked wilhelmina .

" cecil fenwick , " i answered promptly .

cecil had always been my favorite name for a man ; it figured quite frequently in the blank book .

" where did you meet him ? " asked georgie .

i hastily reviewed my past .

there was only one place to locate cecil fenwick .

" i was just eighteen and he was twenty-three . "

" what did he look like ? "

susette wanted to know .

" oh , he was very handsome . "

i proceeded glibly to sketch my ideal .

" he was tall and dark , with lovely , curly black hair and brilliant , piercing eyes .

he had a splendid chin , and a fine nose , and the most fascinating smile ! "

" what was he ? " asked maggie .

he had been a lawyer .

" why didn't you marry him ? " demanded susette .

" we quarreled , " i answered sadly .

" a terribly bitter quarrel .

oh , we were both so young and so foolish .

it was my fault .

i vexed cecil by flirting with another man " wasn't i coming on ! " and he was jealous and angry .

he went out west and never came back .

i have never seen him since , and i do not even know if he is alive .

but but i could never care for any other man . "

" oh , how interesting ! " sighed wilhelmina .

" i do so love sad love stories .

but perhaps he will come back some day yet , miss holmes . "

" oh , no , never now , " i said , shaking my head .

" he has forgotten all about me , i dare say .

or if he hasn't , he has never forgiven me . "

but i felt already a change in the mental atmosphere surrounding me , and all through supper i was thrilled with a secret exultation .

repentant ?

ashamed ?

not a bit of it !

i 'd have done the same thing over again , and all i felt sorry for was that i hadn't done it long ago .

when i got home that night nancy looked at me wonderingly , and said :

" you look like a girl to-night , miss charlotte . "

i had to have some outlet for my feelings .

for the next two months all went well and merrily .

it just warmed up the cockles of my heart , and i began to enjoy the sewing circle famously .

i got a lot of pretty new dresses and the dearest hat , and i went everywhere i was asked and had a good time .

but there is one thing you can be perfectly sure of .

if you do wrong you are going to be punished for it sometime , somehow and somewhere .

my punishment was delayed for two months , and then it descended on my head and i was crushed to the very dust .

another new family besides the mercers had come to avonlea in the spring the maxwells .

there were just mr. and mrs maxwell ; they were a middle-aged couple and very well off .

they lived quietly , and mrs maxwell hardly ever went anywhere because she was delicate .

she was out when i called and i was out when she returned my call , so that i had never met her .

it was the sewing circle day again at sarah gardiner 's this time .

everybody looked at me in the strangest way .

of course , wilhelmina mercer was the first to set her tongue going .

" oh , miss holmes , have you seen him yet ? " she exclaimed .

" seen whom ? "

i said non-excitedly , getting out my thimble and patterns .

" why , cecil fenwick .

he 's here in avonlea visiting his sister , mrs maxwell . "

i suppose i did what they expected me to do .

i dropped everything i held , and josephine cameron said afterwards that charlotte holmes would never be paler when she was in her coffin .

if they had just known why i turned so pale !

" it 's impossible ! "

i said blankly .

" it 's really true , " said wilhelmina , delighted at this development , as she supposed it , of my romance .

" i was up to see mrs maxwell last night , and i met him . "

" it can't be the same cecil fenwick , " i said faintly , because i had to say something .

" oh , yes , it is .

he belongs in blakely , new brunswick , and he 's a lawyer , and he 's been out west twenty-two years .

he 's oh ! so handsome , and just as you described him , except that his hair is quite gray .

he has never married i asked mrs maxwell so you see he has never forgotten you , miss holmes .

and , oh , i believe everything is going to come out all right . "

i couldn't exactly share her cheerful belief .

everything seemed to me to be coming out most horribly wrong .

i was so mixed up i didn't know what to do or say .

i felt as if i were in a bad dream it must be a dream there couldn't really be a cecil fenwick !

my feelings were simply indescribable .

fortunately every one put my agitation down to quite a different cause , and they very kindly left me alone to recover myself .

i shall never forget that awful afternoon .

right after tea i excused myself and went home as fast as i could go .

there i shut myself up in my room , but not to write poetry in my blank book .

no , indeed !

i felt in no poetical mood .

i tried to look the facts squarely in the face .

there was a cecil fenwick , extraordinary as the coincidence was , and he was here in avonlea .

all my friends and foes believed that he was the estranged lover of my youth .

if he stayed long in avonlea , one of two things was bound to happen .

but providence had other views for me .

cecil fenwick didn't go away .

he stayed right on in avonlea , and the maxwells blossomed out socially in his honor and tried to give him a good time .

mrs maxwell gave a party for him .

i got a card but you may be very sure i didn't go , although nancy thought i was crazy not to .

then every one else gave parties in honor of mr fenwick and i was invited and never went .

wilhelmina means well , but she hasn't a great deal of sense .

cecil fenwick seemed to be a great favorite with everybody , young and old .

he was very rich , too , and wilhelmina declared that half the girls were after him .

as for me , i gave up going out at all , even to church .

i fretted and pined and lost my appetite and never wrote a line in my blank book .

nancy was half frantic and insisted on dosing me with her favorite patent pills .

my trouble was too deep-seated for pills to cure .

if ever a woman was punished for telling a lie i was that woman .

i stopped my subscription to the weekly advocate because it still carried that wretched porous plaster advertisement , and i couldn't bear to see it .

if it hadn't been for that i would never have thought of fenwick for a name , and all this trouble would have been averted .

one evening , when i was moping in my room , nancy came up .

" there 's a gentleman in the parlor asking for you , miss charlotte . "

my heart gave just one horrible bounce .

" what sort of a gentleman , nancy ? "

i faltered .

" tell him i 'll be down directly , nancy , " i said quite calmly .

then i hunted up an old advocate for proof , and down i went to the parlor .

i know exactly how a criminal feels going to execution , and i 've been opposed to capital punishment ever since .

then my legs gave out completely , and i couldn't have walked another step to save my life .

i just stood there , my hand on the knob , trembling like a leaf .

he was very handsome , and his gray hair gave him such a distinguished look .

i recalled this afterward , but just at the moment you may be quite sure i wasn't thinking about it at all .

then all at once a strange thing happened .

the scowl went right off his face and the anger out of his eyes .

he looked astonished , and then foolish .

i saw the color creeping up into his cheeks .

as for me , i still stood there staring at him , not able to say a single word .

" miss holmes , i presume , " he said at last , in a deep , thrilling voice .

" i i oh , confound it !

i have called i heard some foolish stories and i came here in a rage .

i 've been a fool i know now they weren't true .

just excuse me and i 'll go away and kick myself . "

" no , " i said , finding my voice with a gasp , " you mustn't go until you 've heard the truth .

it 's dreadful enough , but not as dreadful as you might otherwise think .

those those stories i have a confession to make .

i did tell them , but i didn't know there was such a person as cecil fenwick in existence . "

he looked puzzled , as well he might .

" let's sit down and talk it over ' comfy , ' " he said .

i just confessed the whole shameful business .

it was terribly humiliating , but it served me right .

he heard me right through without a word , and then he threw back his big , curly , gray head and laughed .

she declared you had told her about it yourself .

i confess i flamed up .

when you came into the room i knew that , whoever was to blame , you were not . "

" but i was , " i said ruefully .

" it wasn't right of me to tell such a story and it was very silly , too .

but who would ever have supposed that there could be a real cecil fenwick who had lived in blakely ?

i never heard of such a coincidence . "

" it 's more than a coincidence , " said mr fenwick decidedly .

" it 's predestination ; that is what it is .

and now let's forget it and talk of something else . "

when he finally went away he asked if he might come again .

" it 's time we made up that old quarrel , you know , " he said , laughing .

and i , an old maid of forty , caught myself blushing like a girl .

but i felt like a girl , for it was such a relief to have that explanation all over .

i couldn't even feel angry with adella gilbert .

she was always a mischief maker , and when a woman is born that way she is more to be pitied than blamed .

mr fenwick did come again the very next evening , but one .

and he came so often after that that even nancy got resigned to him .

one day i had to tell her something .

i shrank from doing it , for i feared it would make her feel badly .

" oh , i 've been expecting to hear it , " she said grimly .

" i felt the minute that man came into the house he brought trouble with him .

well , miss charlotte , i wish you happiness .

i don't know how the climate of california will agree with me , but i suppose i 'll have to put up with it . "

" but , nancy , " i said , " i can't expect you to go away out there with me .

it 's too much to ask of you . "

" and where else would i be going ? " demanded nancy in genuine astonishment .

" how under the canopy could you keep house without me ?

i 'm not going to trust you to the mercies of a yellow chinee with a pig-tail .

where you go i go , miss charlotte , and there 's an end of it . "

i was very glad , for i hated to think of parting with nancy even to go with cecil .

as for the blank book , i haven't told my husband about it yet , but i mean to some day .

and i 've subscribed for the weekly advocate again .

iii .

her father's daughter

" we must invite your aunt jane , of course , " said mrs spencer .

the difference was not caused by hard work or the lack of it ; rachel had worked hard all her life .

it was a difference inherent in temperament .

moreover , the contrast went deeper than externals , and twined itself with the innermost fibers of life , and thought , and action .

" aunt jane doesn't like me , and i don't like aunt jane . "

" i 'm sure i don't see why you don't like her , " said mrs spencer .

" it 's ungrateful of you .

she has always been very kind to you . "

" she has always been very kind with one hand , " smiled rachel .

" i remember the first time i ever saw aunt jane .

i was six years old .

she held out to me a small velvet pincushion with beads on it .

it hurt horribly i 've always had a tender head .

and that has been aunt jane 's way ever since .

when i grew too big for the thimble treatment she used her tongue instead and that hurt worse .

and you know , mother , how she used to talk about my engagement .

she is able to spoil the whole atmosphere if she happens to come in a bad humor .

i don't want her . "

" she must be invited .

people would talk so if she wasn't . "

" i don't see why they should .

she 's only my great-aunt by marriage .

i wouldn't mind in the least if people did talk .

they 'll talk anyway you know that , mother . "

people , who knew , rarely attempted it ; strangers occasionally did , misled by the deceit of appearances .

she had delicate aquiline features and a small , babyish red mouth .

she looked as if a breath would sway her .

the truth was that a tornado would hardly have caused her to swerve an inch from her chosen path .

for a moment rachel looked rebellious ; then she yielded , as she generally did in all differences of opinion with her mother .

it was not worth while to quarrel over the comparatively unimportant matter of aunt jane 's invitation .

a quarrel might be inevitable later on ; rachel wanted to save all her resources for that .

rachel never could understand this irritation .

they were postmarked from seaports all over the world .

mrs spencer never read them or looked at them ; but she remembered every dash and curve of the handwriting .

isabella spencer had overcome many things in her life by the sheer force and persistency of her will .

but she could not get the better of heredity .

rachel was to be married to frank bell in a fortnight 's time .

mrs spencer was pleased with the match .

she was very fond of frank , and his farm was so near to her own that she would not lose rachel altogether .

they were in the sitting-room , deciding on the wedding guests and other details .

the september sunshine was coming in through the waving boughs of the apple tree that grew close up to the low window .

the glints wavered over rachel 's face , as white as a wood lily , with only a faint dream of rose in the cheeks .

she wore her sleek , golden hair in a quaint arch around it .

her forehead was very broad and white .

she was fresh and young and hopeful .

the mother 's heart contracted in a spasm of pain as she looked at her .

how like the girl was to to to the spencers !

those easy , curving outlines , those large , mirthful blue eyes , that finely molded chin !

isabella spencer shut her lips firmly and crushed down some unbidden , unwelcome memories .

" there will be about sixty guests , all told , " she said , as if she were thinking of nothing else .

" we must move the furniture out of this room and set the supper-table here .

the dining-room is too small .

we must borrow mrs . bell 's forks and spoons .

she offered to lend them .

i 'd never have been willing to ask her .

the damask table cloths with the ribbon pattern must be bleached to-morrow .

nobody else in avonlea has such tablecloths .

and we 'll put the little dining-room table on the hall landing , upstairs , for the presents . "

rachel was not thinking about the presents , or the housewifely details of the wedding .

her breath was coming quicker , and the faint blush on her smooth cheeks had deepened to crimson .

she knew that a critical moment was approaching .

with a steady hand she wrote the last name on her list and drew a line under it .

" well , have you finished ? " asked her mother impatiently .

" hand it here and let me look over it to make sure that you haven't left anybody out that should be in . "

rachel passed the paper across the table in silence .

the room seemed to her to have grown very still .

she felt frightened and nervous , but resolute .

mrs spencer glanced down the list , murmuring the names aloud and nodding approval at each .

but when she came to the last name , she did not utter it .

she cast a black glance at rachel , and a spark leaped up in the depths of the pale eyes .

on her face were anger , amazement , incredulity , the last predominating .

the final name on the list of wedding guests was the name of david spencer .

david spencer lived alone in a little cottage down at the cove .

he was a combination of sailor and fisherman .

he was also isabella spencer 's husband and rachel 's father .

" rachel spencer , have you taken leave of your senses ?

what do you mean by such nonsense as this ? "

" i simply mean that i am going to invite my father to my wedding , " answered rachel quietly .

" not in my house , " cried mrs spencer , her lips as white as if her fiery tone had scathed them .

rachel leaned forward , folded her large , capable hands deliberately on the table , and gazed unflinchingly into her mother 's bitter face .

her fright and nervousness were gone .

now that the conflict was actually on she found herself rather enjoying it .

she wondered a little at herself , and thought that she must be wicked .

" then there will be no wedding , mother , " she said .

" frank and i will simply go to the manse , be married , and go home .

if i cannot invite my father to see me married , no one else shall be invited . "

her lips narrowed tightly .

in spite of her anger her heart thrilled to it .

" he has never remembered that he is your father .

he cares nothing about you never did care . "

rachel took no notice of this taunt .

" it 'll be like chips in porridge anyhow neither good nor harm .

he won't come . "

rachel made no response .

now that the battle was over , and the victory won , she found herself tremulously on the verge of tears .

she lay down on the blue and white patchwork quilt on her bed , and cried softly and bitterly .

her heart , at this crisis in her life , yearned for her father , who was almost a stranger to her .

she knew that her mother had probably spoken the truth when she said that he would not come .

rachel felt that her marriage vows would be lacking in some indefinable sacredness if her father were not by to hear them spoken .

twenty-five years before this , david spencer and isabella chiswick had been married .

david was a handsome fellow , with the blood of a seafaring race in his veins .

isabella liked farming , and loved her fertile acres and opulent orchards .

in her eyes there was a taint of disgrace in such a calling .

david must be transformed into a respectable , home-abiding tiller of broad lands .

for five years all went well enough .

if , at times , david 's longing for the sea troubled him , he stifled it , and listened not to its luring voice .

he and isabella were very happy ; the only drawback to their happiness lay in the regretted fact that they were childless .

then , in the sixth year , came a crisis and a change .

captain barrett , an old crony of david 's , wanted him to go with him on a voyage as mate .

he must go on that voyage with james barrett he must !

that over , he would be contented again ; but go he must .

his soul struggled within him like a fettered thing .

isabella opposed the scheme vehemently and unwisely , with mordant sarcasm and unjust reproaches .

he was determined to go , and he told isabella so .

" i 'm sick of plowing and milking cows , " he said hotly .

" you mean that you are sick of a respectable life , " sneered isabella .

" perhaps , " said david , with a contemptuous shrug of his shoulders .

" anyway , i 'm going . "

" if you go on this voyage , david spencer , you need never come back here , " said isabella resolutely .

david had gone ; he did not believe that she meant it .

isabella believed that he did not care whether she meant it or not .

david spencer left behind him a woman , calm outwardly , inwardly a seething volcano of anger , wounded pride , and thwarted will .

isabella met him at the door , smileless , cold-eyed , set-lipped .

" what do you want here ? " she said , in the tone she was accustomed to use to tramps and syrian peddlers .

" want ! "

david 's surprise left him at a loss for words .

" want !

why , i i want my wife .

i 've come home . "

" this is not your home .

i 'm no wife of yours .

you made your choice when you went away , " isabella had replied .

then she had gone in , shut the door , and locked it in his face .

david had stood there for a few minutes like a man stunned .

then he had turned and walked away up the lane under the birches .

he said nothing then or at any other time .

from that day no reference to his wife or her concerns ever crossed his lips .

he went directly to the harbor , and shipped with captain barrett for another voyage .

between his sea voyages he lived there the life of a recluse ; fishing and playing his violin were his only employments .

he went nowhere and encouraged no visitors .

isabella spencer also had adopted the tactics of silence .

she worsted them totally .

as aunt jane said in disgust , " what can you do with a woman who won't even talk ? "

five months after david spencer had been turned from his wife 's door , rachel was born .

but david had not come ; he gave no sign of knowing or caring that his once longed-for child had been born .

a certain nervous expectancy , a fluttering restlessness was gone .

isabella had ceased to hope secretly that her husband would yet come back .

rachel , from her earliest recollection , had been vaguely conscious of a difference between her own life and the lives of her playmates .

for a long time it puzzled her childish brain .

why was this ?

" mother , why haven't i got a father like the other little girls ? "

she understood clearly and hopelessly that she could never have a father that , in this respect , she must always be unlike other people .

" your father cares nothing for you , " said isabella spencer in conclusion .

" he never did care .

you must never speak of him to anybody again . "

rachel slipped silently from her mother 's knee and ran out to the springtime garden with a full heart .

there she cried passionately over her mother 's last words .

oddly enough , rachel 's sympathies were all with her father , in as far as she could understand the old quarrel .

she did not dream of disobeying her mother and she did not disobey her .

she was an imaginative child , and in fancy she made the acquaintance of her father .

she had never seen him , but he was more real to her than most of the people she had seen .

once her mother asked her impatiently why she talked so much to herself .

" i am not talking to myself .

i am talking to a very dear friend of mine , " rachel answered gravely .

" silly child , " laughed her mother , half tolerantly , half disapprovingly .

two years later something wonderful had happened to rachel .

one summer afternoon she had gone to the harbor with several of her little playmates .

such a jaunt was a rare treat to the child , for isabella spencer seldom allowed her to go from home with anybody but herself .

and isabella was not an entertaining companion .

rachel never particularly enjoyed an outing with her mother .

the children wandered far along the shore ; at last they came to a place that rachel had never seen before .

it was a shallow cove where the waters purred on the yellow sands .

beyond it , the sea was laughing and flashing and preening and alluring , like a beautiful , coquettish woman .

outside , the wind was boisterous and rollicking ; here , it was reverent and gentle .

she wanted to linger awhile in this dear spot and revel in it .

" i 'm tired , girls , " she announced .

" i 'm going to stay here and rest for a spell .

i don't want to go to gull point .

you go on yourselves ; i 'll wait for you here . "

" all alone ? " asked carrie bell , wonderingly .

" i 'm not so afraid of being alone as some people are , " said rachel , with dignity .

the other girls went on , leaving rachel sitting on the skids , in the shadow of the big white boat .

suddenly she heard a step behind her .

when she turned her head a man was standing beside her , looking down at her with big , merry , blue eyes .

rachel was quite sure that she had never seen him before ; yet those eyes seemed to her to have a strangely familiar look .

she liked him .

she felt no shyness nor timidity , such as usually afflicted her in the presence of strangers .

he was a tall , stout man , dressed in a rough fishing suit , and wearing an oilskin cap on his head .

rachel thought he must be quite old , because there was a good deal of gray mixed with his fair hair .

" are you watching for the mermaids ? " he said .

rachel nodded gravely .

from any one else she would have scrupulously hidden such a thought .

" yes , i am , " she said .

" mother says there is no such thing as a mermaid , but i like to think there is .

have you ever seen one ? "

the big man sat down on a bleached log of driftwood and smiled at her .

" no , i 'm sorry to say that i haven't .

but i have seen many other very wonderful things .

i might tell you about some of them , if you would come over here and sit by me . "

rachel went unhesitatingly .

when she reached him he pulled her down on his knee , and she liked it .

" what a nice little craft you are , " he said .

" do you suppose , now , that you could give me a kiss ? "

as a rule , rachel hated kissing .

but now she promptly put her arms about this strange man 's neck and gave him a hearty smack .

" i like you , " she said frankly .

she felt his arms tighten suddenly about her .

the blue eyes looking into hers grew misty and very tender .

then , all at once , rachel knew who he was .

he was her father .

if david spencer realized that she understood he said nothing .

instead , he began to tell her fascinating stories of far lands he had visited , and strange things he had seen .

rachel listened entranced , as if she were hearkening to a fairy tale .

yes , he was just as she had dreamed him .

she had always been sure he could tell beautiful stories .

" come up to the house and i 'll show you some pretty things , " he said finally .

then followed a wonderful hour .

the things that pleased rachel most were two huge shells on the chimney piece pale pink shells with big crimson and purple spots .

" oh , i didn't know there could be such pretty things in the world , " she exclaimed .

" if you would like , " began the big man ; then he paused for a moment .

" i 'll show you something prettier still . "

it was a teapot of some fine , glistening purple ware , coiled over by golden dragons with gilded claws and scales .

the lid looked like a beautiful golden flower and the handle was a coil of a dragon 's tail .

rachel sat and looked at it rapt-eyed .

" that 's the only thing of any value i have in the world now , " he said .

rachel knew there was something very sad in his eyes and voice .

she longed to kiss him again and comfort him .

while she nibbled them he took down an old violin and played music that made her want to dance and sing .

rachel was perfectly happy .

she wished she might stay forever in that low , dim room with all its treasures .

" i see your little friends coming around the point , " he said , finally .

" i suppose you must go .

put the rest of the goodies in your pocket . "

he took her up in his arms and held her tightly against his breast for a single moment .

she felt him kissing her hair .

" there , run along , little girl .

good-by , " he said gently .

" why don't you ask me to come and see you again ? " cried rachel , half in tears .

" i 'm coming anyhow . "

" if you can come , come , " he said .

" if you don't come , i shall know it is because you can't and that is much to know .

i 'm very , very , very glad , little woman , that you have come once . "

rachel was sitting demurely on the skids when her companions came back .

they had not seen her leaving the house , and she said not a word to them of her experiences .

she only smiled mysteriously when they asked her if she had been lonesome .

that night , for the first time , she mentioned her father 's name in her prayers .

she never forgot to do so afterwards .

and the tone in which she said " father " was softer and more tender than the one which voiced " mother . "

rachel never visited the cove again .

rachel shed many a bitter tear in secret over this command ; but she obeyed it .

thenceforth there had been no communication between her and her father , save the unworded messages of soul to soul across whatever may divide them .

the ceremony was to be performed at eight o'clock in the evening .

at seven rachel stood in her room , fully dressed and alone .

she had no bridesmaid , and she had asked her cousins to leave her to herself in this last solemn hour of girlhood .

she looked very fair and sweet in the sunset-light that showered through the birches .

her wedding gown was a fine , sheer organdie , simply and daintily made .

in the loose waves of her bright hair she wore her bridegroom 's flowers , roses as white as a virgin 's dream .

she was very happy ; but her happiness was faintly threaded with the sorrow inseparable from all change .

presently her mother came in , carrying a small basket .

" here is something for you , rachel .

one of the boys from the harbor brought it up .

he was bound to give it into your own hands said that was his orders .

she spoke coldly .

she stood silently by while rachel unpacked the basket .

rachel 's hands trembled as she took off the cover .

two huge pink-spotted shells came first .

how well she remembered them !

beneath them , carefully wrapped up in a square of foreign-looking , strangely scented silk , was the dragon teapot .

she held it in her hands and gazed at it with tears gathering thickly in her eyes .

" your father sent that , " said isabella spencer with an odd sound in her voice .

" i remember it well .

it was among the things i packed up and sent after him .

his father had brought it home from china fifty years ago , and he prized it beyond anything .

they used to say it was worth a lot of money . "

" mother , please leave me alone for a little while , " said rachel , imploringly .

it was very brief , and the writing was that of a man who holds a pen but seldom .

" my dear little girl , " it ran , " i 'm sorry i can't go to your wedding .

it was like you to ask me for i know it was your doing .

i wish i could see you married , but i can't go to the house i was turned out of .

i hope you will be very happy .

i am sending you the shells and teapot you liked so much .

do you remember that day we had such a good time ?

i would liked to have seen you again before you were married , but it can't be .

" your loving father , " david spencer . "

rachel resolutely blinked away the tears that filled her eyes .

a fierce desire for her father sprang up in her heart an insistent hunger that would not be denied .

she must see her father ; she must have his blessing on her new life .

a sudden determination took possession of her whole being a determination to sweep aside all conventionalities and objections as if they had not been .

it was now almost dark .

the guests would not be coming for half an hour yet .

it was only fifteen minutes ' walk over the hill to the cove .

hastily rachel shrouded herself in her new raincoat , and drew a dark , protecting hood over her gay head .

she opened the door and slipped noiselessly downstairs .

mrs spencer and her assistants were all busy in the back part of the house .

in a moment rachel was out in the dewy garden .

she would go straight over the fields .

nobody would see her .

it was quite dark when she reached the cove .

in the crystal cup of the sky over her the stars were blinking .

flying flakes of foam were scurrying over the sand like elfin things .

he had been trying to play , but could not .

his heart yearned after his daughter yes , and after a long-estranged bride of his youth .

" father , " she cried , brokenly , and her father 's eager arms closed around her .

back in the house she had left , the guests were coming to the wedding .

there were jests and laughter and friendly greeting .

" i want to see rachel before we go down , " he said , blushing .

there was no reply ; the room was dark and still .

in sudden alarm , isabella spencer snatched the lamp from the hall table and held it up .

the little white room was empty .

no blushing , white-clad bride tenanted it .

but david spencer 's letter was lying on the stand .

she caught it up and read it .

" rachel is gone , " she gasped .

a flash of intuition had revealed to her where and why the girl had gone .

" gone ! " echoed frank , his face blanching .

his pallid dismay recalled mrs spencer to herself .

she gave a bitter , ugly little laugh .

" oh , you needn't look so scared , frank .

she hasn't run away from you .

hush ; come in here shut the door .

nobody must know of this .

nice gossip it would make !

that little fool has gone to the cove to see her her father .

i know she has .

it 's just like what she would do .

he sent her those presents look and this letter .

read it .

she has gone to coax him to come and see her married .

she was crazy about it .

and the minister is here and it is half-past seven .

she 'll ruin her dress and shoes in the dust and dew .

and what if some one has seen her !

was there ever such a little fool ? "

frank 's presence of mind had returned to him .

he knew all about rachel and her father .

she had told him everything .

" i 'll go after her , " he said gently .

" get me my hat and coat .

i 'll slip down the back stairs and over to the cove . "

" the kitchen is full of women .

i won't have this known and talked about if it can possibly be helped . "

mrs spencer had stood quakingly on guard until he had disappeared .

so rachel had gone to her father !

like had broken the fetters of years and fled to like .

" it isn't much use fighting against nature , i guess , " she thought grimly .

" i 'm beat .

he must have thought something of her , after all , when he sent her that teapot and letter .

and what does he mean about the ' day they had such a good time ' ?

mrs spencer shut down the pantry window with a vicious thud .

rachel was sitting on her father 's knee , with both her white arms around his neck , when frank came in .

she sprang up , her face flushed and appealing , her eyes bright and dewy with tears .

frank thought he had never seen her look so lovely .

" oh , frank , is it very late ?

oh , are you angry ? " she exclaimed timidly .

" no , no , dear .

of course i 'm not angry .

but don't you think you 'd better come back now ?

it 's nearly eight and everybody is waiting . "

" i 've been trying to coax father to come up and see me married , " said rachel .

" help me , frank . "

" you 'd better come , sir , " said frank , heartily , " i 'd like it as much as rachel would . "

david spencer shook his head stubbornly .

" no , i can't go to that house .

i was locked out of it .

never mind me .

i 've had my happiness in this half hour with my little girl .

i 'd like to see her married , but it isn't to be . "

" yes , it is to be it shall be , " said rachel resolutely .

" you shall see me married .

frank , i 'm going to be married here in my father 's house !

that is the right place for a girl to be married .

go back and tell the guests so , and bring them all down . "

frank looked rather dismayed .

david spencer said deprecatingly : " little girl , don't you think it would be "

" i 'm going to have my own way in this , " said rachel , with a sort of tender finality .

" go , frank .

i 'll obey you all my life after , but you must do this for me .

try to understand , " she added beseechingly .

" oh , i understand , " frank reassured her .

" besides , i think you are right .

but i was thinking of your mother .

she won't come . "

" then you tell her that if she doesn't come i shan't be married at all , " said rachel .

she was betraying unsuspected ability to manage people .

she knew that ultimatum would urge frank to his best endeavors .

frank , much to mrs spencer 's dismay , marched boldly in at the front door upon his return .

she pounced on him and whisked him out of sight into the supper room .

" where 's rachel ?

what made you come that way ?

everybody saw you ! "

" it makes no difference .

they will all have to know , anyway .

rachel says she is going to be married from her father 's house , or not at all .

i 've come back to tell you so . "

isabella 's face turned crimson .

" rachel has gone crazy .

i wash my hands of this affair .

do as you please .

take the guests the supper , too , if you can carry it . "

" we 'll all come back here for supper , " said frank , ignoring the sarcasm .

" come , mrs spencer , let's make the best of it . "

" do you suppose that i am going to david spencer 's house ? " said isabella spencer violently .

" oh you must come , mrs spencer , " cried poor frank desperately .

he began to fear that he would lose his bride past all finding in this maze of triple stubbornness .

" rachel says she won't be married at all if you don't go , too .

think what a talk it will make .

you know she will keep her word . "

isabella spencer knew it .

the desire subdued and tamed her , as nothing else could have done .

" i will go , since i have to , " she said icily .

" what can't be cured must be endured .

go and tell them . "

they were too amazed even to talk about the strange happening .

isabella spencer walked behind , fiercely alone .

she clasped her and kissed her , with tears streaming down her pale face , all her nature melted in a mother 's tenderness .

" rachel !

rachel !

my child , i hope and pray that you may be happy , " she said brokenly .

looking up , she found herself crushed against david spencer .

for the first time in twenty years the eyes of husband and wife met .

a strange thrill shot to isabella 's heart ; she felt herself trembling .

" isabella . "

it withered under his words , and lo , there was the old love , fair and strong and beautiful as ever .

" oh david i was all to blame , " she murmured brokenly .

further words were lost on her husband 's lips .

when the hubbub of handshaking and congratulating had subsided , isabella spencer stepped out before the company .

she looked almost girlish and bridal herself , with her flushed cheeks and bright eyes .

" let's go back now and have supper , and be sensible , " she said crisply .

" rachel , your father is coming , too .

he is coming to stay , " with a defiant glance around the circle .

" come , everybody . "

they went back with laughter and raillery over the quiet autumn fields , faintly silvered now by the moon that was rising over the hills .

isabella 's hand was in her husband 's and sometimes she could not see the moonlit hills for a mist of glorified tears .

" david , " she whispered , as he helped her over the fence , " how can you ever forgive me ? "

" there 's nothing to forgive , " he said .

" we 're only just married .

who ever heard of a bridegroom talking of forgiveness ?

everything is beginning over new for us , my girl . "

iv .

jane's baby

so she had not run .

everybody in avonlea knew this , because everybody in avonlea knew everything about everybody else .

usually mr patterson 's face was as broad and beaming as a harvest moon .

now his expression was very melancholy and his voice positively sepulchral .

" good morning , " returned miss rosetta , crisply and cheerfully .

she , at any rate , would not go into eclipse until she knew the reason therefor .

" it is a fine day . "

" a very fine day , " assented mr patterson , solemnly .

" i have just come from the wheeler place , miss ellis , and i regret to say "

" charlotte is sick ! " cried miss rosetta , rapidly .

" charlotte has got another spell with her heart !

i knew it !

i 've been expecting to hear it !

any woman that drives about the country as much as she does is liable to heart disease at any moment .

i never go outside of my gate but i meet her gadding off somewhere .

goodness knows who looks after her place .

i shouldn't like to trust as much to a hired man as she does .

it doesn't matter to me whether charlotte is sick or whether she isn't .

you know that perfectly well , mr patterson , if anybody does .

when charlotte went and got married , on the sly , to that good-for-nothing jacob wheeler "

" mrs wheeler is quite well , " interrupted mr patterson desperately .

" quite well .

nothing at all the matter with her , in fact .

i only "

" my own heart isn't very strong it runs in our family and my doctor warned me to avoid all shocks and excitement .

i don't want to be excited , mr patterson .

i won't be excited , not even if charlotte has another spell .

it 's perfectly useless for you to try to excite me , mr patterson . "

" bless the woman , i 'm not trying to excite anybody ! " declared mr patterson in exasperation .

" i merely called to tell you "

" to tell me what ? " said miss rosetta .

" how much longer do you mean to keep me in suspense , mr patterson .

no doubt you have abundance of spare time , but i have not . "

" that your sister , mrs wheeler , has had a letter from a cousin of yours , and she 's in charlottetown .

mrs roberts , i think her name is "

" jane roberts , " broke in miss rosetta .

" jane ellis she was , before she was married .

what was she writing to charlotte about ?

not that i want to know , of course .

i 'm not interested in charlotte 's correspondence , goodness knows .

but if jane had anything in particular to write about she should have written to me .

i am the oldest .

charlotte had no business to get a letter from jane roberts without consulting me .

it 's just like her underhanded ways .

she got married the same way .

never said a word to me about it , but just sneaked off with that unprincipled jacob wheeler "

" mrs roberts is very ill .

" jane ill !

jane dying ! " exclaimed miss rosetta .

" why , she was the healthiest girl i ever knew !

but then i 've never seen her , nor heard from her , since she got married fifteen years ago .

i dare say her husband was a brute and neglected her , and she 's pined away by slow degrees .

i 've no faith in husbands .

look at charlotte !

everybody knows how jacob wheeler used her .

to be sure , she deserved it , but "

" mrs roberts ' husband is dead , " said mr patterson .

" did charlotte ask you to call and tell me this ? " demanded miss rosetta eagerly .

" no ; she just told me what was in the letter .

she didn't mention you ; but i thought , perhaps , you ought to be told "

" i knew it , " said miss rosetta in a tone of bitter assurance .

" i could have told you so .

charlotte wouldn't even let me know that jane was ill .

charlotte would be afraid i would want to get the baby , seeing that jane and i were such intimate friends long ago .

and who has a better right to it than me , i should like to know ?

ain't i the oldest ?

and haven't i had experience in bringing up babies ?

charlotte needn't think she is going to run the affairs of our family just because she happened to get married .

jacob wheeler "

" i must be going , " said mr patterson , gathering up his reins thankfully .

if it hadn't been for you i suppose i should never have known it at all .

as it is , i shall start for town just as soon as i can get ready . "

" you 'll have to hurry if you want to get ahead of mrs wheeler , " advised mr patterson .

" she 's packing her trunk and going on the morning train . "

" i 'll pack a valise and go on the afternoon train , " retorted miss rosetta triumphantly .

" i 'll show charlotte she isn't running the ellis affairs .

she married out of them into the wheelers .

she can attend to them .

jacob wheeler was the most "

but mr patterson had driven away .

rosetta ellis and charlotte wheeler had not exchanged a word for ten years .

rosetta had been bitterly opposed to the match from the first .

she vowed she had no use for jacob wheeler .

be that as it might , miss rosetta certainly continued to render the course of jacob wheeler 's true love exceedingly rough and tumultuous .

the end of it was that charlotte had gone quietly away one morning and married jacob wheeler without miss rosetta 's knowing anything about it .

even the death of jacob wheeler , five years after the marriage , had not healed the breach .

miss rosetta took out her curl-papers , packed her valise , and caught the late afternoon train for charlottetown , as she had threatened .

" no , charlotte wheeler , you are not going to have jane 's baby , and you 're very much mistaken if you think so .

oh , all right we 'll see !

you don't know anything about babies , even if you are married .

i do .

didn't i take william ellis 's baby , when his wife died ?

tell me that , charlotte wheeler !

and didn't the little thing thrive with me , and grow strong and healthy ?

yes , even you have to admit that it did , charlotte wheeler .

and yet you have the presumption to think that you ought to have jane 's baby !

yes , it is presumption , charlotte wheeler .

you know it did , charlotte wheeler .

she soon found her way to the house where her cousin lived .

there , to her dismay and real sorrow , she learned that mrs roberts had died at four o'clock that afternoon .

" she had written to them about her little girl .

she was my sister-in-law , and she lived with me ever since her husband died .

i 've done my best for her ; but i 've a big family of my own and i can't see how i 'm to keep the child .

poor jane looked and longed for some one to come from avonlea , but she couldn't hold out .

a patient , suffering creature she was ! "

" i 'm her cousin , " said miss rosetta , wiping her eyes , " and i have come for the baby .

poor jane !

i wish i could have got here in time to see her , she and i were such friends long ago .

we were far more intimate and confidential than ever her and charlotte was .

charlotte knows that , too ! "

the vim with which miss rosetta snapped this out rather amazed mrs gordon , who couldn't understand it at all .

but she took miss rosetta upstairs to the room where the baby was sleeping .

" oh , the sweet , dear , pretty little thing ! "

the baby was a darling a six-months ' old beauty with little golden ringlets curling and glistening all over its tiny head .

as miss rosetta hung over it , it opened its eyes and then held out its tiny hands to her with a gurgle of confidence .

" oh , you sweetest ! " said miss rosetta rapturously , gathering it up in her arms .

" you belong to me , darling never , never , to that under-handed charlotte !

what is its name , mrs gordon ? "

" it wasn't named , " said mrs gordon .

" guess you 'll have to name it yourself , miss ellis . "

" camilla jane , " said miss rosetta without a moment 's hesitation .

" jane after its mother , of course ; and i have always thought camilla the prettiest name in the world .

charlotte would be sure to give it some perfectly heathenish name .

i wouldn't put it past her calling the poor innocent mehitable . "

miss rosetta decided to stay in charlottetown until after the funeral .

that night she lay with the baby on her arm , listening with joy to its soft little breathing .

she did not sleep or wish to sleep .

her waking fancies were more alluring than any visions of dreamland .

moreover , she gave a spice to them by occasionally snapping some vicious sentences out loud at charlotte .

miss rosetta fully expected charlotte along on the following morning and girded herself for the fray ; but no charlotte appeared .

night came ; no charlotte .

another morning and no charlotte .

miss rosetta was hopelessly puzzled .

what had happened ?

it was quite likely .

you never knew what to expect of a woman who had married jacob wheeler !

mrs wheeler could not leave home until she had obtained another hired man .

the eyes of the two women met defiantly .

miss rosetta 's face wore an air of triumph , chastened by a remembrance of the funeral that afternoon .

mrs wheeler 's face , except for eyes , was as expressionless as it usually was .

unlike the tall , fair , fat miss rosetta , mrs wheeler was small and dark and thin , with an eager , careworn face .

" how is jane ? " she said abruptly , breaking the silence of ten years in saying it .

" jane is dead and buried , poor thing , " said miss rosetta calmly .

" i am taking her baby , little camilla jane , home with me . "

" the baby belongs to me , " cried mrs wheeler passionately .

" jane wrote to me about her .

jane meant that i should have her .

i 've come for her . "

" you 'll go back without her then , " said miss rosetta , serene in the possession that is nine points of the law .

" the child is mine , and she is going to stay mine .

you can make up your mind to that , charlotte wheeler .

a woman who eloped to get married isn't fit to be trusted with a baby , anyhow .

jacob wheeler "

but mrs wheeler had rushed past into the house .

miss rosetta composedly stepped into the cab and drove to the station .

miss rosetta would not look at this satisfaction , or give it a name , but it was there .

mrs wheeler arrived home twenty-four hours later , and silently betook herself to her farm .

when her avonlea neighbors sympathized with her in her disappointment , she said nothing , but looked all the more darkly determined .

also , a week later , mr william j blair , the carmody storekeeper , had an odd tale to tell .

mrs wheeler had come to the store and bought a lot of fine flannel and muslin and valenciennes .

now , what in the name of time , did mrs wheeler want with such stuff ?

mr william j blair couldn't make head or tail of it , and it worried him .

mr blair was so accustomed to know what everybody bought anything for that such a mystery quite upset him .

her conversations , instead of tending always to jacob wheeler , now ran camilla janeward ; and this , folks thought , was an improvement .

miss rosetta sang happily as she picked her currants .

in fancy she looked forward to the coming years , and saw camilla jane growing up into girlhood , fair and lovable .

" she 'll be a beauty , " reflected miss rosetta complacently .

" jane was a handsome girl .

parties , too !

i 'll give her a real coming-out party when she 's eighteen and the very prettiest dress that 's to be had .

when miss rosetta returned to the kitchen , her eyes fell on an empty cradle .

camilla jane was gone !

miss rosetta promptly screamed .

she understood at a glance what had happened .

six months ' old babies do not get out of their cradles and disappear through closed doors without any assistance .

" charlotte has been here , " gasped miss rosetta .

" charlotte has stolen camilla jane !

i might have expected it .

i might have known when i heard that story about her buying muslin and flannel .

it 's just like charlotte to do such an underhand trick .

but i 'll go after her !

i 'll show her !

she 'll find out she has got rosetta ellis to deal with and no wheeler ! "

the little gray house , so close to the purring waves that in storms their spray splashed over its very doorstep , seemed deserted .

miss rosetta pounded lustily on the front door .

this producing no result , she marched around to the back door and knocked .

no answer .

miss rosetta tried the door .

it was locked .

" guilty conscience , " sniffed miss rosetta .

" well , i shall stay here until i see that perfidious charlotte , if i have to camp in the yard all night . "

beside her was a befrilled and bemuslined cradle , and on a chair lay the garments in which miss rosetta had dressed the baby .

it was clad in an entirely new outfit , and seemed quite at home with its new possessor .

it was laughing and cooing , and making little dabs at her with its dimpled hands .

" charlotte wheeler , " cried miss rosetta , rapping sharply on the window-pane .

" i 've come for that child !

bring her out to me at once at once , i say !

how dare you come to my house and steal a baby ?

you 're no better than a common burglar .

give me camilla jane , i say ! "

charlotte came over to the window with the baby in her arms and triumph glittering in her eyes .

" there is no such child as camilla jane here , " she said .

" this is barbara jane .

she belongs to me . "

with that mrs wheeler pulled down the shade .

miss rosetta had to go home .

there was nothing else for her to do .

on her way she met mr patterson and told him in full the story of her wrongs .

it was all over avonlea by night , and created quite a sensation .

avonlea had not had such a toothsome bit of gossip for a long time .

it was hopeless to think of stealing it back or she would have tried to .

the hired man at the wheeler place reported that mrs wheeler never left it night or day for a single moment .

she even carried it with her when she went to milk the cows .

" but my turn will come , " said miss rosetta grimly .

" camilla jane is mine , and if she was called barbara for a century it wouldn't alter that fact !

barbara , indeed !

why not have called her methusaleh and have done with it ? "

miss rosetta gave an exclamation of amazement and dropped her basket of apples .

of all incredible things !

miss rosetta flew to meet her .

" you 've scalded camilla jane to death ! " she exclaimed .

" i always knew you would always expected it ! "

" oh , for heaven 's sake , come quick , rosetta ! " gasped charlotte .

" barbara jane is in convulsions and i don't know what to do .

the hired man has gone for the doctor .

you were the nearest , so i came to you .

jenny white was there when they came on , so i left her and ran .

oh , rosetta , come , come , if you have a spark of humanity in you !

you know what to do for convulsions you saved the ellis baby when it had them .

oh , come and save barbara jane ! "

" you mean camilla jane , i presume ? " said miss rosetta firmly , in spite of her agitation .

for a second charlotte wheeler hesitated .

then she said passionately : " yes , yes , camilla jane any name you like !

only come . "

miss rosetta went , and not a moment too soon , either .

the doctor lived eight miles away and the baby was very bad .

the two women and jenny white worked over her for hours .

" i i wanted the baby , " sobbed charlotte , tremulously .

" i was so lonely here .

i didn't think it was any harm to take her , because jane gave her to me in her letter .

but , oh , rosetta , won't you let me come and see her sometimes ?

i love her so i can't bear to give her up entirely . "

you are worried to death trying to run this farm with the debt jacob wheeler left on it for you .

sell it , and come home with me .

and we 'll both have the baby then . "

" oh , rosetta , i 'd love to , " faltered charlotte .

" i 've i've wanted to be good friends with you again so much .

but i thought you were so hard and bitter you 'd never make up . "

it was your never saying anything , no matter what i said , that riled me up so bad .

let bygones be bygones , and come home , charlotte . "

" i will , " said charlotte resolutely , wiping away her tears .

" i 'm sick of living here and putting up with hired men .

i 'll be real glad to go home , rosetta , and that 's the truth .

i 've had a hard enough time .

i s'pose you 'll say i deserved it ; but i was fond of jacob , and "

" of course , of course .

why shouldn't you be ? " said miss rosetta briskly .

" i 'm sure jacob wheeler was a good enough soul , if he was a little slack-twisted .

i 'd like to hear anybody say a word against him in my presence .

look at that blessed child , charlotte .

isn't she the sweetest thing ?

i 'm desperate glad you are coming back home , charlotte .

we 'll be real snug and cozy again you and me and little camilla barbara jane . "

v the dream-child

a man 's heart aye , and a woman 's , too should be light in the spring .

it stirs in human hearts , and makes them glad with the old primal gladness they felt in childhood .

it quickens human souls , and brings them , if so they will , so close to god that they may clasp hands with him .

that year i hated the spring i , who had always loved it so .

as boy i had loved it , and as man .

all the happiness that had ever been mine , and it was much , had come to blossom in the springtime .

how beautiful it was !

and how beautiful she was !

i suppose every lover thinks that of his lass ; otherwise he is a poor sort of lover .

but it was not only my eyes of love that made my dear lovely .

at such times what was a man to do save kiss it ?

the next spring we were married , and i brought her home to my gray old homestead on the gray old harbor shore .

a lonely place for a young bride , said avonlea people .

nay , it was not so .

she was happy here , even in my absences .

she loved these things , even as i did .

no , she was never lonely here then .

the third spring came , and our boy was born .

" all my thoughts are poetry since baby came , " my wife said once , rapturously .

our boy lived for twenty months .

i think i grieved over my little son 's death as deeply and sincerely as ever man did , or could .

but the heart of the father is not as the heart of the mother .

i hoped that spring might work its miracle upon her .

one night i awakened from sleep , realizing in the moment of awakening that i was alone .

i listened to hear whether my wife were moving about the house .

i heard nothing but the little splash of waves on the shore below and the low moan of the distant ocean .

i rose and searched the house .

she was not in it .

i did not know where to seek her ; but , at a venture , i started along the shore .

it was pale , fainting moonlight .

the harbor looked like a phantom harbor , and the night was as still and cold and calm as the face of a dead man .

at last i saw my wife coming to me along the shore .

when i saw her , i knew what i had feared and how great my fear had been .

she seemed to be very tired , and at intervals she wrung her small hands together .

she showed no surprise when she met me , but only held out her hands to me as if glad to see me .

" i followed him but i could not overtake him , " she said with a sob .

" i did my best i hurried so ; but he was always a little way ahead .

and then i lost him and so i came back .

but i did my best indeed i did .

and oh , i am so tired ! "

" josie , dearest , what do you mean , and where have you been ? "

i said , drawing her close to me .

" why did you go out so alone in the night ? "

she looked at me wonderingly .

" how could i help it , david ?

he called me .

i had to go . "

" who called you ? "

" the child , " she answered in a whisper .

" our child , david our pretty boy .

i awakened in the darkness and heard him calling to me down on the shore .

such a sad , little wailing cry , david , as if he were cold and lonely and wanted his mother .

i hurried out to him , but i could not find him .

i could only hear the call , and i followed it on and on , far down the shore .

oh , i tried so hard to overtake it , but i could not .

once i saw a little white hand beckoning to me far ahead in the moonlight .

but still i could not go fast enough .

and then the cry ceased , and i was there all alone on that terrible , cold , gray shore .

i was so tired and i came home .

but i wish i could have found him .

perhaps he does not know that i tried to .

perhaps he thinks his mother never listened to his call .

oh , i would not have him think that . "

" you have had a bad dream , dear , " i said .

" it was no dream , " she answered reproachfully .

" i tell you i heard him calling me me , his mother .

what could i do but go to him ?

you cannot understand you are only his father .

it was not you who gave him birth .

it was not you who paid the price of his dear life in pain .

he would not call to you he wanted his mother . "

but there was no more sleep for me that night .

i kept a grim vigil with dread .

i had smiled at the story then .

what had that grim old bygone to do with springtime and love and josephine ?

but it came back to me now , hand in hand with my fear .

was this fate coming on my dear wife ?

it was too horrible for belief .

she was so young , so fair , so sweet , this girl-wife of mine .

it had been only a bad dream , with a frightened , bewildered waking .

so i tried to comfort myself .

when she awakened in the morning she did not speak of what had happened and i did not dare to .

she seemed more cheerful that day than she had been , and went about her household duties briskly and skillfully .

my fear lifted .

i was sure now that she had only dreamed .

and i was confirmed in my hopeful belief when two nights had passed away uneventfully .

then , on the third night , the dream-child called to her again .

i wakened from a troubled doze to find her dressing herself with feverish haste .

" he is calling me , " she cried .

" oh , don't you hear him ?

can't you hear him ?

listen listen the little , lonely cry !

yes , yes , my precious , mother is coming .

wait for me .

mother is coming to her pretty boy ! "

i caught her hand and let her lead me where she would .

hand in hand we followed the dream-child down the harbor shore in that ghostly , clouded moonlight .

ever , she said , the little cry sounded before her .

she entreated the dream-child to wait for her ; she cried and implored and uttered tender mother-talk .

what a horror brooded over that spring that so beautiful spring !

and almost every night of this wonderful time the dream-child called his mother , and we roved the gray shore in quest of him .

in the day she was herself ; but , when the night fell , she was restless and uneasy until she heard the call .

then follow it she would , even through storm and darkness .

it was then , she said , that the cry sounded loudest and nearest , as if her pretty boy were frightened by the tempest .

i thought , however , that i should have medical advice , and i took our old doctor into my confidence .

he looked grave when he heard my story .

i did not like his expression nor his few guarded remarks .

he needed not to tell me that .

the spring went out and summer came in and the horror deepened and darkened .

i knew that suspicions were being whispered from lip to lip .

we had been seen on our nightly quests .

men and women began to look at us pityingly when we went abroad .

one day , on a dull , drowsy afternoon , the dream-child called .

i could not watch by day and night .

unless i had assistance i would break down .

i did not think that i should .

love is stronger than that .

and on one thing i was determined they should never take my wife from me .

no restraint sterner than a husband 's loving hand should ever be put upon her , my pretty , piteous darling .

i never spoke of the dream-child to her .

the doctor advised against it .

it would , he said , only serve to deepen the delusion .

when he hinted at an asylum i gave him a look that would have been a fierce word for another man .

he never spoke of it again .

one night in august there was a dull , murky sunset after a dead , breathless day of heat , with not a wind stirring .

the sea was not blue as a sea should be , but pink all pink a ghastly , staring , painted pink .

i lingered on the harbor shore below the house until dark .

the evening bells were ringing faintly and mournfully in a church across the harbor .

behind me , in the kitchen , i heard my wife singing .

sometimes now her spirits were fitfully high , and then she would sing the old songs of her girlhood .

but even in her singing was something strange , as if a wailing , unearthly cry rang through it .

nothing about her was sadder than that strange singing .

josie was standing by the window , looking out and listening .

i tried to induce her to go to bed , but she only shook her head .

" i might fall asleep and not hear him when he called , " she said .

" i am always afraid to sleep now , for fear he should call and his mother fail to hear him . "

knowing it was of no use to entreat , i sat down by the table and tried to read .

three hours passed on .

when the clock struck midnight she started up , with the wild light in her sunken blue eyes .

" he is calling , " she cried , " calling out there in the storm .

yes , yes , sweet , i am coming ! "

she opened the door and fled down the path to the shore .

i snatched a lantern from the wall , lighted it , and followed .

it was the blackest night i was ever out in , dark with the very darkness of death .

the rain fell thickly and heavily .

we moved in the little flitting circle of light shed by the lantern .

all around us and above us was a horrible , voiceless darkness , held , as it were , at bay by the friendly light .

" if i could only overtake him once , " moaned josie .

" if i could just kiss him once , and hold him close against my aching heart .

this pain , that never leaves me , would leave me than .

oh , my pretty boy , wait for mother !

i am coming to you .

listen , david ; he cries he cries so pitifully ; listen !

can't you hear it ? "

i did hear it !

clear and distinct , out of the deadly still darkness before us , came a faint , wailing cry .

what was it ?

i am not a superstitious man ; but my nerve had been shaken by my long trial , and i was weaker than i thought .

terror took possession of me terror unnameable .

but josephine 's cold hand gripped mine firmly , and led me on .

that strange cry still rang in my ears .

then we came to it ; a little dory had been beached on the pebbles and left there by the receding tide .

he wailed again when he saw us , and held out his little hands .

my horror fell away from me like a discarded garment .

this child was living .

how he had come there , whence and why , i did not know and , in my state of mind , did not question .

it was no cry of parted spirit i had heard that was enough for me .

" oh , the poor darling ! " cried my wife .

she stooped over the dory and lifted the baby in her arms .

his long , fair curls fell on her shoulder ; she laid her face against his and wrapped her shawl around him .

" let me carry him , dear , " i said .

" he is very wet , and too heavy for you . "

" no , no , i must carry him .

my arms have been so empty they are full now .

oh , david , the pain at my heart has gone .

he has come to me to take the place of my own .

god has sent him to me out of the sea .

he is wet and cold and tired .

hush , sweet one , we will go home . "

silently i followed her home .

the wind was rising , coming in sudden , angry gusts ; the storm was at hand , but we reached shelter before it broke .

just as i shut our door behind us it smote the house with the roar of a baffled beast .

i thanked god that we were not out in it , following the dream-child .

" you are very wet , josie , " i said .

" go and put on dry clothes at once . "

" the child must be looked to first , " she said firmly .

" see how chilled and exhausted he is , the pretty dear .

light a fire quickly , david , while i get dry things for him . "

i let her have her way .

she seemed like her old self .

for my own part , i was bewildered .

all the questions i had not asked before came crowding to my mind how .

whose child was this ?

whence had he come ?

what was the meaning of it all ?

he was a pretty baby , fair and plump and rosy .

when he was dried and fed , he fell asleep in josie 's arms .

she hung over him in a passion of delight .

it was with difficulty i persuaded her to leave him long enough to change her wet clothes .

she never asked whose he might be or from where he might have come .

i expected that the morrow would bring some one seeking the baby .

but they did not come .

day after day passed , and still they did not come .

i was in a maze of perplexity .

what should i do ?

i shrank from the thought of the boy being taken away from us .

since we had found him the dream-child had never called .

day and night she was her old , bright self , happy and serene in the new motherhood that had come to her .

the only thing strange in her was her calm acceptance of the event .

at last , when a full week had passed , i went , in my bewilderment , to our old doctor .

" a most extraordinary thing , " he said thoughtfully .

" the child , as you say , must belong to the spruce cove people .

yet it is an almost unbelievable thing that there has been no search or inquiry after him .

probably there is some simple explanation of the mystery , however .

i advise you to go over to the cove and inquire .

when you find the parents or guardians of the child , ask them to allow you to keep it for a time .

it may prove your wife 's salvation .

i have known such cases .

evidently on that night the crisis of her mental disorder was reached .

a little thing might have sufficed to turn her feet either way back to reason and sanity , or into deeper darkness .

i drove around the harbor that day with a lighter heart than i had hoped ever to possess again .

when i reached spruce cove the first person i met was old abel blair .

i asked him if any child were missing from the cove or along shore .

he looked at me in surprise , shook his head , and said he had not heard of any .

" a green dory ! " he exclaimed .

but this child , sir it beats me .

what might he be like ? "

i described the child as closely as possible .

" that fits little harry martin to a hair , " said old abel , perplexedly , " but , sir , it can't be .

or , if it is , there 's been foul work somewhere .

james martin 's wife died last winter , sir , and he died the next month .

they left a baby and not much else .

there weren't nobody to take the child but jim 's half-sister , maggie fleming .

she lived here at the cove , and , i 'm sorry to say , sir , she hadn't too good a name .

she didn't want to be bothered with the baby , and folks say she neglected him scandalous .

well , last spring she begun talking of going away to the states .

she said a friend of hers had got her a good place in boston , and she was going to go and take little harry .

we supposed it was all right .

last saturday she went , sir .

she was going to walk to the station , and the last seen of her she was trudging along the road , carrying the baby .

it hasn't been thought of since .

but , sir , d'ye suppose she set that innocent child adrift in that old leaky dory to send him to his death ?

i knew maggie was no better than she should be , but i can't believe she was as bad as that . "

" you must come over with me and see if you can identify the child , " i said .

" if he is harry martin i shall keep him .

my wife has been very lonely since our baby died , and she has taken a fancy to this little chap . "

when we reached my home old abel recognized the child as harry martin .

he is with us still .

his baby hands led my dear wife back to health and happiness .

therefore i look upon him and love him as my first-born .

vi .

the brother who failed

the monroe family were holding a christmas reunion at the old prince edward island homestead at white sands .

it was the first time they had all been together under one roof since the death of their mother , thirty years before .

malcolm monroe journeyed from the far western university of which he was president .

edith came , flushed with the triumph of her latest and most successful concert tour .

james , prosperous and hearty , greeted them warmly at the old homestead whose fertile acres had well repaid his skillful management .

they were a merry party , casting aside their cares and years , and harking back to joyous boyhood and girlhood once more .

i have forgotten robert .

robert monroe was apt to be forgotten .

robert sat back in a corner and listened with a smile , but he never spoke .

afterwards he had slipped noiselessly away and gone home , and nobody noticed his going .

they were all gayly busy recalling what had happened in the old times and telling what had happened in the new .

he came again the next afternoon .

there was nobody in the house except aunt isabel and the teacher .

" you 'd better wait and stay the evening , " said james , indifferently .

" they 'll all be back soon . "

robert went across the yard and sat down on the rustic bench in the angle of the front porch .

a weird , dreamy stillness had fallen upon the purple earth , the windless woods , the rain of the valleys , the sere meadows .

nature seemed to have folded satisfied hands to rest , knowing that her long , wintry slumber was coming upon her .

he felt very happy .

he loved his family clannishly , and he was rejoiced that they were all again near to him .

he was proud of their success and fame .

he was glad that james had prospered so well of late years .

there was no canker of envy or discontent in his soul .

he heard absently indistinct voices at the open hall window above the porch , where aunt isabel was talking to kathleen bell .

presently aunt isabel moved nearer to the window , and her words came down to robert with startling clearness .

" yes , i can assure you , miss bell , that i 'm real proud of my nephews and nieces .

they 're a smart family .

they 've almost all done well , and they hadn't any of them much to begin with .

ralph had absolutely nothing and to-day he is a millionaire .

their father met with so many losses , what with his ill-health and the bank failing , that he couldn't help them any .

but they 've all succeeded , except poor robert and i must admit that he 's a total failure . "

" oh , no , no , " said the little teacher deprecatingly .

" a total failure ! "

aunt isabel repeated her words emphatically .

she was not going to be contradicted by anybody , least of all a bell from avonlea .

" he has been a failure since the time he was born .

he is the first monroe to disgrace the old stock that way .

i 'm sure his brothers and sisters must be dreadfully ashamed of him .

he has lived sixty years and he hasn't done a thing worth while .

he can't even make his farm pay .

if he 's kept out of debt it 's as much as he 's ever managed to do . "

" some men can't even do that , " murmured the little school teacher .

" more is expected of a monroe , " said aunt isabel majestically .

" robert monroe is a failure , and that is the only name for him . "

robert monroe stood up below the window in a dizzy , uncertain fashion .

aunt isabel had been speaking of him !

he , robert , was a failure , a disgrace to his blood , of whom his nearest and dearest were ashamed !

now , through aunt isabel 's scornful eyes , he saw himself as the world saw him as his brothers and sisters must see him .

there lay the sting .

what the world thought of him did not matter ; but that his own should think him a failure and disgrace was agony .

she took a quick step after robert , but checked the impulse .

not then and not by her alone could that deadly hurt be healed .

nay , more , robert must never suspect that she knew of any hurt .

she yearned to hurry after him and comfort him , but she knew that comfort was not what robert needed now .

justice , and justice only , could pluck out the sting , which otherwise must rankle to the death .

ralph and malcolm were driving into the yard .

edith went over to them .

" boys , " she said resolutely , " i want to have a talk with you . "

the christmas dinner at the old homestead was a merry one .

mrs james spread a feast that was fit for the halls of lucullus .

laughter , jest , and repartee flew from lip to lip .

when the others spoke to him he answered deprecatingly , and shrank still further into himself .

finally all had eaten all they could , and the remainder of the plum pudding was carried out .

robert gave a low sigh of relief .

it was almost over .

he he only was a failure .

he wondered impatiently why mrs james did not rise .

malcolm rose in his place .

silence fell on the company ; everybody looked suddenly alert and expectant , except robert .

he still sat with bowed head , wrapped in his own bitterness .

but , if i do , i am not going to use it for any rhetorical effect to-day .

simple , earnest words must express the deepest feelings of the heart in doing justice to its own .

brothers and sisters , we meet to-day under our own roof-tree , surrounded by the benedictions of the past years .

perhaps invisible guests are here the spirits of those who founded this home and whose work on earth has long been finished .

it is not amiss to hope that this is so and our family circle made indeed complete .

" i shall tell you my own story for the benefit of those who have not heard it .

when i was a lad of sixteen i started to work out my own education .

i went to work , eager and hopeful .

all summer i tried to do my faithful best for my employer .

in september the blow fell .

a sum of money was missing from mr blair 's till .

i was suspected and discharged in disgrace .

ralph and james looked ashamed ; edith and margaret , who had not been born at the time referred to , lifted their faces innocently .

robert did not move or glance up .

he hardly seemed to be listening .

" i was crushed in an agony of shame and despair , " continued malcolm .

" i believed my career was ruined .

i was bent on casting all my ambitions behind me , and going west to some place where nobody knew me or my disgrace .

you are innocent , and in time your innocence will be proved .

meanwhile show yourself a man .

you have nearly enough to pay your way next winter at the academy .

i have a little i can give to help you out .

don't give in never give in when you have done no wrong . '

" i listened and took his advice .

i went to the academy .

my story was there as soon as i was , and i found myself sneered at and shunned .

many a time i would have given up in despair , had it not been for the encouragement of my counselor .

he furnished the backbone for me .

i was determined that his belief in me should be justified .

i studied hard and came out at the head of my class .

then there seemed to be no chance of my earning any more money that summer .

the prospect was distasteful but , urged by the man who believed in me , i took the place and endured the hardships .

another winter of lonely work passed at the academy .

i won the farrell scholarship the last year it was offered , and that meant an arts course for me .

i went to redmond college .

my story was not openly known there , but something of it got abroad , enough to taint my life there also with its suspicion .

since then my career has been what is called a brilliant one .

but " malcolm turned and laid his hand on robert 's thin shoulder " all of my success i owe to my brother robert .

robert had looked up at last , amazed , bewildered , incredulous .

his face crimsoned as malcolm sat down .

but now ralph was getting up .

forty years ago , when i started in life as a business man , money wasn't so plentiful with me as it may be to-day .

and i needed it badly .

a chance came my way to make a pile of it .

it wasn't a clean chance .

it was a dirty chance .

it looked square on the surface ; but , underneath , it meant trickery and roguery .

i hadn't enough perception to see that , though i was fool enough to think it was all right .

i told robert what i meant to do .

and robert saw clear through the outward sham to the real , hideous thing underneath .

he showed me what it meant and he gave me a preachment about a few monroe traditions of truth and honor .

i saw what i had been about to do as he saw it as all good men and true must see it .

and i vowed then and there that i 'd never go into anything that i wasn't sure was fair and square and clean through and through .

i 've kept that vow .

i am a rich man , and not a dollar of my money is ' tainted ' money .

but i didn't make it .

robert really made every cent of my money .

i 've got a son here .

by this time robert 's head was bent again , and his face buried in his hands .

" my turn next , " said james .

" i haven't much to say only this .

after mother died i took typhoid fever .

here i was with no one to wait on me .

robert came and nursed me .

he was the most faithful , tender , gentle nurse ever a man had .

the doctor said robert saved my life .

i don't suppose any of the rest of us here can say we have saved a life . "

edith wiped away her tears and sprang up impulsively .

" years ago , " she said , " there was a poor , ambitious girl who had a voice .

she studied hard , but her brains , in mathematics at least , weren't as good as her voice , and the time was short .

she failed .

he made her take it .

she never knew till long afterwards that he had sold the beautiful horse which he loved like a human creature , to get the money .

she went to the halifax conservatory .

she won a musical scholarship .

she has had a happy life and a successful career .

and she owes it all to her brother robert "

but edith could go no further .

her voice failed her and she sat down in tears .

margaret did not try to stand up .

" i was only five when my mother died , " she sobbed .

" robert was both father and mother to me .

never had child or girl so wise and loving a guardian as he was to me .

i have never forgotten the lessons he taught me .

whatever there is of good in my life or character i owe to him .

i was often headstrong and willful , but he never lost patience with me .

i owe everything to robert . "

suddenly the little teacher rose with wet eyes and crimson cheeks .

" i have something to say , too , " she said resolutely .

" you have spoken for yourselves .

i speak for the people of white sands .

there is a man in this settlement whom everybody loves .

i shall tell you some of the things he has done . "

" last fall , in an october storm , the harbor lighthouse flew a flag of distress .

only one man was brave enough to face the danger of sailing to the lighthouse to find out what the trouble was .

that was robert monroe .

" four years ago old sarah cooper was to be taken to the poorhouse .

she was broken-hearted .

sarah cooper died two years afterwards , and her latest breath was a benediction on robert monroe the best man god ever made .

" eight years ago jack blewitt wanted a place .

nobody would hire him , because his father was in the penitentiary , and some people thought jack ought to be there , too .

there is hardly a man , woman , or child in white sands who doesn't owe something to robert monroe ! "

as kathleen bell sat down , malcolm sprang up and held out his hands .

" every one of us stand up and sing auld lang syne , " he cried .

everybody stood up and joined hands , but one did not sing .

robert monroe stood erect , with a great radiance on his face and in his eyes .

his reproach had been taken away ; he was crowned among his kindred with the beauty and blessing of sacred yesterdays .

when the singing ceased malcolm 's stern-faced son reached over and shook robert 's hands .

" uncle rob , " he said heartily , " i hope that when i 'm sixty i 'll be as successful a man as you . "

vii .

the return of hester

just at dusk , that evening , i had gone upstairs and put on my muslin gown .

mary sloane did not count .

but i did it because hester would have cared if she had been here .

she always liked to see me neat and dainty .

so , although i was tired and sick at heart , i put on my pale blue muslin and dressed my hair .

the newbridge people all wondered why i had not put on mourning for hester .

i did not tell them it was because hester had asked me not to .

" i know there will be a difference in your inward life , " she said wistfully .

and oh , there was !

when i had dressed i went downstairs to the front door , and sat on the sandstone steps under the arch of the virginia creeper .

i was all alone , for mary sloane had gone to avonlea .

through an open corner on the western side i saw the sky all silvery blue in the afterlight .

hester had loved roses and could never have enough of them .

her favorite bush was growing by the steps , all gloried over with blossoms white , with pale pink hearts .

i gathered a cluster and pinned it loosely on my breast .

but my eyes filled as i did so i felt so very , very desolate .

i was all alone , and it was bitter .

the roses , much as i loved them , could not give me sufficient companionship .

i wanted the clasp of a human hand , and the love-light in human eyes .

and then i fell to thinking of hugh , though i tried not to .

i had always lived alone with hester .

i did not remember our parents , who had died in my babyhood .

hester was fifteen years older than i , and she had always seemed more like a mother than a sister .

she had been very good to me and had never denied me anything i wanted , save the one thing that mattered .

i was twenty-five before i ever had a lover .

this was not , i think , because i was more unattractive than other women .

the merediths had always been the " big " family of newbridge .

the rest of the people looked up to us , because we were the granddaughters of old squire meredith .

the newbridge young men would have thought it no use to try to woo a meredith .

i had not a great deal of family pride , as perhaps i should be ashamed to confess .

i found our exalted position very lonely , and cared more for the simple joys of friendship and companionship which other girls had .

when i was twenty-five , hugh blair came to newbridge , having bought a farm near the village .

he was a stranger , from lower carmody , and so was not imbued with any preconceptions of meredith superiority .

i met him at a little sunday-school picnic over at avonlea , which i attended because of my class .

i thought him very handsome and manly .

he talked to me a great deal , and at last he drove me home .

the next sunday evening he walked up from church with me .

hester was away , or , of course , this would never have happened .

she had gone for a month 's visit to distant friends .

in that month i lived a lifetime .

hugh blair courted me as the other girls in newbridge were courted .

he took me out driving and came to see me in the evenings , which we spent for the most part in the garden .

i did not like the stately gloom and formality of our old meredith parlor , and hugh never seemed to feel at ease there .

his broad shoulders and hearty laughter were oddly out of place among our faded , old-maidish furnishings .

mary sloane was very much pleased at hugh 's visit .

she did all she could to encourage him .

but when hester returned and found out about hugh she was very angry and grieved , which hurt me far more .

she told me that i had forgotten myself and that hugh 's visits must cease .

i had never been afraid of hester before , but i was afraid of her then .

i yielded .

perhaps it was very weak of me , but then i was always weak .

i think that was why hugh 's strength had appealed so to me .

i needed love and protection .

hester , strong and self-sufficient , had never felt such a need .

she could not understand .

oh , how contemptuous she was .

i told hugh timidly that hester did not approve of our friendship and that it must end .

he took it quietly enough , and went away .

i thought he did not care much , and the thought selfishly made my own heartache worse .

i was very unhappy for a long time , but i tried not to let hester see it , and i don't think she did .

she was not very discerning in some things .

after a time i got over it ; that is , the heartache ceased to ache all the time .

but things were never quite the same again .

life always seemed rather dreary and empty , in spite of hester and my roses and my sunday-school .

i supposed that hugh blair would find him a wife elsewhere , but he did not .

the years went by and we never met , although i saw him often at church .

at such times hester always watched me very closely , but there was no need of her to do so .

hugh made no attempt to meet me , or speak with me , and i would not have permitted it if he had .

but my heart always yearned after him .

ten years slipped away thus .

and then hester died .

her illness was sudden and short ; but , before she died , she asked me to promise that i would never marry hugh blair .

she had not mentioned his name for years .

i thought she had forgotten all about him .

" oh , dear sister , is there any need of such a promise ? "

i asked , weeping .

" hugh blair does not want to marry me now .

he never will again . "

" he has never married he has not forgotten you , " she said fiercely .

" i could not rest in my grave if i thought you would disgrace your family by marrying beneath you .

promise me , margaret . "

i promised .

i would have promised anything in my power to make her dying pillow easier .

besides , what did it matter ?

i was sure that hugh would never think of me again .

she smiled when she heard me , and pressed my hand .

" good little sister that is right .

you were always a good girl , margaret good and obedient , though a little sentimental and foolish in some ways .

you are like our mother she was always weak and loving .

i took after the merediths . "

she did , indeed .

even in her coffin her dark , handsome features preserved their expression of pride and determination .

this distressed me , but i could not help it .

yet i felt no anger or resentment towards her for what she had done .

i knew she had meant it for the best my best .

it was only that she was mistaken .

and then , a month after she had died , hugh blair came to me and asked me to be his wife .

he said he had always loved me , and could never love any other woman .

all my old love for him reawakened .

i wanted to say yes to feel his strong arms about me , and the warmth of his love enfolding and guarding me .

in my weakness i yearned for his strength .

but there was my promise to hester that promise give by her deathbed .

i could not break it , and i told him so .

it was the hardest thing i had ever done .

he did not go away quietly this time .

he pleaded and reasoned and reproached .

every word of his hurt me like a knife-thrust .

but i could not break my promise to the dead .

if hester had been living i would have braved her wrath and her estrangement and gone to him .

but she was dead and i could not do it .

finally he went away in grief and anger .

that was three weeks ago and now i sat alone in the moonlit rose-garden and wept for him .

but after a time my tears dried and a very strange feeling came over me .

i felt calm and happy , as if some wonderful love and tenderness were very near me .

and now comes the strange part of my story the part which will not , i suppose , be believed .

if it were not for one thing i think i should hardly believe it myself .

i should feel tempted to think i had dreamed it .

but because of that one thing i know it was real .

the night was very calm and still .

not a breath of wind stirred .

the moonshine was the brightest i had ever seen .

in the middle of the garden , where the shadow of the poplars did not fall , it was almost as bright as day .

one could have read fine print .

the air was sweet with a hush of dreams , and the world was so lovely that i held my breath over its beauty .

then , all at once , down at the far end of the garden , i saw a woman walking .

this woman was tall and erect .

although no suspicion of the truth came to me , something about her reminded me of hester .

even so had hester liked to wander about the garden in the twilight .

i had seen her thus a thousand times .

i wondered who the woman could be .

some neighbor , of course .

but what a strange way for her to come !

she walked up the garden slowly in the poplar shade .

now and then she stooped , as if to caress a flower , but she plucked none .

half way up she out in to the moonlight and walked across the plot of grass in the center of the garden .

my heart gave a great throb and i stood up .

she was quite near to me now and i saw that it was hester .

i can hardly say just what my feelings were at this moment .

i know that i was not surprised .

i was frightened and yet i was not frightened .

something in me shrank back in a sickening terror ; but i , the real i , was not frightened .

further than this i was not conscious of any coherent thought , either of wonder or attempt at reasoning .

hester paused when she came to within a few steps of me .

in the moonlight i saw her face quite plainly .

it wore an expression i had never before seen on it a humble , wistful , tender look .

this was gone now , and i felt nearer to her than ever before .

i knew suddenly that she understood me .

hester beckoned to me and said ,

" come . "

i stood up and followed her out of the garden .

but i did not wish it ; i had only the feeling of a strange , boundless content .

we went down the road between the growths of young fir that bordered it .

i smelled their balsam as we passed , and noticed how clearly and darkly their pointed tops came out against the sky .

just as we passed out of the avenue , james trent overtook us , driving .

it seems to me that our feelings at a given moment are seldom what we would expect them to be .

i simply felt annoyed that james trent , the most notorious gossip in newbridge , should have seen me walking with hester .

in a flash i anticipated all the annoyance of it ; he would talk of the matter far and wide .

but james trent merely nodded and called out ,

" howdy , miss margaret .

taking a moonlight stroll by yourself ?

lovely night , ain't it ? "

just then his horse suddenly swerved , as if startled , and broke into a gallop .

they whirled around the curve of the road in an instant .

i felt relieved , but puzzled .

james trent had not seen hester .

down over the hill was hugh blair 's place .

when we came to it , hester turned in at the gate .

then , for the first time , i understood why she had come back , and a blinding flash of joy broke over my soul .

i stopped and looked at her .

her deep eyes gazed into mine , but she did not speak .

we went on .

hugh 's house lay before us in the moonlight , grown over by a tangle of vines .

his garden was on our right , a quaint spot , full of old-fashioned flowers growing in a sort of disorderly sweetness .

i felt unspeakably happy and blessed .

when we came to the door hester said ,

" knock , margaret . "

i rapped gently .

in a moment , hugh opened it .

then that happened by which , in after days , i was to know that this strange thing was no dream or fancy of mine .

hugh looked not at me , but past me .

" hester ! " he exclaimed , with human fear and horror in his voice .

he leaned against the door-post , the big , strong fellow , trembling from head to foot .

" i have learned , " said hester , " that nothing matters in all god 's universe , except love .

there is no pride where i have been , and no false ideals . "

hugh and i looked into each other 's eyes , wondering , and then we knew that we were alone .

viii .

the little brown book of miss emily

we often went up to the leiths in the evening to play croquet .

millie and margaret leith were very nice girls , and the boys were nice , too .

indeed , we liked every one in the family , except poor old miss emily leith .

we often felt a good deal of impatience at these times , but i am very glad to think now that we never showed it .

in a way , we felt sorry for miss emily .

she was mr leith 's old-maid sister and she was not of much importance in the household .

but , though we felt sorry for her , we couldn't like her .

she really was fussy and meddlesome ; she liked to poke a finger into every one 's pie , and she was not at all tactful .

then , too , she had a sarcastic tongue , and seemed to feel bitter towards all the young folks and their love affairs .

diana and i thought this was because she had never had a lover of her own .

somehow , it seemed impossible to think of lovers in connection with miss emily .

she walked with a waddle , just like mrs rachel lynde , and she was always rather short of breath .

" that , at least , is impossible , " said diana to me .

and then , one day , miss emily died .

i 'm afraid no one was very sorry .

miss emily was dead and buried before diana and i heard of it at all .

" but what is in it ?

and what am i to do with it ? "

i asked in bewilderment .

" there was nothing said about what you were to do with it .

jack said they didn't know what was in it , and hadn't looked into it , seeing that it was your property .

it seems a rather queer proceeding but you 're always getting mixed up in queer proceedings , anne .

as for what is in it , the easiest way to find out , i reckon , is to open it and see .

the key is tied to it .

jack said miss emily said she wanted you to have it because she loved you and saw her lost youth in you .

i guess she was a bit delirious at the last and wandered a good deal .

she said she wanted you ' to understand her . ' "

i ran over to orchard slope and asked diana to come over and examine the trunk with me .

i hadn't received any instructions about keeping its contents secret and i knew miss emily wouldn't mind diana knowing about them , whatever they were .

it was a cool , gray afternoon and we got back to green gables just as the rain was beginning to fall .

diana was excited , and , i really believe , a little bit frightened .

we opened the old trunk .

it was very small , and there was nothing in it but a big cardboard box .

the box was tied up and the knots sealed with wax .

we lifted it out and untied it .

i touched diana 's fingers as we did it , and both of us exclaimed at once , " how cold your hand is ! "

under it we found a sash , a yellowed feather fan , and an envelope full of withered flowers .

at the bottom of the box was a little brown book .

the rest were not written on at all .

@date@

i came to-day to spend a while with aunt margaret in charlottetown .

it is so pretty here , where she lives and ever so much nicer than on the farm at home .

i have no cows to milk here or pigs to feed .

i never had a muslin dress before nothing but ugly prints and dark woolens .

i wish we were rich , like aunt margaret .

aunt margaret laughed when i said this , and declared she would give all her wealth for my youth and beauty and light-heartedness .

i am only eighteen and i know i am very merry but i wonder if i am really pretty .

it seems to me that i am when i look in aunt margaret 's beautiful mirrors .

they make me look very different from the old cracked one in my room at home which always twisted my face and turned me green .

but aunt margaret spoiled her compliment by telling me i look exactly as she did at my age .

if i thought i 'd ever look as aunt margaret does now , i don't know what i 'd do .

she is so fat and red .

@date@

last week i went to the garden party and i met a young man called paul osborne .

he is a young artist from montreal who is boarding over at heppoch .

he is the handsomest man i have ever seen very tall and slender , with dreamy , dark eyes and a pale , clever face .

i felt very much flattered and so pleased when aunt margaret gave him permission .

he says he wants to paint me as " spring , " standing under the poplars where a fine rain of sunshine falls through .

i am to wear my blue muslin gown and a wreath of flowers on my hair .

he says i have such beautiful hair .

he has never seen any of such a real pale gold .

somehow it seems even prettier than ever to me since he praised it .

i had a letter from home to-day .

ma says the blue hen stole her nest and came off with fourteen chickens , and that pa has sold the little spotted calf .

somehow those things don't interest me like they once did .

@date@

the picture is coming on very well , mr osborne says .

i know he is making me look far too pretty in it , although he persists in saying he can't do me justice .

he is going to send it to some great exhibition when finished , but he says he will make a little water-color copy for me .

he comes every day to paint and we talk a great deal and he reads me lovely things out of his books .

i don't understand them all , but i try to , and he explains them so nicely and is so patient with my stupidity .

and he says any one with my eyes and hair and coloring does not need to be clever .

he says i have the sweetest , merriest laugh in the world .

but i will not write down all the compliments he has paid me .

i dare say he does not mean them at all .

in the evening we stroll among the spruces or sit on the bench under the acacia tree .

sometimes we don't talk at all , but i never find the time long .

@date@

i am so happy .

i am frightened at my happiness .

oh , i didn't think life could ever be so beautiful for me as it is !

paul loves me !

he told me so to-night as we walked by the harbor and watched the sunset , and he asked me to be his wife .

because , of course , i 'm only an ignorant little country girl and have lived all my life on a farm .

why , my hands are quite rough yet from the work i 've done .

but paul just laughed when i said so , and took my hands and kissed them .

then he looked into my eyes and laughed again , because i couldn't hide from him how much i loved him .

we are to be married next spring and paul says he will take me to europe .

that will be very nice , but nothing matters so long as i am with him .

paul 's people are very wealthy and his mother and sisters are very fashionable .

there is nothing i wouldn't suffer if it would do him any good .

i never thought any one could feel so .

but that is not the way at all .

love makes you very humble and you want to do everything yourself for the one you love .

@date@

paul went home to-day .

oh , it is so terrible !

i don't know how i can bear to live even for a little while without him .

but this is silly of me , because i know he has to go and he will write often and come to me often .

but , still , it is so lonesome .

we have had such a beautiful fortnight .

oh , i am very foolish but i love him so dearly and if i were to lose his love i know i would die .

@date@

i think my heart is dead .

but no , it can't be , for it aches too much .

paul 's mother came here to see me to-day .

she was not angry or disagreeable .

i wouldn't have been so frightened of her if she had been .

as it was , i felt that i couldn't say a word .

she is very beautiful and stately and wonderful , with a low , cold voice and proud , dark eyes .

her face is like paul 's but without the loveableness of his .

she talked to me for a long time and she said terrible things terrible , because i knew they were all true .

i seemed to see everything through her eyes .

she said paul must marry a woman of his own class , who could do honor to his fame and position .

but she smiled and said i must tell him myself , because he would not believe any one else .

i could have begged her to spare me that , but i knew it would be of no use .

i do not think she has any pity or mercy for any one .

besides , what she said was quite true .

she smiled again and went away .

oh , how can i bear it ?

i did not know any one could suffer like this !

@date@

i have done it .

i wrote to paul to-day .

i knew i must tell him by letter , because i could never make him believe it face to face .

i was afraid i could not even do it by letter .

i suppose a clever woman easily could , but i am so stupid .

i wrote a great many letters and tore them up , because i felt sure they wouldn't convince paul .

at last i got one that i thought would do .

i knew i must make it seem as if i were very frivolous and heartless , or he would never believe .

i spelled some words wrong and put in some mistakes of grammar on purpose .

i told him i had just been flirting with him , and that i had another fellow at home i liked better .

i said fellow because i knew it would disgust him .

i said that it was only because he was rich that i was tempted to marry him .

i thought my heart would break while i was writing those dreadful falsehoods .

but it was for his sake , because i must not spoil his life .

his mother told me i would be a millstone around his neck .

i love paul so much that i would do anything rather than be that .

it would be easy to die for him , but i don't see how i can go on living .

i think my letter will convince paul .

i suppose it convinced paul , because there was no further entry in the little brown book .

when we had finished it the tears were running down both our faces .

" oh , poor , dear miss emily , " sobbed diana .

" i 'm so sorry i ever thought her funny and meddlesome . "

" she was good and strong and brave , " i said .

" i could never have been as unselfish as she was . "

i thought of whittier 's lines ,

" the outward , wayward life we see the hidden springs we may not know . "

paul osborne 's name was written in faded ink across the corner .

we put everything back in the box .

ix .

sara's way

mrs jonas andrews was spending the afternoon with her sister-in-law .

she was a big , sonsy woman , with full-blown peony cheeks and large , dreamy , brown eyes .

when she had been a slim , pink-and-white girl those eyes had been very romantic .

now they were so out of keeping with the rest of her appearance as to be ludicrous .

she looked like a woman whose opinions were always very decided and warranted to wear .

" well , i guess she likes it pretty well better than down at white sands , anyway , " answered mrs eben .

" yes , i may say it suits her .

of course it 's a long walk there and back .

and i must say the walk seems to agree with her . "

she asked me if it was true .

i said i didn't know , but i hoped to mercy it was .

now , is it , louisa ? "

" not a word of it , " said mrs eben sorrowfully .

" sara hasn't any more notion of taking lige than ever she had .

i 'm sure it 's not my fault .

i 've talked and argued till i 'm tired .

i declare to you , amelia , i am terribly disappointed .

i 'd set my heart on sara 's marrying lige and now to think she won't ! "

" she is a very foolish girl , " said mrs jonas , judicially .

" if lige baxter isn't good enough for her , who is ? "

and that lovely new house of his at newbridge , with bay windows and hardwood floors !

i 've dreamed and dreamed of seeing sara there as mistress . "

but she felt discouraged , too .

well , she had done her best .

if lige baxter 's broth was spoiled it was not for lack of cooks .

mrs eben 's despondent reply was cut short by the appearance of sara herself .

the girl stood for a moment in the doorway and looked with a faintly amused air at her aunts .

sara put away her books , kissed mrs jonas ' rosy cheek , and sat down at the table .

sara andrews was not , strictly speaking , pretty ; but there was that about her which made people look at her twice .

when tea was over she poured the remaining contents of the cream jug into a saucer .

" i must feed my pussy , " she said as she left the room .

" that girl beats me , " said mrs eben with a sigh of perplexity .

" you know that black cat we 've had for two years ?

eben and i have always made a lot of him , but sara seemed to have a dislike to him .

never a peaceful nap under the stove could he have when sara was home out he must go .

well , a little spell ago he got his leg broke accidentally and we thought he 'd have to be killed .

but sara wouldn't hear of it .

he 's just about well now , and he lives in clover , that cat does .

it 's just her way .

there 's them sick chickens she 's been doctoring for a week , giving them pills and things !

" and she thinks more of that wretched-looking calf that got poisoned with paris green than of all the other stock on the place . "

as the summer wore away , mrs eben tried to reconcile herself to the destruction of her air castles .

but she scolded sara considerably .

" sara , why don't you like lige ?

i 'm sure he is a model young man . "

" i don't like model young men , " answered sara impatiently .

" and i really think i hate lige baxter .

he has always been held up to me as such a paragon .

i 'm tired of hearing about all his perfections .

i know them all off by heart .

such a faultless creature as that would certainly get on my nerves .

no , no , you 'll have to pick out another mistress for your new house at the bridge , aunt louisa . "

the quilt was of the " rising star " pattern , which was considered in avonlea to be very handsome .

those bright visions had faded with the apple blossoms , and mrs eben hardly had the heart to finish the quilt at all .

the quilting came off on saturday afternoon , when sara could be home from school .

all mrs eben 's particular friends were ranged around the quilt , and tongues and fingers flew .

sara flitted about , helping her aunt with the supper preparations .

she was in the room , getting the custard dishes out of the cupboard , when mrs george pye arrived .

mrs george had a genius for being late .

she was later than usual to-day , and she looked excited .

she was a tall , thin woman with a long pale face and liquid green eyes .

as she looked around the circle she had the air of a cat daintily licking its chops over some titbit .

" i suppose , " she said , " that you have heard the news ? "

she knew perfectly well that they had not .

every other woman at the frame stopped quilting .

mrs eben came to the door with a pan of puffy , smoking-hot soda biscuits in her hand .

sara stopped counting the custard dishes , and turned her ripely-colored face over her shoulder .

even the black cat , at her feet , ceased preening his fur .

mrs george felt that the undivided attention of her audience was hers .

" baxter brothers have failed , " she said , her green eyes shooting out flashes of light .

" failed disgracefully ! "

she paused for a moment ; but , since her hearers were as yet speechless from surprise , she went on .

" george came home from newbridge , just before i left , with the news .

you could have knocked me down with a feather .

i should have thought that firm was as steady as the rock of gibraltar !

but they 're ruined absolutely ruined .

louisa , dear , can you find me a good needle ? "

" louisa , dear , " had set her biscuits down with a sharp thud , reckless of results .

a sharp , metallic tinkle sounded at the closet where sara had struck the edge of her tray against a shelf .

the sound seemed to loosen the paralyzed tongues , and everybody began talking and exclaiming at once .

clear and shrill above the confusion rose mrs george pye 's voice .

" yes , indeed , you may well say so .

it is disgraceful .

and to think how everybody trusted them !

george will lose considerable by the crash , and so will a good many folks .

everything will have to go peter baxter 's farm and lige 's grand new house .

mrs peter won't carry her head so high after this , i 'll be bound .

george saw lige at the bridge , and he said he looked dreadful cut up and ashamed . "

" who , or what 's to blame for the failure ? " asked mrs rachel lynde sharply .

she did not like mrs george pye .

" there are a dozen different stories on the go , " was the reply .

" as far as george could make out , peter baxter has been speculating with other folks ' money , and this is the result .

everybody always suspected that peter was crooked ; but you 'd have thought that lige would have kept him straight .

he had always such a reputation for saintliness . "

" i don't suppose lige knew anything about it , " said mrs rachel indignantly .

" well , he 'd ought to , then .

if he isn't a knave he 's a fool , " said mrs harmon andrews , who had formerly been among his warmest partisans .

" he should have kept watch on peter and found out how the business was being run .

well , sara , you were the level-headest of us all i 'll admit that now .

" most of the newbridge folks think it 's all peter 's fault , and that lige isn't to blame .

but you can't tell .

i dare say lige is as deep in the mire as peter .

he was always a little too good to be wholesome , i thought . "

there was a clink of glass at the cupboard , as sara set the tray down .

she came forward and stood behind mrs rachel lynde 's chair , resting her shapely hands on that lady 's broad shoulders .

her face was very pale , but her flashing eyes sought and faced defiantly mrs george pye 's cat-like orbs .

her voice quivered with passion and contempt .

" you 'll all have a fling at lige baxter , now that he 's down .

you couldn't say enough in his praise , once .

i 'll not stand by and hear it hinted that lige baxter is a swindler .

you all know perfectly well that lige is as honest as the day , if he is so unfortunate as to have an unprincipled brother .

you , mrs pye , know it better than any one , yet you come here and run him down the minute he 's in trouble .

if there 's another word said here against lige baxter i 'll leave the room and the house till you 're gone , every one of you . "

she flashed a glance around the quilt that cowed the gossips .

even mrs george pye 's eyes flickered and waned and quailed .

nothing more was said until sara had picked up her glasses and marched from the room .

even then they dared not speak above a whisper .

mrs pye , alone , smarting from the snub , ventured to ejaculate , " pity save us ! " as sara slammed the door .

" they 're bound to talk about the baxter failure and criticize lige , " she deplored to mrs jonas .

" and it riles sara up so terrible .

she used to declare that she hated lige , and now she won't listen to a word against him .

not that i say any , myself .

i 'm sorry for him , and i believe he 's done his best .

but i can't stop other people from talking . "

one evening harmon andrews came in with a fresh budget of news .

" the baxter business is pretty near wound up at last , " he said , as he lighted his pipe .

" peter has got his lawsuits settled and has hushed up the talk about swindling , somehow .

trust him for slipping out of a scrape clean and clever .

he don't seem to worry any , but lige looks like a walking skeleton .

some folks pity him , but i say he should have kept the run of things better and not have trusted everything to peter .

i hear he 's going out west in the spring , to take up land in alberta and try his hand at farming .

best thing he can do , i guess .

folks hereabouts have had enough of the baxter breed .

newbridge will be well rid of them . "

mrs eben glanced at her apprehensively , for she was afraid the girl was going to break out in a tirade against the complacent harmon .

but sara only walked fiercely out of the kitchen , with a sound as if she were struggling for breath .

her heart was throbbing with the pity she always felt for bruised and baited creatures .

at last she came to a little rustic gate , leading into a shadowy wood-lane .

" oh , lige ! " she said , with something like a sob .

he opened the gate and drew her through .

" it 's a long while since i 've seen you , lige , " sara said at last .

lige looked wistfully down at her through the gloom .

" yes , it seems very long to me , sara .

but i didn't think you 'd care to see me , after what you said last spring .

and you know things have been going against me .

people have said hard things .

i 've been unfortunate , sara , and may be too easy-going , but i 've been honest .

don't believe folks if they tell you i wasn't . "

" indeed , i never did not for a minute ! " fired sara .

" i 'm glad of that .

i 'm going away , later on .

i felt bad enough when you refused to marry me , sara ; but it 's well that you didn't .

i 'm man enough to be thankful my troubles don't fall on you . "

sara stopped and turned to him .

beyond them the lane opened into a field and a clear lake of crocus sky cast a dim light into the shadow where they stood .

above it was a new moon , like a gleaming silver scimitar .

sara saw it was over her left shoulder , and she saw lige 's face above her , tender and troubled .

" lige , " she said softly , " do you love me still ? "

" you know i do , " said lige sadly .

that was all sara wanted .

with a quick movement she nestled into his arms , and laid her warm , tear-wet cheek against his cold one .

mrs jonas puffed and panted up the hill to learn if it were true .

sara hated patchwork above everything else , but mrs eben was mistress up to a certain point .

" you 'll have to make that quilt , sara andrews .

but you 'll have to help make them . "

and sara had to .

when mrs jonas came , mrs eben sent sara off to the post-office to get her out of the way .

" i suppose it 's true , this time ? " said mrs jonas .

" yes , indeed , " said mrs eben briskly .

" sara is set on it .

there is no use trying to move her you know that so i 've just concluded to make the best of it .

i 'm no turn-coat .

lige baxter is lige baxter still , neither more nor less .

i 've always said he 's a fine young man , and i say so still .

after all , he and sara won't be any poorer than eben and i were when we started out . "

mrs jonas heaved a sigh of relief .

" i 'm real glad you take that view of it , louisa .

i 'm not displeased , either , although mrs harmon would take my head off if she heard me say so .

i always liked lige .

but i must say i 'm amazed , too , after the way sara used to rail at him . "

" well , we might have expected it , " said mrs eben sagely .

" it was always sara 's way .

when any creature got sick or unfortunate she seemed to take it right into her heart .

so you may say lige baxter 's failure was a success after all . "

x . the son of his mother

thyra carewe was waiting for chester to come home .

she sat by the west window of the kitchen , looking out into the gathering of the shadows with the expectant immovability that characterized her .

she never twitched or fidgeted .

into whatever she did she put the whole force of her nature .

if it was sitting still , she sat still .

" a stone image would be twitchedly beside thyra , " said mrs cynthia white , her neighbor across the lane .

when i read the commandment , ' thou shalt have no other gods before me , ' i declare i always think of thyra .

she worships that son of hers far ahead of her creator .

she 'll be punished for it yet . "

mrs white was watching thyra now , knitting furiously , as she watched , in order to lose no time .

thyra 's hands were folded idly in her lap .

she had not moved a muscle since she sat down .

mrs white complained it gave her the weeps .

" it doesn't seem natural to see a woman sit so still , " she said .

the evening was cold and autumnal .

the river , below the carewe homestead , was livid .

beyond it , the sea was dark and brooding .

she would not light a lamp because it would blot out the savage grandeur of sea and sky .

it was better to wait in the darkness until chester came home .

he was late to-night .

she thought he had been detained over-time at the harbor , but she was not anxious .

he would come straight home to her as soon as his business was completed of that she felt sure .

her thoughts went out along the bleak harbor road to meet him .

no other woman in avonlea had a son like hers her only one .

in his brief absences she yearned after him with a maternal passion that had in it something of physical pain , so intense was it .

she thought of cynthia white , knitting across the road , with contemptuous pity .

that woman had no son nothing but pale-faced girls .

thyra had never wanted a daughter , but she pitied and despised all sonless women .

chester 's dog whined suddenly and piercingly on the doorstep outside .

he was tired of the cold stone and wanted his warm corner behind the stove .

thyra smiled grimly when she heard him .

she had no intention of letting him in .

she could not share his love with even a dumb brute .

she loved no living creature in the world but her son , and fiercely demanded a like concentrated affection from him .

hence it pleased her to hear his dog whine .

it was now quite dark ; the stars had begun to shine out over the shorn harvest fields , and chester had not come .

across the lane cynthia white had pulled down her blind , in despair of out-watching thyra , and had lighted a lamp .

lively shadows of little girl-shapes passed and repassed on the pale oblong of light .

they made thyra conscious of her exceeding loneliness .

she recognized august vorst 's knock and lighted a lamp in no great haste , for she did not like him .

he was a gossip and thyra hated gossip , in man or woman .

but august was privileged .

she carried the lamp in her hand , when she went to the door , and its upward-striking light gave her face a ghastly appearance .

she did not mean to ask august in , but he pushed past her cheerfully , not waiting to be invited .

he pulled a crumpled newspaper from his pocket and handed it to thyra .

he was the unofficial mail-carrier of avonlea .

most of the people gave him a trifle for bringing their letters and papers from the office .

he earned small sums in various other ways , and so contrived to keep the life in his stunted body .

there was always venom in august 's gossip .

to be sure , it was the tolerance they gave to inferior creatures , and august felt this .

perhaps it accounted for a good deal of his malignity .

he hated most those who were kindest to him , and , of these , thyra carewe above all .

he hated chester , too , as he hated strong , shapely creatures .

thyra perceived it and vaguely felt something antagonistic in it .

she pointed to the rocking-chair , as she might have pointed out a mat to a dog .

august crawled into it and smiled .

" did you see anything of chester on the road ? " asked thyra , giving august the very opening he desired .

i can't think what keeps the boy . "

" just what keeps most men leaving out creatures like me at some time or other in their lives .

a girl a pretty girl , thyra .

it pleases me to look at her .

even a hunchback can use his eyes , eh ?

oh , she 's a rare one ! "

" what is the man talking about ? " said thyra wonderingly .

" damaris garland , to be sure .

well , well , we were all young once , thyra all young once , even crooked little august vorst .

eh , now ? "

" what do you mean ? " said thyra .

she had sat down in a chair before him , with her hands folded in her lap .

her face , always pale , had not changed ; but her lips were curiously white .

august vorst saw this and it pleased him .

also , her eyes were worth looking at , if you liked to hurt people and that was the only pleasure august took in life .

sip by sip he rubbed his long , thin , white hands together sip by sip , tasting each mouthful .

" eh , now ?

you know well enough , thyra . "

" i know nothing of what you would be at , august vorst .

you speak of my son and damaris was that the name ?

damaris garland as if they were something to each other .

i ask you what you mean by it ? "

" tut , tut , thyra , nothing very terrible .

there 's no need to look like that about it .

or in talking to her either ?

the little baggage , with the red lips of her !

she and chester will make a pretty pair .

he 's not so ill-looking for a man , thyra . "

" i am not a very patient woman , august , " said thyra coldly .

" i have asked you what you mean , and i want a straight answer .

is chester down at tom blair 's while i have been sitting here , alone , waiting for him ? "

august nodded .

he saw that it would not be wise to trifle longer with thyra .

" that he is .

i was there before i came here .

he and damaris were sitting in a corner by themselves , and very well-satisfied they seemed to be with each other .

tut , tut , thyra , don't take the news so .

i thought you knew .

it 's no secret that chester has been going after damaris ever since she came here .

but what then ?

you can't tie him to your apron strings forever , woman .

he 'll be finding a mate for himself , as he should .

seeing that he 's straight and well-shaped , no doubt damaris will look with favor on him .

old martha blair declares the girl loves him better than her eyes . "

thyra made a sound like a strangled moan in the middle of august 's speech .

she heard the rest of it immovably .

when it came to an end she stood and looked down upon him in a way that silenced him .

" you 've told the news you came to tell , and gloated over it , and now get you gone , " she said slowly .

" now , thyra , " he began , but she interrupted him threateningly .

" get you gone , i say !

and you need not bring my mail here any longer .

i want no more of your misshapen body and lying tongue ! "

august went , but at the door he turned for a parting stab .

" my tongue is not a lying one , mrs carewe .

i 've told you the truth , as all avonlea knows it .

chester is mad about damaris garland .

it 's no wonder i thought you knew what all the settlement can see .

but you 're such a jealous , odd body , i suppose the boy hid it from you for fear you 'd go into a tantrum .

thyra did not answer him .

when the door closed behind him she locked it and blew out the light .

then she threw herself face downward on the sofa and burst into wild tears .

her very soul ached .

she wept as tempestuously and unreasoningly as youth weeps , although she was not young .

it seemed as if she was afraid to stop weeping lest she should go mad thinking .

that her son should ever cast eyes of love on any girl was something thyra had never thought about .

she would not believe it possible that he should love any one but herself , who loved him so much .

and now the possibility invaded her mind as subtly and coldly and remorselessly as a sea-fog stealing landward .

thyra 's late-come motherhood was all the more intense and passionate because of its very lateness .

she had never been able to forgive them for this .

her husband had died before chester was a year old .

she had laid their son in his dying arms and received him back again with a last benediction .

to thyra that moment had something of a sacrament in it .

marrying !

she had never thought of it in connection with him .

he did not come of a marrying race .

his father had been sixty when he had married her , thyra lincoln , likewise well on in life .

few of the lincolns or carewes had married young , many not at all .

and , to her , chester was her baby still .

he belonged solely to her .

and now another woman had dared to look upon him with eyes of love .

damaris garland !

thyra now remembered seeing her .

she was a new-comer in avonlea , having come to live with her uncle and aunt after the death of her mother .

thyra had met her on the bridge one day a month previously .

her eyes , too thyra recalled them hazel in tint , deep , and laughter-brimmed .

the girl had gone past her with a smile that brought out many dimples .

there was a certain insolent quality in her beauty , as if it flaunted itself somewhat too defiantly in the beholder 's eye .

thyra had turned and looked after the lithe , young creature , wondering who she might be .

he loved her ; and it was past doubt that she loved him .

the thought was more bitter than death to thyra .

that she should dare !

her anger was all against the girl .

thyra thought savagely of damaris ' beauty .

" she shall not have him , " she said , with slow emphasis .

" i will never give him up to any other woman , and , least of all , to her .

she would leave me no place in his heart at all me , his mother , who almost died to give him life .

he belongs to me !

let her look for the son of some other woman some woman who has many sons .

she shall not have my only one ! "

she got up , wrapped a shawl about her head , and went out into the darkly golden evening .

the clouds had cleared away , and the moon was shining .

the air was chill , with a bell-like clearness .

the alders by the river rustled eerily as she walked by them and out upon the bridge .

late travelers passed her , and wondered at her presence and mien .

carl white saw her , and told his wife about her when he got home .

" striding to and fro over the bridge like mad !

at first i thought it was old , crazy may blair .

what do you suppose she was doing down there at this hour of the night ? "

" watching for ches , no doubt , " said cynthia .

" he ain't home yet .

likely he 's snug at blairs ' .

i do wonder if thyra suspicions that he goes after damaris .

i 've never dared to hint it to her .

she 'd be as liable to fly at me , tooth and claw , as not . "

" it 's bitter cold there 'll be a hard frost .

it 's a pity she can't get it grained into her that the boy is grown up and must have his fling like the other lads .

she 'll go out of her mind yet , like her old grandmother lincoln , if she doesn't ease up .

i 've a notion to go down to the bridge and reason a bit with her . "

" indeed , and you 'll do no such thing ! " cried cynthia .

" thyra carewe is best left alone , if she is in a tantrum .

she 's like no other woman in avonlea or out of it .

i 'd as soon meddle with a tiger as her , if she 's rampaging about chester .

i don't envy damaris garland her life if she goes in there .

thyra 'd sooner strangle her than not , i guess . "

" you women are all terrible hard on thyra , " said carl , good-naturedly .

he had been in love with thyra , himself , long ago , and he still liked her in a friendly fashion .

he always stood up for her when the avonlea women ran her down .

he felt troubled about her all night , recalling her as she paced the bridge .

he wished he had gone back , in spite of cynthia .

when chester came home he met his mother on the bridge .

in the faint , yet penetrating , moonlight they looked curiously alike , but chester had the milder face .

he was very handsome .

even in the seething of her pain and jealousy thyra yearned over his beauty .

" i called in at tom blair 's on my way home from the harbor , " he answered , trying to walk on .

but she held him back by his arm .

" did you go there to see damaris ? " she demanded fiercely .

chester was uncomfortable .

he tried vainly to loosen her hold upon his arm , but he understood quite well that he must give her an answer .

" yes , " he said shortly .

thyra released his arm , and struck her hands together with a sharp cry .

there was a savage note in it .

she could have slain damaris garland at that moment .

" don't go on so , mother , " said chester , impatiently .

" come in out of the cold .

it isn't fit for you to be here .

who has been tampering with you ?

what if i did go to see damaris ? "

" oh oh oh ! " cried thyra .

" i was waiting for you alone and you were thinking only of her !

chester , answer me do you love her ? "

the blood rolled rapidly over the boy 's face .

he muttered something and tried to pass on , but she caught him again .

he forced himself to speak gently .

" what if i do , mother ?

it wouldn't be such a dreadful thing , would it ? "

" and me ?

and me ? " cried thyra .

" what am i to you , then ? "

" you are my mother .

i wouldn't love you any the less because i cared for another , too . "

" i won't have you love another , " she cried .

" i want all your love all !

what 's that baby-face to you , compared to your mother ?

i have the best right to you .

i won't give you up . "

chester realized that there was no arguing with such a mood .

he walked on , resolved to set the matter aside until she might be more reasonable .

but thyra would not have it so .

she followed on after him , under the alders that crowded over the lane .

" promise me that you 'll not go there again , " she entreated .

" promise me that you 'll give her up . "

" i can't promise such a thing , " he cried angrily .

his anger hurt her worse than a blow , but she did not flinch .

" you 're not engaged to her ? " she cried out .

" now , mother , be quiet .

all the settlement will hear you .

why do you object to damaris ?

you don't know how sweet she is .

when you know her "

" i will never know her ! " cried thyra furiously .

" and she shall not have you !

she shall not , chester ! "

he made no answer .

she suddenly broke into tears and loud sobs .

touched with remorse , he stopped and put his arms about her .

" mother , mother , don't !

i can't bear to see you cry so .

but , indeed , you are unreasonable .

didn't you ever think the time would come when i would want to marry , like other men ? "

" no , no !

and i will not have it i cannot bear it , chester .

you must promise not to go to see her again .

i won't go into the house this night until you do .

i 'll stay out here in the bitter cold until you promise to put her out of your thoughts . "

" that 's beyond my power , mother .

oh , mother , you 're making it hard for me .

come in , come in !

you 're shivering with cold now .

you 'll be sick . "

" not a step will i stir till you promise .

say you won't go to see that girl any more , and there 's nothing i won't do for you .

but if you put her before me , i 'll not go in i never will go in . "

with most women this would have been an empty threat ; but it was not so with thyra , and chester knew it .

he knew she would keep her word .

and he feared more than that .

in this frenzy of hers what might she not do ?

she came of a strange breed , as had been said disapprovingly when luke carewe married her .

there was a strain of insanity in the lincolns .

a lincoln woman had drowned herself once .

chester thought of the river , and grew sick with fright .

for a moment even his passion for damaris weakened before the older tie .

" mother , calm yourself .

oh , surely there 's no need of all this !

let us wait until to-morrow , and talk it over then .

i 'll hear all you have to say .

come in , dear . "

thyra loosened her arms from about him , and stepped back into a moon-lit space .

looking at him tragically , she extended her arms and spoke slowly and solemnly .

" chester , choose between us .

if you choose her , i shall go from you to-night , and you will never see me again ! "

" mother ! "

" choose ! " she reiterated , fiercely .

he felt her long ascendancy .

its influence was not to be shaken off in a moment .

in all his life he had never disobeyed her .

besides , with it all , he loved her more deeply and understandingly than most sons love their mothers .

he realized that , since she would have it so , his choice was already made or , rather that he had no choice .

" have your way , " he said sullenly .

she ran to him and caught him to her heart .

in the reaction of her feeling she was half laughing , half crying .

all was well again all would be well ; she never doubted this , for she knew he would keep his ungracious promise sacredly .

but now you are mine again ! "

she did not heed that he was sullen that he resented her unjustice with all her own intensity .

she did not heed his silence as they went into the house together .

strangely enough , she slept well and soundly that night .

she had taken him from damaris garland ; but she had not won him back to herself .

he could never be wholly her son again .

there was a barrier between them which not all her passionate love could break down .

but he avoided her , and she knew it .

the flame of her anger burned bitterly towards damaris .

" he thinks of her all the time , " she moaned to herself .

" he 'll come to hate me yet , i fear , because it 's i who made him give her up .

but i 'd rather even that than share him with another woman .

oh , my son , my son ! "

she knew that damaris was suffering , too .

the girl 's wan face told that when she met her .

but this pleased thyra .

it eased the ache in her bitter heart to know that pain was gnawing at damaris ' also .

chester was absent from home very often now .

in late november he and joe started for a trip down the coast in the latter 's boat .

thyra protested against it , but chester laughed at her alarm .

thyra saw him go with a heart sick from fear .

chester had been fond of the sea from boyhood .

but her power over him was gone now .

after chester 's departure she was restless and miserable , wandering from window to window to scan the dour , unsmiling sky .

" 't isn't safe this time of year , " he said .

" folks expect no better from that reckless , harum-scarum joe raymond .

he 'll drown himself some day , there 's nothing surer .

this mad freak of starting off down the shore in november is just of a piece with his usual performances .

but you shouldn't have let chester go , thyra . "

" i couldn't prevent him .

say what i could , he would go .

he laughed when i spoke of danger .

oh , he 's changed from what he was !

i know who has wrought the change , and i hate her for it ! "

carl shrugged his fat shoulders .

he pitied thyra , too .

she had aged rapidly the past month .

" you 're too hard on chester , thyra .

he 's out of leading-strings now , or should be .

you must just let me take an old friend 's privilege , and tell you that you 're taking the wrong way with him .

you 're too jealous and exacting , thyra . "

" you don't know anything about it .

carl could not cope with thyra 's moods .

he had never understood her , even in his youth .

cynthia was much easier to get along with .

more than thyra looked anxiously to sea and sky that night in avonlea .

damaris garland listened to the smothered roar of the atlantic in the murky northeast with a prescience of coming disaster .

friendly longshoremen shook their heads and said that ches and joe would better have kept to good , dry land .

" it 's sorry work joking with a november gale , " said abel blair .

he was an old man and , in his life , had seen some sad things along the shore .

thyra could not sleep that night .

when the gale came shrieking up the river , and struck the house , she got out of bed and dressed herself .

the wind screamed like a ravening beast at her window .

the wind raged all the next day ; but spent itself in the following night , and the second morning was calm and fair .

the eastern sky was a great arc of crystal , smitten through with auroral crimsonings .

thyra , looking from her kitchen window , saw a group of men on the bridge .

they were talking to carl white , with looks and gestures directed towards the carewe house .

she went out and down to them .

none of these who saw her white , rigid face that day ever forgot the sight .

" you have news for me , " she said .

they looked at each other , each man mutely imploring his neighbor to speak .

" you need not fear to tell me , " said thyra calmly .

" i know what you have come to say .

my son is drowned . "

" we don't know that , mrs carewe , " said abel blair quickly .

" we haven't got the worst to tell you there 's hope yet .

" don't look like that , thyra , " said carl white pityingly .

" they may have escaped they may have been picked up . "

thyra looked at him with dull eyes .

" you know they have not .

not one of you has any hope .

i have no son .

the sea has taken him from me my bonny baby ! "

she turned and went back to her desolate home .

none dared to follow her .

carl white went home and sent his wife over to her .

cynthia found thyra sitting in her accustomed chair .

her hands lay , palms upward , on her lap .

her eyes were dry and burning .

she met cynthia 's compassionate look with a fearful smile .

do you remember ?

your word was a true one .

god saw that i loved chester too much , and he meant to take him from me .

i thwarted one way when i made him give up damaris .

but one can't fight against the almighty .

it was decreed that i must lose him if not in one way , then in another .

he has been taken from me utterly .

i shall not even have his grave to tend , cynthia . "

" as near to a mad woman as anything you ever saw , with her awful eyes , " cynthia told carl , afterwards .

but she did not say so there .

it taught her the right thing to do now .

she sat down by the stricken creature and put her arms about her , while she gathered the cold hands in her own warm clasp .

the tears filled her big , blue eyes and her voice trembled as she said :

" thyra , i 'm sorry for you .

i i lost a child once my little first-born .

and chester was a dear , good lad . "

for a moment thyra strained her small , tense body away from cynthia 's embrace .

then she shuddered and cried out .

the tears came , and she wept her agony out on the other woman 's breast .

as the ill news spread , other avonlea women kept dropping in all through the day to condole with thyra .

many of them came in real sympathy , but some out of mere curiosity to see how she took it .

thyra knew this , but she did not resent it , as she would once have done .

when darkness came cynthia said she must go home , but would send one of her girls over for the night .

" you won't feel like staying alone , " she said .

thyra looked up steadily .

" no .

but i want you to send for damaris garland . "

" damaris garland ! "

cynthia repeated the name as if disbelieving her own ears .

there was never any knowing what whim thyra might take , but cynthia had not expected this .

" yes .

tell her i want her tell her she must come .

she must hate me bitterly ; but i am punished enough to satisfy even her hate .

tell her to come to me for chester 's sake . "

cynthia did as she was bid , she sent her daughter , jeanette , for damaris .

then she waited .

no matter what duties were calling for her at home she must see the interview between thyra and damaris .

her curiosity would be the last thing to fail cynthia white .

she half believed that damaris would refuse to come .

but damaris came .

jeanette brought her in amid the fiery glow of a november sunset .

thyra stood up , and for a moment they looked at each other .

the insolence of damaris ' beauty was gone .

her eyes were dull and heavy with weeping , her lips were pale , and her face had lost its laughter and dimples .

thyra looked upon her with a shock of remorse .

this was not the radiant creature she had met on the bridge that summer afternoon .

this this was her work .

she held out her arms .

" oh , damaris , forgive me .

we both loved him that must be a bond between us for life . "

damaris came forward and threw her arms about the older woman , lifting her face .

as their lips met even cynthia white realized that she had no business there .

she vented the irritation of her embarrassment on the innocent jeanette .

" come away , " she whispered crossly .

" can't you see we 're not wanted here ? "

she drew jeanette out , leaving thyra rocking damaris in her arms , and crooning over her like a mother over her child .

when december had grown old damaris was still with thyra .

it was understood that she was to remain there for the winter , at least .

thyra could not bear her to be out of her sight .

they talked constantly about chester ; thyra confessed all her anger and hatred .

damaris had forgiven her ; but thyra could never forgive herself .

she was greatly changed , and had grown very gentle and tender .

she even sent for august vorst and begged him to pardon her for the way she had spoken to him .

winter came late that year , and the season was a very open one .

a few minutes later carl and cynthia came hastily across their yard under the huge balm-of-gileads .

carl 's face was flushed , and his big body quivered with excitement .

cynthia ran behind him , with tears rolling down her face .

thyra felt herself growing sick with fear .

had anything happened to damaris ?

a glimpse of the girl , sewing by an upper window of the house , reassured her .

" oh , thyra , thyra ! " gasped cynthia .

" can you stand some good news , thyra ? " asked carl , in a trembling voice .

" very , very good news ! "

thyra looked wildly from one to the other .

" there 's but one thing you would dare to call good news to me , " she cried .

" is it about about "

" chester !

yes , it 's about chester !

thyra , he is alive he 's safe he and joe , both of them , thank god !

cynthia , catch her ! "

" no , i am not going to faint , " said thyra , steadying herself by cynthia 's shoulder .

" my son alive !

how did you hear ?

how did it happen ?

where has he been ? "

" i heard it down at the harbor , thyra .

mike mccready 's vessel , the nora lee , was just in from the magdalens .

but she was damaged by the storm and blown clear out of her course .

had to put into the magdalens for repairs , and has been there ever since .

the cable to the islands was out of order , and no vessels call there this time of year for mails .

if it hadn't been an extra open season the nora lee wouldn't have got away , but would have had to stay there till spring .

" and chester where is he ? " demanded thyra .

carl and cynthia looked at each other .

" well , thyra , " said the latter , " the fact is , he 's over there in our yard this blessed minute .

carl brought him home from the harbor , but i wouldn't let him come over until we had prepared you for it .

he 's waiting for you there . "

thyra made a quick step in the direction of the gate .

then she turned , with a little of the glow dying out of her face .

" no , there 's one has a better right to go to him first .

i can atone to him thank god , i can atone to him ! "

she went into the house and called damaris .

as the girl came down the stairs thyra held out her hands with a wonderful light of joy and renunciation on her face .

" damaris , " she said , " chester has come back to us the sea has given him back to us .

he is over at carl white 's house .

go to him , my daughter , and bring him to me ! "

xi .

the education of betty

jack was always a thoroughbred .

i was best man .

i stayed away for ten years , during which the maples was given over to moths and rust , while i enjoyed life elsewhere .

it jarred on my sense of fitness , and i tried to moderate my zest , and think more of the past than i did .

it was no use ; the present insisted on being intrusive and pleasant ; as for the future ... well , there was no future .

then jack churchill , poor fellow , died .

a year after his death , i went home and again asked sara to marry me , as in duty bound .

sara again declined , alleging that her heart was buried in jack 's grave , or words to that effect .

i found that it did not much matter ....v of course , at thirty-two one does not take these things to heart as at twenty-two .

i had enough to occupy me in getting the maples into working order , and beginning to educate betty .

betty was sara 's ten year-old daughter , and she had been thoroughly spoiled .

she was a thorough tomboy , a thin , scrawny little thing with a trace of sara 's beauty .

there were points about her , though , which i considered promising .

for jack 's sake i decided to bring his daughter up properly .

sara couldn't do it , and didn't try .

i saw that , if somebody didn't take betty in hand , wisely and firmly , she would certainly be ruined .

i might have been her father ; as it was , her father had been my best friend .

who had a better right to watch over his daughter ?

i determined to be a father to betty , and do all for her that the most devoted parent could do .

it was , self-evidently , my duty .

i told sara i was going to take betty in hand .

her poor father indulged her in everything , and she has a will of her own , i assure you .

i have really no control over her , whatever .

she does as she pleases , and is ruining her complexion by running and galloping out of doors the whole time .

not that she had much complexion to start with .

the churchills never had , you know . " ....x sara cast a complacent glance at her delicately tinted reflection in the mirror ....y .

" i tried to make betty wear a sunbonnet this summer , but i might as well have talked to the wind . "

i rewarded her with a compliment .

she may have improved vastly by the time she has grown up .

but even the best material may be spoiled by unwise handling .

i think i can promise you that i will not spoil it .

sara did not understand me in the least ; but , then , she did not pretend to .

" i confide betty 's education entirely to you , stephen , " she said , with another plaintive sigh .

" i feel sure i could not put it into better hands .

you have always been a person who could be thoroughly depended on . "

well , that was something by way of reward for a life-long devotion .

i felt that i was satisfied with my position as unofficial advisor-in-chief to sara and self-appointed guardian of betty .

i had a sixth sense which informed me that a staid old family friend might succeed with betty where a stepfather would have signally failed .

fortunately for the success of my enterprise , betty liked me .

" you are one of the very nicest old folks i know , stephen .

yes , you are a ripping good fellow ! "

i should have stuck to it , because that is my way ; but betty would have made my life a misery to me .

i thought it best to tell her plainly that i was going to look after her .

" mother says you are going to take charge of my education , stephen , " said betty , as soon as she could speak .

" i 'm glad , because i think that , for an old person , you have a good deal of sense .

" thank you , betty , " i said gravely .

" i hope i shall deserve your good opinion of my sense .

i shall expect you to do as i tell you , and be guided by my advice in everything . "

you won't shut me up in a room and make me sew , will you ?

because i won't do it . "

i assured her i would not .

" nor send me to a boarding-school , " pursued betty .

" mother 's always threatening to send me to one .

i suppose she would have done it before this , only she knew i 'd run away .

you won't send me to a boarding-school , will you , stephen ?

because i won't go . "

" no , " i said obligingly .

" i won't .

i should never dream of cooping a wild little thing , like you , up in a boarding-school .

you 'd fret your heart out like a caged skylark . "

" you are so good at understanding .

very few people are .

even dad darling didn't understand .

i hate dolls !

real live babies are jolly ; but dogs and horses are ever so much nicer than dolls . "

" but you must have lessons , betty .

" i 'll try , honest and true , stephen , " declared betty .

and she kept her word .

as i had premised , betty was good material , and responded to my training with gratifying plasticity .

day by day , week by week , month by month , her character and temperament unfolded naturally under my watchful eye .

it was like beholding the gradual development of some rare flower in one 's garden .

betty was kind enough to say that i had taught her everything she knew .

but what had she not taught me ?

if there were a debt between us , it was on my side .

sara was fairly well satisfied .

it was not my fault that betty was not better looking , she said .

i had certainly done everything for her mind and character that could be done .

where are your eyes , my dear lady , that you can't see the promise of loveliness in betty ? "

" betty is seventeen , and she is as lanky and brown as ever she was , " sighed sara .

" when i was seventeen i was the belle of the county and had had five proposals .

i don't believe the thought of a lover has ever entered betty 's head . "

" i hope not , " i said shortly .

somehow , i did not like the suggestion .

" betty is a child yet .

for pity 's sake , sara , don't go putting nonsensical ideas into her head . "

" i 'm afraid i can't , " mourned sara , as if it were something to be regretted .

" you have filled it too full of books and things like that .

i 've every confidence in your judgment , stephen and really you 've done wonders with betty .

but don't you think you 've made her rather too clever ?

men don't like women who are too clever .

her poor father , now he always said that a woman who liked books better than beaux was an unnatural creature . "

i didn't believe jack had ever said anything so foolish .

sara imagined things .

but i resented the aspersion of blue-stockingness cast on betty .

just at present her head is a great deal better filled with books than with silly premature fancies and sentimentalities .

i 'm a critical old fellow but i 'm satisfied with betty , sara perfectly satisfied . "

sara sighed .

" oh , i dare say she is all right , stephen .

and i 'm really grateful to you .

i 'm sure i could have done nothing at all with her .

it 's not your fault , of course , but i can't help wishing she were a little more like other girls . "

i galloped away from glenby in a rage .

what a blessing sara had not married me in my absurd youth !

she would have driven me wild with her sighs and her obtuseness and her everlasting pink-and-whiteness .

but there there there gently !

for that , much might be forgiven her .

was betty really unlike other girls ?

that is to say , unlike them in any respect wherein she should resemble them ?

i wanted betty to have her full complement of girlhood in all its best and highest manifestation .

was there anything lacking ?

eventually i concluded to do what i had never thought myself in the least likely to do .

i would send betty to a boarding-school for a year .

it was necessary that she should learn how to live with other girls .

i went over to glenby the next day and found betty under the beeches on the lawn , just back from a canter .

more than all , the soul in her was still the soul of a child .

i found myself wishing that it could always remain so .

when i told betty that she must go away to a school for a year , she shrugged , frowned and consented .

but betty had acquired confidence in me to the beautiful extent of acquiescing in everything i commanded .

" i 'll go , of course , since you wish it , stephen , " she said .

" but why do you want me to go ?

you must have a reason you always have a reason for anything you do .

what is it ? "

" that is for you to find out , betty , " i said .

" by the time you come back you will have discovered it , i think .

if not , it will not have proved itself a good reason and shall be forgotten . "

when betty went away i bade her good-by without burdening her with any useless words of advice .

" write to me every week , and remember that you are betty churchill , " i said .

betty was standing on the steps above , among her dogs .

she came down a step and put her arms about my neck .

" i 'll remember that you are my friend and that i must live up to you , " she said .

" good-by , stephen . "

so i looked my last on the child betty .

that was a lonely year .

my occupation was gone and i began to fear that i had outlived my usefulness .

life seemed flat , stale , and unprofitable .

betty 's weekly letters were all that lent it any savor .

they were spicy and piquant enough .

betty was discovered to have unsuspected talents in the epistolary line .

at first she was dolefully homesick , and begged me to let her come home .

when i refused it was amazingly hard to refuse she sulked through three letters , then cheered up and began to enjoy herself .

but it was nearly the end of the year when she wrote :

" i 've found out why you sent me here , stephen and i 'm glad you did . "

i had to be away from home on unavoidable business the day betty returned to glenby .

but the next afternoon i went over .

i found betty out and sara in .

the latter was beaming .

betty was so much improved , she declared delightedly .

i would hardly know " the dear child . "

this alarmed me terribly .

what on earth had they done to betty ?

i found that she had gone up to the pineland for a walk , and thither i betook myself speedily .

betty was a woman !

she was a woman , looking , all unconscious of her quest , for love .

i was glad .

she was what i had wished her to become .

but i wanted the child betty back ; this womanly betty seemed far away from me .

i stepped out into the path and she saw me , with a brightening of her whole face .

i took her hand there were no kisses this time .

" welcome home , betty , " i said .

" oh , stephen , it is so good to be back , " she breathed , her eyes shining .

she did not say it was good to see me again , as i had hoped she would do .

indeed , after the first minute of greeting , she seemed a trifle cool and distant .

we walked for an hour in the pine wood and talked .

betty was brilliant , witty , self-possessed , altogether charming .

i thought her perfect and yet my heart ached .

what a glorious young thing she was , in that splendid youth of hers !

what a prize for some lucky man confound the obtrusive thought !

no doubt we should soon be overrun at glenby with lovers .

i should stumble over some forlorn youth at every step !

well , what of it ?

betty would marry , of course .

it would be my duty to see that she got a good husband , worthy of her as men go .

i thought i preferred the old duty of superintending her studies .

but there , it was all the same thing merely a post-graduate course in applied knowledge .

then , and not until then , would betty 's education be complete .

i rode home very soberly .

when i reached the maples i did what i had not done for years...looked critically at myself in the mirror .

the realization that i had grown older came home to me with a new and unpleasant force .

there were marked lines on my lean face , and silver glints in the dark hair over my temples .

when betty was ten she had thought me " an old person . "

now , at eighteen , she probably thought me a veritable ancient of days .

pshaw , what did it matter ?

my premonitions as to lovers proved correct .

glenby was soon infested with them .

heaven knows where they all came from .

i had not supposed there was a quarter as many young men in the whole county ; but there they were .

sara was in the seventh heaven of delight .

was not betty at last a belle ?

one could guess what that meant .

betty apparently enjoyed all this .

i grieve to say that she was a bit of a coquette .

i tried to cure her of this serious defect , but for once i found that i had undertaken something i could not accomplish .

in vain i lectured , betty only laughed ; in vain i gravely rebuked , betty only flirted more vivaciously than before .

men might come and men might go , but betty went on forever .

i endured this sort of thing for a year and then i decided that it was time to interfere seriously .

i must find a husband for betty...my fatherly duty would not be fulfilled until i had ....y nor , indeed , my duty to society .

she was not a safe person to have running at large .

none of the men who haunted glenby was good enough for her .

i decided that my nephew , frank , would do very well .

he was a capital young fellow , handsome , clean-souled , and whole-hearted .

yes , he should have betty , confound him !

they had never met .

i set the wheels going at once .

the sooner all the fuss was over the better .

i hated fuss and there was bound to be a good deal of it .

but i went about the business like an accomplished matchmaker .

women never like a paragon .

betty heard me with more gravity than she usually accorded to my dissertations on young men .

she even condescended to ask several questions about him .

this i thought a good sign .

he would have been more than mortal if he had not fallen in love with her upon the spot .

it was not in the heart of man to resist her ....y that dainty , alluring bit of womanhood .

then i pulled myself together and left them alone .

i might have gone in and talked to sara...two old folks gently reviewing their youth while the young folks courted outside ....v but i did not .

well , what of it ?

was not that what i had brought him there for ?

and was i not pleased at the success of my scheme ?

certainly i was !

delighted !

next day frank went to glenby without even making the poor pretense of asking me to accompany him .

i spent the time of his absence overseeing the construction of a new greenhouse i was having built .

i was conscientious in my supervision ; but i felt no interest in it .

i had it now in my pocket-book .

confound it , mightn't a future uncle cherish a family affection for his prospective niece ?

frank 's wooing seemed to prosper .

the other young sparks , who had haunted glenby , faded away after his advent .

at the end of a month something went wrong .

frank came home from glenby one day in the dumps , and moped for two whole days .

i rode down myself on the third .

as usual , i found betty in the pineland .

i thought she looked rather pale and dull...fretting about frank no doubt .

" i am glad you haven't forgotten us altogether , stephen , " she said coolly .

" you haven't been down for a week . "

" i shouldn't have supposed you 'd want an old fogy like myself poking about and spoiling the idyllic moments of love 's young dream . "

" why do you always speak of yourself as old ? " said betty , crossly , ignoring my reference to frank .

" because i am old , my dear .

witness these gray hairs . "

i pushed up my hat to show them the more recklessly .

betty barely glanced at them .

" you have just enough to give you a distinguished look , " she said , " and you are only forty .

a man is in his prime at forty .

he never has any sense until he is forty and sometimes he doesn't seem to have any even then , " she concluded impertinently .

my heart beat .

did betty suspect ?

was that last sentence meant to inform me that she was aware of my secret folly , and laughed at it ?

" i came over to see what has gone wrong between you and frank , " i said gravely .

betty bit her lips .

" nothing , " she said .

don't tell me i have failed .

i 'll give you another chance .

have you quarreled with frank ? "

" no , " said the maddening betty , " he quarreled with me .

he went away in a temper and i do not care if he never comes back ! "

i shook my head .

" this won't do , betty .

as your old family friend i still claim the right to scold you until you have a husband to do the scolding .

you mustn't torment frank .

he is too fine a fellow .

you must marry him , betty . "

" must i ? " said betty , a dusky red flaming out on her cheek .

she turned her eyes on me in a most disconcerting fashion .

" do you wish me to marry frank , stephen ? "

betty had a wretched habit of emphasizing pronouns in a fashion calculated to rattle anybody .

" you must marry some time , betty , and frank is the only man i know to whom i could trust you .

as your guardian , i have an interest in seeing you well and wisely settled for life .

you won't prove rebellious now , i 'm sure .

you know quite well that i am advising you for your own good .

frank is a splendid young fellow , who loves you with all his heart .

marry him , betty .

mind , i don't command .

i have no right to do that , and you are too old to be ordered about , if i had .

but i wish and advise it .

isn't that enough , betty ? "

i had been looking away from her all the time i was talking , gazing determinedly down a sunlit vista of pines .

every word i said seemed to tear my heart , and come from my lips stained with life-blood .

yes , betty should marry frank !

but , good god , what would become of me !

betty left her station under the pine tree , and walked around me until she got right in front of my face .

i couldn't help looking at her , for if i moved my eyes she moved too .

there was nothing meek or submissive about her ; her head was held high , her eyes were blazing , and her cheeks were crimson .

but her words were meek enough .

" i will marry frank if you wish it , stephen , " she said .

" you are my friend .

i have never crossed your wishes , and , as you say , i have never regretted being guided by them .

i will do exactly as you wish in this case also , i promise you that .

but , in so solemn a question , i must be very certain what you do wish .

there must be no doubt in my mind or heart .

do you , stephen ? "

that unfaltering , impelling gaze of hers drew the truth from my lips in spite of myself .

" no , i don't wish you to marry frank douglas , a thousand times no ! "

i said passionately .

" i don't wish you to marry any man on earth but myself .

i love you i love you , betty .

you are dearer to me than life dearer to me than my own happiness .

it was your happiness i thought of and so i asked you to marry frank because i believed he would make you a happy woman .

that is all ! "

betty 's defiance went from her like a flame blown out .

she turned away and drooped her proud head .

" it could not have made me a happy woman to marry one man , loving another , " she said , in a whisper .

i got up and went over to her .

" betty , whom do you love ? "

i asked , also in a whisper .

" you , " she murmured meekly oh , so meekly , my proud little girl !

" betty , " i said brokenly , " i 'm old too old for you i 'm more than twenty years your senior i 'm "

" oh ! "

betty wheeled around on me and stamped her foot .

" don't mention your age to me again .

i don't care if you 're as old as methuselah .

but i 'm not going to coax you to marry me , sir !

if you won't , i 'll never marry anybody i'll live and die an old maid .

you can please yourself , of course ! "

she turned away , half-laughing , half-crying ; but i caught her in my arms and crushed her sweet lips against mine .

" betty , i 'm the happiest man in the world and i was the most miserable when i came here . "

" you deserved to be , " said betty cruelly .

" i 'm glad you were .

any man as stupid as you deserves to be unhappy .

what do you think i felt like , loving you with all my heart , and seeing you simply throwing me at another man 's head .

why , i 've always loved you , stephen ; but i didn't know it until i went to that detestable school .

then i found out and i thought that was why you had sent me .

but , when i came home , you almost broke my heart .

that was why i flirted so with all those poor , nice boys i wanted to hurt you but i never thought i succeeded .

you just went on being fatherly .

but i had to have one more try for happiness first .

i had just one little hope to inspire me with sufficient boldness .

i saw you , that night , when you came back here and picked up my rose !

i had come back , myself , to be alone and unhappy . "

" it is the most wonderful thing that ever happened that you should love me , " i said .

" it's not i couldn't help it , " said betty , nestling her brown head on my shoulder .

" you taught me everything else , stephen , so nobody but you could teach me how to love .

you 've made a thorough thing of educating me . "

" when will you marry me , betty ? "

i asked .

" as soon as i can fully forgive you for trying to make me marry somebody else , " said betty .

it was rather hard lines on frank , when you come to think of it .

but , such is the selfishness of human nature that we didn't think much about frank .

the young fellow behaved like the douglas he was .

he has since married and is , i understand , very happy .

xii .

in her selfless mood

the raw wind of an early may evening was puffing in and out the curtains of the room where naomi holland lay dying .

the air was moist and chill , but the sick woman would not have the window closed .

" i can't get my breath if you shut everything up so tight , " she said .

" whatever comes , i ain't going to be smothered to death , car'line holland . "

outside of the window grew a cherry tree , powdered with moist buds with the promise of blossoms she would not live to see .

between its boughs she saw a crystal cup of sky over hills that were growing dim and purple .

the outside air was full of sweet , wholesome springtime sounds that drifted in fitfully .

there were voices and whistles in the barnyard , and now and then faint laughter .

a bird alighted for a moment on a cherry bough , and twittered restlessly .

the room was a small , plain one .

the floor was bare , save for a couple of braided rugs , the plaster discolored , the walls dingy and glaring .

there had never been much beauty in naomi holland 's environment , and , now that she was dying , there was even less .

at the open window a boy of about ten years was leaning out over the sill and whistling .

he had a weak chin , and a full , sullen mouth .

between the paroxysms she kept up her keen interest in the life that went on about her .

nothing escaped her sharp , alert eyes and ears .

in the dim light her extremely long face looked corpse-like already .

her black hair lay in a heavy braid over the pillow and down the counterpane .

it was all that was left of her beauty , and she took a fierce joy in it .

those long , glistening , sinuous tresses must be combed and braided every day , no matter what came .

a girl of fourteen was curled up on a chair at the head of the bed , with her head resting on the pillow .

the boy at the window was her half-brother ; but , between christopher holland and eunice carr , not the slightest resemblance existed .

presently the sibilant silence was broken by a low , half-strangled sob .

the sick woman , who had been watching a white evening star through the cherry boughs , turned impatiently at the sound .

" i wish you 'd get over that , eunice , " she said sharply .

" i don't want any one crying over me until i 'm dead ; and then you 'll have plenty else to do , most likely .

if it wasn't for christopher i wouldn't be anyways unwilling to die .

when one has had such a life as i 've had , there isn't much in death to be afraid of .

only , a body would like to go right off , and not die by inches , like this .

' tain't fair ! "

the boy at the window stopped whistling , and the girl silently wiped her eyes on her faded gingham apron .

naomi drew her own hair over her lips , and kissed it .

" you 'll never have hair like that , eunice , " she said .

" it does seem most too pretty to bury , doesn't it ?

mind you see that it is fixed nice when i 'm laid out .

comb it right up on my head and braid it there . "

" chris , " she said sharply , " you get right off for the cows , you lazy little scamp !

you knew right well you had to go for them , and here you 've been idling , and me looking high and low for you .

make haste now ; it 's ridiculous late . "

she went over to the bed , and straightened the clothes .

" sarah and i are going out to milk , naomi , eunice will stay with you .

she can run for us if you feel another spell coming on . "

naomi holland looked up at her sister-in-law with something like malicious enjoyment .

" i ain't going to have any more spells , car'line anne .

i 'm going to die to-night .

but you needn't hurry milking for that , at all .

i 'll take my time . "

she liked to see the alarm that came over the other woman 's face .

it was richly worth while to scare caroline holland like that .

" are you feeling worse , naomi ? " asked the latter shakily .

" if you are i 'll send for charles to go for the doctor . "

" no , you won't .

what good can the doctor do me ?

i don't want either his or charles ' permission to die .

you can go and milk at your ease .

i won't die till you 're done i won't deprive you of the pleasure of seeing me . "

mrs holland shut her lips and went out of the room with a martyr-like expression .

even on her death-bed her hostility to her sister-in-law had to find vent .

outside , at the steps , sarah spencer was waiting , with the milk pails over her arm .

sarah spencer had no fixed abiding place , but was always to be found where there was illness .

her experience , and an utter lack of nerves , made her a good nurse .

she was a tall , homely woman with iron gray hair and a lined face .

beside her , the trim little caroline anne , with her light step and round , apple-red face , looked almost girlish .

the two women walked to the barnyard , discussing naomi in undertones as they went .

the house they had left behind grew very still .

in naomi holland 's room the shadows were gathering .

eunice timidly bent over her mother .

" ma , do you want the light lit ? "

" no , i 'm watching that star just below the big cherry bough .

i 'll see it set behind the hill .

i 've seen it there , off and on , for twelve years , and now i 'm taking a good-by look at it .

i want you to keep still , too .

i 've got a few things to think over , and i don't want to be disturbed . "

the girl lifted herself about noiselessly and locked her hands over the bed-post .

then she laid her face down on them , biting at them silently until the marks of her teeth showed white against their red roughness .

naomi holland did not notice her .

she was looking steadfastly at the great , pearl-like sparkle in the faint-hued sky .

but , when she spoke , her voice was quite calm .

" you can light the candle now , eunice .

put it up on the shelf here , where it won't shine in my eyes .

and then sit down on the foot of the bed where i can see you .

i 've got something to say to you . "

eunice obeyed her noiselessly .

as the pallid light shot up , it revealed the child plainly .

she was thin and ill-formed one shoulder being slightly higher than the other .

her eyes were a dark brown , and over one was the slanting red scar of a birth mark .

naomi holland looked at her with the contempt she had never made any pretense of concealing .

" the door is shut , is it , eunice ? "

eunice nodded .

" because i don't want car'line or any one else peeking and harking to what i 've got to say .

she 's out milking now , and i must make the most of the chance .

eunice , i'm going to die , and ....n "

" ma ! "

" there now , no taking on !

you knew it had to come sometime soon .

i haven't the strength to talk much , so i want you just to be quiet and listen .

i ain't feeling any pain now , so i can think and talk pretty clear .

are you listening , eunice ? "

" yes , ma . "

" mind you are .

it 's about christopher .

it hasn't been out of my mind since i laid down here .

i 've fought for a year to live , on his account , and it ain't any use .

i must just die and leave him , and i don't know what he 'll do .

it 's dreadful to think of . "

she paused , and struck her shrunken hand sharply against the table .

" if he was bigger and could look out for himself it wouldn't be so bad .

but he is only a little fellow , and car'line hates him .

you 'll both have to live with her until you 're grown up .

she 'll put on him and abuse him .

he 's like his father in some ways ; he 's got a temper and he is stubborn .

he 'll never get on with car'line .

you 've got to ; it 's your duty .

but i want you to promise . "

" i will , ma , " whispered the girl solemnly .

" you haven't much force you never had .

if you was smart , you could do a lot for him .

but you 'll have to do your best .

eunice , promise me this ! "

in her excitement the sick woman raised herself up in the bed , and clutched the girl 's thin arm .

her eyes were blazing and two scarlet spots glowed in her thin cheeks .

eunice 's face was white and tense .

she clasped her hands as one in prayer .

" mother , i promise it ! "

naomi relaxed her grip on the girl 's arm and sank back exhausted on the pillow .

a death-like look came over her face as the excitement faded .

" my mind is easier now .

but if i could only have lived another year or two !

and i hate car'line hate her !

eunice , don't you ever let her abuse my boy !

if she did , or if you neglected him , i 'd come back from my grave to you !

as for the property , things will be pretty straight .

i 've seen to that .

there'll be no squabbling and doing christopher out of his rights .

he 's to have the farm as soon as he 's old enough to work it , and he 's to provide for you .

and , eunice , remember what you 've promised ! "

" you 'd better go in and look at her , sarah , " she said , as she rinsed out the pails .

" if you think i 'd better stay here to-night , i will .

when sarah went in , the sick room was very quiet .

naomi was as cool and defiant as customary .

she made them bring christopher in to say good-night and had him lifted up on the bed to kiss her .

then she held him back and looked at him admiringly at the bright curls and rosy cheeks and round , firm limbs .

the boy was uncomfortable under her gaze and squirmed hastily down .

her eyes followed him greedily , as he went out .

when the door closed behind him , she groaned .

sarah spencer was startled .

she had never heard naomi holland groan since she had come to wait on her .

" are you feeling any worse , naomi ?

is the pain coming back ? "

" no .

go and tell car'line to give christopher some of that grape jelly on his bread before he goes to bed .

she 'll find it in the cupboard under the stairs . "

presently the house grew very still .

caroline had dropped asleep on the sitting-room lounge , across the hall .

sarah spencer nodded over her knitting by the table in the sick room .

she had told eunice to go to bed , but the child refused .

she still sat huddled up on the foot of the bed , watching her mother 's face intently .

naomi appeared to sleep .

the wavering light cast grotesque shadows of sarah spencer 's head on the wall .

the thin curtains at the window wavered to and fro , as if shaken by ghostly hands .

at midnight naomi holland opened her eyes .

the child she had never loved was the only one to go with her to the brink of the unseen .

" eunice remember ! "

it was the faintest whisper .

the soul , passing over the threshold of another life , strained back to its only earthly tie .

a quiver passed over the long , pallid face .

a horrible scream rang through the silent house .

sarah spencer sprang out of her doze in consternation , and gazed blankly at the shrieking child .

caroline came hurrying in with distended eyes .

on the bed naomi holland lay dead .

in the room where she had died naomi holland lay in her coffin .

it was dim and hushed ; but , in the rest of the house , the preparations for the funeral were being hurried on .

through it all eunice moved , calm and silent .

since her one wild spasm of screaming by her mother 's death-bed she had shed no tear , given no sign of grief .

perhaps , as her mother had said , she had no time .

there was christopher to be looked after .

the boy 's grief was stormy and uncontrolled .

he had cried until he was utterly exhausted .

it was eunice who soothed him , coaxed him to eat , kept him constantly by her .

at night she took him to her own room and watched over him while he slept .

when the funeral was over the household furniture was packed away or sold .

the house was locked up and the farm rented .

there was nowhere for the children to go , save to their uncle 's .

she had five children of her own and between them and christopher a standing feud had existed from the time he could walk .

she had never liked naomi .

few people did .

benjamin holland had not married until late in life , and his wife had declared war on his family at sight .

she was a stranger in avonlea , a widow , with a three year-old child .

she made few friends , as some people always asserted that she was not in her right mind .

within a year of her second marriage christopher was born , and from the hour of his birth his mother had worshiped him blindly .

he was her only solace .

for him she toiled and pinched and saved .

naomi made no pretense of mourning for him .

it was an open secret that they had quarreled like the proverbial cat and dog .

charles holland and his wife had naturally sided with benjamin , and naomi fought her battles single-handed .

after her husband 's death , she managed to farm alone , and made it pay .

her will won for her an added year of life , and then she had to yield .

but caroline holland was not a bad or unkind woman .

caroline thought she had done well by her sister-in-law .

when the red clay was heaped over naomi 's grave in the avonlea burying ground , caroline took eunice and christopher home with her .

christopher did not want to go ; it was eunice who reconciled him .

he clung to her with an exacting affection born of loneliness and grief .

the boy was sullen and obstinate , but his sister had an unfailing influence over him .

in charles holland 's household no one was allowed to eat the bread of idleness .

his own children were all girls , and christopher came in handy as a chore boy .

he was made to work perhaps too hard .

but eunice helped him , and did half his work for him when nobody knew .

when he quarreled with his cousins , she took his part ; whenever possible she took on herself the blame and punishment of his misdeeds .

electa holland was charles ' unmarried sister .

she had kept house for benjamin until he married ; then naomi had bundled her out .

electa had never forgiven her for it .

her hatred passed on to naomi 's children .

in a hundred petty ways she revenged herself on them .

for herself , eunice bore it patiently ; but it was a different matter when it touched christopher .

once electa boxed christopher 's ears .

eunice , who was knitting by the table , stood up .

a resemblance to her mother , never before visible , came out in her face like a brand .

she lifted her hand and slapped electa 's cheek deliberately twice , leaving a dull red mark where she struck .

you have no right to touch him . "

" my patience , what a fury ! " said electa .

" naomi holland 'll never be dead as long as you 're alive ! "

she told charles of the affair and eunice was severely punished .

but electa never interfered with christopher again .

all the discordant elements in the holland household could not prevent the children from growing up .

it was a consummation which the harrassed caroline devoutly wished .

when christopher holland was seventeen he was a man grown a big , strapping fellow .

his childish beauty had coarsened , but he was thought handsome by many .

he took charge of his mother 's farm then , and the brother and sister began their new life together in the long-unoccupied house .

there were few regrets on either side when they left charles holland 's roof .

in her secret heart eunice felt an unspeakable relief .

christopher had been " hard to manage , " as his uncle said , in the last year .

he was getting into the habit of keeping late hours and doubtful company .

this always provoked an explosion of wrath from charles holland , and the conflicts between him and his nephew were frequent and bitter .

for four years after their return home eunice had a hard and anxious life .

christopher was idle and dissipated .

most people regarded him as a worthless fellow , and his uncle washed his hands of him utterly .

only eunice never failed him ; she never reproached or railed ; she worked like a slave to keep things together .

eventually her patience prevailed .

christopher , to a great extent , reformed and worked harder .

he was never unkind to eunice , even in his rages .

it was not in him to appreciate or return her devotion ; but his tolerant acceptance of it was her solace .

when eunice was twenty-eight , edward bell wanted to marry her .

she might have succeeded had it not been for christopher .

if eunice married and left him he would sell the farm and go to the devil by way of the klondike .

he could not , and would not , do without her .

no arrangement suggested by caroline availed to pacify him , and , in the end , eunice refused to marry edward bell .

she could not leave christopher , she said simply , and in this she stood rock-firm .

caroline could not budge her an inch .

" you 're a fool , eunice , " she said , when she was obliged to give up in despair .

" it 's not likely you 'll ever have another chance .

as for chris , in a year or two he 'll be marrying himself , and where will you be then ?

you 'll find your nose nicely out of joint when he brings a wife in here . "

the shaft went home .

eunice 's lips turned white .

but she said , faintly , " the house is big enough for us both , if he does . "

caroline sniffed .

" maybe so .

you 'll find out .

however , there 's no use talking .

you 're as set as your mother was , and nothing would ever budge her an inch .

i only hope you won't be sorry for it . "

when three more years had passed christopher began to court victoria pye .

the affair went on for some time before either eunice or the hollands go wind of it .

when they did there was an explosion .

between the hollands and the pyes , root and branch , existed a feud that dated back for three generations .

when christopher flew so openly in the face of this cherished hatred , there could be nothing less than consternation .

charles holland broke through his determination to have nothing to do with christopher , to remonstrate .

caroline went to eunice in as much of a splutter as if christopher had been her own brother .

eunice did not care a row of pins for the holland-pye feud .

victoria was to her what any other girl , upon whom christopher cast eyes of love , would have been a supplanter .

for the first time in her life she was torn with passionate jealousy ; existence became a nightmare to her .

urged on by caroline , and her own pain , she ventured to remonstrate with christopher , also .

she had expected a burst of rage , but he was surprisingly good-natured .

he seemed even amused .

" what have you got against victoria ? " he asked , tolerantly .

eunice had no answer ready .

it was true that nothing could be said against the girl .

she felt helpless and baffled .

christopher laughed at her silence .

" i guess you 're a little jealous , " he said .

" you must have expected i would get married some time .

this house is big enough for us all .

you 'd better look at the matter sensibly , eunice .

don't let charles and caroline put nonsense into your head .

a man must marry to please himself . "

christopher was out late that night .

eunice waited up for him , as she always did .

it was a chilly spring evening , reminding her of the night her mother had died .

the kitchen was in spotless order , and she sat down on a stiff-backed chair by the window to wait for her brother .

she did not want a light .

the moonlight fell in with faint illumination .

outside , the wind was blowing over a bed of new-sprung mint in the garden , and was suggestively fragrant .

it was a very old-fashioned garden , full of perennials naomi holland had planted long ago .

eunice always kept it primly neat .

she had been working in it that day , and felt tired .

she was all alone in the house and the loneliness filled her with a faint dread .

she had tried all that day to reconcile herself to christopher 's marriage , and had partially succeeded .

she told herself that she could still watch over him and care for his comfort .

she would even try to love victoria ; after all , it might be pleasant to have another woman in the house .

so , sitting there , she fed her hungry soul with these husks of comfort .

when she heard christopher 's step she moved about quickly to get a light .

he frowned when he saw her ; he had always resented her sitting up for him .

he sat down by the stove and took off his boots , while eunice got a lunch for him .

after he had eaten it in silence he made no move to go to bed .

a chill , premonitory fear crept over eunice .

eunice clasped her hands together under the table .

it was what she had been expecting .

she said so , in a monotonous voice .

you wouldn't find it comfortable , anyhow , having to step back to second place after being mistress here so long . "

eunice tried to speak , but only an indistinct murmur came from her bloodless lips .

the sound made christopher look up .

something in her face irritated him .

he pushed back his chair impatiently .

" now , eunice , don't go taking on .

it won't be any use .

look at this business in a sensible way .

i 'm fond of you , and all that , but a man is bound to consider his wife first .

i 'll provide for you comfortably . "

" do you mean to say that your wife is going to turn me out ? "

eunice gasped , rather than spoke , the words .

christopher drew his reddish brows together .

" i just mean that victoria says she won't marry me if she has to live with you .

she 's afraid of you .

i told her you wouldn't interfere with her , but she wasn't satisfied .

it 's your own fault , eunice .

you 've always been so queer and close that people think you 're an awful crank .

victoria 's young and lively , and you and she wouldn't get on at all .

there isn't any question of turning you out .

i 'll build a little house for you somewhere , and you 'll be a great deal better off there than you would be here .

so don't make a fuss . "

eunice did not look as if she were going to make a fuss .

she sat as if turned to stone , her hands lying palm upward in her lap .

christopher got up , hugely relieved that the dreaded explanation was over .

" guess i 'll go to bed .

you 'd better have gone long ago .

it 's all nonsense , this waiting up for me . "

when he had gone eunice drew a long , sobbing breath and looked about her like a dazed soul .

all the sorrow of her life was as nothing to the desolation that assailed her now .

she rose and , with uncertain footsteps , passed out through the hall and into the room where her mother died .

she had always kept it locked and undisturbed ; it was arranged just as naomi holland had left it .

eunice tottered to the bed and sat down on it .

she recalled the promise she had made to her mother in that very room .

was the power to keep it to be wrested from her ?

was she to be driven from her home and parted from the only creature she had on earth to love ?

and would christopher allow it , after all her sacrifices for him ?

aye , that he would !

he cared more for that black-eyed , waxen-faced girl at the old pye place than for his own kin .

eunice put her hands over her dry , burning eyes and groaned aloud .

caroline holland had her hour of triumph over eunice when she heard it all .

to one of her nature there was no pleasure so sweet as that of saying , " i told you so . "

having said it , however , she offered eunice a home .

electa holland was dead , and eunice might fill her place very acceptably , if she would .

" you can't go off and live by yourself , " caroline told her .

" it 's all nonsense to talk of such a thing .

we will give you a home , if christopher is going to turn you out .

you were always a fool , eunice , to pet and pamper him as you 've done .

this is the thanks you get for it turned out like a dog for his fine wife 's whim !

i only wish your mother was alive ! "

it was probably the first time caroline had ever wished this .

she had flown at christopher like a fury about the matter , and had been rudely insulted for her pains .

christopher had told her to mind her own business .

when caroline cooled down she made some arrangements with him , to all of which eunice listlessly assented .

she did not care what became of her .

in charles holland 's household she took electa 's place an unpaid upper servant .

charles and caroline were kind enough to her , and there was plenty to do .

the latter never betrayed any interest in them , save once .

then eunice 's sallow face crimsoned , and her eyes flashed , over the desecration .

but no word of comment or complaint ever crossed her lips .

she knew , as every one else knew , that the glamor soon went from christopher holland 's married life .

the marriage proved an unhappy one .

not unnaturally , although unjustly , eunice blamed victoria for this , and hated her more than ever for it .

christopher seldom came to charles ' house .

possibly he felt ashamed .

he had grown into a morose , silent man , at home and abroad .

it was said he had gone back to his old drinking habits .

one fall victoria holland went to town to visit her married sister .

she took their only child with her .

in her absence christopher kept house for himself .

it was a fall long remembered in avonlea .

with the dropping of the leaves , and the shortening of the dreary days , the shadow of a fear fell over the land .

charles holland brought the fateful news home one night .

" there 's smallpox in charlottetown five or six cases .

came in one of the vessels .

there was a concert , and a sailor from one of the ships was there , and took sick the next day . "

this was alarming enough .

charlottetown was not so very far away and considerable traffic went on between it and the north shore districts .

when caroline recounted the concert story to christopher the next morning his ruddy face turned quite pale .

he opened his lips as if to speak , then closed them again .

her eyes had been busy while her tongue ran on , so she did not notice the man 's pallor and silence .

" ten to fourteen days , i calc'late , " was her answer .

" i must see about having the girls vaccinated right off .

it 'll likely spread .

when do you expect victoria home ? "

" when she 's ready to come , whenever that will be , " was the gruff response .

a week later caroline said to eunice , " whatever 's got christopher ?

he hasn't been out anywhere for ages just hangs round home the whole time .

it 's something new for him .

i s'pose the place is so quiet , now madam victoria 's away , that he can find some rest for his soul .

i believe i 'll run over after milking and see how he 's getting on .

you might as well come , too , eunice . "

eunice shook her head .

she had all her mother 's obstinacy , and darken victoria 's door she would not .

after milking , caroline threw a shawl over her head and ran across the field .

the house looked lonely and deserted .

as she fumbled at the latch of the gate the kitchen door opened , and christopher holland appeared on the threshold .

" don't come any farther , " he called .

caroline fell back in blank astonishment .

was this some more of victoria 's work ?

" i ain't an agent for the smallpox , " she called back viciously .

christopher did not heed her .

" will you go home and ask uncle if he 'll go , or send for doctor spencer ?

he 's the smallpox doctor .

i 'm sick . "

caroline felt a thrill of dismay and fear .

she faltered a few steps backward .

" sick ?

what 's the matter with you ? "

" i was in charlottetown that night , and went to the concert .

that sailor sat right beside me .

i thought at the time he looked sick .

it was just twelve days ago .

i 've felt bad all day yesterday and to-day .

send for the doctor .

don't come near the house , or let any one else come near . "

he went in and shut the door .

caroline stood for a few moments in an almost ludicrous panic .

then she turned and ran , as if for her life , across the field .

eunice saw her coming and met her at the door .

" mercy on us ! " gasped caroline .

" christopher 's sick and he thinks he 's got the smallpox .

where 's charles ? "

eunice tottered back against the door .

her hand went up to her side in a way that had been getting very common with her of late .

even in the midst of her excitement caroline noticed it .

" eunice , what makes you do that every time anything startles you ? " she asked sharply .

" is it anything about your heart ? "

" i don't know .

a little pain it 's gone now .

did you say that christopher has the smallpox ? "

" well , he says so himself , and it 's more than likely , considering the circumstances .

i declare , i never got such a turn in my life .

it 's a dreadful thing .

i must find charles at once there 'll be a hundred things to do . "

eunice hardly heard her .

her mind was centered upon one idea .

christopher was ill alone she must go to him .

it did not matter what his disease was .

" eunice !

where on earth are you going ? "

" over home , " said eunice .

" if christopher is going to be ill he must be nursed , and i 'm the one to do it .

he ought to be seen to right away . "

" eunice carr !

have you gone clean out of your senses ?

it 's the smallpox the smallpox !

if he 's got it he 'll have to be taken to the smallpox hospital in town .

you shan't stir a step to go to that house ! "

" i will . "

eunice faced her excited aunt quietly .

the odd resemblance to her mother , which only came out in moments of great tension , was plainly visible .

" he shan't go to the hospital they never get proper attention there .

you needn't try to stop me .

it won't put you or your family in any danger . "

caroline fell helplessly into a chair .

she felt that it would be of no use to argue with a woman so determined .

she wished charles was there .

but charles had already gone , post-haste , for the doctor .

with a firm step , eunice went across the field foot-path she had not trodden for so long .

she felt no fear rather a sort of elation .

christopher needed her once more ; the interloper who had come between them was not there .

as she walked through the frosty twilight she thought of the promise made to naomi holland , years ago .

christopher saw her coming and waved her back .

" don't come any nearer , eunice .

didn't caroline tell you ?

i 'm taking smallpox . "

eunice did not pause .

she went boldly through the yard and up the porch steps .

he retreated before her and held the door .

" eunice , you 're crazy , girl !

go home , before it 's too late . "

eunice pushed open the door resolutely and went in .

" it 's too late now .

i 'm here , and i mean to stay and nurse you , if it 's the smallpox you 've got .

maybe it's not .

just now , when a person has a finger-ache , he thinks it 's smallpox .

anyhow , whatever it is , you ought to be in bed and looked after .

you 'll catch cold .

let me get a light and have a look at you . "

christopher had sunk into a chair .

his natural selfishness reasserted itself , and he made no further effort to dissuade eunice .

she got a lamp and set it on the table by him , while she scrutinized his face closely .

" you look feverish .

what do you feel like ?

when did you take sick ? "

" yesterday afternoon .

i have chills and hot spells and pains in my back .

eunice , do you think it 's really smallpox ?

and will i die ? "

he caught her hands , and looked imploringly up at her , as a child might have done .

eunice felt a wave of love and tenderness sweep warmly over her starved heart .

" don't worry .

lots of people recover from smallpox if they 're properly nursed , and you 'll be that , for i 'll see to it .

charles has gone for the doctor , and we 'll know when he comes .

you must go straight to bed . "

she took off her hat and shawl , and hung them up .

she felt as much at home as if she had never been away .

she had got back to her kingdom , and there was none to dispute it with her .

the house was in order and reeking of disinfectants .

victoria 's fine furniture and fixings were being bundled out of the parlor .

there was no bedroom downstairs , and , if christopher was going to be ill , he must be installed there .

the doctor looked grave .

" i don't like it , " he said , " but i 'm not quite sure yet .

if it is smallpox the eruption will probably be out by morning .

i must admit he has most of the symptoms .

will you have him taken to the hospital ? "

" no , " said eunice , decisively .

" i 'll nurse him myself .

i 'm not afraid and i 'm well and strong . "

" very well .

you 've been vaccinated lately ? "

" yes . "

" well , nothing more can be done at present .

you may as well lie down for a while and save your strength . "

but eunice could not do that .

there was too much to attend to .

she went out to the hall and threw up the window .

down below , at a safe distance , charles holland was waiting .

the cold wind blew up to eunice the odor of the disinfectants with which he had steeped himself .

" what does the doctor say ? " he shouted .

" he thinks it 's the smallpox .

have you sent word to victoria ? "

" yes , jim blewett drove into town and told her .

she 'll stay with her sister till it is over .

of course it 's the best thing for her to do .

she 's terribly frightened . "

eunice 's lip curled contemptuously .

to her , a wife who could desert her husband , no matter what disease he had , was an incomprehensible creature .

but it was better so ; she would have christopher all to herself .

the night was long and wearisome , but the morning came all too soon for the dread certainty it brought .

the doctor pronounced the case smallpox .

eunice had hoped against hope , but now , knowing the worst , she was very calm and resolute .

by noon the fateful yellow flag was flying over the house , and all arrangements had been made .

caroline was to do the necessary cooking , and charles was to bring the food and leave it in the yard .

it was a hard fight , indeed .

but eunice never faltered ; she never left her post .

sometimes she dozed in a chair by the bed , but she never lay down .

her endurance was something wonderful , her patience and tenderness almost superhuman .

for her there was no world outside the bare room where lay the repulsive object she loved .

one day the doctor looked very grave .

he had grown well-hardened to pitiful scenes in his life-time ; but he shrunk from telling eunice that her brother could not live .

he had never seen such devotion as hers .

it seemed brutal to tell her that it had been in vain .

but eunice had seen it for herself .

she took it very calmly , the doctor thought .

and she had her reward at last such as it was .

she thought it amply sufficient .

one night christopher holland opened his swollen eyes as she bent over him .

they were alone in the old house .

it was raining outside , and the drops rattled noisily on the panes .

christopher smiled at his sister with parched lips , and put out a feeble hand toward her .

" eunice , " he said faintly , " you 've been the best sister ever a man had .

i haven't treated you right ; but you 've stood by me to the last .

tell victoria tell her to be good to you "

his voice died away into an inarticulate murmur .

eunice carr was alone with her dead .

they buried christopher holland in haste and privacy the next day .

the doctor disinfected the house , and eunice was to stay there alone until it might be safe to make other arrangements .

she had not shed a tear ; the doctor thought she was a rather odd person , but he had a great admiration for her .

he told her she was the best nurse he had ever seen .

to eunice , praise or blame mattered nothing .

something in her life had snapped some vital interest had departed .

she wondered how she could live through the dreary , coming years .

late that night she went into the room where her mother and brother had died .

the window was open and the cold , pure air was grateful to her after the drug-laden atmosphere she had breathed so long .

she knelt down by the stripped bed .

" mother , " she said aloud , " i have kept my promise . "

when she tried to rise , long after , she staggered and fell across the bed , with her hand pressed on her heart .

old giles blewett found her there in the morning .

there was a smile on her face .

xiii .

the conscience case of david bell

" there , sis , that 's the last chore on my list .

bob 's milking .

nothing more for me to do but put on my white collar for meeting .

avonlea is more than lively since the evangelist came , ain't it , though ! "

mollie bell nodded .

" wonder who 'll stand up to-night , " said eben reflectively , sitting down on the edge of the wood-box .

" there ain't many sinners left in avonlea only a few hardened chaps like myself . "

" you shouldn't talk like that , " said mollie rebukingly .

" what if father heard you ? "

" father wouldn't hear me if i shouted it in his ear , " returned eben .

" he goes around , these days , like a man in a dream and a mighty bad dream at that .

father has always been a good man .

what 's the matter with him ? "

" i don't know , " said mollie , dropping her voice .

" mother is dreadfully worried over him .

and everybody is talking , eb .

it just makes me squirm .

flora jane fletcher asked me last night why father never testified , and him one of the elders .

she said the minister was perplexed about it .

i felt my face getting red . "

" why didn't you tell her it was no business of hers ? " said eben angrily .

" old flora jane had better mind her own business . "

" but all the folks are talking about it , eb .

and mother is fretting her heart out over it .

father has never acted like himself since these meetings began .

he just goes there night after night , and sits like a mummy , with his head down .

and almost everybody else in avonlea has testified . "

" oh , no , there 's lots haven't , " said eben .

" matthew cuthbert never has , nor uncle elisha , nor any of the whites . "

" but everybody knows they don't believe in getting up and testifying , so nobody wonders when they don't .

besides , " mollie laughed " matthew could never get a word out in public , if he did believe in it .

he 'd be too shy .

but , " she added with a sigh , " it isn't that way with father .

he believes in testimony , so people wonder why he doesn't get up .

why , even old josiah sloane gets up every night . "

" with his whiskers sticking out every which way , and his hair ditto , " interjected the graceless eben .

" if father would get up just once ! "

miriam bell entered the kitchen .

she was ready for the meeting , to which major spencer was to take her .

she was a tall , pale girl , with a serious face , and dark , thoughtful eyes , totally unlike mollie .

she had " come under conviction " during the meetings , and had stood up for prayer and testimony several times .

the evangelist thought her very spiritual .

she heard mollie 's concluding sentence and spoke reprovingly .

" you shouldn't criticize your father , mollie .

it isn't for you to judge him . "

eben had hastily slipped out .

he was afraid miriam would begin talking religion to him if he stayed .

he had with difficulty escaped from an exhortation by robert in the cow-stable .

there was no peace in avonlea for the unregenerate , he reflected .

robert and miriam had both " come out , " and mollie was hovering on the brink .

eben had been brought up with a strict reverence for all religious matters .

on the surface he might sometimes laugh at them , but the deeps troubled him whenever he did so .

indoors , miriam touched her younger sister 's shoulder and looked at her affectionately .

" won't you decide to-night , mollie ? " she asked , in a voice tremulous with emotion .

mollie crimsoned and turned her face away uncomfortably .

she did not know what answer to make , and was glad that a jingle of bells outside saved her the necessity of replying .

" there 's your beau , miriam , " she said , as she darted into the sitting room .

soon after , eben brought the family pung and his chubby red mare to the door for mollie .

he had not as yet attained to the dignity of a cutter of his own .

" thinks he 's the people , " remarked eben , with a fraternal grin .

the snow creaked and crisped under the runners .

a shrill wind was keening in the leafless dogwoods .

over the trees the sky was a dome of silver , with a lucent star or two on the slope of the west .

earth-stars gleamed warmly out here and there , where homesteads were tucked snugly away in their orchards or groves of birch .

" the church will be jammed to-night , " said eben .

" it 's so fine that folks will come from near and far .

guess it 'll be exciting . "

" miriam can say what she likes , but i do feel as if we were all disgraced .

eben flicked his mare with his whip , and she broke into a trot .

" look here , mollie , " said eben awkwardly at last , " are you going to stand up for prayers to-night ? "

" i i can't as long as father acts this way , " answered mollie , in a choked voice .

" i i want to , eb , and mirry and bob want me to , but i can't .

i do hope that the evangelist won't come and talk to me special to-night .

i always feels as if i was being pulled two different ways , when he does . "

back in the kitchen at home mrs bell was waiting for her husband to bring the horse to the door .

she was a slight , dark-eyed little woman , with thin , vivid-red cheeks .

from out of the swathings in which she had wrapped her bonnet , her face gleamed sad and troubled .

now and then she sighed heavily .

mrs bell saw it and then reproached herself for the sacrilege .

" but it 's no wonder i 've wicked thoughts , " she said , wearily .

" i 'm that worried i ain't rightly myself .

if he would only tell me what the trouble is , maybe i could help him .

at any rate , i'd know .

and then the way he groans and mutters in his sleep !

he has always lived a just , upright life .

he hasn't no right to go on like this , disgracing his family . "

mrs bell 's angry sob was cut short by the sleigh at the door .

her husband poked in his busy , iron-gray head and said , " now , mother . "

he helped her into the sleigh , tucked the rugs warmly around her , and put a hot brick at her feet .

his solicitude hurt her .

it was all for her material comfort .

it did not matter to him what mental agony she might suffer over his strange attitude .

for the first time in their married life mary bell felt resentment against her husband .

they drove along in silence , past the snow-powdered hedges of spruce , and under the arches of the forest roadways .

they were late , and a great stillness was over all the land .

david bell never spoke .

all his usual cheerful talkativeness had disappeared since the revival meetings had begun in avonlea .

mary bell thought she would go out of her mind if her husband continued to act in this way .

her reflections were bitter and rebellious as they sped along through the glittering night of the winter 's prime .

" i don't get one bit of good out of the meetings , " she thought resentfully .

" there ain't any peace or joy for me , not even in testifying myself , when david sits there like a stick or stone .

i 'd understand .

but , as it is , i feel dreadful humiliated . "

revival meetings had never been held in avonlea before .

he was a stern , deeply religious scotchman , with a horror of the emotional form of religion .

avonlea was a good field for an evangelist .

he knew its value and used it effectively perhaps even ostentatiously .

so the rev geoffrey mountain came to avonlea , conquering and to conquer .

into many young souls his appeals and warnings burned their way , and each night they rose for prayer in response to his invitation .

threading through it all , for old and young , converted and unconverted , was an unacknowledged feeling for religious dissipation .

avonlea was a quiet place , and the revival meetings were lively .

david bell left his wife at the platform and drove to the horse-shed .

mrs bell unwound the scarf from her bonnet and shook the frost crystals from it .

in the porch flora jane fletcher and her sister , mrs harmon andrews , were talking in low whispers .

presently flora jane put out her lank , cashmere-gloved hand and plucked mrs bell 's shawl .

" mary , is the elder going to testify to-night ? " she asked , in a shrill whisper .

mrs bell winced .

she would have given much to be able to answer " yes , " but she had to say stiffly ,

" i don't know . "

flora jane lifted her chin .

" well , mrs bell , i only asked because every one thinks it is strange he doesn't and an elder , of all people .

it looks as if he didn't think himself a christian , you know .

of course , we all know better , but it looks that way .

if i was you , i 'd tell him folks was talking about it .

mr bentley says it is hindering the full success of the meetings . "

mrs bell turned on her tormentor in swift anger .

she might resent her husband 's strange behavior herself , but nobody else should dare to criticize him to her .

" i don't think you need to worry yourself about the elder , flora jane , " she said bitingly .

" maybe ' tisn't the best christians that do the most talking about it always .

levi boulter was a middle-aged widower , with a large family , who was supposed to have cast a matrimonial eye flora janeward .

the use of his name was an effective thrust on mrs bell 's part , and silenced flora jane .

too angry for speech she seized her sister 's arm and hurried her into church .

but her victory could not remove from mary bell 's soul the sting implanted there by flora jane 's words .

when her husband came up to the platform she put her hand on his snowy arm appealingly .

" oh , david , won't you get up to-night ?

i do feel so dreadful bad folks are talking so i just feel humiliated . "

david bell hung his head like a shamed schoolboy .

" i can't , mary , " he said huskily .

" ' tain't no use to pester me . "

" you don't care for my feelings , " said his wife bitterly .

" and mollie won't come out because you 're acting so .

you 're keeping her back from salvation .

and you 're hindering the success of the revival mr bentley says so . "

david bell groaned .

this sign of suffering wrung his wife 's heart .

with quick contrition she whispered ,

" there , never mind , david .

i oughtn't to have spoken to you so .

you know your duty best .

let's go in . "

" wait . "

his voice was imploring .

" mary , is it true that mollie won't come out because of me ?

am i standing in my child 's light ? "

" i don't know .

i guess not .

mollie 's just a foolish young girl yet .

never mind come in . "

he followed her dejectedly in , and up the aisle to their pew in the center of the church .

the building was warm and crowded .

the pastor was reading the bible lesson for the evening .

in the choir , behind him , david bell saw mollie 's girlish face , tinged with a troubled seriousness .

his own wind-ruddy face and bushy gray eyebrows worked convulsively with his inward throes .

a sigh that was almost a groan burst from him .

" i 'll have to do it , " he said to himself in agony .

when several more hymns had been sung , and late arrivals began to pack the aisles , the evangelist arose .

his style for the evening was the tender , the pleading , the solemn .

many of the women began to cry softly .

fervent amens broke from some of the members .

after a brief interval , a pale boy under the gallery rose , followed by an old man at the top of the church .

the evangelist 's " thank god " was hearty and insistent .

david bell looked almost imploringly at mollie ; but she kept her seat , with downcast eyes .

" i 'm a stumbling block to them both , " he thought bitterly .

a hymn was sung and prayer offered for those under conviction .

then testimonies were called for .

the evangelist asked for them in tones which made it seem a personal request to every one in that building .

many testimonies followed , each infused with the personality of the giver .

most of them were brief and stereotyped .

finally a pause ensued .

the evangelist swept the pews with his kindling eyes and exclaimed , appealingly ,

" has every christian in this church to-night spoken a word for his master ? "

there were many who had not testified , but every eye in the building followed the pastor 's accusing glance to the bell pew .

mollie crimsoned with shame .

mrs bell cowered visibly .

although everybody looked thus at david bell , nobody now expected him to testify .

to david bell it seemed to possess the awe of final judgment .

twice he opened his lips , and tried vainly to speak .

the third time he succeeded ; but his voice sounded strangely in his own ears .

it 's been lying hard and heavy on my conscience ever since these meetings begun .

as long as i kept silence about it i couldn't get up and bear witness for christ .

many of you have expected me to do it .

maybe i 've been a stumbling block to some of you .

this season of revival has brought no blessing to me because of my sin , which i repented of , but tried to conceal .

there has been a spiritual darkness over me .

" friends and neighbors , i have always been held by you as an honest man .

it was the shame of having you know i was not which has kept me back from open confession and testimony .

just afore these meetings commenced i come home from town one night and found that somebody had passed a counterfeit ten-dollar bill on me .

then satan entered into me and possessed me .

when mrs . rachel lynde come next day , collecting for foreign missions , i give her that ten dollar bill .

she never knowed the difference , and sent it away with the rest .

but i knew i 'd done a mean and sinful thing .

i couldn't drive it out of my thoughts .

a few days afterwards i went down to mrs rachel 's and give her ten good dollars for the fund .

that was a lie .

mrs lynde thought i was a generous man , and i felt ashamed to look her in the face .

but i 'd done what i could to right the wrong , and i thought it would be all right .

but it wasn't .

i 've never known a minute 's peace of mind or conscience since .

i tried to cheat the lord , and then tried to patch it up by doing something that redounded to my worldly credit .

when these meetings begun , and everybody expected me to testify , i couldn't do it .

it would have seemed like blasphemy .

and i couldn't endure the thought of telling what i 'd done , either .

i argued it all out a thousand times that i hadn't done any real harm after all , but it was no use .

the broken tones ceased , and david bell sat down , wiping the great drops of perspiration from his brow .

but underneath the turmoil of his emotion he felt a great calm and peace , threaded with the exultation of a hard-won spiritual victory .

over the church was a solemn hush .

the evangelist 's " amen " was not spoken with his usual unctuous fervor , but very gently and reverently .

before the last prayer the pastor paused and looked around .

" is there yet one , " he asked gently , " who wishes to be especially remembered in our concluding prayer ? "

for a moment nobody moved .

" thank god , " whispered mary bell .

" amen , " said her husband huskily .

" let us pray , " said mr bentley .

xiv .

only a common fellow

on my dearie's wedding morning i wakened early and went to her room .

long and long ago she had made me promise that i would be the one to wake her on the morning of her wedding day .

but that was long ago , and now my heart foreboded that there would be no need of wakening her .

and there was not .

but she smiled brave-like , when i sat down on her bed and took her hand .

" you look as if you haven't slept all night , dearie , " i said .

" i didn't not a great deal , " she answered me .

" but the night didn't seem long ; no , it seemed too short .

i was thinking of a great many things .

what time is it , aunt rachel ? "

" five o'clock . "

" then in six hours more "

" we didn't think it would be like this once , did we , aunt rachel ? " she said , very softly .

" it shouldn't be like this , now , " i said .

i had to say it .

i never could hide the thought of that marriage , and i couldn't pretend to .

it was all her stepmother 's doings right well i knew that .

my dearie would never have taken mark foster else .

" let us talk about the old days and him . "

" i don't see much use in talking of him , when you 're going to marry mark foster to-day , " i said .

but she put her hand on my mouth .

" it 's for the last time , aunt rachel .

after to-day i can never talk of him , or even think of him .

it 's four years since he went away .

do you remember how he looked , aunt rachel ? "

" i mind well enough , i reckon , " i said , kind of curt-like .

and i did .

when i thought of mark foster 's sallow skin and lank jaws i felt sick-like .

not that mark was ugly he was just a common-looking fellow .

" he was so handsome , wasn't he , aunt rachel ? " my dearie went on , in that patient voice of hers .

" so tall and strong and handsome .

i wish we hadn't parted in anger .

it was so foolish of us to quarrel .

but it would have been all right if he had lived to come back .

i know it would have been all right .

i know he didn't carry any bitterness against me to his death .

but it isn't to be . "

" thanks to your stepma's wheedling and mark foster 's scheming , " said i .

" no , mark didn't scheme , " she said patiently .

" don't be unjust to mark , aunt rachel .

he has been very good and kind . "

" he 's as stupid as an owlet and as stubborn as solomon 's mule , " i said , for i would say it .

" he 's just a common fellow , and yet he thinks he 's good enough for my beauty . "

" don't talk about mark , " she pleaded again .

" i mean to be a good , faithful wife to him .

but i 'm my own woman yet yet for just a few more sweet hours , and i want to give them to him .

the last hours of my maidenhood they must belong to him . "

she didn't feel as bad as i did , because she 'd made up her mind what to do and was resigned .

the only thing she didn't bring up was the time he thrashed mark foster for bringing her apples .

and there was me , holding her and listening to it all , and her stepma sleeping sound and triumphant in the next room .

when she had talked it all out she lay down on her pillow again .

i got up and went downstairs to light the fire .

i felt terrible old and tired .

before long isabella clark came down ; bright and pleased-looking enough , she was .

i 'd never liked isabella , from the day phillippa 's father brought her here ; and i liked her less than ever this morning .

she was one of your sly , deep women , always smiling smooth , and scheming underneath it .

" that is right , for we 'll have plenty to do to-day .

a wedding makes lots of work . "

" not this sort of a wedding , " i said , sour-like .

" it was phillippa 's own wish that all should be very quiet , " said isabella , as smooth as cream .

" you know i 'd have given her a big wedding , if she 'd wanted it . "

" oh , it 's better quiet , " i said .

" the fewer to see phillippa marry a man like mark foster the better . "

" mark foster is a good man , rachel . "

" he 's a common fellow , not fit for my dearie to wipe her feet on .

it 's well that her mother didn't live to see this day ; but this day would never have come , if she 'd lived . "

i liked her better when she was spiteful than when she was smooth .

i didn't feel so scared of her then .

the marriage was to be at eleven o'clock , and , at nine , i went up to help phillippa dress .

she was no fussy bride , caring much what she looked like .

if owen had been the bridegroom it would have been different .

still , nothing could prevent her from looking lovely when she was dressed .

my dearie would have been a beauty in a beggarmaid's rags .

in her white dress and veil she was as fair as a queen .

and she was as good as she was pretty .

then she sent me out .

" i want to be alone my last hour , " she said .

" kiss me , aunt rachel mother rachel . "

when i 'd gone down , crying like the old fool i was , i heard a rap at the door .

i fall trembling , even yet , when i think , " what if i had sent isabella to that door ? "

but go i did , and opened it , defiant-like , kind of hoping it was mark foster to see the tears on my face .

i opened it and staggered back like i 'd got a blow .

" owen !

lord ha ' mercy on us !

owen ! "

but he sprang right in , and caught my wrinkled old hands in a grasp that was of flesh and blood .

" aunt rachel , i 'm not too late ? " he said , savage-like .

" tell me i 'm in time . "

" no , you 're not too late , " i said .

" thank god , " said he , under his breath .

and then he pulled me into the parlor and shut the door .

" they told me at the station that phillippa was to be married to mark foster to-day .

i couldn't believe it , but i came here as fast as horse-flesh could bring me .

aunt rachel , it can't be true !

she can't care for mark foster , even if she had forgotten me ! "

every beat of her heart is for you .

it 's all her stepma's doings .

phillippa is sacrificing herself to save her stepma for her dead father 's sake .

it 's all your fault , " i cried , getting over my bewilderment .

" we thought you were dead .

why didn't you come home when you were alive ?

why didn't you write ? "

what was i to think when phillippa wouldn't answer my letters ? "

" she never got one , " i cried .

" she wept her sweet eyes out over you .

somebody must have got those letters . "

that woman would stick at nothing .

" well , we 'll sift that matter some other time , " said owen impatiently .

" there are other things to think of now .

i must see phillippa . "

never shall i forget the look on isabella 's face .

i almost felt sorry for her .

she turned sickly yellow and her eyes went wild ; they were looking at the downfall of all her schemes and hopes .

i didn't look at mark foster , at first , and , when i did , there wasn't anything to see .

his face was just as sallow and wooden as ever ; he looked undersized and common beside owen .

nobody 'd ever have picked him out for a bridegroom .

owen spoke first .

" i want to see phillippa , " he said , as if it were but yesterday that he had gone away .

" you can't see her , " she said desperate-like .

" she doesn't want to see you .

" i did write and i think you know that better than most folks , " said owen , trying hard to speak quiet .

" as for the rest , i 'm not going to discuss it with you .

when i hear from phillippa 's own lips that she cares for another man i 'll believe it and not before . "

" you 'll never hear it from her lips , " said i .

isabella gave me a venomous look .

" no ! "

it was mark foster who spoke .

he hadn't said a word ; but he came forward now , and stood before owen .

such a difference as there was between them !

but he looked owen right in the face , quiet-like , and owen glared back in fury .

" will it satisfy you , owen , if phillippa comes down here and chooses between us ? "

" yes , it will , " said owen .

mark foster turned to me .

" go and bring her down , " said he .

but i knew my dearie too well to be glad , and mark foster did , too , and i hated him for it .

i went up to my dearie's room , all pale and shaking .

when i went in she came to meet me , like a girl going to meet death .

" is it time ? " she said , with her hands locked tight together .

i said not a word , hoping that the unlooked-for sight of owen would break down her resolution .

i just held out my hand to her , and led her downstairs .

she clung to me and her hands were as cold as snow .

when i opened the parlor door i stood back , and pushed her in before me .

she just cried , " owen ! " and shook so that i put my arms about her to steady her .

owen made a step towards her , his face and eyes all aflame with his love and longing , but mark barred his way .

" wait till she has made her choice , " he said , and then he turned to phillippa .

i couldn't see my dearie's face , but i could see mark 's , and there wasn't a spark of feeling in it .

behind it was isabella 's , all pinched and gray .

" phillippa , " said mark , " owen blair has come back .

he says he has never forgotten you , and that he wrote to you several times .

i have told him that you have promised me , but i leave you freedom of choice .

which of us will you marry , phillippa ? "

my dearie stood straight up and the trembling left her .

she stepped back , and i could see her face , white as the dead , but calm and resolved .

" i have promised to marry you , mark , and i will keep my word , " she said .

the color came back to isabella clark 's face ; but mark 's did not change .

my dearie would have been more than human , if she could have resisted the pleading in his tone .

she said no word , but just looked at him for a moment .

we all saw the look ; her whole soul , full of love for owen , showed out in it .

then she turned and stood by mark .

owen never said a word .

he went as white as death , and started for the door .

but again mark foster put himself in the way .

" wait , " he said .

" she has made her choice , as i knew she would ; but i have yet to make mine .

and i choose to marry no woman whose love belongs to another living man .

phillippa , i thought owen blair was dead , and i believed that , when you were my wife , i could win your love .

but i love you too well to make you miserable .

go to the man you love you are free ! "

" and what is to become of me ? " wailed isabella .

" oh , you !

i had forgotten about you , " said mark , kind of weary-like .

he took a paper from his pocket , and dropped it in the grate .

" there is the mortgage .

that is all you care about , i think .

good-morning . "

he went out .

he was only a common fellow , but , somehow , just then he looked every inch the gentleman .

phillippa was crying , with her head on owen 's shoulder .

isabella clark waited to see the mortgage burned up , and then she came to me in the hall , all smooth and smiling again .

" really , it 's all very romantic , isn't it ?

i suppose it 's better as it is , all things considered .

mark behaved splendidly , didn't he ?

not many men would have done as he did . "

for once in my life i agreed with isabella .

but i felt like having a good cry over it all and i had it .

xv .

tannis of the flats

few people in avonlea could understand why elinor blair had never married .

elinor had never talked much about her visit , except to describe the scenery and the life , which in that day was rough indeed .

not that carey was a profane man , even as men go in the west .

he was an english gentleman , and he kept both his life and his vocabulary pretty clean .

but the flats !

there are standpoints from which indians are interesting , but they cannot be said to offer congenial social attractions .

if it had not been for teaching paul dumont the telegraphic code , carey believed he would have been driven to suicide in self-defense .

not many messages came therefrom , but the few that did come generally amounted to something worth while .

days and even weeks would pass without a single one being clicked to the flats .

carey was debarred from talking over the wires to the prince albert man for the reason that they were on officially bad terms .

he blamed the latter for his transfer to the flats .

carey slept in a loft over the office , and got his meals at joe esquint 's , across the " street . "

joe esquint 's wife was a good cook , as cooks go among the breeds , and carey soon became a great pet of hers .

carey had a habit of becoming a pet with women .

he had the " way " that has to be born in a man and can never be acquired .

besides , he was as handsome as clean-cut features , deep-set , dark-blue eyes , fair curls and six feet of muscle could make him .

mrs joe esquint thought that his mustache was the most wonderfully beautiful thing , in its line , that she had ever seen .

but it was a different matter with tannis dumont .

when he saw tannis dumont he thought he would hang on awhile longer , anyway .

old auguste was black and ugly and notoriously bad-tempered .

but tannis was a beauty .

tannis ' great-grandmother had been a cree squaw who married a french trapper .

the son of this union became in due time the father of auguste dumont .

auguste married a woman whose mother was a french half-breed and whose father was a pure-bred highland scotchman .

but , after all , the dominant current in those same veins was from the race of plain and prairie .

france , too , was responsible for somewhat in tannis .

as for her red-headed scotch grandfather , he had bequeathed her a somewhat whiter skin and ruddier bloom than is usually found in the breeds .

old auguste was mightily proud of tannis .

he sent her to school for four years in prince albert , bound that his girl should have the best .

carey saw only the beauty and the veneer .

it was a mistake a very big mistake .

tannis understood something of piano playing , something less of grammar and latin , and something less still of social prevarications .

but she understood absolutely nothing of flirtation .

you can never get an indian to see the sense of platonics .

carey found the flats quite tolerable after the homecoming of tannis .

when music and conversation palled , they went for long gallops over the prairies together .

tannis rode to perfection , and managed her bad-tempered brute of a pony with a skill and grace that made carey applaud her .

she was glorious on horseback .

tannis liked poetry ; she had studied it at school , and understood it fairly well .

carey laughed .

he liked to evoke those little speeches of hers .

they sounded very clever , dropping from such arched , ripely-tinted lips .

if you had told carey that he was playing with fire he would have laughed at you .

in the first place he was not in the slightest degree in love with tannis he merely admired and liked her .

in the second place , it never occurred to him that tannis might be in love with him .

why , he had never attempted any love-making with her !

he did not know enough of the racial characteristics to understand .

all the half-breeds and quarter-breeds and any-fractional breeds there believed that he meant to marry tannis .

there would have been nothing surprising to them in that .

they thought that rich old auguste 's heiress , who had been to school for four years in prince albert , was a catch for anybody .

old auguste himself shrugged his shoulders over it and was well-pleased enough .

an englishman was a prize by way of a husband for a half-breed girl , even if he were only a telegraph operator .

young paul dumont worshipped carey , and the half-scotch mother , who might have understood , was dead .

in all the flats there were but two people who disapproved of the match they thought an assured thing .

one of these was the little priest , father gabriel .

he liked tannis , and he liked carey ; but he shook his head dubiously when he heard the gossip of the shacks and teepees .

religions might mingle , but the different bloods ah , it was not the right thing !

tannis was a good girl , and a beautiful one ; but she was no fit mate for the fair , thorough-bred englishman .

father gabriel wished fervently that jerome carey might soon be transferred elsewhere .

he even went to prince albert and did a little wire-pulling on his own account , but nothing came of it .

he was on the wrong side of politics .

the other malcontent was lazarre mérimée , a lazy , besotted french half-breed , who was , after his fashion , in love with tannis .

there is no worse enemy in all the world than a half-breed .

your true indian is bad enough , but his diluted descendant is ten times worse .

as for tannis , she loved carey with all her heart , and that was all there was about it .

if elinor blair had never gone to prince albert there is no knowing what might have happened , after all .

carey , so powerful in propinquity , might even have ended by learning to love tannis and marrying her , to his own worldly undoing .

but elinor did go to prince albert , and her going ended all things for tannis of the flats .

during the next three weeks he went to town nine times and called at the dumonts ' only once .

there were no more rides and walks with tannis .

this was not intentional neglect on his part .

he had simply forgotten all about her .

the breeds surmised a lover 's quarrel , but tannis understood .

there was another woman back there in town .

it would be quite impossible to put on paper any adequate idea of her emotions at this stage .

lazarre , in a fit of jealousy , had followed tannis , spying on her until she started back to the flats .

after that he watched both carey and tannis incessantly , and months later had told tom all he had learned through his low sneaking .

through one of them she could see carey and elinor .

the half-breed girl crouched down in the shadow and glared at her rival .

she , tannis of the flats , could never compete with that other .

it was well to know so much , at least .

a man turned and looked after her as she tore past a brightly lighted store on water street .

" that was tannis of the flats , " he said to a companion .

" she was in town last winter , going to school a beauty and a bit of the devil , like all those breed girls .

what in thunder is she riding like that for ? "

when he came back tannis was standing at the canoe landing , under a pine tree , in a rain of finely sifted sunlight .

she was waiting for him and she said , without any preface :

" mr carey , why do you never come to see me , now ? "

carey flushed like any girl .

her tone and look made him feel very uncomfortable .

he remembered , self-reproachfully , that he must have seemed very neglectful , and he stammered something about having been busy .

" not very busy , " said tannis , with her terrible directness .

" it is not that .

it is because you are going to prince albert to see a white woman ! "

but he felt indescribably foolish .

" i suppose so , " he answered lamely .

" and what about me ? " asked tannis .

" i don't understand you , tannis , " he said hurriedly .

" you have made me love you , " said tannis .

the words sound flat enough on paper .

tannis had justified her criticism of poetry .

they made carey feel like a scoundrel .

" i am very sorry , " he stammered , like a whipped schoolboy .

" it is no matter , " interrupted tannis violently .

" what difference does it make about me a half-breed girl ?

we breed girls are only born to amuse the white men .

that is so is it not ?

then , when they are tired of us , they push us aside and go back to their own kind .

oh , it is very well .

but i will not forget my father and brother will not forget .

they will make you sorry to some purpose ! "

she turned , and stalked away to her canoe .

he waited under the pines until she crossed the river ; then he , too , went miserably home .

what a mess he had contrived to make of things !

poor tannis !

how handsome she had looked in her fury and how much like a squaw !

the racial marks always come out plainly under the stress of emotion , as tom noted later .

her threat did not disturb him .

if young paul and old auguste made things unpleasant for him , he thought himself more than a match for them .

it was the thought of the suffering he had brought upon tannis that worried him .

the dumonts , however , did not trouble him .

after all , tannis ' four years in prince albert had not been altogether wasted .

after some reflection she concluded to hold her tongue .

she even laughed when old auguste asked her what was up between her and her fellow , and said she had grown tired of him .

old auguste shrugged his shoulders resignedly .

it was just as well , maybe .

those english sons-in-law sometimes gave themselves too many airs .

it was a bad night .

the wires were down between the flats and prince albert and all communication with the outside world was cut off .

over at joe esquint 's the breeds were having a carouse in honor of joe 's birthday .

paul dumont had gone over , and carey was alone in the office , smoking lazily and dreaming of elinor .

suddenly , above the plash of rain and whistle of wind , he heard outcries in the street .

running to the door he was met by mrs joe esquint , who grasped him breathlessly .

" meestair carey come quick !

lazarre , he kill paul they fight ! "

carey , with a smothered oath , rushed across the street .

carey was relieved to find it was only an affair of fists .

" stop this , " said carey sternly .

" let me get at him , " foamed paul .

" he insulted my sister .

he said that you let me get at him ! "

he could not writhe free from carey 's iron grip .

lazarre , with a snarl like a wolf , sent mrs joe spinning , and rushed at paul .

carey struck out as best he could , and lazarre went reeling back against the table .

it went over with a crash and the light went out !

mrs joe 's shrieks might have brought the roof down .

in the confusion that ensued , two pistol shots rang out sharply .

there was a cry , a groan , a fall then a rush for the door .

marie esquint was a woman of nerve .

she told mrs joe to shut up , and she turned carey over .

he was conscious , but seemed dazed and could not help himself .

marie soon returned with the doctor , old auguste , and tannis .

carey was carried in and laid on mrs esquint 's bed .

the doctor made a brief examination , while mrs joe sat on the floor and howled at the top of her lungs .

then he shook his head .

" shot in the back , " he said briefly .

" how long ? " asked carey , understanding .

" perhaps till morning , " answered the doctor .

mrs joe gave a louder howl than ever at this , and tannis came and stood by the bed .

carey looked stupidly at tannis .

" send for her , " he said .

tannis smiled cruelly .

" there is no way .

the wires are down , and there is no man at the flats who will go to town to-night , " she answered .

" my god , i must see her before i die , " burst out carey pleadingly .

" where is father gabriel ?

he will go . "

" the priest went to town last night and has not come back , " said tannis .

carey groaned and shut his eyes .

if father gabriel was away , there was indeed no one to go .

he must die without seeing elinor .

tannis looked inscrutably down on the pale face on mrs joe esquint 's dirty pillows .

her immobile features gave no sign of the conflict raging within her .

instead , she slipped out and hurried down the stormy street to old auguste 's stable .

i hold that no woman ever did anything more unselfish than this deed of tannis !

for the sake of love she put under her feet the jealousy and hatred that had clamored at her heart .

in a white woman the deed would have been merely commendable .

in tannis of the flats , with her ancestry and tradition , it was lofty self-sacrifice .

it was eight o'clock when tannis left the flats ; it was ten when she drew bridle before the house on the bluff .

elinor was regaling tom and his wife with avonlea gossip when the maid came to the door .

" pleas 'm , there 's a breed girl out on the verandah and she 's asking for miss blair . "

elinor went out wonderingly , followed by tom .

she looked wild enough .

" jerome carey was shot in a quarrel at joe esquint 's to-night , " she said .

" he is dying he wants you i have come for you . "

elinor gave a little cry , and steadied herself on tom 's shoulder .

tom said he knew he made some exclamation of horror .

he had never approved of carey 's attentions to elinor , but such news was enough to shock anybody .

" i came through the storm , " said tannis , contemptuously .

" cannot she do as much for him as i can ? "

the good , old island blood in elinor 's veins showed to some purpose .

" yes , " she answered firmly .

" no , tom , don't object i must go .

get my horse and your own . "

ten minutes later three riders galloped down the bluff road and took the river trail .

fortunately the wind was at their backs and the worst of the storm was over .

still , it was a wild , black ride enough .

tom rode , cursing softly under his breath .

it all savored too much of melodrama , even for the northland , where people still did things in a primitive way .

he heartily wished elinor had never left avonlea .

it was past twelve when they reached the flats .

tannis was the only one who seemed to be able to think coherently .

it was she who told tom where to take the horses and then led elinor to the room where carey was dying .

the doctor was sitting by the bedside and mrs joe was curled up in a corner , sniffling to herself .

tannis took her by the shoulder and turned her , none too gently , out of the room .

the doctor , understanding , left at once .

as tannis shut the door she saw elinor sink on her knees by the bed , and carey 's trembling hand go out to her head .

tannis sat down on the floor outside of the door and wrapped herself up in a shawl marie esquint had dropped .

she watched there until dawn came whitely up over the prairies and jerome carey died .

she knew when it happened by elinor 's cry .

tannis sprang up and rushed in .

she was too late for even a parting look .

the girl took carey 's hand in hers , and turned to the weeping elinor with a cold dignity .

" now go , " she said .

" you had him in life to the very last .

he is mine now . "

" there must be some arrangements made , " faltered elinor .

" my father and brother will make all arrangements , as you call them , " said tannis steadily .

" he had no near relatives in the world none at all in canada he told me so .

go ! "

end of the project gutenberg ebook of further chronicles of avonlea , by lucy maud montgomery