cackle; that ducklin' will take to the water in spite on her, and paddle
off, nobody knows where. Go ahead, boy, and when you get enough of
junketin' 'round the world, come home and fall to work."
"Then I _may_ go?" cried Eli, upsetting his mug of cider in his
excitement.
His father nodded, being too busy eating cabbage with a wide-bladed
green-handled knife to speak just then. Eli, red and speechless with
delight and gratitude, could only sit and beam at his family till a sob
drew his attention to sister Pamela, whose pet he was.
"Don't, Pam, don't! I'll come back all right, and bring you news and all
the pretty things I can. I _must_ go; I feel as if I couldn't breathe,
shut up here winters. I s'pose it's wicked, but I can't help it,"
whispered Eli, with his arm around his buxom eighteen-year old sister,
who laid her head on his shoulder and held him tight.
"Daughter, it's sinful to repine at the ways of Providence. I see a
leadin' plain in this, and ef _I_ can be chirk when my dear boy is
goin', 'pears to me you ought to keep a taut rein on your feelin's, and
not spile his pleasure."
The good mother's eyes were full of tears as she spoke, but she caught
up the end of her short gown and wiped them quickly away to smile on
Eli, who thanked her with a loving look.
"It's so lonesome when he's not here. What will we do evenings without
the fiddle, or Eli to read a piece in some of his books while we spin?"
said poor Pam, ashamed of her grief, yet glad to hide her tears by
affecting to settle the long wooden bodkin that held up her coils of
brown hair.
"Obed Finch will be comin' along, I guess likely, and he'll read to you
out uv Eli's book about keepin' the heart, and you'll find your'n gone
'fore you know it," said Junius Solomon, in a tone that made pretty Pam
blush and run away, while the rest laughed at her confusion.
So it was settled, and when all was ready, the boy came home to show his
equipment before he started. A very modest outfit,--only two tin trunks
slung across the shoulders, filled with jewelry, combs, lace, essences,
and small wares.
"I hate to have ye go, son, but it's better than to be mopin' to hum,
gettin' desperut for books and rilin' father. We'll all be workin' for
ye, so be chipper and do wal. Keep steddy, and don't disgrace your
folks. The Lord bless ye, my dear boy, and hold ye in the holler of his
hand!"
Her own rough hand was on his head as his mother spoke, with wet eyes,
and the tall lad kissed her tenderly, whispering, with a choke in his
throat:--
"Good-by, mammy dear; I'll remember."
Then he tramped away to join his mate, turning now and then to nod and
smile and show a ruddy face full of happiness, while the family watched
him out of sight with mingled hopes and doubts and fears.
Mails were slow in those days, but at length a letter came; and here it
is,--a true copy of one written by a boy in 1820:--
NORFOLK, VA., December 4th.
"HONORED PARENTS: I write to inform you I am safe here and to work.
Our business is profitable, and I am fast learning the Quirks and
Turns of trade. We are going to the eastern shore of Va.,
calculating to be gone six weeks. The inhabitants are sociable and
hospitable, and you need not fear I shall suffer, for I find many
almost fathers and mothers among these good folks.
"Taking our trunks, we travel through the country, entering the
houses of the rich and poor, offering our goods, and earning our
wages by the sweat of our brows. How do you think we look? Like two
Awkward, Homespun, Tugging Yankee peddlers? No, that is not the
case. By people of breeding we are treated with politeness and
gentility, and the low and vulgar we do not seek. For my part, I
enjoy travelling more than I expected. Conversation with new folks,
observing manners and customs, and seeing the world, does me great
good.
"I never met a real gentleman till I came here. Their hospitality
allows me to see and copy their fine ways of acting and speaking,
and they put the most Bashful at ease. Gad likes the maids and
stays in the kitchen most times. I get into the libraries and read
when we put up nights, and the ladies are most kind to me
everywhere.
"I'm so tall they can't believe I'm only sixteen. They aren't as
pretty as our rosy-faced girls, but their ways are elegant, and so
are their clothes, tell Pam.
"When I think how kind you were to let me come, I am full of
gratitude. I made some verses, one day, as I waited in a hovel for
the rain to hold up.
"To conduce to my own and parents' good,
Was why I left my home;
To make their cares and burdens less,
And try to help them some.
'Twas my own choice to earn them cash,
And get them free from debt;
Before that I am twenty-one
It shall be done, I bet.
My parents they have done for me
What I for them can never do,
So if I serve them all I may,
Sure God will help me through.
My chief delight, therefore, shall be
To earn them all I can,
Not only now, but when that I
At last am my own man.
"These are the genuine Sentiments of your son, who returns thanks
for the many favors you have heaped upon him, and hopes to repay
you by his best Endeavors. Accept this letter and the inclosed
small sum as a token of his love and respect.
"Your dutiful son,
"Tell the girls to write. ELI."
In reply to this, came a letter from the anxious mother, which shows not
only the tender, pious nature of the good woman, but also how much need
of education the boy had, and how well he was doing for himself:--
"AFFECTIONATE SON: We was very glad to receave your letter. I feal
very anctious about you this winter, and how you are a doing. You
cannot know a mother's concern for her boy wen he is fur away. Do
not git into bad habbits. Take the Bible for your rule and guide to
vartue. I pray for your prosperity in all spiritall and temporrall
things, and leave you in the care of Him who gave you breath and
will keep you safe.
"We are all well, and your father enjoys his helth better than last
year. I visited Uncle Medad a spell last week. I am provided with a
horse and shay to ride to meatin. Mr. Eben Welton took our cow and
give us his old horse. Captain Stephen Harrington was
excommunicated last Sabbath. Pamely goes away to learn dressmakin
soon. I mistrust Mirandy will take up with Pennel Haskell; he is
likely, and comes frequent. I wish you had been here a Christmas.
We had a large company to dinner, and I got some wheat flower and
made a fine chicken pye. Eli, I hope you attend meatin when you
can. Do not trifle away the holy day in vane pleasures, but live to
the glory of God, and in the fear of your parents. Father sold the
white colt. He was too spirity, and upsat Ambrose and nigh broke
his head. His nose is still black. Dear son: I miss you every time
I set a platter in your place. Is your close warm and suffitient?
Put your stockin round your throat if sore. Do you git good cyder
to drink? Take the Pennyryal if you feal wimbly after a long spell
of travil. The girls send love. No more now. Wright soon.
"Your mother, HANNAH GARDENER"
"P. S.--Liddy Finch is married. Our pigs give us nine hunderd pound
of prime pork."
Many such letters went to and fro that winter, and Eli faithfully
reported all his adventures. For he had many, and once or twice was in
danger of losing his life.
On one occasion, having parted from his mate for a day or two, wishing
to try his luck alone, our young peddler found himself, late in the
afternoon, approaching the Dismal Swamp. A tempest arose, adding to the
loneliness and terror of the hour. The cypresses uprooted by the blast
fell now and then across the road, endangering the poor boy's head. A
sluggish stream rolled through tangled junipers and beds of reeds, and
the fen on either side was full of ugly creatures, lizards, snakes, and
toads; while owls, scared by the storm, flew wildly about and hooted
dismally. Just at the height of the tumult, Eli saw three men coming
toward him, and gladly hastened to meet them, hoping to have their
company or learn of them where he could find a shelter. But their bad
faces daunted him, and he would have hurried by without speaking if they
had not stopped him, roughly demanding his name and business.
The tall stripling was brave, but his youthful face showed him to be but
a boy, and the consciousness of a well-filled purse in his pocket made
him anxious to escape. So he answered briefly, and tried to go on. But
two men held him, in spite of his struggles, while the third rifled his
pockets, broke open his trunks, and took all that was of any value in
the way of watches and jewelry. Then they left him, with a cruel joke
about a good journey, and made off with their booty. It was the first
time poor Eli had met with such a mishap, and as he stood in the rain
looking at his wares scattered about the road, he felt inclined to throw
himself into the creek, and forget his woes there among the frogs and
snakes. But he had a stout heart, and soon decided to make the best of
it, since nothing could be done to mend the matter. Gathering up his
bedraggled laces, scattered scent-bottles, and dirty buttons, pins, and
needles, he trudged sadly on, feeling that for him this was indeed a
Dismal Swamp.
"I told you we'd better stick together, but you wanted to be so dre'dful
smart, and go travellin' off alone in them out'n the way places. Might
'a' known you'd get overhauled somers. I always did think you was a
gump, Eli, and now I'm sure on't," was all the comfort Gad gave him when
they met, and the direful tale was told.
"What shall I do now?" asked the poor lad. "My notions aren't worth
selling, and my money's gone. I'll have to pay Hoadley somehow."
"You'd better foot it home and go to choppin' punkins for the cows, or
help your marm spin. I vow I never did see such a chap for gettin' into
a mess," scolded Gad, who was a true Yankee, and made a successful
trader, even in a small way.
"We'll sleep on it," said Eli, gently, and went to bed very low in his
mind.
Perhaps a few tears wet his pillow as he lay awake, and the prayers his
mother taught him were whispered in the silence of the night; for hope
revived, comfort came, and in the morning his serene face and sensible
plan proved to his irate friend that the "gump" had a wise head and a
manly heart, after all.
"Gad, it is just the time for the new almanacs, and Allen wants men to
sell 'em. I thought it was small business before, but beggars mustn't be
choosers, so I'm going right off to offer for the job 'round here. It
will do for a start, and if I'm smart, Allen will give me a better
chance maybe."
"That's a fust-rate plan. Go ahead, and I'll say a good word for you.
Allen knows me, and books is in your line, so I guess you'll do wal if
you keep out'n the mashes," answered Gad, with great good will, having
slept off his vexation.
The plan did go well, and for weeks the rosy-faced, gentle-voiced youth
might have been seen mildly offering the new almanacs at doors and
shops, and at street corners, with a wistful look in his blue eyes, and
a courtesy of manner that attracted many customers and earned many a
dollar. Several mates, envying his fine handwriting and pitying his hard
luck, took lessons in penmanship of him and paid him fairly, whereat he
rejoiced over the hours spent at home, flat on the kitchen floor, or
flourishing splendid capitals on the snow-banks, when his nose was blue
with cold and his hands half-frozen.
When the season for the yellow-covered almanacs was over, Eli, having
won the confidence of his employer, was fitted out with more notions,
and again set forth on his travels, armed, this time, and in company
with his townsman. He prospered well, and all winter trudged to and fro,
seemingly a common peddler, but really a student, making the world his
book, and bent on learning all he could. Travel taught him geography and
history, for he soon knew every corner of Virginia; looked longingly at
the ancient walls of William and Mary College, where Jefferson and
Monroe studied; where young George Washington received his surveyor's
commission, and in his later years served as Chancellor. In Yorktown, he
heard all about the siege of 1781; saw Lord Cornwallis's lodgings and
the cave named for him; met pleasant people, whose fine speech and
manners he carefully copied; read excellent books wherever he could find
them, and observed, remembered, and stored away all that he saw, heard,
and learned, to help and adorn his later life.
By spring he set out for home, having slowly saved enough to repay
Hoadley for the lost goods. But as if Providence meant to teach him
another lesson, and make him still more prudent, humble, and manly, a
sad adventure befell him on his way.
While waiting for the coaster that was to take them home, he one day
went in swimming with Gad; for this was one of the favorite pastimes of
the Connecticut boys, who on Saturday nights congregated by the score at
a pond called Benson's Pot, and leaped from the spring-board like circus
tumblers, turning somersaults into the deep water below.
It was too early for such sport now; the water was very cold, and poor
Gad, taken with cramp, nearly drowned Eli by clinging to his legs as he
went down. Freeing himself with difficulty, Eli tried to save his
friend; but the current swept the helpless man away, and he was lost.
Hurriedly dressing, Eli ran for aid, but found himself regarded with
suspicion by those to whom he told his story; for he was a stranger in
the place and certain peddlers who had gone before had left a bad name
behind them.
To his horror, he was arrested, accused of murder, and would have been
tried for his life, if Mr. Allen of Norfolk had not come to testify to
his good character, and set him free. Poor Gad's body was found and
buried, and after a month's delay, Eli set out again, alone,
heavy-hearted, and very poor, for all his own little savings had been
consumed by various expenses. Mr. Hoadley's money was untouched, but not
increased, as he hoped to have it; and rather than borrow a penny of it,
Eli landed barefooted. His boots were so old he threw them overboard,
and spent his last dollar for a cheap pair of shoes to wear when he
appeared at home, for they were not stout enough to stand travel. So,
like Franklin with his rolls, the lad ate crackers and cheese as he
trudged through the city, and set out for the far-away farm-house among
the hills.
A long journey, but a pleasant one, in spite of his troubles; for spring
made the world lovely, habit made walking no hardship, and all he had
seen in his wanderings passed before him at will, like a panorama full
of color and variety.
Letters had gone before, but it was a sad homecoming, and when all was
told, Eli said:--
"Now, father, I'll go to work. I've had my wish and enjoyed it a sight;
and would go again, but I feel as if I ought to work, as long as I can't
pay for my time."
"That's hearty, son, and I'm obleeged to ye. Hear what mother's got to
say, and then do whichever you prefer," answered the farmer, with a nod
toward his wife, who, with the girls, seemed full of some pleasant news
which they longed to tell.
"I've sold all the cloth we made last winter for a good sum, and father
says you may hev the spendin' on't. It will be enough to pay your board
down to Uncle Tillotson's while you study with him, so 's 't you kin be
gettin' ready for college next year. I've sot my heart on't, and you
musn't disapp'int me and the girls," said the good woman, with a face
full of faith and pride in her boy, in spite of all mishaps.
"Oh, mammy, how good you be! It don't seem as if I ought to take it. But
I _do_ want to go!" cried Eli, catching her round the neck in an ecstasy
of boyish delight and gratitude.
Here Miranda and Pamela appeared, bringing their homely gifts of warm
hose, and new shirts made from wool and flax grown by the father, and
spun and woven by the accomplished housewife.
A very happy youth was Eli when he again set off to the city, with his
humble outfit and slender purse, though father still looked doubtful,
and the brothers were more sure than ever that Eli was a fool to prefer
dry books to country work and fun.
A busy year followed, Eli studying, as never boy studied before, with
the excellent minister, who soon grew proud of his best pupil. Less
preparation was needed in those days, and perhaps more love and industry
went to the work; for necessity is a stern master, and poor boys often
work wonders if the spark of greatness is there.
Eli had his wish in time, and went to college, mother and sisters making
it possible by the sale of their handiwork; for the girls were famous
spinners, and the mother the best weaver in the country around. How
willingly they toiled for Eli!--rising early and sitting late, cheering
their labor with loving talk of the dear lad's progress, and an
unfailing faith in his future success. Many a long ride did that good
mother take to the city, miles away, with a great roll of cloth on the
pillion behind her to sell, that she might pay her son's college bills.
Many a coveted pleasure did the faithful sisters give up that they might
keep Eli well clothed, or send him some country dainty to cheer the
studies which seemed to them painfully hard and mysteriously precious.
Father began to take pride in the ugly duckling now, and brothers to
brag of his great learning. Neighbors came in to hear his letters, and
when vacation brought him home, the lads and lasses regarded him with a
certain awe; for his manners were better, his language purer, than
theirs, and the new life he led refined the country boy till he seemed a
gentleman.
The second year he yielded to temptation, and got into debt. Being
anxious to do credit to his family, of whom he was secretly a little
ashamed about this time, he spent money on his clothes, conscious that
he was a comely youth with a great love of beauty, and a longing for all
that cultivates and embellishes character and life. An elegant gentleman
astonished the hill folk that season, by appearing at the little church
in a suit such as the greatest rustic dandy never imagined in his
wildest dreams,--the tall white hat with rolling brim, Marseilles vest
with watch-chain and seals festooned across it, the fine blue coat with
its brass buttons, and the nankeen trousers strapped over boots so tight
that it was torture to walk in them. Armed with a cane in the
well-gloved hand, an imposing brooch in the frills of the linen shirt,
Eli sauntered across the green, the observed of all observers, proudly
hoping that the blue eyes of a certain sweet Lucinda were fixed
admiringly upon him.
The boys were the first to recover from the shock, and promptly resented
the transformation of their former butt into a city beau, by jeering
openly and affecting great scorn of the envied splendor. The poor
jackdaw, somewhat abashed at the effect of his plumes, tried to prove
that he felt no superiority, by being very affable, which won the
lasses, but failed to soften the hearts of the boys; and when he secured
the belle of the village for the Thanksgiving drive and dance, the young
men resolved that pride should have a fall.
Arrayed in all his finery, Eli drove pretty Lucinda in a smart borrowed
wagon to the tavern where the dance was held. Full of the airs and
graces he had learned at college, the once bashful, awkward Eli was the
admired of all eyes, as he pranced down the long contra-dance in the
agonizing boots, or played "threading the needle" without the least
reluctance on the part of the blushing girls to pay the fine of a kiss
when the players sung the old rhyme:--
"The needle's eye no one can pass;
The thread that runs so true--
It has caught many a pretty lass,
And now it has caught you."
But his glory was short-lived; for some enemy maliciously drew out the
linchpin from the smart wagon, and as they were gayly driving homeward
over the hills, the downfall came, and out they both went, to the great
damage of Eli's city suit, and poor Lucinda's simple finery.
Fortunately, no bones were broken, and picking themselves up, they sadly
footed it home, hoping the mishap would remain unknown. But the rogues
took care that Eli should not escape, and the whole neighborhood laughed
over the joke; for the fine hat was ruined, and the costly coat split
down the back, in the ignominious tumble.
Great was the humiliation of the poor student; for not only was he
ridiculed, but Lucinda would not forgive him, and the blue eyes smiled
upon another; worst of all, he had to confess his debts and borrow
money of his father to pay them. He meekly bore the stern rebuke that
came with the hard-earned dollars, but the sight of the tears his mother
shed, even while she comforted him, filled him with remorse. He went
back to his books, in a homespun suit, a sadder and a wiser boy, and
fell to work as if resolved to wash out past errors and regain the
confidence he had lost.
All that winter the wheels turned and the loom jangled, that the rolls
of cloth might be increased; and never was the day too cold, the way too
long, for the good mother's pious pilgrimage.
That summer, a man came home to them, shabby enough as to his clothes,
but so wonderfully improved in other ways, that not only did the women
folk glow with tender pride, but father and brothers looked at him with
respect, and owned at last there was something in Eli. "No vacation for
me," he said; "I must work to pay my debts; and as I am not of much use
here, I'll try my old plan, and peddle some money into my empty
pockets."
It was both comic and pathetic to see the shoulders that had worn the
fine broadcloth burdened with a yoke, the hands that had worn kid gloves
grasping the tin trunks, and the dapper feet trudging through dust and
dew in cow-hide boots. But the face under the old straw hat was a
manlier one than that which the tall beaver crowned, and the heart under
the rough vest was far happier than when the gold chain glittered above
it. He did so well that when he returned to college his debts were paid,
and the family faith in Eli restored.
That was an eventful year; for one brother married, and one went off to
seek his fortune, the father mortgaging his farm to give these sons a
fair start in life. Eli was to be a minister, and the farmer left his
fortunes in the hands of his wife, who, like many another good mother,
was the making of the great man of the family, and was content with that
knowledge, leaving him the glory.
The next year, Eli graduated with honor, and went home, to be received
with great rejoicing, just twenty-one, and a free man. He had longed for
this time, and planned a happy, studious life, preparing to preach the
gospel in a little parsonage of his own. But suddenly all was changed;
joy turned to sorrow, hope to doubt, and Eli was called to relinquish
liberty for duty,--to give up his own dreams of a home, to keep a roof
over the heads of the dear mother and the faithful sisters. His father
died suddenly, leaving very little for the women folk besides the
independence that lay in the skill of their own thrifty hands. The elder
brothers could not offer much help, and Eli was the one to whom the poor
souls turned in their hour of sorrow and anxiety.
"Go on, dear, and don't pester yourself about us. We can find food and
firin' here as long as the old farm is ours. I guess we can manage to
pay off the mortgage by-and-by. It don't seem as if I _could_ turn out,
after livin' here ever sense I was married, and poor father so fond
on't."
The widow covered her face with her apron, and Eli put his arms about
her, saying manfully, as he gave up all his fondest hopes for her dearer
sake--
"Cheer up, mother, and trust to me. I should be a poor fellow if I
allowed you and the girls to want, after all you've done for me. I can
get a school, and earn instead of spend. Teaching and studying can go on
together. I'm sure I shouldn't prosper if I shirked my duty, and I
won't." The three sad women clung to him, and the brothers, looking at
his brave, bright face, felt that Eli was indeed a man to lean on and to
love in times like this.
"Well," thought the young philosopher, "the Lord knows what is best for
me, and perhaps this is a part of my education. I'll try to think so,
and hope to get some good out of a hard job."