A BUSY TIME.
A FEW mornings after this conversation, Mrs. Grimsby made her
appearance in Hesper’s room. She had been listening for some time, and
as soon as she heard Mr. Greyson leave, she took her hands out of the
wash-tub, and came in with her arms all smoking.
“So,” she commenced, “I hear that Mose is going to sea. I shouldn’t
have known it if one of the neighbors hadn’t told me. It’s rather
strange, living in the same house, and doing all I can to be friendly,
that everything should be kept so private. If I had been aunt Nyna, or
Capt. Clark’s mother, or some of those people who set themselves up so,
perhaps it would have been different. But I don’t know as I care--I am
certain of one thing, that I am an honest woman, and the time will come
when I shall have the place I deserve.”
“O,” said Hesper, with a smile, “I thought several times about coming
in to tell you but I have been so busy with getting things ready for
Mose, and finding out what he needed, that I really had no chance.”
“Well,” said Mrs. Grimsby, “if you had only come in and asked me, I
could have told you all about it, for I fitted out my husband for
California all myself. But howsomever, I shan’t offer my services. I
know better than to throw away my good will upon those that don’t know
how to prize it.”
Hesper did not answer, so Mrs. Grimsby made bold to walk about the
room, examine everything, and ask a great many questions.
“Well,” said she at last, after she had opened the door, and was just
ready to step out. “I thought I would just drop in and tell you, that
if you wanted anything of me, you will find me ready and willing, even
though I should stay at home from my work to help you”--and she shut
the door before Hesper could have a chance to thank her.
As soon as she was gone, Hesper arose and put her handkerchief over her
head to run up to aunt Betsey’s. There was so much to be done for Mose,
that it was quite impossible for her to attend to it all. She had good
judgment for one so young, but she lacked experience, and even now,
her head ached with thinking and her eyes with weariness. Aunt Nyna
was doing all she could for her, but even this was not enough. The
time was short, another pair of hands was greatly needed, and Hesper
resolved at last to apply to aunt Betsey. She went in very doubtfully,
and found her sewing as usual upon her bed-quilt. It didn’t seem to
grow very fast, with all her labor. Hesper sat down beside her. Snip,
snip, snip, went aunt Betsey’s scissors, as she cut out a fresh supply
of diamonds from the bits of satin, and then she began to stitch away
again with all her might. They talked upon various subjects for some
time, till at last Hesper summoned courage to ask her.
“Mercy me!” said aunt Betsey, “I don’t see how it will be possible! I
am in such a hurry! I declare, I am obliged to work night and day! Why
don’t you hire some one?”
“We don’t know of any one,” said Hesper, “even if we could afford to.”
“Well,” said aunt Betsey, “what, with my housework, and my bed-quilt,
and the things I have to attend to, and all the rest, it will be quite
out of my power. You must take the will for the deed, and I will make
Mose some present which will do quite as well.” Hesper came away
greatly disheartened. She wondered how aunt Betsey could be so selfish,
and then she thought it was because she had nothing else to care for
but herself and her own comfort.
“O dear,” she said, “it is better to be poor and have a warm heart.
Maybe if I was in her place, though, that I should be a great deal more
selfish.” She went home and seated herself again to her work, resolved
to do the best she could without assistance. It was not long before
Juliana came in with Tommy in her arms.
“Hesper,” said she, “mother says she thinks I can help you a little, if
I try, for I can sew quite fast. I don’t know much about making things,
but I can always learn when I have a mind to, and I am sure I would do
any thing to help you.” She put Tommy on the floor to play with simple
Johnny, and then took her seat by Hesper. She had brought her thimble
with her and went to work directly. At first she was awkward, and had
to be told a great many things, but she soon learned, and then was
quicker with her needle than Hesper.
“How strange it is,” said Hesper, “when I get almost discouraged,
something always happens to cheer me. Do you know, Juliana, I was just
ready to cry when you came in this morning?” The sullen expression
which usually hung about Juliana’s face, vanished in a moment, and she
looked up with a pleasant smile.
“Hesper,” said she, “I find it the easiest thing in the world to labor
for those I love, and if I can do anything to make you love me, it will
be all I want.” That night they could scarce believe they had done so
much. The work seemed to have grown under their hands without their
knowing it, and they had enjoyed every moment. After this, Juliana
insisted upon helping Hesper till the work was all finished. Mrs.
Grimsby said the reason why she was so willing, was because she thought
Hesper a little better than her own folks, and as soon as Tommy was old
enough to leave with the boys, she meant to take Juliana out a washing
with her.
As Mose was not obliged to work in the mill now, he improved all his
leisure time by making himself busy about the house, doing all he could
for their comfort and convenience. Uncle Nathan had promised him a load
of wood for the family, and Capt. Clark offered to lend him his horse
and wagon to go after it, so one pleasant morning he took Fred and
Charlie with him, and started for the wood-lot. On their way they met
George and Benny Grimsby.
“Jump in,” said Mose, “if you wish to,” and they did not wait for a
second invitation. When they came to the wood-lot they went to work
with all possible diligence to fill the cart. Mose praised them, and
they worked all the faster.
“It is too bad,” said George, who felt very good-natured, “that you are
going away so soon, Mose. I like you first rate, and I don’t know what
we shall do without you.” Mose laughed.
“George,” said he, “when I am gone, you will be the oldest boy in the
house, so you must take good care of the others. Be kind to Hesper,
won’t you? and if Fred and Charlie are troublesome, or do anything
to vex you, don’t take any notice of them, and they will soon learn
better.”
“No,” said George, with great dignity, “we used to quarrel and fight
once, but we have given that up long ago.” To be sure, six weeks seemed
quite an age to such a boy, but it was no longer ago than that, since
the Greysons and Grimsbys had a serious battle, in which the Greysons
were severely beaten. Mose had been wanting, for a long time, to get an
opportunity to talk with George, and though he placed little confidence
in his promises, yet he was glad if he would think about it.
“Now,” said Mose, “if you will be a first rate boy, and do all you can
for Hesper, I will bring you home something that will please you.”
George began to wonder immediately what it would be, and he thought
it would be no harm to modestly suggest, that he would like either a
monkey or a Chinese umbrella--he wasn’t very particular which--but
of the two, he should prefer a monkey. After this, the boys followed
Mose as closely as his own shadow. They told their mother what he had
promised, and asked her if she didn’t think they had best sell their
ducks, so as to keep the monkey in the duck-house, but she quite
disconcerted them by calling them little simpletons, and telling them
they had best wait till they had it. By the untiring industry of Hesper
and Juliana, everything was at length made ready. Mrs. Grimsby, out of
pure good will, washed all the clothes they made, ironed them neatly,
and stowed them away in the chest they were to occupy, but she told
all the neighbors of it, and said that she shouldn’t have done it if
she could have well helped it. Aunt Nyna made Mose a present of a very
nicely bound Bible, and aunt Betsey brought him a large bundle of old
newspapers, which she had begged of a neighbor. The night previous to
his departure, there came a loud rap at the door, and upon opening it,
Mose beheld Mr. Byers’ benevolent countenance.
“Get your hat, my boy,” said he, “and go to walk with me. My heart is
full and I want to relieve it.”
Accordingly Mose complied with his request, and they turned their steps
towards the sea shore. As they seated themselves on an unfinished spar,
Mr. Byers asked if the ship in which Mose was to sail would touch at
Canton.
“Yes, I believe so,” replied Mose, “at some time in the course of
the voyage, for we are to be gone two years or more, and shall visit
several ports.”
“Well, then,” resumed Mr. Byers, “doubtless you will meet with Harry
Nyna, and I want you, Mose, to take a sharp observation of that young
man, for if I can trust anything to my knowledge of human nature, I
should say he was exceedingly progressive.”
“Progressive!” repeated Mose. “Well, why not?”
“Ay, let me tell you, I think a young man is altogether too
progressive, when, at the age of seventeen or eighteen, he smokes his
cigar in public, drinks brandy behind the barn-door, and plays cards on
the hay-mow.”
“What!” said Mose, in astonishment.
“Ay, that’s a fact; and his mother--dear good lady,--never suspected
it. She’s just like all the rest of the women--Lord bless ‘em! So good
themselves they think everybody else is, and whoever they love, is next
kin to perfection.”
“Harry is a good-hearted boy, though” said Mose thoughtfully.
“As good as a ripe October peach with a doubled kernelled pit in it,
and generous as summer sunshine. But that is the great difficulty
with him. He is too generous to say no, and goes in for a jolly time
whenever he can have one. Nevertheless, I love him with all his faults,
and really feel a fatherly solicitude for him. Not on his mother’s
account, however. O, no, Mose! no! It’s purely for his own sake,
although I think Mrs. Dorothy a most excellent woman, and should I ever
think of marrying again, I would certainly give her the preference.
But, then, that isn’t what I came here to talk about. Mose,” resumed
the old man, after a few moment’s silence, “you are to be gone a long
time, and perhaps I may never see you again, and possibly I may be dead
when you come back.”
“O, I don’t think so,” said Mose.
“Nor I either,” continued Mr. Byers. “I only said possibly, and as I
would like to be remembered, I have concluded to give you this;” so
saying, he drew a monstrous old silver watch from his pocket, and laid
it in the hand of his young friend.
Mose drew back, unwilling to accept of a gift which he knew was of so
much value to its possessor, but the old man urged it upon him.
“Take her, Mose,” said he in a husky voice. “She’s a faithful creature,
and worth a dozen of the new-fangled concerns they have now-a-days.
She’s just what a good woman ought to be, for she has more of inward
worth than outward beauty, She never wears any other than a cheerful
countenance and always keeps her hands busy. Take her, my boy, I had
rather give her to you than any one. Whenever you look at her, think
how fast time is travelling on to eternity, and may the Lord teach you
to so number your days as to apply your heart to wisdom.”
Mose did take the watch, thanking him most sincerely, for he knew
the old man’s feelings would be deeply wounded, should he persist in
refusing.
“Now Mose, my boy,” he added, “I am going. You needn’t walk home with
me, for my heart is full, and I want to shed a few tears by myself.
Good bye, and God bless you.” He seized Mose warmly by the hand, and
giving it a hearty shake, he turned away, walked quickly up the sands
and disappeared in the darkness.
The morning on which Mose was to take his departure had at length
arrived. The “Sea Gull,” as handsome a ship as ever rode the waves, lay
at anchor in the harbor below. A fine fresh breeze was blowing, and
the boat was waiting at the wharf to take Mose and several others on
board. Mr. Greyson’s foot was so much worse that he could not go out,
and therefore Mose took leave of his parents at the house. He told his
father to keep up a good heart and take the best of care of himself
till he came home, and then they should all live more comfortably. But
Mr. Greyson shook his head with a most melancholy look and turned away
as he faintly said, “Good bye.”
Next Mose kissed his mother, and when she lifted her calm, pale face to
his, and said so earnestly--“God bless you, my boy, and keep you from
all evil”--he could not restrain the tears that were almost choking
him, and he had to wipe his eyes a great many times before he dared
make his appearance at the door. Capt Clark was waiting for him with
his wagon, to take his sea-chest and other things down to the boat. As
the wagon was large, they took Hesper and simple Johnny in, and then
Capt. Clark called to Juliana, who stood in the door-way with Tommy in
her arms, to come too, which she did with as little delay as possible.
When all was ready they drove off, while Fred and Charlie, with the
Grimsby boys and Bose, followed behind.
They soon came to the wharf, and Capt. Clark took charge of the
baggage, leaving Mose to talk with the friends who had come to see him
off. Hesper shivered like a leaf as she stood on the wharf, holding
simple Johnny by the hand, for the morning was cold, and her heart was
heavy within her. She thought how lonely she should be without Mose,
and in spite of herself the tears would roll down her cheeks.
“Don’t cry, Hesper!” he said, cheerfully; but there his own heart
failed him, and the choking feeling came again. So he only kissed her
and, whispered--“Pray for me every night, sister.” Then he jumped into
the boat and they pushed off.
“Stop! stop!” cried some one at the head of the wharf, and looking up,
they saw Mrs. Grimsby coming in great haste, with a bundle in her hand.
“Here,” she said, as she tossed it to Mose, “is a little package of
medicine which I meant to have given you before. There are old linen
rags, and salve, and pills, and powders, and anything else you will
want, should you be sick, and if you don’t need them, why some one else
may.”
“That’s a wise woman,” cried out the Captain of the ship, who stood in
the bow of the boat. “Three cheers for the ladies!” and they all took
off their hats and hurrahed, which pleased Mrs. Grimsby very much.
The boys followed the boat down to the end of the wharf, where they
waited to see her reach the ship. George made up a sorry face to cry,
when suddenly a thought occurred to him.
“Mose!” he called out at the top of his voice, “don’t forget the
monkey!” Mose laughed outright--“Don’t forget your promise!” he shouted
in reply, and then the boat shot out beyond hearing.