The End
"It is this way," said Thaddeus, "to speak from a--a--personal
standpoint. If Morgan Map goes to the cemetery I shall not wait for my
mail, but go and--a--accidentally interrupt. If he goes north, the other
man may go there, if he chooses. I shall wait for my mail."
"Your standpoint!" said Mr. Paulus, heavily. "Well--speakin' from young
Map's, what might he want in the cemetery? Speakin' from mine, I'd
rather he'd go there and stay."
"My niece Helen is at present planting flowers in the cemetery--in point
of fact, roots."
Mr. Paulus was aroused. "They might do some buttin'--think?"
"Gals! Shucks!" The stage-driver climbed back to his seat and drove
away. Mr. Paulus looked after him, musingly.
"Willard Sickles," he said, "never would have nothin' to do with women.
He was born drivin' mails!"
"Pun?" asked Thaddeus, delicately, with his eyes on the Four Corners.
"Pun, Peter?"
"Hey?" Mr. Paulus was still thoughtful--abstracted. "Lonesome and
disgusted. Born so. It's his nature."
The two at the Four Corners separated. Morgan went north, Gard towards
the cemetery.
"I thought they might do some buttin'," said Mr. Paulus, as one grown
used to disappointment, and went in with his mail-bags.
Sundry villagers appeared, drifting slowly to the focus of the
post-office. Thaddeus took off his glasses and put them with precision
into their case.
"I wonder if Pete intended a pun? Probably not. Conversation is subject
to accidents. It is a pity that conversation is not--not more secure."
* * * * *
Gard entered the cemetery-gate and went along the shrub-bordered path.
"Every man is the dungeon of himself, but there is a key that unlocks
mine."
He stepped from the path into the grass, and Helen's apron was full of a
mess of brown, earthy roots. She started and cried out, and held up
both hands to him, with the trowel in one of them.
"I don't like my life, Nellie. Won't you let me into yours?" And she
dropped the trowel and said, "Oh--why, yes," in a tone that sounded like
an after-climax, and Gard took apron, yellow head, and all into his
arms, and scattered the roots beside Widow Bourn's placid grave and
Simon's stone, on which was graven insistently, "Remember Me." A
bluebird warbled and cooed to himself on the fence and paid no
attention. The bold head of Windless Mountain glimmered in the sun, that
swung low and near it. Presently the shadow of Windless would sweep over
Hagar with noiseless rush, with silence, or the sleepy twittering of
day-birds.
"It was a long way here, Nellie. I went nearly to the other end of
everything to find the path."
"Do you really love me? How long?"
"Long before I knew it. Do you mean how long am I going to?"
"No, I don't. Look, Gard! These will be blue violets when they grow.
They come from behind the church, and mother liked them. But you belong
to me now, and you mustn't stay here. It's cold under the hemlocks. You
must come out in the sun."
They went back along the path to the gate. Over the fence in his garden
the minister was planting peas, arranging them according to some theory
of fitness, perhaps allegorically, and humming a hymn out of tune.
Knowing that a tune was a spiritual mystery which Providence did not
permit him ever thoroughly to penetrate, he only sang when he thought
himself alone, and in a subdued murmur. The weather-vane of the militant
church pointed southwest at Windless Mountain, which meant always a
benevolent opinion about the weather. The sun slipped behind the
mountain, and the shadow of Windless flowed over Hagar; over Rachel
standing at the lilac gate, waiting for Helen, and liking the impersonal
peace of the hour; over Thaddeus stepping up the hill from the
post-office, and formulating certain reflections on the use and abuse of
accident in the practice of conversation; over Helen and Gard.
"You must learn all about Hagar, Gard. That's the minister. He always
pats his peas on the head when he plants them. And that's Windless."
"Is that Windless? He looks like a gentleman. Let's call the minister
and let him pat us on the head, show him it's a world of kisses so he'll
know what the trouble is, and tell him to ring the bell to-morrow."
"Nonsense. Besides, if you're going to do that, I'd rather only Windless
saw."
"You'll be famous and glorious, won't you? And I'll be proud--"
"Proud in a tower?"
"Oh, anywhere. Properly proud like Windless. But we'll like best to be
in Hagar, because that will be home."
"I'll be something, or try to be, if you want it. I'm a tired soldier
now, Nellie, on sick leave. I told the adjutant I was in love, too, but
he wouldn't put it in the permit. Let's go home."
They went up past the militant church, and Thaddeus and Rachel waited,
smiling, at the gate under the lilacs. Simon's epitaph and the fading
mountain were left facing each other across the dusk. In any issue
between them, the dignity of law and time seemed to be with the mountain
as against the personal claim, yet one did not come to Hagar to learn
among its twilights that humanity was degenerate nature, or that
the instinct of its insistent identity was lawless; it might be an
amendment in the process of making.
"They're coming," said Thaddeus. "The older I grow, Mrs. Mavering, the
more I perceive a certain dexterity in the--in fact, in event; a shell
now, for instance, skilfully exploded."
Rachel only smiled and threw open the gate.
I heard a pilgrim near a temple gate
Crying, "I have no fear if thou art Fate;
Morn, eve, and noon, if I look up to thee,
Wilt thou at night look down, remembering me?
Nay, then, my sins so great, my service small"--
So prayed he at the gate--"forget them all;
Of claims and rights a load the while I keep,
How in thy nights, O God, to smile and sleep?"
"Pilgrim," I said, "hath He, who toils the while,
Bade thee, of burdens free, now sleep and smile?
Who built the hills on high and laid the sea,
Set in thy heart that cry, 'Remember me.'"
From _Persian Moralities_.
THE END
_American Contemporary Novels_
LET NOT MAN PUT ASUNDER
BY BASIL KING
_This is the tenth of the twelve One-a-Month American Novels to be
published during 1901._
"The new volume in the American Novel Series, which will, we doubt not,
more than justify that undertaking in the eyes of American readers. Mr.
King has a firm grasp of character; ... he handles dialogue with
epigrammatic felicity, and he has something to say.... Mr. King's study
of his heroine is an admirable performance.... A novel worthy of the
notice of all thinking and observing Americans. Its qualities as a story
are deepened by its meaning as a study of temperament and changing
social conditions."--Richard Henry Stoddard in _New York Mail and
Express_.
"'Let Not Man Put Asunder' is clever, spicy, absorbing, and
thought-inspiring--a book with many missions.... A novel in which the
problems of unhappy marriage and separation are very seriously and
comprehensively considered."--_New York World_.
"The story moves through unusually brilliant dialogue and a series of
exciting scenes to its swift and inevitable conclusion."--_Public
Opinion_, New York.
"A book that fairly throbs with intense interest from start to
finish.... Its characters are living portraitures. It is thoroughly sane
and sound."--_Philadelphia Item_.
_Comments from various reviewers_:
"Masterfully handled."
"A most powerful drama of life."
"As timely as it is well done."
"A book to be respected."
"Mr. King is a 'coming' man."
_Post 8vo._ _Cloth, Ornamented, $1.50_
EASTOVER COURT HOUSE
BY HENRY BURNHAM BOONE and KENNETH BROWN
_This is the first of the twelve One-a-Month American Novels to be
published during 1901._
"If each of the novels of American life by American authors which
Messrs. Harper & Brothers project for the current year proves as good as
'Eastover Court House,' the twelve volumes will constitute a decided
addition to American fiction."--_Detroit Free Press_.
"Its charm lies in the constant succession of strongly drawn pictures of
life. One chapter after another presents these scenes, as sharply
outlined and deep in shadows as an artistic photograph. The book ... is
absolutely fascinating."--_Louisville Courier-Journal_.
"Set in the midst of the fox-hunting and cross-country regions, there is
the hoof-beat of the galloping hunter all through the story, which is
full of dry humor and vivid pen-pictures of life."--_Horse Show
Monthly_.
"The horse stories are the best since David Harum's, and quite as
laughable as his."--_Chester Times_.
_Comments from various reviewers_
"A good story well told."
"Strong and absorbing."
"Warm with life, with the passions and emotions ... of Virginia."
"Wholesome, true to life."
_Post 8vo._ _Cloth, Ornamented, $1.50_
THE SENTIMENTALISTS
BY ARTHUR STANWOOD PIER
_This is the second of the twelve One-a-Month American Novels to be
published during 1901._
"A novelist who sets out to depict a character like Becky Sharp is
likely to come to grief. Hence it is surprising that Mr. Pier has not
failed in portraying the social exile, Mrs. Kent. The novel is strong
and clever."--_Pittsburg Commercial-Gazette_.
"It is a very clever novel. There is story to it; there is apt phrasing
and clear delineation of character; there is much incisive and
delightful epigram."--_Evening Sun_. New York.
"If the cleverest parts of this work had been entirely cut out, we
should have called it one of the cleverest novels of the
season."--_Brooklyn Daily Eagle_.
"The book is characterised throughout by keen analysis and a delightful
sense of humor."--_Chicago Tribune_.
_Comments from various reviewers_
"Mrs. Kent is distinctly American."
"As interesting and unique as Becky Sharp."
"The book will be a success."
"A rattling good story."
"A vivid study of contemporary social life."
"One of the cleverest novels of the season."
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MARTIN BROOK
BY MORGAN BATES
_This is the third of the twelve One-a-Month American Novels to be
published during 1901._
"It is written in a style unknown nowadays, ... with an impressive power
revealed at each crisis of the tale, which makes the pulses stir and the
eye glisten. What a book for the opening of the twentieth
century!"--Julian Hawthorne, in the _Journal_, New York.
"A very striking book, and one that I am quite sure will take an
enviable place in line with record-breakers. It is the third of the
'American Novel Series,' and is entitled 'Martin Brook.' I finished it
at one sitting, so intense was my interest in it."--_Buffalo
Commercial_, N.Y.
"The third of the 'American Novel Series,' 'Martin Brook,' by Morgan
Bates, appeals to the best in man and woman, and is a credit alike to
author and publishers.... 'Martin Brook' is indeed an American novel,
and of the best kind."--Philadelphia _Daily Evening Telegraph_.
"One's interest is caught and held by the hero from the moment of his
first appearance in its pages.... There has not been a stronger scene
[the library scene] written to revive the interest of jaded novel
readers for many a day."--_N.Y. Commercial Advertiser_.
"The story is told in a vigorous manner, and is certainly out of the
common run of fiction as it is told nowadays."--_New York Sun_.
_Comments from various reviewers_:
"One of the most refreshing and natural of novels."
"As good as it is charming."
"A story of depth, color, and action."
"It is refreshing to light upon a story like 'Martin Brook.'"
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A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCES
BY GERALDINE ANTHONY
_This is the fourth of the twelve One-a-Month American Novels to be
published during 1901._
"It plunges the reader directly into the social whirl of New York, and
the hand that detains one there all through an intensely interesting
succession of functions, flirtations, and incidents, ... is the hand of
one who has seen something whereof she writes."--_New York World_.
"There is more than one thinly disguised portrait in its pages--so we
are told."--_Mail and Express_, New York.
"Bobby Floyd is probably the most disagreeable and wholly exasperating
cad ever put into an American novel.... There is love-making all through
the book."--_The Times_, Washington, D.C.
"They fall in love amid most delightful surroundings of tennis, boating,
and driving."--_Exchange_.
_Comments from various reviewers_:
"Devoid of problems or mental complications."
"A book for a summer day."
"Has the correct New York social atmosphere."
"Decidedly a fascinating book about attractive people."
"Full of touch-and-go conversation."
"They all revel in smart talk and repartee."
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DAYS LIKE THESE
BY EDWARD W. TOWNSEND
_This is the fifth of the twelve One-a-Month American Novels to be
published during 1901._
"Mr. Townsend has given us a novel that is a strong and vigorous picture
of contemporary New York. He tells his story with the gayety and charm
and light-hearted high spirits of one to whom the passing show of life
is still full of interest, and he succeeds in interesting the reader.
There is not a dull line in the book."--_New York Journal_.
"The love story is well told, but the chief interest of the novel lies
in its contrasted pictures of New York life--from Fifth Avenue to Hell's
Kitchen."--_Cleveland Plain-Dealer_.
"Mr. Townsend has made a very striking and daring use of his experience
as a newspaper man.... He has gone about his business with vigor and
decision.... There is hardly a chapter which does not stand out through
sheer force of the author's fund of anecdote and observation and
humor."--_New York Commercial Advertiser_.
"It is an eminent success.... We recall very few novels of the past year
that we have read with such sustained interest."--_The Churchman_, New
York.
_Comments from various reviewers_:
"The book has countless good things."
"'Days Like These' is full of life and New York."
"A kaleidoscopic yet homogeneous picture of modern New York life."
"His pictures are vivid and true."
"Mr. Townsend writes incisively, vigorously."
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WESTERFELT
By WILL N. HARBEN
_This is the sixth of the twelve One-a-Month American Novels to be
published during 1901._
"A good, ingenious story, which grows more and more interesting as the
author proceeds."--Richard Henry Stoddard.
"It is a highly dramatic presentation of the warring forces of human
passions, conscience, and distorted religious beliefs. The story from
first page to last is vibrant with sustained power."--_The Outlook_,
N.Y.
"I have only words of praise to write of 'Westerfelt.' It is an
uncommonly good story, wherein is presented a very interesting picture
of American life as known in the author's native state."--_Boston
Times_.
"Mr. Harben has lived among North Georgia people; he has learned their
ways and their life; and, learning this, he has woven these people and
their life into a story full of charm and truth. It has the best claim
on the attention of the public--it is thoroughly readable."--_Atlanta
Journal_.
_Comments from various reviewers_:
"A love story, pure and simple."
"Unusual and unhackneyed."
"Full of dramatic elements."
"One of the best novels."
"Strong throughout."
_Post 8vo._ _Cloth, Ornamented, $1.50_
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Maintained original spelling and punctuation of the dialect.
Maintained original hyphenation.
Obvious printer errors have been corrected.