CAUSEY ISLAND.
When Eyebright awoke next morning, she ran straight to the window,
with the hope that she might see Causey Island. But the window did not
look toward the sea. Only a barn, a bit of winding road, and a green
hill with a rocky top, were to be seen; and she dropped the paper
shade with a sense of disappointment.
Dressing herself as fast as she could, she ran downstairs. Mrs. Downs,
who was frying fish in the kitchen, pointed with a spoon in answer to
her question, and said,--
"It's up that way the island is, but 'taint much to look at. It's too
fur for you to see the house."
Eyebright didn't particularly care about seeing the house. She was
satisfied with seeing the island. There it lay, long and green, raised
high out of the blue sea like a wall, with the water washing its stony
shore. There seemed to be a good many trees and bushes on top, and
altogether she thought it a beautiful place, and one where a little
girl might be happy to live.
"You ain't the folks that's coming to live up to the island, be you?"
said Mrs. Downs. "Do tell if you are? We heard there was some one.
There hain't been nobody there for quite a spell back, not since the
Lotts went away last year. Job Lott, he farmed it for a while; but
Miss Lott's father, he was took sick over to Machias, and they moved
up to look after him, and nobody's been there since, unless the boys
for blueberries. I guess your Pa'll find plenty to do to get things
straightened out, and so will the rest of you."
"There isn't any 'rest' but me."
"Do tell now. Hain't you any Ma?"
"No," said Eyebright, sadly. "Mother died last November."
"You poor little thing!" cried kind Mrs. Downs; "and hain't you got no
brothers and sisters either?"
"No; not any at all."
"Why, you'll be lonesome, I'm afraid, up to the island. You never
lived in such a sort of a place before, did you?"
"Oh, no; we always lived in Tunxet. But I don't believe I shall be
lonesome. It looks real pretty from here. Why is it called Cosy
Island, Mrs. Downs?"
"Well, I'm sure I don't know. Folks always called it that. I never
thought to ask nobody. Perhaps he'll know when he comes in."
"He" was Mr. Downs; but he knew no more than his wife about the name
of the island. Mr. Bright, however, was better informed. He told them
that the name, in the first place, was "Causeway," from the natural
path, uncovered at each low tide, which connected it with the shore,
and that this had gradually been changed to "Causey," because it was
easier to pronounce. Eyebright was rather disappointed at this
explanation.
"I thought it was 'Cosy,'" she said, "because the island was cosey."
Mr. Downs gave a great laugh at this, but papa patted her head kindly,
and said,--
"We'll see if we can't make it so, Eyebright."
The tide would not serve for crossing the causeway till the afternoon,
but Mr. Downs offered to put them over in his boat without waiting for
that. It was arranged that they should come back for the night, and
Mrs. Downs packed some bread and cheese and doughnuts in a basket to
serve them as dinner. Eyebright took the basket on her arm, and ran
down to the shore in high spirits. It was a lovely day. The sea was as
blue as the sky, and, as the boat pushed off, little ripples from the
incoming tide struck the pebbly beach, with swift flashes of white,
like gleaming teeth, and a gay little splash, so like a laugh that
Eyebright laughed too, and showed her teeth.
"What are you smiling at?" asked her father.
"I don't know," she answered, in a tone of dreamy enjoyment. "I like
it here, papa."
Near as the island looked, it took quite a long time to reach it,
though Mr. Downs pulled strongly and steadily. It was very
interesting, as each stroke took them nearer and nearer, and showed
more and more distinctly what their future home was like. The trees,
which at first had seemed a solid green mass, became distinct shapes
of pines, hemlocks, and sumachs. A little farther, and openings
appeared between them, through which open spaces on top could be seen,
bushes, a field, and yes, actually! a little brown patch, which was a
house. There it was, and Eyebright held Genevieve up that she might
see it, too.
"That's our house, my child," she whispered. "Aren't you glad? But my!
don't it look small?"
It was small, smaller even than it looked, as they found, when, after
saying good-by to Mr. Downs, and getting directions for crossing the
"Causey," they climbed the steep path which led to the top, and came
out close to the house. Mr. Bright gave a low whistle as he looked at
it, and Eyebright opened her eyes wide.
"It's a comfort that we're not a large family, isn't it?" she said,
quaintly. "I'm almost glad now that Wealthy didn't come, papa.
Wouldn't she say it was little? Littler than Miss Fitch's schoolhouse,
I do believe."
The front door was fastened only by a large cobweb, left by some
industrious spider of last year, so it was easy to make their way in.
There was no entrance-hall. The door opened directly into a square
kitchen, from which opened two smaller rooms. One had shelves round
it, and seemed to be a sort of pantry or milk-room. As they went into
the other, a trickling sound met their ears, and they saw a slender
stream of clear spring water running into a stone sink. The sink never
seemed to get any fuller, but the water ran on and on, and there was
no way to stop it, as Eyebright found after a little examination.
"Isn't that splendid?" she cried. "It just runs all the time, and we
shan't have to pump or any thing. I do like that so much!" Then, as if
the sound made her thirsty, she held her head under the spout, and
took a good long drink.
"Do taste it. It's the best water that ever was," she declared.
This spring-water, always at hand, was the only luxury which the
little house afforded. All the rest was bare and plain as could be.
Upstairs were two small chambers, but they were more like
chicken-coops than bedrooms; for the walls, made of laths not yet
plastered, were full of cracks and peep-holes, and the staircase which
led to them resembled a ladder more than was desirable. There was
plenty of sunshine everywhere, for there were no blinds, and the sweet
yellow light made a cheerfulness in the place, forlorn as it was.
Eyebright did not think it forlorn. She enjoyed it very much as though
it had been a new doll's-house, and danced about gleefully, planning
where this should go, and that; how papa's desk should have a corner
by one window, and her little chair by the other, and the big mahogany
table, which Wealthy had persuaded them to bring, by the wall. She
showed a good deal of cleverness and sense in their arrangement, and
papa was well content that things should be as she liked.
"We must have the upstairs rooms plastered, I suppose," he said.
"That'll require some time, I'm afraid. Plaster takes so long to dry.
We must arrange to wait at Mr. Downs's for a week or two, Eyebright."
He sighed as he spoke, and sat down on the door-step, his elbows on
his knees, his chin in his hands, looking tired and discouraged.
"Oh, must we?" cried Eyebright, her face falling. "That won't be nice
a bit. Papa! I've got an idea. Don't plaster the walls. Let me fix
them. I'll make them real nice, just as nice as can be, if you will,
and then we shan't have to wait at all."
"Why, what can you do with them? How do you mean?" demanded her
father.
"Oh, papa, it's a secret, I'd rather not tell you. I'd rather have it
a surprise,--mayn't I?"
Papa demurred, but Eyebright coaxed and urged, and at last he said,--
"Well, I don't care about it one way or the other. Try your idea if
you like, Eyebright. It will amuse you perhaps, and any thing will do
for the summer. We can plaster in the fall."
"I don't believe you'll want to," remarked Eyebright, shaking her head
mysteriously. "My way is much prettier than plaster. Just you wait and
see, papa. I'm sure you'll like it."
But papa seemed down-hearted, and it was not easy to make him smile.
To tell the truth, the look of the farm was rather discouraging. He
kicked the earth over with his foot, and said the soil was poor and
every thing seemed run down. But Eyebright would not give in to this
view at all. It was a lovely place, she insisted, and she ran about
discovering new beauties and advantages every moment. Now it was a
thicket of wild roses just budding into leaf. Next a patch of
winter-green, with white starry blossoms and red berries. Then,
peeping over the bank, she called papa's attention to a strip of
pebbly beach on the side of the island next the sea.
"Here's where we can take baths," she said. "Why, I declare, here's a
path down to it. I guess the people who used to live here made it;
don't you? Oh, do come and see the beach, papa!"
It was a rough little path which led to the beach, and overgrown with
weeds; but they made their way down without much trouble, and
Eyebright trampled the pebbles under foot with great satisfaction.
"Isn't it splendid!" she cried. "See that great stone close to the
bank, papa. We can go behind there to dress and undress. It's a real
nice place. I'm going to call it the 'The Dressing-room.' How wide the
sea is on this side! And what is that long point of land, papa?"
For the island lay within a broad curving bay. One end of the curve
projected only a little way, but toward the north a long, cape-like
tongue of land, with a bold, hilly outline, ran out to sea, and made a
striking feature in the landscape.
"Those are the Guinness Hills," said Mr. Bright. "Canada begins just
the other side of them. Do you see those specks of white on the point?
That is Malachi, and in the summer there is a steamboat once a week
from there to Portland. We can see it pass in clear weather, Mr. Downs
says."
"That will be nice," said Eyebright, comfortably. "I'm glad we've got
a beach of our own, papa; aren't you? Now I want to look about some
more."
To the left of the house the ground rose in a low knoll, whose top was
covered with sassafras bushes. This was the source of the spring whose
water ran into the back kitchen. They came upon it presently, and
could trace the line of spouts, each made of a small tree-trunk,
halved and hollowed out, which led it from the hill to the house.
Following these along, Eyebright made the discovery of a cubby,--a
veritable cubby,--left by some child in a choice and hidden corner
formed by three overlapping moosewood bushes. The furniture, except
for a table made of three shingles, consisted entirely of corn-cobs;
but it was a desirable cubby for all that, and would be a pleasant
out-door parlor for Genevieve on hot days, Eyebright thought. It made
the island seem much more home-like to know that other children had
lived there and played under the trees; and, cheered by this idea, she
became so merry, that gradually papa brightened, too, and began to
make plans for his farming operations with more heart than he had
hitherto shown, deciding where to plant corn and where potatoes, and
where their little vegetable garden would better be.
"I suppose it's no use to try for fruit," he said; "the climate is too
cold."
"Not too cold for blueberries," Eyebright replied. "There are lots of
them, Mrs. Downs says, and lots of cranberries, and Mr. Downs's
brother has got an apple-tree."
"An apple-tree! Dear! dear! Think of getting to a place where people
have only one apple-tree," muttered Mr. Bright.
By the time that they had made the circuit of the island it was twelve
o'clock. This was dinner-time, Eyebright declared, and she produced
the lunch-basket. Mrs. Downs's bread had yellow specks of saleratus in
it, and was very different from Wealthy's delicious loaves; but they
were too hungry to criticise, though Eyebright shook her head over it,
and thought with satisfaction of the big parcel of yeast-powder which
she and Wealthy had packed up. She knew exactly where it was, in the
corner of a certain red box, and that reminded her to ask papa when
the boxes would be likely to come.
"They are due at this moment," he replied, "I suppose we may look for
them at any time now. Mr. Downs says there have been head winds for
this week past, and I presume that has kept the sloop back. Perhaps
she may come to-day."
"I do hope she will. I want dreadfully to begin and fix the house.
Doesn't it seem a great while since we left Tunxet, papa? I can't
believe that it is only three days, so much has happened."
The tide had been going out since eleven o'clock, and by four, when
they were ready to cross, the causeway was uncovered. It was a wide
pathway of sand, not flat and even all the way, but high in some
places and low in others, with shells and pebbles shining here and
there on its surface. It was like a beach, except for being narrower,
and having water on both sides of it, instead of on only one. The sand
was still wet enough to make good hard footing, and Eyebright skipped
gayly over it, declaring that she felt just like the children of
Israel in the middle of the Red Sea.
"It is so strange to think that, just a little while ago, this was all
water," she said; "and just a little while longer, and it will be all
water again. It is the most interesting thing we've got on our island,
I think, papa; but it makes me feel a little afraid, too."
"There's nothing to be afraid of if you're only careful not to come
here except when the tide is going out," said her father. "Now
remember this, Eyebright,--you must never try to cross when the tide
is rising, even if the sand looks perfectly dry and the water seems a
good way off. The sea comes in very fast up here on these northern
shores, and if you made a misstep and sprained your ankle, or had an
accident of any kind, you might be drowned before any one could come
to your help. Remember, my child."
"Yes, papa, I will," said Eyebright, looking rather nervously at the
water. It was slipping farther away every moment, and seemed the most
harmless thing in the world; but papa's words made her feel as if it
were a dangerous and deceitful creature which could not be trusted.
It was over a mile from the causeway to the village, though at first
sight the distance looked much less Plodding along the sandy shore was
slow work, so that they did not reach the village till nearly six. A
smell of frying met them as they entered the door. Mrs. Downs, wishing
to do them honor, was making blueberry flapjacks for tea. Did any of
you ever eat blueberry flapjacks? I imagine not, unless you have
summered on the coast of Maine. They are a kind of greasy pancake, in
which blueberries are stirred till the cakes are about the color of a
bruise. They are served swimming in melted butter and sugar, and in
any other place or air would be certain indigestion, if not sudden
death, to any person partaking of them. But, somehow, in that place
and that air they are not only harmless but seem quite delicious as
well. Eyebright thought so. She ate a great many flapjacks, thought
them extremely nice, and slept like a top afterward, with never a bad
dream to mar her rest.
A big gray sail at the wharf was the glad sight that met their eyes
when they came down next morning. The sloop had come in during the
night, with all Mr. Bright's goods on board. He had hoped that it
might be possible to land them on the island, but the captain said it
was out of the question; he couldn't get near enough, for one thing,
and if he could, he wouldn't; for how were heavy things like them to
be dumped on a shelvin' bank like that, he'd like to know? So the
goods were landed on the dock at Scrapplehead, and Mr. Downs undertook
to find an ox-team to draw them across the causeway at low tide.
Getting oxen was not an easy matter at that season of the year, but
Mr. Downs, who had taken a fancy to his lodgers, bestirred himself,
and at last found some one willing to let his yoke go in consideration
of a dollar and a quarter. So, at exact low tide, the great cart,
piled with boxes and barrels, creaked slowly across the sandy bar, Mr.
Downs driving, and papa walking behind with Eyebright, who was more
than ever reminded of the crossing of the Red Sea. It took much
lugging and straining and "gee"-ing and "haw"-ing to get the load up
the steep bank on the other side; but all arrived safely at last in
front of the house. There the cart was unloaded as fast as possible, a
few things set indoors, the rest left outside, and, getting into the
cart, they all drove back across the causeway. It was harder work than
when they came, for the tide was rising, and the sand had grown soft
and yielding. One great swirling wave ran up and curled around the
oxen's hoofs just as they reached firm ground, but, though Eyebright
gave a little scream, and Mr. Downs frowned and said, "by gosh!" no
harm was done, and the momentary fright only made pleasanter their
drive to Scrapplehead, which they reached just as the sun sank for the
night into a great soft-looking bed of purple and crimson clouds.
This was their last night with the Downs family. Early next morning
they started for the island in Mr. Downs's boat, taking with them
their last bundles and bags, and Mrs. Downs, who had kindly offered to
give them a day's help. Very helpful it proved, for there was every
thing to do.
Mr. Bright, like all men, wanted to do every thing at once, and
Eyebright was too inexperienced to know what should come first and
what second; so Mrs. Downs's good sense and advice were of great
value. Under her directions the bedrooms were swept and cleaned, and
the bedsteads put together, first of all, for, as she said, "You've
got to sleep, anyhow, and if you don't do it comfortable you'll be
sick, and that would never do." Next, while Eyebright swept the
kitchen, she and Mr. Bright got the stove into place, fixed the pipe,
and lighted a fire, after which Mrs. Downs scoured the pantry shelves,
and unpacked china and tins.
"There," she said, surveying the result with great satisfaction. "That
begins to look folksy. What's sewed up in that old comforter? A
rocking-cheer. Let's have it out!"
So the rocking-chair was unsewed, and papa's desk and the big table
were unpacked; and as each familiar article came to view, Eyebright
felt as though an old friend were restored to her. She patted the arm
of her own little chair, and put the plaided cover from the old
sitting-room over the table, with a sense of cheer and comfort. She
and papa and Mrs. Downs dined on bread and cheese in the intervals of
work, and by five o'clock they were very fairly in order, and Mrs.
Downs made ready to go back to her own family. Eyebright walked with
her as far as the causeway, and parted with a hearty kiss. Mrs. Downs
seemed like a second Wealthy, almost, she had been so kind and
thoughtful all that busy day.
Papa was sitting in the rocking-chair, by the stove, when she went
back. She stopped to kiss him as she passed, and proceeded to set the
table and get supper. Mrs. Downs had started them with a supply of
bread, butter, and milk; but the tea and sugar came out of one of the
Tunxet boxes, and so did the tumbler of currant-jam, opened in honor
of the occasion. Wealthy had made it, and it seemed to taste of the
pleasant old times. Eyebright did not care to think much about Wealthy
just then. The tide was drawing over the causeway, cutting them off
from everybody else in the world. She felt lonely and the least bit
afraid, in spite of papa's being there; and only keeping very busy
till bedtime saved her from homesickness, which she felt would be a
bad beginning, indeed, for that first evening in her new home.
Next morning was fair. All the days had been good so far, which was
fortunate, for a half-settled house is a dismal place enough in rainy
weather. Eyebright opened her eyes, and after one bewildered stare
began to laugh, for through the slats of her "coop," she could
distinctly see papa, half-dressed, and brushing his hair in his, on
the other side of the entry. This was not to be endured, so after
breakfast, while he went to the village for some provisions, she set
to work with great energy on her plan for reforming the bedroom walls.
This was to cover them with "picture papers." There was an abundance
of material for the purpose at hand, for her mother had taken Harper's
Bazar and Frank Leslie's Illustrated for several years; and as she
saved all the back numbers, a large pile had collected, which Wealthy
had carefully packed. These Eyebright sorted over, setting aside all
the pictures of cows, and statesmen, and steamboats, and railroad
trains for papa's room, and keeping the kittens, and dogs, and boys,
and girls, and babies for her own. She fastened the papers to the
laths with tacks, and the ceilings were so low that she was able to do
all but the very top row herself. That she was forced to leave for
papa. So hard did she work that the whole of his room was done before
he appeared, climbing the path, with a big bundle under one arm, a
basket in his hand, and looking very warm and tired.
"It's a hard pull up the shore," he said, wiping his forehead. "I
shall have to get a boat whether I can afford it or not, I'm afraid.
It'll be worse when hot weather comes, and there'll always be the need
of going over to the village for something or other."
"A boat," cried Eyebright, clapping her hands "Oh, papa, that would be
splendid. I can learn to row it my own self, can't I? It'll be as nice
as a carriage of our own,--nicer, for we shan't have to catch the
horse, or feed him either. Now, papa, let me carry the basket, and oh,
do come quick. I want to show you how beautifully I have done your
bedroom."
Papa liked the bedroom very much. He was glad to be saved the expense
and delay of plastering, only he said he was afraid he should always
be late to breakfast, because he should want to lie in bed and study
his picture-gallery, which joke delighted Eyebright highly.
It was several days before she had time to attend to her own papering,
for there was a great deal else to do,--boxes to unpack, places to
settle, and outside work to begin. Mr. Bright hired a man for one week
to plow and plant and split wood. After that, he thought he could keep
things in running order by himself. He had been brought up on a farm,
but years of disuse had made him stiff and awkward at such labor, and
he found the work harder than he had expected. Eyebright was glad to
see the big woodpile grow. It had a cosey look to her, and gradually
the house was beginning to look cosey too. The kitchen, with its strip
of carpet and easy-chairs and desk, made quite a comfortable
sitting-room. Eyebright kept a glass of wild roses or buttercups or
white daisies always on the table. She set up a garden of her own,
too, after a while, and raised some balsams and "Johnny-jump-ups" from
seeds which Mr. Downs gave her, and some golden-brown coreopsis. As
for the housekeeping, it fared better than could have been expected
with only a little girl of thirteen to look after things. Once a week,
a woman came from the village for the day (and half a dollar), did the
washing and part of the ironing, roasted a joint of meat if there was
one to roast, made a batch of pies, perhaps, or a pan of gingerbread,
and scoured the pots and pans and the kitchen floor. This lightened
the work for the next seven days, and left Eyebright only vegetables
and little things to cook, and the ordinary cleaning, bed-making, and
dusting to do, which she managed very well on the whole, though
sometimes she got extremely tired, and wished for Wealthy's strong
hands to help her. Milk and butter came from Mr. Downs's every other
day, and papa was very good and considerate about his food, and quite
contented with a dinner of potatoes or mush if nothing better was to
be had, so the little housekeeper did not have any heavy burden on her
mind so far as he was concerned.
The boat proved a great comfort when it came, which was not till more
than a month after their settlement on Causey Island. Eyebright took
regular rowing lessons and practised diligently, so that after a few
weeks she became really expert, and papa could trust her to go alone
as far as the village, when the weather was fair and the sea smooth.
These rows to and fro were the greatest treats and refreshments after
house-work. Sometimes it happened that her errands kept her till
sunset, and she floated home on the incoming tide, just dipping the
oars gently in now and then, and carried along by the current and a
"singing" wind, which followed close behind and pushed the boat on its
way. These were Eyebright's real "play" times. She kept a story going
about a princess and a boat, and some water-fairies and a
water-prince, and whenever the chance came for a solitary row, she
"acted" it by herself in the old pleasant way, always wishing that
Bessie or some other girl could be along to play it with her. Another
girl,--some one to share work and fun, waking and sleeping, with
her,--that was all which was wanted, she thought, to make Causey
Island as pleasant as Tunxet.
[Illustration]