_THE WELCOME AT OVERLOOK-HOUSE._
A colored servant man, of most respectable appearance, and of quiet
manners, evidently glad of my arrival ushered me into the house, saying
that Judge Almore would be home in a short time, as he had gone but a
little distance on the farm; and that his good lady would come down
stairs in a few minutes. The hall of the house was large, and decorated
with Indian relics; with long deer-horns, also, and other trophies of
the hunting ground. I was hastened into an adjoining room, which I had
scarcely entered, before I felt the invigorating heat from the great
fire-place. There the hickory logs seemed doing their best, with their
immense flame, to make me feel as if I was cared for, a stranger from a
distance. On the hearth there was a small mountain of glowing coals. How
pleasant it is to sit before such a fire, and to think that our
interminable forests, will supply abundant fuel, for the inhabitants of
our cities for hundreds of years to come. Even when New York, and
Philadelphia, Trenton, and Boston, may, two or three centuries hence,
have each two or three hundred thousand inhabitants, and that
expectation of their increase in population, is not so chimerical as it
seems, and when the country round them, may be so cleared and
cultivated, that in a circle of fifteen or twenty miles in diameter, the
farm-houses may generally be in sight of one another, it is probable
that the decrease of our woods will scarcely be perceptible.
But as I gazed into the flames which soon removed all chilliness from my
frame, I had no time for lengthened speculations on the future of our
land; for Mrs. Almore entered the room, and greeting me with great
cordiality, assured me of my welcome. As I was engaged in conversation
with this most estimable lady, I found myself called on to regret her
visitation with a great affliction. Her cheerful countenance and manner,
however, proved that she had not permitted it to hang over her as a
cloud, to darken her days, or to make her selfish in her expectation of
attention. The affliction was a great deafness, one evidently of long
duration, and incurable; so I judged from the evidence of her loud
tones, almost shouting when she addressed me. I flatter myself that I
can cause any one to hear me speak, who has the ability to know, that a
pistol is discharged not far from his ear. And I always feel great
commiseration for those who hear with difficulty. Meeting with such, I
regard the power of my lungs, as a gift, particularly designed for their
service and enjoyment. Indeed I undesignedly secured a legacy from an
aged aunt, by the assiduity I exhibited in informing her of what was
said around her, when others neglected her, as she thought, because it
was so difficult to make her to hear. Trained as I had been in the past,
I have to confess, that my powers of loud speech, were never more taxed
than on the present occasion. The loud tones in which we commenced our
conversation, were gradually increased; I perceived that as she raised
the pitch of her voice, it was a delicate intimation to me, that I must
speak with increased effort, if I would secure a perfect hearing. As we
were engaged in this polite rivalship, each being, not only a diligent
hearer, but a good speaker, a most comfortable-looking African woman, of
very dark hue, entered to receive the orders of her mistress. She
desired to know, as it soon appeared, some particulars concerning the
approaching meal; and also to receive some orders which pertained to the
room I was to occupy. The good mistress then stepped aside and drew near
to the swarthy domestic. To my surprise, the lady dropped her voice to a
good undertone, and gave her directions, as it were, "aside." She is one
of those deaf persons, I said to myself, who can understand what others,
with whom they are familiar, have to say when they see the motion of
their lips. I once met with a man who had this singular gift. He
possessed it to such an extent, that strangers, who conversed with him,
never knew that he did not hear a word which they spoke. Yet what could
I do now! I was compelled to hear what was said. How strange it was,
that the good lady overlooked the fact, that I must hear all that could
be heard by Dinah. And this Dinah was now informed what set of china
should be placed on the table for my special benefit. From what she
hinted, I inferred, that there was some special honor in this
arrangement; as it proved to her that the Holemans, who took tea with
them the night before, having made use of a decidedly inferior service,
were some grades less respectable than myself--though the mistress, when
the insinuation was made, peremptorily declared, that the aforesaid
Holemans were very worthy people, and should always be treated with
great respect, as valued friends, in her house. An occasion was also
taken, on the mention of the white and gold china, to administer a
cutting reproof to Mrs. Dinah, for a nick in the spout of the
tea-pot,--which circumstantial evidence, clearly and hastily summed up,
proved to be the result of carelessness in the kitchen. To this attack,
Dinah, as I must honestly testify, made persistent defense, and gave
some most curious rebutting testimony. And I am also under obligation to
state, that even when most excited by the charge, she never even made
the most distant allusion, to the possibility that the cat had anything
to do with this domestic calamity. Such was the honor of the kitchen in
the good old times. I also learned, incidentally, some curious
information concerning the comparative ages of some chickens, which had
lately been cooped up and fattened.
I gleaned besides, some antiquarian lore concerning a venerated
"comfortable," that was intended for my bed,--and a hint that some
portion of its variegated lining had been the valued dress of a
grandmother, worn by her on some memorable occasion,--a proud record in
the family history. Some very particular directions were also given for
my comfort, so that my ideas on the art of house-keeping, were greatly
expanded; and I was ready to look on each lady, who ruleth over a house,
as a minute philosopher.
Dinah was also informed, that she was forbidden to act on a speculative
principle, which she advanced, with great assurance; namely, that
bachelors did not see, or know anything; that it was only married men
who did; being set up to it by their wives, who made a mighty fuss in
another house, when all the time they knew things wasn't as tidy at
home. She was told not to act on any such miserable sophistry--that
things were to be done right, and kept right--no matter whether any one
noticed them, or not. In the course of conversation, my having come from
New York was the subject of an allusion; whereupon the dark woman
slipped in the observation, that she did wish she could get to that
place, for she "was afraid that she should die, and have nothing to
tell."
After all this important business was transacted, there was a hasty, and
sudden digression for a moment, in the shape of a kind inquiry into the
present state of the health of the hopeful heir of the said Dinah, who
was spending the chief portion of his days in a cradle. I was, I must
confess it, very much astonished to learn, from the reply and
descriptions of the mother, that there is such a wonderful sympathy,
between the teeth which are trying to make their way into the world, and
the mechanism of a juvenile which is concealed from human sight in his
body. It seemed to me a marvellous proof of the manner in which such
little creatures maintain their hold on life, that he could possibly
have endured such astonishing internal pains; and, also, that all the
world ought to know the sovereign virtues of an elixir, which was
compounded at Overlook House. Its virtues, unlike the novel devices that
are palmed on the public with such pretentious certificates, have been
tested by the infants of several generations.
All cabinet meetings must have an end. So Dinah disappeared, after a
furtive glance at my person; drawing her conclusions, I am assured,
whether I would be a suitable husband for Miss Meta.
Soon after the hall door opened, and this young lady entered. Her mother
introduced me to her in the same high pitch of voice, in which she
conducted her conversation with strangers.
She said a few kind and pleasant words to me; and with a voice raised to
an imitation of the maternal precedent, though without the loss of its
indescribable sweetness. She was evidently anxious, that her mother
should feel, that she was to be a party in our brief conversation.
As I looked at her, I thought that a sweeter, more etherial form, a face
more radiant with affections pure as the air over the snow, an eye to
rest on you, as if it said, that every one on whom it fell was a new
object for sympathy, had never met my view, and I thought then, and
think now the more confidently, that I have made a good use of my eyes
during my pilgrimage in the world. After the interchange of the few
words to which I have alluded, she was about leaving us; but before she
reached the door, her mother called to her, and arrested her steps. The
good lady addressed her, in the same low tones in which she had formerly
conversed with Dinah.
As I looked at her again, I felt that I repressed the exhibition of
signs of unrestrained admiration. She seemed, indeed, as if she had
grown up in the midst of the beauty of the natural world, and had been
moulded to a conformity with all that we witness of grace in the field,
or in the forest. The mother spoke in a manner half playful, half
serious. "So Miss Meta this is the old way. You expected the arrival of
this young gentleman, quiet, good-looking, evidently a person of good
sense, and your father says, of most estimable character. And there you
have on your old shawl, your old bonnet, and your hair blown about in
the wind as if it had never had a brush applied to it. You are so
careless about your appearance! You know that I have often spoken to you
on the subject. And yet, on the most important occasions, you neglect
all my advice. You will be laid upon the shelf yet. You will die an old
maid. But do not blame me. Do go, and brush your hair, and put on
another frock, and make yourself presentable. And after that, go and see
that Dinah arranges everything right. I will give you credit for order,
and expertness as a house-keeper. Old maids, however, are often very
good house-keepers. So go, and do as I tell you. I don't mean to say
that you are a dowdy, but I want to see you more particular."
"My revered mother," said Meta, with a most grave inclination of the
head, and with a slight pomp of declamation, "your will is law. My
dress, for the next two or three weeks, shall be a grand deceit, as if
it was my habit to be as particular as the young Quakeress, who once
visited us, and who was as exact in arranging her robes, as the snow is,
in taking care, that there shall be grace in its unblemished drifts. I
intend, in fact, to be irresistible. Henceforth let all young men,
quiet, respectable, who have not cross eyes, and who fascinate a mother,
and give occasion to all her sanguine hopes of matrimonial felicity for
a daughter, beware of Meta. They are as sure of being captives, as the
poor little rabbits I so pity, when once they unwisely venture, to
nibble at the bait in one of Peter's celebrated traps. So, best of
mothers, forgive the past. Wisest of counsellors, for a brief space,
farewell."
After the retreat of the daughter silence endured for a little while,
while I walked to the window, and enjoyed the extensive and beautiful
view. The residence of the Judge was on a hill, overlooking a
picturesque village, and hence the name of the mansion which in time
dispelled a very ugly name, from the small town, and gave its own
designation to the place--the name of such a collection of dwellings
generally becoming permanent when the post-office is established in its
limits. After this I was engaged in the survey of some fine old plates
upon the wall, and the picture of a portly old gentleman, whose dress
indicated that he had lived in the olden time. I was seeking to find
some clue to his character and history in his face, when Mrs. Almore
rose, and crossed the room and joined me.
It was evident that the picture was too important for me to look upon it
and not know what was due of admiration for him, of whom this uncertain
resemblance was all that remained on earth,--the frail shadow of a
shadow. I saw at once that she had a formidable history to relate, and
that she had often told it to those who gazed on the form on the wall. I
suspected that some family pride was gratified by the narrative; and
prepared myself for some harmless amusement, as I was to watch and
observe how the vanity would expose itself. But she had not got beyond
some dry statistics, the name, the age, the offices held in the State in
the good olden time, when such honors were always a pledge of merit in
the possessors, before the Judge entered the room, without our observing
it. He drew near, heard for a moment, with the greatest astonishment,
the loud tones of the lady, who now addressed me.
He extended his hand to me, with very kind, but dignified, courtesy,
and, after giving the assurance that I was most truly welcome on my own
account, and for the sake of my father, who had been a fellow-student
with him at Princeton College, and almost a life-long friend, he turned
to the lady by us, his honored wife, and exclaimed,--
"My dear, I heard your elevated voice outside of the house, and in the
extreme end of the hall. You really alarmed me. At first I could not
imagine what had occurred in the room. Why do you speak in such tones of
thunder to my young friend? Is this a new style of hospitality for
Overlook-House?"
"You told me that our guest, Mr. Martin, was deaf." So spoke the good
hostess, with a look of frightened inquiry, a perturbed glance at
myself,--with a countenance that expressed a desire for relief,--while
her tone was expressive of a great misgiving.
"I beg your pardon," said the Judge; "you are under an entire mistake. I
told you that he wrote to me, some time ago, that he had met with an
accident and become very lame. But when I told you this I remember that
you were very much abstracted. I presume that you were deeply absorbed
in some new order for your household, or in the state of Dinah's noisy
heir. I never heard that Mr. Martin was deaf for a moment in his life. I
told you that he was lame."
"Are you sure--are you sure that he is not deaf?"
"I am sure that he hears as well as either of us. And,--at least as far
as you are concerned, that is to say that he could not have a better
sense of hearing. He might possibly, it is true, be abstracted, when
any one spoke to him, and imagine that he said 'deaf,' when in reality
the speaker said 'lame.'"
"Dear me! my future peace is destroyed. It is worse than if a ghost
intended perpetually to haunt me--for the ghost would come only in the
dark; but this disaster will torture me day and night. I have buried
myself under a mass of ruins from which I cannot extricate myself." And
the lady looked as if an anaconda was threatening to creep in among us.
"I am sure that Mr. Martin will forgive you. He has only been annoyed by
a loud conversation for a short time. It will be a pleasing variety to
hear you address him in a gentle voice. Since he had such evidence of
the pains you have taken to entertain him when you thought him deaf, he
is assured that you will not change your desire to make him feel at home
and to know that he is among friends, now that you hear so well."
"Judge, you have no sympathy. You should have taken care that I did not
fall into such a terrible mistake. I often notice that you speak to me,
and turn and go away, as if you never watched to observe whether I
understood you or no. I have often felt it, Judge, often felt
it,--although I kept my feelings on the subject to myself. And now you
see the consequences. You see where you have landed me. And I am the one
to suffer all the evil that results from such indifference. What shall
I do? Here is Meta. Meta, what shall I do? Mr. Martin is not at all
deaf. Somehow, your father did not impress what he said on my mind. I am
sure that this is not the first time that I have misunderstood him, and
I never have any desire to fall into error. People that are so accurate
and so careful as he is, not to be guilty of any mistake in their
professional duties, so accurate as they say he is when on the bench,
are often careless of smaller matters at home. Meta, Mr. Martin can
hear. My dear, he can hear as well as you or I."
"Let me, my dear mother, enter into your Christian joy, now that your
sorrow over his supposed affliction is relieved. You know that it is an
unmingled pleasure to you to learn that he is not afflicted with so
great a calamity as you supposed."
"Very well, Meta."
"And then, mother, as far as I am involved in the consequences of your
mistake, he knows that I appear in my present fascinations; see my
smooth hair, and this frock almost new, not in my own will, or in
accordance with my usual habits, but solely from a sense of filial duty.
I am so charming, because of my reverential regard for the injunctions
of my mother."
"Meta, can you never be still?"
"And then, mother, if there be a little art in my dress, if snares lurk
around me to secure those who come near me, this does not proceed, in
the least possible degree, from any guile in me. It is the mere
expression of the anxiety of a mother that her daughter should not
attain the condition of some of the best people on the earth. I allude
to a class of my sex who are ignorantly, I will not say uncharitably,
supposed to make the world uncomfortable through their inflexible
devotion to minor morals."
"Meta, unless you are silent I shall have to leave the room."
"Well, mother, then I am mute. How fortunate it was that I was the only
person with whom you conversed in the hearing of Mr. Martin!"
"Meta, you drive me mad. I did have another conversation, which he
heard."
"Oh, do tell us! What happened? It could not have been as interesting to
him as the one which you held with me. I shall not use my brush for some
time without thinking about it. Do tell us. As Nancy often says, I am
dying to hear all about it."
"Oh," said I, "Miss. Meta, all that your mother said was of no
importance. She cannot care, when she reflects upon it, whether I heard
it or no."
"But, Mr. Martin, then tell us what she said. It put my father and
myself under a lasting obligation."
"Mr. Martin can be more considerate than you are."
"Yes, madam, because he has heard all. I will be as considerate as you
please, if I can only acquire the same information. Well, walls have
ears. And if ever walls heard anything, I am sure ours have heard
to-day. They will speak in due time. Father, who has been in the room
with mother since Mr. Martin arrived? I must ask Ben."
"Meta, I take my departure. If nothing is heard of me to-day or
to-morrow, search the mill-pond. Oh, what a difference there is between
being lame, or deaf! I cannot forgive your father. Really, he ought to
be more cautious. I cannot forgive him."