Billy. I only hope she got the worth of it, and that the man's on the
square, for she won't give me the name of the gent that bought it, and
when I'm picked a bit out o' me trouble, I'd like to buy back the same,
for the keepsake is her only fortune. Maybe some day you can coax the
name out o' her."
"Likely I can--plenty o' time for that," drawled Joshua, who usually
knew more than he appeared to.
* * * * *
The next afternoon five tired but happy people arrived at the Centre
and electrified the neighbourhood by hiring a hack to take them to
Laurelville, Joshua having only been persuaded to stay two days of the
proposed week's excursion.
"I'm goin' to have Hope Snippin up to-morrow morning to shorten my
gown," was Mrs. Lane's greeting to the minister's wife when she opened
the door in alarm at the unexpected return, while Twinkle leaped into
Bird's arms, fairly screaming with dog joy.
It was evident, however, that the sudden return was not wholly a
surprise. Somebody had sent a telegram to somebody, and Joshua's manner
in the interval before supper cast the suspicion upon him. After Bird
had seen her pretty room and coaxed Billy, who was nodding drowsily, to
eat his bread and milk and go to bed before the real supper, she came
down to the living-room, where the table was spread for the first time
instead of in the kitchen, for Dinah Lucky came in a few hours every day
now to do the heavy work and give Mrs. Lane more leisure. A stranger
was sitting by the fire. He rose and took Bird by the hand very gently
and drew her to the lounge beside him, at the same time handing her a
letter. She was too much surprised to notice that no one introduced her
or told his name. She opened the letter; her keepsake ring rolled into
her lap as she read:--
"DEAR BERTHA O'MORE: I know all about you now, and I believed in
you from the first. Here is your ring; wear it about your neck as
before for a keepsake, until some day, ten years or so hence--then
ask the one you love best to put it upon your left hand. With the
respect of your friend,
"MARION CLARKE'S FATHER.
"P.S. The bearer of this letter is Alfred Rawley, your
grandmother's youngest brother!"
In spite of her bewilderment, her first thought was, "So he was really
Marion's father!" Next spring she would beg him to give Tessie the
holiday that he had offered her that Christmastide in the twilight of
the church.
Joshua Lane capered about like a young kid as his wife tried to chase
him into a corner, exclaiming, "Now you jest up and tell me how long
you've known all this, and not told your lawful wife!"
"Wal, let me see," he said, counting on his fingers; "considerable
longer than it'll take us to eat supper," was all the answer she
received.
* * * * *
That night Bird opened her bedroom window and looked out into the frosty
moonlight, where far away in the distance the runaway Christmas trees
were outlined against the sky and the roots of red peony that Lammy
planted were waiting under the ground for their spring blooming time to
come. Stretching out her arms as she drew in great reviving breaths of
the clear, frosty air, then clasping her hands together, she whispered,
"Terry, dear, you know it all; you know your Bird is free again, and
that she remembers, and now you must help her to fly the right way."
[Illustration]
DOGTOWN
_Being some Chapters from the Annals of the Waddles Family, set down in
the Language of the House People_
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
Author of "Tommy Anne," "Birdcraft," etc., etc.
_Illustrated by Portraits from Life by the Author_
=Cloth= =12mo= =$1.50, net=
"The dogs are entirely delightful, made alive and personal as
only the closest intimacy of knowledge and understanding could make
them."--_The Nation._
"It is a book you want for a Christmas present for the child or
grown-up dog-lover."--_American Sportsman._
FLOWERS AND FERNS IN THEIR HAUNTS
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
_With Illustrations from Photographs by the Author and_ J. HORACE
MCFARLAND
=Cloth= =12mo= =$2.50, net=
"The reader of Mrs. Wright's handsome volume will wend his way
into a fairy world of loveliness, and find not only serious wildwood
lore, but poetry also, and sentiment and pictures of the pen that
will stay with him through winter days of snow and ice.... A careful
and interesting companion, its many illustrations being particularly
useful."--_New York Tribune._
THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE
_A New England Chronicle of Birds and Flowers_
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
=18mo= =Cloth, 75 cts.= =Large Paper, $3.00=
"A dainty little volume, exhaling the perfume and radiating
the hues of both cultivated and wild flowers, echoing the songs
of birds, and illustrated with exquisite pen pictures of bits of
garden, field, and woodland scenery. The author is an intimate of
nature. She relishes its beauties with the keenest delight, and
describes them with a musical flow of language that carries us
along from a 'May Day' to a 'Winter Mood' in a thoroughly sustained
effort: and as we drift with the current of her fancy and her
tribute to nature, we gather much that is informatory, for she
has made a close study of the habits of birds and the legendry of
flowers."--_Richmond Dispatch._
Four-Footed Americans and Their Kin
BY MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
Edited by FRANK M. CHAPMAN. Illustrated by ERNEST SETON-THOMPSON
=Cloth.= =Crown 8vo.= =$1.50, net=
"It deserves commendation for its fascinating style, and for the
fund of information which it contains regarding the familiar and
many unfamiliar animals of this country. It is an ideal book for
children, and doubtless older folk will find in its pages much of
interest."--_The Dial._
"Books like this are cups of delight to wide-awake and inquisitive
girls and boys. Here is a gossipy history of American quadrupeds,
bright, entertaining, and thoroughly instructive. The text, by Mrs.
Wright, has all the fascination that distinguishes her other outdoor
books."--_The Independent._
Citizen Bird
_Scenes from Bird-life in Plain English for a Beginner_
By MABEL O. WRIGHT and DR. ELLIOTT COUES
Profusely illustrated by LOUIS AGASSIZ FUERTES
=Cloth.= =Crown 8vo.= =$1.50, net=
"When two writers of marked ability in both literature and
natural history write to produce a work giving scope to their
special talents, the public has reason to expect a masterpiece
of its kind. In the 'Citizen Bird,' by Mabel O. Wright and Dr.
Elliott Coues, this expectation is realized--seldom is the plan of
a book so admirably conceived, and in every detail so excellently
fulfilled."--_The Dial._
"There is no other book in existence so well fitted for arousing
and directing the interest that all children feel toward the
birds."--_Tribune_, Chicago.
Birdcraft
_A Field-Book of Two Hundred Song, Game, and Water Birds_
BY MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
With eighty full-page plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes
"One of the best books that amateurs in the study of ornithology
can find ... direct, forcible, plain, and pleasing."--_Chautauquan._
"Of books on birds there are many, all more or less valuable,
but 'Birdcraft,' by MABEL O. WRIGHT, has peculiar merits that will
endear it to amateur ornithologists.... A large number of excellent
illustrations throw light on the text and help to make a book that
will arouse the delight and win the gratitude of every lover of
birds."--_Saturday Evening Gazette_, Boston.
Tommy-Anne and the Three Hearts
BY MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
With many illustrations by ALBERT D. BLASHFIELD
=Cloth.= =Crown 8vo.= =$1.50=
"This book is calculated to interest children in nature, and grown
folks, too, will find themselves catching the author's enthusiasm.
As for Tommy-Anne herself, she is bound to make friends wherever
she is known. The more of such books as these, the better for the
children. One Tommy-Anne is worth a whole shelf of the average
juvenile literature."--_The Critic._
Wabeno, the Magician
_The Sequel to Tommy-Anne and the Three Hearts_
By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
Fully illustrated by JOSEPH M. GLEESON
=Cloth.= =Crown 8vo.= =$1.50=
"Mrs. Wright's book teaches her young readers to use their eyes
and ears, but it does more in that it cultivates in them a genuine
love for nature and for every member of the animal kingdom. The best
of the book is that it is never dull."--_Boston Budget._
The Dream Fox Story Book
BY MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT
With eighty drawings by OLIVER HERFORD
=Cloth.= =Small quarto.= =$1.50, net=
Mrs. Wright's new book for young people recounts the marvellous
adventures of Billy Benton, his acquaintance with the Dream Fox and
the Night Mare, and what came of it. It differs from the author's
previous stories, as it is purely imaginative and somewhat similar
to "Alice in Wonderland."
There are eight full-page illustrations, showing Billy at moments
of greatest interest, and also seventy drawings scattered throughout
the text. These illustrations are by Oliver Herford, who has entered
thoroughly into the spirit of the text, so that the pictures seem an
integral part of the story.
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK
Transcriber's note
Text in italics has been surrounded by _underscores_ and small capitals
have been replaced with all capitals.
A few punctuation errors have been corrected. Otherwise the original has
been preserved, including inconsistent spelling and hyphenation.
End of Project Gutenberg's Aunt Jimmy's Will, by Mabel Osgood Wright