very much astonished. "You're the smartest young woman I ever see. I
shall have to lay down just to pull my wits together. Marthy, a drink
of water," and by the time this was brought the excitement seemed to
be at an end, though the patient was a little faint, and his wife
looked at Nan admiringly. Nan herself was fastening her boot again
with unwonted composure. George Gerry had not a word to say, and
listened to a simple direction of Nan's as if it were meant for him,
and acceded to her remark that she was glad for the shoulder's sake
that it did not have to wait and grow worse and worse all the while
the doctor was being brought from town. And after a few minutes, when
the volley of thanks and compliments could be politely cut short, the
two members of the picnic party set forth with their pail of water to
join their companions.
"Will you be so good as to tell me how you knew enough to do that?"
asked Mr. Gerry humbly, and looking at his companion with admiration.
"I should not have had the least idea."
"I was very glad it turned out so well," said Nan simply. "It was a
great pleasure to be of use, they were so frightened, poor things. We
won't say anything about it, will we?"
But the young man did not like to think yet of the noise the returning
bone had made. He was stout-hearted enough usually; as brave a fellow
as one could wish to see; but he felt weak and womanish, and somehow
wished it had been he who could play the doctor. Nan hurried back
bareheaded to the oak grove as if nothing had happened, though, if
possible, she looked gayer and brighter than ever. And when the
waiting party scolded a little at their slow pace, Miss Prince was
much amused and made two or three laughing apologies for their
laziness, and even ventured to give the information that they had made
a pleasant call at the farm-house.
The clouds were fading fast and the twilight began to gather under the
trees before they were ready to go away, and then the high tide had
floated off one of the boats, which must be chased and brought back.
But presently the picnickers embarked, and, as the moon came up, and
the river ebbed, the boats went back to the town and overtook others
on the way, and then were pulled up stream again in the favoring eddy
to make the evening's pleasure longer; at last Nan was left at her
door. She had managed that George Gerry should give Mary Parish his
arm, and told them, as they came up the street with her from the
wharf, that she had heard their voices Saturday night as they passed
under her window: it was Mary Parish herself who had talked about the
best room and its ghosts.
XVIII
A SERIOUS TEA-DRINKING
It was very good for Nan to find herself cordially welcomed to a
company of young people who had little thought of anything but
amusement in the pleasant summer weather. Other young guests came to
Dunport just then, and the hospitable town seemed to give itself up to
their entertainment. Picnics and tea-drinkings followed each other,
and the pleasure boats went up river and down river, while there were
walks and rides and drives, and all manner of contrivances and excuses
for spending much time together on the part of the young men and
maidens. It was a good while since Nan had taken such a long holiday,
though she had by no means been without the pleasures of society. Not
only had she made friends easily during her school-life and her later
studies, but Oldfields itself, like all such good old nests, was apt
to call back its wandering fledglings when the June weather came. It
delighted her more and more to be in Dunport, and though she sometimes
grew impatient, wise Dr. Leslie insisted that she must not hurry home.
The change was the very best thing in the world for her. Dr. Ferris
had alighted for a day or two in the course of one of his wandering
flights; and it seemed to the girl that since everything was getting
on so well without her in Oldfields, she had better, as the doctor had
already expressed it, let her visit run its course like a fever. At
any rate she could not come again very soon, and since her aunt seemed
so happy, it was a pity to hurry away and end these days sooner than
need be. It had been a charming surprise to find herself such a
desired companion, and again and again quite the queen of that little
court of frolickers, because lately she had felt like one who looks on
at such things, and cannot make part of them. Yet all the time that
she was playing she thought of her work with growing satisfaction. By
other people the knowledge of her having studied medicine was not very
well received. It was considered to have been the fault of Miss
Prince, who should not have allowed a whimsical country doctor to have
beguiled the girl into such silly notions, and many were the shafts
sped toward so unwise an aunt for holding out against her niece so
many years. To be sure the child had been placed under a most
restricted guardianship; but years ago, it was thought, the matter
might have been rearranged, and Nan brought to Dunport. It certainly
had been much better for her that she had grown up elsewhere; though,
for whatever was amiss and willful in her ways, Oldfields was held
accountable. It must be confessed that every one who had known her
well had discovered sooner or later the untamed wildnesses which
seemed like the tangles which one often sees in field-corners, though
a most orderly crop is taking up the best part of the room between the
fences. Yet she was hard to find fault with, except by very
shortsighted persons who resented the least departure by others from
the code they themselves had been pleased to authorize, and who could
not understand that a nature like Nan's must and could make and keep
certain laws of its own.
There seemed to be a sort of inevitableness about the visit; Nan
herself hardly knew why she was drifting on day after day without
reasonable excuse. Her time had been most carefully ordered and spent
during the last few years, and now she sometimes had an uneasy feeling
and a lack of confidence in her own steadfastness. But everybody took
it for granted that the visit must not come to an end. The doctor
showed no sign of expecting her. Miss Prince would be sure to resent
her going away, and the pleasure-makers marked one day after another
for their own. It seemed impossible, and perhaps unwise, to go on with
the reading she had planned, and, in fact, she had been urged to
attend to her books rather by habit than natural inclination; and when
the temptation to drift with the stream first made itself felt, the
reasons for opposing it seemed to fade away. It was easier to remember
that Dr. Leslie, and even those teachers who knew her best at the
medical school, had advised a long vacation.
The first formal visits and entertainments were over with for the most
part, and many of the Dunport acquaintances began to seem like old
friends. There had been a little joking about Nan's profession, and
also some serious remonstrance and unwise championship which did not
reach this heroine's ears. It all seemed romantic and most unusual
when anybody talked about her story at all, and the conclusion was
soon reached that all such whims and extravagances were merely
incident to the pre-Dunportian existence, and that now the young guest
had come to her own, the responsibilities and larger field of activity
would have their influence over her plan of life. The girl herself was
disposed to talk very little about this singular fancy; it may have
been thought that she had grown ashamed of it as seen by a brighter
light, but the truth was it kept a place too near her heart to allow
her to gossip with people who had no real sympathy, and who would ask
questions from curiosity alone. Miss Eunice Fraley had taken more than
one opportunity, however, to confess her interest, though she did this
with the manner of one who dares to be a conspirator against public
opinion, and possibly the permanent welfare of society, and had
avowed, beside, her own horror of a doctor's simplest duties. But poor
Miss Fraley looked at her young friend as a caged bird at a window
might watch a lark's flight, and was strangely glad whenever there was
a chance to spend an hour in Nan's company.
The first evening at Mrs. Fraley's had been a great success, and Miss
Prince had been vastly pleased because both the hostess and the guest
had received each other's commendation. Mrs. Fraley was, perhaps, the
one person whom Miss Prince recognized as a superior officer, and she
observed Nan's unconscious and suitable good behavior with great
pride. The hostess had formerly been an undisputed ruler of the
highest social circles of Dunport society, and now in her old age,
when she could no longer be present at any public occasions, she was
still the queen of a little court that assembled in her own house. It
was true that the list of her subjects grew shorter year by year, but
the survivors remained loyal, and hardly expected, or even desired,
that any of the newcomers to the town should recognize their ruler.
Nan had been much interested in the old lady's stories, and had gladly
accepted an invitation to come often to renew the first conversation.
She was able to give Mrs. Fraley much welcome information of the ways
and fashions of other centres of civilization, and it was a good thing
to make the hours seem shorter. The poor old lady had few
alleviations; even religion had served her rather as a basis for
argument than an accepted reliance and guide; and though she still
prided herself on her selection of words, those which she used in
formal conversations with the clergyman seemed more empty and
meaningless than most others. Mrs. Fraley was leaving this world
reluctantly; she had been well fitted by nature for social
preeminence, and had never been half satisfied with the opportunities
provided for the exercise of her powers. It was only lately that she
had been forced to acknowledge that Time showed signs of defeating her
in the projects of her life, and she had begun to give up the fight
altogether, and to mourn bitterly and aggressively to her anxious and
resourceless daughter. It was plain enough that the dissatisfactions
and infirmities of age were more than usually great, and poor Eunice
was only too glad when the younger Miss Prince proved herself capable
of interesting the old friend of her family, and Mrs. Fraley took
heart and suggested both informal visits and future entertainments.
The prudent daughter was careful not to tell her mother of the guest's
revolutionary ideas, and for a time all went well, until some unwise
person, unaware of Miss Fraley's warning gestures from the other side
of the sitting-room, proceeded to give a totally unnecessary opinion
of the propriety of women's studying medicine. Poor Eunice expected
that a sharp rebuke, followed by a day or two's disdain and general
unpleasantness, would descend upon her quaking shoulders; but, to her
surprise, nothing was said until the next morning, when she was
bidden, at much inconvenience to the household, to invite Miss Prince
and her niece to come that afternoon to drink tea quite informally.
There was a pathetic look in the messenger's faded face,--she felt
unusually at odds with fortune as she glided along the street,
sheltered by the narrow shadows of the high fences. Nan herself came
to the door, and when she threw back the closed blinds and discovered
the visitor, she drew her in with most cordial welcome, and the two
friends entered the darkened south parlor, where it was cool, and
sweet with the fragrance of some honeysuckle which Nan had brought in
early that morning from the garden.
"Dear me," said the little woman deprecatingly. "I don't know why I
came in at all. I can't stop to make a call. Mother was very desirous
that you and your aunt should come over to tea this evening. It seems
a good deal to ask in such hot weather, but she has so little to amuse
her, and I really don't see that the weather makes much difference,
she used to feel the heat very much years ago." And Miss Eunice gave a
sigh, and fanned herself slowly, letting the fan which had been put
into her hand turn itself quite over on her lap before it came up
again. There was an air of antique elegance about this which amused
Nan, who stood by the table wiping with her handkerchief some water
that had dropped from the vase. A great many of the ladies in church
the Sunday before had fanned themselves in this same little
languishing way; she remembered one or two funny old persons in
Oldfields who gave themselves airs after the same fashion.
"I think we shall both be very pleased," she answered directly, with a
bit of a smile; while Miss Fraley gazed at her admiringly, and thought
she had never seen the girl look so fresh and fair as she did in this
plain, cool little dress. There had been more water than was at first
suspected; the handkerchief was a limp, white handful, and they both
laughed as it was held up. Miss Fraley insisted that she could not
stay. She must go to the shops to do some errands, and hoped to meet
Miss Prince who had gone that way half an hour before.
"Don't mind anything mother may say to you," she entreated, after
lingering a minute, and looking imploringly in Nan's face. "You know
we can't expect a person of her age to look at everything just as we
do."
"Am I to be scolded?" asked Nan, serenely. "Do you know what it is
about?"
"Oh, perhaps nothing," answered Miss Fraley, quickly. "I ought not to
have spoken, only I fancied she was a little distressed at the idea of
your being interested in medicines. I don't know anything that is more
useful myself. I am sure every family needs to have some one who has
some knowledge of such things; it saves calling a doctor. My sister
Susan knows more than any of us, and it has been very useful to her
with her large family."
"But I shouldn't be afraid to come, I think," said Nan, laughing.
"Mrs. Fraley told me that she would finish that story of the diamond
ring, you know, and we shall get on capitally. Really I think her
stories of old times are wonderfully interesting. I wish I had a gift
for writing them down whenever I am listening to her."
Miss Eunice was much relieved, and felt sure that Nan was equal to any
emergency. The girl had put a strong young arm quickly round her
guest's thin shoulders, and had kissed her affectionately, and this
had touched the lonely little woman's very heart.
There were signs of storm in Madam Fraley's face that evening, but
everybody feigned not to observe them, and Nan behaved with perilous
disregard of a lack of encouragement, and made herself and the company
uncommonly merry. She described the bad effect her coming had had upon
her aunt's orderly house. She confessed to having left her own
possessions in such confusion the evening before when she dressed
again to go up the river, that Priscilla had called it a monkey's
wedding, and had gone away after one scornful look inside the door.
Miss Fraley dared to say that no one could mind seeing such pretty
things, and even Miss Prince mentioned that her niece was not so
careless as she would make them believe; while Nan begged to know if
anybody had ever heard of a monkey's wedding before, and seemed very
much amused.
"She called such a disarray in the kitchen one morning the monkey's
wedding breakfast," said Miss Prince, as if she never had thought it
particularly amusing until this minute. "Priscilla has always made use
of a great many old-fashioned expressions."
They had seated themselves at the tea-table; it was evident that Miss
Fraley had found it a hard day, for she looked tired and worn. The
mistress of the house was dressed in her best and most imposing
clothes, and sat solemnly in her place. A careful observer might have
seen that the best blue teacups with their scalloped edges were not
set forth. The occasion wore the air of a tribunal rather than that of
a festival, and it was impossible not to feel a difference between it
and the former tea-party.
Miss Prince was not particularly sensitive to moods and atmospheres;
she happened to be in very good spirits, and talked for some time
before she became entirely aware that something had gone wrong, but
presently faltered, and fell under the ban, looking questioningly
toward poor Eunice, who busied herself with the tea-tray.
"Nancy," said Mrs. Fraley impatiently, "I was amazed to find that
there is a story going about town that your niece here is studying to
be a doctor. I hope that you don't countenance any such nonsense?"
Miss Prince looked helpless and confounded, and turned her eyes toward
her niece. She could only hope at such a mortifying juncture that Nan
was ready to explain, or at least to shoulder the responsibility.
"Indeed she doesn't give me any encouragement, Mrs. Fraley," said Nan,
fearlessly. "Only this morning she saw a work on ventilation in my
room and told me it wasn't proper reading for a young woman."
"I really didn't look at the title," said Miss Prince, smiling in
spite of herself.
"It doesn't seem to improve the health of you young folks because you
think it necessary to become familiar with such subjects," announced
the irate old lady. It was her habit to take a very slight refreshment
at the usual tea hour, and supplement it by a substantial lunch at
bed-time, and so now she was not only at leisure herself, but demanded
the attention of her guests. She had evidently prepared an opinion,
and was determined to give it. Miss Eunice grew smaller and thinner
than ever, and fairly shivered with shame behind the tea-tray. She
looked steadily at the big sugar-bowl, as if she were thinking whether
she might creep into it and pull something over her head. She never
liked an argument, even if it were a good-natured one, and always had
a vague sense of personal guilt and danger.
"In my time," Mrs. Fraley continued, "it was thought proper for young
women to show an interest in household affairs. When I was married it
was not asked whether I was acquainted with dissecting-rooms."
"But I don't think there is any need of that," replied Nan. "I think
such things are the duty of professional men and women only. I am very
far from believing that every girl ought to be a surgeon any more than
that she ought to be an astronomer. And as for the younger people's
being less strong than the old, I am afraid it is their own fault,
since we understand the laws of health better than we used. 'Who
breaks, pays,' you know."
It was evidently not expected that the young guest should venture to
discuss the question, but rather have accepted her rebuke meekly, and
acknowledged herself in the wrong. But she had the courage of her
opinions, and the eagerness of youth, and could hardly bear to be so
easily defeated. So when Mrs. Fraley, mistaking the moment's silence
for a final triumph, said again, that a woman's place was at home, and
that a strong-minded woman was out of place, and unwelcome everywhere,
the girl's cheeks flushed suddenly.
"I think it is a pity that we have fallen into a habit of using
strong-mindedness as a term of rebuke," she said. "I am willing to
acknowledge that people who are eager for reforms are apt to develop
unpleasant traits, but it is only because they have to fight against
opposition and ignorance. When they are dead and the world is reaping
the reward of their bravery and constancy, it no longer laughs, but
makes statues of them, and praises diem, and thanks them in every way
it can. I think we ought to judge each other by the highest standards,
Mrs. Fraley, and by whether we are doing good work."
"My day is past," said the hostess. "I do not belong to the present,
and I suppose my judgment is worth nothing to you;" and Nan looked up
quickly and affectionately.
"I should like to have all my friends believe that I am doing right,"
she said. "I do feel very certain that we must educate people properly
if we want them to be worth anything. It is no use to treat all the
boys and girls as if nature had meant them for the same business and
scholarship, and try to put them through the same drill, for that is
sure to mislead and confuse all those who are not perfectly sure of
what they want. There are plenty of people dragging themselves
miserably through the world, because they are clogged and fettered
with work for which they have no fitness. I know I haven't had the
experience that you have, Mrs. Fraley, but I can't help believing that
nothing is better than to find one's work early and hold fast to it,
and put all one's heart into it."
"I have done my best to serve God in the station to which it has
pleased Him to call me," said Mrs. Fraley, stiffly. "I believe that a
young man's position is very different from a girl's. To be sure, I
can give my opinion that everything went better when the master
workmen took apprentices to their trades, and there wasn't so much
schooling. But I warn you, my dear, that your notion about studying to
be a doctor has shocked me very much indeed. I could not believe my
ears,--a refined girl who bears an honorable and respected name to
think of being a woman doctor! If you were five years older you would
never have dreamed of such a thing. It lowers the pride of all who
have any affection for you. If it were not that your early life had
been somewhat peculiar and most unfortunate, I should blame you more;
as it is, I can but wonder at the lack of judgment in others. I shall
look forward in spite of it all to seeing you happily married." To
which Miss Prince assented with several decided nods.
"This is why I made up my mind to be a physician," said the culprit;
and though she had been looking down and growing more uncomfortable
every moment, she suddenly gave her head a quick upward movement and
looked at Mrs. Fraley frankly, with a beautiful light in her clear
eyes. "I believe that God has given me a fitness for it, and that I
never could do anything else half so well. Nobody persuaded me into
following such a plan; I simply grew toward it. And I have everything
to learn, and a great many faults to overcome, but I am trying to get
on as fast as may be. I can't be too glad that I have spent my
childhood in a way that has helped me to use my gift instead of
hindering it. But everything helps a young man to follow his bent; he
has an honored place in society, and just because he is a student of
one of the learned professions, he ranks above the men who follow
other pursuits. I don't see why it should be a shame and dishonor to a
girl who is trying to do the same thing and to be of equal use in the
world. God would not give us the same talents if what were right for
men were wrong for women."
"My dear, it is quite unnatural you see," said the antagonist,
impatiently. "Here you are less than twenty-five years old, and I
shall hear of your being married next thing,--at least I hope I
shall,--and you will laugh at all this nonsense. A woman's place is at
home. Of course I know that there have been some women physicians who
have attained eminence, and some artists, and all that. But I would
rather see a daughter of mine take a more retired place. The best
service to the public can be done by keeping one's own house in order
and one's husband comfortable, and by attending to those social
responsibilities which come in our way. The mothers of the nation have
rights enough and duties enough already, and need not look farther
than their own firesides, or wish for the plaudits of an ignorant
public."