"TWO, AND TWO, AND TWO"
IT took but a little while for the Burnham household to settle down
quietly to routine living; so easily, after all, does human nature
adjust itself to tremendous strains and changes. Maybelle fitted into
her place as though she had always been an acknowledged daughter of the
house, come home after long absence. And the neighbors, even those
morbidly curious ones, of which there are always a few in every
community, took kindly to the new order of things and to the
bright-faced stranger who rode and drove and walked and appeared in
church with Erskine and his mother, and was introduced with punctilious
care as "My wife's daughter, Miss Somerville."
They could not help, even from the first, saying kind and complimentary
things about the beautiful young face, and after a few days of
wonderment and conjecture they arranged their own story--with a very
meagre array of facts to build upon--quite to their satisfaction.
"Oh, yes, I knew she was a widow when he married her; but I never heard
of a child."
"Well, he married abroad, don't you know, and I suppose the girl just
stayed on, with her relatives. Her mother must have been a mere child
when she was first married; though this girl is very young, and Mrs.
Burnham was probably older than she looked; for that matter, don't you
know, I always said that she looked older than her husband? I suppose
the girl has lived abroad all her life; that's what makes her look
different, some way, from American girls, though her mother was born in
this country, she told me so. Still, the girl would have English ways,
of course, always living there. Did you hear her say the other day that
the Somerville brothers, great English bankers that Ned Lake was asking
her about, were her uncles?"
"It seems hard that the poor girl couldn't have been with her mother
before she died," said one whose interests ran naturally in other
channels than those of ages and pedigrees.
"Yes, it does," chimed in another home-keeping and home-loving matron,
"but then her death was awfully sudden. Erskine's mother told me that
they had no idea of her dying up to the very day; and I guess the girl
has been separated from her a good deal. I have heard somewhere, and I
am sure I don't remember where, that there was a fuss of some sort in
the family. Probably her first husband's people didn't like the idea of
her going into society and marrying again, especially marrying an
American; English people are queer about some things, I have heard; I
suppose they held on to the girl as long as they could."
Thus, with supposition and surmise, and a stray fact now and then, and
vague remembrances, the story was worked over and shaped and pieced
until it suited them. Meantime, the Burnham family went quietly on its
way, having no confidants, and, while they spoke only truth when they
spoke at all, judging it not necessary to tell the whole truth to any.
So quiet and peace settled once more upon Ruth Burnham's home, and it
was proved again, as it often is, that a new grave in the family burial
ground is more productive of peace than a life has been.
Erskine was habitually grave, and his mother told herself sorrowfully
that sin, not death, had permanently shadowed his life. But by degrees
his gravity took on a cheerful tone, and Baby Erskine, whom at first he
had almost shunned, became a never failing source of comfort to him.
As for Maybelle, no grown-up daughter was ever more devoted to a
father's interests than she became. She hovered about his home life with
an air of sweet, grave deference, ministering to his tastes with
unlimited thoughtfulness and tact, until from being to him an infliction
for whose comfort he must be thoughtful from a sense of duty, she became
first an interest, and then almost a necessity. The neighbors said how
lovely it was in her to take her mother's place so beautifully.
Then, of course, there were some to say that they shouldn't wonder if
she should succeed at last in comforting him entirely for his loss.
Wouldn't it be romantic if he should marry her! Of course she was really
not related to him at all, and great difference in age was much more
common than it used to be. For that matter, Erskine Burnham was still a
young man. For their part, they agreed almost to a woman, that it would
be a nice idea--
But all that was before they made the acquaintance of Erskine Roberts.
That young man was true to his word, and in the course of time came
across the continent. That he came after Maybelle, as he had said he
would, was perfectly obvious, but he did not take her back with him, as
at one time he had tried to plan to do.
He had two more years to spend at the theological seminary, and during
those two years it had been agreed by all concerned that Maybelle was to
continue to bless her new home with her presence.
Erskine Roberts was one of the very few to whom the whole situation had
been fully and carefully explained. Not only Maybelle, but Ruth herself
had written the story, both to Erskine, and his mother; and then, when
his namesake came out to them, the other Erskine had him into his
private room one evening, and as he believed was his duty toward the man
who was to make Maybelle his wife, went down with him into the lowest
depths of his life tragedy. And Erskine Roberts, who had been half angry
with the man ever since he had heard the strange story--though he
admitted all the time to his secret soul that Erskine Burnham had been
in no wise to blame, went over loyally and royally to his side, and said
to Ruth while his honest eyes filmed with something like tears and his
voice was husky:--
"Aunt Ruth, it must be a grand thing for a mother to have a son like
that man across the hall. If I can be half like him in true nobility, my
mother will have reason to be proud."
And he even admitted to Maybelle that, since he could not have her to
himself yet awhile, he was glad that that man who was worthy that she
should call him father was to have the comfort of her.
It was noticeable to themselves that they said very little about the
mother. Poor mother! she had forfeited her right to be talked of in the
tender and reverent way that Maybelle would have talked, or with the
passion of longing for something had, and lost, that used to mark her
words to Ruth. She said that word "mamma" no more; the tone in which she
used to speak it had been peculiar, and had marked it as set apart for a
special and sacred use. Evidently it meant more to her than the word
"mother," or at least meant something different. Now, in speaking to
Ruth, she said always: "My mother," and said it in a hesitating,
half-deprecating tone, almost as if she must apologize for her.
It was not that the girl was bitter; on the contrary she was markedly
tender of her mother's memory and pitiful toward her.
Ruth, with the reflex influence of this upon her, found herself
searching for all the lovable qualities in Irene that she could by any
possibility recall, and by degrees it appeared that death was having its
inevitable and gracious influence over hearts, softening the past and
casting a halo of excusing pity over that which had at the time seemed
unpardonable. But her daughter never again said in a passion of
exquisite tenderness: "My mamma!"
She had learned to say "father," and used the word with a shy grace that
was fascinating; she had learned also what was of far more consequence:
to have the utmost respect for and faith in the man to whom she gave the
title. Respect deepened steadily into love, and he became indeed
"father" to her, in her very thought. Yet she never put into the word
the throbbing love that had shone in the words "My papa!"
They were a peaceful household, with a fair and steadily increasing
measure of happiness. "Baby Erskine," as they still called him and
probably would, his father said, until he was ready for college, lived
his beautiful, carefully ordered life, blossoming into all the graces
and sweetnesses of judiciously trained and sheltered childhood, and
being familiarized with all the sweet interests and excitements that
belong to a baby beloved. His first tooth, his first step, his first
definite word were as eagerly watched for and as joyously heralded as
though a fond mother had been there to lead. Never had child a more
devoted sister and admirer and willing slave than Maybelle; and no words
ever expressed more exultant pride and joy than those in which she
introduced him to transient guests: "My little brother."
She labored patiently by the hour to teach the boy to shout "Papa!" as
soon as he caught a glimpse from the window of the man who would
presently ride him upstairs on his proud shoulder; but they never tried
to train the baby lips to say "mamma."
"I am glad," said Maybelle one day, breaking suddenly into speech in a
way she had, over a train of thought, the steps by which she had reached
it being kept to herself: "I am glad that he will always have the
dearest and wisest of grandmothers close at hand."
Ruth smiled indulgently.
"By inference," she said, "I am led to believe that you are speaking of
Baby Erskine and his grandmother, and am duly grateful for the
compliment, but the last remark you made was about the climbing roses on
the south porch. Am I to be told or simply be left to imagine the steps
by which you reached from rosebuds to Baby Erskine?"
Maybelle laughed softly. "The transition was not so very great, dear
doting grandmother! Confess that you think so." Then, the color
deepening a little in her face, she added:--
"I was thinking, dear, of our home here, and of the coming changes, and
of other--possibilities. To be entirely frank, I thought of a possible
second mother for Baby Erskine. Father is still so young that one cannot
help thinking sometimes of possibilities. And then, even though I want
you so much, I could not help being glad that in any such event you
would be close to Baby Erskine."
Ruth held from outward notice any hint of the sudden stricture at her
heart over these quiet words, and said cheerfully:--
"The near at hand probabilities are crowding us so hard just now,
darling, that I don't think we have room for remote possibilities; let
us leave the unknown future, dear child, to One who knows."
It was true that the coming changes were almost beginning to crowd upon
them. The climbing rose bushes over the south porch were even thus early
thinking of budding; which meant that June and Flossy Roberts and her
family would be with them in two months more.
Time had flown on swift wing after all. It hardly seemed possible that
the young man, who had seemed to begin his theological studies but
yesterday, was already receiving letters addressed to "The Reverend
Erskine Shipley Roberts!"
One shadow Maybelle had, and Ruth understood it well, although it was
rarely mentioned between them. Erskine Burnham, the very soul of
unselfish thoughtfulness for others, had yet held with unaccountable
tenacity to one strange feeling. He shrank with evident pain from the
thought of Mamie Parker's presence in the house. She had returned from
China early in the previous year, and Maybelle's first eager hope that
"Aunt Mamie would come to them at once" for a stay of indefinite length
had been wonderingly put aside upon the discovery that "father"
apparently shrank from even the mention of her name.
He made a painful effort to explain to his mother.
"Of course, mamma, I do not mean for one moment to stand in the way of
anything that you and Maybelle really want, and I do not know that I can
explain to you why I feel as I do; but--she is associated, painfully
associated, as you know, with that which is like the bitterness of death
to me. And I cannot--We will not talk about it, mamma."
Ruth understood and was sorry for the morbid strain which it revealed.
She made earnest effort to combat it, not vigorously but with suggestive
sentences as occasion offered. It hurt her that Erskine should allow so
comparatively small a matter to retard his progress. He had not only
gone bravely through his peculiar trial, but had made a distinct advance
in his spiritual life. Maybelle's constant prayer for him had assuredly
been answered. The Lord Christ had, manifestly, a stronger grip on his
personality than ever before. All the details of business and literary
life were learning from day to day that they were not to be masters but
servants to this man, and that One was his Master.
But this sore spot which could not be touched without pain, his mother
felt sure would continue to burn as long as he hid it away. If he could
know Mamie Parker as she now was, it was almost certain that the sting
of pain and shame which her name suggested would lose its power.
But Maybelle felt sure that Aunt Mamie would never come unless invited
by the host.
"And I can't want her to, grandmother, much as I long to see her, so
long as her presence is not quite comfortable to father."
So the grandmother bided her time, and spoke her occasional earnest
words.
"In short, mamma," Erskine said one morning, turning from the window
where he had been standing a silent listener to what she had to say, "In
short, mamma, you are ashamed of your son, are you not? And I don't
wonder; he is rather ashamed of himself. You have been very patient, you
and Maybelle, but this whole thing must cease. Of course the child must
have her friend with her. Invite her, mamma, in my name, to come at once
and remain through the season. I want it to be so. I do, indeed, now
that I have settled it; make Maybelle understand that I do."
After he had left the room he turned back to say pointedly:--
"Of course, mamma, it will not be necessary for me to see very much of
her; but I shall try to do my duty as host."
She saw how hard it was for him, but she rejoiced with all her heart at
this triumph over the morbid strain.
And Mamie Parker came; and was met in due form by her host and treated
in every respect as became an honored guest.
There came an evening when Ruth sat alone by the open window of her
room. She had turned out the lights, for the room was flooded with
moonlight. It outlined distinctly the little white bed in an alcove
opening from her room, where her darling lay sleeping. She had just been
in to look at him, and had resisted the temptation to kiss once more the
fair cheeks flushed with healthy sleep. Downstairs in the little
reception room she knew that Maybelle and Erskine Roberts were saying a
few last words together; the girl and the boy who, to-morrow, would
begin together the mystery of manhood and womanhood, "until death did
them part." From time to time she could hear Maybelle's soft laughter
float out on the quiet air; they were very happy together, those two.
From one of the guest chambers near at hand the murmur of voices came to
her occasionally. It was growing late, and most of the guests had
retired early to make ready by rest for the excitements of the morrow;
but sleep had evidently not come yet to Flossy and her husband. They
were talking softly. They were happy together, those two. Downstairs on
the long vine-covered south porch two people were walking; the murmur of
their voices as they walked and talked came up to her, Mamie Parker's
voice, and Erskine's. And the mother knew, almost as well as though she
could hear the words, some of the things they were saying to each other.
"Mommie," her son had said but a little while before as he bent over and
kissed his boy, and then turned and put both arms about her and kissed
her, using the old name that of late had almost dropped away from him:--
"Mommie, can you give me your blessing and wish me Godspeed?"
She had not pretended to misunderstand him. She had known for days, it
almost seemed to her that she had known before he did, the trend that
his life was taking. There had been no word between them, but Erskine
had told her once, that he believed she knew his thoughts almost as soon
as they were born, and he seemed to take her knowledge for granted.
She was glad that she had controlled her voice, and that her answer had
been quick and free:--
"Yes, indeed, my son; God bless and prosper you."
She knew he would be prospered. At least a woman knows a woman's heart.
They would be happy together, they two.
Two, and two, and two, everywhere! the youth and maiden, the mature man
and woman, the father and mother who were smiling together over their
son's espousals, always "they two."
It had been "they two" once with her. And again, and for many years,
mother and son; but now--It seemed for a moment to the lonely woman as
though the whole world beside was paired and wedded and only herself
left desolate. She pressed her hands firmly against the balls of her
closed eyes. Should she let one tear mar this night of her son's new
joy?
And then, tenderly, like drops of balm upon an aching wound, came the
echo in her soul of an old, _old_ pledge: "With everlasting
loving-kindness will I have mercy on thee, said the Lord, thy
Redeemer... I will betroth thee unto me in faithfulness."
"I am a happy woman," she said aloud, in a quiet voice; "I am blessed in
my home, and in my--children, and in the abiding presence of my Lord."
=THE PANSY BOOKS.=
=NOTE.--The Books in each of the series marked with a brace are
connected stories.=
=Ester Ried Series=
{Ester Ried Asleep and Awake
{Julia Ried Listening and Led
{The King's Daughter
{Wise and Otherwise
{Ester Ried Yet Speaking
$1.50 each
=Chautauqua Series=
{Four Girls at Chautauqua
{Chautauqua Girls at Home
{Ruth Erskine's Crosses
{Judge Burnham's Daughters
The Hall in the Grove
Eighty-Seven
$1.50 each
=General Series=
{Chrissy's Endeavor
{Her Associate Members
{Household Puzzles
{The Randolphs
An Endless Chain
Three People
Interrupted
A New Graft on the Family Tree
Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking On
Spun from Fact
One Commonplace Day
The Pocket Measure
Links in Rebeeca's Life
Stephen Mitchell's Journey
"Wanted"
$1.50 each
Cunning Workmen
Miss Priscilla Hunter
What She Said and What She Meant
$1.25 each
Mrs. Harry Harper's Awakening
$1.00
=By Pansy and Mrs. Livingston=
Divers Women
Profiles
{Aunt Hannah and Martha and John
{John Remington, Martyr
$1.50 each
=By Pansy and Faye Huntington=
From Different Standpoints
Modern Prophets
$1.50 each
=By Pansy and
Her Friends=
A Sevenfold Trouble
$1.50
=Juvenile Books=
Tip Lewis and His Lamp
Little Fishers and their Nets
The Man of the House
Christie's Christmas
Miss Dee Dunmore Bryant
Sidney Martin's Christmas
Twenty Minutes Late
Only Ten Cents
$1.50 each
Grandpa's Darlings
$1.25
Next Things
At Home and Abroad
In the Woods and Out
$1.00 each
Bernie's White Chicken
Helen Lester
Docia's Journal
Jessie Wells
Monteagle
Couldn't be Bought
Mary Burton Abroad
Six Little Girls
75 cents each
=Golden Text Stories=
Her Mother's Bible
We Twelve Girls
Browning Boys
Dozen of Them (A)
Gertrude's Diary
Hedge Fence (A)
Side by Side
Six O'clock in the Evening
Exact Truth
Helen the Historian
Little Card
50 cents each
=The Pansy Primary
Libraries=
Pansy Primary Library No. 1. 30 vols., $7.50 net.
Pansy Primary Library No. 2. 20 vols., $5.00 net.
Pansy Primary Library No. 3. 12 vols., $3.00 net.
Pansy Primary Library No. 4. 12 vols., $3.00 net.
=LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston=
=BOOKS BY ANNIE H. RYDER.=
=Hold up Your Heads, Girls!=
_12mo, cloth, $1.00._
"The author of 'Hold up your Heads, Girls!' has, in the treatment of a
very important subject, invested it with an interest and brightness
which will make it pleasant and even fascinating reading for the class
of young people to whom it is addressed. In the eleven chapters of which
the contents consist there is more sound practical advice, sensibly put,
on points of every-day interest to girls, than we have ever before seen
put into the same number of pages. It is a book for study, for
companionship, and the girl who reads it thoughtfully and with an intent
to profit by it will get more real help and good from it than from a
term at the best boarding-school in the country."--_Boston Transcript._
=Margaret Regis and some other Girls.=
_12mo, illustrated, $1.25._
"The college life of young women is described in this book in a very
entertaining way, and in a spirit the most wholesome and cheerful.
Margaret Regis is a splendid creation of the author's fancy, just such a
young woman as all of us like to read about. In her schooldays she is
not different from others. There is a shade of profound thought in her
description of this period of life: 'She is like the many, many girls,
increasing in numbers every year, who, unfixed and restless, go into
college or the office, with a vague determination to do something that
shall make them independent or superior to the greatest number of girls,
but with no definite idea of how they are to use the knowledge and
experience they gain.' Margaret Regis does not remain long in this
unsettled state. She is emphatically a woman with a purpose. How its
current was turned from the intended course makes an interesting
narrative which the reader will find full of profit."--_Cleveland
Leader._
=New Every Morning.=
A Year Book for Girls. Edited by Annie H. Ryder.
_Square 16mo, cloth, $1.00; gilt, $1.25; limp, seal,
$2.50._
A book of choice reading for girls for every day in the year.
"There is a happy blending of practical common sense, pure sentiment and
simple religious fervor."--_Education, Boston._
=BOSTON:
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.=
=WHEN GRANDMAMMA
WAS FOURTEEN=
By MARION HARLAND
WITH FOUR FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS AND NUMEROUS PICTURES
IN THE TEXT PRICE $1.25
_Later adventures of the heroine of
"WHEN GRANDMAMMA WAS NEW."_
THOSE who recall this noted author's delightful story, "When Grandmamma
was New," will be glad to hear that in this book are the adventures of
the heroine at a later period. Through the eyes of fourteen-year-old
Molly Burwell, the reader sees much that is quaint, amusing and pathetic
in ante-bellum Richmond, and the story has all the charm of manner and
rich humanity which are characteristic of Marion Harland. All
healthy-hearted children will delight in the story, and so will their
parents.
=WHEN GRANDMAMMA WAS NEW=
_The Story of a Virginia Girlhood in the Forties_
By MARION HARLAND 12mo Illustrated Price $1.25
=The BOSTON JOURNAL says:=
"If only one might read it first with the trained enjoyment of the
'grown-up' mind that is 'at leisure from itself,' and then if one might
withdraw into ten-year-old-dom once more and seek the shadow of the
friendly apple-tree, and revel in it all over again, taste it all just
as the child tastes, and find it luscious! For this book has charm and
piquancy. And it is in just this vivid remembrance of a child's mental
workings, in just the avoidance of all 'writing down' to the supposed
level of a child's mind, that this story has its rare attractiveness. It
is bright, winsome, and magnetic."
=The INTERIOR, Chicago, says:=
"'Grandmamma' may have charmed other folks,--has charmed them all,
incontrovertibly,--but she has never tried harder to be vivid and
dramatic and entertaining, and to leave a sweet kernel of application,
withal, than in these memory-tales of a sunny childhood on a big
Virginia plantation. It is a book which will delight, not children
alone, but all such as have the child heart and a tender memory of when
they were 'new.'"
AT ALL BOOKSELLERS, OR SENT POSTPAID ON RECEIPT
OF PRICE BY THE PUBLISHERS
=LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON=
=A Little Maid of Concord
Town=
A Romance of the American Revolution
By MARGARET SIDNEY. One volume, 12mo,
illustrated by F. T. Merrill, $1.50
A DELIGHTFUL Revolutionary romance of life, love and adventure in old
Concord. The author lived for fifteen years in the home of Hawthorne, in
Concord, and knows the interesting town thoroughly.
Debby Parlin, the heroine, lived in a little house on the Lexington
Road, still standing, and was surrounded by all the stir and excitement
of the months of preparation and the days of action at the beginning of
our struggle for freedom.
=By Way of the Wilderness=
By "PANSY" (Mrs. G. R. Alden) and MRS.
C. M. LIVINGSTON. 12mo, cloth, illustrated by
Charlotte Harding, $1.50
This story of Wayne Pierson and how he evaded or met the tests of
misunderstanding, environment, false position, opportunity and
self-pride; how he lost his father and found him again, almost lost his
home and found it again, almost lost himself and found alike his
manhood, his conscience and his heart is told us in Pansy's best vein,
ably supplemented by Mrs. Livingston's collaboration.
THE
FAMOUS PEPPER BOOKS
By Margaret Sidney
IN ORDER OF PUBLICATION
=Five Little Peppers and How they Grew.= Cloth, 12 mo, illustrated,
$1.50, postpaid.
This was an instantaneous success; it has become a genuine child
classic.
=Five Little Peppers Midway.= Cloth, 12mo, illustrated, $1.50, postpaid.
"A perfect Cheeryble of a book."--_Boston Herald._
=Five Little Peppers Grown Up.= Cloth, 12mo, illustrated, $1.50,
postpaid.
This shows the Five Little Peppers as "grown up," with all the struggles
and successes of young manhood and womanhood.
=Phronsie Pepper.= Cloth, 12mo, illustrated, $1.50, postpaid.
It is the story of Phronsie, the youngest and dearest of all the
Peppers.
=The Stories Polly Pepper Told.= Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated by Jessie
McDermott and Etheldred B. Barry. $1.50, postpaid.
Wherever there exists a child or a "grown-up," there will be a welcome
for these charming and delightful "Stories Polly Pepper Told."
=The Adventures of Joel Pepper.= Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated by Sears
Gallagher. $1.50, postpaid.
As bright and just as certain to be a child's favorite as the others in
the famous series. Harum-scarum "Joey" is lovable.
=Five Little Peppers Abroad.= Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated by Fanny Y. Cory.
$1.50, postpaid.
The "Peppers Abroad" adds another most delightful book to this famous
series.
=Five Little Peppers at School.= Cloth, 12mo. Illustrated by Hermann
Heyer. Price, $1.50; postpaid.
Of all the fascinating adventures and experiences of the "Peppers," none
will surpass those contained in this volume.
=Five Little Peppers and Their Friends.= Illustrated by Eugenie M.
Wireman. Cloth, 12mo, $1.50; postpaid.
The friends of the Peppers are legion, and the number will be further
increased by this book.
=Ben Pepper.= Illustrated by Eugenie M. Wireman. Cloth, 12mo, $1.50.
This story centres about Ben, "the quiet, steady-as-a-rock boy," while
the rest of the Peppers help to make it as bright and pleasing as its
predecessors.
LOTHROP, LEE AND SHEPARD COMPANY
=THE GIRL WHO KEPT UP=
By MARY McCRAE CUTLER
Illustrated by C. Louise Williams. 12mo. Cloth. $1.25
[Illustration]
This is a strong, wholesome story of achievement. The end of a high
school course divides the paths of a boy and girl who have been close
friends and keen rivals. The youth is to go to college, while the girl,
whose family is in humbler circumstances, must remain at home and help.
She sees that her comrade will feel that he is out-growing her, and she
determines to and does _keep up_ with him in obtaining an education.
"The story is human to the least phase of it, and it is told with such
simple force and vivacity that its effect is strong and positive. The
pictures of college and home life are true bits of realism. It is an
excellent piece of work."--_Bookseller, Newsdealer and Stationer, New
York._
"The story is well told, and is thoroughly helpful in every
respect."--_Epworth Herald, Chicago._
"The telling of the story is attractive, and will be found helpful to
all readers."--_The Baptist Union, Chicago._
"Let us recommend this book for young people for the excellent lesson of
honest striving and noble doing that it clearly conveys."--_Boston
Courier._
"It is a healthy and inspiring story."--_Brooklyn Eagle._
"The tale is full of good lesson for all young people."--_Boston
Beacon._
"The story will be both pleasant and profitable to the youth of both
sexes."--_Louisville Courier-Journal._
_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by_
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston
=The Laurel Token=
A Story of the Yamassee Uprising
By ANNIE M. BARNES
Author of "Little Betty Blew" and "A Lass of Dorchester"
Illustrated by G. W. Picknell 12mo Cloth $1.25
[Illustration]
This is a book for young people of either sex, for, although the leading
character is a girl of eighteen, her cousins, two boys of sixteen and
fourteen respectively, are prominent throughout the story, which centres
about a beautiful girl, left an orphan, as is supposed, in Barbados, who
goes to live with her uncle, a leading man in the flourishing "Goose
Creek" colony, in the year of the Indian uprising, 1714. The very real
danger from the red men, who have been regarded as friendly, but have
been the victims of selfishness, and thus made ready tools for the
crafty Spanish having their headquarters at St. Augustine, forms the
background to the story, and gives opportunity for the surprising
developments which occur respecting the heroine and others. The
illustrations by Mr. Picknell are very accurate in their composition,
besides being finely executed.
=An Honor Girl=
By EVELYN RAYMOND Illustrated by
Bertha G. Davidson 12mo Cloth $1.25
[Illustration]
A bright, helpful story of a girl who, as the valedictorian and "honor
girl" of her class at high school, wins a scholarship which would take
her through Wellesley College. Family reverses bring it home to her that
_duty_ demands that she devote herself to helping her parents and
wayward brother to face the future better than they seem likely to. She
heroically surrenders her prize, with its glowing prospects, to a
jealous rival, and with a brave humor says that she has matriculated in
the College of Life, the hard features of which she happily styles the
"faculty," with "Professor Poverty" prominent among them. These prove
excellent teachers, aided by "Professor Cheerfulness." Kind friends are
won by her courage, her brother achieves manly character, and the family
are finally re-established on the road to prosperity: all better,
happier, and more to each other than had selfishness not been so well
met and overcome by "An Honor Girl."
_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by
the publishers._
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., Boston
=JOY BELLS A Story of Quinnebasset=
By SOPHIE MAY Illustrated by FRANK T. MERRILL 12mo Cloth $1.25
[Illustration]
The thousands of admirers of the "Quinnebasset" books have had to wait a
long time for another, but this new story is well worth waiting for. All
the delightful wit of the author is here and at its best, and "Persis,"
the heroine, is very near to being the most charming of all her gifted
creations. The scene is laid in the fifties. There are thrilling
incidents, and also mysteries and suspicions, but all these are finally
unravelled and allayed by the persistent efforts of the heroine.
=PAULINE WYMAN=
By SOPHIE MAY Cloth Illustrated $1.25
In "Pauline Wyman" the author has drawn a typical New England girl whose
strong and beautiful character is developed by her environment. How she
overcomes unfavorable surroundings, her experience in teaching school,
the interesting circumstances in a young girl's life are all told with
the same originality and freshness which have drawn a multitude of young
people to the author's previous work.
=MADGE A GIRL IN EARNEST=
By S. JENNIE SMITH 12mo Cloth Illustrated by JAMES E. MCBURNEY
$1.25
Madge is indeed "a girl in earnest." She scorns the patronage of an
aristocratic relative and takes upon her strong young shoulders the
problem of carrying along the family in an independent manner. Her
bravely won success, in spite of the lions in her path, not the least of
which was the fear of social disfavor felt by some of her family, forms
an inspiring tale. An unusual amount of practical information is
presented in a thoroughly entertaining manner, and the character-drawing
is remarkably true and strong.
=For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price
by the publishers=
=LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON=
[Illustration]
=We Four Girls=
By MARY G. DARLING 12mo Cloth Illustrated by BERTHA G. DAVIDSON
$1.25
"We Four Girls" is a bright story of a summer vacation in the country,
where these girls were sent for study and recreation. The story has
plenty of natural incidents; and a mild romance, in which they are all
interested, and of which their teacher is the principal person, gives
interest to the tale. They thought it the most delightful summer they
ever passed.
[Illustration]
=A Girl of this Century=
By MARY G. DARLING Cloth Illustrated by LILIAN CRAWFORD TRUE
$1.25
The same characters that appear in "We Four Girls" are retained in this
story, the interest centering around "Marjorie," the natural leader of
the four. She has a brilliant course at Radcliffe, and then comes the
world. A romance, long resisted, but worthy in nature and of happy
termination, crowns this singularly well-drawn life of the noblest of
all princesses--a true American girl.
=Beck's Fortune A Story of School and Seminary Life=
By ADELE E. THOMPSON Cloth Illustrated $1.25
The characters in this book seem to live, their remarks are bright and
natural, and the incidental humor delightful. The account of Beck's
narrow and cheerless early life, her sprightly independence, and
unexpected competency that aids her to progress through the medium of
seminary life to noble womanhood, is one that mothers can commend to
their daughters unreservedly.
For sale by all booksellers or sent postpaid on receipt of price
by the publishers
=LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON=
=BRAVE HEART SERIES=
By Adele E. Thompson
=Betty Seldon, Patriot=
Illustrated 12mo Cloth $1.25
A BOOK that is at the same time fascinating and noble. Historical
events are accurately traced leading up to the surrender of Cornwallis
at Yorktown, with reunion and happiness for all who deserve it.
=Brave Heart Elizabeth=
Illustrated 12mo Cloth $1.25
IT is a story of the making of the Ohio frontier, much of it taken from
life, and the heroine one of the famous Zane family after which
Zanesville, O., takes its name. An accurate, pleasing, and yet at times
intensely thrilling picture of the stirring period of border settlement.
[Illustration]
=A Lassie of the Isles=
Illustrated by J. W. Kennedy
12mo Cloth $1.25
THIS is the romantic story of Flora Macdonald, the lassie of Skye, who
aided in the escape of Charles Stuart, otherwise known as the "Young
Pretender," for which she suffered arrest, but which led to signal honor
through her sincerity and attractive personality.
=Polly of the Pines=
[Illustration]
Illustrated by
Henry Roth Cloth 12mo $1.25
"POLLY OF THE PINES" was Mary Dunning, a brave girl of the Carolinas,
and the events of the story occur in the years 1775-82. Polly was an
orphan living with her mother's family, who were Scotch Highlanders, and
for the most part intensely loyal to the Crown. Polly finds the glamor
of royal adherence hard to resist, but her heart turns towards the
patriots and she does much to aid and encourage them.
_For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt
of price by the publishers_
=LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO., BOSTON=
Transcriber Notes:
Passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_.
Passages in bold were indicated by =equal signs=.
Small caps were replaced with ALL CAPS.
Throughout the dialogues, there were words used to mimic accents of
the speakers. Those words were retained as-is.
The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up
paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate. Thus
the page number of the illustration might not match the page number in
the List of Illustrations, and the order of illustrations may not be the
same in the List of Illustrations and in the book.
Errors in punctuation and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected
unless otherwise noted.
On the title page, a quotation mark was added before "Ester
Ried".
On page 46, "conisdered" was replaced with "considered".
On page 70, a period was added after "Mrs".
On page 73, "reëstablished" was replaced with "reestablished".
On page 228, the quotation mark after "let him in" was deleted.
On page 240, "Esrkine" was replaced with "Erskine".
On page 246, the period after "calamity for a man" was replaced with
a question mark.
On page 284, the quotation mark after "I can ever hope to" was removed.
On page 327, a quotation mark was added before "It is as balmy as
spring.
In the advertisement for WHEN GRANDMAMA WAS NEW, kernal was replaced
with kernel.