_Grassmere and its Inhabitants._
Grassmere was a quiet out-of-the-way village, hugged in close by grand
mountains, and watered by sparkling rivulets and cascades, which came
leaping down the hillsides like frolicksome Naiads, and then with a
murmur as sweet as the songs of childhood, ran off to play bo-peep with
the blue heavens amid the deep clover-fields, or through banks sprinkled
with nodding wild-flowers.
A tempting retreat was Grassmere to the weary man of business, whose
days had been passed within the brick and mortar walks of life, and whom
the fresh air, and the green grass, and the waving woods, were but as a
page of delicious poetry snatched at idle hours. Free from the turmoil
and vexations of the city, how pleasant to tread the down-hill of life,
surrounded by such peaceful influences as smiled upon the inhabitants of
Grassmere, and several beautiful cottages nestling in the valley, or
dotting the hill-side, attested that some fortunate man of wealth had
here cast loose the burthen of the day, to repose in the quiet of
nature.
Although our story bears but slightly save upon three or four of the
three thousand inhabitants of Grassmere, I will state that a variety of
religious opinions had for several years been gradually creeping into
this primitive town, and that where once a single church received the
inhabitants within one faith, there were now four houses of worship, all
embracing different tenets. But the deacon walked heavenward his own
path, shaking his skirts free from all contamination with other sects,
whom, indeed, he looked upon as little better than heathen.
The pastor of the church claiming so zealous a member, was a man eminent
for his Christian benevolence. His was not the piety which exhausted
itself in words—heart and soul did he labor to do his Master’s will,
and far from embracing the rigid views of the worthy Deacon Humphreys,
he wore the garb of charity for all, and in his great, good heart loved
all.
He had one son, who, at the period from which my story dates, was
pursuing his collegiate course at one of our most popular institutions,
and in his own mind the deacon had determined that Hubert Fairlie should
become the husband of his only daughter, Naomi. In another month Hubert
was to return to pass his vacation at Grassmere, and Naomi looked
forward to the meeting with unaffected pleasure. They had been playmates
in childhood, companions in riper years; but love had nothing to do with
their regard for each other, yet the deacon could not conceive how
friendship alone should thus unite them. At any rate Naomi must be the
wife of Hubert—that was as set as his Sunday face.
The deacon was a man well off in worldly matters. He owned the large,
highly cultivated farm on which he lived, as also several snug houses
within the village, which rented at good rates.
But the little cottage at Silver-Fall was untenanted. Through the
inability of its former occupant to pay the rent, it had returned upon
the hands of the deacon, and although one of the most delightful
residences for miles around, had now been for several months without a
tenant.
A charming spot was Silver-Fall, with its little dwelling half hidden by
climbing roses and shadowy maples. Smooth as velvet was the lawn, with
here and there a cluster of blue violets clinging timidly together, and
hemmed by a silvery thread of bright laughing water, which, within a few
rods of the cottage-door, suddenly leaped over a bed of rocks some
twenty feet high, into the valley below. This gave it the name of
Silver-Fall Cottage—all too enticing a spot it would seem to remain
long unoccupied. Yet the snows of winter yielded to the gentle breath of
spring, and the bright fruits of summer already decked the hedge-rows
and the thicket, ere a tenant could be found, and then there came a
letter to Mr. Humphreys from a widow lady living in a distant city,
requiring the terms on which he would lease his pretty cottage.
They were favorable, it would seem, to her views, and in due time Mrs.
Norton, her daughter Grace, and two female domestics, arrived at
Silver-Fall.