PALLAS AND SATURN.
Supper was over, and David Wilde was cutting with his jack-knife the
strings of several packages which had accompanied him on his trip back
from Center City, where he had disposed of his raft. His guest sat upon
a wooden settle, as much interested as the others in the proceedings,
though his eyes were fixed mostly upon the happy girl, who, with
all of her sex's love of finery, was upon her knees on the floor,
assisting, with smiling eyes and eager fingers, at the pleasant task
of bringing forth the contents of these packages. A dark-blue dress
of the finest merino, a rich shawl, and some pretty laces for collars
and ruffles rewarded her search. There was another package which was
all her own, with which she was equally delighted; it was made up of a
dozen of books, whose titles she eagerly read before she continued her
explorations.
"Here's a dress Mr. Moore picked out for you," said the raftsman,
maliciously, unfolding a gorgeous red and yellow calico.
"But I hadn't seen you, you know," returned Philip coloring.
At this moment Pallas, who had an eye upon the bundles, came in on a
pretence of clearing off the table.
"Come and look at my beautiful presents, Pallas," cried her young
mistress.
"You've got little les'n an angel fer a fadder, my dear chile,"
ejaculated that personage, catching sight of the calico from the corner
of her eye while admiring the merino.
Alice looked up into the rough sun-burnt face of her father with a
smile; the idea of his being an angel was not so ludicrous to her as it
was to their guest.
"Here's somethin' to help you along with yer sewing," continued David,
taking a little box containing a gold thimble from his jacket-pocket.
"See if it fits," and he placed it on the little fair hand.
"It sets to your finger like a cup to an acorn," exclaimed Pallas.
"Thar's none like masser to tell per-_cisely_ what a person wants and
is a wishin' fer," and again her covert glance sought the calico.
"Sartainly, old girl; no doubt," chuckled the raftsman. "If that's the
case, jist take them handkerchiefs and that dress-pattern and give
'em to Saturn. You can keep the vest and the tobacker and the boots
yerself, and especially the trowsers--you've allers worn 'em!"
"Laws, masser, ef I _hadn't_, things would a gone to rack and ruin long
ago. Dat nigger of mine no use, but to sleep hisself to deaf. He's
a great cross to me, Saturn is," and with a profusion of smiles and
thanks she carried off her booty to the kitchen, graciously dispensing
his share to her "ole man," and condescending to be unusually affable.
"Ef we only had a camp-meetin' to go to now," she said, spreading out
the new jacket and trowsers beside the calico. "It's four yeer, come
nex' monf, since we went to dat meetin' down de riber. I declar' it's
jes' like de heathen fer decent culled pussons not to have any place to
holler Glory, and show der new clo'es."
"I'd like to go to meetin' wid dese boots," remarked her spouse,
looking down at the immense pair into which he had squeezed his feet.
"Ef you did, all I can say is, dar' wouldn' be no room fer anybody else
dar'," returned Pallas, giving way, by mere force of habit, to her
custom of snubbing her companion.
"Wha' fer?" inquired Saturn.
"No matter, ef yer don't know. My! my!"--hopelessly--"what a fool you
is!"
"Dat's so, wife;" was the humble reply, "but," picking up courage at
the sight of his new rig, "mebbe when I get my new jacket on, I'll know
more."
"You'd bettar put it on quick, den, and nebbar take it off."
When her dishes were washed, Pallas took the calico in her lap and sat
down.
"I've a sense," she said, in a low voice, "dat things is goin' to
happen."
"Wha' fer?"
"I haven't had such a sense fer years," she continued, too preoccupied
to administer her customary rebuke. "And when I've a sense, it allers
comes to suthin'--it never fails. I haven't had such feelin's since
missus died. 'Pears to me dat young gentleum looks like missus' family.
And it's de same name--curus, isn't it?"
"Berry," replied Saturn, at random, lost in the study of his feet; "dem
boots is beauties."
"I dunno what masser brought him here fer, he's allers been so keerful.
He tole me 'twas a pardner in de steam saw-mill dat takes his lumber
off his han's; a young storekeeper in Center City now, though he use
to be a lawyer in New York--bress it! it's a long time since I sot
eyes on dat city now. Our fus' masser, Mortimer Moore, usin to invite
no shop-keepers to _his_ house. My! my! but he was a mighty proud man,
and dat's what made all de trouble. Dem was grand times, wid all de
serbents and de silber--never tought I cud come to dis--but I promised
missus, when she died, I'd stan' by her chile, and I shall stand by
her, long as der's any bref left in dis ole body--bress her! She's
growing up jes' as han'some as ever her mudder was, and she's got her
ways; and as for manners--hi! hi! folks might larf at the idea of ole
Pallas learnin' manners to her missus, but dar ain't nobody knows
better how table ought to be set and sarbed, and things to be done,
than my dear chile now, dis minit. Ef masser _will_ keep her, like de
children of Israel, forty years in de wilderness, she shall be a lady
for all dat, bress her, and a Christian lady, too! She knows all de
bes' part of de psalms by heart, now; and she can sing hymns like a
cherubim. Sometimes I mos' think she's got one of dem golden harps in
her hand. If dat ole fool ain't asleep. Saturn!" kicking his shins,
"wake up yer, and go to bed--immejetly!"
Saturn had a discouraging time getting his new boots off in the sleepy
state which had come upon him; but this being at last accomplished,
and he safely lodged in the bed, which took up the greater portion of
Pallas' "settin'-room," off her kitchen, she stole out to the corner
of the house to "spy out the land," in Bible language, which, to her,
sheltered the deed from opprobrium. Pallas was no mischief-making
listener; she considered herself entitled to know all that transpired
in the family, whose secrets she kept, and whose welfare she had in her
heart.
"My! my! they make a pretty pictur' sittin' dar' in de light ob de
moon," she thought, peeping at the group, now gathered outside of the
door, enjoying the glory of a most brilliant August moon. The young
stranger was telling some story of foreign adventure, his fine face
and animated gestures showing well in the pure light, while the old
raftsman smoked his pipe to keep away musquitoes, as he said--though
they were not particularly troublesome in that neighborhood--and Alice
sat on the step at his feet, her arms folded over his knee, her eager,
girlish face lifted to the story-teller.
"He sartainly belongs to _our_ family of Moores, ef he ain't no nearer
than a forty-second cousin," whispered Pallas to herself. "Masser don't
know 'em, root and branch, as well as I do, else he'd see it right
away. How that pickaninny is a watchin' of him talk! Laws! nobody knows
what their doing in dis yere worl', or we'd all act different."
As she stood there, taking observations, she thought she saw a person
in the shade of the great elm on the bank; and not being afraid of any
thing but "gosstesses" and "sperits," she went back to the kitchen for
a bucket, as an excuse for going down to the river and finding out who
it was.
"Ef it's that yer young Perkins, won't I let him know what a fool he's
making of hisself--he, indeed! Gorry! I'll give a scolding 'at'll
las' him his lifetime." But she had no opportunity of venting her
indignation, as the form, whosever it was, slipped down the bank, and
ran away along the wet sand, taking shelter behind a ledge of rock,
before she could recognize it.
"My! my! dis ole bucket full of silber," she ejaculated, as she lifted
it out of the river, glittering in the moonlight. "Dis yere ribber
looks lubly as de stream of life dat's flowin' round de streets ob
Paradise, to-night;" and the good old creature stood watching the
burnished ripples. The rush of waters and the murmur of the pine-forest
were sweet even to her ears.
"It's a bad night for young folks to be sittin' out-o'-doors," she
reflected, shaking her yellow turban suggestively, as she looked at the
two by the cabin-door.
But let us go back a little way with our story.