"AUF WIEDERSEHEN."
It was two days after the funeral. Sing had set things to rights in
the old parlor; Tony brought in a bunch of flowers; and Job, leaving
Bess saddled by the fence, came in and went up to his little room.
They were coming to hear the will read. They would be here soon, the
lawyer and the relatives and the preacher--for it was announced that
the old man had left a snug sum to the church. Sing and Tony and Hans,
arrayed in their best, waited for those who were coming.
At last they came--the preacher on horseback, in his long coat;
Marshall Dean and his wife, in their best attire, followed by the nine
young Deans of all ages. And back of all was Dan, in his neat black
suit, looking paler and more frail than ever. Into the prim little
parlor they all filed, and sat down awkwardly in a line around the
room. The preacher remarked upon the weather, Mr. Dean said it was an
uncommon warm summer, Mrs. Dean sent Tommy to get her a newspaper to
use as a fan.
Just then a horse and cart drove up, and all looked out. It was Aunty
Perkins. Why she had come, she knew not, except that Job had sent for
her. She trotted in, and, with a little curtsey, said, "How do? Hot in
sun. All well?" Next came Tim's father, in a new brown suit and a red
tie that matched his hair. Last of all, Tom Reed looked in sheepishly,
and seated himself outside the door. All sat in embarrassed silence,
which grew painful as the moments went on. Where was the lawyer, and
where was Job?
Finally they came--the attorney through the gate and up the path at a
brisk pace. Then, dressed in a neat black suit, with black tie and
black hat in hand, and looking for all the world as he had years
before when he came in on the stage, only older grown, Job came down
the stairs and, with a kind welcome, seated himself near the door.
The lawyer adjusted his spectacles and broke the seal of the document
in his hand. Hans and Sing and Tony stood in the open door, a
picturesque group in the afternoon sunlight. The lawyer rose, looked
about, and cleared his throat. The anxious spectators leaned over,
breathless. It had come at last! Only a second between them and some
substantial remembrance from Andrew Malden.
The will was in the usual form, but it was brief. Slowly, almost
haltingly, he read, so that the words fell clearly on each ear. This
is what they heard:
"In the name of God, Amen. I, Andrew Malden, a native of
Massachusetts, a resident of Grizzly county, State of
California, being in clear mind and usual health, do hereby
make my last will and testament. I hereby bequeath all my
property, real and personal, those lands and buildings and
appurtenances thereof situated in the county of Grizzly, all
bonds and moneys deposited in the Gold City Bank, to Job Teale,
who for many years has lived under my roof and been a son to
me. All things that by the grace of God I own, I bequeath to
him and his heirs and assigns forever.
(Signed) ANDREW MALDEN."
A stillness almost oppressive filled the room as the last word fell
from the lawyer's lips, as the name of the last witness was read.
It was what they had expected--what in all justice was right--but not
what they had hoped. All together they rose to go. The preacher was
saying, "Mr. Malden, we hope the Lord will bless these riches to your
good," Dan was looking as if impressed with the extreme justice of
things, when Job arose and motioned them into silence. There he stood
in the center, stood and looked into each face.
"Wait, Mr. Lawyer," he said. "I have a word before you go. Neighbors,
friends, I have something to say. Fifteen years ago, the man whose
last will we have heard to-day carried me, a helpless orphan, across
the threshold of yonder door. From that night until now, I have called
this home. Fifteen years! What changes they have brought! Dan and I
were little boys; now we are men. The joys and sorrows of human life
have come to me in these years. This old home has been dear to me; I
love every nook and corner of it. These well-worn boards are holy
ground. Here Andrew Malden lived; by that lounge he became a changed
man; from that old rocker he went home to God. By yonder gate I first
met her whom you all knew and loved; to this home, torn and crushed by
life's troubles, I have fled like a child at dusk to its mother's
arms, and in these rooms God has comforted and strengthened my heart.
I love you all. Not always have we seen alike; you have not always
loved me; but, some day, we shall know as we are known; some day we
shall see face to face.
"I love these old mountains. I came to them a boy; they have made a
man of me. I have roamed their forests and climbed their cliffs. Every
spot has precious memories. Yes, neighbors, I love the old hills, I
love the old home; but to-night I am going far away from them.
To-night, before the sun sets, I shall leave the old scenes forever.
Here, lawyer, are some papers. Read them when I am gone. This is my
will.
"Parson, you will build a new church with the money, and somewhere in
it remember the ones who are gone. Tony, Hans, Reed, there is
something for all of you. Dan, the old place is yours; keep it till I
come. All I shall take is Bess and my mother's Testament.
"Farewell, Dan. Farewell, neighbors. God bless you, Tony; and, when
you pray, don't forget me;" and, striding across the room, Job Malden
was gone.
By the gate he tarried a moment, put his arms round Shot's shaggy neck
and kissed him, sprang on Bess' back, gave one last look at Pine Tree
Ranch, and was off.
There, in a silent, awed group, they stood in the door-yard and
watched him go through the pasture gate. Across the hills, the sunset
and the twilight fell on forest and fields and hearts.
That night, men say, a dark shadow stole out of the graveyard at
midnight and galloped away. Far below in the Coyote Valley, where the
road to the plains goes down from the hill, some one said that--lying
awake near the window, in the stillness which comes towards
morning--he heard the sound of horse's hoofs going by, and rider and
horse swept on far down the road.
[Illustration: FINIS]
[Illustration: (decoration)]
EPILOGUE.
On Pine Tree mountain the old house still stands, its windows hidden
beneath vines. Back and forth by the barns Tony slowly moves. By the
gate an old dog lies waiting. On the porch a frail cripple sits in the
twilight and looks down the road. But the one they wait for will never
come. Across the years of busy action and world-wide service he treads
the path that leads to "palms of victory, crowns of glory." In the joy
of service he is finding the peace which the world cannot give nor
take away. In self-forgetfulness he is growing daily into His
likeness, until he shall at last awake in His image, satisfied.
[Illustration: (decoration)]
THE TAKING IN OF MARTHA MATILDA.
BY BELLE KELLOGG TOWNE.
She stood at the end of the high bridge and looked over it to where
her father was making his way along the river-bank by a path leading
to the smelter. Then she glanced up another path branching at her feet
from the road crossing the bridge and which climbed the mountain until
it reached a little adobe cottage, then stopped. She seemed undecided,
but the sweet tones of a church bell striking quickly on the clear
April air caused her to turn her face in the direction from whence the
sound came.
It was Martha Matilda, "Graham's girl," who stood thus, with the wind
from the snow-caps blowing down fresh upon her, tossing to and fro the
slim feather in her worn hat, and making its way under the lapels of
her unbuttoned jacket--Martha Matilda Graham, aged ten, with a wistful
face that might have been sweet and dimpled had not care and
loneliness robbed it of its rightful possessions. Further back there
had been a mother who called the child "Mattie." But now there was
only "father," and with him it was straight "Martha Matilda," spoken a
little brusquely, but never unkindly. Oh, yes, up in the cottage,
certain days, was Jerusha, who did the heavy work and then went home
nights; with Jerusha it was plain "Mat." Then there was Miss Mary down
at the school which Martha Matilda had attended at the time when
loving mother-fingers "fixed her up like other girls," and Miss Mary,
when speaking to the child "running wild upon the mountain side,"
always said "dear." But Martha Matilda had dropped out of the
day-school and out of the Sunday-school. Somehow she had grown tired
of trying to keep shoe-strings from breaking, and aprons from being
torn, and if she was just home with Towser, such things did not
matter; as to her going to school, her father did not seem to care.
"Guess there's no hurry 'bout filling so small a head," he would
sometimes say when Jerusha pleaded for school with Martha's eyes
assenting.
So now, Martha Matilda stood listening to the chiming of the Easter
bells and seemed undecided as to her next move.
"I know Miss Mary's lily is there, and it's got five blossoms on this
year; she told father so down at the store. And such a lot of
evergreen as the girls did take in yesterday!" Her face was still
turned in the direction of the church on the outskirts of the scraggly
mountain town, and whose spire pricked through the dark green pinons
surrounding it. "I ain't fixed--I ain't never fixed now." And she
glanced down along her unbuttoned jacket, over the faded delaine
dress, to her shoes tied with strings held together by countless
knots. "It seems awful lonesome to be home on Easter."
She pulled out some brown woolen gloves from the pocket of her jacket,
and drew them on slowly. Her fingers crowded out through numerous
holes, but she pushed them back, pulling the ends of the gloves
further up, and drawing down the sleeves of the jacket in an attempt
to leave as small a part of the woolen gloves in sight as possible.
"Father wouldn't care--he never cares." She buttoned her jacket
hastily, settled her brown hat a little straighter, ran fleetly along
the road leading toward the church, and breathlessly climbed the rude
steps, together with a half-dozen other girls, just as the bell threw
down its last sweet tone.
Some of the girls going up the church steps nodded good-humoredly to
Martha Matilda, but others pushed by too eager to notice. Martha did
not follow the girls far up the aisle of the church, but dropped down
into an empty pew near the door. How spicy and nice it did smell! She
reached up so that she might see the prettily-decorated altar over the
heads of the ones filling the church. Yes, there was Miss Mary's lily
with its five blossoms right on the stand by the pulpit. How beautiful
it looked, showing above the evergreens covering the altar-rail! And
there were Mrs. James' geraniums, a whole row of them--no one but Mrs.
James ever had geraniums worth much. And there were two little spruce
trees, one at each end of the altar-rail, with their cones all on.
Hadn't the girls worked, though! But the boys had helped. Lutty
Williams had told Martha Matilda all about it Saturday evening, going
home from the meat market, and then had awakened the first desire in
Martha to go "just for Easter" to the school she had dropped out of.
Martha drew a long breath and was just falling back into an easier
posture after her extended survey, when a hand touched her shoulder.
"I thought, dear, you would want to see the lilies;" and there was
Miss Mary, as tall and sweet as a lily herself, with a brown straw hat
wreathed with cowslips, and a blue serge dress, neat and
close-fitting. "You can see better up with us;" and she drew the hand
with the brown woolen glove up close under her arm.
"Oh, no, Miss Mary, I can't! I ain't fixed! I can see here." And the
little girl pulled herself back as far as Miss Mary's hold upon her
allowed.
"Nonsense! The idea of your staying down here alone!"
There was such sweet insistence in Miss Mary's voice that Martha stood
on her feet and allowed herself to be drawn out into the aisle. But
though for a few steps she followed with evident reluctance, a latent
dignity caused her to free her hand and walk the remainder of the way
as though of her own accord. A cluster of girls were watching for Miss
Mary's coming in a square pew near the front.
"We've saved a place for you right here in the middle," said the girl
nearest the aisle, as their teacher came to them. And then they
shifted this way and that, so that "the place" was widened to take in
Martha Matilda as well.
"Doesn't the church look nice, now we have it all fixed!" asked one of
the girls, as she nestled up close to Martha, reaching over her to
speak lovingly to the teacher.
How cozy Martha felt, sitting there right in the heart of it all! How
pretty the lilies were, up near! And to think that her mamma had given
the first little bulb to Miss Mary!--Miss Mary had told her so one day
at school.
But as Martha was reveling in the sights over which her eyes roamed,
and feeling the sweet comfort of being nestled close, a girl at the
further end of the pew broke a sturdy bit of rose geranium she held
into two pieces and, reaching over, laid one half on the brown woolen
gloves.
Looking up, Martha met a smile and a nod from the giver. Thus
prompted, a lesson leaf was next laid upon the geranium branch by a
second girl, and a smile from another pair of eyes met Martha's. After
a little whispering and nodding between two girls near the aisle, one
of their open singing books was laid on the lesson leaf. "That's the
opening song; you'll get it after the first verse--you always do," was
whispered, and, with a nod, the giver settled back in her place, and
the one at her side passed her book along so as to make it serve for
two.
Oh, how nice it was! And Martha drew a long breath. Then seeing that
the holes in her gloves showed, she tucked them further under the
singing book. This called to mind the broken shoe-strings, and she
moved her feet back out of sight. But even unmended gloves and untidy
shoes could not mar Martha Matilda's sweet feeling of comfort--poor
little Martha Matilda, longing so to be taken in somewhere, but hardly
knowing where or how!
As it was Easter morning, the service was given to the children, who
had the center of the church reserved for them. The superintendent was
seated by the side of the minister, and it was he who gave out the
opening song. Martha found that after the first verse she could "catch
it" very easily, and this joining in the service made her feel all the
more one of them. The prayer that followed was a different prayer from
any that Martha had ever listened to, so low and sweet and confiding
were the words spoken, like friend talking with friend. The second
song Martha joined in at once, it being one she knew, and so forgetful
of self did she sing that more than one of the girls nodded to her
appreciatively, and even Miss Mary looked down and smiled.
After this, there were songs and recitations by the scholars, some of
them Miss Mary's own class, and in these Martha took great pride.
Later, the older ones from the primary class graduated into the main
room, and after a few words from the superintendent, each was
presented with a diploma tied with blue ribbon, and a red Bible. How
happy the children looked as they went down, not to their old places,
but to seats reserved for them among the main-school scholars!
The services closed by a short sermon to the children from the
minister--at least he called it a sermon, but to Martha it seemed just
a tender little talk from a big brother who loved his little brothers
and sisters so that he could not keep his love from showing, and who
loved the dear Jesus more than he loved them. Martha had never been
talked to like this. She sat forgetful of everything, even the woolen
gloves, and at times the minister turned her way and it seemed as
though he looked straight into her heart. Occasionally he touched the
lilies at his side, showing how one may grow like a lily, expanding to
take in Jesus' love as the lilies do the sunshine.
Martha went home as though treading on air. She held the rather wilted
spray of rose geranium, and the lesson leaf, and with them was one of
Miss Mary's calla lilies, broken off clear down to the ground--"the
loveliest of the whole five," the girls said; and Miss Mary had smiled
so lovingly when giving it! And then the minister had come up and,
laying his hand on Martha's shoulder, had said, "It seems to me this
is the little girl who helped me preach to-day by paying such good
attention." Then Miss Mary spoke her name, and the minister said, "You
must come again, my dear." Oh, it was all like a beautiful dream, only
nicer!
Reaching the little home up where the path terminated, Martha opened
the unlocked door and passed in. The sunshine made a warm mat on the
floor, and the cat was curled contentedly upon it. Martha took a
yellow and red vase down from the clock-shelf and, filling it with
water, put her lily and geranium branch into it, and placed it on the
table covered by a red table cloth, and partly set for dinner. The
effect was not quite as pleasing as she expected, but perhaps the rose
geranium would lose its droopy look after a while.
Before taking off her hat, she opened the dampers of the stove, tilted
the cover above the chicken simmering in its gravy and pulled the
kettle further back, then opened the oven door to find it just right
for the potatoes Jerusha had in waiting. All this done, she removed
her hat and hung her jacket on a nail. As she did so, she caught a
glimpse of herself in the little glass over the bureau. It was not
pleasing to her. How grimy her face looked, compared with the other
girls'! And their dresses had lace around the neck, or broad collars,
or something.
Martha whirled around and, lifting the hand basin from its hook by the
sink, she poured some warm water from the tea-kettle into it, carried
it carefully to the sink, loosened her dress and set about giving her
face and neck and hands a thorough scrubbing. This done, she drew a
long breath. "Guess that fixes that!" she said. Then she took off the
bit of soiled ribbon confining her braids, and taking down a comb from
the comb-case near, dipped it into water and drew it carefully through
her hair, after which she divided it into six strands and, giving each
a little twirl, stood for a moment by the radiating stove. Presto! Six
ropy curls danced up and down as their owner moved to and fro across
the room, and as the sunshine fell over them their beauty lifted the
little girl from out her plain surroundings.
She laughed as, brushing the short hair up around her face, and
dampening it before the glass, little ringlets nodded around the
forehead, modifying its squareness.
"It's 'most too fixed-up to wear that way every day. But Lutty
Williams fusses with a hot iron to get hers so."
Then, a new idea striking her, she opened the bureau drawer and took
out a white apron with sleeves and long strings. It was a trifle
difficult to get on, and still more so to button, but at last this was
done, and the strings made into a very respectable bow at the back.
Smoothing it carefully down in front, Martha was disappointed to see
that it did not reach nearly so far over the brown delaine dress as
she had expected. She took no thought of Jerusha's having let out a
tuck in her dress since the apron was last worn.
Martha's gaze now reached to her shoes. She turned to the clock, and,
taking out a pair of shoe-strings, sat down by the stove and, removing
her shoes, threw the bits of broken strings into the fire and threaded
in the new lacings, tying them snugly. Lutty Williams' shoes were
black as well as her lacings!--again there was a feeling of
disappointment.
But the dinner needed her attention, so she turned to finish setting
the table, which Jerusha had arranged in part, before going home. A
second time a thought seemed to strike her, and now she reached to the
top drawer of the bureau and drew forth a white table-cloth. Carefully
she placed the vase on the window-sill, and, taking off the dishes and
putting them back in the cupboard, removed the red table-cloth, folded
it and placed that, too, in the cupboard. Jerusha did not think much
of white tablecloths, but it was Easter, and Easter, the minister had
said, should show loving touches throughout the home, just as Jesus
left his loving touch through the world.
With great care Martha draped the table with the white linen, and
replaced the lily. How beautiful it looked now in its new
surroundings!--too beautiful for the hacked white dishes Jerusha used.
So a chair was placed in front of the green cupboard, and with
precision in every movement the "sprigged" dishes were gotten down.
"Oh, if only it could be that way all the time!" Martha Matilda
sighed, standing beside her carefully-arranged table with shining
eyes. But the potatoes were brown and puffy, and the hand of the clock
reached to just half-past one. She gave a glance around the room,
grabbed her hat, and was off; it was time for her to meet her father
at the bridge, as she always met him Sundays, when dinner was ready.
No matter how much John Graham might enjoy lolling in the sun by the
smelter door with "the boys," he never forgot the time when the brown
hat was to be met down by the bridge. "A little close," was often said
of John Graham. "A trifle sharp in getting the best of a bargain, but
to be depended upon every time."
Martha saw her father's faded felt hat bobbing up over the further
abutment, and she flew across the bridge. "Oh, I am so glad to see
you!" she said, catching hold of one of his big hands and covering it
with both of her small ones, as she danced along beside him.
"One'd 'most think I'd been to Ingy," said the man in what would have
seemed a gruff voice to some. Then he glanced at the little figure by
his side, and said in just the same every-day tone, out of which he
was seldom drawn, "Might'ly fixed up, seems to me."
"It's Easter, you know, pa. I went to Sunday-school. Miss Mary's lily
was there, and there was lots of evergreen, and the minister said I
helped him preach. And oh, pa, you don't know how the girls did take
me in! They sat up just as close!"
"Take you in! And why shouldn't they?"
"But you know, pa, they fix up so. And--" The little girl stopped,
seeming to feel it somewhat difficult to make her father understand
the situation.
"So it's fine feathers, is it?" And now there was a decided gruffness
in his voice.
But they had reached the door of the cottage, and the cat jumped down
from the chair and brushed against the legs of her master. There was
tea to be made, and the chicken to be dished; but the father did the
latter, after having washed carefully. The potatoes were given the
place of honor and the two sat down to do the meal justice.
"We might have had some eggs, seeing it's Easter," said the man,
passing one of the largest potatoes to the little girl.
"Lutty Williams' mother colored hers. Lutty said I might have one of
them, if I'd come over for it."
"Guess I wouldn't go to Lutty Williams' for no eggs, if I was in your
place!" said the father.
This somewhat dampened the little girl's ardor, and the rest of the
meal was partaken of in silence.
The dishes were cleared away and the red table-cloth replaced. "No use
in Jerusha's being bothered," the wise Martha reasoned, as she
replaced the white linen in the drawer. Then she unbuttoned the big
gingham apron she had put on over the white one, and felt inclined to
send the white apron after the table-cloth. But something kept her
from doing this. "It's Easter anyhow."
Her father had taken the cat on his lap, and in a chair tipped back
against the wall, with a broom splint between his teeth, sat reading
the county paper.
Martha stood on the doorstep looking off to the mountains, and there
was the old wistful look on her face again. The April sun had clouded
in, and so had the bright spirit of the child. She tried to draw to
her the warmth that had been holding her close, but instead there
rested upon her a dreary sense of loneliness. Jerusha wouldn't wash
white aprons every day, even if she fussed to put them on. In the
morning her father would be off to the smelter. The same old life
waited for her. She stood for a long time there in the door. Then her
father reached around and took hold of her.
"What's the matter?" He had heard a sob. And though the little girl
drew back he pulled her to him. "You ain't cryin'? Hoity-toity! A
white apron, and hair all fixed, and the girls taking her right in,
and--crying!"
"But, pa, I can't make it stay. Jerusha won't wash white aprons, and
there ain't enough, anyway--and--it's so lonesome here with just
Jerusha! All the rest of the girls have some one standing close--as
close as that to them." And the little girl clutched at her father's
coat-sleeve to demonstrate the closeness of relationship, while the
sobs came thick and fast.
"Nobody but Jerusha!" The father brought his chair down from the wall,
and all the blood in his body seemed to rush to his face. "Nobody
standing close! Where be I standing? What am I going to the smelter
for, putting two days into one, if it ain't standing close?"
The man spoke impetuously, the words tumbling recklessly one over the
other, and the little girl's sobs were tumbling in the same way;
neither seemed inclined to stop the other.
"What'd I stand in front of Simonses show-window last night for,
looking at them posies they've got for Easter, if 'twasn't because I'd
liked to have brought the hull lot home? And why didn't I bring 'em
home? Just so as I could slip more money this month in under the
little bank winder. And what am I slippin' money into the bank for?
Why'd I buy them Jersey cows, and that bit o' mountain park, if
'twasn't because I knowed Jerusha was the best butter-maker in town,
and butter meant money, and money meant an easy time for you by and
by? Standin' close!"
The man's voice broke. The little girl had ceased crying and was
standing with wide, strained eyes fastened on her father. What did it
all mean?
But the father did not say what it meant. As one suddenly overtaken,
he pushed the cat from off his lap, rose, drew a long breath, and
reached for his hat.
Had Martha Matilda been older, she would have tried to detain the one
she had wounded. For he was wounded, just as are we all when suddenly
there comes to us knowledge of long-continued effort being
unappreciated. What was the use of all this struggling, beginning with
the day and closing only when it was ended! He pulled an oat straw
from a stack near, and then leaned on the bars of the cow-yard. Far
beyond him were the snow-caps, now pink with the setting sun--the glow
which the one gone from him had so loved to catch. His throat ached
with suppressed emotion. He had striven so to stand true, to make the
life of the child she had left easier than hers had been, just as he
had promised!
The cows crowded up restlessly against the bars. It was milking time.
Mechanically he returned to the kitchen, brought back with him the
pails, placed a stool and sent the tinkling streams against the shiny
pail. Pail after pail was filled and set aside, then with a gentle pat
for the last meek-eyed Jersey, he brought the milk back to the house,
strained it carefully, filled a saucer for the cat at his feet, rinsed
the pails, and after the cows had been cared for for the night, went
back and hung his hat on its accustomed nail. He crossed to the window
where Martha sat stiff and uncomfortable in the big rocking-chair.
Sitting down in front of her, he tilted his chair forward and, lifting
her hands, stroked them gently.
"I have been thinking it all out down by the cows. It ain't right." He
did not look at the face of the little girl, only at the hands he was
stroking. "It wasn't because I wanted to break my promise to your
ma--it wasn't a bit of that. You see the road was too hard for your
ma; it is always go down or go up here in the mountains, and then it
was always a little more money needed than we had. And when you came
she couldn't bear to have the strain touch you, and almost the last
thing she said was, 'You'll make it easier for her, she's such a
little tot.' It wasn't because I meant to wriggle out of my promise
that made me pretend not to see when your shoes gave out and your
dresses got old and things in the house didn't run straight; it wasn't
that."
There was a great sob in the voice now, and Martha, hearing it, looked
up to find her father's rugged face wet with tears.
"Oh, pa, don't!" and the child's arm reached around her father's neck
and she put her face close against his cheek.
But the man shook himself partially free, as he brushed the tears from
his face.
"And you think as how there ain't been any love in it, when it's been
all love! You see, the trouble's here: In trying to make an easier
road for you than your mother had, I looked all the time at the
further end instead of the nigh end. And I was so afraid that when you
got further on there'd be no backing for you, that I left you without
a backing now. But we will start right over new. I haven't just kept
my promise, 'cause your mother meant it to be at this end and right
straight on. And that's how it should be. We'll start over new. It
ain't ever too late to stop robbing Peter to pay Paul. You go straight
down to Simonses to-morrow morning, Martha Matilda."
The little girl was looking at him now with cheeks flushed with eager
attention. She go down to Simonses! But her father's words held her
again.
"And you buy just as many of them posies as you want, and you get
enough to make a bunch for every one of them girls as took you in, and
you take 'em to them, and tell them that's your Easter gift."
"But pa--"
"There ain't no 'but pa' about it! And you fix a bigger bunch for Miss
Mary, and get a shiny ribbon and tie round it--that's the way your
mother fixed posies when she wanted them nice--and you tell Miss Mary
that's for her Easter. And then you go to the minister's--"
Martha clapped her hands over her lips to keep back a cry of surprise.
She go to the minister's!
"Your mother always went to the minister when anything was wanted. And
you tell him John Graham wants that pew that he had when the church
was first built--Number 25, on the east side, by the second
window--the one that looks out on the mountains. Your mother and I put
a sight of work and good hard money into the building of that church,
and I ought to have stood right by it all along and not dropped out
just because Sunday clothes cost."
"Oh, pa, did you help build that church?"
"Guess there's plenty round as would tell you so, if you asked, though
this minister don't know, 'cause he's new."
"Say, pa, can't I have a red Bible? Of course it wouldn't be just like
getting into Sunday-school regular, like the primaries, but I would
like a red Bible."
"There it is again! All wrong. There's your mother's Bible; I hain't
meant not to give it to you, only I was a-keepin' it till the further
end of the road came when you'd 'preciate it better."
John Graham got up, and taking down a half-filled lamp, lighted it,
the little girl keeping close at his side. From that same upper bureau
drawer he took out a small package and, undoing the handkerchief
wrapped around it, brought to view a Bible with a gilt clasp.
"It ain't a red Bible, but it's a Bible that has been read," he said.
"And here's your name, just as your mother wrote it for you, almost
the last time she handled it."
He opened the fly-leaf, and little Martha, drawing up close to his
arm, read:
[Illustration: (handwritten) Martha Matilda Graham from her Mother. Be
a good girl, Mattie.]
"Oh, pa, how I am being taken into things!" said the little girl, the
tears toppling over her eyes, and her cheeks bright and rosy.
And then the father took Martha on his lap and talked to her of her
mother--of the life she had lived, and of the Bible she read, and of
the God she loved; talked to her as he had never talked in all her ten
years. When he had ended, she put her arms around his neck and held
him close. The clock struck eight and the father arose, lighted the
little girl's candle, and she mounted the crooked stairs to the small
room above. Setting down the candle, she made herself ready for bed,
buttoning on the little white night-dress made of flour-sacks and with
blue XX's on the back, but which "looked all right in front," as
Jerusha said. This done, she blew out the light and, drawing aside the
bit of muslin curtain, gazed out on the clear Colorado night, with the
stars glimmering through. A moment she stood thus, then she pressed
her hands over her face, and bowing her head said, soft and low:
"Be a good girl, Mattie."
How sweet the words were when voiced!
"I will be a good girl--I will," she murmured, and her voice was
tender but strong of purpose. As she laid her head down upon the
pillow she whispered, "How I be taken into things!"
And Martha Matilda never knew that down in the big chair the one she
had left sat with his hand covering his bronzed face, motionless. The
ticking of the clock was the only sound heard. When he arose, the lamp
had burned itself out, and the room stood in darkness. But he failed
to sense it. Within him had been kindled a light brighter than an
Easter dawn. John Graham was ready to take up life anew.
[Illustration: (decoration)]