AN EXCURSION TO HOPE
Helen was up at five the next morning. They were early risers in the
summer time at the Mulfords', except Fan and little Tom. Mrs. Mulford
didn't want young ones about bothering, when they could be no sort of
use. Mr. Mulford had quoted the advantage of good habits, and that you
never could begin too soon.
"When I have need of their habits I'll see that they have 'em," she
replied with a confident nod. "Plenty of sleep is good for 'em."
Helen and 'Reely had reached the period of "habits." Mrs. Mulford always
called out sharply at five o'clock.
Oh, what a beautiful world it was! Over east was a chain of high hills,
blue in the morning light, except where the sun struck them. They seemed
part of another world. Between were bits of woodland, meadows, orchards
and the creek that was laid down on the State map as a river, but no
one called it that. Nearer was a cluster of houses, two or three
factories stretching out to South Hope and the railroad station. Oh, why
were beautiful things always so far off?
She hurried on her gown and twisted up her hair in a knot. It was a
faded cambric of last summer, rather short in the skirt for such a large
girl, but then it was pretty well worn out. She helped with the
breakfast, she laid out the dainties for Jenny's lunch, she ran to do
things for Uncle Jason, the world was just full of odds and ends jumbled
together. She wondered why people had to eat so much. Why hadn't they
been made so one meal a day would suffice?
Jenny took her little lunch satchel and trudged on with a cheerful
good-morning. Nearly a mile to walk, and then to work all day in the hot
stuffy place full of unfragrant smells, and the gossip about beaus and
what was going to be the fashion, and perhaps unfriendly comments or
common teasing jokes. That was what they talked about when they came to
see Jenny. They were no great readers, these girls. And was her lot to
be cast with them? Oh, had school days really come to an end? She had
known their worth such a little while, only during the last year, the
last three months she might say. School was a period everyone went
through, but now, to her it had unfolded its magical labyrinth, and she
wanted to roam there forever. Yet though she had shed bitter tears last
night, she did not feel at all like crying now. An exultant life seemed
throbbing within her.
"Now, Helen, you just go upstairs and sweep, and look out for the
corners when you wipe up, and shake the mats out good and hard. See how
quick you can get through."
Aunt Jane always said this Saturday morning. "Just as if I couldn't
remember when I've done it for two years," Helen thought, but she made
no reply. She worked away with her mind on a dozen other things, and her
work was well done, too.
The great oven was heated on Saturday, an old-fashioned brick oven. Pies
and cake and bread, and a big jar full of beans went in it to come out
done to perfection. And the towels and handkerchiefs and stockings were
washed on that day, it saved so much from Monday's work. Nathan and
'Reely weeded in the garden, then peeled apples for sauce, and picked
raspberries to can, making what Aunt Jane called a clean sweep of them.
Dinner again for a hungry host.
"I'm going over to Hope this afternoon," said Uncle Jason, "I s'pose
there's some butter ready to take. Now what do you want?"
"Oh, my! What I don't want would be less. Some of that green and white
gingham, spools of thread, shirting muslin good and stout, and Jenny
said if anyone went over there was a list of things she wanted. It's in
her machine drawer."
"Oh, I never can look after so much. Come mother, go along yourself."
"On Sat'day afternoon! Jason Mulford!"
"Well you can't go on Sunday," and he laughed.
"Yes, I could go over to church on Sunday," she retorted sharply. "Thank
the Lord there's one day you don't have to cook from morning to night,
though like the old Israelites you have to do a double portion on
Sat'day. Dear me, I sometimes wished we lived on manna."
"What is manna?" inquired 'Reely.
"Bread and honey," said her father.
"No, twan't bread and honey either. Jason, why do you say such things!
It's what the children of Israel had to live on forty years in the
wilderness, and they got mighty tired of it too. It's my opinion, 'Reely
Mulford, you'd rather have bread and cake and potpie and baked beans and
berries and such."
'Reely stared with her big brown eyes.
"And--didn't they have any----"
"You're big enough to read the Bible, 'Reely. When I was twelve I had
read it all through, except the chapters with the names which mother
said didn't count. But we didn't have Sunday school books then, and that
was all there was to read on Sunday."
Helen thought everything that happened to Aunt Jane happened before she
was twelve. She had made her father some shirts, she had pieced several
quilts, made bread and cake and spun on the little wheel and could do a
week's washing.
"Well, about Hope?" They seldom said North Hope, or tacked Hope on to
the Center.
"Oh, I couldn't go."
"Well, I can't get all those things. See here, let Helen go."
Aunt Jane looked at her. Helen knew by experience that to want a thing
very much was a sure way of being denied, so she merely went to the
machine drawer and brought the list Jenny had written out, in which were
several mispelled words.
"O Lordy!" ejaculated Uncle Jason.
"Before all these children too! No one would think you were a church
member, Jason," said his wife severely.
"Well, if you want all them things you'll have to send Helen along to
remember. An' I dunno's I have time."
Uncle Jason rose from the table. So did the hired man and Sam. Helen
picked up the list and put it back in the drawer, brought the cloth to
wash Tom's hands and began to pile up the dishes, her heart in a tumult
of desire.
"Jason, what time you going?"
"'Bout two. I've got to see Warren at three. And isn't there butter to
take over?"
"Yes, to Mrs. Dayton. Well--I think it is best to send Helen. Now,
Helen, you wash up the dishes quick and do it well, too. Then wash
yourself and dress. You know it puts Uncle Jason out to wait, he hasn't
the longest temper in the world."
Helen was both quick and deft. Aunt Jane took the credit of this to her
own training, but there was an instinctive delicacy in the girl that
made her wish she had finer and prettier dishes to wash. She did not
truly despise the work so much. She really loved to read advertisements
of fine china and glass, Berlin and Copenhagen wares, Wedgewood and
Limoges, and hunted them up in the big school dictionary.
She was standing on the porch five minutes before two, a wholesome,
happy-looking girl with two braids of light brown hair, tied together
half-way down with a brown ribbon, and some wavy little ends about her
forehead that would curl when they were wet. Her straw hat had a wreath
of rather soiled daisies that sun and showers had not refreshed, but her
blue cambric with white bands looked fresh and nice, though it had been
made from Jenny's skirt, turned the other side out. Aunt Jane had made
her add her wants to the list, so she wouldn't forget a single thing.
The butter was a nice roll wrapped in a cloth and shut tight in an
immaculate tin pail.
With many charges they started off.
"I wish mother'd learn there wan't any sense in fussin so much, but
land! I suppose people are as they grow. Mebbe they can't help it."
"But if one tried? Isn't it like learning other things, or unlearning
them?"
"Well--no, I guess not. You see all these habits and things are inside
of one, born with him or her as you might say, while the book learning
is just--well determination I s'pose. And so's farming."
That wasn't very lucid.
"But if you found some better way of farming."
"There aint many better ways. Keep your ground light and free from weeds
and fertilize and get the best seed and then keep at it."
"And if you do a wrong or foolish thing, try not to repeat it."
"That's about it. But folks are mighty sot in their opinions, and hate
to change. If I find a better way I take it up. Land! We couldn't farm
in some things as people did a hundred year ago."
There was a splendid row of shade trees on the road to North Hope,
mostly maples, but here and there an elm or a chestnut. There were farms
and gardens, and old settlers who did not want any change. Then the
railroad had established business lines outside the Center, while that
had hardly changed in fifty years. But it kept a quaint beauty of its
own. Here and there was an old well sweep, then a long line of stone
wall covered with Virginia creeper or clematis. And then a tall row of
hollyhocks in all colors, or great sunflowers with their buds stretching
out of close coverts. It was so tranquil that the tired girl lapsed into
a kind of dreamy content. She used to think in later years this was a
sort of turning point in her life, and yet she had no presentiment.
"Now the thing you better do, Helen," said her uncle, "is to get out
here and go straight over Main Street and do your tradin'. Land sakes! I
wouldn't look up those forty botherin' things for a handful of money.
I'll drive round and leave the butter, and then you go to Mrs. Dayton's
when you're through. I may be a little belated. Be sure now you don't
forget anything."
Helen sprang out, holding her satchel with its precious contents very
tightly. The stores were really quite showy, and on Saturday afternoon
everybody who could, went out. She met some of her schoolmates. Ella
Graham and her mother were buying pretty articles for their sea-side
trip. Many were just looking. The day was not so very hot, indeed now
it began to cloud over a little, just enough to soften the atmosphere.
She kept studying the list. She couldn't match the edging, but she took
two samples that were nearest to it, and she couldn't find the peculiar
blue shade of sewing silk. She made believe now and then, that she was
ordering some of the lovely lawns and cambrics, and that she didn't have
to consider whether they would wash well, and how they would get made.
She chose ribbons and laces to trim them with. And oh, the pretty hats,
the fresh crisp flowers!
Then she made a sudden pause. Finery went out of her head. A book and
picture store, and in the very front, the post of honor, a most
exquisite Mother and Child--the Bodenhausen Madonna.
Mr. Warfield had two or three in his collection, and the Sistine Madonna
had gone to her heart. But this child with his mother's eyes, and the
tender clinging love as if he was afraid some hand might wrest him from
his mother's clasp, the love unutterable in both faces filled her with a
wordless admiration. It seemed as if she could stand there forever, as
if all her longings were lost in this rapture.
Presently she summoned courage to go in and inquire about it. A modern
Madonna by a young German, a new thought of divine motherhood. It was a
very fine photograph, framed, and the price was fifteen dollars.
Of course she had no more thought of buying it than of the lawns and
laces. But she was very glad she had seen it. Sometime there might be a
new world for her, where she could have a few of these lovely things.
She must descend to gingham and shirting muslin.
Then she hurried on to Mrs. Dayton's. Uncle Jason had not come. There
was a very fine old lady sitting on the porch in a silken gown with
ruffles and laces, a heavy golden chain drooping about her waist, a
large diamond flashing at her throat and smaller ones in her ears; while
her fingers were jeweled to the last degree. But oh, how wrinkled she
was, and her hair was threaded with white, while her eyes seemed almost
faded out.
Helen went around to the side entrance. Mrs. Dayton was arranging the
table for supper. A very pleasant, plump, amiable woman of middle-life
in a white gown, almost covered with a big apron.
"Why Helen Grant! Aren't you tired to death with those bundles? Sit down
and get a breath. Your uncle said you would come. Take off your hat.
You're just in time to have a bit of supper. Mr. Mulford said you were
sent to do a lot of shopping. How did you make out?"
"Oh, very well, I think. You see I did not have to use my taste or
judgment, it was all mapped out for me," smiling. "I was afraid I should
be late."
"Oh, your uncle said it would be near seven when he came. And it is only
quarter past six. Now take off your hat and fan yourself cool, and in
five minutes I'll call the folks. They haven't all come yet. The
Disbrowes get here to-night. I heard you quite distinguished yourself at
school! You take learning from your father's side. The Mulford genius
does not run in that channel."
Mrs. Dayton gave a pleasant smile. There was no malice in her speech.
Helen colored a little under the praise.
"Pity you don't live nearer so that you could come in to the High
School."
"Oh, I wish I could. I love to study. And there are so many splendid
things in the world that one would like to know."
"What are you going to do with yourself?"
Ah, it was not what she wanted to do. The tears suddenly softened her
eyes.
"Oh, Helen, an idea has just come to me." Mrs. Dayton had been putting
some last touches to the table and paused at the corner with a glass in
her hand, studying the girl with comprehensive interest. "I suppose you
meant to stay at home during vacation and help your Aunt? But Aurelia's
getting a big girl and there are so many of you. I wonder if you
wouldn't like to come over here and help me, and get paid for it? Why, I
think you'd just suit. Did you see that old lady sitting on the front
porch? That's Mrs. Van Dorn. She was here last summer. She had a
companion then, a real nice girl about twenty, that she had sort of
adopted. She has no end of money and is queer and full of whims. She
wants to go to Europe in the fall and spend the winter in France. She
travels all over. But the girl, Miss Gage, didn't want to go."
"Oh, dear, you don't mean"--Helen stopped and colored scarlet, and her
breath came in bounds.
"That you should go in her place? Oh; no, you can't indulge in such
luxuries just yet. Miss Gage finally consented on condition that she
could spend the summer with her folks on Long Island. There's quite a
family of them, and they seem to care a good deal for each other. Mrs.
Van Dorn wants someone to run up and down for her, read to her, fan her
sometimes and go out driving with her. She doesn't get up until after
eight, and has coffee, fruit, and rolls brought up to her room. And
she's a great hand for flowers--her vases must be washed out and filled
every day. Then she comes down on the porch, wants the paper read to her
and likes to talk over things. After dinner she takes a nap. Then she
goes for a drive. They used to take a book along last summer, she's as
fond of poetry as any young girl. Mr. Warfield said you were the finest
reader of poetry in the school. And what I'm driving at is that I do
believe you could suit her, and I'd like someone to help me out a little
when I'm rushed. Joanna's good, but one pair of hands can't do
everything. I asked Mary Cross to come over and read, but she drones,
and she can't bear poetry. And I've been thinking who I could find. You
see it isn't like a maid. Miss Gray, the nurse, comes in every morning
and gives her massage and all that. She's smart enough to help herself
and hates to be thought old. Now, if you could come and help both, and
earn a little money? It would be three dollars a week, and no real hard
work."
"Oh!" cried Helen in a fervor of delight that made her absolutely faint
at heart.
Joanna opened the door. "Haven't you rung the bell?" she asked in
surprise.
"I declare!" Mrs. Dayton laughed and rang it at once. Joanna brought in
the soup tureen and stood it on the side table.
"We will finish the talk by and by," the mistress said.
The boarders came in. Mr. and Mrs. Pratt, Mrs. Lessing and her
daughters, Mr. Conway and Mrs. Van Dorn. When the Disbrowes arrived the
house would be filled.
"This is my young friend Miss Helen Grant," announced Mrs. Dayton, and
she gave the girl a seat beside her. Mrs. Van Dorn was next.
Helen enjoyed it so much. The spotless cloth with its fern leaves and
wild roses, the small bowl of flowers at each end of the table, the
shining silver, and Joanna's quiet serving. The guests talked in low,
pleasant tones. At home there was always a din and a clatter and two or
three children talking at once, a coarse and generally soiled table
cloth, and Aunt Jane scolding one and another. And there was always a
slop of some kind.
After the soup came the dinner proper; roast chicken and cold boiled ham
cut in thin slices, not chunks. What a luscious pinky tint it had. And
the vegetables had a dainty tempting aspect. The table service was
delicately decorated porcelain, but it seemed rare china to the girl.
What lovely living this was!
Helen possessed a certain kind of adaptiveness. Aunt Jane would have
called it "putting on airs." She made no blunders, she answered the few
questions addressed to her, in a quiet tone, for she did not have to
shout to be heard over the din of children.
There was dessert and fruit, not so much more than they were used to
having at home, for the Mulford's were good livers. Afterward the
boarders sauntered out on the porch or the lawn seats, where the
gentlemen smoked.
"Now you've seen Mrs. Van Dorn, and she isn't so very formidable, is
she? Sometimes she is very amiable, but I suppose few of us keep that
even tenor of the way so much talked about. And there are queer people
all over the world."
"Whoa, Betty, whoa! You'll get home to your supper presently," exclaimed
a well-known voice, as wheels announced the approaching vehicle.
Mrs. Dayton and Helen went out. Mr. Mulford thought first he couldn't
stop a minute, it was late. But the hostess explained that she had
something very important to talk over, and he could have his supper
while he was listening.
He demurred a little, but finally assented. Mrs. Dayton brought him a
tempting plateful, and then unfolded her plan which had shaped itself
definitely in this brief while. She would come over Monday afternoon,
meanwhile he was to prepare the way for her.
"Well, that does beat me! Why Helen, you've struck luck! I don't see how
mother can make any real objection, though she'll fuss at first. That's
her way. And as you say ma'am we've a houseful at home, Helen ought to
be mighty obliged to you."
Helen caught Mrs. Dayton's hand and pressed it against her cheek in a
mute caress.
"And now we must start off home. Oh, Helen, here's a letter for you.
Come, you're too young for that sort of work," and her uncle laughed.
She lingered in the door-way opening it. Mr. Warfield had to go away
before he had expected, but he begged her to take the High School
examination and see how she stood. When he returned they would talk the
matter over. It would be such a pity for her to stop here. He sent a
list of questions for her to study out.
They hurried off home, and Betty was nothing loth. Uncle Jason said he
would lay the matter before mother to-morrow. Helen better not say
anything.
"And you'll be so fine riding out every day, and keeping company with
big bugs that I don't see how you'll ever get back to us again. Mebbe
you won't. The High School may be next step."
She squeezed Uncle Jason's arm in a sort of transport. A shadowy
thought like this had crossed her brain.
Aunt Jane was out on the doorstep with some of the younger children.
"Well, you _have_ come at last, after keeping one on tenterhooks and
supper warmed up and got cold again, and no one knowing whether you were
thrown out and killed or waylaid----"
"There mother, nothing happened except that Warren fellow went off and I
waited and waited for him. I was bound to get my note. And we had supper
at Mrs. Dayton's. I sent Helen there to wait for me."
"Oh, Helen--we couldn't think! Did you get the things? If you'd lost my
money--" and Jenny made a threatening pause.
"I didn't lose anything." Helen began to unpack her satchel on the
cleanest end of the dining table. "I found everything but the lace and
the blue sewing silk, and Mr. Morris is going to order them by mail. He
sent some samples of lace in case he couldn't find the exact match."
"But it's got to match," returned Jenny in a positive tone. "And I did
want that blue silk to finish my stitching Monday night. If you'd come
home early with it I could have finished it to-night. H'm, h'm," opening
the parcel and nodding. "Mrs. Dayton got her house full? And what did
you see nice? Have prices gone down any, but I s'pose its hardly time!
And was the style out in their best? Are they wearing ruffles on skirts
or just plain? And are they real scant? Dear me! I haven't been over to
North Hope in a dog's age."
Helen didn't remember about skirts except that Mrs. Van Dorn's light
silk had a beautiful black lace flounce. And the Madonna was still plain
before her eyes.
"Well you are stupid enough," cried Jenny in disgust. "I think I'd used
my eyes to a better purpose. And you didn't even bring home any
fashion-papers!"
Mr. and Mrs. Mulford were still having a little bickering on the stoop.
Then she came in, examined the gingham and the muslin, sent the children
to bed, told Helen to take the things off the table, and said she was
tired to death, and that no one ever thought about her, or cared whether
they kept her up till midnight.
Helen was very glad to get away to bed, and live over the meal at Mrs.
Dayton's, with its ease and refinement. How could she help building
air-castles when youth is so rich in imagination, and hope is boundless!
And if one unlooked-for thing happened, might not another?