Mrs. Kinalden was in a terrible flutter. Her lodger's "traps" had come,
and were well disposed in his silent room; she had every thing in order
to receive him. The light and the sun were admitted into the long-time
darkened space, and puss was curled up upon the rug as if she had never
known another resting-place. The dove-colored merino went up and down
the stairs, and the clean cap-border flew backward with every agitated
movement.
"It was very strange that he didn't come! Hadn't the boat been in since
ten o'clock in the morning? so the truckman told her, and here were the
hands at two in the afternoon! There was no accounting for it after all
that had passed between them!" However, it couldn't be helped, and as
the hour of three struck, and no Mr. Bond appeared, the despairing woman
betook herself to her green moreen rocking-chair, and, what else could
she do?--wept. Yes, wept! and while the red silk handkerchief hid her
disappointed face, a heavy step sounded in the hall, and a familiar
voice came through the half-open door of the little parlor. "Heigh-ho!
what's the matter here? I thought I'd escaped the terrors of the briny
deep; but bless my heart! here I am in the midst of it again!" and Mr.
Bond's plump hand was extended to greet his landlady, who quickly wiped
away the offending drops, and grew calm. "Couldn't come before, madam,"
said he, in reply to her question as to what had detained him so long.
"Had to go first and see how Nannie and Pat got on, you know!" That was
rather overwhelming--so inconsistent with "My dear Mrs. Kinalden."
The shocked widow looked indignant and muttered something about
"professions of regard," and "affectionate epistles," etc.; but it was
all lost upon the obtuse man who talked on, about what especially
concerned him, and then went gleefully up the stairs.
What wonder if his heart did beat quicker as his hand touched the knob
of his room-door! Isn't it like meeting a dear friend, after a long
absence, to cross the threshold of a cherished locality? The very
inanimate things seemed invested with a silent joy at his return, and
the face from the portrait beamed out a glad welcome. There are tears in
the bachelor's eyes as they meet the blue orbs so fondly fastened upon
him, for his thoughts are upon the gentle and confiding embrace that was
once his. Woe unto you, Mrs. Kinalden! If there were a single
impregnable spot in the good man's bosom, that tear would never have
found its birth.
Puss, awakened by the heavy foot-falls, leaps about her master's legs,
and gives a spring into his narrow lap, as he takes his chair,
maintaining her precarious position by fastening her claws tightly in
his broadcloth, to the no small danger of the limbs beneath, and purrs
her perfect satisfaction. Oh! it's a good thing to get home! There's not
so comfortable a place on the face of the earth, as the spot we call our
own, with the objects that meet our daily touch strewn all about in
their accustomed places. It's a pleasant thing to go out into the wide
world too, and gather up a noble stock of incidents and experience, and
thoughts, to expand the ideas that get pent-up and contracted by a
narrow and confined position; but it is far better to turn about with
one's face toward the dearer haunts and the best loved friends, and the
familiar pleasures!
So thought the weary old man, as he sat in his big arm-chair, while his
vision roved from one thing to another in his cosey room, and the warm
breath of his favorite puss touched his hand.
It was all like a dream to him--the path he had trodden upon the deep,
and the wanderings amid tropical scenes, and the transition from place
to place within the last few months! He arose and looked into the garden
below. When he had left, a white covering was spread over every thing
and the sun's rays fell coldly upon snow and ice. Now there was fresh
foliage upon trees and shrubs, and the perfume from newly-blown roses
came up to greet his willing senses, and the little girls were playing
under the thick shade. They looked up with a merry shout, as a shower of
bon-bons fell upon their heads, and clapped their hands for very
rapture, as the happy face peered out upon them through the half-closed
blinds.