NEW PROSPECTS
There is no need of dwelling further on the reasons for or against the
step we proposed. We thought a great deal and talked it over several
times. Finally my wife agreed that the change would be wise and best
for all. Then the children were taken into our confidence, and they
became more delighted every day as the prospect grew clearer to them.
"We'll all be good soon, won't we?" said my youngest, who had a rather
vivid sense of his own shortcomings, and kept them in the minds of
others as well.
"Why so, Bobsey?"
"'Cause mamma says that God put the first people in a garden and they
was very good, better'n any folks afterwards. God oughter know the best
place for people."
Thus Bobsey gave a kind of divine sanction to our project. Of course we
had not taken so important a step without asking the Great Father of
all to guide us; for we felt that in the mystery of life we too were
but little children who knew not what should be on the morrow, or how
best to provide for it with any certainty. To our sanguine minds there
was in Bobsey's words a hint of something more than permission to go up
out of Egypt.
So it was settled that we should leave our narrow suite of rooms, the
Daggetts and the Ricketts, and go to the country. To me naturally fell
the task of finding the land flowing with milk and honey to which we
should journey in the spring. Meantime we were already emigrants at
heart, full of the bustle and excitement of mental preparation.
I prided myself somewhat on my knowledge of human nature, which, in
regard to children, conformed to comparatively simple laws. I knew that
the change would involve plenty of hard work, self-denial and careful
managing, which nothing could redeem from prose; but I aimed to add to
our exodus, so far as possible, the elements of adventure and mystery
so dear to the hearts of children. The question where we should go was
the cause of much discussion, the studying of maps, and the learning of
not a little geography.
Merton's counsel was that we should seek a region abounding in Indians,
bears, and "such big game." His advice made clear the nature of some of
his recent reading. He proved, however, that he was not wanting in
sense by his readiness to give up these attractive features in the
choice of locality.
Mousie's soft black eyes always lighted up at the prospect of a
flower-garden that should be as big as our sitting-room. Even in our
city apartments, poisoned by gas and devoid of sunlight, she usually
managed to keep a little house-plant in bloom, and the thought of
placing seeds in the open ground, where, as she said, "the roots could
go down to China if they wanted to," brought the first color I had seen
in her face for many a day.
Winnie was our strongest child, and also the one who gave me the most
anxiety. Impulsive, warm-hearted, restless, she always made me think of
an overfull fountain. Her alert black eyes were as eager to see as was
her inquisitive mind to pry into everything. She was sturdily built for
a girl, and one of the severest punishments we could inflict was to
place her in a chair and tell her not to move for an hour. We were
beginning to learn that we could no more keep her in our sitting-room
than we could restrain a mountain brook that foams into a rocky basin
only to foam out again. Melissa Daggett was of a very different type--I
could never see her without the word "sly" coming into my mind--and her
small mysteries awakened Winnie's curiosity. Now that the latter was
promised chickens, and rambles in the woods, Melissa and her secrets
became insignificant, and the ready promise to keep aloof from her was
given.
As for Bobsey, he should have a pig which he could name and call his
own, and for which he might pull weeds and pick up apples. We soon
found that he was communing with that phantom pig in his dreams.