cheeks, and rising from his chair, he stood with his head bent forward,
listening intently, till the sound of Aunt Patty's voice ceased, and
the opening and closing of the front-door showed that she had gone out,
when he sat down again with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Does anything trouble you?" asked Mrs. Bradford.
"No, ma'am; but--but--I _know_ I've heard it before."
"Heard what?"
"That voice, ma'am; Miss Bessie said it was her aunt's."
"But you couldn't have heard it, you know, Willie," said Bessie,
"'cause you never came to this house before, and Aunt Patty never went
to yours."
These last words brought it all back to the blind boy. He knew now.
"But she _did_," he said, eagerly,--"she did come to our house. That's
the one; that's the voice that scolded mother and Auntie Granby and
Jennie, and that put the money into the Bible when we didn't know it!"
Mrs. Bradford and Miss Rush looked at one another with quick, surprised
glances; but Bessie said, "Oh! you must be mistaken, Willie. It's quite
_un_possible. Aunt Patty does not know you or your house, and she
never went there. Besides, she does not"--"Does not like you to have
the money," she was about to say, when she thought that this would be
neither kind nor polite, and checked herself.
But Willie was quite as positive as she was, and with a little shake of
his head, he said, "Ever since I was blind, I always knew a voice when
I heard it once. I wish Jennie or Mrs. Granby had seen her, they could
tell you; but I know that's the voice. It was _you_ sent her, after
all, ma'am; was it not?" and he turned his face toward Mrs. Bradford.
"No, Willie, I did not send her," answered the lady, with another look
at Miss Rush, "nor did any one in this house."
But in spite of this, and all Bessie's persuasions and assurances that
the thing was quite impossible, Willie was not to be convinced that the
voice he had twice heard was not that of the old lady who had left the
money in the Bible; and he did not cease regretting that Jennie had not
seen her.
But to have Jennie or Mrs. Granby see her was just what Mrs. Lawrence
did not choose, and to avoid this, she had gone out, not being able to
shut herself up in her own room, which was undergoing a sweeping and
dusting. She had not been afraid of the sightless eyes of the little
boy when she met him on the stairs, never thinking that he might
recognize her voice; but she had taken good care not to meet those of
Jennie, so quick and bright, and which she felt would be sure to know
her in an instant. But secure as Aunt Patty thought herself, when she
was once out of the house, that treacherous voice of hers had betrayed
her, not only to Willie's sensitive ears, but to that very pair of eyes
which she thought she had escaped. For, as the loud tones had reached
Maggie and Jennie at their play, the latter had dropped the toy she
held, and exclaimed, in a manner as startled as Willie's, "There's that
woman!"
"What woman?" asked Maggie.
"The old woman who brought the money to our house. I know it is her."
"Oh, no, it is not," said Maggie; "that's Aunt Patty, and she's an
old lady, not an old woman, and she wouldn't do it if she could. She
is real mean, Jennie, and I think that person who took you the money
was real good and kind, even if we did feel a little bad about it at
first. Aunt Patty would never do it, I know. Bessie and I try to like
her, and just as we begin to do it a little scrap, she goes and does
something that makes us mad again, so it's no use to try."
"But she does talk just like the lady who came to our house," persisted
Jennie.
"You can see her if you have a mind to," said Maggie, "and then you'll
know it is not her. Come and look over the balusters, but don't let her
see you, or else she'll say, 'What are you staring at, child?'"
They both ran to the head of the stairs, where Jennie peeped over the
balusters.
"It _is_ her!" she whispered to Maggie. "I am just as sure, as sure.
She is all dressed up nice to-day, and the other day she had on an old
water-proof cloak, and a great big umbrella, and she didn't look so
nice. But she's the very same."
"Let's go down and tell mamma, and see what she says," said Maggie, as
the front-door closed after Aunt Patty.
Away they both rushed to the parlor; but when Jennie saw the ladies,
she was rather abashed and hung back a little, while Maggie broke forth
with, "Mamma, I have the greatest piece of astonishment to tell you,
you ever heard. Jennie says she is quite sure Aunt Patty is the woman
who put the money in the Bible and paid Dr. Dawson. But, mamma, it
can't be; can it? Aunt Patty is quite too dog-in-the-mangery; is she
not?"
"Maggie, dear," said her mother, "that is not a proper way for you to
speak of your aunt, nor do I think it is just as you say. What do you
mean by that?"
"Why, mamma, you know the dog in the manger could not eat the hay
himself, and would not let the oxen eat it; and Aunt Patty would not
buy the grove, or tell papa what was the reason; so was she not like
the dog in the manger?"
"Not at all," said Mrs. Bradford, smiling at Maggie's reasoning. "The
two cases are not at all alike. As you say, the dog would not let the
hungry oxen eat the hay he could not use himself, but because Aunt
Patty did not choose to buy the grove, we have no right to suppose she
would not make, or has not made some other good use of her money, and
if she chooses to keep that a secret, she has a right to do so. No, I
do not think we can call her like the dog in the manger, Maggie."
"But do you believe she gave up the grove for that, mamma? She would
not be so good and generous; would she?"
"Yes, dear, I think she would. Aunt Patty is a very generous-hearted
woman, although her way of doing things may be very different from that
of some other people. Mind, I did not say that she _did_ do this, but
Willie and Jennie both seem to be quite positive that she is the old
lady who was at their house, and I think it is not at all unlikely."
"And shall you ask her, mamma?"
"No. If it was Aunt Patty who has been so kind, she has shown very
plainly that she did not wish to be questioned, and I shall say
nothing, nor must you. We will not talk about it any more now. We will
wind up the musical box, and let Willie see if he likes it as well as
the piano."
Very soon after this, Mrs. Granby came for Willie and Jennie, and
no sooner were they outside of the door than they told of the
wonderful discovery they had made. Mrs. Granby said she was not at all
astonished, "one might have been sure such a good turn came out of
_that_ house, somehow."
[Illustration: decoration, end of chap. 15]
[Illustration: Title decoration, chap. 16]
XVI.
_WILLIE'S RECOVERY._
Willie seemed amazingly cheered up and amused by his visit, and told
eagerly of all he had heard and noticed, with a gay ring in his voice
which delighted his mother. It was not so with Jennie, although she
had come home with her hands full of toys and picture-books, the gifts
of the kind little girls she had been to see. She seemed dull, and her
mother thought she was tired of play and the excitement of seeing so
much that was new and strange to her. But Mrs. Richards soon found it
was worse than this.
"I don't see why I can't keep this frock on," said Jennie, fretfully,
as Mrs. Granby began to unfasten her dress, which was kept for Sundays
and holidays.
"Surely, you don't want to go knocking round here, playing and working
in your best frock!" said Mrs. Granby. "What would it look like?"
"The other one is torn," answered Jennie, pouting, and twisting herself
out of Mrs. Granby's hold.
"Didn't I mend it as nice as a new pin?" said Mrs. Granby, showing a
patch nicely put in during Jennie's absence.
"It's all faded and ugly," grumbled Jennie. "I don't see why I can't be
dressed as nice as other folks."
"That means you want to be dressed like little Miss Bradfords,"
answered Mrs. Granby. "And the reason why you ain't is because your
folks can't afford it, my dearie. Don't you think your mother and me
would like to see you rigged out like them, if we had the way to do it?
To be sure we would. But you see we can't do more than keep you clean
and whole; so there's no use wishin'."
Jennie said no more, but submitted to have the old dress put on; but
the pleasant look did not come back to her face.
Anything like sulkiness or ill-temper from Jennie was so unusual that
the other children listened in surprise; but her mother saw very
plainly what was the matter, and hoping it would wear off, thought it
best to take no notice of it at present.
The dress fastened, Jennie went slowly and unwillingly about her task
of putting away her own and her brother's clothes; not doing so in her
usual neat and orderly manner but folding them carelessly and tumbling
them into the drawers in a very heedless fashion. Mrs. Granby saw this,
but she, too, let it pass, thinking she would put things to rights when
Jennie was in bed.
Pretty soon Tommy came to Mrs. Granby with some long story told in the
curious jargon of which she could not understand one word.
"What does he say, Jennie?" she asked.
"I don't know," answered Jennie, crossly. "I sha'n't be troubled to
talk for him all the time. He is big enough to talk for himself, and he
just may do it."
"Jennie, Jennie," said her mother, in a grieved tone.
Jennie began to cry.
"Come here," said Mrs. Richards, thinking a little soothing would be
better than fault-finding. "The baby is asleep; come and fix the cradle
so I can put her in it."
The cradle was Jennie's especial charge, and she never suffered any one
else to arrange it; but now she pulled the clothes and pillows about as
if they had done something to offend her.
"Our baby is just as good as Mrs. Bradford's," she muttered, as her
mother laid the infant in the cradle.
"I guess we think she is the nicest baby going," said Mrs. Richards,
cheerfully; "and it's likely Mrs. Bradford thinks the same of hers."
"I don't see why Mrs. Bradford's baby has to have a better cradle than
ours," muttered Jennie. "Hers is all white muslin and pink, fixed up so
pretty, and ours is old and shabby."
"And I don't believe Mrs. Bradford's baby has a quilt made for her by
her own little sister," answered the mother.
"And it has such pretty frocks, all work and tucks and nice ribbons,"
said Jennie, determined not to be coaxed out of her envy and ill-humor,
"and our baby has to do with just a plain old slip with not a bit of
trimming. 'Taint fair; it's real mean!"
"Jennie, Jennie," said her mother again, "I am sorry I let you go, if
it was only to come home envious and jealous after the pretty things
you've seen."
"But haven't we just as good a right to have them as anybody else?"
sobbed Jennie, with her head in her mother's lap.
"Not since the Lord has not seen fit to give them to us," answered Mrs.
Richards. "We haven't a right to anything. All he gives us is of his
goodness; nor have we a _right_ to fret because he has made other folks
better off than us. All the good things and riches are his to do with
as he sees best; and if one has a larger portion than another, he has
his own reasons for it, which is not for us to quarrel with. And of all
others, I wouldn't have you envious of Mrs. Bradford's family that have
done so much for us."
"Yes," put in Mrs. Granby, with her cheery voice; "them's the ones that
ought to be rich that don't spend all their money on themselves, that
makes it do for the comfort of others that's not as well off, and for
the glory of Him that gives it. Now, if it had been you or me, Jennie,
that had so much given to us, maybe we'd have been selfish and stingy
like; so the Lord saw it wasn't best for us."
"I don't think anything could have made you selfish or stingy, Janet
Granby," said Mrs. Richards, looking gratefully at her friend. "It is
a small share of this world's goods that has fallen to you, but your
neighbors get the best of what does come to you."
"Then there's some other reason why it wouldn't be good for me," said
Mrs. Granby; "I'm safe in believin' that, and it ain't goin' to do
for us to be frettin' and pinin' after what we haven't got, when the
Almighty has just been heapin' so much on us. And talkin' of that,
Jennie, you wipe your eyes, honey, and come along to the kitchen with
me; there's a basket Mrs. Bradford gave me to unpack. She said it had
some few things for Willie, to strengthen him up a bit before his eyes
were done. And don't let the father come in and find you in the dumps;
that would never do. So cheer up and come along till we see what we can
find."
Jennie raised her head, wiped her eyes, and followed Mrs. Granby, who,
good, trusting soul, soon talked her into good-humor and content again.
Meanwhile, Maggie and Bessie were very full of the wonderful discovery
of the afternoon, and could scarcely be satisfied without asking Aunt
Patty if it could really be she who had been to the policeman's house
and carried the money to pay his debts; also, paid Dr. Dawson for the
operation on Willie's eyes. But as mamma had forbidden this, and told
them that they were not to speak of it to others, they were obliged to
be content with talking of it between themselves. If it were actually
Aunt Patty who had done this, they should look upon her with very new
feelings. They had heard from others that she could do very generous
and noble actions; but it was one thing to hear of them, as if they
were some half-forgotten story of the past, and another to see them
done before their very eyes. Aunt Patty was not rich. What she gave to
others, she must deny to herself, and they knew this must have cost
her a great deal. She had given up the grove, on which she had set her
heart, that she might be able to help the family in whom they were so
interested,--people of whom she knew nothing but what she had heard
from them. If she had really been so generous, so self-sacrificing,
they thought they could forgive almost any amount of crossness and
meddling.
"For, after all, they're only the corners," said Maggie, "and maybe
when she tried to bear the policeman's burden, and felt bad about the
grove, that made her burden heavier, and so squeezed out her corners a
little more, and they scratched her neighbors, who ought not to mind
if that was the reason. But I do wish we could really know; don't you,
Bessie?"
Putting all things together, there did not seem much reason to doubt
it. The policeman's children were positive that Mrs. Lawrence was the
very lady who had been to their house, and Aunt Patty had been out on
two successive days at such hours as answered to the time when the
mysterious old lady had visited first them, and then Dr. Dawson.
Papa and Uncle Ruthven came home on the evening of the next day,
having made arrangements that satisfied every one for the summer among
the mountains. Porter's house, with its addition and new conveniences,
was just the place for the party, and would even afford two or three
extra rooms, in case their friends from Riverside wished to join them.
The children were delighted as their father spoke of the wide, roomy
old hall, where they might play on a rainy day, of the spacious,
comfortable rooms and long piazza; as he told how beautiful the lake
looked even in this early spring weather, and of the grand old rocks
and thick woods which would soon be covered with their green summer
dress. Still Bessie gave a little sigh after her beloved sea. The old
homestead and Aunt Patty's cottage were about four miles from the lake,
just a pleasant afternoon's drive; and at the homestead itself, where
lived Mr. Bradford's cousin, the two gentlemen had passed the night.
Cousin Alexander had been very glad to hear that his relations were
coming to pass the summer at Chalecoo Lake, and his four boys promised
themselves all manner of pleasure in showing their city cousins the
wonders of the neighborhood.
"It all looks just as it used to when I was a boy," said Mr. Bradford.
"There is no change in the place, only in the people." He said it
with a half-sigh, but the children did not notice it as they pleased
themselves with the thought of going over the old place where papa had
lived when he was a boy.
"I went to the spot where the old barn was burned down, Aunt Patty,"
he said. "No signs of the ruins are to be seen, as you know; but as I
stood there, the whole scene came back to me as freshly as if it had
happened yesterday;" and he extended his hand to Aunt Patty as he spoke.
The old lady laid her own within his, and the grasp he gave it told her
that years and change had not done away with the grateful memory of her
long past services. She was pleased and touched, and being in such a
mood, did not hesitate to express the pleasure she, too, felt at the
thought of having them all near her for some months.
About half-way between the homestead and the Lake House, Mr. Bradford
and Mr. Stanton had found board for Mrs. Richards and her boy. It was
at the house of an old farmer who well remembered Mr. Bradford, and who
said he was pleased to do anything to oblige him, though the gentlemen
thought that the old man was quite as well satisfied with the idea of
the eight dollars a week he had promised in payment. And this was to
come from Maggie's and Bessie's store, which had been carefully left in
mamma's hand till such time as it should be needed. All this was most
satisfactory to our little girls; and when it should be known that the
operation on Willie's eyes had been successful, they were to go to Mrs.
Richards and tell her what had been done for her boy's farther good.
Mrs. Bradford told her husband that night of all that had taken place
during his absence, and he quite agreed with her that it was without
doubt Aunt Patty herself who had been the policeman's benefactor.
"I am not at all surprised," he said, "though I own that this did not
occur to me, even when Richards described the old lady. It is just like
Aunt Patty to do a thing in this way; and her very secrecy and her
unwillingness to confess why she would not have the grove, or what she
intended to do with the money, convinced me that she was sacrificing
herself for the good of some other person or persons."
Then Mr. Bradford told his wife that Aunt Patty meant to go home in
about ten days, and should Willie's sight be restored before she went,
he hoped to be able to persuade her to confess that she had had a share
in bringing about this great happiness. He was very anxious that his
children should be quite certain of this, as he thought it would go far
to destroy their old prejudice, and to cause kind feelings and respect
to take the place of their former fear and dislike.
Mrs. Bradford said that good had been done already by the thought that
it was probably Aunt Patty who had been so generous, and that the
little ones were now quite as ready to believe all that was kind and
pleasant of the old lady as they had been to believe all that was bad
but two days since. She told how they had come to her that morning,
Maggie saying, "Mamma, Bessie and I wish to give Aunt Patty something
to show we have more approval of her than we used to have; so I am
going to make a needle-book and Bessie a pin-cushion, and put them in
her work-basket without saying anything about them."
They had been very busy all the morning contriving and putting together
their little gifts without any help from older people, and when they
were finished, had placed them in Aunt Patty's basket, hanging around
in order to enjoy her surprise and pleasure when she should find them
there.
But the poor little things were disappointed, they could scarcely
tell why. If it had been mamma or Aunt Bessie who had received their
presents, there would have been a great time when they were discovered.
There would have been exclamations of admiration and delight and much
wondering as to who could have placed them there,--"some good fairy
perhaps who knew that these were the very things that were wanted,"
and such speeches, all of which Maggie and Bessie would have enjoyed
highly, and at last it would be asked if they could possibly have made
them, and then would have come thanks and kisses.
But nothing of this kind came from Aunt Patty. She could not enter
into other people's feelings so easily as those who had been unselfish
and thoughtful for others all their lives; and though she was much
gratified by these little tokens from the children, she did not show
half the pleasure she felt; perhaps she really did not know how.
True she thanked them, and said she should keep the needle-book and
pin-cushion as long as she lived; but she expressed no surprise, and
did not praise the work with which they had taken so much pains.
"What is this trash in my basket?" she said, when she discovered them.
"Children, here are some of your baby-rags."
"Aunt Patty," said Mrs. Bradford, quickly, "they are intended for you;
the children have been at work over them all the morning."
"Oh!" said Mrs. Lawrence, changing her tone. "I did not understand. I
am sure I thank you very much, my dears; and when you come to see me
this summer, I shall show you how to do far better than this. I have a
quantity of scraps and trimmings of all kinds, of which you can make
very pretty things."
This was intended to be kind; but the promise for the future did not
make up for the disappointment of the present; and the children turned
from her with a feeling that their pains had been almost thrown away.
"Mamma," Bessie had said afterwards, "do you think Aunt Patty was very
grateful for our presents?"
"Yes, dear, I think she was," said mamma, "and I think she meant to
show it in her own way."
"But, mamma, do you think that was a nice way? You would not have said
that to any one, and I felt as if I wanted to cry a little."
Mamma had seen that her darlings were both hurt, and she felt very
sorry for them, but she thought it best to make light of it, so said,
cheerfully, "I am quite sure Aunt Patty was gratified, pussy, and that
whenever she looks at your presents, she will think with pleasure of
the kind little hands that made them."
"When I am big, and some one gives me something I have pleasure in,
I'll try to show the pleasure in a nice way," said Maggie.
"Then you must not forget to do it while you are young," said mamma.
"Let this show you how necessary it is to learn pleasant habits of
speaking and acting while you are young."
"Yes," said Maggie, with a long sigh, "and Aunt Patty ought to be
excused. I suppose, since she was not brought up in the way she should
go when she was young, she ought to be expected to depart from it when
she is old. We must just make the best of it when she don't know any
better, and take example of her."
"Yes," said mamma, rather amused at the way in which Maggie had put
into words the very thought that was in her own mind; "let us make the
best of everything, and be always ready to believe the best of those
about us."
All this Mrs. Bradford told to her husband, and agreed with him that it
was better not to endeavor to find out anything more till the trial on
Willie's eyes was over.
Maggie's new volume of "The Complete Family" was begun the next day
in these words: "Once there was a man who lived in his home in the
mountains, and who always listened very modestly to everything that
was said to him, so his wife used to say a great deal to him. And one
day she said, 'My dear, Mr. and Mrs. Happy, with all their family,
and a great lot of their best friends, are coming to live with us this
summer, and they are used to having a very nice time, so we must do
all we can to make them comfortable, or maybe they will say, "Pooh,
this is not a nice place at all. Let us go to the sea again. These are
very horrid people!"' And the man said, 'By all means, my dear; and we
will give them all they want, and let them look at the mountains just
as much as they choose. But I do not think they will say unkind words
even if you are a little disagreeable, but will make the best of you,
and think you can't help it.' Which was quite true, for M. Happy and
B. Happy had a good lesson the man did not know about, and had made a
mistake; and sometimes when people seem dreadfully hateful, they are
very nice,--I mean very good,--so it's not of great consequence if they
are not so nice as some people, and they ought not to be judged, for
maybe they have a burden. And M. Happy made two mistakes; one about
Mrs. Jones, and the other about that other one mamma don't want me to
write about. So this book will be about how they went to the mountains
and had a lovely time. I guess we will."