THE POOR-HOUSE.
How long and tiresome that ride was with no one for a companion except
Mr. Knight, who, though a kind-hearted man knew nothing about making
himself agreeable to little girls, so he remained perfectly taciturn,
whipping at every cow or pig which he passed, and occasionally
screaming to his horse, "Git up, old Charlotte. What are you 'bout?"
Mary, who had seldom been out of the village, and who knew but little
of the surrounding country, for a time enjoyed looking about her very
much. First they went down the long hill which leads from the village
to the depot. Then they crossed the winding Chicopee river, and Mary
thought how much she should love to play in that bright green meadow
and gather the flowers which grew so near to the water's edge. The
causeway was next crossed, and turning to the right they came upon a
road where Mary had never been before, and which grew more rough and
stony as they advanced.
On the top of a steep hill Mary looked back to see if Chicopee were
yet, visible, but nothing was to be seen except the spire of the
Unitarian Meeting-House. About a quarter of a mile to the west,
however, the graveyard was plainly discernible, and she looked until
her eyes were dim with tears at the spot where she knew her parents
and brother were lying. By this time Alice was asleep, and though the
little arms which held her ached sadly, there was no complaint, but
she wished Mr. Knight would speak to her once, if it were only to ask
her how she did!
At last, concluding there would be no impropriety in making the first
advances herself, she said timidly, "Is it such a very bad place at
the poor-house?"
"Why, no, not so dreadful. There's places enough, sight worse, and
then agin there's them, a good deal better But you needn't be afeard.
They'll take good care of you."
"I wasn't thinking of myself," said Mary.
"Who was you thinkin' of, then?"
"Of Alice; she's always been sick and is not used to strangers, and
among so many I am afraid she will be frightened."
"Oh, she'll soon get used to 'em. Nothin' like, habit. Weakly, is she?
Wall, the poor-house ain't much of a place to get well in, that's a
fact. But she'd be better off to die and go to her mother, and then
you could get a good place at some farmer's."
Mary wondered how he could speak thus carelessly of what would cause
her so much sorrow. Gently lifting the old faded shawl, she looked
down upon Alice as she slept. There was a smile upon her face. She was
dreaming, and as her lips moved, Mary caught the word, "Ma," which the
child had applied indiscriminately both to herself and her mother.
Instantly the tears gushed forth, and falling upon the baby's face
awoke her. Her nap was not half out, and setting up a loud cry, she
continued screaming until they drove up to the very door of the
poor-house.
"For the land's sake," said Mr. Knight, as he helped Mary from the
wagon, "what a racket; can't you contrive to stop it? you'll have Sal
Furbush in your hair, for she don't like a noise."
Mary glanced nervously round in quest of the goblin Sal, but she saw
nothing save an idiotic face with bushy tangled hair; and nose
flattened against the window pane. In terror Mary clung to Mr. Knight,
and whispered, as she pointed towards the figure, which was now
laughing hideously, "What is it? Are there many such here?"
"Don't be afeard," said Mr. Knight, "that's nobody but foolish Patsy;
she never hurt any body in her life. Come, now, let me show you to the
overseer."
Mary looked towards the woods which skirted the borders of the meadow
opposite, and for half a moment felt inclined to flee thither, and
hide herself in the bushes; but Mr. Knight's hand was upon her
shoulder, and he led her towards a red-whiskered man, who stood in the
door.
"Here, Parker," said he, "I've brought them children I was tellin' you
about. You've room for 'em, I s'pose."
"Why, ye-es, we can work it so's to make room. Guess we shall have
rain to-morrow."
Mary remembered that Billy would not come if it rained, and with a
sigh she noticed that the clouds were dark and threatening. They now
entered the kitchen, which was a long, low, narrow room, with a
fireplace on the right, and two windows opposite, looking towards the
west. The floor was painted and very clean, but the walls were
unfinished, and the brown rafters were festooned with cobwebs. In the
middle of the room, the supper table was standing, but there was
nothing homelike in the arrangement of the many colored dishes and
broken knives and forks, neither was there any thing tempting to one's
appetite in the coarse brown bread and white-looking butter. Mary was
very tired with holding Alice so long, and sinking into a chair near
the window, she would have cried; but there was a tightness in her
throat, and a pressure about her head and eyes, which kept the tears
from flowing. She had felt so once before. Twas when she stood at her
mother's grave; and now as the room grew dark, and the objects around
began to turn in circles, she pressed her hands tightly to her
forehead, and said, 'Oh, I hope I shan't faint."
"To be sure you won't," said a loud, harsh voice, and instantly large
drops of water were thrown in her face, while the same voice
continued: "You don't have such spells often, I hope, for Lord knows I
don't want any more fitty ones here."
"No, ma'am," said Mary, meekly; and looking up, she saw before her a
tall, square-backed, masculine-looking woman, who wore a very short
dress, and a very high-crowned cap, fastened under her chin with bows
of sky-blue ribbon.
Mary knew she was indebted to this personage for the shower bath, for
the water was still trickling from her fingers, which were now engaged
in picking her teeth with a large pin. There was something exceedingly
cross and forbidding in her looks, and Mary secretly hoped she would
not prove to be Mrs. Parker, the wife of the overseer. She was soon
relieved of her fears by the overseer himself, who came forward and
said, "Polly, I don't see any other way but you'll have to take these
children into the room next to yourn. The baby worries a good deal,
and such things trouble my wife, now she's sick."
The person addressed as "Polly," gave her shoulders an angry jerk, and
sticking the pin on the waist of her dress, replied, "So I s'pose it's
no matter if I'm kept awake all night, and worried to death. But I
guess you'd find there'd be queer doins here if I should be taken
away. I wish the British would stay to hum, and not lug their young
ones here for us to take care of."
This was said with a lowering frown, and movement towards Mary, who
shrank back into the corner and covered her mouth with her hand, as if
that were the cause of offence.
"But you can take an extra nap after dinner," said Mr. Parker, in a
conciliatory manner. "And then you are so good at managing children,
that I thought they would be better off near you."
This speech, while it mollified Polly, made Mary shudder, as she
thought of Alice's being "managed" by such a woman. But she had no
time for thought, for Polly, who was very rapid in her movements, and
always in a hurry, said, "Come, child, I will show you where you are
going to sleep;" at the same time she caught up Alice, who, not liking
her handling, kicked so vigorously that she was soon dropped; Polly
remarking, that "she was mighty strong in her legs for a sick baby."
After passing up a dark stairway they came to a door, which opened
under the garret stairs, and Mary was startled by a voice which seemed
to be almost over her head, and which, between a sneer and a hiss,
called out, "See where the immaculate Miss Grundy comes!"
This was followed by a wild, insane chuckle, which made Mary spring in
terror to Polly's side.
"Oh, who is it?" said she. "Is it Patsy?"
"Patsy!" was the tart reply. "She never is saucy like that. It's Sal
Furbush."
Mary longed to ask who Sal Furbush was; but as her guide did not seem,
at all inclined to be communicative, she followed on in silence until
they came to a longer and lighter hall, or "spaceway," as it is
frequently called in New England. On each side of this there were
doors opening into small sleeping rooms, and into one of these Polly
led her companion, saying, as she did so, "This is your room, and it's
a great favor to you to be so near me. But mind, that child mustn't
cry and keep me awake nights, for if she does, may-be you'll have to
move into that other space, where we heard the laugh."
Mary thought she would rather do any thing than that. She also felt a
great curiosity to know who her companion was, so she at last ventured
to ask, "Do you live here, Miss Polly?"
"Why, yes, I'm staying here for a spell now:--kind of seeing to
things. My name isn't Polly. It's Mrs. Mary Grundy, and somehow folks
have got to nicknaming me Polly, but it'll look more mannerly in you
to call me Mrs. Grundy; but what am I thinking of? The folks must have
their supper. So you'd better come down now."
"If you please," said Mary, who knew she could not eat a mouthful, "If
you please, I'd rather stay here and rest me if I can have some milk
for Alice by and by."
"Mercy sakes, ain't that child weaned?" asked Mrs. Grundy.
"Ma'am?" said Mary, not exactly understanding her.
"Ain't Ellis weaned, or must we break into the cream a dozen times a
day for her?"
"She has never eaten any thing but milk," said Mary, weeping to think
how different Mrs. Grundy's manner was from her own dear mother's.
"Wall, there's no use blubberin' so. If she must have milk, why she
must, and that's the end on't. But what I want to know is, how folks
as poor as yourn, could afford to buy milk for so big a child."
Mary could have told of many hungry nights which she and Frank had
passed in order that Ella and Alice might be fed, but she made no
remark, and Mrs. Grundy soon left the room saying, "Come down when
you get ready for the milk I s'pose _skim_ will do."
Half an hour after Alice began to cry; and Mary, knowing she was
hungry, laid her upon the bed and started for the milk. She trembled
as she drew near the garret stairs, and trod softly that she might not
be heard, but as she was passing the mysterious door, a voice entirely
different in its tone from the one assumed towards Mrs. Grundy, called
out, "Come here, little dear, and see your Aunty."
Mary's circle of acquaintances was quite as large as she cared to have
it, and quickening her steps, she was soon in the kitchen, where she
found several old ladies still lingering over cups of very weak and
very red looking tea. As she entered the room they all suspended their
operations, and looking hard at her, asked if she were the little
English girl. On being told that she was, three of them returned to
their cups, while one shook her head, saying. "Poor child, I pity
you."
Mary had heard that remark many times, but she knew that the words now
conveyed other meaning than what referred to her face or teeth.
"Where can I find Mrs. Grundy?" she at last ventured to ask.
"Where can you find who?" asked a spiteful looking woman. "Did she
tell you to call her so?"
"She told me that was her name,--yes, ma'am," said Mary.
"Well, _Mrs._ Grundy is in the but'ry," indicating with her elbow the
direction.
Mary had no trouble in finding "the but'ry," but on trying the door,
she found it fastened inside. In answer to her gentle knock a harsh
voice replied, "Who's there?"
"It's I. I've come after the milk for Alice."
With a jerk Mrs. Grundy opened the door, and putting a pint cup two
thirds full of blue milk in Mary's hand, she hastily shut and fastened
it again. Quick as her movements were, Mary caught a smell of strong
green tea, and the sight of a sugar bowl and a slice of white bread.
She knew now why the door was buttoned, but thinking it was none of
her business, she started to return to the kitchen. As she passed the
outer door, an old gray-haired man, with a face perfectly simple and
foolish in its expression, stepped towards her, stretching out his
hands as if to reach her. With a loud cry she rushed headlong into the
kitchen, where one of the women was still sitting.
"What's broke loose now?" asked the woman, to which Mary replied,
"Look at him!" at the same time pointing to the man, who with his hand
thrust out was still advancing towards her.
"Don't be scared," said the woman. "It's uncle Peter. Let him touch
you and he'll go off;" but Mary didn't choose to be touched, and
retreating towards the chamber door, she fled rapidly up the stairs.
This time she was not accosted by any one, but as she passed the dark
closet, she was surprised to hear a musical voice singing the national
air of her own country, and she wondered, too, at the taste of the
singer in finishing every verse with "God save Miss Grundy."
That night Alice, who missed her cradle, was unusually restless, and
Mary, remembering Mrs. Grundy's threat, carried her in her arms until
after midnight. Then without undressing she threw herself upon the
bed, and, for the first time in many weeks, dreamed of George and his
parting promise to see her again. The next morning when she awoke she
found Mr. Parker's prediction verified, for the clouds were pouring
rain. "Billy won't come to-day," was her first thought, and throwing
herself upon the floor she burst into tears, wishing as she had once
done before that she had died with her mother.
In the midst of her grief the door was pushed hastily open, and Mrs.
Grundy's harsh voice exclaimed, "Wall, so you are up at last, hey? I
didn't know but you was goin' to take it upon you to sleep over, but
that don't answer here."
"Is it after breakfast time?" asked Mary.
"After breakfast time," repeated Mrs. Grundy. "No, but I guess you'll
find there's something to do before breakfast, or did you think we's
goin' to support you in idleness?"
Here, touched perhaps by the pale, tearful face uplifted to hers, Mrs.
Grundy's voice softened, and in a milder tone she added, "We won't
mind about it, seein' it's the first morning, but come, you must be
hungry by this time."
Although so poor, Mrs. Howard had been extremely neat and as she said
"cold water cost nothing," she had insisted upon her children's being
very nice and particular in their morning toilet. Mary remembered
this, and now casting a rueful glance around the room she said, "I
wonder where I am going to wash me."
The loud, scornful laugh which followed this remark made her look up
amazed at Mrs. Grundy, who replied, "In the back room sink, of course.
May-be you expected to have a china bowl and pitcher in your room, and
somebody to empty your slop. I wonder what _airs_ paupers won't take
on themselves next."
"I didn't mean to take airs," said Mary; "I don't care where I wash
myself, but Alice is sick, and mother had me bathe her every morning.
While we were at Mrs. Bender's, though, I didn't do it, and I don't
think she seems as well."
"Pride and poverty," muttered Mrs. Grundy. "She won't get many baths
here, I can tell you, nor you either, unless it is a dishwater one.
Know how to wash dishes hey?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Mary meekly.
"Then I'll give you a chance to try your hand after breakfast, but
come, I'm in a hurry."
Mary glanced at Alice. She was sleeping sweetly, and though there
seemed to be no reason, she still lingered.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Mrs. Grundy, and Mary, with some
hesitation, answered, "I haven't said my prayers yet."
A change passed suddenly over Mrs. Grundy's face, and she turned away
without a word. When she was gone Mary fell on her knees, and though
the words she uttered were addressed more to her mother than to God,
she felt comforted, and rising up started for the kitchen. It was a
motley group which she found assembled around the breakfast table, and
as she entered the room, the man called Uncle Peter smiled on her,
saying, "Come here, little daughter, and let me touch you with the tip
of my fourth finger."
Shrinking to nearly half her usual size, she managed to pass him
without coming in contact with said finger, which was merely a stump,
the first joint having been amputated. On reaching the back room she
readily found the place where she with all the rest was to wash. For
this she did not care, as the water was as cold and pure, and seemed
as refreshing as when dipped from her mother's tin wash-basin. But
when she came to the wiping part, and tried in vain to find a clean
corner' on the long towel, which hung upon a roller, she felt that she
was indeed a pauper.
"I should think we might have a decent towel," thought she. "Mother
used to say it cost nothing to be clean;" then looking round to be
sure that no one saw her, she caught up the skirt of her dress and
drying her face with it, went back to the kitchen.
She would greatly have preferred a seat by a pleasant looking old lady
who looked kindly on her, but Mrs. Grundy bade her sit down by her and
help herself. She did not exactly fancy the looks of the thick fried
pork, swimming in grease, so she took a potato and a slice of bread,
to get which she reached so far that the lower hook on her dress which
for a day or two had been uncertain whether to come off or stay on,
now decided the matter by dropping on the floor. As she was proceeding
with her breakfast, Uncle Peter suddenly dropping his knife and fork,
exclaimed, "Little daughter's teeth are awry, ain't they?"
Mary had hoped that at the poor-house her mouth would not be a subject
of comment, but she was disappointed, and bursting into tears would
have risen from the table, had not the kind looking woman said, "Shame
on you, Peter, to plague a little girl."
Uncle Peter, too, who was fond of children, seemed distressed, and
passing towards her the bowl of milk which was standing by him, he
said, "Drink it, daughter;--milk for babes, and meat for strong men."
There was so much of real kindness in his manner that Mary's fear of
him diminished, and taking the offered milk she thanked him so kindly
that Uncle Peter, who was quite an orator, considered it his duty to
make a speech. Pushing back his chair, he commenced with a bow which
required so many changes of his legs that Mary wondered they were not
entirely twisted up.
"Ladies and gentlemen, one and all," said he, "but particularly
ladies, what I have to say is this, that henceforth and for ever I am
the champion of this unprotected female, who from parts unknown has
come among us.--God bless her. I will also announce formally that I
still hold myself in readiness to teach the polite accomplishment of
dancing in my room, No. 41, Pauper's Hotel."
Having finished this speech he resumed his breakfast, after which with
another of his wonderful bows he quitted the room. Mary was about
following his example when Mrs. Grundy said. "Come, catch hold now and
see how spry you can clear the table, and you, Rind," speaking to a
simple looking girl with crooked feet, "do you go to your shoes. Be
quick now, for it's goin' on seven o'clock."
At this moment Mary caught sight of Mr. Parker, who was standing just
without the door, and his mischievous look as Mrs. Grundy gave out her
orders made Mary a little suspicious of that lady's real position
among them. But she had no time for thought, for just then through all
the closed doors and the long hall there came to her ears the sound of
a scream. Alice was crying, and instantly dropping the plate she held
in her hand, Mary was hurrying away, when Mrs. Grundy called her back,
saying "Let her cry a spell. 'Twill strengthen her lungs."
Mary had more spirit than her face indicated, and in her mind she was
revolving the propriety of obeying, when Mr. Parker, who was still
standing by the door, said, "If that baby is crying, go to her by all
means."
The look of gratitude which Mary's eyes flashed upon him, more than
compensated for the frown which darkened Mrs. Grundy's brow as she
slammed the doors together, muttering about "hen-hussies minding their
own business."
Mary was not called down to finish the dishes, and when at last she
went to the kitchen for milk, she found them all washed and put away.
Mrs. Grundy was up to her elbow in cheese curd, and near her, tied
into an arm chair, sat Patsy, nodding her head and smiling as usual.
The pleasant looking woman was mopping the kitchen floor, and Mary,
for the first time, noticed that she was very lame.
"Go out doors and come round. Don't you see you'll track the floor all
up?" said Mrs. Grundy, and the lame woman replied, "Never mind, Polly,
I can easy wipe up her tracks, and it's a pity to send her out in the
rain."
Mary chose to obey Mrs. Grundy, who wiped the crumbs of curd and drops
of whey from her arms and took the cup, saying, "More milk? Seems to
me she eats a cart load! I wonder where the butter's to come from, if
we dip into the cream this way."
Had Mary been a little older, she might have doubted whether the blue
looking stuff Mrs. Grundy poured into her cup ever saw any cream, but
she was only too thankful to get it on any terms, and hurried with it
back to her room. About noon the clouds broke away, while here and
there a patch of bright blue sky was to be seen. But the roads were so
muddy that Mary had no hope of Billy's coming, and this it was,
perhaps, which made the dinner dishes so hard to wash, and which made
her cry when told that all the knives and forks must be scoured, the
tea-kettle wiped, and set with its nose to the north, in what Mrs.
Grundy called the "Pout Hole," and which proved to be a place under
the stairs, where pots, kettles and iron ware generally were kept.
All things have an end, and so did the scouring, in spite of Mary's
fears to the contrary, and then watching a time when Mrs. Grundy did
not see her, she stole away up stairs. Taking Alice on her lap she sat
down by the open window where the damp air cooled and moistened her
flushed face. The rain was over, and across the meadow the sun was
shining through the tall trees, making the drops of water which hung
upon the leaves sparkle and flash in the sunlight like so many tiny
rainbows. Mary watched them for a time, and then looking upward at
the thin white clouds which chased each other so rapidly across the
blue sky, wondered if her mother's home were there, and if she ever
thought of her children, so sad and lonely without her.
A movement of Alice aroused her from her reverie, and looking into the
road, she saw directly opposite the house Billy Bender, and with him,
Alice's cradle. In a moment Mary's arms were thrown about his neck as
tightly as if she thought he had the power and was come to take her
away.
"Oh, Billy, Billy," she said, "I was afraid you would not come, and it
made me so unhappy. Can't you take me home with you?"
Billy had expected as much, and had tried hard to make his mother say
that if Mary and Alice were very homesick he might bring them home.
But this was Mrs. Bender's sick day, and Billy's entreaties only
increased the dangerous symptoms of _palsy_ from which she was now
suffering, the scarlet fever having been given up until another time.
"If the _s'lect_ men pay me well for it," said she, "I will take them
what little time I have to live, but not without."
Billy knew the town could support them much cheaper where they were,
so he gave up his project, and bought Mary a pound of seed cakes and
Alice a stick of candy. Then, the moment the rain had ceased he got
himself in readiness to start, for he knew how long the day would seem
to Mary, and how much Alice would miss her cradle. Three times before
he got outside the gate his mother called him back--once to find her
snuff-box;--once to see if there was not more color in her face than
there ought to be, and lastly to inquire if her mouth hadn't commenced
turning a little towards the right ear! After finding her box,
assuring her that her color was natural and her mouth all straight, he
at last got started. The road was long and the hills were steep, but
patiently Billy toiled on, thinking how surprised and pleased Mary
would be; and when he saw how joyfully she received him, he felt more
than paid for his trouble. Some boys would have rudely shaken her off,
ashamed to be caressed by a little girl, but Billy's heart was full of
kindly sympathy, and he returned her caresses as a brother would have
done.
As he released her, he was startled at hearing some one call out,
"Bravo! That, I conclude, is a country hug. I hope she won't try it on
me!"
Turning about he saw before him a white-faced boy, nearly of his own
age, whose dress and appearance indicated that he belonged to a higher
grade, as far as wealth was concerned. It was Henry Lincoln, notorious
both for pride and insolence. Billy, who had worked for Mr. Lincoln,
had been insulted by Henry many a time, and now he longed to avenge
it, but native politeness taught him that in the presence of Mary
'twould not be proper, so without a word to Henry he whispered to the
little girl, "That fellow lives near here, and if he ever gives you
trouble, just let me know."
"Kissed her then, didn't you?" sneeringly asked Henry, retreating at
the same time, for there was something in Billy's eye, which he
feared.
"Come into the house," said Mary, "where he can't see us," and leading
the way she conducted him up to her own room, where there was no fear
of being interrupted.
Alice was first carefully fixed in her cradle, and then kneeling down
at Billy's side, and laying her arms across his lap, Mary told him of
every thing which had happened, and finished by asking, "how long she
must stay there."
Had Billy's purse been as large as his heart, that question would have
been easily answered. Now he could only shake his head in reply,
while Mary next asked if he had seen Ella.
"I have not seen her," returned he, "but I've heard that rainy as it
was this morning, Mrs. Campbell's maid was out selecting muslins and
jaconets for her, and they say she is not to wear black, as Mrs.
Campbell thinks her too young."
Mary did not speak for some time, but her head dropped on Billy's knee
and she seemed to be intently thinking. At last, brushing aside the
hair which had fallen over her forehead, Billy said, "What are you
thinking about?"
"I was wondering if Ella wouldn't forget me and Allie now she is rich
and going to be a lady."
Billy had thought the same thing, and lifting the little girl in his
lap, he replied, "If _she_ does, I never will;"--and then he told her
again how, when he was older, and had money, he would take her from
the poor-house and send her to school, and that she should some time
be as much of a lady as Ella.
By this time Mrs. Grundy's work in the kitchen was done. Patsy had
been shaken for stealing a ginger cake; the lame woman had been
scolded because her floor had dried in streaks, which was nothing
remarkable considering how muddy it was. Uncle Peter had been driven
from the pantry for asking for milk, and now the lady herself had come
up to change her morning apparel and don the high-crowned cap with the
sky-blue ribbons. Greatly was she surprised at the sound of voices in
the room adjoining, and while Mary was still in Billy's lap the door
opened, and Mrs. Grundy appeared, with her hands thrown up and the
wide border of her morning cap, which also did night service for its
fair owner, flying straight back.
"Mary Howard!" said she; "a _man_ up in this hall where no male is
ever permitted to come! What does it mean? I shall be ruined!"
"No danger, madam, I assure you," said Billy. "I came to bring Alice's
cradle, and did not suppose there was any thing improper in coming up
here."
"It's nobody but Billy Bender," said Mary, frightened at Mrs. Grundy's
wrathful looks.
"And who is Billy Bender? A beau? 'Pears to me you are beginning
young, and getting on fast, too, a settin' in his lap. S'posin' I
should do so--wouldn't it be a town's talk?"
Mary tried to get down, but Billy, greatly amused at the highly
scandalized lady's distress, held her tightly, and Mrs. Grundy,
slamming the door together, declared "she'd tell Mr. Parker, and
that's the end on't."
But no Mr. Parker made his appearance, and as the sun was getting
towards the west, Billy ere long started up, saying, he must go now,
but would come again next week. Mary followed him down stairs, and
then returning to her room cried herself into so sound a sleep that
Mrs. Grundy was obliged to scream to her at least a dozen times to
come down and set the supper table, adding as a finale, that "she
wondered if she thought she was a lady boarder or what."