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BTUART HOLMB8 STUDIED THE FACB.

HER ASSOCIATE
MEMBERS.

BY
PANSY

Author of "Chrissy's Endeavor," "The Hall in the Grove" "Mn.

Soloim.n Smith Looking On," "Little Fishers: and Their

Nets," "Judge Bumham's Daughters," 'Eighty-

Seven," "Miss Dee Dunmore Bryant/' "An

Endless Chain," and others.

-«-

TORONTO:

"WILLIAM BRIGGS.

MoNTWuL : C. W. COATES. | HAt«FAx : S. F. HUESIIS.

Entered according; to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, In the year one
thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, by WiUdAM BauMSi in the Office
of the Minister of Agriciilttile, ak OlUwM

CONTENTS,

CHAPTER I.

SHE IG«fORES THEM

• •

CHAPTER II.

THEY COMPEL HER ATTENTION ,

CHAPTER III.

, THEY INCREASE IN NUMBER , ,

CHAPTER IV.

SHE ORGANIZES

CHAPTER V.

THEY APPALL HER .

• • •

CHAPTER VI.

SHE HOLDS A MEETING ,

PAGE
• • I

• •

«s

' * 28

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

SHE ATTEMPTS TO SYMPATHIZE

CHAPTER VIII.

SHE IS DISMAYED AND DISCOMFITED

CHAPTER IX.

SHE REACHES AFTER THEM

I03

CHAPTER X.

ONE WALKS AMONG THORNS .

CHAPTER XI.

SHE IS PERPLEXED ON EVERY SIDE .

CHAPTER XII.

SHE "ENDEAVORS" IN A NEW LINE .

CHAPTER XIII.

SHE CALLS LEMON PIE TO HER AID .

CHAPTER XIV.

SHE AMAZES ONE OF THEM

CHAPTER XV.

SHE LAYS SNARES FOR ONE . •

128

141

>53

166

178

COVTFNTS.

CHAPTER XVI.

THEY SEARCH FOR " REAL THINGS" ,

CHAPTER XVII.

SHE FINDS AN " ACTIVE MEMBER " .

CHAPTER XVIII.

SHE DISCOVERS A " LOOKOUT COMMITTEE

CHAPTER XIX.

SHE ILLUSTRATES THEOLOGY .

CHAPTER XX.

• _ •

CHAPTER XXI.

SHE TURNS SURGEON

• • • ♦

CHAPTER XXII.

ONE DISCOVERS HIS OPPORTUNITY .

CHAPTER XXIII.

ONE OF THEM IS AFRAID

• •

• • • •

CHAPTER XXrV.

ONE ASKS EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS

I9P

202

215

227

SHE RECEIVES, TO ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP . , 24O

253

266

278

• •

291

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXV.

ONE, LOSES HIS IDENTITY

CHAPTER XXVI.

ONE " RE-ENLISTS "

• • • • •

CHAPTER XXVII.

TKEY ARE LED BY UNSEEN PATHS .

CHAPTER XXVI II.

304

316

i2R

ONE OF THEM GOES HOME

• • • •

343

CHAPTER XXIX.

SHE LOSES THEM — EVERY ONE

• • •

358

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

CHAPTER I.

SHE IGNORES THEM.

AT this present time she signs her name
"Christine Mollister Holmes," and her
visiting cards read "Mrs. Stuart Holmes." I
tf.H you this in order that people who were
acquainted with Chrissy Hollister may have no
doubt as to her identity. She was sitting before
an open window, although in many latitudes it was
the season of the year when windows are kept
tightly closed, and coal or steam holds sway.
There was a suspicion of fire in the open grate,
but the air was odorous with burning pine,
instead of anthracite, and the breath which came
in at the open windows was fragrant with roses
instead of being touched with frost.

IIF.R ASSOCIATE MEMnERS.

The face which looked out into the street
below was fair, and, on the whole, sweet, though
the brow was somewhat clouded, and there was a
look in the eyes wh'ch told the close observer
something about a disappointment bravely borne,
which nevertheless shadowed her face at times,

Stuart Holmes, lying on a couch outside of the
line of the breeze, yet in a position to command a
side view of the face, studied it for a moment,
then closed his eyes and drew the faintest possi-
ble sigh. He had a gay afghan thrown over him,
and drooped his head among the pillows in a way
which suggested debility.

Mrs. Holmes had turned but a moment before
from a small writing-table, whereon lay at this
moment a bulky package sealed and addressed to
"Mrs. Chess Gardner." Had you been looking
over her shoulder while she wrote, you would
have understood the situation better; perhaps the
easiest way is to gve you a chance to hear some-
thing of what she wrote to her old-time friend.

" Wj are settled at last for the winter," so the
letter ran. "We spent only a month at the first
stopping-place ; the air proved to be too bracing
for Stuart, and the boarding accommodations were
not pleasant. J was almost glad when it did not
suit Stuart, for a more uninviting place, I think, I
was never in. There were people enough, young
people, too, and I tried to get interested in them ;

SHE IGNORES THEM.

rather, I expected to be interested, as a matter of
course. They had some sort of an organization ;
the 'Young People's Club,' I think they called it.
Such a dreadful name for a society, I think. But
I tried to harmonize with it. I had not been
there two days before I sought out the president
and secretary, and made an effort to lend a help-
ing hand. They needed help badly enough, but
were in that most deplorable of all states, satis-
fied with themselves. I found that all in the
world they were doing with their organization was
having what they were pleased to call 'a good
lime.' Of course, there were many who were not
being reached. In fact, no one had an idea of
trying to reach anybody for the sake of help-
ing him in any way. I talked volumes, Stuart
said, with the officers, trying to show them a
better way. It was very depressing work ; they
had not the least desire to be shown. But this
I did not understand at first ; it seemed incredible
to me that young people in health, and with
average intelligence, would not rather do some-
thing than nothing, even though their standard
was not very high. The place was small, with no
advantages ; at least, with no reading-room, and a
circulating library which, owing to the miserable
selections that had been made, they would have
been infinitely better off without. No place for
evening gatherings, except the railroad station

4 HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

and the saloons. The young men who had no
homes, as well as some who had, seemed to have
a good excuse for lounging in the aforesaid
objectionable places. I t-^^lked reading-room earn-
estly. They said they h^d no funds with which
to buy books or papers. I suggested beginning
on a very small scale ; offered to secure a package
of books for them, and proposed that each mem-
ber of the organization should be asked to bring
from home the family newspaper, after it had
been read. Stuart said that was hazardous
advice, because of the selection which some would
have made> and that, perhaps, I should be thank-
ful that my advice was not followed. But I
can hardly imagine any worse reading in the
daily or weekly average newspapers than the ten-
cent paper-covered novels they had chosen. Well,
no matter ; they did nothing of the kind. The
next objection was that it would be impossible to
secure a place of meeting ; there was no suitable
room in the village, and, if there were, no money
to secure it. But you know my propensity for
not giving up a thing. I pushed hard ; canvassed
the town ; found an unused store which, with
scrubbing and a few dollars spent on cheap
curtains «nd lamps, with a chair donated from
each home, would have done very well. The
rent was absurdly low, and I was jubilant over
my discovery. Thirty dollars would have ccwered

SHE IGNORES THEM.

the necessary expenses for getting that room
ready for use, and paying the rent for six months !
I went to that inane club at their next regular
meeting and reported, only to be assured that it
would be impossible to raise the thirty dollars. I
did not believe it, for, though by no means
wealthy, it was not a poverty-stricken town, and
I felt sure that those young people spent on
nothings, each six months of their lives, more
than enough to cover the sum. However, they
were beyond convincing. Still, I could not give
up the idea. The more I saw of the young men
lounging about on disreputable corners, the more
impoTtant it seemed. Stuart and I talked it all
over. He is a young man, you know, and an
entire year away from business, with a long illness,
followed by a winter's banishment from home,
traveling and living as an invalid, are not calcula-
ted to increase one's resources ; still, of course,
we had our " sacred fund," and the only question
was to use it in the wisest way ; because it was
smaller than usual, we wanted to be even more
careful in its expenditure. At last we resolved to
appropriate fifty dollars to the starting of an
enterprise of the kind we proposed. We made
the amount fifty because certain things seemed
necessary if one was going to do it alone, which,
working together with a committee, all bent on
saving, and doing as much as possible with a

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

little, we should have voted to get along without.
Stuart was not so well that week, and I could
only talk with him at intervals, and would not let
him shoulder a bit of risk, of course; so L went
out myself, afternoons when he was taking his
rest, rented the building, hired a woman to clean
and a man to repair, and, to make my long story
brief, spent five days of planning and working
with hired helpers, putting it in perfect order. It
was very plain, but exceedingly neat-looking when
everything was done, and I had great joy in it.
I do not believe our lovely rooms on the avenue
gave me any greater thrills of delight than did
this, which you would have been restrained only
by politeness from calling a barn. I do not know
what the dear club thought I was about, I am
sure; they never came to see, and showed no
interest in the matter. I flattered myself for a
time that I was keeping my work a profound
secret, until S^^uart laughed at me and told me
one would suppose I had never spent a season in
a small village where everybody knew his neigh-
b'^r's affairs.

"When everything was ready, I wrote a little
note to the president, tendering the club the use
of the room for the next six months, free of
expense, only stipulating that they should have
it lighted on certain evenings of each week, if
they could no*, arrange for every evening, and

SHE IGNORES THEM.

have a committee in attendance to entertain any
that should come; just as we do at our rooms,
you knv-'w. Nellie, I hope you are prepared for
the result, but certainly I was not. Do you
believe that they declined the offer, on the plea
that they could not find a suitable entertainment
committee, and that the work of caring for such
a room, lighting and keeping it in order was too
much for them ! I was never so disappointed in
my life. Oh, I was more than disappointed ; the
thing just overpowered me. For days I could not
rise above the humility and bitterness of my
defeat. You kiiow I am not used to failing.

"Stuart tried his best to comfort me, and,
because he was so miserable and must not be
troubled, I pretended to be comforted often when
my heart was in a perfect turmoil. I would not
like to tell you how many times I cried about it
all. Aside from the pain of failing utterly in an
undertaking upon which I had spent so much
time and money, there was a sense of being mis-
understood, and of affording amusement to a
certain class of people who had apparently
delighted in misunderstanding me. I came to
have a feeling almost like humiliation when I
would mef^t one of the club. They looked at me
with such queer, almost triumphant smiles, and
giggled after I had passed them. I came to
understand that they looked upon me as a sort of

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

crank, who was bent upon taking leadership, and
had been successfully put down. Oh, I will not
try to describe to you how I felt. The experience
has been too recent. Stuart was as good as gold ;
he never once said, or even looked, *I told you
so,* although I could see afterward that he had
offered several sympathetic hints to the effect
that I must not expect too much of the club ; but
I did not understand ; I thought I was expecting
very little of them. I honestly thought that they
held back because they did not know how mLich
could be done with a little money, and had u
horror of involving themselves in financial obliga-
tions which they could not meet. When Stuart
saw how utterly humiliated I was, he wanted me
to agree to his trying to open the room himself ;
sitting there for an hour or two in the evening to
receive such young men as curiosity might induce
to drop in. Would it not have been a grand
thing if he could have done so? Think what a
chance for those tobacco-smoking, swearing young
men to have come in contact with a man like him
for even a few times in their lives! But of
course I could not consent to any such a plan as
that after Dr. Douglass* warning that I must not
let my husband even think what his name was for
at least three months. Part of my anxiety was
that I had trilked so much with Stuart about it
as to retard his recovery; but he was fully as

SHE IGNORES THEM.

anxious as I was to have something done. Well,
the conclusion of the whole matter was, that he
had a sharp illness of several days* duration which,
for the time being, put that ill-fated room, with
its new whitewash and fresh lamps, entirely out
of my mind. After that came the doctor's orders
to «move on.' So one morning, after I had
packed our trunks, and Stuart was resting", with
the doctor's son on guard to see that he was not
disturbed, I went down to the room, packed away
:he pretty vases and mats and engravings with
which I had tried to brighten the place, took
down, shook and folded away the pretty imitation
Madras curtains, and, leaving ever/ thing in start-
ling order, locked the door, carried the key to
the owner, paid him the rent promised, took his
receipt for the same, and his honestly expressed
conviction that the young folks in that place were
a 'dumb lot that did not know on which side their
bread was buttered, and never would,' and went
home a wiser and a sadder woman. Not without
passing a couple of girls walking the street with a
couple of persons whom they spoke of as fel-
lows,' who all indulged in prolonged giggles, I
suppose, over the recognized bundles in my hands.
So much for my venture on the sea of benevo-
lence alone in a foreign land.

*'We left by the afternoon train; came to this
place, which is called a city, but which seems a

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

! i

mere hamlet when one thinks of home ; and tried
to settle down and wait. That is what I have at
last resolved to do. Stuart is really better. My
heart is jubilant over that, and it is certainly joy
enough in itself to sustain me through the winter
I sha!l give my undivided attention to him, and
help him gain faster than man ever did before.
And while he sleeps, and drinks in health with
every breath of this balmy air, I shall fold my
hands. I do not mean to get interested in a
human being ; I do not mean to as?^ their names,
or where they go to church, or to think whether
they so much as have higher natures which are
being stifled. I shall call it a lost winter, so far
as outside life is concerned, and wait until I get
back to our dear rooms, and our grand girls, and
noble, self-sacrificing men, before I take any more
flights in the land of 'Endeavor.' There are
some places evidently where all one can do is to
endeavor to possess his soul in patience, until the
time comes for work again. I have been slow
to learn the lesson, but I think it is effectually
learned. At least, if you hear of me as interest-
ing myself, during this entire winter, in any
thing beyond broths and gruels, and fresh fruits
and easy carriages, and pillows and tonics, and
the quickest way of restoring wa.sted physical
strength, set me down as a lunatic at once. If
I am tempted to think of any other 'endeavor,'

SHE IGNORES THEM.

the memory of those girls • in that never-to-be-
forgotten club will at once restrain me. Think
of my fifty dollars wasted ! How many things
you blessed home workers might have accom-
plished with even that small sum ; and there it is
locked up in a vacant room into which the sun-
light streams all day long, helping to create dust
and cobwebs. Never mind, Nellie, my husband
is stronger to-day than he was yesterday, and he
was stronger yesterday than the day before, and
May is only five months away. I shall write
you long letters, all about my success as a nurse,
and about how I live in the blessed past and
hope-lined future, and ignore the present, outside
of this boarding-ho'jse, which is worthy of being
ignored, but we cannot quite compass it. We
have been obliged to come to a sort of second-
rate place, in order to insure the quiet so neces-
sary for Stuart. Desirable houses are crowded,
but we do passably well here ; they allow me to
go into the kitchen to prepare the beef broth
and toast the bread, so Stuart's diet will be
watched with jealous eyes, and consume much
of my time and strength. I did not mean to
write you this story, I meant not to tell a living
soul of my ignominious failure, but that vacant
room stared at me so continuously that I could
not help it. I think I shall take up my neglected
German again, to amuse myself during the inter-

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

vals of nursing and cooking. One must do some-
thing while one's charge sleeps. Long naps,
morning and afternoon, are specialties in Stuart's
case."

This letter, which had really not been written
at one sitting, but had consumed the leisure of
several afternoons, having been sealed and laid
aside, Mrs. Holmes gave her eyes to the street
outside and her thoughts to that past which every
day seemed more dear to her in contrast with
the present. Moreover — though she had not
put it into words — her heart was sometimes busy
with that weary question, "Why.?" with which
we often wear out our hearts. Why, for instance,
should a man so thoroughly consecrated as
her husband, whose schemes for bettering the
world were numerous and successful, be suddenly
stricken down in his prime, and brought to the
very verge of the grave.? So low, indeed, that
after the immediate danger was past, the creep-
ing back to health and strength was so slow that
for days together no improvement could be dis-
covered, and numerous drawbacks made havoc
with the little gain which the weeks developed.
Why should all this have come to him, making
it necessary for both of them to leave the work
to which they had consecrated their leisure hours,
and all possible increase over and above their
daily living, and go far away among strangers net

SHE IGNORES THEM.

only, but uncongenial ones? Among people,
apparently, who had nothing in common with
their way of thinking or doing.

"It is just a lost winter," was the sad mental
conclusion to which Mrs. Chrissy was wont to
come, when she went over again the story of her
recent past : " Stuart needed the rest, I suppose,
and the dear Lord knew him well enough to know
that he could not get it in any other way, and I
am necessary to the entire rest which his body
and brain need. Well, for that last I can never
cease to be thankful; 1 must just be content to
take my rest, which certainly neither my body
nor mind needed, in order that he may the more
surely have his. I will count it my lost winter,
and fold my hands over it as smoothly as I can
and wait."

But her face, as I said, was clouded. She was
not rebellious, but sad ; the days were really very
long. Glad, she was, thankful from her inmost
soul for her husband's manifest improvement ; she
sang a thanksgiving hymn in her heart many
times each day over it ; nevertheless, there were
hours in,the long day, while her husband slept, or
while he lay in a state half-dreaming, half-waking,
drinking in health with every breath, but much
better entirely undisturbed even by the voice of
his wife, when the time hung heavily upon the
young wife's hands. It seemed strange, indeed,

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

to her who had lived so active a life, giving all htr
time, of late years, to the service of others, to be
laid aside ; yet that she was laid aside from active
work as certainly as her husband, was her deliber-
ate conclusion.

" I am fitted to work only in certain lines," she
told herself. "The Christian Endeavor Society
which took such strong hold of me, I can work
through; but remove me from that place, and I
am useless. I only make blunders which are
injurious to the cause. That giggling club will
giggle on and be more silly all their lives, I sup-
pose, because of my failure among them. I have
really done them an injury, when I had a single
desire to help; and I have spent a large part of
my treasured 'tenth' for worse than nothing!
To think that I imagined I could transform that
club into a full-fledged Christian Endeavor soci-
ety! They could not even * endeavor,' to say
nothing of the word 'Christian' ; and I could not
move them in any direction save that of ridicule.
Well, wisdom is dearly learned sometimes. I will
profit .by my experience. I will carefully avoid
the young people in this vicinity ; and^ judging
from the specimens I have seen, it will not be a
trial for me to do so."

CHAPTER II.

THEY COMPEL HER ATTENTION.

WHILE the letter-writer sat gazing into
space with that half-sad, half-retrospect-
ive look upon her face which at times troubled
her husband, he broke the silence. " Chrissy,
dear, why do you not take a walk.^ This sweet
air must be more enjoyable outside than in this
room."

She turned toward him quickly with the smile
that was always ready for his eyes. "1 thought
you were sleeping, she said, "and would not
move to disturb you. I think I will take a walk,
if you are entirely comfortable. I want to see
our laundress, and I am going to try to find some
juicier oranges for you."

Bonnet, gloves and small shoulder-cape, the
only wrap that the balmy air required, were soon
in order, and Chrissy bent before the couch for
good-by.

'•I am going first to the kitchen ^to see that

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

1 I

your becf-tca is conducting itself in a proper man-
ner, and to see if Happy can be installed near the
door to answer to your call."

" I do not require the outside help, I think," he
said, smiling; "I am in need of nothing, and
have a fund of happiness in my own heart to draw
upon till you come back."

The smile his wife gave him in response had a
wistful touch in it. Her husband, lying on his
couch utterly laid aside, was so much more will-
ing to wait than she found it in her restless heart
to do. She thought it over as she made her way
with careful steps through the long, wide, not
overclean passage that led from the front part of
the house to the kitchen. At the door, which
was ajar, she paused to listen, not to the noise,
but to the unwonted stillness. Mrs. Stetson's
kitchen was by no means generally a quiet place ;
the clatter of pans and kettles mingled with the
discord of sharp words at all hours of the day.
A most uncomfortable woman was Mrs. Stet.son,
"out of her sphere if ever a woman was," Mrs.
Holmes wrote in her home letters, and added :
"The saddest part of it is, one can only wonder,
in looking at her, what her sphere could possibly
have been ! I cannot think of a spot in the world
where she would really fit."

Such being the situation, not to hear either
dishes or voice was ominous of something strange.

THEY COMPEL HER ATTENTION.

Chrissy, waiting for she hardly knew what, softly
pushed the door open and looked in. About the
stove even more than the usual disorder prevailed.
The debris of the long-past dinner was so great
that the young woman reflected with satisfaction
over the tightly closed jar in which her husband's
beef tea was simmering. Beside the window,
which commanded a view of the street, sat Mrs.
Stetson, doing absolutely nothing, save that with
one corner of her soiled kitchen apron she
brushed away two or three great tears, which
struggled down her sallow, much wrinkled face.
Mrs. Stetson actually crying! The sight appalled
her boarder. To have seen her frowning, scold-
ing, tossing pans and brooms or sticks of wood
right and left in a frenzy of haste and angry
bewilderment would have been a common sight ;
but this was a new development. Chrissy stood
irresolute. Should she retire.^ But the beef
tea, perhaps, needed more water in the kettle;
and then where was Happy, whose services she
needed ? She finally retired a few steps, and
made much noise opening and closing a door, that
needed no attention ; having thus heralded her
coming, she advanced briskly. The ruse took
effect. Mrs. Stetson turned hastily from the win-
dow, and began to clatter the dishes ; but there
were traces of tears upon her cheeks, and Chrissy
could not forget them. She lingered even after

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

her errand was done, albeit her landlady was in a
most unpropitioiis mood,

"I am sure I do j ot know where Happy is,"
she said, sharply; "stuck away in some corner
reading a worthless book, I suppose; that's
where she generally is when she isn't doing
worse. If there was ever a more worthless girl
than Happy born into this world, I'm glad it was
not my lot to see her. Yes, she can sit by the
door as well as not ; it's all she's good for, and I
do suppose she would know enough to answer if
your husband called ; and it's about all she does
know."

"But I'm afraid you need her here," said
Chrissy; "you have so much to do."

"That's a good reason for not needing her.
She isn't worth the salt she eats on her potatoes.
When it comes to such work as this, I'd rather
have her out of the kitchen than in it. No, Mis*
Holmes, I'd rather have the money you pay for
her setting by your door doing nothing, than to
see her slouching around making believe help.
Sally will be back directly and take hold here."

"It is hard work to take care of so many
people, is it not.?" said Chrissy, still lingering.
Some way the memory of those sorrowful-looking
tears held her; she could not be willing to go
away without attempting a word of comfort or
at least of sympathy.

THEY COMPEL HER ATTENTION.

"It ain't that altogether," said Mrs. Stetson,
evasively, and in a voice that told that the tears
were still suspiciously near the surface. "There's
worse troubles than that in the world. Mis'
Holmes, and I have mine to bear. I'm sick of
living."

"Oh, no," said Chrissy, briskly; "it's a nice,
pleasant world ; only see how blue the sky is, and
the air smells of roses and yellow jessamine, and
I don't know what other sweet things. Why, in
my home a terrible north east storm has been
raging for days together! My brother says he
has almost forgotten how sunshine looks."

"Humph!" said Mrs. Stetson, with an unmis-
takable sniff; "sunshine and roses is all very
nice in their way, but it takes more than them
to make a world, Mis' Holmes."

Chrissy laughed merrily. She was bent on
cheering this woman.

"That is true," she said; "it takes soups and
bread and potatoes, and ever so many other
things, and a great deal of hard work, does it not ?
That sweet-potato pie was very nice to-day, Mrs.
Stetson."

"I'm sure I'm glad of it," said Mrs. Stetson,
looking not one whit less gloomy. " Liph thought
so too, I guess ; he eat a whole one ; Liph can
show his appreciation that way as well as the
next one. When you get to be an old woman

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

like me, Mis' Holmes, and have, maybe, a great
six-foot boy to think about, you'll know what
trouble is, and find out that it takes more than
roses and sunshine to make bright weather."

"Children are a great responsibility, I know,"
Chrissy said, gently; "but, after all, what would
the world be without your one.? If Liph were
gone, you would find it hard to realize that the
sun shone."

This sentence was a desperate attempt to find
the mother-heart of this ill-disciplined woman,
and the speaker was utterly unprefared for the
answer she received. Mrs. Stetson laid down the
pan she was v^ashing, with such energy that she
hit it against another of its own metal, and the
sound rang throu^jh the room, while she said with
an intensity that would be hard to describe :

"I'd be glad and thankful to the ends of my
toes. Mis' Holmes, if he lay in the grave this
minute ! "

"Oh, dear woman!" cried Chrissy, appalled;
*'do not say such terrible words! Think how
fearfully you may some day regret them."

Mrs. Stetson dashed the dishwater from her
hands with a fierce shake, and spoke with almost
more energy than before.

"I would, Mis' Holmes; that is as true as.
there is a sun in the sky. You stand there,
pretty and smiling, and think life is all made of

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roses and things ; you don't know nothing about
it; wait till you have a boy of your own, and
slave your fingers to the bone to dress him up
in a white dress every day, and pretty little shoes
with buckles on them, and a blue sash, and all
that, and curl his hair over your fingers, and make
a fool of yourself, being proud of him because he
is handsomer than your neighbor's boy. Then
let him grow up and learn to stand around street
corners and loaf, and say low words such as you
never heard in your life till he brought 'em home
to you, and learn to smoke and chew, and learn
to sneer at you for an old woman that doesn't
know any thing, and learn by and by to spend his
days and half his nights in those low-down pes-
tiferous saloons, and drink their low-down whiskey
till he doesn't know enough not to strike you
when he comes staggering home, and you trying
to help him to bed. Then you'll talk, maybe,
about roses and sunshine, but I don't believe it !
Yes, ma'am ; if I could go back over the years
and dress him up in his white dress and his pretty
shoes, and curl his hair and lay him in a hand-
some coffin, don't you think I'd do it and be glad
over it.? I tell you, you don't know any thing
about it." And Mrs. Stetson turned away with
the bitterest sob Chrissy had ever heard, with the
corner of her soiled apron at her eyes again.
The intruder looked at her in utter dismay.

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

What was she to say to so great a sorrow ? Yet
how could she, a Christian woman, turn away
fran trouble like this without an attempt to com-
fort? She went forward until she stood close
to the mother, whose hair was prematurely gray,
and said in low, pitiful tones :

" I am very sorry for you ; I wish I could do
something to help you."

** There ain't nothing in life that can help me,"
Mrs. Stetson said, struggling to regain her com-
posure. " I've give up. I've talked to Liph and
scolded him, tried to shame him into being some-
body ; and I never accomplished nothing, only to
make him mad. There's nothing to look forward
to now but ruin for him and me, and sometimes
I think if I could do something to hurry it along,
that would be the best for both of us."

"God can save Liph." The voice that spoke
this brief, important sentence, was low and sweet,
but wonderfully earnest. There was no answer-
ing thrill in the woman's heart ; there was no
lifting of the gloom on her face. Even the
sacred name had no strong, tender association
for her.

"It is too late for any thing but ruin," she
repeated. "I've known that this good while, but
I don't often break down. I'm ashamed to have
you see me like this. Mis' Holmes. I ain't got
no call to bother you with my miseries. You go

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on and don't mind me. I'll be myself in a few
minutes, and I'll send that worthless Happy right
straight up stairs, and see that she sits there, too.
I'll look out for him myself, Mis' Holmes ; so you
needn't to worry."

Mrs. Holmes went away with slow step, like
one in a dream. What a page of life she had
unwillingly looked upon this bright afternoon !
Who would have supposed that Mrs. Stetson ever
cried — ever did anything, indeed, but struggle
with her three meals a day, and her inefficient
help, and scold her one boy .-* During the two or
three weeks of their stay in the house, Mrs.
Holmes had scarcely given this boy a thought,
save sometimes to sigh and occasionally to smile,
when Mrs. Stetson's shrill voice was heard call-
ing him "a worthless, good-for-nothing, lazy, low-
lived fellow, not worth the salt which he used on
his potatoes."

She had supposed him to be a half-grown, mis-
chievous youngster, who did not like to work, and
whose mother meant very little of what she said
to him. Neither she nor Stuart had ever seen
the boy, but Stuart had been amused at some of
the phrases that floated up to him occasionally
from the rooms below, and had adopted them to
the extent that he would sometimes say to his
wife: "I'm not worth the salt in this beef tea,
Chrissy, dear." And they had both laughed

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

over it, and had not dreamed that the words were
the utterance of a bitter, almost broken -hea/ted
woman. As Mrs. Holmes crossed the street
and moved toward the supply store that occupied
the furthest corner of the square, she heard a
loud voice call, "Look out there, Liph! that
beam will hit you."

She turned quickly in the direction of the
beam, curious to see not it but Liph. He wiss
shambling across the street, dangerously near to
the beam of some heavy machinery, v/hich was
being let down from a store-room above. Could
it be possible that that was Liph, the merry-
hearted, lazy, roguish boy, with tangled curls and
bare feet and torn jacket, whom she had always
pictured when she had heard his mother's voice?

A great awkward fellow, towering six feet high,
with a shock of unkempt hair; swarthy of skin,
repulsive as regarded dress and manner, with a
scowl on his face, and with fierce eyes, which
looked at one askance from under heavy eye-
brows. There was a certain something in his
very ./alk that indicated utter recklessness. Mrs.
Holmes moved on rapidly, but she couldn't get
away from the sinking of heart that had come
to her as she caught a full view of Liph's face.
She could not get away from his mother's words,
"There's nothing for Liph but ruin."

It looked only too probable. This young

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worker in the Master's vineyard knew nothing
at all about the class that Liph Stetson repre-
sented. Young men in danger, needing wise and
patient hands reached out to save them, she knew,
or thought she knew, a good deal about. Had
she not begun with her own brother years and
years ago.' But almost unconsciously to herself,
such young men had, in her thoughts, taken the
condition of her brother Harmon during those
dangerous years of his life — handsome, gay,
.vitty, well dressed, fond of society, but scorning
any thing like coarseness or roughness. Then^,
too, she knew about clerks in groceries and
drug stores, and the great army of respectably-
employed young men that these classes repre-
sented. Chrissy Hollister's world had lain among
them, and in her new home in the city, she and
her husband, backed by their grand Christian
Endeavor society, had worked faithfully, with
blessed results, among many such. Absorbed
in her work, Chrissy, at least, had forgotten that
there was another, and perhaps even a larger,
class, sorely needing help, with which she never
came in contact. Liph Stetson brought this fact
to her notice in a startling manner. The giggling
club, which had made such a lasting impression
upon her, was of another clasi from those to
which she had been used ; but they were alto-
gether unlike Liph.

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

She walked on, thinking about him and about
his mother. What could be done for either of
them ? If only Stuart were well ! But he must
not even be told the story. It would excite him
too much, he would be so eager to do something.
On the whole, Mrs. Holmes, as she walked
briskly down the long street toward hei washer-
woman's, broke utterly her resolution to have
nothing to do with "the young people in this
vicinity," and gave more thought to one young
person in that single half-hour than she had given
to* the entire city before. Still, she did not
realize that such was the case. So utterly differ-
ent was Liph Stetson from her known world, that
she hardly recognized him as belonging to the
"young people." She reached the door of Mrs.
Carpenter's shabby little house without having
had a single ray of hope given her concerning
Liph's future; without a suggestion as to how
to reach him in any way.

Mrs. Carpenter was ironing. Upon the two
other occasions when Mrs. Holmes had seen her
she had been ironing, and as the caller stood for
a moment watching the swift passes of the iron
over the snowy muslin, she wondered curiously if
this comprised the woman's life. Her encounter
with Liph and his mother had somehow roused
her interest in humanity. She had forgotten to
dream about home and wonder what the girls

THEY COMPEL HER ATTENTION.

vere doing, and what they would do this winter,
and what would be said and done that first night
when she and Stuart went back to them. She
had thought only of Mrs. Stetson and Liph. Now
she added Mrs. Carpenter to her list.

"The woman is young," she thought ; "she can
hardly be more than thirty. What hard lines
there are on her face ! She must have been
pretty once. What a strange impression she gives
one that it was a long time ago — forty years
ago at least ! Yet there isn't a thread of gray in
her hair, and her eyes have fire in them. How
severely plain her dress is ! Just a ' straight-up-
and-downness,' Stuart would say, without even a
collar to relieve it, and her hair stretched back as
straight and as firmly as comb and hairpins will
accomplish. But it is smooth, and her dress is
clean. Poor Mrs. Stetson could not possibly put
herself into such neatness. This wo: nan is of a
different type from Mrs. Stetson. Her face does
not look happy. I wonder if she, too, has a story."

, i

CHAPTER III.

THEY INCREASE IN NUMBER.

THE thought closed with a little sigh. Mrs.
Holmes was certainly dipping into strange
chapters of life this afternoon, all unexpectedly.

Not willing to allow herself to become inter-
ested in another person, she cut short her reverie
by knocking at the door. The ironer raised her
eyes for an instant, then dropped them, and delib-
erately finished the pillow-case she was ironing,
folded and hung it on the bars near at hand, and
set her iron on the stove, before she came slowly
forward, with the slightest possible bend of her
head, and waited for the intruder to announce
her errand.

"Mrs. Carpenter," said her caller, "I came to
speak about the wrappers. I do not want them
starched, please. I forgot to mention it. I hope
I am not too late."

No," Mrs. Carpenter said, •*! have not got

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to the wrappers yet, but they would look much
better for being starched."

"I know," said Mrs. Holmes, "but I want to
fold them away. They are not suited to my
needs here. I find I have half filled my trunk
with articles which do not belong to this latitude."

" I suppose that is because you do not belong
to this latitude yourself," Mrs. Carpenter said,
with a sort of cold dignity.

It was a strange thing to say. Mrs. Holmes
regarded her somewhat curiously, interested in
spite of herself.

"May I come in and rest a few minutes.?"
she asked, suddenly. "It is a longer walk than
I imagined ; I have driven here before, you
know."

"Of course," said Mrs. Carpenter, meaning,
"Of course, you can rest."

The words were spoken in the same indifferent
tone as before. There was not the slightest pre-
tense of cordiality. Mrs. Holmes entered, and
took the seat toward which her hostess motioned.
It was a wooden-seated chair from which the paint
had all been scrubbed away. There were only
three chairs in the room, all of hard, uncompro-
mising wood. Two of them were now doing duty
as clothes-bars. The room was very clean and
very bare — not an attompt at comfort of any
sort. The unceiled walls were hung with several

I!i

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

articles of wearing apparel, a man's coat with the
rest. A small tabic in the corner had a man's
hat resting on it beside a common kerosene lamp,
which was perfectly clean. The stove on which
the irons busied themselves getting ready for
work, had not been blackened for months, appar-
ently, but had been washed clean that very day,
and no litter of ashes or of chips was visible. In
short, every thing was in dreary order, and the
number of articles which comprised the entire
furnishing were startlingly few.

Mrs. Holmes looked about her with pitiful curi-
osity. The thought that this was actually a home
struck her with a sense of chill. Not a picture
any where, not a book or paper, not a flower or
plant, not a living thing save that white-faced,
stern-eyed ironer at the table ! Even the flies
seemed to have deserted the place, discouraged,
perhaps, by the scrupulous cleanliness and the
absence of a crumb on which to feast. Did the
woman by the table feel at home ? Was she glad
to make every thing so clean tiie guest wondered.
Had she come away to a land of strangers with
one for whom to iron and scrub and save were
opportunities for which she thanked God.? "I
could do it for Stuart," thought the happy wife,
"if that were the thing to do; but this woman
does not look like it. Perhaps she is a widow,
poor thing ! I have never asked a question about

TIIEV INCREASE IN NUMBER.

her. She looks like an unhappy woman. She
cannot have a ' Liph* to mourn over, sho is so
young. Perhaps, though, she has a grave. Well,
if it is a baby's grave, she may have much to be
thankful for." And again Mrs. Stetson's words,
which had seemed so terrible, occurred to her.
The ironer ironed steadily, and stillness reigned.
It began to grow embarrassing. Something ought
to be said ; the guest could not decide what.

"Is it hard work.-*" she asked, at last, watching
the swift-moving iron.

" Did you never do it .? "

The question startled her. It was not the sort
of reply she had expected to receive.

** I do not remember that I ever did," she said,
after a moment's hesitation. " I had duties in my
mother's home, but that did not happen to be one
of them ; and since I have had a home of my own
my hands have been full with other kinds of ser-
vice. It does not look like hard work, but I sup-
pose like every thing else which is worth doing, it
requires practice in order to be skillful. You are
a beautiful ironer, I think."

"I've had practice enough," was the cold reply,
"and am likely to. One has to live, whether
one wants to or not ; and it's my way of
living."

This seemed very pitiful. Mrs. Holmes was
unwilling to leave the conversation, now that she

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

had once begun, without having some heart put
into it.

"Do you not like to live.?" she asked, gently.

It was not the sentence she had meant to say.
It seemed almost to say itself, as well as the gen-
tle words which followed. "Living is beautiful, I
think, especially to-day. The sky is so blue, and
the air so full of sweets. I heard a bird, as
I came by the park, sv/elling into a perfect
ecstasy of song. I never heard a bird sing in
December before. I mean one that was not
caged."

The reply that she received starred her as
much as Mrs. Stetson's tears.

"I hate life; I hate the sunshine and the
smells and the birds. I hate every thing!"

Her guest looked at her with a keen sense of
pain. Another phase of unhappy life with which
she did not know how to deal. This was worse
than Mrs. Stetson's. The very disorder and dis-
comfort with which that woman was surrounded
seemed to take some of the fierceness from what
she said, while her tears humanized the appeal.
But there were no tears here, the iron was mov-
ing more swiftly than before, and only a little
sterner setting of the lips reminded one that the
woman had spoken at all.

"It is God's world," her caller said at last;
"and the sunshine and birds and sweet ^^erfumes.

THEY INCREASE IN NUMBER.

were made to help you. Could you not get some-
thing from them for your life?"

" Yes, I get mockery from them ; something
which makes me hate life more every day ; yet for
decency's sake I go on living. People who have
come from New England will do any thing for
decency's sake."

"Are you from New England.?" Mrs. Holmes
asked with instant sympathy; "then you are, like
myself, far away from home. Did you come for
the sake of some one very dear to you ? "

At the risk of probing a terrible wound, she
resolved to ask that quei'tion. It would be much
better for this fierce woman to break down utterly
and weep before her than to keep such a pent-up
torrent of pain in her heart.

"It must be a giave over which she is rebell-
ious," thought her visitor, and she almost expected
th*^ iron to cease its swift passes, and to see the
ironer's face buried in the garment she was
smoothing.

"I came because I was a fool," was the hard
reply, and the iron rushed over the board with
redoubled vigor; "and I'm a fool to stand here
talking about it," was the next outburst upon the
dismayed silence. "What's the use of talking.?
What's the use of asking questions ? "

"It sometimes helps, to talk," Mrs. Holmes
said, at last, very gently ; " when I am homesick,

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

I '

I think if I only had some one to tell it to, half
the trouble would be gone, but I have to keep
very still. I am a stranger here, alone with my
husband, and I dare not speak to him, because he
is ill and needs all the help and cheer I can give
him. I can imagine what it might be to live far
away from one's home for years; quite alone in
the world. Have you no friends here.?"

" I have no friends anywhere, and never expect
to have ; but I don't know why I am telling you
so."

"Because you are mistaken," Mrs. Holmes
said, with quiet assurance. "Every one is mis-
taken who thinks so. You have many friends,
brothers and sisters ; the earth is every day being
peopled with those who are kindred in Jesus
Christ. I hope you know Him. If you do, you
surely know that however sad your life may be, it
is not desolate."

" I don't know any thing about it," said Mrs.
Carpenter, doggedly. " I never did understand
that kind of talk. When I was a girl in New
England it used to be all Greek to me, and it is
worse than that now. If you are one of that
kind, you'd better not waste it on me. Oh, Tm
not a heathen. I believe in God, and in the
Bible, some of it at least ; but it is precious little
good it has ever done me, and the time has gone
by when I expect it to. I'll have your clothes.

THEY INCREASE IN NUMBER.

ready by Friday, as I said, and I think they can
be made to suit you."

Evidently that was a dismissal; but Mrs.
Holmes was desperate. For the second time that
day she had come in contact with one to whom
the Name above all names was an idle word,
bringing no suggestion of help or comfort,
though there was sore need of both. Coulc' she
go away without another effort to help this soul in
peril.? Yet what would help her.? If she only
knew what had brought about this condition of
rebellion !

"I am very sorry for you," she said, with
exceeding gentleness ; " I wish so much that I
could do or say something to help you. Is your
life so hard because you are alone in the world ?
Are you a widow.?"

"No."

Nothing which had been said so dismayed the
qn.estioner as that single monosyllable, shot at
lor from a pair of lips which instinctively com-
pressed themselves into the hardest lines Mrs.
Holmes had ever seen on a woman's face ! Cer-
tainly she had not said that if she were, her life
would be more endurable ; yet what did that face
imply.?

The sound of a step was heard outside, and
there shambled toward the open door the figure
of a man. A man with grizzly gray hair and

HEU ASSUCIATI-: MEMBERS.

unkempt beard,, bleared eyes and soiled linen;
a man in his shirt sleeves, with his old hat pushed
to the back of his head, the very abandonment of
carelessness ; a man whose clothes, and even
beard, were stained with tobacco juice. In his
hand he held an old smoke-blackened pipe, which
had evidently just been removed from his mouth.

"Good-day, ma'am," he said, nodding his head.
To her dismay Mrs. Holmes discovered that the
salutation was addressed to her. She arose sud-
denly, uncertain whether or not to return the
courtesy. Was that a drunken man who had
strayed into the wrong door } She turned toward
Mrs. Carpenter to see if the appearance fright-
ened her, and caught upon her face a look of
utter repulsion, but there was no fear in it.

"Don't come in here with that pipe," she said,
in tones which rasped as a file might upon steel ;
"you know better than that."

"For the land's sake!" said the man, "what
hurt can the pipe do when it's out ? "

But he shambled away, and the guest made
swift exit, amazed and sick at heart. Something
in the woman's manner told her that that man
was her husband.

For several blocks Mrs. Holmes walked swiftly,
conscious of an effort not to think at all. Her
heart was so full of pain, and indeed almost of ter-
ror, that it seemed to her she must not think until

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she was in a quieter mood. What misery was
this upon which she had stumbled unawares?
Two women in one afternoon, under the curse of
sin, with apparently no knowledge of a remedy.
But Mrs. Carpenter's case seemed far worse to
the young wife than Mrs. Stetson's. She knew
nothing about motherhood ; but what mockery of
marriage vows was here ! That man to be that
woman's husband! And the idea of a woman
speaking to her husband as she had spoken to
him ! It was all too terrible to be thought about.
What an awful world it was, viewed from some
stand-points ! She had heard of such people.
The papers mentioned them sometimes. She
had even in the city brushed past certain objects
who had made her shiver and- draw her dress away
from contact; but to come face to face with a
respectable woman, clean and neat, and with an
air of rigid cleanliness about every thing that she
touched, and to discover that she was bound by
the holiest ties to such as that, was a contact
which this woman had never made before. She
found herself trembling in every limb. It would
never do to present herself before Stuart in that
state; he would think she had been alarmed,
insulted perhaps, and would arouse to instant
anxiety. She tried to think about the birds who
were still singing, and to take in great whiffs of
the perfume-laden air, and forget the pictures of

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

misery which had made such discord with the day.
But it was hard to get away from them. She was
glad when her own door was reached, albeit she
was reminded that she had by no means got-
ten away from disagreeable subjects by seeing
"Liph" stalking sulkily across the street toward
home. He looked more repulsive to her than he
had two hours before. She even told herself that
he had a worse face than Mr. Carpenter, if it were
possible that that man was Mr. Carpenter.

In the hall above, sat Happy, a paper-covered
book in hand, and so absorbed that she did not
hear the lady's step. Mrs. Holmes wondered if
she would have been aroused by her husband's
feeble voice, supposing he had wanted her.

" You must be fond of reading," she said, close
at the girl's elbow.

Happy started violently.

"You scairt me half to pieces," she said; "I
didn't hear you come, nor nothing."

'•So I observed. What have you here that is
so absorbing.^" and she bent low enough to
read the name on the title-page, "A Loyal
Lover."

The name told her very little; she was not
familiar with that class of literature, yet, with the
discernment of the cultured woman, she instinct-
ively gauged the probable merits of the book.
What a pity that a girl having intellect enough to

THEY INCREASE IN NUMBER.

read at all, should feed herself upon such material
as this.
^ "It is an awful interesting story," Happy said;
"I was just reading how she couldn't get out of
the stone house; I don't believe she ever will,
either."

"Is that interesting?" Mrs. Holmes asked.

"Why, yes," said Happy; "what could b**
more interesting than a girl in a place out of
which she could not get ? He is trying his level
best to get her, but I don't believe he can do

it."

Who "he" or "she" was Mrs. Holmes did not
try to discover. Her thoughts were still revolv-
ing about the problem which had beset her this
afternoon. Just now it was taking a new form.

"Happy," she said, dreamily, "does your name
fit you .? "

"Ma'am?" said Happy, staring harder than
ever.

Mrs. Holmes smiled,

" A girl named Happy should be happy, should
she not ? Does yours tell the truth about you ? "

"Oh!" said Happy. "No, ma'am, I ain't
happy a bit."

Not even she, though her face looked so free
from thought of any kind ! Mrs. Holmes looked
at her narrowly, wondering how deep was her
dissatisfaction.

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"What would it take to make you quite
happy?" she said; "think and tell me."

"Oh, I don't need to think; I know," and the
girl's face gleamed with a radiant smile. "It I
had a pink silk dress trimmed with lace, and a
fan trimmed with swan's-down, I should be per-
fectly happy."

Poor little idiot! Her questioner could have
cried, but instead she laughed.

"Where did you see a fan trimmed with swan's
down ? " she asked, with her hand on the door-
knob.

" She had one," said Happy, inclining her head
toward the book still on her lap.

"Well," said Mrs. Holmes, "I am sorry it is
not in my power to make you perfectly happy
after your service to me. Has Mr. Holmes
needed any thing .>'"

" I guess not, ma'am ; he's not spoken a word.
He walked about the room some, and went out on
the piazza once, and I asked if he wanted me, and
he said no."

"Thank you," said the lady, and went in to her
husband, thinking, as she did so, of Mrs. Carpen-
ter and her husband.

CHAPTER IV.

SHE ORGANIZES.

HAPPY is not at rest, either," Mrs. Holmes
said to her husband an hour later, us
she sat beside hira skillfully manipulating an
orange and placing delicious morsels in his mouth.
"Although her name is Happy, it does not fit.
She needs a pink silk dress trimmed with lace,
and a swan's-down fan to give her peace of
mind."

They broke into merry laughter over poor
Happy's idea of bliss ; then, after a moment, Mr.
Holmes asked :

"Why do you use that term 'either'? Are
you turning pessimist, dear little wife ? "

"Oh," she said, evasively, "I have seen several
persons to-day who seemed to me far from happi-
ness; and, indeed, Stuart, do you not think it is
unusual to find people who are reasonably con-
tented } The world seems full of disappointment
and unrest."

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"It is too true," he said, gravely ; "but the solu-
tion is plain ; the world is at work trying to find
its happiness in that which was never intended to
satisfy souls, and disappointment is inevitable.
Even among Christians I have often been pained
with the thi)ught which troubles you; so few of
chose who profess to have found the true source
of satisfaction carry a satisfied front."

There was a slight flush on his wife's face as
she listened to his words. After a moment of
silence, she said humbly :

" I know it. We do not succeed in impressing
outsiders with the fact that we have found rest.
But, Stuart, how can commonplace people who
live in lit^tle worlds of their own, help that ?
When their plans go awry they must necessarily
feel tried, must they not? And few people have
self-control enough to cover their disappointment
from the eyes of others."

"It is more than self-control which is lacking,
I think, dear wife ; it is greatly to be feared
that the people who feel a disappointment which
amounts to bitterness, or results in continued
brooding over the miscarriage of their plans, have
not yet learned to trust themselves completely in
God's hands, but are planning for their way
instead of his ; because, else, they would grasp
the fact that 'all things work together for good
to those who love God.' "

SHE ORGANIZES.

The flush on Mrs. Holmes' face deepened ; she
did not believe that her husband was talking at
her, yet his worlds fitted.

"Do you know how different you are from
other people.^" she asked, after a moment; "I
have always thought so, but since your illness I
am sure of it. For instance, you are very differ-
ent from me; I can join you in trusting, when
all goes well, and we are hard at work together
in the line which we have planned, but I haven't
the grace which enables me to sit patiently with
folded hands and wait. It has been wonderful to
me to see how patiently you endure it all, and
how quietly you wait for to-morrow. I wish I
knew how to be like you, but I do not."

The smile which he gave her was pleasant to
see, as he said :

"The reason for that is obvious, too, my dar-
ling. * Grace sufficient for our day ' is the prom-
ise, and I daily thank our Heavenly Father that
he has not made it necessary for you to rest ; that
your health is strong, and your heart, relieved
from anxiety, can take hold of his work as vigor-
ously as ever; therefore, of course, you are not
prepared for resting or waiting."

She shook her head.

"Ah, but, Stuart, that is not quite true; there
is health enough; I never felt better; but there
is no work which I can do. I am forced to wait,

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not needing to, you see. I think, after all, that
is what gives me the feeling of unrest which I
have sometimes. Not that I am unhappy," she
added, earnestly, " or that my heart is not almost
bursting with graritudc for His goodness in giving
you back to me, but at times the thought of what
we were doing at home and of how they miss us,
makes me restless for the months to pass. I do
not know how to work except in certain grooves."

It was his turn to shake his head.

•* No, my dear, there is where you mistake. It
is the Lord's world down her^ as well as at home,
and the harvest waits for iaborers here as else-
where; the very fact that you have seen to-day
and recognized starving souls trying to feed upon
husks, proves that the Master is speaking to you
through them. They are his lost ones, Chrissy.
Has he sent you down here this winter to find
some of them .? "

The twilight was gathering fast. Mrs. Holmes
was glad that her husband could not now dis-
tinctly see her face ; she knew that a look almost
of despair had swept over it. How utterly impos-
sible it seemed to her to do any thing for people
like Mrs. Stetson and Liph, and Mrs. Carpenter
and her husband, and poor Happy, with her paper
novels and her "pink silk" yearnings. Stuart
did not know the sort of people she had seen that
day, and she would not run the risk of giving

SHF ORGANTZES.

les
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)S-

er
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Irt
lat

him n restless night by trying to {lcscril)c tlicin.
However, as if he could read her thoughts, he
went on :

"The longer I live, the more sure I am that the
religion of Jesus Christ is the one thing suited to
the needs of souls, no matter how high they are,
humanly speaking, or how low. It is the one
thing which effects results, without regard to sta-
tion ; that, in itself, ought to mark its divine
origin. Think of any other influence capable of
reaching at once the palaces and the slums of this
world, woiking transformations equally wonder-
ful in both ! "

Was there a power which could transform
Mr. Carpenter and Liph Stetson.? Yes, Chrissy
Holmes believed, but she could not realize it.
Rather, she could not realize the possibility of her
being used as a factor in the case.

" I know only one way of working," she said,
humbly ; and she felt very humble, indeed. It
was her humiliation, she thought, that she could
work in one groove only.

" I was born in the Christian Endeavor Society,
you know, and through that channel I have been
able to help; but outside of it I am paralyzed."

"Yes," he said heartily, "that is true; it is true
of all workers the world over, Chrissy; honest
endeavor, Christ permeating every thought and
movement, is the one hope for the world. There

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

was never a grander name chosen for a society
than that of Christian er.deavor — it is at once
simplicity itself, and all-comprehensive."

His words gave Mrs. Holmes' heart a thrill.
The thought came to her with new power that
their society was, after all, simply a band of
Christians organized for the purpose of doing to
better advantage the work given them. What
they did, was what individual Christians should
be doing the world over ; and there was a sense
in which there was a Christian endeavor branch
wherever one of God's people tarried. " I am
and must be a Christian endeavorer," she told
herself, "wherever I am ; there is no such thmg
as resting from it until God lays his hand upon
me and bids me rest. But oh, what can I do?
Haven't I tried ? "

The idea of forming the people whose acquaint-
ance she had made that afternoon into a society
floated through her mind with such an uLlerly
ludicrous side to it, that sLe could scarcely keep
herself from bursting into laughter. What if she
should attempt so wild a thing,** Make Liph
Stetson, for instance, secretary, and Mrs. Stetson
and Mrs. Carpenter a "lookout committee!"
But the thought was not, after all, born of frivol-
ity. The ludicrous element in it faded before a
sudden, solemn thought, chiming in with the
thoughts which had just preceded it. Why not?

SHE ORGANIZES.

She was i Christian endeavorer — an active mem-
ber. Why not consider these, and any others
against whom she brushed, as associate members,
and work toward securing them for active service?
Not in a public organization, of course. To have
attempted even an explanation of her hopes and
plans to any one of them would have been folly ;
but all the same she realized, with a brilliant smile,
that there was an organization — Jesus Christ, the
great Head of the United Society, and she, the
"active member," working together. The idea
thrilled her, as well it might. She moved about,
setting the room to rights, stepping lightly, for
Stuart was wear}- after his long talk, and lay back
among the pillows, resting. But as she set back
the chairs and folded and laid away papers, the. e
was in her heart a spring of hope and cheer, such
as had not been felt for days. A definite purpose
was formed. It took no shape as yet, so ipv as
regarded action, but the resolve had quickened
her pulses into a healthy glow. She could not
help giving Stuart a hint of it as she brought him
his glass of milk, just before he slept that night.

"Stuart, I am not going to force myself to
rest ; I shall wait for that, until it is sent for me
to do. I shall try again, in some way, I don't
how, and in truth the how has been the trouble
all the while. Don't you know how I failed, so
very lately ? "

lir.R ASSOCIATE MTMniLKS.

"Yes," he said, smiling; "were you ever told,
dear wife, that the measure of your responsibility
was to be determined by the success you had in
his work? Did you ever think how often Jesus
Christ seemed to fail, when he was on earth?"

She had moved from him to give attention to
the lamp, but she turned back and gave him the
full view of a radiant face.

"Oh, Stuart! I never thought of that! How
wonderful it was ! They sneered at Him, and yet
He went steadily on ! "

At the moment she thought, with a blush of
shame, of the giggling club. What power they
had over her, even in the face of the experience of
Jesus Christ !

"Thank you," she said, bending down to him
for good-night, " I wonder that you have not been
almost ashamed of me."

Plans for aggressive work by no means shaped
themselves during the night, as the newly-
resolved worker had almost hoped they would.
The way looked as bewildering as ever by the
next morning's light, but her resolution was
unshaken. She had established her husband on
the front piazza, with his feet in a flood of sun-
shine, and his eyes screened from its glare. He
had taken his morning walk down the long stretch
of veranda, had plucked with his own hand a
spray of sweets-scented bloom which had climbed

SHE ORGANIZES.

up to him on the trellis ; had eaten a freshly-laid
egg and a piece of toast prepared by his wife's
own hands, had finished with an orange or two,
and now was resting and looking the very embodi-
ment of patient gratitude. Indeed, they had both
been jubilant over the fact that he had walked a
hundred steps further this morning than he had
since his sickness, and with less fatigue. There
was a song in his wife's heart as she moved about
their room, putting the dainty touches here and
there which made of it a home, instead of an
inclosure with four walls and the bare necessities.
" Happy " was blundering with the hearth belong-
ings — letting the shovel fall with a loud clang,
letting the ashes escape from her and filter over
the matting; doing every thing with as little
appearance of skill as was possible, and with an
air of farawayness which suggested that her
thoughts were still upon the hapless "lovers,"
whoever they might be. As Mrs. Holmes' eyes
came back from the picture which she made in
her torn and soiled dress of flimsy cotton, much
too light and too showily made for the work with
which it was associated, her eye was caught by
the motto which hung at the foot of the bed. A
lovely bit of illuminated lettering, in German text,
done by her brother Harmon's hand : " As Ye
Have Opportunity." Those were the words
>vhich appealed to her with sudden power, ShQ

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had asked for plans, for ways of working, for
definite openings. Was this her answer.? "As
ye have opportunity." Why, of course. What
could any worker do but follow that simple rule ?

Was the girl sitting stupidly among the ashes,
the sweeping-brush held absently in a hand dis-
figured by two or three very cheap rings, while
with the other hand she toyed with a tawdry
ribbon, the soiled ends of which hung down from
her neck — was this person an opportunity.? What
could possibly be done for her now and here ?

As Mrs. Holmes looked, her heart grew pitiful.
Was it not, after all, almost as sad a picture of a
wasted life as even Mrs. Carpenter presented ?
How easily one could forecast the future for her,
and imagine her a careworn, slatternly, fretful
woman, mismanaging a dreadful home, misruling
some miserable children, unless, indeed, a worse
pictune might be drawn for her ! Something of
this kind, unless some wonderful uplifting power
took hold of her.

What was it Stuart had said ? "There is only
one influence which is strong enough to reach
palace and hovel alike, and transform both."
Forever blessed be the name of Him who had
revealed such a power in the world. But how
could it be made to touch the girl in the ashes ?

"Happy," said her mistress, suddenly, "have
you reconciled yourself yet to your name.?"

SHE ORGANIZES.

"Ma'am?" said Happy, stupidly, letting fall
the brush and scattering a fresh cloud of ashes as
she spoke,

" I am still thinking about your name ; it ought
to fit. Why do you not set about making your
life so happy that people who hear you called will
be sure to feel how wise it was to have named you
so ? "

Happy giggled bashfully.

"I ain't no kind of objection to bein* happy,"
she said, "but I don't know how I could go to
work; not just now. I have as good a time as I
can git, but that is saying dreadful little."

"Oh, but I feel sure you are mistaken in tnat.
People take the strangest ways of having good
times ! They are always after happiness — every-
body is — but they make mistakes in their plans.
Do you know what your name means ? What is
the full name ? "

"It is an awful homely one," Happy said dis-
dainfully. "I was named for my grandmother;
and I'm sure I don't know why she wanted to
have anybody going around carrying it forever;
it's Hepzibah. I never heard such a name. I
wouldn't give it to a cat."

"I am not sure that I would," Mrs. Holmes
said, smiling, "but that does not alter the fact
that it is a beautiful name for a woman."

Whereupon Happy sat upright and stared.

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" Now you don't think it is pretty ! " she said,
incredulously.

*'It is better than pretty; it is beautiful, be-
cause of its meaning. Do you know what it
means .?"

"Means!" repeated Happy, in bewilderment.
*' Why, it means just the name of somebody."

"Yes, but in olden times, more often than now,
names had meanings. Thai is an old Hebrew
word, the language, you know, in which part of
the Bible was written, and it means, ' My delight is
in her.' Can you think of having a very great and
powerful friend, who, whenever he thought of you,
or heard your name, would feel its fitness, because
he would say to himself, * My delight is in her ' ? "

Such a look of soft, womanly radiance spread
over Happy's silly face, that Mrs. Holmes was
almost dismayed ; it was only too apparent that
she was giving form and name to the "great and
powerful friend," and that her conception was as
far as possible from that of the woman who was
trying to talk to her. Did she name the friend
from the novel which had absorbed her, and did
he exist as yet only between wretched paper cov-
ers, or had he taken visible shape to this silly,
ignorant girl? Mrs. Holmes made haste with
her next thought; albeit she knew not how to
present it, and wonc'ered whether this were, posr
gibly, a case of "casting pearly,"

SHE ORGANfZES.

"t am thinking, Happy, of the verse in the
Bible where your name is mentioned. Did you
know your name was in the Bible? 'Tho'i shalt
be called Hepzibah,' a prophet once said, *for the
Lord delighteth in thee.' If you lived such a life
that the dear Lord himself, looking down and
Watching you all day, as he does, could delight in
you, do you not know that your name would fit^
and that, in spite of any thing which could happen
to you, you would certainly be happy.?"

The girl seemed startled, half frightened ; and
the radiant look faded from her face. She replied
dully, after a moment : " I don't know much about
the Bible ; I ain't had no chance to learn. My
mother died when I was a little thing, and I begun
to live out before I could talk plain. So them
kind of things ain't for me."

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CHAPTER V.

THEY APPALL HER.

THEN she leaned forward, with a half sigh,
and began to brush the hearth vigorously.
Chrissy looked at her, with an unutterable pity
swelling in her heart. What had the girl included
in "them things" which were not for her, sweep-
ing them away as carelessly as she was doing
with the ashes ? All the glorious possibilities of
life — character, and influence, and love, and
Jesus, and heaven ! Oh, the pity of it ! Yet she
had not been touched. The speaker's words,
though intended in utmost simplicity, had been
away beyond her range. The thought of it being
possible for the Lord to delight in her had not
reached the outermost circle of her thoughts;
nay, she was lower down than that. Her con-
ception of God was not such that the thought of
the bare possibility of any human being reaching
so high thrilled her. Mrs. Holmes tried again.
*• Happy," she said, with an earnestness which

tHEY APPALL HER.

arrested the brush once more, "I wish you
would enter into an agreement with me. Let us
be friends — you and me. Do you not think you
would like me for a friend ? What if you should
take a new start in life this very day, and make
a happiness for yourself which no one can take
from you.^"

Happy giggled. "I'm sure I don't know what
you are talking about," she said. "If I was
going to set out to be happy, the very first thing
I'd have to do would be to run away from this
house. I'm scolded, Mis' Holmes, from morning
till night. There's nothing that I do, or don't do,
^or Mis* Stetson, but she will scold about it. I'm
necessary to her happiness, I do believe, because
I don't think she could live unless she had Liph
and me to scold."

There was a hidden fund of humor somewhere
about Happy. Her eyes gleamed roguishly for a
moment as she said this. Then, apparently
attempting to assume a gravity which would
become the occasion, she added : " No, Mis'
Holmes, I'm sure it's real nice of you to think of a
girl like me, and want things to fit ; but it ain't
no use. Some time or other I'm going to get out
of all this, and have a house of my own, and have
lots of things that I ain't got now. I expect to
be pretty happy then; and I guess I'll have to
wait till then."

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No," said Mrs. Holmes, earnestly. "Mark
my words, if you wait until then, the happiness
will not come. Do you not like to surprise peo-
ple? What if you should surprise Mrs. Stetson,
for instance, by doing all your work so nicely that
she could not discover any thing to scold about ?
Have you any idea how it would make her feel.!*"

This at least, was in a line with Happy's under-
standing, and she giggled afresh. "I never
could," she said, confidently. "You ain't as well
acquainted with that woman as I be ; she'll scold,
anyhow."

" Ah ! but did you ever try it ? Are you really
very careful to do your work just as well as you
can } Those ashes, for instance ; have you been
just as neat and as quick about them as you could
be.?"

This time there was a little shamefaced n ess
with the laugh. "I don't suppose I have," she
said; "and I know I ain't quick, nor over and
above neat ; but, after all, what's the use in being
so dreadful particular ? I hate all kinds of house-
work, anyhow," she added, in a burst of confi-
dence, and with an air which said that such a
revelation ought to cover a multitude of sins.

"That isn't of the least consequence," said
Mrs. Holmes, calmly. " I may hate to make this
bed, which I have been putting in such order for
the day, but it does not alter the fact that it is

tH£Y AHf>ALL Hfilt.

ttiy duty to tnake it just as neat and inviting-look-
ing as possible; and if I fail in it, there is very
little use in my trying to find datisfaction in some-
thing else. I have taught myself not to be satis-
fied until I have done my best. I am very much
interested in you, Happy — so much that I hope
you will please me by adopting my rule, just for
to-day and letting me know how it works. Will
you not ? "

Happy hesitated, blushed and laughed. "Why,
I don't know, ma'am," she said at last. "It seems
dreadful queer I Let me see. What was it .^"

" Oh, it is a very simple rule to repeat, but not
so easy to work by. It is simply doing every
thing which you have to do, just as well as you
can."

"Well," said Happy, reflectively, "it's Satur-
day. That's the meanest day in the whole lot,
because there's scrubbing the halls and stairs, and
I hate scrubbing. Then there's the table to set,
and the lamps to fill and trim (I do just despise
lamps), and the potatoes to get ready. My!
there's a lot of hateful things to do ; but I don't
mind trying to do the best I can, just to please
you, only it won't do no good. She will scold
Dn all the same, and nobody will know the
difference."

" Yes, there will. I shall look at the stairs, as
I go up and down, and I shall say: <Ah! how

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

clean they arc ! It is a pleasure to walk over
them.' And I shall notice whether the table-clot]i
is laid straight and smooth, and whether the
knives and forks are laid neatly, or look as though
they had been thrown on. As for the potatoes,
if they had neither eyes nor lumps in them, it
would be a real comfort to me."

"Would it now.^" asked Happy, with a gleam
of interest in her eyes; "well, then, I declare if I
won't try at it, just for fun ! "

"And, Happy, there is a thought which you
have left out. Do you not know that One, of
much more importance than I, will be glad if you
do your work faithfully to-day .'' "

" Land ! Mis' Holmes, I don't see why he will
care; he don't eat nothing which I touch; you
wipe the plate and glass that you take his things
in with your own napkin — I've s .n you. I
think you are too dreadful nice to him for any
thing! I should just think he'd like to be sick,
to be took care of so."

It was a question with Mrs. Holmes whether to
laugh or cry ; her efforts at helping seemed to fall
so far short of her hopes and plans.

"I did not mean Mr. Holmes," she said, gently,
after a moment's thought; "though it is quite
true that he would be glad to hear of your doing
right ; I was thinking of the great God. It is a
wonderful thought, but nevertheless it is true,

THEY APPALL HER.

that he has such constant and patient care over
his creatures, as to be glad at any effort upon
their part toward right doing. Did you ever
think of that.?"

•' No, ma'am," said Happy, awed at last, " I
never did. Mis* Holmes, you can't mean that He
cares whether I leave dirt in the corner or not ! "

" I do certainly mean, my dear girl, that you can-
not do even so small a bit of work as that with-
out having the eye of God upon you, and without
his approving knowledge if you are faithful."

It was very strong meat for Happy. Her con-
ception of God would have startled and dismayed
Mrs. Holmes. The two surveyed each other in
silence for a moment, each busy with her own
somewhat bewildered thoughts. The shrill voice
of Mrs. Stetson was heard in the distance, calling
to the girl, who shrugged her shoulders and nod-
ded significantly as if to say: "I told you so.
You can tell by the sound of her voice the humor
she is in."

" Well," she said, preparing to move, " I'll try
it anyhow, every time I can think of it this day;
but I know as well as not that it won't come to
nothing."

" It is as strong a degree of faith as many a
Christian gets up for special efforts," Mr. Holmes
said, when his wife with many merry touches to
lighten the sense of pain in it all, told the story

Ukk ASSOCIATE MEMBEkSji

over to him. "It is only expressed in a little
bolder language than we are in the habit of using.
Have you not often been startled to discover that
the plain English of your resolves meant, * I will
undertake ii> work at it for awhile, and see if the
Lord really means what he says'.** Chrissy, have
you ever noticed that half-grown man, or over-
grown boy, I hardly know which, who haunts
the corner across the way.? There is something
peculiar about his face ; it cannot be said to be
attractive; on the contrary, one almost feels repul-
sion ; yet I find myself looking at it, and wonder-
ing abcut its owner. I am afraid nobody is
making the slightest effort to save him from the
destruction which is almost inevitable."

"That," 5>..id Chrissy, with a gravity which
her husband supposed was born of the present
moment, "is Liph Stetson."

"Our landlady's son.? Impossible! Why, I
thought he was a little fellow."

"We imagined that from her Wiiy of speaking
to him ; but it is not so, and he is already far
down the road which you fear he is traveling.
There is a great deal of undone work in the world,
Stuart."

While waiting for further opportunities Mrs.
Holmes resolved not to forget the stairs. She
gave them careful attention as she went down to
dinner. They certainly presented a better appear-

THEY APPALL HER.

ance than they had since she came into the house.
There was still room for improvement, but an
advance had been made. Slight as it was, it
cheered Mrs. Holmes' heart to a degree that
surprised herself. Had her hopes really taken
such hold upon Happy .?

The dinner table, also, was given a surveillance
which a due regard to her own peace of mind had
held her from, heretofore. ICach knife and fork
was laid with the precision of a mathematical line,
and the handles were not "sticky." Inviting, the
table certainly was not ; poor Happy evidently
did not know how to make it so ; but that she had
made actual effort in that direction was appar-
ent. Certain telegraphic communications passed
between the two, while Happy, in a somewhat
cleaner dress, still much too "smart" for the
place, and with a ribbon about the neck brighter
in hue and less soiled than she had worn in the
morning, waited upon the table. An expressive
glance from i\Irs. Holmes' eyes from her to the
table and back again, made hrr flush with pleas-
ure, giggle a little, and spill the water which she
was pouring into Mr. Arson's glass. The further
result of this was an undertone passage of words
between those two, not a sentence of which Mrs.
Holmes could catch ; yet the bantering tones and
loose familiarity upon the part of both gave her
infinite anxiety. She knew enough of this evil

I III

I Mi

I I!

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

world to be sure that there were more dangerous
thoughts for a girl like Happy than those sug-
gested by dime novels or pink silk dresses. She
knew enough already about the girl to be sure
that she would be an easy victim to certain forms
of temptation ; notably those which had to do
with dress and so-called pleasure. As for Mr.
Arson, he was a young man with sandy mous-
tache and eyebrows, who wore very fancy neck-
ties, and had a general air about him which Mrs.
Holmes translated to her husband as "jaunty."

'* If he should speak in that tone to my sister
Faye," she told herself, her heart throbbing indig-
nantly the while, "I would not endure it."

"But he would not speak so to Faye," was
the after-thought, which immediately demanded
to be analyzed. Why would he not.? Because
Faye would be differently circumstanced, would
wear better clothes ai:d know how to wear them,
and would be waited upon, instead of serving.
Well, was it then to be admitted that the acci-
dent of what one wore, and the position one occu-
pied in the dining-room, marked the line between
respectability and — the other thing .-' Was a girl
who did not know how to dress herself, and who
was obliged to serve, at the mercy of any fast
young man who chose to address her familiarly }

These were some of the indignant thoughts
which floated through Mrs. Holmes* mind. She

THEY APPALL HER.

could not be said to be considering them ; they
did not take definite shape enough for that ; and
she was aware that there was a marked difference
between the neatly-clothed, self-respecting girl
who served, and this tawdry, ignorant simpleton ;
nevertheless, her sense of decency resented the
thought that th^' simpleton should be in danger.
Her mind once roused to the question, she
recalled the fact that there had often been low-
toned, jesting words between these two, and
shy glances, and almost winks, which would indi-
cate that there was some sort of understanding
between them.

All things considered, she succeeded in work-
ing herself into a degree of anxiety about Happy
which would have bewildered that young person.

An anxiety not lessened by an episode which
occurred that evening. She was standing on her
upper piazza, sh.^lded from view by the vines and
the darkness. Her husb. id had retired, and she,
after making last arrangements for the night, had
come out to the strangeness of balmy December
air to get a few breaths of sweetness, and wonder
at the contrast between this and the Decembers
of her past. Suddenly, mingling with the odor of
pines and roses, there floated up to her the sound
of voices.

" Now that I have brought you safely home, I
think you might give a fellow a good-night kiss."

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

An unmistakable little giggle responded ; then,
in a voice which could only be Happy's :

"I sha'n't do any such thing; you needn't to
have brought me home ; I knew the way."

" You are very cruel. What harm could it do .
to reward me after I tore myself away from the
news-room on purpose to take a walk with you .^
I'll tell you what is the matter. You are afraid of
that severe-eyed woman who sits opposite me. I
saw her looking at you and making motions of
some sort this afternoon. If she sets you against
me, I shall hate her; remember that."

More giggling.

"You are too funny for any thing! What do
you suppose Mis' Holmes knows about you ?
She ain't nevt i spoke a word about you. What
she said was about something else, and wasn't like
your kind of talk at all."

"I presume likely. What has she been saying
to you ? I wish she would let you alone ; I don't
want you spoiled. Come now, tell n just what
she said. I know it was something about me,
because you were in such a hurry to (Ijny it."

" It wasn't either, and 1 sha'n't tell you a
word she said ; it was a secret between her and
me."

The denials were prompt enough, but the tone
said, as plainly as words could, that poor, silly
Happy was flattered by her companion's evident

THEY APPALL HER.

desire to know about her affairs, and that she was
excessively -^^^-sed by the entire interview.

"A secret!' repeated the man, whom Chrissy
had some time before decided was Mr. Arson.
"Who would have supposed that you would have
begun already to have secrets which you will not
c< nfide to me ! That shows the utter cruelty of
a woman's heart, especially a young woman's.
Now, you really will have to give me a kiss to
atone for this."

A sort of struggle ensued, to judge by the
sound, mingled with much half-stifled laughter on
the part of the girl, in the midst of which the
listener on the piazza fled in dismay and almost in
despair. What had she taken hold of.? What
horrid possibilities it involved, and how was she
ever to accomplish results.? Yet certainly she
must not stand still and see that miserable girl
ruined before her eyes ! If only Stuart were well !
It was the refrain which in these days closed all
her perplexities.

' »

CHAPTER VI.

SHE HOLDS A MEETING.

NOT even yet were the experiences of the day
concluded. The water in Mrs. Holmes'
pitcher was low. It was one of Happy's many
forgetfulnesses, this almost empty pitcher. If
Stuart should have a restless night, and need a
drink of water frequently, as he did sometimes,
there would not be enough. She resolved upon
going herself in search of a fresh supply.

The back part of the house was deserted and
dark ; Happy had by this time vanished into the
far-off regions of the third story, and Mrs.
Holmes, slowly feeling her way through the
comparatively unknown passage, nearly stumbled
against a dark object which was moving along
from the other direction. Stifling the inclination
to scream, she had decided who the intruder must
be before he had drawled out :

"You needn't be scairt; it is only me."
"And this is 'only me,' Mrs. Holmes," said

SHE HOLDS A MEETING.

that lady, with a little laugh; "you are Mrs.
Stetson's son, I think. Could you help me to
fill this pitcher with fresh water? Happy has
forgotten it."

"She's good at that," the boy said, grimly;
"better at it than anything else. I don't know
why ma don't git rid of her; she's a noosance."

Several times had Mrs. Holmes tried vaguely
to plan what she should say to Liph Stetson, in
case opportunity should be given her to speak to
him ; certainly she had never planned that the
conversation should take the shape which it now
did.

" Do you know who it was with Happy on the
side piazza a moment ago ? " she asked, with a
sudden hope that she might have been deceived,
and the man would prove to be an honest admirer
of the silly girl, with possibly a right even to
sue for the sort of good-night which he had
demanded.

"Yaas," said Liph, "that was Nick Arson; he
boards here; he is makin' believe to be mighty
sweet on Happy just now."

Mrs. Holmes controlled any outward exhibition
of the utter repulsion with which she shrank from
such coarseness, and merely questioned meekly :

"What kind of a man is this Mr. Arson ? "

"Oh, he's a clerk in a store here. I don't
know much about him; he's quality, you see."

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"Liph," said Mrs. Holmes, looking full at the
boy by the light of a smoky kerosene lamp which
he had produced from somewhere, " i.^ he the kind
of man with whom you would like to have your
young sister stand and talk, if you had a sister.? "

"Well, he just isn't! You can bet your life on
it," said Liph, with sudden energy, pumping
fiercely while he spoke.

"Then, why do you not try to influence Happy
not to place herself in such danger.? It is true
she is not your sister, but God made you both, and
will hold you responsible for the influence which
you ought to exert over each other."

Liph held the arm of the pump aloft, and
stared in the most profound astonishment. It
seemed doubtful whether he could believe his
ears; it was so amazing a thing to hear such
words addressed to him.

"Me!" he said at last, with explosive energy.
"What fool kind of talk is that.? Have you any
notion in life that she would pay any attention
to what I say.? And what do I care about her,
anyhow .? "

Over the first part of this sentence Mrs.
Holmes reflected. Certainly nothing seemed less
probable than that Happy would pay the slightest
attention to the opinions of this young wreck of
humanity ; low in the scale of civilization as she
was, she would be sure to put herself infinitely

SHE HOLDS A MEETING.

above Liph Stetson, and the looker-on was obliged
to confess that she was correct in her estimate.
However ignorant Happy might be, she had at
least kept what little sense she had unclouded
by the fumes of tobacco or alcohol, and Liph's
breath suggested both. But this was not the con-
clusion to make apparent to him.

"The point is not what you care about her,
but what you ought to be able to do for her. Do
you not know that a young motherless girl in
your mother's house ought to be able to look to
you for protection from outside dangers, for advice
as to what is, and what is not, wise for her to do ?
And for a dozen other kindnesses, such as a self-
respecting young man can offer to a friendless
girl under his mother's protection ? "

Liph's face was a study. There were times
when he did not know whether to burst into a vol-
ley of angry oaths, or to sneer or to laugh over
such tremendous words spoken to him.

He was a "self-respecting" young man! Who
had imagined for a moment that such words
applied to him .? Happy under his mother's pro-
tection ! Happy was his mother's drudge; ill-
paid, ill-treated, and yet deserving, in his opinion,
nothing more than she received. Happy paying
the slightest attention to his advice, supposing for
the moment he was fool enough to offer her any !

"That beats all the talk I ever heard!" he said

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

sullenly, filling the pitcher, and pouring a gener-
ous quantity of the liquid on the floor at the same
time; "you've got hold of the wrong fellow; I
ain't one of them kind, and never was. Happy
ain't nothing to me, and if she was I couldn't help
it. I've gone to ruin myself ; if you don't believe
it, ask ma," and for a moment a savage leer
spread over his face. "Nick Arson is a gentle-
man. He goes with the style girls in this town.
Ma is always pointing him out to me as an exam-
ple. But it is true enough for all that, that if I
had a sister and cared any thing for h> ,, I'd lock
her up in the meanest shed in this town, and
keep her there, before I'd let her go uround with
him. But she ain't my sister, and I ain't nobody,
and that's all there is of it. There's your pitcher
of water."

He did not add, "Take it and be off" — at least,
not in words, but he turned away, and was sham-
bling out of sight when Mrs. Holmes found voice
again.

" Liph, wait a moment ; I want to say one more
word to you. It is very easy for you to stand
there and tell me that Happy is nothing to you,
and that you have gone to ruin, and all that sort
of thing ; but I believe you know, in spite of what
you have said, that you are responsible in the
sight of God. If Happy should lose her soul,
because you did not try to save her, it will not

SHE Holds a MtEiiNO.

help you in the least to remember that you have
lost your own. If, as you say, you arc on the
road to ruin, the more shame to you ; i young
man has no rigiit to go to ruin. A hundred times
over, the only son of his mother, and she a widow,
has no right to ruin his life and hers. I don't
know that anybody ever spoke such words to
you before ; but I cannot help it, they ought to
be said. It is folly for you to imagine that
because you own yourself worthless, and without
influence over those whom you ought to be able
to influence, therefore you are free from respon-
sibility. If you were going to ruin and did not
know it, it would be pitiful enough, but not so
solemn as to move right along on the same path
with your eyes open."

She was amazed at her words. Thinking them
over afterward, they did not seem to be the ones
she ought to have said to him. She could not
help feeling that many of them were above his
comprehension, and that some phrases were, per-
haps, too like the ones which his mother so con-
stantly flung at him to be productive of any good.
Yet her tone and manner had been most unlike
his mother's. She had spoken low, and with slow
and solemn emphasis. She had longed to make
him think. He had stood still and looked at her
in a kind of stupid wonderment. He still stood,
after she had i^aversed the long passage with her

ill

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

heavy pitcher, and glanced back at him ; stood
just where she had left him, like one dazed.
On the whole, responsibilities seemed thickening
around the young woman who had meant to fold
her hands so resolutely, and wait. She set her
pitcher down softly, so as not to waken the
sleeper, and went out on the piazza in the star-
light again. Liph and his mother, and Happy,
and Nick Arson, and Mrs. Carpenter and her hus-
band — what a world! Six such people to loom
up before her mental horizon but the day after
she had declared on paper that she knew no one,
and meant to know no one, in this portion of the
earth. " God's earth," she said to herself softly,
**and 'lost souls,' as Stuart said. Can it be pos-
sible that my Father means me to save them ?
He must certainly mean me to try. But what
can I do ? "

Out there in the night and the loneliness, the
work looked almost hopeless, the cases desperate ;
but Stuart's philosophy in regard to it surprised
her a little.

"My dear, what can you expect.?" he asked
coolly, when she told him with a horrified face
about the sentences she had overheard between
Mr. Arson and Happy. '• For the man, I grant
you, it is despicable enough ; he is undoubtedly
what that precious youth, Liph, considers him, but
poor Happy may be as innocent as many another

SHE HOLDS A MEETING.

silly victim often is. You say her mother died
when she was a child, and it is evident that she
has had no bringing up, save that which Mrs. Stet-
son and dime novels have given her. I think it
quite probable that she supposes all fine ladies
are treated by fine gentlemen precisely as Arson
tried to treat her. You think her instinctive
sense of delicacy ought to have come to her
aid. It did somewhat, it seems, or there would
have been no resistance, unless, indeed, the
show of resistance is a part of the dime novel
education.

"What I mean, Chris.sy, dear," he said, stop-
ping with a half-laugh at her horrified face, and
then beginning again, "what I am trying to do is
simply to reassure you. Happy is not utterly
depraved and hopeless because she is ignorant of
the commonest proprieties of life. What would
be almost hopeless if permitted by a young woman
trained as you have been, becomes another matter
when a poor girl of that sort is under consider-
ation. In other words, dear wife, while there is
but one standard of right, there are many grades
of sin, and the environments and opportunities
of the sinning soul will undoubtedly be taken into
account. Do not be utterly cast down over poor
Happy because she does not know how to conduct
herself in the presence of a so-called gentleman ;
there is a sense in which it is not any stranger

HEk ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

I
1

than that she docs not know how to order her
hair or her dress."

I do not think it can really be said that our
young cndeavorer was glad that Mrs. Carpenter
fell sick, but inasmuch as such was the case she
did rejoice over the opportunity which it gave her.
The more she thought about that sad woman's
life, the more sure she felt that there was a pent-
up bitterness of some sort which it would help her
to have u;>covered.

"She is rebellious ever something,'* was the
thought which always closed Mrs. Holmes' talks
with her husband upon this subject. "There is
a hidden wound which gnaws all the time at her
life. If I could only find her heart, perhaps I
could help her."

So I think she heard with even a little sense
of relief that Mrs. Carpenter was sick in bed,
and could not "do" her clothes that week.

"I am going to see her," she said promptly to
Stuart. " It helps me to think that she will not
be ironing. I have associated her so entirely with
the swift passes of that inevitable iron that it
some way haunts me like an ugly black weight
which is a part of her. To think of her as in
bed, weak and helpless, seems to humanize her."

"What sort of a bed has she to lie on.?" her
husband asked, with an expressive shrug of his
shoulders, and added: "The beds of the poor

SHE HOLDS A MEETING,

always impress mc as almost the bitterest drop
in their cup of poverty ; worse than the eating."

•'The bed will be clean," said Chrissy ; "for
the rest I cannot answer."

It was this ihouirht which made her add to her
basket of suijplies a down pillow in its delicate,
frilled whiteness, and a bottle of lavender water
surrounded by fine old linen handkerchiefs. She
could not imagine herself as daring to offer to
bathe that set white face ; but if headache were
an accompaniment, it might be possible to accom-
plish so much ill the way of soothing.

The docujr set her down at the door, lifting out
her basket for her, and carrying it to the top step
of the small piazza, with a whimsical look on his
handsome young face, as he said: "The good
Samaritan going in search of a sorely wounded
creature who, if I mistake not, will nevertheless
refuse the mollifying ointment, and insist upon
suffering in grim solitude. I know something of
this protdg^ of yours, Mrs. Holmes. I consider
her as hopeless a case as we have in this little
city ; and that is saying a good deal."

She turned toward him eagerly. " You know
her .-* Then tell me what it is which has so dead-
ened her life. Is it only because she has a miser-
able, worthless husband V

"Oh, no," he said, mockingly; "that is the
merest trifle, of course, not worthy of a sensible

7rt

HEk ASSOCIATE MEMI5ERS.

woman's consideration. I am surprised that you
should have thought of such a thing ; it is some-
thing much worse than that."

Mrs. Holmes laughed a little and blushed, as
she answered : " I deserve your sarcasm, doctor,
for using the word 'only' in such a connection.
It must have seemed very strange to you. Still,
with explanations, I mean it. Given even such
a sorrow, if there is no self-reproach connected
with it, I can conceive of a woman enduring and
suffering, yet hoping and praying every hour ;
and keeping her heart from hardening, though
it may almost break ; bi^t this woman seems to
me to have turned to stone."

Dr. l*ortland laid aside his mocking tone and
regarded her with respect. "I can conceive of
such women, too," he said; "but Mrs, Carpenter
is not one of them. I do not think she prays
any oftener than I do myself, I doubt whether
she would know how, any better than I should.
Oh, I know very little about her; nothing at all
of her past. Her poor wretch of a husband called
me, once, when she was suffering, and I did what
I could for her, and offended her, I think ; at
least she will not see me now, though a neighbor
tried to persuade her into it last night. Her hus-
band is a miserable scamp ; but, tucked in some-
where behind the rags and tobacco juice, he has
a remnant of a heart ; and really, of the two lives,

SHE HOLDS A MEETING.

I should be almost as willing to stand my chances
beside him as her. These stone women are
harder to manage than any other. ]5ut I must
not prejudice you."

During this conversation they had been stand-
ing, waiting for Mrs. Holmes' gentle knock to be
answered. Mr. Holmes, whom the doctor was
taking with him for a ride into the country, was
sitting back among the cushions of the carriage,
reins in hand. His wife glanced toward him
anxiously; this long waiting must be wearying to
him.

"It cannot be there is anyone with her," she
said, "and she may be asleep. Would you go in,
without further ceremony.'*"

"I certainly should. After putting your hand
to so trying a plow as this, it will not do to draw
back. I will take good care of your husband, and
bring him home in a state to appreciate your good
offices as nurse, since you will probably fail of that
part here."

And with a gay, mocking smile, he lifted his
hat and left her.

She gave him one swift, anxious thought before
she went in to the task before her.

« .

CHAPTER VII.

SHE ATTEMPTS TO SYMPATHIZE.

THIS cultured young physician Iiad been such
a blessing to them ! Her heart swelled
with gratitude whenever she thought of his steady
unfailing care and thoughtfulness. His skillful
management of her husband's case had borne
testimony to the truth of the recommendation
which their own family physician at b -^e had
given her in his letter of introduction. I have
not seen my old friend and pupil, Dr. Portland, in
several years, but I have kept watch of him, and
he is proving to be what I thought him in college
— a genius in his profession. Do not fear tf'
place implicit trust in his skill and faithfulness."

It had taken her but a few days to learn to do
so. Short as their acquaintance had been, both
her husband and herself were learning to regard
Dr. Portland as perhaps their only intimate friend
in a land of strangers. Yet nothing was plainer
than that he had no personal acijuainiance with

SHE ATTEMPTS TO SVMl'ATHIZE.

the Friend who was more to these two than all
others. There was a clash of irreverence in all
that he said about religions matters, and a vein of
mockery otten running through the gay language
in which he referred to the different phases of
Christian work in which they were interested.
Here, too, was a field, the Christian woman
thought, which ought to be occupied for Christ ;
but she felt that she knew less how to reach a
man of his stamp than even IJph Stetson, who
would answer for the opposite pole of humanity,
so far as culture was concerned. "He is not at
all like Chess Gardner," she told her husband;
"Chess never really mocked at sacred things. In
his sacred heart he respected them ; but Dr.
Portland gives me the imi)ression that it is only
the environments of propriety which keep him
from downright mockery."

But there was no more time to think of Dr.
Portland. She had let herself into the large, bare
room, which looked even barer than usual, with
the ironing-board hiding its white face against the
wall, ^nd the irons standing glum and cold ui)on
the unused stove. Some plain dark calico cur-
tains, which had hidden something from view on
Mrs. Holmes' previous visits, were drawn aside,
and revealed a dreary-looking bed, covered with a
dark calico spread. Underneath this c^v"*"ing lay
Mrs. Carpenter, her hair drawn back as uncom-

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I 'J.

lilt I"

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

promisingly as ever, and her eyes looking larger
and colder, if any thing, than they had when she
stood and ironed. Plainly she was very far from
being asleep, yet she had not chosen to respond
to the knock.

"Good afternoon," ventured Mrs, Holmes. "I
took the liberty of coming in uninvited, because I
thought you might be alone, and asleep. I am
very sorry that you are sick."

"Are you.''" said Mrs. Carpenter; "so am I.
I shall have to disappoint all my customers this
week, I suppose. I have no doubt they will be
sorry for me — or think they are."

She moved her head restlessly while she spoke,
and the one small pillow, rolled into a fierce little
wad under it, looked so uncomfortable that Mrs.
Holmes drew out her d 'wn one.

"Your head aches, does it not — and is hot?
Let me put this cool little pillow under it. Mr.
Holmes thinks it has a soothing effect sometimes ;
and I brought some lavender water with me, in
case you had a headache ; that is very cooling, you
know."

There was a very perceptible shrinking from
the small white pillow, as though coming in con-
tact with it gave the woman positive pain. Mrs.
Holmes felt sure she would have refused it utterly
if she could have found words soon enough ; but
by this time the cool, trained hand of the self-

SHE ATTEMPTS TO SYMPATHIZE.

constituted nurse was making swift passes over
the hot forehead, leaving a trail of coolness and
delicate odor.

*' You are very good," said Mrs. Carpenter,
" but it is not necessary to take all that trouble
for me. I am not used to it, and it is a waste of
sentiment. It ought to be kept for people who
know how to be grateful, I do not."

•' Never mind the gratitude," said her nurse,
cheerily; "we will give uttention just now to the
ache, and to some other matters. I think it quite
probable that you need some nourishment. What
did you have for dinner ? "

'« Spoiled fish-balls, the last dinner I ate," said
the sick woman, promptly. " I haven't eaten
any in two days. However, they were not more
spoiled than most things are which come out of
tin cans. We live in tin cans down here, you
know, sealed up codfish and milk and every thing
— even sentiment — and if any of it is exposed
to outside influences it spoils."

There was nothing amusing in this sentence.
There was not even the slightest attempt to be
amusing. Cold, dreary sarcasm was evidently
what was intended. The genial woman bending
over the speaker felt her heart shiver under its
influence. Nevertheless, she controlled herself,
and spoke bravely.

"I should recommend some beef broth for a

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

change, nnd fortunately I put into my basket a
bottle of some which I made fresh to-day for my
husband. I brought my little spirit-lamp along
also, to heat it on, tor the day is so warm 1
tiiought you might not have any fire."

While she spoke she busied herself in getting
out the bottle and lamp, and a delicate china cup,
tinted in pale blue. Mrs. Carpenter watched her
with severe eyes. "Mrs. Holmes," she said at
last, "there isn't the slightest need for that, and
I wish you wouldn't. If you think you make me
more comfortable doing it, you don't. I would
much rather be let alone; I'm not used to being
taken care of ; I have had no care since I was a
young girl, and I never expect any again. I
don't want it. All I ask of this world is a chance
to work, and to be let alone."

Over the first part of this ungracious sentence
Mrs. Holmes had flushed and hesitated. Was
there any use in trying to force kindness upon
one who refused it with such persistent rudeness ?
But one thing gave her courage. In the sentence,
"since I was a young girl," there had been the
slightest perceptible break in the speaker's voice,
and there came to the listener a swift knowledge
of the fact that some tender memory vvasi stirred,
whether the woman would or not.

" How do I know what dark story has frozen
ber poor heart?" she asked herself,

SHE ATTEMPTS TO SYMPATHIZE,

"Now," she said presently, quite as though the
woman had not spoken at all, "it is all ready, and
I know it will do you good, because Mr. Holmes
said it was the best I had made yet ; and he is a
judge. Will you let me feed it to you, or would
you like to sit up and wait upon yourself.'"

Much as though she were a victim to circum-
stances over which she had no control, Mrs.
Carpenter, with a half-disdainful gesture, raised
herself on one elbow and drained the hot liquid
with a few rapid swallows. Yet Mrs. Holmes
could not be sure whether it was all fierceness, or
in part starvation, for the want of proper food.

" I will give you some more in a little while,"
she said, as graciously as though the recipient had
responded with grateful words and smiles.

Suddenly there came another knock at the door,
followed by the swift entrance of a young woman
with a basket in her hand.

" I beg your pardon," she said, stopping mid-
way; "I thought, of course, you were alone, and
I brought you a little rice ; it was the only decent
thing I could get hold of."

"Come in. Mad," said Mrs. Carpenter, with
more show of humanity in her voice than Mrs.
Holmes had heard before; "I didn't expect you,
because I did not think you would be able to
accomplish it ; rice is nourishing, I suppose, and
that is what I need to help nie get back to my

^,''"1

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

work. Great business for me to break down,
right in the middle of the week! I never did
such a thing before."

"Flesh and blood will not stand everything,"
said the girl; "though you try hard enough to
make them. Will you have the rice now, or " —
She glanced hesitatingly at Mrs. Holmes and the
china cup. That young woman came forward
courteously ; if she must be the hostess on this
occasion, she was ready.

"I gave her a few spoonfuls of quite strong
beef tea," she said, sweetly, "all I thought it wise
to let her have at first. The doctor has me give
it to my husband in small quantities and fre-
quently ; but I should think a little rice might be
good for her, if she would relish it."

"I detest it ! " said the woman on the bed.

The two guests looked at each other and
smiled ; from that moment they felt introduced.

"Mad knows I hate rice," said Mrs. Carpenter,
**and she knows that T have to eat it ; just as she
and I both have to eat and wear and do things
all the time that we hate. This is Madeline
Hurst, Mrs. Holmes."

The two, thus introduced, exchanged bows and
smiles again. The girl flushed in an embar-
rassed way. She looked as though she knew
what proper introductions were, and might have
resented this one had she thought it worth while,

SHE ATTEMPTS TO SYMPATHIZE.

«s

She had bright black eyes, which had twinkled
appreciatively once or twice, but which Mrs.
Holmes decided could sparkle with another kind
of feeling on occasion. She had black h^ir also,
and the sharp features which indicate inte!i.>.ity of
character in some directions. Mrs. Holmes found
herself studying the girl curiously.

"It is another type still," said this bewildered
woman to herself ; " I cannot help being inter-
ested in her ; but I cannot place her. What
an extraordinary name to call her ! ' Mad ! ' I
wonder if it is chosen because of its fitness.^"

The girl did not^ give her much time for study-
ing character. She bent over Mrs. Carpenter,
said a few words in a low tone, went to the little
corner cupboard, emptied her basket, and, with
a promise to look in to-morrow if she could, hur-
ried away.

" Poor Mad ! " said Mrs. Carpenter, looking after
her with a gleam of something like sympathy in
her face; "we are kindred spirits in a way,
though there is such disparity in our ages and
positions; we both live miserable lives, and that
makes a sort of bond between us."

"Who is she.-*" Mrs. Holmes inquired with
interest,

"She is an orphan, and lives with her brother;
he is a pussy kind of man, ruled by his wife ; and
his wife is — well, she is what a woman can be

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

who chooses to be hateful ; and she chooses
exactly that, where Mad is concerned. She leads
the girl a miserable life. I wouldn't endure it;
I tell Mad so ; I would run away or drown myself,
or do something desperate. She isn't bound by
any law nonsense, and could go if she would. 1
hate slavery, though you might not think it."

Mrs. Holmes shivered visibly. What a thing it
was to have the girl, who could not be much over
twenty, influenced by this unhappy, disappointed
woman.

"What does the ,';,'irl have to trouble her?" she
asked, gently, with a feeling that it might ease
Mrs. Carpenter's own see trouble to talk about
another's pain.

" Every thing that a woman — mistress of her
house, and hating the other woman who has to
make her home with her — can produce. If you
cannot inr^agine what sort of a life that would be,
you are fortunate. She is sneered at, and mocked
at, and bullied — that's the only word for it —
every hour in the day. According to her sister-
in-law, she never by any possibility does any thing
right. She is complained of to the woman's
friends, or to strangers for that matter, if her
precious sister happens to get a chance to talk to
them. She is declared to be utterly selfish,
deceitful and unprincipled in every way. There
is not a mean or hateful thing that she is not

SHK ATTEMPTS TO SYMPAtHlZE.

«7

tapable of doing. Why, my life is comfortable
compared with that child's ! She is art unutterable
fool to stand it. Even I can afford to be sorry
for her, and when it comes to thcit it is some-
thing! Mad is no saint, but she is a thousand
times better than her sweet sister-in-law would
have you to believe."

'* Why does the brother permit sUch treatment
of his sister.?" Mrs. Holmes inquired.

" Because, as I told you, he is a pussy-cat mart.
Mrs. Hurst arranges all these things. He sits
hieekly by, and does as he is told. Oh, they are
not my kind of people. They are eminently
respectable. He is an officer in the churchy
bless you, and she is a leading member when it
comes to fairs and sociables, and such things.
They live on one of the good streets in a good
house, and wouldn't be seen coming to Mrs. Car-
penter's door except to get some washing done I
One of Mad's sins is that she has low tastes, and
is willing to associate with low-down people, mean-
ing me. Poor Mad likes to escape over here
sometimes. There are times, I think, when she
even envies me."

"There are harder lots in life than yours," said
her guest boldly, busying herself with another
portion of beef tea while she spoke. "I know,
dear madam, that that sounds unsympathetic, but
it is true. Think what it would be if you were

I I

i <

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

not able to keep every thing clean and neat about
you. I feel sure that would distress you, yet I
have known women who did not understand how
to compass such a state of things, and were mis-
erable in consequence."

It was but a poor little crumb of comfort. She
could hardly blame the sick woman for letting her
lip curl in a hard, sarcastic smile over the thought
that there was nothing for her to be glad about
but a bare, desolate, clean room !

"I know," the comforter went on hurriedly,
"what a dreadful disappointment your life must
be. Do not think I do not understand, and in a
sense appreciate it. To have one's husband" —

She stopped in unutterable confusion. Cer-
tainly she was treading on dangerous ground.
Nothing but a desperate desire to help, could
have made her do it. She would not have blamed
Mrs. Carpenter if her face had flushed angrily.
But to see, instead, that mocking smile was
almost more than she could bear.

"Go on," said Mrs. Carpenter, still with that
terrible smile upon her face; "to see one's hus-
band a brute, a sot, a miserable, staggering old
hulk, who does not know even enough to keep
himself decently clean ! Is that what you were
going to say ? You see I have spared you the
description. I understand the details so well ! but
I want to hear the rest. What would you do

SHE ATTKMI'TS TO SYMPATHIZE.

really, do you think, if we were to change places ?
Do you fancy you would clasp your hands in thank-
fulness because you were able to scrub your floor?"

How was such a question to be answered?
The guest felt her face crimson with shame for
the disgrace and horror of it all. To what depths
of degradation must a woman have been brought
who could speak to a stranger in this way of the
husband of her youth ! She resisted the tempt-
ation to say that however low her husband had
fallen, she would try to remember that she bore
his name, and had made certain promises concern-
ing him. This woman was ill, and she wanted to
help her. The first step was to be patient with
the frenzy which was an outgrowth of her misery.
Before she could determine what reply to make,
and while Mrs. Carpenter was regarding her with
that mocking smile, there came an interruption.
A shuffle, rather than a step, was heard outside.

The whole aspect of the woman changed. She
turned her head toward the door in a listening
attitude. In place of the hard smile had come a
look of intense scorn mingled with disgust. Sud-
denly she spoke in a half whisper :

*' Bolt that door, quick ! "

In an instant Mrs. Holmes was at the door,
her face pale with terror, and had pushed the bolt.
Just in time, for an uncertain hand was already
fumbling with the knob.

i !

¥.

CHAPTER Vltl.

SHE IS DISMAYED AND DISCOMFITED.

I i

THEN a man's voice was heard in expostula-
tion :

"Oh, come, Jane, let me in, I'm in a dreadful
state. I've had an accident, and am as wet as
a drowned rat. I shall catch my death of cold
if you don't let me in. Come, Jane ; I won't
muss any thing up ; I'll just get something dry,
and go out again."

There was no response from the woman on the
bed, and no change on her dark face.

"You reached the door just in time," she said
to Mrs. Holmes; "I'm much obliged to you for
that at least."

"Are you afraid of him .?" asked Mrs. Holmes,
in a frightened whisper.

"Afraid!" The words seemed to explode from
Mrs. Carpenter's lips, rather than be uttered by
her. " What should I be afraid of ? He wouldn't

SHE IS DISMAVEI) A\n DISCOMFITED.

dare touch nm with his little finger, even if he
wanted to."

"But he is — that is — is he not" — and then
she stopped in pain and shame again. How could
she ask a woman if her husband, who stood out-
side, pleading for admittance, was intoxicated ?

"Oh, yes, he's drunk enough," said the woman
calmly; "and wet and muddy, and every thing
else that's revolting. Faugh ! But he's never
Ugly, even at his wcrst ; not to me, at least. He
wouldn't dare to be. As to that, I don't think he
ever has any wish to be. I will give even him his
due. I suppose that is another thing for which
I ought to be thankful, isn't it ? " and the shadow
of that mocking smile hovered about her face
again. "But I'm not, I assure you. There have
been times when I have thought if he would take
me by the shoulder, and turn me out of the
house, or kick me out, I could have a touch oi*
sympathy for him. I can undei stand tlie devil
when he takes hold of a soul in such ways, but
driveling idiots are beyond my endurance. I
believe in the devil, you see ; if ever a woman had
reason to, I have. Oh, you will find me very
orthodox, in some respects."

Mrs. Holmes felt her whole soul shrink away
from this terrible woman. The poor wretch at
the door seemed more human than she.

"Why do you not let him in," she asked coldly,

lIKk ASSOCJATK MEMBERS.

"if you are not afraid ? It may be your duty. If
the man is really wet and chilled, a life may be at
stake. I will find for him what he needs, if you
will direct me, then unfa^.ten the door and r tire."

'But I shall not direct you, and I will not let
that drunken wretch into this room to-day ; not
if I have to crawl out of bed and fight it out
myself. I can do it. I went to bed for pru-
dence' sake, because I knew I should not be able
to do your fine ironing very soon unless I did ;
but I could get up if I had to."

Mrs. Holmes answered not a word. The out-
sider had apparently already abandoned his efforts
and staggered feebly away, making, as he went, a
sort of dreary whimper, as an ill-used animal
might have done. An inexpressible horror filled
the soul of one of the listeners ; it seemed to her
that she felt afraid, not of the drunken man, but
of his wife. She looked toward the bolted door,
with an impulse to open it and flee away, leaving
this lost soul to herself. Yet the terrible look on
the woman's face, and the glare in her eyes, said
plainly that she was sick and suffering.

"She may not know what she is saying,"
thought her visitor; "half of the horror of this
sciene may be owing to the delirium of fever. I
ought not to leave her alone in such a state ; but
oh, I wish Dr. Portland had been going to return
this way ! I should certainly call him in."

SHE iS DISMAYED AND DISCOMFITED.

In silence she poured out and administered the
beef tea once more, standing silently by while the
contents of the cup were being drained again and
pronounced very good.

** I can feel that it is giving me strength," said
Mrs. Carpenter, as she returned the cup; "and I
am obliged to you, though I've almost forgotten
hew to express such feelings."

Voice and manner were quieter than they had
been. After a moment's silence, during which her
visitor was v/ondering what arrangements could
be made for the night, she spoke again in the
calm, cold tone which belonged to the ironer at
her board :

" I have alarmed you by my fierceness this after-
noon, I suppose. I do not often go on in this
way, but I have suffered just enough to make me
lose self-control ; it made me wild to think of that
man coming near me to-night ; when I am well
and can go out of the house and sit on the door-
step, or can draw the chair to the further corner
of the room and sit in it, I leave him n peaceable
possession of the bed ; but share the room with
him to-night I will not."

The young and happy wife listened with eyes
dilating in horror. What a life was that to live!
To shrink in loathing from the one whose name she
bore, who should have had a right to claim at her
hand all that sacred love and tenderness could give.

I
I

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

And he is your husband ! " she thought aloud,
rather than said the words.

The face on the bed darkened.

"Yes, he is. Do not remind me of it, if you
please ; there is no need ; I never for a moment
forget it. Mrs. Holmes, I hate shams of all
sorts; at the risk of horrifying you even more
than I have already done, I mean to speak out ; I
do not often ; I live in an awful silence, but you
have tried to be good to me; that is why I am
going to speak. I hate that man who was fum-
bling like an imbecile at the door a short time
ago, no other word will express the feeling I
have for him ; I hate him ! Why I stay and slave
for him, and live the life I do, instead of going
back where I came from, is owing to my mis-
erable Puritan training. I have a sort of feeling
that it is not respectable for a woman to desert
her husband, and go away to what she was before
she knew him, if that were possible. I have no
near friends, no one in the world for whom I
really care, when it comes to that, but I have
acquaintances by the score, and the demon of
respectability has gotten hold of them and me; it
is more respectable in their eyes, and it always
was in mine, to live on in the way one has chosen
rather than to desert it. That is why I do it.
But I thought it would save you trouble, and me
talk, if you understood plainly at the beginning

SHE IS Dir.MAYF.D AND DISCOMriTi.D.

that you could not do any thing for mc, and might
as well leave me to my fate. I hate it, and him,
and always expect to. If it were respectable, I
should kill him, but it is not considered so, you
know, and I have no fear of doing it."

Was there any answer which ought to be made
to such wild and sinfui words .^ Mrs. Holmes
tried to think, and to steady her heart, so that she
might speak quietly. The words which her hus-
band had spoken about the transforming power of
God's Spirit recurred to her, the more forcibly
because she began to realize, as never before, that
only God's Spirit could transform such lives as
this.

" Do you forget," she said, in a voice of studied
quietness, "that there is a possibility of all this
being changed ? That there is a Power which
could make, not only your husband, but yourself,
into new beings ; could give you back, indeed, the
love and trust which belonged to the early days of
your life together.^ Oh, Mrs. Carpenter, you
asked me what I would do if we had to change
places ; I know how little I can realize what the
horror and terror must be, but I do know I would
do one thing: if I had never learned to pray, I
would make it my first lesson ; then I would pray,
pray, day and night that God would take hold of
my husband, as his power alone could do, and
make him again the husband whom I loved and

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

chose from all the world. Such things have
been done, madam, you must know it ; and they
may be again."

She had not awakened even a shadow of tender
memory, though the woman could not have been
married much more than a decade. Instead, there
was the horror of that wretched smile.

"That is very good logic," she said, "with one
exception — your premises are wrong; there never
was any such time as the one to which you so
feelingly refer."

"What do you mean.'" asked Mrs. Holmes.

" I mean that I did not marry for sentiment ; in
plain English, I did not pretend to love the man 1
married."

"Then why did you marry him.'" The ques-
tioner's face was pale and stern ; her life had been
sheltered from such women as this. Except in
third-rate novels, she had not realized that they
were to be found.

"For a home!" said Mrs. Carpenter, with a
sardonic smile; "for the comforts of life, for the
respectability of the married state! Have I not
told you several times that New England women
will do any thing for respectability ? Surely you
can understand the motive ! Do you not see what
a lovely home he has prepared for me and how my
life is sheltered? I needed a protector, you
know; I was a poor lonely girl, drudging in a

SHE IS DISMAYED AND DISCOMFITED.

country school to support myself ; and I was tired
of it. There was nobody to care for me, or do
for me, if I fell sick. I was at the mercy of aunts
and cousins who considered me a nuisance ; and,
in short, I did as hundreds of other girls do; only
I never pretended that it was for love."

"And you profess to hate shams !"

Perhaps it was the tone, rather than the words,
which made Mrs. Carpenter's face flush.

"Yes," she said, presently, "I do, and am hon-
est in it. Have 1 not told you there was no pre-
tense of any thinj; but a business transaction }"

•' Upon the part of both .? " asked Mrs. Holmes,
solemnly.

" No," after a scarcely perceptible hesitation ;
" I will be honest in that, too. He thought he
preferred me to all the world. I have no doubt
he was sincere, and you see how much it has
amounted to. What am I, compared to a bottle
of whisky, or even to a quid of tobacco."*"

But the disgust in her face was responded to
only by stern dignity on the part of her questioner.

"Was there, then, no marriage ceremony?"

The woman on the bed glared on her in such
a way that, had she been in less terrible eainest,
she might have been frightened.

"What do you mean.?" »vas the short, sharp
question.

"Just what I say. Was there no marriage cer-

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

emony performed by God's appointed servant, at
which time you, havino^ called upon God to wit-
ness, vowed to love a.-d honor the man of your
choice until death parted you ? How dare you
say there was no deception, when you remember
that ? "

The region where this woman's conscience
ought to have been was touched at last. The
flush on her face began to die out, leaving a gray
pallor, but her voice was as firm as ever.

"Honor!" she said, in fine ticorn ; "that is
an expressive word to use to me; remember,
there were two to make the promise. What has
become of the pledge to 'love, honor and cherish'
me? How could even God expect me to honor
such a wretch as he has become .-* "

"All that has nothing to do with the question,"
Mrs, Holmes said, firmly.

She was amazed at herself. She did not under-
stand how she had the courage to speak such
words; she knew that in quieter moments she
would question the wisdom of having begun this
conversation at such a time, but, having begun
it, it seemed to her of infinite importance that
the woman should hear the truth.

"That has nothing to do with the question,"
she said, firmly; "your husband must answer to
God, for his broken vows, and so must you ;
whether you are able to have the right feeling for

SHE IS DISMAYED AND DISCOMFITED.

him now or not does not alter the fact that,
unless you had it then, you took lying words upon
your lips, disgraced your womanhood by one of
the most terrible shams of which a soul can be
guilty. By your own confession, Mrs. Carpenter,
the husbard whom you despise was less guilty
than you." .

The sick woman sat up, and began to twist, and
put back into place her long black hair, from
which the hair-pins had fallen. The red glow had
come back to her cheeks, but her voice and man-
ner were quiet enough.

"I wish you would have the goodn' .s to go
away," she said, with cutting dignity; ''go away
and leave me alone ; you mean wel^ but you don't
know what you are talking about. I saw from the
very first that your intentions were commendable ;
you meant to try to do me good; I felt aln»ost
sorry for you, because I knew better than you did
what a hopeless errand yours was. You haven't
succeeded, and never will ; you do not know how.
I would advise you as a friend to confine your
efforts to the pretty girls, and red-cheeked, well-
dressed boys, who are playing at life. You may
understand enough about that sort of life to influ-
ence them, but a hundred years of such talk as
you have been giving me would do no good, would
do only harm ; not even with the beef tea thrown
in, and I don't deny that it was good. But until

} I

100

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

you learn that you have no right to go into a mis-
erable woman's house and insult her, you would
do well to keep out of it. All I ask of you is to
let me alone. I am glad of the chance to do your
ironing, because you pay well and promptly, and I
am not afraid that you will run away in the night,
leaving an unpaid bill, which is what some of your
line ladies are equal to. I have a higher opinion
of you than you have of me, for to that extent I
trust you ; but at least I am frank in this, I want
nothing more to do with you ; I hope never to see
your face again."

"I beg you to lie down," said Mrs. Holmes,
regarding the sick woman with keen anxiety, "I
am sorry if I hurt you ; I ought not at this time
to have spoken as I did. You are quite right, I
have very little experience with sick people; if
you will only lie down and be quiet, I will leave
you at once."

It was evident that her presence was exciting
the unhappy woman to a pitch which might per-
haps be beyond her control. Trembling in every
nerve with excitement and terrible disappoint-
ment, Mrs. Holmes made haste to gather together
her belongings, slip the bolt and disappear.

Once out of the house, she breathed more
freely. Surjly the sick woman could hardly be
so glad to get rid of her as she was to go. Yet
she was obliged to assure herself that she had a

SHE IS DISMAYED AND DISCOMFITED.

tot

long walk to take through one of the main streets
of tne town, and that she must by no means break
down and cry, at least until she reached the shel-
ter of her own room. What a horrible failure she
had made ! How utterly foolish in her to speak
as she did to a woman wild with pain and misery !

"I should not have noticed what she said any
more than I would the ravings of a lunatic," she
told herself, yet there was an undertone convic-
tion that Mrs. Carpenter knew only too well what
she was talking about, and had revealed the
wretched truth. What was now to be done?
To leave her alone in her helpless state, without
even the care of the husband whom she had
driven from her, was not to be thought of. Yet
who was there that could be summoned to her
aid ? There were neighbors, it is true, but Mrs.
Holmes knew none of them, and the glimpses she
had had of those nearest at hand did not incline
her to hope much from their ministrations.

"She cannot surely stay there alone," said this
much-troubled Endeavorer ; "her husband may
not return to-night, or, if he does, it may be
much worse for her in her present state than if he
had stayed away. I wonder if there is any thing
which that poor Madeline Hurst can do.? I
passed a house not very far from here with that
name on the door; I wonder if it can be where
she lives?"

CHAPTER IX.

SHE REACHLS ATTKR TIIKM.

MADELINE HURST was in the dining-room
of her brother's house, standing near the
window, book in hand. The table was laid for
tea — not very neatly, and without much regard
to comfort. Madeline had prepared it, so far as it
could be said to be prepared. It was not by any
means as well as she could have done ; like poor
"Happy," she rarely did any thing as well as
she could ; and if she had been asked the reason,
would have had no better reply than the evasive
one, "What's the use } "

She was quite as much given to having a book
in her hand as was Happy. And, while they
were of a very different type, so far as regarded
literary merit, it cannot be said that they were
more helpful to this girl's nature than were Hap-
py's to her. Nearly always they were written
from the standpoint of dissatisfaction with what
their authors were pleased to call "the dull com-

102

SHE REACHfeS AFTER THEM.

103

monplaces of life," and all references to Bible or
church, or to the opinions commonly held by
Christian people, contained a covert sneer. In
short, they were books such as no living, active
Christian could have enjoyed, or even tolerated.
Stories they were, of course. Girls of Madeline
Hurst's development rarely read much of other
forms of literature, better written as regards style
than the dime-novel series, but almost as unreal
in their way as the most absurd of these, yet the
unreality was too subtle for an unformed mind to
notice.

So absorbed was the girl in the volume she
held, that she did not hear the door open, and it
was only when her sister-in-law was almost at her
elbow that she gave a violent start and made an
instinctive effort to hide the book ; then, realizing
the folly of such an attempt, turned, with it held
open in her hand.

"Yes," said a high-keyed, peevish voice, "I
would try to hide it ; only I was rather too quick
for you this time ; you will not gain any thing
by hiding them ; I know that you spend every
moment you can steal in poring over worthless
trash. I told your brother so, only last night;
the wonder is, that you are not more nearly
ruined than you are. When are we to have tea,
pray? Must we wait until that three-volumed
story is finished?"

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"You are at liberty to have it whenever you
choose, I suppose," answered the girl, in that sort
of irritating calm which natures like hers can
assume on occasion ; " I was not aware that
I had the management of that matter in my
hands."

"No, and I suppose you were not aware that
you were to set the table, nor put the dining-room
in order; in fact, if one may judge from your
behavior, you are not av/are that you have any
duty in life but to read novels, and make yourself
as disagreeable as possible Why didn't you
make some gems for tea?"

" I did not know that you wished any ; it is the
first I have heard of them."

"The first you have heard! Would a girl who
had common sense, and who was in the habit of
doing any thinking for any one but herself, need
to be told that when bread was scarce and baking-
day twenty-four hours off, something else would
be needed .^"

"I am sure, Emily, I did not know that bread
was scarce. Why can you not be reasonable
about that ? You must certainly remember that
you ordered me to let the bread-jar alone, and
said it was none of my business whether there
was bread in it or not ; after that, how could I
be expected to know, without being told, that a
substitute would be needed ? "

SHE REACHES AFTER THEM.

!05

"Yes, you harp on that! Because I told you
one clay that you needn't meddle with the bread
when Nancy was there to attend to it, and that
she knew as well a;; you did when the jar needed
scalding, your Indian nature took offense, and
you made a resolve to be as hateful about that as
you are about every thing else. I wouldn't have
such a disposition as you for any thing in this
world ! Treasure up a word that is said to you in
haste, as though it was something dreadful ; and
make yourself and every one else uncomfortable.
I suppose that is the way the heroine acted in the
last novel you read ; a sweet creature she must
have been if you have been patterning aftev her
all this weeK ; for I must say you have surpassed
yourself, even, in hatefulness."

The sallow face of the girl grew crimson,
and her eyes glowed until they resembled Mrs.
Carpenter's.

"You hive no right to speak so to me," she
said, coldly; "but I suppose that will not make
any difference. I am not reading a * three-volumcd
novel,' and if I were, I cannot see whose business
it would be except my own. What do you want
for supper, Emily.-*"

"It is a pretty time of day to ask that! What
we can get, of course. Baker's bread, I suppose,
which will have to be run after at the time when
we should be eating it ; your brother is very fond

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Her A5SOCIAt£ ME^fBfiRS.

of baker's bread, you know ! he will have another
proof of his sister's care for his comfort."

The girl faced around and looked her sister
steadily in the face.

♦' Emily, what do you mean ? What sense is
there in this tirade.-* If you had wanted me to
make something for supper, was there any thing
to hinder your telling me so.^"

"Oh, no, nothing in life; I might have had old
Pete go through the town ringing his bell, and
shouting out the valuable information that the
Hursts were out of bread, in the hope that the
news would fall upon your devoted ears and you
would rush home from some of your haunts to
attend to us ! How long have you been in the
house, pray }"

A conscious look came into the girl's face, as
she said in a somewhat quieter tone :

"I have not been away from the house very
long, and I should not have gone out had I
known that any thing special was wanted of me."

"Of course not. How could such a stranger
as you are in this house be expected to know
that Nancy is always out on Friday afternoon,
and that we commonly have supper on that day
as well as on others ? Why should you have any
responsibility in the matter, any way .•• Eating is a
vulgar occupation ; I presume the fine ladies and
gentlemen in your novels live without it."

SHE REACHES AFTER THEM.

107

Madeline turned away with an expressive si^^h.

"You are in worse humor than usual," she said,
coldly; "and that is certainly unnecessary. If
there is any thing you want me to do, more than
I have already done toward getting supper, I
advise you to tell me what it shall be without
more waste of time."

What would have been the outcome of this
sisterly conference, but for the fact that Mrs.
Hurst's attention was diverted, it might be diffi-
cult to surmise. Fortunately for Madeline, her
sister-in-law had not heard the last response,
being engaged in watching the slow, uncertain
movements of a lady on the other side of the
street, who was studying the houses opposite with
utmost care, and was apparently in doubt which
way to go. Mrs. Hurst, looking on, saw her
presently quicken her pace and cross the street ;
a moment afterward the watcher uttered an excla-
mation of surprise.

«*I declare if she isn't coming here.? What in
the world can that be for.? And I am not
dressed ! Mad, run to the door while I fix my
hair a little ; it is that new boarder at Mrs. Stet-
son's. I can't imagine what she wants. I have
never called upon her; she looked too stuck up
for me. But go along, do ; she won't want to be
kept waiting all night. Look in at the parlor as
you pass, and see if it's in any kind of decent

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

order. If you would spend one third of the time
you give to novels in keeping that room respect-
able, I needn't be in a panic every time the bell

rings.

It was quite Mrs. Hurst's habit to plunge into
new topics of interest without regard to any thing
which she might have been saying before ; so
Madeline was not surprised, and, without a word
in reply, moved toward the door, glancing in at
the parlor as she went, and wondering scornfully
what particular good her sister-in-law thought it
would do to "look in» upon " a disordered room on
her way to receive a visitor! The room was not
in order, and she knew it ; the dust lay thick on
some of the mantel ornaments, and the few books
on the pretentious little center-table were in wild
confusion. Madeline knew that she ought to take
better care of the parlor, but her conscience had
long since grown callous to that simple word
"ought." She had few friends and almost no
visitors ; nevertheless, she was occasionally called
upon to blush for the condition of the room. It
was with a heightened glow, therefore, on her
dark cheeks that she opened the door to Mrs.
Holmes.

"Oh, it is you," that lady said, with a relieved
air. " I am glad ; I was not sure that the name
on the door had any connection with your family.
May I come in and speak with you a moment ? "

SHE REACHES AFTER THEM.

109

and she entered the disorderly little parlor, seat-
inp; herself with that courteous air of unconscious-
ness in regard to all disorder which the well-bred
know how to assume.

'•I am distressed about Mrs. Carpenter, as to
how she is to be taken care of during the night.
Surely she ought not to be left alone, or at the
mercy of her drunken husband. I meant to ask
her if she had any friends or acquaintances who
would come, but unfortunately I offended her,
and she would not permit any further effort upon
my part."

"You offended her.^*" asked the girl, with a
touch of surprise in her voice. Then immediately
added : " Poor thing ! Of course you did. An
angel from heaven could offend her when she is
in one of her moods. Indeed, madam, I do not
know what can be done ; she has no friends in
town, and no £. :quaintances except the people for
whom she works. That poor wretch of a husband
would take care of her if he happened to be sober,
and she would let him, but I am afraid she would
drive him away."

"She has already done so," said Mrs. Holmco.
"Is he ever unkind to her.!*"

Madeline laughed.

"Oh, no; he would not dare to be. Mrs. Car-
penter is mistress of the situation always. It is a
dreadful house, Mrs. Holmes. I was attracted to

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

them by the very peculiarity of their misery; so
unlike drunkards' homes which one reads about."

" How well the girl talks, and what a brilliant
color she has!" was Mrs. Holmes* mental com-
ment; "she has the elements of a strong charac-
ter, capable of accomplishing good or ill, accord-
ing as she is swayed. I wonder how much that
poor woman's story about her home is to be relied
upon ?'*

Partly because of her desire to investigate this
question, she made her next effort.

"Then you do not know of any person to
whom we couM appeal ,? Perhaps your sister
would advise us."

Madeline shook her head with a quick flash of
eyes which might mean several things.

"Oh, no! Mrs. Hurst does not know the
woman, and she has nothing to do with such mat-
ters. I am sure I do not know what can be done.
I would be very willing to spend the night with
her, but I am afraid my brother" — She hesi-
tated painfully, and Mrs. Holmes made haste to
her rescue.

" I understand perfectly, my dear girl ; you are
much too young for night work of this sort ; your
brother would not permit it, of course."

How little she understood only Madeline knew.
But she was grateful for the escape from explana-
tion, and began again.

SHE REACHES AFTER THEM.

Ill

"There are one or two women, either of whom
I think would go there out of kindness ; but the
trouble is Mrs. Carpenter would not have them;
she is very peculiar. There is a woman living
on the next street who takes care of the sick for
pay, but I am afraid" — and again she stopped
in embarrassment. Mrs. Holmes caught at the
■word "pay."

" Oh, if there is some one who would be accept-
able, I should be very glad ; she should certainly
be paid. Can we get word to her, and arrange
it } I will pay whatever the woman is in the
habit of receiving. I think she should stay for
a few days and give Mrs. Carpenter a chance to
rest. I do not know but it is rest that she needs
more than any thing else. Is this woman one to
whom we could make a little explanation — take
into a sort of confidence.? Because I am afraid
Mrs. Carpenter is not just now in the mood
to receive even ordinary kindness at my hands.
Perhaps, Miss Hurst, you could join me in a little
bit of diplomacy ; let the poor woman think that
the sin of engaging the nurse rests with you."

Madeline shook her head with a pitiful smiie
on her face as she spoke :

*< It would not work, dear madam ; Mrs. Car-
penter knows that I have not a cent of money to
do any thing with, and never have. But we can
manage it with the woman, if you will be so kind.

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

She has common sense and a good enough heart,
only she is poor, and cannot afford to spend her
strength without beinj paid for it."

"She shall be paid, ' said Mrs. Holmes again,
much relieved. "That is the very simplest part
of doing for others — the device of shirkers, I
often think. There are people who have no
trouble at all in getting out their pocket-books,
but who shrink from personal work."

Madeline laughed.

•*I do not know," she said; "I never had a
chance to try any of their ways, but I know
people who never think of ])utting their hands
into their pockets for such things ; it is strange
that you should be willing to do so, when Mrs.
Carpenter was rude to you."

"That does not change the obligation in the
least, you know," Mrs. Holmes said, quietly, "nor
was the poor woman enlirely to blame. I think
I was as injudicious as possible in saying what I
did. I wonder if I can get you to manage the
securing of the nurse for me.? I would not ask
it, but I have been long gone now from my sick
husband, whose sole nurse I am day and night."

"I will attend to that," said Madeline, though
as she spoke she wondered what Mrs. Holmes
would think if she knew how hard it was for her
to compass even so small a matter.

■"Thank you," replied Mrs. Holmes, sweetly,

SHE. REACHES AFTER THEM.

JI3

"though you have better thanks than human lips
can speak. He rcco<;nized even 'a cup of cold
water,' you know, if given in his name. I hope
you work for his regard.^"

Her voice was very sweet. Despite her efforts
at self-control, it brought a rush of tears to the
eyes of the lonely girl.

"I do not know," she said; "or, that is, I do
know only too well that I do not do any thing
nowadays from a right motive. I used once to
think that I belonged to Him, but I have given
all that up long ago."

•' My dear girl, what a strange thing to give up !
Do you not remember that there is notning in
life which lasts but that .^ "

"Well," dashing the tears away, "I suppose I
am wrong to say I gave it up. I mean, rather,
that I never had it. I only thought I had. It was
a miserable mistake, like all the rest of my life."

"But mistakes of that Vind can be remedied,
my friend," spoken with a bright, glad smile; "if
I did not belong to the Lord yesterday, it is all
the more reason why I should make haste to see
to it to-day."

She had risen, and was moving toward the door
while she talked. In her heart was a burning
desire to get back to her husband, whom she
feared was at home and in need of her; bu^
surely this was the King's business.

114

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

Madeline shook her head and struggled to
speak with dignity.

"Thank you, ma'am; you are good to think
any thing about me, but you do not understand."

"No," gently; "that is true, hut there is
another truth that offsets it, my friend. The
Lord Jesus Christ knows every turn of the way,
and every brier and thorn which grows on it ; take
them to him, dear soul, and his word for it, all
shall be well."

She was on the steps by this time, but she
held out her hand cordially.

"Will you not come and see me as soon as
you can ? I do not leave my husband very often,
but I have long, lonely hours while he sleeps ; I
should be glad to have you come. May I expect
you.?"

"You are very kind," murmured Madeline. It
was all that at that moment she could trust her
voice to say.

"*•*.

CHAPTER X.

ONE WALKS AMONG THORNS.

WELL," said Mrs. Hurst, confronting Made-
line at the dining-room door, •' why in
the name of all that is extraordinary didn't you
come and call me? Didn't you know enough
to understand that that was your i)lace?"

She had not only brushed her hair, but had
exchanged her dress for a pretty evening one, and
had evidently been waiting in a fever of expect-
ancy for her summons. Madeline gave a start of
dismay at the sight. She had forgotten her
sister-in-law !

"She did not ask for you," she said, coldly;
"her call was upon me."

" Oh, indeed ! I was not aware that she had
the honor of being acquainted with Your High-
ness. She is no lady, any how, with all her fine
airs, or she would have known enough to ask for
me. Pray what did she want of you.-*"

Madeline struggled with the desire to say,

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"something which docs not concern you," and
answered hesitatingly:

♦'She wanted to consult me about some one to
stay with Mrs. Carpenter, the woman who did
your curtains ; she is sick."

"Consult with you ! " There was surprise and
intense scorn in the tone. **\Vhat in the name
of wonder did she think you would know about
such things.-* or did she come to hire you to take
care of the vvoman ? Is that the reputation you
are acquiring among your chosen associates.'*"

A wicked smile spread over the girl's face as
she said :

"No, she did not ask me to go; she spoke of
you."

The moment the words were uttered she would
have given much to have recalled them. It was
not only that they conveyed a wrong impression^
but they were so utterly out of accord with what
had just been said to her! Poor Madeline knew
that her sister-in-law stirred up all the evil there
was in her. She honestly believed that it would
be impossible for her to live a Christian life so
long as she stayed in her brother's house.

"Little she knows about the thorns!" she UAd
herself, bitterly, yet even then came the memory
of the sweet reply she had received : "The Lord
Jesus Christ knows every brier and thorn upon
tJiQ road,"

ONE WALKS AMONG THORNS.

iif

Meantime, Mrs. Hurst was regarding her with
angry eyes.

"Mad Hurst," she said, "if you are not the
most exasperating girl tKat ever lived in this
world, then I hope I may be saved from seeing a
worse one ! What do you mean } "

•'I simply mean that she asked me whether
you knew of some one who could be secured tof
stay with Mrs. Carpenter ; and as I knew you did
not, I told her so."

*'And what business had you to do any such
thing.'' What right have you to decide what I
know, or do not know } That is all of a piece!
with your mean, selfish disposition ; you ^/ere sd
afraid I would have a chance to speak to a lady
once in awhile *"hat you took pains to cheat m^
out of it, even though I was asked for, it seems ;
and then told a falsehood, and declared I vv^s not
asked for! If you think I am going to stand
every thing from you, you are mistaken. If I
don't tell your brother all about this, it will be
because I can't ! "

This threat neither dismayed nor angered Mad-
eline. Frequent repetition had caused it to lose
its sting. Complaint she well knew there would
be, poured out in torrents ; bu*^ she knew, also,
that the utmost her brother would do would be to
sigh and say :

"It seems a great pity to me that two women

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

who have nothing to do all clay but stay at home
and keep house, cannot live in peace."

There was a certain degree of sympathy which
Madeline had for her brother that often kept her
from speaking the words she wanted to. He was
an overworked, weary man ; forever struggling
with the problem of how to support his family in
a style which his business did not warrant ; for
the truth may as well be told about this Hurst
household. One demon which had n.s much to do
with disturbing their pjace as any other was
named "Appearance." To make as good a show
as their neighbors, in dress and furniture, was
Mrs. Hurst's ambition in life. For this she
stinted the kitchen and starved the appetites of
her family. She kept a girl, not because her
sister and herself would not have been equal to
the entire work of her household, had it been well
ordered, but because in the society in which she
moved, and especially in the society in which she
was forever struggling to move, "they" never did
t! -^ir own work. But she kept a miserable, slat-
ternly, ill-taught girl, dull of comprehension, and
with no desire to learn ; one who managed, in one
way or another, to break and waste material
enough to support a small family ; and who cre-
ated an atmosphere of discomfort wherever she
turned. No matter, she was a girl, and Mrs.
Hurst, when she paid her round of visits among

One walks among THoRns.

11^

her friends, could talk as glibly as the best of
them about the "trials connected with servants."

Mr. Hurst, who, left to himself, or acted upon
by other influences, would have cared little for
such things, had allowed himself to be so warped
by his wife's ideas, as to join with her in the
weary strain to keep up appearances, until the
tempers of both had been worn nearly threadbare.
Given such a state of things, and you can readily
understand what a storm of angry objections
would greet Madeline's ears if she hinted at her
wish to be independent and earn her own living.
Not that they would have objected to her doing it
in a genteel way, but the trouble was, that, in
their judgment, no genteel way was open to her.
She frankly assured them that she did not know
enough to teach ; that she had no talent for plain
sewing, and that the one thing which she felt sure
she could learn to do and be a success in, was
light house-work !

It cannot be said that the girl herself was really
anxious to take up any such work. Her training
had been too false for that. She now held the
belief that she would make a decided descent by
doing so ; but life in the only home she knew
was so miserable that at times she almost believed
herself ready for even that. At least, she had
been ready to hold it over her indignant sister's
head as the awful thing which she might be

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126

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

driven to do. Of late, however, she had not
cared to mention such a possibility, having dis-
covered that her sister-in-law had fallen into the
habit of entertaining a few of her most intimate
friends, by whispering to them her awful fear that
Madeline had inherited low tastes from some far-
away ancestor, which^ as she grew older, were
cropping out in unexpected ways, her passion
for sensation being even such that she actually
hinted, at times, of her longing to indulge it by
going out to service! "We really live in terror
of being disgraced as a family by some wild esca-
pade of this sort." This was the style of sen-
tence with which the confidence was apt to close.
Mrs. Hurst was not slow in discovering disagree-
able things, and in making what she could out of
them. Thus, when Madeline had by accident
come in contact with Mrs. Carpenter, and been
painfully drawn to the fierce and suffering woman,
Mrs. Hurst sneered at what she was pleased to
call the "intimacy" between them» and on occa-
sion produced it as a proof that the girl had low
tastes.

All things considered, it will readily be believed
that the Hurst family did not sit down to a very
comfortable table that evening. Mrs. Hurst was
in her most disagreeable mood ; even the presence
of her three children did not succeed in quieting
her tongue.

ONE WALKS AMONG THORNS.

i2f

''Where is the rice which was left from din-
her?" she asked, glancing with a glum face over
the scantily-furnished table ; *• since we cannot
have any thing else to eat, perhaps we may be
allowed to have the remains of the dinner."

A swift look of dismay flashed over Madeline's
face.

"There was very little left," she said, "after
Nancy had finished her dinner."

"So much the worse for us, but what there is
I suppose we can have, since we must do without
bread."

"No," said Madeline, trying to speak quietly;
" I did not suppose so small a dish of it would be
needed, and I took it to Mrs. Carpenter, because
she is ill, and I knew would have nothing suitable
for a sick person to eat."

Mrs. Hurst looked savagely triumphant.

" Oh, you did ! You see how it is, George.
As long as we have to support Mad's particular
friends, we must expect to have our grocery bills
enormous, as you are always saying they are."

For some reason the unwomanly sarcasm hurt
Madeline more than usual. It was of no use for
her to struggle with the rising tide of mingled
pain and indignation which threatened to choke
her. As yet, she had not eaten a mouthful, and
Tising suddenly, she said :

" Since you are so troubled, I will save you the

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122

HER ASSOCIATli MEMBERS.

expense oi' my supper for to-night, at least. That
will perhaps atone for the saucerful of rice which
I took to a sick woman."

In another moment the door closed after her
with a bang, which but faintly expressed the
tumult that was raging in her heart. Mr. Hurst
looked annoyed.

" I don't see why you could not have let her eat
her supper in peace," he said ; "a spoonful of rice
doesn't cost so much that there need be a fuss
made about it."

"Oh, of course, you take her side," Mrs. Hurst
said; "you always do; before the children, too,
which makes it pleasanter for me ! If you don't
mind having the food given away, I'm sure I
needn't ; only I do hope you will not consider it
necessary to grumble at me about expenses, when
the grocery bill is due."

By this time poor Madeline was in her stuffy
little back room up stairs, her head buried in her
one small pillow, and she shedding some more of
the bitter tears with which she almost nightly wet
it. Contact with the sweet-voiced, gentle woman
she had met that day seemed but to have added
to her pain ; life was becoming almost intolerable
to her. She had gone over so often the possible
avenues of escape from it, that they were all
almost equally offensive to her. She knew only
too well her sister-in-law's scheme for disposing of

ONE WALKS AMONG TlIOKNS.

123

her. Mrs. Hurst belonged to tlie class of women
who believe that the one aim of a young woman's
life should be to marry, as early and as satisfacto-
rily as possible, provided one did not, by what she
called being "too particular," lose valuable oppor-
tunities. Such an opportunity was, in her judg-
ment, being held out now to Madeline.

"A better chance," she assured her husband,
speaking vehemently, " than I ever expected Mad
to have, I am sure! What the girl is thinking of,
to hang back in the way she does, and run the
chances of losing him, I can't imagine. I don't
see why you don't speak to her, and help her
come to her senses. She acts as though she
could marry the President of the United States
by saying the word."

'♦ I don't want to order her to marry any body,"
the brother would say, walking restlessly up and
down the room, "it looks too much like turning
her out of the hou.se ; and I an? sure that is the
last thing I want to do."

"Oh, now, George," his wife would respond,
with a contemptuous sniff, "don't go to getting
sentimental ; you don't know how to do it ; and,
if you did, it would be wasted on Mad ; there is
nothing in life that she longs for more than to be
rid of us all." »

"Why doesn t she take the man, then, and be
done with it?" would the brother growl, being

kKR ASSOCiA^E MEMHERS.

sure that he was very much vexed with somebody,
and not being quite certain whether it was sister
or wife.

"That is just what I don't understand; I
thoufjht she tvould jump at the chance. I'm sure
I was never more astonished in my life tlian when
I found out he actually meant business. I
believe it is all because of her reading so many
novels ; she has too high-flown ideas for common
people — wants somebody better than he."

Consistency was not a marked trait in IVIrs.
Hurst's character. It was not an unusual thing
for her to advance, on the same evening, the
theories that Madeline was entirely above her
station in life, and looked higher than the
remarkably nice young man who had honored her
with his attentions ; and that she had low tastes
and interests, and would disgrace her family yet by
some alliance utterly beneath her; if this were
not the case, why did she run to that Carpenter
woman's, who lived in one i\;om, in an alley, and
supported her drunkard husband by taking in
washing.^ Nice associates, those, for a Hurst!
But it just showed the girl's make-up.

From her interview with Madeline Hurst, Mr.«.
Holmes made all speed homeward, in great fear
lest the doctor should have returned before this,
and her husband be in need of her. As she

ONE WALKS AMONG THOKNS.

125

turned the corner and saw the doctor's carriage
standing before the door, she almost broke into a
run and daslicd up the stairs, at last, in a way to
make her nearly breathless. Dr. Portland regarded
her with his gay, half-mocking smile. "Deborah
returned from service, weary but triumphant ! "
he said, as he drew a chair for her, "or was it
Dorcas.-* I'm a trifle mixed in biblical history, I
fear. I have so little time to read up, especially
on the days when I have to add the duties of
nurse to those of my regular profession."

" Have you been long here.'' Have you needed
me, Stuart .'' Have you had any refreshment.-*"

"Heen here for ages," said the doctor, promptly,
**and he fainted three times, when he found you
had not yet returned. As for refreshment, he is
probably quite beyond eating any thing by this
time, after such long waiting."

"Doctor," said Mr. Holmes, smiling, "have you
no respect for truth and veracity which needs
guarding .-* Chrissy, my dear, I am entirely com-
fortable. Not nearly so tired as you look at this
minute. We have not been long here, but long
enough for the doctor to evlove a glass of fresh
milk, and some very choice crackers from some-
where, on which I have feasted ; and the ride has
done wonders for me, I think."

"Outwitted ! " said the doctor, throwing himself
l^ftck in his chair, as one whp had failed; "of

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course she will believe him rather than me; it is
to be expected."

Satisfied as to her husband's comfort, Mrs.
Holmes' thoughts reverted at once to her recent
experiences. And in answer to his question, she
began to tell., at first only little bits, about Mrs.
Carpenter ; but, growing excited with her subject,
was in its very depths before she realized it.

"I'll tell you what will have to be done," inter-
rupted the doctor, suddenly; "you will have to
reform that wretch of a husband. I don't know
any thing which will bring Mrs. Carpenter to her
senses like the shock of the discovery that her
husband is really made of better stuff than her-
self ! I believe it. But the difficulty is in con-
vincing her, or, in fact, any other decent person,
of it just now; but if you will engage to reform
him, the thing will be done."

It was the merest babble of words with him,
and the merry mockery in it jarred almost pain-
fully on Mrs. Holmes' tired nerves ; but her hus-
band regarded the speaker very gravely and
thoughtfully.

"There is truth in what you say, doctor. God
pity the soul who, failing in love, cannot have
even a show of respect for her husband. If only
he could be made, before her eyes, into a God-
fearing, God-serving m.an, it might be the means
of saving her soul as well as his."

ONE WALKS AMONG THORNS.

127

The doctor bestowed upon him a look of puz-
zled wonder, then burst into laughter. "I beg
your pardon," he said, when he could control him-
self, "but I really believe you think the thing
feasible. Imagine it, Mrs. Holmes ! The fact is,
he has not seen poor Joe, and we have him at a
disadvantage. Only fancy Joe Carpenter- made
into a respectable member of society!" Where-
upon he indulged in another outburst of laughter.

CHAPTER XI.

SHE IS PERPLEXED ON EVERY SIDE.

MR. HOLMES' face expressed only calm
thoughtfulness.

" Have you never really seen any exhibition of
power of that sort, Doctor .? " he asked, after a
moment's silence.

•' Of what sort, my dear fanatic .? "

"The sort which God uses when he transforms
a soul. Is it possible that you have never known
a character acted upon by a power manifestly
outside of itself, to the degree that what it loved
before, it learned to turn from with fear and
hatred ? In other words, do you not know what
a Christian means when he speaks of the con-
version of a soul .-*"

A sudden gravity, such as often overtook this
man, shone for a moment in his eyes as he said :

" I know there are forces at work in the world
which we common mortals do not understand ;
yes, I will be entirely frank ; I have seen their

128

SHE IS PERPLEXED ON EVERY SIDE.

129

power." Then, turning to the lady, he resumed
his gay tone: "Mrs. Holmes, my horses will be
firm disbelievers in home missionary effort after
to-day ; I feel sure of it. Their supper-time must
be long past. What is that about a * merciful man
being merciful to his beast ' .•* I wonder what the
effect is when the chief character is a woman ?"

His eyes danced with merriment; it did not
seem possible that they could have been almost
dimmed with tears but a moment before over
some tender memory. The lady marveled over it,
while he said his parting words to her husband.
Having departed by way of the western piazza, he
looked in almost immediately to say :

" Mrs. Holmes, it will be quite worth your while
to come out and get a view of this marvelous
sunset ; nothing in your frozen North was ever
seen to approach to it in beauty. No, my friend,"
as Mr. Holmes made a movement to accept the
invitation, "I did not say it would be worth your
while. Your manif st duty is to take no more
steps to-night, except those from that easy-chair
to bed. No sunsets for you, if you please ! **

Once outside, he ignored the sunset, although
it was a marvel of crimson and gold, melting away
into a tender glory formed of both, and began to
speak rapidly.

" Mrs. Holmes, I am deeply interested in your
home missionary efforts, or should they be called

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foreign? Do you feel as though you were a
pilgrim and a stranger, far from home ? You may
not think it, but I have a keen interest in even
Mrs. Carpenter, to say nothing of old Joe. Will
you not take me into a sort of partnership?
There are more than these two to look after; I do
not know their names, but I feel sure that you
do ; and you will find others — I see it in your
eyes. What I am after, is to be counted in ; con-
sulting physician, you know, or friend ; I like that
word better. I shall require to know all the
minute details of each individual case, the unpleas-
ant features, as well as the pleasant ones, of
course; and, between you and me, I am fully
aware that the unpleasant ones will predominate.
I am ready for them, but I want no rivals, if you
please. You are to save all the particulars for
me; if I am entered as an advisory member, I
shall expect you not to forestall me by giving
them first to somebody else."

Mrs. Holmes regarded him curiously. It was
not always easy to understand this man, who was
sometimes grave when he meant the merest non-
sense, and sometimes, under the guise of non-
sense, gave her grave advice. The undertone of
earnestness which she now detected in this whim-
sical speech roused her anxiety.

" What do you mean ? " she asked, quickly.

" Nothing very alarming," stiU speaking lightly ;

SHE IS PERPLEXED ON EVERY SIDE.

131

" I was only offering to be sympathetic and help-
ful to the best of my humble ability." Then,
more gravely : ** Mrs. Holmes, it is perfectly nat-
ural for you to return from your missions of
mercy with your heart full of the sights and
sounds which have confronted you ; it is also
extremely probable that you will feel like talking
them over; what I am after just now, is to give
you a word of caution. Your husband is keenly
alive to any thing which interests you, to say
nothing of his own unaccountable interest in
other people's sorrows and burdens, and he is not
strong enough physically to bear the strain. He
is doing wonderfully well, but his pulse goes to
bounding like a caged animal over the stories
which you tell him. Do not be alarmed, you have
done no harm ; I am only guarding against the
future. Save all the bright places for him — the
whimsicalities, the grotesque features, of which
there must be many ; people with over-tired
nerves often need resting by some such means ;
as for the heart-aches, if you will allow me to try
to aid you in helping, where help can be offered,
and in shouldering whatever end a clumsy fellow
unaccustomed to the business can carry, I shall be
honestly glad. I have a corner about me some-
where which responds faintly to the needs of
humanity, upon occasion, and I '/ould like to be
useful."

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

She thanked him with her lip quivering a little.
She felt like a hopeless bungler. What, for ,
instance, had she been able to accomplish that
afternoon ? In point of fact, she had been turned
away from Mrs. Carpenter's door with orders
never to come again ; and now in her zeal she had
actually injured her own especial charge!

However, she was comforted somewhat, upon
her return to her husband, with the thought
that neither she nor the doctor understood him
perfectly.

"Chrissy," he said, his eyes bright with feeling,
"God is very good. While I wait, resting, he
lets my little wife go out and do her work and
mine. Did you notice how much interested the
doctor was in your description of that poor
woman.? It o^jurs to me that the road to his
heart may be through the trials of others ; and
that his faith in God might be developed through
becoming interested in humanity, enough to watch
and discover what God is daily doing for it. He
has been so good to us, dear, I wish we might
repay him by turning his thoughts toward the
source of all good."

" He is less troubled than the doctor supposes,"
thought the favored wife, "because he rests the
world's burdens where he does his own, upon
the mighty Arm, of which Dr. Portland knows
nothing."

SHE IS PERPLE-^Eb ON FVERV SIDE.

iii

Nevertheless, she resolved to be more cautious
in future. Her strange experience with Mrs.
Carpenter had overbalanced her prudence for a
time.

♦' You are not to think about any * poor woman '
save this one before you," she said, gayly, "and
she is going at once to make you a slice of per-
fect toast with a whole tablespoonful of cream on
it. I have found a place where they will let me
have a gill of cream a day. What do you think
of that > "

Meantime, Happy had somewhat broken the
level of her life with spasmodic efforts at doing
her work as well as she could. It is true that as
yet her efforts at reform had not been so marked
as to surprise her employer. In fact, Happy had
been almost gleeful over her assured reputation as
a prophet when she said to Mrs. Holmes :

" I told you so ! It didn't do a mite of good,
not a mite. She never so much as noticed the
stairs that day, nor the table, nor nothing, and she
scolded — why," waxing eloquent in her earnest-
ness, ** I really b'lieve she scolded more that Sat-
urday than she has all the other Saturdays put
together this fall."

Happy's rhetoric was striking, but her meaning
was plain.

"Never mind," Mrs. Holmes had said, cheerily;
you had even a higher object than to please her,

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

you remember. And beside, she might have been
pleased, although she said nothing about it ; peo-
ple do not always speak what they think about
such matters."

"She speaks all she thinks when things ain't to
suit her," said Happy with a sagacious nod of her
head; "or, if she doesn't, she must have an awful
lot of room for her thoughts. But I don't care;
you noticed the stairs. Mis' Holmes, and that done
me more good than though Mis' Stetson had sot
down on each particular stair and praised it. I
done it for you in the first place; I didn't care
nothing at all about her."

What a very low plane it was on which poor
Happy walked ! The Christian woman could not
help a faint effort toward lifting her higher:

" Oh, Happy ! I like to have you want to
please me, but have you forgotten what I told you
about God, your Heavenly Father.? Do you not
have a little desire to do right in his sight ? "

Actually Happy giggled, not in a bold way, but
with a sort of shy bashfulness, as she said :

"Oh, Mis' Holmes, I don't know nothing about
them things; I don't really."

"She can waive the entire subject as effectively
as Dr. Portland can, if not as gracefully," her
questioner thought, as with a sigh she turned
away.

What to do for Happy was a question which

SHE IS PERPLEXED ON EVERY SIDE.

135

perplexed her perhaps as much as any of those
which now haunted her leisure. There had been
a little relief from the chief immediate anxiety by
the departure of Mr. Arson on a business trip for
his firm, but he would be back in a few days, and
Mrs. Holmes felt that some decided step ought to
be taken to save the girl from his attentions, but
she had not the remotest idea how to take it.

She smiled sadly over the thought of how
Stuart's keen brain would take hold of the prob-
lem, if only she dare consult him, and, remember-
ing Dr. Portland's offer, smiled again, still sadly,
as she felt how powerless he would be to advise in
a matter like this. There was no one to advise,
and there was every one to worry over. Amc ng
•others, Liph. Since the night when she had
spoken such plain words to him, she had only
seen him across the street, and once, face to face
for a moment on the piazza, when he attempted
an awkward bow in recognition, his face redder
than usual the while ; but she heard much of him ;
rather, she heard his name often mentioned by
his mother, and always in that loud, rasping tone
of fault-finding. Such bitter words did this
mother use to her one boy that those who over*
heard could almost find it in their hearts to excuse
some of his evil ways. How could a boy help
going wrong, when he was daily the subject of
such a tongue? Yet Mrs. Holmes remembered

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

also those bitter tears. Surely his mother loved
him. If only she could be made to understand
how steadily she was driving him further down
the road to ruin.

"If I dared tell her so," thought Mrs. Holmes;
"if I could only in some way get an influence
over her, so that she would allow me to speak
plainly."

This "if," like all others, she took to her one
infallible Helper. The answer He sent her was so
commonplace, and yet so entirely out of the line
of her expectation, that for a little while she did
not recognize it as from Him.

It was Saturday morning again, the day of days
in Mrs. Stetson's kitchen. It was con.stantly a
puzzle to Mrs. Holmes how they evolved a break-
fast out of the confusions which reigned there on
all days, but on Saturday the plot thickened.
She stood for a full minute with her hand on the
knob of the door, unwilling to enter because of
the loud voice which rasped the air:

"I wish you would get out of my way! I
should think that at least you could keep your
lubberly feet from staying around, where I have
to stumble over 'em to do my work. Not a stick
of wood have you brought me this blessed morn-
ing, and I've pumped every pail of water I've had
to use. There's a son for you ! Oh, you're a
precious one ; I'm proud of you I When it comes

SHE IS PERPLEXED ON EVERV SIDE.

137

to smoking and spitting and loafing, there ain't
your equal in the whole country round ; I'm sure
of that."

There was a low-growled reply which the irres-
olute woman at the door could not catch, and then
the mother's voice again :

" Shut up, do ! I won't stand any more of your
sass this morning, I declare I won't, not if I have
to break a broomstick over your head ! Get out
of this room this minute, or I'll pour this kettle of
water over you ; I declare I will. Flesh and
blood can't stand no more ! "

This was growing too dreadful ! The woman
at the door resolved upon a retreat until quieter
times. So did Liph. He came with a fierce
stride, his hat drawn over his eyes, so that he did
not see the startled form which he almost ran
against ; he was muttering fiercely, but his step
was not unsteady. Poor Liph was at least "him-
self," and a miserable specimen of humanity was
that self. "It is a worse face than Mr. Carpen-
ter's, I think," was the verdict once more passed
upon it.

Then, when she could summon courage, Mrs.
Holmes made another effort fqr the cup of which
she was in search.

The confusion was greater than ever before.
The boarder had not believed such a thing possi-
ble, but it was. Dishes, lamps, kettles, pans, tubs

1 38

IIKR ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

of dirty water, pails of garbage, empty tin cans,
a basket of partially decayed vegetables, any thing
and every thing which could add to the sights and
smells, seemed to have chosen this moment to
appear. Midway across the room Mrs. Holmes
stopped in bewilderment.

"What do you want now.?" This from her
landlady, in the most ungracious of tones ; there
were times when Mrs. Stetson found it hard to be
gracious, even to this most courteous of boarders.

" I am in search of a cup, Mrs. Stetson, one
which will fit inside my alcohol-heater, but " —

" Well, you wo*- t find it," interrupted Mrs.
Stetson, "not a clean one; there ain't a clean disl
in this house. If we had five more sets of dishes,
that good-for-nothing hussy would have them all
out here in messy-rows. It does beat all what I
have to stand ! Happy, you everlasting idiot, why
don't you find a cup for Mis' Holmes, and not
stand there gauping.?"

Thus directed, Happy sprang forward with evi-
dent desire to accomplish; but, alas for the
attempt ! A large hole in her apron, where a
patch should have been, seized this opportunity
to clutch at the handle of a saucepan, which
stretched itself out from the back of the stove in
search of mischief. Over went the saucepan,
apparently rejoiced at the chance, scattering its
greasy contents in all directions, among others,

I •

SHE IS PEKl'LEXEU ON EVEKV SIDE.

139

over the front of the spotless white wrapper which
Mrs. Holmes wore. On the top of the saucepan
had been a platter, with the remains of fried ham
and eggs, and a small plate containing scraps of
various sorts. Of course, both platter and plate
broke into a thousand pieces. Mrs. Stetson,
with an exclamation which her boarder did not
want to understand, made a dash for Happy's
cars, and succeeded in boxing them soundly before
she attempted to speak.

"I'm sure I'm sorry for your dress, Mis'
Holmes, but ladies in fine dresses should not come
down to the kitchen ; it is no place for them ; and
that is all there is about it."

"Never mind the dress," said Mrs, Holmes;
"it will wash." Happy, even in the midst of the
angry tears which she was trying to mop away
with her wet apron, could not help stopping to
stare at the woman whose voice was low and quiet,
and whose next words were : "I am sorry about
the dishes, but isn't it fortunate that this pitcher
did not break?" And she stooped to pick up a
small, round-bodied glass pitcher, which the jar, or
the quick steps, or something, had set in motion,
and which had seized the opportunity to roll off
the stove hearth and skip under the stove. " That
is such a pretty pitcher, it would have been a real
trial to have it broken. Have you a harder day's
work than usual, Mrs. Stetson

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MER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"f should think I had!" said that woman, in
awful grimness. " I declare I don't know which
way to turn. I was up half the night with the
few stumps of teeth I've got left. If I could ever
get time, and could scrape money enough together
to pay the bill, I'd go and get rid of them, any-
how. Then this morning, of all days in the
year, Sally must give out, and go to bed with a
chill, and a pain, and I don't know what not ; and
me having to fuss with her, and leave every thing
in the kitchen to t^at good-for-nothing Happy.
And if I'd sent her up st:iirs to read a story-book,
I'd have been further along with the work this
minute. It is enough to use up the patience of
two Jobs, the life I have to live. How there is
ever going to be a dinner got for eleven people is
more than I can see."

Mrs. Holmes understood her hostess quite well
enough to know that when she appealed to "two
Jobs." the extreme limit of her endurance was
indeed reached. It was certainly a situation cal-
culated to call forth sympathy, to say nothing of
one's p'jrsonal anxiety as regarded dinner. The
boarder thought with satisfaction of the unfailing
r^i ource, beef tea and the "gill of cream"; and
of the basket of very choice oranges which the
doctor brought the day before. Stuart's bill of
fare was assured — what mattered the rest ?

CHAPTER XII.

t- "

SHE " ENDEAVORS IN A NEW LINE.

SHE had secured her cup, not without certain
other minor perils of dress ^nd temper, and
was back in their room brewing her husband's
after-breakfast cup of tea, before it even occurred
to her that the unusual state of things in the
kitchen might have a remote connection with her
wish and prayer for Mrs. Stetson. With the
thought came an exclamation of dismay, so out-
spoken that her husband looked up from the book
he was reading to ask : '• What is it, dear ; any
thing happened ? "

"No, ' said Chrissy; "or, that is, a great many
things have happened, I suppose," with a little
laugh, "and this thing may, but I don't believe it;
not yet."

"A riddle!" he said, smiling; "am I to guess
the answer, or is it to be told to me ? "

"The answer ic not made, my dear, but your
cup of tea is. Did you think I might have gone

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HEi< ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

to China in search of a new variety ? I have been
so long in getting it ready."

She stood leaning over his chair while he drank
his tea, her face thoughtful, a trifle troubled.

"Are you making the answer.^" he asked at
last, as he returned the empty ciip.

"No," slowly; "I am afraid the answer is
made, and I do not quite like it There are very
disagreeable things that one might feel it one's
duty to do, Stuart."

He laughed at that.

" Nothing is truer, my dear wife ; I can speak
feelingly; I have been placed in such situations
myself."

"Have you.^" she said, almost wistfully; "I
cannot think it ; you seemed always, to me, to be
not only willing, but eager, to do the thing which
ought to be done; but I am very different."

He reached his thin white hand out after her
plump one, as he said :

"You do yourself injustice, my little Chrissy;
I have never seen the shirking from duties which
seems to haunt you. You must remember, my
dear, that since I have had the right to look after
you, I have always been obliged to hold you back,
instead of urging forward ; in other words, your
temptation is to overdo, instead of underdo."

"Ah, but that is when work pleases me.
Don't you know how I have wasted my time

SHE ENDEAVORS IN A NEW LINE.

143

since we left home ? But never mind, you must
not think or talk any more ; it is time you were
sleeping. Will you take a very long nap, and
spare me all the morning.?"

"I will do my best, dear. But you are not
going out for a long walk this morning, are you ?
It must be quite warm in the sunshine ; there is
less breeze than usual."

She shook her head.

"I am not going to walk further than the
kitchen this morning, Stuart. Some of the mem-
bers of my Christian Endeavor Society need
special help, and the place of meeting is the
kitchen."

The look he gave her was so full of curiosity
that she burst into merry laughter.

"You shall have a detailed account of the meet-
ing some other time," she said ; ''just now you are
to sleep."

He ventured but one question, having watched
her with eyes that, had she taken time to look at
them, might have told her several things, while
she moved about, wheeling his couch into just the
right spot, and setting the screen to her mind :

•'Are you going to the kitchen in that dress.?"

"Oh, no, indeed!" It was the delicate white
he liked so well, fresh as the rose at her belt.
Her first care on coming from her former trip to
the kitchen had been to lay aside the one which

I if

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

had been soiled there. " I shall attire myself in a
manner suited to the needs of the kitchen. You
ought to be able to look into it ; or, no, on second
thought, I don't believe you ought."

It was the plainest of prints in which she next
appeared, made without a superfluous plait or
gather — small-figured, dark-colored, but fitting
perfectly, and the plainness relieved only by an
edge of white at the throat. Happy looked up on
her entrance, astonished, but respectful. Plain
and dark as the dress was, it had an unmistakable
air which the girl recognized. No dress of hers
ever looked like that. Happy did not know why.

Mrs. Holmes moved skillfully through the mul-
tiplied bewilderments of the kitchen to her land-
lady's side.

"Mrs. Stetson, may I come and help you with
the dinner ? I know how to do some things, and
you can tell me about others if you will."

Mrs. Stetson let the spoon sink softly and
swiftly out of sight into the mixture she was
stirring, while she surveyed her visitor from head
to foot, amazement plainly written on every
feature.

" You don't mean it ! " she gasped, rather than
said, at last.

"Certainly I do. If Sally is sick, somebody
ought to do at least some of the things which
usually fall to her. I shall be very glad to help if

SHE ENDEAVORS IN A NEW LINE.

May

you will let me. Where shall I commence ?
I wash the dishes ? "

'* For the land of pity ! " said Mrs. Stetson ;
"no, you mayn't. Think of washing dishes in
that dress ; you look as though you were going to
meeting this minute."

Mrs. Holmes laughed pleasantly.

"It is a ten-cent calico, dear madam, bought
and made with special reference to work in the
kitchen. This dark blue cloth is what is known
as 'oil-boiled' goods, and will take almost innu-
merable washings and come out fresh and bright.
Mrs. Stetson, I am sure that Happy and I can
reduce these dishes to order in a very short space
of time."

Without more ado she set to work ; it was quite
evident that if she was to be of any help to the
dazed woman, she must take the initiative. As
for Happy, she was quite as bewildered as her
mistress, and looked on in a condition of giggly
embarrassment while Mrs. Holmes, with skill-
ful fingers, marshaled the sticky multitude into
orderly ranks; good-naturedly refusing to receive
forks with spoons, or cups with glasses, when
Happy, in a spasm of helpfulness, plunged some
of these miscellaneous articles into her pan.

" Oh, no, Happy, let us wash and rinse and dry
the glasses first, then the silver; after that the
cups and saucers may have their turn; one can

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

work a great deal faster in that way, besides hav-
ing the dishes nicer. Did you know it .?"

No, Happy did not know that, nor any of the
five hundred little things which go to make the
difference between skilled labor and slovenly, half-
done service. Mrs. Holmes, as she plunged the
astonished glasses into their bath of hot water,
moralized over the folly of it all. Why should
Happy, for instance, be expected to know the
scientific ways of doing these things ? Who
would think for a moment of engaging her to
teach their. children arithmetic or music, without
first discovering what degree of training she had
had to make her fit for the work ? Yet kitchen
jgirls were supposed to understand their business
without having ever so much as had the oppor-
tunity to learn ! Was it so strange that the
majority of thern stumbled into the wrong way,
?ind lived on, a, trial to their piistresses and a mis-
pry to themselves f

M If I were a philanthropist and had fifty thou-
sand dollars to give to some important cause I
^ould go through the country establishing cook-
ing and housekeeping schools."

Chrissy Hollister in her mother's dining-room
had often made some such remark as this ; behold
her now in Mrs. Stetson's kitchen establishing
her first c ae !

"Without the 'fifty thousand,' too," she saicj to

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SHE ENDEAVORS IN A NEW LINE.

147

herself, with an amused Httle smile, while she
worked.

She was no novice playing at reform. Her
mother had been a pattern housekeeper in her
own way; and her daughter Chrissy, when she
awakened to the fact which always astonishes a
sweet-hearted earnest-souled young woman, that
she was actually to have a home of her own to
order, set about learning the best ways of order-
ing it, bringing to the work the same untiring
zeal and energy which had made her a power in
whatever direction she turned her thoughts.

It is true that she had been especially favored ;
for, in addition to her mother's practical knowl-
edge of all domestic matters, during the last six
months of Chrissy Hollister's girlhood there had
been set up in the city where she lived, one of
those institutions which have recently arisen to
bless humanity, a thoroughly well-regulated cook-
ing-school, where a certain number of young
women could, for value received in dollars and
cents, go through a systematic course of instruc-
tion in regard to all the bewildering routine
belonging to the kitchen. It was perhaps, then,
no wonder that in the pretty home which awaited
her in the great city where her husband lived,
she speedily became a mystery and an object of
envy to her young married friends because of the
skill ^nd ease with which she attacked problems

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

which were infinitely worse to them than any in
Euclid.

•* I do it," she had said once, in answer to a
despairing question from a housekeeper of three
months* standing, "just as you play at sight one
of Beethoven's masterpieces, because I have been
taught how. It is a science, my friend, as assur-
edly as music ; the only trouble is, it is a wofully
neglected one." So now she said, in answer to
Happy's admiring " Law, Mis' Holmes, how do
you do it so quick and so nice": "Because I
have learned, Happy. In my own house I made
a regular study of washing the breakfast dishes.
For the first six weeks of my housekeeping I
could get no help; and I used to plan ways of
arranging the dishes so that they would come in
regular order, the more delicate and least soiled
ones first ; and I planned where to set them so as
to make the fewest moves possible. I changed
my arrangements every morning for a week, until
I had the matter reduced to perfection."

Happy chuckled : " It seems awful funny," she
said; "I sh'd as soon think of one of the roses
off the big bush in the corner out there comin* in
and washin' the dishes, and knowin' how ; and it
seems awful funny to think of your thinkin' about
it, and planning ways to do it. Why, I don't do
that myself; I don't think about them a mite
piore than I can help ; I keep goin' on with the

SHE ENDEAVORS IN A NEW I INE.

149

last story I read, all the while I am doing the
dishes ; I try to plan what he'll say next, and what
she'll do, and all of 'em ; and sometimes I get that
busy over 'em that I forgit what I'm about."

Mrs. Holmes could readily believe it ; also, she
could have wept over the poverty of poor Happy's
life, and her pitiful attempts at making pleasure.
** It will not do to let one's mind go much away
from one's work," she said, gently, "until the
work, in all its details, has been thoroughly
mastered, and there is no new thing to learn
about it ; then, indeed, some work becomes a sort
of habit, and one's fingers can be trusted to carry
it out to perfection, while one's thoughts are busy
elsewhere. I studied French in that way, last
winter."

"You did!" said Happy, in unutterable awe
and admiration, holding her drying-cloth poised in
the air while she stared and admired.

*'Yes. I would not keep those dishes waiting
for a moment, Happy; the rinsing-water is too
hot for that ; take them out one by one and let
them drain ; no, do not attempt to dry them now ;
see how wet you will get your cloth almost imme-
diately ; by the time we have the salver full, those
first ones will be almost dry ; they will need but
a touch to finish them. Mr. Holmes was teach-
ing me French ; and I lived a very busy life, with
not much time for study ; so I planned that whea

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMHERS.

I was making my bed and setting my room iri
order, I would learn a French verb. I fastened
the book open on the mantel, and looked at it
when I passed that way, and managed very nicely
both work and study ; but that was after I had
mastered all the details of thc^ room, and knew
•exactly what needed doing and how to do it. I
remember, one week, I wished to change the
arrangement of the spread and the pillows on my
bed, and I was obliged to close the French gram-
mar for two mornings and give attention to the
new way ; otherwise I would become so absorbed
in the study as to forget it."

"You are an awfui funny woman ! " said Happy,
with perfect frankness ; " I never see any one the
least mite like you before."

During that busy morning, Mrs. Stetson, to
judge from the expression of her face, must have
felt the same. Mrs. Holmes worked steadily,
skillfully, and with a swiftness unknown to that
region, going from one task to another with the
air of one who had done such work before,
and knew instinctively what would be needed
next.

" I declare for it," said her landlady, at last, her
admiration breaking all bounds, " I most wish you
was a poor widow, with nothin' to do but house-
work, to earn your living, and I'd hire you quicker
than a cat can wink, and pay you the biggest

SHK ENDF.AVOKS IN A NEW LINE.

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wages ever was paid in this kitchen; see if I
wouldn't!"

Mrs. Holmes could hardly repress visible mani-
festation of the cold shiver which ran through her
frame over that terrible word "widow." She had
come too near the shadow of it, not to feel a dart
from its quiver of pain.

"What is the next thing.?" she asked, making
quick effort to turn Mrs. Stetson's thoughts from
herself. " I notice that your bread dough is light
May I mold it into loaves, or do you prefer to do
that yourself.?"

"Oh, land!" said Mrs. Stetson, "you don't say
you know how to make bread ! Well, I don't«
and that's the truth. I've been feeling my way
along with it, and wondering how it was going to
come out, and it has hung like a great stone
around my neck, all this morning. You see,
Sally, she understands it, and always tends to it,
and I never sensed the idea that she might get
sick. I've always been in luck having girls who
knew how to make bread ; I've never done it more
than half a dozen limes myself, and made a failure
of it then, pretty much ; and since you are so
powerful good and kind, and I'm sure I'll never
forget it of you if I live to be as old as Methu-
selah — which I hope to the land I won't — if
you will knead it up and get it into loaves, I'll be
gladder of that than of all the rest put together."

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The younger woman looked with wondering
pity upon this housekeeper of a quarter of a cen-
tury who yet had not learned how to make the
one important article of daily food ! Then, with-
out more delay, she proceeded to the task of
'•kneading up" the bread. How glad was she
that her own careful hands had washed those
bread-tins but a half hour before !

CHAPTER XIII.

SHE CALLS LEMON TIE TO HER AID.

THE last smooth loaf was receiving its final
patting, preparatory to being tucked under
covers, while Mrs. Stetson stood at a little
distance, soliloquizing ; arms akimbo, tired, wrink-
led face, with a dab of flour on one cheek and a
streak of soot on the other. Such was the picture
which she presented to the trim young woman
who patted the bread, and looked out at her from
the half-open door.

"What in the name of wonder will I get for
dessert.?" Mrs. Stetson pronounced the word as
though she were speaking of the plains of Sahara.
•'I wish to the land folks didn't have to have
desert every blessed day of their lives ! It hasn't
got any reason nor sense in it, to my way of think-
ing. Eat a good big dinner of roast beef, and two
kinds of potatoes, and beans, or something, and
pickles and bread and jelly, and every thing they
can get, and then begin all over again, with fresh

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plates 'ind all, and swallow down something sweet
and sticky — I'd like to know who first got up
such a ridiculous fashion, any way ! But there is
no use in talking ; folks do it, and so I s'pose
folks will keep on doing it to the end of time.
But I don't know more than the babes in the
woods what to have, nor how to make it,"

Mrs. Holmes, hearing this forlorn confession,
stepped forward for a better view of the speaker,
the better to entertain Stuart with the entire
scene. It was impossible not to be amused, but,
as she caught a glimpse of the worried face which
'lad grown prematurely old, it was also impossible
not to be sorry for her. Mrs. Holmes considered.
She had been long gone from her husband, only
taking occasional trips to see that he was comfort-
able. She had been very busy and was growing
weary, despite the fact that youth and a perfectly
healthful body were her strongholds. Should
she?

A long-drawn, almost hopeless sigh closed the
soliloquy in the other room, and decided the list-
erer. That sigh covered other worries than what
should be had for dessert, and she who knew
what some of them were, and felt powerless to
help, was yet determined to lift where she could.
She took thoughtful care for the loaves v/hich had
now become her pride, and for which she had con-
ceived that mingled affection and solicitude which

SHE CALLS LEMON PIE TO HER AID.

155

every good bread-maker un dp. stands ; then turned
to the mistress, whose face v/as still puckered over
her problem.

"Mrs. Stetson, I have been looking at some
beautiful lemons while I was at work. Do your
boarders all like lemon pie, and do you care to
have me make some for dessert ?"

The instant lifting of the shadows on the worn
face would have been answer enough, but Mrs.
Stetson broke into another torrent of words,

" I declare for it if you was an angel come
down from heaven, you couldn't do any more than
you have this morning, nor half so much ! I
don't suppose the angels know how to wash
dishes, and make bread and pies ; at least, I hope
to the land that they don't have to do it where
they live. Like lemon pie f I should say they
did. Every last one of them looks as though he
had had a fortune left him when he sees a piece
coming. Anr] as for Liph — well, I never in all
my days seen any one so crazy after any thing as
he is after lemon inc. I'd have it oftener than I
do, jest for him, if tht'y didn't all like it so ever-
lasting well, and want two pieces around, some of
'em, and boarding-houses can't stand that. Mis'
Holmes ; not at my prices. But lemons is get-
ting plenty now, and cheap ; and there's eggs and
things plenty, too ; 1 never thought of lemon pie.
But I'll* make it. Mis' Holmes, and thank you for

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HER associatf: members.

putting me in mind. I can't make as good a crust
as Sally, and that's a fact ; but I ain't afraid but I
can make one that they'll eat."

Mrs. Holmes had her own opinion of Sally's pie
crust, and if her landlady's was not so good, why,
then — . She made haste to speak. •* I would
just as soon make it for you, if you choose. I
used to make lemon pies for my mother. It will
seem quite like home to make them again. I
will just run up stairs and see if my husband
needs any thing, then I will attend to the pies.
You are tired, and have quite enough to do
besides."

There was a smile on her face, and her step was
light as she went away she did not feel so tired
as she had but a moment before. One sentence in
Mrs. Stetson's flow of words gave her hope and
courage: "I'd have it oftener than I do, jest for
Liph." There spoke the mother-heart. It was
another proof that Mrs. Stetson had by no means
lost her love for her all but ruined boy ; it
afforded also a hope that, through the medium of
lemon pie, a hint might in some way be conveyed
to the mother of a better way than the one she
was taking.

" I am conducting my Christian Endeavor meet-
ing," was Mrs. Holmes' statement to her husband
as she held his glass of milk, while he settled him-
self on the piazza.

SHE CALLS LEMON PIE TO HER AID.

157

"The subjects before us are dish-washing,
bread-making and lemon pies."

"Capital subjects," he said, returning her merry
smile; *' there certainly has to be a great deal of
'endeavoring' over the first two; I don't know
about the 'Christian' part of it."

" I c >. There is a great deal of the * Christian '
part needed for those occupations ; more than you
gentlemen, who never have to endure the trials
connected with them, know any thing about."

" You are mistaken in your premises ; I know a
great deal aboMt both. When I was in college I
boarded myself, and washed the dishes regularly
and thoroughly every Saturday. Tlicre were
seven of them. I could never understand how
there came to be so many, when I used the same
plate for each meal, and drank neither tea nor
coffee ; but there certainly were, I remember
particularly a certain bowl, I think it was, which
was always grv -\'. I am sure I do not know
why ; there were very few things on my bill of
fare which contained any grease. Oh, I know all
about housekeeping, and I assure you I think it
requires a great deal ot grace to get through with
it; mine did. I do not Iciovv about bread," he
added meditatively ; " I never really tried to make
any, but I have wajtched rhers, and it looked
rather easy to me ; however, I tried griddle cakes
once, and they were a totai failure."

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"Oh, Stuart," said his wife, dropping into a
low seat before him, in a bubble of laughter, "did
you really live in such dreadful fashion when you
were in college ? You never told me about it."

"Not at all," he said, composedly sipping his
milk. "I lived elegantly; fared sumptuously
every day, I used to have my plate fresh for
breakfast, and turn it over and use the other side
at dinner-time."

" Oh, horrible ! But how did you get it clean ?
I thought you washed dishes only once a week."

"That was all," he said tirmly; "I set my foot
like a flint against doing it oftener. VVelland
wanted to do it on class days, but I never yielded
an inch to him. He was m) chum, and boarded
with me for awhile. He is a lawyer now ; lives
in Chicago, and has several courses with his din-
ners. Why, about the plate, that was easily man-
aged. I rubbed it off very carefully after dinner
with a bit of clean paper, an<l it was all ready for
the next morning's meal. We eschewed suppers
as being injurious to our digestive organs. What
are you dumg down stairs, Chrissy, and what is
the end in view .* "

"The immediate end is lemon pies, as I told
you," said his wife, risuig, "and they will be warm
and horrid if I do not have them in the oven very
soon. As to the i nd iu the distance, it is a
Christian Endeavor meeting, 1 tell you. What

SHE CALLS LEMON PIE TO HER AID.

159

'"''! result remains for the future to tell; but I
expect results."

**I do not doubt it ; you could not give a fellow
a piece of one of them, I suppose, in the shape of
lemon pie?"

"No, indeed ! " she called back to him from the
hall, "it would be 'injurious to. youi digestive
organs '."

"Your son likes plenty of sugar in them, I sup-
pose?" she said to Mrs. Stetson, a few minutes
later, stirring the sticky mixture while that
woman looked on admiringly; "young men are
nearly always fond of sweet things. It is so nice
in you to think of him in your cooking. You will
have to tell him how you planned these pies
expressly for him."

"Me tell him!" said the gray-haired mother,
pressing her thin lips together fiercely; "not
much will I ! I slave for him night and day, and
I cook things a-purpose for him often enough ; it
is a kind of a second nature, I guess ; but I ain't
such a fool as to tell him so. When he's going to
destruction right before my eyes, I ain't going
to pet him, and make him believe I'm tickled to
death about it. I tell him right out plain a dozen
times a day exactly what I think of him ; and
there ain't no petting in it ; he can't accuse me of
not speaking the truth to him, and doing my best
tp keep him from ruin."

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Was this the "chance" for which this young
fisher of souls had spent her morning in the warm
and crowded kitchen ? She tried to feel her way
cautiously.

"Oh, dear madam, I am sure you are wrong
about one thing. No boy was ever yet injured
by his mother's tenderness. Plain speaking they
need, all of them, I suppose ; but ' speaking the
truth in love,' that is what people gone astray
need more than any thing else in life, I believe."

She winced inwardly as she said the words,
remembering how very little love had been min-
gled with her plain, strong words to Liph on the
one occasion of her talking with him.

" Humph ! " said Mrs. Stetson, with a hard
sneer. " S'pose he was your boy and treated you
as he does me, do you believe you'd molly-coddle
him.?"

"I do not know," said Mrs. Holmes, firmly,
"because I do not know whether, under trying
circumstances, I should do right or wrong; but I
know perfectly well what it would be right to do.
To hate the sin and to use all our powers of gen-
tleness and patience with the sinner, is what God
does, dear madam, and He is our example. I am
so sure it would do your boy good to have some
of the gentleness, that I mean to tell him, the
very first opportunity I get, that his mother
had lemon pies for to-day's dinner because he

SHE CALLS LEMON PIE TO HER AID.

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was fond of them and she wanted to please
him."

They had the kitchen to themselves, Happy
having gone to set the table. Mrs. Stetson was
beating eggs while she talked, or rather while she
stood silent beside the younger woman ; presently
she seized the corner of her long-suffering apron
and wiped away a straggling tear, as she said in a
half-choked voice :

•*You think I'm hard on him, then.^"

Can people pray and speak to a mortal at the
same moment ? Chrissy Holmes feels sure that
they can.

"Poor mother," she said, and her voice was like
music in its gentleness, "forgive me, but I think
you are. Not in your heart, but in your words.
He needs to see represented in you the forgiving
love of God, the Savioi of sinners. A mother's
love and tenderness are perhaps the most vivid
pictures of God in Christ that men, especially, can
ever know. I am sure your boy has his seasons
of hating himself, and of longing to be other than
he is. If at such moments he could recall his
mother's look of infinite yearning, patience and
desire, what might it not do for him.?"

Was she talking beyond the reach of this uncul-
tured woman ? or was there a culture of the heart
which love would translate.? If she had not
utterly mistaken, there were strong depths to this

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rugged nature. There was silence for so long,
that Mrs. Holmes, praying still, ventured to
glance again into the worn, seamed face; it was
working painfully.

" I am as sure as I stand here that I could die
for the boy," she said at last, struggling to speak
quietly ; " but it has appeared to me that I ought
to keep it before him what an awful disappoint-
ment and disgrace and shame he is to me; and
how I have slaved, and all for nothing! "

Her voice kept rising with her words, until the
sound of tears went out of it and there was only
fierceness left.

"Do you think he does not know that.^" said
the younger woman, keeping her voice low and
tender and solemn. "It is the thing which
at times drives him to utter self-loathing and
despair, and sends him deeper into the mire. I
am certain, dear madam, that he needs to hear
his mother's voice low and tremulous, as it used
to sound when he was young and innocent, and
meant to be your strong tower of support. You
know he had such plans once, don't you.? He
needs to have their memory revived by the look
on your face, and the love in your voice."

The eggs were abandoned ; Mrs. Stetson was
sobbing now ; whether the lemon pie had a lovely
foam over it or not, the tears must have their way.
The younger worker gently possessed herself of

SHE CALLS LEMON PIE TO HER AID.

163

the dish and went on with the manipulations,
while the other sobbed out :

"It's of no use to talk ; I can't do it. I'm that
wrought upon and mad and discouraged when I
think of what he was and meant to be, and what
he is, that I can't, to save my life, help flying out
at him and giving him all the tongue I've got ;
and he deserves it, too ! "

"Mrs. Stetson, there is a way to help it. There
is only one way, I believe, for sorrow such as
yours; all minor helps sink into insignificance.
What Liph needs more than any thing else is his
mother>s prayers. You said you would die for
him, and I believe you. What you are called
upon to do, instead, is to live for him, and to
pray for him. Give yourself utterly to God, dear
friend, and cry to Him for the salvation of his soul.
He will help you ; I am sure of it. I know Him
well ; he never failed a soul who asked : he never
will. He can speak to Liph in a voice so full of
power that the boy must hear and think and
decide. If you will pray for your son with the
strong crying of those who mean it, and then rep-
resent God in his m'^rcy and patience to him, I
I feel in my soul that I have the right to tell you
God will get hold of him and save him. Will you
do it ? "

Mrs. Stetson had retired to the window, had
buried her gray head in the apron, regardless of

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

dabs of egg and flour and butter with which it
was besprinkled, and was vainly trying to regain
self-control. A moment of prayerful silence, then
the young worker spoke again :

"Dear madam, I know you will forgive the plain
words I have said, because from my soul I long
for your son's salvation, and mean to pray and
work for it ; and I believe you will try to save him
in the way I am proposing. I feel so sure of it
that I am going to ask you something further.
We are now almost ready for dinner; every thing
is in shape and progressing • 'cely, and I can man-
age the whole to your entire satisfaction, I am
sure. If now you are willing to trust me, to
promise to join me in this matter, and f'O to God
on your knees for your boy, and never give him
vip again while God gives you breath to pray, then
please go away to your room, and think it over,
and pray it over. If you will go up stairs now, I
will take it as your answer to my plea."

Would she ? Mrs. Holmes felt her nerves quiv-
ering almost as one in a chill, so great was her
desire and her fear. Like a statue stood the
woman at the window, while one, two, three min-
utes passed ; then turning suddenly, without drop-
ping her apron from her eyes, she strode across
the room and vanished up the back stairs. Mrs.
Holmes drew a long, quivering breath and felt as
though she must fly up the other stairs into her

SHE CALLS LEMON I'lR TO HER AID.

.65

husband's arms, and cry. Rut of course that
could not bo done, on Stuart's account. Hesiiles,
there were pies to bake and potatoes and turnips
to mash, as well as numbcrletis other things to be
done!

CHAPTER XIV.

SHE AMAZES ONE OF THEM.

LOOK here, Mis' Holmes, what arc you doing
it for.?"

It was Happy's voice, bewildered, almost awe-
stricken. In her hands she brandished a knife, a
spoon and three forks, which had just been ban-
ished by Mrs. Holmes from the neatly laid table,
because they were not bright enough to warrant
their moving in such society. Happy had for the
third time, under Mrs. Holmes' instruction, taken
off some of the dishes in order to straighten the
cloth ; but so very gentle, even genial, had been
the voice and manner of her new mentor that
Happy had not even once frowned nor twitched
her shoulders ; on the contrary, she had developed
a continuous tendency to laugh.

"You see, Happy," said her teacher, as for the
third time the cloth was re-arranged, " it will
never do to have this table-cloth awry; it is a

i66

SHF. AMAZES ONE OF THEM.

167

very fine one, and is ironed beautifully ; but to
lay it crooked would spoil the effect, and j;ive us
an impression of disorder and discomfort."

Happy surveyed the table-cloth with curiosity;
it was one of the marvels of this eventful Satur-
day morning. But a few moments before Mrs.
Stetson left the kitchen she had made a dash into
the dining-room, surveyed with disdain Happy's
leisurely efforts at setting the table, given a short,
sharp order to the effect that the few dishes
already in place be removed at once, snatched at
the soiled and much-worn cloth, cast it in a flimsy
heap in the corner of the room, and then pro-
duced from her store this marvel oi whiteness
and fineness. In vain Happy ventured to sug-
gest that it wasn't the day for clean things.

"Yes, it is, too," said the landlady, sharply;
"it's the day for clean things of all sorts! I
guess I can have a clean table-cloth Saturday, if
I want it. Go and ut that rag in the dirty
clothes and set this table nice, or I'll be after
you."

To Happy's comfort and the table's benefit, it
was Mrs. Holmes, instead, who had been "after"
the disorderly girl, and, by dint of patient direc-
tion and patient determination that the thing
should be done right, had at last succeeded in
having the table-cloth properly straightened, and
laid without a wrinkle. But Happy's wonder,

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which had been rising all the morning, now
reached its climax, and she arrested proceedings
by that short, pertinent question :

"Look here, Mis' Holmes, what are you doing
it for ? "

" Doing what, Happy ? Set the dishes in place
as rapidly as possible, please, as we have very
little more time."

"Doing the hull of it. Mis' Holmes; the bread,
and dish-washing, and every thing. Nobody ever
did so before, not in this kitchen, and it ain't
because you're a friend to her. She sassed vou
only this morning right to your face, and she says
you are stuck up, and she can't cook fine enough
to suit you, and you fuss over things. Now,
what's it for ?"

It seemed desirable to respond to the look on
the bewildered girl's face, if not to the words in
which she voiced her perplexities. Evidently the
simple bit of Christianity involved in reaching out
a helping hand had thrown Happy's brain into a
whirl. She was utterly at a loss to discover a
motive for such action.

'• Lay the mats in this way, Happy, and the
glasses want to be set so. Don't you think they
look better than they do standing as though they
were thrown on the table ? Why have I been
helping Mrs. Stetson and you a little while this
morning, do you mean ? Do you remember what

SHE AMAZES ONE OF THKM.

169

I said to you a few days ago about the Lord Jesus
Christ ? I am doing it for him,"

"My land!" said Happy, "I don't know what
you mean no more than if you talked Dutch.
What could He care about washing dishes, and all
Mis* Stetson's other work?"

"But he does care! Don't you know 1 told
you? He cares for her; knows just how troubled
she is to-day, and how many hard things she has
to bear. He wants her helped and comforted, and
he sent me to do what I could."

■'It beats all!" burst forth Happy again, after
a moment's puzzled staring. "I never heard any
body that was stark crazy talk as queer as you do.
Any body would think that that One you talk
about was up stairs in your room this minute, and
had sent you down here to work."

"Which is the simple truth, my girl" — albeit
the lady smiled while she spoke ; Happy's way of
putting the truth was rather unique — "He is up
stairs in my room, and down here with us, and
in the kitchen, and everywhere. Do you not
remember that He sees all persons and things, and
is interested in our smallest acts ? Why, Happy,
when He was on earth He went about all the time
doing kindnesses for any who needed, and would
let Him help. Have you not read His life? You
like to read stories ; some of the strangest stories
ever written you will find in that book."

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"The Bible is an awful big book," said Happy,
discontentedly, "and I don't know much about it ;
but I don't understand it a mite more than I did.
He woiildn'i wash dishes and make pies."

"He would do whatever the soul He was hel{>
ing, needed most, Happy. At one time He washed
the feet of twelve tired, dusty men, to teach them
not to shrink from the humblest duties ; and He
said that His life here was to be an example to
His followers. I am one of his followers ; that is
why I try to help."

" I'd be willing to help people that I liked,"
declared Happy, in growing discontent. "I'd
wash dishes, or scrub, or do any thing for you,
Mis' Holmes, but she's so dreadful cross and
snappy, and ready to bite you if you do the least
thing. How would you like to have your ears
boxed, and you a great big, grown-up girl ? I
guess you wouldn't have washed her dishes if
she'd 'a' done that to you."

Happy, scowling, was a curiosity. She had
evidently felt her disgrace of the morning keenly.
Poor Mrs. Stetson would be likely to have even a
harder time with her hereafter, unless some influ-
ence outside of herself could reach and recon-
struct this girl. They were both in the kitchen
now, and the self-appointed cook was giving care-
ful attention to the dozen or so "last things"
which go to make or mar a dinner. It seemed a

SHE A.MAZKS ONE OF TIIKM.

171

most unpropitious time for a lesson in thcolo<;y.
There were even those who would have deemed
it shading on the irreverent to attempt to talk of
religious matters under sueh circumstances. lUit
Chrissy Holmes' religion pervaded every thought
and act of her life, and assuredly had to do with
the kitchen fully as much as with the parlor.

•' I have sometimes heen ahle to conduct myself
in a Christian manner in a well-ordered parlor,
without having a realizing sense of \.\\ii presence
and help of Jesus Christ," she said once to a lady
who was exclaiming over the impropriety of
"bringing religion down to the level of the com-
monplace," "but when my duty lies in the kitchen,
especially at the nerve-distracting hour of 'dishing
up,' I have discovered that I need a special meas-
ure of the grace of God to keep my voice gentle
and my face unruffled."

There were people in her own station in life
who thought Mrs. Holmes "just a little queer,
you know " ; perhaps it was not strange that she so
impressed poor Happy. She knew exactly how
much milk she was adding to the gravy ; neverthe-
less, she was considering at the moment how to
make a solemn, far-reaching truth plain to the
girl who held the platter.

"Happy," she said, "1 have been thinking
about your being willing to help jieople whom
you liked ; that is a very natural state of mind.

•«i

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172

HER A^oOCIATE MEMBERS.

and there is a sense in which we must always
have more pleasure in serving those whom wc
love than any others. God meant that it should
be so, in order that many duties might also be
pleasures ; but that other One of whom we were
speaking — your example and mine, you know —
served steadily and patiently those who scolded
and threatened and mocked ; yes, even those who
struck at Him not only, but actually spit in His
face!"

"Oh, my land!" said Happy, in solemn horror
and disgust; "that ain't true. Mis' Holmes; now,
is it? Because there ain't a man living but would
knock folks down for such things, if he could ! "

"This One could, you know ; He had all power
He could have killed with a word, with a look, the
men who mocked and the .>u n who struck and
spit. What He did was to say : * Father, forgive
them'."

Either Happy had never heard this awful fact
in history before, or else — and mo e probably,
she had heard it as hundreds of others have, with-
out giving it a moment's consideration — heard
it as something which had not in the remotest
degree to do with her, and happened so long ago,
if at all, that it was not worth while to regard it.
She was entirely silent, but the look on her face
interested and half bewildered her teacher. Was
it a scowl, and, if so, for whom ur what?

SHK AMAZES ONE OF THEM.

173

"Mis' Holmes," she said at last, exploding the
words as thou<^h they must be spoken, " if they'd
have done it to me, I'd have spit back and hated
them, and I couldn't help it either."

'* Hut, Happy, what if you had been there by
the side of this One who was hanging on a cross,
dying for you, and they had done it to him, not
to you ? "

"Then I would have dug my nails into them
and scratched their eyes out ! "

It would not do to think of Happy as a'
mere good-natured simpleton, after this ; her eyes
flashed as Madeline Hurst's might have done, and
there was a whole avalanche of pent-up hatred in
her tones.

"Yes," said the teacher, gently; "but, Happy»
suppose you had loved that One hanging there so
much more than any body else in the world, that
to please Him was what yon lived for; and sup-
pose that you were quite sure that to please Him
you must forgive even such people, and help them
if you could.'*"

"Oh, Mis' Holmes! Then I'd a' tried; I
would really. Because I would do a'most any
thing for any body that loved me ; I would,
honest ; because I ain't never had much loving
done, you know, and I know what it U to get
tilong without it."

Poor hungry soull Cou.i a Christian woman

;tl

:^^!l,

iil

174

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

li ■

help calling out to the infinite Lover of souls to
come into this starved heart and transform it ?
Happy loved by Jesus Christ ! It was a wonder-
ful thought, truly ; yet the Christian woman who
knew Him well, could not for a moment doubt the
fact.

"Poor child!" she said; "I wonder at you for
being willing to get along without it. The world
is a very hard place for those who undertake that.
But we are ready to serve the dinner now, and I
expect you to do it very nicely ; because it is my
dinner, you see, and you said you liked to please
me. Let me see how swift and skillful and quiet
you can be. Remember, I shall be watching
you."

It was certainly a success. What the boarders
thought, who sat down to spotless whiteness, and
handled dishes as smooth as velvet, and found the
mashed potato delicate and creamy and hot, and
asked for a second supply of turnip which had no
lumps and was seasoned just to the taste, I do not
know. The probability is, that, being most of
them men, they thought nothing about it in detail ;
they simply had a sense of being comfortable,
more comfortable than usual, and wondered why
a dim memory of home haunted them to-day, and
wondered what made them so hungry. Not a man
of them knew what it was that was so different to-
day from yesterday. It takes a woman to realize

SHE AMAZES ONE OF THEM.

175

that the right amount of salt in the turnips, and
the absence of lumps in the potatoes, and a
hundred other kindred trifles, actually contribute
toward making her a better person than she would
otherwise have been. There is one other thing
she knows, and that is that all these trivialities
have a like influence over mankind in general,
even though they neither realize it nor admit its
truth after they are told.

As for Happy, she certainly did astonish Mrs.
Holmes and encourage her. The girl could move
swiftly, it appeared, when she chose; she could
shut the door without slamming it, and fill the
glasses without making si river of water on the
cloth. A dozen mistakes she made, of course,
but the improvement in her was, as I say,
astonishing, and gave the watcher a hint, which
almost startled her, as to the possibilities of the
transforming power of love upon this unloved one.
Midway in the meal Mrs. Holmes became aware
that she might relax her vigilance and anxiety so
far as the kitchen was concerned, for another hand
was plainly at work there. Through the half-open
door she caught a glimpse, once, of Mrs. Stetson's
face. It was wrinkled and old, and the traces
of tears were upon it, but there was also some-
thing else — a new look which she could not
name.

Liph, in his accustomed seat at the foot of the

:!' ':|

•■M,

•IM

''® .! '•'.;

176

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

long table, ate his dinner in his usual silence ; he
was nearly always late, and stayed after the
boarders had departed ; he did so to-day, until only
he and Mrs. Holmes were in the dining-room, she
with her hand on the door-knob, ready to go.

"You ought to like that lemon pie very much,"
she said, lingering and smiling.

**I do," said Liph, taking a mouthful large
enough to convince her of the fact, "but I dunno
where the 'ought' comes in."

" I do ; it is because your mother had it made
on purpose for you. She told me it was your
favorite, and that she liked to have it on that
account. When mothers do things on purpose
for their boys, the boys ought to like and ai)pre-
ciate them. Mothers are wonderful beings, my
friend. Did you ever think what it would be if
yours were gone.''"

The last mouthful of pie was swallowed, and
Liph sat, knife and fork in hand, looking down
into his empty plate. His face was grave enough;
was it also sullen.'* Did Liph love his mother.'

"She has been telling me of the pride she used
to have in you when you were a handsome little
boy in a white dress and yellow curls. If I were
a boy, I would make my mother so proud of me at
nineteen that she would laugh when she told of
bow proud she used to be when I was two ; and

never cry."

♦ f ■ •

SUE AMAZES ONE OF THEM.

177

The door-knob turned swiftly and silently, and
Liph was left to himself.

"Happy," said Mrs. Holmes that eveniii:; as
her piteher was being filled for the night, " 1 have
been thinking of some things whieh you said this
morning. Did you never read the story I told
you about Jesus being mocked and spit upon.-*"

"I dunno as I ever did, Mis' Holmes; not to
sense it, any how : I don't remember it. The
Bible is so awful big, you see ; and 1 don't under-
stand it very well."

" You have a Bible of your own, have you not ? "

"Not much of a one; it's a little, old, ugly
thing, with only one cover, and it's awful fine
print. My teacher give it to me years ago, and I
used to read in it some ; but it is fine print, and
there ain't no beginning to things in it, somehow.
It kind of hurt my eyes : I give it up a good
while ago ; but it's kicking around somewhere, I
reckon. I ain't seen it this age."

Poor Happy ! She could sit up until after mid-
night with her dime novels, and did, whenever
she could elude the vigilance of Mrs. Stetson,
without ever thinking of her eyes ; but when it
came to a question of Bible reading, like many
another higher in the scale of being than she,
there was lack of time, and weakness of eyes i

CHAPTER XV.

SHE LAYS SNARES FOR ONE.

GOOD afternoon," called Mrs. Holmes, lean-
ing far over the piazza rail to greet Made-
line Hurst; "you are coming to see me, are you
not ? I am all alone. The doctor has carried
Mr. Holmes away for a ride, and I was trying
to decide how to spend the time. Come up to
my room and we will have a co.sy visit."

In point of fact, Madeline Hurst had not
intended any such thing. It had been several
days since she received this lady's cordial invita-
tion to "come and see her very soon," but the
girl had had not the slightest intention of "put-
ting herself forward," as she phrased it. The
very fact that her sister-in-law was constantly
pushing her way into a society which, as society
looks at these days, was above her, made Made-
line almost fiercely afraid of doing so. The truth
is, she had lost many pleasant hours which might
have been hers, because she fancied that those

1,8

SHE i>AYS SNARF.S FOR ONE.

179

who kindly triud to brij^htcn her life were patron-
izing her.

" I would rather associate with the Carpenters
and i)eople of their stamp v.ll my life," - le had
said an^^rily to her brother's wife once, "than be
])atronizcd by those who say \ oor thini ,' behind
my back, or else sneer 01 laugh at my ignorance of
their ways. They do not want me, and I know it ;
if you would recognize the same thing, and not be
forever trying to creep in where you don't belong,
it would be better for all of us."

Such truths were bitter to Mrs. Hurst's soul,
and were a fruitful source of much of the angry
disgust which these two fidt for each other.
Therefore, the last thing which Madeline had
meant to do was to put herself in the position of
appearing to "run after" Mrs. Stuart Holmes.
She had meant only to walk by that way, and per-
haps see again the bright young face, so little
older than her own, and so much fresher and
sweeter than hers had ever been ; there would per-
haps be a chance for a bow and a smile, if Mrs.
Holmes should happen to remember her well
enough to recognize her, which was doubtful ;
there might at least be opportunity to look at her,
as one would at a picture ; and to Madeline's
starved and beauty-loving soul this was worth the
effort.

But who could resist such a cordial Invitation

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

as this? Especially as Mrs. Holmes immediately
vanished inward with the evident intention of
meeting her guest at the head of the stairs, hav-
ing given her no chance to decline. Madeline
was embarrassed, half dismayed, indeed, at the
prospect, but she went slowly up the front steps
and inside the open door.

"This way," said Mrs. Holmes' voice from
above. "It is delightful in my room this after-
noon; the sunshine gives just the right degree
of warmth. Can you fancy how strange that
seems to me who have been used to anthracite,
and closed doors and windows, for all my Decem-
bers ? Take this chair, and let me have your hat.
Oh, yes, please; else I shall think you^ are going
every minute, and I want to keep you ; the doc-
tor said he should keep my husband away until
sunset."

It was not possible to be constrained and for-
mal, and answer only in monosyllables. If this
were patronage, it was of a very rare, sweet sort,
which Madeline Hurst felt no inclination to cast
aside.

" I can fancy your feelings about the Decem-
bers," she said; "until I was fifteen I spent mine
among snows and storms ; but I liked them as I
could never learn to like these soft, sunshiny
ones, I think."

"Oh, are you, too, far away from home?" Mrs.

SHE LAYS SNARES FOR ONE.

l8l

Holmes asked, with that instant touch of sym-
pathy which slightly homesick hearts always
have for those in like condition with themselves.
*' How many people there are who have come
away from home ! I never realized it so much
before."

"I have not," said the girl, with a Sort of
dreamy sadness ; "home has gone away from me;
so far away that I can never find it again. I have
had no home since my mother died. Mother and
I were all alone at the stony old homestead away
up in Maine. It was just as dreary a spot, they
used to say) as could be found on the face of the
earth ; and I used to long to get away from it J
but never as I have longed to get back to it.
Andrew says it is a horrid corner of a horrid coun*
try, but, compared with where I live now, I think
it was paradise. Andrew is my broth jr, Mrs.
Holmes."

"The brother with whom you live.?" the lady
questioned, interestedly ; she was eager to get hold
of this girl's past and present, and discover, if she
could, what had wrought premature lines of a cer-
tain kind of suffering in her face, and a strange
pathetic fierceness in her eyes, if I may use such
contrary words to describe eyes.

"Yes'm. There were only he and I. When
he came down here in search of what he did not
find, mother and I were left alone; I often

l82

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

thought it dreary, and wished for change; and
change came! I would like to go back now, just
to be near to mother's grave; it is all th^re is
left."

** Oh, no, dear friend ! there is heaven, and
mother again, in a home which will never slip from
you. I almost know your mother believed in that
home, and urged you to be sure to come to her
there."

But the girl was already ashamed of her
momentary lapse into confidence, and was bent
upon regaining full control of herself.

•*I beg your pardon," she said, sitting upright
among the cushions of the old-fashioned easy-
chair ; " I am sure I do not understand why I
began at once to speak of myself in this absurd
way ; I never do. Yes, my mother was a Chris-
tian woman, and she died happy in the thought
that the God whom she served would take care of
me. I do not want to talk about her, please."

Young and uncultured though she was, there
was a quiet dignity about this girl's manner,
which held one back from making advices which
she had resolved should not be made. Mrs.
Holmes determined not to try to probe further
until she was better acquainted and better
understood.

"I spent a delightful week in Maine once," she
said; "in the summer-time and in the region of

She lays si^a^es ^ok one.

183

the old camping-grounds. I have some photo*
graphs of the scenery about there, and of myself
as well. Would you like to see them .' Do you
like to look at pictures ^ These came in my trunk
unawares. It must have been because I felt that
you would like them !"

And she plunged into the depths of the well-
stocked portfolio.

What an afternoon it v/as ! Madeline Hurst
had never expected to have such an experience.
She was barely twenty years old, yet for five
years her life had been hardened, and rasped by
an uncongenial atmosphere, where she was toler-
ated for decency's sake ; where the very food she
ate was at times almost begrudged her ; where she
had nothing to do which appealed to her interests
or tastes; where she was badgered and annoyed
on every side. Had the Christian woman who
was trying to help her known a third of the story,
she would have felt her heart ache in sympathy
even more than it did. Oh, of course, there were
two sides to it. Are there any stories which have
not always the other side .■* Had Madeline Hurst,
a chastened Christian girl of fifteen, gone into her
brother's home, bringing with her the forbearance
and unselfishness and helpfulness born of the
Holy Spirit's influence, undoubtedly the years as
they unfolded would have told a very different
tale ; in fact, she will never know what she might

1 84

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

have wrought in and about the home to which she
came. But she brought no such spirit. Instead,
she was an eager, passionate, undisciplined girl ;
rebellious over the fact that the mother she loved
had been taken from her; rebellious over leaving
the particular school she loved; rebellious over
the work given her to do ; discouraged, discon-
tented, indifferent as to whether she gave offense
to those about her or not. Is it any wonder that
the years had been hard to her } It is true that
there are some women who would have borne
with her patiently, been tolerant of her faults, i nd
waited for time and prayer, and infinite painstak-
ing tenderness and helpfulness, to bear their
fruit, but Mrs. Andrew Hurst was not such a
woman.

From her two hours of blessed rest and refresh-
ment, during which time she had seen pictures
and heard talk such as never had feasted her eyes
or heart before, Madeline Hurst awoke as from a
dream.

"There is Mr. Holmes!" said his wife, rising
suddenly as the sound of horses* feet could be
heard; "it is quite i^ime, too. Did you realize
that the sun was so near its setting.^"

Madeline drew a long, quivering sigh.

"No," she said; "I did not realize any thing
except that I had lost myself, and hoped never
to be found. I beg your pardon," with a half

SHfc LaVS SflAkES PoU. OU^.

185

laugh, "but you cannot know, of course, what
this afternoon has been to me."

Mrs. Holmes regarded her thoughtfully, think-
ing swiftly the while. Should she ? Stuart had
been long gone, and there were a dozen things
fehe had meant to talk over with him while he
rested, but then —

And then her resolution was taken,

"Oh, don't rise; that is not Mr. Holmes* chair;
he likes better the one I have been occupying.
I am going to keep you to tea."

" Yes ! " with a little playful persistence, as the
girl flushed and tried to stammer out a protest ;
"we have had no company in so long that we are
lonely. At home the girls are always dropping
in to have cozy little teas with us. They will
not be troubled about you at home, will they ? "

"They will not think of me at all, unless they
wonder what has happened to relieve them of my
presence for so long."

" Oh, my dear girl ! "

There was such pent-up fierceness in the tone
that Mrs. Holmes could not withhold this note of
protest. Madeline's cheeks flamed a deeper hue
under the implied reproof.

"I beg your pardon," she said quickly, "I do
not mean my brother ; but, indeed, I must go
home."

** Indeed, you must not, if it is not necessary.

iS6

HtR Associate miuMUers.

I want you to meet my husband. You will like
him; every body does," with a happy little laugh.

They were in the upper hall now, he and the
doctor. Mrs. Holmes threw open the uoor.

"Safely back," said the doctor; "this gentle-
man has gained a pound of flesh, I think, since we
went out. As for his appetite, I expect it to be
enormous."

He made a sudden pause, seeing a stranger in
the room. Was there the slightest possible eleva-
tion of eyebrows when he was introduced to " Miss
Hurst".? If so, it was gone before Mrs. Holmes
could bj sure of it, or translate its meaning. He
went away almost immediately, but that was to
have been expected. As for her husband, Mrs.
Holmes exulted inwardly over the exceeding tact
and graciousness of his words and manner. It
was not surprising, she told herself, that his influ-
ence with young people was almost unbounded.
How could they lesist such hearty, kindly, and
withal extremely courteous bearing ?

" If he had been acquainted with all the details
of the girl's sad life, he could hardly chose his
words more wisely," she said, and then caught and
stifled a sigh. Was it not strange that such a
worker as he should be laid aside for nearly a
year, when all over the Master's vineyard the
really consecrated laborers were so few ?

They went down to tea together, Mrs. Holmes

SHE LAVS SNARES FOR ONE.

187

and her guest, and Happy w?.ited upon them ; not
in her very best manner ; she seemed unaccount-
ably confused, and by no means so full of the irre-
pressible laugh as usual. Liph was not present,
for which the hostess was sorry ; she had won-
dered vaguely whether this girl of another world
than his, and yet of so different a world from her
own, could not suggest some ways of reaching
after and helping a boy like that.

"Her brother might know what his worst
temptations were, and hint at something to be
done to make them less dangerous," she had said
to herself; "to be sure, he may not be the sort
of brother who knows any thing about it, but
then he may, and if Madeline herself could
become interested in the miseries and dangers of
some one beside herself, it might help her. But
Liph did not appear at all. As for Madeline,
what shall be said of her state of mind.^ At
times she was on the verge of laughter over the
thought of what her brother's \ ife would say or
think, could she see her now seated at this table,
which, though plain enough, was more preten-
tious than that of the Hursts'; but, above all
things, seated here as the guest of Mrs. Stuart
Holmes ! the elegant young stranger who had kept
certain circles in the little city on the alert for
several weeks in their eagerness to know more of
her, to come in contact with her. "And I, Mad-

isfj

llfek ASSOCIAIK Ml:Mni;l<:

eline Hurst, am her invited guest ! What pos-
sessed me tvi stay ? Mow extraordinary that she
should have invited me ! lUit then I stayed all
the afternoon, ho\v could she help it?" At this
thought the ready blush of shame dyed the girl's
cheeks. Comforted she was, however, almost
immediately, by the temembrance of the frank
cordiality with which she had been received and
held.

If Mrs. Holmes did not want her, what possi-
ble motive could she have had for calling to hef
in the first place, and then making it so pleasant
that it was hardly possible for her to get away ?
So for once in her life the sensitive young girl
determined to dismiss her morbid thoughts and be
happy. She was almost ridiculously happy. She
knew she should be ashamed and vexed when she
thought about it afterward, that so small a thing
as a few hours with a lovely woman, being treated
as though she were an equal, should have such
power over her.

The large, cheerful room up stairs looked even
more cheerful by the light of the softly-shaded
lamp, and brightened by the gay afghan which
was thrown over Mr. Holmes as he lounged among
the pillows.

What a delightful hour it was !

"I am not to be suppressed to-night, my dear,"
her husband said laughingly to his wife ; " I have

SHE LAVS SNARES FOR ONE.

1 89

rested while you were dining, and am much
stronger, I find, than I was a week ago." So
he had joined in the conversation, leading it,
indeed, some of the time, and Mrs. Holmes, list-
ening, was surprised again to see how well her
young guest talked, and what excellent thoughts
she had ui>on many subjects.

"She must have had a good mother," thought
the lady, watching the play of expression on the
changeful face. "A careful, cultured, tender
mother ; and she is waiting for her in heaven.
And the girl is in danger down here. If I can
only save her lor her mother!"

• CHAPTKR XVI.

THKY SKAKCII FUR " REAL THINGS.

i»

LATER in the evening, when the lamp was
' turned low to allow full sway to a flood
of silvery moonlight, Mrs. Holmes hoped for an
opportunity to get closer to the heart of her guest,
and learn, if possible, what dangers beset her way.
They were quite alone again, Mr. Holmes having
retired to his room for the night.

"Oh, do not go yet," her hostess had said as
Madeline madr a movement to depart; "I will
give you a book to read while I am making Mr.
Hclmes comfortable, then we will have time for
a long talk. I was troubled as to how you were
to get home, but I have thought out a charming
plan. You know Uncle Tommy, do you not ?
He is the nicest old man, and a particular friend
of mine ; he comes this way each evening to bring
our mail ; his way home lies directly by your door,
does it not ? Oh, Uncle Tommy will take excel-
lent care of you."

190

THEY SKARCII FOR REAL THINGS.

191

"Care of mc ! " said Madeline, laughing ; " why,
I had not thought of such a thing ; I am accus-
tomed to going where I please and when I please.
I am not at all afraid in the dark, Mrs. Holmes."

The woman who had been sheltered by thought-
ful care all her life looked astonished and seemed
distressed.

"My dear girl, I beg your pardon for saying it,
but you ought to be."

"Why, pray.-*"

"Why.? Ikcause Satan and sin are abroad in
the world ; believe mc, dear, it is not safe for a
young girl to walk the streets of any city alone at
night. It cannot be your duty to go alone after
dark, and I can think of no other motive which
ought to take a self-respecting girl into such pos-
sible peril."

Madeline's cheeks were very red, and she bent
low over the book which bad been placed in her
hands.

" Nobody ever troubled me," she .said, trying to
speak lightly.

" But somebody may, my dear girl ; and, if they
should not, you set an example for those less care-
ful of their ways than you."

But at this Madeline laughed coldly.

"You are really mistaken in me, madam," she
said ; " I am not, and cannot be, a fine lady, to put
on pretty airs and insist on being taken care of !

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

There is no one to do it for me if I wanted it.
As for my influence, I have none in the world.
Who is there that "ou imagine would quote Made-
line Hurst in pr^v^f that an act was right or
wrong ! "

"More than one person," said Mrs. Holmes,
earnestly; "people of whom you know nothing,
perhaps. It is folly for any of us to declare that
we have no influence. Until we can know all the
past, and all the future, even as God does, our lips
are sealed upon that point." Saying which, she
vanished, giving those last words a chance to sink
into the girl's conscience.

"You have an interesting study out there," her
husband said, inclining his head toward the door;
"is she one of your associate members.!*"

"I am afraid so; I half hoped at first that she
might prove an active one, but this afternoon has
not encouraged me."

"The soil is full of weeds," he .said, "but per-
haps she had a Christian mother."

"Oh, she had; a good one, I believe; but she
has been long gone, and the poor girl has spent
her life of late among thorns."

•'Still, perhaps the good se6d is not dead, only
choked," he said, smiling; "we must adopt her
and win her for Christ."

"Do you like that book.!*" Mrs. Holmes said,
returning to her guest a little later.

THEY SEARCH FOR REAL THINGS.

193

Madeline gave a slight start.

"Yes'm — or — no — I don't know, indeed; I
have been thinking, and reading only sentences
here and there."

"You like to read.-*" inquiringly.

" Oh, indeed, I like it too well ; better than I
wish I did. The habit of reading every thing I
can get hold of is always getting me into trouble.
Yet I do not know how I could have lived without
books."

" What books do you read .'' "

" Every thing I can get, as I said ; but that
does not mean much ; my opportunities are lim-
ited. There is a circulating librar)^, a small one,
from which I have been getting books ; but it
doesn't help much ; I have read and re-read every
thing in it, and they only get new books once in
an age ! "

"What books do you like the best — history.^"

"Oh, no, indeed," with a deep blush; "I do
not like histories at all."

" Biographies, then, or books of travel ? "

"No, I cannot say I like such books; biogra-
phies I think I hate. I like stories, Mrs. Holmes,
real genuine love stories. I suppose that is very
siLy, if not worse, and you are shocked with me."

" Why should I be ? Am I not supposed to
approve of love, my dear girl ? "

"Oh, I don't know. They prose about it, you

194

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

know, good people do ; they think it is wrong to
read any thing more exciting than a psalm-book.
I like exciting things, such as make me forget my
every-day life, and lose myself for awhile at least,
in the lives I read about."

"And books which help you to live the life set
for you, with a better aim and a truer purpose
than before.? I like such books. Do the on^^s
you choose help you in this way, Madeline.' I
may call you Madeline, may I not ? '

*'If you will," said Madeline, coloring partly
with pleasure and partly with shame of the con-
fession she was about to make.

" No, the books I read do not help me, I sup-
pose ; at least they make me hate my life more
than I did, and that is useless. Oh, I do not
choose the best reading by any means. I do not
do the best of any thing. I read to help me for-
get myself, and my hateful surroundings, as much
as I can ; that is my single motive."

"But, Madeline, is it a wise one.' Is there
not a better way ? If, for instance, there were
books which would help you lift your life into an
atmosphere which would give you joy and peace,
would not that be better ? "

"There are no such books; at least I never
saw ttjm if there are, and I don't believe there
is any thing in this world which would make me
do other than hate my present surroundings."

THEY SEARCH FCR REAL THINGS.

195

"Very well, let us go beyond this world, then.
Is there nothing in the life of God which could
do for you what he has for so many ? "

Silence for a moment ; then, in lower tones
than before:

" You mean the Bible, I suppose. I do not
read that any more ; I used to. i read it with
mother every day, and for a little after she was
gone, but not long. I couldn't ; it made me feel
horrid — worse than any thing else."

*♦ Poor child ! Do you not understand why > "

The silence lasted longer than befor:;; then
Madeline's great eyes, which were almost black,
looked full at her questioner.

" I may as well tell you the truth ; I suppose it
was because my conscience told me plainly that
I was not living in accordance with the teachings
of the book."

" And your only remedy for that was to close
the book.? Oh, Madeline ! "

"Well,'* said Madeline firmly, rising to the
defensive, "I could not help it. As I was situ-
ated, it was simply impossible to live by the
Bible. When I had my mother it was different,
but I told you that you did not understand my
position."

" And I told you that there was One who did.
Do you believe it possible that He placed a soul
where she could not follow out His dearest will

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

concerning her? Is that in accordance with
your mother's teachings about her Savior?"

Madeline's head drooped suddenly, and again
she was silent. After a moment Mrs. Holmes
spoke again :

"I do not know how you are circumstanced, it
is true, nor, so far as this subject is concerned,
does it make the slightest difference, except that
those who have not in this life the place they
crave, are especially called by the loving One,
Have you forgotten how he said, ' Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest ' ? Is not that meant for you, my
friend ? "

But Madeline was obstinately silent. In her
heart was an assured conviction that if Mrs.
Holmes knew her sister-in-law, and had to live
with her, she would talk and think differently.

And then Mrs. Holmes, who felt that perhaps
she had said enough of a strictly personal nature,
tried another subject, or, more properly speaking,
a different form of the same subject.

"You like to read stories, you say, but you
have not made plain to me what ones. There are
stories and stories, you know ; some of them I like
exceedingly."

"You would not like my favorites." Made-
line's tones were growing cold and dignified.

"How can you be sure,, my dear? There is

TIILV SEARCH FOR REAL THINGS.

197

Ig.

roll
ire
ike

ie-

hot such a striking difference in our ages that
our tastes should be so greatly unlike."

"It is more than age which determines these
things," said Madeline, with the air of a sage;
"I like sen.sational stories, such as you would call
unreal, overdrawn and all that cort of thing."

"And do you like unreal, overdrawn things, my
friend .? "

"Yes," said the girl defiantly, "I do. When
the real things all about one are horrid, why
should not one enjoy beautiful, unreal things, in
books at least ? What harm can it do ? "

" It is thought to increase one's dissatisfaction
with reality, and at the same time to offer no rem-
edy. Is that a just charge- ? "

"I suppose so," said Madeline gloomily; "but
that doesn't keep me from enjoying them, at the
time."

"You have not given me the name of a sin-
gle author as yet. I am going to see if you do
not, after all, like some of my favorites. Do you
ever road Miss Warner's books ? "

" What has she written ? I hardly ever notice
the name of the author. You would not approve
of that, either. Of course, 3'ou would choose
your author with care, and avoid a book written
by one whom you do not like, but I have little
opportunity for choice, and read every thing ; so
what does it matter who writes them ? "

198

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"Miss Warner has written a large number of
books. «The Hills of the Shatemuc' was one
of my favorites, and 'The Old Helmet' was
another."

"Oh, «Thc Old Helmet'! I read that once.
I did not like it at all. People talk about unreal
characters, Mrs. Holmes ; I do not know where
you would find any more unreal than those
described in that book. I do not believe such
people ever lived as that Mr. Rhys, for instance."

"In that case you ought to be fond of it, my
dear; did you not just confess to me that you
liked overdrawn books .' "

Madeline flushed, and laughed a Hi tie.

"I do not mean of that sort," she said, after a
minute. "You think me absurd and childish, but
I know what I mean, though I find it nard to
explain myself. I have not of late years been in
the habit of being asked my reasons for things.
The unreal stories which I read and enjoy, deal
with society and dress and amusements ; things
about which one has a right to be as extravagant,
on paper, as one pleases ; but when it comes to
talks about religion and the Bible and matters
of that sort, it never seemed to me it was right to
picture things different from the reality. I do
not think I am making myself very clear, but that
is as nearly as I can express my thoughts."

" I get your meaning, my friend ; there is force

THeV search for real tHiNGS.

19^

in it, or would be, if there were not a very import-
ant point which you overlook. What do you
mean by unreal things — the impossible or the
improbable?"

"Well, the extremely improbable, perhaps. I
do not think the absolutely impossible has much
charm for me. I never liked fairy stories when
I was a child ; but a delightful thing which might
possibly be, I revel in, no matter how improbable,
because I cannot help saying to myself : * Strange
things have happened, they possibly may again,
and they might, some of them, come to me.* Not
that I expect any thing of the kind, either, only
it is pleasant to imagine once in a while that I do ;
but, as I said, when the highly improbable has to
do with religion, it is not to my taste."

"I understand, but let me ask you, suppose
these highly improbable things were so only
because people chose to take no steps to secure
them ; and suppose that the moment one chose
to make the apparently unreal his own, he could
do so ; would it not alter your estimate .'"

** Of course ; but I do not see what that has to
do with our argument."

'• Do you not } To me it has every thing to do
with it ; I have heard the charge of unreality
brought against my favorite books before, and
there is a sense in which it is true. For instance,
it is true that there are few men like Mr. Rhys ; I

200

HER ASSOCIATF. MEMHERS.

would not make so strong a statement as you did,
for I have known a few who were much like him,
but I grant you there are few. Now, the infinite
difference between Miss Warner's extreme charac-
ters and those of many extreme characters in fic-
tion is, that hers represent not only the entirely
possible, but they produce before us the picture of
what it is our manifest duty as Christians to strive
to become. Can the same be said of any of the
books to which you are referring.?"

"No," said Madeline, promptly, "nothing of the
kind could be said, and I never before heard any
body say that it was possible to be as good as
Miss Warner made her characters. I'm sure I
should like to see some who were like them ! "

" But, my dear friend, is the pattern held up in
that book any better than the one which the Bible
calls for when it says : * Present your bodies a liv-
ing sacrifice, which is your reasonable service.?'"

"Perhaps not, but then who does it.?"

"That is not to the point. You know the
question is not so much * Who does it .? ' as * Who
will .? ' If Madeline Hurst, reading of the pure and
beautiful life of some fictitious character patterned
after the man Jesus Christ, is moved thereby to
the remembrance of Him who was not fiction, but
glorious reality; who lived on earth, and loved
and died in order that we might be conformed to
his image ; and if she resolves because of it to try

THEV SEARCH FOR REAL THINd.S.

201

from henceforth to order her life after that pat-
tern, has not the unreal and unnatural character
accomplished a blessed result ?"

"Then you tliink it is all right to be unreal in
religious fiction ?"

"If by unreal you siniply mean, as I suspect,
not common, and if the picture is something
which might be real, this is, in my judgment, the
realm of legitimate fiction, and its only excuse
for being at all."

"Well," said Madeline, drawing a long sigh,
after a minute of silence, " I confess that I have
a stronger hope of suddenly falling heir to a
hundred thousand dollars and exchanging my one
room in the attic for a palace, as the young lady
did in the last novel I read, than of growing into
such a perfect character as Mr. Rhys, or even
as Elinor did, after she became his wife ! "

And then Uncle Tommy came with the mail,
and the evening was gone.

CHAPTER XVII.

SHE FINDS AN "ACTIVE MEMBER.

• f

MRS. HOLMES, as she looked after them
down the moonlighted street, wondered
sadly what she had accomplished, after all. The
girl was bright and interesting, but so positive in
her views, and so narrow in her range of thought !
She seemed almost as far away from that one
perfect life as poor Liph himself.

"And I did not say a word to her about Mrs.
Carpenter," she added, with a self-reproachful
start. "After all, of what use would it have
been ? The poor child cannot help her, not until
she is helped herself. And what is there that
she will let reach close enough to help her.^ "

She was on the lower piazza, whither she had
gone to see Madeline off, and have a minute's
talk with Uncle Tommy. She walked back and
forth in the moonlight, full of sad thoughts.
How was the work to be done, any of it ? There

202

SHE FINDS AN ACTIVE MEMBER.

203

were so many now in whom she was keenly inter-
ested, yet she was making no progress.

"It is very strange," she told herself sadly, "so
many and yet so utterly unlike one another, and
so unlike any persons for whom I have ever
worked before. I cannot help being interested in
them, yet I do not seem to be the one to accom-
plish results. Some of the time I even repel. I
wish I could have discovered the names of some
of the books which Madeline Hurst reads ; they
seem to have a strange influence over her. They
cannot be like Happy's selections ; the girl has
too much mind for those."

As she walked back and forth thinking her
troubled thoughts, she heard footsteps approach-
ing, and was surprised to see Uncle Tommy
returning.

"Wbv, Uncle Tommy," she said, going to the
gate to opeak to him ; " are you coming back ? I
thought you had started homeward for the night.
Have you seen my charge tc her own door
already .?"

"I started home, ma'am, but had to turn
around and trudge back because I forgot some-
thing I was to bring. Uncle Tommy never could
depend on his head to save his heels, and grows
worse as he grows older. No, I didn't see her to
the door, ma'am ; she met with some one whose
company suited her better than mine, and said I

204

HER ASSOCIATE MEMHERS.

nccil not trouble further, though it would have
been no trouble at all, of course."

'• Met some one ? Did she meet a friend ? "
"Aye, and he turned and walked with her, and
seemed glad oi the chance, and she likewise, or at
least willing ; so there was nothing for me to do
but turn and leave them."

"A gentleman was it, Uncle Tommy?"
"Aye, at least that is what he calls himself. I
make no doubt there might be two opinions about
that."

"Was it her brother. Uncle Tommy?"
"Oh, no, ma'am ; not her brother."
The old man did not seem disposed to say any
thing more, though she waited in hope that he
would give her the name of Madeline's friend.
She was disturbed, she hardly knew why. Cer-
tainly it was not an unusual state of things for a
young woman to have a gentleman friend who
could with propriety join her in an evening walk.
Nevertheless she could not help feeling troubled.
Truth to tell, Mrs. Holmes was strongly tempted
toward discouragement to-night. The reaction
from the nervous strain caused by her steady
effort to entertain Madeline Hurst, was upon her,
and perhaps helped to make her mental vision less
clear than usual. She could almost have cried out
with the prophet of old, "I, even I, only am left."
There was so much needing to be done, and no

SHE FINDS AN ACTIVE MEMBER.

205

workers ! Here, for instance, was Uncle Tommy,
a clean-faced, neatly-dressed, self-respecting old
man, whom every body liked and trusted ; who
v/as so true to his word tliat it hud passed into a
sort of proverb among the people of his neighbor-
hood, "It is as sure to be done as though Uncle
Tommy had promised it." Yet it came to her
suddenly, standing there, that she had never said
one word to the old man on the one important
theme! His hair was whitening fast, and the
time he had to spend on earth must of necessity
be short. Was any one interested in where he
would spend his future ? Who was trying to help
him settle so important a question ?

"What is a gentleman?" she asked, dreamily,
more for the purpose of seeming to be friendly
with the old man, and yet carry out her own train
of thought, than because she was interested in
his reply.

"Well," said Uncle Tommy, straightening him-
self in the moonlight, "there might be different
opinions about it ; looking on at folks, I've no
kind of doubt that there are ; but if you ask for
my views, why, according to my way of thinking,
there is only one kind of true gentleman, and
that is a man who is keeping to the road He trav-
eled, just as near as he can."

There was such intense reverence in the use of
the first pronoun, that it did not need the rever-

1-1

■id

206

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

ent uplift of Uncle Tommy's bared head to tell
the listener to whom he referred. There was an
instant lighting up of her expressive face, and she
reached forth her hand impulsively.

"Oh, Uncle Tommy, do you know Him.?
Then we are kindred."

"I do that, n"^'im," said Uncle Tommy, clasp-
ing the soft young hand in his old and wrinkled
one. "I've been traveling on after Him for nigh
on to forty years, and I reckon I'm coming pretty
nigh to the turn where I shall see His face. It's
a curious thing," and his old face rippled into
smiles, "I've thought about It a great deal, and
it's a very curious thing, but there comes a time
when He lets us catch up with Him and walk
along arm in arm."

"Do you mean here.?" asked Mrs. Holmes, in
a voice which was almost awe-stricken. Uncle
Tommy's face shone in the moonlight almost as
though it might have been the face of an angel.

"No, ma'am, I mean there; though I've come
to think, of late years, that we've a right to get a
good deal nearer to Him here than the most of us
have understood."

"I have found an active member," said Mrs.
Holmes to her husband ihe next morning. You
can not think what a surprise and joy it was to
me. I had almost grown to think that there were
no Christians here. Well, of course I do not

SHE FINDS AN ACTIVE MEMBER.

207

mean that, exactly, but you know we have not
come into intimate acquaintance with any, as yet.
I do not know of one professing Christian in this
boarding-house, and I had some way forgotten
that there were any. Where do you think I
found him ?"

"I can hardly imagine, if you have come in
contact with him since I last visited with you,"
her husband said, smiling. "I had the impres-
sion that that dark-faced, fierce-eyed girl was the
only one you met yesterday. Did he call upon
you.-"

"Oh, no. I met him at the gate."

"At the gate! Ah, you mean Uncle Tommy.?
Oh, yes, I knew he was a prince of the Royal
line. I had a little talk with him one day last
week when you were out, and he came with let-
ters. He is a blessed old saint, and has had a
troubled voyage. He told me he was so glad to
lie by in a quiet harbor for a little while, and
make the shore through still waters. He was
once a sailor, and his languag;; is filled with the
imagery of the sea."

Mrs. Holmes was quiet, with a sort of grave
sweetness upon her face. She had had another
surprise. The husband whom she supposed too
ill to speak or think of Christian work, yet at his
very first opportunity had a word of inquiry ready
for the man who she thought had been neglected.

•I'

208

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

Perhaps there was everywhere a great deal more
work being clone than she imagined. The story
of the old prophet came to her, and she fciniled
as she repeated mentally the words, " I have left
me seven thousand in Israel." •

It was destined to be a morning of surprises.
Mrs. Holmes, when she went down to see about
her husband's breakfast, had another. She had
just come from an encounter with Happy. That
young woman had been met at the head of the
stairs, water-pail in hand, a generous supply of the
liquid which it had contained when she started
having been left on a number of the stairs.

"Land!" she had said, '"T b'lieve this pail
leaks; or else I swashed it about. Don't drag
your dress into it, Mis' Holmes ; though I dunno
as it would do any hurt if you did. Dirt seems to
slip off of you, like water does off of a duck's
back. It doesn't do so with me ; every blessed
thing that can stick to me, does."

"Happy," the lady had said, interrupting this
steady flow of words, "I have something for you
which I hope you will use. When I was a young
girl," she omitted to say how young, **I had a
large-print Bible, neatly bound, which was a great
pleasure to me. Every week I had a new verse
marked in it, in red, or blue, or green ink, and
that verse I was pledged to read, at least once
each day. My Sunday-school teacher gave me

SHE FINDS AN ACTIVE MEMBER.

209

a
eat
rse
and
ncc
me

the book, and I promised her I would be faithful
to the daily readings. I learned to enjoy them
very much. Now I have found a Bible as much
like my copy as I could, and marked one verse.
Will you take the book, and promise to read the
verse each day for a week, and then let me mark
another .-* "

"Oh, land!" said Happy, giggling much, yet
looking pleased, " I can't read in the Bible ; but
that's an awful pretty one. It doesn't look a
mite like the one I used to have."

" It is only one verse a day," said the lady, in a
persuasive tone, "and the print is large; it will
not injure your eyes."

Happy's eyes were as bright as jet beads. She
laughed consciously over this sentence, then said,
blandly: "Well, I don't mind, if it ain't but one
verse a day. Land! I'd do more than that for
you ; only I don't see why you care. What color
did you mark it in ? "

"Red," said Mrs. Holmes, promptly, "a very
pretty red called carmine ; and I wrote your name
on the fly-leaf. Now, Happy, in giving you this
for your own, of course I trust you ; it is a token,
you see, of the pledge between us that you will
read the verse each day."

"Oh, I will," said Happy, setting down her
pail, to rub her hands upon her soiled apron
before taking the neatly-bound volume in charge,

\^:

U' 1

210

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

then looking with admiring eyes at her name writ-
ten in full. "I declare for it," she said, "it ain't
a bad-looking name when it is written pretty.
My ! It must be fine to make such writing as
that. I admire pretty writing, Mis' Holmes.
I've got a friend," and now there was a conscious
blush and that ever-present giggle, "who can write
nice, too ; he wrote my name once in a book ; bui
it ain't done as nice as this, and I mean to tell
him so. I most always keep my word, Mis'
Holmes, when I really and truly promise, down-
right ; and I will this time, so there ! "

Happy looked as though she had made a great
concession to the prejudices of the lady, one for
which she deserved thanks. She received them,
Mrs. Holmes wondering, meantime, whether the
fair little seed dropped into such unpromising soil
would ever spring up and bear fruit.

" I placed a card book-mark in the place where
the verse is marked," she said, as she turned
away, "You will like the card, I think; and you
can change it from week to week to the newly
marked verse. This is Saturday, is it not ? I
think on Sunday, one week from to-morrow, will
be a good day for a new verse."

Then she had gone down stairs, leaving Happy
to look at and exclaim over the card book-mark.
She might well have liked it. Mrs. Holmes had
given it an entire morning of careful work. The

SHE FINDS AN ACTIVE MEMBER.

211

here
ned
you
iwly
? I
will

ippy

lark.

bad

The

name "Hepzibah" was made in delicate vine-
wreatbed letters on the center of the card, and
winding about it on a spray of Southern jessa-
mine were painted the words : " Shall the Lord
•delight' in thee?" While the lady worked, sbe
had bad a dim consciousness that many, perhaps
most Christian workers, would consider this as
time thrown away, a sort of "casting of pearls"
before those unable to appreciate them. How
could Happy be expected to understand the deli-
cate hint in the question, or appreciate the care-
ful workmanship.? Yet the girl loved pretty
things, and had always a bright-colored flower
or weed tucked into her frayed button-hole, or
perched jauntily among the masses of her frowzly
hair. Who could tell, after all, what this bit of
beauty might do for her ?

From that encounter Mrs. Holmes had gone,
first to the kitchen, then to the piazza, to wait ;
the scarcest thing in Mrs. Stetson's kitchen was
hot water, freshly boiled ; it had nearly always
to be waited for. Mrs. Holmes walked slowly
back and forth, busy with her thoughts, and did
not see Liph Stetson until his voice startled
her.

"Mornin', ma'am. You was talking about
something the other night which made me think
last night that may be you could do something
there, if you had a chance ; and I thought I'd juat

yWi

ill

111

fM'

212

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

give you a hint, if you can keep dark as to wnere
you got it,"

This extremely lucid beginning surprised and
half frightened the one to whom it was addressed.
Was she expected to enter into partnership witn
Liph Stetson and "keep dark" as to his schemes?
Uncertain how to reply, she concluded to let a
kindly smile and question do for response.

"Can I help you in any way.!*" and the smile
might have won a statue into response.

"'Tain't me," said Liph, succinctly, "only you
talked that way, as though you was looking out
for folks, and I thought maybe you might" —
there he stopped.

"Yes," said Mrs. Holmes, encouragingly; "is
there somebody I can look out for: somebody
who is in trouble or danger.^"

"That's just it; I dunno about the trouble; I
guess she don't think it is any trouble to speak
of; and as for danger, why, that's the way folks
look at it ; but you said if I had a sister, you
know" —

Another full pause. " I remember," said the
lady, on the alert. "You see something ahead
that, if the person were your sister, you should
call danger. Is that it ? Are you speaking of
Happy.?"

" Happy ! " exclaimed Liph, with a disdainful
toss of his shaggy head and a sort of ipdescfibablQ

SHE FINDS AN ACTIVE MEMBER.

213

sniff; "no, I ain't! There's a girl that ain't a
bit like her, that that fellow is making up to and
going around with, and making believe he is
some, and I dunno how much he means nor how
much he don't mean ; only he's a scamp, if he is a
gentleman, and maybe you, bein' a woman, would
think there was something you ought to do or
might do, though I dunno what it would be."

Mrs. Holmes was very grave and keenly attent-
ive. This mysterious matter, whatever it was,
evidently meant serious business to Liph Stet-
son, and he was making an unusual effort. She
wished she knew how to aid him in his unwonted
work.

** Do you mean Mr. Arson .-* " she asked, lower-
ing her voice, though there was no person within
hearing.

Liph nodded emphatically. " I do that, ma'am ;
and he is real out and out, downright what you
might call mean, though he is high enough up in
some things, and goes to places where such as me
would get kicked out. And he goes to some
other places where even such as me wouldn't be
seen going ! " There was terrible significance in
tone and manner. The startled woman felt that
the boy of nineteen, far down the road to ruin,
knew what he was talking about.

'* Only," said Liph, beginning again, and lower-
ing at her from under his shaggy brows, "that

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ain't a tWng to be told over; I'm in scrapes
enough now, without having to stand a chance of
being half killed, telling of things that ain't sup-
posed to be none of my business. If you can't
keep dark, and if I hadn't had a notion that you
could, why, then " —

CHAPTER XVin.

SHE DISCOVERS A "LOOKOUT COMMITTEE.

>»

I WILL be very careful, indeed," said Mrs.
Holmes, earnestly; "you shall not be gotten
into any trouble through me. Will you tell me
the name of the girl whom you think may be in
danger?"

"She's a girl that lives on Seventh Street, just
out of Green. She lives with her brother, and
her name is Hurst — Mad Hurst they call her. I
dunno what her real name is ; that is some kind
of a nickname, I s'pose. But she is a nice-look-
ing girl, and she ain't got no mother, nor folks, to
take care of her much, and her brother wouldn't
take no notice of any thing I'd say, and would
just as lief get me into trouble besides, and I
thoug.^t maybe" —

Liph's full pauses were more eloquent than
his words. Mrs. Holmes felt herself trembling
with surprise and apprehension of, she hardly

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knew what ; but she controlled herself to answer
reassuringly :

"I understand; thank you. I will be very
careful, and will do what I can. You were right
to tell me about this. It is good to be on the
alert in this wicked world to save people from
danger. It gives me courage to think that you
mean to save yourself. You have a mother, you
know."

But at this Liph turned away, his duty done.
Evidently he had no intention of applying the
lesson of his good deed to himself.

"Wait just a moment," Mrs. Holmes had called
after him, and, moving forward, had spoken low :
"Tell me, please, why you thought of this just
now. The person is not here."

"Yes, he is," said Liph; "he got back last
night."

It was a very grave and quiet woman who went
in due time up the stairs with a pitcher of hot
water and a plate of toast. She had almost noth-
ing to say as she prepared a dainty morning meal,
even to the poaching of an egg by the aid of her
invaluable alcohol lamp. She was certainly a suc-
cess this morning in keeping her hands busy with
one line of work and her thoughts on another.

Were the "fellow" of whom Liph Stetson
warned her, and the "gentleman" about whom
Uncle Tommy spoke, one and the same ? If so,

SHE DISCOVFRS A LOOKOUT COMMFTTEi:. 217

what influence had he over Madeline? What was
he trying to do with her ? How far was Liph's
judgment or truthfulness to be depended upon,
and in any case what could she do about it?
Grave enough questions, certainly. No wonder
they kept her quiet to the degree that her hus-
band watched her with a shade of anxiety upon
his face. Was this fair Christian whom he had
himself helped to rouse to earnest endeavor,
going tc indulge in her besetting sin again, and
overwork ? Yet even while he thought, and was
on the verge of speech, there was a sudden light-
ing up of the grave face, and she turned toward
him, smiling :

"Stuart, my society is growing. Last night,
you know, I found an active member, and this
morning, don't you think, I have discovered a
'lookout committee' ! I am not going to tell you
about it, not now, because you must eat your
breakfast, and the doctor said I must entertain
you while you ate."

"Your lookout committee is not entertaining,
then?"

She laughed softly.

"There are circumstances under which it might
be, but there is a story connected with it, which
you shall h; ar when you are stronger,"

"T am stronger now," he said, sitting upright;
"you and the doctor pet me altogether too much,

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I give you warning that I am not to be done in
pink cotton and laid aside mucli lunger. I'm
almost ready to become an active member again
myself, Chrissy."

This time her laugh was free, and her face
aglow with gladness. The happy wife remem-
bered that whatever anxiety and danger there
might be in the world hei own cup of gratitude
was full to overflowing.

"Chrissy," called her husband on the afternoon
of that same day, as she was passing through the
room, "have you something on your programme
which demands an hour or two of absence ? And,
if so, is not that useful maiden, Hepzibah, with
her inevitable book, needed elsewhere than at my
door.?"

His wife halted before his chair in smiling won-
der. "What does all this mean.? Do you feel
anxious to be rid of me for that length of time ? "

His answering smile was very bright. "I have
been wondering uhethti I could not entice that
poor fellow over here to look after my needs for
awhile, on the plea of benevolence, or something
of that sort, and so find opportunity, perhaps, to
speak a word to him which might be helpful. I
have been watching him sitting over on that gro-
cery step. He is the most dreary-looking person
1 have seen since we came here. I have a long-
ing desire to try to reach him."

Silli DISCOVERS A LOOKOUT COMMIT lEK. 2 H)

" Do you mean Lipli ? Oh, poor fellow! there
he is. He sits on that door-step nearly every
afternoon, and appears so dreary and aimless.
What a thinj^ it would be if some power sufficient
to arouse him could take hold of the boy ! "

♦•Whoa!" said ;he clear voice of the doctor,
and he reined in his ix)nics before their door.

"Ah," said Mrs. Holmes, "instead of my going
out for an hour, I think it will be you ; the doctor
is in search of company, I presume."

But having carefully questioned his patient, and
expressed satisfaction with his progress, Dr. Port-
land turned to the lady :

"Have you broken your contract.'" he said,
with an air of great gravity.

" My contract ! "

"Yes, your contract. Do you mean to say you
ignore it ? It will not do, madam ; I am perfectly
familiar with evasions of that kind ; still, I admit
I did not expect it of you. Did not you promise
to take me into partnership .-* And did not I
expressly stipulate that there should be no third
party to the concern ? "

"Oh, well, I have kept my pledge, or, rather,
your pledge ; if I remember correctly, I made
none. But I have said almost nothing to Mr.
Holmes about my friends and their needs since
that day."

*• Oh, ' Mr. Holmes ! * Who has mentioned his

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name? That is just like a married woman; she
believes there is only one man in the world,
and he has the honor to be her husband ! Mr.
Holmes, I entered into a business contract with
this lady — I was to give advice, and, otherwise —
in short, assistance to the best of my ability, to
her patients of all sorts and conditions, and only
stipulated in return that I should be sole partner
in the concern ; and, behold, to-day I discover a
rival in the person of Uncle Tommy."

"Uncle Tommy ? " repeated Mrs. Holmes, start-
led and a little disturbed. What had he been
saying to Dr. Portland .-* There was an instant
fear lest Madeline Hurst was involved in some
way. She waited anxiously for further words,
but the doctor regarded her with a serious face
and an air of mock disapproval.

"Do you call that honorable treatment, Mr.
Holmes.^" he continued, still addressing her hus-
band. "Here is Uncle Tommy stopping me on
the street when I am in great haste, and calmly
giving me advice concerning my own patients.
'I think, sir, the madam at Mrs. Stetson's would
do something for her — something that you and
I cannot do.' Those were his words. 'You and
I,' indeed ! As though we were equals in skill
and experience, and *the madam' was superior to
us both!"

"A patient of yours!" said Mrs. Holmea,

SHE DISCOVERS A LOOKOUT COMMITTEE. 22 1

relieved. Madeline Hurst was not ill, for she had
seen her in the distance that morning. "Who is
there that I can help, Dr. Portland.?"

" I don't know, I'm sure. If Uncle Tommy is
to be believed — and he is evidently a partner —
you can do more than I ; which is not saying
much, for I frankly confess my inability to do any
thing to speak of. The question is, how do you
reconcile it with your conscience to have made a
confidant of Uncle Tommy, after my express
proviso."

"Sit down, Doctor," said Mr. Holmes, "and
tell us what you are talking about."

"I haven't time to sit, and I'm talking about a
sick woman who lives two miles out of town, and
to whom Uncle Tommy says ' the madam ' can do
more good than either he or I. I give myself
credit for great discernment. I did not so much
as ask Uncle Tommy what madain he meant !
There was a sort of intuitive perception about it.
It only remains to learn whetJjr she will take a
seat in my carriage, and be driven out to the said
sick woman's to try her skill."

"What is the matter with the sick woman.''"
demanded Mr. Holmes, with such emphasis that
the doctor faced around to him and answered
with great gravity, 'It is a case of small-pox and
typhoid combined, with a touch of yellow fever,
or something of that sort, thrown in."

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"No, but seriously, doctor, of course I can not
allow Mrs. Holmes to go where there is any grave
disease. She is not strong enough for any thing
of that sort."

**0h, I have not mentioned any thing grave,
you know — just those trifling ailments! Seri-
ously, my friend, do you suppose for a moment
that I would ask your wife to go to a place of
danger.^ The woman of whom I spoke is gravely
ill, I fear, but it is a case of mind more than boJ^.
She is simply broken down under the weight of a
life which has been too much for her. If you
could ride out and speak a word to her, Mrs.
Holmes, there is a possibility that you might
bring a little comfort into her tired heart."

One of those sudden changes of which this
mercurial doctor was capable had come upon him.
He was gravity itself, combined with a certain
gentle deference which became him well. It
ended, of course, in Mrs. Holmes accompanying
him on this new mission of mercy. Not very
courageously, it is true; her brief experience as
a Christian worker had not brought her into con-
tact with the abject poor, either among sick or
well. She had grave doubts as to her being able
to meet Uncle Tommy's hopes in these directions.
She questioned the doctor as they rode, hoping to
learn something of what was expected of her, but,
if he understood, he did not offer to enlighten her.

SHE DISCOVERS A LOOKOUT COMMITTEE. 223

f? :,

*<I am a novice in these lines," he said. "The
poor woman evidently needs something which
is beyond my reach, and which Uncle Tommy
thinks you can supply ; whether you can, or not,
remains to be seen."

What a home it was into which this young
novice in human sorrow was presently ushered !
A single room, which served as dining, kitchen
and sleeping-room for five persons! Three chil-
dren, in various stages of disorder and discomfort,
hovered about a bed, on which lay the suffering
mother.

Poor Chrissy Holmes, with her dainty tastes
and over-sensitive nerves, never forgot that pic-
ture of suffering and misery. Mrs. Carpenter's
one clean room was a palace compared with this !

"The very first thing needed here is water,"
she said to the doctor in a low tone ; " and soap
and towels and clean sheets and pillow cases."

"Hard to con pass," he said, surveying her
with a composed satisfaction which was exasper-
ating ; " water I could secure, but the other arti-
cles mentioned are beyond me, I fear."

"Why didn't you tell me ? " she asked, reproach-
fully ; " I could have brought so many things ! "

" How was I to know the style of ministration
expected of you?"

Mrs. Holmes turned from him in grave dis-
pleasure. The easy, bantering tone seemed to

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her, heartless. But in a moment she glanced back
to say with decision :

•• Get me some water, please ; at least, the poor
creature can have her face bathed."

A moment more and she had shaken out and
dropped into the suspicious-looking hand basin
which the doctor promptly produced, a plain linen
pocket handkerchief.

"It feels good," said the poor woman, grate-
fully, as the cool water touched her burning skin ;
"I've b'jen too sick to try to do any thing for
myself, and the young ones are too little to help.
He does what he can, nights, when he gets in;
but it ain't much a man can do, when he's been to
work all day, and there ain't any thing to do with.
I've been sick nigh on to four weeks now, and no
washing done, and there ain't a clean thing
nowhere."

It was too evident that she spoke the truth.
The very little which Mrs. Holmes could do with
water and a pocket handkerchief was soon accom-
plished; and, after a very short talk with the
woman, her resolve was taken.

" Dr Portland, I shall have to be driven home
and brought back here : there are a dozen things
which this woman needs that I could have sup-
plied had I known the state of things. There is
nothing to be done now but to go for them."

"Very well," said the doctor, in utmost gravity,

SHE DISCOVERS A LOOKOUT COMMITTEE. 22 5

quite as though he had devoted his life to car-
rying people and parcels to and fro. "I am
entirely at your service for the afternoon."

It was a silent drive for several minutes. At
last Mrs. Holmes began her investigations :

" What brought about such a state of things —
rum ? "

" For a wonder, no ; it is generally at the bot-
tom of this sort of poverty ; but the man does not
drink, at least not often, and is a decent sort of
a fellow."

"Then, why are they so wretchedly poor?"

"They are incapables, Mrs. Holmes; in intel-
lect both husband and wife are children. They
assumed the responsibilities and duties of man and
woman at an age when they should have been
reckoned as children, and have been retrogradmg
ever since. The man is stupid and shiftless; a
little boy instead of a man. He earns his dollar a
day quite frequently ; but if he does not feel like
work, or the work which offers is not exactly to
his mind, why, he drops out and waits for some-
thing better. His wife spends the little money
he brings her in a perfectly inane way. If she
chooses to have spring chicken at a time when
they are sixty cents a pound, why, she has spring
chicken, without regard to the fact that those
towels and sheets and other small matters for
which you were looking are hoh est. In like man-

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ner, if both husband and wife want to take the
children and go to a show of any sort, and the
required quarters can be raised, they go, taking no
thought for the morrow. If they want a gold
watch, or a brussels carpet, or any trifle of that
sort, they buy it, generally on the installment
plan, and take all the comfort they can out of it
during the brief time in which they may call it
theirs."

CHAPTER XIX.

SHE ILLUSTRATES THEOLOGY.

THE installment plan ? " said Mrs. Holmes,
in bewilderment.
"Has that ingenious device of His Satanic
Majesty for swindling the poor, escaped your
notice.? In brief, it is managed after this fash-
ion : You are Mrs. Jenkins, we will say, and need,
or are fully convinced that your future well-being
depends upon a fifteen-dollar mirror, worth in
extreme figures two dollars. It so happens that
I am Mr. Skinflint, agent for Messrs. Cheatem &
Co. On the very day when the extreme limit of
your patience has been reached and you have
declared that life without the fifteen-dollar mirror
is insupportable, I appear to you with a bland
face, and the mirror under my arm, and explain
that I have been unable to sleep nights on
account of your forlorn condition without that
mirror; I have resolved, under the circumstances,
and merely as a matter of charity, to do some-

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thing for you which I could not think of doing
for many people, and therefore it is earnestly
desired that you will keep the matter a profound
secret. I have determined to sacrifice myself,
and allow you to buy that mirror, by giving mc
a dollar a week until all is paid. I will give you
a receipt in black and white for every dollar ; and
you will have the exalted privilege of using the
mirror from the very minute that you pay your
first dollar. And at this unparalleled benevo-
lence on my part I am tempted to shed admiring
tears. Certainly such sacrificing disinterested-
ness is rare in this wicked world ! The mirror
is set up, and you, Mrs. Jenkins, worship at its
shrine; and I, Mr. Skinflint, appear as promptly
as the day, after that paltry dollar. If it so hap-
pen that work continues, and all goes well in your
household, by dint of much starving of the chil-
dren, and much doing without the aforesaid towels
and sheets, in fifteen weeks you are the happy
owner of the two-dollar mirror, and Messrs.
Cheatem & Co. are richer by thirteen dollars than
they were. But this is an unusual state of
things ; the Jenkins household does not, as a rule,
move on in such even lines ; the more probable
experience is that work will fail, or some of the
smaller members, of whom there are always sev-
eral, will get sick, and on the seventh or eighth
visit there will be no dollar forthcoming ; I, being

SHE ILLUSTRATES THEOLOGY.

229

Still a most benevolent Mr. Skinflint, will express
my deep regret, and go to the extreme limit of
indulgence and wait a week ; at the end of that
time the probabilities are strong that you, Mrs.
Jenkins, will be no better able to pay the two
dollars then due than you were to pay the one ;
and I, with many regrets, indeed almost with
tears, take the two-dollar mirror under my arm
and march sorrowfully away. I have received
nine dollars for it, we will say, and I shrewdly
suspect that the Jenkinses, through continued
misfortunes, will not be able to give me any
more ; so I carry the mirror to Mrs. Jones, on the
next block, and proceed to sell it again at fifteen
dollr.rs. If I am a good, reliable agent, and if
life is reasonably hard during that season on
Ninth Street and vicinity, I may sell that precious
mirror for as much as fifty dollars, and have it in
my possession, as good as new, when the spring
opens. Do you get the points .-* "

♦' But surely. Dr. Portland, such infamous cheat-
ing can not be going on to any great extent ?"

" Why not } I assure you there has been no
reason yet evolved by this benevolent world why
it can not. The installment business, as just
explained, is a favorite one I am inclined to think,
in most cities of any size ; certainly it is a favor-
ite one here. After taking out that omnipresent
and all-important agent, rum, it may safely be set

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down as the next best business for ruining the
poor which has yet been discovered. I know of
dozens of families where it is being carried on
with a degree of success and perseverance which
would arouse your admiration, if you understood
it as well as I do."

" Dr. Portland, why do not people do something
to save the poor and ignorant from the grasp of
such persons as you have been describing.?"

•• My dear madam, what would you suggest ?
Thio is a free country, and the average citizen has
a right to ruin himself, financially and morally, if
he will. Even if the system invariably worked
misery and ruin, I presume a free and enlight-
ened nation would license the business, for a
consideration ! "

Mrs. Holmes seemed to have no answer ready,
and they drove on in silence for some minutes.
Then the doctor spoke again in grave earnestness.

** Mrs. Holmes, this visit has started me on one
of my hobbies. I feel deeply over this subject of
the honest and incapable poor. The woman to
whom I have introduced you is, as I have intima-
ted, a typical case. She married young, long
before she ought to have been through with girl-
hood — the most of her class do. She married a
man even beneath her in intellect and judgment ;
as a rule, most women of her class do that also.
She did not know how to keep her house or rear

SHE ILLUSTRATES THEOLOGY.

231

her children ; she did not know how to buy food
or clothes ; she did not know how to manage
either, after they were bought. She is at the
mercy of the sharpers of this world, who see in
her and her husband, willing dupes, from whom
can be extorted the small earnings which ought to
be used in the support of their family. For this
large and constantly increasing company of incapa-
bles, almost nothing is being done systematically.
When they reach a situation of absolute want, a
humane individual, or society, will take hold of
them, furnish food and clothing, and nurse them
back to life, if possible, only that they may go
through the same miserable story again and again,
until the common poor-house receives them, pau-
pers in name as well as condition, or until the
grave closes over them. As for doing something
for them which shall work a radical change in
their condition, save them from paupers' graves at
last, next to nothing is being attempted, at least
in this part of the world, and very little any where,
unless my knowledge is greatly at fault."
"But, Dr. Portland, what could be done.'"
" Pardon me ; you ought to know much better
than I. If there is any thing in the church of
which we hear so much, it ought to be able to
take hold of this problem with a will, and work
results which should tell for future generations.
How to buy and cook and make and mend and

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plan and systematize — that is what the decent
poor need, more than they do tracts or Bibles, in
my humble judgment."

" I beg pardon, doctor, but it seems to me that
just now you are talking about a phase of the sub-
ject which you do not understand. There is
solemn truth in all you have said, only if you
understood and ordered your life by the Bible,
you would see at once thnt it is of all things what
the ignorant poor, and all other poor mortals,
want, and that ij the world but followed its plain
directions all ine wrongs would be righted."

The doctor regarded the flushed face and i-
ing eyes of the speaker* with a curious smile.
Presently he replied : " You may be right ; I
acknowledge that I am meddling with a subject
which I do not pretend to understand, but I am
sometimes unable to forget that when I was a
youngster somebody taught me what purported to
be Bible words, which ran something like this :
•By their fruits ye shall know them.' And I am
only anxious to see a little of the fruit ; for a har-
vest of that sort is sadly needed, as sure as you
live. Why, even the graveyard secures an annual
harvest of little children from this very city, for
the simple reason that a thousand mothers in it
have not the least idea how to take care of their
babies. Now, Mrs. Holmes, since we are upon
this rather grave and bewildering subject, will yoii

SHE ILLUSTRATES THEOLOGY.

233

permit mc to ask you a question which has often
bewildered me? It is undeniable that there is
a great deal of misery in this world, which you,
for instance, would set right if you had power.
Why, even such a worthless fellow as I, come
every day in contact with distress which it would
not take me half a moment to banish, if I only
could. Given a Being who has all power, who
has but to speak, and the thing is done — and
that is, I suppose, your conception of God — the
question is, why does He permit the evident evil
which exists.^"

Mrs. Holmes could hardly hold her lips from
curving intc a smile; this was so like the passion-
ate outcry of her school-girl days ; it seemed such
an infinite pity that this keen-brained man had
gotten no further !

"It is a questioa easy to ask, but difficult to
answer," she said, quietly, " when the questioner
is, not a Christian. I might remind you that I
heard you one :lay commend a mother in unmeas-
ured terms because she steadily refused what her
child was coaxing and crying for. You remember
that the mother, by this firmness, caused the child
much suffering, which another child standing by,
with no more judgment than the suffering one
had, would most probably have instantly relieved
had the power been his."

<<Ah, but, Mrs. Holmes, is not this begging

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the question the least in the world ? The food
for which the poor child was crying would have
wrought infinite mischief, but what you and I pro-
pose to do we believe, and can even see, ought to
be done. '

"Am I God," said Mrs. Holmes, with exceed-
ing gravity, "that I should presume to arrange
his work for him ?'*

"Then )^ou really think that my rascally agent
ought to have sold his two-dollar mirror for fif-
teen dollars .-* "

'' Have I said any thing to make you think me
so devoid of common sense ? I did not know you
were quarreling with the fact of sin, but rather
arraigning God for his attitude toward it."

"Well, the one thought includes the other, does
it not ? Would not you and I abolish the fact of
sin if we could .? "

"I do not know. If we had that power, we
might manage the world very differently from the
v/ay we think we should. Dr. Portland, I might
be able to tie the hands of a child, and in that
way keep him from the act of stealing, but would
I not rather leave him free to do as he would and
teach him to will not to steal .-* In other words,
do you mean that you think God made a mistake
in giving us the power to weigh, to reason, to
decide } Would you rather be a machine obliged
to run in a certain groove ? "

SHE ILLUSTRATES THEOLOGY.

235

Dr. Portland laughed lightly.

"My dear madam," he said, "I was brought up
on discussions of the will, and total depravity,
and matters of that sort. I heard them in my
cradle. That is the reason why I know nothing
whatever about them now. No, I would rather
not be a machine. It is a fact that I enjoy the
power to weigh and choose, but so does my friend
Mrs. Jenkins, of whom I have been telling you,
and the truth is that it does not seem to me that
it is good for her to be so allowed. If she and
all the great sisterhood which she represents
could be set back into childhood with a stroke,
and commanded to do this, do that, go here, go
there, it would be infinitely better for her, and I
can not help seeing it."

Tears sprang to Mrs. Holmes' eyes, and her
voice was full of feeling.

'* Ah, but. Dr. Portland, you forget ; in order
for woruvjn to be benefited by the controlling
voice, they must be willing and glad to be con-
trolled and led, Given that, and how entirely
you have expressed the need and the Lord's pro-
vision for it ! Has he not made it possible for
every one of us to choose to be children, led by
his voice, by his smile, by his love.? Bcl'cve me,
dear friend, the trouble lies in the reckless deter-
mination of the child to manage for himself."

The remainder cf that day was spent in such

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evident practical Christianity as must surely have
delighted the heart of Dr. Portland. Mrs. Holmes
most unceremoniously and with energy pressed
him into service. Before the early twilight had
come upon them, another trip had been made to
the sick woman's home, and this time the carriage
was laden with a score of articles deemed by the
lady in charge absolute necessities. The doctor
looked on, silent and amused over some of them,
and sat on the ridge of the seat to make room
for them, and handled them with care and skill
when their journey was over. On the whole,
though Mrs. Holmes felt almost dismayed over
the poverty of her resources, the sick-room, and,
above all, the bed, presented a very different
appearance when at last they turned homeward.

"She has dropped into a quiet sleep," said
the doctor, coming on tiptoe from the bedside,
whither he had gone to take a professional last
look; "when she wakens she will not know her-
self, and somebody ought to be here to introduce
her to her husband. That is what I call Chris-
tianity, Mrs. Holmes."

"It is only one phase of it," said that lady,
quietly, "and the founder of Christianity rated it
quite as highly as you can."

In the evening, when she occupied her favorite
seat on a low hassock in front of her husband's
invalid-chair, her hand resting on his knee, she

SHE ILLUSTRATES THEOLOGY.

237

produced one of the questions about which her
mind had been revolving.

"Stuart, how long did you live in that queer
fashion about which you were telling me a few
days ago — when you were in college, you know ? "

"What, boarding myself? Why, I spent the
last year of my college course in that interesting
way."

** Why did you do it .? I do not understand. I
thought Father Holmes was always in good cir-
cumstances, and delighted to help you through
your course."

" He was and he did ; helped me royally, as mere
money could never have done ; he was a blessed
father, Chrissy. But about the boarding myself,
I had a special reason for that. Bravado some of
the boys called it. Perhaps there was a touch of
that element in it, though I remember I was indig-
nant over the suggestion. Boys do not under-
stand themselves as well at the time as they do
when they can look back upon their lives. There
was a fellow in college, Chrissy, in whom I was
interested in a* peculiar manner. He was very
poor, and inclined to consider poverty an insuper-
able barrier to many things which else he could
have attained. He was sorely tempted to give up
his college course because certain hoped-for mon-
eys failed him, and he had a precariously small
amount to depend upon. I urged him to board

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himself, and insisted that he could do it on the
sum which he had; the other boys said he
couldn't. I pressed the matter, and grew eloquent
over it ; finally offered to prove it by actual per-
sonal illustration. So I fitted up the room next to
his and went in ; cooked my own food (what could
not be bought ready cooked), and managed the bill
of fare for him as well as myself ; gave him not a
cent's v;orth of help, and carried him through the
year in triumph on healthful food and enough of
it. The only partnership business we had was in
the dish-washing, and over that we quarreled fre-
quently. Why are you wearing so radiant a face,
my dear little wife .? "

"Oh, Stuart, I wondered if there were not
some such explanation. It is like you ! that is all
one who knows you need to say. And it gives
me courage to talk over with you the strangest
fancy. What is needed, Stuart, among the poor,
is to do on a larger scale just what you did for
one, and to do it by practical illustration, too. If
there were only a large, plain house here where a
few people could start the scheme, I should like
so much to show them how to live comfortably
on very small sums of money. They do not
know how to buy food, Stuart, nor to prepare it
after it is bought ; and they live in such desolate
homes, when they might have comforts, and even
luxuries. But to do any thing of that sort it

a
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it
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SHE ILLUSTRATES THEOLOGY.

239

would be necessary to go and live among them,
and manage every thing for a time, and live just
as they did."

"What an immense scheme! It fairly takes
my breath away. Is that what you and the doc-
tor evolved out of your charitable trip to-day } "

" I evolved it out of his cynicisms. He charges
Christianity with indifference and criminal neg-
lect of the honest poor; and the worst of it is
I am afraid there are grains of truth in his
criticisms."

"Well, dear, I believe I am ready to join you
as heartily as possible in any plan which is reason-
able. We must talk it over, and think it over.
We are not in such entrancing quarters here that
it would involve a tremendous personal sacrifice
to make a change. But what would become of
poor Mrs. Stetson in such an event ?"

Mrs. Holmes looked troubled.

"Yes," she said, "and Liph. and Happy.? It
was those two I wanted to get hold of. Oh,
Stuart, I am afraid there is no way of doing that,
or any thing, for them."

"Yes, there is," the sick man said, heartily;
"He has a way; he has sent us here to help
them ; we must let him lead. There will be a
*next step' by and by, Chrissy."

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SHE RECEIVES, TO ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP.

IT is a pity that Mrs. Holmes could not have
had a picture of Hepzibah Smithers, as she
set her smoky little lamp on an over-turned box
which did duty in her room as a toilet table, and
drew her one wooden-seated chair toward it for
the purpose of fulfilling her pledge and reading
that marked verse in her Bible. There Was an
air of resoluteness about the girl, as though she
had resolved once for all to enter martyrdom and
conquer the verse before she slept. She was
very tired and unusually sleepy ; the little wads of
discomfort over in the corner, which she called a
bed, looked most inviting to her, yet the memory
of her emphatic "I'll do it," held her before the
box and book. "When I promises I promises,"
she said, stoically, and opened the Bible.

She might have been awed had she known with
what painstaking, prayerful care Mrs. Holmes had
selected the marked verse. In truth, that lady

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had been long in doubt which pearl out of the
wondrous treasure-box to choose. The familiar
one so often used occurred to her: "God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not
perish, but have everlasting life." But she shook
her head over it ; it was too high, too wonderful,
for Happy. She did not understand that she was
in any danger; she felt no need of an infinite
Savior. In like manner, the tender calls of the
compassionate One to the "weary" and "heavy
laden," did not seem to fit the present moment.
Happy might be "heavy laden," but she did not
know it, in the sense which the call meant. Her
choice at last was one which bewildered herself;
when she came to think it over afterward it
seemed not suited to Happy, yet the persistent
way in which her thoughts went back to it while
she was searching, and the persistent impression
that here was the verse to be marked, was not
to be resisted : " He that overcometh, the same
shall be clothed in white raiment ; and I will not
blot out his name out of the book of life, but will
confess his name before my Father and before
his angels."

What did Happy know about overcoming?
She did not even want to know ! Nevertheless,
this searcher after lost sheep made her heavy red
lines about the words, and wondered why it w^s

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that she must choose thus. The "Chief Shep-
herd" knew. If Happy did not understand the
word "overcome," there were certain other words
as she slowly read them which caught and held
her thoughts. Certain experiences of that very
day had prepared her to be thus held.

She had met that afternoon, on her way to the
grocery for molasses, Mr. Arson and "that Hurst
girl " walking together ; walking slowly, absorbed
apparently in conversation ; at least, Mr. Arson
had been so absorbed that he came almost upon
Happy, staring and blushing, before he saw her at
all ; then he actually frowner?, and made not the
slightest attempt at recognition.

" He doesn't want to own that he even knows
me," said Happy to herself with a heart swelling
with indignation ; then she looked after the two,
eagerly, longingly; stopping on the street corner
regardless of observation, to do so. What a
thing it must be to have a whole afternoon when
one could dress up and walk the streets, and be
talked to by the man who was bending his head
toward Madeline Hurst ! And Madeline was
clothed in a dress of spotless white, without so
much as a touch of color about her. Madeline
knew that the dress was coarse and plain, and
that she was outgrowing it, but Happy did not;
to her eyes the girl was dressed like an angel,
po you get a conception of what the unfamiliar

SHE RECEIVES, TO ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP. 243

Bible words may have said to the poor dark
heart ?

"He that overcomcth, the same shall be clothed
in white raiment." Somewhere Happy had heard
that word "raiment," in connection with lier
novel-reading, and understood its meaning; she
caught her breath over the sentence, and read it
again. Here was a chance for somebody; these
words were in the Bible, and she had a vague
feeling that what was in that book was somehow
true. The way to secure the "white raiment"
was as Sanscrit to her, but it was something to
feel that there was a way, and that Mis' Holmes
could tell her how to find it. "And I will not
blot out his name out of the book of life." What
did it mean ? She did not know. Only it was
nice not to have your name blotted out, of course.
She liked her name on the fly-leaf of this book.
She would like to see anybody dare to blot it out!
But over the next sentence she fairly held her
breath: "I will confess his name before my
Father and before his angels."

" He darst to own that he knew me," she mur-
mured ; "and before angels an " all ! That Hurst
girl wouldn't be much by the side of a lot of
angels, I guess. Oh, dear me, I wisht I knew ! "

She leaned her elbows on the dry-goods box
and bent herself forward over the book, reading
the startling words again, slowly, carefully, to

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make sure that they were really all there then ;
lifted her eyes to the dingy wall before her and
said again, "I wisht I knew!" but this time she
added, after a moment's thought, "And I mean
to; so there! "

What she wished she knew was what it meant
to "overcome." "To the weak became I as
weak, that I might gain the weak," said the great
apostle hundreds of years before. Was he in
this, as in other things, but faintly copying his
infinite Master, who was at that moment bending
to the weakness and almo.st ridiculousness of poor
Happy's conceptions, which were "of the earth,
earthy".? "That I might by all means save
some," said Paul. And it may be he understood
some of the "means" he was directed to use as
little as did Mrs. Holmes, who sat in her room at
that moment deploring her folly in having chosen
a verse infinitely beyond Happy's understanding.

"Look here. Mis' Holmes," said Happy, next
morning, waylaying the lady as usual on her
transit from the breakfast table ; " I read the
verse over three times; what does it mean?"
There was no giggling now ; instead, there ^vas
intense earnestness, and a certain reserve force of
determination behind the words, which impressed
the listener.

"Which part of it, Happy?" she asked, to give
herself time to plan how to answer.

SHE RECEIVES, TO ACTIV^E MEMnERSHII'.

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"The very first of it: 'Me that overcf)nieth * ;
them's the words. Mow do you do it, and what
is it, any way ?"

Here was a question, truly ! Mrs. Holmes,
half-way up the stairs, w:is expected to pause and
answer that over which theologians had been
studying and writing tomes for centuries ! She
sat down on a stair, the better to do it.

"Happy, it means those who take Jesus for
their pattern, and try every day to do the things
which he likes, and to keep from doing things
which grieve and disappoint him ; all such over-
come the temptations which Satan sets for them^
and show by their lives that they are following
Jesus. Then, when the time comes, he takes
them to his home, and introduces them to his
Father and the angels as his friends."

"Oh, my ! " said Happy, but her face was grave.
" Folks don't do it, though. Mis' Holmes, none
of 'em."

"Don't do what.?"

"Right; always, without ever making mistakes,
and forgetting, and all that. Leastways, I never
saw 'em if they did."

"But they try, Happy. If you had a little sis-
ter who wanted to please you so much that she
tried everyday to do just as you did, wouldn't you
love her, even though she didn't get any thing she
did, quite right?"

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••Ycs'm, I should that!" said Happy, with
energy.

"And don't you thini< if she kept on trying;
every day, she would certainly after a time be able
to do a great many things right ; even the things
she had failed on at first ? '

"Course," said Happy, confidently.

"Then, that is, as nearly as I can explain to
you now, what Jesus means by 'overcoming.' It
is in the first place a fixed resolve to follow his
directions — not to follow them to-day and neglect
them to-morrow; not to do as He pleases one
hour and as you please the next hour ; not to say,
'Maybe I will do it, sometime.' You could not
think that your little sister was honest in her
desire to please you if she managed in that way;
neither can He. It is, as I said, a fixed determ-
ination to follow his directions, always, every-
where, no matter what they lead to. That is the
first step."

Happy stood considering. Mrs. Holmes had
never seen her face grave for so long a time
before, when it was not in a frown. She watched
the gill with a kind of tremor in her heart, lest
she should not have said the right words to her in
this which was evidently a crucial moment. She
was hardly prepared for the next question.

"Well, what's the next one?"

"The next what, Happy?"

SHE RECEIVES, TO ACTIVE MEMnPRSlIlP. 247

• »

"Step. You said that was first; what's next?

Mrs. Holmes* face hghtcd with a reflection of
the thrill of gladness in her heart : this looked
like decision.

"To tell Him about it, and claim his help."

Now poor Hap])y giggled ; not as though she
were amused, but embarrassed, almost distressed:

"Oh, land! Mis' Holmes, I can't. I s'pose you
mean prayin* ; now I couldn't ! "

"Happy," said Mrs. Holmes, earnestly, "it is
just as simple a thing as it is for you to stand here
talking to me ; more simple, because He can
understand what you mean, even though you do
not know quite how to express it. There are no
large words necessary, nor sentences such as you
may have heard used in prayer, and did not under-
stand. It is simply saying : • Lord Jesus, I have
made up my mind that I want to overcome.
Show me how to do it."

Mrs. Stetson's voice sooner or later always sum-
moned Happy. It called her now in peremptory
tones, and the girl went away swiftly, without
another word. As for Mrs. Holmes, her face,
though glad, had a strange solemnity upon it as
she went about her morning work. Had she been
given a glimpse into the "Holy of Holies,"
wherein the Savior of souls came down to the
level of this feeble little soul and called it?
Could she have looked in upon the girl that even-

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ing, she would have been sure of it. Happy was
near the dry-goods box, and the open Bible had a
faint streak of soil upon it near the red-lined
verse. But the smoky lamp had been suddenly
quenched ; Happy could not have told why, only
she seemed not to want it. The light of the full
moon flooded the desolate little room and touched
even its few worn-out belongings with a kind of
beauty. And angels, listening, heard spoken, in
low, awe-stricken, yet steady tones, these words :

"Jesus, I've made up my mind. I want to
'overcome' and be owned before the angels, as
you said. I don't know how, but she said you'd
show me, and I mean to do it. When I promises,
I promises."

And the angels knew that, from that wonderful
moment, although the way might be long and
tortuous, and the mistakes so many as to almost
discourage poor human patience, yet, neverthe-
less, the day would come when this poor little
earth-worm, kneeling in her uttic, would be pre-
sented by the King to his Father and the holy
angels, with exceeding joy ; and that she would
be "without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing."

"I am going to call on Madeline Hurst," said
Mrs. Holmes to her husband, appearing before
him dressed for a walk, after she had made all
things comfortable for his afternoon rest ; "I do
not know what to say to her, and am half-fright-

SHE KKC:EIVES, TO Acfivi, MEMBERSHIP. 249

'ened at the thought 'A saying i'liy thing; yet I
seem unable to let the matter rest. How are
people to be saved from themselves, Stuart?"

" By the expulsive power of a new affeeti^ti/'
he said, smiling almost wistfully upon her.

Occasionally this man, who had been taught
some lessons in the school of affliction, wondered
almost timidly how his wife would be taught to
trust the part which was not for her to manage.

A frowzy-headed, most slatternly-looking girl
^answered Mrs. Holmes' ring, and announced that
"Mis' Hurst" was out, and "Mad" was up stairs
sick.

"Sick!" repeated the caller, anxiously. Made-
line seemed like one who needed but a slight
illness to prostrate her. The girl, on being ques-
tioned, "guessed she wasn't much sick; she-
coughed some, but she mostly did when she took
cold, and she took cold about every time she
stirred. She hadn't seen her to-day, but Mis'
Hurst told them that she could have come down
to dinner if i^he had wanted to."

Over the anxfously-put question whether the
caller could be allowed to go up and see her, the
girl frowned and pu/zled. She "didn't know, she
was sure; Mis' Hurst was away, and folks that
come a-calling didn't commonly go up stairs. She
hain't got her room fixed up for callers," the girl
added, with a half-em barrass^/J

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"You may ask her if she will see me," said
Mrs. Holmes, with decision; "tell her I would
like very much to spend a little while with her if
she is able. Take this card to her, please."

Poor Madeline's cheeks were burning with
fever, and her head ached so she could hardly
read the card which was thrust into her hand. It
is humiliating to have to confess it, but I am
afraid the feeling uppermost in her heart was that
if she permitted her caller to come to the attic-
room, it would be the surest way of mortifying

her sister-in-law. She

gave

one swift dance

about the low, dreary room, with its one curtain-
less window, save for a newspaper pinned against
it, with its uncomfortable cot in place of a bed,
and its utter absence of the usual furnishings of a
young woman's room, and, with a smile which
would have grieved and frightened Mrs. Holmes,
said :

"Yes, let her come up. She will understand
some things better than she docs now, after she
has spent five minutes in this room."

It was perhaps an hour afterward that Mrs.
Holmes, on her way through the lower hall, came
upon the lady of the house, who had just entered
the front door.

"Mrs. Hurst, I believe.''" she said, in answer
to that woman's stare of astonishment. "I am
Mrs. Holmes. I think, madam, you cannot know

SHE RECEIVES, TO ACTIVE MEMBERSHIP. 2$ I

that your sister is quite ill. I have been with
her for the last hour, and she grows steadily
worse. Her breathing is becoming very labored,
and I fear that, unless promptly relieved, she will
have congestion."

"The idea!" said Mrs. Hurst. It seemed a
strange reply to make to such information, but
the fact is, the only portion of it which the bewil-
dered and dismayed woman had realized was that
Mrs. Holmes, the elegant stranger whom she had
watched at a distance with envious eyes, had
actually been to her attic spying out its bare-
ness ! Her face flushed angrily at the thought;
she knew only t(JO well how the attic looked.
What unparalleled impudence it was in this upstart
woman to force herself into other people's houses !

"If I can do any thing," said Mrs. Holmes,
hesitating ; •' I came down to see if I could find
you, or somebody else, and speak about a physi-
cian. I hall pass Dr. Portland's office on my
way home , .^ he is your physician. I c 3uld leave
a message."

Then Mrs. Hurst rallied to the emergency.

"You are very kmd," she said in a tone which
was intended to be dignified, "but there is
no occasion to trouble you. My sister-in-law is
accustomed to these attacks, and I know what to
do for her. bhc ^s inc^inied to make a great deal
of a little sickness, md ha.s frightened you, I sup-

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f)ose. I know ho^ to deal with her. There is
nothing to be alarmed about."

l^ut now Mrs. Holmes' cheeks wefe red also,
and her eyes very bright.

'•Indfeed, madam," she said earnestly; "pardon
rne for saying I feel very sure that you are
hiistakcn. I am accustomed td illness, having
i^ecehtly nursed my husband through a long,
feevete attack, which was not unlike this in its
beginning, and was allowed to get too firm a hold
before we understood it, or realized the danger.
I am confident that when you see her you will
decide that a skilled physician should be sum-
moned at once."

"Oh, very well," said Mrs. Hurst, loftily; "if
Mad is frightened, she can have a doctor, of
course ; but we by no means wish to see Dr. Port-
land ; we /ould not employ him to doctor a cat !"

There was nothing for it but to go away filled
with anxiety over one who seemed so friendless.
The disturbed • iller felt that she would almost
rather have left the girl alone than trust her to
the tender merries of such a woman. Madeline
was light in one respect; Mrs. Holmes under-
stood better now the sort of life the poor child
must lead.

CHAPTER XXI.

SHE TURNS SURGEON.

WELL of all things in this world ! " was Mrs.
Hurst's exclamation as the door closed
after her visitor ; "it I ever in my life saw any
impudence equal to that ! I wonder how that
hussy came to show her the way up stairs ! She
ought to be discharged this minute to pay for it.
'Dr. Portland,' indeed! I think I see her sending
him here! That is just like Mad; anything to
create a sensation ; but it is too outrageous to
think she let her come up stairs! I believe she
did it just to spite me ! "

Before that evening was over, both Madeline
and Nancy wished they had not been so rash.
Though truth to tell, poor Nancy, out of whose
hands the matter was taken altogether, could not
understand why she should be blamed ; but
blamed she was most roundly. The entire Hurst
family heard nothing else but the story of Mrs.
Holmes' insufferable insolence, and Mad's mean-r

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ncss and Nancy's stupidity in aiding and abetting
it. Under the influence of the general disorder,
Mr. Hurst made a remark which placed him under
the ban of disapproval also.

"Well," he said, "I don't see why you can't
keep things decent, so you needn't be afraid to
have folks go up stairs when it is necessary ; there
are fancy gimcracks enough in the parlor to make
Mad's room decently comfortable, if the money
spent on them had been put there."

You will be ready to admit that this was hard
upon Mrs. Hurst, for the "gimcracks" in the par-
lor were her idols.

It was two days before Mrs. Holmes saw Made-
line again ; she called on the day following her
first visit — was assured that "Mad" was better,
needed nothing, and could not be seen ; on the
second day, having knocked gently at the open
front door and been unanswered, she waited a
minute, then ran lightly up stairs and tapped at
Madeline's door. She was even more shocked at
the girl's appearance than on her first visit, and
could not help feeling that this sickness was seri-
ous. Madeline was alone, and evidently glad to
see her caller, though she expressed surprise at
her coming.

"How did you get permission to come up here
again .'* "

"I took it," answered Mrs. Holmes, with a

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SITE TURNS SURGEON.

255

quiet smile; "the door stood invitingly open and
my knock was unanswered ; so, as I knew the
way, I took the liberty of coming up."

"Good!" said Madeline, her eyes glowing with
a strange luster which was not pleasant to see;
" come up in the same way whenever you can ; it
is the only way you will ever get here, and it
annoys Mrs. Hurst so much that il does me
good."

" My dear girl, do not say such words, even in
jest; I am sure you do not mean them."

"Don't I!" said Madeline. And then Mrs.
Holmes made haste to change the subject.

"Are you really better.-*" she asked; "do you
cough as much as you did .-* What physician
attends you ? "

"Madam Hurst."

" My dear, have you not seen a physician ?"

" Only the one I have mentioned ; she prides
herself upon her skill. Doesn't she impress you
as a woman whom I ought to enjoy having nurse
me.?"

"I think that is wrong," said Mrs. Holmes,
gravely ; "I am sure you ought to have a
doctor."

"Never mind a doctor," Madeline said, leaning
wearily back among the pillows, after a violent
spasm of coughing; " I do not think I care to see
one ; not of her kind, and I can compass no other.

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I am glad you have braved the consequences and
come to see me ; you do not know how disagree-
able they are, buL, ?li the same, I am glad you
have come. Perhaps I became sick in order 10
give me a chance to think ; I need to do some
thinking, Mrs. Holmes, and I have almost made
up my mind to ask you to help me decide
something."

"If I can help you in any way, I shall be glad;
but will you tell me what you mean by 'braving
the consequences ' ? Does it make it harder for
you to have me come here.^ "

"Nevermind,* said Madeline; "she is jealous
of you because you have had the kindness to
notice me, and have not noticed her ; she would
be jealous of a kitten if it purred for me ; so it
is nothing against you personally, you see ; never
mind her, Mrs. Holmes; I v/ant to talk to you,
to ask you something. I have spoken very plainly
to you, more plainly, perhaps, than I ought, for
my self-respect ; I ought to shield my family, of
course; I know enough about common politeness
for that ; but I had an object in speaking, and in
letting you see something of my life. It is quite
intolerable to me, Mrs. Holmes ; really and truly
I can endure it no longer ! I know a way out ;
but the way is almost as disagreeable as the life
I now live ; in some respects, indeed, it is more
so, but in others it would be a manifest improve-

SHE TURNS SURGEON.

257

ment. Can you give advice under such vague
conditions as that?"

" I might, my friend ; that is, if I may be
allowed to ask a very few questions and receive
frank answers."

"Oh, questions!" said the sick girl, nestling
uneasily on her cot ; " I am afraid of those ;
especially when you ask them. Still, of course, I
ought to answer, when I have asked advice."

"The first one is very simple and easily
answered: 'Would it be right to take the step
which you say would in some respects improve
your condition.-*' "

"This is the very worst question to answer,"
Madeline said, and, flushed with fever as her face
was, Mrs. Holmes could see that the glow
deepened. "The truth is," she added, after a
moment's silence, "it is a phase of the subject
which I do not want to consider at all. I v/ant to
look at it from the standpoint of expediency
alone."

"Then," said the lady, with quiet firmness, "I
can not answer you. I aim to order all my acts
in life with that question in view, as the leading
consideration."

"That would be inconvenient, I should think,"
the girl said, laconically.

After a few moments of silence she began
again, still in that restless, half irritable tone :

1 111

258

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"You can theorize, I suppose. What if a
home and friendship and protection, were offered
to a lonely, desolate girl and she felt reasonably
sure that she could do her duty by the one who
offered it, is there any good reason why she
should not accept such an escape from misery,
even though she — she" — and then poor Made-
line stopped, her face aflame.

Mrs. Holmes felt that she was sitting on the
edge of a precipice; or, what was worse, watch-
ing the feet of another who was very near the
edge, and whom a single false movement upon
her part might precipitate ovor the brink. She
tried to keep face and voice in utmost quiet, while
she questioned, "Are you speaking of marriage,
Madeline.?" It was evidently a more direct reply
than the girl expected, and she hesitated before
she said :

"Suppose I were, what answer would you
make ? "

"There can be but one answer. If there are
no obstacles such as self-respecting people con-
sider, to prevent a marriage, then the all-import-
ant question which each soul must answer to
itself before God is, 'Can I honestly take with
this person the vows which God and the law of
the land make necessary to a legal marriage .?
In other words, *Do I love him with the sort of
love which I give to no other, so that he is

you

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SHE TURNS SURGEON.

259

the one man on earth to whom I could so bind
myself'' Any other marriage than that, Made-
line, is perjury in God's sight."

Madeline turned her small, hot pillow angrily.

" How many people do you suppose marry in
that way ? " she asked, almost with a sneer.

•*I do not know, my dear girl; nor do I see
what the question has to do with the subject.
As well ask me how many false people there are
in the world, in order to prove that there can not,
and need not, be such a thing as truth. Entirely
aside from the Christian standpoint, I do not see
how there can be moral decency in any other mar-
riage than the one I have described."

"But, Mrs. Holmes, a good, true man, who
loved and respected a woman might give her the
protection of his name, and care for her all his
life, it seems to me, even though she could give
him in return only friendship."

Madeline's tones had changed ; the fierceness
had died out of them, and they had almost a
pleading sound which went to Mrs. Holmes'
heart. But she resolutely shook her head,

"It will not do, dear. No good man could
respect a woman who would consent to take vows
upon her lips which her heart did not echo. I
can not conceive of the possibility of a good man
wanting a wife who did not love him. God has
so ordered it that marriage shall be a faint, but,

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SO far as it goes, honest, type of the union
between the soul and Christ. It is dishonoring
to Jesus Christ to belittle the type, and make any
of its terms other than strictly true."

" I do not know anything about such high-toned
reasoning, you must remember," said poor Made-
line, coldly ; and Mrs. Holmes, reflecting, won-
dered whether she would do better to drop to an
illustration which was of the very dregs. "Did
you ever hear Mrs. Carpenter talk about how she
married for a home and for protection.?" she ven-
tured to ask. But Madeline's swiftly changing
face grew dark, and her eyes flashed angrily. •' I
am talking about a very different person from Joe
Carpenter," she said, in intense scorn.

"That is, he seems very different to you now;
but, Madeline, if he is one worthy to be loved and
respected, believe me he would accept nothing
less than love from the woman of his choice ; and
what men who are not worthy, will become, only
the God whom they insult can know. From a
merely selfish standpoint, even, it is not safe to
trust them. "

Then she had the benefit again of a pair of
flashing eyes.

"I thought Christians were expected to be char-
itable ! " the girl said, fairly biting off the words.
"Do you call that charity, Mrs. Holmes, to see no
_good in anybody who is not governed by the nar-

Joe

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SilR TrRNS SURGEON.

row rules which hedge a few people in ? I should
call it narrow-minded and shallow."

And then Mrs. Holmes knew that the poor
child was quoting from some one who was trying
to be her leader, and who had already warped her
judgment by a few high-sounding phrases about
"larger liberty" and "wider outlooks." She was
talking very much in the dark, yet grew every
moment more certain that Madeline Hurst was
considering herself and Mr. Arson ; that she did
not love him, but imagined she respected him, and
had been made to believe that his love for her was
so great he was willing to give all, and receive
only this cold return. If only the girl would con-
fide in her fully, so that she might speak plainly!
She had not been hurt by the last rude outburst ;
it was so manifestly the utterance, in borrowed
words, of a tortured mind which did not fully
know what it was saying. Her voice was never
more gentle than when she ventured to break the
ominous silence :

" Madeline, I am talking blindly, of course ; I
do not know why you asked the question you did,
but you asked, you know, and I have tried to
answer. I can not expect you to confide in me,
for I have known you too recently to win your
confidence ; but I love you, dear child, and my
heart goes out in a great longing to help you. I
can not help knowing from observation, as well

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

as from the few hints you have gi/en me, that
your life just now is a hard one, and I can readily
imagine that you are sorely tempted to take some
rash step, which you may spend what will seem
like an eternity in regretting. Let me beg of you
to wait and think and pray, before you do any
thing which your enlightened conscience disap-
proves. Remember that you have been too well
trained in the years gone by, to really approve a
lie, no matter how glossed over it may be by
sinooth-sounding words. I beg your pardon for
giving the matter a personal turn, which perhaps
your words did nol justify, I think I am feeling
more keenly than usual, just now, in these direc-
tions. I am looking on with fear and trembling
over the possible wreck of a life very differently
situated from yours, but fully as lonely and friend-
less. Do you know that poor little Happy Smith-
ers who works at Mrs. Stetson's ? "

"I have seen her," said Madeline, turning her
pillow again, and becoming every moment more
conscious that her head ached violently.

She was already ashamed of her angry outburst
of a few moments before, and was beginning to
wish that she had asked no questions, but kept
her tormenting thoughts to herself. It was very
hard to try to appear interested in Happy Smith-
ers. She did not think she cared what became of
her.

KHR TtJKNS SURf;EOiy.

263

«t

And do you know any thing of a boarder at
Mrs. Stetson's by the name of Arson — a young
man?"

Then Madeline opened her eyes, and fixed them
full upon her caller. They seemed almost to burn
the lady as she steadily returned the gaze, but all
that the sick girl said was, " I have seen him,
too."

** I could wish that poor Happy never had ! "
The words were spoken with a sigh, partly for
Happy, and partly because it was evident that
Madeline did not mean to confide in her.

"Why.-*" A short, sharp word from the cot,
that demanded answer, and told a great deal whicn
the questioner did not mean to tell.

"Because that young man is trying to deceive
her, and is succeeding ; what his motive may be,
those who know him better than I do will have to
imagine. I know that he shows her attentions
such as honorable men keep for their nearest and
dearest ; that he gives her presents such as she
ought to know enough not to receive ; but poor
Happy is quite ignorant enough to be duped. He
takes surreptitious walks with her under cover of
the darkness, and parts with her with Kisses which
can only mean disgrace."

Not for a moment did she take her eyes away
from the burning ones ; after the first random
sentence, she had been sure that she was not mis-

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264

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

taken, and had resolved to go on to the humiliat-
ing end, and give this warning before it was too
late. She had decided that it was better that the
gi; ' had not confided in her; she could speak the
more plainly.

"How do you know that you are not repeating
a set of miserable lies ? That girl is a street pau-
per, who does not know how to speak the truth, I
suppose ; she would consider it a fine thing to tell
such tales of a gentleman."

Madeline's voice did not sound as though her
heart had received a death-blow, but rather as
though her self-respect had been rudely handled,
and she was burning with indignation. The
steady eyes did not droop before the piercing
ones, and Mrs. Holmes answered quietly :

"The girl never mentions his name, so far as
I know. I know of the gifts from having seen
them in his hands one hour, and in hers the next,
being proudly shown as from a friend ; the poor
thing seems to have sufficient sense of propriety
to mention no names, or else is tutored not to. I
know of the walks, and the partings, and indeed
of some of the words exchanged, from the same
reliable source. I have trusted only my own eyes
and ears as witnesses to the tale I tell."

This entire conversation had been frequently
interrupted by distressing paroxysms of coughing;
and Mrs. Holmes, between the moral duses which

SHE TURNS SURGEON.

265

she had felt compelled to administer, had also
done what she could for the physical, but at
this point the cough became so distressing, and
the weakness which followed the paroxysm so
extreme, that the looker-on was visibly alarmed.

"Indeed, Madeline," she said, anxiously, "I
can not think you do right to let this illness get
such a hold upon you. If I could see your
brother I would certainly interfere and beg him
to secure a physician at once."

"Don't!" said the girl, panting for breath,
and holding her hand to her throbbing heart. "I
do not want a doctor ; I want the disease to get
such hold that it will not let go — I want to die!
If ever any person had reason to be utterly tired
of this false, hateful world, I have. In some
respects I am in worse condition than Mrs. Car-
penter, because that disgusting, mumbling, drunk-
ard husband of hers loves her nfter his fashion,
and is true to her. I hope I shall die, Mrs.
Holmes, and see mother for a few minutes, any
way. It is all there is left to want."

While Mrs. Holmes stood amazed and sorrow-
ful over these wild, foolish words, uncertain what
response to make, the door opened and Mrs.
Hurst appeared.

1 ' f

J ;

CHAPTER XXII.

ONE DISCOVERS HIS OPPORTUNITY.

DR. PORTLAND, who had been driving
briskly through the sand of a country road,
reined in his horses and regarded attentively an
object which sat on a fallen tree in the sunshine;
it had a slouched hat on the top of its head, and
limp hands in its pockets ; its entire attitude was
one of mild discouragement and apathy.

"Is this you, Joe " your ghost .-* "

"I reckon it's me, doctor," said the object,
turning its watery blue eyes in his direction.

"Are you sober.!*"

"Ain't drank a drop since" —

"Since the last time," said the doctor, as Joe
stopped to fix a date. "Where are you going, or
where do you expect to go, when you can coax
yourself to leave that old pine stump .-*"

"I'm on my way home, doctor; I've been out
to the Hall place on an errand and got so far
back."

266

ill.

ONE DISCOVERS IIlS OPPORTUNITV,

267

••Well, jump in and I'll take you back before
you would have made up your mind to start."
Whereupon Joe moved with alacrity ; a ride
behind the ponies which were at once the envy
and admiration of all the boys in town, was some-
thing which had never fallen to Joe Carpenter's
lot before,

•• It is too bad for you to be such a worthless
old fellow as you are, Joe," the doctor said, when
they were started.

•'I know it," said Joe, with becoming gravity.
••I've thought it more times than you have, I'm
dead sure."

••That is very possible; I do not remember
ever thinking much about it until lately ; but
when a fellow like you succeeds in setting the
mind of a good woman into a ferment over him,
it seems to me it is time for him to think for
himself."

•'I know it, a better woman never lived;
honest as the day, and hard working; keeps
everything clean and neat, with nothing to do it
with ; it is too b .d ! " Joe's face was gravity
itself ; nothing could be plainer than that he was
in deep earnest.

Doctor Portland's face was a study; the half-
amused, half-sarcastic curl of his lip gradually
changed, as Joe's sentences rolled out. Actually
he could not help having a touch of respect for

268

HER ASSOCIATE MEMIiKKS.

this miserable wreck of a man ; who, low as he
had sunken, was not yet low enough to speak
other than with kindness, even with tenderness,
of his wife. Had the wife been unknown to Dr.
Portland, the pocr fellow's words would have pro-
duced no such effect ; but he understood perfectly
that she never omitted an opportunity to set his
sins before him in their darkest hue; that she was
coldly sarcastic when she was not worse ; and that
in short the place which Joe had most reason to
shun, was the one he called home.

"Of the two, T pity poor Joe the most," the
doctor had said more than once. Now he almost
felt that of the two he could respect Joe the
most.

"I was not speaking of your wife," he replied
gravely, "th )Ligh I know she has qualities which
you ought to respect ; my reference was to quite
another woman ; one who takes the trouble to
think about you a great deal."

"Me!" said old Joe, and his monosyllable,
some way, expressed not only intense surprise,
but pathos.

"I dunno who it can be; mother used to care
about me, but she's been gone this twenty years
and more ; and there never was anybody else,"

" I mean a good, true woman who is very anx-
ious concerning you, and would give much to see
you a different man. You must have seen the

ONE DISCOVERS HIS OPPORTUNITY,

269

lady who is boarding at Stetson's ? She has been
here but a few weeks and has an invalid husband."

"The little woman with pretty hair, and eyes
that make you think of stars and sunshine? Yes,
I have seen her ; she comes to our house some-
times ; and she sends more than she comes ; Mad
Hurst let me know v/here the things come from
that helped my wife through her sick spell ; and
though you wouldn't think it, I'm grateful to any
body who does things for my wife ; but you are
mistaken about her caring any thing for me. She
ain't never spoke one word to me."

"Nevertheless I tell you she is deeply inter-
ested in you. I have heard her say so. She
must see in you something which the rest of us
haven't. She thinks you could do more for your
wife than all of us put together, if you would."

" You mean about work, doctor ? Well, now,
it's curious how scarce work is in this place — for
me, anyhow; I've been four miles into the coun-
try this afternoon in search of a job I heard of,
but I couldn't get it. I do work whenever I get
a chance, now that's a fact."

"I don't mean any thing of the kind, Joe, and
you know it. I mean whisky. Haven't you
brains enough to know that the reason work is
scarce, is because people can not trust you ? You
may go off in the middle of an important job and
get on a spree and not be seen for days. Why

i hn

270

IIER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

should any body in his senses employ such a man
as that ? " •

" I know it, doctor," said Joe with the grave
air of a philosopher contemplating a fact in Natu-
ral History ; " I'm not complaining, I'm merely
stating a fact."

The doctor lost patience. " Look here, Joe Car-
penter," he said sharply, " I do not see any sense
in your talking in that way. It would do very
well for an idiot, but really you arc not one, yet ;
why should you ape the manners of one .-' Why
don't you rouse to the situation and act like a
reasonable being .'' "

Poor Joe did not so much as turn his weak eyes
in the speaker's direction ; instead, he looked
gravely at the wheel, from which particles of sand
were steadily falling, and was silent for several
seconds. When at last he spoke there was a curi-
ous undertone of pathos, though his words were
slow and quiet enough.

♦' Doctor, you wouldn't think it, I suppose ; I
wouldn't have thought so myself once, but the
stark-naked living truth is, that I can't do it!"

"Can't do what.?"

"Give up the blamed whisky. There'd be no
use in trying to tell you how often I've tried ; why,
as many times it seems to me as there's grains of
sand in this road ; and meant it every tii.iC, and
made a dead failure. I didn't sense it at first ; I

ONE niSCOVERS HIS OPPORTUNITY.

25^1

thought it was accident, or mistake, or something
of that kind, and of course I'd get hold of the
thing at last. But I didn't ; and at last it dawned
upon me that I couldn't. Mother, she told me
once that I'd git where I couldn't, and I didn't
believe her."

A less scientific man than Dr. Portland would
have had some glib, encouraging answer to make ;
but he, looking at the bleared eyes, the enfeebled
lines about the naturally weak mouth, and watch-
ing the trembling arms and hands, was silent.
An embarrassing silence it was to him, though
Joe did not seem to feel it so ; he looked meekly
grave and contemplative, still.

" You have days when you do not drink,
though ?" the doctor said at last, putting the tone
of a question into his words. Joe nodded. "Yes,"
he said, "I do; and that's what fooled me along
at first I says to myself, says I, 'Joe, if you can
stand it four days at a time, why can't you forty .^
and after forty days maybe things would get
different somehow.' But it wa'nt of no use!"
shaking his head sadly, " I stuck it out most two
weeks, several times ; and once nigh on to two
months ; but when one of them raging spells of
thirst come on me, it didn't make no difference
whether it was weeks or months since I'd had a
drop ; I couldn't no more manage them than I
could a wild tiger this minute ! You don't know

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272

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

nothing about it, of course ; and my wife don't.
That's what tries her so, and I don't wonder;
but there it is !"

This was certainly a very remarkable turn for
the conversation to take. But for his strange
embarrassment the doctor could have laughed.
Joe seemed actually to be apologizing for his wife ;
because, not being able to appreciate the strength
of his temptation she was hard on him ! But
there was some thought which held his mentor
silent and unsmiling. At last he spoke, with
evident effort :

"Joe, the lady of whom I told you, looks at
these things in a different light from what you do.
She evidently understands, in a degree at least,
the strength of the appetite, but she believes that
there is a Power outside of himself which a man
can bring to bear upon it, if he will. In other
words, she believes that God, the God whom she
worships, stands ready to help any poor wretch
who is willing to put himself in the way of help,
and follow directions ; so that these terrible fits
of thirst of which you speak shall be held in
check by His Almightiness. What do you think
of that.?"

A singular change had come upon Joe's face
while he listened; his bleared eyes were turned
from the wheel and the sand, and their gaze fixed
fully upon the doctor's face; the muscles of his

ONE ;ilSCOVEKS HIS OPPORTUNITY.

273

"Si

face

lurned

fixed

)f his

lips twitched almost convulsively, and somcthinj^
like a thrill of energy seemed to run through his
loosely-jointed frame.

•' What does she know ibout it .-• " It was the
first short, decisive senten- e Tlr. I^ortland had ever
heard this wreck of a man .■-peak.

"She has had experience, it seems. Has
known of a man, or of men, several of them, who
by this means have conquered the appetite, even
when Lir under its influence, and have gotten
back their manhood. She believes that you
could ; and moreover, she believes that such a
course would save your wife from the mental
wreck which she will almost certainly become,
unless relieved from the fearful strain which is
upon her now."

He was speaking quite glibly ; if there was a
shadow of manhood left in the fellow, certainly
the statement which he had now boldly made,
ought to rouse him. He was hardly prepared for
the question which followed.

" Doctor, do you believe it .? "

*' Do I believe what.''" spoken almost sharply.
There was that in Joe's voice which made him
feel that the question was not asked with refer-
ence to his latest communication, but had to do
with a subject about which he knew less.

" That she's right in what she thinks ; and
that a fellow like me could get a hold of some-

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thing or somebody — it would have to be God, for
there ain't any mortal could, I know that — to
help him when the spells come on ? Say I've
brought *em on myself; and I know it is true;
I've told myself so a hundred times; I know
there was a place, away back, where I could have
let the stuff alone ; but say that time is past, and
it's my fault that it is, does she mean, and do you
mean that such as me could get hold of this
Something?"

How was the gay, mocking, skeptical young
man to answer such a question ? A man who had
less knowledge of the human frame, and of the
terrible ravages which rum can make upon it,
might have talked eloquently about the " God-like
powers of the human will," and the "tremendous
force of an iron resolution." Dr. Portland, glanc-
ing furtively at the human wreck beside him,
could not bring himself to utter such nonsense.
Whatever it had been intended the will should do
for him, poor Joe Carpenter had done what he
copld to make his powerless to resist temptation,
and had certainly succeeded well. The doctor
would not have trusted the strongest promise this
weak-kneed, trembling wretch could make, long
enough to expect it to last him while passing the
next liquor saloon. "If he could go to a place
where the sight or the smell of the stuff could not
r^ach him/' he myttered to himself^ "if there

ONE DISCOVERS HIS OPPORTUNITY.

275

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were such a place on this rum-cursed earth, why,
then — but as it is*' — and he drew a long, dis-
couraged sigh.

How, then, was he to answer Joe's question.'
Was there really no hope for the man who had
placed himself in such a cruel position ? Volun-
tarily released his will, and his nerves, even his
muscles from their duty toward him and trained
them to be false.? In his heart of hearts Dr Port-
land believed just that. "Nothing less than a
miracle could save a fellow constituted ac be is,
set down in the midst of temptation," he told
himself resolutely ; and as one who did not
believe in miracles, what was he to say ? Joe
was waiting. The doctor coughed nervously and
cleared his throat ; why had he been such a fool
as to get himself into this ridiculous position ?
Since Joe Carpenter was, by his own confession,
confirmed b' .c'entific knowledge, too far gone to
exercise self-control — always supposing he had
been of the calibre which ever exercises it to
a very great degree, of what use to torment
him with long sermons about manhood, and the
like ?

"My mother believed in it," he said at last,
and his voice sounded unnatural even to himself;
"she had utmost confidence in this miraculous
power which is supposed to get hold of people;
and men who have had good mothers always

'*.S

276

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

believe they were about right in everything, don't
they ? "

"Do they?" asked Joe Carpenter, thoughtfully.
"Then I ought to think such things, for my old
mother was one of them kind. I believe you're
right, doctor; mothers is queer; for a spell you
think you know more than they do, and then you
think anyhow you know about as much ; and after
a while you know that they know more than all
creation ? "

This bit of moralizing fitted in with Joe's unus-
ual mood; he was entirely grave, and the retro-
spective notes in his voice had still that touch of
pathos ; but something had irritated the doctor.

"If you had such a mother as that you ought to
be ashamed of yourself," he said in caustic tones.

"I am," said Joe, laconically. "I've been
ashamed this long time, till I kind of got used to
it, and expected always to be, and no help for it.
But I seem to have got hold of a new idea this
afternoon, somehow ; I don't hardly understand
how. I know there are such folks as Christians,
and that the Lord looks after 'em ; He did after
my old mother ; but looking after an old broken-
down hulk like me, seems different, don't it.^"

"Very different!" said the doctor with decis-
ion. Then he reined in his horses so suddenly
that they almost lost their balance, adding as he
<iid so ; ,

6ne discovers his opportunity.

^71

lon't

uUy.
^ old
ou're
you
I you
after
iR all

unus-

retro-

ich of

tor.

ght to

ones,
been

sed to
for it.
this
rstand
stians,
1 after
roken-

"I have to stop at this house, and shall be
detained for some time ; you may as well go on."

Thus unceremoniously dismissed, Joe moved
slowly away, not forgetting to say :

"Thank you kindly, doctor, for the ride," but
received no answer.

"Miserable hypocrite!" said the doctor, sav-
agely, as he strode up the sandy path leading to
the house where he was due ; " if I had nothing
to say, I wonder why I was such a fool as to
undertake to say it ! I might better have let the
old fellow alone." He had not been so utterly out
of conceit with himself in years.

•lA

I-'.

decis-

[ddenly

as he

CHAPTER XXIII.

bKfe OF THEM IS AFRAID.

IT was later by an hour or two, and the ponies
were safely housed and fed, when walking
slowly down the street, head bent as in a deep
study, Dr. Portland almost ran against a swiftly-
moving object, halted with a dignified, "beg par-
don " ; then a sudden lighting up of his somber
face, and a cordial, " Good afternoon ; so it is you
with whom I almost collided! I beg ten thou-
sand pardons. I was deep in thought, and very
stupid."

Mrs. Holmes ignored the collision, and kept
her grave and troubled face.

"Doctor, I am in great anxiety," she said. .

" About what .? " asked the doctor in a sympa-
thetic voice, as he turned and joined her

"About a young woman who I think is very
ill, and her friends do not realize it. She ought
to have medical care, and I do not know how

278

ONE OF THEM IS AFRAlf).

to bring it to pass. Do you know Mr. George
Hurst?"

" I have a speaking acquaintance with the gen-
tleman ; what of him } '*

**It is his sister who is ill. Do you know
who their family physician is ? Could you not —
would it be stepping beyond the bounds of pro-
fessional etiquette if you should give him a hint
that his services are needed, if only the family
knew enough to send for him ? "

Dr. Portland drew his lips into a curious smile :
" I might possibly compass it if I knew who had
the honor to be their professional adviser ; but I
fancy that they belong to the fortunate class
who, as a rule, do without us. Why doesn't Hurst
attend to the business } What is he about ? "

" I do not know, I am sure ; unless he is under
the influence of his strange wife. Madeline has
been ill for a week, and grows daily worse ; she
has fever constantly, and her cough is alarming ;
yet she has not even ordinary care. Mrs. Hurst
is a woman whom I do not understand. She
seems jealous of any attempt to assist her, and
angry at a suggestion which is made for Made-
line's comfort. I was there this morning and I
could see that the poor child had grown steadily
worse since yesterday ; yet they let her lie there,
dying slowly."

"Madeline Hurst," said the doctor, thought-

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280

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

" Did I meet her at your rooms one even-
Yes, I remember; a tall, dark girl with

fully,
ing?

brilliant eyes, and a fierce temper ; so she is ill, is
she? Well, she is not the one to trifle with a
cough, even in this climate. How does she hap-
pen to be your friend, Mrs. Holmes .-* On the
general principle that the unfortunate may always
claim you.^"

" I have become interested in her," said Mrs.
Holmes, "and fond of her. I do not think her
temper is any worse, perhaps, than mine would be
under like circumstances. Doctor, can you do
any thing to h^lp me? Could you not spes.k to
Mr. Hurst?"

" Hardly," said the doctor, with a shrewd smile ;
♦' I do not think he is one who would like sugges-
tions from me; at least, I feel quite certain his
wife would not; and a man and his wife are one,
you know, under some circumstances."

They had reached the Hurst home, as he
spoke, and Mrs. Holmes had halted on the step
to give him opportunity to finish his sentence, but
he made no motion toward going on ; instead, he
followed her up the steps.

"Oh, I do not ring," she said, quickly, divin-
ing his intention of waiting for her to be admit-
ted. " The door is never locked ; I admit myself
and go up to Madeline's room."

«* That is the rdle, is it ? Then shall I trouble

ONE OF THKM 1<? AFRAID.

2Sr

one,

IS he

step

J, but

id, he

tdmit-
lyself

fouble

you to admit me in the same unceremonious
way?"

"Oh, no, indeed!" said the lady, much dis-
tressed; "it would not do at all! I beg your
pardon, but I am afraid it will not do for you to
call. Mrs. Hurst would be offended. She would
think we had interfered unwarrantably."

"What, in making a friendly call .-^ I will be
entirely non-professional, I assure you ; save that
I may be able to relieve your anxiety after we arc
away, and give an intelligent opinion to my friend
Mr. Hurst, if I should chance to have the oppor-
tunity, and could convince him that I was his
friend."

What could be done with a doctor who chose
to be so stupid ? She supposed he had visions of
a neat, well-appointed sitting-room like the one in
which her husband received his visits, among the
bright cushions and afghans. What would he
think of poor Madeline's bare attic .^ Above all,
what would Mrs. Hurst say or do if by any
chance he was admitted to a sight of it } More-
over, there was a wholesome remembrance of that
lady's face and manner when she affirmed that
she would not have Dr. Portland to "doctor a
cat ! " Certainly he was not their professional
choice.

" Indeed, doctor," she began, in exceeding per-
plexity and embarrassment, "I am afraid it will

2^2

Hfift AssdcrAfft Members.

do only harm to attempt a call ; you do not under-
stand the situation ; there are some things I can
tell you, when I have opportunity, but now " —

" Now, if I will only go away and leave you to
wrestle with the enemy," he said, smiling; and at
that moment they were interrupted. The knob
of the door on which Mrs. Holmes had cautiously
kept her hand was suddenly wrested from her,
and the frowzle-headed Nancy appeared, more
frowzled than usual, bare-headed and with eyes
dilated ; she was evidently making a blind dash
for somewhere.

"Oh, Mis' Holmes!" she gasped; "she's chok-
ing to death, I do believe! and Mis' Hurst is that
scared, she don't know what to do ; she said run
for a doctor ; but I don't know where to run, nor
nothing."

Before the sentence was finished, Mrs. Holmes
had brushed past her, waiting only to say :

" Doctor, follow me," and was half-way up the
stairs.

"I am a doctor," the gentleman paused to
explain to the frightened girl, then taking three
steps at a time was at the landing as soon as his
guide. Once within the desolate attic, it took
him but a moment to understand the situation
and assume control. Mrs. Hurst, thoroughly
frightened and subdued, obeyed his peremptory
orders as best she could, while Nancy ran

ONE or THEM IS AFRAID.

2K5

hither and thither, in everybody's way; and Mrs.
Holmes, pale and quiet, was really the one to be
relied upon.

'•It was a narrow escape," the doctor said
gravely, an hour afterward, as he stood in the
little parlor below, talking with Mr. Hurst, "five
minutes more, and it would have been too late.
The d'sease has been allowed to get a firm hold,
and thii. attack was unusually dangerous. Yes,
sir, she is a very sick girl ; I can not tell you,
yet, what the outcome will be; I have grave
fears ; in fact, to be perfectly frank, I see hardly
a chance in a hundred for her."

Mrs. Hurst, not quite so subdued as when s] ^
thought herself in the presence of death, but
still meek, for her, waited only until Mrs. Holmes
engaged the doctor's attention with a question of
importance, to ask her husband whether Johnny
would not better go at once for Dr. Gower, so as
to be prepared if Mad had another attack like the
last. Then George Hurst arose to one of those
outbursts which at rare intervals were drawn from
him.

No, Johnny should not go for Dr. Gower; he
would not have Dr. Gower in the house; every-
body knew he was an old blunderer, and that Dr.
Portland was the skilled physician of the city.
Mad should have the best there was to have ; he
had not understood, how should he, that she was

VAi

284

IIEK A.SSOCIATF. MEMBERS.

SO sick ? He would not have had her disease run
on in this way, without treatment, for all he was
worth! It was the way his mother went; and
he had always been afraid Maddie would be like
her; she was all he had ! "The only sister I ever
had," he said, turning to Dr. Portland, and there
were tears in his eyes; "there were only two of
us. There isn't any thin<^ I wouldn't do for Mad-
die. You think you can save her, don't you,
doctor?"

" I will do my utmost," said Dr. Portland with
kind gravity; "but the simple truth is, that the
disease has gotten a firm and most dangerous hold.
As I said, the chance is only one in a hundred."

The words sounded cruel, but the doctor knew
enough of human nature to feel certain that the
fierce-eyed woman who was listening, needed the
plainest possible speech.

There followed days which were .strange ones
to look back upon ; days filled with constant
watching and anxiety. The Hursts were poor;
there was much that they could not compass; and
indeed if money had been plenty, professional
nurses were not, in that little city ; so the watch-
ing was divided as well as it could be, among the
few who could be depended upon. Mrs. Hurst
did her best ; she was thoroughly frightened, and
repentant of some things ; she did not want her
sister-in-law to die; she had not at any time

0.\E or TIIEM

AFRAID.

28.

dreamed of such a possibility; she had honestly
belleveil her illness to be trivial, and was sincere
in her statements that *' Mad made a fuss about
trifles," and had a passion for being "coddled."

in u dull, easily-comforted way, she would actu-
ally have missed the girl, had she died ; above all,
she did not want her to die, with that hateful doc-
tor's words sounding in their ears : "The truth is,
the disease has been ptirmitted to get a dangerous
hold." What would people say to that.-*

But Mrs. Hurst was no nurse; and the sick girl
so visibly shrank from her ministrations as to
make it awkward for both ; among those whom
this family called 'friends' there were strangely
few who seemed to have the ability or the inclina-
tion to come to their aid in this time of need ; so
the business of nursing was narrowed down to a
very few, prominent among whom was Mrs. '^'^r-
penter ; who, it seemed, could wash and iron day-
times, and sit up nights. Mrs. Hurst would not
for the world have Ic/St caste by recognizing the
woman on the street as an acquaintance, but she
learned to welcome her strong, cold face with such
a sense of relief as she could not have described ;
and replied at times, almost gratefully to her brief,
cold sentence : " I'm going to stay all night ; you
can go to bed as quick as you please."

The other extremely important nurse was Mrs.
Holmes ; she gave every moment during the day

^rii!

286

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

■

which could be spared from her husband ; and was
as near rebellion as she ever came, over his per-
emptory refusal to allow an hour of night watch-
ing for her. The doctor sustained him obstinately
in this last.

"You are right, Holmes; she needs a keeper.
She would work day and night, if she could ; and
it won't do ; I don't want her on my hands as a
patient ; not until I get rid of this one ; she is too
valuable as a nurse."

But there came a night when neither doctor nor
husband could resist the summons. Indeed, the
doctor himself sent for her. "She's in such a
way," explained Nancy, whose frowzy head was
hidden under an indescribable hat, ** that the doctor
SajZ she'll die of it if she don't get quiet, and he
says, says he, 'Mis* Holmes can quiet her if any
body can; and you tell her to make all possible
speed.' Them was his very words, and Liph Stet-
son, he's waiting to go along with you; though
there ain't no need of that, for I ain't afraid of
nothing ; but the doctor he said so ; and Liph said
he'd be at the front door, waiting."

While she talked, Mrs. Holmes was making
ready.

It was a frightful s':ene upon which she entered
a few moments later. Long afterward, when very
tired and overwrought she lay down to rest and
tlosecl her eyes, there v^oyld come before fter men-

ONE OF THEM IS AFRAID.

287

tal vision a haunting picture of that room ; not the
attic, us Dr. Portland's first order had been to
remove his patient to a room where a fire could be
had ; it was Mrs. Hurst's own chamber, and
though bare of many things which the ordinary
chamber is supposed to need, was a great improve-
ment on the attic. A wide bed made up with
some regard to comfort was one of the improve-
ments ; but the hollow-eyed girl who glared at the
new-comer as she opened the door, was far
enough from comfort.

"Am I going to die.?" she asked, as Mrs.
Holmes gently closed the door, "tell me this min-
ute ! am I going to die .-* I know you will tell me
the truth ; the rest all think it is smart to try and
deceive me, to turn off my questions with some
smooth-sounding, false words; but I can believe
what you say."

"Tell her no," said the doctor, low-voiced at
the new comer's side, "tell her she is better, and
that she needs only to be quiet and go to sleep in
order to improve rapidly."

Mrs. Holmes fixed a pair of anxious eyes
upon the speaker's face. " Doctor, is it true ? " she
tr>urmured.

His face flushed and he spoke haughtily :

"At least it is necessary in order to secure
quiet ; this excitement is simply suicidal. No,
since you are so anxious for the truth, I have

■1

i' I

288

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

almost no hope of her case, and she is destroying
what shreds of hope there were."

"What are you two whispering about?" this
from the bed, in the same high-keyed, excited
voice, "I do not want any . patched-up story; I
thought when you came I should have the truth."

Mrs. Holmes went swiftly over and knelt by
the bedside ; she possessed herself of the fevered
hand, and spoke in low, soothing tones :

'• Madeline, I do not know ; no one knows but
God ; we hope you are going to get well , but I
can not bear it, tc have you care so much. I
want it to be well with you whether you live or
not."

"That is impossible," said the girl, and her
eyes looked larger and blacker than ever before ;
** I am afraid ; I am awfully afraid to die. I can
not die!"

Her tones kept rising, until on the last word
they were almost a shriek. In vain Mrs. Holmes
tried to hold the tossing hands, tried to make cool,
quieting passes over the flushed forehead, tried to
speak simple, earnest words of helpfulness; she
could not listen, she had lost the power to control
herself ; she could only cry out wildly, " I cannot
die; I am afraid!" The awe-stricken watchers
stood helplessly around. Mrs. Hurst, frightened
nlmost as much as was the sick girl ; her husband
pressing his nervous hands together in frantic dis-

tore ;
can

ONE OF THEM IS AFRAID.

289

gust of his impotency, and with eyes heavy with
unshed tears ; Mrs. Carpenter, upon whose face
was a look of sullen mockery. At last the doctor
came forward, his face more sternly set than Mrs.
Holmes had ever seen it. "This will not do," he
said decidedly, " I must give her an opiate ; you
are only making her worse." But the next
moment he had reason to regret his words.

" I will not take an opiate," said Madeline,
throwing herself to the further side of the bed.
" At least I will die with what mind I have. You
need not bring it ; I wiii never swallow it."

He leaned over her and tried to speak gently :

'•This will not put you to sleep; it will simply
quiet your nerves ; this excitement is bad for you ;
if you will be as quiet as possible, I am looking to
see you much better in the morning."

It would seem as though it must have been
difficult for Dr. Portland to forget the next words
which were spoken to him. Madeline's great
black eyes were leveled fully at him and she
spoke slowly, evidently trying to control her
fierce excitement, the better to impress him :

"You deceived me," she said; "you told me I
was better — was doing nicely; and I overheard
you, five minutes afterward, telling Mrs. Hurst
that there was hardly a shadow of a chance for
me. Do you think I will believe anything you
say, after this.^ I wish you would go away. I

1*1

V 11 f

I?}

290

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

tell you I am afraid to die ; none of you know
anything about that, but Mrs. Holmes. She
could help me if I were not already beyond help ;
but oh, I know I am, I tell you I know I am!"
and her voice arose into a shriek again.

CHAPTER XXIV.

ONE ASKS EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS.

IT weli a fearful night. When, after hours of
agony, the sufferer sank into a troubled sleep
from mere exhaustion, the watchers felt, some of
them, months older than when the night began.
The gray dawn of another day was creeping into
the room, when Dr. Portland came and spoke to
Mrs. Holmes.

" You would better let me take you home ; you
can do nothing here, and your husband will be
anxious. She will sleep, or at least lie quietly
for some time now ; I succeeded in getting that
opiate swallowed, at last."

He spoke coldly, as one who was simply per-
forming a professional duty without any personal-
ity of any sort.

As it seemed to be only too true that she could
do nothing, Mrs. Holmes made no objection to
his suggestion.

291

:■:

■5^

III

■ V'i

ill

292

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

They walked on in silence for some moments;
at last she asked: "What do you think of her
now, doctor? What is the outlook?"

" It is impossible to say. That she is living is
a matter of surprise to me. I had supposed her
too weak to endure any such strain as she put
upon herself ; but in reality I can not see that she
is any nearer the end than she was last night ; I
have almost no hope of her recovery, if that is
what your question means."

Mrs. Holmos drew a long, heavy sigh. Then,
after another square bad been made in silence,
"Doctor, from your stand-point it must have
seemed strange to you that I said what I did
last night. I could not repeat your words, being
assured from you that they were false. I simply
could not take the responsibility of deceiving a
soul which might in a few hours more be in the
presence of God." The doctor bowed gravely.
"Our standpoints are different, as you say," he
replied ; " I thought, as I told you, that there
might be a chance for her, if we could calm that
terrible excitement. 1 confess I fail to see what
difference to you a few soothing words could have
made at such a time ; they would not have altered
existing facts, and they might have aided in the
physical struggle."

" But, Dr. Portland, they were false words ! Is
the truth to be toyed with at our pleasure, and

ONE ASKS EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS. 293

used, or not, according as in our short-sighted
wisdom may seem best?"

"Even the truth should not be spoken at all
times," he said, evading the question at issue in
a graceful way which he had.

" I admit it ; but should untruth be spoken at
an}'' time? "

The doctor was still excited, and vexed that his
professional directions had been disobeyed, or he
would not have been guilty of the rudeness of his
next remark.

" If it had been the life of your husband which
was at stake it would have dulled your careful
discrimination between truth and falsehood, I

imagme

Her answer was given after a longer silence
than before, and was lower toned : " Doctor Port-
land, you have probed deeply and found my idol ;
I admit it ; and it is true that I do not know how
strong I should be under temptation ; but still I
believe that I love my Savior more than I do my
husband, and that He would keep me from dis-
honoring him, even in such an hour as that."

Then they had reached Mrs. Stetson's door,
and with no other words than a gentle "good
morning" she left him.

Dr. Portland went on down the street jvith long,
angry strides, telling himself that he was a con-
summate idiot and a boor besides, and that he

i i

294

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

ought to know enough by this time not to meddle
with other people's whims whatever they might be.

^^ ^ff ^^ ^r *^ ^^

They were in the stuffy little parlor which
belonged to the Hurst family. Madeline, as pale
as the white wrapper she wore, lay on the ounge
which had been wheeled toward the window to
give her a glimpse of the wonderful sunset dis-
play. A crimson afghan was thrown over the
foot of the couch, the only bit of color about the
girl. Standing at a little distance from the couch
in such a way as to command a full view of her
face, was Dr. Portland. He studied her critically,
while she studied the crimson and gold outside.

«' We need to plan some way to transfer a few
touches of that to your face," he said, inclining
his head toward the afghan, as her eyes came
slowly back from the outside world. " What is the
use of looking like a wilted leaf all the time.^
Why don't you gain strength faster.? There isn't
any sense in creeping along at this snail pace."

The faintest tinge of color showed for a
moment on the pallor, as Madeline said slowly,
*'Mrs. Hurst thinks the same. She has an idea
that if I but made the attempt, I could be as
strong as any body. Is there truth in it, doctor ? "

"I hope and believe so," said the doctor,
promptly; "but you and she would better see to
it that no attempts are made except under my

ONE ASKS EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS. 295

direction, for some time to come. I'll have a talk
with Mrs. Hurst, and give her some very express-
ive directions. What you need to do ic, to
attempt to care a little more about it. At this
present time, to speak frankly, you impress me
as a person who has too little interest in the get-
ting well to make the mental, not physical effort,
necessary."

That faint tinge of color came again, and faded
as quickly, leaving the face almost paler than
before. "It is only too true," the girl said,
gravely; "I do not think I have the interest in
getting well that most people would. It is not
strange ; I am more entirely alone in the world
than most girls are. And yet," she hesitated, and
the gravity deepened, "it is also true," she began
again after a moment, "that I am not at all ready
to die. I proved that to you, that night, I think,
when you all believed I was going. I have been
wanting to speak to you about it. I believe I was
rude. I did not know what I was saying, I think.
And you have been so very kind to me that I do
not want to be rude."

"That is not even to be remembered," the doc-
tor said, briskly. "Do you not understand that
physicians have learned not to attach the slightest
importance to what people say when they are ill?
I assure you I have never given that feature of
the time a second thought, and it would be for

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296

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

your advantage to dismiss that entire week from
your mind as much as possible."

"But I want to think about it, doctor, if you
please, and to ask some questions. Do you still
think that I was so very sick } "

"You certainly were," he answered, with a
smile ; " I see no advantage to be gained in beg-
ging the question at this late day. I do not
remember ever to have had a patient over whom
I was so hopeless, who rallied so encouragingly
as you have done and are doing. I think I may
safely be congratulated on my success."

She did not respond to his gay smile ; instead,
her face was grave even to somberness. ♦' But it
is after all only for a little while," she said
in intense seriousness. A shadow of anxiety
clouded Dr. Portland's face.

"You are mistaken," he answered quickly,
"there is no necessity for your feeling yourself
doomed to invalidism ; with proper care I look to
see your health firmly established, so that in time
you may even be strong ; but the way to accom-
plish this is to banish all brooding thoughts and
bring your resolute common-sense to bear upon
the case."

"I do not mean quite what you think," she
said, still gravely ; " I know I am better, am get-
ting well ; and, as I told you, I do not feel so
glad over it as most girls would, or I should not,

ONE ASKS EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS. 297

if — Dr. Portland, I did not think I should be so
afraid to die. I had thought about it often, and
wished that I could — even wished that it could
be right to take life into my own hands and
decide when it should end ; when I was safe
and well, and far away from death, I thought I
should not be in the least afraid ; but it was a
different thing to come to what I thought was
the very verge. I was terribly afraid." A per-
ceptible shudder ran through her frame at the
recollection.

"That was perfectly natural," said the doctor,
very kindly. " Life is natural to the young ; they
ought to desire it, and to shrink from death ; it
was intended that it should be so."

Madeline shook her head. " It is not a ques-
tion of age, doctor. There was a woman, old and
poor, who lived near our home when I was a little
girl. I was in the room when she died ; my
mother went to watch with her, and as there was
no one to stay with- me, she took me with her.
In the night the woman grew suddenly worse, and
I heard the noise and came in ; it was dreadful !
She was afraid too — oh, awfully afraid ! And her
hair was white ; she must have been seventy, or
more. At her age, according to the natural way
of looking at this matter, she ought to have
expected death, and been prepared for it ; she was
anything but that ! She died in mortal terror ; it

298

HER ASSOCIATK MEMBERS.

was months before I could go to sleep at night
without going over the scene."

" I do not wonder ; it was a terrible ordeal to
which to subject a child. What I wish now is,
that you would put all such somber memories
quite away, and make yourself grow strong."

"But there is a great differeiicc in people," she
went on, quietly, ignoring his last suggestion.
•• My mother was young, was not fifty when she
died, and there was not a thread of gray in her
beautiful hair ; but she was not in the least afraid.
She spoke of dying as simply as I might speak of
going out into the sunshine. Oh, better than
that, she was very glad to go ; and I was foolish
enough to imagine that when the time came for
me, I should feel as she did ! "

Dr. Portland seemed to have no reply ready
for the next pause, and there was silence for a
moment; then, Madeline, still with the look of
intense sorrowful earnestness on her pale face,
spoke again :

"And so, doctor, what I meant was, that there
was more than a question of age involved ; and I
mean also that it is something which is sure to
come. I am better now, it is true, but who can
tell how soon or how suddenly I might be called
upon to die ? In any event, it is certain to come
some time."

'That is true/' he said with a gravity as

«'

Ill

ONE ASKS KMnARRASSING QUESTIONS. 2()()

marked as her own; "death is the one thing of
which we seem to be sure."

"And since this is so, ought not we, ought not
I, to do what I can to get ready for it ? If there
is such a thing as meeting even death with such
a smile as my mother wore, would it not be the
most reasonable thing for me to find out how — I
mean before the time came, so that it need not
take me unawares ? "

"That sounds like a common-sense view of
the subject," he answered, trying to speak lightly ;
"but I think T would not talk about it any longer
just now. You are hardly strong enough for
such grave themes."

" I think I am ; I think you are mistaken in
me. It troubles me, haunts me ; that night when
I felt my breath going from me, and knew that
there was a great horror of darkness for me to
step into, I resolved that I would, if I ever had
another chance, live differently, and get ready,
if possible, to die differently ; if I were only
ready. Dr. Portland, I confess to you that I
would be very glad to go ; because I am peculiarly
lonely and desolate here. I decided this morning
that I would talk to you about it at the first
opportunity, and get your advice as to how to
begin."

" I do not think I quite comprehend your mean-
ing," said the doctor in visible embarrassment;

300

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

speaking these words more for the purpose of
gaining time than because he did not understand
her.

"Why, it is like this," she said simply; "I
once thought I was a Christian. I used to pray,
and to read in the Bible, and go to prayer-meeting
and all those things ; I thought I knew all about
it, and was on the right road. But when mother
died, I was miserable ; rebellious, they called it,
and I suppose I was ; gradually I gave up all idea
of such a life and felt that there was not much
truth in religion, any way. It made matters worse
to remember that Mrs. — that certain people
whom I knew very well and did not even respect,
were church memb.ers ; I grew suspicious, and
watchful of people who made such professions,
and liked to find the inconsistencies. Gradually
I lost faith in almost every one's religion, only
mother's ; you will see how absurdly inconsistent
I was when I tell you that I never for a moment
doubted her kind. But I told myself that I could
never be like her, because our temperaments v/ere
utterly different, and that at least I would not be
a hypocrite; so it is different with me from those
who have always lived thoughtless lives, and never
had their attention especially called to this sub-
ject. It is as though I had enlisted once, and
then deliberately deserted, because I did not
believe in some who were in the army ; and I do

)ose of
erstand

ly; -I
D pray,
fleeting
'. about
mother
lied it,
ill idea
much
1 worse
people
L\spect,
s, and
ssions,
idually
I, only
sistent
oment
'. could
5 v/ere
lot be
those
never
s sub-
s, and
d not
i I do

i I

I I

MADEUNE WAITED PATIENTLY.

%mi^

ONE ASKS EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS. 3OI

not seem to know the way to re-enlist. I had a
feeling that you could help me."

"May I ask why?"

There was no attempt at a smile upon the doc-
tor's face ; he was both embarrassed and puzzled ;
no problem ever presented to him had been so
difficult of solution as this. Madeline's reply was
direct enough.

"Because I have noticed that you seemed to
see through things so quickly ; to understand half
statements, and go directly to first causes. You
have seemed to understand how I felt, for
instance, better than I did myself ; and your
replies to questions are always so direct and sim-
ple ; so easy to grasp and understand. That was
why I thought you could tell me in a few plain
words, what I need to know."

Dr. Portland walked abruptly to the window,
and looked out. Madeline waited patiently ; she
imagined that he saw something outside, which
demanded his thought. As for him, he had never
felt so much like a coward in his life; had there
been an imperative summons at the moment, call-
ing him to a twenty-mile drive through the woods,
he would have hailed it as a relief. He almost
wished that his usually restless ponies would
break away and demand immediate attention, but
they stood in unusual quietness awaiting his
pleasure. At last he turned:

II !'■ -S

302 HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"You have made a mistake, Miss Madeline,"
he said, attempting to smile. "The matters
about which I am clear, and can speak to the
point, have to do with my profession ; no person
could be in greater fog in regard to the subject
which interests you, than I am. I would be very
glad to help you if I could, but it is utterly out of
my power."

She was looking earnestly at him with those
intense black eyes. "Are you not a Christian,
then.^" she asked at last, and he detected the
note of grave surprise in her voice.

" I can not lay the slightest claim to any such
title."

A moment of silence, then there came one of
those long, -isolate sighs, peculirr to the girl, as
she said : ** I beg your pardon ; I find I am sur-
prised. I think I believed that all physicians
understood these th-ings ; thej^ deal so continually
with sickness and trouble, and so often come in
contact with death, that it seemed natural." She
was so pale, so sad, so desolate, that he could not
bring himself to be willing to go away without an
attempt to help her.

" You certainly know of one person who could
afford you all the help you may need," he said,
kindly. " Has not your friend Mrs. Holmes made
it apparent that this subject stands first in her
thoughts?"

ONE ASKS EMBARRASSING QUESTIONS. 303

"I know she could help me," Madeline said,
quickly, "but I do not expect her to-day; she was
here yesterday, and it is a long walk, you know.
1 have been thinking about this all the morning,
and I suppose it is because I am sick and weak,
but it seemed to me that I could not wait until
to-morrow ; I wanted to know some things right
away."

"That ai least is a common condition with sick
people," he said, smiling, and trying to speak in
his usual tone of voice; "what they want, they
want immediately, and as I always advocate grati-
fying them if possible, with your permission I will
drive around and bring Mrs. Holmes to you if she
is able to come."

The grateful look he received sent him away at
once ; but it is safe to say that Dr. Portland never
went on such a peculiar errand before.

CHAPTER XXV.

ONE, LOSES HIS IDENTITY.

IS she worse?" was Mrs. Holmes' instant and
troubled question.

"Not at all; on the contrary, she is better
to-day than I have yet found her; that is, her
pulse is stronger and there is a steady improve-
ment in all directions."

"Then, is it any thing of importance, doctor,
any thing which will not do as well to-morrow.^
Because I have promised to help Mrs. Stetson
this afternoon with a little domestic matter, if I
can, and" —

The doctor interrupted gravely : " I consider it
very important that you spend the next hour with
Miss Hurst, if possible; I have reason to think
that in your judgment domestic matters of all
sorts will sink into the background before the sub-
ject about which she wishes to consult you ; and
invalids must not be crossed, unless there is an
impera ive reason."

" I will go at once," said Mrs. Holmes. It was

304

ONE, LOSES HIS IDENTITY.

305

was

evident that his gravity and reticence troubled
her. Since he had no explanation to make, she
set about studying out one for herself and pres-
ently asked a question in line with her troubled
thoughts.

♦•Dr. Portland, do you know a Mr. Arson .^
And if so, what do you know of him ? "

" Mr. N. S. Arson } I know him quite as well
as I care to, and I know no good of him. May I
ask why he is a subject of interest to you ? "

"There are several reasons why," she answered
in distress. '• Can you tell me what to do with a
foolish child who knows almost nothing of the
world, when a bad man deliberately sets out to
deceive her, and gains such an influence that she
will believe his word rather than your own ? "

" Mrs. Holmes, you can not be speaking of that
scoundrel in connection with Madeline Hurst ! "

" No, I am not speaking of Madeline Hurst,"
Mrs. Holmes said quickly, but with heightened
color; she felt that there were complications
between those two which justified her in think-
ing anxiously about them, but she had no right
to speak.

•'I beg your pardon," said the doctor in his
usual tone ; " I was surprised into asking ques-
tions which do not concern me. As to your
query, it is not an easy one to answer ; though I
think if the motive for doing so was imperative, I

jPff'i

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

could convince any girl who had common-sense
enough to make it worth while to try to save her,
that Mr. Arson is an utterly rotten hearted young
man."

'•I must talk with you further," said Mrs.
Holmes anxiously ; " I may need your help,
though I hardly know how to secure you a chance
to give it."

By this time they were in front of the Hurst
home again, and Dr. Portland was giving his com-
panion a parting charge after this fashion : " I
look to you to see that my patient is not over-
Strained in any direction to-day. She is morbid
and needs soothing ; remember that cheerfulness,
and a removal as far as possible, of all sources of
disquietude are very important in her case."

Mrs. Hurst was looking out of her dining-room
window ; her sewing woman. Miss Pauline Skimp-
son, being seated at the sewing machine near
her. That young woman stayed the rattle of the
machine to hear her employer's remarks. " Here
he comes again ! and Mrs. Holmes with him ; I
knew he would find some excuse for having a
visit with her. The way those two go on, mak-
ing a cat's-paw of Mad to do it, is a 'sight to
behold I Not a day passes but they meet here, or
on the street, or somewhere, and go sauntering off
together ; or else he takes her riding. I think it
is simply disgraceful ! "

ONE, LOSES HIS IDENTITY

307

"Is she a widow?" questioned Miss Skimpson,
straining her eyes to get a better view.

"A widow! No; but I suppose she thinks she
will be, before long. I'd try to nave decency
enough to wait until my husband was buried, at
least ! He's got consumption, they say, and she
leaves him to take care of himself the best way he
can, and gallivants off with Dr. Port^rnd. Lovely
associates they are for Mad ! They go on about
her in a way to make one sick, just for the sake
of having a meeting-place. Mad thinks they are
angels, of course ; girls of her stamp are always
fools, and don't know when they are being used
simply as blinds. I tell Mr. Hurst that I have
had about enough of it. We are used to being
decent, if we haven't as much money as some."

You are not to suppose, from this, and certain
other exhibitions of character, that Mrs. Hurst
was the embodiment of all evil. On the contrary
she had some admirable qualities. In the church
to which she belonged she was considered in her
line a most estimable woman ; nobody could work
harder than she, in getting up church fairs, sup-
pers, sociables and what not.? Even scrubbing,
and that which seems to some women more hate-
ful work still — dish-washing, could be heroically
accomplished by this small woman whenever it
was for the benefit of the church ; and as for cake,
she was simply in her clement when managing

3o8

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

that. It was said of her by one enthusiastic
young woman that she could make an angel cake
which was "perfectly heavenly." And a sullen,
sour-tvisaged man who had come into unpleasant
contact with her, was heard to remark that it
must be because she was a fallen angel, and had
lost all traces of the angelic, save that which had
to do with cake ! Nevertheless, as I say, Mrs.
Hurst had her circle of friends, and was in some
respects a well-meaning woman. That she did
not like to work at home, that she did eagerly
long to keep up appearances in society beyond
her means, that she took unreasoning and violent
prejudices against certain persons, and could see
no good in any thing they might say or do, and
that she was painfully careless in the use of her
tongue, were faults which those who knew her
well, sneered at, or sighed over, according to
their several dispositions. Very often there was
no "malice aforethought" in her careless words.
For instance, she had by no means planned to
make the astounding statements against Mrs.
Holmes and Dr. Portland which I have repeated.
She simply disliked them both ; chiefly because
she fancied that they held themselves above her,
and chose to patronize her sister-in-law. The
sight of them together suggested the thought
that she had seen them often together at her
house, and although no one knew better than

ONE, LOSES HIS IDENTITY.

300

she, the occasion which had called them, and the
imperative need for their presence, given such
a woman as Mrs. Hurst, and the inference she
imagined herself drawing, was to be expected.
Perhaps it was well for her that not one of the
persons interested suspected for a moment that
such thoughts were being evolved. Even Made-
line, who knew her brother's wife well, or thought,
she did, had no conception of such a train of
thought as this.

Dr. Portland having left his charge, drove to
the stables where his horses were kept and left
thetn. He had other calls to make, but they
were not imperative, and for some reason which
he could not have defined, he felt that the soli^
tude of his own room was necessary to him for a
time. He seemed to himself to have received a
shock which somehow disturbed the foundations
of his unbelief, if those terms may be used
together. Down deep in his heart were other
questions, also taking vague form and apparently
trying to reach the surface and disturb him. He
dimly felt that some time, perhaps in the near
future, there were matters which he must squarely
face and settle. To-day he wanted rather to get
away from them, and could not trust himself to
drive along the quiet roads and think. He would
read, he would study, he would write; in some
way, for a time at least he would get rid of him-

■, '

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310

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

Rclf. He did none of the things thus planned.
Seated in the outer office waiting for him was a
middle-aged man, clean shaven, decently dressed,
with his gray Iiair combed carefully back, reveal-
ing a forehead which suggested a different type of
face from what those who had seen him when the
unkempt hair lay heavy upon it, had imagined.
He aroLe respectfully on the doctor's entrance,
and waited, while that gentleman bowed as to a
stranger, and stared, and at last spoke.

"Joe, upon my word! At first I did not know
you. Why, man, if a clean shave and a clean
collar make such a difference to everybody, I
wonder why in the name of sense haven't you
tried such simple experiments before ? People
who do not observe closely would never dream
that you were old Joe Carpenter."

The old man shook his head with a grave smile
on his face.

"I ain't," he said simply. "They'd be right;
I ain't old Joe Carpenter any more. That is, I
ain't and I am. I don't understand it any more
than you do ; and as for being surprised you can't
begin to have as much of that feeling as I have.
Wait till you've lived with yourself for nigh on to
fifty years, and been well acquainted all that time,
and suddenly find out that while you've got the
same hair and eyes and all them things left, the
part that is you yourself, and has been for as long

ONE, LOSES HIS IDENTITY.

as you. can remember, is gone ! Then you'll know
what it means to be astonished."

There was not the slightest attempt at fun in
Joe's manner; on the contrary, he was perfectly
grave and thoughtful. It was evident that he had
passed through some experience which had aston-
ished and bewildered himself. The doctor waited
curiously, extremely uncertain what to say next,
and old Joe after a moment's silence continued
respectfully : " I ask your pardon, doctor, for wait-
ing here for you; I ain't no errand — that is,
nobody is sick ; but I felt as though I wanted to
tell you that you was right, exactly right. It all
come to pass, and more ! It is a great deal more
than you made me understand, though I suppose
that is because I was dumb, and you likely knew
what you were talking about."

"Sit down," said Dr. Portland, "and explain
your riddle. I am the one who is dumb now ; I
don't in the least know what you are talking
about. Have you been mesmerized, or what is
the matter.?"

" I don't exactly know the name to call it by,
doctor, and I don't know as I ever could explain
it, anyhow ; it is enough for me to feel it ; but I
allowed that you would understand. You told
me, you remember, about that Power which could
get hold of even a poor shack like me, and niake
me over, so that the things I hankered after once,

f k

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llER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

I wouldn't even want. That wasn't your' way 0/
putting it, you know, but I figured that out of it ;
especially when you reminded me of my mother,
and the way she used to talk and think. It got
hold of me that day like something I hadn't heard
since mother used to pray, in the old kitchen,
with me kneeling down just across from her and
wishing she would get through. She's been long
gone, doctor, but I kind of felt that day, as
though she hadn't got through yet ; as though
them prayers was following me, and saying over
to me what you had just said! Well, I can't
tell it, only I've proved it, doctor, and it holds
good. He got hold of me ; I don't know how ; I
don't know how He came to think it was worth
while, but He just took and did it, and here I
am!"

The look of half-amused half-amazed incredulity
upoii the doctor's face would have made a study
for an artist. "So I perceive," he said in
response to Joe's last words; "but the question
is> what do you mean } Am I to understand
'chat you have reformed — given up drinking.?"

"It has given me up," said Joe with infinite
gravity. " I didn't do it ; I could no more give it
up than I could lay down this arm of mine on
your table and go off and leave it h'ere. I tried
that time and again, just as I told you; but when
He got a hold of me it was another thing ( Don't

b^k, Ldsfes His IdentitV.

^ii

ask me to explain it, because I can't do it ; I don't
know nothing about the way, or the hoWj or any
of them things ; all I know is that I went homei
that evening after you took me the ride^ and I
went out to the shed where we keep our wood
and things, and I got down on my knees^ and says
1 : •' Here I be, Lord j I don't know how to pray j
I didn't learn how when mother wanted me to,
down in her kitchen nigh onto forty years ago;
and I'm a drunkard ; they've called me that for
maybe a dozen years now ; I never let on that I
know it, but I do ; and I can't stop drinking, any
more than I can fly over the steeple ; I've tried
it oftener than any of 'em think, and I know;
and I've heard them that knows, say so, *It is
a physical impossibility for that fellow to stop,'
says old Dr. Parsons, once; 'he's diseased his
will-power so that he can't do it' I heard
him speak them very words, and I believe them,
because I've tried it ; but says I, here's another
doctor who has been talking to me to-day, and he
believes the same thing, but he believes some-
thing else, and so did his mother, and so did
mine; he believes that you've got a kind of a
power by which you can get a hold of worthless
shacks like me, and turn us around so that we
will hate the things we like now. Says I, *if I
could hate whiskey, there'd be some hope of me
maybf j but I don't and I can't. Now if ycm will

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314

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

take a hold of this and help me out, there ain't
any thing I wouldn't be willing to do the rest of
my life to show how grateful I be.' That was
about it, doctor, something like that, you know.
Well, sir, He did it ! Don't ask me how. Things
wasn't any different that night, so far as I know.
I stayed around the house a spell, and got some
supper and went to bed early ; I had no kind of
a notion of any thing having happened. I didn't
say a word to Mis' Carpenter about not drinking
any more; I'd told her so a hundred times, and
she didn't believe it, and I didn't blame her a
mite for it, either. It wasn't possible, you see,
for anybody to believe it, the facts contradicted
it ; well, all I knew this time was, that I meant to
do my share; it is an everlasting little mean
share, says I to myself, and it don't amount to
shucks so far as I am concerned, for I've tried it ;
but maybe it will amount to something with Him;
because, if he knows everything. He knows what
a worlhless old hulk, and * physical impossibility '
1 am ; and perhaps all that he asks is my mis-
erable little best and not somebody else's that
hasn't spoiled their chance. And I stuck to that
notion. It was there when I woke up in the
morning, and it went off down street with me,
past eleven saloons ; yes, sir, past 'em, and I had
a nickel in my pocket too ! It wa'n't will, because
all the will I had was to do my sneaking little

ONE, LOSES HIS IDENTITY.

315

best, and I knew what that would amount to if it
was left to itself; but it wasn't left ! "

No description on paper will give you an idea
of Joe's impressiveness as he reached this point
in his story.

"No, sir, it wasn't left! I hadn't any hanker-
ing after them eleven saloons ! I don't know
why ! I don't understand it ; He does, and I'm
thankful enough to let Him manage; and I just
come in to tell you you were right, and no
mistake."

ill;

CHAPTER XXVI.

ONE

RE-ENLISTS.

WHAT possible reply was thefe for a man
like Dr. Portland to make } That the
Joe Carpenter who sat before him was entirely
unlike any Joe Carpenter of his previous acquaint-
ance was evident. That the mere letting alone of
intoxicating liquors for the space of three weeks
could work such a change seemed improbable;
that there was a mysterious change possible to
human beings which the superstitious called "con-
version," this doctor did not believe ; that Joe
Carpenter had force of will enough to carry him
through such a physical crisis as would be neces-
sary to him in attempting to give up the use of
liquors, he also did not believe. I hope you see
where his logic carried him. In order to adhere
to his preconceived notions, was it going to be
necessary to deny the evidence of his eyes and
ears ?

"So you think, Joe, that the struggle is over,
and that you can go where you please and do

316

ONE RE-ENLISTS.

317

what you please and be all right, now that some
mysterious power has gotten hold of you. Is that
it?"

Joe looked gravely surprised, and somewhat
disappointed.

" Why, no," he said, " that ain't it at all ; I told
you I couldn't explain, though being you started
me, I thought maybe you would understand. I
promised, you see, to do my weak little best ; and
my best of course will be to keep out of the way
of 'em, and let 'em alone if I can. The trouble
has always been, before, t'lat I couldn't; not that
I didn't mccin to; and I don't know what He did
to me to mdie me able to do it, but now I can ;
or He can, it ain't me; it is something that has
got hold of me and ain't going to let go again ;
that's what I believe. You understand it, don't
you ? You are one of them kind, ain't you ? "

It is impossible to convey to you the depth of
wistfulness in Joe's voice. Dr. Portland actually
winced under it ; for the second time that day
must he disappoint a friend by owning to the
poverty of his own nature ?

Joe was waiting anxiously for his answer ; and
with those earnest eyes looking into his, he could
not decide how to evade the question.

"What 'kind* do you mean.?" he asked with a
half laugh ; " I have not a very well-defined knowl-
^dge of my own beliefs, I am afraid/'

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

Joe was not to be so easily turned aside from
his purpose. •' I mean one of the kind that my
mother was, and your mother; and that woman
you told me about at Stetson's. You belong to
'em, don't you ? "

" I can not lay claim to the sort of relationship
which you demand, Joe ; though there is a sense
in which I trust I belong to them."

"Well, now, I am beat!" declared Joe, per-
plexed and grave. "You see after I come to
know that the thing was true, I says to myself,
'scholars and them kind have known this all the
while, and have lived by it ; it is only poor fools
like old Joe the drunkard that have thrown away
such splendid chances.' And I thought sure you
was one of 'em. Why, how come you to start me,
if you ain t .? "

Dr. Portland's advantages as a Bible student in
his youth had been good ; there were verses which
often trooped about him, arresting his thought
whether he would or not ; for the moment it was
as if he were back in the old weather-beaten
school-house where the Sabbath School of his
childhood gathered, and saw himself rattling glibly
off to the great comfort of his teacher, this verse
among others : " Lest that by any means when I
have preached to others, I myself should be a
castaway."

"Have you told anyone of this experience.?"

ONE RE-ENLISTS.

319

asked the doctor, ignoring the question, and look-
ing curiously at his guest, as he wondered how
others accounted for the strange change in him.

"Not yet, doctor — only Mis' Carpenter, of
course ; and she don't believe in it ; I don't blame
her a mite; she's had experience with me, you
see. But the way to do is to tell it, I know that.
There's a prayer-meeting at the church to-night,
and I've about made up my mind to go. I dunno
as I shall say anything, I dunno as it would be
proper; what do you think .-'" He stopped and
eyed his listener anxiously. The doctor laughed ;
this interview certainly had the ludicrous side.

" I do not know, I am sure," he said, "I am not
posted in regard to such matters ; but I should
imagine that a prayer-meeting would be an
exceedingly proper place for such a story as you
have been telling me."

**Oh, I won't say all that!" said Joe, hastily,
** I couldn't, you know ; standing up, and different
folks listening ! But I thought maybe I ought to
stand up, and say 'the Lord has found me,' or
something like that. I remember they used to
have such meetings when I was a boy and men
and women and children talked ; do they do that
way now .'' "

"I am not a competent witness, remember;
still I have the impression that it is considered
proper for people who have such messages, to

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HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

give them ; I would by all means do so, if I were
you ; it strikes me that it is a surprising story."

"Isn't it, now?" said Joe, eagerly, "to think of
such a thing coming to me, old Joe Carpenter the
drunkard! I don't wonder at your being sur-
prised; you can't be more so than I am."

Dr. Portland's .surprise was increasing every
minute. Altogether the day was a marked one in
his life. To be interviewed twice in one day,
upon a subject of which he was perfectly igno-
rant, and to have to admit his ignorance, to the
astonishment and pain of both questioners, was
certainly a strange experience.

As he walked slowly toward his boarding house,
thinking it all over, the conversation which had
been held some weeks before in Mrs. Holmes'
rooms, returned to him. He had himself declared
that Mrs. Holmes would have to get hold of old
Joe and reform him, in order to save his wife. He
remembered with what gravity both Mrs. Holmes
and her husband had received this attempt at a
joke, and how sure they seemed to be that such
an absurdity was possible ; and here it was, appar-
ently accomplished ! An amazing feature of the
miracle was, that he seemed to have "begun it,"
as Joe said.

What a thing it would be to see the old man
in that prayer-meeting ! Certainly there would be
^ sensation when they savv him, even though he

ONE RE-ENLISTS.

321

lan
be
he

said not a word. " Mrs. Holmes ought to be pres-
ent," the doctor told himself, "it would be too bad
to have her lose the first sight." He knew that
she did not attend the evening meetings ; at first
she had been unable to leave her husband, and
now that he was rapidly convalescing there was
no one to accompany her. "She ought to go
to-night," declared the doctor, "what if I should
complete the day's wonders and take her down.'
Joe and I together in a prayer-meeting ought to
afford excitement enough to keep this town in a
whirl for the next six weeks! I'll offer, at least;
and I'll not give her the real reason for my disin-
terestedness, either ; I want to see her face during
the first surprise ; she can not have heard of Joe's
transformation or she would have mentioned it."

The more he thought about it, the more fasci-
nated he became with his scheme, and the hour
appointed for prayer-meeting found him really
pressing his services upon Mrs. Holmes.

" I will take you down with pleasure if you
would like to go, the evening is charming for a
walk ; besides, I don't mind telling you that I
know of something going on there to-night which
will interest you greatly."

"I do not doubt that," Mrs. Holmes said with
a quiet smile; "it is a long time since I have
attended a prayer-meeting where there was not
that going on which interested me greatly."

I >A

322

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

" Ah ! but I mean something special ; urge her
to go, Holmes, it will do her good; she will
regret it afterward if she is not there to-night."

" I will go," said Mrs. Holmes, " I do not need
urging. Thank you for the opportunity; I was
trying to plan, this morning, to secure an escort.
I thought of Liph and Happy, but not once of
you, doctor."

"Shows how my disinterested efforts at part-
nership are appreciated," said the doctor, good-
humoredly ; he was not prepared for her reply.

" I do appreciate you, doctor ; I can hardly tell
you how much I thank you for coming for me this
afternoon. I would not for u great deal have
missed the opportunity of seeing and helping
Madeline just at the important moment of her life.
Do you know it marked a crisis with her more
important than the one she passed that night when
we both watched over her .? "

" I knew that she was very nervous, and that
she and I both thought you might be able to
soothe her."

Mrs. Holmes smiled. "She has discovered a
better Helper than I," she said, "One who will
see to it that she is soothed by His own strong
and tender power hereafter, I trust and believe.
Poor Madeline has been wandering over weary
places for years, and has but just reached
home,"

ONE RK-ENLISTS.

323

«!

Dr. Portland was silent ; so much of the talk
during this strange day, had been upon things
which he could not understand ! During the
walk to church he took the lead in conversation,
taking care to hold his companion closely to top-
ics upon which he could lead. She seemed sur-
prised that he did not make a movement to leave
her at the church door.

"Are you going in ?" she asked.

"Why, certainly; you did not suppose that
I intended you to walk home alone, I trust.? I
confess that I am on strange ground, but I
will endeavor to conduct myself with becoming
decorum."

It was a pleasant room ; too large it is true, to
suggest any idea of a family gathering, but that
is a fault which must be endured wherever the
main audience room of a good-sized church serves
also as the gathering-place for the mid-week
prayer-meeting. A goodly number of people
were present, and to Mrs. Holmes the service
was restful and refreshing. She was so entirely
a stranger as to be unaware of the special inter-
est which herself and her companion and one
other person were creating. The quiet figure of
a decently-dressed, middle-aged man sitting in an
obscure corner near one of the doors failed to
attract her attention ; it was only when, in one
of the pauses of the meeting? he arose and began

••'

M-

324

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

to speak, that she became aware of something
quite out of the usual order of exercises.

"Gentlemen," he said, "and ladies, too, I don't
know how to talk in a meeting, but yet I feel that
I want to tell you something. You have been
talking here to-night about Jesus, the Saviour,
and I do certainly know Him ; He found me out
and spoke a word of power to me three weeks
ago ; I feel in my heart it will last forever ; and
I can't help feeling that I ought to get up and
tell these friends about it. It is a great thing to
be able to save any body so low down as old Joe
Carpenter the drunkard, and that is what He has
done! I don't know how to work for Him, but
I want to learn, and I want to ask you all to show
me how."

Some minutes before Joe sat down, Mrs.
Holmes, whose face had at first expressed only
keen interest and sympathy, changed to bewilder-
ment, and her eyes finally sought the doctor with
such an eager question in them that he could but
smile and silently incline his head ; then he, too,
felt a swift rush of color in his face, over Joe's
next words :

"And people, there's one other thing I want to
say; him that set me on the track is here
to-night. He is a doctor for souls as well as
bodies."

"You are indeed a partner," said Mrs. Holmes,

ONE KE-KNLIST^.

525

the minute this wonderful meeting was concluded,
and she held out her hand to Dr. Portland with a
glad light in her eyes.

••I am a hypocrite per force," he said, with an
embarrassed laugh ; "poor Joe is mixed, in more
ways than one."

"Oh, Joe Carpenter!" she said. "Isn't it
wonderful ! "

Evidently Joe thought it was ; he looked about
him in puzzled wonder as men and women gath-
ered around him, holding out their hands, and
grasping his with a warmth which was as new to
him as it was pleasant.

"I've never had no friends," he said, humbly,
"not of the kind to call friends, you know, and
that ain't strange, for I ain't deserved 'em ; but
it seems dreadful nice to have them ! "

Life made greai strides with IV^rs. Holmes dur-
ing the next few weeks ; she had been plunged
into the center of eager, absorbing work; instead
of sitting as she had planned, with folded hands
waiting for the winter to pass.

Madeline Hurst had been "re-enlisted," as she
termed it. "I was a deserter," she said, "and
deserved only punishment ; but I have a wonder-
ful Saviour."

The girl was no passive Christian ; she brought
to her new life all the force of her intense nature.

326

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

I have done a great deal of harm," she said to
Mrs. Holnies ; " I wish I might undo some of it."
She gained rapidly in health and strength from
the day that her decision was made. Dr. Port-
land looked on at the change, with the air of one
who was gratified, but puzzled. Other changes
as marked in their way as hers, were in progress.
Mrs. Holmes had not been surprised over Made-
line's decision ; she had prayed for it, worked for
it, looked for it to come ; but Hepzibah Smithers
was another person ! Yes, she had prayed for her
earnestly, and had done what she could to further
her own prayers; but she discovered that her
faith had only been equal to hoping that some
time, after long and patient effort and teaching,
the girl might understand enough to lay hold
upon eternal life. That she would actually grasp
at the thought conveyed in that first marked
verse, and hold on to it and deliberately make the
decision on which lier eternal future hung, was
entirely beyond the reach of this woman's hopes.
Yet, as the days went by, it became increasingly
evident that a marvelous change had come to
Happy. Everybody in the house noticed and
commented on it, after their various fashions.
Not that it made itself apparent in words;
instead, Happy was quieter than she had ever
been; perhaps its most marked exhibition was
her evident painstaking care for the comfort of

ONE RE-ENLISTS.

1^1

Others ; her earnest solicitude to do every thing
which came within her line of work, as carefully
and as swiftly as she could.

*' I hav^ to wash out the dish-towels now," she
said to Mrs. Holmes, one day with a smile, "T
used to hate to do it, and I got rid of it whenever
I could ; and Mis* Stetson said they wasn't fit to
handle with the tongs ; but now I have to make
them as clean as soap-suds and water will do it,
because I'm doing it for the 'glory of God.'
Ain't that queer, though, that I can do such work
for Him ! I didn't believe it when you first told
me, but it is true ; and another thing. Mis'
Holmes, I used to think it wasn't worth while to
be so dreadful particular, but I kind of like to be,
now; I like clean things, and I like to rub 'em,
and make 'em clean."

Was even this a homely illustration of the law
that ''human beings grow like the object which
they worship".^ Was Happy learning to like
purity, even in material things, because she had
caught a glimpse of infinite purity }

Certainly Happy was beconing a blessing in
the Stetson boarding-house,

■,- fv

lyffw

CHAPTER XXVII.

THEY AKE LED BY UNSEEN PATHS.

THERE came another joyous surprise to Mrs.
Holmes. She was called to the parlor one
day to see a "nice-looking young fellow"; this
was Happy's description of him.

At the first moment she did not recognize him,
and he, on his part seemed lost in amazement and
stood staring at her; but his face broke into a
smile as at last she exclaimed, "Why, it is Joe
Trueman!"

"Yes," he said, "and you are Miss Chrissy —
or, no, I beg your pardon, you are Mrs. Holmes,
aren't you ? They told me it was a Mrs. Holmes,
but I never thought of its being you ! I did not
know you were in this part of the world."

At last, after a long, eager talk about old
friends, Joe came back to business. He was
living in Markham, and they had organized a
Christian Endeavor Society, and felt that the first
important work to be done was to have a Reading

328

THEY AkE LED BY UNSEEN PATHS.

329

old
was

ed a
first

iding

Room. The trouble had been in securing a room ;
there was only one building suitable, and that,
though closed and idle, had been leased by a Mrs.
Holmes for six months. Part of Joe's errand to
this city was to look up Mrs. Holmes and see if
he could sub-lease the room of her for their use.
Here, then, was her "bread" which had been
"cast uiDcn the waters" but a little while before!
Only she had not called it bread, but wasted
effort. That "giggling club" which had so
haunted her had been caught at last ; some of its
leading members, she found by eager questioning,
were ready and willing to become active members
in the new society.

"They told me they had heard about it," said
Joe, "and that Mrs. Holmes had been anxious to
organize one, and that they were ashamed of them-
selves. But we have had a revival, and things are
very different, I think, from what they were when
you were there; any way, we have nine young
people who are in earnest ; and we are going to
try what we can do."

"Well," said Mrs. Holmes, "I will give you the
pretty curtains I made for the room. It went to
my heart to dismantle it and carry them away.
How glad I am that I got it all ready for you, Joe !
But I had not the slightest hope it would ever be
used for such a purpose."

"Isn't it strange," she said to Stuart, after

I-

Il 1

330

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

describing the visitor and his errand; "father's
office boy at work down here, and transforming
that giggling club into a Christian Endeavor
Society ! Who would have supposed that such a
thing could happen ! And our room will be used,
after all, for the purpose to which we dedicated it.
Life is full of fascinations, Stuart."

They went one afternoon, she and Stuart, to
call on the Carpenters ; it was her husband's first
call. The room was as neat as ever, and Mrs.
Carpenter looked not a whit less grim ; but the
man who sat in neat dress by the open window
trying to read, in the fading light, was as unlike
as possible to the creature who had lounged in
with his pipe, on Mrs. Holmes' first visit.

He welcomed his callers with the air of a
gentleman.

'• 1 was trying to make out the verses we are to
talk about in meeting to-night," he explained.
"I've just come in from my work, and was look-
ing them over and thinking about them a bit."

••Oh, yes" — in answer to Mr. Holmes' ques-
tion ; •• I've got steady work, and plenty of it. I
used to be a good workman, folks said, and I'm
getting back my skill a bit, I think. You find us
in poor quarters, sir, and that is my fault and
nobody's else; but we'll get into a better place
soon. I think by the time our month is up here,
we can move. Mis' Carpenter don't believe

THEY ARE LED BY UNSEEN PATHS.

331

ill

other's
rming
ieavor
>uch a
used,
,ted it.

art, to
s first
I Mrs.
ut the
tfindow
unlike
ged in

of a

are to
lained.
look-

ques-

it. I
id I'm
ind us
It and

place
here,

elieve

that," he said wistfully, following her with his
eyes, as her face broke into that mocking smile
which Mrs. Holmes knew so well. She was folding
clothes and placing them neatly in a basket ; when
she had finished, she unceremoniously left the
room.

Her husband's gaze followed her, still with that
wistful look.

"I don't blame her a mite," he said, "it ain't
strange that she thinks I won't hold out ; I never
have, you see, and she doesn't know Him, and
can't be expected to understand how different it
is. If she only knew Him, Mr. Holmes, I might
be able to make her happy yet."

"She will come to know Him, brother," said
Mr. Holmes, confidently, "the Lord will let you
reflect His image to such a degree that she can
not help but know Him. I believe that is to be
your work."

Then Joe Carpenter's face became radiant.

"Do you think so.-*" he asked. "God bless
you for saying it. I believe I pray that prayer
every blessed waking minute; that, and the
prayer for the doctor. He started me, Mr.
Holmes, and I can't have him left out."

"Isn't it disappointing," said Mr. Holmes as
they went down the walk together, "that he can
not have a wife now who would be a help to
him?"

ij^

4i\ --■

332

hfcR Associate Members.

"Do you think it will be possible for him to
win her?" his wife asked ; "you see the trouble is
she never loved him ; if she had, her joy now
would be almost too great ; but as it is " —

"It is a sad case," said Mr. Holmes, "a sol-
emn comment on the sin of making a marriage for
any reason save the sacred one which God
intended. But I can not feel that her life, though
she has herself imperiled it, will be allowed to be
all wasted. ' God is very good,' as Madeline is
fond of saying."

"Did you notice how neat every thing looked ? "
asked Mrs. Holmes. " Stuart, that scheme of
which you and I were talking a few weeks ago,
would be just the place for Mrs. Carpenter.
Wljat a comfort she would be in it ! She has a
genius for housekeeping; and think how rapidly
Happy would learn under such tuition as she
could give ! "

"And think how unhappy Mrs. Stetson would
be without Happy, my dear."

"I know it," she said, "it cannot be done, of
course, because we must not Jesert poor Mrs.
Stetson ; though I do not think she will ever
know how to manage a boarding-house; but she
must live, and we must help her. And we could
not leave poor Liph, either. Oh, Stuart, what is
going to reach Liph ! I am afraid he grows daily

worse.

THEY ARE LED BY UNSEEN PATHS.

333

"I do not know," he said with infinite gravity,
"but I have a feeling that something or somebody
will. Liph has been my burden even since I first
saw him. I have not been directed to give him
up; I am not willing to do so."

" I know such a pleasant house for the experi-
ment," Mrs. Holmes said, returning to the subject
after a moment's silence ; '* it is down on Seventh
Street in a central location ; a large, old-fashioned
rambling house which could be made so pleasant
,and home-like. How charmingly Madeline and I
could arrange the rooms ! She has very nice
taste, and she would be happy in such a place.
But we must not talk of it, nor think of it, on
account of Mrs. Stetson. It would break her
heart, I am afraid. Poor Madeline!" The sen-
tence closed with a sigh, as sentences referring to
Madeline were apt to do. Life was by no means
rose-color to that young woman. Her sister-in-
law, relieved from the terror which had been upon
her over the apparent approach of death, and pro-
voked by the daily increasing intimacy between
Madeline and Mrs. Holmes, an intimacy in which
she almost of necessity had no share, was doing
what she could to plant thorns in the jirl's path-
way, and succeeding only too well. The very self-
control which Madeline struggled for seemed at
times to add to Mrs. Hurst's vexation ; and as the
former had by no means attained perfection, the

\'f

llf

334

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

i'.r

■■it'

■111''

occasions were frequent in which the self-control
was utterly lost and she spoke words which sent
her afterward to her room in a perfect abandon
of shame and grief. As the days passed, an
added source of trouble was laid before the tried
girl. Mrs. Hurst's watchful eyes discovered that
Mr. Arson came no more to the house; that he
had, in fact, made but one call since Madeline was
pronounced well, although his attentions during
her illness had been marked.

"I just believe he is offended," Mrs. Hurst
complained to her husband ; ** I don't wonder, I am
sure. The way that doctor runs here is a disgrace
to us as a family. What could Mr. Arson think
but that he came to see Mad ? Of course he can
not be expected to know that the fellow is run-
ning after a married woman and only using Mad
as an excuse."

"I don't suppose there is any great disgrace in
having a man like Dr. Portland call on a young
woman," Mr. Hurst would reply doggedly. "I
don't know why Nick Arson need think himself
injured by such a thing."

"Yes, there would be disgrace; men like Dr.
Portland don't keep company with a poor giil
like Mad, except to amuse themselves for a little
while."

"Look here," said Mr. Hurst, his brows dark-
ening, " seems to me you forget who you are talk-

THEY ARE LED DY UNSEEN PATHS.

33S

run-
Mad

Dr.

gill
little

dark-
talk-

ing about. I don't know but my sister is as
good as the best of them."

"Oh, now, don't be a simpleton! Of course
she is good enough, but you know as well as I do
how people look at such things ; she is nothing
but a poor girl, with no prospects, and in poor
health at that ; a man like Dr. Portland isn't
going to be such a fool as to notice her ; for that
matter he hasn't i'.hought of such a thing ; he is
too much absorbed in playing his game with that
Holmes woman ; but I don't feel so sure of Mad,
and if she loses Nick Arson by carrying on a one-
sided flirtation with the doctor, I think it will be
too bad ! Nick will be a rich man one of these
days, and he seems to be in real earnest ; he was
very attentive when she was sick. I should think
you would talk to Mad and bring her to reason."

George Hurst was in no mood to interfere, and
said so, plainly; whereupon Mrs. Hurst decided
to interfere herself, and was overwhelmed with
the result. Madeline made no attempt to soften
the fact that she had broken entirely and forever
with Mr. Arson ; and, being angrily cross-ques-
tioned, was obliged to admit that very plain words
had passed between them; he had "even asked
her to marry him ! " as Mrs. Hurst put it, in high-
keyed, indignant tones, and had been refused!
She did not know what excuse Mad could have
for her insulting behavior; flirting with a man

I) : •.

33^

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

foi six months, leading him on in every possible
way, then turning the cold shoulder to him all at
once. Upon this point Madeline was reserved ;
she had strong reasons, certainly, but some of
them she knew, only too well, her questioner
would not appreciate, and others of them it was
perhaps due to Mr. Arson that she be silent
about. Still, of course, some answer must be
given, and the quiet one, that she had not for Mr.
Arson the feeling which would alone make mar-
riage possible, only called forth a sneer.

"It is a pity you could not have found it out
before! I suppose you are so struck with that
idiot of a doctor that you can not think about any
one else. I declare I did not know even you
could be such a fool ! "

After that, Madeline fled from the room, unable
to trust herself longer.

This is but a hint of the trials she was called
upon to endure, because of Mrs. Hurst's indus-
trious tongue. The next outburst was caused by
the discovery that Liph Stetson walked home
with Madeline one evening, and that she lingered
long at the door talking with him. Poor Liph
was one of the persons whom Madeline longed to
help. " He seems almost as friendless as I was
myself," she said to Mrs. Holmes, with a signifi-
cant smile ; "if I could only help him to find the
One who has taken hold of me ! "

THEY ARE LED DY UNSEEN PATHS.

337

;sible
ill at
rvcd;
le of
loner
t was
silent
st be
r Mr.
; mar-
it out
1 that
ut any
you

mable

called
lindus-
fed by
home
igered
Liph
;ed to
I was
iignifi-
td the

She found Liph more ready to listen than she
had supposed he would be, and the time seemed
shorter to her than it did to Mrs. Hurst, who was
waiting in a fever of indignation for her coming.

"A pretty time of night for a sick girl!" she
said ; "it struck ten half an hour ago."

" Poh ! " said her husband, "it is not ten min-
utes since the clock struck. What is the use in
bothering over Mad all the time as though she
vvrasn't old enough to take care of herself.?"

" Old enough ! Some people never get old
enough to have any sense. Do you call it
decency for her to hang around the front door
with a loafer like Liph Stetson.? That was the
one she has been talking to this half hour ; I can
see him as plain as day, in the moonlight ; that is
just like Mad, wild after the boys, if she can't get
those of her station, she will take up with a street
rough."

"That is all stuff," said Mr. Hurst, irritably,
" Liph Stetson is nothing but a boy ; and as for
being a street rough, I never heard of his doing
any harm to anybody but himself."

Nevertheless Mrs. Hurst repeated her charges
to Madeline the next morning, ringing the changes
on the unfortunate occurrence of the night before,
until the girl lost every vestige of her newly-
acquired self-control, and after saying many words
which would have been better left unsaid, fled to

i I

338

IIEK ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

her room in such a passion, first of rage, and then
of remorse, that it took hours to recover from its
effects.

Mrs. Holmes had many troubled thoughts
about her; and between times, had much worry-
ing to do on Happy's account. Mr. Arson, foiled
in one direction, apparently resolved to do all the
mischief he could in another, and was fairly turn-
ing the girl's head with his attentions. In her
perplexity, Mrs. Holmes finally sought counsel
with Dr. Portland.

"You said you thought you could convince a
girl who was worth convincing, of the worthless-
ness of Mr. Arson's character. I do not know
whether you will be willing to include my poor
little Happy in such a list, though she is an hon-
est, good-intentioned girl, and Jesus Christ will be
able to make her fit for His presence . some day;
but in the meantime she is in peril. Mr. Arson is
doing what he can to deceive her ; of course his
sole motive is amusement, but that she can not
be expected to understand. Is there anything we
can do?"

"Yes," he said with darkening face; "I can do
something, and will. I will say that to the fellow
to-morrow, which will prevent him, I think, from
troubling your proteges further, I am sorry I had
forgotten about it ; I meant to inquire as to your
wishes, when you spoke of it before, but other

THEY ARE LED BY UNSEEN PATHS.

339

poor

hon-
liW be

day;
son is

e his

I not
ig we

m do

fellow

from

II had
your

I other

matters drew my thoughts away. I wish I could
so easily see my way toward helping another
friend of yours, Mrs. Holmes. I mean Miss
Hurst," he added, as she waited inquiringly; "do
you realize, I wonder, what a life she leads »vith
that woman ?"

"I know something of it," Mrs. Holmes said,
"and imagine more; poor child! I think of her
a great deal and wonder how I can help ; I do not
see my way clear as yet ; if it were spdng, perhaps
— and yet I do not know — if it were not for Mrs.
Stetson, but" — then she stopped, and laughed
over the half statements she had been making,
which really told nothing. It was annoying to
her to see how her thought.* would return to a
large, rambling old-fashioned house, where a
happy family might be gathered, if only — and
that was as far as her plans could reach.

"I consider myself blocked," she said to her
husband, laughing. "That persists in looking like
the next step to take, and yet we cannot take it.
We could not leave poor Mrs. Stetson now ; and if
we could, we should lose all chance of benefiting
poor Liph ; still, we are not doing him any good ;
I wonder if there is nothing that will reach him.^"
For "poor Liph " persisted in making steady head-
way on the downward road during those days of
better things for some.

They talked it over, and shook their heads, and

340

HER ASSOCIATE MEMKERS.

wondered what could be done, and drjlared in
their wisdom that there was really nothing to be
done, and all the while the chief Shepherd was
looking out for His stray sheep, and planning the
call which should win him homeward. It came in
a most unexpected way, as so many calls do come,
by the door of suffering. To the dwellers in Mrs.
Stetson's home it looked like dire calamity and
nothing else, when there came a morning in which
she did not appear in the kitchen, and it was
announced that she was sick. Not sick ci.ough,
apparently, to rouse anxiety, but simply to bring
more discomfort than usual. Mrs. Holmes came
bravely to the rescue, with such success, so far as
the table was concerned, that several of the
boarders hinted among themselves that the land-
lady's illness was a blessing in disguise. But this
was only temporary comfort, of course ; before the
next nightfall it became necessary to hold a coun-
cil as to what could h?. done. Mrs. Stetsoij was
not better, but rather worse. " She is simply
worn out," Mrs. Holmes laid, "she needs a
long rest, and I cannot plan how she is to get
it."

"There is one way which must not \xt planned,"
her husband answered with decisk>n. "Whatever
may be said of your ability, you certainly haven't
the required strength to conduct a boarding-house;
you were quite worn out last night."

THEY ARE LEt) bV UNSEEN PATHS.

341

ids a
[0 get

med,"

itever

laven't

louse ;

" But Stuart, what can be done ? If her boarders
leave her and find other places,, the poor woman's
means of support will be gone. We must man-
age in some way so as not to allow that. Oh!
I wonder if somebody could not induce Mrs.
Carpenter to come to the rescue for a few days ?
It v^ould be no harder than washing and iron-
ing ; and her husband could take his meals
h^re."

"Yo'i are a genius," said Mr. Holmes, smiling.
"I will myself undertake to bring that to pass,
I will call upon the lady this morning; that will
be a good limit for my morning walk."

It came to pass that this plan worked to a
charm ; what Mrs. Holmes or Dr. Portland would
probably have been coldly denied, Mr. Holmes'
talent for managing people accomplished so swiftly,
that before noon of the third day, Mrs. Carpenter
was making swift moves through the Stetson
kitchen, the like of which Happy had never seen
before.

For two days more there was something like
comfort in the house ; then another want made
itself manifest. Mrs. Stetson, who had bitterly
deprecated the Iroubljs she was making, and
assured her self-appointed nurse each day that
"tc-morrow she was going to get up and go about
her business, confessed on the fifth day that there
"wa'n't more strength to her than there was to a

342

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

wilted cabbage leaf," and she didn't know what
was to become of her. It was then that Dr. Port-
land was permitted to come up and make "just a
friendly call." He looked grave and professional
when he came away.

CHAPTER xxvnr.

ONE OF THEM GOES HOME.

IT is going to be a long, slow business," h6
explained to Mrs. Holmes, who had followed
him out; "the woman is, as she says, 'all tuck-
ered out.' She has a slow, wearying fever, and
is broken down in numberless ways; she needs
care and patience and much petting."

"I will take care of her," urged Mrs. Holmes.
*' She is really very little care ; she lies quiet a
great deal of the time."

Both gentlemen shook their heads, the husband
in a peremptory manner. "It is of no use,
Chrissy," he said decidedly, in answer to her
look, '• I will be as reasonable as possible, but any
more wholesale nursing I can not permit ; it has
been one of my drawbacks toward gaining health,
the persistency with which I was tempted to
worry about you. As for ui dertaking another
case so soon after mine, it is not to be thought
of. Mrs. Stetson needs a nurse."

343

344

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

•*Oh, Stuart, the idea! The very mention of it
would mal ~ 'or frantic; she would suppose her-
self much worse than she is, and the thought of
the expense would trouble her ; besides, where is
a nurse to be had?"

"She needs me," said a firm voice in the back-
^ round, and Madeline Hurst pushed wider the
door of the dining-room and entered.

"I heard your last words," she said smiling in
answer to their surprise ; " I came to know if there
was not something I could do to help. Mrs. Stet-
son was very kind, when I was sick; there is
nothing to prevent my spending both days and
nights with her if she will let me ; and I think I
know by this time just what sick people want."
Mrs. Holmes expected that the doctor would
object to this, on the score of Madeline's health ;
but somewhat to her surprise he pronounced it an
excellent plan. " For the days," he explained, "as
to nights we will try to have our patient sleep
quietly so that all she will need will be Happy,
on a couch near at hand in case of any thing
unexpected. I do not imagine that she is going
to be very ill ; there will be hours during the day
when she may be safely left to the sleep which
she needs." So it came to pass that the house-
hold, thus re-organized, settled with remarkable
celerity into its new grooves and ran smoothly.
Outside the sick-room, absolute comfort reigned.

ONE OF THEM GOES HOME.

345

mg in
: there
. Stet-
ere is
^s and
hink I
want."
would
ealth ;
it an
d, "as
sleep

appy,

thing
going
e day
which
ouse-
kable
othly.
igned.

The boarders were one and all delighted with the
change, and one of the more unfeeling declared
that while he wished the landlady no harm, he
thought it would be decidedly for her benefit to
keep her bed for a year or two. Happy con-
fided to Mrs. Holmes that «Mis* Carpenter moved
awful swift and was kind of glum, but for all that
she wa'n't onreasonable, and they got along first
rate ; and that the way the boarders treated that
old Joe was real nice to see ; there wa'n't one of
'em but seemed to be interested in his keepin'
right.' Be it remarked in passing, that Happy
excepted one who had gone from the house, and
the city. Whatever Dr. Portland's "word" had
been which he promised to speak, it had been
strangely effective in relieving them not only
from Mr. Arson's attentions but his presence.
For a day or two after his departure, Mrs.
Holmes wondered curiously, somewhat anxiously,
whether Happy's heart had .gone away with him.
She questioned, one day, with a *^iew to discov-
ering. "Why, yes," said Happy, with a kind of
slow gravity, "I miss the things he used to say
to me; they sounded nice, and I ain't had no
great of friends, ever; but Dr. Portland says he
didn't mean a word he said, and I don't s'pose he
did. I don't s'pose it would have made any dif-
ference if he had ; I ain't wanted him to say nice
things to me since the night he told me a lie,"

346

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

II V

"Did he do that?" Mrs. Holmes asked anx-
iously, wondering much, what sort of influence
the man had tried to get over this ignorant girl,
and whether there was danger that he would
attempt to renew it.

Yes, ma'am, he did ; He told me there wa'n't
no such person as Jesus Christ ; said he knew
there wa'n't, and you folks was all tryin' to deceive
me because I was a poor girl that had never had
no chance. Of course I knew that was a lie,
because I'm acquainted with Jesus Christ myself,
and there can't nobody cheat mc about that ! "

"The Lord takes care of his own in unexpected
ways," said Mrs. Holmes to her husband, as she
detailed this conversation, the tears being in her
eyes the while. It seemed wonderful that Happy
Smithers should really be "acquainted" with Jesus
Christ!

« « « 4K « 4K

Ail these experiences which we have been liv-
ing over, took time, and the winter, which in that
choice country was winter only in name, slipped
away ; the more noiselessly and unconsciously for
the fact that it seemed always to be October, or
May; the "long, slow winter" to which Mrs.
Chrissy Holmes had looked forward with so many
unspoken forebodings, the time when she was to
fold her hands and wait ! Had they ever been
fuller? In reality she had not even had time to

ONE OF THEM GOES HOME.

347

ed anx-
nfluence
mt girl,
; would

c wa'n't
le knew
deceive
:ver had
s a lie,
myself,
it!"

expected
I, as she
in her
Happy
th Jesus

►een liv-
in that
slipped
usly for
ober, or
Mrs.
o many
was to
IV been
time to

write those long, full letters which she had prom-
ised to Harmon and his wife, and to Nellie, and
Chess Gardner. Yet, as I say, she did not real-
ize the swift passage of time, and was always look-
ing forward to "next week," when she meant to
write, and to read, and to do many waiting things.

"As soon as Mrs. Stetson is well again," was
the time set now for doing thus and so. And
the weeks passed, and Mrs. Stetson kept her room
and for the most part her bed ; and Mrs. Carpen-
ter kept the astonished kitchen in immaculate
order, and the boarders in a state of satisfaction
never before attained. And Madeline Hurst con-
tinued to "go out to nurse," as her sister-in-law
put it, with curling lip ; adding that she supposed
she was doing it for the sake of Liph. who seemed
to be the only string she had left to her bow.

Poor Liph! Nobody had as yet succeeded in
prevailing upon him to help himself. He was
steadily going downward, not with long strides,
but by the process of daily, sure descent.

One other outward change had taken place
which caused a great deal of talk in the neigh-
borhood where the Hursts lived ; Dr. Portland,
whose former boarding-place had been broken up,
removed himself to the Stetson house early in the
landlady's illness. " It is quite as central as my
old place," he explained to Mr. Holmes, "and I
shall be within call at night in event of ever being

IIEK ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

wanted. Besides, it will make my bill more com-
fortable for the old lady, if she has one against
me to offset it."

These were the reasons he gave; but Mrs.
Hurst sneered and said : "Now he can flirt to his
heart's content ; he must have had some trouble
since Mad went down there to work ; it left them
no excuse for running here. That woman's hus-
band must be blind and stupid; perhaps he lost
his mind during his illness; I am sure it looks
like it."

Never were two people more serenely uncon-
scious of the gossip which was now afloat through-
out that street concerning them ; and being no
wiser than pure-minded young people often are,
they innocently gave additional fuel to the mean
and wicked flame by their frank and friendly inter-
change of courtesies and kindnesses. " She even
mends his driving-gloves for him, right in plain
sight, too ! " detailed Mrs. Hurst with her voice
full of exclamation points, which were echoed and
translated by certain eager friends of hers. "I
passed there this morning, and she stood on the
piazza taking the last stitches, and he waiting for
her with his horses at the gate, and they chatting
together like a couple of dovei> It does beat
all ! "

There came a day when the quiet, smooth-
running machinery of the readjusted house was

ONE OF TIIEM GOES HOME.

349

rc com-
against

It Mrs.
: to his
trouble
Ft them
I's hus-
he lost
t looks

uncon-
hrough-
sing no
en are,
mean
inter-
ne even
plain
voice
ed and
-I
on the
ng for
latting
J beat

nooth-
e was

rudely b'-jken in upon. Mrs. Stetson, who had
been the quietest and most grateful of patients,
was unusually restless, and inquired several times
during the day for the doctor, who had gone on a
long country ride, leaving word that he could not
be back until evening.

"She is anz'ous to see you," Mrs. Holmes
explained, meeting him in the hall just at twilight,
"but I do not know for what reason; she does
not seem to be suffering." But directly the expe-
rienced eyes of the physician rested upon her,
he knew, and seemed almost bewildered by the
knowledge. He questioned Madeline half-sternly
as to what had happened during the day. " Noth-
ing has happened," said Mrs. Stetson, "not a
thing but what was nice and good. She has been
just as kind and attentive as she could be, and
so have they all ; but it has come all the same ;
I knew it would ; I've felt sure of it for quite a
spell. I'm going, ain't 1? I thought so ; I see
it in your face. Well, now, as I tell you, I've
thought so this long time; and you needn't think
I'm sorry; because I ain't, not a mite. I've laid
here and thought it all out ; and it is the best
thing that could happen all around. Mis' Carpen-
ter, she gets along first-rate and keeps the board-
ers comfortable ; they've told me so one time and
another, all along; and Liph " — there came a
sudden pause, and the worn face worked strangely

350

IIER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

for a moment, then she said quietly in an altered
tone, "It will be all right about Liph, too."

It took them all night and much of the next
day to get their bearings, and understand how
this new, strange thing could be.

They cross-questioned the doctor.

"It is sudden," he explained; "I have been
fearing something of the kind, when I saw how
impossible it seemed for her to rally, but I
thought there would be weeks yet, possibly
months, and in the meantime there might be a
change for the better. It is a remarkable change
for a day to make; but it is made. She is quite
right ; the time is very short. That poor fellow
ought to be told, and ought not to leave her much
now, because she is liable to sink away at any
moment." Poor Liph ! One and another had
almost unconsciously used that adjective of late
in speaking his name ; it never applied more fully
apparently than now. They had not looked to
see him show much feeling, but they were utterly
mistaken. It appeared that that sullen exterior
covered a heart which could ache terribly. Of all
the household, none were so much amazed, so
incredulous as he. It seemed as though it had
never once crossed his mind that his mother
might die. He sat like a statue of misery beside
her bed, and would not be comforted. There was
very little time in which to get used to the news.

ONE OF THEM OOES HOME.

351

Before evening of the second day it was apparent
to every one who saw her, that Mrs. Stetson was
going from them swiftly. Among them all she
was really the only one who was quite composed.
"It is all just right," she said, gratefully; "I've
been a good deal of a talker, but there's some
things I didn't seem to know how to talk about,
so I ain't said a word ; but I've got a good deal to
say. Things is very different with me from vvhat
they was. Do you remember, Mis' Holmes, that
time you come to the kitchen and washed up, and
made lemon pics, and I don't know what you
didn't do ; and you sent me up stairs to get down
on my knees, and pray about something you told
me, while you dished up the dinner.? Well, I
done it, jest as you said, and it made the most
amazing difference with everything, and has ever
since. First I thought I'd live, and be so differ-
ent that the very hens in the yard wouldn't know
me ; but I found that wasn't so easy to do ; you
said I scolded Liph too much, and it is true, I
did ; poor Liph ! he's had a hard life of it," and
the wrinkled, yellow old hand reached out and
rested on his shock of hair, the while the fellow
fairly groaned in agony. "I don't know why I
should have been hard on him, either; I'd'a' been
willing to die for him any minute since he was
born ; but Liph, poor fellow, your muther did not
know how to live for you ; and she almost killed

352

HEK ASSOC I AT K MEMBERS.

you with her tongue. I sec it now, just as plain
as (lay; and I saw it after this time I'm telling
you of, and I tried hard to make it different, but
I'm getting to be an old woman, old before my
time, they say — never mind, I'm old; and it was
hard work not to burst out at him when I was
tired and cross ; and I kept a doing it when I
didn't want to." At this point Liph dropped
upon his knees beside the bed. "Oh, mother!"
he cried, " Oh mother, don't ! You have never
said any thing to me that I didn't deserve a hun-
dred times over. Oh, mother, forgive me and
live, for my sake; mother, I love you."

A radiant smile overspread the sallow face oi
the bed. "Hear that now!" she said, and hei
hand rested again on his head, and brushed back
the shock of hair tenderly. "He loves me, and I
always knew he did. I'm going to live, my boy;
I'm going to live in heaven. It is a wonderful
thing ; I never expected it ; not for the last thirty
years, but I be. It is all settled, and I'm tickled
to go, because I can see as plain as day that it
■will be better for you, my boy. You will never
disappoint me again ; I'm sure of it. It was kind
of borne in upon me all night, that He would get
hold of you by my going away, somehow, and
keep you. He can do it ; Joe Carpenter here,
knows He can, don't you, Joe.''" And into the
solemn stillness of the second in which she waited

ONE OP THEM GOES HOME.

353

for an answer, came Joe's grave voice, saying
firmly, almost cxultingly :

"Aye, that He can ; didn't He get hold of me?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Stetson, repeating the exult-
ant note; "He did, and He got hold of Happy,
and of me. What is the use of doubting, after
that.? Oh, Liph, I know you will. '^ .)u will be
mother's boy again, as you used to be ; and
mother will be proud of you. She will watch you
up in heaven, and say to some angel, every now
and then : * Do you see that blessed man down
there.? That's my Liph.* And she will watch
for you to come to heaven, and when you come,
she will put her hand on your arm, and say:
'This is my Liph.' I know you'll do it. You
will never disappoint your mother."

Liph's groans had ceased ; he knelt beside the
bed, his head buried in the clothes, but as his
mother's voice stopped, he raised it and looked
steadily at her with eyes which were tearless.
"Mother," he said, "I never will, never, so help
me God. From this minute I swear to you, that
I will never drink another drop of rum, and I will
do the best I can to live the life you want me to ;
I call upon God to hear my words, and take hold
of me."

No words will describe the power of the scene,
nor the look of unearthly brightness on that
mother's face.

ii'^

354

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"My little boy," she said, low and in infinite
tenderness. '* Mother's little boy ; hers forever.
He will never disappoint me again ; and he calls
upon God to help him ; the God who helped me;
and He will do it." Then, still in the same exult-
ant tone, she said: *'Joe, I want you to pray.
I've had good prayers; Mr. Holmes, he's been in
every morning, and every evening, and prayed
such prayers as helped me to see God right hen;
in my room ; but I'd just like to hear you pray
once."

Instantly Joe Carpenter, the reclaimed drunk-
ard, dropped upon his knees; the entire circle
about the bedside with one exception, followed his
example ; and there went up to God such a prayer
for Liph and for Liph's dying mother as certainly
that boy at least would find it hard to forget.
During the few never-to-be-forgotten moments,
one thing occurred which even then brought a
flush of joy to Mrs. Holmes' face, and she pressed
her husband's hand to call his attention. The
only one who had not bowed before God was Mrs,
Carpenter, standing pale and cold in the back-
ground ; but as Joe's voice filled the room, and his
simple, solemn words filled their hearts, she came
swiftly, silently, and dropped beside her husband,
laying her hand trembling and cold upon his. It
was instantly grasped ; and Mrs. Holmes seeing
it, let the smiles come with her tears. Dr. Port-

ONE OF THEM GOES HOME.

355

finite
rever.

calls
I me;
exult-

pray.
2cn in
prayed
t here
u pray

drunk-
: circle
wed his
prayer
rtainly
forget.
)ments,
[ught a
pressed
The
is Mrs.
back-
land his
|e camo
isband,
lis. It
seeing
li. Port-

land was only half heeding the prayer; his eyes
were upon the rapt face on the bed. She lay
still, with closed eyes, with her hand resting upon
Liph's head, and a look upon her face which was
not of this world. She lay motionless even after
all had risen save Liph ; but the repose of her face
was so natural, so unlike death, tha^ it was not
until the doctor said in low tones, "' It is over,"
that any of them knew she had gone away.

But a few days after this experience, Mrs.
Holmes received a call that gave her almost more
surprise than any thing which had occurred during
hci absence from home.

The Reverend Dr. Longman, pastor of the
church which she had attended, asked to see her
on special business. He had called before, of
course, but it had beer at a time when her hus-
band was not gaining as she had hoped, and her
heart had been so heavy and preoccupied that she
had felt but little interest in the call, and hardly
considered herself acquainted with the pastor.
She was aware that during Mrs. Stetson's illness
there had been special meetings held in the church
and that there was an unusual interest; but she
had known very little abc at them beyond the fact
that Joe Carpenter had been regular in attendance,
and that Happy had gone when she could. Mr.
Holmes did not yet venture out in the evening,
and she herself had been so absorbed as to leave

35^

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

neither time nor strength for evening service.
The disorganized household had not yet settled as
to what was to be done in the future, when Dr.
Longman made his call. He was gray-haired,
courteous, gentle-voiced and bewildered. He had
always seemed to the energetic young woman like
a good man who was half-dazed with his surround-
ings, and never quite certain as to what would be
wise to do next. Therefore she was the more
astonished when he plunged, gently indeed, but
after all plunged into the practical.

••Mrs. Holmes, excuse me, but I have an idea
that you are especially interested in young people.
Am I right .? "

•'Why, I think so," Mrs. Chrissy said, hesita-
ting and smiling; she was still so young herself
as to have given but little thought to the people
who as a class claimed her special interest ; it had
simply been natural to think about the girls and
boys, of course.

••That is what I thought," the doctor said,
complacently ; '• it has been borne in upon me
that you might be just the person with whom to
advise, now that I have come to a sort of climax
as it were, or station, perhaps, from which it
seems desirable to take a new departure. You
are aware, perhaps, of the special interest we have
been having in our congregation during the past
few weeks?"

ONE OF THEM GOES HOME.

35;

Mrs. Holmes explained how little she knew
about it, and reminded him of the peculiar circum-
stances which had held them from enjoying the
meetings.

"Ah, yes, I know," he said kindly. "It has
been very sad, and yet very wonderful. The
power of the religion of Jesus Christ, His ability
and His willingness to reach and to save to the
uttermost, has been borne in upon me wonder-
fully of late, I knew the poor woman to whom
you have been so kind ; knew her slightly. I con-
fess that she seemed to me like one whom the
gospel might never reach. It is simply wonderful
to think of her as in heaven ! "

"It must seem so to you," said Mrs. Holmes,
sympathetically. He looked to her like a mild
and cultured saint who had not realized before
that any but the high-toned and reasonably well
educated, were included among those whom Christ
came to save.

"Simply wonderful! " he repeated thoughtfully,
not CO her, Kit to space, with a far-away rapt
look up<ni hi» face.

f " )

CHAPTER XXIX.

SHE LOSES THEM EVERY ONE.

WELL," he added, after a moment's silence,
making an evident effort to get back to
the practical, "we have had good meetings, and I
may say unexpected results. There have been
several conversions among the — well, the unusual
classes ; you have met the man Joseph Carpenter,
I think.?"

"Oh, yes," said Mrs. Chrissy, controlling a
wicked inclination to laugh, and putting it into a
little cough, instead.

"Yes, so I have heard. You have been instru-
mental in helping him, as well as others, I
believe ; the Lord has given you a power, dear
madam, that I could almost envy. Joseph Car-
penter is a miracle of redeeming grace ; and there
are others almost as surprising. What I feel,
what I have been thinking for a long time,
indeed, is that something ought to be done for
Uli! y"""6" people; sometliing more definite, I

35S

SHE LOSES THEM EVEKV ONE.

359

mean, than vvc seem able to compass with the reg-
ular means of grace at command. I do not know
that J (^\\ are acquainted with a movement of
which I have read with constantly deepening
interest ; and yet you may have heard of it. It
occurred to me to ask you ; I refer to the Chris-
tion Endeavor movement ; it seems to have
become a power in some portions of our country."

You who knew Chrissy Hollister hardly need
to be told that Mrs. Holmes at once flashed into
such eager, delighted enthusiasm as almost over-
whelmed the quiet doctor of divinity before her.
She became instantly such a " bureau of informa-
tion " as he had not imagined possible to one
small woman, and poured out her facts, and her
convictions, and her hopes, in a tumultuous
flood.

•* I am gratified beyond measure," he said, at
last, when there was a place for him to speak.
"I had hoped, for some reason — it seemed a sort
of inward conviction — that you might be able to
give me some suggestion ; but I did not know
what a mine of wealth I was about to reach.
May I hope that you will help us try to organize
something of the kind here, very soon .-* I assure
you I think there is need and opportunity. We
have more young people among us than I had
realized, until within a few weeks ; and some arc
peculiar persons, needing all the help which

3<30

HEk ASSOCIATE MEMBER^.

! I

organized effort will give them. There is a
young woman by the name of Hurst, you have
probably met her ? I am told that she was
employed here during Mrs. Stetson's illness.
She tells me that she has very lately taken a
stand for Christ ; she comes from a peculiar
household, but I think she may perhaps be
helped, and be made helpful. Then, there is the
young woman Hepzibah Smithers ; that is truly
another remarkable instance of divine power, Mrs,
Holmes; and then, poor Eliphalet Stetson — it
may seem presumptuous, but I really begin to be
hopeful for him ; if we could rally around him,
some way, and give him our support, who can tell
what the result may be } "

That trying sense of the ridiculous, which had
been poor Chrissy Hollister's discomfort many
a time, now almost overpowered Mrs. Stuart
Holmes, who very much wanted to be matronly
and dignified. The idea of the Reverend Dr.
Longman, with his studied courtliness of manner,
and studied courtesy of speech, 'rallying' around
Liph Stetson, was almost too much for his lis-
tener. What a blessing it was when the door
opened suddenly and her husband came in search
of her! "Oh, Stuart,'' she said, rising quickly,
"I was just wishing you were at home. Dr.
Longman, has such good news, and such a beauti-
ful idea, which he has asked our help in carrying

^HE LOSES THEM — EVERY ONE.

361

out ; I have told him we shall be only too glad to
help."

" And so," wrote the lady to her long-suffering
brother and sister, a few evenings thereafter, "we
actually have a full-fledged Christian Endeavor
soci'^^ty, with thirteen active members and ever so
many associate. And what seems very strange
to me, is, that not one of the persons whom I
have pleased myself by calling in fancy, my asso-
ciate members is left on that list ! They have
every one entered the ranks of the 'active.'
And we put Liph Stetson on ^he • Lookout Com-
mittee ! ' think of it ! I told him I placed his
name there, mentally, the night he made an effort
to look out for my Madeline's peace ; the state-
ment called from him the nearest approach to a
smile there has been on the poor fellow's face
since his mother died. Joe Carpenter is also
on the Lookout Committee. 'I'll do it, Mis'
Holmes,* he exclaimed, when I had explained
some of his duties, and his homely old face was
radiant, 'I'm a doing it now; I'm looking out all
the while for Mis' Carpenter and the doctor; I
just hanker after 'em both ; and I really believe
I'll get them ! ' So far as his wife is concerned
I begin to think he will. She makes few con-
cessions outwardly, but is very much changed,
nevertheless ; and she did actually tell me this
very night, with a grim face it is true, but in a

362

HI.K ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

tone which meant business, that I was right when
I said Joe was a better man than she was woman.
'He ought to have had his chance with a better
wife,' she said. ' It wouldn't be safe to mal<c any
such remark to him,' I told her, whereupon there
flitted just the ghost of a smile over her face, the
first I have ever seen there which had no mockery
in it. I really feel more hopeful about her than
I ever expected to ; and Stuart is confident. ' The
Lord will give her to Joe as a trophy of grace,'
he says, 'and give them both to the world as a
token of what He can do, even with the most
unpromising of His creatures.' One may well say
that of Liph Stetson, too. We shall keep watch
of 'poor Liph,' as you say I always call him, with
peculiar interest. He is very young yet ; there is
a chance for him to do almost any thing good with
his life ; and he is not going to disappoint his
mother, you know ! She had almost unbounded
ambitions for him. I reminded him of that, last
night, when he was pumping a pail of water for
me, and we were having a word of confidence
together. 'I know it,' he said, with a look in his
face which we used to call 'dogged,' but which
now one is inclined to name resolution, * I know it,
and I'm bound to do my best; I told her so.'
But as regards the doctor, I do not feel so hope-
ful ; he is very reticent, much more so, indeed,
than he used to be ; but he makes no more mock-

SHE LOSKS THEM EVERY ONE.

5^3

ing speeches. The truth is, that for people who
stood together by Madeline's sick bed, and saw
her terror of death, and tlien, who knelt together
about Mrs. Stetson's bed and saw her die, mock-
ery is manifestly out of place. Dr. Portland
never does any thing which looks out of place, but
whether his worldliness is too deep-rooted ever to
yield, is a question which gives me anxious hours.
Stuart, of course, is hopeful ; he always is, you
remember. He, by the way, has not forgotten
how to organize and manage Christian Endeavor
societies ; the way he took hold of this one, and
brought order and harmony out of apparently
incongruous elements would have delighted your
hearts. 'He has a rare gift, madam,' says the
courtly Dr. Longman, and I fully agree with
him."

After all this, it came to pass one morning that
summer was upon them ! There had been no
spring-time, rather the winter had been one long-
continued, balmy spring, with no hint about it
that other things were to be expected, until this
breathless morning announced the summer as at
the door.

"We must go home!" said Mrs. Chrissy, com-
ing in from the piazza, in the early morning,
because the sunshine was too powerful for her.
"The time has really co.ne to say it! Last sum-
mer — no, last spring, when was it that we

3^4

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

came? — I was skeptical as to the months ever
passing. How they have rushed away ! And oh,
Stuart, how many interests there are to .cave ! "

Her husband laughed. " For a vv man who
intended to fold her hands and wait, ^hcv have
been rather full hands, I think," he sai cheer-
ily. " But see here, dear, your exclamation about
going home, comes in appropriately ; here are
business letters which strongly hint the same;
and really I do not know that we have any excuse
for lingering much longer. I can not plead lack
of strength ; I am as strong as I ever was ; and if
you read these letters you will see that the more
we hasten, the better it will be for some things."

So the decision came suddenly, with almost an
unexpected air to it ; as to people who were so
busy with their work by the way, that they had
forgotten about the home-going.

" I wonder if it will be a little so, perhaps,
about going to heaven.-*" said Mrs. Chrissy, stop-
ping short in the midst of her preparations to
indulge the thought. "We shall be busy in our
work. His work, you know, glad in it, absorbed in
it ; as if, apparently it were all our life ; and then,
suddenly hearing His call, we shall make haste
to put it into the hands of others, and go joyfully
home."

"What is all this I hear.?" Dr. Portland said,
coming in upon them in the evening, after a two

SHE LOSES THEM — EVERY ONE.

S^S

days' ibsence. " It seems to me it is a remark-
able proceeding for a patient of mine! Rather
taking matters out of my hands!"

"You have put the patient out of your hands,"
said Mr. Hohnes; "given him up, you know.
After a doctor has done that, there is no further
need for deferring to him, remember. It is some-
what sudden," he explained in response to the
doctor's questionings, "at least it seems so to us;
we had, as my wife was just saying, absorbed our-
selves in the work here to such an extent that we
had put the day of flitting into the background ;
but business matters with which I now feel
entirely able to grapple, need me, so we are mak-
ing ready in earnest."

"Everything is nicely arranged," Mrs. Holmes
said, making haste to talk about the comparatively
commonplace ; for the doctor's grave, moved face,
reminded her of how large a place they filled in
his life, and how sure he was to miss them, more
than, in the nature of things, they could him.
"We've accomplished a great deal of business in
these two days. Mrs. Carpenter is going to take
charge here, and all the boarders have promised
to stay; you will, won't you.-* It is all as com-
fortable as possible ; Happy is glad to stay and be
taught the 'rightest way of doing everything,*
she says. Mr. Holmes has become responsible for
the house-rent, and Liph is glad to give the use

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366

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

of the furniture for his board. As for Joe, or
*Mr. Carpenter.' as Mr. Holmes says I ought to
call him, I think he will grow into as respectable
a head of the house as any boarders need desire.
Isn't it pleasant to be able to leave everybody so
comfortably settled.?"

"Very," said the doctor, with dignified brevity.
"Are you sure it is quite comfortable for every-
body ? What about your other friend, in whom I
supposed you were somewhat interested.?"

"Madeline.?" Mrs. Holmes' face shadowed a
little :ts she spoke the name. " I confess that I
am not quite happy over her; she is going to
remain here for the present ; Mrs. Carpenter says
she shall be the nominal head ; but that will not
do, of course ; she is too young for such a posi-
tion ; and too " — She did not finish the sen-
tence, but began again : " Still it was the best we
could plan, just now. She will be exceedingly
useful here, so far as that is concerned; a
womanly girl, who knows how to make rooms
homelike, will be a great blessing in such a
house; and the work is not unpleasant. But to
tell you the truth, I think Madeline is fitted for
something different ; we hope to have her with
us, later, when we can plan for it, though we
have said nothing to her, of course ; our plans are
too indefinite. You do not think a Northern cli-
mate would be too severe for her, do you, doctor .? "

SHE LOSES THEM EVERY ONE.

367

Joe, or
ight to
ectable
desire.
)ody so

brevity.

every-

^hom I

Dwed a
that I
)ing to
er says
irill not
a posi-
|ie san-
est we
:;dingly
led; a
rooms
uch a
But to
ed for
with
jh we
ins are
rn cli-
Ictor > "

"Not in the summer," he said significantly.
"What, in the meantime, is to become of me?
It looks very much as though every one's comfort
was being thought of bu*: my own. Does it
occur to you two how some people here will miss
you.?"

"The feeling is so mutual, doctor," said Mr.
Holmes, "that at present I find it will not do to
talk about it. We do not by any means forget
what we owe to you."

The doctor turned abruptly from them. " I am
coming North to visit you," he said; "you will
see me before the summer is over. By the way,
where is Miss Hurst to-night ? "

" She has gone to her brother's," Mrs. Holmes
explained. "She thought it well to explain to
them her plans for the immediate future ; we are
going down later to walk back with her. I am
somewhat afraid that she wiH have an unpleasant
time."

That was putting it mildly, as Mrs. Holmes
would have realized, if she could have been at
that moment in Mrs. Hurst's dining-room. Mad-
eline sat there waiting for her brother, and
undergoing a running fire of questions from her
sister-in-law. That good woman, far from fond of
Madeline as she was, had yet missed her more
than she had supposed possible. It had been dis-
covered that the girl who was reported to have

368

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBE J.

done 'almost nothing from morning until night,'
had yet accomplished many things which had
been for the comfort of the famly. Not the least
among her good offices, heretofore unappreciated,
had been the willingness with which she stayed
evening after evening with the children, leaving
Mrs. Hurst free to spend her time with her
chosen friends. Nancy's unwillingness to do
this, had emphasized Madeline's usefulness. All
things considered, Mrs. Hurst was quite willing
to have her sister-in-law return to the only home
she had ; and heard with satisfaction of the con-
templated departure of the Northern party.

"Mad won't be such a fool as to stay on there
after they are gone," she explained to her hus-
band. '« She may be willing to be a servant to the
Holmes woman ; she is so smitten with her that
she can't keep away from her, but the Carpenter
woman is another thing."

This conclusion helped to make explanations
very hard for Madeline. "Going back there!"
demanded the annoyed lady in her loudest key;
"what for, for pity's sake.-* You ain't hired out
as a common servant, I should hope ; though that
is what you have had the name of being this long
time. Dr. Longman asked me only the other day
how long you were to be employed there! I
thought I should sink through the floor! What
do you mean ? Going back for what ? "

SHE LOSES THEM — EVERY ONE.

369

"For a great many things that there are to do,"
Madeline said, with a weary sigh; she felt just
then with unusual force the truth that everything
would be very different when Mr. and Mrs.
Holmes were gone ; she hardly knew what there
would be to do. Up to this time, curiously
enough, Mrs. Holmes had been the real head of
the house, at least, so far as her duties were
concerned.

"Things ! " repeated Mrs. Hurst in indignation ;
"if you are so dreadfully anxious to do things,
I am sure there's enough to do in' this house,
without going among strangers, or worse than
strangers, to find them. Mad Hurst, do you mean
to sit there and tell me that you have r'ecided to
disgrace your brother's family out and out, by
going out to service to that Carpenter woman ? **

Nancy's frowzled head was now thrust in at the
door. "Dr. Portland is in the parlor," she
announced; "he says he would like to see 'Miss
Madeline,' " and Nancy showed all her not very
carefully kept teeth, as though she had heard
something which amused her.

"Oh, indeed! Miss Madeline! Hasn't he
got done making a cat's-paw of you yet ? If you
knew all the talk there is about him and your
dear Mrs. Holmes, you wouldn't be so proud of
the notice of either of them. At least you can
answer a civil question before you run to him,

370

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

can't you? What are you planning to do over
there ? "

"I will explain later," said Madeline, and went
to the parlor. Dr. Portland came forward to
meet her. "Miss Madeline," he said, *•! have
been home and heard that which has taken my
breath away. What are you and I going to do
without our friends ? "

"I do not know," she said, her lip quivering.
"Oh, do not ask me," she added, struggling to
retain self-control. " I do not know what I am to
do. It almost seems as though I could not have
them go." ^

"I will tell you," he said, speaking with infinite
gravity, "what we must both do; we must take
care of each other. I need your help now. Do
you remember you asked me once for mine ? You
said you felt like a soldier who had deserted, and
you wanted to find out how to re-enlist. You did
not know that you precisely described my expe-
rience. I called myself a soldier, once, in this
same army ; and because I discovered that some
in the rank and file were traitors, and others weak-
lings, doing positive harm by their half-hearted-
ness, I was such a consummate idiot as to desert
the Captain altogether. I made it my excuse
that certain of his soldiers had injured me ; as if
that were a reason for my turning traitor ! I have
lived to see the folly of it. Certain people whom

SHE LOSES THEM — EVERV ONE

371

I have watchtid, this winter, have taught jne that
a wholesale sneer at the army because some of the
enlisted were failures, was neither, honor nor com-
mon-sence. In plain English, Madeline, I want
to come back and serve the Lord, and I want you
to help me."

Her face was radiant with joy and surprise.
"I am so glad," she said eagerly, "and so glad
you think I can help you. Be sure that I will,
in every possible way. But you do not need my
help ; you are so clear-minded, so resolute, so
strong." *

" There was never a greater mistake," he said
in utmost gravity, "and you do not understand
what you are promising ; I feel that I shall need
your help every hour of every day, on through
the years. Are you willing to undertake it, Mad-
eline ? Willing to come to me, I mean, and be
to me all that that kind of helping implies ? "

"I do not understand," she said hurriedly; "I
"will do any thing I can to help you, Dr. Portland,
always."

" Yes, but can you do this which I need, which
I ask ? "

It was perhaps a half -hour afterward, that the
inevitable Nancy unceremoniously opened the
parlor door and said, "They want Dr. Portland
over at Simmonses right straight o£f."

372

HER ASSOCIATE MEMBERS.

"I will return if I can," said the doctor, rising,
"but in the meantime, if Mr. and Mrs. Holmes
reach here before I do, do not wait for me, I will
see you at the house. Y. a want to go back
there to-night, do you not ? "

'•Oh, yes," said Madeline; "I told Mrs. Holmes
that I would. But I also promised Mrs. Hurst
that I would teljl her this evening what arrange-
ments I had made for the summer."

" Keep your promise by all means," he said
with a curious smile; "I would not have Mrs.
Hurst kept in srspense a moment longer than is
necessary."

•♦ Well ! " said that lady as Madeline at last
appeared in the dining-room, which was also the
family sitting-room, "has he really gone? Half
the town might die while he was' carrying on his
flirtations; such a doctor as that! What ir the
world does he want of you? Is he arranging an
elopement with that charming Holmes woman,
and asking you to help? I believe you are that
bewitched with the tribe that you would take
hold of it. What is he after?"

"He was after me," said Madeline with a curi-
ous light in her eyes, and a lovely flush on her
face.

"Well, I heard that much, of course. I am
asking you what he wants."

"He wants me to help him.'

SHE LOSES THEM — EVERY ONE.

373

rising,

lolmes

I will

) back

holmes

Hurst

rrange-

le said
re Mrs.
than is

at last

ilso the

Half

on his

ir the

^ing an

woman,

re that

Id take

Mrs. Hurst laid down the small dress she was
mending, and gave undivided attention to her
sister-in-law. "Mad Hurst," she said, "is that
doctor such a fool as to want a young thing like
you to go out taking care of his patients ? "

"Oh, no!" said Madeline, with a hysterical
little laugh; "he wants me to take care of him.
He has asked me to be his wife."

The scissors dropped on the floor with a reso-
nant clang; the spool rolled unheeded under the
stove and Mrs. Hurst sat and stared.

"Dr. Portland !" she ejaculated at last, "wants
you ! Well, I am beat I

a curi-
on her

THE END.

I am

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Tip Lewis and His Lamp.

Three People.

The Randolphs.

Househotd Puzzles.

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Mrs. Solomon Smith Looking^

On.
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Chrissy's Endeavor.

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