PS 
 2795 
 
 D96 
 
 Southern Branch 
 of the 
 
 University of California 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 Form L I
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 Form L-9-5m-5,'24
 
 \
 
 liOS AJ4GEUES, Cflb.
 
 THE DWELLERS IN 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 
 
 iff 
 
 BY 
 
 H. E. SCUDDER. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY KURD AND HOUGHTON. 
 Cambridge: t) 
 
 1876.
 
 COPYRIGHT, 
 
 By II. E. SCUDDER. 
 
 1876. 
 
 RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE : 
 
 STEREOTYPED AND POINTED BY 
 
 II. 0. HOUdHTON AND COMPANY.
 
 THE 
 
 DWELLERS IN FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 FOR a business street Amory Lane certainly is very 
 lazy. It sets out just to make a short passage between 
 two thoroughfares, but, though forced at first to walk 
 straight by the warehouses that wall in its entrance, it 
 soon begins to loiter, staring down back alleys, yawn 
 ing into courts, plunging into stable-yards, and at 
 length standing irresolute at three ways of getting to 
 the end of its journey. It passes by artisans' shops, 
 and keeps two or three masons' cellars and carpenters' 
 lofts, as if its slovenly buildings needed perpetual re 
 pair. It has not at all the air of once knowing better 
 days. It began life hopelessly ; and though the mayor 
 and common council and board of aldermen, with tea 
 righteous men, should daily march through it, the broom 
 of official and private virtue could not sweep it clean 
 of its slovenliness. But one of its idle turnings does 
 end in a virtuous court ; here Amory Lane may come, 
 when it indulges in vain aspirations for a more respect 
 able character, and take refuge in the quiet demeanor 
 of Amory Court. The court is shaped like the letter 
 T with an L to it. The upright beam connects it with 
 Amory Lane, and maintains a non-committal character,
 
 4 THE DWELLERS 7j 
 
 since its sides are blank walls ; upon one side of the 
 cross-beam are four houses, while a fifth occupies the 
 diminutive L of the court, ensconcing itself in a snug 
 corner, as if ready to rush out at the cry of " All in ! 
 all in ! " Gardens fill the unoccupied sides, toy -gar 
 dens, but large enough to raise all the flowers needed 
 for this toy-court. The five houses built exactly alike, 
 are two and a half stories high, and have each a dormer- 
 window, curtained with white dimity, so that they look 
 like five elderly dames in caps ; and the court has got 
 ten the name of Five-Sisters Court, to the despair of 
 Amory Lane, which felt its sole chance for respectabil 
 ity slip away when the court came to disown its patro 
 nymic. 
 
 It was at dusk, the afternoon before Christmas, when 
 a young man, Nicholas Judge by name, walking inquir 
 ingly down Amory Lane, turned into Five-Sisters 
 Court, and stood facing the five old ladies, apparently 
 in some doubt as to which he should accost. There 
 was a number on each door, but no name ; and it was 
 impossible to tell from the outside who or what sort of 
 people lived in each. If one could only get round to 
 the rear of the court, one might get some light, for the 
 backs of houses are generally off their guard, and the 
 Five Sisters who look alike in their dimity caps might 
 possibly have more distinct characters when not dressed 
 for company. Perhaps, after the caps are off, and the 
 spectacles removed but toward what outrageous sen 
 timents are we drifting ! 
 
 There was a cause for Nicholas Judge's hesitation. 
 In one of those houses, he had good reason to believe, 
 lived an aunt of his, the only relation left to him in the 
 world, so far as he knew, and by so slender a thread 
 was he held to her that he knew only her maiden 
 name. Through the labyrinth of possible widowhoods,
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 5 
 
 one of which at least was actual, and the changes in 
 condition which many years would effect, he was to 
 feel his way to the Fair Rosamond by this thread. 
 Nicholas was a wise young man, as will no doubt ap 
 pear when we come to know him better, and, though a 
 fresh country youth, visiting the city for the first time, 
 was not so indiscreet as to ask bluntly at each door, 
 until he got satisfaction, " Does my Aunt Eunice 1 live 
 here ? " As the doors in the court were all shut and 
 equally dumb, he resolved to take the houses in order, 
 and proposing to himself the strategy of asking for a 
 glass of water, and so opening the way for further par 
 ley, he stood before the door of Number One. 
 
 He raised the knocker (for there was no bell), and 
 tapped in a hesitating manner, as if he would take it all 
 back in case of an egregious mistake. There was a 
 shuffle in the entry ; the door opened slowly, disclosing 
 an old and tidy negro woman, who invited Nicholas in 
 by a gesture, and saying, " You wish to see master ? " 
 led him on through a dark passage without waiting for 
 an answer. " Certainly," he thought, " I want to see the 
 master more than I want a glass of water : I will keep 
 that device for the next house ; " and, obeying the lead 
 of the servant, he went up-stairs, and was ushered into 
 a room, where there was just enough dusky light to 
 disclose tiers of books, a table covered with papers, and 
 other indications of a student's abode. 
 
 Nicholas's eye had hardly become accustomed to the 
 dim light, when the scholar himself, the master whom 
 he was to see, came forward from the window ; a small, 
 old man, erect, with white hair and smooth forehead, 
 beneath which projected two beads of eyes, that seemed, 
 from their advanced position, endeavoring to take in 
 what lay round the corner of the head as well as objects 
 directly in front. His long palm-leaved study-gown and
 
 6 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 tasseled velvet cap lent him a reverend appearance ; 
 and he bore in his hand what seemed a curiously 
 shaped dipper, as if he were some wise man coming to 
 slake a disciple's thirst with water from the fountain- 
 head of knowledge. 
 
 " Has he guessed my pretended errand ? " wondered 
 Nicholas to himself, feeling a little ashamed of his in 
 nocent ruse, for he was not in the least thirsty ; but the 
 old man began at once to address him, after motioning 
 him to a seat. He spoke abruptly, and with a re 
 strained impatience of manner : 
 
 " So you received my letter appointing this hour for 
 an interview. Well, what do you expect me to do for 
 you ? You compliment me., in a loose sort of way, 
 on my contributions to philological science, and tell me 
 that you are engaged in the same inquiries with my 
 self " 
 
 " Sir," said Nicholas, in alarm, "I ought to ex 
 plain myself, I " 
 
 But the old gentleman gave no heed to the inter 
 ruption, and continued : 
 
 "And that you have published an article on the 
 Value of Words. You sent me the paper, but I did n't 
 find anything in it. I have no great opinion of the 
 efforts of young men in this direction. It contained 
 commonplace generalities which I never heard ques 
 tioned. You can't show the value of words by wast 
 ing them. I told you I should be plain. Now you 
 want me to give you some hints, you say, as to the best 
 method of pursuing philological researches. In a hasty 
 moment I said you might come, though I don't usually 
 allow visitors. You praise me for what I have accom 
 plished in philology. Young man, that is because I 
 have not given myself up to idle gadding and gossiping. 
 Do you think, if I had been making calls, and receiv-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 7 
 
 ing anybody who chose to force himself upon me, dur 
 ing the last forty years, that I should have been able 
 to master the digarnma, which you think my worthiest 
 labor ? " 
 
 " Sir," interrupted Nicholas again, thinking that the 
 question, though it admitted no answer, might give him 
 a chance to stand on his own legs once more, " I really 
 must ask your pardon." 
 
 "The best method of pursuing philological re 
 searches ! " continued the old scholar, deaf to Nicholas's 
 remonstrance. " That is one of your foolish general 
 questions, that show, how little you know what you are- 
 about. But do as I have done. Work by yourself,, 
 and dig, dig. Give up your senseless gabbling in the- 
 magazines, get over your astonishment at finding that 
 caelum and heaven contain the same idea etymologically,. 
 and that there was a large-bread bakery at Skolos, and 
 make up your mind to believe nothing till you can't 
 help it. You have n't begun to work yet. Wait till 
 you have lived as I have, forty years in one house, with* 
 your library likely to turn you out of doors, and only 
 an old black woman to speak to, before you begin to 
 think of calling yourself a scholar. Eh ? " 
 
 At this point the old gentleman adjusted the tin 
 dipper, which was merely an ear-trumpet, though 
 for a moment more mysterious to Nicholas, in its new 
 capacity, than when he had regarded it as a unique 
 specimen of a familiar household-implement, and 
 thrust the bowl toward the embarrassed youth. In 
 fact, having said all that he intended to say to his un 
 welcome supposed disciple, he showed enough churlish 
 grace to permit him to make such reply or defense as 
 was at his command. 
 
 The old gentleman had pulled up so suddenly in his 
 harangue, and called for an answer so authoritatively,
 
 8 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 and with such a singular flourish of his trumpet, that 
 Nicholas, losing command of the studied explanation of 
 his conduct, which a moment before had been at his 
 tongue's end, caught at the last sentence spoken, and 
 gained a perilous advantage by asking, 
 
 " Have you, indeed, lived in this house forty years, 
 sir ? " 
 
 "Eh .'what?" said the old gentleman, impatiently, 
 perceiving that he had spoken. " Here, speak into my 
 trumpet. What is the use of a trumpet, if you don't 
 speak into it ? " * 
 
 " Oh," thought Nicholas to himself, " I see, he is ex 
 cessively deaf;" and bending over the trumpet, where 
 he saw a sieve-like frame, as if all speech were to be 
 strained as it entered, he collected his force, and re 
 peated the question, with measured and sonorous ut 
 terance, " Sir, have you lived in this house forty 
 years ?" 
 
 " I just told you so," said the old man, not unnatur 
 ally starting back. " And if you were going to ask me 
 such an unnecessary question at all," he added, testily, 
 "you needn't have roared it out at me. I could have 
 heard that without my trumpet. Yes, I 've lived here 
 forty years, and so has black Maria, who opened the 
 door for you ; and I say again that I have accomplished 
 what I have by uninterrupted study. I have n't gone 
 about bowing to every he, she, and it. I never knew 
 who lived in any of the other houses in the court till 
 to-day, when a woman came and asked me to go out 
 for the evening to her house ; and just because it was 
 Christmas eve, I was foolish enough to be wheedled by 
 
 her into saying I would go. Miss Miss , I can't 
 
 remember her name now. I shall have to ask Maria. 
 There you have n't got much satisfaction out of me ; 
 but do you mind what I said to you, and it will be
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 
 
 Us knS 6 * 68 ' U 
 
 worth more than if I had told you what books to read. 
 Eh ? " and he invited Nicholas once more to drop his 
 words into the trumpet. 
 
 " Good afternoon," said Nicholas, hesitatingly, 
 " thank you," at a loss what pertinent reply to make, 
 and in despair of clearing himself from the tangle in 
 which he had become involved. It was plain, too, that 
 he should get no satisfaction here, at least upon the 
 search in which he was engaged. But the reply seemed 
 quite satisfactory to the old gentleman, who cheerfully 
 relinquished him to black Maria, who, in turn, passed 
 him out of the house. 
 
 Left to himself, and rid of his personal embarrass 
 ment, he began to feel uncomfortably guilty, as he 
 considered the confusion which he had entailed upon 
 the real philological disciple, and would fain comfort 
 himself with the hope that he had acted as a sort of 
 lightning-rod to conduct the old scholar's bolts, and so 
 had secured some immunity for the one at whom the 
 bolts were really shot. But his own situation de 
 manded his attention ; and leaving the to-be unhappy 
 young man and the to-be perplexed old gentleman to 
 settle the difficulty over the mediating ear-trumpet, he 
 addressed himself again to his task, and proposed to 
 take another survey of the court, with the vague hope 
 that his aunt might show herself with such unmistaka 
 ble signs of relationship as to bring his researches to 
 an immediate and triumphant close. 
 
 Just as he was turning away from the front of Num 
 ber One, buttoning his overcoat with an air of self-ab 
 straction, he was suddenly and unaccountably attacked 
 in the chest with such violence as almost to throw him 
 off his feet. At the next moment his ears were as 
 sailed by a profusion of apologetic explanations from a 
 young man, who made out to tell him, that, coming out
 
 10 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 of his house with the intention of calling next door, he 
 had leaped over the snow that lay between, and, not 
 seeing the gentleman, had, most unintentionally, plunged 
 headlong into him. He hoped he had not hurt him ; 
 he begged a thousand pardons ; it was very careless in 
 him ; and then, perfect peace having succeeded this vi 
 olent attack, the new-comer politely asked, 
 
 " Can you tell me whether Doctor Chocker is at 
 home, and disengaged ? I see that you have just left 
 his house." 
 
 " Do you mean the deaf old gentleman in Number 
 One ? " asked Nicholas. 
 
 " I was not aware that he was deaf," said his com 
 panion. 
 
 " And I did not know that his name was Doctor 
 Chocker," said Nicholas, smiling. " But may I ask," 
 said he, with a sudden thought, and blushing so hard 
 that even the wintry red of his cheeks was outshone, 
 " if you were just going to see him ? " 
 
 " I had an appointment to see him at this hour ; and 
 that is the reason why I asked you if he was disen 
 gaged." 
 
 "He he is not engaged, I believe," said Nicholas, 
 stammering and blushing harder than ever ; "but a 
 word with you, sir. I must really it was wholly 
 unintentional but unless I am mistaken, the old 
 gentleman thought I was you." 
 
 " Thought you were I ? " said the other, screwing his 
 eyebrows into a question, and letting his nose stand for 
 an exclamation-point. " But come, it is cold here, 
 will you do me the honor to come up to my room ? At 
 any rate, I should like to hear something about the old 
 fellow." And he turned towards the next house. 
 
 " What ! " said Nicholas, " do you live in Numbei 
 Two?"
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 11 
 
 " Yes, I have rooms here," said his companion, jump 
 ing back over the snow. "You seem surprised." 
 
 " It is extraordinary," muttered Nicholas to himself, 
 as he entered the house and followed his new acquaint 
 ance up-stairs. 
 
 Their entrance seemed to create some confusion ; for 
 there was an indistinct sound as of a tumultuous retreat 
 in every direction, a scuttling up and down-stairs, and 
 a whisking of dresses round corners, with still more in 
 distinct and distant sound of suppressed chattering and 
 a voice berating. 
 
 "It is extremely provoking," said the young man, 
 when they had entered his room and the door was 
 shut; "but the people in this house seem to do nothing 
 but watch my movements. You heard that banging 
 about ? Well, I seldom come in or go out, especially 
 with a friend, but that just such a stampede takes place 
 in the passage-ways and staircase. I have no idea who 
 lives in the house, except a Mrs. Crimp, a very worthy 
 woman, no doubt, but with too many children, I should 
 guess. I only lodge here ; and as I send my money 
 down every month with the bill which I find on my 
 table, I never see Mrs. Crimp. Now I don't see why 
 they should be so curious about me. I 'm sure I am 
 very contented in my ignorance of the whole house 
 hold. It 's a little annoying, though, when I bring any 
 one into the house. Will you excuse me a moment, 
 while I ring for more coal ? " 
 
 While he disappeared for this purpose, seeming to 
 keep the bell in some other part of the house, Nicholas 
 took a hasty glance round the room, and, opening a 
 book on the table, read on the fly-leaf, Paul Le Clear, 
 a name which he tasked for convenience to the occu- 
 
 OO 
 
 pant of the room until he should find one more au 
 thentic. The room corresponded to that in which he
 
 12 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 had met Doctor Checker, but the cheerful gleam of an 
 open fire gave a brighter aspect to the interior. Here 
 also were books; but while at the Doctor's the walls, 
 tables, and even floor seemed bursting with the crowd 
 that had found lodging there, so that he had made his 
 way to a chair by a sort of foot-path through a field of 
 folios, here there was the nicest order and an evident 
 attempt at artistic arrangement. Nor were books alone 
 the possessors of the walls ; for a few pictures and 
 busts had places, and -two or three ingenious cupboards 
 excited curiosity. The room, in short, showed plainly 
 the presence of a cultivated mind ; and Nicholas, who, 
 though unfamiliar with city-life, had received a capital 
 intellectual training at the hands of a scholarly, but an 
 choret father, was delighted at the signs of culture in 
 his new acquaintance. 
 
 Mr. Le Clear reentered the room, followed presently 
 by the coal-scuttle in the hands of a small servant, and, 
 remembering the occasion which had brought them to 
 gether, invited Nicholas to finish the explanation which 
 he had begun below. He, set at ease by the agreeable 
 surroundings, opened his heart wide, and, for the sake 
 of explicitness in his narration, proposed to begin back 
 at the very beginning. 
 
 " By all means begin at the beginning," said Mr. Le 
 Clear, rubbing his hands in expectant pleasure ; " but 
 before you begin, my good sir, let me suggest that we 
 take a cup of tea together. I must take mine early to 
 night, as I am to spend the evening out, and there 's 
 something to tell you, sir, when you are through," 
 as if meeting his burst of confidence with a correspond 
 ing one, " though it 's a small matter, probably, com 
 pared with yours, but it has amused me. I can't make 
 a great show on the table," he added, with an elegant 
 humility, when Nicholas accepted his invitation ; " but
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 13 
 
 I like to take my tea in my room, though I go out for 
 dinner." 
 
 So saying, he brought from the cupboard a little 
 table-cloth, and, bustling about, deposited on a tea-tray, 
 one by one, various members of a tea-set, which had 
 evidently been plucked from a tea-plant in China, since 
 the forms and figures were all suggested by the flowery 
 kingdom. The lids of the vessels were shaped like 
 tea-leaves ; and miniature China men and women picked 
 their way about among the letters of the Chinese alpha 
 bet, as if they were playing at word puzzles. Nicholas 
 admired the service to its owner's content, establishing 
 thus a new bond of sympathy between them ; and both 
 were soon seated near the table, sipping the tea with 
 demure little spoons, that approached the meagreness of 
 Chinese chop-sticks, and decorating white bread with 
 brown marmalade. 
 
 " Now," said the host, " since you share my salt, I 
 ought to be introduced to you, an office which I will 
 perform without ceremony. My name is Paul Le 
 Clear," which Nicholas and we had already guessed cor 
 rectly. 
 
 " And mine," said Nicholas, is " Nicholas, Nicholas 
 Judge." 
 
 " Very well, Mr. Judge ; now let us have the story," 
 said Paul, extending himself in an easy attitude ; " and 
 begin at the beginning." 
 
 " The story begins with my birth," said Nicholas, as 
 if about to give infinite detail. But it was a short 
 story after all, for, not even naming the place of his 
 birth, he told his companion that after his mother's 
 death, in his childhood he had lived in a country 
 home at the foot of a mountain, with his father for 
 almost solitary friend and teacher, until, his father 
 dying, he had come to the city ; that he had but just
 
 14 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 reached the place, and he made it his first object to 
 find his mother's only sister, with whom, indeed, his 
 father had kept up no acquaintance, and for finding 
 whom he had but a slight clew, even if she were then 
 living. Nicholas brought his narrative dcwn to the 
 point where Paul had so unexpectedly accosted him, 
 stopping there, since subsequent facts were fully known 
 to both. 
 
 " And now," he concluded kindling a little with his 
 subject, " I am in search of my aunt. What sort of 
 woman she will prove to be I cannot tell ; but if there 
 is any virtue in sisterly blood, surely my Aunt Eunice 
 cannot be without some of that noble nature which be 
 longed to my mother, as I have heard her described, 
 and as her miniature bids me believe in. How many 
 times of late, in my solitariness, have I pictured to my 
 self this one kinswoman receiving me for her sister's 
 sake, and willing to befriend me for my own ! True, 
 I am strong, and able, 1 think, to make my way in the 
 world unaided. It is not such help as would ease my 
 necessary struggle that I ask, but the sympathy which 
 only blood-relationship can bring. So I build great 
 hopes on my success in the search ; and it would be a 
 very happy fortune which should bring us together this 
 evening. Do you know of any one, Mr. Le Clear, liv 
 ing in this court, who might prove to be my aunt ? " 
 
 " Upon my soul," said that gentleman, who had been 
 sucking the juice of Nicholas's narrative, and had now 
 reached the skin, " you have come to the last person 
 likely to be able to tell you. It was only to-day that 
 I learned by a correspondence with Doctor Chocker, 
 whom all the world knows, that he was living just next 
 door to me. Who lives on the other side I can't tell. 
 Mrs. Crimp lives here ; but she receipts her bills, Tem 
 perance A. Crimp ; so there 's no chance for a Eunice
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 15 
 
 there. As for the other three houses, I know nothing, 
 except just this ; and here I come to my story, which 
 is very short, and nothing like so entertaining as yours. 
 Yesterday I was called upon by a jiggoty little woman, 
 I say jiggoty, because that expresses exactly my 
 meaning, a jiggoty little woman, who announced her 
 self as Miss Fix, living in Number Five, and who 
 brought an invitation in person to me to come to a 
 small party at her house this Christmas eve ; and as 
 she was jiggoty, I thought I would amuse myself by 
 going. But she is Miss Fix ; and your aunt, accord 
 ing to your showing, should be Mrs" 
 
 " That must be where the old gentleman, Doctor 
 Chocker, is going," said Nicholas, who had forgotten 
 to mention that part of the Doctor's remarks, and now 
 repeated what had been said to him. 
 
 "Really, that is entertaining !" cried Paul. "I cer 
 tainly shall go, if it 's for nothing else than to see Miss 
 Fix and Doctor Chocker together." 
 
 " Pardon my ignorance, Mr. Le Clear," said Nicholas, 
 with a smile ; " but what do you mean by jiggoty ? " 
 
 " I mean," said Paul, " to express a certain efferves 
 cence of manner, as if one were corked against one's 
 will, ending in a sudden pop of the cork and a general 
 overflowing. I invented the word after seeing Miss 
 Fix. She is an odd person ; but I should n't wish to 
 be so concerned about my neighbors as she appears to 
 be. My philosophy of life," he continued, standing now 
 before the fire, and receiving its entire radiation upon 
 the superficies of his back, " is to extract sunshine from 
 cucumbers. Think of living forty years, like Doctor 
 Chocker, on the husks of the digamma ! I am obliged 
 to him for his advice, but I shan't follow it. Here are 
 my books and prints ; out of doors are people and Nat 
 ure : I propose to extract sunshine from all these cu-
 
 16 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 cumbers. The world was made for us, and not we for 
 the world. When I go to Miss Fix's this evening, 
 and, by the way, it 's 'most time to go, I presume I 
 shall find one or two ripe cucumbers. Christmas, too, 
 is a capital season for this chemical experiment. I find 
 people are more off their guard, and offer special advan 
 tages for a curious observer and experimenter. Here 
 is my room ; you see how I live ; and when I have no 
 visitor at tea, I wind up my little musical box. You 
 have no idea what a pretty picture I make, sitting in 
 my chair, the tea-table by me, the fire in the grate, and 
 the musical box for a cricket on the hearth ; " and Mr. 
 Le Clear laughed good-humoredly. 
 
 Nicholas laughed, too. He had been smiling through 
 out the 3 r oung philosopher's discourse; but he was con 
 scious of a little feeling of uneasiness, as if he were be 
 ing subjected to the cucumber-extract process. He rose 
 to go, and shook hands with Paul, who wished him all 
 success in finding his aunt ; as for himself, he thought 
 he got along better without aunts. The two went down 
 stairs to the door, causing very much the same disper 
 sion of the tribes as before ; and Nicholas once more 
 stood in Five-Sisters Court, while Paul Le Clear re 
 turned to his charming bower, to be tickled with the 
 recollection of the adventure, and to prepare for Miss 
 Pix's party. 
 
 " On the whole, I think I won't disturb Doctor 
 Checker's mind by clearing it up," said he to himself. 
 " It might, too, bring on a repetition of the fulmination 
 against my paper which the young Judge seemed so to 
 enjoy relating. An innocent youth, certainly ! I won 
 der if he expected me to give him my autobiography." 
 
 Nicholas Judge confessed to himself a slight degree of 
 despondency, as he looked at the remaining two houses 
 in the court, since Miss Pix's would have to be counted
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 17 
 
 out, and reflected that his chances of success were 
 dwindling. His recent conversation had left upon his 
 mind, for some reason which he hardly stopped now to 
 explain, a disagreeable impression ; and he felt a trifle 
 wearied of this very dubious enterprise. What likeli 
 hood was there, if his aunt had lived here a long time 
 past, as he assumed in his calculations, that she would 
 have failed to make herself known in some way to 
 Doctor Chocker ? since the vision which he had of this 
 worthy lady was that of a kind-hearted and most neigh 
 borly soul. But he reflected that city life must differ 
 greatly from that in the country, even more than he 
 had conceded with all his a priori reasonings ; and he 
 decided to draw no hasty inferences, but to proceed in- 
 the Baconian method by calling at Number Three. He 
 was rather out of conceit with his strategy of thirst, 
 which had so fallen below the actual modes of effecting 
 an entrance, and now resolved to march boldly up with 
 the irresistible engine of straight-forward inquiry, as 
 straight-forward, at least, as the circumstance would per 
 mit. He knocked at the door. After a little delay, 
 enlivened for him by the interchange of voices within 
 the house, apparently at opposite extremities, a light 
 approached, and the door was opened, disclosing a large, 
 florid-faced man, in his shirt-sleeves, holding a small 
 and sleepy lamp in his hand. Nicholas moved at once 
 upon the enemy's works. 
 
 " AVill you have the goodness to tell me, sir. if a 
 lady named Miss Eunice Brown lives here?" that 
 being his aunt's maiden name, and possibly good on 
 demand thirty years after date. The reply came, after 
 a moment's deliberation, as if the man wished to gain 
 time for an excursion into some unexplored region of 
 the house, 
 
 " Well, sir, I won't say positively that she does n't ; 
 2
 
 18 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 and yet I can say, that in one sense of the word, Miss 
 Eunice Brown does not live here. Will you walk in, 
 and we will talk further about it." 
 
 Nicholas entered, though somewhat wondering how 
 they were to settle Miss Brown's residence there by 
 the most protracted conversation. The man in shirt 
 sleeves showed him into a-sitting-room, and setting the 
 lamp upon the top of a corner what-not, where it 
 twinkled like a distant star, he gave Nicholas a seat, 
 and took one opposite to him, first shutting the door be 
 hind them. 
 
 " Will you give me your name, sir ? " said he. 
 
 Nicholas hesitated, not quite liking to part with it to 
 one who might misuse it. 
 
 " I have no objection," said his companion, in a son 
 orous voice, " to giving my name to any one that asks 
 it. My name is Soprian Manlius." 
 
 " And mine," said Nicholas, not to be outdone in 
 generosity, " is Nicholas Judge." 
 
 " Very well, Mr. Judge. Now we understand each 
 other, I think. I asked your name as a guaranty of 
 good faith. Anonymous contributions cannot be re 
 ceived, et cetera, as they say at the head of news 
 papers. And that's my rule of business, sir. People 
 come to me to ask the character of a girl, and I ask 
 their names. If they don't want to give them, I say, 
 ' Very well; I can't intrust the girl's character to people 
 without name.' And it brings them out, sir, it brings 
 them out," said Mr. Manlius, leaning back, and taking 
 a distant view of his masterly diplomacy. 
 
 " Do people come to you to inquire after persons' 
 characters ? " asked Nicholas, somewhat surprised at 
 happening upon such an oracle. 
 
 " Well, in a general way, no," said Mr. Manlius, 
 smiling ; " though I won't say but that they would sue-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 19 
 
 ceed as well here as in most places. In a particular 
 way, yes. I keep an intelligence-office. Here is my 
 card, sir," pulling one out of his waistcoat-pocket, 
 and presenting it to Nicholas ; ll and you will see by 
 the phraseology employed, that I have unrivaled means 
 for securing the most valuable help from all parts of 
 the world. Mr. Judge," he whispered, leaning for 
 ward, and holding up his forefinger to enforce strict 
 secrecy, " I keep a paid agent in Nova Scotia." And 
 once more Mr. Manlius retreated in his chair, to get 
 the whole effect of the announcement upon his visitor. 
 
 The internal economy of an office for obtaining and 
 furnishing intelligence might have been further revealed 
 to Nicholas; but at this moment a voice was heard at 
 the outside of the door, calling, " S'prian ! S'prian ! 
 we're 'most ready." 
 
 " Coming, Caroline," replied Mr. Manlius, and, re 
 called to the object for which his visitor was there, 
 he turned to Nicholas, and resumed, 
 
 "Well, Mr. Judge, about Miss Eunice Brown, 
 whether she lives here or not. Are you personally 
 acquainted with Miss Brown ? " 
 
 " No, sir," said Nicholas, frankly. " I will tell you 
 plainly my predicament. Miss Eunice Brown was my 
 mother's sister ; but after my mother's death, which 
 took place when I was a child, there was no inter 
 course with her on the part of our family, which con 
 sisted of my father and myself. My father, I ought to 
 say, had no unfriendliness toward her, but his habits 
 of life were those of a solitary student ; and therefore 
 he took no pains to keep up the acquaintance. He 
 heard of her marriage, and the subsequent death of her 
 husband ; rumor reached him of a second marriage, but 
 he never heard the name of the man she married in 
 either case. My father lately died; but before his
 
 20 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 death he advised me to seek this aunt, if possible, since 
 she was my only living near relation ; and he told me 
 that he had heard of her living in this court many 
 years ago. So I have come here with a faint hope of 
 tracing her." 
 
 Mr. Manlius listened attentively to this explanation ; 
 and then solemnly walking to the door, he called in a 
 deep voice, as if he would have the summons start from 
 the very bottom of the house for thoroughness, " Car 
 oline ! " 
 
 The call was answered immediately by the appear 
 ance of Mrs. Manlius, in a red dress, that put every 
 thing else in the room in the background. 
 
 " Caroline," said he, more impressively than would 
 seem necessary, and pointing to Nicholas, " this is Mr. 
 Nicholas Judge. Mr. Judge, you see my wife." 
 
 " But, my dear," said Mrs. Manlius, nervously, as 
 soon as she had bowed, discovering the feeble lamp, 
 which was saving its light by burning very dimly, " that 
 lamp will be off the what-not in a moment. How could 
 you put it right on the edge ? " And she took it down 
 from its pinnacle, and placed it firmly in the middle of 
 a table, at a distance from anything inflammable. " Mr. 
 Manlius is so absent-minded, sir," said she, turning to 
 Nicholas. 
 
 " Caroline," said her husband, " this will be a mem 
 orable day in the history of our family. Eunice has 
 found a dear sister's son." 
 
 " Where ? " she asked, turning for explanation to 
 Nicholas, who at Mr. Manlius's words felt his heart 
 beat quicker. 
 
 Then Mr. Manlius, in as few words as his dignity and 
 the occasion would deem suitable, stated the case to his 
 wife, who looked admiringly upon Mr. Manlius's ora 
 tory, and interestingly upon Nicholas.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 21 
 
 " Shall I call Eunice down, S'prian ? " said she, 
 when her husband concluded, and conveying some mys 
 terious information to him by means of private signals. 
 
 " We have here," said Mr. Manlius, now turning the 
 hose of his eloquence toward Nicholas, and playing upon 
 him, " we have here a dear friend, who has abode in 
 our house for many years. She came to us when she 
 was in trouble, and here has she found a resting-place 
 for the soles of her feet. Sir," with a darksome glance, 
 " her relations had forgotten her." 
 
 " I must say " interrupted Nicholas ; but Mr. 
 Manlius waved him back, and continued : 
 
 " But she found true kinsfolk in the friends of her 
 early days. We have cared for her tenderly, and now 
 at last we have our reward in consigning her to the 
 willing hands of a young scion of her house. She was 
 Eunice Brown ; she had a sister who married a Judge, 
 as I have often heard her say ; and she herself married 
 Mr. Archibald Starkey, who is now no more. Caro 
 line, I will call Eunice ; " and Mr. Manlius went 
 heavily out of the room. 
 
 Nicholas was very much agitated, and Mrs. Manlius 
 very much excited, over this sudden turn of affairs. 
 
 " Eunice has lived with us fifteen years, come Feb 
 ruary ; and she has been one of the family, coming in 
 and going out like the rest of us. I found her on the 
 door-step one night, and was n't going to bring her in 
 at first, because, you see, I did n't know what she might 
 be ; when, lo and behold ! she looked up, and said I, 
 ' Eunice Brown ! ' ' Yes,' said she, and said she was 
 cold and hungry ; and I brought her in, and told Mr. 
 Manlius, and he came and talked with her, and said he, 
 ' Caroline, there is character in that woman ; ' for, Mr. 
 Judge, Mr. Maulius can read character in a person won 
 derfully ; he has a real gift that way ; arid, indeed, he
 
 22 THE DWELLERS 1ST 
 
 needs it in his profession ; and, as I tell him, he was 
 born an intelligence officer." 
 
 Thus, and with more in the same strain, did Mrs. 
 Manlius give vent to her feelings, though hardly in the 
 ear of Nicholas, who paced the room in restless expec 
 tation of his aunt's approach. He heard enough to 
 give a turn to his thoughts ; and it was with unaffected 
 sorrow that he reflected how the lonely woman had 
 been dependent upon the charity, as it seemed, of others. 
 He saw in her now no longer merely the motherly aunt 
 who was to welcome him, but one whom he should care 
 for, and take under his protection. He heard steps in 
 the entry, and easily detected the ponderous tread of 
 Mr. Manlius, who now opened the door, and reappeared 
 in more careful toilet, since he was furbished and 
 smoothed by the addition of proper touches, until he 
 had quite the air of a man of society. He entered the 
 room with great pomp and ceremony all by himself, 
 and met Nicholas's disappointed look by saying, slowly, 
 
 "Mrs. Starkey, your beloved aunt, will appear pres 
 ently ; " and throwing a look about the room, as if he 
 would call the attention of all the people in the dress- 
 circle, boxes, and amphitheatre, he continued, " I have 
 intimated to your aunt the nature of your relationship, 
 and I need not say that she is quite agitated at the pro 
 spective meeting. She is a woman " 
 
 But Mr. Manlius's flow was suddenly turned off by 
 the appearance of Mrs. Starkey herself. The intro 
 duction, too, which, as manager of this little scene, he 
 had rehearsed to himself, was rendered unnecessary by 
 the prompt action of Nicholas, who hastened forward, 
 with tumultuous feelings, to greet his aunt. His honest 
 nature had no skeptical reserve ; and he saluted her 
 affectionately, before the light of the feeble lamp, 
 which seemed to have husbanded all its strength for
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 23 
 
 this critical moment, could disclose to him anything of 
 the personal appearance of his relative. At this mo 
 ment the twinkling light, like a star at dawn, went out; 
 and Mrs. Manlius, rushing off, reappeared with an 
 astral, which turned the somewhat gloomy aspect of 
 affairs into cheerful light. Perhaps it was symbolic of 
 a sunrise upon the world which inclosed Nicholas and 
 his aunt. Nicholas looked at Mrs. Starkey, who was 
 indeed flurried, and saw a pinched and meagre woman, 
 the flower of whose youth had long ago been pressed 
 in the book of ill-fortune until it was colorless and 
 scentless. She found words presently, even before 
 Nicholas did ; and sitting down with him in the en 
 couraging presence of the Manlii, she uttered her 
 thoughts in an incoherent way : 
 
 " Dear, dear ! who would have said it ? When Miss 
 Fix came to invite us all to her party, and said, ' Mrs. 
 Starkey, I 'm sure I hope you will come,' I thought it 
 might be too much for such a quiet body as I be. But 
 that was nothing to this. Why, if here I haven't got 
 a real nephew ; and, to be sure, it 's a great while since 
 I saw your mother, but, I declare, you do look just like 
 her, and a Judge's son you are, too. Did they say you 
 looked like your father, Nicky ? I was asking Caro 
 line if she thought my bombazine would do, after all ; 
 and now I do think I ought to wear my India silk, and 
 put on my pearl necklace, for I don't want my Nicky 
 to be ashamed of me. You '11 go with us, won't you, 
 nephew, to Miss Fix's ? I expect it 's going to be 
 a grand party ; and I '11 go round and introduce you 
 to all the great people ; and how did you leave your 
 father, Nicholas?" 
 
 " Why, aunt, did not Mr. Manlius tell you that he 
 was dead ? " said Nicholas. 
 
 " Her memory 's a little short," whispered Mrs. Man-
 
 24 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 lius ; but, hardly interrupted by this little answer and 
 whisper, Mrs. Starkey was again plunging headlong 
 into a current of words, and struggling among the ed 
 dies of various subjects. Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Manlius, having, as managers, set the little piece on the 
 stage in good condition, were carrying on a private uu- 
 dertoned conversation, which resulted in Mrs. Manlius 
 asking, in an engaging manner, 
 
 " Eunice, dear, would you prefer to stay at home 
 this evening with your nephew ? Because we will ex 
 cuse you to Miss Fix, who would hardly expect you." 
 
 Mrs. Starkey was in the midst of a voluble descrip 
 tion of some private jewelry which she intended to 
 show the astonished Nicholas ; but she caught the last 
 words, and veered round to Mrs. Manlius, saying, 
 
 " Indeed, she expects me ; and she expects Nicholas, 
 too. She will be very much gratified to see him, and 
 I have no doubt she will give another party for him ; 
 and if she does, I mean to invite my friend the alder 
 man to go. I should n't wonder if he was to be there 
 to-night ; and now I think of it, it must be time to be 
 going. Caroline, have you got your things on?" 
 
 Mrs. Starkey spoke with a determination that suf 
 fered no opposition, so that Nicholas and Mr. Manlius 
 were left alone for a moment, while the two women 
 should wrap themselves up. 
 
 "Your aunt is unduly excited, Mr. Judge," said the 
 intelligence-officer ; *' and it was for that reason that I 
 advised she should not go. She has hardly been her 
 self the last day or two. Our neighbor, Miss Pix 
 a woman whose character is somewhat unsettled ; no 
 fixed principles, sir, I fear," shaking his head regret 
 fully ; " too erratic, controlled by impulse, possessing 
 an inquisitive temperament," telling off upon a separate 
 finger each count in the charges against Miss Fix's
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 25 
 
 character, and reserving for the thumb the final over 
 whelming accusation, "Sir, she has not learned the 
 great French economical principle of Lassy Fair." 
 Miss Fix being thus stricken down, he helped her up 
 again with an apology. "But her advantages have no 
 doubt been few. She has not studied political econ 
 omy ; and how can she hope to walk unerringly?" 
 and Mr. Manlius gazed at an imaginary Miss Fix wan 
 dering without compass or guide over the desert of life. 
 " She makes a party to-night. And why ? Because 
 it is Christmas eve. That is a small foundation, Mr. 
 Judge, on which to erect the structure of social inter 
 course. Society, sir, should be founded on principles, 
 not accidents. Because my house is accidentally con 
 tiguous to two others, shall I consider myself, and shall 
 Mrs. Manlius consider herself, as necessarily bound by 
 the ligaments of Nature by the ligaments of Nature, 
 Mr. Judge to the dwellers in those houses ? No, 
 sir. I don't know who lives in this court beside Miss 
 Fix. Nature brought your auut and Mrs. Manlius 
 together, and Nature brought you and your aunt to 
 gether. We will go, however, to Miss Fix's. It will 
 gratify her. But your aunt is excited about the, for 
 her, unusual occasion. And now she has seen you. I 
 feared this interview might overcome her. She is 
 frail ; but she is fair, sir, if I may say so. She has 
 character; very few have as much, and I have seen 
 many women. Did you ever happen to see Martha 
 Jewmer, Mr. Judge?" 
 
 Nicholas could not remember that he had. 
 
 " Well, sir, that woman has been in my office twelve 
 times. I got a place for her each time. And why? 
 Because she had character " ; and Mr. Manlius leaned 
 back to get a full view of character. Before he had 
 satisfied himself enough to continue his reminiscences,
 
 26 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 his wife and Mrs. Starkey returned, bundled up as if 
 they were going on a long sleigh-ride. 
 
 "We're ready, S'prian," said Mrs. Manlius. "Eu 
 nice thinks she will go still," which was evident from 
 the manner in which Mrs. Starkey had gathered about 
 her a quantity of ill-assorted wrappers, out of the folds 
 of which she delivered herself to each and all in a rapid 
 and disjointed manner ; and the party proceeded out of 
 the house,' Mrs. Manlius first shutting and opening va 
 rious doors, according to some intricate system of ven 
 tilation and heating.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 27 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 NICHOLAS gave his arm to his aunt, and, though 
 anxious to speak of many things, could hardly slip a 
 word into the crevices of her conversation ; nor then 
 did his questions or answers bring much satisfactory re 
 sponse. He was confused with various thoughts, una 
 ble to explain the random talk of his companion, and 
 yet getting such glimpses of the dreary life she had led 
 as made him resolve to give her a home that should ad 
 mit more sunshine into her daily experience. 
 
 They were not kept waiting long at Miss Fix's door, 
 for a ruddy German girl opened it at their summons; 
 and, once inside, Miss Fix herself came forward with 
 beaming face to give them a Christmas eve greeting. 
 Mr. Manlius had intended making the official announce 
 ment of the arrival of the new nephew, but was no 
 match for the ready Mrs. Starkey, who at once seized 
 upon their hostess, and shook her warmly by the hand, 
 pouring out a confused and not over-accurate account 
 of her good fortune, mixing in various details of her 
 personal affairs. Miss Fix, however, made out the 
 mam fact, and turned to Nicholas, welcoming him with 
 both hands, and in the same breath congratulating Mrs. 
 Starkey, showing such honest, whole-souled delight that 
 Nicholas for a moment let loose in his mind a half- 
 wish that Miss Fix had proved to be his aunt, so much 
 more nearly did she approach his ideal. The whole 
 party stood basking for a moment in Miss Fix's Christ-
 
 28 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 mas greeting, then extricated themselves from their 
 wrappers with the help of their bustling hostess, and 
 were ushered into her little parlor, where they proved 
 to be the first arrivals. It was almost like sitting down 
 in an arbor ; for walls and ceiling were quite put out of 
 sight by the evergreen dressing ; the candlesticks and 
 picture-frames seemed to have budded ; and even the 
 poker had laid aside its constitutional stiffness, and un 
 bent itself in a miraculous spiral of creeping vine. Mr. 
 Manlius looked about him with the air of a connoisseur, 
 and complimented Miss Fix. 
 
 " A very pretty room, Miss Pix, a very pretty 
 room ! Quite emblematical ! " And he cocked his 
 head at some new point. 
 
 " Oh, I can't have my Christmas without greens ! " 
 said Miss Pix. " Christmas and greens, you know, is 
 the best dish in the world. Isn't it, Mrs. Starkey ?" 
 
 But Mrs. Starkey had no need of a question ; for 
 she had already started on her career as a member of 
 the party, and was galloping over a boundless field of 
 observation. 
 
 There was just then another ring ; and Miss Pix 
 started for the door, in her eagerness to greet her vis 
 itors, but recollected in season the tribute which she 
 must pay to the by-laws of society, and hovered about 
 the parlor door till Gretchen could negotiate between 
 the two parties. Gretchen's pleased exclamation in 
 her native tongue at once indicated the nature of the 
 arrival ; and Miss Pix, whispering loudly to Mrs. 
 Manlius, " My musical friends," again rushed forward, 
 and received her friends almost noisily ; for when they 
 went stamping about the entry to shake off the snow 
 from their feet against the inhospitable world outside, 
 she also, in the excess of her sympathetic delight, 
 caught herself stamping her little foot. There was a
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 29 
 
 hurly-burly, and then they all entered the parlor in 
 a procession, preceded by Miss Fix, who announced 
 them severally to her guests as Mr. Pfeiffer, Mr. 
 Pfeffendorf, Mr. Schmauker, and Mr. Windgraff. 
 Everybody bowed at once, and rose to the surface, 
 hopelessly ignorant of the name and condition of all 
 the rest, except his or her immediate friends. The 
 four musical gentlemen especially entirely lost their 
 names in the confusion ; and as they looked very much 
 alike, it was hazardous to address them, except upon 
 general and public grounds. 
 
 Mrs. Starkey was the most bewildered, and also the 
 most bent upon setting herself right, a task which 
 promised to occupy the entire evening. " Which is 
 the fifer ? " she asked Nicholas ; but he could not tell 
 her, and she appealed in vain to the others. Perhaps 
 it was as well, since it served as an unfailing resource 
 with her through the evening. When nothing else 
 occupied her attention, she would fix her eyes upon 
 one of the four, and walk around till she found some 
 one disengaged enough to label him, if possible ; and as 
 the gentlemen had much in common, while Mrs. Stark- 
 ey's memory was confused, there was always room for 
 more light. 
 
 Miss Pix meanwhile had disentangled Nicholas from 
 Mrs. Starkey, and, as one newly arrived in the court, 
 was recounting to him the origin of her party. 
 
 " You see, Mr. Judge, I have only lived here a few 
 weeks. I had to leave my old house ; and I took a 
 great liking to this little court, and especially to this 
 little house in it. ' What a delightful little snuggery ! ' 
 thought I. ' Here one can be right by the main streets, 
 and yet be quiet all day and evening.' And that 's what 
 I want ; because, you see, I have scholars to come and 
 take music-lessons of me. ' And then/ I thought to
 
 30 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 myself, ' I can have four neighbors right in the same 
 yard, you may say.' Well, here I came ; but do 
 you believe it? hardly anybody even looked out of 
 the window when the furniture-carts came up, and I 
 could n't tell who lived in any house. Why, I was here 
 three weeks, and nobody came to see me. I might 
 have been sick, and nobody would have known it." 
 Here little Miss Fix shook her head ruefully at the 
 vision of herself sick and alone. " I 've seen what that 
 is," she added, with a mysterious look. " ' Well, now,' 
 I said to myself, ' I can't live like this. It is n't Chris 
 tian. I don't believe but the people in the court could 
 get along with me, if they knew me.' Well, they 
 did n't come, and they did n't come ; so I got tired, and 
 one day I went round and saw them all, no, I didn't 
 see the old gentleman in Number One that time. Will 
 you believe it? not a soul knew anybody else in any 
 house but their own ! I was amazed, and I said to 
 myself, ' Betsey Fix, you 've got a mission ; ' and, Mr. 
 Judge, I went on that mission. I made up my mind 
 to ask all the people in the court, who could possibly 
 come, to have a Christmas eve gathering in my house. 
 I got them all, except the Crimps, in Number Two, who 
 would not, do what I could. Then I asked four of my 
 friends to come and bring their instruments ; for there 's 
 nothing like music to melt people together. But, oh, 
 Mr. Judge, not one house knows that another house in 
 the court is to be here; and, oh, Mr. Judge, I've got 
 such a secret ! " And here Miss Fix's cork flew to the 
 ceiling, in the manner hinted at by Mr. Paul Le Clear ; 
 while Nicholas felt himself to have known Miss Fix 
 from birth, and to be, in a special manner, her prime- 
 minister on this evening. 
 
 It was not long before there was another ring, and 
 Mr. Le Clear appeared, who received the jiggoty Miss
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 31 
 
 Fix's welcome in a smiling and well-bred manner, and 
 suffered himself to be introduced to the various persons 
 present, when all seized the new opportunity to discover 
 the names of the musical gentlemen, and fasten them to 
 the right owners. Paul laughed when he saw Nicholas, 
 and spoke to him as an old acquaintance. Miss Fix 
 was suddenly in great alarm, and, beckoning away 
 Nicholas, whispered, " Don't for the world tell him 
 where the others live." Like the prime-minister with 
 a state-secret, Nicholas went back to Paul, and spent 
 the next few minutes in the trying task of answering 
 leading questions with misleading answers. 
 
 " I see," said the acute Mr. Le Clear to himself ; 
 " the aunt is that marplotty dame who has turned our 
 young Judge into a prisoner at the bar ; " and he en 
 tered into conversation with Mrs. Starkey with great 
 alacrity, finding her a very ripe cucumber. Mr. Man- 
 lius, who was talking, in easy words of two sjdlables, to 
 the musical gentlemen, overheard some of Mrs. Starkey's 
 revelations to Mr. Le Clear, and, watching his oppor 
 tunity, got Paul into a corner, where he favored him 
 with some confidences respecting the lady. 
 
 "You may have thought, sir," said he, in a whisper, 
 " that Mrs. Starkey is is," and he filled out the 
 sentence with an expressive gesture toward his own 
 well-balanced head. 
 
 " Not at all," said Paul, politely. 
 
 " She is periodically affected," continued Mr. Man- 
 lius, " with what I may perhaps call excessive and ill- 
 balanced volubility. Mrs. Starkey, sir, is a quiet per 
 son, rarely speaking; but once in five or six weeks, 
 the periods do not return with exact regularity, she 
 is subject to some hidden influence, which looses her 
 tongue, as it were. I think she is under the influence 
 now, and her words are not likely to to correspond
 
 32 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 exactly with existing facts. You will not be surprised, 
 then, at her words. They are only words, words. At 
 other times she is a woman of action. She has a won 
 derful character, sir." 
 
 " Quite a phenomenon, indeed, I should say," said 
 Paul, ready to return to so interesting a person, but 
 politely suffering Mr. Manlius to flow on, which he did 
 uninterruptedly. 
 
 Doctor Chocker was the last to come. Miss Fix 
 knew his infirmity, and contented herself with mute, 
 but expressive signs, until the old gentleman could ad 
 just his trumpet and receive her hearty congratulations. 
 He jerked out a response, which Miss Fix received with 
 as much delight as if he had flowed freely, like Mr. 
 Manlius, who was now playing upon Mr. Le Clear an 
 analysis of Nicholas's character, which he had read with 
 unerring accuracy, as Mrs. Manlius testified by her con 
 tinued, unreserved agreement. Indeed, the finding of 
 his aunt by Nicholas in so unexpected a manner was the 
 grand topic of the evening ; and the four musical gen 
 tlemen, hearing the story in turn from each of the 
 others, were now engaged in a sort of diatessaron, in 
 which the four accounts were made to harmonize with 
 considerable difficulty : Mr. Schmauker insisting upon 
 his view, that Nicholas had arrived wet and hungry, 
 was found on the doorstep, and dragged in by Mrs. 
 Starkey; while Mr. Pfeffendorf and Mr. Pfeiffer sub 
 stituted Mrs. Manlius for Mrs. Starkey; and Mr. Wind- 
 graff proposed an entirely new reading. 
 
 Dr. Checker's entrance created a lull; and the intro 
 duction, performed in a general way by the hostess, 
 brought little information to the rest, who were hoping 
 to revise their list of names, and very little to the 
 Doctor, who looked about inquisitively, as Miss Pix 
 dropped the company in a heap into his ear-trumpet.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 33 
 
 His eye lighted on Nicholas, and he went forward to 
 meet him, to the astonishment of the company, who 
 looked upon Nicholas as belonging exclusively to them. 
 A new theory was at once broached by Mr. Windgraff 
 to his companions, that Dr. Checker had brought about 
 the recognition ; but it lost credit as the Doctor began 
 to question Nicholas, in an abrupt way, upon his pres 
 ence there. 
 
 " Did n't know I should meet you again, young man," 
 said he. " But you don't take my advice, eh ? or you. 
 would n't have been here. But I 'm setting you a pretty 
 example ! This is n't the way to study the value of 
 words, eh Mr. Mr. Le Clear ? " 
 
 The real Mr. Le Clear and his fiction looked at each, 
 other, and by a rapid interchange of glances signified 
 their inability to extricate themselves from the snarl, 
 except by a dangerous cut, which Nicholas had not the 
 courage at the moment to give. The rest of the com 
 pany were mystified ; and Mr. Manlius, pocketing the 
 character which he had just been giving, free of charge, 
 to his new acquaintance, turned to his wife, and whis-- 
 pered awfully, " An impostor, Caroline ! " Mrs. Manlius 
 looked anxiously and frightened back to him ; but he 
 again whispered, " Wait for further developments, Car 
 oline ! " and she sank into a state of terrified curiosity. 
 Fortunately, Mrs. Starkey was at the moment confiding 
 much that was irrelevant to Mr. Le Clear the actual, 
 who did not call her attention to the words. The four 
 musical gentlemen were divided upon the accuracy of 
 their hearing. 
 
 Miss Pix, who had been bustling about, unconscious 
 of the mystery, now created a diversion by saying, some 
 what flurried by the silence that followed her first 
 words, 
 
 3
 
 84 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Our musical friends have brought a pleasant little 
 surprise for us ; but, Mr. Pfeiffer, won't you explain 
 the Children's Symphony to the performers?" 
 
 Everybody at once made a note of Mr. Pfeiffer, and 
 put a private mark on him for future reference ; while 
 he good-humoredly, and with embarrassing English, 
 explained that Miss Pix had proposed that the company 
 should produce Haydn's Children's Symphony, in which 
 the principal parts were sustained by four stringed in 
 struments, which he and his friends would play ; while 
 children's toy-instruments, which the other three were 
 cow busily taking out of a box, would be distributed 
 among the rest of the company ; and Miss Pix would 
 act as leader, designating to each his or her part, and 
 time of playing. 
 
 The proposal created considerable confusion in the 
 company, especially when the penny-trumpet, drum, 
 cuckoo, night-owl, quail, rattle, and whistle were ex 
 hibited, and gleefully tried by the four musical friends. 
 Mr. Manlius eyed the penny-trumpet which was offered 
 him with a doubtful air, but concluded to sacrifice his 
 dignity for the good of the company. Mrs. Manlius 
 received her cuckoo nervously, as if it would break 
 forth in spite of her, and looked askance at Nicholas to 
 see if he would dare to take the night-owl into his per 
 jured hands. He did take it with great good-humor, 
 and, at Miss Pix's request, undertook to persuade Doc 
 tor Chocker to blow the whistle. He had first to give 
 a digest of Mr. Pfeiffer's speech into the ear-trumpet, 
 and, it is feared, would have failed to bring the Doctor 
 round without Miss Pix, who came up at the critical 
 moment, and told him that she knew he must have 
 known how when he was a boy, accompanied with such 
 persuasive frolicking that the Doctor at once signified 
 his consent and his proficiency by blowing a blast into
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 35 
 
 Nicholas's ear, whom he regarded as a special enemy 
 on good terms with him, to the great merriment of 
 all. 
 
 The signal was given, and the company looked at 
 Miss Fix, awaiting their turn with anxious solicitude. 
 The symphony passed off quite well, though Mr. Le 
 Clear, who managed the drum, was the only one who 
 kept perfect time. Mrs. Starkey, who held the rattle 
 aloft, sprung it at the first sound of the music, and con 
 tinued to spring it in spite of the expostulations and 
 laughter of the others. Mrs. Manlius, unable to follow 
 Miss Fix's excited gestures, turned to her husband, and 
 uttered the cuckoo's doleful note whenever he blew his 
 trumpet, which he did deliberately at regular intervals. 
 The effect, however, was admirable ; and as the entire 
 company was in the orchestra, the mutual satisfaction 
 was perfect, and the piece was encored vociferously, to 
 the delight of little Miss Fix, who enjoyed without limit 
 the melting of her company, which was now going on 
 rapidly. It continued even when the music had stopped, 
 and Gretchen, very red, but intensely interested, brought 
 in some coffee and cakes, which she distributed under 
 Miss Fix's direction. Nicholas shared the good lady's 
 pleasure, and addressed himself to his aunt with in 
 creased attention, taking good care to avoid Doctor 
 Checker, who submitted more graciously than would be 
 supposed to a steady play from Mr. Manlius's hose. 
 Mr. Pfeiffer and his three musical friends made them 
 selves -merry with Mrs. Manlius and Miss Fix, while 
 Mr. Le Clear walked about performing chemical ex 
 periments upon the whole company. 
 
 And now Miss Fix, who had been all the while glow 
 ing more and more with sunshine in her face, again 
 addressed the company, and said : 
 
 " I think the best thing should be kept till toward
 
 36 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 the end ; and I 've got a scheme that I want you all to 
 help me in. We 're all neighbors here," and she 
 looked round upon the company with a smile that grew 
 broader, while they all looked surprised, and began to 
 smile back in ignorant sympathy, except Doctor Chock- 
 er, who did not hear a word, and refused to smile till 
 he knew what it was for. " Yes, we are all neighbors. 
 Doctor Checker lives in Number One ; Mr. Le Clear 
 lives in Number Two; Mr. and Mrs. Manlius, Mrs. 
 Starkey, and Mr. Judge are from Number Three ; my 
 musical friends live within easy call ; and I live in 
 Number Five." 
 
 Here she looked round again triumphantly, and found 
 them all properly astonished, and apparently very con 
 tented, except Doctor Chocker, who was immovable. 
 Nicholas expressed the most marked surprise, as became 
 so hypocritical a prime-minister, causing Mr. Manlius 
 to make a private note of some uurevealed perjury. 
 
 "Now," said Miss Fix, pausing, and arresting the 
 profound attention of all, " now, who lives iu Number 
 Four?" 
 
 If she expected an answer, it was plainly not locked 
 up in the breast of any one before her. But she did 
 not expect an answer; she was determined to give that 
 herself, and she continued: 
 
 " There is a most excellent woman there, Mrs. Blake, 
 whom I should have liked very much to introduce to 
 you to-night, especially as it is her birthday. Is n't she 
 fortunate to have been born on Christmas eve ? Well, 
 I did n't ask her, because she is not able to leave her 
 room. There she has sat, or lain, for fifteen years ! 
 She 's a confirmed invalid ; but she can see her friends. 
 And now for my little scheme. I want to give her a 
 surprise-parjy from all her neighbors, and I want to 
 give it now. It 's all right. Gretcheu has seen her
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 37 
 
 maid, and Mrs. Blake knows just enough to be willing 
 to have me bring a few friends." 
 
 Miss Pix looked about, with a little anxiety peeping 
 out of her good-souled, eager face. But the company 
 was so melted down that she could now mould it at 
 pleasure, and no opposition was made. Mr. Manlius 
 volunteered to enlighten Doctor Chocker ; but he made 
 so long a preamble that the old scholar turned, with 
 considerable impatience, to Miss Pix, who soon put him 
 in good humor, and secured his cooperation, though not 
 without his indulging in some sinful and unneighborly 
 remarks to Nicholas. 
 
 It proved unnecessary to go into the court, for these 
 two houses happened to have a connection, which Miss 
 Pix made use of, the door having been left open all 
 the evening, that Mrs. Blake might catch some whiffs 
 of the entertainment. Gretchen appeared in the door 
 way, bearing on a salver a great cake, made with her 
 own hands, having Mrs. Blake's initials, in colored let 
 ters, on the frosting, and the whole surrounded by fifty 
 little wax tapers, indicating her age, which all counted, 
 and all counted differently, giving opportunity to the 
 four musical friends to enter upon a fresh and lively 
 discussion. The party was marshaled by Miss Pix in 
 the order of houses, while she herself squeezed past 
 them all on the staircase, to usher them into Mrs. Blake's 
 presence. 
 
 Mrs. Blake was sitting in her reclining-chair as Miss 
 Pix entered with her retinue. The room was in per 
 fect order, and had about it such an air of neatness and 
 purity that one felt one's self in a haven of rest upon 
 crossing the threshold. The invalid sat quiet and at 
 ease, looking forth upon the scene before her as it' so 
 safely moored that no troubling of the elements could 
 ever reach her. Here had she lived, year after year,
 
 38 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 almost alone with herself, though now the big-souled lit 
 tle music-teacher was her constant visitor ; but the en 
 trance of all her neighbors seemed in no wise to agitate 
 her placid demeanor. She greeted Miss Pix with a 
 pleased smile ; and all being now in the room, the bust 
 ling little woman, at the very zenith of her sunny 
 course, took her stand and said, 
 
 " This is my company, dear Mrs. Blake. These are 
 all neighbors of ours, living in the court, or close by. 
 We have been having a right merry time, and now we 
 can't break up without bringing you our good wishes, 
 our Christmas good wishes, and our birthday good 
 wishes," said Miss Pix, with a little oratorical flourish, 
 which brought Gretchen to the front with her illumi 
 nated cake, which she positively could not have held 
 another moment, so heavy had it grown, even for her 
 stout arms. 
 
 Mrs. Blake laughed gently and with a delighted 
 look examined the great cake, with her initials, and did 
 not need to count the wax tapers. It was placed on a 
 stand, and she said, 
 
 " Now I should like to entertain my guests, and, if 
 you will let me, I will give you each a piece of my 
 cake, for it all belongs to me, after Miss Pix's grace 
 ful presentation ; and if Miss Pix will be so good, I 
 will ask her to make me personally acquainted with 
 each of you." 
 
 So a knife was brought, and Mrs. Blake cut a gen 
 erous piece, when Doctor Chocker was introduced, with 
 great gesticulation on the part of Miss Pix. 
 
 " I am glad to see you, Doctor Chocker," said Mrs. 
 Blake, distinctly, but quietly, into his trumpet. " Do 
 you let your patients eat cake ? Try this, and see if 
 it is n't good for me." 
 
 " If I were a doctor of medicine," said he, jerkily,
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 39 
 
 " I should bring my patients to see you ; " at which 
 Miss Fix nodded to him most vehemently, and the 
 Doctor wagged his ear-trumpet in delight at the retort 
 which he thought he had made. 
 
 Mr. Le Clear was introduced, and took his cake 
 gracefully, saying, " I hope another year will see you 
 at a Christmas-party of Miss Fix's ; " but Mrs. Blake 
 smiled, and said, " This is my little lot of earth, and I 
 am sure there is a patch of stars above." 
 
 Mr. Manlius and wife came up together, he some 
 what lumbering, as if Mrs. Blake's character were too 
 much for his discernment, and Mrs. Munlius not quite 
 sure of herself when her husband seemed embar 
 rassed. 
 
 " This is really too funny," said Mrs. Blake, merrily ; 
 " as if I were a very benevolent person, doling out my 
 charity of cake on Christmas eve. Do, Mi-. Manlius, 
 take a large piece ; and I am sure your wife will take 
 some home to the children." 
 
 " What wonderful insight ! " said Mr. Manlius, 
 turning about to Nicholas, and drawing in his breath. 
 " We have children, two. That woman has a deep 
 character, Mr. Judge." 
 
 " Mrs. Starkey, also of Number Three," said the 
 mistress of ceremonies ; " and Mr. Nicholas Judge, ar 
 rived only this evening." 
 
 "Nicholas Judge ! " said Mrs. Blake, losing the 
 color which the excitement had brought, and dropping 
 the knife. 
 
 " My nephew," explained Mrs. Starkey. " Just 
 came this evening, and found me at home. Never saw 
 him before. Must tell you all about it." And she was 
 plunging with alacrity into the delightful subject, with 
 all its variations. 
 
 Mrs. Blake looked at Nicholas, while the color came 
 and went in her cheeks.
 
 40 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Stop ! " said she, decisively, to Mrs. Starkey, and 
 half rising, she leaned forward to Nicholas, and said 
 rapidly, with an energy which seemed to be summoned 
 from every part of her system, 
 
 " Are you the son of Alice Brown Judge ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes," said Nicholas, tumultuously ; " and you, 
 
 you are her sister. I see it, I see it. It must be 
 so. You are my Aunt Eunice," he exclaimed, as she 
 sank back in her chair exhausted, but reaching out her 
 arms to him. 
 
 " That young man is a base impostor ! " said Mr. 
 Manlius aloud, with his hand in his waistcoat ; while 
 Mrs. Manlius looked on deprecatingly, but as if too, too 
 aware of the sad fact. " I said so to my wife in private, 
 
 I read it in his face, and now I declare it publicly. 
 That man is a base impostor ! " 
 
 " Dear, dear, I don't understand it at all ! " said the 
 unfortunate Mrs. Starkey. " I thought, to be sure, 
 that Nicholas was my nephew. Never saw him before, 
 but he said he was ; and now, now, I don't know what 
 I shall do ! " and the poor lady, suddenly bereft of her 
 fortune, began to wipe her moist eyes ; " but perhaps," 
 she added, with a bright, though transient gleam of 
 hope, " we are both aunts to him." 
 
 " That cannot be," said Nicholas, kindly, who left his 
 aunt to set the company right, if possible. " My dear 
 friend," he said, taking Mrs. Starkey's hand, " it has 
 been a mistake, brought on by my heedlessness. I 
 knew only that my aunt's name had been Eunice 
 Brown. It chanced that yours was the same name. 
 I happened to come upon you first in my search, and 
 did not dream it possible that there could be two in the 
 same court. Everything seemed to tally ; and I was 
 too pleased at finding the only relation I had in the 
 wide world to ask many questions. But when I saw
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 41 
 
 that my aunt knew who I was, and saw the likeness 
 between her and the picture I had seen of my mother, I 
 perceived my mistake at once. We will remain friends, 
 though, shall we not ? " 
 
 Mrs. Starkey was too much bewildered to refuse any 
 compromise ; but Mr. Manlius stepped forward, having 
 his claim as a private officer of justice. 
 
 " I must still demand an explanation, sir ; how it is 
 that in this mixed assembly the learned Dr. Chocker 
 addresses you as Mr. Le Clear, and you not decline the 
 title ; " and Mr. Manlius looked, as if for a witness, to 
 Doctor Chocker, who was eating his cake with great 
 solemnity, holding his ear-trumpet in hopes of catching 
 an occasional word. 
 
 " That would require too long an explanation," said 
 Nicholas, smiling ; " but you shall have it some time in 
 private. Mr. Le Clear himself will no doubt tell you ; " 
 which Mr. Le Clear, an amused spectator of the scene, 
 cheerfully promised to do. 
 
 The company had been so stirred up by this reve 
 lation, that they came near retreating at once to Miss 
 Fix's to talk it over, to the dismay of the four musical 
 gentlemen, who had not yet been presented, and espe 
 cially who had not yet got any cake. Miss Pix, though 
 in a transport of joy, had an eye for everything, and, 
 discovering this, insisted on presenting them in a body 
 to Mrs. Blake, in consideration of her fatigue. They 
 bowed simultaneously, and stood before her like bash 
 ful school-boys ; while Nicholas assumed the knife in 
 behalf of his aunt, distributing with equal liberality, 
 when they retired in high glee over the new version of 
 his history, which Mr. Schmauker for the sake of dis 
 playing his acumen, stoutly declared to be spurious. 
 Gretchen also was served with a monstrous slice ; and
 
 42 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 then the company bade good-by to the aunt and nephew, 
 who began anew their glad recognition. 
 
 It was a noisy set of people who left Miss Fix's 
 house. That little lady stood in the door-way, and sent 
 off each with such a merry blessing that it lasted long 
 after the doors of the other houses were closed.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE intelligence office of Mr. Soprian Manlius was 
 in a building that bore upon its front in gilt letters, 
 the sign TEMPLE, though to what purposes it was sa 
 cred, or how it was less secular than the adjoining 
 buildings, a stranger might find it hard to guess. Per 
 haps, seeing in a window by the entrance an assort 
 ment of legs and arms jauntily arranged, he might 
 fancy that the devotees of the Temple had left on ex 
 hibition such members as they had been willing to sac 
 rifice for conscience' sake. A little farther on would 
 appear another window set off with watches and other 
 personal jewelry, deposited, it might be, as votive offer 
 ings. Yet again a window displaying a great variety 
 of medicines and tempting decoctions might lead the 
 puzzled stranger to think that he was standing before 
 the Temple of Health ; but then, why the musical in 
 struments in the window just beyond ? were they in 
 readiness so that the sick man entering the Temple and 
 issuing forth as soon as he had swallowed the life-giv 
 ing root, might at once seize upon some brazen trumpet 
 to proclaim his cure and give expression to his joy ? 
 Nor would one, penetrating the interior, discover at 
 first sight many signs of special sanctity. Going to 
 different doors, opening upon inner shrines, he could 
 have his teeth drawn one by one, and if this should irri 
 tate him, he would find -at hand an electrical room 
 where he could be magnetically soothed.
 
 44 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 In one of the innermost recesses of this Temple was 
 the oracle of Manlius, advertised to give forth daily 
 responses between the hours of eight A. M. and six P.M. 
 Hither nocked anxious persons who often went away, 
 like the votaries of old, sadder but not wiser than 
 when they came. Ambiguous responses were given 
 out by the oracle. Mr. Manlius threw an air of mys 
 tery over his cave by issuing forth at the sound of an 
 approaching visitor and holding first a parley outside 
 the door. He seemed to say, " I have in that office 
 untold treasure of servants worth their weight in gold. 
 I dare not expose them at once to the temptation of 
 the outer world." If the parley promised to be satis 
 factory, then he would summon one after another and 
 allow them in his presence to be catechised. 
 
 About a fortnight after the Christmas surprise in 
 Five-Sisters Court, at the close of an afternoon, Mr. 
 Manlius, sitting in the midst of his flock, heard steps in 
 the hall and at once moved out, encountering there his 
 new neighbor, Nicholas Judge. Something, either 
 within himself or outside Mr. Manlius, told Nicholas 
 that he was not especially welcome, for he hastened to 
 address him with a half apology. 
 
 " I 'm afraid I don't stand in need of your profes 
 sional services, Mr. Manlius. I just dropped in on 
 my way to the court, as it was about your hour of 
 closing. Have you had a busy day ? " 
 
 " Yes, Mr. Judge," said the intelligence officer, " a 
 very busy day. The demand for first-class girls con 
 tinues unabated. We 're' scouring the country for 
 help. Mr. Sope, my paid agent in Nova Scotia, writes 
 that he has shipped ten cooks per steamer ; they will 
 arrive on the tenth. You 're not wanting a cook, Mr. 
 Judge?" 
 
 Nicholas shook his head. " We get along very
 
 FIVE- SISTERS COURT. 45 
 
 well," said he, " with Hannah. My aunt and I do not 
 make a large household to care for." 
 
 " I 've got a cook in there," said Mr. Mahlius, low 
 ering his voice to a mysterious whisper, " that I should 
 be 'most afraid to let you see, if you were wanting 
 one. She's perfect, sir, but she 'd make you jump, 
 she 'd make you jump." 
 
 "Why, is she so frightful looking?" asked Nicholas, 
 " or has she some electric power over people ? " 
 
 " It 's her price," whispered Mr. Manlius, and ap 
 proaching Nicholas for fear of being overheard by the 
 paragon of cooks, he added " five dollars ! " and then 
 threw his head back in an artistic manner, to watch the 
 effect of his announcement. Nicholas gave a hypocrit 
 ical little start, proportioned to the amount which he 
 would have jumped if the electric cook had been in 
 Mr. Manlius's place, though in his soul he thought her 
 rather cheap. 
 
 " But I keep her safe," said the officer, looking into 
 the office as if to assure himself that she had not been 
 so startled by the thought of her own valuation as to 
 jump out of the window. " I keep her safe and I only 
 bring her out when some nabob comes. Some nabob." 
 
 At these words, some one was heard approaching 
 and Mr. Manlius, always expecting the nabob that was 
 to carry off the five-dollar prize without sustaining any 
 personal injury or undue elation, took advantage of his 
 companion's surname and giving a sonorous measure to 
 his voice, continued a hypothetical conversation. 
 
 " Well, Judge, as I was saying about the cook and 
 the waiter-girl. The cook has lived seventeen years 
 in one place, and why does she leave ? Only because 
 the master and mistress both die, all at once, and there 
 is no one left in the family. And the waiter-girl, 
 Judge," but at this point the nabob, if it were he
 
 46 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 who was approaching, turned aside from the pair and 
 entered the room of one of the dentists of the Temple. 
 Whilst he was having his teeth drawn, Mr. Manlius 
 suspended his professional harangue and rather abruptly 
 entered upon another line of talk by asking, 
 
 " Mr. Judge, you have been in town now two or 
 three weeks and have looked about you a little ; what 
 business do you propose to follow ? " 
 
 Nicholas hesitated and with an embarrassed manner, 
 replied, 
 
 " I have hardly been here long enough to settle down 
 to anything yet. That is, I have not yet connected 
 myself with any firm." 
 
 " And what is your trade, sir ? " pursued Mr. Man 
 lius. " What did your father bring you up to ? " 
 
 " I think my father never intended that I should en 
 ter a business life," said Nicholas, " my tastes were 
 somewhat like his, and led me rather to the study of 
 nature." 
 
 " Then what brought you to town ? " asked his in 
 quisitor, eying him sharply. " Nature, sir, should be 
 studied in the open fields, where she may be seen freely 
 and at all hours. But here, we men of business have 
 to suit ourselves to the public. I am the slave of the 
 public, Judge. It comes all day in carriages and I 
 have to turn it away, and why ? because it is unreason 
 able. Will you believe it, Judge, in that office sits a 
 woman, Martha Jewmer, the cook I just now men 
 tioned, who would be a treasure to any family. In all 
 the wide range of my experience, Judge, I never saw 
 a girl who more completely came up to the beau ideal. 
 She has just come back to me, as I said, simply be 
 cause the family has died, and Judge " - but here the 
 flow of Mr. Manlius's oratory was again turned off, 
 since the coming nabob, whose steps were heard just as
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 47 
 
 the intelligence officer again took up his professional 
 hose, also turned aside and entered the room of the 
 Temple's electrician, there to be soothed by gentle 
 prickles. With great facility Mr. Manlius seized 
 again the social hose and resumed his play upon Nich 
 olas. 
 
 " But Mr. Judge, where is nature to be found in the 
 city ? Will you seek her in the shops ? " 
 
 " I saw some signs of her, as I entered this building," 
 said Nicholas, smiling. " But one can at least make 
 some experiments in the city, and I I have not yet 
 made all my arrangements, Mr. Manlius. By the way, 
 how do you all do at home ? I hope Mrs. Starkey is 
 well. 
 
 "Mrs. Starkey is well. She is better than Mrs. 
 Manlius, Mr. Judge. My wife sometimes says to me, 
 ' Sopriau, don't you think we might afford to keep a 
 girl ? ' and I reply, ' Caroline^ I would bring you home 
 Martha Jewmer this night if I could. I would spare 
 no expense to lighten your labors, but we have a duty 
 to perform toward Eunice Starkey. We must protect 
 and shelter her, we must feed and clothe her, and so 
 long as that defenseless woman is under our roof, I fear 
 we shall have to continue our course of self-denial.' 
 But virtue brings its reward, Mr. Judge, its reward," 
 and Mr. Manlius gazed fixedly toward the distant stair 
 case as if he expected virtue to come up, two steps at a 
 time with a crown or some other appropriate emblem 
 with which to deck his self-sacrificing brow. Again 
 was heard the sound of approaching steps and again 
 the intelligence officer, aroused from his reverie, took 
 up his professional hose. 
 
 " My dear Judge, you could have that cook, because 
 I know you for a person of integrity, but the character 
 of these girls is in my hands. I see at a glance when
 
 48 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 they come in what sort they are, and if they 're not 
 right, I say 'this is no place for you.' Now, Martha 
 Jewmer is true gold. Throw her down on the counter 
 and she 'd ring. No base metal there. Twenty years 
 experience has made me an adept. I can tell counter 
 feit girls. I can tell counterfeit people everywhere." 
 At this he looked steadily at Nicholas, in apparent for- 
 getfulness of the coming nabob, and so hard did he 
 look that Nicholas Judge began in his country sim 
 plicity to blush, and to have an uneasy feeling that 
 this far-sighted Manlius was detecting the alloy in his 
 material. But now voices were heard in the passage, 
 and Mrs. Starkey appeared, with Mr. Manlius's two 
 children, as if impersonating virtue and her rewards. 
 Nicholas had seen Mrs. Starkey more than once since 
 the evening when he had so suddenly claimed and as 
 suddenly relinquished the place of nephew to her, and 
 was familiar with the ordinary mood of her nature, 
 which was by no means an excitable or voluble one. 
 One seeing her now would observe a mild, shall we say 
 forlorn looking woman, clad in a rusty black gown and 
 bearing in her manner the consciousness of being weak 
 and insignificant, without the possibility of being re 
 stored to anything like brightness of life ; no warm 
 coals within her to be fanned and fed into a new flame, 
 and so thin and meagre, so attenuated by some miser 
 able experience that it would seem as if no sunshine 
 from without, though enveloping her in its glad robes, 
 could ever awaken a sympathetic smile. If this were 
 virtue, Mr. Manlius was likely to prefer the rewards, 
 who occupied stations on each side of virtue like bul 
 warks bracing her weak structure. These maidens 
 were Elizabeth and Desire Manlius, of equal stature, 
 but unequal in endowments. Elizabeth, as Mr. Man 
 lius was fond of saying in his occasional inventory of
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 49 
 
 his daughter's excellences, was intellectual and highly 
 organized, while Desire, whose name the mother insisted 
 had been given by her husband in a moment of proph 
 etic inspiration, was of mercurial temperament, " ever 
 reaching " in her father's words " after something be 
 yond her," and generally breaking it, he might have 
 added, if it was at all fragile. Desire, in spite of her 
 grasping weakness, was the mother's favorite, while 
 Elizabeth, by her promise of great powers of mind par 
 tially fulfilled now in her thirteenth year, was the pride 
 of her father, who recognized in her a repetition of hi& 
 own intellectual grandeur. Desire, except in the alter 
 nate hours of reproof and punishment, was called 
 Dizzy, with some reference doubtless to a rotary motion 
 to which she had been addicted from early childhood 
 and which, carried on under adverse circumstances and 
 too long persisted in, was apt to end in a tottering faint- 
 ness, as agreeable from some cause to herself as it was 
 alarming to by-standers. But Elizabeth had passed 
 the years of childish nomenclature. In infancy, and 
 while still on words of one syllable, before the germ 
 of her intellect was discernible by any but the far- 
 sighted father, she was called Liz. Passing into words 
 of two syllables and now exciting fond expectations, 
 she became Lizzy. When she entered upon the long 
 list of trisyllabic words, her proud father spoke of her 
 as his Eliza, but when, Bearing the end of her spelling 
 course she managed with ease words of four syllables 
 and garnished her conversation with them, she became 
 once and forever Elizabeth, coming, so to speak, into 
 entire possession of the property, which had been held 
 thus far in trust by others. 
 
 " The Doctor sent this afternoon, and Caroline went 
 at four o'clock and desired me to bring you the chil 
 dren at six, and to say that if you needed to go home, 
 4
 
 50 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 I could go with the children, and the key of the bureau 
 is in the right hand upper little drawer in a button-box," 
 said Mrs. Starkey, as if repeating a lesson learnt with 
 some difficulty. 
 
 " And I am going to ask Uncle Doctor to show us 
 his skull," added Elizabeth, while Dizzy expressed her 
 general satisfaction by spinning like a teetotum till she 
 fell at Nicholas's feet as if the world were all the game 
 of the Mansion of Happiness, and she had dropped 
 upon a high number. Nicholas caught her up, and held 
 her drooping in front of him until she could recover 
 sher footing. 
 
 " Desire," said Mr. Manlius, severely, " I can have 
 no reeling here in the Temple, no, nor at your uncle's. 
 What would the Doctor think of you ! Mr. Judge, I 
 hope you will make allowances for Dizzy's behavior. 
 Her character is not what I could wish it to be, but 
 she has her sister before her ; there is hope. As Mrs. 
 Starkey has said, we are going out for a social evening 
 at Mrs. Manlius's brother's, the Doctor. It is one of the 
 necessary evils attendant upon the life of a physician 
 in large practice, that he cannot always command his 
 hours of relaxation. To-day the Doctor sends word 
 that he will be able to be at the social board, and we 
 take the opportunity which is offered to mingle in his 
 society ; but he is liable to be called away at any mo 
 ment, Mr. Judge. The mayor may die while we are 
 at the tea-table and the Doctor will have to go ; a phy 
 sician's time is not his own." 
 
 " And he has a real skull," said Elizabeth, " and I 
 am going to find the sutures." 
 
 " She will find them, Mr. Judge, depend upon it," 
 said the proud father, " they won't escape her. But we 
 must go. I shan't go home, Eunice. This is an in 
 formal gathering and we stand on no ceremony at the 
 Doctor's."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 51 
 
 " Let me walk with you," said Nicholas to Mrs. 
 Starkey, " I am on my way to the Court ; " and leaving 
 Mr. Manlius and his daughters, he walked with Mrs. 
 Starkey, who neither accepted nor rejected his offer, 
 out of the Temple and so through the streets that led 
 to Five-Sisters Court. The walk was a slippery one, 
 and Nicholas Judge, giving his arm to the poor, thin 
 body who slid beside him, tried to cheer her up and 
 break the dull monotony of her manner. She answered 
 his questions in a slow and dilatory fashion, as if the 
 thought had to be sent for a great distance and was 
 not always ready at the summons. He essayed jest 
 ing, but so bewildered her that he forbore, and yet be 
 sides the pity for such a lonely body, he felt he knew 
 not why, a certain respect for her, as if some power 
 might suddenly reveal in her face and form, now 
 scrawled with the lines of hard circumstance, a beauty 
 indelible in its vital lines. 
 
 Thus at least did he build in his own mind, though 
 he found it hard afterward to give any reason for his 
 feeling, when, having seen Mrs. Starkey safely home, 
 he entered the next house and sat at tea in his aunt's 
 chamber, where Miss Betsey Fix also was found. 
 
 " Why is it, aunt," said he, " that I should feel so 
 strangely about Mrs. Starkey ? I see that she is for 
 lorn and living a hopeless sort of life, and yet I do not 
 merely pity her. I feel as if she could make me sud 
 denly see that she was far above me in real nobleness 
 of character." 
 
 "Ah, Mr. Nicholas," said Miss Fix, with a twinkle 
 in her little eye. " It is because there is character in 
 Mrs. Starkey. She is a woman of character, sir, and 
 I sometimes say to Mrs. Manlius, ' Caroline, if the 
 world knew Eunice Starkey, they would be amazed,' " 
 and here Miss Fix threw herself back after Mr. Man-
 
 02 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 lius's fashion and looked into the distance, as if she 
 saw the world coming from afar to get a view of Mrs. 
 Stark ey. Nicholas laughed and said, 
 
 " Well, there is Mr. Manlius. If he and his wife 
 have done so much for Mrs. Starkey, why does n't she 
 seem to show some gratitude? But she is as indifferent, 
 I should think, to everything, as if she were their serv 
 ant." 
 
 " Dear me ! " said Miss Pix, getting a little excited, 
 " I can tell you, you are not far wrong, Master Nich 
 olas. I do believe she is their servant. Think of her, 
 poor thing, sitting there all alone this cold night, and 
 the family all out having a good time. I declare, I do 
 find it real hard to love Mr. Manlius, if he is my neigh 
 bor," and little Miss Pix looked ruefully at the fire 
 and shook her head over her hard-heartedness. She 
 brightened up suddenly with a happy thought. 
 
 " Why not, dear Mrs. Blake, ask Mrs. Starkey to 
 come in here this evening ? " 
 
 " Well thought," said Mrs. Blake. " Run, Nicholas, 
 and ask her to bring her work in here, and sit with 
 us." 
 
 " Her work, indeed ! " said Miss Pix, with bubbling 
 indignation. " I 'm thinking Nicholas will have to 
 carry the ironing-board for her, or the big pots that are 
 to be scoured." But Nicholas was off, and after a 
 long time returned with an air of anxious triumph, as 
 if fearful that Mrs. Starkey, whom he had enticed with 
 many entreaties thus far, might slip off at the last mo 
 ment. The two women gave her a kind greeting, Miss 
 Pix seizing her hand and shaking it till it brought a 
 glow into their faces, and Mrs. Blake from the quiet 
 arm-chair to which fortune had bound her, receiving the 
 weary-looking woman with a benediction of peace in 
 her countenance.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 53 
 
 " What a singular thing it is," said Nicholas, eager 
 to start some lively conversation, " that your maiden 
 name, aunt, and Mrs. Starkey's should have been the 
 same, and more singular that two Eunice Browns should 
 be living in the same small court." 
 
 "I am Eunice Starkey," said their visitor, with a 
 troubled expression. 
 
 " Yes, and aunt is Eunice Blake," explained Nich 
 olas, " but once you were both Eunice Browns." 
 
 " Perhaps," said Mrs. Blake, " we shall prove to be 
 near relations, though there are a good many Browns. 
 Where was your birth-place, Mrs. Starkey ? " 
 
 " Hark ! did n't I hear them ? " said Mrs. Starkey, 
 jumping up. 
 
 " No, no," said Nicholas. " It is not near time for 
 them to return. We are to have a pleasant evening 
 together, unless, you know, the Mayor should die ; that 
 might break up the Doctor's party." But Mrs. Starkey 
 was ill at ease, and stood irresolute ; though Miss Pix 
 was profuse in her assurances, and Nicholas offered to 
 sit at the front window and keep watch, and Mrs. 
 Blake used her gentlest entreaties, so doubtful and 
 troubled did she seem, that, out of very kindness, Nich 
 olas at last took her back to her solitude. 
 
 " I wish I could understand it," said he, coming 
 back. " She said to me when I left her, ' You 're a 
 good young man, Mr. Judge. You 're a good young 
 man. I had n't ought to have gone in.' And then 
 she drew me toward her, and half whispered, ' You 
 won't say anything about it, will ye ? ' I declare," 
 added Nicholas, " there was a sadness in her voice that 
 made me, made me feel, I don't know how." 
 
 " Take care ! " laughed Miss Pix, shaking her finger, 
 " I am afraid you will have trouble in the world, if you 
 let yourself be affected in that way by voices." Then
 
 54 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 they talked of other matters, and at last Miss Fix re 
 turned to her home, leaving Nicholas and his aunt 
 alone. They sat for some time in silence, when Nich 
 olas said : 
 
 " I cannot get my mind off Mrs. Starkey, aunt ; and 
 the more I think of it the more I mistrust Mr. Manlius. 
 There is something about him What made Mrs. 
 Starkey hope I would n't say anything about it ? Was 
 she afraid I would tell him ? " 
 
 " So I should think. She seems to be in some terror 
 of him, and yet when she was here Christinas eve, she 
 seemed to be on familiar terms enough with him." 
 
 " That was different. You know what Mr. Manlius 
 says about her, that she is subject to occasional fits of 
 volubility, when she is not not quite responsible. 
 And he kept a sharp eye on her all the evening. He 
 seems to be covering something up, when he stretches 
 out his great paws over her, as he did this afternoon 
 when she came with the children." 
 
 " After all, this may be nothing more than his foolish 
 manner, Nicholas. Pray do not let us begin with being 
 suspicious of our next door neighbors. I should like, 
 though, to give a little comfort to Mrs. Starkey, with 
 out seeming to interfere with Mr. Manlius's family. Ah, 
 if people had only the eyes to see that have been given 
 to me, they would find their comfort right at hand. 
 How beautiful the whole world must be, if this one 
 little chamber where I have lived these many years, is 
 so full of pleasant things." 
 
 Nicholas looked about him with a half-smile and 
 thought that the pleasant things, had mostly been sent 
 forth to lodge in invisible places by the cunning work 
 manship of his aunt's peaceful mind. With this thought 
 he bade Mrs. Blake good-night, " for now," he said, " I 
 must do a little work."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 55 
 
 At the same hour Mr. and Mrs. Manlius, having re 
 turned with their children from the Doctor's, were alone 
 in their room. The house had been locked up ; the big 
 Britannia ice-pitcher and the half-dozen silver spoons 
 which constituted their plate had been brought up 
 stairs by their own hands and locked up in a trunk, the 
 key of which Mrs. Manlius put behind the looking- 
 glass, a nightly precaution which seemed to enhance the 
 value of the articles, and Elizabeth and Dizzy had been 
 sent to bed, the one to dream of a great skull along 
 whose sutures she was led up to the very gates of the 
 Temple of knowledge, and the other even in her sleep 
 sensible of a most delightful whirling motion in which 
 she was always on the verge of prostration. 
 
 " Hark ! " said Mr. Manlius to his wife. She listened, 
 expecting robbers. 
 
 " Where is it ? " said she, in a frightened whisper. 
 
 " Caroline," said he, in an awful undertone, " It is 
 in the next house. Listen ! It 's Judge." There was 
 a confused sound in the room of Mrs. Blake's house 
 adjoining theirs, which seemed to proceed from some 
 thing betwixt a pounding and a rolling. 
 
 " Caroline," said Mr. Manlius again, " I must pene 
 trate this mystery. This is not the first night that I 
 have heard that sound. I have my suspicions, and I 
 owe my duty to my neighbors. I cannot tell you 
 more now, but if your husband falls, you may know 
 that it is in the cause of virtue." 
 
 This was the only consolation that Mrs. Manlius was 
 allowed to enjoy, for her husband, big with some solemn 
 duty to be discharged, preserved significant silence, 
 out of which she constructed various possibilities ; as 
 that thieves were nightly at work next door and would 
 burrow through into their own house some day, or that 
 there was some gunpowder plot by which the court was
 
 56 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 to be blown up, and that Mr. Manlius, setting a watch, 
 was to appear at the last moment, arrest the plotters, 
 and extinguish the slow match. Haunted by these and 
 more direful creations of her imagination, she dropped 
 asleep, but it was long before sleep visited her husband's 
 eyelids. Mr. Manlius was thinking. 
 
 The next morning Mr. Manlius might have been 
 seen, cane in hand, coming out of his house and step 
 ping along the court with an abstracted air, as if he 
 were only just aware of houses and solid earth. He 
 stopped, turned about, and made as if he would'go back 
 for something which he had left in the top story of his 
 house, for he cast his eyes thither in a reflective way, 
 humming a tune to himself, and allowing his outward 
 eye to search the roofs of the houses, while his inner 
 eye seemed rolling about his own orderly interior in 
 search of some forgotten purpose. As has been said, 
 the house adjoining his own, occupied by the widow 
 Blake and her new-found nephew, was set back from 
 the others in a jog of the court, so that its front was 
 not on a line with its neighbor, but its face was the 
 same and the arrangement of rooms seemed to corre 
 spond. It was toward its upper windows that Mr. Man- 
 lius's eye was mechanically set, and the windows looked 
 back quite as blankly, having an unmoving lid of white 
 curtain. His eye dropped upon the ground, he traced 
 a pattern on the pavement with his cane and then re 
 sumed his walk slowly up the court, his hands behind 
 him after the manner of most pictured philosophers. 
 
 But once out of the court, Mr. Manlius recovered his 
 promptness, and turning a corner went quickly up 
 Amory Street, and going into Trowel Street made an 
 other bend, by which, passing down an alley, he was 
 brought to the rear of the houses in Five Sisters Court. 
 From this point he could study the houses without dan-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 57 
 
 ger of being misunderstood, and accordingly he did his 
 work in a business-like way, taking a survey of the 
 windows as before, and establishing the general corre 
 spondence which existed in front. Moreover, he took 
 from his pocket a memorandum book and made a dia 
 gram of the rear elevation, putting in the windows, and 
 carefully noting the number of panes in each, " for," as 
 he remarked to himself, " one never knows to a cer 
 tainty how much he may have to depend upon appar 
 ently unimportant particulars in these things." 
 
 What were these things ? Mr. Manlius for one 
 would not have answered, even to a question from his 
 anxious wife. Enough to say that Mr. Manlius was 
 thinking, that he was laying deep plans, and that time 
 would show whether his far seeing eye had not pene 
 trated the veil of apparent innocence and exposed to 
 public view an Infamous Destroyer of Peace. Like a 
 wise general, having an arduous campaign before him, 
 he had made a careful reconnoisance of the ground upon 
 which his operations were to be carried on, and with 
 the result, so far as it could be committed to paper, care 
 fully buttoned in his inner pocket, but the more im 
 portant train of thought deposited in the burglar proof 
 safe of his own head, he went about his daily business. 
 
 But an ordinary observer could scarcely fail to see 
 that, although Mr. Manlius gave his attention to such 
 petty details as furnishing chambermaids at ten and six 
 to housekeepers who used only that old style of calcula 
 tion, his mind was absent on more weighty matters. 
 He remained at his post, however, till evening, when he 
 moved slowly homeward and entered his house. Mrs. 
 Manlius followed him with her eye, as he passed in and 
 out or sat meditatively ; she did not dare to plumb his 
 thoughts, but gave the more rein to her own imagina 
 tion, and was now quite prepared to believe that Nich-
 
 58 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 olas Judge, the arch enemy as she felt, was at that mo 
 ment laying a train of gunpowder under the house, and 
 would presently be found, like a modern Guy Faux, 
 lighting the gas preliminary to his dire deed. The chil 
 dren, too, were rather awed by their father's solemn 
 countenance, and Dizzy for once refrained from her 
 customary prancing in the rocking-chair before going 
 to bed.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 59 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AND now, when the children had been sent to bed, 
 Mr. Manlius went to his room and after a while de 
 scended, dressed in the most careful manner. 
 
 " Wife," said he, drawing on a woolen glove, " I am 
 going to make a friendly call upon our neighbor, Mrs. 
 Blake ; " but though these were simple words, there was 
 something in his manner ominous of a deeper intention, 
 which made his wife, sensitive to all the finer move 
 ments of his nature, say in alarm, 
 
 " Oh, Soprian ! if anything should happen ! " 
 
 " It is proper, Caroline, that I should call upon my 
 next neighbor. I know what society requires of me ; " 
 and one would have thought from his lofty tone that 
 society required him, at whatever sacrifice of personal 
 comfort, to assume the highest dignity. So he stepped 
 out gravely, as well bundled up as if he were going to 
 the North Pole instead of to the next house. He 
 stopped, however, on the doorstep of Mrs. Blake's 
 house, in order to get out the visiting card with which 
 he had forearmed himself. The card bore his name 
 and title, Soprian Manlius, Esq., written with great 
 energy and efflorescence by a young man who sat in the 
 hall of one of the hotels, before a little table with an 
 exceedingly fine-nibbed pen, and kept specimens of his 
 work about him, visiting cards written for such long 
 drawn and liquid names as Montgomery, Cholmondely, 
 and the like. He had allowed his pen to hover in the
 
 60 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 air a moment, then descend in swallow-like dips to the 
 card, while Mr. Manlius spelled his name for him. 
 " Esq.," added Mr. Manlius. " But we never add that," 
 said the unfortunate young man, who had prided him 
 self on centring the name in the card. " I am a jus 
 tice of the peace," said Mr. Manlius, with dignity. 
 " Put Esq. at the end ; " and so the young man destroyed 
 the symmetry. " Now put my residence on, 3 Amory 
 Court. Put it in the right hand corner, sir. I want 
 room for my business quarters." The young man 
 obeyed. " Now, office, Room No. 9, Temple. Put 
 that in the left hand corner. Is there room for office 
 hours ? " he added, doubtfully, turning his head and 
 getting a side view of the card, which had been so en-, 
 twined with the tendrils of the several capital letters as 
 to be somewhat overrun. " I hardly think so," said 
 the young man, faintly protesting thus against further 
 degradation of his art, and Mr. Manlius, tolerably con 
 tent with the general effect, decided to leave the card as 
 it now stood. 
 
 It was this card which he now handed to Mrs. Blake's 
 maid when she opened the door, and let him into the 
 house. 
 
 " Take that to your mistress," said he, " and tell her 
 that Mr. Manlius has called." Neither the maid nor 
 Mrs. Blake, however, seemed so much impressed with 
 the fact of the call as Mr. Manlius himself. Mrs. 
 Blake saw him, as she must needs see every one who 
 came, in her chamber, where she was imprisoned. 
 
 " You will excuse me from rising," she said, pleas 
 antly, reaching out her hand. " I have to play the 
 part of a very fine lady to conceal the fact that I am a 
 prisoner. I am sorry my nephew is not at home this 
 evening to see you. He rarely goes out." 
 
 u I see him from time to time," said Mr. Manlius,
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 61 
 
 who felt less at his ease in this white room with this 
 gentle, fair lady before him. u I trust he is well." 
 
 " Quite well." 
 
 " I trust you are well, madam ? " 
 
 " Thank you, I am never otherwise than as you see 
 me. I hope Mrs. Manlius may be able to come to see 
 me. You know I can hardly return calls. Mrs. 
 Starkey, also, I should be very glad to see. We owe a 
 good deal to Miss Pix for shaking us all together, as 
 she did Christmas eve." 
 
 " A lively woman, a lively woman," said Mr. Man 
 lius, shaking his head a little dubiously, for a counter 
 poise of seriousness. " Such characters are a little a 
 little hasty. But she means well," he added, not wish 
 ing wholly to abandon Miss Pix to her own hastiness. 
 " I hope you find your nephew's character well bal 
 anced, Mrs. Blake ? a person you can put your finger 
 on and know you have him. I say to girls sometimes, 
 when they come to me for employment, ' Have you a 
 good character ? ' If you have, I can find a place for 
 you ; otherwise, no. You may get wages, but you 
 won't get a permanent place. It 's everything, Mrs. 
 Blake. A well-balanced character is everything ; " 
 and Mr. Manlius, leaning back in his chair, seemed to 
 survey Mrs. Blake with artistic criticism. " Your 
 nephew, now, how do you find his character, on the 
 whole ? " 
 
 " I have every reason to trust him," she said, quietly. 
 " It is a pleasure to me to have one about me who is so 
 simple and unaffected. I see so few people that his 
 freshness is peculiarly attractive to me." 
 
 " Simple, ma'am ? Well," and he half closed his 
 eyes, " I have had to study character a good deal, it 's 
 my profession, so to speak, and I 've noticed that your 
 simple people are sometimes very deep. Now you
 
 62 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 would n't think it perhaps, ma'am, but I 've had girls 
 come to me just fresh from the country, looking like 
 milkmaids, and I 've had to say, ' No, you must n't come 
 here. 'T a'n't no use. You may go to the Bureau, but 
 you must n't come to the Temple.' And they go, 
 ma'am ; dozens of 'em. But my paid agent, Mr. Sope, 
 down in Nova Scotia, he looks out to get only A Num 
 ber One girls. He don't ship them otherwise. Your 
 nephew now, ma'am, has he tried to get any employ 
 ment? But perhaps he don't mean to settle down to 
 any regular trade ? " 
 
 " He has studied medicine with his father in the 
 country," said Mrs. Blake. " I think he has had un 
 usual opportunities in that direction." A gleam of in 
 telligence darted across Mr. Maulius's face. He drew 
 a little memorandum book from his pocket. 
 
 " Excuse me, madam," said he, " I have thought of 
 something which I should be sorry to have escape me, 
 and with your permission I will make a note of it." 
 And so saying, he wet the end of a black lead pencil 
 and jotted something down in his memorandum book. 
 He continued to hold the latter somewhat magisterially 
 in his hand, as he proceeded with his inquiries. 
 
 " Medicine, I think you said, madam. I had thoughts 
 of studying medicine once myself. It is a noble occu 
 pation. Mrs". Manlius's brother is a doctor Doctor 
 Simmons ; you have heard of him, I presume ; a man 
 very eminent in his profession. So your nephew is a 
 doctor ! learned, I suppose, in drugs, in simples, and 
 compounds ? " 
 
 " He can hardly be called learned yet, nor is he en 
 titled to the name of doctor. He never has taken a 
 degree, nor am I sure .that he intends to practice 
 medicine." 
 
 " Ah ! does not intend to practice medicine. Excuse
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 63 
 
 me, I just thought of something," and again he had 
 recourse to his note-book. 
 
 " What, then, will his study lead him to, Mrs. Blake ? 
 I have taken a great yes, I may say a great in 
 terest in your uephew, and I do not ask these questions 
 out of idle curiosity." 
 
 " I think he is too modest to say definitely what he 
 expects to accomplish," said she. Mr. Manlius wrote 
 with an abstracted air in his book, saying in a reflective 
 way, 
 
 " Yes, as you say, he does not say definitely what 
 he is about. Now, would he like to have an office in 
 the Temple, do you think, Mrs. Blake?" and he looked 
 at her with an air of exceeding interest in her nephew- 
 " I have influence there, and could perhaps secure an 
 eligible apartment for him." 
 
 " We are much obliged to you, Mr. Manlius, but it 
 is hardly necessary until Nicholas is ready to engage 
 regularly in some occupation requiring an office. He 
 finds his room here all that he needs." 
 
 " Yes, he can work more privately here, I suppose. 
 By the way, your house, I take it, is arranged very 
 much like mine. Down-stairs, a parlor, dining-room, 
 and kitchen ; on this story, this room and the one back, 
 and the hall bed-room, and up-stairs, under the roof, 
 two attic rooms. You have more room than we have, 
 Mrs. Blake. Our family is larger. The girls are 
 growing. Mrs. Starkey must have her room. Now 
 1 suppose you have some empty rooms, have n't you ? " 
 
 " Not many," she answered, smiling. " My house is 
 arranged like yours, but since my nephew came, it 
 seems quite full. He has taken the attic for his bed 
 room and workshop, as he calls it, so as not to disturb 
 me." 
 
 " Ah, then he sleeps up-stairs, does he, and works 
 up there ? "
 
 64 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 ' Yes." 
 
 " That 's a very good arrangement," said Mr. Man- 
 lius, slowly revolving his head. " Then he is quite by 
 himself, except he lets your girl, I suppose, take care 
 of his rooms." 
 
 " No, Hannah has a wholesome dread of his work 
 shop, and Nicholas, being a handy young man, is quite 
 willing to take care of his own quarters." 
 
 " I see, I see." The note-book came into play again 
 in an absent sort of way. " He has frightened this 
 girl by his, his workshop, so that she keeps away. 
 It 's a pity, ma'am, you can't go up-stairs. It must be 
 a gratification to your nephew to have one of your in 
 telligence and general education to aid him by advice 
 in his work." 
 
 " I am quite content that he shall work by himself. 
 Indeed," she added, with a twinkle, " I don't know that 
 he would let me come if I could, for he likes his little 
 secrets, and you know if you give a secret to a friend 
 to keep, you never can get it back again : though I am 
 afraid no one would be the wiser for any secret Nich 
 olas might intrust to me." Mr. Manlius's note-book 
 seemed to be receiving new deposits. He closed it 
 now and placed it in his pocket. 
 
 " I am so constantly in the habit of using my mem 
 orandum book in my business, Mrs. Blake, that I have 
 formed the habit, almost unconsciously to myself, I may 
 say, of referring to it in society. Mrs. Manlius some 
 times says that she is afraid of my book, because she 
 thinks I put down in it various things that she says, 
 but the fact is, my business runs in my head so that 
 I do not like to trust my memory too far, though 
 it is a good memory, a very retentive memory, Mrs. 
 Blake, and so I am obliged to jot down important 
 things that I think of, wherever I may happen to be.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 65 
 
 I beg you will excuse my apparent want of attention, 
 ma'am," and be bowed seriously, " but I heard every 
 word, ma'am, every word. I hope I have n't fatigued 
 you ? " 
 
 Not at all, Mr. Manlius." 
 
 " You have a pretty strong constitution, then ? " 
 
 " Don't you think it ought to be, to stand the wear 
 and tear of an anchorage in this room, fifteen years ? 
 Pray tell me about your children, Mr. Manlius. I 
 have sometimes seen them from my window, as they 
 played in the court. Are they alike in disposi 
 tion ? " 
 
 " They are unequally gifted, I may say, ma'am, 
 without prejudice. My oldest daughter, Elizabeth, is 
 the more intellectual, her sister, Desire, the more phys 
 ical, if I may so say." 
 
 " Is she stouter ? " 
 
 " She has more bodily agility, she is less highly de 
 veloped in her mental organization. I have given my 
 own personal attention to Elizabeth, while Desire is 
 more childish and has been more under the supervision 
 of her mother and Mrs. Starkey." 
 
 " Ah, the children must give a deal of pleasure to 
 Mrs. Starkey. It is such a happiness when one is 
 growing old to have the young about one." 
 
 " Mrs. Starkey shares all our joys and sorrows with 
 us," said Mr. Manlius somewhat more loftily than the 
 occasion seemed to require. " Our home is one ; she 
 goes in and out as one of the family. As I told your 
 nephew when he came first to see her, under pretense 
 of being her nephew " 
 
 " I think you forget, Mr. Manlius." 
 
 " Pardon me, madam. I received him, Mrs. Starkey 
 received him, as her nephew. But let that pass, I 
 told him then and there that we had sheltered Mrs. 
 5
 
 66 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Starkey for many years. I am not one to disown a 
 friend or a relation either in the day of her calamity. 
 But I will bid you good evening, madam." 
 
 " I hear my nephew's steps in the passage, Mr. Man- 
 lius. Won't you wait to see him ? " At that moment 
 Nicholas himself entered, his face ruddy with the glow 
 of walking in the wind, and after greeting his aunt 
 affectionately, welcomed Mr. Manlius. 
 
 " Really, this is pleasant," said he, " to come out of 
 the cold street to this cheerful fire, and find a neigh 
 bor cosily seated here. How are Mrs. Manlius, and the 
 .children, and Mrs. Starkey ? " 
 
 " They are well, quite well," said Mr. Manlius, bow 
 ing stiffly. "Mrs. Manlius rarely gets out, and my 
 own engrossing business does not allow me to perform 
 many social duties, except where such are imperative," 
 and he made a movement as if to take out his note 
 book. " It has given me great pleasure to see your 
 aunt, and satisfaction, Mr. Judge. It would give me 
 pleasure if I might see you at my office some day soon ; 
 there are some little matters of business I should like 
 to talk over with you. I was intending to leave this 
 message with your aunt. Or perhaps, you would rather 
 see me on your own premises. We are neighbors, Mr. 
 Judge. Let me drop in on you in a friendly way. Your 
 aunt tells me you have your own apartments." 
 
 Nicholas glanced at his aunt, blushed a little, and 
 replied : " I shall be happy to see you any time, Mr. 
 Manlius, either here or at your office. I am almost al 
 ways at home in the evening, or I could call on you 
 some afternoon, when I am down town, as I am every 
 day." 
 
 " I won't trouble you, I won't trouble you, Mr. Judge. 
 I will call upon you here some evening," and so saying, 
 he bowed himself out of the room, and made his way
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 67 
 
 back to his house, where he sat for some time, studying 
 his note-book, and occasionally making a memorandum. 
 
 " What can that man want of me, aunt ? " asked 
 Nicholas, when he had gone. " I 'm sure we don't want 
 any of his girls, not even Martha Jewmer, that paragon 
 of servants. Did he tell you what he wanted of me ? " 
 
 " No. He asked a good many questions about you. 
 I should almost say he was an amateur census-taker."' 
 
 " Anyway, I don't like him," said Nicholas, energetic 
 ally, " and I think he 's a good deal of a humbug." 
 
 "Tut, tut, Nicholas. That's too easy a word to 
 apply. I can't say I take very kindly to Mr. Manlius 
 myself, but insincerity is such a terrible blot that I 
 don't like to find it too readily in any one. Tell me 
 how you enjoyed your concert." 
 
 " Oh, aunt, it was wonderful. You know I never 
 heard much music, but if I had never heard a sound I 
 think I should have caught some enthusiasm from Miss 
 Fix, who fairly quivered with excitement. Little Mr. 
 Windgraff came down between the parts, and Miss Pix 
 seized his hand and shook it, till the people about us 
 stared and smiled. But Mr. Windgraff began talking 
 at once. ' Yes, it 's very fine,' said he, ' but I heard 
 this same great violinist play just the same twenty 
 years ago. He has not grown at all, Miss Pix.' Then 
 Miss Pix retorted : ' I hope, then, he '11 play so through 
 all eternity, Mr. Windgraff,' and they both laughed 
 and chatted, and talked in German, and I felt like an 
 ignoramus." 
 
 " You ought to, in music, beside Miss Pix and Mr. 
 Windgraff. It is their profession. But you could enjoy 
 it." 
 
 " Enjoy it ! I must have acted like a lunatic when 
 we came away, for Miss Pix even became alarmed 
 finally, and said, ' Take care, Nicholas. Your char-
 
 68 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 acter is not well balanced ! ' Aunt, if I had much to do 
 with Mr. Manlius, I know I should knock him down 
 finally." 
 
 "To prove your own equipoise? Never mind Mr. 
 Manlius, Nicholas. He can go his own way ; he will 
 hardly come much in yours." 
 
 But Mr. Manlius had no intention of keeping out of 
 the way of Nicholas Judge. It was not many evenings 
 after this that he again called, and this time, without 
 tiering his card, asked for Mr. Judge. The servant 
 was opening the door of the parlor. 
 
 " No need," said Mr. Manlius, with suavity. " I will 
 go right up to Mr. Judge's room," and began ascend 
 ing the stairs, without heeding the remonstrance of 
 Hannah, who had been instructed never to show any 
 one to the top of the house. 
 
 " Indeed, sir," she persisted, running after him ; " if 
 you will take a seat in the parlor, Mr. Manlius, I'll 
 call Mr. Nicholas ; but he never sees any one up 
 stairs." 
 
 " Never mind, my good girl," said he, waving her 
 back clumsily, and moving on without turning. " We 
 are old friends ; he 'a expecting me." But Hannah's 
 voice, and his own, had made such a commotion by 
 this time, that Nicholas himself appeared at the head 
 of the stairs. 
 
 " Oh, it 's you, is it, Mr. Manlius," said he ; "I '11 
 come right down." 
 
 " Oh, no matter, I '11 take you as I find you," said 
 that gentleman, laboring on, well used to the plan of 
 the house, which corresponded to his own. Nicholas 
 had, however, closed the door behind him, and was on 
 his way down-stairs. 
 
 " My room is quite in disorder," said he, and his 
 own face was somewhat confused. " It 's hardly the
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 69 
 
 place in which to see people. In fact," he added, as 
 he chased his guest in a dignified way down-stairs ; " I 
 do as I please there, and even Hannah never enters it 
 now. I think she has a fancy that I keep all sorts of 
 dangerous instruments or concoctions in it, and so has 
 a wholesome dread of going there, which I have no 
 reason to remove." 
 
 " Yet a wholly unreasonable dread, I suppose now," 
 said Mr. Manlius, stroking his chin and looking slylj 
 at him. 
 
 " Not altogether," said Nicholas. " Ignorant people 
 may unintentionally do terrible damage with very sim 
 ple things." 
 
 " With poisons now, for example," said Mr. Man 
 lius, blandly. At the mention of the word, Nicholas 
 trembled violently and turned away from his visitor. 
 He rose and crossed the room, returning to find Mr. 
 Manlius making a note in his memorandum book. 
 
 " It 's a habit I have," said that gentleman, " of mak 
 ing notes of any matter of business that may be occu 
 pying me-. As I remarked, Mr. Judge, I had a little 
 matter that I desired to see you about. You are 
 aware that my profession is a very absorbing one. 
 There is immense competition, sir, in the business of 
 providing families with domestic assistants. I have a 
 paid agent, Mr. Sope, in the Provinces. He scours 
 the country, Mr. Judge, but what does he find ? girls 
 are bought up, Mr. Judge, yes, sir, bought up by un 
 principled men who cater for the New York market ; 
 girls of tender years are engaged before they are old 
 enough to go into service, and are bound by these men 
 in advance, so that it has become necessary for him to 
 pay large sums of money to parents to induce them to 
 use their parental authority to nullify these unjust con 
 tracts. And why are these girls so eagerly sought,
 
 70 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 sir? because in their lowly homes they are brought up 
 with character; they have economy, virtue, industry, 
 what I call the cardinal points of character, and with 
 these they can make their way anywhere, anywhere," 
 and Mr. Maulius leaned back and seemed to see a pro 
 cession of these girls putting out to sea with their 
 characters in their hands. 
 
 " Now what I wished to say," he resumed, " when 
 we got on that unpleasant subject a moment ago, and 
 what I have here in my memorandum book as a 
 minute, is that I am designing a coup d'etat, as they 
 say in France, by which I shall strike out into a new 
 enterprise and render at the same time a service to the 
 public. Mr. Judge, Nova Scotia is not the only 
 country in the world, is it ?" 
 
 " By no means," said Nicholas, without hesitation. 
 
 " Well, girls are found elsewhere ; they are found in 
 our own native country, but they are proud. I don't 
 generally do much with American girls. They are 
 not, as I may say, adapted by our political life to enter 
 the houses of the wealthy as domestic assistants. But 
 the difficulty is not insurmountable, sir. It can be 
 overcome, and I propose to overcome it. I propose to 
 go to some simple country place, where the contamina 
 tion of the city has not yet poisoned the fountains of 
 nature, and there lay before the young women the 
 superior advantages of city and suburban life, and 
 induce them to come, two by two, engaging to secure 
 for them comfortable homes and all the social ameni 
 ties. It is probably not unknown to you that such 
 young women do leave their paternal homes to labor 
 in factories and other like institutions, but I have in 
 this little book tables of figures by which I can demon 
 strate that they lay up more of this world's goods, by 
 engaging in domestic occupations such as befit our
 
 STATE NORMAL SCHW 
 
 Los Angeles, Cal. 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 71 
 
 native young women, than by adopting the uncertain 
 avocations to which I have alluded. Now I have pon 
 dered this scheme for some time, and I propose testing 
 it myself by personal contact with these young women. 
 I shall not send any one out on so delicate an errand, 
 Mr. Judge," Nicholas bowed heartily, having had a 
 vague apprehension that Mr. Manlius intended solicit 
 ing or perhaps demanding his services " I shall go 
 myself into the rural district. You are from the 
 country, I believe, Mr. Judge ? " 
 
 " Yes, I am from the country." 
 
 " There is a charm in the open air of nature, sir ; 
 and while I am compelled to give my attention exclus 
 ively to my engrossing business, I shall regard it as a 
 pleasing part of my enterprise to look upon nature 
 also," and Mr. Manlius leaned back and took a con 
 noisseur view of nature as ideally present. " What 
 part of the country, pray, was that in which you were 
 accustomed to reside ? I think I never had the pleas 
 ure of hearing you name it." Nicholas hesitated and 
 looked confused. " I am from Kennebunk in Maine," 
 continued Mr. Manlius, with dignity. " I am proud 
 to give my nativity at any time. I am not ashamed 
 of coming from down East, sir." 
 
 " I have nothing to be ashamed of in my birthplace," 
 said Nicholas, quietly, " but for certain reasons, which 
 it is unnecessary to state, I am not in the habit of re 
 ferring to my former home. I am a citizen here now," 
 he added, smiling, " and propose to exercise all my 
 rights of citizenship, one of which I believe is to be an 
 undistinguished atom in a crowd of atoms." 
 
 " That was a happy phrase," said Mr. Manlius ; 
 " allow me to take it down in my note-book, where I 
 frequently preserve pregnant truths," and Mr. Man- 
 lius's pencil was busy, while he kept on talking : " Mr.
 
 72 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Judge declines to state where he caine from. That is 
 unfortunate for Mr. Manlius, who had intended propos 
 ing to make a selection of that place for his first ex 
 perimental excursion. I was in hopes, sir, that I might 
 ohtain from you such letters of introduction to prom 
 inent persons in the neighborhood as would have facili 
 tated my inquiries, as well as learn some particulars 
 respecting the character of the village, and the names 
 of some of the families that would be likely to receive 
 with favor my proposition." 
 
 " I am sorry I cannot be of service to you, Mr. 
 Manlius, but really I knew very few people, and I 
 don't think any letters of introduction from me would 
 have been of much service," and he smiled to himself. 
 
 " H'm ! " said Mr. Manlius, " I regret that our inter 
 view should have been so unsatisfactory. You have a 
 right to keep to yourself, Mr. Judge, so plain a piece 
 of information as to where you came from. But I 
 must say," and he rose and buttoned his coat about 
 him, "I must say that a young man makes a wrong 
 start in life who conceals the facts of his bejnnnins;. I 
 
 O O 
 
 was a poor boy in Keunebunk. You may go there to 
 night and ask any of the middle-aged people if they 
 remember Soprian Maulius, and I am not afraid of 
 their verdict. You may track my course from that 
 day to this, but you will find it in the light, Mr. Judge, 
 in the light. There is nothing to cover up," and he 
 looked severely at the young man. 
 
 "As I said before," said Nicholas, "there are circum 
 stances which make it proper that I should be silent 
 here as to my recent life, though, of course, I conceal 
 nothing from my aunt ; but all this comes from no 
 fault of miue ; " and he colored as one does who is 
 called upon to assert his own virtue in general terras. 
 
 " I trust you will find nothing to cover up in your
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 73 
 
 present life," said Mr. Maulius, with magisterial sever 
 ity, as he took leave. Nicholas passed up-stairs, did 
 not enter his aunt's chamber, but kept on to his own 
 room, where he went to work vigorously to throw off 
 the disagreeable air which his visitor had managed to 
 enwrap him with. " I shall be thankful when I am 
 through," he said to himself, " and can make all this 
 clear. And yet, who is Mr. Manlius ? and why should 
 I trouble myself about his good or his poor opinion of 
 me ? " Nevertheless he did find it galling to stand to 
 this 'man in the relation of a suspected person. Mr. 
 Manlius, meanwhile, though he had not accomplished 
 either of the two purposes he had in view in his visit, 
 was not ill-pleased with the result ; indeed, the very 
 defeat which he suffered in his attempt to examine 
 Nicholas's workshop, and to find out his former home, 
 constituted important testimony, in his mind, in confir 
 mation of the theory upon which he was pursuing his 
 investigation. 
 
 " Why should he be unwilling to see me in his work 
 shop ? " he asked himself. " I am not an ignorant per 
 son to meddle with his dangerous compounds. Why 
 should he conceal his former residence ? There is some 
 thing very suspicious about that. It must be ferreted 
 out. We must get at the bottom of this." He was 
 meditating on this the next afternoon as he walked 
 home from his office, when hearing a familiar voice he 
 turned and saw Miss Fix bidding good-by to a smiling 
 German, whom he recognized as one of the four friends 
 he had met Christmas eve. 
 
 " You are going to the court, Miss Fix ? Let me 
 have the honor of escorting you," said Mr. Manlius. 
 " That was one of the foreigners, I believe, that I met 
 at your house upon the occasion of your, your little 
 party."
 
 74 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Oh no, he is n't a foreigner," said Miss Fix. " He 
 has been here several years, has taken out his natural 
 ization papers, votes, and sends his children to the pub 
 lic schools. Oh no, Mr. Pfeiffer is not a foreigner," 
 and she looked demurely at the bulky man beside her. 
 
 " Very good," said he, " very good. Politically he 
 may not be. In our country we give a welcome to 
 the oppressed of other lands and invite them to partake 
 of the advantages which our freedom and our great 
 institutions give them. But nature makes a difference, 
 
 O 
 
 Miss Pix ; your friend's children, or at any rate grand 
 children, may become American. But he will remain 
 a foreigner. Nature has made him a German and we 
 cannot tear ourselves from our mother's our mother's 
 arms. I say to our friend Mr. Judge, sometimes, 
 ' you will go back some day to your pleasant country 
 home. You will not be able to destroy the bonds by 
 which nature holds you.' We are born with these 
 temperaments, Miss Pix. Mr. Judge now, I suppose 
 when summer comes, he will go back, eh ? " 
 
 " Oh no, Mr. Manlius. He will always go ahead," 
 said the little woman, " not go back surely," and she 
 looked slyly at him. 
 
 " Very good, very good," said the philosopher, ver 
 bally patting her on the back. " Yes, he will always 
 go ahead, no doubt, no doubt. They will quite lose 
 sight of him in his country village. I suppose let 
 me see I think it was somewhere in the centre of 
 the state, was it not, that he came from ? I believe you 
 mentioned the place to me once." 
 
 " If I did, I knew more then than I do now," said 
 Miss Pix. " I never asked where he came from, and 
 I do not remember that he ever mentioned it, but if 
 there are any more such excellent young men left in 
 his village, I trust they will come right up and make
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 75 
 
 themselves known. I'm ready to adopt any young 
 man as good as Nicholas Judge, for a nephew." She 
 spoke so decidedly, that it seems quite a wonder there 
 had not sprung up some excellent young man, to take 
 her at her word. 
 
 " It was not an idle curiosity that led me to ask," 
 said Mr. Manlius as they turned into the court. 
 "I am, as you are aware, not in the habit of concern 
 ing myself deeply about my neighbors' affairs, but we 
 owe a duty to society and to our own children, and it 
 behooves us to look well to the character of those 
 whom we admit to our houses. When a young woman 
 comes to me, Miss Fix, she must show her references. 
 I tell them, ' If you have a good character, I can do 
 anything for you, not otherwise. I have not seen Mr. 
 Judge's references yet, Miss Fix. We must not trust 
 too much to outward appearances." 
 
 " No, we must n't," said Miss Fix to herself, as she 
 poked her key into the key-hole of her door, and turned 
 it sharply. " Some of the biggest men I ever saw have 
 been the biggest geese, ganders though, I suppose," 
 she corrected herself, for Miss Fix had in her day 
 taught other things than music, and so corrected her 
 self when necessary.
 
 76 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 MR. MANLIUS saw that he should not learn what he 
 wished to know from Nicholas Judge or his two friends, 
 but he was the more determined to find out where he 
 came from. He borrowed a Business Directory of 
 New England and pored over it evening after evening 
 at his house, in hopes of finding some person of the 
 name of Judge, engaged in some trade in some one of 
 the States. Mrs. Manilas sat by him, sewing in silence, 
 not daring to interrupt his evidently profound study; 
 Mrs. Starkey sat grimly knitting in the corner, looking 
 at Mr. Manilas every now and then, but quite ignorant 
 of what was occupying his mind. His study was in 
 vain, and he closed the book with a bang one evening 
 and pushed it from him, looking angrily about the 
 room. 
 
 " Caroline," he said, "what makes you keep this 
 room so hot ? You know I suffer so from excessive 
 heat. The furnace door ought to be open." Mrs. 
 Starkey at the word rose and left the room. " The 
 upper door, Eunice," he called out after her, " don't 
 open the lower door, as you did the other day." 
 
 " Have you found it out yet ? " asked Mrs. Manilas, 
 timidly, when they were by themselves. 
 
 " Found what out ? " 
 
 " Why, what you are trying to find out about that 
 young man." 
 
 "I am not trying to find out anything about that
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 77 
 
 young man," said he, surlily. " You should not talk 
 about such things, Caroline. You only make yourself 
 ridiculous. Hark ! I believe that woman is putting on 
 more coal." 
 
 " No, she 's sifting some ashes," said Mrs. Manlius, 
 whose ears were better trained to the nice distinctions 
 of household sounds. 
 
 " Does she ever go in next door ? " asked her hus 
 band. 
 
 " Mrs. Blake has sent in for both of us," Mrs. Man 
 lius said, " but we 're too busy to go out making calls on 
 our neighbors, Mr. Manlius." The pecked hen some 
 times turned with a feeble cackle upon her husband. 
 " We 've no time to go gadding about." 
 
 " When society calls upon us to do a signal service," 
 said Mr. Manlius, " personal considerations are not to 
 be regarded. I think it would be well if you were to 
 call socially upon Mrs. Blake. Or, no, let Eunice go 
 alone." At this moment Mrs. Starkey came back into 
 the room, before Mrs. Manlius could recover from her 
 astonishment, and her husband frowned her into silence. 
 
 " Eunice," he said, " that Mrs. Blake, whom we saw 
 Christmas eve, and who got away that young man from 
 you, had the same name with you, I believe, did n't 
 she ? Eunice Brown ? " 
 
 " It was all an accident," said Mrs. Starkey, in a 
 feeble, tremulous voice. " Nobody meant to dp any 
 thing. It was all a mistake." 
 
 " Oh, I know that, Eunice, I know that. We all 
 know that. What I want to know is, how did you and 
 Mrs. Blake come to have the same name. Is she any 
 relation of yours ? Did you ever hear of any other 
 Eunice Brown ? " 
 
 " I am Eunice Starkey," said she, as if trying to 
 detach herself in some way from herself, as well as 
 from Mrs. Blake.
 
 78 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Oh, I know that, but -you were born Eunice Brown, 
 nay Brown, as they say in France. Why don't you 
 go to see Mrs. Blake ? Perhaps you can find out some 
 relationship. Who knows ? You tell her where you 
 came from, and ask her where she came from, and per 
 haps it will turn out that you know each other's folks." 
 
 Mrs. Manlius looked with some concern at Mr. Man- 
 lius, but he evaded her glance. Mrs. Starkey was talk 
 ing to herself and pursing her mouth. She began to 
 knit more rapidly, then thrust her needle decisively 
 into her ball, and finally said, 
 
 " Well, I will. I '11 go this minute." 
 
 " But, Eunice," said Mrs. Manlius, " it 's too late to 
 night. Why, it 's after nine o'clock." 
 
 " Just put some coal on in half an hour, Caroline," 
 said Mrs. Starkey, as she slapped her knitting on the 
 table, and marched out of the room. 
 
 " Dear, dear, Mr. Manlius ! How could you ? " said 
 his wife in dismay. " Eunice is in one of her talking 
 fits again, and there 's no knowing what she will say. 
 Do stop her." 
 
 But Mr. Manlius with all his assumption of magis 
 tracy knew very well that it was of no use to try to 
 stop Mrs. Starkey when she had once, so to speak, 
 taken the bit in her mouth, though the simile hardly 
 provides for the incessant flow of talk with which 
 Mrs. Starkey was affected on such occasions, when she 
 passed from a state of timid discouragement to one of 
 excessive volubility. She came down-stairs in a few 
 minutes, dressed and chattering to herself as she came, 
 having evidently thrown her wardrobe upon herself as 
 a sort of accompaniment to her speech. 
 
 " I 'm all ready, Mr. Manlius, if you '11 see me to 
 Mrs. Blake's door." Mr. Manlius took his hat and they 
 went to the door. It was snowing hard.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 79 
 
 "Dear me," said she, "snowing? snowing! why I 
 did n't know it snowed. Don't believe she '11 be at 
 home. Don't know as I can get back again. Don't 
 see any lights. Do you see any lights, S'prian ? " 
 
 "No," said he, very emphatically. "The house is 
 as dark as a pocket. They are either away, or gone 
 to bed." 
 
 " I might go in and see Miss Pix," said she, feeling 
 under necessity to go somewhere or do something ; " or 
 Dr. Chocker. Dr. Chocker must be lonely. I '11 go 
 and see Dr. Chocker. Come, Soprian." 
 
 Mr. Manlius faintly hoped there might be some way 
 out of it, but he had had enough experience with this 
 unfortunate woman to know that direct opposition only 
 added fuel to the flame. They made their way to the 
 door of Number One, and rapped upon the door. The 
 knock was answered by black Maria, who peered out 
 at them in undisguised astonishment. 
 
 " Did ye want to see my master or Miss Sally ? " 
 she asked. 
 
 " Want to see Doctor Chocker," spoke up Mrs. 
 Starkey. '' Has n't got anybody with him, has he ? 
 thought he was all alone ? " 
 
 " His grandda'ter came to-night," said Maria. 
 " Come in, ye. Don't stand there in the snow." 
 
 " Oh we 'd like to see his granddaughter. We 're 
 neighbors, come for a friendly chat. Come along, So 
 prian." Mr. Manlius walked after her with a frown, 
 tempted to leave his erratic companion in the lurch, 
 but fearful of what excesses she might commit if left 
 wholly to herself. They were ushered into a sitting- 
 room which had plainly been left to its own grim com 
 pany for an indefinite length of time. Only a light 
 piece of cambric with some stitches of silk in it lying 
 carelessly on the table gave signs of a new occupant.
 
 80 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 u I don't know but we 'd better go right up-stairs," 
 said Mrs. Starkey ; " won't stand on ceremony, you 
 know," but luckily before she could whirl Mr. Maulius 
 into deeper social waters, the door opened and Dr. 
 Checker with his ear-trumpet appeared, followed by a 
 girl of nineteen who laid her hand upon his arm and 
 looked with a frank wonder at her guests. 
 
 " I am Mr. Manlius," said that gentleman, solemnly. 
 " This is Mrs. Starkey," as if they were figures from 
 some exhibition that had strayed away and needed to 
 point at themselves with a long stick. " Your grand 
 father knows us," and here he made a kind of dumb 
 show of introducing Mrs. Starkey to Dr. Checker. 
 
 "It is Mrs. Starkey, grandfather," said the girl, 
 " and Mr. Manlius." 
 
 " Oh, I know them," said he, waving his ear-trumpet 
 at them, " sit down, sit down. Sally, turn the light 
 up a little. How d* ye do, Mrs. Starkey ? How 's that 
 scapegrace of a nephew of yours ? abandoned you, did 
 he ? " and the old gentleman chuckled over the recol 
 lection. 
 
 "He 'swell," said Mrs. Starkey. ".Saw him the 
 other day. He 's going to be a great chemist or some 
 thing. Expect he 's going to blow us all up. I hear 
 him pounding, pounding away. Lives right next tons, 
 you know. Can hear him through the wall. This 
 your granddaughter ? Did n't know you had a grand 
 daughter. How d' ye do, Miss Checker." All but the 
 last sentence she had tumbled into the ear-trumpet 
 which Dr. Chocker had placed under her mouth. 
 
 " Yes," said he, putting the trumpet down on his 
 knee, and looking with a queer mixture of pride and 
 curiosity at the young lady, " she 's my granddaughter, 
 Miss Sally Lovering, come to take care of her old 
 grandfather. There 's no mistake about it," he added,
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 81 
 
 giving his head a confirmatory shake. She 's my grand 
 daughter, and I'm her grandfather. Don't you go to 
 claiming her." At this Mrs. Starkey was seized with 
 a very voluble fit and poured a succession of words 
 into Dr. Checker's trumpet, which he received with 
 great good-nature, occasionally interjecting a comment, 
 and every now and then turning to look at his grand 
 daughter, as if to satisfy himself that she was there. 
 Miss Levering was very certainly there, sitting under 
 the light and working dexterously at the cambric, as if 
 it was the most commonplace matter in the world, to 
 be in this stiff room, entertaining a large, florid man 
 who was an entire stranger to her, and overhearing 
 her grandfather talk with a thin visaged woman whose 
 tongue seemed untied after long restraint. 
 
 ' You have arrived lately, Miss Levering, I believe," 
 said Mr. Manlius, lending all the time an ear to the 
 other couple. 
 
 " This very evening," said she. " I have made no 
 very long journey, only from Kingston ; I have not 
 been here since I was a little girl, yet it all seems very 
 familiar. I do not see that the court has changed at 
 all, nor grandfather's house, but I suppose the same 
 people are not all living here. You were not living 
 here thirteen years ago, were you ? I think I should 
 have remembered you, if you had been, for I used to 
 play in the court." 
 
 " We have lived in this little place about five years," 
 said Mr. Manlius, " about five years," with an air as if 
 they were only staying here for temporary purposes, 
 being accustomed to much roomier quarters. 
 
 " I think it 's the drollest little place," said Miss Lov- 
 
 ering. " I remember very well that the last fcouse at 
 
 the end is in a jog of the court and in the house just 
 
 before it, there used to live a lovely woman, a Mrs. 
 
 6
 
 82 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Blake who was confined to her room. I remember 
 her perfectly. She was very kind to me." 
 
 " She still lives there," said Mr. Manlius, and he be 
 gan to frown in anticipation of some remark upon 
 Nicholas which he meant to make, when they both 
 heard Mrs. Starkey say in a positive manner, 
 
 " Nicholas Judge is a very remarkable young man. 
 Very few young men like him." 
 
 " Why I know a Nicholas Judge," said Miss Lover- 
 ing to Mr. Manlius. " At least I do not know him 
 myself, though I have seen him. He lived in Kings 
 ton with his father until he died." 
 
 'Did lie come from there last Christmas?" asked 
 Mr. Manlius, pulling his waistcoat down and sitting up 
 straighten 
 
 " Yes, I think it must have been just about Christ 
 mas. I remember I have not seen him since then." 
 
 " Soprian," said Mrs. Starkey, " we must go. Caro- 
 .line will be troubled." 
 
 " In one moment, Eunice. Did the young man bear 
 a good Character, Miss Levering ? " Miss Levering 
 hesitated. 
 
 " I did not know him myself," said she. " Very 
 few people in the village did know him. His father 
 lived by himself, and he never made acquaintances, but 
 his face was not against him." 
 
 " A very imperfect means of judging, Miss Lover- 
 ing, very imperfect," and Mr. Manlius shook his head 
 impressively. " He is living in this court, Miss Lover- 
 ing," and then sinking his voice to an ominous whisper, 
 " he is living with Mrs. Blake, his reputed aunt." 
 
 " Reputed aunt ? " questioned Miss Levering, with 
 undisguised curiosity. 
 
 " Come, S'prian," said Mrs. Starkey, decisively. 
 " Glad to see you, Miss Checker. Come to see us.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 83 
 
 We live in Number Three always at home. Lizzy 
 and Dizzy would like to know you. Mr. Manlius's girls 
 Mrs. Manlius's girls, twelve and thirteen, disagree 
 able age." 
 
 " I shall be glad to come," said Miss Lovering, giv 
 ing her hand to Mrs. Starkey, who marched off with 
 Mr. Manlius behind her. 
 
 " Good evening, Dr. Checker," said Mr. Manlius, 
 lowering the words into the trumpet. " I am glad to 
 see you in such excellent health." 
 
 " Um," grunted the Doctor. " Take care of Mrs. 
 Starkey. She '11 be finding another nephew if you 
 don't look out." 
 
 " Grandfather," said Miss Lovering, after they were 
 gone, " how social you are. Do your neighbors drop 
 in often in this way ? I shall begin to think you did n't 
 need Sally for company." 
 
 " Never you mind about our neighbors, Sally," said 
 the old gentleman, shuffling out of the room ; " they 're 
 a poor lot, most of 'em; we can get along without 
 them, but we '11 be civil. But what will you do, Sally, 
 here with your old grandfather, eh ? " 
 
 " Grandfather, if you '11 only let me have a piano 
 here, I shall be perfectly contented ; then you '11 let me 
 sit and read in your study, when you 're at work, won't 
 you ? " She spoke in coaxing tones, and had such a 
 pretty way of letting her words slip round the corners 
 of her mouth, as it were, that a harder heart than Dr. 
 Checker's would have melted at once. 
 
 " A piano ? for . me to dance to, I suppose. Well, 
 well, we '11 see about it." 
 
 The next morning at breakfast, as Dr. Checker sat 
 in his tasseled cap, looking every now and then at the 
 bright face under a breakfast-cap that he saw behind 
 the coffee urn, opposite, an unwonted sight indeed, he 
 turned to the servant and asked,
 
 84 
 
 " Maria, what is the name of that frisky little woman 
 that had a party Christmas eve, here in the court, eh ? " 
 
 " It was Miss Fix, master." 
 
 " That 's it, Miss Fix. Sally, we '11 go over and see 
 Miss Fix after breakfast, and get a piano." 
 
 " Why, is there a piano store right here in the 
 court ? " 
 
 " Almost," said the old gentleman, nodding to her. 
 " We have all sorts of neighbors, Sally. I don't mind 
 your seeing Miss Fix. She ? s a frisky little woman. 
 We '11 have to catch her early, I suppose." 
 
 Dr. Checker seemed in great haste to finish his 
 breakfast, and wait upon Miss Fix. The truth was, 
 although the visit, with reference to permanent estab 
 lishment in his house of Miss Sally Loveriug, had come 
 to pass only after a series of letters between him and 
 her aunts, with whom she had of late been living, now 
 that she was here, he was somewhat embarrassed by the 
 new responsibilities that her coming imposed upon him. 
 He had groaned inwardly over the prospect of having 
 a giddy girl invading his quarters, in which he had 
 lived so long in a state of second bachelorhood, but 
 when she came with her bright face and merry, frank 
 manner, he was seized with suddeiucompunction at the 
 dismal prospect for her, which beseemed suddenly to 
 see. The suggestion of a piano was to him little short 
 of an inspiration. To be sure, Sally could make music 
 all day long. She would practice, he supposed, and 
 the idea of practice to the old gentleman was that of 
 interminably working at the instrument without ex 
 hausting its capabilities. 
 
 So, breakfast over, Dr. Chocker muffled himself in 
 his wraps, and, taking Sally on his arm, marched over 
 to Miss Fix's. Sally looked curiously at the houses, 
 recalling her childish recollection of them. 

 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 85 
 
 " They always seemed like five old ladies to me, 
 grandfather," said she. 
 
 " They dou't gossip like five old ladies, Sally. Don't 
 you ever grow to be an old lady." Sally laughed. Old 
 age was such a far-off evil ! 
 
 Miss Fix was at home, and the little parlor which 
 had not yet wholly laid aside its garniture of green 
 seemed to Sally a delightful little place, as they sat 
 waiting for the lady of the house. Piles of music were 
 upon the piano and in racks. Sally looked at the in 
 strument to see the maker's name. Her fingers begged 
 for the keys, and she just touched a chord gently when 
 Miss Fix came in and met her blushing face. 
 
 " Ah, you have been shaking hands with my best 
 friend ? And you are Dr. Checker's granddaughter. I 
 am so delighted to see you. He ought to have a grand 
 daughter. I always said so, Dr. Checker," and she 
 seized his arm that held the trumpet, as if she were 
 pulling his ear. " You have taken ten years off my 
 shoulders. I have really been growing thin with anx 
 iety for you, shut up all alone in that house. I 'm glad 
 you 've opened the shutters and let some sunlight in. 
 I 'm tropical, my dear," she explained to Miss Lover- 
 ing. " Your grandfather always sets the words flying 
 in my head." 
 
 "She's young, Sally," spoke up the old gentleman, 
 " you may grow as old as she is," and he wagged his 
 trumpet with delight at his impertinence. " Now, Miss 
 Fix, we want some neighborly advice." Miss Fix sat 
 down and smoothed her apron and her face into unex 
 ampled wisdom. " My granddaughter here, Sally Lov- 
 ering, has come to live with me for the present, and 
 you know I don't sing much, so I thought I would get 
 a good stout piano for her to practice on when I was 
 busy and she did n't know what to do with herself. I 
 can hire one, can't I ? "
 
 86 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Oh, yes, indeed," said Miss Pix. " That 's easily 
 done. I '11 do it for you, if you 'd like to have me. 
 What kind of piano have you been using, Miss Lover- 
 ing?" 
 
 " It is by the same maker as yours," said she. 
 
 " Oh, then there '11 be no difficulty ; not the least in 
 the world. Dr. Chocker, would you like me to help 
 Miss Sally choose an instrument ? " 
 
 " That 's the advice I meant to ask," said the Doctor, 
 drily. 
 
 " Let me see," said the little woman, thoughtfully ; 
 " I must go to the Bangses at ten, to the Churches at 
 half-past eleven, dinner at one will you go now, my 
 dear, or wait till one ? " 
 
 " Oh, let us go now," said Sally ; " if grandfather will 
 let me. You are very kind, Miss Pix." 
 
 "Oh, not at all, not at all, as people politely say. 
 It 's a great secret, but I don't mind telling you. I get 
 a commission when I help people select pianos." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Miss Lovering, somewhat blankly. 
 
 " Not from you, my dear ; not for the world from 
 you. I get it from the manufacturer. He charges 
 you just the same. I don't know as I ought to have 
 it this time, because I did n't exactly recommend him 
 to you. What do you think ? " and Miss Pix knit 
 her brow and was much exercised in mind. " Let 's 
 ask your grandfather." 
 
 " But it 's nearly ten, Miss Pix, and I am afraid it 
 would take some time to settle the question. Why 
 not get the piano any way, and then you can settle 
 about the commission afterward." 
 
 " Well," said Miss Pix, jumping up, glad of some 
 reprieve, " that 's true ; you must have your piano, 
 any way. I 'm so glad you like music. I am very 
 fond of it ; but, dear me, my pupils take up pretty 
 much all my time."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 87 
 
 Dr. Checker left the ladies and went back to his 
 books, somewhat disposed to be querulous over the 
 slice of a half hour out of his morning work, but the 
 recollection of his granddaughter's bright face partially 
 did for him what her presence was sure to do restored 
 him to good-nature. " I suppose I 'm getting old," he 
 muttered to himself, as he left the house, " and can't 
 be left alone. Well, I 'd rather be left in Sally's hands 
 than in some other people's." Perhaps he was spirit 
 ually cognizant of his neighbor Manlius, who just then 
 opened the door of his house and came forth, traveling- 
 bag in hand, while the door-way was filled by Mrs. 
 Manlius, looking very heated, Mrs. Starkey, rather 
 wobegone, and Lizzy and Dizzy, the latter jumping up 
 and down to get a sight of her retreating father. 
 
 " Good-morning, Dr. Checker," said Mr. Maulius ; 
 " I hope you find yourself well this morning. You 
 are taking the cool morning air, I presume." 
 
 " Yes," said the Doctor ; " I take it as it comes. It 
 happens to be cool this February morning. Going out 
 of town ? " 
 
 " Some business, partly of a public, partly of a 
 private nature, takes me into the country to-day," said 
 Mr. Manlius, with dignity. " I shall very likely com 
 municate with you, on my return, respecting it ; " and 
 he looked at the old gentleman with a most solemn 
 face. 
 
 " Heard of the death of a dear friend ? " asked Dr. 
 Checker, sharply. 
 
 " It may be, it may be," said Mr. Manlius, mysteri 
 ously. " But I must be in season for my train. Good- 
 morning." 
 
 " Pumpkin head ! " said the Doctor, more vigorously 
 than politely, as he swung his ear-trumpet, and walked 
 with quick, short steps to his house.
 
 88 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MR. MANLIUS had profited by his information acci 
 dentally obtained the night before, and resolving to 
 use a masterly activity, had set out for Kingston, to 
 inform himself, by personal inquiry into the antecedents 
 of Nicholas Judge. He was doubtful of the expediency 
 of examining Miss Lovering minutely ; at any rate, 
 whatever she could tell him would better be confirma 
 tory of his own knowledge obtained from other sources; 
 and there even lay, in the darker background of his 
 mind, a possible coup de theatre, in which Miss Lover- 
 ing might be an important actor if now left to herself. 
 Kingston was only two or three hours distant, and he 
 expected to be home again in the evening, but he had 
 taken his bag, partly as a precaution against any pos 
 sible detention, but more from the moral support which 
 it gave him. A man traveling without a bag lacks the 
 credentials of a traveler. Mr. Manlius had his note 
 book also with him, and studied it attentively in the 
 train, now and then jotting down some brief memo 
 randum, adding thus to the impressiveness which his 
 figure and air could not fail to produce. He had never 
 been in Kingston, but knew it as a country village, 
 placed high, in a farming country, at the foot of a so- 
 called mountain. Hound Top was a fair result of 
 nature's exertions in the immediate neighborhood, and 
 since it was detached from any group or chain of 
 hills, there was more reason for giving it the title of
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 89 
 
 mountain, though it had no ravines or deep scorings on 
 its face. One side was partly cultivated, partly pasture 
 land ; the other a tangle of wood, with deep moss and 
 fallen tree trunks, damp and cold. A path led to the 
 top, beginning as a broad wood road, but gradually 
 becoming languid, and contenting itself with the easier 
 and less ambitious career of a footpath, allowing itself 
 to be overgrown, and the lodging place of such loose 
 stones as rolled down the side of the hill. 
 
 Mr. Maulius, on reaching the station at Kingston, 
 found a venerable carryall which professed to run from 
 the depot to the village, but though the driver, Silas 
 King, whipped his horse with a monotonous regularity 
 all the way, and had whipped him in the same way 
 for several years on his twice-a-day excursion, he had 
 not yet succeeded in producing what could honestly be 
 called a run. The principal feature of the carryall that 
 had predestined it for a carriage to go to the depot, was 
 a pair or several pairs rather, of unfolding steps that 
 gave the vehicle a highly professional look. When 
 Silas had opened the door and developed the narrow 
 staircase that had been folded against it, and had as 
 sisted a passenger to walk up the staircase by the easy 
 gradation to the height of some two feet, and had 
 slammed the door and folded up the steps with an os 
 tentatious clatter, the ceremony seemed to invest the 
 vehicle with an importance that even lent dignity to the 
 railway itself. 
 
 This time Silas was especially consequential, for the 
 size of Mr. Manlius and his evident weight of character, 
 could certainly belong to no common person, and Silas 
 at once set him down as a capitalist. A capitalist was a 
 person whom Silas had long been looking for with great 
 expectation. Ever since the railway had been opened, 
 indeed ever since it had first been projected, he had
 
 90 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 heard of the vast change it would make in the value of 
 property in Kingston. People had said that capitalists 
 would come and buy land and establish a great hotel, 
 or start a factory, or perform some magical touch which 
 only capitalists can perform, and Silas had taken up the 
 occupation of running a stage to the depot with the 
 secret purpose of getting the first chance with any 
 capitalist who might come from the city. He himself 
 had a piece of property, a few acres on the side of 
 Round Top, and though he never had been able to do 
 much with it, he was not a capitalist, and if he could 
 catch one of those men, he was confident that his for 
 tune would be made. So he presented himself with 
 his carriage, as a kind of testimonial to his importance 
 as a landed proprietor, and watched daily for the cap 
 italist. 
 
 The snow lay on the ground, but it had not been a 
 heavy fall, and as the roads were otherwise pretty hard, 
 the carryall could thump along at its usual rate. Silas 
 waited a few minutes for any other passenger whom 
 he might have overlooked, and then settled himself in 
 his seat for a comfortable chat with his passenger, keep 
 ing an eye out for business. 
 
 " Business good down in the city ? " 
 
 " Fair," said Mr. Manlius, who was about as inti 
 mately acquainted with the business of the city as Silas 
 himself. " Fair. We 're are hoping for better times." 
 
 " Ah," said Silas. " Well, now up here in Kingston, 
 folks say we 're going to have a lively summer," which 
 certainly showed great foreknowledge on somebody's 
 part, it being now February. 
 
 " So," said Mr. Manlius, " likely to have good 
 crops ?" Silas looked at him a moment curiously. 
 
 " Farming 's about played out here," said he, " but if 
 you'd like to try it, I know just about the nicest farm 
 for sale, within ten miles, just about the nicest."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 91 
 
 " No," said Mr. Manlius, reflectively. " I am not 
 disposed to buy for farming purposes just now ; I 'm 
 more interested in people ; " and he smiled a superior 
 smile. 
 
 " Eh," said Silas. " Do you know a fine view when 
 you see it ? a view that takes in forty miles at a 
 stretch ? Now, I know a piece of ground for a hotel 
 that ain't to be matched, not this side of the city. You 
 can see the dome of the State House on a clear day. 
 Folks have said they can see it by moonlight, but I 
 never did," he added with candor. " Right on the side 
 of Round Top, a good spring on the premises, fust rate 
 road to the top, wants a little sprucing up, that 's all." 
 
 " Good water privilege ? " asked Mr. Manlius, in a 
 general way. 
 
 " Water privilege ! why, it 's my opinion that the 
 brook that runs right through my place never had a 
 fair chance yet. Just drain it up in the meadow back 
 of my lot, let it lie round there, arid then turn it on, 
 and you 'd have such a water power as would make 
 the fortune of any factory in the country." 
 
 " But could you get operatives enough about here to 
 run it ? " asked Mr. Manlius, edging up to his own in 
 terests. 
 
 " Operatives ? why you could find girls right about 
 here on the farms that would fill your factory right up. 
 Operatives ! " 
 
 " Well now, my friend," said Mr. Manlius, " don't 
 you suppose the girls here on the farms would rather 
 go to the city, and earn their living there, and have 
 comfortable homes and social privilege ? Why they 
 can earn nearly twenty-five per cent, more, though it 
 does n't look like it at first." 
 
 " Earn their living, how ? " 
 
 " Why, by living out as cooks, chamber-maids, nur 
 sery girls, and so forth."
 
 92 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " No sirree. Our girls don't want any of that kind 
 of life, but give 'em a factory here, and they '11 flock 
 into it." 
 
 " I 've had a good deal of experience in this matter, 
 sir," said Mr. Manlius, " and I can tell you that girls 
 are ten times better off who go into families than those 
 who go to work in factories. Now, take your people 
 round here, don't you know some family, where there 's 
 one girl too many ? and has n't she got some friend ? 
 now if those two girls were to go to the city and get 
 places, they 'd see each other, just about the same as at 
 home, and have a first-rate time besides." 
 
 " Well," said Silas, " none of our girls that I ever 
 heard on, went to live out in the city, and they might 
 like to go, if there was fun in it. Girls are mighty 
 glad to have a good time." 
 
 " I suppose your minister would know if there were 
 any such." 
 
 "Are*you looking out for a girl?" asked Silas, 
 turning full upon him. " Why I thought you was a 
 capitalist." 
 
 " Something so, something so," said Mr. Manlius 
 slowly. " I am a contractor, so to speak. Let me see, 
 what is your minister's name ? " 
 
 "There's more 'n one minister in town, I should 
 hope," said Silas ; " my minister is Mr. Levering." 
 
 "Ah, that's the gentleman I want to see," said Mr. 
 Manlius. " Just drive me to his house will you. I 
 have some little business with him. By the bye, did 
 you ever have a young man in town here named Nich 
 olas Judge ? " 
 
 " Nicholas Judge ! " said Silas, turning square round 
 upon his questioner. " Do I know Nicholas Judge ? 
 Yes, I do, and I knew Simon Judge, too ; was he any 
 relation of yourn ? "
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 93 
 
 " No, sir," said Mr. Manlius, with emphasis ; " he 
 was not. What can you tell me about this Simon 
 Judge." 
 
 " I don't want to tell you much about him. He 
 poisoned my sister." 
 
 "Extraordinary!" said Mr. Manlius. "I don't wish 
 to recall painful recollections, young man, but what 
 you say strangely affects me. Let me see, what did 
 you say your name was ? " 
 
 " I don't know as I said," said he, " but I Ve no ob 
 jection to telling my name. It 's Silas King. I live 
 up there on the side of Round Top. You can see the 
 clearing, along by that row of maples. I don't want 
 to talk now about Dr. Simon Judge. He 's dead and 
 gone, and that 's the end of him, if it ain't of the rest 
 of us. Here 's Mr. Lovering's." They stopped in 
 front of the modest parsonage, and Mr. Manlius 
 alighted from the venerable carryall. 
 
 " Going back this afternoon ? " asked Silas, as he 
 took his fare. 
 
 " Yes, I expect to return by the train that leaves at 
 3.30. You will start from the hotel, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, I shall, at three o'clock. My carriage 
 runs regular." 
 
 " Well, I shall want to go down with you," said Mr. 
 Manlius. " I want to see you, Silas." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Lovering had seen the depot carriage 
 stop, as he looked out of his study window, and seeing 
 Mr. Manlius with his bag, was trying to determine in 
 his own mind whether he was to have a call from a 
 book agent or the agent for some benevolent society. 
 He was tolerably well acquainted with the regular 
 members of the latter fraternity, and besides it was not 
 Saturday, so that he had resigned himself to the belief 
 that he was to be asked to examine some book which
 
 94 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 it was to be his solemn duty to recommend to his par 
 ishioners. He was an elderly man and had long ago 
 given over the attempt to exclude these merchants from 
 his house, but listened patiently and then tried, as he 
 said, to do them a little good, taking for a text some 
 passage in the book before him. In this way he had, 
 to his surprise, sometimes flanked his adversary and 
 been left to himself suddenly. On such occasions he 
 trusted that his bow drawn at a venture had sent its 
 arrow~> home to tlie conscience. 
 
 Mr. Manlius was ushered into the study, bearing his 
 bag, which he placed by his side as he took his seat. 
 
 " Good-morning, Mr. Lovering," said he. " I hope 
 I find you quite well ? My name is Manlius. I am 
 somewhat of a stranger in your village, but I believe 
 I have the honor of a slight acquaintance with your 
 daughter, or granddaughter, and her esteemed grand 
 father, the learned Dr. Checker." Mr. Lovering looked 
 a little puzzled. 
 
 " I fear you are misinformed," he replied, taking off 
 his glasses and slowly rubbing them. " I am, it is true, 
 somewhat advanced in years, and have had time to have 
 even a granddaughter, but I have not taken the neces 
 sary steps, as I think. I have never yet been married." 
 
 " Oh, ah," said Mr. Manlius, somewhat disconcerted. 
 " Dr. Checker is a neighbor of mine, and I have lately 
 met at his house a Miss Sally Lovering, who purports 
 to have come from Kingston," and he began to think 
 the innocent village a nest of impostors. 
 
 " Very likely, very likely," said Mr. Lovering, " there 
 is a family of two maiden ladies of my name living 
 here, who had a young niece, I believe. They were 
 no connection of mine, and were indeed attendants at 
 the Episcopal church, very excellent ladies, though, 
 I am informed. Miss Lovering did not send you to 
 me?"
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 95 
 
 " Not directly," said Mr. Manlius, who was loth to 
 abandon the social claim which he supposed he should 
 quickly establish. " I came to Kingston on a matter 
 of business, and I naturally came first to one whom I 
 supposed to be related to my young friend ; " and Mr. 
 Manlius eyed the minister sharply, to see whether he 
 were not, even now, playing some game with him. 
 
 " Ah," said Mr. Lovering, who always waited pa 
 tiently the first attack of book-agents, and sat now 
 slowly rubbing his spectacles and smiling absently. 
 
 "My errand is of a double character, sir," continued 
 Mr. Manlius. " I am engaged in the occupation of 
 providing homes for young country girls who coine to 
 the city, and have thought it every way proper to come 
 first to you as a minister of the gospel, to explain my 
 errand in town." 
 
 " Ah ! " said Mr. Lovering, putting on his glasses and 
 looking straight at the man. 
 
 " Yes, sir. I have long been of the conviction that 
 more systematic provision should be made for the needs 
 of young women who leave their country homes, and 
 for those families in the city that stand in need of, 
 of assistance in the care of the household." The case 
 was so delicately put that Mr. Lovering did not at first 
 see the exact bearing of it. 
 
 " Do I understand that you are in the employ of 
 some benevolent society ? " 
 
 " I am in the interests of society at large," said Mr. 
 Manlius, with dignity. " Every country girl who 
 brings the simplicity of country life to our city fire 
 sides, and every city family that gives shelter and a 
 home to the innocent country girl are engaged with 
 me in this important work." 
 
 " Ah, and you want to provide homes for homeless 
 girls ? "
 
 06 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Here is my card, sir," said Mr. Manlius, feeling it 
 necessary to come to the point with this dull man, and 
 handing him one of his business cards. 
 
 " Oh," said Mr. Lovering, light now dawning upon 
 him, " so you find situations for girls, do you ? I have 
 heard of such persons, but I never saw one before," 
 and he looked curiously at his visitor. " But we are 
 not in need of any servants." 
 
 " I presume not," said Mr. Manlius, " I presume not, 
 but I presume, also, that as a minister of the gospel 
 in this town, you have an interest in the welfare of 
 your flock, and would regard it as an unspeakable evil 
 to have any of the young girls who go from here to the 
 city fall into bad hands ? My mission is to prevent 
 that. I have here, sir," tapping his note-book, " cer 
 tain statistics which prove conclusively that a girl taking 
 a situation, say as second girl, will in five years lay up as 
 much money as one who has been working, say in a 
 cotton factory, for seven years, and will be a far more 
 useful member of society. Sir, why should we go to 
 Prince Edward's Island and Nova Scotia for our domes 
 tics ? I know those places, sir. My paid agent, Mr. 
 Sope, has scoured them thoroughly. Why should we 
 wait for the down-trodden foreigner to come to our 
 shores, when we have here in our midst, in our midst, 
 reverend sir, those who might be members of our 
 households. The complaint is that young men leave 
 the country for- the city. Sir, I say let their sisters 
 leave also, and the social problem will be solved." Mr. 
 Manlius paused. Mr. Lovering looked at him still 
 with his absent smile. " What I ask of you, sir," con 
 tinued the speaker, " is to put me in the way of seeing 
 likely young women, farmers' daughters and others, of 
 your parish. I shall enter their names on my book as 
 candidates : then when I am asked for a cook, or a
 
 FIVE^SISTERS COURT. 97 
 
 nursery-maid, or a second girl, or a girl to do general 
 housework, and one from the country is preferred, I 
 shall be ready to provide at once suitable persons, and 
 procure comfortable homes for the same." Mr. Man 
 lius spoke briskly as he got upon the business details 
 of his plan. Mr. Lovering took off his glasses, and 
 rubbed his eyes a little, then rubbed his additional eyes 
 sympathetically. 
 
 " Yes," he said, presently ; " you want me to put 
 you in the way of going about in my parish for this 
 purpose. We cannot be too careful about our associa 
 tions. These young girls, when they go to the city, 
 are, as you say, exposed to risks. I have not been to 
 the city myself for a great many years. I find that 
 many go, with apparently no good reason. Have you 
 a family, Mr. Manlius ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, I have two children, girls." 
 
 " Ah, girls ! And you are bringing them up to be 
 house servants? " 
 
 " No, sir ; I expect to have my girls honor the sta 
 tion in which they were born ! " said Mr. Manlius, 
 severely. 
 
 "Ah, yes. Well, I have no daughters, as I told you;. 
 If I had, possibly I might be willing to have them go;. 
 A servant's place in the city is, no doubt, very honor* 
 able ; but I greatly fear that there are none of the 
 young girls in my parish whom I could recommend just 
 now to go to the city as servants. Still there may be 
 some who wish to go, but not just now, not at present." 
 Mr. Lovering moved uneasily about in his chair. The 
 visitor gave him more concern than an ordinary book 
 agent, since an indorsement of a man seemed so much 
 more serious than the indorsement of a book. It 
 
 would be a relief if he only would have some such 
 7
 
 98 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 business. Suddenly he recollected that Mr. Manlius 
 had spoken of two errands. 
 
 " You spoke of two errands," said lie. " Perhaps I 
 can be of some assistance to you in the other matter?" 
 
 " Do you happen to know," asked Mr. Maulius, in a 
 careless manner, " of one Nicholas Judge, a young 
 man formerly a resident of this town, and of his father, 
 one Dr. Simon Judge, since deceased, I believe ? " 
 
 " I knew them both," said Mr. Levering, glad to 
 escape from his more unpleasant subject. " That is to 
 ay, I knew young Judge slightly, and I cannot say 
 that I knew his father intimately. He was quite a 
 recluse in his habits." 
 
 " Was n't there some story or other against the 
 doctor?" asked Mr. Manlius, taking out his note-book, 
 and holding it idly. 
 
 " There was an unfortunate circumstance connected 
 with Dr. Judge. He was not, as you probably know, 
 a practicing physician ; but lived quite by himself, ex 
 perimenting with drugs and minerals. No one knew 
 precisely what he expected to discover. The country 
 people had, of course, strange stories about his occupa 
 tion. I myself gave little credence to them. But one 
 day a neighbor's daughter, who was wont to play 
 thereabout, was found dead." 
 
 " Ah, the King girl, I suppose," said Mr. Manlius, 
 knowingly. 
 
 " Oh, you know the story, then ? " 
 
 " Something, something ; but I should be glad to 
 hear your version." 
 
 " I have no prejudice in the matter," said the mild 
 minister. " There was great excitement in the country 
 about here; and some claimed that Dr. Judge had 
 been experimenting upon the girl with some poisonous 
 substance. His own story was that the girl, in his
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 99 
 
 absence, partook of some jelly-like matter which con 
 tained poisonous ingredients, and died almost immedi 
 ately from the effects of it. Indeed, the coroner's jury 
 so found, and no action was ever brought against the 
 doctor. But he shut himself up more than ever after 
 that, and refused to see any one in his house, though he 
 occasionally came to mine and to one or two others. 
 When he died, his body was carried to the church, he 
 worshiped at the Episcopal church, and was buried 
 from there. His son I saw occasionally. He seemed 
 to be an excellent young man, but during the last few 
 years of his father's, life was a constant attendant upon 
 him, and seemed to have little to do with the other 
 young people of the village. He left the place sud 
 denly, a few weeks since, and I was told that he had 
 gone to the city." 
 
 "Yes, he is a neighbor of mine," said Mr. Manlius, 
 closing his note-book, in which he had made an entry 
 now and then. " I have a somewhat capricious mem 
 ory, sir, and wished to jot down one or two business 
 matters while you were speaking ; but I was quite at 
 tentive, sir, and very much interested." He rose to 
 take leave, and lifting his black bag, gave his hand to 
 Mr. Lovering. 
 
 " Allow me to leave a few of my cards with you, 
 sir," he said, presenting him with a supply likely to 
 last some time ; " if you find that any young woman in 
 your parish desires to go to the city, you can give her 
 one of these ; write your name on it, and I shall take 
 special interest in her." Mr. Lovering bowed him out 
 of the house, relieved at getting rid of him, but much 
 exercised in his own mind over the errands of his vis 
 itor, and suddenly remembering that lie had not asked 
 what special reason Mr. Manlius had for inquiring 
 about the Judges.
 
 100 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Mr. Manilas, on his side, felt that he had made some 
 progress. It was difficult to say which part of hia 
 business was uppermost in his mind. He had com 
 bined the two, in a prudential spirit, and he proposed to 
 continue his plan, by calling, in an unaffected way at 
 such houses as seemed most likely to answer his pur 
 pose. He found no difficulty in inducing people to dis 
 cuss the affairs of Dr. Judge and his son, and met with 
 a varying opinion upon the character of the father. 
 He was subjected in turn to some inquisitiveness of the 
 people, but parried the questions that were put with 
 more or less success. He found, however, that there 
 was a somewhat stubborn prejudice against the notion 
 of domestic service on the part of the girls whom he 
 met. In vain he showed his statistics and held out 
 luring bait, painting the picture of social life in town 
 in high colors. He met with no more encouragement 
 than could be predicted from the willingness of the 
 several families to receive and post conspicuously his 
 card. Not that the young women whom he encoun 
 tered were unwilling to go to the city. Had he of 
 fered them situations of drudgery in stores, he could 
 have gone back with a battalion, but not even the pros 
 pect of fun, upon which, however, Mr. Manlius's ideas 
 were rather vague, could stir them from their prejudice 
 against the notion of working as servants. 
 
 At three o'clock Mr. Manlius was at the village 
 hotel, having privately partaken on the way thither of 
 a lunch discovered in his traveling bag, and found 
 Silas King with his venerable carriage ready to take 
 him back to the station. Mr. Manlius placed a few of 
 his cards in the hands of the hotel-keeper for judicious 
 distribution, and took the precaution to borrow a tack- 
 hammer and tacks, and nail one up in the bar, writing 
 beneath it : " All persons desiring employment in
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 101 
 
 respectable families in the city should apply to Mr. M." 
 Silas read the card with attention, and looked at Mr. 
 Manlius, who had so far shrunk now in mental propor 
 tions that he deemed it hardly necessary to help him 
 up the folding staircase of his carriage, but let him 
 clamber up as best he might, calling after him, " Easy 
 there, sir ! Don't bear all your weight on them steps." 
 Then, Mr. Manlius being well within, Silas carelessly 
 folded the staircase and took his place to drive. 
 
 " You 're very punctual, I see, Mr. King," said Mr. 
 Manlius, presently. " You never got there too late, I 
 suppose. I should be very sorry to miss the train 
 myself." Silas was whipping his horse methodically. 
 
 " Yes," he drawled. " Time 's of consequence to you 
 and me. The train always gets in after my carriage. 
 Did you find any girls ? " 
 
 " I saw a number of young women, but they were 
 not prepared to accept my proposition at once." 
 
 " Likely not," said Silas. "Our girls know a thing 
 or two." 
 
 " About your sister now," said Mr. Manlius, turning 
 the subject. " It 's a painful subject, I am aware, but 
 there are important reasons why I should know some 
 thing further of the Judges, father and son. The son, 
 now, should you say he took after his father? *' 
 
 " I say, are you a Justice of the Peace ? " asked 
 Silas. 
 
 " I am," said Mr. Manlius. " I was appointed by 
 the late Governor." 
 
 "Then I won't say anything about the old Judge and 
 his son to you, not a word," he added, vehemently, 
 whipping his horse so hard as to make even him wince. 
 
 " But you told me that Dr. Judge poisoned your 
 sister," said Mr. Manlius, mildly. 
 
 " No, I did n't," said Silas. " There wa'n't any wit-
 
 102 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 ness when I said that. I tell ye, you don't get another 
 word out of me. I '11 talk about the crops or anything 
 else, but I won't talk about that," said Silas, excitedly. 
 Mr. Manlius was puzzled, for in his researches he had 
 not heard of the examination of Silas by the coroner, 
 when, mainly on his representations, Dr. Judge had 
 rested under suspicion, and of the dire confusion and 
 contradiction into which he had been thrown. " You 
 may hang the son if you want to," he went on, " but 
 you won't hang him on my testimony ; " and thereafter 
 he maintained an obstinate silence until they reached 
 the station. 
 
 " If you ever come to town, come and see me," said 
 Mr. Manlius, handing him a card. 
 
 " Much obliged," said Silas, shortly, looking the 
 other way, " but I don't never go to town." 
 
 Mr. Manlius went first to his office on reaching 
 town ; he was so seldom absent from it that he was 
 disappointed to hear that nothing serious had happened 
 in his absence. He went home and found Mrs. Man 
 lius awaiting him anxiously. She had only known in 
 a general way where he had been, and what his errand 
 was. He had so veiled it all in mystery as almost 
 to deceive himself, and now he did nothing to lessen 
 the anxiety which his wife bore. He sat in the even 
 ing with paper, and pen, and note-book before him, 
 sometimes holding his heavy head on his hand as if the 
 weight of its contents was too much for his spine. So 
 matters continued for a day or two. Lizzy and Dizzy 
 could not fail to notice their father's preoccupation. 
 
 " Pop 's got a secret," was Dizzy's way of putting it. 
 " I mean to find out what it is." 
 
 "It's something very important, Dizzy," said her 
 sister, with an air of being her father's confidante. 
 ' You must n't disturb him."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. . 103 
 
 " Now, Liz Manlius, you need n't put on airs," said 
 Dizzy. " You know no more about it than Eunice 
 does." 
 
 " Yes, I do. It 's something about Nicholas Judge." 
 
 " Oh, is it ! Nicholas is divine. How near he came 
 to being Eunice's nephew. What if he 'd lived right in 
 this house, Lizzy ! " . 
 
 " He would have been of great help to me in my 
 studies," said that young lady, demurely. 
 
 "You goose. Pop doesn't like him any way. I 
 think it 's horrid. He bowed to me this morning when 
 I met him. Yes, I don't mind telling you, Liz. He 
 took his hat off." 
 
 " I don't believe he knows you from me, Diz Man 
 lius, at a distance." 
 
 " Oho ! Liz is jealous ! Liz is jealous ! " and her 
 mercurial sister spun round several times, in her de 
 light, and finally staggered into Lizzy's arms, who im 
 patiently pushed her away.
 
 104 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 
 
 MEANWHILE Mr. Manlius kept his own counsel, 
 though his general temper leaked out now and then. 
 It was drawing toward the close of the month, and 
 there was every appearance of a gathering of ideas, so 
 to speak, in Mr. Manlius's head, which fairly buzzed 
 with excitement. 
 
 " Caroline," he said, at length, one Monday. " To 
 morrow is Washington's birthday." 
 
 " Yes," said she, trembling. 
 
 " I propose to celebrate the day, and to ask my 
 neighbors to celebrate it, by a surprise party." 
 
 " Oh, Soprian ! really ? " 
 
 " I do not mean a mere frivolous surprise ; but 1 
 propose that we shall all go and pay our respects to 
 our neighbor, Mrs. Blake." 
 
 " Shall you ask Dr. Chocker ? " asked his wife, who 
 stood much in awe of him. 
 
 " Certainly, I shall ask Dr. Chocker and his grand 
 daughter." 
 
 " But Nicholas Judge will be there," said Mrs. Man 
 lius, faintly, and uneasily. 
 
 " Unquestionably, unquestionably," said Mr. Man 
 lius, with a stern look. " That is reasonably to be ex 
 pected. I propose to go this evening, and invite my 
 neighbors." If it had been a funeral to which he in 
 tended asking them, he could hardly have spoken with 
 more depressing effect.
 
 1 OS *P. 
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. lOO 
 
 " I suppose Eunice had better stay at home," said 
 Mrs. Manlius. 
 
 " Yes, decidedly. She must stay at home with the 
 children," said Mr. Manlius, with a frown. " Don't let 
 her know about it." 
 
 " Mrs. Blake has been very kind to her," said his 
 wife. " Eunice has been in to see her once or twice 
 since you spoke about if." 
 
 " She has, eh ? " said Mr. Manlius, sharply. " Why 
 did n't you tell me ? " 
 
 " You were so engaged, Soprian ; I did n't like to 
 disturb you. I '11 tell her not to go so often, if you 
 think best." 
 
 " Let her alone, Caroline ; she '11 only go the more 
 for that." 
 
 When the evening came, Mr. Manlius, as he had 
 planned, set out directly after tea. 
 
 " Pop 's gone out on his secret," said Dizzy, confiden 
 tially. " Eunice, what is Pop's secret?" Mrs. Mau- 
 lius was out of the room. 
 
 " Hush, child. I don't know. He 's a very busy 
 man." 
 
 " It 's something about your nephew, Liz says," said 
 Dizzy. 
 
 " He 's a good young man," said Eunice, with a 
 sigh. 
 
 " Don't you wish he had stayed your nephew, 
 Eunice ? " asked the girl. 
 
 " It don't much matter," said she, sighing again. 
 " Something else would have happened." In poor 
 Eunice Starkey's world, the somethings that happened 
 were never very bright or desirable things ; or if they 
 were, they seemed to fade as quickly as a sunset. 
 Mrs. Manlius returning to the room looked the full 
 extent of her own account of herself worried to
 
 106 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 death. She snapped at Dizzy, and snapped at Eunice 
 Starkey. 
 
 " It 's all along of that pretended nephew of yours," 
 she said to the latter. " Why could n't he stay away, 
 and not come here bothering us. I 'm sure I don't know 
 what will happen to Mr. Manlius. He 's gone out 
 now, and we 've got to go out to-morrow night, 
 Dizzy, you go straight to bed." 
 
 " Where are you going to-morrow night ? " asked 
 the inquisitive girl. 
 
 " I 'm going to get some layer-overs for meddlers," 
 said her mother, vexed at having half betrayed herself ; 
 and when Dizzy was gone, she eyed the thin woman 
 beside her sharply, to see if she had taken any special 
 notice of what had been said; but Eunice made no sign 
 of surprise or curiosity. 
 
 " What sort of a woman is Mrs. Blake ? " pursued 
 Mrs. Manlius. 
 
 " She 's a very kind lady," said Eunice, knitting 
 assiduously. 
 
 " Does she ever ask you questions about us ? " 
 
 " No. She does n't seem to be an inquisitive sort 
 of person." 
 
 " I 'm sure," sighed Mrs. Manlius. " I most wish 
 I was tied to my chamber, and could n't run about. 
 I don't know but I should grow into a saint that way," 
 and she stared ruefully. 
 
 " Mrs. Blake 's seen a heap of trouble," said her 
 companion. " She never told me much, but I can see 
 it." 
 
 " She an't afraid of her nephew, is she ? " asked 
 Mrs. Manlius, looking askance. 
 
 " Afraid of her nephew ? why no, why should she 
 be?" 
 
 " Does n't do to trust to appearances," said Mrs. Man-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 107 
 
 lius, grimly, catching a faint echo of her husband's sen 
 tentious and oracular way. " I won't say any more, but 
 just you keep an eye on Nicholas Judge." 
 
 Mrs. Starkey's countenance fell. It seemed to her 
 as if another of the few props that held her up, had 
 been roughly shaken. 
 
 " Oh, I hope not," she said sorrowfully. " I think 
 I 'd better look at the furnace fire," a way of escape 
 from further possible disclosures, which was not without 
 its relief to Mrs. Manlius, who began to fear she had 
 gone too far, and that she might be questioned uncom 
 fortably in turn. 
 
 " You '11 want to sift some of those asiies, Eunice," 
 she said. " Mr. Manlius don't like to find too few 
 cinders when he covers up the fire." 
 
 Mr. Manlius, at this time was calling on his neigh 
 bors, serving notice of the surprise party to come off 
 the next evening. Being of a frugal mind he had de 
 cided against the neighbors carrying anything besides 
 their own selves with them with which to entertain 
 Mrs. Blake. He had made his first call at Dr. Checker's. 
 Miss Lovering received him, and at his request, sent for 
 her grandfather, who came in somewhat testily, having 
 been interrupted when on a troublesome chase after a 
 word, which he remembered having once met somewhere 
 in Eustathius, and the worthy bishop had a chance to 
 hide a good many words in his magpie collection of 
 comments. 
 
 " "Well, neighbor," said Dr. Chocker, giving Mr. Man 
 lius his little hand. " So you 've got back from the 
 funeral, have you ? " 
 
 " It was not a funeral," said Mr. Manlius slowly, in 
 the old gentleman's trumpet. " It was business. I was 
 hunting a rogue." 
 
 " Need n't have gone out of town for that," said Dr. 
 Chocker. " I 'd engage to find one in this court."
 
 108 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " You may well say that," said Mr. Manilas with a 
 sort of freemasonry in his eye. " But I 've come on a 
 little different errand, a little different. I want you 
 and your granddaughter to join the neighbors in a 
 friendly irruption, if I may say so, a festive descent on 
 our infirm neighbor, Mrs. Blake." 
 
 " Don't understand," said he, sharply. " Here, you 
 tell my granddaughter what you want; she '11 translate 
 it to me. Excuse me. I 'm very busy. I 'm hunting a 
 rogue, too ; a rogue a bishop has concealed," he added 
 as he turned on his heel. 
 
 " Grandfather 's very busy to-night," explained Miss 
 Levering. " Pray, what is your plan, Mr. Manlius ? 
 a surprise party ? " 
 
 " In a measure, in a measure. We don't propose to 
 carry anything, Miss Lovering. I think that will 
 hardly be necessary. But to-morrow is Washington's 
 birthday, and I thought we might properly pay our re 
 spects to a person situated as Mrs. Blake is. She can 
 hardly enter much into ordinary festivities." 
 
 " Oh, we shall be delighted to go," said Miss Lover- 
 ing. "I admire Mrs. Blake extremely, and I think it 
 will be very pleasant for her to see her neighbors 
 thus." 
 
 " At eight, then," said Mr. Manlius, rising, and then, 
 turning to Miss Lovering, he said impressively, " I went 
 to Kingston, the other day." 
 
 " Did you, indeed ? " said she, and catching some 
 thing in his face, she began to wonder what she had to 
 do with that. 
 
 " I did not see your relations," he said, but I saw a 
 distant connection of yours, I believe, the Reverend 
 Mr. Lovering." Miss Lovering looked puzzled, es 
 pecially as she saw that Mr. Manlius was eying her in 
 tently. She began to think she was unwittingly mixed
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 109 
 
 up in some mysterious manner with Mr. Manlius and 
 his fortunes. He seemed to have no further disclosures 
 to make, however, and went out, leaving her to laugh 
 over the solemn manner he had borne, and her own un 
 disguised and, as she thought it, rather open-mouthed 
 surprise. 
 
 Mr. Manlius's next call was upon Mr. Paul Le Clear, 
 whom he had occasionally seen since Christmas, but 
 only for an exchange of bows. He found the young 
 gentleman, arrayed in a long wrapper, and topped with 
 a tasseled cap which gave him the look of belonging 
 to some order or brotherhood, not the Barefooted Friars 
 certainly, but perhaps the Slippered Toasters, as he had 
 an ingenious instrument by him, which he had con 
 structed, upon which he was toasting some Chater's 
 muffins. A number of Tail's magazine was in his 
 hand, and he was browsing pleasantly in literary past 
 ures. 
 
 " Mr. Manlius, sir," said that gentleman, introducing 
 himself, as Mr. Le Clear seemed for a moment a little 
 surprised at his entrance. 
 
 " Oh, to be sure. Sit down, Mr. Manlius. I have 
 not had this pleasure since Christmas. That was quite 
 a little anecdote of the times, eh ? How is that young 
 nephew in general to Five-Sisters Court ? " and he 
 moved his muffin a little farther back. 
 
 " I believe he is well. He is well to-day," said Mr. 
 Manlius with a somewhat mysterious emphasis. " I 
 have come to ask you to join us, Mr. Le Clear, in a 
 slight adventure I think I may call it. We propose 
 to celebrate to-morrow evening by an impromptu call 
 upon our neighbor, Mrs. Blake." 
 
 " Ah ? " 
 
 " We should be happy to have you join us in our 
 our mutual arrangement. It will be quite informal. 
 We do not propose to carry anything."
 
 110 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Curry anything ? " 
 
 " Anything to eat, I mean. We shall carry our 
 selves, and the compliments of the day," said Mr. Man- 
 lius, with ponderous facetiousness. 
 
 " The day ? " 
 
 " Washington's birthday, you know." 
 
 " Ah ! You propose that we shall go and make :i 
 general descent upon the infirm lady in Number 
 Four?" 
 
 " That was my idea a surprise party, I think it is 
 sometimes called." 
 
 " Very entertaining, no doubt," said Mr. Le Clear, 
 languidly, " but while Washington was no doubt a model 
 man, and Mrs. Blake an estimable gentlewoman, I 
 hardly think I feel equal to surprising either of them. 
 In fact surprises bore 'me." 
 
 " Then you have no desire to be surprised yourself ?" 
 asked Mr. Manlius with a frown. 
 
 " Not by a party." Mr. Manlius was perplexed, and 
 sat frowning moodily. 
 
 " I have no objection to saying," he at length said, 
 " that I have a further object iu mind. I desire to 
 bring together the same persons who were privy to a 
 certain scene last Christmas, with a view to making 
 certain public statements with regard to a certain per 
 son who was then and there present." 
 
 " Are you certain about it ? " asked Mr. Le Clear. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; yes, sir," said Mr. Manlius ; " and I have 
 reason to believe that I shall be supported by the 
 learned Dr. Checker and by his granddaughter, Miss 
 Lovering, who, you may be aware, has lately come to 
 reside with her grandfather." 
 
 " Oh, her name 's Miss Lovering, is it ? and she 's old 
 Checker's granddaughter ? Hm. What time do you 
 want us at the funeral services of our young friend,
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. HI 
 
 Mr. Manilas ? " Mr. Manlius leered at the words and 
 tone. 
 
 " At eight o'clock, Mr. Le Clear." 
 
 " Well, I may drop in, but don't wait for me. 
 You 've had your tea, I suppose ? " 
 
 "Yes, I see I am detaining you. Good evening, 
 sir," and Mr. Manlius left, but put his head in at the 
 door again, to say, " Mr. Le Clear, I have reasons for 
 wishing to reserve my my ulterior object. You will 
 regard my communication as strictly confidential ? " 
 
 "Oh, entirely so," said Mr. Le Clear. "I'll forget 
 it altogether, if you desire it." Mr. Manlius had but 
 one other call to make, and that was on Miss Pix. He 
 found her having a social evening with Mr. Winclgraff 
 and Mr. Pfeiffer, who had left their instruments at 
 home, contrary to Mr. Manlius's general notions with 
 regard to foreigners, and were chatting with Miss Pix 
 without the least awkwardness, the mere fact of their 
 not having violins with them not seeming to impede 
 their action. Mr. Manlius, like some smaller men, found 
 it difficult to conceive of these professional musicians 
 without embracing their instruments also, so much like 
 additional members do they seem to the unversed. 
 
 " Mr. Manlius, you have not forgotten Mr. Wind- 
 graff, I presume," said their hostess, " nor Mr. Pfeiffer," 
 as the visitor came into the little parlor and was greeted 
 by her. " What an odd evening that was at Christmas. 
 We often speak of it." 
 
 " It was a surprise symphony," said Mr. Windgraff, 
 enunciating the words slowly. 
 
 " Yes, yes," said Mr. Pfeiffer, who had fewer English 
 words at his immediate command, and indeed kept 
 most of his linguistic capital in the bank, so to speak, 
 of a pocket dictionary, drawing from it only as he had 
 need, a convenient kind of bank which he carried
 
 112 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 in a private pocket made for it in each of his coats 
 by the industrious Mrs. Pfeiffer. 
 
 " So it was," said Miss Fix, with animation, while 
 Mr. Pfeiffer took out his little dictionary and looked up 
 the word surprise. 
 
 " Symphonic mil Paulcenschlag" explained Mr. Wind- 
 graff, in an aside to his friend. 
 
 " Ah ! " he exclaimed, and his face broadened into 
 a smile of interest, which increased as he fourid surprise, 
 and nodded intelligently. 
 
 " It was very unexpected," said Mr. Manlius, looking 
 at the ceiling, "so are other things, other things;" and he 
 looked at Miss Pix, who returned his gaze with a cer 
 tain severity which quite became her, though it was 
 only a general expression of her disposition toward Mr. 
 Manlius. 
 
 " I called," he went on to say, " to propose a com 
 panion piece, if I may say so, for to-morrow evening. 
 Washington's birthday, you are aware, Miss Pix." 
 
 " Washington's birthday ! " exclaimed Mr. Pfeiffer, 
 who knew both words without looking them out. "Yes ! 
 to-morrow ! " for his children were to have a holiday, 
 and he had been laboriously reading about Washington 
 in one of their school-books. 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Mr. Manlius, turning to him. " You 
 are right. We celebrate in our country the annual 
 return of the anniversary of the birth of the Father of 
 his Country. We have no saint's days or idle festivi 
 ties generally in our country. Fourth of July and 
 Washington's birthday are our principal days; they 
 remind us of our country's greatness ; " and Mr. Man 
 lius leaned back and half closed his eyes, as if the light 
 of his country's fame was almost too much for him. 
 Mr. Pfeiffer listened eagerly, and began consulting his 
 dictionary, anxious to add to his stock of knowledge ;
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 113 
 
 but when Mr. Windgraff quietly interpreted the sen 
 tence, he looked a trifle disappointed, he knew all 
 that before. 
 
 " What do you propose for to-morrow evening ? " 
 asked Miss Fix, a little impatiently. 
 
 " I propose a surprise party from the court, to meet 
 at Mrs. Blake's." Miss Fix opened her eyes in aston 
 ishment. 
 
 " You good man ! " said she, impulsively getting up 
 and shaking Mr. Manlius's hand, somewhat to that gen 
 tleman's surprise, and giving herself a little internal 
 admonitory shaking, as it were, for want of charity 
 toward her neighbor. " That is a charming idea. What 
 shall we carry ? " 
 
 " A piece of Washington pie," suggested Mr. Wind 
 graff, who had that day made the acquaintance of this 
 patriotic pastry. 
 
 " Mr. Windgraff, you are a genius," said Miss Fix, 
 in delight. " But really, Mr. Manlius, what do you 
 propose ? " 
 
 " I have talked the matter over with Mrs. Manlius, 
 and Miss Lovering, and Mr. Paul Le Clear," said he, 
 generously sharing his private sentiments with them, 
 " and it is unanimously agreed that we should not 
 undertake to make any donation to Mrs. Blake." 
 
 "Not take anything ? " said Miss Fix. " Why, that 
 seems rather unneighborly. Of course she does n't 
 need anything, and I didn't mean donations; but she 
 may not have on hand anything for us. And then 
 anything goes off so much better if you have eating 
 and drinking, does n't it, Mr. Ffeiffer ? " 
 
 " What ? " he asked, and as she explained in Ger 
 man he replied with great emphasis, and recommended 
 potato salad. 
 
 " But we ought to agree about it, Mr. Manlius," said
 
 114: THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Miss Fix, " and if the rest of you think it best not 
 to, I '11 give in," and then, somewhat embarrassed 
 and making various private unintelligible signs to Mr. 
 Manlius, she finally asked in a confidential whisper, 
 hoping Mr. Manlius understood Latin, and wishing to 
 put it succinctly, " Mei quatuor amici musici ? " Mr. 
 Manlius stared. "Duo hie, duo illic," she explained, 
 desperately. Mr. Manlius pulled his waistcoat down 
 and sat up straighter. He knew duo, but that threw 
 no light on the rest. " That sounds like my daughter 
 Elizabeth," said he. " She says things like that. She 's 
 studying Latin." 
 
 u Oh, is she ? " said Miss Fix ; " do let me show you a 
 Latin book I have over here," and she marched him 
 across the room and then whispered eagerly, " May n't 
 I ask these two gentlemen and the other two ? You 
 know they were all here that evening ? " Mr. Manlius 
 reflected. It certainly would help to make the gather 
 ing more impressive, but he began to feel a sudden faint 
 misgiving, as it flashed across his mind that he might 
 have to give a clear and lucid explanation to these 
 German musicians, and that they would hardly meet 
 him half way, as the others would. 
 
 " Well, I suppose we might," he said, after a pause, 
 " but the room is pretty small." 
 
 " Oh, we can scatter about, and we can come in here 
 afterward and have some music," said Miss Fix, with a 
 sudden thought, and gaining her point she went back 
 to her friends, oblivious of her Latin book. Mr. 
 Pfeiffer was very sorry, he had a musical engagement 
 that night, but Mr. Windgraff would most cheerfully 
 come and bring his violin and notify his friends, Mr. 
 Schmauker and Mr. Pfeffendorf. When Mr. Manlius 
 thus returned to his own house the seriousness of his 
 undertaking began to grow upon him. His children
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 115 
 
 were in bed. Mrs. Starkey also had withdrawn, and 
 Mrs. Manlius alone sat waiting anxiously for hinl. 
 
 " They are all coming, Caroline," said he. " We 
 shall have a full party, and it will be an important day 
 in our lives." 
 
 " Will there be a policeman there ? " asked Mrs. 
 Manlius, timidly. 
 
 " A policeman ? why should there be a policeman ? " 
 
 " I thought perhaps you meant to take him up." 
 
 " That will not be necessary," said Mr. Manlius. 
 " The sense of discovery makes the guilty man weak," 
 and he gazed before him as if he saw the wicked fall 
 ing on every side. Nevertheless, the words of his wife 
 had brought sharply before him the somewhat vague 
 character of his charges. It is so hard to prove things 
 sometimes to persons unwilling to be convinced, and he 
 could not help doubting whether the sense of the court 
 would be immediately and heartily with him. He 
 passed the next day somewhat nervously, reviewing his 
 notes, and made visits to the upper part of his house in 
 hopes of hearing new and confirmatory sounds. He 
 walked out behind the houses also, and in general com 
 ported himself with so much mystery as to excite un 
 bounded curiosity in the mind of his daughter Desire. 
 
 " Liz," said she, " I should n't wonder one bit if we 
 were going to have a party. I heard Pop say some 
 thing to mother this morning that looked like it." 
 
 " What was it, Dizzy ? " 
 
 " I won't tell unless you tell me what Nicholas said 
 to you when he met you in the court yesterday. I 
 saw you, you sly girl ! Oh, you pretend you only care 
 for your Latin grammar." 
 
 " I shan't tell," said Lizzy, turning red. 
 
 " Then I shan't tell what Pop said." There was si 
 lence for a moment, each considering how she could
 
 116 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 obtain the other's secret without parting with her own, 
 each being aware in fact that her own was quite value 
 less unless it were kept a secret. At this moment their 
 mother entered the room. 
 
 " Girls," said she, " your father and I will have to 
 go out this evening, but I don't want you to tell 
 Eunice." 
 
 " Oh, where are you going ? " they both exclaimed at 
 once." 
 
 " No matter," said she. " It 's some very important 
 business of your father's." 
 
 " I heard," said Dizzy, making a daring venture. 
 " It 's to a party." 
 
 " Desire, don't you dare to whisper a word of it to 
 Eunice," said her mother, impressively. " Your father 
 will be very angry with you if you do." 
 
 " I mean to plague Eunice and make her guess," 
 said Dizzy. 
 
 " Don't you do any such thing," said her mother. 
 "She '11 guess, and then you'll be sorry." Mrs. Manlius 
 had felt it necessary to tell the children, both to relieve 
 her own mind, and because she saw they were very 
 curious, and she thought that a little knowledge would 
 quiet them ; but she had only added fuel to the flame. 
 
 " I suppose you won't be back till after midnight," 
 began Lizzy, dolefully. 
 
 " Oh, it an't a great way," said Mrs. Manlius, trying 
 hard to tell nothing. 
 
 <; It 's at Miss Fix's," said Desire. " I know." 
 
 " No, it is n't ; not exactly," added her mother, 
 faintly. 
 
 " It 's in the court, any way," pursued the tormentor. 
 
 " I don't see why we can't go," said Lizzy plain 
 tively. 
 
 " Now Lizzy and Dizzy, don't you say another
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 117 
 
 word, nor ask another question, and I '11 tell you. Your 
 father has been getting up a surprise party, and all the 
 families in the court are going to spend the evening 
 with Mrs. Blake." 
 
 " I knew it," said Dizzy, triumphantly. " I knew it 
 just as well as not, and I 'm just dying to go too. I 
 shall be thirteen next year and it's a burning shame 
 we can't go. I mean to go." 
 
 " Dizzy ! " said her mother in alarm. " You will 
 do no such thing, and I am ashamed of you for talking 
 in that way." Mrs. Manlius retreated after this, anx 
 ious to get out of the way of her children, lest they 
 should by some hocus pocus accomplish what they 
 threatened, and even get her consent to it. 
 
 When supper was over, and the two girls sat demurely 
 in the dining-room, reading, while Mrs. Starkey was 
 engaged iti putting away the tea things, Mr. Maulius 
 took the opportunity to say, 
 
 " Girls, your mother and I are going out this even 
 ing, to be gone some time. You must go to bed now. 
 Eunice, you need n't sit up for us ; we shan't probably 
 be back till quite late." 
 
 " Are you going a good distance, Pop ? " asked De 
 sire. 
 
 " Yes, it will be some time before we return," he re 
 plied. 
 
 " As far as the end of the court ? " pursued his 
 daughter. 
 
 " Dizzy, hold your tongue," said her father. " Did n't 
 you hear me say we should be gone all the evening ? 
 You are very disrespectful." 
 
 " I did n't know but you wanted to surprise us," she 
 replied, meekly. 
 
 " You can both go up-stairs, now," said her father. 
 " Elizabeth, I am glad to see you reading so diligently,
 
 118 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 but you need ii't read any more to-night. You will 
 want sound sleep for your head." 
 
 " I suppose we had better go to bed, Diz," said the 
 studious girl, when they had reached their room. 
 " Mother or Eunice will be coming up to see if we are 
 safe." 
 
 " Yes, but don't you go to sleep. It would be awful 
 to go to sleep and never wake up till morning."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 119 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A HALF hour later, Mr. and Mrs. Manlius were 
 dressed and ready for their part in the surprise. Mrs. 
 Starkey sat down at her work, much wondering on 
 what excursion the two had gone, for they were not 
 much given to social journeys. She sat knitting by a 
 dim light, ^economically turned down to its lowest 
 burning point, and mechanically going over in her 
 mind the routine of her to-morrow's work. Something 
 in the quiet of the house, and the darkness of the room, 
 led her mind along in a sluggish current of loneliness. 
 She did not often lift her eyes, poor thing, out of the 
 covered way in which she daily jogged ; she had been 
 benumbed by years of drudgery and by the despairing 
 consciousness that when there was a sudden rattle of 
 the wheels of her nature, she was animated without 
 the satisfaction of knowing that she was animated, and 
 enjoying it. She dreaded these returns of loquacity, 
 which seized her now and then and bore her along 
 upon a stream of Imp-hazard talk which was a kind of 
 nightmare to her in recollection. When she recalled it 
 in the dull period that succeeded, it was possible only to 
 catch certain solitary expressions or emotions all the 
 rest was a jumble. The knowledge that she was thus 
 irrational humbled and depressed her. For the first 
 time in years she had found some one who seemed to 
 understand all this, without thereby misjudging her, 
 and without constantly reminding her even tacitly of
 
 120 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 the miserable infirmity under which she labored. She 
 clung, therefore, to Mrs. Blake as to one who might 
 possibly help her, might even, it sometimes seemed, ex 
 tricate her from her confused misery. Already she 
 had gone so far as to tell a little of her history to her 
 neighbor, and she longed to confide in her wholly ; it 
 seemed as if by so doing she would take a step out of 
 herself and into a freer, more natural air, where she 
 could recover her true relations to herself and to oth 
 ers. The desire grew upon her, as she sat in the dis 
 mal room, and at last, yielding to it, she laid aside her 
 work and getting her shawl and hood, set out for her 
 neighbor's, meaning to make a little visit, from which 
 she could return long before Mr. and Mrs. Manlius 
 would be back. She closed the door, locking it, and 
 carrying the key, and stood soon before Number Four. 
 It was opened almost immediately as she rang, and 
 Mrs. Starkey perceived at once that something unusual 
 was going on. She would have retreated incontinently, 
 but at the same moment Miss Pix had discovered her, 
 and darted out. 
 
 " Bless my heart, Mrs. Starkey," said she, seizing 
 her, "I thought you were Mr. Windgraff. You see I 
 thought it might be a little awkward for him, and so 
 I 'd be on hand when he came." All this while she 
 was removing Mrs. Starkey's hood and shawl, while 
 the poor woman hearing voices, was making dumb 
 show of protesting, as Miss Pix rattled on. 
 
 " I call this a genuine surprise, Mrs. Starkey," said 
 she. " Mrs. Blake was just asking about you, and 
 saying she wished you were here, and I 'm so glad you 
 decided to come after all. Your second thoughts are 
 such sensible ones. Now my second ones are good for 
 nothing ; I have to trust to the first ones that come. 
 So walk right up-stairs with me ; you leave your first
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 121 
 
 thoughts down here and I '11 take mine with me," and 
 by sheer force of her good-natured will, little Miss Fix 
 pulled Mrs. Starkey up to the room where Mrs. Blake 
 sat, receiving her friends. Mrs. Starkey's heart sank 
 within her as she saw Mr. Manlius with his hand in his 
 waistcoat talking to Dr. Chocker. Her entrance made 
 a little commotion, and it seemed to her that every one 
 turned to stare at her as hard as did Mr. and Mrs. 
 Manlius, but Mrs. Blake received her so affectionately, 
 and gave her at once a seat so near her, that she felt 
 in a measure at ease, though everything was whirling 
 about. Mrs. Blake held her hand for a few minutes 
 as she talked with her, and Miss Fix darted off again 
 to lie in wait for Mr. Windgraff, since she had heard 
 the bell ring again, and he was the only one wanting to 
 complete the company, Mr. Schmauker and Mr. Ffef- 
 fendorf having sent their regrets and a promise to come 
 later to Miss Fix's, when their evening work should be 
 done. Mr. Windgraff presently appeared and made a 
 profound bow to Mrs. Blake. 
 
 " The cake was very good," said he ; "I have a 
 piece of it yet. I have put it away in a box to keep 
 as a souvenir." 
 
 " It is a souvenir of Miss Fix, too, you know," said 
 Mrs. Blake, laughing; "for she made it." 
 
 " That I also know," said Mr. Windgraff, blushing a 
 little. 
 
 " Come, Mr. Windgraff," whispered Miss Fix. " I 
 want to introduce you to a new-comer in the court. 
 She 's a granddaughter of old Dr. Chocker," and march 
 ing Mr. Windgraff across the room, she presented him 
 with a fine flourish to Miss Sally Lovering, who was 
 talking with her neighbor, Mr. Paul Le Clear. 
 
 " Do you live in the court ? " she asked. 
 
 " No, I am not one of the Five Sisters," said Mr.
 
 122 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Windgraff ; *' but I am a neighbor. I live round the 
 corner, and I was at the other party. You are a 
 sister ? " 
 
 " Yes, I am a sister," laughed Sally ; " or a sister's 
 granddaughter. Grandfather has told me about the 
 Christmas party. I should like to have been there. 
 What instrument did you play, Mr. Windgraff?" 
 
 " J play the violin. It is my professional instru 
 ment." 
 
 " Mr. Le Clear played the drum, he tells me." 
 
 u You played it well," said Mr. Windgraff. " Are 
 you a drummer ? " 
 
 " No," said that young gentlemen, amused ; " I have 
 sometimes tried to write on parchment ; but I have 
 never pounded it except for sport." 
 
 " I think I should like to drum, at times," said 
 Sally. " It seems such an energetic performance ; and 
 then your drum seems to be such a solid part of the 
 music. I watched the drummer yesterday, who played 
 in the ' Meerstille,' and he looked so well satisfied 
 when he was left, near the close, to play his drum all 
 by himself, he was the sole performer, and the piece 
 could not go on till he was through." 
 
 " You were at the concert ? " asked Mr. Wiudgraff, 
 looking pleased. " And you liked it ?" 
 
 " Oh, it was splendid. I went right off and bought 
 the ' Meerstille ' for my piano, but it sounded dread 
 fully thin and unsatisfactory, after hearing the orches 
 tra." 
 
 " Yes," said Le Clear, " it has a certain change of 
 scene about it, that cannot be expressed properly by a 
 piano, which, after all, has no great emotional range. 
 But what is Mr. Manlius about ? " Miss Levering and 
 Mr. Windgraff turned, and saw Mr. Manlius standing, 
 note-book in hand, by a table, upon which he rapped
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 123 
 
 with his knuckles. Mrs. Manlius was near him, fan 
 ning herself in an agitated way, and looking exceed 
 ingly uncomfortable. 
 
 " He must be about to read an address to Mrs. 
 Blake," whispered Miss Lovering. 
 
 " It is Washington's Farewell Address," said Mr. 
 Windgraff. " This is Washington's birthday." But it 
 was neither, for Mr. Manlius, after getting the atten 
 tion of the company, turned to Mrs. Blake, and said, 
 
 " Mrs. Blake, our esteemed hostess, I am engaged in 
 a somewhat delicate task, as I may say, and I have 
 asked these friends and neighbors of ours to be present 
 for the sake of corroborating and confirming my state 
 ments and my inferences. I hold here, madam, in my 
 hand, a little note-book, which you may perhaps recol 
 lect seeing before. You may remember it, Mr. Judge. 
 There are others who, if present, would swear that they 
 had seen this little book before. Now I have a good 
 memory, and I am in the habit of exercising my mind 
 a good deal, turning matters that interest me over and 
 over and cogitating upon them, but in matters of great 
 importance I always use my note-book. I like to have 
 what you, Dr. Checker, I believe, call a man's ipse 
 dtxit, the very words that he utters," he translated 
 to the company at large, while Dr. Checker, who stood 
 solemnly with his ear-trumpet, turned to his nearest 
 neighbor, who happened to be Mrs. Starkey, and re 
 lieved himself by saying in a vigorous whisper, " Oh 
 that he had been writ down asinus ;" " now in this note 
 book," he went on, shaking the little book significantly, 
 " I have taken down various words said to me here, 
 yes, here in this house, and in Kingston," and at this 
 he looked searchingly at Nicholas, whose face clouded 
 with anger, and at Miss Lovering, who showed undis 
 guised astonishment. " Miss Lovering will bear me
 
 124 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 out iu what I am going to. say," whereupon all the 
 people turned to Sally, who bit her lip in vexation. 
 But at this point Mrs. Blake interrupted him. 
 
 '" Mr. Manlius," said she, quietly, " I do not know 
 just what you may be about to say, but from the tone 
 of your words I infer that you intend to excite suspi 
 cion against my nephew here. Is it so ? " 
 
 " No, madam," said he ; and then lowering his voice 
 expressively, " but to make certain statements which 
 shall prove my own instinctive convictions to have been 
 well founded." 
 
 " It is all one," said she. " I will have nothing of 
 the kind said to me, or in my presence. It is an in 
 sult." 
 
 " Suppose we let him say what he wishes, aunt," said 
 Nicholas, his voice trembling a little with excitement. 
 " I do not know, either, what he is about to say, but 
 since he has gone so far, I should like to hear the rest. 
 It certainly is better than to have all this insinuation 
 of evil. Mr. Manlius, do me the favor to clear your 
 mind of all you have on it." Mrs. Blake silently gave 
 assent, nor was she displeased to have her nephew take 
 the matter thus into his own hands. 
 
 " I will go on," said Mr. Manlius ; " it is not the first 
 time, madam, that one who has a painful public duty to 
 perform has been suspected of false motives. Do you 
 think it was for any personal aggrandizement of my 
 own that I took pains to make these inquiries, to take 
 an expensive journey, to neglect my business ? No, 
 madam, I did it all for your benefit, because I thought 
 it was my duty as a member of society brought into 
 contact with you, and with other dwellers in the court, 
 to expose the iniquities of this interloper." 
 
 " Mr. Manlius, you will please confine yourself to 
 facts, and spare us these names," said Nicholas.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 125 
 
 " The names will keep, sir, the names will keep," 
 cried Mr. Manlius, angry at the coolness of the person 
 whom he regarded as the prisoner at the bar. " You 
 want the facts, do you? Mrs. Blake and neighbors, 
 Mrs. Manlius will bear me out when I say that in this 
 room, on Christmas eve, I turned to her and said, 'that 
 man is a base impostor ; ' and she will remember that 
 before we came here, while we were yet in Miss Fix's 
 hospitable parlor, before his pretensions had been ex 
 posed, I said, 'he is an impostor;' and now, with the 
 full evidence in my possession, I repeat it, he is an im 
 postor, and something worse. It has been my life-long 
 study to read character, and what I read that night I 
 have confirmed by careful examination since." The au 
 dience heard all this with more equanimity that Nicho 
 las himself remained so much like one of them, and did 
 not seem to be especially disturbed by the muttering 
 about his head. Mrs. Manlius fanned herself excitedly, 
 not daring to look at her husband ; Miss Fix relieved 
 herself by vicious little digs at the speaker with a pair 
 of scissors, delivered from the other side of the room 
 under the cover of Mr. Windgraff and Miss Levering. 
 Mr. Windgraff listened gravely, but with a blushing 
 face, while Miss Lovering, looking shyly at Nicholas 
 now and then, sat in evident pain, plainly the mo^t un 
 comfortable person in the room. Her name had been 
 used and she knew not into what disagreeable associa 
 tions she was to be dragged. Mr. Le CJear pulled his 
 moustache and eyed the different persons in the group, 
 while his lip curled at the vulgarity of the whole pro 
 ceeding. " It is a poor melodrama put on an insuffi 
 cient stage," he whispered to Miss Lovering. Miss 
 Lovering's grandfather had his trumpet turned to the 
 speaker, to whom he listened, every once in. a while 
 taking his trumpet out and deliberately emptying the
 
 126 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 supposed contents, then gravely replacing it, a panto 
 mime which gave Miss Fix infinite pleasure, recognized 
 by pantomimic applause on her part as she caught the 
 old gentleman's eye. Mrs. Starkey, who was by Dr. 
 Checker, presented the most forlorn appearance. She 
 glanced timidly at the speaker and then at Nicholas 
 and Mrs. Blake, her eye traveling back and forth be 
 tween them, as if she needed the assurance which the 
 composure of the accused gave, to withstand the shock 
 produced by the charges of the accuser. Yet, as Mr. 
 Manlius went on, a change passed over her manner, and 
 little by little the attention of the company settled on 
 her and the speaker, rather than on Nicholas, for her 
 drooping attitude gave place to excitement, and her 
 eyes began to flash as she listened to the development 
 of Mr. Manlius's accusation. 
 
 "On Saturday, the seventh day of January last 
 past," continued Mr. Manlius, referring carefully to his 
 note-book, " I called at eight o'clock in the evening 
 upon my neighbor, Mrs. Eunice Blake, living in house 
 Number Four, Amory Court, who received me in this 
 room where we now are." Mr. Manlius looked round 
 upon the company as if citing them all as witnesses to 
 the important fact of the room. " We entered into 
 conversation respecting her nephew. In the course 
 of that conversation," and here Mr. Manlius laid his 
 forefinger on the several passages in his memorandum- 
 book, " Mrs. Blake informed me that her nephew had 
 informed her that he had studied medicine privately 
 with his father in the country privately, yes, quite 
 privately, in a small house on the side of Round Top 
 Mountain, in the village of Kingston, as I afterward as 
 certained, not far from the house of one Silas King," 
 and here he looked steadfastly at Nicholas, glancing 
 afterward at Miss Levering, " and his son Silas King,
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 127 
 
 and his daughter, Emma King." Nicholas shaded 
 his face with his hand, and then reached out for his 
 aunt's hand, which was given him. 
 
 " Shall I stop him ? " whispered Mrs. Blake, ener 
 getically; but Nicholas shook his head. Miss Lovering 
 played with her handkerchief nervously. 
 
 " He studied medicine," Mr. Manlius went on, " but 
 not with the purpose of practicing. I am quoting from 
 the words of his aunt. Moreover, this young man 
 carefully abstained from saying what his intentions 
 were. He took possession of the upper story for what 
 he calls his workshop and his bedroom. His aunt, 
 confined to this room, is obliged to leave him to his 
 own devices, and so carefully does he conceal his oper 
 ations that the single domestic kept, a very trusty girl, 
 Hannah by name, " here there was a decided rustle 
 in the entry, and an excited whisper, 
 
 " That 's you, Hannah. Why don't you go in ?" Mr. 
 Manlius looked at his wife. 
 
 " Caroline," said he, " I heard Desire's voice. Did 
 she come with you, Mrs. Starkey ? " and he turned 
 sternly to Mrs. Starkey. 
 
 " No, sir," said she, decisively. " If she came, it was 
 of her own will." She was about to say more, but Mr. 
 Manlius hastily proceeded : 
 
 " Let her remain, let her remain. It may be a les 
 son to her for life." 
 
 " Liz is here, too," came the same whisper from the 
 entry, but Mr. Manlius continued : 
 
 "This girl Hannah is deliberately frightened by the 
 young man to prevent her ever from entering his apart 
 ments. Indeed, so scrupulous was he in keeping his 
 work secret, that five days afterward, when I called 
 upon him, Thursday, the thirteenth ultimo, and under 
 took, as any friend naturally might, to visit him in his
 
 128 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 own room, I was deliberately driven down-stairs again, 
 but at that interview he himself confessed to me that 
 he had intentionally prevented this Hannah, the only 
 person who could enter, from ever going into his room, 
 by threatening to poison her if she went in." 
 
 " Oh, what a fib ! " came from the entry. 
 
 "And so guilty," continued Mr. Manilas, disregard 
 ing the interruption, "so guilty was this young man's 
 conscience that at the merely casual mention by me of 
 the word poison, he but I will read what I wrote 
 in my note-book on the spot, my ipse dixit, in fact. 
 'I said, with poison, for example, when N. J. trembled 
 violently, walking in agitation back and forth across 
 the room, and not seeing me as I write these words.' 
 There, that is like a photograph. The sun can't lie. 
 as you have often heard it said. At this same inter 
 view he utterly refused to inform me from what part 
 of the country he had come. I had previously learned, 
 in conversation with our good friend, Miss Fix " 
 
 " Well, what did you learn from me? " exploded that 
 lady like a torpedo. 
 
 " That this young man had carefully concealed from 
 her the facts regarding his early life, and she did not 
 even know from where he had come." It was with 
 difficulty that Miss Pix restrained herself from further 
 indignant words. " Moreover, when I mentioned to 
 him my wish to visit his native town on special business 
 of my own, which I frankly explained to him, he the 
 more refused to make known the place to me. But I 
 was not thus to be balked, and at this point I may 
 reverently say that what some people call chance opened 
 the way to my further investigations. I was making a 
 social call upon our learned friend, Dr. Checker " 
 
 " I '11 thank you not to call me friend," said Dr. 
 Checker, tartly, "till you have proved this idiotic
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 129 
 
 case of yours." Mr. Manlius drew himself proudly 
 up. 
 
 " I am ready to stand alone in this cause," said he. 
 " I met at Dr. Checker's his granddaughter, Miss Lov- 
 ering, whom you see before you, and learned in con 
 versation with her that she and the young man came 
 from the same village." At this Nicholas looked up 
 with half-opened eyelids and an odd expression of rec 
 ognition as he bent his eyes on the young lady, who 
 was red with mortification at the false position in which 
 she found herself, aud was tapping impatiently with 
 her foot. 
 
 " Furthermore, when I came to inquire as to the 
 character which the young man bore in his native vil 
 lage, I found from Miss Lovering's hesitation and 
 guarded manner that there was something behind what 
 she said ; indeed, I gathered distinctly from her that 
 his character would not bear searching tests, and that 
 he concealed behind a plausible exterior a very doubt 
 ful, very doubtful life." Miss Lovering appealed 
 to one and another near her, with mute protestation. 
 Mr. Windgraff, whose face had been in a steady glow, 
 here spoke up, 
 
 " The Miss Lovering says that is all false." 
 
 " Hear him ! " cried Miss Fix, excitedly poking Mr. 
 "Windgraff. 
 
 " Be that as it may," said Mr. Manlius, sternly, " I 
 immediately resolved to examine this matter to the 
 bottom, and the very next morning, Thursday, the fifth 
 of February, I took the train to Kingston, where I 
 spent the entire day amongst the clergy and intelligent 
 population of that village, asking questions and exam 
 ining witnesses, so to speak, in order to satisfy myself 
 on the point. The testimony all pointed indubitably 
 to one fact. In that village resided a so-called doctor 
 9
 
 130 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 and his son." Nicholas made a motion to speak, but 
 restrained himself. " They lived apart from people, 
 seeing few, and knowing still fewer. They shut them 
 selves up in their house, just as this young man shuts 
 himself up in his room above this, and had their retorts 
 and mortars, just as I have often heard, and Mrs. Star- 
 key here has heard this young man pounding and con 
 cocting in his workshop above here. Now what does 
 all this mean ? I will tell you what it means. The 
 doctor dies, and suddenly, without advising with any 
 one, the young man leaves the town. He comes here, 
 choosing the day before Christmas, as a time when 
 there is a general disposition toward good fellowship 
 and mirth. He calls upon the learned Dr. Chocker and 
 passes himself off as the young gentleman whom I see 
 before me, Mr. Paul Le Clear ; he comes to my house 
 and gives himself out as the nephew of the worthy 
 woman to whom, for many years, I have given shelter 
 and a home, and then, finding his way here throws her 
 off rudely and claims a connection with the lady of the 
 house. It is monstrous, incredible, but that is not all. 
 Upon pretense he secludes himself, occupies a room re 
 mote from the rest of the household, where he works 
 late into the night secretly ; refuses all admission and 
 does not even tell his aunt, as he calls her, what he is 
 engaged upon. And why ? Because, as in Kingston, 
 Emma King was poisoned by the art of Dr. Judge." 
 
 " Stop, scoundrel ! " exclaimed Nicholas, springing 
 up. " Say what infernal nonsense you please about me, 
 but don't you speak my father's name in that way." 
 
 " Soprian Manlius ! " Every one turned in surprise. 
 Mrs. Starkey had risen from her seat, and was leaning 
 her hands upon the table near him. Her whole man 
 ner was changed. She was agitated and pale, but 
 spoke with a slow, deliberate voice, that showed her
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 131 
 
 under control, but not the nerveless, passive woman to 
 whom they were accustomed. " Soprian," she said 
 again, " who am I ? " 
 
 " Why, Eunice Starkey," said he, with a light air ; 
 and then, persuasively, " come Eunice, I think perhaps 
 you and Caroline had better take the children home. I 
 see they have come over here, and they ought to be in 
 bed." He tapped his forehead significantly to the rest 
 of the company, and Mrs. Manlius made a motion as 
 if she would start. 
 
 " No, Soprian," said Mrs. Starkey, " you are wrong 
 this time. I have my wits about me. I am clear in 
 my head, and I know perfectly well when I am con 
 fused and when I am clear. I was confused last 
 Christmas, when these people saw me ; to-night I came 
 here ignorant of your intentions, and stayed against my 
 will, but a cloud has passed away, and I see things as I 
 have tried to see them for a long while. Again I ask 
 you, who am I ? " She paused, but Mr. Manlius made 
 no answer, save to shake his head dolefully and look 
 pitying. 
 
 " I am the woman who was Eunice Brown. That you 
 know, Mr. Judge, and you, Mrs. Blake, and you, Miss 
 Fix. But you do not know, because I never told you, 
 that when I was a girl I was to have married that man 
 there. He promised to marry me, but suddenly my father 
 died and it was found that I had no money. Then So 
 prian went away, yes, I will tell the whole, Mr. Man 
 lius, and I waited for him but he did not come. Then 
 he wrote to me that he heard I had a bad character and 
 he could never marry me. Oh, how angry I was. It 
 was not true, dear friends. No, there was not a word 
 of truth in it, not a breath. But I was near dead with 
 sickness after that, and when I came to life again, as it 
 were, I was so sad and shaken that when Archibald
 
 132 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Starkey came and asked me to marry him, as he had 
 often asked me before, I married him. It was a sin, 
 God knows, I was so unhappy. And then he died, 
 just a month after: if he had lived I think he would 
 have won me, he was so patient like. But when he 
 was dead, Oh my heart went out to Soprian. I thought 
 now I was a widow I could go and see him, and per 
 haps it could all be as it was. God forgive me. I 
 had no right to keep on loving him, but you see, dear 
 friends, my sickness had made me strange like, and one 
 while I was all hot to go to him, and another while I 
 was dead with fear. But so it was that once when I 
 was all in a fever I set out and I traveled. I had his 
 letter and I knew where he wrote from, for it had a 
 printed head and there was his name with his business 
 and all. And when I got there it was dark, and the 
 place was closed, but there was somebody by who knew 
 where his house was, and so I found it, not here in this 
 court, but where he lived then, in Sussex Street, and 
 when I reached it I was cold, and numb, and dead like 
 how clear I remember it all now. The door opened 
 and I saw his wife. 1 knew it was she, for she was a 
 girl who had been in our village visiting, and she knew 
 me, but she knew no evil against me. No, Caroline is 
 not much to blame. She brought me in. J was half 
 dead and I wanted, I said, to see Soprian. Then he 
 came and he was going to put me out again, but I told 
 him I had brought a little money with me and I would 
 work in the house, for I had no home, and I would not 
 trouble him. Yes, I loved him then and he knew it, 
 but he said if Caroline knew it she would not let me 
 live there. And oh, I wanted to live near him, and so 
 I said nothing. But it was a terrible life, and all my 
 love that was so hot burned out. Yes, it went into 
 ashes and now it is cold, and when the times come upon
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 133 
 
 me again, as they do come, it may be once a month, 
 I do not have to shut myself up lest I should betray 
 myself, but I know I am light-headed and say many 
 strange and silly things. But my friends, dear Mrs. 
 Blake and all, I am not light-headed to-night. He has 
 been telling me every little while this last year that I 
 must go, he is tired of seeing me about, and indeed I 
 do not wonder. And I had no place to go, not a friend 
 whom I could speak to. Then you came, Mr. Judge, 
 and light-headed as I was, I thought you might be my 
 sister's son, for I had a sister who married a judge, 
 but she died long ago. I caught at it, for I thought it 
 was an escape, and then when it went out I should 
 have utterly despaired, but I saw you, Mrs. Blake, and 
 I saw your patience and your sweet face, and you were 
 kind to me, and Miss Fix was kind, and I came here 
 this evening when all was quiet at the house, thinking 
 I would tell you all, but I did not know that there 
 was any one to be here, and I did not know that I 
 should sit and listen to what he has said, God forgive 
 him, and hear him speak his base thoughts against this 
 young man. I know nothing of hig journeys, and his 
 memorandum-books, and his conversations, but I heard 
 enough to know that he is base and Nicholas Judge, 
 here, is true and pure, and as I sat and heard him, it 
 rose and it rose within me here in this place to say what 
 I have said before you all, and I ask you, Soprian 
 Manlius, is it true ? Is it true ? " There was silence 
 in the room. All eyes were bent on the man, who had 
 been sitting with his eyes shut, as if he could not bear 
 to look upon such a perjurer before him, while Mrs. 
 Manlius had her face buried in her handkerchief, and 
 was sobbing silently behind it. 
 
 " That my children should hear such words ! " said 
 Mr. Manlius, solemnly. " Caroline, this is no place
 
 134 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 for them, or for us. We have done our duty. "We 
 leave them to their own thoughts. What had I to gain 
 by all this?" he asked generally of the company, look 
 ing about him ; " was it anything for my personal ad 
 vantage that I should undertake to expose this deceit 
 ful young man ? You may judge between me and her. 
 Come Caroline," and he went heavily out of the room 
 and down the stairs ; his children had already gone 
 down before him and stood waiting below in terror. 
 Mrs. Starkey bowed her heard on the table and the 
 tears came, warm tears that flowed while she was mute 
 with the fullness of her sorrow. One by one the 
 guests, oppressed by the scene, went away silently, 
 shaking hands with Mrs. Blake, but without words. 
 They left the two women alone together. Nicholas also 
 had left them, and reluctant to speak to the rest, had 
 gone up into his room. As the company went down 
 stairs, the door into Miss Fix's house was open and they 
 all followed the lead of that good lady who beckoned 
 them earnestly into her hall.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 135 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " DR. CHOCKER ! " said Miss Fix, as the door closed 
 behind them, " I want to waltz with you. I must do 
 something. Here ! " and darting at a sofa cushion, she 
 seized a shawl and coat, and Mr. Windgraff's hat, and 
 as the company looked on, at first in perplexity and 
 then with separate explosions of discovery, she nimbly 
 made up a portly figure which she propped up on a 
 chair. 
 
 " Mr. Manlius, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Sopriaa 
 Manlius, the friend of Virtue, the protector of the fallen, 
 the minister of Justice," and then with a vigorous 
 sweep of her hand she batted the figure off the chair 
 on to the floor, and seizing Dr. Checker's hand, she mo 
 tioned to Sally, who, catching her grandfather's other 
 hand, gave her own to Mr. Le Clear, who completed the 
 circle with Mr. Windgraff, and so they executed a tri 
 umphant war dance over the prostrate figure. 
 
 Miss Fix's ebullition had seized them all, but the 
 stuffed enemy was too paltry to permit an excessive 
 jubilation, and so Miss Fix, resolving the figure into its 
 ultimate atoms, turned to Dr. Chocker, and said, 
 
 " I want to get the taste of Mr. Manlius out of my 
 mouth. Won't you let us have a little music?" 
 
 " I would n't mind singing a song myself," said the 
 Doctor, wagging his trumpet, " if I knew one," he 
 added, looking slyly at his granddaughter, as one who 
 would have his little joke, " But she can play, Sally 
 can play, if she wants to."
 
 136 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 * Do, dear Miss Levering ; nothing will put us into 
 better humor." 
 
 " Perhaps Miss Levering will play the ' Meerstille ' 
 now," said Mr. Le Clear. " Mr. Manlius has stirred us 
 up so, that we ought to have some oil poured on the 
 waters." 
 
 " The name of the person that begins with M is not 
 to be mentioned again in my house," said Miss Fix, 
 with crushing severity. " Yes, I have the piece 
 will you play it, Miss Lovering ? " 
 
 " I have played very little before others," said the 
 young lady, hesitating ; then she drew off her gloves. 
 " I will play something simple," said she, " if you and 
 Mr. Windgraff will follow." She played a rondeau 
 unaffectedly and then rose with alacrity. " Now, Miss 
 Fix," said she, and that lady, calling Mr. Windgraff 
 to her aid, began looking over her music. But Doctor 
 Checker showed evident signs of uneasiness, and his 
 granddaughter, while looking wistfully at the two mu 
 sicians, understood the intimations which he gave, and 
 rose to bid Miss Fix good evening. 
 
 " Oh, but do stay," said she. 
 
 " Grandfather rarely goes out ; and I think he was 
 very good-natured to come to-night, so I am going to 
 be equally good-natured, and return with him." 
 
 " Don't you ever marry," said Dr. Checker, at this 
 point. " Miss Fix, don't you ever marry an intelli 
 gence office keeper." 
 
 " I 'd marry an idiot first," said Miss Fix, vehe 
 mently. 
 
 " Then you 'd marry him," said the Doctor, with a 
 triumphant chuckle. " Come, Sally." 
 
 " Miss Lovering," said Mr. Le Clear, " I should be 
 very glad to be responsible for your safe delivery at 
 Number One, if you can wait to hear the music."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 137 
 
 " Oh, I should like to stay," said Sally, impulsively, 
 but she hesitated ; to make the arrangement with her 
 grandfather was a little awkward. 
 
 " Here, let me explain," said Miss Fix. " Dr. 
 Chocker, I owe your granddaughter a debt, and I can 
 only pay it now in music. She promised to play if 
 Mr. Windgraff and I would play afterward. Now, if 
 you '11 leave her with me, I '11 see that she is safely re 
 turned to you. I know you won't stay. If I only 
 had sixteen thousand books in black letter, and bound 
 in old leather, I never could get you out of the 
 house." 
 
 " Sally may stay," said the old gentleman. " Pay 
 your debts ; pay your debts," and he shuffled off, 
 quite willing to finish the evening in his study. As 
 the door closed behind him, there came a knock at the 
 door which connected Miss Fix's house with her neigh 
 bor's. Miss Fix ran to open it. 
 
 " Oh, Nicholas, it 's you, is it ? Come in, come in. 
 We are going to have some music." 
 
 " I thought I heard some music, and that 's why I 
 came. I want something to drive this evil spirit out 
 of my house. You are playing alone, are n't you ? " 
 
 " No, Mr. Windgraff is here," said the politic lady. 
 " Shall we leave the door open, so that your aunt can 
 hear ? " 
 
 " Do, by all means," said he. " She was too tired 
 to have me, and she has made Mrs. Starkey comfort 
 able, so I have come away for a few minutes. Mr. 
 Manlius came back again." 
 
 " Hush," said Miss Fix, covering his mouth. " Come 
 into your entry. There. I don't want that man's 
 name heard in my house again. Well, what did he 
 come back for ? " 
 
 " His key," said Nicholas, laughing. " Mrs. Starkey
 
 138 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 had carried it off; the children let themselves out the 
 back way, and so the family all got into the house 
 that fashion ; but Mr. Manlius came again, and asked 
 Hannah for it." 
 
 " Did she go and get it? " 
 
 " Oh, she told me, and I got it from Mrs. Starkey 
 and went down to the door. He seemed to have 
 shrunk somewhat. Somehow he looked leaner." 
 
 " My goodness ! " said Miss Fix ; " it was a collapse, 
 depend upon it. He could not carry so much virtue, 
 so he pricked it; how flabby he must be now." 
 
 Nicholas laughed. " I gave him the key, without 
 saying a word. He said nothing, either ; but he 
 looked well, I think he went off with the satisfac 
 tion of having put all his exploded virtue into a look. 
 Bah ! let us get away from him." They left Mrs. 
 Blake's side of the door, and returned to Miss Fix's 
 house. The delightful tuning of a violin could be heard, 
 and Nicholas, expectant of his music, entered the room 
 with a smile on his face which faded as he discovered 
 that Miss Levering and Mr. Le Clear were of the 
 party. He bowed awkwardly. They were so much a 
 part of the late performances that he had an uncom 
 fortable consciousness of being still on his defense 
 with them. Miss Fix and Mr. Windgraff, as a private 
 orchestra, were in a degree removed from his spiritual 
 neighborhood. But he could not retreat, and besides, 
 the music was coming. 
 
 Miss Fix and Mr. Windgraff played with a nicety 
 of harmony which was the result of long continued 
 exercise. They were both teachers, and Mr. Windgraff 
 a member also of one or two orchestras ; but in spite 
 of this professional attitude toward music they found 
 their rest and contentment in an unrestrained enjoy 
 ment of the music which they were obliged to hear
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 139 
 
 put to torture every day of their lives. They had a 
 passion for the old music writers, and by a private 
 understanding contributed to what they called their 
 Musical Fund, a box which stood in Miss Fix's parlor, 
 into which each dropped, unknown to the other, such 
 money as could be spared for purchase, from time to 
 time, of music arranged for piano and violin. Neither 
 claimed the music ; but they declared that the resulting 
 library should some day be presented to the most de 
 serving and musical twins who should appear among 
 their scholars. They made a delightful little mystery 
 of the Musical Fund, and although Miss Pix never 
 lacked any stimulus to her good spirits, it was almost 
 a matter of doubt how they could have maintained 
 their mutual pleasantry, if it had not been for the 
 smiling Musical Fund, which was the occasion of so 
 much merriment between them. The Musical Fund 
 box was a contrivance of Mr. Windgraff's ; a little 
 music-box, which was set in operation by a crank. It 
 played but one air, an offertory, Mr. Windgraff de 
 clared but at one point in the music, a little door 
 flew open, and disclosed .four hands held out ; into 
 them the money was dropped, and then they opened, 
 by the weight of the coin, and let the pieces through 
 into a treasury below. Nicholas had once slyly at 
 tempted to bestow a largess, in token of his gratitude 
 for the music he heard in the room ; but, for some 
 reason, the contrivance failed to work, and Miss Pix 
 and Mr. Windgraff declared that the twins behind the 
 scenes had never been introduced, and refused to shake 
 hands. 
 
 " This little box is not as versatile as your music- 
 box, Mr. Le Clear," said Nicholas, as his neighbor was 
 examining it, in one of the intervals of the music. 
 
 " Mine ? " he asked, in response, looking up with a
 
 140 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 little surprise. " Oh, I remember, you called on me 
 once. I have a music -box, Miss Lovering," he said, 
 turning to the lady, " in default of any musical execu 
 tion of my own ; I am afraid it is a somewhat indolent 
 substitute." 
 
 "I never heard a music-box," said she, " except this, 
 though I have read of them." 
 
 ft A good music-box," said Le Clear, " is certainly a 
 very companionable little fellow. You wind it and 
 it plays a little air with great accuracy, then rests 
 a moment and plays another. The greatest charm I 
 think is in the pause between the different airs ; you 
 have such a delicious expectation, and then the sounds 
 tinkle again like a sort of musical rain." 
 
 " But it must be very mechanical." 
 
 " Oh, entirely so, but it is perfectly unpretentious. 
 It does not profess to be a flute, or a violin, or a harp 
 or an orchestra of any sort, and "you are never con 
 fused by fancying somebody is playing. Besides, I 
 never have to applaud when the music is over." 
 
 " I am 'afraid I should miss that part," said Sally. 
 "I don't know that I always want to clap or stamp, 
 that seems such a childish way of showing one 's grati 
 fication, but I am divided between a desire to sit right 
 down at the instrument that has been giving out the 
 music, and a wish to say something agreeable to the 
 person who has been playing." 
 
 " I feel so, too," said Nicholas, ingenuously. " I 
 have sometimes fancied I should like to make an agree 
 ment with a respectable number of people to cry 
 bravo ! after a fine performance, but it requires too 
 much courage for one to shout for himself." 
 
 " Did you ever try it ? " asked Le Clear. 
 
 " Yes, I did, once. I was so excited over a passage 
 in Ole Bull's playing, that I jumped up without think-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 141 
 
 ing and shouted hurrah ! which is American, I suppose, 
 for bravo ! but the instant I had done it there was 
 such a dead silence about me that I fell to reading my 
 programme intently, conscious all the time that people 
 were staring at me." 
 
 " And what did Ole Bull say ? " laughingly asked 
 Miss Lovering. 
 
 " I really fancied that when I did venture my soli 
 tary shout, he saw me and smiled and bowed. At any 
 rate I persuaded myself of this, in order to preserve 
 my equability and during the rest of the concert was 
 convinced that he looked steadfastly at me." 
 
 " I would give much to hear him," said Miss Lover- 
 ing ; but just then the music was resumed. Miss Fix 
 and Mr. Windgraff had a delightful freedom about their 
 enjoyment of music. They did not seem to enter upon 
 the evening's pleasure with any fixed plan, but dropped 
 into such music as first suggested itself to them, and 
 then rambled from one piece to another, until some 
 chance or other led them to stop. This evening Miss 
 Pix in the midst of a sonata suddenly remembered her 
 responsibility in the matter of Miss Lovering, and 
 jumped up from the music-stool, while Mr. Windgraff 
 looked on in some surprise. 
 
 " Dear me," said she, " Miss Sally, there 's your 
 grandfather waiting for you, and he '11 never trust you 
 here again, if I don't take you right home." 
 
 " I am afraid he has forgotten me already," said 
 Sally. " He gets among his books and that is the end 
 of me in his mind till he sees me again." 
 
 " How charming," said Miss Pix ; " so he is con 
 stantly discovering you anew," and she looked with a 
 twinkle at the bright-faced girl before her. " I ought 
 to have been a young man," she added, " I keep think 
 ing of such polite things to say to my scholars and
 
 142 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 other young girls. But then I suppose if I had been a 
 young man, which heaven forbid, I should never have 
 thought of them. Mr. Le Clear, will you kindly see 
 me home after I have seen Miss Lovering home. That 
 will necessitate your going with us, first." 
 
 " I should be happy to be kept going back and forth 
 in the court on such errands," said the young man, with 
 a bow. 
 
 " Why ! how courtly we are getting to be," said Miss 
 Fix, briskly, "and to think that before Christinas we 
 all looked askance at each other. Mr. Wiudgraff, will 
 you wait for me ? " 
 
 " I will join the procession, too," said that gentle 
 man. " I and my violin. You will escort Miss Lov 
 ering, and Mr. Le Clear will escort you, and I will es 
 cort Mr. Le Clear, and my little violin will escort me." 
 
 " Bravo ! Mr. Windgraff," said Miss Fix. " There, I 
 never said bravo before, and it sounds just like a book. 
 Did you ever say bravo, Nicholas ? Oh, I remember 
 you did. You told me. Never mind," she added, see 
 ing the color rise in Judge's face. " It 's a splendid 
 word, and musical. Come, Nicholas, you can escort the 
 little violin." 
 
 And so it came to pass that the entire company went 
 out of Miss Fix's hospitable house to see Miss Lovering 
 safe within her own house. Miss Fix took possession 
 of her special charge, and as they passed Mr. Manlius's 
 house, she shook her little fist at it, and said in an im 
 pressive whisper, " Avaunt ! " so that it was almost a 
 wonder the house and its inmates did not fly off with a 
 frightened scream. Miss Lovering stood on the door 
 step of her grandfather's house while the rest of the 
 company bade her good-night. Mr. Le Clear fulfilled his 
 duty conscientiously in walking back to Miss Fix's with 
 her, and then they all separated to their several homes.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 143 
 
 A week afterward, as Nicholas came into the court 
 one afternoon, after a morning's absence, he met a fur 
 niture wagon going off well loaded, and standing one 
 side in the narrow way to let it pass, he confronted for 
 a moment Lizzy and Dizzy Manlius, bearing small 
 packages and laboring under some excitement. Dizzy 
 gave a tittering little scream, while Lizzy blushed a 
 deep red. 
 
 " We 're going off," said Dizzy. She thought she 
 would say it quite boldly, but the words were rather 
 low. 
 
 " Ah ? good-by," said Nicholas, looking a little puz 
 zled. He entered the court, and saw evident signs of 
 moving about the Manlius house. In the front room 
 he saw a large man in his shirt sleeves putting up a 
 placard in the window. It was Mr. Maulius. His 
 wife's voice sounded in the passage, through the open 
 door. 
 
 " S'prian, come S'prian." Nicholas hastened into his 
 own house to share the news with his aunt. He found 
 her with Mrs. Starkey sitting near her, pale and ner 
 vous. Mr. Manlius had left at the door such small 
 odds and ends as defied orderly removal, with the re 
 mark that these belonged to that woman who used to 
 live with them. 
 
 u Tell your mistress," he said to Hannah, in a loud 
 voice, " that if she ever wants to learn anything about 
 the character of Eunice Starkey, she can call on So- 
 prian Manlius at the Temple," and then he had gone. 
 
 In the old sagas of Iceland and Scandinavia, the 
 story-teller had a way of dismissing his characters one 
 by one with a formal bow, and saying, " Now Gud- 
 mund" (or Flosi, or Skapti, as the case maybe) "is out 
 of this story," and Gudmtind never came back, nor did 
 the reader need to keep him in mind against some un-
 
 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 expected turn of the story. Whether he was dead, or 
 had gone to other lands, it matters nothing : he was 
 out of the story. The tellers of modern sagas often 
 dismiss their characters with an air of having got well 
 rid of them, but the sagacious reader never sees one 
 disappear mysteriously without making a note of it in 
 readiness for the return. He out of the story ? Not 
 at all, but only lying in wait somewhere to spring back 
 just in the nick of time. Nevertheless, I hold to the 
 old way as the best, and with cheerful sincerity declare 
 that now Mr. Manlius is out of this story, and out of 
 it also are his wife, Mrs. Manlius, and his daughters, 
 Elizabeth and Desire Manlius. They are all out of 
 the story, and, like Dogberry, I would fain call the 
 rest of the company together for thanksgiving.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 145 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 DR. CROCKER'S household, before the advent of 
 Miss Sally Levering, had consisted of the Doctor him 
 self and black Maria, the woman of all work. Maria 
 had lived so long with her master, and learned so per 
 fectly his few steps of routine, that in her small, remote 
 way, she had acquired some of the Doctor's manner and 
 even habits. Her library indeed was confined to a Bible 
 and hymn-book, but she read these in the kitchen with 
 something of the steady gaze which Dr. Checker cast 
 on his books in the third story, and her evenings were 
 quite exclusively devoted to her study. Then the 
 abrupt, apparently suspicious way of the Doctor was 
 repeated in her, and she eyed every one of the rare 
 visitors at the door with a scrutiny which was partly 
 indeed the result of nearsightedness, but quite as much 
 of a spiritual myopia which made it difficult for her to 
 distinguish objects outside of the short range of her daily 
 experience. She rose in the morning exactly half an 
 hour before her master, who himself rose by the alma 
 nac, being called every morning precisely at sunrise, 
 which was kept on record, so to speak, by an alma 
 nac, a clock, and a candle which always stood on a 
 bracket outside of his chamber door. It was Maria's 
 duty to visit this artificial sunrise every morning, and 
 rap upon the door precisely at the moment when the 
 sun himself was supposed lo fire his light through the 
 atmosphere. Then she could calculate upon just time 
 enough to prepare the cup of chocolate which Dr. 
 10
 
 146 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Checker always took when he entered his study. The 
 scale of rising would have rendered the old gentleman's 
 day somewhat irregular, but he carefully adjusted the 
 corresponding scale of retirement, appointing that so as 
 to allow exactly eight hours from the time he entered 
 his bed until the time he rose. The lovely days of 
 June were yet lingering in the west when the old 
 scholar pulled his nightcap over his head and shut out 
 all the beauty, but when the depth of winter was come, 
 he could suffer his work to carry him into the dead 
 hours of the night. By revolving as a lesser satellite 
 about her master, Maria had attained to a similar* ex 
 pansion and contraction. She always waited until her 
 master had left his study and gone to his chamber be 
 fore she prepared to follow, and as she did every night 
 the same round of work, her retirement was as punctual 
 as her rising ; though by necessity her night was short 
 ened at both ends. She hung a little swinging lamp 
 upon her wrist and then visited every window and door 
 above and below, to assure herself that the house was 
 firmly closed. She put in its place the simple contriv 
 ance by which her master's chocolate was to be pre 
 pared, and looked out of one window which she passed 
 on her way to her room, to see what the weather was. 
 For forty years Dr. Checker and Maria had lived 
 here, he spinning his webs of thought in his study and 
 going up and down the slender filaments, she repeating 
 her regular cadences of movement up-stairs and down 
 till her whole life seemed but one tune, and that played 
 with endless iteration by one finger. There were few 
 visitors at the Doctor's house, and those that came usu 
 ally came by appointment, and Maria was always duly 
 informed at breakfast just what was expected in the 
 way of change during the day, so that she might ad 
 just her personal machinery to what might otherwise
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 147 
 
 derange her. Those who came, without previous invi 
 tation must have strenuous reasons for pressing an en 
 trance against the black visage that confronted them, 
 holding the door ajar but a trifle and making a parley 
 with the enemy before admitting them. The arm}' of 
 peddlers that tried to enter this Ilium, were forced to 
 get out of any clumsy wooden horses they might have 
 wheeled up to the door-way ; a vigilance which always 
 seemed despotic held guard over the entrance, and Dr. 
 Checker no doubt owed many hours, of quiet to the 
 unrelenting scowl and crisp words which were not so 
 much Maria's cruel nature, as her gradual absorption 
 of her master's characteristics. 
 
 Once, fifteen years before, there had been a break in 
 the monotonous course by the visit there for three 
 months of a widowed daughter of the old man, and 
 her little girl. Dr. Checker's family had consisted of 
 a. son and daughter. His wife had died when they 
 were young, and he had sent them to his wife's sister 
 in Kingston to care for them. He himself, uncom 
 fortably conscious of the slight domesticity of his nat 
 ure and absorbed in his study, had determined that to 
 keep them by him would be only to fritter away his 
 own life and render theirs unhappy. So he sent them 
 into the country and once a year they came to him for 
 a day, Forefathers' Day he chose from a lingering feel 
 ing of pride in his ancestry, and their coming so un 
 settled his life that it was almost with a sense of relief 
 that he learned at length of his son's death. Then the 
 daughter came alone, and sat quietly reading in the 
 dark parlor, trying not to disturb her father, whom she 
 invested with a singular sanctity, worshiping at a dis 
 tance, yet longing to come near. The day came, when 
 in the quiet of the country she found another man 
 made of a different mould from that in which her
 
 148 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 father was cast, a sunny-tempered, vigorous man of 
 action, Richard Lovering, and all her romance went 
 out to her new cceur de lion. They went once to her 
 father. But Dr. Checker could not stand the sharp light 
 of the young man ; his heartiness and keen interest in 
 affairs were constantly turning a "bull's eye" upon his 
 life, and the old man was irritated by the sense of 
 seeming to the young man only a visionary book-worm. 
 He was offensively abrupt, and his daughter, with a 
 woman's instinct, after interposing be.tweeu them to 
 shield each from the attack of the other's nature, with 
 drew her husband, and the two men did not again 
 meet. She gave her husband her hearty admiration 
 and love, but a faint taper always glimmered before the 
 picture of her father in her memory. 
 
 When Richard Lovering died, leaving his widow 
 with a little girl of five, the daughter once more sought 
 her father. He felt a touch of remorse when he saw 
 her, as if he had done some injustice to the dead, and 
 suddenly offered her and her child a home. They 
 came and stayed three months. Sally did not fear her 
 grandfather, as her mother did, but went boldly into 
 his sanctuary, sat down gravely before his books and 
 alternately read what she pleased, and then turned her 
 storehouses of knowledge into more practical use as 
 blocks for building houses. She prattled to her grand 
 father and told him stories, when he could tell her 
 none, and penetrated black Maria's domains, sitting in 
 state in a high chair and superintending Maria's cook 
 ing, occasionally helping by being taster, sometimes 
 even experimenting herself. She had perfect frank 
 ness and glee, and her merry voice was heard every 
 where about the house. At first her mother tried to 
 check her, but she could not transfer her own thought 
 of her father to the child, and quickly discovered that
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 149 
 
 Sally had won in a few days, what she all her life had 
 only seen as a mirage. Dr. Chocker was weary when 
 they came, though he scarcely knew it, and the child 
 was elixir to him. But the native freshness and wild 
 wood life of the child were fast being exhausted in the 
 close air of the house. She began to droop and look 
 wistful, and once more the Doctor was left to himself 
 and his books, while the mother and child went back 
 to their country home. There Sally had ever since 
 lived, having the memory of her city life as some 
 distant scene which was covered with a faint haze. 
 Dr. Chocker did not invite them again to his home. 
 Though he longed to see the child, he steeled himself 
 against the thought of her, or postponed his invitation 
 from time to time, always expecting the day, which 
 never came, when he should have completed a task 
 that would allow him the leisure which he pretended to 
 believe was necessary before he could again have vis 
 itors. Then as the child grew, the old gentleman came 
 to present her to himself as an awkward, angular girl, 
 arid he persuaded himself that he would rather remem 
 ber the merry innocent who fearlessly invaded his 
 sanctuary, than make fresh acquaintance with a shy or 
 noisy girl who had lost the bloom of innocence and would 
 always be on her guard with him. He had letters now 
 and then from his daughter ; then came a broken little 
 letter of patched up sentences from Sally, written in a 
 very straight, up and down hand, to her dear grand 
 father telling of her mother's death, and that she was 
 living with her aunts Miriam and Rebecca. The Doctor 
 
 o 
 
 had never seen these ladies, maiden sisters of his son- 
 in-law, and they, less from what they had heard than 
 from what they had not heard, looked with no great ar 
 dor upon their niece's grandfather. He wrote a short 
 note in lead pencil to Sally, abrupt and with all its
 
 150 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 affection jerked into a postscript in the corner : " When 
 your aunts want you to come to the city, come to me." 
 Sally put the note away with her special possessions, 
 and her grandfather hid her letter in his desk. The 
 young girl grew in her country home, and with her 
 growth there came wishes and dreams which the coun 
 try failed to satisfy. Her aunts saw this. They had 
 put off the evil day when she must fly from her nest, 
 by giving her those higher pleasures which render one 
 independent. They had given her music and had found 
 a drawing-master for her, and her music and drawing 
 had been the channels into which her ambition and 
 eagerness had run ; but they brought her also new de 
 sires, and sometimes when the keys of her piano-forte 
 sounded back the little black symbols of the music 
 page, she was thrilled with emotion at the thought of 
 what music must be in the great harmony of an or 
 chestra. Engravings and photographs were but re 
 minders of what she seemed once to have seen of art 
 that bore the master's own touch, and while the sweet 
 country about her was an unfailing source of strength 
 and joy, the distant whir of the locomotive sometimes 
 surprised her into a passionate desire to'see the cities 
 which somehow seemed to possess literature and his 
 tory. Her aunts trained her in the ways of the 
 church, and she entered heartily into the devotional life 
 of the decorous but not over active body of worship 
 ers; yet sometimes there she caught herself repeating 
 in a whisper certain lines whiqh always seemed to swell 
 into a domed church in her imagination : 
 
 " 'T was on a Holy Thursday, their innocent faces clean, 
 Came children, walking two and two, in red. and blue, and green : 
 Oray-headed beadles walked before, with wands as white as snow, 
 Till into the high dome of Paul's, they like Thames' waters flow. 
 
 The hum of multitudes was there, but multitudes of lambs, 
 Thousands of little boys and girls raising their innocent hands."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 151 
 
 It is true she was wise enough to know that no lofty 
 cathedral gathered the worship of the near city, yet 
 she felt a strong desire to realize in more positive form 
 some of those glowing pictures of human worship 
 which are half in the poet's mind and half in a young 
 girl's imagination. 
 
 Her aunts watched the reveries that passed in Sally's 
 mind and betrayed themselves unconsciously to her in 
 little ways. It was plain that she was already partly 
 away from them, and so, as Dr. Checker had let the 
 homesick little girl go back to the country, her aunts 
 now, with many misgivings but with some insight into, 
 their niece's thought, prepared to let her go to the city. 
 Miss Miriam Lovering addressed a letter to Dr. 
 Chocker just after Christmas, which brought back one 
 of his pencil notes bidding her send his granddaughter 
 to him. 
 
 " If she can be content with an old man like me, 
 she can come, but I am very busy myself, among my 
 books, and she will lead a still life for a young girl." 
 So his letter read. 
 
 "The Doctor is growing old, Miriam," said her sister, 
 when she had read the letter. " His handwriting 
 trembles, and I think there is a touch more of gentle 
 ness in his manner. After all, it may be that Sally 
 can carry him comfort. Her mother would have gone 
 now, I think, if she had seen this writing. But he 
 never felt toward her as he should." 
 
 " The Doctor must be nearly eighty, Rebecca. I 
 think I should like to see Sally again when I am 
 eighty." Miss Lovering rarely gave way to much feel 
 ing. A decorous self-restraint had been the law of her 
 life, but there were times like this, when it was neces 
 sary to poke the fire vigorously, with her back to any 
 one else who might be in the room.
 
 152 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 The visit was to last until the warm weather came, 
 when the country would be the most desirable place. 
 Sally had only a childish recollection of her grand 
 father and his surroundings, and it was a little difficult 
 for her to repress a smile at her own enthusiasm as her 
 prudent judgment interposed a picture of herself, sit 
 ting demurely at her grandfather's table in a little 
 house in a dingy court, rarely going out, but calling all 
 this, visiting in the city. Her aunts waited until the 
 opportunity was presented of their clergyman going to 
 the city, when their niece was placed in his charge and 
 deposited safely at the grandfather's house in Five- 
 Sister'^ Court. 
 
 There we find her now, reinstated in her old author 
 ity, her prudence and her memory and imagination all 
 justified by a condition of things which answered the 
 picture drawn by each- when modified properly by the 
 others. She looked with an amused, interested air on 
 her grandfather's pursuits, and since her own training 
 had been intellectual, as well as aesthetical, she gave 
 him that respect and admiration which his evident 
 learning called for. Thus her old fearless affection 
 caught her mother's reverence, while her more intelli 
 gent admiration kept it still unembarrassed. She had 
 her own amusements and occupations, and as visitors 
 were almost unknown, she had gradually taken posses 
 sion of the disused parlor and let in not only the outer 
 sunshine, but such reflections from her own good tem 
 per and good taste as seemed to follow naturally upon 
 her living in it. She went to her grandfather when 
 she would, but soon learned to know when he was most 
 ready to welcome her. She put herself under Ma 
 ria's direction and professed to learn her ways, when 
 all the while she was making such little changes 
 in the manage as would have produced a revolution
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 153 
 
 had they been boldly incorporated in a bill of rights. 
 She had her music, her strolls among the shops and 
 libraries, her afternoon concerts, and her calls upon 
 Miss Fix and Mrs. Blake. She went each Sunday to 
 church, and somehow, finding no dome large enough to 
 cover her religious imagination, she was more than- 
 content with a modest sanctuary, which had for its 
 greatest charm that it was most like her old church 
 home in the country. 
 
 Dr. Chocker received these introductions of light 
 into his dwelling with some uneasiness at first, but find 
 ing his granddaughter apparently unsuspicious that she 
 was engaged upon any disturbance of his peace, .he 
 gradually abandoned his own watch of her, and dropped 
 into the new current of life with a half feeling of the 
 warmer temperature which it bore. Little by little, 
 the girl who had so quietly entered his castle became 
 the mistress of it, and he was uneasy when she was not 
 at hand. He heard the door open and knew she had 
 come home, and that was enough. He had no particu 
 lar desire to see her, nothing in special to say to her, 
 but her coming restored the regular movement of his 
 life which was partially arrested when she was away 
 from him. Their talks at the table were strange snares 
 to the old gentleman. Sally, with her reminiscences of 
 concert, or picture-gallery, or church, was to him a sort 
 of magpie, displaying bits of colored glass and ribbon, of 
 no mortal use except to delight a magpie's eye. She 
 chatted of these things because her young head was full 
 of them, and he threw in his curt observations as one 
 would shake a kaleidoscope to see what new figures 
 the jostling would bring out. But the talk made havoc 
 with Dr. Checker's time-table, which had not been so 
 carefully adjusted all these years to submit easily to 
 these infringements upon it ; and Maria used once in a
 
 154 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 while to wonder why it was that though breakfast was 
 so much longer than formerly she yet was able to get 
 through her work as usual. 
 
 At the breakfast table, the morning after the retreat 
 of Mr. Manlius and his family from the court and this 
 story, Miss Levering had her mind quite full of the 
 event. She sat at table by the side of her grandfather 
 for greater ease in conversation, so that one coming 
 into the room would have fancied they formed the res 
 idue of some greater company that had gradually dis 
 appeared, leaving two extremes of a circle together. 
 
 " Yes, he is actually gone, grandfather," she said, 
 "and I wonder who now will take his house. I think I 
 should like a family with very, very small children." 
 
 "What is the least size that will answer?" asked 
 Dr. Checker. 
 
 " Well, I never saw any children quite small enough 
 to suit me," she replied. " I should like to see a child 
 beginning very far back, small enough, for instance, to 
 be carried about in a work-basket." 
 
 " It would probably grow to the size of Mr. Man 
 lius," said the Doctor, sagaciously. " There 's too much 
 virtue in that house. I 'd like to see it shut up for a 
 while." 
 
 "I wish Mr. Windgraff would take it," said Sally, 
 who was busy in her mind arranging matters to suit 
 her. " He would be an excellent neighbor, and he 
 does play delightfully. I think he 's splendid." 
 
 " Who 's Mr. Windgraff ? " asked Dr. Chocker, in 
 sudden alarm. 
 
 " Why, he 's one of Miss Fix's friends. He was at 
 Mrs. Blake's that evening, and he played with Miss 
 Fix afterward." 
 
 " Oh, that one. Well, has he little children small 
 enough to carry round in a work-basket ? "
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 155 
 
 "Oh, no," said Sally. "He's not married. He's 
 only wedded to his violin, as they say in books." 
 
 "That's the safest kind," said Dr. Checker, sagely. 
 " Then the risk 's all on one side. You want more 
 neighbors, eh, Sally ? You 're lonely here ; " and the 
 old gentleman put his cup down and looked wistfully 
 at her. 
 
 " Not a bit, grandpa. You know I 've always lived . 
 in the country, and have seen very few people. It is 
 like a play to watch the people in the streets. I make 
 up stories about them to myself, and if they 're not 
 true I don't know it at any rate. Oh, I am not in the 
 least lonely. I don't see how one can be, in the city." 
 
 " Should n't you think I 'd be lonely ? " asked the 
 Doctor, looking narrowly at his granddaughter, " living 
 here so long, with my books, and Maria, till you 
 came," he added, hesitating. 
 
 " Why, I suppose books are people to you, and you 
 make up stories out of them to please yourself. And 
 then, besides, you and I have no right to talk about 
 being lonely, when we have each other." 
 
 " We 're getting sentimental, Sally," said the Doctor, 
 rising. " That won't do for you and me," and he 
 shuffled off to his study. It was a bright morning, 
 early in March, and perhaps the mention of the coun 
 try combined with some subtle invitation in the air to 
 give Miss Levering a sudden impulse to get away for 
 a while from the streets of the city. The city is after 
 all but a great house. One talks of going out of doors, 
 but it is only to go into a little more open passage-way 
 where there is a stronger draught, if one merely steps 
 into the street. One is not fairly out of doors until 
 the blocks of houses and the busy streets have been 
 left behind, and one comes into sight of water and hills 
 and woods. The air was sparkling with just a touch
 
 156 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 of frostiuess ; the sun was not high enough yet to 
 have penetrated very far into the heart of- things, and 
 a bright light seemed -to cover everything. The girl 
 took her way as quickly as possible to a causeway 
 which led by the river directly out of the city. Houses 
 were creeping down the street which ended in the 
 causeway, and the neighboring district was rapidly 
 changing from a condition of mud and brackish water 
 and salt-marsh, into one of solid desert formed by the 
 loads of gravel which rumbled day and night thither. 
 But the passage from city to country was more abrupt 
 this way than any other, and in less than half an hour 
 the rapid walker found herself passing trees and fields, 
 and on her way to a high hill from which she knew a 
 wide view could be had. There had been a fall of 
 snow the night before, but it had dropped so lightly, 
 and without any wind stirring, that it seemed now as if 
 a breath would puff it all away. The fields, the marsh 
 meadows with their stiff dry stalks of grass, like hair 
 always alternating between a languid moisture and a 
 bristling dryness, were covered with a light film of snow. 
 The fir-trees and the leafless walnuts and chestnuts and 
 elms blossomed with it ; or rather it was as if in a 
 night they had all put forth some wonderful winter 
 foliage, that smiled in the sun and took on the most 
 delicious hues. It was an arctic dream of summer. 
 
 When Miss Levering had climbed the high hill which 
 was the goal of her walk, the view in all directions was 
 brilliant in the extreme. She was too far away from the 
 streets of the city and the country roads to see that the 
 snow was melting fast and losing its crisp beauty, and 
 the white veil that was thrown over everything gave 
 an exceeding beauty to the landscape. The river 
 sparkled, the bright points of city towers and spires 
 and domes caught the light and tossed it off, while be-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 157 
 
 hind her, the wooded hills and quiet country rolled 
 away in soft undulations. She brushed the light snow 
 off a rock upon the loose stone wall that rambled up 
 the hill, and sat down in a little nook to enjoy to the 
 full the prospect before her. The city stretching out 
 its bridges and causeway and long lines of houses, 
 seemed like some huge insect that was feeling about 
 with its antennae. She saw patches of woods between 
 her and the city, with substantial houses looking out 
 from the inclosures, and began after her wont to im 
 agine the cosy life of the dwellers in these half rural, 
 half city domains. 
 
 The road by which she had come crossed the hill, 
 descending the other declivity, and three or four plain 
 houses were scattered along it. One, especially, with a 
 magnificent view, could be seen from a great distance, 
 and its commonplace character seemed magnified into 
 blank ugliness; near by, it looked no worse than a 
 multitude of every-day houses. It was its conspicu- 
 ousness that made its dullness so offensive. In the 
 winter time few people, other than the occupants of the 
 houses, traveled this road ; in summer time, especially 
 Sunday evenings, small companies toiled up the hill for 
 the view, and carriages went up by slow degrees. 
 
 The hill was not bisected by any road crossing at 
 right angles, so that Miss Lovering, sitting on the stone 
 wall with her feet drawn up and resting on a project 
 ing stone, was taken by surprise as she heard a crunch 
 ing sound behind her and knew that some one was 
 crossing the field which fell rapidly to a lower, parallel 
 road. She was about to get down from her perch when 
 the intruder at the same moment reached the wall a 
 little below where she sat and jumped over it into the 
 road. She was partly sheltered by the trunk of a 
 tree and she drew back, thinking to escape observation,
 
 158 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 when the steps moved up the road. The young man 
 who had disturbed her peace cast a side glance as he 
 went by, and she saw to her surprise that it was her 
 neighbor, Nicholas Judge. She recognized him with a 
 hurried bow, a trifle disconcerted at the encounter, and 
 he, returning it, made as if he would pass on, and then 
 suddenly turned back and went to her. She got down 
 from her perch and came out into the road. 
 
 "I thought I could not be mistaken," said he. "I 
 was quite sure it was you when I was coming up the 
 hill." He stammered his words somewhat, as if he had 
 been guilty of making observations behind her back. 
 
 " Yes, it is I," said she, composedly, when he seemed 
 to have finished. 
 
 " Did you know that you could see Round Top from 
 that hill yonder?" he asked, suddenly. "I have just 
 been over there." 
 
 " Indeed. I have never been there." 
 
 " Yes," he said, scarcely noticing her indifference. 
 " You can see it quite plainly. I often go there when 
 I I want to see Kingston." Miss Lovering was tap 
 ping with her foot on the ground and looking off upon 
 the city ; his sentence seemed somehow to drop into a 
 different ending from what was forecast. 
 
 "I like this view very much," said his companion. 
 "There is so much life in it. I am never tired of watch 
 ing the city, especially in winter time ; though to be 
 sure," she added, hastily, " I never saw the city in the 
 summer." 
 
 " Nor I," said Nicholas, " and I hope I never shall." 
 
 "I do not believe it ever could look uninteresting," 
 she replied, " and from this hill, it might look very 
 cool." 
 
 "You were quite a young girl when you were here 
 before, were n't you ? " asked Nicholas. " I remember 
 when you came back to Kingston."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 159 
 
 " Yes," she said. " What is that high building that 
 stands by itself in that direction," pointing as she spoke. 
 
 " That is a grain elevator," said he. " It is used for 
 storing grain. Have you been at the top of the hill, 
 Miss Lovering ? I was just on my way, and I can 
 show you some fine views of the other side." 
 
 " Thank you," said she. " I have gone as far as 
 it is quite wise for me to go, and I think I must bid 
 you good-morning." Nicholas returned her bow and 
 walked rapidly up the hill, while she turned away and 
 hastened down. Miss Lovering's walk home was not 
 marked by the exhilaration which she felt on the out 
 ward course. She was annoyed by her recollection of 
 the slight talk. He was so awkward. " I was awk 
 ward myself," she cried in her mind, " because he made 
 me. Why did he talk so familiarly to me ? he spoke 
 as if we had been old friends in Kingston. I am sure 
 I did not come here to see him." There was vexation 
 in her mind at the encounter, and her thoughts natu 
 rally turned to her home in Kingston. She had seen 
 Nicholas there, but never to know him. There had 
 always been a village mystery about him and his 
 father, and although the painful death of Silas King's 
 sister had been traced to her own curiosity and reck 
 lessness, it left an unpleasant smoke about the lonely 
 house and the old man and his taciturn son. She had 
 seen the boy at church, and her aunts had spoken with 
 him now and then, but for herself she had never ex 
 changed any words with him, and it was with an unde 
 fined sense of annoyance that> she had discovered im 
 mediately upon her arrival at her grandfather's house, 
 that the young man was a near neighbor and rested 
 under a new cloud. Although she had seen that dis 
 sipated, it was quite impossible for her to look upon 
 him other than as an uncertain sort of person who be-
 
 160 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 longed nowhere and with whom she could have little 
 in common. It had been, indeed, something of a trial 
 to her to find that Mrs. Blake, whom she had kept in 
 her memory for many years, and whose acquaintance 
 she had gladly renewed, was the aunt of this young 
 Judge and had given him a home. She rarely met the 
 nephew, however, when she visited Mrs. Blake. Once 
 or twice he had been jn his aunt's room, when she had 
 entered somewhat unceremoniously, and he never 
 seemed then to have the same awkwardness and 
 stumbling manner with which he greeted her, when he 
 met her casually in the passages or in the court.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 161 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE snow had been melting rapidly, and when Miss 
 Levering reached the city again, the general sloppiuess 
 of the streets rendered walking anything but agreeable, 
 so that she found herself again, in Five-Sisters Court, 
 fatigued and dispirited. Maria opened the door for 
 her and handed her a note. 
 
 " Miss Fix left this," she said, " she was mortal 
 sorry not to see you. She came twice, and the second 
 time she brought this." It was a note inclosing a 
 ticket to an afternoon concert, which Miss Pix also 
 hoped to attend, but as she had engagements up to the 
 moment of the concert, she must leave Miss Sally to 
 go alone. The note and ticket were enough at once to 
 restore the young lady's equanimity, and at dinner 
 time she gave an animated account to her grandfather 
 of the walk she had taken, omitting in her narrative 
 all that was disagreeable, and consequently failing to 
 report the interruption she had suffered. 
 
 The concert was in the great hall of the city, a hall 
 which from its size and associations gave perhaps the 
 most complete satisfaction to Miss Lovering as an em 
 bodiment of her desires for city life. She had never 
 been to the theatre, she had never beheld the musical 
 pageant of the opera, and I am not sure that she would 
 have yielded with sufficient abandon to the fascination 
 either of the play or of the opera. But the symphony 
 was to her the perfection of art, and to find what she 
 11
 
 162 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 had studied at her piano-forte, brought out with all 
 the multitudinous wealth of the orchestra, was to enter 
 into the fullest possession of what music could give 
 her. 
 
 The hall itself, to her who had seen no complex ar 
 chitectural structures, was impressive and in harmony 
 with the music which she heard there. Its fine pro 
 portions, its simplicity of lines, its orderly arrangement, 
 so that when empty there was nevertheless a certain in 
 dividuality about the seats, that made them look like 
 silent listeners to unplayed music, all combined to make 
 it her favorite haunt. The hall was not without its 
 mystery ; a dark passage beneath the gallery in the 
 rear, by which persons crossed the hall out of sight, 
 was entered and explored with a suspicious feeling lest 
 unknown peril might be lurking there. Her only crit 
 icism was upon the metallic screen which covered the 
 wall back of the orchestra. It always seemed a pity 
 to her that when hearing great music her eye could not 
 rest on some more majestic form. 
 
 This afternoon she was in her seat early, watching 
 the audience as it gathered, and catching now and then 
 the distant sound of the tuning of instruments behind 
 the stage. The programme was made up mainly of 
 music to be given by the entire orchestra, but the great 
 attraction of the afternoon to most was the promise of 
 some solos on the violin by one who was held by many 
 to be the greatest of living violinists, and was then in 
 the country. 
 
 As the orchestra came in, Miss Lovering looked at 
 once for Mr. Windgraff. There was a pleasure in dis 
 covering a friend in the orchestra. She already knew, 
 with his assistance, the names of several of the musi 
 cians, and Mr. Pfeiffer, Mr. Schmauker, and Mr. Pfeffen- 
 dorf she had met once at Miss Pix's ; but Mr. Wind-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 163 
 
 graff was a friend, and when now he turned his eyes to 
 where she sat and bowed with a blush, she was thrown 
 into a little flutter of excitement. Miss Pix had not 
 yet come and her seat awaited her. As the music be 
 gan, however, Miss Lovering gave herself up to it after 
 a sigh of regret for her companion's absence, and en 
 tered upon a gentle succession of fancies which familiar 
 music always excited in her. She had heard the over 
 ture and the symphony which followed, and had more 
 over practiced them both on her piano, so that she needed 
 not to strain her attention, but as each phrase followed 
 the last, her mind seemed to run before just far enough 
 to receive and welcome it as an old friend. 
 
 The violin solo followed, and Miss Lovering looked 
 with delight as the master stood there with that smile, 
 that graceful bearing, that strange air which seemed 
 to separate him from other men and to place him by 
 himself, as a charmer, whom to see and hear was to ac 
 knowledge as having a fascination which was not all 
 in his music nor all in his bearing, but an effluence 
 from his whole personality. She could think of nothing 
 but Orpheus, and was almost ready to obey the invita 
 tion which seemed to lie in the music, and to follow its 
 sounds whithersoever they might lead her. There was, 
 besides, about the music a certain homeliness, as if the 
 violinist had little in common with professional musi 
 cians, and drew his music from themes which could not 
 be handled by an orchestra, but were adapted solely to 
 the apparent improvisation of one who with his violin 
 bad drawn a charmed circle, and within that was dis 
 coursing from his soul through his sympathetic instru 
 ment. All this passed with more or less distinctness in 
 the young girl's mind as she came out of the trance and 
 listened abstractedly to the music which succeeded the 
 solo.
 
 164 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 There was an intermission between the two parts of 
 the concert, and as she was wondering why Miss Fix 
 did not appear, and looking about the near audience, 
 she saw Mr. Windgraff coming up the aisle to her 
 seat. 
 
 " Ah, Mr. Windgraff," said she, " where is Miss 
 Fix?" 
 
 " So was I about to ask you," said that gentleman. 
 
 " She was to be here ; this is her seat. Oh, why was 
 she not here to hear that violin." 
 
 " Is it the violin," he asked, " or is it the violinist ? " 
 
 " There is neither violin nor violinist to me," she 
 said, " but it is all melted into one." 
 
 " Very good," said Mr. Windgraff. " You have said 
 it well. And why is it that it is no different ? I 
 heard that same violinist violin you call it 
 twenty year ago and no different." 
 
 " Perhaps it is magic," said a voice by their side. 
 " Good afternoon, Miss Lovering, Mr. Windgraff. I 
 should be glad to know the secret of this man's power." 
 It was Le Clear, who had come up to speak to Miss 
 Lovering as Mr. Windgraff also approached.' " Mr. 
 Windgraff, you know the violin well ? what is the se 
 cret of this genius ? " 
 
 "Tell me the secret of any genius;"said that gentle 
 man, senteutiously. " Now I must leave you two to 
 find it out. You will tell Miss Fix, Miss Loveriug, 
 what she lost ? " 
 
 " Indeed, I cannot tell her," said Miss Lovering, smil 
 ing. " She would need hear it herself to know ! " 
 
 " Very good again," said the musician bowing pro 
 foundly and returning to his post. 
 
 " May I keep Miss Fix's seat for her ? " asked Le 
 Clear. Miss Lovering made room for him, and he took 
 his seat beside her.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 165 
 
 " I suspect," said he, " that part of the secret lies in his 
 solitariness. I have heard him in concerts when there 
 were other soloists, but though they might have been 
 respectable elsewhere, they seemed coarse and com 
 monplace when he played. He threw no charm over 
 those who aided him. Indeed, he seems to me to 
 dwell in a charmed circle. I can fancy him waving 
 that glittering bow of his and putting every one else 
 aside. In that he has always lived. He has not 
 grown at all. You heard what Mr..Windgraff said. 
 He has been playing for twenty years the same airs 
 with the same perfection. The world cares less for 
 him than it once did. He is his own ancestor, his own 
 posterity. He has advanced from nothing, he has 
 given birth to nothing. But when all is said, how beau 
 tiful he remains ! a northern poem ! " 
 
 " You make me think of Shakspere's sonnet," began 
 Miss Levering ; but at that moment the tap of the con 
 ductor's baton was heard and the music was resumed. 
 Mr. Le Clear remained in his seat, and Miss Fix did not 
 come to claim it. Miss Levering found a special ex 
 hilaration in the second part of the concert. Some 
 thing in the companionship she had, stimulated her, and 
 she found herself listening with ears attent, catching at 
 the phrases and weaving new webs of thought. A few 
 words passed between them during the short intervals, 
 and when the concert was over, Miss Lovering rose 
 with a sigh. 
 
 " I have not enjoyed a concert so much for a long 
 time," said she ; " if only Miss Fix had been here." 
 Mr. Le Clear half concealed a smile, and she hastened to 
 add, a little confused, " But I am none the less obliged 
 to you. I think I only half hear, when alone, some 
 times," for she remembered, suddenly, certain occasions 
 when it seemed as if music could not be shared.
 
 166 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Is walking alone only half a walk ? " asked her 
 companion. " If so, I should be glad to add the other, 
 half." 
 
 " Oh, I am a very independent walker," said she, 
 " But I believe I can keep step." They passed out of 
 the hall, and avoiding the street walked leisurely down 
 under the leafless boughs of the elms that overhung a 
 mall adjoining. 
 
 " The music struck up very inopportunely once," said 
 Le Clear, "just as I was to hear which of Shakspere's 
 sonnets it was th*at was in your mind." 
 
 " Oh, what you said chimed in with lines that had 
 been running in my head : 
 
 " From fairest creatures we desire increase 
 That thereby beauty's rose might never die. 
 
 But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes 
 Feedst thy light flame with self-substantial fuel, 
 Making a famine where abundance lies 
 Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel." 
 
 " I am glad," he said, " that there is so much obscu 
 rity about the actual personal suggestion of Shak 
 spere's sonnets. Now we can all make our own 
 interpretations, and no one can pin us down to un 
 mistakable historic references." 
 
 " Still, I should like to know," said she. " He must 
 have started from some actual facts, and I do not see 
 why we should be the worse off for knowing them." 
 
 " But should we be the better ? " continued he. " Po 
 etry, especially great poetry, has cut loose from its im 
 mediate suggestion, and has become common property. 
 To take another instance, Spenser's Faerie Queene has 
 certain well established historic foundations, but does 
 any one read it with greater pleasure for seeing in it an 
 idealization of Queen Elizabeth ? "
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 167 
 
 " Why, yes. I read the poem for the pleasure it 
 gives, and then afterward I am interested in tracing 
 Spenser's English feeling. I don't know much about 
 it," she added, laughing, " and I talk as if I had lore. 
 Lore I think is a fine word." 
 
 "Yes," said he, "especially when so pronounced. 
 Unless you roll your r, I don't like it. I would rather 
 enjoy lore than practice law. By the way, did you ever 
 study metres much ? " 
 
 " No, I learned prosody." 
 
 " Well, I looked into the matter once, and I have a 
 theory about the measure of the Faerie Queene, the 
 Spenserian stanza that is so much admired. But here 
 we are in this tortuous court. Miss Levering, may I 
 have the pleasure of calling upon you ? " 
 
 " Thank you, Mr. Le Clear. I shall be happy to see 
 you, you may bring your little theory with you, too, if 
 you like. But I am going first to see Miss Fix, to see 
 why she was not at the concert." Mr. Le Clear bade 
 her good evening at the door, and Miss Levering en 
 tered the little house. She heard the notes of a piano, 
 and spied" Miss Fix seated at it. 
 
 " Come in, Miss Sally," said that lady, wheeling 
 round on her stool. " You see my concert lasts longer 
 than yours." 
 
 "Oh, but why were you not there, Miss Fix. It was 
 glorious ! " 
 
 " I 've not a doubt of it. And how did our young 
 friend like it?" 
 
 Miss Lovering colored a little. 
 
 " Oh, he enjoyed it very much, and I found him quite 
 agreeable. He seemed to know all about the music and 
 the musicians." 
 
 " Bless me ! where has he been hiding his knowl 
 edge all this time ? "
 
 168 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " But tell me, why did you not come,' Miss Fix ? I 
 wanted you there ever so much." 
 
 " I supposed you would guess the reason," said she, 
 with a merry twinkle. Miss Lovering looked bewil 
 dered ; " or at any rate that Nicholas would have set 
 your mind at rest about my coming." 
 
 " Nicholas ? Mr. Judge ? Why, I have not seen him. 
 At least I did not see him at the concert." 
 
 " Did not see him ? why, he had my ticket. Did 
 you not take the seat that was numbered on your 
 ticket ? " 
 
 " Certainly." 
 
 " "Well, whom were you speaking of, then, when you 
 said he made himself agreeable ? " 
 
 " Why, I was speaking of Mr. Le Clear. I won 
 dered that you should ask, but presumed you saw us 
 from your window just now. He came and spoke to 
 me, during the intermission; and afterward, as you 
 were not there, kept your seat. Mr. Windgraff came 
 down, too, and was disappointed at not seeing you." 
 Miss Fix rubbed her nose, with an odd look of discom 
 fiture. 
 
 " I was getting ready to go to the concert, when I 
 ran in to see Mrs. Blake a moment, and there I saw 
 Master Nicholas looking so rueful, that I made up my 
 mind he needed a tonic sol fa, so I gave him my ticket 
 for a prescription. I suppose he never looked at the 
 number, but just hid himself in the farthest corner of 
 the upper gallery. Well, well ! I hope he had the 
 grace to enjoy the music. There he is now ; " and 
 Miss Fix ran to the door that connected her house 
 with Mrs. Blake's. Miss Lovering would very readily 
 have taken her leave, but she had no chance to say 
 good-by before her hostess returned, bringing the young 
 man with her.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 169 
 
 " Give an account of yourself, Master Nicholas," she 
 cried. " You are not so obedient as Miss Levering. 
 I had two tickets for the concert. I give her one, and 
 she takes it and her seat dutifully. I give you the 
 other, and you go off no one knows where. I warrant 
 you followed the man who lights the gas at the top of 
 the building ; but you don't look very dusty," she 
 added, surveying his coat critically. Nicholas laughed. 
 
 " I should like nothing better than to find myself in 
 that mysterious passage under the eaves. How the 
 lighter gets there is a mystery to me. I have thought 
 of bribing him to let me take his taper some afternoon, 
 and touch off the gas points. How diminutive the 
 people on the floor and the orchestra on the stage must 
 look from that height." 
 
 " I wonder," said Miss Lovering, " if he has to crawl, 
 or stoop, when he disappears at the corner " 
 
 " And comes out again, like the Arethusa," said 
 Nicholas, gayly. " Yes, all those mysteries I should 
 settle, if I once could find my way up there. But 
 perhaps it will be better to leave Yarrow uuvisited." 
 
 "What are you two crazy people talking about," 
 said Miss Fix, whose reading was of the slightest ; 
 " Arethusa ? Yarrow ? Come, how did you like the 
 concert, Nicholas ; and what was the highest point you 
 could get at from which to enjoy it ? and did it drive 
 out that evil spirit which seemed to possess you ? " 
 Nicholas colored a little, but kept his eye fixed on 
 Miss Pix. 
 
 " I found a corner in the second gallery and per 
 suaded myself that the music was strained when it 
 reached me. Certainly I never heard any such fine 
 and penetrating sounds as came from that violin. They 
 were so liquid that I fancied if I opened my eyes I 
 should see slender streams of music flowing off from
 
 170 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 the strings of the instrument." Nicholas laughed as 
 he said this, as if to take off the edge of too much sen 
 timent. " J thought of David and King Saul, and fan 
 cied again that every time the violin bow was drawn, 
 an arrow was fired straight at the evil spirit that pos 
 sessed Saul." 
 
 " Bravo, Nicholas!" cried Miss Fix, clapping her 
 hands. " My ticket was well spent. But tell me, 
 what did you like best of all?" Nicholas hesitated a 
 moment. 
 
 "I suppose," he finally said "it is a very uneducated 
 taste, but I was more moved, when he was called 
 back and played * Home, sweet home ' for an encore. 
 I could enjoy all the concert, but when I heard that 
 I could build my pleasure on a previous exact knowl 
 edge, however simple, for I have sung that song, and 
 I did not know any of the other pieces. I confess I 
 felt a moderate amount of envy of those who were 
 always remembering while they listened." He turned 
 to Miss Lovering. 
 
 " You have not told us what you liked best," said he, 
 " or perhaps you have told Miss Fix." 
 
 " I do not know that I have asked myself the ques 
 tion before," said she, " but I am inclined to think, at 
 least so it seems at this moment, that I too liked the 
 encore best it seemed so entirely in keeping with bis 
 style and manner of playing. Perhaps if we had 
 heard some folk-song of his own country, that would 
 have been even more characteristic." 
 
 " Well," said Miss Fix, as her guests at the same mo 
 ment rose to take their leave ; " I have almost heard 
 the concert myself. But tell me, Nicholas, did the 
 music really sound better in the gallery, or did it really 
 sound better on the floor, Miss Sally ? " 
 
 "I don't see how that question is ever to be an 
 swered by two persons," said the young lady.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 171 
 
 " Then tell me, Nicholas," she persisted. " How was 
 it ? For you heard it both on the floor and in the gal 
 lery, did you not ? " 
 
 " I moved about somewhat," said he, retreating. " I 
 think, when one is alone, the gallery is best. Good 
 afternoon, Miss Levering," and he made his way to his 
 aunt's door. 
 
 " The snipe ! " said Miss Fix, with a vindictive toss 
 of her head, and sitting at the piano, she dashed at a 
 waltz. 
 
 " That takes it out of me," she said, jumping up from 
 the piano. " Dear Miss Sally, what should we do with 
 out our pianos. We can tell them all our secrets as 
 loudly as we choose, and they are dumb as oracles. 
 What were oracles? I always supposed they were a 
 kind of oyster, till something I saw the other day gave 
 me a misgiving." 
 
 "You are an oracle," said Sally, laughing; " especially 
 when you sit on your piano-stool. Good-by, and all 
 manner of thanks for the ticket." 
 
 " Bless me ! to be sure, and Nicholas forgot to thank 
 me for his. I must go and reprimand him ; " and the 
 little woman 'knocked at her neighbor's door, as her 
 visitor nodded a good-by and closed the street door 
 behind her.
 
 172 TEE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MR. PAUL LE CLEAR'S philosophy generally bade 
 him take his enjoyment of life leisurely i He was of 
 the opinion that nothing was gained by haste, even in 
 the pursuit of pleasure, and that the wisest course, when 
 happiness seemed to be approaching the zenith, was to 
 retire before one saw any decline. Hence, in follow 
 ing any line of study or reading or aesthetics, he stu 
 diously avoided going to extremes ; he stopped short of 
 the top of everything, satisfied that the finest enjoyment 
 was to be had on the slope. To pursue the figure back 
 to its suggestion, he had noticed that persons climbing 
 mountains were usually over eager to secure the view 
 which was to be had from the summit, regardless of 
 the fact that the ascent was a deliberate turning of the 
 back upon all the delightful prospects that were steadily 
 revealed to one who would take the trouble to stop and 
 rest ; and that those who reached the summit were 
 after all rarely contented, the wider reach of view being 
 not altogether a fair exchange for more secret and 
 fascinating glimpses to be had on the way, while the 
 personal discomfort and fatigue when one had achieved 
 one's object constituted a very serious drawback to the 
 full pleasure of whatever view was to be had from the 
 summit. 
 
 Some such train of thought perhaps floated in his 
 mind, as he sat before his fire on the evening after the 
 concert At any rate his conduct obeyed the impulse
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 173 
 
 suggested by it. His copper-kettle was simmering on 
 the hob, his little tea-service stood by him on the table, 
 an automatic toaster, requiring but a momentary at 
 tention was holding the thin slices of bread, and the 
 demure spoons which seemed to have grown from an 
 other variety of the plant which produced his tea-set, 
 lay gleaming on the white cloth. He evidently was 
 enough at his ease to have no special temptation to 
 change his posture. 
 
 He was considering whether or no he should go 
 through the process of dressing for a call on Miss 
 Levering. He certainly had enjoyed the one or two 
 glimpses he had had of her, and espying her in the 
 afternoon at the concert, he had used his walking 
 privileges, which he held in common with other young 
 men in the concert hall, and sought her. It was pleas 
 ant to fall into a seat by her side, to walk home with 
 her in the twilight, and to indulge in some of the fan 
 cies which had occurred to him from time to time, and 
 which, in default of any great originality, were at least 
 sufficiently struck out from his polite learning to have 
 a certain glitter about them. Miss Lovering was a 
 good listener, and a respectful one, he felt, and there 
 would be an indolent satisfaction in talking with her, 
 all the greater from a freshness and naivete which he 
 thought he saw in her. He wondered how she and 
 crabbed Dr. Chocker lived together, and whether if he 
 called, it would be necessary for him to strain his 
 polite words through the Doctor's dipper. There 
 seemed to be an unnecessary haste in using the priv 
 ilege so promptly after it had been granted to him. 
 Yet, in the absence of any immediate pursuit, the 
 young man experienced a certain zest in following an 
 acquaintance so agreeably formed ; and he owned to 
 himself some curiosity as to a neighbor so distinct 
 from the ordinary inhabitants of the court.
 
 174 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 So it came about, that, with more alacrity than he 
 usually displayed, he made ready to seek Miss Lover- 
 ing. He was ushered into the parlor, and waited the 
 coming of the young lady. The stiff and angular room 
 was relieved a little by apparently hap-hazard decora 
 tion. A sudden thought had made a rich piece of silk, 
 brought forth from some old store in the house, serve 
 as a screen to the lower half of a window, whose light 
 fell upon the piano ; the old fire-place, disencumbered 
 of its grate, had a curious perforated kettle, hanging 
 from a crane, and containing the smouldering embers of 
 a charcoal fire; upon the white deal door a careless 
 vine was painted, and a coarsely woven rug of oddly 
 assorted carpet ends lay before the fire-place. Ou the 
 table lay a book, held open by some light work. He 
 read the name, and was conscious of an offering to his 
 vanity when he found it was the Faerie Queene. Just 
 then Miss Levering entered, and saw him standing at 
 the table. 
 
 " You see, I am qualifying myself to appreciate your 
 theory," she said, as she greeted him, and sat down by 
 the table. 
 
 " I hardly know how strong a light my theory will 
 bear," said Le Clear, " but it grew out of an accidental 
 reading of Spenser and Homer at the same time, and 
 a comparison of their metres suggested itself to me. 
 I thought I saw in Homer a rhythm which was not 
 exactly imitative, but a reflection of the rise and fall of 
 a boat on the open sea. Let me repeat a few lines to 
 show what I mean." Thereupon he gave a dozen or 
 twenty lines which he had once learned for this pur 
 pose. " Don't laugh at my pronunciation, Miss Lover- 
 ing. I am afraid if your grandfather heard it, he 
 would ask me when I studied Choctaw." 
 
 " "Well," said Miss Lovering, " I think I did detect
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 175 
 
 some such rise and fall, but how do I know but you 
 threw it into your recitation. However, I won't be so 
 ungenerous. Here is Spenser. Try his verse by the 
 same rule." 
 
 " Ah, but my theory supposes a difference and not a 
 likeness in the two. As Homer's verse borrows its 
 rhythm from the movement of the sea to a sailor in a 
 boat, so Spenser's stanza reflects the same movement of 
 the sea as noticed from the land : the flowing in of the 
 tide, the retreating wave, the poise of the water and 
 the long rolls, all these reappear in his verse." 
 
 " Unfortunately for me," said Miss Levering. " I 
 am as ignorant of the sea, as I am of Greek. I never 
 have seen the ocean, except as I have caught glimpses 
 of it in some of my walks, and I never have been near 
 enough to see the waves or hear the surf. But I like 
 your theory," she added, laughing, " because it is so po 
 etic and so nicely balanced. Did you think of it when 
 you were walking the beach or when you were in a 
 boat." 
 
 " Oh, no," said he ; "I evolve such things in my 
 study." 
 
 " But you have been in a boat ? " she asked, look 
 ing up. 
 
 " Well, you may think it sti'ange, but I believe I 
 never was on the water in my life, but I can easily un 
 derstand the sensation." 
 
 " You will tell me next," she said, with a laugh, 
 " that you never walked on the beach or saw the 
 surf." 
 
 " Picking up pebbles of theories, eh ? " he rejoined. 
 " But tell me, Miss Lovering, has all your life been 
 passed among the mountains." 
 
 " You are not to evade my question, Mr. Le Clear," 
 said she, laying down her work. " When did you last 
 walk by the shore of the sounding sea ? "
 
 176 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " When I read the first book of the Iliad." 
 
 " And did you have to go back so far to see the 
 ocean ? " 
 
 " Oh no ; there is Tennyson's ' Sea Dreams,' and in 
 deed all the poetry that is to be found in Mr. Longfel 
 low's ' Thalatta.' " 
 
 " And do you really get at nature exclusively through 
 books ? " 
 
 " We seem to be playing at ' Twenty Questions,' Miss 
 Lovering. I think you are entitled to a guess by this 
 time, or else I ought to be carrying on the questioning 
 at the same time, arid I should like to ask if that is 
 embroidery that you are at work upon. I have been 
 watching your hand and half discovering the figure." 
 
 " I am afraid embroidery would be too fine a word 
 for it," said she, holding up the light cambric on which 
 she was sketching with her needle. " It is a sort of 
 improvisation which an aunt of mine taught me, merely 
 white cambric on which I stitch any figures that I may 
 fancy. It keeps my hands employed when I am read- 
 ing." 
 
 " Somewhat as we may smoke to keep our heads 
 clear, I suppose. But what will it come out finally, 
 an arras ? " 
 
 " Oh, I am not over anxious about that," said she. " I 
 am a philosopher, too, and consider a certain wayward 
 ness and indefiniteness a proper expression of a wom 
 an's character." 
 
 " And yours goes into cambric ? " 
 
 "I think your game of 'Twenty Questions' must be 
 nearly through, and that you are entitled to a guess, 
 Mr. Le Clear." 
 
 " I will guess that you have sufficient stability to 
 answer in the affirmative when I ask you to let me 
 enjoy some music with you." Miss Lovering laid her 
 work aside and sat at the piano.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 177 
 
 What shall it be ? " she asked. 
 
 " What, can we range over the whole world of 
 music ? Then give me something of Schubert's." 
 
 u Ah ! Beethoven's wife, as Miss Fix calls him." 
 
 " Did Miss Fix discover that title ? " 
 
 " No, I don't think she did. She repeated it to me 
 once as something said by one of her friends, Mr. 
 Windgraff, I suspect. 'It is impossible,' he said, ' to 
 tell any one who does n't know music, what the differ 
 ence is between Beethoven and Schubert, and if one 
 does understand music, then it is enough to say that 
 Schubert is Beethoven's wife.' " 
 
 " I should think it also necessaiy for one to under 
 stand, besides music, the relation of husband and wife,"" 
 said Mr. Le Clear. " Miss Fix ought to discover some 
 musical comparison which would answer to her univer 
 sal charity. You know, I suppose, Miss Lovering, 
 that Miss Fix is the guardian angel of this court, a 
 sort of genius loci, so to speak, and that her unbounded 
 charity takes in all the beggars in intellect or morals, 
 and offers them cold crusts and glasses of water. I 
 have my own private opinion that this court must be a 
 favorite stalking ground for theories and views of all 
 kind, arid that Miss Fix is the divinity that presides 
 over our destinies as philosophical creatures. Else 
 how do you account for the erratic performances of 
 that young man whose entrance here has disturbed the 
 old order of things so much ? You never heard, I pre 
 sume, of his sudden apparition to me ? " 
 
 " No," said Miss Lovering. " I knew of the party 
 that Miss Fix gave. My grandfather has told me of 
 that." 
 
 " Oh, it was before the party. It comes back to me 
 now especially, as I find myself in this house. I was 
 just stepping out of my own house to call on your 
 12
 
 178 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 grandfather when a young man, who ought to have had 
 his eyes about him, but who probably was suffering 
 from some of the hayseed still in his hair, put himself 
 directly in my way, and I nearly jumped him down. 
 That young man, Miss Levering, was Mr. Judge, who 
 had been here under false pretenses and whom I in 
 vited up into my room, where it was easier to have an 
 explanation than it was out of doors. I thought I saw 
 an innocent youth in him, and so I put him before the 
 fare, warmed him with some tea, and before long the 
 sap started and I had a most ingenuous narrative of his 
 .early life, and present hopes. You can imagine my 
 amusement when I was invited by Mr. Manlius to Mrs. 
 Blake's and found that he had actually erected this 
 mild young man into a sort of Guy Fawkes or Dr. 
 Rappacinni." 
 
 " But what do you mean by his coming here under 
 false pretenses ? " 
 
 " Oh, that was a short way of saying that he called 
 here to ask if his aunt lived here, and was rather 
 abruptly shown in to your grandfather, who naturally 
 assumed that it was I, whom he had appointed to meet 
 at that hour." 
 
 " Why, did you know my grandfather, then ? " 
 
 " Only by correspondence," said Le Clear, carelessly. 
 " I had written to make some special inquiries in re 
 gard to certain studies I was pursuing, in which I knew 
 him to be a proficient." 
 
 " Then did you see him ? " 
 
 " No. I found that, as I said, he had mistaken Judge 
 for me, and I thought it would only annoy him to have 
 me call and explain or be explained to. But come, 
 we have wandered a long way from Beethoven and 
 Beethoven's wife. Shall we not have the music ? " 
 Miss Levering turned again to the piano, and played
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 179 
 
 both from Schubert and from Beethoven. Mr. Le 
 Clear called for one piece and another, making some 
 slight appreciative comment on each, and occasionally 
 changed his place, standing by the fire-place, or turning 
 her leaves in some rapid piece. 
 
 " Do you not play ? " she asked. " But I re 
 member you do not, except by proxy on your music- 
 box." 
 
 " It would hardly be de rigeur for me to invite you 
 to my rooms," said he ; " let me bring you my music- 
 box some time. However, it is not unlikely that some 
 mild evening you may hear it, as I sometimes put it in 
 my window seat and open the window so as to get dis 
 tant effects." 
 
 " I think I heard it a night or two ago," said she, 
 " but I should very much like to hear it near by." 
 
 " It has its little history," said Le Clear, " but I 
 won't afflict you with it to-night." When he was gone, 
 Sally took up her book again and her work, but laid 
 them aside presently, and sat before the fire-place, from 
 which came a faint sparkle of light. She heard Ma 
 ria's step and knew thus that her grandfather had left 
 his study for his chamber. She wished she might bid 
 him good-night, but it was now too late for that, and 
 she sat idly until Maria came into the room with her 
 little lamp hung from her wrist. 
 
 To remain after that would have so jarred the astro 
 nomical severity of Maria's movements, that the girl, 
 dearly as she loved late hours, smiled a good-night and 
 went up-stairs. She opened the window in her room 
 and there came in a tinkling melody which made her 
 draw back and sit in the shadow until it ceased, when 
 she returned and closed the window softly.
 
 180 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Miss LOVERING'S morning intrusions upon her 
 grandfather were so rare that the old gentleman was 
 rather surprised to see her, the next morning, when he 
 had settled himself to work at his table, come in and 
 seat herself on the floor by the fire. He did not speak 
 to her, nor she to him that was a tacit convention be 
 tween them, but he continued his work while she plied 
 her needle. At length the girl laid aside her sewing 
 and went to the shelves. She stood before one some 
 time, until her grandfather, requiring a book from the 
 same neighborhood, came and looked over her shoulder. 
 
 " Humph ! " he ejaculated. " Wrong shelf, Sally. 
 This is Greek. Don't you know Greek when you see 
 it?" 
 
 " No, grandfather, and that 's the reason I 'm looking 
 at it." 
 
 " You won't learn it by looking at it. Here, take 
 this if you want to learn Greek," and he drew from 
 his shelves a Greek grammar, written in Latin." 
 
 " But I don't know Latin," said the young lady, 
 somewhat out of countenance. " Don't you think I 
 had better begin with an English grammar of Latin ? " 
 
 " Sure you know English, eh ? Here, this is what I 
 began my Latin on," and he drew down a forlorn little 
 Eton grammar without a word of English from begin 
 ning to end. 
 
 " I did think I should like to study Greek," said she, 
 meekly.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 181 
 
 " Study Greek ? " The old gentleman settled his 
 spectacles well on his nose and looked hard at his rosy 
 granddaughter. His countenance relaxed a little. 
 " No, no, Sally. Let Greek alone. If you undertake 
 to know that, you will have to drop your music and 
 your pictures. You could learn Greek, if you wanted 
 to. But what does want to mean ? It means to live 
 as I live, eh ? " and he looked at her again. 
 
 " Will you please read me a little Greek, grand 
 father. I want to hear how it sounds. Just read me a 
 little Homer. Read it rhythmically," and she looked 
 coaxingly yet rather timidly at the old gentleman. 
 
 " Hem," said he, trotting about the room, with his 
 spectacles in his hand. " To think of this ! to think of 
 this ! Sally, don't be a goose." 
 
 " But just read a little, please." Dr. Checker went 
 to the shelf and took down a Homer. 
 
 " You might as well play me a piece of music, Sally, 
 but I'll try ye." He turned over the leaves of the 
 book and finally seemed to find what suited him, when 
 he began to read, casting an eye on his granddaughter. 
 
 " Had enough, Sally ? " 
 
 " A little more, please, and please be very rhythmi 
 cal." So he went on again in a sing-song tone. 
 
 " There ! " said he, finally. " How do you like 
 Greek ? " 
 
 " Well, I suppose there 's a difference in pronuncia 
 tion," said she, dubiously. 
 
 " What ! " 
 
 " You see, grandfather, I 've lately met with a the 
 ory," Sally hesitated as if the theory might walk into 
 the room and denounce her. " It 's a theory of rhythm, 
 as comparing Homer and Spenser." Thereupon she 
 proceeded to decant the theoretic fluid which Le Clear 
 had poured into her mind, into the Doctor's capacious
 
 182 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 dipper, fortifying her version with a repetition of two 
 stanzas from the Faerie Queene. 
 
 " All through ? " asked the old gentleman. " All 
 through ? " and he laid his dipper down. " That 's a 
 precious theory, Sally, a precious theory. You did n't 
 find that in any of my books, I warrant, without a green 
 pencil mark against it. Oh, these theorists, these theo 
 rists," and the scholar trotted about the room fuming. 
 " It 's a piece of nonsense, Sally, not worth the paper 
 it 's written on. Show me the book that holds it." 
 
 " I heard it in conversation," said Sally, a little 
 alarmed at the vindictive spirit her grandfather showed, 
 as he seemed to hold a writ against the unfortunate 
 little theory. 
 
 " And who 's been talking such precious nonsense 
 to you ? Don't listen to such talk, Sally. It will 
 poison your mind. Here have I been working for ten 
 years, off and on, on the metres, and along comes some 
 jackanapes with his little dandy theory ; bah ! " Miss 
 Levering discreetly covered herself from this invective 
 with her work, which she held up as a shield against 
 her grandfather. 
 
 " You need n't laugh, child," and then his own face 
 relaxed. " The fact is," said he, tweaking her ear 
 affectionately, " that was n't Greek that I read. I 
 made up a hodge podge to see if you knew anything 
 about it. Didn't you think it was rhythmical, eh ?" 
 and he chuckled to himself, and soon began burrowing 
 in his work again. His granddaughter soon slipped 
 out of the room, and went back to her piano. 
 
 "At least I know what is genuine in music," she 
 said to herself. She went to the window to raise 
 the shade, and as she did so, looked out into the court 
 and noticed Mr. Nicholas Judge walking away from his 
 aunt's house. It was several days since she had seen
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 183 
 
 Mrs. Blake, and being of a somewhat vagabond as well 
 as willful mood this morning, she suddenly resolved to 
 visit her imprisoned neighbor. With Mrs. Blake she 
 held some things in common, which rarely seemed to 
 be shared by her with other acquaintances. Some 
 thing in the whiteness and perfect repose of that lady's 
 chamber accorded with the dignity and sweetness in 
 which she herself had been nurtured in the home of 
 her maiden aunts. Moreover, Mrs. Blake, while pos 
 sessing a nature instinctively refined and cultivated by 
 education, owed her contentment and ease to the higher 
 ministrations of a religious trust, which spread over 
 her an air of calm and patience, inexpressibly soothing 
 to one at all inclined to restlessness. Miss Fix used to 
 say that when she herself was tired, going to see Mrs. 
 Blake was much better than going to church, for you 
 never heard a sermon, yet came away as if you had 
 been preached to and converted. 
 
 It was the middle of the forenoon when Miss Lov- 
 ering entered Mrs. Blake's chamber. Mrs. Starkey 
 was there also, but after a few minutes rose and slipped 
 away, so like a shadow, that it was some time before 
 Miss Loveriug perceived that she was gone. 
 
 "How fragrant your rose is, Mrs. Blake," she said, 
 bending over a single spray that stood in a glass on the 
 table. " I am tempted to think there is something per 
 petual about it, since I never come here but I find it 
 always fresh and always red." 
 
 " That is my nephew's fancy," said Mrs. Blake. 
 " Pie said this room was so white that he wanted a single 
 spot of color, and that the air was always so sweet that 
 he wanted to emphasize it with a single bit of fra 
 grance. You see, living here so many years, I have been 
 gradually compelled to the whiteness and the sweet 
 ness. I used to amuse myself with planning changes
 
 184 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 
 
 in the furniture and the general dress of the room ; 
 then I got very tired of variety, and little by little I 
 dismissed one thing after another, until finally my eyes 
 could seem to find nothing satisfactory but pure white. 
 I think very possibly it may be a mere wliiai of my 
 own ; indeed I am quite certain that to many invalids 
 unvarying white would be distressing, but it has come 
 to be second nature with me. Then I had an almost 
 morbid horror of confined and close rooms. I had been 
 in them when the persons lying there were wholly un 
 conscious of the deadness of the air, so when I found 
 myself imprisoned, I was resolved that I would secure 
 the most perfect ventilation. I used to ask my friends 
 the most rigid questions, when they came to see me, to 
 determine whether they perceived anything disagree 
 able in the air, but as I sometimes did, when they, 
 coming from out of doors did not, I came to think that 
 the sense of smell had been exceptionally developed in 
 me. But I do not dislike the red rose, though I am 
 so foolish that it has to be carried away before others 
 think it drooping. I seem to perceive the first intima 
 tion of its loss of health. Nicholas has tried chemical 
 experiments here to determine the purity of the air, 
 and gravely announces that I have the standard of pure 
 air. It amuses me to regulate it. I have tried all 
 sorts of experiments. That earthen vessel is my hy 
 grometer, as Nicholas calls it, and I have found how to 
 secure the requisite moisture by the simple use of water. 
 So the room has come to be a sort of dress that I wear, 
 which I never suffer to become too tight or too loose. 
 But don't fancy that I have to give all my attention 
 to it ; it has become an instinct, I suppose. Will you 
 kindly put a piece of maple on the fire. No, my dear, 
 that is hickory. There, that is fight. Is it possible 
 that you lived long in the country and do riot know the 
 difference between hickory and maple ? "
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 185 
 
 " I know them with their bark on, and growing," 
 said Miss Levering, laughing. 
 
 " I have not forgotten the maples that I saw at 
 Kingston more than twenty years ago," said Mrs. 
 Blake. " There were some that stood in a little valley 
 to the east of Round Top and took on the most lovely 
 hues in autumn." 
 
 "Oh, I know those," cried Sally. "They were al 
 ways the first to change, and every fall I used to watch 
 for their color. We had a way of going there on my 
 birthday, and it seemed as if they always had a flaming 
 branch just ready for me." 
 
 " And were there not some maples also near the 
 church? I seem to remember looking out of the win 
 dow on some ? " 
 
 " Yes, there were. When I was a little girl I 
 used to look at their bright leaves through the window 
 and try to imagine how painted windows in great 
 cathedrals must look." 
 
 " Well, have you found windows more beautiful in 
 any of the churches here ? " 
 
 " I suppose I am getting over my first feeling of dis 
 appointment. The windows were not as lovely as I 
 dreamt them to be, but I am gradually learning to find 
 their own beauty in them." 
 
 " Perhaps my whiteness of eye prevents my liking 
 them," said Mrs. Blake, with a smile, " and indeed I have 
 to remind myself constantly that I am judging what I 
 have not seen for a long time and only remember. 
 But I live in such a little room and have so few things 
 about me, that it sometimes seems as if I had been all 
 these years trying to sweep and dust my mind, until I 
 had got rid of a good deal that was picturesque in sen 
 timent. I have come to like simplicity, but I am by 
 no means certain that simplicity is the only or even the
 
 186 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 best condition. Once in a while I find myself sighing, 
 for instance, for a choral service. I never was pres 
 ent at one, yet I can fancy what it might be, and I am 
 very sure that certain parts of the service must gain 
 immensely from the color which music gives. My 
 nephew has a theory that the real harmonies of color 
 and sound will one day be so far reduced to rule, that 
 splendid effects will be produced by very simple 
 means, arid I suppose we are on our way to that theory 
 when we hear a processional hymn and see the proces 
 sion at the same time, or see a company of soldiers 
 marching to the sound of martial music." 
 
 " Do you not miss being away from church?" asked 
 the girl, timidly. 
 
 " As I miss everything else that is good," said Mrs. 
 Blake, smiling ; " and find something in. its place that 
 contents me. I have to bring everything to me, you 
 know, and so I must make my congregation also. 
 But I suppose there are few congregations that are 
 quite as select as mine. A good deal of my reading 
 is in history and biography, and so I have what I call 
 my parochial list, and out of it I gather my fellow- 
 worshipers. I suppose it is. something like playing at 
 going to church. Last Wednesday, you know, was Ash 
 Wednesday, and before I read the service I gathered 
 about me such a collection of penitents as made me, I 
 will confess, feel a little alarmed. There was King 
 David to begin with, the Apostle Peter, the woman 
 who was a sinner, Simon Magus, St. Augustine, Arch 
 bishop Cranmer, Henry Vaughan, John Winthrop, Dr. 
 Samuel Johnson, all most excellent people, and it gave 
 me great comfort to make my confession in company 
 with them, though, as I said, I felt for a moment a trifle 
 uneasy lest I should have the pride of a sweet humil 
 ity." Mrs. Blake laughed a low laugh as she looked
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 187 
 
 at her visitor's perplexed face. " Do not think I am 
 making fun of it all, child. But I have led so very 
 solitary a life here that it has become a second nature 
 to me to make real the persons I read about, and I have 
 acquired the habit of holding them in my imagination 
 so firmly that I believe I am quite as positively af 
 fected by their presence, as some are by those whom 
 they touch and see. When I chant the Te Deum, in 
 the pause after ' the . glorious company of the Apos 
 tles praise thee/ they all seem to rise to my eyes, and 
 I have individualized them so much, that once I be 
 lieve I actually missed St. Thomas. Ah, I have some 
 times wished I were a painter : it seems to me that I 
 could paint that glorious company of the Apostles. I 
 suppose that my little room answers somewhat the pur 
 pose of Fra Angelico's cell, only I am not Fra Angel- 
 ico." 
 
 " I should think living people would seem like 
 ghosts to you, if ghosts have come to life here," said 
 Miss Love ring. 
 
 " Do people when you wake seem like the real per 
 sons of whom you dreamt ? " asked Mrs. Blake. " My 
 ghosts come at my bidding." 
 
 " May a ghost come in, then ? " asked a voice in the 
 passage. The door was ajar and Nicholas Judge 
 pushed it open, as his aunt answered, 
 
 " Come in, good ghost." 
 
 " Excuse me, I thought it was Miss Fix." But he 
 did not go immediately. " I have been off on a voyage 
 of discovery, aunt. Did you ever visit the tall chim 
 ney, by Stony brook, Miss Lovering ? " 
 
 " I have only seen it in the distance." 
 
 " I had a fancy to see it from what I had heard, and 
 walked out there this morning. It looks even more 
 impressive near by ; there are no buildings immediately
 
 188 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 around it. It was the chimney of some chemical 
 works which were destroyed some time ago. It stands 
 on the top of a rough hill, and I picked my way to it 
 over the debris of the ruined buildings. It looked very 
 high and very rough from below ; great seams ran up 
 the surface and an old lightning rod appeared in de 
 tached portions. But the strangest part was the inte 
 rior. There are a couple of narrow openings about 
 ten feet high that let one into the inside, which is 
 about twenty feet in diameter I should say. It looked 
 strangely enough in there, the darkness beginning a 
 very little way above one, and the round opening at 
 the top showing a clear circle of sky, but the light did 
 not seem to penetrate the chimney except at the side 
 openings on the ground. I sounded an echo, at once 
 the chimney caught it up and the sound went beating 
 back and forth, as if it were a bird flying against the 
 walls and finally disappearing at the top. Shrill notes 
 and whistles could scarely be heard ; the full notes 
 echoed very finely. There was a remarkable leap to 
 the sound, and double notes, notes given in quick suc 
 cession, were repeated with great distinctness. It was 
 the most extraordinary echo I ever heard. You should 
 hear it, Miss Lovering." 
 
 " I should like to. But I must bid you good-morn 
 ing now, Mrs. Blake. I am sure I must have kept 
 away some spiritual visitors." 
 
 " Ah, my dear, I like flesh and blood best, and I only 
 like my ghosts when I can seem to have them alive. 
 Come often, please." 
 
 " You never knew Miss Lovering in Kingston, Nich 
 olas, I think you said," Mrs. Blake continued to her 
 nephew, when the young lady had left them. 
 
 " I used to see her at church and occasionally else 
 where,'' said he, " but I never spoke to lu-r. It was a
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 189 
 
 great surprise to me to find she was here and a grand 
 daughter of Dr. Checker. I knew one of her aunts a 
 little. She was one of the few who ever said much to 
 me." 
 
 " Miss Lovering has told me about her aunts," said 
 Mrs. Blake, " and I think I should like to know them. 
 What were their names ?" 
 
 " They were Miss Miriam and Miss Rebecca." 
 
 " How old were they ? " 
 
 " Miss Miriam, I should think, was sixty, and her 
 sister two years younger." 
 
 " Light, or dark ? " 
 
 " Miss Miriam was rather fair and had gray eyes. 
 Her hair was gray, and she always dressed in a dark 
 buown, rather stiff sort of stuff. Miss Rebecca was 
 more timid iu her appearance ; but she had a sharp 
 nose, and the end of it moved." 
 
 " What ! " 
 
 " The end of it moved. I used to sit in church 
 where I could see them, and I used to notice Miss Re 
 becca's nose." 
 
 " Nicholas, we won't talk about Miss Rebecca's nose. 
 It 's too personal. Did either of them look like their 
 niece?" 
 
 " I used to think Miss Miriam looked like her. She 
 had just the same decided way, too, that Miss Sally 
 Lovering has. I used to wonder if Miss Sally would 
 look like her when she was old." 
 
 " Well, well, thank you, Nicholas. I begin to see 
 them," and Mrs. Blake, from these rather indefinite 
 data, began to frame in her mind the two ancient 
 maidens ; yet, as the young girl constantly came up 
 before her eyes and shaded off into her elder aunt, it 
 is probable that her imagination, like that of her 
 nephew, found its most substantial support in the 
 actuality of the visible Miss Lovering.
 
 190 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 IT was something more than a coincidence that 
 Nicholas Judge had his seat in church in the city 
 where he could see the niece of Misses Lovering. 
 Perhaps the same charm drew him to the little church 
 which he frequented, as acted upon Miss Lovering, but 
 it is quite certain that the attraction to him was a 
 steadfast one. He had chosen his seat where his eyes, 
 raised to the preacher, could fall with ease upon the 
 young girl whose form carried so much of pleasant sug 
 gestion to him. Possibly this weekly study of Miss 
 Lovering's hat, shoulders, and back, lay at the basis of 
 his confident knowledge when he climbed the hill be 
 hind her. At any rate, though he did not probe his 
 own mind too far, he was aware of the satisfaction with 
 which his eyes rested on her as he listened to sermon 
 or lessons. He learned to know a certain curve in the 
 side of her face, which did not permit him to see her 
 eye, but only showed where the eye would be seen, if 
 the face were turned a trifle more. It was a contour 
 line of real beauty to him. He never had attempted 
 to sketch Miss Lovering. He did not draw at all, yet 
 often, when sitting alone in his laboratory, his pencil 
 had traced the line, and he found himself comparing it 
 with similar contours that appeared to him elsewhere ; 
 it was a pleasant discovery that this line differed in all 
 faces, simple as it was, and he was able to convince 
 himself, after many comparisons, that he should know
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 191 
 
 it wherever he saw it, so individual had it become to 
 him. He once found certain studies in carbon photo 
 graphs, of old masters, and though he had little knowl 
 edge of art, he was quick to see how much this line 
 had been studied by the great painters. 
 
 It was certainly but knowing a person on the 
 horizon only, so to speak, to become familiar chiefly 
 with this facial line, yet the imagination often builds 
 most completely upon some such simple base. Nicholas 
 used, when service was over, to pass out without seeking 
 a further glimpse and without asking for any recogni 
 tion from her. 
 
 It cannot be said that Miss Levering had acquired 
 any special knowledge of the young man as seen from 
 behind, but her advantages had not been so good. 
 She caught sight of him once or twice in the congre 
 gation, as it moved slowly toward the door, and she 
 was conscious of retarding her own movements a little 
 to avoid any possible encounter in the porch ; but her 
 precaution was unnecessary. Her neighbor did not 
 wait for her, or linger on the way home, and the ap 
 prehension which she at first felt was quieted and 
 indeed disappeared wholly, giving place to a certain 
 indistinct recognition of his delicacy. Once, coming 
 upon him unexpectedly when he had been detained by 
 an acquaintance near the church door, she gave him a 
 hurried bow, and the young man, as he walked home, 
 keeping his eye on her graceful figure before him, 
 measuring his face by hers, found something in the bow 
 which he was obliged to confess in. franker mood was 
 never deposited in it by the giver. But after this, 
 making use of a slight manoeuvre, he delayed his own 
 return, making a detour of streets which brought him 
 presently a suitable distance behind her, so that he 
 Could enjoy in his walk something of the pleasure which 
 blended with his morning worship.
 
 192 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 On the Sunday after Miss Lovering's visit to his 
 aunt, Nicholas took his customary place, yet something 
 had gone out of the satisfaction which he had heen 
 used to have in his half-dreamy attention, and he tried 
 to persuade himself that it was less in his own somewhat 
 uneasy mind, than in the restlessness of Miss Levering, 
 who had lost so much of her wonted quiet, that he was 
 almost ready to believe that his long continued gaze had 
 at length penetrated her in some mysterious fashion, 
 and rendered her conscious that she was being gazed 
 upon. So much did this uneasy feeling affect him that 
 he shifted his own position, and by an effort hid him 
 self from seeing her. But after service he made his 
 customary detour, and corning again upon the main 
 street, discovered Miss Levering before him, and with 
 her, a companion whom he saw to be his neighbor, 
 Le Clear. The apparition was not a quieting one, but 
 it held his attention quite as much as the solitary fig 
 ure had been wont to hold it. He watched the two as 
 they walked, and if he interpreted the dumb show of 
 their gestures and movements, it was only to see that 
 they held an animated conversatioji. He had conceived 
 a dislike for Le Clear upon sufficient grounds fur 
 nished by that neighbor himself, and certainly his dis 
 like was easily reeuforced by what he was pleased to 
 think the insolt-nt ease of the young man as he in 
 clined his head to his companion and looked with an 
 amused air on her. 
 
 Nicholas loitered by the way, but as they came near 
 the court, suddenly quickened his gait, and turning into 
 the place just behind the pair, stood upon his own door 
 step as Miss Lovering turned upon hers to bid her 
 neighbor good-by. He caught her eye, as he poked 
 the key abstractedly into its opening, and bowed awk 
 wardly ; the girl replied with what seemed to be the
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 193 
 
 remains of a smile just given to some word of Le 
 dear's, who was still lingering on the step. 
 
 The recluse life which Nicholas Judge had led in 
 Kingston, and the scarcely more social experience which 
 he had enjoyed in the city, had so far formed his habits 
 that it was both easier and, abstractly considered, 
 more agreeable to enjoy the perfume, so to speak, of a 
 human flower like Miss Lovering, at a gentle distance, 
 suffering it to come in unsuspected ways, or indulging 
 in such approaches as could scarcely betray to the 
 flower itself his secret pleasure ; but the young man 
 was not so ignorant, or so careless, as to suppose that he 
 could float along upon a stream of his own imagination 
 and find himself suddenly advantageously near the ob 
 ject of his hopes. He ate his dinner in silence and 
 sat alone in his room, but suddenly, upon an impulse 
 which he was fain to refer to that class of personal 
 revelations which have a destiny in them, he dressed 
 himself and went over to Dr. Checker's house. 
 
 He had never called on Miss Lovering, nor indeed 
 asked if he might, heretofore he had rather dallied 
 with the pleasure of the acquaintance than resolutely 
 grasped it with a purpose. He sent up a card on which 
 he wrote, " Will Miss Lovering let Mr. Judge show 
 her the chimney this afternoon. The echo is at its 
 best." He remained where Maria unceremoniously 
 left him, in the dark passage, until she returned with 
 Miss Lovering's card. " I am very sorry I must de 
 cline, but I have accepted another invitation." Nich 
 olas put the card in his pocket and walked away. 
 
 " It was a weak performance," he said to himself ; 
 " Why did I not ask to see her ! " but he knew very 
 well that he felt more confidence in his ability to 
 write a short sentence on his card, than to do so simple 
 a thing as ask Miss Lovering to walk with him. He 
 13
 
 194 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 walked away from the court and tried to outwalk the 
 feeling of having been rebuffed, a feeling which was 
 in advance of other feelings when he left Dr. Checker's 
 house. His walk took him countryward, and he chose 
 for the end of it a ledge of rocks which he had often 
 visited, called Tommy's Rocks and enjoying a some 
 what nebulous tradition of having been the hiding-place 
 of a certain Tommy, who was variously represented, ac 
 cording to the imagination of the story-teller as a bur 
 glar, a pirate, a miser, a hermit, and a disappointed 
 lover. The ledge was a rough place surrounded by 
 suburban lanes that straggled toward it with houses that 
 had the air of intending, when they grew stronger, to 
 climb the hill ; footpaths rambled over it, and one or 
 two shanties had been planted upon it by adventurous 
 pioneers. Tommy himself had long since left his rocks. 
 The charm of the place was in its scraggy contrast to 
 the refinement about it, and in the extensive view which 
 it commanded. The afternoon was a bright anticipa 
 tion of the spring that was not yet quite due. Nicholas 
 found a dry rock upon which he sat half reclining, and 
 looking off upon the country which stretched beyond. 
 A path ran a little below him, and every now- and then 
 small companies of people would pass along it, bearing 
 little twigs or other trophies, as if they were so many 
 ^doves, shut up during the winter, now trying the world 
 of out-doors and carrying back olive branches of hope 
 to those who might doubt the actual coming of spring. 
 He watched the groups, when suddenly he heard famil 
 iar voices and then he saw Miss Fix and Mr. Wind- 
 graff strolling along the path. He picked up a pebble 
 to toss at them, then withdrew his hand and watched 
 them move down the rough slope. He followed them 
 with his eye and saw the German give Miss Fix his 
 hand, that she might jump down the occasional steps
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 195 
 
 that came in the path. They passed beyond his sight, 
 and he rose to see them again, and when they again 
 disappeared, he gathered himself together and also 
 went down the ledge into the road. He remembered 
 the chimney and thought he would take it on his way 
 home. It was not very far from Tommy's Rocks, and 
 as he followed the road he met little groups all along 
 the way. It was evident that the charm of the after 
 noon had drawn many out of doors, and as evening drew 
 near, they were making their way homeward. Some 
 of the groups came from the chimney itself, as he per 
 ceived, for he was not the only one who had discovered 
 the singular ruin, and as he entered the field in which 
 it stood, he saw one and another coming away. A sin 
 gle house stood at the outer edge of the field. The 
 great height of the chimney seemed to have been meas 
 ured by the eye and no one had ventured to live within 
 the range of its possible fall. Nicholas scrambled over 
 the loose stones and as he came to the opening he 
 heard voices within. He could not hear the echo, but 
 he stepped through the rude arched entrance and at 
 that moment heard echoes flying upward to the little 
 opening above. There were two persons there and in 
 the dusky shade he did not at first recognize them. He 
 was himself more quickly perceived by those whose 
 eyes had grown accustomed to the shadow, and he heanj 
 his name called. In a moment, " Mr. Judge " went 
 springing up the chimney, losing its articulate form as 
 it rose and followed by little laughs that came out 
 spontaneously at the unpremeditated effect. 
 
 " Oh, Miss Levering, Mr. Le Clear," said Nicholas, and 
 these names, also confusedly blended, knocked, flutter 
 ing, against the sides of the chimney and grew faint in 
 the distance. They all remained a few moments more 
 in the chimney, uttering such sounds as occurred to
 
 196 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 them, but giving up any idea of conversation, so dis 
 tracting was the effect. Nicholas was the first to leave, 
 and the others followed at once. 
 
 " The whole court pretty much has been here," said 
 Le Clear. " Miss Fix and Mr. Windgraff left just be 
 fore you came. You met them, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Not here," said Nicholas. " I saw them some time 
 ago on Tommy's Rocks. I did not know they were 
 coming here." 
 
 " Miss Lovering, I suspect, was the moving cause of 
 oar all coming here. At any rate, I heard of it from 
 her." 
 
 " Mr. Judge himself told me of it," said Miss Lover- 
 ing, who stood with her skirts gathered in her hand, as 
 if impatient to go. 
 
 " Ah," said Le Clear, raising his eyebrows. " Have 
 you been performing experiments here, Mr. Judge ? 
 But there is not much left of the day," and he gave 
 Miss Lovering his hand to help her down the steep 
 descent. She turned and looked at Nicholas. 
 
 " Good evening," said he. " I am going to try an- 
 . other way home," and turning away he went a little 
 higher up. He could see the two figures rapidly de 
 scending the slope. They left the field and entered the 
 road which would carry them quite directly back to 
 Five-Sisters Court. For himself, he felt in no haste. 
 He lingered about the chimney. He entered it again 
 and tried the echoes once more. Then he found an 
 other way out of the field and strolled by a roundabout 
 way back to the city. The darkness came on, the 
 street lamps were lighted, and as he heard again the 
 noise of cars and wagons and coaches, and was shut in 
 by houses, he felt a strong desire to get away from the 
 city and go back to Kingston. He was oppressed by 
 the city, and the touch of spring which the day had
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 197 
 
 held seemed to bring the outline of Round Top very 
 close. 
 
 As he opened the door to his aunt's house, what was 
 his surprise at seeing Miss Lovering upon the other 
 side just preparing to leave. 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Judge," said she. " I am so glad you have 
 come." There was a look of trouble in her face, and 
 she went on with trembling voice : " Your aunt has 
 been taken suddenly ill." Nicholas started to pass her, 
 then stopped and impulsively took her hand. 
 
 " She sent for you ? You were going for me ? " 
 
 " She does not know," whispered the girl. " Han 
 nah was away. Mrs. Starkey went to find Miss Fix ; 
 she was out also. She came then for me, just as I had 
 reached home, and I came here. I was going for a 
 doctor. Do let me go for him, while you go to Mrs. 
 Blake." 
 
 " Stay a moment, here, Miss Lovering," said Nich 
 olas, and he hurried up-stairs. Mrs. Starkey was in his 
 aunt's room. The windows had been thrown open as 
 if to bring in more air. Mrs. Blake lay in her bed, 
 motionless, while Mrs. Starkey was sitting patiently at 
 the bedside, watching for any sign. Nicholas looked 
 at his aunt, listened to her breathing, and then leaving 
 the room, beckoned Mrs. Starkey to him. 
 
 " When was it ? " he asked. 
 
 " An hour or less ago. I was reading to her and 
 she had been speaking, when suddenly her voice grew 
 thick and then stopped altogether. I did not know 
 what to do. No one was in the house but myself. At 
 length I left her and ran to Miss Fix, but she was not 
 at home. I sent Gretchen for Miss Lovering, and she 
 was not in. Then I waited. Then I asked Gretchen 
 to stay while I ran to see Dr. Checker. That time 
 Miss Lovering had just come in. She came and opened 
 the window and said she would go for the doctor."
 
 198 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " I am going myself," said Nicholas, " but I will ask 
 Miss Lovering to stay with you." He went down 
 again and found Miss Loveriug waiting where he had 
 left her. She looked up at him anxiously. 
 
 " I think it is paralysis," said he ; "I am going for 
 the doctor* but will you stay with Mrs. Starkey ? " 
 
 " Willingly," said she, " or I will go to the doctor's. 
 Really I would, it is not very dark." 
 
 " Thank you," said Nicholas, " you are very good. 
 I will ask you to stay here." At this moment Hannah 
 appeared in the door-way. 
 
 " It is not necessary now that you should stay," said 
 he, hurriedly, " yet if you would " She began to 
 remove her hat. Nicholas explained to Hannah briefly 
 that his aunt was seriously ill, that Miss Lovering 
 would stay with Mrs. Starkey, and that she was to re 
 main near the door ready to answer any call which 
 might be made upon her. Then he went quickly for 
 his aunt's doctor, who promised to call without delay. 
 Nicholas did not wait for him ; he was in no mood for 
 talk, and as he returned, he scarcely knew why he lin 
 gered by the way, and even increased the length of his 
 walk. He was dimly conscious of a sense of satisfac 
 tion in knowing that the young girl who had been so 
 much in his mind that day, was sitting in his house, by 
 the bedside of his aunt. It was a strange mixture of 
 feelings which possessed him. He was almost angry 
 with himself that he should suffer any personal pleasure 
 to crowd out the thought of the invalid lying helpless, 
 yet he returned again and again to the waking dream 
 which had, almost unknown to him, gained, little by 
 little, a very full ascendency over him. It was the 
 sense of this reality in his own mind which now affected 
 him strangely. It was as if he had thrown aside any 
 disguise in which he had been concealing his imagina-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 199 
 
 tion from his reason, and had frankly admitted his en 
 tire mind to a participation in his secret. In vain his 
 reason whispered its little protest that Miss Lovering's 
 kindness and apparent docility were but the generous 
 impulse of a girl appealed to suddenly in a time of 
 trouble ; he refused at this hour to suffer any doubt, 
 and as if to intrench himself more firmly, he excluded 
 the last scene from his thought and fell back on his 
 own long, patient, and silent admiration of the girl 
 which had gained such volume that he could no longer 
 resist it. 
 
 He reached the court again just as the physician 
 entered it, and they passed into the house together, 
 and up-stairs. Mrs. Starkey and Miss Lovering with 
 drew from the room. Nicholas did not enter it, but 
 followed Miss Lovering as she passed down-stairs. 
 
 " Let us wait here for the doctor," said he ; and they 
 stood where he had left her when she took his place 
 with his aunt. The passage was dimly lighted only, 
 and Miss Lovering, sitting upon the stair, could not 
 perceive the ardent look with which the young man, 
 leaning against the rail, regarded her, while he, shading 
 his eyes, could see every expression of her figure, and 
 even catch something of the look in her face. 
 
 " Has she moved since I went ? " he asked, in a 
 low voice. 
 
 " No. She has breathed heavily but steadily." 
 
 " Did it not seem a long time before the doctor 
 came ? " 
 
 " Yes ; very long. I wanted Mrs. Starkey to lie 
 down, but she would not." 
 
 " You are very good. And yet " he hesitated, as 
 if embarrassed by possible misconstruction of his words 
 " there is something in sickness or trouble which 
 always makes one thoughtful of others." There was 
 the least perceptible smile on Miss Lovering's face.
 
 200 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Your aunt has been more than kind to me," she 
 said. " Indeed, I can remember when, years ago, I was 
 at my grandfather's for a few months, she let me come 
 to see her and told me stories." 
 
 " She told me that . herself," said Nicholas, eagerly. 
 " She told me before you came this time, and it was a 
 great delight to her to see you again." The doctor at 
 this moment came down the stairs, and Miss Lovering 
 
 x O 
 
 rose. He was a silent man who rarely gave his patients 
 or their attendants any explanation, but only instruc 
 tions which they were to follow implicitly. He pre 
 sumed Mrs. Blake to have had an attack of paralysis ; 
 he would be in again, later in the evening, and mean 
 while he gave a few directions as to the care to be 
 taken. Miss Levering took her hat and cloak, when 
 he had gone, and made ready to follow. 
 
 " It is only a step," she said, as she saw Nicholas 
 preparing to attend her. 
 
 " Then the less of a favor to me," said he, smiling. 
 Indeed the walk across the court was so short that 
 the young man had said nothing when they reached 
 Dr. Checker's door. He held out his hand. 
 
 " If I can be of any further use " said Miss Lover- 
 ing. 
 
 "I shall not hesitate to ask your help," said he 
 finishing her sentence in his own words. " You have 
 been of the greatest use already to my aunt and 
 to me. May I come to tell you how she is in the 
 morning ? " 
 
 " You may not be able to leave her." 
 
 " If I am not, you will know how much worse she 
 is." 
 
 But Mrs. Blake remained the same throughout the 
 night and the next morning. She was very still, and 
 she had the use of her hand though she could not speak.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 201 
 
 Nicholas told her, at her request, in a few words, what 
 had passed the night before and added, 
 
 " I told Miss Levering I would let her know how 
 you were this morning." Mrs. Blake motioned for 
 paper and pencil, and with difficulty wrote the words 
 " I send you my morning rose. E. B." Nicholas took 
 the writing, and stooping over, kissed his aunt and left 
 the house. When he asked for Miss Lovering at her 
 grandfather's house, he at that moment heard her voice 
 above, singing at her piano. Maria told him in her 
 abrupt way, " She 's in the parlor," and ignoring his 
 hesitation, turned her back upon him, leaving him to 
 find his way, an easy matter for him, acquainted as he 
 was with the common plan of this house and his aunt's. 
 
 When he entered the parlor Miss Lovering was still 
 seated at the instrument. . With a secret which he was 
 not ready to confide to her, he could yet discover a new 
 pleasure for himself in each fresh encounter. In his 
 own mind it was much as if he were an accepted lover, 
 not from any over confidence on his part, but because 
 he had frankly admitted to himself that there could no 
 longer be any reason to conceal the fact of his admira 
 tion from himself. When he saw her therefore now ia 
 her morning dress, it was with a new delight. He 
 reached forth his hand to her. 
 
 "My aunt is not worse, <at any rate," he said. " See, 
 she has sent you her rose," and he placed the rose-bud 
 in her hand, with his aunt's cramped message wrapped 
 about the stem. 
 
 " But she will miss her rose, I am afraid. She spoke 
 of it so pleasantly to me the other day." 
 
 " She has so delicate a sense of smell," said Nicholas, 
 "that perhaps she will be reminded of it now and then 
 during the day, and will perceive where it is." Miss 
 Lovering went to a vase and placed her rose in it, 
 so doing discovered the writing on the paper.
 
 202 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Ah," said she, " she really cared so much as to send 
 a special message. Can you take one in return?" 
 She reflected a moment. 
 
 " I can carry words," said Nicholas, " and even par 
 cels. I assure you I am excellent at carrying parcels." 
 
 " Oh, I was not doubting your ability," she laughed. 
 " I was thinking how little there was one could send 
 your aunt." 
 
 " If you could send her a piece of pure whiteness, 
 now," said Nicholas, " I know nothing else that would 
 please her so much." 
 
 " It would take a little time," said Miss Lovering. 
 
 " I shall be happy to wait." 
 
 " Then if you will sit down, I will try." She took 
 a bit of fine cambric and some white silk and began 
 deftly sketching with her nee,dle, while Nicholas looked 
 on with admiration. 
 
 " You make me think of a story I once read called 
 ' The Emperor's New Clothes,' " said he. " Perhaps 
 you know it ? Your cambric and silk are almost in 
 visible, and I may admire the web to my heart's con 
 tent." 
 
 " Or be in danger of being counted unfit for your 
 place ? " she added, looking up. 
 
 "There would be some uncertainty what place I 
 filled beyond that of a dutiful nephew, and I do not 
 mean to be driven out of that. I confess, though, that 
 yesterday afternoon, I did cherish an almost traitorous 
 notion of deserting my aunt ; the country looked very 
 enchanting to me." 
 
 " I feel something of the same creaking of the wings," 
 said she. " I have been told that when I was here as a 
 child I behaved very well through the winter, but when 
 spring came, I began to droop, and needed the country 
 air to revive me. But I suppose I have more self-con 
 trol now."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 203 
 
 " I do not believe it is something over which we have 
 entire control. For my part I feel the daily walk I 
 take into the country as a necessity ; when I miss it, 
 something has gone out of the day." 
 
 " But you cannot go very far into the country." 
 
 " Far enough to leave the city behind, and that is the 
 main thing. It is like stepping out of doors. One 
 does not need to go much beyond his door in the coun 
 try to get a draught of fresh air. Here, I am not 
 sure that I am breathing until I have left the pavement 
 behind." 
 
 " Why then did you come to the ciy at all, Mr. 
 Judge ? " Nicholas was silent a moment. 
 
 " I came for the same reason that keeps me a 
 need of human companionship. When my father died, 
 although I knew scarcely any one in Kingston, I felt 
 unutterably lonely. Pardon me for speaking of my 
 own affairs, but I cannot help remembering that it was 
 a single kind word of your aunt, Miss Miriam Lovering, 
 that gave me the impulse to come here. Then, besides, 
 I suppose I had an honest desire to see the city, and 
 realize some of my fancies regarding it. I was restless, 
 and I suppose I am still, and that this is the reason, in 
 part, why I thought yesterday I should like to go back. 
 But I know very well I do not want to go back." 
 
 " And does the city give you all that you expected ? " 
 
 " Yes, and some things I had not looked for. What 
 surprises me is that it is not the new things which in 
 terest me most, but whatever reminds me of my old 
 home. I saw a picture the other day, of Round Top, 
 and I stood before it for an hour. I think it was a 
 good picture ; at any rate I know I learned more about 
 pictures from it than I have ever been able to learn 
 from the visits I have made to different collections and 
 picture stores. It is so with church. I fancied a homely
 
 204 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 sort of likeness between the St. John's of Kingston, and 
 the St. John's here, beside the mere identity of names, 
 and so I have contentedly continued there, in spite of 
 what might be called greater attractions elsewhere." 
 
 " I felt the likeness, too," said Miss Levering, looking 
 up with real pleasure ; " and so I have been there." 
 
 u I have noticed you there," said Nicholas, content 
 ing himself with so diffident a statement of his weekly 
 unremitting gaze. " But after all, what gives the city 
 its chief interest to me aside from these personal mat 
 ters, is the multitude of people. I am nothing to them 
 and they are nothing to me, so I can look at them and 
 watch them to my heart's content. At home the few 
 people whom I saw thought they knew all about me, 
 and I had settled impressions concerning each one, and 
 I felt under restraint. Perhaps if I had known them 
 it might have been different. I read my books, but 
 since I came to the city books have seemed a little un 
 real. I don't believe they can be enjoyed in a city so 
 thoroughly as in the country. I believe if I wrote 
 books or read them much I should live in a cell. They 
 seem to drive out human companionship." 
 
 " Don't you think they help to bring people to 
 gether ? " 
 
 " No, I do not. People fancy they do. They think 
 because they read the same books, that they have a 
 certain common taste, but people do not really come 
 together on that ground. That is a sort of false bot 
 tom on which most people are content to rest. They 
 hear and like the same music, look at the same pictures, 
 read the same books, and fancy that they are now in 
 sympathy with each other, but really all these things 
 prevent them from finding a real, substantial community. 
 It is the way people act toward one another in emer 
 gencies, or the way they have of doing the same things
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 205 
 
 which show whether they are like one another or not. 
 Then they can afford to differ in matters of taste. 
 But I can think of no greater misery than for two peo 
 ple to think they care for each other because their tastes 
 agree, and suddenly to discover that their natures are 
 really antagonistic ; that one, for example, is wholly 
 selfish, the other wholly forgetful of self. But how 
 oracularly I am talking. May I see what figure is 
 climbing over that cambric?" Miss Lovering gave him 
 her work, and he held it carefully. 
 
 " It is sweet pea, is it not ? " 
 
 " Yes, it is ; you quite encourage me by discovering 
 the likeness, especially as there is no color in my sketch, 
 a white sweet pea vine on a white ground is not remark 
 ably near to nature." 
 
 ' What made you choose this flower ? " he asked. 
 
 " I generally take the first subject that occurs to 
 me," said she. 
 
 " And you happened to think of Miss Lovering's 
 garden in front of the house ? " 
 
 " Yes," said she, in great surprise. 
 
 " And of your last summer's hat ? " Her face clouded ; 
 then she laughed. 
 
 " Do you think that all our ideas of nature are con 
 nected with millinery ? " 
 
 " I don't think the transition in this case was a very 
 violent one. But you have chosen a special favorite 
 of my aunt's." He made haste to get away from so dar 
 ing a revelation as that he bad seen and taken note of 
 Miss Lovering's last summer's hat. " She was speaking 
 of the flower to me the other day." 
 
 " It is done now," said Miss Lovering. " It is per 
 fectly useless, Mr. Judge, to try to discover any moral 
 value or practical advantage in this little bit of cambric. 
 It is as mere a piece of folly as sweet peas in a summer
 
 206 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 hat, if you ever saw such. It has no mortal signifi 
 cance except as a token of my affection for Mrs. Blake. 
 So if you will take it to her with my love, its whole 
 mission will be accomplished." The young man took 
 it, and looked it over curiously. 
 
 " Do you regard it as so undemonstrative that I 
 must add your love to it, when I give it to my aunt ? 
 I think you called it a token of affection. But I will 
 carry both safely," and he placed the cambric in his 
 waistcoat pocket. As he was about leaving, Dr. 
 Checker, who moved about in noiseless carpet slippers, 
 suddenly appeared in the door-way. 
 
 " Hey, hey," said he ; " how 's your aunt ? Your 
 real aunt, I mean." 
 
 " She is able to use her hand, but not her voice," 
 said he, " and I think the doctor seems a little encour 
 aged." 
 
 " You did n't treat her to some of your mixtures, 
 did you ? that 's what Manlius would have said." 
 
 " I have not such a superabundance of friends, that 
 I wish to get rid of any," said Nicholas, bidding good- 
 morning. 
 
 " I like that young man, Sally," said her grand 
 father, when Nicholas had left. " He 's green, but 
 he 's fresh, too. Now where is my pocket handker 
 chief. I 've been hunting all over the house for it. It 
 is n't in this chest is it ? what is this ? I never saw 
 this before." 
 
 " It 's a music-box," said his granddaughter. 
 
 " What ! plays all by itself ! that 's no music. Where 
 did you get it ? " 
 
 "It's not mine, grandfather. It was lent to me by 
 our next door neighbor, Mr. Le Clear." 
 
 " H'm. Does he get his flrasic ground ? He's too 
 lazy, is n't he, to play himself ? "
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 207 
 
 " Oh, the music is n't much," said Sally ; " but I like 
 to hear the tinkle of it." 
 
 " Stick to your piano, Sally," said the old gentleman, 
 who had found his handkerchief, and was toddling off. 
 " Stick to your piano. There is n't much in the music, 
 but the practice is good for something."
 
 208 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 MR. LE CLEAR himself, by some chance, did not 
 put himself in the way of Dr. Checker's animadversions, 
 which fell exclusively upon the young man's innocent 
 music-box. He found it an easy pleasure to spend 
 the evening with Miss Lovering. He discovered that 
 she was almost sure to be at home at that time, and 
 alone. He could hear her at her piano, and it came to 
 be a signal to him which he obeyed with cheerful 
 alacrity. He lent her his books and engravings, and 
 it seemed to Miss Lovering that she never expressed 
 an interest in any matter of art, or literature, or music, 
 but Mr. Le Clear was reminded of some little thing 
 which he had that illustrated it; and the next day, the 
 book with a leaf turned down, or a photograph, or an 
 autograph letter would come, to be recalled by the 
 owner when he came himself in the evening. 
 
 It was not long after' this that Mr. Le Clear was 
 discoursing upon some book illustrations which had re 
 cently appeared, and were a touchstone, in his estima 
 tion, of the artistic taste of those who looked at them. 
 
 "Just let me run to my room a moment," said he, 
 " and bring a little book I have which shows the first 
 poetry and philosophy and pictures of the men who 
 have made this school what it is." When he returned 
 with a copy of " The Germ " in his hand, he was an 
 noyed to find an interloper present in the person of Mr. 
 Judge, who had come to bring Miss Lovering the latest
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 209 
 
 
 
 report of his aunt's condition, as he averred. Mr. Le 
 Clear sat turning the leaves of his book, and waiting, 
 apparently, for his neighbor to dispatch his errand and 
 leave. 
 
 " Mr. Le Clear has been expounding the principles 
 of the Pre-Rafaelites to me," said Miss Lovering, " and 
 had just gone for an illustration of their work when 
 you came in." 
 
 "I am so ignorant as to know nothing of the Pre- 
 Rafaelites," said Nicholas. " The name sounds like 
 that of some theological sect. Who was Prerafael?" 
 Miss Lovering laughed. 
 
 " I am afraid you will have to begin at first princi 
 ples with Mr. Judge, Mr. Le Clear; and I am sure 
 nothing could be more in harmony with the Prera- 
 faelite school." 
 
 " I beg to be excused from giving any lecture ou 
 art," said Le Clear, " especially of an elementary char 
 acter." 
 
 " You believe, then," she asked, " that to understand 
 art one must be initiated ? " 
 
 " He must have some knowledge of what a picture 
 undertakes to tell. If it is a historical picture, and he 
 knows nothing of history, I don't see what he can find 
 in it to enjoy. If it is a landscape, to be sure, he 
 does n't require any particular knowledge." 
 
 " Why does not the same rule apply ? " asked Nich 
 olas. " A person may have looked on a certain part 
 of the country a hundred times, buf for all that he may 
 never have seen it. An artist, I suppose, sees it at 
 once and puts it into his picture, and there any one will 
 find it over again who has seen the same thing in 
 nature, but he need not have seen that particular sub 
 ject, and he may have looked at that scene a hundred 
 times, and be able to recognize the spot when the pict- 
 14
 
 210 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 ure is placed before him, but he won't see it any more 
 in the picture than he did in nature, if he did not see 
 it there in the first place." 
 
 " I will resign my post of lecturer on the fine arts to 
 Mr. Judge, Miss Lovering." 
 
 " Oh, I know nothing of these things," said Nicholas. 
 " I am only saying what came into my head as I looked 
 at a picture I saw the other day of a scene which was 
 familiar to me. There were certain shadows in it 
 which were perfectly true. I knew just what hour of 
 the day the picture was painted, for I had seen those 
 same shadows and watched them change. " 
 
 " See what it is to be observing!" exclaimed Miss 
 Lovering. " Now, often as I have been to Miss Fix's 
 I do not believe I could draw or describe the pattern 
 of the carpet on the floor of her parlor. What is it, 
 Mr. Le Clear ? " 
 
 " It is an arabesque, is n't it ? " 
 
 " It is an oak-leaf pattern," said Nicholas Judge, 
 " with acorns sprinkled in." 
 
 " Yes, I think it is," said Miss Lovering. 
 
 " I have been but twice to Miss Fix's," said Le Clear, 
 " and neither time did I have any occasion to look 
 down." 
 
 " I suppose I must have noticed the carpet when I 
 was listening to music," said Nicholas. 
 
 " When you were trying to find a harmony between 
 the colors and the sound ? " asked Miss Lovering, look 
 ing up from her work, and then applying herself to it 
 very busily again. " Mr. Judge has his little theory, 
 Mr. Le Clear ; we all have our little theories in the 
 court, I believe, and Mr. Judge's is a discovery of the 
 harmony which exists between color and sound. Have 
 you tried any experiments, Mr. Judge ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Nicholas, eagerly. " I took various
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 211 
 
 colored worsteds that Miss Fix had, and tried them 
 with certain chords. Miss Pix and Mr. Windgraff and 
 I tried the effect, and we all agreed upon the same har 
 monies. Let us try it now." 
 
 " But I have no worsteds," said Miss Lovering. 
 
 " Is it possible ! " said Le Clear. " Let me take 
 your hand, Miss Lovering. I have lived to see the day 
 when a lady is to be fouud who does not work in worst 
 eds." 
 
 " I am very sorry," said she, with an air of meekness. 
 " But you will have to live a little longer, Mr. Le 
 Clear. 1 have worked in worsteds, and the only rea 
 son I have none now is that I have used up all I had, 
 working them into this rug which your feet are on. 
 Perhaps you are trampling under foot my work, you 
 despise it so much." 
 
 "I suppose Mr. Judge would see or hear a potpourri," 
 in this rug," said Le Clear, examining it. " Did you 
 pick up your theory in Kingston, Mr. Judge, listening 
 to the frogs when you looked at a marsh? or did you 
 mix your views and chemicals at the same time? I 
 went to see an artist friend of mind, to-day, Miss Lov 
 ering I must show you some of his studies some day 
 and found him hunting over a pile of photographs in 
 search of one which he remembered for a certain sug 
 gestion of color which he wanted. He remembered it, 
 just as you or I might recall, without being able to re 
 peat it exactly, a particular passage in a symphony or 
 a poem. I confess I am more envious of artists than 
 of any one else. Given the instinctive good taste 
 which may belong to others besides artists, they have 
 the capacity of jotting down in line or color this or that 
 beauty which surprises them in unexpected places; 
 they have not merely to carry it in their memory, 
 where it could get confused with a thousand other
 
 212 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 images, but they can make a few lines or some quick 
 dashes of color in their note-book, and there the mem 
 orandum remains. In fact with some of them, I think, 
 finished pictures are infrequent because their sketches 
 and studies satisfy the immediate demand to catch and 
 hold a scene, and their imagination and observation 
 are so perpetually at work that they have no leisure to 
 make pictures." 
 
 " But I should think that would be very unsatisfac 
 tory to an artist," said Miss Levering. " I should 
 think it would be like always putting things in order 
 and never finding time to do anything. You see I am 
 practical, Mr. Le Clear, and I know what it is to put 
 off doing what I want to do until I have finished a 
 number of little odds and ends that would haunt me 
 otherwise by their incompleteness. What do you think, 
 Mr. Judge ? Should n't you think an artist, such as 
 Mr. Le Clear describes, would be followed by a per 
 petual sense of always getting ready to do something ? " 
 
 " I don't believe a true artist ever would let himself 
 be satisfied with mere memoranda," said Nicholas, " for 
 he creates as well as records ; and there certainly must 
 come a time when -the passion of a picture would seize 
 him, and he would work at it and leave his little jot 
 tings alone." 
 
 " Mr. Judge's fine wisdom is wasted this time," said 
 Le Clear. " I was simply asserting that an artist with 
 an eye for color and lines was perpetually in the way 
 of taking a very keen delight in apparently insignifi 
 cant things, and that he had, so to speak, a great deal 
 more capital at his command than a person of merely 
 good taste, whose occupation had not trained him to 
 notice and record the infinitely varied effects in nature 
 or common life or street architecture, for example. I 
 am saying nothing about what an artist may or may
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 213 
 
 not do, but what he may enjoy. That's what makes 
 an artist's life so enviable." 
 
 Mr. Le Clear was standing with his back to the fire 
 place, and Miss Levering, looking up from her work, 
 was suddenly possessed with a sense of the admirable 
 picture which the young man made. The background 
 was not all that could be desired, but otherwise here 
 was a most excellent subject for a " Portrait of a Gen 
 tleman." The artist in her looked with a certain sud 
 den pleasure upon the subject. She was fain to cry, 
 "Stay as you are, let me sketch you," but she did not 
 utter any such idle word, but smiled approvingly at the 
 thought of the capital picture it would make. Mr. Le 
 Clear caught the ingenuous expression and stepped for 
 ward to her. 
 
 " Come," said he, holding out his hand, " have we 
 not had talk enough. Let me take your sketching 
 and study it while you play." She rose gayly, gave 
 him her work, and went to the piano. 
 
 " You are not going, Mr. Judge ? Does my music 
 drive you away ? " 
 
 " I must go," said Nicholas, stumbling over a chair. 
 " I have something to attend to," and with that, he 
 made his way out of the room. Mr. Le Clear nodded 
 to him as he left and fell to scanning the cambric in 
 his hand. 
 
 " Is this a reminiscence of Miss Fix's carpet ? " he 
 asked, looking at the tracery in brown silk of oak 
 leaves and acorn forms. 
 
 " I think it must be," said Miss Lovering. " I was 
 waiting for a subject with my needle in my hand, when 
 we were speaking of it." 
 
 " Do me a favor. Let me read to you the first 
 draft of Woolner's poem, ' My Beautiful Lady,' in ' The 
 Germ,' while you finish this little sketch by putting
 
 214 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 P and S in the corner, and then let me have it as a 
 souvenir of the evening I first had the pleasure of 
 hearing music with you beneath the Musical Fund at 
 Miss Fix's." 
 
 " What is P. S. for ? " she asked, as she sat down 
 and took up her work again. " A postscript to that 
 evening ?" 
 
 " Yes, if you like it so,'' said he. Then he opened 
 " The Germ " and began the poem. Le Clear was an 
 excellent reader. He cultivated a low and finely mod 
 ulated voice, and its tones were certainly musical. The 
 mystical, half interpreted lines of the poem, which pique 
 the ordinarily inquisitive reader, he read with the air at 
 least of one who wished to give the full meaning that 
 might lie in them. Miss Levering looked up now and 
 then at the reader, and as she marked the earnestness 
 with which his face accompanied his reading, it seemed 
 to her that she never had seen a handsomer or more 
 graceful man, and as her acquaintances were few, it is 
 quite possible that she never had. As his voice ceased, 
 there was silence for a few moments. 
 
 " The complement of the poem is in this picture of 
 Holman Hunt's which is prefixed," he said, showing it 
 to her. 
 
 " I am afraid the picture is more definite to me than 
 the poem," she answered, after looking at it with him. 
 " As I listened to the poem, I seemed to see the vaguest 
 possible forms, misty and full of color, but the picture 
 defines the figures and the scenes. I am not quite 
 sure," she added, half sighing, " that I like mystical 
 poetry. I think I might come to like it. Indeed, I am 
 afraid I might come to like it." 
 
 " And why not ? " he asked. " Why should you 
 hesitate to trust yourself to any current of sentiment 
 which takes you away from hard outlines? I suppose
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 215 
 
 you think me a cynical sort of fellow, and perhaps I 
 am, but I think that such poetry as this and some 
 music that I hear are botlrnanuch to be preferred to 
 opium." 
 
 " That is just it," she cried. " I have a horror of 
 opiates in literature or art or religion. I need not be 
 so heated about it, though," she added, with a laugh; 
 "and besides, the sentiment is riot original. An excel 
 lent aunt of mine delivered herself of it otfce, and I 
 never forgot it." 
 
 " Tell me about her," said Le Clear, feeling a deli 
 cious sense of enjoyment in listening to the girl before' 
 whom he sat, which quite dispelled his ordinary pleasure 
 in hearing his own discourse. " Tell me about your 
 aunt. She was your next friend in the country, was 
 she not ? " 
 
 " She is my best friend still," said Miss Levering, 
 "and her weekly letters are my great comfort. I think 
 very likely you would compare her to some maiden 
 lady in a book, but she is the most real person I know." 
 
 "Is she a daughter of your grandfather here? " 
 
 " No ; she is my father's sister. She was an elder 
 sister of his, and I think she must have taken care of 
 him, much as she takes care of me. It is like a story 
 out of a book to hear her tell of the life they led when 
 she was a girl, she and her sister and her brother. They 
 were poor and there were few people about them who 
 had any education or any books at all. Once my Aunt 
 Miriam went away for a visit and found a copy of 
 ' Marmion.' It was when it was first published, and she 
 had not the money to buy it, nor could she borrow it, 
 so she learnt it by heart and carried it home in that 
 way. Then, when they were a little older there came 
 an Englishman to the place where they lived. He had 
 no family and no friends ; nobody knew why he came
 
 216 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 or why he stayed ; he had a story that was very 
 plain, but what the story was no one knew, not even 
 my aunt, I think, though I believe she suspected some 
 thing. But Mr. Arnold used to receive ' The London 
 Times,' and as there were not very regular foreign mails 
 at that time, these papers came in huge packages to 
 him. He read nothing else apparently, except his Bible 
 and Shakespeare, but he read the ' Times ' and then used 
 to lend the paper to my aunt. She told me that she 
 learned all her contemporary history in that way, and 
 she used to make indexes of the contents of the news 
 paper. Mr. Arnold always kept every copy of the 
 paper and in the little house where he lived, one room 
 was entirely devoted to ' The London Times.' He 
 painted the heading of the newspaper on the door, so 
 my aunt said, and in that room he had all the numbers 
 laid out in regular order. My aunt used to go to see 
 him, and he would draw maps on the floor to. show 
 her where the different places were that were named 
 in the paper. He suffered from some trouble with his 
 eyes after a while, and she used to read to him every 
 day. He always had her read in the 'Times' and then 
 in Shakespeare and last in the Bible, and he seemed 
 never at a loss when any name or event occurred in the 
 paper. He could always tell her something more than 
 appeared there. He knew nothing about our country, 
 however, and never wanted to see our newspapers." 
 
 " He was a sensible man," remarked Le Clear at 
 this point. 
 
 " Perhaps he was if he wished to live in England 
 when he was in Kingston," said Miss Lovering. " That 
 is another of my aunt's sayings. If I ever say any 
 thing that sounds sagacious, Mr. Le Clear, please un 
 derstand that it is borrowed from my aunt. But that 
 was the way she received her education. As the fam-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 217 
 
 ily became better off, she was able to see more books, 
 but I don't think she ever cared quite so much for 
 books that I liked, as she did for the older ones that 
 she learned about from Mr. Arnold." 
 
 " And what became of Mr. Arnold ? Is he living 
 still ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, I never saw him to remember him. He 
 died when I was a very little girl, but I have heard 
 my aunt speak of him so often that I seem to have 
 seen him." 
 
 " Tell me more about your aunt. Does she look 
 like you ? " 
 
 " I never was mistaken for her," said the young lady, 
 demurely, " but perhaps I shall be, some day." 
 
 " There were strong mental resemblances, I pre 
 sume," said Le Clea'r, with mock gravity. 
 
 " Oh, undoubtedly, as for instance that we both re 
 fused to have our pictures taken, and both were fond of 
 early rising." 
 
 " Was ' The London Times ' accountable for these 
 noble traits of character ? " 
 
 " Indirectly, no doubt. But see, Mr. Le Clear, I 
 have worked a most elaborate P. L. C. I hope you 
 will be able to devise some use to which to put this." 
 
 "I am not so practical as all that," said the young 
 man. " I am so weak as to have some things for 
 which no use can be discovered. Beauty is their ex 
 cuse for being. But where is the S.?" 
 " Oh, you must imagine the S.," said Sally, going to 
 the piano. She played unusually well this evening, 
 and with a heightened color in her face which increased 
 her beauty. Suddenly, in the midst of her playing, she 
 stopped, and said : 
 
 ' You never told me the story of your music-box, 
 Mr. Le Clear."
 
 218 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Do you want its future story or its past story ?" he 
 asked. 
 
 ' Begin, at the beginning, please, and I will tell you 
 when to stop." 
 
 " We will have it with interludes," said he, going to 
 the box and winding it. "It shall play its first tune, 
 ' Robin Adair.' Do not take up your work again, Miss 
 Sally, but let us sit here before the fire, while we make 
 the music-box a cricket on the hearth." He placed the 
 instrument on the hearth before them and set it in mo 
 tion. 
 
 " The first time I heard that air was when I heard 
 it from this little box. I was walking in the city and 
 stopped to listen to a little boy arid girl who were 
 singing in the street. The little girl had a very sweet 
 voice, and I gave her a piece of money. Presently I 
 met them again as they had gone down a cross street 
 while I had gone about. They were singing before a 
 house but no one was at the window, or in the street. 
 Presently they stopped singing as some other music 
 sounded. They looked up and down the street for it, 
 and I was puzzled myself to know where the sound 
 came from. Finally I looked up and spied a music- 
 box upon the sill of a window in the second story of a 
 house near by. It was playing the tune of ' Robin 
 Adair.' Now let us wind up this box again and have 
 an interlude before the next chapter." The young 
 gentleman slipped the catch, round went the wheel and 
 " Scots wha ha " came tinkling forth. Miss Levering 
 looked on and laughed. 
 
 "I suppose it is not proper," said she, " to talk while 
 the music is playing, else I should ask if the box was 
 playing all by itself on the window sill." 
 
 " That comes in the next chapter," said Le Clear. 
 " The music is intended to act as a stimulus to your 
 imagination."
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 213 
 
 " Oh, I see everything perfectly," she exclaimed. 
 " The box on the window sill ; the children looking on 
 in admiration, and yourself standing by with the air of 
 a connoisseur." 
 
 " Then imagine a little more, now that the air is 
 done," and he secured the 'cylinder of the box. " A 
 man and boy were leaning out of the window, each 
 with a Scotch bonnet on, and the children who had been 
 singing began to sing again to the air, the Scotch words, 
 at the same time dancing up and down in delight. At 
 each new tune, they would start off with the words of 
 the tune, and the man and boy joined them, so that 
 the little music-box was quite drowned under all the 
 voices. Now I will let the box play the rest of the 
 airs, for it was when the last air was played that the 
 next scene in my story appeared." 
 
 " I will try to imagine the end," said Miss Lovering, 
 knitting her brows with a great effort and listening to 
 the several Scotch airs which were already familiar 
 enough to her. " The Blue Bells of Scotland " was 
 the last one. 
 
 " Well, how did it turn out?" asked Le Clear, who 
 had been watching her. 
 
 " At that moment," she said, with a story-teller's air, 
 " the father of the boy suddenly cried, ' My children ! 
 oh, my children!' and rushed down to the little boy 
 and girl, exclaiming in broken accents, ' My long lost 
 children ! ' And then, seeing me, he exclaimed, ' And 
 you, kind sir, have brought them to me ; I never can 
 repay you, but take my music-box as a slight expres 
 sion of my gratitude.' In vain I protested that I had 
 done nothing to bring the children back to him. In 
 his excess of joy he placed the box in my arms. I ac 
 cepted it, but contrived in various ways afterward to 
 place the value of the box in the father's hands, re 
 taining it as a souvenir of my little adventure."
 
 220 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Le Clear winced a little at Sally's pretty imitation 
 of his .own manner. 
 
 " The music has charmed you away from the facts," 
 said he, laughing a little. " The end is really more 
 commonplace. The Scotchman beckoned to the chil 
 dren to come up to him, and they went up very will 
 ingly. I kept on my walk, but often after that I 
 passed through the street. One day I saw people about 
 the door and a red flag. It was an auction sale, and 
 going in, I found that the auctioneer was selling the 
 effects of the Scotchman, who had recently died. He 
 was a thrifty fellow who manufactured musical instru 
 ments. I recognized this music-box and bought it for 
 a mere song." 
 
 " But did you never find out anything about his little 
 boy, or about the boy and girl ? " 
 
 " Oh, no. I used to think of them sometimes when 
 I listened to my music-box, and fancy what had become 
 of them all. I find that street musicians and small 
 children of a vagrant character generally make better 
 stuff for fancies than for actual acquaintance." Miss 
 Lovering sat silently for a while. 
 
 "I should like very much to know what became of 
 the children. But you said there was a future story 
 of the box, Mr. Le Clear, aud you have told me only 
 its history." 
 
 " I feel hardly disposed to look very far into the fu 
 ture to-night, Miss Sally," said he. It was the second 
 time he had chosen the girl's name in his speech, and 
 she hardly knew whether to protest or to accept it. 
 There was so few who gave her the name. She sat 
 silent, turning it over, and lost the opportunity to pro 
 test in any way. 
 
 " I have had my theory," he went on, " that it is 
 best to take leave of pleasure before it culminates;
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 221 
 
 the moment the top is reached, one begins to descend 
 into some kind of regret ; he makes mistakes ; there 
 is a jar, and he goes away or leaves his pleasure 
 mixed with just a touch of pain. It is like midsum 
 mer ; there is a rest for a moment when spring has 
 reached its highest point, and then, in the same mo 
 ment autumn begins. Have you never noticed it ? 
 that exquisite melancholy which seems to brood over 
 nature as the year turns ? Something of it came to 
 me one day last summer and I wrote some verses 
 which I called ' Midsummer Noon.' May I repeat 
 them ? " Miss Lovering raised her face aud smiled as 
 sent. 
 
 " How floats the noon ! 
 It is the trembling height 
 When turns the rising, falling tide: 
 
 The tide 
 
 Through day and year its movements glide, 
 And day and year unite 
 In this high noon. 
 
 " From freshest morn 
 To heavy laden noon 
 The strong sun climbs the joyous sky ; 
 
 The sky 
 
 Adown its slope the flushes die, 
 As sinks at eve the sun, 
 Weary and worn. 
 
 " In quickening spring 
 The ecstasy of life: 
 In lordly summer life is crowned ! 
 
 Is crowned 
 
 Yet royal robes shall strew the ground 
 In autumn days : and life ? 
 A buried king ! 
 
 " wondrous height, 
 solemn depth of joy ! 
 The heavenly arch is lifted high 
 
 So high! 
 
 The deep lake give us back the sky, 
 
 And doth not quite destroy 
 Its tender light.
 
 222 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " There is no rest: 
 The seasons circle on, 
 The sun brings morn and noon and night: 
 
 Dark night 
 
 But not our rest. Again the light, 
 And still we journey on 
 From east to west." 
 
 "There is a strange pleasure," he went on, after a 
 moment's silence, " in attempting to record what one 
 may call the indistinct emotions. Do you not remem 
 ber Wordsworth's ' Stepping Westward,' in which he 
 describes the sensation which he felt when meeting, in. 
 one of the loneliest parts of the solitary region about 
 Loch Katrine, the western sky yet aglow with after 
 sunset light, two neatly dressed women who greeted 
 him and his companion in a friendly, soft tone of voice, 
 with the words ' What, you are stepping westward? ' 
 The place, the dying sky in front, the sound of the 
 voice, conspired to connect the salutation with some 
 thing more than simple courtesy, and to create a mo 
 mentary spiritual exaltation, changing the first sensation 
 of ' wildish destiny ' obeying chance, to a higher state 
 of feeling, so that 
 
 1 Stepping westward seemed to be 
 A kind of heavenly destiny.' 
 
 That subtle feeling tempts one more than direct and 
 perfectly intelligible emotions. I am haunted by such 
 evanescent moods sometimes, and wish to lay the ghosts 
 by stretching them out in words. I remember seeing 
 something in Thoreau to the effect that when he went 
 out of doors to walk, without other plan, he invariably 
 found his steps turning east. It exactly fitted in with 
 an experience of my own, and I wrote these lines to 
 try to cover my half understood feeling : 
 
 " What heavenly quarter beckons us 
 When, standing on some grassy hill,
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 223 
 
 We look around with vacant will 
 And wait some wind to blow on us? 
 All views are fair, our hearts are still, 
 Except a timid, fluttering sense 
 Of pleasure hiding somewhere hence 
 And found, at last our soul shall fill. 
 
 u For me, I know, yet know not why 
 That though with wavering will I bend 
 And watch if any signs portend 
 In any quarter of the sky ; 
 My veerings have one only end, 
 For toward the east I ever turn 
 Yet never can the secret learn 
 What makes my footstep* thither tend." 
 
 " Now may we not have some Chopin ? " he asked, 
 rising from his seat. He was standing before her, and 
 bending he gave her both his hands. She took them and 
 rose, then hastily let them fall, and went with flushed face 
 to the piano. She turned the leaves of her music with 
 out looking at him, and finding some reveries of Chopin 
 began at once, first nervously, but in a moment with 
 more composure, and continued page after page. Le 
 Clear sat where he could watch her unobtrusively, and 
 gave himself up to her face and the music. At length 
 she closed the sheets and rose from the piano. 
 
 " Thank you," said Le Clear, " it is hard for me to 
 put one of my theories into practice this evening, and 
 bid good-by before my pleasure has culminated. How 
 do I know now but another hour would bring me some 
 thing much better ? " There was a light in his eye as 
 he spoke, but suddenly he held out his hand to her. 
 " Good-night, Miss Sally. We will keep the future of 
 the music-box for another evening." 
 
 "I must be so inhospitable as to close the door after 
 you, Mr. Le Clear. I think I heard Maria go up-stairs 
 some time since." At that moment the hall clock be 
 gan to sound its imperious notes. They both listened 
 and counted.
 
 224 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Twelve o'clock," said each, looking in astonish 
 ment at the other. 
 
 " I must come some other evening and beg your par 
 don," said Le Clear. " The sin is too recent to-night. 
 I want to roll it as a sweet morsel under my tongue." 
 He tripped lightly down the stairs and she followed 
 him. The door was bolted and barred, and a dim light 
 
 * O 
 
 only remained in the passage. It was necessary for 
 Sally to instruct her visitor as to the intricacy of the 
 fastening, and to help him clear the door, but at length 
 it was free, and he stood with his hand at the handle. 
 His companion standing beneath the faintly burning 
 light was a figure of singular beauty. Her dark dress, 
 her simple coiffure, were resolved in the dusky shade 
 into lines of statuesque grace. To Le Clear she seemed 
 at the moment a beautiful bronze endowed with life. 
 A glow of feeling suddenly overspread his nature ; 
 there was an intoxication of sensuous delight, and a 
 sudden enthusiasm possessed him. There seemed to 
 him to be an exquisite moment, when life was poised, 
 and a perfect harmony existed between them ; he 
 opened his lips for words that were sure to come, when 
 there was a movement on the stairs, and he saw Maria 
 slowly descending. 
 
 " Good-night," he repeated, taking her hand once 
 more ; opening the door, he passed outside, and in a 
 moment more had entered his own lodgings. He 
 slowly divested himself of his outer garments, and feed 
 ing his fire, sat down before it. He did not light his 
 lamp, but shading his face, kept his place in his easy- 
 chair. He abandoned himself to a succession of beau 
 tiful dreams. Stopping just this side of something very 
 like a confession of love to the beautiful girl with whom 
 the hours, deepening into night, had brought him into 
 apparently very close sympathy, he now suffered himself
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 225 
 
 to take the step beyond, and to indulge in a full imagi 
 nation of all that lay the other side of such a confession. 
 He had fancied that her beauty had positively grown 
 during the evening, and began to build upon this foun 
 dation, imagining to himself a woman whose full matur 
 ity of grace and fascination should be coincident with a 
 perfect sympathy with him. The slight jars which he 
 had now and then perceived in their intercourse with 
 one another, had already, he fancied, yielded to the 
 more positive impression of his own nature, and he- 
 pleased himself with the thought of swaying into per-- 
 fect harmony so noble a spiritual mechanism as hers.. 
 From behind his church-warden pipe the vision of 
 marriage grew into an ideal life that built its o.wa house< 
 without the sound of hammer or saw, and noiselessly 
 decorated the interior with forms and color which 
 would make a fit background for the graceful figure 
 moving about in it. Yet as the vision grew in stability, 
 the very weight of the structure began to tell upon the 
 cloudy basis upon which it rested, and Le Clear, fatigued 
 by his own dreams, knocked the ashes from his pipe, 
 and went to bed with the dissatisfied feeling of a man 
 who had held in his hands for a few minutes the title- 
 deed to a great estate, and then had seen it turn to 
 ashes before his eyes. Still, that he had recovered 
 himself, when on the verge of a declaration, had this in 
 its favor, that it left him free to enjoy again the deli 
 cious sensation of advancing toward a consummate pleas 
 ure. 
 
 15
 
 226 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE regularity of Dr. Checker's household had never 
 suffered so severe a strain as when Miss Levering un 
 bolted the doors and dismissed Mr. Le Clear at mid 
 night. Maria had twice gone past the door of the 
 room where the two were sitting; once her young 
 mistress had seen her, but the silent protest of the old 
 woman was of no avail. There had crossed Sally's 
 mind a little regret that she should not be able to bid 
 her grandfather good-night, but when the time went 
 by, she resigned herself with excellent grace to the 
 inevitable. 
 
 " I am sorry you should have sat up, Maria," she 
 said, as the door closed behind Le Clear. " I could 
 have locked the door." 
 
 " You'm a young girl," said the old woman, with a 
 touch of asperity. " I would n't 'a had you coming 
 down all alone at midnight, aye, in the very middle of 
 the night, to lock up. I'm eenamost scart myself. Go 
 to bed, go to bed. It 's awful." 
 
 " What 's awful, Maria ? were you never up at mid 
 night before?" 
 
 * " Never, that I knows of. Never was I up at mid 
 night, except once, on New Year's eve, when I prayed 
 the old year out and the new year in. I 've been a 
 prayin' now, but it an't like church ! We '11 go up 
 together. Ye '11 not leave me here. Go to bed, go 
 to bed, Miss Sally, and I '11 come up after ye." There
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 227 
 
 was something pathetic, as well as grotesque in the 
 black woman's fear of midnight, which she seemed to 
 personify as a sort of worldly evil spirit. The little 
 swinging lamp hung on Maria's arm, and the two went 
 the rounds, which had already been gone over by 
 Maria alone, but seemed to require a special visitation 
 to-night, in consequence of its being midnight. They 
 looked out of the window from the staircase. The 
 moon was shining upon the roofs of the houses about 
 them, and a great cat stole mysteriously along the 
 eaves of a shed near by. Not a solitary figure could 
 be seen, and even Sally felt a little awe at the hour, 
 it was so very still. They paused before the clock at 
 her grandfather's chamber door, and noted the hour. It 
 was half after twelve. The candle, and almanac, and 
 matches were ready by it, and the door to the adjoin 
 ing study stood a little ajar. To their surprise, a light 
 was burning dimly in the study. Sally looked in. 
 
 " Why, grandfather ! at work still ! " she exclaimed. 
 " Come in with me, Maria." She went to the table. 
 Her grandfather's back was toward her, his head bowed 
 on his book, and the light on the table was dying out. 
 
 " Maria, he is asleep." 
 
 "Grandfather!" 
 
 She placed her hand on his shoulder. He did not 
 move. A sudden horror seized her. She tried to 
 speak, but the words were fast in her throat. She 
 beckoned to the woman, who stood helpless in the door 
 way. At this moment the lamp died out altogether, 
 and the only light came from the little swinging lamp 
 on Maria's arm, and from a few coals still alive on the 
 hearth. Maria seemed powerless to come to her, and 
 it seemed to her impossible either to leave her grand 
 father or to continue to stand by that still form. But 
 something must be done, and at length she said :
 
 228 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Light the candle, Maria, and bring it to me." The 
 woman with trembling hands took a match, broke it, 
 broke another, a third. 
 
 " Light the match at your lamp, Maria." 
 
 Maria obeyed and presently, after one or two fail 
 ures, the candle was lighted. Sally held out her hand 
 for it, and placed it on the table. 
 
 " Now Maria, listen to me," she whispered. " Get 
 your hood and go to Miss Fix and bring her here. 
 You can wait for her. Take the key with you." 
 
 " But I could n't a-leave you, Miss Sally," said the 
 old woman, trembling. 
 
 " Never mind me ; go." Maria shook with fear, then 
 crept away with her lamp, down-stairs. The girl heard 
 her go, heard the door open and close, and knew that 
 she was alone. She sank on her knees, by the side of 
 the old man. Then she arose, and going to a closet, 
 brought out the oil can which she knew to be there ; 
 carefully filled the lamp, removed the dead wick and 
 relighted it. A cheerful light grew steadily, filling the 
 room with its pleasantness. She softly placed a few 
 pieces of coal on the fire. Whatever she did, was 
 done with a noiseless care, as if she feared to disturb 
 the sleeper. She wondered what would be needed. 
 The door into the chamber was partly open. She 
 opened it farther and holding her candle looked in. 
 The bed was turned down for the night. Everything 
 was in readiness. Her grandfather's watch hung by 
 the bedside, and she knew that" he must have been pre 
 paring to retire. She reasoned it out in her mind, that 
 he had come back to his table from some restlessness 
 and had once more sat at his book ; Maria had heard 
 him go into his chamber, but had not heard him come 
 out again. She would not go in. There seemed noth 
 ing to be done there. The fire was burning brightly.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 229 
 
 The room was cheerful with the double light, while 
 shadows lay in the corners. She began gently to ar 
 range the books and papers, touching them here and 
 there, to give them a more orderly look. She swept 
 about the hearth, she brushed the dust away, every 
 now and then letting her eyes fall on her grandfather. 
 By degrees, the quiet seemed to possess her as com 
 pletely as it did the old man and the room. She took 
 a little chair and placing it by her grandfather's knee, 
 sat upon it, gently laying her hand upon him. Then 
 she heard the door open and steps ascend. But one 
 person was coming, Maria, as she knew by the step. 
 She rose and went to the door. 
 
 Maria ! " 
 
 " Yes 'm, Miss Pix is coming, but she would have 
 me come first." Maria appeared, at this, toiling up the 
 stairs, with her lamp still hanging from her arm. She 
 had not parted with it. 
 
 " You can go down and wait for her at the door, 
 Maria." 
 
 " Please, Miss Sally, let me sit on the stairs below 
 here. She '11 be a-coming soon." The girl made no 
 answer, but turned back to the room, and knelt again 
 beside her grandfather. She remained thus, until she 
 heard some one below at the door, heard Maria go 
 down and open it. A light step came quickly up the 
 staircase, and as the girl stood in the door-way, she 
 saw her friend stretching out both her hands to her. 
 
 " Courage, Sally, courage ! " cried the little woman 
 in a whisper, and took her into her arms. Sally's 
 heart beat violently ; she was ready to burst into un 
 controllable sobbing, but by a strong effort she kept 
 back the torrent, and biting her lip hard, rested her head 
 for a moment, and then stood upright. She waited to 
 collect her voice, and then whispered,
 
 230 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " He is not heavy. Do you not think we could 
 carry him into the chamber ? '' She had led Miss Fix 
 into the room, and they stood before the bowed figure. 
 Miss Fix shook her head. 
 
 " No, Sally, we could not. You must not try. We 
 need a man. I have sent Nicholas Judge for the 
 doctor. I called Nicholas, as I knew we should want 
 a man, and he will be back in a moment. My dear, 
 we cannot do without a man." In spite of the occa 
 sion, Miss Lovering could scarcely repress a smile at 
 Miss Fix's energetic dependence ou a man. Miss Fix 
 went to the chamber and opened the windows. " He 
 is back already," she said. " Let Maria call him in, 
 and I will speak to him." Maria, standing in the pas 
 sage, had already heard the words, and was on her way 
 down-stairs before the order could be given to her. 
 She returned presently, followed by Nicholas, who en 
 tered the parlor. Miss Fix went down to him. 
 
 " Come up with me," said she, and he obeyed ; in 
 the door-way of the bright room stood Miss Lovering, 
 her hand upon the lintel. Nicholas spoke, without 
 waiting for either to address him : 
 
 " Miss Lovering, the doctor will be here shortly. I 
 came back without waiting for him, hoping I might 
 help you." 
 
 " You are very good," said she, and it crossed her 
 mind strangely that he had spoken the same words to 
 her but a short time before. She hesitated a moment. 
 " I have wished to have my grandfather moved to his 
 chamber, but Miss Fix does not think that we are able 
 to do this. Shall we wait for the doctor ? " The young 
 man, with her silent consent, entered the room. He 
 bent over her grandfather, and then looked with a ques 
 tioning glance at Miss Lovering. She came forward, 
 and as he put his arms beneath the old scholar and
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 231 
 
 raised him, she stood by the bowed head and let it rest 
 on her hand. Thus they bore the burden to the cham 
 ber and laid the cold form upon the bed. Nicholas 
 bent over him, and with her gently folded his hands in 
 the way he was wont to hold them, when quiet. Then 
 he withdrew quietly, and left the young girl by the 
 bedside. He came back to the study and found Miss 
 Pix walking up and down the room, her eyes full of 
 tears, but every how and then giving some little touch, 
 as if trying to bring a little order out of the queer con 
 fusion of the books that were tumbled about in all parts 
 of the room. 
 
 " I will wait below in the parlor," said he, " at any 
 rate until the doctor comes." 
 
 " I '11 stay here," whispered Miss Pix. " The poor 
 dear, I won't disturb her, but when she comes out she 
 shall find me here." 
 
 Miss Lovering remained by her grandfather. She 
 knew he was de^d, but the dread of that cold body 
 was gone from her, and she smoothed his hair and bend 
 ing over him, pave all her thought to a loving and 
 tender care of him. It was not without a pang of self- 
 reproach that she thought of her evening in the room 
 below, while her grandfather sat dead here. That she 
 should not have had her nightly parting with him, seemed 
 now a loss which it would be impossible ever to repair. 
 These matters and many more went rambling through 
 her mind. She began to wonder what the rest in the 
 house were doing; were they sitting together, whisper 
 ing about her ? and what should she do ? She suddenly 
 recollected that for the present, at least, she was the one 
 to give orders and direct. The doctor would come 
 she had never asked who it was, and she had never 
 known her grandfather to have a physician. Then she 
 reflected that probably it would be the same one who
 
 232 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 attended Mrs. Blake, and she remembered how quiet 
 and grave he was when he came down-stairs and spoke 
 with Mr. Judge. She thought she could trust him. 
 She began to wish he would come. A weary feeling 
 came over her. She could not leave her grandfather, 
 and she began to be oppressed with the thought of re 
 maining there. She heard the door open, and steps 
 ascend the staircase. She rose from her place and stood 
 in the door-way that led to the study. The doctor came 
 forward and she held out her hand for the light, which 
 she placed now in the chamber. She stood by the 
 doctor's side motionless, as he raised his hand, listened 
 at his heart and watched narrowly for any sign of life. 
 He asked a few questions, but there was little that could 
 be said by either. No voice had yet pronounced him 
 dead, and a sudden rush of feeling came over the girl. 
 
 " Is he dead ? " she asked, in a choked voice. 
 
 " Yes, my child, he is dead." She knelt again by 
 the bed and burst into a passionate flopd of tears. The 
 doctor waited silently, while Miss Fix stood in the 
 door-way, weeping bitterly. But the paroxysm of grief 
 was soon spent. The doctor went into the study and 
 motioned Miss Fix to go to her friend, and presently 
 the two reappeared. 
 
 "There is nothing that I can do further," said he, "at 
 this time. I have given here the address of an under 
 taker, should you know of none and it would be well 
 to send for him at once. You are not likely to rest, 
 Miss Lovering, until the responsibility is removed from 
 you, but Miss Fix will stay with you, I am sure, and 
 I will come again in the forenoon. Now shall I give 
 this memorandum to Mr. Judge ? He is below and is 
 ready to do anything ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Sally, " and can I send a dispatch ? " 
 
 " If it is going to the country it cannot go before
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 233 
 
 about eight o'clock, but it will be well to get it to the 
 office early. Mr. Judge will take it for you." 
 
 " I '11 speak to Nicholas," said Miss Fix, starting for 
 ward. 
 
 " Wait a moment," said Miss Levering. Every one 
 seemed bound to bring Mr. Judge in, and yet she did 
 not at the moment see how she could do without him. 
 
 M He can go to the undertaker's, if he will," said she; 
 " it is no matter about the dispatch. I will see him 
 myself," she added, with a sudden thought that thus 
 much courtesy might be right toward one who had al 
 ready done so much. She went down-stairs with the 
 doctor, who kept on and left the house. She stopped 
 in the parlor, where the young man was sitting before 
 the dead fire. He rose as she entered the room. 
 
 " I have been thinking," he said, " that you might like 
 your aunt telegraphed to. Shall I take a message to 
 the office ? and if there is any other errand, 1 am 
 ready." 
 
 " Thank you. The doctor gave me this memoran 
 dum, and said you had kindly offered to go. I should 
 like my aunt," and her voice trembled, " but no dis 
 patch could get to her at this hour." 
 
 " There is no telegraph line to Kingston direct, and 
 the message must be carried over by a special messenger 
 from Chester. If you will have the dispatch ready for 
 me on my return, I will take it then." She assented 
 silently and returned to Miss Fix, while the young man 
 went on his errand. When he returned the dispatch 
 was ready for him. 
 
 " I have been very selfish," said Miss Levering. 
 " I have not asked you how your aunt is ; and you 
 have been back and forth all night for me. It is i 
 nearly morning now." Nicholas was silent for a mo 
 ment, gaiuing the mastery of his voice. He turned
 
 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 away his head for a moment, but when he looked again 
 and saw Miss Lovering's eyes bent anxiously upon him, 
 he shaded his face and answered simply : 
 
 " I did not mean to bring any trouble of mine here, 
 Miss Lovering. My aunt died about midnight." 
 
 " Oh ! " said the girl, with a long sigh, and laid her 
 hand upon his arm. He took it in his own, and raised 
 it as if to kiss it, then let it fall. " You know it was 
 not a sudden thing to me, Miss Lovering. I have been 
 looking for it-daily." 
 
 " And you have been here, and have been doing all 
 this for me ! " 
 
 " I could do nothing else." He held himself back 
 by a mighty effort. His whole frame shook, and he 
 dared not trust himself further, but turned, without 
 anoliier look or word, and fled from her presence. The 
 cool night air, as he walked rapidly through the streets, 
 brought back some temperance to his blood, but again 
 and again the cry burst from his heart, " Oh. if I might 
 but have spoken ! if it had been right to speak ! " He 
 reached the office, and sent the dispatch by the night 
 service. Then he added one of his own, calling for 
 the exact hour when it should be delivered to Miss 
 Lovering. He walked home, and entered his own 
 house. Mrs. Starkey came to him. It seemed as if 
 something of his aunt's quiet and peace had passed in 
 life into this beaten body and soul, and that at death a 
 double peace had descended upon the living. She led 
 him to his aunt's room, where, with Hannah's aid, she 
 had ordered everything. The room was as it always had 
 been. Nothing could be added by death to the purity 
 of the chamber. Yet the still form that lay with hands 
 folded seemed to render the whiteness about of a shin 
 ing purity. Upon the light stand by her bedside, Mrs. 
 Starkey had placed the little bit of cambric which Miss
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 235 
 
 Levering had sketched, and upon it a vase, empty now, 
 but ready for the rose which she was sure Nicholas 
 would bring. The morning light was just entering 
 the room. 
 
 " We have done everything as we thought she would 
 have had us," said Mrs. Starkey. " Mr. Judge, I never 
 can thank you enough for letting me do this for the 
 blessed saint. Yet it misgives me that Miss Fix, who 
 loved her so dearly, should have had no hand here. 
 I did as you told me, however, and did not call her." 
 
 " Miss Fix has had other troubles, Mrs. Starkey. 
 She has been since midnight with Dr. Checker's grand 
 daughter. The old man died last night." 
 
 " The Lord have mercy upon us. And that poor 
 child alone with that half-blind black woman ! " Just 
 then there was a knock from Miss Fix's side of ihe 
 house. 
 
 " I will go down to her," said Nicholas ; and descend 
 ing, he opened the door that connected the houses, and 
 found Miss Fix seeking admission. 
 
 " O Nicholas, Nicholas," cried the little woman, 
 " what a night this has been to you ! Why did you not 
 tell me ? Yet what could I have done ? That good 
 aunt of yours ! When Miss Sally told me of it, she 
 begged me to leave her. ' Everybody thinks of me,' 
 she said ; ' do let me think of some one else.' But I 
 could not le&ve her, and indeed, Nicholas, I can't tell 
 in my heart which of you poor dears is the most to be 
 pitied. But you are both just noble, and that 's what 
 I say ; and I say it to you as I said it to her. Now 
 do, dear Nicholas, lie down, and let me make you 
 some coffee. That poor old black Maria is as helpless 
 as a black glove, and just sits and rocks herself in the 
 kitchen. I have got Miss Sally to lie down, and I ran 
 home to make a pot of hot coffee. I can make it so
 
 236 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 much better, you know, in my own coffee pot. But 
 oh, oh, how can I run on this way, when you are all so 
 in affliction. I never could say the right word ; but 
 Nicholas," and she wrung his hand, " if there 's any 
 thing to be done, please, please ask Betsey Fix to do it. 
 I 've been stifling at the other house. To see that dear 
 girl so calm and collected, and her old grandfather 
 dying so mysteriously, I could not contain myself. I 
 knew I should break out beyond anything, and so I 
 came home for a moment. But I 'm going back as 
 soon as I get my coffee made ; " and here Miss Pix, 
 who was exhausted and excited, broke down com 
 pletely, and sat on the nearest seat, hunting in a dis 
 tressed way for her handkerchief. Nicholas waited 
 a while, and then, as she grew calmer, said : 
 
 "I know you are tired, Miss Pix, and the night has 
 been a hard one for you. Come up-stairs with me 
 before you go, and I think you can carry back to Miss 
 Lovering some comfort from my aunt." She obeyed 
 his gesture and followed him up-stairs. He was right. 
 The calm and still room pacified her, and she went 
 away with a smile which restored her face to its wonted 
 brightness.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 NICHOLAS found it impossible to rest. A messen 
 ger from the telegraph office brought him a dispatch, 
 notifying him when the message was delivered to Miss 
 Miriam Lovering, in Kingston. He reflected that there 
 were two hours before the morning train would pass 
 through the village, and that the lady would find time 
 in that two hours to make ready her departure. The 
 train would reach the city at noon or a little after. He 
 went out from the house. There were some needful 
 things to be done for his own household. He must see 
 the minister who counted Mrs. Blake in his parish. He 
 must attend to this and that matter. He went through 
 his tasks mechanically, returning every now and then 
 to his aunt's room to sit, but that refuge he was forced 
 to leave when those came, to commit the perishable 
 frame to whom it seemed a desecration. 
 
 He had intended going to the train and meeting Miss 
 Lovering, when it suddenly occurred to him that how 
 ever this might fit into his own mood, there was after 
 all some assumption in doing this upon his own motion 
 only. He had been finding a faintly delicious pleasure 
 in the thought of doing this, unasked, and had known 
 even something of the pleasure of deferring another 
 visit to one who was perpetually in his thought, but as 
 by a rude reminder, his mentor suggested to him that 
 something of this pleasure must be foregone, lest he 
 should be in peril of a graver error. Accordingly he
 
 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 turned his steps again to Dr. Checker's house. As he 
 came to it, the door of the adjoining house opened, and 
 Mr. Le Clear came out. He looked sharply at Nicho 
 las, but turning aside his glance for a moment, he saw 
 the signal which hung from the handle of Dr. Checker's 
 door, put out in the melancholy fashion of our social 
 ritualism to betoken that death had passed that way. 
 
 " What ! is any one dead in here ? " he asked. 
 
 " Dr. Checker died suddenly, early this morning." 
 
 " Possible ! why I was there myself until midnight." 
 
 " He died near that hour probably." 
 
 "Was his granddaughter with him?" 
 
 " She found him dead when she went up-stairs." 
 
 " Are you going in ?" 
 
 " Yes." But as they stood thus talking, the door 
 opened and Miss Fix came out. 
 
 " This is sad news, Miss Fix," said Le Clear, gravely. 
 "I have only just learned it. Will you give my sympa 
 thy to Miss Lovering and say that I am wholly at her 
 service. I hardly think it right to intrude upon her 
 now, merely to express my sympathy." 
 
 " There is nothing to be done," said Miss Fix, " noth 
 ing that I know of, that Mr. Judge has not done 
 already. I forgot to ask you if you sent the dispatch, 
 Nicholas ? " 
 
 "It was about that that I was intending to see Miss 
 Lovering, but I think I would rather speak with you." 
 Mr. Le Clear bowed to the pair and went out of the 
 court. 
 
 " I '11 go with you," said Miss Fix, when Nicholas had 
 explained the matter. " How soon ought we to be 
 there? now? I'll go in and explain to Miss Sally 
 that we are going." 
 
 " I told her," said she, when she returned, " that I 
 was going to meet her aunt because she had written
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 239 
 
 about me, and her aunt would know me, and you were 
 going, because you know her aunt by sight, and could 
 identify her. I think that 's the word they use in such 
 cases." Miss Fix's spirits seemed to rise as they 
 walked together to the station. 
 
 " It 's a holiday with me, you see. Oh, there I ought 
 not to say that. Yes, it is though, it 's a holy day. 
 It 's better to go to the house of mourning I know 
 it is, and I 'm not really light, Nicholas, it 's only my 
 way. Really and truly, I am very much affected. I 
 know I could not have gone to my pupils to-day, 
 even if I had not been helping Miss Sally a little. 
 But it was a great deal better to be there, helping ever 
 so little, than staying at home and crying. I am going 
 to cry now, but you mustn't mind; I've got my veil 
 down;" and so her talk tumbled out, as she half trotted 
 beside Nicholas's taller figure. 
 
 " How did you get word to your pupils ? " asked 
 Nicholas. 
 
 " Mr. "VVindgraff went to see them. I sent Gretchen 
 for him after breakfast. He was very, very sorry. I 
 wanted to play a marche funebre, but he did not think 
 it best. He has such excellent judgment." Miss Fix 
 straightened herself up at this and seemed quite to be 
 braced against her friend's upright character. They 
 reached the station in season for Nicholas to order a 
 carriage to be in readiness, and presently the expected 
 train came rumbling into the house. Miss Fix pulled 
 Nicholas toward her and hastily said in a confidential 
 tone : 
 
 " She said it was very thoughtful of you, and that 
 her aunt would be greatly obliged to you ; that she 
 knew you were a neighbor of hers." The train drew 
 up before them, and Nicholas watched the passengers 
 descend.
 
 240 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " There she is," said Miss Fix, eagerly. " That 
 lady getting out of the next car, with a basket." 
 
 " It is she," said Nicholas, and they went forward to 
 her. Miss Lovering stood hesitating a moment on the 
 platform, eyeing the clamorous coachmen to single out 
 one less rapacious looking than the rest, so that she 
 did not see the two until they were at her elbow. 
 
 " Miss Lovering," said Nicholas. 
 
 " What ! ah ! young Judge ? " 
 
 " Yes 'm. Miss Pix, Miss Lovering. Miss Fix is a 
 friend of your niece's whom I brought at her request." 
 
 "We're neighbors," said Miss Pix, eagerly. "Al 
 most next door. Poor, poor Miss Sally. Let me 
 take your basket, please. Nicholas has found a car 
 riage. He sent the dispatch off this morning before 
 daylight. Oh, it was very sudden." Nicholas, with 
 all his old shyness returned, was hurrying off to find 
 the coachman he had retained. 
 
 " Come along," said he, somewhat abruptly, to Miss 
 Pix. " This way." He plunged ahead to lay hold of 
 his coachman, who was trying to fascinate some other 
 travelers. After nervously escorting the two ladies 
 through the crowd, he succeeded in establishing them 
 in the carnage and sending it off to Five-Sisters 
 Court, while he himself gladly refused their invitation 
 to accompany them. There was nothing quite so 
 grateful to him at this time as solitude, and he availed 
 himself of it with an obstreperous eagerness. As he 
 threaded the streets his mind turned over and over the 
 few further glimpses that he had had of Miss Sally Lov 
 ering. Did Le Clear indeed pass half the night in his 
 call upon her ? He remembered the passages of the 
 evening before ; he remembered the looks which had 
 passed between them, and his judgment attempted to 
 convince him that the passion which he himself con-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 241 
 
 ceived for the girl was spending itself in its own ges 
 ticulation, and gaining no support from any motion of 
 hers. He turned over the meagre words which Miss 
 Fix had reported to him, and they sounded hollow and 
 conventional, all the more that Miss Fix had displayed 
 an unseemly sense of their significance. Then the 
 meeting with Miss Miriam Lovering bought back his old 
 life at Kingston, and reminded him how impossible it 
 would be for the elder lady to suppose the interval be 
 tween them to have been in any way bridged over by 
 the experience of the last few days and weeks. A 
 dismal feeling possessed him that all went for nothing, 
 that he was back in Kingston again, looking at Miss 
 Sally Lovering as a distant star, and shyly pursuing 
 his own silent way, regarded, if at all, with a misty 
 aversion by the people of the village. So he came 
 back by these mental turnings to his aunt's bedside, and 
 as if he had suddenly lost again both mistress and aunt, 
 his life seemed stripped bare. 
 
 He entered the court and his own house in blank, 
 apathetic mood, and shut himself in his room. The 
 minister had been to see him, and he only felt relieved 
 that he had escaped any special condolence. He tried 
 to work, but he was too listless. He was called to din 
 ner, and when that was over, he took his hat again and 
 walked out. Nothing but the open air seemed to 
 have any allurement for him. He made his way out 
 of town to the old chimney and mocked himself with 
 the echoes ; he visited Tommy's Rocks again, and now, 
 tired in body and thoroughly dissatisfied with himself, 
 he returned to his house. 
 
 It was not long before Miss Fix came to him. 
 
 " Where have you been all this afternoon ? " she 
 asked. " You have been asked for by Miss Lovering 
 and her niece. Did you think there was any one else 
 16
 
 242 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 who could be so useful ? " There was a gravity about 
 Miss Pix that was unusual to her. 
 
 " Yes," said Nicholas. " I was tired. They could 
 easily call in Mr. Le Clear. You heard his offer of 
 services." 
 
 " Nevertheless, there is something in a common 
 trouble, Nicholas. Did you see the flowers which Miss 
 Sally sent for your aunt?" 
 
 " Yes ; they were very beautiful. It was very 
 thoughtful in her." 
 
 " Come and thank her yourself," said Miss Pix, 
 " and perhaps there may be something you can do 
 
 for them I was sure," she continued to Mrs. 
 
 Starkey, after he was gone, " that he needed something 
 to rouse him. This has been a terrible day to him, and 
 he would get into a very unhealthy condition, unless he 
 were forced out of it I know him, oh, I know him," 
 and Miss Pix turned her head over with a sagacious 
 air. 
 
 The door was opened for Nicholas by Miss Sally 
 Lovering herself, who chanced to be in the passage. 
 He cast his eyes down when he saw her. He was not 
 prepared for her, and she received him so frankly that 
 he was filled with despair. 
 
 " You were very kind, very good," he said, " your 
 flowers were very grateful." 
 
 " I almost feared to send anything but white," she 
 said, " but, will you come up-stairs ? My aunt wishes 
 to thank you." He followed her into the parlor, where 
 Miss Lovering was taking her tea. The lady rose and 
 held out her hand. 
 
 " My niece has told me of your kindness, and of 
 your own trouble. How strangely people come to 
 gether. The city does not seem very large when two 
 Kingston people are discovered living in the same little
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 243 
 
 court. You have not been in Kingston have you, since 
 you left ? " 
 
 " No, ma'am. I have lived very quietly here with 
 with my aunt." 
 
 " I should like much to have known her. My niece 
 was writing me but a few days since of a long conver 
 sation she had with her. Such friends are never re 
 placed. I remember once when one of my friends had 
 the misfortune to lose his house by fire. There was 
 an old portrait by Copley that was burned, and he said 
 that for months afterward he was haunted by the 
 thought how absolutely impossible it was to replace a 
 painting by a dead artist. No amount of wealth could 
 buy back that picture. And how much more worth has 
 a human friend. We may get new friends, but we 
 never can have again just that friend." Miss Lovering 
 spoke in measured and dignified tones, which somehow 
 seemed to reflect themselves in Nicholas's speech, and he 
 found himself answering in a half courtly way, as if, 
 he said to himself afterward, he had just been having 
 his own picture painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 
 " True, madam, but there is something in a friend 
 which does not die out, and as the recollection of a 
 portrait is something which fire cannot wholly destroy, 
 so the remembrance of a friend, her tones and herself, 
 do not perish at death." Miss Lovering looked at him. 
 attentively, while Miss Sally Lovering who sat near, 
 looked from one to the other, as they bowed ceremo 
 niously and wondered what had come over the young 
 man, whom she had never seen quite in this role. 
 
 " I should be glad," continued Nicholas, " if I could 
 be of any service to either of you ladies," and as he 
 said it, he seemed to himself to be a spectacled ghost, 
 lifting a skeleton hat. 
 
 "I thank you," said Miss Lovering; "you have al-
 
 244 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 ready been very thoughtful. My niece tells me that 
 you attend at the same church where she has been. 
 Her grandfather has not been in the habit, for many 
 years, of attending Divine service. We should be 
 grateful if you would state these matters to the rector, 
 and ask him to come to us." 
 
 " I will go now," said Nicholas, rising at once, re 
 lieved at escaping what seemed to him an interview at 
 which he saw himself in a sort of vague perspective, 
 unable to get into the actual vicinage of the people in 
 the room. He had been aware of a pleasant fragrance, 
 and as he rose his eyes instinctively sought the flowers. 
 They stood upon the piano, and Miss Lovering, noticing 
 his glance, called his attention to them more closely. 
 
 " They are from a neighbor, a Mr. Le Clear, who 
 was a great admirer of Dr. Chocker. I think he called 
 himself in some sense a disciple of his. What were 
 his words, Sally ? " 
 
 " He quoted the line 
 
 ' This is our master, famous, calm, and dead.' " 
 
 " I do not remember the line," said Miss Lovering. 
 
 " It is from Robert Browning's ' A Grammarian's 
 Funeral.' He read it to me once," she added, with 
 hesitation, " when we had been speaking of my grand 
 father." 
 
 " That explains it," said Miss Lovering. " His note 
 was not quite clear, as you read it, Sally." Nicholas 
 looked hard at the younger lady. His heart beat vio 
 lently ; he fumbled for his hat, and almost without 
 another word, left the room and the house. 
 
 " That young man has changed a good deal since he 
 was in Kingston, Sally," said her aunt. " The city 
 has done something for him, but I don't see but he has 
 some of his old shyness left, after all. Have you seen 
 him often ? "
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 245 
 
 " Several times ; he is a friend of Miss Fix, and I 
 have seen him at her house. He was very kind to me 
 last night, as I told you. Was it last night ? it seems 
 so long since." 
 
 " And this Mr. Le Clear, I supposed he was an old 
 man, like your grandfather. But perhaps I was mis 
 taken. " 
 
 ' ; Xo, he is not so very old. In fact, he is about Mr. 
 Judge's age, I should think." 
 
 " And he is a friend of Miss Pix ? " 
 
 "Miss Pix knows him, but she has never seen so 
 much of him. He is quite different. She is full of her 
 music, but Mr. Le Clear is interested in art and books 
 and music, too. I have spoken of him in my letters, 
 have I not?" 
 
 " I think you did mention him once, but I did not 
 get the impression, somehow, that he was a young man." 
 
 " Don't let us talk about them to-night, dear aunt. It 
 does not seem quite right," said the girl, arranging the 
 flowers before her. 
 
 The funeral of Mrs. Blake was from church, and 
 took place at an earlier hour than Dr. Chocker's. The 
 dwellers in the court were present and the four musical 
 Germans, but few others. A single white rose lay in 
 the hand of the dead lady, but a few half faded flowers 
 were placed at the foot of the bier. Those who no 
 ticed them wondered not so much at the meagreness of 
 the display, as at the seeming indifference which should 
 allow flowers so near their end to be placed there. Miss 
 Lovering and her niece were present, and the younger 
 lady, seeing them, scarcely knew whether to be vexed or 
 moved. They were the flowers which she had sent 
 upon the day of Mrs. Blake's death. They were not 
 the only flowers, she knew, which had been sent in, for
 
 246 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Miss Pix had confided to her her difficulty in deciding 
 between an anchor to symbolize hope, and a cross to sym 
 bolize suffering, and a crown to symbolize victory, which 
 had resulted in her abandoning symbolism altogether and 
 sending in a basket of flowers. Yet here was her poor 
 offering looking like very neglect itself rather than the 
 freshest offering of love. 
 
 Nicholas was the solitary mourner. He followed the 
 clergyman and the coffin, and during the whole service 
 knelt at the chancel rail. It was as if in this moment 
 of his life he felt an utter loneliness, and when the little 
 congregation had left, and he entered the one carriage 
 with the clergyman, and so followed his aunt to the 
 grave, it was almost as if he himself were being carried 
 into solitary oblivion. 
 
 As the people left the little church, Le Clear stood 
 gravely in the aisle beside Miss Sally Lovering. She 
 had been aware that he had entered and taken a seat 
 directly behind her, and throughout the service she 
 had been unable to keep her mind wholly from him. 
 He was waiting for her, it was plain, and she turned 
 her face toward him. In her strained and almost mor 
 bid condition, there was an indistinct feeling of sharing 
 with him in some guilt. "While they had blended talk 
 and music and glances but three evenings since, her 
 grandfather was dying, and still lay unburied in the 
 house. She cast her eyes down, but did not wholly 
 avoid him. 
 
 " I have not dared to intrude upon you," he whis 
 pered, " yet I would ask if I might be allowed to come 
 this afternoon ? " 
 
 " Yes," she replied, in a low tone. " Thank you for 
 the flowers." 
 
 " They must already have faded," said he, " and I 
 have presumed to send others this morning." They
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 247 
 
 were already in the open air and leaving the church. 
 Sally turned to her aunt, and Le Clear, bowing to both, 
 left them and walked rapidly away. 
 
 " Who was that young gentleman, Sally ? " her aunt 
 asked. 
 
 "It was Mr. Le Clear, Aunt Miriam. He stopped 
 to ask if he might come this afternoon." Miss Lover- 
 ing's eyes followed the retreating figure. 
 
 " He is a younger man than I supposed," she said, 
 and it was evident that the Mr. Le Clear of her imagi 
 nation was shedding his years, under increasing light, 
 with great rapidity. It was almost a little procession 
 which moved from the church to Five-Sisters Court, 
 for Mrs. Starkey and Hannah, Miss Fix and Mr. Wind- 
 graff, Messrs. Schmauker, Pfeffendorf and Pfeiffer, 
 with their families, and Gretchen, all went that way, 
 besides Miss Levering and her niece. The day seemed 
 to all of them, but especially to the dwellers in the 
 court, to have a special character, and there was some 
 thing indecorous in the busy movements of the street, 
 the jostling crowds, the noise and disorder. To have 
 been to one funeral and to be, as it were, on the way to 
 another, brought a certain stillness into the minds of all 
 which rendered ordinary affairs intrusive. 
 
 It was a very little gathering that met afterward in 
 Dr. Checker's house. The German gentlemen, save 
 Mr. Windgraff, were not willing to presume upon their 
 slight acquaintance with the old scholar, and though 
 Mrs. Starkey and Hannah were there, and Miss Pix 
 and Mr. Windgraff, and Gretchen and Mr. Le Clear, 
 Nicholas Judge had not returned. One or two friends 
 of Dr. Chocker, who seemed to have been brought 
 out of their cells and dusted for this occasion, were 
 present, and Miss Pix, at Miss Lovering's request, 
 went with the two ladies and Maria to the grave.
 
 248 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 Maria, since her master's death, was as one bewildered. 
 She sat most of the time in her kitchen, mechanically 
 rocking and reading her hymn-book, but the main 
 spring of her daily works had been broken, and all the 
 machinery was lame and impotent. She obeyed her 
 young mistress in anything that could be done when 
 the order came, but she was no longer competent to 
 follow any order beyond the immediate moment, and 
 accordingly Sally was wont to make visits every few 
 minutes to the kitchen to start Maria again, as if she 
 were some poor, worn-out clock which would go for a 
 few minutes after being wound, but needed constantly 
 to be set in motion. 
 
 It was a mild afternoon, and there seemed to be a 
 gentle starting in nature, as if preparations were mak 
 ing for an escape from the winter into all the hope and 
 expectation of spring. As they drove into the burial 
 ground, the bell in the tower sounded a few strokes, 
 and their talk, which had turned simply upon the 
 signs of new life about them, ceased, and each sank 
 back into her place, resuming the threads of thought 
 which had been spun by this death. They came to the 
 grave, and as they left the carriage they noticed a 
 newly made grave adjoining that which was to receive 
 the old scholar's remains. Some faded flowers lay at 
 its head. Sally looked hastily at them and turned 
 away. They seemed to obtrude themselves upon her 
 here at this place. She did not know that Mrs. 
 Blake's grave was there, and it almost seemed for a 
 moment as if there were some design in it. She stood 
 with the others at the open grave, while the minister 
 pronounced a few words of farewell and let the earth 
 slip through his fingers upon the lowered case. As 
 they turned away, Miss Fix arrested her by the neigh 
 boring mound.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 249 
 
 " I believe this is Mrs. Blake's," said she. " How 
 singular ! Look, why there is Nicholas ! " and at that 
 moment they both saw a solitary figure coining down a 
 path near by. It was Nicholas Judge, who, lingering 
 about the ground and seeing a funeral party near his 
 aunt's grave, drew nearer. He stopped, for he recog 
 nized presently the figures and faces, and turned away. 
 
 " Nicholas ! " said Miss Pix in a loud whisper, ener 
 getically beckoning to him. But he paid no heed, and 
 kept on his way. 
 
 " Why should we not stay here a little while ? " 
 asked Miss Pix, who was so seldom in the country 
 that it was depressing to her to return in the close car 
 riage to the city. 
 
 " No, no," cried Sally. " Let us go back at once ; " 
 and she seemed eager to get them all into the carriage 
 again. As they rolled out of the grounds, she saw 
 Nicholas once more, loitering on a by-path, evidently 
 waiting until the party should have left. 
 
 And now, Dr. Checker and Mrs. Blake are out of 
 the story.
 
 250 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 LIFE in Five-Sisters Court went on again apparently 
 in much the same way as before, so far as the outward 
 eye could see. The two recluses who had left were not 
 wont to impress themselves much upon the external 
 character of the court, and the occupants of the houses 
 which they had once held, passed in and out as before. 
 To Nicholas, indeed, there was a dead feeling always 
 present. His aunt was gone ; a lonely sad-visaged 
 woman remained, who came to him, earnestly express 
 ing her willingness to seek some other home, but held 
 back by him with an absent-minded kindness of speech, 
 which made it hard for her to determine what the real 
 thought was that lay behind it. He would not confess 
 to himself, but it nevertheless was apparent to him 
 without confession, that he had sought to bury in the 
 grave with his aunt the hope which he had cherished, 
 and which had flamed so fiercely during those days of 
 death. It was with almost a despisal of himself there 
 fore that he left his room one afternoon, thinking to 
 go to the daily evening service at his church, knowing 
 as he did, that his hunger for a possible sight of Sally 
 Levering was more active than any craving for relig 
 ious nourishment. Nevertheless, when he entered the 
 church and took his customary seat and glanced at 
 hers and found it vacant, he was relieved that she 
 should not be there, and joined in the feeble responses 
 of the feeble congregation with a patient effort at in-
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 251 
 
 terest. Suddenly as he looked up at the end of the 
 service, he saw her. She had put on mourning for her 
 grandfather, and her slight figure looked even slighter 
 in its close-fitting dress. He had not seen her since he 
 had seen her at a distance in the burial ground, and the 
 whole flood of his nature which he had been damming 
 up, seemed at once to burst all the feeble bands which 
 he had set to it. He felt his heart beat with a steady 
 thud, thud, within him, and as he left the church, he 
 stepped to the girl's side. 
 
 " Good afternoon," said he, in a husky voice, which 
 seemed to himself to be a voice left behind him some 
 where. She looked at him a little timidly. His voice 
 and his manner betrayed his feeling, and she was her 
 self responsive to emotions, which they seemed singu 
 larly to be having in common. 
 
 " I hope you have not been ill," she said. " My 
 aunt has been troubled about you. That afternoon " 
 she said it in a low voice, as if it were a sacred day 
 " after we came home, my aunt had a severe headache, 
 or she would have sent to ask you to come in, to see 
 us." 
 
 " Would you have wanted me ? " he asked. She 
 hesitated a moment, then said quickly, 
 
 " Why, yes ; I can never be grateful enough for all 
 you did for me." 
 
 " Grateful ! " he cried. " Do not use that word. I 
 cannot bear it. I would as lieve hear you say you re 
 spected me." 
 
 ""Hut I do," she said; and then, perceiving her mis 
 take, she hastily added, " I do not believe it is well for 
 us to say these things to one another. I have been 
 taught to avoid protestations in words and to trust to 
 what one does. Is not that enough ? of course it is 
 enough, for you might misunderstand my words, as it 
 seems you did just now."
 
 252 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " No, it is not enough," he said, passionately ; " or if 
 it is, then have I not spoken to you again and again ? 
 Is it nothing that my eyes have followed you whenever 
 they could find you ; that I have studied how I could 
 do the least thing for you ; that I have avoided all 
 hollow protestations of words and little gifts, and given 
 you myself wholly, wholly, wholly ? Have you not 
 seen this? Are we not here together? and is it not 
 because I could not live longer without the sight of you, 
 and went where I hoped I might find you, not that I 
 should say this to you, but that I might silently love 
 you, as I have loved you this long time ? There, I 
 have said the word to you, that I have said to myself 
 in whispers, and I say it to-day because I know I can 
 not live this double life any longer. I did not mean to 
 say this, this afternoon, but it has been ready, oh, this 
 long while, and it is misery to keep it longer to myself, 
 even if it is greater misery to tell it. Do not answer 
 me," he cried, as he strode along by her side, " do not 
 answer me." Miss Lovering was silent, not so much 
 because he bade her not answer him, as because she 
 was herself bewildered by his burst of passion. 
 
 " I am so sorry," she said at last, and her voice re 
 fused to carry any other words ; it seemed to her that 
 she must get away and be by herself, and yet at the 
 same moment came a more resolute feeling. " That is 
 cowardly," she thought. Suddenly Nicholas turned to 
 her again. 
 
 u That is not your answer," he said, mournfully. " It 
 cannot be your answer. Do not say anything more. 
 Just let me walk with you to your house. I will not 
 speak. You know," he tried to say playfully, but with 
 a miserable sense of failure, " that words are good for 
 nothing. Let me try what silence can do." But if 
 silence was his speech, not so with Miss Lovering. 
 She was aroused to a sense of her situation.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 253 
 
 " I must speak," said she arresting his gesture. " It 
 is not right that I should be silent. It is all so strange 
 to me," she cried. " I did not know you cared for 
 me, at least not in this way. I have had no thought of 
 these things, or if I have, it has not been to watch for 
 them from you. Forgive me, if I wound you, but I 
 must not let you go on and think that all this time J 
 have been silently asking you to care for me a little 
 more, and a little more, until it has come to this ; and 
 I cannot let you go now and think of it as something 
 to be said again, as if I had not answered you and 
 were willing to wait with you. Oh, I am so sorry, but 
 really, really I did not see all this. What can I say ? 
 What shall I say ? You must not speak thus to me." 
 She paused now and then, as if to elicit from her com 
 panion some assent to her words, but he heard her si 
 lently through all. They had passed, absorbed in their 
 words, by the mall, and had come again into the street. 
 The crossing interrupted their speech. Nicholas, 
 gently and with watchful courtesy, made a way for her 
 among the carriages and drays, and they left the main 
 street by the narrow alley that led directly to Amory 
 Street. There was a lull from the noise, and a certain 
 privacy in this retired passage. Nicholas stopped and 
 looked full in the girl's face. 
 
 " I love you," he said abruptly, but slowly, and 
 walked again beside her. She said nothing ; she was 
 baffled by the inability to reply. It would have been 
 cruel and wanton, and indeed, under the confusion of 
 her mind, hasty to retort, " I do not love you," and 
 nothing short of that would suffice. She could not ad 
 mit his love, she could not absolutely and positively 
 stand by the denial of her own. She had made her 
 protest, and she was forced to rest in that. Indeed, 
 too, the earnestness and depth of sincerity with which
 
 254 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 his last words were spoken could be met by nothing 
 less sincere. 
 
 Nicholas parted from her at her door ; he said noth 
 ing, but took her hand for a moment in an abstracted 
 way and left her. Already it seemed that his mind 
 had hastened away from a too rigid present moment 
 and sought an escape into regions where it would be 
 confronted by spectres it may be, but not by hard, real 
 istic personal obstacles. At any rate, she watched him 
 as he walked down the court, without turning back, 
 and then entered her own door, which was opened by 
 Maria. 
 
 That evening, as she sat with her aunt, she main 
 tained an unusual silence. She had been wont to make 
 her aunt her confidant in everything, yet now she found 
 it impossible to disclose what had passed between her 
 and Nicholas. " Have I the right to do this ? " she 
 asked herself. " I have answered him, and that must 
 be the end. I ought not' to make known his confes 
 sion. It was made to me. There is nothing to Con 
 sult my aunt about." Nevertheless, she was oppressed 
 by the recollection of the scene. She tried to read, 
 but could not. Her aunt sat steadily knitting, not un 
 observant of what was passing, but silently awaiting 
 her niece's words. At length Sally laid aside her 
 book. 
 
 " Dear Aunt Miriam," she said ; " how soon may we 
 go back ? " 
 
 " So you do not want to stay here in your own 
 house ? " 
 
 " No. T long to go back to Kingston, to you and 
 Aunt Rebecca." 
 
 " Think well of it, Sally. You have come here to 
 the city, and the country will not be quite the same to 
 you again. I know it is not quite right to leave you
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 255 
 
 here alone ; but you are your own mistress, and your 
 grandfather's property will be sufficient for you." She 
 did not look at Sally as she said this, but kept steadily 
 on with her knitting. 
 
 " I have half a mind to go to Europe," said the girl ; 
 " but you would not go with me. No, I am certain 
 that I want to go back to Kingston. And yet," she 
 hesitated a moment, and then said frankly, " it will 
 not be the same to me. Perhaps it will be better. 
 At any rate, I shall be with you and Aunt Rebecca ; 
 and nothing can be better for me than that. There is 
 no one else I want to be with." 
 
 Nothing more was said this evening ; but the next 
 day Sally resumed her talk with her aunt. She would, 
 at any rate, go now to Kingston ; and, since she was 
 eager to go at once, she would close the house, leaving 
 it as it was, and take Maria with her to her aunt's. 
 
 " Perhaps the change will restore her in some way," 
 she said, though she looked with pity and doubt upon 
 the poor soul that seemed to drift about helplessly, 
 now that her steadfast master had been taken from 
 her. Miss Miriam Levering by no word or accent 
 had sought to influence her niece ; but the decision 
 once made, she hastened, with cheerful alacrity, to aid 
 her in her preparations. As Sally was moving about 
 the rooms, arranging them, with a .curious sense of 
 ownership which had already fastened itself upon her 
 natural self-possession and dignity, she stopped before 
 Mr. Le dear's music-box, which had not been opened 
 since the night when he had stopped half-way in his 
 story of its adventures. She opened it, turned the key 
 a little, and heard the first few notes of " Robin Adair." 
 
 " What 's this dull town to me ? " she hummed to 
 herself, and closed the box. She sat down to write a 
 note to the owner, upon returning it. But her pen
 
 256 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 rested in her hand. It was a simple matter enough to 
 return it, but she could hardly do this without some in 
 timation that she was to leave on the morrow. Why 
 did he not come himself and then she could bid him 
 good-by less formally. Still, the box must go back, 
 and finally she wrote a few lines, thanking him for it, 
 and adding : " If you ever stray so far away as Kings 
 ton, pray come to see me and tell me the rest of its 
 story." Then she erased that, and wrote her note over 
 again, saying nothing about going away, but writing 
 " p. p. c." at the bottom of her note. She had some 
 misgivings about this, yet she could not bring herself to 
 a more direct form of leave-taking, and sent the box 
 and note by Maria. 
 
 It was in the afternoon when they were sent, and 
 Le Clear was at home. He received them, and seeing 
 the letters at the bottom of the note, he saw plainly 
 that Miss Levering was soon to leave town. He had 
 few impulses, and seldom acted upon those he had. 
 Yet now he recalled with singular clearness the night 
 of his visit ; he remembered well with how beautiful a 
 presence the girl had stood before him ; he confessed 
 to himself that that was a moment. He even suffered 
 himself to look back with a certain compassion upon 
 himself that the one notable instant of his life might 
 then and there have slipped by. Out of all this retro 
 spect there grew a delicious sense of having stood upon 
 the brink of love. It was impossible to hide from him 
 self the opportunity which then lay in his hand ; 
 equally was it impossible to define with rigor precisely 
 what relations existed between him and the girl. There 
 was an indefiniteness still about them, which held pos 
 sibilities of exceeding enjoyment. He sat in his chair 
 dallying with the note in his hand, giving himself up 
 to a certain incense-burning to himself, yet every now
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 257 
 
 and then appealed to, he scarcely knew how, by the 
 image of the girl standing, expectant, waiting, it almost 
 seemed, for him to reach forth his hand. He rose and 
 paced his room. The front windows looked out upon 
 the court, and as he approached them he saw the figure 
 of Sally Lovering as she left her house and made her 
 way across the court. She entered Miss Fix's house. 
 A sudden impulse seized him. He could scarcely let 
 her leave without some show of courtesy on his part, 
 and yet should he disturb the _delicately tinted vapor& 
 which had been rising about him ? He dressed himself 
 quickly and went below, appearing at Miss Loveriug's; 
 door. 
 
 No. Miss Sally Lovering was not at home. He re 
 gretted it deeply, penciled his regrets on his card, and 
 left it with Maria. 
 
 Yet somehow, as he returned to his room, he found 
 it difficult to recall the airy phantasms which he had 
 permitted to form themselves about him, and presently, 
 leaving his room he went out to spend the evening at 
 the play. 
 
 Miss Pix received Sally with open arms. 
 
 " I was just wishing for you, my dear," she said. " I 
 have no lessons this afternoon, and I do not want to go 
 out. I believe I have a cold coming on. Sit down, my 
 dear, and tell me what you are going to do. I don't 
 want to flatter you, Sally. I never do flatter people, 
 but seriously, you have grown very mature the last few 
 days. I was saying to Nicholas Judge only yesterday 
 that a great change had come over you." 
 
 " Believe nothing of the kind, dear Miss Pix. I have 
 been perplexed about a decision I have had to make, 
 I mean about my plans, and I suppose that has made 
 me venerable." 
 
 " You are not going away, surely ? " 
 17
 
 258 
 
 " Yes, I am. In fact, I came this afternoon to bid 
 you good-by." 
 
 " Don't you say it ! " cried Miss Pix. " Take it all 
 back. There ! " and she brushed away an imaginary 
 cobweb. " I 've heard nothing disagreeable, it 's all 
 gone away. Let me see, what were we to speak of ? 
 The Triennial begins next month. Do you know what 
 is to be given ? " 
 
 " Yes, I know very well ; but you really must listen 
 to me. I am going back to Kingston with my aunt. 
 I mean to take Maria with me also. I don't know how 
 ghe will bear it, but it may do her good." 
 
 " It is too bad, it is too bad," cried Miss Pix. 
 " You don't know what a difference you have made 
 here. I have n't many friends, but I 'm no conse 
 quence. Just see how every one is leaving." 
 
 " First the Manlius family," said Sally, smiling. 
 
 " I did n't mind their going, you know. But oh, how 
 I miss Mrs. Blake, and I miss your grandfather, too, 
 Sally. I did n't see him very often, but he was so 
 bright, and so full of his good-natured words. And 
 now you talk just as if you were really going." 
 
 " Go I must," said the girl. " I really had come to 
 be at home here. But you will come to see me in 
 Kingston ? " 
 
 " I don't know," said Miss Pix, shaking her head 
 ruefully. " It 's not very easy for me to go away, but 
 I 'm sure I shall not want to stay here after you go. 
 The next thing will be that Nicholas and Mrs. Star key 
 will be going, and then there '11 be no one left but Mr. 
 Le Clear, and he 's much too fine for me. No, I won't 
 say that. I never did learn to speak evil of my neigh 
 bors, except Mr. Manlius, and I 'm almost sorry for the 
 way I felt about him ; but Mr. Le Clear has so much 
 of an air, that I feel myself diminishing to a vanishing
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 259 
 
 point when he is about. But, Sally," she whispered, 
 mysteriously, " it will be worse for Nicholas Judge. 
 How he will take it, I don't know. You need n't mind 
 me ; but I can see through a ladder," and she pursed 
 up her mouth and looked exceedingly sagacious. The 
 door between the two houses was here rapped upon. 
 
 " Talking of the Old Nick," said Miss Fix, jumping 
 up, and hastening to admit her friend. Nicholas came 
 into the room, where Sally was examining the Musical 
 Fund. 
 
 " Look at this young lady," cried Miss Fix, " with 
 her trunks packed, and her hat on, coming in this non 
 chalant way to say good-by to her friends." 
 
 " I am not indifferent, Miss Fix," said Sally, turning 
 about, and speaking indignantly. " It is hard enough 
 for me to go, and you ought not to make it harder." 
 
 " I envy you, going back to the country," said Nich 
 olas. 
 
 " There ! " cried Miss Fix. " I knew it. I told 
 you so. You '11 go next, I suppose. Have n't I a 
 right to be indignant ? " 
 
 " I certainly shall go," said Nicholas. Miss Fix 
 sat on her piano stool and dashed away at the keys. 
 
 " Miss Fix has an easy way of unloading her mind," 
 said Nicholas to Miss Lovering. " I did not know you 
 were here. I did not know you were going. When do 
 you go ? " 
 
 " To-morrow." 
 
 " Then I am to say good-by, now ? " 
 
 " I said good-by yesterday," said Sally, in her mind, 
 and she tried to say it with her lips. That would seem 
 to make her answer final. But when she began she 
 took alarm, and her sentence closed with a sudden turn. 
 
 "I said good-by to Miss Fix this afternoon, be 
 cause I thought she would wish to come this evening to 
 bid my aunt good-by."
 
 260 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 " Give my respects to your aunt, please," said Nich 
 olas ; " I think she will not expect me to call." He 
 turned away without offering her his hand, and left the 
 room. When Miss Fix turned upon her stool, she 
 found Sally only there, crying. 
 
 " You dear child," said she. " I am the most pro 
 voking body. I say the rudest things. Do take off 
 your glove, dear, and sit down with me, and we will 
 have a duet. There is nothing that makes two people 
 into one so effectually." 
 
 "Is that the reason why you and Mr. Windgraff 
 play together ? " said Sally, vexed at having heen over 
 taken by tears. But Miss Fix only squeezed her hand 
 and gave it a tap. She would not answer such non 
 sense. 
 
 Nicholas Judge did not call to say good-by ; Miss 
 Fix spent much of the evening with the ladies, and 
 indeed went off once for Mrs. Starkey and brought 
 her for a farewell. 
 
 " I had thought Mr. Judge would come," said Mrs. 
 Starkey. " But he was locked in his room, and he 
 does not like to be disturbed." 
 
 " I saw him this afternoon and bade him good-by," 
 said Sally. " He sent his respects to you, Aunt 
 Miriam." 
 
 " He is a young man whom I think I should respect 
 the more I knew him," said that lady, with decision. 
 
 " You 'd love him ! " said Miss Fix, energetically. 
 " He 's the kind of young man that you 'd love first and 
 respect afterward. That 's my opinion," and she 
 looked about the company somewhat combatively, and 
 then rubbed her nose with a perplexed air. " 1 don't 
 think I quite know what that means," she said in an 
 aside to Sally. " At least it sounds a little odd, but 
 what I did n't mean to say was that he was a man to
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 261 
 
 begin by respecting and ending by loving. I don't 
 think he is. The fact is, I never could analyze char 
 acter. I 've left all that to Mr. Manlius," and she 
 waved the matter aside with a magisterial sweep of her 
 hand. 
 
 Sally took no part in this paean of the young man, 
 and her silence was the deeper that she was perplexed 
 over the effect of her own words that afternoon. That 
 she should have indirectly intimated a desire to have 
 Nicholas call upon her and her aunt in the evening, to 
 say good-by, was the farthest remove from her inten 
 tion ; nothing but the unfortunate dilemma in which 
 she found herself, when undertaking to retreat before 
 certain perilous words, had occasioned the seeming in 
 vitation. Yet why, under the circumstances, he should 
 apparently have at once rejected the overture, almost 
 rudely, was equally puzzling to her. Could it be that 
 he had summarily abandoned what seemed to alarm her 
 as an unrelenting pursuit ? It is doubtless of almost 
 equal concern to one thus pursued to know certainly 
 of the arrest of the pursuer, as of one's own security 
 against final capture. It was therefore with a sudden 
 accession of intelligence that she was made aware the 
 next morning of the presence of Nicholas in the rail 
 way station, as she sat with her aunt and Maria in the 
 cars waiting for the train to start. The station was a 
 dark and suspicious looking place, and the general as 
 pect of those who hurried through it was of fugitives 
 from justice, an illusion which was not dispelled by the 
 detective air of the gate porter, who scrutinized every 
 one who approached the train. Within the cars it was 
 even more obscure, and hence, when she caught sight 
 of Nicholas from the window where she sat, and pres 
 ently saw him enter the car which her party occupied, 
 her own eyes could watch him more intelligently than
 
 262 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 his, unused to the gloom, could make her out. She 
 saw him come down the aisle, looking upon one side 
 and the other, and even began to speculate as to the 
 chance of his passing them by altogether. As he came 
 opposite to them, however, he stopped, and with a 
 glance at the girl, accosted her aunt, who sat by her 
 side. 
 
 " I must send my greetings to Round Top," said he. 
 " I shall never feel altogether a stranger in Kingston 
 so long as that mountain is there to recognize me." 
 
 " You will find us there, too," said Miss Lovering. 
 " Not quite so old or so stable as Round Top, but al 
 ways glad to see you. Once a friend, you need never 
 be a stranger." 
 
 " Thank you," said he. " You are kind to call me 
 so. I " the jerk of the train as the engine was at 
 tached, snapped his sentence in two, and he reached 
 out his hand to the younger lady, who sat next the 
 window. As she took his hand, she was aware that he 
 left something within it, and half angry, yet letting the 
 chance go for returning it, she sat without, speaking, as 
 he bade her aunt and Maria good-by, and left the train. 
 She turned her head away from her aunt and her face 
 was toward the window. Nicholas, without on the 
 platform, raised his hat. She bowed stiffly, and the 
 .train rumbled out of the station. 
 
 Miss Sally Lovering sat holding the note which she 
 felt in her hand, and strangely divided in her mind how 
 to treat it. As they rolled out of the city and the 
 country began to show itself, a sense of freedom came 
 to her. The last few days she had seemed to herself 
 to be living under some external weight which she in 
 vain endeavored to lift from herself. Her heart grew 
 lighter as she escaped from scenes and persons who in 
 some way were hemming her in. She felt, nevertheless,
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 263 
 
 that she was not altogether free ; that she had failed to 
 speak the decisive word which would have sundered 
 forever the imaginary tie which held her to the young 
 man who had so willfully suppressed her freedom of 
 speech ; that there remained something for her still to 
 do. A shawl lay in her lap. She adjusted it over her 
 hands and taking the note which she still held, she tore 
 it slowly into diminutive bits.
 
 264 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 AT the station in Kingston the familiar depot car 
 riage was standing, and Silas King greeted the travel 
 ers familiarly. He looked a little curiously at Maria, 
 and seemed to hesitate whether she was to go into the 
 carryall or on the trunk strapped behind, but when he 
 had folded the steps with a clatter and clambered to 
 his seat and gathered up his reins, he clucked to his 
 horse and, fairly started on the road, turned about in his 
 seat with 
 
 " Heard the news, Miss Levering ?" 
 
 What news, Silas ? " 
 
 " Great news for Kingston. Huddup, there." 
 
 " Well, what is the news ? " 
 
 " There 's been a capitalist here since you went down 
 last week ; 's been a looking round for a site for a great 
 h'otel." 
 
 " Did he look at your lot ? " 
 
 "Yes, he did. Get up, there." 
 
 "Well, is he going to buy it ? " 
 
 " Yes, he is" 
 
 " Why, that 's good news for you, Silas." 
 
 " You see, Miss Lovering, I came down to the depot 
 and I see a man get out of the train an' look round, 
 and I says to myself, as soon 's I set eyes on him, 
 ' that 's a capitalist,' and when he got into the carryall 
 and we started up the hill, he began to ask me ques 
 tions, and I knew right off what he was after, an' I
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 265 
 
 drove him right up to my lot there on the side of 
 Round Top. I did n't say anything, but I just hauled 
 up my horse, and p'inted with this whip off toward the 
 east, and he said, says he, ' I never see such a view as 
 that.' He stayed up there a good while, poking round, 
 and he looked at old Judge's cabin, and I guess he 's 
 pretty much fixed. 1 tho't mebbe he 'd be up again in 
 the train this morning. It '11 be a great thing for 
 Kingston when he gets that hotel of his fixed up." 
 
 Silas was nearer right this time than he had been 
 before upon the many occasions when he had built 
 large hopes upon imaginary foundations. The side of 
 Round Top did indeed command a superb view, and the 
 two adjoining lots of Silas King's and the. Judges' af 
 forded an admirable place for a country resort. Silas 
 King's house was in a sad state of unrepair, and the 
 deserted house of the Judges was beginning to show 
 signs of negligence. Still, the situation of the latter 
 was a desirable one, and the capitalist had determined 
 upon buying the two places, and enlarging the house 
 formerly occupied by Mr. Judge, sufficiently to answer 
 the immediate demands of summer boarders. He had 
 made inquiries as to the ownership, but no one could 
 tell him whereabout the young man who succeeded to 
 his father's property had gone. Young Judge had 
 quietly gone away, and the only news of him which 
 any one had was that several weeks before a large man, 
 had come up from the city to try to induce some of 
 the farmer's daughters to go back with him and be 
 servants, and he knew about Judge. 
 
 " I could n't remember his name," said Silas, " he 
 left a card with me, and one down 't the hotel, but I 
 did n't keep mine, and Johnson, he could n't find his, 
 but I happened to think of Mr. Lovering and took 
 him there. Mr. Lovering, he could n't think of his
 
 266 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 name, but he knew what his business was, and Mr. Le 
 Clear he said he guessed he could find out from that." 
 
 "Mr. Le Clear!" said Miss Lovering; "that 
 could n't have been your neighbor, Sally ? Was he a 
 young man, Silas ? " 
 
 " Well, no ; sh'd say he was 'bout fifty or there 
 about." 
 
 " Probably some relation, then." 
 
 " A relation of yours, Miss Lovering ? " said Silas. 
 " Don't say so ! " 
 
 " No, not of mine, but of an acquaintance of mine." 
 
 " Why, now that 's first-rate. He '11 bring all his 
 friends up here to the new hotel." Salty heard the 
 conversation with a singular complexity of feeling. 
 The sudden disclosure of a possibility of Paul Le Clear 
 being brought again into association with her seemed 
 to cause a secret door to spring open within her. She 
 shrank back as if she had been suddenly confronted 
 with the young man in her aunt's presence, and was for 
 a moment too confused to reply to the question put to 
 her. There was brought before her also a vivid con 
 trast of the city and the country. She recalled her 
 conversation with him, and he seemed for the moment 
 to stand as a sort of representative of the pictures and 
 books and music which she had been enjoying. The 
 quiet of the country, and even the companionship of 
 her aunts, seemed for the time to offer an insipid and 
 cheerless exchange. Le Clear was also mysteriously 
 associated in her mind with her grandfather's death. 
 She shuddered each time that she recalled the contrast 
 which had been discovered, when she went lightly up 
 stairs after her adieu, with her face flushed and her 
 eyes glowing, to be precipitated into the presence of 
 her dead grandfather. 
 
 Yet even as she thought of this, her mind slipped
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 267 
 
 along to the after scenes, and she could not avoid mak 
 ing place in her thought for the strong and reverent 
 young man who lifted her grandfather so tenderly, and 
 seemed always in waiting that night for whatever ser 
 vice might be appointed him. She turned away from 
 him now in her mind, and looked for the familiar sights 
 in her Kingston home. 
 
 The life which this young girl had led in the city 
 for the past few weeks can hardly be said to have been 
 one of great gayety. She had been housed with an 
 eremite scholar who counted all time in danger of eter 
 nal loss, not spent among his books. She had had her 
 piano and books, but these with little difference she had 
 enjoyed in the country. She had made a few acquaint 
 ances and had visited picture stores and attended con 
 certs. Yet the few weeks had certainly wrought a 
 difference in her, and when her Aunt Rebecca received 
 her at the old house, she looked with both pride and 
 misgiving upon her. 
 
 " Sally is not the same as when she left, Miriam," 
 she said. " She has grown more mature. I suppose 
 it is her grandfather's death that has sobered her, but 
 I own I am a little afraid of her." 
 
 " Nonsense, Rebecca," said her sister, decisively, un 
 willing to admit any change. " Sally is a little girl, 
 still, and her city life has only made her head a little 
 fuller than it was before." Yet she herself suspected 
 that there were some things in that head which first 
 found a place there in her absence. 
 
 After the first excitement of the return was over, 
 Sally resumed her wonted occupations, and filled her 
 place in the quiet circle as simply and good-naturedly 
 as ever. The only difference which her aunts could 
 finally perceive was in a certain reserve and reticence 
 regarding her city experience which seemed not wholly
 
 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 in keeping with the frankness of her frequent letters, 
 before Miss Lovering had visited her. The two elder 
 ladies, sitting alone with her, and looking with admira 
 tion upon her departure and return as, in some sort, a 
 bit of romance let into their plain lives, worked as 
 siduously at their knitting, or sewing, or embroidery, 
 and asked discreet questions, which should draw out 
 the young adventuress, and yet not seem to imply too 
 eager or prying a curiosity. 
 
 " It was very singular, Miriam, was it not," said 
 Miss Rebecca Lovering, " that that Judge boy should 
 turn up so unexpectedly as a neighbor of Sally's. She 
 never saw anything of him here. You never knew 
 young Judge to speak to him here, did you, Sally ? 
 though I suppose you saw him in church." 
 
 " No ; I never knew him here at all." 
 
 " There were some curious stories about him, or 
 rather about his father. I used to think Mr. Arnold 
 was a confidant of his, Miriam." 
 
 " Very possibly, Rebecca ; but Mr. Arnold always 
 kept his own counsels. He was the most discreet man 
 I ever knew." 
 
 "Did he ever talk about himself, aunt?" asked 
 Sally, very willing that the talk should drift away 
 from Nicholas. 
 
 " No, child. I respected Mr. Arnold too much to 
 ask him ; and he respected himself too much to talk 
 about himself." 
 
 " Still, I should like to have known something 
 more about him ; and as he had no relations here, I 
 don't see that we are likely ever to know anything 
 more." 
 
 " If he had been in love," said Miss Miriam, " he 
 would have told everything, I suppose. That is the way 
 with people in love. I have heard of it repeatedly,
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 269 
 
 but never could understand why it was so. I suppose 
 it is natural." For some reason, the conversation 
 which took place thus between the three ladies always 
 eddied about subjects which Sally wished to avoid, 
 and her reticence, therefore, increased to a degree 
 which rendered her even more unhappy than it ren 
 dered her aunts. 
 
 " Why is it," she cried to herself, " that I cannot 
 talk simply and naturally about all these things? If I 
 only could, I am sure all these illusions would disap 
 pear." As the spring advanced and the clear weather 
 rendered the walking good, she escaped more and more 
 from the house and her aunts into the freedom of nat 
 ure. Yet still she was not herself half so exhilarated 
 by the air and liberty as it seemed right she should be. 
 One day her stroll carried her, as frequently, to the sum 
 mit of Round Top. The wide spread view seemed to 
 enlarge in her vision. She looked off toward the city 
 and saw, what was a rare and much talked of sight, 
 the gleaming of the sun on the waters of the bay be 
 fore the city, forty miles distant. She looked long and 
 eagerly, as if by tension of sight she might even descry 
 objects less expansive than the salt water. She recalled 
 the opportunity once given her to see Round Top 
 from that distant point, and tried to imagine herself in 
 the city, eager to escape into the country. She took 
 an unusual path down the mountain, and it brought her 
 into the cleared ground where the adjoining King and 
 Judge farms were placed. As she passed the former 
 she saw Silas taking his horse out of the carryall and 
 driving him with some vehemence into his shed. She 
 remembered the conversation which her aunt had had 
 with Silas, the day when they came up from the sta 
 tion, and as her path led her past the man, who recog 
 nized her, it suddenly occurred to her to ask him if his
 
 270 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 capitalist had made his arrangements yet for building 
 his hotel. 
 
 " That Mr. Le Clear ? no, he hain't. Get into the 
 barn, you old quadruped. That horse is infernal slow, 
 Miss Lovering. I 'm sort of stirred up to-day, but 
 don't you mind. And what's more, he ain't agoing to. 
 That mis'ble fellow that owns the house over yonder 
 won't sell. Mr. Le Clear he hunted him up and found 
 him in some queer court, they say, and wanted to buy 
 the place, and offered him a fust-rate sum of money, 
 cash down, but he would n't sell it, and he would n't 
 give any reasons. Blam'd if I wouldn't sell, reason 
 or no reason. And then, Mr. Le Clear, he won't buy 
 my place 'thout he buys his'n ; says he don't want to 
 have to build, and besides, Judge's place just cuts his 
 view off. He'd a liked mine, to go along side of 
 t'other. I'm blam'd if /want to see that young man 
 again, and there he come to-day, as quiet as you please, 
 and wouldn't ride, not he; he'd walk up, and off he 
 started. I 've a great mind to sell out at auction and 
 go off West or somewhere ; " and thereupon Silas dis 
 appeared in the shed. 
 
 The intelligence that Nicholas Judge had come that 
 day to Kingston was sufficient to make Sally wish she 
 had taken some other path than that which led past his 
 house, but she kept on her way, disturbed in her mind, ' 
 and wondering if the young man intended a permanent 
 return, and meant to reoccupy his old house. She 
 passed the lonely house without meeting any one, but 
 as she turned by a bend in the road, she saw, coming 
 up the hill, his head bent down, a figure which she 
 recognized at once as that of Nicholas. She was not 
 seen, and stepping one side, she looked about to see if 
 there was not some covert which would afford a tem 
 porary screen. A stone wall ran by the side of the
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 271 
 
 road, overrun by vines and accompanied by bushes 
 which grew in a straggling way along its course. 
 There was an inviting broad stone, easily reached. 
 She climbed quickly upon it, one or two loose stones 
 falling in the passage into the grass at the foot, passed 
 to the other side, and stepped behind some bushes 
 which screened her from the observation of any one 
 passing that way. As she stood there, her heart beat 
 ing with a sense of her own folly and timidity, she 
 heard the young man treading the road, and then, as if 
 by a sudden resolve he stopped, turned aside, and sat 
 upon the stone wall, looking off across the field and 
 over to the country beyond. She was hidden still from 
 his view, but she could see him through the bushes. 
 There was little time for consideration. A step or two 
 on his part would reveal her to him and she would ap 
 pear in a most unfortunate light. On the other hand, 
 if she were to begin to descend the hill, he would cer 
 tainly hear her, and stepping into the field would dis 
 cover her in full retreat. There was no course left 
 but to retrace her steps and retrieve her false move 
 ment by such boldness as remained to her. She turned 
 about and two or three steps brought her before him, 
 as he sat with his hands clasped about his knees look 
 ing over the field. He jumped down quickly from his 
 perch. She held a few flowers in her hand, the stray 
 gatherings of her walk, and with her gipsy hat, and 
 simple dress, she would have struck a chance observer 
 as singularly picturesque precisely such a figure as 
 one, enjoying a landscape, might be glad to see emerge 
 from the bushes, and add the light and life which re 
 deem nature from a too monotonous and distant charm. 
 Sally tried to brave the occasion by a somewhat forced 
 gayety. 
 
 " I knew your face," she said. " It is quite as easily
 
 272 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 recognized by me, as my back once was by you, but 
 our positions are reversed." 
 
 " Take my place, then, on tbe wall," said he, " that 
 we may get into the right relation with each other." 
 He spoke brightly, also, with a flush which the sur 
 prise of meeting her had bought to his face, and which 
 deepened as she spoke to him. He gave her his hand, 
 and she, hesitating a moment, sat down, with a sense 
 of paying the penalty for her impulsive indiscretion, 
 upon the broad stone which he had relinquished. It 
 certainly was a lovely view which extended before her. 
 She had not seen it before in her hurry to cross the 
 wall and find a refuge, and now it afforded a grateful 
 rest for her eyes, which were rather truant in their dis 
 position. She was the first to speak ; there was a cer 
 tain constraint in the situation which made her restless 
 under silence. 
 
 " So you had no ambition to see your house turned 
 into a summer resort ; or perhaps you have come back 
 to take advantage of the suggestion, and improve the 
 place yourself. Certainly, it would not be easy to find 
 so noble a view." 
 
 " Then you heard that the place was sought for that 
 purpose ? " 
 
 "It was so important a piece of news that we had 
 not been five minutes in Kingston before we were told 
 of it." 
 
 "I am sorry Silas was disappointed." 
 
 " And all the city people famishing for a breath of 
 country air ? " 
 
 " It is rather difficult for me to turn my sympathy 
 into quite so broad a channel. I prefer to retain the 
 place, even at the risk of being selfish, to devoting it 
 to a parcel of languid people who will patronize nat 
 ure and regard Round Top as a bore. Besides, if I
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 273 
 
 had no other reason, I have a sufficient one in my 
 father's wish, that I should never part with the place, 
 but rather let it go to decay than sell it." 
 
 " Was he so much attached to it ? " 
 
 " Yes ; though I doubt if that was what led him to 
 express his wish so strongly. I think he had more 
 than one reason, but at least, one was in a fear that I 
 might require some strong influence to keep me to a 
 country life. There were certain associations which 
 my father had, moreover with Kingston, which made 
 him very desirous that I should continue to live here. 
 My father, as you may know, was an Englishman." 
 
 " No, I did not know it." 
 
 " He was a brother of Mr. Arnold." 
 
 " A brother of Mr. Arnold ! " 
 
 " Yes, you have undoubtedly heard your aunt speak 
 of Mr. Arnold." 
 
 " Many a time. But " 
 
 But what ? " 
 
 " Are you not telling me what I ought not to know ? 
 I have often asked my aunt about Mr. Arnold, but she 
 would tell me nothing about him." 
 
 " It is possible she did not know this fact," said 
 Nicholas, with a faint smile. 
 
 " But your aunt was Mrs. Blake," pursued Sally, 
 who was both interested and confused by the attempt 
 to adjust new and old facts. 
 
 " True. She was my mother's sister. My mother 
 was an American." 
 
 " How is it, then ? " 
 
 Well ? " 
 
 " I am afraid you will think me inquisitive, but your 
 father's name was not Arnold ? " 
 
 " Mr. Arnold's name was not Arnold. His name 
 also was Judge. It was Nicholas Arnold Judge, but 
 18
 
 274 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 he dropped the last name when he came here to live. 
 May I tell you, in a few words, about him, about my 
 father, and about myself ? " Sally's assent of silence 
 was in fact a recollection of her aunt's dictum that no 
 one but a man in love talked about himself. 
 
 " My father and my Uncle Nicholas were brothers 
 living in Kingston, England. They both fell ardently 
 in love with my mother, who was an American girl, 
 traveling in England, and staying at that time with a 
 friend in Kingston, whose acquaintance she had made 
 on the Continent. She was exceedingly beautiful, and 
 as American girls were unusual visitors at Kingston, 
 she received a great deal of attention in the town. My 
 uncle was in the army, and at home then on a furlough ; 
 my father was younger, and a student at Cambridge. 
 It was the long vacation, and he also was at home. 
 The two brothers engaged in a lively rivalry, but 
 neither at first was thoroughly in earnest. Yet as the 
 summer went by, it became evident to each that they 
 were alike ai-dently attached to my mother, and that 
 whichever of them was successful, the suffering of the 
 other would be terrible. At length my father became 
 so morbid that one night, without warning, and without 
 any explanation, he disappeared. He came to this 
 country with the resolution to leave the field to his 
 brother ; he had made up his mind, from some caprice, 
 that my mother did not love him, and rather than stay 
 to witness his brother's success, with a feeling also that 
 by going away he would put an end to the complication 
 which existed, he fled precipitately, and came, as I said, 
 to this country. His departure was so sudden that the 
 village was thrown into alarm, and the mystery seemed 
 insoluble. One person however, did understand it, or 
 thought she did. The scene which had convinced my 
 father in his excitement that he was not loved, was in
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 275 
 
 reality an evidence of the love which he did receive, 
 and which he had so willfully shut himself out from. 
 My uncle, in his distress, sought everywhere for my 
 father but in vain. He saw with all the clearness of 
 noonday that he himself could never have won her 
 whom he loved, and could not now. He went to her 
 and made this confession, strange as it may seem, and 
 received from her a frank admission that she did love 
 my father. Then he redoubled his efforts. Miss Brown 
 meanwhile that was my mother's name returned 
 to this country, and kept up her intercourse with my 
 uncle. He himself left Kingston, directly after she had 
 gone, sold out his commission, and began a search for 
 my father. More than once he seemed to come near 
 him, but to be evaded. This led him to change his 
 name, and by this means to make his approach easier. 
 At length he succeeded in getting into my father's 
 hands a letter from Miss Brown, which so far opened 
 my father's eyes as to lead him to seek an interview 
 with her. He was sadly changed by the experience 
 through which he had passed, but she, besides her old 
 love, which had never faded, had the additional sense 
 of desiring to repair a wrong which she had unwit 
 tingly inflicted. My father had grown moody and 
 irresolute, but in his marriage he had the beginning of 
 a return to brighter life. My uncle, restless and proud, 
 would not go back to England, but plunged into travel, 
 for a relief. He wandered everywhere, coming back 
 at last to find my mother dead, and my father left with 
 me, buried here as a hermit. There was little left to 
 the two brothers but each other, and my uncle, respect 
 ing the confirmed habits of my father, never openly rec 
 ognized the relationship. He spent the last few years 
 of his life here, and died when I was a boy. But my 
 father, even after my uncle's death, would never reveal
 
 276 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 the fact that it was his brother that died. He even 
 abstained from going to his funeral. He left all this 
 to me to learn from a paper inclosed with his will. 
 Do you wonder that I should have been oppressed by 
 all the mystery of my father's life, and should have been 
 an object of suspicion here in the village, I, who lived 
 under the shadow of all this strange life, never knew 
 then what it was to have a warm, perfectly open friend ? 
 My uucle I never knew as such, and he was quite the 
 only one who drew me to himself. It was your aunt's 
 likeness to my mother that made him seek her and find 
 his rest in her presence. But I was not a churlish or 
 secretive fellow, trust me, and in my eagerness to es 
 cape from the close air in which I had been living, I 
 went to the city in search of my mother's sister." 
 There was silence after Nicholas had told his story. 
 Sally was looking down, and he stood with his arms 
 folded, apparently waiting for her to speak. But she 
 did not speak. Then he resumed : 
 
 " My father had for years been engaged in experi 
 ments in the chemistry of plants. He had taught me 
 eagerly what he had learned, and had inspired me with 
 some of his enthusiasm. I spent the winter pursu 
 ing his investigations, feeling a certain filial duty to be 
 upon me to perfect them, before 1 could regard myself 
 as faithful to him. I have just completed my work 
 and reached results which satisfy me of an assured suc 
 cess. You can understand why, when I went away 
 from this place, suspected, and under the cloud which I 
 lived in with my father, I should wish to cut off wholly 
 my connection with the place, unwilling to return till 
 it could be as in some sense a vindicator of my father's 
 memory. He did not live here in vain. He" was a 
 profound student. All the strength of his nature was 
 poured into his studies, and when my mother died, he
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 277 
 
 suffered nothing else to take his thought or attention. 
 He educated me to be the heir to his studies, but 
 I sometimes think " here he smiled " that the 
 mother in me was- active also. As I wrote you in 
 my note, I would not come back here, no, not even be 
 cause you were here, until I could fulfill my pledge to 
 my father's memory. I have no fear of returning here 
 now on his account. I have redeemed the pledge to 
 him. I came to redeem mine to you. When I said 
 in my note, that I would not come to you until I could 
 bring you the perfected fruit of my love, I did not 
 know what the sacrifice meant. I have lived without 
 you these weeks. I have given myself to my father's 
 work, but when I come to you now, I am strangely 
 poor. I have told you of my father, of my uncle, of 
 myself. See how lonely I am. I have done what 
 was given me to do. All whom I clung to are dead. 
 I have great hopes, great plans ; great things open be 
 fore me, and they all turn on the word which one 
 woman speaks. Do you think I am brave to stand 
 here and say that? It is the courage of despair. 
 When I spoke to you before out of the depths of a 
 troubled heart, I was struggling with my destiny. I 
 could not, I would not let it then be determined. Now 
 I come to you again. If you send me away, I shall 
 go, and I suppose I shall take up my work and carry 
 it on. But do you know the difference between the 
 work of love and the work of loneliness ? Why do I 
 go on thus, asking questions, and never giving you time 
 to answer them ? Why do I arrest your gesture ? I 
 want to empty all my heart to you and then bid you 
 enter and see how ready it is for you. This is a fair 
 view before us. Look!" He placed himself by her 
 side, and pointed to the wide horizon. " How far we 
 can see ! how far ! " He bent his head, as one to re-
 
 278 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 ceive a stroke, and in a low, firm tone repeated the 
 words he had said before : 
 
 " I love you. Shall I go ? " 
 
 She did not answer. He rose, but the lightest pos 
 sible touch was laid upon him.
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 279 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE dwellers in Five-Sisters Court had one by one 
 disappeared from the precincts, and a melancholy dis 
 play of placards in the windows, or closely-blinded 
 fronts, signified the desertion of the houses by the oc 
 cupants. Yet the corner house occupied by Miss Fix 
 was not yet deserted, for lights were in the windows, 
 and the coming now and then of a visitor indicated 
 some sort of mirth in the one occupied house. Miss 
 Fix herself, most ubiquitous of hostesses, was flitting 
 back and forth between the parlor and the front door, 
 skirmishing in a lively fashion before her pronounced 
 attack upon each new-comer. There were not many 
 of these. Mrs. Starkey, who, by special arrangement 
 still had her quarters in the next house, but made one 
 at Miss Fix's table, was seated quietly in the corner, 
 rarely speaking, and shrinking away whenever she 
 found it possible to escape Miss Fix's hospitable eye, 
 bent upon her equal enjoyment. The other guests 
 were Miss Fix's four musical friends, Mr. Wiudgraff, 
 Mr. Pfeiffer, Mr. PfefFendorf, and Mr. Schmauker, with 
 wives and daughters wherever they were generously 
 provided with the same. 
 
 " You always have a surprise for us, Miss Fix," said 
 Mr. Schmauker, good-naturedly. " What is it to 
 night?" 
 
 " Wait and see," said she, mysteriously. The musi 
 cal instruments were in request, and the company were 
 soon lively over music and talk.
 
 280 THE DWELLERS IN 
 
 "The Musical Fund must be donated," said Mr. 
 Pfeiffer gravely, and he deposited a copper in the 
 hands of the rapacious musical box. The rest felt for 
 their purses, and a general contribution was taken up. 
 
 "It is like a church," said Mr. Pfeffendorf, who 
 rarely spoke except to his bosom friend Mr. Schmau- 
 ker. " "We pay our contributions, it is free offering, 
 and then we enjoy Miss Pix." 
 
 Here that lady tapped upon the piano with a roll of 
 music. 
 
 " Listen," she said. " I heard some good news to 
 day, so I have called you all together to enjoy it with 
 me. We will first put ourselves in proper mood by 
 playing Mendelssohn's ' Wedding March,' and as we 
 have not the music arranged except for four hands at 
 the piano, Mr. Windgraff and I will play it." 
 
 " That is the overture," she proceeded ; " now for 
 my good news. Our Mr. Nicholas Judge and our Miss 
 Sally Lovering are to be married." 
 
 " To each other ? " asked Mr. Pfeiffer. 
 
 " Surely," said Mr. Wiudgraff, " you would not have 
 them marry some one else." 
 
 " Not if they were in love," said the careful Mr. 
 Pfeiffer. " Mrs. Pfeiffer and I married each other. 
 It was because we were in love, my dear." 
 
 There was great chattering over the news, and much 
 recollection of the Christmas eve which had introduced 
 Nicholas to the society of the court. A very animated 
 discussion went on among the musical gentlemen as to 
 the exact facts respecting the arrival of Nicholas, and 
 such few matters as were known respecting the young 
 lady were eagerly canvassed. Something had tran 
 spired respecting their both being in the same town, 
 and there was opportunity for great diversity of opinion 
 regarding their previous acquaintance, Mr. Schrnauker
 
 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 281 
 
 maintaining that their respective parents had once been 
 ardently attached to each other, and Mr. Pfeffendorf 
 arguing that Nicholas's aunt and Dr. Checker had had 
 some understanding in the matter mysteriously con 
 nected with their simultaneous death, while Mr. Pfeiffer 
 stoutly asserted that the attachment had sprung up in 
 very tender years, and had been going on secretly, a 
 theory which commended itself especially to him and 
 Mrs. Pfeiffer. 
 
 Mrs. Starkey, who had already been made acquainted 
 with the news, received the congratulations of all, as 
 being in a measure an aunt by brevet to Nicholas, and 
 in her quiet corner was not altogether unhappy, though 
 very undemonstrative. 
 
 But the evening slipped away, and one by one the 
 guests left. Mrs. Starkey went into her solitary house 
 to think of the two young people who were to begin 
 the life which she was ready to lay aside ; the Pfeiffers 
 went home, Mr. Pfeiffer giving his wife a good-natured 
 hug of the fat arm which rested heavily on his ; and 
 Mr. Schmauker and Mr. Pfeffendorf indulging in some 
 private gossip respecting a certain friend of theirs. 
 
 Mr. Windgraff alone remained, thrumming his vio 
 lin. 
 
 " It is like Haydn's Departure Symphony," said Miss 
 Pix, coming back and looking a trifle sober. " Think 
 of our party here at Christmas ; and then see, each 
 one has in turn laid his instrument down and gone 
 away. The Ignoble Romans went first," it was by 
 this name that their unmentioned neighbors went, 
 then Dr. Chocker " 
 
 " Laid aside his ear-trumpet," interposed Mr. Wind 
 graff. 
 
 " Hermann Windgraff ! " said Miss Pix, trying to 
 look shocked. " Then good Mrs. Blake ; then Miss 
 Sally."
 
 282 FIVE-SISTERS COURT. 
 
 " But she was not at the party." 
 
 " She was here potentially. I don't suppose you 
 know what that means, but I found the word and have 
 been saving it. Then Mr. Le Clear went to Europe ; 
 his rich uncle, you know, sent him the one that came 
 here to find out about Nicholas. Then Nicholas went 
 away." 
 
 " And here are we two wagging our heads at each 
 other," said Mr. Windgraff. " You know in Haydn's 
 symphony, that when two are left one gets up and 
 goes, and the other remains playing on until he sud 
 denly discovers that there is no one else present. Now 
 there are two of us left ; I do not like to go." Mr. 
 Windgraff spoke simply, but without hesitation. He 
 waited a moment. " That is not plain enough," he re 
 sumed. " I would like to marry you, dear Miss Betsey 
 Fix, for I do love you heartily." 
 
 " Marry me ! why I never thought of such a thing. 
 Oh, yes I have too," said the conscience-stricken little 
 woman. " But I did n't think you would ever ask 
 me," and she burst into tears. "But I am so glad, 
 for I know you always would have been my friend, 
 but now you will be a great deal more. Have you 
 really been loving me ? Why I have loved you, too. 
 I don't suppose I ought to have said so much." 
 
 " We will say a great deal more," said Mr. Wind- 
 graff, and much more they did say, not that night only 
 but long after. 
 
 And now Mr. Windgraff and Miss Pix are out of 
 the story, and pray why should the story go on if the 
 characters are all gone ? I think I hear those sharp, 
 decisive chords which tell us that the symphony is 
 over. The musicians are silent, the dumb audience 
 turns its back, and there is silence in Five-Sisters 
 Court.
 
 anfc 
 
 ]DAMS. Familiar Letters of John Adams and liis 
 wife, Abigail Adams, during the Revolution, with a 
 memoir of Mrs. Adams, by Charles Francis Adams. 
 In one volume, crown 8vo, portrait, cloth, $2.00. 
 
 Mrs. Adams's Letters have long been recognized as im 
 portant contributions to the history of the period in which 
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 tervals, and the demand for a new edition has suggested to 
 the editor, that the corresponding letters of her husband 
 should be added. Many new and interesting letters appear 
 now for the first time, and the book is carefully annotated. 
 
 BEARDSLEY. The History of the Episcopal Church 
 in Connecticut, from the Settlement of the Colony to the 
 present time. By E. E. Beardsley, D. D. In two vol 
 umes, 8vo, cloth, $8.00. 
 
 We are happy to testify that the result [of Dr. Beardsley's investigations] 
 is creditable not only to his diligence and carefulness in collecting, and his 
 skill in arranging and combining the materials of the story, but also to his 
 candor and Christian catholicity of spirit. Leonard Bacon, D. D., in the 
 New Englander. 
 
 BEARDSLEY. Life and Correspondence of Samuel 
 Johnson, D. D., Missionary of the Church of England in 
 Connecticut, and First President of King's College in New 
 York. By E. E. Beardsley, D. D., author of " History of 
 the Episcopal Church in Connecticut." In one volume, 
 8vo, with portrait on steel, cloth, $3.50.
 
 HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORKS. 
 
 As the life of a clergyman and one prominent in his denomination, to his 
 co-religionists the biography would in any case have proved satisfactory; 
 but the work has a far wider claim than this ; and the life of Johnson 
 merits the attention of all professing to be familiar with either history, " 
 science, philosophy, or education. A friend of the renowned Berkeley; a 
 correspondent of Benjamin Franklin; in colonial matters the confidential 
 adviser of the Archbishop of Canterbury ; in science an associate with Cad- 
 wallader Golden, Lieutenant-governor of New York ; such a man, it is 
 evident, must leave in his correspondence much of the most interesting mat 
 ter. Atlantic Monthly. 
 
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 Choice Biographies, by distinguished Authors. Printed in 
 handsome style, in 16mo volumes, and neatly bound in, 
 black and gold. 
 
 1. Robert Burns. By Thomas Carlyle. 
 
 2. William Pitt. By T. B. Macaulay. 
 
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 4. Julius Caesar. By Henry G. Liddell, D. D. 
 
 5. Columbus. By T. A. Trollope. 
 
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 Each volume sold separately. Cloth, each, $1.00. 
 
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 " First Steps in English Literature," " Seven Historic 
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 doth, SI. 25. 
 
 It is not dry reading, chronological bones, denuded of flesh and 
 nerve, but general, comprehensive, yet concrete views of events grasped 
 according to their degree of relationship. Professor Henry N. -Day, oj 
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 We have seen nothing better. Boston Congregationalism 
 
 Accurate and impartial. Boston Literary World. 
 
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 One of the few successful attempts to popularize subjects. N. Y. State 
 Educational Journal. 
 
 He has done his work conscientiously. Boston Globe. 
 
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 of the Lives of Eminent Persons. By Parke Godwin. 
 New Edition. With a Supplement brought down to the
 
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 present time, by George Sheppard. 8vo, half morocco, 
 
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 A concise, compact biographical dictionary is one of the most necessary 
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 Cheap Edition. 16mo, cloth, $1.00. 
 
 We will venture to say that the narrative given in this volume will be 
 entirely new to ninety and nine of every hundred who shall read it. Uni- 
 versalist Quarterly. 
 
 Nothing more romantic and heroic, nothing more sad and tragical, noth 
 ing displaying a stronger, though mistaken faith, can be found on the pages 
 of history. The strange narration can be read only with the intensest in 
 terest. Protestant Churchman. 
 
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 pendence. By George Washington Greene. In one vol 
 ume, IGmo, cloth, $1.50. 
 
 The brilliant and romantic story of Steuben and DeKalb, 
 and the dark disclosures respecting the German mercenaries, 
 are presented pointedly and with nervous force in this mono 
 graph by an eminent historical scholar. 
 
 GREENE. The Life of Nathanael Greene. Major- 
 general in the Army of the Revolution. By George 
 Washington Greene, author of " Historical View of the 
 American Revolution." In three volumes, 8vo, cloth, 
 $12.00 ; half calf, $19.50. 
 
 Greene was fortunate during life in the praise of Washington, who wrote 
 of " the singular abilities which that officer possesses," and then again for 
 tunate after death in the praise of Hamilton, whose remarkable tribute is 
 no ordinary record. He has been fortunate since in his biographer, whose 
 
 work promises to be classical in our literature Charles Sumner in the 
 
 U. S. Senate. 
 
 The book combines solid investigation and completeness of materials with 
 
 cool reasoning and earnest truth The author's charming simplicity 
 
 of style is in keeping with the character of the hero. In our days of steam, 
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 Plutarchian biography. Let every father give this book to his son. N. Y. 
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 of Nathanael Greene, Major-general in the Army of the 
 Revolution," non-resident Professor of History in Cornell 
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 This is the fifth edition of this valuable work, and Prof. 
 Greene has added to it a very full Analysis of its contents, 
 which makes it very convenient for reference, and especially 
 adapts it for use as a text-book in schools. 
 
 In the small space of 450 octo-duodecimo pages the accomplished 
 author gives a complete view of the principles, laws, and development of the 
 contest with enough of the details to illustrate their concrete action, so that 
 the reader who desires to pursue any one of the lines of investigation indi 
 cated can do it under the direction of definite ideas. The volume thus fills 
 a place in our literature which is occupied by no other work. It is at once 
 a generalized history of the Revolution, and a stimulating guide to the 
 study of its details. Boston Dully Transcript. 
 
 LORD. The Old Roman World: The Grandeur and 
 Failure of its Civilization, by John Lord, LL. D. Sixth 
 edition. 8vo, cloth, $3.00. 
 
 Dr. Lord's widely extended reputation as a lecturer, is as 
 surance of the point and popularity of his writings. 
 
 MACAULAY. History of England, by Lord Macanlay, 
 from the last edition of his Works edited by his sister, 
 Lady Trevelyan. In eight volumes, crown 8vo, with a new 
 Portrait of Macaulay. Price ifl extra cloth, $16.00; half 
 calf, $32.00. Student's Edition. In four volumes, 12mo, 
 cloth, $8.00 ; half calf, $16.00. 
 
 MAZZINI. Joseph Mazzini; his Life, Writings, and 
 Political Principles ; chiefly from autobiographic sources. 
 With an introduction by William Lloyd Garrison. Crown 
 8vo, with portrait, cloth, $1.75. 
 
 This volume, consisting of passages from the writings of Mazzini in rela 
 tion to his own part in the national movement of Italy for the last forty 
 years, might properly be entitled " Mazzini illustrated by himself." It is a 
 valuable contribution to contemporary history, revealing the aspirations and 
 recounting the deeds of the great Agitator, and giving an authentic record 
 of the first period of the Italian revolution, of which he was the recognized 
 leader. The Nation.
 
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 MILLS. The Life of John Carter, by Frederick James 
 Mills. With illustrations, crown 8vo, cloth, SI. 50. 
 
 Carter was an English weaver, disabled by a fall in his twenty-first year, 
 who lived a life of suffering for fourteen years subsequently, and who yet, 
 besides exhibiting an heroic Christian fortitude, acquired great skill in 
 drawing, painting, and writing, using only his niouth for these purposes. 
 Illustrations of his sketches and chirography are given. Presbyterian 
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 RICHARDSON. The History of Our Country, from 
 its discovery by Columbus to the Celebration of the Cen 
 tennial Anniversary of its Declaration of Independence : 
 embracing an account of its Discovery, Narratives of the 
 Struggles of its Early Settlers, Sketches of its Heroes, the 
 History of the War for Independence and the War for 
 Nationality, its Industrial Victories, and a Record of its 
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 Story of Our Country told simply, graphically, in good Saxon, showing a 
 careful study of materials and a conscientious and judicious use of them. 
 John G. Whittier. 
 
 I have read many of the sheets of your Story of our Country, a history 
 of America or of the United States for young people, and with such pleasure 
 and satisfaction that I feel as if I must be a young person myself. It is a 
 very simple, clear, flowing interesting narrative, not merely a description 
 of events, but a picture of life and persons, which will be a very valuable and 
 convenient manual for everybody. Its typography and illustrations are also 
 very attractive, and I congratulate you sincerely upon a most timely work, 
 most admirably done. George William Curtis. 
 
 This book is rather a familiar narrative than a formal history ; and, while 
 constantly keeping in mind the necessity of the most scrupulous accuracy, 
 the author has endeavored to make the country's story so interesting and 
 readable as to approve itself to the tastes and capacities of the young as well
 
 HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WORKS. 
 
 as the old. The volume is no mere juvenile history, however, since its six 
 hundred pages present a political, martial, and social record of our national 
 career sufficiently full for all save more special students. Mrs. Richardson's 
 success in her task deserves commendation and attention. The Independ 
 ent. 
 
 The attempt of the author to give from time to time some idea of the so 
 cial life of the American people is greatly to be commended, and is an ex 
 ample which greater historians would do well to follow. Her pen portraits 
 of famous men are skillfully and faithfully drawn. The temptation to over- 
 color certain pictures is bravely resisted. The civil war is treated from the 
 patriotic stand-point of the North, although all fairness is displayed toward 
 Southern feeling and Southern men. The Christian Union. 
 
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 old Puritan society, as well as glimpses of later years, through the sketches 
 of his daughter, are highly interesting. New Englander. 
 
 TENOT. Paris in December, 1851; or, the Coup 
 d'JZtat of Napoleon III., by Eugene Tenot, editor of the 
 (Paris) " Siecle," and author of " La Province en Dccem- 
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 at this time, and will afford valuable information to the future historian. 
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