A
 
 PRINTERS' 
 WORtt 
 
 This book has been made by J. B. Caldwell, 
 whose office is in the Enterprise Building, 81 
 Fifth Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. It is the 
 sort of work this house does. The firm hopes 
 to make a specialty of the making of books of 
 this class. It knows that no other firm will 
 do it with a smaller margin of profit, and it 
 will try to see to it that none can do it better. 
 
 Write, or call at the foregoing address. 
 
 N1V. OF CALTF. IJRRAWV. f.OS
 
 THE STORY OF AB 
 
 A TALE OF THE STONE AGE 
 
 BY STANLEY WATERLOO 
 
 A graphic story of the time of prehistoric man, 
 which is not more interesting as describing the life of 
 those ancient times than as depicting the evolution of 
 the soul. It is hp endidly illustrated by Vedder. 
 
 PRICE, $1.50. 
 
 What President Roosevelt has said o: the book: 
 
 "The ways of primitive man have always been of all-absorb- 
 ing interest to me, and I have come to the conclusion that it is 
 only the good novelist who can teach us the best part of his- 
 tory the histor .' of the life itself. The book gives me the idea 
 of 'Ab' that Sienkiewiez does of 'Zagloba' in the seventeenth 
 century Poles." 
 
 COOLIDGE L WATERLOO 
 
 87 Washington Street, Chicago 
 
 Room 419
 
 THESE ARE MY JEWELS 
 
 BY 
 STANLEY "WATERLOO 
 
 Author of "The Story of Ab," "A Man and 
 a Woman," etc. 
 
 CHICAGO 
 
 COOUDGE & WATERLOO 
 
 87 and 89 Washington St. 
 
 1902
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1902, 
 
 BY STANLEY WATERLOO 
 
 All rights reserved.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 WHO WE ALL ARE 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 A DAY OF ADVENTURE 26 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE RED SWIPER 46 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 A WHOLESOME NEW PRESENCE 59 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 A WONDERFUL NEW WORLD 77 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 "IT Is I. BE NOT AFRAID." 89 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WORK, TRUST AND DON'T WORRY 100 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 CONSCIENCE 117 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 THE COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY 131 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 THE GREAT KOPJE FIGHT 146 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL 163 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE TEST OF JIM 181 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A BIT OF ROMANCE 197 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 PAIN 208 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 A DAY IN FEBRUARY 223 
 
 2133630
 
 "JUST AS THE TWIG is BENT THE TREE'S 
 INCLINED. ' ' 
 
 Pope's Essay on Man.
 
 THESE ARE MY JEWELS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 WHO WE ALI, ARE 
 
 My name is Katherine L/awson and I 
 am eleven years old. My brother, who 
 calls me "Kit," is a year older than I. 
 He is named James and often tries to be 
 a good boy. I call him "Jim," just as he 
 calls me " Kit." Of course we are well 
 acquainted enough for that. My father's 
 given name is Robert and my mother's 
 name is Frances. They seem to me the 
 best father and mother in the world, but 
 I suppose other children think the same 
 way of their own. I only know this, 
 that we are an awfully happy family, 
 even if Jim and I do have hard work in 
 being really good. Jim says it is so easy 
 to " fall down."
 
 10 These Are My Jewels 
 
 We live in a nice place, too. Merrivale 
 is not a very big town, but it is pretty 
 and the school is good and there are 
 woods near by through which runs a 
 creek where the boys go fishing or swim- 
 ming, and where we have picnics some- 
 times. There is one big oak and beech 
 wood where there are a great many birds 
 and squirrels and where the ground is 
 almost covered in spring with different 
 kinds of flowers. Beyond this wood is a 
 great swamp with tamarack trees and 
 dark places where there is almost no 
 sound in the daytime. There are farms 
 and little groves all about and, when 
 one climbs the hill anywhere out of 
 town and looks around, the scene is very 
 beautiful. Merrivale is certainly a good 
 place to live in. 
 
 We live on Ray street, along the side- 
 walk of which are a great many shade 
 trees, mostly maples and elms, and our 
 house, which is close to the edge of town,
 
 Who We All Are 11 
 
 has a long piazza in front and a front 
 garden and big back garden, and there 
 is a barn where we keep two horses and 
 one cow, which are tended by a hired 
 man named Jake Heinrichs. He is a 
 German who has not been in this coun- 
 try a great while and his talk sounds 
 funny to us. Jim used to mimic him, 
 but he doesn't any more. Jake is good 
 natured and very useful. 
 
 The house just north of us belongs to 
 the Duncans arid they have three chil- 
 dren of about our age, two boys and a 
 girl. The boys are named Alexander 
 and Malcom and the girl's name is Mary. 
 I play with her a great deal. On the 
 south side of our house is the one that 
 belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Lane and they 
 have three children, too, only they have 
 two girls and a boy instead of two boys 
 and a girl. The girls are named Ellen 
 and Agnes and the boy's name is John. 
 We play with them almost as much as
 
 12 These Are My Jewels 
 
 we do with the Duncan children. Back 
 of our house, quite a way down, in what 
 we call the "Flats," live some people 
 with the funny name of Slann, and they 
 have two boys, one younger and one 
 older than our Jim. The older one is 
 called Viggo and the other Max. They 
 are not Americans and they are not 
 quite like Germans, either. I think they 
 must come from some place in Europe 
 farther north than Germany is. Any- 
 way, our boys have got into the habit of 
 playing with them, so that you will 
 often see the whole six together. Then 
 there is a bigger boy who is sometimes 
 with them whose name is John Peter- 
 son. The boys have nicknames for each 
 other and John Peterson, because he had 
 been reading about the war in Africa, 
 said that the other boys must call him 
 Johannesburg Pietersburg, which is a 
 hard name to pronounce. That made 
 trouble, in the end, but I will tell about
 
 Who We All Are 13 
 
 it later on. Of course there are lots of 
 other boys and girls we know but these 
 I have told about are the ones we mostly 
 have around. 
 
 I don't know how to tell just what I 
 wish about all we have done this sum- 
 mer Jim and I, I mean about how our 
 papa and mamma wanted us to do some 
 things, and how we got along. It is all 
 clear enough in my mind but I cannot 
 tell it very well. If I were older, maybe 
 I could write it better. But I must do 
 the best I can. I remember perfectly 
 how it began. 
 
 Papa and mamma were sitting on the 
 piazza, after supper and Jim and I were 
 sitting on the steps close to them, talk- 
 ing of something we were going to do 
 after school next day. I saw papa look- 
 ing at us thoughtfully a little while, and 
 then he turned to mamma. I remember 
 every word he said : 
 
 "Frances, don't you think the children
 
 14 These Are My Jewels 
 
 are old enough now to be taught a little 
 more clearly and definitely what we 
 would like them to know and feel? 
 Don't you believe we can get them to 
 understand, now, and practice a good 
 deal of that which will make the kind of 
 man and woman we hope to see some 
 day ? What do you think of it ? " 
 
 Mamma thought for quite a time, and 
 then she said : 
 
 " I believe you're right, Robert only 
 you must remember that they are chil- 
 dren yet. You may be disappointed, 
 sometimes." 
 
 "That is true," said papa, "but I think 
 they will understand. After all, there is 
 nothing beyond the comprehension of 
 even children of their age in what we 
 want them to know. Their ordinary les- 
 sons in school are more difficult. I wish 
 we had begun with them sooner, in the 
 broader way, but we didn't know our- 
 selves, did we?" and he laughed. I like
 
 Who We All Are 15 
 
 always to hear papa laugh. There is 
 something about it that makes you feel 
 good, and papa laughs a great deal. 
 Mamma is a little graver, because she 
 only smiles, and sometimes he calls her 
 "The Deaconess," though she seems 
 always to do what he says. But then 
 papa seems to always do what she says, 
 too, so they get along very well. They 
 are fond of each other. 
 
 Mamma smiled and papa turned to us: 
 
 "Children, I'm going to help you go to 
 another school besides the one you are 
 attending now." 
 
 Jim looked scared. Jim is a pretty 
 good scholar, though I think he might 
 study more, but he isn't exactly fond of 
 school. He says the only thing he really 
 likes about it is recess. So, when papa 
 said what he did, Jim rather " wilted," as 
 he would say. 
 
 "Where's the school?" he asked. 
 
 "Everywhere," said papa.
 
 16 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Jim didn't ask any more and papa 
 went on : 
 
 " You are pretty good children, I think, 
 as children go, and certainly your mother 
 and I care for you above all things in the 
 world. We have tried to teach you in 
 what we thought the best way, just as 
 all fathers and mothers try to do what 
 is best for their own. You have one of the 
 best of mothers. You have been taught 
 the difference between right and wrong; 
 you go to church and Sunday school, 
 and good people teach you, besides us. 
 You have never disappointed us much. 
 You're not a bad lot, you two," and papa 
 laughed his dear laugh again, " but 
 you're old enough now to learn some- 
 thing more, something that will affect 
 what you do at all times. Your mother 
 and I are learning it I wish we had 
 learned it earlier and it has made us a 
 great deal happier and, I hope, better 
 than we were before. It has made this
 
 Who We All Are 17 
 
 world of ours more worth living in. We 
 want you to enjoy it all with us. Do you 
 think, just because you love us arid 
 because I know that you will enjoy it 
 yourselves, that you can try?" 
 
 We both said we could, though I didn't 
 understand, and Jim told me afterward 
 that he was puzzled, too. 
 
 " All right," said papa, " we'll begin 
 tonight. I'll not say another word to 
 you, now, but I'll give you something to 
 learn by heart," and then he went into 
 the house. He came out in a little while 
 with a sheet of paper which he gave 
 to us. 
 
 "There are only some short texts upon 
 
 it," said papa, "but I want you to learn 
 
 
 
 them so thoroughly that you cannot 
 possibly forget any one of them as long 
 as you live. Do you think you can have 
 it done by tomorrow evening?" 
 
 I looked at the paper and saw that the 
 verses were all short ones, so I said I
 
 18 These Are My Jewels 
 
 was sure I could learn them all in the 
 time he gave us, and Jim said he guessed 
 he could, too. And that was all that hap- 
 pened that evening. These were the 
 texts on the paper : 
 
 God is for me. Ps. Ivi, 9. 
 
 As thy days so shall thy strength be. Deut. 
 xxxiii, 25. 
 
 Trust in the L,ord with all thine heart. 
 Prov. iii, 5. 
 
 Trust in Him at all times. Ps. Ixii, 8. 
 
 The L,ord shall guide you continually. Isa. 
 Iviii, n. 
 
 I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, 
 for thou Lord only maketh me to dwell in 
 safety. Ps. iv, 8. 
 
 There shall no evil befall thee. Ps. xci, 10. 
 
 The Lord is on my side ; I will not fear. 
 Ps. cxviii, 6. 
 
 Is there anything too hard for me ? John 
 xxx, 27. 
 
 We studied pretty hard the next day, 
 for we knew that papa was very much in 
 earnest though he seemed to speak in 
 a matter of course way to us. Papa and
 
 Who We All Are 19 
 
 mamma both believe in and try to prac- 
 tice what is called "The New Thought, 
 or The Broader Thought, or The Science 
 of Being." I don't think they have been 
 interesed in it more than two or three 
 years ; I guess before that time they 
 were just like other people, but I do 
 know that, somehow, the last two years 
 have seemed the best and brightest I 
 can remember around the house. Papa 
 and mamma always look happy and 
 papa's business is always prosperous 
 and mamma is always well and smiling. 
 I made up my mind, when papa spoke to 
 mamma as he did on the piazza, that 
 they were going to try to teach us the 
 New Thought, too, and I knew the 
 verses had something to do with it, so I 
 studied as hard as I could and, by night, 
 I had them all committed, though not 
 quite " solid," as Jim calls it. Jim kept 
 up with me until about three o'clock 
 and was getting along pretty well until
 
 20 These Are My Jewels 
 
 the Duncan boys came along. Then he 
 said he guessed an hour wouldn't matter 
 and that he could make it up, and so 
 went off with them. He didn't get back 
 until nearly five and then, though he 
 studied hard, he wasn't prepared when 
 supper came. We went out on the 
 piazza as usual and papa asked us how 
 we had got along. Jim told papa that 
 he had tried but was a little "shaky" 
 yet, and begged for another day, and 
 papa laughed a little and said, "All 
 right." 
 
 Didn't we study the next day ! Jim 
 was at it before breakfast, and after that 
 I kept saying my verses over again and 
 Jim got his, too, and, in the afternoon, 
 we kept saying them together until we 
 couldn't either of us possibly forget 
 them. They were just "plastered in," 
 Jim said. 
 
 After supper we said we were all right 
 and recited the verses to papa. He tried
 
 Who We All Are 21 
 
 us every way with them and said he was 
 satisfied. Then he talked to us. 
 
 "My boy and girl," he said, "I don't 
 suppose you quite know why I wanted 
 you to learn those verses so that you 
 would never forget them, but you will 
 understand by and by. I want you to 
 know and realize more than you have 
 yet been taught, Who it is that you can 
 always rely upon, and I want you to have 
 those texts always in mind, so that you 
 can repeat them to yourselves for your 
 own relief and encouragement when- 
 ever you are in trouble or have the least 
 doubt. There is no one we can always 
 rely upon but God and we know that 
 there is a God who is good and who is 
 always caring for us. If there were no 
 God, if there were no great Power doing 
 it all, the world would not turn round, 
 our hearts would not beat, the flowers 
 would not open nor the birds sing. 
 There would be no world or human
 
 22 These Are My Jewels 
 
 beings or flowers or birds. There 
 would be nothing. Even you children 
 can understand that there must be a 
 Creator, somewhere, the One who made 
 all these things and who gives life and 
 feeling and understanding. He has 
 given us the intelligence to know what 
 His laws for our good are, and we know 
 that if we only obey them and take 
 advantage of them, -we will prosper and 
 be happy. We have intelligence, too, to 
 know that He does nothing, creates 
 nothing without a purpose. So we know 
 that we shall live again after this world, 
 since nothing exists without a purpose 
 and even a thought is a thing. The very 
 fact that we all want to live again means 
 that we shall so live. If it were not so 
 God would never have created the 
 thought in us. Can you understand the 
 meaning of what I am saying?" 
 
 We both said we could. I knew I did. 
 I could even understand one of the rea-
 
 Who We All Are 23 
 
 sons why we shall live again after we 
 die. It seemed all so simple and good. 
 
 Papa went on: 
 
 "You understand then why I wanted 
 you to always have those texts in mind. 
 There are many other texts, just as good, 
 which will some day be a help to you. 
 Well, with such a God, such a Friend 
 always looking after us and caring for 
 us if we ask Him, shouldn't we be all 
 right, all the time? Shouldn't we just 
 do our best, and then not be afraid of 
 anything? Shouldn't we, if only because 
 we are thankful, try to obey all His laws 
 and they are all simple ones and only 
 for our good and be glad over it? Your 
 mother and I have been trying it and it 
 has made everything -wonderfully better 
 for us. Will you try it with us? We will 
 help you all we can. We don't expect 
 you'll find everything easy at first." 
 
 Even Jim, who is a boy and doesn't 
 listen to things as patiently as he should,
 
 24 These Are My Jewels 
 
 had got as interested as I in what papa 
 was saying, and we both said we'd do 
 our beet. 
 
 "Well," papa said, "that is what I want 
 you to begin to do, or, at least, begin try- 
 ing to do. I want you to bear in mind 
 two words, Belief and Courage. I want 
 you to believe that God will alwa} r s help 
 you out, and so, whenever you are doubt- 
 ful, even about small, annoying things, 
 just repeat to yourselves any of the texts 
 you have learned. He will care for you 
 and you must not be afraid of anything 
 in the world. You must fear nothing, 
 not anyone, nor any danger to your 
 bodies, nor anything unpleasant which 
 may seem likely to happen. Just quote 
 the text and say to yourselves that every- 
 thing will come out all right. You'll find 
 then that it will be all right, anyhow. 
 We'll begin at once. I know that, in the 
 end, both of you will succeed, and you 
 mustn't be discouraged by anything that
 
 Who We All Are 25 
 
 happens at first. We'll help you your 
 mother and I and don't forget the 
 texts. Let me know how you get along." 
 And so papa and mamma had started 
 us out on a way of living Jim and I had 
 never thought much about before. We 
 two had a long talk over it that night. 
 We made up our minds that we woujd 
 try hard, but we didn't see how we could 
 help being afraid of some things. The 
 next day was Saturday.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 
 
 A DAY OF ADVENTURE. 
 
 What a day! It was Saturday and Jim 
 and the Duncan boys, Alexander and 
 Malcom, or rather Sandy and the Rat, 
 as the boys call them had planned to 
 go down the creek fishing in the after- 
 noon. Mary Duncan and I had begged 
 to go along and they said we might. We 
 started soon after dinner and in half an 
 hour were at the creek at a place where 
 the water is deep and where the boys 
 have, generally, pretty good luck. There 
 are sunfish in the pool-like places and, 
 sometimes, the boys catch a black bass, 
 and that is a great event for them. As 
 for Mary and me, we knew we could 
 find some late flowers, for it was only 
 the first of June then, and, besides, we 
 were going to play housekeeping for the 
 
 26
 
 A Day of Adventure 27 
 
 boys. Boys are hungry about all the 
 time, and mamma gave us a whole lot 
 of slices of ham to fry and Mary's mother 
 gave us two loaves and some butter in 
 a paper box and the boys already had 
 hidden somewhere down the creek an 
 old frying-pan without any handle, and 
 we concluded we would have a banquet 
 of fried ham sandwiches. We got to the 
 creek about two o'clock. 
 
 The boys began fishing after they had 
 found the frying-pan for us, and Mary 
 and I began building a fire. It was made 
 of short pieces of dead limbs and chunks 
 of wood the creek had brought down in 
 the spring, and we soon had it going 
 nicely. Then we spent a long time 
 scouring the inside of the frying-pan 
 with sand until we got it as bright as 
 could be. Afterward we went off among 
 the bushes and into the fields after 
 flowers and bright leaves, and found a 
 lot of them. We were gone about two
 
 28 These Are My Jewels 
 
 hours and when we came back the boys, 
 who had given up fishing and were 
 hunting for clam-shells in the mud, said 
 that they were all hungry enough to eat 
 anything and wanted us to hurry with 
 the banquet. The fire had burned down 
 to a lot of coals by this time and we put 
 on the frying-pan, with some butter in 
 it, and began frying the ham at once. 
 The boys sliced up the bread with their 
 knives and made sandwiches as we 
 passed out the ham. How they did eat! 
 I don't know, but I think boys are more 
 hollow than girls. Finally, they began 
 to let down, or let up, a little I don't 
 know which is right all but Jim, who 
 had kindly promised not to quite fill 
 himself at first but to wait and eat part 
 of his lunch with me. 
 
 We cooked some more meat and Mary 
 made a big sandwich for herself and 
 there was left a great round slice of 
 ham as big as a dinner plate which
 
 A Day of Adventure 29 
 
 looked awfully good. I was hungry, too. 
 Just then Jim thought of something. 
 
 "I don't see how we are going to eat 
 it," he declared. "We have been told 
 never to eat meat with our fingers, and 
 I am going to be obedient. I didn't 
 think of it when I was eating with the 
 boys." 
 
 Of course I couldn't be disobedient 
 especially if Jim wasn't going to be. I 
 think sisters should always set an ex- 
 ample to their brothers, but what were 
 we going to do! I had become so hungry 
 that I almost cried. Then Jim had an 
 invention. 
 
 "Don't worry, Kit", he shouted, "I'll 
 show you! and he broke off a thin, 
 straight piece of limb about two feet 
 long and smoothed it and sharpened it 
 at each end with his knife. One end of 
 the sharpened stick he pushed down 
 hard into a log which was partly rotten 
 and, taking some newspaper, he seized
 
 30 These Are My Jewels 
 
 the big piece of ham and pushed it half 
 way down on the pointed stick. There 
 it stood, with the ham sticking out all 
 round. 
 
 "We needn't touch it with our hands 
 at all", Jim declared, "We'll sit on the 
 log on each side and eat round it with 
 our mouths alone without any help in 
 getting it to us. Sail in!" 
 
 There was nothing else to do, so we 
 sat on the log with some bread in our 
 hands and craned down and bit off half- 
 moon bites of ham, and so ate it all, first 
 ham, then bread and so on. It seemed 
 to me that I had never eaten any ham 
 before which tasted so good. My nose 
 got all shiny and the bending made my 
 neck ache a little, but I had the thought 
 that we were obedient youth, and that 
 was a comfort to me. 
 
 It was just then that gloom came upon 
 the hour. Who should come along but 
 the Slann boys, and when Viggo, the big
 
 A Day of Adventure 31 
 
 one he is fourteen years old found 
 what we had been doing and that all the 
 bread and ham were gone he looked 
 quite discontented and ugly. The boys 
 went to fishing again and the Slann boys 
 hung round. Max, the younger one who 
 is a fat, solemn-looking boy with a large 
 red head, climbed out to the middle of a 
 big log which lay across the stream and 
 nearly ten feet above it, and sat there 
 with his bare feet hanging down. Viggo 
 just idled around. By and by he began 
 throwing stones into the stream, to 
 frighten the fish away and only laughed 
 at the boys when they complained. Fi- 
 nally he wandered off, and a little later, 
 I saw him hitting at something in the 
 grass and soon he came back holding a 
 little dead garter snake by the tail. 
 
 Then what happened was dreadful. I 
 know that it is foolish and isn't right, 
 because they are God's creatures, but I 
 can hardly bear to even look at snakes,
 
 These Are My Jewels 
 
 and it always seemed to me that the 
 touch of one would kill me. I screamed 
 and ran when Viggo came toward me 
 swinging the snake and threatening me 
 with it, and that only made him worse. 
 He yelled wildly and started running 
 after me. I fairly flew into the field, 
 away from the bushes, but there he was 
 running close behind and laughing 
 hoarsely. The dreadful creature caught 
 up with me at last and threw the snake 
 around my neck! 
 
 The cold horrid touch! I shrieked and 
 turned faint as the thing fell off and 
 then fell down myself on the grass. I 
 was fainting I thought. I sat up but it 
 was all I could do. I could only scream, 
 and just then I saw Jim come running 
 from the creek. 
 
 Jim didn't say a word but jumped at 
 Viggo and hit him as hard as he could 
 and in a moment they had hold of each 
 other and were struggling hard, only to
 
 A Day of Adventure 33 
 
 go down together, with Viggo on top, 
 for he is older and a great deal bigger 
 than Jim. And then, holding Jim down 
 there, Viggo began pounding him on the 
 nose as hard as he could, while I could 
 only keep screaming. 
 
 The next moment I heard shouting 
 and, as I turned my head I saw the two 
 Duncan boys come running and yelling, 
 each with stones in his hands. Viggo 
 heard them too, and jumped up and, as 
 he did so, a stone hit him in the side and 
 another went close by his head. He 
 started running and Jim leaped to his 
 feet and began running, too, and man- 
 aged to hit him once more, as he got 
 over the fence. 
 
 The boys came back panting and 
 helped me up and we all went back to 
 the creek. I helped Jim wash his face, 
 but his nose kept on bleeding fright- 
 fully. 
 
 We all stood by the water, the boys
 
 34 These Are My Jewels 
 
 talking in much excitement, and all the 
 while that strange younger Slann boy 
 sat there on the middle of the log above 
 the creek, never saying a word. Things 
 quieted down a little, after a while, and 
 I had about got over my faint feeling, 
 when I saw Max start to get up from the 
 log to follow his brother. He had hardly 
 moved when I screamed again. The 
 bark on the log was rotten and loose 
 and, as Max moved a little, it began to 
 turn just as a saddle does spmetimes on 
 a horse when the girth that goes round 
 isn't drawn up tight enough. It turned 
 backward and Max just turned backward 
 with it. His heels shot up and his head, 
 with his white face, went back; and 
 downward he plunged like a frog into 
 the deep water! 
 
 There was a great splash but for a 
 moment there was nothing to be seen; 
 then Max came up almost in front of us, 
 gave one choking kind of scream and
 
 A Day of Adventure 35 
 
 went down again farther from us, for the 
 stream was carrying him away. 
 
 The boys stood dazed for a second or 
 two and then Jim I shall always be 
 proud of him for that started running 
 down the creek. There was a bend a 
 little way below where the bottom was 
 hard and pebbly and wide and the water 
 very swift, but not so deep as it was 
 where we were. At the broad bend it 
 was not over Jim's head. 
 
 He got there ahead of Max and plunged 
 into the water. And then, the next mo- 
 ment, Max came whirling by and Jim 
 grabbed at him and caught him by the 
 hair and so dragged him out upon the 
 bank. 
 
 Max wasn't drowned enough yet to be 
 senseless but he lay a little while cough- 
 ing and gasping, and then began to yell. 
 The boys pacified him as well as they 
 could and, as soon as he was able to 
 walk, Jim started with him for the
 
 36 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Slann place, an old shanty not far off, 
 beside a road which ran down into the 
 Flats and which we could see from 
 where we were. 
 
 We four, the Duncan boys, Mary and I, 
 waited and talked about all that had 
 happened, half laughing and half cry- 
 ing, and I guess I was almost hysterical. 
 Then we heard a yell away off, arid 
 looking toward the Slann Place, we saw 
 Jim running away from the house with 
 Mrs. Slann close after him! I don't 
 suppose I'm as good a judge of running 
 as a boy might be, but it seemed to me 
 that Jim was doing himself a great deal 
 of credit. Papa had often told us that 
 when anyone did a thing he should do 
 it with all his might, and Jim didn't 
 appear to have forgotten a word of what 
 papa had said. He was putting all his 
 heart into it, and he soon left Mrs. Slann. 
 She didn't follow him very far, and we 
 scurried away to meet him, to learn
 
 A Day of Adventure 37 
 
 what was the matter! One side of Jim's 
 face was very red and his coat was torn. 
 
 "What do you think!" he gasped, as 
 soon as he got a little breath. "I took 
 Max in at the door and the first thing he 
 did was to yell out, 'He pulled my hair!' 
 Mrs. Slann just looked once and saw his 
 condition and then she jumped for me! 
 She slapped my face and tore my coat 
 and I don't know what she'd have done 
 if I hadn't been a daisy which I am 
 just a yellow daisy! I ducked and got 
 away and dodged around the table with 
 all the dishes on it. She rushed after 
 me again and we slid and slipped and 
 then I don't know just how it hap- 
 pened we tipped over the table and 
 there was a smash and, I ducked out of 
 the door and outran her! Golly!" 
 
 Oh, but we were mad! To think that 
 Jim should have such a reward for 
 saving a woman's boy from drowning! 
 We didn't know what to say or do. The
 
 38 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Rat said he was sorry Jim had pulled 
 Max out, and Sandy said he was going 
 to lay for Viggo with more stones, but 
 of course that wasn't a Christian spirit, 
 though I almost wished I was a boy. 
 
 It was nearly six now, and we started 
 for home. Jim's nose was bleeding again 
 and we used up his handkerchief and 
 mine and both the Duncan boys' and 
 then had to use mullen leaves the rest 
 of the way home. When mamma saw 
 Jim she didn't say anything until she 
 had taken him upstairs to be washed 
 and get clean clothes. He came down 
 looking all right except that his nose 
 was as big as a grown man's. 
 
 Jim and I were anxious to talk to 
 mamma about the ways of Providence. 
 We had always heard they were mys- 
 terious, and now we believed it. 
 
 Here was Jim getting whipped for 
 saving a boy's life, and that, too, by the 
 ungrateful boy's mother! Jim called her
 
 A Day of Adventure 39 
 
 an unnatural parent, and I could not 
 blame him. We started in to say a good 
 deal but mamma said she thought we 
 had better wait and that we would be 
 wise to quiet down and forget our 
 wrongs and disgusts for a little while. 
 "Remember" she said, "that whatever 
 has happened, everything will come 
 right: 'No evil shall befall you.'" 
 
 You ought to have seen Jim's face with 
 its swelled nose, as mamma repeated that 
 text! 
 
 We cooled off and our wrath went 
 down a little dinner was extra nice 
 that day and papa smiled when he saw 
 Jim eating chicken and gravy as usual, 
 though his face was pretty red, and 
 you could see he had been crying. Jim 
 always cries when he is mad, but when 
 he feels sorry he says he can't cry, but 
 his Adam's apple just swells up and 
 almost chokes him. 
 
 There are some drawbacks to being
 
 40 These Are My Jewels 
 
 a boy. One is Adam's apple and that 
 choked-up feeling when you can't cry. 
 
 "Come," said papa at last, when we 
 were all sitting out on the west porch 
 looking at the sunset, "let us hear the 
 day's adventures." 
 
 I went over and sat by papa and Jim 
 leaned against the railing and told about 
 the Slann boys and their mother but 
 he began at the end and papa listened 
 patiently until Jim got through. Then 
 I told all about the snake and how the 
 trouble began in the first place, and I 
 could see mamma shudder, for she does 
 not like snakes any more than I do. 
 
 Papa didn't say anything for a while 
 after I got through talking, and his face 
 was quite grave. 
 
 "You do seem to have had rather an 
 exciting day of it," he said finally, "and 
 I do not know that you have either of 
 you done what I can disapprove of. As 
 to Jim's attack on Viggo, it is true one
 
 A Day of Adventure 41 
 
 ought to be patient and endure a good 
 deal when only he himself is concerned, 
 but there come times when an endeavor 
 to protect others is a duty. Viggo was 
 doing what might have resulted in 
 something very serious and Jim was 
 right in doing the best he could. The 
 fact that he got licked doesn't matter. 
 There is no disgrace in being beaten at 
 anything, if you have been fearless and 
 have done your best. And, Jim, I'm 
 very proud of you for saving Max. That 
 was something worth while. The en- 
 counter in the house I'll warrant was a 
 mistake of some sort. I do not believe 
 that Mrs. - " 
 
 And just then there was a clatter at 
 the side steps of the porch and who 
 should come almost tumbling up but 
 Mrs. Slaiin herself! She looked dan- 
 gerous, for she is a big woman, and her 
 hair was flying every way and her eyes 
 were shining and her face was red. Jim
 
 42 These Are My Jewels 
 
 was nearest to her and when he saw her 
 his mouth flew open and staid that way. 
 She didn't hesitate at all, but made a 
 dive for him. Jim yelled and ducked 
 and I screamed and papa and mamma 
 rose to their feet. 
 
 Mrs. Slann stood still for a moment 
 and then rushed up to mamma and 
 broke out talking so excitedly and so 
 fast and in such broken English that, at 
 first, I couldn't understand her. Then 
 she made another rush at Jim, and he 
 went over the railing like a rabbit. She 
 reached out her hands toward him and 
 almost shrieked: 
 
 "Oh, my poor boy! How bad womans 
 I was to lick you! but I knew not you 
 was saved my Max from the water!" 
 
 The tears ran down her cheeks, and 
 mamma took her rough, red hand in her 
 own white ones, and told the poor woman 
 that she understood her. 
 
 Then Mrs. Slann told papa and mam-
 
 A Day of Adventure 43 
 
 ma all she had found out, how she had 
 made Viggo tell the truth when he came 
 home, and had got a new story from Max 
 himself, and so learned all about every- 
 thing. Then she turned to look once 
 more at Jim, who had ventured on the 
 porch again. 
 
 "Ach!" she cried, "Ach!" Hees poor 
 nose!" Then she brightened up. "But 
 you should see the back of Viggo! Hees 
 fader haf been mit him in the shed! 
 And the foolish Max I lam him well!" 
 Then she made another grab at Jim and 
 caught him, for he wasn't prepared, only 
 listening to her with all his ears. She 
 hugged him and kissed him and Jim 
 twisted and squirmed and we laughed 
 until we were almost choked and when 
 at last she let him go Jim's face was 
 redder than Mrs. Slann's. 
 
 When she had gone there wasn't very 
 much left of our story to tell, but we 
 confessed how we had doubted the "ways
 
 44 These Are My Jewels 
 
 of Providence as we were coming home 
 across the woods, so forlorn and beaten. 
 
 "I felt that God was for me," said Jim, 
 "and I didn't feel afraid, either of Viggo 
 or of the water, but I caved in a little 
 when Mrs. Slann got after me!" 
 
 Papa laughed and gave me a hug, for 
 I was close beside him, and mamma 
 laughed, too, but I was still a little upset 
 by the events of the day. It seemed to 
 me I could feel that snake around my 
 neck. Jim seemed to know it. 
 
 "Kit feels jarred yet," he whispered to 
 mamma. 
 
 Then I tried to brighten up, and I told 
 about eating the ham from the stick, 
 and they laughed and mamma said that 
 we must make allowance for circum- 
 stances in all things. 
 
 "When there are no forks, use your 
 fingers", she advised and papa chimed 
 in "when there is no bridge cross the 
 stream as best you can."
 
 A Day of Adventure 45 
 
 And then as the stars came out we all 
 quieted down, and papa asked us to 
 remember the experiences of this day 
 as showing that things are all right in 
 the end, and he told us not to set our- 
 selves up as judges, or as critics of 
 Providence, for we had told of our ques- 
 tions and doubts. 
 
 "There is good in everything," said 
 mamma, "in Viggo, in Max and in 
 everyone you see. If you do your best, 
 and love everyone and try to help them' 
 all will come out right in the end." 
 
 When we had repeated our texts and 
 said our prayers, and I was lying in my 
 own bed I wondered if I had brought 
 some of the troubles of the day upon us 
 by being so afraid of the snake 'which 
 Viggo Slann threw on me. I made up 
 my mind to resist every fear and to try 
 to be kind to Viggo when I saw him, but 
 I thought it would be pretty hard to do 
 either of these things.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 "THE RED SWIPER." 
 
 Nothing much happened for a -week 
 or two after this. Jim and I got along 
 pretty well in trying to live in the new 
 way, then vacation came and we had 
 lots of time on our hands. Jim con- 
 cluded to build a boat and sail the 
 raging main on the creek, as he said, 
 and he spent a lot of time digging it out 
 of a little basswood log. He shaped it 
 outside finely and set two masts in it 
 and made sails and rigging, and at last 
 all was ready for the launching where 
 the creek spread out into a pond. The 
 Lane and the Duncan children were to 
 be with us, and Mary Duncan was to 
 break a vial of currant shrub over the 
 front of the ship on the festal occasion 
 which, Jim said, was to be "without par- 
 
 46
 
 The Red Swiper 47 
 
 allel in the annals of navaldoni." I guess 
 he had read something like that some- 
 where, for it didn't sound like him. 
 
 "Most ships are called "she", but this 
 ship was to be a man of war, the terror 
 of the waves, and so Jim said it had to 
 be a "he." His name was the "Red 
 Swiper." The launching had been set 
 for Friday afternoon and everything was 
 ready, but, at breakfast that morning, 
 Jim suddenly stopped eating and sat 
 staring at me with a dreadful look upon 
 his face. I was alarmed and asked him 
 if he had swallowed something the 
 wrong \^ay, for it is a common thing 
 with boys to try to get food down the 
 wrong side of their throats and then 
 they choke. It comes from eating too 
 fast. But Jim was not choking. 
 
 "We can't have the launching today!" 
 he said. 
 
 "Why not?" I cried. 
 
 "Why," he exclaimed excitedly, "it's
 
 48 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Friday! I hadn't thought of that. You 
 can't launch a ship on Friday! It's not 
 to be thought of!" 
 
 Jim looked perfectly used up over it 
 and I was sad myself, both on his 
 account and the disappointment to all 
 of us. 
 
 "They'll all be -flabbergasted when they 
 hear that the launching is put off," he 
 said. 
 
 I thought they would, too. We were all 
 ready for a picnic after the ceremonies 
 and I -wondered what would become of 
 the sandwiches and frosted cakes and 
 tarts that mamma had made for us. 
 
 Of course I needn't have worried about 
 the good things to eat, for there is never 
 any trouble at a picnic about disposing 
 of them. You just eat 'em, no matter 
 "what happens. But the whole thing 
 seemed all flattened out, now that the 
 unlucky Friday had bobbed up at the 
 last minute. I looked at papa who had
 
 The Red Swiper 49 
 
 heard what we were saying. He was 
 smiling, though I thought he looked a 
 little grave; then he spoke: 
 
 "I am disappointed in you, Jim." 
 
 "Why, sir," said Jim. 
 
 "Because you're old enough, and have 
 been taught well enough, I think, not to 
 be affected by any foolish superstition. 
 You believe in God do you not?" 
 
 "Yes, papa," said Jim. 
 
 "Then if you believe in God, how can 
 you believe that Friday or any other day 
 can be unlucky?" and he went on: 
 
 "There is no such thing as a lucky or 
 an unlucky day or thing, and there is 
 nothing that you can do which is lucky 
 or unlucky, in itself. All these beliefs 
 are handed down from a superstitious 
 and ignorant time and have become a 
 sort of cowardly habit. To cling to such 
 ideas shows that one has either an un- 
 reasoning or a weak mind. There are 
 all the old silly things, like the belief of
 
 50 
 
 the foolish that Friday is an unlucky 
 day or that to spill salt, or break a 
 mirror, or own an opal, or wear a certain 
 ornament either promises or brings mis- 
 fortune of some sort, or that to make a 
 present of a knife or any sharp instru- 
 ment to another will make trouble and 
 'cut friendship', as they call it, or that to 
 find and keep a horseshoe, or to first see 
 the moon over your right shoulder, will 
 bring good fortune, instead. They are 
 equally silly and equally wicked, for 
 they imply a doubt in Him on whom 
 we rely for all things. Nothing is more 
 absurd and strange to me than to see 
 really honest and good and even intelli- 
 gent people, who worship God, some- 
 times victims of these superstitious 
 fancies. How can any one believe in 
 God and in such things, too? It is an 
 insult to Him, and is profane. Does not 
 He regulate all things? There are other 
 beliefs just as wrong and ridiculous, yet
 
 The Fed Swiper 51 
 
 so common is this wicked weakness 
 that many people make a living by 
 preying upon it. There are those who 
 even assume to foretell the future, to 
 say what God will do. Some call them- 
 selves astrologers and talk about the 
 bodies in the firmament, though they 
 usually know little of astronomy. 
 These people pretend to study the 
 planets and 'cast a horoscope' for their 
 dupes, and so reveal to them what is to 
 come. There are the 'palmists', as they 
 call themselves, who examine the lines 
 in the palm of your hands and pretend 
 from them to tell your character, and 
 how long you will live and what is 
 likely to happen to you. There are 
 other sorts of fortune-tellers, such as the 
 gypsies and their imitators in various 
 ways. Well, remember this all your 
 lives, that there is not a single one of 
 these people, in all the world, who is not 
 either an impostor or a fool. A few of
 
 52 These Are My Jewels 
 
 them may be deluded themselves, but 
 that does not help matters any. All 
 that is going to happen is to be through 
 God's will and He has not given to any 
 human being the slightest power to 
 foretell what that is going to be, nor has 
 he made it possible that this thing is 
 'lucky' or that 'unlucky'. He has given 
 us laws, though, simple, generous laws, 
 which will bring us good fortune if we 
 obey them. Do not fear. Just trust in 
 Him. The belief in good or bad luck or 
 in the prophecies of "wicked or foolish 
 persons has wrought incalculable evil 
 in the world, for the imaginations of 
 hosts of people have been affected and 
 they have doubted and suffered and 
 been weak in consequence and, so, by 
 their own course, have often brought 
 upon themselves the very ills they have 
 so dreaded. We do know that the mind 
 affects the body, and that the mind lack- 
 ing in hope and confidence is, in a way,
 
 The Red Swiper 53 
 
 diseased. There is no excuse for that. 
 Just laugh at all superstitions and all 
 'lucky' or 'unlucky' things. Just lean on 
 Him and go ahead, in confidence, what- 
 ever happens. The one who has that 
 faith and has no silly superstitions is 
 calmer, happier and stronger than the 
 weak and wicked people who believe in 
 the slightest degree in signs and luck 
 and fortune-telling. It is a commonplace 
 way of explaining it to you, and using an 
 expression which is almost like slang, 
 but it may make it clearer to you, to say 
 that it is God and God alone who is 
 'running things'. To believe anything 
 else, or to act as if you believe anything" 
 else, is to doubt Him and commit a 
 crime against Him." 
 
 Jim had been listening hard, and I 
 saw his face gradually brighten as papa 
 talked. When he got through Jim broke 
 out: 
 
 "That's good, papa! That's helped me
 
 54 These Are My Jewels 
 
 lots! I'm not going to believe in such 
 things after this. I'll just have faith and 
 let 'er go." 
 
 "Then Jim turned to me: "The invita- 
 tions won't be called back" he said. 
 "The hour of three o'clock p. m., this 
 afternoon, U. S. A., will see the great 
 ship, Red Swiper, seek the water!" 
 
 '"The Red' what?" asked papa, and 
 Jim explained and papa laughed. 
 
 So the launching came off, after all, 
 and the ceremonies were all right. Mary 
 broke the bottle on the front end of the 
 boat and called out "I christen thee 'Red 
 Swiper'!" as the boys pushed the boat in 
 off a plank, and it stood up and sailed 
 beautifully. Being a war ship, it had 
 quite a big toy cannon on board, such as 
 the boys fire off on the Fourth of July. 
 It was loaded, and they had several 
 charges of powder more, in a paper 
 down in a place boarded over with two 
 shingles and which they called the hold.
 
 The Red Swiper 55 
 
 They said war ships always had powder 
 in the hold. They fixed what they called 
 a slow match, which was made of the 
 paper that sticks out of the end of the 
 fire-crackers, and they fixed this to the 
 big end of the cannon and lighted it just 
 before the ship started. He had sailed 
 about half way across the pond when 
 the cannon went off, and there was a lot 
 of smoke, and the ship rocked fright- 
 fully, but he didn't tip over, and the 
 boys shouted. 
 
 "He's a staunch and powerful craft!" 
 yelled Johnny Lane, who is smaller than 
 the other boys and not so strong, but 
 who reads almost everything he can 
 get hold of and uses some awfully big 
 words. 
 
 Jim went up the creek and across a 
 long plank which had been laid for a 
 bridge by somebody and brought the 
 ship back in his arms and then we had 
 lunch, which didn't take long, for the
 
 56 These Are My Jewels 
 
 boys ate as if they hadn't had anything 
 to eat since Christmas. Jim went into 
 the bushes to cut a longer stick with 
 which to poke the ship farther away 
 from shore when they started him again 
 and then the boys played a trick on him. 
 Sandy took a little black flag from his 
 pocket, which he had brought along on 
 purpose, with a dreadful picture of a 
 skull and two bones crossed underneath, 
 and then they took off the Stars and 
 Stripes and put the Black Flag on 
 instead, and loaded the gun and fixed 
 the match and pushed the boat off in a 
 hurry, just as Jim came running back 
 with the long stick he had cut. Sandy 
 and the Rat gave three cheers for what 
 they called the Pirate King, and Johnny 
 Lane didn't do anything but lie down on 
 the ground and kick up his heels and 
 keep yelling, "Blood!" At first Jim came 
 near getting angry but, at last, he took 
 it good-naturedly and began to laugh 
 with the rest.
 
 The Red Swiper 57 
 
 The noble vessel sailed on finely until 
 it got far out in the pond and then the 
 wind got to be mild and he stood almost 
 still. Then the gun went off and, almost 
 the next instant, there was a great flash 
 and a lot of smoke, and the shingle top 
 of the hold rose away up in the air, and 
 there were waves around the vessel and 
 we could see it tossing all about in the 
 midst of the smoke. Pretty soon the 
 smoke went away and the waves died 
 down, and there was the vessel standing 
 up straight and all right, as if nothing 
 had happened. Only we could see that 
 the Black Flag had caught fire and 
 burned away. Then the wind suddenly 
 grew stronger and changed and the Red 
 Swiper came sailing right toward us 
 and up to the shore. Jim -was in an 
 ecstasy. "He wouldn't be a pirate!" he 
 shouted. "You bet he wouldn't; and so 
 he came sailing home to get the Stars 
 and Stripes again!" and all the boys
 
 58 These Are My Jewels 
 
 cheered the ship once more and Johnny 
 Lane declared that he was "a gallant 
 craft, who seemed enbowed with almost 
 human intelligence." 
 
 We sailed the Red Swiper several 
 times again and Johnny Lane, who has 
 learned "Casablanca" and spoken it at 
 school, was wishing the boat was bigger 
 so that they could put the Rat on board 
 and set fire to it and then say, "The boy, 
 O, where was he!" but the Rat didn't 
 seem to like the idea, and Johnny said 
 he hadn't got a hero spirit. 
 
 I don't remember ever having enjoyed 
 an afternoon more. It was a splendid 
 launchingpevn if it was on Friday, and 
 we all went home contented. 
 
 That evening, after we got back, Jim 
 went down town with the boys and 
 when he came back he made me a 
 present of a beautiful pair of little scis- 
 sors I had wanted, and I didn't give 
 him a penny to keep them from "cutting 
 friendship," either!
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 
 
 A WHOLESOME NEW PRESENCE. 
 
 With vacation going right along, we 
 children had a great deal of fun, for we 
 were out *on some expedition almost 
 every day. To make things better still, 
 Uncle Fred came. Uncle Fred Rath- 
 burne is mamma's brother, and one of 
 the best uncles that ever lived. He is 
 twenty-eight years old and he is a 
 lawyer in the big city and papa says 
 he is a good one. He is a bachelor and 
 Jim and I think everything of him, for 
 he joins in with us in every kind of fun. 
 He is a straight, curly-haired man, very 
 good looking, I think, and he laughs 
 with his eyes as much as papa does 
 with his mouth. He is fine. 
 
 When Uncle Fred was with us a year 
 ago we children didn't see as much of 
 
 59
 
 60 These Are My Jewels 
 
 him as this time, because he was a good 
 deal with Miss Louise Nesbit, the daugh- 
 ter of Colonel Nesbit, who lives at the 
 other end of town. He was at her house 
 very often in the evening and in the 
 daytime they used to go out riding to- 
 gether all over the country. We couldn't 
 very well blame Uncle Fred, even if we 
 didn't see so much of him as in most 
 years when he had been with us; for, 
 certainly, Miss Nesbit is very dainty and 
 pretty, though I think she is more dig- 
 nified than most of the Merrivale young 
 ladies. She has gray e} 7 es and brown 
 hair and is tall and stately, but she is as 
 kind as she can be. I like her, and it 
 seems a shame everything isn't right 
 with her and Uncle Fred; they'd make 
 such a splendid couple. I don't know 
 what was the matter, for we thought 
 they were engaged and that Uncle Fred 
 and she would get married, but there 
 must have been some awful tragedy, for,
 
 A Wholesome Presence 61 
 
 a little while before Uncle Fred went 
 away, he stopped going to see her and 
 all seemed to be over between them. It 
 is sad to ponder upon. Uncle Fred didn't 
 look very well when he went away, but 
 this year he seems better. 
 
 He came from the railroad station in a 
 'bus, in the afternoon, and we, mamma 
 and I, ran down the steps to meet him. 
 He kissed mamma and then caught me 
 up in his arms with a shout and kissed 
 me half a dozen times, which made me 
 seem very undignified. For a girl soon 
 to be twelve to be held like a baby and 
 kissed on the street is absurd; but I 
 didn't think of it, I was so glad, and I 
 kissed him back, of course. Later, papa 
 and Jim came and we had a jolly even- 
 ing together. Jim and I told Uncle Fred 
 about what we were trying to do in the 
 New Thought and he was delighted and 
 said he'd try to help us, for he thinks as 
 papa and mamma do about such things,
 
 62 These Are My Jewels 
 
 though he is so full of spirits sometimes 
 you would suppose he couldn't take any- 
 thing in the world in earnest. 
 
 The next morning there was a time! 
 Uncle Fred kissed mamma when she 
 came down to breakfast and then turned 
 to me, for I had just come down, too. I 
 got behind a chair and told him, quite 
 severely, that it was not proper for 
 uncles, particularly one who didn't have 
 gray hair, to kiss nieces as -of ten as their 
 fathers and mothers did, and he looked 
 very much astonished. He said that 
 there must be some new law, for he 
 recollected most of the old law very 
 well, because it had been put into poetry, 
 and it recommended kissing, sometimes, 
 even when the one wasn't your niece. 
 "I'll show you just how part of it goes," 
 he said, and then he suddenly sat down 
 at the piano and began singing:
 
 A Wholesome Presence 63 
 
 Beg your pardon, Miss Maloney, for the way 
 in which I've acted; 
 
 I am sorry, sorry, sorry, for appearing so dis- 
 tracted. 
 
 I've been simple as a loon, 
 I've been looking at the moon, 
 
 But I've come back to my senses; O, who 
 wouldn't do it, when 
 
 It is half-past kissing-time, and time to kiss 
 again! 
 
 Beg your pardon, Miss Maloney, but your 
 
 eyes are dazzling, quite so. 
 How I wonder, wonder, wonder, that I saw 
 
 another light so! 
 But I am no longer blind, 
 I'm returning to my mind. 
 I am glowing with a purpose; I'm the happiest 
 
 of men, 
 For it's half -past kissing-time, and time to kiss 
 
 again ! 
 
 Beg your pardon, Miss Maloney, would you 
 have me getting haggard ? 
 
 You were cruel, cruel, cruel, that you let me 
 
 be a laggard. 
 Just a word and then a pout
 
 64 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Would have served without a doubt, 
 And I wouldn't have been silly, like a hes- 
 itating hen, 
 
 When 'twas half-past kissing-time, and time 
 to kiss again! 
 
 Beg your pardon, Miss Maloney, It's myself 
 
 that I am kicking, 
 And I linger, linger, linger, though I hear 
 
 the clock a-ticking. 
 O, my fascinating friend, 
 It is ne'er too late to mend; 
 And I'm nearing, as I chatter like a bluejay 
 
 in the glen, 
 For it's half- past kissing-time, and time to kiss 
 
 again. 
 
 And then, after singing that astonish- 
 ing song, Uncle Fred caught and kissed 
 me and mamma laughed and told us to 
 come to breakfast, while I lectured him 
 on his impertinent familiarity. I think 
 "impertinent familiarity" is a pretty 
 good expression, but it didn't seem to 
 affect Uncle Fred any. He's nice. 
 
 But Uncle Fred isn't all that is going
 
 A Wholesome Presence 65 
 
 on. Jim and I have been having trouble, 
 though it hasn't been so awfully serious 
 as it might be. It has been partly over 
 our backs and partly over Jim's goat, 
 Bildad for Jim bought a goat lately 
 from the Slann boys, who are quite 
 decent now but our backs were the 
 worst. You see we are both growing 
 dreadfully fast: it is just the age mam- 
 ma says; and, somehow, we both got to 
 stooping a little, when we walked or sat 
 at table. Finally papa noticed it and 
 said he wasn't going to have a round- 
 shouldered boy or girl around his house. 
 Some people might like that kind but he 
 always preferred boys and girls straight 
 up and down. Of course that was all in 
 fun, but it did not take us long to" find 
 out that papa meant business. That 
 night he said he wanted to talk on 
 "backbones" after supper, and Jim said: 
 "I hope we haven't got to be harnessed 
 up like the Menier family. They are so
 
 66 These Are My Jewels 
 
 strapped and buckled that I should 
 think they'd snap if they fell in climb- 
 ing a fence, and they don't seem to 
 laugh right, because the laughing place 
 is getting new muscles." Papa just 
 smiled. 
 
 When we were settled down after sup- 
 per Jim was lying flat on his back on 
 what he calls the "Prayer Rug " for 
 he's read how devout men in the far 
 away Kast have special rugs for praying 
 on, and declares he feels better on his 
 than anywhere else and thinks better 
 without knowing it. Mamma says those 
 things do help by "association of ideas," 
 and she always lets Jim bring out that 
 rug when we are out for one of our talks 
 for mamma does not think anything is 
 too good for use. Papa began: 
 
 "I think I may tell you that mamma 
 and I are more than satisfied with the 
 progress you children are making in 
 what we call New Thought, though that
 
 A Wholesome Presence 67 
 
 term is misleading, for truth is never 
 new, and this 'Broader Thought/ or 
 'Higher Thought/ or 'New Thought' is 
 only old truths re-taught as Christ 
 taught when he was upon earth and is 
 really 'Science of Life' or 'Science of 
 Being' and now we'll begin on 'back- 
 bones': 
 
 "You find that breathing long deep 
 regular breaths comes easy, now, do you 
 not?" 
 
 We both said, "Yes." 
 
 "Remember always that your body is 
 your engine, blackboard, or anything 
 that you like to compare it to that can 
 be controlled by thought or registered 
 upon, and the braces I propose to put on 
 you to straighten your backbones, are 
 mental braces, with the most approved 
 kind of buckles and straps in the way of 
 words, that you ever thought of. They 
 will prove so powerful that there will be 
 no more chance of a crook or bend in the
 
 68 These Are My Jewels 
 
 spinal column, than there would be of a 
 bluejay having rheumatism. 
 
 "In the morning, when you first 
 awaken, get out of bed quickly, turn to 
 the East, as a salutation to another day 
 of good, we'll say; that will impress the 
 hour on you; stand like a West Pointer; 
 that means, erect; inhale slowly with 
 special thought directed to the perfect 
 form of your backbone, or spinal column; 
 see it straight upright, in your mind, a 
 good pillar in the temple of the living 
 God, your body, and then exhale slowly, 
 with a thanksgiving, as well as you can 
 think, that you are, in your real being, 
 perfect, whole and complete. Do this 
 ten times, morning and night, for the 
 first week, turning to the West at night, 
 not because the East or West will make 
 any difference in your spiritual growth, 
 but because you follow the earthly or 
 physical sun, and by thinking of divine 
 love as 'the sun of my world' you get
 
 A Wholesome Presence 69 
 
 into sympathy with all that is high and 
 good and perfect. Compare the physical 
 world to the divine world, make them 
 one, as they really are you may get up 
 your own symbols, if it will make things 
 plainer to you but be regular. Several 
 times during the day, breathe long, and 
 think straight. We will talk of this 
 again in a week. 
 
 "Our bodies are temples not made 
 with hands, and to us is given power to 
 keep them perfect as they were made in 
 the beginning, but we must do so quietly 
 and in order, that no sound of the 'ham- 
 mer be heard in the land'. Make your 
 own ideal, that is, what you want to be, 
 high, then build up to it. 
 
 "You cannot build higher than your 
 ideal, so make it high, beautiful, strong 
 and good. You are the plant that your 
 thoughts must water and nourish, and 
 your body will tell by its growth and 
 beauty if you have enriched the land
 
 70 These Are My Jewels 
 
 with good nourishment. Deep-breath- 
 ing, right-thinking, temperate living, 
 and, I will add, good-temper though 
 that is hardly necessary, since the first 
 three will make the last a certainty 
 and you "will find life a victory." 
 
 Jim seemed to understand. When papa 
 stopped talking, and no one spoke for 
 awhile, then Jim said, "I believe I can 
 'concentrate', after this. I'll just let Jim 
 the First out and give Jim the Second a 
 chance in his kingdom. I've got it!" 
 
 That was very fine language, for Jim. 
 Pie's funny, but he gave me the idea too, 
 and we knew that papa and mamma 
 were satisfied, their eyes looked so 
 bright, yet so moist. 
 
 And so we began doing what papa had 
 told us and, a^ter a few days, or, maybe, 
 it was two or three weeks, we found our- 
 selves growing up straight, naturally. It 
 made us think of the time when we were 
 only seven and eight years old, when
 
 A Wholesome Presence 71 
 
 papa taught us to swim, for he said that 
 was what every boy and girl should cer- 
 tainly learn to do, not only on their own 
 account but for the sake of others. We 
 were pretty shaky at first, though it was 
 summer and the water in the pond was 
 warm, but papa taught us so gently, 
 little by little, that we soon got over our 
 fears and now, in my bathing suit, I 
 don't care how deep the water is. Jim 
 can swini with all his clothes on. 
 
 The deep-breathing -was only fun and 
 we began and kept it up without any 
 trouble, only, pretty soon, it got to be 
 such a habit that we didn't stop at 
 twenty times a day but did it very often 
 without thinking, and we do it yet. I 
 know it is good for us. Jim's chest is 
 quite a lot bigger round already. 
 
 It was Bildad, though, who furnished 
 the most excitement. I don't know how 
 Jim ever came to buy him, unless it is 
 because he likes to trade. Jim had a lot
 
 72 These Are My Jewels 
 
 of things, a pair of skates, almost as 
 good as new, which he didn't care for 
 because he has got a better pair, and a 
 fishing rod which joined together, and 
 things like that, and Viggo Slann said 
 he would let him have the goat for the 
 things, and a dollar and twenty-five 
 cents extra. Viggo said the goat was 
 worth more but his mother had got a 
 prejudice against him and would set the 
 dog on him whenever he came near the 
 house, and so they'd concluded to let 
 him go cheap. "He's a peaceable goat," 
 Viggo said, "and you needn't look out 
 for him except when he bla-ats. He isn't 
 afraid of anything but a dog." 
 
 Finally Jim concluded to make the 
 trade, so he borrowed a dollar and a 
 quarter from Uncle Fred without saying 
 what he wanted it for, and gave the 
 money and the things to Viggo and, 
 between them, they brought the goat 
 tied by a rope and turned him into the
 
 A Wholesome Presence 73 
 
 pasture back of the barn, where he could 
 have wholesome and invigorating food- 
 
 The goat was the biggest one I had 
 ever seen, though he seemed awfully 
 thin. He had little bits of horns which 
 leaned back and his whole color was a 
 kind of dirty black and white. His beard 
 reached almost to the ground. Jim was 
 going to name him "His Whiskers" at 
 first, but finally changed to Bildad, 
 which I think much better. Jim told 
 papa and Uncle Fred about his trade 
 but they didn't say much, even when 
 Jim explained how useful the goat 
 might be as company to Jake Heinrichs, 
 about the barn. 
 
 For two or three days, Bildad didn't 
 seem to do anything but eat. He nibbled 
 at the grass and the hay in the barn and 
 at the bushes and swelled out in the 
 middle like a barrel. Then he began to 
 show what Johnny Lane said was real 
 animation. One evening, when Jake
 
 74 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Heinrichs was milking our cow her 
 name is Angelina and I was looking 
 on, Bildad came up playfully and began 
 chewing at the tail of Jake's old coat 
 and Jake gave him a rap on the nose. 
 The goat went off a little way and stood 
 shaking his head, as if he "was thinking 
 and disappointed over something. Then 
 Bildad gave a bleat, but Jake paid no 
 attention to him; and then he started on 
 the jump, Jake not noticing, and, when 
 Bildad struck him he somehow seemed 
 to well up a little and then shot forth 
 under the cow, and lay in the grass with 
 the milk all over him. He jumped to 
 his feet and chased Bildad with the 
 milking-stool, but couldn't catch him. 
 Jake Heinrichs said a great many loud 
 words, and I am glad they were all in 
 German. 
 
 Since that time, something has hap- 
 pened with Bildad almost every day. 
 One afternoon little Jennie Maddern,
 
 A Wholesome Presence 75 
 
 who lives a little way off, was crossing 
 the pasture and Bildad chased her until 
 she got on top of a big stump, and he 
 kept her there until evening when Jake 
 went after the cow. He ate a book Jim 
 had left in the barn, and chewed some of 
 the harness. Jim tried to lick him with 
 a big switch and had to get over the 
 fence himself. He says he will tame 
 Bildad's proud spirit yet, but I have a 
 presentiment something serious is going 
 to happen. 
 
 And all this time Uncle Fred makes 
 things pleasant for us. We are going 
 into the woods and fields with him soon. 
 He has not seen Miss Nesbit since they 
 met in the road. I am sure of that, 
 and, sometimes, he is very quiet, but he 
 doesn't speak of her. He has made me 
 learn his queer song and it is running 
 in my head about half the time. It is 
 either:
 
 76 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Beg your pardon, Miss Maloney, 
 or 
 
 It's half-past kissing- time, and time to kiss 
 again.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A WONDERFUL NEW WORLD. 
 
 The trip into the fields with Uncle 
 Fred came off at last, and it seems to me 
 that I shall never be the same girl again, 
 I learned so much that morning. There 
 is another world which I knew almost 
 nothing about and yet I have been living 
 all the time right in the middle of it. I 
 must have been blind. 
 
 Uncle Fred told Jim and me that he 
 wanted to introduce us to many of the 
 best people in the world, whom we 
 didn't seem to have ever met and, 
 surely, he kept his word. We started 
 out, just after an early breakfast, when 
 the dew was yet on the grass, though 
 the sun was shining brightly, and it 
 was decided that the trip should be only 
 along a path which winds through a big 
 
 77
 
 78 These Are My Jewels 
 
 field close to the woods and then back 
 again the same way. The field is a sort 
 of rude pasture which has never been 
 thoroughly cleared yet, and there are 
 hosts of bushes and thickets and stumps 
 and the dry stubs of trees. In some 
 places there is white clover in the clear 
 spots and in others only short weeds. 
 The bees were beginning to hum among 
 the clover when we got into the field 
 and the leaves of the bushes and the 
 woods near by looked wonderf ully bright 
 and green in the early sunshine. 
 
 Uncle Fred said he wasn't going to 
 tell us anything on our way across the 
 field, but that we were to call attention 
 to every living thing we saw. Of course 
 we kept a sharp lookout. 
 
 It was Jim who saw something first, 
 for he called out that there was a red- 
 headed woodpecker on an old stub, as 
 indeed there was. Then I saw a robin 
 and a bluejay and Jim saw a hawk and
 
 A Wonderful New World 79 
 
 a crow, overhead, and the game got to 
 be exciting. The path across the field 
 was nearly a quarter of a mile long 
 and when we reached the end we had 
 seen eleven birds in all and I was one 
 ahead. There was one bird whose name 
 I couldn't tell, and Jim didn't know it, 
 either, but Uncle Fred said it was a 
 black-breasted bunting. 
 
 When we started to go back Uncle 
 Fred said: "Now, I'll do the looking,' 
 and we had walked but a few yards 
 when he stooped and pointed out in the 
 bushes a slate-colored bird with a dark 
 head; it soon made a noise almost like 
 a cat's mewing, and then flew up into a 
 little tree and began to sing beautifully. 
 It was a catbird. This was only the be- 
 ginning. 
 
 From a big open space, something 
 called out, loud and sweet, what sounded 
 like: "I see you! I see you!" and that 
 was a meadow lark, and then, from a
 
 80 These Are My Jewels 
 
 green tree top came a note like a flute's, 
 only richer, and there, amid the green 
 leaves, was slipping about a beautiful 
 orange and black thing, the Baltimore 
 oriole. And so it went on; birds seemed 
 everywhere, all because Uncle Fred had 
 eyes to see. 
 
 The creek ran through the field and 
 we stopped by it for a few minutes and 
 he told us of the three kinds of -what we 
 had called black-birds. There were some 
 running along close by the water and 
 these, Uncle Fred said, were grackles. 
 They were quite large birds of a purple 
 and greenish black color. Then, out on 
 a little island with bushes and cat-tails 
 on it, was another kind, with a bright 
 spot on its wings, and this was the red- 
 winged blackbird. Back in the field we 
 had seen a lot of rather brownish black- 
 birds, on the ground, and these Uncle 
 Fred said were cowbirds, and he told us 
 why the other birds despised them. He
 
 A Wonderful New World 81 
 
 said the male cowbird was a polygamist, 
 having any number of wives, while the 
 ladies of his family had simply no char- 
 acter at all, as home-makers. The female 
 doesn't make any nest, but, seeks out the 
 nest of some smaller bird, and lays an 
 egg or two in it. This means a tragedy, 
 for the young cowbird, when hatched, is 
 bigger than the other young in the nest, 
 and gets most of the food brought by 
 the parent birds, and so the other poor 
 little young things often starve to death. 
 In some parts of the country the cow- 
 bird is called "cow-catbird" or ''cow- 
 bunting". That word, bunting, is quite 
 new to me, but it seems common in 
 Bird-land. 
 
 So Uncle Fred went on, telling us 
 things that opened our eyes, every 
 minute. He said the Baltimore oriole 
 was named that way because the colors, 
 or livery, of an English nobleman named 
 Lord Baltimore were orange and black
 
 82 These Are My Jewels 
 
 so the early settlers named the bird 
 after him. Then Uncle Fred showed 
 us a kingbird, or "bee-martin", as some 
 people call it, and there is a bird worth 
 while! 
 
 "He is great," said Uncle Fred. "He is 
 the defender of the other birds. Let a 
 hawk hover over the thicket, creating 
 a panic among the feathered people, and 
 note what the kingbird does. He doesn't 
 hide as the others do. Not he. He flashes 
 out often accompanied by his mate, 
 and mounts upward, looking for the 
 enemy. Away up in midair the ma- 
 rauder is found, and then ensues a 
 preposterous combat. No hawk can 
 catch one of those feathered electric 
 sparks and the kingbird cannot kill, or 
 even disable, the hawk. They flash 
 about him, they pick at the top of his 
 head; they alight between the wings 
 and tug at the feathers; their keen bills 
 pierce every exposed spot. The bird-
 
 A Wonderful New World 83 
 
 hunting monster seeks in vain to seize 
 upon those little pieces of 'greased light- 
 ning/ and finally, in despair, abandons 
 all thought of a meal in the locality they 
 thus protect. That's your kingbird.'' 
 
 It was like a fairy story. Suddenly a 
 large, dark bird flitted from close beside 
 us and Uncle Fred stepped aside to a 
 place "where the ground was hard and 
 gray, and showed us two great mottled 
 eggs lying on the bare earth. They 
 were the eggs of a whippoorwill, though 
 the only nest was a smooth bit of earth. 
 Maybe it was the husband of this same 
 whippoorwill whose call we had heard 
 so often at night. Before we had reached 
 the beginning of the great pasture again, 
 Uncle Fred had showed us quite a host 
 of other birds. There were the yellow- 
 hammer or "high-holder", as he is some- 
 times called, the phoebe, the killdee, the 
 waxwing, or "cherry bird", the goldfinch 
 though we always call him the yellow-
 
 84 These Are My Jewels 
 
 bird or "wild canary", a little snipe and 
 a kingfisher, near the creek; when we 
 crossed it again at the bend, a bluebird, 
 swallows and purple martins, flying 
 above us; a quail, which was whistling 
 softly on a top rail of the fence, and four 
 kinds of sparrows, the song sparrow, the 
 vesper sparrow, the ground sparrow and 
 the chipping sparrow. All these birds 
 in one field, and Uncle Fred said we had 
 not seen half those which were about us 
 all the time in summer. We saw a red 
 squirrel and a chipmunk, too, and a 
 woodchuck, which dived into its hole in 
 a sandy place in a clover field next the 
 pasture. 
 
 Of each bird and animal, Uncle Fred 
 told us the story, how each one lived 
 and what its ways were, and of the 
 strange and interesting things which 
 happen in the lives of these people of 
 outdoors. Somehow, then, and ever 
 since that morning, I feel toward them
 
 A Wonderful New World 85 
 
 in a new way, and love them more. Jim 
 had it about right, it seemed to me, 
 when he said he felt as if he'd had a 
 handkerchief tied over his eyes all his 
 life when he was outdoors and that now 
 he'd got it off, it was going to stay off. 
 
 We had much to talk about on our 
 way back to the house and Uncle Fred 
 promised to teach us how to see things. 
 Before we reached home, he noticed an 
 ants' nest and we watched the creatures 
 awhile. He told us some strange things 
 that I could not believe if I did not know 
 that Uncle Fred never tells an untruth. 
 There are tribes of ants, he said, which 
 make war on other tribes, and take 
 prisoners, and make slaves of them, to 
 do all the work about the home of the 
 conquerors, such as keeping the place 
 clean and supplying their masters' 
 young -with food. The warlike tribes 
 of ants actually keep cows, too, or what 
 amounts to almost the same thing, for
 
 86 These Are My Jewels 
 
 they milk a kind of green insect which 
 feeds on the leaves of plants and which 
 gives a drop of sweet liquid, instead of 
 milk. It was all wonderful. 
 
 "Most of the people in the world do 
 not know what they are missing," said 
 Uncle Fred, as we neared home. "They 
 do not know what is going on around 
 them. They fail to get acquainted with 
 the birds, and four-footed animals, and 
 all the little creatures, and so lose a 
 great part of the happiness of life. To 
 one who knows all about the life of the 
 folk of the woods and fields there will 
 come, throughout all his life, much 
 unselfish pleasure. He has an advant- 
 age over others. He cannot walk in a 
 garden, or along a roadway, or across a 
 field without noting something which 
 will delight him. It is like going to a 
 theatre where are the finest performers 
 in the world. There are weddings and 
 deaths comedies and tragedies and all
 
 A Wonderful New World 87 
 
 the doings of a remarkable people. But 
 he or she who would enjoy all this must 
 learn to see. And the pleasure is of a 
 kind to make anyone, a boy or a girl, a 
 man or a woman, better of thought and 
 happier in a host of ways. It is an 
 ennobling pleasure, and is always at 
 hand." 
 
 "I can't get over my being so blind," 
 said Jim. 
 
 "I think many people go through life 
 pretty dull of eyes and hearing to all 
 around them," answered Uncle Fred, 
 very thoughtfully. "We don't half ap- 
 preciate the beings of our own kind, the 
 people we live with, and see, every day. 
 There are beauties of character among 
 our friends that we fail to note. Un- 
 selfish, devoted lives are often lived to 
 their end without any mark of notice or 
 understanding except what must come 
 from within. I think it is a pretty good 
 thing to look for what is good and beau-
 
 88 These Are My Jewels 
 
 tiful among your companions at home 
 or at school as w^ell as among the birds 
 and other creatures, for, your eyes, once 
 opened to God's endless love and -watch- 
 fulness, as shown to his children of 
 every kind all over the -world, and in all 
 situations, can never be blind again to 
 what will give endless happiness. It's a 
 good world to live in."
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 "IT IS I. BE NOT AFRAID." 
 
 It had been a very hot day, and after 
 dinner mamma and papa were sitting 
 out on the piazza, -when we all heard a 
 roll of thunder far away to the west. 
 Jim was sitting on the gate-post and I 
 was rolling the croquet balls about on 
 the lawn, when mamma called us to 
 come to her. 
 
 "Sit here with us," she said. "We are 
 watching the storm as it comes up." 
 
 I came up on the porch and looked to 
 the west, where the sound had come 
 from, and couldn't see anything except 
 what was like a great heap of white 
 wool in the sky; it seemed as if it was 
 coming out of the green lines where the 
 woods were, away off, and it kept piling 
 up higher and "higher. The air was 
 
 89
 
 90 These Are My Jewels 
 
 awfully close: it was as if you couldn't 
 get enough of it to breathe, and every- 
 thing was still. Kven the bluejays were 
 not making any noise, and the chickens 
 were gathering under the barn. There 
 wasn't a bit of breeze the leaves of the 
 cottonwood tree in the front yard were 
 not moving and everything felt, some- 
 how, strange. 
 
 All the while, the heap of wool in the 
 west kept rolling up higher and higher, 
 until it became a great, white mountain 
 in the sky, which almost overhung our 
 heads, and then at the bottom, it sud- 
 denly began to get black, and the black- 
 ness grew until all the white clouds 
 seemed to be drowned in it. There was 
 a rumbling in the clouds all the time 
 and it grew almost dark and then came 
 a little breeze and then more until it 
 grew into a great wind which screamed 
 through the branches and filled the air 
 with all sorts of flying things. After a
 
 "It Is L Be Not Afraid" 91 
 
 while, the wind went down a little, but 
 not much, and then the rain began to 
 fall in great drops which came thicker 
 and faster every moment. Just then 
 there came a great zig-zagging streak 
 of lightning, running from the top to 
 the big black cloud we were looking 
 at, and all the darkness around it was 
 lighted up. I hid my face against papa's 
 shoulder 
 
 "Don't be afraid," said papa. "You'll 
 soon learn to enjoy it all instead of being 
 fearful. It is grand." I looked at Jim 
 and he laughed at me. I could see his 
 face, just over mamma's head. 
 
 "Fraidy cat!" said Jim. 
 
 "No," mamma answered, taking hold 
 of Jim's hand, "Katherine isn't afraid, 
 and I am sure none of us will be fright- 
 ened by this splendid storm. Why, it is 
 more beautiful than the Fourth of July 
 fireworks you children enjoy so every 
 year."
 
 92 These Are My Jewels 
 
 "Yosaphine is afraid, she's drawing 
 down the window-shades, and shutting 
 the doors," Jim shouted, from the end of 
 the porch, where he could see the kitchen 
 windows. 
 
 Josephine Johnson is our cook, and 
 she calls herself "Yosaphine Yohnson," 
 because she is a Swede, and so Jim 
 always calls her Yosaphine. I ran over 
 to Jim, and, just as I leaned out to see 
 the dark kitchen windows a big drop of 
 rain struck my hair, and then came a 
 blinding flash of lightning and a perfect 
 crash of thunder. We both scuttled over 
 to papa and mamma, and Jim got to them 
 first. 
 
 "Oho!" I called out, "someone can run 
 all right, even if he isn't a fraidy cat." 
 
 Papa laughed, and took us both, with 
 mamma, into the library, for the rain 
 was blowing in upon us. But we all sat 
 by the window to watch the storm. 
 
 "Always remember," said papa, "that
 
 "It Is L Be Not Afraid" 93 
 
 the storm is not likely to harm you; that 
 you must riot fear it, because God is as 
 much in the storm as he is in the sun- 
 shine." 
 
 Just then there came another dreadful 
 crash. 
 
 "Mamma jumped at that," cried Jim. 
 
 "It was not because she was afraid," 
 said papa. "You are likely to jump at 
 any sudden noise, even when you know 
 there is no danger. That is only the 
 natural effect of any sudden shock to 
 the nerves. It is merely physical. Your 
 mother isn't frightened." 
 
 I could see that what papa said was 
 true. Mamma smiled at us all, but said 
 nothing, for the rain and wind and thun- 
 der were so loud we could scarcely hear 
 each other. 
 
 '"Fear not, I am with thee!' That is 
 a good thing to say when the storm 
 strikes," and Jim and I repeated the 
 words after papa, and he told us they
 
 94 These Are My Jewels 
 
 were God's words to all in times of 
 trouble or danger. 
 
 There were more dreadful thunder- 
 claps and great rolling peals, and the 
 lightning kept darting and flashing all 
 about but I wasn't afraid any more, 
 and I know I never shall be again. It 
 was very beautiful to look at, as soon as 
 the fear was gone. And, pretty soon, the 
 rain began to get less and less and the 
 clouds lighter and then the sun came 
 out again, and the blue sky, and every- 
 thing was glistening and fresh and one 
 couldn't help feeling happy. Even the 
 chickens came around their yard, cack- 
 ling and clucking as if they understood 
 it all, and, in an elm tree in the street, a 
 robin was singing as if he had been left 
 a fortune. 
 
 I think it must be that one kind of 
 courage makes another, for when the 
 storm was over and I had learned not to 
 be afraid any more, I became all at once
 
 "It Is L Be Not Afraid" 95 
 
 brave about something else which had 
 troubled me for a long time. I hadn't 
 been afraid of anything real, but just of 
 being laughed at, and I think that is 
 about the hardest thing in the world 
 to endure. Now, I thought that, if I 
 wasn't afraid of a thunder-storm, I 
 surely needn't be afraid of having any 
 one make fun of me, and I acted as 
 quickly as I could, so that I would not 
 falter in my resolution. 
 
 I went upstairs into my room and from 
 the lower drawer in the bureau I took 
 Maybelle Louise and Lucretia Mott, and 
 brought them down to the library. I sat 
 down near mamma with one of the dear 
 girls on each arm. 
 
 Maybelle Louise and Lucretia Mott 
 are my dolls. I love them and I like to 
 play with them, but Jim begun laughing 
 at me some time ago as a great girl too 
 big to be playing with dolls, and I had 
 put them away, as I thought, forever.
 
 96 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Maybelle Louise is very pretty, with 
 blue eyes and flaxen hair and a pink 
 chiffon dress and hat. Lucretia Mott 
 was given to me by a little girl who 
 had tired of playing with her. She was 
 dressed in a black gown, with a white 
 shawl pinned across her shoulders, and 
 she had on a cunning little white cap, 
 like an old lady. When mamma first 
 saw her she said, "Why, there's Lucretia 
 Mott!" I liked that name, and as mam- 
 ma said Lucretia Mott was a very good 
 woman, I named my doll after her at 
 once. 
 
 I had been very lonesome after my 
 Maybelle and Lucretia were locked up 
 in the bureau drawers, but I couldn't 
 bear to have Jim making fun of me, so I 
 contented myself with peeping in at the 
 dear girls once or twice a day, and Jim 
 thought I had forgotten all about them. 
 Little did he know a fond mother's heart! 
 
 And now when I heard that I must
 
 "It Is L Be Not Afraid" 97 
 
 fear not even the thunder, I thought I 
 must make a stand not to be scared 
 away from Maybelle and Lucretia by 
 Jim's ridicule and laughter. 
 
 Sure enough, the moment Jim saw the 
 dolls in my arms he began to laugh. 
 Papa was telling us that he thought we 
 had behaved very well in the storm, and 
 as he talked, he noticed Jim's laughing. 
 "Papa," I said, "I am going to play 
 with my dolls, and not care for Jim's 
 laughing at me. They are lonely for me, 
 up there in the dark bureau drawer, and 
 I miss them very much. You may laugh 
 if you want to," I said, turning to Jim. 
 "I am not afraid of being laughed at." 
 
 "Then you are a very brave young 
 lady," said papa, kissing me. "It takes 
 real courage to endure being laughed at, 
 and often it becomes a duty to bear, for 
 the sake of principle, all sorts of ridi- 
 cule." 
 
 Jim came over then and stood close by
 
 98 These Are My Jewels 
 
 me. "Your'e all right, Kit!" was all he 
 said, but it made me feel fine! 
 
 Then papa looked at Maybelle and 
 Lucretia, and he told us how Lucretia 
 Mott, for -whom my doll was named, had 
 been a brave woman, always working 
 for what she thought was right, never 
 fearing either laughter or blame from 
 those who might oppose her. And, from 
 that time, though Maybelle is much the 
 prettiest, and poor Lucretia is far from 
 being a beauty, I loved Lucretia best. 
 
 That night, when mamma was helping 
 me as I went to undress for bed, I told 
 her that it seemed to me we were always 
 fighting fears of some kind, little or big. 
 And she said that it was because men 
 and women had for so many years and 
 ages allowed themselves to be afraid of 
 everything around them in God's beau- 
 tiful world. "Fear has become a habit," 
 she said; "it spoils life for thousands of 
 people. We must all learn to deny every
 
 "It is I, Be Not Afraid." 99 
 
 thought of fear the moment it comes into 
 our minds." And she taught me the 
 beautiful twenty-third Psalm, begin- 
 ning: 
 
 "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not 
 want," and ending: "Surely goodness and 
 mercy shall follow me all the days of my 
 life, and I shall dwell in the house of the 
 Lord forever." 
 
 There came up another storm, but the 
 thunder now only jarred and muttered a 
 little, away off, and the rain pattered 
 steadily overhead, making me so drowsy 
 I could only say my prayers just in time 
 to keep from being asleep at the Amen. 
 
 Maybelle and Lucretia Mott were 
 tucked in beside me, and we all slept 
 well.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 WORK, TRUST, AND DON'T WORRY. 
 
 Uncle Fred has a -way of saying things 
 so that you never forget them. 
 
 One day, I remember, we were boiling 
 the kettle it was a tin pail to make 
 coffee for luncheon in the woods, for we 
 do that very often now. 
 
 We kept piling bits of branches upon 
 the fire and as we were hungry, we all 
 stood looking at the pail to see the coffee 
 boil. The sandwiches were laid out upon 
 pieces of bark and the gingerbread and 
 cheese, pickles and cookies looked as if 
 they could hardly wait to be eaten. It 
 seemed as if the coffee would never boil. 
 
 We had made the coffee regular camp 
 fashion, under Uncle Fred's orders. We 
 had brought a cup of freshly-ground 
 
 coffee from home. This we put into the 
 100
 
 Work, Trust and Don't Worry 101 
 
 tin pail, then filled the pail almost full 
 of fresh spring water and set it on the 
 fire. It was to come to a boil and be 
 left to bubble as hard as it could for a 
 minute or two. Then a splash of cold 
 water must be thrown in to "settle" it, 
 and we were promised something 
 awfully good to drink with pure, thick, 
 Jersey cream, and a lump of sugar or 
 two for each tin cup. 
 
 "A watched pot never boils," said 
 Uncle Fred. 
 
 "That's a proverb," said Johnny Lane. 
 "What queer things proverbs are." 
 
 '"There is wisdom in some of them," 
 said Uncle Fred," and this one about the 
 'watched pot' is certainly a hint in the 
 right direction." 
 
 "Do you really believe there is any- 
 thing in our eyes to keep the coffee 
 from boiling," asked Mary, going over to 
 where Uncle Fred was sitting on a log 
 waiting for luncheon.
 
 102 These Are My Jewels 
 
 "I don't know, some eyes might dis- 
 courage the coals, they're so bright," 
 said Uncle Fred, laughing. 
 
 "Oh, you are practicing speeches for 
 young ladies," and Mary laughed, too. 
 
 We were all around Uncle Fred, now, 
 forgetting all about the coffee, when he 
 cried out: 
 
 "There! It's boiling over! Let the lid 
 alone it had to come up the steam 
 lifted it. Set the pail on the edge of the 
 fire where it isn't so hot, and let it boil 
 more gently for a minute. Now, dash in 
 the cold water. There! The coffee is 
 ready!" 
 
 We had a jolly luncheon and while we 
 were sitting around after it, talking and 
 laughing, Johnny Lane began again 
 about the proverb Uncle Fred had used. 
 
 "And it was true, this time," I couldn't 
 help saying. "The coffee wouldn't boil 
 while we all stood around watching it, 
 and, just as we forgot all about it, over
 
 Work, Trust and Don't Worry 103 
 
 it came into the fire." "If you want me to 
 tell you what I think is the inner mean- 
 ing of that saying, I will," said Uncle 
 Fred. "But it may sound a little like a 
 sermon." 
 
 "Never mind, fire away!" Jim replied. 
 Jim is sometimes just a little but I am 
 to remember not to find fault! Jim is an 
 impulsive, warm-hearted boy. 
 
 "Simple people long ago made the 
 proverbs or sayings we hear yet," went 
 on Uncle Fred, "some of them have 
 ceased to be quite apt, but all of them 
 have a core of real meaning which can 
 be found, by a little attention. 
 
 Take 'The watched pot never boils.' 
 Who has not noticed how slowly the 
 hands creep around the face of a clock, 
 when you are waiting for a certain hour 
 or minute? When your mind is eagerly 
 fixed upon anything to come you say the 
 time goes slow. Think of something 
 else and the minutes fly as usual."
 
 104 These Are My Jewels 
 
 We all nodded at each other over this. 
 We had everyone of us counted the slow 
 minutes many times when we were wait- 
 ing for something pleasant. 
 
 "It is different when there's trouble 
 ahead," sighed John Peterson," then 
 time goes like a horse running." 
 
 Uncle Fred laughed and said that 
 John was a dismal philosopher. And 
 he quoted something from Shakspeare, 
 almost like John's remark. Then he 
 grew very serious, arid we all edged as 
 close to him as we could, for we could 
 see by his look that he had something 
 very important to say to us. 
 
 "There is a deep meaning to be got 
 into the old saying, if not out of it. If 
 you will listen very thoughtfully I will 
 tell you what I mean." 
 
 We all promised to listen, hard, and so 
 he went on. 
 
 "When you are doing anything, con- 
 centrate your mind upon your work or
 
 Work, Trust and Don't Worry 105 
 
 your play, but when you are through, 
 when you have done all you can for the 
 time, stop thinking about it, and do not 
 worry over the part some one else must 
 do. And don't fix your thoughts on 
 something or somebody in fear that 
 they will go wrong. In short, do your 
 own work, do it well, and don't worry. 
 Don't be afraid your fire is going to go 
 out, or that the kettle you have set over 
 it is going to get cold instead of hot. 
 
 "If you have laid the fire properly, and 
 put the kettle on right, with the thing 
 you want cooked in the kettle, you have 
 done your part. The forces of nature, 
 or God, rather let us say, will do the 
 rest. 
 
 "The teachers of New Thought have 
 very important things to say along this 
 line. We believe that when our minds 
 become burdened over what are called 
 cares and troubles, we should resolutely 
 turn our thoughts away from the dis-
 
 106 These Are My Jewels 
 
 turbing subject and fix them upon some- 
 thing calming, beautiful and good. 
 
 "The forces of God work for good at 
 all times. What is best, what is right, is 
 going to happen without our overlook- 
 ing and trying to 'boss' things. If you 
 think of beautiful, restful things, trust- 
 ing in the wisdom and goodness of God, 
 having first done all that is due from 
 you, what you have worked and hoped 
 for will appear." 
 
 "Sometimes," said Sandy very soberly, 
 "we worry a lot over some one else's 
 affair, and then we get other people to 
 fretting, and those who are trying to do 
 something get harried so that they can't 
 work well." 
 
 Uncle Fred liked that. I guess he 
 hadn't expected it from Sandy. 
 
 "I have heard of children who planted 
 some garden seeds," said he, laying his 
 hand upon Sandy's shoulder, "and the 
 next day the children were so anxious
 
 Work, Trust and Don't Worry 107 
 
 to see whether the plants were growing 
 that they dug up the seeds to look at 
 them. Every day they turned up the 
 soil and held the poor seeds in their 
 hands, and looked them over. Then they 
 stuck them back into the ground for a 
 few hours. The seeds never sprouted, 
 and the garden they wanted to have 
 became a patch of weeds." 
 
 "Look at that navy blue bird up there!" 
 cried Agnes Lane, suddenly, pointing at 
 a beech branch right over our heads. 
 
 O, - such a tiny bird it was, and so 
 queerly blue! 
 
 "It is an indigo bird," said Uncle Fred 
 very softly. "I wish he would sing. From 
 the way he acts I believe he has a nest 
 near by." 
 
 "Isn't he a beauty!" exclaimed Ellen. 
 "How sweet he would look on a black 
 velvet hat!" 
 
 "Oh, Ellen," said Mary, "I didn't think 
 you could say that! I think the bird is
 
 108 These Are My Jewels 
 
 beautiful as it is now, but I should hate 
 to see the poor dead thing on a hat." 
 
 Ellen flushed very red, but said noth- 
 ing. Uncle Fred looked at her kindly. 
 
 "Ellen spoke thoughtlessly," said he, 
 "but she commands her tongue very 
 -well now, I am sure. It is hard to be 
 rebuked isn't it?" 
 
 Ellen's eyes filled with tears. 
 
 "I was only thinking how lovely the 
 bird was, and wishing I could see him 
 every day," said Mary. 
 
 "Somewhere near here, in a small tree 
 or shrub, perhaps in that thicket over 
 there," said Uncle Fred, "is a nest, a 
 beautiful little nest, full of young in- 
 digo birds. That one we just saw is the 
 young birds' father, and their mother I 
 noticed too, a moment ago. They are 
 out foraging for their young ones. If 
 they should be killed what would be- 
 come of the nest full of young birds ?"
 
 Work, Trust and Don't Worry 109 
 
 "They would slowly starve to death," 
 answered Jim. 
 
 "They would die, neglected and mis- 
 erable, perhaps, because some boy or 
 man had killed the parent birds for cruel 
 pleasure, or for profit. The plumage of 
 birds is at its best when their nestlings 
 are young and dependent upon them for 
 food. So at that time the pretty things 
 are a mark for hunters of beautiful 
 plumage for ladies' hats. It is hard to 
 imagine more misery than the death 
 of these little blue things would cause. 
 That is why no one who has once 
 thought about it can bear to wear, as 
 an ornament, the wings, or breast, or 
 head, or body of any wild bird." 
 
 "Why do the laws except the feathers 
 of game and domestic birds?" I asked, 
 and felt rather fine in showing that I 
 remembered what I had heard someone 
 say. 
 
 "Because the young of such birds are
 
 110 These Are My Jewels 
 
 protected. During the nesting season no 
 game birds can be killed," -was Uncle 
 Fred's answer. 
 
 "Well," said Jim, "I don't like feathers 
 of any kind on a girl's hat. I like 
 chicken, but not chicken feathers, un- 
 less they are stuffed into pillows." 
 
 Mamma never wears feathers and she 
 has taught Jim and me not to help in 
 any way to lessen the numbers of wild 
 birds; for we love them. 
 
 The little indigo bird hopped about, as 
 if it knew we wouldn't hurt it, and at 
 last raised a song so sweet and so loud 
 that we were all enchanted. 
 
 From birds, Uncle Fred got to talking 
 about animals, wild and domestic. It 
 was this day that Uncle Fred told us 
 the story of Bark, a curly little dog that 
 saved its master's life when he went to 
 be a soldier. 
 
 Uncle Fred is very fond of dogs, and 
 all kinds of animals, and he had been
 
 Work, Trust and Don't Worry 111 
 
 telling us how bad it was to tease and 
 plague a dog. He says their feelings are 
 easily hurt, and that their love and devo- 
 tion deserve a better return than most 
 people give. 
 
 "Anyone who will keep a dog, a cat or 
 bird and not feed it and love it, and see 
 that it does not pine away in loneliness, 
 is not fit to own any sort of a pet," he 
 said. But I must tell about Bark. 
 
 In the very first part of the great war 
 between the states there was a farmer's 
 boy in Wisconsin who enlisted for three 
 months in the Fourth Wisconsin regi- 
 ment, and when he left home he took 
 his pet dog, a curly little fellow named 
 Bark, with him, and it was allowed to 
 run about the camps, for military rules 
 were not very strict at first. 
 
 Amos Steer was the boy's name. In 
 the very first fight he was in he was 
 sent with others a little away from his 
 regiment into a thicket, for he was a
 
 112 These Are My Jewels 
 
 great shot, and had a sharpshooter's 
 rifle. He was to shoot at the enemy as 
 he thought best when any of them came 
 within his range. 
 
 There was a lively skirmish and the 
 Confederates, who were fighting bravely, 
 fired some shells, and Amos was struck by 
 a piece of shell and was badly wounded 
 in his hip so he could not walk. His reg- 
 iment was driven off, and not until night 
 did anyone come to pick up the dead and 
 wounded. And, even then, Amos came 
 very near being left to die. When the 
 soldiers came at first they could not find 
 him, for he was hidden in the thicket 
 and was so weak he could not call loud 
 euough to make them hear. 
 
 But Bark came with the men from 
 Amos' company, and he kept running 
 round and round until he found his 
 master. Then he set up such an excited 
 yapping that one of the seekers heard 
 him and went to see what ailed him.
 
 Work, Trust and Don't Worry 113 
 
 There was poor Amos, almost dead, 
 and his life was saved only by the 
 greatest care. 
 
 Amos soon came home on sick leave. 
 He brought Bark with him but the little 
 dog was not allowed to go to the war 
 again. He lived to be an old dog, and 
 was renamed "Soldier." When he died 
 the children of Amos put a monument 
 .over his little grave telling all about his 
 saving his master's life, and on Decora- 
 tion Day the children always put a little 
 flag over the place where the brave dog 
 lies. 
 
 And we all agreed after we heard this 
 true story that the dog deserves to be 
 called "The Friend of Man." 
 
 It is funny how often on the same day 
 we get to thinking and talking about 
 entirely different things. On the even- 
 ing of the day we were talking about 
 dogs we were idling about in the front
 
 114 These Are My Jewels 
 
 yard that is, Uncle Fred and Jim and I 
 when Uncle Fred said: 
 
 "Well, Jim, what is it?" for Jim was 
 looking sober. 
 
 "I was just thinking what a good 
 fellow mamma is." 
 
 "Woman, you mean," I said. 
 
 "No, I don't. Mamma and I had a bully 
 time last night before papa came home 
 and while you were off with Uncle Fred. 
 She told me something that has made a 
 new thinking inside me. I guess it must 
 be in my heart." 
 
 "What was it, Jim?" Uncle Fred asked. 
 
 "Mamma said that we must learn the 
 'Father-Mother' presence of God before 
 the real meaning of being 'at one,' or 
 at-one-ment was made plain. In the man 
 the feminine intuition was to be culti- 
 vated, and in the woman the masculine 
 reason was to be brought forth, to make 
 a perfect whole. The more even, I guess, 
 the better. Anyway, I have been think-
 
 Work, Trust and Don't Worry 115 
 
 ing what makes papa so good is the 
 mother part of him." 
 
 "Then mamma must be good because 
 she has so much papa." 
 
 "Well, anyway," said Jim, "both to- 
 gether of them is better than either 
 alone." 
 
 "Good for you, Jim," said Uncle Fred, 
 "you have unconsciously repeated almost 
 the words of a famous preacher." 
 
 "Proof of my great mind, isn't it?" 
 said Jim. "What were the words, Uncle 
 Fred?" 
 
 "The great preacher said that 'man 
 as man was better than 'woman, that 
 woman as woman was better than man, 
 but that both together were better than 
 either alone.'" 
 
 "Was he a New Thought man?" Jim 
 asked. 
 
 "Yes; but he was born fifty years or 
 more too soon "
 
 116 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Just then Jim gave a howl, turned 
 a complete summersault, and started 
 down the hill. He was after Bildad 
 about something.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONSCIENCE. 
 
 There is one thing certain, if Jim and 
 I haven't done quite as well as we ex- 
 pected in keeping the new way of living, 
 we have got to thinking in a new way 
 and getting lots of enjoyment out of 
 things we never dreamed of before. 
 May be it is because we ask so many 
 questions, but papa and mamma always 
 encourage us in that. 
 
 The evening of the day when we went 
 through the pasture with Uncle Fred we 
 were all together on the piazza and Jim 
 and I were telling of what we had seen. 
 "We've got lots to learn about seeing, 
 Kit," said Jim. "Why," he went on, "I 
 
 117
 
 118 These Are My Jewels 
 
 don't believe we could even see a ghost, 
 unless it was pointed out to us!" 
 
 "I believe you never will," laughed 
 papa, who had overheard us; "that is, if 
 you have a healthy mind." 
 
 "But were there never any ghosts at 
 any time?" asked Jim. "If there were 
 never any ghosts why are the old story 
 books so full of them, and why are some 
 people afraid of them, even now? Viggo 
 Slann wouldn't go through a graveyard 
 at night for anything. He says there 
 are what he calls 'hants' there, and that 
 it isn't safe, by a long shot." 
 
 "There are no ghosts," was papa's 
 answer. "The belief in them is but a 
 relic of the old superstition prevailing in 
 the world when people had not learned 
 as much of God's ways as now. Had it 
 been his will that those who have gone 
 from this world before us should appear 
 to us again in this world, rest assured 
 they would not come in the ridiculous
 
 Conscience 119 
 
 or alarming shape the foolish and igno- 
 rant describe. They would not be flitting 
 aimlessly around graveyards at night, 
 nor haunt old houses where some crime 
 may have been committed. They would 
 be in better business. Those who loved 
 us, you may be certain, would come in 
 loving and reasoning guise, and we 
 would not be afraid, but would be glad. 
 But God in his wisdom has not seen fit 
 that those who have preceded us in the 
 world to come, should visit us here 
 again. We hope and feel that we shall 
 meet them, but he has seen best to 
 assure us of that in other ways than 
 through their appearances and mes- 
 sages. It is all for the best, somehow. 
 You needn't fear. There are no ghosts." 
 "It would be pretty uncomfortable 
 work to be a ghost, anyhow, if there 
 were any," remarked Jim. "To be scoot- 
 ing about in a graveyard at night, in 
 winter, without any fire, or wandering,
 
 120 These Are My Jewels 
 
 with your throat cut, up and down the 
 hallways of some falling-down old house, 
 ought to be trying on the system, espe- 
 cially to the women and children ghosts. 
 I'd rather have a job in brighter places, 
 and in the daytime." 
 
 "Well, I'm not surprised at your taste 
 in the matter," said papa, "though dark- 
 ness is nothing to be afraid of. You 
 have both been taught that. I'm glad to 
 know that Kit, here, is not afraid to go 
 into the cellar at night for anything we 
 want, and to have noticed, too, that, 
 when she knows just where the thing 
 is, she doesn't take a lamp. The fear of 
 darkness is, in itself, partly a super- 
 stition allied with the ghost foolish- 
 ness, or, it may be, a dim inheritance 
 coming down from the time when dan- 
 gerous wild animals were abundant, 
 when human beings, then comparatively 
 defenseless, could not safely venture out 
 at hours when they couldn't see as well
 
 Conscience 121 
 
 as could the beasts. But there are no 
 wild beasts to dread in most countries 
 now, and darkness conies only as the 
 time of needed rest and sleep, to refresh 
 us for the daylight again." 
 
 "But isn't there anything in the world 
 to be afraid of," asked Jim, "anything 
 that we can't see, or touch, but just, 
 somehow, feel? Isn't our conscience that 
 way?" 
 
 I was astonished at Jim. I didn't 
 know that he had paid any particular 
 attention to conscience, himself, though, 
 when we disagree sometimes about the 
 division of things, or something like 
 that, he puts on a solemn face, though 
 he can't always keep his eyes sober, and 
 says, in a sad voice, that he will leave it 
 to my conscience. Then I generally give 
 in, though I have my doubts. Now, his 
 question showed that he had been really 
 thinking about conscience sometimes 
 when I never suspected him.
 
 122 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Papa was going to explain, when Mr. 
 Duncan called to see him about some- 
 thing, and then Uncle Fred and Jim and 
 I went out on the porch and sat watch- 
 ing fireflies, or lightning-bugs, as most 
 of the children call them. I guess both 
 names are right. Uncle Fred was telling 
 a funny story, which he said he was 
 afraid wasn't quite true, about a man 
 'who was so stingy that he mixed light- 
 ning-bugs with his bees so that the 
 bees could work at night, when Jim 
 broke out again: 
 
 "What is there about conscience, any- 
 how?" 
 
 "There's a good deal," said Uncle 
 Fred. "It seems to me that the most 
 wonderful difference between human 
 beings and all other animals is that we 
 have what we call a conscience. We 
 have a something within us -which tells 
 us when we have done wrong, a regret 
 and, sometimes, far more than that.
 
 Conscience 123 
 
 something which clings to us. I will 
 give you an illustration. There are thou- 
 sands and tens of thousands of men and 
 women in the world, good men and 
 women, too, who will go down to their 
 graves regretful and conscience-pricked, 
 because they forgot one thing. Away 
 from their parents, absorbed with their 
 own affairs, they have neglected their 
 father and mother, those who brought 
 them into the world and cherished them 
 and cared for them. They may have 
 been grateful to their parents in a way; 
 but what a father or mother hungers for 
 in old age is the continuance of some- 
 thing like the trust and companionship 
 there was before the child left home. 
 Occasional letters, little remembrances 
 on birthdays, visits and the constant 
 keeping up of the relationship of youth 
 these are the real things that make 
 parents happy in their old age. They do 
 not like to think that they are most of
 
 124 These Are My Jewels 
 
 the time forgotten. Always remember 
 that. Even the Chinese, it seems to me, 
 are better than we in this one thing. 
 They are lovingly attentive to their 
 parents to the end of life, while we are 
 careless. Many a time I have heard 
 some man or woman say: 'I wish I had 
 been more thoughtful. They would have 
 been so much happier, and I would now 
 have something to be glad of, something 
 comforting to nae always.' 
 
 "I've only spoken of this one thing to 
 show you what conscience is. Of course 
 there are a thousand times in our daily 
 life when conscience speaks at once and 
 sometimes, loudly. We may crush it for 
 a time, but it rises again. It is always 
 with us. I read a strange poem not long 
 ago, which I have in my pocket book 
 and which describes our conscience, 
 but not, I think, in the way it should 
 be pictured. It is one of the things 
 which tells us there is another life. It is
 
 Conscience 125 
 
 God guarding and advising us. The 
 poem does not give the right idea, but it 
 at least tells us how watchful conscience 
 is. I'll read you a verse or two of it: 
 
 THE GRAY PATROL. 
 
 Taut bridle, comrade; the ride is done; 
 There is no debate the Patrol has won. 
 Slower we'll ride till we fairly brave 
 The gap in our way which man calls the grave; 
 But, even then, shall we know our dole 
 From our life is paid to the Gray Patrol, 
 What some call Conscience, the Gray Patrol? 
 
 We have fought or fled in the reckless ride, 
 Through fields of yellow, through seeping tide; 
 We have turned, as the Berserker turned, at 
 
 bay; 
 We have hewed him down and have had our 
 
 way, 
 
 And again he has ridden as yesterday 
 Close beside us has leaped or stole 
 Close beside us, the Gray Patrol. 
 
 When days were ruddy, when days were dark, 
 We have left him lying, face up and stark; 
 We have left him, fully and fairly slain,
 
 126 These Are My Jewels 
 
 But ever he leaps into life again, 
 And ever he rides at our bridle rein. 
 Ever he worries us, O, my soul, 
 Bver he rides with us, cheek by jowl, 
 This clinging marshal, the Gray Patrol. 
 
 Taut bridle, comrade the race is run 
 There is no debate rthe Patrol has won. 
 
 I am glad Uncle Fred explained that 
 the queer poem did not tell us the right 
 way to look upon conscience, though it 
 seems to me as if I shall often think of 
 it for a moment as something gray and 
 watchful and never dying. I shall try 
 to consider it always as our best friend, 
 going along with us and caring for us 
 and pointing out the dangerous places. 
 
 And I learned more than that about 
 just leaning on what conscience told us 
 to do and then doing it, and then, after 
 that, fearing nothing and having a feel- 
 ing of strength, of being able to do 
 almost anything. I asked papa, one 
 evening, if God gave us conscience to
 
 Conscience 127 
 
 show that he was backing us up may be 
 that wasn't a very good expression as 
 long as we did -what it told us? 
 
 "There are some things," said papa, 
 very earnestly, "that no one can under- 
 stand. God is so great that it is beyond 
 the power of any human being to im- 
 agine him. We say "him," speaking of 
 God, but we must not think of God as a 
 man. 'God is a spirit.' 'God is love.' We 
 can neither describe nor imagine spirit or 
 love in any solid, tangible or visible form. 
 A great, brooding influence, active in all 
 things, controlling all things for good, is 
 God. 
 
 "You can love and trust God but you 
 can never understand him. It is enough 
 to believe. Job, the just and good man, 
 when he was sorely troubled, said: 
 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in 
 him." He could not understand why 
 God afflicted his loyal servant, but he 
 trusted and loved God still, knowing 
 that 'God is love.'
 
 128 These Are My Jewels 
 
 "Lift yourself toward God by praying, 
 and by thinking of all his goodness as 
 shown by everything around you; by 
 your loving mother, and by your friends; 
 by the beautiful flowers and trees, and 
 the grass which clothes the bare earth. 
 Every moment God's love surrounds you, 
 but you may as well know now arid 
 forever that there are limits to human 
 powers. There is the unknowable, the 
 unthinkable, and God no one can encom- 
 pass or understand. 
 
 "It is just the same with a grown-up, 
 strong man, who has been out a long 
 time in the world of grown-up people, 
 though in a different way, as it is with 
 you two children. 
 
 "A man, unless he has the broader 
 thought, has the same apprehension 
 when he goes out to get a note extended 
 that means asking somebody to give 
 you a longer time in which to pay some 
 money that you have, perhaps, when
 
 Conscience 129 
 
 you come to ask your mother or me 
 about something. 
 
 "Or it may be, that instead of going to 
 ask a favor, it is something some busi- 
 ness proposition that will be of benefit 
 both to him and the other man. In the 
 first case when he is asking a favor 
 he knows what he wants, perfectly, and 
 knows how to utilize what he is asking 
 for, and he puts the case bluntly, and 
 takes the consequences. In the second 
 case he knows that he thinks he is right 
 and so puts the proposition bluntly too, 
 and takes the consequences. 
 
 "By bluntly, I do not mean roughly, 
 but with all good sense and confidence 
 honest confidence and firmness. When 
 you go to other people doubtfully, you 
 do not impress them rightly, though you 
 may be right. When you go to them 
 strong and confident, the one man gives 
 you a longer time in which to pay your 
 money, and the other joins with you
 
 130 These Are My Jewels 
 
 like a brother in your enterprise. There 
 is something between minds some- 
 thing which we do not understand as 
 yet, but which comes from the good God 
 who has arranged these things that 
 communicates itself between minds and 
 makes others trust you or join with you, 
 they could not tell why themselves. 
 
 "It is so with the affairs of you chil- 
 dren: it will be so all through life."
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY. 
 
 "Run along I am in a lazy mood, but 
 I will catch up with you before you get 
 home." 
 
 That was what Uncle Fred said as Jim 
 and I walked with him along the country 
 road that comes into Merrivale from the 
 woods. It was toward evening, and Jim 
 and I were hungry after our long walk, 
 but we were not tired. Uncle Fred was 
 not tired, either, but I had a feeling that 
 he wanted to be alone there on the still 
 road, and so Jim and I chased each other 
 down the hill and across the meadow 
 where the foot-path runs 'cross lots from 
 the wide, curving road, to the town. 
 
 "Queer about grown up people," Jim 
 
 131
 
 132 These Are My Jewels* 
 
 said, when we came to a walk in Potter's 
 pasture. "They like to be alone some- 
 times, papa says, but boys like best to 
 go in a crowd. Uncle Fred is better 
 company than any boy I know. I won- 
 der what he wants to be alone for? He's 
 standing there on top of the hill and 
 does not see us, or he would wave his 
 hat." 
 
 We waved at him, but he didn't notice 
 us, so we went on. 
 
 "Did you ever think that Uncle Fred's 
 heart was broken?" I asked. 
 
 "Jim was so surprised and tickled at 
 the idea that he threw himself down on 
 the grass and rolled over two or three 
 times before he answered. 
 
 "Heart-broken! You're silly! Men's 
 hearts don't break. You must think 
 Uncle Fred is made of something brit- 
 tle!" 
 
 "I don't either," I said; "I'm in real 
 earnest, and you needn't laugh. Mary
 
 The Committee of Inquiry 133 
 
 Duncan was speaking, only yesterday, 
 of the change that has come over Uncle 
 Fred since last summer when he was so 
 much at Colonel Nesbit's." 
 
 "He's a lot jollier, and more with us 
 than he was last year, Kit, and you know 
 it." 
 
 "But Jim," I answered, "there's no use 
 of your denying it Miss Nesbit is a 
 beautiful young lady, and last year 
 everyone said that Uncle Fred was go- 
 ing to marry her, and they were devoted 
 to each other, and now they haven't 
 really spoken yet. Uncle Fred looked 
 quite pale tonight and you know we 
 met Miss Nesbit again today and they 
 were just as stiff as ever. Didn't she 
 look sweet, in her white dress?" 
 
 "How girls talk!" was all Jim an- 
 swered; then, after a while, he said, in a 
 sort of contradicting way, "He is only 
 hungry," meaning Uncle Fred, I sup- 
 pose. And just then he came loping
 
 134 These Are My Jewels 
 
 along after us and we came home, all 
 three together. 
 
 We had an extra fine dinner, and in 
 the midst of it I felt something against 
 me under the tablecloth. It was Jim 
 handing me a note written on his dinner 
 napkin "with a blue pencil, of course 
 when mamma wasn't looking. 
 
 "Broken heart indeed!" it said, "Look 
 at him eat!" 
 
 My feelings were hurt. Uncle Fred 
 was certainty making the spring lamb 
 and green peas look scary. 
 
 But we have really been troubled 
 awfully, all of us children, I mean, un- 
 less it might be Jim and Sandy, over 
 Uncle Fred and Miss Nesbit. We all 
 like both of them so that we've wanted 
 to have them make up. I had a long 
 talk with Mary, and we decided that 
 something ought to be done, and Bllen 
 and Agnes said they would help, and so 
 did even Johnny Lane, who said it was
 
 The Committee of Inquiry 135 
 
 what he esteemed an important matter, 
 and we liked him for it, even if he does 
 sometimes use such dignified words. 
 We made a firm resolution. 
 
 So, that evening, though Jim had 
 passed me such a scornful note at table> 
 I had a talk with him again and he was 
 pretty good about it and said, finally, 
 that he would help, and get Sandy into 
 it, too. We planned a while and Jim pro- 
 posed that we call a meeting, to con- 
 sider, he said, the state of the nation 
 and Uncle Fred. Then he grinned, and 
 used language almost as large as Johnny 
 Lane's. He had become convinced, he 
 declared, when he came to revolve the 
 past in his mind, that something was 
 far from well with our beloved Uncle. 
 
 Jim and Sandy belong to the Daniel 
 Webster Debating Society, made up of 
 the boys in their room at school. They 
 are learning a great deal that is useful, 
 and parliamentary law, besides. I don't
 
 136 These Afe My Jewels 
 
 know what kind of law that is, but I am 
 sure I have spelled it right. 
 
 I was appointed to call the meeting 
 at two o'clock the next day, under the 
 Farmer's Graft apple tree at the back of 
 our orchard. It was to be a secret meet- 
 ing, and everyone invited was given a 
 pass-word. If anyone came without that 
 word, he or she could not come over the 
 orchard fence. 
 
 Jim took all night to think of the pass- 
 word. In the morning he first gave me 
 "Eureka." Then he changed his mind 
 and gave me a new one. It was "Dis- 
 cretion." Before I started out to de- 
 liver the summons to the committee he 
 wanted to change the password again, 
 but I wouldn't do it, and so that was 
 settled. As it happened I forgot and 
 gave the word "Eureka" to some, and 
 "Discretion" to others, but Jim was door- 
 keeper and let all of the committee mem- 
 bers in, no matter what they said, and
 
 The Committee of Inquiry 137 
 
 they all came, even the Rat; but the 
 Slann boys, when they came about, -were 
 kept away most of the time. They were 
 not on the committee. 
 
 We did not call John Peterson to this 
 meeting, either. Jim said that he did 
 not care to have John know about an 
 affair so important to the family. It was 
 all right to take the Duncans and Lanes 
 into our confidence, but with Johannes 
 burg Pietersburg it was different. 
 
 Johnn} r Lane thought, when he heard 
 of Pietersburg's being left out, that Jim 
 wanted to run the committee himself, 
 but when Johnny said this, Jim used 
 very hard words and it almost broke up 
 the meeting, until I called Jim to his 
 senses by reminding him of what mam- 
 ma had said to us, only the night before, 
 about self-control. 
 
 "If you can not rule yourself," she 
 said, "you can not control anj^one else." 
 And she gave us the text to learn:
 
 138 These Are My Jewels 
 
 "He that ruleth his own spirit is 
 greater than he that taketh a city." 
 
 Jim looked vexed at first, but he made 
 an effort to keep calm, and came out 
 nobly. "I guess I can rule a city," he 
 said. 
 
 "I nominate James Lawson for chair- 
 man," broke in Sandy Duncan. 
 
 We all shouted "Aye!" and Jim took 
 his seat in the shade, with his back 
 against the apple tree. 
 
 "I will appoint John Lane secretary," 
 he said, with great dignity, first looking 
 in his little book at the place his thumb 
 held ready for him. 
 
 Then we all cheered, and Johnny made 
 a speech in which he called Jim a "Mag- 
 naminous Hector" and compared him to 
 Aristides the Just, whoever he was. 
 
 The Lane girls giggled at this speech; 
 but Mary and I, realizing the grave situ- 
 ation, remained quiet and attentive. 
 
 "The secretary will read the call for this
 
 The Committee of Inquiry 139 
 
 meeting and state its object," remarked 
 Jim, -with terrible suddenness, rising to 
 his feet. He had looked at his book 
 again during the applause. Now he 
 glared fiercely at Johnny Lane, who had 
 perched upon a lower limb of the tree. 
 
 Johnny flushed crimson. "I don't 
 know the object of this meeting the 
 invitations to it were not written," he 
 managed to say at last, hopping off the 
 branch he had been sitting on. 
 
 Sandy and the Rat grinned, and then 
 I noticed that everyone was looking at 
 me, for I had told them all to come to 
 the meeting, and had given each one 
 the secret password. 
 
 Jim fixed a piercing gaze upon me, 
 too, and said: "If there is no objection 
 Katherine Lawson will state the object 
 of this meeting." 
 
 This was awful. Here I was called on 
 to make a speech in a meeting! I rose 
 from the ground, and tried to say some-
 
 140 These Are My Jewels 
 
 thing and couldn't. I just sort of clucked, 
 and then started to run away. 
 
 "Come back!" yelled Jim, and he ran 
 after me and caught me. Then we all 
 sat down in a ring on the grass and 
 talked over the love of Uncle Fred and 
 Miss Nesbit and its sad ending. t 
 
 We talked and talked, but we couldn't 
 seem to decide what we could do about 
 it. We all agreed that Uncle Fred and 
 Miss Louise Nesbit would make a hand- 
 some couple, and Jim said he had be- 
 gun last year to practice saying "Aunt 
 Louise," to himself, and was sorry he 
 had to drop it. 
 
 Finally Jim settled our anxious fears 
 by making Johnny Lane a committee of 
 one to see Uncle Fred, seriously, and I 
 was chosen to call on Miss Nesbit and 
 reason with her over the blasting of all 
 Uncle Fred's hopes, to say nothing of 
 the feelings of the rest of the family. 
 
 Then the Slann boys got over the 
 fence, and the meeting broke up.
 
 The Committee of Inquiry 141 
 
 I knew that if I waited until night my 
 courage would give way and, besides, I 
 might tell mamma too soon, and, as the 
 whole matter must be kept within the 
 breasts of the committee, I acted at once- 
 Dressed in my pink flowered organdie 
 and my new white hat, I started across 
 the town to Colonel Nesbit's. Mamma 
 had told me that she was going to be in 
 that neighborhood, making some visits, 
 and that she would call for me at half- 
 past five. Mamma didn't ask me why I 
 was going to see Miss Nesbit, for she 
 knows I like her very much and often 
 spend a day with her, and mamma says 
 there could be no better company for 
 anyone than that very young lady. 
 
 It was a tremendous moment to me, 
 this time, when I found myself sitting 
 in Miss Nesbit's room with her, while 
 she sewed upon a new gown for her 
 mother. The Nesbits used to be rich 
 people, but a few years ago Colonel
 
 142 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Nesbit lost his property by some mis- 
 fortune, and lately it has been pretty 
 hard for him to get along. He is a brave 
 old soldier and a very highly respected 
 gentleman. Papa says no one in all the 
 country round is more thought of than 
 Colonel Nesbit. Miss Louise always 
 makes her own gowns, and her mother's, 
 and mamma says they are the best 
 dressed women in Merrivale; that is, 
 they are dressed in the best taste. 
 
 I watched Miss Louise as she gathered 
 a long, long ruffle, and at last I got cour- 
 age enough to speak. 
 
 "Dear Miss Louise," I began, "don't 
 you intend ever to be married?" 
 
 "Why, what a question!" she answered, 
 and her cheeks were as red as roses. 
 
 "Because," I went on, very slowly, for 
 I was scared, "if you ever marry any 
 man but Uncle Fred, there will be a 
 broken heart right here in Merrivale, 
 and if you don't marry at all I am afraid
 
 The Committee of Inquiry 143 
 
 there will still be a heart nearly broken." 
 
 Miss Nesbit didn't say a single word. 
 She only thought a little while and then 
 took me by my hands and drew me close 
 to her and kissed me, and then she began 
 to put away her work, and took up her 
 hat and we went into the garden. There 
 she began to hum a little tune and cut a 
 lot of flowers. I just followed her around 
 like Mary's little lamb, and while we 
 were out there in the garden mamma 
 drove up in her phaeton, and we ran to 
 her and fairly buried her in roses, and 
 pinks and lilies. 
 
 All this time Miss Nesbit said hardly 
 a word to me, but when we went away 
 she kissed me again and I knew she was 
 not offended. But I almost cried as I sat 
 by mamma's side on our way home. 
 
 I had failed, completely failed, in my 
 important mission! 
 
 I did not hear until later how Johnny 
 had fared. It took him some time to get
 
 144 These Are My Jewels 
 
 alone with Uncle Fred, but one day a 
 chance came, when they were fishing 
 near each other and the fish wouldn't 
 bite. 
 
 Johnny told Jim, and Jim told me what 
 was said; but Johnny never talked to me 
 about it. 
 
 "Mr. Rathburn," began Johnny, sol- 
 emnly, "do you feel in your inmost soul, 
 that it is good for man to live alone?" 
 
 Uncle Fred looked at Johnny almost 
 wildly, so Johnny told Jim. 
 
 "I mean," Johnny went on, "is it well 
 to ignore the best and brightest things 
 in life, and settle down to live in splen- 
 did solitude when all around are happy 
 homes to mock at your despair?" 
 
 Johnny couldn't tell Jim what he 
 meant exactly by splendid solitude, but 
 he thought the words went well to- 
 gether, and they do. 
 
 What do you think Uncle Fred did at 
 this important moment?
 
 The Committee of Inquiry 145 
 
 Why, he just lay back on the bank 
 of Indian Creek and rolled over and 
 laughed until the sound brought all the 
 other boys to him, for they were scat- 
 tered along the creek, trying to fish, and 
 wondering where Johnny was. At one 
 glance all of them knew that Johnny 
 had undertaken his task as a committee 
 of one, and had failed to get satisfaction 
 from Uncle Fred. 
 
 The committee of inquiry met once 
 more to hear of what had happened, 
 and all agreed with Johnny, when he 
 handed in a carefully written out report 
 of one line, saying, "The whole affair 
 has ended in Black Failure!" 
 
 We had meant so well, and it all came 
 to nothing! We felt very deeply over it, 
 especially Mary and I.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE GREAT KOPJE FIGHT. 
 
 The great Kopje Fight came about 
 through John Peterson. He had been 
 insisting again that the boys should 
 call him Johannesburg Pietersburg, and 
 they wouldn't do it because they de- 
 clared that, just as they had told him 
 before, it "was too long a nickname. He 
 became indignant and said they should 
 call him -what he pleased, and if there 
 had been only one of them he might 
 have been obliged, for he is nearly six- 
 teen and is big and strong and only 
 goes out with the boys Saturday after- 
 noons, when he doesn't have to work. 
 Finally, Johnny Lane proposed that 
 they should decide it "by gage of bat- 
 tle," whatever that may be, and it -was 
 agreed to. 
 
 140
 
 The Great Kopje Fight 147 
 
 John was to defend what they called a 
 Kopje, and, if all the boys could drive 
 him away from it, they should have the 
 right to call him any name they chose; 
 while, if John held the fort they were, 
 ever afterward, to call him Johannes- 
 burg Pietersburg. 
 
 At one place on the rocky hill on one 
 side of the pasture lot a big flat rock 
 sticks out from a steep place behind, 
 about eight feet up, and this was to be 
 the Kopje. John Peterson and all the 
 other boys except the Rat who they 
 said wasn't big enough to be of any 
 good got long poles, with a flour-bag 
 tied around one end of each, so that they 
 couldn't hurt much, and John Peterson 
 climbed up to his Kopje and told them 
 to come on. It was agreed that no one 
 should throw a stone or a club or lump 
 of clay. 
 
 It was an awful battle! The boys 
 rushed up frantically and speared at
 
 148 These Are My Jewels 
 
 John Peterson, but he put his back 
 against the hill and they couldn't move 
 him. They didn't get off so well them- 
 selves. John has long arms and he 
 caught them in the chest, one after an- 
 other, as they rushed upon him, and 
 over they went, until Johnny Lane de- 
 clared the ground was "littered with the 
 slain." Sandy went over into a mud-hole 
 and came out a sight. Time and time 
 again they charged, while Jim yelled, 
 "Die game!" and Johnny Lane loudly 
 recited, "Strike for your altars and your 
 fires!" but they couldn't dislodge the 
 enemy. They were getting tired and 
 gloomy and John Peterson was "walking 
 back and forth on his rock, shouting out, 
 "I be Johannesburg Pietersburg!" when 
 "spat!" something struck the stony hill- 
 side, close behind him. 
 
 John Peterson gave a jump and shout 
 and then, "spat" and "splash," some- 
 thing struck again and something yel-
 
 The Great Kopje Fight 149 
 
 low ran down from his shoulder. He 
 seemed almost to stagger. The boys 
 stood amazed for a moment and then 
 all "whooped wildly when they discov- 
 ered what was going on. No wonder 
 John Peterson looked sick. 
 
 There, behind a big stump, at one side 
 but pretty close to the Kopje, stood the 
 Rat, grinning with pride and just draw- 
 ing his arm back for another throw. In 
 his hand was something white, but at 
 first they couldn't tell what it was. He 
 let it go with all his might and then, 
 when it struck and was crushed against 
 the rock behind John Peterson, and 
 something yellow splashed about, they 
 knew. 
 
 One of the Duncans' hens had been 
 sitting for over two weeks on fourteen 
 eggs, in a nest in the barn. The nest 
 was under a manger in a stall which 
 was not used in the stable part, but a 
 horse put in the next stall kicked down
 
 150 These Are My Jewels 
 
 the partition and the hen got frightened 
 and finally left her nest altogether. The 
 boys found the eggs and broke one of 
 them. That was enough! The smell 
 was something awful, and they got 
 away in a hurry, leaving the rest of the 
 eggs just where they were. The despised 
 Rat, who the rest of the boys said would 
 be of no use in the great battle, had 
 heard the agreement that there should 
 be no bombarding, as Johnny Lane 
 called it, with clubs or stones or dried 
 clay lumps, had hung around very 
 gloomily for a while and then suddenly 
 ran away. No one could tell what 
 possessed him, but it must have come 
 into his mind that eggs were not barred, 
 and so the little wretch had run after 
 those awful things in the barn and come 
 back with his hat nearly full of them. 
 
 The boys gave a tremendous shout as 
 the Rat threw again, this time hitting 
 John Peterson and smashing the egg all
 
 The Great Kopje Fight 151 
 
 over his breast, for, though the Rat is 
 small, he is a good thrower. John Peter- 
 son gasped and strangled and got whiter 
 yet and the boys gave a great shout and 
 charged again, but they didn't charge 
 far; they got close to the Kopje, then 
 stopped suddenly and then all backed 
 awa} T , looking queer. John Peterson let 
 his spear fall and almost fell himself, as 
 he climbed to the ground and staggered 
 quite a way off and lay down in the 
 grass. 
 
 "You win!" he said, quite nobly I 
 thought. "My name be John Peterson.'' 
 
 He got better pretty soon and took off 
 his coat and rolled it up to be washed, 
 and then concluded to join the celebra- 
 tion. The bo} r s called him "a noble foe," 
 and he said they were "bully boys." 
 
 Johnny Lane took charge of the cele- 
 bration. They put the Rat on a stump 
 and pinned some red leaves on his 
 shoulder, for epaulets, and Sandy hit
 
 152 These Are My Jewels 
 
 him with a little stick, to "Knight" him, 
 he said, and make him "a Peer of the 
 rellum." The Rat tried to get away, but 
 couldn't, and Johnny Lane declared it 
 was "a glorious ending to a campaign 
 red with carnage." 
 
 Jim asked Uncle Fred in the evening 
 if the Rat's eggs were fair fighting, and 
 Uncle Fred looked solemn and answered 
 in loud words, that he had "never heard 
 of anything definitely prohibiting the 
 use of eggs as projectiles in the conduct 
 of civilized warfare." That didn't inter- 
 est me much, for I was thinking of the 
 next night, when we were to go into the 
 woods. 
 
 The big wood reaches back into a 
 great swamp where the ground is low, 
 and there are tamarack and black ash 
 trees and dark thickets. The creek runs 
 through the swamp, and in the middle is 
 a great spreading pond, with pools all 
 around it, where there are rushes and
 
 The Great Kopje Fight 153 
 
 cat-tails, and in places where the ground 
 is a little higher in spots, there are 
 massive clumps of dark ferns. The 
 swamp is of no use for farming, and so 
 it had been left just as it is, a damp, low 
 place with such birds and creatures in 
 it as do not prefer the higher "woods and 
 more sunlight. In the daytime it is very 
 still. 
 
 Not far from the swamp, on one side, 
 where there is cleared land, is a corn- 
 field, and the farmer who owned it had 
 complained that the raccoons were tear- 
 ing down and eating the corn, which 
 was just ripe enough for them. There is 
 an old man who lives in the Flats who 
 owns what he calls "a coon dog," and 
 Uncle Fred told Jim that if he and Sandy 
 could borrow that dog we would all go 
 cooning together. They arranged with 
 the old man somehow and brought the 
 dog home. 
 
 Of course a girl is not always expected
 
 154 These Are My Jewels 
 
 to be a judge of dogs, but I know that 
 this was not a noble-looking one. He 
 was yellow and had only the very stub 
 of a tail and one ear which hung down 
 limply. They said the dog was part 
 beagle, which must be some utihapp}^ 
 kind of dog by nature, for this one had 
 the most melancholy look on his face 
 I ever saw on anything. 
 
 Night came and we all started out, 
 Uncle Fred and Jim and Sandy and I. 
 Jim carried a lantern and it seemed 
 curious when we got away from town 
 and close to the field, there was so little 
 sound. The night was dark but the air 
 was soft and the smell of the growing 
 corn was delicious. We climbed the 
 fence and went along silently between 
 the tall rows until we got nearly to the 
 middle of the field and then Uncle Fred 
 said "Find 'em," and the dog slipped 
 away out of sight, with his nose close to 
 the ground and sniffing as he went, We
 
 The Great Kopje Fight 155 
 
 waited and waited, and then, away off in 
 front of us, we heard a yelp. We hurried 
 on until we got to the fence close to 
 the woods, and soon we heard the sound 
 again, only it wasn't like the first, a yelp, 
 but an"oo-oo-oo," a sort of long cry which 
 wasn't either a bark or a howl, but just 
 something mellow and eager. 
 
 Now we were in for it. We climbed 
 that fence and were in the woods, stum- 
 bling ahead after Jim with the lantern. 
 I had a very short dress on and my 
 thickest shoes and got along almost as 
 well as the boys, with Uncle Fred's help 
 in getting over the logs we came to. At 
 last we reached the swamp but we didn't 
 stop, and kept on until we got to the 
 shores of the big pond in its very center. 
 Oh, but it was dark there! You could 
 barely see the water Away off, on the 
 other side of the pond, the dog was still 
 making that strange noise. All at once 
 he stopped, and began a deep barking.
 
 156 These Are My Jewels 
 
 "He's treed the coon," said Uncle Fred. 
 
 The boys were wild and were going to 
 
 rush forward at once, but Uncle Fred 
 
 3 
 
 stopped them. 
 
 "It's a hard way around the pond," he 
 said. "There are fallen logs and plenty 
 of water holes, and I think we'd better 
 not try to take Kit along. Are you 
 afraid?" he said, as he turned to me. "It 
 will test your pluck, my girl, for we've 
 got to take the lantern along and it will 
 be dark and black here and you will hear 
 some queer sounds. There'll be nothing 
 to hurt you, though. Dare you stay?" 
 
 At first I almost shrieked. I trembled 
 all over at the thought of the blackness 
 and the loneliness and of what there 
 might be about me, and I didn't answer. 
 Then I happened to think of what I had 
 been taught, that there was nothing 
 about darkness to be afraid of, and that 
 God would be with me, anyhow, and I 
 set my teeth together as hard as I could.
 
 The Great Kopje Fight 157 
 
 After a moment or two, I managed to say 
 that I'd stay. 
 
 "You've got the right idea, and you've 
 got courage, Kit," said Uncle Fred, and 
 he kissed me, and they made a fine seat 
 for me by a big tree close to the water, 
 and away they went. I could hear their 
 voices and see the light of the lantern 
 bobbing about for a little while and then 
 all was black and still. 
 
 It seemed as if I could hardly breathe. 
 Pretty soon I thought I heard a slight 
 sound in the rushes growing in the 
 water near me, and soon I was sure of 
 it. There was a rustle and then a splash- 
 ing in the water and I knew something 
 was moving about. There was a sound 
 almost like a whisper and then a "tweet, 
 tweet," and more splashing. I never 
 moved. Suddenly I jumped to my feet 
 in awful terror. "Ah-rr-oomp! Ah-rr- 
 oomp! Ba-rr-oomp!" came a great bel- 
 lowing from the edge of the pond close
 
 158 These Are My Jewels 
 
 beside me. I stood shaking. Then the 
 great sound came again, and I stood it a 
 little more bravely and could begin to 
 think a little. I knew what it must be; 
 it was only some huge bullfrog who 
 happened to have his home there and 
 who had been frightened away when we 
 came up noisily with the lantern. My 
 courage came back, and I sank down 
 very quietly and slowly into my seat 
 again. 
 
 The next minute there was the softest 
 kind of whirr and I knew something 
 had passed close over my head. Then, 
 a few moments later, came the wild, 
 dreadful hoot of an owl somewhere in 
 the woods. It was that, I suppose, which 
 had flown over me. The echoes had 
 scarcely stopped when there was a sort 
 of snarling scuffle somewhere along the 
 shore and I knew that coons were quar- 
 reling, for I had seen a tame coon once, 
 and heard the noise he made when
 
 The Great Kopje Fight 159 
 
 angry. It gave me a queer feeling, 
 though, there in the gloom. 
 
 All at once, there shone a light spot 
 away out in the water, and it grew and 
 grew until it covered nearly half the 
 pond. The thick clouds that had hidden 
 all the sky had parted for a moment 
 and let a dim bit of moonlight through. 
 Across the light space were darting 
 streaks and soon there came into plain 
 sight a small black head of something 
 swimming which passed across the 
 light spot and was gone. Then the 
 clouds came together again and all 
 seemed darker and more mysterious 
 than before. 
 
 But, somehow, I was not afraid. I 
 kept saying to myself two of the verses 
 we had been taught, and all seemed well. 
 The verses were: 
 
 "There shall no evil befall thee." 
 
 "The Lord is on my side; I will not 
 fear."
 
 160 These Are My Jewels 
 
 How could I really be afraid! It was 
 all new to me and unknown, but I was 
 safe. I could feel it, and I leaned back 
 against the tree, and fairly drank in 
 everything that came to my senses. 
 There were two sounds that never 
 ceased. One was just a soft sighing of 
 the wind through the leaves of the trees* 
 and the other a drowsy humming of all 
 the insects of the night. The sounds 
 blended together and I don't think that 
 I ever heard anything so deliciously 
 sleepy before. My seat was comfortable 
 and I leaned back against the tree and, 
 finally, my head began to nod and all 
 the sounds came dimmer and dimmer, 
 but I didn't care. I was only glad. I 
 remember repeating another text just as 
 I do nights when I feel I am going to 
 sleep at home. 
 
 "I will lay me down in peace and 
 sleep, for thou, Lord, only maketh me to 
 dwell in safety," and that was all. I
 
 The Great Kopje Fight 161 
 
 awoke with a start. "Gulp, gulp! Gur- 
 gle, gurgle! Oomp!" It was the queerest 
 sound yet. I'd never heard anything 
 like it, but it wasn't alarming. It was 
 only something to startle a little and 
 then to seem almost ridiculous. I learned 
 afterward what it was, just as I learned 
 about the other creatures I heard or saw 
 that night. It was a kind of small heron 
 which is very common and in the coun- 
 try is called by odd names such as "fly- 
 up-the-creek" or "shitepoke." One of 
 the names is "thunder-pump," which 
 seems to me a very good one for it, con- 
 sidering the absurd sound it makes. 
 
 I was wide awake again now and I 
 made myself comfortable once more and 
 listened. There were more sounds break- 
 ing in all the time on the softness and 
 silence and I fairly reveled in it all. I 
 was learning more and more about some 
 of God's creatures and their home lives 
 and I just loved them. Then there came
 
 162 These Are My Jewels 
 
 a shout and I called back as loud as I 
 could, and soon I heard the voices of the 
 bo3*s and saw the light of the lantern. 
 They were all with me in no time. They 
 had not caught the coon for it had gone 
 up too big a tree, but they'd had plenty 
 of excitement, they said. I was kind of 
 gl id the coon had got away. 
 
 It doesn't seem necessary to tell all 
 Uncle Fred said to me about what he 
 called my courage, but, while I liked it, 
 I knew that there had been no need of 
 courage at all. It had turned into a 
 great pleasure and made me very happy. 
 It had been a wonderful night. I got, 
 somehow, closer to God's creatures and 
 I hope it made me better and more un- 
 derstanding about the Caring that is 
 everything.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 PRIDE BEFORE A FALL. 
 
 Now I come to something I don't like 
 to tell about, but I must. 
 
 Jim and I had been getting along 
 pretty well in our new way of living, 
 but we both found out that some of our 
 faults were pretty hard to get rid of. 
 I'm afraid I have quite a bad temper, arid 
 it is only by constant thinking of what 
 is good, and true, and kind that I can 
 keep it down. As for Jim, he is, I think, 
 a pretty good brother ; but he says that 
 he has found out his "mean streak," and 
 that, according to him, is too much love 
 for one Jim L/awson his way. 
 
 We have had more or less trouble 
 to keep always thoughtful and good 
 natured, according to mamma's instruc- 
 tions, and once in a while, when we 
 
 163
 
 164 These Are My Jewels 
 
 have been discouraged, we have had a 
 good long talk with papa and mamma, 
 and then we would start in all over 
 again feeling as if we could not fail in 
 the plain, straight way they showed us. 
 
 But I'm only keeping back my story. 
 What I mean to say is that Jim and I 
 can't pretend to be anything more than 
 a couple of children trying to live right 
 and think right, but sometimes we fail 
 to be even half-way decent. 
 
 We had been planning, for days, to 
 have the best time in all the world on 
 July fifteenth, Jim's birthday. Uncle 
 Fred promised to devote the day to 
 us, and we voted to spend it in the 
 woods, inviting Mary, Agnes arid Ellen, 
 Johnny Lane, Johannesburg Pieters- 
 burg, and Alexander and the Rat as 
 our guests for all day. 
 
 Mamma helped us and we planned 
 baskets of good things to eat to last the 
 day through, even for a dozen hungry 
 people.
 
 Pride Before a Fall 165 
 
 All went well until the day before the 
 picnic, when who should drop down, as 
 if out of the skies, but Aunt Flo and her 
 two children, Joe and Carrie. 
 
 Aunt Flo lives on a farm in the West, 
 and she hasn't been East to visit since 
 she went away as a bride, years and 
 years ago, before I was born. 
 
 Mamma was so glad to see her sister 
 that she laughed and cried at once, and 
 papa said that there should be a holiday 
 all the time while we visited together. 
 We could see that he and Uncle Fred 
 were as glad to see Aunt Flo as mamma 
 was. 
 
 But, oh, if I could describe to you 
 how queer Cousin Joe and Cousin 
 Carrie looked ! Their faces were red 
 and freckled and their hands were as 
 brown as an oak leaf in the fall. And 
 their clothes didn't look as if they were 
 made for them at all, but they were, for 
 Carrie told me that her mamma made
 
 166 These Are My Jewels 
 
 everything she and Joe owned, even 
 their best, which they had worn on the 
 railroad train, coming from Kansas. It 
 was their "best" that they looked so 
 funny in. 
 
 But Jim found out that Joe could 
 swim better than he could, and that he 
 knew all about fishing, and could tell a 
 meadow-lark or a bobolink or almost 
 any other bird as far off as he could see 
 or hear one. And Joe could turn hand- 
 springs "to beat the band," Jim said, and 
 he could lift heavy weights, and throw a 
 ball straight, and so it didn't take him 
 long to get in with all of the boys. 
 
 As for Carrie, her hair was "shingled" 
 she said, when I asked her what had 
 happened to it, and she could run fast, 
 and that was about all I had found 
 out about her by the morning of the 
 fifteenth, Jim's birthday. 
 
 Mamma and Aunt Flo had been help- 
 ing the cook, and so the lunch- baskets
 
 Pride Before a Fall 167 
 
 were filled with good things and, at nine 
 o'clock in the morning, we started from 
 home to call for the Duncans and the 
 Lanes, as we went toward the big woods 
 where Uncle Fred had chosen our camp 
 for the day. 
 
 Uncle Fred led Cousin Carrie by the 
 hand. Her pink calico dress was fresh 
 and clean, and her hat had some faded 
 pink roses in it, and she wore white 
 stockings and thin shoes I can't tell 
 what there was about her that looked 
 queer, but somehow, she did seem dif- 
 ferent from any of the other girls, and 
 I kept walking and talking with Mary 
 Duncan and the Lane girls, and when 
 we happened to meet Miss Louise Nes- 
 bit on the road as we crossed from the 
 pasture, I hung back and sort of acted 
 as if I didn't know who the girl in the 
 pink frock, walking with Uncle Fred, 
 was. 
 
 The disgraceful truth is, I was
 
 168 These Are My Jewels 
 
 ashamed of Cousin Carrie, and I made 
 believe to the other girls that she was 
 a very distant relation of ours, one 
 scarcely to be counted at all, and as her 
 name was Digby and had never been 
 heard by any of us before, this seemed 
 quite natural to them. 
 
 We noticed that Uncle Fred bowed 
 very coldly to Miss Nesbit, who was 
 riding her own bay horse, Leander, and 
 that Miss Nesbit only just bent her head 
 a little, as she saw Uncle Fred. But she 
 blushed until her cheeks were rosy, and 
 they are generally quite pale. 
 
 It is sad to see lovers parted. 
 
 When we came to the creek there were 
 the Slann boys wading for minnows, for 
 bait. They grinned when they saw us 
 with our baskets, hammocks, fishing 
 rods, and all, and when we had crossed 
 the creek they tagged us along through 
 the edge of the woods until, finally, Uncle 
 Fred called Jim to him and, speaking low,
 
 Pride Before a Fall 169 
 
 so that the Slann boys could not hear, 
 said: 
 
 "Jim, this is your day: "would you like 
 to invite Viggo and Max to go along?" 
 
 "Cert!" said Jim, and he ran back to 
 the Slanns, and brought them up to 
 Uncle Fred, and soon the boys were all 
 running races and chasing through the 
 woods in the direction of our camping- 
 place, Cousin Carrie in the midst of the 
 runners. 
 
 "I am afraid that Digby girl is a tom- 
 boy!" I said, to Mary Duncan, and felt 
 my cheeks burn with anger. 
 
 "Your Uncle Fred seems to like her 
 very much, said Mary. 
 
 "Oh no, he doesn't!" I replied, quickly. 
 "She is a stranger and so he has to be 
 polite to her." 
 
 "It is a wonder you don't try a little 
 politeness on your cousin, yourself," said 
 Marj^. The Scotch are a blunt people. 
 
 I flew into a rage and before I knew
 
 170 These Are My Jewels 
 
 what I had said all three of the girls 
 were around me, half crying, and we 
 were all chattering and scolding so fast 
 we must have astonished the bluejays 
 and made them envy us. 
 
 We were close by Ford's Pond, and as 
 we skirted the swamp at one end of the 
 clear water, we suddenly, all four of us, 
 were frozen stiff with horror, at the sight 
 we saw. Viggo Slann was coming run- 
 ning toward us with three or four long, 
 dark things dangling from his hand. 
 
 "He's got a whole nest of snakes!" 
 shouted Agnes, and then we ran! Never 
 did I run so fast in my life! We scrambled 
 over logs and brush-heaps and fences, 
 and all the time that awful Viggo was 
 running at our heels, shouting. Once I 
 heard him cry, "Stop! I hurt you not!" 
 but I only ran the faster. We never 
 halted until we came to Uncle Fred, 
 calmly sitting on a stump and waiting 
 for us.
 
 Pride Before a Fall 171 
 
 "What's up?" he asked, surprised as 
 we all threw ourselves upon him. 
 
 "Viggo! Snakes!" was all we could 
 pant out. 
 
 Then Viggo came up, breathing hard. 
 I couldn't look straight at him, but, from 
 under Uncle Fred's arm I just glanced 
 that way, and I could see him holding 
 up his hand and something dangling 
 and then I just screamed again and hid 
 my eyes. 
 
 "Look up, child," said Uncle Fred, 
 laughing. "Look; see what Viggo has. 
 It is not a snake!" 
 
 I looked, and Viggo came toward us 
 again, holding at arm's length a bunch 
 of big white water-lilies, with their 
 long, brown stems dangling almost to 
 the ground. 
 
 He took off the rim of the hat he wore, 
 for it hadn't any crown to speak of, and 
 awkwardly bending over, gave a stiff 
 nod of his head and said:
 
 172 These Are My Jewels 
 
 "For de birt'day table!" 
 
 "Viggo, you're a fine fellow," said 
 Uncle Fred, and Viggo ran away grin- 
 ning so hard it almost showed at the 
 back of his head. 
 
 After that, we girls walked on with 
 Uncle Fred, and he told us the names of 
 new birds we saw and helped us to know 
 their notes and songs, and before we 
 knew it Carrie was strolling along in 
 the group, listening to all that was said, 
 and once in a .while saying something 
 herself in the slow, drawling way in 
 which she and Joe talked. 
 
 When we came to the big trees, our 
 chosen picnic place, it was beautiful, 
 sitting in the shade, telling stories and 
 chatting while Uncle Fred and the boys 
 amused themselves about the pool made 
 by the brook near by. There were lots of 
 dragon-flies about, some of them splen- 
 did with their big, bright-colored wings. 
 The boys caught one and had a great
 
 Pride Before a Fall 173 
 
 time examining it and telling stories of it. 
 The dragon-flies catch and eat smaller in- 
 sects, and many people call them "mos- 
 quito hawks," but, mostly, they are called 
 "Devil's darning needles." There is a 
 story that they will sew up your lips 
 with thread made out of spider's web, if 
 you talk too much. Of course that can't 
 be true, but, when we were younger, we 
 girls never much liked to be about where 
 they were. 
 
 Carrie, after sitting still for a while, 
 bent down a young tree, and called to 
 Ellen to come and "teeter" with her. So 
 the two thrashed up and down and sung, 
 and had a jolly time, until Agnes joined 
 them, and Mary said, "Carrie knows how 
 to have a good time, doesn't she?" 
 
 But I only turned away my head and 
 said, "I don't know anything about her!" 
 
 We had a fine day in the woods, but, 
 by night, Carrie would not stay any- 
 where near me, and when we started for
 
 174 These Are My Jewels 
 
 home she ran on ahead, and reached 
 there half an hour, almost, before the 
 rest of us. She had gone to bed already, 
 mamma said, and I fancied that mamma 
 looked a little sad as she spoke of "Cousin 
 Carrie." 
 
 I hadn't said anything rude or cross to 
 Carrie, the whole day through, but, some- 
 how, she knew I didn't like her or that I 
 was ashamed of her in her queer clothes. 
 I had felt that, all the afternoon yet 
 wouldn't make myself change my man- 
 ner before Mary Duncan and the Lane 
 girls. 
 
 And there was no getting around it, 
 the day had been spoiled for me. I tried 
 to pretend to myself that it was the com- 
 ing of Joe and Carrie that had ruined 
 everything, but deep down in my heart 
 I knew better. It was I who had spoiled 
 the day. 
 
 That night, while papa and Aunt Flo 
 sat on the porch, laughing and talking,
 
 Pride Before a Fall 175 
 
 mamma and I had a long visit in my 
 room, and I gave out entirely and told 
 mamma everything that had happened 
 all day, and, because I couldn't help tell- 
 ing then, especially how hateful I had 
 been, I confessed even my jealousy over 
 Uncle Fred's attention to Cousin Carrie, 
 for that had been one of the worst things 
 of all. 
 
 Mamma helped me ever so much. She 
 didn't say anything harsh but she was 
 sure I had learned a good lesson that 
 day. She said she would leave all to my 
 conscience, at present, and that the next 
 morning she would talk with me again 
 and try to help me "overcome evil with 
 good" in my own heart. 
 
 The next day mamma took pains to 
 get an hour alone with me and when 
 she began talking she told me something 
 I had heard a little of before, but had 
 never really attended to, about the time 
 when she, herself, was a girl younger 
 than I am.
 
 176 These Are My Jewels 
 
 It appears that Aunt Flo and mamma 
 were orphan sisters, children of a clergy- 
 man, and alone in the world. Aunt Flo 
 "was several years older than mamma, 
 and very highly educated. She taught 
 French and Latin in a fashionable girls' 
 school, and so supported her younger 
 sister Frances, who came in time to be 
 my mother. Your uncle Fred was away 
 with a distant relation. 
 
 "I laughed when I saw Carrie," said 
 mamma, "for excepting the sunburn and 
 freckles, she looks almost exactly as I 
 did when I was of her age. And, although 
 her clothes are of a little cheaper mate- 
 rial than mine used to be, they have the 
 same 'homemade' look that mine had. 
 
 "Ah, those little gowns and pinafores! 
 How well I remember dear Sister Flo 
 working over them, night after night, 
 after her long day in school, in order 
 that I might be presentable among the 
 other girls.
 
 Pride Before a Fall 177 
 
 "No matter how tired how sleepy 
 she was, stitch, stitch, would go her 
 hard-running sewing-machine, and on 
 on would fly her busy fingers, until 
 long after I was asleep. My school bills 
 were paid by Sister Flo's exertion, and I 
 in my plain garments was like a little 
 gray wren in a convention of red birds. 
 The girls at our school wore the daintiest 
 of expensive gowns, hats and cloaks, 
 and, more than once, I was taunted \vith 
 allusions to my unfashionable, plain 
 clothes by these ill-bred little school- 
 girls. It was not, perhaps, so much their 
 fault as that of their foolish mothers 
 who had the bad taste arid lack of judg- 
 ment to dress them in that way, and I 
 am glad to say that, nowadays, culti- 
 vated and refined people, no matter how 
 wealthy they may be, dress their chil- 
 dren only neatly and plainly for school. 
 
 "But at the time I suffered keenly. I 
 was cut to the heart by those cruel,
 
 178 These Are My Jewels 
 
 thoughtless children, especially as I 
 appreciated the goodness and unselfish- 
 ness of my sister in clothing and edu- 
 cating me, and in giving me all of her 
 time and attention. And now, here she 
 is again, my sister Flo, the wife of a 
 farmer. He is not very rich, but he is a 
 fine man, with a character of dignified 
 honesty and high principle and sister 
 Flo is bringing up her own little daugh- 
 ter as best she can, and" 
 
 "O, mamma," I wailed, "I didn't 
 speak of Cousin Carrie's clothes!" for I 
 couldn't endure to hear any more. 
 
 "No," said mamma, "you said nothing 
 in words, but Carrie felt your thought; 
 you were ashamed of her, and thought 
 flies faster than words, than sound, than 
 sight. Carrie knew your feelings toward 
 her, depend upon it, although she has 
 said nothing about it to anyone. She 
 came home last night, went to her 
 mother and asked that she might go at
 
 Pride Before a Fall 179 
 
 once to bed, as she was tired. I under- 
 stood the situation in a moment. I know, 
 my dear little girl, how fond you are of 
 appearances, and how much you like all 
 beauty and grace, especially in matters 
 of dress, so I was quite prepared for your 
 confession last night. But," went on the 
 best mother in all the world, "I think, 
 you love God. You love justice. You 
 love beauty of soul as well as beauty 
 
 that you can see only with your eyes, 
 
 
 and, now that you see and understand 
 
 more what the fault is, that can easily be 
 overcome. The passing evil is gone and, 
 I hope, will never return. All you need 
 do is just love your Cousin Carrie. There 
 is little need of long speeches of apol- 
 ogy if we only love enough." 
 
 And that was all mamma said. I went 
 to find Cousin Carrie and before an hour 
 was gone she was as happy as I was. 
 We became the very best friends, and, 
 as I told Mary Duncan the next time I
 
 180 These Are My Jewels 
 
 saw her, I only wish Carrie were my 
 sister instead of my first cousin, the 
 child of mamma's only sister, Mrs. Flor- 
 ence Digby. 
 
 And only to think, that Jim had acted 
 so much better than I. A little while 
 after we had come home I went out on 
 the porch for a moment and saw Uncle 
 Fred and Jim coming down the walk 
 from somewhere. Just as they got into 
 the yard Uncle Fred caught hold of Jim 
 and tripped him on the grass. As Jim 
 rolled over there laughing Uncle Fred 
 said: 
 
 "Old boy, you showed up well in let- 
 ting those Slann boys come along to- 
 day. You're getting something into your 
 tough being, after all. You're all right!" 
 Uncle Fred often talks to Jim in that 
 way. 
 
 Jim sprang up and wrestled with Uncle 
 Fred but didn't say anything. He looked 
 really sober. I wonder if he too, has any- 
 thing on his mind? "I hope not."
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE TEST OF JIM. 
 
 It has come! Jim did have something 
 on his mind, very serious, and now we 
 know all about it, and it is all over with, 
 and I am glad of it. I feel sorry for the 
 poor boy. He didn't like to talk to me 
 but I got his promise to write it all out 
 and here is what he says: 
 JIM'S STORY. 
 
 "I suppose I've got to write of every- 
 thing just as it happened. Papa says 
 it's not much use to think much about 
 or talk over mistakes and wrongs done 
 or suffered, that to 'cease from evil and 
 do good' is all that is required of us. I 
 believe that's so but it's not so easy as 
 it sounds. Once in a while something is 
 liable to happen to jar you. 
 
 "It was the afternoon of the Fourth of 
 
 181
 
 182 These Ate My Jewels 
 
 July and I was on my way back from 
 the Duncans, where we had been having 
 a good time generally. We had some 
 fireworks for night, when we boys were 
 to let them off together in front of our 
 house. I had in my coat pockets only a 
 bunch of common fire- crackers and one 
 cannon cracker a whopper. 
 
 "I didn't have anything on hand and so 
 sat down on the edge of the sidewalk, 
 for a while, just doing nothing. There 
 was nothing alive in sight but Mulcahy's 
 old white horse dozing in the shafts of 
 the rickety express wagon. He stood in 
 the shade of a big cottonwood tree in 
 front of Pettibone's store. Mulcahy was 
 nowhere around. It was a clear, hot day, 
 and though old Jerry was three or four 
 squares away from me I could almost 
 count the flies on his dingy hide. Bildad 
 came along. He's learned the trick of 
 butting boards off the fence back of the 
 barn and is in the street half of the
 
 The Test of Jim 183 
 
 time now. Being out so much seemed 
 to get up his sporting spirit, too, for 
 already he'd got so that he was ready 
 for a fight at the drop of the hat and 
 wasn't afraid of anything except Mor- 
 sham's big bulldog down town, and me, 
 for I'd clubbed him so much whenever 
 he came at me that he'd become familiar 
 with my power of arm. Yet I have never 
 really hurt him. We played together, 
 that's all. 
 
 "Bildad came up to where I was sit- 
 ting and looked at me thoughtfully for a 
 while and then put his head down and 
 butted at me gently two or three times, 
 for fun, to provoke me to a tussle. 
 Finally, I caught hold of his horns and, 
 after a little squabble, held him still. 
 Then a funny idea came to me. 
 
 "I've seen, often, how a dog will act 
 with a bunch of fire-crackers tied to his 
 tail, and I began to wonder I couldn't 
 help it how a goat would act if treated
 
 184 These Are My Jewels 
 
 the same way? I couldn't think of try- 
 ing it, for I knew Bildad, and knew that 
 there was no telling what he would do 
 or what might happen. He is the most 
 mysterious goat I ever saw; sometimes 
 I think he is what they call a 'degen- 
 erate,' there's such a fearsome, and yet 
 reckless look in his eye. 
 
 "But the idea of how he would act in 
 front of fire-crackers kept fascinating 
 me, try as hard as I could to think of 
 something else. It was certain the per- 
 formance would be something new and 
 great, but I had a premonition. I ought 
 to have heeded it more, but the more I 
 thought the weaker I got, and, finally, 
 I took out the crackers and laid them 
 down beside me. 
 
 "I got foolish: 'Bildad,' I said, 'You 
 need something to stir your blood, im- 
 prove your circulation and assist diges- 
 tion.' He made another mock lunge at 
 me and then stood still thinking what
 
 The Test of Jim 185 
 
 he would do next. 'Bxcitement is what 
 you are after,' I went on, 'and you ought 
 to have it.' 
 
 "Still I resisted but I know now, that 
 the moment when I laid out the crackers 
 was the turning point. I got desperate 
 and suddenly cast reason to the winds. 
 
 "I made a slip-noose with some stout 
 string I had, fastened all the crackers to 
 it and then slipped the noose over Bil- 
 dad's tail and drew it tight, which 
 wasn't an easy job, for he'd begun to be 
 a little restless and suspicious and there 
 wasn't much of a tail to tie to, only a 
 stub, such as goats have. Then, after 
 some more trouble, I lighted the crack- 
 ers with a piece of punk. The end of the 
 bunch came first and the cannon-cracker 
 quite a little later, so that it would go off 
 when the others were about half done. 
 Then I waited. 
 
 "Bildad didn't notice anything at once, 
 but, when the first gentle fizz began, he
 
 186 
 
 turned his head and looked at his tail 
 inquiringly. In a moment or two, he 
 got alarmed. He whirled about once or 
 twice and suddenly the sputtering came 
 and the sparks showed. He gathered 
 his legs together and went straight up 
 in the air as if he was shot out of a 
 mortar and no sooner struck the ground 
 than he 'went up again. He seemed all 
 made of hair and whalebone. Then the 
 first of the string of crackers went off. 
 
 "I've read about how a great shell 
 leaves a big cannon but I never under- 
 stood before. I'd fired one, only this was 
 what they call the ricochetting kind, 
 striking the ground here and there, as it 
 went. There was one fierce 'B-1-a-a-t' 
 and Bildad just hurled into space, 
 headed down Main street for South 
 America, blazing behind and making 
 twenty feet at a jump. It wasn't run- 
 ning; it was just a 'yip* fiery passage 
 away, the goat rising wavingly up and
 
 The Test of Jim 187 
 
 down and crackling as he went, his feet 
 only clipping the ground at the end of 
 jumps. People came running out, but 
 Bildad was half a block away before 
 they could get into the street. Faster 
 and faster he went down the slope until, 
 as he struck ground at the end of the 
 highest and longest jump yet, he landed 
 just under old Jerry, and, at that very 
 moment, the cannon cracker exploded 
 and split open the atmosphere. 
 
 It was awful! Old Jerry rose up in 
 the air, with his back curved, as Bildad 
 passed through and on, fell flat on his 
 side as he came down, rolled to his old 
 feet again in a second, and was off on a 
 dead run. He turned the first corner, 
 with the wagon swinging and slatting 
 and bounding behind him, and was out 
 of sight in a minute. 
 
 "I was on a dead run too, and Bildad 
 was still in sight. No turning for him! 
 He wanted the Gulf of Mexico. Mar-
 
 188 These Are My Jewels 
 
 sham's bulldog saw him coming and 
 darted out. They met at what is called 
 a right angle, with the dog just a shade 
 ahead. That dog, oh, where was he? 
 He rose up and came down again and 
 lay flopping around and howling, with 
 two ribs broken; and Bildad had passed 
 on. 
 
 "I raced away after the fiery streak, 
 though my wind "was giving out, clear 
 through town and up the hill, with 
 other boys chasing after me, and finally 
 caught up with Bildad standing still in 
 the middle of the road. The fire-crackers 
 were gone and he seemed to be thinking 
 hard. He turned his head and gave one 
 look at me and then started down the 
 crossroad. He didn't want my society. 
 I saw him turn again to the left and 
 knew he was going home. He'd had his 
 Fourth. 
 
 "I came back on Main street feeling a 
 little shaky but it had been great.
 
 The Test of Jim 189 
 
 When I got to Charlotte street, I looked 
 up it, to see if there were any signs of 
 old Jerry, but there wasn't a trace of 
 him. Then I noticed a lot of people 
 gathered in front of Poole's barber shop. 
 I went down there and the nearer I came 
 to the place the lower my heart sank. I 
 felt something coming. I pushed into 
 the crowd and there I saw my finish! 
 
 "Jerry might be the oldest horse in 
 town, but he'd made a sensation on a 
 grand scale. He had tried to dodge a 
 tree as he came on a slithering, and had 
 made too sudden a twist and gone, ker- 
 smash, through Poole's window and into 
 the shop. There was a yell and a panic 
 over what they thought was an ex- 
 plosion, but now the barber, and one 
 customer with lather on his face yet, 
 and some other men, were heaving and 
 sweating and talking loud and trying to 
 get the old horse out. The wagon was 
 turned upside down in the street. There 
 was a big excitement.
 
 190 These Are My Jewels 
 
 '"Where is Mulcahy?' everybody was 
 asking and just then Mulcahy came 
 rushing 'round the corner to learn how 
 old Jerry had run away for the first time 
 in his life. 
 
 "'What th' blazes iver came over th' 
 baste?' asked the poor expressman, and 
 everybody began telling him about it 
 and saying how dangerous it was to 
 leave his horse standing untied on the 
 street, especially on the Fourth of July. 
 
 "By this time, you bet, I'd stopped 
 laughing, and I sort of sneaked for 
 home. Bildad was there before me look- 
 ing a little more battered than usual, 
 but he was all right. I wasn't. 
 
 "We had fireworks, after dinner, and 
 Sandy and I had lots of the fun manag- 
 ing them, with Uncle Fred's help. That 
 kept my mind busy for some time. I 
 was longer going to sleep than usual, 
 though, that night. 
 
 "I laughed every time I thought of
 
 The Test of Jim 191 
 
 Bildad's fiery career, but when I remem- 
 bered poor old Jerry and poor old Mul- 
 cahy the thing didn't seem quite so 
 funny. 
 
 "But three or four days after when I 
 heard that the barber had sued Mulcahy 
 for eleven dollars damages on account 
 of the broken window, then was when I 
 went under. 
 
 "No one down town knew I had any- 
 thing to do with the disaster. Even 
 Bildad's part in the affair had not been 
 taken up. People down on Charlotte 
 street thought Bildad was only running 
 after old Jerry if they noticed him at all. 
 
 "I knew I owed that eleven dollars. 
 No one else thought of me as to blame. 
 
 "I thought it over and over. I had 
 saved a little more than seven dollars, 
 but it was in the savings bank, and the 
 book was locked up in papa's safe in his 
 office. 
 
 "John Peterson told me that Mtilcahy
 
 192 These Are My Jewels 
 
 said he could never pay eleven dollars. 
 He didn't have that much and couldn't 
 borrow it, and so, John said, he was in a 
 fix. I heard too, that Mulcahy was try- 
 ing to sell old Jerry, but no one wanted 
 him, and, even if anyone did buy the 
 horse, I thought, what would the ex- 
 pressman do for a living? He has a big 
 family of youngsters, too. They live 
 down in what we call 'The Patch,' a 
 part of town where the poorest people 
 have their homes. 
 
 "But I fell down! There is no use 
 talking about it; I fell down, or at least' 
 I came so near it that I'm ashamed to 
 think about it even now. I wanted that 
 seven dollars I had saved up for a special 
 purpose, and, besides, there was the other 
 four to be raised. How could I do that? 
 I flunked. Nobody thought of me in con- 
 nection with the lawsuit. What had I to 
 do with Poole or with Mulcahy and his 
 old horse, anywa}-? But that sort of fig-
 
 The Test of Jim 193 
 
 uring didn't work. Something inside of 
 me kept pulling and, at last, I couldn't 
 stand it. I'd held on for several days, but 
 the day before Mulcahy's case came off 
 before Justice Partridge, I caved in. 
 
 "I went to papa and let out the whole 
 thing. The next morning, early, he gave 
 me my bank-book so I could draw out 
 my seven dollars, and he planked down 
 four more for the balance, and you'd 
 better believe I hustled down to Mul- 
 cahy's stand on Main street. 
 
 "He wasn't there, so I hiked over to 
 the Patch and found him in his Sunday 
 clothes, getting ready to go to the Jus- 
 tice's court. 
 
 "His wife was crying and three or 
 four kids were bawling too, from sym- 
 pathy, I suppose. They were all out in 
 their front yard and their neighbors 
 were hanging over the fence listening 
 to the row, for poor Mulcahy's wife was 
 giving it to him for not tying Jerry when 
 he left him on the Fourth of July,
 
 194 These Are My Jewels 
 
 "I called Mulcahy into the tumble-down 
 shed at the side of the house and it 
 didn't take me long to get his attention 
 when I showed him the eleven dollars. 
 Then I told him about Bildad and how 
 he had scared Jerry and no wonder 
 and all the rest. 
 
 "Mulcahy was overcome with joy, first, 
 and then he didn't know what was the 
 next step. 
 
 "'What'll I do at all?' he asked, shov- 
 ing his best hat way back on his head. 
 'Poole has a lawyer, and he's bound to 
 go agin me ' 
 
 "I told him, as papa had said, to go 
 straight to Poole, the barber, pay the 
 money, and leave Poole and his lawyer 
 to get out of the suit. 
 
 "As I started to leave, Mrs. Mulcahy 
 stopped us, and Mulcahy explained the 
 matter to her in a few words. I wish he 
 hadn't, for quick as a flash, Mrs. Mul- 
 cahy turned upon me and began to give
 
 The Test of Jim 195 
 
 me what she had stored up for her hus- 
 band. It was pretty hot stuff. 
 
 " 'Lave the kid alone, can't ye,' said 
 Mulcahy; 'save it f'r th' goat.' 
 
 "As we walked away Mulcahy slapped 
 me on the shoulder and said, 'Ye're a 
 foine b'ye,' and then held his head down 
 thinking a minute and added, ' 'Tis a 
 foine goat too, Oi dunno.' 
 
 "And no more secrets in mine, thank 
 you! I've had enough to last a lifetime. 
 
 "Papa went over the whole ground 
 with me, later, all about lying and de- 
 ceiving and concealing the truth when 
 it ought to be known. And he traced 
 the whole thing back to the old enemy, 
 fear. I was ashamed enough, for I had 
 been bragging to myself that I had 
 downed fear, and wasn't afraid of any- 
 thing. But the thing's got a lot of 
 shapes. Seems as if you no more than 
 knock one of its heads off than up pops 
 another.
 
 196 These Are My Jewels 
 
 "I wasn't afraid of Mulcahy, nor of 
 papa, even, but I was afraid of being 
 found out in my fooling with Bildad and 
 all that came after. It meant no end of 
 talk, and then the boys were sure to guy 
 me. 
 
 "But it's all over now, and I shall think 
 twice, I guess, before I tackle anything 
 that may start an earthquake, and as for 
 having something to keep dark lying on 
 my conscience like a heavy dumpling on 
 my stomach, No, no, thank you, not for 
 me. JAMES LAWSON." 
 
 And that is the story of what Jim calls 
 his biggest fall-down. He says he thinks 
 it did him good to write it out, kind o' 
 cleared his system, but he doesn't make 
 any other remarks. After all, he was 
 sorely tempted, being a boy, but he 
 hadn't been as small and mean as I had 
 been with Carrie.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A BIT OF ROMANCE. 
 
 I wish I had some extra gift at writing 
 to tell the lovely thing that happened. I 
 had a hand in it, too, and as it is the first 
 bit of romantic affair that I have ever 
 seen of course I am quite excited. 
 
 Jim says he wonders how I ever could 
 speak to Uncle Fred of Miss Nesbit after 
 the way our committee "flattened out," 
 but it was my not being afraid to speak 
 that did it. And I was led into it by 
 Uncle Fred himself, this time. 
 
 But I must begin at the beginning. It 
 was at the breakfast table at our house 
 that my story started. 
 
 "Colonel Nesbit has been appointed 
 Postmaster," said papa, looking up at 
 mamma from over his morning paper. 
 He looked awfully glad, and mamma 
 was delighted at the news. 
 
 197
 
 198 These Are My Jewels 
 
 "It is Mr. Wentworth's work, I am 
 sure," said mamma. "I must call and 
 congratulate Louise." 
 
 Uncle Fred looked queer. I noticed 
 him because he shoved back his chair 
 suddenly, and then, after a moment or 
 two, asked to be excused, and left the 
 room. 
 
 Mamma looked thoughtfully after him, 
 but she soon returned to the subject of 
 Colonel Nesbit's appointment. It ap- 
 pears that the Colonel has been rather 
 poor ever since his block of stores 
 down town was burned, and somehow, 
 he couldn't get started in business 
 again, so papa said, although the Colo- 
 nel looks young for his age, and seems 
 able to go on as well as anyone. From 
 their talk now I could see that it -was 
 feared that the Colonel had lost heart, a 
 little, but that this appointment would 
 do him good in every way. 
 
 "I'm glad of it all," said mamma. "Mrs.
 
 A Bit of Romance 199 
 
 Wentworth was an old school friend of 
 Louise, and when Mr. Wentworth was 
 nominated for Congress a year ago he 
 promised Louise, if he were elected, to 
 try to get her father to be appointed 
 Postmaster here." 
 
 "No better man could be found, to be 
 sure," said papa, "and as a nomination 
 by Mr. Wentworth's party means elec- 
 tion in this district, and the Postmaster 
 here is practically chosen by the Con- 
 gressman, it has been only a question of 
 time when the promised appointment 
 should be made. Bveryone in Merrivale 
 will rejoice over it." 
 
 And now comes the best of my story. 
 
 That afternoon Uncle Fred and I 
 went for a long walk. It was getting 
 toward evening when, on our way home, 
 we sat down to rest under the big oak in 
 the edge of the woods, and Uncle Fred 
 spoke, for the first time, of the coming 
 end of his visit to us. In two weeks he
 
 200 These Are My Jewels 
 
 must go, he said, and it was hard to 
 think of being away from us. 
 
 He leaned back against the tree, and 
 as he spoke of leaving Merrivale he 
 looked very sad, and he saw me looking 
 sorry, too, I suppose, for he took my two 
 hands in his and said, 
 
 "Little girl, you don't know how heavy 
 my heart is, for we've had good times 
 together, haven't we? and I'm leaving all 
 I love best in Merrivale. 
 
 At first I thought he meant mamma, 
 Jim and the rest of us, but somehow 
 suddenly it came to me that he was 
 thinking of Miss Louise Nesbit. I was 
 almost afraid to speak but the more I 
 thought the more sorry I got and I be- 
 came reckless, I guess. I broke out: 
 
 "Well, Uncle Fred" then I almost 
 broke down "why do you leave her? I 
 mean Miss Louise you know " 
 
 "Oh," he answered, "she doesn't care 
 for me. Her heart belongs to someone 
 else."
 
 A Bit of Romance 201 
 
 "Who can it be?" I asked, surprised. 
 "What makes you think that?" 
 
 "I will tell you all about it, Kit," he 
 said, sitting up straight and speaking 
 fast. "It's a strange thing to talk to a 
 little girl about, but I don't care. You're 
 my little playmate. A year ago, you see, 
 I was a happy man. I thought I had 
 found some one who would be a part of 
 me all my life, and though I had not yet 
 spoken all I intended, I did not have 
 much fear of losing Miss Nesbit. I was 
 fool enough to think that she cared for 
 me. A few days before I was to leave 
 Merrivale I walked across the fields to 
 Colonel Nesbit's, determined to ask 
 Louise to be my wife, and to get the 
 Colonel's consent, too. I was very con- 
 fident and hopeful." 
 
 Uncle Fred was still so long that I was 
 afraid he wasn't going on, and at last I 
 ventured to say, "And then?" 
 
 "And then," he continued, turning
 
 202 These Are My Jewels 
 
 away his face "Then the blow came. 
 As I came out through the wood I saw 
 two riders going down the road, and two 
 others were just passing. The ones near 
 me were Miss Nesbit and a gentleman 
 a good looking, clean-cut man, a little 
 older than myself, perhaps. The two 
 were earnestly talking and took no note 
 of me. I saw Miss Nesbit put out her 
 hand, across from her horse, the man 
 took it, and as her face turned toward 
 him it seemed full of a great joy. 
 
 "I did not know what to make of this 
 little scene, and I stood leaning on the 
 fence, thinking it over, not very seri- 
 ously, though, when back from the way 
 she had gone came Miss Nesbit, with 
 her father. They were cantering easily 
 along, their horses neck and neck. 
 
 "When she saw me Miss Nesbit 
 stopped. 'Here is Mr. Rathburne, father/ 
 she said. 'Please lead my horse and I 
 will "walk. You were coming to see us,
 
 A Bit of Romance 203 
 
 were you not?' she said, turning to me. 
 
 "Colonel Nesbit rode away, leading his 
 daughter's horse by the rein and we were 
 left alone. As I looked at her the words 
 of love died on my lips. My confidence 
 was gone. She was glowing with joy 
 and before I could say anything she 
 spoke. 
 
 "'I have my heart's desire,' she cried, 
 'Congratulate me!' She held out her 
 hand. 
 
 "I was bewildered. I muttered some- 
 thing about having seen her pass by 
 and then she said, 'Did you see Mr. 
 Wentworth? I have his promise!' 
 
 "I was dumfounded. I never had heard 
 of any Mr. Wentworth, but there was no 
 mistaking her tone. Mr. Wentworth was 
 the world to her." 
 
 "Uncle Fred! Uncle Fred!" I fairly 
 screamed "Don't you know who Mr. 
 Wentworth is? and don't you oh you
 
 204 These Are My Jewels 
 
 stupid, queer, jealous, funny Uncle 
 Fred!" and I broke down, and cried. 
 
 "Why child, what do you mean? Don't 
 cry, dearie. I shouldn't bother a little 
 girl with my troubles but don't cry, 
 and I'll promise not to!" 
 
 He was laughing now, but so was I. 
 And then I just told him the foolish 
 mistake he had made, for I knew, now, 
 why he and Miss Louise had been so 
 stiff and cold to each other ever since 
 that day last summer. 
 
 "You goose of an Uncle Fred," I said, 
 "Mr. Blbert Wentworth is our member 
 of Congress. That day last summer he 
 and his wife had been over to see Colo- 
 nel Nesbit. Mr. Wentworth had been 
 nominated for Congress, and had just 
 promised Miss Louise to get the Colo- 
 nel appointed Postmaster as soon as he 
 could. His wife is Miss Louise's best 
 friend: they w*ere at school together 
 and oh, you foolish uncle!"
 
 A Bit of Romance 205 
 
 As little Kansas Joe says, "You ought 
 to saw Uncle Fred!" 
 
 He grew as pale as a grave-stone, and 
 was about as quiet as one, for a few 
 minutes. When he spoke his voice was 
 funny. 
 
 "Let's go and see your mamma," he 
 said. "I believe you are right, and that 
 I have been making a good deal of a 
 spectacle of myself! Miss Nesbit has 
 met me very coldly, bqt perhaps that 
 was because of my changed manner to 
 her. I bade her a short good-bye that 
 day, and have spoken to her very for- 
 mally, since." 
 
 We hurried home, and found mamma, 
 and she told Uncle Fred all over again 
 the story of Mr. Wentworth and his 
 friendly help to his wife's school-mate. 
 
 "To think that you had never heard of 
 Mr. or Mrs. Wentworth!" she said. "We 
 all forgot that, and of course Louise for- 
 got that you were really a stranger here,
 
 206 These Are My Jewels 
 
 for you were with us so much. Why, 
 we have talked it all over, the prospects 
 of Colonel Nesbit, and Mr. Wentworth's 
 hope of assisting him, and I don't see 
 how you escaped hearing it. What must 
 Louise have thought of you?" 
 
 "I'm going to see!" said Uncle Fred; 
 and he took up his hat and went striding 
 away 'cross lots to Colonel Nesbit's. 
 
 And it came out all right. Louise has 
 forgiven Uncle Fred, I'm certain, from 
 the way they both act, and I am sure 
 they are the happiest couple, as well as 
 the handsomest, that ever existed. 
 
 When I told Jim he only said, quite 
 pompously, "The committee is dis- 
 charged," and then he turned a hand- 
 spring. 
 
 It is too bad we can't tell the Lanes 
 and Duncans, but mamma says that it is 
 perhaps in better taste to say nothing 
 about Uncle Fred's love story; so Jim 
 and I know a regular grown-up secret,
 
 A Bit of Romance 207 
 
 and that helps to pay for not telling the 
 others of our age. You see that isn't be- 
 ing deceitful, or even secretive. It's only 
 something quite in the family.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 PAIN. 
 
 One night last week I heard noises in 
 Jim's room, which is next to mine. I 
 could hear him tossing about and mut- 
 tering but I thought that maybe he was 
 only talking in his sleep, as he does 
 sometimes, and so closed my own eyes 
 again and heard nothing more until I 
 awakened in the morning. Then there 
 was no mistaking that Jim was in 
 trouble of some kind. I heard him 
 walking about, though it was early, and 
 I heard him say "Golly" in a tone of 
 voice which didn't seem comfortable. I 
 dressed myself as quickly as I could and 
 knocked at his door. 
 
 He called to me to come in and as I 
 looked at him I cried out in spite of 
 myself. One part of his face, low down, 
 
 208
 
 Pain 209 
 
 was swelled out in a big lump, his eyes 
 were red and he was walking up and 
 down the room with one hand against 
 the swelled place and looking awfully 
 dismal. 
 
 "What in the world is the matter, 
 Jim?" I cried out. 
 
 The poor boy tried to laugh and be 
 brave, but couldn't do it very well. 
 
 "I don't know, Kit. I've got the 'big 
 head' I guess, but I don't feel proud, 
 even if I am kind o' puffed up. I haven't 
 been to sleep since eleven o'clock and it 
 keeps getting worse all the time. Golly!" 
 and he began walking up and down 
 again. 
 
 I was awfully sorry for him. He had 
 complained the day before that one of 
 his teeth hurt him and there was some 
 swelling, but not much, and it seemed 
 hardly possible that such a change could 
 have come so soon. We hurried down- 
 stairs and Jim went outdoors and walked
 
 210 These Are My Jewels 
 
 about until breakfast time. When he 
 came into the dining-room he was a sad 
 looking object. 
 
 Papa and mamma looked at Jim's face 
 and asked him all about it and then papa 
 told him that he must go to the dentist 
 as soon as breakfast was over, Uncle 
 Fred promising to go along, to "see him 
 through" he said. Poor Jim couldn't 
 eat and he couldn't talk much, either, 
 though he tried to, once in a while. 
 
 "Do you think the New Thought can 
 help toothache?" he asked. 
 
 "Yes, certainly," said papa. "You can 
 help the toothache by seeing yourself as 
 3 T ou really are, and thinking of it. The 
 body which feels the pain is but the 
 servant of the mind and reflects the 
 mind in everything. 
 
 "But I didn't think 'toothache' before 
 it began," said Jim. 
 
 "No, but it might come from some 
 thought, just the same. The condition
 
 Pain 211 
 
 of the blood or of the whole body might 
 have been affected by some action of 
 your mind. Have you never known peo- 
 ple to be sick after a sudden shock? 
 Have you never heard or read of people 
 who have died suddenly of what, for 
 convenience, is called heart disease, 
 after they have given way to some vio- 
 lent exhibition of passion?" 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Well that was the effect of the condi- 
 tion of mind upon the body. The condi- 
 tion of your body or part of it this morn- 
 ing may be the reflection of something 
 you or some one before you thought: 
 but we will deal with it as it is to your 
 sense of it just now: Every nerve cell 
 in the body is a little brain, or a tele- 
 phone, and it will receive and retain the 
 mental impression given it. The first 
 thing to do is to send the tooth a mes- 
 sage and a healing one at that; the next 
 thing will be a visit to the dentist, for
 
 212 These Are My Jewels 
 
 we are not yet where we can do without 
 help from the people who are fitted to 
 put in good order different parts of the 
 instrument we are working with; though 
 it should be possible to do it all by our 
 own thinking. We have been for gener- 
 ations educated to think certain condi- 
 tions bound to come upon us, and we 
 will have to do a power of un-thiriking 
 to keep things straight. Meanwhile, if 
 a tooth needs a dentist's attention or a 
 broken bone needs setting, good sense 
 will take us to the dentist or the sur- 
 geon. This we can do to keep the 
 sensation of pain out of the part, and 
 we make the healing speedy, by strong 
 affirmations, and a positive refusal to 
 recognize a condition not in accordance 
 with the God-like nature of our real, 
 true being." 
 
 "Wouldn't it be fine if we didn't have 
 any nerves at all?" said Jim. "Then we
 
 Pain 213 
 
 wouldn't feel any pain in our bodies and 
 everything would be all right." 
 
 Papa looked amused: "I'm afraid every- 
 thing would be all wrong, my boy. What 
 would you say if I told you that without 
 nerves and what we call pain we couldn't 
 be safe a minute, that bodily pain is for 
 the protection of our bodies, and so, for 
 our good?" 
 
 "I don't see how pain is for our good, 
 unless maybe, that it teaches a fellow 
 how to grin and bear things!" 
 
 "No, it isn't for that. I'll make it plain 
 to you in a physical way. A nerve, you 
 may bear in mind, is one of a host of 
 little white threads, reaching from the 
 brain to all parts of the body. Then 
 think of each one of these threads as a 
 telegraph wire. When anything is -wrong 
 anywhere in the body the nerve reach- 
 ing to the part that is in trouble carries 
 a message to the brain at once and then 
 from the message we call pain, we know
 
 214 These Are My Jewels 
 
 what we have got to attend to at once." 
 
 "But supposing the brain didn't get 
 any such telegraph message; what 
 would happen then?" 
 
 "Well, suppose you were to put 
 your hand, accidentally, into a kettle of 
 boiling hot water. Of course, since your 
 nerves were not sending word of what 
 was going on, you might let your hand 
 stay there. What would happen then?" 
 
 "I suppose my hand would be boiled 
 away." 
 
 "Exactly. And if you hadn't got a 
 message over the nerve telling of the 
 condition of your face this morning 
 something serious would have occurred. 
 So you see how pain is for our good. Of 
 course the nerves carry welcome mes- 
 sages, too. They bring word to the 
 brain when something tastes good in 
 the mouth, when the nostrils have in- 
 haled a fragrance, -when the eye has 
 looked upon a pleasant sight, or has
 
 Pain 215 
 
 read good news, or when the ear has 
 received a welcome message, or heard a 
 pleasant sound. The nerves carry mes- 
 sages the other way, too; messages from 
 the brain telling any part of the body 
 what to do. You see that without nerves 
 we would not suffer, but would be para- 
 lyzed and as if dead." 
 
 "I guess I'll get along with nerves, 
 after all," was Jim's remark. "Anyway, 
 I'll send as strong a thought as I can to 
 that tooth, now, and try to hang on to it 
 until the dentist gets through with me. 
 I expect it will be pretty tough. Come 
 along, Uncle Fred," and off they went. 
 
 They were away hardly a half an hour 
 and when they came back Jim was smil- 
 ing. "He stood it well," Uncle Fred told 
 us, "while the dentist lanced his swollen 
 jaw and cleaned and then filled the tooth 
 with something healing." It didn't hurt 
 half as much as he expected, Jim said,
 
 216 These Are My Jewels 
 
 and now he proposed to try to think it 
 was all over with. 
 
 "That's the proper way to treat it," 
 papa answered; "Just let it go. What 
 we call complete relaxation is the wisest 
 thing. Resolve that you won't keep 
 'strung up* over it and pretty soon 
 you'll find you've nothing to be 'strung 
 up' about." 
 
 "I think that sometimes the dumb 
 animals, especially the most splendid of 
 them all, the dogs, set us a fine example 
 in the treatment of pain. You know I 
 was born in a part of the country where 
 it was new, and extremely wild. In the 
 woods were plenty of porcupines, harm- 
 less little animals, but unpleasant cus- 
 tomers for dogs to assail. Let a dog but 
 sieze one of them and the easily loos- 
 ened barbed quills would come off in his 
 mouth and begin to work their way into 
 the flesh. There was but one way to 
 treat a dog thus unfortunate, and that
 
 Pain 217 
 
 was to pull the quills out as quickly as 
 possible. 
 
 "We had a dog named Pero, a great 
 hunter on his own account, and very- 
 intelligent, but not quite intelligent 
 enough, when excited, to let hedgehogs 
 alone, though he had been through many 
 painful experiences and suffered much 
 in having the quills extracted. He would 
 still, on his hunting excursions, attack 
 hedgehogs, but, the moment he felt the 
 painful and dangerous things in his 
 mouth, he would start on a run for home 
 and hunt up father. 
 
 "Then father, with the bullet-moulds 
 for pincers, would take Pero's head be- 
 tween his knees and pull out the quills, 
 one by one, and the brave dog would 
 never whimper though the pain must 
 have been very great from having the 
 flesh torn in such a sensitive place. As 
 soon as the operation was over, Pero, 
 evidently feeling ill, would start for the
 
 218 These Are My Jewels 
 
 barn and there would lie down, not mov- 
 ing for hours, just "relaxing," it seemed, 
 until, at last, he would suddenly jump 
 up as well as ever. Could he have pos- 
 sibly acted with greater courage and 
 wisdom?" 
 
 "My own ache is about gone, now," 
 Jim broke in, "and since it's over with, 
 I'm rather glad I had it. It makes me 
 enjoy not having an ache, and I didn't 
 do that before." 
 
 "Pain or trial of any sort, whether it be 
 of the body or the mind, certainly does 
 make us appreciate the host of blessings 
 we have," papa answered. "The one who 
 has lost his sight and had it restored, or 
 the one who has emerged from a long 
 captivity in prison, knows better than 
 another the glory and great gift of the 
 sun and sky and all that is fair to us in 
 nature, and so suffering induces grati- 
 tude for whatever blessings we may 
 possess. And in gratitude is much
 
 Pain 219 
 
 happiness. The grateful are rarely the 
 miserable, though what they are grateful 
 for may seem to others insignificant." 
 
 Here Uncle Fred spoke, laughing: "I 
 know a case, Robert, which is a remark- 
 able illustration of the truth of what } T OU 
 are saying. It is a droll one, though it 
 is pitiful in a way. I'm acquainted with 
 an old veteran in the Soldiers' Home. I 
 called upon him a few months ago, to 
 see how he was getting on. I found 
 him, among a group of comrades, by 
 all odds the most twisted, crippled, old- 
 looking and worst in appearance of the 
 lot. At the same time, he was certainly 
 as cheerful and contented as any man 
 among them. It was something won- 
 derful! I asked him if he was satisfied 
 with things? 
 
 "'Satisfied?' Of course I am;' mum- 
 bled the old fellow heartily. 'I'm a little 
 twisted up, and a little clumsy, with my 
 one leg, but that's nothing. This is a
 
 220 These Are My Jewels 
 
 good place and these are good fellows. 
 Fact is/ he went on innocently, 'I always 
 was the luckiest man alive! Why, my 
 teeth are all out except two old snags, 
 but what do you think! One's in my 
 upper and one's in my lower jaw and 
 they're exactly opposite above and be- 
 low, so's I can chew. Wouldn't 'a hap- 
 pened to one man in a thousand! I'm 
 naturally lucky about everything.' 
 
 "Bless his old heart! What he inno- 
 cently called his 'luck' was nothing but 
 his own natural outpouring of good will 
 toward everybody and his tendency to 
 make the best of things. He's leading a 
 happy life because his thoughts are 
 right, and there are kings and million- 
 aires who could learn from him. He 
 doesn't need their sympathy. He's richer 
 than they are." 
 
 "That's a striking illustration, Fred," 
 said papa, "and that word 'sympathy' 
 you just used suggests an addition to
 
 Pain 221 
 
 what I've been saying to Jim and Kit 
 here. I believe suffering of any sort 
 makes us far more sympathetic, where 
 others are concerned. The many who 
 have lost those dearest to them know 
 what others so afflicted endure, and if 
 possessed of any heart at all, want to 
 stretch out their arms and help them. 
 It is so with the grave things in life and 
 so even with the lesser ones. The man 
 unfortunate in business, the one with a 
 broken leg, the child who has lost a toy, 
 each is made likely to feel more for 
 another in the same condition; and to 
 be sympathetic and hopeful is to make 
 strength for ourselves here and pro- 
 vision for what there is to come. 
 
 "You've had to hear a lot about pain, 
 besides starting out as a shocking ex- 
 ample with your toothache this morn- 
 ing. How do you like it, Jim?" and papa 
 laughed. 
 
 "Well," answered Jim, quite thought-
 
 222 These Are My Jewels 
 
 , for him, "I believe I've got some 
 pointers, and, as for that toothache, its 
 gone glimmering. I'm ahead, after all, I 
 guess." 
 
 Jim uses what sounds a good deal 
 like slang and I'm afraid I'm beginning 
 to understand it. I told him that I 
 had learned a good deal from all we 
 had heard about suffering, and that I 
 wouldn't be so afraid of it any more. 
 "Your toothache did me good," I said. 
 
 "That's all right, Kit," answered Jim, 
 laughing and twisting his face, "I'm 
 glad it did you good but James James 
 he paid the freight !" 
 
 Which was more of Jim's slang. He'll 
 get over it, mamma says.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 A DAY IN FEBRUARY. 
 
 It is away into winter now the 23rd 
 of February and the wind is shrieking 
 and whistling around the corners of the 
 eaves, and the air is full of snow, now in 
 the middle of the afternoon. Everything 
 is as cold and hard and icy as it can be. 
 Once in a while there is a little rent in 
 the gray sky above and then the sun 
 conies out and shines glitteringly on the 
 tops of the fence posts, and on the ice 
 ridges which show up once in a while 
 on the bare clay made by the wagon 
 tracks in the street, and then with all 
 that whistling, threatening wind it 
 seems colder than ever. Yet, I am a 
 contented and happy girl in the midst 
 of it all. It is odd, but it is true, once, 
 such a day as this, with the wind whist- 
 
 223
 
 224 These Are My Jewels 
 
 ling and the icicles sticking down be- 
 yond the tops of the top windows seemed 
 to me the dreariest thing in the world; 
 the hardest and meanest. 
 
 But on the tall, waving, reed- like 
 things in the front yard, and especially 
 on some of the great weeds in the vacant 
 lot, there has just come sweeping in and 
 settling a great flock of snow buntings. 
 We know the names of the winter birds, 
 now, Jim and I, after all Uncle Fred has 
 taught us. We have studied hard, and 
 looked sharp, and run around every- 
 v.'here, and read a book or two Uncle 
 Fred gave us to try to find out about 
 every bird that comes here, and that 
 gives a new interest in the life of the 
 whole world, for us. 
 
 And there are a thousand other things. 
 Jim and I don't seem like the same boy 
 and girl. It is hard for me to understand 
 it, and yet I do understand it, too. 
 
 When school opened last September I
 
 A Day in February 225 
 
 was surprised to find how new every- 
 thing looked to me in the new light 
 which had been poured into my own 
 mind during the summer vacation. 
 
 Girls and boys who before seemed dull 
 or silly now interest me. I am all the 
 time looking for the good in them, ex- 
 pecting it, and always finding more 
 than I looked for. When I came back to 
 school I remembered my lesson about 
 foolish vanity, and didn't let any girl's 
 clothes make any difference in my liking 
 for her. 
 
 I get along pretty well with Miss 
 Fitzroy, my teacher, though she always 
 seems to succeed in "rubbing every- 
 body's fur the "wrong way," as Jim says. 
 I learn some of my lessons and recite 
 them, by just driving myself; others are 
 easier, though, and I hope I shall pass 
 my examination all right next June, 
 though I am very slow in some studies, 
 and one glance of scorn from Miss Fits-
 
 226 These Are My Jewels 
 
 roy's eye is enough to congeal my very 
 blood, to say nothing of my brain, that 
 won't work until Miss Fitzroy looks the 
 other way. 
 
 Papa says I must learn to concentrate 
 my mind upon what I am doing, and get 
 so that I am not easily influenced by the 
 actions or thoughts of others, when I am 
 attending to my work. He says, "So 
 long as you are in your place, and doing 
 your best at your task, whatever it may 
 be, you are all right, and you need not 
 seek the approbation, or fear the dis- 
 approval of anyone." 
 
 So I am learning a lesson not in the 
 course of study, from my teacher, and 
 she doesn't know it. Sometime, when I 
 am grown up, I may love Miss Fitzroy. 
 
 This world certainly is a beautiful 
 place, full of kindness and thoughtful- 
 ness, and I shall never be one to com- 
 plain or be disappointed. 
 
 When I get vexed at anyone I try to
 
 A Day in February 227 
 
 think, at once, that God is in that very 
 person I am angry with, and this helps 
 me to behave myself. I often fail in my 
 attempts to live in accordance with the 
 inner "light which lighteth" everyone, 
 but mamma and papa always encourage 
 me and help me to keep on trying. 
 
 It was lonely, at first, when Aunt Flo 
 went away. We all missed her, and then 
 it seemed so quiet without Joe and 
 Carrie. So I had all I could do to keep 
 mamma cheered and jolly the first day 
 or two, and papa has promised that 
 mamma shall take Jim and me to visit 
 Aunt Flo next Summer. Carrie is the 
 very dearest girl I know, and Jim is the 
 very jolliest brother that any girl could 
 have, and as for mamma and papa 
 well, they are "tip top." Jim and I agree 
 on that as on many other things. 
 
 My dolls, I have at last put away for 
 good. The day before Cousin Carrie left, 
 she and I dressed Maybelle and Lucretia
 
 228 These Are My Jewels 
 
 Mott in their very best, and then we put 
 them in Mamma's big packing trunk 
 that smells of camphor and stands in 
 our garret. 
 
 It was not without a pang that I 
 gave them up, but I am getting along 
 in years. I was twelve my last birthday. 
 At Christmas, when we had a lot of 
 children visiting us, I got the dolls out 
 for them, and they enjoyed playing with 
 them as much as ever I did. 
 
 The Slann boys go to the same school 
 as Jim and I, but they are in a lower 
 room. They say Viggo is very clever 
 and quick to learn. Jim says he is sure 
 Viggo will catch up with him this year, 
 and he tries all he can to help him. The 
 younger boy, Max, isn't so bright as 
 Viggo, but he just tags along as usual. 
 
 The Duncans and Lanes are as jolly 
 as ever. We have good times together, 
 and Johannesburg Pietersburg is going 
 on well at school. He "wants to be a
 
 A Day in February 229 
 
 soldier, but Johnny Lane is going to be 
 a lawyer, or minister, or something that 
 talks, anyway. 
 
 Jim hasn't decided what he will be. 
 "President of a railroad, or any old thing 
 will do," he says. 
 
 Papa says it doesn't matter so much 
 about our occupations or what we do, as 
 what we are. Once he quoted from a 
 man named Ralph Waldo Bmerson. 
 The quotation ran something like this: 
 "What you are speaks so loud I can't 
 hear what you say." 
 
 I have a glimmering of what that 
 means. I think of it sometimes when 
 someone is talking a good deal, some 
 one not so very wise. 
 
 It is a queer way to say what I want to 
 say but I feel a great deal both younger 
 and older than I was a year ago. 
 
 I feel younger because I know Jim 
 better, and the Slann boys better, and 
 the coons and all wild creatures, better,
 
 230 These Are My Jewels 
 
 and everything seems fresher in a way 
 that I do not know just how to explain. 
 
 I feel older, because somehow during 
 these months I have come closer to my 
 father and mother and Uncle Fred and 
 to the realities that affect them and all 
 of us, and our relations with God. 
 
 But above all I got closer to Jim. It 
 seems to me that Jim, my brother, and 
 frequently I think that I am smarter 
 than he is it seems to me that my 
 brother Jim is teaching me perhaps 
 more than I have learned from anyone 
 or anything else. I guess it's because a 
 girl at my age and Jim's knows more 
 than a boy, but a boy doesn't try to show 
 off so much. 
 
 Anyhow, because of what papa and 
 mamma have taught us, Jim and I see 
 everything shinier as we look ahead 
 and I think that I will be anyway I 
 hope that I will be, a good woman and 
 I know Jim will be a good man. And it
 
 A Day in February 231 
 
 all seems wonderful and better and I 
 know that we are more all right, any- 
 how. 
 
 The world is a beautiful place to me 
 since I have learned that God is in all 
 and is a part of everything. I do not 
 fear what is coming as I grow older. 
 God will take care of me and all I have 
 to do is to be sure I am his own child 
 and a part of Him all the time. 
 
 Mamma says the love she and papa 
 have for Jim and me is only a little part 
 of God's love showing out plain so there 
 is no mistaking it. 
 
 Jim says the sample we have every 
 day is surely the genuine thing, and I 
 agree with him. I like to think that all 
 the goodness I see at home, at school 
 and everywhere is but God's love shin- 
 ing out in one way or another. I am 
 going to try to be ane of those through 
 whom God works, even if in but a small,
 
 232 These Are My Jewels 
 
 unnoticed way. And in it all I am a 
 very happy girl, for I know that "God 
 is L/ove." 
 
 THE END.
 
 DC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LBRAfl 
 
 A 000125009 1