THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 PICT. 
 
 A NOVEL. 
 
 MRS. MARTHA J. LAMB. 
 
 WITH ILL USTRA TIONS. 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 
 
 549 & 551 BROADWAY. 
 18T3.
 
 Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1872, 
 
 BY D. APPLETON <k CO., 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at "Washington.
 
 TO 
 
 MARY E. WHITE, 
 
 IN MEMORY OF AN UNSPEAKABLE GOOD, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HOUSE HUNTING. 
 
 The Old Dvright Mansion. Moving. Spicy Merrl- 
 man. Nursy Brown. The Blue-Koom. The 
 Ghost-Closet. The Old Letters, ... 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THB MYSTERIOUS LETTER. 
 
 The Beading of one of the Letters. The Burial of Eu 
 clid at Williams College in 1852. A Cold in the 
 Head and its Important Con sequences- A Hide over 
 Savoy Mountain. The Breaking down of the 
 Stage. The Thunder- Storm. Rockland Place. 
 The South Hadley Girl. The Post-Office. The 
 Postmaster and his Wife. Mrs. Cook. The Moun 
 tain-Mill. The Waking out of Slumber, . 14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE VISION OF BEAUTY. 
 
 The Dinner at Rockland Place. The Fever and the 
 Delirium. Ida Everett. Mrs. Gildersleeve's Sud 
 den Death. The Stricken Household. The Lost 
 Leaf of the Letter. Spicy's Room. The Front- 
 Chamber. Nursy Brown's Fright, . . 22 
 
 CHAPTER IT. 
 
 THE SINGULAR APPARITION. 
 
 Investigation of the Ghost-Closet. Spicy's View of 
 the Subject The Old Moving-Man. The Timid 
 Cook, . 29 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MINISTER AND HIS DEACON. 
 
 The Reading of the Second Letter. The Village Gos 
 sip. The Minister's Visit to Clover Glen. The 
 Family Meeting. The Trip to Greylock. The 
 Stolen Cream. Feasting and Speech-making. 
 Fred Gildersleevo's Stoiy. The Unexpected Meet 
 ing. The Waking of an Old Love. The Fire. 
 The Declaration. The Despair. The Final Ap 
 peal to Helen, 86 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SPICY'S DISAPPOINTMENT. 
 
 The Parlor, Library, and Dining-Room of the Dwight 
 Mansion. Cousin Phil in the Blue-Room. The 
 
 Burglars. The Missing Jewelry-Box. The Knife. 
 Spicy's Sorrow. A Lady's Footprint in the Gar 
 den Soil. Spicy's Dream about Fred Gildersleeve. 
 Nursy Brown. Ann, the New Cook. Phil's 
 Departure. Mrs. Belmore sees the Strange Ap 
 parition, 45 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 SPICY'S COURAGE. 
 
 Spicy and Ann watch for the Ghost. The Queer Da 
 guerreotype. Spicy sees the Strange Woman or 
 Ghost. The Mysteries deepen. Ann's Explana 
 tion of her Fright. Spicy and her Picture. Gen 
 eral Belmore's Return. General Belmore's Story. 
 Ida Everett's Courtship. General Vance's Char 
 acter. The Murdered Baby. Ida Vance's Fare 
 well to her Husband, 55 
 
 CHAPTER VIH. 
 
 BEMORSE AND RETRIBUTION. 
 
 General Belmore and Baby Bright. Ann and her Pic 
 nic. Mrs. Belmore's Journey frustrated. Ann's 
 Return after Thirteen Days. Ann's Logic. Find 
 ing the Stolen Goods. Arrest of the Robbers. 
 Ann's Comph'city in the Robbery. Dress-mak 
 ing, 64 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MISS TERRAPIN. 
 
 Miss Terrapin's Ideas. Miss Terrapin's Experience in 
 keeping Boarders. Dr. Meddlesome. Miss Ter 
 rapin tries teaching Music. Miss Terrapin suc 
 ceeds as a Dress-maker. The Blue-Room again. 
 Six Persons see the Strange Woman in the 
 Ghost - Closet. Miss Terrapin's Theory. Miss 
 Terrapin's Gray Hah-, ... .71 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE TRIP TO NEW YORK. 
 
 Spicy at School on Fifth Avenue. Spicy's Correspond 
 ence with her Sister. Spicy on Space. Spicy on 
 Dress. Spicy's Holiday Visit in New Jersey. 
 Spicy's Hero. Spicy's Encounter at Jersey-City 
 Ferry with the funeral Cortege, of General Vance. 
 Spicy's Cousin Walter. Nursy Brown listens to 
 the Reading of Spicy's Letter. Nursy Brown's 
 Sudden Farewell to Mrs. Belmore, . . 77
 
 VI 
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MRS. BELMORE CANNOT BE COMFOKTED. 
 
 Spicy 'a Condolence. Boarding - School Gas. The 
 School-Girls at Delmonieo's. The Bill on a Silver 
 Salver. The Two-Dollar Note. Spicy's Distress. 
 Miss Terrapin's Gossip. Mrs. Ida E. Vance. 
 Mrs. Belmore's Journey to New York. Spicy's 
 Two-Dollar Debt Spicy's Gcod-by, . . 85 
 
 CHAPTEB XIL 
 
 MBS. BELMORE'S RETURN TO CHICAGO. 
 Miss Terrapin and Bright Bright's Visit to Mrs. 
 Vance. Spicy's Sunshiny Temper. Spicy's Lover. 
 The Garden Romance. Spicy and Miss Terra 
 pin. Sale of the Dwight Mansion. General Bel 
 more's Unexpected Arrival. The Belmores move 
 to North Chicago. Spicy's Return to School. 
 General Belmore returns to his Command. 
 Bright renews an Old Acquaintance. Mrs. Bel- 
 more resolves to visit Mrs. Vance, . . 91 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 MRS. BEL.VORE VISITS MRS. VANCE. 
 
 A "Warm Friendship established. The Great Chicago 
 Sanitary Fair. Decorations of the Halls. Opening 
 of the Fair. Enthusiasm. Dinners in Bryan Hall. 
 Mrs. Vance's Charity. The Soldiers' Dinner. 
 Mrs. Belmore's Fatigue, .... 99 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 STARTLING NEWS. 
 
 Mrs. Belmore's Hurried Journey to New York. Spicy's 
 Illness. The Old Daguerreotype of Fred Gilder- 
 sleeve. The Two-Dollar Note. Spicy's Hero at 
 the Academy of Design. Spicy's Convalescence. 
 Mrs. Belmore's Cold Journey. The Snow- 
 Storm. The Increasing Cold. The Terrible Trans 
 fer from one Train to another. The Car a Tempo 
 rary Hospital for the Frozen and Suffering. 
 Dr. Grandison Gildersleeve. Danger of Starva 
 tion, 105 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE RESCUE. 
 
 The Frozen Ladles. Mrs. Belmore's Illness. Board- 
 ing-Schools. Mrs. Belmore in New York. Com 
 mencement at Miss Gilbert's School. The Gradu 
 ating Class. The Valedictory Essay. Mrs. Bel- 
 more and the Guests. Fred Gildersleeve. Spicy's 
 Hero. Does Spicy love? Mrs. Behnore jeal 
 ous, 112 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MRS. BELMORE AND FRED GILDER9LEEVE. 
 
 Fred Gildersleeve's Wooing. Mrs. Belmore's Perplex 
 ity. Mrs. Belmore visits Dr. and Mrs. Glider- 
 sleeve. The Rescue at Rush-Street Bridge. The 
 Engagement. The Wedding Outfit Spicy and 
 Miss Terrapin. Spicy's Confession. Mrs. Vance. 
 A New Revelation. Dr. Greer and Mrs. Vance. 
 
 General Belmore and Mrs. Vance. The Oil Ques 
 tion. General Belmore's Advice to Spicy, . 119 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE BRIDE AND THE BROTHER. 
 
 Spicy's Opinion of Dr. Gildersleeve. The Beautiful 
 Week before Marriage. The Wedding in 8t 
 James's Church. Mrs. Belmore's Grief at parting 
 with her Sister. The President's Assassination. 
 Lincoln's Remains in Chicago. The Last Great 
 Sanitary Fair. Generals Grant and Sherman. 
 Miss Lulu Gildersleeve. Spicy's New Carriage. 
 The Villa on Long Island Sound. Ann's Last Ap 
 pearance, ISO 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 DR. GILDERSLEEVE'S SUNDAY-EVENING CALL. 
 The Wonders of Chicago. The New Fire. Mrs. Bel 
 more's Alarm. Bright's Picture upon Ivory dis 
 covered. The Fire approaching. Horrid Sounds 
 and Sights The Midnight Escape. The Ride for 
 Life. The Bride's Escape. The Mule and the 
 Harness, 138 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE FIRE ON THE SOUTH SIDE. 
 
 Efficiency of Dr. Gildersleeve and General Behnore. 
 The Roaring Hell of Fire. General Belmore res 
 cues Mrs. Hortense. Spicy's Heroism. Spicy 
 saves her Husband's Fortune. Spicy meets Miss 
 Terrapin. Spicy stumbles upon Helen Gilder- 
 sfeeve. Mrs. Vance takes charge of the Maniac. 
 Mrs. Vance, Miss Terrapin, and the Maniac, in 
 the Maddened Crowd. Spicy saving her Valu 
 ables. Spicy and the Safe. Dr. Gildersleeve saves 
 Spicy's Life. Rest at last. The Old Man and 
 his Pictures, , 146 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 MRS. VANCE'S FOUR-MILE FLIGHT. 
 Mrs. Vance's Tenderness to the Maniac. The Old 
 Woman and her Crackers in Lincoln Park. Helen 
 Gildersleeve's Remorse. Dr. Greer discovers Mrs. 
 Vance. The Cup of Tea. Mrs. Vance's Prayer. 
 The Dying Helen. The Travelling Party on the 
 Prairie. The Farm -House. General Behnore 
 among the Ruins. The Abomination of Desola 
 tion. General Belmore meets Dr. Gildersleeve. 
 The Search in Lincoln Park. The Lost 
 found, 157 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE SLEEPING DEAD. 
 
 The Business-Men of Chicago. Excitement ia New 
 York. Mrs. Hnberjide and her Husband. Scar 
 city of Money. The Petrified Wood and the Ton 
 of Coal. Water wanted more than Money. Mrs. 
 Vance at the Farm-House. Mrs. Vance in De 
 troitMiss Terrapin's Wig. Chicago and her 
 Future. The Grand-Duke in Chicago. The Lov 
 ers' Meeting, ...... 166
 
 SPICY 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HOtTSE 
 
 WE moved on the 1st of May, 1862. 
 
 On that pivot hung my destiny. 
 
 Otherwise my crazy bark might never 
 have drifted upon the sea of letters. 
 
 On one of the last days of April, prior 
 to that date a little more than a twelve 
 month, Leonardus had donned a spick- 
 span-new suit of army gray, shouldered 
 his rifle and gone to the wars. 
 
 During the summer that followed I 
 consoled myself in manufacturing have- 
 locks and attending soldiers' aid societies; 
 but when the dark, cold, long-to-be-re 
 membered winter sprang upon me I found 
 no choice of occupations, but was com 
 pelled to turn all my energies into the 
 eifort to keep the temperature in our 
 elegant white stone palace on the avenue 
 above freezing-point. A growing distaste 
 for frescoed walls, high ceilings, and plate 
 glass, culminated one day, while the mer 
 cury was fifteen degrees below zero, and 
 a northeast gale blowing almost as hard 
 within doors as without, by my wrapping 
 myself up and setting out on a house 
 hunting expedition. 
 
 A few blocks above us stood a queer, 
 old-fashioned cottage, whose geography 
 was not written upon the face of it. It 
 was in the centre of eight or ten full- 
 sized city lots, shaded by some large leafy 
 trees, and by the pretentious edifices of 
 the Garden City of the "West. I can 
 hardly account for the subtle influence 
 which induced me to turn my head in 
 passing, but a great staring poster To 
 LET upon the front-door caused me to 
 push wide open the rickety gate, and 
 pick my way up the icy walk, which was 
 being swept clean of snow by the fitful 
 gusts. I gave the bell a slippery jerk, 
 and the handle separated from its wire 
 and adhered fast to my glove. It had done 
 its work, however, for a little, sallow- 
 faced woman came to the door, and, in 
 answer to my apologies and inquiries, 
 took me through the house. It was snug 
 and homelike. I was struck particularly 
 by the noticeable absence of the so-called 
 modern improvements. 
 
 "No furnace! no speaking-tubes! 
 no dumb-waiters ! How pleasant ! " I 
 remarked to the woman. 
 
 She looked at me in astonishment, 
 and I explained.
 
 SPICY. 
 
 " I have had a surfeit of those things, 
 and choose to dispense with them alto 
 gether. I seek now for personal com 
 fort. Can the house be made warm with 
 stoves and grates ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, if you don't mind buying a 
 large quantity of coal. It takes seven 
 teen tons for the season, or somewhere 
 about that quantity." 
 
 " Seventeen tons only ! Why, I shall 
 not burn a coal-hod less than thirty-five 
 tons where I am now, and I have not 
 been free from a shiver since the 1st of 
 November. I'll take the house." 
 
 " You have not seen it all yet." 
 
 " It don't matter as long as I am sat 
 isfied." 
 
 I went directly home, and wrote a 
 note to the real-estate agents who had 
 the property in charge, which resulted, a 
 week or so later, in my signing a lease, and 
 congratulating myself upon the ease I had 
 acquired in the transaction of business. 
 
 Among other things, I negotiated for 
 a series of repairs, and, as the spring ad 
 vanced, workmen were to be seen as 
 thick as bees on the premises. T stepped 
 in once or twice to learn progress, and 
 was informed by the " boss " that the 
 place would be ready for me at least a 
 week before moving-day. Thus I rested. 
 
 Some friends from Albany paid me an 
 unexpected visit about that time. I was 
 desirous of showing them every possible 
 attention, as they had never been "West 
 before, and consequently took them to 
 see all the lions, from the top of the 
 court-house to the Artesian well, and de 
 voted our evenings to a round of enter 
 tainments. They left on an Eastern- 
 bound train at ten o'clock the night be 
 fore the 1st of May. 
 
 As I was pulling out my hair-pins 
 preparatory to retiring to rest, I gave my 
 first serious attention to the moving of 
 to-morrow a new experience for me ; 
 and ignorance was unquestionably bliss. 
 " It will be no great affair," I soliloquized. 
 "Handy, good-natured draymen will do 
 the work. They will wheel out sofas, 
 chairs, tables, beds, etc., put them on 
 large carts, pull up carpets and pile 
 on the top, lay pictures anywhere on 
 soft places, tie books up in blankets, pack 
 clothes in trunks and bureau drawers, 
 and tuck clocks, vases, and ornaments 
 in waste corners " I was in bed by 
 the time I got to corners, and fell asleep, 
 and dreamed I was moving by telegraph, 
 and that my silver tea-set and a half 
 a dozen lounges were galloping along 
 astride the wires. 
 
 I was waked by the bursting into 
 the room of my sixteen-year-old sister 
 Spicy, with a little scream of surprise at 
 my tardiness. 
 
 " What, not up ! Why, it has been 
 broad daylight for an hour ! My trunk 
 is packed ; I've taken the curtains down 
 in my room, and made a bag for the cat." 
 
 Just then the breakfast-bell rang. 
 
 " Go down, please, and pour the cof 
 fee, and say I will be there presently," I 
 remarked, hurrying at my toilet. 
 
 " Who shall I address, since there is 
 not a soul but you and I to sit at the first 
 table?" 
 
 "Surely, we are alone again. But 
 you may tell Myra to be getting things 
 ready in the kitchen, and Maggie, instead 
 of stopping to wait on the table, had bet 
 ter go for the wagons." 
 
 "And that other person have you 
 no orders for her?"
 
 PACKING. 
 
 9 
 
 " No. Her head is worth a dozen of 
 mine in an emergency. I shall be more 
 likely to go t</ her before the day is over 
 for directions. But what makes you per 
 sist in calling her that other person? 
 Why don't you say Nursy Brown, as I 
 do?" 
 
 " Because Brown is such a common 
 name, and she seems such an uncommon 
 person. There it is again ! Person must 
 be the word. I can't say woman, be 
 cause that would sound so much older 
 than she really is. I can't say girl, for 
 that, I tiiink, would sound as much too 
 young, and not apply at all; and of 
 course she isn't a lady, or she wouldn't 
 be out at service. By the way, where 
 did you pick her up ? " 
 
 " She called here one rainy morning, 
 almost a year ago, and applied for the 
 situation. I had been wishing to make 
 a change for some time, but had post 
 poned the evil day, and this seemed a 
 good opportunity for doing so without 
 giving myself extra trouble. She had 
 no references, so I took her on trial. She 
 has remained ever since, and I like her 
 for many reasons, but mostly because she 
 is an American, and so quiet and unpre 
 tending, and capable withal. She told 
 me to call her Nursy Brown ; I don't even 
 know her first name." 
 
 " How strange not to have asked ! I 
 should have wanted to know if for no 
 other reason only because she did not 
 out with it in the first place. "What did 
 you say a spell ago about my pouring 
 your coffee? " 
 
 " No matter. I am just ready to go 
 down myself now;" for, whatever my 
 faults, it is one of my cardinal virtues to 
 dress quickly, and, buttoning my cuffs as 
 
 I ran, I preceded Spicy to the dining- 
 room. 
 
 It was a well-ordered breakfast that 
 smoked its greeting, and we did ample 
 justice to every article on the table, and 
 sipped our coffee with as much negligent 
 ease as if a change of base were not in 
 contemplation. "When we were quite 
 through I was summoned to the culinary 
 regions. 
 
 "What is all this?" I asked, stop 
 ping on the threshold of the kitchen, 
 like an exclamation point in the middle 
 of a sentence. 
 
 " Nothing, ma'am, only I am getting 
 things ready, as Miss Spicy said." 
 
 "I, should think as much ! " 
 
 The room was literally piled with 
 boxes, buckets, barrels, kettles, and every 
 other conceivable jimcrack that could be 
 found in a country grocery ! 
 
 "I have some empty barrels here, 
 and shall I pack in them? " asked Myra. 
 
 "Yes, you may as well. Put these 
 jars in first and get them out of the 
 way." 
 
 There were twenty-five of them; but 
 they proved awkward things to pack, es 
 pecially in a barrel! I helped. We 
 tried them first on one side, then on the 
 other, upside down and downside up, and 
 at last stored away six ! 
 
 Myra looked perplexed ! " I do wish 
 they would not make these things hol 
 low," she said. 
 
 "So do I; but you must stuff in 
 plates, bottles, frying-pans, and platters, 
 and try to fill up the chinks. Manage it 
 some way, I have all I can do up-stairs," 
 and, having given the intelligible direc 
 tion, I left hastily. 
 
 "Where shall I put the crockery?"
 
 10 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 asked Maggie, anxiously, as I flew 
 through the dining-room. 
 
 Bright's crib stood in the little hall 
 ready for its journey. 
 
 "Here, this will do, and then there 
 was the hamper and the clothes-basket." 
 
 "Medley! Medley! come here!" 
 cried Spicy from the front door. 
 
 I don't know what I ever did that I 
 must have been punished with such a 
 name ! I think it was wrong, whatever 
 my offence, to have fastened it upon me, 
 a helpless, inexperienced infant! How 
 am I to know what a potent influence it 
 may have had upon my whole character 
 during my eventful earthly history! 
 And another thing that cuts me, it is 
 hardly ever pronounced in full except 
 on occasions like this! I am called 
 Meddle, ordinarily. 
 
 " Only think ! " Spicy went on, as 
 I obeyed her summons, " these men say 
 they can't wait a minute, for they have 
 ever so many jobs on hand, and that you 
 must be a funny woman to send for them 
 before your packing is done ! " 
 
 " Go right up-stairs and begin taking 
 out the furniture and carpets," I said 
 quietly. " "We sha'n't detain you many 
 minutes." 
 
 Up they went, two great, brawny, 
 red-faced men, and I appointed Spicy 
 doorkeeper extraordinary to their high 
 nesses. 
 
 Before following them, I looked into 
 the parlor long enough to see Nursy 
 Brown tying up my crimson satin chairs 
 in their covers, and folding rugs and 
 tidies with mathematical exactness. Lit 
 tle Bright, perched on the sofa among his 
 toys, shook his patent rattlebox and 
 crowed, and I could but stop to give him 
 
 a chapter of hugs and kisses. It did not 
 hinder me, so I thought, yet when I got 
 to my room I found it in the wildest 
 disorder. The bed had been taken out, 
 the carpet ripped up, and grim dust was 
 holding high carnival. My Saratoga 
 trunk had moved empty. 
 
 It was not a season for lamentations, 
 so I made the most of the receptacles 
 that remained. Alas, for my unlucky 
 wardrobe! I folded for once without 
 regard to creases, and squeezed every 
 thing into the smallest compass. I jum 
 bled cuffs, collars, perfumery-bottles, 
 camphor, and overshoes, into one com 
 partment together, and hustled whisk- 
 brooms, hair-brushes, and match-safes, 
 into the box with my best bonnet, and 
 what would not go in anywhere else I 
 tied up in a sheet. 
 
 Seven loads! when I thought there 
 would be only two or three ! And lastly, 
 the odds and ends. They were the most 
 bulky of all my possessions. Such a 
 quantity of bottles and jars I am sure 
 never graced any other mansion ! 
 
 " Why didn't we think to send them 
 back to the grocery ? " remarked Myra, 
 after they were stacked up on two carts 
 and pretty generally cracked. 
 
 " Or, we might have left them alto 
 gether, since the cost of the whole lot 
 could not equal the price I am paying 
 per load for their moving," I remarked, 
 dryly. 
 
 Thus we grow in wisdom through 
 many difficulties. 
 
 At ten minutes past four in the after 
 noon we took possession of my new 
 house, or, more correctly speaking, my 
 old house, for a portion of it, one of its 
 many wings, was the veritable shanty
 
 THE NEW HOUSE. 
 
 11 
 
 which first saw the light when the great 
 city was a little fur station. Spicy had 
 ridiculed my choice, could not under- 
 stand\how I could " descend from an ele 
 vated marble front into such a coop," 
 ever since she first learned of my inten 
 tion, and her exclamation as she stepped 
 upon the veranda coincided with her 
 previously-expressed views : 
 
 "It is a piece of Noah's steamboat 
 washed ashore ! Tell me the truth, were 
 these doors and windows manufactured 
 since the flood?" 
 
 After a hopeless effort to climb over 
 a pile of mattresses which had been left 
 directly before the door, she called out 
 to know how she was going to get inside. 
 
 " Wait a moment and I will remove 
 those things," said Nursy Brown from 
 the top of the stairs. 
 
 I was behind Spicy. She turned 
 quickly and looked at me : 
 
 " What a sweet voice ! It just mag 
 netizes me. Do you know, Medley " 
 
 " Call me Meddie, darling, on to-day 
 of all days ! Medley is too suggestive." 
 
 " I will," said Spicy, laughing. " But 
 'what I was about to say was, that I am 
 beginning to think that person is some 
 princess in disguise." 
 
 " How absurd ! " 
 
 " Not so very absurd, either. She is 
 all wound up in mystery, and her name 
 fits her badly." 
 
 "How so?" 
 
 "Have you to ask? can't yon see 
 that hideous cap she wears drawn down 
 over her forehead as well as I ? Have 
 you never looked into her magnificent 
 eyes ? or remarked her beautiful teeth ? " 
 
 " Certainly ; but what of that ? I see 
 even more. She is a nursery maid whose 
 
 good qualities in her particular sphere 
 render her invaluable. But as for her 
 beauty, it has not yet struck me. In 
 deed, I regard her as excessively plain." 
 
 " With that head-gear truly so. Oh, 
 dear ! Chaos exaggerated ! what a look 
 ing place ! " 
 
 We had at last crossed the threshold 
 of my future home, and stood in the mid 
 dle room, with the curious bay-window, 
 which I had marked out as my future 
 library. Every thing had been dumped 
 in there pell-mell. The refrigerator stood 
 up near the mantel, piled to the ceilings 
 with pictures and parcels ! The piano 
 was covered with platters, pokers, and 
 washboards; my elegant inlaid cabinet 
 was lying on its back under a pile of 
 chairs. My library table, top downward, 
 supported one of the servants' trunks, 
 and my two-hundred-dollar lace curtains 
 were wrapped around the molasses jug. 
 
 "We both stared aghast ! A moment 
 after Spicy tripped up the stairs on a 
 tour of investigation. Presently she 
 called me to come too, and having no 
 where else to go I obeyed. We could 
 scarcely get into the rooms, for my bu 
 reaus were all placed in a row in one of 
 the halls. 
 
 " This is the very oddest pattern of a 
 building! " said Spicy, looking about. 
 
 We soon came to another flight of 
 stairs, just like those in front, which de 
 scended into a spacious hall, opening 
 through a glass-door upon a graveled 
 walk to the north gate of the grounds. 
 
 " Now, I smell romance in the air," 
 exclaimed Spicy, pretending to make a 
 telescope of her two hands. 
 
 I laid my hand just then upon a side 
 door, which I had not before seen, and
 
 12 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 revealed to our surprise an immense pan 
 try! In it bedsteads and trunks were 
 heaped promiscuously ! 
 
 " When will wonders cease? " I asked. 
 
 " Can't say," replied Spicy. 
 
 We went outside, wandered round the 
 house where there was green turf to step 
 on, and at last came in through the laun 
 dry and kitchen. 
 
 "Tack! tack! tack! Who's nailing 
 down carpets? " asked Spicy. 
 
 " Nursy Brown, ma'am," replied My- 
 ra, " She's getting a room ready for you 
 to stay in while we regulate and prepare 
 something to eat." 
 
 "Splendid!" cried Spicy. "I am 
 hungry enough to eat a hard-shell Bap 
 tist. Well, well, Meddie, if here isn't 
 your baby asleep in a champagne basket 1 
 You dear, precious, darling, little sweety," 
 and, before I could throw in a remon 
 strance, the thoughtless girl had buried 
 her face among his clustering curls to 
 kiss him, and he waked. 
 
 He was not going to be defrauded of 
 his accustomed nap, which had been post 
 poned to such a late hour, without a pro 
 test, and set up a scream which brought 
 Nursy Brown flying to the spot before 
 either of us had time to turn round. She 
 knelt down, spoke softly to the little 
 cherub, kissed him, turned him over upon 
 his side, and hushed him back to his 
 dreams. 
 
 " That was my naughty work," said 
 Spicy, " but I could not help it ; sure as 
 I live and breathe and hope to die the 
 next minute, I couldn't. He is too en 
 ticing a subject altogether. Better put 
 him away out of my sight." 
 
 " I have the blue-room, over the north 
 hall, almost ready for yon ; perhaps you 
 
 had better go up and lay your things off 
 there, and I will bring you some chairs 
 presently," remarked Nursy Brown. 
 
 I thanked my good angel and departed. 
 
 " The blue-room, indeed! " exclaimed 
 Spicy, pausing before the open door. 
 
 It was in the shape of a triangle, with 
 a slanting ceiling on one side. The walls 
 were hung with a fanciful blue paper. 
 The carpet just laid was a piece of rny 
 old Wilton, with a blue ground, and the 
 blue matched the paper with pretty ef 
 fect. The bed-room suite was blue me 
 dallion on satinwood, one that I had pur 
 chased the previous year for another and 
 entirely different apartment. It had been 
 chosen for the blue-room, with an eye to 
 the admirable fitness of things, and was 
 neatly arranged for our immediate con 
 venience. 
 
 I looked over Spicy's shoulder in 
 blank amazement I Then I remembered 
 how I had not seen the whole house be 
 fore renting it. I stepped in, glanced 
 around, and then went to the window, 
 which had a pleasant view of flowers and 
 shrubbery in the yard. 
 
 " Where does this door go to ? " asked 
 Spicy. 
 
 She had crossed the room and was 
 trying to open what seemed to be the 
 upper half of a door of a very antique 
 pattern, and adjusted to the outside of 
 the wall without casings or panels. Just 
 as I turned my head her efforts were re 
 warded, and so unexpectedly to her, that 
 she came near being precipitated head 
 long down three or four steep steps into 
 a sharp-pointed gable-roofed room with 
 a snowy-white pine floor. It was dimly 
 lighted by a diminutive square four-paned 
 glass window at the far end, over which
 
 THE BUNDLE OP OLD LETTERS. 
 
 13 
 
 clambering grape-vines from the arbor 
 below had improvised a curious blind. 
 
 "Why, it is the closet belonging to 
 this^EQpm, I suppose," was my reply. 
 
 Spicy^ crowded herself in and I fol 
 lowed. 
 
 " I'll tell you what it reminds me of: 
 the old minister's postscript, which was 
 always longer than the letter itself," she 
 said, smiling. , 
 
 "Just the place for storing trunks," 
 I remarked, after fitting my head into 
 the widened space about the ridge-pole 
 so that I could stand upright. 
 
 " How could you get them in? I see 
 no place but that little hole in the wall 
 which has just admitted us, and a close 
 fit at that. No, Meddie. I see how it 
 is. This is the ghost department. I am 
 not going to sleep in the blue-room for 
 one." 
 
 I laughed. 
 
 " "We are in the attic of the laundry, 
 darling. Can't you see where it is joined 
 to the main building? It was once, no 
 doubt, the well-to-do chamber of an early 
 settler, who expanded as the city grew 
 and built on." 
 
 There was a pile of rubbish in one 
 corner, and I crouched under the slant 
 ing roof to see of what it was composed. 
 Some old yellow manuscripts appertain 
 ing to law, a copy of "Barnes's Notes on 
 the Gospels," " The History of Scotland," 
 a pamphlet on natural history, two or 
 three old Harper's Magazines, some New 
 York Observers, and lastly, and, as it 
 proved, by no means leastly, a bundle of 
 letters tied neatly together with a piece 
 of red tape. 
 
 " Spiritual crumbs! Fragments from 
 ghostdom! What! are you going to 
 
 take them out from here ? " exclaimed 
 Spicy. 
 
 " Yes. They will serve for our even 
 ing's entertainment, possibly." 
 
 " But they may be full of secrets 
 which we ought never to know ! " 
 
 " If of any very grave importance 
 they would not have been thrown away, 
 in my opinion." 
 
 " Oh, we can't tell, Meddie. Some 
 body may have lost or forgotten them. 
 It don't seem right to read them, any 
 how." 
 
 "Nonsense, Spicy! You are tired 
 and dyspeptic. What can there be wrong 
 about it ? My conscience is perfectly easy 
 on the subject." 
 
 " But the very look at them gives me 
 the creeps all up and down my back. 
 See how I tremble;" and she put her 
 hand in mine. 
 
 "You are a goosey," I said, pinching 
 her cheeks. 
 
 Myra appeared with a waiter of tea 
 and toast and cold boiled tongue, and 
 we forgot all else in our greediness. Fif 
 teen minutes later we gathered up the 
 crumbs and the empty dishes, set them 
 out in the hall, and declared ourselves 
 greatly refreshed. 
 
 Myra looked in again presently to say : 
 " Nursy Brown wishes the ladies to stay 
 up here until every thing is fixed up and 
 righted down stairs. Here are your 
 matches, ma'am, for the gas when the 
 daylight is over." 
 
 " That is a nurse worth having, Med 
 die. I should keep her always, and then 
 will and bequeath her to my sister, if I 
 were you," exclaimed Spicy. 
 
 I was just dropping into an easy-chair, 
 which had been placed in the room by
 
 14 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 unseen bands, when Spicy threw the 
 package of letters at me. 
 
 "Do find out what they are as quick 
 as possible; I know we shall both be 
 sorry for it, but I sha'n't rest until it is 
 over. They are in a gentleman's hand." 
 
 " I thought they were in my hand." 
 
 "You just notice, Meddie, those p's, 
 and the loops of the g's. They are cer 
 tainly masculine." 
 
 "I didn't know that letters of the al 
 phabet had any gender." 
 
 She came to me, pulled out one of the 
 letters and commenced its examination. 
 
 "He signs himself 'G. G.' Did you 
 ever hear that conundrum, 'Why is the 
 letter g like death ? ' " 
 
 "No, Spicy. Why?" 
 
 " ' Because it makes ghosts of hosts, 
 and is always in the middle of slaugh 
 ter.' 
 
 " Do look at this letter. It is as thick 
 as a small book, and as full of romance 
 as an egg is of meat. I've seen the word 
 love twice ! " 
 
 I took it from her hand, smiling. It 
 was in a bold type of penmanship, not 
 handsome, and very closely lined. It 
 was a reply to the questionings of a 
 friend, and the subject was of the most 
 delicate character. The writer, from 
 certain allusions, had evidently offered 
 himself previously to his fair correspond 
 ent, and her decision remained in abey 
 ance. Meanwhile he had been called 
 upon for a chapter in his earlier history, 
 and after some apparent hesitation it had 
 been produced. 
 
 I read aloud 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS LETTEE. 
 
 "As I told you, Helen, I completed 
 my sophomore year in "Williams College 
 in the summer of 1852. I think you are 
 already familiar with some of the pecca 
 dilloes of my college life, and now I will 
 acquaint you with what occurred on the 
 memorable moonless evening previous to 
 that commencement. 
 
 "I had distinguished myself some 
 weeks before by mapping out a novel 
 parade over the burial of Euclid, which 
 had so taken with the boys that I had 
 been elected chairman of the committee 
 who perfected the programme and of 
 fended the faculty. In order to swell 
 our numbers we invited several from the 
 junior class, and then levied a tax on all to 
 defray expenses. At the pnze exhibition 
 in the church we distributed notices of 
 what was in contemplation later in the 
 evening, but it was full half-past eleven 
 o'clock before we had our torch -light 
 procession formed into line. By the 
 time we had reached the stage which had 
 sprung up since dark in front of the old 
 college buildings, every house in the vil 
 lage had poured its occupants into the 
 street. Not less than eight hundred, 
 more probably one thousand, people stood 
 in the dew and damp to witness the pa 
 geant. 
 
 " The funeral car was drawn by six 
 white horses, and upon a piece of white 
 marble in the centre lay the remains of 
 the departed. The chief mourners were 
 'Prof. Tat' in effigy (Prof. Tat was the 
 way our faithful mathematical professor 
 was dubbed), and the widow of Euclid 
 with a wailing babe in her arms. The
 
 THE BURIAL OF EUCLID AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE. 
 
 15 
 
 last-named individual was a dumpy little 
 body, with a round face hidden imder a 
 large Navarino bonnet trimmed with 
 geesxfeathers and crape. The other 
 mournersxwere grotesquely attired, each 
 carrying out some extravagant caprice 
 of his own, and the effect was greatly 
 heightened by the brilliant light of the 
 torches. 
 
 " "We had halted, and were about to 
 ascend the platform, when the discovery 
 was noted that, through haste in its con 
 struction, we had forgotten the steps ! 
 A good-natured freshman, seeing our em 
 barrassment, doubled himself for the ben 
 efit of the crowd, and over him the prin 
 cipal actors crawled, tumbled, and rolled 
 up, amid roars of laughter from one end 
 of the village to the other, the amused 
 spectators supposing it a part of the an 
 ticipated performance. 
 
 " Six of the best singers among us con 
 stituted our choir, and were dressed in 
 long white farmers' frocks. They wore 
 hideous false-faces which had movable 
 jaws, and when they appeared on the 
 stage they threw them wide open, and 
 waited the order to sing. The volley of 
 music which poured forth at last occa 
 sioned great applause, and then followed 
 an oration from the brain and lips of 
 yours truly, which nearly cost him his 
 voice, after which came another song, 
 excelling the first in volume, and finally 
 a poem, full of good points and witty 
 hits, a mock eulogy on the virtues of the 
 deceased. It closed thus : 
 
 ' "We'll bury him in the earth so deep, 
 Prof. Tat never more can find him ; ' 
 
 at which the sophomores groaned. 
 
 " When all was ready, we started for 
 the grave, and the assemblage followed. 
 
 Up hill and down grade, by farm-house 
 and through glen, for one, two, three, ay, 
 four miles, this weird procession moved 
 in solemn state. Then came the welcome 
 order 'to the right,' and into green pas 
 tures we turned, and by still waters we 
 tarried, until the last rites had been per 
 formed. A funeral pile was kindled after 
 the manner of the Tieathen Chinee, and 
 the widow advanced with the apparent 
 intention of perishing with her lamented, 
 but after going through a variety of gy 
 rations she tossed her baby into the 
 devouring elements, turned immediately 
 and selected a cavalier, took his arm and 
 headed the march homeward. 
 
 " The Gods usually sell their wares at 
 a fair price, but that night's fun cost me 
 dear. I got to my room just as day 
 dawned in the east, damp, cold, and 
 weary. I paused before my little, one 
 sided looking-glass (an heirloom in the 
 family), and was shocked at the one 
 sided picture of blood-shot eyes and hag 
 gard features which I presented. To tell 
 you the truth, Helen, I never took any 
 special pride in my red hair, but on that 
 morning it seemed to strike me as espe 
 cially and altogether unbecoming, and 
 finally settled upon my imagination as a 
 positive calamity. I dwell upon these 
 facts, trivial as they may seem, because 
 from them, and the consequent loss of 
 self-respect, I date many of the untoward 
 events which have since rendered my 
 life desolate. I found before the day was 
 far advanced that I had taken a severe 
 cold in my head, and that my throat was 
 wretchedly sore. 
 
 " I hung about the church during the 
 exercises, which I remember only as hav 
 ing been hot and long. In the evening I
 
 16 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 was a favored guest at a private banquet, 
 where we ate roast lamb and other deli 
 cacies of the season in a subterranean 
 apartment. I was obliged to take an in 
 ventory of my pocket-handkerchiefs be 
 fore dressing for the occasion, and, as they 
 numbered only nine, I applied to my 
 chum for the loan of three more, in order 
 to make myself presentable. At two 
 o'clock in the morning I returned to my 
 room to dump my traps into a trunk and 
 get ready to leave Williamstown in the 
 stage at seven. 
 
 " Did you ever take a ride over the 
 Berkshire Hills ? If so, I need not add 
 here that it has no direct tendency to 
 ward soothing irritable nerves, particu 
 larly if you occupy the back seat in a 
 crowded stage. I was not in a state of 
 mind or body to be envied when I com 
 menced the descent of Savoy Mountain, 
 for the five long, dusty miles of continu 
 ous climbing since we left the Adams val 
 ley, with its innumerable sharp, short, 
 jerking, jolting downs, had failed to im 
 prove my temporal condition. My eyes 
 took no delight in the wild, romantic 
 scenery of this region, about which Old- 
 World travellers might well afford to rave ; 
 hills swelling above each other, and undu 
 lations shapely and uncouth, smooth and 
 ragged, graceful and fantastic, thrown 
 negligently side by side, bounding the 
 view in every direction. I simply sat 
 bolt upright like any other schoolboy, 
 clinching my umbrella firmly with one 
 hand, and using my pocket-handkerchief 
 with the other, meanwhile staring at the 
 two martyrized-looking four-legged ani 
 mals before us, which according to the 
 driver were ' bosses,' as they rushed on 
 furiously without regard to rough and 
 
 stony places, seeming only to desire to 
 keep out of the way of the ponderous 
 vehicle in their rear. 
 
 "All at once I was conscious of an 
 awkward, bewildering sense of being 
 about to stand on my head, ajid a 
 crash ! 
 
 " The next I knew of myself I was 
 trying to disengage my foot from some 
 body's limp bonnet. The whole estab 
 lishment was literally in a heap by the 
 wayside, one of the fore-wheels having 
 divorced itself without the aid of West 
 ern lawyers, and started off sidewise on 
 its own account. 
 
 " The team had come to a stand-still, 
 without showing the slightest sign of 
 embarrassment or surprise. Indeed, I 
 suppose they had lived in this wicked 
 world so long that they were prepared 
 for any mishap. They stood calmly nib 
 bling the few stunted blades of grass 
 within range of their noses on the over 
 hanging bank. The driver, a good-na 
 tured, long-haired, middle-aged man, was 
 looking after the killed and wounded. 
 He found several cases of torn clothes, 
 and one or two serious scares. I came 
 forth from the wreck with an ugly bump 
 on the side of my head. 
 
 "Upon examination it was found 
 quite impossible to patch up the stage, 
 even for temporary convenience, and we 
 were obliged to walk to the nearest farm 
 house and wait for the master of cere 
 monies to institute researches in regard 
 to the whereabouts of some one who had 
 vehicles to lend. It was a two-story cot 
 tage of the ancient New England cut and 
 finish which we reached at length, and 
 entered through a grassy enclosure and 
 a wide-open door. A motherly-looking
 
 THE FAKMER'S DINNER. 
 
 matron came forward and gave us kindly 
 greeting. She rolled up the paper cur 
 tains in her best room they had large 
 flowersiathe centre and pushed up the 
 windows. There was a table, with Bax 
 ter's 'Saints' Best' and 'The Life of 
 Mrs. Isabella Graham ' upon it, with two 
 large drawers in front, a quaint rocking- 
 chair, covered with copperplate calico, 
 and a high bed, ornamented with a patch 
 work bed-quilt and valance, in the room. 
 Enough chairs speedily made their ap 
 pearance for our accommodation, and the 
 good woman listened with undisguised 
 interest to the account of our unlucky 
 catastrophe, and then bathed my wound 
 with arnica, and gave me some sneezing- 
 snuff" for my cold. 
 
 " I saw a pretty, rosy-cheeked girl in 
 the next room braiding hats out of palm- 
 leaf split very fine, and, like college boys 
 in general, I was taken with thirst im 
 mediately. I went out and asked her for 
 a drink of water, but she served me in 
 such a high-bred style that I had noth 
 ing to do but return to the parlor when 
 I had drained the goblet. I dropped into 
 the nearest chair, however, and through 
 the half-open door watched her move 
 ments. She held a consultation with her 
 mamma, after which she laid an immacu 
 late table-cloth upon two tables put to 
 gether, one being high and narrow and 
 the other low and broad; plates and 
 knives and forks followed ; tumblers for 
 the company and mugs for the family ; a 
 big pitcher of water ; a plate of cabbage ; 
 another of potatoes ; a small round dish 
 full of turnips; a platter of corn-beef ; a 
 boiled Indian pudding; a custard pie; 
 and the salt-cellar, and the vinegar cruet, 
 
 and the pepper-box, and the molasses 
 2 
 
 cup, and the butter, just where it was 
 most convenient to tuck them. 
 
 " The men folks meanwhile came in 
 from their work, and washed their hands 
 and faces at the sink, at the far end of 
 the kitchen, and wiped them on a rolling 
 towel. Then they all pulled out their 
 pocket-combs and straightened out their 
 locks. "When they were ready, we were 
 invited to the table. They stood back 
 until we were all seated, and then 
 squeezed themselves in where they could 
 get a chance. It was a well-cooked and 
 palatable dinner, and the hungry stage 
 passengers did it ample justice. While 
 we were eating, the pretty Mary Ann 
 stood at the back of our chairs, and kept 
 the flies from the table with branches of 
 asparagus, and the family cat jumped into 
 each of our laps to ascertain for herself, 
 no doubt, whether we had all the pre 
 requisites for her intimate friendship. 
 
 " We could hear the rolling of distant 
 thunder as we climbed into the red-and- 
 blue farmer's wagon, all innocent of 
 springs, which the driver had secured 
 with which to finish our journey. As 
 the rising cloud in the west obscured the 
 sun's rays, I looked for my umbrella. 
 Alas, it had been spilled in the general 
 spill, and no one had had the forethought 
 to gather it np! The lowering black 
 ness grew nearer and still more near. 
 The thunders bellowed in our very ears. 
 The storm was upon us. No soft, warm, 
 refreshing, namby-pamby drizzle, but a 
 great splashing, dashing, deluging Mas 
 sachusetts pour ! Bonnets and hats wilted 
 like young tomato plants in the hot sun ! 
 "We were in a much shorter space of time 
 than it takes to tell it soaked from the 
 crowns of our heads to the soles of our
 
 18 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 feet. Simultaneously with, the wetting 
 came a violent pelting with hailstones. 
 A barn, with its two great doors open, 
 caught the driver's eye. It was a little 
 off the road, but the horses' heads were 
 turned toward it ; a tip one way, a tip 
 the other, a twist, the striking of the 
 fore-wheels against the wagon body, 
 rapid jolting over a few loose planks, 
 and a sudden elevation, brought us under 
 its friendly shelter, where we sat drip 
 ping and waiting and thinking, and think 
 ing and dripping and waiting, for a full 
 round miserable hour. 
 
 " As the storm abated, we were back 
 ed skilfully out of our place of refuge, 
 and the horses put into a run to make 
 up for time lost. At sunset I was set 
 down at Rockland Place, and most affec 
 tionately welcomed by my father and 
 mother, although in my disfigured con 
 dition I must have been any thing but an 
 object of parental pride. 
 
 " I may as well stop here to tell you 
 that from my earliest recollections I had 
 understood that I was destined for the 
 ministry. My own predilections had not 
 been taken into account any more than 
 the fact that, as a schoolboy, I had floun 
 dered about seven-eighths of the time in 
 a slough of unintelligible learning. ' It 
 run in the family,' my grandmother used 
 to say. Her grandfather and father were 
 both ministers, and she married a minis 
 ter. My honored sire had veered from 
 the clerical groove, and settled down 
 early in life as a tiller of the soil ; but I, 
 of the later generation, was doomed to 
 walk in the footsteps of niy ancestors. 
 
 "Rockland Place, our old homestead, 
 has been described to you in a former 
 letter " 
 
 "We must look that up; I would like 
 to hear about it," interrupted Spicy. 
 
 " hence I will not recapitulate its 
 charms just now. I am sure that my 
 mother's sofa-rocker never fitted all the 
 angles in my body so satisfactorily on 
 any other occasion. Her cosy, cheerful 
 sitting-room, with the books on the table, 
 the flowers on the mantel, and the kitten 
 on the rug, never seemed half so cheer 
 ful and comfortable as then. I fell into 
 a state of agreeable content. The very 
 air was redolent with repose and rested 
 me. 
 
 " Supper was served on an old-fash 
 ioned round ebony table at my elbow. 
 A cup of fine oolong tea, smoking waffles, 
 delicious bread and butter, and straw 
 berries and cream real cow's cream, 
 as brother Fred would say. My sister 
 Phebe was at Mount Holyoke Seminary, 
 and it never occurred to me to inquire 
 after her until the evening was far spent. 
 
 " ' She is to be at home to-morrow,' 
 said my mother. ' A young miss from 
 the school is coming with her to spend 
 the vacation.' 
 
 " ' May she be hanged first,' was my 
 impulsive rejoinder. 
 
 "My father and mother both looked 
 up in astonishment ! 
 
 "'How is that?' asked the former; 
 ' it is the first time I ever heard you ob 
 ject to visitors ! ' 
 
 " ' I don't object to them as a rule,' I 
 replied, slightly ashamed of myself for ex 
 pressing my mind so hastily. ' But I am 
 not in a mood just now for making my 
 self agreeable. I can't speak, as you see, 
 without sneezing, and even then I must 
 speak through my nose, which gives my 
 voice an intolerable twang. Strangers
 
 THE POST-OFFICE. 
 
 19 
 
 are an abomination under such circum 
 stances, and school-girls, if possible, a de 
 gree w*orse. And South Hadley girls 
 above all others. Tall, prim, school- 
 marmish paragons of perfection, got up 
 with special reference to missionaries 
 and country ministers with small means.' 
 
 " ' Take it easy, my son. This little 
 girl who is coming is no husband hunter, 
 and I don't believe she would lay violent 
 hands upon you if she were,' said my fa 
 ther, in his serio-comic style. 
 
 " I was angry with the good man for 
 laughing at me, and I was angry with 
 myself for being angry. I was seized 
 with a violent fit of coughing, and my 
 mother hurried me off to bed and nursed 
 me with the most loving attention. But, 
 in spite of hot ginger tea and mustard 
 drafts, I passed a feverish, restless night, 
 and, when the sun in the discharge of his 
 public duty arose next morning, I was 
 painfully conscious of dull, heavy aches 
 all over my body. 
 
 " I dressed myself, for I could 
 breathe better sitting up, and joined the 
 family at the breakfast-table. I had no 
 appetite, however, I was only ornamen 
 tal there. After prayers I went out on 
 the veranda. The storm had cleared 
 away and the air was fresh and bracing. 
 Prince, my favorite pony, was feeding on 
 the lawn. I asked my father if he didn't 
 think it would be a brilliant idea for me 
 to saddle him and take a ride. He smiled, 
 and said that it so seemed to him, if I 
 was willing to make the ride a matter of 
 convenience. He wanted to send for the 
 mail, and my mother wanted a bag of 
 flour from the mill. 
 
 " I bathed my face plentifully with 
 water it is one of my remedies for a cold 
 
 in the head and then mounted my steed 
 and cantered away. It was a glorious 
 morning. Bryant must have had such 
 a one in his mind when he spoke of the 
 pure air up in this part of the world as a 
 ' spiritual thing.' By the way, his birth 
 place is just over the hill by the meeting 
 house road. I could see the roof and 
 trim chimneys from among the poplars 
 which had cast their shadows over them 
 for scores of years. How his boyhood 
 must have been dotted through and 
 through with similar bright days, more 
 particularly grateful just after the earth 
 had been washed by a shower like that 
 of yesterday ! 
 
 "The post-office was in a small store, 
 where groceries, hardware, confection 
 ery, and millinery dwelt in harmony to 
 gether. The store-keeper was also the 
 post-master and the town-clerk. He 
 lived in the other end of the building, and 
 his wife tended shop while he ate his 
 meals. They were a well-assorted pair, 
 patient in the pursuit of knowledge and 
 invaluable to the society in which they 
 moved. Mr. Foote spent most of his 
 time in the store door, his help-meet in 
 the pantry- window of the basement. He 
 was of medium stature, slightly bent, and 
 fifty. His large, greenish eyes took me 
 in that morning and well-nigh swallowed 
 me. 
 
 " ' Hav'n't you been riding that nag 
 ruther fast for a warm mornin' ? Home 
 from college, eh ? I don't see as you look 
 as if you know any more than you did 
 when you went up there. Goin' to help 
 the old man about his hayin', or have you 
 got too stuck up for that ? Reckon you've 
 spreed it pretty hard,' was the salutation 
 with which I was greeted.
 
 20 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 " I asked for letters, and Prince lifted 
 up one of his fore-feet, ostensibly to kick 
 off the flies, and put it down again. 
 
 " ' There's only one here for your 
 folks, and it's got a name on it that I sup 
 pose belongs to the school-gal Phebe is 
 goin' to bring along with her. I don't 
 know where it's from, but it's post-marked 
 Buffalo. Guess it's a love-letter. If 
 your folks are gittin her up here to make 
 a match for you, they'll have to work 
 lively.' 
 
 " ' Thank you, I suppose they will. 
 Can I have the letter ? ' 
 
 " The man shifted his position and sat 
 down on a keg of molasses. Then he 
 called out : 
 
 " ' Esther, fetch me that letter we 
 were a talkin' about. The young parson 
 wants it.' Then to me, ' How much bet 
 ter off do you take it you be than my 
 boy who is milkin' cows and diggin' po 
 tatoes for a living ? ' 
 
 " ' I really don't know, sir. I hope 
 he is quite well,' I replied. 
 
 " Just then the document was brought 
 to me, and after reading the address, 
 'Miss Ida Everett,' in a bold, dashing 
 hand, I put it in my side-pocket, and 
 turned my face millward. I had scarce 
 ly proceeded half a dozen rods when I 
 heard my name called, and looking up 
 saw Mrs. Cook standing in the front 
 door of her little cottage. I reined 
 Prince up so close to the great flat stone 
 which formed her door-step, that I nearly 
 broke down her spotted lily bush. 
 
 " ' "Well, this is a surprise now ! Be's 
 you home from college, Gideon ? ' 
 
 "I answered in the affirmative, as 
 that was a point necessary to be establish 
 ed before proceeding with the interview. 
 
 " ' Pretty well, are you? ' 
 
 "'Not very, I have a severe cold in 
 my head ; ' and I sneezed immediately to 
 establish my veracity beyond question. 
 
 "'You don't say! Wall, now, I 
 never 1 You've been kinder careless 
 over there to "Williamstown, hav'n't you ? 
 you'd better take some thoroughwort tea 
 right away, to keep it from settling on 
 your chist.' 
 
 " 'I wish it would settle on my c7iist, 
 anywhere but in my head,' I responded, 
 irreverently. 
 
 " ' That's wicked, Gideon ; it might 
 throw you into a consumptive. How do 
 you like college? Awful strict over 
 there, aint they ? ' 
 
 "'Very.' 
 
 "'Do tell! Phebe's comin' home 
 pretty soon, I hear ? ' 
 
 "'To-day.' 
 
 '"Now, you don't tell me! They 
 were a sayin' over to the post-office that 
 there was a school-gal comin' along with 
 her to stay a spell. I don't know what 
 her name is ? You'll be a sparkin' her 
 up, I s'pose ? ' 
 
 "'Not I. I'm coming home one of 
 these days to marry Kuth Damon. Don't 
 you think I had better? ' 
 
 " ' Ruth Damon ! Why, you must be 
 crazy I She's older than our Mary ! 
 She's never had a beau since that fellar 
 came up from Northampton in his antic 
 horse and team and took her ridin' and 
 that was much as twenty year ago. You 
 marry Ruth Damon! "Well, all I have 
 to say is, if you do, you'll make two shift 
 less couples I ' 
 
 " ' I thought you used to say I bade 
 fair to make a good husband.' 
 
 " ' I dont mean nothin' to the contra
 
 THE WOOING OF THE MINISTER'S SON. 
 
 21 
 
 of that now. But you and Euth Damon 
 could not get along together, I knows. 
 "Why, lands alive ! she can't iron a shirt 
 decent, and that's no character for a 
 minister's wife. A poor stick you'd be 
 atakin' care of an unpractical woman! 
 You've been brung np too tender like. 
 I always said so. You hain't got no 
 better hands than a woman. I don't 
 mean to say anythin' agin your mother, 
 for she is master good if she is smart 
 feelin'. "We've got all over that grudge 
 of ourn about her ketchin your father 
 when he was as good as engaged to dar 
 ter Mary. She didn't mean no harm, I 
 s'pose.' 
 
 "'See, how was that, Mrs. Cook?' 
 I asked, although I had heard the story a 
 score of times. 
 
 " '"Why, you see, your father was our 
 minister's son ! I held him in my arms 
 when he was a baby, and seen him grow 
 up around us. Why, we were almost as 
 near kin as relations, because Captain 
 Cook rung the bell for meetin' all those 
 years that your grandfather Gildersleeme 
 preached the gospel to us. "Wall, as I 
 was a sayin', when your father got to be 
 tall and handsome like you here afore 
 me, and went round a courtin' the gals, 
 he was thought somethin of a ketch, and 
 we reckoned a good deal on gettin' him 
 into our family. He used to come a 
 knockin' here Sunday nights and pre 
 tended it was to get the key of the church, 
 but the Captain and I knew a thing or 
 two, if he was so sly. Bime-by up come 
 a school-gal with Fidelia Raymond, and 
 every thing was all nip and pucker, and 
 that was the end of poor Mary. She's 
 been so heart-broke she's never incour- 
 aged nobody's affections since. I'm 
 
 afeared you are agoin' to be took in just 
 as your father was.' 
 
 "'And then what will become of 
 poor Ruth ? ' I replied, with mock grav 
 ity, as I lifted my hat and rode away. 
 
 " Dear Mrs. Cook ! I shall always re 
 member her. She was one of that class 
 of women of whom a sample may be 
 found in almost every New England vil 
 lage, whose business it is to find out 
 everybody else's business, and who at 
 tend to their own business by minding 
 everybody else's business. "What she lack 
 ed in knowledge she made up in native 
 inquisitiveness. She had a fashion of 
 stopping passers-by, particularly young 
 people and children, to ask questions and 
 recite the latest news. It had been my 
 favorite amusement to be thus arrested 
 ever since I could remember. If she was 
 not on the lookout, I usually coughed to 
 attract her attention. Her quaint and 
 original use of the English language was 
 my especial delight. She had none of 
 the cunning and sly malice of her neigh 
 bors, the postmaster and his wife, but 
 garnered up every grain of information 
 obtainable, added it to her stock in trade, 
 turned it over and over, enlarged upon 
 it, and scattered it broadcast through the 
 town. She was to such a community 
 what a daily newspaper is to a city, and 
 about as reliable. Captain Cook (not the 
 one who was killed at the Sandwich Isl 
 ands) hoed his onions and cabbages in 
 the little garden south of the house, and 
 did duty for over half a century at the 
 bell-rope in the vestibule of the white 
 church, which had such an aristocratic 
 way of standing on the side-hill by it 
 self, and looking down upon its long 
 rows of horse-sheds.
 
 22 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 " My errand at the mill was quickly 
 accomplished. As I came out upon the 
 steps Prince sidled off, and the mill-boy 
 ran to bring him back. Waiting there, I 
 looked up at the eighty maple trees on 
 the bank, between the road and the 
 fence. How singular that they should 
 be in pairs ! From my point of observa 
 tion they had the appearance of a board 
 ing-school procession just ready for their 
 morning march. They winked and blink 
 ed at me, and seemed to say : 
 
 '"We know a story of long ago, 
 "Which has rendered this spot famous.' 
 
 What, the old ' Mountain Miller ' book 1 
 Who cares for that, or the spring where 
 the good man used to drink, either 1 It 
 was welling up though, cool and clear, 
 from under the soft green shade, and I 
 was thirsty. It would put that band of 
 school-girls out of my head, perhaps, 
 to take a drink. I stepped along nimbly 
 to where I could rest my knee on a neat 
 ly contrived little bridge, a few inches in 
 width, and, with the tip of my nose in 
 the water, succeeded in obtaining the 
 coveted draught. Upon the trunk of the 
 tree nearest the spring were carved in 
 numerable names. How charming to 
 leave one's autograph to posterity, I 
 thought to myself as I pulled out my 
 pocket-knife and rudely cut my own. 
 
 " Prince had not been altogether 
 pleased with the plan of carrying a bag 
 on his back, and it took some time for 
 us to convince him that it would not in 
 terfere with his future respectability, or 
 prevent his moving in the best society, 
 if he behaved himself. In the end I was 
 conveyed home with exceeding celerity. 
 
 "I found my mother busy in the 
 kitchen. I lounged in the parlor awhile, 
 
 trying to read. My eyes rebelled, and 
 then I sat down at the piano and pro 
 duced from it a few discordant notes. 
 Finally, I took a turn through the gar 
 den, picked some syringas and bachelor- 
 buttons and tried to construct a nosegay, 
 but failed. 
 
 "Upon the other side of the street 
 was a blank wall, below which was a 
 steep grassy declivity, terminating in the 
 bed of a babbling brook. Some years 
 before I had chosen this site for the erec 
 tion of a sort of study-house for myself. 
 It was founded upon two rocks, one upon 
 either side of the stream, and remained 
 a mournful specimen of my boyish at 
 tempt at architecture. Going down to 
 it for the want of something better to do, 
 I found its outer wall desecrated by a 
 huge placard TAKEN. Dolefully as I 
 felt, I could not help smiling, knowing 
 that it was one of my father's innumer 
 able pleasantries. I went in, and, seeing 
 the old rickety settee in its accustomed 
 place, I threw myself upon it in a half- 
 sitting posture, with my head and feet 
 well supported, and fell into a reverie, 
 which ended in a nap, and the nap ended 
 in the following manner : 
 
 "'No. I will never marry a wid 
 ower, nor a minister, nor a man with 
 red hair. What a queer old shell this 
 is!' 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE VISION OF BEAUTY. 
 
 " THE speaker at that instant appear 
 ed before the entrance to my retreat, and 
 paused, looking curiously into my face. 
 It was a vision that came upon me like 
 the glimpse of some better world, and
 
 THE VISION OF BEAUTY. 
 
 23 
 
 caused me to forget that I was made of 
 clay. It was a slight, graceful girl, in 
 fresh \&ite muslin, with blue ribbons 
 floating fron^ hair, neck, and waist ; rib 
 bons that must have been selected to 
 match her ej>es, which were of a heav 
 enly shade, more beautiful than any I 
 had ever seen, and about her half-parted 
 mouth a great many little lights hovered. 
 Dear Helen, was not that enough to be 
 wilder the senses of a susceptible youth 
 just waking out of slumber? 
 
 "And now listen to what follow 
 ed! Phebe discovered me in the same 
 breath. 
 
 " ' Oh, Grandison ! Mother said you 
 were up-stairs asleep, and has kept us 
 running round the house on tip-toe ever 
 since we arrived. She says you are half 
 sick. I should think as much 1 You are 
 a pretty-looking youth ! I should say 
 you had been on a spree for a fortnight,' 
 and then she walked in and kissed me 
 in her old sisterly way, as if that could 
 make amends for the suspicion she had 
 cast upon my morals I 
 
 " I was furious, but hadn't vim enough 
 to show it, and before I could have 
 spoken, if I had made the effort, Phebe 
 went on : 
 
 u ' My brother, Miss Everett, a mis 
 creant who has seen better days.' 
 
 " And that was our introduction. 
 
 "I bowed stiffly as I rose from my 
 ungainly position. My feet were so 
 numb that I could not plant them firm 
 ly and thereby give myself a manly air. 
 I could do nothing, in fact, but look very 
 awkward and embarrassed, and, like the 
 famous parrot, think a great deal with 
 out speaking a word. 
 
 " ' Pardon my intrusion ; it was 
 
 wholly unintentional I assure you,' said 
 Miss Everett, retreating. 
 
 " ' Yes, we came down here to read 
 our love-letters and give the dominie 
 season for repose, and have all unwit 
 tingly run into the lion's very den,' 
 chimed in Phebe. 'But we will leave 
 you to commence your dream just where 
 it was broken off. Adieu.' 
 
 " And they were gone. 
 
 " I watched them through a big crack 
 in my hermitage, as they wandered arm- 
 in-arm along the vale, and finally as 
 cended the bank and disappeared. An 
 hour later the bell rang for dinner. As 
 I came in sight of the house two pink- 
 and-white clouds, with blue streamers, 
 flitted through the doorway. The table 
 was adorned with prettily-arranged bou 
 quets of pinks, mignonettes, sweet peas, 
 and roses. The visitor was placed at my 
 father's right hand, and Phebe at his 
 left. I sat under my mother's wing. 
 
 " Our house had a southerly front, 
 and an unobstructed prospect of two or 
 more miles of country scenery. There 
 was a broad green meadow in the fore 
 ground, a grove of hackmatack trees 
 where we sometimes held picnics just 
 beyond, a saw-mill and two or three 
 houses near the base of a hill hi the dis 
 tance, two brown cottages, about half 
 way up, my grandmother's white domicile 
 on the summit, and, a little farther on, 
 the pretentious dwelling of Mr. Pinker- 
 ton, the greatest horse-jockey in the 
 country. The fields in every direction 
 resembled an irregularly-pieced patch 
 work bed-quilt, such a one as might 
 have been produced in a sewing society. 
 
 " My mother left the door ajar to give 
 Miss Everett a glimpse of this pretty
 
 SPICY. 
 
 view, for she always argued that if peo 
 ple had fine tastes they ought to be in 
 dulged in them. The draft coming upon 
 my hack, through the same open door, 
 made me sneeze. With my handkerchief 
 doing duty, I pressed my fingers firmly 
 upon my upper lip to prevent any fur 
 ther explosion. Alas ! vain were my ef 
 forts. I sneezed again, got purple in the 
 face, coughed, sneezed, cried, sneezed, 
 choked, sneezed, and left the tahle with 
 out asking to be excused. 
 
 " My mother followed me to my 
 room, bringing my dinner with her ; bat 
 I had no appetite. She stroked my fore 
 head lovingly, and laid a wet cloth across 
 my eyes, then went down again. Phebe 
 came up when dinner was over, and sat 
 a half an hour with me. She chatted 
 about the seminary, Lily "White, Miss 
 Jessop, the ride from Northampton, etc. 
 
 " 'It's awful provoking in you, Grand- 
 ison, to go and catch such a cold just at 
 this time. Your eyes look as if they 
 had been soaked over-night in skim- 
 milk, your face is swollen like a porpoise, 
 and, in short, you haven't a good look 
 left. Only to think I I've been boast 
 ing about your beauty and your fine 
 manners for a year, and then brought 
 my room-mate home with me, expecting 
 her to be love-struck at sight, and you 
 have gone and got up such a ridiculous 
 first impression.' 
 
 " ' Good heavens 1 quit your non 
 sense ! ' was ray emphatic exclamation. 
 
 " Night came, and so did the doctor, 
 for my father had great faith in the doc 
 trine that 4 a stitch in time saves nine.' 
 After going through the usual ceremo 
 nies of pulse-feeling and interrogations, 
 the man of the saddle-bags gave his 
 
 opinion and a prescription. My father 
 gave him a dollar for each. But there 
 was no evading the fever with which I 
 was threatened. It was already creep 
 ing through every vein in my body. I 
 did not stand upon my feet again for 
 weeks. Verily I was at death's door, 
 although at the time happily unconscious 
 of my situation. My mother's gentle 
 hands bathed my scorched forehead and 
 cooled my parched lips. Not always. 
 There were other hands that ministered 
 to my necessities, and there was magnet 
 ism in their touch. I missed them when 
 at intervals they smoothed not my pil 
 low. I dreamed of blue eyes, fancied 
 the skies were full of them, all beyond 
 my reach, and I starving to death for the 
 want of a pair. Then I was transported 
 to a land where angels dwelt. I was 
 carried there in a broken-down stage, 
 with only three wheels, and people on 
 the way laughed at my distress when I 
 asked for a cushion for my head. All 
 the angels wore white muslin, and the 
 air was perfumed with new -mown hay. 
 I was happy for awhile, particularly 
 when my face was whisked with ribbons 
 and my neck scratched with finger-rings. 
 During one of my ecstatic moments I 
 was precipitated into my little room in 
 the college-buildings at Williamstown, 
 and there found my bureau crammed 
 with letters addressed to 'Miss Ida Ev 
 erett,' and each letter contained a pair 
 of ear-rings tipped with blue. There 
 was no end to my vagaries. Sometimes 
 I was riding Prince over a mountain of 
 bouquets. At others trying to climb high 
 places in pursuit of fairies. Then I took 
 a prejudice to colors, refused to take 
 medicine that was white, or green, 01
 
 THE AWAKENING AND THE DISCOVERY. 
 
 25 
 
 red, or brown, or black, and my attend 
 ants were perplexed to know what to do 
 with mexl did not look at it ; I only 
 asked what^fche color was. Finally, a 
 sweet voice told me it was blue ! After 
 that I was satisfied. 
 
 " It was on a bright August afternoon 
 that I opened my eyas, with my reason 
 once more enthroned. My room was a 
 picture of neatness and comfort. My 
 eyes wandered from one familiar object 
 to another, and fell at last upon a tiny 
 glove on the foot of the bed. My .mother 
 was sitting by me and spoke my name 
 softly. 
 
 "'Yes, mother. I have been very 
 sick, have I? ' 
 
 " Her tears rained, and she kissed me 
 tenderly. 
 
 " ' But you are restored to us again. 
 Keep quiet now, and we will talk it over 
 hereafter.' 
 
 ""My recovery from that hour was 
 rapid. Yet, for many days, I saw no 
 one save my mother and the physician. 
 The house was still as the Sabbath, and 
 I was haunted by a strange fear that my 
 goddess had departed. One day I ven 
 tured to ask for Phebe. I had avoided 
 her name hitherto, for a singular dread 
 took possession of my soul at every ap 
 proach to the subject, which was inex 
 plicable. 
 
 " ' She is sick, dear.' 
 
 "'Very?' 
 
 " ' There are no alarming symptoms 
 at present.' 
 
 " ' Is it the fever? ' 
 
 " ' Yes ; but of a very mild type.' 
 
 " ' Who takes care of her ? You are 
 always with me.' 
 
 " ' Ida Everett. She is a most excel 
 
 lent nurse for one so young, and what 
 renders it all the more pleasant, she is 
 devotedly attached to Phebe.' 
 
 " Dear foolishness of mankind ! How 
 I was thrilled by the mention of that 
 name ! It was my private, very private 
 opinion that the desire to hear it and 
 know that its proprietor was still a dwell 
 er under our roof, had been preying 
 upon my mind for a much longer period 
 than I was even aware of myself. It was 
 like some far-off pain suddenly bereft of 
 its sting. I closed my eyes and remained 
 silent for a time. My mother must have 
 thought me asleep, for she quitted the 
 room noiselessly. How long afterward 
 I have no idea, but I was conscious of a 
 presence, although I heard no sound. I 
 raised my eyelids languidly, and all my 
 faculties were at once plunged into a 
 torpor of admiration ! The young, bright 
 creature, who had so moved my soul to 
 its very depths, was standing before the 
 mantel pouring something from a small 
 phial into a tumbler. She wore a pretty 
 French calico, made after the fashion of 
 the period, and which seemed to endow 
 her with a dignity, a softness, and a grace 
 that all the panoply of feathers, silks, and 
 flowers had failed to enrich any other 
 lady of my acquaintance with. I could 
 see her face reflected in the mirror upon 
 the bureau, but she never once glanced 
 toward me. I was as one dead, my 
 breath held by an irresistible fascination, 
 until, with the medicine in her hand, 
 she had gone as quietly as she came. 
 
 " Then a profound calm descended 
 upon me. The poetry of a whole life 
 seemed to centre in one being. I knew 
 h-he had been there before. The dream 
 hud not been all a dream. She had
 
 20 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 helped to take care of me during the 
 dark season when I was balancing be 
 tween life and death. She had been wit 
 ness to all my sick follies. Ah! what 
 had she thought of me ! "Would she ever 
 come to my room again ? 
 
 " I asked this last question of myself 
 over and over again during the long days 
 of convalescence. But I opened not my 
 lips to any living mortal. Of Phebe I 
 heard encouraging accounts. The dis 
 ease had touched her lightly, and the 
 prospects were favorable toward her get 
 ting down stairs before me. I grew 
 grave and melancholy. The doctor rec 
 ommended change of air and scene as 
 soon as I should have gained strength 
 sufficient for a journey. 
 
 "One morning my mother did not 
 come to me as usual; Mrs. Manning, a 
 bungling, good -hearted neighbor, brought 
 me my breakfast of toast and tea. I 
 asked for an explanation, and was told 
 that 
 
 '"Mrs. GilJersleeve was busy just 
 now. 1 
 
 " I was restless and wretched, I knew 
 not why. The atmosphere" oppressed me, 
 and I complained of cold hands. Mrs. 
 Manning bustled about, doing nothing 
 generally, and at last discovered that my 
 feet were cold too. It had 'been a cool 
 night, and from the south window a 
 strong breeze fanned me. The doctor 
 had been specific about it. I must not 
 run any risk of getting chills. He had 
 repeated the caution many times, for I 
 was weak still. I asked for a shawl or 
 blanket to be thrown across the bed, but, 
 instead, the monster appeared with two 
 bottles of hot water, which she insisted, 
 upon placing at my feet. I remonstrated 
 
 as vigorously as the circumstances would 
 permit, but she '.said, '"Well folks knew 
 best about such things.' 
 
 " Perhaps they do, as a rule, but they 
 don't always put their corks into their 
 bottles tight enough, as I found to my 
 sorrow, for in a fyw minutes the smoking 
 contents were spread through the length 
 and breadth of my bed. 
 
 " I raved. N> school-boy ever called 
 for his mother with more vehemence 
 than I did for mine. I literally yelled. 
 My persecutress triefl to silence me, 
 begged me to tell her what was the mat 
 ter, offered to do any thing in the world 
 for me, only not frighten the family ; 
 but, after using a good many adjectives 
 not to be found in the catechism, I as 
 sured her that, unless my wishes were 
 instantly gratified, I should arise and go 
 to my mother myself. Then she disap 
 peared. 
 
 " In the Bourse of three or four min 
 utes the door was pushed open, and Ida 
 Everett stepped lightly into the room, 
 came straight to my bedside, and taking 
 one of my hands in. both of hers said: 
 
 " ' I am ao sorry for yon, but you really 
 cannot see j'our mother to-day. Is there 
 any thing \ve can do to comfort you? ' 
 
 " ' Why ! What has happened to my 
 mother?' 
 
 "A mortal terror seized me. My 
 brain seemed to have taken fire. I was 
 permeated as it were with an intuitive 
 apprehension of dire calamity, and my 
 eyes almost started from their sockets. 
 
 " ' She is not well, and I am requested 
 x> ask you to remain as quiet and as pa 
 tient as possible. Mrs. Manning has 
 volunteered to stay with you, and will do 
 all she can.'
 
 A STRONG MAN'S GRIEF. 
 
 27 
 
 " 'Ho doubt of it, even to the filling 
 of my^bed with hot water. What ails 
 mother ? ' 
 
 "She hesitated a second. There 
 was truth in her sweet blue eyes, and 
 she could not carry out the deception 
 they had deemed prudent to impose upon 
 me. 
 
 '"I must know all. Is she dead?' 
 The words oozed from my lips like blood 
 from a poniard wound. 
 
 " ' She is.' 
 
 " My senses ewemed suddenly to de 
 sert me. I neither dreamed nor suffered. 
 I had fainted away. When I again 
 opened my eyes my room was almost 
 dark, and my father was supporting my 
 head in his arms. Some one adminis 
 tered a tonic to my lips, and I recognized 
 the tiny, tapering fingers that guided the 
 spoon. Then my memory returned, and 
 I summoned all the forces of my will to 
 speak. It svas some time, however, be 
 fore I could articulate a syllable. 
 
 " ' Forgive me ; I ought never to have 
 come into this room, for I might have 
 known that I should have betrayed all 
 at the very first questionings, and the 
 shock has almost killed you,' came from 
 a low, choked voice near by. 
 
 " I struggled a moment for strength, 
 then I caught the little hand which was 
 now fanning me gently, and covered it 
 with kisses. She drew it away, not has 
 tily, and caressed my burning forehead, 
 while my father sobbed like a woman. 
 
 " 'Tell me all about it,' I stammered 
 at last. 
 
 " She had been stricken with paraly 
 sis, and never breathed afterward, my 
 precious, loving, darling lady^mother ; 
 and as I looked into my father's face I 
 
 felt that I should soon lose him also, for 
 grief had crushed him. He had grown 
 old, altered, frightful. His stiffened lips 
 essayed to speak, but ended only in a 
 groan. His eyes, which I had known as 
 sending forth only flashes of humor and 
 pride and love, were glassy and dim. 
 His lips were pallid, and premature 
 wrinkles had settled across his handsome 
 forehead. 
 
 "I don't know how the story was 
 telegraphed to my brain, or whose elo 
 quence taught me to forget myself in 
 pity for the strong, suffering man at my 
 side. I wept bitter tears, but they were 
 for his great, hopeless sorrow, and not 
 for my own. All at once he looked 
 down at me long and earnestly. Then 
 he stooped and kissed me once, twice, 
 thrice. The little act was in itself a vol 
 ume, for I had never received such a ca 
 ress from him since I had arrived at 
 man's stature. 
 
 " ' You are very like her,' he said. 
 
 " Good God, how his face lighted up ! 
 How splendid, how tender, were his 
 eyes for that one moment ! How much 
 fascination in his warm, true soul, re 
 fined and elevated by such a companion 
 ship as had been his blessing thus far on 
 the journey of life! How sweet and 
 fiery with passion was his voice, and his 
 submission! Did he deceive himself 
 when he bowed his head and said sol 
 emnly : 
 
 "'0 Lord, our beloved Heavenly 
 Father, thy will be done.' 
 
 " Exhausted, I fell into a quiet slum 
 ber, from which I passed into a half- 
 dozing, ecstatic state, more alarming 
 than my previous delirium. My father's 
 youngest sister, Aunt Sally, came and as-
 
 28 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 sumed command of our stricken house- 
 bold, and devoted herself principally to 
 me. The funeral was conducted so qui 
 etly that not a sound reached my ears, 
 and only muffled footsteps and soft whis 
 pers rippled the air of my apartment for 
 days afterward. Once more I almost 
 bridged the chasm into the better world 
 beyond the skies " 
 
 " A whole sheet missing ! " I had 
 paused and been searching for it for 
 some moments. 
 
 " What a shame ! you must have mis 
 placed it," said Spicy. 
 
 " No." And I made a careful exam 
 ination. " It is positively not here/' 
 
 "How annoying! I want to know 
 what happened next If it wasn't just 
 about ghost-time I would go spooking 
 back into that queer closet and see if I 
 could find it." 
 
 "You've quieted your conscience, 
 then, in regard to the right and wrong of 
 the thing " 
 
 " No, indeed I have not. I am con 
 vinced, as I told you before, that we shall 
 both be sorry some day for what we 
 have done. But my curiosity is up, and 
 that is my strongest point, you know. 
 Besides, from the very first moment that 
 I laid my eyes on them, it has just 
 seemed as if those old letters had some 
 thing to do with me. You needn't 
 laugh. I feel as solemn as Deacon Par 
 son's widow about it; and the notion 
 sticks to me too." 
 
 There was a knock at the door. It 
 was Maggie. She had come to say that 
 Miss Spicy's room was ready. We both 
 started up and went at once to see it. It 
 was on the opposite side of the hall from 
 
 where we were, and over the library. It 
 had an arched ceiling, which was tinted 
 somewhat gorgeously, a continuation of 
 the bay window with a reef taken at 
 each side, and several small niches in the 
 walls. The carpet was down and the 
 bed was made ; and Spicy's trunks had 
 been brought up. 
 
 " It looks as if I had always lived 
 here," said Spicy. " I wonder that per 
 son didn't unpack for me, she seems to 
 have done everything else! Meddie, I 
 am growing courageous let's go and 
 hunt for that lost leaf." 
 
 " Oh, no, not to-night. There is no 
 gas in the closet, and I shouldn't like to 
 take a candle in there, even if I had one, 
 which I dare say I have not." 
 
 " I know ! you are afraid ! " 
 
 "Nonsense! you know better. lam 
 entirely too practical." 
 
 "Meddie, do you remember that bur 
 lesque concert we once attended in Mau- 
 mee City, Ohio ? " 
 
 "Yes. Why?" 
 
 "Don't you know how every man 
 out of twelve declared he wasn't afraid 
 of ghosts?" 
 
 " Well, what of it ? " 
 
 "Sure enough, what of it? Why, 
 when the ghost really came, the whole 
 kit-and-dig of them lost their wits and 
 scampered in every direction." 
 
 "You talk as if there was a ghost 
 coming here. I have no doubt I should 
 quake if I stood face to face with one. 
 But what is the nse in wasting our breath 
 on the subject when there is not such a 
 thing as a ghost in existence I " 
 
 "May be not," pronounced with a 
 dubious inflection. "So we shall have 
 to wait till morning to find out how the
 
 THE TERRIBLE FRIGHT. 
 
 29 
 
 minister made love ! Oh, dear me ! then 
 I'll go to Bed. Of course the lovely be 
 ing took care of him, and consoled him, 
 and he said all the sweet things in the 
 English language to her, and there was 
 an engagement, and a diamond ring, and 
 a wedding " 
 
 "You forget that he was courting 
 another lady, the one to whom this con 
 fession was made," I interrupted her to 
 say. Spicy had dropped into a little cane 
 rocker, and was pulling off one of her 
 hoots. She looked up, with a half-comi 
 cal expression, resting upon her pretty 
 face: 
 
 " Then Ida Everett must have jilted 
 him." 
 
 I was standing with my hack toward 
 the door, which was wide open, and from 
 the glass opposite I caught a glimpse of 
 Nursy Brown, with baby in her arms, 
 flitting from it, or perhaps by it ; and, 
 supposing she had come to speak to me 
 about some household matter, I stepped 
 out into the hall and saw her going into 
 the blue room, to which I followed her. 
 
 "I have prepared the front chamber 
 for you," she said, " thinking this would 
 be a more quiet place to leave little Bright 
 while we are pounding and prowling 
 about and nailing down carpets. I dare 
 say you are tired enough to sleep any 
 where, but he might wake and cry." 
 
 " Very true." 
 
 I stepped to the bed and opened it for 
 her, and, after the little lump was depos 
 ited, I tucked him in and dropped a 
 few kisses on his neck and arms. 
 
 "It is at the end of the hall," said 
 Is"ursy Brown, as, with my hat in my 
 hand and my shawl thrown across my 
 arm, I started for my new quarters. 
 
 It was the largest room on the second 
 floor, and all my best bedroom furniture 
 was there. It seemed so natural to have 
 every thing in its proper place that I 
 took it as a matter of course, and con 
 gratulated myself upon my orderly brain. 
 That is, I knew very well that I had had 
 no hand in settling things so speedily, but 
 it was certainly creditable to me indi 
 rectly for keeping such efficient help. 
 
 I was soon sleeping soundly, and the 
 night was wearing away. Having no 
 care over the proceedings below stairs, I 
 heard none of the noise and commotion. 
 Nursy Brown had hired two or three ex 
 tra hands on her own responsibility, and 
 was pushing things into their places with 
 a spirit and determination which were 
 commendable, to say the least. It was 
 four o'clock, as I afterward learned, when 
 she went up-stairs to lie down. Myra 
 and Maggie thought it would not pay for 
 them "to go and undress just for two 
 hours," so sat down in the kitchen and 
 laid their heads on the table. They said 
 they had not been asleep, although I 
 took their assertions for what they 
 seemed worth, when they heard a pierc 
 ing scream and a heavy fall nearly over 
 their heads. They both ran op-stairs 
 and found Nursy Brown lying upon the 
 floor, apparently dead. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 
 
 THE SrNGTJLAB APPARITION. 
 
 I SPBANG to my feet at the first call, 
 and, without stopping to throw even a 
 shawl about me, ran to the blue room. 
 If I had any definite ideas or fears it was 
 that something had happened to my ba-
 
 30 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 by. But he was sweetly sleeping on his 
 pillow, happily unconscious of what was 
 going on around him. It took me several 
 seconds to recognize Nursy Brown as she 
 lay stretched like a corpse before the 
 bed. Her unbecoming cap and net had 
 both been displaced when she fell, and 
 a large quantity of rich brown hair had 
 fallen from its close confinement. Her 
 forehead, which I had never before seen, 
 was classic, and all her features finely 
 chiselled. Her hand, too, attracted my 
 attention, it was so delicately small, and 
 clinched fast within it was one of the let 
 ters with which we had been amusing 
 ourselves during the evening, and which 
 I had left scattered about in the room. 
 
 I knelt down by her and tried to 
 raise her head with my hands. I blew 
 in her face and screamed for the camphor 
 bottle. Maggie, half-bewildered, tried 
 to find it, and came running with a 
 bottle of shoe-blacking. Myra arrived 
 about the same time with a tumbler of 
 cold water, and I dashed it into the pale 
 face. She rallied, caught her breath, 
 and languidly opened her eyes. In a 
 moment after she spoke : 
 
 " Some one in there 1 " and her eyes 
 directed mine toward the door of the 
 wierd closet, which was slightly ajar. 
 . "Who?" 
 
 "A woman! Oh, shut that door!" 
 and she fainted quite away the second 
 time. 
 
 I nearly drenched her witk water, 
 trying to restore her, and then with My- 
 ra's and Maggie's help lifted her upon 
 the bed. Meanwhile somebody closed 
 that closet door ! There was no one in 
 the room but Nursy, Myra, Maggie, and 
 myself, and neither of us was within 
 
 four feet of it. There was no window 
 open through which a draft could have 
 been guilty of the act, and therefore I 
 was led to believe that the place had an 
 occupant. A sickening sensation came 
 over me, and I could not see distinctly 
 for a moment, although the gas was 
 turned up so high that it roared. My next 
 thought was of burglars, and I recovered 
 my self-possession sufficiently to remem 
 ber that they were cowards as well as 
 assassins, and, while they might look hard 
 at one woman alone, they would scarcely 
 attack four. 
 
 " She was dressed in white," "N"ursy 
 Brown said, as soon as she was able to 
 speak again, " a sort of robe was thrown 
 about her. She peered through the 
 door a second time just as I began to tell 
 you about it, I don't know why it 
 should have affected me so, only that 
 there was such a strange look in her 
 eyes, and it all came so unexpectedly 
 upon me." 
 
 " Maybe it is some of the old board 
 ers coming back by mistake," said Myra. 
 
 "Why? did the folks keep boarders 
 who lived here before us? " asked Maggie. 
 
 "Jest a few for company, so the 
 old cook told me. She came for some 
 aprons which she had left behind, while 
 we were amovin' in yesterday. See ! is 
 it yesterday or to-day ? " 
 
 " It's to-morrow ! don't you see the 
 shine in the east? " responded Maggie. 
 
 My nerves were fast recovering 
 their usual tone, and I mentally re 
 solved to make personal researches into 
 the cause of the disturbance as the day 
 advanced. Leaving Maggie and Myra in 
 charge of Nursy Brown, I went to my 
 room and dressed. My mind was full of
 
 INVESTIGATION OF THE GHOST CLOSET. 
 
 31 
 
 the strange occurrence, and I rejoiced 
 that Spicy aad not been wakened in the 
 general excitement, as she was so timid 
 and impressible, her faith in the super 
 natural would certainly have been estab 
 lished beyond question. 
 
 When I returned to the blue room 
 Nursy Brown was sitting up, and her 
 hair and cap were arranged as she usually 
 wore them. It was light enough to see 
 without the gas and the shutters were 
 thrown open. Maggie had picked up the 
 loose letters and, laid them in a chair, 
 and Myra had gone down stairs to kindle 
 the kitchen fire. 
 
 I took a seat and questioned Nursy 
 somewhat further about the apparition, 
 but elicited no new facts. She seemed 
 greatly distressed at having caused such 
 a commotion, and seemed wholly mysti 
 fied in regard to our singular visitor. 
 
 " Come, Maggie," I said, starting up 
 and approaching the closet door, "let's 
 see who's in there." 
 
 "Oh, no! no! I couldn't look in 
 there! I should fall dead indeed I 
 should ! Don't make me ! " and she 
 turned very white. 
 
 I had forgotten how proverbially su 
 perstitious Irish servants are, or I should 
 not have asked her. 
 
 " Never mind, I can go alone." I 
 had my hand already on the door. 
 
 " I'll follow you," said Nursy Brown, 
 rising with much difficulty. 
 
 " By no means, you must keep quiet," 
 I said, taking hold of her and compelling 
 her to sit down again. "Nobody is go 
 ing to hurt me at this hour of the day. 
 If they should attempt it, Maggie can put 
 her head out of the window and scream 
 for help ; " and I laughed, although I did 
 
 not see any thing especially funny to 
 laugh at just then. 
 
 " Wait, wait, let me call Myra. She 
 isn't so bad of fear as me," exclaimed 
 Maggie, running out of the room and 
 down-stairs. 
 
 I was not sorry for the delay. It 
 gave me time to reenforce my bravery, 
 which was sadly on the wane. Who 
 knew but there were concealed demons 
 in that oat -of- the- way place ! I had 
 read of haunted houses, and trance speak 
 ing, and automatic writing, and of the 
 introduction of flowers and fruits into 
 closed rooms, of voices in the air, and 
 visions of the human body. I had al 
 ways persistently laughed at the whole 
 subject, but ridicule could not materially 
 afiect the actual state of things whatever 
 they might be. No good thing, or great 
 thing, in this world, was ever accepted 
 or believed in at once. Christianity was 
 not, the existence of a western continent 
 was not, the use and power of electricity 
 or steam were not; whatever was op 
 posed to the experience of the vast ma 
 jority of mankind was commonly reject 
 ed as incredible. But why argue? I 
 was not going to harbor any hallucina 
 tion. No, not I. My house must be 
 redeemed from the shadow of a suspi 
 cion. I myself would march to tlie front 
 or perish in the attempt. 
 
 Myra came up, but I could see that 
 she had done it much against her will. 
 Both of the servants looked anxious and 
 careworn, and remained standing near 
 the entrance to the blue room. I sum 
 moned my strength for a final struggle, 
 gave the dreaded door a nervous push, 
 it yielded, creaked a little and flew back 
 to the very wall. There was nobody to
 
 32 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 be seen, and there was no appearance 
 of anybody's having been in the closet 
 since Spicy and I left it the night before. 
 After staring until my eyes ached, I 
 wheeled about suddenly, and nearly over 
 turned my three companions, who, stand 
 ing on tiptoe behind me, were looking 
 over my shoulders. 
 
 " Perhaps some one has entered and 
 passed out of that window ? " suggested 
 Nursy Brown. 
 
 I stepped down into the room and 
 went and tried to open it. It was im 
 movable. Indeed, as far as I could dis 
 cover, there was no way of opening it. 
 It was a little square sash with four 
 panes of glass fitted into a plain pine 
 casing. I was anxious to see what was 
 below, and pressed my face in among the 
 cobwebs to get a view. The slanting 
 roof of the woodshed joined to the grape- 
 arbor on the lower side stretched upward 
 until within a foot of the window, so 
 it would have been not only possible, but 
 comparatively easy, for a person to have 
 reached this point from the outside. 
 But there was not the slightest evidence 
 of its having been done. The ragged 
 vines hung just where they did yester 
 day, and the rubbish in the room lay on 
 the floor in the same corner where we 
 had poked it over. One magazine, in 
 particular, was open where I had looked 
 at a picture, then dropped it for some 
 thing else more interesting. 
 
 Nursy Brown had sat down on the 
 steps, and her face was a positive study, 
 although I was not sufficiently gifted to 
 read it without a teacher. 
 
 Myra and Maggie looked at each 
 other, looked into the empty room, 
 looked at me, and breathed hard. 
 
 ""What is all this rumpus about? 
 Are you hunting for that letter so ear 
 ly? " asked Spicy, putting her head into 
 the room, a head so ruffed and rumpled 
 that it was quite apparent that she didn't 
 take her hair off nights, as some ladies 
 do. 
 
 "Bless your heart, there's been a 
 ghost " 
 
 " Hush 1 " 
 
 It was Myra who vouchsafed the in 
 formation, and it was my peremptory 
 order that interrupted her. 
 
 " A ghost ! " Spicy clinched her 
 hands convulsively and her teeth chat 
 tered. 
 
 "I told you so, Meddie!" 
 
 "You told me? " I replied contempt 
 uously. " As for this ghost business, the 
 least said about the better. I shall take 
 measures to ferret out the secret, and 
 until then I wish the subject dropped." 
 
 The last two sentences were intended 
 for my servants' ears, although I was 
 looking at my sister. They left the room 
 soon after and went in silence to their 
 work. Nursy Brown was very weak, 
 and I helped her to the bed, where she 
 laid down beside baby. Convincing my 
 self that she needed nothing but rest and 
 quiet, I threw my arm around Spicy, who 
 was still in a violent nervous tremor, and 
 led her back to her own room. She had 
 learned so much already that I esteemed 
 it the wisest course to give her a full his 
 tory of the night's scare. Indeed, I 
 could do very little less, she was so per 
 sistent in her inquiries. I sat upon the 
 side of her bed, and she stood before the 
 bureau putting up her hair, and taking it 
 down again. Once or twice she laughed 
 hysterically, but upon the whole sur-
 
 SPICY'S VIEW OF THE SUBJECT. 
 
 33 
 
 prised me amazingly by the manner in 
 which she^istened to my recital. 
 
 "Only to^ think!" she went on to 
 say, after I had finished, "what I was 
 always most afraid of, I have come to at 
 last ! Just like Susie "Wharton. Her be 
 setting fear was of finding some one un 
 der her bed. All the while we roomed 
 together at school she worried me to 
 death ab outit, and, if she forgot to look 
 under just the last thing before putting 
 out the light, she* would lie and quake 
 and make me get up and do it for her. 
 And sure as I live she found a man there 
 one night 1 It was after she went home, 
 and it must have been a great satisfaction 
 after looking for him so long ! How I 
 laughed when I heard of it! Now I 
 roust write to her and tell her about my 
 ghost. I knew it would come, and upon 
 the whole I am ever so much relieved 
 to think it is here." 
 
 "Spicy Merriman ! " 
 
 "Yes, dear, that is my name." 
 
 " You are a perfect riddle ! I never 
 know what to make of you ! " 
 
 "Is that so? then you had better let 
 me see what I can make of myself. I 
 am sure of one thing I can't make my 
 hair crimp this morning without entirely 
 too much trouble. So up it goes plain. 
 There ! how does that look? " 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 "How do you know? you are not 
 ooking at it. Pray what are you think 
 ing about? Is it the ghost still? I do 
 wish I had seen it. "Why didn't you call 
 me?" 
 
 " The truth is, Spicy, if I had not seen 
 that door closed myself without any visi 
 ble agency, I should suspect the whole 
 a trick of the imagination. Nursy 
 
 Brown was tired ; she may have been 
 asleep and waked suddenly ; some jar on 
 the street, or even on the railroad track, 
 may have thrown the door open, and all 
 the rest have been a distorted dream. 
 The more I look upon it in that light, the 
 more the theory gains foothold in my 
 mind. Otherwise, some person must 
 have been secreted in the house for no 
 good purpose, and made his escape in 
 a way not yet revealed to our percep 
 tions." 
 
 "You are matter-of-fact enough to 
 kill a saint, Meddie. It is ever so much 
 nicer to call it a ghost, and tell our 
 friends the house is haunted, and spirits 
 of a highly-exceptional character are our 
 daily visitors ! and thus create an inter 
 esting sensation. Had I better put on 
 my blue merino or my gray empress 
 cloth?" 
 
 "Either. It don't matter. We 
 sha'n't go out or see company to-day." 
 
 I began to feel sleepy, since there was 
 no further occasion for energy and effort, 
 and, pulling one of the pillows into posi 
 tion, fitted it to my head. When Mag 
 gie came to summon us to breakfast, an 
 hour later, she found me in the apparent 
 enjoyment of a comfortable morning nap, 
 and Spicy would not allow her to wake 
 me. 
 
 An unusually loud ring at the front 
 door bell roused me about ten o'clock. 
 Spicy and Bright were sitting in the 
 middle of the floor, engrossed in the con 
 tents of my jewelry-box. The little fel 
 low was ornamented from his head to 
 his toes, and his incorrigible aunty was 
 instructing him in the art of winding-up 
 my watch. 
 
 " One of the moving-men says it was
 
 34 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 a bad bill you gave him yesterday, and 
 will you please change it ? " said Maggie, 
 after coming into the room guardedly, to 
 see if I was awake. 
 
 " I did not give him a two ! " I said, 
 taking it into my fingers and trying to 
 recall the exact circumstances when I 
 paid the man. " No, it was a ten, and a 
 five, a ten and two fives, now I have it, 
 and he gave me back a two. I paid him 
 for nine loads." 
 
 "What shall I tell him?" asked 
 Maggie. 
 
 " That he is mistaken. He must have 
 got it somewhere else. " 
 
 A moment after I heard loud words 
 in a man's voice, and Maggie's expostu- 
 tulating tones. The next I knew, the 
 rascal stood before me. 
 
 "And is this the way you trate a 
 poor working-man, to pay him in coun 
 terfeits ! I'll have the ra-ul stuff afore I 
 lave the house, so be a forkin' it out." 
 
 I rose to my feet and undertook to 
 explain ; but I was afraid of the man, for 
 he seemed to be under the influence of 
 liquor, and finally I retained the bill and 
 gave him two dollars in gold. 
 
 "And it was entirely too chape we 
 moved ye anyhow. Could ye be after 
 giving me a little change for a glass of 
 beer ? " he went on as he wrapped the 
 money up in a piece of dirty sheepskin. 
 
 I caught his glittering eyes fixed 
 upon my baby and his surroundings, and 
 I trembled. It was a trifling thing in it 
 self, but I had occasion to remember it 
 afterward. 
 
 "Shall I call "William to show this 
 man the way down stairs ? " exclaimed 
 Spicy, springing up and coming forward, 
 with her face very much flushed. 
 
 " No, you needn't ever mind about it 
 now, miss. If you want to be so mane as 
 not to pay your honest debts, lit rt go, lit 
 it go, I'll give it to ye;" and he blundered 
 back the way he came, and we heard 
 Maggie lock the door after him. 
 
 " "Well done, Spicy ! What a brave 
 girl am I ! How about your William ? " 
 and I laughed. 
 
 " The old nuisance ! I couldn't stand 
 it any longer. How quick he budged 
 when he thought we had a man among 
 us ! A house full of women are a help 
 less set anyhow, and if I were a robber 
 or a thief, I should do just as they do, 
 pounce upon every one I heard of. 
 Say, Meddle ! let's send for cousin Phil to 
 come and sleep here, nights. I know he 
 would just as soon, he never has to stay 
 at the bank evenings. He might have 
 that little room at the head of the front 
 stairs." 
 
 " He could not have that room, for it 
 is the best suited for Nursy Brown of any 
 in the house, and I see she has all her 
 things as well as baby's already in there. 
 But if it is best to send for him, and I be 
 gin to think it is, I could put him in the 
 blue room." 
 
 "Capital!" said Spicy, "And we 
 won't tell him a thing about the ghost 
 until he has tried it one night." 
 
 "What's the use in telling him at 
 all?" I asked. 
 
 "Oh, there wouldn't be any fun in 
 keeping it to ourselves all the while. 
 May I write to him a note, or go for bun ? " 
 
 "Neither. I will send Maggie. I 
 want you to stay with Bright, for I sup 
 pose Nursy Brown is laid by, and my 
 head is aching fearfully. I have had too 
 much excitement."
 
 SPICY'S POETRY. 
 
 35 
 
 I declined breakfast, went to my 
 room aiid shut myself in alone. I dozed 
 a little, bufc\Iwas in too much pain to 
 get any sound sleep. Myra came up with 
 some tea about noon and kindly urged 
 me to drink it, which I did, and felt 
 much better for it. She didn't leave 
 immediately, but stood first on one foot 
 and then on the other, and finally 
 wound her hands up in her apron. 
 
 " I think I shall be goin' about the 
 time my month is up," she at last stam 
 mered out. 
 
 "Why so?" I asked, quietly. 
 
 " Because my aunt is sick and wants 
 me to come and stay with her a spell," 
 she replied, looking at the carpet. 
 
 " Oh, very well, Myra." 
 
 It has been a principle of mine for 
 many years to treat my servants well 
 and pay them well, but never to ask 
 them to stay with me after they have 
 expressed a desire to go. Hence, there 
 was nothing more to be said on either 
 side. Her month would not be up for a 
 week yet, and I should have an abun 
 dance of time to find some one else for 
 the position. Spicy found me in the rock 
 ing-chair when she came up from lunch. 
 My first inquiry was for Nursy Brown. 
 
 " She is better, and won't let me have 
 the baby any longer. She has sent for 
 some oysters, and ordered Myra to cook 
 them for you." 
 
 "I don't care for them. I am not in 
 the least hungry." 
 
 " But you will be ; you know what 
 Owen Meredith says: 
 
 * O hour of all hours, the most blessed upon earth, 
 Blessed hour of our dinners ! 
 
 The land of his birth; 
 
 The face of his first love ; the bills that he owes ; 
 The twaddle of friends, and the venom of foes ; 
 
 The sermon he heard, when to church he last -went ; 
 The money he borrowed, the money he spent; 
 And many more things a man may forget, 
 And not be the worse for forgetting; but yet 
 Never, never, oh, never I Earth's luckiest sinner 
 Hath unpunished forgotten the hour of his dinner I ' 
 
 That is what I call practical sentiment, 
 Meddie. He says something more, I 
 don't quite remember how it comes in, 
 about, 
 
 ' Indigestion, that conscience of every bad stomach, 
 Eelentlessly gnawing and pursuing with some ache,' 
 
 and then another pretty idea : 
 
 'We may live without poetry, music, and art; 
 
 We may live without conscience, and live without 
 heart; 
 
 We may live without friends ; we may live without 
 books, 
 
 But civilized man cannot live without cooks. 
 
 He may live without books what is knowledge but 
 grieving? 
 
 He may live without hope what is hope but deceiv 
 ing? 
 
 He may live without love, what is passion but pining ? 
 
 But where is the man that can live without dining? ' 
 
 I suppose it will apply to woman just as 
 well, only I don't quite subscribe to the 
 idea that a man, or woman either, could 
 live very long without love." 
 
 " You have managed to exist a little 
 over sixteen years without it, haven't 
 you?" 
 
 "Not a bit of it! don't I love you, 
 and well, I might get up a book on 
 statistics ; but there come your oys 
 ters! let them shut your mouth, and 
 don't bother me." 
 
 " How would you like to read to me 
 for awhile ? " I asked, as I submitted to 
 the temptation in my way and found my 
 appetite increasing fast. 
 
 " That is just what I am dying to do. 
 I am at your individual service. I have 
 those letters in my pocket, and although 
 I have hunted high and low, and cannot 
 find the remainder of the one you were 
 reading last night, I've struck another
 
 36 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 mine, and it is the grand sequel 1 Pray 
 listen with all your ears." 
 
 She changed her seat so as to get a 
 better light upon the close writing, and 
 read as follows : 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE MINISTER AND HIS DEACON. 
 "MY DEABE8T HELEN I 
 
 " The history of an unspoken love is, 
 at the best, a spiritless feast, and it is 
 only to correct false impressions that I 
 have entered so minutely into particu 
 lars. Now I will give you a better sea 
 soned dish. 
 
 "It was on a sultry June evening 
 that I stood on the steps of my little 
 church in Peculiarville waiting for Dea 
 con "Wilder, who usually walked up the 
 street with me from the prayer-meeting. 
 He came bustling along presently, slip 
 ped his arm through mine, and we pro 
 ceeded leisurely on our way. 
 
 " ' Where do you propose spending 
 your vacation ? ' he asked, in a confiden 
 tial undertone. 
 
 " ' I am haunted by the blue hills of 
 Massachusetts,' I replied. 'I have not 
 seen them for two years. It is my pres 
 ent intention to visit a sister who has a 
 cosy nest in among their fastnesses.' 
 
 '"It is very cloudy, very cloudy this 
 evening,' remarked my companion, with 
 the air of a man whose thoughts were 
 on some other subject. 
 
 " ' Yes, deacon. I apprehend showers 
 before morning.' 
 
 '"H-e-e-e-m, yes, very. H-e-e-e-m, 
 by-the-way, Brother Gildersleeve, have 
 you ever considered h-e*e-e-m how 
 
 hem how much more useful a young 
 man h-e-e-e-m of your cloth might be 
 in our parish if h-e-e-e-m if you were 
 to take to yourself a good, pious, exem 
 plary wife I ' 
 
 "This was hardly what I expected 
 from him. I smiled, and looked full in 
 his face. 
 
 " 'Excuse me h-e-e-e-m I have a 
 slight cold this evening. It was only 
 our great regard for you that made us 
 talk this matter over h-e-e-e-m a few 
 of us, and I was appointed h-e-e-m 
 to call your attention to the subject. 
 There is no one in our little place whom 
 we could select h-e-e-e-m as a suit 
 able companion for you ; but h-e-e-e-m 
 Deacon Tomilson's wife's niece is com 
 ing to visit them, and we should very 
 much like to have you make her ac 
 quaintance.' 
 
 " 'Thank you, sir,' was my quick re 
 sponse; 'but I have no disposition to 
 marry none whatever. Say so to my 
 kind friends. If you wish to install a 
 minister's wife over the Church, I will 
 abdicate any moment you may desire, 
 and thus give you an opportunity.' 
 
 "My impetuosity must have aston 
 ished the good man. He stammered in 
 his attempt to apologize. I came boldly 
 to the rescue. 
 
 " ' I fully appreciate your motives, 
 Brother "Wilder. Such thoughtfulness is 
 eminently characteristic of my warm 
 hearted and zealous supporters. Matri 
 mony, however, is a subject upon which 
 I rarely permit any one to speak to me 
 seriously. I received a bruise in my 
 younger years which has never had time 
 to heal. I always expect to labor single- 
 handed in the vineyard of the Lord.'
 
 THE MINISTER'S VISIT TO CLOVER GLEN. 
 
 u ' Then I suppose h-e-e-e-m that 
 I must report the failure of a bungling 
 ambassador,' said Deacon "Wilder, shak 
 ing my hand warmly and bidding me 
 good-night. 
 
 "And he did. Not only that, but his 
 wife whispered the news, that Mr. Gil- 
 dersleeve had been crossed in love, to 
 every lady member of my church and 
 congregation, and that he had positively 
 declined to make the acquaintance of 
 Miss Helen Hortense. Yon were en 
 tirely innocent of any part in the plot, 
 and might have been spared their idle 
 tattle. But, as it is, you shall have the 
 whole romance, and then execute judg 
 ment. 
 
 " The following week, on Tuesday, I 
 found myself one cloudy afternoon stand 
 ing on the little platform of the station- 
 house at Clover Glen. It had grown 
 into quite a pretty village since I was 
 last that way. Paper-mills, woollen- 
 mills, balmoral-mills, cotton-mills, warp- 
 mills, and other kindred establishments, 
 were flourishing in every direction. Two 
 or three churches had gone np like sky 
 rockets, and cottages, large and small, 
 and white and brown, and Gothic and 
 plain, were scattered without regard to 
 streets, wherever there was a good place 
 to build." 
 
 " I suppose," said Spicy, pausing and 
 looking up at me, "that they laid out 
 the streets to suit the houses, as I once 
 bought my dress to match my gloves." 
 
 Then she read on : 
 
 " There were pretty yards tastefully 
 cultivated, and plenty of yards unculti 
 vated, simply serving as pens to catch 
 the dirt in, and there were mountains 
 set up all about like a wall of protection 
 
 against the wiles of the wicked world 
 and the fresh summer breezes. 
 
 " With my valise in my hand I walked 
 leisurely np the main street, hunting for 
 a house with two wings, as the residence 
 of my sister Phebe had been described 
 to me. All at once a hand was laid upon 
 my arm, and a voice exclaimed : 
 
 " ' Grandison ! by Jove ! How came 
 yon here ? ' 
 
 "It was my brother Fred, my junior 
 some four years, as I presume you are 
 already aware. He gave me half-a-dozen 
 slaps on the shoulder, and shook my hand 
 until the joints cracked like castanets. 
 
 " ' By rail and you ? I thought you 
 were coining gold on "Wall Street ! I am 
 proud to hear that you are developing 
 quite a remarkable talent for business. 
 How is Phebe?' 
 
 " ' Tip-top. "Why didn't you announce 
 your coming? She would have killed the 
 fatted calf if she had known it. As it is, 
 she has nearly killed herself getting ready 
 to engineer a pleasure excursion to Gray 
 Lock to-morrow. "We start at five o'clock 
 in the morning.' 
 
 " ' I intended to have written, but I 
 was uncertain about the date of starting 
 until the last minute. However, I am 
 agreeable to Gray Lock, if you will take 
 me along. I should like that trip above 
 the clouds; it will remind me of by 
 gones.' 
 
 "We had by this time reached the 
 house, and I was received by Phebe most 
 affectionately. Her home was a little 
 gem of comfort. I had not seen another 
 such since dear old Rockland Place pass 
 ed out of our family possession. She was 
 blooming as a rose, and emanated sun 
 shine whichever way she turned.
 
 38 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 " ' "What a windfall you are, Grand- 
 ison, just at this particular time!' she 
 said. 
 
 u ' Which, interpreted, is to say, that, 
 as soon as circumstances will permit, she 
 will be much obliged to these two mem 
 bers of the masculine persuasion if they 
 will walk into the kitchen and help her 
 make sandwiches until sunset,' remarked 
 Fred. 
 
 " ' No, indeed 1 ' 
 
 " 'Yes, indeed! "What is the use in 
 denying it ? You know you sent me to 
 the grocery for some tongues a short time 
 ago, and ordered me to make all possible 
 haste, because, you said, there would be 
 hardly time to get every thing ready to 
 night anyhow. I am not going to spoil 
 a story for the sake of a minister. Be 
 sides, he is old enough and big enough 
 to work, and your old adage applies in 
 his case " a certain amount of misery is 
 necessary for the enjoyment of life." ' 
 
 " I immediately expressed my extreme 
 willingness to cut meat, butter bread, 
 pack chicken, or eat cake, as the master 
 of ceremonies should direct. 
 
 ' ' The master is a mistress,' said 
 Fred. 
 
 " I corrected myself accordingly. 
 
 "Phebe declared the picnic was of 
 no such yital consequence. She wanted 
 to sit down and talk with me. But Fred 
 wouldn't let her. 
 
 "'Business first, and then pleasure,' 
 he said. '"When one is in an official 
 position he must face his obligations. 
 Such honors are cheap at that.' 
 
 " The facts of the case were that 
 Phebe, and one or two young lady 
 friends, had projected the expedition, 
 intendiDg that it should occupy two 
 
 days, remaining on the mountain all 
 night in order to see the sun rise. About 
 seventy of the villagers were enlisted, 
 and a party from "Williamstown were to 
 join them on the mountain. Each in 
 dividual was expected to carry a basket ; 
 and for the general dinner and breakfast 
 supplies were sent to Phebe's kitchen, 
 and some colored men had been hired to 
 carry them up on their backs. 
 
 u Fred was in his element. Nothing 
 ever suited him half so well as a frolic. 
 He was a handsome young man of the 
 world, prided himself upon his fine fore 
 head, brown wavy hair, and bewitching 
 eyes; was tall, well built, a perfect ath 
 lete in his movements, and having earned 
 the unenviable reputation of lady-killer, 
 was nothing loth to play a few pranks 
 for the benefit of the country damsels 
 whom he might meet on this eventful 
 occasion. He was the most helpful of 
 helps during the afternoon and evening, 
 and laid the good things iuto baskets ac 
 cording to the latest prescribed rule. I 
 stood by and did the looking on, and en 
 couraged Phebe to let those who would 
 work do the work. Her husband, Eich- 
 ard Haywood, arrived from Boston on 
 the eight-o'clock train, and entered into 
 the arrangements with great spirit. Some 
 young ladies came in to discuss questions 
 of policy and performance, and loitered 
 long enough to flirt a little with Fred. 
 I heard him wickedly suggesting to one 
 of them to try to catch that ' red-headed 
 old bachelor,' meaning your humble ser 
 vant. 
 
 '"So you have commenced making 
 game of me already ? ' I remarked, after 
 they had gone. 
 
 " ' "Who ever knew a Gildersleeve who
 
 ASCENT OF GRAY LOCK. 
 
 39 
 
 could not fight his own battles ? ' was all 
 I got in re>ly. 
 
 " The morning was fair, and the pro 
 cession was under way at the appointed 
 hour. I was not more than half awake 
 when we took our seats at Phebe's break 
 fast-table, but I remember distinctly 
 every good thing upon it coffee, hot 
 rolls, fried ham, and cold mush. I com 
 plained of a fair appetite, considering the 
 hour. The truth is, I am an advocate of 
 sleep. My advice to young people (of all 
 ages) is, to get all they can. Never mind 
 that old-fashioned doctrine about early 
 rising : 
 
 ' Thomson, who sung about the seasons, said 
 It was a glorious thing to rise in season ; 
 But then he said it lying in his bed 
 At ten A. M. the very reason 
 lie wrote so charmingly. The simple fact is, 
 His preaching wasn't sanctioned by his practice. 
 
 'Tis doubtless well to be sometimes awake 
 
 Awake to duty, and awake to truth ; 
 
 But when, alas 1 a nice review we take 
 
 Of our best deeds and days, we find, in sooth, 
 
 The hours that leave the slightest cause to weep 
 
 Are those we passed in childhood, or sleep I ' 
 
 " ' Hallo,' said Fred, when the spring- 
 less wagon which was to convey us to 
 the base of the mountain stopped before 
 the door. ' There are just six of us of 
 ficers, and as the vehicle has three seats, 
 then, according to Colbourn, we must 
 ride two on a seat. Dear Mrs. Hay wood, 
 may I Jiave the felicity of riding by your 
 side?' 
 
 " I fancied there was more than one 
 pang of disappointment when the sister 
 thus carried off the star of the morning ; 
 but I made my best bow and handed in 
 Miss Emily Juniper, who maintained 
 great dignity in her gold-bowed glasses 
 and faded hair. Brother Richard had a 
 nice sociable time on the front seat with 
 Katy Sparkle. 
 
 " The road was dusty and rough, and 
 mostly up-hill. "We stopped every few 
 minutes to let the other wagons overtake 
 us. At a pair of bars opening into a 
 bleak pasture we alighted, and sent the 
 wagons back to the village. From there 
 we walked a good half-mile to the foot 
 of the modest old mountain, the highest 
 in the Bay State, and which needs but a 
 Bryant or a Bierstadt to render it fa 
 mous. 
 
 " Meanwhile the sun was high enough 
 in the heavens to pour down its scorch 
 ing rays. There is a remarkable spring 
 just as we enter the woods, and we all 
 stopped to drink and fill our canteens. 
 From that point the ascent was toilsome, 
 and before we were half way to the sum 
 mit our water failed and we were nearly 
 famished with thirst. There were cov 
 etous eyes fixed upon some tin pails 
 which formed a part of the luggage, and, 
 at one place where we stopped to rest, 
 there was a mysterious silence prevail 
 ing for a time among the gentlemen. 
 All at once the startling rumor floated 
 through the air that the pails contained 
 nothing. 
 
 " There was a panic, to which the re 
 cent stir in Wall Street was a mere bub 
 ble. The lady managers of the dinner 
 looked at each other in hopeless despair. 
 
 " e What shall we do ? ' exclaimed 
 Katy Sparkle, pulling off one of her 
 green-kid gloves and pushing back her 
 flaxen ringlets with her bare hand. 
 
 " ' Is it possible ! no milk at all for 
 our tea and coffee ! ' ejaculated Miss Emily 
 Juniper, looking over her glasses. 
 
 " ' "We had a six-quart pail of pure 
 cream ! ' said Phebe, regarding me with 
 interest as I martyrized myself by car-
 
 40 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 rying two waterproofs, three parasols, 
 a pair of overshoes, and a cane. 
 
 "'Well! It is what I call a little 
 worse than stealing sheep ! ' remarked 
 Richard, as he worried along under the 
 weight of a folded tent. 
 
 '"I wish I knew who did it ! ' whis 
 pered Mrs. Cady to Mrs. Putty well. 
 
 " ' So do I ! It is mean ! contempti 
 ble! despicable! selfish! sneaky! outra 
 geous ! Mrs. Hay wood went all over the 
 village to collect it, and I put in every 
 bit I took from yesterday's milk. I wish 
 I could just get hold of the person who 
 dared to steal it ! ' said the latter in an 
 emphatic manner. 
 
 " ' What is up ? ' cried Fred, overtak 
 ing us. 
 
 "Katy Sparkle explained. 
 
 " ' I thought as much,' he feplied. 
 "I saw brother Grandison drawing his 
 head out of something very like a tin 
 pail. I heard you talking rather loud 
 up here ahead of me, and, thinking I 
 could shed a little light on the subject, 
 I put to the rescue. Say, look a here, 
 man ! ' and he confronted me, taking 
 hold of my coat-collar on either side of 
 my neck and nearly shaking my wits 
 into next week, '"What did you drink 
 that milk for ? ' 
 
 " It was not a very nice position for an 
 orthodox minister and the editor* of a 
 leading religious paper to stand thus ac 
 cused before a band of strangers 1 
 
 " ' Answer me ! ' he thundered, giv 
 ing me. another tremendous shake. 
 ' What did you drink that milk for? ' 
 
 " ' Because I did not know any better.' 
 
 "What had I said! How could I 
 have been so absurdly stupid as to con 
 fess to the doing of such a deed ! Could 
 
 I recall my unfortunate words? Should 
 I be believed if I did recall them ? ' 
 
 "Come this way,' said Richard 
 shortly after. 'There are some Pitts- 
 field ladies to whom I should like to in 
 troduce you.' 
 
 " I was glad of an escape from an em 
 barrassing predicament, and followed him 
 at once. Imagine my confusion when he 
 presented me, with all due formality, as 
 'the man who drank the milk! ' 
 
 " I scarcely heard my true name 
 again that day. My two brothers had 
 an endless amount of fun at my expense. 
 After reaching the top of the mountain 
 we rested ourselves for a season on the 
 soft side of flat rocks, and then the more 
 active and ambitious of the party made 
 preparations for dinner. A fire was 
 built, water prestidigitated by the col 
 ored boys, tea and coffee made, and sun 
 dry bits of cooking done. I amused my 
 self with a small telescope, tracing out 
 the White Mountains in the distance, 
 Mount Monadnock to the right, the Cats- 
 kill and Adirondacks to the broad left, 
 and hills upon hills, picturesque valleys, 
 and gleaming lakes in the immediate 
 foreground. 
 
 "It was four o'clock p. M. when I 
 was escorted to a tent and placed at the 
 head of a sumptuous repast, Turk fash 
 ion. Fred was high chief waiter, and a 
 bevy of pretty girls followed in his wake. 
 Everybody was in a merry mood, and 
 the good things disappeared swiftly. I 
 was favored with some strong black tea 
 which I could not drink without my 
 usual trimmings, and the first I knew I 
 was laid violent hands upon, and the vile 
 stuff* was poured down my throat as if 1 
 were a small child sick with the measles
 
 WHY THE MINISTER NEVER MARRIED. 
 
 41 
 
 and would not take my medicine. Then, 
 I was toastedxas the man who drank the 
 milk, and was obliged to respond with a 
 speech. I was pestered, and persecuted, 
 and laughed at. But, strange as it may 
 seem, the ladies ceased to regard my crime 
 with horror and aversion, and vied with 
 each other in their kind attentions to me 
 as the affair obtained publicity. 
 
 " ' Were you accustomed to drinking 
 milk in your boyhood? ' asked Mrs. Put- 
 tywell, with an expression of great in 
 terest on her face. 
 
 " ' Yes, I was brought up on a farm.' 
 
 " ' That accounts for it, then yonr 
 liking for it now. But I can't see how 
 you could manage to drink so much ! ' 
 
 "Neither could Katy Sparkle, nor 
 Mrs. Cady, nor Miss Emily Juniper. 
 The latter looked concerned, and asked 
 me twice if I was quite well. 
 
 " ' Habit, habit,' said Eichard ; ' if he 
 had only had a Eev. Mrs. Grandison to 
 have gone through life with him, he 
 would never have got in such a way.' 
 
 '"Nor worn that happy and serene 
 look and leghorn hat,' said Fred, flour 
 ishing his black beaver. 
 
 "It was my turn to speak after a 
 while, and I challenged Fred for a story. 
 Ee was a capital story-teller. 
 
 " ' "Won't do it unless you will answer 
 a question which I am going to pro 
 pound.' 
 
 "'What is it?' 
 
 " ' Why have you never married? ' 
 
 " ' For two reasons both good ones. 
 Because I had an idea that I shouldn't like 
 to see my wife make a beefsteak answer 
 for two meals, use the fragments for soup 
 the third day, and manufacture hash out 
 of the remains all the rest of the week, 
 
 and my parish never voted me salary 
 enough to provide more liberally. And, 
 secondly and lastly, I have not succeeded 
 in finding the lady who had the three 
 qualifications I require.' 
 
 " ' Only three ! Pray do tell ns what 
 they are ! ' cried Katy Sparkle. 
 
 " ' Good sense, good humor, and good 
 health.' 
 
 '"What a combination of excellen 
 ces ! ' said Eichard. 
 
 " ' No wonder he is a single man ! ' 
 said Fred. 
 
 " ' Not even an eye for beauty ! ah, 
 Grandison ! ' said Phebe. 
 
 " ' Fulfil your part of the programme 
 now,' I said, addressing Fred. 
 
 " We made him stand on a stone to 
 entertain the company. He did so, and 
 his humorous description of a recent 
 robbery was very enjoyable. A gang of 
 desperadoes had planned and executed 
 an assault upon some unprotected prop 
 erty, and so successfully had it been ac 
 complished under the very eyes of a 
 crowd of people, that the offence rested 
 only upon the head of one man, and he 
 innocent ! 
 
 " ' Brother Graudison ! ' said he, in 
 conclusion, ' since you have had the credit 
 of the sin and none of the cream, I must 
 admonish you, in the presence of all 
 these witnesses, to remember the good 
 dog Tray.' 
 
 "In the midst of the laughter that 
 followed, we saw the Williamstown party 
 coming over the brow of the hill from 
 the west. A committee went forward 
 to greet them, and there was quite a stir 
 all round. The Clover Glenites sepa 
 rated into select little groups sitting on 
 the grass, and under the dwarfish shrub-
 
 42 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 bery. I returned to my telescope and 
 sermonized a little. 
 
 "A lady and gentleman, sauntering 
 along, stopped directly in front of me. 
 The latter was a scholarly-looking man, 
 advanced in years, with snowy hair and a 
 gold-headed cane. The lady was young, 
 of a light, graceful figure and stylish air. 
 I could see only a portion of her face, 
 which was of marble whiteness, but there 
 was a world of quiet strength in the 
 curves of her well-shaped mouth. She 
 wore a gray travelling-dress of some 
 summer fabric unrelieved by even a bow 
 of bright ribbon. She was saying to her 
 companion : 
 
 " '"With trouble we acquire strength, 
 uncle. I am equal to any course of ac 
 tion which my better judgment approves. 
 I have not yet had time ' 
 
 " She turned partly round at that mo 
 ment, and the words seemed to freeze to 
 her lips. Her eyes were riveted upon 
 me ! And mine ? Need I say more, 
 than that I stood face to face with Ida 
 Everett ! 
 
 " In the life of every one, I believe, 
 there are sudden transitions of feeling 
 which seem almost miraculous! As if 
 some magician had touched the heavens 
 and the earth, the dark clouds melt into 
 thin air, the winds are hushed, and se 
 renity succeeds the storm. Looking 
 into her eyes and seeing myself mirrored 
 there, all my doubts and misgivings van 
 ished. It was a brief, blessed inter 
 change of soul with soul. Why, oh, why 
 had I been so foolishly false to the 
 promptings of my heart in those far 
 back days? "Why had I housed up the 
 love that wellnigh consumed me, let the 
 golden hour of promise pass, suppressed 
 
 the longing cry that was on my lips, and 
 erected a barrier of ice over all my finer 
 and better feelings? Inexplicable folly 1 
 I might have known that she was mine, 
 and captured the flying years. It was 
 perfectly clear to me now. How could I 
 have been so mistaken, so misguided? 
 Certain thoughts are prayers. There 
 are moments when the soul is kneeling, 
 no matter what the attitude of the body 
 may be. Ah ! my love was taking shape 
 and form, and I took her outstretched 
 hand. 
 
 "She introduced me to her uncle, 
 Judge Shubill, and we chattered pleas 
 antly, all three of us. Phebe coming 
 that way, was thrown into a great state 
 of rejoicing by meeting the dear friend 
 of her girlhood, whom she had not seen 
 since she graduated. Richard following, 
 was introduced, and joined our party, 
 but Fred was more agreeably occupied 
 elsewhere. "We found seats on the rocks 
 and settled ourselves for a talk. "We ex 
 humed Rockland Place and painted it up 
 in fresh colors. "We wandered through 
 the fields and meadows and picked clo 
 ver-blossoms and dandelions. "We visited 
 North Pond, that unique body of water 
 on the top of a high hill, and picked 
 huckleberries in a row-boat. "We took 
 drives after the horse that always shied 
 at white paper, and had two or three 
 upsets in rough places by way of a remi 
 niscence. "We dissected the good people 
 of the neighborhood, laughed over Mrs. 
 Cook and the captain, and the post-mas 
 ter and his wife, and went to church on 
 Sundays, and held full-dress receptions 
 while the congregation gathered. Sadly 
 and tenderly were spoken the names of 
 my father and mother, and loving allu-
 
 THE DARKEYS AND THE CIGARS. 
 
 43 
 
 sions madito their many virtues and ac- 
 complishmeiuvand their better home in 
 the spirit-world. Kind words ! Heaven- 
 born immortalities! Their influence is 
 stamped upon the future when the past 
 has sealed the lips which uttered them. 
 Let them live on forever and forever ! 
 
 " Strange freak of fate which had 
 thus thrown me into the magnetic pres 
 ence of the woman whose image I had 
 been trying to tear from my heart for so 
 many years! My ears were tingling 
 once more with the music of the voice 
 which had taught me the lesson of life in 
 a new rhythm ! aad oh, how greedily I 
 caught every pearl which fell from her 
 lips ! As in those early days she charmed 
 by entering entirely into the moods of 
 those about her, drawing forth by her 
 genial appreciation their best gifts, and 
 rendering them entirely at home with 
 themselves ; as in her daily life then, so 
 in her conversation now, she displayed 
 singular sweetness of temper and forget- 
 fulness of self, combined with fine intui 
 tive perceptions; and I, who had been 
 groping so stupidly in a labyrinth of er 
 ror, emerged into a mysterious alchemy 
 of light, with newly-awakened percep 
 tions. I had suddenly found myself in 
 the attitude of a man impatiently wait 
 ing for the right moment when he could 
 do homage before the world to the wom 
 an of his choice. 
 
 " Meanwhile another banquet had been 
 preparing for the more recent comers, 
 and the judge and his niece were led 
 away, promising to meet us again in the 
 evening. Phebe had duties that re 
 quired her attention, and excused her 
 self, saying : 
 
 " ' Eichard, it is a good time for your 
 
 cigars while we are getting the tents 
 spread and candles lighted.' 
 
 " 'True,' and he started to get them. 
 
 " The boxes were not where they had 
 been left. He instituted a search which 
 occupied some moments. Finally, some 
 one spied them partly covered by the 
 leaves in a little hollow of earth. But 
 the fine havanas which they had con 
 tained were not to be found. 
 
 " 'It is those darkeys,' he said, scowl 
 ing and shaking his head. 
 
 " They were sitting in a row under a 
 little pine-tree a few rods below ns, ap 
 parently absorbed in viewing the land 
 scape. He stepped lightly over the bank 
 and called out : 
 
 "'Peter!' 
 
 " ' Yes-er,' and in the flash of an eye 
 the boy stood up and faced about. 
 
 " ' Did you take my cigars ? ' 
 
 " ' Nos-er, never touched a cigar in 
 my life.' 
 
 " ' What ! don't you smoke ? ' 
 
 '"Nos-er, never smoked a cigar in 
 my life.' 
 
 "'How is that? don't you like ci 
 gars ? ' 
 
 " ' Don-nos-er, never smoked a ci 
 gar in my life.' 
 
 " His hands were behind him, and at 
 that instant a stream of fire shot up in 
 the background and singed both his 
 hands and his hair. He jumped into the 
 air with great, dilated eyes, and then 
 wailed and agonized over his smarts. 
 
 " ' So you never smoked a cigar in 
 your life, eh ? ' said Eichard, with his 
 eyes resting upon the poor stump of one 
 which had done the mischief. 
 
 " 'Ohs-er, I'll never steal another ci 
 gar, never, as long as I live ! Ohs-er, I'll
 
 44 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 never steal another cigar ! my hand 1 oh, 
 my hand ! ' and he blew and shook the 
 unlucky member. ' Ohs-er, I'll never 
 steal another cigar as long as I live ! ' 
 
 "We could none of us restrain our 
 laughter, and the old mountain resounded 
 with the uproar. The fire, meanwhile, 
 which had kindled in the dry grass and 
 stubble, crept along aided by the wind, 
 and assumed a serious aspect. There 
 was no water to be had, consequently 
 we did battle with stones, moss, and dirt, 
 and in the end conquered. But the 
 moon was up and the wee small hours 
 approaching when we buried the hatchet 
 and smoked the pipe of peace once more. 
 The laborers were served with refresh 
 ments by the ladies of the committee. One 
 of the Williamstown ladies brought me 
 a cup of coffee, and described something 
 to me while I drank it, no doubt very 
 interesting, but spoken in what seemed 
 a lost language. I was thinking about 
 Ida Everett, and wondering how I was 
 going to get an opportunity of seeing 
 her before the party retired to the tents. 
 We were standing in front of one then, 
 with its great blank black eye taking in 
 every thing, and giving out nothing in 
 return, save the dim length of vacant 
 space. I looked at my watch by the 
 light of a feeble lamp, which stood inside 
 a pail. There are moments with rusty, 
 broken locks, which refuse to open to 
 the crowding joys that wait beyond. 
 This was one. I returned my cup 
 with suitable acknowledgments. Then I 
 reached up and cut a branch from one 
 of the trees to keep off the musquitoes. 
 I watched a shadow coming toward me 
 no, it was a form clear-cut and pres 
 ently distinct in outline. A faint rustle 
 
 of drapery, a light foot-fall, and then the 
 words : 
 
 "<0hl Mr. Gildersleeve! I hardly 
 knew you in the dark ! ' 
 
 " I was intoxicated with delight. The 
 hour longed for come at last ! And with 
 it the feeling which all men know 
 that it was the one jewelled opportunity 
 which must not be allowed to escape. I 
 offered her my arm for a brief turn over 
 the scarred, seamed rocks to the region 
 of the late fire. There followed winged 
 moments. I told her all. She tried to 
 interrupt me, but I would not permit it. 
 It was an earnest, sincere outpouring of 
 the pent-up love of years. And I made 
 her listen, listen to the end, although she 
 let go my arm and sobbed convulsively. 
 
 " In the light of the new moon, which 
 was shining over my shoulders and full 
 in her face, I stood with folded arms 
 waiting her reply. I could see pity flash 
 from her drowned eyes, and then a hot 
 carnation scorch up the tears from her 
 cheeks. Twice she essayed to speak, 
 and hesitated, painfully ; then, gathering 
 strength and growing calm and cold in 
 her demeanor, and planting each word 
 like a sword thrust through my heart, 
 she said: 
 
 " ' Of course you are ignorant of the 
 facts how could you know them ? I 
 have been married two years I ' 
 
 " In order, I suppose, to relieve me 
 from any further embarrassment she 
 abruptly bade me good-night. I never 
 saw her again. I hardly know how the 
 hours were passed until we returned to 
 Clover Glen. I remember but indis 
 tinctly the surprise and regrets of my 
 sister and brothers when I announced 
 my intention of going to Europe for a
 
 SPICY'S DISAPPOINTMENT. 
 
 45 
 
 six or eiglil^w'eeks' trip. They knew 
 nothing of the pain I was seeking to 
 dislodge. 
 
 "I cannot tell how long it was be 
 fore I was able to say : Welcome, disap 
 pointment! thy hand is cold and hard, 
 but it is the hand of a friend ! I have 
 taken sorrow to my heart, made it a part 
 of me, and nourished it until it has made 
 me strong again. The setting of a great 
 hope is like the setting of the sun. But 
 the brightness of life is not gone. There 
 is darkness for a season, and then light 
 illumines the eastern horizon and we 
 live again. 
 
 " I was sitting in my room before a 
 bright, blazing fire in the hotel of the 
 Piazza del Popolo at the foot of the 
 Pincian Hill in the Eternal City, when 
 the letter of Deacon Tomilson, enclosing 
 your picture, reached me. I glanced at 
 the strange Italian fireplace which al 
 lowed so much heat to escape up the 
 chimney; at the curious andirons 
 miniature sphinxes crouched with serene 
 faces amid the flames; at the ceiling, 
 with its half-classic, half-grotesque fres 
 coes, and at the water-basin and pitcher 
 set in a frame resting on a tripod, while 
 my thoughts went back to sacrificial 
 fires. Then I studied the pretty, inter 
 esting face on the card before me, and 
 evil whisperings in my ears suggested 
 sacrificial fires. 
 
 " That night my pen traced the few 
 lines that set afloat the rumor that I was 
 about to resign my charge in Peculiar- 
 ville. If to return was to meet you, I 
 felt that I could not return there. But 
 gradually I became more self-contained ; 
 change of scene, as well as time, con 
 duced to the restoration of both mental 
 
 and bodily health, and when the earnest 
 appeals of an attached people reached me 
 on my homeward voyage, I had no lan 
 guage at command wherewith to refuse. 
 " We met, dear Helen, and I have 
 learned your worth. The future is in 
 your hands. My heart is all laid bare. 
 I have kept nothing back. Perhaps we 
 shall yet discover that between a perfect 
 friendship and a perfect love there is 
 a fainter distinction than many people 
 imagine. May you be guided in all wis 
 dom, and may Heaven's choicest bless 
 ings rest upon your head, is the sincere 
 prayer of G. G. " 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 SPICY'S DISAPPOINTMENT. 
 
 "I WOULD like to wring that man's 
 neck ! " said Spicy, throwing down the 
 letter impatiently. 
 
 " Why so? The matter seems to have 
 regulated itself as such matters do, and* 
 while there was much to be regretted, I 
 don't see that, under the circumstances, 
 there was anything that could be helped. 
 If the lady Helen saw fit to take him, I 
 have no doubt he made her a good hus 
 band." 
 
 " Oh, dear, yes ; I suppose likely, be 
 ing as 
 
 ' It is man's philosophy 
 
 When woman is untrue, 
 The loss of one but teaches him 
 To make another do.' 
 
 But he no need to have been so un 
 reasonably selfish as to have wasted all 
 this immense pile of French paper talk 
 ing about his own love-affairs, and drop 
 ped his brother Fred like a hot potato ! 
 I was just getting interested in the young 
 man, and never stopped reading when I
 
 40 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 got hoarse and ray eyes smarted, because 
 I thought I was going to get another 
 full-length view of him! My heart is 
 dead broke 1 " 
 
 "It is too bad ! Perhaps you will 
 find something of him in the other let 
 ters." 
 
 " No, I guess not. I am in total de 
 spair. They look like regular engage 
 ment missives from beginning to end. 
 Here is something about a ring, and a 
 little farther on they are going to the 
 city to buy traps for house-keeping. They 
 are coming back the same day, so Pecu- 
 liarville isn't far from New York. Then 
 they are going to have some new Vene 
 tian-shutters on the little white church, 
 which is just beyond the covered bridge, 
 and a new carpet for the minister's pew. 
 But never a word about the glorious 
 Fred 1 I wonder if he went to the wed 
 ding! I wonder if he does his nice 
 brown hair up in curl-papers every night 
 to make it wavy ! " 
 
 " You must keep an eye out for him 
 when you go to New York in the fall." 
 
 " What advice for a sister to give ! 
 Me do such a thing as that ! What do 
 you suppose would become of me if I 
 was to try it ? I expect, as long as I am 
 in Miss Gilbert's boarding-school, that I 
 shall be required to shut my eyes every 
 time I go in the street, and march with 
 a teacher on each side of me. I like him 
 though, as near as I can get at him. I 
 must go back and read it over, what his 
 brother says." 
 
 "Meanwhile I will go down-stairs 
 and inspect my whereabouts, for I am 
 like a stranger in a strange land. I have 
 given the subject so little attention." 
 
 " Your head is better, is it? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed. I am almost as good 
 as new." 
 
 I went to the parlor first, a square 
 room with a large window on each of 
 three sides, and was not a little surprised 
 to find it in perfect order. The carpet 
 was my old medallion, and must have 
 fitted pretty well, save a portion cut from 
 the length. The piano stood "on the 
 bias," as Spicy would say, across one 
 corner of the room, and the large sofa 
 was its vis-d-Tis in the same position 
 across the other. The easy-chairs, and 
 the tables, and the ornaments, were ar 
 ranged in the best possible good taste, 
 and the effect was so inviting that I took 
 a seat. The only incongruity that glared 
 upon me in my pleased frame of mind 
 was a plain iron gas-fixture with two 
 arms, one of which pointed toward a 
 sweet, pensive, mellow landscape in oil, 
 by Inman, which hung over my elegant 
 bronze clock on the mantel, and the 
 other preserved a threatening attitude 
 in the direction of the front window. 
 
 The little entrance to the parlor from 
 the street was an oblong space about 
 four feet by six. A door opened from 
 it also into the library, a smaller room 
 than the parlor, and which communi 
 cated with the latter by another door 
 beyond the mantel. I found this look 
 ing even more attractive than the parlor, 
 although it accommodated very much 
 less furniture. My books were lying on 
 the floor in the curiously constructed 
 bay-window recess, for the want of a 
 case, otherwise every article had struck 
 an attitude, and the grand whole was 
 kindly suggestive of family circles and 
 winter evenings. 
 
 The dining-room was just beyond,
 
 ARRIVAL OF PHIL. 
 
 47 
 
 "allhunka^bori," Spicy had said, when 
 I had asked hevk^ the morning, of its 
 welfare and general appearance, and 
 from it a door led into the great north 
 hall, at the left of which was the kitch 
 en. I was particularly struck by the 
 number of closets and pantries which 
 burst upon me from every nook, and 
 corner, and turn, and which are of such 
 immense use for storing surplus goods. 
 I was not at all surprised either to find 
 them filled, for I remembered my nine 
 loads of yesterday. 
 
 Nursy Brown was in the kitchen 
 looking over the silver. She was pale, 
 very pale, and locked wan and weary. 
 The faintest shadow of a smile played 
 round her lips as she expressed the 
 hope that I was better. I tried to put 
 into proper phraseology my grateful ac 
 knowledgments to her for benefits re 
 ceived, but my words seemed meaning 
 less and fell, like dead weights, far be 
 low their aim. I believe I hinted at 
 some possible reward for her valuable 
 assistance in so many and unexpected 
 ways ; and then I wished I had not said 
 any thing, for she was all at once in 
 vested in a halo of superiority which 
 I could not fathom, and my remarks 
 were evidently distasteful to her. She 
 gazed through the window with a 
 strange, stunned quietude, a sort of dead 
 apathy, and had the bearing of one upon 
 whom fate had spent its last blow. I 
 had never observed her so closely be 
 fore, or had this change come over her 
 recently ? 
 
 I inquired after Bright, and found 
 that he was asleep. I discussed the fam 
 ily bill of fare, sent Maggie for Cousin 
 Phil, and wrote some orders for the 
 
 butcher and the baker and the grocer. 
 Then I examined the fastenings of the 
 windows and doors, and at last visited 
 the blue-room, to which I was followed 
 by Nursy Brown. 
 
 "I have driven a nail into the win 
 dow-sash in the closet for additional 
 security," she said, " although it seems 
 perfectly impregnable without it." 
 
 "A wise precaution," I replied. "I 
 wish we could fasten the closet door, 
 too." 
 
 But that was not so easy a matter. 
 There seemed to be no good place for a 
 lock, although we found afterward that 
 the putting of one on was not an impos 
 sibility. Nursy Brown quite agreed with 
 me in thinking it best not to apprise 
 Cousin Phil of our strange experience 
 of the previous night, but to be ready to 
 run to his aid should we hear the slight 
 est alarm. 
 
 " Of course nothing will happen," I 
 said. 
 
 Phil came about eight o'clock. He 
 was a natty, lively fellow of two- 
 and-twenty, of a tallish figure, quite 
 stout and firmly built, and passed for a 
 much older man than he really was. He 
 had a fine voice whenever he chose to 
 air it, and was admirably educated on at 
 least three musical instruments. Spicy 
 opened the piano, and fresh, animated, 
 and amiable, the two sang and played 
 until I warned them that my hour had 
 come for retiring. 
 
 "I wish you would let me sleep in 
 your room," said Spicy, opening my door 
 a crack and whispering through it, just 
 as I was ready for bed. 
 
 " Come in. "What is the matter? " 
 
 " Nothing yet. But I think I could
 
 48 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 entertain my ghost better if I was not 
 quite alone. I am not the least bit bril 
 liant, you know, and you could nudge me 
 with your elbow and whisper something 
 in my ear to say, if my vocabulary 
 failed." 
 
 " Then you propose having an inter 
 view, Phil to the contrary notwithstand 
 ing." 
 
 " That is my present expectation. So 
 I may stay, may I ? Thank you. Now 
 I am going to name my bedposts, and get 
 into bed backwards without speaking a 
 word, so as to have my dreams come to 
 pass. See, bedpost number one shall be 
 Fred Gildersleeve ; bedpost number two 
 well, I guess I will name it Fred Gil 
 dersleeve too ; bedpost number three 
 shall be Fred Gildersleeve to keep the 
 others company, and bedpost number 
 four shall be Fred Gildersleeve, to make 
 the number even. Now, don't disturb 
 me after I've said my prayers." 
 
 I was greatly diverted by her ludi 
 crous endeavors to climb over the foot 
 board in the manner specified. And then 
 I tried to induce her to break the mystic 
 charm by answering some trivial ques 
 tions, but she turned her face to the wall 
 and her silence was a success. 
 
 I did not fall asleep readily. I heard 
 the cars come in train after train, and 
 people were driving on the avenue very 
 late. The air was warm and sultry, un 
 usually so for that season of the year, 
 and I heard an occasional rumble of 
 thunder. It stormed at last. I could 
 feel the wind jarring that part of the 
 building which I occupied, and the rain 
 beat against the windows. Then it sub 
 sided, but occasionally my room was il 
 lumined by a vivid flash of lightning, 
 
 and there were ominous roarings among 
 the branches of the trees in the yard. 
 
 "Was that a step in the hall? like 
 some one blundering in the dark! My 
 head was raised from my pillow, and my 
 ears keenly alive. Some one at my door ! 
 Yes; the latch was moving, stealthily 
 moving it creaked a little, for it was 
 old and worn and unoiled. The door 
 was opening slowly. It was too dark for 
 me to see it, but I knew and felt it all 
 the same. A white figure approached 
 the bed. 
 
 "Who is that?" I had just barely 
 strength to gasp. 
 
 " Me, ma'am," was the prompt reply, 
 and never was the broad Irish accent 
 more acceptable to my ears. " Oh, Mrs. 
 Belmore, this is the dreadfulest house I 
 ever seen! We shall all be murdered; 
 there is ever so many robbers down 
 stairs! " 
 
 " What ! what do you say ? " 
 
 I sprang up in great alarm. 
 
 " They've tried our window and got 
 it wide open, and Myra and me both 
 seen 'em in the lightuin'. Then we seen 
 another man before the glass window, 
 when we was runnin' through the north 
 hall, and there was a big rattle in the 
 dinin'-room like as if there was a lot of 
 'em in there. Myra has gone to hide 
 in Nursy Brown's room, and I've come 
 here." 
 
 I was at the bureau by that time, and 
 having drawn a match across the sand 
 paper we were relieved of the murky 
 darkness, if nothing more. 
 
 " Stay here, Maggie, and I will call 
 Phil." 
 
 I threw my wrapper about me and 
 ran into the hall, but stopped to light the
 
 A DISTURBED NIGHT. 
 
 49 
 
 gas there before I went on. Phil was 
 sound asleep, and r^knocked three times 
 before I got an 
 
 " Ugh ugh what do you want? " 
 
 " Please get up quick and come down 
 stairs with me. There is somebody in 
 the house." 
 
 I stepped along to N"ursy Brown's 
 door, and found the gas lighted and the 
 baby awake. She was trying to quiet 
 him, so I did not go in. At that mo 
 ment Phil put his head into the hall, 
 with his hair standing up straight like a 
 drove of porcupine quills. 
 
 "What is up, Meddie?" 
 
 " That is what I want to find out. 
 Make haste! " 
 
 " I will be on hand in a second." 
 
 I ran back to my room and brought 
 a candle which I always kept there. 
 
 " Got a sledge-hammer, or a pop-gun, 
 or anything dangerous?" he asked, as 
 he sallied forth equipped even to his boots. 
 
 " "We will go down the north stairs," 
 I said, ignoring his sarcasm. 
 
 " What! You going with me to keep 
 me from getting hurt ? " 
 
 " Yes, or for any other good reason 
 you may be pleased to give." 
 
 " So be it ; but let me take the can 
 dle," and he preceded me. 
 
 In the centre of the kitchen he 
 stopped and faced about. 
 
 " Meddie, please tell me what we are 
 looking for? " 
 
 I repeated the servant's story to him, 
 and we went on through the laundry to 
 their room, which opened out of it on 
 the ground-floor. Sure enough, the win 
 dow was open as Maggie had said, and 
 the end of a broom-handle, cut to fit, 
 supported it I 
 
 " They first put a knife up between 
 the two sashes and sawed off the miser 
 able old fastening," said Phil, after exam 
 ining it carefully and closing the window, 
 without seeming at all startled by the 
 circumstance. " However, they must be 
 half way to Calumet by this time, so we 
 needn't have any more fears to-night." 
 
 I told him I should like to have a 
 nail put in, but he found that the broom- 
 handle would do just as well, being the 
 same length as the upper sash, and rest 
 ing upon the top of the lower one so 
 firmly that it could not be moved. "We 
 went through the lower part of the 
 house, which was undisturbed, and we 
 presumed the burglars, finding them 
 selves discovered, had beat a retreat 
 without making any further attempts to 
 enter. Phil offered to sit up until morn 
 ing if I wished it, but it seemed quite 
 unnecessary, and he went back to his 
 room. I stepped in to see Nursy Brown, 
 who was lying very white and still be 
 side my baby, holding one of his little, 
 pincushiony hands in her own. Myra 
 was sitting in a high, straight-backed 
 chair by the table, and looked as if she 
 was just about to set out for the gal 
 lows. 
 
 I told them the result of our explora 
 tions and the conclusions to which we 
 had arrived. Myra shook her head : 
 
 "It is the dreadful house, ma'am! 
 It will kill me. I cannot stay another 
 night, indeed I cannot. They's been all 
 over it. I seen 'em in the dining-room, 
 and right up here in this very hall I put 
 my hand on one when we was a creepin' 
 away to save ourselves. He had a skin 
 like a snake, and it was all greasy like, 
 and his eyes rolled at me," and she put
 
 50 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 both hands over her face and drew short, 
 sharp breaths. 
 
 Free as I have always been from su 
 perstitious fears, I sincerely believe that 
 if I had heard that speech twenty min 
 utes sooner I never should have gone 
 down-stairs. But, as it was, I had been 
 over the infested ground, and was satis 
 fied that the whole disturbance had pro 
 ceeded from natural causes. I tried to 
 imbue Myra with my own opinions, but 
 she was obdurate. 
 
 " Them's no robbers," was the sum 
 ming up of her expressed belief. 
 
 I went to my room and found that 
 Spicy had not waked. Maggie, worn out 
 with fatigue and loss of sleep, and proba 
 bly quite relieved from any sense of dan 
 ger while under my immediate protection, 
 had curled herself up on the floor, laid 
 her head on a chair, and gone to the land 
 of dreams also. I could hardly make up 
 my mind to wake her and send her back 
 to her room, scared and trembling as she 
 would naturally be, under the circum 
 stances, so I let her remain until morn 
 ing. 1 got a little sleep with the gas 
 shining full in my face, for I hadn't the 
 courage to turn it out, but it was in 
 snatches and not at all to my satisfaction. 
 
 Maggie went down quite early, soon 
 after daylight, but I suppose she talked 
 over the affairs of the night with Myra 
 before she went about her morning work, 
 as it was nearly eight o'clock when she 
 went to the front-door to put out the 
 mat and sweep off the stoop. The next 
 moment she came running up- stairs, out 
 erf breath : 
 
 "Mrs. Belmore! Mrs. Belmore! The 
 front-door has gone and been left open 
 all-night!" 
 
 Did we look to that when we wero 
 running about the house ? I strained my 
 brain to remember. Surely not. "We did 
 not go into that little hall-entry at all. 
 The robbers must have gone through the 
 house and out that way. 
 
 As soon as practicable I hurried down 
 to learn particulars. Maggie told me 
 how she found the door standing, and I 
 traced large, muddy footprints on the 
 floor of the painted veranda. 
 
 "Poor fellows! they have had all 
 their trouble for nothing! They got 
 frightened away before they had a chance 
 to steal any thing ! " I said. 
 
 " They'll come back, I suppose," re 
 plied Maggie, with a mournful cadence. 
 
 Something like a shriek caught my 
 ear at that moment, and I flew up the 
 stairs much faster than I had descended 
 them. The door of Spicy's room was 
 standing open, and she in her night- 
 clothes was holding to the latch for sup 
 port. I stood there too for full five 
 minutes without uttering an exclamation. 
 The sight fairly struck me dumb. 
 
 " Put on your clothes, deary. I want 
 to call Phil to see this," was my first 
 remark. 
 
 " I will go back to your room. I am 
 sick," and, bursting into tears, Spicy dis 
 appeared. 
 
 Xursy Brown came out of the nur 
 sery when I called Phil, and, as he had 
 finished putting every particular hair in 
 its proper place, he was ready to respond 
 immediately. 
 
 " "Where's the show ? " he called out. 
 
 But it was not so far off that he need 
 ed a guide. Nursy Brown had already 
 stepped into Spicy's room, and we fol 
 lowed closely in her wake.
 
 THE KNIFE AND SPICY'S SORROW. 
 
 51 
 
 " Ginger ! that is rather rough ! By 
 George, what a knife! They were no 
 myth after all, were they, coz? Have 
 you found out what is gone? " 
 
 No, I had not got so far. It had 
 been sufficient for me until now to see 
 what they had left. Tumbled bureau- 
 drawers, wide open, the contents of 
 overhauled trunks scattered here and 
 there, chairs lying on their backs as if in 
 consequence of a hasty exit, and a horri 
 ble knife several inches in length, and 
 with two sharpened edges, standing up 
 right on the floor near the bed, where it 
 had, no doubt, been dropped acciden 
 tally! 
 
 "I don't know what Spicy had to 
 tempt the miserable thieves not much 
 money at any rate ! " I said, stepping 
 along and taking a more careful survey 
 of her upper drawer. " Queer that they 
 should have aimed for this room! If 
 they had fallen upon mine they would 
 have got a better haul, or even down 
 stairs, where my silver is stored ! " 
 
 "What is this?" 
 
 Phil was pulling something from un 
 der a pile of clothing on the floor. Alas ! 
 it was my jewelry-box, bottom upward, 
 just as it had been thrown down and 
 empty! 
 
 Spicy had brought it from my room 
 yesterday morning to amuse the baby 
 with, had thrown the treasures back 
 into it carelessly and set it on a chair, 
 and forgotten all about it as the other 
 events of the day crowded themselves 
 upon her notice. 
 
 Poor child ! She was sobbing most 
 piteously upon my bed with her face 
 buried in the pillow, when I went for 
 her. 
 
 "Never mind, deary, don't feel so>; 
 come and tell us what you have lost," I 
 said, kissing her. 
 
 "What I have lost! it is what you 
 have lost through my heedlessness that I 
 care for! If I had put that box back 
 where I got it, as I intended to do, or if I 
 hadn't touched it in the first place, this 
 would not have happened. Oh, Meddie ! 
 your beautiful watch that Leonardus 
 gave you on your wedding-day, and 
 those precious charms, the very grey 
 hound that the Pope blessed, and such a 
 chain ! I am sure there never was another 
 like it ! And your pearls, which I have 
 always taken such pride in seeing you 
 wear, and if there ever was one thing I 
 wanted more than another it was to have 
 just such a set for a bridal present ; and 
 your solitaire diamond, and the garnet 
 set, and those buttons, the last gift of dear 
 papa, and the rings which I taught little 
 Bright to call stars, and he spoke it al 
 most as plain as I do this minute ! Oh, 
 dear! dear! dear! it was all my fault! 
 what shall I do ! what shall I do ! " 
 
 "How do you know they are all 
 gone? there has been no search made 
 yet! Every thing is upside down hi 
 your room. Perhaps we shall find them, 
 but you must come and help, because 
 it is your things that are tumbled about." 
 
 "It is no use. I feel it in my bones. 
 The moment I looked in that door it all 
 came to me. How that old scalawag 
 eyed the jewelry when he was bothering 
 about the bill, and how I did not have 
 the sense to put it away ! I suppose the 
 knife was to have done me if I had been 
 there to make a noise! Oh, dear! dear! 
 dear ! I should have deserved my fate ; " 
 and her distress was not to be soothed
 
 52 
 
 SPICY 
 
 by any words of mine just then. Mean 
 while Nursy Brown had gath-ered up 
 Spicy's disturbed possessions and hunted 
 in vain for the missing valuables. The 
 robbers had got what they came for, 
 and left all the rest. Spicy's dainty little 
 watch was still under her pillow where 
 she had put it before coming to my room 
 the night before, but her pocket-book had 
 been taken from her bureau. The only 
 smile which lighted up her tear-stained 
 face that day was when reference was 
 made to the latter : 
 
 " How they will be sold ! It has only 
 ten cents in it ! " 
 
 There were a good many footprints 
 in the soft earth on the garden side of 
 the house, and upon close examination 
 we determined that no less than three 
 persons had been prowling about the 
 premises during the night. The other 
 end of the broom-handle was under the 
 servants 1 window, where it had been cut 
 off and thrown into the grass. 
 
 "That huge old knife did good ser 
 vice," said Phil, as he picked up the evi 
 dence of its work. 
 
 One of the men we tracked through 
 the north gate of the grounds, and an 
 other through the front. Phil got a pair 
 of scissors and a paper, and tried to take 
 a pattern of the footprint of the latter. 
 He succeeded partially, and sent Maggie 
 up to Spicy with it to inquire what num 
 ber she thought that man wore for a 
 boot ! Then he seemed to be following 
 a trail through the rear part of the yard, 
 and came back quite excited. 
 
 " It is a woman's foot as sure as you 
 live!" 
 
 I could hardly credit the statement, 
 but in one place near the grape-arbor 
 
 the impression was perfect, and I was of 
 the same opinion as soon as my eyes 
 rested upon it. And a very delicate lit 
 tle foot it must have been. 
 
 " Here is where she climbed over the 
 fence and escaped into the alley." 
 
 " I must find out what it means. I 
 will set detectives at work," I said, ex 
 citedly. 
 
 It was long years, however, before I 
 did find out what those woman foot 
 prints meant. Within an hour the chief 
 of police had all the details of the rob 
 bery, its possible bearings, and suspicious 
 connections. I was convinced that my 
 old moving man was at the bottom of it 
 all. Yet the catching of him was quite 
 another thing, since Maggie had picked 
 him up that eventful May morning, on 
 the corner of some street, she could not 
 tell where, and of course nobody could 
 tell whither he went. But the property 
 was of such a nature, and could be so 
 easily identified, that I had great hopes 
 of its being eventually recovered. I was 
 philosophic and even cheerful under the 
 loss, for it might have been much more 
 serious, I reasoned. I endeavored to 
 comfort Spicy whenever I could find a 
 moment to spare, who was blaming her 
 self continually, and declaring that she 
 should never be willing to look Leonar- 
 dus iu the face again. Indeed, she reiter 
 ated all the old threadbare superstitions 
 she had ever heard or read of in regard 
 to the losing of wedding finery, and 
 seemed to think she had committed the 
 unpardonable sin by being accessory 
 to it. As a final resort, I turned her 
 thoughts into a new channel by asking 
 what she had dreamed about Fred Gil- 
 dersleeve, after all her trouble.
 
 DISCUSSION ABOUT NURSY BROWS. 
 
 53 
 
 " Bless your Heart, I thought he turned 
 up in the ghost-closet, out of the blue 
 room! He was dressed in ridiculous 
 short-clothes and knee-buckles! He 
 shook his finger at me just as Paul Gib 
 bon used to do when he was superin 
 tendent and I did not behave in Sabbath- 
 school, and said I should rue the day I 
 ever touched those old letters! I tell 
 yon, Meddie, as I told you in the first 
 place, that they are certainly mixed np 
 with my destiny somehow ! I don't be 
 lieve it was right to find them ! " 
 
 "That is a new way of putting it. 
 We found them by chance." 
 
 "Well, then, I wish we had never 
 moved here. There is a fatality about 
 the house, I am sure! See how much 
 has come to pass since day before yes 
 terday ! " 
 
 She was going back upon the old sub 
 ject, and the tears were pouring. I in 
 sisted upon her dressing and practising 
 over some new music, while I went out to 
 hunt for a cook to fill Myra's place. 
 
 " Can't you coax or hire her to stay 
 until the end of her month, as she first 
 talked of? Oh, she does make such nice 
 apple-pies, I hate to have her go! " 
 
 "I have my doubts about her ever 
 having made an apple-pie in my house ! " 
 
 " Who has made them then ? " 
 
 " I suspect Nursy Brown has been the 
 fairy who has coaxed our appetites to 
 such an extraordinary degree. It is very 
 stupid in me not to know any thing for 
 certain, especially about what is going 
 on under my own roof, but there never 
 was any such house-keeping or cooking 
 before she came, and it has been so 
 agreeable to me since that I have let it 
 take its own course." 
 
 " I should give it all up to her and 
 let her engage the new cook, then, if I 
 was you." 
 
 "Oh, no! I must preserve my dig 
 nity as the head of the family. Besides, 
 I don't pay her any more wages than I 
 should an ordinary nurse-girl, and, for 
 that reason, I couldn't ask her to shoul 
 der any of my responsibilities. What 
 she does of her own accord I appreciate, 
 but I am actually afraid to offer her any 
 compensation for extra favors, lest she 
 take offence and vanish out of my sight." 
 
 "She must do things for the very 
 love of doing them, I should say, then," 
 replied Spicy, as she bathed her eyes at 
 the washbasin. 
 
 " More likely to occupy her mind. I 
 have known persons busy themselves in 
 ways as uncongenial as possible, in order 
 to dull the sharp edges of some great 
 sorrow, and I am beginning to think such 
 may be the case with her." 
 
 " Have you got any room you would 
 like me to sweep and dust ? " asked Spi 
 cy, turning round suddenly, with her 
 eyes full of soap, "because, since it is 
 my special aversion, it might tend to 
 ameliorate my misery." 
 
 I laughed, and stepped out to look 
 over the balusters to see who had just 
 rung the door-bell. It was one of the 
 detectives in pursuit of additional scraps 
 of information. I met him in the parlor, 
 and we talked a few minutes, closing the 
 interview by entering into an agreement 
 to have the house guarded for a night or 
 two. 
 
 Then I put on my hat and shawl and 
 gloves, and went to the intelligence of 
 fice. There were no cooks in ; I never 
 went there when there were any in. But
 
 64 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 the woman in attendance, Mrs. Bates, 
 promised to send me one before night. 
 
 In accordance thereof, there was one 
 reached my door before I did myself, a 
 buxom, rosy-faced, well-dressed-in-pink- 
 muslin Irishwoman of forty or more 
 years. She had a good, but badly-spelled 
 character, written on several separate 
 and distinct slips of paper. She informed 
 me that she had always lived in the very 
 first families, and, as for her skill in the 
 art of cookery, she knew how to do 
 every thing " illegant." 
 
 " "When can you come ? " 
 
 " I am come now, if you plase, ma'am." 
 
 " I mean, to stay ? Don't you want 
 to go after your clothes ? " 
 
 "I've got clothes on, ma'am, as is 
 good enough for anybody's house." 
 
 "I thought they were too good to 
 do your work in, and presumed you had 
 others?" 
 
 " So I has. But I can go for 'em in 
 the evening." 
 
 ""What is your name?" 
 
 "Ann, if you plase, ma'am." 
 
 " "Well, Ann, I hope you are not ea 
 sily frightened, for we've been having 
 robbers in the house." 
 
 "No, not at all, ma'am. They had 
 'em where I was last." 
 
 "They got in through the window 
 in the servants' room, but I have taken 
 measures to have it made as secure as 
 possible since." 
 
 " Oh, I don't mind. They have often 
 got into my windows." 
 
 "You are probably not afraid of 
 ghosts either? " I thought it best to 
 sound her on every point. 
 
 " Not the least of a bit, ma'am." 
 
 "And you are quite prepared to go 
 
 into the kitchen, and take off your bon 
 net and help get the dinner?" 
 
 "I are." 
 
 " Come this way, then." 
 
 Myra was on her knees by the kitch 
 en stove, basting some chickens which 
 were sizzling and sputtering in the oven. 
 She rose to her feet, and confronted the 
 new-comer with flashing eyes. 
 
 "Here is your successor," I said. 
 " Take courage, you will not have to 
 sleep in this dreadful house again." 
 
 " Seems to me you are in a mighty 
 hurry to get rid of me I I ain't going to 
 be sent off so I " 
 
 " You gave me notice that you should 
 leave to-day." 
 
 " But you needn't a been so glad 
 like. It's more'n flesh and blood can 
 stand, when I thought so much of the 
 baby, and Miss Spicy, and General Bel- 
 more, and have taken such an interest 
 and worked so hard a-movin' ! " 
 
 "I am sorry, Myra, but you have it 
 as you wished. Please show Ann where 
 the things are, and tell her all about the 
 hobgoblins, and then come to my room 
 and get your pay." 
 
 Maggie was setting the table in the 
 dining-room. She was quite composed, 
 not having been as terror-stricken at any 
 time as Myra. "We learned afterward 
 that she had had much less occasion, for 
 Myra, in trying to find Nursy Brown's 
 door, had run straight into the arms of 
 one of the midnight marauders. 
 
 " You will get more than you want 
 of that cook -woman afore you get 
 through with her!" were Myra's last 
 words to me, as she shrugged her shoul 
 ders with a dubious insinuation. 
 
 That night passed quietly, and each
 
 MRS. BELHORE AND THE STRANGE APPARITION. 
 
 55 
 
 member of the family rose next morning 
 greatly refreshed. Phil had cracked a 
 good many jokes over the police guard, 
 told me that lightning was never known 
 to strike twice in the same place ; but, 
 upon the whole, I think he was glad of 
 the arrangement. 
 
 Spicy was late to breakfast, and, when 
 I sent out for an instalment of hot rolls 
 and coffee, I did not get it. Maggie 
 seemed unwilling to tell me why, but I 
 drew it out of her. The cook had put 
 things all away and washed the coffee 
 pot, and said to Maggie : 
 
 " Go 'long, I'm not going to have one 
 meal bothering round until the next one 
 is ready." 
 
 "We exchanged a few significant 
 glances, and made the best of the situ 
 ation. 
 
 She understood her business, that 
 feminine monster, who had usurped such 
 high-handed rule in my establishment, 
 but we all kept out of her way. The 
 delicious dinners and lunches and break 
 fasts, and the snowy kitchen, and the 
 shining tin, and the perfect order that 
 reigned supreme, reconciled me to many 
 of her ways ; but I was far from being 
 comfortable. Spicy said to Phil : 
 
 " Sister Meddie never dares to drink 
 two cups of coffee now, for if she sends 
 for more she is liable to be discharged." 
 
 One week, two weeks, and yet no 
 clew to the robbers ! I grew more and 
 more philosophic, but Spicy's bursts of 
 grief and self-reproaches were daily food. 
 She was too light-hearted to pine under 
 the pressure of the misfortune, but she 
 could not banish it from her mind. Phil 
 had picked up the ghost story, and 
 thought it a capital j oke. 
 
 " She'll have to hurry up if she is 
 going to pay me a visit before I go to 
 Detroit," he said, one evening. 
 
 "And when may that sad time ar 
 rive ? " I asked. " We have got so used 
 to you, I don't know how we are going 
 to spare you." 
 
 " I shall get off about Tuesday next, 
 Providence permitting." 
 
 He had been offered a better position 
 in a Michigan bank, and had accepted. 
 
 " "We shall miss him ; but then we 
 are not as timid as we were, and Leo- 
 nardus will be home for a few weeks be 
 fore a great while," I said to Spicy. 
 
 " I had just as soon he would go as 
 not. He is only a lay figure anyway. 
 All he does is to laugh at us when there 
 is any real danger. And, to tell the up- 
 and-down truth, I am tired of his per 
 petual ding-dong about Spicy's ghost," 
 she replied. 
 
 "What an inconsistent young lady! 
 Not half an hour ago you were begging 
 him to stay." 
 
 " Complimentary, purely. One must 
 pamper a man's vanity a little. You 
 know that as well as I, Meddie." 
 
 The night after he left, I went to 
 the blue-room to get an extra pillow 
 for Bright. I lighted the gas, drew down 
 the window -shade and gathered up some 
 newspapers which were scattered. One 
 of the arms of my cane-rocker was miss 
 ing, and I searched for it until it turned 
 up from behind the bureau. Then I dis 
 covered the handle gone from my deco 
 rated china pitcher, and after much ado 
 all to myself I extracted it from the 
 washstand drawer and stood holding the 
 dismembered part in my hand, full of 
 vexation, though not able to pin the
 
 56 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 guilt of the accident to any one in par 
 ticular, when, suddenly, a gust of damp 
 night air chilled and startled me, and, 
 turning quickly around in the direction 
 of the closet-door, which had silently 
 swung open, I encountered the hlack, 
 piercing eyes of a tall, sickly-looking, 
 thin-visaged woman, in a singularly- 
 fashioned robe of white, more nearly re 
 sembling a counterpane than any thing 
 I can name, and while my heart was 
 struggling for room to turn over in my 
 throat, and my blood was leaping through 
 my veins with telegraphic velocity, she 
 slowly receded from my sight and dis 
 appeared altogether! 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SPIOY'S COURAGE. 
 
 " AND you think she was really a live 
 woman, do you ? " 
 
 It was Spicy who asked that ques 
 tion, and it was I, lying on my bed, who 
 replied, with an effort : 
 
 "Certainly." 
 
 " Then what did you go and do such 
 an absurdly silly thing as to faint away 
 for?" 
 
 " I can't explain. "We have had con 
 siderable stir and excitement of late, and 
 I suppose I am nervous, like womankind 
 in general." 
 
 " What was the color of her hair? " 
 
 " Dark, or black. She reminded me 
 of a Southern lady I once knew. I wish 
 I could have had strength and presence 
 of mind enough to have followed her and 
 unravelled the mystery." 
 
 Oh, Meddie ! I am glad you didn't. 
 She would have beguiled you into some 
 
 cranny or other, and that would have 
 been the last of you. I wonder she 
 didn't gobble you up as it was ! But, 
 say, did she look unhappy, as if she was 
 tired of roving about between heaven 
 and earth, without any husband or home 
 of her own, and in such queer clothes? " 
 
 I smiled. 
 
 "She looked very sad and a trifle 
 wild," I replied. 
 
 "I see! There is only one way in 
 which I can ever arrive at the minutiae 
 of the case for certain, and that is by in 
 terviewing the ghost myself. I believe 
 I will get big Ann to sit up with me some 
 night and watch for her." 
 
 I smiled again, and very incredulously. 
 
 " You had better." 
 
 "Don't be sarcastic, Meddie. Per 
 haps you think I don't dare ? There is 
 one thing about it, the ghost and I would 
 have a great point of attraction, for we 
 should both be afraid of Ann." 
 
 " Spicy, you are the oddest bundle of 
 contradictions that it was ever my lot to 
 meet! "Would you really and truly and 
 deliberately statioft yourself in the blue- 
 room, with only Ann to protect you, and 
 await the coming of our queer visitor ? " 
 
 "I believe I would," and there was 
 meaning in the twinkling of her pretty 
 eye. " May I buy up Ann with a bottle 
 of whiskey?" 
 
 " No, that would be hardly safe. But 
 you may promise her an extra five dol 
 lars when I pay her month's wages, if 
 you wish." 
 
 " You give me full permission to make 
 arrangements, do you ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 I had very little faith in her carrying 
 out the daring project. It was not equal
 
 WATCHING FOR THE GHOST. 
 
 to the original grain of mustard-seed. I 
 knew how easy it was to plan and talk 
 and get rsady-r-and even fight with an 
 invisible foe, but ray late remarkable ex 
 perience had taught me the fallacy of all 
 self-measurements and human calcula 
 tions when brought to the unwelcome 
 test. I was anxious to have the problem 
 solved of who or what manner of per 
 son or spirit was thus intruding upon 
 the privacy of our little home, and why 
 she came and gazed in upon us, and went 
 away again giving no sign! But I did 
 not esteem Spicy the proper one to 
 fathom the secret, and I did not believe 
 she would make the attempt. She was 
 buzzing about all day, and several times 
 alluded to her night's undertaking ; said 
 Ann was willing. She believed Ann was 
 rather predisposed in favor of ghosts. I 
 spoke to Nursy Brown about the freak 
 which Spicy had taken in her head, and 
 asked her if she thought I had better for 
 bid it, 
 
 " Oh, no; if no good comes of it, no 
 harm more serious than a scare will be 
 likely to befall her." 
 
 In the early part of the evening Spicy 
 told me that she and Ann were going on 
 duty as soon as the yeast came for the 
 breakfast muffins. She had put on a 
 little red jacket, embroidered with black, 
 and her dainty curls, dressed with far 
 more than her usual care, were floating 
 over her neck and shoulders. Her cheeks 
 were glowing, and her eyes were spark 
 ling with eagerness and expectation. 
 She was more lovely than I had ever 
 seen her before, and I was giving her an 
 affectionate mental embrace when Ann 
 put her head through the door. 
 
 "I are ready, miss." 
 
 " Have you been in the closet during 
 the day to assure yourself that the win 
 dow is perfectly secure ? " I asked. 
 
 " Yes yes, indeed ! " replied Spicy. 
 " Nursy Brown and I have been like two 
 revolving lights ever since early in the 
 morning. There isn't a sign of a place 
 where a body can get in or out. I am 
 going to put a lighted candle in there 
 for the ghost's convenience." 
 
 "What shall you do first if you see 
 any one ? " 
 
 " The dear only knows ! But I sha'n't 
 fall down as you did, for one thing. I 
 guess I shall say 'Good-evening, and 
 how are the folks at home ? ' " 
 
 " I shall feel of her, and see what she 
 are made of! " spoke up Ann. 
 
 " That is right, and don't fail to find 
 out where she goes, too," I said. 
 
 " I sha'n't lit her go at all, onless Miss 
 Spicy tells me to," continued her cook- 
 ship. 
 
 They started on their way, and I 
 heard Spicy saying in the hall : 
 
 "Now, Ann, you must not go to 
 sleep. You know it is a part of our con 
 tract that I am not to give you a penny 
 if you shut your eyes once, except to 
 wink." 
 
 I wished I had been able to have gone 
 with them. I asked Nursy Brown not 
 to go to bed, and to look into the blue- 
 room once in a while. 
 
 It was so still in that part of the 
 house as the hours slid away that I con 
 cluded they must all be asleep, and, at 
 last, getting more aroused and apprehen 
 sive, I got up and stood at my door and 
 listened. Finally, I determined that it 
 would not do me any more harm to go 
 and see, than to fret and worry without
 
 58 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 knowing. Nursy Brown was in her 
 rockir.g-chair reading a new magazine. 
 I passed by and peeped into the blue- 
 room. Ann sat in a chair by the bureau, 
 with her eyes fixed on the closet-door, 
 and Spicy lay on the bed looking at Ann. 
 They both saw me, and Spicy put her 
 linger to her lip to warn me not to speak. 
 She smiled while doing so, but the dim 
 ples at the corners of her mouth were 
 expressive of high excitement rather 
 than merriment. 
 
 I returned to my bed and it was not 
 long before I slept quietly. How long I 
 am unable to say. I was wakened by a 
 laugh that sounded like a chink of silver 
 dollars. No one who knew my sister 
 Spicy intimately would be at a loss to 
 know from whence it came. I started up, 
 threw a shawl round me, and went to 
 the blue-room. Not a soul was there ! 
 Frightened, I stepped along and looked 
 into the closet which was open 1 There 
 stood Spicy quite alone intent on the ex 
 amination of an old daguerreotype by 
 the dim light of the candle. It was not 
 in a case, and upon the back of it was 
 pasted an autograph. She looked from 
 the picture to the name, then to the pic 
 ture again, revolving the two back and 
 forth before her eyes, entirely oblivious 
 to my presence until I spoke to her. 
 And even then she could not seem to dis 
 engage her thoughts sufficiently to reply. 
 
 "What is it?" I asked, the second 
 and finally the third time. 
 
 "It is" 
 
 But she got no farther, and still 
 seemed to be lost in astonishment, or 
 in some great absorbing study. 
 
 "Let me see." 
 
 And I stepped down beside her. 
 
 "Ah! a young man! rather good- 
 looking, too ! Nose decidedly Roman. 
 Standing collar. Hair parted in the mid 
 dle." 
 
 She turned it over and I read the 
 name. 
 
 " FEED GILDEESLEEVE ! " 
 
 " Where did it come from ? " 
 
 "It was on the floor just where I 
 stand! I hit my foot against it and 
 stooped and picked it up ! " 
 
 " And you had been in before, and it 
 was not there then ? " 
 
 "No. The floor was clean as Ann's 
 kitchen table." 
 
 "We went back into the blue-room, 
 and under the gas, with our heads rub 
 bing against each other, gazed into the 
 honest, pleasing face that was returning 
 the compliment with spirit. 
 
 "How happened you to go in the 
 closet?" 
 
 "Oh, I must tell you all about it. 
 You see Ann was so prodigiously coura 
 geous that I didn't have much faith in 
 her. It was getting so late that I had 
 made up my mind we should have no 
 adventures to entertain you with in the 
 morning, and I thought I would have a 
 little fun all to myself, trying to see how 
 much the old cook would bear. So I 
 pretended I heard footsteps going up and 
 down in the closet. She looked wild, 
 and opened her mouth and eyes. Then 
 I whispered and asked her to open the 
 closet-door and let the poor ghost in, so 
 that we could get through and go to bed I 
 Yon ought to have seen her teeth chat 
 ter I And such an awful look as she gave 
 me I And then she got pale, and her 
 eyes bunged out, and the big flat bow 
 she -wears on the thin spot (top of her
 
 THE MYSTERIES DEEPEN. 
 
 59 
 
 head) fell off, and she stretched out her 
 hands as if she was going to swim, and 
 hegan : ' Oh, f author, and hauly mother 
 and the blessed virgin, presarve nsl ' and 
 it was so comical to me, for I hadn't 
 heard any noise in the closet, and then 
 she stammered, and choked, and gurgled, 
 and cried ' go-go-go-go-away ; ' and I 
 was so intent upon seeing the end of her 
 conniption, or whatever it was, that it 
 never for a moment occurred to me that 
 there was any thing else to look at, until 
 she ran from the room, and I laughed ! 
 Then I moved my head, and lol the 
 strange woman, or ghost, which you and 
 Xursy Brown have described, was stand 
 ing in the closet-door! I sprang from 
 the bed and put my foot through my 
 hoop, and tripped, and floundered, and 
 was so long in recovering my balance 
 that I failed to see her ladyship home. 
 When I got to the closet there was no one 
 there, and nothing to be found but this 
 picture? Meddie, do you believe in 
 witches? " 
 
 " No. I have not much belief in any 
 thing just now, and what I have is un 
 settled. Were you not frightened at all ? 
 You seem to have deported yourself with 
 great coolness ! " 
 
 " Oh, as for that, I felt a little squeam 
 ish in the beginning, but it is not half as 
 bad to face a danger on your own re 
 sponsibility as it is to be pitched into it 
 by somebody else. It is like my fidget 
 ing everybody, and the driver in particu 
 lar, when I ride after a frisky horse. 
 But out at Aunt Minerva's, last summer, 
 I not only drove her runaway Dick to all 
 points of the compass, but I often actu 
 ally harnessed the old, cross, biting beast. 
 Last week, one day, I was riding in the 
 
 omnibus on the west side, and almost 
 got the Jiiglistrilces because the horses 
 kicked up. So you see it would not be 
 safe to count on my valor. It comes and 
 goes. As for the ghost, I was disappoint 
 ed. She did not come up to my mark at 
 all. She wasn't dressed pretty, had no 
 white sheet about her; her garb was 
 plain black ! If my eyes served me right, 
 the bottom of her dress was all mud. I do 
 wish she had not been in such a hurry." 
 
 " Did she make no noise whatever in 
 her exit ? " 
 
 " Not that I can complain of. I made 
 some, though. I spilt Phil's cologne bot 
 tle on the table and smashed it. I have 
 not looked after the pieces yet, but I 
 guess they will keep." 
 
 "Let us go and examine the window 
 once more, Spicy." 
 
 "What, the one in the closet? agreed," 
 and away she tripped. 
 
 It was fast. Our combined force 
 could not shake it. The mystery deep 
 ened, and could not be explained away 
 by any possibility. And the picture, 
 springing upon us in such a singular man 
 ner, added to our mystification. True, 
 it might have been among the rubbish in 
 connection with the old letters, but not 
 very probable, because, if so, why did 
 we not find it before ? or how could it 
 have moved itself into the place where it 
 was discovered ? 
 
 "It makes me think of my dream," 
 said Spicy. 
 
 " I wish you would step and ask Nur- 
 sy Brown for a shawl, I am getting chil 
 ly," I said. 
 
 Spicy obeyed, but was back presently. 
 
 " Where can she be? She is not in 
 her room! "
 
 60 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 " Not in her room I The baby's 
 there?" 
 
 " Oh, yes, as sweet as a dumpling." 
 
 "Then she can't be far off. Look 
 in the bath-room." 
 
 It was at the end of the hall close by 
 where we were standing. Spicy pushed 
 open the door, and, instead of Nursy 
 Brown, there was Ann, counting her 
 beads 1 
 
 "You are a great one! Who did 
 you leave to take care of me, I should 
 like -to know? Do you call that pluck? 
 I never shall put you on guard again ! " 
 exclaimed Spicy. 
 
 Ann slowly arose from her knees. 
 
 u So you are not much of a soldier, 
 after all? Tell me what you saw." I 
 addressed her from the door of the blue- 
 room. 
 
 " I know it was onkind to desart Miss 
 Spicy, but I daren't do no other way, 
 cause my old misthress, who's dead this 
 many a year, was right there afore me, 
 and shure it was me she was afthur." 
 
 " How did she look ? " 
 
 "Very quare in the eye, mann. Dis 
 contented like, as if she was a mite lone 
 some, and wanted her owld faithful Ann 
 to fix her broth, and make her tay for 
 her." 
 
 Spicy giggled, and then, trying to con 
 trol herself with a sort of nervous des 
 peration, burst into tears. 
 
 " "What are you crying for ? " I asked, 
 smiling. 
 
 " Because my grandmother is dead ; " 
 and then she giggled again, until I 
 thought she was going to strangle. 
 
 The north hall-door opened and shut 
 just then, and while I strained my ears 
 in breathless anxiety for what was to 
 
 follow, Nursy Bro\vn ran up the stairs. 
 She was panting and more excited than 
 usual for her, but when Spicy questioned 
 eagerly as to what was the matter, and 
 where she had been, she only answered : 
 
 " Nothing is the matter, dear ; and 
 I've been under the barberry -bush, to try 
 to settle the point in my mind whether 
 any one climbed up or down the grape- 
 arbor near the closet window." 
 
 "And did you see any one? " 
 
 "No, dear." 
 
 " You know the ghost has paid me a 
 visit? Ann and I both saw her ! " 
 
 " I presumed so, and that was why I 
 slipped out as soon as I heard the stir in 
 the blue-room. But I am back DO wiser 
 than I went." 
 
 " We may as well lock up the room 
 and go to bed," I said, beginning to feel 
 the effect of my unseasonable exertions. 
 
 "And you want no more of me, do 
 you ? " asked Ann, in a hollow voice. 
 
 " Yes ; we want you to pray till 
 morning, to keep us clear of purgatory," 
 said Spicy, with a sober face. " If yon 
 are afraid to go down to your room alone 
 I will go with you, and count sled-stakes 
 as I go." 
 
 " Hush I " I said, grasping her arm. 
 
 I was afraid Ann might take excep 
 tions to being ridiculed, but she did not 
 seem to mind it. She looked as if she 
 thought Spicy was going to carry out 
 her proposition, and I think she would 
 have very much liked to have had her 
 done so. 
 
 I shook my head, and she departed. 
 Nursy Brown put out the candle and the 
 gas, and locked the blue-room door, and 
 Spicy staid in my room to give me my 
 medicine at four o'clock.
 
 GENERAL BELMORE'S RETURN. 
 
 61 
 
 I don't know how many times she 
 looked at that/picture of Fred Gilder- 
 sleeve before she got quiet! Once she 
 kissed it. She put it under her pillow, 
 took it out again and laid it in a chair, 
 removed it over to the tahle, carried it to 
 the bureau, brought it back to tie bed, 
 and changed it no less than a dozen 
 times from the pillow to the chair and 
 back again. I did not esteem it worth 
 while to talk any more, for the night 
 was far spent, and we both slept at last. 
 
 I had a carpenter come the next day 
 and put a lock on the closet-door. Nur- 
 sy Brown advised me to keep the blue- 
 room under lock and key also. It was 
 not pleasant to feel that a portion of 
 one's house was uninhabitable, but I re 
 solved upon that course until such time 
 as we should be able to decide what sort 
 of a being was entailed upon our hospi 
 tality. 
 
 Leonardus arrived, shoulder - straps 
 and all, on the first day of July. He had 
 got leave of absence for a month, and 
 brought gladness to our hearts. "We had 
 so much to tell him, and we talked so 
 fast and so constantly, that I began to 
 fear that he never would remember the 
 half we were saying, and had already 
 proposed a little music by way of giving 
 him a rest, when Spicy began about her 
 ghost, and told the story in such a divert 
 ing style that he laughed heartily. 
 
 " Four of you all saw the same thing, 
 did yon? "Well, that sounds like evi 
 dence. Xo getting over that." 
 
 But the robbery did not strike him in 
 so pteasant a vein. His brow clouded, 
 and he asked a great many questions. I 
 saw Spicy's lip quivering, and the sparkle 
 in her eyes getting dimmed from an ap 
 
 proaching shower, and hastily turned the 
 subject. There was such an excellent 
 opportunity to do so just then, too, for 
 Nursy Brown was coming up the walk 
 with Bright, and his father had not seen 
 him yet. 
 
 How my heart beat as he caught him 
 up, and tossed him in the air, and held 
 him at arms' length, and looked at him ! 
 Bright was afraid. He was not used to 
 gentlemen. A soldier in full uniform he 
 had never seen except on the street. He 
 did not appreciate the familiar hugs and 
 kisses of the great bronzed fellow who 
 shook him round. He made up a lip 
 more remarkable for every thing else 
 than beauty, and stretched his chubby 
 arms toward Nursy Brown, who stood 
 waiting in the entry, and then he 
 screamed with a volume of sound that 
 caused Leonardus to pass him over with 
 the remark : 
 
 "You will make a good general, my 
 boy." 
 
 "We heard him cry for some time after 
 he reached the nursery. Leonardus sit 
 ting on the piano-stool, with his hands in 
 his pockets, was looking at the carpet. 
 
 " I was trying to think, Meddie, 
 where I had seen those eyes before," he 
 said, at length, with a perplexed air. 
 
 ""What eyes, or whose eyes? excuse 
 my grammar." 
 
 " Bright's nurse's, or whatever yon 
 call the person who took him from me." 
 
 " I don't know, I am sure." 
 
 " Neither do I. I will tell you who 
 she reminds me of. You have heard me 
 speak of Lewis Vance, my old chum at 
 Harvard, who is now Brigadier- General 
 Vance of the army of the Potomac? 
 "Well, it is his wife. I was at their house
 
 62 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 in Boston, after my return from Califor 
 nia. He married Judge Shubill's niece 
 of Detroit, one of the most beautiful 
 girls on this continent." 
 
 " In what respect does Nursy Brown 
 look like her ? " 
 
 " I really cannot say. It is her eyes, 
 I reckon. There is something very pecu 
 liar about them. Don't yon think so ? " 
 
 " Indeed I do," chimed in Spicy. 
 
 " And, by the way, there is a sad bit 
 of history connected with that unfortu 
 nate pair. I met poor Vance when I 
 went to "Washington with those dis 
 patches, and, one night, by the flicker 
 ing light of his camp-fire, he unburdened 
 his heart to me. He married his wife 
 abroad, and I never knew the circum 
 stances before. She was travelling with 
 her brother, "her only near relative, 
 and in Florence they fell in company 
 with Lewis Vance, He and young Ev 
 erett had known each other in Buffalo, 
 where the latter was doing a thriving 
 mercantile business." 
 
 " What was the sister's name ? " ask 
 ed Spicy and I, both in the same breath. 
 
 "Ida Ida Everett. Why do you 
 stare so ? " 
 
 " Never mind, go on," I said, as calm 
 ly as possible, although my heart was 
 getting up a great tattoo at the prospect 
 of learning something of Ida Everett's 
 fortunes. 
 
 "Well, as I was saying, the gentle 
 men knew each other, and Vance fell in 
 love with the lady. He offered himself 
 in his abrupt and impetuous manner, and 
 was very kindly and firmly refused. Still 
 he hovered about, determined to win her, 
 and saw her daily. His love increased 
 until it became an infatuation. The 
 
 brother fell sick, and his life was in great 
 danger, so that it became necessary to 
 remove him to a small German town 
 where the air was dry and pure. Vance 
 accompanied them, and devoted himself 
 with loving assiduity to the task of 
 nursing his friend, and keeping up the 
 spirits of the anxious sister. Everett lin 
 gered for many weeks, and then died 
 with only the two watchers to follow 
 him to the tomb. In the earliest part of 
 his sickness Ida had written to her uncle, 
 but the letter, like many another that 
 followed it, never went farther than Lew 
 is Vance's pocket. Now, while she was 
 counting the days which must elapse be 
 fore her good guardian could reach her, 
 the villain knew that he had her in his 
 poAver and bided his time. 
 
 "Full of sorrow for her loved and 
 lost brother, and despairing lest she 
 should be left in a foreign land, not only 
 devoid of funds wherewith to accomplish 
 her homeward trip, but dependent upon 
 her own very limited travelling experi 
 ence, she listened with more lenity to 
 the protestations of her lover, and when 
 he vowed that he would not leave her, 
 whether she married him or not, and on 
 his bended knees begged her to save him 
 from self-destruction by becoming his 
 wife, she at last consented, reluctantly, 
 he well knew, for she was frank enough 
 to tell him, on more than one occasion, 
 that she loved another, and where it was 
 not returned. 
 
 " The wedding must have been a sad 
 one. Vance, whose habits were none cf 
 the best, and who had been so long un 
 der self-imposed restraint in order to 
 obtain his wife, fell headlong into dissipa 
 tion. In Paris he launched out into the
 
 TUE MURDERED BABY. 
 
 63 
 
 most unbounded^jextravagance. Arrived 
 iu Boston, he bought a Beacon-Street 
 mansion, filled it with costly trappings, 
 supplied his wife with silks and satins 
 and jewelry, which she would never 
 wear, and abused and adored her accord 
 ing to his moods. He was a man of 
 most ungovernable passions, and, with 
 the tears of contrition streaming down 
 his weather-beaten face, he told me how 
 he had often struck her in his fits of mad 
 ness, for no other reason than because she 
 looked so sweet and suffering. He want 
 ed to teach her to have spunk enough to 
 strike back. But he never did. He had 
 the misfortune to have a fortune left 
 him and was on the straight road through 
 it, although it happened to be so large 
 that he had time to cause a great deal of 
 misery before he got to the end of the 
 route. 
 
 " One strange freak which he carried 
 through with a high hand was, not to al 
 low his wife to visit her uncle, and, when 
 that dear old gentleman came to Boston, 
 he managed to make his stay so uncom 
 fortable, that neither Ida nor the judge 
 cared to have it prolonged. About two 
 years after they were married she an 
 nounced her intention of going to De 
 troit for an absence of two weeks. He 
 raved. But she was decided for once. 
 Seeing himself powerless to prevent her 
 from going, he swore she should leave 
 her baby at home, a little fellow not 
 quite as old as our Bright, and carried 
 his point with threats. 
 
 "Her uncle returned with her at the 
 time appointed, but did not go to her 
 house. He had business in Providence 
 and Xew Haven, and went on immedi 
 ately. Vance met her, half-drunk as 
 
 usual, and told her she should pay for 
 her ridiculous wilfulness in going to De 
 troit against his wishes. She greeted him 
 pleasantly, and ran up-stairs to her baby. 
 The nursery was vacant. She hurried 
 from room to room, and lastly to the 
 kitchen, to inquire for the little one. 
 The cook told her that the nurse had 
 taken him out for a walk. So she took 
 off her things and watched from the win 
 dow tearfully and impatiently for his re 
 turn. Vance saw her distress, and acted 
 upon it. He says an army of devils must 
 have taken possession of him. He went 
 to the door, and when the girl brought 
 the child up the steps he took it from 
 her and dismissed her. Knowing his pe 
 culiarities, she was too much frightened 
 to say any thing and went round to the 
 kitchen. He took the child to its mother, 
 and, just as she was about to receive it 
 from his arms with an expression of su 
 preme delight on her face, he lifted it 
 high in the air, and let it fall from the 
 dizzy distance to the floor. The little 
 creature never breathed afterward. 
 
 " He was sobered before the funeral, 
 but his wife refused to see him. He 
 wondered why there had been no more 
 fuss and excitement ! He had expected 
 both. He did not exactly care to be ar 
 rested for murder, but he meant to show 
 that little saint of a woman who was 
 master in his house. Didn't care much 
 if the brat was gone, if folks would take 
 it peaceably. Ida had always loved it a 
 
 d n sight better than she had him. 
 
 But he don't think he meant to kill it. 
 Was so far gone the night afterward 
 that he did not know he had. 
 
 "He sat by the side of his wife while 
 the minister read the burial-service over
 
 64 
 
 SPICY 
 
 the little casket which contained their 
 all. He rode by hor side in the carriage 
 to Mt. Auburn cemetery. He stood by 
 her side while a little mound was raised. 
 He did all that was respectable and prop 
 er. But he never once got a glimpse of 
 her face from behind the wall of crape 
 which enshrouded her, nor did they ex 
 change a word during the whole time. 
 He was extremely depressed, from the 
 want of his accustomed stimulant, and 
 left the carriage before arriving at his 
 own door, to step into a saloon. He 
 went home about midnight, and found 
 on his table a little note of farewell. His 
 wife had left him forever. It ran thus : 
 
 " ' LEWIS : You have no accuser. Fear 
 not. I sent for our physician and told 
 him I had dropped my baby. He could 
 not bring the darling back to life. Its 
 death is supposed to be the result of a 
 mother's carelessness. 
 
 " 4 Seek me not, for you will never find 
 me. I do not go to my uncle, nor to any 
 one who ever knew me. Nor shall I 
 ever present any claims for one penny of 
 your property, nor for what was once 
 mine, but is now in your hands. IDA.' 
 
 " If you could have seen that stout 
 man weep in his bitterness of spirit 
 when he showed me that worn note, 
 your heart would have bled for him, 
 richly as he deserved his punishment. 
 He swears that from that hour until the 
 present time he has not tasted a glass 
 of liquor. That until the breaking out 
 of the Kebellion he has never ceased his 
 unavailing search for his loved and lost. 
 He has travelled through the country on 
 foot to ferret out, if possible, her refuge 
 in some by-place, has walked up and 
 down the streets of large cities, gazing 
 
 into every face that he passed; has jour 
 neyed from point to point, from horizon 
 to horizon the one great purpose of 
 his life to find and humble himself be 
 fore her whom he had so terribly and 
 so cruelly wronged, and crave forgive 
 ness for the past, even if the future must 
 be a stinging blank." 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 EEMOESE AND BETBIBUTIOX. 
 
 " How it does soften one toward a 
 wicked man to have him repentant 1 " 
 said Spicy, with a little gulp. " I would 
 never want to see him, though, if I were 
 she." 
 
 " She must have understood him well 
 to provide against such a possible con 
 tingency," continued Leonardus. " He 
 has never so much as obtained the slight 
 est trace of her. And she cut herself 
 equally adrift from all her friends. Not 
 one of them can tell whether she be liv 
 ing or dead. Judge Shubill has gone 
 down in sorrow to his grave. He was 
 a bachelor, some web of romance woven 
 into his history, I believe. I have some 
 idea that I have been told that it was 
 Ida's mother whom he loved in his youth, 
 but I am not sure. At any rate he 
 adopted the little orphan, and educated 
 her, and very nearly idolized her. Now 
 he has left the whole bulk of his proper 
 ty, real and personal, in trust for her, 
 should she ever come forward to receive 
 it. He gave her $50,000 as a bridal 
 present, and that, I suppose, was what 
 she referred to in her note. Vance says 
 he has deposited it, subject to her order, 
 and so settled his own affairs that heirs-
 
 GENERAL BELilORE AND BABY BRIGHT. 
 
 65 
 
 at-law cannot put ivC their hearing unless 
 his wife's decea/e is properly authenti 
 cated. He hopes to fall in battle, and 
 courts the positions of greatest danger. 
 His reputation for daring and intrepidity 
 is unequalled in that division of the 
 army. Life is an intolerable burden to 
 him, and remorse is sapping the very 
 foundations of his existence. 
 
 "I took out that little picture of 
 Bright which you sent me, Meddie, as I 
 have had a fashion of doing at any time, 
 and under any circumstances, and was 
 intently regarding it, when all at once 
 he leaned forward and looked over my 
 shoulder : 
 
 " ' Good God ! Belinore, how did you 
 come by that ? ' 
 
 " His face looked like a dying man's. 
 I explained, and after a few minutes he 
 gasped : 
 
 " ' Pardon me ; it is so like my boy 
 that I thought you were displaying it to 
 taunt me ! Belmore, my punishment 
 is greater than I can bear.' " 
 
 We were interrupted by a summons 
 to dinner, and conversation turned upon 
 the thousand and one topics so interest 
 ing to the heads of families, and so un 
 interesting to the world in general. 
 Spicy tried to tell Leonard us about the 
 old letters, and their connection with 
 Ida Everett, but I had Bright in my 
 arms, and was trying to teach him to say 
 Papa, and he would persist in getting it 
 " Pay, pay," and the brigadier couldn't 
 listen to any thing else just then. After 
 ward one of his favorite rice-puddings 
 came on the table, and he took the 
 youngster himself to try to make him 
 say Plum ; but, with the obstinacy nat 
 ural to children, the little mischief 
 
 screwed up his face and kept saying 
 " Berwy, berwy," leaving his mouth wide 
 open to have one put in occasionally. 
 
 In the evening we went out to walk, 
 and the next day Leonardug had business 
 with the commandant of the post at 
 Camp Douglas, and did not get home 
 until four o'clock p. M. 
 
 " Now, Spicy, what about those love- 
 epistles ? " he asked, as he stretched him 
 self upon the lounge in the library. 
 
 She ran and got them, told him some, 
 and read other portions to him. He was 
 greatly interested. 
 
 " How happened it, Meddie, that you 
 never took the trouble to find out who 
 lived in this house before you ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " I did. It is the old Dwight Man 
 sion, you know. They, or some of the 
 members of the Dwight family, have oc 
 cupied it from the time it was built until 
 about a year ago. Then it was rented to 
 a family by the name of Thomas. No 
 one seems to know much about them, ex 
 cept that they paid their rent and let the 
 place go to the dogs. If window-shutters 
 flopped, they let them flop ; if water- 
 pipes burst, they let them burst ; if rats 
 chose to play on the front-stairs, they 
 let them play there ; in short, as chil 
 dren used to say when I was among their 
 happy number : 
 
 ' They did as they do in Spain : 
 "When it rained, they let it rain. 1 
 
 Where they went, when they left here, 
 no one seems to know, any more than 
 where they came from. They had 
 boarders, as near as we can ascertain. 
 But there is not much prospect of learn 
 ing more." 
 
 "I see. And any discoveries in re-
 
 66 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 gard to the Gildersleeves wouldn't lielp 
 us, or Ida Everett either." 
 
 " Poor thing ! How she must have suf 
 fered ! " said Spicy. " Now, wouldn't it be 
 the strangest thing of all," and she low 
 ered her voice to a half-whisper, "if our 
 Nursy Brown were that very individual 1 " 
 
 "I don't think so," Leonardus re 
 plied, promptly and decidedly. " I must 
 say I did have a suspicion of the kind 
 the first day I arrived. The deep, rich 
 blue of her eye, with such a depth of 
 soul in back of it, brought Mrs. Vance 
 vividly to my mind. But I have ob 
 served this person more closely since, 
 and I am certain that one so highly bred 
 and nurtured and cultivated, and who at 
 the last was drowned in such an ocean 
 of trouble as Ida Everett, could never 
 have fitted herself to the position which 
 Nursy Brown holds, and with such a 
 measure of serene content. Ida Everett, 
 witli all her other gifts and graces, was 
 a brilliant writer, and won distinction 
 under a nom de plume, even before her 
 marriage. She would have been much 
 more likely to have resorted to literature 
 for a livelihood, if she took no money 
 with her, as Vance fully supposes." 
 
 So it seemed to me. How the strong 
 er always influence the weaker! Ten 
 minutes before, I was morally confident 
 that Nursy Brown was the heroine of 
 my tale. I had sketched it on my brain, 
 accounted for her passionate devotion to 
 my baby by its resemblance to her own, 
 divined the greatness of her character by 
 the marvellous aptitude with which she 
 engrossed herself in little things, and was 
 trying to shape my figures of speech 
 when I should, some day, approach her 
 on the delicate and distressing subject. 
 
 One argument from Leonardus, and I was 
 all afloat again. 
 
 "I have to go to Buffalo on the 5th. 
 Now, wifey, if you will tie up a few 
 things in a pillow-case and keep me com 
 pany, we will stop a day or two in Cleve 
 land, and visit the Burgoynes." 
 
 " I shall be delighted to do so, I know 
 of nothing to prevent," was my quick 
 response. 
 
 Although I did not say so, I had a 
 few preparations to make for my jour 
 ney. The buttons were not on my new 
 travelling-dress nor the sleeves sewed in. 
 My brown silk was too long. I had had 
 in contemplation the taking off the skirt 
 from the waist and the shortening of it, 
 and I must do that, surely, for it was my 
 only dress-dress. My hat must be newly 
 trimmed too, and I must go down-town 
 for gloves and sundry other articles. So 
 that, with my plotting and planning, I 
 buried Ida Everett and all her possible 
 connections. 
 
 Leonardus, like many another man 
 whom I have known, never was willing 
 his wife should do any thing when he 
 was present. Her whole attention must 
 be devoted to him. I was glad enough 
 to humor him in it generally, but when 
 one is going someAvhere and chooses to 
 look her feminine best, why, it is incon 
 venient, to say the least. However, he 
 had some running about the city to do 
 himself, looking after soldiers' families, 
 he said, and with Nursy Brown and Spi 
 cy both to assist me, I was nearly ready, 
 when Ann came lumbering up to my 
 room where I was sorting out my collars 
 and cuffs and neck-ribbons. 
 
 " I should like to be gettin' my mon 
 ey if you phise, ma'am."
 
 ANN AND HER PICNIC. 
 
 67 
 
 "Yes, Ann, I will give it to you this 
 evening. Do/you want it all ? " 
 
 " I doe?; I am going to take a little 
 picnic to-morrow." 
 
 " Oh, I cannot spare you. I have in 
 vited some friends to dine." 
 
 " I gets no dinner for nobody on the 
 Fourth of July. I always has that to my 
 self. We folks that steam over the hot 
 stoves must get a little change some 
 times." 
 
 " But you know my husband, whom 
 I have not seen for more than a year, is 
 here, and I want to make every thing as 
 pleasant for him as possible. I will give 
 you a day next week. "Won't that an 
 swer just as well?" 
 
 "No, ma'am." Most emphatically 
 spoken. "I hasn't seen my man for 
 twice that time, but I has got to have a 
 little pleasure myself for all that. I 
 sha'n't do no work in this house to-mor 
 row." 
 
 " What ! not get my breakfast in the 
 morning ? " 
 
 "Sure and I sha'n't! The picnic 
 goes at six o'clock." 
 
 At any other time I should have said, 
 " Very well, you need not trouble your 
 self to come back ; " but I thought of my 
 trip with Leonardus on the day following 
 the Fourth, and swallowed my annoyance. 
 She was off according to her programme, 
 before we had got two-thirds of the way 
 to finally in our dreams. We worried 
 through the day as best we could. N"ur- 
 sy Brown cooked, and I was baby-tend 
 er; Maggie washed dishes, and Spicy 
 swept carpets; and Leonardus divided 
 his time between entertaining our guests, 
 and throwing open the doors and letting 
 the flies in as fast as I could get them 
 
 out, and firing-off crackers and torpedoes 
 for Bright's edification. In the evening 
 we had a private display of pin-wheels 
 and Eoman candles, and thus ended the 
 most doleful day of the season. Bright 
 was cross and wouldn't go to sleep, nor 
 would he allow the rest of us any indul 
 gence of the kind. At a quarter-past 
 twelve Ann had not arrived. 
 
 Our train left the Southern Michigan 
 depot at six in the morning. What was 
 to be done? I could not leave such a 
 burden on the shoulders of Nursy Brown 
 it was enough for her to take care of 
 Bright. Ann might not return at all ; 
 Maggie was not strong, the weather was 
 oppressively hot, and she knew noth 
 ing about cooking in any event. It 
 was inevitable, I must stay at home. 
 Leonardus and I were both disap 
 pointed. 
 
 "Then I think I will not stop in 
 Cleveland I will go the other route 
 through Detroit," he said. 
 
 " Why not stop over one night with 
 Cousin Phil ? " 
 
 "I believe I will. I would like to 
 know how the boy is getting on." 
 
 " Be careful ! Don't call him a boy. 
 He would think you meant to insult 
 him." 
 
 Leonardus laughed. "Have you the 
 number of his boarding-house ? " 
 
 " He boards with his sister, Mrs. Law 
 rence. I have her address on a card. 
 Here it is," and I put the little guide- 
 board in his vest-pocket. 
 
 " I will get my breakfast at the 
 Briggs House ; don't try to wake when I 
 go," and my good-night was my good-by 
 for many days. 
 
 We had no Ann the next day, and,
 
 68 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 although I had never had a better cook, 
 I felt that her course was run in my 
 establishment. I made another tour 
 through the intelligence-offices, which 
 resulted in the employment of a pretty, 
 cross-eyed little German girl, and I in 
 troduced her with all necessary pomp 
 and circumstance into the clean, well- 
 kept kitchen of the recreant Ann. She 
 proved to be a jewel in her way. Had 
 been assistant-cook in a hotel, was ami 
 able as well as efficient, and quite con 
 soled me for the loss I had sustained. 
 Her Annship did not make her appear 
 ance for thirteen days, when she walked 
 in one morning fresh and blooming, her 
 muslin dress as pink and starchy as ever, 
 and, with the blandest of smiles, asked 
 me if I was pretty well. 
 
 Yes, I was, and I hoped she was in 
 the enjoyment of the same blessing. It 
 was on a Monday, and I was in the 
 laundry, telling Louisa how to wash 
 some point-lace. She beckoned me aside 
 (Ann, not Louisa), and asked me who 
 that little snip was, who was switching 
 round at such a rate. 
 
 " It is my new cook, Louisa." 
 " But she can't do your work ! " 
 " She pleases me very well, so far." 
 "Oh, she never'll suit you in the 
 world. Nobody but I can do that. I 
 understand all your ways and tastes, and 
 I makes every thing illigant, and I wash 
 es like new. Send her agoin'. I am 
 come back, yon see." 
 
 " How came you to leave me as you 
 did, Ann?" 
 
 "Well, I'll just tell you all about it. 
 That picnic went, you know, down to 
 Cottage Grove, and it got through along 
 in the afternoon, and I started for home. 
 
 I hadn't had any thing to eat but some 
 cake I carried with me, and nothing to 
 drink but jest one leetle glass of beer, 
 which I took with a friend, because I 
 never drink or any thing of that kind, I 
 am too principled, and as I was a-sayin', 
 I was a-comin' home in the State-Street 
 cars, and I saw another car agoin' down 
 toward the grove again, and I jest hap 
 pened to think I had disremembered my 
 parasol, and so I got out of one car and 
 got into the other car; and then I was 
 kinder sociable like with some of the 
 gentlemen and ladies who seemed to 
 think I didn't understand my business ; 
 and the conductor sassed me, and all I 
 did was to slap him in the face, and the 
 great, mean Irish pumpkin went and 
 stopped the car and called the perlise, 
 and had me jest dragged to the station- 
 house. Then they locked me up and 
 fined me six dollars! I hadn't got noth 
 ing to pay it, cause my pus had been 
 stolen at the picnic, but I told them that, 
 if Mrs. General Belmore only knew 
 about it, she would send me the six dol 
 lars mighty quick " 
 
 I interrupted her : "Oh! I hope you 
 did not tell them you were my servant! 
 How disgraceful ! " 
 
 " Why, bless your dear heart, I had 
 not done any thing. They had only got 
 it all up agin me. They wouldn't come 
 up and tell you and get the money, so I 
 had to go to the Bridewell and work it 
 out. But I didn't associate among the 
 low folks at all! Oh, no! There was 
 jest a few of us, aristocratic ones, who 
 knit and sewed, and made the rest of 
 them wait on us, and had a pretty good 
 time together." 
 
 "I can't take you back, Ann. You
 
 ARREST OF THE ROBBERS. 
 
 69 
 
 must provide /yourself with another 
 place." 
 
 " "Why n^t ? I am an illigant cook, 
 as you know yourself, and I niver drinks 
 nor does any thing wrong! " 
 
 There was something extremely lu 
 dicrous in the effrontery with which she 
 looked full into my face and made that 
 assertion. I smiled in spite of myself. 
 
 " But you have been in Bridewell. I 
 would not like to have a jail-bird in my 
 kitchen ! " 
 
 " That's jest nothin' at all, only the 
 way folks looks at it. 1's been there 
 lots of times, and cooked jest as good 
 whin I came out. I had been there 
 more'n five weeks when I engaged with 
 you first, and this is no wosser than 
 that." 
 
 I almost shuddered ! How little we 
 know sometimes what sort of people we 
 harbor! It is needless to add that I de 
 clined the overtures of my ex-cook, and 
 thanked my stars that I had found her 
 out with no more serious consequences. 
 I also had occasion to rejoice over the 
 thwarting of my travelling projects, as 
 you will learn presently. Leonardus 
 stopped in Detroit and hunted up Phil ; 
 that is, he found Phil's sister and spent 
 the night. Phil was at a concert and did 
 not return until very late, and Leonardus 
 finally decided to stay over till evening 
 and take the night train for Buffalo. 
 The two rambled about the city that 
 day; and, finally, Phil persuaded Leo 
 nardus to step into a gallery and have 
 his picture taken. While waiting for the 
 operator, they examined the specimens 
 of his art which were lying on the count 
 ers and hanging on the walls. Leo 
 nardus picked up the card photograph 
 
 of a negro, and was laughing at his dis 
 play of finery a ruffled shirt-front, 
 fringed neck-tie, watch-chain, and fin 
 ger-rings. Presently his countenance 
 changed, and he stepped along to a 
 stronger light. 
 
 "Look here, Phil! What do you 
 make of this?" 
 
 Their eyes were both riveted upon a 
 peculiar charm suspended to the chain. 
 
 "It is a greyhound," said Phil. 
 
 "So I say. And the fac-simile of 
 the one, if not the very same charm, 
 which I gave to Meddie on our wedding- 
 day. Perhaps we've got hold of the 
 thread, which, by winding up carefully, 
 will lead to the detection of the rob 
 bers." 
 
 They instituted inquiries. The artist 
 knew something of the whereabouts of 
 his African highness the detectives 
 found out the rest ; and when Leonardus 
 stopped again in Detroit, on his return 
 from Buffalo, he had the satisfaction of 
 identifying my stolen property. 
 
 As was subsequently shown, the old 
 Irishman who moved us, and who spotted 
 the goods, entered into a partnership 
 with the negro to accomplish the busi 
 ness. The negro was an expert and did 
 the work, and they divided the proceeds. 
 They had considerable difference of opin 
 ion about who should come in for the 
 watch and its accompaniments, for the 
 man of color said : 
 
 "You can't neber sell no such thing 
 widout the detectables bein' after you 
 and disconveniencin' you." 
 
 But it was finally settled as above. 
 They had disposed of the buttons and 
 the garnet set, but they had given them 
 much trouble and been an unprofitable
 
 70 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 investment. My solitaire diamond, Cuf- 
 fy said he would put away for his Nan 
 cy, as it was of no account much. The 
 pearls had fallen to Patrick's share, and 
 he had given them to his old woman. 
 He didn't know where she was, but his 
 memory was stirred up, and, after tedi 
 ous researches, Leonardus confronted my 
 remarkable Ann in a neighbor's kitchen. 
 "And is Patrick O'Daly your hus 
 band ? " 
 
 "Well, he married me onst, but he 
 niver's took no care of me nor nothin' 
 like that." 
 
 " Do you know where he is now ? " 
 
 "No. Nor it don't make any mat 
 ter." 
 
 " He has sent me to you to get a pin 
 and a pair of ear-rings, which he says 
 he gave you for a present some time in 
 June, while you were living with Mrs. 
 Belmore." 
 
 " Humph ! Presint, was it ? He tould 
 me to tuck 'em away in my trunk o' 
 things, which stands in your wood-shed I 
 That's all I know about it." 
 
 " Step round with me, if you please, 
 and get them. They belong to my wife." 
 
 She looked rather defiant, but an in 
 dividual with a star on his breast was 
 more potent in his persuasions than Leo 
 nardus knew how to be, and the pearls 
 came forth as good as new. And a set 
 of my best towels, and six pairs of linen 
 pillow-cases, and Bright's silver mug, 
 and five forks also, by order of the sub 
 scriber ! 
 
 I could hardly believe my own eyes 1 
 And that they should have been under 
 my own roof all the time, even if it Avas 
 the wood-shed roof. Louisa had once or 
 twice asked me why Ann did not take 
 
 that old trunk of hers away. I sup 
 posed she had no place to take it to, 
 and I supposed correctly. But I little 
 dreamed what it contained. 
 
 Ann walked in as self-possessed as if 
 nothing had happened : 
 
 "I are jest agoin' to lave the place 
 I've got. They don't have no order 
 there, nor no system, nor nothin'. They 
 keeps the tay and the shuger locked up, 
 and dales out things to me, and meddles 
 with my closets. You know I can cook 
 illigant. I jest suit you. I am ready to 
 come now. You is a lady and keeps 
 good society, and never fusses with your 
 help." 
 
 She threw a smirk into my face, 
 which did not take effect. I had the 
 hardness of heart to refuse to take her 
 into my service, and, what was more, I 
 stood coolly by and saw her led away 
 toward the place prepared for all Chica- 
 goans who do not walk in the paths of 
 honesty, though where but few enter. 
 
 She was acquitted when the trial 
 came off, owing to the absence of proof 
 in regard to her complicity in the rob 
 bery. But Patrick and Cuffy were 
 doomed to steady labor for the period 
 of five years. 
 
 Long before Leonardus turned his 
 face warward, our house became the 
 busy field for dress-makers' operations. 
 Spicy was going to New York in Sep 
 tember, to finish her education at Miss 
 Gilbert's school on Fifth Avenue. I was 
 to be her escort to the great city, and 
 there was work to be done for me also. 
 
 To keep the coast clear within crit 
 icising distance of our army officer, I 
 threw open the blue-room and all the 
 cutting and fitting were done there. Then,
 
 MISS TERRAPIN. 
 
 as we were crowded for room to spread 
 new goods without rumpling, I opened 
 the ghost-cldset, laid sheets on the floor, 
 arid made it a regular store-room. 
 
 " I expect we shall tempt the inhab 
 itants of this realm until we get up an 
 other scene in the drama,'' said Spicy, 
 as on her knees she straightened out the 
 folds of a new dress, and left it lying at 
 fall length near the window. 
 
 How often a word spoken in jest 
 proves, alas, too true ! 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 MISS TEEEAPIN. 
 
 LEONAEDUS had been gone three 
 weeks. We were so crowded with work 
 that I had no time to mope and be lone 
 ly. I was bending all my energies to 
 get ready to leave for the East by the 
 10th of September, in order to make a 
 brief visit in Albany before dropping 
 Spicy at her school. The time was so 
 close at hand that we needed more as 
 sistance, and Spicy took it upon herself 
 to find another dress-maker. In a third- 
 floor on Lake Street she was rewarded 
 by success. She found Miss Terrapin. 
 
 I had heard of the lady before, for, 
 whatever her business, she was undoubt 
 edly a lady. My Aunt Hatty, Cousin 
 Phil's mother, knew her when a child 
 in the little town of Gothland, near 
 Northampton, in Massachusetts. They 
 were brought up together, that is, they 
 both attended Sunday services in the 
 Congregational meeting-house in the 
 centre, and while Aunt Hatty sat in the 
 square pew at the right of the pulpit, 
 between her father and mother, and 
 dared not so much as raise her hand to 
 
 brush a fly from her face for fear of the 
 tithing-man, Clara Terrapin sang in the 
 choir. She was the daughter of the 
 squire, and the house they lived in had 
 two chimneys, and her brothers wore 
 gloves to church. 
 
 A dozen years later, when % progress 
 had left its mark even in that isolated 
 locality in the shape of a new church 
 and a town-hall, and Aunt Hatty had 
 gone back there on a visit with her 
 father (they lived in Hartford then), she 
 learned, among other interesting items, 
 that Clara Terrapin was at the South, 
 teaching. The townspeople esteemed 
 it a distinguished honor to be able to 
 report so favorably of one of their num 
 ber, and the young and ambitious were 
 studying how they might emulate her 
 example. 
 
 She must have conceived the unpop 
 ular notion that God never put her into 
 this world simply to take music-lessons, 
 flirt, and get married, for she had gone 
 on through life cultivating her talents, 
 inventing ways of usefulness, crowding 
 efforts into untried spots, failing, trying 
 again, learning, unlearning, and relearn- 
 ing, until she had reached her present 
 standard in the high building where 
 Spicy found her. 
 
 At one time she had a snug little 
 property, which had been bequeathed 
 her by a deceased relative. It was a 
 source of perpetual peace of mind. 
 Money is so very convenient ! And then 
 it is not always esteemed eminently re 
 spectable to be destitute. She had heard 
 it said: 
 
 " Want sense, the world -will overlook it ; 
 
 "Want feeling, it will find some excuse ; 
 But, if the world knows you want money, 
 Tou are certain to get its abuse."
 
 72 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 And she was beginning to practice on 
 the principle 
 
 " The wisest advice in creation 
 
 Is, ne'er on its kindness to call ; 
 If ever you want its assistance, 
 Just show you don't need it at all." 
 
 People went so far at that time as to 
 comment upon the singularity of her 
 tastes in remaining Miss Terrapin ! One 
 widower and three old bachelors de 
 clared that women were created to be 
 taken care of by men, without regard to 
 circumstances ! They were never known 
 to advocate such heresy after one bright 
 morning, when, through the failure of a 
 certain bank, the maiden's dependence 
 passed away like a shadow ! 
 
 She took the measure of herself at 
 once, and demonstrated to the world that 
 misfortunes could be healthfully borne. 
 Yes, she would battle for her living, while 
 hands and heart were left. She could not 
 open a school with advantage, for she 
 was behind the times in youthful lore. 
 Literature was not in her line. So she 
 rented a 'doctor and his wife with the 
 house they lived in, and commenced tLe 
 business of feeding and sleeping people 
 at so much per head. 
 
 For a time all went well. Her prin 
 cipal boarder was an eye-and-ear doctor, 
 and forty. He had a broad, expansive 
 forehead, a soft blue eye, a large, domi 
 neering nose, an uncertain mouth, long, 
 curly, brown hair, and heavy mustache 
 and whiskers. He was neither too tall 
 nor too short, but of medium stature, 
 and thick-set. He was vastly agreeable, 
 vastly restless, and everywhere present. 
 By virtue of having been rented with 
 the house, he felt called upon to look af 
 ter its interests in a supervisory manner. 
 He made semi-hourly excursions to the 
 
 closets, pantries, drawers, and other pri 
 vate places, to say nothing of all the way- 
 stations between the garret and the cel 
 lar. He stopped up rat-holes, tended the 
 furnace, lectured the servants, and made 
 himself useful generally. Indeed, he was 
 just one of those sort of men who might 
 have danced a German upon the point of 
 a cambric-needle, and had room enough 
 left for an audience. 
 
 It was such a comfort to have him 
 round, so thought Miss Terrapin in her 
 blissful inexperience. It was the ser 
 vants who made wry faces when his 
 orders multiplied, and obedience became 
 impracticable. Then he bought them 
 up with little presents of wax-flowers, 
 which did not cost him any thing, and 
 his wife donated a few high-colored rib 
 bons from her upper bureau-drawer. 
 
 He was the family carver by his own 
 appointment. It was so very kind of 
 him ! His dexterity in securing the ten 
 derloin of the steak to himself was ad 
 mirable to behold ! It inclined Miss Ter 
 rapin's argus-eyed boarders to sue for a 
 life-lease of their apartments. He al 
 ways got hungry in the middle of the 
 day. It was so pleasant for Miss Ter 
 rapin to have a man's head at the helm. 
 He could instruct her how to provide for 
 the lunches, else she might have fallen 
 into the popular delusion of putting such 
 dishes on her table as she could afford. 
 The bill of fare, according to Dr. Med 
 dlesome, was cold meat, hot meat-stews, 
 hash, oysters, potatoes, hominy, boiled 
 rice, bread-and-butter, gingerbread, pie, 
 horseradish, mustard, molasses, and 
 something sour either pickles or cold 
 cabbage ; did not object to a lemon. Af 
 ter that he could manage to exist until
 
 MISS TERRAPIN TRIES MUSIC. 
 
 dinner - time, if it was on the table 
 promptly at six o'clock. If, by any 
 chance, there was a delay of five min 
 utes, as there would be when he called 
 the cook away from taking up the vege 
 tables to hold a candle for him to fix the 
 cellar-door knob, or the waitress from 
 setting the table to sweep off the front 
 steps, he was at the head of the stairs 
 calling down to say he was in a hurry. 
 
 Miss Terrapin had a very uncomforta 
 ble way of serving her dinner in courses. 
 She was unkind enough to omit the salad 
 until after the soup. Dr. Meddlesome 
 expostulated with her, and was con 
 founded when she asserted her own su 
 premacy, and declined to make any 
 changes in that particular. It was clear 
 ly a declaration of war. He was not 
 fond of strong-minded women, and he 
 took immediate steps to hint on the 
 sly his dissatisfaction to the rest of 
 the boarders. Nothing was right any 
 more. The coffee and plates were 
 both cold in the morning. It might 
 have been because he read Miss Ter 
 rapin's paper for ten minutes or so after 
 sitting down to the table. It saved his 
 taking one himself. She ventured to 
 hint the same to him, and he took mor 
 tal offence, but never a newspaper. 
 Boarders left, without giving notice or 
 reasons. She filled their places as soon 
 as possible, but not always without pe 
 cuniary loss and subsequent embarrass 
 ment. She felt as if she were riding 
 round all the sharp corners of life in a 
 hearse. Finally, her servants began to 
 leave her in the most extraordinary man 
 ner ! She suspected the cause when she 
 saw Dr. Meddlesome dodging about in 
 the lower regions, but she could not 
 
 fight him without understanding his se 
 cret machinery. A mysterious silence 
 hung about her kitchen. She hired new 
 servants, but as soon as she turned her 
 back they departed. The breakfasts and 
 the dinners and the lunches were no 
 longer properly cooked, for the lady of 
 the house could not stand over the range 
 herself, and be wandering up and down 
 the highways and the by-ways at the 
 same time looking for servants. 
 
 Dr. Meddlesome became melancholy. 
 He told his friends that he had got some 
 one to keep his house who was not capa 
 ble. Mrs. Meddlesome thought it unwise 
 for a single woman to undertake such a 
 burden as a boarding-house. Miss Ter 
 rapin bought a lot at Rose Hill, and con 
 templated her future home there with 
 pleasure. She concluded she must have 
 mistaken her calling in life. She struck 
 a balance, finally, and, finding that she 
 was on the wrong side of her accounts 
 altogether, took the straight and narrow 
 road to another field of labor. 
 
 Music had been her forte in her 
 youth. Music - teachers lived, moved, 
 and had their being, and why not she? 
 She took a hall bedroom in the fourth 
 story of a friend's house till she could 
 get a class formed. Then she started on 
 her weary pilgrimage. Wherever a child 
 was rolling hoop she turned her foot 
 steps. At door after door she inquired 
 if there were any children who would 
 take music - lessons ! She distributed 
 printed cards among all her friends, and 
 those who ought to be friendly. She 
 threw her whole soul into the enterprise. 
 At the end of two months she had ob 
 tained two pupils ! I hardly know how 
 to account for her want of success!
 
 SPICY. 
 
 Most families, I dare say, had teachers 
 already provided for their young people. 
 Others thought she was too old! She 
 called herself forty-five! I don't know 
 whose business it was if she had been 
 forty-five for seven or eight years. Per 
 haps she had conscientious scruples 
 about getting any older. Forty-five is 
 in my estimation quite old enough for an 
 old maid. 
 
 She struggled on for two or three 
 years in a sort of transition state between 
 existence and starvation. At one time 
 she had five scholars, but, to get them, 
 she had to take them under the es 
 tablished price, and, in one instance, 
 failed to collect that. She must dress 
 well; not only her natural tastes 
 but her possible ultimate success, de 
 manded it, and, being uncommonly tall, 
 it was a serious drain upon her poverty- 
 stricken pocket. Her friends tired, at 
 last, of giving her a gratuitous home, and 
 told her so. She looked for board, but 
 single maiden ladies are not usually at a 
 premium in that market. Gentlemen al 
 ways take the preference. Miss Terra 
 pin wondered at it, and no wonder she 
 did ! At one place she ventured to ask 
 the reason. The lady seemed surprised 
 that she should not understand 1 
 
 "Because gentlemen are away all 
 day, never come to lunch, don't keep ser 
 vants always running to attend to their 
 calls and their fires, have good appetites, 
 and mind their own business." 
 
 "Some gentlemen!" was Miss Ter 
 rapin's laconic reply. 
 
 She found a place in the end, where, 
 by sleeping on a sofa in the parlor, and 
 helping the lady with her plain sewing, 
 she could make a temporary lodgment. 
 
 She advertised for copying and earned 
 a little that way. My aunt Hatty em 
 ployed her at one time to take charge of 
 her house for a fe\v months, while she 
 was in Washington. She had a gift at 
 needle-work. For years, she had made 
 her own dresses. I don't know what 
 was the flaw in her understanding, that 
 she should have been so long finding her 
 proper level. But, at last, she rented 
 rooms and opened a dress-making estab 
 lishment. She succeeded, for she had a 
 natural talent lying in that direction, and 
 while the world and Chicago stand peo 
 ple must dress. Her shop hung with the 
 latest New York and Paris patterns, and 
 the back-room revealed a dozen or more 
 girls hard at work for their daily bread. 
 
 Spicy asked her to step round and 
 see me, as we had several garments we 
 wished made out of the house, and very 
 little time to attend to it ourselves. She 
 came in the evening and talked fast and 
 said a great deal. I took note of it, be 
 cause some people who talk fast never say 
 any thing. She was thoroughly master of 
 the situation. She could tell me just 
 what was suitable to wear in any emer 
 gency. She knew exactly how many 
 pieces of wearing-apparel the young lady 
 needed for her school-year. She secretly 
 informed us what the prevailing styles 
 would be in the winter and spring, and 
 how much cheaper goods could be bought 
 in Chicago than New York. She offered 
 to attend to all my shopping for a tri 
 fling commission. 
 
 A valuable acquisition to my circle 
 of acquaintance, surely ! Her name sud 
 denly became a household word. It 
 was : Ask Miss Terrapin about that ; 
 Miss Terrapin told me this. It will nev-
 
 THE BLUE-ROOM AGAIN. 
 
 er do, Miss Terrapin says they are not 
 worn. How many pocket-handkerchiefs 
 did Miss Terrapin say I must have? 
 "Whejfr is the sample Miss Terrapin sent 
 me ? This -waist pinches, but Miss Terra 
 pin says it is none too tight. Miss Ter 
 rapin says I do not walk good in high- 
 heeled boots. Ask Miss Terrapin wheth 
 er it shall be trimmed with fringe or 
 lace ; and similar expressions constituted 
 the small-talk of the family. I did not 
 see how I had ever done without Miss 
 Terrapin ! 
 
 She was always laughing about my 
 low ceilings. She could not stand erect, 
 only on the high side of the blue-room. 
 She said she should not like to be the 
 one to go into that dungeon of a closet. 
 She should expect such a place to be 
 haunted. She did not believe in ghosts, 
 but should never doubt any one's veraci 
 ty who said she had seen one in there. 
 
 "Speaking of ghosts," she went on, 
 " they have one good trait, they never 
 do anybody any harm, and it always 
 vexes me to see folks so stupidly afraid 
 of them." 
 
 "That is even so," replied Spicy; 
 " don't you think some one ought to be 
 friend the poor creatures? Here my 
 ghost has been locked out of civilized so 
 ciety all summer, and now I suppose she 
 would not come back even if we invited 
 lier. "We ought to have treated her bet 
 ter, more as became her station among 
 the spirits ; it would have been so much 
 more respectable, I mean for the ghost." 
 
 " This ribbon is too narrow, Mrs. Bel- 
 more. I will stop at Palmer's and get 
 you one the right width. You will find 
 the lace cheaper at Shay's, and you will 
 want a half-yard more to finish the un- 
 
 der-sleeves. Shall I give Mrs. Hopson 
 your order for the hat? " 
 
 Miss Terrapin was standing with her 
 bonnet and gloves on, leaning over Spi- 
 cy's shoulder, who was persisting in 
 great efforts to accomplish the joining of 
 two rough pieces of wash-blond. 
 
 We were in the blue-room, seam 
 stresses and all, and there was not much 
 unoccupied space. I should hardly have 
 known the hour if the lunch-bell had not 
 rung about that time, although it was 
 plain that the sun had passed the merid 
 ian, from the way in which it was blis 
 tering the outside of the green window- 
 shutters. The closet-door had not been 
 shut since it was first unlocked, and we 
 had all taken a turn in trying to admit 
 air through the window, and make the 
 place less like an oven than it really was, 
 but without success. It was almost filled 
 with finished garments, tossed loosely 
 upon each other, and the window could 
 no longer be reached without creeping 
 along where the sharp roof met the floor. 
 It was decidedly darkish in there as well 
 as hot, and four or five freshly-ironed 
 white skirts hitched on some hooks just 
 by the door-way, rendered it darker and 
 hotter stiil. 
 
 All at once there came a silence that 
 was in itself acutely painful ! It was as 
 if a pall had suddenly been dropped over 
 every person present ! No one breathed, 
 much less spoke! All our eyes rested 
 upon the figure of a woman looking at us 
 from the closet! 
 
 She had the appearance of standing 
 on the second step down, and held in 
 her hand a scroll of paper. And such a 
 hand! So bony and attenuated! She 
 was clad in white raiment. No shroud,
 
 76 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 but a wrapper of cross-barred muslin, 
 with pearl buttons! Her face was hag 
 gard and wan, her neck long and small, 
 the veins and cords standing out prom 
 inently visible ; her hair, drawn back 
 plain from her high, sharp forehead, was 
 caught up in a net ; and her eyes, blacker 
 than night, and fearfully glassy, wan 
 dered from one to another of our white, 
 scared faces, with a terrified expression. 
 
 It was not long, could not have been 
 more than three seconds, that we thus 
 regarded each other, the six and the one. 
 Then the one was gone, and not one of 
 the six had the power to follow her! 
 
 Some minutes elapsed, when Miss 
 Terrapin rallied her forces, and proposed 
 to one of the sewing-girls to see where 
 that woman had gone. 
 
 " I should rather you would under 
 take the job," was the reply. 
 
 " I am willing enough, but I am so 
 long all in one direction, that I am afraid 
 it would not be practicable." 
 
 I was as one petrified ! not so much 
 with absolute fear, although there is no 
 use in denying the sensation, as in my 
 utter inability to account for the phe 
 nomenon. Spicy must have been simi 
 larly affected, for, letting her work slide 
 under her feet, she started up, threw her 
 self into my arms, and burst into a fit of 
 weeping almost hysterical. Miss Terra 
 pin tried to console her. 
 
 " It is nothing but some crazy person. 
 Don't mind it. She wouldn't touch a 
 hair of your head. And she has gone, 
 too is half a mile away by this time 
 probably." 
 
 " Half a mile away ! Miss Terrapin, 
 if yon will show me how she got away, 
 if she has really gone, you will do me 
 
 the greatest kindness," exclaimed Spicy. 
 " It is all very well to theorize over who 
 or what she is or may be, but solve the 
 problem of how she comes and goes, and 
 I am ready to imagine the crazy part." 
 
 "There is a trap-door, perhaps? " 
 
 " No, there is not. We have investi 
 gated that matter thoroughly." 
 
 " And the window ? " 
 
 "Is fitted tighter than the marriage- 
 relation." 
 
 "Are you sure?" 
 
 "Try it for yourself! " 
 
 " How can I get there ? " 
 
 "Bend as others have done before 
 you." 
 
 "I will see what I can do, for your 
 sake, Miss Spicy." 
 
 She reached the door with a graceful 
 stoop, and stepped down into the closet. 
 
 " There is no one here. Now, if it is 
 possible, I will give the window a shake." 
 
 She worked her way along to it, 
 nearly putting her hand through a band 
 box on the route, and found it just as 
 Spicy had represented. 
 
 " When your dry-goods are taken out 
 I should like to come in here again. If 
 there is any sly panelling, I am just the 
 one to detect it ;" her voice sounded as if 
 her lungs were packed in cotton batting. 
 
 She crawled back, scraping her head 
 against the roof, upsetting her bonnet 
 and wig. She looked as much like a 
 ghost herself as a human being could, 
 when she landed at last in the blue-room. 
 I should have volunteered to regulate 
 her head-gear if she had not towered so 
 high above me. She seemed quite dis 
 concerted when she looked in the glass, 
 and saw her gray hairs on exhibition. 
 
 " It was hereditary in our family to
 
 THE TRIP TO NEW YORK. 
 
 77 
 
 have the hair turn young," she remarked, 
 
 by way of apology. 
 /^ 
 Spicy choked. I thought she was 
 
 going to latfgh, and stepped on her toes. 
 
 " "Why don't you use invigorators and 
 make it stay the right color ? " she asked, 
 quite gravely. 
 
 " Because they all contain sugar of 
 lead, which acts as a slow poison to the 
 system. I know a lady who has heen 
 made totally deaf, and another has lost 
 her eyesight, through its use. The physi 
 cians say death is frequently traced to 
 the same cause." 
 
 "Horrible! But why not let the 
 hair look as it will ? I see no need of 
 dyeing it or covering it up either! I 
 like white hair for my part. I should 
 not wonder if it was all in vogue some 
 day. If the fashion ever does come 
 round, I shall be the first one to dye mine 
 white or gray color ! " 
 
 Miss Terrapin was getting her locks 
 and pufft and braids all straightened by 
 that time. 
 
 "Really," she said, "about that ghost 
 or whatever she is, I am a good deal 
 puzzled, I must confess. She looked to 
 me like a thing of flesh and blood, and 
 yet her disappearance has a savor of the 
 supernatural. By-the-way, have you 
 ever, been into that gift-book store on 
 Randolph Street? They will sell you a 
 book as cheap as you can get it any 
 where else, and let you draw a prize. 
 They have silver and jewelry and gold- 
 pens and the like, and, last week, one 
 day, I thought I would try my luck, and 
 I got this thimble ! It looks like gold, 
 and wears just as well." 
 
 "We all took it and examined it, and 
 passed judgment upon it. 
 
 "Did you notice the ghost's hand? 
 Wasn't it skeletony ? Talking about the 
 thimble reminded me of it, for she had 
 on a very handsome gold thimble." 
 
 I had not seen it, neither had Spicy. 
 
 " It was on her right hand, and she 
 held the scroll in her left," continued 
 Miss Terrapin. " I am sure I shall never 
 forget her. . When Miss Spicy is fairly 
 away, I will come and dig into the mys 
 tery. You see I am good for most any 
 thing. If there is a ghost indeed, we 
 will make sure of it, and find out whose 
 murdered bones she represents." 
 
 "Good for you, Hiss Terrapin! I 
 will remember you in my will ! " ex 
 claimed Spicy. " Be sure and write me 
 all about it, Meddle. It will make such 
 a nice variety for me in dull New York ; 
 something for me to tell the girls after 
 the rooms are dark, you know ! " 
 
 Years afterward, on a never-to-be-for 
 gotten night of horrors, both Spicy and 
 Miss Terrapin were plunged into the 
 abyss of knowledge which they so much 
 coveted, and the mournful mystery of 
 the ghost-closet was unriddled, to their 
 shocked and awe-stricken comprehen 
 sions. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE TEIP TO NEW TOEK. 
 
 CUE trip to New York was in most 
 respects a pleasant one. It rained when 
 we arrived, but we found a close car 
 riage, and were driven directly to Miss 
 Gilbert's. We were shown into an ele 
 gant parlor, and in a few minutes kindly 
 and cordially welcomed by the lady her 
 self. The room assigned to Spicy was 
 on the fourth floor, and she was to have
 
 SPICY. 
 
 three young-lady companions. They 
 were not expected for a week, so I stayed 
 with her until the next day. Three 
 teachers, all ladies of culture, met us at 
 the dinner-table, and the bill of fare was 
 so tempting that I was in a happy frame 
 of mind, when we adjourned to the fam 
 ily sitting-room for prayers. Miss Gil 
 bert questioned Spicy about her music, 
 and asked her to play. She compliment 
 ed her on her proficiency, and suggested 
 one of the most popular masters. 
 
 It was my desire that she should 
 finish her course and graduate in two 
 years, and Miss Gilbert saw nothing 
 whatever to prevent. I administered the 
 usual parental caution about never al 
 lowing the young lady to go in the street 
 alone, and expressed myself decidedly 
 opposed to her making any gentleman 
 acquaintances. Miss Gilbert gave me a 
 digest of her rules and regulations, with 
 which I was well pleased, and after 
 saying a great many affectionate things, 
 and giving continual advice from the 
 time we went to our room until we left 
 it the next morning, I bade my darling 
 good-by for a year. She shed a few 
 tears, they were always ready to flow at 
 her bidding ; but she should be perfectly 
 contented, she said, as soon as her trunk 
 came, it would be such fun to take out 
 all her new things, and stretch them 
 round in the closets, and arrange the or 
 naments on the bureau. 
 
 " What ornaments, deary ? I did not 
 know as you had brought any." 
 
 " Oh, yes. My brush and comb, and 
 ink-bottle, and my picture of Fred Gil- 
 dersleeve." 
 
 "Spicy to the last," I said, squeez 
 ing and 'shaking her. "You know, 
 
 though, you are not to flirt with any 
 body." 
 
 11 Not even with Fred Gildersleeve! 
 Now, that is too much, Meddie 1 I have 
 your kind permission to hunt for him, 
 and if I should happen to find him I 
 should be compelled to shake my pocket- 
 handkerchief or give some sign. Could 
 not help it. I have known him a long 
 time. He is the one for me, who sticketh 
 closer than a brother." 
 
 " If you should find him ! Very well. 
 Wait till you do and then write to me," 
 I said. " Meanwhile if that old, musty 
 picture is any comfort, adore it to your 
 heart's content." 
 
 " Yes, 'em. That is what I shall do. 
 Good-by good-by good-by ! " 
 
 And I good-byed until my eyes were 
 as rainy as my sister's. 
 
 I returned to Albany for a few days, 
 but I was restless until I was in my little 
 home again. It was a trifle quiet and 
 still without either Leonardus or Spicy, 
 but I managed to fill up my time. Bright 
 was at the age when children develop 
 fast, and his cunning ways were ex 
 tremely fascinating. I dipped into char 
 ities, and church festivals, and musical 
 soirees. The autumn was remarkable 
 for pleasant days, and December ap 
 peared without any great Chicago freeze. 
 I could not make up my mind to pass 
 the holidays alone, so I sent out some 
 invitations and prepared to entertain 
 company. 
 
 Spicy wrote me regularly every week. 
 A few extracts from her letters will re 
 veal the tenor of her life in Xcw York. 
 From one, under date of October 7th, I 
 clip the following : 
 
 " I am just from the conversation-
 
 SPICY OX SPACE. 
 
 hour. I forget whether I have told you 
 what that is or not, So here goes. We 
 take our wOTk^mbroidery or stockings 
 to mend according to our proclivities, 
 and go down to the hack-parlor, where 
 we meet mademoiselle and chat an hour 
 in French real French, as Mrs. Wing 
 used to say ahout her furniture. You re 
 member, don't you, how we called there 
 just after her new house was built, and 
 about her taking us up-stairs and telling 
 us such and such articles were real rose 
 wood, and those wardrobes were lined 
 with real cedar ? I suppose she thought we 
 had been accustomed to imitation all our 
 lives, as she had. But about our French. 
 I cannot help thinking that if a French 
 man were to drop in among us he would 
 take us for real Greeks ! I improve some, 
 but I am positively disheartened about 
 ever becoming a celebrated linguist. This 
 is a good school, but I have discovered 
 that it requires native genius to be a good 
 scholar. "We are particularly well drilled 
 in the proprieties. Daily lectures free. 
 The chief heads are: to rise and give 
 elders the easy-chairs, bow out of a room 
 backward, pause when any one else is 
 speaking, and never ask for butter the 
 second time. My three room-mates are 
 expected to-morrow. Their names are 
 Miss Muffet and Miss Tuffet and Miss 
 Buffet, as near as I can find out. My 
 present anxiety is to know who will be 
 entitled to the first chance at the wash- 
 stand ! Perhaps we will draw cuts, or 
 render courtesy to age, or submit the 
 question to a council of arbitration! 
 What an aggravation to have a front- 
 room on Fifth Avenue and not be al 
 lowed to go within three feet of the 
 window ! I hear the drum beat, and a 
 
 band of soldiers are passing, and yet I 
 cannot look out without getting one of 
 those horrid black marks ! As a sort of 
 let off to my pent-up emotions, I have 
 suspended Fred Gildersleeve by a blue 
 ribbon in the middle of the window, to 
 see for me." 
 
 The next was under date of October 
 9, 1862: 
 
 " The subject of my to-day's letter is 
 space. It seems just now as if it would 
 be the subject of all my future corre 
 spondence. Oh, for a cot in the wilder 
 ness or a spot to call my own ! Send me 
 your ghost-closet, and be my noble bene 
 factress. Do I want the ghost, too, did 
 I hear you ask ? . Certainly, if she wants 
 to come, for, I dare say, she would not 
 try to monopolize my pegs with her 
 clothes. If you believe, or if you don't, 
 I have but two pegs ! Just to think of 
 it! But two pegs! There are but eight 
 pegs in all, and, of course, I get my 
 share; but, is it not dreadful? Then I 
 only have one bureau-draper, and my 
 trunk is in the sub-cellar, five flights of 
 stairs away! 
 
 " Miss Muffet was here last year, and 
 says she got along very well after the 
 first week, although full four-fifths of her 
 clothes she did not see until spring! 
 Miss Tuffet will manage, I guess, because 
 she has not but three dresses with her, 
 and one is always put away anyhow; 
 but she grumbles awfully about room for 
 her bows, for it is one of her hobbies to 
 have one for every day in the year and 
 two for Sundays. Miss Buffet is in the 
 same wretched condition that I am. She 
 has brought an elephantine cargo, and 
 has no place to put it and no chance to 
 wear it. We have enough between us
 
 80 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 to start a ready-made clothing-store in 
 Kansas or California. TV bat could Miss 
 Terrapin have been thinking of? And 
 it strikes me as absurd to have so much 
 made-up outside of New York anyhow, 
 for when we get here it isn't quite the 
 thing, with all due deference to Miss 
 Terrapin, and, if it has got to be put over 
 until next year, why, worse and worse ! 
 Miss Muffet says we don't need much at 
 school, and I begin to think she is right. 
 Miss Gilbert wishes to see us plainly 
 dressed. She says too much dress is in 
 bad taste. I thought I would be stun 
 ning one Sunday afternoon, and appeared 
 down-stairs in my blue silk, and was 
 sent straight back to take it off! That 
 was while my trunk stood by me, like a 
 friend in trouble. No danger of any such 
 reproof hereafter. I shall wear my mouse- 
 merino till I tear or burn it, if it is until 
 I graduate. My water-proof hangs with 
 my cloak upon one peg, and my black- 
 silk dress, blanket-shawl, and umbrella, 
 assuage the loneliness of the other. 
 
 "There is an elegant young man sits 
 near us in church. He often steps back 
 and waits while we pass down the aisle. 
 Don't worry, Meddle ; I practise the 
 Christian graces and never look at him. 
 I am going to grow up like Miss Terra 
 pin, the good old spinster! The only 
 place where I have looked for Fred Gil- 
 dersleeve yet has been in the ' Directory.' 
 He was not there, but Miss Mnffet, who 
 ia our oracle, says that the first people 
 in New York never are there. Hark ! 
 the study-bell ! By-by, Meddie ! Don't 
 forget to send me some jelly-cake before 
 Thanksgiving." 
 
 "We had some distant cousins living 
 in New Jersey. The two young ladies 
 
 in the family were shining lights in fash 
 ionable society. When they heard that 
 Spicy was at Miss Gilbert's school, they 
 called and invited her to spend the holi 
 day vacation with them. I had at first 
 objected, as we were very slightly ac 
 quainted with the Gladstones, and I con 
 sidered my sister much too young for the 
 round of gayety such a visit would in 
 volve. But I was finally induced to con 
 sent, provided she was treated under all 
 circumstances as a school-girl. 
 
 She wrote me but once while there, 
 but was enthusiastic in her description 
 of the entertainments and amusements, 
 which she was enjoying with a great 
 relish. I was too busy to notice the 
 length of time which elapsed between 
 her letters, but I was reminded of it af 
 terward when a very full double sheet 
 came at a moment when I was binding 
 up a sharp cut in dear little Bright's fore 
 head. He had fallen down-stairs, and 
 Nursy Brown had been cut to the heart 
 for having left him to get a glass of wa 
 ter. Two wounded ones, the latter the 
 most seriously of the two, and, with an 
 ashen face down which great scalding 
 tears were trickling, she gave unerring 
 evidence of a common humanity. I made 
 her lie down on the bed, and in the 
 rocker by her side I soothed and hushed 
 the little one. "When all was quiet, I 
 broke open Spicy's letter and read aloud : 
 
 "DARLING MEDDIE : I could not help 
 it I The days slipped away so fast, and 
 I had so little time to myself. I will not 
 neglect you any more if yon will be for- * 
 giving. I am back in my school safe and 
 sound, and we have soup on Mondays 
 and fish on Fridays as usual. The New-
 
 SPICY'S HERO. 
 
 81 
 
 Year's ball was a prodigious affair. 
 Cousin Sue wore diamonds and point- 
 lace, and was the belle of the evening. 
 I was the country miss in white muslin, 
 with a pink tunic trimmed with down. 
 Cousin Julia was sick, and did not go. 
 That is why I did not mention her be 
 fore myself according to Miss Gilbert. 
 
 " I expected to keep the wall-flowers 
 company, talk with the mammas, and 
 see how the ladies managed their trails, 
 and was perfectly aghast when I found, 
 before the end of the first half-hour, that 
 little me was engaged for every dance ! 
 I suppose it was out of respect for my 
 grand relations. I got very much ex 
 cited with the exercise, and my cheeks 
 were burning as if full of live coals, when, 
 just as one of the sets broke up and my 
 partner was escorting me to a seat, a 
 gentleman was introduced to me. I 
 didn't catch the name, but it sort o' rat 
 tled off like Gildersleeve ! I was so con 
 fused I did not know what to do with 
 my hands or eyes, and, aften asking me 
 to dance and I, of course, declining ob, 
 how sorry I was that my card was full 1 
 he walked away, and I never noticed 
 until that moment that it was the same 
 gentleman who goes to our church, and 
 whom I have told you about before. I 
 saw him several times afterward, but he 
 was always devoted to some lady, and 
 never noticed me again. I tried to 
 imagine that he was the original of my 
 picture, but I did not see much resem 
 blance, if the truth must be told. He is 
 p great deal the handsomer of the two. 
 I pointed him out to Cousin Sue and in 
 quired if she knew him ; but no, only 
 she said he was the most distinguished- 
 looking gentleman in the room. I was 
 6 
 
 in despair. But my little romance ex 
 ploded as we were getting into our car 
 riage to go home. I heard somebody 
 shout, 'This way, Hildegroove, this way,' 
 and a tall figure ran past, whom I recog 
 nized as my hero. 
 
 " The morning before I came back to 
 New York, I drew the window-shade up 
 about daylight and found it raining. T 
 slept with Cousin Sue, and she must have 
 been trying to join the two parts of a 
 dream together just then, for she mum 
 bled : 
 
 "'You can wear my overshoes and 
 umbrella.' 
 
 '"How do you wear umbrellas?' I 
 asked. 
 
 " That thoroughly waked her, and 
 she laughed. 
 
 " ' You can wear my overshoes and 
 water-proof, if you like that any better.' 
 
 '"What, when they are a mile too 
 big for me 1 ' 
 
 " ' It won't matter ; no one who 
 knows you will be out so early.' 
 
 "As I had none of my own with me, 
 there was no alternative, and as soon as 
 breakfast was over I was so well rigged 
 out that I might have journeyed to Jer 
 icho without getting damp. Cousin Wal 
 ter was my escort. We had to wait on 
 the corner a few minutes for the car a 
 Jersey fashion when it rains and then 
 found it filled and dripping. I didn't 
 mind standing, for it was not far to the 
 ferry. But we were kept there waiting 
 for the ferry-boat a long time. Some 
 train was just in, and a hearse was in 
 waiting. Walter made inquiries, and 
 told me that it was the body of Brig 
 adier-General Lewis Vance, who had 
 been killed in a skirmish near Fredericks-
 
 82 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 burg, Virginia, and was being conveyed 
 to Boston for burial." 
 
 I stopped reading and looked sharply 
 at Nursy Brown, but her face was cov 
 ered with the corner of the pillow, and 
 she gave no sign of interest or intelli 
 gence. 
 
 "So many passengers coming upon 
 the boat from the steam-cars made it 
 very crowded. "Walter gave his seat to an 
 old lady with a bundle, and stepped a 
 little beyond me to speak to some one 
 whom he knew. Before the boat was 
 quite to the dock the crowd all pushed 
 forward, and who should I see but my 
 lord of the long name ! lie was quite a 
 way off, and kept his distance; never 
 once looked at me, and I was thankful 1 
 
 " Oh, how muddy it was at the foot 
 of Cortlandt Street! Black and slip 
 pery and soft, as if some one had been 
 moulding grease into the soil for ages ! 
 It takes all the conceit out of the most 
 pompous to go through it! Standing 
 on some corner waiting for an omnibus, 
 Cousin "Walter did something to my 
 water-proof. I thought he was shaking 
 off mud, and told him he would have 
 better luck when it got dry. He is a 
 man of large ideas and few words, and I 
 was not surprised that he deigned me no 
 answer. He never thinks I am worth 
 talking to. But who should I sit down 
 beside in that very omnibus but Mr. Hil- 
 degroove, or whatever his name is ! He 
 lifted the nicest kind of a hat, and dis 
 played beautiful wavy hair, and hoped I 
 was quite well. Cousin "Walter looked 
 fire-daggers at me, but how could I help 
 making my "best manners back to him ? 
 "Was there any sin in it ? And how was 
 I to know that Cousin Walter wanted 
 
 an introduction himself? and how could 
 I have introduced a person whose name 
 I did not know, even if I ought to have 
 known it? I was terribly uncomfort 
 able, with Cousin "Walter's disapproving 
 eyes fixed upon me from the opposite 
 seat, but the gentleman said nothing 
 more, and at last I landed at my school. 
 
 " Now, the funny part is to come. I 
 received a note from Cousin Sue next 
 day, telling me how "Walter asked her 
 when he got home what a tuck and a 
 flounce was. She illustrated with her 
 pocket-handkerchief. 
 
 " ' "Well,' he says, ' if you expect me 
 to be polite to that little "Western girl, 
 you must try to put some style on her. 
 I was not at all pleased this morning 
 with the fit of her outside garment, and 
 succeeded in getting a tuck and a flounce 
 into it, which was some improvement. 
 A gentleman whom I often see in the 
 gold-room recognized her in the stage. 
 I suppose he has met her at some of the 
 parties where she has been with you. 
 He is one of the hi-fa-lu-tin, who always 
 win in the money market, and the New- 
 York belles esteem him a great catch. 
 If he knew me, as he probably did, al 
 though we have no acquaintance, he 
 must have thought I was in great busi 
 ness toting that little dowdy round ! ' 
 
 " Sue said she thought it was a good 
 joke on "Walter for being so puffed out 
 with cheap pride. Between you and I, 
 Meddie, he is a veritable coxcomb I But 
 the water-proof! It had been hung 
 down-stairs somewhere to dry, and I ran 
 and got it to see for myself, and, true as 
 gospel, it was pinned and hitched up in 
 ever so many places ! "What a figure I 
 must have cut !
 
 NURSY BROWN. 
 
 83 
 
 " You will write to Leonardus about 
 General Vance, won't you ? I would if 
 I knew where he was stationed. Was it 
 not singular about my coming upon that 
 hearse at the ferry ? 
 
 "We are going to have gingerbread 
 for lunch. The bill of fare is coming up 
 through the speaking-tubes. Miss Buf 
 fet has got a box from home candies, 
 and oranges, and sweetmeats, enough to 
 keep the attending physician in business 
 for a month to come, as Miss Muffet 
 says. She is going to treat us this even 
 ing after the monitor has been round. 
 Miss Gilbert has seen my picture of Fred 
 Gildersleeve, and given me a little pri 
 vate advice. She says I am too young 
 to love. Those are not her precise words, 
 but that was the drift of them. No young 
 lady should cherish a picture, unless it 
 was of her brother, or some near kin. 
 Books now, society in the future. I 
 played melancholy and kissed Fred, and 
 she said she must write to yon on the 
 subject. Good-by again, but only for a 
 week. I will be as prompt hereafter as 
 a man at the funeral of his wife. 
 
 " Tour loving sister, SPICY." 
 
 Bright was fast asleep when I had 
 finished reading, and so was ISTursy 
 Brown, as near as I could discover. I 
 laid him on the foot of the bed and cov 
 ered him up warm. The fire was get 
 ting low, and I put on some coal. Then 
 I had my hands to wash. Nursy did 
 not move. I never knew her to go 
 to sleep before in the daytime! How 
 strange! But she had had such a shock 
 when Bright fell ! No, I would not dis 
 turb her for the world 1 
 
 I went and brought my portfolio to 
 
 the nursery to write to Leonardus. He 
 was down on the Mississippi, and it took 
 my letters a long time to reach him. He 
 saw newspapers but seldom, so he prob 
 ably had not heard of General Vance's 
 death. 
 
 I had been scratching away for an 
 hour, when Bright began to nestle, and 
 then opened his eyes. I took him in my 
 arms and talked and sang to him ; the 
 sun went down. Maggie came in and 
 lighted the gas, and finally the dinner- 
 bell rang! Nursy Brown had not 
 moved. I must speak to her ; she cer 
 tainly would not care to sleep any lon 
 ger. So, rising, I laid my hand on her 
 arm. 
 
 "What is it?" she asked, without 
 stirring. 
 
 "I thought you would like to have 
 me wake you." 
 
 "Yes, lam obliged to you." 
 
 " I hope you are not sick ? " 
 
 "No, thank you." 
 
 But she did not offer to rise. She 
 did not look at me even. 
 
 " Shall I leave baby with you or take 
 him with me ? " 
 
 I asked the question deferentially, 
 for she had settled all those little ques 
 tions for so long that I never thought of 
 interfering with her programme. 
 
 " Take him, if you please." 
 
 She had not come down for him at 
 eight o'clock, so I carried him up to her. 
 She was lying where I had left her, in 
 the same position, except that her little 
 beauty of a hand was clasping her pearl- 
 white throat. 
 
 "You must be feeling badly? I will 
 undress baby," I said, stopping by the 
 bedside.
 
 84 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 "Very well." 
 
 " Can't I do something for you?" I 
 asked. 
 
 " No, thank you." 
 
 I was nonplussed ; what should I do ? 
 Go away from her if she were suffering, 
 without persisting in efforts to relieve 
 her? I felt that I had been dismissed, 
 but ought I to acknowledge the dismis 
 sal ? Bright had no idea of such a thing 
 if I had, and, as soon as costumed for the 
 night, put in his voice effectively. His 
 mamma did not stand on a par with his 
 nurse in his youthful estimation. 
 
 "Please leave him with me," she 
 roused herself to say, as I was trying to 
 force him from the room against his will. 
 He had carried his point, and was cor 
 respondingly mollified even put his 
 sweet lips out toward me for a make-up 
 kiss. And so I left them. 
 
 She appeared next morning as usual, 
 and attended to all her duties. I was 
 out most of the day, and saw very little 
 of her. 
 
 The following week I spent in Mil 
 waukee, and after that I was very busy 
 with a new society, which had been or 
 ganized for the relief of soldiers' fami 
 lies; and blustering March, with all its 
 cold and dust, was upon us. 
 
 I seemed to feel as if some great ca 
 lamity was going to befall me. I was 
 not subject to fits of depression, but 
 spring months are hard to get over at 
 the West unless one has an iron consti 
 tution. I tried to lay it to the weather, 
 then I took some medicine for dyspepsia. 
 I read all the war news before six o'clock 
 in the morning also, to try to get up an 
 appetite for my breakfast. Leonardus 
 wrote often and hopefully. As yet, he 
 
 had not received a scratch in battle, and 
 his health was excellent. But the affairs 
 of the country were very much mixed, 
 and there was no telling where our 
 troubles would end. 
 
 How I did miss Spicy! But she 
 would be with me all summer, after the 
 middle of June ! I counted the days un 
 til then. 
 
 I would try to cast off the clouds 
 which were obscuring the brightness of 
 my present "Live them down," as Miss 
 Terrapin often said. "Enjoy life as it 
 passes, so as to be still young when you 
 are old," is her motto, and, " E"ever bor 
 row trouble until it comes," might be 
 added with advantage. 
 
 I did not have to borrow it, my trou 
 ble came sure and swift, and far too 
 soon ! A note was left on my table one 
 morning, which I read several times be 
 fore I could believe the evidence of my 
 own senses. It was from Nursy Brown. 
 
 "My DEAB MES. BELMOEE: I have 
 been trying for several days to nerve my 
 self for the parting which cannot longer 
 be delayed. Your baby has coiled him 
 self into every fibre of my heart, and 
 your own kindness will be gratefully re 
 membered while life lasts. But Fate so 
 wills it, and I have fixed the time for my 
 departure on Thursday next. I could 
 not bring myself to the point of holding 
 any conversation with you on the sub 
 ject, and, since I shall suffer most by the 
 breaking of the ties which bind me here, 
 I beg that you will not allude to the sub 
 ject by word or note, while I remain un 
 der your roof. 
 
 "With sincere regard, 
 
 " NURSY BROWN."
 
 SPICY'S CONDOLENCE. 
 
 85 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ME9. BELMOEE OANXOT BE COMFORTED. 
 
 IT WAS as if my right arm had been 
 amputated ! I never knew, until she was 
 gone, how much I was indebted to Nur- 
 sy Brown for the home-comfort and 
 peace of mind of the last year and a half. 
 Bright had grown quite beyond me, 
 knew better how his clothes ought to be 
 put on than I did myself, was inclined 
 to play horse with my sash-ribbons and 
 curtain- cords, and could run the fastest 
 and catch the hardest colds of any boy 
 of two years in all North America. I 
 employed a young, tidy-looking girl to 
 take care of him, but to fill the place of 
 the one I had lost was not among hu 
 man possibilities. 
 
 And every portion of the house 
 showed that there had been a change. 
 The pictures hung awry, and the mantel- 
 ornaments leaned the wrong way. The 
 music persisted in getting at sixes and 
 sevens, the books were no longer ar 
 ranged on the shelves in the order of the 
 volumes, the newspapers had a way of 
 lying round where they pleased, and the 
 cat slept on the parlor-sofa. 
 
 The cook, too, came to me for instruc 
 tions, every morning, and, it was so tire 
 some to always keep the bill-of-fare filled 
 out ; besides, there was my linen to be 
 looked over, and my silver to be count 
 ed, once a week. It was not that I was 
 indolently disposed, or unequal to the 
 task of managing my household affairs, 
 but simply that the care had been taken 
 from my shoulders, and so smoothly and 
 skilfully managed, that the house had 
 had the appearance of running itself. 
 The very atmosphere was an aching void, 
 
 I could not reconcile myself to it easily. 
 It was as if some portion of my life had 
 gone out, never to return. 
 
 I wanted to make her a present be 
 fore she left, since I could in no other 
 way express my appreciation of her dis 
 interested services. But I was at a great 
 loss to decide what it should be. I hit 
 upon various articles of dress, but reject 
 ed them immediately, for I fancied she 
 would not receive any such gift from me. 
 Finally, I decided to get Bright's picture 
 taken on ivory, and the last thing before 
 she passed over my threshold I placed it 
 in her hands. 
 
 "What a look she gave me! so full 
 of tender, regretful meaning ! 
 
 "May God bless you! " she said, and 
 that was all. 
 
 Bright cried for her every night and 
 morning, and whenever there was a lull 
 in his plays, during the day, for weeks. 
 It kept my sorrow fresh in my heart, 
 and, when my baby's birthday came 
 round, I could not get up the proper 
 measure of enthusiasm over it not even 
 when the little voice put in his queries : 
 
 " Ware Bight's birf-day ? Bight's birf- 
 day up -stairs? Baun dot Bight's birf- 
 
 Spicy condoled with me as soon as 
 she heard of my misfortune . 
 
 " I thought you would keep her for 
 ever, and that at her death she would 
 declare herself an empress, and make us 
 all prime-ministers' wives. All, means 
 you and me, for what splendid repre 
 sentatives Leonardus and Fred Gilder- 
 sleeve would be at court ! " 
 
 " The little goose ! " I could not help 
 stopping to exclaim. 
 
 " Every thing about her was
 
 SPICY. 
 
 perfectly regal. The very sort of a per 
 son whom I should have taken off my 
 hat to, if I had been a man. I do pity 
 you from the hottom of my heart, Med- 
 die. But you must consider how greatly 
 blessed above other women you have 
 been by having had her to live with you 
 at all, instead of declaring yourself the 
 most miserable of beings because she has 
 left you. Where do you suppose she has 
 gone ? Sent her little, old, black trunk to 
 the Great Central Depot, did she ? East 
 ward bound ! If I had been there, she 
 would not have got off without some quiz 
 zing; but, as you say, if she had a secret 
 to^keep, she would keep it to the death, 
 and all my feeble ingenuity would proba 
 bly have failed to surprise it out of her. 
 
 " We have had the greatest time with 
 our gas 1 It gave such a splendid light 
 in the first part of the winter! But for 
 weeks and weeks it has been worse than 
 any tallow-candle I We could not see to 
 study by it, and had to go to the school 
 room, and, if we wanted to write a com 
 position or a letter in the solitude of our 
 apartments, it could not be done, and 
 Miss Tuffet could not say her prayers 
 (she is an Episcopalian, and reads them), 
 so we appointed ourselves a committee 
 of investigation to find what we could 
 find. And what do you guess we did 
 find? Cotton stuffed in the burners I 
 A specimen of New -York economy! 
 And what do you guess we did ? Pulled 
 it out, every speck, and put it in a bottle 
 for a keepsake! Would not you have 
 done the same? We have light enough 
 for a million now, and, if it gets dim, we 
 shall know the remedy hereafter. 
 
 " I think Miss Gilbert is a gem of a 
 woman, and not a grain too strict, for 
 
 we are a hard set to manage. But, Med- 
 die dear, what is it that makes poor, sin 
 ful mortals always want to go by the 
 rule of contraries? For instance, it is a 
 capital offence to read novels. I never 
 cared for them before, but, since I have 
 heard so much said about it, I can't pass 
 a paper-stand without my feet begin to 
 twist, and I sometimes hinder the whole 
 procession long enough to see if there is 
 a yellow cover in sight. We send Bob, 
 the colored boy, to buy them for us, and, 
 as he cannot read a word, he selects ac 
 cording to color? We hide them in our 
 beds and devour them while the world 
 is dreaming. We used to buy our own 
 candles, and squeeze into the closet, and 
 take turns about reading aloud, but since 
 we have saved the institution such a bill 
 of expense on gas, we consider ourselves 
 entitled to a lonua, so now we pin all 
 our black dresses up to the window and 
 wedge the cracks of the door, and turn 
 the gas up as high as it will go, and have 
 a gay time. 
 
 " We have just had a fast-day meet 
 ings in the churches to pray for colleges. 
 I suppose they got through with primary 
 and boarding schools long ago, and that 
 is why we had bread-pudding for dessert 
 as usual. Our monthly holiday was last 
 Saturday, and nearly all the teachers, as 
 well as the girls, had some place to go 
 and visit, and it was stupid enough for 
 Miss Buffet and me, who were left behind. 
 So what did we do, but ask Miss Gilbert 
 for some one to take us to Stewart's, to 
 buy some gloves? We were just out, 
 hadn't a pair to our hands, could not go - 
 to church the next day unless we were 
 supplied (don't you ever tell of it, but 
 we gave all we were possessors of, that
 
 THE BILL OK A SILVER SALVER. 
 
 very morning, to little Bob to distribute 
 among his sisters and friends). It was 
 the exact truth that we were telling ! 
 
 " We knew that Miss Gilbert had no 
 teacher to send with us, but we hinted 
 that the house-keeper would do just as 
 well ; we would recompense her for the 
 trouble, of course. Miss Gilbert reluc 
 tantly consented, and charged us to be 
 back before lunch, which we faithfully 
 promised. The house-keeper is a kind of 
 Miss Terrapin believes just as anybody 
 else does that she is with. Not that Miss 
 Terrapin has no mind of her own ! I 
 ought not to say that, particularly after 
 that ghost-hunt ! but is agreeably in 
 clined to what she thinks you most 
 agreeably inclined. Her name is Dobbs. 
 Whenever we complain, Dobbs is on our 
 side. If we want to pretend sick to get 
 rid of a lesson, she always declares it is 
 mean for us to be kept in our rooms and 
 be fed with tea-and-toast, and have a 
 doctor called in. If we are late to a 
 meal, she always puts in a word of com 
 miseration about the unfairness of the 
 rule that we must take it cold. Yes, 
 she was just the person we wanted with 
 us that day. "We whispered something 
 in her ear in the stage, and she nodded 
 acquiescence. "We bought our gloves, 
 and an extra pair for Dobbs. Then we 
 steered for Delmonico's. 
 
 " Such a lunch as we ordered 1 And 
 how the waiters bowed and run for us ! 
 Miss Buffet was for calling for every 
 dish on the bill-of-fare that was new and 
 strange to her, for, she said, it was a 
 great educational opportunity, and we 
 ought to embrace it. But I had serious 
 objections to venturing beyond my 
 depth. As it was, our table was full! 
 
 An odd C9llection of goodies! But we 
 enjoyed them, and so did Dobbs. I did 
 not know how I should ever manage to 
 get my ice-cream down, I had eaten so 
 many other things, and Miss Buffet sug 
 gested that I had better stand up. No, 
 I would rather Dobbs should eat it for 
 me, and she did without the formality of 
 an objection. 
 
 " ' One could eat three or four such 
 stingy little dishes,' she said. 
 
 " I thought she would get along with 
 two, and didn't take the hint. Last of 
 all came the bill, on a silver salver ! "We 
 stared at it with eyes and mouths wide 
 open ! "We thought there must be some 
 mistake. We had not counted the cost. 
 But we did count our change, and found 
 we had seven dollars and fifty cents be 
 tween us, and were two dollars short 
 even then! If that amount of money 
 had been eaten it must be paid, else they 
 might detain us as impostors ! What 
 would Miss Gilbert say, if it should ever 
 come to her ears ? We wondered if such 
 things were published in the papers ! 
 We might send Dobbs home 'for the mon 
 ey, but, if we did, she would surely lose 
 her head for leaving us in a restaurant 
 alone ! One of us might go ? "What ! 
 One of Miss Gilbert's pupils ride in a car 
 by herself! Then we two go together? 
 
 " No, we were in a worse predicament 
 than the man who wanted to get his fox 
 and geese and bushel of corn across the 
 river, and could not take but one at a 
 time. We wished we had stayed at home. 
 We wished we were anywhere but where 
 we were. 
 
 " We carried on our conversation in 
 low tones, for the waiters kept hovering 
 about, as if they suspected something
 
 88 
 
 sricY 
 
 wrong. The longer we sat there, the 
 more embarrassed we became, and the 
 less prospect there seemed of getting out 
 of our dilemma. 
 
 " At the table next us, near the win 
 dow, fwo gentlemen had been feeding on 
 one small quail ever since we came in. 
 I sat so that I could not see them very 
 well ; but Dobbs, who had a full view, 
 had once or twice remarked that it was 
 sheer affectation for grown-up men to 
 pretend that they had such delicate appe 
 tites! It did not interest me then so 
 much as it has since. The one with his 
 back toward us rose suddenly, turned 
 round and put out his hand, and said : 
 
 " ' Good-morning, Miss Merriman. I 
 am happy to meet you again,' and then 
 walked directly into the street. 
 
 "I had as a matter of course ac 
 knowledged the courtesy by shaking 
 hands with him, and he was gone before 
 I had collected my senses enough to dis 
 cover that he had left in my palm 
 what do you guess? A neatly-folded 
 two-dollar bill 1 
 
 "O, Meddle! I almost died with 
 mortification! I shall never want any 
 more surreptitious lunches. There was 
 nothing to be done but pay the bill and 
 get away from that horrid place! The 
 mercury was down to zero, but I was in 
 such a heat that, as soon as I got home, I 
 shut the furnace-register, and took the 
 coldest kind of a bath. It did no good 
 whatever, although I almost made the 
 water sizzle when I got into it. Miss 
 Gilbert was out, and there was no one to 
 make a memorandum of the date of 
 our return. "Was not that lucky? But 
 how am I to get that two dollars back 
 to Mr. Hilderberger ? I must do it some 
 
 how. I have written half a dozen pret 
 ty little notes and torn them up again, 
 and finally concluded to inclose my sim 
 ple card, with the two dollars wrapped 
 round it, in an envelop, and not say a 
 thing. But I don't know his name for 
 sure, and I don't know where he lives ; 
 and how shall I ever get it to him ? I 
 might ask Cousin Walter, perhaps, but I 
 don't expect to go over there again be 
 fore the summer- vacation, and if I should 
 write a note, and tell him the cir 
 cumstances, he would be sure to report 
 me at headquarters, and have me put in 
 a strait-jacket, for he is the most fini 
 kin of mortals. Do you suppose I can 
 give it to him while we are coming out 
 of church ? I brush very near him 
 sometimes. And then, what if anybody 
 should see me do it ? Death and impris 
 onment! Death first, and the middle- 
 room without any windows afterward ! 
 I should not mind it so much, only I 
 should be tortured into confession, and 
 have to bring Miss Buffet and Dobbs to 
 grief with me! They advise me to let 
 the two dollars slide, but I won't. It 
 shall go back whence it came, if it 
 takes me till I am as old as Methuselah 
 to get it there! But I will try to be 
 cautious, for I am not disposed to get 
 into any worse snarl. Shower down a 
 little good advice upon me, Meddie. I 
 will take it, whether it be sweet or bit 
 ter, without a wry face. I have put Fred 
 Gildersleevo into a paper box, and laid 
 my Bible on the top of it, until this two- 
 dollar affair blows over. 
 " Write soon to your 
 
 " SuFFEEDs'G SPICY." 
 
 Miss Terrapin came to see me often,
 
 MRS. IDA E. VANCE. 
 
 89 
 
 and always brought some new fashion 
 with her. It was a diversion, and I en 
 couraged her in doing so. One day she 
 spoke of a customer, a charming lady, 
 who paid her bills in advance, and was 
 such a model of elegance in her tastes. 
 
 " She abhors trimmings, but brings 
 me the richest goods in the market to 
 make up plain, and never wears blue," 
 she said, one day. 
 
 It was in May or June, the latter 
 part of the one, or the fore part of the 
 other. I remember, because she was fit- 
 - ting me out to go for Spicy. 
 
 "That is unusual," I replied. "I 
 have known several ladies who were 
 "sworn enemies to green, but blue is a 
 favorite color. Few reject it altogeth 
 er." 
 
 "It would be exceedingly becoming 
 to her, I am sure," continued Miss Ter 
 rapin. " But there is no use in saying a 
 word. Every thing is gray, black and 
 gray, except two or three white wrap 
 pers for home-wear. She has a large 
 property. I never knew it until yester 
 day, but she owns the block which my 
 shop is in, on Lake Street. She asked me 
 what rent I paid, and, when I told her, 
 she remarked : ' That is too much to im 
 pose upon a woman. It shall be attend 
 ed to.' She inherited the property 
 from an uncle, old Judge Shubill, of De 
 troit" 
 
 I interrupted her by a start, and the 
 question 
 
 " What is the lady's name? " 
 
 "Vance, Mrs. I. E. Vance, her card 
 reads." 
 ( " Where does she live ? " 
 
 "Just below you here, on the ave 
 nue. Not more than two blocks, or a 
 
 block and a half. Why ? do you know 
 her?" 
 
 " Certainly not. But I have heard 
 of her." 
 
 And then I checked myself, for it did 
 not seem right to gossip with a person 
 of Miss Terrapin's well-known gossipy 
 character, about the sacred secrets of a 
 stranger, which had come to my knowl 
 edge in such a singular manner. She 
 was curious. Where had I heard of her ? 
 How had I heard of her? What had I 
 heard of her? Was she a widow ? How 
 long had she been a widow? Had she 
 any children? And many more ques 
 tions of the same sort, she plied with 
 practised dexterity. Some I answered 
 by asking others, the real Yankee dodge, 
 as Leonardus used to say, and some I 
 otherwise evaded. But upon the whole 
 I gained more information than my 
 dress-maker, and congratulated myself 
 that she had nothing new to tell her 
 next customer, from having discussed 
 the subject with me. 
 
 But I wrote Leonardus a long letter 
 that evening, and told him the news. 
 
 " Hew I should like to call upon her ! 
 but it will never do, unless I meet her 
 somewhere first, for I cannot refer to 
 your acquaintance with General Vance 
 without tearing open a terrible wound," 
 was one of the closing clauses in the 
 epistle. 
 
 Although it was late when I fin 
 ished his letter, I could not seek my 
 pillow until I had dashed off a few lines 
 to Spicy. I could well imagine how she 
 would clasp her little hands together, 
 and exclaim, " Miss Terrapin forever ! " 
 I told her in the same sheet what day to 
 expect me, and enjoined it upon her to
 
 90 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 be all ready, even to the strapping of 
 her trunks, as I was unwilling to leave 
 Bright any longer than necessary. 
 
 Miss Terrapin volunteered to come 
 and sleep in the house while I was away. 
 I accepted her, for I could not put my 
 finger on any one else more acceptable. 
 That expression, translated into broad 
 English, signifies that I prefer as a rule 
 to open my doors to the intimate rela 
 tionship of such people as will not count 
 the long stitches in my towel-hems, and 
 read all the letters that happen to lie 
 around loose. 
 
 I started at night; ten-o'clock train 
 on the Michigan Southern Railroad. Put 
 baby to sleep first, and had a spell of the 
 heartache. No more ease for me now, 
 when I left him behind. Took a sleep 
 ing-car of course, and lay awake all 
 night. Had a sick-headache next day, 
 and was sullen to the lady who was so 
 selfish as to crowd into the seat beside 
 me. Emptied my lunch-basket out of 
 the window, all but an orange, which I 
 gave to a little boy, who would persist 
 in pounding me on the shoulder. I 
 thought it would take up his attention 
 for a while, but he only struck me with 
 the fruit. He stood on his mother's lap, 
 and she, no doubt, thought it a pity to 
 interfere with her darling's happiness. 
 I looked round, and the child uttered 
 something between a screech and a 
 groan, and I saw that he was deaf and 
 dumb ! How my feelings changed 1 My 
 heart went out in one broad gush of sym 
 pathy for the afflicted pair, for I saw at 
 the same moment that the mother was 
 a deaf-mute also ! She was fair to look 
 upon, and her face beamed with intelli 
 gence. I knew a little of the language, 
 
 and commenced a conversation, which 
 we kept up until our midnight arrival in 
 New York. Her husband was with her, 
 a fine-looking gentleman, and, as they 
 were going to the St. Nicholas as well 
 as myself, he kindly took me under his 
 charge. 
 
 In the morning, early, I was at Miss 
 Gilbert's door. The school had closed 
 three days previously, and Spicy was the 
 only one of the pupils remaining. She 
 had obeyed my instructions, and her 
 trunks stood in the hall. I settled all 
 her unpaid bills, expressed my thanks to 
 Miss Gilbert for her kind and motherly 
 care of my sister, drank a cup of tea in 
 her parlor, as I declined lunch, ordered 
 the trunk sent to the depot in time for 
 the Western evening train, and fancied 
 my duties all and well discharged, when 
 Spicy caught hold of my arm : 
 
 " One thing more, Meddie ; come up 
 stairs, please." 
 
 I climbed those long four flights, and 
 reached the sky-parlor panting. 
 
 "I hope it is something important, 
 after all this trouble," I said. 
 
 "Indeed it isl I want you should 
 get this two dollars to Mr. Hildedragon. 
 I never can go to Chicago without it is 
 paid ! I did not know debts were such 
 awful things before ! It spoils every mo 
 ment of my life! " 
 
 " But how do you expect me to do 
 it?" 
 
 "I don't know at all! You are so 
 clever you will be able to hatch up a 
 way, I am sure. Go to Cousin Walter 
 and make believe something, so as to 
 find out where the gentleman lives or 
 has an office, and then go and give it to 
 him yourself, or hire a boy. Oh, dear!
 
 MRS. BELMORE'S RETURN TO CHICAGO. 
 
 91 
 
 don't shake your head, you are my sis 
 ter, and I have nobody else to ask." 
 
 "It is a difficult task. You forget 
 that I am just as much of a stranger 
 to Walter Gladstone as to Mr. Hilde- 
 dragon ! Seems to me you called him 
 by a different name from that when you 
 wrote to me about it? " 
 
 "I dare say; I don't know what it 
 is. It almost kills me." 
 
 " What, the name ? " 
 
 " No. I can't stand any ridicule, 
 Meddle. Please, oh, please, get this two 
 dollars to him ! I am so ashamed of my 
 self for ever having got into such a fix 
 that I cannot endure the sight of money. 
 He passes us nearly every Sunday as we 
 march up the avenue to church, and I 
 don't dare to look up, nor ask a question 
 of a single soul about him, though of 
 course there is no one at the school who 
 knows him from Adam, if I were to ask! 
 But I get red in the face every time I 
 hear a footstep behind us that sounds 
 like his, and when he turns his head in 
 church I give little hateful starts, and 
 look off in some foreign direction, just as 
 if I expected he were going to say, ' You 
 owe me two dollars!' I can't live so 
 any longer! " 
 
 "It is rather hard, deary," I said, 
 throwing my arm about the pretty, 
 rounded figure at my side, and imprint 
 ing a kiss or two upon the rosy lips 
 which were pleading with such genuine 
 earnestness for an impossibility. 
 
 " You will have to make the best of 
 a bad bargain, for all I can see, though. 
 Mischief brings its own reward, don't 
 it? Who will give away gloves again 
 for the sake of a shopping-expedition, I 
 wonder ? I cannot help you. The two 
 
 dollars you will have to keep until such 
 time as you can return it in a suitable 
 manner." 
 
 " That time never will come, Meddle. 
 It is weeks since it has been scorching 
 all the linings out of my pocket-books ! 
 It is as much worse than the ghost of 
 blue-room notoriety, as the ghost was 
 worse than Miss Terrapin's wig. Dear, 
 dear, what shall I do ? " 
 
 " Forget it now, say your good-bys, 
 and we will go. We are to have an early 
 dinner at the hotel." 
 
 She was bathed in tears when she 
 put her arms round Miss Gilbert's neck 
 for a parting kiss. 
 
 " Our young ladies don't leave for 
 their homes with joy-beaming counte 
 nances, as they do in some schools," re 
 marked the good lady. 
 
 " No, indeed ! We leave too many 
 unpaid debts behind us," blubbered 
 Spicy. 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 MES. BELMORE'S BETUBX TO CHICAGO. 
 
 EIGHT o'clock on a bright June morn 
 ing and a great black train, with its fiery 
 eye and living load, rumbled slowly over 
 the waters of Lake Michigan, in front of 
 the avenue where stood my unpreten 
 tious little home. How eagerly Spicy 
 and I, from one of the sleeping-car win 
 dows, searched with our eyes through 
 the dense foliage which surrounded it 
 for some sign of life ! But for a moment. 
 Into the depot we plunged, and fathers 
 of families, mothers and daughters, chil 
 dren and nurses, small boys and single 
 men, elderly maidens and pretty widows
 
 92 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 with their satchels and bundles and 
 wraps simultaneously arose, and pushed 
 and struggled for precedence in the dark 
 aisle, and jostled each other on the steps, 
 and scattered up and down the plat 
 form, hurrying into stages and hacks, and 
 meeting friends with affectionate greet 
 ings, while trunks banged from the bag 
 gage-car in rapid succession, and check- 
 numbers were shrieked in the universal 
 din. 
 
 It was not far, but it woiJd take us 
 much too long to walk, so we stepped 
 into the nearest coach, and were driven 
 rapidly to my own door. 
 
 " There is Miss Terrapin ! "What a 
 figure is hers! Look, Meddie! She 
 reaches the roof as she stands on the 
 northeast veranda! What should I do 
 with myself if I were as tall as she is I " 
 exclaimed Spicy, as we approached. 
 
 "There is my baby, too; so every 
 thing is all right," was my remark, as 
 the driver snapped open the door of the 
 carriage to let us out. 
 
 " Any news? " I asked, as I sat down 
 to a steaming breakfast. 
 
 "There are some letters for you in 
 your room," replied Miss Terrapin. 
 
 I sent Maggie up for them. One from 
 Leonardus; one from Aunt Minerva, 
 asking us into the country for a week ; 
 and one from it took me some time to 
 find out who. 
 
 " The ladies from five or six different 
 States have held a meeting since you 
 left, for the purpose of trying to organ 
 ize a sanitary-fair committee," said Miss 
 Terrapin. 
 
 " Ah ! now I understand. This letter 
 is from Mrs. "Waldemar, of Milwaukee, 
 asking me to interest myself in the en 
 
 terprise. But I cannot positively can 
 not. It will take me away from my 
 home too much. And Master Bright 
 cannot spare his mamma can he, pre 
 cious ? " and I turned the little face, 
 which had been nestling in my neck 
 while I drank my coffee, up toward 
 mine. 
 
 "Bight tan go, too?" 
 
 " Not very well. No, we will let the 
 Sanitary Fair take care of itself this year, 
 and we will remember the soldiers by 
 packing a big box full of every thing that 
 is good to eat, and shipping it straight 
 to your papa, won't we, baby ? " 
 
 "Me no baby! Me big boy me 
 humbug 1 " said the little one. 
 
 " He has had a new teacher for a few 
 days," and I laughed and pinched his 
 cheeks. 
 
 Miss Terrapin laughed too, and was 
 evidently flattered. 
 
 " I don't wonder that Nursy Brown 
 stayed with you so long, since I have had 
 little Bright to amuse me. I am not par 
 tial to children generally, but I could not 
 get away from him yesterday until four 
 o'clock in the afternoon 1 And I should 
 not have gone then only I had promised 
 Mrs. Yance to fit a sack-lining, and I 
 went down to her house a moment to do 
 it. I told her what had kept me, and 
 what a dear little fellow he was, and she 
 seemed greatly interested, and asked me 
 to come back and get him, so that she 
 could see him. We dressed him up like 
 a doll, and he did look too sweet for any 
 thing I I knew you would be quite will 
 ing for me to take him anywhere I chose, 
 and when Mrs. Vance expressed fears 
 lest you should object to his being 
 brought to a stranger's house in your
 
 SPICY'S SUNSHINY TEMPER. 
 
 93 
 
 absence, I shut her up at once by ex 
 plaining the terms of intimacy we were 
 on, and how much you relied on my 
 judgment in every matter of importance. 
 I told her all about your antecedents; 
 how your grandfather was the governor 
 of a State and your father a member of 
 Congress, and how your mother was 
 once presented to the Queen of England, 
 and how your husband's ancestors were 
 related to the royal family, and what 
 honors were being heaped upon him in 
 the army now. I think she has very 
 high notions, and I thought I would just 
 give her to understand that some people 
 are as good as others. She thought 
 Bright was splendid, and held him in 
 her arms a long time, and kissed him, 
 and rolled his hair over her fingers to 
 make it curl, and taught him to call him 
 self a, humbug. He remembers it, the 
 little monkey. But I never know when 
 to stop talking. I must go. I have been 
 away from my shop now so long that 
 very likely the mice are all at play. My 
 things are up-stairs in Miss Spicy's room. 
 I can get them. Don't rise. I shall be 
 in to see you often. Let me know a few 
 days beforehand when you want your 
 dresses made. Good-morning." 
 
 Spicy and I looked at each other after 
 she was fairly on the sidewalk. "We had 
 a good many thoughts in common, which 
 it was quite as wise to leave unsaid. 
 Miss Terrapin was building her castles 
 rather high, upon the strength of her 
 importance to me in my daily walk and 
 conversation. Yet, it was not so strange 
 that she should after all, for I had the 
 appearance and must have passed for a 
 weak-minded woman, and my very de 
 pendence on her must have led her into 
 
 the adoption of her present theories. It 
 would have been more pleasant not to 
 have known how she was representing 
 me and mine in the other houses where 
 business took her, but some evils are ne 
 cessary to our well-being. 
 
 ""Who cares?" said Spicy, after a 
 while. " Don't wear such a lugubrious 
 face, my good sister." 
 
 " I was only thinking." 
 
 "So I supposed. But I would not 
 think. I wish I could get a glimpse of 
 Mrs. Vance." 
 
 " You probably will, as she must pass 
 here very often if she lives so near us." 
 
 "How long did you say it was since 
 she came to reside on this street ? " 
 
 " I did not ask Miss Terrapin." 
 
 Days succeeded days in a round of 
 pleasant occupations. Spicy was like a 
 bird set free from a cage, and sang all the 
 day long. I was happy to have her with 
 me, and petted and laughed at her ac 
 cording to her moods. Some days she 
 was in a severe fit of celibacy, and de 
 clared she should never marry. Men 
 were too frivolous and exacting. No 
 one worthy of the priceless treasure of 
 her affections would ever be so fortunate 
 as to discover their existence. Then out 
 would come the picture of Fred Gilder- 
 sleeve, and it would be wreathed with 
 myrtle or forget-me-nots and hung on 
 the knob of her bureau-drawer, or near 
 est the place where she happened to be 
 sitting, and she would declare herself 
 thawed out under the genial influence 
 of his perpetual smile, and ask how many 
 pairs of pillow-cases it would be neces 
 sary for her to embroider with a mono 
 gram before she should be ready for her 
 wedding-trip !
 
 SPICY. 
 
 "We went out to see Aunt Minerva 
 after a while, taking Bright with us. 
 Phil was there, too, with his mother. A 
 house full of guests in the country cre 
 ate a succession of enjoyments, and we 
 allowed not a moment to go to waste. 
 Spicy distinguished herself, as she had 
 done on a previous occasion, hy her 
 horsemanship, and she grew more plump 
 and rosy every day. Phil was always 
 hy her side, whether in the little dog 
 cart or on the pony's back, and many a 
 long, sunny morning they idled away 
 beside a brook at the foot of the gar 
 den. 
 
 " Look at them 1 " said Aunt Hatty, 
 one day as we were standing on the 
 piazza. " Phil has found out who is 
 the prettiest girl in Illinois, without of 
 fence to any of my other pretty nieces 
 and friends present." 
 
 "What is he doing? Holding her 
 hand!" exclaimed Aunt Minerva, ad 
 justing her spectacles. "Harriet, that 
 is most too familiar for cousins. They 
 must be spoke to about it." 
 
 Dinner was announced, and they did 
 not come in directly. Uncle James went 
 to the door and halloed to them. They 
 did not move as rapidly after that as I 
 have known people to do who were suf 
 fering with hunger. 
 
 "Hey, Phil, what you been about?" 
 was Aunt Minerva's salutation, as he 
 took his place at the table. 
 
 He dropped his eyes and appeared 
 confused. 
 
 "Ha, ha, ha! " laughed Uncle James. 
 "I will stake a bushel of wheat that 
 you've been picking clover -blossoms. 
 None of that on my farm. How is it, 
 Miss Spicy?" 
 
 " I don't know, sir," and she blushed 
 deeply. 
 
 " Oh, you don't 1 I thought you were 
 there ! But Phil sha'n't be teased in my 
 house, nor you either. You are a nice 
 little pair of thieves, although Phil is 
 not so very little. I will see that Aunt 
 Minerva don't disturb you ; it is a good 
 thing for relations to be relationy ha, 
 ha, ha!" 
 
 Phil prided himself upon his immo 
 bility and self-possession, and was gain 
 ing the ground which he had so un 
 warily lost. He bowed, admitting the 
 joke, but showed very plainly that he 
 did not think it was any great joke after 
 all. Spicy did not smile, or otherwise in 
 dicate her appreciation of Uncle James's 
 remarks. His humor was well known, 
 as also his thorough good-nature, and it 
 was hardly to be supposed that the young 
 people had taken offence. But some 
 thing had happened. 
 
 I questioned Spicy as soon as wo were 
 alone. 
 
 "I will tell you all there is to tell, 
 Meddie, but pray don't ever mention it 
 to a soul. I have piqued Phil. More 
 than that, I think I have made him 
 downright angry. You know I have 
 always liked him, that is, I always found 
 something to commend in him, although 
 I have said so many times and you have 
 heard me say it that he was fashioned 
 out of very cheap material and inordi 
 nately vain. Since we have been here 
 he has been trying to see how much 
 foolish flattery I could stand, and he has 
 found out. He has taken every oppor 
 tunity to look straight into my eyes, and 
 tell me I was fair, and all that, and I 
 have looked it right back every time, and
 
 SPICY AND MISS TERRAPIN. 
 
 95 
 
 told him lie was charming. I thought it 
 was a game I could play at as long as he 
 could, but I never dreamed he was going 
 to come the sentimental and make down 
 right love 1 " 
 
 " And has he ? " 
 
 " Yes, Meddie, this very morning ; 
 and I have crammed his heart all into 
 those dainty gaiters he wears, and I dare 
 say it aches, or he thinks it does." 
 
 "What did he say?" 
 
 "Every thing in the way of love- 
 nonsense. How wishy-washy it all is, 
 isn't it? Didn't it make you sick? I 
 never shall get married if I have got to 
 listen to such trash first! " 
 
 "The difference is whether you love 
 or not." 
 
 " I can't understand it. Phil is a 
 ninny ! He might have known I did 
 not care a pin. for him! Do let us go 
 back to Chicago to-morrow. I hate the 
 country ! " 
 
 We did not go on the morrow, be 
 cause Phil strapped up his knapsack af 
 ter breakfast and went to the depot. 
 But a few days later we took the twenty- 
 five-mile ride, and threw open our shut 
 ters once more. 
 
 Miss Terrapin discovered us before 
 night. Spicy declared that she must 
 have been hanging round in a balloon. 
 Businest was extremely dull with her. 
 So many people had gone East, and to 
 the mountains and lakes. Mrs. Vance 
 was in Minnesota, and would not return 
 until late in September. She had plenty 
 of time to work for us. We had, how 
 ever, much less for her to do than last 
 year, for Spicy had become wiser since 
 going to New York, and was determined 
 on a limit to her baggage in the future. 
 
 " How long did you say Mrs. Vance 
 had lived on Michigan Avenue ?" I in 
 quired. 
 
 "Several months, or I really don't 
 know how long she had been there be 
 fore she called on me ; but, judging from 
 her conversation, I should say some 
 time." 
 
 "You are about as definite as Mrs. 
 Mudlaw, in giving a receipt for her po 
 tato-pudding," remarked Spicy. 
 
 "How was that?" 
 
 "Don't you know? Why, she said, 
 1 If you wanted it large you must take 
 more flour, or if you wanted it small you 
 must take less.' And then about the 
 butter, 'Some folks liked it short, and 
 some folks didn't; if you liked it short 
 you must put in more butter, but if you 
 didn't like it short you must put in less.' 
 And so with all the other ingredients, 
 particularly the sweetening. And then 
 as to the matter of baking, the time of 
 keeping it in the oven must all depend 
 upon the size of the pudding. It was so 
 definite! And the pudding must have 
 been so delicious when it was made 
 right that is, if you liked potato-pud 
 ding!" 
 
 Miss Terrapin laughed. 
 
 "Does Mrs. Vance live entirely 
 alone?" I asked. 
 
 " Oh, no ; she has an elderly lady, a 
 Mrs. Chafferlee sister, I think, or sister- 
 in-law she must be, of Judge Shubill 
 with her. She always calls her ' Aunt 
 Mary,' but I don't believe she is any re 
 lation of Mrs. Vance. Then Mrs. Chaf 
 ferlee has a young son, a lad of nineteen 
 or twenty, with her now." 
 
 " Call a young man of nineteen or 
 twenty a lad do you? " exclaimed Spicy.
 
 96 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 "He is not much more than a lad 
 anyhow, although he is trying to raise a 
 mustache, and wears a stove-pipe hat. 
 He is at what I call the foolish age, 
 neither man nor hoy. Perhaps lad isn't 
 the word to use, but a new one ought to 
 be coined then." 
 
 "What else about Mrs. Vance?" 
 asked Spicy. 
 
 " Nothing, only she is very charitable, 
 has been round visiting all the different 
 institutions, and they say she has do 
 nated something to each. She has an ele 
 gant carriage and drives in it every day." 
 
 I was notified, on one of the last days 
 in August, that the house and grounds 
 which I occupied had been sold, and the 
 buyer paid his respects to me in the shape 
 of a request that I should look out for an 
 other dwelling-place, and give him an op 
 portunity to move away the old cottage, 
 and erect three handsome white-stone 
 edifices on its site. I at first objected de 
 cidedly, as I held a lease for months to 
 come, but further interviews and a lib 
 eral compensation for the trouble at last 
 reconciled me to the measure, but I was 
 confident that I should never get so much 
 attached to any other habitation. It 
 really was a grievous trial to leave it. 
 I regarded all its nooks and corners with 
 daily-increasing affection, as the time 
 drew near when I was to see them no 
 more. Even the ghost-closet, which had 
 been by all abandoned, put out a few ex 
 piring charms, and Spicy and I went in, 
 and sat down on the steps, and talked 
 over the thrilling incidents of which it 
 had been the scene. * 
 
 " And nobody has ever seen the ghost 
 since that time, a year ago, when Miss 
 Terrapin hung herself to oblige me? " 
 
 "No. The blue-room has hardly 
 been used since. Miss Terrapin came a 
 number of times in the autumn, on pur 
 pose, she said, to ransack for a solution 
 of the mystery, but nothing ever came of 
 it ! Our last chance is gone, I suppose, 
 now. If we move next week, the house 
 will be rolled off at once, and, if it holds 
 together to get there, will be rejuve 
 nated, on a lot in the extreme southern 
 portion of the city." 
 
 " Next week ! Why, Meddle, to-day 
 is Saturday, and you have not found a 
 house, have you ? " 
 
 " No, but Mr. Burton has volunteered 
 to go to the north side with me on Mon 
 day, and he thinks I cannot fail to be 
 suited." 
 
 The bell rang. In an instant, we 
 were running at break-neck speed down 
 the stairs, for it was Leonardus ! Home 
 fora fortnight! The great surprise of 
 the season ! Did not know he was com 
 ing until ten minutes before he started 1 
 Shouldn't have written if he had I 
 Wanted to catch us amusing ourselves 
 in his absence ! Too bad we had got to 
 movel But lucky he was on hand, for it 
 would be just as well to buy a house 
 now as any time. Would run over and 
 see King, who had several for sale. 
 Guessed there would be time before din 
 ner. Would get a few permits^so that 
 we could take an early look on Monday. 
 
 We were in a whirl of excitement 
 from that moment until we were safely 
 and comfortably quartered in a home of 
 our own in North Chicago, ~ - ' far from 
 Rush Street, about three-fourths of a 
 mile out. It was a corner two-story 
 frame-house, with a French roof and cu 
 pola, square, and compact, and extreme-
 
 THE BELMORES MOVE TO NORTH CHICAGO. 
 
 97 
 
 ly modern. I had little or no personal 
 trouble about the transit. 
 
 "A husband is such a handy thing to 
 have round I " Spicy had said, and that 
 explains every thing. 
 
 But it seemed almost cruel to keep 
 him on the jump every moment of his 
 stay among civilized people 1 I said so, 
 more than once, and quoted my famous 
 experience in the past, to prove my abil 
 ity to lend a helping hand. 
 
 "You will have enough trouble yet 
 before the war is over. Take it easy 
 while you may," was how he silenced me. 
 
 The Dwight mansion was on rollers, 
 and t^vo-thirds of the way to the front 
 gate, before we were out of it. Mr. 
 Burton was anxious to get his houses up 
 before the cold weather set in. A posse 
 of men were laying the sewer, and an 
 other small army commenced digging the 
 cellars that same morning. The original 
 owner of the property came about nine 
 o'clock, with artists and their instru 
 ments, to get a picture of the departing 
 house. It was such a pity that they did 
 not come sooner, before the foundation 
 had been so uprooted and torn away! 
 But they must have been people after 
 my own heart, to have made the attempt 
 at all. I had an affinity for them right 
 away, and rendered them all the assist 
 ance in dly power. I even used my elo 
 quence to persuade the workmen to ad 
 journ to the corner of Madison Street, 
 and we suspended our own moving-op 
 erations for an hour. If I could have 
 commanded the winds, I should have 
 done still greater service, for the swaying 
 of the branches spoiled one effort after 
 another, until finally they were obliged 
 to accept an impression, which fell far 
 
 short of their ideas and expectations. 
 I stipulated for a copy. 
 
 Miss Terrapin came meanwhile and 
 busied herself in scanning the division- 
 line between the blue-room and the 
 ghost-closet. As the house travelled, 
 the closet remained and gaped in aston 
 ishment at the wonderful invention 
 which had deprived it of its staff in. old 
 age. 
 
 " There certainly was never any way 
 of getting out of that place except 
 through the blue-room," she said, after 
 standing on a table which had been tum 
 bled out of the kitchen, and stretching 
 her crane-like neck, until Spicy whis 
 pered to ask me if there was any danger 
 of her head going up for want of .ballast, 
 and leaving her body behind ! 
 
 The children from the streets, who 
 had watched my pretty flowers all sum 
 mer, with covetous eyes through the 
 cracks in the fence, swarmed into the 
 yard as the gates no longer swung on 
 their hinges, and stripped it of its last 
 beauty. A few days afterward, when I 
 chanced that way, there was not a land 
 mark left. Three cellars were com 
 pleted, piles of brick and white marble 
 covered the remaining lots, which had 
 grown such rare shrubs and beautiful 
 trees, and the hedge and the currant- 
 bushes and the grape-arbor had disap 
 peared. Thus passeth away the things 
 of this world! 
 
 Leonardus found some friends going 
 on to New York about the time that 
 Miss Gilbert's school opened, and we 
 placed Spicy under their charge. 
 
 It was the same day that Leonardus 
 himself set out to join his command. 
 My trials always came double.
 
 08 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 "It is so fortunate for you that they 
 do ! " Spicy said. " Here are two now, 
 and you will get over them both at 
 once." 
 
 Bright felt strange in the new house, 
 and teased incessantly, to be "tooked 
 'ome." I filled the nursery with toys, 
 and did my best to make him happy and 
 contented. The nurse was good and 
 kind to him, but she had no tact or in 
 genuity whereby to devise ways and 
 means to divert and entertain the little 
 fellow. If he cried for the looking-glass, 
 she brought him to me. If he got angry, 
 and struck her over the head, she brought 
 him to me. If he was sick or sleepy, it 
 was all the same, she brought him to 
 me I. must take the brunt. I made it a 
 point to have her keep him in the open 
 air as much as possible. She took him 
 to walk in pleasant weather, and when 
 it rained she drew him in his little car 
 riage. Coming in, one afternoon, he ran 
 to me, saying : 
 
 " Me humbug ! me humbug ! " 
 
 "Ah! what has reminded you of 
 that?" 
 
 "Me humbug! me humbug!" 
 
 " Who has he seen, 1 since he went 
 out ? " I asked of the nurse. 
 
 " Nobody, ma'am, but a lady in a car 
 riage." 
 
 "Did she speak to him? " 
 
 "Yes 'em. She stopped by the side 
 walk, and asked me to hand him to her 
 a moment, and when it looked like rain 
 she said she might as well drive round 
 to where we lived, for we might get 
 caught if we were very long on the way." 
 
 " And did she take you in also ? '' 
 
 "Yes 'em. I said I could walk, but 
 she told me quite sharp-like, though it 
 
 was soft-spoken, that nurses never should 
 let babies out of their sight with stran 
 gers, so I got in." 
 
 "How did she look?" 
 
 "Like a very nice lady. I don't 
 think I ever saw a nicer lady." 
 
 " "What did she say to Bright? " 
 
 "Oh, she held him on her lap, and 
 asked him to tell her his name, and to 
 kiss her, and some other things. I think 
 she played with him a little, and called 
 him a humbug. She told me that I must 
 take good care of him." 
 
 "Is that all? Tell me every word." 
 
 "It is all I can think of. Oh, I be 
 lieve she said Miss Terrapin brought him 
 to see her once, last spring, and that he 
 had grown very much since then." 
 
 " Mrs. Vance 1 It was Mrs. Yance !" 
 I said to myself. 
 
 I wished I could see her. Perhaps 
 the old mistrust in regard to her identity 
 with Nursy Brown took possession of me 
 for a brief moment ; but, if so, I put it 
 away. It could not be possible! Leo- 
 nardus had set my mind at rest there, 
 not only a year ago when he first told 
 me Ida Everett's sad history, but last 
 week when Spicy and I had mooted the 
 subject again, and tried her case in our 
 self-appointed court. 
 
 "No woman of Ida Everett's culture 
 was ever equal to the volumlar}'- with 
 drawal of herself from every past associa 
 tion without some compensating adjunct. 
 She has remained concealed most effect 
 ually from the world, but she could no 
 more have existed in such a servitude as 
 Nursy Brown walled about her, than my 
 wifey here, and what would be her suc 
 cess, think you, in such an undertak 
 ing? " were his closing arguments.
 
 MRS. BELMORE VISITS MRS. VANCE. 
 
 99 
 
 They had weight with me for sever 
 al reasons principally because men are 
 supposed to know every thing and Leo- 
 nardus had seen Mrs. Vance while I had 
 not. 
 
 Thinking it over and over, and re 
 volving all the attendent circumstances 
 in my mind until my hrain was excited 
 so that I could not sleep through the 
 long hours of the night that followed, I 
 determined upon paying a visit to Mrs. 
 Vance, ostensibly to thank her for the 
 interest she had manifested in my baby, 
 but really to satisfy an aching curiosity 
 to behold her face, which clamored, re 
 fusing to be dismissed. 
 
 At two o'clock the next afternoon, I 
 found myself sitting in Mrs. Vance's par 
 lor, and the servant had taken her my 
 card. 
 
 CHAPTER XIH. 
 
 MBS. BELMOEE VISITS MES. VAXCE. 
 
 MY heart beat tumultuously. Every 
 moment seemed an age. I scarcely ob 
 served the appointments of the room, 
 which were of rare elegance, so intent 
 was I upon the main purpose of my vis 
 it. I heard a rustle on the stairs ! Ah, 
 coming? no, it was the servant. She 
 stopped to say that Mrs. Vance would be 
 down presently. Waiting, perhaps, to 
 acquire self-control before appearing in 
 my presence. No, no, I do not suspect 
 her of being other than she is. But 
 something was wrong with me, else why 
 was I there, with my blood all agog? 
 My restless eagerness was unlike myself. 
 I had almost reached the limits of my 
 endurance, when I heard her footstep on 
 
 the stairs, and in another instant she 
 was holding one of my hands between 
 both of hers, and saying, with a warmth 
 of feeling not often made manifest by 
 strangers : 
 
 "I am very, very glad to see you, 
 Mrs. Belmore." 
 
 Her manner was simple and direct. 
 She drew a large chair in front of me, 
 and, before I could speak of my baby, 
 she introduced the subject : 
 
 "Miss Terrapin prepared us to be 
 acquainted months ago through your 
 darling little boy, and I have been hop 
 ing, ever since then, that this pleasure 
 might be vouchsafed me." 
 
 Her face, which was entirely colorless, 
 did not strike me at first as wholly pleas 
 ing in repose, but it was singularly beauti 
 ful when animated in conversation. An 
 inscrutable reticence, which might baffle 
 the keenest observation when she was 
 silent, disappeared and melted in the 
 glow of pleasure which lit up every feat 
 ure while she talked. She was a wom 
 an to stir and thrill and entrance the 
 soul, to give stimulus to the intellectual 
 nature, to rouse passionate tenderness in 
 the heart. She chatted free and uncon 
 strained upon the various topics which 
 were agitating the city and country. 
 Speaking of the approaching Sanitary 
 Fair, she regretted her inability to take 
 an active part in it, as it was her desire 
 to live as secluded as possible, but hoped 
 she should be able to donate her mite for 
 the good of the soldiers. I was intoxi 
 cated with her sweet earnestness, and 
 felt a new, strange bond beginning to 
 tighten around me as natural and inevi 
 table as any other fact in Nature. 
 
 Her eyes, of which I had heard so
 
 100. 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 much, were shining upon me with a trans 
 parent truthfulness in which I felt that 
 I could rest. They were more than 
 beautiful. Were they hlue ? I suppose 
 so. Grandison Gildersleeve wrote to 
 Helen that they were blue, and Leonar- 
 dus had made the same assertion. But I 
 would not like to have been placed upon 
 the witness-stand and compelled to take 
 rny oath on the subject. I only saw a 
 lovely woman, a very lovely woman, of 
 an intense and susceptible nature, look 
 ing calmly from them through the vista 
 of years which had been crowded with 
 the most painful experiences. I did not 
 think about their color, I simply basked 
 in their light. Had I ever seen them 
 before? I felt like a culprit to have 
 asked myself that question. I had 
 seen some very like them. None of that 
 fire and life, however would she pause 
 in her conversation and let me have one 
 more glimpse of her face in repose ? No. 
 She was too well-bred to give a guest an 
 opportunity of studying the pattern of 
 her carpet. 
 
 I tarried longer than the circuin-' 
 stances warranted to debate that old 
 question to myself. But I arrived at no 
 distinct conclusion. There was much in 
 the voice and manner, as well as in the 
 outline of features, that belonged to 
 Nursy Brown. But, during the whole 
 period of her life under my roof, I had 
 never seen the upper part of her face 
 but once. I remembered my impres 
 sions at the time, but is it possible to 
 carry such a thing in one's mind and 
 dare to assert an important opinion after 
 so long an interval ? How frequent are 
 cases of mistaken identity I A lady- 
 friend of mine once spoke to a gentleman 
 
 in the street whom she took for her own 
 brother, and was followed home and 
 subjected to an infinite amount of annoy 
 ance in consequence. Mrs. Vance be 
 trayed no consciousness of acting a part, 
 was handsomely though plainly dressed ; 
 her coiffure was elaborate, her style un 
 questionable, and I found myself upon 
 leaving the house disabused of many of 
 the theories with which I had entered it. 
 
 I urged her to visit me often. She 
 said it would give her great happiness if 
 I would allow her to come without cere 
 mony, as she was not paying visits, and 
 had declined all the courtesies of society 
 since she came to Chicago. 
 
 " How long have you resided here ? " 
 I had the courage to inquire. 
 
 " In this house but a few months, in 
 Chicago over two years." 
 
 We were standing by the parlor-door, 
 our hands clasped, and looking directly 
 in each other's faces when she made that 
 remark. 
 
 " She is no more Nursy Brown than 
 I am ! " was my final decision, and much 
 that occurred afterward tended to con 
 firm me in that belief. 
 
 Miss Terrapin was delighted when 
 she heard that I had called upon Mrs. 
 Yance. 
 
 " It will be so pleasant for her to have 
 you for a friend ! " she said. 
 
 How kindly she always put things! 
 I could imagine her making the same re 
 mark to Mrs. Vance, and with much bet 
 ter grace. It was certainly I who would 
 reap the greatest advantagd"from an inti 
 mate friendship, if indeed such should 
 be the result. I longed for some one, 
 just such a one, to fill a niche in my 
 heart, hitherto vacant. For five years
 
 THE GREAT CHICAGO SANITARY FAIR. 
 
 101 
 
 my husband had been my all in all, and 
 until the breaking out of the rebellion 
 our house had been one of the pleasant 
 centres of a charming social circle, in the 
 atmosphere of which we had expanded 
 and brightened together. But he was 
 away. My sister was away. I had 
 
 ->?d to recognize the right of society 
 to demand any portion of my time while 
 our husbands and friends were facing 
 the cannon's mouth, and was compara 
 tively alone in the din and bustle of a 
 .great city. I had needs. A woman, 
 graceful, adorned, and tender with wom 
 anliness, could supply them. I had un 
 wittingly found her. 
 
 Mrs. Vance returned my call within 
 the week. It was early one morning, 
 and she proposed a drive out on the 
 road to Evanston. Bright must go too, 
 and she insisted upon holding him in her 
 arms. Near the entrance to the old 
 cemetery she paused, and, asking me to 
 excuse her, disappeared in one of the 
 greenhouses for a few minutes. When 
 I got home, a charming bouquet of flow 
 ers on my library-table explained her er 
 rand. 
 
 It was about that time that the Sani 
 tary Fair became the theme of all tongues, 
 and attracted the attention of the whole 
 loyal North. Such a furore of benevo 
 lence had never been known ! Men, 
 women, and children, corporations and 
 business firms, religious societies and 
 political organizations, all vied with one 
 another enthusiastically as to who 
 should do the most, for the proceeds 
 were to be devoted to the sick and 
 wounded of the Southwestern hospitals, 
 and what true heart could resist the ap 
 peal? The press lent its generous and 
 
 persistent aid, the rich gave of their 
 abundance, and the poor withheld not 
 from giving because of their poverty. 
 The very air seemed magnetized with 
 grand purposes and contagious gener 
 osity. 
 
 The Fair had been projected in the 
 minds of two ladies, who had on several 
 occasions visited the armies at the South, 
 and seen with their own eyes what an 
 immense amount of supplies were neces 
 sary to the recovery and comfort of the 
 brave invalids and wounded men filling 
 our military hospitals. If, by enlisting 
 the people of the Northwest, they could 
 raise ten thousand dollars, they believed 
 it worth the effort, But they little 
 dreamed how greatly it was to outgrow 
 all their original calculations ! 
 
 It was held on the last week in Octo 
 ber and the first week in November, in 
 Bryan Hall, which was transformed into 
 a bazaar, rivalling those of the Orient 
 in gorgeousness and bewildering beauty. 
 A temporary structure was erected in the 
 rear for the reception of the more bulky 
 machinery, farmers' implements, etc., 
 which were contributed. The Supervi 
 sors' Hall in the court-house was devoted 
 to art and trophies, and a curiosity-sJwp 
 it was indeed. A large hall in McVick- 
 ar's Building was converted into a gal 
 lery of paintings, and the beautiful and 
 rare works which were collected sur 
 prised those who had not kept pace with 
 the growth of Chicago in culture and re 
 finement. Many of the Chicago artists 
 generously painted pictures for the occa 
 sion, and afterward donated them, and 
 they were sold for good prices. Metro 
 politan Hall was devoted exclusively to 
 evening entertainments. Its decorations
 
 102 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 were such that it lighted up brilliantly. 
 Festoons of red, white, and blue, glitter 
 ing with gold stars, depended from the 
 gallery ; every iron column was fluted 
 with white and red ; while around the 
 gallery were arranged mottoes expres 
 sive of faith in God, devotion to the 
 country, and undying interest in her 
 brave defenders. The proscenium was 
 arranged with fluted decorations and fes 
 toons of national colors. At either side 
 of the stage were busts of President Lin 
 coln and Webster, while over the curtain 
 hovered the national eagle, resting on a 
 shield, grasping the stars and stripes in 
 the talons of one foot, and the arrowy 
 lightnings with the other. And every 
 evening this spacious hall was crowded 
 to its utmost capacity concerts, ta 
 bleaux, and lectures, alternating accord 
 ing to the pleasure of the caterer. 
 
 The Fair was opened by an inaugural 
 procession which brought all the machin 
 ery of the great city to a stand-still. 
 The day cannot be forgotten. Such a 
 sight the West never saw before upon any 
 occasion. Chicago was a vast theatre of 
 wonders! From the earliest dawn of 
 day the streets were thronged with peo 
 ple. Citizens hurried excitedly to and 
 fro, and country-women with children, 
 country-wagons with flags and banners, 
 horsemen with colors tied to their bri 
 dles, chariots, civic orders, and military 
 companies, horse and foot, drums beat 
 ing, bands of music playing, and the 
 roar of multitudinous voices in the 
 streets, all combined to render it one of 
 the most magnificent spectacles of the 
 age 1 The house-tops were filled, and 
 every pathway so jammed with human 
 bodies that it was with great difficulty 
 
 that the procession, when formed, could 
 make any headway. Such enthusiasm 
 as accompanied it has rarely been wit 
 nessed. The people seemed to overflow 
 with loyalty. Many of them had been 
 silent till now, but their love for the old 
 flag could no longer be hidden under a 
 bushel. There was mighty eloquence in 
 that sublime display. 
 
 On the court-house steps those who 
 could get near enough listened to several 
 speeches, and a salute of thirty-four 
 guns, and then the multitude surged like 
 tidal-waves toward the halls of the Fair. 
 
 The railroads ran excursion-trains 
 each day, from different parts of the 
 country, which brought crowds of large- 
 hearted, loyal, whole-souled country- 
 people, and from eight o'clock in the 
 morning until ten at night there was no 
 apparent diminution in the number of 
 visitors during the whole progress of the 
 Fair. 
 
 Dinners were one of its greatest feat 
 ures. Lower Bryan Hall was fitted up 
 for that purpose. Dinners had for a long 
 time been a feature of Chicago fairs. 
 The materials for them were furnished 
 gratuitously by the ladies of the city. 
 Their names were recorded, as also the 
 articles they would furnish, and the days 
 when they would furnish them. Then 
 the aggregate supply for each day could 
 be ascertained. So many cooked tur 
 keys, so many pieces of roast-beef, so 
 many ducks, so many chickens, so many 
 pies, so many puddings, so many gallons 
 of milk, so many pounds of coffee, so 
 many oysters, so many dishes of mashed 
 potatoes, and other smoking-hot vegeta 
 bles, etc. If the amount pledged was 
 not sufficient, the dinner committee
 
 MRS. VANCE'S METHOD OF AIDING. 
 
 103 
 
 could supply deficiencies. By some 
 mystery of the cuisine, which it is not 
 my province to divulge, from Iowa, Wis 
 consin, and other States, edibles came in 
 ready for the table as hot as if they had 
 just made their debut from the bake-pan I 
 From one to two thousand gentlemen 
 who usually lunched at a restaurant 
 down-town, dined each day at the Fair, 
 as elegantly and comfortably as if at 
 their own homes. Six ladies took charge 
 of each table through the entire two 
 weeks. Two of them were to preside 
 daily, one to pour the tea and coffee, 
 and the other to entertain and supervise. 
 They were the wives of Congressmen, 
 professional men, editors, merchants, 
 bankers, and millionnaires none were 
 above serving for the soldiers. Each 
 lady furnished table-linen and silver for 
 her table, and decorated it as her taste 
 suggested. The table-waiters were the 
 young ladies from the best families. 
 They were like the ladies who presided 
 attired in pretty white caps and aprons, 
 trimmed and worn to suit the varied 
 styles of the wearers. It was a novel 
 scene! the matrons behind their urns 
 receiving all who came to their tables as 
 they would honor guests in their own 
 home the graceful girls in their pretty 
 uniforms darting hither and thither the 
 continual incoming of fresh trays, and 
 baskets, and pails, laden with viands 
 the long line of carvers, one for each va 
 riety of meats, who had never before 
 donned the white apron and knife of the 
 department and the crowds who would 
 dine in this hall if they had to wait for 
 hours for a place ! It was animated, un 
 usual, picturesque ; a department which 
 required great executive skill in its man 
 
 agement, and none was more popular or 
 successful. 
 
 I resisted the pressure upon my heart 
 and purse strings until both gave way, 
 and I was precipitated into this pande 
 monium of the epicures. "If I must 
 work in the Fair, I choose the dining- 
 hall," I had incautiously remarked to 
 one of the managers early in the au 
 tumn, and consequently I was enrolled 
 for duty. 
 
 " I shall not attend the Fair, but al 
 low me to furnish the decorations, the 
 silver, the fruit, and the flowers for your 
 table," said Mrs. Yance. 
 
 I accepted her offer gladly, for my 
 stock would make but a poor show. It 
 was all there, ready for use, on that 
 famous Monday morning. An elegant, 
 solid service, rare and costly the most 
 elegant and rare and costly that graced 
 the Fair. And such flowers as came 
 fresh every morning ! the gems of 
 Chicago greenhouses and her fruit was 
 the choicest, and the rarest, and the 
 ripest, that the market afforded. My 
 table thus was the great centre of at 
 traction. Distinguished parties were all 
 escorted to it, and when the Governor's 
 dinner came off it was the one selected 
 for their special entertainment. 
 
 I did not see Mrs, Vance during the 
 whole two weeks of the Fair, but I felt 
 her presence continually. Sometimes 
 Miss Terrapin hovered round with com 
 missions for her. 
 
 " Mrs. Yance has seen by the papers 
 that there are some very beautiful speci 
 mens of gypsum- work from Grand Bap- 
 ids. Will you tell me where to find 
 them?" Or: "Mrs. Yance has heard 
 that from Portland are some exquisite
 
 104 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 Alg<B t which she would like to purchase." 
 Or: "I must hurry, for I have promised 
 to take Mrs. Vance some of the Indian- 
 work from Green Bay and then I am 
 to go to the court-house to select some 
 minerals." 
 
 Volk, the sculptor, was intrusted with 
 the choice of some fine pictures for her, 
 through my recommendation, and she 
 sent money to me in several instances to 
 drop round where there were to be ar 
 ticles raffled off. She took Bright to 
 drive nearly every pleasant day, and kept 
 my parlors as cheerfully adorned with 
 flowers as my tahle at Bryan Hall. 
 
 The great pioneer of all the Sanitary 
 Fairs which honored our country, and 
 encouraged the worn veterans on the 
 battle-fields, came to an end on Satur 
 day, November 7th, by the giving of a 
 sumptuous dinner to all the soldiers in 
 Camp Douglas, the Marine Hospital and 
 City Hospital, and the Soldiers' Home; 
 and Anna Dickinson uttered the words 
 of cheer and praise and kindly remem 
 brance, that dilated the heart and trem 
 bled on the lip of every woman who 
 had been in attendance on the Fair. 
 They were a bronzed, scarred, emaci 
 ated, halt, blind, deaf, crippled, skeleton 
 corps; .some without arms, some with 
 out legs, some swinging themselves pain 
 fully on crutches, and some leaning on 
 those stronger than themselves for sup 
 port, all bearing the touching evidence 
 of having suffered for their country. A 
 more elegantly-laid table was never seen. 
 The hall had been redecorated, and flags 
 and handkerchiefs waved, and the band 
 the best band in the city welcomed 
 them with " Brave Boys are they." 
 
 In the preparations, which had sent 
 
 the ladies running hither and thither for 
 the best their resources afforded, my 
 Lady Bountiful had made me her almoner 
 in the distribution of game, and jellies, 
 and ices, for the whole four hundred. I 
 begged of her in a little note, written on 
 a scrap of tissue-paper pressed up against 
 the coffee-urn, to come and see our guests 
 assembled; but she had reasons of her 
 own for declining, and my faith in her 
 ability to judge for herself was sufficient 
 to have silenced any queries which might 
 have arisen in my mind as to the where 
 fore. 
 
 The proceeds of the Fair swelled to 
 over one hundred thousand dollars ! 
 And the world wondered ! So did the 
 business men of Chicago, who Lad prog 
 nosticated failure, and laughed when the 
 ladies first scattered their circulars and 
 talked of a net profit of ten thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 "Weary and worn with my arduous 
 labors, I gave myself up to perfect rest 
 for a season. Miss Terrapin advised me 
 to get my winter dresses, for she should 
 be so hurried in December. But I al 
 lowed the days to glide away, one after 
 another, without giving the matter any 
 serious attention. The quiet of my 
 little home was so enticing, that I had 
 little or no disposition to go out. Be 
 sides, Rush-Street bridge had fallen one 
 day under the weight of a drove of cattle, 
 and I could not get to Lake Street with 
 out a disagreeable long detour by the 
 way of Clark-Street bridge. The weather 
 was cold, rendering true, literally true, 
 the lines 
 
 " No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, 
 
 No comfortable feel, in any member; 
 No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees ; 
 
 No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, No-vembor. n
 
 STARTLING NEWS. 
 
 105 
 
 I did not need any thing new while I 
 stayed at home, and I never was fond of 
 shopping. 
 
 Miss Terrapin said I reminded her of 
 the old man who was found one rainy 
 day curled up in the only dry spot in his 
 house. When asked why he did not 
 mend his roof, he said that "it rained 
 so that he couldn't." " But, why don't 
 you mend it when the sun shines?" 
 "Because it don't need mending then." 
 
 I made the application, but did not 
 supply my dress-maker with work. Time 
 enough, I thought, although my garments 
 of soft wool, so important in such a cli 
 mate, were far from adequate to my ne 
 cessities. 
 
 " It is a good thing to have a journey 
 in prospect once in a while, when one is 
 too lazy to attend to one's wardrobe 
 without a stimulus," I said, one day, 
 laughing. 
 
 " You may have a summons to go 
 somewhere yet, before the winter is 
 over," Miss Terrapin replied. 
 
 " Perhaps. But, if I should, there is 
 my old black silk always at hand, like 
 frost on a winter morning." 
 
 I little dreamed how soon I should 
 be driven to the black silk, though ; nor 
 with what benumbed bitterness I should 
 recall the words so lightly spoken I 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 STARTLING NEWS. 
 
 " No letter from my sister Spicy 
 this week ! " I said to Mrs. Vance, one 
 morning as she sat by my library-fire in 
 her velvet mantle, which revealed little 
 
 fine white-lace ruffles at the throat and 
 wrists. 
 
 "I hope it don't give you special 
 anxiety," she replied. 
 
 " No, hardly. But Spicy is very pre 
 cise in the fulfilment of her obligations. 
 I fancied she was not well, by the tenor 
 of her last. She is ambitious, and fully 
 determined to stand high in her class, 
 and sometimes I fear she studies harder 
 than is good for her. The tone of her 
 letters has been very different this year 
 from what they were last." 
 
 I was interrupted by the postman 
 himself. But the letter was not from 
 Spicy ! It was post-marked New York, 
 however. I broke it open and started 
 with alarm! Spicy was ill, quite ill; 
 the physician had requested them to send 
 for me. It might not prove serious, but 
 I had better come immediately. 
 
 " Oh, oh ! " I exclaimed. 
 
 "What is the matter?" asked Mrs. 
 Vance. 
 
 I threw the letter into her lap, and 
 started to my feet, wringing my hands. 
 
 "Do read it." 
 
 " Of course you must go," she said, 
 quietly. 
 
 " Oh, my darling ! Why did they not 
 telegraph ? " 
 
 " From the fact of their writing in 
 stead of telegraphing, I think you may 
 augur well. I have no doubt they have 
 sent for you as early as seemed best. 
 Don't allow yourself to be needlessly 
 agitated. What can I do for you? " 
 
 " Nothing, only come and see Bright 
 sometimes. Or if you will call on your 
 way home, and send Miss Terrapin here, 
 it will save me a journey to Lake Street." 
 
 " Certainly. You will take the even-
 
 106 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 ing train, I suppose, and I will send 
 my carriage to transport you to the 
 depot." 
 
 " Don't give yourself that trouble." 
 "I shall; and more, I shall go with 
 you to the cars. I wish I might make 
 myself useful in some other way." 
 I looked into her lovely face 
 
 " And felt how much suffering with years must have 
 
 past, 
 To have perfected there so much sweetness at last. 11 
 
 There was no idle caprice, no mere en 
 tanglement of senses between two un 
 employed natures that was the ground 
 work of the affection which had sprung 
 up between us, but a subtle harmony, 
 organic, spiritual and intellectual. TVe 
 were as it were under a spell, and each 
 sympathized in the other's pain. Her 
 words, which always seemed to mean 
 more than words, strengthened me. 
 
 I had several hours before me, and I 
 looked after my household and business 
 affairs with a calmness that surprised 
 even myself, considering how I was 
 racked with anxiety. Miss Terrapin 
 came, and promised to spend her nights 
 in my house during my absence. Mrs. 
 Vance's carriage was at my door prompt 
 ly in time for the train, and she was 
 there herself to cheer and uphold me, 
 and infuse new vigor into my flagging 
 spirits. 
 
 It was a journey that seemed of in 
 terminable length. The agonizing sus 
 pense was more than human nature could 
 bear so I thought then; but I have 
 learned since, and recently, that its ten 
 sion is beyond measurement. 
 
 I sent a telegram from Buffalo, but 
 the train started before the answer came. 
 With sharpened senses from overwrought 
 
 emotions, I ran my eye up and down the 
 brown-stone front while the carriage was 
 coming to a halt in front of Miss Gil 
 bert's school, and read nothing. Inner 
 life in large cities does not hang out its 
 banners. 
 
 "How is Miss Merriman?" I asked, 
 breathlessly, of the servant who opened 
 the door. 
 
 "I don't know, ma'am. "Walk in the 
 parlpr. "Who shall I say has called? " 
 
 " Let me run up to Miss Merriman's 
 room." 
 
 "E"o, ma'am. I will call Miss Gil 
 bert first. "Will you send your name? " 
 
 I pulled a card from my porte-monnaie 
 petulantly, gave it to the servant and 
 walked rapidly up and down the parlor, 
 while she stopped and read it on the 
 stairs, turned it over, showed it to Katy 
 the other chamber-maid, whom she 
 met in the second hall and took time 
 to tell her that "she guessed the lady 
 couldn't be any great shakes, coming so 
 early in the morning and being in such 
 a tearing hurry ! " 
 
 Miss Gilbert was engaged for a few 
 minutes, so that, taking it all together, I 
 was tortured into a state of mind border 
 ing on frenzy. "When she came she apol 
 ogized for the message having been sent 
 to me in the way it was. One of her 
 teachers had written the letter, and had 
 been expressly directed to ask me if it 
 would be convenient for me to come on 
 immediately, but to assure me at the 
 same time that there was no danger. My 
 telegram sent from Buffalo had induced 
 her to make inquiries, and she regretted 
 exceedingly that I had been needlessly 
 alarmed. Spicy was sick, quite sick, 
 with a low fever, caused, she thought,
 
 THE OLD DAGUERREOTYPE AGAIN. 
 
 107 
 
 by some nervous excitement: but she 
 had no apprehensions of any danger. 
 
 I found her looking very sweet, eyes 
 bright and cheeks pink. She threw both 
 arms about my neck, and held me for a 
 minute when I stooped to kiss her. 
 
 " How foolish for them to have given 
 you this journey!" she said. " I shall be 
 well in a few days." 
 
 " You are glad to see me ? " 
 
 " "What a question ! Yes, indeed!" 
 
 "Did you think I would come? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, I knew it. But it was un 
 necessary. I have good care. The school- 
 nurse is with me nearly every moment. 
 Miss Gilbert comes very often, and the 
 girls stand ready to do any thing and 
 every thing. I am not very sick, as you 
 will soon discover." 
 
 I was not satisfied in regard to that 
 until I had held a consultation with the 
 old physician. 
 
 "I am puzzled with her case," he 
 said. "There seems to be nothing out 
 of'order in her body, and she denies any 
 trouble on her mind. Perhaps you will 
 be able to give me the diagnosis of her 
 disease, after a few days' companion 
 ship." 
 
 She was certainly weak, for she slept 
 all the evening while I sat looking in her 
 face, but took her broth with a great 
 relish at ten o'clock. She left a little in 
 the bottom of the cup, and asked me to 
 save it for her, as she might want it in 
 the middle of the night. 
 
 " Cover it up with this," she said, 
 producing something from under her pil 
 low, and I laughed loud enough to have 
 waked the seven sleepers in the next 
 room, as I took in my hand the old like 
 ness of Fred Gildersleeve. 
 
 " "What has become of your two-dol 
 lar man ? " I asked, after my mirth had 
 subsided. 
 
 " Don't speak of him ! O Meddie ! " 
 
 "Why? What now?" 
 
 " I am so angry with myself." 
 
 " What have you been doing? " 
 
 "Nothing! and that is just what's 
 the matter." 
 
 "Do explain! " 
 
 " I don't feel like it ; besides, the doc 
 tor says I must rest quietly at night." 
 
 "Very well. I am here to see that 
 the doctor's orders are obeyed, so we 
 will have our talk to-morrow." 
 
 She closed her eyes and lay perfectly 
 still for a few moments. Suddenly she 
 became restless, and asked for a drink 
 of water. Then she turned her matted 
 back-hair toward me, and her fingers 
 were busy picking at the blankets. 
 Something evidently troubled her. But 
 what? 
 
 "Meddie, are you going to sit up all 
 night ? " 
 
 The voice seemed miles away, and 
 the classic little head did not turn. 
 
 " No ; I shall lie down after a while. 
 I want to see you asleep first." 
 
 Silence again, and her watch on the 
 table ticked out twenty-five minutes. 
 
 "Meddie, shall you be going down- 
 street for any thing within a day or 
 two ? " 
 
 "Why, darling?" 
 
 " I want you to do a favor for me." 
 
 " What is it ? " 
 
 " Please go to my writin'g - desk, 
 and in the corner, this way, you will 
 find something folded in a white paper 
 marked 'Sacred.' 1 There! yes, that is 
 it."
 
 108 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 I took it to her. 
 
 "You keep it, Meddle; I don't want 
 to see it. When you are out, just stop 
 at the missionary-office, and donate it to 
 the heathen." 
 
 I opened the little parcel and there 
 was a two-dollar bill ! 
 
 "A new method of investment," I 
 remarked, with a smile which she did 
 not see. 
 
 "Don't tantalize me. You would 
 not, if you knew all. I suppose I sha'n't 
 have any peace of mind until I tell you. 
 It has got to come, and I may as well re 
 lieve myself first as last. But I do feel 
 as if I should like to hide under a cab 
 bage-leaf for the rest of my natural life ! 
 Listen, Meddie! I have seen Mr. Hid- 
 dlededahlgreen and talked with him for 
 several minutes, and had that money in 
 my pocket, and never once thought to 
 offer it to him ! " 
 
 " How did it happen ? " 
 
 " We were at the Academy of De 
 sign, tinder the charge of Miss Pluss, our 
 drawing - teacher, who never knows 
 whether she is in the body or out when 
 she gets in front of a good painting, and 
 that accounts for my having an uninter 
 rupted tete-d-tete with a gentleman. I 
 was examining a marble bust which 
 interested no one else, and I was left 
 quite alone, when all at once he was 
 standing by me, and took my hand just 
 as he did that time in the restaurant, 
 and said he was very glad of the oppor 
 tunity of saying ' good-by ' to me, for he 
 was going to Europe to be gone several 
 years ; that he had thought seriously of 
 calling, but was aware of Miss Gilbert's 
 strict rules, and presumed he should not 
 be allowed to see me if he did ; asked 
 
 me when I was going to graduate, even 
 to the date of our commencement-exer 
 cises, and if I expected to return to Chi 
 cago immediately after, and ever so much 
 more. And all that time he was hold 
 ing my hand, and pretty near squeezing 
 it, to remind me of my little obligation, 
 no doubt, and it never once came into 
 my stupid head. He's gone, and my last 
 chance is gone of ever paying the debt, 
 so I want to get rid of the two dollars." 
 
 I laughed, but yet I caressed and com 
 forted her, and promised to bury the 
 dreadful bank-note in the Potter's Field 
 of benevolence, and begged her to think 
 how much good it was going to do some 
 poor Feejee, and when she tried to speak 
 I put my hand over her mouth and was 
 rewarded at last by the soft, even breath 
 ing that was an assurance of welcome 
 sleep. 
 
 She was better the next day. I took 
 the first opportunity of carrying out her 
 wishes, and she thanked me with an 
 earnestness that the occasion hardly war 
 ranted. Her complexion was of that 
 soft, pale tint with a slight undertone of 
 brown in it, which kindles into brilliancy 
 under excitement, and her soul all seemed 
 on the surface when she exclaimed : 
 
 " I am so much obliged to you, Med 
 die!" 
 
 She improved rapidly, and was soon 
 able to sit up for an hour at a time. The 
 holiday vacation had commenced, and 
 Miss Gilbert insisted upon our occupying 
 a more cheerful room on the second 
 floor. Spicy was pensive and drooped. 
 I told her stories and read to her, and 
 used every means to give tone and di 
 rection to her sick mind. Sometimes, 
 even after she was able to walk about
 
 THE SNOW-STORM. 
 
 the room, I was haunted with the appre 
 hension that she was going to die. Her 
 manner toward me was ineffably tender, 
 almost pathetic, and I often found her in 
 tears. Yet her appetite had returned, 
 and her general health seemed restored. 
 
 She agreed with us all that I must 
 get to my home in Chicago before New- 
 Year's Day, and was so self-contained at 
 the last, that I was almost piqued to have 
 her show so little feeling. 
 
 " The idea of travelling at this season 
 of the year in a black silk ! " she said. 
 " You will certainly freeze without an 
 extra shawl ! Do take mine ! " 
 
 I declined her offer, for I thought I 
 should get along very well with my furs 
 and water-proof, as the cars were usually 
 warm. 
 
 The first part of my journey was de 
 void of incident. I passed over the 
 Great "Western Eailway, arriving in De 
 troit on Thursday morning, the last day 
 of 1863. It was snowing slightly as we 
 left the depot, and the storm continued 
 through the day. We were behind time 
 at Marshall ; I think it was three o'clock 
 when we got there, or when we left 
 there, I don't remember which, for my 
 hands were too numb to get at my 
 watch, and I depended upon what I 
 heard people saying around me. It was 
 six o'clock when we stopped at Niles, 
 and some gentlemen remarked that the 
 storm was increasing in violence and the 
 snow in volume very fast. Some one 
 said it was doubtful whether we reached 
 Chicago before midnight. I noticed that 
 we were a long time in starting, as if the 
 engine moved with difficulty. At the 
 next station, and the next, the same 
 trouble was apparent. The wind was 
 
 fast becoming a gale. It whistled and 
 shrieked around the windows, and people 
 gathered near the fire in the centre of 
 the car. We were near New Buffalo, 
 when a shrill whistle signalled, "Down 
 with the brakes ! " and the train stopped. 
 Passengers rushed out, and came back to 
 tell the rest that the ominous and imper 
 ative red-light was in the path ! Later, 
 they discovered that it was a freight- 
 train blocked in by the snow, and we 
 could neither move backward nor for 
 ward. A message was sent on to the 
 next station for an engine, and in the 
 course of two hours we were in motion 
 once more. But our progress was pain 
 fully slow. I heard the passengers wish 
 ing each other " A happy New-Year," 
 and soon we were immovable and some 
 one announced that engines had been 
 dispatched to Chicago for help. 
 
 " Where are we ? " I ventured to ask 
 of my next neighbor. 
 
 " Close by the crossing of the Michi 
 gan Southern Eailroad," replied the pro 
 prietor of one of the finest, longest, silki 
 est white beards I ever saw, and who sat 
 on the opposite side of the aisle. 
 
 It was getting very cold. I sighed 
 audibly, in remembrance of wasted op 
 portunities and woollen goods. I had 
 not been so thinly clad in winter-time 
 for years. What a godsend that shawl 
 of Spicy's would have been ! 
 
 The wood provided for our stove was 
 wet or green, or both, and everybody 
 was in a shiver. The wind howled 
 across the low prairie, and penetrated 
 every crack and crevice, and little snow 
 drifts piled in about the windows, and 
 swept across our necks and shoulders. 
 The shiver soon became pain in feet and
 
 110 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 arms and hands, and the fuel was fast 
 disappearing. 
 
 ""What shall we do? " more than one 
 voice asked with a shudder. 
 
 " The fences ! " A happy suggestion, 
 and active men secured a saw, took turns 
 in its use, and fed the hungry stove. 
 Soon the flames roared up the pipe, and 
 smoke was discovered ahout the roof of 
 the car. That would never do ! Rather 
 suffer the cold with shelter, than be 
 turned earless into that raging storm on 
 the bleak prairie ! 
 
 "Be careful! be careful!" shouted 
 the conductor. "If one car gets on fire, 
 I cannot save the train I " 
 
 One car was on fire ! And speech 
 less with terror we watched the hercu 
 lean efforts of brave men to extinguish 
 it, which they did ; but it was no longer 
 tenable, and its living freight was scat 
 tered through the other cars. I gave up 
 my seat to a gentleman who was bring 
 ing a lady in, in his arms, and took one 
 farther forward. 
 
 The cold grew colder. The winds 
 howled louder. The frost pierced to the 
 quick like sharp needles. Those who 
 had lunch-baskets that were not emp 
 ty, distributed their remaining contents 
 among the invalids and children. The 
 gentlemen alternated between the bag 
 gage-car and the fire, and between the 
 fence and the baggage-car, and the sev 
 eral fires. What had become of the en 
 gine sent for aid? Chicago was before 
 our very eyes, and must we perish ? The 
 sun was up, shedding no warmth, not even 
 showing his face, or giving us a ray of 
 hope or comfort. An army of fiends must 
 have been let loose in the atmosphere ! 
 
 It was about noon when a Michigan 
 
 Southern train, drawn by three engines, 
 appeared in sight. It was immediately 
 signalled, stopped, and arrangements 
 made for the transfer of the chilled pas 
 sengers from our train to it. The snow 
 was deep, huge drifts banked in every 
 direction, and we must traverse it a dis 
 tance of three hundred yards, in the face 
 of a snow-tempest and frost-laden wind, 
 which was sweeping over us like a storm 
 of grape ! But we could be taken to the 
 city, if we could immediately reach the 
 Southern train. Not a moment for de 
 lay, or the engines might freeze immov 
 able. Cold as it was in our car, those 
 who had not had occasion to expose 
 themselves to the storm previously knew 
 little of the ordeal through which they 
 must pass to reach the other train. 
 
 " Don't a man of you start without 
 taking a woman or child under your 
 care 1 " shouted a full, rich, deep voice ; 
 and, turning quickly, I saw the gentle 
 man for whom I had resigned my seat in 
 the night, swinging his hat with a ges 
 ture of command. 
 
 In an instant he had picked up his 
 own charge, thrown the corner of her 
 cloak over her face, and plunged into the 
 fearful storm. Men, women, and chil 
 dren followed his example. Strong men 
 fell by the way, frail women wallowed 
 and struggled, and were dragged to the 
 cars insensible, and children were res 
 cued half-frozen. I waited a little, part 
 ly to see how others succeeded, but more 
 from shrinking dread of the perilous un 
 dertaking; and then the other terror, 
 lest I should be left behind and alone, 
 took possession of me and forced me to 
 exertion. I leaped into the snow, and 
 right by my side leaped the man with
 
 DR. GRANDISON GILDEESLEEVE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 the white beard, and tried to help me. 
 He had been buttoning up Ms coat and 
 tying up his ears and face, while I had 
 been summoning my courage. But my 
 blood was the younger of the two. I 
 got in advance of him ; the snow blinded 
 me I tried to go sidewise, and back 
 ward I fell down, plunging my arms in 
 to the snow to my shoulders rose again 
 advanced a little stumbled lost my 
 muff and my veil and at last yielded to 
 my fate with one long, hopeless look at 
 the welcome haven so near and yet so 
 far from me. 
 
 I was half-buried in the snow when I 
 was grasped by strong hands and swiftly 
 borne to the car. I heard the melodious 
 voice, which had rung in my ears once 
 before, say to the lady who received me 
 from his arms, and commenced chafing 
 my face with snow : 
 
 "Excuse me, that old gentleman has 
 fallen, and I must try and help him." 
 
 Children were crying, women were 
 moaning, and men were rushing out for 
 snow with which to extract frost from 
 feet and hands, forgetting their own fro 
 zen faces until made conscious of it by 
 the painful tingling which follows neglect. 
 White noses, ears, faces, and hands, 
 marked nearly every one of the Central 
 passengers, and many of the Southern 
 who had nobly aided in the transfer. 
 The ladies on the latter train received the 
 helpless and injured, and converted the 
 cars into a temporary hospital. Mothers 
 were fainting and asking for their chil 
 dren, and strong men hardly were able 
 to suppress cries of physical agony. 
 
 And the engine shrieked, and then, 
 as if madly, moved on. Hope of early 
 relief inspired us all with fortitude. 
 
 Three miles more, and the train sudden 
 ly stopped. Two Eock Island engines 
 were frozen up on the track. 
 
 " "Well, Dr. Gildersleeve, what is the 
 prospect ? " asked a voice near me, as a 
 rush of cold air and a bang of the car- 
 door proclaimed that some one was com 
 ing in. 
 
 " The engineer says that seventy-five 
 engines could not draw us to town ! " 
 was the reply. 
 
 I could not turn my head, for my face 
 was packed with snow, and some one 
 was chafing my hands and arms. But 
 he came along in front of me. I knew I 
 could not be mistaken. It was the gen 
 tleman to whom I owed my life. 
 
 "Ah, Mrs. Belmore! I thought I rec 
 ognized you, but was not certain," he 
 said. "I dined at your table several 
 times during the Fair." 
 
 I did remember ! It all came to me I 
 I had been attracted by his fine face and 
 courtly bearing, and had asked his name, 
 but none of the ladies knew. They 
 thought he was an editor, or at least a 
 man of some literary distinction, by the 
 deference that was shown him by such 
 gentlemen as Mayor Montrose and Eev. 
 Dr. Montague, who met him there. 
 
 So his name was Gildersleeve ! not 
 Fred too many years and too much 
 dignity resting on his shoulders. But 
 Ida Everett's quondam lover, perchance ! 
 And a noble specimen of God's handi 
 work he was indeed! The very car 
 seemed full of him, he emanated so much 
 hope and cheer and good-nature. 
 
 "We must shake our lunch-baskets 
 once more, and make the best of our 
 scanty bill-of-fare," he said, in reply to 
 the pitiful query of a feeble old woman,
 
 112 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 as to whether we should be able to get 
 any thing to eat before morning. 
 
 A sharp pain in my stomach remind 
 ed me that I had not tasted a morsel for 
 more than twenty -four hours. Must we 
 die of starvation and cold, in full view of 
 the turrets and spires of luxurious Chi 
 cago ! "Was there no one among us who 
 could face the storm and bring aid ? 
 
 I saw the question answered a few 
 moments later. More than ten stalwart 
 men, wrapped to their eyes, undertook 
 to reach a house that seemed not over 
 three-fourths of a mile distant, and each 
 turned back to save himself. It could 
 not be done ! 
 
 Children screamed with pain and 
 hunger. "Women were exhausted with 
 fasting, fright, and frost. Men were dis 
 cussing the probable failure of fuel, and 
 the cautious of both sexes were constant 
 ly warning the fire-tenders with pictures 
 of burning-cars and quick destruction. 
 
 " There is wood and coal on yon 
 der Rock Island engines. We must get 
 it or freeze," said Dr. Gildersleeve, and 
 gentlemen unused to exposure, who had 
 never handled an axe, or carried a bur 
 den, followed him into the storm and 
 worked like heroes. But they could not 
 exercise in the terribly exhaustive wind 
 but a few minutes at a time, and volun 
 teers were reenlisted again and again, 
 before the needed supply for the night 
 was secured. 
 
 He was shaking the snow from his 
 hair, and pressing his hands to his whit 
 ened ears, when the friend who had ad 
 dressed him before asked for his wife. 
 
 " She is comfortable more so than 
 most of the ladies. We were better pro 
 vided for cold than travellers usually are. 
 
 as our experience last year in getting 
 snowed in on a "Western train was a se 
 vere stricture on improvidence." 
 
 I roused myself enough to make kind 
 ly inquiries, and learned that his wife 
 was a confirmed invalid. He was just 
 bringing her home from an Eastern cure, 
 where she had been for several months. 
 And, although I did pot see her, I learned 
 that she was warmly tucked in an im 
 provised bed in the next car, and that 
 her name was HELEN ! 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE EESOTTE. 
 
 MEANWHILE the conductor of the 
 train and two loyal friends had breasted 
 the tempest, determined to save the pas 
 sengers or die in the attempt. It was 
 not quite dark when they reached the 
 Tremont, so frozen that they could 
 scarcely be recognized by their nearest 
 kin. The news which they communi 
 cated flew like wildfire from one hotel to 
 another. The cooked meats that were 
 being carved for their dinners were has 
 tily packed, as also chickens and game, 
 and sandwiched tongue, and turkey, and 
 jellies, and wines ; and four large sleighs 
 were filled and manned ; but one only 
 of the three who had brought the sad in 
 telligence of perishing humanity, was 
 able to return as a guide to the ill-fated 
 train. The other two were crippled for 
 years. 
 
 And but one only of the four sleighs 
 reached its destination. The drivers of 
 the others lost their way, were blind 
 ed by the storm, and finally returned
 
 MRS. BELMORE'S ILLNESS. 
 
 113 
 
 whence they came with frozen feet and 
 hands and faces. 
 
 What a thrilling announcement ! The 
 door of our car opened, and a muffled 
 figure as white as the storm he seemed to 
 represent, entered and hoarsely shouted: 
 
 "Provisions for the multitude! A 
 sleighful from the city ! " 
 
 Surprise, gratitude, and admiration, 
 echoed from the heart of every one who 
 had realized our danger. "We ate, and 
 wondered, and silently thanked the men 
 who had dared so much for our salva 
 tion. 
 
 Fires were lighted at the rear of the 
 cars as a beacon to the other sleighs, but 
 they came not. How any human being 
 could have lived to ride in the face of 
 such a storm was a matter of astonish 
 ment to all. 
 
 The sleigh which had arrived, out of 
 mercy to the horses, set out for Chicago 
 as quickly as unladen, and one or two 
 ladies, who would not be persuaded to 
 the contrary, went in it. But we learned 
 afterward that they were badly frozen 
 before reaching a place of shelter. 
 
 The night wore away. There were 
 but few eyes closed in sleep. The fires 
 were carefully fed and watched. The 
 winds subsided toward morning, and 
 the full moon peered in upon us to say : 
 "The storm is spent, and how have you 
 borne its wrath ? " 
 
 There was joy among us, when, about 
 eight o'clock, an engine was seen ap 
 proaching from the east with a snow- 
 plough. Before ten o'clock it had 
 reached us and drawn us back to the 
 junction, where two or three other 
 trains were in waiting. It was some 
 what after noon when sleighs arrived, 
 8 
 
 chartered by the railroad company, to 
 convey such passengers as did not choose 
 to wait for the road to be broken to 
 Ulrich's Hotel. It was a tedious, cold" 
 ride, but we were safely set down there, 
 and partook of an excellent meal, for 
 which the warm-hearted proprietor re 
 fused to accept any recompense. 
 
 Dr. Gildersleeve was one of several 
 who stayed by the train. 
 
 " My wife will suffer more by the ex 
 posure of a sleigh-ride than by remain 
 ing quietly where she is," he said, as 
 he pinned a heavy blanket around me, 
 which had been sent in one of the 
 sleighs. And he was indefatigable in 
 his efforts to make every one comfort 
 able running from sleigh to sleigh, 
 warming boards for the feet, and bits 
 of wood for the hands, tucking in robes, 
 and pinning down veils and then the 
 bells jingled and we saw his pleasant 
 face no more. 
 
 I tried to recall what I had heard him 
 say about the number of his residence, 
 but could not. It was not far, how 
 ever, from my own home. I thought 
 of it many times, while I lay sick and 
 suffering from the effects of my ter 
 rible experiences, for I did not leave my 
 bed again before the following March. 
 I had taken a cold, which alarmed botli 
 friends and physicians. My voice was 
 entirely gone for three weeks, and med 
 ical inhalations were the last resort. I 
 saw no one but Mrs. Vance. She was 
 my daily attendant, and to her judicious 
 ministrations I owed my final restora 
 tion to health. 
 
 I never mentioned Dr. Gildersleeve's 
 name to her. What right had I to know 
 the secrets of their youth ? And she had
 
 114 
 
 6PICY. 
 
 never, by word or look, given me the 
 fragment of a license to touch upon her 
 past life. There was the one barrier 
 between us that I dared not pass. He 
 called twice to inquire after me during 
 my illness. She was sitting by my bed 
 one day when his card "was brought in, 
 and his courteous message delivered. 
 But her features did not change, and she 
 dropped me some medicine the next mo 
 ment without a perceptible quiver of a 
 muscle. 
 
 Spicy 's letters were read to me each 
 week, and it was interesting to note her 
 transformation into the character of 
 counsellor and comforter, as soon as she 
 heard of my illness. I should have been 
 blind indeed not to have seen her steady, 
 constant growth. She was beyond me 
 already in many things. With all her 
 childish ways and native simplicity, the 
 angles of her character were getting 
 pretty well rounded. Miss Gilbert wrote 
 me one or two very encouraging letters 
 in regard to her progress, but my love 
 was far-seeing and could detect unnum 
 bered evidences which the skill of ex 
 perts might fail to discover. 
 
 Wherefore all this outcry about the 
 inferiority of the provisions for female 
 education, in comparison with those for 
 men ? The public-school systems of 
 every -State in the Union unquestionably 
 advance both sexes alike. And where are 
 any better institutions for young women 
 than Miss Lyon's, Miss Gilbert's, and a 
 score of other schools which I might 
 name, where our daughters and sisters 
 are instructed in every branch of knowl 
 edge, and every fine art for which they 
 have any aptitude, besides partaking of 
 the benefits which .are to be derived 
 
 from the society of the best teachers 
 money can procure? They live among 
 tasteful appointments, they feast npon 
 wholesome food, as well as concerts, 
 lectures, and social reunions, and every 
 refining influence which Christian love 
 and thoughtful care can suggest is 
 brought to bear upon them. There are 
 thousands of women who have never 
 improved under their advantages, as 
 there always have been and will be thou 
 sands of men who believe in cheap, 
 rough schools for their boys, forgetting 
 how much culture can serve them here 
 after. 
 
 As soon as I was able to ride, Mrs. 
 Vance was untiring in her endeavors to 
 give me all the fresh air I could breathe. 
 Sometimes she accompanied me, but of- 
 tener her carriage came entirely at my 
 disposal. Her venerable aunt Mary was 
 quite ill, and she was divided in her 
 cares. But I was gaining strength every 
 day, and needed her less. Leonardus 
 was looking forward to the termination 
 of the war in a few months, and was 
 giving me a new lease of life in each let 
 ter, in the shape of his probable and per 
 manent return. He never knew all I 
 had suffered. 
 
 June came, with its roses and sun 
 shine, and I was once more on my way 
 to New York. It was one of Dr. Wild-. 
 er's prescriptions, and then I could not 
 well forego the pleasure of attending Miss 
 Gilbert's commencement. 
 
 I stayed at the hotel in company with 
 my friends from Philadelphia, who met 
 me there, for a few days previous to the 
 examinations, knowing how much better 
 off Spicy would be without my sisterly 
 interruption at such a time. My health
 
 THE VALEDICTORY ESSAY. 
 
 115 
 
 was improving rapidly. New- York air 
 was just the thing for me. Spicy de 
 clared it as her belief that " New-York 
 stores, and plenty of money, was a much 
 more effectual remedy for diseases in 
 general." 
 
 How splendidly she acquitted herself 
 when the great day at last arrived I She 
 took a prize in scholarship. I knew she 
 would ; and I was elated, or inflated, 
 until I feared my new patent button 
 holes on my dress might give way. 
 They were made by machine, and I 
 never had any faith in the invention. 
 
 The " essays " were to be read in 
 the evening at the grand reception, and 
 the diplomas awarded afterward. The 
 young ladies of the graduating class were 
 seated in a circle in the centre of the 
 parlors, and looked like so many rare 
 and beautiful flowers. 
 
 Just as I entered, a tall, high-fore- 
 headed, black-bearded young professor 
 not of elocution commenced reading 
 the sprightly, analytical, satirical articles 
 which the young ladies had been study 
 ing upon half the year, in a most intoler 
 ably humdrum and prosy manner. I was 
 in an agony, and begged of one of the 
 teachers near me to tell me why each 
 young lady did not read her own. 
 
 " Miss Gilbert thinks it would not be 
 proper. It would give the young ladies 
 too much publicity." 
 
 "Publicity, indeed ! How much more 
 publicity, I pray, than to produce the 
 happy effusions which are being so ruth 
 lessly murdered ! " 
 
 " Young ladies never read their own 
 compositions in fashionable schools, Mrs. 
 Belmore ! " 
 
 " Fools, then, are in fashion I " 
 
 She stared at me, and I apologized 
 immediately. 
 
 "Of course you are not responsible 
 for the regulation, but it is one of the 
 most painful entertainments it was ever 
 my lot to witness. Here we are, not five 
 feet from the assassin, and cannot fasten 
 the sense of any two passages together 1 
 He rattles it off as one would shell corn ! 
 If a man must be selected to torture 
 every guest assembled, why not have 
 found one with soul enough to appre 
 ciate the misery he was giving! My 
 poor, dear Spicy ! Her valedictory ad 
 dress, so full of good points, and which 
 would be so touching and effective in 
 her own hands, must it meet the same 
 fate? Yes, there it comes! how aggra 
 vating, how absurd ! The dolt ! He does 
 not know an interrogation-point from a 
 pair of bars ! nor a dash from a high 
 board-fence! Hear him bidding his 
 classmates farewell! They raise curi 
 ous mustaches in this young ladies' 
 school if his is a sample ! Now he has 
 raised the mill-gate, and is inundating 
 the teachers ! Ah, the model school has 
 not yet been achieved! " 
 
 I came to silence through my desire 
 to listen to the few remarks which ac 
 companied the presentation of the di 
 plomas. The young ladies all stood. I 
 wondered why they did not have veils 
 thrown over them to prevent their being 
 seen ! Too much publicity, indeed ! "Why 
 this crowd ? If it is to become a source 
 of harm instead of good, dispense with 
 guests ! But they are the friends of the 
 young ladies, and are interested in their 
 successes, you say ? Precisely so. That 
 was my first supposition. Hence my 
 dismay when I found they were only to
 
 SPICY. 
 
 be heard through a male translator, and 
 one who did not know the elements of 
 his own language I 
 
 I had hardly been so out of humor 
 since my own school-days. My brow 
 \vas clouded, and when Spicy came to 
 greet me I forgot to commend. She was 
 happy and unconscious, however, for did 
 she not hold in her hand the scroll tied 
 with blue ribbon ? 
 
 " Now, Meddle, I must introduce you 
 to all my friends," she said, with great 
 animation. 
 
 The nearest one was" Miss Hale. Miss 
 Hale was bright and sparkling, wore a 
 garnet-dress and diamonds, and talked 
 bad English. I discussed the weather 
 and the numbers present with her, and 
 was relieved by an introduction to Miss 
 Twissapple. Miss Twissapple was a Bos- 
 tonian, had been at Miss Gilbert's one 
 year, and was homesick; indeed, she 
 said she did not think it right for any 
 one to come from Boston to New York 
 without being homesick 1 And then her 
 lovely home was such a contrast to a 
 boarding-school ! Suddenly I was car 
 ried away to Miss Proudhead. Miss 
 Proudhead was gotten up in tarlatan, 
 with a great quantity of sash-ribbon and 
 extra flutings. She was in love with 
 New York that old miracle, love at first 
 sight. She wanted to stay here always. 
 She introduced me to Mr. Simpson. Mr. 
 Simpson was a theological student, very 
 fresh, from some Western college, and 
 very much distressed with the vanities 
 of this world. He wanted to know if I 
 had seen his friend, Dr. Steelpen. I had 
 not. He was surprised, said he was the 
 editor of the Roaring Lion, one of the 
 leading evening papers, thought every 
 
 body knew him, and went at once and 
 found him, and brought him to me with 
 a great profusion of bows. Dr. Steelpen 
 looked like the other young men present, 
 whom I supposed were only private citi 
 zens, wore cuir-colored gloves and a green 
 necktie ; asked me if I was any con 
 nection of General Belmore of the army ; 
 was very deferential the moment he 
 learned that I was that gentleman's wife. 
 Had a daughter in the school? No, that 
 could not be possible! Some relative? 
 A sister! how very pleasant! Her 
 name? Oh, yes ; he had seen Miss Mer- 
 riman. A few more questions were very 
 adroitly put, and then Spicy broke up 
 the little tete-d-tete by presenting Miss 
 Eubicond, her pretty class-mate. Miss 
 Rubicond took my heart at once. Her 
 face was beaming with life and intelli 
 gence, and I forgot to notice what she 
 wore. There is such a difference in 
 faces. 
 
 My eyes followed Spicy, as she moved 
 airily and gracefully about among the 
 guests, with fond admiration. She had 
 grown very beautiful within the last 
 year, and she was transcendeutly charm 
 ing on this occasion. I did not so much 
 blame Dr. Steelpen for causing an elab 
 orately-written article to appear in the 
 next issue of the Roaring Lion, calling 
 her the belle of the evening; but I was 
 indignant with Miss Gilbert for allowing 
 a newspaper editor at her receptions, and 
 tolerating the senseless gossip in the pub 
 lic prints as to how each young lady was 
 dressed ! Too much publicity for one of 
 them to read her own essay, but quite 
 the fashion to read the next day, as I 
 did: 
 
 "Miss Spicy Merriman, of Chicago,
 
 SPJCY'S HERO. 
 
 ,117 
 
 a sister-in-law of General Belinore, was 
 the most bewildering beauty present, and 
 the most elegantly dressed in point-lace 
 over white satin," etc. 
 
 The dear child never thought of wear 
 ing any thing more expensive than tarla 
 tan, and she never had a scrap of point- 
 lace in her life ! Dr. Steelpen said noth 
 ing, either, of its having been a school- 
 reception ! I cried with vexation, when 
 I saw the ill-bred paragraph. 
 
 But I anticipate. Miss Rubicond was 
 giving me a lively description of how she 
 had had her pocket picked the day be 
 fore, when I saw Spicy's face blanch, 
 then light up with a thousand pretty 
 scintillations, as she advanced to greet a 
 gentleman who was pushing toward her 
 through the crowd. I could not see his 
 face distinctly without being rude to Miss 
 Rubicond ; but, after a while, I wondered 
 who had secured my sister's attention for 
 so long, when it was a rule of the estab 
 lishment that no young lady should talk 
 more than ten successive minutes with 
 one guest! I turned, finally, to look, 
 and at the same instant Spicy moved 
 toward me, and introduced her com 
 panion : 
 
 " I beg pardon," she said, addressing 
 him as the ceremony was about half 
 completed; "but I never could pro 
 nounce your name ! " 
 
 " Gildersleeve," he replied, bowing. 
 
 " Mrs. Belmore, Mr. Gildersleeve," 
 Spicy went on with the utmost gravity; 
 but, dropping her hand on my arm in a 
 perfectly natural manner, she pinched 
 me until I started with pain. 
 
 I found him handsome and agreeable. 
 He may have been a trifle eccentric, for 
 he coined new and odd words regardless 
 
 of the rules of etymology ; but he was 
 the more interesting for being original, 
 and "was a gentleman of infinite jest 
 and most excellent fancy." He had been 
 abroad, had spanned the Mediterranean, 
 had visited the land of the Pharaohs, and 
 the temples of the East ; had seen much, 
 and forgotten nothing. 
 
 " Have you a brother in Chicago ? " 
 I asked, after a little. 
 
 "Yes, the Rev. Dr Gildersleeve. I 
 am going to see him in a few days. He 
 thinks to persuade me to cast my burden 
 in the West." 
 
 " He has not always resided there ? " 
 
 u Oh, no. He worked at the trade of 
 saving souls in the little town of Pecu- 
 liarville, on the Hudson, for a few years. 
 He first went to Chicago in 1860. He is 
 one of your muscular Christians, broad- 
 shouldered and strong-armed, and wages 
 remorseless war upon the inactivity of 
 the multitude. He is striving now for a 
 revolution in journalism, and performs 
 so much labor daily, with constantly-in 
 creasing physical and intellectual vigor, 
 that he is supposed to have been the 
 original promulgator of the doctrine 
 that deterioration of bodily or mental 
 powers under sixty is an unnatural de 
 cline." 
 
 Before I could reply, Miss Gilbert had 
 ushered into my presence a stiff-necked 
 gentlemen with a bald head, and some 
 one had spirited away Mr. Gildersleeve. 
 
 Shortly after, a few sets had been 
 formed for dancing in the crowded par 
 lors, and I saw him taking his place with 
 Spicy. I could observe him better at a 
 distance, and admitted to myself that I 
 had never seen a more elegant figure or 
 a finer bearing. Spicy's face was like a
 
 118 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 mine of brilliants, and when he paused 
 every now and then to drink in the in 
 cense of her first girlish heauty, a pang 
 of jealousy seized me and my spirit was 
 all in arms against him. If I had known, 
 what I afterward knew, how skilfully 
 his well-timed arrival had been planned, 
 and with what persistence he had se 
 cured his introduction to Miss Gilbert in 
 order to be invited to her reception, I 
 should hardly have shaken hands with 
 him as courteously as I did when he 
 made his adieux, or have extended the 
 invitation, which fell naturally from my 
 lips, for him to call upon us in Chicago. 
 
 " Would you ever have believed that 
 old picture which I have housed so long 
 was taken for him ? " said Spicy, as she 
 stood with her arms round me in the 
 dressing-room. " I shall hide it now, 
 for I feel as if I had been guilty of pro 
 fanity." 
 
 "What could I say to her ? Had her 
 heart read its destiny? I don't know 
 why I should have arrived at any such 
 foregone conclusion. But I had been 
 driven there by inexorable intuitions. I 
 asked myself many questions ; and prin 
 cipally, were Spicy's eyes becoming open 
 to that highest, holiest attribute of our 
 nature, love? Had she tasted the first 
 sweet consciousness of its existence, felt 
 the first flutterings of its silken wings, 
 and heard the first rising sound of that 
 wind which sweeps over us all to purify 
 or to destroy ? 
 
 My thoughts were like a cloud-land 
 scape, which may be comprehended but 
 not explained. And why need we al 
 ways explain ? Some feelings are so un 
 translatable that no language has yet 
 been found for them. They gleam upon 
 
 us through the twilight of fancy, and 
 yet when we bring them close, and hold 
 them up to the light of reason, they lose 
 their importance all at once like glow 
 worms which gleam with such a spiritual 
 light in the evening, but, when subjected 
 to the inevitable gas, prove to be only 
 worms like so many others. 
 
 During our short visit to the sea 
 shore, and a few days in Boston and 
 Albany, and a rather eventful and long- 
 drawn-out journey homeward, neither 
 Spicy nor myself once mentioned Mr. 
 Gildersleeve's name. 
 
 Spicy grew more lovely each day. 
 Happiness shone from every lineament 
 of her face, and admiring eyes followed 
 her every movement. Her exhaustless 
 fund of gayety and vivacity won all 
 hearts, and rendered her a most agree 
 able companion. I shall always want to 
 remember her as she was then ; the most 
 gentle and true, the most gifted and 
 modest, the most piquant and pleasing of 
 only sisters. Fatherless and motherless 
 and brotherless, we clung to each other, 
 the two representatives of a large family 
 who had long since gone to that home 
 from which there is no return. Citing 
 to each other did I say ? That is, I clung 
 to Spicy, as a mother clings to her child, 
 and had been fondly looking forward to 
 this era in her history, when we two 
 could sit down and enjoy. And Spicy 
 had always regarded me as her dearest 
 and best friend. "What did I fear? "Why 
 guard her with such green-eyed tenacity? 
 
 I had refitted and refurnished a room 
 for her, which she declared was a perfect 
 gem. Her own things were soon ar 
 ranged in it, and a few brackets and or 
 naments and pictures added afterward,
 
 MRS. BELMORH AND FRED GILDERSLEEVE. 
 
 119 
 
 gave life and effect to what I had previ 
 ously placed at her disposal. But the old 
 daguerreotype was seen no more, nor 
 did I ever again hear any humorous 
 allusions to it. 
 
 About three weeks after we returned, 
 a neatly-executed card was sent up one 
 evening " to the ladies." Spicy handed 
 it to me, and I read " F. E. Gildersleeve." 
 The exquisite blush which mantled Spi- 
 cy's cheeks confirmed all my former the 
 ories. Oh! how should I snatch my 
 jewel from its setting? 
 
 Bright was fretful that evening. He 
 had cut his finger with a string and 
 would insist upon my nursing and ca 
 ressing it. I tried my best to quiet and 
 leave him, but he was obstinate and de 
 tained me a prisoner in my room. 
 
 Spicy came in radiant about ten 
 o'clock. She said Mr. Gildersleeve re 
 gretted very much not having seen me, 
 but would call the next day at three in 
 the afternoon to pay his respects to me, 
 if I would be so kind as to admit him. 
 
 "Serene, full-orbed, divinely-imper 
 tinent chief of scoundrels ! " I exclaimed, 
 with fire flashing from every pore. " In 
 deed, I will not have any such kindness ! 
 It would be superhuman power of act 
 ing, and I am no hypocrite, whatever my 
 faults!" 
 
 " "What do you mean? " asked Spicy, 
 with a look of unspeakable sadness, a 
 sadness which was a sadness dear to the 
 soul, and a great deal of down there in 
 her voice. 
 
 " That I decline any further conver 
 sation on the subject." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MES. BELMOEE AND FEED GILDEBSLEEVE. 
 
 MY resolution was taken. I had 
 changed my mind since I dealt the cruel 
 blow which had sent Spicy to her room 
 like a wounded bird. Yes, I would see 
 Mr. Gildersleeve when he should call, 
 but I would not let this thing go on. 
 No possible pain to Spicy weighed for a 
 moment in the balance against my im 
 pulse to part them. It was sheer selfish 
 ness, but it was human. I might have 
 remembered the lines which I- once 
 heard Nursy Brown singing to Bright : 
 
 "Nature's laws must be obeyed ; 
 And this is one most strictly laid 
 On every soul which she has made, 
 Down from our earliest mother : 
 
 "Be Z/your first and greatest care, 
 From all reproach the darling spare, 
 And every blame which she should bear 
 Put off upon another. 
 
 " Had Nature taken a second thought 
 A better precept she had taught, 
 And good instead of evil wrought 
 By those the power possessing 
 
 " For self had been put out of sight, 
 The love of others brought to light 
 In short, the wrong had all been right 
 And man to man a blessing. 1 ' 
 
 I heard the bell echo through the 
 house, and in a few minutes my expected 
 visitor was announced. I descended to 
 the parlor armed to the teeth with the 
 weapons of my disordered inclinations. 
 I had not mistaken his errand. He was 
 there to ask permission to pay his ad 
 dresses to my sister. It was very gentle 
 manly done. But cost what it might I 
 was bound to refuse his request. And I 
 did. He did not ask me to give any rea 
 sons. He did not seem to presume that 
 I had any worth giving. He evidently 
 regarded me as capricious and unstable.
 
 120 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 I was nettled by his aggravating cool 
 ness. At last he said, and I had that 
 same painful consciousness of being 
 talked down to, that had first come over 
 me in connection with Spicy's aggrieved 
 face the night before: 
 
 " I have not spoken to Miss Merriman 
 on this subject, preferring most decidedly 
 your approval before doing so, but in 
 my opinion we are both too deeply in 
 love for any particular good to come 
 from interposition. It has been brought 
 about by one of those inexplicable agen 
 cies for which we do not pretend to hold 
 ourselves responsible. In my case, for 
 instance, I have wandered through a 
 pretty fair number of years, have paid 
 my dividend of homage to the goddesses 
 of beauty in one place and another, with 
 out ever having had my heart seriously 
 touched until chance threw me in the 
 way of your irresistible sister. Since 
 then, I have very naturally decided that 
 the heart cannot remain empty health 
 fully, neither must it feed upon itself. I 
 esteemed it less than manly to reveal my 
 love and try to win that of an unfledged 
 birdling, so I tore myself away and went 
 to Europe. The merest accident on the 
 day before my departure threw us to 
 gether for a brief moment, and without 
 the knowledge of it on her part, or any 
 intention of drawing it from her on mine, 
 the certainty that she loved me became 
 my secret, and has since given me the 
 most ecstatic delight." 
 
 He took out his watch mechanically 
 and glanced at the time, then rose, like 
 one perfectly conscious of his advantages, 
 personal and intellectual, and filled with 
 a noble charity for what in his lordly 
 way he no doubt esteemed my unavoid 
 
 able acquiescence at some future period, 
 and bade me good-afternoon. 
 
 I remained sitting like one in a dream. 
 Spicy came in and sat down at the piano, 
 but she only tumbled over her music, 
 she did not strike a chord. I could not 
 speak. I could not even look at her. 
 Two scalding tears were forcing their 
 way down my cheeks, and I covered my 
 face. 
 
 It was with an effort that I could dis 
 charge my home and social duties re 
 spectably for the next two weeks. 
 Spicy drifted about as blithe as ever, 
 except that her sallies of humor were 
 less frequent, and her cheeks were a trifle 
 blanched. She had asked no question 
 relative to my interview with her lover, 
 a circumstance in itself perplexing, but 
 in keeping with her singularly unread 
 able character. She had always been 
 the surprise as well as the life of my life. 
 If I had seen the pencilling on a card 
 which was attached to an exquisite little 
 locket containing a miniature, and worn 
 next her heart, the veil which so ob 
 scured my vision would have been rent 
 indeed. I was so unhappy that I applied 
 to Mrs. Vance for counsel. I did not, 
 however, reveal to her the gentleman's 
 name, although she must have learned it 
 shortly afterward. 
 
 "And you think they thoroughly suit 
 each other?" she asked, after listening 
 to my self-reproaches. 
 
 u It so appears from my point of ob 
 servation." 
 
 " And you have ho objection to the 
 lover himself, his family, or his for 
 tunes?" 
 
 "None whatever, as far as I am 
 aware.''
 
 MRS. BELMORE VISITS DR. AND MRS. GILDERSLBEVE. 
 
 121 
 
 " Then you ought to remember that 
 right is right, just as wrong is wrong, 
 and that true love is too rare a plant to 
 be lightly crushed. "Where would you 
 have been but for its haven ? " 
 
 I trembled, and the vague apprehen 
 sion, bitterer by far than the torments 
 of jealousy or the humiliation of wound 
 ed self-love, stood out in my mind like a 
 veritable accuser, of my having sat in 
 judgment and failed injustice. 
 
 " Why does not Spicy complain, or 
 plead with me, and give rne a chance to 
 retract my folly? " I asked. 
 
 " Simply because it is unlike her to 
 do any such thing," replied Mrs. Vance. 
 
 " But why does not the devoted lov 
 er appear once more and sue on bended 
 knee for her hand? That is the way 
 these difficulties are overleaped in 
 books." 
 
 " I dare say he is not that type of a 
 man." 
 
 "What shall I do?" 
 
 Mrs. Vance smiled at the despairing 
 tone of my question. " If you have 
 made up your mind that you cannot, 
 will not, stand in the way of your sis 
 ter's happiness, you have only to com 
 municate that same fact to the gentleman 
 in question, as I understand the case." 
 
 Thus I reasoned, myself, after her 
 words reached my ears, and I welcomed 
 the relief which my decision brought to 
 both mind and body. But I did not 
 know where to find Mr. Gildersleeve. 
 I made sundry and divers private inves 
 tigations all in vain. As the last resort 
 I resolved to call on the Rev. Dr. Gilder- 
 sleeve and his wife. The matter of call 
 ing on them had been on my mind ever 
 since my recovery in the spring. It had 
 
 seemed rather an obligation than other 
 wise, after all that had occurred on that 
 frozen railroad-train, and his courtesy 
 afterward. I knew where they lived. 
 It was in a pretentious-looking house, 
 not five blocks away, and in a fashion 
 able quarter of the city. I had noted it 
 when I passed that way. A visit now 
 would probably lead me into the knowl 
 edge of the whereabouts of the brother, 
 and without any direct questionings 
 either. 
 
 I dressed with more than my usual 
 care one afternoon. Spicy commented 
 upon the fact, and asked me if I was go 
 ing to make calls. I replied in the neg 
 ative, pinning my veracity to the singular 
 number, and felt very much chagrined 
 that I should be obliged to steal away 
 like one setting out on a questionable 
 expedition. Then she proposed taking a 
 walk with me, and I declined her com 
 pany, quite an unusual circumstance for 
 one who was in the habit of publishing 
 every why and wherefore of her move 
 ments to all concerned. I asked Spicy 
 to remain at home and receive Mrs. 
 Vance, who was coming to drive us out 
 to Lake View. She looked surprised, but 
 I hurried away before some new embar 
 rassment should intervene. I rang the 
 bell at Dr. Gildersleeve's door, and the 
 servant appeared. It was a colored girl. 
 
 "Massa not in and Missus no see 
 company." 
 
 I had nothing to do but leave my card 
 and return home. We had not had rain 
 for some time, and the streets on the 
 north side, where there were no pave 
 ments, were filled with deep sand. In 
 crossing one I sprang to get out of the 
 way of a carriage, stepped on my dress,
 
 122 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 and was pitched into the dust. I was 
 not hurt, but inclined to glance my eye 
 up and down the side-walk to see if I 
 had been seen, and behold! a gentleman 
 was running toward me. I turned my 
 face the other way, and commenced shak 
 ing the dirt from my bottle-green silk, 
 but in an instant he had stooped grace 
 fully by my side, restored my card-case, 
 and begged to hope that I had not in 
 jured myself. It was Fred Gildersleeve. 
 
 The next moment Mrs. Vance's car 
 riage had halted, and, with a musical 
 laugh, she asked me to ride, since I could 
 not be trusted to walk. Mr. Gildersleeve 
 handed me in, and I had the remarkable 
 presence of mind to thank him, although 
 I was too much disturbed and shaken up 
 to be able to add what else was on my 
 lips, and the opportunity was lost. 
 
 Spicy declined driving with us that 
 afternoon. The horses were in fine con 
 dition, and we were back in time to drive 
 to Lake Street to do some shopping. 
 Mrs. Vance tried to persuade me to dine 
 with her, and, not succeeding, bade me 
 adieu at her own door, and sent the car 
 riage home with me. 
 
 The new Rush-Street bridge had 
 swung just before we arrived, and we 
 were consequently foremost in the long 
 line of vehicles which were waiting to 
 cross. A tug tugging at two large ves 
 sels came screeching and yelling along 
 toward the lake, and the horses stood on 
 their hind-feet in an attitude of mortal 
 terror. One leap forward and we should 
 be plunged into the dark, dirty pool 
 known as Chicago Kiver. One leap to 
 the right, and we should be entangled in 
 a butcher's cart. One leap to the left, 
 and a heterogeneous mass of human be 
 
 ings huddled together, ready to spring 
 upon the bridge, would be crushed. 
 Every looker-on saw our imminent peril, 
 and the imperative need of some strong 
 hand to seize the heads of the frightened 
 animals if a catastrophe would be pre 
 vented. Only one, however, in all that 
 crowd, had the quickness and the cour 
 age to dart to the rescue. It was Fred 
 Gildersleeve. He held them firmly, and 
 infused so much power and protection 
 into his voice, that the excited creatures 
 were subdued, and, quivering and snort 
 ing and pawing the earth, made no at 
 tempt to break away from him. As the 
 bridge closed he stepped one side to re 
 lieve their curbed impatience, and I, beck 
 oning him to me, invited him to step 
 into the carriage, and drive home and 
 dine with us. 
 
 "It would give me great pleasure, 
 Mrs. Belmore, but I am afraid of your 
 horses," he replied, with a smile that had 
 just enough of sarcasm in it to sting. 
 
 I felt that I was having as hard a time 
 to undo what I had done, as Spicy did in 
 trying to pay her two-dollar debt. 
 
 The next evening, however, the bell 
 rang, and Mr. Gildersleeve's card was 
 brought to me. I went to the parlor 
 directly and met him with undisguised 
 cordiality. 
 
 "And so I take it that you regard 
 me no longer as a monster or a robber. 
 But I do not accept this token of your 
 favor as a reward for my services," he 
 said, with that same high-up bearing 
 which had so nearly annihilated me on a 
 former occasion. " I love your sister, and, 
 since your manner has indicated the 
 kind permission, I have called to see 
 her."
 
 THE WEDDING OUTFIT. 
 
 123 
 
 I entered into a somewhat ambiguous 
 explanation, and concluded by sending 
 Spicy to the parlor, and then, under the 
 dim gas-light in my own room, rocked 
 Bright in my arms, and cried until my 
 eyes were inflamed for a week. 
 
 " My pet will owe her happiness to 
 me," was my only solace, and I repeated 
 the paragraph over and over again, in 
 the same way as when a child I once de 
 clared, " I'm not afraid of the dark 1 I 
 am not afraid of the darkl I'm not 
 afraid of the dark I " running meanwhile 
 as fast as my feet could carry me toward 
 a lighted room. 
 
 When I next saw Spicy, her face wore 
 that radiance which told me that her 
 heart was at. peace. Their engagement 
 was speedily announced, and her wed 
 ding-day fixed for the first of February. 
 Mr. Gildersleeve had greatly desired to 
 be married during the holidays, but I 
 would not consent. Spicy should be 
 mine until the return of Leonardus. 
 
 Miss Terrapin was in her element. 
 It was vastly more interesting to make 
 wedding-garments than any other. It 
 was Miss Terrapin's special forte. She 
 thought Spicy might as well give up the 
 whole care of it to her. But Spicy had 
 ideas of her .own about how she should 
 dress as a bride. I was diverted by their 
 frequent collisions, and not unfrequently 
 called in as an umpire. 
 
 Miss Terrapin said, it had become a 
 chronic necessity in these days for wom 
 en to dress elegantly, yes, even extrava 
 gantly, in order to command their hus 
 band's little attentions, which were so 
 apt to be bestowed elsewhere than at 
 home. Marriage was in her opinion the 
 grave of love. At all events it was a se 
 
 vere test, for it brought intimate associa 
 tions to bear upon unequal and ill-assort 
 ed dispositions, habits, tastes, tempera 
 ments, and capacities. And when, by 
 reason of tender age (Spicy ought to 
 have waited until she was twenty-five), 
 inexperience, or the force of circum 
 stances, such grave considerations were 
 overlooked, then, of course, unhappiness 
 and every other conceivable misfortune 
 would surely rush in. She told my dainty 
 little morsel that her own character was 
 continually developing, while that of her 
 husband might be said to have attained 
 its growth. 
 
 "Then you would recommend that 
 the deficiency be filled with dry-goods, 
 if I understand you rightly?" modestly 
 inquired Spicy. 
 
 " No, no ; yes well, that is, if young 
 people have indulged fancies when their 
 affections were immature and their tastes 
 undeveloped, and they have become en 
 tangled for life with wants unsatisfied 
 and feelings unsympathized with, they 
 should make it a matter of principle to 
 increase their personal charms in every 
 possible manner. The country is full of 
 rich people, the stores are laden with 
 beautiful and expensive goods, there is a 
 great deal of competition among ladies 
 in regard to the quality and style of their 
 apparel, and a young wife with the 
 means at her command should unques 
 tionably take the front rank if she wishes 
 to retain the love which she fondly sup 
 poses her own." 
 
 " On the contrary, Miss Terrapin, I 
 am full in the faith that there is no vir 
 tue, nor one amiable characteristic of our 
 sex, that would not be relieved of a bane 
 and nursed into healthier life, if this non-
 
 124 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 sense about imperative fashion and cost 
 ly dress were abandoned. Too much 
 thought altogether is given to the sub 
 ject. I believe in suitable attire. I 
 like an exhibition of good taste at all 
 times and places. If one hasn't any 
 taste of her own, I say, employ Miss Ter 
 rapin. But I sha'n't buy as many silk 
 dresses as there are colors in the rainbow 
 for the sake of having a variety, nor have 
 what I do see fit to buy furbelowed to 
 my eyes. Neither shall I spend a whole 
 year's income on the trimmings to my 
 underwear. I had rather do as Mrs. 
 Vance does, give my money to the poor, 
 and I believe Fred would agree with me, 
 if he was to be consulted." 
 
 " Ah, Miss Spicy, that is how women 
 deceive themselves. Men never show 
 what they really are until they have se 
 cured the prize. To-morrow there is a 
 wedding, and then comes another to 
 morrow when there is despair and hu 
 miliation of spirit." 
 
 " Pleasant prospect ! Miss Terrapin, 
 you are an inveterate croaker. There, 
 that shall be your name hereafter. 
 Croaker! how do you like it? Now, 
 Croaker, let me tell you a short story. 
 It is as true as the book of Acts. Fred 
 never fell in love with my rig. lie first 
 met me in a ball-room where I was 
 dressed the plainest of any one present, 
 and, he says, he asked to be introduced 
 to me because he couldn't help it. Ev 
 ery time he saw me afterward was when 
 I was in my very worst look, and yet he 
 went on loving me like the apple of his 
 eye. There is no mistake about it. He 
 has proved it, hasn't he, Meddie ? And 
 he is going to live on proving it. You 
 cannot stir in me the ghost of a doubt." 
 
 " Oh, yes. Admitted that he adores 
 you at present " (Spicy laughed with the 
 old, silvery cadence), " but I have never 
 heard any account of your intense recip 
 rocation." 
 
 " Eeally, Croaker, that is too bad ! I 
 ought to have worn my heart on the 
 outside as one wears a neck-ribbon, so 
 that every one I met could have told the 
 color!" And Spicy's little ireful retort 
 took effect. " Meddie, what did you 
 think when you found me sick in New 
 York and nothing ailing me ? Love ! 
 what is it? If to go through every 
 phase of heart-anguish until it becomes a 
 positive luxury is love, then I was in it 
 for certain, although I did not know, my 
 self, what was the matter at the time. 
 I thought my life had all gone abroad 
 never to return. "When time tried the 
 keenness of my despair I took alarm, re 
 fused to be so comforted, and marshalled 
 all the sources of my distress anew. I 
 should have defied the old tyrant with 
 silent lamentations too grievous to be 
 borne until the present day, if Fred 
 had not returned. Come, Croaker, you 
 understand all about it, wasn't that gen 
 uine love ? " 
 
 "I dare say. But I never saw the 
 man who had the power to affect me 
 thus, and I have seen a good many in my 
 day. You are foolish not to have bead 
 trimming on this velvet. It is very 
 much worn this year. But you must let 
 me finish your black silk with it. It will 
 be elegant round the postilion." 
 
 Mrs. Vance sometimes sat a whole 
 morning with us in the sewing-room, 
 and her lively off-hand descriptions of 
 things and events, and her brilliant char 
 acterization of people, and ready repar-
 
 MRS. VANCE. 
 
 125 
 
 tee, when Miss Terrapin advanced her 
 old and threadbare theories, the pet 
 prejudices, cobwebs rather, of a spinster 
 over sixty, and liable every day to get 
 older, gave agreeable variety to the dull 
 round of needle- work, and kept our 
 senses whetted. 
 
 There had been no disenchantment 
 in regard to my favorite, none what 
 ever, since that first morning when, in 
 rny heart of hearts, I swore allegiance to 
 her. She was the sort of woman who 
 could love another woman with a whole- 
 souled, earnest, heart-deep love. There 
 was no assumption of superiority ever 
 others of her own sex. Her friendship 
 deserved a better name than friendship. 
 Hers was an elevated standard of merit,and 
 I appreciated her rich gifts both of mind 
 and of character. She was altogether 
 devoid of flippancies, and yet gracefully, 
 tenderly feminine. Sometimes, I found 
 myself picturing her as the wife of some 
 Leonardus whose tastes and aspirations 
 harmonized with her own, and who 
 recognized and valued her with a just 
 estimate. She was clever as men are 
 clever. She understood affairs, and had 
 the power to centralize thought, and 
 crystallize around her the highest forms 
 of intellectual activity. She charmed 
 men of mind by her clear, logical, and yet 
 sprightly and piquant way of talking. 
 She was a great reader, and never failed 
 each day to devote some hours to study. 
 If. she only would go into society a little 
 more! It is true she occasionally at 
 tended a dinner, or a private evening- 
 entertainment, where I had urged her 
 presence as a personal favor to myself, 
 but ordinarily all her responses to invita 
 tions were the same sweet negative. I 
 
 wondered if her equipoise would bear 
 the test when she came to meet Dr. Gil- 
 dersleeve, as she certainly must at Spicy's 
 wedding. He had gone to Europe with 
 his invalid wife, and was travelling on 
 the Continent now, but had promised his 
 brother to be back in time, even if it 
 involved another trip across the high 
 seas. 
 
 My intimacy with Mrs. Vance was 
 such that I visited her as she did me at 
 any time of day or evening, as inclina 
 tion or convenience dictated. Latterly, 
 since Fred Gildersleeve was so much at 
 our house, I often spent the evening 
 with her, as I was more lonely in my 
 lone room, with the happy pair in the 
 parlor below me, than if no one had 
 been under my roof but myself. On su ch 
 occasions, she often read alond, and we 
 discnssed the various points in magazine 
 articles and new publications. 
 
 One evening I found her out. I went 
 as usnal to the library, which was her 
 family sitting-room, where her venerable 
 " Aunt Mary " was looking over a pile 
 of letters. She was looking for her son's 
 last. He was in Memphis, starting a busi 
 ness of his own, and when she found it 
 begged me to excuse her while she wrote 
 an answer. I took a book from one of 
 the shelves to beguile the time. It was 
 Sparks's "Life of Washington," an old edi 
 tion with gaping wounds in the back. 
 I turned to the fly-leaf in front and read 
 the following in pencil: "Found on a 
 railway-car, June, 1861. I. E. V." At 
 the same moment, a slip of paper fell 
 into my lap from among the leaves, and I 
 read what was written npon it before I 
 took time to consider that it probably 
 had been left in the book by accident,
 
 126 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 and was not intended for other eyes than 
 the writer's. It ran thus : 
 
 " I awake to a new existence. Pov 
 erty stares me in the face. I hear a 
 whisper of labor and effort, which is in 
 itself a whisper of peace. Henceforth, no 
 more passive suffering, but a search for 
 something to do. Oh ! had my life but 
 been blended with that one man's, whose 
 heart my own comprehended! But 
 hush! What is life, when we come to 
 analyze it, but a mixture of three com 
 ponent parts, joy, sorrow, and work ? 
 Some get tolerably equal proportions of 
 each ; some unequal, or they fancy so. I 
 believe the same things come alike to 
 all. Years ago, when I was wading 
 breast-high among summer-flowers, I 
 heard a sainted lady say, 'If your trou 
 ble can be helped, help it ; if not, bear it.' 
 I did not comprehend the force of the 
 passage then, but I do now. 
 
 " Yes, I have had days enough of bit 
 ter thinking. I suppose many a one be 
 fore me has felt the sharp, slow, deadly 
 pain, which gnaws at the root of things. 
 But, was there ever a warm, loving heart 
 so cold and comfortless? What is the 
 matter with the sunsets and the dawns? 
 Why is that great mid-day orb riding 
 through the sky so royally but to mock 
 my woe ! I am a sad woman defrauded 
 of rest. My heart is a storm-beaten ark. 
 Who says that the hand that metes out 
 the measure to us all never yet held false 
 balance ! Can I square myself to God's 
 will, and bury my griefs so deep that no 
 human eye can ever pierce the wound ? 
 Can I be whatever I will to be? Can I 
 form and accomplish worthy purposes 
 while my heart is withering and shrivel 
 ling away? Can I walk alone and with 
 
 no faltering tread ? Can I build on the 
 heaped-up ruins of my cruel past a struct 
 ure that will survive all future storms? 
 Can I remember the simple fact that if 
 life is a burden it has been imposed by 
 God? The answer comes slowly and 
 painfully, but comes ; I can, I will." 
 
 I put the paper back into the book, 
 and the book upon the shelf, and threw 
 myself into an easy-chair to think. 
 Shortly after, I heard the front door open 
 and close, and Mrs. Vance's voice from 
 the parlor. She had company. She had 
 been to the weekly prayer-meeting, for 
 she was a rigid church-member, and a 
 gentleman had returned with her. It 
 was a Dr. Greer, a dapper little man, 
 with a head as round as a Spitzbergen 
 apple, and covered with sandy locks, 
 slightly flaked with white. He had a 
 bright, agreeable countenance, upon 
 which was stamped, however, the label, 
 Englishman, and was one of the large 
 real-estate owners of the city. He had 
 had several business transactions with 
 Mrs. Vance since she came in possession 
 of her uncle's property, and then he was 
 one of the elders in her church. I had 
 always known him, always meaning the 
 period of time that I had lived in Chica 
 go. I could not see him from where I 
 sat, but the parlor doors were open into 
 the library, and I heard a part of the 
 conversation. He had been saying some 
 thing in an earnest but choked voice, to 
 which I had paid but very little atten 
 tion, when her reply, equally low, but 
 more distinct, reached my ears, and 
 the remembrance of it thrills me even 
 now while I write : 
 
 "I shall never marry again, Dr. 
 Greer. I have taught myself to look
 
 MRS. VANCE'S ROMANCE. 
 
 127 
 
 forward to a blank existence. There is 
 no staff, however dear to the womanly 
 nature, upon which I may ever lean shel 
 tered from the wind. I am outside of 
 the pale within which married joys are 
 found. There is a sorrow in my heart 
 which the world knows not of, but one 
 which I trust is healthfully borne. I 
 lost the cordial drop with which Heaven 
 graciously saw fit to sweeten my cup. 
 I had my era of romance, a short-lived, 
 delicious holiday, since when every fibre 
 of my soul has been sharpened by the 
 various ordeals which I have been com 
 pelled to pass through. My lines have 
 not fallen in pleasant places. I should 
 not be a fit companion for a man so pre 
 eminently worthy of a woman's best 
 love.'' 
 
 There was a brief silence, and then I 
 heard Dr. Greer's broken voice again, 
 although I could not distinguish his 
 words more than that they were indica 
 tive of a question. She replied : 
 
 "He was a gentleman in the high 
 est and finest sense, always and every 
 where a gentleman. I am ever ready to 
 defend and justify my girlish affection. 
 It has ennobled my whole life. By it, 
 and through it, I have been so enabled 
 to perform my duties and the work laid 
 out for me, that there has been no time 
 left for unavailing regrets. I believe I 
 am a far better woman than I should 
 otherwise have been." 
 
 Dr. Greer must have thought she was 
 speaking of her husband, of whom he 
 knew nothing, but that he had been 
 killed in battle. But I, with my queerly- 
 gotten knowledge, translated differently. 
 
 Mrs. Vance did not come directly to 
 the library after showing Dr. Greer out. 
 
 Aunt Mary took off her spectacles and 
 laid down her pen, and wondered where 
 Ida had gone. 
 
 " She can't know that you are here ? " 
 she said to me. 
 
 "Oh, yes. My hat and shawl are 
 on the piano. She could not have 
 failed to see them." 
 
 My servant came for me a little. later, 
 and, thinking best not to prolong my stay, 
 I ran up-stairs to bid Mrs. Vance good 
 night. I paused at the door of her room 
 which was ajar, and on her knees before 
 the flickering grate, with her head rest 
 ing on an ottoman, was my dear friend, 
 sobbing in the perfect abandon of grief. 
 My first impulse was to fly to her and 
 mingle my tears with hers, but the con 
 sciousness of what I knew, and how the 
 knowledge had come to me, and of the 
 barrier which she had interposed against 
 all intermeddling with her private affairs, 
 restrained me, and I went slowly back 
 to the library. 
 
 "Good-night, Aunt Mary," I said; 
 " don't mention that I have been here, 
 unless Mrs. Vance makes special in 
 quiries. I think that she does not know 
 it, and, if not, it is just as well." 
 
 Too much wisdom is sometimes very 
 embarrassing. It was decidedly so in 
 my case, for I wished to have a little pri 
 vate reunion about a week before the 
 wedding. Leonardus was home, Dr. 
 Gildersleeve was expected, and Fred and 
 Spicy were in that delightful mood to be 
 pleased with any proposition, which 
 would fall short of an excursion through 
 the tunnel under the lake, the new and 
 original inlet by which Chicago was ar 
 ranging to borrow fresh water from an 
 oceanic fountain. It was in process of
 
 128 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 completion, and the chief wonder of the 
 century. It was visited by thousands 
 of people, but we had voted it too much 
 of a bore for our personal investigation. 
 
 A dinner-party without Mrs. Vance ! 
 It could not be thought of. Would it 
 be right for me to bring two persons to 
 gether when I was the possessor of the 
 secret of both their capacities for suffer 
 ing? I put the question to Leonardus. 
 He was unwilling to advise. Her car 
 riage rolled up to the gate while we 
 were discussing the question. Leonardus 
 caught his hat, but I arrested him in his 
 exit: 
 
 "Do stop and see her; why such 
 haste?" 
 
 "I thought some other moment 
 might be more favorable for my intro 
 duction." 
 
 "Xonsense! " 
 
 She was ushered in directly. She was 
 dressed in heavy black silk and mantle of 
 fur, her bonnet was of dark velvet the 
 shade of the fur, and a handsome lace veil 
 which was attached to it was thrown back, 
 showing her lovely face just surrounded 
 by a rim of white, with purple flowers 
 over her forehead. It seems to go against 
 all the ordinary canons of taste, but the 
 white was becoming to her nevertheless. 
 It was a sort of background for the daz 
 zling whiteness of her complexion, from 
 which no soft rose-flush ever went and 
 came, but which was illumined by the 
 rich blue of her beautiful eyes. It was 
 so much her natural instinct to be cour 
 teous that she would have met my hus 
 band just as she did, under any circum 
 stances, warmly through her love for me, 
 with kindly remembrance from his hav 
 ing been a guest once in her own house 
 
 in Boston, as well as a friend of her de 
 ceased husband. The allusion to their 
 former meeting was frank and outspoken, 
 but quickly passed by for other themes, 
 and it was impossible not to feel that the 
 door was permanently closed upon any 
 further mention of it. 
 
 A northeast snow-storm had just set 
 in, a blustering reminder of my perils of 
 ,the previous winter, and I rehearsed a 
 few experiences, which were as yet new 
 to Leonardus, and we all chatted gayly. 
 Presently, there was a flutter and a wel 
 come, and Spicy was creating a little 
 ripple in the air by her presence in the 
 room. She wore one of her pretty, fresh 
 merinos, a garnet I think it was, and all 
 the dainty, crisp bits of lace and bows 
 of ribbon that are among the crowning 
 triumphs of millinery seemed to have 
 lighted upon her neck and wrists. 
 
 " I am expecting Fred every mo 
 ment," she said, smiling. " He has gone 
 to the cars to meet his brother, and if he 
 finds him, and he can be persuaded, he 
 is going to bring him directly here for 
 me to inspect." 
 
 " And what if the brother does not 
 suit the bride? " asked Leonardus. 
 
 "It will be a grave consideration," 
 replied Spicy. 
 
 "And what of the brother's wife?" 
 I asked. 
 
 " Oh ! did I forget to tell you ? She 
 is not coming now. Fred has had a tele 
 gram. Dr. Gildersleeve has left her at a 
 German cure where they hold out hopes 
 of her ultimate recovery. He will re 
 turn to her after he has seen us safely 
 married, and attended to a few business- 
 matters. He has struck oil. That is, 
 the company that he has stock in, have
 
 GENERAL BELMORE'S ADVICE TO SPICY. 
 
 129 
 
 struck, and lie is likely to have his pock 
 ets well lined." 
 
 Then we all fell to discussing the oil 
 question. I had always considered it a 
 sort of lottery enterprise, and had been 
 very much opposed to any investment 
 of our funds in that direction. Cousin 
 Phil had sunk all his own and his moth 
 er's property in the region of a Michigan 
 well, and was there now waiting for 
 something to turn up. Others had met 
 with like misfortune. Oil had suddenly 
 become the great topic of the day. Men 
 of all classes and conditions were excited 
 on the subject. A few shrewd minds 
 and well-formed companies had won. 
 Ministers and editors had, in many in 
 stances, invested, while careful business 
 men superintended operations. That Dr. 
 Gildersleeve should have bought shares 
 did not surprise me, but I begged of Leo- 
 nardus to run no risks. 
 
 Mrs. Vance took the earliest moment 
 for leaving, and as Leonardus returned 
 to the house 9 after having handed her 
 to the carriage, I asked him what he 
 thought of her. 
 
 " That the secret and charm of her 
 singular sway over the intellect is not 
 only her genius, but her genius all warm 
 with the woman. She perplexes the 
 fancy, and affects unconsciously those 
 among whom she is thrown, as the mag 
 net the metal. In my opinion she un 
 derstands the world far better than the 
 world understands, or ever will under 
 stand, her." 
 
 "And what about the dinner-party? 
 I feel as if that little point must be set 
 tled." 
 
 "Give as many dinner-parties as 
 
 you like. Invite Mrs. Vance by all 
 9 
 
 means. She will settle the question, 
 herself." 
 
 "Do you mean that you think she 
 will decline my invitation? " 
 
 "I do." 
 
 Spicy was just leaving the room, see 
 ing no doubt that our married eyes were 
 quite content with one another. Leo 
 nardus stopped her. 
 
 "Spicy, have you ever spoken to 
 Fred about those old letters and their 
 contents ? " 
 
 "No. Why?" 
 
 "Because I don't think it is right 
 that you should. They concern two per 
 sons whom we have come to highly re 
 gard, and with whom we are very nearly 
 connected. The Gildersleeve family, it 
 seems, never knew of Grandison's early 
 love-affair, and the facts which have be 
 come so painfully apparent to us ought 
 not to be by any possibility betrayed. 
 Don't you agree with me ? " 
 
 "Yes. But it is dreadful to think I 
 must keep a secret from my husband ! 
 I wish we had never found the letters ; 
 I always said no good would come of it ! 
 I knew from the first that we should be 
 sorry that we read them! and I had 
 the feeling that they were to be mixed 
 up with my destiny, and they are. I 
 commenced telling Fred about the ghost 
 one evening, but he interrupted me to 
 tell a ghost-story of his own, and I forgot 
 to finish mine. As for the old picture, 
 I was keeping that to surprise Mm with 
 on our wedding-day. I suppose I ought 
 to bury the whole subject, since one 
 point cannot be touched without ex 
 plaining the whole. But it will be the 
 cloud of my life." 
 
 "You are a dear, good, reasonable
 
 130 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 girl ! " I exclaimed, throwing my arm 
 around her. "The cost to you will he 
 trifling, in comparison to the disagree- 
 ahle embarrassment which may he 
 warded from others by your darling 
 caution." 
 
 " They've come ! " she exclaimed, 
 springing toward the window, as two 
 gentlemen alighted from a hack in front 
 of the house. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE BRIDE AND THE BEOTHEB. 
 
 IT was a pleasant meeting for us all. 
 Fred Gildersleeve introduced his brother 
 to his promised bride, with very much 
 the air of ft man who was reciting a 
 poem of which he was exceedingly fond. 
 It was interesting to watch his face, 
 while he was watching them. Dr. Gil 
 dersleeve brought a full bouquet of roses 
 to Spicy's cheeks by remarking : 
 
 " It is no longer a matter of surprise 
 to me that the Benedict was ensnared." 
 
 I was glad to meet Dr. Gildersleeve 
 for many reasons, and Leonardus shook 
 his hand with the utmost cordiality. 
 Outwardly there were few points of re 
 semblance between the two brothers, 
 except in height and physique. They 
 towered above ordinary mortals, and 
 were both men of remarkably fine pres 
 ence. Fred was dark, and the wavy, 
 brown hair, which we had read of in the 
 love-correspondence, was getting more 
 wavy and brown every day, and an ele 
 gant mustache set off his handsome face 
 to great advantage. Spicy's young-lady 
 friends pronounced him " splendidly fas 
 cinating," and represented themselves as 
 
 dying with envy, and, were there any 
 more such in New York if they should 
 go on there and attend a boarding- 
 school ? 
 
 Dr. Gildersleeve was lighter, fairer, 
 older, but one whom it would be difficult 
 to pass in the street without a second 
 look. He had an attractive face ; char 
 acter, culture, and power, shone from it. 
 I esteemed him much the handsomer 
 man of the two, but there is no account 
 ing for tastes. His active brain and 
 cheerful mien kept reminding me of the 
 little verse : 
 
 " God means every man to bo happy, be 3nre ; 
 He sends us no sorrows that have not some cure. 
 Our duty down here is to do, not to know ; 
 live as though life were earnest, and life will be so." 
 
 I noticed that he never spoke of his 
 wife, except when questioned. 
 
 "I think she is afflicted with some 
 terrible malady," said Spicy, when we 
 were alone again, " because I notice that 
 same peculiarity in Fred. He seems to 
 avoid the subject, and once or twice has 
 remarked upon the eminence his brother 
 might have attained in scholarship but 
 for domestic interventions and constant 
 nursings. He says Grandison is a great 
 thinker, a ready writer, just saturated 
 through and through with genius; in 
 fact, got all the brains in the family, and 
 all the goodness, too. It makes me laugh 
 to hear him go on. He says he would 
 like to be as good as his brother, but he 
 wasn't born to it; he only h olds on to 
 good principles by the edges, the greater 
 part of the plank escapes him ! " 
 
 " We must find out whether Dr. Gil 
 dersleeve was really the author of that 
 new volume of ' Synonymes,' which Mrs. 
 Vanca was showing us last week. You 
 know what we thought about it."
 
 THE BEAUTIFUL WEEK BEFORE MARRIAGE. 
 
 131 
 
 " Yes, it was lie ; I inquired of Fred. 
 And he is just now upon the eve of pub 
 lishing another large work. Fred has 
 copies of all the books he has written, 
 and after we get back from Washington 
 I am going to make myself familiar with 
 every page of them." 
 
 " Washington ! My dear child, that 
 word makes me think of twenty things 
 which ought to be done this very day. 
 I have put too much off until the last 
 week, which is always my way, you 
 know. I am glad you are more sys 
 tematic and sensible. No thanks to me, 
 you have been my example for many 
 months, instead of I yours, which would 
 have been more according to Hoyle." 
 
 "Don't disparage yourself, Meddie; 
 you are the darlingest sister in the 
 world " 
 
 "As well as the most improvident. 
 I am glad I have you to defend me." 
 
 "Mrs. Yance will step into every 
 niche you leave unfilled, as usual " 
 
 "There it is, again ' as usual.' It is 
 true, and very humiliating to reflect how 
 much I do lean upon Mrs. Vance. I wish 
 I had ever been able to stand alone." 
 
 I did not give the dinner-party, but 
 both Dr. Gildersleeve and Fred dined 
 with us nearly every day until the great 
 day of days. It was a beautiful week 
 a sort of enchanted episode partic 
 ularly to the lovers. But you know the 
 story. When you lived it you did not 
 find it tame, or old, or commonplace. 
 It is sweet and sacred to all who have 
 ever dwelt in the charmed atmosphere. 
 Spicy was not once flurried in the mat 
 ter of preparation, although she exer 
 cised a close supervision over every 
 thing appertaining to her toilet. Miss 
 
 Terrapin had bent to work under orders, 
 whether they suited her notions or other 
 wise, and her brideship was always ready 
 to receive and entertain Fred without 
 any apparent cares. Not so with your 
 humble servant. I was like Martha of 
 old, careful and troubled about much 
 serving. 
 
 Mrs. Vance did not come to see me 
 once. I was too busy to go to her, and, 
 consequently, we did not meet. I missed 
 her more than I could have made any 
 one believe, and fully realized how much 
 I had been in the habit of consulting her 
 in matters of every-day life. Fred, who 
 had been accustomed to see her at my 
 house so much since he first became a 
 visitor, noticed and commented upon her 
 absence. I heard him describing her to 
 his brother one evening, as among the 
 few women who really knew how to 
 handle a fortune consistently, and then 
 he entered into an elaborate picture of 
 her charities, her homes for the poor, 
 and her hospitals and good works gen 
 erally. Dr. Gildersleeve was interested, 
 and remarked that he should like to 
 know her. Ah, he little dreamed how 
 well he already knew her ! 
 
 I wondered if the meeting with Dr. 
 Gildersleeve was going to prove to her 
 a martyrdom as formidable as the fag 
 ots and the stake! For, of course, she 
 would meet him at the wedding, even if 
 she deserted me until then. Alas! I 
 had counted without my host. I awoke 
 one morning stranded on a barren shore. 
 A note was brought me from my sweet 
 friend, saying she had been summoned 
 to Buffalo to look after some long-un 
 settled business-matters connecter! with 
 the estate of her deceased brother, and
 
 132 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 should probably not return for some 
 weeks. She expressed regrets at being 
 compelled to forego the pleasure of mak 
 ing one of our happy number on Tues 
 day, and enclosed a darling little note 
 of congratulations and kind wishes to 
 Spicy. A little package was also deliv 
 ered by the same messenger, and tears 
 were swimming in the eyes of the bride 
 of to-morrow, as she held up for our in 
 spection an exquisite and costly set of 
 pearls. 
 
 Fred and Spicy were married in St. 
 James's Church. There was an unusual 
 display of elegant toilets on the occasion, 
 a crush of silk, gossamer, and lace it 
 was said that the creme de la creme of 
 both the north and south sides were 
 present the white-gloved, white-vested 
 ushers ran to and fro, and were all affa 
 bility and attention ; friends saw friends 
 and bowed from pew to pew, uninvited 
 guests crowded round the doors and in 
 the galleries, and the great organ pealed 
 forth a joyous strain. Then came the 
 hush ! and every eye was turned in 
 eager expectation. Yes, they were com 
 ing ! and, as the imposing party passed 
 up the aisle and divided to the right and 
 left, and Leonardus gave away the bride, 
 and the ceremony was duly solemnized, 
 there was a stillness which might have 
 revealed to quick ears the thuds of my 
 heart, for I remembered there and then 
 that I had forgotten to put on the broad 
 belt and buckle, the crowning glory of 
 my grand moire antique, and, what was 
 all the more painful, I remembered just 
 when I had forgotten it when Leonar 
 dus called me, and told me that I was 
 keeping the whole crowd in waiting. 
 But, as the happy pair turned to leave 
 
 the church, there was a change in the 
 programme, and the clearly-defined mur 
 mur of admiration which reached my 
 ears all along the route for I was not 
 far in their wake swelled my sisterly 
 heart almost to bursting, and led me into 
 the comforting assurance that my own 
 attire had not been criticised. I had, or 
 rather took, time to finish dressing be 
 fore taking my two hours' stand in the 
 parlors. The reception over, and then 
 came the adieus, and the wedding-party 
 were on their way to Washington. 
 
 I was anxious to finish the day better 
 than I had commenced it, so I straight 
 ened all my parlor furniture before I re 
 tired. I rolled one sofa over my foot, 
 and then cried. A little arnica relieved 
 the pain, and a cup of coffee put me to 
 sleep. It keeps most people awake, but 
 I am sorry to say that I am not like most 
 people. The next day Maggie found me 
 crying again, and asked me what was 
 the matter, and I told her that Bright 
 had shut the door against my finger and 
 pinched it. Later, the cook came to ask 
 me some trivial question, and was greatly 
 distressed to find me crying, and I ap 
 peased her anxiety by telling her that I 
 had just discovered that the sewer was 
 out of order, and was overwhelmed with 
 dread at the prospect of having plumbers 
 in the house. Last of all, Leonardus came 
 late to dinner and found me crying ! He 
 learned, to his infinite amusement, that I 
 had come to grief because the pea-soup 
 was cold! He spent the evening with 
 me, and tried to teach me the glorious 
 principle of taking life as I found it. I 
 had not lost a sister, I had only added to 
 my possessions a brother, and still had a 
 husband who would shield me from want
 
 PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION. 
 
 133 
 
 and provide for the morrow, and, as a 
 living evidence of the assertion, he took 
 ine in his arms, and with a smile, which 
 disclosed a depth in his nature I never 
 had known, he pulled the scarlet bow from 
 my throat and fastened my collar with 
 a new diamond brooch. And then he 
 talked to me as only a true lover can 
 talk, and the more I looked and listened 
 the more I discovered in him perfections 
 unnoticed before. Ah ! all that soul said 
 to soul, or that heart gained from heart, 
 in that blessed interview who shall en 
 roll ? "What is it that so often chills two 
 beings who are united for life ? Not the 
 absence of love so much as the ignorance 
 of how love is nourished by love. 
 
 "We expected that Fred and Spicy 
 would spend their first wedded year 
 with us; but, immediately after their 
 return from the bridal journey, there 
 was a change in their plans. Fred had 
 been more successful in some of his spec 
 ulations than he had even anticipated, 
 and decided to purchase a handsome mar 
 ble-front house on the avenue, which was 
 in the market at a bargain, and go to 
 house-keeping. They fitted it up prettily, 
 but did not furnish it all at once, reserv 
 ing their choicest selections until such 
 time as convenient to jaunt East together 
 and explore the world of art and beauty. 
 
 It was April before Mrs. Yauce re 
 turned, to find Spicy for a neighbor on 
 the next block below her. She called 
 immediately, but she declined Spicy's 
 first invitation to dinner, and did not 
 visit me quite as freely as heretofore, al 
 though there was not the slightest change 
 in her friendship or demeanor. Dr. Gil- 
 dersleeve was not with us often. I hoped 
 she was not staj^pg away through fear 
 
 of meeting him, but I dared not speak to 
 her on the subject. 
 
 And while I was revolving the ques 
 tion in my mind, the air was all at once 
 solemn with the tolling of bells ! Minute- 
 guns reverberated from mountain to 
 mountain across this great continent! 
 The cities, the towns, the hamlets of our 
 broad land were draped in mourning! 
 The nation's heart had been touched by 
 the finger of death ! The President of 
 the United States of America had been 
 felled by an assassin ! 
 
 Chicago was in tears. Men spoke to 
 each other on the streets with quivering 
 lips. Merchants closed their stores. Black 
 and white goods seemed to fall as with one 
 accord from every building. Five years 
 before that very month, the same city 
 blossomed with flags and echoed to the 
 booming of cannon, and the jubilations 
 of assembled thousands, as the news was 
 announced that the convention in the 
 Lake -Street "Wigwam had nominated 
 Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, as its stand 
 ard-bearer. Chicago honored and loved 
 him. It was in her courts that he first 
 laid deep and broad the foundation of 
 his legal attainments, and gained that 
 distinction which placed him peerless 
 among the ablest counsellors in the land. 
 It was Chicago who first summoned him 
 from comparative obscurity in a political 
 sense, and watched with pride his wrestle 
 with an able and cunning debater, until 
 his sagacity and honesty and purity had 
 been established beyond question. Chi 
 cago had sent him out a brave, earnest, 
 hopeful, Christian man to save the coun 
 try. And, just as his work was finished, 
 the Republic vindicated, its enemies over 
 thrown and suing for peace, he had
 
 134 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 been slain slain, while interposing the 
 hand of his great charity and mercy be 
 tween the wrath of the people and guilty 
 traitors ! 
 
 A few days later, and the people of 
 Chicago tenderly received his sacred 
 ashes, with bowed heads and streaming 
 eyes. No other community did itself 
 such peculiar honor by the vast magni 
 tude, the perfect order, and the solemn 
 beauty of the funeral obsequies. About 
 thirty-six thousand persons participated 
 as members of organized military, civic, 
 municipal, educational, religious, and 
 other associations, apart from at least 
 one hundred thousand citizens who 
 thronged the lino of the procession from 
 curb-stone to house-top. Leonardus was 
 one of the grand marshals, and took me 
 at evening to the broad hall in the 
 court-house above where the remains 
 were being viewed, and where over one 
 hundred of Chicago's best singers were 
 assembled, who, with soft, sweet, mel 
 ancholy strains, added sublimity to the 
 universal sorrow. A pitiless rain was 
 pouring upon the long lines of people 
 who surged through the rotunda during 
 the sad hours of the night, but it occa 
 sioned no diminution in their numbers. 
 At intervals dirges, both solos and con 
 certed pieces, were sung, suitable to the 
 time and place. At midnight a beautiful 
 and impressive dirge was chanted by all 
 present with thrilling effect. It was one 
 of the most interesting incidents of this 
 long-to-be-remembered occasion. 
 
 Charity ! Scarcely were the remains 
 of our loved chief magistrate laid in their 
 native earth, when charity was again the 
 theme in Chicago. Another Sanitary 
 Fair, to raise funds to minister to the 
 
 wounded and dying men of our armies; 
 a Fair prodigious in its proportions, gor 
 geous in its display, admirable in its ar 
 rangements. Chicago laid the corner 
 stone of the finest palace ever reared by 
 civilized humanity, when she inaugu 
 rated the first Sanitary Fair. New York, 
 Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Boston, and 
 other cities, reared thereon a glorious 
 superstructure, and now Chicago was 
 determined to crown the lofty dome 
 amid the clouds an everlasting monu 
 ment of the gratitude and generosity of 
 the American people. 
 
 The two great armies of the Union 
 were on the homeward route. They had 
 won magnificent victories, accomplished 
 vast results, came off more than con 
 querors, done and dared and suffered 
 all that men can do and dare and suffer 
 in the cause of popular government and 
 human freedom, and justice and right. 
 They were returning to exchange the 
 discomforts and privations of the camp 
 for their own firesides. They had poured 
 out their blood in rivers. They had left 
 their dead in thousands; but they had 
 crowned the nation with present bless 
 ings, and heaped up for it prospective 
 honors. Chicago was not content with 
 bestowing medals on the living, and rear 
 ing statues in memory of the fallen. Vet 
 erans, who had left positions of honor 
 and profit, which were now filled by 
 others, must be cared for. Those who 
 had come back incapacitated for work 
 by reason of wounds, must be cared for. 
 Hence this gigantic Fair, which culmi 
 nated in magnificent success. 
 
 I took an active part in the art and 
 trophy department, and was doomed to 
 four weeks of b?rd labor. Spicy \vas
 
 GENERALS GRANT AND SHERMAN. 
 
 135 
 
 there. Mrs. Vance was there, everybody 
 was there who was not in some other 
 department. No one thought of staying 
 at home while the Fair lasted. It was 
 a continuous holiday, a gay festival, 
 which was fully appreciated and enjoyed 
 hy visitors, though a season of incessant 
 toil to those who were employed therein. 
 But all were inspired by love for the 
 cause, and hardships were hailed as a 
 positive pleasure. And still, with steady 
 tramp, the heroic legions came not as 
 they went, with gay colors and full ranks, 
 but worn, weary, bronzed, with tattered 
 rags fluttering in the breeze, and vacant 
 places in their ranks. They were all 
 welcomed at the Fair by the truest 
 hearts that ever beat responsive to the 
 calls of gentle philanthropy. 
 
 Neither last nor least came our two 
 great generals, and enthusiasm was at 
 its height. I looked around me, wonder 
 ing whether the building would stand 
 the crush, or yield, like the Temple of 
 Dagon of the Philistines, under the press 
 ure of Sampson for surely I knew they 
 brought the gates of other cities with 
 them. Half bewildered I sau r Leonardus 
 among the celebrities on the platform, 
 and presently a rich, deep voice pro 
 nounced the words of welcome to our 
 illustrious guests in behalf of the man 
 agers of the Fair. It was that of Dr. 
 Gildersleeve. 
 
 General Grant called upon Governor 
 Yates, of Illinois, to respond for him, 
 which he did. The cry of the multitude 
 was then for General Sherman, who 
 arose and remarked pleasantly : 
 
 " I am not here for the purpose of 
 making a speech ; I am here, like your 
 selves, merely as a spectator. I have 
 
 always been ready to obey my loved 
 commander-in-chief, but I am sure he 
 will not order me to make a speech." 
 
 General Grant, standing near, smiled, 
 and, advancing, said : 
 
 " I never order a soldier to do any 
 thing that I cannot do myself." 
 
 How the hall rang with applause at 
 the happy retort ! 
 
 On some accounts distinction may be 
 desirable, but it is certainly invested with 
 many inconveniences and perplexities, 
 which detract sadly frorfi its pleasures. 
 I was led to that sage remark by the re 
 membrance of how General Grant made 
 many and hopeless efforts to see some 
 of the beauties of the Fair. The crowd 
 followed his most trifling movements. 
 We made one grand effort to inveigle 
 him into the picture-gallery, which was 
 one of the finest collections of paintings 
 ever exhibited on this continent ; but it 
 was a hopeless failure, and his arms were 
 nearly wrenched from his shoulders by 
 the eagerness of the multitude to grasp 
 his hand. Fred Gildersleeve said he 
 would rather be happy than great ; and 
 I thought Spicy, who stood leaning on 
 his arm, looked very much as if she co 
 incided in the same opinion. 
 
 Dr. Gildersleeve sailed for Europe in 
 July. A little later Leonardus took me 
 to the "White Mountains and to New 
 port, and during the autumn following 
 we went to Havana, so that for nearly 
 a year I spent but a few weeks at home. 
 When I once more returned to our newer 
 civilization and my corner house, I wag 
 introduced to a young lady who was the 
 fac-simile of my sister Spicy, as seen 
 through the wrong end of an opera-glass. 
 She was the baby of babies. There had
 
 136 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 never been another before her, in the es 
 timation of her delighted parents. Fred 
 stopped Leonardus on the street to tell 
 him the color of her eyes. Spicy told 
 me, to the hour and minute, how old she 
 was when she first laughed. 
 
 But if Miss Lulu Gildersleeve was the 
 most remarkable girl who ever crammed 
 her fists into her mouth, and screamed 
 when she was not rocked or jounced 
 about, then I hardly know how to im 
 press you with the importance of the 
 characteristics of the young Chicagoan, 
 Tobias, who appeared upon the stage of 
 action about a year and a half later, and 
 who could exact more attention, and 
 drive more nurses frantic, than any other 
 youth of his size in all the West 
 
 The years were gliding noiselessly by. 
 Stirring events were not the fashion any 
 more, either in city or household. We 
 had fallen naturally and easily into old 
 relations and habits, and Miss Terrapin 
 continued to quote me among her cus 
 tomers. Mrs. Vance was still my bosom 
 friend, and we both entered as heartily 
 and graciously as ever into any and every 
 plan which brought us together. We 
 fully reciprocated each other's entertain 
 ments and invitations ; we had our read 
 ings and our literary circles, and, except 
 that Mrs. Vance had gradually widened 
 the sphere of her acquaintance, there 
 was no perceptible change in the atmos 
 phere of onr intercourse. She was called 
 the brilliant Mrs. Vance by those who 
 were favored by an admittance to her 
 select little gatherings, but the subtle 
 undercurrent of her life was Christian 
 charity. The good she did in her quiet, 
 unpretending way could not be told in 
 a thousand volumes, and all the graces 
 
 of benevolence seemed to pursue in her 
 train. The poor followed her to praise 
 and to bless. She wrote occasionally, 
 sometimes a story so effective in narra 
 tive as to utterly astonish me ; then, 
 again, poetry would reel from her pen, 
 revealing sympathies ready and keen, 
 and a large, warm heart ineffably tender 
 and loving. She never published any 
 thing under her own name, but her im 
 personal articles frequently found their 
 way into the leading periodicals. She 
 was essentially healthy in mind and 
 body, and I felt that no one sooner than 
 she would have laughed to scorn sickly 
 fancies and imaginary woes. 
 
 Dr. Gildersleeve was in Chicago a 
 part of every year, and in Europe the 
 remainder. But he was always very 
 much engrossed while in the city, and 
 the collision between himself and Mrs. 
 Vance, which had seemed to me almost 
 inevitable, had never occurred. 
 
 Spicy's home had grown to be one 
 of the most charming in Chicago. They 
 had furnished it by degrees, never buying 
 any thing that was not the most choice, 
 as well as the most costly, of its kind. 
 Their parlors were gems of beauty, and 
 every thing was in the most perfect 
 taste; their paintings would have graced 
 the mansion of any connoisseur in art. 
 In the great whole they had studied ef 
 fect with so much effect, that the most 
 pleasing effect was produced. 
 
 Spicy named her second boy Grand- 
 ison, and received from his uncle on the 
 next Christmas an elegant little coupe, 
 and a pair of beautiful horses " nobby " 
 Fred called them as a token of his ap 
 preciation of the notice. Spicy was one 
 who rarely ever showed exultation over
 
 THE VILLA ON THE SOUND. 
 
 137 
 
 any thing of the kind; but, when she 
 drove over in her new carriage to call 
 upon and show it to me, her eyes were 
 ablaze with delight. I wished the giver 
 could have seen her with her whole soul 
 speaking from her face as I did, and he 
 would have realized the exquisite pleas 
 ure he had conferred. 
 
 "Dear Meddie," she said, "you know 
 how I have always wanted a carnage. 
 It has seemed of late as if my life, or 
 some one else's life, or something of ex 
 ceeding great magnitude, depended upon 
 it ; and yet, I would not for the world 
 have been so foolish as to have asked 
 Fred to buy one until we were older, 
 and more dignified and sedate. Now it 
 has come unexpectedly, just as every 
 other good thing has come to me all my 
 life ! Isn't it nice ? Don't you like the 
 trimmings? Oh, I am so happy with 
 it!" 
 
 Leonardus had business that prom 
 ised to detain him in New York City 
 through most of the summer of 1871, 
 and he went out to a little village of 
 villas on Long Island Sound, and rented 
 a furnished cottage. It was a beautiful 
 point, shaded and picturesque. I en 
 joyed the salt air and sea-bathing, and 
 Bright was happy as a young king, with 
 his twenty acres of private play-ground 
 and his cliffs and grand old trees. 
 
 Fred and Spicy made us a flying visit 
 in August, and it so happened that Mrs. 
 Vance was able to time her summer's 
 journey to meet them at our house. 
 "We exhausted our country resources for 
 their amusement ; fished and rowed and 
 yachted, played croquet, took lessons in 
 swimming, and drove over the fine roads 
 in our little dog-cart. Last of all we 
 
 went on a shopping- expedition to the 
 city, in view of a gay winter in Chicago. 
 
 We had done all the prominent stores 
 pretty thoroughly, and were hurrying 
 toward the New-Haven train with our 
 hands full of packages, when Spicy re 
 membered that she had promised to call 
 upon a friend in Harlem, and this would 
 be her only opportunity. Mrs. Vance 
 proposed to go directly home, while I 
 went with Spicy to the Third- Avenue 
 cars. "We had to stand at first, as peo 
 ple who ride there usually do, but at 
 last obtained seats by squeezing in be 
 tween two large women. "When we 
 went to get out at One Hundred and 
 Twentieth Street I missed my pocket- 
 book. I told Spicy on the platform of 
 the car. She thought we had better 
 look for it, and while we were talking 
 the car started. I spoke to the con 
 ductor, and he looked on the floor to 
 see if I had dropped it. I stepped in 
 and assisted in the search. 
 
 " "Wall, indade, an' I thought it was 
 you yourself, Mrs. Belmore. Say, an' 
 have ye got a good cook now ? I'm jest 
 lookin' for a place, an' I makes things 
 illigant you know, an' I can come right 
 away too." 
 
 It was the large woman, who had 
 been sitting next me, who thus ad 
 dressed me, and it took but a second 
 look for me to recognize in her my Ann 
 of Chicago memory. 
 
 "How do you do?" I said, pleas 
 antly. " Did you see my pocket-book ? " 
 
 "Bless your dare heart, an' was it 
 yours sure? I picked one up on the 
 floor here it is ! " and my property was 
 again in my possession, to my great de 
 light. ""Where do ye live, ma'am? I
 
 138 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 can go right away with ye I'm all 
 riddy." 
 
 "No, I don't want a cook; I'm 
 obliged to you." 
 
 Spicy had stopped the car, and I 
 stepped along to get out. 
 
 "You have taken us somewhat out 
 of our way," she remarked to the con 
 ductor. 
 
 " Sit right down, ladies, and I will 
 take you back again," he replied. 
 
 "We both remonstrated, but the horses 
 were taken off one end of the car and 
 attached to the other end, and we were 
 set down at the right corner. We both 
 laughed ; it was a courtesy never before 
 shown us on a public conveyance. As 
 the conductor assisted us off, he lifted 
 his hat, and said : 
 
 "Tell General Belmore that Tom 
 Harris remembers his kindness at Vicks- 
 burg," and as we had to hurry to the 
 sidewalk, to get out of the way of a 
 carriage, we had no chance to reply, 
 for the horses speedily came round to 
 the fore-end of the car, and it started 
 off at a brisk rate to make up for lost 
 time. 
 
 "Poor Ann; so she has not acquired 
 honesty by length of years," I said. 
 
 " And yet she cooks jest as illigant as 
 ever," remarked Spicy, with a laugh. 
 ""Who ever expected to meet her again? 
 It has brought that old ghost-affair all 
 fresh to my mind. It was very myste 
 rious about that apparition in the blue- 
 room, wasn't it ? " 
 
 CHAPTER XVIIL 
 DE. GILDERSLEEVE'S SUNDAY-EVENING 
 
 CALL. 
 
 IT was one Sunday evening, shortly 
 after our return from the sea-shore, that 
 we were agreeably surprised by a call 
 from Dr. Gildersleeve. He had arrived 
 in the city on Saturday morning, and 
 taken rooms at the Sherman House. He 
 had brought his wife with him this time, 
 although she was able to be moved only 
 on a bed. Her mother, Mrs. Hortense, 
 was in attendance, but herself suffering 
 with a sprained ankle. He had been so 
 fortunate as to secure in New York an 
 old nurse who had lived with them while 
 in Peculiarville, and congratulated him 
 self that the ladies would both receive 
 all necessary care. 
 
 I expressed great interest, and asked 
 if a call from me would be agreeable to 
 them. 
 
 " Certainly. But Mrs. Gildersleeve's 
 mental condition is such that I am afraid 
 it will afford you but poor satisfaction. 
 During the past twelve years she has had 
 but few lucid intervals, and I have but 
 little hope left that her reason will ever 
 be restored." 
 
 A gust of wind blew the front-door 
 open, and Leonardus sprang to close it. 
 
 "Did you see the fire last night?" 
 he asked, addressing Dr. Gildersleeve. 
 
 " Yes. I was in the editorial office, 
 writing an article for the next issue of 
 my paper, when I was informed of it, 
 and went over to the west side. I saw 
 Dr. Greer at work upon the roof of one 
 of his large buildings, endeavoring to 
 save it, and, knowing there was but one 
 means of exit, I considered him in great
 
 THE WONDERS OF CHICAGO. 
 
 139 
 
 danger, and with much difficulty suc 
 ceeded in gaining admission in order to 
 warn him. The danger was averted, 
 however, and we remained together all 
 night on the roof, looking down upon 
 the many burning blocks, the greatest 
 conflagration it will probably ever be 
 our lot to witness." 
 
 " Have you seen Spicy ? " I asked. 
 
 "Yes, I ran in a few moments yes 
 terday. "What a charming mother she 
 makes! I found her entertaining her 
 three little ones with a miniature veloci 
 pede, which she had just bought. My pre 
 cocious little namesake was Intent upon 
 experimenting personally, and toddled 
 after the contrivance until it was over 
 taken, and he had crowned his ambition 
 by a seat upon it. Poor fellow! he 
 took his first lesson in the perishability 
 of earthly joys," and a rare smile played 
 over the face of the speaker. 
 
 "Did you see Fred in New York? " 
 asked Leonardus. 
 
 " Yes, I stopped at the St. Nicholas, 
 where he stays. He will be home in 
 about two weeks. He is making so much 
 money that I am afraid he will not know 
 what to do with it, and I have been ad 
 vising him to take a rest. I know of 
 no one more supremely blessed than he 
 seems to be in his business, and in his 
 family. He ought to be, and is, I be 
 lieve, fully appreciative." 
 
 "Was he drawing comparisons, this 
 man of such singular balance of char 
 acter, and the records of whose honor 
 able and prosperous career were so de 
 void of blemish? My thoughts were 
 turned into another channel, the next 
 moment, by his remark : 
 
 " General Belmore, it strikes me that 
 
 in all modern history there is nothing 
 quite so marvellous and captivating as 
 the growth of Chicago. I am more and 
 more impressed with it every time I re 
 turn from abroad. The immense hotels 
 and business-blocks which have shot into 
 being within the last five or six years, 
 stop me in wonder as I pass them. It 
 appears almost incredible that the site 
 of such a city as Chicago is to-day, 
 should, forty years ago, have been only 
 a great, reedy, miasmatic marsh on the 
 shore of an inland sea ! and that an 
 even dozen of log-cabins gave shelter to 
 less than a hundred fur-dealers. See I 
 it is but a few years since, tired of 
 the mud and marsh and miasma, she 
 lifted herself to six or eight feet of 
 higher level. I shall never forget my 
 sensations when I first saw large hotels 
 suspended in the air, while new founda 
 tions were being laid and new base 
 ments built. There seems never to have 
 been any project too bold, or enterprise 
 too great, for her to undertake. She has 
 been sufficient for herself in all emer 
 gencies. She takes rank with great 
 capitals. Hers, after New York, is the 
 best-known name in Europe, and there 
 is no story too wild in relation to her 
 but will obtain credence there. Now, 
 since the bridges have not been found 
 adequate to the demand for travel across 
 the river, highways have been construct 
 ed underneath, and to conquer that same 
 river, which was obstinate about dis 
 charging its filth into the lake, the lake 
 has not only been turned into the river, 
 but the whole emptied into the Gulf of 
 Mexico! " 
 
 Leonardus, half reclining on the 
 lounge, with his cigar in the tips of his
 
 140 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 fingers, laughed, without answering im 
 mediately. 
 
 " And yet the whole world, and Eu 
 rope in particular, will persist in styling 
 us ' brags, 1 if we by chance mention 
 such facts. I think that if there is any 
 class of men entitled to the privilege of 
 bragging, it is those who have lent their 
 aid toward making Chicago what she 
 is," he said, at last. 
 
 "What a gale!" I exclaimed, start 
 ing up as one of the shutters came 
 against the window with such force as 
 to shiver a pane of glass. 
 
 " It is a terrible night ! I believe I 
 will hurry back to the hotel before the 
 rain sets in. These southwest winds are 
 portentous," and Dr. Gildersleeve rose 
 and buttoned his coat 
 
 Leonardus went to the door with 
 him. He called me directly to see the 
 new fire, which was lighting up the 
 heavens with a strange, unnatural hue. 
 Dr. Gildersleeve said it must be full five 
 miles away. Leonardus remarked : 
 
 " You go to bed, Meddie, and I will 
 walk over to the south side with Dr. 
 Gildersleeve and see where it is." 
 
 " Oh, don't 1 " I exclaimed, with 
 much anxiety in my look and tone. 
 
 "Never fear, wifey, I sha'n't go to 
 the fire; I shall be back in an hour 
 at farthest," and he kissed me and 
 went on. 
 
 People were just hurrying home from 
 church through streets brilliant with gas, 
 some being drifted along without effort 
 of their own in a northerly direction, 
 while others were contending against 
 the sharp storm of dust in order to reach 
 localities nearer the river. One of my 
 servants, who had had a " Sunday out," 
 
 returned just then, and, seeing me in the 
 door-way, turned to come up the steps, 
 and was blown against the railing with 
 such force that her hand was bleeding. 
 I took hold of her and helped her in, and 
 it required all of our united force to close 
 the door. The gas-jets in the hall and 
 parlor had all been extinguished by the 
 fury of the blast, and we had to relight 
 them. 
 
 I was not robust in health, and 
 thought best to retire. My room was in 
 the northeast corner of the house, the 
 most remote from the street, and the 
 least likely to be penetrated by noise or 
 disturbance. I drew my shutters to 
 gether close, and pulled down the shades. 
 The bells rung near by for a few minutes, 
 and then stopped. I wondered how the 
 fire would be subdued in the face of such 
 a wind, and wondered who would be 
 able to alleviate the ocean of misery it 
 must occasion. 
 
 I fell asleep, but only to dream of 
 Leonardus and fire-bells. I waked sev 
 eral times, just enough to think, "Why, 
 the whole world must be on fire ! " but 
 I slept again after each waking. A little 
 past midnight I started up, whirled up 
 the window-shade and looked out. The 
 heavens were one broad, lurid glare, ex 
 cept when great black fiery columns of 
 smoke rushed past. The sight appalled 
 me. Where was Leonardus ? Why had 
 he not returned? What fearful disaster 
 was impending over Chicago ? 
 
 I shivered with cold or nervousness, 
 it mattered not which, and I drew down 
 the shade again and got into bed and cov 
 ered my head with the bedclothes ; but 
 I slept no more. I was hearkening, con 
 stantly, for Leonardus's step in the hall.
 
 BRIGHT'S PICTURE UPON IVORY. 
 
 141 
 
 He would certainly come soon to tell me 
 the terrible news, whatever it was. I 
 could hear men screaming and swearing 
 in the distant street; I could hear a 
 strange roar, which I supposed was the 
 wind. Then came a jar, and a reverbera 
 tion like distant thunder. 
 
 What was that? My door-bell! 
 ringing, ringing, ringing ! "Would it not 
 stop long enough for me to get to it? 
 Leonardus must have lost his key. Down 
 the stairs I flew, not even taking the 
 precaution to throw a shawl about me. 
 No, it was not Leonardus ; it was Mrs. 
 Vance's coachman, and he wanted to 
 bring Mrs. Chafferlee, Mrs. Vance's dear 
 aunt Mary, in. Would I help him? 
 Why, what is the matter is the whole 
 south side on fire ? Yes, and Mrs. Vance 
 had sent her to me for safety. 
 
 I caught a water-proof from the hat- 
 rack it was singularly fortunate that 
 it should have happened to have been 
 there, one good result of negligent house 
 keeping and ran out to the carriage 
 with bare feet. What help could I ren 
 der, slight, frail, weak creature that I 
 was, and Mrs. Chafferlee, though much 
 emaciated by reason of old age and long 
 illness, being of a large, bony frame, full 
 twice my size ? 
 
 " I can get hold of her, ma'am, only 
 I am rough-like and hurt her," said the 
 kind-hearted coachman. 
 
 "Never mind, never mind. Make 
 haste; I want you should get back to 
 Ida," came from the feeble voice inside. 
 
 The great, clumsy fellow grabbed her 
 and ran up the steps, I holding upon the 
 skirts of her dress just enough to retard 
 his free progress. He laid her upon the 
 sofa in the parlor, for he was afraid he 
 
 should drop her if he undertook to as 
 cend a flight of stairs. Then he ran and 
 brought in a basket, and a bundle of 
 loose things tied up in a shawl. 
 
 When he was gone, I tried to light 
 the gas, and it would not burn. I won 
 dered if any thing had happened to the 
 gas-works. The room was almost as 
 light as day, however. I got a pillow 
 for Mrs. Chafferlee, and fanned her, for 
 she seemed faint. Some of Mrs. Vance's 
 valuables, I supposed them to be, had 
 scattered through the hall when the 
 coachman threw them in, by the unty 
 ing of the shawl which held them, and 
 I went out and gathered them up. I 
 did not stop to look at them, I only 
 noticed a jewel-case, some packages of 
 papers, marked important, a small ledger, 
 and could it be possible ! yes, the very 
 identical little picture of Bright, upon 
 ivory, which I had given to Nursy Brown 
 eight years before ! 
 
 The whole mystery of that "person " 
 was thus suddenly revealed. I saw it all 
 her incomparable goodness, and the 
 greatness of the woe which could have 
 driven her to such a refuge. And the 
 germ of all that love, with which she 
 had since been bound to me ah, the 
 secret she had probably intended to keep 
 until her death ! What a strange, new 
 light had burst upon me what a horrid 
 light was glaring in from without ! . 
 
 I must dress. I could not be running 
 about the house in that condition, and 
 people coming, too. Others might fly 
 to us as well as Mrs. Vance. I called 
 Bright, my little man of ten years, and 
 told him to slip on his clothes and run 
 down and stay with " Aunt Mary," while 
 I made my toilet. Had I better call the
 
 142 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 servants? Monday was a busy day for 
 them, and it was hard that they should 
 Jose their sleep. 
 
 I had got my hair up respectably, 
 topsies and all, when I concluded I had 
 better call the servants, and ran through 
 into the wing where they slept. It was 
 their first waking, and they were stunned 
 with the horrid spectacle from without. 
 
 " The fire is on this side of the river, 
 I am sure," said Maggie, who was one 
 of those rare appendages to the house 
 hold who had proved faithful for many 
 years. 
 
 " Oh, it can't be ; there is no danger 
 here," I replied. 
 
 "And the clothes-lines will all be 
 getting full of soot and dust, and I shall 
 have such a boggle about drying my 
 clothes this week again," whined Esther, 
 the cook. 
 
 I hurried to my room and took down 
 a heavy alpaca dress to put on ; then the 
 heat was so great, or I was feverish, and 
 I changed it for a lighter material. I 
 could not find my collar with the double 
 points, and then I took a distaste to the 
 Roman scarf I had worn that Sunday, 
 and actually spent several minutes hunt 
 ing for a " made bow " of scarlet, with 
 which to adorn my throat. My over 
 shoes were lying upon the floor in one 
 corner of my room, and, without know 
 ing why, I put them on ; then I spread 
 up my bed, put away my brush and 
 comb, picked up loose pins, and stuck 
 them in the cushion, and, last of all, took 
 down a little feather-duster, which al 
 ways hung by the window, and dusted 
 the bureau and table. I was literally 
 setting my house in order. 
 
 Bright called me. "Aunt Mary" 
 
 was so still and didn't speak to him, and 
 he was afraid something was the matter 
 with her. His eyes were very large 
 they resembled two luminous fire-balls 
 and I ran my hand through his soft hair to 
 reassure him. I found she had fainted 
 quite away, and threw some water in 
 her face, which had been left in the par 
 lor overnight, and she breathed again 
 presently. Once she spoke : 
 
 " It seems as if the last great day had 
 come. I am afraid Ida will be trampled 
 to death. She got out of the carriage to 
 help a poor woman." 
 
 " Good Heavens !" I exclaimed. " But 
 Richard will surely find her," I said, a 
 moment after. 
 
 The noise without grew louder and 
 more ominous. It seemed as if a legion 
 of demons had been let loose in the 
 streets. Then there was a jar, like the 
 one I had hoard before, which stilled, or 
 seemed to still, for an instant, the surg 
 ing crowds. Could it be thunder, while 
 the stars were shining ? for I had seen 
 them a moment ago. No ; it was gun 
 powder, and the terrible suspicion flashed 
 upon me even then. Bright, peering 
 through the lace on the vestibule-win 
 dows, saw blazing sparks and bits of 
 burning wood light in our front-yard. 
 
 " Mamma, our house is catching ! "We 
 must run! Come, come, come! " ho 
 screamed, tugging at my garments. 
 
 I looked out, and surely a wall of fire 
 was advancing upon our midnight help 
 lessness. Where, oh, where was Leo- 
 nardus? Where was Mrs. Vance ? What 
 should I do with Mrs. Chafferlee ? I put 
 my two arms around Bright and groaned. 
 But the man in him was not for stand 
 ing there idle.
 
 THE MIDNIGHT ESCAPE. 
 
 143 
 
 " Let me go for a carriage, mamma ! " 
 
 " My boy, how could I let you out into 
 that terrible street ? J ' and so great was 
 the roar and din, as if earth and sky were 
 rushing to ruin together, that I had to 
 raise my voice to be distinctly heard. 
 
 Bright put his face close to the win 
 dow once more, and I stood looking 
 through, just above him. The fire was 
 tearing madly among the beautiful man 
 sions not a block away. In different 
 directions a dozen great sweeping scythes 
 of flame seemed trying to outrun, and 
 then made horrible dashes into each 
 other. The swirls of smoke and sparks 
 swept over the fire-chased throngs be 
 fore our eyes. Frantic men were drag 
 ging bundles and trunks-; women were 
 running in their night-clothes ; little chil 
 dren, with ghastly faces, were visible 
 now and then, and afterward lost to onr 
 sight ; trucks, filled with goods and peo 
 ple, and carriages, drawn by struggling, 
 foaming horses, and lined with white, 
 scared faces, were flying on, on, onward. 
 
 "Is it hell, mamma? and will it 
 overtake us . anywhere, that you don't 
 try to get away ? " came from the philo 
 sophic little boy, and I had no answer to 
 give in my terror-dazed despair. 
 
 What is that? a carriage stopping ? 
 Who yes, it is Leonardus! And I 
 opened the door, admitting a volume of 
 smoke and ashes and flying gravel into 
 the hall, which nearly put out my eyes. 
 He was already upon the steps ; his hat 
 was gone, a piece of blue mosquito-net 
 ting was tied over his forehead and eyes, 
 and his coat was torn and dangling in 
 shreds about him. I should have rushed 
 into his arms with a cry of joy, but he 
 put me back : 
 
 " Not a minute to lose, wifey. Oatch 
 something in your hands what you care 
 to save most call the servants. Bright, 
 spring into the carriage. I'll carry out 
 Mrs. Chafferlee." 
 
 " What I care to save most ! " I re 
 peated to myself, as I flew wildly to my 
 room. I opened a closet-door and took 
 down an Astrakhan cloak and put it on, 
 pulled the counterpane from the bed, 
 spread it on the floor, and, from a bu 
 reau-drawer, pulled out a quantity of 
 underwear, rolled it up, and, with the 
 bundle in my hand, rushed down to the 
 door. The wind took my bundle from 
 me, and nearly twisted me over the rail 
 ing of the steps. In a moment Leonar 
 dus had his arm firmly round my waist, 
 and assisted me to the carriage. Maggie 
 was there already, supporting Mrs. Chaf- 
 ferlee'-s head in her arms. Esther was 
 waiting to get in, and was begging some 
 one to go for her trunk. Bright came 
 running with his cat and his dog, one 
 under each arm, and his stamp-album 
 in his hand. Last of all Leonardus 
 pushed in my bundle, slammed the door 
 there was no room for him and told 
 Richard to drive to Mrs. Grant's, on 
 Clark Street, about two miles farther 
 north. 
 
 Great firebrands were falling all about 
 us, and the horses reared, plunged, and 
 snorted. At the very first move forward 
 the wheels were interlocked with those 
 of a heavy omnibus, and I thought we 
 were going to be hopelessly' broken 
 down. Diagonally across the street a 
 handsome three-story house was burn 
 ing ; and, looking back to see what had 
 become of Leonardus, I was just in time 
 to witness the huge serpent of hissing
 
 144 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 flame which was springing from the roof 
 of our own darling cottage. Where had 
 it come from, and how could it have got 
 there so soon ? Ten minutes more, and 
 only a pile of red-hot emhers marked 
 where our home had been. There were 
 dense eddies of smoke all ahout us, which 
 every now and then cleared away with 
 brilliant scintillations. The moving fig 
 ures appeared like imps of brimstone. 
 Our terrified horses began to neigh, and 
 it was with difficulty that they were 
 urged along. I was more like one dead 
 than living. I saw, and yet I felt that 
 I saw not. 
 
 " Isn't that Miss Terrapin ? " screamed 
 Bright in my ears. 
 
 I looked the wrong way. He put his 
 hand on my face, and turned it round to 
 where two women were drawing an 
 other woman in a chair. But they were 
 too far behind now for me to recognize 
 them, even if they had been persons 
 whom I knew. 
 
 " The lady with her beckoned to us, 
 and threw out her arms, and I think she 
 screamed," continued Bright. 
 
 " I suppose so everybody screams," 
 I replied. 
 
 I should not have spoken quite so 
 mechanically if I had known that it was 
 Mrs. Vance herself who had made a fran 
 tic effort to arrest the attention of her 
 own coachman, and who was toiling 
 along on foot, determined to save other 
 life than her own, in the maddened 
 crowd, with the great, blasting, seething, 
 reeking sea of fire chasing and exhaust 
 ing her. 
 
 Would the wilting wind never die? 
 In one awful moment a bright blaze 
 seemed to detach itself from the main 
 
 body and leaped over our heads, drop 
 ping down into the street about a block 
 in advance, rendering the whole pathway 
 a sea of flame. What should we do ? To 
 turn back was certain death. The side- 
 streets were already blockaded. It was 
 only go on. Eichard applied the lash, 
 and the excited animals tore through the 
 passage. We bounded against vehicle 
 after vehicle once with such force that 
 Bright was thrown against the glass in 
 the carriage-window, breaking it. 
 
 Saved! but stop, there is a wagon 
 on fire loaded with mattresses, and a lady 
 in her night-clothes leaping from it. She 
 is all ablaze ! Who will help her? 
 
 "Eichard, Eichard, leave your horses 
 and run to her ! No, some humane indi 
 vidual has anticipated you, and the fire 
 about her person is extinguished. But 
 stop, I say ; let me call to her." 
 
 " Dear me, and you wouldn't carry 
 my trunk, and the towels are in it that 
 my good mother sent me all the way 
 from Ireland ! " growled Esther. 
 
 It was impossible to 1 induce the horses 
 to stand still, and a man, who could think 
 of others as well as himself in that awful 
 hour, took them by the head, and I 
 seized the lady by her hand and drew 
 her into the carriage with us. 
 
 "I don't know where you are going 
 to get the room if you invite all the folks 
 you pass to ride," continued the grum 
 bling Esther. 
 
 " Let me curl down anywhere," cried 
 the lady, with a frantic gesture. 
 
 Should we ever get to our haven? 
 Cursing men, shrieking women, terrified 
 horses, were everywhere impeding our 
 progress. People, with heavy burdens, 
 were constantly getting entangled with
 
 THE BRIDE'S ESCAPE. 
 
 145 
 
 wagons and carts and outcasts. Many 
 ladies had put on their finery to save it; 
 others, like myself, had grasped for the 
 least important of all their possessions. 
 Invalids were being borne on stretchers, 
 old, gray-haired men were hobbling on 
 crutches, feeble women were panting and 
 fainting, and yet dragging themselves 
 onward, sometimes clasping huge bun 
 dles. I saw one half grown girl carry 
 ing a drop-light, and a lady in a dressing- 
 gown of chintz and a velvet cloak run 
 ning with a tumbler of jelly in her hand. 
 It was an extraordinary scene horrible, 
 ludicrous, mournful, and grotesque, as 
 the visions of a nightmare. 
 
 We arrived at Mrs. Grant's house at 
 last, and went in. They were packing 
 and preparing to leave. There seemed 
 to be no place for us there. I asked for 
 something to wrap round the lady whom 
 I had befriended, for the sun was up now 
 and she had no clothes. I never knew 
 when the sun came up, and I hardly 
 recognized its fiendish face, constantly 
 changing and making grimaces at our 
 misery. Nor was it hardly lighter than 
 when, in the night, I had first looked out 
 into the firelit darkness. I knew that 
 Mrs. Grant couldn't save every thing, 
 and she might give the stranger a dress. 
 I said so, and she told me to help my 
 self to one, and I did. I found a pair of 
 stockings, and a pair of gaiter-boots also, 
 and a sea-shore hat. I looked in the 
 lady's face while I was trying to draw 
 her scorched and tangled hair out of her 
 eyes, and saw that she was pretty and 
 young that is, if you call thirty young. 
 I do. I don't know but I asked her who 
 she was, for I did a good many things 
 
 that day that I do not hold myself ac- 
 10 
 
 countable for; but, at all events, I 
 learned that she was married only the 
 week before in New York City, and was 
 with her husband in Chicago on their 
 wedding-trip. They were stopping at 
 the Tremont, and had no time to dress 
 after the first alarm that the hotel was 
 in danger. They succeeded in getting 
 themselves and their baggage conveyed 
 to the corner of Kush and Indiana 
 Streets; but the fire followed so rapidly 
 that they were obliged to fly farther, 
 and her husband disappeared. She did 
 not know what becatne of him, and, 
 after being jammed along with the crowd 
 for a time, she managed to get between 
 the mattresses on the wagon, from which 
 she had narrowly escaped with her life 
 into our carriage. Such was Mrs. Hu- 
 berjide's experience. 
 
 But our terrible foe was opposed to 
 our taking a rest. On, on it came, lick 
 ing up the pretty cottages, and the blocks 
 of brick and marble, and the stately 
 churches, and the mammoth breweries, 
 and the massive water-works, leaving 
 only charred and blackened and smok 
 ing masses in its wake. How far must 
 we be driven ? we, who were already 
 six or seven miles from where it first 
 started ! 
 
 Leonardus came at last. I scarcely 
 knew him, he looked so haggard and 
 dirt-begrimed. 
 
 " Where did Richard go with the car 
 riage ? " he asked, breathlessly. 
 
 I did not know ; I had taken no no 
 tice of the coachman after he had de 
 posited Mrs. Chafferlee on Mrs. Grant's 
 bed. I might have been more thought 
 ful, that is, if I had been anybody else 
 but Medley Belmore.
 
 146 
 
 SPICY 
 
 " If lie is hopelessly gone, then I must 
 try to find some other way of removing 
 you," exclaimed Leonardus, running out 
 into the pitiless fire-storm. 
 
 " Where is General Belmore ? will 
 he help us? what is he going to do?" 
 and similar questions, reached my ears 
 from different members of Mrs. Grant's 
 family, as I watched him running up and 
 down, this way and that, jostling with 
 the motley mass of fugitives on their 
 fearful race for life, and, at last, leading 
 a raw-boned, jaded mule up before the 
 bay-window, with its fanciful drapery, 
 from which I had seen agony and suffer 
 ing enough depicted on the passing faces 
 to have filled more books than the world 
 could hold. A mule what was he going 
 to do with it? No matter where he had 
 found it. Somebody said he took it 
 forcibly from a boy, who had been left 
 as its keeper. I should not be surprised 
 if that was so, for civilities were only 
 the exceptions, not the rule, on that day. 
 Bright, dear, loving Bright never was 
 a boy more truly named ran out to his 
 father and was sent for Mrs. Grant's 
 clothes-line. Then was manufactured a 
 harness, such a one I am sure the world 
 has never seen. A grocer's wagon, which 
 had lost a wheel and been left to its fate 
 in the middle of the street, was resus 
 citated through some manipulations with 
 which I am not familiar, the mule fast 
 ened to it, a mattress of Mrs. Grant's 
 laid in for the comfort of poor, distressed, 
 but patient Mrs. Chafferlee, the rest of 
 us huddled as compactly as possible, and 
 with Leonardns to lead and coax the 
 astonished and protesting mule, and 
 Bright bringing up the rear with his cat 
 and his dog, we joined the grand hegira. 
 
 It was a wonder that we were not all 
 smitten with total blindness from cinders 
 and overwhelming dust. The wind was 
 a hurricane, and we could scarcely hold 
 fast enough to the wagon to keep from 
 being blown from it ; and it was doubt 
 ful whether the wagon, even, would hold 
 together until we could be transported 
 to a place of safety. 
 
 The prairie at last ! And in a dry 
 ditch by the side of the way we alighted, 
 for both harness and wagon had failed. 
 Night tearful, illumined, tempestuous 
 night and the skies only for our cover 
 ing ; we who had until now been so well 
 housed and cared for. The story of 
 prairie-fires was fresh in our minds, for 
 all over the "West the woods were still 
 burning, and the fiend was in sight, not 
 so very far away. Might we hope to 
 escape the still greater danger in store 
 for us ? Leonardus spoke hopefully and 
 worked manfully. He was trying to 
 hitch the fractious mule to the refrac 
 tory wagon and we awaited our fate. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE FIBE ON THE SOUTH SIDE. 
 
 MEANWHILE where were our friends? 
 I learned later, but my readers shall not 
 be kept in suspense. When Leonardus 
 and Dr. Gildersleeve reached the Sher 
 man House the night before, people were 
 in great excitement about the fire, which 
 was on the west side, between De Koven 
 and Polk Streets ; and among the warped 
 and weather-beaten shanties, where the 
 streets were unpaved, and littered with 
 old boxes, broken barrels, mildewed pa 
 pers, and other tinder, as dry and crisp
 
 THE FIRE ON THE SOUTH SIDE. 
 
 147 
 
 as if they had been specially prepared 
 for the occasion. Dr. Gildersleeve went 
 to his rooms to look after the welfare of 
 his wife and mother, and, finding them 
 resting quietly, proposed to Leonardos 
 to go and inspect the movements of the 
 firemen, and see what progress the flames 
 were making. 
 
 The sky was lighted up for miles 
 around, and the river looked like a vast 
 stream of blood. They went to the top 
 of several large buildings, and finally 
 proceeded southwestward as far as Van- 
 Buren-Street bridge. The firemen were 
 working like heroes, but the fire had got 
 under headway and the winds were blow 
 ing a gale. The poor people, who were 
 being made houseless with a rapidity 
 which defies description, were throwing 
 beds and all kinds of furniture from the 
 windows of tenement-houses, into hete 
 rogeneous masses upon the sidewalks, 
 obstructing the passage to and fro of the 
 fire - companies, and preventing what 
 little chance there was of staying the 
 onward rush of the flames. Leonardus 
 found the marshal of the fire depart 
 ment, and, after a brief consultation, 
 telegraphed for him to some of the 
 neighboring cities for immediate help. 
 But, of course, it must come slowly. 
 Fire-engines could not be telegraphed 
 back. Milwaukee was the nearest point 
 from which they could be obtained, and 
 hours must elapse before they could ar 
 rive from there. Then Leonardus organ 
 ized a body of men to work upon the 
 roofs of buildings, and extinguish burn 
 ing embers as they fell in advance of the 
 fire, which had already lighted up the 
 whole district, and was sweeping all be 
 fore it into utter nothingness. But what 
 
 general could outgeneral the great po 
 tentate of the elements? Little fires 
 were breaking out everywhere. There 
 was a confusion of flame and smoke near 
 the ground; while tall buildings, like 
 islands of living fire, stood up, sending 
 out their skirmishing parties to almost 
 incredible distances. The firemen were 
 bafHed, because they never could reach 
 the outskirts of the fire. Every time 
 they moved back, and took a fresh po 
 sition, the fire went over their heads and 
 flanked them. 
 
 Meanwhile Dr. Gildersleeve was with 
 the city authorities, counselling in matters 
 of th e gravest moment. In less than three 
 hours over twenty blocks of buildings 
 had been laid so low that no landmarks, 
 save a few stunted chimneys, were left 
 to tell where they once had been. The 
 fire had spread more than a mile from 
 its original starting-point, and was mak 
 ing straight for the heart of the city. 
 Prompt measures for the transportation 
 of gunpowder, and the blowing up of 
 buildings, was the result of a collision 
 between quick, decisive minds, and the 
 work was not for an instant delayed. 
 
 The fire-bells clanged and clamored, 
 and the church-bells put in their dis 
 cordant tones. People ran into the 
 streets to see, then through the streets 
 without object or aim. Some ran be 
 cause others ran, and some stood look 
 ing up into the red heavens, which also 
 seemed on fire. The clouds, driven past 
 by the gale, were like masses of angry 
 flame-bearers of destruction. And still 
 the fire kept on, coiling itself round 
 building after building, like a venomous 
 serpent greedy of its prey. Great lum 
 ber-yards disappeared like dissolving-
 
 148 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 views, and tlie freight-depots of the Chi 
 cago and St. Louis, the Pittsburg and 
 Fort Wayne and Chicago Eailroads, were 
 swept of every vestige of an outline. 
 
 Don't let it cross the river! work 
 my brave boys ! turn the bridges ! Ha ! 
 they are on fire already, as they stand 
 there in the middle of the stream point 
 ing up and down. But, don't let it catch 
 on the other shore work ! Steady at 
 the helm! Put out the firebrands as 
 they fall work, I say! The demon is 
 reaching over, and trying to thwart your 
 efforts he is throwing missiles into dan 
 gerous places. There! see! he has 
 got foothold! The wooden buildings ad 
 joining the gas-works are blazing. Oh, 
 oh, oh ! The gas-house itself has gone, 
 and the great city is lighted only by the 
 fires with which it is being consumed ! 
 
 People ran madly, crowds meeting 
 crowds, and each in their fright trying 
 to push their way through each, and 
 many were trampled to death in the 
 desperation of the moment. The ves 
 sels in the river took fire one after an 
 other in quick succession, the masts and 
 spars falling like rain-drops in a shower, 
 while, at the same time, the fire streamed 
 along eastward, swallowed the great 
 Michigan Southern Eailroad depot, and 
 innumerable blocks of large and small 
 buildings around it, and the body of 
 flame presented a front of half a semi 
 circle, behind which was a crackling, 
 raging, roaring hell of half a mile in 
 depth. Nothing material could stand 
 the surge of this tremendous sea. The 
 panic-stricken and distracted mob were 
 almost as terrible to behold as the roar 
 ing conflagration. They ran toward Lake 
 and South Water Streets, and upon the 
 
 bridges, and then turned at bay like 
 affrighted animals. 
 
 "When Leonardus saw that the ocean 
 of flame was irresistibly whelming every 
 thing, and all reliance upon human suc 
 cor was over, he hurried to the Sherman 
 House to assist Dr. Gildersleeve in mov 
 ing his helpless ones to the north side, 
 not thinking even then that we were 
 doomed. They met on the stairs and 
 ran up together, encountering as they 
 did so the hotel guests running down in 
 every stage of dress and undress, and 
 dragging trunks after them. Dr. Gil 
 dersleeve found Mrs. Hortense paralyzed 
 with fright, and the nurse and his wife 
 both gone! Mrs. Hortense could give 
 very little account of what had hap 
 pened. Helen had risen up and walked 
 to the window, when she had not taken 
 a step for years before, and, without 
 speaking a word, had rushed from the 
 room. The nurse had followed her, and 
 neither of them had returned. Mrs. 
 Hortense did not think that Helen could 
 have possibly got out of the house, for, 
 even if any unnatural strength had come 
 to her in the terror and excitement of 
 the moment, it would not be likely to 
 have carried her far. Dr. Gildersleevo 
 hastened to explore the hotel, while Leo 
 nardus assisted Mrs. Hortense to get a 
 few garments wrapped about her pre 
 paratory to leaving. Dr. Gildersleeve 
 ran back to say: 
 
 "Dear general, can you take care of 
 Mrs. Hortense ? I think I have got trace 
 of Helen," and was gone. 
 
 Mrs. Hortense could not walk, and 
 Leonardus lifted her in his arms. He 
 did not dream the danger was so near. 
 As ho was passing out of the door, a
 
 GENERAL BELMORE AND HIS BURDEN. 
 
 149 
 
 lighted piece of flooring, about the size 
 of a butler's tray, was hurled through 
 the window into the room just vacated, 
 and the hotel was speedily hissing from 
 every crack and corner. Down the stairs 
 he flew with his burden, out the door, 
 tried to stop a hack, hailed a flying om 
 nibus, yelled to the driver of a one-horse 
 dray, loaded with men and women ; saw 
 no way but to ran, and kept running. 
 A wreath of fire rushed up Clark Street 
 after him. He thought the pavements 
 were on fire, but ho learned afterward 
 that they were all intact. He reached Lake 
 Street, could see that Clark-Street bridge 
 was turned or broken, and made for 
 State-Street bridge ; but great fiery balls 
 were rushing through the sky, lighting 
 up roofs and cornices a full half-mile in 
 advance. Good Heavens! he discov 
 ered fires on the north side, and all 
 around, and near State -Street bridge. 
 Fearing he should be cut off in that di 
 rection, he turned westward, hoping to 
 get through La-Salle-Street tunnel. The 
 stampede was sickening. Men and horses 
 were jammed into each other, women 
 and children bruised and bleeding, and, 
 with clothes nearly torn from their 
 bodies, were screaming and moaning. 
 All distinctions of class or nationality 
 were lost; every life was dear to its 
 possessor. Lake Street, with its long 
 mile of glitter and show ana costly ware 
 houses, and wealth of goods, was in the 
 jaws of the hungry monster. The flames 
 were already overlapping South "Water 
 Street, the great wholesale centre, where 
 seven-storied mines of riches stretched 
 over another mile. "What could a man, 
 however strong and powerful physically, 
 do with a helpless, groaning woman in 
 
 his arms? Should he push into that fear 
 ful hole underground ? If he had been 
 alone he would not have stopped to ques 
 tion, but could his burden ever be taken 
 through alive? He made the attempt. 
 There were no policemen to clear the 
 way ; every man must do his own push 
 ing. Policemen had homes and wives 
 and children, like other men. They had 
 run to save them, too, like other men. 
 But how was this knot of subterranean 
 misery ever to be extricated ? Leonar- 
 dus saw one man trying to drag three 
 little children through in a garbage-bar 
 rel. They were pinned fast against the 
 wall by entangled humanity. The air 
 was like a furnace seven times heated. 
 He was losing time ; he had been losing 
 time ever since he started from the Sher 
 man House. One great, mighty effort, 
 and he crossed "Wells-Street bridge. He 
 never could remember how it was ac 
 complished. It seemed as if he had been 
 lifted upon the human wave, and tossed 
 over. And then he made for Kinzie- 
 Street bridge, to get Mrs. Hortense into 
 some secure place to windward of the 
 flames. Fighting against the whirlwind 
 of ashes and smoke, he at last reached 
 the west side, dropped Mrs. Hortense at 
 the first respectable house he could find, 
 and scarcely had turned to fly to our re 
 lief, when he blundered upon Richard, 
 and Mrs. Vance's carriage, and learned 
 how he had tried to get back for his mis 
 tress and found it impossible. 
 
 Spicy, in her elegant mansion on 
 Michigan Avenue, was alone with her 
 three little children and three servants. 
 She had retired at her usual hour, and 
 slept peacefully until awakened some 
 time after midnight by her husband's
 
 150 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 book-keeper from the office, who told 
 lier what frightful progress the fire was 
 making, and inquired if he had better un 
 lock the safe and take out the contents. 
 
 "Certainly," replied Spicy; "I will 
 go and do it myself." 
 
 " You ! Oh, no ! " and he remon 
 strated with great earnestness. 
 
 But she had not asked for advice, nor 
 would she have been likely to have asked 
 it of him, a mere boy, in her estimation. 
 She dressed quickly, and ran to the barn 
 herself to order her coachman to harness 
 the horses, and bring them round to the 
 door without a moment's delay. He was 
 astonished, stared in the direction of the 
 horrible fire, and declared he could not 
 drive her gay team on such a night. 
 
 " Do as I bid you," was all she said, 
 and ran back to the house to complete 
 her arrangements. 
 
 Her cook was her most reliable ser 
 vant, and it was she who was com 
 manded to get ready to accompany the 
 brave woman. The book-keeper might 
 do as he liked, go or not go ; if he went, 
 it must be under her guidance. He 
 sprang into the carriage with her, and 
 they were whirled rapidly toward the 
 scene of destruction. 
 
 " "We cannot get any farther on Mad 
 ison Street," called the driver down 
 through the glass, stopping his horses 
 at the corner of State. 
 
 "Drive onl" fell firmly from the lips 
 of the little woman behind him, and he 
 obeyed. 
 
 Down into Madison Street, amid the 
 deafening roar of the furies, and the 
 ceaseless thud of falling walls! the 
 horses, meanwhile, neighing in mortal 
 terror, striking the pavements wildly 
 
 with their hoofs, and foam falling from 
 their mouths in showers. Spicy sat 
 erect and motionless as a statue of mar 
 ble, not blind to the danger, not un 
 moved by what she saw and heard, but 
 with one sole purpose in view, and spirit 
 enough to put it in execution. The heat 
 was so intense that their progress was 
 not retarded by frenzied fugitives. The 
 large buildings on the south side of Mad 
 ison Street had already taken fire ; a few 
 daring men only ran along the sidewalk 
 at intervals, and paused to scream into 
 the carriage : 
 
 " You are a fool, madam ! Back out 
 of here!" 
 
 In front of her husband's office Spicy 
 sprang from the carriage pulling the af- 
 ghan after her, ran up the stairs, followed 
 by Nora and the book-keeper, and in a 
 twinkling the ponderous door of the im 
 mense safe swung open and a portion of 
 the contents were hastily piled upon the 
 carriage-robe, and the three caught hold 
 of it and conveyed it to the carriage. 
 The coachman was holding the terrified 
 horses by the heads, and there was dan 
 ger of their breaking away from him. 
 
 "Hire any one who comes along to 
 help you hold them, and I will pay him 
 his price," said Spicy, looking up at 
 the bridge of fire over her, measuring 
 her moments, and making a second trip 
 to the office. 
 
 "When they brought down their next 
 cargo of books and ledgers in the car 
 riage-robe, six men were hanging at the 
 horses' heads. 
 
 " "We shall all burn the carriage will 
 burn! " shouted the coachman. 
 
 " Take it to the corner of State Street, 
 and I will meet you there," said Spicy.
 
 SPICY MEETS MISS TERRAPIN. 
 
 151 
 
 " Don't go up again, madam! " yelled 
 several voices, all in one breath. 
 
 But she had gone, and the awe- 
 stricken servant and book-keeper had 
 followed her. 
 
 It was the last time the carriage-robe 
 was filled, and the three bore it to the 
 corner of State Street, where they found 
 the carriage, but with this last accession 
 it was so full that Spicy could not get in 
 herself. She paid the men ten dollars 
 each who had helped to hold her horses, 
 and then sent the driver with the valu 
 ables to the house of a friend in the ex 
 treme southern portion of the city. She 
 did not think her own house was going 
 to burn, but it was better that what she 
 had saved should be elsewhere taken 
 care of. 
 
 Then she started on her walk home. 
 Wabash Avenue was a dense mass of 
 human beings. Hackmen were the mon- 
 archs of the occasion, and were driving 
 furiously without regard to life and limb, 
 gentle breeding, tender sex, or the more 
 potent influence of the star of the order 
 of the guardians of public safety. There 
 were none of the white-gloved gentry at 
 the street-corners to help her over ; but 
 she reached the other side in safety, 
 thanks to a kind, protecting Providence, 
 and ran against Miss Terrapin. She was 
 surprised, that is, if such a tame emotion 
 as surprise could be mentioned with such 
 scenes. Miss Terrapin was laden with 
 bundles and a basket, had started for 
 Spicy's house, frightened from her rooms 
 on Lake Street by the near approach of 
 the fire. They went on together, walk 
 ing fast and speaking rapidly, and, when 
 about half-way between "Wabash and 
 Michigan Avenues, both came near stum 
 
 bling over a lady who had fallen upon 
 her face upon the sidewalk. 
 
 "Poor thing!" said Spicy, stopping 
 to raise her. 
 
 Miss Terrapin handed her bundles to 
 Nora, and took hold of the other arm 
 of the lady, and, assisting herself a little, 
 she came to her feet. But she sank 
 backward directly, and would have fallen 
 again, had they not together caught her 
 in their arms. Her face now was toward 
 the west, and the crimson glare lit up 
 every feature. Spicy and Miss Terrapin 
 looked at each other at the same instant 
 with a flash of intelligence and recog 
 nition mingled with horror. It was the 
 same that had looked at them eight years 
 before, from the closet of tho blue-room 
 in the old Dwight mansion ! 
 
 It was a face that could not be for 
 gotten. It was thin and emaciated then, 
 it was thinner and more emaciated now, 
 but still the same. The hair was dark 
 and long then, it was white and short 
 now, but the contour of that high, strange 
 forehead remained, and impressed the 
 mind just the same as before. The eyes 
 emitted the same vivid lightnings, and 
 the hands, which clung to their arms, 
 were but too easily identified. 
 
 "My ghost! after all these years," 
 said Spicy, with compassion instead of 
 fear in her voice. 
 
 The eyes came near consuming her, 
 and then a harsh, hoarse response : 
 
 " You stole my letters ! " 
 
 Miss Terrapin trembled, and would 
 have dropped the woman but for Spicy's 
 hold on her. The book-keeper had lent 
 his slight strength to save her from fall 
 ing, also, when he saw the two were 
 unequal to the task.
 
 152 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 " Who are you ? " asked Spicy. 
 
 "Those were my letters, and you 
 stole them and read them," she said 
 again. 
 
 " What is your name ? " persisted 
 Spicy. 
 
 " Queen Dido ! " and a maniacal 
 laugh rang out above the awful sounds 
 with which the air was filled. 
 
 "What do your friends call you?" 
 Spicy was unruffled, but determined. 
 
 " I have no friends. I am going to 
 the water over there ; it is boiling don't 
 you see it ? I am going to take a warm 
 bath," and she laughed again. 
 
 " What shall I call you 2 Lucy? or 
 Maria ? or Jane ? " and Spicy 's voice was 
 entreating. 
 
 "lam not going to tell you. You 
 stole my letters! I wanted them, and 
 you wouldn't let me have them. They 
 were my Grandison's letters, and I loved 
 him and every scrap of paper he ever 
 laid his hand upon. Let me go. I am 
 thirsty I want water. Do you see that 
 chariot of fire?" 
 
 " I know her it is my sister Helen ! 
 Help me; we must try to carry her 
 home," said Spicy. 
 
 "I your sister Helen; I thought I 
 was your ghost I " screamed the maniac. 
 
 " Your husband is Rev. Dr. Grandison 
 Gildersleeve isn't he?" Spicy asked, 
 quietly, "and I am his brother Fred's- 
 wife." 
 
 "What business have you to speak 
 his name? You stole my letters! I 
 went for them, and you called me a ghost. 
 But I wanted them, they were my letters." 
 
 "How did you get into that closet? " 
 asked Spicy. 
 
 " Through the little window. It had 
 
 a slide, and you could not find it. I 
 wanted the letters! I loved Grandison. 
 I knew it was wrong to marry him, but 
 you shall not accuse me. You stole my 
 letters! I knew I was going to be a 
 crazy wife. My father was crazy before 
 me, but we never told him. I had been 
 in an asylum twice, but we kept the 
 secret mother and I because I loved 
 him, and mother said he would forgive 
 me. He has forgiven me so grandly, 
 that my conscience has set the world on 
 fire. When I am once in the water it 
 will be put out let me go ! " 
 
 She struggled to free herself, but- she 
 had little strength, and they succeeded 
 in carrying her to the corner of Michigan 
 Avenue. The street was packed with 
 people, like all the other streets, and 
 painfully illumined. It was easy, there 
 fore, for them to distinguish Mrs. Vance's 
 carriage as it picked its way along, and 
 for Mrs. Vance to recognize Spicy and 
 Miss Terrapin on the sidewalk. She 
 drew up immediately and got out, for 
 the din was too great for her to talk 
 with them from the window of her car 
 riage. A few brief explanations from 
 Spicy, aided by her ready intelligence, 
 and the whole immediate difficulty was 
 mastered. 
 
 That part of Michigan Avenue where 
 they both lived might not burn. It 
 hardly seemed probable, with the wind 
 in the present direction, that it would. 
 But it was best to be prepared. Mrs. 
 Vance was taking her sick aunt Mary 
 over to General Belmore's for quiet, as 
 well as safety, and was then coming back 
 herself to await results. She thought 
 Mrs. Gildersleeve had better be removed 
 there also. But, as she had improvised
 
 SPICY SAVING HER VALUABLES. 
 
 153 
 
 a sort of bed in the carriage, she thought 
 it would hardly be best to disturb Aunt 
 Mary by trying to force the wretched 
 lunatic in against her will, so proposed 
 to stay with her herself until the car 
 riage should return. 
 
 " You know your sister Meddie will 
 do every thing for Aunt Mary if I am 
 not with her, and I will take this poor 
 lady there myself," she said. 
 
 "Miss Terrapin, you will stay with 
 Mrs. Yance, I am sure ; we will take all 
 your things and take care of them," said 
 Spicy. 
 
 She signified her assent, and Mrs. 
 Yance begged of Spicy to hurry to her 
 darling babies, and make it her first busi 
 ness to transport them to some other 
 portion of the city. 
 
 After waiting a few moments where 
 they were, and finding their burden sink 
 ing heavily, Mrs. Yance asked Miss Ter 
 rapin to go to her house and bring one 
 of the light easy-chairs from her library. 
 They placed Mrs. Gildersleeve in it, and 
 dragged her gently along toward Rush- 
 Street bridge, watching eagerly for the 
 carriage, which they momentarily ex 
 pected. But, as they advanced north 
 ward, they came more directly into the 
 vein of the fire-tempest. They did not 
 progress fast, for it was with agonizing 
 delays, and at the risk of their lives, that 
 they could cross the side-streets, which 
 were pouring their overwhelming num 
 bers upon Michigan Avenue. The car 
 riage must come soon ! Before they were 
 aware of the possibility of such a thing, 
 they were hemmed in by the frightened 
 multitudes who were being driven tow 
 ard Rush-Street bridge. For, suddenly, 
 a great, expanding scythe of flame was 
 
 reaching over and around and beyond 
 them, mowing immense and increasing 
 swaths with alarming rapidity, and now 
 and then sending columns of smoke and 
 blaze hundreds of feet into the air, like 
 solid and perpendicular shafts of molten 
 metal. The mighty rush toward the 
 north side had set in, and they could no 
 more turn back. They were launched 
 forth on a journey, the extent or the end 
 of which defied the power of human 
 calculations. 
 
 Spicy commenced packing as soon as 
 she got home. And yet she did not be 
 lieve her house was going to burn. "When 
 her carriage returned, she sent her chil 
 dren, with their nurse, to the house of 
 the same friend who had just received 
 her possessions from the office. The 
 next thing was to try to open a safe, 
 which stood in a recess at the end of the 
 front-hall. It was a combination lock, 
 and she could not remember the number. 
 She knew it, but in the excitement it had 
 gone from her. She spent some time 
 over it, and finally sent the book-keeper 
 to the telegraph-office to get a message 
 to her husband in New York, asking for 
 the simple figure, but he found the build 
 ing roaring like an army of lions, and, 
 after spending an hour or two in a vain 
 effort to find to what point the appa 
 ratus had been removed, returned un 
 successful. 
 
 Meanwhile the carriage returned af 
 ter the safe deposit of the little ones, and 
 she filled it with paintings and books and 
 silver, and sent it forth again; but it 
 came back to her no more. They were 
 preparing to blow up buildings on the 
 avenue below, for the fire had swooped 
 round, and was sweeping all before it
 
 154 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 now toward the south, and vehicles were 
 not allowed to come up from that direc 
 tion. Adieu to hope, and all fancied 
 security; Spicy's beautiful home must 
 go! 
 
 That safe ! if she could only get it 
 open. Impossible ; but if she could get 
 it to the front-door, and roll it down the 
 steps, it would not melt when the build 
 ing should come to fall. She stopped 
 some men who were passing. Yes, they 
 would do it for fifty dollars. The city 
 was burning, and they must have their 
 pay in advance. Spicy paid them. They 
 worked at the safe for a few minutes, 
 pulled it an inch or two, swore at Spicy 
 for having made them try to kill them 
 selves, and then went away ! She hired 
 a wagon to carry a load of furniture. 
 Twenty -five dollars the man asked. 
 Money first, furniture afterward. Spicy 
 gave him the required sunu Her elegant 
 parlor suite was put upon the wagon, 
 but just then a man came running and 
 offered the driver fifty dollars to take a 
 load for him. Off" went the goods upon 
 the sidewalk, and away went the wagon. 
 Spicy set to work at once with what help 
 she could muster, and carried her treas 
 ures across the avenue upon the lake 
 shore. It was a perilous undertaking, 
 for every kind of vehicle was jammed 
 in there. The fire, too, was close at 
 hand. It had lapped up the Clifton and 
 the Palmer House, as well as miles and 
 miles of other magnificent buildings, and 
 was whirling in great lurid eddies around 
 the block just above. Spicy had suc 
 ceeded in getting out many things ; most 
 of her carpets were on the water's edge, 
 also bundles of clothing she had re 
 jected trunks as being too cumbersome 
 
 beds, books, and crockery. She was 
 running from a chamber with an armful 
 of her husband's apparel, and was about 
 to give it to Nora to convey across the 
 street, when three or four vicious-look 
 ing men entered, and deliberately took 
 the things from her and commenced try 
 ing on coats, vests, etc. She observed 
 them for a moment quietly, then, with 
 no apparent agitation, said : 
 
 " You are welcome to those clothes. 
 I don't suppose I can save them. But I 
 do protest against the way in which you 
 are appropriating them." 
 
 They looked confounded, and one 
 after another sneaked away with their 
 booty. The last was a bloated Irishman, 
 and, as he turned to look at Spicy the 
 second time, she recognized our old 
 moving man of May, 1862, and the sub 
 sequent robber. 
 
 Oh, that safe ! It was Spicy's last tie. 
 If she could only get it rolled out. The 
 house was already on fire in the rear. 
 "What should she do ? Must it be left to 
 its certain fate ? 
 
 A quick, rapid step through the hall, 
 heard above the turmoil of the elements. 
 She turned : 
 
 "Oh, brother Grandison! " 
 
 "My child! you must leave this place 
 instantly. Is there a last thing I can do 
 for you ? " 
 
 " This safe, if it could only be rolled 
 out the front-door. It does seem as if it 
 might be done." 
 
 He caught hold of it ; it moved. Spicy 
 caught hold with him a fly might as 
 well have lent its aid. The book-keeper 
 applied all his energies ; he never knew 
 before that he had so many. N"ora pulled 
 a few scattered articles out of the way,
 
 REST AT LAST. 
 
 155 
 
 and then got in the way herself. Brid 
 get screamed: "Hurry, hurry I the 
 house is falling 1 " She had felt the hall- 
 floor settle, for the safe was under way 
 it was almost to the door. Another 
 push, another pull another, and still 
 another strain of strong arms and strong 
 er wills there, it is at the threshold! 
 it is over ! Crash, crash, crash ! It has 
 taken the handsome stone steps with it ; 
 but what of that, it cannot melt now ! 
 Fred Gildersleeve's fortune is saved 
 and it has been saved by his wife ! 
 
 But the fire, the merciless fire, had 
 closed in upon them. Dr. Gildersleeve 
 leaped over the ruins of the steps, and 
 helped Spicy down. The others fol 
 lowed, but whither should they fly? 
 They seemed to be enveloped in a sort 
 of reverberatory furnace, like that em 
 ployed to melt metallic ores. There was 
 fire to the right of them, there was fire 
 to the left of them, there was fire behind 
 them, and there was fire over their heads. 
 The torrid heats, and the lurid lights, 
 had blotted out the sky. There was 
 nothing left them but the lake. They 
 ran down to its very edge. Dr. Gilder- 
 sleeve, with the aid of the book-keeper, 
 dipped one of the carpets into the water, 
 and spread it over Spicy and her women ; 
 but, one blast of that raging sirocco, and 
 it was dry and scorched like an ironing- 
 sheet. He jumped into the water him 
 self to extinguish the little fires which 
 had caught in his shirt-bosom, and hair, 
 and neck, and to prevent the heavy 
 cloth of which his clothes were made 
 from kindling. The book-keeper, blinded 
 and frantic, jumped in also ; but, while 
 Dr. Gildersleeve sprang back on shore, 
 and seized the drawer of a cabinet the 
 
 first thing that came in his way and 
 dipped and threw water with all his 
 might and main to keep the carpet wet, 
 the young man, being a fair swimmer, 
 worked his way along in the water and 
 made his escape at Harrison Street. 
 
 Imagine, if you can, the most blind 
 ing snow-storm that ever was known, 
 and the snow not snow but fire! Im 
 agine yourself trying to breathe in it on 
 a narrow point between an angry blaze 
 an ocean of blaze, I might say and 
 a murky sea. And even then you will 
 only vaguely realize what Dr. Gilder 
 sleeve encountered in his hand-to-hand 
 fight with the powers of the air. Re 
 peating his own baths every other 
 moment, and throwing water upon the 
 carpets with the desperation of a mad 
 man, he wore away the time until the 
 huge walls near by had toppled to the 
 ground, and the waves of .death had 
 rolled on. Spicy had saved a fortune 
 Dr. Gildersleeve had averted the still 
 greater calamity, loss of life. 
 
 There was rest; but such rest! Fierce 
 fires in every direction. Eyes blistered 
 and blinded and stinging, and smoke and 
 ashes enveloping them like a cloud. Dr. 
 Gildersleeve sat down and looked at 
 Spicy, who had withstood so much and 
 so courageously. She was exhausted, 
 half suffocated, but not overpowered. 
 
 "lam so glad Fred was not here, 1 ' 
 was her first remark. 
 
 " Why ? " asked Dr. Gildersleeve. 
 
 " Because he would have been killed 
 in trying to help everybody," she said. 
 
 Dr. Gildersleeve smiled. 
 
 " He would have kept his wife out 
 of danger if he could, I fancy ; but where 
 are vour children ? "
 
 156 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 " Safe, unless the fire never stops." 
 
 And Spicy gave Mm a history of her 
 night. 
 
 " Poor Helen ! how I thank you for 
 your kindness to her ! How fortunate 
 that your friend was just in time to take 
 her away in a carriage, heyond the reach 
 of danger ! But the fire is raging on the 
 north side ; they will have to flee miles, 
 I fear." 
 
 "Brother Grandison, did you ever 
 board in the old Dwight mansion, that 
 odd little cottage which once stood on 
 the corner of Michigan Avenue and Mad 
 ison Street?" 
 
 " Yes, for a few weeks in the spring 
 of 1862. We, went from there to the 
 Clifton, just back of it, on the corner of 
 Wabash Avenue and Madison Street. 
 Why?" 
 
 Spicy told him the ghost-story, and 
 Helen's recent allusions to the letters, 
 withholding the fact, however, that she 
 had ever seen and read the docu 
 ments. 
 
 " Now I understand to what Helen 
 referred, when she persisted in talking 
 about her lost letters, I supposed it part 
 and parcel of her disordered fancy. I 
 missed her several times late in the 
 evening, and once or twice at midnight, 
 and was obliged to put extra bolts upon 
 my doors. And you recognized each 
 other how singular ! " 
 
 " Don't you think we can get down 
 the avenue by this time ? I must go to 
 my children." 
 
 " Not, my child, while Terrace block 
 is burning. Look, look! it is going 
 over. Every thing is on a pretty gen 
 eral level now. Be patient, little one, 
 we cannot help ourselves yet." And 
 
 then he went on and told her of his 
 search for Helen, after she had escaped 
 from her mother at the hotel. Some one 
 in the office had noticed her as she 
 passed by, so that he knew that she was 
 in the street. She had on a dressing- 
 gown of bine silk, which she usually 
 wore in bed, and he hoped to distinguish 
 her easily. He was confident that her 
 strength would not carry her far, but, 
 from various attempts which she had 
 made to burn herself in the past, he 
 searched for her in the direction of the 
 fire. He believed she -would approach 
 it untfl prostrated by the heat. He 
 groped along the red-hot pavements, 
 peered into every dark corner through 
 all the multitudinous streets and alleys, 
 and only moved backward as he was 
 driven by the fire-fiend. Passing along 
 Dearborn Street, he ran against an old 
 man, who was standing by a broad- 
 paned window looking in upon a rare 
 and valuable collection of paintings, the 
 accumulation of many years of patient 
 toil. He was groaning, as if in anguish 
 of spirit. 
 
 " What is the matter, my good sir? " 
 
 " Have you a key ? oh, sir, have you 
 a key that you think will fit this door ? 
 I have left mine in the pocket of my 
 week-day pantaloons at my home over 
 on the west side, and it will take me 
 better than an hour to get it here. The 
 building may burn before that time, and, 
 oh, it is my all ! " 
 
 "Those pictures are yours are 
 they?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed, and the finest stock in 
 the city. What shall I do ? " 
 
 "Break through the glass, and take 
 them out ! or yonder messenger will
 
 MRS. VANCE'S FOUR-MILE FLIGHT. 
 
 157 
 
 break the glass for you, and wind up 
 your business at the same time." 
 
 The man's face brightened. He had 
 not thought of such a rude way of en 
 tering the building. A few moments 
 later Dr. Gildersleeve passed that way 
 again, and saw him piling his pictures 
 upon an express-wagon. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 MBS. VANCE'S FOTTE-MILE FLIGHT. 
 
 AND what of Mrs. Vance and Miss 
 Terrapin, and their unfortunate charge ? 
 They had crossed Rush-Street bridge, 
 borne along by the billows of that hid 
 eous, howling mob. They had been 
 trampled, jostled, jammed. The bridge 
 had turned while they were upon it, to 
 let a schooner into the lake, and they 
 had been overrun by the mad attempts 
 of the multitude to jump upon her decks. 
 Clinging to each other, and to the frame 
 work of the bridge, they had seen more 
 than one person go down to a watery 
 grave. Helen Gildersleeve had there 
 made a frantic effort to free herself from 
 her captors, and reach the coveted wa 
 ters. Once she had nearly succeeded, 
 and but for Mrs. Vance's wonderful 
 presence of mind in interposing her arm, 
 and grasping the shoulder of a little girl 
 in the crowd just beyond, she would 
 have been lost to them forever. 
 
 "Oh, ma'am, don't pinch me; you'll 
 make me drop my birdie 1 " implored 
 the little one, who was clinging fast to 
 a precious cage. 
 
 Mrs. Vance reassured her, and just 
 then a full-sized man jerked the chair 
 
 from under the invalid, striking Miss 
 Terrapin, who was bending over her, in 
 the head with such force as to blind her 
 for a few moments, and send her bonnet 
 and wig spinning over the railing out of 
 sight. The man wanted the chair to 
 drag a lady in himself, but the little girl 
 was indignant, and with her free hand 
 seized him by the coat-tail, and a brawny 
 negro, whom she called John, wrenched 
 it away from its purloiner and restored 
 it to Mrs. Vance. A great firebrand fell 
 in the middle of the bridge upon a white- 
 haired man, who was being drawn by 
 two women on a billiard-board, with his 
 head downward. Then another fell in 
 a cart, which contained some combus 
 tible material, and a bright blaze shot up 
 all about them. The scene was terrific. 
 There were so many vessels and tugs 
 trying to get through, that it seemed as 
 if the bridge never would close. It did 
 at last, and was left burning behind them. 
 Buildings were burning everywhere on 
 the north side too. They ran, hotly pur 
 sued ; they paused, took breath, and then 
 ran again. People ran by them, leaped 
 over them, struck them with trunks and 
 pieces of furniture in passing. They 
 could not get on as fast as others, be 
 cause of their heavy burden. They were 
 driven from square to square, along those 
 miles and miles of interminable streets 
 and avenues, always dragging the help 
 less lunatic in the chair. Hour after 
 hour, and still the relentless fire chased, 
 hissed in their ears, and spit horridly 
 suggestive cinders upon their heads and 
 necks. 
 
 Mrs. Vance had thrown a water-proof 
 around her when she started out in the 
 night, and it proved her salvation. It
 
 158 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 not only saved her from getting on fire 
 innumerable times, but it was the means 
 by which she extinguished the flames 
 which were constantly lighting the cloth 
 ing of Miss Terrapin and Helen Gilder- 
 sleeve. That great, hateful, fiery-looking 
 ball in the heavens, which kept getting 
 higher and higher, and which could be 
 seen as the clouds of smoke cleared at 
 intervals, telegraphed that it was mid 
 day. Then the day was waning, but not 
 the fire. On, on it came, with a fury 
 that is beyond the power of language. 
 And on, on ran the two women, dragging 
 the other woman in the chair. Once they 
 took refuge in a cemetery. But the fire 
 found them, and drove them on. The 
 marble over the graves cracked and 
 baked, and fell in glowing embers on 
 the hot turf. Every inscription was ob 
 literated, wherever the skeleton of a 
 tombstone was left. The great receiv 
 ing-vault, solidly built and shrouded with 
 foliage, was attacked, and the dead bodies 
 burst from their coifins as the fire tore 
 through the walls. 
 
 "What a day to remember ! And each 
 participant in that chapter of miseries has 
 a story to tell, which will thrill their 
 children's and their children's children's 
 hearts to the remotest generation ! May 
 history never have such another to 
 record ! 
 
 No rest, no peace until they were 
 hidden within the confines of Lincoln 
 Park, without food, and the stars and 
 the fire-clouds their only shelter. Mrs. 
 Vance dropped on her knees, and thanked 
 God for having brought them through so 
 many dangers. Then she stroked the 
 forehead devoid of mind, and tenderly 
 kissed it. 
 
 The tumult and the roar had given 
 place to a terrible silence. Seventy 
 thousand people were huddled together. 
 The delicate woman, the high-bred dame, 
 the haughty banker, the revered cler 
 gyman, the tender infant, the hardy la 
 borer, and the worst denizens of the 
 worst localities. Xow and then the air 
 was rent with moans. Children cried 
 for bread sometimes; but, exhaustion 
 had absorbed fear, and many slept. Over 
 others the settled quiet of deep, dull de 
 spair reigned supreme. They looked at 
 each other as if their minds were far 
 away. Some covered their faces and 
 wept. 
 
 As the night air cooled and then 
 chilled them, Mrs. Vance wound her 
 water -proof about Mrs. Gildersleeve. 
 That easy-chair had proved a faithful 
 friend. It had worn out its legs in the 
 service of its mistress, had come apart in 
 the back, and its cushions were riddled 
 as with bullets. But it was far better 
 than the wet earth for an invalid. Mrs. 
 Gildersleeve slept, while Mrs. Vance and 
 Miss Terrapin watched. It was a quiet, 
 marvellous sleep for one who had been 
 raving all day. If they could only get 
 her some food ! 
 
 An old market-woman came along 
 munching some cake, and sat down on 
 the ground near them. 
 
 " Can you give me a little, just a 
 crumb, for this sick lady here?" asked 
 Mrs. Vance. 
 
 She had a compassionate face, that 
 baked, fire-scarred woman ; that is, a 
 compassionate heart shone from it, and 
 she put her hand in a dirty bag, which 
 hung by her side, and produced a hand 
 ful of crackers and gave Mrs. Vance,
 
 HELEN GILDERSLEEVE'S REMORSE. 
 
 159 
 
 who could hardly repress her tears of 
 gratitude. 
 
 " I have no money here, hut tell me 
 your name, and I will some day reward 
 you," she said. 
 
 " She is a very rich lady," Miss Ter 
 rapin remarked to the woman. 
 
 Ah ! she had heen a rich lady, but 
 where were her riches now? 
 
 Helen Gildersleeve opened her eyes 
 after a while, and Mrs. Vance tried to 
 induce her to taste a cracker. She shook 
 her head, and kept her mouth closed 
 firm ; she looked around as if she could 
 not comprehend the weird, strange scene, 
 the red glare cityward, the dark heavens 
 above. Presently it began to rain. Mrs. 
 Vance drew the hood of the water-proof 
 down to shield the invalid's face, but she 
 pushed it away. 
 
 "Where are we what is all this?" 
 she asked. 
 
 Mrs. Vance explained as well as she 
 was able, and the hot, hollow eyes 
 seemed to burn out the darkness be 
 tween them, and turn into fire as they 
 were fixed on her. 
 
 "And who are you? an angel from 
 heaven?" she asked, after having lis 
 tened quietly for some time. 
 
 "Oh, no! A child of this world, 
 very human and very hungry," was the 
 reply. 
 
 " And yet you eat nothing, and try 
 to put crackers in my mouth. I don't 
 want them. I can't live if I do eat ; I 
 have never lived; I have only been a 
 torment to every one whom I have best 
 loved. Bring your face down nearer, I 
 want to see your blue eyes. Grandison 
 loved a lady once who had blue eyes 
 they must have been like yours. She 
 
 married another man. She was the 
 cause of all his misery, else he would 
 not have taken me and been cursed. 
 Will you call Grandison? I am dying, 
 and I want him ! He has been so kind ; 
 never a word nor a look of reproach all 
 these long years. I must tell him how I 
 deceived him! I cannot die without 
 telling him. It was because I loved him 
 I had no pity in my heart, it was all 
 love and now it has kindled a hell in 
 the middle of a city! I might have 
 known it would." 
 
 She had exhausted herself, and fell 
 back listlessly, with closed eyes- Mrs. 
 Vance changed the position of the chair, 
 so that on her knees she could support 
 the feeble head, and thus managed with 
 her uplifted arm to shield the pale face 
 with the hood of the water-proof. 
 
 "Do you think she is dying? " whis 
 pered Miss Terrapin, excitedly. 
 
 "I fear so and yet, who can tell? 
 Let her sleep, it may revive her." 
 
 There were groups of people near 
 them. There was one man who walked 
 np and down, like a sentinel on duty. 
 His head rested upon his breast, and 
 sometimes he counted aloud. Once or 
 twice words like dividend and insurance 
 fell upon the night air. He wore no hat, 
 and the rain pattered upon his head. 
 He kept up the steady tramp for hours, 
 swaying to the right and left in his gait 
 sometimes. At last he blundered against 
 Miss Terrapin, who was on her knees by 
 Mrs. Vance. The accident recalled him 
 to himself, and he apologized. -Mrs. 
 Vance looked up, and he looked down 
 into her eyes, bent lower and lower, as 
 if doubting his own senses. 
 
 "Ah! Dr. Greer," said she.
 
 160 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 He straightened himself immediately. 
 
 "I little thought of meeting you 
 here," came sadly from his lips. 
 
 His voice aroused Mrs. Gildersleeve. 
 
 " Is it Grandison ? " 
 
 "No; but it is a friend," said Mrs. 
 Vance, soothingly. 
 
 "Will lie go for Grandison? ask 
 him." 
 
 " To whom does she refer ? " inquired 
 Dr. Greer. 
 
 "Rev. Dr. Gildersleeve. Do you 
 know him? " inquired Mrs. Vance. 
 
 "Know him! ask a Chicago man 
 if he knows Dr. Gildersleeve! Do I 
 know there has been a fire? Excuse 
 me, madam ; yes, I do know him, and I 
 honor and respect him, too, more, than 
 almost any other man whom it has been 
 my lot to know in Chicago." 
 
 "This sick lady here is his wife," 
 said Mrs. Vance. 
 
 "Is it possible! " 
 
 Dr. Greer regarded her sadly. ' 
 
 " She is very low, and, as you were 
 once a physician, perhaps you can in 
 struct us how to make the most of our 
 slender resources for her comfort. A 
 cup of tea, some slight nourishment, or 
 a tonic, seems imperative." 
 
 "Nothing call Grandison!" whis 
 pered the invalid. 
 
 But Dr. Greer had taken a tonic 
 which roused him to action. The voice 
 of the woman, "whom he loved and ad 
 mired above all others, had put mettle 
 into his bones, and he was prepared to 
 do her bidding. He forgot his stocks 
 and profits and losses, and remembered 
 that somewhere over toward the lake he 
 had seen a woman trying to make a tea 
 kettle boil over embers from the burning 
 
 city. Away he ran as fast as his short 
 legs could carry him, spreading himself, 
 however, at full length over some snor 
 ing sleepers before he had accomplished 
 a dozen rods in his haste and the dark 
 ness. But he was agile as if sixteen, in 
 stead of sixty, and was up and on. He 
 ran against a little girl with such force 
 that he knocked her down, and, stooping 
 to help her up, was hindered by her de 
 spairing clutch. 
 
 " Oh, tell me where papa and mam 
 ma are ! " 
 
 All kinds of household goods were 
 on the ground; they were tumbled about 
 everywhere. Dr. Greer was impatient 
 with the many obstacles in the way of 
 his progress. A man, stooping to min 
 ister to some sufferer, -he leaped directly 
 over, having gained so much momentum 
 before seeing him that he could not stop. 
 On, on to the destined point. 
 
 Yes, the woman had a little hot wa 
 ter ; her old man had brought it all the 
 way from the lake. She had been mak 
 ing tea. "Wouldn't give him a drop, not 
 she. "Folks must take care of their- 
 selves, and bring their own tea ! " How 
 could she feed all the rich folks and their 
 grand ladies ? She was good as the 
 'ristocrats now ; they would know how 
 it felt to be poor, she guessed. What 
 was that she saw? a five-dollar bill! 
 Was the gentleman really offering her a 
 five-dollar bill for a cup of tea ? 
 
 " Take it, Janey ! " whispered the 
 owner of a pair of covetous eyes, in the 
 darkness behind her. 
 
 "Well, yes; I don't mind accommodat 
 ing, but I can't throw the cup in. I didn't 
 save but two or three, and cups will be 
 high now there's been so many burned.
 
 MRS. VAXCE'S PRAYER. 
 
 161 
 
 No, wouldn't trust you to bring it back; 
 don't know who is honest or who ain't. 
 Two dollars! is that it? I can't see very 
 well. Never mind about the cup, I al 
 ways like to do favors ! " and, with seven 
 dollars less in his pocket, Dr. Greer 
 steadied a dingy cup of villanous-look- 
 ing dark fluid in his hand, as he picked 
 his uncertain and rainy way back to the 
 ladies. Mrs. Vance nsed every effort to 
 persuade Mrs. Gildersleeve to sip even 
 one swallow, but in vain. Then Dr. 
 Greer, with a grim smile, declared that 
 the nurses should obey him if the pa 
 tient would not ; and Mrs. Vance and 
 Miss Terrapin, with their crackers to 
 help choke it down, divided the horrid 
 stuff between them. 
 
 Meanwhile Dr. Greer borrowed some 
 bed-blankets from a pile of goods, which 
 was guarded by a small boy fast asleep, 
 and the ladies were wrapped up and in 
 a measure protected from the storm. 
 Helen Gildersleeve was again slumber 
 ing. How they all prayed for the day 
 to dawn ! Dr. Greer felt her pulse, and 
 shook his head. What could be done ? 
 Where go for help, when there was no 
 help ? The city was burned ! 
 
 The rain came faster, and he took 
 off his coat and held it over Mrs. Vance. 
 She forbade his doing so, and he put his 
 coat on again with a sigh. Then the 
 rain subsided, and a heavy mist settled 
 over them. Mrs. Gildersleeve struggled, 
 and begged for air. Dr. Greer assisted 
 Mrs. Vance in raising her partially, but 
 the movement distressed her, and they 
 were obliged to lay her back again. All 
 at once she opened her eyes, and the light 
 of reason seemed to spring from them. 
 
 " I am dying, and Grandison is not 
 11 
 
 here ! tell him how I wanted him ! Oh, 
 if I could but hear his voice in prayer 
 once more ! I used to mock him when 
 he prayed, and I drove him from his 
 church and people ! Will you ask him 
 if he truly forgave me ? and say I loved 
 him, will you ? Who, oh, who will pray for 
 me? Will you? " And her quick, inquir 
 ing gaze was riveted upon Mrs. Vance's 
 face, a face wan and worn just then, but, 
 for all of youth's lost bloom, a face full 
 of beauty which years could not ruin. 
 
 " Dear one, I will," was the touching 
 answer. 
 
 And such a prayer as welled from 
 her lips has rarely ever been heard. The 
 sufferer listened like one afraid of losing 
 jewels beyond price. She was grasping 
 Mrs. Vance's hand, and pressing it to 
 her heart. The strong man dropped on 
 his knee; he had been a praying man 
 all his life, but prayer was unfolding a 
 new meaning to him now. When we 
 are strong and well, and the needs of 
 life come freely at our bidding, and we 
 lie down to sleep hi the full assurance 
 of a peaceful and fortunate morrow, the 
 tongue is apt to syllable its supplications 
 very glibly, and it is easy to fancy a per 
 fect measure of trust and confidence in 
 the Father of all mercies. But when we 
 are shut in as with a clasping-knite from 
 every thing dear, it is no idle faith if suf 
 ficient to bear the test. It was a solemn 
 and strangely-impressive scene the oc 
 casion, the circumstances, the hour, the 
 stillness, and the low, clear, steady voice, 
 which was leading all present into a 
 nearer, tenderer relation with the Euler 
 of events. There were tears coursing 
 down cheeks unused to tears, and there 
 were choking sobs back in the darkness,
 
 162 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 for strangers had been creeping close to 
 catch the words. 
 
 "Thank you God bless you; I am 
 better now ! " And Helen Gildersleeve 
 never spoke afterward. She lay as if in 
 a calm sleep, breathing fainter and fainter. 
 Dr. Greer and Mrs. Vance watched every 
 pulse-beat. Suddenly there was a pause 
 her spirit had taken its final flight. 
 
 At about the same hour we had land 
 ed in a far-away prairie- farmer's home. 
 But for Mrs. Chafferlee, Leonardus would 
 have allowed us to remain on the road 
 side, as we begged of him. But the 
 exposure was sapping the fountains of 
 her life, and he made herculean exertions 
 to reconstruct our equipage. At last we 
 were once more on the highway to shel 
 ter. I don't know how far we had pro 
 ceeded when Leonardus left his mule to 
 adjust a spoke in the wheel, and the mule 
 left us. I suppose he had got tired of 
 such an unusual day's work, and con 
 cluded that his best friends were his 
 worst enemies. At all events, he had 
 freed himself from his novel harness and 
 disappeared. 
 
 " Not much of a loss. I believe I can 
 draw you myself! " said Leonardus. 
 
 He was in earnest, and I jumped out. 
 So did Mrs. Huberjide and Maggie and 
 Esther, and Mrs. Huberjide and Maggie 
 volunteered to push the wagon from be 
 hind. We did not get on very fast, and 
 the rain set in ; but the great, awkward 
 wagon -cover shielded Mrs. Chafferlee, 
 and I did not mind for the rest. Esther 
 wondered why nobody had thought to 
 bring an umbrella! She was sure tbat 
 every thing she had on would be spoiled. 
 Leonardus told her he thought there 
 
 would be time for her to run back and face. 
 
 get one, while we were travelling to the 
 next station. He was bound to be cheer 
 ful, and his spirit was contagious. I 
 laughed quite like myself, when panting 
 and perspiring he halted and called out : 
 
 "Five minutes for refreshments! " 
 
 Esther did not see how grown-up 
 women could go giggling along the road, 
 after having had such a dreadful es 
 cape. Bright asked what made laughing 
 wicked? Esther replied by muttering, 
 " It is well enough for those who hain't 
 got no feelings." 
 
 "I've got feelings," said Bright; "I 
 feel as if I should like to give my dog a 
 bone." 
 
 Mrs. Huberjide proposed to change 
 places with Leonardus, and let him push 
 while she pulled. I took hold with her, 
 and we had quite a lively run down a 
 slight descent. Esther was left in the 
 lurch, and Leonardus made us wait for 
 her to catch up. "When she came along 
 side he asked her to ride, and Mrs. Hu 
 berjide and I laughed again. 
 
 We were not alone on that lone road. 
 Wagons and stragglers passed us, but 
 they took no notice of our primitive mode 
 of moving. Once, while we were rest 
 ing, Leonardus asked me what I had 
 saved in my bundle. Was it any thing 
 which I could make available to throw 
 around me to keep off the rain? I had 
 long since put my Astrakhan cloak on 
 Mrs. Chafferlee. 
 
 I had forgotten, so we opened it. 
 One dozen night-dresses, which had just 
 been sent home from the seamstress, 
 starched and ruffled and fluted, and that 
 was all ! Leonardus looked down at me 
 with a very comical expression on hi* 1
 
 REST AT A FARM-HOUSE. 
 
 163 
 
 "Speak it out; I know what you 
 think," I said. 
 
 " Ah, wifey, let the wise vaunt their 
 wisdom. "We are spared to each other," 
 and the exquisite joy conferred on me by 
 that little speech tingled to my fingers' 
 ends. 
 
 A story-and-a-half house greeted at 
 last our wearied vision. "We all put our 
 shoulders to the wheel, or, more strictly 
 speaking, our hands to the wagon, ex 
 cept Esther, who declared that her fa 
 ther's daughter never should he made a 
 pack-horse of. TVe were admitted, and 
 Mrs. Chafferlee was tenderly cared for 
 on a soft feather hed. "We all dropped 
 exhausted around her, on chairs, on the 
 floor, anywhere. The good farmer's wife 
 kindled her kitchen-fire, to prepare us 
 something to eat. Leonardus brought 
 the sticks that built the fire. "What 
 powers of endurance! He came to me 
 after a few minutes : 
 
 u Now, wifey, you must not borrow 
 any trouble about me. You are safe for 
 the present, and I am going to the city 
 to look after others who are not so well 
 provided for." 
 
 I sprang up in alarm. 
 
 ""What, when you have not had a 
 mouthful of food for thirty-six hours ! " 
 
 " I am not so forgetful of myself as 
 that. I have been in the pantry, and 
 blundered upon about a yard of cold 
 roast beef. I set myself at work, and, 
 by diligently nibbling I got outside the 
 whole of it. Don't stare so! I asked 
 permission. The farmer is saddling his 
 best horse, and is going to dress me up 
 in his hat and coat. So, good-by ! Sleep 
 and eat, and get freshened up as much 
 as possible before I get back." 
 
 Since I could do nothing less than 
 follow his directions, I will permit my 
 readers to follow him. 
 
 It was daylight when he first came 
 upon the abomination of desolation. Six 
 miles of ruin! Longitudinally seven or 
 eight ! Cellars were filled with smoul 
 dering and unsightly heaps of rubbish. 
 The streets were encumbered with de 
 bris, the sidewalks had tumbled into the 
 vaults, the telegraph-wires, curled and 
 whitened, lay everywhere, and the street 
 car rails were bent into the most eccen 
 tric shapes by the heat. In many in 
 stances they stood up out of the car- 
 staples without any fire having touched 
 them, the effects of the intensely heated 
 air. In one place he got off his horse to 
 examine a car-wheel, which was com 
 pletely welded into the rail. The beau 
 tiful dwellings, all through the length 
 and breadth of North Chicago, were laid 
 low, save one, which, standing in the 
 centre of its own grounds, covering a 
 whole block, was left. Ha! what is that 
 he sees in that wild waste ? The great 
 greenhouse of the McCaggs, without a 
 pane of glass broken ! Their beautiful 
 home gone, the trees stripped of bark 
 and branches, and the flowers untouched! 
 He rode nearer. The heat had brought 
 out the blossoms, and it was like one great, 
 rich, full bouquet ! "What a sight amid such 
 surroundings ! He rode on. The bridges 
 were gone, the elevators were gone, the 
 churches were gone, the newspaper-of 
 fices were gone, the banks were gone, the 
 hotels were gone, the great wholesale and 
 retail stores were gone, the school-build 
 ings were gone, the custom-house was 
 gone, the post-office was gone, the city 
 hall was gone, the gas-works were gone,
 
 164 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 the water-works were gone, and the rail 
 road-stations were gone. The whole of 
 the great Central Depot might have been 
 carried away in a hand-basket. 
 
 As the growth of Chicago was the 
 superlative of all modern history, so, 
 alas ! its destruction. The story of it 
 has gone to the ends of the earth, and 
 has called forth everywhere tearful 
 sympathy and generous aid. Thank 
 God for the chords which connect the 
 members of our common humanity ! The 
 Gospel doctrine of charity lives in the 
 hearts of all men. While Leonardus, on 
 that sad morning, saw how brick and 
 marble walls had crumbled like sand be 
 fore the fell destroyer, the importance 
 of our new agents of civilization were 
 being realized by millions of human be 
 ings. The railroads, the telegraph, and 
 the deep-sea cables, were mediums by 
 which Christian nations proved that 
 they were indeed Christian to the core. 
 In distant cities, in foreign lands, the 
 tocsin had been rung, and from one com 
 mon heart gushed bounteous supplies. 
 Laden trains were already flying to the 
 relief of the houseless and starving. 
 
 Leonardus, after much difficulty, 
 reached the west side, and found Mrs. 
 Hortense. She was comfortable, but 
 in great distress of mind concerning her 
 daughter. He promised to let her know 
 as soon as he could obtain any informa 
 tion. He galloped on, intending by a 
 long detour to reach the unburned por 
 tion of the south side, and learn if possi 
 ble of the fate of Spicy and Mrs. Vance. 
 Somewhere near Twelfth-Street bridge 
 lie stopped to hear the story of the 
 vicious cow that had kicked over the 
 kerosene-lamp that had burned up two 
 
 hundred millions of dollars, when some 
 one called his name, and, turning his 
 head, he saw Spicy's carriage being 
 reined up to where he was sitting on his 
 horse, with Dr. Gildersleeve in it. They 
 exchanged questions and answers with 
 great rapidity, and started north at a 
 brisk rate, Leonardus keeping as near 
 the carriage-window as his raw-boned 
 old ambler would permit. Dr. Gilder- 
 sleeve was distressed the moment he 
 learned that Helen had not reached our 
 house, and Leonardus trembled for Mrs. 
 Vance. Spicy was at her friend's cot 
 tage with her children, in bed, and ten 
 derly cared for. 
 
 They turned aside when north of 
 Lake Street for Leonardus to point out 
 the house where he had left Mrs. Hor 
 tense, but they would not take time to 
 stop now. There was a carriage in front 
 of it, however, at which Leonardus 
 looked the second time. An idea struck 
 him, for he asked Dr. Gildersleeve to 
 wait while he rode that way. Yes, it 
 was Eichard on the box, holding Mrs. 
 Vance's singed horses. He had stayed 
 on the west side with a friend, but was 
 out early to see whom he could find. 
 Mrs. Hortense was the only person of 
 whom he knew the whereabouts ; he had 
 obtained that information from Leonar 
 dus among the terrors of yesterday. He 
 thought by applying to her he should 
 get the clew to others. She told him 
 that General Belmore had been there, 
 and was coming again. He waited, and 
 was rewarded. 
 
 Leonardus ordered him to follow 
 them, as they were on the search for 
 Mrs. Vance, and the man was only tocf 
 glad to obey, for he loved his mistress.
 
 THE LOST FOUND. 
 
 165 
 
 The extreme northern limit of the 
 city reached, and they moved slowly and 
 peered anxiously among the groups of 
 dejected -looking people by the way 
 sides. It was enough to wring one's 
 heart to see them in their misery, to say 
 nothing of the heart-rending and harrow 
 ing tales of distress to which they could 
 not stop to listen. Lincoln Park, in 
 deed I How hope to find the lost in 
 that incongruous assemblage ? 
 
 Leaving the carriages and the farm 
 er's horse in charge of the drivers, 
 Leonardus and Dr. Gildersleeve set out 
 oil their pilgrimage. They went across, 
 they went up and down, they wound 
 around among the paths and shrubbery, 
 their eyes ever active ever on the 
 alert. 
 
 " Mrs. Vance may have obtained a 
 vehicle and been transported far into the 
 country," said Leonardus. 
 
 Just then Cousin Phil nearly ran over 
 him. 
 
 "Ay! ay! Belmore, have you seen 
 my mother ? " 
 
 " No. Have yon lost her ? " 
 
 " I fear so. Our house was burned 
 while I was trying to get a few packages 
 of money out of the bank. I have no 
 idea where to look for her." 
 
 " I will take one side of the park and 
 you the other, and we shall thereby com 
 pass more territory in the same space 
 of time," said Dr. Gildersleeve, leaving 
 them. 
 
 Leonardus and Phil had scarcely pro 
 ceeded half a hundred yards when they 
 came upon the two pale women, watch 
 ing by the sleeping dead. Helen Gilder 
 sleeve, on the straightened cushions of 
 the easy-chair, was neatly wrapped in 
 
 the water-proof, awaiting her last jour 
 ney. Mrs. Vance was sitting on the 
 ground, and Miss Terrapin's head was ly 
 ing in her lap. Dr. Greer, who had been 
 revolving all the morning in a circle, 
 without finding any way to relieve the 
 ladies, appeared, and told Leonardus what 
 Mrs. Vance had undergone, and, since 
 her carriage was so near, they both 
 thought it best for her to go immediately 
 to it, Phil offering to remain with Miss 
 Terrapin until Leouardus should over 
 take Dr. Gildersleeve. 
 
 Mrs. Vance was far more exhausted 
 than she had even dreamed, and it was 
 with great difficulty that, leaning on Dr. 
 Greer's arm, she accomplished the dis 
 tance. He noticed that her shoes were 
 burned almost entirely off her feet, and 
 that her eyelashes were gone. She 
 begged Dr. Greer to go directly back to 
 Miss Terrapin, and, once more buried 
 among the cushions of her own luxurious 
 carriage, gave way to a burst of grief. 
 Eichard got down from his seat, came 
 round to the window, and said : 
 
 " Don't take on so ! Mrs. Chafferlee 
 was carried as safe as a brick. I don't 
 think your block was much burned. I 
 ruther guess the girls got the things out 
 of the house, for they are deused smart 
 workers." 
 
 " Thank you, Richard. You are very 
 kind," she replied, and he wiped the 
 dampness from his eyes, and was glad 
 he had made his crude attempt at con 
 solation.
 
 166 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 THE SLEEPING DEAD. 
 
 THBEE-QTJABTEES of an hoar passed. 
 Then was seen approaching, slowly, Leo- 
 nardus and Phil, bearing all that re 
 mained of Helen Gildersleeve. Beside 
 them walked her husband, looking ten 
 years older than when he entered the 
 Park, and, following, Dr. Greer assisted 
 Miss Terrapin, who, like Mrs. Vance, 
 could hardly support her own weight. 
 He helped her into the carriage with 
 Mrs. Vance, who, at the first moment 
 possible, held an earnest conversation 
 with Leonardus ; then the door of her 
 carriage was closed, and she was on her 
 way to her aunt Mary, at our place of 
 refuge on the prairie. 
 
 Dr. Greer and Dr. Gildersleeve were 
 both amazed at the abruptness of her de 
 parture. They both wished to speak to 
 her. Dr. Greer had indefinitely formed 
 projects in his mind. Perhaps he might 
 be able to serve her. He had words for 
 her ears, at all events. Dr. Gildersleeve 
 was profoundly grateful to one who had 
 shown such rare self-abnegation in min 
 istering to his unfortunate wife ; for Dr. 
 Greer and Miss Terrapin had both borne 
 testimony, during the few minutes he 
 had been with them. He was wonder 
 ing if the English language could furnish 
 hun any form of speech with which to 
 thank her as he wished, when, lo ! she 
 was gone, and he had not even seen her 
 face. 
 
 His quick mind had settled the ques 
 tion in regard to Helen's remains. They 
 must be taken East and deposited in the 
 old family vault, where her fathers slept. 
 The difficulties in the way, and they 
 
 were many, must be overcome by per 
 sistent, energetic effort. "West Chicago 
 was intact, except the portions near the 
 river, and they could doubtless find some 
 church where she could be received and 
 prepared for removal. They made the 
 attempt, and, not until the dead rested 
 in a simple pine coffin, did Leonardus 
 turn his face ruinward. 
 
 The world may well wonder, for 
 where was there ever such undaunted 
 pluck and enterprise manifested as among 
 the business-men of Chicago ? With their 
 great commercial structures still crum 
 bling and smoking about them, with their 
 wealth still buried in vaults beneath the 
 ruins, with no assurance as to what 
 measure of indemnity they could expect 
 from the insurance companies for their 
 terrible losses, they were already at 
 work devising ways and means to re 
 build the city, and reestablish its com 
 mercial supremacy in the West. Leo 
 nardus spent the remainder of the day 
 among those cool-headed men, who had 
 already organized relief - committees in 
 every division of the city to provide food 
 and shelter for the destitute, and, not 
 until long after the shades of evening 
 had fallen, did he return to us. He 
 slept on the kitchen-floor, with a buffalo- 
 robe wound about him, and was off 
 again in the morning before the sun was 
 up. There was no repining at losses; 
 although few had lost more heavily than 
 we, no manifestations of discouragement, 
 no faint-heartedness, on his part. 
 
 "If Mrs. Vance's carriage is avail 
 able, try to meet us at the church at one 
 o'clock this afternoon, as there will be 
 brief funeral exercises," were his^ part 
 ing words to me, through the cat-hole
 
 EXCITEMENT IN NEW YORK 
 
 167 
 
 of the door, for five of us occupied im 
 provised beds in one apartment. 
 
 He seemed to have room in his heart 
 for every thing, nor was I jealous of my 
 apparently infinitesimal place at such a 
 time. 
 
 Fred Gildersleeve arrived from New 
 York that same morning. His brother 
 met him at the train, and prepared his 
 mind for what was to follow. He had 
 passed through a fearful season of ex 
 citement and cankering anxiety on his 
 journey. All sorts of rumors had 
 reached him. The telegrams received in 
 New York before he left excited the 
 greatest consternation in view of the 
 probable financial results. The panic at 
 the Stock Exchange was scarcely sur 
 passed by that of the Black Friday, so 
 fresh in the memory of America's sons. 
 One word alone Chicago seemed to 
 be the beginning of every sentence ut 
 tered in the great metropolis. It was 
 shouted by the newsboys, buzzed by the 
 dealers in stocks, whispered by bankers 
 and startled insurance-agents, discussed 
 aloud by friends and strangers, by peo 
 ple walking and by people riding, by 
 people selling and by people buying, by 
 rich and by poor, by old and by young. 
 Fred Gildersleeve would have moved 
 heaven and earth to reach his wife, 
 had it been possible. But he must 
 wait till the train went. He knew his 
 house was burned long before that huge 
 engine spit and sputtered and puffed and 
 jerked the cars out of New York. He 
 had the utmost confidence in Spicy's 
 heroism and strength of character, but 
 what could a woman do, tied down with 
 three little children ? He learned what 
 a woman could do and had done ! 
 
 I complied with Leonardus's wishes, 
 but neither Mrs. Vance nor Miss Terra 
 pin was able to leave her bed. Mrs. 
 Huberjide and Bright accompanied me, 
 for I had promised the former to drive 
 about among the refugees and try to find 
 her husband. 
 
 Dr. Gildersleeve, and his brother, 
 Mrs. Hortense, Dr. Greer, and Leonar- 
 dus, were already at the church when 
 we arrived. The pastor and two or 
 three strangers were also present. The 
 exercises commenced immediately, and 
 were beautifully appropriate. A few 
 flowers had been scattered on the coffin, 
 and we all took a final farewell glance 
 at the marble face, upon which there 
 was no trace of pain or suffering now 
 but peace, sweet peace. 
 
 I had just time to take Mrs. Hor- 
 tense's hand and express my ardent 
 sympathy in her affliction, when Leonar- 
 dus hurried me to the carriage, whisper 
 ing: 
 
 " "We are already in danger of miss 
 ing the train having waited for you to 
 get here." 
 
 Why was I always behind time in 
 every thing ? I sat looking after them 
 until they were out of sight, and then 
 turned my attention to Mrs. Huberjide. 
 She knew one family on the west side ; 
 she thought it not only possible, but 
 probable, that Mr. Huberjide would re 
 port himself there. She told me the 
 number as near as she could remember, 
 and I hunted it up. She was right in 
 her conjectures. Mr. Huberjide was 
 there. He had arrived about an hour 
 before ourselves. He was surprised to 
 meet his wife thus. I don't know what 
 he thought had become of her. He had
 
 168 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 run for the lake when he saw the fright 
 ful sight of flames striking buildings and 
 going directly through them, often send 
 ing their bristling tongues rods into the 
 rear and into some other building at the 
 same moment ! What chance was there 
 for a man when the very bricks were 
 consumed instantaneously? He buried 
 himself in sand and water until he was 
 taken off by a tug. He had been forty- 
 eight hours without food, and was finish 
 ing a rather long-drawn-out meal of 
 cold meat and bread-and-butter while he 
 talked with us. He declared upon his 
 word as a gentleman of honor that he had 
 never seen such a fire in his life. I be 
 lieved him. I left Mrs. Huberjide to 
 compare notes and see if they could set 
 tle the question between them, which 
 had encountered the most danger. 
 
 When I told Leonardus about the in 
 terview, he laughed. 
 
 " He was a New- York man, you say ? 
 That accounts for it all. He can't stand 
 fire. If he and his wife rode in a coal- 
 cart from the Tremont to Indiana Street, 
 I should have supposed they would have 
 hung together to the end of the route. 
 But he probably thought that wives 
 were a commodity which could be got 
 any day if he should by any chance get 
 burned himself, there would be no more 
 marrying or giving in marriage." 
 
 I shook my head reprovingly. I was 
 like Esther, averse to levity on grave 
 subjects. I was glad they had found 
 each other, and I hoped that New York 
 would send them another wedding-outfit. 
 
 Before he slept Wednesday night, 
 Fred Gildersleeve had rented a furnished 
 cottage on the lower part of Michigan 
 Avenue, and, on Thursday, moved his 
 
 family, with the few things Spicy had 
 saved, into it. The next morning their 
 carriage came for us. I was sorry to 
 leave Mrs. Vance behind, but there was 
 no alternative, for it did not seem pru 
 dent to try to move Mrs. Chafferlee. 
 Miss Terrapin was quite sick, also, and 
 Mrs. Vance insisted upon keeping and 
 taking care of her. 
 
 "If I have enough money left to in 
 sure me a pint of oatmeal per day, I 
 shall settle a pension on Miss Terrapin, 
 for her faithfulness to me on Monday," 
 she said. 
 
 But how was it likely to be about her 
 pint of oatmeal per day ? That was the 
 question. Dr. Greer had been to the 
 farmer's house to discuss it with her, 
 and had gone away sadder than he came. 
 Leonardus said the land was left, if the 
 blocks of stores and dwellings were gone. 
 She would probably recover something 
 from the Eastern insurance companies. 
 Not one in Chicago would ever pay five 
 cents on a dollar. How was she situated 
 at present ? She had not a solitary 
 penny. Her purse, which was in her 
 pocket when she left her house, was not 
 there at a later date. Whether it had 
 been lost or stolen, it was all the same 
 gone. Leonardus hadn't any money. 
 He had paid his last dollar to a boy for 
 running with a message for him during 
 the second hour of the fire. I hadn't 
 any, not even a pocket-book. I left that 
 under my pillow, where I usually put it 
 at night. 
 
 But Spicy always had money, and I 
 promised to ssnd some to Mrs. Vance for 
 present necessities, as soon as we got to 
 the south side. 
 
 What was my consternation on find-
 
 THE TON OP COAL. 
 
 1G9 
 
 ing Spicy without a dollar ! She had 
 paid all she had to workmen and others 
 during the fire. And, what was more 
 embarrassing still, Fred had returned 
 from New York with less than twenty- 
 five dollars in his pocket, and that had 
 all been spent in getting his family safely 
 housed. 
 
 " We are a pretty set 1 " said Leonar- 
 dus, walking up and down. 
 
 "Haven't you any credit?" asked 
 Fred. 
 
 " I did have, but it is in dust and 
 ashes now. I dare say I shall have 
 again, but I should like a quarter or ten 
 cents to carry in my pocket meanwhile. 
 It makes a man feel more like a man, you 
 know." 
 
 " How would it do to set up a curios 
 ity-stand and charge five cents a look ? " 
 said Fred, producing some half-melted 
 sleeve-buttons which he had picked up, 
 and which were in themselves mournful 
 evidences of the nation's calamity. 
 
 " That reminds me," said Leonardus, 
 " of a stick of petrified wood which was 
 shown me yesterday. It had been ex 
 humed from under a drug-store where it 
 is supposed to have been converted into 
 stone by some new and hitherto undis 
 covered process connected with the fire. 
 It really had the density and weight of 
 stone. Some thought it maple by the 
 grain, others declared it pine, judging 
 from the pitch -deposits which seemed to 
 be in it. It was cut up and distributed 
 among quite a number of gentlemen, and 
 a piece is to be submitted to Prof. Pagan, 
 of St. Louis, who, if you remember, lost 
 his position as State geologist, by refus 
 ing to acknowledge that tin grew in 
 Missouri." 
 
 " I saw something still more remark 
 able to-day," said Fred. "I saw the 
 Hon. Clemence Fortescue, State Senator 
 of Nebraska, carrying in a ton of coal by 
 hand. He came to Chicago as fast as 
 steam could bring him, as soon as he 
 heard of the fire, for he had a brother 
 here who had lost his place of business. 
 They knocked round, and put up a little 
 shanty with such material as they could 
 get hold of, and, as he was aching for 
 something more to do, he lent a ready 
 ear and a helping hod to a poor woman 
 who was bewailing the fate of a heap of 
 unprotected coal which had been dumped 
 in front of her door. I inquired if she 
 was husbandless and a widow. He said 
 not. It was an instance of pure good 
 nature. Charity had nothing to do with 
 it, for the woman had not been touched 
 by the fire, she only was afraid her fuel 
 would be stolen. Her husband was on a 
 neighboring corner, talking loudly, and 
 calling our city officials idiots for letting 
 every thing go to the mischief." 
 
 Leonardus's lip curled under his mus 
 tache, but he continued his promenade. 
 At one end of the library was a small 
 conservatory filled with choice plants 
 and flowers, and, conspicuous there, a 
 tube-rose, much too weighty for its feeble 
 stalk, was trying to open its petals. He 
 paused before the glass door and re 
 garded it intently, then turned abruptly 
 toward Fred. 
 
 "How did you happen to find this 
 gem of a cottage all fitted up as it were 
 to order? It never occurred to me to 
 inquire before." 
 
 Fred smiled. There was something 
 very peculiar about Fred's smile. " Ah, 
 general, thereby hangs a tale. It was
 
 170 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 the third house I rented on that mein- 
 orahle "Wednesday which seems a month 
 ago, judging from events since, after we 
 parted with Brother Grandison at the 
 cars. The first belonged to my old part 
 ner Stevens. I met him just after you 
 left me at the corner of Wabash Avenue 
 and Eighteenth Street, and, as he did not 
 seem to be going anywhere in particu 
 lar, I offered to take him there. He was 
 in a state of great nervons excitement, 
 had lost heavily, had been without sleep 
 for three days and nights, and was near 
 ly famished for want of food. He talked 
 about sending his family to friends in 
 Pittsburg, and I proposed to rent his 
 house off his hands. The idea struck 
 him favorably, we discussed all the pros 
 and cons, and closed the bargain, except 
 signing the lease, which was to be ac 
 complished in the course of the day. I 
 stopped to see Spicy, and was to join him 
 at the house, which I wished to examine, 
 in half an hour. When I arrived, accord 
 ing to appointment, I found his practical 
 wife just closing an arrangement with 
 another gentleman. Stevens undertook 
 an explanation, but I did not wait to hear 
 it. I hurried to the next block, where I 
 could see a sign swinging. Found a de 
 cent three-story brick, the paste on the 
 notice ' TO LET,' not yet dry. The propri 
 etor rented it to me for one hundred dol 
 lars per month, and I left, to see about 
 raising the requisite amount of money 
 to advance before putting our names to 
 papers. The man knew me, hence I had 
 no fears of his breaking his word. I 
 stopped to see Spicy again, for you must 
 know that I had as yet exchanged but a 
 few words with her. The doctor, who 
 seemed wretchedly anxious as to the re 
 
 sults of her extreme prostration, stood 
 guard at her door, and forbade our talk 
 ing over five minutes at a time, and pro 
 hibited a word of reference to the late 
 terrible scenes which she had passed 
 through. I took my carriage, which had 
 just been put in the barn, for a drive out 
 to Danforth's on the west side, knowing 
 that he always kept money at his house, 
 and never doubting but that he would 
 cash a draft for me on New York. I 
 was hindered for a few minutes talking 
 with some gentlemen at Twelfth-Street 
 bridge, and a little beyond I met Charles 
 Hinchman. He was on horseback, riding 
 furiously, but reined up to shake hands 
 with me through the carriage-window 
 said his family were yet in the open air 
 somewhere on the north side, but that 
 he had hired a house, and was going for 
 them, hoping to get them under cover 
 before nightfall. I congratulated him 
 upon having found such a rare commod 
 ity as a house, and told him how I had 
 been similarly blessed. He inquired 
 where mine was located, and I told him 
 No. Wabash Avenue. 
 
 " ' What ! in the Wilmarth block ? ' 
 
 "'Yes.' 
 
 " ' Impossible ! I have just rented that 
 house myself.' 
 
 " ' I engaged to pay one hundred dol 
 lars per month for it not more than an 
 hour ago ! ' 
 
 " ' And I signed a lease agreeing to 
 give two hundred dollars per month not 
 twenty minutes since ! ' 
 
 " There was no longer any question 
 about who had the best right to the es 
 tablishment. The afternoon was waning, 
 and we did not waste many more min 
 utes together. I drove up and down and
 
 THE FURNISHED COTTAGE. 
 
 in 
 
 over and across ; I inquired everywhere 
 and of everybody. I was told it was of 
 no use. Others had scoured every inch 
 of the standing part of the city, and there 
 was not a house of any sort to he had. I 
 was about to give up the search for that 
 day, when ray eye lighted upon a bit of 
 paper pinned upon the door of this cot 
 tage. In an instant I was upon the steps, 
 and five gentlemen followed me. In an 
 swer to my violent ring a lady opened 
 the door, evidently much agitated. I 
 asked the rent of the house. 
 
 " ' One hundred and twenty-five dol 
 lars per month,' she said, in a feverish 
 tone. 
 
 " 'I will take it, you may tell these 
 gentlemen the house is rented,' I replied, 
 quickly, and walked in while saying so, 
 although the lady stepped aside to let me 
 pass her with apparent reluctance. 
 
 " ' My son has already gone out to 
 inquire after the responsibility of four or 
 five applicants, and I cannot give you an 
 answer now,' she said, turning slightly 
 pale. 
 
 '"But I will take the house, and I 
 must have my answer now,' I replied, 
 authoritatively, and, dropping into a chair 
 by the centre-table, I commenced writing 
 with my pocket-pencil upon a scrap of 
 paper which lay there. 
 
 " ' "What are you doing ? ' she asked, 
 with a distressed look. 
 
 " ' Drawing up a contract for you to 
 sign.' 
 
 " ' Indeed, sir, I cannot sign any con 
 tract now, nor give you the refusal of the 
 house even, until my son returns. Please 
 don't try to take advantage of an unpro 
 tected lady.' 
 
 " ' Have no fears on that score, mad 
 
 am ; on the contrary, I will endeavor to 
 protect you. And, as those gentlemen 
 upon the steps are rather clamorous for 
 admittance, you had better tell them the 
 house is rented, for I shall take it.' 
 
 " She looked at me with incredulous 
 wonder ! Her situation must have been 
 a painful one. She had been induced to 
 put her house in the market in order to 
 fly to some safer abode, but had never 
 dreamed that overwhelming numbers 
 would wrangle with each other in order 
 to secure it ! There was a scuffle on the 
 veranda, and one man knocked another 
 down. She ran to the window, then 
 came back, trembling. 
 
 " ' But, sir, I do not even know your 
 name ! ' 
 
 " * Fred Gildersleeve.' 
 
 "She started, and her countenance 
 changed. 
 
 " ' Are you he who married Spicy 
 Merriman? ' 
 
 " ' The same. Do you know her? ' 
 
 " A broad belt of light crossed her 
 face, and, stepping quickly to the door, 
 she announced to the impatient outsiders 
 that the house was rented. Then she 
 explained. Her daughter was one of 
 Miss Gilbert's pupils, and had known 
 Spicy at school, etc. ' 
 
 " I finished my contract, which was 
 to the effect that, in consideration often 
 dollars, by me paid, Mrs. Sontag was to 
 rent me her house, at eight o'clock the 
 same evening. She remarked : 
 
 '"I should like the privilege of re 
 serving my silver and linen.' 
 
 " It was the first intimation I had 
 that I was renting a furnished house ! I 
 had been so eager to obtain the mere 
 shell of a building, that I had thought of
 
 172 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 nothing beyond. I quietly put back my 
 pencil and inserted the word furnished, 
 while I graciously permitted the owner to 
 reserve the customary articles ! To make 
 a sure thing doubly sure, after she had 
 signed the paper, I took out my three- 
 hundred dollar watch, and insisted upon 
 her retaining it until my return. She 
 was loth to do so ; said she did not wish 
 to incur such a responsibility, it might 
 be stolen, or the remainder of the city 
 might burn ; but I made her keep it. I 
 then drove over to Danforth's, and, to 
 my surprise, he refused to cash my 
 paper! Said the whole country would 
 go to smash, New York banks and all. 
 Said he hadn't a dollar, but he knew I 
 knew that he was lying. It Avas eight 
 o'clock by the time I got back to Mrs. 
 Sontag's, and I found her with trunks 
 packed and anxious to leave for the East 
 on the ten-o'clock evening train. She 
 seemed to think what was left of the city 
 would certainly burn before she could 
 get out of its limits. As she was going 
 to New York, I offered her a sight-draft, 
 which she accepted ; the whole business 
 was closed she went out, and we came 
 in." 
 
 " There is something strikingly fa 
 miliar in the fashion of these rooms," 
 said Leonardus. He had twice walked 
 to the parlor-door, as if on a tour of ob 
 servation, while Fred had been telling 
 his story. 
 
 An idea ran like a knife through my 
 brain just at that instant ! "We were in 
 the old Dwight mansion, which had been 
 moved down-town, backed upon a cor 
 ner lot, and remodelled and fitted up 
 until it was not so much to be wondered 
 at that we did not recognize it readily. 
 
 Spicy, propped up with cushions on the 
 sofa, laughed quite like herself when I 
 pointed out the old familiar niches in the 
 walls. But her face saddened again in 
 stantly, for the associations of the ghost- 
 closet, the recent revelation, and the sad 
 termination of the life of poor Helen 
 Gildersleeve, were too painfully fresh in 
 her mind. And I thought of Nursy 
 Brown, and what she must have suffered 
 during the time she lived with me as a 
 servant, for the very shape of the win 
 dows and doors, notwithstanding their 
 new dress, carried me back to those 
 other and long-ago days. Fred inter 
 rupted my reverie, for we had all been 
 eloquently silent for a time. 
 
 " But about this money-matter, gen 
 eral ; if you won't undertake to make 
 any by honest labor, we shall be relieved 
 as soon as Grandison gets back, next 
 week, for he is so fortunate as to have 
 his laid away at the East, and will be 
 prepared to help the rest of us until we 
 can stand on our own feet." 
 
 " "Water seems of more account than 
 money just now," said Spicy. " There 
 is none nearer than the lake, and we 
 shall need some dinner by-and-by." 
 
 "That is only a few blocks away! 
 John must bring some instead of driving 
 us to the ruins. We will take the cars." 
 
 " The cars, indeed ! who will pay for 
 us ? I think we will take to our feet," 
 said Leonardus, laughing. 
 
 " And how about the dinner? " asked 
 Spicy. "If there are no butcher-shops 
 and groceries, and no supplies in the 
 city, and no money " 
 
 Fred laid his hand across her mouth. 
 "Do you remember the mock-trial on 
 board the steamboat last summer, when
 
 MRS. VANCE AT THE FARM-HOUSE. 
 
 173 
 
 the culprit was sentenced to be hanged, 
 after that imprisoned for life, and, upon 
 his release, doomed to join the temper 
 ance-society ? " 
 
 " I am not able to make the applica 
 tion," interrupted Leonardus. 
 
 " I suppose not, since it does not 
 reach your case. But it is hardly worth 
 while for us to sit and look at each other 
 like a party of children who have lost all 
 their marbles particularly when it is a 
 matter of something to eat. I am get 
 ting up an appetite myself. Come, gen 
 eral, let us go on a foraging expe 
 dition." 
 
 " I don't see what you can do ! " said 
 Spicy. 
 
 "Trust two good-looking men to 
 scare up something. "Was it not I who 
 invented a potato-candlestick last night ? 
 Have you no blind faith ? I don't think 
 I shall apply to the relief-committee, of 
 which General Belmore here happens to 
 be one, unless it is for a cigar, I'm dy 
 ing for a smoke," and Fred kissed Spicy, 
 and the two strode away. 
 
 Saturday morning I went over to see 
 Mrs. Vance, and recited the various 
 straits to which we had all been sub 
 jected by the want of a few dollars in 
 change. Who ever knew before that 
 one had so many ways for money ? It 
 was just as impossible to borrow as it 
 was to lend ! Where one was as well 
 off as we, ten thousand were worse off. 
 Money ! such a thing was not in circula 
 tion ! 
 
 Mrs. Yance smiled. 
 
 u It is something of a shock to drop 
 from an income of one hundred thousand 
 dollars a year to nothing," she said. 
 
 " Yes, and to be cut off from every 
 
 souvenir of the past, as I am. Not a 
 fragment of any thing exists that was 
 once mine. Not even a pocket-handker 
 chief, nor a precious gift, nor jewel, nor 
 pen-stroke all my idols are gone." 
 
 I was weak enough to break down 
 there, for what I had had, and I fear too 
 lightly appreciated, came rushing into 
 my mind, and Mrs. Vance sprang and 
 threw her arms around me and kissed, 
 me without speaking. Was she weeping, 
 also? 
 
 I recovered myself presently, for I 
 thought of Leonardus, and how much 
 harder the blow had fallen upon him 
 than me, and I went to the window and 
 commented upon the fine-looking chick 
 ens which were stalking up and down 
 the yard, and asked Mrs. Vance how her 
 horses liked boarding on hay. 
 
 She said Richard was in the greatest 
 distress for want of a curry-comb and 
 brush. 
 
 After a while I got back to the origi 
 nal object of my visit, to tell her how 
 the dreadful money-pinch would be over 
 as soon as Dr. Gildersleeve returned, for 
 he was expected to bring a small bank in 
 his trunk. 
 
 Oh, how quickly the spirit took 
 alarm ! 
 
 " You need not be weighed down 
 with care for me, my dear Mrs. Belmore. 
 Aunt Mary is now able to go to Detroit, 
 and I shall leave on Monday. The rail 
 road is issuing free tickets hush (as I 
 attempted to interrupt her) ! what mat 
 ters it if I do accept the provisions of a 
 grand and spontaneous charity ? I would 
 not even hesitate' to dwell under one of 
 those twelve thousand tents which have 
 been sent to shelter the houseless. But
 
 174 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 it is not necessary. I have distant rela 
 tives in Detroit, or rather Aunt Mary 
 has, and they will give us cordial wel 
 come. Herbert, her son, is in a position 
 to help her, and for the rest I must trust 
 in God. The good farmer here declines 
 to accept any compensation for his ser 
 vices, as he did in your case ; but he will 
 be the first one I shall remember if ever 
 my turn comes." 
 
 I tried to combat her purpose. Fred 
 and Spicy had a room designated for her 
 in their house. But she was firm. As 
 for Miss Terrapin, I took her home with 
 me. How she mourned over the loss of 
 her wig! Her few scattering hairs, 
 which had not been white before the 
 fire, were white now, and she felt the 
 October cold about her head keenly. 
 
 " Are all the hair-dressing establish 
 ments burned ? " was her pathetic inquiry 
 when I commenced making her toilet, 
 preparatory to the drive, with a coarse 
 horn-comb, belonging to the farmer's 
 wife. 
 
 Yes. But I bade her never mind. 
 We should be quite exclusive and by 
 ourselves. Nobody need see her. She 
 appeared resigned. But, when I had 
 completed the task, she' asked for a look 
 ing-glass. 
 
 " Singular that my hair should turn 
 as it has! But it always run in our 
 family to get gray young." 
 
 Esther, quite indignant that we were 
 not forthcoming in the pay for her bag 
 gage, which had been destroyed, left us 
 on "Wednesday morning, and went to 
 look for another place. I had taken 
 Maggie with me to my sister's house, 
 and the indefatigable Eichard had stum 
 bled about until he had found Mrs. 
 
 Vance's servants, and they were with 
 her assisting in the care of Mrs. Chaffer- 
 lee, until she could make some provision 
 for them. 
 
 I intended to meet Mrs. Vance on 
 Monday, but one of Spicy's horses was 
 sick, and I could not get to her. A note 
 from her on Tuesday told of her safe ar 
 rival in Detroit, and the kindness of her 
 friends. 
 
 Dr. Gildersleeve arrived on "Wednes 
 day evening, having left Mrs. Hortense 
 with her relatives. He brought a rift 
 of sunshine with him, in the shape of a 
 warm heart and plenty of greenbacks. 
 He was more fortunate than any of us, 
 for, save in his paper, which was bound 
 to live and thrive, in spite of its scorch 
 ing, he had invested very little in Chi 
 cago. He was ready to do so now. I 
 heard him saying to Leonardus : 
 
 " She has all the elements of a great 
 city left, except the mere buildings. 
 Look at her river-harbor, which has been 
 dredged and enlarged, at enormous ex 
 pense ! And her piers and breakwaters. 
 See her light -houses, for the security 
 of navigation! See her tunnel under 
 Lake Michigan, competent to supply a 
 city of thrice her recent magnitude with 
 pure water ! Then there is her expen 
 sive system of sewerage, which, being 
 underground, and of incombustible mate 
 rial, of course has not been consumed ! 
 And all the grading of her streets and 
 the excavation of her cellars and vaults ! 
 And her vast cattle-yards and pork-pack 
 ing establishments! The loss of her 
 railroad-depots, however severely felt, 
 will not obstruct travel and traffic, for 
 passengers can be received and landed, 
 and freight delivered, in the open air!
 
 MRS. VANCE IN DETROIT. 
 
 175 
 
 And, what is more, Chicago has not lost 
 her shrewd, enterprising, energetic, in 
 domitable men of business. The brill 
 iant, powerful city of a week ago has 
 still its financial, commercial, social, and 
 domestic roots stretched to the remote 
 quarters of the earth ; its marked quota 
 tions and opinions in all American cities ; 
 its prices of grains, hides, and lumber, in 
 Europe ; its trade connections reaching 
 through San Francisco to China and Ja 
 pan, and its personal family ties every 
 where. Her sorrow is a common sor 
 row. Her uprising from her ashes will 
 be a common joy." 
 
 His earnestness and well-timed and 
 efficient aid stimulated and inspired 
 many a desponding heart. Leonardus 
 said men's faces brightened when he ap 
 peared among them. His own was grave, 
 but there was a well of tenderness hid 
 den behind its outward seeming. He 
 had encouraging words for all, and some 
 thing in his purse for many more than 
 the world would ever discover. 
 
 He was ceaseless in his inquiries for 
 Mrs. Vance. He wanted to render her 
 some substantial token of his apprecia 
 tion of her unspeakable kindness to his 
 wife. He charged me with many and 
 various messages, which I never de 
 livered. He knew that she had been 
 robbed of all her possessions ; he had 
 heard us make many and frequent allu 
 sions to it, and wondered why Spicy and 
 myself were so opposed to his sending 
 her a check. I told him that she was 
 too high-toned a woman to accept a fa 
 vor, even though it might come in the 
 spirit of gratitude on his part, and be en 
 tirely her due. Then he tried to force it 
 upon one or the other of us to send as 
 
 we saw fit, and was grieved that we 
 should decline. 
 
 We remained with Spicy while Leo 
 nardus laid 'the foundations of new for 
 tunes and hopes. He had lost so heavily 
 that we tried not to think or talk of it 
 between ourselves. Every word was 
 like blistering a bleeding wound. 
 
 Fred Gildersleeve, thanks to his wife, 
 had only received a set back of a few 
 months. Choice possessions had been 
 burned which no money could ever re 
 place, but from the great bulk of his solid 
 property he had only to count out about 
 one year's income. 
 
 I heard from Mrs. Vance often. Leo 
 nardus tried to do something for her 
 when he was in New York and Boston, 
 but insurance-money came slowly. Her 
 letters were cheerful far more so than 
 mine although I was sure that she must 
 have many and pressing needs to which 
 she made no allusion. 
 
 The new year had dawned upon us, 
 and Russia's royal scion, the Grand-duke 
 Alexis, had been entertained with the 
 most magnificent ruins of the age. It 
 was all Chicago had to offer, save warm 
 and cordial greetings, and profoundest 
 respect for the powerful and enlightened 
 nation which he represented. He was 
 her guest, and his princely presence in 
 fused new life into her working heroes, 
 although the city could not indulge in 
 an ostentatious and formal reception. 
 She could only extend the right hand of 
 fellowship and lie in very ruins at his 
 feet. 
 
 Leonardus returned from Milwaukee 
 the day after the grand banquet at the 
 Plankinton House. "We were all anxious 
 to learn particulars. He described the
 
 176 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 order in which the guests were seated at 
 the table. 
 
 "The grand-duke was the centre of 
 attraction. He was dressed in orthodox 
 clothes, and, except that he was the 
 handsomest man present, could not have 
 been distinguished from the other guests. 
 He seems to be rather of an investigat 
 ing and practical turn of mind, and cares, 
 I think, more for a clear insight into our 
 customs, resources, and manufacturing 
 interests, than for state dinners." 
 
 "And what of the speeches? " asked 
 Fred. 
 
 "Excellent. What the grand -duke 
 said was pithy and to the point. Ad 
 miral Polin responded to the toast, ' The 
 Eussian Navy.' But the happiest speech 
 of the evening was from Count Boris. I 
 can recall only a part of it, but, speaking 
 of his present trip through the West, he 
 said that he realized more than ever be 
 fore that ' westward the star of empire 
 takes its way,' was no legend, but a fixed 
 fact. But, in Russia, eastward the star 
 of empire works its way, and he hoped 
 the time would soon come when the re 
 lations of Russia and America would be 
 come so intimate that a ferry-boat should 
 ply Behring Straits." 
 
 "Who is Count Boris?" inquired 
 Spicy. 
 
 " The leading Russian in America at 
 the present time, with the exception of 
 Prince Alexis himself," replied Leonar- 
 dus. "But I must hasten to tell you 
 of an Eastern capitalist whom I run upon 
 as I Avas crossing over from the Milwau 
 kee cars. He is feeling round for a place 
 to pile up a few loose dollars, and I called 
 his attention to the site of Mrs. Vance's 
 Lake-Street block. I ana to see him in 
 
 the morning, and I should not be sur 
 prised if she got a bid." 
 
 I hoped so most sincerely. It was 
 several weeks afterward, however, be 
 fore my hopes were realized, for he was 
 one of those cautious men who look long 
 before investing. But he at last made a 
 direct offer for its purchase. Leonardus 
 telegraphed to Mrs. Vance to come to 
 Chicago in the next train, and I went to 
 the cars to receive her. 
 
 Dr. Gildersleeve was staying with us, 
 and was cognizant of all the facts, ex 
 cept that he only knew of Mrs. Vance as 
 Mrs. Vance. 
 
 It was just before dinner when she 
 arrived. Cheerful grate-fires were burn 
 ing in parlor, library, and dining-room. 
 Spicy had arranged about the apartments 
 a half-dozen or more pretty bouquets from 
 her private conservatory, and the per 
 fume of unseen heliotrope was every 
 where faint and sweet. Leonardus had 
 been with me to the train, and Fred and 
 Spicy were rarely more cordial than when 
 welcoming their present guest. 
 
 In spite of the fatigue of a cold day's 
 journey, I never saw a woman so well 
 worth looking at. Her head, poised like 
 that of a queen, and her stylish travel 
 ling-suit of soft drab merino, with hat 
 to match, suiting her so wonderfully. 
 Her costume simple enough, and, as I 
 afterward learned, the work of her own 
 hands, but so artistic in its finish that I 
 could only think of Raphael's draperies. 
 The absence of life-giving colors, so try-" 
 ing to most people, was singularly effec 
 tive in bringing out the full brilliancy of 
 her complexion, and in giving life and 
 expression to her classic features. Her 
 beauty was of a kind to grow upon one,
 
 THE LOVERS' MEETING. 
 
 177 
 
 like some incomprehensible masterpiece 
 of art. She was glad to see us, and her 
 face was lighted Avith the genial warmth 
 of her nature ; but, did I fancy that her 
 sweet graciousness, which had so won 
 my heart in the days gone by, had given 
 place to a certain Tiauteur of manner? 
 It did not occur to me that I had noticed 
 the same thing, and thought the same 
 thoughts, every time I had met her for 
 years ! She was a study, and I went on 
 studying her, while I laid her wraps one 
 after another upon the sofa, and wheeled 
 a large easy-chair toward the fire for her 
 to occupy. 
 
 At that moment Dr. Gildersleeve, who 
 had been engrossed with a book in the 
 library during our somewhat noisy greet 
 ings, entered the parlor, and I introduced 
 him directly to Mrs. Vance ; but, with 
 all our conjectures and divinations, we 
 were totally unprepared for what fol 
 lowed. 
 
 Mrs. Vance flushed violently, even her 
 lips turned scarlet, as her eyes met those 
 of Dr. Gildersleeve. He had advanced 
 with extended hand, but he suddenly 
 stood still, his arm dropping powerless 
 by his side, and his face whitening until 
 it was ashy pale. He had recognized 
 her, and I felt, as it were, through the 
 air, the shock by which the whole truth 
 flooded his mind. Who may ever know 
 what words were scorching his tongue, 
 and crying, like souls in pain, to be ut 
 tered? Tears youth's long-lost famil 
 iars glittered in his speaking eyes, as 
 they rested upon her with a sort of rev 
 erential awe ; and yet, the concentrated 
 passion of months and of years flashed in 
 their heart-searching gaze. What did he 
 
 read in the depths of her blue orbs? 
 12 
 
 Why stood they there in silence, as if 
 regarding each other from the lonely 
 length of each life? Are there loves in 
 this world for which time can renew all 
 that time may destroy? Are there lives 
 that cling to one faith and die with 
 it ? His voice came at last, husky, yet 
 thrilling : 
 
 "Ida!" 
 
 The response was soft, and sweet as 
 a tune that one knows. 
 
 "Grandison!" 
 
 I did not see, but by some mysterious 
 intuition I was conscious, that he had 
 snatched her to his heart. I did not 
 hear, but a low, short, sharp, stifled, 
 agonized sob from her lips was tele 
 graphed to my senses. I was in the 
 dining-room endeavoring to suppress a 
 fit of hysterics, to which I was not at all 
 subject. Spicy was there before me, 
 busy moving each plate and individual 
 butter about an inch farther toward the 
 head of the table, and then, having sepa 
 rated them too far from their napkins, 
 moved them all back again. Something 
 sparkled on her cheek like a diamond, 
 but I supposed it couldn't be one, since 
 it is not the customary place to wear 
 diamonds. Rather unexpectedly she 
 wound her arms round my neck. 
 
 " What a secret that has been for us 
 to keep ! " she said. 
 
 Eaising my eyes after a while, when 
 the shower had passed by, I saw Fred 
 leaning against the library mantel in his 
 usual attitude of ease and self-possession. 
 One hand toyed negligently with the 
 flowers in a vase, and, as the leaves 
 scattered, he carefully brushed them back 
 from the edge of the marble, that they 
 might not fall upon the carpet. He was
 
 178 
 
 SPICY. 
 
 never handsomer, nor his tone steadier, 
 than when, with a perplexed frown, he 
 summoned Spicy to his side to ask for a 
 solution of what now for the first time, 
 since hearing her remark, struck him as 
 an inexplicable problem. I did not hear 
 their conversation, but the secret which 
 Spicy had kept so long was a secret no 
 longer, as far as he was concerned. 
 
 Bright was the most considerate mem 
 ber of the family, for, in quietly leaving 
 the parlor, after seeing the rest of us do 
 so, he shut the door behind him. 
 
 "Mamma!" said he, softly, looking 
 very much disturbed, "I saw Dr. Gil- 
 dersleeve kiss Mrs. Vance, and she never 
 tried to go away, nor any thing ! But I 
 suppose it is their own affair, and you 
 must not tell it to any one." 
 
 Leonardus came down from the nur 
 sery presently, where he had been romp 
 ing "with Spicy's little soldiers," he 
 said. I am sure I don't know when he 
 went up there ! He took me to task for 
 leaving my guest so rudely. 
 
 " Mrs. Vance is a woman of genius, 
 and will credit you with plotting against 
 her peace." 
 
 "She may be a woman of genius, 
 but she is essentially human," I re 
 sponded. 
 
 But the dinner was spoiling, and the 
 cook showed symptoms of impatience by 
 sending two or three times to know if 
 we were ready to have it put upon thu 
 table. Spicy said I must go back to the 
 parlor and do the honors, while she went 
 up-stairs to her children for a few mo 
 ments. Fred and Leonardus were both 
 of the opinion that it was a duty which 
 devolved upon me. Bright said : 
 
 "Mamma, hadn't you better rattle 
 the door a little before you go in ? " 
 
 I only coughed. The occupants of 
 the parlor did not seem to notice my 
 consumptive tendencies. They were 
 standing where we left them, Dr. Gil- 
 dersleeve's arms encircling Mrs. Vance, 
 and her proud head resting upon his 
 broad bosom, as it would henceforth 
 evermore rest. He was saying, as I ap 
 proached them : 
 
 " Ida, in those long-ago summer days 
 at Eockland Place, had I spoken, might 
 I have hoped then ? " 
 
 " You might." 
 
 THE END.
 
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