T
JL
MRS.TUBBS
MARGARET
SIDNEY
SALLY
MRS. TUBES
SALLY
MRS. TUBES
By MARGARET SIDNEY
AUTHOR OF "FIVE LITTLE PEPPERS, AND How
THEY GREW," " OLD CONCORD : HER HIGHWAYS
AND BYWAYS," "A LITTLE MAID OF CONCORD
TOWN," "WHITHER WITH THE CHILDREN," ETC.
LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY
BOSTON
Norfoootr tyres*
J. a. Gushing & Co. - Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
P5 1
To all who love simplicity, truth, and
cheerfulness
91S281
CONTENTS
PAGE
"
One
Two ..........
Three ......... 63
Four .......... 88
Five .......... 1C1
Si, .......... 12
Seven ......... 189
Eight ......... 15S
SALLY
MRS. TUBES
SALLY, MRS. TUBES
ONE
E atmosphere was charged, so
to speak, with such solid sat-
isfaction when Miss Sally
Plunkett emerged from the
humble dwelling of the justice of the peace
as Mrs. Abijah Tubbs, that it seemed the
controlling element for the whole country-
side.
It had been " up and early " to get their
work done, with all the neighbours who
meant to be present at the virgin attrac-
tions of Miss Sally's entry into Justice
Spender's office, and it was " get there
quick" also with all the small boys and
smaller girls who had counted on the show
ever since the engagement was announced.
For Miss Sally had in the short time
11
12 SALLY, MBS. TUBES
between her betrothal and its consumma-
tion in marriage, made diligent use of all
possible verbal channels to spread the infor-
mation as to every detail of her union with
the man of her choice.
" I ain't got much time to git ready in,
an* that's a fact, but if I wait, I won't
nerve him up to it again, most likely, an'
it's better to git a husband than to have
more clothes an' fixin's. Mrs. Tubbs
won't that sound grand, though ! "
She tossed her head, at that moment try-
ing on the wedding bonnet, a splendid affair,
with its bright green ostrich feather observ-
ing the correct angle ; its wreath of pink
roses, and the final glory of its long, white
cotton veil of a sprawling pattern that till
that day had reposed as a curtain on the
shelf of the village storekeeper.
" Ain't I just delicious ! " stalking back
and forth in front of the big, cracked
Plunkett looking-glass.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 13
" I wish to goodness 'twas to-day an' I
was sure an' fast Mrs. Tubbs. You never
can be pos'tive about these men. My ! sech
a' sight o' trouble as I've had to land 'Bijah !
An' he not much bigger'n a pint cup. But
then, he's a man, an' I'll be a merried
woman 's much as if he was sizable like
other folks. Then, says I, see 'em bow an'
say, < Good mornin', Mrs. Tubbs.' "
She courtesied to the right and to the
left, in response to these future salutations,
the green feather waving in unison and the
sprawling figures of the cotton lace veil
making a brave show on either side of her
spare, autumnal figure.
" Sally, what do you want to git merried
fer ? " her intimate friend and neighbour,
the widow Panks, asked when the sudden
news of the matrimonial intentions of Miss
Plunkett thrilled the entire community.
" We know 'Bijah Tubbs don't have nothin'
to do with gittin' it up."
14 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
"No," said Sally, calmly, "he don't; not
a mite. An' such a sight o' trouble as I've
had, Mis' Panks, to bring him round to it."
She leaned her long arms on the top rail
of the fence dividing their dwellings, and
gazed into the widow's face opposite for a
chance gleam of sympathy.
" You must 'a' had," assented Mrs. Panks,
filliping a belated ant from the rail with a
red forefinger ; " but why on earth couldn't
you 'a' let him alone, Sally ? 'Bijah hain't
never hurt no one, an' he'd ought to be let
to go his own way."
"Well, he ain't goin' to be let alone,"
declared Sally, "an' I'm goin' to be Mrs.
Tubbs. We'll be merried Sat' day at Jus-
tice Spender's. You tell everybody, Mis'
Panks there ain't no time fer me to go
round an' invite folks. Say, I want 'em to
be out on the road an' see us go in, an'
afterward we'll all march, 'Bijah an' me
Mrs. Tubbs at top, in percession to my
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 15
house, an' I'll have cake an' lem'nade set
out fer a treat."
It was impossible to interrupt this an-
nouncement, for it gushed out with such
jubilant force.
"Sat day!" screamed the widow when
she got her breath. "Why, it's only Thurs-
day, to-day, Sally Plunkett ! "
" I know ; we'd been merried to-morrow,
but fer that. A Friday my sakes ! it's
bad enough to have 'Bijah Tubbs fer life,
without no more calamities."
" What in the world did you take up with
him fer, anyway, Sally?" demanded Mrs.
Panks.
" Because I couldn't be a merried woman
without him," said Miss Plunkett, bringing
her pale green eyes fully to bear on her
friend in astonishment at the question.
" P'r'aps some one else would 'a' happened
along, Sally," observed Mrs. Panks, casting
a deep line of thought in her mind. " You
16 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
ain't but forty-eight, an' if you'd 'a' waited,
you "
" Yes, I be ; forty-nine last Washin' ton's
birthday," interrupted the bride-elect. "I
tell you, I ain't a-goin' to wait till I'm fifty;
an', besides, 'Bijah might die, an' then
where'd I be? I couldn't never be Mrs.
Tubbs." Her long, spare cheek turned
pale at the thought; and Mrs. Panks
ducked her round face to escape the right-
eous indignation that leaped from Miss
Plunkett's eyes.
"Well, somebody else might 'a' come
along," she repeated by way of soothing.
" No, they wouldn't. There ain't a mite
o' use in your standin' there an' tellin' me
that, Nancy Panks, an' you know it. 'Bijah
is my only chance, an' I've took him, 'cause
I ain't goin' to be an' old maid, an' I will
be if I strike fifty unmerried. An', besides,
when I die, I'm goin' to have ' relict ' on my
tomb. I've just set my heart on that."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 17
" You may be took first," observed Mrs.
Panks, dryly.
" P'r'aps so ; there ain't no use in opposin'
th' Lord's will, an' you know me, Nancy,
that I ain't one that wants to. But I'll be
Mrs. Tubbs, the beloved wife of Abijah
Tubbs, so my tombstone is goin' to look
nice, any way you fix it. Well, you all be
there at nine o'clock Sat' day mornin' sharp."
"It's a pity 'Bijah ain't a leetle grain
nearer your size, Sally," said Mrs. Panks,
her small black eyes roving up and down
the long, angular frame before her.
"I don't feel no call to be complainin' o'
Providence that He didn't make 'Bijah
bigger," observed Miss Plunkett. "I'm
thankful enough fer half a loaf if I can't
git a whole one; an' that th' Lord give
me th' opportunity o' gittin' 'Bijah at all.
So you be sure you tell all the folks. Land
sakes, an' here I stand an' my weddin'
fixin's not begun!"
18 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" Don't you want me to help you make
your cake, Sally ? " asked Mrs. Panks, itch-
ing for the revelations of the little three-
roomed cottage, that such an intimate
association in work might unfold.
"No, I don't," declared Miss Sally, shortly,
"an' you ain't a-goin' to catch a squint at
my weddin' gown an' bunnit, nor so much
as a pinhead of nothin' till you see me start
fer th' justice's. You needn't think it,
Nancy."
" I wasn't a-thinkin' o' that, Sally," be-
gan Mrs. Panks, much offended.
"Oh, yes, you were; but all the same
you don't do it. I tell you how you may
help if you want to. You git your young
ones to pick a lot o' daisies an' green things
an' bring here. I'm a-goin' to have a mer-
riage bell in my parlour to stand under,
'Bijah an* me, when we git home an' you
all come up to say, ' How do you do, Mrs.
Tubbs?'" She made such a marvellous
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 19
courtesy, picking up each side of her blue
checked gown, that Mrs. Panks stood on
tiptoe to peer over the fence railing to view
the whole performance.
"I can't never do that, Sally," she
gasped ; " I sh'd tumble on my nose."
"Do the best you can," counselled Miss
Plunkett, coming up to her own height
serenely; "th' Lord never intended any
one to do more, I guess. An' a tub must
roll, I s'pose, to th' end of its days. Well,
good-by; remember an' git them flowers;
it's the last request of Sally Plunkett,"
and she disappeared within her virgin
dwelling.
The desire for this floral display, along
with all the other details of Miss Plunkett's
courtship and coming marriage, spreading
to all quarters, naturally was exploited in
the corridors and on the piazzas of the vil-
lage inn, filled with its usual quota of sum-
mer boarders. Some of them had known
20 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
Miss Plunkett for many seasons, as she had
the reputation of doing up shirt waists bet-
ter than any other village woman. The
innkeeper fanned the flame of curious in-
quiry set going by Miss Sally's conquest,
and gladly dished up all the gossip of the
place. Old Ira Plunkett, stern, hard-fisted,
and hard-headed, had yet such a code of
morals as prevented him from taking ad-
vantage of the evident desire of his father,
who didn't have the ability to express it
clearly in his will, that Ira should have the
farm. The lawyers easily made this fact
apparent. Ira would have none of it if
there was a quibble to which his good-for-
nothing brother Abram, many years his
junior, could hitch an objection. He
dropped the farm where he had toiled as
a slave till his fortieth year, like a hot
potato, so to speak, and with his daughter
(his wife had died some years before) re-
tired to a cabin on the village edge, from
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 21
which he saw his brother sell the old farm
at auction, pocket the gains, cursing be-
cause they were not larger, and depart
without a farewell word, to lose himself
in the big world.
Ira Plimkett shut his mouth fast and
uttered no syllable while he " buckled to "
and did jobs for the farmers and got on
somehow. And Sally scraped and pinched ;
and here after thirty years she was eking
out a scanty living by washing for the sum-
mer boarders.
"I tell you, sir," the innkeeper would
bring his hand down smartly on the guests'
registry book, while detailing the story to
some after-dinner smoker, "Ira Plunkett's
heart was clean broke all that twenty year
(he died some ten year back). I used to see
him a-standin' on th' edge of th' south
medder many a Sunday afternoon, an
Irishman bought th' farm; didn't know
how to work it, sold off th' best part,
22 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
and th' rest of course all ran down at th'
heel, an' such a look on th' old man's
face ! An' as soon as he see me, he'd step
up, an' begin talkin' about th' sermon, an'
th' weather, an' th' crops, an' th' Lord
knows what all. An' you'd think he
owned th' whole town, to see how ca'm
he was."
"What about Miss Sally?" queried the
boarder; "she's a character, isn't she?"
" I sh'd say," responded Boniface. " Well,
Sally took care of her father. I guess, with
all his ca'mness, he warn't none too easy to
manage ; an' th' last few years of th' old
man's life he was bedrid, an' died hard,
that was ten year ago, as I said before, an'
she had an awful tough time."
" Well, I'm glad she's going to have hap-
piness at last," observed the boarder, lightly.
The innkeeper grinned. " Yes, she'll be
Mrs. Tubbs an' that's enough fer her;
she hates an old maid like p'isen."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 23
"Is this Mr. Tubbs a fair sort of man,
Mr. Barlow?" propounded the summer
guest.
Mr. Barlow whistled. "Well, you can't
'xactly call him a man, bein' he's about big
enough for a good half o' one. Why, he's
just 'Bijah Tubbs. Hain't you seen him
about here, Mr. Russell?"
No ; Mr. Russell could not call to mind
any one who had been designated in his
presence by that cognomen.
" Sho is that so ? I thought everybody
knew 'Bijah. He's a stand-by in Hillsboro ;
his father an' gran'father lived an' died
here; his fambly's good. But bein' small,
he hain't had no call to git up an' git, I
s'pose, an' so he just does odd jobs. But
he's always to church stiddy as Sunday
comes, an' puts five cents in th' contribu-
tion box; I know, 'cause I take one round.
An' some other folks with bustin' big farms
hain't souls above pennies." Mr. Barlow's
24 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
rubicund countenance glowed deeper in
scorn.
Mr. Russell, with the thought of suggest-
ing to his wife that the ladies should get up
a good "send-off" for Miss Plunkett, was
turning away, when Mr. Barlow called out,
" Here's 'Bijah now ! he's comin' to git th'
mail bag."
A little spare man, who was made less
in height by a deprecating stoop of the
shoulders, shambled up the inn steps and
along the piazza. It was impossible to see
his eyes, for they were downcast and over-
shadowed by the brim of his straw hat
dragged well down over them. The lower
part of his small, thin countenance being ob-
scured by his collar, into which it had slunk,
not much advantage could be gained by any
attempt to compass his face.
Mr. Russell went out and met him, to say
pleasantly, " Good morning."
" Mornin'," said Mr. Tubbs.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 25
"Do you think we are going to have rain? "
Mr. Russell filliped the ashes carelessly from
his cigar end and glanced at the clouds.
"We may an' we may not," said Mr.
Tubbs. I d'no."
"I trust it will not rain to-morrow, on
your wedding day. And let me congratu-
late you, Mr. Tubbs. I hear nothing but
good of Miss Plunkett."
A look of abject terror possessed the little
man. " It's dretful hard on me." He shook
all over.
"She is such a good woman," said the
summer boarder, reassuringly. "You are
lucky to get her."
" She would have it so," cried Mr. Tubbs,
who in his misery seemed delighted to talk.
" She's ben at me fer years. An' I told her
' No ' every time."
" Well, I am sure it is better for you to
be married. You will have some one to
take care of you."
26 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" I don't want to be took care of." He
almost snarled it out. " I was well enough,
if she'd only let me alone."
" They say she is a fine cook," observed
the gentleman, carelessly. " She must be,
judging from some specimens of her work
when she helped Mrs. Barlow the other day."
Abijah Tubbs's little pale eyes gleamed.
" That's th' only part that suits me about
th' hull thing," he said at last.
"Now you must make her happy, Mr.
Tubbs," said the summer boarder, with a
keen glance. " The ladies are all very fond
of Miss Plunkett. She's a good soul, and
you must make her a good husband."
"She might 'a' let me alone," said Abijah,
returning to the charge, all his terrors fresh
upon him at the word " husband." And the
landlord shaking the mail bag at him from
the doorway, he shuffled off with it.
"What shall we get her?" The girls
crowded around Violet Van Wyck on the
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 27
veranda steps of the inn. The young men
poured into her hands the collection they
had taken up.
" Spoons spoons ! " declared Violet.
"It's the dearest wish of her heart to
possess real silver spoons."
"Except to be Mrs. Tubbs," some one
cried out.
" Here's a five-dollar bill ! " cried one of
the girls, poking in the heap of money.
"Oh and a ten!"
" That's from Mr. Russell," said Charley
Van Wyck, balancing himself on the piazza
railing. "I collected that "
"Thirty-one dollars and seventy-five
cents," announced Violet. "Oh oh!
there's enough for both! Mrs. Russell
and mamma give the cake and lemonade,
you know."
" Both what ? " cried the group.
" I heard her say once she'd give any-
thing to have a ' Pilgrim's Progress,' full
28 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
of pictures, on her centre-table. Now, one
of you must go into town this afternoon
and buy it."
" Charles Augustus, it's up to you," cried
one of the men.
" Not much ! " declared Charles Augustus,
dangling his feet from the railing.
" Oh, come on, Mr. Van Wyck," cried
Bessie Beach, rushing up to him. " A lot
of us will go with you. It will be such a
lark."
But Charles Augustus still surveyed them
all calmly from his perch, protesting he
wouldn't go one inch.
" Only one must go," declared Violet.
" The rest of us have to make the marriage
bell. We are going to carry it over to her
in the morning, you know."
"No one seems to volunteer," observed
Charles Augustus, dryly.
Miss Van Wyck did not look at any one in
particular, but consulted the little tablet on
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 29
her chatelaine. A young man on the edge
of the circle seemed to feel some subtile sum-
mons, however, for he said presently, " I'll
go ; any other commands for the town ? "
and was well repaid as she lifted her blue
eyes, albeit the fun over the " marriage
bell " would be lost to Richard Blair.
" Sally, ain't you 'feared he won't come at
all ? " It was an awful whisper the widow
Panks emitted, and distinctly recognisable
to all the company assembled in Miss
Sally's yard. It was five minutes past nine
o'clock Saturday morning.
" Nancy Panks, ye are a fool ! " said the
bride-elect. Then she craned her long neck
to search the roadway.
"I'll go after him," screamed Johnny
Panks, eagerly, "I'll go ! " More than one
young man boarder volunteered to corral
the bridegroom.
" Much obleeged," said Sally with a pleas-
ant bow, the cotton lace veil sweeping the
30 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
ground. " Johnny Panks, you take care o'
your ma, an' wait till you're spoken to be-
fore you git presumptions. It's best fer me
to go myself." She plucked up her gown
on either side, and stalked off toward the
miserable little shanty her prospective hus-
band called home.
Left behind, the guests invited to join
the wedding procession had nothing to do
but to watch her as long as the nature of
the road permitted. Sally's chief ambition
being the wedding veil and the bonnet from
which it depended, there had been little
time to spend on the wedding gown, and
still less money. "What odds?" she said to
herself happily, " th' veil's th' main thing ;
an' it's big-flowered, so th' most el'gant
frock in th' world wouldn't show through
much."
She therefore brought forth her best
gown, a red merino. She had packed it
away in camphor against the moths, and
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 31
now brushed it up carefully again. It was
a very hot day, but that made no difference
in the contentment with which she viewed
it. The bonnet worn for so many seasons
that she had forgotten to count them, de-
lighted her beyond expression. "It's per-
fectly beautiful," she cried again and again
as she surmounted it with the veil and
placed upon that the bright pink wreath of
roses and the green feather. " I sh'd never
know 'twarn't brand new."
She now stepped forth as we have seen, if
not with happy, at least with determined
footsteps, and just as hope was beginning
to be abandoned by the wedding party, ap-
peared over the brow of the hill. Abijah
Tubbs was with her.
" All right," announced Sally, on regain-
ing them. " Come, 'Bijah, you an' me must
go first."
Mrs. Panks and family marched next to
Miss Plunkett and Mr. Tubbs, as befitted
32 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
the great intimacy for years over the well-
worn fence. At the last minute there was
a commotion in the widow's brood, and little
Susan rushed forth and ran to Sally. " I'm
goin' with you," she piped, and clutched the
wedding veil.
There was an awful pause, broken by the
shout from the dismayed widow : " Come
back, Susan. Oh, my land o' liberty ! "
"I'll bring her," volunteered again
Johnny.
Sally started when the sacrilegious hand
was laid on her wedding veil, looked down
with a black frown on her brow, to see two
tears rolling off small Susan's cheeks and
her underlip quivering. She was the child
whom Miss Plunkett had helped pull
through the scarlet fever.
"Let her alone," she said grimly,
" 'twon't be so impressive likely, but Susan's
comin' with me. There, child, you mus'n't
take holt o' my veil ; that ain't proper."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 33
She untwisted the little grimy fingers. Su-
san immediately grasped the red merino
gown, and wiped her tears on its front
breadth.
It wasn't quite like a circus procession, be-
cause there weren't really any wild animals,
if we except the irrepressible small boy
furnished alike by Hillsboro and the sum-
mer-boarder element. Some of the young
men of the inn contingent would have
equalled their endeavours ; but Miss Violet
Van Wyck, failing to discover any great
amount of fun in unseemly proceedings, the
procession moved onward with much deco-
rum.
When they all halted at Justice Spender's,
Miss Plunkett turned around, telling 'Bijah
to do the same. Little Susan whirled with
her, still clinging to her gown.
" I can't ask all o' you to go in," said
Sally. " My ! Mis' Spender'd be crazy at
our trackin' up her floor, even if ye could
34 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
git in. But I want some witnesses, so I
s'pose, Nancy Panks, I'll have to ask you
an' your fam'ly, to save th' peace. An'
there's Miss Vi'let, I couldn't never be
merried without her; an' her ma, an' her
pa I want them."
" I wish I'd treated the old girl with at-
tention," groaned Charley Van Wyck.
" An' Mr. Barlow ; 'tain't proper to leave
him out, 'cause Mr. Tubbs has carried th'
mail bag so long; an' I want Mis' Barlow.
Well, I guess that's enough."
Although there were several candidates
to her favour, who considered they had
claims, and thereby endeavoured to press
them, Miss Plunkett closed debate, mar-
shalled in Mr. Tubbs, who was now trem-
bling visibly and it seemed to him very
audibly; the lucky ones invited to the
ceremony followed, and the little justice
closed the door.
Miss Plunkett emerged as Mrs. Tubbs,
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 35
her long face wreathed in smiles. Mr.
Tubbs, by whom up to the last moment
hopes of final escape had been indulged,
now sank into a settled despair that bent
his little body and drooped his neck.
" He ought to have used wool soap," ob-
served one of the irreverent young men,
"see how he's shrunk!"
They had been married with the ring,
Sally insisting on that. She had instructed
Mr. Tubbs all about it on the engagement
day before starting on their way to get the
marriage license ; and exhibited, after much
unrolling of tissue paper, a broad golden
circlet that just fitted her toil-worn finger.
"I bought it a good many years ago,
'Bijah, so 's to have it ready in case I did
git a husband. An' I'm sure 'tain't fair to
'xpect you'd buy one, when you don't want
to git merried."
" No, I don't," said the truthful 'Bijah.
"An* so it's all ready," observed the
36 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
bride-elect, cheerfully. "Now when Jus-
tice Spender stops fer you to put it on my
finger, I'll give ye a nudge, so ye can't help
but understand."
The ring now shone brightly on Mrs.
Tubbs's hand, from the finger devoted to that
purpose. The Panks children told afterward
that Mr. Tubbs dropped it twice ; there had
been much scuffling into corners after it. At
last it was safely installed as sign and sym-
bol of the union of Tubbs and Plunkett.
" An' now all foller in percession to my
house," cried Mrs. Tubbs from the Spender
doorstep. "Me an' my husband, Mr. Tubbs,
will stan' under th' merriage bell an' give
you a reception with cake an' lem'nade.
No, no, Nancy Panks," the widow's family
all crowding to get next to the newly married
pair, " 'tain't proper fer you to march first
after us goin' back. Justice Spender, seein'
he's made us one, an' his wife, must go next.
Come, Justice ; come, Mis' Spender."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 37
The widow could not conceal her vexa-
tion, and took pains to inform her next
neighbour that she never " see such an in-
sult; an' I'd much drather V been first
after Mis' Tubbs than first after Sally
Plunkett." And she should take her chil-
dren out of the procession and go home
cross lots. Hearing which, Mrs. Tubbs
turned her head enough to say, " Don't be
a fool, Nancy ! "
This old-time counsel struck so familiarly
upon the unwonted excitement that Mrs.
Panks swallowed her desperate resolve, and
arrived at the bride's home quite cooled off.
Her spirits were further upborne by the
invitation from Mrs. Tubbs to preside over
the lemonade pail.
It had been thought best, considering the
limitations of the cottage, to have the re-
freshments outside. The clotheslines, the
usual and absorbing features of Sally's yard,
had been taken down; and the tubs were
38 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
utilised by turning them upside down on the
bench beside the door, to lay a long board
across them. On this were set the pail of
lemonade, and a motley array of cups and
glasses borrowed from all the houses not ex-
empt by distance. To collect them, Johnny
Panks had been hired by promises of a large
number of pieces of wedding cake and a
corresponding number of glasses of lemon-
ade ; and he did the job by means of Sally's
cart, in which the washing for the inn
boarders was collected and returned. Mrs.
Barlow served the cake from Sally's ironing
table brought out from the kitchen.
The stream of callers passing into the
parlour to salute the bride and groom under
the marriage bell were carefully instructed
by Sally to march around the centre-table
and see the presents. The real silver
spoons were set upon its polished surface,
like the spokes of a wheel ; the illustrated
" Pilgrim's Progress " in the middle.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 39
" I never see any thin' so nice," said Mrs.
Tubbs, beaming on them all ; " there ain't
nothin' more on earth f er me to wish f er ;
Mr. Tubbs, you must give folks your right
hand to shake."
A murmur went around that the parson
was coming. With great dignity he and
Mrs. Elwood in her well-preserved black
silk gown advanced from the road into
the Plunkett yard. Just at this juncture,
Mrs. Panks, much elated that the parson and
his wife should see her social prominence
behind the lemonade table, forgot to issue
those incessant commands to her offspring
to " keep away, or I'll spank you when I
git you to home ! " She turned to effu-
sively greet the distinguished visitors,
Johnny Panks seized the supreme moment
and lunged at the pail to help himself,
one of the small brothers having been
promised the first cupful when it should be
time for the Panks household to be served,
40 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
threw himself with righteous indignation
upon the interloper over went the pail,
and although Mrs. El wood received some
of the lemonade, it afforded her no pleas-
ure, for the most of it fell upon her best
and only silk gown.
The confusion of this episode reached
Sally's ears under the "merriage bell."
"No use to cry fer spilt lem'nade no
more'n if 'twas spilt milk," she observed,
" an' it's healthier to drink water, I really
s'pose. Thank the Lord, th' well can't be
tipped over. How d'ye do, Mis' Jones ?
This is my husband, Mr. Tubbs."
The day after the wedding made a good
second show in the eyes of the entire vil-
lage. The little church was crowded to
see Mr. and Mrs. Abijah Tubbs come up
the middle aisle in full bridal array.
" Ye see that's another reason," Sally
had said over the fence to the widow
Panks, "why I'm goin' to have th' jus-
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 41
tice merry us 'nstid o' th' parson. We'll
have two percessions."
Parson Elwood for once looked down
into a sea of faces. He rejoiced that he
had pulled out one of the early sermons in
his barrel, on the doctrine of election, and
he delivered it with much unction as one
of his best.
The deacons whispered excitedly, " There
ain't enough contribution boxes some of
us must take hats round."
So Sally Plunkett's matrimonial venture
worked well for the entire parish.
TWO
k AIN'T no use," said Mrs. Tubbs,
shaking out a dainty muslin
waist for one of the young
ladies at the inn, " to stop my
daily avocations so far 's I know, just because
I got merried." She uttered this with the
greatest nonchalance, and seemed to find
difficulty in affixing the article in question
to the clothesline. The wooden pin needed
to be thrust over each sleeve, pulled out,
and set in position again, before Sally, usu-
ally so deft-fingered, could be satisfied.
Meanwhile the new wedding ring was
making a brave display, the bride's little
finger quirking handsomely in the air.
" No, 's I said before," at last the opera-
42
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 43
tion was considered finished; and Mrs. Tubbs
brought her gaze to her visitor's face, " be-
cause I'm a merried woman there ain't no
call 's fur 's I see fer me to turn my back
on my dooties ; so if you know of any more
ladies up to th' Aotel, Mis' Femwyck"
(Mrs. Tubbs always pronounced the sum-
mer boarder's name as if it were one word,
with the accent strongly on the first syl-
lable), " who want washin' done, why Mis'
Tubbs'll do it as well as Sally Plunkett ever
did."
It is impossible to describe the sweet
unction with which Sally lingered over her
new name.
" I will try, Mrs. Tubbs," said Mrs. Van
"VYyck, "to get you some more custom. I
am sure everybody considers our gowns and
waists to be perfectly laundered."
" Mamma, I do believe Mrs. Harmer will
want Mrs. Tubbs to do her baby's gowns,"
cried Violet Van Wyck, in a pretty enthu-
44 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
siasm. "I'm going to ask her when we
get back to luncheon."
" Much obleeged," said Mrs. Tubbs, pick-
ing up her clothes-basket. "Now come in
an' set down, ladies, an' I'll show you how
handsome th' flowers has kep'," leading the
way to the cabin door.
"Really?" cried Violet. " Oh, Mrs.
Tubbs, have they lasted till now ? "
"If we do not hinder your work, Mrs.
Tubbs," suggested Mrs. Van "Wyck.
" Land ! " exclaimed Mrs. Tubbs, hauling
along the basket with her left hand, " I
ain't one to let work git such a whip
hand as to drive off good friends 'a you
be, I guess. My wash is all out," and she
pointed to the long, snow-white lines sway-
ing in the summer breeze.
" And how beautiful it all looks ! " ex-
claimed Mrs. Van Wyck. " I should think
you'd be very proud, Mrs. Tubbs, to achieve
such fine work."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 45
" No, I ain't proud. It don't become us
sinful mortals to harbour no pride," said
Mrs. Tubbs, with a very elate countenance,
and the left hand quite busy in pushing
back a stray lock from her heated forehead,
" an' I hain't done no more'n my dooty by
them clothes, when all's said an' done,"
waving the same set of toil-worn fingers ;
"but clothes is like folks you treat 'em
well, an' they'll treat you well ; an' so they
up and looks their best, an' folks goin' by
says, ' There now/ Sally Plun Mrs. Tubbs
had them in her washtub, I know.' "
She slapped the basket down on the
wooden bench just beside the door, by the
tubs over which the early morning hours
had been passed, waved her visitors within,
wiped off two chairs with the cloth in her
left hand, and then rested her palms on her
hips, her favourite attitude in conversation.
" As I was a-sayin', clothes is like folks,
an' sometimes when I'm washin' 'em or
46 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
hangin' 'em out, I fall to talkin' to 'em.
There's one good thing they can't talk
back. Why, I washed up Parson El wood's
shirts all last winter. Old Betsy got sick
with the rheumatiz, an' so Mis' Elwood
brought 'em to me. An' didn't I gin it to
them shirts good, though ! I tell you, I
just mentioned my views on several p'ints
o' doctrine old Dr. Elwood had been a-
drivin' us hard on from th' pulpit. An' I
gin it back to him through his clothes. I
tell you, it tickled me to set an' look at
them shinin' buzzoms Sundays. An' he
must 'a' got some good from 'em bein' so
near his skin, fer I ironed it all in hard."
" I suppose you talked over some of those
subjects with the parson himself," said Mrs.
Van Wyck, with her well-bred little smile.
Miss Violet played with the fringe of her
parasol in her lap.
" La, yes, whenever I got a chanst," de-
clared Mrs. Tubbs ; " but there, how often
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 47
did that come ? Onct in six months or so
Parson El wood would heave along on a pas-
toral call ; but I had hard work to git in
my say-so. I tell you, Mis' F<mwyck, min-
isters don't mean to give folks a chanst to
talk back. It makes 'em nervous an' quig-
gly-like if folks don't take th' law as it's
picked out fer 'em by th' pulpit. Why,
there was old Parson Stebbins, th' one who
preached fer us just before we settled Mr.
Elwood. He'd pound an' slam that Bible
an' turn as red as a turkey cock in th' face,
when he was a-givin' it to us, an' a-pro-
poundin' th' Scripters. He looked jest as
bad as Jed Simmons, who got drunk every
week and swore like all possessed. An',
my land ! if anybody'd had th' gall to
argify with Parson Stebbins outside th'
pulpit well there ! there warn't no one
could git a word in edgewise. Parson could
talk like a streak o' lightnin', an' fire off
texts an' Bible lingo till you wouldn't know
48 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
whether your head was on your shoulders,
or whether 'twas a cabbage head under your
arm. Oh, I'm fond o' parsons ; but they've
got their weak streaks, same 's other folks.
I s'pose you think it's cur'ous, now, that I
didn't have Parson Elwood marry me an
'Bijah. Well, now, th' fact is" Mrs. Tubbs
drew away her hands from her hips, to fold
them, the left one uppermost, in the front
of her waist line "I always meant to be
merried at Justice Spender's when th' time
come, so 's I could git a husband; fer, says I,
it'll be a change from th' everlastin' church
weddin's; it's jest as bindin', an' th' walk
down there is longer, so th' percessipn'll
show off real pretty to my house; an' th'
Justice needs th' fee more'n th' Parson, an'
we'll have th' percession up th' church
aisle next day. So, bein' as 'twas better
all round, I'd decided it long ago. Well,
you must come into th' parlour an' see how
well th' flowers has kep'."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 49
She swung open, with her left hand, the
door to her best room, with great pride.
Both of the windows were closed, and the
air from the " merriage bell " of daisies and
ferns, the great pots of woodsy things in the
corners of the room, and the garlands with-
ering around the crayon portraits, achieved
by a travelling artist, of the father and
mother of Mrs. Tubbs, was stifling. Mrs.
Van Wyck made an involuntary effort to
escape, which Miss Violet covered up by
hurrying in, exclaiming, " Well, you have
treasured them ! "
" Ain't they beautiful ! " cried Mrs. Tubbs,
her pale green eyes glistening with pride.
"Th' windows is shut tight, an' mebbe I
can keep 'em till Mis' Panks's brother comes
next week ; he's got one o' them little boxes
folks take around to get picter's in, an' he's
goin' to take 'Bijah an' me under th' mer-
riage bell." She threw an anxious glance
toward it.
50 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" Oh, Mrs. Tubbs, I've a kodak. I'll take
your picture," cried Violet.
"Will you?" shrilled Mrs. Tubbs.
" Well, now, I said I'd git that picter, an'
now, you see, it's goin' to be took. S'pose
I'd gin up 'Bijah when folks said he
wouldn't never git merried. I kep' on
an' finally he gin in, an' so here I be Mrs.
Tubbs. When'll you take it ? " She whirled
around to Miss Van Wyck.
"Whenever you say. I can go and get
my kodak now. Will Mr. Tubbs be ready?"
looking back as she started for the door.
"My soul an' body, he ain't to home.
He's gone to git th' mail fer th' hotel, an'
besides he's got to git his Sunday clothes
on, an' there's my weddin' gown an' bunnit
an' veil to settle. Now could you come this
aft'noon?" she asked anxiously.
"Oh, yes," smiled Miss Violet, "I'll be
over after luncheon, Mrs. Tubbs."
Gerald Fair-brother came with her, carry-
SALLY, MKS. TUBES 51
ing her kodak. He had been pledged to
secrecy before Violet would allow him to
even think of going.
" I haven't lisped a word. None of the
girls nor men dream of it. And think of
our treat! though nothing on the boards
could equal that wedding reception under
the * merriage bell.' " He caught his breath
at the recollection, then gave way helplessly.
" I won't have my nice Mrs. Tubbs made
fun of," declared Violet. " You may turn
back, Mr. Fairbrother " she stopped short
just beyond the hemlocks "if you are
going to laugh at her."
" Oh, I won't, I assure you," he choked
to recover himself ; " see how solemn I can
be."
" I've been fond of Sally ever since I was
a little girl," Miss Van Wyck kept on.
"Just think, we've been coming to Hills-
boro every summer for years and years.
And the hours I've spent in her dear little
62 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
cottage I couldn't count. And she's just
the best creature to anybody in trouble.
Why, she took all the care of little Susan
Panks last winter when she had the scarlet
fever, to help her mother, for Johnny was
sick, too. He's a very dreadful boy to
manage. I ought to know, for he's in my
Sunday-school class every summer."
"I wish I had Johnny's Sunday oppor-
tunities," remarked Mr. Fairbrother.
" And she just hates children," went on
Violet, ignoring the last remark, and prod-
ding the point of her parasol into the sand ;
" but Mrs. Panks was discouraged, and all
worn out. And Mrs. Tubbs is the one who
gave Jed Simmons, a poor drunken fellow
that the town was going to put into a va-
grant's institution, some money to go away
and make a fresh start somewhere. And
just think how she slaves to earn every
penny."
" Miss Violet, on my honour as a gentle-
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 53
man, I'll adore your Mrs. Tubbs. She's an
angel; she's an archangel. I'll sing her
praises to right and to left."
"But you mustn't," cried Violet, much
alarmed. "That would make Mrs. Tubbs
very angry. And then she wouldn't let
me go to see her."
"If you were denied entrance at the
Tubbs residence, what a monstrous sacri-
fice ! " exclaimed the gentleman.
" Well, it would be, I can tell you," de-
clared Miss Van Wyck with spirit. " I
have a nicer time with her than with our
set at the inn. You'd much better turn
back, Mr. Fairbrother." She took the
kodak from him before he realised it, and
set off at a brisk pace, her white parasol
cutting the tips of the grasses as it swung
from impatient fingers.
Gerald Fairbrother gained her side. It
was a face as wholly different from his smil-
ing one as could be imagined that now turned
54 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
on her. To work up a sympathy with her
whims was to win her.
"Miss Van Wyck, allow me." He took
the kodak from her hand. "You will not
have cause to complain of me again," he
said, falling into step.
But it was an awful strain on even Vio-
let when they reached the Tubbs cottage.
"Come in," called the bride from the
parlour. There she sat in wedding array,
the long cotton v.eil trailing off back of
her chair; Mr. Tubbs drawn into the
furthest corner.
" We've been a-practisin', me an' my hus-
band," she announced, "an' we're restin'.
My ! but I'd druther do a day's wash. But
we're ready now, if th' machine is. Come,
'Bijah," and she got out of her chair.
"How do you do, Mrs. Tubbs?" inquired
Violet's escort, with his best manner.
" How do you do, young man ? You was
here to th' reception, wasn't you ? " Then
SALLY, MKS. TUBES 55
not waiting for him to reply, she called,
" 'Bijah, we mus'n't keep Miss Vi'let wait-
ing ; she's ready to take th' picter."
To Mr. Tubbs the coming ordeal pre-
sented terrors second only to what he had
suffered on his wedding day, and his pale
eyes of no particular colour roved wildly in
search of escape. He still sat in his corner.
"You will enjoy the photograph very
much, Mr. Tubbs," said the young man,
reassuringly, and going over to his chair;
"Miss Van Wyck always has such great
success."
" I'm goin' to have it framed," announced
Mrs. Tubbs ; " see " and she stalked over
to her " whatnot " in the opposite corner.
" Now I've had these shells all my life, an'
didn't know what blessed thing I could do
with 'em."
She thrust her left hand into a big blue
china bowl, and brought it forth, running
over with the mixed shells children pick up
56 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
at the seashore. "I'm goin' to make a
frame of 'em, an' I'll git some pine cones
to put along with 'em. But my sakes
alive ! " she thrust the handful back into
place, a small stream falling to the floor;
Mr. Fairbrother hurried over and dodged
among the ancient chairs to recover them
" here I stand a-talkin' about the frame,
an' th' picter ain't even took. 'Bijah ! "
But Mr. Tubbs, seeing temporary relief
from the main subject, in that the group
were engrossed around the whatnot, had
oozed out of the doorway, and now stood
behind the big "lay locks" at the back of
the cottage, mopping his face with his ban-
danna, and saying, " Oh Lord ! "
"'Bi/aA/" Mrs. Tubbs's voice could be
heard coming nearer, and his thin knees
knocked together. His teeth would have
chattered had the few in his possession
been placed advantageously. He ducked
till it took a keen eye to perceive his
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 57
spare frame. But Mrs. Tubbs had just
that eye.
" Oh, dear ! to think that my husband
sh'd carry on so an' insult Miss Vi'let,"
she exclaimed, plunging up to the bush
and hauling aside the branches, "an' she
a-comin' clear from th' Aotel with her
machine ! "
"A great many people dislike to have
their photographs taken, Mrs. Tubbs."
Mr. Fairbrother deftly extricated the lace
veil from a "laylock" branch.
She turned on him a countenance more
of sorrow than of anger, but 'Bijah lifted
a grateful eye.
"I never did hear th' like," said Mrs.
Tubbs. " I'm more shamed than I can tell
at my husband havin' such tantrums."
Mr. Tubbs found himself following his
spouse, the young man in the rear, and
presently he was standing, the picture of
misery, in the centre of the circle over
68 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
which hung the drooping remains of the
"merriage bell."
" 'T would look more affectionate if we
was to take hold of hands, don't you think
now, Miss Vi'let?" asked the bride, anx-
iously.
Miss Van Wyck and her escort being
busy over the kodak, the bride assumed the
question already answered as she wished,
by possessing herself of Mr. Tubbs's nervous
little fingers with her left hand, her wedding
ring uppermost.
"There now, we're ready. But my
sakes ! 'Bijah," she darted a swift glance
down at him, "you can't look like that.
Mercy me ! smile now, real pleasant. Wait,
Miss Vi'let, don't take us yet," she begged
in an agony ; " he looks just awful ! "
"I'll wait," promised Miss Violet. Mr.
Fairbrother turned away to gaze out of the
window.
"You can't never look like that, 'Bijah,"
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 59
said his wife. " How'd you feel to hang on
th' wall in th' el'gant frame I'm go in' to
make, with such a countenance, an' have
folks remark on it ? A picter's took fer all
time when it's once took, you must remem-
ber, an' you can't change it, hide nor hair,
an' it ain't fair to me, when I want to point
to my husband an' say, { There's Mr.
Tubbs.'"
She looked so distressed that Miss Van
Wyck hastened to her aid.
"Really, Mr. Tubbs, you'll be very glad
of this picture when it is finished; don't
feel troubled about it." She smiled, and
her young eyes bent kindly on him.
Mrs. Tubbs saw some improvement, but
it wasn't speedy enough to satisfy her. " I
know what I'll do." She plunged off
through the doorway, her long veil swish-
ing after. "There," coming back with a
plate of doughnuts and wedding cake,
" men are just like children feed 'em an'
60 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
they'll be pleasant as a basket o' chips.
Now then, 'Bijah, you set down this minute
an' go to eatin'," and she thrust it at him.
But Mr. Tubbs was beyond eating this time.
"Will you give me a doughnut, Mrs.
Tubbs ? " begged Violet, " I know how de-
licious they are."
"Bless your heart, I'll give you what-
ever this house contains," cried Mrs. Tubbs,
warmly. "An' Mr. what's your name?
I declare I've ben so tried I've clean fergot
it, though you was to th' reception, an'
you're a partic'ler friend of Miss Vi'let's
" Miss Van Wyck's pretty cheek glowed
suddenly.
The young gentleman cried quickly, " I
hope I may have one also."
" Land, yes ! I'll git a plateful." Again
Mrs. Tubbs disappeared and shot back with
the delicacies.
" Now says I, we'll all take a bite."
"Oh, I don't want anything but one of
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 61
your doughnuts, Mrs. Tubbs," exclaimed
Violet in dismay, at sight of the precious
wedding cake on top.
" There's nothin' too good fer you, Miss
Vi'let," declared Mrs. Tubbs, vehemently.
"Th' doughnuts is underneath."
" The doughnuts are better than all the
cake in the world," cried Violet, taking a
sugary one. Mr. Fairbrother followed suit,
and Mrs. Tubbs selecting a piece of wedding
cake, they all turned their backs on Mr.
Tubbs to give him composure of mind.
" There's more'n one way to kill a cat,"
observed Mrs. Tubbs, the only remark she
made during this episode, being lost in
thought while slowly munching her festal
delicacy, careful to corral the crumbs in
her lap.
"When the time appeared propitious for
another attempt, Mr. Tubbs was found
with an empty plate and a more resigned
countenance. And he stood like a statue
62 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
long after the operation was over, with the
same frozen expression on his face.
" 'Bijah, you looked beautiful this time,"
exclaimed Mrs. Tubbs in a transport ; " but,
la ! there ain't no need to stare no more. It's
took ; an' now you can shet your eyes some.
An' if ever a mortal's glad, I be." She
sank into a chair, raising the precious veil
carefully. " It don't really seem 's though
I had much to live fer now, bein' so near
Peradise. I'm a merried woman, an' I've
had my picter took with my husband, Mr.
Tubbs."
" I declare, I ain't half grateful enough to
Providence," she couldn't stop herself,
"nor to all you folks at th' 7iotel. Ain't
I rich, though! Real silver spoons, an'
Bunyan's ' Pilgrim's Progress ' full o' pic-
ters on my centre-table ! 'Bijah, I'm goin'
to let you look at 'em Sunday afternoons
if you wash your hands first."
THKEE
RS. TUBES stalked up to the
little office at the inn.
"Mr. Barlow, I'll kerry th'
mail bag to-day. My husband,
Mr. Tubbs, ain't well, an' I won't let him go
out."
"Is Mr. Tubbs sick?" asked the land-
lord in surprise, for 'Bijah, though small,
was tough and wiry. " Goodness me ! I
sh'd as soon thought of that tree out there
complainin'," pointing to a weather-beaten
locust beside the door.
" Well, he ain't smart an' well," responded
Sally, shortly, "an' I ain't goin' to have
him real down sick. So gimme th' bag."
"What's th' matter with 'Bijah?" asked
Mr. Barlow, snapping to the padlock.
63
64 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" Rheumatics," said Mrs. Tubbs, concisely.
"There, gimme th' bag; I hain't no time
to talk." She reached her long left arm
over the counter.
" You can't carry it," said the innkeeper,
holding on to it. " Why, you're a woman."
"I ain't a-denyin' that. But if 'Bijah
Tubbs could lug that bag down to th' post
office day in an' day out, I guess I can man-
age it now an' then," laying a strong hand
on it.
" Well, go along, Sally," said Mr. Barlow,
relinquishing it, for the employment of all
his wits could not suggest an honest sub-
stitute for 'Bijah among the idle boys and
men of the village. " I hope 'Bijah's goin'
to be all right to-morrow."
"Mebbe he will, an' mebbe he won't,
but I shan't let him out till his rheumatics
is gone." Sally grasped the bag and
tramped off. She had already, at early
dawn, been down to the inn, gathered up
SALLY, MBS. TUBES 65
the soiled clothes left out for her by her
favoured families, and drawn them to the
cottage in her little cart, sprung at her
washing, and left everything spotlessly
white swinging on the long lines.
The next day she appeared just to the
minute at the inn.
" Gimme th' bag," she said.
" How's 'Bijah ? " asked Mr. Barlow.
"Just th* same. I didn't come to talk.
Gimme th' bag."
And the next, and the next, for a week,
this performance was repeated. At last the
boarders were aroused at seeing the woman
who was doing the fine washing for so
many families turned into a mail-carrier in
addition.
"By George! this is outrageous." Mr.
Van Wyck came in from the veranda.
" Barlow, you ought not to allow that."
The innkeeper looked up. "She will
take it. And upon my soul, Mr. Van Wyck,
66 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
I wouldn't dare to trust that bag to no one
but Sally."
" Does any one know about that husband
of hers, whether he's sick or not ? "
"I wouldn't want to go and inquire, if
Sally said he was." Mr. Barlow gave a
short laugh.
"Well, I shall."
The landlord shrugged his shoulders.
Mr. Van Wyck, taking no one else into
his confidence, decided to pay his call while
Mrs. Tubbs had gone to the post office. So,
strolling off, he reached the cottage after
what he called to himself " a deucedly hot
tramp."
" To think of that woman dragging that
cartful down here and back, all the while ! "
Reaching the cottage, he observed no
preliminaries, but walked in. There sat
Mr. Tubbs, his back toward him, before the
kitchen table ; his little bald head was bent
over a big plate, while his hands were
SALLY, MRS. TUBES '67
plying busily the necessary implements to
convey food to his mouth.
He thought it was Mrs. Tubbs coming
in, so did not turn around. " I want some
more coffee."
Receiving no reply, the little man skipped
out of his chair, carrying his cup, took sev-
eral lively steps, and came face to face
with one of the inn boarders.
" I came to see how you were ; I heard
you were sick," said Mr. Van Wyck.
"So I be so I be," said Mr. Tubbs, his
thin face going through a number of con-
tortions and the cup shaking in his hand;
" I've I've got rheumatics dretful."
He limped back to his chair and sank in
its depths, mumbling to himself what his
caller could not hear.
" I've always considered it bad to eat
much when troubled with rheumatism."
The gentleman gave a searching glance at
the contents of the plate.
68 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" Only a little bite, my appetite's so poor,"
said 'Bijah.
"Hem your wife has been carrying
the mail bag back and forth for a week,"
Mr. Van Wyck went on, letting his glance
wander without to the long clotheslines
where the everlasting washing was swaying,
for Sally's yard never seemed to be quite
clear of it.
" She would go," cried 'Bijah, fretfully, and
squirming in his chair. " I ain't to blame
she makes me do every thin' as she says."
"Even to eating, I presume," observed
Mr. Van Wyck, dryly. "Hem well, I
thought I'd call, for I was afraid you were
very sick, Mr. Tubbs. No, don't get up, it
will increase your pain, I am afraid." And
he went off laughing.
Mr. Tubbs never told of the call, and the
next day he seemed so bright and well, that
Sally allowed him to do as he announced
the first thing in the morning.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 69
" I'm goin' to kerry th' mail bag to-day."
"Poor man," she said, watching him off,
" he's had a hard time on't, an' I guess he
wants to git out now among folks."
The widow Panks was also watching pro-
ceedings from her doorway.
"I never see such a change in 'Bijah
Tubbs she's a-spilin' him. Lord ! she
reelly seems to set store by him, Sally doos.
Well, I am clear beat ! "
And it soon became clear to every one
who watched Mrs. Tubbs's married life that
she was immensely fond of her husband,
and cherished his precious inches with the
most wifely devotion.
She washed his little bald head every
Saturday night till it shone like a polished,
new croquet ball, and she kept his clothes
clean and mended, adding to their store
whenever his insinuations in that line were
heard. 'Bijah bore everything that inter-
fered with his old-time freedom, with out-
70 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
ward resignation, braced up by thoughts of
the good dinners he had eaten, and was ever-
more to eat now that he was her husband.
" Drat her ! I wish she would let my head
alone," he exclaimed to himself at last, after
the weekly cleaning, and plunged without
the cottage.
"Come back," Sally screamed, "you'll
catch your death o' cold. Don't you know
no better'n to run out after your head's
ben washed ? " And back he went. Then
she made a big bowl of boneset tea, and
made him drink it.
" There, now," she said with great satis-
faction, "that'll meet th' chill," turning
the bowl upside down, to be sure that
not a drop remained. Which example
Mr. Tubbs presently followed with him-
self.
She cut up her firewood the same as she
did before she had the luxury of possess-
ing a husband. When Mrs. Panks remon-
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 71
strated with her over the fence, she told
her to hold her tongue.
"'Bijah didn't want to git merried, an'
'tain't fair to pile things on to him," she
declared, chopping away. "You go in to
your house, Nancy Panks, an' tend to some
o' them children squallin' around, an' there
won't be so much time fer you to stick
your nose into other folks's business." And
Nancy Panks went.
The Panks boy shuffled up to the inn
side door just as the landlady set down the
last of her row of freshly baked apple pies
on the buttery-window shelf.
" If I could never see a pie again in all
my mortal life, I'd be happy." She mopped
her heated face with a corner of her blue-
checked apron. " Here you, Johnny Panks,
what do you want around here ? "
"I ain't a-doin' nothin', Mis' Barlow,"
said the widow Panks' s hopeful son, with
72 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
an injured countenance, and mouth water-
ing at sight of the pies.
" I hain't said you did, but 'twould be
precious short time before you'd be up to
your tricks. What do you want anyway,
Johnny Panks ? "
For answer, Johnny thrust out a crumpled
bit of paper, his eyes on the row of juicy
pastry.
The innkeeper's wife took it gingerly and
unrolled it. "Now ain't you 'shamed to
muss that all up so, an' Sally Plunkett
gracious, I never shall git used to her
new name Sally Tubbs that neat! I'm
mortified to give it to Mis' Van Wyck after
bein' ground up in your dirty paws."
u Say, hain't you got a piece o' pie you
can give me, Mis' Barlow ? " whined Johnny,
ignoring all reference to the state of his
hands and sinking down on the upper step,
to stare at the pastry. " I come clear up
here with that letter, an' "
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 73
" An' clear back you'll go ; the idea ! pie
ain't for you, Johnny Panks," cried the irate
landlady. "Scat, now," she raised both
hands and looked at him in such a way that
he soon found himself off the step and down
the turning of the lane.
I'll pull her old cat's tail most off. I'll
shake down her clothesline. I'll I'll st-loy
Tige on her when she's comin' past our
house." Johnny boiled over in his rage,
and shook his impotent fists.
Mrs. Van Wyck dropped the mangy bit
the landlady delivered, and gazed at her
daughter with real concern.
"Mamma!" Violet sprang to her feet.
" Oh, what an awful wad ! Johnny Panks
brought that, I know."
" Never mind who brought it," cried her
mother. " For the first time in seven years
Mrs. Tubbs lets me know that she can't do
any more washing for us." She leaned back
in dismay at thought of the dainty under-
74 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
wear to be intrusted out of Sally's hands.
" What can have happened ? "
" I'll go right down and find out," declared
Violet, springing off.
" Violet," her mother called after her,
" you promised to go out on the lake with
Mr. Blair."
" This must be attended to first," Violet
threw over her shoulder. " You can't go
you've an awful headache. I'll tell Mr.
Blair."
But Mr. Blair was off, the innkeeper said,
on Miss Van Wyck's rushing out to the
little office for his assistance, and he didn't
know where in creation he'd gone.
"Tell him when he comes I promised
to go canoeing with him that I've gone
down to Mrs. Tubbs's. I'll be back very
soon." Violet was halfway down the long
veranda, landlord Barlow following her
to stand in the doorway.
She rushed over the three quarters of a
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 75
mile, usually so enchanting a walk, skirting
the fragrant meadows, and across the brook.
"What can have happened to dear Mrs.
Tubbs?"
At last, hurrying around the corner of
the small house, she almost ran into the
arms of the one sought for. "Oh, Mrs.
Tubbs ! " she cried breathlessly, with pink
cheeks.
" I hope your ma 'xcused me for writin'
her that note. I sent it to her th' first
thing this mornin' 's soon 's I knew I
couldn't do your washin' no more."
" Mamma just received it," cried Violet,
panting.
" Drat that Johnny ! " exclaimed Mrs.
Tubbs. "He started with it early this
mornin'. Well, I can't do no more
washin'." She made the announcement
in an automatic, dull fashion.
" Oh, what has happened ? " cried Violet,
the colour coming and going on her cheek.
76 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" You mus'n't ask me," said Mrs. Tubbs,
in a stiff, high key.
"Is it anything I can help about, dear
Mrs. Tubbs? Do tell me at least that."
Miss Van Wyck came closer yet to search
her face with troubled blue eyes.
"No, you can't. There can't no one.
You tell your ma I'm sorrier'n if she was
th' angel Gabriel an' I'd sent him word I
wouldn't dust his wings, if I'd ben a-keepin'
'em clean ! "
" Oh ! " cried Violet, in great distress,
" can't you let us help ? "
Mrs. Tubbs drew herself up to her full
height with pride. "It's unpossible," she
said with dignity.
She didn't ask her into the cottage, and
Violet turned away at last with a heart
sore at the mysterious calamity that had
shut out all sympathy.
"Mm!" Mr. Tubbs's little lean face
peered at her over the stone fence at the
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 77
first meadow. He had evidently followed
her, judging by his scant breath. She was
pacing slowly, forgetful of the waiting Mr.
Blair. Her head was drooping and she
was lost in thought. "I'll tell you some-
thin' if you don't let her know. We've got
a baby to our house."
" A baby ! " ejaculated Violet.
"Mm!" nodding his head. "It come
last night."
Miss Van Wyck gazed at him for signs
of insanity. But he blinked calmly up at
her.
" An' she won't let me say a word about
it to any one. There was a woman come
with it," he added as an afterthought.
That admonition of his spouse to keep
silence, held the young girl's tongue.
" It's that old scoundrel Abram's darter
Jane, an' Mis' Tubbs says she's goin' to
take care of her. Think o' that," he added
in an injured way.
78 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
"Jane?"
"Mm! Abram Plunkett's darter; he
took the farm away from Mis' Tubbs's
father. Mm! an' her baby. They come
last night," he repeated aimlessly.
"Yes yes," said Violet, impatiently;
"but your wife isn't obliged to keep
them."
"She's a-goin' to, an' what' 11 become o'
me?"
" Oh, you'll be taken care of don't fear,
Mr. Tubbs," said Violet.
" Not th' same," said Mr. Tubbs, discon-
tentedly, picking off a grass tip to chew.
"'Tain't like as 'twas a' ready. Ther' was
no pie to breakfast. Think o' that.
Mm!"
" It isn't a time to think of anything but
dear Mrs. Tubbs working herself to death,"
exclaimed the girl, impulsively.
" An' my rheumatics is bad." Mr. Tubbs
shot a glance, calling for sympathy, but find-
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 79
ing none, relapsed into gloom. " I wish to
goodness " but Miss Van Wyck was gone.
Richard Blair was awaiting her on the
inn veranda with an impatience ill con-
cealed.
"Forgive me/' said Violet. She had
hurried at the last, and her cheeks were
pink.
"Don't mention it," said Blair, whose
world was bright now that she had come.
He helped her into his trap and opened the
white parasol. " It's just the afternoon for
the lake," he said gayly, as they spun off.
Violet Van Wyck came home at dusk
with the consciousness that her mind was
more on the misfortunes of Mrs. Tubbs
than upon the fact that she had refused
Richard Blair's offer to make her mistress
of the millions that his father, a feeble old
man, would soon put into the hands of his
only child. He was a good sort of a chap,
this young Blair, but she never gave a
80 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
thought to him beyond the everyday com-
radeship of the gay little country inn, and
after settling matters definitely with him
in the lazy canoe, she fell to musing on the
ways and means by which to extricate Mrs.
Tubbs from her self-imposed task.
" If she only hadn't so much conscience,"
she said, half aloud, in a troubled voice.
Blair glanced up quickly with a set face.
" What can be done with a person who
has too much of that dreadful New England
article?"
" Hey what I don't understand."
Blair was bewildered.
"Oh, I forgot, I was thinking aloud."
And then she told him the episode that
would change the fortunes of the Tubbs
cottage, and finished, " What can we do ? "
It is a somewhat difficult matter to pick
one's self up after a fall from the heights of
one's choicest aspirations, to express that
sympathy that otherwise might be given to
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 81
the woes of a washerwoman. Richard Blair
was but human.
" I should think some of your pity might
be bestowed on me," he fairly blazed at
her.
She glanced up at his dark face : " Oh, I
am so sorry. But you see I don't regard it
as a calamity to escape being burdened with
a silly little thing like me."
" Don't jest ! " his voice shook with pas-
sion.
" Indeed, I would not for the world, Mr.
Blair." Violet was very grave now, and
she turned quite pale. He began to gather
hope.
"If you could " eagerly, in a husky
voice.
" No." Miss Van Wyck shut down the
gate of hope, but she said no more of the
woes of others. When she reached home,
there was enough to think of to pacify her
father and mother, who could not help
82 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
showing their disappointment at the end
of the Blair episode.
" Violet must do as she thinks best ; but
he is so good," mourned Mrs. Van Wyck in
the solitude of their own room.
" Yes, if he'd only been a rascal, it would
be easy to bear." Mr. Van Wyck threw
away his cigar and took another, to supply
action. His wife, not having such resource,
found a woman's only relief in activity of
the tongue.
" What's the use, Mabel ; it can't be," he
fumed. " This brand grows contemptible."
He cast aside his last choice, to fumble in
another box. He adored his wife ; but this
action of his daughter had cut him sore.
" That's the worst of it it can't be. Oh,
Thomas, why wouldn't she accept him ? "
"Because she's a woman, and none of
them ever do what you expect," said her
husband, irritably. "Well, let us say no
more. You know we always agreed when
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 83
it came to such questions we'd let our girl
do as she liked, Mabel."
" Oh, dear ! But then, of course, we didn't
dream of her doing anything like this. Why,
there isn't anything against him."
" No " Mr. Van Wyck squirmed "a
little lack of energy in his profession," wish-
ing there was some egregious fault.
"But it is so good of him to have any
profession at all," cried his wife, eagerly ;
" he needn't have gone into the law when
there is all that money coming to him."
" For heaven's sake, Mabel," cried her
husband, " let up on the subject. It's over
with and can't be helped. I'm going down
for a game of whist. Come on, dear." He
laid a hand on her slender shoulder.
" Whist! Oh, Thomas, I couldn't look at
a card," she said reproachfully.
"Now see here, Mabel. You know me
pretty well after living with me for twenty
years. It's either cards or an explosion, for
84 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
I've reached my limit. Which will you
choose ? "
She chose cards, and let him lead her
downstairs and engage Mr. and Mrs. Russell
for a game.
FOUR
k AIN'T right," Mrs. Tubbs said
to herself, over and over,
while heating some gruel
for the half-starved woman,
" f er me to keep on tryin' to do that washin'
fer Mis' Vanwyck now I've got other re-
sponsibilities. She'd have to wait some-
times fer her clothes now Jane's so sick. I
couldn't be reg'lar even if I sat up all night,
an' 'Bijah bein' took with his spells so
often. I must tell Melinda Gibbs to go an'
git th' job. Melinda can do 'em, of course
not like me, but after a fashion. An' I'll
send word by her to Mis' Vanwyck to tell
all th' other ladies."
As soon as the gruel was swallowed, Mrs.
Tubbs shut herself into her bedroom, and
85
86 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
jammed the wooden button down over the
latch.
" Now me an' th' Lord's got to have
another tussle, same 's we had last night
when Jane come walkin' in with that baby
an' says, says she, ' I'm your cousin, an'
ther' ain't a livin' mortal to help me but
you,' an' then flopped down on the kitchen
floor, an' didn't know nothin' fer an hour.
An' after I'd got her to bed, in th' loft, an'
Mr. Tubbs into his bed, why I fit it out.
An' th' Lord beat." She drew a long breath
at the memory.
"An' here I be again, an' another tussle
on my hands. I've got to sell them real
silver spoons ; there ain't much left in th'
stockin'." She twitched open the upper
drawer of the big mahogany bureau, a relic
of her early days at the farm.
" I was countin' on th' summer washin's
to set me up again v^hen I bought my wed-
din' veil ; an' them curtins was so cheap."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 87
It took but little time to reckon up the
coins, with one solitary two-dollar bill, and
she tied them all in fast with the faded red
string, tossed the stocking into the drawer,
slammed it to, and thus delivered her-
self:
" Lord, 'tain't any use fer you to keep at
me. I'll do it. Isayliuill. Them spoons
has got to go. Mr. Tubbs ain't a-goin' to
be put out no way about nice vittles. An'
Jane an' that dretful nasty baby to feed.
Lord, I say I'll do it. Ain't that
enough ? "
It was not an easy matter to dispose
of the spoons, as the recipient could not
offer them to the givers at the hotel, nor at
the store in the city where they were pur-
chased that would be giving the story
away; but they were taken off from the
post of honour by the side of Bunyan's
"Pilgrim's Progress" on Mrs. Tubbs's
centre-table, and never more seen by her
88 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
callers. And after that the stocking bulged
more, and 'Bijah had pie for breakfast.
But Jane, despite all efforts to rouse
her, turned her face to the wall. " You'll
take care of baby, I know," she said, " 'tain't
no use fer me to live."
"I won't I won't," declared Mrs.
Tubbs, wildly. " Drat that young one ! I
hate babies. Here, take this gruel," run-
ning to the stove for a fresh supply.
" Git away with your slops, I'm sick o'
livin'." Jane shut her teeth fast with the
Plunkett obstinacy. " Folks said when Jed
Simmons married me "
" Jed Simmons ! " exclaimed Mrs. Tubbs.
" Yes, what you starin' at ? I said Jed
Simmons. Folks said when he married me
I'd got a crooked stick an' so I did. If
any one got a crookeder, I'd like to know
it." She sat straight in bed, and throwing
up her arms she cursed to right and to left
the man who was her ' husband, and the
father of her child.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 89
" You shut up ! " commanded Sally, set-
ting down the bowl of gruel ; and advanc-
ing on Jane, she took down the wild arms
and thrust the sick woman under the bed-
clothes. " Now, then, this is Mrs. Tubbs's
house I'd have you to know, an' there ain't
no such goin's on to be put up with. Here,
open your mouth an' swaller this gruel."
She made her do it. " You'll make up your
mind to live an' take care o' your own
young one, an' not shuffle it off on to me."
Then she rushed out and slammed the door.
" Oh, Lord 'a' mercy ! to think o' that
good-for-nothin' Jed Simmons, an' me givin'
him money fer a fresh start ! My brain'll
slump in next, an' I'll be howlin' like a
hmattic."
At last Jane crept around, weak-eyed and
miserable, and dandled her baby with a
peevish, unwilling hand.
A party of walkers from the inn found
her thus occupied outside the cottage door.
90 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
As they advanced, Sally's cousin looked
up.
"I wish you'd give me some money to
help me git away from here." She coughed
badly, lifting her thin face to peer up at
them. " I hain't got one cent to my name."
They surveyed her coldly and passed on
all but Violet Van Wyck and Gerald Fair-
brother : she to go into the cottage in a vain
attempt to force financial sympathy upon
Mrs. Tubbs, and the young man, her com-
panion in the walking party, to wait for
her. He slipped back to Jane's side, and,
one eye on the gay crowd moving off, said
rapidly, " How much do you want to take
you away and relieve Mrs. Tubbs of your
care ? "
She lifted a dull face, not understanding
him. When she comprehended, her sharp,
black eyes glistened, and the hectic rose to
her high cheek bones.
"Twenty dollars. I'll go fer that."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 91
" And never come back ? "
" An' never come back. Lord save us,
do I look like it?" She gave a short
laugh, very unpleasant to hear.
" Hardly." He thrust his hand in his
pocket, laid something in her lap, which
she clutched with a thin, greedy hand, " As
soon as you can get off."
She nodded. " Well, Mrs. Tubbs," Vio-
let was saying in a sorry little voice, and
coming out, "if you only knew how un-
happy you make us all, and we so long to
help you."
Gerald hugged himself. " My innings are
in sight! This will win her heart." He
glowed at the loss of his twenty dollars,
not a small thing to him with his limited
exchequer, but a trifle when the rich man's
daughter was the prize in sight. And he
stepped off by her side in a transport at
the chance fate had thrown in his way, of
serving her whim.
92 SALLY, MBS. TUBES
" Mr. Tubbs," Sally with a weary face
pushed back her hair, "your dinner's
ready."
'Bijah looked the small, scrupulously
neat table over critically. She saw that
something was wrong. "Th' pie's under
th' plate," she said quickly, "to keep
hot."
'Bijah's face brightened and he pulled
up his chair.
"I ain't a-goin' to set down," said his
wife, indifferently, and putting the delica-
cies up at his end of the family board.
Mr. Tubbs not appearing to care, but be-
stowing all his attention on conveying the
food with knife and fork, as rapidly as pos-
sible to his mouth, she poured him. a gen-
erous cup of tea, and then turned away.
"Where's th' chick'n?" he asked, with
mouth full.
" 'Twas et up at breakfast " she didn't
say, " You et it."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 93
"Ain't that woman that Jane et it
up?" pointing with his knife to the loft.
" No, there warn't none left. I give her
somethin' else." Mrs. Tubbs didn't think it
necessary to add that she had bought a
juicy slice of steak for that purpose.
"Mm! Well, ain't there no more?"
in a disappointed voice.
"No, I tell you, 'Bijah; but I'll git
you another to-morrow," said Mrs. Tubbs,
quickly.
"Chick'n's all I can eat," observed the
aggrieved Mr. Tubbs, cutting a generous
wedge of cold ham discontentedly.
"Well, to-morrow you'll have another
one, 'Bijah." Mrs. Tubbs went up to the
bedroom in the loft. " I must call Jane."
She came down as white as the snowy
clothes that were always her pride.
" Oh Lord 'Bijah Mr. Tubbs ! " She
sat heavily down in the first chair.
'Bijah kept on eating. He couldn't for
94 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
his life, having existed for so many years
on the slenderest of meals, let his wife's
good cooking be marred by trivial inter-
ruptions.
"'Bijah I'm faint." It came in such a
feeble little crow that Mr. Tubbs, aston-
ished at such a sound in connection with
his wife, paused suddenly in his gastro-
nomic feats. "What's th' matter with ye?"
"I d'no," gasped Mrs. Tubbs; "gimme
some water," faintly.
Mr. Tubbs got out of his chair, and see-
ing the pitcher, gave her the whole of its
contents at once.
" Oh Lord, 'Bijah ! " she sputtered, " what
you doin'? Wheel" as the streams ran all
over her.
"What is't?" cried 'Bijah; "what ails
ye?" He was really frightened now.
" Here, wake up," for Mrs. Tubbs's eyes
were closed.
" Th' baby she's gone " gasped Mrs.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 95
Tubbs, feebly. " Oh Lord, and, Oh Lord ! "
And she waved in her chair.
" I'm glad on't." 'Bijah even straightened
himself up. " She'd orter gone an' took it
afore."
"She hain't."
" You said she had."
She has."
'Bijah leaped away from his wife to the
middle of the kitchen and stared at her in
absolute terror. He wrung his little, thin
hands. " She's crazy 's a loon," he groaned.
"Don't act like a fool," his wife crowed
again; then, seeing his helpless condition, for
he was groaning and wringing his hands,
his poor little bald head wagging from side
to side, she pulled herself straight on her
chair. " One of us has got to keep th' wits
th' Lord give us. 'Bijah ! "
This was so like her natural voice, that
the waving and groaning ceased. " Yes'm,"
said Mr. Tubbs, meekly.
96 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
"Come here." He stole to her chair.
" That woman," pointing to the loft, " has
gone an' left that baby on my hands." She
held out a piece of paper fiercely and shook
it at him.
It was so much worse than Mr. Tubbs
had imagined that his tongue clove to the
roof of his mouth. His jaws wagged more
than his head had done, but no words came.
"That baby that nasty baby of Jane
an' Jed Simmons to be "
"Whose?" 'Bijah suddenly found his
tongue.
" Never mind Jane's, I say."
" Whose else's ? " He pricked up his lit-
tle ears eagerly.
" Never mind, I say. Ain't it enough it's
Jane's ? An' I've got it tied to me fer life.
She says she ain't never comin'back,an' she'll
fix it so 's I can't find her. Oh Lord ! "
"Ye hain't got to keep it?" blurted
'Bijah.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 97
Why not ? " She threw her long figure
around on her chair to look at him.
" They take 'em at th' poorhouse in th'
city," edging away.
"Poorhouse!" screamed his wife. "A
relation o' mine put on th' town ! "
" How do you know she is a relation ? "
Mr. Tubbs ventured, as a last resort. " You
hain't got no proof."
"Yes I have. She showed me Uncle
Ab'm's picter, an' she's got th' Plunkett
nose. There's all th' proof I want. An'
that nasty baby b'longs to me. You can't
git red on't."
The person under discussion at this in-
stant lifted up its voice in the loft.
" There it goes there it's always
goin'," exclaimed Mrs. Tubbs, tragically;
" that baby's begun a'ready to fasten to me
fer life." She dragged herself out of her
chair and over the stairs.
" Don't talk o' pie an' chick'n," cried Mr.
98 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
Tubbs, wildly, to an imaginary audience,
" when'll I ever see 'em again ? Oh, you ! "
He shook his little thin fingers up toward
the loft.
"I s'pose I'd orter think o' Jane wan-
derin' off without a cent o' money," said
Mrs. Tubbs that afternoon, in a subdued
frame of mind very touching to see. She
was mending her spouse's nether garment,
treading now and then the rocker of the
cradle she had borrowed for Jane from
Mrs. Panks ; " but there, I hain't no
thought over an' above this poor deserted
creeter."
"It's a bad baby," said Mr. Tubbs, un-
easy at the glimmerings of any tender
feelings ; " it's a bad, nasty baby, an' it will
eat orful."
" An' I d'no but what if she was so un-
nat'ral as to desert it, but what 'twill be
better fer him that she's gone."
"'Twon't be," snapped 'Bijah, "'twon't
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 99
be, not at all. An' he'll eat an' eat, an'
want lots o' clothes."
" I hope th' Lord' 11 fergive me for carryin'
on so." Mrs. Tubbs placed a new piece
over the rent, patted it into place, and then
began to darn. "Oh, dear me but a
baby ! " She gave the cradle a jerk,
twitched off the patch, and began to cut
out another.
The baby gave a feeble cry that presently
broke into a roar.
Mrs. Tubbs cast aside the trousers, send-
ing the black patch flying one way and the
scissors another. " There, see what you've
done now, Sally Tubbs ! Here stop cry-
ing." She got down on her knees and
with her hard hand began to stroke the
thin, angry little face.
But this only made it worse. He was
cross enough when awake; roused out of
sleep, he was unbearable, and the shrieks
came thick and fast.
100 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" There, you mus'n't cry/' Sally crooned
over him, bending low within the cradle.
He beat her with tiny fists of passion. At
last, she never knew how she did it, she
swooped down, gathered him up to her
breast and held him close.
"There shan't nothin' hurt ye. There
shan't nothin' hurt ye," she cried, holding
her long, hard-lined face against the tear-
swept little red one. " You pretty creeter
you. There, there, there ! "
'Bijah took one look at this, and fled the
cottage to lean up against the fence.
Out came the widow Panks.
FIVE
HE'S a-huggin' th' baby!"
he gasped the words, cling-
ing to the top railing for sup-
port.
" You don't say so ! " Mrs. Panks cried
wildly. " You hain't seen straight, 'Bijah."
" An' she kep' a-sayin' she hated it, an'
'twas tied to her fer life." He mouthed
it so fast the widow only caught the first
sentence.
" I know it an' now huggin' it ! Well,
I am clear beat." She crept off, if the lo-
comotion of such a round body could be
thus described, toward the house.
"Keep away ! " screamed 'Bijah in a thin,
sharp voice. " She's crazy as a hornbug."
101
102 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" I ain't goin' in. I'll peek through the
winder " which she did.
It was as Mr. Tubbs said. There paced
Sally back and forth across the kitchen
floor, the baby's head under the long chin ;
and wonder of wonders, Mrs. Tubbs was
actually achieving some sort of lullaby that
sounded more like the creaking of a gate
upon a rusty hinge. But it pleased its
listener, for his howls had ceased, and he
was sucking his thumb.
"My soul an' body! what's come to
Sally ? " breathed the widow, straining her
eyes, and working her short neck to see
better. Mrs. Tubbs turned in her tracks
and saw her. "Come in," she called.
Widow Panks sank below the window
casing. " Oh, I don't darst," she breathed
fearfully.
" Why don't you come in ? " cried Mrs.
Tubbs in such strident tones that Mrs.
Panks found herself slowly entering the
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 103
cottage, taking the precaution to leave the
door open.
" Shut that door " she shut it.
" Now, then, I want to talk to you about
this baby, sence its mother's gone."
"Mother gone!" ejaculated the widow.
She forgot to shut her mouth after this ex-
clamation, and her eyes being open to their
fullest extent the sight got on Mrs. Tubbs's
nerves.
" Can't you hear a thing without lookin'
like a fool, Nancy?" she cried irritably.
" Yes, I said its mother's gone. Anythin'
strange in that ? "
"Where's she gone ?" asked Nancy.
"None o' your business; that's neither
here nor there. What I want of you is to
git a few p'ints on how to manage a baby.
Th' Lord knows you've had experience,
Nancy."
" I guess I have," said the widow, grimly.
All her family cares rushing over her mind
104 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
brought her to herself and to the powers of
speech.
" Now begin ; what do I do about washin'
him ? " She glanced at the bundle in her
arms in its dirty red gown, with a helpless
terror in her face.
" You don't wash 'em much. Mine never
were."
" Oh, dear ! I know it. Well, this boy's
goin' to be washed. How do you do it,
Nancy ? " The tone was pleading, and such
a change from the usual Sally, as inspired
a fresh dismay in the widow.
" Well, I should put him in a tub."
"I thought folks held 'em on the lap,
an' soaped 'em," suggested Mrs. Tubbs.
" If you're goin' to wash, a baby, I should
wash it," declared Mrs. Panks, finding it
quite to her liking to reverse positions and
boss her neighbour. " Fill your tub full an'
plump him in."
"Oh!" Mrs. Tubbs's arms tightened
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 105
around her charge so summarily left to her
care.
" Well, what next ? " she asked.
"Why, then you dry him," said the
widow. " After he's wet all over, he wants
to be wiped, don't he?"
"Yes, of course but don't you put
white stuff on him? I saw Mrs. Harmon
up to the hotel doin' it to her baby when
I took home her clothes."
" White stuff ! " repeated Mrs. Panks in
scorn. " No, indeed, water an' a rag's all you
want. You be a fool, Sally." It was such
a comfort to say that for the first time in her
life, that she repeated it. " You be a fool."
Mrs. Tubbs made no reply.
" I never can dress him," she said at last ;
" just see there, Nancy Panks." She turned
the baby over and over on her long, restless
arms. " Such a lot o' pins ; an' I don't know
no more'n th' dead how to git him out an'
into these fixin's."
106 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
u Gimme that baby," the widow com-
manded. Mrs. Tubbs relinquished her
charge with reluctance. "Such a piece o'
work as you make out o' this, Sally. It's
as easy as rollin' off a log to dress a baby."
She had half the clothes off by this time,
sticking the pins in her mouth, as she sat
down on a low chair, and was rolling and
thumping the young man to achieve the
rest of the undertaking.
" Oh, you'll hurt him," exclaimed Mrs.
Tubbs in alarm, crowding close.
" Phoo ! don't I know what's good fer
babies ? " Apparently she did, for he
looked up and smiled, recognising a
trained hand.
"Now, then, young man," said Mrs.
Panks, when the disrobing was complete,
" there you are, in a state of nater," and
she turned him over and gave him a re-
sounding slap where he was least likely to
be injured for life.
SALLY, MES. TUBES 107
" Ow ! " cried Sally in anger, and seizing
the plump arm, " don't you do that again,
Nancy Panks."
" It's good fer 'em," said the widow,
righting the baby. " Goo goo," he cried,
stretching his legs.
" Well, you ain't a-goin' to do it to my
baby, I can tell you."
" Yes, sir, you're in a state o' nater, young
man," holding up the naked baby to sprawl
in the air. " Phew ! how dirty his clothes
are ! Git his others, Sally."
Mrs. Tubbs's long face gathered a dull
red all over its surface. " He hain't got no
others. I'm goin' to set down an' make
some right away."
" "Well, gimme an old sheet or somethin'
to roll him in," said Mrs. Panks, throwing
aside the heap of dirty clothes in her lap,
and spitting out the pins.
"He'll get cold. Nancy, can't you let
me take some o' your Sammy's fixin's just
108 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
till I can run together a kind o' sort o'
clothes for him ? "
Mrs. Panks lowered a line of thought
and fished around in her mind for a breath-
ing space. "I s'pose so," she said slowly;
"but I hain't got but one change for
Sammy."
"I'll do 'em up splendid fer you before
I give 'em back." Sally's pale green eyes
sparkled. ***
"Well, you can take 'em, Sally," prom-
ised Mrs. Panks, with a magnificent air.
" Now, then, we might as well wash him,
seein' he's all neked. Git a tub o' water,
Sally."
" I'd druther do it myself, I think," said
Mrs. Tubbs, slowly.
However, being half-minded about per-
forming the dreaded operation, she half
filled the washtub and dragged it along
before the widow. She was so long in de-
ciding just how hot the water should be
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 109
she was to carry in her pail, that Mrs.
Panks shrilled out, " Hurry up ! " more
than once.
"There's more in th' tea-kittle.'* She
poured the pailful into the tub.
" Glory ! he'll squirm, I guess. That's too
cold," said the widow, not hearing. " Well,
in he goes ! " and before Mrs. Tubbs could
prevent it, in he went. He did squirm, and
made a great fuss in more ways than one,
and Sally twitched away the authoritative
arms, seized the roaring baby, flew for a big
towel, and dried him like any other article
that was wet, and then faced her quondam
friend and neighbour with blazing eyes.
" You go right straight home, an' never
come here again, Nancy Panks."
" 'Twouldn't 'a' hurt him a mite, he'd
warm up in a minute," said the widow
Panks, aghast at the change in the situa-
tion.
" Go home ; d'ye hear what I say ? "
110 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
"You shan't have any o' Sammy's
clothes," cried Nancy, in spite.
" I don't want 'em, I'd sooner wrap him
up hi anythin' than to take those old duds.
There, there, don't cry." She had run into
the bedroom and seized her honeycomb
quilt off the bed, to huddle it around the
screaming baby.
" Oh my ! your best bedspread ! " exclaimed
the widow, raising her wet hands in amaze-
ment. The precious quilt was the one thing of
Sally's that was coveted by all the neighbours.
" Go home ! "
"I'm a-goin'. I don't have to be told
twict, I guess," said Nancy, testily, getting
off from her low seat with difficulty, and
passing out in a dudgeon.
" I wish you joy with your baby, Sally
Plunkett," she hurled back, determined not
to please Mrs. Tubbs by the sound of her
new name, " an' I'll send over an' git that
cradle I lent his ma."
******
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 111
They were just going down to the " ball-
room," the long, low-ceilinged extension
that the landlord had put on to the inn the
previous summer to satisfy his increasing
custom. It was to be the hop of the season,
and the young people were crowding the
stairways and corridors, and promenading
the veranda, while the musicians were
tuning up in the festive apartment. It was
great times for Johnny Panks and his
friends on such gala nights, and here he
was now, gluing his face to the window to
see the fiddler tighten the strings of his
instrument, with those delightful trial-end-
ing squeaks, and the cornetist give a few
preliminary toots. A white-robed figure
was floating past. She stopped, and the
gentleman with her.
"How do you do, Johnny?"
"How d'ye do, Miss Vi'let?" He
scraped his bare toes back and forth on the
veranda floor. He wasn't so afraid of her
112 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
in Sunday-school, for he knew how to get
the best of any teacher. But here he was
simply crushed.
"How is Mrs. Tubbs?" asked Miss Van
Wyck, one thought in her mind.
Johnny had been told to get the cradle ;
but with such an engagement on his mind
as the hop at the inn, he preferred to wait
till morning.
" She's fit with ma," he announced, with
his usual directness.
"She's what?"
" Scrapped with ma."
" Oh, dear me ! What is the trouble ? "
" The nasty baby ; an' ma don't like Mis'
Tubbs no more but I do. She gives me
doughnuts, an' sometimes I stay there to
dinner when we ain't goin' to have anythin'
good. But now that woman's gone, ma
says Mis' Tubbs' 11 have enough to do with-
out cookin', so I ain't goin' there no more
neither."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 113
"That woman gone?" echoed Violet.
" What do you mean, Johnny Panks ? "
Quite elated at his prominence before the
other ragged boys of his acquaintance who
had crept in his wake to the window, Johnny
reeled off with great unction the whole story
as much as he knew, making up what he
didn't know; till Miss Van Wyck under-
stood that Mrs. Tubbs's cousin Jane had
run away secretly, leaving her deserted baby,
for Johnny could tell more than his mother,
as he had just pumped Mr. Tubbs as dry as
an empty gourd.
"Mr. Hastings, do excuse me one min-
ute." Violet glanced up at the young man,
a friend of Eichard Blair's, who had come
from New York that day for the evening's
festivities. She sped down the veranda.
" Who is this Mrs. Tubbs ? " asked the
deserted young man, nonchalantly.
" She's a partic'ler friend o' Miss Vi'let's,"
said Johnny, trying to compass in a pro-
114 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
longed stare all the elegance before him;
" she takes in washin', an' now she's got a
baby she don't want, an' 'Bijah Tubbs is just
as mad as any thin'. Why don't you go in
an' dance?"
Violet Van Wyck, rushing to tell her
mother, came suddenly upon Mr. Fair-
brother, immaculate in evening dress, de-
scending the stairs. He stopped at the
apparition in floating white draperies.
"What is the matter, Miss Van Wyck?"
he demanded in consternation at sight of
her face.
"That dreadful woman, that Jane, has
run off and left her baby for poor Mrs.
Tubbs to take care of." It certainly was
an appalling announcement.
Gerald Fairbrother simply collapsed, and
held to the staircase post without a word.
" How could she go ? Mrs. Tubbs told
me she had only money enough to get here,"
Violet panted.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 115
" Miss Violet I I gave her the money,"
gasped Gerald. The entire truth was out in
one sentence.
" Jow/"
"Yes; I thought, of course, she would
take the child, and leave Mrs. Tubbs in
peace. I I wanted to surprise you."
He wilted miserably.
"Well, you have succeeded admirably."
The scorn in her voice and face stung him
to the quick.
He stiffened up. "My success is also
great in another direction. I have found
that a woman whom I thought angelic can
be disappointing." It was brutal, the way he
said it, more than the words. But his temper
got away from him.
" Thank you ! " Violet's soft white gown
dipped to the floor. Nothing could be more
airy than the courtesy she made him, then
turned off with her grand air.
" Miss Van Wyck Violet." Visions of
116 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
his irreparable loss if she failed him this
petted daughter of the rich man swept
him off on a tide of anguish. And he had
been so near to the goal ! Fool he was for
his wild words ! " Violet hear me ! "
But once beyond the young man's gaze,
she ran like a child, and precipitated her-
self into her father's arms, to pour out the
story. " Do go down, papa, to the cottage
and find out about it, and see if some one
can't start for that dreadful woman and
bring her back."
" Whew ! what a monstrous idea ! Now
I tell you, Puss," he stroked her pink
cheek, " you just drop Mrs. Tubbs and her
concerns from your mind, and go in to the
hop."
" Yes, that's just it, drop that poor
woman," cried Violet, passionately, " and
then that wicked creature will get miles
away."
"She's miles away now probably," said
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 117
Mr. Van Wyck, coolly. " Come, run along,
child, to your dance."
(< I never could dance in all this world
and think of poor, dear Mrs. Tubbs so very
unhappy."
" Well, don't think of her."
" I can't help it."
" See here, Violet," her father drew her
into a quiet corner, " as you grow older,
you'll have many a thing that you'll maybe
want to brood over. Look at the troubles
that we business men have; yet we must
eat our three meals a day, and laugh and
talk with folks. Everybody has to fight
trial that way."
She knew something of a certain financial
load he was at present carrying, and her
heart smote her sore. " Papa, I'm sorry,"
she cried, quickly repentant; and getting
up on her tiptoes, she seized his gray mut-
ton-chop whiskers and pulled his face down
for a kiss.
118 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" I can bear anything so long as my little
girl loves me and keeps a sensible mind,"
he said brokenly.
Mr. Hastings, coming along the corridor
in search of her, sighted this episode.
" Great Scott ! " he exclaimed under his
breath, "I never knew before that a girl
wasted her kisses on her dad," and turned
on his heel to dodge into another corner.
He ran up against Richard Blair. " Say,
Dick, that Miss Van Wyck is a stunning
girl, now I tell you. Has her father a good
bank account ? "
Blair viewed his friend coldly. " Not par-
ticularly, I should say." In the financial
world it was well known that the old house
of Van Wyck and Cowles was under pres-
sure. Hastings, on the trail of an heiress,
must be sidetracked.
" Confound it, she's a peach ! I'd enter
the race if the father could throw in a good
dot. I can't see how you ever passed her
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 119
by, Blair. You don't need filthy lucre,
lucky dog."
Richard Blair drew a long breath. " No
one could pass her by. I offered myself to
her."
" And she refused you ? "
"And she refused me. Any further
questions? If not, I should suggest that
as you are to lead the German with Miss
Van Wyck, you would do well to find her.
It's past the hour."
" She refused Dick Blair and his mil-
lions ! " Hastings found himself alone.
He was a poor leader of the German, try-
ing to puzzle out the thing. But he re-
tained his wits enough to fall hopelessly
in love with his partner. As for Mr.
Gerald Fairbrother, he didn't show up at
all at the dance.
SIX
LETTER was handed in for
Violet Van Wyck. For a week
she had proved her father's
words: "We must eat our
three meals a day, and laugh and talk
with folks ; everybody has to fight trial
that way. "
Had she not done it ? Every one knew
after the dance, that Gerald Fairbrother had
paid his bill at the inn and departed, while
the rest of the young people were dancing
and the parents looking on. And it was
also known that she was as much surprised
as were the others at his sudden departure.
But she had done as her father had ad-
vised, and been all this weary, racking time
a brave little woman.
120
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 121
"Oh, how he looked when I turned so
cruelly away! And he did it to please
me ! Oh, Gerald, Gerald ! " She dropped
her head on her hands, and sobbed like
a broken-hearted child.
Mrs. Barlow stumbled up the stairs in the
twilight. " Miss Violet ? "
"Yes."
" I've got somethin' fer you."
The landlord knew Mr. Fairbrother's
writing and had communicated his belief
with a knowing wink to his wife, who
itched to see the receipt of the letter.
" Please lay it down, Mrs. Barlow."
"Hadn't you better take it, Miss
Violet?"
"No; please lay it down by the door."
Terribly disappointed, the landlady ran
the letter under the door. When Violet
saw the corner appearing, she jumped
from her low seat by the window and
pulled it in, and after one wild glance
122 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
laid it to her pretty bosom, then covered
it with kisses.
It was soon read.
"Mr DEAR Miss VAN WYCK: At first
I did not wonder at your scorn occasioned
by my terrible blunder. Of course I should
have consulted you, who perhaps might
have understood how to rid that miserable
washerwoman of her burden. But I did it
to please you. I will say good-by ; and I
wish you a pleasant summer.
"GERALD FAIRBROTHER."
No address, no date only the post-
mark New York. His temper had not only
gotten the better of him again, but the
Van "Wyck and Cowles shadow had been
penetrated by the diligent use of his time
among the sagacious.
They found her so when, on receiving no
response to her calls, her mother fled in
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 123
terror to Mr. Van Wyck. The door was
broken open. There she lay on the floor,
her soft little hands still holding the letter
close.
There was a doctor at the inn, and she
soon came back to a miserable consciousness.
But the spirit dropped out of all plans for
fun, with Violet Van Wyck sick ; and no
better prospect being ahead, many of the
young people begged their guardians to
take them to some gayer place. The letter
was still the secret of the Van Wycks, the
landlord and his wife loyally keeping back
the fact of its receipt. All that any one
knew was that Miss Van Wyck had been
taken suddenly ill, and was now weak and
strangely listless.
In New York, Fairbrother and Hastings,
old acquaintances, had run across each other
at an uptown cafe they both frequented.
They nodded across the apartment, and
before their orders were given, changed
124 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
their tables in order to lunch together.
Over the wine, facts came out. Hastings
had the account of the whole proceeding,
but not until the hint furnished by Richard
Blair as to the financial rating of pere Van
Wyck had been parted with.
Gerald's anger flamed high. "It's an
infernal lie ! " He poured a fresh glass of
wine. " He wants her himself ; it's been
perfectly apparent all summer."
" Of course ; but you're a blooming idiot,
Fairbrother. Haven't I just told you he
offered himself to her. There would be no
reason for spoiling my chances or those of
any man. But if you don't believe me, ask
Dunbar. He'll give you the truth."
Fairbrother swore within himself that he
would. Meanwhile he felt it was true, and
so became communicative. And that night,
Dunbar, a financial authority, said briefly
over his cigar at the club: "If you are
interested in that quarter, I advise you to
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 125
drop it. The pretty daughter will have
nothing."
Gerald shrugged his shoulders "I can't
afford expensive luxuries." He passed into
the writing room, and the letter for Hills-
boro went out that night.
Richard Blair preferred to stay " for the
fishing," he said, and he watched the young
people and their trunks depart from the
veranda. After the last one had gone, he
strolled into the office.
There sat the innkeeper and his wife, dis-
mally casting up accounts.
" It's too bad for you," said young Blair,
sympathetically.
" It can't be helped." Mr. Barlow drew a
long breath.
" And we can't never say a word as long
as it's happened to the Van Wycks," his wife
hastened to say loyally ; " they've ben here
now seven summers, an' brought lots o'
custom, an' ben as pretty to us all the
126 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
time as could be. No, we can't say a
word."
" Still, it's hard on you," said Blair, wish-
ing he had such stanch friends, "and I
want to express my sympathy. Oh, by the
way, I think I'd like more room now, seeing
you have it, and if there's no objection, I'll
move into that corner suite ; and you may
give me Number 10 in the front, also."
Mr. Barlow's face glowed. Here was a
chance to recover some of his losses. That
corner suite pieced out with the front room
would bring in four times as much as the
apartment at present occupied by the young
man.
"All right, sir," he cried joyfully. "I'll
have your things moved down."
"And another thing; I've just re-
ceived word that some friends of mine, to
whom I wrote last week, want to come
Mr. and Mrs. Taylor, and three daughters."
"Now you're a-talkin'," exclaimed Mr.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 127
Barlow, his hand trembling with delight
while he tried to write the names ; " much
obleeged to you, sir."
" An' we take it it's just pretty in you,
Mr. Blair," cried his wife, joyfully; "we
shan't fergit it of you, an' we'll make 'em
all as comfortable as can be." Her round
face was one big smile that ingulfed her
double chin.
" Well, I'm glad things will look a little
brighter," said the young man, lightly, turn-
ing away.
" It would never do for Mr. Van Wyck
to have the worry of any losses to these
good people. He is just the man who would
pay them back. Now, I must get off some
more letters."
It was astonishing how many of Mr.
Eichard Blair's friends suddenly found that
they must get to Hillsboro to spend the
remainder of the summer and the early
autumn. They came dropping along with
128 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
their big trunks every day or two till the
inn was once more filled up. No one knew
how bored he was by having a lot of peo-
ple on his hands for entertainment ; but he
was a veteran at such work, and gave no
sign but that he liked it. And Charley
Van Wyck, taking a desperate fancy to
one of the Taylor girls, made a capital
ally and soon relieved him of the worst
of it.
And Harriett Taylor, reciprocating, fell
madly in love with Charley Van Wyck ;
and as the other Taylor girls looked for as
good luck (not with Richard Blair, hope
was dead in that quarter, but among some
of his friends), everything was gay once
more and quite as if Violet Van Wyck had
never been the bright particular leader.
She had flowers, beautiful ones, sent
from the city every day.
" Say nothing about it," were Mr. Blair's
orders to the landlord; "just keep them
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 129
fresh in her room." And Violet, weak and
wretched, looked at them listlessly, and one
day with a twinge of remorse at her ingrati-
tude, thanked her father.
" I didn't get them, child," he said. And
then it all came out.
"Oh, he mustn't send them. Tell him
not to, papa." She made him promise, and
sank back upon her cushions relieved.
" Well, now, I've come to set with you a
spell," a voice that could belong to no one
but Mrs. Tubbs struck into her solitude.
Her mother, quite worn with anxiety, had
gone to lie down. Papa was on the ve-
randa reading his paper, and Charley was
with Harriett Taylor. Violet was alone
with her sad thoughts. She looked up.
" Oh, Mrs. Tubbs, you've brought the
baby ! "
" Yes." Sally marched in with beaming
face. "Ain't he pretty?"
He had a sky-blue delaine dress on and
130 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
red shoes, and Sally had twisted up his stiff,
yellow hair, and tied it with a pink ribbon
over his left eye. She viewed him and her
work in the utmost complacence.
"I really believe you are fond of that
child, Mrs. Tubbs," said Violet.
" I set some store by him, that's a fact,"
said Mrs. Tubbs, snuggling her charge
within her long arms. " Miss Vi'let," she
suddenly confessed, " there's only one thing
that worrits me. I'm afraid his mother' 11
repent and come after him."
" Oh ! " exclaimed Violet. Then she sud-
denly laid down her head on the cushions
and cried as if her heart would break. This
chance remark brought it all back.
" What have I said ? Oh, don't let it
worrit you; p'r'aps she won't come." Mrs.
Tubbs set the baby down on the floor,
propped him up against a big chair, then
laid her strong arms on the young, shaking
shoulders. " Miss Vi'let, you hadn't orter
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 131
carry on so. What in this world o' misery
is th' matter ? "
"Oh! oh!" the girl sobbed on.
Mrs. Tubbs left her and hurried over to
pick up the baby. " There, now, you may
hold Ira Plunkett. I named him after pa.
He's a sight o' comfort to me when I feel
bad." And she plumped him in Violet's
lap.
" Take him away ! " Violet sat straight.
" I can't hold him. Take him right away
this minute, Mrs. Tubbs."
" I shan't tetch him. Hold on tight now,
or he'll roll off, an' maybe kill himself."
Mrs. Tubbs folded her long arms, and stood
away in the middle of the room.
" Look at his frock, ain't it pretty ? That's
my blue delaine your ma give me."
" Oh, Mrs. Tubbs, did you cut that up ? "
said Violet, reproachfully, and hanging to
the baby for dear life.
" Had to ; there warn't a scrap o' nothin
132 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
else. Ain't it nice for him ? An' that ribbin
I took off from my weddin' bunnit."
"Where did you get the red shoes?"
asked the girl, astonished to find herself
interested. The tears were still wet on her
cheek.
"Well, now, I'll tell you." Sally un-
folded her arms to set her palms on her
hips, and, delighted at her stratagem, reeled
off how the storekeeper, Mr. Fitch, hearing
about the baby, had sent them as a present.
" That was very nice of him," said Vio-
let, approvingly, patting one of the little
shoes. Ira reached up and clawed her hair.
" Oh, my ! " Mrs. Tubbs flew to the res-
cue. " He don't mean no harm," untwisting
his determined fingers.
"Nothing hurts me now," said Violet,
wearily.
"Miss Vi'let, I'm goin' to speak my
mind to you. You're worryin' your pa
and ma 'most to death."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 133
" Don't ! " the girl shivered and put up
a thin little hand beseechingly.
" I'm a-goin' to. I won't have it on my
conscience that I kep' still. I've ben over
here every day or two."
" And you've been so good. I never will
forget your kindness, Mrs. Tubbs," cried
Violet; "but don't say any more now,"
she begged.
"I've ben over every day or two," re-
peated Mrs. Tubbs, unmoved by the appeal,
"an' I've only ben waitin' till you was
strong enough to hear me. An* this aft'-
noon, says I, it's got to be done. I'll dress
Ira in his best, an' make her hold him where
she can't git away, an' then, says I, she's got
to hear me."
"You're cruel," said Violet under her
breath. Mrs. Tubbs heard her, and she
swallowed hard.
" Miss Vi'let, if you was to have a tooth
pulled, th' best way would be to open your
134 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
mouth an* have it over with as soon 's th'
man could twitch it out. That's th' way I
feel about my dooty in speakin'. I ain't
a-goin' to make many words ; all I say is,
you orter git up out o' this room an' go
downstairs an* make things pleasant fer
your pa an' your ma."
"It's impossible," cried Violet, wildly.
"You don't know what is on my heart."
Her anger was rising now.
"No, I don't," said Mrs. Tubbs, out-
wardly unperturbed, though she told Miss
Van Wyck afterward that she shook like
all possessed inside. " I don't know that
no more'n th' dead; but I do know that
your ma and your pa'll keel up suddenly
if this thing goes on much longer. Then
I guess you'd be sorry. Don't go to pilin'
up sorrows to cry over all your days.
"Misfortunes is one thing, an' troubles
you make yourself is another," she went
on.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 135
" But that's just it: I've made this trouble
myself." Violet broke out into a cry again.
Mrs. Tubbs seized Ira Plunkett, propped
him on the floor against his big chair, then
sat down on the lounge and drew the girl
into her lap.
"You ain't much bigger'n that baby,"
she said. " There, now, you've just got to
tell me all about it."
Violet laid her head on Sally's bosom,
and the whole story came out.
"Well, I never did two young fools.
He was a fool fer doin' it, and you're an-
other fer scoldin' him, an' then takin' on so.
Why in th' world don't you write to him ? "
" Oh, I don't know where he is," sobbed
the girl.
" Your pa could find out."
" Oh, no, no ; I won't let him."
" Umph ! I guess you don't care much
fer him."
" I do I do," cried the girl, impulsively.
136 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
"Well, I wouldn't," said Mrs. Tubbs,
slowly, "fer he's shown himself kinder
small, in my opinion."
" Mrs. Tubbs, you are a perfectly dreadful
woman to say such things," cried Violet,
angrily, and down went her head again on
Sally's hard bosom, and she sobbed as if her
heart would break. Mrs. Tubbs rocked her
long body back and forth, and let the girl
cry on, while she lost herself in thought.
At last she said, " I hain't come to but one
conclusion, an' that is, seein' your pa and
ma hain't done nothin', it's kinder dirt mean
to worry them to death." Violet did not
answer. " An' th' first thing you ought to
do, in my opinion, is to think o' them." Still
no answer.
"Th' Lord makes it dretful hard fer us
sometimes to do our dooty ; but there, that's
His way. An' if we don't give in, we git
our noses broke worse. Now, Miss Vi'let,
git up an' put on that pretty white frock
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 137
I washed last fer you. An' go down an'
s'prise your pa; he's settin' on th' piazzy
readin' his paper as I come by."
" I can't," cried Violet, burrowing deeply
within the long arms.
"He's lookin' awful thin lately," ob-
served Mrs. Tubbs, slowly.
"Don't!"
" An' when he goes he's so stocky,
he'll go sudden "
Violet sprang to her feet. "Get my
gown," she cried hoarsely, "in the third
drawer," she was over by the toilet table,
pulling all the pins out of her pretty brown
hair. Mrs. Tubbs, scared to death at the
good result of her words, knocked over
several small articles on her way, opened
every drawer but the right one, finally
found the gown, and turned with it, as the
girl met her to have it lifted over the soft
waves, every hair with careless grace in its
right place.
138 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
In two minutes, Mrs. Tubbs was alone
with her baby in the Van Wyck apartment.
" Moses an' Aaron, ain't I scared, Ira ! " she
ejaculated, grovelling on the floor by that
young man's side. "0 my Lord, what
a scrape you got me into when you told
me to come here an' stir her all up ! Oh,
whee ! an' I was so comf table to home, an'
I've had to leave my husband, Mr. Tubbs,
all alone meanwhilst."
SEVEN
E Panks children falling ill
from connection with too many
green apples in the orchard of
the next farmer, the widow
thought it wrong to harbour a grudge
against Mrs. Tubbs any longer, and accord-
ingly made her a call one afternoon.
" 'Tain't neighbourly to live so, an' you
an' me used to be so intimate, Sally. Won't
you come over an' help me a bit ? "
Mrs. Tubbs, working for dear life on Ira's
dress, turned and surveyed her slowly.
"Th' Lord knows I want to give you a
piece o' my mind like p'isen, Nancy," she
said; "but I s'pose I've got to go, though
you ain't wuth it." She laid down her
139
140 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
sewing in the chair. " What's your young
ones bawlin' fer?"
" Green apples," said Mrs. Panks, shortly.
"I wish't they wouldn't all eat to onct.
'Twouldn't be so bad if 'twas one at a
time."
" I s'pose you want pep'mint," said Mrs.
Tubbs with an eye on her little cupboard
over the stove.
" Yes, Sally, I do ; mine's all out."
As this was the usual state of Mrs.
Panks's supply, Mrs. Tubbs only snorted.
" It's good Ira Plunkett is asleep," she said,
looking at the big box, where since the
withdrawal of the cradle, Jane's child had
been put to rest.
The widow's fat cheek turned a lively
red. " I'm sorry I took back that cradle,"
she said ; " Johnny'll bring it over again."
"No, he won't neither," declared Sally,
decidedly ; " I like th' bed he's in a great
deal better. It's healthier not to rock
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 141
babies," she added, with all the wisdom of
one who had brought up a large family;
and taking down the peppermint bottle, the
two went over together to the squalling
children, to fight the green apples.
"Say, whose baby is that to your
house ? " suddenly asked Mrs. Panks when
the green apples had let up a bit, and there
was comparative quiet.
" Jane's," said Mrs. Tubbs, laconically.
" Of course ; who's its other parient ? "
Mrs. Tubbs whirled around suddenly, the
bottle in her hand . " Nancy Panks, when you
catch a weasel asleep, then you'll know."
" I don't care about knowin'," said the
widow ; " I only ast fer conversation."
"Well, keep your gabbles fer somethin'
that concerns yourself, Nancy, that's my
advice," contributed her neighbour. " That
tongue o' yourn, an' your lively ears,
Lord, to give such a combine to one per-
son; it's egregious."
142 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" I guess my tongue an' my ears are just
as good as yours, Sally," said Mrs. Panks,
bridling.
" They may be set quite as pretty your
ears may," said Sally. " I ain't a-denyin' that.
The Lord when He made me, fergot to take a
piece ofPn mine. But land o' liberty ! they
don't twitch so fer news as those on your
head are doin' every blessed hour o' th' day.
Nancy, I sh'd think you'd be all wore out."
"Well, I ain't," snapped the widow.
" It's these brats that wear th' life out o'
me. Shut up now ! Your stomachs would
stop achin' if you didn't screech so. Hain't
I told you a hundred times to let green
apples alone?" She went about among
them, dealing generous slaps as they wal-
lowed on the kitchen floor.
" Here, you stop that ! " commanded
Sally. "Lord save us, it's bad enough to
have a stomach ache, without bein' pounded
an' lammed."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 143
Here several of the children disentangled
themselves from the group, and made a
rush for Sally.
" Oh, my gracious ! " she exclaimed, tum-
bling back, as they all squirmed to get into
her lap, begging, "Take me, Mrs. Tubbs,
no, she's goin' to take me," in a dread-
ful chorus.
" I guess if you had 'em day in an' day
out, you'd lam," said their mother, while
the children swarmed all over Mrs. Tubbs,
and wiped their poor noses on her clean
apron.
"There there, don't screech so. If
you do, I'm goin' home" which sufficed
to bring a lull in the squall.
" Hain't you got a doughnut to give me ?"
begged one of the boys, coming out of his
gripes the earliest. " I'm dretful bad, an*
I want a doughnut."
Sally laughed. " You little varmint, you
screeched the loudest of you all. I don't
144 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
give no doughnuts to boys that raise bed-
lam like you do."
" I won't holler no more."
" You better not."
Little Susan raised a white face, and set
her teeth tight. Her eyes were rolled up
in her head. Mrs. Tubbs cast the rest away
summarily.
" Nancy, come here ! "
When the widow saw her child, she gave
a loud scream. This started the children off
again till the kitchen rang with the noise.
"Nancy you'll have to hurry hot
water quick ! I don't know no more'n
th' dead what to do fer a child, but if 'twas
a person I'd put 'em in hot water she's
cold as a stone. An' castor oil, Nancy,
she's got to git them apples up. Quick,
Nancy, fer your life ! " She laid little Susan
on the bed.
" There ain't no castor oil." Mrs. Panks
was wringing her fat hands.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 145
"I'll git mine." Sally flew over home.
" Oh Lord ! eight children an' no castor
oil, an' I keep a big bottle jest for
'Bijah."
But little Susan was beyond castor oil,
and although they pinched her poor little
nose, she couldn't swallow. " She's et some-
thin' else besides apples," said Sally at last.
" Run fer th' doctor. Oh Lord ! what's she
et, children?" They all clustered around
the bed, scared into quiet.
The biggest girl said, "Red berries,"
which sent the mother off into a fresh fright;
while Jimmy, the boy who had begged a
doughnut, showed a lively pair of heels after
the village doctor.
Meantime, Ira Plunkett, left to himself in
the old box, of course awoke. At first he
was serene, preferring probably to turn his
late dreams over in his mind. At last he
yearned for company, and lifting up his
voice said gently, " Ar-goo."
146 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
Keceiving no response, he essayed again,
in clearer tones, indicating a decided relish
for society.
Now older people will agree that it isn't
pleasant to have one's social advances meet
silence. It is chilling, to say the least. So
it struck Ira Plunkett, and he recoiled
within himself. Then a wave of righteous
indignation struck him and carried him high.
He emitted a roar, and finding from the
wind that this produced in his interior, that
he really was hungry, he doubled his fists,
beat his heels, vainly endeavouring to kick
off the clothes Sally had tied down, and soon
the noise almost equalled the squall that had
upset the Panks kitchen.
Mrs. Tubbs heard him in the awful still-
ness as the two women worked over little
Susan. But she couldn't leave her, for this
was fighting death, maybe. Her long face
was gray with the battle ; she turned away
from a sight of the poor widow. Nancy
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 147
flew to her at last like a wild animal. " She
shan't die ! "
" You hush ! " commanded Sally. " Chil-
dren, run out an' see if th' doctor's comin'."
Given something to do, the whole troop
precipitated itself out eagerly.
" Don't you say a word about dyin' before
them young ones," said Mrs. Tubbs, sternly.
" My Susan oh, oh ! " moaned the
stricken mother. "An* I slapped her;
my Lord, have mercy ! "
" Here, git some more hot water," cried
Sally, at her wits' end to furnish action for
the widow, who was now on the edge of a
collapse.
" He's come ! He's come ! " The whole
bunch of Pankses with one voice tumbled
into the kitchen. "I saw his gig first,"
screamed one.
"You didn't I did."
"No such a "
"Hush!" commanded Sally, hoarsely.
148 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" Every one of you go out, an' don't you
come in again. Tell Dr. Blodgett to hurry."
"Mrs. Tubbs is awful mean an' nasty,"
said the biggest girl as they precipitately
pitched out. " I don't like her one single,
teenty bit."
The little doctor grasped the situation at
a glance, threw off his coat, and went to
work. At the end of an hour, a long
white sheet, one of Sally's best, was drawn
over the bed, beneath which in snowy out-
line a childish figure could be seen.
" You've done all you could. The child
was poisoned, and nothing could save her
when you found it out."
The widow was in Mrs. Tubbs's arms, and
Sally's tears ran down over the coarse, red
hair. The doctor bent over them both.
" Now, Mrs. Panks, if you don't get up and
see to your other children outside, I'll take
you to the hospital." It was harsh treat-
ment, and Sally shivered, but he held her eye.
SALLY, MKS. TUBES 149
" This minute." The little doctor hauled
out his watch.
"You can't, you hain't got no right,"
cried the poor mother, raising a red, tear-
swollen face; for the hospital and the
wrench away from her children held mani-
fold terrors.
" I have as a physician absolute right to
take you to the hospital in the city, and I
shall do it unless you get up instantly and
take care of your children. Aren't you
ashamed, when they need you ? " Even Mrs.
Tubbs cringed before him, and she helped
her friend to her feet.
" She needs no medicine ; she's got to be
scared out of herself," he said, as she
waddled out, and Mrs. Tubbs pleaded for
medical treatment. "And do you go
home."
"An* leave her alone? She'll go stark
crazy."
" Go home, I say," repeated the doctor,
150 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
accustomed to instant obedience. " As long
as you are around, and will do the work,
she'll collapse. Mind, start now, Mrs.
Tubbs."
So Ira Plunkett, exhausted and aston-
ished after all the considerate treatment he
had of late received, looked up at last as he
lay quiet from sheer lack of breath enough
to howl, as she dropped beside his box.
" Lord," her long arms were around
him, "if you ever take away my baby,
'twill be dretful mean. Don't, Lord, I
couldn't stand it. As true as gospel, I
couldn't."
Parson Elwood preached a long discourse
over little Susan; for although it was but
a child's funeral, no other citizen having
consented to furnish the opportunity during
several summers, he felt that the city con-
tingent should know his powers along that
line.
The villagers said it was "edifyin'." The
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 151
summer people outside the Panks cabin
oozed off in the sweet September sunshine,
to sit on the stone walls, and over in the
green fields beyond. The parson, lifting
his voice in the doorway, could be heard in
all his sonorous periods.
Mrs. Tubbs was on pins and needles.
She had brought Ira Plunkett, of course,
not daring to leave him at home after the
last experience. " Hain't th' man no sense ?"
she said to herself. " But there, of course, he
hain't, bein' a minister. They never'll set
it through, all them children."
In the front row was the Panks progeny
of all sizes : the girls with hair soaped and
tightly braided in tails down their backs,
each tied with a wisp of black crape, and
the boys with the same mourning emblem
at their throats, which Mrs. Panks had
insisted on as "payin' proper respec' to
Susan."
" I hain't got no crape. Where in Kedar
152 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
do you 'xpect me to git it ? " Sally said when
appealed to.
" You can git it if you want to, Sally,"
said the widow, with dignity.
So Mrs. Tubbs at last bethought herself
of an old woman in the other end of the
village, who had quite a possession of
mourning clothes, of whom she begged some
bits; also the loan of a black shawl with
bonnet and veil for the mother.
When Mrs. Panks saw these she was quite
overcome. "You're th' best creeter, Sally
Tubbs ! Now that's just el'gant." At the
funeral she sat at the head of the little
coffin, and received all condolences in state,
as the friends assembled.
"One o' those children is sure to break
out, an' then th' whole kit an' kerboodle of
'em' 11 bust in. I can't hardly stand it my-
self," communed Sally, her eyes running
over the row of small Pankses. " An' then
Ira Plunkett'll commence. Oh Lord ! why
don't th' man stop?"
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 153
The Panks brood might have been equal
to the strain, in the novelty of the situation
and the endeavour to live up to the crape
wisps, had not a small boy, one of the sum-
mer boarders, chased a chicken across the
grass without the window, at last captur-
ing it, which was heralded by a series of
unearthly squawks.
" He's got my chicken ! " cried the small-
est Panks boy. " Lemme git down," kicking
violently to right and to left, and breaking in
upon the parson's most eloquent periods.
" Set still, you Jonas ! don't you know
you are at your sister's funeral ! " com-
manded Sally, in a loud whisper. She
reached over Ira Plunkett's head and seized
the young man's jacket in the rear ; his
elder brother, very red in the face, doing
the same thing. But the decorum of the
stiff row of Pankses was broken up by this
time, and it was impossible to stop the con-
fusion. Jonas loudly insisted that he should
154 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
rescue his chicken, Parson Elwood steadily
claiming the right of way, as his voice rose
above the din. At last some one carried
off the summer boarder's boy and the
squawking ceased.
By this time the disorder had reached Ira
Pltmkett. He paused one moment on the
brink, and then plunged in with a mighty
roar.
Mrs. Tubbs gathered him up, whispered
to 'Bijah sitting bolt upright, his hair extra
oiled, and his linen starched and spotless,
" You stay an' see th' thing through," and
stalked through the mourning ranks to her
own cottage.
She stuffed a generous piece of ginger-
bread in the wide, roaring mouth. " There,
there, stop your cryin'. Oh, my soul an'
body ! that's th' first time I ever come out
o' a fun'ral till 'twas done. I don't blame
you, Ira Plunkett, no flesh an' blood could
stan' it a minute longer."
EIGHT
HE summer boarders began to
drift homeward. Charley Van
Wyck was the proud posses-
sor of Harriett Taylor's heart ;
and one or two other entanglements seemed
to be hopeful, as the pleasant inn coterie
broke up. Mrs. Van Wyck and Violet
were to remain a fortnight longer; the
father and son going back to business.
Her father did not release Violet after
his good-by kiss till he said, "You are a
brave little woman," for she had laid bare
all her heart to him one day. That was
all; but the girl would not have taken a
kingdom for those words.
" Good-by, papa." She turned off singing,
155
156 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
while the lumbering old stage rattled down
the hill.
Two days later, a telegram came for Mrs.
Van Wyck : " Father died of heart disease
this morning. Come immediately. C. A.
Van Wyck."
Mrs. Tubbs, whom the innkeeper's wife
summoned in this crisis, found Miss Violet
very calm, but her mother was in a pitiful
state.
"Better stay back with her," advised
Sally; "that woman ain't fit to stir."
But Mrs. Van Wyck became so very
much worse at this, that everybody helped
forward the departure. A clean, trim body
in a white cap and apron jumped out of
Richard Blair's trap, that young man fol-
lowing.
" Miss Violet, I took the liberty to bring
her," he found a quiet moment aside,
" you couldn't go without a trained nurse ;
it isn't safe for your mother."
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 157
" And you've been to town for her." His
horse was flecked with foam. " How very
kind ! "
"Don't say a word." He noticed how
thin her hand was as she extended it to
him, and he took it for a moment, rushed
upstairs, and packed his dress-suit case.
And at the last moment he joined them at
the New York train, having driven himself
over after the stage had gone, leaving trap
and horse at the livery stable. A letter
from Hastings, received in the last mail,
was in his pocket. The first lines were,
"Fairbrother has landed his heiress; en-
gaged to Miss Schoerbaum, daughter of a
rich brewer."
Mrs. Tubbs looked in the glass that morn-
ing at her gray hair. " Land o' Goshen !
why couldn't it be white? there's some
sense to that; it looks clean. But this
clam-soup colour seems dirty 's a pig." She
pulled at the offending locks, and slapped
158 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
on her bonnet. Her dress bagged in front,
for she grew more gaunt every day; Mr.
Tubbs, on the other hand, took on flesh,
but the " rheumatics " knocked at his bones
for admission with greater frequency, till
for the most part of the day he sat smok-
ing his corn-cob pipe without the cottage
door, or if within, he had one eye on the
clock, to tell the blessed hour for dinner.
Sally never told him to mind the baby, for
that drove him off.
She set forth from the cottage, carrying
Ira Plunkett on her arm to the village store,
for he went everywhere with her. "Fer
heaven's sake, Sally," called the widow
Panks over the fence, " give that young one
to me, I'll keep him till you git home."
" Thank you, Nancy," Sally bowed po-
litely, "but with all your 'xperience, I
favour carryin' my baby."
"I won't ask you again," declared the
widow, much offended.
SALLY, MES. TUBES 159
" No, you needn't, 'cause I'm always goin'
to carry him till his legs stretch an' he
walks pretty alongside o' me."
The idlers on the Hillsboro Tavern steps
saw her go by, Ira Plunkett on her arm.
" What's that she's got ? " A man pushed
through the group.
"It's Mis' Tubbs's baby," said two or
three Hillsboroites.
"Where'dshegitit?"
" Durn it all, how sharp ye can be, Jed, f er
news ! I don't wonder, seein' ye ben gone
so long."
"Where'dshegitit?"
Jed Simmons, returned, as he announced,
for a few days, was quite a different man
from Jed Simmons who narrowly escaped
confinement for vagrancy. He had on good
clothes, and seemed to have money in his
pocket.
They hastened to answer.
"'Twas left to her," said one.
160 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" Quite a fortin'," haw-hawed another.
" Give us th' yarn." Jed squared his
shoulders, and his eyes gleamed.
"It's old Abram Plunkett's grandchild."
Jed's hands, hanging by his sides, clenched,
and he swore a mighty oath.
" Is that true ? " he roared.
"Yes, his darter Jane brung it, then
scooted an' left it fer Sally to take
care on."
"If you're a-tellin' me wrong, I'll kill
ye," said Jed.
They moved off, but remembering how
good Sally had been to him, thought after
all it wasn't so very strange he should get
so excited. He cleared his throat.
"Don't you tell Sally Plunkett I've come
back, fer a few days."
" He wants to s'prise her," they explained
among themselves.
Then came the telegram that afternoon
with the fatal news, and Mrs. Tubbs's hours
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 161
and minutes were full getting the Van
Wycks off. She left the baby asleep in his
box, and came to Mr. Tubbs's side by the
cottage door, where the old corn-cob pipe
was going full strength.
'Bijah."
" Yes'm."
"I hate to trouble ye, but I've got to
this once. Ye must watch Ira Plunkett. I
can't take him down to th' hoiel. My
senses ! ye know I can't. An' ye must be
sure now an' don't let him wake up."
" I ain't likely to rouse that young one,"
said 'Bijah, with deeper scorn than usual.
" You comin' home quick ? "
" Yes. "Well, if he sneezes, you put this
over him." Sally brought out from the
bedroom the remnants of an old quilt and
laid it on the chair next to Mr. Tubbs, where
he sat smoking his pipe. "An 5 don't slap
it on, but be real careful, or he'll wake up."
She went and hung over the box a minute,
162 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
anxiety all over her face. " Well, I've got
to go ; he'll sleep, I guess. Now, 'Bijah,
remember."
Mr. Tubbs remained a long time in per-
fect silence after his spouse departed. The
insects droned without the door over Sally's
bright bed of asters, and off in the distance
came the sound of the Panks children at
play. All else was dreamy and quiet.
" If he sneezes ! " 'Bijah exclaimed.
"Well, what of it? A cat sneezes, an'
'tain't no ways more important when a baby
doos. Now if I don't hear him sneeze, I
won't have to cover him up, an' then he
won't cry."
This being good reasoning, Mr. Tubbs got
out of his chair briskly, and with a guilty
glance within, skipped around to the other
side of the house. " She'll stay up to th' inn
a good spell like enough. When women
has to be packed off, 'tain't no easy job. I
won't sleep but forty winks." He threw
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 163
himself on the grass under the apple trees,
and was soon snoring happily.
The latch of Mrs. Tubbs's green door
could click, therefore, and no one be the
wiser. The man who entered needed no
one to tell him that in that box lay his
child. And having every right in the sight
of the law, he first feasted his eyes on the
little face; then proceeded to those other
rights of possession.
Ira Plunkett stirred in his sleep. " It's
your dad," said Jed, " your dad, who's hun-
gry f er a sight o' your face your dad as
hain't seen you since th' woman who bore
you slunk away in th' night. I'd told her
to go nex' day, fer she made hell fer you
an' me ; but she took you unbeknownst
then writ that you was dead." Here followed
a string of curses, dreadful to hear any-
where, but unspeakable above a baby's
slumber.
" What could I expect : her mother a cir-
164 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
cus-girl, an' her father worse yet, though I
didn't know 'twas old Plunkett when I mar-
ried th' girl. He was Jim Isaacs then, an'
he had one foot in th' grave ; but he lived
long enough, it seems, to tell that woman
where to go if she got into trouble, an'
fasten on to th' darter of th' brother he
robbed." He shaded his fierce eyes with a
big hand, and gazed at his boy, then shook
his fist in rage, turned, and looking out of
the small window, saw Mr. Tubbs flat on his
back, with mouth wide open, in peaceful rest.
Jed Simmons went out quickly and
around the house.
" Here, hello you ! " He shook 'Bijah,
whose watery eyes roved aimlessly.
" Oh, that you, Jed ? " as he came back
to consciousness.
" About my size. Git up, I've got some-
thin' to say to ye, 'Bijah. That baby in
there is mine, ye know," pointing with his
thumb toward the window.
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 165
'Bijah nodded and sat up. " Sally 's ben
a-takin' care of th' young one ever sence that
woman run away ? "
Mr. Tubbs nodded again. Then his little
pale eyes gleamed at a mighty idea. " She 's
had an orful hard time," he said impress-
ively.
Jed's fingers clutched at a branch on the
apple tree and snapped it off.
" She 's gin up her washin' fer th' inn
folks," went on 'Bijah, plaintively ; " an'
she don't sleep nights, an' I d'no how she
stands it. An' he just eats orful, an' cries
an' bawls, an' Mis' Tubbs is about clear
wore out."
"Where is she now?" demanded Ira
Plunkett's father.
"I d'no 'xactly." Mr. Tubbs excused
himself for this statement by the reflection
that it was impossible to know at that pre-
cise moment the whereabouts of his spouse.
" She's maybe on th' stage ; how can I tell?"
166 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
he reflected. "If she thought Miss Van
Wyck wanted her, like enough she'd drive
over to th' deepo' with 'em."
"I did want to see her," said Jed,
thoughtfully.
Mr. Tubbs, now thoroughly alarmed,
sprang to his feet. " Oh, my soul an' body,
Jed Simmons!" he piped in a thin, high
voice, " if you're a-goin' to take that baby,
an' I s'pose, o' course, you be, seein' it's
yourn, you better do it when Sally ain't to
home. She thinks she's got to take care of
it, an' you know when she gits that on her
mind, there ain't no doin' nothin' with her."
Didn't he know something of the Plunk-
ett conscience ?
"'Nough said." Jed was making for the
house.
" I'll help ye," said 'Bijah, on a joyful
key, tripping after him.
It was soon done. Strange to say, by
some perversity of fate, at this most critical
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 167
moment of his life, Ira Plunkett failed to
wake up. His little cap that Sally made
for his airings, was crammed down over his
head, the few articles that appeared to be-
long to a baby, made into a bundle, and Jed,
his boy on his arm, turned to say : " Ye tell
her how 'tis. I wanted to see her first."
"I'll tell her." 'Bijah nodded, reserving
his rights as to the limits of the story.
" An' my sister from York State is liv-
in' with me an' will take good care of th'
boy."
"Yes yes," said Mr. Tubbs.
* * * * * #
Mrs. Tubbs wiped her hot face on her
checked apron as the stage rumbled away.
They were not all drops of perspiration ;
something else made her eyes dim.
" I feel 's if there'd ben a death to my
own house. Th' pretty creeter! Well, I
hope that Mr. Fairbrother won't never be
heard from, for t'other one'll make her th'
168 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
best husband, to my way o' thinkin'. But
my sakes ! I must hurry home. If Ira
Plunkett should bawl, what would Mr.
Tubbs do?"
She hugged herself with delight, despite
her fear this picture conjured up, at the
thought of home and husband and baby ;
and by the time she came in sight of the
tiny cottage, she was lost in blissful dreams
of the future, and had Ira Plunkett well out
of short clothes, and trudging off to the
district school with his book and slate.
There sat 'Bijah placidly smoking by the
green door.
"An* how thankful I ought to be that
I've got my husband, Mr. Tubbs ain't he
nice a-settin' there? What did I ever do
without him?"
NINE
R. TUBES simply said, "Jed
come an' took th' baby,"
and kept out of Sally's way
as much as possible except at
mealtime. And there was general re-
joicing all over the village at the with-
drawal of Ira Plunkett.
" Now that woman'll have some peace."
There was but one mind about it.
Mrs. Tubbs was a little late the next
morning with her cart to take the soiled
clothes left by the Van Wycks ; they were
to be done up and sent to them at New
York. It was a big wash, and the cart
was heavy.
Sally's head was bent, and her teeth set
170 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
hard. Her face was ashy pale ; but she
strode on, the twigs in her path snapping
under her tread.
Suddenly she dropped the knotted rope,
plunged into a thicket of scrub oaks, and
tumbled to her knees. " I said you'd be
mean, Lord, if you took away my baby.
I wrastled all night, an' now I gin up.
I take it all back. Of course his dad orter
have him. I've got Mr. Tubbs ; thank
you fer that." She got up, twitched the
rope fast in her hard, crooked fingers, and
marched on.
Just as everything was to his mind,
'Bijah fell into a bad state. He watched
Sally furtively; turned away from several
dishes hitherto most alluring, and became
peaked again.
Mrs. Tubbs shook with alarm, and plied
all her arts to tempt his palate, pinching
herself to pay the equivalent to the butcher
and the grocer. It was singular that she
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 171
discovered about this time that it wasn't
healthy for her to eat so much.
" I ain't goin' to church," he said at last,
one Sunday when Mrs. Tubbs laid out his
clean clothes.
Sally sat right down and folded her
hard hands. " You must be sick. I'll git
Dr. Blodgett."
" If you go for him, I'll run away."
'Bijah was really savage.
Life without Mr. Tubbs was not to be
contemplated. Sally sat numb in her chair.
" I ain't sick," he snarled at her, then
went out and actually slammed the door.
She was sitting there when he came in.
"What's th' matter?" he asked peevishly.
" Nothin'."
" There is, too. Lord ! why don't you spit
it out?"
" Nothin', 'Bijah." It was a very meek
voice, but Mr. Tubbs wished a volcano had
spouted, and he trembled like a leaf.
172 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
"Mr. Tubbs, set down in that cheer a
minute," Sally pointed to a broken-backed
article. "No, not too close, 'cause 'tain't
proper now, bein 's things has changed.
I've ben thinkin'."
Mr. Tubbs dropped where indicated.
"I see now 'twarn't best that you an'
me should merry. I wanted to be Mrs.
Tubbs, an' I thought I could take care on
you, an', 'Bijah, you was a-livin' on cold pork
an' bread that you got Tilly Munson to
make fer you. Oh Lord! an' I knew I
could give you jest what you hankered after.
I honestly did, 'Bijah, 's true 's I set here.
An' when you fleshed up, an' got that scare-
crow look off you, I says, ' There, Lord, don't
you see I knew best ? ' But I didn't, 'Bijah."
Sally's long neck bent till the gray head
dropped.
" Well, I must get through." Up came
her head. " Mr. Tubbs," she said suddenly,
"th' Lord's mightier'n you or me, an' he
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 173
let Sally Plunkett go th' length o' her chain,
then up she comes. 'Tain't no use talkin',
it's got to be did. I'm a-goin' down to Par-
son Elwood's to see if there ain't some way
to unhitch us two."
Sally ! Sally ! " shrilled Mr. Tubbs. He
ran out of his chair, and over to her, grasp-
ing her blue-checked apron.
" No, no," said Mrs. Tubbs, waving him
off, "go back to your cheer, Mr. Tubbs.
'Tain't proper 's long 's we're goin' to be un-
merried."
" Sally, I want to tell you somethin'. I
don't want you to go to th' parson."
" I must, 'Bijah," said his wife, sorrow-
fully. " 'S soon 's I find out how it really
is, my dooty p'ints that way."
" You shan't," 'Bijah was seized with sud-
den strength; "you'll walk over my dead
body first."
"I shan't walk over no dead bodies,
'Bijah," said Mrs. Tubbs. " But it's got to
174 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
be did. There ain't no use in talkin'. I'll
do your cookin' fer you when you go back
home ; fer of course you can't live here, that
would be unproper," she swallowed hard,
" an' I'll put some paper on your wall, an'
fix things up tidy. An' I'll make you pies
twict a week an' carry 'em down."
Mr. Tubbs burst out crying like a big
baby, and fell on his knees. "Oh Lord,
Sally ! I ain't never had no peace till you
was Mis' Tubbs. I've ben starved, an' every-
body looked down on 'Bijah Tubbs, but you.
An' I couldn't keep my clothes clean, and
they was all rags underneath, an' only a
good shirt fer Sunday. An' now you're
a-goin'. Boo-hoo-hoo ! "
Over Mrs. Tubbs's long face broke a
strange light. The gray hair seemed a halo
above a radiance that grew more luminous
every minute. But it went out suddenly.
"Yes, you've got to go. Oh Lord! you
can't never live with me after after I
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 175
tell you, Sally." A convulsion in his throat
made an awful pause. " I'm a sinful man.
Oh Lord ! I don't darst go to church, Sally.
Mm! I told Jed Simmons to take that
baby. Mm m!" He fell flat to the
floor on his face.
Mrs. Tubbs ran and picked him up.
" You set here right on my lap, 'Bijah.
There, there, don't cry. Oh, Lord 'a' mercy !
we're all poor, sinful creeters, an' He knows,
an' gives us another chanst, 'Bijah Mr.
Tubbs, listen, an' stop cryin'. P'r'aps 'twas
my fault for carin' so much about that baby
when I'd got you. An' th' Lord thought
Jed had better come an' get him, bein 's
he's his father."
" But I as good as told a lie."
"I know, 'Bijah, that's awful, I ain't
a-denyin' that, an' you'll have to work on
your knees a good spell to make it up with
th' Lord. But 'tain't right fer me to desert
you, 'Bijah," she stroked his poor bald
176 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
head, "an' gin you up, because you fell
from grace. My land, ain't I steeped in
evil ! ain't all us poor mortals born unto sin
and in th' ways thereof ! So as you're really
glad I'm Mrs. Tubbs, it's my dooty to stay."
" If you warn't Mrs. Tubbs," said 'Bijah,
sniffling hard, " I'd feel dretful. An' 'tain't
th' pies neither. You've ben real good to
me, Sally, an' I ain't goin' to have rheu-
matics no more."
Mr. and Mrs. Tubbs were late to church
that one Sunday morning. Parson Elwood
took her to task for it in the intermission,
but she bore it with an airy indifference.
"Couldn't seem to make it convenient to
git here no sooner," she said calmly.
When Jed Simmons's letter came inside a
bright red shawl for Sally, Mrs. Tubbs sat
immediately down and answered it, thank-
ing him for writing her such pretty words
for what she'd done for the baby, and how
she knew 'twas natural he wanted his boy,
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 177
and how she hoped he'd grow up like her
father, and would he please see that Ira
Plunkett didn't forget her, and keep flannel
on his stomach when the weather turned cold.
"Though p'r'aps you'll change his name
now, bein 's he warn't baptized," the letter
ended. " I should take it real polite if you
wouldn't; but mebbe you want somethin'
from th' Simmons side."
Mrs. Tubbs was submerged in joy when a
letter came back. Jed said after all she'd
done for him, and all her father had suffered,
he reckoned it a pity if the name shouldn't
stick to the boy. So he and his sister had
taken the child to church last Sunday, and
there he was at the present moment, Ira
Plunkett, fast and sure, kicking up his heels
on the kitchen floor ; and he (Jed) would do
his liveliest to make him grow up a good
boy, and not in the very slightest particular
to resemble that old scoundrel his granddad.
And Sally laughed and cried over this,
178 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
and tucked the letter into her "Pilgrim's
Progress " on the centre-table. And every
Sunday afternoon 'Bijah and she would take
it out and read it over and over, under the
photograph framed in shells and pine cones,
where she and Mr. Tubbs were holding each
other's hands.
" It looks nice now, don't it ? " said 'Bijah
once, and slowly regarding the photograph.
" Didn't she say so the pretty creeter ? "
beamed Sally. " Well, now, I wish her
courtin' was fixed up as nice as mine,
'Bijah," and she sighed.
But " her courtin' " gave no such promise.
Mrs. Tubbs heard nothing more after the
first sad epistles from New York, until a
long letter came from Geneva, and another
from England that told of the Van Wyck
journeyings. At last came a tiny one.
" DEAK MKS. TUBES : My husband and I
reached home last week." Mrs. Tubbs
SALLY, MRS. TUBES 179
dropped the letter. "Read it through,
Sally." 'Bijah picked it up.
" No, you read it. I'm all of a tremble.
An' so she's merried. How I do wish 'twas
to t'other one ! "
"We were married in England," read
Mr. Tubbs, slowly, " and left mamma over
there with Charley and his wife. I'm the
happiest woman in the world."
"No, she ain't," said Mrs. Tubbs, de-
cidedly.
" And I see things differently now from
what they appeared to a foolish girl. Well,
I will tell you all about it, for my husband
and I are going down to the dear old place
for a few days, and I want to see my dear
Mrs. Tubbs, so good-by till then.
" Affectionately,
" VIOLET VAN WYCK BLAIR."
"Blair!" screamed Mrs. Tubbs. "You
hain't read it right, 'Bijah," snatching at
the letter.
180 SALLY, MRS. TUBES
" She's writ Blair," said Mr. Tubbs, " an'
I s'pose she knows," relinquishing it.
" Oh my Lord ! " cried Sally in a trans-
port, "t'other one's got her, 'Bijah!" She
seized both of his thin little hands. " I ain't
never goin' to disbelieve th' Lord again.
He's kinder roundabout, sometimes, but He
gits there ; an' you an' I must buckle to an'
do things f er Him. But, my land ! " she
sprang from her chair " th' apple pies is
all out, an' here I set."
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