THE LETTERS OF 
 JENNIE ALLEN TO 
 
 HER FRIEND 
 MISS MUSGROVE 
 
 GRACE DONWORTH
 
 C
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 TO 
 
 HER FRIEND MISS MUSGROVE 
 
 . OF GAL1F. LIBRARY. LOS ANGELES
 
 / says " That will be as Jim and Mame say," only adding that 
 our meals was plain and unpretentious as a rule 
 
 See page 289
 
 THE 
 
 LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 TO 
 
 HER FRIEND MISS MUSGROVE 
 
 BY 
 
 GRACE DONWORTH 
 
 WITH SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 FREDERIC R. GRUGER 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 SMALL, MAYNARD AND COMPANY 
 MCMVIH
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1908 
 
 BY SMALL, MAYNARD AND COMPANY 
 (INCORPORATED) 
 
 Entered at Stationers' Hall 
 
 Printed, October, 1908 
 Reprinted, November, 1908 
 
 PRESSWORK BY 
 THB UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
 
 TO MY BROTHER 
 
 GEORGE DONWORTH 
 
 2129074
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PACK 
 
 I says "That will be as Jim and Mame say," only 
 adding that our meals was plain and unpretentious 
 as a rule (See page 289) Frontispiece 
 
 I talked with you quite a spell about the sufferers and 
 
 said wan't it awful about that earthquake ... 2 
 
 I'm learning him the colledge yell. He says it after 
 
 his prayers every night 12 
 
 I asked Mandy afterwards how she knew so well how 
 
 she acted when she didn' t know 18 
 
 When I asked her she looked awful sorrerful and says, 
 I ain't got no disease, Jen ; I've had trouble with 
 my feller 24 
 
 " Simply is the right word," says Mame .... 36 
 
 Well, Sis opened the door and who in all creation 
 
 should stand there but our minnistar, Mr. Oglevie 40 
 
 She follered me down stairs with an azalium plant in 
 
 her arms that Dinny had give her on her berthday 46 
 
 " Jen, a man sozzling along without wife is like sow 
 ing without no under thread. It might jest as well 
 not be done at all " 70 
 
 "Hannah Allen!" says Mrs. Ingraham in a joyous 
 tone j " what on earth have you done to them 
 pants ! I can't see whare the patches leave off and 
 the pants begin !" 82 
 
 vii
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PAGI 
 
 By this time Sis had tried onto the boddy her new 
 doll's head and much to every one's joy it fitted. 
 A pink necktie fastened it on secure and there she 
 was compleat 96 
 
 "I thought you didn't look at him," I says. "Oh ! 
 do you suppose a girl has to look at a man to see 
 him?" says Ellen 172 
 
 Nex morning he asked if he could be of any serviss 
 
 and Mandy set him to cleaning the lamps . . 180 
 
 " The South America lady " 202 
 
 We liked to died larfing one night when he wound 
 
 them up for us 208 
 
 "It's easy enough to get into them," he says, "but 
 
 it's impossible to get out of 'em again "... 270 
 
 Vlll
 
 THE 
 
 LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 TO HER FRIEND 
 
 MISS MUSGROVE
 
 THE LETTERS 
 OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 I 
 
 Providence, April the a^th 1906. 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I took some close into the armerry and 
 give them to you to send to the sufferers 
 out to Californy and I hate to trouble but 
 I got to have one of them back. It was a 
 black all-wool shevyott with a jacket to 
 match trimmed kind of fancy number 38 
 burst mesure and passymenterry acrost the 
 front and the collar. 
 
 I wouldn't trouble you but it belonged to 
 my brother's wife and she is mad about it. 
 I thought she was willing but she wan't. 
 She says she wan't done with it and she was 
 going to wear it a spell longer. She aint 
 so free-hearted as what I am and she has 
 
 i
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 got more to do with than I have having a 
 husband to work and slave for her. 
 
 I guess you remember me. I am short 
 and stout and light complected. I talked 
 with you quite a spell about the sufferers 
 and said wan't it awful about that earth 
 quake. I shouldn't wonder if they had 
 another one right off seeing the general con 
 dition of the country is kind of explosive. 
 I hate to take that black dress away from 
 the sufferers but I will hunt round and see 
 if I can get another one. I will call to the 
 armerry for the other one if you will jest 
 lay it aside so no more at pressant from your 
 true freind, Jennie Allen. 
 
 No 21 Scott Court 
 
 Providence R. I. 
 I liked your appearence very much.
 
 / talked with you quite a spell about the sufferers and said waif t 
 it awful about that earthquake
 
 II 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I got your letter all right. Now don't 
 you worry any more about the black suit. 
 When I told Mame what you said she felt 
 reel bad about you fretting over it and she 
 says, good Lord, she must think I'm meaner 
 than dirt. 
 
 I give her one of them feathar boars sech 
 as is all the go and she was tickled to death 
 over it and it kind of made it up to her 
 about losing the suit. She is reel amable 
 by nature but she has been awful tried this 
 spring what with one thing and another and 
 she aint herself. Jim says to me one day 
 Go slow with Mame for a spell, she is 
 awful tried what with the young ones and 
 the spring cleaning, and a fire broke out in 
 our bacement that threttcned to lose our 
 
 3
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 little all the same week as the Californy 
 earth quake. 
 
 Everybody has their troubles and take it 
 right straight through our crosses aint no 
 heavier than we can bare. They's a higher 
 power that watches over us and protecks us 
 from injerry. 
 
 I hope you have got along fine with your 
 good work. No more at presant from your 
 true freindj Jennie Allen.
 
 Ill 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I had ought to answer your letter before 
 but I didn't get time. I would like to go 
 down to Maine first rate but I am needed 
 to home the werst way. 
 
 I've got a sister that aint very bright. 
 She used to have fits but she is easing up 
 on them now, averaging only one every lit 
 tle while. She can work all right and she 
 does the heft of the heavy work but she 
 aint got any head to plan. She lacks judg 
 ment. Jest to show you, I give her some 
 money Crismuss seeing she was out of so 
 many things she needed and what did she 
 do but go and have her picture taken. If 
 you could see her you would know it was 
 the worst thing she could do. She needs 
 a giding hand. Her and Mame is apt to 
 
 5
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 have a few scraps in the coarse of a day 
 and I have to be here to kind of straighten 
 things out. 
 
 Then another thing my brother Jim is 
 naturally temperet but sometimes he gets 
 led away and comes home feeling pretty 
 good, then I have to help him up the back 
 way and carm him down. Mame is too up 
 and coming with him and it riles him. 
 
 And if I want needed I dont beleive I 
 could leave Jamesy. He is the one next 
 to the baby and he is awful cute and cun 
 ning in his ways, and loving as can be. He 
 sleeps with me nights. I brought him up 
 by hand and I think the world of him and 
 so does he me. 
 
 You see how it is especielly about poor 
 Mandy. Almost Mother's last words was, 
 Don't put Mandy into an institution and 
 Jim says, Mother, don't you worry. Me 
 and Jennie will look out for Mandy. 
 
 I am much obliged to you for the chanst 
 and I wish I could go. It is cool and re- 
 
 6
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 freshing in Maine. We used to live there 
 once down to Chictooset. I wish you 
 well. Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 I know a girl that would go most likely. 
 Her name is Ellen Hennersey. I guess 
 she will go up to see you if you want her 
 to. She is Irish but very plessant.
 
 IV 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 Your letter is at hand and contents noted. 
 The youngones has tore it all up for money 
 so I have forgot how many aperns you have 
 got to make but send them down and I 
 guess I can make all there is. 
 
 It don't make much ords what I work on 
 without it's rappars. Rappars is my fav- 
 rite ockipation, seeing they are more inter 
 esting than aperns, unless the aperns is 
 trimmed with tucks and aiging and then 
 they seem foolish. What they calkilate to 
 do is jest to perfect your close and it aint 
 sense to fix them so they need pertecting 
 themselves. But with rappars it's differant 
 and when I'm making them for Clapp and 
 Palmer I always make beleive I know what 
 kind of a woman is going to wear them. 
 
 8
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 I made a beauty last week and I named the 
 lady that was going to wear it Mrs. Saint 
 Clare. I imagined she was tall and slim 
 and I made it kind of small for a 36. 
 
 I never slight the button holes, though 
 they don't pay no more for good button 
 holes than they do for mizzable ones that 
 ravvle out at the slightest provocation. I 
 don't make so much money because it takes 
 time to make them good but I wouldn't 
 be seen slying in sech ones as is usuelly 
 found on botten rappars. 
 
 Then I sew on the buttons extry strong, 
 though I know nobody will ever know who 
 it was that took sech pains with them; but 
 I know more than one will say, These is 
 awful good butten holes for a botten rap- 
 par, and I see I aint got to fortyfy these 
 buttons and life aint any too full of pleas- 
 sant little surprises like that. 
 
 Mame says it carms and soothes her jest 
 to hem dish-cloths, 25 cents a groce for 
 Tanney & Wilber, but I like something that 
 
 9
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 requiers talent and gives better pay. I lay 
 by so much every week for Jamesy's edduca- 
 tion. He is going to Brown if my health 
 is spared. I got 68$ now and he aint but 
 three years old. He is going to take all 
 the hire branches. Jim says what's the use 
 of him studying Latin, he wont never go 
 there; but I tell him maybe he will travel 
 in all the forrin parts there is. Jamesy 
 knows he is going to Brown when he is 
 grown up and he loves the little brown ban 
 ners I've made for his hosecart and otto. 
 
 Once I had him with me when I was 
 crossing the campers with some work and 
 he had a picture book under his arm what 
 the lady Had give him, and if that dear lit 
 tle feller didn't march up the steps of one 
 of the big buildings as if he belonged there. 
 A young man was right behind him and he 
 larfed and says, come along in, sonny. 
 So he acchelly went in and staid a spell. 
 It give me an awful start because it was 
 jest the sight I had thought about so much 
 10
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 when I set sewing and planning for Jamesy. 
 I expeck I'm foolish but' it made me cry 
 for joy. I aint any doubt it was a sign give 
 to me that things was coming out for Jamesy 
 like I planned. I'm learning him the col- 
 ledge yell. He says it after his prayers 
 every night. 
 
 You ask me if I work evenings. I do 
 without there's something extry going on. 
 Last night I couldn't compose myself to 
 sew on account of some music we had. Jim 
 fetched home a feller from the shop that 
 played on the fiddle. He done the best 
 he could and we all listened respeckful to 
 the poor feller, but he didn't keep no kind 
 of time. He give jest the same amount of 
 time to one of them teenty little black- 
 headed notes as he did to a big round whole 
 one. Mr. Spinney was in here and he said 
 the fiddler man was nothing more than a 
 musical soshelist because a reel soshelist 
 spoils the melody of life by giving to a 
 whole note like Roosevelt or Taft the same 
 
 ii
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 value as they do to a little i6th black ditch 
 digger and no more. 
 
 Mr. Spinney is the one that has the front 
 room two floors up and is awful entertain 
 ing. He is a Maine man but a perfeck gen 
 tleman. So is his mother. She is there yet 
 and is an invalid of the werst kind. She 
 aint able to set up and he has to spend all 
 his prophets squaring up for operations and 
 treatments, but he don't never complain and 
 worships the ground she walks on. She has 
 had to forego 4 operations besides other ex 
 penses. He says she has managed to hold 
 on to her appendicks so far but they may 
 go any time. He says he wont never feel 
 settled till they are desposed of. He dar- 
 sent launch out very big and break into 
 what he calls Mother's appendicks fund. 
 When the boys want him to go in a little 
 strong he says, Durn it, what's the fift com 
 mandment for any way, if it aint to be kep? 
 
 A man nex door has jest fell down the 
 seller stairs and they have sent for me. He 
 
 12
 
 /' rn learning him the colledge yell. He says it after bis prayers 
 every night
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 has broke his fashel bone. Mr. Spinney 
 says you can't rise with the lark if you've 
 been on one the night before. Hoping this 
 will be satisfacterry, 
 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 T 3
 
 V 
 
 Providence, August 2ith 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 Jamesy is dead. 
 
 He died at 20 minutes to four this morn 
 ing of collery infantum superinduced by 
 a low state of the blood and intence heat. 
 I can't write any more now. I will see 
 that you get the aperns. Jennie Allen, 
 he was jest the same as my own child.
 
 VI 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I was awful glad to get your letter it was 
 so heartfull and consoling. All the people 
 that knows us has ben awful kind to us 
 in our dispensation of Providence. The 
 neighbors and freinds come in with flowers 
 and set peaces. One of them was a lier 
 surrounded with mertle and smelt lovely. 
 Mame took it the hardest of all and had 
 to be carmed down with morfeen in fre 
 quent intervals. It is funny the differant 
 ways greaf and sorrer affecks differant peo 
 ple. 
 
 Jim looked like death and jest hung 
 round and didn't know what to do with 
 himself. He says to me afterwards, Jen, 
 I never wanted a drink so bad in my life. 
 
 I didn't let on but I knew what he was
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 up against because I know when he is blue 
 and discurridged the appetite comes on the 
 feircest. So I hunted up all the ord jorbs 
 I could think of for him to do and tried to 
 cheer him up and hid all the small change. 
 He had got leave of absence from the shop 
 which they hadn't ought to do because work 
 is the panacear in all afflictions. 
 
 At last he says kind of careless, Got any 
 small change? 
 
 And I says, Yes, Jim, but I got to use it. 
 
 Then I see him kind of slinking out of 
 the back door, and I tried to think of one 
 more jorb to keep him busy, but everything 
 round the house was in apple pie order 
 and he knew it. Mame was asleep and the 
 youngones was in the neighbors. Every 
 thing was frightful it was so quiet. I run 
 into the setting-room and I says to Mandy 
 Mandy, I don't see but you have got to 
 make beleive have a fit. We have got to 
 keep Jim in the house some way. 
 
 She was on in a minute and I hollered 
 16
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 to Jim come back quick, you're needed. 
 He come russian back and done all he could 
 for Mandy who was on the floor threshing 
 round at a great rate. That saved the day. 
 I asked Mandy afterwards how she knew 
 so well how she acted when she didn't know 
 and she said Sis had went through them 
 capers lots of times jest to give her an idea 
 of what she had passed through. 
 
 Sis is the oldest child and she is named 
 Jennie for me but we all call her Sis to tell 
 her from me. She is a nice child old-fash 
 ioned and quiet as can be, and she makes 
 us think of Mother quite a lot. The way 
 she squizzles up her eyes when she smiles 
 calls Mother to mind very foarcible. She 
 never has to be punished or chastised and 
 don't want any better fun than to set and 
 sew on dish-cloths or tidies. She has al 
 ways appeared to be her father's favoryte; 
 so when I see him setting by Jamesy's bed 
 with his head in his hands I told her to 
 go in and comfort Father. I didn't take 
 
 17
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 notice she was sucking the candy lamb Mrs. 
 Hennersey had give her. She was calki- 
 lating to keep it for a keepsake but the 
 other young ones had got afowl of it and 
 had dirtyed it all up, playing with it on 
 the floor and round the stove so she had to 
 suck it off clean every little while. She 
 had to let them have it or they would bawl 
 and make a noys. Well, she clim up in 
 her father's lap and soon as that candy lamb 
 touched his clean shirt boosom that he 
 was bound to put on though it would'nt be 
 due in the natural course of events for two 
 days more (he put it on out of respeck to 
 Jamesy) he give her a push to get out of 
 the way. He never done sech a thing in 
 all his life before but it takes all kinds to 
 make a world. 
 
 I wish you could see that poor child. 
 She didn't holler or say a word. She jest 
 crep away in a corner and shook and sobbed 
 to herself. Then he clapped the climacks 
 by telling her to chase out. 
 
 18
 
 / asked Mandy afterwards bow she knew so well bow she acted 
 when she didn' t know
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 I don't think he would of done it if one 
 of the women that come in hadn't ben try 
 ing to console him and said, Now suppos 
 ing it was Sis. You can see it was about 
 the worst thing she could give utterance 
 to. She had no tack. From your true 
 freind, Jennie Allen. 
 
 Sometimes it seems as if I couldn't stand 
 it; but I try to manage to do my crying 
 nights. 
 
 Last night I took his little flannin night 
 gown and put the sleeves round my neck 
 and made believe I could hear him say, 
 Dood night, aunt Nennie. 
 
 I expeck I done wrong to make sech an 
 idol of him and I was punished by him 
 being took away where there aint no sin nor 
 sorrer.
 
 VII 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I am much obliged for the picture. It 
 is reel pretty and I love to look at the dear 
 little innocent feller holding his own among 
 them crafty-looking old codgers. When 
 Jim see the name of the picture, Christ 
 among the docters, he said he guessed it 
 was the last time he was among 'em. He 
 said he didn't see no signs nowdays of his 
 influance among them. He feels awful 
 hard against docters since Jamesy was 
 called to Heaven. He says it wouldn't of 
 ben that way if he had been doctered dif- 
 ferant. 
 
 Then we've had Mandy diagnosticated 
 
 by 2 physicians and Dr. Mary Shute and 
 
 the whole three disagrees with all the rest. 
 
 Dr. Mary says Mandy most likely will out- 
 
 20
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 live us all and Mr. Spinney says it is a 
 case of the survival of the fittest. 
 
 He alwers has to have his little joke and 
 it don't do no harm as I know of. He was 
 here once when Mandy was seazed with a 
 spell and he left. When Jim told him 
 he'd ought to have staid, he says, I always 
 come away when I see fit. 
 
 Jim took that all right but got mad an 
 other time. Jim was saying that if Roose 
 velt hadn't done nothing else for us he'd 
 contributed two immortal sayings to our 
 language the strenerous life being one 
 and a houseful of happy children the other. 
 
 Put em together, says Mr. Spinney, for 
 it's all one saying. 
 
 He was twitting on facks because we do 
 average quite a number and me and Jim 
 has quite of a tussle getting close and vit- 
 tles for all ; but no one aint heard us com 
 plain so fur. Mr. Spinney is 2 floors up 
 and when the young ones is carrying on 
 very partickler he comes in and says, Play- 
 
 21
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 ing tennis, kids, aint yer? I thought I 
 heard the racket. 
 
 He has got lots of nerve but you have 
 got to have all the nerve there is to carry 
 you through this world or any other world 
 I've ever heard tell of, especially in the 
 insurance business so no more at presant 
 from Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 22
 
 VIII 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I'm terrible worried about Ellen Hen- 
 nersey and I make bold to call to mind 
 what you said about doing me any little 
 f aver. If you know of anybody that wants 
 to hire an awful nice pretty girl as good 
 as gold to go off in the country and work, 
 she is the one. But I aint sure she will 
 leave the city and give up all hopes of him. 
 Don't you remember I recommended her 
 to go down to Maine to work for you? 
 
 We all set great store by Ellen. Her 
 and her mother lives up stairs and she is 
 as pretty as a picture till this spell come 
 over her. She has ben pindling away and 
 looked so picked we thought she must have 
 some disease nawring at her vitals. But 
 when I asked her she looked awful sorrer- 
 
 23
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 ful and says, I ain't got no disease, Jen; 
 I've had trouble with my feller. 
 
 Well, she up and told me the whole story. 
 I knew her and Dinny Caffrety had ben 
 keeping company quite a long spell, and 
 I took notice he had stopped hanging 
 round; but seeing I never took any fancy 
 to him it didn't worry me none. But it 
 did Ellen, it seems. She says, O Jen, I 
 don't want to live if I can't get Dinny 
 back. And me all the time thinking she 
 had turned him down. 
 
 She says a blonde demmingstraighter 
 down to Clapp & Palmer's has got him 
 in her foils and he aint got no eyes for any 
 body else; and mind you Ellen the sweet 
 est and prettiest girl you ever saw. I aint 
 got anything against demmingstraighters 
 in general. I know one that is a member 
 of the Babtist church and fears both God 
 and man; but this one is a differant kind. 
 She makes up to every young man she sees 
 and fassinates them. I told Ellen it wan't 
 
 24
 

 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 nothing but infatuation and she could plan 
 to meet Dinny by accident and have a nice 
 little talk and invight him to come in that 
 evening. But she is too proud-sperrited 
 and wont do nothing of the kind. Then I 
 recommended her to take up with some 
 other young man because I know jealousy 
 is a powerful weapon. But no. She says 
 she would ruther die than take up with 
 another feller after she has ben engaged 
 to Dinny. Why she says, I couldn't ever 
 keep company with anybody else even if 
 I never saw Dinny again. So I concluded 
 argueing done no good and the best thing 
 would be change of scenery and vittles. 
 
 That was why I was so feirce to have her 
 go down to Maine. Like as not she would 
 see some likely young feller that would 
 make her forget all about that Dinny that 
 I aint got any very great opinion of. He 
 aint bright and lively like Mr. Spinney, 
 and I ben hoping he and Ellen would strike 
 up a match. I plan to have them meet here 
 25
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 evenings and I can see he is terrible taken 
 with her looks. He likes pretty girls as 
 well as the nex one, and she is uncommon 
 handsome with big blue eyes that has got 
 thick black curly lashes round them. I 
 never saw anything so pretty as Ellen's 
 eyes not stars nor flowers nor the sky, nor 
 nothing I ever come acrost is half so pretty. 
 Then her mouth and teeth is jest lovely and 
 her cheeks was pink only till now when 
 she is pindling down. So good gracious, 
 what on earth that Dinny Caffrety can see 
 in that demmingstraighter after being so 
 much in Ellen's company is more than flesh 
 and blood can sense. Then she is sech a 
 little lady in her ways and is so soft- 
 spoken. Mr. Spinney says there is in her 
 voice the reverberations of far-off drawing- 
 rooms. I alwers remember what he says 
 even when I don't exackly sense what he 
 means. Any way you can see he likes her 
 and I shouldn't wonder if my wishes about 
 26
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 them come true. He has got propiniquity 
 in his faver that they tell so much about. 
 
 So if you know of anybody that needs 
 help of any kind that is honest, send me 
 word and I will let you down easy on the 
 price of my work to pay for it. It greaves 
 us all to see the poor little girl meaching 
 away to nothing. Jamesy used to make 
 her laugh when nothing else could. Now 
 he's gone she is worse than ever. She set 
 the greatest store by Jamesy and when it 
 was all over I gave her his red shoes for 
 a keepsake. We couldn't have give them 
 to anybody else. Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 P. S. We ben awfull worryed about 
 Ponto because he run away this morning 
 but Bub jest stuck his head in the door and 
 says Ponto is back. I found him at the 
 cobblers with a smiling face and 2 buttens 
 off. 
 
 27
 
 IX 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I am glad the work suited you. You 
 needent pay me till I finish the whole jorb. 
 It won't be much any way. I am alwers 
 moderate with freinds. 
 
 Last Thursday was Mandy's birthday 
 and Jim said he was going to take her to 
 Keith's instead of giving her a treat same 
 as he alwers does. I guess he will regret 
 it to his dying day. 
 
 Mandy is apt to be taken notice of in 
 the street so we fixed her all up in black 
 so to make her look quiet and unobtrusive. 
 They set pretty far back and Jim done all 
 he could to make it a go. He had bought 
 her some peppermints to kind of interest her 
 between the acks and hoped all would be 
 serene. 
 
 28
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 What did she do the first thing but pass 
 the peppermints to the woman that set nex 
 to her. The woman shook her head and 
 turned her face away; but Mandy says, 
 "Yes, take some. I got a plenty. It's my 
 birthday and I've got as many peppermints 
 as I am old." 
 
 Then the woman took one and Jim thinks 
 it reminded her of something sad in her 
 past life, because she hid her face in her 
 hands and shook as if she was crying, and 
 so did the woman with her. Mandy 
 thought the ushers little boys hunting round 
 for a seat, and because they was polite 
 enough to wait for older people to pass in, 
 there wasn't none left for them. So she 
 made room for 2 or 3 to set beside her and 
 told them to set there. "Come along, 
 sonny," she said to one of them. "They is 
 room aplenty along of me." 
 
 He almost died alaughing. 
 
 There was a balled-headed man set in 
 front of them and bymeby a mosquito come 
 29
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 and lit on his head. It was quite conspicu 
 ous on account of his head being bare, and 
 when Mandy seen it she wanted to slap 
 her hand hard on his head and kill it. But 
 her hands was sticky from the peppermints 
 so she jest blowed on it with all her might 
 and main. Jim said she almost blowed the 
 man's head off. 
 
 My! if the man want mad! He riz 
 right up and faced Jim. Jim tried to ex 
 plain and says, "What my sister done she 
 done with the freindlyest feelings." But it 
 wan't no use, and in a few breaf well- 
 chosen words he told Jim what he thought 
 of him. Then he changed his seat to get 
 away from them and Mandy thought he 
 was pleased because she'd made way with 
 the mosquito and that he'd give up his seat 
 in front of her so to give her a better view 
 of the stage. So she follered him right 
 over and thanked him which made the man 
 madder than before, especially as consid 
 erable many people laughed. Jim says the 
 
 30
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 whole eppisode was painful in the extreme. 
 
 Well, Mandy cut up ridicklous all 
 through. She rubbered and passed re 
 marks about the people out loud. Jim 
 thought he would go right down through 
 the floor and welcome. At last one of the 
 actors on the stage asked a conundrum 
 that she knew the answer to and she riz 
 right up and blarted out the answer before 
 everybody. All the congregation laughed 
 and Jim says, "Come, Mandy, I guess we've 
 got our money's worth ;" and he led the way 
 out, him and Mandy the sinecure of all 
 eyes. 
 
 He didn't say nothing after they got out 
 he was too mad. And all the way home 
 she talked about the beautiful ladies and 
 their close, and the funny business, not real 
 izing hers was the funniest of all. Well, 
 Jim's anger cooled after a spell and he 
 hadn't the heart to tell her how things was. 
 He says there's no need of it because she 
 wont never go again. He wishes he had 
 
 3 1
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 bought her a quart of strawberry ice cream 
 and let it go at that, or let her go at that, 
 as you might say. Strawberry is her favor- 
 yte beverage. 
 
 Mr. Spinney come in in the evening and 
 I thought he would die alaughing to hear 
 Mandy tell about what a good time she had 
 and about her guessing the conundrum. It 
 was all in the papers nex day, but no names 
 was mentioned. Lots of people thought 
 Mandy was hired by the management to 
 amuse the congregation. 
 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 Ps. It want me said what you thoght 
 I said in my othar letter. It was me say 
 ing that Bub said it. I told about it to 
 Mame and she says I better put in coat- 
 ashun marks same as they do in books. 
 She says you enclose around what some- 
 boddy else says and they shift off the re 
 sponsibility where it belongs. I dident 
 32
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 know their mission was jest that before anct 
 I was tickeled to death to find out about 
 them. I am agoing to fix up my letters 
 with them after this. Of course I had al- 
 wers took notice they were sprinkeled over 
 reading pretty often and they made a page 
 kind of spotted up and cheerfull looking 
 but I dident sence they was so important as 
 what they reely are. 
 
 I wisht there was some sech thing when 
 you are talking as well as writing especally 
 when its the names of books ect. It would 
 pervent misunderstandings a good many 
 times. Mame was terrible mortifide one 
 day when some one asked Jim if he had 
 read called back by Hue Conway and he 
 says "No, who wrote it?" "Called back" 
 pastured off like this would of made it as 
 plain as your daylights. And it would be 
 a good idea to have some way for a min- 
 nister to part off what he says out of the 
 Bible from what he says out of his head. 
 
 33
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Sometimes Sundays in the sermon we dont 
 know where the profit Ezekell leaves off 
 and Mr. Oglevie begins. 
 
 Speaking of sech things as punctuation 
 calls to mind what Sis said once to her 
 teacher when she asked her what peice she 
 was agoing to speak on Friday. "Hyphen 
 to the ocean by Lord Biron," says Sis. 
 What she meant was 'to the ocean but the 
 question come so kind of sudden she an- 
 cered before she thought. When the 
 teacher corrected her she cryed, I mean 
 Sis cryed. 
 
 34
 
 X 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I calkilated to get your work all done 
 to-day but something ockurred last night 
 that kep me from working for a cupple of 
 hours. I might as well tell you about it, 
 then you will understand. 
 
 Just before supper, about half past 5, 
 there was considdable of a rumpus going 
 on in the setting-room. Sis was saying over 
 to me her piece that she is going to speak 
 in school Friday. It is an awful pretty 
 peice and I am going to have it for my 
 favrite pome. Sis has wrote it off for me 
 but I know it by heart so I am going to 
 write it to you in this letter. I want you 
 to tell me if it aint a handsome peice. It 
 seems as if it was kind of wrote for me. 
 
 35
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Let me but find it in my heart to say, 
 When vagrant wishes beckon me 
 
 astray, 
 This is my work, my blessing, not 
 
 my doom; 
 Of all I live, I am the only one 
 
 by whom 
 This work can best be done, in the 
 
 right way." 
 
 The part that says "When vagrent wishes 
 beckon me a Stray," makes me think of 
 you when you wanted me to go down into 
 Maine to work for you. Only it aint reely 
 polight to call a lady "vagrent wishes." 
 It sounds kind of like a tramp. But it has 
 done me a lot of good. Sis puts in all the 
 proppar jesters and when she comes to that 
 part I make her point towards Maine and 
 it works in a little gography at the same 
 time. You can see what a nice writer she 
 is. She writes the vertigo hand which is 
 nice and plain but not fancy. 
 
 Well, I was sewing and she was setting 
 
 36
 
 Simply is the right word,''' says Mame
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 alongside of me reciting and gouging out 
 apples for sarce. You know the apples is 
 dretful poor this fall and it is quite of a 
 jorb to gouge them out and Jim says when 
 he seen some of the worms which was quite 
 sizable, he shouldent wonder if the serpent 
 in Eaden took the interrest he did in the 
 apple because it was his former home. Any 
 way these little critters was his worthy de 
 scendants, still ockipying apples and mak 
 ing trouble for the human race. But he 
 often remarks the Eaden apple must have 
 been made into hard cider before it could 
 prodooce the effecks claimed for it. 
 
 Well, I was going to say the young ones 
 was playing injun and was yelling and ram 
 paging round so that Sis had to holler her 
 peice awful loud or else I couldent hear 
 her. She had gone nice and pleasant to 
 the Boys and asked them if they dident 
 want to be good and peacible injuns same 
 as they have in Maine that jest makes pretty 
 baskets and digs sprews gum offen the trees 
 
 37
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 but they says, "No, we dont" So then she 
 begun to holler the peace in my ear. She 
 said it was all right because there was a 
 peace in the reading book about Demos- 
 sytheans hollering his peaces in the noise 
 of the waves of the sea shore to strenthen 
 his voice. Probably he wan't a f ambly man 
 or he needent have went to the sea shore 
 for any sech purpose. 
 
 Mame and Mandy was getting supper 
 ready in the Kitchen and about this time 
 there was quite of a misundarstanding going 
 on about Mandy putting 2 eggs in the Flap 
 jacks when the rule dident call for only i. 
 Mandy is nachelly heavy-handed and often 
 has to be called down for jest sech viola 
 tions, especially when eggs has riz to sub 
 lime heighths a dozen on account of so 
 many hens being off duty. But sometimes 
 Mandy sticks too close to the rule and one 
 morning when she was cooking some tappy 
 ochre pudding, and for all there was a sight 
 of work to be done, she squnched right 
 
 38
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 down in a chair by the stove and dident 
 move a mussel till Mame called out, "Are 
 you taking your night's rest in advants?" 
 then she says "No, I am simply follering 
 the directions of the book, "Do not stir 
 while it is boiling." "Simply is the right 
 word," says Mame. 
 
 Bub, the one Mr. Spinney calls hub-Bub, 
 was a injun cheef and had on a blankit and 
 a fether dustar on his bed and a nuther tribe 
 was fighting against his when thare came 
 a knock to the dore. The one that knocked 
 told us in the coarse of the evening that it 
 was the last of a serys and he had Put con- 
 sidderable mane strenth into it. Well, Sis 
 opened the door and who in all creation 
 should stand there but our minnistar, Mr. 
 Oglevie. Sis said walk rite in like a little 
 lady and take a sete not notissing that there 
 want no seat for him, the chares all being 
 turned up for wig warms. But he bot- 
 temed one up for himself and set down. 
 He is kind of a sollem looking man thogh 
 39
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 he dont mean no harm in the world By it, 
 and out clared the yung ones quicker than 
 a wink to the kitchen. He inquiered if we 
 was having a childrens party. You see they 
 kited round so quick and lively they ap 
 peared more numerus than they ackchelly 
 was which was unnecessary, gracious knows, 
 for ordinnerry perpusses. 
 
 I says "No, its only Our little ones but 
 thay are quite playfull at times." "So I 
 see," he says; "children blessen and briten 
 the home." "How menny hav you got to 
 yore house?" says Sis. "Not any," he says. 
 and Sis looked kind of puzzled like she 
 does when she gets stuck in a rithmatick ex 
 ample. Then he ses kind of quick, "What 
 you doing, little girl?" "Gougin out 
 apples," she says, putting the refuge dish 
 which had begun to look kind of Lively 
 undar a chair but going on with her work. 
 I knew Mame and Mandy knew he was 
 here because I see Mandy's eye at the crack 
 of the door, but I wanted to give them Time 
 
 40
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 to fix themselves up so I says, "Sis, don't 
 you want to speak your new peace for the 
 ministar?" So she laid down her knife and 
 elapsed her hands and said it clear through 
 without stopping once. Then she spoke 
 "Lead kindly light" that she had picked out 
 of Mother's old hymn book and lernt her 
 self. She aint a pritty child, being puny 
 and narrer favored like Mother, but she 
 looked so carm and sweet and she spoke 
 so correck that I see the teres standing in 
 his eyes. "She seams to sence the meaning 
 of it," he says. "Yes," I says, "She sences 
 most everything there is. She is a reel old 
 fashened and dependable child and she is 
 the only one in the bunch that can be trusted 
 to seed raisons." Then he talked reel nice 
 to her and told her she Must always do 
 what is right for there is one that sees every 
 thing we do and watches all our commings 
 in and all Our goings out and nothin is hid 
 from. "Do you know who that is, little 
 girl?" 
 
 41
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Yes, its Mrs. Ezry Sawyer," says Sis. 
 
 Mrs. Ezry Sawyer lives a little ways from 
 us and is an awful busy body. It was her 
 that said to Jim when Jamesy died, "sposen 
 it was Sis." But I knew the minnistar 
 wan't refurring to her and I was awful 
 ashamed of Sis for not knowing what he 
 meant. But he looked reel plessent and 
 after he had clared his throat and looked 
 out of the winder a minnit he begun to tell 
 things about his own child hood. He sed 
 as a little boy he was always a thirsting for 
 nolledge. She askt me afterwoods what 
 thirsting for nolledge was and I says, "Aint 
 you ever been so awful thirsty that the more 
 water and tea and everrything you drunk 
 the thirstyer you was?" "Yes," she says, 
 "espeshelly after a salt cod dinnar." Well, 
 I told her that showed it wassent drinks she 
 needed for thay dident squench her thirst 
 but it was something else and that some 
 thing else was nolledge. I like to explain 
 42
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 sech things to Sis, she always listens so re- 
 speckful. 
 
 By and by Mame and Mandy come into 
 the setting-room, looking their best, and 
 looked awful surprised to see company. 
 Mame give me the wink and I went into 
 the kitchen. She had put on a red 4-in- 
 hand to kivver up 2 buttens that was gone 
 from her waste and she looked reel hand 
 some. She always looks her Best when 
 there is company because then she is happy. 
 One of Jim's pet names for her is Misery, 
 because she likes company. But she gen- 
 rally wants a week to prepare for it so to 
 have things in style. She would never 
 darst to invight any one like the minnistar 
 spontaneous but Providence ordained 
 otherwise. I went into the kitchen and 
 tackled the 2 jorbs of getting supper ready 
 and keeping the young ones still. It proved 
 to be all one because to keep them subdued 
 I had to give them about all the supper 
 43
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 there was. By and by Mame came out act 
 ing awful worked up and says, "O Jen! 
 what be we going to do? Mandy has in- 
 vighted him to supper and he says he will. 
 O why was Mandy sent to afflick and tor 
 ment us?" and she began to cry. I dident 
 call to her mind that Mandy wassent sent 
 to her, but she come to where Mandy was 
 when she married, but I says, "Now don't 
 you cry and get your eyes all redded up. 
 I'll fix it all right. The children has been 
 to supper and Sis can take them to bed so 
 they wont trouble us at the table." 
 
 "Oh!" she says; "if they have been to 
 suppar there wont be nothing left on the 
 table." And she begun to cry all over 
 again. "Besides," she says, "this is pay 
 night and how do we know what shape Jim 
 is coming home in?" "Now don't you 
 worry about that nor nothing else," I says. 
 "I will let you know when suppar is ready. 
 Go quick into the setting-room. Who 
 knows what foolishness Mandy is getting- 
 
 44
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 off in there? It appears to me that is 
 where your duty lays." 
 
 Then I raced up stairs and told all about 
 it to Mrs. Hennersy and asked her to lend 
 me some hearty vittles if she had any on 
 hand. She was tickled to death to help 
 because I had never borrered nothing of 
 her before and Ellen also. Ellen was set 
 ting by the winder in the twylight looking 
 white and lonesome and like the shadder 
 of death was over her, but you had ought 
 to see how she spryed round soon as she 
 saw we needed help. She follered me 
 down stairs with an azalium plant in her 
 arms that Dinny had give her on her berth- 
 day, and was her most precious objeck in 
 the world and put it on the middle of the 
 supper table. Then she put a screen in 
 front of the cooking-stove that had roses 
 and cubebs painted on it. After that, while 
 the pop overs was baking she run up stairs 
 and fetched down three big pictures to 
 hang on the wall to kivver up some bad- 
 45
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 looking spots. One was a beautiful basket 
 of fruit of all kinds, and another was called 
 Venus rising from the sea. This one had 
 been give to Mrs. Hennersy by a diseased 
 freind and she thought the world of it. But 
 Venus was clothed kind of scanty for this 
 climate so she had cut out a costoom out 
 of a fashion plate and pasted it on her rigger 
 so nice, and neat that it looked like it had 
 always been there. The muff in her hand 
 looked as natural as life. I remember 
 Dinny framed it up for her again after she 
 had rectified it. 
 
 The third picture was jest Saint Patrick 
 holding the handle of an umbreller. I 
 hung this up behind where the minnistar 
 was to set if all went well. 
 
 It done me good to watch Ellen while 
 she was rassling round. I never see her so 
 bright and excited. She was up on a box 
 that was atop of a chair twining her ivorys 
 round one of the winders when Jim come 
 in. We saw to once that he was all right
 
 She fullered me dozvn stairs with an azalium plant in her arms that 
 Dinny bad give her on her berth day
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 but he himself seemed to be the only one 
 to doubt it. He looked round the room 
 and says, "Where be I? I vow I aint been 
 taking anything but this don't appear to 
 be my house." When he caught sight of 
 Ellen he says, "And a beautiful angel up 
 in the air throwed in." 
 
 I told him to quit fooling and to buck 
 in and help, telling him in a few words, 
 what was going forrard. He washed up 
 at the sink and was combing his hair when 
 he spied the picture of Saint Patrick. 
 "Look here, Jen," he says, "do you see any 
 thing at the bottom of that picture?" 
 
 "Nothing but a few snaiks. Why do you 
 ask?" 
 
 "O, nothing!" he says; "I just thought I 
 would ask." 
 
 Course he noticed the change in Ellen 
 and says, "How do you do, Miss Hennersy; 
 when did you get back among us?" Then 
 she sarced him back and seemed just like 
 old times. She was putting an azalium 
 
 47
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 flower into his button hole when the doo\ 
 opened and in walked Mr. Spinney. He 
 loked awful thin and tired but brightened 
 up when he saw her. "I wish something 
 like that would happen to me," he says. 
 
 I invighted him to stay to supper but he 
 says, "No I can't; but it smells and it looks 
 awful good." And he went off up them 2 
 flights of stairs to his lonely room, with no 
 chearful voice to greet him or smooth his 
 burning brow, and like as not the thermon- 
 neter somewheres round 38 or 40. 
 
 When everything was ready Ellen gave 
 me a hug and wished me good luck and 
 skipt up her one flight of stair.s. I says, 
 "Jim, do you suppose there will ever be any 
 thing between them two?" 
 
 "Nothing," he says, "but a floor same 
 as there is now." But I wan't thinking of 
 arkitexcher. 
 
 I was awful proud when I went to the 
 setting-room door and says, "Please walk 
 out to supper." We had steak, fryed po-
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 taters, hot pop overs, apple sarce, dough 
 nuts and ice-cream. Jim had gone out and 
 bought the ice-cream. It was scented with 
 vaniller. 
 
 Mame looked handsome enough at the 
 head of the table in Mrs. Hennersy's best 
 chair. She was bright and happy and en 
 tertaining. So was Jim when he told funy 
 storys about the folks down to Chictooset 
 where we used to live. I thought the min- 
 nister would die a laughing. He liked the 
 vittles, too, and he told some interesting 
 anticdotes about his collidge days. Some 
 thing was said about the children and he 
 said he would like to see them agane. "No 
 time like the pressant," says Jim; and what 
 did he do but take a lamp and lead the way 
 to where they was asleep. He says, "The 
 only time they are still enough for any one 
 to have a good look at them is when they 
 have forgot their miseries in sleep." 
 
 They all looked hearty and rosy, but I 
 have seen cleaner faces than they pro- 
 49
 
 dooced, because they had been put to bed 
 in sech haste. It was no secret what Bub 
 had had for supper because there was a 
 wreath of flap-jack crumbs and molasses 
 round his mouth where his tongue couldent 
 reach. The minnister says as he looked at 
 the littlest one, "This is a beautiful child, 
 is he the baby?" 
 
 "Yes, the baby pro tern," says Jim. "You 
 see what an expressible face he has. I often 
 see him with his sole in his eyes," tendarly 
 extracting his foot from behind Gussy's ear. 
 
 "You had ought to be a very happy man, 
 Mr. Allen," says the minnister. 
 
 "So I be," responds Jim, "more than you 
 can tell. You don't know what it means to 
 have them all asleep." 
 
 When Mr. Oglevie went away he shook 
 hands all round and says, "Mr. and Mrs. 
 Allen I ain't had sech a plessant visit in a 
 long time." When he come to Mandy he 
 says, "I am cheafly indetted to you, Miss 
 Allen, for the playsure, and I thank you." 
 
 50
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Nobody had ever called her Miss Allen 
 before and she was awful pleased about it. 
 This is why I dident get your sewing 
 done as soon as I calkilated. 
 Your true friend, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 Mame says he talked lovely to her about 
 Jamesy and it done her a lot of good.
 
 XI 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 Yesterday Mrs. Ezry Sawyer come in 
 rigged up equal to the queen of Sheby and 
 she would of looked awful nice if it wan't 
 for her face which is hombly in the ex- 
 tream. The dots on her new veil wasn't 
 large enough or close enough together to 
 conceal this painful fack, although one of 
 them artfully kivvered a good sized mould. 
 She had on a plum-colored velvet gownd 
 that we'd seen in Clapp & palmer's window 
 a couple of days before. The figger that 
 had it on in the winder hadn't ever wore 
 anything but good close; and you would 
 know it to look at it, it looked so carm & 
 peaceful; but Mrs. Sawyer kep ayanking 
 herself round as if she couldn't forget she 
 was rigged up to an uncommon degree. 
 52
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 She is awful thin and long-favored and 
 has got a funny jaw and little bits of eyes. 
 
 One night last winter when she was com 
 ing home late, she heard a man follering 
 behind her. She was awful scared and 
 hastened her steps but he hastened his, too, 
 and bymeby he says, "Wouldn't you like 
 company home?" 
 
 Then she turned round and faced him 
 and said, "Young man, aint you ashamed 
 of yourself?" 
 
 He took one look at her and says, "Yes, 
 I be," and run off quick as he could in the 
 other direction. When she tells the story 
 she says it shows the power of the human 
 eye. 
 
 She had everything on in proportion to 
 the plum-colored gown. There was white 
 plumes on her hat rigged up so high she 
 had to scooch to come in the door, and a 
 cock tail on the side. Around her neck 
 was a long gold chain with ammythiss 
 every little while, and on the end was a 
 
 53
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 gold lordgenetty. Mame said after she had 
 gone that if she had darsted to look at her 
 through that foolish implement she would 
 have drove her out-doors. 
 
 We see she was dretful excited about 
 something and so I wasn't surprised when 
 she drawed her chair clost up to mine 
 where I set sewing and says, "Jennie, I got 
 something awful important to talk over 
 with you. You have done a good many 
 kind turns for me in the years our ways has 
 led together in the past and now I have got 
 a chanst to pay you back in overflowing 
 
 measure." 
 
 Then she went on to tell how her son Ben 
 that lives clear out to Seattle, state of Wash 
 ington, had made some good investerments 
 in land and these good close was among 
 the producks of his success. 
 
 "I have wore them in, Jennie, for a kind 
 of an objeck lesson because I want you to 
 make some money like he did." She 
 54
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 showed me a letter he had wrote and in it 
 he said he had made 5 thousand $ in 6 
 months buying and selling opshens. He 
 wound up by saying, "Send on all the spare 
 cash you can rake up, Mother, and I can 
 double it or tribble it in a month and maybe 
 longer." 
 
 Then she told me she had took all her 
 money out of the bank and was in the ack 
 of sending it to him; "only," she says, "I 
 thought I would come and get yours to put 
 along of it, because you can see buying and 
 selling opshens is the most prophetable busi 
 ness there is." 
 
 Now I have got most 75 dollars but I 
 still call it Jamesy's and I have got plans 
 laid out for that. But I says, "Why don't 
 he send the opshens on by express and let 
 us sell them for what we can get for them 
 here?" 
 
 She busted right out alaughing at this and 
 says, "You big goose, Jennie Allen! opshens 
 
 55
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 aint anything that can be expressed." And 
 I found they wasn't when she tried to ex 
 plain about them. 
 
 "Well," I says, "I don't want to say any 
 thing against Ben, the best-hearted feller 
 ever lived, but after the way you've ex 
 plained it I don't see how it is any differ 
 ent from gambling. As I look at it if you 
 are foolish enough to spend your money 
 that way your only hope is to find some 
 body still more foolish that cackleates to 
 find a bigger fool still, and everybody has 
 got to look out not to be the last one. 
 
 "There is plenty of these last ones left 
 over from the last boom," I says. 
 
 " Then," I says, "you say that what has 
 made reel estate go kiting up so like all pos 
 sessed is on account of them two capitalists 
 that is mad with each other wanting to buy 
 the tidelands to keep each other out. Now 
 aint that a worthy foundation to build a 
 fortune on!" 
 
 How much better it would be if their 
 
 56
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 minister, or some other person, would go to 
 one of them and say, "Now, James, aint 
 
 you and Mr. H quarreled long 
 
 enough? And dont you want to make up 
 with him now and shake hands? Remem 
 ber there is another world where there is 
 no tidelands and no opshens." Besides, 
 look at the O'Lympics! In the presence of 
 sech big and glorious mountains with their 
 summits lost in the mistery of the clouds 
 how can you have thoughts that is mean 
 and petty? And as for Mount Rainier 
 (which Ben says they can see several times 
 a year when the fog lifts) I should think 
 when the mists do clare away you couldn't 
 help saying, "Look here! I don't want no 
 tidelands. I'm going up on the heighths." 
 Then the other man wouldn't want any 
 tidelands and there wouldn't be no boom, 
 and no gambling. 
 
 Most of the trouble in this world comes 
 from folks wanting the same thing 
 [(whether it's masculine, femmynme, or 
 
 57
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 newter) when they could get other things 
 jest as good or better. If society could be 
 made to rest on a Jack Spratt and his wife 
 basiss how much happier everybody would 
 be. Now I have always inclined to the no 
 tion that Mrs. Spratt liked lean meat jest 
 as well as anybody else ; but when she found 
 (soon after her marriage, probbably) that 
 her husband was extry partial to it, in order 
 to preserve harmony she started right in to 
 cultivate a taste for fat. On this account 
 I have always looked on her as the model 
 wife. 
 
 Seeing she couldn't defend the scarce of 
 the money, Mrs. Sawyer tried to temp me 
 (only for my own sake she had nothing to 
 gain) by telling what I could do with it. 
 She said I was flying in the face of Provi 
 dence not to take this chanst. "Wouldn't 
 you like," she asked, "to have Sis take les 
 sons on the pianner? And wouldn't you 
 like to have anybody as handsome as Mame 
 wearing beautiful close?"
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 For a minute I thought how splendid 
 Mame would look in the purple velvet 
 gownd and the big white plumes, and how 
 proud Jim would be of her. Then I called 
 to mind he couldn't be more proud of her 
 than he was already and as for Sis she 
 could pick out quite a lot of tunes on the 
 organ by ear and that's enough for the pres- 
 sant. 
 
 "And you could all go down to Chictoo- 
 set nex spring same as you've always wanted 
 to. It don't look as if the children would 
 ever see the old place." 
 
 This was the strongest argument of all 
 but I only says, "I always hope they will 
 and I am going to keep on hoping; but the 
 money must come some other way." 
 
 Jest then Bub who was leaning against 
 my chair and listening says, "I want to go 
 down to Chictooset now, Aunt Jennie, and 
 see the place where Father caught the torn- 
 cods and where he most got drownded." 
 
 "There!" says Mrs. Sawyer; "out of the 
 
 59
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 mouths of babes and sucklings you have a 
 direck call. A little child shall lead 
 them." 
 
 "Go right out to play, Bub," I says, "and 
 some time we will all go to Chictooset." 
 
 He begged to stay and watch the strings 
 in the lady's neck pull up and down when 
 she talked, but I made him go. At last she 
 found it wan't no use to argew and so she 
 left but with the intentions of renewing the 
 onslaught. I am reel sorry she is disap 
 pointed becaus she was trying to do me a 
 kind turn and I hope she wont lose her little 
 all she is taking out of the bank. 
 
 I don't know as I have told you that some 
 of them tidelands they are so fierce to get 
 aholt of has 10 feet of water on them at 
 high tide and Ben has ben swimming on 
 one lot that cost thousands of $. I didn't 
 know they put sech a high vallew on cold 
 water in the west. 
 
 Jim saw Mrs. Sawyer when she was go 
 ing out and he says, "Whence comes that ra- 
 60
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 diant vision? and why wan't I warned of it 
 so I could put on my smoked glasses?" 
 
 But when I told him the gorgous rai 
 ment was put on to help a kind and freindly 
 mission he didn't say nothing more. I 
 didn't tell Jim what the freindly mission 
 was for fear he would yield to the opshen 
 temptation. To be sure he hasn't got much 
 money but there aint any one knows him 
 but would lend him in a minute and it aint 
 safe to be so trusted as that. Nothing is 
 much more dangersome than unlimited 
 credit. It aint pleassant to be looked upon 
 with distruss but it shuts off opportunitys 
 to go wrong. Jim aint got that safeguard 
 so I am going to proteck him all I can. 
 
 I will let you know how her venture ex 
 terminates as soon as she finds out. 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 61
 
 XII 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 You ask me to tell you about the trades 
 pickanick and I will. I want there myself 
 because I had an order for rappars sent in 
 the night before. They had a splendid time 
 and so much happened they aint hardly got 
 through with the narrowation of it yet. Sis 
 said it was a Scarlet lettar day, when she 
 meant red lettar. When they started out 
 Mame said her and Jim would walk ahead 
 and Sis and Mandy and the boys could 
 foller behind at a Respecktable distants, on 
 account of it not being Genteel to have sech 
 a large fambly of little ones. They made 
 a splendid looking cupple. She woar her 
 new sute and her lingering hat that she has 
 wore most 4 years but she washed it and 
 done it up and it looked as good as new and 
 62
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 he had on the dress sute I told you about. 
 A lady where I went to take home some 
 work was going to send it to the second 
 hand shop with othar close, when I said I 
 would perchess it for my Brothar. Mame 
 alwers wanted Jim to have one and this was 
 awfull reasonable. The lady dident want 
 to tack a cent for it but I told her I dident 
 want it without she charged me jest what 
 she would the second hand man. (Mr. 
 Spinney asked me how I knew he was a 
 widower.) Jim jest put on the coat for the 
 pickanick and woar golf trousers with it 
 because he knew he would have to fool 
 more or less round the water with the little 
 boys and golf trousers would be the best 
 for that. He woar a nice loose outing 
 shirt, white with pink dots, and his tie 
 was a nice chearful green. Altogethar, 
 I tell you we felt pretty proud of him. He 
 is tall and big and when he straitens up he 
 looks jest like a Poleeceman. Well, him 
 and Mame started off togather to walk to 
 
 63
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 where they took the barges, and I had a 
 Struggle trying to keep the children back 
 till they had a good start. They squirmed 
 pretty good and when I let them loose it 
 was all Sis and Mandy could do to keep 
 them to the proppar pace. It want very 
 long befoar Mame happened to look be 
 hind and see the Baby crying to take aholt 
 of mother's hand. Her tendar woman's 
 hart couldent stand it. She waited for them 
 to ketch up and grabbed the little fellar up, 
 saying, "Mother's precious baby! was they 
 trying to keep him away from her? 
 Naughty, naughty sister." Women are on- 
 reasonable at times and I guess Sis thinks 
 so, too. Mame forgot to be genteel and 
 told Jim he had got to carry Baby. Then 
 they'Went alont, the othar young ones danc 
 ing and capering round them. Folks 
 smiled as they met them, but they didn't 
 care. The way Jim was dressed kind of 
 added dignity and sobriarty to the whole 
 
 6 4
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 proceeding. Mandy & Sis carried the 
 lunch basket between them. 
 
 They had expeckted Mr Spinney to be a 
 membar of the party, but he wan't able to 
 go. When they was ready to start out he 
 come down all dressed up ready to go. 
 When he saw Jim's new close he smiled 
 with pleasure and was going to say some 
 thing. Then he sobered down. I know 
 why. He was thinking why he hadent ever 
 been abel to perchess a dress sute. "All 
 aboard!" he says, and grabs the pickanick 
 basket with one hand and Bub with the 
 othar. When he saw me setting down to 
 the machine bare headed he wanted to 
 know what was up. I told him rappars, 
 and as he stood there he claped his hands 
 to his head as if in violent pain. Then he 
 says he dassent go on account of a dull pain 
 between the eyes passing round his temple,' 
 kind of looping the loop and fetching up 
 behind the back of his ears, as well as he 
 could describe it. 
 
 65
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Jim told him the fresh air was jest the 
 thing for that particklar kind of a head aik. 
 But he said no, fresh air alwers seamed to 
 aggravate and intencerfy that special brand. 
 So they went off without him. It made me 
 feel awful bad for him to lose all that fun 
 and pleasure and I beged him not to stay 
 home. But he said he was ackchelly onfit 
 for the exertion. "In fack," he says, "it 
 would be an exertion for me to clime them 
 stairs; so if you don't mind, I'll lay right 
 on this lounge a spell." 
 
 Of course he was wellcome and I told 
 him so. He laid down and I took up my 
 sowing, after I had give him a shawl to 
 wrap round him. "I don't want no shawl," 
 he says. "My room was so hot last night 
 that if I had died I wouldent have noticed 
 any differance." 
 
 By and by he give a grown and I says, 
 "Aint there nothing I can do?" 
 
 "Well," he says, "when I used to have 
 this kind to home the only thing that would 
 66
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 releave them would be Mother rubbing my 
 head." 
 
 "I wisht she was here to do it now," I 
 told him; "but Mrs. Hennersy is fine in 
 sickness and maybe she'll do it," and I riz 
 up to call her. 
 
 "No, no! I couldent stand the confusion 
 of another person round. Couldent you do 
 it for a minnit or two, Jen?" 
 
 So I set by him and rubbed my hand 
 gently acrost his head back and forth till 
 he got kind of drowsy and dropped off to 
 sleep. Jest as he droped off he murmared 
 "Mother!" and I guess he thought it was 
 his mother because as I riz up and was about 
 to leave him he says kind of sleepy, "Don't 
 go, Mother," and took aholt of my hand to 
 keap me with him. So I stayed there and 
 passed my hand soothing acrost his brow. 
 As I looked down on his face it struck me 
 how many tired lines had come there lately. 
 They dident show when he was awake and 
 carrying on but there they was. And I
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 knew that every line was a good line. Not 
 one had been writ there by dizzypation. 
 He had worked hard all his life and had 
 nothing to show for it. He shed cheer 
 about him wherever he went, but folks was 
 unconscious that it radiatored from him. 
 It aint an easy jorb to be an insurance agent 
 and poke yourself into shops and offisses 
 where you aint wanted and take sass and 
 sometimes hinted you had bettar leave. 
 Many's the time he has persuaded men to 
 take out a Pollissy agenst their will and they 
 have left their f amblys well fixed on account 
 of it. Widders has come to bless him for 
 what he has done. One of them sent him a 
 fansy little pen wipar only last Christmas 
 because through his percyverence & powars 
 of inducement she had got some thousend 
 dollers. And his sins of commission is very 
 few, if any. 
 
 As I was thinking of all this, looking 
 down on him and smoothing his brow, I 
 forgot all about my rappars that had to 
 68
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 be took back to-morrow. When they did 
 come to me with resounding foarce, I tried 
 to rize up again but again he murmared 
 "Mother," and clung to my hand. I 
 couldn't leave him then. And it was some 
 time before he stirred and then opaned his 
 eyes. I felt awfull foolish and went and 
 set right down to the machine. 
 
 He follers me and says, seeing I have 
 lost so much preshus time on his account, 
 that he was going to help me sew on the 
 machine. Se he sowed while I baisted and 
 he sung funny songs to the companyment 
 of the buzzing of the wheels. He is splen 
 did compenny. 
 
 By and by we finds out he had been 
 sowing yards and yards after the bobbing 
 was out, so the seams wa'n't sowed at all. 
 We have a good laugh at that and then he 
 says kind of serious, "Jen, a man sozzling 
 along without a wife is like sowing without 
 no under thread. It might jest as well not 
 be done at all." And it made me wish
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Ellen would be kinder to him. I told him 
 so and said I hoped he wouldent get dis- 
 curriged. 
 
 When dinner-time comes he says he is 
 going to prepair our midday feast and he 
 flew around asetting the table. I told him 
 there was nothing to eat in the house. Then 
 he went for the woman's collum in the 
 Journal, to see if he couldent use up some 
 left ovars, making a dainty and palpable 
 dish. "Them reseats," I says, "was made 
 up by some body in a boyless household. 
 We don't have no left ovars here. Further 
 more than that, the dishes is cleaned out so 
 thorough at the table that washing them is 
 like gilding refigned gold." 
 
 He was gone befoar I got through speak 
 ing, but soon returned from the Bakery 
 where he had bought all kinds of beautiful 
 eatables. They tasted awfull good. I had- 
 ent ewer et a sharlot roosh befoar. They 
 are 10 cents & not much to them. We was 
 both hungry and done justiss (without 
 70
 
 ** 
 
 if 
 
 Jen, a man sozzling along without wife is like sowing without no 
 under thread. It might jest as well not be done at all"
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 mercy) to all the lovely vittles. Then He 
 put on my big apern and said he was going 
 to wash all the dishes and he done it, caper 
 ing round, and cutting up and making be- 
 leave he was this, that and the othar person 
 and he acted them all out perfeck. 
 
 It wan't no wonder in the excitement he 
 dropped one of the cups and I was sorry 
 to hear him say "the devil!" when he 
 picked it up and saw a little piece gone out 
 of it. 
 
 "Please don't swear," I says, "that piece 
 has ben gone this long time." 
 
 "That's what I said the old Nick." 
 
 When he had to leave and go off on some 
 business, the house seamed awfull lonesome 
 without the folks. I was glad enough to 
 see them when they come and they all said 
 they had a splendid time. I asked if the 
 children had been good. "Course not," 
 says Jim; "how could they have a good time 
 if they was good? They acted like the old 
 scratch, every durned one of em."
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 When Mr. Spinney come in to hear about 
 the pickanick Jim asked him what he had 
 done for his head aik. "Nothing to speak 
 of," says Mr. Spinney. 
 
 So no more at pressant from 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 72
 
 XIII 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear f reind, 
 
 I am writing to say that My last letter 
 must of been a sight on the outside. I sent 
 Bub out to male it and when he came rush 
 ing back his hands was full of graip and 
 benanner skins and he looked awful happy 
 and red in the face. "I guess," he says, 
 "there wont be no moar axidents from old 
 folks slipping down from here clear up to 
 Bennett's corner. I been collecting all the 
 pealings that was dropped and here they 
 are!" chucking them into the coal hod that 
 was setting side of the stove beaming round 
 on us all. 
 
 "Look here!" says Mame; and she went 
 for him pretty lively about him getting his 
 hands dirtyed up clawring round in the 
 guttar. I dident say nothing but I thought 
 
 73
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 it was a noble deed to remove fruit pealings 
 and sech from under the tottering steps of 
 age that aint got but a few more totters to 
 the grave. Folks aint any right to go along 
 eating and dropping their skins on the side 
 walk. Bub saw an old man slip down on 
 one of them last weak and that was what 
 put them into his head. He was put into 
 the ambulants and took to the horspittle. 
 Bub says he knows he was poor because his 
 toes was out and he give him his 10 cents. 
 Most probably he wasent extry familier 
 with the insides of benanners or orranges. 
 At sech times it seams as if that was the 
 way of the world. A few folks enjoy the 
 fruit and othars slips down on the pealings. 
 No, I couldent say nothing to Bub then 
 but when I washed the dirty little hands 
 that was so quick to run to othar peoples 
 help I done it with a kind of rewerence. 
 How many sins of omission we commit try 
 ing to keap our hands clean! This is called 
 to mind by what the ministar said last Sun- 
 
 74
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 day. He told us there was 2 kinds of sins, 
 sins of commission or them we commit, 
 and sins of omission or them we omit to 
 commit. I should hate to be gilty of this 
 last kind. 
 
 I jest give Bub 2 cookys instead of i and 
 told him he mussent forget he was going to 
 the park with me nex Sunday if nothing 
 happened. "Something has got to hap 
 pen," says Mame, " or he can't go. How 
 about the Sunday pants that aint much more 
 than planned Out yet?" Seeing the tears 
 come into his eyes I told him aunt Jennie 
 would see that the pants fulfilled their part 
 of the contrack. That being the case I 
 mussent write any more now, because I have 
 got to hurry up on my rappar order so as 
 to squeeze in the pants befoar Sunday. It 
 aint so easy as it appears to the sooperficial 
 eye to get two pairs out of one of Jim's. 
 It's a triunth to do it, though, especially 
 when Mr. Spinney says it's a work of genius. 
 And he says it every time. Once I tried 
 75
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 to coax Jim to buy two succeeding pairs 
 of pants alike because I felt almost sure I 
 could get five small pairs out of two of his 
 but he declined not to do it. He said with 
 his love of variotty and change of environ 
 ment he wan't quite prepared to make that 
 sacrifice for the nex generation. "Unless," 
 he added, "you want to spread yourself, Jen, 
 and win some of them enconiams sech as is 
 dear to your heart." 
 
 I do like the enconiams but they dont in 
 jure the appearance of Bub and Gussy 
 which is the cheaf objeck of my work. 
 They are only side-producks. And when 
 there is a good side-produck, I say, grab it. 
 Only don't let it come first. Mame don't 
 have as much patience sewing as she might. 
 She says she has heard of tailers using glew 
 on male garments instead of sewing them. 
 But I tell her while that might be adapted 
 to nice sedaitable old gentlemen that jest 
 sets and reads their Bibles, or at most takes 
 a pleasant little walk in the semitary, that
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 with our little ones that is more likely than 
 not to frisk around, it would be a diffrant 
 mattar. Praps it's prejudiss but I never 
 could have that settled down fealing of con- 
 ferdence in the most highly recommended 
 glew that I feal in number 40 linnen thread. 
 In a delliket case like patching it might 
 serve a good purpose and I know my mother 
 would have used it judicious. Mother was 
 a splendid patcher. It come as natural to 
 her as the air she breathed. Many was 
 the times down to Chictooset when folks 
 would say to a man or woman or child 
 "What a nice new coat (or dress) you've 
 got!" and they would say, "It's the same 
 one but Mrs. Benjamin Allen has tinkered 
 it up for me." 
 
 Mother was not only daft with her neadle 
 but she had a brain to execute and plan. 
 She was full of resources and original de 
 vices a good deal like Benjamin West the 
 artist when he made a brush out of a cat's 
 tail. If the result was a passel of nice de- 
 
 77
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 cent dressed people that was so poor they 
 otherwise would of gone round looking like 
 distress or stayed to home for shame wasn't 
 that about as good as painting pictures that 
 has now pretty much sunk into oblivian and 
 wasn't cheerful to look at before they sunk? 
 I've seen his "King Lear in a storm." It 
 is the saddest picture I ever set eyes on and 
 I wish I could forget it. I know the story 
 about it wa'n't true but Mr. Lamb wouldn't 
 of made it up or people wouldent have been 
 so teched by it if there wasn't jest sech cases 
 in life. To think of that crewel daughter 
 sending the old father out without even his 
 crown on his head. Of course it wouldn't 
 have answered the purpose of a skull cap 
 but fixed on with elastic it would have been 
 better than nothing in sech weather and no 
 doubt it was right handy where she could 
 get at it. When I referred about it Mr. 
 Spinney said it wasn't Lamb wrote the story 
 but I had got my meats mixed and it was 
 Bacon. I guess if he had dusted Lamb's 
 
 78
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 tails as often as I had on the parler table 
 he would know better. Of course Jim had 
 to but in and ask if it wasn't Ham, seeing 
 he had plenty of leisure in the ark. "Didn't 
 he Noah lot about it?" he says. They like 
 to jolly me but I like their pleasant 
 ways and any way its a change from the 
 noise of the sewing machine. Sis was tell 
 ing the boys the other day what the dead 
 languages is. "Is ours one?" inquired Bub. 
 "Course!" says Jim, "Didn't you hear Aunt 
 Jen murder the King's English?" I dont 
 know what he meant but he and Mr. Spin 
 ney set up a shout and Mr. Spinney said it 
 was only a case of mans-laughter. Then 
 Jim give me a hug and Mr. Spinney told 
 him to give me another and charge it to 
 him. They mean all right. 
 
 No! Mother's patching and peacing never 
 brought on a feeling of sadness. And Jim 
 says how she used to rejoice in the rejubila- 
 tion of an old garment as a surgeon does in 
 an operation that gives somebody a new 
 
 79
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 leace of life. There aint so much differ- 
 ance in the two, either. One straightens 
 out your outside and the other your insides, 
 and in one way her work was greater. If 
 your liver and lights is out of order you 
 can conseal it from the criticle public but 
 a shabby cloak is known to all the world. 
 That reminds me of what Mr. Spinney said 
 once. He said a man doesn't live so much 
 according to his lights as according to his 
 liver. 
 
 Mother done a lot of sech work for peo 
 ple that was too poor to pay her; but when 
 she was praised for it she said she done it 
 only about 50 per cent for charrity. The 
 rest was because she jest naturally loved 
 sech jorbs. But when Mother was got 
 ready to be laid away and them poor willin 
 and hard workin hands was folded in rest 
 I thought it would be a mean kind of a 
 recordin angel that wouldent give her the 
 whole hundred per cent. 
 80
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 One day she was sewing at Deacon In- 
 graham's and Mrs. I. fetched into the set 
 ting room a pair of pants that the deacon 
 had wore a number of years, telling her to 
 patch them neat same as only she could do. 
 
 "Well," says Mother, "bring along the 
 patching peaces and I will see what can be 
 done." Mrs. Ingraham done so, saying 
 "Here they be!" 
 
 "What!" says Mother, "was the pants 
 ever like them peaces?" 
 
 "They certainly was," says she; "they are 
 what was left and have been kep in a bag 
 up attick. There is a differance now but 
 why dont you do what you have done so 
 many times before and put the peaces on 
 the close line to fade?" 
 
 (Mind you the peaces was a dark seal 
 brown and the trousers had faded to a light 
 golden snuff color.) 
 
 "Mrs. Ingraham!" Mother broke out; 
 "them pants has been fading on the deacon 
 81
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 for nigh on to ten year and how can the 
 patch peaces catch up with them in half 
 an hour? There's reason in all things." 
 
 "Well," says Mrs. Ingraham (kind of 
 ashamed because they had money laid by 
 and there wasn't no call for her to skimp 
 and skew at the expence of Mother's brains) 
 "jest do the best you can. He probably 
 wont ware them much more now excep 
 choaring round in the garden. I'm going 
 down to the post office store." 
 
 When she came back Mother held up the 
 pants in triunth. 
 
 "Hannah Allen!" says Mrs. Ingraham in 
 a joyous tone; "what on earth have you 
 done to them pants! I can't see whare the 
 patches leave off and the pants begin!" 
 
 "I scorched the peaces a little," says 
 Mother as carm as if she hadent been doing 
 something nobody else in creation would of 
 thought of. And so fur from choring 
 round in the garden with them he wore 
 them to church the next Sabbath. (He 
 
 82
 
 Hannah Allen ! ' ' says Mrs. Ingraham in a joyous tone , ' ' what on earth 
 have you done to them pants ! I can' t see whare the patches leave 
 of and the pants begin ! ' '
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 want an Episcolapian.) Maybe thare was 
 something in that because not long after 
 that Mother heard a nabor say "How feable 
 old deacon Ingraham is getting. I notice it 
 more in his gait than anything else." He 
 probably had on the snuff collered pants. 
 
 Jim said that after the process they'd ben 
 through they must of ben better adaptuated 
 for that than anything else. It's true he 
 didn't darst to make any quick or sudden 
 motion in walking or anything else. He 
 had to go quite cautious remembering al 
 ways what he was wearing and governed 
 himself accordingly. But what you gain in 
 one way you lose in another. That's the 
 law of the universe, and Mother couldn't 
 change that. 
 
 It was by one of Mother's innocent de 
 vices to conseal her poverty that we got our 
 little home that is down to Chictooset. 
 Father was took away verry sudden when 
 we was all little and as if that wan't enough 
 our old house also got burned up the saim 
 
 83
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 winter. Thare wasn't no insurance on 
 eather one as father had always said he did- 
 dent have no Monney to throw away on fire 
 Insurance companys. She went round sew 
 ing by the day when she could. Jim and 
 Mandy went to school and I kep house. 
 We had 2 rooms in a woman's house. It 
 was almost more than mother was equall 
 to to find somethin for us to vittle up on. 
 Father used to tell her thare was good money 
 coming to him as he had lent sums to some 
 people in his Prosperity that was now able 
 to pay. But he newar mentioned no Names 
 and here was mother aloan on the sea of 
 life not knowing who to dun. Father could 
 never reely afford to lend money but thare 
 was always a queer streak in the Aliens. 
 They would be awful mean and near with 
 thare famblys and would rave and tair 
 round if much buttar was used in the cook 
 ing (grandmother Allen's privet reseat 
 books reflects that) and yet would lend 
 money to torn dick and Harry without
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 hardly any fuss. In father it was worst 
 of all. Thank goodness thare aint no 
 sines of it in Jim or the childern and I 
 got a theory that it reached its highest 
 point (or climax) in father, came to a head 
 and busted. 
 
 I'm a great believer in herredity, because 
 I know if it dont come out one way it will 
 in another. There was a man down to 
 Chictooset that stuttered something terri 
 ble; but he managed to stammer out a pro 
 posal of matrimony and she said yes. In 
 due coarse of time a dear little baby boy 
 was born to them named Willie, but it wan't 
 a great while (and here comes the saddest 
 and curiousest part of my story) it wan't 
 a very great while before he was found to 
 be a deef and dumb mute by hollering and 
 setting off fire crackers and tin pans and 
 anything they wanted to right under his 
 nose and he didn't move a mussle. Broken 
 hearted as his payrents was there was one 
 gleam of brightness in this sad and sollem 
 8s
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 picture. Their little child could never in 
 herit his father's ailment. 
 
 But when he got big enough to go to one 
 of them mute alphabet schools and learned 
 it, what did he begin to do but stutter with 
 his fingers ! It made his teachers awful ner 
 vous to see him recite, especially as his little 
 school-mates used to giggle to see his fingers 
 rub together and flop round jest like his 
 father's tongue when he tried to get any 
 thing out or off, I had ought to say. If 
 that don't show the onresistable foarce of 
 heriddity I should like to know what it 
 does show! 
 
 I was made to think of this the other day 
 when Mr. Spinney showed us a note from 
 his friend Shannon Brien (grandson of 
 Felix O'Brien of Pawtucket) signed R. H. 
 Brieno. Him and Mr. Spinney is study 
 ing Esperanto and that was what the note 
 was writ in. Probbly you know already 
 what Mr. Spinney told us, that in Esperanto 
 every noun, no matter whether it's propper 
 
 86
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 or impropper, has to end with an O so there 
 hadn't ought to be anything anyways start 
 ling to see the signature, R. H. Brieno. 
 But what I done was to yell out> "There's 
 his grandfather's O back again!" He'd 
 dropped it in the yo's. 
 
 Jim takes after father in size. He is big 
 & tall like all the Aliens. Mother was a 
 Shattuck and they was diffrant. The Shat- 
 tucks was all ladys from the word go and 
 they wassent one of them but what kep a 
 riding waggon and rode in stile to meeting 
 and the fare insted of hoofing it like com 
 mon folks. They wassent rich but thay 
 was good providers on that side. Jim's 
 childern comes from a good and generus 
 stork. But Mother was a little mite of a 
 thing (Sis is as much like her as 2 peas) 
 and I spose opposits attack. Mother had 
 another Offar befoar she took up with 
 father. It was a sea capten that was a 
 funny looking wizened up little man with 
 a hook nose and kind of bent up dubble 
 
 87
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 but a kind and honest hart and money in 
 the bank that he plaiced at Mother's dis 
 posal which she declined. Some of her re 
 lations demonstrated with her saying that 
 he was a sea capten and went to forrin parts 
 and she could have so many little curiositys. 
 "Yes," says she, "if thay looked like thair 
 father thay would be little curiositys." 
 
 Soon after she was left a widder her 
 bosom freind, Mrs. Alvarus B. Whinney, 
 died and she didn't have no gloves for the 
 funerell. Mother was a naturel born lady 
 and newer enjoyed a funerel unless she 
 was sootably and respectively Dressed. 
 She newer borrered anything^ not even 
 Trubble. She couldn't stay away from the 
 funerell and it was Borne in upon her with 
 equell foarce that she couldent go without 
 gloves. Jest as plane as if it was wrote in 
 fire in the Heavens was the other remain 
 dering fack that she couldent buy any 
 Gloves. But sech things didnt faze Mother 
 a great while. On the morning of the day
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 when Mrs. Whinney, the neatest woman 
 in Chictooset and her dearest freind, was 
 to be laid quietly away among the flowers 
 that showed in what Esteam the diseased 
 was held while she was blacking the stove 
 a thought came to her that she pursewed to 
 a practical end. 
 
 She went to the funerell, set with the 
 Moarners, and folks said she was the most 
 Genteel persen pressant. Everything went 
 off fine. But it struck Mother kind of 
 funny that there should be cornsiddable 
 dust on the parler tables and chares because 
 Mrs. Whinney was a duster first and a 
 woman afterwords. She beleaved that 
 Clenliness was nex to godlyness but she 
 rated it nex higher instead of lower. It was 
 said nobody had scarcely ever seen her 
 without a dust cloth somewhares about her 
 person and no fly was allowed inside of the 
 front gate. Well, Mother was thinking of 
 this and wondering how she could Lay 
 thare so carm and pcacefull when you could
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 write your name on the furniture when all 
 to once she was Startled by hearing the 
 preacher say "Our dear Departed one will 
 return to dust!" 
 
 It gave her quite a turn. Before she left 
 the house old Squire Henbury that is as 
 rich as creases and hadn't seen her since 
 Father died came up to her and held out 
 his hand as he asked her how she did. She 
 didn't take his hand and he, thinking she 
 didn't notice his, made a grab to take aholt 
 of hers. She pulled it away without letting 
 him touch it and marched out with her 
 cheeks burning and her little head held 
 high same as it always was when she was 
 mortifide to death and wanted to hide it 
 somewheres. 
 
 Next day she got a letter from him say 
 ing he didn't blame her for the way she 
 treated him but money had been awful tight 
 and he was calkilating to pay her later on, 
 seeing she didn't really nead it. (That 
 shows how well she consealed her povarty.) 
 90
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 But seeing how she felt about it he was 
 making some sacrifices to pay her half of 
 the $786.64 now which was what the prin 
 cipal and interest amounted to and the rest 
 in 3 months. 
 
 Praps she dident jist about go craizy for 
 joy. This meant a home for us all because 
 she had a sellar towards it already besides 
 the land. She had tryed to sell it but no 
 body wanted it and now she saw everything 
 had worked out for the best. In a story 
 she would of been found unconscionable 
 with the lettar clutched in her hand. But 
 that wan't Mother. She had put off the 
 weak's wash, not fealing equel to it but now 
 she was so excited and nerved up she got 
 out the tubs and set Jim to fetching water 
 from the well. You know how put-off 
 washes grow. Well this was a rouser. But 
 Mother done every scrap of it and hung 
 them out by moonlight. She couldent sleep 
 that night but she dident want to. She was 
 so happy she wanted to lay awake and en-
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 joy it. She knew then that the squire had 
 judged rightly that she knew nothing of 
 the det but his gilded conscience had took 
 a meaning from her refusing to taik his 
 hand that she dreamed not of. Her hands 
 was blacked with stove polish instead of 
 gloves. I must close now. You see how it 
 was about the lettar getting all soiled up. 
 Bub will be more careful nex time. 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 92
 
 XIV 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 We have had a party and it went off fine 
 all but the first hour of it, when I was 
 afraid each one of the party would go off 
 seperate, it was so awful dull. But first I 
 must tell you how it happened. When 
 Mrs. Ezra Sawyer's house took afire but 
 most of it was spared by the all-devouring 
 eliment, she made them take her best furni- 
 toor and her bricky-back into our house till 
 she returned from her Sister's whose arms 
 opened to recieve her and her nerves had 
 got all unstrung from the shock. The fire 
 happened in the night. She was asleep and 
 the flames broke out and when they Hol 
 lered to her she says she dident hardly have 
 time to recover herself and escaip. They 
 was rich, handsome furnitoor and we was 
 
 93
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 so afraid of marring it up that Mame said 
 we would poke our things into the kitchen 
 and bedroom best way we could and set 
 hers round in the parler and setting-room. 
 We all helped and myl if our rooms dident 
 look grand when we got through! It 
 seamed like we was off somewheres on a 
 visit. There was a sollid oak center table 
 which we placed in the middle of the par 
 ler and set on it a big image with wings 
 but no head. First off I thought it had got 
 broke off by the fire but Mr. Spinney ex- 
 planed that it never had no head. I al 
 ways heard that geniuses had queer notions 
 but this was the funnyest of all, making a 
 woman without any head. Mr. Spinney 
 said the artist being a sinnick about women 
 and calkilating they didn't need no place to 
 keep branes in might explain it. I thought 
 praps it represented Mary, Queen of scots 
 on her way to heaven, especially as there 
 was something on it about it being executed 
 
 94
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 somewheres. Then we found at the side a 
 little broken brass tag and all that was left 
 of it was Victory of Sam No doubt, 
 then, it meant Uncle Sam and celebrated 
 an American victory. Only the figger not 
 having no head might mean he intended it 
 not for any particklar nation or clime but 
 for all nations and all climes jest plain 
 straight woman and any kind of a face or 
 head would give her away as belongin to 
 some special one, same as the duch madon 
 nas. 
 
 Jim said as she must have been a woman 
 who only lost her head once, the thing was 
 so onusual the artist seazed his opportunity. 
 
 Sis is awful matter-of-fack (she's almost 
 pure Shattuck) and she thought the plaster 
 had give out; that he used so much on them 
 big wings there wan't none left for the 
 head. 
 
 Mame said, "If a woman's got wings she 
 don't need no head. She don't have to plan 
 
 95
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 to keep out of trubble when she can fly 
 away from it. Still," she added reflectu- 
 ally, "I would incline to a head." 
 
 "Well, anyway," says Jim, "that makes 
 2 women I know that you can't get a head 
 of." 
 
 By this time Sis had tried onto the boddy 
 her new doll's head and much to every one's 
 joy it fitted. A pink necktie fastened it on 
 secure and there she was compleat. 
 
 While we was rushing round having 
 such a good time fixing things up, Jim 
 (who is tall & big and called kind of 
 clumsy even by them that loves him best) 
 stepped twice on the cat's tail. 
 
 "I'm awful sorry," he says, when she let 
 out quite a sizable "yeouw," "but its on ac 
 count of me being so lofty. I don't see her 
 because she's so fur off." 
 
 "Yes, it's a case of 'fur off' all right," 
 says Mr. Spinney, taking her up and ex 
 amining her injerrys. "But you haddent 
 ought to mutilate her like this."
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Diddent she mew till late herself last 
 night? I had to throw everything at her 
 I could find, even a box of matches." 
 
 "That was dangerous," says Mame. 
 
 "Yes," he says, "especially as they all of 
 'em lit on the cat. But I am sometimes 
 foarced to give pain though I have a great 
 sole." 
 
 "Sometimes because of it," says Mr. 
 Spinney, glancing at his feet. "Come, Kit, 
 you'd better repair to your cat-acombs," 
 opening the seller doar for her to pass 
 down. 
 
 When we was hanging the pictures he 
 says "Here is a madonna by a living artist 
 and I don't like it. I don't like any of the 
 madonnas done by the living artists." 
 
 That dident sound reasonable to me but 
 I dident say nothing. But Sis did. She 
 says, "I should think their being alive 
 would help out quite a lot when they was 
 painting." 
 
 "Now this for instants," he says. "Look 
 97
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 at the stagy hair and pose. Somebody 
 might inquire what actress it is." 
 
 "It's Mary AND her son," says Jim. Then 
 there was a portrait of Marthy Washington 
 painted in impressionistic stile that I dident 
 care for. I thought at first it was a mareen 
 view. 
 
 After everything had been put in place 
 and we was standing round admiring it 
 Mame says, "Let's have a party 1" 
 
 Seeing Jim was about to speak she says, 
 "Now, Jim Allen, don't you say a word! 
 I know that we can't as well as you do; 
 but let's send out the invertations quick, 
 before we find out for sure we can't 1" 
 
 Then she reminded us there was two 
 Chictooset ladys avisiting in the city and 
 it wouldent do no harm for them to go 
 home and tell folks we was living in stile. 
 
 So Sis was sent right out with the inverta 
 tions. It was going to be the next night 
 and we had to hussle pretty lively to get 
 ready. At first everything seamed to go
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 wrong. Mame and Mandy had poor luck 
 with their doenuts. They soaked fat and 
 was soggy. (I mean the doenuts did.) 
 When Jim came in to suppar he heard 
 Mame say, "Come, let's rest from our 
 labors." 
 
 "They shall rest from their labors," he 
 says, "and their works shall foller them," 
 aiming a doenut at each one but missing 
 them, I am glad to say. 
 
 When Mame remarke'd that we must 
 count noses in making the cakes, Sis says, 
 "Count 2 apiece for Mrs. Patterson and the 
 Tortrums. Mrs. Patterson has got to bring 
 her Aged mother-in-law that is hard of 
 hearing, on account of fire or burglars, and 
 the Tortrums is going to bring along their 
 little boy 'cause there's no one to stay with 
 him. His mother says she is going to take 
 the libberty of letting him stay all night 
 because she don't want to wake him up at 
 10 or ii. The docter says he mussent be 
 broke of his rest." 
 
 99
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Well, all right," says Mame; "only we 
 mussent let his mother go into the boys' 
 bedroom with him. It would give the 
 whole thing away." The room is so full 
 of our furnitoor the boys has to clime in 
 over tables & chares and ondress on top 
 of the organ. They'd been practicing it 
 all day so as to do it in a noiseless manner 
 when the time come. "Should she show 
 any signs of follering him into the room," 
 she continooed, addressing all pressant, 
 "take what mezzures you can to keep her 
 out. Don't stop at anything should sech a 
 thing ockur." 
 
 "What can we tell her that is true?" I 
 inquired, wishing to be armed at every 
 point. 
 
 "Tell her anything that comes into your 
 head. There is no times for childish 
 scrooples. Trust to the Insperration of the 
 moment and all the gumption you can com 
 mand. If nothing else comes to you tell 
 100
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 her you think you smell smoke in the front 
 of the house and she had better get out 
 as quick as she can." 
 
 "Then she'll want to save her boy." 
 
 "From what I know of the boy, that's 
 the last thing she'd want to do." 
 
 And then we had to plan about othar 
 things. 
 
 Soon as suppar the nex night, when I 
 was ready to put on the other dress, I found 
 it might jest as well be in North Utopia 
 as fur as me getting it was conserned. It 
 was in the Close press and between me and 
 that close press was more things all on 
 top of each othar than could be moved in 
 2 hours. 
 
 Mr. Spinney remarked afterwards that 
 no one, to the best of his nolledge and abil- 
 lity, had ever been so close pressed for 
 time. 
 
 I was standing in the entry wondering 
 what Mother would do in a simular crisiss, 
 101
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 when Ellen came down to ask if there wan't 
 something else she could tend to. (She 
 had been helping all day and so had her 
 mother). She was dressed for the party, 
 in pink, and looked too pretty to be reel. 
 She thought a minute as she looked at my 
 old calico sack and skirt and then she says, 
 "Come on up stairs. It wont do no harm 
 to try." 
 
 I follered her up and she took me right 
 into her bedroom. "Now," she says, "is my 
 chanst; I've alwers wondered what you'd 
 look like in a decent I mean kind of a 
 stilish dress." When she took out a pretty 
 blue one with a little white lace trimming, 
 I says, "Please don't fool now, Ellen, dear; 
 I know Mame will call me in a minute 
 and I'm scared to face her. Tell me what 
 I can do." 
 
 She didn't make no reply but in another 
 minute she was squeezing me into the blue 
 dress. "Hold in your breath," she com- 
 102
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 manded. "More and more. There!" she 
 says, "I have got it to, all but 2 hooks. 
 Draw in again as if your life depended on 
 it." 
 
 I done so, thinking perhaps it did. 
 (Mame would feel bad if I wasent ready 
 at half past 7.) 
 
 With Mrs. Hennersy's help I was in it 
 at last. "Now set down here!" agane com 
 manded Ellen; "and I'll fix your hair a 
 little bit." And what did that girl do but 
 fluff it up and rig it up into a Pompeydore. 
 I wouldent let her do sech a foolish thing 
 any other time, but she had took possession 
 of me and there was no time to argew. I 
 had no breath for it either, the blue dress 
 was so tight. My blood dident circulate, 
 and it all felt as if it had settled in my 
 cheeks, for they looked as rozy as Ellen's 
 when she showed me myself (what must 
 be myself) in the glass. It was then half 
 past 7 and I run down stairs. Mame 
 103
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 thought I was some one come to the party 
 and she had ackchelly put out her hand to 
 shake hands before she saw it was me. 
 
 "You look slick!" she says, and hollered 
 for Jim to come and see me. I would of 
 felt awful foolish if there was time to feal 
 anyway which there wassent. They was a 
 duzzen last things to attend to and poor 
 Mame was on the verge of high sterricks 
 with nervous fateeg. 
 
 At last everything was ready and we all 
 set down in the parler waiting, Sis nearest 
 the door to ancer the bell. But the bell 
 seamed to be like the notes that "dont re- 
 quier no ancer." We set and set and set 
 and come to the Conclusion at lenth that 
 nobody was coming to the party. The boys 
 was saying, "Can't we eat up the treat?" 
 when there came the long-expeckted sound 
 of the bell. We all stood up and Sis pulled 
 out her sash and went to the door. It was 
 a man wanted to know if we wished to buy 
 any soap. Another long period of distress- 
 104
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 ful and anxious waiting during which time 
 me and Jim's lungs was trying to breathe 
 in their unwonted imprisonment. Jim had 
 on the same he wore to the pickanick, with 
 the exceptions of him having on his light 
 checked trousers instead of the golf ones. 
 The evening coat was pretty tight. 
 
 Finally they began to arrive and then fol- 
 lered that othar distressful period to which 
 I refurred at the beginning of my lettar. 
 After we introdooced them that dident 
 know each othar and they all said, "I am 
 pleased to make your acquaintence," there 
 diddent seem to be anything more to say. 
 We all set round in uttar silence. We 
 couldent get the party started in. We had 
 been undar the delusion that we had worked 
 hard getting ready for the party, but here 
 was a jorb on our Hands comp aired to 
 which the othar was nothing but twerling 
 your thums. It was dretful. That silance 
 grew and grew and time went on till you 
 could hardly recolleck what a sound was. 
 105
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Noboddy dasted to speak. Mame said 
 afterwards she had to dig her nales into 
 her parms to keep from screaming. They 
 all looked at us as much as to say, "We defy 
 you to entertane us." Then, again, they 
 seemed in a voiceless way to reproach us. 
 "We was in pleasant, happy, noisy homes 
 and we nevar asked to come to you. You 
 have bidden us here and to what end?" A 
 woman clared her throte and we all jumped. 
 I was awful proud of Mame when at last 
 she said (her voice tremling) that it was 
 quite mild for this season of the year. I 
 knew what currige it took because any re 
 mark projeckted onto that silance was like 
 speaking a peice on the tree-top. Some 
 muttared out "Yes," but one woman who 
 on that account I thought was cut out for 
 a ruler in one of them french saloons, says, 
 "But it aint healthy and there's considdable 
 sickness will foller." 
 
 More silance, worse than befoar, because 
 106
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 this last sentance stayed in the air and we 
 kep ahearing it and ahearing it (in our 
 mind's eye) till it seamed like some dyer 
 profissey. It kep afloating round the room, 
 reverberating through your interiar then 
 getting loose agane and kerfflambering 
 round till it seamed like they was playing 
 batterydore and shuttarcock with it. Jim 
 said afterwards he'd heard of lights that 
 makes the darkness visable, and here'd been 
 a sound that made the silance audable. 
 
 Down to Chictooset it was alwers so 
 differant. You could say, "Is your Plim- 
 muth rock alaying?" or, "Does your cow 
 give a good mess?" which would illicit a 
 reply sech as "Yes, she gives 12 quarts of 
 milk and thinks nothing of it," or, "We 
 get an aig from her every day of her life." 
 Then there would be a nice soshel talk 
 on objecks of common and uncommon in- 
 terrest. We all went to the same meeting 
 down there so we could always disgust the 
 107
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 preacher and the sermen. Here every 
 body was a differant kind of a denomina 
 tion. 
 
 Well, at last when we had about decided 
 to vittle them up and let them get out alive 
 from this living toom (Jim had kep alook- 
 ing at his wach to see if it wan't time, but 
 it wan't) the front doar opaned and in 
 came Mr. Spinney. He went up to them he 
 knowed and shook their hand good and 
 harty, uttaring some cute and plessant re 
 marks to each one, and he done the same 
 to the new ones we introdooced to him. 
 Then he says, "Ladies and gentlemen, I 
 beleive you are not awair that I have come 
 from the insultin of Turkey to entertane 
 you to-night. I am his Magesty's magi 
 cian," and then he went on a long funny 
 rigmarole that set everybody laughing, an 
 nouncing he was going to give us examples 
 of Turkish magic. "First, however," he 
 said, "I must remove my coat." (Sure 
 enough, the frost had all gone.) 
 1 08
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 When he came back he done all kinds of 
 imposserble things, or praps I should say 
 improbable things. He took aigs out of his 
 hat that was Empty, till Mame was afraid 
 he would drop them on Mrs. Sawyer's beau 
 tiful rugs. She might have knowed he 
 wouldn't. Then he put a ball under a dish 
 and it come out a canary bird (our Dick), 
 and all sech capers. No one could see how 
 it was done and the last thing he done was 
 to chainge a flag into a bunch of pinks and 
 he gave a pink to each lady, and some of 
 them was almost scared to touch one, fear 
 ing it would blow up, or something. 
 
 By this time there was so much laughing 
 and hooting and talking going on you 
 couldent hear yourself speak. Everybody 
 thawed out and the Chictooset ladys had a 
 hundred things to tell us and for us to tell 
 them. They said I had improved for the 
 bettar and said I looked years younger. I 
 dident take no creddit to myself. I knew 
 it w.as all the gownd and the Pompeydore. 
 109
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Then we played games and among them 
 was parler steaple chase. 
 
 Most probly you have seen it. Obsta- 
 ckles sech as the organ stool, the cuspydoar, 
 the oil stove, a foot stool, a child's rocker, 
 ect, is put along the lenth of the room and 
 the gentlemen is told to take a good look at 
 them, so to be familliar with the distance 
 between them befoar they are blindfolded. 
 Then you tell them they have got to walk 
 from one end to the othar of the room blind 
 folded, stepping ovar the obstackles and not 
 teching them. Well, all the men was blind 
 folded and then what did Mrs. Peterson 
 do but take away all the obstackles so the 
 men when they done the stunt was trying 
 to step ovar imaginery ones. It was the 
 most fun I evar saw, they all felt so proud 
 when they got to the end of the row without 
 touching one (when they wassent there at 
 all). I laughed till I cried to see Jim and 
 Mr. Tortrum do it; they lifted their legs 
 so high and so cautious, 
 no
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 But when it was Mr. Spinney's turn I 
 felt differant. Seeing him start out blind 
 folded with his hands held out before him 
 and everybody tittering and wanting to see 
 him made a fool of, it seemed so pitifull I 
 couldn't stand it. So I made an excuse to 
 go into the kitchen. I think what made me 
 feel so was because it was so diffrant from 
 usuel. He was always the one to practice 
 joaks and to jolly people and it dident seem 
 naturel to see him the innocent vicktim of 
 a trick. When I heard the shouts that told 
 it had all been found out, I went back and 
 he looked reel releaved when he saw I 
 hadent been there. He was soon caperin 
 around cutting up all kinds of shines. 
 
 Right in the midst of the tumult Mrs. 
 Tortrum said she guessed she would go and 
 see to McFarland (that was her boy) to 
 find out if he was propparly tucked in and 
 had said his little prare. I had accom- 
 panyed them to bed and I had made them 
 all say "Now I lay me" but that was all 
 in
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 they could carm themselves down to say. 
 That one seems to go with high sperrits, be 
 ing breaf and not requiering much com- 
 posher. 
 
 Well, when she said that I went to her as 
 quick as I could and told her I wished she 
 wouldent. That our little boys was extry 
 moddest about having outsiders see them in 
 their night gowns and it would shaim and 
 mortify them to see a strange lady a enter 
 ing their bed room. 
 
 She had begun to say "Good gracious," 
 and was agoing jest the same when she saw 
 Mame alooking at her. I guess there was 
 a look in Mame's eye that made her sud- 
 dently change her mind because she dident 
 make no more attempts to permeate the 
 sanctitty of their room. 
 
 By and by Mr. Spinney come to me and 
 says, "If Ellen Hennersy gives me per 
 mission to put my arm round her waste 
 would you do it, if you was me?" 
 112
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Course," says I, not thinking she would 
 give the permission. 
 
 "Can I put my arm round your waste, 
 Miss Hennersy?" he says. 
 
 "What? my blue one? Sure you can." 
 And then he made for me, but I got behind 
 Jim. Him and her had fixed up the joak 
 to fool me. 
 
 I noticed he kept his eye on the dress all 
 the evening. He has always said Ellen has 
 got perfeck taste in dress. I spose he 
 thought it was like a proffernation for any 
 body else to wear it. 
 
 We couldent carm the compenny down 
 enough to eat refreshments for a long time. 
 We jest didn't darst to take a tray or a pile 
 of Mrs. Sawyer's fancy plaits into sech a 
 tumulturous crowd. Jim and Mr. Spinney 
 had to nock on the table several times be- 
 foar they could make themselves heard and 
 for them to set down. They all et harty 
 of the refreshments and at one time I was 
 "3
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 kind of afraid there wouldent be none left 
 for the boys. I wassent going to take none 
 myself but Mr. Spinney made me by say 
 ing he wouldent if I dident. He had 
 earned his, sure. 
 
 Just then the women begun to explain O 
 you darling, O the precious lamb of earth 
 (Jim says he thogt they meant him) and 
 made for the entry door. For what was 
 standing there, his curly head all towsled 
 and his pretty eyes ablinking and looking 
 round in wonder at the goings on but our 
 baby. Then there was a scuffle and a 
 scramble on the stairs and in the entry and 
 all the other boys appeared on the scean 
 jest as they had got out of bed pertending 
 they had come to capcher Baby but in real 
 ity to witness the festivertys in person and 
 claim their share of the treat. Mame was 
 for driving them all off again but when she 
 see how poplar they was and how bent the 
 men folks was on feeding them up she let 
 them set round the kitchen table and the 
 114
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 men waited on them and I dont know which 
 made the most noise. 
 
 I aint seen Mrs. Tortrum sence and I 
 would jest as lives not come in contack with 
 her till this sudden eppysodehad faded from 
 her mind. 
 
 Old Mrs. Peterson was a dear old lady 
 and because she was kind of deef she dident 
 take much part in the conversation only once 
 in a while. But she set and smiled and 
 seamed glad to see othars having a good 
 time. She is almost 86 and is very gentle 
 and composed. During refreshments a 
 woman near her was telling about being 
 tormented with rats in her house that she 
 paid a high rent for, and the old lady 
 showed she heard about all that was said. 
 Then another woman mentioned her hav 
 ing canvassers come to the door quite fre- 
 quant, more frequant, she added, than was 
 sometimes desired. "What do you do, Mrs. 
 Peterson," she says, "to get rid of them?" 
 
 The dear old saint, not knowing the sub- 
 115
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 ject of conversation had been changed, re 
 plied with her soft voice and gentle smile, 
 "I alwers give em rough on rats. I don't 
 find anything else so satisfactory." 
 
 Mr. Spinney set down to the peannar and 
 played and sang and everyboddy joined in. 
 It was morning when the party went away 
 and a gay crowd it was. Jim says, "Look 
 out, or folks will think that wan't water 
 we pored out of the bottle." His mean 
 ing was us using minnerell water. It don't 
 seam temperet to be poring it from a bottle 
 because it seams as if it would lead to some 
 thing werse. But we are using it because 
 there is said to be annimel substants in the 
 fasset water. Mrs. Hennersy wont drink it 
 on f riday no more. 
 
 When they had all gone and we was so 
 happy because it had passed off so fine Jim 
 says, "Yes, and Lyddy Rogers says she's go 
 ing to send a peice about it to the Chick- 
 tooset Arrow. And she's going to set it 
 116
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 out in great stile. We'll all see it Friday 
 night." 
 
 Mame could jest gasp out "Oh!" in ex- 
 tattick tones, for this was the crowning 
 point of her zeenith. 
 
 "But," continued Jim, "I hope you don't 
 forget we've got to go slow on butter for 
 a month and thare mussent he a speck of 
 suger brought in here till then, and we got 
 to give up having the setting-room pa 
 pered." 
 
 "Huh!" says Mame; "who cares anything 
 about suger and butter! I don't care if I 
 never see eather agane. Our party has 
 been the most splendid ever!" 
 
 But she had jest been having oyster stew 
 and ice-cream, and I guess she felt ruther 
 differant nex day. You can't think what 
 hungar is on a full stomick. That is why 
 fasting and arms deeds goes together. 
 You've got to fast in ordar to pitty the poor, 
 and even then it don't last long. To pitty 
 117
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 the poor like they deserve to be pittyed you 
 have got to be poor yourself. And then 
 you ain't got nothing to give em. It's a 
 puzzle all round. 
 
 I tried not to think when we was feasting 
 and singing that only a little ways off there 
 was people going to bed supparless. 
 
 So no more at pressant from 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 118
 
 XV 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I hope you wan't kep awake las night by 
 the celebration by the college boys on the 
 Hill. Lyddy Rogers of Chictooset has jest 
 ben in and she was laughing about them 
 taking Mr. Mandell's Sign, Interior Dec- 
 kyrator and putting it over the caterer's 
 door next to it. 
 
 Lyddy is one of the Chictooset ladies that 
 was here to the party. We wouldn't have 
 known she was in town if she hadn't met 
 Jim and Mame on the street the Sunday 
 before. They didn't know her because she 
 looked so high-toned, but she stopped them 
 and says to Jim, "Aint I seen this face be 
 fore?" 
 
 "I shouldn't wonder," he says, "I've wore 
 it quite a spell." 
 
 119
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "It's the face of a little boy that used to 
 be awfull kind to his mother," she says 
 aholding out her hand^ "it aint changed a 
 bit!" 
 
 "Neither has the little boy inside," says 
 Mame, and then they all had a good laugh, 
 for they knew then it was Lyddy. 
 
 When Mame told her she didn't know 
 her on account of her looking so fine, 
 Lyddy says, "Law! It's nothing but this 
 new street suit. Any woman would look 
 fine in it. You know it takes 9 tailers to 
 make a man but one tailer can make a 
 woman." 
 
 Then Lyddy had a lot of questions to 
 ask about the fambly and promised to come 
 and see us, so here she come this morning 
 and we had a lovely talk over old times. 
 To be sure she was here to the party but 
 that wan't like seeing us alone. We see 
 that she was properous and she told us all 
 about the business she'd took up. 
 
 There's so many new and curious ways 
 120
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 for women to earn their living now-days 
 that we aint hardly ever surprised at any 
 thing in that line. There's them that packs 
 trunks for them that's too lazy to do it for 
 themselves going on a journey, them that 
 amuse inverlids ect; but the funniest of all, 
 it 'pears to me, is Lyddy Rogers making a 
 lot of money jest by taking people down. 
 We always knew Lyddy could do it and 
 did do it but you would have supposed that 
 with sech a habit as that she'd be apt to lose 
 by it instead of gaining. 
 
 It all come about accidental, same as so 
 many great discoveries has ben made in 
 times past. Histerry is jest reeking with 
 them, same as Galilee O. inventing clocks 
 with faces jest by watching the oscu 
 lations of the shandylear in the meeting 
 house. 
 
 A freind of hers heard her use her sharp 
 tongue once (once in particular, I mean), 
 and she laughed and says, "I'll give you 
 5$, Lyd, if you come- over to my house 
 
 (121
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 and give my sister-in-law a whack like that. 
 I fairly aik to do it but I aint going to 
 make trouble for Fred. You're out of the 
 family and you could do it all right." 
 
 "Going to be home to-morrow night?" 
 says Lyddy, quick like. 
 
 "Yes," says her f reind ; why?" 
 "Are you sure you've got the 5$?" 
 "Sure I have. You don't mean " 
 "No matter what I mean. Jest have her 
 there. That's all." 
 
 Neither one has ever told jest what oc- 
 kurred but Marietta (that's the f reind) 
 laughs whenever the subject is mentioned 
 and I guess she doubled her fee because 
 nex morning Lyddy marched into Seth 
 Limpet's, the undertaker's, and hove a ten 
 doller bill on the counter asaying, "Here's 
 ten more, Seth; I guess we're creeping 
 along." 
 
 "Now, Lyddy," begun Mr. Limpet, "if 
 it aint puffickly convenient jest now " 
 "You take that money, Seth Limpet," 
 122
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 says she, "and say nothing. I don't know 
 when I'll have any more to give you, but 
 I know I will some time. I'd die if I 
 thought I couldn't and dying's a lugsury I 
 can't afford!" 
 
 It was towards her father's funeral ex 
 penses. He'd ben a pairalettic for thirty 
 odd years and she'd took care of him and 
 supported him all that time. Before his 
 own money was all used up (and he'd had 
 quite a pile) he used to say, "Save enough 
 to bury me, Lyddy; don't forget that," es 
 pecially when she bought some little lug 
 sury that he thought he could do without. 
 
 But Lyddy, though she'd say "Yes, 
 Father," very dutiful, never skimped him 
 in anything. 
 
 She was put to it to know what to do 
 when she'd got to use the money in the 
 strong-box. It was what he'd saved up all 
 his life when he was aworking and when 
 he got bed-ridden he liked to finger it and 
 Count it ovar. But she mannidged to get 
 123
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 aholt of some counterfit money of the same 
 diggrees and put it in its place. He used 
 to love to handle it ovar and ovar and he 
 would say, "That's the very 2-dollar bill me 
 and your mother dident use going to con 
 ference one year. We talked it ovar and 
 settled down we'd ruther add it up to what 
 we was saving for you when we was gone. 
 I know it by the little peice that's gone 
 offer the corner" (Lyddy had saw to that). 
 "Then this old five-dollar one that's so dirty 
 & Crumped up" (poor Lyd had squshed it 
 up and rubbed it round on the barn floar 
 so's to coppy after the one she had to give 
 the grocar) , that one's the summer me and 
 her sold all the strawberrys we picked in 
 room of having them picked for suppar 
 most evry night. Land! we had enough 
 othar things, and she says, "the baby'll find 
 that handy sometime." And so he'd go on, 
 smoothing out the bills, his thin old hands 
 ashaking, and making kind of sandwiches 
 with the paper money and the cents and all 
 124
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 sech capers, & he'd go off to sleep with the 
 strong-box in his hands. 
 
 Some folks suffer an awful sight through 
 their partickler virtews being, like Lyddy, 
 put so she couldent practice her besetting 
 virtew. That with her was being honest and 
 alwers telling the truth, no matter what 
 happened. It was awfull hard against her 
 nater to keep up a bluff like this while some 
 folks I know would have a reglar pickanick 
 adoing it. She told us afterwards that the 
 words "Pa, I ben afooling yer," was right 
 on the surfiss for years and she'd had a terri 
 ble struggle to keep 'em back. One day 
 after all them years she couldent stand it no 
 longer and she felt 'em acoming out at last, 
 "Pa, I ben afooling yer!" says the words 
 ('twant her at all, she says) as she was ago 
 ing into his bedroom. But he dident hear 
 them and he nevar heard nothing else in 
 this world. 
 
 The spewrious money was alaying in nice 
 little piles on the bed-quilt and on two of 
 125
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 them laid a hand that had stopped its 
 trembling and was still. 
 
 She picked out for him the most costly 
 casket there was when she didn't have but 
 75 cents to her name. No one darsted to 
 offer to help her but one woman told her 
 she'd ought to be more modderit and not 
 burden herself with quite sech a large debt. 
 
 "The debt'll be paid," she says; "I know 
 there's a Gawd." 
 
 The docter told her it would be useless 
 to try to do any hard work on account of 
 the serious ailments she'd contracted (con 
 tracted!) so she couldn't do no more tailor 
 ing nor nursing, things she understood so 
 thorough. So she'd ben jes puttering along 
 earning a quarter here and fifty cents there 
 till she struck this new business. 
 
 Well, it got round about her taking down 
 Antoinette Henbury and all to once she 
 come to be awful poplar in the towns round 
 there and finally as fur off as Boston (there's 
 lots of former Chictooseters lives in Bos- 
 126
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 ton). Once somebody told her that she'd 
 always ought to look out for the main 
 chance, and she says, "There aint no Maine 
 chance, or why would I come to Massa 
 chusetts?" 
 
 She makes a lot of sech talk but I know 
 she wouldn't marry the best man ever was. 
 When the preacher'd ben talking about 
 there not being in Heaven any marridge 
 or giving in marridge she says that as fur 
 as it concerned her there wouldn't be a great 
 sight of differance between this world and 
 the next! 
 
 Mr. Spinney says that if her business 
 wasn't a private one so she advertises it best 
 by keeping still about it it would best be 
 expressed on her card as "Reducer of Ty 
 rants." 
 
 In a good many famblies there's a tyrant 
 that is worse than Nerow, or any of them 
 histerry tyrants because you can't get quit 
 of them. Sometimes it's the father. It 
 used to be the father up to Squire Henbury's 
 127
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 and I can see poor little Mrs. Henbury 
 now, tremling all over when he hollered at 
 her and she hadn't done a thing. Jest as 
 often it's the woman of the house and the 
 poor hen-pecked husband dreads nothing 
 so much as his own fireside where he hadn't 
 ought to have nothin but loving words and 
 newspapers and carpet slippers. Worse 
 than all he's an objeck of ridicule, which 
 the down-trod woman never is. Then again 
 p'raps it's a young one that has ben give 
 in to so much they keep the whole house 
 hold in an uproar and there aint no peace 
 for anybody. 
 
 Well, Lyddy says it has always made her 
 blood sizzle to see how the rest of the fam- 
 bly would stand it and think they have got 
 to stand it. 
 
 "They have got to stand it," I says, re 
 membering how it used to be at the Squire's 
 and mentioning some of the scenes to her. 
 
 "I wish I'd ben there," she says with a 
 glint in her eye. 
 
 128
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 She was staying a few days at Andrew 
 Perkins's once and that Luhannah Perkins 
 that want but 3 years old was jest about 
 driving them crazy. She had got her 
 stomach out of kilter eating vittles she 
 haddn't ought to and then had to be hu 
 mored because she was sickly. They 
 thought they had to give in to her because 
 she straightened herself out and yelled like 
 all possessed if they didn't. Andrew had 
 got to having nervous headaiks that impli 
 cated his work and things was in pretty bad 
 shaip when Lyddy went there. They didn't 
 think it was right to chastise her but Lyddy 
 has got the old-fashioned belief in the lay 
 ing on of hands. 
 
 She made Mrs. Perkins go off on a visit 
 (nobody else could have done it so that was 
 skilled labor) and she soon fixed it so that 
 Andrew wan't afraid to say "no" for fear 
 of a rumpus. He talks now about the time 
 when he used to have them terrible head 
 aiks and Luhannah is wiping dishes for her 
 129
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 mother at the tendar age of 4, and doing 
 light chores besides. Mrs. Perkins give 
 Lyddy a pretty good sum on the sly, and An 
 drew passed out about the same amount on 
 another sly, but she earned every single cent 
 of it. She admits sech things take it out 
 of her. 
 
 Soon afterwards she was invited to the 
 Lanes'. Jake Lane hadn't ben married a 
 year yet and that pretty little wife of his 
 that made you think of a bright pretty bird 
 when she went there to live looks like she'd 
 ben drawed through 7 cities and a not-hole. 
 It's Jake's mother, a leading membar of 
 the church that's done it. She jest wor 
 ships Jake and it stands to reason it would 
 hurt her feelings to see him all wrapped 
 up in somebody else, but she hadn't ought 
 to take it all out on little Elviny. If old 
 Mrs. Lane had lived seperet it would have 
 ben better, but live seperet she wouldn't. 
 She was going to live along of her boy same 
 as she had always done. Well, she prose- 
 130
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 cuted poor Elviny in a hundred little ways. 
 She wouldn't let her do no work and then 
 jawed her because she had to do it all; and 
 she twitted her about her folks, and that 
 jest about broke the poor little thing's heart. 
 She was jest puning and fading away when 
 Jake asked Lyddy there for a visit. Her 
 strenth laid in the fack that she wan't afraid 
 of anybody and she didn't care a tunket 
 what they said to her. She says she was 
 born with an armer on. 
 
 She begun to twit Mrs. Lane about her 
 folks right before Elviny and to praise up 
 Elviny's folks. Then she asked her (El 
 viny) if she hadn't ever felt no vane regrets 
 after that rich widower that offered himself 
 to her; and said she could now be living in 
 stile if she took him with a hired man, and 
 an otto and all the lugsuries of the season. 
 Then she introduced Jake to put the house 
 in Elviny's name and give her a blowing 
 up for being so meaching and letting Jake's 
 mother make it so hard for him. She knew
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 how far to go in every direction. Elviny 
 mustn't get up too much spunk and her 
 mother-in-law mustn't be let to feel as if 
 she wan't nothing any more to her boy. 
 All them deliket points was fully consid- 
 dered and by the end of 2 months she'd 
 about, as she said, "established the ballance 
 of power." Mrs. Lane has jest writ her 
 how proud she is of Elviny's sponge cake, 
 and that it ackchelly goes ahead of hers 
 though she learnt her to make it by her 
 rule. And it will be into a very peacefull 
 and loving household that any little stranger 
 will come somewheres along the last of the 
 winter or early spring. Between them all 
 she says she got 45$ besides her board. 
 
 She lets domestic sufferers know of her 
 business on the quiet and she has got more 
 orders than she can fill. 
 
 She makes a speciality of women that 
 
 puts on airs and brags about their close and 
 
 their sassiety doings when they go out to 
 
 lunchings and dinners. The woman of the 
 
 132
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 house can't take down company, but Lyddy, 
 who is also company can do it and she does. 
 When they brag she brags, too, and goes 
 them one better. Sometimes she suddintly 
 changes the convasation, as if she was sick 
 and tired of hearing of their doings and 
 havings. That is awful cutting, though it's 
 what they've ben doing themselves, and 
 most probbly they hate her for it. She says 
 the lady of the house is supposed to make 
 it up to her. 
 
 She showed us her little book where she 
 has got 6 dinners and 7 lunchings engaged. 
 One paytron says she had stood the sar 
 casms of a woman she had to invite to her 
 house for her husband's business reasons till 
 she was sometimes jes ready to throw the 
 coffee-pot at her; and the slick way Lyddy 
 answered her back done the whole tablefull 
 good, and they all said they wouldn't of 
 missed it for anything. 
 
 So no more at pressent. 
 
 Your true freind, Jennie Allen. 
 133
 
 XVI 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 We had a beautiful time Sunday after 
 noon in the park. If it had happened be 
 fore Jamesy was called home it would of 
 ben the happyest day of all my life. When 
 Bub and Gussy and me was about ready to 
 start out Mr. Spinney happened to come 
 down stares and was awful surprised we 
 was going to the park. 
 
 "Why!" he says; "my steps is bent in the 
 same derection and if agreeable to all, the 
 same fleet charriot shall convey us thither." 
 And he took each of the boys by the ear and 
 pulled them out the door. The weather 
 was lovely. All nacher seamed to smile 
 and it would of been a poor mizzable set 
 of creachers that wouldent smile back. 
 Praps it was smiling in derision. We are 
 a funny lot, any way you take us. But any- 
 134
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 way it smiled. The little boys was in sech 
 sperrits they couldent hardly contain them 
 selves. Mr. Spinney said he didn't know 
 whether it was because they was too large 
 or too small. They are growing fast in 
 both lattytude and longytude and Mr. Spin 
 ney inquired as he looked admiring at them, 
 if the problem of the descending paternal 
 Wardrobe dident grow more difficult as 
 time wore on. "Yes," I says, "but I've 
 been able to cope with it so fur and I aint 
 worrying about the futur. Bub will be old 
 enough to sell papers between schools and 
 buy first-hand trousers for himself by the 
 time the baby will be ready for a small 
 section of Jim's. I always notice the great 
 Teacher don't send problems we can't work 
 out if we try hard enough." 
 
 When we got into the car Mr. Spinney 
 says to Bub, "Do you still hold the contrack 
 for removing pealings from public places? 
 because if you do there's one now for you 
 to attend to." 
 
 135
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Where?" says Bub, looking around, "I 
 don't see it." 
 
 "Neither do I. It's the pealing of the 
 bells." Everybody in the car laughed, 
 even a disagreeable looking woman in the 
 corner that hadent looked caperble of sech 
 a thing. What he says dont sound funny 
 wrote down but its the quick, cute, unresist- 
 ible way he speaks em. I believe he could 
 read a chapter of Jerry Myer so you would 
 bust right out alaughing. He don't do it 
 to show off, eather. He jest can't help it. 
 We was lucky enough to have sech good 
 compenny on our trip but I thought how 
 much happyer he would be if Ellen was 
 along. When I said so to him and told 
 him I wisht she was with us he sobered 
 right down and dident make no reply. My 
 heart aiked for him. 
 
 When we got to the park it was all so 
 beautiful I cried out, "Oh, aint it jest like 
 Paradise!" 
 
 "Look here!" says Bub; "let's make be- 
 136
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 leave it is Paradise and you two is Adam 
 and Eve and me and Gus is Cain and 
 Able." 
 
 That pleased Mr. Spinney but he re 
 minded him that Cain and Able hadn't 
 never been in Paradise. 
 
 "Then how could it have been Paradise 
 to them?" I says. "Eve must of been hap- 
 pyer after she had her boys than she was 
 befoar that is till Cain's crime. She 
 couldent of had any regrets for Paradise 
 before that happened." Mr. Spinney says, 
 "I never thought of it before but who could 
 they trace Cain's cussedness back to? Adam 
 couldent say to his wife, "He got it from 
 your side of the house," and vicy vercer. 
 It was the only case where a bad man's ac 
 tions couldent be hove off onto some an 
 cestor on the other side." 
 
 Well, we walked along, the boys caper 
 ing around, punching each other for fun 
 and dodging and laughing. When we come 
 to a lovely grove Mr. Spinney motioned to 
 
 137
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 a little rustic seat asaying, "Let's set down 
 here together Eve." 
 
 "There's some longer ones," I says, 
 "where you can have more room. Why 
 not take one of them?" 
 
 "They don't afford jest the same view." 
 I dident see no diffrance in the view but I 
 set down on the one he seleckted. 
 
 "Besides," he added, "it aint room I'm 
 athinking of. There's other things besides 
 room in this world." 
 
 "Yes, there's board. That has to be 
 thought of." 
 
 "Miss Allen," he says, in a tone of dis- 
 pare, "a continoous and exclusive rappar 
 environment has took all sentiment out of 
 your soul. It is well I have brought you 
 for one breef hour to a rapparless world. 
 Look around you! behold the vast blue fir- 
 nament above you! clouds there, if you will, 
 but no rappars. The trees in all their Ver- 
 during beauty stands around us innocent of 
 rappars. The little birds soaring skyward 
 
 138
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 have never heard of a rappar in all their 
 happy little lives. Their pretty songs con 
 vey no note of rappars and the worm within 
 their bills when it turns as we are told it 
 does at rare intervals, sees not a rappar in 
 all the sky or landerscrape. The sward 
 beneath your feat is gemmed with flowers 
 but not with wrappers. Look down as 
 closely as you will you cannot decern the 
 tiniest tender shoot of a budding rappar 
 abusting through the brown mould. With 
 the splendid autumn air, we breathe in no 
 rappars. You are now in a world in which 
 there is no rappars, nor giving in rappars 
 and 'twas I that brought you here!" 
 
 His voice was getting louder and louder 
 and he made all Kinds of jesters, pointing 
 around. I was awful scared because I 
 thought his intellecks was unhinged from 
 worry about his mother and the way Ellen 
 was treating him. I tried to carm him 
 down by telling him she had asked me only 
 the day before how he was getting along. 
 
 139
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 I hadent told him before for fear of giving 
 him too much encouridgement. But now, 
 says I, anything to soothe and moderate him 
 down. Then he laughed and inquired if I 
 hadent been acquainted with Edward J. 
 Spinney long enough to know when he was 
 fooling. "But honest, Jen," says he, "Don't 
 you get everlasting sick of them rappars?" 
 
 "Why!" I says, not knowing yet, what to 
 make of him. "I love the work. Most of 
 all because I can do 'em to home and be 
 with my folks all the time. But rappars 
 themselves is clean and honest." 
 
 "But not uplifting." 
 
 "That's what they are more than any 
 thing else," I cried; "anyway to me. 
 When I set sewing on them the most beauti 
 ful thoughts comes to me thoughts about 
 mother and Jamesy and heaven thoughts 
 about how I can do something to help peo 
 ple the very most I can, even if its nothin 
 more than tying a woman's shoe in the 
 streat that is too fat to get down. I aint 
 140
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 got much money to give away. I turn 
 everything right into the fambly new. But 
 it aint what you give. It's what you've got 
 left after you give that tells the story." 
 
 "If you happened to have the change 
 about you," he says, "you would give away 
 horspittles and liberrys every day like any 
 other fillanthropist, wouldent you?" 
 
 "Yes," I says, "with considderable lean 
 ing towards horspittles. It looks some 
 times like people read too much. They 
 aint satisfied without they are holding a 
 book or magazeen in their hands all the 
 time. I should think their minds would be 
 so crammed with other folks thoughts there 
 wouldent be no room for any of their own. 
 I wonder what we would be like if we 
 wasent hampered by sentuaries of second 
 hand thoughts and opinions. Childern has 
 too many ideas foarced into them and they 
 fill up the spaces where their own ideas is 
 trying to take root. We aint got no right 
 to do that. Every one has got a right to 
 141
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 their brain room same as they have to their 
 house-room. If we fill it up with our own 
 notions we had ought to pay rent. And the 
 rent ought to be so high almost nobody 
 could afford to pay it. But I was going to 
 say if I could ever give away liberrys (and 
 I dont quite see my way to it at the pressant 
 writing) I would fill them with nice senca- 
 ble books not them that would devilate 
 the mind nor even sillify it. The sillifica- 
 tion of a human mind produced by light 
 reading in exsess is almost as bad as its 
 Devilation." 
 
 "Do you ever think of people as being 
 like books?" says Mr. Spinney. 
 
 "Many's the time. And even there 
 there's too much reading. Sasiety peaple 
 see and read too many human books and 
 don't get the chanst to learn or love anyone 
 of them thorough. Some has beautiful 
 bindings but aint nothing but blank books. 
 Some (they are nowels) is nothing but 
 lover's quarrels clear through." 
 142
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Them is scrap books," he says gravely. 
 
 "I often think in church we folks is a 
 liberry," I says. "There's books we've 
 never opened them is uttar strangers. 
 There's books we've read a little in hear and 
 there them is slight acquaintances. Then 
 there's books we've read through. I've 
 read you through, and Ellen and Miss Mus- 
 grove and Mr. Oglevie. As for Sis and the 
 boys I've helped write them, though I sup 
 pose I had no business to. All of these 
 books I like and I can recommend." 
 
 "Don't you think," says Mr. Spinney, 
 "that I would sillily the mind?" 
 
 "If I was asked to recommend just one 
 vollume in this libery of a world I would 
 say, "Better take E. J. Spinney. There's 
 life and fun and strenth and goodness in 
 it. I'm a good deal better from reading of 
 it and I know you'll be." 
 
 "Jen," he says, "if there wan't a heaven 
 already we'd have to have one made for 
 your accommodation." 
 
 H3
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 I'm used to his jokes so I dident mind. 
 
 "But tell me," he says; "is Heaven so 
 very reel to you?" 
 
 "Jest as reel as Australy or even Paw- 
 tucket or any place I've heard tell of but 
 never seen. I couldn't have stood it when 
 Jamesy was called home if it wan't that way. 
 When the minister was making the remarks 
 to the funerell I kept asaying to myself, 
 'He's with Mother! he's with Mother! he's 
 with Mother!' and I pictured out jest how 
 she looked when she took him in her arms. 
 She'd see quick enough he was all Shattuck. 
 I often think that when I'm passing out 
 I dont want no sad faces round, but I wish 
 there would be some one who would sing 
 out loud and bright and hearty, "Nex sta 
 tion, Heaven !" And I don't know of any 
 body else that could say it the way I mean 
 but you. It sounds jest like you. Of 
 course nobody in the fambly could say it. 
 They would be too low-sperrited." 
 
 He turned quick and looked down at me. 
 144
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "And do you think I could do it, Jennie? 
 Don't you think I would be low-sperrited 
 too?" Then he laughed and said, "I'll 
 do it Jen, and there's my hand on it. I'd 
 like to do better than that and go with you 
 anyway as far as the junction where our 
 ways divide." 
 
 As if I could leave him at the junction. 
 While we was talking the sun had begun 
 to set and now the whole sky in the west 
 was a blaze of Glory. It seamed so much 
 like the Heaven we had been talking about 
 (it was all crimsen and perple and gold) 
 and my thoughts had been so fur away from 
 earth as I set there that it wouldent have 
 seamed so very strange if I had caught a 
 sight of Jamesey's roagish face between the 
 bright bars or Mother's patient one asmil- 
 ing at me. Everything around us was still. 
 He had forgot to let go of my hand and 
 praps he was making beleave I was Ellen 
 because it was pretty dark. For my part 
 I made beleave I was Ellen, too. After
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 a long time, a beautiful time, I says, "I 
 wish Ellen was here instead of me." 
 
 He dropped my hand, reminded that it 
 wan't hers. "Would you like to see Ellen 
 Hennersy and me married, Jennie?" he 
 says. 
 
 I thought a minnit so I could be sure I 
 was saying it truthful and then I says "Yes, 
 more than anything else in this world." 
 
 "Come," he says, as he riz up slowly; 
 "let's go home." 
 
 I had forgot about the little boys. We 
 looked around but they was nowheres to be 
 seen. Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 146
 
 XVII 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I thank you kindly for your nice letter. 
 I had rather have one of your letters than 
 a pressant You say I left off too sudden 
 about our trip to the park. I dident have 
 no more paper. Now I have got me a nice 
 new tablet that is jest fine, the lines is all 
 so distinck. And along these lines I can 
 say our coming home was the best of all. 
 The boys wanted to walk and what did we 
 all do but walk. It was a lovely evening 
 and we dident any of us get tuckered out 
 The plannet Juniper was as bright as a 
 butten. The stars from a child has always 
 looked to me like little brass buttens and it 
 is verry hard to considdar they are in- 
 habitted. Mr. Spinney said that Juniper 
 was 12 times the size of the earth and only 
 resolves with half of its ferocity. But I 
 H7
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 dont take much interest in sech things and 
 it is hard for me to remember about them. 
 It is wonderful how much he knows on 
 every subjeck there is. Sometimes it seams 
 as if his head must bust. 
 
 I forgot to say that where the little boys 
 was when we couldent find them, they was 
 fighting with another little boy they had 
 picked up acquaintence with. It was all 
 over and Bub had washed his face at 
 the founten when we found them. We 
 wouldent have known nothing about it only 
 there was a streak of blood around his nose 
 so we asked who he had been fighting with. 
 "How did you know about it?" he inquired. 
 
 "My boy," says Mr. Spinney, "blood will 
 tell." Then I told him how him getting 
 hurt was a punishment for fighting on the 
 Sabbath day and I knew he would never 
 dair to do sech a thing again. 
 
 "Huh!" says Bub; "when a feller comes 
 up and pulls your hair how can you stop 
 to think what day of the week it is?" 
 148
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Mr. Spinney talked beautiful all the way 
 home, about the stars and the grandure of 
 the night and your soul. He recited off 
 some poetry, that he had made up himself 
 and said a serten good unselfish little woman 
 had inspired it. I can't see what Ellen is 
 thinking off. Any one can't imagine Dinny 
 Caffretty writing poetry. The buildings 
 was all black against the sky and Mr. 
 Spinney pointed out a tall pole that ap 
 peared to be near a church spire and said 
 it was a wireless telegraft pole. "So's the 
 spire, too," says Gussy. "That's from 
 where our messages goes up to Heaven!" 
 Wasn't that a pretty thought of Gussy's? 
 
 This afternoon Gussy was looking out of 
 the back winder when all to once he yelled 
 to Bub, "Look! there's our park man." We 
 run to the winder jest in time to see a tall 
 dark complected misterious man shaking 
 his finger warningly at Gussy with black 
 whiskers that disappeared round the corner. 
 Of course we asked the boys then who their 
 149
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 park man was and they told us he was the 
 one that seperated Bub when he was fight 
 ing and helped him to wash up and carm 
 down afterwoods. Then when they was 
 unwrapping their Lunching he come round 
 again and set down with them. All they 
 had was 2 biskets and 2 apples but Bub 
 says, "Gus, let's give him I bisket and i 
 apple and we can harve the other for us. 
 He's biggar than us and requiers more 
 food." They done so and they all et to 
 gether. He says "Seems to me this is kind 
 of dry fodder for you," and Gussy says, 
 "Yes, our sandwiches ain't got butter or 
 anything between them because we've had 
 a party." 
 
 "A party I" he says; "and was it a pretty 
 good party?" 
 
 The best that ever was in this world, they 
 said; and then they told him all about it 
 and how we come to have it. "He was 
 holding Gus on one knee" says Bub, "and 
 me on the other and we both talked so fast 
 150
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 he says, "There, there! one to a time please." 
 And he asked us a lot of questions about 
 where we'd put Mrs. Sawyer's silver and all 
 the other things and he laughed and laughed 
 when we told him we dident sleep very com- 
 ferable on account of some of it being be 
 tween all the mattresses and some of it 
 packed in the oven nights and about me 
 berrying the littlest spoons in the rubber 
 plant pot and making believe I was Capten 
 Kid berrying my traysure. And he wanted 
 to know if we used a bacement door and if 
 the back porch door was locked up nights." 
 
 That was enough for Mame. She is sure 
 the man is a burgler. It reely does look so 
 myself but I dont let on to her that I think 
 the man is dangersome. We have been 
 hard to work shifting the vallybles round 
 into new places. Mrs. Sawyer said her sil 
 ver wasn't sollid but you would think so 
 to heft it. It don't seem as if there was a 
 holler peice among it. 
 
 Jim made kind of a trap once to catch
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 any persen that tryed to get in the back 
 door and we are going to make him set it 
 for to-night. It is made of iron with a 
 spring and catches your foot when you try 
 to get in and steal. Then Mame says we 
 have got to take turns setting up watching. 
 I choose the first harf because Jim is so 
 tired out after his day's work; and I am go 
 ing to try to keep awake the whole night 
 and not have to he releaved by anybody else. 
 I am afraid the burglery will be my fault 
 because I had ought to kept the boys with 
 me in the park. I don't know why I did- 
 ent. I never let them out of my sight be 
 fore when they was with me. 
 
 Later. 
 
 Jim has got home and we have told him 
 all about the burgler. He looked pretty 
 serious and lost no time in setting the trap. 
 He wanted to have the first watch but I 
 told him the eppysode was more likely to 
 come the latter part of the night and he 
 had better 'get in some sleep before it come 
 152
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 off. He asked if the man was a big, hurley 
 feller. We said he was big but we wan't 
 so sure about the hurley part. 
 
 "I'm sorry," he says; "because burglers 
 is allwers hurley. It says so in the papers 
 the nex morning. If you could declare he 
 was hurley that would prove what he was 
 up to." 
 
 "We don't need no more proof," says 
 Mame. "He wormed all that inflamation 
 out of the children, and besides, what did 
 he shake his finger at Gussy for? There's 
 another thing I'm sure of and that is them 
 black whiskers is false and is part of his 
 disguisement. Nobody ever wore sech as 
 them for any good purpuse. Are you sure, 
 Jim, dear, the trap is in good working con 
 dition?" 
 
 "Don't you be alarmed about that," Jim 
 says. "If we catch a miscrint in that trap 
 to-night, as I hope to do, I'll make my for 
 tune out of a paytent on it." 
 
 I do hope even for the burgler's sake that 
 
 153
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 he wont come to-night. It would be terri 
 ble for anyone to be caught in that wicked 
 trap. I have got harf a mind to go down 
 when the others is asleep and take it away. 
 I would for sure if I reely thought the bur- 
 gler was coming. The reason I think he 
 aint is because we all expect him. Things 
 like that is allwers serp rises. 
 
 I will close now as the dark cloud of 
 danger and dread hovers over our roof 
 threttening with awful voice to engulf us 
 in its deepening waters. We haven told 
 Mandy nor the children a thing about it. 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 154
 
 XVIII 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I am going to tell you all about last 
 night. After the others had gone to bed, I 
 set down with my sewing. It wan't long 
 before Mr. Spinney come in and asked if 
 there was sickness on account of there be 
 ing a light at that late hour. I says "No," 
 and give a full account of our alarming 
 situation. Then he remarked if there was 
 going to be ructions he wanted to be in it. 
 He said he was going to read the evening 
 paper and if I had no objexions he would 
 set and keep me company a spell. He read 
 out loud for a while and then when he see 
 the work drop from my hands and me nod 
 ding he says, "Poor little tired girl!" and 
 took my work away and made me get into 
 the morris chair. I was jest drowzing off 
 155
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 when I was dimfully conscious that he was 
 letting down the chair back to make me 
 more comferable and putting a cushion 
 under my head. I dropped off to sleep, 
 thinking how beautiful it was to have him 
 taking care of me like this and keeping 
 guard over us all, and I dident know noth 
 ing more till I was aroused by a howl of 
 anguish from below, follered by terrible 
 yells and then howl upon howl. I was 
 springing up when Mr. Spinney pushed me 
 back into the chair and held me there say 
 ing, "Stay where you are! Quick 1 Prom 
 ise me!" I had to promise and then I 
 might as well tell you the whole of it then 
 he bent down and kissed me, and was off 
 down the stairs. I saw the glint of a revol 
 ver in his hand as he run off, but I was so 
 dazed by his kiss I couldent think of any 
 thing else. Praps I wouldent ever see him 
 again alive but I'd had that kiss. I thought 
 that is where the past is better than the fu 
 ture. You've got your past, nothing can
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 take it away, but sometimes you dont dare to 
 hope anything for the future. I knew what 
 that kiss meant. He thought he might be 
 going to his death and in that way he bid 
 good-by to all his friends, most of all, per 
 haps, to his Mother. Well, she shouldent 
 miss him too much while I lived. I vowed 
 that then and there. By this time all the 
 f ambly was up and flying round. The hol 
 lering down stairs had stopped, moderating 
 down to a few groans at the finish and now 
 all was still. Jim had gone down though 
 Mame had held on to him and beged him to 
 stay with her. That silance was terrible. 
 We dident know what it meant. Mame 
 was white and wild and Mandy was shaking 
 like an asking leaf. I went to the head of 
 the stairs and lissened. Not a sound. I 
 opened the door to go down and I saw 3 
 men coming slowly up. The burgler was 
 in the middle, still groaning and mutter 
 ing and the 2 other men was on both sides 
 of him, helping him tenderly along. They 
 
 157
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 brought him right into the room and dis- 
 possited him carefully into the morris 
 chair, and as he leaned back he mumbled, 
 "Great mistake of mine, this trying to be 
 benevolent," follered by a groan that made 
 your blood run cold. As soon as the little 
 boys caught sight of his black-whiskered 
 face they rushed straight into his arms. He 
 cuddled them down and stroked Gussy's 
 curls as we took off his shoe and stocking. 
 They asked me how the anarchy bottle hap 
 pened to be so handy undar the couch along 
 with old linen for bandages but they dident 
 wait for no answer, they was so excited. 
 Nobody noticed that the revolver was alay- 
 ing right on the table in reach of the burgler 
 and I took it and hid it away. Mr. Spinney 
 brought a tub of warm water for his foot 
 and while he was bathing it Jim said he'd 
 bring up "the hamper." He looked awful 
 sheepish when he come back and set the 
 big stilish-looking basket beside his chair. 
 The burgler was laying back^ very white,
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 with his eyes closed, but his arms was still 
 close about the boys. Jim quietly took a 
 card offen the basket handle and passed it 
 round for us to read. It said, 
 
 "For the 2 little chaps that shared all 
 they had with 
 
 A Stranger." 
 
 For a while no one spoke. Then Jim 
 says, "What be we agoing to say to this 
 gentleman?" Another silance while Mame 
 tried to keep from crying. Finally she put 
 out her hand to him. "I'm their mother," 
 she says. "Can you forgive us?" He took 
 her hand and held it a moment, then said 
 with a laugh that showed a handsome row 
 of white teeth between the black whiskers, 
 "Let's have another party, and I will be 
 the entertainer." He reached down and 
 opened the basket. "Oh!!!" was all the 
 children could say. There was the most 
 beautiful of all kinds of toys and books. 
 Best of all to the boys was the train of cars 
 with its long track. Their mother let them
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 stay up enough longer to see it wound up 
 and going once, then they scampered off to 
 bed, after they had given the burgler a 
 fectionated good-night kiss. 
 
 After they had gone Jim says to the bur 
 gler (he wan't a burgler at all but we 
 didn't know what else to call him then) 
 Jim says to him, "I ain't much for talking, 
 but I guess you must know how we feel 
 about this. If you are laid up with your 
 foot you aint got to worry about nurse's 
 bills nor doctor's bills I can tell you that. 
 But the rest of it I cant tell you. It's too 
 deep down." Then Mame piped up. "We 
 want you to stay here till your foot is well," 
 she says, "if it takes a year. If you lose 
 work by it we'll do what we can to make it 
 right." 
 
 "While you are going without butter 
 and eggs and sugar? How are you going 
 to manage it?" 
 
 "Oh! that's only till the month is out. 
 We can manage it all right," and him and 
 1 60
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Mame exchanged a knowing look. They 
 had some money laid by for a rainy day, 
 and this was a flood. 
 
 The burglar asked if he was to share the 
 boys' bed like the Tortrum lad but Jim 
 told him he was in no condition that night 
 to perform the climbing stunt that re 
 quired, so he was going to sleep in state on 
 the parlor sofy. 
 
 Mame asked if his folks wouldn't worry 
 about him; and his face was awful sad 
 when he says, "I aint got any folks to 
 worry about me; I haven't a tie in the 
 world." 
 
 "Then Jim will lend you one of his," 
 cries Mandy. 
 
 "I'll lend you all of mine," puts in Jim. 
 
 You'd have thought the burgler would 
 of ben kind of affected by this, because it 
 was plain to see what Jim meant, which 
 was he was welcome to what we could all 
 do for his comfort; but he didn't seem to 
 pay any attention to it, and Mr. Spinney 
 161
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 thought it was because he was too hardened. 
 But I told him it was on account of him not 
 being used to kindness so he didn't know 
 it when it come. "He's going to know it 
 now, though," I says. "He has had some 
 awful sorrer and we're all going to try to 
 lighten it while he's here. And we are 
 going to depend to a great excess on you," 
 I added, "for nobody can make folks for 
 get their troubles like you can." 
 
 "I guess," he makes answer in a kind of 
 a bitter tone, "that with 7 or 8 on the job 
 of cheering him up there wont be no need 
 of me joining the crowd." 
 
 I looked at him in astonishment. I 
 hadn't ever heard him speak like that be 
 fore, but I set it down to him having un 
 derwent sech a terrible nervable strain. 
 
 The burgler is close-mouthed and re 
 served and don't ask for sympathy, but we 
 are going to be f reindly without him asking 
 us. He is a man of few words. When 
 Jim asked him when and what we should 
 162
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 call him in the morning he said, "Eight 
 o'clock and Jason." 
 
 So we all call him Jason. He said to 
 day if he give a sir name it wouldn't be the 
 right one and he preferred not to lie to us. 
 Mame says that shows he is fleeing from 
 justice but as long as he is in our house we 
 will proteck him, especially as he is prob 
 ably innocent of the crime he has com 
 mitted. He has jest set round all day very 
 quiet with his foot in a chair and not show 
 ing much annimation excep when the boys 
 is round. They hang round him all the 
 time and don't seem to be a bit afraid of 
 him same as the rest of us is desposed to be. 
 They pull his whiskers so hard without 
 pulling them off that Mame gives in that 
 they must be indigernous after all. 
 
 I have kep from telling you so fur about 
 something that has afflicted me unpleas 
 antly. I know you will think I am foolish 
 but it is a releaf to tell it to some one. 
 
 I have rassled with it in prayer but 
 163
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 there's times when we need to confess 
 things to folks. I know you wont never be- 
 leave any one could be so wicked, but last 
 night I wisht I had died me, Jennie 
 Allen, that has got folks and health and a 
 home, and the world so full of things to 
 be done I wisht I had died. 
 
 I told you about him putting his provi 
 sional good-by on my lips because they was 
 the only ones there when he went to face 
 death and danger in the back Porch. I 
 can't begin to tell you the joy that come 
 with it and how everything that happened 
 afterwoods seemed like a dream. It was 
 because that kiss was so great to me that all 
 the rest dwindled down to almost nothing 
 in comparison. It was like a Last Sacra 
 ment, it was so sollem and full of meaning, 
 and I longed to be aloan so I could live it 
 all over agane. I newer was so happy in 
 all my life before. And can't ever be so 
 happy agane. 
 
 After all the rest had left the setting- 
 164
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 room he came to me and said, "Jen, what 
 I done before I rushed down stairs to 
 night was on account of me being so excited 
 at the racket I didn't know what I was 
 adoing. I had no right to do sech a thing 
 and I hope you'll forget it." 
 
 Forget it! As if I ever could! As if 
 the whole aspeck of the world hadent 
 changed while he was uttaring them words. 
 That was the time I wisht I had died 
 before he spoke. So the past can be took 
 away from you after all, when the mean 
 ing of it has been took away. Events ain't 
 anything. It's their meaning that counts. 
 
 I couldent sleep ; but after I had prayed 
 the terrible pain settled down into a stiddy 
 aik. Praps even the aik will pass away if 
 I don't cuddle it and make of it too much. 
 I ain't ever going to speak of it agane. It 
 ain't sense. Jason is trying to bind up his 
 foot alone and is making a poor jorb of it. 
 So I must go and help him. 
 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 165
 
 XIX 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I got an awful scare about Ellen Hen- 
 nersy. Last night I was down town to take 
 home some work and on my way back I 
 saw her coming out of a drug store with a 
 bottle in her hand. Soon as she ketched 
 sight of me she looked awful guilty and 
 hid it under her cape. I wouldent of 
 thought nothing of it if she haddent looked 
 so kind of desperate. I hurried and caught 
 up with her; and as we walked along I 
 says, trying to be carm, "Been buying med- 
 icin?" She had told me she dident want 
 to live no longer but I never thought it 
 would come to this. 
 
 "No, it aint medicine exackly," she says, 
 and begun to talk about something else. 
 When we reached home I coaxed her to 
 1 66
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 come into my room. I told her how she 
 mussent ever take no drugs without the doc- 
 ter's orders and even then they must be 
 taken with a grain of salt. "But I told you 
 long ago that you had ought to see a doc- 
 ter." 
 
 "A doctor couldent do me no good, Jen." 
 
 "Well, give me the bottle for I know the 
 contents aint good for you." 
 
 "Well," she says as she handed it out, "I 
 don't beleive I was agoing to use it any 
 way; but the stuff has kind of a fassination 
 for me and I wanted to get aholt of it. It's 
 peer ox hide of hydro, Jen." 
 
 "Peer ox hide of hydro?" I says as I took 
 the bottle, "what for the land's sake is 
 that?" 
 
 Ellen hung her head like I had never 
 see her do before and she says kind of 
 shamed like, "It's the stuff that cullers your 
 hair that lovely yeller like the demming- 
 straighter's that has got afowl of Dinny. 
 I've been down to the store lots of times.
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 It seemed as if I couldent keep away, be 
 cause I wanted to see what it was that en 
 ticed Dinny away. I know now it's her 
 hair because her face aint pretty, and I 
 thought if jest a bottle of this made sech a 
 difference in my life and Dinny's p'raps it 
 wouldent be wrong for me to use it. You 
 know pope said beauty draws us by a single 
 hair, and how much more if its a beautiful 
 golden one." 
 
 "Did the pope say that?" I says. 
 
 "No, but a man named Mr. Pope." 
 
 But I got Mame to look it up in a book 
 of cotations afterwoods and she found it 
 was Pope, Alexander. But I never told 
 Ellen she was wrong. One way to make 
 yourself disagreeable is to explain to folks 
 that they are wrong. 
 
 "Ellen Hennersy!" I exclaimed; "you 
 that have got the softest, lovelyest black 
 hair that ever was, and a spontaneous pom- 
 peydore besides! I would begrudge a 
 crown of reel gold that would kivver up 
 168
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 that lovely head of hair. Aint you 
 ashamed of yourself for jest thinking of 
 putting that foolish collering stuff on it?" 
 
 She hove a sithe that seemed to come 
 from her very vitels, and says, "I wish every 
 one was of your mind." 
 
 "Well, I know of one that is and that is 
 Mr. Spinney. We've heard him say so a 
 dozen times. He wouldent look at a 
 woman with bleached hair. He has got 
 too much good taste." 
 
 It cost me a lot to say that probbly be 
 cause it was my duty. Inclination and duty 
 is like two old horses we had on the farm. 
 Inclination I mean Fanny would be 
 pulling a load as cheerful as if she had 
 picked the way out for herself; but when 
 they added old Pepper (so named in deri 
 sion because he was a low-sperited plod 
 der) to help the team along, she balked and 
 cut up generally, trying to go some other 
 way. Old Pepper was hombley enough, 
 too, to stand for duty. He didn' show his 
 169
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 living. A stranger was poking fun at him 
 once and Jim, feeling bad to hear his old 
 pet spoke of that way, declared he had a 
 number of good points. 
 
 "Yes, I see 'em all," says the stranger. 
 
 Well, to go back to Ellen. When I come 
 out with that remark that was so hard for 
 me to say, she unhitched Fanny and pepper 
 for me by saying, "Jen dear, it wont ever 
 be any use to talk that up to me. I couldn't 
 ever be anything but a freind to Ed Spin 
 ney even if he wanted me to which he prob- 
 berbly don't. Any way he never comes to 
 see us though Mother has asked him to be 
 neighborly." 
 
 Well, it aint ever your duty to try to 
 acheave the impossible so I hove a sithe of 
 relief at her words. 
 
 "Maybe the wish was father to the 
 thought," she added. 
 
 "No, no relation at all. But, Ellen, 
 there's others plenty of them. Now you 
 take a little advice from me. I'm 32 and 
 170
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 you aint but 19. Why don't you be nice 
 and sensible and let the man go that has 
 forgot about you (she winched at this) and 
 take up with one of the others that is sim 
 ply crazy about you and more worthy of a 
 woman's tender heart?" 
 
 "Jen," she says, "you aint ever had a 
 beaux and as fur as beauxs is concerned, I 
 am 32 and you aint but 19. I know a man 
 is frequent more loving after his affections 
 has took a vacation and I feel all the time 
 as if Dinny was coming back to me. Me 
 and Mother prays for it every night. She 
 thinks the world of him same as I do." 
 
 "Then why don't you send for him to 
 come and see you? We are recommended 
 to use human agencies to help out our 
 prayers and the telephone is one of the most 
 powerful agencies known to science." 
 
 No, she said, she would never do that. 
 "But," she says, "I'm reely sorry I passed 
 Dinny 3 times in the street without looking 
 at him. I wouldn't do that now." 
 171
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Oh!" says I; "did you do that? I 
 thought it was all Dinny's fault." 
 
 "So it was," she says, "but I needn't have 
 done that. He looked as if it made him 
 feel bad." 
 
 "I thought you didn't look at him," I 
 says. 
 
 "Oh! do you suppose a girl has to look 
 at a man to see him?" says Ellen. 
 
 I feel awful sorry for Ellen's mother for 
 she suffers with Ellen. She has been a good 
 kind freind to us all. She is an awful big 
 woman and you can't help feeling glad 
 there is so much of her. As I look at it 
 there can't be too much of a woman like 
 Mrs. Hennersey, and she has got a heart 
 big in proportion. If we didn't take may- 
 sures to prevent she would use up a couple 
 pounds of sugar every week making cookies 
 and doughnuts for our little boys. The 
 baby calls her Mrs. Cookey and when Gus- 
 sy is lost you can most alwers find him in 
 her kitchen having some light refresh- 
 172
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 ments. When she makes frosting for cake 
 she never forgets to give them the dish to 
 clean out with their spoons and she says 
 they don't trouble her a bit. 
 
 She is first on deck in time of trouble. 
 When Jamesy was took away and Mame 
 was using quieting portions so much and 
 we was afraid she would overtake a dose of 
 morfeen, Mrs. Hennersey reasoned with 
 her and says, "What would dear little 
 Jamesy say if he was alive to-day and saw 
 his mother was making herself into a dope 
 feind because he had died. Wouldn't you 
 be ashamed?" 
 
 "Yes," says poor Mame, "and I will try 
 and bear it." 
 
 And she never took another bit. 
 
 Other times when you're in sorrow she 
 don't try to reason but she jest says 
 "There, there," in sech soothing tones it is 
 better than a sermon on resignation. You 
 wouldent beleive there could be so much 
 meaning in "there, there/' till you heard 
 173
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 her say it to you while she stroked your 
 hair and loked pitying at you. 
 
 She is a fine singer but she sings only 
 Irish songs that she learnt, she says, offen 
 her Man that's dead and gone three years 
 come Micklemas. Since Ellen has been so 
 poorly her mother aint had the heart to sing 
 but we all used to love to hear her because 
 she got into sech a gale of fun and frolic. 
 She would chuck back her head, put her 
 hands on her knees, and sing with all her 
 might and main, laughing and keeping 
 time by pounding her feet on the floor. 
 Our favoryte peice is something like this: 
 
 "If all the young girls was rushes agrowin, 
 Then all the young min would get scythes 
 
 and go mowin. 
 
 If all the young girls was salmon so lively 
 Then niver a young man would eat meat 
 
 on a Friday." 
 
 Then the chorus is the best of all, and 
 sounds like: 
 
 174
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Ohone, and mushlackin, awhackin, ohone! 
 Ouge, derrigaa, Ileen Malone!" 
 
 or words to that effeck. When she comes 
 to that part she sings all the louder and 
 whacks and pounds the floor till you think 
 it is agoing through; and you are having 
 sech a good time you don't care if it is. In 
 fack you are so excited you kind of wish 
 it would, and in the last verse everybody 
 joins in. They can't help it. Even if they 
 have never sung before, they have got to 
 then. I aint ever seen the man, woman or 
 child that could set still or silant, while 
 she sung that choruss. It puts the old Nick 
 into you and you forget all your troubles 
 and all you think is you've got to make all 
 the noise there is and she does it without 
 letting her pipe go out. She is a perfeck 
 lady. 
 
 Poor Mr. Spinney got into kind of a 
 scraip about that song the day after he 
 heard it the first time. He was all carried 
 away with it and begged her to sing it 
 
 175
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 again and again. Nex day he was in our 
 part of the house and he couldent think 
 of the words to 2 of the verses, and we 
 couldent think of them either. He kep a 
 trying to think of them, and to help along 
 he sung the other verses and the chorus 
 same as she done, whacking on his knees 
 and pounding on the floor to keep time. 
 He'd got as far as "If all the young girls 
 was salmon so lively," and was singing with 
 all his might when the door opened and 
 there stood Ellen with eyes ablazing and 
 cheeks as red as fire. Handsome was no 
 name for it, but didn't she look mad! We 
 was all scared, I tell you. Jest think of 
 being scared of little Ellen! She looked at 
 Mr. Spinney and says, "You are making 
 sport of my mother, are you?" 
 
 "No," he says kind of weak like. 
 
 "Yes!" she says, "you was setting her 
 out." 
 
 At last he gapsed out, "I wasn't setting 
 176
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 her out, Miss Hennersey, because I got the 
 greatest respeck for your mother" but he 
 didn't get no further because she shut the 
 door then, and she shut it pretty hard for 
 Ellen Hennersey. 
 
 Well, you had ought to see Mr. Spin 
 ney's face. I suppose he would rather 
 offend anybody else in the world than 
 Ellen. "Good hevvens!" he says; "what 
 can I do? I never felt so small in my 
 life. Jest to think of her believing I 
 would make sport of her mother espeshally 
 after her entertaining me in that tip-top 
 style! She'd ought to know me better than 
 that." 
 
 After we had talked it over a spell he in 
 quired how it would do to send the old 
 lady a bunch of violets in the morning jest 
 to show respeck. 
 
 "No," I says, "they wouldn't be suitable 
 for anybody her size and shape it seems to 
 
 me." 
 
 177
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Well, then," says Jim, "how does a 
 package of fine-cut with his card enclosed 
 strike you?" 
 
 "Look here," put in Mr. Spinney; "You 
 don't know how I'm feeling about this or 
 you'd try to help me out." 
 
 We agreed finally that we would let it 
 go for the pressant. I told him Ellen had 
 a quick temper but she was soon over it; 
 and sech seemed to be the case, for when 
 we saw Ellen again she had appayrently 
 forgot all about it. 
 
 But I can't help thinking that triviable 
 incident may change their whole lives. 
 Mr. Spinney felt bad enough about it 
 I know that. O why did not an angel 
 with flaming soard stand before him that 
 fatal night to keep him from singing the 
 song! 
 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen.
 
 XX 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I thank you for your letter. Yes, Jason 
 has settled down with us and is one of the 
 fambly now. We have got so used to him 
 that we can't beleive he is a fugertive from 
 justiss any more, though he never speaks 
 of his past. If he has ever committed a 
 crime I know he is repenitent for it and 
 never calkilates to do likewise again. A 
 nicer and quieter man round the house you 
 couldent ask for. At first he seemed to ab 
 sent-minded to help about the chores same 
 as Mr. Spinney does when he happens to 
 be here, and I wouldent ask him for the 
 world he seems so kind of risticrattic. But 
 the second day he was here in the late after 
 noon, Mandy says "The coal is out, Jason." 
 "So I see," he says, with only what you 
 179
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 might call moderit interest. (He hardly 
 ever speaks ekcep you ask him a question, 
 and very little of that.) Then she handed 
 him the empty hod. He looked kind of be 
 wildered first at her, and then at the hod. 
 Then he limped off down stairs and fetched 
 it back full. When he endeavored to put 
 some on the fire a lot of it run over on the 
 floor; but no lamb could have got down and 
 picked it up peice by peice more pashent 
 than he done. Nex morning he asked if 
 he could be of any serviss and Mandy set 
 him to cleaning the lamps. He made a 
 pretty bad mess of it, breaking two chim- 
 bleys and leaving the others worse than they 
 was before. We dident want to hurt his 
 fealings by doing them over again but nex 
 day I got ahead of him and done them my 
 self. It aint no joke to sew evenings with 
 the light struggling faintly and fitfully 
 through a sooty chimbly. A row of clean 
 lamps is an awful pretty sight to me, with 
 the chimbleys clear and bright and shining 
 1 80
 
 
 Ne x morning he asked if be could be of any serviss and Mandy 
 set him to cleaning the lamps
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 as if they was soap bubbles that a breath 
 would blow away. When I got them done 
 he come and gazed at them with a kind of 
 awe and says, "I never before had so much 
 respeck for a row of lamps. I will try to 
 acheave something like that to-morrow if 
 you will trust them to me." I knew any 
 body with that sperit was bounded to suc 
 ceed, and sure enough he can do better 
 every day. Jim says the time aint far dis 
 tant when he wont have to take off the 
 chimbley to see if the lamp is lit. 
 
 "Don't you suit you?" anxiously in 
 quired Jason. 
 
 "I should say they did soot me," answers 
 Jim. 
 
 Jason being tall, and sollem and misteri- 
 ous looking, looks sort of funny when he is 
 polishing the silverware (that we thought 
 he had come to steal) and he was doing it 
 when Mrs. Sawyer come in one day to tell 
 us she had got back and was ready to take 
 it home. 
 
 181
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 When she asked Gussy who he was and 
 he said "Father caught him in a trap," she 
 told him he was a naughty little boy to 
 speak so to a lady and she couldent give 
 him something pretty she had brought for 
 him. Before he had time to ezplain, 
 Mame rushed in and shook her head at him 
 and said the gentleman was a freind of 
 Jim's that was out of employment making 
 us a visit. 
 
 "There's a Providence in it!" cried Mrs. 
 Sawyer. "Here's the very man I want to 
 my house!" 
 
 Some time before she'd went to the door 
 of an east side house to leave a big bundle 
 of close for a dear freind who was sewing 
 there by the day which, when she rung the 
 bell the hired man come to the door. It 
 was afternoon so he had his close changed 
 and his hare slicked up and looked reel 
 nobby. She would of took him for the 
 man of the house only she knew him by 
 sight and he wan't anywhere's near so dis- 
 182
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 tang gay, so she said. But the silver salver 
 he passed out for the bundle wan't no big 
 ger than a postal card and twant no won 
 der it fell off on the floor. She took sech a 
 shine to him that she vowed she'd get one 
 like him as near as she could, but she made 
 up her mind that she would have trays of 
 differant sizes handy according to the size 
 of the bundles brought to the door, if they 
 wassent nothing but tin. Mrs. Sawyer 
 spends the extry money Ben sends her awful 
 foolish sometimes though she never does no 
 harm with it. Last week when she bought 
 an antic chair of a dealer that was going 
 round with only three legs, Jim says, 
 "What ails the woman?" And when Mame 
 reminded him she had money to burn he 
 says, "Well then, why don't she burn it?" 
 It dident make no odds to him if some big 
 man had set in it (that was everdent 
 enough) he would perfer the quadruped 
 kind. 
 Well, if she took a notion to anything, 
 
 183
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 she wanted to get it and she took a no 
 tion to Jason, from the way he worked and 
 him being so quiet and civel. "He's jest 
 what I've been looking for because he looks 
 jest like that hired man on the east side." 
 ("Which side of him is that?" says Mame, 
 sort of vochy.) "Call him in," she says, 
 "and I will offer him 5$ a week on the 
 spot." 
 
 She had been making her observances 
 from the setting-room while he was to work 
 in the kitchen. We called him in but when 
 we give her an interduction to him and he 
 looked at her with his sollem black eyes ac 
 companying them with a beautiful bow 
 from the waste up, that was so full of self 
 respeck that he seemed to be bowing to 
 himself, she lost all her self commandment 
 and haddent a word to say. She remarked 
 afterwoods that she would as soon darsted 
 to ask King Edward to remove her ashes. 
 
 So he lost that job jest by his looks; but 
 maybe it's all for the best. Praps him and 
 184
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 her wouldent be adaptuated to one another 
 and besides we'd miss him terryble if he 
 went away. He aint what you'd call lively 
 compenny because he hardly ever speaks 
 and as for laughing, Jim says his laughing 
 appyraters musi: be rusty from lack of dis 
 use; but he's so difTrant from the rest of 
 the folks we know that it kind of takes up 
 our minds thinking and conjecturating 
 about him. He's so dark complected in the 
 face we don't know but he's got Injun 
 blood in his veins; and maybe he's a de 
 scendant of Pocky Honters, her that res 
 cued the life of John Smith in the history. 
 He aint got no background, as you might 
 say, same as them new kind of folks' pic 
 tures in the maggezines. Instead of hav 
 ing a flower garding behind them or a stu 
 dio full of crazy objecks sech as studios 
 have to have (though I never could tell 
 why) or even a handsome parlor; but there 
 they are by themselves, and if you want to 
 guess anything you are forced to do it tty
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 their face or their attitude. I like it. And 
 I don't know much about sech things but 
 I like it better when a saint in a picture 
 aint got any halow round his head, like a 
 labell. The haylow had ought to be in the 
 face. 
 
 Mr. Spinney, recalling our talk in the 
 park about books, says to me yesterday, 
 "Well, Lady Jane, you've got another vol 
 ume in your small libery and I hope you 
 find it interesting." 
 
 "Yes," I says, "though it's in a forrin 
 language and I can't read it yet." 
 
 Even the stories he tells the children aint 
 like what they've heard before not being 
 funny one's like Mr. Spinney's but are 
 ones from history and his thology, as he 
 calls it. Once when Gussy says to him, 
 "Tell us a story about a little boy bout as 
 big as me," he riz right up with an awful 
 look of pain in his face and went to pacing 
 the floor. So much so that Mandy rushed 
 of? for the Jamaica ginger bottle, thinking 
 1 86
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 the tripe we'd had for dinner wan't setting 
 very well. But he motioned away the doce, 
 reminding her he hadn't et any of it. 
 Mandy don't know much about any pain 
 that aint phyzicle. But phyzicle pain is 
 nothing but fun compared to the other 
 kind. Still who'd be Mandy? 
 
 Speaking about Mr. Spinney, him and 
 Jason don't take to each other as sociable 
 as I wish they would; and, in fack, Mr. 
 Spinney hardly ever comes in now. I hear 
 him come into the house early every night, 
 though, so I expect he spends the evening 
 with Ellen and her mother. Maybe she is 
 learning to love him, same as they do in 
 books; but the thought don't make me so 
 happy as I calkilated it would. I don't 
 know why. I hope if they do match up 
 they will be as happy as Mame and Jim. 
 Mr. Spinney has said that it knocks out all 
 the laws of astronomy the way their honey 
 moon keeps awaxing and awaxing with 
 never a sign of a wane. I can see Jason
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 takes notice of it, too, by the way he watches 
 them when they are together. And one 
 day he remarked their love seemed deep 
 and strong, adding it was fortunet they 
 was so well adaptuated to each other. 
 
 "But they aint adaptuated to each other 
 at all !" I says. That's the meracle of love, 
 that it makes one of two people that is 
 composed of sech conflicting elements. 
 Love is kind of a universal solvant that 
 mixes anything. Jim and Mame don't 
 like the same kind of things at all. She is 
 kind of high-strung and wants a lot going 
 on wants the band playing all the time. 
 He is slow and easy-going and likes when 
 he aint to work a quiet time with his fam- 
 bly round the fireside (or the back steps, 
 according to the elements) but it's this 
 way: Mame loves him more than she does 
 the band and his affexions for her over- 
 weighs his feeling for the chimbly corner. 
 So each one gets a lot of playsure sacrifac- 
 ing up something they want for the sake 
 188
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 of the other especielly Jim. Of course 
 they have their scraps that's a part of it, 
 and it aint alwers plessant or salubrious to 
 be round when they are going on ; but you 
 can feel sure at sech times that a honey-dew 
 spell is sure to foller. Yesterday morning 
 Mame said something middling sharp to 
 Jim when he was going off to work with 
 out any provocation and he didn't make no 
 answer jest closed the door soft and went 
 out. But his feet sounded awful heavy on 
 the stairs, jest as if he was tired out or dis- 
 curridged. It wan't a very pleassant way 
 to begin a long hard day of work. 
 
 It was soon made mannyfest in the 
 kitchen that Mame didn't feel jest right 
 about it. Didn't things slambang round 
 there for a spell! I didn't pay no attention 
 to it. It simply showed the law of gravi 
 tation was still in foarce and made no ex 
 ceptions in faver of pots and pans and pie- 
 plates. Mandy verry discreatly withdrew, 
 ostentatiously to make up the beds, but in 
 189
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 reality to seek refuse from the coming 
 storm. 
 
 At last Mame couldn't stand it no longer. 
 She says, "Jen, you watch the bread in the 
 oven a spell. I got to do an arrant." 
 
 I knew she'd gone to the shop to make 
 up with Jim, and I told Jason so; but as 
 we watched her out of the winder we saw 
 her stop at the corner, where she was met 
 by Jim! 
 
 "Yes," I says, "he was on the way to ask 
 her forgiveness." 
 
 "He ask her forgiveness!" cries Jason; 
 "that aint common sense." 
 
 "No," I says ; "and if common sense was 
 a little more uncommon this would be a 
 happyer world. It's all right to have it to 
 apply to the work of the shop and the 
 kitchen and every where else but love don't 
 need it. Don't you know how hard it is 
 for the one that's in the wrong to ask for 
 giveness? It's the one that aint done a 
 thing that it's the easiest for. The sense 
 190
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 that there aint anything to ask it for kind 
 of boys them up. Then they are the ones 
 to do it, I say." 
 
 "Of all of the ridiclous" he begun, and 
 then he stopped and looked awful thought 
 ful for a long time with his head on his 
 hand. He often sets like that, sometimes 
 follered by writing sheet after sheet of 
 paper usually tearing it up afterwoods. 
 Yesterday after Mame got back (happy as 
 a bird in springtime) he went to writing 
 again ; but all to a sudden he stopped and 
 with a groan, sunk his head down on his 
 arms on the table. I slipped sofly out of 
 the room and left him alone; but before I 
 left I laid a newspaper on top of what he'd 
 been writing because I knew he had forgot 
 all about it, and Mrs. Ezry Sawyer is apt 
 to come in any minute. She makes excuses 
 to come in often and we can all see who 
 she comes to see, all but Jason himself, and 
 he is so oblivitous of her presence that it 
 almost seems as if she was ackchelly invisi- 
 191
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 ble to him. She says she don't know what 
 ever possessed her to think of getting him 
 for a hired man, as she now feels she could 
 welcome him in a higher and holier rela 
 tion than that. Then right before him she 
 gets off a lot of talk about her love for her 
 husband being nothing but a boy and girl 
 feeling and about it is only later when a 
 woman has reached the limitations of her 
 powers and has superimposed and expandi- 
 fied that she is caperble of perfeck love. 
 He was scouring the knives when she got 
 this out of her system, and jest here he 
 asked Mandy where the drying-off rag was. 
 Mame says she thought he wanted to gag 
 her with it. He acks so exackly as he did- 
 ent hear her that she's got it in her head 
 that he takes deef spells. And Jim says 
 maybe he reely has got the lost muscle I 
 tell about. He has reference to a little idee 
 I have got about your ear. You know there 
 is a little lid in front of your ear jest large 
 enough to cover the opening, same as there 
 192
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 is a lid to your eyes, only this aint self-act 
 ing like the eyelid, and you have to shut it 
 with your fingers. Now my idee is that 
 primevil man had a muscle there so he 
 could open and shut it when he wanted to 
 same as he could his eyes; but from their 
 desire to hear everything that was going on 
 he kep it open and the muscle was lost 
 through disuse. I read about the camel be 
 ing able to open and shut his nostrums at 
 will to keep the flying dust out of his nose 
 on the desert, and we have got kind of weak 
 muscles there too. The saying "Keep your 
 eyes and ears open" must of been made up 
 when that could be done. I wisht we could 
 do that now close up our ears to any un 
 welcome sounds without being noticed. 
 And how easy sick people would drop off 
 to sleep when they could shut out all 
 sound. And Jim says there's certain times 
 when a fambly man would find it a com 
 fort. 
 Well, Jason acks for all the world as if 
 
 193
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 he could and did close his ears on various 
 occasions. She tells jokes to cheer him up 
 and he don't even smile. She says it's a 
 pity any one with sech handsome teeth 
 shouldn't have a sense of umor. She added 
 there was a time during which Ben 
 couldn't see a joke and that was when he'd 
 had a front tooth knocked out. But after 
 he'd been fixed up at the dentist's he saw 'em 
 quick enough. She declares Jason aint got 
 any sech excuse. Jim says he don't laugh 
 at her jokes on account of them being so 
 venerable that his respeck for the aged 
 would keep him from laughing. 
 
 Seeing she didn't have no luck bright 
 ening him up this way what did she do 
 but fetch over an elixer for him that she 
 bragged on to build up his blood and re 
 new his strength. Mame declared how she 
 knew it was some harmless stuff she'd 
 mixed up herself jest for an excuse to make 
 of him. 
 
 194
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Well," says Jim, "if it's only play- 
 tonic what you grumbling about?" 
 
 But if I keep on writing like this the 
 sewing-machine will get all rusted up. So 
 I will draw to a close. 
 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 195
 
 XXI 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 Seeing you said you would like to know 
 how serten matters has turned out I am 
 awful glad I have something pleassant to 
 tell you something that changes the as- 
 pesk of the whole house and makes the sec 
 ond story a love story, as Mr. Spinney says. 
 Jim told him it didn't get as far as chap. 2, 
 but though the joke was supposed to be on 
 him he done his duty by laughing at it. 
 
 The evening after that one when I see 
 Ellen Hennersy coming out of the poth- 
 ecary shop we was setting quiet as usual in 
 the setting-room. We take sollem comfort 
 evenings when the children has been put to 
 bed. Mr. Spinney most always used to be 
 with us and Ellen would often run in ; but 
 since she has ben so low-sperited she don't 
 196
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 feel like meeting strangers, especially any 
 one so imposing as Jason, and we don't 
 hardly ever see Mr. Spinney now. Jim 
 says it wouldn't take very deep scientifical 
 study to trace a connection between these 
 two facks. Well, Mame usually reads out 
 loud and Jim stretches himself out on the 
 couch and listens. Sis always runs and gets 
 what he calls the lounge-extension for her 
 father. It's an old chair put to the end of 
 the lounge for his feet, seeing it is only 
 ordinerry lenth and he reaches forth into 
 space a long distance beyond. 
 
 Mr. Spinney used to set in the morris 
 chair but Jason generally sets there now, 
 most frequent leaning his head on his hand 
 and apayrently listening also, but doing 
 more thinking than listening, I guess. I 
 set by the table and sew and sometimes 
 Mandy sews, too. She does overcasting 
 pretty good but we don't trust her to mend 
 stockings as they are quite painful to wear 
 afterwards. I let her cobble up a pair for 
 197
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 me once jest to please her and I limped all 
 the time I wore them. I couldent help it. 
 She can pop corn first rate if she puts her 
 whole mind on it and sometimes we have 
 that or some other treat at the close of the 
 evening. When eggs is plenty we fry a 
 few on top of the coals and with hot coffy 
 the men folks thinks it tastes awful good. 
 All but Jason. He's a light eater and we 
 wonder what keeps him alive. 
 
 Well, we was setting there and bymeby 
 Mame says to me, "Are you expecting to see 
 anybody? You appear to be in a listening 
 attitood." 
 
 "No," I says, and I hadn't realized I had 
 appeared to be listening. 
 
 Pretty soon after that a heavy footstep 
 come in the front door, coughed a couple 
 of times and went up stairs. 
 
 "Sounds for all the world like Dinny 
 
 Caffretty," says Mame; and it wan't long 
 
 before we heard Ellen larfing as she hadn't 
 
 larfed goodness knows when and her 
 
 108
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 mother joined in. Then there was singing 
 and finelly there come the thumping on the 
 sealing that meant that Mrs. Hennersy 
 was singing the Rushes song. Later there 
 come a knock to the door, which when I 
 opened it there stood Ellen all joy and 
 happyness. 
 
 "Mame," she says, "can we have your 
 corn popper? We got company." 
 
 When I took it out in the entry to her she 
 larfed and whispered, "It's him! He says 
 he didn't darst to come before on account 
 of me treating him like I did on the street 
 and serten little remarks that I have let 
 slip have been enlarged and falsified beyond 
 description." * 
 
 "How about the demmingstraighter?" I 
 inquired. 
 
 "Oh! that wan't nothing at all. He jest 
 saw her home a couple of times at her per 
 sonal request and Mrs. Sawyer got wind 
 of it and made a great todo about it. He 
 says the fellers calls her Goldilocks 
 199
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 though she is 40, and she has got a couple 
 of husbands somewheres that is nice God 
 fearing men as ever lived but she would 
 rather ockipy a position in the face and 
 eyes of the multitood than stay home & 
 cherk them up when they are sad and loanly 
 and cook their vittles. She aint got her bill 
 from the last one yet so she aint in any posi 
 tion to except attentions from the likes of 
 Dinny even if he wanted hide nor hair of 
 her which he don't, and goose that I was 
 to think so for a single minute." 
 
 By this time she was all out of breath 
 with talking and larfing both together but 
 she added as she run off (without the pop 
 per), "You see our prayers was answered 
 without the human agency sech as you told 
 about." 
 
 And I didn't have the heart to Shatter 
 sech simple faith. 
 
 We wasn't so very much supposed to find 
 that Mrs. Ezry Sawyer was at the bottom 
 200
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 of the trouble seeing Ellen had had a good 
 deal to do with Ben leaving home. She'll 
 never forgive her, I expect, for abringing 
 on him that disappointment and greaf. But 
 Ellen couldn't help being sweet and pretty 
 and lovable, and if the moth got caught in 
 the trap it was his own fault, and I am 
 glad his mother's scheme to bring the same 
 sorrer on Ellen was flusterated. She would 
 of been sorry for Ellen herself if she real 
 ized how bad she felt. She aint a bad- 
 hearted woman but Ben is all she's got in 
 the world. 
 
 Mr. Spinney likes to plague Ellen about 
 the eppysode and he says: 
 "Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 
 
 The saddest are these: she might have 
 had Ben." 
 
 The nex day but one. 
 I aint had a minute to finish your letter 
 as ther is a great holiday rush in my busi- 
 20 1
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 ness and besides I got an awful lot on my 
 mind. When I got home yesterday with 
 some new work Gussy says, 
 
 "O aunt Jennie! The South America 
 lady has ben here to see you and she is com 
 ing again." 
 
 He means Mrs. Sawyer. He calls her 
 that because her chin comes down to a 
 point and her face is kind of one-sided so it 
 looks like the map of South America. Her 
 chin does resemble Cape Horn to a serten 
 extent but I tell Gussy it aint pretty to no 
 tice sech things. 
 
 Well, I knew what Mrs. Sawyer was up 
 to. She was going to renew her attackt 
 about the opshen and tideland business; so 
 I was bound to get red of Jamesy's money 
 as quick as I could to put myself out of 
 temptation, for it was more of a tempta 
 tion than I would own up to. To think 
 with that little money I could make enough 
 for us all to go to Chictooset nex summer 
 and give the presants I have planned be- 
 202
 
 " The South America lady "
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 sides is enough to temp any one. Some 
 times I think it's safe but not right and 
 sometimes I feel as it was right but not safe, 
 and then again as if it wan't one nor 
 tother. What I want to do is to get red 
 of the money before I get round to think 
 ing its both. 
 
 You have to do what you think is right; 
 but that aint all because it aint right to 
 think a thing is right when it aint. You 
 see we have alwers ben planning to go back 
 to Chictooset on a visit where we used to 
 live ever since we moved away from there 9 
 years ago. It was where our payrents and 
 grand payrents was born and raised and 
 we think there aint any place like it. We 
 wouldn't ever left there if it hadn't been 
 that me and Jim and Mame could all be 
 earning in the city and we needed the 
 money. 
 
 We own the old homestid yet and we let 
 it to a summer fambly that says we are wel 
 come to go there any time between Novem- 
 203
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 her and June the first exclusive. I cant 
 begin to tell you how us grown-up folks 
 long to take the childern there and they are 
 jest crazy about it themselves. All their 
 favoryte stories is about the old town and 
 they know all about the people and places 
 there. To be sure there has ben changes 
 but not many. The freinds that writes us 
 from there tells us our old place looks jest 
 the same. The pansys and ladies-delights 
 that Mother planted blossoms every year, 
 they say. What wouldn't I give to see 
 them! 
 
 We plan every year to go and spend the 
 month of May there all but Jim and he 
 will spend his week's vacation with us. 
 When May is all most here we find we cant 
 go owing, as Jim says, to a stringency in the 
 money market. But we say we will go the 
 nex year and it reely seems probberble. It 
 continues to be very probberble till along 
 about Januerry when it don't seem so much 
 204
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 so, and somewheres around Febuerry (I 
 can't tell jest exackly when) it changes 
 from probberble to simply possible; and 
 the change from possible to impossible, 
 which occurs in April, is unperceptible to 
 the naked eye. This has been going on for 
 9 years and this is the time of year when 
 May in Chictooset is a sure thing; but re 
 calling past disappointments, I should like 
 to clinch it if I could before it becomes a 
 wild and venturous flight of the realms of 
 fancy. Mrs. Sawyer thinks I can clinch it 
 by follering her advice but I feel as if I 
 didn't have no right to trifle with Jamsey's 
 money. I am what you might call the 
 self-appointed ministrater of his little es 
 tate and I have planned and planned and 
 planned how to give the most possible hap 
 piness in his name. There aint enough for 
 a memorable widow or a bed in a hospital 
 so I have got it done up in differant peaces 
 of paper with what it's for wrote on the 
 205
 
 outside. I know a number of self-respect 
 ing people that is having a tough time to 
 keep their heads above water but never com 
 plain and would ruther die than let folks 
 know what a tussle they was having. And 
 I am going to give a few of them useful' 
 gifs. 
 
 A woman that lives near here has got a 
 great parcel of childern and he gets awful 
 small pay. She gets along fair to middling 
 as a general thing because she has got a 
 lot of faculty about fixing over their close 
 and she is a great contriver about food. 
 She could keep her fambly in good shape 
 on what another woman would heave 
 away. But this fall she is all run down 
 and looks like she was on the verge of a 
 sick spell. Wash day jest about uses her 
 up and she has to lay down almost all the 
 nex day between the ironing. Her wash 
 ings is something terrible in size and if she 
 didn't have to use herself up on them she 
 could probberbly hold out. So I am going 
 206
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 to give her 16$ enough to hire it for three 
 months. 
 
 Then there is old Mrs. Newcome down 
 to Chictooset. Her and her daughter Pa- 
 melia lives alone together and Pamelia 
 clerks in Peterses store. The mother is all 
 alone most of the day and I guess she must 
 get pretty blue by spells. She writ to 
 Mame last summer how disappointed she 
 was on account of us net making our visit 
 in Chictooset and it was jest the same as 
 she writes every summer (Jim says it would 
 save time down there if they would have 
 a rubber stamp with their centiments on it 
 to use every year, but though he tries to 
 carry it off with a joke I know he is the 
 most disappointed of all mostly on account 
 of the little boys and also Mother's grave) 
 only last summer she says, "Pamelia is awful 
 good and kind to me and I have everything 
 nice and comferble; but I do wish you 
 could send me one of them hearty larfs sech 
 as we used to have together. The neigh- 
 207
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 bors don't run in as they used to. I don't 
 expeck I'm very bright company but I al- 
 wers try to be." 
 
 Now I am going to send her a whole lot 
 of larfs. They are going in a fonygraft 
 that I have planned for her, and Mr. Spin 
 ney is agoing to pick out the most side- 
 spliting peices there is for it. He has got 
 some himself he says he is tired of and he 
 will add them. We liked to died larfing 
 one night when he wound them up for us. 
 That will make the neighbors run in like 
 sixty for they will all be crazy over the 
 fonygraft. They all think a heap of Pa- 
 melia and her mother but they don't realize 
 the old lady is alone so much by herself. 
 
 Old Capten Joe Silliker is a man we've 
 alwers thought the world of. He follered 
 the sea as Capten of the Flying Judith for 
 years and made a lot of money but was so 
 free-handed and generous he went through 
 every cent of it; and now he lives with his 
 neice. She is poorer than poverty but she 
 208
 
 <i 
 fc

 
 THE LETTERS OF JEXXIE ALLEX 
 
 gives him a home. He can't ever have sech 
 lugsuries as tobacker and it alwers cuts me 
 to the heart to think of him without his 
 pipe which hardly ever went out in his 
 parmy days. But he is going to have 
 enough now to keep it agoing in full blast 
 for 6 months. 
 
 I aint forgot how he used to let us play 
 hide and seek when we was little in the 
 cabin of the Flying Judith when she was 
 in port and on the middle of our setting 
 room shelf is a little ivory ship he fetched 
 home to Mother when she was a girl from 
 Chiny. 
 
 The name of the schooner, the Flying 
 Judith, was a compromise and, like most 
 compromises wan't very satisfactory to 
 either one side or tother. Even sence he 
 was a teenty bit of a boy he'd had his dreams 
 about follering the sea and had alwers 
 looked forrard to having command of a 
 craft named the Flying Arrer. This was 
 on account of it being a book named The
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Flying Arrer that give him his hankering 
 for the sea. Well, when he was part owner 
 of a schooner that was built and had the 
 naming of her he had got to be a married 
 man and it wan't sech a simple matter then 
 to give the name of his boyhood's fancy, 
 seeing he didn't have the supream power 
 to home that he had on the raging billow. 
 His wife's name was Judith and when we 
 saw The Flying Judith painted on the 
 stern of the new vessel we knew it was her 
 decision "her stern decision," as Mr. 
 Spinney has said. 
 
 The name don't sound so funny to them 
 that don't know how slow in her motions 
 Jude Silliker was. But both Judiths is 
 gone now the flying one at the bottom of 
 the sea somewheres round the coast of Swis- 
 sterland, and the slow-moving one in the 
 old graveyard behind the church. It don't 
 make no odds how slow-moving we are, 
 we all of usll get there some time or other. 
 Capten Joe writ the verse on her tomb 
 210
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 stone himself. He said it was the last sad 
 privilege he could perform for her and it 
 peared to give him sattisfaction to do it. 
 
 This verse was spoke once for a peice in 
 school and quite an onpleassant ockurence 
 was the consequents. I guess them that 
 lived in Chictooset at the time wont ever 
 forget it. It was spoke by a deliket but 
 well-meaning little boy named Willie 
 Jameson. He was a little orphan boy that 
 had ben took by his uncle, old Jabe Hinck- 
 ley, and I guess his home wan't a very 
 happy one on account of his uncle's wife 
 being sech a tarter. When the teacher give 
 out that they'd got to have peices for the 
 nex Friday they all went home and went 
 to hunting up the peices. I recolleck what 
 a todo there was to our house helping Jim 
 pick out his. The whole fambly pitched 
 in and helped. Finelly we settled on The 
 Berrial of Moses, Mother being always a 
 great favorite of that pome. Our work 
 wasn't accomplished even then, because he 
 211
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 had to have a lot of help learning it, seeing 
 it was always hard to commit things off 
 by heart. 
 
 But the little Jameson boy didn't darst 
 to ask to have books to find a peice in (sech 
 as they was and very few of them) and so 
 he went to the graveyard to find one. Any 
 body seeing the poor little white-livered 
 feller wandering round there wouldn't 
 think he was much ahead of time. 
 
 When Friday come and all the children 
 was dressed up in their Sunday close, and 
 one after the other got up and spoke off 
 their piece when his turn come he went up 
 to the plackform in the same close he wore 
 doing the chores (all he had) and said off 
 the verse: 
 
 "Free from sorrer, care and strife, 
 Lies Judith, Joseph Silliker's wife. 
 Angels come and bore her away, 
 But we'll see her again on Jedg- 
 ment Day." 
 
 212
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 There was a titter all round and one of 
 the boys laughed out loud. His teacher, 
 Mary Liz Henbury, was madder than git- 
 out. She grabbed the ferule and told him 
 to come to her. He went and stood before 
 her, tremling in every pore. "Hold out 
 your hand," she says; and he held it out, 
 nothing but a little mite of skin and bone. 
 Down come the black walnut ferule, whack 
 after whack. Then he groped his way 
 back to his seat, the hurt hand held out in 
 front of him, the other arm hiding his face. 
 When he got to his seat his head sunk down 
 on his arms on the desk. 
 
 "I will learn you to show respeck to dead 
 and respectable people!" she says. "Now 
 I want to know if you're ever going to cut 
 up sech a caper again." He didn't make 
 no answer and she raised her voice still 
 louder and says, "Air you?" 
 
 He kep on making no answer and when 
 she took aholt of his head to raise it up 
 they see he'd fainted away. 
 213
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Very gentle the big boys lugged him out 
 door to the fresh air (they wouldn't let 
 Mary Liz touch him) and they run to the 
 spring for water to revive him up with 
 and done everything they could till he 
 come to. Then they helped him home. 
 
 When Jim come home he was awful ex- 
 'cited over it and he told how mad the 
 scholars was and how numbered Mary Liz 
 Henbury's days was there, so they all de 
 clared. 
 
 "She wouldn't have darsted to lick him 
 that way," he says, "if he'd had folks." 
 
 But Mother stopped him and says, "Now, 
 James, you musn't bring home stories like 
 that from school, and take sides against the 
 teacher. You'd a good deal better be talk 
 ing over your Sabbath School lesson." 
 
 But that night in the middle of the night 
 I heard her apraying and saying, "Heav 
 enly Father, dont take me away from my 
 children! don't take me away from my chil 
 dren!" 
 
 214
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 I don't know what ever become of that 
 little boy. The Hinckleys moved out west 
 ('pears to me it was New Braska they went 
 to) and took him with them. I don't be 
 lieve he lived to grow up. After that 
 fracas in school he used to come into our 
 house evenings and him and Jim would do 
 their sums together. He was an awful 
 bright scholar and he was a great help to 
 Jim. And then Jim helped him out in 
 cases where main strenth was called for. 
 Mother made a good deal of him, too. 
 Sis says my plan about keeping Capten 
 Joe's pipe lit reminds her of a story in the 
 reading book that always makes her cry 
 when she reads it. It's about a little pleas 
 ant girl in France that had no earthly 
 mother to love and so she wanted to do 
 something to show her love for her heav 
 enly one. She was very poor and had to 
 work all day but she gathered a few nuts in 
 the night and managed to buy a little oil 
 to keep a tiny lamp burning before a way- 
 215
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 side shrine. This lamp never went out 
 while she lived and it was by this little light 
 they found her dead one night at the foot 
 of the shrine, a smile of happyness on her 
 face and the thin little hands elapsed in 
 prayer. Then there's a picture that goes 
 with it that shows the heavenly mother 
 coming with her arms stretched out' to take 
 her to heaven. 
 
 It's sech a beautiful story it don't seam 
 right to compare Capten Joe's pipe to the 
 shrine and Sis says herself it don't sound 
 pretty like that to us but she guesses it 
 would to Capten Joe. It beats everything 
 how Shattucky that child is and increasing 
 in it every day of her life! 
 
 Another poor old soul there is the Wid- 
 der Billings. She gets a small pension but 
 she helps her daughter and fambly with it. 
 Her son died in the war and he was the 
 pride and joy of her heart, a cussid looking 
 objeck, so Jim says, if you will excuse the 
 expression, and I am going to have his tin- 
 216
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 type enlarged. His mother's eyes is fail 
 ing and she greaves that she can't see his 
 feachers plain. Wont she rejoice in the 
 life's sized picture! His brother-in-law 
 says he had sech mean ways that if the civel 
 war hadn't accomplished anything else it 
 done well to scoop Zeke Billings offen the 
 face of the earth. I don't think he liked 
 him. 
 
 There's a little boy comes here sometimes 
 on arrants and when he come for the work 
 bundle I took notice how white-livered he 
 looked and how diffrant from our boys. I 
 says to him once, "You had ought to drink 
 more milk," and he says, "Father don't get 
 but 7$ a week and we have to go kind of 
 slow on milk." 
 
 So he is going to have an extry quart of 
 milk every day for a month. 
 
 2$ worth of bright colored worsteds for 
 
 Feby Maxwell up to the poor house in 
 
 Chictooset to croshay with will give lots of 
 
 happyness. She loves to croshay and begs 
 
 217
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 for old stockings to unravel out and croshay 
 them over into mats and doll's hoods. 
 Then there will be enough left to get a 
 big package of flower seeds for a woman 
 I know that loves gardening and flowers 
 but never has no cash for sech things. 
 
 That is all but it has took me some time 
 to plan it all out. I know Jamesey will be 
 pleased. Dear little feller! he was born on 
 Friday and was loving and giving. 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 218
 
 XXII 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freindj 
 
 Jason has gone. A month ago he wan't 
 here because we hadn't ever heard of him 
 then. Now he aint here and it hadn't 
 ought to be different from what it was then. 
 But there's so much difference it seems as 
 if we couldn't stand it. I wish Oh! I 
 wish that Mr. Spinney would come in and 
 cheer the folks up. I am trying to but I 
 aint much good at it and he promised to 
 come in to-day. I hope he aint forgot it. 
 
 I must tell you just how it happened. 
 Yesterday morning Mame was down town 
 and she had took the baby with her in his 
 carriage. Mandy was to work in the 
 kitchen and Jason was helping me put the 
 setting-room to rights when a carriage drove 
 up to the door. As it was the only one 
 219
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 that had ever come into the street excep 
 for funerals, everybody in the neighbor 
 hood was nachelly excited over it and a face 
 at every window watched a slight young 
 lady and a little boy about as big as Gussy 
 get out and run up the steps. I went to 
 the door when the bell rung and there stood 
 the sweetest little fair-haired lady I'd seen 
 for many a day, aholding the boy by the 
 hand. When she looked up and asked in 
 her pretty eager way if Mr. Bocham- 
 bray was there, I didn't have time to an 
 swer for a voice it seemed as if I hadn't 
 ever heard before cried, "Natalie!" and 
 she was in Jason's arms. 
 
 There didn't seem a very urgerent need 
 for me there so I went back to the setting- 
 room; but I could hear her laughing and 
 crying and scolding in that pretty voice of 
 hers through the closed door. Bymeby 
 they come in, Natalie and the boy (jest 
 the living image of Jason) clinging to 
 Jason's hands, and the little feller hiding 
 220
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 his face in Jason's coat when he spied me. 
 
 Then Jason said (with Oh! such a lot 
 of pride in his voice) "Jennie, I want you 
 to know my wife; and Natalie, this is my 
 freind, Miss Allen." 
 
 "Are you Jennie Allen?" she cries; and 
 with that she come up to me and give me 
 a tight hug, asaying, "You blessed thing! 
 You dear, adorable, blessed thing!" 
 
 I was surprised enough, I can tell you, 
 but Jason was full as much so. "How in 
 the world," he says, "do you know Miss 
 Jennie Allen?" 
 
 "Why!" she says; "she's our good fairy 
 that wrote and told me to come. She told 
 me not to tell you but you know I alwers 
 tell you everything." 
 
 I thought I would sink right down 
 through the floor and I was agoing to leave 
 the room but she held on to me with both 
 her little hands (she had lovely hands with 
 jewels asparkling on them) and says, 
 "Please tell us all about it, Jennie, because 
 221
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 I don't understand it myself. All I know 
 is you wrote he needed me and told me 
 where he was." 
 
 He looked at me in amazement. "How 
 did you know our name?" he said. "I 
 have never written it in this city nor have 
 I had it on any of my belongings. And 
 how could you know, even, that I had a 
 wife?" 
 
 "O Etien!" she cried in a hurt voice; 
 "didn't you tell her that?" 
 
 He didn't answer her then, but he put his 
 arm awful tender around her and waited 
 for me to speak. 
 
 "I knew you was feeling awful bad and 
 undecided about something," I says; "and 
 when I put a newspaper over what you'd 
 ben writing that time, I couldn't help see 
 ing the first 3 words 'Natalie, my Wife.' 
 I hoped you'd send it but you didn't cause 
 I saw you tear it up afterwards. Then 
 when you was talking to Mr. Oglevie about 
 town government (I guess most likely you 
 222
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 remember it) and you told him how a ser- 
 ten way to carry things on was the best 
 way and he said it wan't prackitable, you 
 told him it was because it was a decisive 
 success in a small town in Virginny." 
 
 "Yes, I remember that." 
 
 "And when he asked you what town that 
 was, you didn't answer right off but stopped 
 a little bit before you said Altaville. It 
 was you making that hessytation that made 
 me think maybe that was where you lived ; 
 so I writ to the postmaster there asking 
 the name of a lady named Natalie whose 
 husband had an extry dark complection 
 and black whiskers atravelling in the north, 
 and answering to the name of Jason. 
 
 "He answered and that's how I got the 
 
 name." 
 
 "You had ought to join the detecting 
 foarce!" cries Natalie; "but tell me didn't 
 our postmaster tell you his name wasn't 
 Jason?" 
 
 "Yes, and I'm glad he knew who was 
 223
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 wanted, even with that mistake." I can't 
 tell you how I hated to let him know how 
 I'd ben ameddling in his fambly affairs like 
 this; and I was getting my courage up to 
 tell him I wouldn't of done it if I didn't 
 see he needed a freind and I couldn't think 
 of any other way to help him; but I didn't 
 have to because after a moment he says : 
 
 "Jennie, do you know what you have 
 done? You have brought me and my 
 precious wife together when, I fear, we was 
 slowly drifting apart. I shall never speak 
 of this- again excepting to her father but 
 we think we owe it to you to make you a 
 full explanation." 
 
 "O no, no!" I says; "I'd rather not hear 
 it." 
 
 Without paying no heed to that he went 
 on and said that 6 weeks ago he'd had a 
 business opportunity that would probably 
 bring him in a large fortune if he embraced 
 it, but he couldn't look upon it as honest 
 224
 
 and he declined not to have anything to 
 do with it. 
 
 "But my wife," he says, "viewed the mat 
 ter differently"- 
 
 "But in my heart I didn't!" she inter 
 rupts. 
 
 "And when I refused to go into it" 
 
 "Let me finish!" she cries. "When he 
 refused to go into it because his high sense 
 of honor wouldn't allow him, though men 
 that the world calls honest do the same 
 thing every day, I was so angry that I told 
 him he didn't care how poor he kep me 
 (I had alwers wanted a cottage at New 
 port) and I knew he couldn't go against 
 my wishes if he reely loved me and I 
 wouldn't care if he went away and I never 
 saw him again. I don't know how I could 
 ever say that, even without meaning it, to 
 one as good and kind as he has alwers ben. 
 I'd alwers acted like a spoiled baby, though, 
 and took a foolish delight in showing my 
 225
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 power over him. Father used to say Eti- 
 en had too much patience and I myself 
 thought it had no limit. But this time he 
 was terrible angry or else grievously hurt 
 I tortured myself trying to think which 
 when he had left me. 
 
 "He went away nex morning leaving a 
 note saying he was going away on business 
 and he couldn't tell when he would return. 
 I was nearly wild for I knew why he had 
 gone ; and when three weeks had passed and 
 I'd had no word from him I made Father 
 write to several of his freinds in the North 
 to find if they had seen him but they hadn't. 
 (He wrote in such a way, Etien, that they 
 wouldn't know we had lost you.) Then I 
 begged him to employ detectives and I 
 think he would have done so if your letter 
 hadn't come. Of course they couldn't have 
 found him and I can't bear to think of it," 
 she says, burying her face in her hands. 
 
 "Then don't ever think of it again, dar 
 ling," he says. "That cursed pride of mine 
 226
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 has caused you terrible suffering; and yet 
 it was not wholly pride that kep me away. 
 Under my f reind Jennie's wholesome influ 
 ence I was coming round to considering 
 only your good and your happiness. She 
 simply changed over into a shorter process." 
 
 You can see as well that it wasn't me at 
 all but his conscience and his love for his 
 wife; but I only says, "Yes, but I thought 
 you was wasting precious time." 
 
 I had took up my sewing soon as they be 
 gun to talk because I didn't feel so awk- 
 word when I was asewing, but I'd a good 
 deal ruther they hadn't told me all this. 
 It wan't necessary for anybody but them 
 selves to know it. When I told him I 
 thought he was wasting time by making up 
 his mind so slow, he says, "Yes, time and 
 that nicely ruled paper of yours that I kep 
 tearing up." 
 
 "You know you was welcome to the 
 paper." 
 
 "Yes, I did know it jest as I know I have 
 227
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 ben welcome to everything in this house. 
 Natalie, this is a household with the true 
 communistic sperit. If you were to re 
 main here a year and contributed nothing 
 yourself you would never be reminded that 
 you were using others' property and you 
 wouldn't be from their standpoint. What 
 a fine nucleus" (I got him to spell this for 
 me afterwards) "this would make for a new 
 Brook Farm or another Utopia!" 
 
 I don't know what he was driving at but 
 I remembered it all to write you. 
 
 "Even the baby of the house has imbibed 
 the spirit of the house and addresses me as 
 Man." 
 
 "That's because he can't say Uncle 
 Jason yet," I says. 
 
 "I prefer to think it is because he takes 
 me for jest what I am jest plain straight 
 
 man." 
 
 At that moment Mandy's voice come 
 from the kitchen in loud tones "Jason, the 
 coal is out!" and what did she do but come 
 228
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 to the door and hand him the hod. I 
 thought die I should though not blaming 
 poor Mandy seeing she wan't expected to 
 know who the elegant dressed lady was. 
 But before I could do anything about it 
 he'd took the hod jest as usual and gone 
 down to the bacement for the coal. 
 
 His wife's face was a study, as the saying 
 is. "Where has he gone?" she inquiered. 
 
 When I stammered out that he usually 
 brought the coal when Jim wan't here, first 
 she looked puzzled and then she went off 
 in a peal of laughter that it done me good 
 to hear. "Oh! oh!" she cried aholding 
 onto her heart (she was all out of breath 
 from laughing) "I never saw anything so 
 funny in all my life the proud and dis 
 tinguished count of Bochambray carrying 
 coal!" 
 
 "Hush, Natalie ;" he said as he come back 
 again; "we are to lunch to-day with 
 freinds who have all helped to earn or pre 
 pare the meal. Our only contribution is 
 229
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 my bringing that fuel upstairs. Is it too 
 much?" 
 
 "Are you a count?" was all I could say. 
 
 "Not exackly," he says, "though I would 
 be if there were sech things in this coun 
 try, as I am the oldest son in the direck 
 line of the Counts of Bochambray. But 
 my fambly for many generations has lived 
 in Virginny so I would forget all about it 
 if this small wife of mine didn't remind me 
 of it on occasions like this." 
 
 I knew how pleased Mame would be to 
 find out Jason was a nobleman of high de 
 gree, so when I saw her coming I asked 
 him if he wouldn't please introduce Na 
 talie as the Countess of Bochambray and 
 then I would introduce him as the Count, 
 her husband. They kind of larfed at this 
 but he said he would do it to please me. 
 So when Mame come in he done as I said. 
 Natalie looked quite Countessy when she 
 was being introduced but very uncountessy 
 when she saw the baby. She seemed almost 
 230
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 like a baby herself when she made a dash 
 for him, catching him up and talking baby 
 talk to him. 
 
 Mame wasn't so very much surprised 
 about Jason. She says, "We have thought 
 you was everything from a burgler or a In 
 dian down to a forrin noble man." 
 
 "Down?" says Jason smiling. 
 
 Mame fell in love with Natalie to once 
 and Natalie fell in love with Mame and 
 the baby, and the two mothers had a nice 
 long intercoarse on matters pretaining to 
 children, Natalie asking Mame's advice 
 about how to reggleate little Adrien's diet. 
 We soon found out she'd ben in the habit 
 of regglating it by letting him have most 
 anything he wanted to eat. Then she made 
 an excuse for it by saying with a pretty 
 seriousness, "I think after all nature is the 
 best gide. If Adrien craved a serten food 
 it would seem as if that was what his sys 
 tem requiered 'don't you think so, Mrs. 
 Allen?" 
 
 231
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 And when Mame wan't looking she gave 
 our baby some chocolate creams out of her 
 shattylane bag and after she had gone he 
 had 2 mild spazzums as a consequence. 
 
 Speaking of that bag Mr. Spinney said 
 last night it was a sure-enough shattylane 
 bag because Natalie was a shattylane in the 
 French langwidge, countess meaning shat 
 tylane. He knows ever so many words in 
 French and he has learnt Sis quite a lot. 
 He says they call mother mare, which don't 
 sound respeckful to me. Now a mare is 
 mother to a colt more often than not, but 
 it seems kind of funny for it to mean a 
 mother to anything else. Then pair is 
 father when a father is only half of a pair, 
 and in some famblies not even that. But 
 more curiouser than that is their calling 
 their sisters sir though spelling it soeur 
 (I wonder where phoneticacism is needed 
 most, here or in France!) and the only 
 gleam of reason I can see in the whole thing 
 is their calling a girl's marriage portion 
 232
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 her dough, though it sounds slangy even for 
 us. But take it all in all, I should say it 
 was an awful crazy langwidge and I don't 
 wonder Jason's ancestors wanted to come 
 over here where they could talk sense. 
 
 I asked Mr. Spinney what home was in 
 french and he says there want no word for 
 it reely but thy have to say shay moi in 
 place of it and that is simply at me. Aint 
 that redicklous? So when thy sing home 
 sweat home thay have to say 
 
 "Shay moi, shay, shay moi, 
 
 Be it evar so umble 
 
 Thay's no place like shay moi." 
 And that is 
 
 "At me, at, at me, 
 
 Be it ever so umble 
 
 Thay's no place like at me. ' 
 
 Well, when Jason and Natalie told us 
 
 they must leave for home soon as dinner 
 
 (or lunch, as they called it) we felt bad 
 
 enough; and Mame said she was going to 
 
 233
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 send Bub down to the shop to see if Jim 
 couldn't come to dinner as soon as he got 
 home from school and had his face washed. 
 She done so and Jim got off for an hour 
 and a quarter. Soon as Jim found out the 
 folks belonged to the nobility he felt awful 
 awkword and said he'd a good deal ruther 
 they'd be jest plain folks. Then he wanted 
 to know if he had got to keep asaying 
 "your highness" to them same as they do 
 in Sir Walter Scort's stones. 
 
 Jason give him a slap on the shoulder 
 and said he'd like to see him try it. "I 
 don't get anything but Etien," he says, 
 "in my home town hardly ever Mr. with 
 it." 
 
 "Is Jason your middle name?" we in 
 quired. 
 
 "No, though I have grown so attached 
 to it I shall feel like adopting it perma 
 nently. My father's name was Jean so I 
 am J's son do you see? and will you for 
 give the deception? To tell you the truth," 
 
 234
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 (but what follered was only a part of the 
 truth, as I alone knew) "I had ben passing 
 through a very trying experience when I 
 come here and I was wore out and dis 
 gusted with life. I wanted to drop my very 
 name. I went whither the winds drove 
 me, not caring much what befell me." 
 (Here his wife come over to him and took 
 aholt of his hand, keeping it in hers a long 
 time.) "When chance brot me to this 
 house I says to myself, as well here as 
 elsewhere, until circumstances drive me 
 away again." 
 
 "But circumstances has come, hasn't she, 
 dear," says Natalie, "to drive you home?" 
 putting her cheek loving against his. 
 
 "I have suffered much in my mind dur 
 ing this month," he went on as he returned 
 her caress, "yet would not have missed this 
 stay with you for all the world. It has 
 ben a relevation to me. I have never seen 
 before family union and affection like 
 yours, and I bless the power that brought 
 235
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 me to this little world of loving kindness." 
 Natalie hung her head and then she 
 raised it again, a whole world of penitence 
 and high ressylution in her eyes. As for 
 the rest of us we didn't know what to make 
 of sech a speech ; but we put it down to the 
 French being extry polight and egsagerat- 
 ing any little thing you do for them. Jim 
 looked awful uncomferble and finelly he 
 says, "Look here, Jason; what you trying to 
 get off? Count or no count, we aint ago 
 ing to take credit that all belongs on tother 
 side. Here you've ben giving your time 
 aworking for us, easing up the burdens of 
 the womenfolks when I wan't round." 
 Here a gleam of mischif come into his eyes, 
 and he adds, "I don't know who's agoing 
 to clean the lamps now. I'd like to know 
 what's contribbeted to the brightness of the 
 home more than the good jorb you done 
 on them lamps after you'd practiced 
 awhile." 
 
 This made everybody laugh especially 
 236
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Natalie and then we felt easier. Mr. Spin 
 ney happened in and Mame made him stay 
 to dinner, so that made 1 1 of us to set 
 round the table. We asked Mr. Spinney 
 to dish up the soup and when he lifted the 
 cover of the big tureen and looked in he 
 said he felt like Balbore discovering the 
 Pacific Ocean, and Jason asked how many 
 cows went to the making of a beef soup 
 that size. 
 
 Mr. Spinney give an account of us catch 
 ing Jason in the trap to Natalie and he set 
 it off in great style. 
 
 "We've all ben trying to make it up to 
 Jason for what he went through with in 
 the trap that night," says Mame, "because 
 every one of us had a hand in it." 
 
 "All but Jason himself. He had a foot 
 in it," says Mr. Spinney. 
 
 Natalie remarked 'twas no wonder that 
 Mame's dark suspitions was aroused by the 
 black whiskers and she now hoped Etien 
 would have them cut off as she had long 
 
 237
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 begged him to do. Jason said I hadn't 
 expressed an opinion on the subjeck yet so 
 I said I liked only a reasonable mustash the 
 best not one like the king of Germany's 
 that was part of his back view, but one like 
 Mr. Spinney's that showed moderation. 
 "In fack," I says, "I like his the best I've 
 ever come in contack with." 
 
 "O Jen!" they all shouted; and die I 
 thought I should. I didn't darst to look 
 at him and he didn't look at me. But in 
 spite of me being so mortified it seemed 
 lovely to have that secret with jest him. I 
 suppose it was on account of me not being 
 used to secrets. I now had 2 on my mind. 
 Jason had told me he felt jest as safe about 
 his as if it was something he'd dropped in 
 a deep well ; but the other one is safer than 
 that. 
 
 When I was bringing on the flapjacks 
 
 me and Mandy was frying for a topping-off 
 
 dish and I put an extry large pile on Jim's 
 
 plate on account of him being so hearty, 
 
 238
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Jason says, "That reminds me, Jim, to ask 
 about your digestion now." 
 
 Mame laughed and says Jim could digest 
 board nails if necessary and asked him what 
 he meant, seeing Jim made no answer. 
 
 "Oh!" said Jason; "I jest happened to 
 think what he remarked to me the other 
 day when I remarked he wan't smoking as 
 much as usual. He says, "No; I've heard 
 considdable about smoking being bad for 
 the digestion, and a feller can't be too care 
 ful about sech things." That morning he'd 
 give me a half dollar saying it might come 
 in handy for newspapers and car-fares. I 
 wondered if there was any connection be 
 tween them two things." 
 
 "Oh!" cried Natalie; "and did you take 
 the money?" 
 
 "I did. I had the notion to drink to the 
 last drop this cup of brotherly kindness 
 held out to me." Poor big foolish Jim! 
 He turned red clear up to the roots of his 
 hair and squirmed round awful in his seat. 
 239
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Natalie come to the rescue by saying, "Jen 
 nie, you must give me the recipee for these 
 delicious griddle cakes." And then she 
 syruptitiously helped Adrien to another. 
 
 Jim said as this wan't no ordinerry occa 
 sion there had ought to be an after dinnar 
 speach. "Furthermore than this," he says, 
 "my freind Mr. E. J. Spinney is the one to 
 do it." 
 
 So jest to oblige he riz up and spoke off 
 a beautiful speach though we could see he 
 was awfull embarassed and mortifide. He 
 says, "At sech moments as this I understand 
 the self-possession of Dannie in the lion's 
 Den. He knew whatever happened he 
 wouldent have to make the after dinnar 
 speach." 
 
 After Jim had gone back to the shop 
 Jason told Mr. Spinney he wished to see 
 him a few moments in private as he had a 
 matter to talk over with him. I was glad 
 he was going to have his life insured. 
 We'd found out by this time that he was a 
 240
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 rich man (Adrien had told his father that 
 2 of the ottoes was being repaired up and 
 also showed our boys a toy pistol the coach 
 man had give him) but as Mr. Spinney 
 often remarks, life insurance money is 
 the only kind of riches that don't take 
 wings ; and what would that pretty childish 
 little Natalie do if he was took away and 
 she was left unprovided for to staggar un 
 der the pitfalls of life? 
 
 Then again I was glad he was giving him 
 this business because it has always greaved 
 me that Mr. Spinney hadn't taken to him 
 same as the rest of us did and this would 
 kind of pleassant him up. And sure 
 enough ! when they come out of the parlor 
 after their talk Mr. Spinney did look awful 
 pleassant, though quite quiet and subdewed 
 but cherked up when they was going away 
 and kep things from being sad and sollem. 
 Jason didn't make no more speeches, for 
 which we was thankful, but jest shook 
 hands all round. Natalie kissed everybody 
 241
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 and when she come to me she looked awful 
 roguish and was jest agoing to say some 
 thing when she saw Jason looking at her 
 and stopped. But she took my face be 
 tween 2 of her hands and kissed me half a 
 dozen times at the last moment she looked 
 back with that same roagish look same as 
 Bub and Gussy looks when they are up to 
 some of their tantrums. She aint nothing 
 but a child and wont ever be anything else 
 and Jason has got his hands full with her; 
 a very fassinating handful, Mr. Spinney 
 called her when I made the remark out 
 loud. 
 
 At the supper table it was jest as if a 
 funerel had took place. Mandy's eyes was 
 all redded up showing she'd ben crying. 
 Jim sunk his chin on his chest and forgot 
 to eat. Hardly any one spoke, our hearts 
 was so heavy. 
 
 At last Gussy says (his lips aquivering) 
 "Father, let's set the trap again to-night." 
 Your true freind, Jennie Allen. 
 242
 
 XXIII 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I recolleck telling you about Mame 
 reading out loud to us evenings. Some 
 times she reads the sermons of a famous 
 minister in the New York Breaze, and we 
 all like them. They seem to take right 
 aholt of you and make religion reel and 
 helping as you go along. He is awful high 
 church and we are Baptists but that don't 
 make no odds there's enough common 
 ground for both to stand on and them ser 
 mons goes right to the spot. Well, weve 
 listened to them read and theyve done us 
 all good; but as for any of us ever seeing 
 the minister that wrote them, we would jest 
 as soon think of seeing King Solomon or 
 Tenniston. 
 
 243
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Well, yesterday he was here in this set 
 ting-room, ajoking, and alaughing and 
 atalking with us! 
 
 And it wasn't on general principals, same 
 as ministers goes round sometimes to kind 
 of religify people up, but it was because 
 it was us and nobody else. 
 
 So many remarkable occurrences has took 
 place here lately that now I shouldn't be 
 so awful surprised if the angel Gabrial flew 
 right into our setting-room and handed one 
 of us his trumpet asaying, "Here, you give 
 this thing a blow! I'm out of breath from 
 flying so swift and aint got the wind for 
 it!" 
 
 That would be wonderful enough, but 
 considering weve all had our thoughts and 
 dreams about Gabrial in one way and an 
 other, and ackchelly look forrard to see 
 ing him some time, his sudden appearance 
 wouldn't seem half so wonderful as this 
 great devign eating 3 of Mandy's hot cookys 
 on this very spot! 
 
 244
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 I wouldn't ever have darsted to offer him 
 sech ordinnery vittles, but he smelt them 
 and said he would like one if it was con 
 venient. I told him I would give him a 
 reciept for them to take home seeing he 
 appeared to relish them but he laughed 
 and says, "If I gave you a reciept for them 
 it would be more business-like." 
 
 But I'm getting clear ahead of my story. 
 In the morning I'd gone down stairs to feed 
 Bub's rabbits (dear little feller he's got so 
 much on his mind he forgets them quite 
 frequent) and when I come up Mandy was 
 jest acoming out of the setting-room, and 
 she made signs and motions that somebody 
 wanted to see me in there. I went in and 
 there sat a great big, prosperous-looking 
 gentleman with a smooth face weighing 
 about 1 80 pounds. He had a beautiful 
 shiny beaver hat and a cane in his hand and 
 his close was sech nice broadcloth and he 
 looked so slick and clean generally he made 
 the furniture look faded and old. 
 
 245
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "How do you do, Jennie?" he says, asmil- 
 ing, and arising to meet me. 
 
 Jennie I think of that! 
 
 "I'm pretty well, thank you, but I aint 
 never seen you before." 
 
 "Look at me again/' he says, "and see if 
 you can't guess." 
 
 I looked at him. It was a pleessant face 
 to look at good and kind and a twinkle in 
 his eye but I had to say again it was the 
 first time I ever saw it. 
 
 "Mandy didn't know me either, but I'd 
 feel bad enough if Jim didn't." He looked 
 round the room and his eye rested on the 
 mantle shelf. "I see Capten Silliker's ivory 
 ship didn't get broke in moving. I'm glad, 
 for I always loved that ship." 
 
 Then I knew he was Chictooset but even 
 then I couldn't make out who in particular 
 he was; but I could see he was bound not 
 to tell me. 
 
 "Jennie," he says, and the twinkle in his 
 eye kep agrowing brighter, "Jennie, have 
 246
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 you ever ben able to learn how to cut off 
 siphers in short division?" 
 
 By this time the way his eyes kind of 
 went up at the corners and him having a 
 cowlick begun to look familiar, and I 
 says, 
 
 "Are you any relation to Willie Jame 
 son?" 
 
 "I am Willie Jameson!" and then he 
 bursted into a hearty laugh because he saw 
 I didn't believe a word of it. 
 
 "How can you be Willie Jameson?" I 
 says thinking of the poor little shadder of a 
 child that had faded out of life years ago 
 (so we thought) and looked into the large, 
 strong feachers of this man. 
 
 "It's a good deal easier than it used to 
 be," he says; "It was a pretty hard thing 
 being Willie Jameson 20 years ago. Come, 
 Jennie, let's set down and have a talk about 
 the old days in Chictooset." 
 
 But I couldnt hardly believe him yet, in 
 spite of his words, and the cowlick, and his 
 247
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 blue eyes going up at the corners. It wasn't 
 so much him being large and stout (lots of 
 people puts on flesh) and it want the good 
 close; it was the strenth and power I could 
 see in the man. He seemed like one that 
 could accomplice anything he set out, and 
 could make other folks do what he wanted 
 them to. All this was so fur away from 
 Jim's little playmate that always acted like 
 he didn't have no right to be here, no won 
 der I was slow to believe. 
 
 "You must excuse me sir," I says, "I will 
 get round to believing it byme-by but as 
 fur as I've got now is to thinking that 
 Willie (he was so small and weak) is noth 
 ing but a little kernal somewheres round in 
 side of you." 
 
 He give another hearty laugh. "Well, 
 Jennie," he says, "there's no mistaking your 
 indemnity even if your face had changed 
 much, which it hasn't. Your idea of the 
 old-time Willie being a kernal of what I 
 am now is sertenly true in idea." 
 248
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 Then he told how he happened to find 
 out where we was living and all about us. 
 He was to a dinner in Boston and Lyddy 
 Rogers was there. "Lyddy's improved a 
 lot exterially," he says, "but she's still got 
 that sharp tongue. I'm sorry because I'm 
 afraid she makes enemies by it. She made 
 2 or 3 personal remarks at the table that 
 amused us all so much we had to laugh be 
 fore we had time to pity the victems, and 
 they was right there. Well, the people got 
 to talking about curious eppitarfs they'd 
 seen and heard of, and Miss Rogers 
 (neither of us then had any idea we'd even 
 ever seen each other beforCj let alone her 
 chasing me out of her yard with a stick 
 when I went in to get Jake Billings's ball 
 for him) she recited off that one about 
 Capten Silliker's wife, and said she knew it 
 for a fack because she'd seen it regular for 
 over 25 years. 
 
 "Did you live in Chictooset?" I asked 
 her. 
 
 249
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Yes," she says; "what do you know 
 about Chictooset?" 
 
 "Then I told her about me living there 
 for a while when I was a child, but 
 she didn't have no recollection of me. But 
 later we had a pleasant chat over Chictoo 
 set people, and principally we talked of 
 your mother. I told Miss Rogers, and I 
 tell you now, Jennie, that your mother has 
 always been to me the ideel of what a 
 woman had ought be. Not a quality was 
 lacking which' she had ought to possess, 
 even to that sweet unreasonableness that is 
 a fond mother's right. All the mothering 
 I ever had was what she gave me. 
 
 "Once I told a lie to the school-teacher. 
 I'd knocked a chiny vase off of her desk by 
 accident and it broke, but when she ques 
 tioned me about it I was too frightened to 
 tell the truth. I know I could not have 
 been naturally untruthful because that sin 
 was a terrible weight on my soul. I felt 
 an impulse to tell some one of it, and when 
 250
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 that impulse grew to strong to be resisted 
 I went straight to your mother. 
 
 "How well I remember that morning! 
 She was alone in the plessant kitchen, 
 where bright geraniums was blossoming 
 in tin cans in the windows and there was a 
 delightful oder of fresh baked bread in the 
 air. It was cold and raw outside but here 
 was plessant warmth and brightness. I 
 can see now the brisk little figure of your 
 mother as she flitted busyly about the room. 
 When I'd told her my miserable story 
 about the falsehood (and I thought she'd 
 never let Jim play with me again) she jest 
 patted me on the head and says, (the in 
 consequence is my happiest memory) she 
 says, "Willie, don't you want a slice of my 
 nice hot bread with molasses on it?" and 
 she spread it and handed it to me. "But 
 aint I got to tell the teacher what I done?" 
 I asked her. 
 
 "Law no, dear; I always let sleeping 
 dogs lie." 
 
 251
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "I didn't know what she meant by calling 
 me a sleeping dog, but I felt I deserved the 
 worst that could be said and this didn't 
 sound very bad. Then she added as I hap 
 pily devoured my lunch, "I will fix it all 
 right with the teacher for you. You aint 
 got anything to worry about." 
 
 "O what a wise woman she was! Her 
 way would be denounced as a wrong one by 
 many, but I never told another falsehood, 
 let that tell the story. 
 
 "Her own boy never lied, but he had a 
 strong hand and a mother like that to stand 
 behind his daring truth, and I know she 
 realized the differance. I am an Episco- 
 lapian minnister; I spend many hours 
 every week in the confessionel and in deal 
 ing with my penitents I think of my own 
 first confession in that dear New England 
 kichen and I am inspired by the example 
 of that little Baptist mother down in Chic- 
 tooset." 
 
 Then he lowered his voice down as if he 
 252
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 was aspeaking of something holy and says, 
 "Some day I am going to make a pilgrim 
 age to her grave. I have in mind the very 
 vine one with small white blossoms that 
 I will plant upon it. If I have done some 
 thing to aid my fellows in life I have been 
 helped to do it by the memory of the one 
 who lies there." 
 
 We set silent a little while after that and 
 soon afterwards he riz up to go. 
 
 But he said he was coming again in the 
 evening when Jim would be to home. He 
 said he wanted to see Jim's wife, too, al 
 though him and her hadn't ever seen each 
 other. Mame's folks lived on the other side 
 of the Crick when he was in Chictooset 
 and she was too little to go to school. 
 
 We couldn't hardly wait to tell Jim 
 about it. It wan't till Willie was gone that 
 we found out by putting this and that to 
 gether that he was the great Doctor Jame 
 son that writes them sermons! There wan't 
 no doubt about it because he'd told me the 
 
 253
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 name of his church and Mame said that 
 was Doctor Jameson's, she knew, and she 
 hunted it up in the paper where it told 
 about it and showed it to me. 
 
 And to think the preacher of them ser 
 mons had known and been helped by 
 Mother! I'd ought to be prouder than 
 ever of Mother now, only I can't be. But 
 my heart goes out in grattytude that some 
 folks that is poor and unhappy is helped by 
 her even now. 
 
 Mandy was the first to see Jim when he 
 got home, and she sings out, "Jim! Doctor 
 Jameson that writes the sermons that we 
 like in the New York Breaze has been here 
 and he has took away the reciept for my 
 cookys !" 
 
 "Mandy," says Jim, awful worried, 
 "you'd better lay down a spell and keep 
 kind of quiet. I'll fetch in a handkerchief 
 wrung out of cold water, to tie round your 
 head and you jest compose yourself the best 
 you can. I guess probbly we hadn't ought 
 
 254
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 to have read so many of them sermons to 
 you. It has had a bad effeck." 
 
 As he went out to the kitchen Mame met 
 him and cries, "Oh, Jim! that little Willie 
 Jameson you used to play with in Chictoo- 
 set has been here and he's coming again this 
 evening to see you! He's jest great!" 
 
 "I thought he was dead. Look here! I 
 aint got to put a wet handkerchief round 
 your head, too, have I?" 
 
 Well between us all we explained it to 
 Jim, and it put him into a mixed-up state 
 of mind, on account of him being about 
 equally divided between joy about seeing 
 Willie again and being scared to face the 
 great preacher. 
 
 "I can't make 'em seem like one person," 
 he says; "it's like when you are looking 
 cross-eyed and one objeck looks like two. 
 When your eyes is straightened out, though, 
 the thing settles down to one, and I'm hop 
 ing that will be the way with Willie and 
 Doctor Jameson." 
 
 255
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 And when they (I mean he) come again 
 in the evening it wan't near so hard as he'd 
 calkilated. Him and Jim had a beautiful 
 talk over their play-days together. Willie 
 spoke of Mother again and said she always 
 looked like the little lady she was. 
 
 "I remember," he says, "that her bunnet 
 was aways crape." 
 
 "And her slippers was always felt," says 
 Jim reminiciously. 
 
 "Then slippers, Jim," says Willie, "was 
 the sculptor's spatulam that she licked you 
 into shape with. And a noble work she 
 done! Lyddy Rogers has told me of your 
 fine manhood, and she says that if there was 
 many American citizens like you the coun 
 try would be something to boast of." 
 
 Jim can't stand anything like that, so he 
 breaks in and says, "Recolleck, Willie, the 
 time we was going to make molasses candy 
 and you had to work and couldn't come? 
 And we saved some of the candy for you?" 
 
 "Course I recolleck that. Do you spose 
 256
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 I've tasted anything so good since as them 
 half-dozen pieces of black stickiness that I 
 had to gouge with a knife out of the thick 
 white saucer? Talk of ambrosia! Oh, the 
 Paradise that kitchen was to me! The 
 big pine table (scoured so white with 
 sand) where we used to do our sums in the 
 evenings, and the shelf above it that held 
 the tall pile of back numbers of The Boy's 
 Companion for us to feast upon when we'd 
 covered our slates with figures! Do you 
 recolleck the continuous story about the 
 spelling match we read together?" 
 
 Before he went away he told us all about 
 his life after he left Chictooset. His uncle 
 had died soon after and he'd gone to work 
 for a farmer in Ohio. It was a fine farm 
 and the man and his wife was kind and, 
 seeing he wan't rugged, didn't put any 
 heavy work on him, and in a few years he 
 grew strong and hearty. He had gone to 
 school pretty regular, and he'd made up his 
 mind to work his way through college. "I 
 257
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 done so," he says, "and little by little I have 
 reached the place where I am now. All 
 along the way there have been helping 
 hands held out to me. I hope I shall live 
 long enough to give back to the world much 
 of the good I have received from it. Every 
 day I am more impressed with how fine a 
 thing humanity is, and perhaps it is cheafly 
 in my profession that deals with people's 
 souls that we can see to what sublime 
 heighths it can reach !" 
 
 "And don't you see lots of the other kind 
 of people, too?" Mame asked him. 
 
 "Yes God pity them! God pity them!" 
 Later he told us that he was going to 
 preach in Saint Anselm's the next Sunday 
 and he wanted us all to come. So we have 
 got that to look forrard to and we are al 
 most counting the minutes till then. He is 
 going to have a pue saved for just us. 
 Wont it be beautiful! Oh, Jim is so proud 
 of Willie he don't know how to express it. 
 He has got out the old sermons and Mame 
 258
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 is reading them to us all over again. Don't 
 we have beautiful things happen to us all 
 the time! 
 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 259
 
 XXIV 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I got your bundle of work all right and 
 I will get it all done in time so you can 
 send them away for Christmas. There's 
 an awfull lot of common sence in that bun 
 dle and very little foolishness. I think 
 about 5 per cent of foolishness is about right 
 for Christmas gifs. You leave that out and 
 it seems too much like bisness. But Christ 
 mas is carried to sech an excess by some 
 foks that feel they must swap pressants 
 with everybody they know, no matter if it 
 don't leave enough to pay their bills that 
 it is a curce instead of a blessing, leaving 
 unlimbered evils afollering in its train. 
 This form of it is more deadly in its results 
 than the fourth of July. The fourth com 
 monly finishes up its victims to once eather 
 260
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 one way or another but the aggregated form 
 of Christmassing brings on a warpation of 
 your sence of honesty along with fizzical 
 weariness leading sometimes to the grave 
 after years of a cute suffering and docter's 
 bills. They don't alwers know what 
 fetched it on, and I've heard more than one 
 lay it to the jenuerry thaw that they wan't 
 feeling quite so spruce as they was along 
 the first of the winter. 
 
 At sech moments my eyes is more than 
 likely to wander to some foolish hat-pin or 
 weak-minded and unbecoming collarette 
 that she dident have the privilidge of pick 
 ing out herself and the remark forms itself 
 inside me, "It's a case of a cute Christmas- 
 sitis." 
 
 I've got so I know the Christmas shop 
 per's face when I see it and it's werse than 
 the bysickle face or the motor face. It's 
 the werst face there is. But wait till the 
 beauty specielists get after it. Then the 
 cause of it will have to go. The f ashel mas< 
 261
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 soozes have done what the preachers could 
 not do. They teach that a serean county- 
 nence keeps old age and wrinkles at bay and 
 the women folks clere their brows and as- 
 soom a look of peace and good will toards 
 all mankind. And I don't beleive you can 
 wear that look without some little speck of 
 a corrisponding feeling underneath. A 
 nabor was in here one day with her 2 ob 
 streperous little ones and we took notice 
 that while she was giving them hail Col- 
 umby and calling them a variety of on- 
 plessant things, her face was all the time 
 like a plassid summer sea. When Mame 
 spoke of it she said, "Yes, I saccrefize 
 everything for these youngones, but I vow 
 if I'll wrinkle up my face for 'em. Why!" 
 she says; "I know of sociarty women that 
 wouldent scowl for 100$, though their 
 hearts was a tangle of scowls. And why 
 not?" she says; "wouldent it be a poor miz- 
 zable kind of a housekeeper that would tol- 
 urate a mess of wrinkles in her wall paper 
 262
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 or carpet? And aint your face as much ac 
 count as them?" 
 
 This sounded sencible and we had to give 
 in that next best to having no worries over 
 petty things and no hateful feelings was 
 keeping 'em below the surface when you 
 did have 'em. 
 
 But speaking of Christmas, aint it a 
 blessed, joyful time for the children! It 
 don't bring worry or trouble to them but 
 only pure and unmitagated happiness. It 
 don't requier but 10 cents outlay with most 
 little ones for their stockings to bring the 
 kingdom of Heaven right down to them. 
 And wouldn't it be fine even now if we got 
 a watch that showed time to stand still for 
 us as it did then on the 5 cent variety? And 
 how many an anxious mother wishfully re 
 calls her first baby of wood or chiny that 
 wouldent ever wander away from her? 
 And as for the small no-account perse with 
 its one bright cent, all the wealth of the 
 rocky fellers can't perchess now what we 
 263
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 planned to get with that. Up to the time 
 the childern learn the cash vallew of things 
 Christmas is all it had ought to be; after 
 that comes the commershel element and 
 lurks in the toe of every stocking. I know 
 a cupple of years from now Gussy wont be 
 so tickeled with the 2-cent whistle he has 
 got for his mother. By that time he has 
 got to torcher his poor little brain to find 
 out if it is the most sootable pressant and 
 the very biggest he can get for the money 
 and all of us big folks will have to disgust 
 it with him. Now he can't wait for the 
 time to come to Put that foolish trifle in her 
 stocking and see her joy in the morning 
 when she finds it there. Mame has got 
 verry coarse veins and has to wear rubber 
 hose. So Bub and Gussy has both begged 
 for one to hang up because Santy can 
 stretch them. I aint got but very little 
 patience with folks that gab about it being 
 wrong to learn the children the Santy 
 Claus myth because they say when their 
 264
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 powers and intellex is awoke and they find 
 themselves decieved it makes them shakey 
 about religious truths. I know it aint so 
 because long after Sis had found out there 
 want no Santy from a boy, there come that 
 dretful coal strike that winter when every 
 body was suffering from cold, and it come 
 into that wise little head of hers about one 
 place where there aint ever any scarity of 
 heat, and she says to her Father, "Father, 
 why don't they dig holes down in -the 
 ground to the bad place and put registers 
 ovar them and let up a lot of heat for poor 
 people?" 
 
 Them things is jest as reel to her as the 
 air she breathes and she never douts any- 
 things she learns in Sunday School. I 
 wisht Bub had as much faith, once after I 
 told him about Dannie in the Lion's den 6 
 times and he wanted to hear the story again, 
 and I told him I was tired of telling it, he 
 says, "Then make up another one." 
 
 All of us big folks knows there is reely a 
 265
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 kind of Santy. It aint ackchelly one per 
 son but it's all the love and kindness of re 
 lations and freinds put into this small pack- 
 edge so children can sence it. We know 
 there is an awful lot of good things com 
 ing to us all the time and what ords does 
 it make whether one person feches it down 
 the chimbley Christmas morning or every 
 body keeps bringing it to us through the 
 year? 
 
 No; beleiving in Santy wont never make 
 our little ones shakey on religion, but I 
 know what will and that's the new spelling. 
 There aint no sense to my mind in revolut- 
 ing our spelling. I had an awful time this 
 fall learning Bub a cupple of hard words, 
 being obliged to resort to quite sevear 
 methods so you could hear him holler clear 
 down in the street, and now according to 
 that new dictionerry the way he spelt them 
 was right and the way I spanked them into 
 him was wrong. 
 
 It don't only seem foolish but ackchelly 
 266
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 wicked to trifle with sech things. They will 
 be tampering with the Muttipication table 
 next, and I always think now when I'm 
 learning the childern that 7 times 8 is 56 
 that praps nex year at this time it will 
 make 32 or maybe 48 ; and it gives me an 
 unsettled fealing and keeps me from being 
 as ferm with him as I had ought to be, not 
 so very differant from quitting beleif in 
 God. 
 
 This change in spelling comes from so 
 many folks breaking away from all kinds 
 of law, human and devign and ledgislatera- 
 tive, and it's one of the beginnings of ar- 
 nachy, as I look at it as well as thinning 
 out religion. What kind of a sight would 
 the Bible make printed out in the new man 
 ner? Could we have as much respeck for 
 the apossle Pol (so wrote) as we do with 
 his dipthong in the place it has ockipied 
 for centuaries? Mr. Spinney thinks so, 
 too, and he says anybody can see that re 
 moving an 1 from the bad place reduces it 
 267
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 in size. And that makes me think why is 
 it people so often make a dash in the mid 
 dle of hell? I mean like this: h-11, jest as 
 if all the cussedness was lodged in that in 
 nocent little e. And in other words, too, 
 they are scared to speak out plain, and some 
 times it leads to mistakes, like when a 
 friend of Jim's one cold night last winter 
 referred to that blankety blankety bed of 
 his when the fack he was trying to bring 
 out was that it wasn't blankety at all. 
 Folks had ought to say what they mean un 
 less they mean something they hadent 
 ought to say. 
 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 268
 
 XXV 
 
 Christmas Afternoon 
 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 We've had a splendid time to-day. We 
 grown-up folks had agreed not to give 
 presents to each other, but it come out that 
 we done it jest the same. We 3 women 
 folks made 4 of a new kind of shirt for 
 Jim a stilish kind, and we asked him how 
 they fitted. "Like hell," he says. 
 
 Mame told him it wasn't only wicked to 
 use sech expressions, but furthermore it 
 was foolish. "What sence is there," she 
 says, "in saying them poor inoffensive 
 shirts fit like the place you mention?" 
 
 "It's easy enough to get into them," he 
 says, "but it's impossible to get out of 'em 
 again." 
 
 We neglected a good many things round 
 269
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 the house during the Christmas rush. The 
 children had to look after themselves quite 
 a lot. 
 
 We was awful mortifide at something 
 Gussy said in school. It seems his face 
 wasn't clean and his teacher took notice of 
 it. "I know, little boy," she says, "what 
 you had for breakfast this morning. It 
 was an egg." 
 
 "No, that was yesterday morning," he 
 says. 
 
 Mame had to write her a note and 
 smooth it over. I offered to do it as she 
 was busy but she wouldn't let me. She is 
 awful thoughtful of me at times. 
 
 Mrs. Ezry Sawyer come in this morning 
 with her purse out of which she poured 
 coals of fire on my head. She told me she 
 had sent on 400$ to Ben and she'd jest had 
 a telegraft despatch telling her I wont say 
 how much money he has made with it and 
 has put it in the bank. A check book is to 
 270
 
 If s easy enough to get into them,' 1 '' he says, " but it* s impossible 
 to get out of 'em again "
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 foller by mail. She says it has jest took 
 her breath away. 
 
 She said if I had sent Y 5 of it why Vs of 
 this large sum would be mine and she 
 fetched me in 20$ towards going to Chic- 
 tooset in the spring. I told her it didn't 
 seem right or consistant to take it. She'd 
 risked her money which I wouldn't do and 
 she'd had the job of fixing up her con 
 science so it done its prompting to suit her 
 (and I wouldn't do that either) and I 
 wasn't mean enough to reap the benefit 
 from it. Then she said, I had done more 
 than that worth for her anyway and she was 
 glad to be able to pay me back. 
 
 "Not with that money," I says. 
 
 "It's good money, Jennie," she replies. 
 
 "Taint," says Mr. Spinney. 
 
 It was worth all the sacriface to see he 
 was on my side. Talk about men of busi 
 ness getting their sense of honesty blunted 
 up! That aint him! 
 .271
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 We had hated to tell her about Jason be 
 ing a married man and his wife coming 
 and accompanying him home. I didn't 
 look at her when I told her (kind of 
 casual) and done it when I was threading 
 the machine needle and the others was out 
 of the room. I pitied her for I knew she'd 
 realize she'd made a fool of herself. It 
 took me a long time to thread the needle, 
 long enough for her to recover herself. 
 
 "Whats she look like?" she says at last 
 in a blunt tone. 
 
 I want going to describe her (who 
 could describe Natalie, that cross between 
 a butterfly and a kitten) because I didn't 
 want to show sech a contrast; so I jest 
 said, 
 
 "Oh! she was a very good-looking 
 woman and quite nice and sociable in her 
 ways, and him and her are awful fond of 
 one another. We've had letters from them 
 both and she says nex time he comes for a 
 272
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 visit she and the little boy is coming, too. 
 So you'll see her for yourself." 
 
 Well, this was last week; and to-day she 
 told us after she'd got through coaxing me 
 about the money, that she now cacklates to 
 move out to Seattle and live along of Ben. 
 She added that she would of done so long 
 hence if it wan't for her rhumatism, that 
 the excess of fog out there would be bad 
 for. I don't know as I've told you that she 
 has got chronicle rhumatism and she's al 
 ways telling us how she got it and all 
 about it. So much so that Sis says she 
 (Sis) could take an examination in it any 
 time. 
 
 But now she says she don't believe it is 
 half as bad as she thinks it is. Ben says it 
 aint and she explained why. She said "the 
 prevailing mountains draws the sun's rays 
 to a fokiss and then they refragerate off 
 into space and leave a vacuum." 
 
 Mr. Spinney remarked it was evident 
 
 273
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 there was a vacuum somewhere but he 
 rather thought it was this side of Seattle. 
 
 (I wouldn't put in so much what the men 
 folks say, only you told me you always en 
 joy their little jokes and remarks.) 
 
 And Mrs. Sawyer says that even chroni 
 cle rhumatism hadn't ought to seperate 
 mother and son. She told us that the bond 
 between them was extry strong because 
 Ben come to her at a time when she was 
 feeling far from well. She had jest lost 
 her father and two aunts and it seemed as 
 though that little child had come to take 
 the place of all three. 
 
 Mr. Spinney told her that he hadn't no 
 ticed anything excessive or onusual in her 
 affection, nothing anyway that seemed to 
 call for any apology or explanation. 
 
 This pleased her very much. She likes 
 Mr. Spinney. 
 
 Jim says he didn't realize Ben was up 
 against any sech stunt as that personating 
 the old man and two aunts from his in* 
 274
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 fancy. It was enough to dismay the stout 
 est heart. 
 
 Moreover, Mrs. Sawyer said she felt it 
 was her duty to go and moderate Ben down. 
 He'd got to be a reel estate agent and was 
 arushing round here, there and everywhere, 
 and ackchelly didn't take time to set down 
 but even et standing up. "And," she says, 
 "I shouldn't wonder if he'd got so nervous 
 by this time that he couldn't stand setting 
 down anyway." 
 
 "None of us can do that," says Mr. 
 Spinney, and he got up this conundrum: 
 "Why is Mrs. Ezry Sawyer like the British 
 Empire? Because her son never sets." 
 
 She said Ben had struck up a friendship 
 with a man considdable older than himself 
 that boarded to the same place, and this 
 f reind often said he wisht he was back East, 
 money or no money. "Is it your folks you're 
 hankering for?" Ben asked him one day. 
 
 "Lord, no!" he says; "I was glad enough 
 to get quit of 'em." 
 
 275
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Is it the blue sky and the sunshine?" 
 pursooed Ben. He'd said himself the first 
 winter he was there he'd swap a cupple of 
 house lots any time for a 2 foot patch of 
 blue sky. But now he says, "Mother % 
 of the year the climate is so glorious you 
 need that kind of a winter to keep you from 
 thinking you have died and went to 
 heaven." 
 
 "No, it aint! nor the bobolinks, nor the 
 perriwinkles (whatever them is) it's the 
 vittles!" 
 
 He says he's jest about dead for some 
 eastern cooking. His wife, he told Ben 
 that's been dead for three years, was a 
 splendid cook. He says he's had the most 
 beautiful dreams about her descending 
 down to him with big wings spread out and 
 a plait of doughnuts in her hand which 
 she holds out to him, and the whole busi 
 ness is so reel that he can ackchelly smell 
 the doughnuts after he has woke up. He 
 says that if he ever remarries again it won't 
 276
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 be no pretty little do-nothin, but a woman 
 that's mistress of the frying-pan and the 
 stew-kettle. 
 
 "I'm glad," she says, "that Ben has got 
 sech a freind. He's an awful good-living 
 man, he tells me, though plain and unpre 
 tentious in the face. He's named Mr. 
 Cooty." 
 
 "Well I got to be going," she says, "as 
 I've got considdable to do. The prices is 
 so absorbent in Seattle that I'm agoing to 
 do my trading here before I go. Mame, 
 have you got your reciept-book handy? I 
 want to copy off a number of them before 
 I leave. What kind do you have the best 
 luck with sour milk or creamy tarter 
 doughnuts?" 
 
 Now dear freind, I want to thank you 
 for your lovely gif, but how can I do it? 
 I have kep it for the last, hoping I would 
 be able to but I aint. It looks jest like him, 
 more so than the tin-type it was copied 
 from because it is painted so pretty and 
 277
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 deliket. I opened it in the midst of all the 
 fun and frolic this morning, and you had 
 ought to have heard the sudden hush that 
 follered when I passed it round for them 
 to see. But nobody cried because we all 
 know how happy he is. Only Mame drop 
 ped a tear or 2 on the little blue velvet case 
 as she handed it back. 
 
 Later. 
 
 What would you say if I was to tell you 
 that our setting-room was now heaped and 
 strewed round with all kinds of beautiful 
 and costly gifts fit for the Rothchildren 
 julery, silver ware, leather-covered books, 
 pictures and new and pretty garments? 
 
 Well, I'd say it myself (whatever it is) 
 even being here and seeing the things, as 
 I do, if I didn't also see strewed round the 
 saw-dust, excelsior, and broke-up boxes, 
 things that never go with what your fancy 
 congers up. This debree stamps it as facks. 
 But Sis says it seems like her Christmas 
 278
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 story book come to life and magnified a 
 hundred times. 
 
 Hers is a big doll with a reel trunk 
 (only small) full of close. At first she 
 hardly darsted to touch it, it was so dainty 
 and lovely but it don't seem's if she's took 
 her eyes off of it once. 
 
 Sis aint ever had but one big doll and 
 she's had that since she was 2 years and 
 thinks the world of it because it is most 
 as old as she is. The little boys has always 
 ben awful rough with her, but they would 
 have her to play with because they saw how 
 much Sis wanted her herself (there's them 
 2 railroad men afighting out in Seattle jest 
 like 'em) and so every Christmas she has 
 had to have either a new body or a new 
 head. This time I made a new body. 
 Once when the doll was up in Mrs. Hen- 
 nersey's because she was going to have a 
 new head put on a little girl come in with 
 her big doll to play with Sis. Sis felt lost 
 not having any to play with, too, so she 
 279
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 had to take the baby and use him for a 
 doll. He done very well for a substitute 
 as he wan't very well at the time and was 
 kind of dumpish, so the little playmate 
 never knew the differance for quite awhile. 
 
 When we told Jim about it, he stroked 
 her head awful tendar and says, "Aint that 
 her grandmother Allen right out?" 
 
 He told us he wanted to buy a nice doll 
 for her, new clear through her system; but 
 Mame says, "Jim, dear, we mustn't, you 
 don't know I long to do it to, but we can't 
 afford it." 
 
 And they both of them suffered for Sis 
 when Sis didn't suffer at all. When Mrs. 
 Hennersey brought in the old doll no 
 mother could be in a bigger exstasy over a 
 prodigle son than she was over that comi- 
 ckle looking objeck. Don't ever waste any 
 sympathy over a little girl with an old doll. 
 Sis will worship the new doll but it's the 
 old one she'll love. 
 
 When Jim saw he couldn't give Sis the 
 280
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 playsure he wanted to, he begun, as usual, 
 to look on the bright side, and said anyway 
 Sis hadn't to have any onpleasant discovery 
 about her doll being stuffed with saw dust. 
 She'd knowed what her insides was ever 
 since Bub had ben old enough to grab 
 things. 
 
 Mame's pressent is silver things for the 
 table and a broach with jewels in it. 
 Mandy got a beautiful broach, too, and a 
 beaded shattylaine bag with a perce of 
 money in it, (Mr. Spinney says she can 
 now spend the rest of her natural life at 
 the photographer's) and the beautiful 
 french clock with the chimes is Mr. Spin 
 ney's and the gold watch is Jim's. The 
 libery of books is for all of us bound in 
 leather and as much as 200 of them and on 
 the card it said, For the Home Reading 
 Club. There's a fine case to hold them. 
 Even Mrs. Sawyer wan't forgot and there 
 a gold pencil in a white kid case for her. 
 For me there was a beautiful gold ring 
 281
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 with a turquoise and 2 little dimonds (it's 
 the hardest of all to believe I have got a 
 ring with dimonds in it) and on that card 
 it said (she's the greatest, she is) For the 
 kind little hand that wrote the Letter. 
 Then she'd scribbled underneath that it was 
 only a pledge of my reel gif that was com 
 ing later. Jest think of that! 
 
 Of the big heap of books for the chil 
 dren I can't go into particklers, but the 
 children is jest about crazy over them. And 
 at this moment Mame is kneeling in front 
 of a great box of beautiful children's close 
 and jest about going into a fit over every 
 one, especially the dresses and coat for the 
 baby. He's asleep and she can't hardly 
 wait for him to wake up so she can try 
 them on. Well, I guess none of us know 
 jest what we're doing, we're all in sech a 
 state of excitement. I don't see how we 
 can have any dinner to-day there's no one 
 carm enough to peel the vegetables. 
 
 There! I do believe I have forgot to 
 282
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 tell you who sent the things. You see what 
 a state I'm in. It was Jason and Natalie, 
 and may we be as happy as they are now. 
 (I mean the other way round.) Jim don't 
 know about it yet because he had some 
 work to finish at the shop and he aint got 
 back yet. There's a little package for him 
 that's sealed up. Mr. Spinney opened the 
 boxes for us. Mame asked him to "be 
 cause it was so hard for the children to 
 wait." (The children!) 
 
 Jim has got home and when he saw the 
 state of the setting-room he says, "Well, 
 well! Who's got burnt out now?" 
 
 Then the whole fambly pitched in and 
 all talked, or screamed, to once telling him 
 about it. And he was jest like a boy with 
 that gold watch. My! if he want tickled 
 over it! 
 
 But when he opened the little sealed 
 package his face sobered and when Mame 
 looked over his shoulder at the small book 
 283
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 he held in his hand she grew white and 
 motioned for me to come and see, but not 
 to tell the children. It was a bank book 
 showing a large sum of money dispossited 
 to his credit in the bank. It was so large 
 it scared me but I can't tell you how much 
 because we've all promised we wont tell 
 anybody; but I will say there is 4 figures to 
 it. When I saw the 3 ciphers I thought 
 there must be a mistake and the man that 
 wrote it down got kind of nervous and kep 
 on making them when he'd ought to stop ; 
 but there it was wrote out in words besides, 
 so it was all right. 
 
 Jim with that sober look still on his face, 
 got down on his knees and uttared a prayer 
 of thanks. We all knelt with him and said 
 amen at the close. How could our Christ 
 mas be any happier than it is, including all 
 the bright hope for the future? 
 Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 284
 
 XXVI 
 
 New Year's Day, January I th, 1907. 
 Miss Musgrove, dear freind, 
 
 I don't know as I can compose myself to 
 write but I want to tell you the verry first 
 one, though you don't seem jest the same 
 now any more than any thing else seems the 
 same. Everything appears like when you 
 look through one of them glass prizzums 
 where everything is reely the same but kind 
 of glorified up. 
 
 When I was a little girl I had one of 
 them prizzums that come off of Grammy's 
 parlor lamp, and I used to lend it to my 
 little playmates when they was sick in the 
 house for amusement. Other times it was 
 kep in the little red box with my other 
 traysures. It all come back to me last night 
 and that prizzum has ben with me in sperit 
 ever since. But I must tell you all about 
 285
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 the wonderful thing that has happened. 
 
 Last night I was alone in the setting- 
 room when Mr. Spinney come in. Jim 
 and Mame had gone to the theatre, the 
 children was in bed, and Mandy was wash 
 ing up the supper dishes. She aint so par 
 ticular washing dishes as she might be, I 
 am foarced to say. They are more likely 
 than not to be adhecive, and Jim says that 
 when you get aholt of a genuyne Mandy- 
 washed dish it aint any easy matter to leave 
 go of it again. At sech moments the attrac 
 tion of gravity seems to lose its power. 
 One day when there was a pudding in the 
 oven baking, Mame told Mandy to stick 
 a knife into it, and if the knife come out 
 clean it was done. 
 
 "And if it does come out clean," says 
 Jim, "stick all the knives in." 
 
 I asked Mr. Spinney how his mother 
 was and he said she had ben attacked by 
 another Latin disease beside which all the 
 286
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 former ones paled as stars before the sun; 
 but it wan't appendiciters, that much he 
 knew and he guessed his mother after all 
 would outlive her appendicks for as many 
 vitel complaints as she had passed through 
 they hadn't ben heard from yet. He told 
 me this last sickness had took all his 
 money and he was foarced to pawn quite 
 a number of things besides. He asked me 
 if I didn't recolleck the time we asked him 
 where he was the night before and he had 
 told us he'd ben to three balls. Course I 
 did and how society we thought he was. 
 Little did we know. "And during that 
 distressful period," he says, "my meals was 
 more in the nature of symbols than the reel 
 thing." 
 
 "Oh!" I says, "why didn't you tell us? 
 I had most 75$." 
 
 "That's jest why," he says; "I knew you 
 had it." 
 
 "And you didn't even ever come in to 
 287
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 supper same as you did when you was 
 prosperous." 
 
 "No ; for you to give me supper when I 
 could afford it myself was hospertality; 
 but when I couldn't afford to get it myself, 
 it was charity. But that is all over now. 
 Mother's internal economy (though I can 
 hardly foarce myself to call it that when it 
 has cost so like blazes) is now in working 
 order and I have had a big raise." 
 
 "So has Jim," I says, "at the beginning 
 of the year. One reason for it is he aint 
 touched a drop for over a year. We don't 
 have that to worry about now. 
 
 "Then there's other things that makes the 
 New Year sech a happy one. We feel 
 quite encouraged about Mandy. She is be 
 ginning to have gleams. She had one last 
 night when there was callers in, and they 
 took notice of it, too. Then her and Mame 
 gets along more peaceable than they did, 
 and the boys aint any wheres near as tem 
 pestuous as they was." 
 288
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 "Jen," he says like a meteor out of a clear 
 sky, "what do you say to adding me to 
 your menadgery?" 
 
 Of course I thought he meant taking him 
 to board, and I says "That will be as Jim 
 and Mame say," only adding that our 
 meals was plain and unpretentous as a 
 rule. 
 
 Then he told me he wanted me to be his 
 wife. 
 
 It took me so by surprise that I couldn't 
 speak for a long time. I had thought no 
 woman in the world was good enough or 
 bright enough to be his wife and here he 
 was asking me. 
 
 Seeing I couldn't speak, he went on and 
 said I was the only woman in the world 
 for him; and that when he went away the 
 picture of the happy little figger in the sew 
 ing-chair (that was me) always went with 
 him. Then he told me he had never be 
 fore ben in a position to marry, but now all 
 280
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 was bright and gay and he wanted me to 
 share his good fortune. 
 
 "What a home we'll have, Jennie," he 
 says; "why! you are home itself. Jest 
 you setting out on the sidewalk would look 
 like home." 
 
 Then he got off a lot of tendar remarks 
 which I should be ashamed to write down, 
 though they was quite pleassant to hear. 
 But what surprised me the most of all was 
 when he said one thing he loved me for was 
 because I didn't have no nerves. 
 
 "You are the only woman in the world, 
 he says, "that is entirely free from them ob 
 noxious members; and if that aint enough 
 distinction for my wife ? I'd like to know 
 what is." 
 
 They talk a lot about love being the same 
 old story. This is jest as different as it can 
 be from anything before or since. 
 
 Mame has read to us evenings about 
 the great loves of history; and I should 
 like to know if Danty made love to Bea- 
 290
 
 THE LETTERS OF JENNIE ALLEN 
 
 triss or Pete Rark made love to Laury as 
 Mr. Spinney made it to me. He is too 
 bright and origineral to copy after any one 
 of them. What he said about me not hav 
 ing any nerves and him loving me for it 
 was uttared for the first time in history 
 when he uttared it. 
 
 I can't realize it is all true but I wish 
 every woman was ^2 as happy as I am to 
 night. Your true freind, 
 
 Jennie Allen. 
 
 It is going to be in the old homestead in 
 Chictooset and the whole fambly and his 
 mother will be there. Furthermore than 
 that he says he has good reason for knowing 
 that Jason and Natalie and little Adrien 
 will be there, too. We are going to ask 
 Willie Jameson to be the minister. 
 
 We are going to live close to my folks 
 so I can help them when they need me, 
 and his mother is going to live with us. 
 My cup runneth over. 
 
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