FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 Harold Dorsey. p.
 
 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 BY 
 
 MARY DWINELL CHELLIS, 
 
 ATJTHOB OF " TWO BOYS SAVED," " THINGS COMMMON AND UNCOMMON,' 
 " OLD MILL," " DEACON SIMS' PRATEKS," SIC. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY, 
 BEACON STREET.
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1881, 
 BY CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY. 
 
 BOSTON STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY, 
 4 PEAK. STREET.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTF.H PAGE 
 
 I. COMFORTED 5 
 
 II. Ax AFTERNOON EXCURSION 25 
 
 III. THE SUNDAY MEETING 45 
 
 IV. WISHING . . CO 
 
 V. A BEAUTIFUL WOULD 78 
 
 VI. NORAH BORINE . 96 
 
 VII. THE FIRST PRAYER 115 
 
 VIII. Miss SPERRY > . . 130 
 
 IX. A SUMMER VACATION , . . 148 
 
 X. CAMPING OUT 166 
 
 XI. THE OLD HOME 186 
 
 XII. THE CHOPPER 205 
 
 XIII. Miss SPERRY'S COUSIN , . 224
 
 4 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEB> PAGE 
 
 XIV. THE BRIGHT SIDE 240 
 
 XV. THE PEOPLE'S LIBRARY 256 
 
 XVI. HAROLD DORSET IN SCHOOL 272 
 
 XVII. BORN TO BE A LEADER 290 
 
 XVIII. A VINE CLAD COTTAGE 305 
 
 XIX. A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAN 319 
 
 XX. THE FRAGMENTS OF A WILL 337 
 
 XXI. GOOD NEWS 350 
 
 XXII. MANY CHANGES 366
 
 HAROLD DORSEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 COMFORTED. 
 
 IT was a bright day when the new teacher 
 came to -us," said Mrs. Rady, as she 
 talked with Miss Austen. " She comes to 
 our rooms of an evening and sits with us 
 like one of our own, 'though she's a lady, 
 the same as yourself." 
 
 " I am glad you like her," was replied. "I 
 think we are getting some fine people about 
 us." 
 
 " You may well say that, Miss, with your- 
 self and young master to the fore. It's get- 
 ting like what it was in the old master's time, 
 only with a difference I can't explain. There's 
 
 5
 
 6 HAROLD DOESEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 good cloth making, too ; not a stroke of poor 
 work done on the place." 
 
 Mr. Bumstead made the same remark 
 while calling attention to some recent im- 
 provements ; reiterating the prophecy that 
 they would soon be "making piles of money." 
 
 " Mr. Elliot thinks of the land, but you can 
 well afford to leave the fields fallow." 
 
 "It does not seem to me we can afford 
 such waste," answered Miss Austen. " If the 
 prosperity of a country depends upon its ag- 
 riculture, we must contribute our share. Mr. 
 Elliot thinks we can derive a*good income 
 from the land, and his opinion is worthy of 
 consideration." 
 
 " That it is. There's not much but he un- 
 derstands, and there's not a better man than 
 he is. It goes against me to see him doing 
 the work he does, 'though he's a gentleman all 
 the same." 
 
 " Nothing can make him other than a gen- 
 tleman, so long as he abstains from intoxicat- 
 ing drink." 
 
 " And that will be as long as he lives. He
 
 COMFORTED. 7 
 
 has changed while you were away, and he 
 says he has help now, he never had before. 
 He can't be doing his work better ; but you 
 will know he's happier the minute you see 
 him. There he is, coming with Harold. He 
 was busy last evening with a plan of the land, 
 and likely, by this time, every rod of it is set 
 down to growing something. Mr. Stuart 
 says you will decide about it all." 
 
 One who saw Mr. Elliot then for the first 
 time would never have dreamed what he had 
 been only a year before. Harold remembered 
 him as he craved shelter from a storm which 
 closed a day as bright and beautiful as that 
 they were now enjoying. Drenched with 
 rain, travel stained, and famishing, was the 
 wanderer who accepted, with humble grati- 
 tude, the hospitality he received. 
 
 As for Richmond Elliot, he had little time 
 to indulge in retrospective thoughts. The 
 present demanded his attention. Had Aus- 
 tenville been his to have and hold during his 
 natural life, he could not have calculated its
 
 8 HAROLD DORSET S FORTUNE. 
 
 resources, or computed its possible income 
 more carefully. 
 
 At Miss Austen's request he accompanied 
 her home, and laid before her the plan of 
 which Mr. Bumstead had spoken. From this 
 she learned more of her estate than she could 
 have learned in many long, toilsome walks. 
 
 " I am satisfied to leave the entire manage- 
 ment with you," she said, at length, to her 
 companion. " I suppose you will choose to 
 take Harold as an assistant." 
 
 " It will be best for him to work out of 
 doors," was replied. " He would be like a 
 caged bird if he was confined within four 
 walls." 
 
 " I am glad you have such a care of him, 
 Mr. Elliot. I am sure he will repay you." 
 
 " I have been paid in advance for all I can 
 ever do for him. Mr. Dorsey was my friend 
 when I was in the greatest need. I was in a 
 far more pitiable condition than when I came 
 here. There and here I have received help 
 for soul and body."
 
 COMFORTED. 9 
 
 " You have come out on the Lord's side, 
 Mr. Elliot?" 
 
 " I have, Miss Austen ; " and the tone in 
 which this reply was made more than compen- 
 sated for its brevity. 
 
 " I am very thankful. I never feared that 
 you would exert an active influence against 
 religion in this 'community ; but I knew that 
 your example would have great power. My 
 brother lived to see that his skepticism was 
 without reason, and his most cherished beliefs 
 without foundation." 
 
 " Thank God that he did, and that I, too, 
 have lived to see the same. I look upon the 
 world with different eyes now that I recognize 
 God's hand in all things. Nature is a bounti- 
 ful mother, but she is heartless. But pardon 
 me, Miss Austen, I am trespassing upon your 
 tune, and forgetting my duty." 
 
 " Far from that, Mr. Elliot. We have not 
 yet spoken of Miss Greenleaf. You are satis- 
 fied with her as a teacher? " 
 
 " Indeed I am. She has accomplished more 
 since she came here than most teachers would
 
 10 HAROLD DOESEY'S 
 
 accomplish in a year. I am constantly won- 
 dering how, with so few facilities for acquir- 
 ing knowledge, she has learned so much. She 
 must have improved every moment of time, 
 and made the most of every advantage. She 
 might be an artist; but she is only a plain 
 working-woman, distrustful of her own abili- 
 ties, and somewhat timid in regard to meet- 
 ing Miss Austen." 
 
 " She will soon forget her timidity." 
 
 " I think she will, Miss Austen ; " and no 
 gentleman could have bowed himself from the 
 presence of a lady with more easy grace than 
 did Richmond Elliot. 
 
 Not many days after this conversation Alice 
 Greenleaf was seated at the old-fashioned desk 
 appropriated to her use, while a troop of chil- 
 dren waited without that they might have the 
 pleasure of walking home with her. She had 
 forgotten her surroundings, and was thinking 
 of the past, when Jessie Elliot appeared, and 
 half whispered : 
 
 " Miss Austen is coming. She is almost 
 here ; and I guess she is coming to see you.
 
 COMFORTED. 11 
 
 AVc children better go. She will want you 
 all to herself." 
 
 Miss Greenleaf did not move from the posi- 
 tion she had occupied until the door was 
 opened and her name pronounced. 
 
 " Miss Austen," she responded ; and two 
 hands were clasped as these women looked 
 each into the face of the other. 
 
 That both found their previous opinions 
 somewhat at fault was not strange ; yet, as 
 they conversed, they were not long in dis- 
 covering that they had many sympathies in 
 common. 
 
 " I have heard Jessie Elliot speak of your 
 home, and I know you must have regretted 
 leaving it," said the visitor, when they had 
 talked a little of the school and its interests. 
 
 " I did ; but now that mother is gone there 
 is not so much to keep me there. Then I 
 have left some one in my cottage who will 
 enjoy it. I should not like to have it occu- 
 pied by strangers. Everything in it and 
 about it has a history for me. Every vine 
 and tree and shrub seems like a friend."
 
 12 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Did you plant them all yourself? " 
 
 " With two exceptions, I did. There were 
 two scraggy apple-trees growing in the lot 
 when I bought it. They were all, except 
 such bushes as usually grow in a neglected 
 pasture. The house was unfinished, so that 
 I had the pleasure of finishing it to suit my 
 own taste ; and some of the work I did with 
 my own hands. I could not afford to hire it 
 done." 
 
 " But how could you do it yourself? I 
 never saw a woman do such work." 
 
 " It is no harder than much of the work 
 women do. If I wanted a shelf or a stand, 
 I made it, and I learned to use tools quite 
 handily." 
 
 " That is an accomplishment it will be 
 hardly necessary for you to use here." 
 
 " I presume not, Miss Austen, but I was 
 very anxious to have a pleasant, attractive 
 home ; and, in order to have it, I was obliged 
 to make the most of everything I could com- 
 mand." 
 
 " Pleasant, attractive homes are the great
 
 COMFORTED. 13 
 
 need of the world, and they can be secured 
 with less money than most people count nec- 
 essary." 
 
 " Certainly they can, Miss Austen. I wish, 
 sometimes, I could get together a few of the 
 people who think, because they are poor, 
 they can have nothing pretty. I should like 
 to tell them my experience. I have done 
 some things my neighbors thought extrava- 
 gant ; yet those very things repaid me four- 
 fold. If I bought a book, I was usually 
 obliged to save the price from some article 
 of dress, or do some extra piece of work 
 after my regular working-hours. But I am 
 talking too much of myself. I forgot that 
 you are almost a stranger, and that you have 
 lived very differently from the way in whicL 
 I have lived." 
 
 "I had forgotten it myself," replied the 
 visitor frankly. " I have been interested in 
 all you have told me, and I shall consider it 
 a personal favor if you will give our people 
 the benefit of your experience. I have been 
 differently situated from you, but I have de-
 
 14 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 pended much upon myself, and can, there- 
 fore, sympathize with you." 
 
 In their mutual forgctfulness the conversa- 
 tion was continued until a glance at her watch 
 reminded Miss Greenleaf that she would be 
 expected at her boarding place, when they 
 started homeward. 
 
 " If birds would but stay their flight that 
 we might study them, how much we should 
 gain," she said, as they caught the flash of an 
 oriole's plumage. 
 
 " We must take them on the wing, as we 
 take the golden opportunities of our lives," 
 responded Miss Austen. " It seemed to be 
 my opportunity when I decided to start up 
 the mill here." 
 
 " And mine when the school was offered to 
 me." 
 
 "I trust it will prove so, Miss Greenleaf; 
 and that you will feel at home with us. There 
 is so much to be done here we need all the 
 help we can obtain. You have seen Harold 
 Dorsey?" 
 
 " Several times."
 
 COMFORTED. 15 
 
 " And I know you must be interested in 
 him." 
 
 "More than in any other person I have 
 ever seen. I had a long talk with him 
 one evening when he was going home from 
 his work. I had been in the woods alone, 
 and I asked him the name of a vine I had in 
 my hand. It was new to me, but he said it 
 was very common where he used to live. He 
 has a well-trained eye." 
 
 " And a generous, loving heart. I hope 
 you will cultivate his acquaintance. He has 
 not had many to care for him. There is 
 Norah Borine too. She is another who 
 needs the influence of judicious friends. "We 
 must all work together here. You will al- 
 ways be a welcome guest at my house, and 
 you can count upon my friendship. Now, I 
 will not detain you longer. Good-evening." 
 
 Harold Dorsey was at work where he saw 
 the two as they separated ; and a glimpse of 
 his earnest face reminded Miss Greenlcaf of 
 the interview to which reference has been 
 made. He had been shy at first, speaking
 
 16 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 only in reply to direct questions ; but, after a 
 little while, his reserve vanished, and he 
 talked freely of his old life. 
 
 " It wasn't like anything you can know," 
 he said seriously. " I don't think anybody 
 else ever lived so. I didn't care as much for 
 flowers and plants and trees as I did for the 
 living things ; but sometimes, when T was 
 tired and lonesome, I would lay my head 
 down among them and cry, because I wanted 
 somebody to comfort me." 
 
 " And were you comforted ? " asked his 
 companion. 
 
 " Sometimes ; and sometimes I felt all the 
 worse. When I could hear the growing 
 sound it seemed as though I had company." 
 
 " What is the growing sound? " 
 
 "I can't describe it exactly ; but when every- 
 thing is growing, if you put your ear down 
 to the ground, you can hear a low humming. 
 It is very low, and very soft, but it is plain 
 as can be. I asked grandsir about it, but he 
 didn't explain it to me. I think I shall know 
 sometime."
 
 COMFORTED. 17 
 
 " We all have much to learn." 
 
 "Yes, ma'am ; I have a great deal to learn, 
 and this is just the place to learn it. There 
 are Miss Austen, and Mr. Stuart, and Mr. 
 Elliot, and you, and all the people about 
 here. Every one knows more than I do. I 
 have nobody else." 
 
 " I am all alone, too, Harold. My mother 
 died a few weeks ago." 
 
 " But you had her once, Miss Greenleaf, 
 and I never had any mother at all. I never 
 belonged to anybody but grandsir, and he 
 never said he loved me." 
 
 " Did you always live with him ? " 
 
 " I suppose so ; 'though when I go into the 
 great house it seems as if I had seen one like 
 it before, with pictures and carpets. Likely 
 I dreamed about it." 
 
 "Did you go to school?" 
 
 " Not much. Grandsir taught me himself, 
 and I read everything I could get. That was 
 not much, but I am reading now." 
 
 " And you are happy here ? " 
 
 " Yes, ma'am ; everybody is happy here, 
 2
 
 18 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 and I have a good home. I liked the woods, 
 but I grew tired of wanting to know what I 
 couldn't find out. There was an old man came 
 'round once in a while gathering roots and 
 herbs, and I used to go with him, so I learned 
 some of their names. I got some, too, for 
 myself, and grandsir sold them." 
 
 " Then you could earn your living in the 
 woods." 
 
 " Yes, ma'am ; but it is not always pleas- 
 ant. There is hard work, and sometimes 
 rain and snow and cold. But now everything 
 is coming to new life, just as I am since I 
 read the Bible." 
 
 "Then this is your spring-time, and soon 
 it will be summer. Then comes autumn and 
 winter." 
 
 " And after that, Miss Greenleaf ? " 
 
 " A glorious resurrection for those who 
 have done their work well here on earth." 
 
 These words came back to Harold again 
 and again as he applied himself to the tasks 
 before him. Each day some duty confronted 
 him, and each day he strove to do his best.
 
 COMFORTED. 19 
 
 The arrival of Mason Stuart was a marked 
 event which, as yet, he hardly appreci- 
 ated. They had exchanged greetings, and 
 the visitor had given him some slight assist- 
 ance in his work, but it was not according to 
 his custom to spend his employer's time in 
 talking. For this reason Mason thought him 
 unsocial, complaining that " he wouldn't say 
 anything, only what he couldn't help." 
 
 " You must wait until you find Harold at 
 leisure before you make up your mind in re- 
 gard to him," said Miss Austen, who was sure 
 to hear a report of her nephew's opinions. 
 
 " I don't see why that need make any dif- 
 ference about his talking," was replied. " I 
 can work just as fast when I am talking. 
 Rufe and I keep our tongues running all the 
 time when we are working together. I guess, 
 though, it does take considerable wind, and 
 perhaps Harold isn't used to it. Anyway, 
 there must be more to him than there is to 
 most fellows. But, Margie, I' have been dis- 
 appointed since I came here. There is Harold, 
 and then there is Norah. I offered to carry a
 
 20 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 pail of water for her this morning, qnd I spoke 
 as politely as I know how, but she didn't an- 
 swer me a word. She snatched up the pail 
 and hurried off as if she was angry. I 
 thought at first I never would speak to her 
 again, but I have changed my mind. I shall 
 talk to her, and I shall carry water for her. 
 It isn't natural for a girl to act so, and she 
 must learn better. She is as different as 
 can be from Jessie Elliot, but I mean to be 
 good friends with both of them." 
 
 "You have my best wishes for your suc- 
 cess." 
 
 " Then I am all right. I had a peep into 
 Mr. Elliot's cottage to-day. I was going by 
 and he spoke to me. Ed was with me. How 
 everybody looks up to Ed, auntie. I don't 
 believe I shall ever get quite used to it. He 
 takes right hold of work too. I never ex- 
 pected it of him. I have been glad every 
 minute to-day that we lost that ten thousand 
 dollars. This is a grand place, and to-mor- 
 row, if you are willing, I will put on some 
 of my patched clothes, and help Robert about
 
 COMFORTED. 21 
 
 his work, so he can take a tramp with me in 
 the afternoon." 
 
 " I am perfectly willing, but I had planned 
 an excursion for the afternoon, and intended 
 to invite you and Robert to go with me." 
 
 Jessie and Norah Borine were included in 
 this invitation, and the latter was especially 
 delighted. Of course she would go, and she 
 made all possible haste with her work. A lit- 
 tle before noon she found time to look in upon 
 Jessie, and express her pleasure. 
 
 " We shall have the rarest time," she ex- 
 claimed joyously. 
 
 " Of course we shall," was replied. "There 
 will be six of us, so we can't help having a 
 good time. I wish Harold was going too." 
 
 " Six ! Are those boys going ? " 
 
 " Yes. Miss Austen wouldn't go without 
 Mason, and of course Robert would want to 
 go." 
 
 " Then I won't go a step. I don't like 
 boys. They arc always in the way, wanting 
 girls to give up to them. They needn't come 
 where I am. I can carry all the water I
 
 22 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 want, and this afternoon I shall go to the 
 woods alone." 
 
 " O Norah, I shouldn't think you would 
 do so. You won't like it half as well as go- 
 ing with us ; and I don't think it would be 
 polite to Miss Austen, after she asked you." 
 
 " I can't help it. I won't go with boys." 
 
 Saying this in a sharp, peremptory tone, 
 Norah sprang through the open door, with- 
 out pausing to look back. A horse was rush- 
 ing furiously down the street, and frightened 
 by the unexpected danger, she ran blindly into 
 his very path. Had not some one interposed 
 to save her she must have been seriously, if 
 not fatally, injured. As it was, Edward 
 Stuart saw the situation, and hastened to her 
 rescue. Harold Dorsey arrested the progress 
 of the frightened animal, and before the dan- 
 ger was really comprehended it no longer ex- 
 isted. 
 
 Norah was unhurt, but she lay helpless in 
 the arms of her preserver, who carried 
 her home and laid her upon the homely 
 lounge, which was the one article of luxury
 
 COMFORTED. 23 
 
 this home could boast. Here she opened her 
 eyes, and after looking around for a moment 
 covered her face with her hands and wept 
 convulsively. 
 
 Mrs. Borine came soon, and having heard 
 exaggerated reports of the affair, needed to be 
 soothed and comforted before she could do 
 anything for her child. 
 
 " And to think it was Mr. Stuart saved my 
 Norah ! " she cried. " Whatever could I do 
 without her? Oh, Miss Greenlcaf, you don't 
 know ; " and she rocked to and fro in the vain 
 attempt to express the emotions of her heart. 
 
 " There is One who knows all about it, and 
 who has you in his keeping," was replied. 
 " You are indebted to Mr. Stuart, but not to 
 him alone." 
 
 " Who else ? " asked Norah wonderingly. 
 
 "Your Heavenly Father, who always 
 watches over you." 
 
 " I know, Miss Greenleaf. I am sorry I 
 have made so much trouble. I don't see 
 what made me run the wrong way." 
 
 At this Mrs. Borine knelt beside the
 
 24 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 lounge, and clasping her child in a close 
 embrace, allowed her tears to flow freely. 
 When she raised her head they were alone. 
 Directly, however, Jessie came in, all the 
 more anxious and eager from having so 
 long restrained herself. 
 
 "I thought I had better wait," she said. 
 " Mr. Stuart told me. Isn't he good? " 
 
 " The very best of anybody ; the very best," 
 answered Norah. "He might have been 
 killed, and I not worth a hundredth of him." 
 
 "But he isn't hurt a bit, nor you either, 
 and everybody is so glad. Now, I will stay 
 at home with you this afternoon." 
 
 "But I am going," was the quick reply. "I 
 have changed my mind, and I want to go. 
 Miss Greenleaf says I can, and I wouldn't 
 miss it for anything."
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 25 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 
 
 THE afternoon was all which had been 
 anticipated. The excursionists revelled 
 in sights and sounds, not all have eyes to see 
 or ears to hear. Every flower had a beauty 
 of its own ; while every whistle or song of 
 bird touched some echoing chord in the hearts 
 of those who listened. 
 
 Norah Borine was thinking so earnestly that 
 she would not have spoken even if alone with 
 Jessie Elliot. She enjoyed all which the 
 others enjoyed, and yet there was an under- 
 current of thought and feeling having no ref- 
 erence to what was around her. She wan- 
 dered away by herself, and sat down upon a 
 stone covered with gray lichens. There were 
 flowers within reach of her hand, but she did 
 not pluck them. The sound of voices became
 
 26 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 less ana less distinct. She looked up to the 
 blue sky as if she would pierce its mysteries. 
 Miss Greenleaf had told her that she was in- 
 debted to God for the preservation of her life. 
 She could not go beyond that simple state- 
 ment. She could not reason concerning it. 
 
 " O Norah, I have wondered ever so 
 much where you could be," said Jessie, com- 
 ing up to her. We children are going over 
 to the back side of the lot. Will you go with 
 us, or are you too tired? " 
 
 " I aint tired. I want to go." 
 
 ft Then come right along. How many 
 things there are to see, and how long it 
 would take to count them all ! " 
 
 " There are too many to count. Nobody 
 can ever know how many there are." 
 
 "Nobody in the world," suggested Jessie. 
 
 " There aint, anybody else." 
 
 There is God. You didn't think of Him. 
 His home is in Heaven, but He is in the 
 world all the same. He knows exactly how 
 many things there are, and just where they 
 grow. He knows how many blades of grass
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 27 
 
 there are in all the fields, and how many 
 grains of sand there are on the sea-shore. 
 
 c 
 
 Father says, now he has begun to think 
 about it, it seems to him the strangest that 
 God should know about the little things." 
 
 " I don't believe it. It aint likely God 
 would care for such things," exclaimed Norah 
 in an indignant tone. 
 
 " How can you say so," replied Jessie. 
 " The Bible says the very hairs of your head 
 are all numbered, and not a sparrow falls to 
 the ground without his notice." 
 
 " AVho says so ? How do you know ? " 
 
 " The Bible says so. I read it there. Didn't 
 you ever read it ? " 
 
 " No, I never did." 
 
 " I will show it to you sometime. It is 
 easy to think that God made the ocean, and 
 the rivers, and the mountains, but I don't 
 wonder it seems strange to you about the 
 blades of grass and grains of sand, if you 
 never thought of it before." 
 
 " I never did think of it. How could I, 
 when I didn't know anything about it? Is it
 
 20 HAROLD DORSET S FORTUNE. 
 
 the same God Miss Greenleaf said took care 
 of me this morning ? " 
 
 " There isn't but one God," answered Jes- 
 sie. " He is so great, and wise, and strong, 
 there couldn't be another." 
 
 " He is a great ways off." 
 
 " No, Norah ; that is another strange thing 
 about Him. He is everywhere at the same 
 time. He is right beside you this minute, 
 and he knows just what you are thinking." 
 
 A startled look in the child's face revealed 
 her astonishment as she glanced around, and 
 then, without speaking, walked rapidly for- 
 ward. 
 
 Miss Austen and Miss Greenleaf improved 
 the time, when the younger members of the 
 party were absent, to talk of personal matters. 
 They were to work together for the general 
 good, and in order to do this to the best ad- 
 vantage some consultation was necessary. 
 
 " Our people are kind and ordinarily intel- 
 ligent, yet many of them need to learn that 
 there is something required in life beyond 
 providing for the wants of the body," said
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 2\) 
 
 Miss Austen at length. "This must be 
 done. There is no avoiding it, but it should 
 not be allowed to absorb the whole of life. 
 The homeliest w^ork may be glorified, and 
 there may be something of refinement in the 
 humblest home." 
 
 " I know that is true," replied Miss Green- 
 leaf. " I think, too, there are a great many 
 people struggling after some refinement, and 
 dissatisfied without it, when they hardly 
 know why they are troubled." 
 
 " I have seen such people ; and it would 
 take so little to make them happy, it seems 
 almost wicked not to give them that little. I 
 have seen a poor woman made rich by the pos- 
 session of a geranium growing in a cracked 
 sugar-bowl. She said it was company for 
 her; and so it was, because it responded 
 to a want of her nature. One can exist in a 
 room with four bare walls, but I should pity 
 the person who desired nothing better. The 
 asparagus and peacock's feathers I have so 
 often seen adorning a plain little mirror al- 
 ways appeal to my sympathy. Something
 
 30 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 better could be done by the hands that ar- 
 ranged them if those hands had been trained 
 to do the bidding of a cultivated taste.'' 
 
 " I never thought of asparagus and peacock's 
 feathers in that way, Miss Austen, but I re- 
 member when I was very ambitious to pos- 
 sess both." 
 
 " And you achieved that ambition long 
 ago." 
 
 " Oh, yes ; and for a time 1 greatly en- 
 joyed my good fortune. It is easy to attain 
 some well defined purpose, but Avhen the 
 mind is reaching on and on into limitless 
 space, one is liable to be discouraged." 
 
 "Yet this reaching on and on is our 
 greatest encouragement. When we have 
 reached our ideal there will be no more for 
 us." 
 
 "I shall never attain to mine. When I 
 was a child I was always wondering about 
 things no one explained to me, and I am 
 wondering still about manv of them. You 
 
 O - 
 
 must have had a great deal of help, Miss 
 Austen."
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 81 
 
 " I have, and now I wish to help others. 
 There are Norah Borine, and her mother and 
 grandmother. I long to do something for 
 them. They are quite by themselves, which 
 makes it difficult to reach them ; but happily 
 the hearts of the three are centered in one. 
 Xorah represents the entire family ; so that 
 whoever can influence her can influence all." 
 
 " She will repay a large outlay of effort. 
 She is an uncommon child, with uncommon 
 talents. Jessie is quick to learn, and she has 
 fine tastes ; but, with a little assistance, 
 Xorah will make a path for herself, and out 
 of the beaten track too. She will never be 
 a common working-w r oman like her mother." 
 
 " I hope not ; and I hope she will not be a 
 Catholic like her mother. I believe in the 
 largest freedom of conscience and the utmost 
 toleration, but Norah needs a different re- 
 ligion from that of forms and ceremonies. 
 The religion of Christ w r ould transform her. 
 When she first came here she acted as if she 
 felt that every hand was against her, and I
 
 32 HAEOLD DORSET'S FOETUXE. 
 
 feared it would require a long time to win 
 her confidence." 
 
 " I can always win the children ; and then, 
 you know, Miss Austen, that but for my bit 
 of a cottage and the lot around it, I am as 
 poor in worldly goods as Mrs. Borine, and she 
 knows it. I am as used to patching and darn- 
 ing as she is." 
 
 " But it is done more neatly, and therein is 
 the difference. In this, as in everything else, 
 Nature gives us a perfect example. She never 
 does her work clumsily, or roughly. Often 
 she covers the most unsightly places with so 
 beautiful a screen as to make them lovely. 
 When she patches, she does it artistically. 
 A decaying tree, after a time, is covered 
 with such a luxuriant growth of mosses and 
 vines that we forget to be sorry it has fallen. 
 So, I suppose, people might beautify their 
 homes, until an observer would forget the 
 absence of paint and plaster." 
 
 " That reminds me of the first English ivy 
 I ever saw. It was in a very poor house, 
 but it climbed the wall and crept along the
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 33 
 
 rafters as freely as if it was growing out of 
 doors. The people of the house told me they 
 never trained it at all. They let it grow its 
 own way, only taking care that it had plenty 
 of water and did not freeze. They brought 
 it from England, so it seemed to them like a 
 bit of the old home, and kept their hearts 
 warm." 
 
 " Then it performed a ministiy of love. 
 Anything which keeps our hearts warm is a 
 positive blessing ; and those who earn their 
 daily bread by hard hand-labor especially 
 need this blessing. I wish to give our peo- 
 ple a sense of this need, and then help them 
 to satisfy it." 
 
 Here the conversation was interrupted, and 
 after some delay in starting, the party turned 
 their faces homeward, carrying with them 
 fragrant spoils and pleasant memories which 
 more than compensated them for their fatigue. 
 
 "It is good to be here," remarked Miss 
 Austen, that evening, to Edward Stuart, 
 with whom she had been reviewing the 
 events of the day, and making preparations
 
 34 HAKOLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 for Sabbath duties. " I would not have be- 
 lieved any place, except the old house, could 
 seem so much like home to me. I wonder if 
 you are really sure of your own identity." 
 
 " I sometimes half doubt it. I know I 
 have gained immensely. As Mason says, I 
 didn't know there was so much in me. But 
 no other one among us has changed as has 
 Mr. Elliot. "We shall lose him before many 
 years. Somebody will want him in a more 
 responsible position, and bid high for him. 
 He and Harold Dorsey will soon outgrow us." 
 
 " Let them, and we will bid them God 
 speed if they leave us. I am anxious to 
 hear Mr. Elliot in our meetings." 
 
 " You will have the privilege. He is to 
 take charge of the meeting to-morrow even- 
 ing, and he told me he should attend church 
 through the day. Mr. Gleason is greatly 
 encouraged. He said, yesterday, that our 
 Thursday-evening meetings had done more 
 to set people to thinking about God than all 
 the positively religious talk they had heard 
 in twenty years. ' In some way,' said he,
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 35 
 
 ' everything was traced back to the divine 
 Creator.' " 
 
 " That is as it should be ; and as soon as 
 the evenings are longer we will resume our 
 Thursday meetings. There are not many, 
 however, who can be moved as Mr. Elliot 
 and Harold." 
 
 " The wonder is that two like them could 
 be found in so small a place as this. Few 
 have their capacity, and fewer still have the 
 sensibility possessed by Harold. He is re- 
 markable in -every way." 
 
 How heartily Mrs. Peavey would have en- 
 dorsed this sentiment ! Such a good, trusty 
 boy as he was ; and yet she knew he was for 
 more than this, although he interested himself 
 in the humblest details of their home life ; 
 never so tired or so much engrossed in study 
 as to be unmindful of her comfort. 
 
 On Saturday evening, when returning from 
 his work, he stopped for some roots this 
 friend had desired, and while looking for 
 them found a rare flower he wished he could 
 irive to Miss Grecnleaf.
 
 36 HAROLD DORSEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Carry it to her to-morrow," said Mr. 
 Peavey. " Put it in water, and it will keep 
 fresh." 
 
 '" I know it Avill ; but I was not sure it 
 would be right to carry it," replied Harold. 
 
 " Just as right as it is to carry pinks and 
 caraway to meeting," responded the old man, 
 as he glanced at his wife with a smile. 
 
 " That is right," she said, returning the 
 smile. " My grandmother and my mother 
 always carried pinks and caraway, and they 
 were good women. We mean to keep Sun- 
 day as near right as we can, Harold, and I'm 
 sure it will be all right for you to carry the 
 flower to Miss Greenleaf." 
 
 Alice Greenleaf was in her room, burdened 
 with a sense of loneliness, and longing for 
 a sight of the brown cottage where she had 
 spent so many busy, happy years. Looking 
 back, her life seemed long, as if she had 
 already passed its meridian. Nothing had 
 occurred to induce this despondency, and 
 yet she was seldom so depressed. 
 
 " I must forget myself," she said, half
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 37 
 
 aloud, and presently there came an oppor- 
 tunity for doing this in a way she had not 
 expected. 
 
 Her reception of Harold Dorsey was most 
 cordial, and her admiration for the flower he 
 placed in her hand more than repaid him for 
 the effort he had made to conquer his em- 
 harrassment, at what seemed to him at the 
 last moment absolute presumption. If Mrs. 
 Wilder had not called to him he would have 
 retreated, even after he had reached the door. 
 
 " I was feeling very lonely, and I am very 
 glad you thought to come to me," said his 
 hostess. "There is always something good 
 coming to us, but our want of faith for the 
 future makes us unhappy. We ought never 
 to be discouraged." 
 
 " That is what Mr. Peavey says, and he 
 must know," was replied. 
 
 "I presume he does. He has lived to be 
 old, and his faith must sometimes have been 
 sorely tried." 
 
 " He says there are dark days for every- 
 body ; but I am not looking for them now. I
 
 38 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 have been thinking all day of what Mr. Elliot 
 is going to read at the meeting this evening. 
 I learned it early this morning." 
 
 " What is it, please ? Are you willing to 
 repeat it to me ? " 
 
 :t Yes, ma'am ; I would like to. The verses 
 are in the sixth chapter of Matthew. They 
 begin at the twenty-fourth verse, and go 
 through the chapter." 
 
 In a clear, distinct tone he recited this 
 Bible lesson, so plain in its teachings, so 
 beautiful in its illustrations, and so conclu- 
 sive in its arguments. If God so watches 
 over the fowls of the air, and clothes the 
 earth with verdure, His care must surely ex- 
 tend to us who have souls of infinite value. 
 
 " We must not forget that. It was just 
 what I needed to hear," remarked his com- 
 panion, when the last word had been uttered. 
 
 " But you must have known it long ago." 
 
 " I knew it long ago, but I arn sometimes 
 in danger of forgetting it." 
 
 " I wish I had known it long ago. But I
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 39 
 
 never read it until lust winter, the day I was 
 sixteen years old." 
 
 To the surprise expressed at this, Harold 
 Dorsey responded by telling of the promise 
 made to " grandsir," which he had so relig- 
 iously kept. 
 
 w It was very strange," said Miss Greenleaf. 
 
 " It is all strange about me. /don't know, 
 but God does. I am glad he knows. That 
 is what comforts me. I was wondering what 
 the lilies were like this morning. They 
 grew in the fields." 
 
 " Yes ; and they were of various colors. 
 You must have seen lilies ? " 
 
 " Yes, ma'am ; but they were mostly in the 
 water. I think they are the handsomest. God 
 made them all." 
 
 " Every one." 
 
 " And the grass too. I never thought 
 much about the grass, but I shall look at it 
 close now." 
 
 "It will pay for close looking, and best 
 when it is in blossom." 
 
 "Does it blossom?"
 
 40 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Certainly. If not, how could there be 
 grass seed ? " 
 
 "I never thought; but, of course, there 
 must be flowers. How much there is to 
 learn ! And the Bible at the foundation of it 
 all ! It tells about so many things besides the 
 way we ought to live, and love God. I used 
 to think it didn't tell about anything else. 
 Mr. Elliot says it's the grandest book in the 
 world, when you read it with the right spirit. 
 He will talk well to-night. He always does, 
 and I love to hear him." 
 
 It was a peculiarity with Harold that when 
 he became interested in conversation he talked 
 with great freedom, seemingly unconscious of 
 any disparity between himself and his com- 
 panion. So now he was only anxious to re- 
 receive the instruction and sympathy of which 
 his quick intuition assured him. He might 
 even have forgotten that he intended going 
 elsewhere had not another reminded him of 
 this. 
 
 Only after much solicitation had Mr. Elliot 
 consented to lead the meeting that Sabbath
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 41 
 
 evening, and it was only after earnest prayer 
 for guidance, and a careful study of the pas- 
 sage to be read, that he entered the hall. The 
 attendance was large. People were anxious 
 to see and hear the man who sat so long with 
 bowed head, they feared they were to be dis- 
 appointed. 
 
 At length he arose, designated a hyrnn, and 
 began to sing. Both hymn and tune were fa- 
 miliar, so that all joined in the service of 
 song. Then was offered a prayer, short, sim- 
 ple, and fervent. The scripture lesson was 
 next read, reverently, as one reads a message 
 from some dear friend who has passed within 
 the veil. 
 
 Mindful of the younger members of the 
 audience, he talked at some length of the 
 fowls of the air and the lilies of the field ; 
 mingling something of natural science with 
 the most sacred religious truth. Last, and 
 greatest, he repeated Christ's assertion : " Ye 
 cannot serve God and mammon." 
 
 " Our Saviour's words ; and better than all 
 who have since lived, lie knew whereof he
 
 42 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 affirmed. He knows all things, and needs 
 not that any should tell Him. He sees our 
 hearts. He knows our most secret thoughts. 
 We may deceive others, but He is never de- 
 ceived. He has seen myriads of human 
 beings grasping the world with one hand 
 while extending the other for blessings God 
 has promised to those who love and obey 
 Him. 
 
 " I never attempted this ; not because I 
 was too sincere and conscientious, but be- 
 cause I was so wilfully blind and sinful. No 
 other here has wandered so far from the right 
 path as I ; no other has so much to be for- 
 given ; but, thanks be to God, the blood of 
 Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. 
 
 " I have scoffed at this blessed truth. I 
 have despised the Bible. I have been rec- 
 reant to the most sacred obligations. But 
 now I feel and know that the dear old Bible 
 is true, and that the religion it teaches is the 
 only hope of the world. I am not worthy to 
 speak of these holy things in your presence, 
 yet I must give my testimony to the truth ;
 
 AN AFTERNOON EXCURSION. 43 
 
 and God grant we may all so live, that at 
 last we shall stand before His throne justified 
 and sanctified through Him who gave His 
 life a ransom for many." 
 
 The speaker resumed his seat, and again 
 bowed his head, when, to relieve the intensity 
 of feeling by some general expression, Ed- 
 ward Stuart began a song of praise. For a 
 little time the richest, fullest voice was missed ; 
 and then it helped to swell the melody, 
 which, like a glad outpouring of mutual joy, 
 brought nearer and closer all hearts. The 
 meeting was then open, and all were invited 
 to say a word for Christ. 
 
 Mason Stuart looked his astonishment when 
 his brother arose and expressed the same con- 
 fident faith which had characterized Mr. El- 
 liot's remarks. Miss Austen followed. Then 
 others ; some just starting in a Christian life ; 
 some young and some old; some intelligent 
 and some ignorant. Miss Greenleaf had 
 never taken part in such a meeting, but she 
 did so now, and thus assumed her rightful 
 place. The hour was fully occupied, and
 
 44 HAROLD DORSET'S FOBTUXE. 
 
 the time for closing the meeting had arrived, 
 when Mason sprang to his feet, and, in his 
 usual frank, earnest manner, said : 
 
 " I don't know certain that I am a Chris- 
 tian, but I can't remember when I didn't pray. 
 I love God and the Saviour, and I try to 
 serve them. I love them, and I am not 
 ashamed to say that I am afraid of doing 
 wrong. If there is a boy or girl here who 
 hasn't chosen Christ, let me tell you you are 
 making a great mistake. There is nothing 
 like the Bible and prayer for keeping a fellow 
 straight, and I mean to stick to both."
 
 THE SUNDAY MEETING. 45 
 
 CHAPTEE in. 
 
 THE SUNDAY MEETING. 
 
 NOTHING could be added, and surely 
 no one would wish to take from the 
 effect of this short, manly speech. The 
 meeting closed, and the people went their 
 way to talk of what they had heard. 
 
 " Mason, my dear boy, you have made me 
 very happy," said his aunt, when they were 
 alone together. "I don't think I had ex- 
 pected you to speak as you did." 
 
 " Do you mean, Margie, that you don't 
 think I act like a Christian ? " 
 
 " No ; that is not what I mean at all. I 
 think you are a good, conscientious boy, and 
 I have always known you were a praying 
 boy. I have no doubt that you are a Chris- 
 tian ; but I had not thought of you as one who 
 would help keep up the interest of our meet-
 
 4G HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 ings. So I was happily surprised, and I am 
 very glad you talked." 
 
 " Well, I am glad I did, too ; and I am 
 glad you are glad. I couldn't help it very 
 well. I wanted to tell how I felt, and I 
 thought may be there was some boy or girl 
 there who would like to know. You were 
 no more surprised at my speaking than I was 
 at Ed's. I knew he was good, as folks say, 
 but I didn't know he was an out and out 
 Christian till this evening. I tell you, Mar- 
 gie, I* was proud of him, and the people 
 seemed to think what he said was of conse- 
 quence. It was worth losing that money just 
 to have him what he is. I am not like him, 
 and we shall do different work in the world, 
 but we can both of us do right. You know 
 old Deacon Goddard, Margie, and what a 
 dear, good old man he is, and how everybody 
 loves him ? " 
 
 " Yes, I know all that, Mason." 
 
 " Well, last winter, something you wrote 
 to me set me to thinking whether I was a 
 Christian, and, finally, I made up my mind
 
 THE SUNDAY MEETING. 47 
 
 that if I was, I ought to be like Deacon God- 
 dard. So I went over to his house and told 
 him about it. Now what do you think he 
 did?" 
 
 " I don't know, only I am sure he must 
 have given you some very good advice." 
 
 " He did, but that came afterwards. He 
 just opened his mouth and laughed as hard as 
 he could laugh, till it seemed as though he 
 never was going to stop. At first I felt like 
 crying. I thought he was making fun of me. 
 But after a minute I began to laugh too. It 
 was a funny time for a fellow who went to 
 talk with a deacon about religion. But pretty 
 soon he reached out his arms and drew me up 
 close to him, and talked to me as good and 
 loving as you could. He said I was a boy 
 and he was an old man, and I couldn't be like 
 him if I tried ever so hard. He said I ought 
 not to be either. He said I must be a boy 
 Christian, and serve God in a boy's way ; and 
 if I asked God to help me I could do my own 
 work just right. Is that what you think, 
 Margie?"
 
 48 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Certainly it is. I don't wonder Deacon 
 Goddard laughed. The idea of your being 
 like him ! Did you go home satisfied ? " 
 
 " Yes, Margie, I did, and I have gone 
 along since then without worrying. He 
 helped me a good deal, 'though I never said 
 anything in meeting before. I guess our 
 minister wouldn't like to have me talk in 
 his meetings. I have talked to Rufus Brown 
 a good deal, and I think he is all right, but 
 nobody knows it except his mother and me. 
 I liked your meeting. I don't see why peo- 
 ple don't have such everywhere, instead of 
 the dull, prosy ones, where the men and 
 women act as though they all wanted to go 
 to sleep. I wish Norah had been there. 
 Don't you suppose she will go sometime ? " 
 
 " I hope she will." 
 
 "I mean she shall. I have found out that 
 when I don't see how I am going to bring 
 things 'round to suit me, and I am sure it 
 would do good to have them brought 'round, 
 the best thing I can do is to pray." 
 
 " And are your prayers always answered ? "
 
 THE SUNDAY MEETING. 49 
 
 " Not always exactly as I calculated. But 
 I know God's way is best, so that makes it 
 all the same to me, You know I love Rufe 
 Brown, and I have tried to help him. I kept 
 wishing he could have more money, and at 
 last I prayed for it. I didn't make any con- 
 ditions either. I never do. I think that is 
 one reason why people don't get answers to 
 their prayers. I talked with Deacon Goddard 
 about that, and he said, if we wanted anything 
 enough to really pray for it, we should be 
 willing to do our part towards bringing it 
 about, and not try to make any conditions 
 with God. So I prayed that Rufe might 
 have some money, and my prayer was an- 
 swered. I never thought the money was to 
 come in the way it did ; as the price of my 
 life. Now I am going to pray for Norah 
 Borine in real earnest." 
 
 Edward Stuart came in, and glancing at 
 the flushed face of his young brother, judged 
 rightly that there had been sufficient excite- 
 
 O v 
 
 ment for one day. 
 
 " You are tired," he said gently.
 
 50 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " It won't hurt a fellow to be tired, if he is 
 only happy enough to make up for it. I am 
 ever so glad you are a Christian. It will be 
 the making of you ; " and big tears rolled 
 down the boy's cheeks. 
 
 Margaret Austen went out softly ; her own 
 eyes dimmed, and her heart so stirred that 
 she needed to carry her joy where she had so 
 often carried her grief. 
 
 Meanwhile, Norah Borine was passing 
 through a strange experience. The incident 
 which ha<i well-nigh proved a tragedy had 
 deeply impressed her. The Sabbaths were 
 wearisome days to her, notwithstanding the 
 company of her mother and grandmother. 
 She remained within doors, dissatisfied and 
 restless ; counting the hours between the 
 departure of the people for church and their 
 return. She had never considered it a priva- 
 tion that she could not go with them, but it 
 was a great self-denial to lose one day in 
 seven from her favorite pursuits. 
 
 "Why can't I go to the woods?" she asked. 
 
 " I'm thinking the mistress wouldn't like
 
 THE SUNDAY MEETING. 51 
 
 your strolling, and you can well bide at home 
 for a day," answered her mother. 
 
 " Shure, child, I'd not be liftin' a finger to 
 grieve the mistress, or the young master 
 either. Bide within, and not be fretting." 
 
 So Mrs. Rady settled the question, but 
 Norah was not content. 
 
 "Mother, are you willing I should walk 
 down by the mill ?" she continued. "Jessie 
 goes there with her father of a Sunday." 
 
 " Yes, go, child ; I've not the heart to keep 
 you," was responded. 
 
 Norah did not say she wished she might 
 attend the meeting. She went down by the 
 mill, as she had proposed, and when there, 
 stood looking into the water until it occurred 
 to her that this was a favorable opportunity 
 for seeing the hall she had never yet entered. 
 She could reach it without being observed ; 
 and directly she was mounting the stairs lead- 
 ing to it. It was not so grand as she had ex- 
 pected, yet some attraction held her there. 
 
 She was startled by the sound of voices. 
 She must make her escape, and there was but
 
 52 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 one way to do this. A small room, opening 
 from the landing, and separated from the hall 
 only by a thin partition, offered a place of re- 
 treat, which she entered just in time to avoid 
 Mr. Bumstead and Kobert. 
 
 She would have hastened down and away 
 as soon as they had passed ; but another and 
 another came, until she almost held her 
 breath, lest she might be discovered. Grop- 
 ing in the darkness, she found a block of 
 wood, and sat down to await the event. The 
 hall door was closed, and she judged that the 
 meeting was about to commence. From her 
 position she could readily hear what might 
 be said, and the temptation to remain was 
 too strong to be resisted. 
 
 She lost not a word of the Scripture les- 
 son ; not a word of the remarks which fol- 
 lowed. The singing charmed her. She had 
 learned some old Irish songs, crooned by her 
 grandmother now and then ; but these were 
 so different, she was ready to believe she 
 had never before heard anything which could 
 properly be considered singing.
 
 THE SUNDAY MEETING. 53 
 
 Still she lingered, listening as for her life. 
 Some of the speakers she failed to recognize, 
 but most of the voices were familiar. When 
 the last hymn was announced she rose to her 
 feet, and was ready to bound away, as Mason 
 commenced speaking. Waiting to hear him 
 through, she was in danger of forgetting the 
 need of haste. Suddenly, however, she re- 
 membered, and by a retired path reached 
 home. 
 
 " You were long gone," said her mother. 
 
 " I've heard the meeting," she answered 
 almost defiantly. 
 
 " Was it for that ye got lave to walk ? " 
 asked her grandmother, with an ominous 
 frown. 
 
 "No, granny, I didn't think I'd go. It 
 just happened, and I'm glad it did. You'd 
 like it yourself. The singing was like what 
 they say Heaven is." 
 
 " Xortih, dear, tell us how it happened," 
 said Mrs. Borine, laying her hand caressingly 
 upon the head of her child.
 
 54 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 Thus adjured, Norah gave a correct version 
 of the matter, adding : 
 
 " It was all about God, and how we ought 
 to love Him, and do what He tells us. Mr. 
 Elliot said the Bible was the grandest book 
 in the world. He said it was a long letter 
 God has written to us, and we ought to read 
 it every day, so as to know what to do. He 
 read something about fowls of the air, and 
 lilies of the field, and grass ; and then he 
 talked about them just as though they be- 
 longed with loving God. 
 
 " Oh mother, I wish you had been there. 
 There wasn't anybody like a priest. They 
 prayed just as Miss Greenleaf does every 
 morning, and a good many talked. Oh 
 dear ! They aint a bit like us ; " and Norah 
 buried her face in her mother's lap. 
 
 Mrs. Rady said nothing. She could com- 
 mand no words which seemed fitting the occa- 
 sion. She had never feared that her grand- 
 child would l)e lured from the true church, 
 although they were debarred from the 
 privilege of its communion. She had been
 
 THE SUNDAY MEETIXG. 55 
 
 prepared to encounter persecution in defence 
 of her faith, and was somewhat disappointed 
 at the consideration shown her. The few 
 verses read at the opening of school seemed 
 of too little importance to receive attention, 
 and for that reason she had not objected to 
 them, or to the prayer which succeeded them. 
 She could be severe, but this was not a fit- 
 ting time. If Norah had spoken truthfully, 
 there was small reason for blame. The child 
 would soon forget. 
 
 Mrs. Rady was a sensible woman ; a 
 strong, true-hearted woman who had made 
 her way bravely, where many another would 
 have faltered and fallen ; but she had now to 
 do with a nature past her comprehension. 
 She had often wished that Norah was like 
 other children, more quiet, and more easily 
 satisfied ; but of the hidden sources whence 
 sprang the wild longings and restless energy 
 she knew nothing. It was well that the child 
 had found new friends, wiser than those in her 
 home. 
 
 The passage of Scripture read by Mr.
 
 56 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 Elliot, with the comments upon it, had inter- 
 ested all who heard it. People talked of the 
 meeting as " best of all." Mr. Peavey closed 
 his Bible and pushed back his spectacles when 
 told that Harold w T as coming. 
 
 " Now we'll hear it second hand, and about 
 as good as first," he said with a smile. 
 " Seems to me sometimes we get more than 
 the rest do, and it's a good thing for the boy 
 too." 
 
 Towering above the old man, yet still 
 a boy in the freshness of his feelings and 
 want of practical experience, Harold Dorsey 
 came in. 
 
 "I've been studying over Christ's sermon 
 on the mount while you've been gone, and 
 it's been as though Christ was speaking it 
 straight to us poor old folks this blessed 
 Sunday night," remarked his host. " It's like 
 something out of a letter, with our names on 
 the back of it." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; that is very near what Mr. 
 Elliot said," was the reply. 
 
 " And did you learn anything new ? "
 
 THE SUNDAY MEETING. 57 
 
 "Yes, sir ; it seemed almost all new. It is 
 wonderful how talk about God never grows 
 old. It is like the sunrise. It is just to light 
 the world every day, and it is the same light ; 
 but it never seems twice alike. I have 
 thought about that a great many times, and 
 once I asked grandsir what made it so." 
 
 "What did he tell you?" 
 
 " lie said the difference was in the clouds 
 and the atmosphere, but he didn't explain it. 
 I think I'll find that out sometime." 
 
 " Will you find out, too, what makes the 
 old Bible story always new ? " 
 
 " I know that now. It is the way we hear 
 it. Mr. Elliot told me he used to hate to 
 hear God's name, and now he loves it. The 
 difference is in his feelings." 
 
 "That's it, my boy, and you'll find new 
 things in the Bible just as long as you live. 
 It's crowded full of just what we need to 
 learn and remember. Don't you suppose that 
 when I read what Christ said about worrying, 
 I thought how he sent you to us when we 
 needed you so much ? 'Twas just as plain to
 
 58 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 me as anything could be. I thought about 
 the sea-fowl too, that have their nests in the 
 clefts of the rocks, and the lilies, and the 
 grass. It's all like a great, handsome pic- 
 ture, if you can only think how it looks." 
 
 The old man's heart could conceive what 
 his tongue could not utter, as he said this in 
 his homely way, while Harold listened re- 
 spectfully. 
 
 " I suppose in a good many lonesome 
 places, where never anybody goes, there may 
 be a grass-seed dropped, somehow, that'll 
 sprout, and spring up, and grow. Then 
 there '11 be more seeds, and then the whole 
 wiil spring up again, till there's a good- 
 sized patch of grass, that'll keep spreading 
 and growing larger every year. It's 'most 
 strange it should be so, and we can't tell 
 where the beginning is, but God knows all 
 about it." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and then to think how little 
 we can learn of all His works. I want to 
 live a great while, so to keep on learning."
 
 THE SUNDAY MEETING. 
 
 "You willj my boy, you will. You will 
 live through all eternity; and eye hath not 
 seen nor ear heard the glory which shall be 
 revealed hereafter."
 
 60 HAROLD DOESEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WISHING. 
 
 HAVING been sent to invite Miss Green- 
 leaf to tea, Mason Stuart was shown 
 to her room, where he was quick to notice the 
 simple decorations which gave to the other- 
 wise plain apartment a cheerful, home-like 
 air. 
 
 "Can you paint pictures?" he asked re- 
 spectfully. 
 
 "No, "she replied. "I can only take the 
 bits after they are painted and put them to- 
 gether, as you see." 
 
 "But these shells, and lichens, and Jews- 
 ears are just as they grew." 
 
 " They are painted for all that." 
 
 " Oh ! I know now what you mean. I 
 never thought of it in that way. There was 
 no brush used."
 
 WISHING. 61 
 
 "Not what we would call a brush, but 
 there was method in their coloring. It did 
 not happen." 
 
 " Nothing happens ; but do you know how 
 these lichens get their color ? " 
 
 " There is a bit which took its color from 
 the stone on which it grew. But oftener, 
 perhaps, stones are colored by lichens. Jews- 
 ears, as you call them, have different colors, 
 according to the trees or stumps on which 
 they grow. I have not studied them enough 
 to know much about it, and perhaps there is 
 not much we can know. The grass is green, 
 because God made it so, and His secrets are 
 past our finding out." 
 
 " I know that, but there is a great deal to 
 be learned, if we only go to work in the right 
 way. I am always asking questions, but you 
 needn't mind telling me to stop when you get 
 tired of them. Aunt Margaret never seems 
 to get tired, but she is used to me. Now, I 
 should like to walk to school with you if you 
 are willing." 
 
 Being assured that his company would bo
 
 62 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 enjoyed, they started out together, much to 
 the annoyance of the children who waited for 
 their teacher ; yet, w T hen Jessie appeared, she 
 talked with one and another until the conver- 
 sation became general, and the walk seemed 
 all too short. When they reached their des- 
 tination Mason said good-morning, and 
 strolled leisurely home. 
 
 The lilies of the field were considered and 
 discussed that day by people who wondered 
 that they could feel such interest in flowers. 
 The children appealed to Miss Greenleaf, 
 while she, in turn, appealed to Miss Austen, 
 who replied : 
 
 " I was sure Mr. Elliot had introduced a 
 new subject for inquiry, and to me there was 
 always a peculiar charm investing the lilies of 
 Palestine. They must have been very beau- 
 tiful, or Christ would not have chosen them 
 as the type of floral beauty. Their gorgeous 
 colors made them a striking' feature in an 
 oriental landscape. The shape of the lily, 
 also, was so perfect, that it afforded a pattern 
 for some of the ornamental work of Solomon's
 
 WISHIXG . 63 
 
 temple. The brim of the molten sea 'was 
 wrought like the brim of a cup, with flowers 
 of lilies.' ' And the chapiters that were upon 
 the top of the pillars were of lily work.' 
 These descriptions are quoted from the 
 Bible," added the speaker, turning to her 
 nephew. 
 
 " That would make the illustration more 
 striking to the Jews," responded Miss Green- 
 leaf. " It must have seemed strange doctrine 
 when told that the flowers springing up where 
 only God had planted them surpassed in 
 splendor the robes of an eastern monarch 
 whose riches were the wonder of all the 
 world." 
 
 
 
 " Yet Christ spoke with authority, and it 
 may be that He emphasized his words by 
 pointing to the lilies. I always wondered 
 that one who knew so much of God's works, 
 and who must have had a love for Nature, 
 should turn aside to idols as did Solomon. 
 His wisdom should have made him more 
 devout. But he was the pride of the Jewish 
 nation, surrounded with splendor. His robes
 
 64 HAEOLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 were of purple and scarlet, embroidered with 
 gold, yet the flowers whose dried stalks were 
 used for fuel were far more beautiful." 
 
 " I shouldn't think they would amount to 
 much for burning," said Mason, who was 
 mentally taking notes of this conversation. 
 
 " The people of the East were obliged to 
 resort to almost every kind of combustible 
 material. Even thorns were used as fuel. 
 A plant is no less beautiful because it is made 
 useful. The lotus of Egypt, which is a high 
 family connection of our water-lily, was al- 
 most a national emblem. Its peduncles, or 
 stalks, served as models for columns, which 
 were often surmounted with ornaments in the 
 form of its flowers, resembling enormous 
 tulips. Yet the seeds of this plant, called 
 Egyptian beans, are an important article of 
 food for poor people. The roots, too, are 
 nutritious at certain seasons of the year. 
 The Victoria Itegia, with its flowers thirty 
 inches in circumference, is a lily. It is, at 
 first, pure white, changing to red. At the 
 end of the third day it withers, and sinks to
 
 WISHING. 65 
 
 ripen its seeds, which are known as water- 
 maize, and highly prized for food." 
 
 Robert Bumstead would be sure to hear of 
 these wonderful lilies, and he was also sure to 
 be interested. Upon first meeting Mason he 
 had been inclined to address him with the 
 same respect shown to Mr. Stuart, but a few 
 days of familiar intercourse had quite changed 
 all this. They now met upon common 
 ground; freely exchanging opinions and 
 comparing notes. They confided to each 
 other their hopes and ambitions ; and with 
 the earnestness which characterized them, 
 talked of their plans for the future. 
 
 " Do you want to study Latin ? " asked 
 Mason, when some allusion had been made 
 to the language. 
 
 " Yes I do, and I intend to. I wish I 
 could begin to-day. Harold and I have 
 talked about it a good many times. 
 
 " Docs Harold care about it ! " 
 
 " He cares about everything. You don't 
 know what he is by seeing him two or three 
 times." 
 
 5
 
 66 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " I don't suppose I do. I haven't studied 
 Latin very long, but I am a fellow who does 
 everything thoroughly ; and I know, as far as 
 I have learned, as well as anybody. If you 
 and Harold will get some Latin grammars, I 
 will tell you how to begin, and hear your 
 lessons till I go away. Then I will get Ed 
 to hear you. He can do it just as well as not, 
 and I know he will be glad to help you along." 
 
 " It seems too much for him to do for me, 
 but Harold is so grand, I think anybody 
 might be glad to help him. He is a great 
 ways beyond me. He works and studies 
 too." 
 
 Doing extra work, too, was Harold. Mr. 
 Peavey's small farm had been long neglected, 
 because of the owner's failing health, but 
 Harold encouraged him to make his plans on 
 a larger scale than usual, and then proposed 
 to give such assistance as wonld render these 
 plans feasible. An hour in the morning, with 
 an hour or more in the evening, were often 
 added to his regular working day, while to
 
 WISHING. 67 
 
 all remonstrance he replied that he was per- 
 fectly able to do it. 
 
 " It makes me feel bad to think you don't 
 have any more time to yourself," said Mrs. 
 Peavey one evening. " It's pretty much all 
 one way between us too. We can't ever pay 
 you ; but God can, and I know He will. It's 
 ray belief He'll give you the desire of your 
 heart, whatever that is. Perhaps it will be 
 after we old folks are gone, but it will come 
 some time. Father has been saying he haint 
 felt so well able to work for ten years as ho 
 does now ; and the first thing I know I am 
 singing away as merry as a cricket." 
 
 " I am glad. When folks sing without 
 meaning to I always think they are happy," 
 replied Harold. 
 
 " And you think right. That kind of sing- 
 ing comes straight from the heart. It's like 
 the birds' singing. They've been twittering 
 'round the house all day. I guess there are 
 some nests being built. I put out some tow 
 this morning and it has 'most all gone. I nl- 
 Av.-iys put some out every spring. I like to
 
 68 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 help the poor little things. It seems too bad 
 for them to have to hunt 'round for a few 
 hairs or a lock of wool." 
 
 "They fly so swift, they can go a great 
 ways in a short time." 
 
 " I know it, but father says it's my way to 
 want to help every thing along." 
 
 "Aint that so, Harold?" asked the old 
 man, with a smile which quite irradiated his 
 thin, wrinkled face. 
 
 " Yes, sir, it is," was replied. " She helps 
 me all the time." 
 
 " It aint much I can do for you, my boy, 
 but you can count on that little just as long 
 as we both live. Now I guess we're all ready 
 for our supper, and I've took extra pains to 
 have something we should like. When folks 
 work hard they want something good to eat ; 
 and some way it tastes better when there's 
 more to sit down together." 
 
 " Yes, ma'am ; I have thought of that a 
 good many times since I came here. I al- 
 ways had enough to eat, and it was good 
 enough; but it was lonesome at the table
 
 WISHING. 69 
 
 with only grandsir and me. When I used 
 to see flocks of birds and herds of cattle 
 I thought that was the way- people ought to 
 live ; a good many together. I used to won- 
 der how it would seem to hear a good many 
 different men talk every day." 
 " What of the women, Harold ? " 
 " I didn't know so much about them, 
 'though I wished I had a mother, same as the 
 boys had I went to school with once. I was 
 always wishing about something." 
 
 " I expect that's pretty much the way with 
 us all. That's what keeps us doing. Now, 
 I'm thinking and wishing about my crops. 
 The season's late, but if we have rain and 
 sunshine in their season, farmers will get well 
 paid for their work. The best piece of corn 
 I ever raised was just a hundred days grow- 
 ing. Things are generally made up to folks 
 some way ; so it is best to keep right along 
 doing the best we can, and not worry. I've 
 been thinking to-day that we're getting along 
 so well, I can afford to hire some help for a
 
 70 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 day or two, and you take your time for 
 study." 
 
 " I would rather do the work myself. I 
 can work, and study afterwards. When I 
 have had my supper I shall be rested." 
 
 The supper was enjoyed and praised, quite 
 to the satisfaction of her who had prepared 
 it ; while the three talked of what interested 
 them all. 
 
 "Mr. Elliot and Mr. Gray are driving 
 business," said Mr. Peavey. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; they keep steady at work, and 
 that is what tells in the long run," was re- 
 plied. 
 
 " Exactly. These flighty folks that work 
 like a house-a-fire one day, and laze 'round 
 the next, don't amount to much. I guess 
 you hurry all the time." 
 
 " No, sir, I don't. But grandsir told me I 
 must learn to work fast, and so I did. He 
 said there was a difference between working 
 fast and hurrying. Mr. Gray works fast." 
 
 " I know he does. There aint a farmer 
 'round here but would be glad to hire him,
 
 WISHING. 71 
 
 if he'd only keep sober. Folk* say he's 
 coming 'round to be a first-rate man." 
 
 " Mr. Elliot says so, and he's going to have 
 a new house to live in." 
 
 " More building going on, then ; and Mr. 
 Elliot 's going to have an addition to his own 
 house." 
 
 te Yes, sir ; and he's going to do the work 
 himself, at odd jobs. He has made all his 
 plans." 
 
 "That's a good way; and he's a man to 
 bring his plans 'round, same as you'll be." 
 
 Two hours more of hard work, and Harold 
 again entered the house, where ho found his 
 friends impatient at his long absence. 
 
 w There is one piece of planting done," he 
 said cheerfully. " We shall have potatoes in 
 good season ; and there will be a market for 
 them among the workmen at the mill." 
 
 " You don't say you've finished up that 
 piece ! " exclaimed Mr. Peavey in a tone of 
 surprise. 
 
 " Yes, sir, it is done." 
 
 " And you are tired ? "
 
 72 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Not very. I have been more tired a good 
 many times, when my heart was tired too. I 
 shall be well rested by morning." 
 
 " You are a real blessing, my boy. God 
 never did anything else so good for us as 
 sending you here. I thank Him for it every 
 day of my life, and I know father does. To 
 think, too, you'd been getting ready to come 
 all the years we didn't know there was such a 
 boy in the world. Eead a psalm of thanks- 
 giving to-night, father. There won't any- 
 thing else seem quite so good as that." 
 
 JThe old man did not hesitate as he turned 
 the leaves of his Bible. He knew on which 
 yellow page to look for the psalm whose 
 every word is expressive of reverent, grateful 
 gladness. He had read it often before; 
 sometimes when the burden of sorrow pressed 
 heavily, and sometimes when borne aloft as 
 on angel's wings. 
 
 There was not, that night, a happier home 
 in Austenville ; not one where human hearts 
 drew nearer to the great throbbing heart of 
 the Infinite.
 
 WISHING. 73 
 
 Harold Dorsey forgot his fatigue. ' He 
 went to his little chamber ready for the hour 
 of study with which he closed each day. 
 Another hour in the morning was devoted to 
 his books, and then he hastened to his work, 
 full of bounding life and energy. He 
 waited a little for Mr. Elliot, who came with 
 Mr. Gray. Courteous greetings, never omit- 
 ted, were exchanged ; remarks made concern- 
 ing the weather, and business begun. 
 
 Long before noon a boy dressed no better 
 than Harold himself was seen crossing the 
 newly ploughed land. 
 
 M There's Mason Stuart, spite of his clothes," 
 said Mr. Gray. " He's about the queerest fel- 
 low I ever run against. I didn't know what 
 to make of him at first ; but I've come to the 
 conclusion that he says what he means, and 
 means what he says, every time. He's as dif- 
 ferent from his brother as brown bread is from 
 white bread ; but when it comes to hard work 
 brown bread stands by a man the longest." 
 
 " I am not sure that your comparison will 
 hold good," replied Mr. Elliot. "Mr. Stuart
 
 74 HAEOLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 hasas much pluck and perseverance as any 
 man needs." 
 
 " That may be. I think as well of him as 
 anybody does ; but there's something in that 
 boy yonder you don't find very often. I 
 should think my wife patched his jacket ; and 
 if our old shoemaker didn't make his boots 
 there's a couple of cobblers pretty much 
 alike." 
 
 :f You must have good eyesight to see all 
 that so far away." 
 
 " I have. I could always see further than 
 almost anybody else, except when I was look- 
 ing into a glass of liquor. Thank God and 
 Miss Austen I don't look there now." 
 
 " Good-morning, Mr. Elliot. Shall I be in 
 your way if I stay 'round here a while ? " 
 asked the boy whose appearance had been 
 thus criticized. 
 
 " I don't believe you will," was replied 
 pleasantly. " You don't look to me like a 
 fellow who would get in anybody's way." 
 
 " I don't intend to. I wanted to come over
 
 WISHING. 75 
 
 here and see what turned up. Good-morn- 
 ing, Mr. Gray." 
 
 " Good-morning," responded the man, as 
 he swung his whip over the oxen he was 
 driving. 
 
 Harold was collecting the stones which 
 were brought to the surface, and did not look 
 up from his work until Mason addressed him. 
 Again the cheerful good-morning was uttered, 
 and reply made. 
 
 " You find pretty dirty stones," was the 
 next remark. 
 
 "Yes, sir; they have been in the dirt so 
 long that it sticks to them." , 
 
 "Xow look here," exclaimed Mason, and 
 then waited until his injunction was obeyed. 
 " What do you say sir to me for ? It makes 
 me feel dreadfully mean and small ; and if 
 you haven't anything particular against me 
 I wish you wouldn't do it. I don't like it. 
 Should you, if you were in my place ? " 
 
 " I don't know ; " and, for the first time, 
 when these two were together, the elder 
 laughed in genuine boyish fashion.
 
 76 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " There, now, that does me good. I guess 
 you won't sir me any more. Anyway, I 
 will trust you until I find I am mistaken. 
 So let us shake hands and be friends." 
 
 " All right," responded Harold ; at the 
 same time doing his best to remove the soil 
 which clung to his right hand. 
 
 "Never mind that," said his companion. 
 " It is clean dirt, and I never was afraid of 
 that. I have had my hands soiled a great 
 many times. They are pretty white now, 
 but they will get over that before summer 
 is through. You have a handsome hand," 
 added the speaker, as he released it from 
 his grasp. " You have been told that before, 
 haven't you ? " 
 
 " No. I never was told much about my- 
 self anyway." 
 
 " Well, you are a first-rate looking fellow. 
 It won't do you any hurt to have me say it. 
 I guess you need a little praising. See ; I 
 brought a hammer along to crack stones 
 with. It is a small one, but I have a knack of 
 using it to good advantage, and some of these
 
 WISHING. 77 
 
 dirty stones open like a casket of gems. That 
 isn't original. I can't say things as well as 
 that, 'though I can almost think them. I 
 shall grow to them sometime. Now you 
 can go on with your work, if you want to. 
 I can entertain myself."
 
 78 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. 
 
 WELL, I am glad that was a dream," 
 exclaimed Mason Stuart, after rub- 
 bing his eyes and looking around the room, 
 to convince himself that he was really awake. 
 
 " What was a dream?" asked Miss Austen, 
 who at that moment stepped within the door. 
 
 "My experience," he replied, laughing. 
 "I have been living underground, and it is 
 a miserable way of living, I can assure you. 
 I wouldn't try it again for a good deal of 
 money. Have you been away?" 
 
 " I have been down to the mill. You have 
 slept a long time, and I thought you would 
 not miss me." 
 
 " I didn't ; only I wanted to know you were 
 here, as long as my head felt so badly." 
 
 "Is it better?"
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. 79 
 
 "Yes, ma'am, it is all right now, and I may 
 as well shake myself, to make sure if I am a 
 boy instead of a gopher. What time is it, 
 please ? " 
 
 " Tea will be ready in half an hour." 
 
 " I should think I had slept. If I had my 
 living to earn, I couldn't spend time that way. 
 I thought I would go down and see Edward 
 this afternoon, but it is too late for that now." 
 
 " Yes, it is. He has been up once to see 
 you, and when I was in the counting-room he 
 inquired for you." 
 
 " That was kind in him. I shouldn't have 
 expected it, and I don't believe he would have 
 thought of doing it a year ago, 'though he was 
 pretty good then. I am proud of him. I 
 must be able to give .a good account of my- 
 self when he comes to tea, and this evening I 
 hope he can tell me about the creatures that 
 live underground. Wondering about them 
 made me dream what I did ; and the sooner 
 that matter is settled the better. I wonder 
 if he understands the ways of the inhabitants 
 of solid ground."
 
 80 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "If you should ask him, he would probably 
 tell you that if the ground is solid it cannot 
 be inhabited." 
 
 " I know that, Margie. I mean to speak 
 of things just as they are, but I don't always 
 do it. I wish everybody would be more 
 particular to speak the truth. It would 
 make it a great deal easier to get along in 
 the world." 
 
 This want of truthfulness and accuracy is 
 almost universal. People who profess to 
 know whereof they affirm are really ignorant 
 of much they claim to understand. Thus 
 errors become popular, to the great disad- 
 vantage of individuals and communities. 
 
 o 
 
 It would be well if such pretenders should 
 meet with others like Mason Stuart ; quick to 
 detect inconsistencies, and anxious to prove 
 for himself the truth of what he heard. It 
 must be confessed, however, that this habit 
 had often troubled his brothers, when, in the 
 midst of some narration or discussion, they 
 ventured an assertion not sustained by un- 
 questionable evidence. Dick Fielding, per-
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. 81 
 
 haps, had been most often called to account 
 for his opinions ; and now really missed the 
 boy whose criticisms had proved a strong 
 incentive to study. 
 
 "I miss Mason more than I should have 
 thought possible," he wrote to his Cousin 
 Edward. "lam indebted to him for many 
 a question, introducing me to new subjects 
 of interest. He is always on the alert ; and 
 if you don't sometimes find yourself at your 
 wits' ends to know how to answer him, you 
 will be more fortunate than I have been. 
 
 ?f Thank you for your words of encourage- 
 ment ; and Aunt Margaret for the substantial 
 aid she proposes to give me. I think it is 
 now decided that I shall take a college course ; 
 and if I am equal to the occasion, my friends 
 shall hear a good report of me." 
 
 "Good for Dick," said Mason, with charac- 
 teristic earnestness, when this letter was read 
 aloud at the tea-table. r l am glad he is go- 
 ing to college, and I am glad Aunt Margaret 
 is going to send him. He will come out all 
 right. He is equal to the occasion, and one
 
 82 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 of us boys ought to have a college educa- 
 tion. 
 
 " You may conclude to go to college your- 
 self," remarked Edward. 
 
 " I don't believe I shall. I don't think I 
 should like it very well ; and, besides, I can't 
 afford the time. Think of taking four years 
 
 O / 
 
 out of my life, when I might be driving 'round 
 and learning a thousand things I want to 
 know. I can't afford it." 
 
 "It may be the best investment you can 
 make. Four years devoted to study are by 
 no means thrown away. You would acquire 
 habits of mental application which would ben- 
 efit you all your life." 
 
 " I don't doubt it ; but I can acquire the 
 habits outside of college, and you don't know 
 how many plans I have on hand." 
 
 " Do you know, yourself ? " 
 
 " Not exactly. I never counted them, and 
 I don't believe I could. But there is one 
 always ready and waiting, when I have time 
 for it. They pop up fast enough to keep me 
 busy."
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. 83 
 
 " I don't remember when you didn't have 
 enough for that. You kept yourself busy 
 when you were a little fellow ; and you kept 
 others busy, too, looking after you." 
 
 " I don't doubt it ; but for the rest of my 
 life I mean to do as much as to take care of 
 myself. I will help others too. I told 
 Robert I would help him and Harold begin 
 to study Latin, as soon as they get some 
 books. I know it as far as I have been, and 
 if there is anything we can't find out for our- 
 selves we can call on you." 
 
 "Yes, you can, and I shall be glad to help 
 you. But, at present, you must not do much 
 studying." 
 
 " I suppose you are right. My head begins 
 to feel tired again, 'though it don't seem as if 
 I had done much talking or thinking either. 
 
 ~ o 
 
 It is pretty hard for a fellow like me to be 
 brought up standing in this way, just when 
 he gets fairly started about anything. I 
 thought I should be as well as ever, when I 
 had been here two or three days." 
 
 "That is expecting too much, Mason. You
 
 84 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 have plenty of time before you, so you need 
 feel in no haste. I will leave Aunt Margaret 
 to prescribe for you now, and help you to 
 make the acquaintance of burrowing animals, 
 when you are better able to do your part." 
 
 There was an expression of sadness on the 
 face into Avhich Miss Austen looked, as Ed- 
 ward Stuart left the room ; while a heavy 
 sigh betrayed far more of disappointment 
 than Mason would have acknowledged in 
 words. 
 
 "I am not good for much," he said at 
 length, wearily. "I thought I had more 
 strength. I wonder if I am beginning to feel 
 discouraged. I don't know exactly how that 
 is ; for I never felt so in my life, unless I do 
 now. Anyway it is all right," he added in 
 a cheerful tone. "I am sure of that, and I 
 guess I shall feel better in the morning." 
 
 The first sound heard by him the next 
 morning, was the beating of the rain against 
 the window ; and as he was inclined to sleep 
 longer, this sound was by no means unwel- 
 come. When he was ready to go below
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. 85 
 
 stairs, he found his breakfast waiting for him 
 in the kitchen, and it all seemed so cosey and 
 home-like, he thought Mrs. Bumstead even 
 better than Aunt Comfort, who sometimes 
 found fault with him. 
 
 The day began pleasantly despite the rain, 
 and he Avas quite sure it would end pleas- 
 antly. Mr. Elliot had invited " the boys " to 
 spend this evening at his house. . Harold was 
 to be there, and possibly Norah Borine, so 
 the time was sure to be well occupied. Jes- 
 sie made the cottage as attractive as she could, 
 and was as cordial a hostess as any one need 
 desire. 
 
 Naturally and easily Mr. Elliot introduced 
 the subject he proposed to consider, and 
 spoke at some length of the wonderful provi- 
 sions of nature, which leaves no part of the 
 globe uninhabited. The waters teem with 
 life ; the very soil itself, while nourishing 
 and sustaining a countless variety of vegeta- 
 tion, affords a home for myriads of creatures 
 fitted to dwell where the sunlight never 
 comes. Reference was made to the tenants
 
 86 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 of the meadow, whose haunts had been in- 
 vaded, and this gave Mason an opportunity 
 to ask still further in regard to the habits of 
 moles. 
 
 His questions having been answered, he 
 was surprised to learn that there is a mole- 
 cricket, as well provided with implements 
 necessary for digging, as is the animal whose 
 name distinguishes it from others of its 
 family. 
 
 " A great many insects dig in the ground," 
 said Mr. Elliot, in reply to his expression of 
 astonishment. " Some you know dig pits, 
 where they conceal themselves, and wait for 
 other insects to fall into their clutches. 
 There are traps for the unwary in every 
 direction." 
 
 w Do you mean that every creature has an 
 enemy ? " 
 
 " Yes ; but God has given to every crea- 
 ture, from the lowest to the highest, the in- 
 stinct of self-preservation, which keeps it 
 always on the alert." 
 
 " And every one knows its right place."
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. 87 
 
 " Yes, and seldom wanders away from it. 
 But human beings can accommodate them- 
 selves to circumstances. They can make 
 fires to protect themselves from the cold, or 
 find a way to shade themselves from excessive 
 heat. If they have much to live on they can 
 enjoy it : if they have little, they can make 
 themselves comfortable with that." 
 
 " That is what Aunt Comfort calls having 
 faculty ; but she says there are a great many 
 people who can't do it, and them she calls 
 shiftless." 
 
 " She is right about that. It is fortunate 
 for the shiftless ones that the rule which holds 
 good among most of the lower animals finds 
 its exception with men." 
 
 "Please, what is the rule?" 
 
 " Work or die." 
 
 "That would be hard for some folks, 
 'though I think it would be just. People say 
 the lame and the lazy are always provided 
 for ; and the lame ought to be if they can't 
 work. As for the others, it might do them 
 good to go hungry a while."
 
 88 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "What do you think about it, Harold?" 
 asked Mr. Elliot. 
 
 K I am not the one to decide ; but grandsir 
 used to say if he had his way lazy people 
 would starve, unless they went to work and 
 provided for themselves. He said I must 
 learn to take care of myself, and make the 
 most of my opportunities. So I tried ; and 
 when I have been in the woods and fields I 
 have thought that every fly, and bee, and 
 little creature was trying too." 
 
 " They are trying ; doing the best they can, 
 as God has given them ability, and they teach 
 us a lesson we should do well to heed. But 
 Mason wishes to hear more about burrowing 
 animals. The evening will be gone before 
 his wishes are gratified unless we keep to the 
 subject." 
 
 " I never thought of so many animals living 
 in the ground, and the strangest part of it is, 
 there is something curious about them all," 
 remarked Mason, an hour later. "I don't 
 suppose I shall remember all I have heard, 
 but if I forget I can ask over again."
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. 89 
 
 "That is right," responded Mr. Elliot. 
 M Some of us will remember. Harold will 
 be sure to. I think he never forgets any- 
 thing." 
 
 "I try not to," was the modest reply of 
 him who was thus praised. " I have learned 
 a great deal this evening." 
 
 " Shall you study after you go home ? " 
 
 "Xo, sir; I shall study in the morning. 
 Daylight is better than candle-light, and 
 cheaper too." 
 
 " I am afraid you wanted to stay at home 
 this evening, but we wanted you to come 
 here," said Jessie. 
 
 " I Avanted to come here, and I am glad I 
 came," he answered quickly. 
 
 " I think we are all glad," added Mason, 
 rising to go, while Robert remained seated, 
 examining a piece of lichen. 
 
 "What is it?" asked Mr. Elliot, seeing an 
 unspoken request in his little daughter's face. 
 
 "We might have a meeting," she replied. 
 
 Mason resumed his seat. Mr. Elliot took 
 up the Bible which had belonged to his wife,
 
 90 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 and read a chapter, after which he began to 
 sing a familiar hymn. The door opened 
 softly, and a voice which all recognized 
 joined in the song of praise. The door 
 opened wide from within, and Edward Stuart 
 entered without interrupting the worship. 
 Keverently they knelt, while each heart re- 
 sponded to the words of prayer then offered. 
 
 It was not late when Harold Dorsey 
 stepped within the shadow of the wood, and 
 yet he walked rapidly, as if in haste to 
 reach his destination. He knew that tAvo 
 old people would be watching for his return, 
 and this thought quickened his steps. 
 
 " Harold ! " called Mrs. Peavey, just as he 
 was expecting to hear her voice. 
 
 "Yes, ma'am, I am here," was the cheerful 
 response. " We all had a good evening." 
 
 " I'm glad of it. Now go to bed and get 
 rested. You're a great comfort to us. Good- 
 night." 
 
 " Good-night." 
 
 Sleep was sweet to him, as was the love- 
 call of the bird which roused him from his
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WOULD. 91 
 
 slumbers in the gray dawning of another da}'. 
 It was yet too early for the most industrious 
 workers to be astir; but lessons must be 
 learned. Gradually the little attic room 
 brightened, while its occupant was too much 
 engrossed in study to heed the rays of sun- 
 light which fell athwart his book. 
 
 Something was gained that morning. 
 Where he had thought help indispensable, 
 he had found his own powers sufficient. 
 Breakfast was prepared for him, and he went 
 forth to his daily toil, strong and happy. His 
 heart was so full of gratitude that he wished 
 he could express his gladness as did the birds 
 who filled all the air with their melody. 
 
 "O, Mr. Elliot, what a beautiful world 
 this is ! " he exclaimed, as he met his friend. 
 "It is good to be allowed to live in it." 
 
 "It is a beautiful world, and it is good 
 to live in it, if we live to please God," was 
 replied. "Are you perfectly satisfied this 
 morning, Harold ? " 
 
 "No, sir ; I don't -think I am. If I was, I 
 shouldn't want anything more, and that is
 
 92 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 not the way I feel. I want a great deal, and 
 it is all before me somewhere. I can find it." 
 
 " Can you ? " asked Mr. Elliot earnestly. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; with God's help I can." 
 
 " Fine morning," now said Mr. Gray, who 
 was coming towards them. "I'm five min- 
 utes late ; but I was doing a job in the house, 
 and it took me longer than I calculated. I'll 
 make it up." 
 
 "You did that beforehand. You have 
 gained more than ten times five minutes." 
 
 "I don't know about that. I want to keep 
 square with the mill folks, but I'm so behind- 
 hand with what I ought to do for my family 
 it takes a great deal to make that up. Then 
 my walk is pretty long. I don't always 
 make allowance enough for that." 
 
 "It is too long. We all know that, and 
 there will be a house ready for you before 
 fall. Miss Austen has not forgotten you." 
 
 " She aint one of the forgetting kind. But 
 the house I live in now aint so bad. It looks 
 pretty comfortable since 'I've patched it up, 
 and set the glass in the windows. The chil-
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. 93 
 
 dren keep flowers in every corner and on 
 every shelf ; and the walls are all dotted over 
 with what looks as well as pictures to me. 
 We're getting to think a good deal of the old 
 house ; and another thing, Mr. Elliot, I could 
 buy it cheap, and have it for my own." 
 
 "That is your idea, is it, Gray? Not a 
 bad one either. A man likes to feel that he 
 owns his home, and if you wish to stay there 
 I presume Miss Austen will have no objec- 
 tion. Do your wife and children like the old 
 house as well as you do ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and they're always at something 
 to make it look better. If I do say it myself 
 it's as clean and comfortable a place as the 
 best. AVe don't expect anything grand, and 
 we don't care about it. It's good enough 
 for us." 
 
 " It is better than my cottage," said Mr. 
 Elliot. " There is plenty of room for even 
 a larger family than yours ; and if you keep 
 on as you have begun, you will be able to 
 pay for it and fix it up at the same time. 
 You can speak to Miss Austen about it."
 
 94 HAROLD DOESEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 The men were not idle while talking, and 
 whatever was Mr. Gray's indebtedness to his 
 employer, he more than repaid it before the 
 bell summoned him to dinner provided at 
 the mill boarding-house. He walked with 
 Mr. Elliot, and seeing Mason Stuart, re- 
 marked : 
 
 "That boy didn't care about making us 
 another visit to-day." 
 
 " I think strength has been wanting rather 
 than inclination. He would have been sure 
 to come unless prevented." 
 
 " Well, I'm always glad to see him. The 
 folks belonging to the great house are all of 
 a-piece : up and down, but as good as need 
 be. When the Thursday evening meetings 
 started, folks round here said there wa'n't 
 much to be expected from a woman and a 
 vouns man that thought it worth while to 
 
 / O 
 
 light up a room where they could talk about 
 ducks and geese. I heard a good deal said 
 after that fashion, and I helped it along ; but 
 I'm. ashamed enough of it now. There was 
 Muzzy, too, always at it. We were in the
 
 A BEAUTIFUL WORLD. 95 
 
 same boat, and he stays in, while I am fairly 
 out of it." 
 
 "A miserable, unseaworthy boat it is, 
 Gray. The wonder is that we were able to 
 get out of it alive. A kind providence was 
 all that saved us. God employs human 
 means, but it is His power which brings 
 salvation." 
 
 "I believe you, Mr. Elliot. I believe you 
 with all my heart. You never spoke a truer 
 word than that, and God be praised for all 
 his mercies." 
 
 "Amen!" was the reverent response, as 
 these men parted, while those who observed 
 them never dreamed what grateful, loving 
 hearts were throbbing in their bosoms.
 
 96 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 NORAH BORINE. 
 
 I AM afraid Mr. Gray will think I have 
 forgotten about helping Harold, to pay 
 for what he helped me when I was exploring 
 a mole's tunnel," remarked Mason Stuart at 
 the dinner-table. "I promised, but I couldn't 
 
 go over there to-day." 
 
 "There is no reason why you should," 
 
 replied his brother. " Harold will be all the 
 better for some variety of occupation." 
 
 " No matter for that, Ed. That is nothing 
 to the purpose. "When I promise, I mean 
 what I say, and I make my promises good. 
 I shall pick stones an hour some day. A 
 variety of occupation won't hurt me any more 
 than it will Harold." 
 
 " You can be your own judge in regard to
 
 NOR AH BORIXE. 97 
 
 that, unless Aunt Margaret chooses to assert 
 her authority." 
 
 " She has asserted it to-day. She told me 
 I must stay in the shade and think quietly, 
 and I have done the best I could to obey. It 
 was easy enough to stay in the right place ; 
 but my thoughts would come tumbling over 
 each other, in the same way they always do. 
 Robert thinks all the time, too, but he don't 
 get so stirred up as I do. Do you ever get 
 all stirred up, Ed?" 
 
 "Perhaps not in just the way that you 
 do, although I think I have a liberal sup- 
 ply of enthusiasm. If I am interested in 
 a subject it seems to me of very great im- 
 portance." 
 
 "I am glad to hear that, 'though your eyes 
 didn't snap quite enough when you said it. 
 The way it is with me, when I am interested 
 in any subject, I don't begin to feel satisfied 
 until I know all about it. If there is any- 
 thing for me to do I just go at it, as though 
 my life depended on what I am doing ; and 
 how do I know but it does ? "
 
 98 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "You don't know. Your life may some- 
 time depend upon your own exertions, but 
 it is not necessary that you should do the 
 digging for all burrowing animals." 
 
 "You are right there, Ed. It tires me 
 dreadfully, and I don't like it ; but my head 
 was so full of what I heard last evening I 
 couldn't forget it when I was asleep. Robert 
 said he slept all night without being troubled. 
 He takes things easier than I do, but I don't 
 know as I want to change my ways for his. 
 I shall sleep like a top when I get well, and 
 then I can start again on the old track." 
 
 Mason was not alone in comparing himself 
 with his new companion. Robert Bumstead 
 had already reached somewhat definite con- 
 clusions in regard to his own abilities as 
 measured by those of the boy who, although 
 his junior, was in many respects his superior. 
 He was steady and persistent, with a quick, 
 intelligent mind. Could he have expressed 
 the thought which in its vagueness half op- 
 pressed him, he would have said that, where 
 he must walk carefully to reach a desired
 
 NOR AH BORINE. 99 
 
 goal, another would bound forward with the 
 fleetness of a gazelle. 
 
 "Aunt Margie, Ed made me think of 
 father when I was coming home with him last 
 evening. I felt safe with him just as I used 
 to feel with father. I don't wonder the peo- 
 ple here look up to him, do you?" 
 
 "I never wondered at; it," said Miss Au- 
 sten, in reply to her young nephew's remark. 
 " I should not have chosen him as my business 
 partner if I had not considered him worthy 
 of confidence both in head and heart. Two 
 persons may be equally good and reliable, 
 while possessing many different characteris- 
 tics. I don't expect you will ever be like 
 Edward ; but I shall be sadly disappointed, 
 if you are not his equal in all sterling quali- 
 ties." 
 
 " I know what you mean Aunt Margaret. 
 You think I want Ed to be just the same 
 driving kind of a fellow that I am." 
 
 " Not exactly that, Mason, but I do think 
 you are a little inclined to underrate Ed- 
 ward and Clarke, because they are less de-
 
 100 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 monstrative than you are, and have regard 
 for some things you care nothing about." 
 
 "I see, and you are right about it, too, 
 Margie. They don't always start up as quick 
 as I want them to. They stop too long to 
 fix up ; or else they take time to consider 
 and calculate, when I pitch in head-first. 
 That is a little slangy, but it expresses 
 exactly what I want to say." 
 
 " I presume it does, so I will not find fault 
 with you. I don't expect you to talk like 
 Deacon Goddard, but while you are here I 
 think it will be proper for you to call your 
 brother, Edward, instead of Ed." 
 
 "I think so, too, Aunt Margaret. I ought 
 to have thought of it before, but I didn't. 
 I needed a lesson to-day, and I thank you 
 for giving me one. I shall remember it. 
 Strange, how things are linked together, and 
 how many different people that we never 
 heard of had an interest in our ten thousand 
 dollars. When we lost it, we gained more 
 than we lost. Other people gained too : all 
 who live around here, and all who work in
 
 NORAH BORISTE. 101 
 
 the mill ; and my brother Edward gained 
 immensely." 
 
 " I trust you are right in your conclusions, 
 Mason, and that we shall all have reason to 
 bless the day when we started up the old 
 mill. We have only well commenced our 
 work here yet, but I have faith that we shall 
 carry it through successfully. We have some 
 boys and girls here I hope to see grow up into 
 noble men and women." 
 
 " There are Jessie and Norah. I don't see 
 why Norah didn't go to Mr. Elliot's. I know 
 Jessie was disappointed." 
 
 Norah Borinc had declined Jessie Elliot's 
 invitation ; and yet, through all the evening 
 she was restless and unhappy ; dissatisfied 
 with herself and with others, because of 
 remaining at home when she wished to be 
 elsewhere. 
 
 " What's the matter with you ? " asked her 
 grandmother. " I'm thinking you're at your 
 book too much." 
 
 "No, I aint granny. I aint at my book 
 half enough. I guess that's what's the mat- 
 ter. I'm lonesome."
 
 102 HAROLD DORSEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Lonesome with your mother and grrfnny ! 
 That ever that should be ! Where's the 
 teacher ? " 
 " At home, and not likely to be wanting me." 
 
 " She always seems glad when you speak 
 to her. She smooths out the wrinkles in 
 your face and brightens you up." 
 
 " She does that for everybody, she is so 
 bright herself; but I won't trouble her." 
 
 "You'll be walking with her again when 
 the sun shines." 
 
 " I hope so. It's beautiful to go with her. 
 I wish 3 r ou and mother could see things as 
 she does." 
 
 "Well, honey, we'd be diiferent, to please 
 you, if we could, but it's not for the likes of 
 us. We'll help you. Don't you know you're 
 granny's darling, and she working hard so 
 you can learn with the best. Ah ! me, what 
 would be to us but for Mr. Stuart ! We'll 
 bless him every day of our lives. And the 
 brother ! He's a gintleman, young as he is ; 
 every inch a gintleman. He speaks to me as 
 though I was a ledcty, like the mistress her- 
 self."
 
 NOR AH BO1UXK. 103 
 
 "And isn't she the nicest lady, granny?" 
 
 " Sure I'm thinking there's not another like 
 her." 
 
 w And, granny, Jessie Elliot says it's her 
 religion makes her so. Perhaps we might 
 he a little bit like her, if we had the same 
 religion." 
 
 " That iver I should hear the likes of that 
 from my own flesh and blood ! You're not 
 turning heretic, be you? Sorra the day I 
 live to see that." 
 
 " What is a heretic, granny ? " 
 
 " One outside the true church ; that de- 
 spises the Houly Virgin and the prastes." 
 
 Mrs. liady checked herself before consign- 
 ing all heretics to the wretchedness she had 
 been taught to believe awaited them. She 
 remembered her employers, whose upright- 
 ness and kindness had won her affectionate 
 regards. 
 
 " But the Virgin was only a woman," said 
 Norah. " I asked Jessie, and she told me ; 
 and in the meeting, they all said God would 
 hear our prayers, no matter how bad we are.
 
 104 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 The priests are only men. Are they any 
 better than Mr. Stuart ? " 
 
 " Hush, child. You've no right to say such 
 things." 
 
 tf But, mother, she only asked a question," 
 rejoined Mrs. Borine, whose own heart had 
 been touched by some influence she could not 
 understand. 
 
 "I'm not to answer everything," was replied 
 sharply. " Mister Stuart 's that above me, 
 I'd not say a word to his hurt." 
 
 " His God is just the same as yours, 
 granny. There aint but one, is there?" 
 
 "You can answer that, mother." 
 
 " Yes ; there aint but one God for the 
 whole world. Now don't be troubling me. 
 The master and the mistress have a right to 
 their own religion, but Ave'll kape to ours." 
 
 "And never go to the meeting? Can't I 
 go, mother?" 
 
 "I don't know. We'll wait and see. Now 
 mind your book, there's a good girl. When 
 Miss Greenleaf has your dress done you shall 
 go somewhere."
 
 NOIIAII BOKIXE. 105 
 
 " The meeting is all the place there is to go 
 to, except the school and the woods. Mother, 
 will we ever have more rooms to live in 
 than just these three?" 
 
 I don't know, child. Why ? " 
 
 "Because other folks are going to have 
 bigger houses and nicer things. I hear the 
 children talk about it. Mr. Elliot has begun 
 to make his house bigger. I'm real glad 
 too ; because Jessie wants it, and she's so 
 good. I wish I was like her." 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding her cordial admira- 
 tion of this friend, she was unwilling to meet 
 Jessie Elliot, and it was not until recess that 
 the latter found an opportunity to speak to 
 her. 
 
 "Why didn't you come last evening?" was 
 then asked reproachfully. "Robert told a 
 real good story, and all but me knew some- 
 thing nice to say. I can't think why you 
 wouldn't come. We all wanted you." 
 
 "Well, Jessie Elliot, I wish I had gone," 
 answered Xorah. " I didn't have a bit of 
 irood time last evening. There was some-
 
 106 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 thing pulling at me every minute, just as 
 though I was where I didn't belong. I'm 
 different from anybody else, and I want you 
 to tell me what the matter is with me. You 
 know, and I shan't be mad at what you say. 
 Don't you mind a bit if I do get hot and let 
 my eyes snap. I shall get over it in a min- 
 ute. I've got a horrid temper. I heard some- 
 body say that about one of the neighbors, 
 and then I knew that was the matter with 
 me ; but that aint all. I do feel so awful 
 when things don't go to suit me. I want to 
 bite and scratch everybody that comes near 
 me. I suppose you'll think that's dreadful ; 
 and I shouldn't wonder if you never want 
 to speak to me again as long as you live. 
 I don't want to do so. But I heat up in a 
 minute, and then I forget how bad it is. 
 I'm a fool for telling you ; but you knew it 
 all before, didn't you? " 
 
 "I knew some," replied Jessie frankly." 
 But that don't make any difference with the 
 way I feel toward you. I love you ever so
 
 NORAII BOKINE. 107 
 
 much, and I don't want to tell you anything 
 to make you feel bad." 
 
 " Didn't I ever make you feel bad ? " 
 
 "Yes, but I don't think you meant to." 
 
 " Perhaps I didn't, but more likely I didn't 
 care." 
 
 K I guess one matter with you is, you don't 
 want folks to love you." 
 
 " Yes I do want to be loved too. I want 
 everybody to love me ; " and this passionate 
 exclamation ended with a half-stifled sob. 
 "Don't you suppose love is just as good to 
 me as it is to you ? " 
 
 " It don't seem as though it could be. You 
 act almost the same as if you put out your 
 hands to push everybody away." 
 
 " That's because because I can't tell 
 it. It hurts me, so I can't." 
 
 "Do tell," urged Jessie. "It don't hurt 
 you so when somebody else knows just how 
 you feel. I used to tell Miss Greenleaf my 
 troubles, and then I felt better." 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you. I'm Irish, and my 
 father was a wicked man, and he ran away,
 
 108 HAKOLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 and I guess he i^ dead. I hope he is too. 
 Mother don't talk about him ; but she tells 
 me sometimes that I look like him, and I 
 think that is dreadful. Besides that, we are 
 poor. Now you know." 
 
 " I know you look real handsome. Every- 
 body says so. It is real bad to have a father 
 that is a drunkard. I know, and I have been 
 a great deal poorer than you ever were. 
 I didn't have any mother or grandmother 
 either ; and when my father came to see me, 
 he was so bad it made me sorrier than when 
 I was all alone. Why he let me be real 
 hungry after my mother died ; and then he 
 carried me off where I didn't know anybody, 
 and left me with a woman that made me work 
 awful hard. I used to cry myself to sleep in 
 a little dark place every night. Oh dear ! I 
 don't like to tell it; and I wouldn't, only so 
 you can know you haven't been so poor as I 
 have. Father took me away from that place, 
 and then I went where I could go to school 
 to Miss Greenleaf. It was a great deal better 
 there, but I had to work hard. The woman
 
 NOR AH BORINE. 109 
 
 I lived with was poor, and she had to work 
 
 hard herself, but she didn't scold me much. 
 
 Sometimes she kissed me, and that made me 
 
 almost happy." 
 
 "Jessie Elliot, have you been telling me 
 
 the real truth?" 
 
 " Yes I have. I never tell lies." 
 
 " Then don't you hate your father ? " 
 
 " No, I love him. He is the best father in 
 
 the world. I always loved him and prayed 
 
 for him." 
 
 " What made him change ? " 
 
 " He stopped drinking anything bad, and 
 
 tried to do just right. Then he came here, 
 
 and everybody grows better here. Now he 
 
 is a Christian." 
 
 " What is it to be a Christian ? " 
 
 " It is to love God, and pray to Him, and 
 
 do as the Bible tells you. You can't do that 
 
 unless you read the Bible, so to know what is 
 
 in it." 
 
 "I'm afraid I shan't ever be a Christian. 
 
 If my father is alive anywhere, and he should 
 
 get to be a Christian, would he be good, like 
 
 your father ? "
 
 110 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "He would be good, but I don't suppose he 
 would be like my father, any more than you 
 can be like me." 
 
 " You have told me one thing that makes 
 me different ; now tell me another." 
 
 " I will if you want me to. You act cross, 
 just as though you almost hated us and didn't 
 want us to come near you. You know it was 
 ever so long before you liked Miss Austen." 
 
 " Xo it wasn't. I liked her real quick, but 
 I thought she wouldn't want such a poor child 
 as I arn 'round her, unless it was because 
 she pitied me ; and I won't be pitied. Why, 
 I could just kneel down to Miss Austen and 
 Miss Greenleaf, I love them so." 
 
 " Then why don't you act out your love ? " 
 
 M I should be afraid they wouldn't like it." 
 
 " Why don't you treat the boys better? It 
 is too bad of you, Norah, when they are so 
 good, and want to help you. They like you 
 too/' 
 
 "No, they don't. They can't. I suppose 
 they pity me. What should they like me 
 for? I'd help them, if I could, but I don't
 
 NOR AH BOKINE. Ill 
 
 want them to help me. They are all Chris- 
 tians, aint they? " 
 
 " I hope so, and of course they want to be 
 good and kind to everybody. What do you 
 suppose makes me like you ? " 
 
 " I don't know, and any way you can't like 
 me as well as I do you. When I love any- 
 body, I I ." Here words failed, and 
 tears testified to the intensity of Xorah's 
 emotion. "I aint crying for anything, only 
 because I can't help it," she said at length, 
 and waiting a moment, she asked : " Have 
 you told me all the things that make me dif- 
 ferent from other girls ? " 
 
 " No, I haven't," answered Jessie decid- 
 edly. " I wouldn't either, if you didn't feel 
 so bad ; because I don't know but it will 
 make you too proud. You are handsomer 
 and smarter than any other girl I know of. 
 You can do things quicker and nicer, and 
 you always understand in a minute." 
 
 " I don't see how that can be true. When 
 I look in the iHass I ahvavs think I'm so
 
 112 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 homely there can't anybody like me. Why, 
 I'm real black beside you." 
 
 : ' Your skin is dark, but it is just as clear 
 and smooth as can be. Your hair and your 
 eyes are black, just as they ought to be to go 
 with your face. They are handsome, too ; 
 only when you get mad your eyes are almost 
 ugly." 
 
 The flash came, liut with a great effort 
 Norah restrained herself, asking with an 
 earnestness really pathetic, 
 
 " Does anybody besides you think so ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have heard them talk about it, and 
 I know," was replied. 
 
 " It don't seem as though it could be so. 
 Where we lived, before we came here, the 
 boys made fun of me because I'm so black." 
 
 " Is that why you don't like boys ? " 
 
 " Yes. Now I've told you just what was 
 in my heart. It kept growing larger and 
 larger, like something choking me all the 
 time, till it seemed as though I should die 
 
 * c/ 
 
 if I didn't tell."
 
 NOR AH BORINE. 113 
 
 " Now I guess it will grow smaller. You 
 won't care any more, will you? " 
 
 " I'll try not to ; but Avhen I get mad I 
 shall forget." 
 
 " Don't get mad." 
 
 "How shall I help it? It comes over me 
 before I have time to think." 
 
 " You must ask God to keep you from it. 
 Kneel down in some place all alone, and ask 
 God to make you good all through, and make 
 you want to do just right. Then you must 
 try to do right, and not get discouraged." 
 
 "Will God hear me?" 
 
 "Just as sure as you live He will. The 
 Bible is full of promises about that. You 
 ask Miss Greenleaf. She can tell you better 
 than I can." 
 
 " I shan't do it, Jessie Elliot, and if you 
 tell her a word I've said I'll never speak to 
 you again as long as I live. Oh dear ! How 
 could I forget so soon ! I can't do right." 
 
 " You haven't asked God to help you yet." 
 
 " I can't. I don't know how. What shall 
 I say?"
 
 114 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Tell Him just what you want." 
 
 " I want everything good." 
 
 "But you can't think of everything at once. 
 What do you want most ? " 
 
 " Not to get so wicked with my temper." 
 
 " Then that is the first thing to pray for. 
 Will you?" 
 
 "Yes, I will, 'though I'm afraid it won't do 
 any good."
 
 THE FIRST PRAYER. 115 
 
 CHAPTER Til. 
 
 THE FIRST PRAYER. 
 
 WHEN Norah Borine entered her home 
 she closed and locked the door, and 
 then went to the small chamber she occupied 
 with her mother. There was a crucifix upon 
 a stand in the most remote corner. From a 
 nail directly over it depended a rosary of 
 beads, so often counted they had become 
 worn and discolored. This corner was the 
 oratory in which Mrs. Borine performed her 
 devotions, but not here did Norah kneel. 
 
 She turned away from the crucifix, and 
 remained fixed and motionless, as though 
 overwhelmed with the thought of what she 
 proposed to do. Her hands were clasped, 
 and her eyes turned reverently upward. At 
 length her lips parted, and in a low but audi- 
 ble voice she confessed her many faults, and
 
 116 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 asked for help to correct them. She knew 
 something of confession, so that here she was 
 not at fault. Words came apace. It was as 
 if a fountain, long repressed, had swept away 
 all barriers, pouring forth its waters with a 
 strong, steady flow. There was neither hesi- 
 tation nor reserve. The suppliant craved the 
 very help she asked. 
 
 The shouting of children in the street 
 reminded her there was work to be done ; 
 and going below stairs, she threw wide 
 open door and windows, as if inviting com- 
 pany. 
 
 Miss Greenleaf came in, bringing the 
 nearly completed dress Norah hoped to wear 
 to the Sunday evening meetings, and she was 
 so happy she could not avoid expressing this 
 hope. 
 
 " I am sure you would like the singing, 
 and your voice would be a great addition," 
 was replied. 
 
 "Would it?" asked Norah, eagerly, still 
 doubting. " I know you never say only the
 
 THE FIRST PRAYER. 117 
 
 truth ; but when anybody praises me it seems 
 as though they couldn't mean it." 
 
 "I mean all I say to you, Norah ; " and a 
 kiss sealed this assurance, giving the child a 
 new sense of companionship. 
 
 When left alone she no longer felt herself 
 the only occupant of the room. While her 
 hands were employed, her heart was also do- 
 ing work, the result of which would appear 
 in the future. She went to the pump for 
 water, and there met Mason Stuart, gentle- 
 manly and polite as usual, asking the privi- 
 lege of helping her. 
 
 " It is kind in you to be willing to do it ; 
 but you have been sick, and I don't think 
 you ought to," she replied. " I am able to 
 carry the water myself. This is a light pail 
 mother got on purpose for me." 
 
 " I am strong enough to carry such a pail 
 as that full of water, and I want to do it," 
 said Mason. 
 
 ' Then you may ; " and there was a smile 
 upon Norah's face, as she added : " I don't
 
 118 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 like to have anybody help me very well, but 
 it's the way here." 
 
 " It is a good way too. We all help each 
 other at ho*me, and we all like it. "We don't 
 keep debt and credit, either ; but I think we 
 come out pretty near even." 
 
 " But we shan't come out even. I can't do 
 anything for anybody. I wish I could, so to 
 make up for being cross and hateful. I'm 
 sorry I've done so." 
 
 " I wouldn't feel very sorry," responded 
 Mason kindly. " Perhaps somebody else 
 was as much to blame as you were. I am so 
 used to girls I don't stop to think but what 
 they are all my sisters or cousins. If I have 
 done anything wrong, I hope you will excuse 
 me." 
 
 " Do you mean that, or are you making 
 fun of me? '' asked the young girl. 
 
 "I mean it," was the quick reply. "I never 
 make fun of anybody that way. It is a mean 
 thing to do, and I know better. I don't want 
 to do it either."
 
 THE FIKST PRAYER. 1 1 !> 
 
 " I'm glad you don't, but I've seen a good 
 many boys that did." 
 
 " So have I. I have seen girls, too, and 
 men and women, that were always ridiculing 
 somebody. Now may I come in ? " asked 
 Mason as they reached Norah's home, he 
 carrying the pail of water. 
 
 " It's a poor place for a boy like you to 
 come to, but you may come in," she replied. 
 
 " I have been in a great deal poorer places. 
 It is real clean, and if Aunt Comfort could 
 see it she would say there are marks of 
 good housekeeping here." 
 
 "Who is Aunt Comfort?" 
 
 To answer this question required consider- 
 able time ; and when a description had been 
 given of the notable woman, it was closed 
 with a hearty endorsement of her wisdom. 
 
 " And you like her, for all she works in 
 the kitchen." 
 
 " Of course I do. I guess that is why I 
 like her. The kitchen is the pleasantest 
 room in our house."
 
 120 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "We don't have anything but a kitchen 
 and some bedrooms. Isn't that so little? " 
 
 " It is a great deal better than not to have 
 anything but a parlor and some bedrooms. 
 People can get along without a parlor, but 
 they can't do without a kitchen. Rufus 
 Brown's mother don't have any parlor, but 
 I go there more than I go anywhere else. 
 He is my best boy friend." 
 
 " And he is poor and you are rich." 
 
 " I am not a bit rich. There is some 
 money in the family, but I am going to work 
 for my living. I work pretty hard now, 
 sometimes, when I am well. I like to. 
 Don't you ? " 
 
 " I would rather go into the woods, and 
 find flowers and everything pretty." 
 
 " So would I part of the time. But the 
 good of working is that you are doing some- 
 thing to help the world along. I would 
 rather crack stones than go into the woods. 
 Perhaps you don't know how pretty stones 
 are inside?" 
 
 " No, I don't. I never saw the inside of
 
 THE FIRST PRAYER. 121 
 
 any stones. I never thought about anything 
 nice till since I came here. I never picked a 
 bit of moss or lichen, or went after flowers, 
 in all my life ; only sometimes I got dande- 
 lions for greens. I thought poor folks 
 couldn't do anything but work." 
 
 ;t You were mistaken in thinking so. 
 Some of the smartest men in the world 
 were dreadfully poor boys, who had to do 
 their studying nights, after working hard 
 all da} r . That is the way they learned." 
 " But they were boys. Girls can't do so." 
 " Oh yes they can ; only I don't think girls 
 ought to work so hard, 'though some do. 
 Indian women do all the hard work, while 
 the men laze 'round ; but at our house we 
 calculate to have the hard jobs come on the 
 boys, where they belong. My sisters do 
 things for me I can't do for myself, and I 
 do for them what they can't do. When it 
 comes to head work, a girl's head is as good 
 as a boy's. That is what Aunt Margaret 
 says, and if her head isn't as good as any 
 man's, I should like to know the reason."
 
 122 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 As it was time for Xorah to prepare sup- 
 per, Mason politely bade her good-evening. 
 No sooner had he gone than she studied her 
 face in the mirror, still seeing the same dark 
 complexion and coal-black hair which had 
 seemed to set her apart from others ; turning 
 away with a sigh of regret for the fair skin 
 and golden hair she so much coveted. As 
 yet, there was no danger that pride would 
 render her vain. 
 
 But alas for her newly-formed resolutions. 
 The next morning she was angry with her- 
 self for having believed what had been said 
 to her, and formed her plans for regaining 
 what she had lost. 
 
 Not so Harold Dorsey, who was thankful 
 for friends and friendly appreciation. As 
 he stood with Mr. Peavey, at the door of 
 the cottage, glancing at mountain, hill, and 
 rock, irradiated by the sunlight, he felt 
 within himself the quickening influence of 
 genial surroundings. The transformation 
 in the outer world was a type of his own 
 experience.
 
 THE FIRST PRAYER. 123 
 
 w I never saw such a sudden change before 
 in all my life," said the old man. 
 
 " A week ago there wa'n't a leaf to be seen 
 on the trees as big as a mouse's ear, and now 
 they're pretty near full grown. It's been a 
 backward spring ; but if things keep on as 
 they've begun, the crops won't be behind next 
 August. The herbs are growing fast in the 
 woods, and I saw some with blossoms yester- 
 day. I didn't know but 'twould be too much 
 for me to take such a long walk, but it did 
 me good. I'm stronger than I've been for 
 five years, and next fall I expect the old 
 farm will look as though it had renewed its 
 age. Seems to me I never saw the birds so 
 busy as they be this spring. They're whis- 
 tling and singing all the time ; making music 
 such as there can't anybody else make." 
 
 " I used to try to whistle like the birds, 
 when I was alone in the woods, where I 
 knew there wouldn't anybody hear me. I 
 did it for company. I was so lonesome." 
 
 :f You aint so lonesome now, be you ? " 
 
 " No, sir. I have something good to think
 
 124 HAROLD DORSEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 about, and then there is always somebody to 
 talk with me when I want to talk. I am 
 glad I came here last fall." 
 
 Presently two old people were standing 
 together in the doorway looking after a 
 young man whose tall, athletic figure was 
 in itself a tower of strength. Straight on- 
 ward he went ; swinging his arms not un- 
 gracefully, and vaulting lightly over the 
 fences in his path. 
 
 He was beginning to know something of 
 his own capabilities, and to dream of the 
 possibilities of his future. He was no longer 
 isolated from the world. Even the birds had 
 for him a message of gladness. Every flower 
 looked up to him as with an encouraging 
 smile. It was such a blessed thing to feel 
 that the Almighty Father was watching over 
 him with loving care ; how could he despond 
 when all nature was rejoicing? 
 
 " Fanning promises to be profitable this 
 season," remarked Mr. Elliot, when they met 
 for their day's labor.
 
 THE FIRST PRAYER. 125 
 
 "Yes, sir; and it is pleasant work too," 
 responded Harold. 
 
 "Would you choose it for your life work?" 
 
 " I don't think I would, but I don't know 
 well enough to be quite sure," was the delib- 
 erate reply to this question. " I have thought 
 about it, and thought I would just go on and 
 do the best I can." 
 
 A grand decision. How much of trouble 
 and anxiety would be saved if only all would 
 just go on and do the best they can ! How 
 much of good, remunerative labor is lost to 
 the world by p idle waiting ; while faculties 
 lose half their power by disuse, and spirits 
 faint for very weariness ! 
 
 Years before, when Alice Greenleaf first 
 became conscious of a nature refusing to be 
 satisfied with the daily routine sufficing for 
 those around her, her spirit rebelled against 
 the homely toil necessity forced upon her. 
 She could not close her eyes, and so refuse 
 to see this toil ; neither could she put it aside. 
 She must accept it ; and after a short strug- 
 gle she did this cheerfully, finding consola-
 
 126 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 tion in the thought that her mind was unfet- 
 tered. 
 
 She studied early and late. Her eagerness 
 to learn fostered habits of close observation ; 
 so that she was regarded as authority upon 
 various subjects but little understood by her 
 neighbors. She saw what they did not see, 
 and heard what they did not hear. Life 
 grew to be very dear to her ; and as her 
 intellect and tastes were developed, she was 
 able, as we have seen, to create and beautify 
 a home, which was in truth a place of rest 
 and enjoyment. 
 
 Here, in Austenville, she had much of 
 companionship. Her pupils loved her, and 
 their parents respected her ; not only because 
 of her own intrinsic worth, but because of the 
 attention she received from Miss Austen. 
 Mr. Stuart, too, treated her with great 
 deference, so that she was made to feel 
 herself a valued member of society. The 
 fact that she had taken part in the Sabbath 
 evening meetings also added to her popu- 
 larity. Mason Stuart was sure she could
 
 THE FIRST PRAYER. 127 
 
 teach him many things ho needed to learn, 
 but this was not his time for study. 
 
 " There goes your brother, in his good 
 clothes," said Mr. Bumstead, one morning, 
 later in the summer, when he had been con- 
 sulting Mr. Stuart on business. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and he values those clothes 
 highly," was replied. " He can go where 
 he pleases now. When he was a little fel- 
 low he used to tease Aunt Comfort to give 
 him the very oldest clothes he had, so there 
 would be no occasion for finding fault with 
 him if they were torn or soiled. He looks 
 rough this morning, but it would spoil his 
 pleasure if he he was obliged to dress dif- 
 ferently." 
 
 " He is well enough, Mr. Stuart. Such as 
 he is don't need fine clothes. He is a gentle- 
 man inside. That is what our people all say, 
 and he is bringing the boys to think of their 
 duty to God. It almost broke me down 
 the first time he talked in the Sunday meet- 
 ings ; and he a boy as full of fun as the 
 worst."
 
 128 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Why not, Mr. Bumstead ! I should be 
 sorry to have Mason very much different 
 from what he is now, Avhen he is in good 
 health. His life is full, and he has a keen 
 appreciation of fun ; but if he is consistent, 
 that will only make him a better Christian. 
 We need a religion that manifests itself in 
 every-day life." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and I am glad that you and the 
 mistress have it. I'll not stand in the way 
 of the rest. My Robert has changed, 
 'though you would not see it much unless 
 you come close to him. His mother knows 
 it most. Folks say you preach the Bible 
 here seven days in a week, and I am think- 
 ing it is better than the minister preaches, 
 'though I'll not speak against him. I'd not 
 believed you'd get me to church regular as a 
 parson ; but Miles Bumstead has learned a 
 good many things since he came here. - We 
 have been prospered, Mr. Stuart." 
 
 tf Yes, sir, thanks to your management." 
 " Not all mine. There's the mistress, with 
 a head as clear as the best, and learning the
 
 THE FIRST PRAYER. 129 
 
 trade like a man, only she don't put her 
 hands to the work. I mind the Saturday 
 night when she put me one side, like the 
 lady she is, and said there could be no work 
 on Sunday. I said to myself: 'Miles Bum- 
 stead, have you lived so long to be told by a 
 woman what you must do ? ' but it was only 
 for a minute. If I'd had my way we'd gone 
 all wrong. You were both right, and I was 
 mistaken in my way. You can't be expect- 
 ing me to come 'round all of a sudden ; but 
 I hope I'll be better sometime." 
 
 It was not often that Mr. Bumstead spoke 
 thus freely of his feelings, although his habits 
 were much changed. He was always in his 
 place in church ; and also in the hall, which 
 scarcely sufficed to accommodate those who 
 attended the evening meetings. He recited 
 a passage of Scripture ; sometimes more than 
 one, but he had never yet declared himself 
 on the Lord's side. NOAV, with an apology 
 for having detained Mr. Stuart so long, he 
 turned towards the mill.
 
 130 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 w 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MISS SPERRY. 
 
 E had such a nice breakfast this morn- 
 ing," said Jessie Elliot to her friend 
 Norah, as they walked to school together. 
 " Mason Stuart brought us some fish. He 
 and Harold and Robert went fishing yester- 
 day, and they got a splendid lot of fish." 
 
 " I know they did. Mason brought us 
 some, and I wanted to ask Miss Greenleaf 
 to eat breakfast with us ; but I was afraid 
 to," was replied. 
 
 " Why, Norah, I shouldn't think you 
 Avould be a bit afraid. Your room is as 
 clean as can be, and it is a great deal larger 
 than the one she used to live in. I am 
 going to ask her to take tea with me some- 
 tune." 
 
 "I wish I could. Do you suppose she
 
 MISS SPERRY. 131 
 
 would come of a Sunday, when granny and 
 mother are at home ? " 
 
 "I am sure she would. She wouldn't 
 think it was wicked visiting. "Why shouldn't 
 she come ? " 
 
 " I don't know, only " 
 
 " Norah Borine, you are the proudest girl 
 I ever saw." 
 
 " I haven't a single thing to be proud of, 
 but Miss Greenleaf must be used to nicer 
 things than we have." 
 
 " She is used to nice clean things. Her 
 tablecloth was just as white as could be ; 
 but it was real coarse, and I have seen it 
 when it was mended. It is being clean that 
 makes a house look nice." 
 
 "Perhaps it is, but we have got a table- 
 cloth that is fine and white, and not a patch 
 on it. I am so glad of that, and I'll ask 
 mother and granny." 
 
 When Norah made her request Mrs. Rady 
 was more astonished than ever before. In- 
 deed, she almost wondered if she was the 
 same woman whose only ambition had been
 
 132 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 to provide shelter, food, and clothing for 
 herself and her children. She was prosper- 
 ing pecuniarily. She could afford to enter- 
 tain company. 
 
 " I don't think the teacher '11 be wanting to 
 come, but you can ask her," she replied, at 
 length, to Norah's importunities, and the 
 child hastened to avail herself of the privi- 
 lege thus granted. 
 
 " Miss Greenleaf will come. She told me 
 she should be very glad to come, and she 
 never tells what isn't true. She said she 
 would come just as soon as she gets home 
 from church." 
 
 This was Norah's triumphant message, 
 when she reported to her grandmother the 
 acceptance of her invitation, adding : 
 
 "Now we shall be like other folks. 
 Everybody else has company." 
 
 " We've had company before now." 
 
 " Yes, granny ; but this will be different." 
 
 w You're growing away from the old 
 woman, honey, but I'm not sorry, for your 
 own sake. You're the light of my eyes,
 
 MISS SPERRY. 133 
 
 and your mother's too. You'll not spend 
 your days winding the shuttle." 
 
 " I hope not, granny. I want to do 
 something better." 
 
 " And you shall, me darling, if there's 
 strength left in me old bones to work for 
 
 o 
 
 you." 
 
 "O granny, how good you are to me, and 
 how much I have to make me happy ! It 
 seems as though I never should feel bad 
 again." 
 
 " Don't, honey. It hurts me all through 
 when you do, and it hurts your mother too. 
 Sure, you must think we know you're dif- 
 ferent from us, but we love you." 
 
 The Sabbath dawned bright and beauti- 
 ful, bringing a sense of restful quiet to the 
 dwellers in Austen ville. A larger number 
 than usual attended church ; some walking, 
 and some riding. The preacher had learned 
 to regard the mill people as an important 
 part of his congregation ; while those who 
 had long struggled to resist the growing
 
 134 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 spirit of worldliness and indifference to holy 
 things took heart again. 
 
 Norah watched impatiently for the return 
 of Miss Greenleaf, who came at last, her 
 face wearing the same pleasant smile which 
 had made many forget its plainness. The 
 supper was all Mrs. llady, herself, could 
 desire. The guest knew how to adapt her 
 conversation to those who entertained her, 
 and appreciating their kindness, expressed 
 her appreciation heartily. 
 
 For the time, Norah Borine was perfectly 
 happy. She listened with delight to the 
 words of her teacher. She then, for the 
 first time perhaps, recognized the truth that 
 there may be a diversity of gifts, without 
 the possessor of either rightfully claiming 
 superiority ; so that her mother and grand- 
 mother appeared to her in a new light. 
 
 " It is nearly time for our evening meet- 
 ing," at length said Miss Greenleaf after 
 glancing at her watch. 
 
 "And must you go?" asked Mrs. Rady. 
 
 " I am never willing to remain away,"
 
 MISS SPERRY. 135 
 
 was replied courteously. " Our Sunday 
 evening meetings help me through all the 
 week." 
 
 " That's what I hear others say, and sure 
 I'm glad for all the comfort anybody gets." 
 
 " Mother, do let me go to-night," now 
 said Norah pleadingly. " You are willing, 
 aint you, granny ? " 
 
 "It will be as your mother says, 'though 
 I'm thinking you might go for once. Miss 
 Greenleaf, you know we're Catholics." 
 
 " It does not matter by what name we are 
 (jailed, if we only love God supremely, and 
 our neighbor as ourselves." 
 
 "Is that your religion?" 
 
 "It is the religion I profess." 
 
 " I'm thinking you live up to it, and the 
 master and mistress too." 
 
 " I am sure we intend to live up to it. 
 Thank you for inviting me here to-day ; 
 and now, when Xorah is ready, we will go." 
 
 There was no need of waiting. The child 
 was the more impatient of the two ; and
 
 136 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 when they entered the hall she took a seat 
 by Jessie, who whispered : 
 
 " You can look over in my hymn-book. 
 I am ever so glad you came." 
 
 " I am gladder than you are," was replied ; 
 and this sufficed for their greetings. 
 
 There had never been such a meeting in 
 that hall ; never such prayers and such sing- 
 ing. There were no long pauses to dis- 
 hearten and embarrass. Even Norah re- 
 peated a passage of Scripture she had 
 learned in school during the week. She 
 would certainly go again, and when she 
 reported to her mother and grandmother 
 they offered no objection. 
 
 " It was all so beautiful, and everybody 
 seemed happy, except the ones who said 
 they had been doing wrong all their lives, 
 and they were afraid God wouldn't forgive 
 them. Then Mr. Elliot got up and told 
 them God would forgive them if they asked 
 him ; so they needn't feel bad any more, 
 if they would only try and do the best they 
 could the rest of the time. It seemed as
 
 MISS SPEKIIY. 137 
 
 though he meant me with the rest. Any 
 way, I am going to try and do as right as 
 I can ; and I wish, mother, you would buy 
 me a Testament for my own, so I needn't 
 always have to look over with Jessie to read 
 my verse. Mr. Gatchell has got some real 
 pretty Testaments. I saw them there the 
 other day, and I heard him tell somebody 
 he had sold lots of them." 
 
 "Would you mind, mother ?" asked Mrs. 
 Borine. 
 
 " No ; let the child have one. We're not 
 that poor that she must borrow of a neigh- 
 bor," answered Mrs. Rady. 
 
 So Mr. Gatchell sold another Testament 
 the next day, wondering, as he did so, who 
 would not buy. Testaments seemed to have 
 taken the place of liquors, and the store was 
 fast becoming popular throughout the town. 
 People who came to see how the mill neigh- 
 borhood had changed were almost sure to 
 visit Gatchcll's. 
 
 " Is this the store, same as it used to be?" 
 asked a poor woman who had walked three
 
 138 HAKOLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 miles to K do some trading and look 'round 
 a little." 
 
 " It's the same house, and I'm mostly the 
 same man," replied the storekeeper. " Sit 
 down and rest you. You must be tired." 
 
 " I am. I've been tired before when I 
 came here, but you didn't ask me to sit 
 down. Who is that boy going by?" 
 
 "That's Mason Stuart, Miss Austen's 
 nephew, and the widest-awake boy there is 
 in ten states. Good, too, as the best." 
 
 " Is he the pious one that talks in meet- 
 ing?" 
 
 " He talks in meeting, and he's a Chris- 
 tian ; one of the golden-rule sort ; ready to 
 lend a helping hand to anybody that 
 needs it." 
 
 " I wish some of that sort would come 
 our way. There aint no very near neigh- 
 bors, and it seems sometimes as though I 
 was clear out of the world. I've been 
 wanting to come over here ever since the 
 snow went off; but I've had work to do, 
 and I must improve my time. Then I
 
 MISS SPERRY. 139 
 
 thought I'd try and bring a dozen puir of 
 socks when I earnc ; so I waited to finish 
 them up. They're nice ones, Mr. Gatchell, 
 made of good wool, and knit as well as I 
 know how to knit them." 
 
 This last remark was made as the socks 
 were diplayed and examined. 
 
 " They're good enough for anybody, Miss 
 Sperry, and they're just what Miss Austen 
 will want for Mr. Stuart. She was looking- 
 for some here last winter, and she'll buy 
 them just as soon as if he wanted to wear 
 them now. I know she'll be glad to take 
 half of them, and likely she'll pay you more 
 than I can afford to. I shouldn't think 
 strange either if } r ou found a market for the 
 whole. She'll pay money, too, and then 
 you'll have it in your hand to do what 
 you're a mind to with. Mr. Bumstcad is 
 getting particular about what he wears ; 
 and then there is Mr. Elliot, who knows 
 the difference between coarse and fine as 
 well as Mr. Stuart himself. You better
 
 140 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 go over to the great house when you get 
 rested." 
 
 "Don't you want the socks, Mr. Gatchell?" 
 
 " Yes, Miss Sperry, I do. I'm ready to 
 take every pair of them, but I think you 
 could do better with Miss Austen. I'm 
 advising you for your own good. Go over 
 there and sell your socks for money, and I'll 
 sell you what you want to buy, as cheap as I 
 can any way afford to, and send the things 
 over to your house sometime this week. 
 There'll be a chance, or if there aint I'll 
 make one." 
 
 The poor woman looked the surprise she 
 felt, and her companion, interpreting the 
 look, made reply : 
 
 " It's pretty hard for you to believe 
 that I'm looking out for your interest in- 
 stead of my own." 
 
 " Well, Mr. Gatchell, I aint going to say 
 but what you've guessed right about that. 
 Storekeepers generally want the best end 
 of a bargain." 
 
 " They do ; and perhaps I've been as
 
 MISS SPERRY. 141 
 
 hard as any of them, but I calculate now 
 to trade fair. If I didn't, I couldn't do 
 much in this neighborhood. I'll take your 
 socks and allow you every cent I can get 
 for them, but you better carry them to 
 market yourself." 
 
 " I aint used to grand folks, Mr. Gatchell. 
 I'd 'most as lief sell them under price, 
 poor as I am, as to go over there. I need 
 all I can get, everybody knows. Cousin 
 Esther's at work; but I don't want to de- 
 pend on her, if I did give her a home when 
 she hadn't anywhere to go." 
 
 " You did well for her, and she's a good 
 girl. She had better come over here and 
 work in the mill. She can earn more than 
 she can doing anything else, except teaching 
 school." 
 
 " That's what she wants to do, but she 
 haint got learning enough. She haint had 
 much chance for schooling. Her father 
 didn't think there was any need of her 
 going to school, and when she lived with 
 me there wasn't much for her to go to.
 
 142 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 Now I'll take your advice and go to the 
 great house, 'though my mind misgives 
 me that it's no place for such as I am." 
 
 Slowly and reluctantly the woman went 
 on her way ; so little accustomed to the 
 sight of strangers, and having so little con- 
 fidence in herself, that it cost her a painful 
 effort even to decide to call upon Miss 
 Austen. Fortunately she was expected ; 
 Mr. Gatchell having had an opportunity 
 to tell Mason Stuart in regard to her. 
 
 " I just sent your Aunt Margaret a visi- 
 tor," said the storekeeper, as he beckoned 
 to Mason, who was passing. " She's going 
 down the road now ; a good, clever soul 
 as ever was, 'thougl? she haint had much 
 chance to be anybody. She's got a dozen 
 pair of mens' socks, as nice as I ever saw, 
 and I thought she might find a market for 
 them at your house. She needs all the 
 money she can get. She lives off from the 
 main road, and has a pretty lonesome time 
 of it, besides being poor. I thought you
 
 MISS SPERRY. 143 
 
 might tell your aunt about her if you get 
 home first." 
 
 " I will ; and I will be sure to get home 
 first." 
 
 It was easy to do this. Miss Sperry 
 walked more slowly, stopping at last and 
 turning half around, as if to retrace her 
 steps. But she did not go back, although 
 Miss Austen waited several minutes for her 
 appearance. 
 
 The instant her timid rap was heard 
 Mason went to the door and invited her 
 into the sitting-room, where the lady whose 
 presence she had feared met her so cordially 
 she soon forgot all embarrassment. Her 
 knitting was praised, and the socks pur- 
 chased at a higher price than she had dared 
 to hope. Seated in a comfortable arm-chair, 
 her heavy bonnet laid aside, her homely face 
 was lighted up with a smile of contentment 
 and satisfaction. 
 
 " AVell, Miss Sperry, you've made quite a 
 visit," said Mr. Gate-hell when she again 
 entered the store. " You look ten years
 
 144 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 younger than you did this morning, and I 
 guess you feel so too. You've got rested, 
 haint you ? " 
 
 "Yes, I have, and I've had the best visit 
 I ever had in my life. I never saw any- 
 thing like it. I was just taken in and 
 treated as if I'd been a lady. Miss Aus- 
 ten took all my socks, and paid me more 
 than I ever got before. I thank you for 
 sending me there." 
 
 " I knew you'd be glad you went there, 
 and I expect, now, you'll believe I was look- 
 ing out for your advantage instead of my 
 own." 
 
 " Yes, I will. But, you see, I wan't ex- 
 pecting it, 'though folks say you've changed 
 a good deal since the mill started up. When 
 Tom Gray lived in the old house next to 
 mine, the one that tumbled down, I thought 
 you were pretty hard with him. Anyway, 
 he spent most of his earnings here, without 
 his family being much better off for it." 
 
 " They're better off for what he spends 
 here now. The truth is, we've both
 
 MISS SPERRY. 145 
 
 changed, and it aint for the worse either. 
 Now what can I sell you this afternoon ? " 
 
 Her purchases were not large, yet they 
 were more than she could carry without 
 inconvenience, and a neighbor coming in, 
 he offered to take her and her bundles 
 home, so that she was spared the fatigue 
 of walking. It had been a good day, and 
 the evening was enlivened by the memory 
 of the kindness she had received. 
 
 Her frugal supper gained a new relish, 
 and as the rays of the setting sun brightened 
 her plain room, she thought how much she 
 had for which to be thankful. A single act 
 of kindness, with a few cordial words spoken 
 from the heart, and so reaching another heart, 
 had stirred her best and deepest feelings. 
 
 Mr. Gatchell would have wondered much 
 had he known what record was set over 
 against his name, for having once regarded 
 his neighbor rather than himself. Miss 
 Austen, wise as she was, did not dream 
 of the good she had wrought while doing 
 
 only what was a pleasure for her to do. 
 
 10
 
 146 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 Mason, however, seemed to have some idea 
 of it, when he said : 
 
 " Aunt Margaret, the money you gave 
 Miss Sperry wasn't the .best thing you gave 
 her." 
 
 "AVhat was it, the dinner?" 
 
 " Xo, ma'am ; 'though I'm sure she liked 
 that, especially the tea. You made her 
 feel that she was of some account, as Aunt 
 Comfort says. She looked dreadfully poor 
 and discouraged when she came in, and 
 when she went out she looked real happy. 
 I hope, when I grow up, I can make folks 
 happy." 
 
 "I expect you will. All that is necessary 
 is to show them the bright side of things." 
 
 "But some people won't see the bright 
 side. There is Uncle Fielding. He will 
 make a dark side anywhere. He is always 
 fretting, and tiring everybody. It is hard 
 for Dick and all the rest of them. Hester 
 said he almost made up his mind he wouldn't 
 let his family come up here this summer. 
 I am not going to say .anything more about
 
 MISS SPERRY. 147 
 
 him," added the speaker, deprecating a re- 
 proof. " That was in a private note, Hes- 
 ter didn't expect any one else to know about, 
 but I never can keep anything from you 
 very long. I shall be ever so glad to see 
 them all, 'though when they come I must 
 begin to think about going home."
 
 148 HAKOLD DOESEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 
 
 WHEN Mrs. Stuart reached the rail- 
 road station where she was to stop 
 with her company of young people, the first 
 to meet her was Mason, sun-browned and 
 radiant. 
 
 " O mother, I'm so glad to see you," he 
 exclaimed, throwing his arms around her. 
 "I am glad to see all the rest of you," he 
 added directly, giving each a hearty hand- 
 shake, "with kisses thrown in," as Clarke 
 afterwards described the welcome. 
 
 Edward Stuart was detained at the mill; 
 but Mr. Bumstead, who had come in his 
 place, was equal to the occasion. Mason 
 observed his brother closely, as the latter 
 was introduced to the stout, good-natured
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 
 
 Harold Dorsey, p. 149.
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 149 
 
 Englishman, and decided that Clarke had 
 left fancy manners behind him. 
 
 " How you have grown ! " was the ex- 
 clamation which greeted the country boy on 
 every side ; while he, in turn, had his 
 criticisms to make. 
 
 "Are we all going in that big wagon?" 
 asked Sadie. 
 
 " Yes, every one of us, trunks and all," 
 was the reply. 
 
 " There's plenty of room and plenty of 
 strength," added Mr. Bumstead, who had 
 overheard the question. " Our carriage 
 never gets too full except of a Sunday. 
 It's a carriage when the floor is carpeted, 
 and a wagon the rest of the time. Likely 
 there will be a coach when the right time 
 comes, but there can never be better horses." 
 
 Ample room was found for all, and despite 
 their load, these horses started forward at a 
 brisk trot. It was a lovely day. Hillsides 
 were clothed with richest verdure, while 
 vallies lay fair and green in the mellow light. 
 Here and there was the sparkle of water,
 
 150 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 at rest, or flowing between flower-fringed 
 banks. 
 
 Exclamations of delight followed each 
 other in rapid succession. Madge saw every 
 bird which flitted by, and turned a question- 
 ing glance towards every shrub and tussock 
 of grass where a nest might be concealed. 
 Hester saw butterflies, dragon-flies, and 
 bees ; while Dick Fielding remarked upon 
 the luxuriant and graceful growth of forest 
 trees. 
 
 : ' There is our house," said Mason, when 
 the white chimnies could be seen. " If you 
 could look into the kitchen you would see 
 busy work there. I used to think Aunt 
 Comfort could do better for a hungry boy 
 than anybody else ; but Mrs. Bumstead can 
 do just as well. Austenville is a grand place, 
 and the people here are all 'number one.' 
 Miss Austen is a lady, and Mr. Stuart is a 
 gentleman, and this is where they are appre- 
 ciated." 
 
 Miss Austen stood upon the piazza to 
 receive her guests, the youngest first claim-
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 151 
 
 ing attention. Mrs. Bumstead remained in 
 her own province, which was presently in- 
 vaded by a bevy of girls. 
 
 " Six, and every one welcome, 'though 
 I'm not knowing how ever I'll get along 
 with you," she said smilingly after all had 
 been introduced. " I've only had boys, but 
 I've been longing for girls my whole life." 
 
 " And you will have them now, Mrs. 
 Bumstead. You will like them too. I do." 
 
 A shout of laughter followed Mason's 
 frank confession, and a clamor of voices 
 drowned whatever explanation he might 
 have made, until he joined in the general 
 merriment. 
 
 Edward Stuart hastened to the house, 
 impatient to see the dear, familiar faces of 
 brother, sisters, and cousins, yet longing 
 most of all for his mother. 
 
 "My son!" 
 
 She could say no more ; so like was he to 
 what his father had been, when she, as Mary 
 Austen, watched for the coming of one whose 
 presence filled her heart with joy.
 
 152 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 w You have changed very much," she said 
 soon after, when he seated himself beside 
 her. " You have lost the scholarly look 
 Avhich marked your face a year ago." 
 
 "And gained something in its place? "he 
 questioned. 
 
 tr Yes, you are looking more like your 
 father. I was very ambitious for you, but 
 I suppose it was best that you should give 
 up your books. I hope you will not re- 
 gret it when you are older." 
 
 " There is no danger that I shall. I was 
 never more ambitious, and never more sure 
 of reaching the goal of my ambition. But 
 we can talk of that another time. There 
 is the supper bell." 
 
 Robert's introduction came last, and a 
 severe ordeal it was, notwithstanding Ma- 
 son's encouraging words. 
 
 K You will be obliged to see the girls, 
 and you may as well speak to them now 
 as ever," said the importunate boy. " You 
 will get used to them in a little while, and 
 like them tiptop. If you don't, I shan't
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 153 
 
 think much of you any way. You can't 
 help it. There they are all together. 
 Come. I know Hester and Sadie and 
 Lilla will want to see your chickens put 
 to bed." 
 
 What Eobert said, or whether he said 
 anything, when the different names were 
 called, he could not tell ; but later, he 
 proved himself fully competent to answer 
 all questions in regard to the doves and 
 chickens, which were his especial pride. 
 
 The resources of the house had not been 
 overestimated. There was no need to send 
 Maspn to the barn, although he would not 
 have considered it a hardship to sleep upon 
 the fragrant hay. He was early astir the 
 next morning, going into the kitchen soon 
 after the fire was lighted in the large 
 cooking-stove. 
 
 " I was so wide awake I couldn't keep 
 still another minute," he replied to Mrs, 
 Bumstead's expressions of surprise at see- 
 ing him. " There is so much to be done,
 
 154 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 I must get a good start ; and there is Dick 
 too." 
 
 " Good-morning, Mason. I hope you are 
 well this morning." 
 
 " I am very Well, and in no need of medi- 
 cine ; but there are lots of things I want to 
 talk about with you. Sit down and make 
 yourself at home, and tell me if you have 
 seen Rufe Brown lately." 
 
 " I went to his mother's the evening before 
 we left home, so that I could bring you the 
 latest news. He is working hard ; but he 
 says it pays, and he hopes to go to school 
 next winter. He keeps up with his classes, 
 and learns a good many things not put down 
 in the books." 
 
 " He always did that. He hasn't written 
 to me for ever so long, but I know we are 
 just as good friends as we ever were. When 
 I am sure of people, I don't need to have 
 them keep telling me they love me all the 
 time ; 'though I think it does a fellow good 
 to hear it once in a while, don't you, Dick?" 
 
 " Yes, I do ; but you can trust Rufus.
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 155 
 
 lie said he had intended to write to you ; 
 but when he gets home at night, tired as 
 he is, he studies his lessons, and sometimes 
 goes to sleep over his books." 
 
 " I know how he does, and he is a splendid 
 fellow. Has he a good garden ? " 
 
 " Very good, and the best piece of corn I 
 ever saw. It is only a small piece, but he 
 will have a splendid crop. It is a Avonder to 
 me how he crowds so much into the days 
 so many other people spend in idleness." 
 
 " It is because he is made of the right stuff. 
 I like to help him when I can, and he helps 
 himself so much, it is easy to do it. A good 
 many want you to do the whole. They are 
 the kind Aunt Comfort calls shiftless. I 
 should think Rufe Brown better come here, 
 if he wasn't needed where he is. I shouldn't 
 wonder if you want to stay here yourself. 
 Everybody amounts to something here. The 
 days go by so fast a fellow has to hurry to 
 keep up. I couldn't when I first came, but I 
 can now." 
 
 " I am glad to hear that. I thought you
 
 156 HAROLD DOKSEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 would gain faster here than at home. We 
 were anxious about you. If we had lost 
 you, there would have been a vacant place 
 in our circle no one else could fill." 
 
 " It would have been all right, but I am 
 glad you are not to lose me. I don't think 
 people know half how grand a thing it is to 
 be alive in such a beautiful world as this. 
 I never thought so much about it till this 
 summer ; and now, if I don't fill every day 
 full of something good for myself or some- 
 body else, it will be because I can't. I used 
 to have the queerest feelings after I fell into 
 the water. It seemed as though something I 
 wanted to keep was slipping away from me, 
 and I got so tired trying to hold it, I was 
 almost ready to give up. You can't think 
 just how it was, but you may as well remem- 
 ber about it." 
 
 " I will. No bit of knowledge ever comes 
 amiss." 
 
 " But Aunt Margie says there are some 
 things we better not know. She burned 
 some of Uncle William's books last week,
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 157 
 
 because she didn't want any one to read 
 them. There are plenty of good books left, 
 and Aunt Margie is going to have a library 
 for the mill people. The Thursday evening 
 meetings will begin again this fall. You will 
 go to the Sunday evening meetings while you 
 are here, and you will be expected to take a 
 part in them. You will want to, too, if you 
 are a Christian, and I hope you are. You 
 ought to be." 
 
 " That is true. But I have not inquired 
 about your ankle. Does it trouble you?" 
 
 " Not a bit. I can tramp as many miles as 
 you can ; and that makes me think that we 
 are planning for a week in the woods, if we 
 can get Mr. Elliot and Harold Dorsey to go 
 with us. I want you to get at Harold Dor- 
 sey the first thing. It took me a good while, 
 but it won't take you long. There is Mr. 
 Elliot in his garden. He is the busiest man 
 I ever saw. He can do almost anything, 
 besides being a splendid scholar. Halloo ! 
 There is Clarke. The house must be waking 
 up. When the second bell rings everybody
 
 158 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 in the village will begin to move, and when 
 the third bell rings everything in the mill 
 will start up with a whir and a buzz. You 
 will all want to go down to the mill and see 
 how things look there." 
 
 It was the chief place of interest, and, with 
 the exception of Mrs. Stuart, the visitors 
 went through the old stone mill ; while Ma- 
 son described and explained the entire pro- 
 cess of manufacturing. 
 
 " Who is agent of this concern?" at length 
 asked Clarke. 
 
 " Aunt Margaret, and I am her confiden- 
 tial clerk," was the quick reply. " If you 
 ever arrive at such honor, you may think 
 yourself fortunate. There is Harold Dorsey 
 the other side of the brook. You can take a 
 good look at him and see what sort of fellows 
 are brought up in the woods. It will pay 
 you to cultivate his acquaintance. If we try 
 camping out, you will be glad to have him 
 somewhere 'round, and it is just possible 
 you know some things he would be glad to 
 learn."
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 159 
 
 "He has a figure to be proud of," re- 
 sponded Clarke Stuart, watching the young 
 man striding across the meadow, so lightly 
 clad that his well-knit form was displayed to 
 the best advantage. " I wonder if he knows 
 how to appreciate himself? " 
 
 " He does know that exactly. He knows 
 he was made to be of use in the world, and 
 he takes hold of hard work without gloves, 
 lie is splendid, but you will need to go more 
 than half way if you want to get acquainted 
 with him. You won't find anybody here 
 very anxious to gain your favor, and it is 
 the poorest place to put on airs you ever 
 saw." 
 
 The words had been spoken, and the 
 speaker was relieved of further responsi- 
 bility, but Clarke Stuart hardly needed the 
 enforcement of a lesson he was fast learning 
 by observation. He wondered at the friend- 
 liness and courtesy between those in such 
 different positions, yet he was too wise to 
 give utterance to his thoughts ; and before 
 the day had passed his wonder changed to
 
 160 HAROLD DORSEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 admiration. All were working for a com- 
 mon cause ; the prosperity of Austen ville. 
 
 His aunt seemed to him a grander woman 
 than when she reigned in the dear old home. 
 He was deeply impressed with his brother's 
 superiority, and the unostentatious manner 
 in which every duty was performed. For 
 the first time, he could say, with Mason, 
 that he was glad of the loss which had neces- 
 sitated a change of plans for himself and 
 others. 
 
 Yet it was not with a wholly untroubled 
 spirit that he retired to rest the second night 
 after he arrived at the great house. He slept 
 but little, rising the next morning with a 
 headache, which, however, was soon forgot- 
 ten. With so much to see and hear, there 
 was little time to think of personal feelings. 
 
 "What a romantic history that fellow has," 
 he remarked to his aunt, as he saw Harold 
 Dorsey coming towards the house. 
 
 " He has led a strange life," was replied. 
 " There is a mystery about it which I hope 
 will sometime be solved. I have often at-
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 161 
 
 tempted to form some theory by which to 
 account for the isolation of an old man and 
 child through a succession of years. Mr. 
 Elliot believes that they were not at all re- 
 lated to each other." 
 
 "What does Harold think?" 
 
 "He told the people with whom he now 
 finds a home that he does not allow himself 
 to think of it. He says he can make a future 
 for himself, and he is willing to leave the 
 past with God. In many ways he has been 
 admirably taught, while in some things he 
 has been terribly wronged." 
 
 "You have interesting characters here in 
 Austenville. One would naturally expect to 
 find very commonplace people in such a fac- 
 tory village as this, but your workmen and 
 workwomen seem to be very much above the 
 average." 
 
 " Perhaps you are not qualified to judge of 
 the average. I certainly was not." 
 
 " Then I must certainly plead ignorance ; 
 but I have always thought of such workers 
 as almost a part of the machinery of a mill."
 
 162 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " You have been mistaken in that thousrht, 
 
 O 7 
 
 although, under some conditions, factory- 
 workers are regarded as but little better 
 than machines. Here, in our little village, 
 we intend that the conditions of life shall 
 foster intelligence and goodness. It is not 
 enough that a man or woman is not bad. 
 Every one should be thoroughly good." 
 
 "And energetic," added Clarke Stuart. 
 "I know that energy is included in your 
 idea of goodness." 
 
 "Certainly it is," answered Miss Austen. 
 "There are sins of omission as well as of 
 cowzmission ; and the results of the former 
 may be as disastrous as those of the latter." 
 
 "Aunt Margie, you should have been a 
 minister. You would preach splendid ser- 
 mons." 
 
 " Aunt Margie has always preached splen- 
 did sermons," now said Dick Fielding, who 
 had heard his cousin's last remark. " She 
 has been preaching ever since I can remem- 
 ber, and she has preached to an attentive 
 congregation."
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 163 
 
 " I hope my sermons will have their legit- 
 imate effect. I have always tried to live to 
 some purpose ; but since I came here, I feel 
 that I have only just begun my life-work. 
 I am a middle-aged woman, looking west- 
 ward ; yet life is more to me now than ever 
 before." 
 
 "Does that mean that you are growing 
 old ? " asked Mason, who had joined the 
 group. 
 
 " It means just that," was replied. 
 
 "AVell, Margie, I suppose every year 
 counts : but when you grow better and 
 handsomer all the time, I shouldn't think 
 you would talk about growing old," said 
 the boy, eagerly scanning the face on which 
 he saw no marks of age. 
 
 This matter being settled to his satisfac- 
 tion, he proposed to his brother that they 
 should make Harold Dorsey a visit ; thus 
 leaving their aunt with Dick Fielding, who 
 remarked, presently : 
 
 " It is very hard for me to be reconciled to 
 the fact that I have neither part nor lot in
 
 164 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 Austenville. I know it is best as it is, be- 
 cause in no other way could you have the 
 control of the property ; but I feel very 
 much as though another had sold a part of 
 my birthright. You will be a rich woman, 
 Aunt Margaret." 
 
 " Possibly ; yet I did not come here that I 
 may make money for the sake of hoarding it, 
 or surrounding myself with extravagant lux- 
 uries. I wished in some way to increase my 
 income, and this property was waiting to be 
 utilized. It would have been a great trial to 
 me to see it in the hands of strangers." 
 
 " I am glad so much of it is yours ; and I 
 am more than glad that what you have in- 
 vested here is likely to bring you large 
 returns." 
 
 " I am both glad and thankful ; and if I 
 am allowed to live to carry out my plans, 
 there are many who will have reason to re- 
 joice. I have set apart a certain portion of 
 my income for the expense of your educa- 
 tion ; so you may feel that you have some 
 interest here as well as your cousins."
 
 A SUMMER VACATION. 165 
 
 "It does not seem right for me to be 
 dependent upon you, Margie." 
 
 "I may do what I will with my own, and 
 I shall be more than repaid for all I can do, 
 if I live to see you a noble, Christian man, 
 and a skilful physician. In fitting yourself 
 for your profession, you shall have every 
 advantage which money can give you, and I 
 am sure the money thus spent will prove a 
 profitable investment." 
 
 " It shall be if I can make it so," was re- 
 plied. rt I appreciate your kindness, and am 
 more grateful for it than words can express."
 
 166 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CAMPING OUT. 
 
 CAMPING out " was the engrossing topic 
 of conversation, until the girls felt 
 themselves aggrieved at not being allowed 
 to join the party. Mason was in jubilant 
 spirits, examining his old clothes, and con- 
 sulting Aunt Margaret in regard to his boots, 
 "because mother didn't understand so well 
 about such things." 
 
 Mr. Elliot regretted being absent from 
 home, when so much demanded his atten- 
 tion, but there were other considerations in- 
 fluencing him. Jessie watched him closely, 
 half fearing that the old spirit of restlessness 
 would regain its ascendency. 
 
 "I am sorry to leave you," he said, the 
 evening before his departure. "I shall hard- 
 ly know how to live, without seeing you
 
 CAMPING OUT. 167 
 
 
 
 for two weeks. You make me so happy, I 
 can never do enough for you to repay 
 you." 
 
 "Why, father, how can you say so," an- 
 swered Jessie, nestling closer to him. "It is 
 just as mother said it would be sometime, 
 and I am the happiest girl in the world when 
 you are with me. But " 
 
 Here she paused, as if hesitating to speak 
 her thoughts. 
 
 "What is it, child? Tell me all you have 
 in your heart," said her father tenderly. 
 
 "I can't," she replied with a sob. "It 
 hurts me just to think of it ; and now, you 
 are so good, I don't believe you will want to 
 ki-i'p going, as you used to." 
 
 " Don't be afraid to trust me, Jessie," re- 
 sponded her father, deeply moved. "I am 
 not sure of my feelings, but God helping 
 me I believe I am sure of my actions. 
 When our excursion is over, I shall be glad 
 to come back to you, and sit down again in 
 my own home." 
 
 " Oh ! I know you will. I knew it, too",
 
 168 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 
 
 all the time ; but I couldn't help think- 
 ing." 
 
 " Think what a pleasant time you will have 
 with Miss Greenleaf while I am gone, and how 
 happy we shall be together when I return." 
 
 "I will, father," said Jessie cheerfully. 
 fr I am so glad Miss Greenleaf was willing to 
 stay here, instead of going home for her 
 vacation. Miss Austen is always as kind 
 as kind can be ; and Mrs. Bumstead says I 
 am not to cook at all. Norah, too, has 
 grown so good, I have real happy times with 
 her, and her mother has asked me to spend 
 a whole day with her while you are gone. 
 Then Miss Greenleaf and I are going over to 
 Miss Sperry's, visiting. There's somebody 
 over there who wants to learn, and Miss 
 Greenleaf is going to help her. Her name 
 is Esther Wetherell, and perhaps she will 
 come here to work in the mill." 
 
 "With so much to take up. your time, you 
 will hardly miss me." 
 
 A tighter clinging of the arms about his 
 neck made response to this ; and Richmond
 
 CAMPING OUT. 169 
 
 Elliot needed nothing more to assure him of 
 the love of his little daughter. 
 
 The route of the pedestrians had been de- 
 cided by business considerations. They were 
 to follow up Austen's brook to its source, 
 and learn the probable amount of water 
 which could be controlled. Mr. Elliot was 
 also instructed to confer with the owners of 
 adjacent lands, and report upon the feasibil- 
 ity of purchasing these lands. 
 
 This accomplished, the party would be 
 free to go in whatever direction choice might 
 lead them ; but Harold had his own plans, 
 of which he had not }^et spoken. Something 
 of the influence of former days came upon 
 him, that bright summer morning, as the en- 
 tire village bade him and his companions a 
 hearty God speed. 
 
 " I wish you were going," said Mason to 
 his brother Edward. "Some way you are 
 getting to be like father to me, and if any 
 trouble should come to me, I should want 
 you. I don't believe I shall ever depend 
 upon Clarke as I do upon you. You are a
 
 170 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 splendid fellow ; and losing that money is 
 going to be the making of us. I shouldn't 
 have this tramp, if that company hadn't 
 failed." 
 
 Mason and Eobert started a little in ad- 
 vance, walking at their usual rapid pace ; 
 but they soon found that this was too great 
 an expenditure of strength. 
 
 "Let your moderation be known to us 
 all," shouted Clarke, who had quite entered 
 into the spirit of the occasion. 
 
 " You are moderate enough for two," was 
 the good-natured reply. "We are the pio- 
 neers, leading the way for those who fol- 
 low." 
 
 Before noon, however, they were willing 
 others should lead ; and when a halt was 
 made for dinner, a long rest seemed to them 
 desirable. 
 
 Harold volunteered to catch some fish, and 
 cook them in true backwoods style if some 
 one would make the fire. '' The doctor" 
 was ready to give assistance with hook and 
 line, while Mr. Elliot kindled the fire ; so
 
 CAMPING OUT. 171 
 
 that it was not long before the company 
 was invited to dine upon fish, bread, and 
 huge doughnuts, fried by Mrs. Bumstead. 
 
 f ' How did you learn to cook so well ? " 
 
 "Grandsir taught me," replied Harold 
 Dorsey to this question, which was rather 
 an ejaculation than an inquiry. 
 
 There was rough walking before them, 
 but a thousand objects of interest beguiled 
 the weariness of the way. Forest and stream 
 teemed with life. While the larger birds 
 flapped their wings heavily and flew away 
 from intruders, others flitted past Avith the 
 speed of an arrow. The scarlet tanager, 
 most brilliant of our songsters, betrayed its 
 hiding-place by a flash of color, hardly seen 
 before it had disappeared. The heron and 
 the bittern uttered their notes of alarm, while 
 the wild ducks dipped their glossy breasts 
 noiselessly in the waters of the brook. 
 
 " It is a holiday for every living thing," 
 remarked Mr. Elliot. MVe are in accord 
 with Nature, and Nature is a kindly mother 
 to her children."
 
 172 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "What is Nature?" asked Clarke Stuart. 
 " Nature is to me the everlasting God 
 revealed in his works of creation and preser- 
 vation. Various influences combine to pro- 
 duce certain results ; but back of these in- 
 fluences is He who spoke the world into 
 being, and fixed its laws of production, in- 
 crease, and compensation. 
 
 " Isn't it wonderful?" rejoined Harold. 
 " So many creatures live so short a time 
 it seems as though they might as well 
 not live at all, but I suppose there would 
 be vacant places without them. Grand- 
 sir and I were so shut up to ourselves, I 
 used to think we had no place in the 
 world." 
 
 " You have a place now." 
 " Yes, sir, and a good place too." 
 "You are number two in our company, 
 and that is a good enough place for any- 
 body," said Mason. " I begin to feel like 
 tramping on again. The brook here is al- 
 most as large as it is at the mill ; and if we 
 are going to reach the spring that starts it,
 
 CAMPING OUT. 173 
 
 by day after to-morrow, we must be mov- 
 ing." 
 
 " Slow and steady wins the race." 
 
 " That sounds just like Clarke. Fast and 
 steady wins the race sooner, and that is 
 what I believe in." 
 
 Having been over this ground before, Mr. 
 Elliot knew where would be the best stop- 
 ping-place for the night ; and about the 
 middle of the afternoon, he, with Harold, 
 pushed forward, leaving the other members 
 of the party to follow at their leisure. 
 
 " We must not attempt too much the first 
 day," he said to his companion. " You and 
 I are better used to this kind of life than the 
 boys we have left behind us, but we will not 
 make too hard work of it. You have had but 
 few play-days since you came to Austenville." 
 
 " I never had any before I went there. I 
 had no one to play with, so I was glad to 
 work, to keep from being lonesome. Mr. 
 Elliot, I want to go to my old home before 
 we go back to Austenville. I want to see 
 how it will look to me now."
 
 174 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " I wish to see it, too, and it is my inten- 
 tion to go there. When we have explored 
 the brook, we will turn our faces northward 
 towards your old home. There is a mystery 
 connected with you that I am anxious to 
 clear up. I have never talked with you 
 much about it, but I have thought a great 
 deaL; and I feel sure that Mr. Dorsey was 
 not related to you." 
 
 " I feel sure that he was not ; but how 
 came I to be with him?" 
 
 " I wish I could tell you. Do you know 
 if he received any letters ? " 
 
 "I went into the house once when he 
 didn't expect me, and he was very angry 
 because I asked him about a paper he had 
 in his hand, and which I know now was a 
 letter. He didn't allow me to ask him many 
 questions." 
 
 " He was a strange man ; and it seems as 
 though he must have left some papers which 
 would give a clue to his life." 
 
 " I have thought so sometimes, but I try 
 not to think about it at all. I must have
 
 CAMPING OUT. 175 
 
 belonged to somebody who didn't want me, 
 and so I was sent off." 
 
 " You would not care now to see those 
 who sent you off, Harold." 
 
 " I don't know, sir. Perhaps I am better 
 than I should have been if I had stayed with 
 them. At any rate, I have a good home 
 now. Mr. and Mrs. Peavey are always 
 doing something for me, because they love 
 me ; and that is what I need most of all. 
 I wonder how anybody can go wrong who 
 has one true, good friend?" 
 
 " I wonder, too, although I have sinned 
 against great love. You have never tasted 
 liquor of any kind, Harold? " 
 
 "No, sir. I promised grandsir I never 
 would, and I never will. He said I had 
 better die than do it. I have thought that 
 perhaps somebody I belonged to was a 
 drunkard. I don't think I always lived 
 with grandsir. Since I have been into the 
 great house it seems as though I had seen 
 such rooms before, and I remember of cry- 
 ing myself to sleep a good many nights when
 
 176 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 I was a little fellow. I can remember, too, 
 when our house was further in the woods 
 than it is now. The lumber was cut off up 
 to grandsir's land, but he never sold a tree." 
 
 " It is very strange." 
 
 "Yes, sir; but God knows about it, and 
 he will bring it out all right. I think grand- 
 sir wanted to tell me something when he 
 was dying, but he couldn't speak." 
 
 " Well, Harold, if it is best for you to 
 know about it you will ; and if not, you can 
 make a position for yourself." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; and I can study books." 
 
 " Would you like to go to school? " 
 
 " I don't know, sir. I must learn what I 
 can while I am working ; and now that Mr. 
 Stuart is going to hear my lessons I shall get 
 on faster. Miss Greenleaf, too, has offered 
 to help me ; so I have only to do my part." 
 
 :t You will save something from your 
 wages, so that in a year or two you can 
 afford to attend school, and perhaps you 
 may be able to work your way through 
 college."
 
 CAMPING OUT. 177 
 
 " I can work," replied Harold ; and with 
 this response the conversation closed. 
 
 It was yet early when they reached the 
 secluded spot where Mr. Elliot had spent 
 many a night alone, and where he at once 
 set about making preparations for the com- 
 fort of those under his care. Boughs of 
 hemlock and spruce were interwoven to 
 form an ample shelter ; while other boughs 
 were heaped into fragrant beds, inviting to 
 repose. There Avas no house in sight, but 
 Mr. Elliot knew where to obtain supplies 
 for supper, and a rudely-constructed fire- 
 place upon a large flat stone would serve 
 for all purposes of cooking. 
 
 " Coffee, cold meat, bread and butter ; 
 doughnuts and cheese ; a supper fit for a 
 king, especially with such an appetite as I 
 have 2 " exclaimed Clarke Stuart. " I believe 
 I was never so hungry in my life." 
 
 tr Tired, too, are you not?" 
 
 " Yes, I am, and I guess my boots are 
 tired too. At any rate, they are very 
 heavy ; too heavy for me to carry much
 
 178 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 longer .now, but I shall be all right when 
 I have rested." 
 
 The doctor soon appeared, with Mason 
 and Eobert; each ready to appreciate the 
 substantial fare, of which there was no lack. 
 
 By the waning light Mr. Elliot read a 
 chapter from his pocket Testament; after 
 which he commended his companions and 
 himself to the watchful care of one who 
 never slumbers nor sleeps. Blankets were 
 unrolled ; and with these for coverings, they 
 found their beds luxurious and their sleep 
 sweet. 
 
 The boys had promised each other to be 
 first up in the morning, but it was not until 
 they were called that they rubbed their eyes 
 and wondered where they were. 
 
 " Why didn't you call us before ? " asked 
 Mason in a reproachful tone. " We have 
 lost ever so much by sleeping so late. I 
 wanted to see the sun rise from behind the 
 hills, and hear the first twitter of the birds. 
 And Clarke was up before me ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have been fishing for your break-
 
 CAMPING OUT. 179 
 
 fast. I caught enough for two, and I was 
 glad to have you sleep. There is just time 
 now for you boys to take a bath, while the 
 doctor fries the last kettle of fish. So be 
 off with you, and back again to breakfast." 
 
 This eaten, and a prayer offered, they 
 began their march in jubilant spirits, mak- 
 ing their way along the margin of the brook, 
 which soon began to decrease in size. Mr. 
 Elliot had a care for each and all ; yet he was 
 often silent and thoughtful. 
 
 The last time he had passed this way 
 he felt himself pursued by a demon from 
 which he hastened to escape. Struggling in 
 his own strength to break the bands of appe- 
 tite, he had well-nigh given over in the con- 
 flict. Now he was free ; every pulse throb- 
 bing with new life. No longer a wandering 
 vagabond ; he had gained the esteem and 
 confidence of those whose friendship he knew 
 well how to prize. 
 
 It was a perfect day ; less fatiguing to the 
 pedestrians than that which had preceded it, 
 and bringing to them a keener sense of iso-
 
 180 HAEOLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 lation from the ordinary walks of life. Be- 
 fore nightfall they reached the forest, in the 
 recesses of which they were to find the ob- 
 ject of their search ; a tiny spring appearing 
 from under a rock or tree, or a bubbling 
 fountain sending up its waters from the oozy 
 soil through which it had been filtered. 
 
 The ground was unfamiliar, even to Mr. 
 Elliot, who only knew what he had learned 
 in regard to it by inquiries at the different 
 farm-houses which he had visited on his way. 
 It was not known that any one had ever fol- 
 lowed the brook to its very source. The 
 owner of the forest considered it of but small 
 value, although it contained some heavy tim- 
 ber, which, if differently situated, would find 
 a ready market. 
 
 " According to the descriptions I have 
 heard, it must be a rocky place, but I shall 
 be much more sure about it when I have 
 seen it for myself," said Mr. Elliot, as he 
 discussed with his companions their plans 
 for the future. " We must depend upon 
 ourselves for food; carrying what we can,
 
 CAMPING OUT. 181 
 
 and trusting to Harold's rifle for the rest. 
 We may find some deep pools for fish, but 
 we must be prepared for anything. So far, 
 we have had a pleasure-trip." 
 
 " And we will make it a pleasure-trip all 
 the way," responded Clarke Stuart. ff It 
 will do us all good to rough it and depend 
 upon our own resources. I can carry bread 
 enough in my haversack for Mason and my- 
 self, and the doctor says we may find ground- 
 nuts for roasting." 
 
 " There is sure to be plenty of them," re- 
 joined Harold Dorsey. " There is no danger 
 of starving. I will engage to feed you all, 
 if you will be satisfied with hunter's fare." 
 
 " We will be satisfied with anything, if 
 there is only enough of it ; and I think we 
 ought to have roasted ground-nuts instead of 
 bread," said Mason. 
 
 " Grandsir told me that the first settlers of 
 the country depended a good deal upon 
 ground-nuts, and men who live in the woods 
 can eat them any time, when the ground isn't 
 frozen."
 
 182 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " The early settlers of Canada and the 
 United States would have been fortunate 
 had this been their greatest hardship. Peo- 
 ple can support life on strange fare ; but we 
 are sure of a civilized supper, a civilized 
 breakfast, and a day's supply of hard-bread. 
 So, trusting in God, to whom we will pay 
 our evening devotions, we may lie down and 
 sleep securely. It is possible we shall camp 
 here again ; and for that reason I have built 
 a more substantial shelter than if we were to 
 tarry only for a night." 
 
 " Will it take all day to-morrow to reach 
 the end of this journey ? " asked Robert. 
 
 " I hope not ; but we shall be obliged to 
 go slowly and halt often. So far, our tramp 
 has been a mere pleasant walk ; now we 
 must prepare for work ; and the sooner we 
 are resting, the better it will be for us." 
 
 The party slept even more soundly than 
 on the previous night, awaking the next 
 morning eager for the experience of the 
 day. A hard day, too, it promised to be. 
 Rougher walking than any they had before
 
 CAMPING OUT. 183 
 
 encountered tried both muscle and mettle, 
 yet no one complained. Clarke Stuart and 
 Dick Fielding proved equal to all demands 
 made upon them, and insisted upon perform- 
 ing their part of the labor. 
 
 Harold Dorsey was to them a most enter- 
 taining-companion, in whom they were more 
 and more interested. His grace of manner 
 and modest self-reliance quite charmed them ; 
 while he, in turn, was conscious of appearing 
 at his best. He was one with others, shar- 
 ing the same pleasures, and contributing to 
 the general comfort and happiness. His form 
 seemed to dilate and his step grow firmer 
 as he led the way over mossy stones and 
 prostrate trees. 
 
 " AVe shall lose you if you hurry so," 
 shouted Mason, almost breathless with ex- 
 ertion. 
 
 " You will find me again," he shouted 
 back, as he was hidden from view by a 
 ledge of rock, around the base of which 
 flowed the little stream. 
 
 Not until noon did they catch another
 
 184 HAROLD DOESEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 glimpse of him ; when they were notified 
 of his presence by a curling smoke ascend- 
 ing from a small opening where he had 
 lighted a fire. They had, however, heard 
 the occasional report of a gun ; so that they 
 were not surprised to find an abundant din- 
 ner in waiting for them. Each carried rations 
 of bread, but roasted ground-nuts were pre- 
 ferred, which, with squirrels done to a turn 
 on hastily improvised spits, made a luxurious 
 repast. Sheets of birch bark served as 
 plates, and tin drinking-cups were filled from 
 a spring near by. 
 
 Harold had not been idle, as was doubly 
 proved when he told his companions that he 
 had seen the source of the brook, more than 
 a mile away. 
 
 " It starts from three springs on the side 
 of the hill, all very near together, and all 
 trickling down over some rocks, until they 
 meet and form a little stream. I didn't 
 expect to come to it so soon, and I couldn't 
 stop to look around much ; but there is time 
 enough to examine it this afternoon, and
 
 CAMPING OUT. 185 
 
 then climb to the top of the hill if you 
 wish to." 
 
 " You must have walked fast, and worked 
 fast, to accomplish so much," said the doc- 
 tor, in reply to Harold's remarks. " I never 
 knew anything of such cooking before, or of 
 such abounding energy as you have."
 
 186 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE OLD HOME. 
 
 MR. ELLIOT made u hasty survey of 
 the ground around the springs, and 
 then submitted the question of climbing the 
 hill, or returning to the camp they had left 
 that morning. No one wished to go further, 
 and they soon started on their return, reach- 
 ing camp so late that they cared more for 
 sleep than food. 
 
 The next morning a bountiful breakfast 
 was in readiness, after eating which, Harold 
 Dorsey expressed his intention to start that 
 day for his old home. 
 
 " And leave us behind ! " exclaimed Mason. 
 "Let us go with you." 
 
 " I hope you will come, and I shall cer- 
 tainly expect you ; but now that I am really 
 going, I am impatient to be there. I shall
 
 THE OLD HOME. 187 
 
 ride part of the distance. Mr. Elliot will tell 
 you all about it." 
 
 '' There are some places between here and 
 there you will all enjoy seeing," responded 
 the leader of the party. " I shall expect to 
 hear from Austen ville Saturday, and we will 
 camp over Sunday, or find accommodations 
 at some hotel. Monday, we will join Harold, 
 and .spend the week with him, if this arrange- 
 ment pleases you." 
 
 No one could object, yet many regretful 
 looks followed Harold as he left them, glad 
 to be alone, that he might take counsel with 
 himself. The thought of visiting the haunts 
 of his early life moved him deeply. lie 
 wended his way through the villages and past 
 the houses he remembered so well, when he 
 saw them for the first time ; but they wore a 
 different aspect to him now, than when, 
 friendless and homeless, he had gone on, 
 scarce knowing whither he went. He saw 
 some of the very men with whom he had then 
 talked ; yet to his keener vision, their faces 
 were not the same.
 
 188 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 He stopped for the night at a plain coun- 
 try tavern where he had bought a bowl of 
 bread and milk, and the next night he stood 
 by the rude dwelling he had called home. 
 The cars brought him withim five miles of the 
 place, and he had walked this distance with 
 hurried steps. 
 
 The house was tenantless. The grass was 
 growing up to the very threshold of the door, 
 which stood ajar. The fire-place, with the 
 heavy iron dogs, was as he had left it ; but 
 the stove had been removed. A table and 
 two chairs were all which remained of the 
 scanty furniture ; every article of which he 
 could enumerate. 
 
 The loft, which had served as his sleeping- 
 room, contained only a box filled with the 
 treasures collected in his childhood, and 
 which no one else had considered of any 
 value. Here, his heart flooded with memo- 
 ries of events which seemed to him more like 
 dreams than realities, he kneeled down and 
 thanked God for the mercies which were 
 crowning his life.
 
 THE OLD HOME. 189 
 
 He would not have chosen that any one 
 should know of his coming ; but it was neces- 
 sary that he should have food, which could 
 be most easily obtained of a neighbor. 
 
 " Give you some supper, Harold ! Of 
 course I will and be glad to," exclaimed the 
 woman to whom he made his request. " I 
 watched you coming down the road, and I 
 thought to myself, ' If that ain't Harold 
 Dorsey, I don't know him,' 'though you've 
 changed a good deal in your looks. 'We've 
 wondered about you every day since you 
 went aAvay, and wished we could know how 
 you fared." 
 
 "I have fared well," he answered. "I 
 have a good home and good friends." 
 
 " You don't say you've found out who you 
 belonged to, and gone to live with them." 
 
 " No, ma'am ; but God raised up friends 
 for me and sent me to them." 
 
 " Well, it's strange. But come in, and I'll 
 get you some supper. You'll stay with us 
 to-night. We shall be glad to have you, and 
 as much longer as you stop 'round here."
 
 190 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 : ' Thank you, but I intended to stay in the 
 old house. I can make a bed of boughs." 
 
 " We'll see about that. Here comes hus- 
 band and the boys." 
 
 All glad to see Harold Dorsey, and glad to 
 hear of his good fortune. The best the house 
 afforded was set before him, and his plans for 
 the night were completely overruled. 
 
 " There has been a good deal of talk about 
 Mr. Dorsey since he died," said Mr. An- 
 drews. " People have conjectured strange 
 things. I never knew what to make of his 
 living alone as he did, and it seems stranger 
 to me all the time. The family that moved 
 in ransacked the house from garret to cellar, 
 but I never heard as they found anything of 
 any consequence. There might be such a 
 thing as Mr. Dorsey's leaving a paper to 
 explain matters for you." 
 
 " I don't think he would. It would not be 
 like him to do it." 
 
 "Well, maybe not. You know about him 
 better than I do. We always felt sorry for 
 you, and wished we could help you, but there
 
 THE OLD HOME. 191 
 
 never seemed any reason for interfering, that 
 would justify us." 
 
 " I don't know how any one could have in- 
 terfered between me and Mr. Dorsey, unless 
 it was some one who had a claim on me. I 
 had enough to eat, drink, and wear ; and a 
 shelter from the cold." 
 
 " But you ought to have gone to school." 
 
 ** I wanted to go. Mr. Dorsey taught me 
 a good deal, and now I study, every day, 
 when I am at home. I found a home with 
 two old people, Mr. and Mrs. Peavey, who 
 took me in. I live with them, and do what I 
 can for them." 
 
 " Do you work on a farm ? " 
 
 For answer to this question, Harold de- 
 scribed his position in Austen ville, giving due 
 credit to Mr. Elliot, who was remembered as 
 a miserable drunkard. 
 
 "And you say he is a Christian man, 
 trusted, and looked up to," remarked Mr. 
 Andrews. 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Well, that's the strangest of all. Why,
 
 192 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 I've seen him when he was as pitiful a look- 
 ing object as I ever saw anywhere, and he 
 hadn't a place to lay his head. And he talks 
 in meeting, and leads in prayer ! I wish he'd 
 give us a talk. We've been trying to have 
 meetings in the school-house, this summer, 
 and sometimes we get quite a company to- 
 gether." 
 
 "I expect Mr. Elliot here Monday, with 
 four others ; two young men, and two boys. 
 AVe are all going to stay until Saturday, and 
 perhaps longer. "We want to explore the 
 woods together." 
 
 " I wish they were coming to-morrow, but 
 perhaps you can help us Sunday. How is it 
 with you ? Are you a Christian ? " 
 
 " I hope I am. I am trying to live accord- 
 ing to the Bible." 
 
 " That is right. You couldn't tell me any 
 better news. I neglected religion too long, 
 but I am trying to make up for it as well as 
 I can." 
 
 " Better tell Harold what set you to think- 
 ing about it," now said Mrs. Andrews.
 
 THE OLD HOME. 193 
 
 " I will, for he ought to know," was re- 
 plied. " Do you remember telling our Ben 
 that you had promised Mr. Dorsey never to 
 look in a Bible till you was sixteen years 
 old?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I do remember telling him." 
 
 "Well, he came home and told us of it, 
 and he said he wouldn't have made such a 
 promise to anybody. He would read the 
 Bible when he wanted to ; and after that, he 
 used to be looking into the big Bible pretty 
 often. Finally he read it aloud, Sundays, 
 and by and by, he started up to go to meet- 
 ing. He walked six miles and back again, 
 for the sake of hearing a sermon ; and he 
 wouldn't have done that if he hadn't cared a 
 good deal about it." 
 
 " I would have walked twice that distance, 
 if I could have gone, when I lived here with 
 Mr. Dorsey. I used to wonder and wonder 
 what a meeting was like. But I interrupted 
 you." 
 
 " No matter if you did. Good news can 
 wait. Ben is a Christian, and he is away at 
 
 13
 
 194 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 work this summer, to earn money, so he can 
 go to school next winter. He aint satisfied 
 not to know any more than he can learn right 
 'round here. We expect him to-morrow 
 night, to stay over Sunday, and help about 
 the meeting. We shall expect to hear from 
 you too. He says it was what you told him 
 that made him want to read the Bible ; and 
 his reading it made his mother and me read 
 it, and that, with God's grace, made us try 
 to live Christian lives. I hope all the boys 
 will be brought in, and I expect they will. 
 Wife and I are thinking of joining the 
 church." 
 
 "And all this good came of my not being 
 allowed to read the Bible." 
 
 "It seems as though it did, Harold." 
 " Then I could afford to wait ; but that 
 doesn't make it any better for Mr. Dorsey." 
 " You must leave that with God." 
 " Yes, sir ; I do ; and I leave all the mys- 
 tery about myself with him too." 
 
 ' That is best, 'though it is right for you 
 to want to know," replied Mr. Andrews.
 
 THE OLD HOME. 195 
 
 The boys waited for an opportunity to talk 
 with Harold Dorsey, which, however, did 
 not come until the next morning, when they 
 sat together in the old stoop and watched the 
 fast falling rain. 
 
 " Wasn't you glad to get away from Mr. 
 Dorsey?" asked one. 
 
 "I don't think I was really glad," replied 
 Harold. " I didn't know what was before 
 me, and he was all I had : but I am better 
 off now than I should have been if he had 
 lived." 
 
 " The house and land belong to you. He 
 held it in trust for you. Didn't father tell 
 you?" 
 
 " No." 
 
 " Perhaps he thought you knew about it. 
 It aint a very valuable piece of property, but 
 it is better than nothing." 
 
 " How came it to be mine ? Who cared 
 enough for me to give me even so much ? " 
 
 It was easy to ask himself these questions, 
 to which his wildest conjectures could frame 
 no replies.
 
 196 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 Before noon the sky cleared, and he went 
 again to the house which was to him the one 
 connecting link with the past. He kindled a 
 fire on the hearth ; and as the long tongues 
 of flame leaped up the chimney, he saw them 
 as he had seen them in his childhood, when 
 he sat, silent and thoughtful, opposite the 
 man who had claimed from him unquestion- 
 ing obedience. 
 
 Mrs. Andrews came over with two of her 
 sons, and before night-fall, floors, ceiling, and 
 windows were thoroughly cleaned. 
 
 w It begins to look as though somebody 
 could live here," remarked the woman, sur- 
 veying the result of their afternoon's work. 
 " It is a rough place, but it is better than 
 a good many have ; and I know a family that 
 would be glad to come in here and keep 
 things from going to pieces. They live now 
 in a shanty that answers for summer, but as 
 soon as it comes cold weather they can't stay 
 there. It is Beloy's family. You used to 
 see Beloy, the chopper, didn't you." 
 
 " I used to see him in the woods some-
 
 THE OLD HOME. 197 
 
 times, but Mr. Dorsey told me not to speak 
 to him. Isn't he a bad man ?" 
 
 " He was bad when he drank liquor ; but he 
 has given that up, and is trying to do as well 
 as he can. He comes to the meetings in the 
 school-house, with his wife and children, 
 'though they have hardly decent clothes to 
 wear. If you see him to-morrow, I hope 
 you will talk with him. It will do him 
 good. He remembers you." 
 
 No one in the vicinity who had ever seen 
 Harold Dorsey, or heard his name, but re- 
 membered him ; and the expectation that 
 he would be present brought a larger num- 
 ber than usual to the little school-house on 
 Sunday morning. 
 
 The meeting was opened with prayer by 
 Mr. Andrews ; after which his son read a 
 chapter from the Bible, with explanatory 
 notes ; adding a few words of his own, ex- 
 pressing his trust in God, and his determi- 
 nation to continue in the way he had chosen. 
 
 The silence which followed was broken by 
 a strong, sweet voice commencing a familiar
 
 198 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 hymn ; and to the surprise of all present, 
 other voices joined in this service of song. 
 They had not thought it possible to have 
 singing ; but there are few in this favored 
 land of ours who have not, at some time in 
 their lives, learned the melody of psalm or 
 hymn. 
 
 " That was good," said Jaques Beloy, 
 springing to his feet. " I didn't suppose I 
 could sing ; but I did, and I feel better for 
 it. I want you all to pray for me, and I 
 want somebody to pray for me right here, 
 that I may keep sober, and have my sins 
 washed away in the Saviour's blood." 
 
 The same voice which had led the singing 
 was heard in prayer, touching hearts all un- 
 used to feelings of contrition. Every eye was 
 then turned to Harold Dorsey, who arose and 
 related something of his experience during 
 the time he had been absent from these 
 scenes. He told of his lonely, wearisome 
 journey ; of his call at Mr. Peavey's, and 
 the instruction lie had there received in 
 regard to keeping the Sabbath. Without
 
 THE OLD HOME. 199 
 
 reflecting unkindly upon Mr. Dorsey, he 
 referred to the fact that he had received 
 no religious instruction during his boyhood. 
 At first he spoke with some hesitation, but 
 as he continued, words came apace. He 
 described the meetings in Austen vi lie, and 
 closed with an appeal to all present to come 
 out on the Lord's side. 
 
 " Now sing another hymn. Sing another 
 hymn," exclaimed Beloy, the chopper, and 
 a hymn was sung with a will. 
 
 Then all were invited to remain at Sun- 
 day-school, and as there was a class of boys 
 who had come for the first time, and who 
 had no teacher, Harold was persuaded to 
 take them in charge. To say that he inter- 
 ested them would be giving both him and 
 them small credit. They listened admir- 
 ingly, while new aspirations awoke within 
 them, and new resolves inspired them. 
 
 rf Will you be here next Sunday?" asked 
 the most untutored boy of all when school 
 was dismissed. 
 
 " I cannot tell ; but if I am here I shall
 
 200 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 want to see every one of you," was re- 
 plied. 
 
 ' You will ; and if you aint here perhaps 
 we better come. We shall learn something, 
 and we need to bad enough. Ben Andrews 
 wants us to come, and he knows sights more 
 than the rest of us. We promised him we'd 
 come to the sermon at five o'clock." 
 
 The time between Sunday-school and the 
 preaching service was spent by Harold Dor- 
 sey with this same Ben Andrews, who, al- 
 though several years his senior, had seen less 
 of the world than himself. 
 
 " It is going to be up-hill work for me, 
 but I must have an education," said the 
 young man. ft Studying the Bible gave me 
 a hint of what there is to be learned from 
 other books, and I shall never be satisfied 
 till I am fairly started in school." 
 
 " You will not be satisfied then. There 
 will always be something to read and some- 
 thing to study; but, if you are a Christian, 
 you will be willing to do the most you can, 
 and then wait for the rest. I always wanted
 
 THE OLD HOME. 201 
 
 to know about a great many things ; but the 
 more I know the more I want to. The world 
 grows larger. But there is one comfort 
 for us all : anybody can study the Bible, 
 and there is something of everything in that. 
 Miss Austen says it is like a mine. The 
 more you study it, the more it gives you." 
 
 " I know that, but I need more .help than 
 you do. You have gained more in a year 
 and a half than I could in twice that time." 
 
 The arrival of Harold Dorsey, and the fact 
 that he had taken part in the school-house 
 meeting, induced many to come at five 
 o'clock who had not been present in the 
 morning. They wished to see the visitor, 
 and observe for themselves the changes in 
 his appearance. The clergyman, who had 
 in vain sought to win Mr. Dorsey's confi- 
 dence, was particularly interested in one so 
 long shut in from outside influences. A 
 short conversation served to increase this 
 interest, and with the promise to call upon 
 the young man " at home," Mr. Colburn left 
 him.
 
 202 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Andrews insisted upon his 
 stopping with them until his friends arrived ; 
 but early Monday morning he established 
 himself in the shady old kitchen, and began 
 preparations for the comfort of his expected 
 guests. By noon the cupboard contained 
 some plain crockery, borrowed for the occa- 
 sion, while on the shelves of the cool pantry 
 were loaves of bread and pats of butter, 
 milk, cheese, and doughnuts. As for meat, 
 it was to be obtained from the woods, or 
 neighboring sheep-folds and poultry-yards. 
 
 Living under a roof, even here, would not 
 be exactly " camping out," but Harold judged 
 rightly that his plans would meet with appro- 
 bation. There were seats and beds for all, 
 and nothing could have been more delight- 
 ful to the travellers than the reception tend- 
 ered them. 
 
 " I didn't know how much I cared about 
 you till after you were gone," said Mason. 
 " It seemed as though half our company had 
 left us. Mr. Elliot has been just splendid ; 
 but he couldn't fill his place and yours too."
 
 THE OLD HOME. 203 
 
 " We couldn't think of going any further 
 without you," added Clarke ; Dick Fielding 
 and Robert Bumstead endorsing this asser- 
 tion. 
 
 "I am glad to be missed," was Harold's 
 modest reply. " But I wanted to come here 
 alone, and I have gained a great deal by it. 
 I found friends where I should not have 
 looked for them. Everybody is good to me." 
 
 f? Why shouldn't people be good to you ? 
 Aunt Margaret says we generally get as we 
 give, and I have found that true." 
 
 " As a rule that holds good the world over, 
 although there are some exceptions," re- 
 sponded Mr. Elliot. " But, Harold, you 
 have done wonders here. You have made 
 the old house far plcusanter than I ever 
 saw it before. It is really inviting. We 
 shall almost forget that we are roughing it." 
 
 ft I am glad you like it. Mrs. Andrews 
 and the boys helped me. She filled the 
 pantry shelves, and we shall have fried 
 chicken from her kitchen in the morning. 
 After that you can decide for yourselves
 
 204 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 what you would like. Now that I know 
 the house belongs to me, I begin to feel as 
 though I was entertaining company for my- 
 self. You are the first company I ever had, 
 and you are very welcome." 
 
 In response to this Clarke Stuart proposed 
 " three cheers for our host," which were 
 given with a hearty good will.
 
 THE CHOPPER. 205 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 THE CHOPPER. 
 
 PEOPLE were curious in regard to the 
 inmates of the Dorsey house, and the 
 neighborhood was rife with gossip, much of 
 which had no foundation in fact. New 
 theories were broached, to account for the 
 building of the house ; while Harold's pres- 
 ence revived the interest which had been 
 felt in him and the man he had called 
 "grandsir." 
 
 Many questions were asked Mr. Elliot, 
 and he was often urged to express an opin- 
 ion, which he invariably declined to do. 
 He applied to the proper authorities to se- 
 cure the legal rights of his young friend, 
 and devoted a half-day to making a thorough 
 search for any papers which might possibly 
 have been left by Mr. Dorsey. With this 
 his efforts were at an end. Whatever secret
 
 206 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 had been in the old man's keeping was buried 
 in a lonely grave. 
 
 " I am satisfied that it should be so," said 
 Harold. "I am better satisfied than ever 
 before. This visit has given me a feeling 
 of rest and contentment I should not have 
 had without it. I have nothing to do now 
 but to enjoy all I can, and help others to 
 enjoy every minute of the time." 
 
 " That is all ; and you can stay over 
 another Sabbath, even if I return to Austen- 
 ville this week. I am waiting to hear from 
 there before deciding when I shall go. If 
 Mrs. Andrews can cook for you all, and you 
 choose to spend another week here, you can- 
 not do better than to stay. There is plenty 
 of game in the woods, twenty miles away, 
 and with the experience they have had the 
 young men and boys are able to take care of 
 themselves." 
 
 "Yes, sir; but I am thinking of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Peavey. They will miss me." 
 
 " Of course they will, but they will be 
 glad to have you enjoy a rest."
 
 THE CHOPPER. 207 
 
 In doors, or out, as they pleased ; no life 
 could have suited them better. Sunbrowned 
 and roughly dressed, they might have been 
 mistaken for a party of back-woodsmen, yet 
 their gentlemanly manners commended them 
 to the favor of all who saw them. Under 
 Mr. Elliot's care they had grown strong and 
 vigorous ; able to accomplish far more than 
 they would have presumed to- attempt when 
 they left Austenville. 
 
 Mason had not thought of headache. He 
 was " all right," every way, ready for any- 
 thing which might offer. He had made 
 friends with Jaques Beloy, who found him 
 in the woods and told him where to fish for 
 trout. Robert was his constant companion ; 
 alert and watchful, yet quiet and undemon- 
 strative. Dick Fielding studied the struc- 
 ture of plants and flowers he had never seen 
 before, and learning from Harold the me- 
 dicinal properties of some used by a man 
 claiming to be an Indian doctor. 
 
 ri> You don't propose to practise in his 
 line?" said Clarke Stuart, after listening
 
 208 HAROLD DORSEY'S FORTUM;. 
 
 to a recital of assertions made by this doc- 
 tor. 
 
 " I presume not, but I should like to know 
 what he knows," was replied. "Such knowl- 
 edge could not come amiss." 
 
 " Knowing what he knows, you would pos- 
 sess a large fund of knowledge not set down 
 in books," remarked Mr. Elliot. w I have 
 met the man, and it seemed to me he could 
 name every plant and vine that grows. Of 
 course he knows nothing of botany as a sci- 
 ence, but one who wished to make a complete 
 list of the flora of this part of the State could 
 not do better than to engage his services. 
 He may be a quack in medicine ; but under 
 favorable conditions he would have made a 
 first-class botanist. I was sometimes sur- 
 prised to see how almost lovingly he would 
 bend over a floAver, before disturbing the 
 root, which he wished for his medicine- 
 bag." 
 
 " I think everybody knows something that's 
 worth knowing, Mr. Elliot ; and perhaps we 
 shouldn't know any more than a real igno-
 
 THE CHOPPER. 209 
 
 rant man, if we hadn't had any better chance,'' 
 said Robert, blushing at his own boldness in 
 thus expressing an opinion. 
 
 " I presume we should not," was replied. 
 " But few men and women can rise above cir- 
 cumstances, and with resolute will adopt a 
 course of action requiring the very best ef- 
 forts of which they are capable. It is easier 
 to drift with the current, than to take up the 
 oars and row as for one's life. There are 
 thousands of lives running to waste, for the 
 want of energy and application." 
 
 " Do you suppose the man has ever lived 
 who did all of which he was capable ? " asked 
 Dick Fielding. 
 
 "I presume not, yet some have accom- 
 plished what seemed to others impossible. I 
 can think now what I might have done, and 
 wish vainly that I could live over the last 
 twenty years. I might have been somebody, 
 while I am now only a poor man, doing 
 what I can to make amends for misspent 
 time." 
 
 With these words Mr. Elliot walked away, 
 u
 
 210 HAKOLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 and was seen no more until the horn sounded 
 to call truants home. 
 
 " I am beginning to feel that I have been 
 a very useless member of society," said 
 Clarke Stuart when left alone with his cousin. 
 "Everybody connected with Austenville 
 seems to be having what Mason calls a tiptop 
 time, and yet everybody is hard at work, and 
 planning to do more in the future. Aunt 
 Margaret never hurries, but she is always 
 busy; and as for Edward, he has grown 
 almost out of my knowledge. Between you 
 and me, I think he is a splendid fellow." 
 
 " All that, and more. Until I saw him in 
 Austenville, I never realized how grand a 
 thing religion is. He lives it every day, and 
 not a man or woman in the place but would 
 trust him with uncounted treasures. Every 
 bale of goods he sells will be a voucher for 
 his honesty. He has set us an example we 
 shall do well to follow." 
 
 " You are right, Dick. He has, but I have 
 never thought much about religion." 
 
 I have thought a great deal about it, and
 
 THE CHOPPER. 211 
 
 when Mason asked me if I was a Christian, I 
 wished I could answer him more confidently 
 in the affirmative. I think our excursion has 
 been pleasanter than it would have been 
 without the morning and evening prayer ; 
 and, Clarke, it is time for us both to con- 
 sider seriously our relations to God." 
 
 n I am ready to acknowledge that ; but the 
 truth is, it seems to me religion would fit me 
 awkwardly. I have never been very thor- 
 oughly in earnest about anything, unless it 
 was a day's pleasure. Our loss of property 
 startled me from a sense of ease and security, 
 and the last fortnight has deepened the convic- 
 tions of duty which have been growing upon 
 me since then. I have wished that I could 
 identify myself with the mill ; but Edward 
 s:iys there is no place for me, and I am not 
 sure that I should be satisfied to live so far 
 out of the world. The winters must be very 
 dull." 
 
 M Unless one's time is pleasantly occu- 
 pied. Think of living here, without seeing 
 the faces of a dozen different people in as
 
 212 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 many months. To Harold, Austenville is a 
 large place." 
 
 " He will make his mark in a larger place. 
 He is growing fast, now that he comes to the 
 front as our host, and we are faring like kings. 
 I don't wonder Mrs. Andrews is astonished 
 at our capacities for eating." 
 
 These days in the forest were days to be 
 remembered. The sky was bluer than else- 
 where ; the clouds took on more picturesque 
 forms ; while in harmony with beauty appeal- 
 ing to the sight was the music of the wind 
 sweeping through stately pines. 
 
 Harold recounted his experience in trap- 
 ping ; pointing to the upturned stumps, be- 
 neath which he had found many a burrow, 
 whose occupants were lured to their death. 
 He took them to the stream, on the banks of 
 which he had caught minks, whose dark, soft 
 fur Mr. Dorsey had sold for a high price. 
 
 Once he had killed a moose, which \vas 
 considered a great feat by the man who was 
 with him, but Mr. Dorsey did not even say 
 that he had done well.
 
 THE CHOPPER. 213 
 
 "One winter, there were several moose- 
 yards, not very far north of us," he remarked. 
 
 "What do you mean by yards?" asked 
 Mason. 
 
 " I mean the winter-quarters of the moose, 
 among the hard-Avood trees, where they can 
 feed. Their upper lip is so long and strong, 
 they can pull down the branches of trees with 
 it, and then hold them with their fore-legs 
 while they strip off the twigs and bark. They 
 tread down the snow very hard doing this, and 
 when they have taken all they can reach, they 
 tread down new snow, and feed on new trees." 
 
 " How many are there in a yard ? " 
 
 " Generally, a male and female and two 
 fawns. The hunters know where to look for 
 them, but as the woods are cut down, their 
 numbers grow less. When they go to a 
 stream to drink, they take the same path day 
 after day, and sometimes they are caught in a 
 slip-noose, fastened to a young tree bent 
 down in their path. An old hunter can tell 
 the minute he sees it, if a tree has been 
 cropped by a moose. Life in the woods
 
 214 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 makes one quick to observe everything around 
 him." 
 
 " You are quick to observe." 
 
 "Xot so quick as many. I used to think I 
 learned slowly, although I had nothing else 
 to do." 
 
 " The acuteness of the senses under sharp 
 training is astonishing," said Dick Fielding. 
 " I have read of instances which seemed in- 
 credible, yet I presume they may have been 
 true." 
 
 " I should not doubt anything in that line. 
 What would be impossible to us is easy to 
 one who has been trained to close watchful- 
 ness. Necessity drives people to strange 
 shifts, and Mr. Dorsey used to say that real 
 wants are very few." 
 
 " I suppose that means life can be sustained 
 on very little ; but such living dwarfs the in- 
 tellect and the heart. A comfortable house, 
 with pleasant surroundings, and plenty of 
 good substantial food, without undue anxiety 
 in regard to it, is essential to living at one's 
 best."
 
 THE CHOPPER 215 
 
 "Then you ought to be doing your best 
 right along," said Mason, in response to his 
 brother. " We have enough to eat, and I 
 don't know of anybody who is anxious about 
 it, unless Mrs. Andrews and Harold are. I 
 am growing just as fast as I can, and I guess 
 we all are." 
 
 These remarks called forth shouts of laugh- 
 ter. It was so easy to laugh when all were 
 happy ; so easy to smile when all were at 
 ease. Yet these pleasure-seekers were some- 
 times confronted with stern realities. They 
 made a visit to the shanty where Jaques 
 Beloy had lived with his family for three 
 years, through summer's heat and winter's 
 cold. There, two babies had been born, and 
 there they would have remained, had not some 
 new thoughts found place in the father's heart. 
 
 " Why didn't you ever tell me about God 
 and the Bible?" he asked Harold, one day, 
 as he leaned upon his axe and looked up into 
 the young man's face. 
 
 "Because I didn't know. I couldn't tell 
 you," was replied.
 
 216 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "I've seen plenty that did know. ' Why 
 didn't they tell a poor fellow like me, that 
 was just doing bad all the time, and not 
 knowing any better. It makes heaps of 
 difference to me and my poor wife, that I've 
 dragged 'round all these years, and not help- 
 ing her to know what she ought to. I haint 
 seen a man in the woods since I turned 
 'round, but what I've told of the good way; 
 and would you believe it, Harold ! some of 
 them say they've heard it all before and don't 
 care. It's strange how they don't care. I 
 couldn't help it. I tell my wife and children ; 
 and when we talk about it we feel like rich 
 folks." 
 
 " It makes people rich ; because, no matter 
 how we are here, we shall be rich in heaven." 
 
 " But we are rich here," urged the chopper. 
 "Aint a man rich when he has enough for 
 himself and them that belong to him ? I can 
 earn big wages every day, and spend it for 
 what we need ; and won't that make me rich ? 
 My wife is tidy and as good managing as 
 any ; and she's that happy she don't get tired."
 
 THE CHOPPER. 217 
 
 "You will never drink liquor again, Mr. 
 Beloy." 
 
 "Will I?* Sooner will I die. Don't you 
 fear for me. Mr. Elliot's been talking to me 
 about the right way. He has done as bad as 
 I, and worse, because he knew better." 
 
 " He is doing well now, Mr. Beloy. Every- 
 body in Austenville respects him." 
 
 " And you, too, he says. You was always 
 a good boy, and I'm glad of your good luck. 
 We're waiting now for you to find out how 
 you come to be set down here in the woods 
 with Mr. Dorsey. They say the house is 
 yours. It aint much to have, but it's a roof 
 over your head when you want to live under 
 it." 
 
 " It would be more comfortable for you 
 than the house you are living in now. I 
 should not ask you much rent, and you 
 could occupy it as long as you please." 
 
 " How much would you ask ? " inquired 
 the chopper, with a forethought quite unusual 
 to him. 
 
 It did not require long to settle this matter,
 
 218 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 and when both declared themselves satisfied, 
 Harold went his way, leaving a man who 
 could hardly realize what it would be to live 
 in a " real house." 
 
 " We have not given him the credit he de- 
 serves," remarked Mr. Elliot when this con- 
 versation had been reported. "He was 
 always called a bad man, but he knew nothing 
 beyond providing for the immediate physical 
 wants of himself and family, and gratifying 
 his appetite for strong drink. There is not 
 much about your house to be injured, and it 
 may be that he will improve it. A sober 
 man must do something in the long winter 
 evenings. He cannot sit idle for hours at a 
 time. He must be employed in some way. 
 I find that I am getting tired of so much 
 leisure. I must go back to Austenville and 
 go to work. Everything is going on well 
 there, and I could be spared until next week, 
 but it is best that I should go. I am anxious 
 to see Jessie, and I have decided to be at- 
 home Saturday night ; but I advise you to 
 stay longer."
 
 THE CHOPPER. 219 
 
 All regretted his leaving, yet no one 
 wished to return with him. They were 
 anxious to attend the school-house meeting, 
 which Mrs. Andrews was sure would be 
 large ; because " everybody expected to hear 
 good singing, and there's nothing like that 
 for keeping folks interested that don't care 
 for the talking or praying." 
 
 " Can all five of you sing? " she asked. 
 
 " Yes, ma'am, we can all sing first rate, and 
 you shall hear from us to-morrow," answered 
 Mason. 
 
 His companions were ready to redeem this 
 promise, and the day was in accord with its 
 duties. 
 
 " I would not have missed this morning for 
 all the rest of our trip," said Clarke Stuart. 
 " I have been feeling that we are shut out 
 from the world and shut in to heaven. 
 Harold, how long did it take you to make up 
 your mind to be a Christian? 
 
 " Do you mean how long was it after I 
 knew about God, before I was ready to love 
 and serve him ? "
 
 220 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Perhaps that is what I mean." 
 
 " I loved Him the minute I knew He 
 loved me. I don't see how anybody can help 
 loving Him." 
 
 " But being a Christian is more than loving. 
 It is living according to certain rules, and 
 giving up your own will to the will of God.'' 
 
 " Mr. Elliot says it is loving God, and 
 living in real earnest honest and true in 
 everything." 
 
 Thus closed the conversation upon this 
 subject ; but in the meeting, that day, there 
 was no more devout worshipper than Clarke 
 Stuart. The simple service was more im- 
 pressive than any he had before witnessed ; 
 while, with others, he paid tearful tribute to 
 the earnest words spoken by his young 
 brother. 
 
 The singing charmed all who heard it. 
 Even the singers themselves were touched by 
 the melody of their own voices. The en- 
 tire congregation remained to Sunday-school, 
 and after an hour's study of the Bible, a re- 
 quest was made for more singing.
 
 THE CHOPPER. 221 
 
 The people were lifted out of the ordinary 
 routine of their lives. For the time, they 
 forgot care and weariness, and were vaguely 
 conscious of a nature whose needs were here 
 recognized. Some had not attended church 
 for years. Living remote from any place of 
 public worship, they had allowed the sab- 
 baths to come and go unnoticed until, as they 
 frankly acknowledged, they were no better 
 than heathen. 
 
 n I used to feel bad about never going to 
 meeting, but I couldn't help it," said one 
 woman. " We didn't keep any horse, and 
 I couldn't walk five miles and back Sundays, 
 after I'd worked hard all the week. It's no 
 way to bring up a family, and I always knew 
 it. But my husband didn't see things as I 
 did, and so we've gone on till this summer, 
 when Ben Andrews started up to have a 
 meeting here in the schgol-house. I made 
 up my mind then that we should all come ; 
 and we have, and it's rested me all through." 
 
 "The meetings have done a sight of good," 
 responded a neighbor. " \Ve must keep
 
 222 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 them up right along too. We can't expect 
 another like what Ave've had to-day. The 
 young folks have learned some of the hymns, 
 and they'll do the best they can with the 
 singing. Then there's Belo} r and his wife, 
 that have got as sweet voices as you will 
 
 f 
 
 hear anywhere. The meetings give me 
 something to think of all the week. I wish 
 Harold Dorsey was going to stay with us, 
 and then we should be sure of a meeting." 
 
 Harold did not wish to remain, yet it was 
 with positive regret that he closed the door 
 of his house and hastened to join his com- 
 panions, who had thoughtfully left him alone 
 the last half hour he was to spend there*. A 
 wagon was to take their baggage by the road, 
 while they walked through the woods. 
 
 Jaques Beloy, who had watched for their 
 coming, asked that he might shake hands 
 with each of them ; wished them a prosper- 
 ous journey and a glad coming back next 
 year; then watched them until they were 
 lost to sight among the trees, when he said 
 to himself:
 
 THE CHOPPER. 223 
 
 " I'll be nearer like them next year. I've 
 got God and the Bible, and I can sing ; that's 
 one side. I can work and earn money, and 
 not spend it for drink; that's the other 
 side."
 
 224 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 MISS SPERRY'S COUSIN. 
 
 ME. BUMSTEAD met them at the sta- 
 tion, declaring, however, that they 
 needed a voucher for their identity. 
 
 " Kobert, lad, is it really you?" he asked 
 in a choked voice, as the boy sprang to his 
 arms. " You have grown that much, and 
 your cheeks are so tanned, the mother '11 be 
 looking twice before she takes you in. AVe 
 have missed you all," he added, turning to 
 the others. " The weeks have seemed longer 
 to us than they have to you." 
 
 " They have been the shortest weeks of 
 my life," responded Clarke Stuart. 
 
 " Shortest to me too," said each and all. 
 
 "And you have been to Harold's old 
 home." 
 
 " Yes, sir, and he entertained us royally.
 
 MISS SPERRY'S COUSIN. 225 
 
 Ordinary life will seem tame to us now. We 
 have been living on the heights." 
 
 " We have been living not very low down," 
 responded Mr. Bumstead. "We knew you 
 were having the best of times ; and when Mr. 
 Elliot came, he said we needn't think strange 
 if you stayed a week longer." 
 
 "Harold thought best to come, so we 
 hurried on Avith him as fast as steam would 
 bring us." 
 
 " Then you had enough of walking." 
 
 " Enough for once." 
 
 "Well, it's not best to make the play-times 
 too long. There was no danger of that with 
 me when I was a boy ; but nowadays it is 
 different. See what a promise there is of a 
 rich harvest, 'though the best harvest I know 
 of is coming from our looms. There's not an 
 idle bit of machinery in the mill, week in and 
 week out." 
 
 Just then they had reached descending 
 ground, and the speed of the horses drew 
 attention from other subjects of conversation. 
 
 Mason was silent; thinking of those he 
 
 15
 
 226 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 was so soon to meet, and the well-filled pages 
 of his note-book, as they would be read the 
 coming winter, when he had transferred to it 
 the scrappy notes which had been jotted 
 down from time to time, and which he would 
 fill out at his leisure. He had learned much ; 
 a bit here and a bit there, with many sugges- 
 tions for future inquiry. New scenes had 
 succeeded each other so rapidly, it would be 
 only after many weeks, and perhaps months, 
 that he would recall some pleasant incidents. 
 He was perfectly well ; so that he could 
 " think as long and hard " as he pleased ; and 
 he must make up for lost time as fast as 
 possible. He could take two days' lessons in 
 one, and 
 
 But he was among familiar places : the 
 chimney of the great house in sight, and he 
 almost home. He must postpone the further 
 consideration of his plans until a more con- 
 venient season. 
 
 A confusion of tongues followed the arri- 
 val of the travellers. All were so glad to see 
 them and know that no evil had befallen them.
 
 MISS SPERRY'S COUSIN. 227 
 
 "Where is Harold Dorsey?" asked Miss 
 Austen presently. 
 
 " He took his valise and started for Mr. 
 Peavey's without stopping to speak to any 
 one," replied Mr. Bumstead. 
 
 " I intended he should take tea with us, 
 but the old people will rejoice at the sight of 
 his face, and we have so many, we ought to 
 be willing to spare them one." 
 
 " Ten of us, Aunt Margaret, besides 
 mother." 
 
 "And not too many, even if there were 
 twice ten." 
 
 Mason ran down the walk to meet his brother 
 Edward, to whom he confided the fact that 
 Clarke was getting to be a first-rate fellow. 
 
 "You will see it for yourself," he said 
 decidedly, and the elder brother was quick to 
 note the subtile change which might have es- 
 caped the observation of one less interested. 
 
 As usual, his sisters, Hester and Lilla, 
 claimed his attention ; but his cousins clung 
 to their brother. 
 
 " You have been the only one to look out
 
 228 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 for six girls," exclaimed Mason when they 
 gathered on the piazza after tea. 
 
 "There were eight girls one day," re- 
 sponded Hester. " Jessie and Xorah spent a 
 whole day here, and then all of us except 
 Madge and Xellie, spent a day with each of 
 them, and we had a splendid time. They 
 can do the loveliest things of any girls I ever 
 went to visit." 
 
 " You had so good a time I don't suppose 
 you missed us." 
 
 " Yes we did. We always miss you when 
 you are gone, and we missed Dick and 
 Clarke too. But we knew we couldn't have 
 you, so we made the most of Edward ; and 
 he is as good, as good, almost as good as 
 father was." 
 
 No higher praise than this could be given ; 
 yet the reference to one so dearly loved threw 
 a shade of sadness over the entire company, 
 and all were relieved when Mr. Elliot ap- 
 peared in sight. Clarke and Mason hurried 
 to speak with him, followed soon by Dick 
 Fielding. Greetings were exchanged, ques-
 
 MISS SPERRY'S COUSIN. 229 
 
 tions asked and answered, and comments 
 made upon various events. 
 
 Jessie received a call as she waited for her 
 father, and later, Mason presented himself at 
 the door of Mrs. Rudy's kitchen. 
 
 " I saw you when you came," said Norah. 
 "Haven't you had the grandest time, and 
 didn't you want to stay longer ? " 
 
 w I had a grand time, but I was glad to 
 come hack," he replied. 
 
 " You have lived out of doors, and your 
 face is almost as black as mine, only it is 
 different. But don't you think I have been 
 to Miss Austen's while you were gone, and 
 your sisters and cousins have been here." 
 
 "And you like them, don't you? " 
 
 " Yes, I do. I couldn't help it if I wanted 
 to." 
 
 "They like you too." 
 
 " I don't see how they can." 
 
 rf I don't see how they could help it. But 
 your mother and grandmother arc coming, 
 and they will want their supper. Good-by." 
 
 Mason Stuart bowed to the two women as
 
 230 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 respectfully and courteously as if they had 
 been " ladies," and then passed on ; having 
 brightened the whole evening for them. 
 
 Meanwhile, Harold Dorsey was at home in 
 the little brown cottage, w r here a dainty sup- 
 per was spread for him, and where two old 
 people were made happy by his presence. 
 
 " We didn't know how much w r e depended 
 on you, till you went away," said Mrs. 
 Peavey ; adding quickly : " I don't mean for 
 work, but for company. It seemed as though 
 we had moved away from neighbors, so we 
 couldn't hear what was going on. Miss 
 Greenleaf came over one morning, and w r e 
 persuaded her to stay all day, we were so 
 lonesome." 
 
 " That was a good day," rejoined Mr. 
 Peavey. "She is a nice, sensible girl, and 
 after she had set down to the table and eat with 
 us once, she seemed like our own folks. She 
 told us how she used to work when her mother 
 was alive. She haint had a very easy time." 
 
 " But she has learned a good deal, and that 
 makes up for hard work."
 
 MISS SPKRUY'S COUSIN*. 231 
 
 " Yes, Harold, I suppose it does with such 
 as you are, and I am glad you can learn. 
 Miss Greenleaf says you are a good scholar, 
 as far as you have studied." 
 
 "I mean to be thorough. Mr. Dorsey 
 taught me that. If I didn't do anything well 
 the first time, I was obliged to do it over." 
 
 " You don't say grandsir now as you used 
 to," remarked Mr. Peavey. 
 
 " No, sir, I don't feel like saying it. I am 
 surer than I ever was before that he was not 
 my grandfather, and I prefer to call him Mr. 
 Dorsey. I don't know anything about it for 
 a fact, but I believe he was not related to me." 
 
 Harold now told his friends in regard to 
 the house he could call his own ; after which 
 he heard an account of the growing crops, the 
 early ripening fruit, and the broods of chick- 
 ens which were Mrs. Peavey's care and pride ; 
 in all of which he was interested. 
 
 " We shall have enough and to spare, this 
 year, and I wouldn't believe I could step 
 'round so spry, if I hadn't seen myself do it. 
 I thought I had settled down for life ; but
 
 232 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 now, every once in a while, I find myself 
 planning ahead, the same as if I was a young 
 man. Wife has had first-rate luck, too, with 
 her butter, and Gatchell has engaged all she 
 can make this summer. I guess we belong 
 with Austenville folks." 
 
 "They are good folks to belong with," re- 
 plied Harold smilingly. 
 
 " That's what they are. Mother hain't told 
 you the best of all. We've been to two Sun- 
 day evening meetings. The first time, Mr. 
 Stuart came over after us, and we rode, but 
 the last time we walked. We didn't know 
 but we should be too tired to go all the way, 
 but the thought of the meeting kept us up ; 
 and now we shan't miss another as long as the 
 good Aveather lasts. We followed your path, 
 and we liked it better than riding." 
 
 Neither said anything of the part Mr. 
 Peavey had taken in these meetings ; cheering 
 and encouraging all who heard his earnest 
 words ; but the next day, Mr. Gray told 
 Harold Dorsey that the old man talked " like 
 a messenger sent from God."
 
 MISS SPERRY'S COUSIN. 233 
 
 " He didn't read anything out of the Bible, 
 but he just talked it, verse after verse, until I 
 wondered if he knew it all. He said he was 
 so thankful for such a meeting, he couldn't 
 tell half he felt about it. You were a lucky 
 fellow to get into quarters with him ; and 
 everybody says his wife is as good as he is." 
 
 " She is, and if she was in the habit of 
 talking in meeting she would talk as well as 
 he can." 
 
 " We had some to hear Mr. Peavey, last 
 Sunday, that never came to the meeting be- 
 fore. Mrs. Borine was there with Norah, 
 and there wasn't one in the hall paid closer 
 attention than she did. Mr. Gatchell was 
 there, too, and he hain't been many times. 
 Jane Spcrry came over with her cousin, Es- 
 ther TVctherell ; and my wife and children 
 were there. Miss Austen never did anything 
 better than starting the mill meetings." 
 
 These meetings were talked of in remote 
 parts of the town, and in out of the way 
 houses, whose inmates seldom went bc} T ond 
 their immediate neighborhood. Miss Spcrry
 
 234 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 and her cousin walked the long distance from 
 their home, that they might be present to 
 hear for themselves. Miss Austen and Miss 
 Greenleaf both welcomed them ; the former 
 proposing to provide a way for their return, 
 which kindness was politely declined. 
 
 " We want to feel that we can come again, 
 without being beholden to anybody," said 
 Miss Sperry. " \Ve want to walk both ways, 
 and we've got so much good, I don't expect 
 we shall feel tired." 
 
 So with kind words and smiles of recogni- 
 tion from people they did not often meet, 
 they turned their faces homeward, feeling that 
 ,they were actual members of the community. 
 
 The visit they had received from Miss 
 Greenleaf and Jessie Elliot had been a 
 marked event, supplementing, as it did, Miss 
 Austen's call, and in some ways more helpful. 
 Alice Greenleaf could sympathize with Esther 
 "Wetherell in her desire for an education, tell- 
 ing her of obstacles surmounted greater than 
 any obstructing her path. 
 
 " I've made up my mind, and I may as
 
 MISS SPERRY'S COUSIN. 235 
 
 well speak it first as last," said Miss Sperry, 
 after they had reached home Sabbath evening. 
 " I've been thinking it over a good deal, and 
 I'm sure that the best you can do is to go to 
 work in the mill and earn what you can. If 
 it wasn't that I've got this house, I'd go with 
 you ; but if I went away from under the old 
 roof I shouldn't know how to behave, so I 
 better stay. You can come home Saturday 
 nights, and stay with me till Sunday night. 
 That will hearten me up a little ; and what 
 with my garden and my knitting, the weeks 
 won't seem, very long. Any way, I am ready 
 to try it, and Austenville is the place for 
 you." 
 
 "I think it is," replied Esther. "I should 
 like to go there, but I don't know as there is 
 room for me." 
 
 " You never will know unless you try to 
 find out. May be, if you go there, you'll get, 
 sometime, so you can keep school, the same 
 as Miss Greenleaf does. She says you won't 
 need to learn a great deal more before 
 you can begin with small scholars, and you
 
 236 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUXE. 
 
 won't have to build a house to live in as you 
 go along. We can fix up some, with little 
 shelves, and things that grow out-doors ; and 
 who knows but what we can make our house 
 real pleasant. I'm going to live in the south 
 room this winter, where the sun shines and I 
 can see out. It ain't the way to shut up the 
 best you have, and not get any good of it.. 
 I've made up my mind to that." 
 
 " I'm glad you have, and and I can't 
 tell you how thankful I am for all you've done 
 for me ; but if I live, I will try to show you. 
 When had I better go over to Austenville, to 
 see if I can get work there ? " 
 
 "Go to-morrow morning, as soon as the 
 dew is off. There ain't any use waiting, and 
 dreading it. Just go to the great house and ask 
 for Miss Austen, and when you see her, do 
 your errand. I don't know as she is the one 
 folks go to for work, but I shouldn't ask any- 
 body else." 
 
 Monday morning, Esther "Wetherell's ser- 
 vices were desired nearer home ; so it was not 
 until Tuesday that she went to Austenville ;
 
 MISS SPERRY'S COUSIN. 2.57 
 
 and while Mr. Gray and Harold were talking- 
 together, they saw her going up the walk to 
 the great house. 
 
 "There is Miss Sperry's cousin," remarked 
 the man. "She is a smart girl too. She 
 hasn't had much chance, but she was the best 
 scholar in school as long as she went, and she 
 went till she learned out. I guess she has 
 got some new notions in her head." 
 
 Miss Austen met her kindly, listened to 
 her request, and went at once to Mr. Bum- 
 stead, to ask if a place could be found for her. 
 
 " There is no place for one like her," he re- 
 plied. "I saw her Sunday night, and she 
 ought to have the nicest work there is in the 
 mill. There will be a vacancy in the fall ; but 
 just now I don't see what we can do for her 
 in a way she would like." 
 
 " She may not be particular." 
 
 " But there is a fitness of things, Miss Aus- 
 ten, and it's well to hold to it." 
 
 tf Look at Mr. Elliot, He fits himself to 
 his work, whatever it is, and loses nothing 
 by it."
 
 238 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 
 
 " True for you, but it is a girl we are talk- 
 ing about. However, Miss Austen, I am not 
 the one to oppose you. I will show her what 
 work we have that we are wanting help for, and 
 she can do as she likes about beginning on it. 
 She shall have the first chance at something 
 better, whether she comes now or not." 
 
 The work was far from inviting, and the 
 din of the machinery quite confused her ; but 
 Esther Wetherell had started out resolutely 
 that morning, and she was not to be easily 
 discouraged. Her wages would be small at 
 first, increasing as she gained in skill ; and, 
 at the lowest, more than sufficient to pay her 
 board. She was ready to accept the place at 
 once, and when she found that she could ob- 
 tain board in the same house with Miss Green- 
 leaf, she counted herself fortunate indeed. 
 
 " A dirty place, where you can't wear 
 only the darkest calico dresses ? " said Miss 
 Sperry in response to her cousin's report of 
 the morning's experience. "Well, dirt won't 
 hurt you, and you must expect to creep be- 
 fore you can walk. If you've made up your
 
 MISS SPERUY'S cousix. 239 
 
 mind to climb the hill of Science that I've 
 heard about, it won't do for you to be partic- 
 ular about what shoes you wear. We shall 
 have to be pretty busy to-day and to-morrow ; 
 but take us both together, I guess we can get 
 you ready for Thursday." 
 
 Another was brought under influences which 
 were rapidly developing both the material 
 and mental resources of Austenville, and 
 bringing it into favorable notice. No longer 
 an experiment ; even Mr. Fielding was forced 
 to acknowledge that Margaret Austen had a 
 wise head for business, notwithstanding her 
 " visionary schemes."
 
 240 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 V 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE BRIGHT SIDE. 
 
 ACATION was ended. The visitors 
 at the great house had bidden a reluc- 
 tant good-by to the people and places which 
 had given them so much of pleasure, and a 
 strange stillness pervaded the rooms they 
 had occupied. 
 
 Clarke Stuart and Dick Fielding returned 
 to their homes with deeper convictions of 
 the responsibility of living, and a truer esti- 
 mate of their own abilities. For them there 
 would be no more idling ; no more waiting on 
 the threshold of manhood while others made 
 the way smooth before them. 
 
 Mason, too, had learned new lessons he 
 was eager to put in practice. He was ready 
 to settle down to good hard work ; having 
 gained more than he had lost, as he assured
 
 THE BRIGHT SIDE. 241 
 
 his friend, Kufus Brown, who had been hard 
 at work during his absence. 
 
 "And I have prospered in everything I 
 have undertaken," was responded. "It 
 seems almost too much for me." 
 
 " I don't know why it should. There is 
 just as much for you as for anybody. If you 
 plant corn and take good care of it, you will 
 get a good crop, unless the season is Avorse 
 than usual. If you study, you will learn ; 
 if you dawdle over your books, you will be 
 ignorant. It is all as plain as can be. What 
 we sow, that we shall reap." 
 
 " I know it, Mason ; but I am reaping what 
 I did not sow, and I don't know why I 
 should. Your cousin Dick helped me a 
 good deal after you went away. He heard 
 my lessons sometimes, and explained what I 
 didn't understand. One day, too, Avhen 
 mother was sick, he brought her some medi- 
 cine, such as your grandfather used to give 
 her, and she got well in almost no time." 
 
 " I am glad of that. Dick is going to be 
 the doctor of the family, and Aunt Margaret 
 
 16
 
 242 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 has given him leave to use grandfather's 
 books when he pleases. You are going to 
 school next winter, aren't you ? " 
 
 "I calculate to. Mother thinks we shall 
 have enough to live on, and I had rather eat 
 nothing but corn-bread than not to go to 
 school. I am starving for school." 
 
 " You don't look starving for anything." 
 
 " The starving is inside of my head. It is 
 pretty empty, and I must begin to fill up." 
 
 Mr. Fielding having given a reluctant con- 
 sent that his son should study for the profes- 
 sion of medicine, and ample means having 
 been placed at the young man's disposal, 
 there was no reason for delay in entering 
 upon the preparatory course. He was to fit 
 for college as soon as might be ; while his 
 cousin, Clarke Stuart, engaged as clerk in 
 the commission house which sold the Austen- 
 ville cloth. 
 
 As the evenings lengthened, there were 
 the usual gatherings in Mrs. Stuart's sitting- 
 room, when notes were compared and ques- 
 tions submitted ; but there were vacant
 
 THE BRIGHT SIDE. 243 
 
 places in the circle. True, there were some- 
 times letters read from the absent ones, yet 
 these were poor substitutes for their presence. 
 
 " Margaret has almost broken up our fam- 
 ilies," said Mrs. Fielding, one day when vis- 
 iting her sister. " Two of your boys are 
 gone, and all the one I have is entirely under 
 her management. Margaret was always dif- 
 ferent from other women ; but this last plan 
 of hers eclipses all which have gone be- 
 fore it." 
 
 "I think it does," replied Mrs. Stuart. 
 " Margaret is a remarkable woman. Father 
 always trusted her judgment after she was 
 old enough to understand the relation .of 
 things to each other. She has not broken 
 up my family ; and as for yours, she is giv- 
 ing Dick advantages you would hardly be 
 able to give him yourselves. I think we both 
 have reason to be grateful for what she is 
 doing for our children. I realize it more 
 since I have seen her with Edward ; and I 
 am thankful that Austenville was not allowed 
 to go out of the family."
 
 244 HAROLD DORSEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " I suppose it is all for the best, although 
 I don't see how ; but are you willing your 
 girls should grow up to be like Margaret ? " 
 
 " If you mean in character, I answer, yes. 
 I could desire nothing better for them than 
 that they should be as good, intelligent, and 
 energetic as their Aunt Margaret. You don't 
 begin to appreciate her. Father understood 
 her better than any one else, and he said 
 she had the best head for business in the 
 family." 
 
 " She always flattered father, so that he 
 thought her perfect. He did more for her 
 than he did for us." 
 
 " She did more for him than we did. She 
 devoted herself to him. She gave him the 
 best of the best part of her life, while we 
 were free from all anxiety on his account. 
 She deserves all the good fortune and all the 
 happiness which can come to her. She has 
 had her share of discipline in life, and I hope 
 she will have a full share of recompense. 
 We chose our own lot ; while, in a certain 
 way, hers was meted out to her. We
 
 THE BRIGHT SIDE. 245 
 
 hear that Dick is taking high rank in his 
 classes." 
 
 "I believe he is doing well, but I miss him 
 so much, I could almost call him home. His 
 father needs him in the store, and is some- 
 times sorry he is not there." 
 
 There was no bright side for Mrs. Field- 
 ing. She had felt herself wronged, that her 
 Sister Margaret had been preferred before 
 her in her father's will, and this sister's pros- 
 perity increased her own sense of injury. 
 She, with her husband, were the only per- 
 sons interested who did not rejoice that the 
 venture they had pronounced rash and fool- 
 ish was likely to prove a grand financial suc- 
 cess. Uninfluenced, she, too, might have 
 rejoiced, but the constant complaining to 
 which she was compelled to listen had made 
 the subject intolerable to her. 
 
 On his way from market, Edward Stuart 
 made a short visit at home ; bringing good 
 reports of Clarke, who was giving entire 
 satisfaction to his employer-;. 
 
 " I think he begins to feel that he misrht
 
 246 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 have gained by attending school a year 
 longer, as I advised, but he does not ac- 
 knowledge it." 
 
 " He can go now," replied Mrs. Stuart. 
 " He is not obliged to remain where he is." 
 
 " No, mother, but he will be likely to do 
 so, and perhaps make up for deficiencies by 
 evening study. There is every opportunity 
 for that without overtaxing his strength." 
 
 " I have never been so anxious about his 
 health as about his habits." 
 
 " They are all right, mother, and I believe 
 he has enough of religious principle to with- 
 stand the temptations to which he will be 
 exposed." 
 
 " Do you believe that? " asked the mother 
 joyfully. 
 
 " I do. He has talked with me very 
 frankly, and I believe he is a Christian, al- 
 though he has many doubts and fears." 
 
 M Then let him do as he pleases. I shall 
 not attempt to dictate to him." 
 
 "It will be best not to. He is looking 
 forward to selling our goods, when he has
 
 THE BRIGHT SIDE. 247 
 
 acquired the requisite knowledge of busi- 
 ness ; and that will be a great incentive to 
 him." 
 
 "I trusted to your judgment in the matter, 
 and I shall trust it still. As for Mason, I am 
 glad it is not time for him to decide upon a 
 vocation. I shall have one boy with me for 
 a few years longer." 
 
 " And the best of the three, mother. My 
 irrepressible brother, as I have always called 
 him, has the wisest head and the warmest 
 heart of any boy I know. You can trust 
 him to mark out a path for himself. It will 
 probably be different from what we would 
 choose for him, but it will be tile best for 
 him. Everybody in Austenville holds him 
 in the kindest remembrance. His little talks 
 in our Sunday evening meetings had a great 
 influence." 
 
 "And yours, my son. I have no more to 
 desire for you than what I am sure you will 
 achieve. We are all indebted to your Aunt 
 Margaret beyond our ability to repay." 
 
 " Yes, mother, we are ; more than we can
 
 248 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 repay, and more than we can compute. She 
 seems to me like a dear elder sister, so wise 
 and good, I need no other counsellor. Then 
 she is such a pleasant companion, I am never 
 lonely when with her." 
 
 He was, however, very lonely without her, 
 when she came to her old home to spend a 
 few weeks ; yet what was his loss was gain 
 for many others. 
 
 The doors seemed to open of themselves, 
 that she might pass within. Every article 
 of furniture was in its place, as if waiting to 
 welcome her. There were the same sunny 
 nooks, with vines wreathing picture-frames 
 and vases! Brightly-tinted autumn leaves 
 were arranged in wreaths and crosses, as 
 she had arranged them for years. 
 
 "The girls did all this," said Cousin 
 Rachel. " They said Aunt Margaret would 
 like them, and they and Mason spent last 
 Saturday dusting the library, every book 
 and every shelf." 
 
 " They are very thoughtful ; and here they 
 come to tell me they are glad to see me."
 
 THE BRIGHT SIDE. 249 
 
 They were so glad, they all talked to- 
 gether, each trying to express more than 
 another ; the girls so largely in the majority, 
 that Mason said he would wait for his share 
 of attention until he could have the whole. 
 
 This time came at last, when he could sit 
 down beside his aunt and have a good long 
 talk, just what he desired. He had many 
 questions to ask. He must know particu- 
 larly of Jessie, and Norah, and Robert. 
 
 " Now, Margie, can't you stay with us half 
 of the winter? " he asked. "We want you so 
 much. Couldn't Mr. Bumstead and Edward 
 take care of the mill? I should think they 
 might." 
 
 " They could not very well take care of all 
 the people ; and, besides, I choose to do my 
 own part of the work. You are well cared 
 for here." 
 
 " Yes, Margie, I know that, but we want 
 to see you every day. I suppose, 'though, 
 we must give you up ; but we shall make the 
 most of you while you .stay. I Avish I could 
 go back to Austenville with you, long enough
 
 250 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 to see all the good people. Have Jessie 
 and Norah made lots of beautiful things this 
 fall?" 
 
 "Yes, some beautiful things, and many 
 which are beautiful only because they are 
 useful." 
 
 " And is Miss Greenleaf just the same ? " 
 
 " Just the same, only that she is improv- 
 ing. She has a larger school, and, besides, 
 she hears some lessons in the evening." 
 
 M Does Harold Dorsey recite to her? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And Kobert Bumstead?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 w Is Harold going to stay there always ? " 
 
 " I cannot tell you. I presume, however, 
 that he will not. He may wish to attend 
 school." 
 
 "I wish he could go where Dick is. 
 Wouldn't he make a grand scholar?" 
 
 The young man was sometimes nearly 
 ready to give up his present situation and 
 apply for admission to some school where he 
 could have the privilege of study while work-
 
 THE BRIGHT SIDE. 251 
 
 ing to defray his expenses. But Mr. Elliot 
 advised him to wait until he had at least a 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 " That is not much, but it will give you a 
 feeling of independence, and tide you over a 
 few months. This winter you can be learn- 
 ing here, and I think it will be best for you 
 to stay with us." 
 
 " Then I shall stay," answered Harold 
 simply, and no more was said upon the 
 subject. 
 
 AVhen the Thursday evening meetings 
 were resumed he was among those -most 
 interested ; ready to do his part, and quite 
 surprising his associates by his original re- 
 marks and general intelligence. He had im- 
 proved in his personal appearance. The 
 peculiarities of manner acquired in his for- 
 mer isolated life were fast disappearing. 
 
 " He is getting beyond his business," re- 
 marked Mr. Gray, when some reference had 
 been made to him. "I don't mean that he 
 neglects it, or feels above it, but it ain't what 
 he ought to be doing, and he knows it as
 
 252 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE, 
 
 well as I do. I am satisfied to keep on 
 where I am, because I am doing what I am 
 fitted for ; but it ain't so with Harold. I 
 don't know what I might have been, if Lhad 
 been sent to school and let liquor alone, but 
 if I can pay for my house, and give my chil- 
 dren a decent chance in the world, I won't 
 complain. That's what I told Jane Sperry 
 the other day, and she said that was all I had 
 any right to expect." 
 
 "We have a right to expect all we deserve. 
 I find I am expecting a great deal more than 
 I deserve." 
 
 "You deserve a great deal, Mr. Elliot. I 
 think the same of you I do of Harold. You 
 ain't doing the right kind of work. You 
 ought to be in a larger place." 
 
 " I shall stay here. I came to stay ; and 
 so long as I can earn enough for myself and 
 Jessie I shall find no fault with my work or 
 my wages. What I am I know only too 
 well. What I might have been does not 
 matter to me now." 
 
 rt You might have been one of the first
 
 THE BRIGHT SIDE. 253 
 
 men in the country," said Mr. Gray, half 
 under his breath, as he was left alone. 
 
 Not long after, Mr. Elliot returned to make 
 an explanation. 
 
 " When I said that what I might have been 
 does not matter to me now, I did not mean 
 that I am indifferent to it ; but that, as I can- 
 not recall the past, I can only make the most 
 of what remains to me in life. Xo man can 
 escape the reward of his doings, be they good 
 or evil. I am paying a heavy penalty for sin 
 and folly." 
 
 ff I don't see why you shouldn't be a happy 
 man, Mr. Elliot," 
 
 " I have a great deal to make me happy ; 
 but the happiest and most successful man is 
 the one who lives nearest to God, whatever 
 may be his condition in life. God's grace is 
 sufficient for the vilest of sinners, and he will 
 pardon all who come to him ; but he does not 
 make our lives the same they would have 
 been if we had not sinned." 
 
 " I know that ; and sometimes, when I think
 
 254 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 about it, I don't see how He can overlook so 
 much." 
 
 " Because Christ died for us, and now lives 
 to make intercession for us." 
 
 "It must be that. It can't be anything 
 else. Mr. Elliot, you must think that Mr. 
 Peavey, over here, is a happy and successful 
 man." 
 
 " I do think so." 
 
 " But he is poor, and always has been. He 
 has lived right along on that same little place, 
 working year in and year out, just managing 
 to make d living. But if there is a Christian 
 in the world, he is one. He and his wife 
 have done a great deal of good nobody 
 knows anything about. There ain't many 
 would have taken Harold in as they did." 
 
 " They are getting their reward for that. 
 Mr. Peavey told me they should lay up a lit- 
 tle this year, and that is more than they have 
 done before for a long time." 
 
 " Everybody seems to be saving something. 
 I have made the first payment on my house. 
 It wasn't much, but it was a beginning ; and if
 
 THE BRIGHT SIDE. 255 
 
 I live I shall have a nice place of the old 
 rookery. Jane Sperry says I've got a good 
 foundation to start on, and my wife thinks so 
 too. Between them both, they are likely to 
 be right. Jane Sperry was always a sensible 
 woman ; 'though brought up as she was, she 
 couldn't do much different from what she has. 
 She is trying to help Esther Wetherell along, 
 and that is helping herself at the same time. 
 She quotes Miss Austen as authority in all 
 things ; and it is my opinion there ain't a 
 woman in the country doing more good than 
 Miss Austen."
 
 256 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 THE PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 
 
 MOTHER, please let me go to church 
 and Sunday-school with Jessie. There 
 is room for me in the big wagon, and I want 
 to go. My dress and hat are good enough to 
 wear, and I want to go more than I ever 
 wanted to do anything else in all my life," 
 pleaded Norah Borine. 
 
 "What will your granny say? I don't 
 like to go against her," was replied. " I 
 should be willing to have you go if she didn't 
 object." 
 
 " May be, mother, she will get to think as 
 w r e do, if we are only good and patient, and 
 all the time make her feel that we love her, 
 even if we don't do as she wants us to about 
 meetings. I think she will, mother." 
 
 " I don't know, Norah dear. Your granny 
 is getting to be an old woman, and she's not
 
 THE PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 257 
 
 one to change. May be it will come 'round 
 easy some way." 
 
 " I do hope it will, I want to go so. I 
 have learned the lesson with Jessie for four 
 Sundays, and she is going to lend me her 
 library-book to read. She says it is a nice 
 story, that makes her think of the people here 
 in Austenville ; because it is all about work- 
 ing, and fixing up houses and gardens, and 
 going to meeting. I can have it to-morrow." 
 
 " Then you had better read the book to us 
 while we work. Your granny always likes 
 to hear you, and you can begin to-morrow 
 evening." 
 
 " Sure, I'd like to hear the story," said 
 Mrs. Rady, when Norah proposed reading 
 it aloud. "The sound of your voice will 
 make me forget that I'm tired." 
 
 So the reading was commenced ; and pres- 
 ently, in her eagerness to listen, Mrs. Rady 
 dropped her sewing, and resting her head 
 upon her hand was oblivious to all around 
 her save the words of the story. The clock 
 struck their usual hour for retiring, but she 
 
 17
 
 258 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 wished Norah to read longer, and it was not 
 until the child showed signs of weariness 
 that she said : 
 
 ft Sure, you'd better stop. You're that 
 tired that you'll not be. rested in the morn- 
 ing. You'll finish it the morrow evening. 
 It's the nicest bit of a story my old ears ever 
 heard ; and you such a scholar, of my own 
 flesh and blood. I never thought to see the 
 day ; but it's come, honey, and your granny's 
 that proud, working's not much more than 
 play. I've lived through hard things, but 
 it's all made up to me now. It's as Miss 
 Greenleaf said : When the Lord takes away 
 one thing, he gives us another, if we only 
 bide at our duty. I've tried to do as well as 
 such a poor, ignorant body could." 
 
 " O granny, you are a dear old woman," 
 exclaimed Norah, moved by the tears upon 
 the furrowed cheeks. "I don't know what 
 mother and I could do without you. It don't 
 seem as though we could live at all." 
 
 " And is that the way you feel to your old 
 granny? Then I'll just be working on, and
 
 THE PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 259 
 
 not mind what's gone. There's nice children 
 in the story, but none like my Xorah." 
 
 The next evening the reading was resumed, 
 and the story completed. 
 
 " Where ever did you get it ? " then asked 
 Mrs. Racly for the first time. 
 
 " It is Jessie's library-book. She got it at 
 the Sunday-school. She gets one every Sun- 
 day ; and if I went with her I could get one 
 too. I wish I could go." 
 
 To this no reply was made, and during the 
 week no reference was made to the Sunday- 
 school. But the next Sabbath, when Xorah 
 had shut herself into her chamber, that she 
 might not see the big wagon with the well- 
 dressed women and children which filled it 
 almost to overflowing, her grandmother asked 
 for her, remarking : 
 
 " She always likes to see the wagon start." 
 
 w She feels that bad because she can't- go 
 in it, she don't want to see it," replied her 
 mother. 
 
 " And she fretting like that ! Let her go. 
 I'll not be the one to keep her. The child
 
 260 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 may go for all me. She's that spry, there's 
 time enough." 
 
 Mrs. Borine stayed to hear no more. No- 
 rah fairly shouted for joy, and hastened to 
 make herself ready, which she did in season 
 to respond to the last call for passengers. 
 With her Testament in her hand, she was 
 lifted to a seat beside Jessie Elliot, who said 
 not a word to express the gladness which 
 beamed from her eyes. 
 
 No rah was conscious of being as well 
 dressed as her friend ; and having thoroughly 
 learned the lesson for Sunday-school she felt 
 quite at ease as she entered the church. 
 Here, all was new to her, and nothing es- 
 caped her notice. Much of the sermon and 
 prayers was beyond her comprehension ; but 
 the singing pleased her, and to all she gave 
 the closest attention. Sunday-school was all 
 she had anticipated ; and when allowed to 
 select a library book, she chose one she 
 thought would please her grandmother. 
 
 The company from Austenville said little 
 on their way home. Mr. Bumstead was evi-
 
 THE PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 261 
 
 dently thinking more of what he had heard, 
 than of the horses of which he was so proud ; 
 but as he set Norah down at her home, he 
 said : 
 
 M I never was gladder in my life to give 
 anybody a lift than I was to give you one 
 to-day. You'll go again, and may be your 
 mother some time. There will always be 
 room." 
 
 " Yes, sir. Thank you." 
 
 " And did you like it, child?" asked Mrs. 
 Rady. 
 
 " Yes, granny ; and I got a book to read to 
 you. After supper I can read till time for 
 meeting, and that will make the time seem 
 shorter." 
 
 " Well, child, I'll be glad to hear you ; but 
 now I'm thinking you're hungry for supper." 
 
 "I never thought of being hungry, but the 
 supper looks real nice. Why, you have got 
 on the next to the best tablecloth, and the 
 glass dishes. It looks as though we were 
 going to have company. I should think Miss 
 Greenleaf was coming."
 
 262 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " It's only yourself that's come, and you're 
 better to me than the teacher. I wouldn't 
 cross you, only for your good. I'm not sure 
 but I've done wrong in giving my word to let 
 you go, the day, but I wouldn't stand against 
 your mother. It's long since I've been to 
 my own church, and it's little I've known of 
 any other ; but the mistress and the master 
 can't be bad. If it's by their works ye shall 
 know them, they must be Christians." 
 
 " I know they are, granny ; and if you 
 would go to the Sunday evening meetings, you 
 would know there are lots of other Chris- 
 tians too. I wish I was as good as Jessie and 
 Harold. I try not to flame up and say bad 
 things, but they come before I think." 
 
 " Sure, child, I was thinking, the day, that 
 you've changed in that." 
 
 " I have tried to change, and and 
 when I do bad I ask God to forgive me and 
 help me do better the next time." 
 
 This was said hesitatingly, and, to Norah's 
 great relief, no reply was made. Supper 
 was eaten with gladness, if not with thank-
 
 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 263 
 
 fulness. There had never been any stint of 
 food in this home, and already there was a 
 nicer arrangement than had once been thought 
 necessary. Mrs. Rady, old as .she was, AVUS 
 learning that there are other needs than those 
 of the body. The kindness shown to her 
 granddaughter by these whom she regarded 
 as above her had both surprised and grat- 
 ified her. Miss Greenleaf came in in such 
 a friendly Avay, that the barriers which had 
 seemed to hedge them around were fast dis- 
 appearing. 
 
 "Read noAv, child, Avill you?" said the 
 grandmother, when supper Avas over and the 
 table cleared. 
 
 " Yes, granny, I AA r ill," replied Xorah quick- 
 ly. "I tried to get a book you Avould like, 
 and I guess you Avill like this one. Jessie 
 said it was good." 
 
 " I shall like it if you read it ; but I'm 
 thinking there'll not be another stojry as sen- 
 sible as the one you read last Aveek." 
 
 The book proved interesting, and when
 
 264 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 Miss Greenleaf called at the hour for meet- 
 ing, Norah was still reading. 
 
 " Will I go ? " she asked. 
 
 "Sure, you will, and your mother, too, if 
 she chooses. I'll just be resting while you're 
 away, and glad when you come back." 
 
 tf O, granny, I wish you were going 
 too. It isn't like church. It's only talking, 
 and singing, and praying ; and it is the same 
 God they pray to, because, you know, there 
 isn't but one." 
 
 rt There's but one, yet I'll bide at home 
 while you go. There'll be all the evenings 
 but Thursday for the book." 
 
 Miss Austen was missed from her accus- 
 tomed seat, but there was no lack of those 
 willing to help sustain the meeting. Mr. 
 Peavey had consented to lead ; and after a 
 short prayer, he repeated an entire psalm, 
 which he said expressed the real sentiments of 
 his heart. He had been young, and was now 
 old, yet he had never seen the righteous for- 
 saken. 
 
 "In His own way, God manifests Himself
 
 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 265 
 
 to His people as He does not to the world. He 
 may wait many years, but the promises are 
 sure ; so that no Cliristian need be discour- 
 aged, even though the way seem dark. 
 My last days are my best days ; and I bless 
 God with all my heart and soul that He has 
 preserved me alive unto the present time." 
 
 Others spoke in the same strain of thank- 
 fulness. The singing echoed their words, 
 and the prayers were especially fervent. 
 
 Esther Wetherell was there, her plain face 
 lighted up with interest, and her voice heard, 
 as she responded to the call for Bible verses. 
 She had come from home, alone, that eve- 
 ning, leaving her cousin for .another week's 
 absence. 
 
 She was rapidly acquiring skill in her mill 
 work, having been already transferred to 
 the place Mr. Bumstead designed for her. 
 Studying under Miss Greenleafs direction, 
 she showed herself a ready scholar ; and, with 
 her increased wages, dared to hope for even 
 better opportunities. 
 
 Jane Speny wondered that she could ac-
 
 266 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 complish so much ; while she, in turn, won- 
 dered at each week's changes in her home. 
 There was always something new to relate, 
 and something new to display. The south 
 room was opened, the curtains rolled up, and 
 a stand of thrifty plants set where the sun 
 would shine longest upon them. The occu- 
 pant of this room, too, sat in the sunshine ; 
 while the curtains which had long hung over 
 her heart parted to admit the genial light of 
 friendship. Occasionally a neighbor invited 
 her to ride to church, or made her an after- 
 noon visit, which was a mutual pleasure. 
 
 " If I hadn't been so hampered, I believe I 
 might have done something of more account 
 than I have," she said to Mrs. Gray when they 
 were together. " When I was young, I used 
 to wish I was a boy, so I could go ahead and 
 do what I wanted to ; but in those days girls 
 didn't strike out for themselves as they do 
 now. They took things pretty much as 
 they came, and often they came hard." 
 
 " Things generally come hard to them that 
 don't do anything to bring them 'round. But
 
 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. . 267 
 
 there's Miss Austen showing us what ti wo- 
 man can do ; and just that helps us all, even 
 if she didn't do anything else." . 
 
 " So it does. It helps every woman any- 
 where 'round, and Esther says she wants girls 
 to learn some business they can get a living 
 by without being dependent. She told some- 
 body, too, she thought there were a good 
 many women who ought to be farmers. / 
 ought to be a farmer. I might have been a 
 good one. There's my six acres of land, but 
 it never amounted to much to me. I've let 
 it for pasture for almost nothing, till it has all 
 run out ; but if I could manage to get started 
 with it, I could raise good crops and keep 
 some stock. Esther and I were talking about 
 
 O 
 
 it the last time she was at home. It would 
 be slow work at first, but I should like it a 
 good deal better than knitting, and puttering 
 'round as I've had to. I'm going to ask your 
 husband about it." 
 
 "He'll tell you just what he thinks, 
 and he has good judgment about farm- 
 ing. We ought to help you too. I
 
 268 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 don't know what we should have done 
 when we lived by the brook, if it hadn't 
 been for you." 
 
 " I didn't do half I wanted to ; but 
 I was poor then, and sometimes Esther 
 and I had to live poorer than we wanted 
 to. She is going to be better off than I ever 
 was." 
 
 " Why shouldn't she be ? She is where she 
 can't help learning all the time, besides earn- 
 ing good wages. I hope she will keep our 
 school next summer, and others hope so be- 
 sides me." 
 
 "I don't know what she will do, but Miss 
 Greenleaf says she learns fast." 
 
 Her evening scholars were a source of both 
 pleasure and profit to Alice Greenleaf. In 
 preparing herself for their recitations various 
 subjects for study were suggested, while the 
 eagerness with which they listened to instruc- 
 tion kept her on the alert for their benefit. 
 Harold possessed by far the most active and 
 original mind, yet Esther YTethercll and Rob- 
 ert Bumstead were much above the average
 
 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 2(39 
 
 in quickness of perception and desire for 
 knowledge. 
 
 Thursday evening, the hall was crowded, 
 and those having the meetings in charge were 
 expected to provide entertainment of which 
 no one could reasonably complain. A sub- 
 scription was started for the purpose of es- 
 tablishing a library, and upon Miss Austen's 
 return Mr. Elliot gave her a list of names, 
 with the sums which had been already 
 pledged. 
 
 "You have done more than well," she 
 said, after glancing at the paper in her hand. 
 "I expected to furnish the library myself." 
 
 "I knew that you did, but we shall all 
 value it more if it costs us something ; and 
 no one has given beyond his or her means, 
 unless it is Mrs. Rady. I told her I thought 
 she had pledged too much, but she said she 
 knew best, and Xorah would soon have the 
 whole library through unless it was large. 
 She is a whole-souled woman, Miss Austen, 
 if she i.f a Catholic. There is hope of her 
 too. Now that Mrs. Borine and Xorah are
 
 270 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 coming out to meeting I shall not be sur- 
 prised to see her." 
 
 " I do not expect that, Mr. Elliot, but it 
 may be that she will receive enough of truth 
 into her heart to make her wise unto salva- 
 tion. I have not seen her yet. This after- 
 noon I must go down to the mill and look at 
 my friends. I suppose I shall lose some of 
 them by next spring. Harold will be going." 
 
 " I presume he will. He does not speak 
 of it, but I think the desire to attend school 
 groAvs upon him, and I shall encourage his 
 going in the spring." 
 
 " He cannot do better than go to the same 
 academy with Dick Fielding. It is a first- 
 class school, with a fine corps of teachers. 
 The charges are not extravagant, and his sur- 
 roundings will be favorable to general im- 
 provement. It would be pleasanter for him, 
 too, to have i\ friend there, although he 
 knows how to make friends for himself." 
 
 " Yes, Miss Austen, he does ; and he has 
 gained so much in self-reliance that he would 
 not shrink from going among strangers ; yet,
 
 THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. 271 
 
 your nephew's friendship would be of great 
 value to him. I shall be sorry for Mr. and 
 Mrs. Peavey when he goes, but they will 
 think of his interest more than of their own." 
 
 " He will not forget them." 
 
 " He never forgets a kindness, and he says 
 he has no tmkindness to remember. He can 
 afford to be magnanimous." 
 
 " Indeed he can, Mr. Elliot, and I hope to 
 see him all he has the ability to be. I am 
 interested in a large number of young peo- 
 ple as well as of older people." 
 
 " There is more to hope for from the 
 young. They have their life all before 
 them." 
 
 " Yes ; but after experience, which has 
 well done its work, there come the glorious 
 autumn days of life, when the richest har- 
 vests are garnered in."
 
 272 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HAROLD DORSE Y IN SCHOOL. 
 
 THE winter was one of great prosperity 
 to Austenville. The land around the 
 sources of the brook was purchased ; and 
 this with some other purchases, gave to the 
 mill company the virtual control of the stream 
 above them. The towns-people rejoiced at 
 this, as a promise of still larger investments 
 in manufacturing. New buildings were 
 erected in place of those which had fallen 
 into decay, but which had been used tem- 
 porarily since the re-occupancy of the mill. 
 The carefully selected library was kept at 
 the great house, but other provision would 
 be made for it when the new hall was com- 
 pleted. There was much talk of our library, 
 our school, our meetings, and our hall; all 
 of which tended to draw the workmen and
 
 HAROLD DORSE Y IN SCHOOL. 273 
 
 workwomen into closer sympathy with each 
 other and with their employers. 
 
 Mr. Gatchell enlarged his store, and added 
 to his stock a better grade of goods than he 
 had formerly kept. 
 
 Miss Greenleafs school was the banner 
 school of the town, and she was engaged 
 for another year. An evening was devoted 
 to the examination of those she had taught 
 out of school hours, when all present ac- 
 corded great praise to teacher and pupils. 
 
 This examination was in fact the graduat- 
 ing exercise for Harold Dorsey, who was 
 soon to leave. He had a hundred dollars, 
 part of which he had saved from his earn- 
 ings, and part of which Mr. Stuart had 
 insisted upon his accepting as a loan. With 
 this he was to join Dick Fielding as a student 
 in the academy, at the opening of the spring 
 term. 
 
 ft I haint a word to say against it, 'though 
 seems to me everything in the house and out- 
 doors will miss you," responded Mr. Peavey, 
 when told of this decision. " We've kept 
 
 18
 
 274 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 you longer than we expected to, and it's fit- 
 ting you should go. We won't talk any 
 more about it now, but to-morrow, maybe, 
 we shall have something more to say." 
 
 Mrs. Peavey did not speak. She felt that 
 they were to lose Harold for the remainder 
 of their lives ; yet she was no less willing 
 than her husband to do what she could for 
 him. 
 
 " We've been talking it over between our- 
 selves, Harold ; and, as you've made up your 
 mind to go to school, we've made up our 
 minds what we'll do about it," said the old 
 man the next day. "We've got a little saved 
 up, and we want to give you fifty dollars of 
 it to help you get started. It's in a note that 
 I can get the money on at short notice, and 
 I'll have it ready for you in season. I wish 
 it was more, but " 
 
 " Why, Mr. Peavey, do you think I would 
 take money from you ? " cried the young man , 
 as tears filled his eyes. " You and your wife 
 have done more for me than anybody else 
 ever did, and I would rather never go to
 
 HAROLD DORSET IN SCHOOL. 275 
 
 school a day than take a cent of your money. 
 I thank you all the same, and I can't tell you 
 how much good it does me to know that you 
 cared enough for me to think of it, but you 
 must keep the money for yourselves. If 
 God spares my life, you shall not want for a 
 friend to care for you in your old age." 
 
 " But, Harold, we want to help you some," 
 urged Mrs. Peavey. "We should feel better 
 to do it, and then if we ever need it you 
 could pay it back." 
 
 " If I need it I will borrow it, but I mean 
 to earn as I go. I am to work with Mr. 
 Elliot through the summer vacation, and that 
 will give me something towards paying my 
 bills for the fall term." 
 
 " I should 'most thought you'd waited till 
 fall, and then start fair." 
 
 " It will take me one term to find out who 
 and where I am. The other students know 
 what school is, while all will be new to me." 
 
 " It will be like a new world to you, my 
 boy, but the same God will hold you ac- 
 countable for what you do."
 
 276 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " I shall never forget that, and I shall 
 never intentionally do what I know to be 
 wrong," said Harold. 
 
 He worked as usual until the day before 
 he was to leave, and this he spent in calling 
 upon his friends and doing some last tilings 
 at home. He was well provided with suita- 
 ble clothing. He had the means for purchas- 
 ing necessary books, and there was no rea- 
 son why he should feel any misgivings. 
 Miss Austen bestowed upon him some sub- 
 stantial gifts, which he accepted gratefully ; 
 and Mr. Elliot assured him of a friendship 
 which would never fail him. 
 
 "You have a work to do in the world 
 which no one else can do," said this friend. 
 " The discipline of your life has not been 
 without its purpose. All I can do for you 
 I will do, and may God bless you with the 
 choicest of His blessings." 
 
 With the opening of the spring, business 
 in Austenville received a fresh impetus. The 
 running capacity of the mill was taxed to its 
 utmost. There were two relays of help ; one
 
 HAROLD DORSET IN SCHOOL. 277 
 
 working by day and the other by night, and, 
 when occasion demanded, some worked extra 
 hours, that there might be no break in the 
 time. Of these, Mrs. Rady was one, pro- 
 testing that she was better able than most, 
 and had greater need to do what she could. 
 
 " I am just doing it for Norah," she said to 
 Miss Austen. w She's not like her mother or 
 me. She can't be working at the loom, and 
 I'd not have her do it if she would. She 
 was like her father, but she's that changed at 
 home I'd hardly be knowing her but for her 
 face. She's that mild and loving, when she 
 used to flame up and say things that hurt me. 
 It's not many years more I can work, but while 
 I can I'll be laying up for her. She must go 
 to school, and there's music in her fingers 
 that must come out. Her mother's not 
 strong, as I've been, and so I must keep on 
 doing." 
 
 " Norah ought to be very grateful to you, 
 Mrs. Rady, and I have no doubt that she 
 will be." 
 
 "It's not the grateful, but the loving I
 
 278 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 want, and that's what I get, till it warms 
 my old heart clear through." 
 
 M Norah is a bright girl, and she will make 
 a fine woman, to repay you for all you do." 
 
 " I'm not looking for pay, Miss. It's only 
 to have her happy and satisfied, and doing 
 the things she likes. Jessie Elliot will, may 
 be, be going off somewhere to school, and 
 why not Norah go with her ? " 
 
 " There is no reason why she should not 
 go, if you choose to be at the expense of 
 sending her." 
 
 " I do choose, Miss, but not till she 's done 
 with Miss Greenleaf. Begging your pardon, 
 the teacher is every inch a lady." 
 
 w Certainly she is, and we are fortunate to 
 have her among us." 
 
 rf That we are, and we'll be fortunate to 
 have her back." 
 
 The people of her native town were anx- 
 ious that Alice Greenleaf should remain with 
 them. Her old home, as she had builded it, 
 piece by piece, was very dear to her. She 
 could see where she might make many im-
 
 HAROLD DORSE Y IN SCHOOL. 279 
 
 provements, and she longed to put her own 
 hands to the work ; but there was more for 
 her in Austen ville than here, and she was glad 
 when she saw Mr. Bumstead at the station. 
 
 " Esther has left us," he said as they drove 
 homeward. "The people in the district 
 where her cousin lives wanted her to keep 
 the school, and she is going to. She said 
 she thought she'd come back in the fall ; but 
 for the summer she has her plans ; and Miss 
 Austen advised her to go, 'though we didn't 
 like to lose her." 
 
 " I shall miss her." 
 
 " So shall we all. She'll not be making 
 the wages she did in the mill, and she'll not 
 be spending the same number of hours. Mr. 
 Gray says there's farming to be done at 
 home, and she is to help." 
 
 Mr. Gray could speak with authority, as 
 he had been consulted upon the subject. 
 Miss Sperry was ready to begin in a small 
 way, according to her means, hoping for an 
 increase as time went on. In her barn was a 
 cow, for which she had paid by hard work.
 
 280 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 She had declined to let her pasture, and \vas 
 fencing off two acres for mowing where the 
 grass was best. Every foot of her garden 
 had been ploughed, and she proposed to have 
 as good a crop of vegetables as any farmer in 
 town. She and Esther could do the neces- 
 sary work, and another year she would have 
 an acre taken out of the pasture for cultiva- 
 tion. Meanwhile, she could feed a small 
 flock of sheep, and this flock was soon seen 
 on the best of terms with her cow. 
 
 " Fifty years old, and just begun to 
 live," she exclaimed one morning as she 
 brought in a brimming pail of milk. " The 
 folks 'round here aint used to women far- 
 mers, but they must get used to one." 
 
 " And a successful one, too," responded 
 Esther Wetherell. 
 
 "Well, I hope so, though it aint best to 
 say much till I see how I come out. I shan't 
 have much to sell this year except some but- 
 ter and a little wool ; but we shall have the 
 pig, and butter and milk enough for ourselves." 
 
 "And all that grows in the garden."
 
 HAROLD DORSET IN SCHOOL. 281 
 
 " Yes ; and things are coming up there 
 thick enough. We shall have a job of weed- 
 ing and transplanting, but I guess we can get 
 through with it. We can't afford to hire any 
 more than we are obliged to." 
 
 " I am to do the hiring, Cousin Jane, and 
 so pay something towards my board for all 
 these years. I bemn to feel rich. This is a 
 
 */ c^ 
 
 very comfortable, pleasant house for summer 
 and winter too." 
 
 " I didn't use to think it was very pleasant, 
 but that was because I kept the pleasantest, 
 most comfortable part of it, shut up. That is 
 the way a good many folks do 'round here, but 
 I shan't do it again. We've got a good cool 
 pantry for our milk and butter; and we've 
 got rooms good enough for ourselves, and 
 we'll use them. The vines we planted last 
 month have got well started, so they'll shade 
 the south room windows, and that was all we 
 needed on that side of the house. If you get 
 along well at keeping school, and I make my 
 plans all work, we shall have a good store 
 laid by for winter."
 
 282 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 No one doubted that Esther Wetherell 
 would do well in school, and no one was 
 disappointed in the result. She impressed 
 her scholars with something of her own am- 
 bition, and when the day for examination 
 arrived they acquitted themselves to their 
 own and their teacher's credit. The school- 
 room was filled. Every parent was present, 
 with others not living in the district. Short, 
 congratulatory speeches were made, in which 
 all were remembered and complimented. 
 
 It was a proud day for Jane Sperry ; in 
 honor of which she wore her best dress, and 
 consented to an arrangement of her hair, tak- 
 ing from her apparent age at least ten years. 
 Sitting there after school was dismissed, with 
 the hum of voices all around her, and a smile 
 upon her face, she looked little like the wo- 
 man who had presented herself before Miss 
 Austen for the sale of stockings. 
 
 " Well, Jane, I don't believe you are any 
 sorry you took Esther to live with you," said 
 Mr. Gray. 
 
 " Sorry ! " she repeated. " I never was
 
 HAROLD DORSEY IN SCHOOL. 283 
 
 sorry. Esther hadn't anywhere else to go, 
 and I hadn't anybody else to live with me. 
 I did all I could for her, and now she can do 
 for herself. She is getting beyond me, but I 
 aint sorry for that either." 
 
 They walked home together, and entered 
 their home, thankful that the lines had fallen 
 to them in such pleasant places. Miss 
 Sperry seated herself in the large rocking- 
 chair which, until a few months before, had 
 for many years occupied the darkest corner 
 of the best room. 
 
 " I didn't expect to see anywhere near so 
 many folks," she remarked when Esther 
 came in from the kitchen. " They must 
 have thought there would be a good deal 
 to hear, and there was. It made me 
 ashamed of my ignorance, but I hope 
 you won't ever be ashamed of your old 
 cousin." 
 
 " I only hope she will have no reason to be 
 ashamed of me. But now let us have our 
 supper. If Mr. Bumstead should come for 
 me Monday morning I shall need every min-
 
 284 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 ute of this evening and to-morrow to work in 
 the garden. Weeds grow all summer." 
 
 " I have learned that to my sorrow, but 
 they aint going to get the upper hands of us. 
 Folks can do 'most anything they set out to, 
 if they only keep steady at it ; and I am 
 going to keep at farming as long as I can 
 milk a cow and make a pound of butter. 
 Mr. Gatchell don't give me .a chance to get 
 much butter ahead, but we won't scrimp 
 ourselves. Scrimping don't pay, not when 
 you can help it. Sometimes you can't, and 
 then there aint any other way. I wondered 
 this afternoon if you'd be satisfied without 
 going to school any more." 
 
 " I intend to go, but the right time has not 
 come yet. Miss Greenleaf wants to go, too, 
 and perhaps we shall go together." 
 
 " She won't go for a year." 
 
 " No ; and I am not ready to leave you at 
 present." 
 
 " I am glad of that, but when you are 
 ready I shan't stand in your way. When 
 Harold Dorsey comes AVC shall hear a report
 
 HAROLD DORSET IN SCHOOL. 285 
 
 from school. Everybody wants to see him, 
 and I want to know how much beyond you 
 he is in his studies. I don't believe he has 
 gained much on you. You have studied a 
 good deal this summer." 
 
 "I have, but it is different from studying 
 in school ; and besides, Harold is a quicker 
 scholar than I am. Considering the way he 
 was brought up, no one here can compare 
 with him. Mr. Stuart says he could not, 
 himself, have done half so well. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Peavey will have a jubilee when he 
 comes. The old man will repeat a psalm of 
 thanksgiving, and thank the Lord for mani- 
 fold mercies. That is what he always does 
 when he is so happy his own words fail him." 
 
 " Did you ever think, Esther, that perhaps 
 when Harold comes back, things won't look 
 to him us they used to ? He may not care so 
 much for the old folks." 
 
 Some such thought had caused them a 
 little anxiety ; but all this was dispelled when 
 they heard his hearty greeting and felt the 
 clasp of his hand. They had seen him com-
 
 286 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 ing in the big wagon with Mr. Bumstead, and 
 stood outside the door to receive him. For 
 the first time, Mrs. Peavey kissed him, apol- 
 ogizing, by saying : 
 
 " I couldn't help it, Harold. I was so glad 
 to see you, I didn't think what I was doing." 
 
 "Thank you for it," he answered with a 
 smile which had all his heart in it. " I never 
 remember being kissed in my life, unless it 
 was before I lived with Mr. Dorsey, until 
 Miss Greenleaf kissed me the night before I 
 went away. While I was gone, some little 
 children kissed me, and it is good to be wel- 
 comed home with a kiss. It is good to be 
 here too." 
 
 " As good as being in school ? " 
 
 "Each is good in its season, and school 
 has been better for knowing that I could 
 come here when the term was over. Now 
 I will take my trunk up-stairs, and then I 
 shall be ready for supper, which I see is 
 waiting." 
 
 "Yes, Harold, and mother did her best 
 for it."
 
 HAROLD DORSET IN SCHOOL. 287 
 
 "I know how good that is, and I shall 
 bring to it a school-boy's appetite." 
 
 The walls of the low chamber had been 
 papered, and where the floor was not covered 
 with rugs, it was white as it could be made. 
 The broad window was tastefully curtained, 
 and there had been added to the furniture 
 several new articles. 
 
 "How do you like the changes we have 
 made up-stairs ? " asked Mr. Peavey. 
 
 "I like them very much, but I am afraid 
 you have taken too much trouble for me," was 
 replied. 
 
 " Not so much as we'd been glad to, Har- 
 old. I told father we would do a little. I 
 wished we could raise up the roof, buf we 
 couldn't afford the expense. If the roof was 
 set up as Mr. Elliot's is, we could have two 
 good chambers, and may be we shall some 
 time. It has always been good enough for 
 us, but if we are going to have a student 
 coming 'round two or three times a year, we 
 must have things better. You've grown since 
 you've been gone, and Miss Austen told us
 
 288 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 you'd done as well as any scholar in school, 
 besides working for your board. That was 
 too much." 
 
 "Not too much for my health. I could do 
 it easily. I am stronger than most young 
 men, and I needed the exercise. It was bet- 
 ter for me to work as I did, and now I am all 
 ready for six weeks of good hard work here." 
 
 " You have two months' vacation." 
 
 "Yes, sir, but I intend to spend a week or 
 two near my old home." 
 
 "Shall you go alone?" 
 
 W I expect to. Dick Fielding is coming 
 here with his sister and cousins, but I pre- 
 sume they will not care to go over again the 
 road we travelled last summer. You have 
 been well while I was away. You must have 
 been, or you could not have done what you 
 have." 
 
 "Yes, Harold, we have been well. We 
 haven't had a sick day, and things have pros- 
 pered with us. Folks seem to have prospered 
 all 'round. There has been a good deal of 
 visiting back and forth among neighbors that
 
 HAROLD DORSEY IX SCHOOL. 289 
 
 haven't seen much of each other for a good 
 many years, and we've been invited to tea at 
 the great house. We wrote you about that. 
 It's a nice place, aint it?" 
 
 "Yes, ma'am, and it is a blessing to the 
 town to have it occupied." 
 
 " Yes, and the mill started up everything 
 else with it. There has been more building 
 done in town this year than in the last ten ; 
 and folks arc talking now that some time 
 there will be a larger mill beside the old one. 
 That would make quite a village of Austen- 
 ville. I asked Mr. Elliot about it, and he 
 said it wouldn't be strange if that all hap- 
 pened." 
 
 19
 
 290 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 BORN TO BE A LEADER. 
 
 THROUGH the woods, treading the path 
 now partly overgrown with creeping 
 vines and tiny plants. These were noted, 
 yet Harold did not stay his steps. Dear as 
 was to him every stem and leaf growing from 
 the luxuriant soil, friends were dearer far, 
 and there were many to be seen. 
 
 " Harold, boy, or man as you are now, 
 I have been watching for you. I knew you 
 would not sleep without coming here." 
 
 " I think I could not sleep, so near, until I 
 had been here. How you have improved 
 your house ! " 
 
 " How you have improved your mind, if all 
 reports are true, and I doubt not they are." 
 " I have done the best I could, Mr. Elliot." 
 " And made a beginning of the end ? " 
 " I hope I have. But where is Jessie?"
 
 BORN TO BE A LEADER. 291 
 
 " She was here a moment ago." 
 
 She was there a moment later, shaking 
 hands with Harold, who seemed to her to 
 have grown so much, that she could not ad- 
 dress him with her usual familiarity. She, 
 too, had grown ; but she was still a child, 
 living for her father, and happy in so doing. 
 Their visitor did not remain long ; but with 
 a promise to come again, went to call upon 
 Miss Austen. 
 
 There was a scarcely definable change in 
 his manner, yet she was quick to note it, and 
 attribute it to a corresponding mental change. 
 To her, he could speak of his experiences 
 in school with more freedom than to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Peavey, who would fail to comprehend 
 some influences plain to her. 
 
 " You have had an opportunity to measure 
 yourself with others engaged in the same 
 pursuits," she remarked. 
 
 "Yes, ma'am, and it was what I needed," 
 he replied. " I know now where I stand and 
 what I must learn." 
 
 "You are not discouraged?"
 
 292 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Not at all. I know what I can do, 
 and if I live and am well, I shall succeed. 
 Dick Fielding has been a great help to me. 
 I tried not to make him ashamed of me." 
 
 "He was never ashamed of you, Harold. 
 He wrote me that, at first, you had none of 
 the awkwardness most students have when 
 entering a new school. He says you have 
 helped him." 
 
 "I am glad if I have. He will be coming 
 here soon." 
 
 " Yes, and I hope we shall see you often 
 during your vacation." 
 
 "Thank you. I shall be happy to come 
 when I can, but I must work. I am to com- 
 mence with Mr. Elliot in the morning, and 
 there are some things I must do at home." 
 
 " You think you will be able to go on with 
 your studies without interruption." 
 
 " I think so." 
 
 Here, the coming of Edward Stuart inter- 
 rupted them ; he giving to Harold Dorsey as 
 cordial a welcome as he would have given to 
 one of his brothers.
 
 BORN TO BE A LEADER. 293 
 
 w Ready for haying? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes, sir, and Mr. Elliot says haying is 
 ready for me. There will be a heavy crop." 
 
 " Yes, the land is beginning to pay a good 
 profit. Mr. Elliot and Mr. Gray are good 
 farmers, doing everything well they under- 
 take." 
 
 " That is true," chimed in Mr. Bumstead, 
 who, with his wife and Robert, had been 
 walking in a remote part of the grounds. 
 " We don't have poor workers on the prem- 
 ises ; and it is glad I am to see one of our 
 best workers back here. "Will you take Rob- 
 ert when you go next time ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, if you wish him to go." 
 
 " "We might as well be wishing it, and he 
 wild to go," said Mrs. Bumstead, who hud 
 shaken hands with Harold while her husband 
 was talking. " Speak for yourself, lad," she 
 added, turning to the boy. 
 
 But Robert preferred to do this more pri- 
 vately, and Harold soon left, to redeem his 
 promise to Mr. Elliot and call upon Miss 
 Greenleaf, who said to him :
 
 294 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " I wish you were my brother ; " when he 
 responded heartily : 
 
 " I wish you were my sister." 
 
 She was interested to know the exact num- 
 ber of pages he had learned in history ; how 
 far he had progressed in Latin ; how many 
 themes he had written, and how often he had 
 practised declamation. He told her how he 
 had managed in regard to his expenses, and 
 how small a sum had sufficed for his needs. 
 With what he had, and \vhat he could earn, 
 he calculated to go through college without 
 incurring any debts. 
 
 " But I am afraid your health will break 
 down." 
 
 "I was never sick a day in my life," 
 he replied to this expression of solicitude. 
 " When I am tired, I sleep and am rested. I 
 rest faster now than I used to, because I 
 spend no time in wondering. My way is all 
 plain before me." 
 
 " Do you mean that you have decided upon 
 your profession, or work for life?" 
 
 " No, ma'am, I only mean that I must
 
 BORN TO BE A LEADER. 295 
 
 work, and learn, and do all the good I can as 
 I go along. There are so many who seem 
 not to think of doing good. I wonder why." 
 
 " I have often wondered at the selfishness 
 of people, although I have always found 
 friends ready to help me." 
 
 "So have I, Miss Greenleaf. From the 
 time I first stopped at Mr. Peavey's door, I 
 have been constantly helped, and I expect to 
 find friends as long as I live. People here in 
 Austenville are mutual helpers. I have not 
 seen Norah yet, but I suppose she is well." 
 
 " She is very well, and usually very happy. 
 She is trying to subdue her quick temper, 
 and she is as diligent a -scholar as I have in 
 school. She would be glad to see you, but 
 she is shy of strangers, and now that you 
 have been away so long, she will consider you 
 a stranger." 
 
 " I am sorry, for I have no time to make 
 new acquaintances. I must not stay longer 
 now. The old people will be waiting for me." 
 
 " You are thoughtful for them." 
 
 tf Yes, ma'am, and they are thoughtful for
 
 296 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 me. They took me in when I had no home, 
 and I should be very ungrateful to neglect 
 them now." 
 
 "You will never be guilty of ingratitude, 
 Harold." 
 
 " I hope I shall not, Miss Greenleaf, and I 
 have so much to be grateful for, it keeps my 
 heart running over all the time." 
 
 The old people were talking of him. In- 
 deed, they could talk of nothing else. lie 
 had come back to them taller, manlier, and 
 finer looking, yet with the same warm heart 
 and kindly sympathy. 
 
 " We can't expect he will always be so," 
 said Mrs. Peavey. " We must make up our 
 minds to see him look over our heads some 
 time." 
 
 " I aint going to make up my mind to any 
 such thing," was replied. " If it comes, I'll 
 bear it as well as I can, but as long as he 
 whistles like that, he won't get so far above 
 me that I can't see him. He has just come 
 out of the woods, and he will be here pres- 
 ently."
 
 BORN TO BE A LEADER. 297 
 
 " It is pleasant to come home at night," he 
 said, as he entered the kitchen with a bound. 
 " I have anticipated it many times when I was 
 away, and now I realize it." 
 
 The day closed as days always closed in 
 that home ; and with the words of prayer 
 upon their lips, its inmates lay down to sleep, 
 waking in the morning, refreshed and ready 
 for work. 
 
 Austenville was itself again, with a full 
 working force ; all devoted to the interest of 
 their employers, although some were looking 
 forward to other and more congenial labors. 
 The great house received the same company 
 of young people who had spent the previous 
 summer there, and the hearty greeting be- 
 tween Dick Fielding and Harold Dorsey at- 
 tested to their friendship. Clarke Stuart, 
 too, was glad to claim Harold as a friend ; 
 while Mason pronounced him grander than 
 ever. 
 
 Robert Bumstead stood somewhat in the 
 background socially, but he had his plans 
 for putting himself in a better position. His
 
 298 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 grandfather and grandmother had yielded not 
 unwillingly to his desire to attend school. 
 Mr. Bumstead could afford the expense ; and 
 his eyes had been opened to see that Robert 
 required a different training from what he 
 had himself received. 
 
 "We have but him, and we will do what 
 we can for him," safd Mrs. Bumstead. "What 
 is well enough for us would be that poor for 
 him as to keep him fretting. I mind, now, 
 how I was fretted when I was a girl, for what 
 I couldn't have. We'll send Robert to school 
 till he's had enough of it." 
 
 w Yes, wife, we'll send him, but he'll not 
 have enough of it as long as there's a book 
 before him. We've come upon strange times 
 here, with the boys and girls at the library ; 
 and when the proper room is finished for it, 
 Miss Austen is to make an addition. So Mr. 
 Stuart says, and he knows. There are no 
 secrets between them about the business here ; 
 and I'm thinking Clarke Stuart has a mind to 
 learn it. He asked me many a question to- 
 day about the quality of wool and cloth. It
 
 BORN TO BE A LEADER. 299 
 
 would be a fine thing if all the buying and 
 selling, and all the profits could be kept in the 
 family." 
 
 " Mason don't care much for the mill." 
 
 " Not as Clarke does. He has too many 
 projects in his head, to stop to study up the 
 business from the bottom." 
 
 Mason renewed his acquaintance with Jessie 
 and Norah ; each of whom invited him and 
 Robert, with the younger girls, to a tea party, 
 at which the entertainment was worthy of the 
 guests. In place of "camping out," there 
 were picnics and excursions in which all could 
 join. They explored the surrounding coun- 
 try, finding the most attractive locality under 
 Miss Sperry's guidance. She had arranged 
 some stones on a shelf, and these attracted 
 the attention of Mason, who asked where she 
 had obtained them. 
 
 " I found them on one of the beams in the 
 open chamber, and I presume my brother put 
 them there more than thirty years ago," she 
 replied. " He used to bring home stones 
 from the ledge and carry them up-stairs ; but
 
 300 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 I had forgotten all about it, until last spring, 
 when I was cleaning house, I found these." 
 
 " They are splendid quartz crystals ; some 
 of the finest I ever saw," responded Mason. 
 "Where is the ledge?" 
 
 " On the side of the hill, near the top. 
 We used to see it from the kitchen-door ; but 
 the trees have grown up so we can't see it 
 now." 
 
 Miss Austen remembered visiting this 
 ledge with her brother ; and now, after many 
 years, she visited it again to find pockets of 
 glittering crystals and masses of drusy quartz 
 which would increase the value of the choic- 
 est cabinet. 
 
 " This is the best place I ever saw yet," 
 exclaimed Mason Stuart, bending to his task 
 of wielding a heavy sledge-hammer. "It 
 rings hollow every time I strike on the 
 ledge, and if I can break through this 
 stone crust, you will see a sight to gladden 
 your eyes." 
 
 "I have found some splendid crystals 
 under the rock, right here in the dirt," now
 
 BORN TO BE A LEADER. 301 
 
 shouted Sadie Fielding, and all hastened to 
 her side. 
 
 Sure enough, there they were, and by 
 looking carefully, other crystals could be seen 
 adhering to the overhanging rock. There 
 had been a pocket there once, and the lower 
 part having crumbled, the crystals had dropped 
 out from the stone. 
 
 " Dick and I may be able to break off this 
 thin part of the ledge where it is so much 
 worn," said Clarke Stuart. 
 
 " You will need my help," responded Ma- 
 son. "You never learned to strike heavy 
 blows." 
 
 " I have learned some things of which I 
 was once ignorant," replied the elder brother 
 good-naturedly, as he brought down his ham- 
 mer with a will. 
 
 " I give it up. You can strike harder than 
 I can, and you are a great deal better than you 
 used to be, any way. There it comes ; and 
 isn't there a ' sight to behold ? ' as Aunt Com- 
 fort says. I tell you, when I grow up I 
 mean to be a geologist, and study up how
 
 302 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE'. 
 
 such things grow. I can walk over here, and 
 perhaps some time I can walk over the Rocky 
 Mountains." 
 
 Only Mason could have said this, and for 
 the remainder of his vacation the ledge was 
 a favorite resort. Coming so frequently, too, 
 he felt quite at home in Miss Sperry's house, 
 where he always stopped for a friendly chat. 
 She had several broods of chickens, which he 
 compared with those of his friend, Rufus 
 Brown ; telling her of this friend's success in 
 raising poultry, and how it had been accom- 
 plished. 
 
 " I tell you what it is, Esther ; I learn a good 
 deal from that boy's talk," she said, one Sat- 
 urday evening, as they were conversing in 
 regard to the events of the week. "He 
 knows the most of all kinds of things of any 
 boy I ever saw ; and he tells it, too, in such 
 a plain way, there can't anybody help under- 
 stand it. He'll get a living anywhere, but 
 he's dreadfully afraid he won't pay for all he 
 has. He likes my gingerbread, but he always 
 brings something in his lunch-basket to leave
 
 BORN TO BE A LEADER. 303 
 
 in place of it ; and when Robert Bumstead 
 comes with him, they have a double portion. 
 They hunted up two stray hens'-nests for me 
 this week, and they always manage to give 
 me a lift someway every time they come. 
 They are two nice boys as you'll find any- 
 where, though Mason Stuart always takes 
 the lead. He was born to be a leader and 
 helper. To my mind, there are a good many 
 such in Austenville, and some of them only 
 waiting for a chance to get away. There is 
 Harold Dorsey." 
 
 " He went to-day. He has gone to his old 
 home to stay a week or two. He came to see 
 Miss Greenleaf and me last evening, and we 
 talked about going to school." 
 
 " I expect it, Esther, and I shall be glad to 
 have you go. You can save up some of your 
 wages ; and by the time you get well started 
 I can help you a little. The land is doing 
 better than I expected, and part of what is 
 raised belongs to you any way. I didn't ex- 
 pect to have any poultry to sell, but I shall 
 have considerable, and a good many eggs.
 
 304 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 There's a good market for them, too, right 
 here at home. If I was ever glad of any- 
 thing, it is that I set up farming, and Miss 
 Austen says she has no doubt it was just the 
 best thing I could do." 
 
 "Cousin Jane, you have talked so fast that 
 I had no chance to speak ; but for all that, I 
 have something to say and must be heard," 
 remarked Esther. 
 
 " Say on, cousin. I like to hear the sound 
 of your voice. I miss it a good deal when 
 you are gone." 
 
 " Well, then, I intend to go to school next 
 spring. I presume I shall go only one term, 
 and then, perhaps, teach through the sum- 
 mer. I shall earn enough for myself without 
 taking anything from you. You have done 
 enough for me already." 
 
 "We won't quarrel about it, Esther, but 
 if we can help each other, I guess we better 
 do it. It is better to eat half a loaf, with 
 somebody you love eating the other half, 
 than it is to eat a whole loaf alone. That is 
 what I thought when I took you to live with 
 me, and I hain't changed my mind since."
 
 A VTNE-OLAD COTTAGE. 
 
 Harold Dorsey, p. 305.
 
 A VINE CLAD COTTAGE. 305 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 A VINE CLAD COTTAGE. 
 
 THERE were vines all around the house, 
 trained over the narrow windows, and 
 drooping from the low eaves. Wild-wood 
 vines, too ; some of them transplanted from 
 miles away, yet all growing as luxuriantly as 
 if they had first taken root there. The little 
 porch, with its rough pillars, seemed but a 
 mass of foliage, set here and there with starry 
 blossoms. 
 
 Such a transformation ! Xo marvel that 
 Harold Dorsey gazed at the rustic picture 
 before him, half ready to believe that he had 
 mistaken the locality. But the trees stood the 
 same as they had stood when he was a child ; 
 and this was his old home, beautified and 
 adorned, a fitting type of his new life. 
 
 Children, peering through the leafy screen, 
 
 ran to tell their mother that a stranger was 
 20
 
 306 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 standing in front of the house, and she has- 
 tened to see who this stranger might be. 
 
 " Harold Dorsey ! " she exclaimed, and he 
 responded to his name. 
 
 " I hardly recognized the house," he said 
 after the usual greetings. " You must have 
 been very diligent, to make such an improve- 
 ment in so short a time." 
 
 "My husband has done most of it," she 
 answered, with a bright smile. " He is that 
 happy, he never seems tired, and you wouldn't 
 believe he could do the half that he does. 
 He was saying this morning it was near 
 time for you to come. He has the rent wait- 
 ing for you ; and we have a cow, and a pig, 
 and chickens ; more than we ever had before, 
 and more than I ever thought of having. 
 But I'm telling you as though you cared 
 to know," added the woman, blushing at her 
 own boldness. 
 
 " I do care to know," was replied. " I re- 
 joice in your good fortune. I expected you 
 would have more than ever before. I hope 
 you have found the house comfortable."
 
 A VINE CLAD COTTAGE. 307 
 
 " It has been like a palace for such as us ; 
 and my husband has done a bit here and a bit 
 there to make it more convenient. He is al- 
 ways working at something. Perhaps you'd 
 come in and see for yourself." 
 
 'Harold Dorsey was very glad to do so, 
 examining the house from garret to cellar, 
 complimenting the skill and taste which had 
 so much improved it. He would not have 
 thought it possible to effect so much with the 
 means at command. 
 
 "AVill you take supper with us?" asked 
 Mrs. Beloy, as he turned to go. " Then you 
 will be sure to see Jaques, and he will be 
 right glad to see you at our table." 
 
 The invitation was accepted, and Harold 
 went into the woods, promising to be back in 
 time for the evening meal. He wished to 
 mark some trees for cutting. They could be 
 sold for a good price, and having obtained 
 the control of his property, he proposed thus 
 to increase his available fund.s. Mr. Dorsey 
 had never allowed a tree to be felled ; but 
 they would furnish desirable lumber, and
 
 308 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 with Mr. Elliot's advice they were to be cut 
 down. It was partly to attend to this matter 
 of business that Harold Dorsey had come, 
 and partly to obtain the rest and change of 
 thought he could find nowhere else. He 
 was still intent upon his work of selection, 
 when he heard Jaques Beloy's peculiar whistle, 
 clear and sweet as the call of a bird to its mate. 
 
 " Harold Dorsey, my friend that was and 
 is, you are welcome as sunshine in June," 
 cried the man in joyous surprise, as he recog- 
 nized his landlord. " I have the rent waiting 
 for you." 
 
 "I think you have paid the rent in im- 
 provements," answered Harold. 
 
 "Not a bit of it. The improvements, as 
 you call them, were at my own liking, and 
 costing not much but a little time. I didn't 
 know it was in me to handy up things in the 
 way I have, but I did it all at odd jobs. Did 
 you mind the vines ? " 
 
 " Certainly I did, and admired them too. 
 They look as though they had always been 
 growing just where they are."
 
 A VINE CLAD COTTAGE. 309 
 
 W I took them up careful, so they didn't 
 know it ; and I set them down careful, so they 
 kept on growing. I thought of you when I 
 was doing it, and it's a nice place now for a 
 poor fellow like me." 
 
 "You will not always be poor, Mr. Beloy." 
 
 " I'll never be rich, Mr. Dorsey. I'm not 
 looking or caring for it, but I'm the happiest 
 man in the country, and my wife is the hap- 
 piest woman." 
 
 " It is worth all my journey to know 
 that." 
 
 " Then you are paid. You'll be staying to 
 the meeting Sunday. It's in the schoolhou.se 
 yet, except when the days are over-fine, and 
 the house is over-full ; then we just turn 
 out of doors, with the sky for a roof." 
 
 " Have you a minister?" 
 
 " Only at five o'clock, and not often then 
 through the winter. But we have our own 
 meeting and Sunday-school, and the books 
 you sent us help along wonderful. They 
 travel a long ways to be read, but they come 
 back. Come to the house with me and have
 
 310 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 supper. It won't be grand, but there'll be 
 enough and a welcome with it." 
 
 If it was not grand, it was sufficiently 
 good, and far better than the guest had been 
 accustomed to eat in this house. The rent 
 was paid. Jaques Beloy would have it so ; 
 gaining more in self-respect than he lost in 
 money. 
 
 After supper, Harold Dorsey walked over 
 to Mr. Andrews', where he engaged board for 
 a week ; a week crowded full of work, pleas- 
 ure, and duty. He met the gentleman who 
 wished to purchase his timber, and arranged 
 a satisfactory bargain. He attended the 
 schoolhouse meeting and taught in the Sun- 
 day school. He spent a day with Ben An- 
 drews along the banks of a stream famous for 
 trout ; but more time was devoted to talking 
 than to angling, and when they separated they 
 felt that they had been mutually benefited. 
 
 The vacation passed quickly to all save 
 Robert Bumstead, who in his impatience 
 wished, each morning, that the day was at an 
 end. He was sorry to leave those who had
 
 A VINE CLAD COTTAGE. 311 
 
 been to him such loving parents, but he was 
 going with Harold, and Harold was his es- 
 pecial admiration ; none the less so when 
 seen with a crowd of students Avho might 
 have been considered his superiors in many 
 things. 
 
 Harold Dorsey stood the peer of any one 
 of his associates, allowing no lesson to pass 
 which he did not fully comprehend. His ca- 
 pabilities as a worker gave him great advan- 
 tage in earning money, so that his expenses 
 were little more than he could pay from 
 month to month without drawing upon his 
 reserved fund. He commanded respect 
 where another, doing the same work and 
 living in the same frugal manner, would 
 have been ridiculed. As time went on, his 
 popularity increased, although he made it 
 his first object to honor the religion he pro- 
 fessed. 
 
 " I was surprised to see so many in the 
 prayer meeting last evening," said Dick 
 Fielding. " I knew you had invited them, 
 or they would not be there."
 
 312 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " I was surprised that they did not come 
 without an invitation," replied Harold. "Why 
 should they not come ? " 
 
 " Many young men would consider it hardly 
 manly to attend a prayer meeting. They 
 think praying well enough for old people and 
 women, but for young men it shows a lack 
 of spirit." 
 
 " Not manly ! Praying not manly ! God 
 is God, and we are dependent upon Him. 
 He is so far above us that we cannot compare 
 ourselves with Him, any more than we can 
 live without His preserving care. How can 
 any one help loving Him and praying to 
 Him? I couldn't help it any more than 
 I could help the sun shining." 
 
 " But, Harold, you are different from most 
 young men. You were brought up differ- 
 ently, and your knowledge of God came to 
 you as a new revelation." 
 
 "It did come to me so, and you never can 
 know how happy it made me. Perhaps if I 
 had father and mother, brothers and sisters, 
 to love me, I shouldn't have cared so much ;
 
 A VINE CLAD COTTAGE. 313 
 
 but it seems as though I should have cared 
 more. I should have more for which to be 
 thankful. Not that I have no cause for 
 gratitude, Dick, for I am fast learning that if 
 I have lost much from my life, I have also 
 gained much. It was better for me to be 
 brought up as I was, than to be allowed to 
 follow my own impulses unrestrained. There 
 is a good deal of force pent up in me which 
 might have run riot, had I been controlled 
 with a less firm hand." 
 
 " There can be no very evil propensities 
 pent up in you, Harold." 
 
 "I don't know what they might have 
 proved to be under different training. Mr. 
 Dorsey taught me to control myself; and 
 now, as I look back, I think he must have 
 practised the greatest self-control himself. 
 He had not always lived shut out from the 
 world, and I think he had my best interest at 
 heart, except in denying me the privilege of 
 reading the Bible. "With so little as I had 
 to read, if the Bible had been open to me, I 
 should have committed a large part of it to 
 memory."
 
 314 HAKOLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " I have no doubt of it, and it would have 
 done much towards your education." 
 
 " It would, and it would have made me so 
 happy. But it is mine now, and I would not 
 exchange it for kingdoms." 
 
 " You ought to be a preacher, Harold. 
 You love the Bible so well, you might inspire 
 others with the same love." 
 
 "I shall not be a clergyman, but I shall 
 always preach the gospel. The talks in our 
 Austenville meetings seem to me better than 
 any preaching. They have done me more 
 good than all the sermons I ever heard." 
 
 " Those meetings are exceptional. There 
 are no others like them." 
 
 "There might be if professing Christians 
 would do their duty. I know there is not 
 another Miss Austen, or Mr. Stuart, or Mr. 
 Elliot ; but if people have hearts full of love 
 to God, and would speak it out, they would 
 do a world of good." 
 
 " And if people would live out their 
 religion, as Aunt Margaret and Cousin 
 Edward do, others would be attracted. Aus-
 
 A VINE CLAD COTTAGE. 315 
 
 tenville, as it now is, was founded upon 
 religion." 
 
 " Everybody -vvho knows anything about it 
 knows that. There is no deception nor cheat- 
 ing among those who manage the business 
 there ; and honest employers make honest 
 workmen." 
 
 " That is true, and besides, everybody in 
 Austenville seems in the right place. No- 
 body else would do as well as Mr. Bumstead 
 in his place, and Mr. Elliot is the very man 
 needed where he is. Aunt Margaret says 
 that, and there are not many women who 
 could have done what she has. If she had 
 not gone there, I should not be here now." 
 
 "Neither should I. When I heard Mr. 
 Elliot tell Mr. Dorsey that a woman was 
 starting up a mill, and he was going to ask 
 her for work, I did not think I should ever 
 see the mill, although I wondered what it 
 was like. I remember that Mr. Elliot said if 
 he could redeem his past life anywhere, he 
 could do it there. I did not understand that 
 exactly, but I knew he had done what he was
 
 316 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 sorry for. Your Uncle William had been his 
 friend, and the place had attractions for him 
 on that account. He could not be more 
 interested in it now, if the place was all his 
 own, and Mr. Gray seconds his efforts." 
 
 " There will be a productive farm in a few 
 years." 
 
 "It is productive now, as far as it has been 
 cultivated, but a few years will make a great 
 improvement in it. Other farms, too, in 
 the vicinity will improve, because there is a 
 better market for their crops. I think of Mr. 
 Peavey with his little farm, and wish I was 
 where I could lend him a helping hand. I 
 know my letters do them good ; but they are 
 not very substantial help when there is hard 
 work to be done." 
 
 The speaker might have thought otherwise, 
 had he known how many times his letters 
 were read, so that one was not laid away in 
 the drawer until another was received. A 
 letter from Harold was almost like having 
 Harold himself with them ; yet when he de- 
 cided to remain away through the entire
 
 A VINE CLAD COTTAGE. 317 
 
 school year, their disappointment was hard 
 to bear. 
 
 They were, however, less lonely than they 
 feared. They had many friends who were 
 mindful of their welfare, while they were 
 interested in the welfare of many others. 
 Mr. Peavey wrote to Harold that the}- had 
 their tea-set out oftener than ever before 
 since they kept house. 
 
 One occasion, in which this and every 
 other available piece of crockery was pressed 
 into service, is worthy of special notice. A 
 large part}-, self- invited, appeared at their 
 door, bringing a bountiful entertainment, and 
 asking for admission. 
 
 " I'm glad to see you, every one, but I 
 don't know where you'll all find a place in our 
 little house," said the dear old lady, quite 
 taken by surprise. "I've been lonesomer 
 than common to-day, and it's a pity I didn't 
 know you were coming, so I could be think- 
 ing about it." 
 
 A fire was lighted in the "east room,'' and 
 the company was all the merrier because of
 
 318 HAEOLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 narrow spaces. At an early hour the table 
 was spread and refreshments were placed 
 upon it, when Mr. Peavey asked a blessing, 
 and thanked the Giver of all good for unex- 
 pected mercies. 
 
 Everything was provided by the guests, 
 even to sugar and milk for tea and coffee, of 
 which there was an abundant supply. More 
 was left than was eaten, and the memory of 
 this visit brightened all the winter. 
 
 If Harold had been at home there would 
 have been nothing to desire, but this home 
 felt his influence even when far away.
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAN. 319 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAN. 
 
 AN old man sat alone in a handsomely 
 furnished room. Upon the table be- 
 fore him was a package of papers which he 
 was examining, while glancing now and then 
 at the door, as if fearful of being inter- 
 rupted. 
 
 He was not disturbed, and at length he 
 returned the papers to a drawer which locked 
 with a spring, and the key of which he al- 
 ways carried with him. 
 
 Later, a visitor was announced, and the 
 lawyer who had transacted his business for 
 many years was admitted to his presence. 
 
 " Sit down," he said feebly. " I sent for 
 you to hear what is to be done with that 
 scapegrace grandson of mine. Is there a 
 chance of saving me from the disgrace of his 
 imprisonment?"
 
 320 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " I think there is, sir. The parties con- 
 cerned are willing to compromise the mat- 
 ter." 
 
 " For how much ? Of course they want 
 money." 
 
 "Yes, sir. They demand a larger sum 
 than I hoped would satisfy them ; but as they 
 have the matter in their own hands, we must 
 accede to their terms." 
 
 " Don't mention it. I will give you a check 
 for the amount, but there is a limit to my 
 forbearance. I have indulged that boy until 
 he thinks he can count on me to help him out 
 of any kind of trouble. He is twenty-two 
 years old, and he has never done a fair day's 
 work in his life. It is hard for a man at my 
 age not to have one in his family he can de- 
 pend upon. If my son had lived to bring up 
 his boy, or if my daughter had married to 
 please me, I should not be so forsaken now. 
 But it is too late to talk of that, and I am 
 afraid it is too late to expect any improve- 
 ment in Morris." 
 
 rt This may be a lesson to him, Mr. Bryant.
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAN. 321 
 
 I certainly hope it will. If you could per- 
 suade him to give up the use of wine, even 
 in the smallest quantities, he would not be so 
 reckless. That is his greatest fault." 
 
 " About four years ago, you told me that 
 the man Dorsey was dead," remarked Mr. 
 Bryant, without replying to his companion. 
 
 "Yes, sir, he died some months before." 
 
 " And the boy under his care ? " 
 
 " Has claimed the property held in trust for 
 him, and upon the recommendation of those 
 best acquainted with him, the property was 
 given into his hands without guardianship." 
 
 " He is only twenty years old." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but he was represented to be 
 fully capable of managing his own business, 
 and a point was made of the injustice from 
 which he had suffered." 
 
 "Injustice! What rights had he, the 
 son of a gambler and drunkard, who thought 
 to gain my money by marrying my daughter ! 
 The boy ought to be thankful that he was not 
 left to starve with his miserable father. I 
 hope there is no doubt of his father's death." 
 21
 
 322 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " No doubt at till, sir. His death was fully 
 substantiated." 
 
 "Well, I gave the boy a chance to live, 
 and a few acres of land. That was more 
 than he had any right to claim from me. 
 Who recommended him to the authorities ? " 
 
 " Influential friends." 
 
 " He will be likely to need all the friends 
 he has. You are sure he knows nothing of 
 his parentage ? " 
 
 "I am sure that the man Dorsey did not 
 tell him, and I know of no one else who 
 could tell him." 
 
 "I intended to guard against that. The 
 man Dorsey had too much at stake to be- 
 tray his trust." 
 
 "Yes, sir. Is there any further business 
 to transact this morning ? " asked the lawyer 
 after a silence in which his companion seemed 
 to have forgotten his presence. 
 
 "Not any, only be sure that money is paid 
 in season, and try and impress upon my 
 grandson that such an irregularity must not 
 happen again."
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAX. 323 
 
 " Yes, sir, I will attend to it." 
 
 Mr. Carter rose to go, when the old man 
 looked up, saying earnestly : 
 
 " You don't think I was too hard on the 
 man Dorsey, do you ? " 
 
 "You did as you thought best, Mr. Bry- 
 ant," was the evasive reply. "He was found 
 guilty of a crime, and criminals are seldom 
 allowed to choose their punishment." 
 
 " He might have been sent to prison." 
 
 " Yes, sir, and that would have been worse 
 than living in seclusion." 
 
 "I never knew that he complained." 
 
 " Never, Mr. Bryant, never. He was too 
 proud a man for that. Too just a man, too. 
 He was terribly tempted, and he fell, but he 
 was better than many a man who walks our 
 streets, honored and respected." 
 
 "You may be right, Mr. Carter; but it is 
 all over now, and if I made a mistake, it is 
 too late to rectify it." 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 rf That boy hadn't any claim on me, but I 
 provided for him, and now he must provide
 
 324 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 for himself. I never want to hear his name. 
 Do you know where he is, Mr. Carter?" 
 
 " I think he is in school, fitting for col- 
 lege." 
 
 "Well, I hope he will prosper, 'though it is 
 not likely I shall ever know any more about 
 him. I supposed he would be like his 
 father." 
 
 " His father was naturally a very smart 
 man." 
 
 " He was an unprincipled wretch." 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 So the interview closed, and the old man 
 was left sitting by the table, glad to be alone, 
 and yet shrinking from the companionship of 
 his own thoughts. 
 
 He had one grandson, as he was often 
 heard to say ; a young man, not wanting in 
 ability, yet as devoid of right principle as 
 those whom he so severely condemned. This 
 grandson had large expectations of wealth, 
 and therefore felt no necessity for applying 
 himself to business. His mother and sisters 
 had no power to restrain him, while until
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAN. 325 
 
 recently his grandfather had indulged him in 
 every whim. This boy was the idol of his 
 heart, but the idol was of clay, and it had 
 crumbled at his feet. 
 
 He had been disappointed in his family ; 
 but he could draw consolation from the fact 
 that he bad not been disappointed in his plans 
 for acquiring riches. If there had been irregu- 
 larities in his transactions, they were carefully 
 concealed. He had not hesitated even to 
 shield himself at the expense of better men. 
 A shrewd manager, he had deceived many ; 
 but the time had come when he could no 
 longer deceive himself. 
 
 He was old and infirm, and he must soon 
 die. Possibly he might live ten years, yet 
 these would quickly pass ; while probably his 
 mortal existence would be ended long before 
 that time. His will confronted a stronger 
 will, and the bounds of his life were tip- 
 pointed by one in whom is no variableness 
 or shadow of turning. 
 
 If his son had lived ! But his son had not 
 been all that he desired. His wealth was not
 
 326 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 half to him he had dreamed it would be. 
 He opened again the drawer, and took from 
 it the same package he had been examining 
 before his lawyer came in. 
 
 "It was not much after all," he murmured. 
 "Not much to give a boy to start in the 
 world. Twenty acres of wild land, that cost 
 me less than Morris sometimes spends in a 
 month. But he had no claim on me. It was 
 all a free gift on my part." 
 
 A vision of the boy's mother rose before 
 him, handsome, haughty, and self-willed, 
 one whose whole nature might have been 
 softened and sweetened by Christian training, 
 but who had grown up in an atmosphere of 
 worldlincss, to yield to the fascination of a 
 grand passion. 
 
 It did not matter to her how she lived, if it 
 was only with the man she loved ; but she 
 found to her cost that it mattered much to 
 him whether she brought him a fortune. Too 
 proud to humble herself before the father 
 who had commanded her never to speak his 
 name, she struggled on in the deepest pov-
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAN. 327 
 
 erty, neglected and abused by him who had 
 vowed to cherish and protect her, until death 
 came to her release. She left one child, a 
 boy ; and with the cool audacity which char- 
 acterized him, the father of this child in- 
 formed Mr. Bryant where the boy could be 
 found, and resigned all claim which the law- 
 might give him to " such an incumbranee." 
 
 "You can provide for him, or he can be 
 sent to the poor-house. It does not matter 
 to me which," wrote the heartless man. 
 
 Circumstances favored an arrangement by 
 Avhich the care of the boy could be assured 
 without danger that he would prove trouble- 
 some. His grandfather refused to see him, 
 and in the contract with his guardian stipu- 
 lated that he should be called Harold Dorsey. 
 Mr. Bryant had hoped he would die ; but he 
 lived, strong and sturdy. 
 
 Fitting for college, and managing his 
 little property ! Recommended by influential 
 friends as capable ! 
 
 The papers were returned to their place of 
 concealment, and the wrinkled hands were
 
 328 HAROLD DORSE-Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 clasped tightly, as if thus unpleasant memo- 
 ries could be crushed out. 
 
 But these memories, whatever they might 
 be, were for the moment set aside by the 
 entrance of a young man, who said abruptly : 
 
 " Grandfather, I am sorry I have made so 
 much trouble for you and Mr. Carter. I 
 don't know how I could have forgotten my- 
 self so far ; but I was a little under the influ- 
 ence of wine, and things looked differently 
 to me from what they did the next morning. 
 Thank you for helping me out of the scrape." 
 
 "It might have been a serious matter for 
 you," responded the grandfather coldly. 
 
 " Yes, sir, I know it might. I was terri- 
 bly cut up about it, but I was sure you would 
 not let your grandson suffer when- you could 
 prevent it. So I put the best face I could on 
 it, and trusted to your kindness." 
 
 "It would have served you right if you 
 had been left to suffer the consequences of 
 your wickedness. Yes, Morris, it was wick- 
 edness, or crime, just which you please to 
 call it."
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAX. 329 
 
 " Crime is an ugly word, grandfather." 
 
 w And an ugly fact. But you committed a 
 crime, and I have saved you from the pun- 
 ishment you deserve." 
 
 " I should not allow any one else to say 
 that." 
 
 "Mr. Carter said that." 
 
 "Yes, sir ; but lawyers are expected to say 
 disagreeable things. It is their privilege." 
 
 " And it is my privilege to tell you that I 
 am thoroughly displeased with you. Unless 
 you do better than you have been doing for 
 the last year, I will cut you off with a shil- 
 ling." 
 
 Morris Bryant looked at his grandfather as 
 if doubting that he had heard correctly the 
 words just spoken, and began to stammer 
 some excuses for what he was pleased to term 
 his irregularities. 
 
 "I am sorry I have displeased you," he 
 said at length. 
 
 "You have done worse than that. You 
 have disgraced me, disgraced your family, 
 and disgraced yourself. I want you to fully
 
 330 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 understand that. How is it about your quar- 
 ter's allowance? How much have you on 
 hand?" 
 
 "Not much," replied the young man with 
 evident reluctance. 
 
 "How much? I want to know the truth 
 about it. Tell me the exact amount." 
 
 "Well, grandfather, if I must, I must; and 
 to tell the plain truth, I have spent every 
 dollar of it. I don't know how it is that I 
 get away with so much money ; but before I 
 think of such a thing, I find it is all gone. 
 I am very sorry about it. I Avish I could 
 keep money in my pocket." 
 
 "If you were obliged to earn the money 
 you put in your pocket, you would be more 
 likely to keep it there, and it is quite time 
 you decided upon some employment. I 
 don't know who would have you in any place 
 of trust, but you can begin at the foot of the 
 ladder and work your way up." 
 
 " What could I do ? I thought " 
 
 "What did you think? Tell the whole 
 story. There will never be a better oppor-
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAX. 331 
 
 tunity, and it is time we understood each 
 other." 
 
 MVell, grandfather, I thought perhaps I 
 could help you look after your property do 
 some writing for you, and save you from 
 some hard work." 
 
 " I know better than to trust my business 
 with you. I have been to blame for indulg- 
 ing you as I have, but you have been ten 
 times us much to blame for abusing my kind- 
 ness, and presuming upon my money. I am 
 not the richest man in the country, Morris. 
 It would be possible to exhaust my wealth ; 
 but I have no intention of allowing it to be 
 done . Are you in debt ? " 
 
 Morris Bryant had not expected this ques- 
 tion ; but when it was repeated, he knew by 
 his grandfather's appearance that it must be 
 answered, and answered truly. As prevari- 
 cation would not avail him, he acknowledged 
 that he had contracted some debts he could 
 not pay. 
 
 " Tell me the names of your creditors, and 
 the amount that is due them," said Mr. Bry- 
 ant shurply.
 
 332 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " Please excuse me, grandfather," respond- 
 ed the young man. "I shall manage some 
 way to pay them, and I am unwilling to 
 trouble you." 
 
 " Trouble me ! You should have thought 
 of that before. Make a clean breast of it, 
 and I will set you square on your feet once 
 more. After that, you must manage to live 
 on your allowance and what you can earn." 
 
 "But, grandfather, I think you gave me 
 reason to expect that you would pay my ex- 
 penses for a year in Europe." 
 
 " Say no more about that. I have just 
 paid that amount to keep you out of prison, 
 and I shall waste no money in sending you 
 abroad. Tell me the names of your credit- 
 ors. If you keep back one, or falsify the 
 amount you are owing, you will pay it your- 
 self. I mean what I say," continued Mr. 
 Bryant ; and reluctantly the young man 
 copied a formidable list of names from his 
 memorandum book. 
 
 "Why, grandfather, I wouldn't have be- 
 lieved it was half so much," he exclaimed.
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAN. 333 
 
 " I don't wonder you scold me. I deserve to 
 live on bread and water until I can do better, 
 and I had as soon live so as any way, if you 
 are going to throw ine over." 
 
 " As the law goes, you deserve bread and 
 water ; but I am going to give you another 
 chance, and see what you will do. Remem- 
 ber, however, that this must not occur again.'' 
 
 Morris Bryant went out from that inter- 
 view, serious and troubled. His debts were 
 to be paid, but the money was not intrusted 
 to him. He had received his quarterly allow- 
 ance, but it would never suffice for his ac- 
 customed extravagant expenditure. He had 
 been enjoined to drink wine sparingly ; yet 
 even in his grandfather's house he would be 
 tempted to its use, while his mother would 
 have considered herself wanting in courtesy, 
 had she neglected to offer wine to her guests. 
 
 She was terribly mortified at her son's 
 reckless conduct, but the loss of his grand- 
 father's doting fondness would have seemed 
 to her a far greater calamity. She had never 
 been a favorite with her husband's father,
 
 334 IIAEOLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 although she had striven hard to please him. 
 Notwithstanding his own scheming and plot- 
 ting in business, he liked people who were 
 frank and outspoken, who expressed their 
 opinions fearlessly, without calculating the 
 effect. 
 
 When with her father-in-law, Mrs. Bryant 
 calculated the effect of every word, and was 
 therefore too self-conscious to be an agree- 
 able companion. 
 
 Her son came home that day so out of 
 humor, that his sisters wished him a thousand 
 miles away; and when, by appointment, he 
 went to Mr. Carter's office, he was prepared 
 to assume the role of a highly offended gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 " Another bill has been given to me for col- 
 lection," said the lawyer. "It is not large, 
 and I advise you to pay it without having it 
 submitted to your grandfather." 
 
 The bill was examined, and its amount 
 placed in Mr. Carter's hands, as the young 
 man exclaimed impatiently : 
 
 " I hope that is all!"
 
 A DISAPPOINTED OLD MAX. 335 
 
 "I hope it is," was replied. "Your grand- 
 father believed that you had told him the 
 truth in regard to your indebtedness, and he 
 deserves better of you than that you should 
 deceive him." 
 
 " Mr. Carter, I wish to ask you some ques- 
 tions," remarked Morris Bryant, when their 
 business had been transacted. " My father 
 had a sister, who married and died. Is her 
 husband living?" 
 
 o 
 
 "He is not." 
 
 " Had she any children ? Has my grand- 
 father any grandchildren besides my sisters 
 and myself?" 
 
 " I have often heard him say that he has not." 
 
 " But, Mr. Carter, you know whether he is 
 mistaken." 
 
 "lie is not likely to be mistaken about 
 such a matter as that." 
 
 "No, sir; but it is possible that he might 
 be, and I am interested to know certainly 
 about it. It would be awkward for us if he 
 should die without a will, and there should be 
 other claimants to his property."
 
 336 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "If he had other grandchildren, they would 
 have the same right that you have, Morris 
 Bryant ; and if you have a spark of manli- 
 ness in your nature, you will stop speculating 
 in regard to the disposal of your grandfather's 
 property, and set to work to provide for 
 yourself." 
 
 " I suppose it would be useless to ask you 
 if my grandfather has made his will." 
 
 " Entirely so. I have no more time to 
 spend with you. I have given you friendly 
 advice you will do well to heed ; but your 
 grandfather's business does not concern you." 
 
 These words sent the young man in haste 
 from Mr. Carter's office, more thoroughly 
 dissatisfied with himself and with the world 
 than when he had entered it. The remark, 
 once made in his presence, that possibly Mr. 
 Bryant had another grandson, he did not at 
 the time think worthy of notice ; but some- 
 thing had now prompted him to inquire of 
 Mr. Carter concerning it, and the evasive 
 answers he had received aroused his suspi- 
 cions.
 
 THE FRAGMENTS OF A WILL. 337 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE FRAGMENTS OF A WILL. 
 
 DEAD in his library. His housekeeper, 
 a distant relative, found him sitting 
 there by his table strown with papers, while 
 in his right hand he held another paper, from 
 which fragments had been torn and scattered 
 on the floor. 
 
 It was late at night, and she had listened 
 for his footsteps on the stairs, until, in her 
 anxiety, she ventured to rap upon the door 
 of his room ; and when no response was 
 made, she entered. 
 
 "Asleep?" she cried doubtingly, but still 
 there was no response, and she knew that 
 her kinsman was sleeping the sleep of death. 
 
 At once, she sent for his physician and his 
 lawyer. She knew the family secrets and 
 resolved to guard against possible interfer- 
 ence. 
 
 22
 
 338 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " He must have been dead for some time," 
 said the physician, who arrived first. "I 
 have expected he would die suddenly ; and 
 knowing his habits, I am not surprised that 
 he died alone. I think we will wait for Mr. 
 Carter before removing him." 
 
 In the presence of these witnesses, the 
 lawyer gathered up the papers, with the frag- 
 ments from the floor, and placed them in a 
 desk which he locked securely ; after which 
 proper care was taken of the dead man. 
 Mrs. Bryant was notified of her father-in- 
 law's death, and preparations were made for 
 the funeral. 
 
 Was there a will ? 
 
 This question, so often asked, was not 
 answered until the last obsequies were over. 
 
 "Several years since, I drew up a will for 
 Mr. Bryant, which was duly signed and wit- 
 nessed. At the moment of his death he held 
 a part of this will in his hand. The remain- 
 der had been torn into shreds and scattered 
 on the floor. Evidently, his last conscious 
 act was the destruction of this will, and the
 
 THE FRAGMENTS OF A WILL. 339 
 
 estate of our deceased friend will be settled 
 according to the requirements of the law. 
 Having been appointed administrator of this 
 estate, I shall proceed with my duties in that 
 capacity." 
 
 This concise statement, made by Mr. Car- 
 ter, was received with affected indifference, 
 but privately, Mrs. Bryant asked if there was 
 any probability that her husband's sister had 
 left children. 
 
 " She had one son," was replied frankly. 
 
 "Is he living?" inquired the woman with 
 manifest anxiety. 
 
 " I think he is." 
 
 " And will he receive his mother's share of 
 her father's property?" 
 
 "He certainly will, Mrs. Bryant." 
 
 " But Father never acknowledged him as a 
 grandson." 
 
 "Not in the way he acknowledged your 
 son, but in a way which leaves no doubt of 
 the boy's identity." 
 
 " But we have expected that Father would 
 will the bulk of his property to Morris. He
 
 340 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 gave us reason to expect that he would do 
 so." 
 
 "Then he must have had a reason for 
 changing his purpose, and so doing tardy 
 justice to another." 
 
 " Who is this other who will take half the 
 fortune belonging to us ? " 
 
 "No* one will take a dollar belonging to 
 your family, Mrs. Bryant. Justice will be 
 done, and it will not be best to talk more of 
 this at present/' 
 
 Morris Bryant was disappointed and angry. 
 Sure that the destroyed will had given him 
 the bulk of his grandfather's property, he 
 felt himself wronged in its destruction. 
 
 "I never heard of anything so outrageous," 
 he said to the housekeeper, Mrs. Morey. 
 
 " The outrageous part of it was in the boy 
 not having his rights from the beginning," 
 she replied. 
 
 " Where has he been all this time ? " 
 
 "That I can't tell you. I hope he has 
 been in a good place. His mother made a 
 mistake when she married as she did, but
 
 THE FRAGMENTS OF A WILL. 341 
 
 that was no reason why she or her child 
 should be hated. His father was a villain, 
 but the boy was not to blame for that, and I 
 shall be glad to see him have his rights." 
 
 "But you won't have anything, and Grand- 
 father ought to have left you a handsome 
 legacy. Very likely he did in that will Mr. 
 Carter says was destroyed." 
 
 " Your grandfather paid me my wages, just 
 what I asked, and I have no reason to com- 
 plain." 
 
 "But Grandfather always called me his 
 only grandson. He said I took my father's 
 place with him, and I never shall believe he 
 knew what he was doing when he tore up 
 his will. He was not capable of doing 
 business." 
 
 " Capable, or not, he did the business, and 
 it cannot be undone. I am thankful for that." 
 
 Morris Bryant had never been a favorite 
 with Mrs. Morey, who wondered that his 
 grandfather should lavish upon him such fond 
 indulgence, when every one else could see 
 that he was supremely selfish.
 
 342 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 The fact that there was another grandson 
 to share in Mr. Bryant's property was a gen- 
 eral surprise to the community, and great was 
 the curiosity in regard to one whose exist- 
 ence had been so long ignored. 
 
 Mr. Carter, who knew something of him, 
 made further inquiries, and at the proper 
 time visited the town where he was at school. 
 
 A note was dispatched, summoning him to 
 the hotel to meet a gentleman on business. 
 Wondering at the summons, Harold Dorsey 
 met a stranger, who said without ceremony 
 
 " I am administrator of the estate of your 
 grandfather, lately deceased." 
 
 " I never heard that I had a grandfather," 
 replied the young man, his fine face flushing 
 at the abrupt announcement just made. 
 
 " Your maternal grandfather was Marcus 
 Bryant. Your mother's marriage displeased 
 him, and he refused to see her afterwards. 
 When she died, your father wrote to your 
 grandfather that he should make no provision 
 for you, and unless your mother's family 
 provided for your support, you would be left
 
 THE FRAGMENTS OF A WILL. 343 
 
 to depend upon charity. Your grandfather 
 took care to prevent this dependence ; but he 
 did this in his own way. The last of his life I 
 think he felt that he had treated you unjustly. 
 He destroyed the will which cut you off with 
 a dollar, and left his estate to be divided 
 between your uncle's family and yourself." 
 
 Every word had been spoken deliberately, 
 so that the listener could take in its full 
 meaning. 
 
 "I think I don't care for the property," 
 said Harold Dorsey. "I presume my grand- 
 father wished me out of existence." 
 
 " I presume he did, but you must give him 
 credit for doing you justice at last. He was 
 sorely tried." 
 
 " I suppose my father was not a good man." 
 
 " He had unfortunate habits ; but it will do 
 no good to talk of them. It is useless to 
 condemn those who have gone before us. 
 Don't blame your grandfather too much." 
 
 " I have no wish to blame any one, Mr. 
 Carter, but I was shut up to a bare and nar- 
 row life, with no one to love me."
 
 344 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "Better that, young man, than a life of in- 
 dulgence and pampered ease. You were 
 brought up austerely, but you were brought 
 up purely. Mr. Dorsey was a man who 
 would see that you acquired no bad habits." 
 
 " Then you knew Mr. Dorsey, and will 
 tell me of him. He must have been used to 
 a different life from that we lived in the 
 woods." 
 
 "He was, but he was not strong enough to 
 resist the temptation which ruined him, and his 
 punishment was a life of seclusion with you." 
 
 "My grandfather consigned him to that 
 punishment ? " 
 
 "He did, and so saved the man from a 
 severer punishment." 
 
 "Was the man's true name, Dorsey?" 
 
 " It was not. That name was assumed to 
 prevent his recognition." 
 
 "And my grandfather stipulated that I 
 should be called Harold Dorsey." 
 
 " He did ; but you will now take your 
 place as your mother's son, and be known as 
 Harry Liscomb."
 
 THE FRAGMENTS OF A WILL. 345 
 
 " I prefer to be known as Harold Dorsey, 
 and, Mr. Carter, I wish you had left me to 
 go on with my own plans. I have kind 
 friends who proved their friendship when 
 I most needed it, and I am able to earn 
 enough for all my wants." 
 
 w I should have been false to my trust if I 
 had not sought you out, and put you in pos- 
 session of the facts I have told you. One- 
 half of your grandfather's property is right- 
 fully yours, and I am sure that, in his last 
 hours, he wished it to be so. His last act re- 
 stored to you your birthright. When the grave 
 closes over our friends, we should forget and 
 forgive their faults. None of us are perfect." 
 
 "No, sir, we are not. We all have much 
 for which to be forgiven, and if my grand- 
 father had seen me, he might have felt dif- 
 ferently towards me." 
 
 " He would. I can speak for him there. 
 He would have been glad to receive you as 
 one of his family. You have your mother's 
 looks, and judging from what I have heard 
 of you, you have your father's ability."
 
 346 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 "Is my father dead?" 
 
 "He is. I know that for a certainty." 
 
 "What relatives have I?" 
 
 " You have four cousins, the children of 
 your mother's brother : a young man and 
 three sisters. Their mother is living, but 
 your uncle has been dead for several years." 
 
 " Are any of them Christians ? " 
 
 tr l think not. Your grandfather's family 
 was never considered a religious family. Are 
 you a Christian ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 w I am glad to know it. I make no pre- 
 tensions to being a Christian myself, but I 
 have a profound respect for any consistent 
 Christian. Hard as it may be, I am sure 
 now that you will forgive your grandfather ; 
 and when you come to understand more of 
 what your life might have been with him, 
 possibly you will be thankful that he gave 
 you into Mr. Dorsey's hands." 
 
 " I know that God allowed it, and that, in 
 some way, it was for my good." 
 
 "That is a sensible conclusion, and since
 
 THE FRAGMENTS OF A WILL. 347 
 
 that part of your life is past, it will be best 
 to think of it as little as possible." 
 
 Having said this, Mr. Gaiter proceeded to 
 inform his companion of the amount of prop- 
 erty left by Mr. Bryant. One half of this 
 would be more than Harold Dorsey had ever 
 dreamed of possessing. He had no ambition 
 to be rich ; but as he considered how much 
 might be accomplished with large means, he 
 felt that he had cause for thankfulness. 
 
 Mr. Carter's time was limited ; but the 
 short hour they spent together gave a new 
 impulse to two lives. 
 
 The man of the world, with his sharp prac- 
 tice and keen insight, had learned a lesson he 
 could not forget. 
 
 "Are you a Christian?" 
 
 This question, asked involuntarily, had 
 been answered with so much decision, that 
 he could not doubt it had been answered 
 truthfully. A Christian, and yet so young 
 and strong ! Was it not time that he, look- 
 ing towards the sunset of his life, should con- 
 sider his relations with God?
 
 348 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " A Christian, and standing head and- 
 shoulders above every other member of the 
 Bryant family," he soliloquized. " He has 
 been well trained, and he will know how to 
 make money of real use to himself and to the 
 world. Morris Bryant is not to be compared 
 with him." 
 
 " Is it in order for me to inquire if you 
 have seen the claimant to one-half of my 
 grandfather's estate ?" asked this same Mor- 
 ris Bryant when opportunity offered. 
 
 " It will be in order for me to tell you that 
 I have seen Harry Liscomb, your Aunt ^is- 
 comb's son." 
 
 "What is he like?* 
 
 " Like no one else I have ever seen. In 
 some things he reminded me of his father." 
 
 " His father was a wretch." 
 
 " The son is a Christian." 
 
 " A Christian ! " repeated Morris Bryant 
 with a sneer which expressed the contempt 
 he felt for religion. 
 
 "Yes, a Christian, and a splendid fellow 
 every way," said Mr. Carter with marked
 
 THE FRAGMENTS OF A WILL. 349 
 
 emphasis. " He deserves to be rich, yet he 
 is able to make his own fortune. I have 
 never seen a stranger who impressed me 
 more favorably. He is a gentleman in his 
 speech and manner, and, if I am not mis- 
 taken, he will make his mark in the world." 
 
 "Will he come here?" 
 
 " He will l)e likely to come some time, but 
 he has other business on hand than idling 
 away his time." 
 
 Harold Dorsey found it difficult to realize 
 that he was a young man of fortune. There 
 would be no more need of early and late 
 woA to meet his expenses. No more of close 
 economy, sacrificing one desirable object to 
 obtain another yet more desirable. 
 
 The mystery of his life was explained. 
 He did not care to know the temptation to 
 which Mr. Dorsey had yielded, but he wished 
 this man was still living, that he might in 
 some way atone for what he felt to be his 
 grandfather's unkindness.
 
 350 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 GOOD NEWS. 
 
 I AM glad this fortune did not come to you 
 a day sooner," said sMr. Elliot, when 
 Harold Dorsey told him what had transpired. 
 "I am very glad it did not come to you 
 a day sooner," he added still more emphati- 
 cally. " I should have liked to see what you 
 would make of yourself without it; but I 
 am heartily glad that justice has at last been 
 done. Your friends will rejoice with you." 
 
 " I thought of my friends the moment I 
 knew of my grandfather ; but I was coming 
 so soon, I did not write about it." 
 
 " And you are Harry Liscomb. It will be 
 strange to call you by a new name." 
 
 " You are not to call me by that name, Mr. 
 Elliot. I prefer the old name, and shall 
 petition for the right to retain it." 
 
 " Have you thought seriously of this ? "
 
 GOOD NEWS. 351 
 
 "Yes, sir, and I have decided what I 
 choose to do." 
 
 " Do Mr. and Mrs. Peavey know of your 
 fortune ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; I have not told them. I wished 
 to tell you first." 
 
 " Thank you for the preference. I had no 
 claim to it, but I appreciate the feeling which 
 prompted it ; and, Harold, as I was your 
 friend in adversity, I will be your friend in 
 prosperity." 
 
 "I shall always be grateful for your friend- 
 ship, Mr. Elliot. I cannot feel half so rich, 
 with my fortune, as I did when I was sure of 
 work, where I could see you every day, and 
 Mrs. Peavey told me I could occupy her 
 little garret chamber as long as I pleased. 
 Then I was rich indeed. It was more for me 
 than millions would be now." 
 
 " The old people will be afraid of losing 
 you." 
 
 " They will find their fears groundless. 
 I would not desert them any sooner than 
 I would desert a good father and mother.
 
 352 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 I shall help with the farm work as I always 
 have. I shall raise the roof of my garret, 
 to give myself more breathing space ; but, 
 so long as I live, I wish to feel that I have a 
 right to that room. In that room I have 
 made some of the most important decisions 
 of my life." 
 
 " I knew you would come before long, be- 
 cause you always do come when you say you 
 will, no matter how many other folks want 
 to see you." 
 
 "I always intend to keep my promises," 
 said Harold, in response to this expression of 
 confidence by Mrs. Peavey, as he sat down 
 by her in her neat kitchen, a few minutes 
 after bidding Mr. Elliot good evening. " I 
 have some news to tell you that I hope you 
 will be glad to hear." 
 
 " Then it must be good news, for you 
 wouldn't hope we'd be glad to hear bad news. 
 Tell us what it is." 
 
 Harold told them with few words and few 
 comments. 
 
 " It aint much different from what I ex-
 
 GOOD NEWS. 353 
 
 pectecl," responded Mr. Peavey, looking at 
 him earnestly. "Itaint much different, and 
 I am glad you are rich, because you will 
 do good with your money. It will take us a 
 good while to get used to your not being the 
 same you have been, but for all that, we can 
 be glad." 
 
 " I am glad and sorry too," added the dear 
 old wife, with tears in her eyes, before 
 Harold could assure them that he was the 
 very same he had been. " I am glad for you, 
 and sorry for us. Xo\v you are rich, it ain't 
 likely we shall see much more of you." 
 
 r Are you going to send me away from 
 you ; away from the only home I have ? ' 
 asked the young man. "I wish to think of 
 your home as my home, the same as if I 
 really belonged to you. I would like to 
 make some improvements in the house, if you 
 are willing, but if not, I shall be glad to call 
 it home, just as it is." 
 
 This reassured his friends, and before they 
 parted for the night calculations had been 
 made for the desired improvements. The 
 
 23
 
 354 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 next morning, however, when Harold ap- 
 peared in his working-dress, the conversa- 
 tion of the previous evening seemed like a 
 dream to Mr. and Mrs. Peavey. Could it be 
 that he who drove the cows a-field, whistling 
 merrily, was really worth more thousands of 
 dollars than they could count acres belong- 
 ing to their farm? 
 
 Strange, and yet true, as everybody in 
 Austenville soon knew. Congratulations were 
 showered upon him, although many watched 
 him narrowly to see if, with his change of 
 fortune, there was a corresponding change in 
 his appearance. But with all their scrutiny, 
 they saw nothing to condemn, as he called 
 upon one and another, even more genial and 
 companionable than ever before. 
 
 Miss Greenleaf was not there. Another 
 had taken her place, while she had fitted her- 
 self for a higher and more lucrative position, 
 which she filled with rare acceptance. The 
 years spent in Austenville had counted to her 
 for more than twice a twelvemonth, so much 
 had she learned of her own powers, and the
 
 GOOD NEWS. 355 
 
 possible treasures of knowledge she might 
 make her own. 
 
 Esther Wetherell had spent a part of two 
 years in school, but she was now at home; 
 and hardly had she accustomed herself to 
 thinking of Harold Dorsey as rich, when her 
 cousin saw him coming towards the house. 
 
 "There's Harold Dorsey, looking just as 
 he used to," said Miss Sperry, calling to 
 Esther. " I shouldn't mistrust there had been 
 any great change in him, only what you 
 might expect in a young man that is learning 
 all the time, and finding out what he is good 
 for. We aint much used to rich folks, but I 
 guess he can come right in." 
 
 As the door was ajar, he came in without 
 ceremony, and was presently listening to a 
 report of the elder woman's success in 
 farming. 
 
 " I have prospered. I haven't made any 
 great amount of money ; but I have gained 
 right along, and I am in a fair way to gain 
 more. I have some good stock, and I shall 
 raise enough to live on. We make ourselves
 
 356 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 comfortable, and when Esther is here with 
 me, I wouldn't change places with the richest 
 woman in the country ; not even with Miss 
 Austen. I know she aint the richest, but 
 she is rich enough, and she is going to be 
 richer. She will make a fortune in the mill, 
 and she deserves it too. The good she has 
 done here in town is more than anybody can 
 tell. Some of it folks can see, but a good 
 deal of the best part of it is out of sight. 
 She has just about made me over, and there 
 is Esther too. But she can speak for herself. 
 I guess I have done my share of talking for 
 the present." 
 
 " How happy she is in her work," remarked 
 Harold, when this farmer had left the room. 
 
 " She is very happy," replied Esther. " She 
 was always good and kind, but her life was 
 very narrow until she became acquainted with 
 Miss Austen. Most people would think her 
 life narrow now, working as she does for 
 small profits, and counting her gains so 
 slowly, but she is satisfied." 
 
 " There is other work for you."
 
 GOOD NEWS. 357 
 
 "I think there is, but I am always glad to 
 come back to Cousin Jane and help her in 
 her homely labors. It does me good, and it 
 seems to me it will always be a pleasure to 
 come here, even should I live to be as rich as 
 people say you are." 
 
 "I believe you would, Esther. Riches 
 give their possessors larger opportunities, but 
 they do not change the hearts." 
 
 " They sonjetimes seem to, Harold." 
 
 "Such hearts are poor affairs, at best, and 
 their owners not worth consideration. Miss 
 Austen and Mr. Stuart would never change, 
 except to grow better. They deserve to be 
 rich, they will do so much good with their 
 money." 
 
 "By the same token, you deserve to be 
 rich, but the best gifts are those which can- 
 not be valued in dollars and cents. People 
 can earn, money for themselves, but sympathy 
 is not to be bought." 
 
 " That is true, and the sympathy I receive 
 from my friends is worth more to me than 
 my fortune."
 
 358 HAROLD DOESEY'S FORTUNE. 
 
 " I can understand that ; for sympathy and 
 friendship have made me rich without a for- 
 tune." 
 
 "I can understand that, too, Esther, and 
 now you have only to -make your opportuni- 
 ties and improve them. They will be sure 
 to come at your will." 
 
 " I know that by experience. I intend to 
 take what is called a thorough course of 
 study, but I am not ready to commence, ex- 
 cept as I am gaining little by little from term 
 to term. I am glad you could keep on stead- 
 ily from the first, as I suppose Robert Bum- 
 stead will." 
 
 " He will keep on to the end, if there is any 
 end for him. He is very studious, and doing 
 very well." 
 
 "We should expect that, of course, and 
 his grandparents are very proud of him. But 
 I think they have hardly recovered from their 
 astonishment at his wishing to go to school 
 with you, so young as he was. Mr. Bum- 
 stead says he never dreamed of having a 
 scholar in his family."
 
 GOOD NEWS. 359 
 
 This conversation was continued until in- 
 terrupted by a summons to tea, which Miss 
 Sperry had prepared ; and as full justice was 
 done to her snowy biscuits, with honey 
 from her hives under the old apple-tree, the 
 hostess envied no woman grander possessions. 
 She could entertain her friends generously ; 
 meet the demands made upon her as a member 
 of society, and contribute her share to help 
 others poorer than herself. Beyond this she 
 had no ambitions, although for her young 
 cousin her hopes and expectations were 
 boundless. 
 
 Harold Dorsey would gladly have given 
 this cousin substantial assistance, but he 
 feared to put their friendship thus to the test, 
 and so was content to wish her success, while 
 assuring her of his constant sympathy. 
 
 " I judge her by myself," he said to Miss 
 Austen, when speaking of Esther AVetherell. 
 
 "Then you think she is as independent as 
 you are," was responded. 
 
 "Yes, ma'am, quite as independent, and 
 much prouder. I appreciated Mr. Stuart's
 
 360 HAROLD DORSE Y'S FORTUNE. 
 
 kindness, without being troubled by it ; but 
 if I should offer money to Esther, even as a 
 loan, I think she would never be quite so 
 glad to see me again." 
 
 "Perhaps not. I have thought much the 
 same, when considering how I could give her 
 acceptable help. She is able to provide for 
 herself, now that she can earn money." 
 
 " Good sense, good health, and an oppor- 
 tunity to earn money is all one needs for a 
 start in life ; and I confess that I was a little 
 disappointed when I found myself entitled to 
 a fortune I had not earned. Mr. Elliot told 
 me he was glad it did not come to me sooner, 
 and I am glad too. I needed just the disci- 
 pline I had with Mr. Dorsey, and the expe- 
 rience I have had here in Austenville. I 
 wish to thank you now, Miss Austen, for all 
 your kindness. I can never make you any 
 adequate return, but I appreciate what you 
 have done for me." 
 
 " I have only done my pleasure, and it is 
 more blessed to give than to receive." 
 
 " Then you must be blessed indeed."
 
 GOOD NEWS. 361 
 
 "More blessed than you know, Harold," 
 said Mr. Stuart, coming in that moment. 
 " Aunt Margaret has always been giving of 
 her best, and yet she has grown richer every 
 day." 
 
 " So that no one is indebted to me," re- 
 joined Miss Austen. 
 
 Others . thought differently, but she had 
 neither time nor inclination to calculate what 
 gratitude was her due. Her relatives and 
 friends would never outgrow her love or her 
 influence, although some around her were fast 
 outgrowing their positions in the little village 
 of which she was the presiding genius. 
 
 People talked of Mr. Elliot as the smart- 
 est man in town ; worthy of public confi- 
 dence, and fitted to represent the community 
 in the legislature of the State. He was pop- 
 ular with all classes, as he could not fail to 
 know, and yet he worked early and late, 
 giving no sign that he desired a wider sphere 
 of action. 
 
 " He'll not be doing that long," said Mrs. 
 Rady, as she watched him from the mill win-
 
 362 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 dow. "There's something else for him, and 
 this is the place to find something else. If I 
 was younger, may be I'd be different." 
 
 "Then you think about it, don't you, 
 mother?" responded Mrs. Borine. 
 
 " I think many things, but there's my loom 
 needing me," and with deft fingers she sup- 
 plied some threads which had dropped from 
 the web she was weaving. 
 
 If younger, she might be different. Old 
 as she thought herself, she was different from 
 what she had been. The blind faith in priest 
 and confessional had given place to question- 
 ings if cross and crucifix were more than em- 
 blems of a religion having its home in the 
 heart, and exemplified in the life. A chapter 
 from the Bible was read aloud in her home 
 every morning, and deeper than she knew 
 were the impressions this reading had pro- 
 duced. 
 
 " O granny, if you would only go to the 
 Sunday meetings ! " exclaimed Norah, while 
 she and her mother waited to hear the stroke 
 of the bell.
 
 GOOD NEWS. 363 
 
 w Never mind me, honey," was replied. "I'll 
 bide at home ; and when you come you'll sing 
 to me. Then I'll have my meeting. But 
 mind you, both, if I'm sick and like to die, 
 call the mistress." 
 
 " I never thought, before, that granny could 
 die," remarked the child as they walked on. 
 " I must be careful not to trouble her. She 
 does so much for me, I have the same as two 
 mothers." 
 
 " Bless her dear heart," thought Mrs. Rady 
 when left alone. " She's that kind and tender, 
 it pays for all my work ; and, please God, she 
 shall have a chance with the best. Harold 's at 
 home, and the meeting sure to be what they'll 
 like. "Well, now, it's strange ; " and the 
 woman leaned forward, resting her head upon 
 her hands. "It's strange, the way with 
 things here. Would they been the same, 
 was master a priest, and mistress a nun? 
 Would I have my darling in the old church f : " 
 
 She caught her breath quickly, as this last 
 question was uttered almost aloud, crossing 
 herself in token of acknowledgment of sin.
 
 364 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 Then, rising, she went out to examine her 
 garden, thus resolutely putting away all 
 thoughts of religion ; and it was not until 
 Norah called to her that she again entered the 
 house. 
 
 "O granny, it was best of all," said the 
 child. " Nobody ever talked so well before 
 as Harold Dorsey did to-night. I wish I 
 could be as glad and happy as he is ; and it 
 isn't because he has so much money either. 
 He never said a word about that." 
 
 "What did he talk about?" asked Mrs. 
 Rady. 
 
 " About true riches ; the riches there is in 
 the love of Christ Jesus ; because we can 
 have that love everywhere and all the time. 
 You know Christ Jesus is the Saviour, 
 granny." 
 
 " Yes, child, I'd be a heathen, not to know 
 that." 
 
 "He has all power in His hands, and can 
 give us everything that is best for us to have. 
 Harold said that when God takes one thing 
 away from us, He gives us something else in
 
 GOOD NEWS. 3G5 
 
 place of what He takes away. I kept think- 
 ing, all the time, how thankful I was He gave 
 me such a dear, good grandmother. Jessie 
 says I ought to call you grandmother, but I 
 told her you liked granny better." 
 
 " So I do, Koran, dear. It has the old 
 home sound, and I'm hoping you'll not change 
 my name with everything else." 
 
 " I never will change it, granny, no matter 
 what comes."
 
 366 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 H 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 MANY CHANGES. 
 
 AROLD .DORSET has his rights at 
 last ! " 
 
 Jaques Beloy heard the glad news and made 
 the forest echo with his shouts. No particu- 
 lars were known ; but the simple fact was suf- 
 ficient to arouse the enthusiasm of all who had 
 known him in his old home. When he should 
 come among them again, he would come as a 
 rich man, perhaps Almost as a stranger ; yet 
 they Avould still rejoice in his good fortune. 
 
 " Don't tell me that," exclaimed the chop- 
 per, when some one ventured to suggest the 
 possibility of the young man's indifference to 
 such plain people. " I know Plarold Dorsey 
 too well to believe it of him. He'll come as 
 a friend, and preach to us God's truth, while 
 he lives up to it every day of his life. He's 
 too grand to be set up with money, even if he
 
 MANY CHANGES. 367 
 
 could buy the whole town. No, sir. When 
 he comes, you'll see that he haint gone back 
 on himself." 
 
 " I hope so," was replied doubtingly. 
 
 "I know so. Trust me for that," said 
 Jaques, marching away with firm step, and 
 whistling cheerily. 
 
 Never a doubt had he, and when surprised 
 by his landlord, the hearty greeting he re- 
 ceived confirmed his loyal trust. 
 
 " I told them all you'd be as good as ever, 
 and I don't care if you've got millions, you'll 
 be the same to me." 
 
 " I should be sorry to seem otherwise," re- 
 sponded Harold to this assurance. 
 
 "I should be the sorriest; but you're all 
 right, just as I knew you'd be. Now I want 
 you to come 'round to supper with us. I've 
 got more to show you that I've done last year, 
 and my wife begins to want another room, 
 now the children are growing larger, and we 
 can live more like folks." 
 
 " She needs another room, and she shall 
 have it," said the owner of the house, with a
 
 368 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 smile at his companion's earnestness. " I will 
 take supper with you to-morrow, and then we 
 will decide about it. Mrs. Andrews will ex- 
 pect me to supper to-day." 
 
 "Is Ben at home?" 
 
 "No, he is not." 
 
 " I wish he was. I want you to see him ; 
 though may be, if you do, he won't tell you ; 
 but he needs some help. He has done the 
 best he could, but he's getting tired out, and 
 there's a long road before him yet. If you've 
 got money, the Lord meant you should divide 
 with them that aint likely to get much any 
 other way." 
 
 "I understand you, Mr. Beloy, and I thank 
 you for the suggestion." 
 
 "You are welcome, Mr. Dorsey. I don't 
 know as you needed to have me say anything, 
 but the last time I saw Ben, he looked so pale 
 and tired, that if it hadn't been for my fam- 
 ily, I should offered him a month's earnings 
 on the spot. But you see, Harold, I have my 
 children to think of, and they'll be wanting to 
 know as much as the rest. I'm learning, too,
 
 MANY CHANGES. 369 
 
 myself, the same lessons my oldest girl learns 
 in school. My wife and I never had much 
 chance to learn books, and it aint likely we 
 should ever cared, if we hadn't begun to study 
 the Bible. That set us to thinking, and so 
 we study other things. Nina says we learn 
 fast, but there are some things we don't any 
 of us understand, that perhaps you'll explain 
 to us." 
 
 " Certainly I will, and I am glad to know 
 you are studying. You could not do a wiser 
 thing." 
 
 "We've been to singing-school, besides, 
 with the oldest children, and every one of 
 them, down to the baby, can sing our hymns. 
 We've been over to the meeting two or three 
 Sundays, and ever since Nina heard the organ 
 there, she says she shall learn to play one 
 some time. She is brim-full of music. I hope 
 you are going to stay over two Sundays with 
 us." 
 
 " I intend to be here two Sundays.'* 
 
 " Good for you. We must let everybody 
 know you are here, so there'll be a good turn-
 
 370 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 out. We always do the best we can for our- 
 selves, and sometimes we get some help from 
 visitors, but you'll count for more than all the 
 rest." 
 
 When Sunday morning dawned, many who 
 cared little for a religious meeting were at- 
 tracted from their homes by a desire to see 
 Harold Dorsey ; so crowding the little school 
 house that it became necessary to conduct the 
 services in an adjoining grove where was 
 ample space. In these Harold bore a conspic- 
 uous part, earnest and impressive ; and at 
 their close, nearly the entire congregation 
 gathered around him, eager to congratulate 
 and thank him. 
 
 " 'Twas hard for you, living with Mr. Dor- 
 sey, shut up, as you used to be ; but we can't 
 any of us be sorry you was sent here," said 
 an old man. "I studied over it a good deal, 
 but I never got no clew to it, till after Ben 
 Andrews started up these meetings, and told 
 us what first set him to reading the Bible. 
 Then, when I see how things came 'round, 
 and I remembered what I'd 'most forgot ; that
 
 MANY CHANGES. 371 
 
 the Lord always carries out His own plans, I 
 knew you hadn't got through with us. That's 
 been proved all along, and proved again to- 
 day. I've lived as I hadn't ought to, but if 
 my prayers can count for anything, may God 
 bless you." 
 
 Ben Andrews walked five miles that day, 
 that he might be present at the meetings, and 
 in the evening, he and Harold Dorsey talked 
 for hours ; until he was constrained to accept 
 the proffered loan to meet his college ex- 
 penses. 
 
 Harold had not yet attained his majority, 
 but he had sufficient means at his command 
 to do what he wished. During the week he 
 made arrangements for adding a room to his 
 cottage, and went every day to admire the 
 rustic elegance which had so increased its 
 value. He gratified his tenants by eating with 
 them on several occasions, noting, as he did 
 so, the growing refinement apparent in the 
 manners of those who sat at table with him. 
 
 He would have enjoyed spending his entire 
 vacation there, but others, elsewhere, had
 
 372 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 strong claims upon him. There was work to 
 be done on Mr. Peavey's farm, and improve- 
 ments to be made in the house. Some pleas- 
 ure excursions, too, had been planned with 
 Dick Fielding, in which Clarke and Mason 
 Stuart would join. 
 
 It was under new conditions that he met 
 most of the young people visiting at the great 
 house ; but as Mason told him, with charac- 
 teristic frankness, he was no better for being 
 richer, and he must expect to be treated just 
 the same as he always had been. 
 
 Desiring nothing more, he took his old 
 place among them ; a general favorite, sure 
 of a welcome whenever he appeared. Jessie 
 and Norah were shy of him at first, but grad- 
 ually this shyness disappeared, and he was so 
 far taken into favor that they confided to him 
 their plans for " going away to school." They 
 were going together, and they hoped to be 
 with Esther Wetherell and Miss Greenleaf. 
 
 " Won't we be the happiest girls if it all 
 comes about as we expect ! And won't it be 
 the nicest of anything that could possibly hap-
 
 MANY CHANGES. 373 
 
 pen to us ! ' exclaimed Norah. " Then we 
 shall be coming home for vacations, the same 
 as you do ; but I don't suppose we shall ever 
 know as much as you will. Perhaps we shall 
 not know as much as Robert, but we shall 
 know all we can." 
 
 "I have no doubt you will be splendid 
 scholars, but what of those you leave at 
 home?" 
 
 " Mother and granny say they are willing 
 to do without me." 
 
 " And my father says he is willing to do 
 without me, because he knows I ought to 
 learn more than I can learn here." 
 
 " Almost everybody is trying to learn. 
 Miss Sperry says she should go to school, 
 herself, if she wasn't so old. Have you 
 been to see her this vacation?" 
 
 "Yes, I have." 
 
 " Then you know how much nicer her 
 house is than it used to be ; and Miss Austen 
 says she is a very superior woman." 
 
 "Yes, only she didn't have any chance 
 when she was young," added Jessie. " You
 
 374 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 didn't, either, Harold, but father says you 
 are one of a thousand, and I think you must 
 be." 
 
 To the friends who regarded Harold Dor- 
 sey with such affectionate admiration, the 
 indifference of his relatives was incomprehen- 
 sible. Mrs. Bryant was wise enough to 
 know that he might prove a desirable ac- 
 quaintance ; but she continued to regard him 
 as an enemy, even after he had relinquished 
 all claim to the family mansion, upon terms 
 she acknowledged to be most generous. 
 
 Morris professed to believe him an impos- 
 tor, recklessly denouncing Mr. Carter as base 
 and false ; but none of these things moved 
 either the lawyer or his client. Devoting 
 himself entirely to study, the latter made 
 such rapid progress, that he was fitted for 
 college a year in advance of the class of 
 which he had been a member when he en- 
 tered school. 
 
 Then onward and upward, his way lay 
 plain before him. His wealth, his high 
 standing as a scholar, and his fine personal
 
 MANY CHANGES. 375 
 
 appearance gave him at once an enviable po- 
 sition. Back of all these, too, was a sturdy 
 independence, with an unflinching regard for 
 truth, which made his religion conspicuous 
 for its consistency. 
 
 He was a friend to those most needing 
 friendship ; and many a poor student blessed 
 an unknown benefactor for timely assistance. 
 Simple in his manners and habits, he was an 
 example for others who sometimes found it 
 hard to resist the temptations to extravagance. 
 
 " Harold Dorsey is the grandest fellow in 
 college," wrote Dick Fielding to Miss Aus- 
 ten. " I wish you could see how like a king 
 he moves among us all, without manifesting 
 either pride or vanity. He is above that." 
 
 Harold, in his turn, was lavish in praise of 
 this friend, from whom so much was ex- 
 pected ; and by their mutual representations 
 Mason Stuart was induced to revoke his de- 
 cision against four years of study within 
 college walls. He would go with Rufus 
 Brown and Robert Bumstead, and he would 
 do so well that Aunt Margaret should have
 
 376 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE. 
 
 no occasion to feel that money was wasted 
 upon him. 
 
 Margaret Austen could well afford to edu- 
 cate two boys. In devising liberal things for 
 others, she had ensured her own prosperity. 
 A large brick mill had been erected by the old 
 stone mill, while new, commodious houses 
 made pleasant homes for the men and women 
 to whom this gave employment. There was 
 a demand for their goods, keeping pace with 
 the supply, and every bale of these goods was 
 sold under the direct supervision of Clarke 
 Stuart, so that the entire profits of the busi- 
 ness were retained in the family. 
 
 Xears have passed since then, bringing 
 changes to those whose fortunes have been so 
 strangely mingled, yet Austenville is still in 
 the full tide of prosperity. Dwellings have 
 been enlarged and remodelled, but they are 
 the same to those who occupy them. 
 
 Mr. Elliot's cottage has been improved from 
 time to time, until no one would recognize 
 its identity. He, too, has improved, dis- 
 charging faithfully and well the public duties
 
 MANY CHANGES. 377 
 
 devolving upon him. He does not forget the 
 time when he thought himself rich with the 
 humblest shelter for his child ; and now, with 
 money and honors, he thanks God for unde- 
 served mercies. 
 
 The friendship between Jessie and Norah 
 Borine has stood the test of time, which has 
 only drawn them more closely together. Mrs. 
 Rady has lived to see her granddaughter ad- 
 mired for beauty and accomplishments such 
 as few possess, while at home there could be 
 no more dutiful or loving child. 
 
 Edward Stuart's wife is mistress of the 
 great house ; a worthy mistress too, who so far 
 as may be, emulates the virtues of her prede- 
 cessor. Miss Austen spends some part of 
 each year there, but the house in which she 
 was born grows dearer to her as the years go 
 by, and she can trust her nephews to care for 
 her interests as well as their own. Other 
 nephews and nieces have been added to the 
 number who as children called her "Margie," 
 and to them all has she given loving wel- 
 come. Harold Dorsey and Dick Fielding,
 
 378 HAROLD DORSET'S FORTUNE . 
 
 as his family still call him, spent a 3 7 ear in 
 Europe, and returned to establish themselves, 
 each in his chosen profession : the one as a 
 lawyer, the other as a physician. Dr. Field- 
 ing has the reputation of a skilful practi- 
 tioner, and is winning his way to popular 
 favor. 
 
 His friend Harold may have a more bril- 
 liant career, but it will hardly be more useful, 
 although large opportunities open before them 
 both. The old people who welcomed the 
 stranger lad to their home have grown more 
 and more dependent upon him, yet in the 
 midst of fast increasing cares and responsi- 
 bilities, they are never neglected, never for- 
 gotten. 
 
 No more does the lad forget the old forest 
 home, which he visits yearly, and near which 
 he has builded a beautiful chapel, where the 
 people may gather from sabbath to sabbath, 
 and where he himself worships with a depth 
 of emotion he feels nowhere else. On his 
 last visit he was accompanied by one whom 
 we have known as Jessie Elliot, but whom
 
 MANY CHANGES. 379 
 
 he introduced to his friends as "Mrs. 
 Dorsey." 
 
 "A proper match," Miss Sperry said. 
 "There never was a better one, and I tell 
 you what, Esther, she is as well off as if she 
 could paint pictures and sing like Norah 
 Borine. I'm thinking, too, that Norah will 
 be married before many years. Mason Stu- 
 art don't calculate to give up when he has 
 once set his heart on anything, and his heart 
 is set on having Norah for a wife. If it aint, 
 there can't anybody read by signs. You 
 couldn't tell so well about Harold, because 
 the signs didn't show. But there, we have 
 moved along with the rest ; and, please God, 
 we will keep on to the end, you in your way 
 and I in mine. When Miss Greenleaf came 
 here, she didn't know on what road she had 
 started, any more than Harold Dorsey knew 
 where he was going, when he stopped at Mr. 
 Peavey's. People talk about his fortune 
 coming to him when his grandfather died, 
 but I tell you it came to him a good while 
 before that."
 
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