THE CLAMMER 
 
 WILLIAM JOHN 
 HOPKINS
 
 /.
 
 THE CLAMMER 
 
 . OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS &SGEUSS
 
 THE CLAMMER 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM JOHN HOPKINS 
 
 TOOTBIEN 
 
 OURIEN 
 
 BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & COMPANY 
 
 1906
 
 COPYRIGHT 1906 BY WILLIAM JOHN HOPKINS 
 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 
 
 Published March, iqob
 
 CONTENTS 
 I 
 
 THE CLAMMER 
 
 II 
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH . . 83 
 
 III 
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE . . . .177
 
 I 
 
 THE CLAMMER
 
 THE CLAMMER 
 
 MANY of my friends and prob 
 ably all my neighbors think 
 me erratic and peculiar, I do not 
 doubt. My friends remonstrate with 
 me mildly, and I usually listen and 
 accept and make no reply. For how 
 can they know ? And, they being 
 what they are, how can I help them 
 to a knowledge of things which must 
 be born in a man ? My neighbors do 
 not remonstrate, for my neighbors are 
 not of necessity my friends, and I am 
 queer enough not to care to cultivate 
 a man s acquaintance merely because 
 he lives next me. 
 
 There is Goodwin the Rich, who 
 has the palace on the hill, above my
 
 4 THE CLAMMER 
 
 favorite clam beds. It is not likely that 
 I shall ever know him, although his 
 automobiles flash past my front gate, 
 covering my hedge with dust, and en 
 veloping my house in nauseous smells. 
 I do not like automobiles. It is not 
 to be imagined that Goodwin finds me 
 peculiar, for he is probably unaware of 
 my existence ; but I have some hum 
 bler neighbors who stare at me and 
 shake their heads. And I smile and 
 pass on ; for I know what I know, 
 and it passeth their understanding. 
 And all this shaking of heads, and all 
 the protesting of my friends, is be 
 cause I choose to go clamming. 
 
 Some of my friends may, at first, 
 have had the idea that my interest in 
 clams was biological ; for I received 
 some training in that branch of sci 
 ence, and even taught it or was sup-
 
 THE CLAMMER 5 
 
 posed to teach it, with other branches 
 -in a school. But I look back upon 
 that school with horror, as, no doubt, 
 my victims regard me, in retrospect. 
 And my neighbors may, very natu 
 rally, have assumed that my interest 
 in clams was gastronomic, which is, 
 indeed, nearer the truth. But the evi 
 dence on that point was inconclusive. 
 They were not asked to my feasts of 
 steamed clams, if I had any, and they 
 came to look upon me as simply queer. 
 As an occupation for leisure hours, 
 I commend the pursuit of the clam. 
 Your true clammer is of another age, 
 born after his time. He values not at 
 all the improvements of this age. He 
 reads by candle light or goes to bed 
 at dark. He loves the wandering along 
 the bare shores, hoe in hand, the wad 
 ing through shallows, the mud pies he
 
 6 THE CLAMMER 
 
 may make in the incidental pursuit of 
 his prey, and the sights he sees. For 
 the capture of the clams is less than 
 the search for them, even as the sport 
 of the true fisherman lies as much in 
 fishing as in catching fish. 
 
 So it befell that I wandered, one 
 afternoon, toward my chosen hunting 
 ground over the oozy flats. The sun 
 was low in the west, and he spread 
 the still water and the shining mud 
 with all manner of reds and purples 
 and shimmering greens. If I might 
 regulate the matter, low tide should al 
 ways fall at sunset or at dawn. Either 
 is a fitting time, with the old earth at 
 peace and its waters stilled or just 
 waking. And at either time I may 
 satisfy my soul with the unapproach 
 able coloring of the Great Painter. The 
 hot noon is no time for clamming.
 
 THE CLAMMER 7 
 
 Then the water glares in your eyes, 
 the sun beats down upon your back. 
 The mud is just mud that stinketh in 
 the nostrils. But when I have the 
 happiness to go clamming at sunset, 
 I am wont to stand and gaze and 
 muse, forgetting my errand until I am 
 sunken to my ankles in the mud. 
 Then is my regret for my scientific 
 training the keenest, and I know, 
 within my soul, that in the making of 
 a mediocre scientist a good painter 
 has been lost to the world. Strive 
 against it as I may, I cannot see a 
 sunset without converting it into its 
 elements of refraction, with a question 
 of polarization ; nor the colors on the 
 muddy puddle under my feet without 
 thoughts of interference. But I am 
 improving, and I hope, in time, to have 
 shaken off all the dry dust of science
 
 8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 I was at such pains to acquire. So, 
 that afternoon, I wended on with joy 
 in my heart. For I would dig, or gaze, 
 as the fancy seized me, until the sun 
 was gone and the night was fallen. 
 
 Now, that particular piece of flat, to 
 which incline alike my heart and my 
 feet, is my own. I bought the few feet 
 of shore to which the clam beds are 
 attached because I loved it and feared 
 lest, otherwise, the march of progress 
 should take it from me. For Goodwin 
 the Rich lives here, and he is improv 
 ing the shore his Water Front. But 
 he shall not improve away my clams. 
 He may dig here and fill there and 
 build his walls, but he shall leave mine 
 untouched. For it is mine, as witness- 
 eth a certain deed recorded with 
 the Register. And as I thought these 
 thoughts, walking over my sand,
 
 THE CLAMMER 9 
 
 there is more sand than mud here, 
 which is perhaps why I like it, as I 
 thought on these things, anger surged 
 within me and I stamped my foot. 
 And, behold, a little jet of water spurted 
 up beside it. 
 
 " Oho," said I, " so there you are." 
 And straightway I stopped and set 
 down my basket and began to dig; 
 but leisurely, and with my face to the 
 west, for I would bid the sun good 
 night. And that clam was found, and 
 his fellows, and my basket was half 
 full, and I rose to see the sun. And 
 as I stood and saw him, his red disk 
 was half down behind the hill, and I 
 could see it sink. So I raised my hand 
 to salute him, and there came a sweet 
 voice behind me. 
 
 " Man," said the sweet voice, " why 
 are you digging there ? "
 
 io THE CLAMMER 
 
 Now I was surprised to hear that 
 voice, but most surprised at its sweet 
 ness. But yet I would not turn nor 
 answer until the red sun had winked 
 his last. For, I thought, here is one of 
 the maids from the house of Goodwin 
 the Rich or perhaps the governess ; 
 yes, surely, the governess. The truly 
 Rich may insist upon sweet voices in 
 their governesses. And at last I turned 
 and saw the governess sitting upon 
 the bank, just where the sod broke 
 off to the sand. And the light from 
 the western sky shone upon her, the 
 light from the sky that was all yellows 
 and reds and would soon be turned to 
 violet and green. And as she sat there, 
 in her plain black dress, with that light 
 shining upon her, she seemed very 
 beautiful. Truly, thought I, the Rich 
 may have what they will. But I could
 
 THE CLAMMER n 
 
 not have told what was the color of 
 her hair. In that light it was red and 
 gold. And I stammered in my speech. 
 
 " Your pardon, madam," I said. " I 
 was saying good-night to the old sun." 
 
 She smiled, a smile as sweet as her 
 voice, but with a touch of sadness in 
 it. The life of a governess to the Rich 
 is not all a path of roses. 
 
 " Yes," she said. " I came down to 
 see the sun set, too. But why are you 
 digging ? " 
 
 " I was digging clams," I answered 
 gently. For I felt a sorrow for her 
 sadness. 
 
 " Oh," she said, " do you dig clams? 
 Have you some clams in your basket? 
 I should like to see some clams." 
 
 Now, truly, that was an easy mat 
 ter, that she should see some clams, 
 for there they were in the basket.
 
 12 THE CLAMMER 
 
 And the sun was gone, so I lost none 
 of his company if I would please the 
 governess. It did, indeed, strike me as 
 strange that a governess should know 
 so little of clams, but probably she 
 did not teach biology. Governesses to 
 the Rich deal more in appearance and 
 in manners. Still, I hold that in some 
 respects the manners of a clam are wor 
 thy of imitation. He is quiet and un 
 obtrusive. I waded out into the water 
 and soused my basket well. Then I 
 brought it to the governess sitting on 
 the bank. 
 
 " Now," she said, a trifle of petulance 
 showing in the sweet voice, " you have 
 got them all wet." 
 
 " Better all wet than all muddy," I 
 replied, standing before her, and watch 
 ing the play of light upon her hair. 
 When I see her hair in the plain light
 
 THE CLAMMER 13 
 
 of day, I think I shall find it red, a 
 brilliant red. But it was wonderful. 
 Her head was bent as she looked into 
 my basket, and my opportunity for 
 observation was excellent. One thing 
 my scientific training has done for me 
 is to make me a good observer. 
 
 " Oh," cried the governess, " what is 
 that funny-looking thing they are stick 
 ing out ? Is it the head ? " 
 
 " It is called the head," I answered, 
 " but it is not. Is n t it strange how 
 often a thing is not what it is called ? 
 But I suppose you do not have to teach 
 anything about clams." 
 
 " Teach about clams ! " she said, 
 puzzled for an instant. Then she 
 seemed to be amused. " No, I don t. 
 It s lucky, is n t it ? For I don t know 
 anything about them. May I take one 
 of them?"
 
 14 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " It will drip on your dress and spot 
 it," I said warningly. 
 
 " It does n t matter," she replied. 
 And she took a clam in her hand, and 
 the water dripped upon her dress, as 
 I had said, and it made a spot. She 
 could not see it then, but I knew how 
 it would look in the morning. She was 
 a most careless, heedless governess. 
 
 " Of course it matters," I said, re 
 proving. " You will see. Surely they 
 don t give you all the gowns you want, 
 to spot with salt water." 
 
 She was puzzled again. " All the 
 gowns I want ? " she asked, wondering. 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Up at the great house," I said, " at 
 Good Mr. Goodwin s." 
 
 The governess smiled, a merry smile 
 that filled her eyes with light. For she 
 was looking up at me then. And I
 
 THE CLAMMER 15 
 
 looked deep into those eyes until her 
 face was the color of her hair. 
 
 " Oh, yes," she said, looking down, 
 and I was sorry, for on a sudden it 
 seemed dark, " oh, yes, they are very 
 good to me in the matter of gowns. 
 But I will be careful if you think I 
 ought." 
 
 " I know you ought," I said. " Waste 
 is wicked." 
 
 " Yes," she answered, musing, " I 
 suppose it is. But I am afraid I haven t 
 thought about it as much as I might." 
 
 She was looking at me, up and down, 
 from my mud-covered rubber boots to 
 my old battered hat. I was clad as a 
 clammer should be clad, and I was not 
 ashamed. 
 
 "You are not wicked, are you?" 
 asked the governess. " You are not 
 wasteful ? "
 
 16 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Not of my clothes," I answered. " I 
 cannot be. And do you suppose my 
 wife would drip salt water upon her 
 best dress ? " 
 
 I thought I saw a shadow steal across 
 her face. But the sun had left many 
 shadows behind him. 
 
 " It is n t my " - - She hesitated and 
 stopped. " Have you a wife ? " 
 
 " No," I answered shamelessly. And 
 she laughed aloud, a sweet laugh and 
 low, like like nothing else in the 
 wide world. 
 
 " Are you a fisherman ? " she asked. 
 
 I had forgotten how the garb of a 
 clammer would be regarded by a gov 
 erness to the Rich. 
 
 " Sometimes," I said. " I am but 
 a passable fisherman. I can catch 
 enough for myself, or, if need were, 
 for two."
 
 THE CLAMMER 17 
 
 " And do you use the clams to catch 
 the fish ? " 
 
 " Some of them." 
 
 " I should like to open this clam. 
 How shall I do it ? " 
 
 I broke the shell upon a stone, and 
 pulled forth the clam. 
 
 " Oh," cried the governess, " the poor 
 thing ! And does n t it hurt it ? " 
 
 " The scientists will tell you that it 
 does not," I said. " Never having been 
 a clam, I do not know. But I know I 
 cannot use them without breaking the 
 shell." 
 
 "And what do you do with the rest?" 
 she asked. 
 
 " The rest ? " 
 
 "Yes, the rest, those you do not 
 use to catch fish. Come, tell me. Don t 
 make me ask so many questions." 
 
 " I like to hear you ask questions,"
 
 18 THE CLAMMER 
 
 I said, whereupon she smiled again. 
 And her eyes filled with light as they 
 had before, and I knew that I were 
 safer on the quicksand of the Hole 
 than looking down into those eyes. 
 But I went on. 
 
 " The rest are eaten. Some make 
 chowder, which is a mystery ; some 
 are steamed in the oven ; but the rest 
 are covered with seaweed and baked 
 on hot stones. Did you never see a 
 clambake ? " 
 
 " Never," she answered, " although 
 I have heard them mentioned. Are 
 they rare feasts ? I should like to see 
 a clambake." 
 
 " I shall have one," I said, " and 
 you will come. And we shall have 
 clams, fresh digged and weltering ; and 
 fish fresh caught ; and chicken not too 
 fresh ; and lobsters and sweet potatoes
 
 THE CLAMMER 19 
 
 and corn and many other things. And 
 there will be a great pan for the shells 
 and the husks, for you will not throw 
 them on the ground, as we common 
 people do. And you will shuck the 
 clams with your fingers, and eat the 
 corn from the cob." 
 
 " Horrible ! " she said. And she 
 looked at her hands, and laughed. 
 They were shapely hands, soft and 
 beautiful. I wished but it does not 
 matter what I wished, for I knew I 
 might not have it. 
 
 " Fisherman," she said, " you amuse 
 me. But I will come to your clam 
 bake." 
 
 " Do you find me more amusing than 
 your teaching ? " I asked. For one 
 does not enjoy being laughed at by a 
 governess with red hair and beautiful 
 eyes, although to stand there, close
 
 20 THE CLAMMER 
 
 before her, and to see her laugh, was a 
 
 joy. 
 
 " Yes," she answered, " vastly more 
 than my teaching. My teaching is not 
 amusing. I weary of it." 
 
 "Yes," I cried, " I know it. And do 
 you find the doings at the great house 
 a weariness ? " 
 
 " I do," she said. " And that is why 
 I came here." 
 
 " And will you come again ?" 
 
 " Perhaps. But when shall that won 
 derful clambake be ? " 
 
 "That," I said, "is in the future. 
 There are preparations. And besides, 
 I would have it to look forward to. 
 And how am I to let you know ? " 
 
 " Why," she said, " that is a problem. 
 Perhaps you might leave your invi 
 tation under that great stone." 
 
 "And how should I know"
 
 THE CLAMMER 21 
 
 " Why, again," she said, "one might 
 find something under the stone if he 
 but looked." 
 
 And she was silent for some while. 
 
 " Fisherman," she said suddenly, 
 " what is your name ? " 
 
 " Thomas," I answered ; " and what 
 is yours ? " 
 
 She started, and for an instant she 
 was angry. Then she laughed again, 
 adorably, and blushed. " My name is 
 Eve," she said. 
 
 " Truly," I said, " I should have known. 
 And I was wrong, for mine is Adam." 
 
 " Now, fisherman," she cried, " you 
 presume." 
 
 " I must," I answered, " for it is the 
 nature that God gave me." 
 
 " And, Thomas," she went on, "you 
 dig in our in Mr. Goodwin s clam 
 beds."
 
 22 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " I do not," I cried, forgetting, in my 
 anger, " they are m , they belong to 
 a queer fellow who lives near." 
 
 " Oh," she said. " And he lets you 
 dig there ? " 
 
 " He lets me." 
 
 She mused and looked down at the 
 clam beds. But the water was lapping 
 on the flats by this, and the twilight 
 waned. 
 
 " I wonder," she said, and stopped. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 " I, too, would dig for clams." 
 
 " Well," I said, " why not ? But not 
 in that gown." 
 
 " Would it be a waste, and wicked ? 
 But you said it was spotted already." 
 
 " It may be cleaned," I answered. " I 
 wonder at you." For I was impatient. 
 What a spendthrift governess 1 
 
 " There are so many things I do not
 
 THE CLAMMER 23 
 
 think of," she said contritely. " But I 
 must learn. And what gown, then ? " 
 
 "A short one," I said, "and an old 
 one, if you have such a thing. I never 
 heard of so extravagant a governess." 
 
 "Oh," she said, and smiled again. 
 And I saw the light in her eyes, though 
 it was nearly dark. "And have you 
 known many governesses, fisherman? " 
 
 " None," said I. " But my name is 
 Adam." 
 
 " You said Thomas." 
 
 " Eve," I replied, with firmness, " I 
 said Adam." 
 
 " Well, then, Adam, what else ? " 
 
 " Boots," I answered, " rubber 
 boots. See mine." 
 
 It was not light enough, but she had 
 seen. 
 
 " Yes," she said, " but governesses 
 do not have rubber boots."
 
 24 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " They should," said I, " for the grass 
 is wet even now, and it is long. But I 
 will bring you some." 
 
 " Oh," she began, and stopped. And 
 I knew she blushed, though I could 
 not see. 
 
 " And I wonder," she went on, " if 
 that queer fellow would let me dig, 
 too." 
 
 " He would." 
 
 " You seem very sure, fisherman." 
 
 " Adam," I corrected. 
 
 "Well, then, Adam." 
 
 " I am sure," I said; " and besides, I 
 shall not tell him." 
 
 " It is very dark," she observed. 
 " The twilight is quite gone." 
 
 " Not quite gone. See the west." 
 Indeed, there was a light streak in the 
 west, and the bearded hill was marked 
 against it.
 
 THE CLAMMER 25 
 
 " I must go in," she said ; but she 
 did not rise. 
 
 " Not yet," I urged. 
 
 " I must go in," she repeated, " or 
 they will send for me." And this time 
 she rose. 
 
 " I will go with you," I insisted. 
 
 " No," she said, " you will stay. 
 Good-night, fisherman." 
 
 " Adam," I corrected. " Governesses 
 should have better memories." 
 
 She laughed. I loved to hear her 
 laugh, and I would have seen her eyes. 
 
 " Good-night, Adam." 
 
 " Good-night, Eve. To-morrow " 
 
 But she was gone, swiftly, and I 
 stayed, as I was commanded. And my 
 heart was beating as no clammer s 
 should. For a heart-beat of above 
 seventy a minute is not fitting for a 
 clammer. I sat, that night, with my
 
 26 THE CLAMMER 
 
 book in my lap, staring into the dark 
 shadows, and my candle sputtered and 
 went out. Will this new light go out 
 of my life, too ? 
 
 I sat upon the edge of the bank, just 
 where the sod breaks off to the sand, 
 and I stared at the red sun, and he 
 stared back at me. I sat close beside 
 the place where the governess had sat, 
 - very close, but that place was 
 vacant. For perhaps, I thought, per 
 haps And the old sun spread his 
 colors lavishly over the still water and 
 upon the wet sand ; his purples and 
 his reds and his dainty shades of pink 
 and blue and green. If I could mix my 
 colors like that or are they mixed ? 
 My scientific training does not help me 
 much. It does not tell me why the 
 colors are now brighter than they were
 
 THE CLAMMER 27 
 
 yesterday, and now sombre. There is 
 more than one kind of reflection, and 
 science knows them not. And, as I 
 stared and wondered for these things 
 are marvels came a sweet voice be 
 hind me, and my heart leaped up into 
 my throat and choked me. And I did 
 not stop to reflect that it was not my 
 heart at all, but some ganglion or 
 plexus or what not. What cared I for 
 ganglion or plexus ? 
 
 " Fisherman," said the sweet voice, 
 " you are early." 
 
 "Eve," said I, and my voice was 
 steady, " may a man come too early 
 to Paradise ? The woman comes after 
 though I have all my ribs." 
 
 " Fisherman," she said, " you are a 
 strange man." 
 
 " So I have heard," I answered. 
 " But you forget. A governess should
 
 28 THE CLAMMER 
 
 have a better memory. I wonder that 
 you can teach." 
 
 " I am but a passable teacher, Adam. 
 I cannot even teach well enough for 
 one." 
 
 " Well enough for two, if we be the 
 two. For I am learning." 
 
 " Adam," she said, " I might speak 
 seriously to you. I ought to be angry 
 with you " 
 
 " But you are not. It is strange how 
 seldom we are what we should be. I 
 should call you lady, as though I were 
 a car conductor, and be most respect 
 ful, as befitteth a fisherman " 
 
 " But you are not Why, Adam ? " 
 
 " How should I know ? It is the 
 nature that God gave me. And those 
 who stand nearest to nature well, I 
 am learning. Come and sit here, Eve, 
 where I can see you."
 
 THE CLAMMER 29 
 
 " Now, Adam, really you must 
 learn. Even a fisherman should not 
 need to be told to stand " 
 
 " Your pardon, madam," I cried, 
 standing. "You are right, and as I 
 said, I am but a passable fisherman. 
 Did the first man stand, in Paradise ? 
 Probably he ran. But I do not, for I 
 can see you well as we are and that 
 light on your hair, Eve " 
 
 She stamped her foot. " Fisherman," 
 she cried, " it is too much. I will not 
 stay. Remember that " 
 
 " I am a fisherman. I will," I said. 
 " And you are a governess." 
 
 Then she laughed, which was what 
 I wanted. I was missing the sun s 
 good-night, but what of that ? For I 
 might see his marvels half the days in 
 the year ; but this marvel that I saw 
 how many days ? I wished, but my
 
 30 THE CLAMMER 
 
 wishes are vain. Still, there was I, 
 looking up, and there was she, looking 
 down and smiling yet, and the glory 
 of the west was in her eyes and on her 
 hair. 
 
 " Turn, fisherman," she said, " or you 
 will miss your good-night to the sun." 
 
 " What I see pleases me better," I 
 said. " But stand beside me, and we 
 will bid him good-night together." 
 
 So she stood beside me, which was 
 a marvel, and the sun rested his red 
 rim on the bearded hill, and we saw 
 him sink. And as the last thin line of 
 red vanished behind the hill, I saluted, 
 and so did she. And then she laughed. 
 I love a ready laugh, mine is not 
 ready, but has to be pumped out, with a 
 great noise, and such an one as hers 
 
 " Now, Adam," she said, " we must 
 dig. We have wasted time."
 
 THE CLAMMER 31 
 
 " No," I answered, " for the beds are 
 but now uncovered. See the colors, 
 Eve. What would you give to paint 
 like that ? There is but one Painter." 
 
 " One could never learn," she said, 
 " there is so much to learn." 
 
 " But we are learning every day." 
 
 " And what have you learned to-day, 
 Adam ? " 
 
 " Many things." 
 
 " From the sun ? " 
 
 " From the sun," I answered, " and 
 from you." 
 
 " From me ! " she cried. " What 
 have you learned from me, fisher 
 man ? " 
 
 " Some day I will tell you, gover 
 ness," I said. 
 
 " What day, fisherman ? " 
 
 " When we dig for clams at dawn." 
 
 " And when will that day be ? "
 
 32 THE CLAMMER 
 
 "In more than one week, and less 
 than two." 
 
 "And why not any day, Adam, 
 when I will ? " 
 
 " The tide, Eve. Even a woman must 
 wait for the tide. See, it has made us 
 late to-night." 
 
 " Come, fisherman," she said, " let us 
 dig quickly, or it will be too late." 
 
 So I drew the boots from my basket, 
 and she took them. 
 
 "Fisherman," she said, "these are 
 new. Where did you get them ? " 
 
 " I had them," I replied ; which was 
 true. I had had them since the morn 
 ing. 
 
 She sat behind a tree and put them 
 on, and I heard her laughing to her 
 self. Then she came forth. 
 
 " They are too large," she said, " but 
 it does not matter."
 
 THE CLAMMER 33 
 
 I might have known it. But what 
 know I of women s boots ? 
 
 " My stock is small," I answered. 
 " I had no other size." And that was 
 true, too. 
 
 So I showed her how to dig, and 
 when her hoe broke through a shell, 
 she almost wept. But she dug six. 
 
 " I am tired," she said then. " I will 
 dig no more to-night. Does your back 
 get tired, too ? " 
 
 " Not now," said I, " but it did at 
 first." 
 
 Then she sat behind the tree and 
 changed the boots, and we hung them 
 in the tree against another time. And 
 then we sat upon the bank, for the 
 colors had not faded. And Eve sat 
 silent, gazing at the water and the 
 western sky; and I sat silent and gazed 
 up at her.
 
 34 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Eve," said I. 
 
 She turned and looked at me, but 
 did not speak. 
 
 " I think many things," I said, " and 
 some of them I would say." 
 
 " No," she answered, " do not say 
 them. Watch the sky and the water 
 while the colors last. See, it is almost 
 dark." 
 
 " The water and the sky are from 
 everlasting to everlasting, Eve, so far 
 as I am concerned. But you no, I 
 must make the most of what I have." 
 
 " Fisherman," she said, " you must 
 not speak so to me." 
 
 " And why not, governess ? Does it 
 displease you? May a fisherman not 
 say his say to a governess ? If I were 
 a what must I be, to rank with a 
 governess ? Would my speech offend 
 you then?"
 
 THE CLAMMER 35 
 
 " Adam," she answered, " I came here 
 to dig for clams." 
 
 " Truly," said I, " we did, and to see 
 the sun go down." 
 
 " And the sun is gone, and the clams 
 are digged, and I must go." 
 
 " Eve," I observed, " you are a lo 
 gician." 
 
 " I am not," she replied. "I am a 
 woman." 
 
 " Heaven be praised for that ! " I 
 cried. " A perfect work ! " 
 
 " Adam," she said, and she was half 
 laughing as she spoke, " I ought to be 
 angry with you." 
 
 "You ought not," I answered, "for 
 it heats the blood and causes vapors in 
 the brain. Or so the ancient writers 
 tell us. Besides, I do not like it." 
 
 " Like a woman s postscript," said 
 she. " You are a strange fisherman."
 
 36 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Truly," I said, " I am. But see the 
 water and the sky, Eve. What peace 
 and tranquillity ! Can you feel anger 
 when you look upon that ? And what 
 am I ? The grass of the field, and to 
 morrow I shall be cast into the oven. 
 For to-morrow it will be hot." 
 
 " You speak much nonsense, Adam." 
 
 " Nonsense is the savor of life, 
 Eve." 
 
 She said nothing, but sat there, with 
 her hands clasped about her knees, and 
 I gazed up at her and was content. 
 And the twilight faded and was gone. 
 
 " Now I must go," she said at last. 
 
 She rose, regretfully, I thought, and 
 the thought gave me joy. And that 
 was marvel, too; for what was this gov 
 erness to me this governess whom 
 I had seen but twice ? But that unruly 
 ganglion of mine
 
 THE CLAMMER 37 
 
 " Adam," she said, smiling down at 
 me, " you have not scolded me. My 
 gown " 
 
 " Your gown is well enough," I an 
 swered ; " too good for clamming, but 
 I suppose it is the worst you could do. 
 If I said more of it, it would be that 
 you look adorable in that gown or 
 any other. But I must not say it, or 
 you will be angry." 
 
 " No," she said, " you must not say 
 that, for anger heats the blood and 
 causes vapors in the brain, and I have 
 enough already. It is the oldest gown 
 I have and the shortest." 
 
 " It is " 
 
 " Never mind. If it is wasteful and 
 wicked, I cannot help it. Will it do 
 for digging clams to-morrow ? " 
 
 " We may not dig clams to-morrow." 
 
 " And why not, Adam, if I will ? "
 
 38 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " The tide. It will be too late. But 
 the sun will go down." 
 
 " Good-night, Adam. You may have 
 the clams I dug." 
 
 " If I could press them, Eve, like 
 flowers ! Good-night." 
 
 And again I sat through an evening 
 too long for a clammer; and, though 
 my book was in my hand, and my 
 candle burned bright and clear, I did 
 not read, but I stared into the dark 
 shadows. And from those shadows 
 there shone out that wonderful hair 
 with the light upon it from the west 
 ern sky; and those wonderful eyes, 
 with the light in them from the soul 
 within. Oh, Eve, Eve! And I have 
 seen you only twice. 
 
 There is a restlessness that seizes 
 upon men in certain case. I have seen
 
 THE CLAMMER 39 
 
 it often, and wondered at the poor fools 
 who turned from this to that, then tried 
 the other thing, and found no satisfac 
 tion in any. And I have laughed at 
 them and counseled them to turn to 
 clamming. And there is a cure for that 
 malady, too ; a simple cure, as simple 
 as the fount of eternal youth. It is 
 only to find it and the thing is done. 
 And some find the fount, and some do 
 not. And those who find it, why, eter 
 nal youth is theirs, and joy and peace 
 are in their abiding places forever. And 
 those who find it not, why, Heaven 
 help them ! For there is no peace for 
 them nor rest on earth. 
 
 So it befell that I rose before the 
 dawn, and went forth. And there, with 
 out, was a fog as thick as cheese. But 
 though I could not see ten fathoms, 
 yet I looked out toward my clam beds.
 
 40 THE CLAMMER 
 
 And then I thought : You poor fool, 
 shall she come down in this thickness, 
 at four in the morning, looking for 
 clams ? And yet again, I took my 
 basket and wandered in that fog like 
 a lost soul. And the more fool I, for 
 the tide was not half down, and no 
 dawn to see. And as I wandered along 
 the shore, angry and out of sorts, strik 
 ing with my hoe in the sand, I met 
 one of my neighbors ; and as he passed 
 behind me, I heard him laughing in 
 the fog. 
 
 And my breakfast was no better. 
 My fresh-gathered eggs were bitter in 
 my mouth, and they tasted of sulphur; 
 and my coffee was gray that should 
 have been a rich red-brown like the 
 copper beech ; and my rolls were lead 
 or cotton, I knew not which. I lighted 
 my pipe and went out.
 
 THE CLAMMER 41 
 
 The hot sun was burning off the 
 fog. I stood at the foot of my garden, 
 where I have a seat against the trunk 
 of an old pine, and I watched the fog 
 writhing and twisting in the anguish 
 of defeat and dissolution, vanishing 
 into the hot air above in little jets and 
 shreds, rolling away over the water to 
 the ocean, a far gray bank. And the 
 waters of the bay danced in the sun, 
 and dazzled my eyes. So, for some 
 while I paced there, back and forth. 
 Then I heaved a sigh and sat me upon 
 my seat, and the great pine whispered 
 softly above me ; but I fidgeted upon 
 the seat and found no peace. 
 
 So, all day, I wandered the shores, 
 and I dug no clams, but found myself 
 picking shells and pebbles of bright 
 colors. And in the early afternoon I 
 stood by our clam beds Eve s and
 
 42 THE CLAMMER 
 
 mine and looked up through all the 
 greenery toward the great house, and 
 saw the gleam of dresses. And I left 
 my basket by the bank and turned and 
 ran, like the fool I was. Why did I 
 run ? For as the sun was low, and my 
 pulse high, I wandered once more over 
 to that place. And as I came near, 
 behold there on the bank sat Eve. 
 And at the sight, that ganglion which 
 serves me for a heart began its rioting 
 so that I nearly choked. But I came 
 nearer yet, and sat me down beside 
 her, and she smiled at me. And then 
 I found that peace I had sought all day. 
 
 " Fisherman," she said, "you are not 
 early to-night." 
 
 " I am not," I said, " and yet I am. 
 For I have haunted this place all day, 
 and yet I feared to come too soon." 
 
 She did not ask me why, but pointed
 
 THE CLAMMER 43 
 
 to my basket. " Are these your gather- 
 ings?" 
 
 I nodded. 
 
 "Why, Adam? They are not clams 
 nor fish." 
 
 " I do not know, Eve. I have done 
 strange things to-day." 
 
 " Are they for me ? " 
 
 " What shall a governess do with 
 pebbles ? " 
 
 " They might be useful in my teach 
 ing, Adam. Are they for me ? " 
 
 " If you will. Anything I have is 
 yours " 
 
 " Fisherman, remember " 
 
 " Eve, Eve, how shall I remember, 
 with you sitting beside me, and your 
 eyes smiling, and that light upon your 
 hair?" 
 
 " Then I will not smile nor sit be 
 side you. And so I must go"
 
 44 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " No, no," I cried. " Stay, for the 
 pity of man. I will remember, or I 
 will try. I cannot promise more. A 
 fisherman and a governess ! So I may 
 not give you the pebbles, Eve, but I 
 will bargain with you." 
 
 " For what ? " 
 
 " For that rose you wear." For she 
 wore a great red rose upon her bosom. 
 
 She considered. " It is a fair bar 
 gain," she said at last, " and I agree. 
 A rose for your pebbles." 
 
 So she took her rose and fastened 
 it upon my coat. And I did not speak 
 nor thank her, for I could not. What 
 foolish thing should I have said ? It 
 was hard enough not to kiss the hand 
 so near my lips. And we sat there a 
 long while in silence, she looking at 
 the west, and I gazing up at her or 
 idly sticking the little pebbles in the
 
 THE CLAMMER 45 
 
 sod. And when the sun was gone and 
 she rose to go, she saw the pebbles, 
 and they made two words, ADAM 
 and EVE. I thought she would have 
 stamped upon them, but she did not. 
 She only smiled and bade me good 
 night. 
 
 And so for days I lived in purga 
 tory and in paradise, wandering the 
 shore, without purpose save to pass 
 the endless day till sunset ; and at 
 evening I sat with Eve upon the 
 bank until the twilight faded, and 
 she left me. And the weeds sprang 
 in. my garden, and my neighbors 
 laughed at me more than ever. For 
 I went clamming at high tide. And 
 upon my mantel, between two plates 
 of glass that were cunningly bound 
 about the edges, was a red rose. 
 
 Then, one evening, I waited there
 
 46 THE CLAMMER 
 
 upon the bank and no Eve came. 
 And I fretted and fumed and mourned 
 until I bethought me of the great 
 stone. Without hope, I looked be 
 neath ; and, wonder of wonders, there 
 was a scrap of paper with its mes 
 sage. " They will not let me come 
 to-night." And I acted like the fool I 
 was, and kissed the dainty thing, and 
 thrust it in my pocket, and pulled 
 it out again a dozen times. Never 
 having seen her writing, I should 
 know it, it was so like her. And I 
 tore a corner, though I hated to, 
 I had no other paper, and wrote, 
 "We miss you, the sun and I. Eve, 
 Eve, do not fail to-morrow. Do not 
 shut the gates upon me yet." And 
 I put it beneath the stone and went 
 away. 
 
 And in the morning the sky was
 
 THE CLAMMER 47 
 
 gray, with low-hanging clouds, heavy 
 and wet. And by afternoon there was 
 a driving drizzle, and my heart sank. 
 But I went. I would not fail, though 
 I had no hope. And there, leaning 
 against a tree, stood Eve, the water 
 dripping from her wide felt hat, and 
 shining upon her long coat. And she 
 smiled at me as I came, and I could 
 not speak ; but I looked at her un 
 til the slow flush mounted to her 
 forehead. 
 
 " Eve," I said at last, " how shall a 
 fisherman remember, when you stand 
 so, before him, and on such a day? " 
 
 " Why, fisherman," she said lightly, 
 " it is a good day. I find this weather 
 as good as any other, in fair mea 
 sure." 
 
 " It pleases me," I said, " although 
 this morning it did not."
 
 48 THE CLAMMER 
 
 Then, deliberately, I went to the 
 great stone and turned it up, and my 
 paper was gone. And Eve watched 
 me, and again the slow flush mounted 
 to her forehead, but she said nothing. 
 And as we stood together under the 
 tree, there was a constraint upon us 
 both. The things that I would say I 
 might not, and for the light things 
 that I might say, I had no heart. 
 
 And the next day, too, it rained, 
 but I cared not. And again we stood 
 together under the tree, Eve and I, 
 and as we stood there, the clouds 
 parted and showed the sun sinking in 
 splendor. And I saw a greater glory 
 than I had seen. And when the sun 
 was gone, there was the young moon 
 following. 
 
 " Peace on earth," I said ; but she 
 did not speak.
 
 THE CLAMMER 49 
 
 So for some while we stood silent, 
 and I saw the gold and the red fade 
 from the clouds, and the clouds them 
 selves were gone, deep banks of in 
 digo, into the east. Then the western 
 sky was grown violet and a green 
 like the curl of a wave, till, overhead, 
 it became the night. And I looked 
 at Eve, and her look smote upon 
 my heart, for it was troubled. But I 
 might not say the thing I would ; for 
 shall a fisherman so speak to a gover 
 ness to the Rich ? Even a governess 
 to the Rich may have her woes, it 
 seems, and it is no fisherman s part 
 
 " Eve," I said. And she started, as 
 though her thoughts were wandering. 
 
 " Eve," I said again, " would you 
 dig for clams at dawn ? For the 
 beds will be uncovered by dawn to 
 morrow."
 
 5 o THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Oh," she answered, " will they ? 
 And is it a joy to see the dawn ? " 
 
 " Did you never see a dawn, Eve ? " 
 
 " Never. Have I missed much ? " 
 
 " If you see one, Eve, you will 
 know how much." 
 
 " I would like to see a dawn," she 
 said. And then she was silent, and I 
 thought her near to tears, and a great 
 fear came upon me. 
 
 " Now, Adam," she said, at last, " I 
 must go. Good-night." 
 
 Then she turned and listened. 
 " They are coming for me now. Run, 
 Adam." 
 
 " Run ! " I cried. " Run, when I 
 stand upon my own ? Why should I 
 run ? No, I will stay. And they shall 
 do nothing to you against your will." 
 
 I had forgotten that I was a fisher 
 man, but Eve did not note it. " Run,
 
 THE CLAMMER 51 
 
 Adam," she cried, beseeching. " If you 
 care for my peace, run." 
 
 And so I ran, like any poacher. 
 And that night, sitting staring into 
 the shadows, I wondered. 
 
 My clam beds mine and Eve s 
 have many virtues. From them I can 
 see both east and west ; from that point 
 neither dawn nor sunset escapes me. 
 And another virtue they had had for 
 me, that was more than dawn or sun 
 set. And what that was, any man who 
 has been in such case as mine will 
 know without the telling. So, though 
 I loved the dawn, it was more than 
 that that brought me stealing through 
 the early gray of morning to the bank, 
 just where the sod breaks off to the 
 sand. 
 
 There I sat and waited, alone, and
 
 52 THE CLAMMER 
 
 I watched the gray brighten in the 
 east, and hoped that Eve would not 
 be too late. And just as the gray be 
 came a tender blue, and hope was 
 leaving me, there was the light step 
 behind me, and I rose and stood, as 
 a fisherman should stand before a 
 governess. And Eve did not speak to 
 me, for she saw the east. 
 
 " Oh ! " she cried softly. 
 
 And she said no word more, but 
 there we stood together. And we saw 
 the blue brighten and become suf 
 fused with pink, and there in the east 
 ern sky lay a great rose that stretched 
 its petals to the zenith. And in the 
 heart of that rose was a little cloud 
 like a flame, with one long finger 
 pointed straight at Eve and me. And 
 all those soft tints of blue and pink, 
 with the flame of the little cloud, were
 
 THE CLAMMER 53 
 
 spread upon the water that was but 
 just stirring in its sleep, and dim 
 pling here and there. Then was the lit 
 tle flame-cloud edged with gold upon 
 its lower side, and shot through with 
 orange lights, and the pink rose turned 
 to saffron and then to orange, and the 
 rim of the sea was luminous, like molten 
 gold. And on a sudden the gold and 
 orange fled from the little cloud, and 
 a great blazing fire showed above the 
 sea. 
 
 " The sun, Eve," I whispered ; and 
 as I spoke, a little breeze flashed 
 across the water and darkened it like 
 a breath upon a mirror. And there 
 was the great disk of the sun half 
 risen, and we might no longer look 
 him in the face. 
 
 And at that Eve fetched a great 
 sigh, and turned, and the chorus of
 
 54 THE CLAMMER 
 
 the birds broke forth in the trees be 
 hind us. They had been calling back 
 and forth before, but now they sang 
 madly. The old earth had waked once 
 more, and it was day. 
 
 " Adam," said Eve, " I thank you." 
 
 Then she sat upon the bank, where 
 the colored pebbles still marked the 
 names, and I sat there beside her; and 
 for some while we spoke not, but lis 
 tened to the mad music of the birds. 
 Then Eve would dig for clams. 
 
 " What matter, Eve ? " I asked. " The 
 clams will be the bigger for waiting. 
 We have seen the dawn, and we may 
 see the day grow." 
 
 " Yes," she said, " we have seen the 
 dawn. I did not dream it could be 
 like that. There are no words, Adam. 
 And I would see the day grow. But 
 for my conscience sake I must dig."
 
 THE CLAMMER 55 
 
 " Eve," I said, " a conscience is a 
 most distressing comrade. Does a gov 
 erness have a conscience a gover 
 ness to the Rich ? " 
 
 " Does not a fisherman ? " she asked. 
 
 " He cannot afford it," I replied. " It 
 is a luxury not for the poor nor for 
 the very rich." 
 
 " But a governess is not very rich. 
 And if she were, she yet might have 
 a conscience. I have." 
 
 " And does it plague you ? " 
 
 11 Yes," she said. " Come, let us dig, 
 and I will tell you." 
 
 I, too, had somewhat that I would 
 tell, and presently we were digging. 
 And Eve dug in silence, and gently, 
 for she would not harm the clams. 
 
 " Well, Eve ? " I said, when I was 
 wearied of the silence. 
 
 She was so long in speaking that I
 
 5 6 THE CLAMMER 
 
 feared she never would. " Adam," she 
 
 asked, at last, "are you a wise man ? " 
 
 " Very," I answered ; " wiser than 
 Solomon. He had seven hundred 
 wives, and I have none." 
 
 "And is that wise, to have none?" 
 
 " Eve, Eve," I cried, " you do not 
 help me. I jest because I fear to speak 
 in earnest." 
 
 " You are good, Adam," she said. 
 " And if you are wise, you may tell 
 me what to do." 
 
 " If you would do what I tell you ! " 
 
 She was bending very low over her 
 digging, and her face was turned away, 
 which did not please me. I like to see 
 her face. 
 
 " I fear that I may lose my place," 
 she said. 
 
 I straightened up at that, but she 
 bent lower yet.
 
 THE CLAMMER 57 
 
 "Lose your place!" I cried. "And 
 why ? " 
 
 " Why they it is not easy to 
 tell you, Adam." 
 
 " I will not urge you, Eve, but " 
 
 " You need not. I wish to tell you, 
 for I a governess may not always 
 stand alone. She is a woman, after 
 all." 
 
 "Yes," I said, "thank God!" 
 
 "They they would" She be 
 gan to laugh, a nervous laugh and with 
 no mirth in it, "they would marry 
 me, Adam." 
 
 " What ! " I cried. " They would 
 
 who would marry you ? Not old Good- 
 
 i " 
 win ! 
 
 " No," she said ; and laughed the 
 more, and seemed really merry at it. 
 " Now I feel better. Not old Goodwin. 
 He has a wife."
 
 5 8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 I was puzzled. 
 
 " Who, then, Eve ? Who would 
 marry you ? I doubt not there are 
 many who would, for I know" 
 
 " It is old Goodwin s wife," she said, 
 breaking me off short, and just in time. 
 
 Then she stood straight. " Now, 
 Adam," she went on, " I am not so 
 nervous as I was, but I may laugh or 
 I may cry with no reason. I will sit 
 upon the bank and tell you, for truly I 
 am in straits. And do you bear with 
 me, for you are honest, and I may 
 trust you. And indeed I know no other 
 I may trust but one." 
 
 "A governess advised in matrimony 
 by a fisherman ! " I said. " And who 
 is that one, Eve ? " 
 
 " You shall hear. And do not jest, 
 Adam, or my laughter may turn to 
 tears. They are near enough. And
 
 THE CLAMMER 59 
 
 now for the story, which is a short 
 one. Old Goodwin s wife would marry 
 me to a certain rich man, for my 
 worldly good, as she says." 
 
 " A certain rich man," I said, mus 
 ing. " And will he enter the Kingdom 
 of Heaven ? " 
 
 " That he will not." 
 
 " Then why doubt ? And do you 
 love him, Eve ? " 
 
 " I do not." 
 
 "Then why doubt?" 
 
 " If I do not," she said, " I shall lose 
 my place. And that is much to me, 
 Adam, for what shall I do then ? The 
 man whom I may trust is old Good 
 win, but he is not so much my friend 
 as to hold against his wife." 
 
 "And what said you to the man ? " 
 
 " I said no, but still he came. And 
 now I know not what I shall say next."
 
 60 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Shall I tell you what to do, Eve? " 
 
 " If you know, Adam." 
 
 " Marry me," I said. And she looked 
 at me with wide eyes and laughed ; 
 and at that laugh I was sore and hurt, 
 though I had no right. Then her laugh 
 died and her eyes filled. 
 
 " Forgive me, Adam," she said. " I 
 should not laugh, but indeed I am 
 overwrought. Truly truly I might 
 almost find it in my heart " 
 
 I stood before her, trembling. " I 
 should not have said it, Eve. What is 
 a fisherman, that he should offer the 
 little that he has to you ? But I am 
 well-to-do, Eve, for a fisherman. You 
 should never want nor work. And 
 if you might find it in your heart" 
 
 " I will consider your offer, good 
 fisherman," she said, smiling. " I must 
 consider. You have I must tell you,
 
 THE CLAMMER 61 
 
 in justice, you have an even chance 
 with that other. But I must con 
 sider." 
 
 " So an honest fisherman, well-to-do, 
 has an even chance with a rich rascal 
 whom you do not love. That is a high 
 price on honesty, Eve." 
 
 " Yes," she said, " but not too high. 
 And now, Adam, be my good friend 
 still." 
 
 " I will," I replied, " if I may not be 
 more." 
 
 So she was silent, and so was I. And 
 presently I reached down to my basket 
 and drew forth a package wrapped in 
 a napkin. 
 
 " Governess," I asked, " are you, by 
 chance, hungry? " 
 
 " Fisherman," she answered, " I am 
 famished ; but not by chance. Open, 
 quickly."
 
 62 THE CLAMMER 
 
 So I unwrapped the package, and 
 in it were slices of white bread, cut 
 thin, and between, lettuce picked that 
 morning, crisp and cool. And we ate 
 together, and Eve grew merry, and my 
 content came back to me. 
 
 " Fisherman," she said at last, " I 
 thank you. Now I must go." 
 
 " Thank me for what, Eve ? " 
 
 " It was the sandwiches I meant," 
 she said. 
 
 "And how long must you consider? 
 When shall I have my answer ? " 
 
 " Your answer ? Oh, when I come 
 to your clambake." 
 
 " It shall be to-morrow," I said. 
 
 " Oh, not so soon," she cried. 
 
 " The day after, then." 
 
 She hesitated. " Well," she said, 
 "good-by." 
 
 " I shall come here for you, Eve."
 
 THE CLAMMER 63 
 
 But she was gone, and I went, too, 
 my brain in turmoil. 
 
 Down under my great pine is a 
 pleasant place for a man or for a 
 governess, I should suppose with 
 a heart at ease. And for a fisherman 
 whose heart is not at ease it serves as 
 well as any place but one, and that 
 one not fixed, but moving as she 
 moves. And for a certain rich man it 
 might, indeed, be pleasant under my 
 pine, but not if I could make it other 
 wise. And there was the seat against 
 the tree, and from that seat he might 
 see my favorite clam beds. But what 
 would rich men care for clam beds ? 
 And, for the seat, why, I had other 
 views. 
 
 It was there, just without the shadow 
 of the pine, that the hole was scooped
 
 64 THE CLAMMER 
 
 in the ground and lined with great 
 stones. And on these stones I kindled 
 a fire that roared high ; and when it 
 had burned long and the stones were 
 hot, I raked the ashes off. Then I 
 shook down upon the stones fresh 
 seaweed from the pile, and on the 
 seaweed laid the clams that I had 
 digged, myself and alone that 
 morning. Then, more seaweed ; and 
 the other things, in layers, orderly, 
 with the clean, salt-smelling weed be 
 tween : the lobsters, green and crawl 
 ing, and the fish, fresh caught, and the 
 chicken, not too fresh, and the sweet 
 and tender corn, and sweet potatoes. 
 And over all I piled the weed and 
 made a dome that smoked and steamed 
 and filled the air with incense. 
 
 Then, my work done, I sat there 
 and looked out. And when it was time
 
 THE CLAMMER 65 
 
 I garbed myself and set forth. And 
 my heart-beat was too high, by far, and 
 there was a faintness at my throat. 
 But I strode along the shore and came 
 to our bank, where the colored pebbles 
 shone in the sun, ADAM and EVE. 
 And there I sat, just where the sod 
 breaks off to the sand, and waited. 
 And presently there was the light step 
 I knew so well, and up came my heart 
 into my throat and choked me. But I 
 stood, as a fisherman should before a 
 governess, and turned. 
 
 And such a governess ! All in light, 
 filmy white, with two red roses at her 
 bosom, and her hair a glory. And her 
 eyes, there are no other such eyes 
 as hers, her eyes smiled at me, and 
 then they opened wide in wonder. 
 
 "Adam," she said, "is it you? Are 
 you my fisherman ? "
 
 66 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Truly," I answered, " I am your 
 fisherman, whether you will or not, 
 and for as long as I have life." 
 
 " The time is not yet, fisherman," 
 she said. " Remember." 
 
 " It is hard to remember, governess, 
 even for a fisherman." 
 
 " I did not know you, Adam," she 
 said. " You should have told me." 
 
 " What, Eve ? That a fisherman 
 may have decent raiment ? But I am 
 well-to-do for a fisherman." 
 
 " Come," said she, " let us go, or we 
 shall be late to the clambake." 
 
 " With all my heart," I answered, 
 " though it matters not if we are late. 
 For there is but one guest." 
 
 " There will be two, Adam." 
 
 " Two!" I cried. " I have asked but 
 one. If it is that certain rich man, 
 I give you warning he shall have no
 
 THE CLAMMER 67 
 
 clams of mine, but I will cast him into 
 the sea." 
 
 " It is my father, Adam," she replied. 
 " He is here and would see a clambake, 
 so I asked him." 
 
 " Your father, Eve ? Do governesses 
 have fathers ? And is he here to help 
 you ? " 
 
 " I hope that he will help me," she 
 said. " I think he will." 
 
 And she smiled brightly. 
 
 My heart grew cold, and froze be 
 neath my ribs. " Then," I said, " you 
 will not need help from a fisherman, 
 governess." 
 
 "Adam," she said, reproaching, "let 
 us enjoy our clambake." 
 
 " That is good doctrine, Eve," said 
 I, " and I will do my best. But how 
 will your father know " 
 
 " It is for him to find it," she an-
 
 68 THE CLAMMER 
 
 swered, " and he may, for he has eyes 
 and a nose. Now I might find my 
 way straight enough, for I see a smok 
 ing mound upon that point, beneath 
 the pine. It seems a pleasant place, 
 Adam." 
 
 " That queer fellow that I mentioned 
 let me use it," I said in haste. " He is 
 from home just now." 
 
 " He seems a good friend of yours," 
 she said. 
 
 "At times I think he is," I said, 
 " and at other times he is the poorest 
 friend I know." 
 
 As we talked we walked along the 
 shore. And we climbed the steep path 
 and stood beneath the pine. The dome 
 of seaweed still smoked bravely, and 
 before the seat against the pine was 
 set a little table, upon stakes. It was 
 just large enough for two, and upon it
 
 THE CLAMMER 69 
 
 were all things fitting and no more. 
 No cloth, only the bare white boards 
 of pine, rubbed smooth. 
 
 " Now, governess," I said, " the bake 
 is done. Do you sit there, and I will 
 serve you." 
 
 " No, Adam," she cried, " for I must 
 help." 
 
 She always had her will, that red- 
 haired governess. So I took my fork 
 and opened the smoking dome, and 
 together we set upon the table corn 
 and sweet potatoes and a chicken and 
 a fish and the lobsters ; and, last of all, 
 a great pan of clams. And the rest, 
 upon the hot stones, I covered again 
 with seaweed. And as I pitched the 
 weed, I heard Eve laughing. 
 
 " Adam," she said, " look here. And 
 there are two of us." 
 
 I turned and saw the table filled to
 
 70 THE CLAMMER 
 
 overflowing, and no place left large 
 enough to set a plate ; and Eve sitting 
 on the seat, and laughing so that tears 
 stood in her eyes. 
 
 " I should have made the table 
 larger," I said. " But we need no 
 plates. What would the first man have 
 done with a plate, Eve ? " 
 
 " Or with baked clams? " she asked. 
 " But we are not in Eden." 
 
 " I am," I said. 
 
 And she spoke hastily : " At least 
 the other guest shall not want." 
 
 " Let us begin," I said, " while the 
 clams are hot. There is yet more." 
 
 So we sat side by side upon the 
 bench, and the wind whispered softly 
 in the tree above. And suddenly Eve 
 rose. 
 
 " My father, Adam," she said. " He 
 is just in time."
 
 THE CLAMMER 71 
 
 I stood and turned. Her father! It 
 was Goodwin the Rich ; and my cas 
 tles were tumbling about my ears. 
 
 So we saw each other, he and I, and 
 looked each other up and down, and 
 either measured other. And though 
 he was Goodwin the Rich, he seemed a 
 man, and I hoped he thought as much 
 of me. And he said something about 
 clams and his daughter, I know not 
 what, and I said some foolish thing, I 
 know not what. Then I fetched a box 
 from my shed, for him to sit upon, 
 a proper seat for the Rich, and he 
 seemed to like it, and tilted back and 
 forth, and ate prodigious quantities of 
 clams and all things else, and pro 
 nounced them uncommon good. 
 
 And I sat mute, but Eve talked 
 steadily, a merry talk, and ate the 
 heads of the clams or tried to eat
 
 72 THE CLAMMER 
 
 them and found them but ill eating 
 until I showed her how to take the 
 clam by the head and dip him in the 
 butter, and eat him properly. And 
 she bit the corn from the cob, and 
 opened the clams with her fingers, 
 and I watched her in adoration and 
 despair. For what should I say to a 
 Daughter of the Rich ? 
 
 So there we sat long at my little 
 table under my great tree, and I saw 
 the tide lapping high upon the shore, 
 and heard the wind that sighed loud 
 in the pine. And indeed that sigh 
 ing wind fell in marvelously with my 
 mood, for I was not merry, as any may 
 guess. And at last Goodwin the Rich 
 had filled him full with lobster and 
 corn and clams, and he seemed well 
 pleased, and sat upon his box, and 
 smiled and exhaled peace. And in a
 
 THE CLAMMER 73 
 
 while he rose and made some excuse, 
 and thanked me and went his way. 
 
 Then, when he was gone, I sat there 
 still and looked out upon the water, 
 and said nothing. For I could not look 
 at Eve and be content, but still I had 
 the water and the shore. And I felt 
 that Eve was watching me and smiling. 
 
 " Adam," she said at last. 
 
 " Well ? " 
 
 " We have had a pleasant clam 
 bake, have we not? Such a feast as 
 I never had." 
 
 I made no reply. 
 
 "Fisherman," she said then, "you 
 should make some pretty speech." 
 
 " Is it for a fisherman," I asked, " to 
 make pretty speeches? He must catch 
 his fish and dig his clams." 
 
 " You have changed so, Adam," she 
 said, reproaching.
 
 74 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " It is not I have changed," I an 
 swered. 
 
 Still I would not look at her, but 
 she was silent, and I knew her smile 
 was gone. 
 
 " And is there nothing more ? " she 
 asked. " Is it ended ? " 
 
 " It is ended," I said. " Even the 
 stones grow cold." 
 
 " Adam," she cried, " why will you 
 be so contrary? It is not ended. I 
 will not have it so." 
 
 " The Rich may have what they will," 
 I said, " nearly, but not quite. I was 
 not made for a plaything for the 
 Rich." 
 
 " You are bitter, and you are not 
 fair," she said softly. " It is not like 
 you, Adam. There is something more. 
 Why will you make it hard ? " 
 
 " I will not make it hard," I an-
 
 THE CLAMMER 75 
 
 swered. " There is nothing else. What 
 has a fisherman to say to a Daughter 
 of the Rich, or she to him ? So, for 
 that other matter, Miss Goodwin, I 
 absolve you from an answer." 
 
 " Adam," she cried, " you make me 
 angry. I have a mind to go home." 
 
 "Shall I see you on your way?" I 
 asked. 
 
 " I will not have it so," she said, 
 and stood and stamped her foot. I 
 knew well how she must look, in 
 that pretty rage. " And you forgot, 
 Adam." 
 
 "What?" I asked. "I would not 
 fail in duty." 
 
 " My name," she said. " I told you it 
 was Eve." 
 
 "Are you not Miss Goodwin?" 
 
 " Adam," she said firmly, " I said 
 Eve."
 
 76 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Well, Eve, have you not done with 
 me ? " I sighed and would not look at 
 
 O 
 
 her, though she stood before me. 
 
 " No, I have not," she said. " I 
 should laugh if I were not so angry. 
 Look at me." 
 
 I stood and looked down at her, an 
 instant but no more. I could not, for 
 I should have choked. 
 
 " Eve, Eve," I cried, " have you no 
 mercy? Must the Rich destroy the 
 playthings that they weary of?" 
 
 " Adam," she said, " you have a duty 
 yet. Do not shirk it. A fisherman must 
 not shirk his duty." 
 
 " I am but a drowned fisherman," I 
 replied. " But what a drowned man 
 may do, I will do." 
 
 " You promised to be my good 
 friend," she said. " So come back with 
 me along the shore."
 
 THE CLAMMER 77 
 
 So we went down the steep path 
 and side by side along the shore, where 
 the water lapped high. And we came 
 to our bank, where the pebbles shone 
 in the sun, and there Eve sat her 
 down. 
 
 " Sit beside me, Adam." 
 
 And down I sat, as wretched as man 
 was ever, and I looked into the water 
 that covered my clam beds. I doubted 
 I should have heart to dig in those 
 beds again. 
 
 " Adam," said Eve, and her voice 
 was not steady, " I have considered, 
 and" 
 
 " Eve," I cried, " can you not spare 
 me that ? If you feel any friendship for 
 me, spare me that. I am blind enough, 
 but I can see " 
 
 " Oh, you are the blindest man that 
 ever was." And she slipped her hand
 
 7 8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 within my arm, and drew it back again 
 and began to cry softly. And at that 
 I sprang to my feet, and my heart 
 thumped like a hammer, till I thought 
 it would burst my ribs. 
 
 " Eve, Eve," I cried, my voice shak 
 ing so it shamed me, " do not play with 
 me. Do you mean " 
 
 " Oh, you blind man, can you not 
 see what I mean ? Must I say it more 
 plainly ? It is yes, Adam, and no 
 play." 
 
 And she smiled at me through her 
 tears, and suddenly, for me, earth and 
 sky were flooded with a great glory. 
 
 Now, what I did next, I shall not 
 tell, nor what she said to me ; for those 
 are things for my Eve and me to know 
 and to remember. But any man who 
 has been in such case as mine may 
 guess to some purpose, if he will but
 
 THE CLAMMER 79 
 
 try. And after some time, I know not 
 how long, we sat there side by side 
 upon the bank, most decorous, for out 
 upon the water was a boat. But we 
 might say what we would, and I might 
 hold her hand, down upon the sod, out 
 of sight, and I might gaze into her 
 wonderful eyes and see in them the 
 tender light that made them pass all 
 wonders. 
 
 " Such trouble as I had to get you, 
 Adam, at the last ! " 
 
 " It served you right," I said, " for 
 your deceit." 
 
 She laughed, a happy laugh. " You 
 honest fisherman ! " she said. " It was 
 so easy to deceive you ! But never 
 again, Adam. You may trust me." 
 
 " Always," I answered, and stooped 
 low and kissed the hand I held. And 
 she stooped, too, and quite by chance,
 
 8o THE CLAMMER 
 
 and if they saw us from the boat, I did 
 not care. 
 
 " And were you deceived ? " I asked. 
 
 " Yes," she said, " for half an hour. 
 You are too honest, Adam. But I love 
 you for it." 
 
 And then we did some other silly 
 things, and cared not for the boat. 
 
 " And what of old Goodwin, Eve ? " 
 I asked, after some while. " What will 
 he say ? " 
 
 She laughed again her happy laugh. 
 " What did he say, Adam ? He seemed 
 pleased, I thought." 
 
 "Eve," I cried, "you do not mean" 
 
 " He came there for that purpose, 
 Adam. I confessed to him. He is my 
 friend, I told you." 
 
 " Honest gentleman ! " I said. " I 
 beg his pardon. He may have my clam 
 beds if he will."
 
 THE CLAMMER 81 
 
 "No, no," she cried, "for they must 
 be mine, too, those clam beds. I will 
 not have them changed." 
 
 " They are yours, Eve," I said, " for 
 they were mine and I am yours. See 
 the colors the old sun spreads over 
 them now. He is almost sitting on 
 that hill." 
 
 " We will bid him good-night, to 
 gether," she said ; " a happy one, Adam. 
 Stand beside me." 
 
 So we stood, and she clasped my 
 fingers close in hers, and we saw the 
 sun, that he spread the still water with 
 all manner of reds and purples and 
 shimmering greens. And as the last 
 thin line of red vanished behind the 
 bearded hill, we saluted. And again we 
 sat upon the bank, and saw the red west 
 turn to violet, and then to green. And 
 then Eve rose and said good-night.
 
 82 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Until to-morrow, Adam," she said. 
 " Until to-morrow, Eve," I echoed. 
 And then she seemed to listen. 
 " They are coming for me, Adam. 
 If you love me, run ! "
 
 II 
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 
 
 SOME there may be who will say 
 -who do say, no doubt, for they 
 dearly love a bit of gossip that I am 
 no better than an adventurer; that I 
 have wormed my way into a girl s heart 
 under false pretenses, and will but de 
 vour what I find there ; and that two 
 weeks or three, or whatever the time 
 was, according to the usual measure of 
 man is too short a time for two people 
 to have found out that they love each 
 other. Now, those who are most apt to 
 speak thus foolishly are my neighbors, 
 who have mated according to their 
 lights ; and I have not observed that 
 they are happier than other folk. Indeed, 
 I doubt whether they are as happy.
 
 86 THE CLAMMER 
 
 It is not to be imagined that my 
 neighbors have remonstrated with me 
 upon the subject. But I have observed, 
 when I have met two of them together, 
 they do but wait until I am out of hear 
 ing sometimes scarcely that before 
 they get their heads together. 
 
 " That s the fellow," says one, " who 
 is engaged to Old Goodwin s daugh 
 ter." 
 
 "Is it, indeed?" says the other 
 and turns his head about, that he 
 see me the better. And I stop short 
 and lean casually upon a wall, my face 
 toward them. For I would not cheat 
 them of their birthright. 
 
 " Yes," says the first. " In two weeks. 
 Disgraceful, I call it." 
 
 They gaze at me both of them 
 as if I were some monster from a mu 
 seum.
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 87 
 
 " Rich, is n t he ? " asks the second. 
 " Goodwin, I mean not this fellow." 
 
 And they pass on, laughing uproari 
 ously. I would not stint their mirth, 
 and giving over my leaning upon the 
 wall, I, too, pass on. 
 
 Therefore it comes to pass that I 
 have no great opinion of my neighbors 
 judgment. Indeed, I contend that they 
 speak of that they know not of. Eve 
 agrees with me in this, she agrees 
 with me in most things, now, for 
 have we not been engaged for one 
 whole month, and not the littlest 
 shadow on our happiness ? And still 
 I am wont to take my basket on my 
 arm and my clam hoe in my hand and 
 wander the shores. But the clams that 
 I dig would make but a sorry meal, and 
 the clams that I leave well, they will 
 be the bigger and the lustier for digging
 
 88 THE CLAMMER 
 
 when I am minded to it. And it is easy 
 to guess what clam beds I frequent. 
 
 So it befell that I wandered, one 
 afternoon, over the oozy flats toward 
 my chosen hunting ground. The sun 
 was getting low in the west, and well 
 I knew what colors the Great Painter 
 was spreading over the still water and 
 upon the shining mud. But yet I would 
 not look at them, but wended on, at a 
 pace too great for a clammer. And joy 
 was in my heart. For there, just where 
 the sod broke off to the sand and the 
 pebbles shone bright in the sun, sat 
 Eve. And she smiled upon me as she 
 spoke. 
 
 "Adam," said she, reproving, "you 
 are almost late to-night." 
 
 And, at that, the ganglion that I 
 have mentioned, that does duty for my 
 heart, leaped for joy, so that I was
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 89 
 
 nigh to choking. And indeed, though 
 it is but a ganglion, it knows its duty 
 well, and leaps for joy or aches with 
 sorrow as well as the best-behaved 
 heart in the world. I have not known 
 the ache for sorrow since the day of 
 my clambake ; but it can make a man 
 very wretched. And I am convinced 
 that it can ache for pure joy, too 
 although that is a different ache, with 
 happiness in it. 
 
 So I smiled back at her. " Almost 
 late," I said, " is just in time. Late has 
 no" 
 
 " Adam, Adam," she cried, " are you 
 become a grammarian ? Grammarians 
 are tiresome. And I must go, for I 
 have an engagement " 
 
 " No, no," I answered, in haste ; for 
 though in my heart I knew well she 
 did but jest, yet I feared to lose her.
 
 go THE CLAMMER 
 
 " There is small danger that I shall 
 become a grammarian. I have put all 
 that behind me. It gets farther behind 
 me with every day that passes. And 
 your engagement is with me." 
 
 She laughed, a low, sweet laugh. 
 
 " Yes," she said, " it was." 
 
 And we sat there, silent, and Eve 
 gazed at the sun, that was near his set 
 ting, and he gazed back at her. He 
 set no longer behind the bearded hill, 
 the time was passed for that, but 
 there were other hills, and he must set 
 behind them, for that is his destiny. 
 And if any should say to me that I do 
 but ill to speak thus of his destiny, for 
 that his destiny is a greater than that; 
 and if that one should hint of some 
 hypothesis or other concerning the 
 life and death of the universe, they 
 may have a new one now they may
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 91 
 
 get up a new one every week, for 
 aught I know or care ; for what is the 
 death of the universe to me ? I 
 should answer such an one in this wise : 
 " Go to, you speak foolishly. For have 
 I not seen him every evening of my 
 life, that he sets in the west? Talk 
 not to me of any hypothesis. I know 
 what I know." 
 
 And I was leaning on my elbow, 
 down upon the sod, and idly gazing 
 at the sun, and idly gazing up at Eve. 
 But I gazed at Eve the more. And 
 the west was all golden, with a soft 
 haze everywhere that left nothing with 
 sharp outlines, and the sun was set, like 
 a great yellow diamond, in its midst. It 
 was one of those days come a month 
 or more before its time when the 
 whole earth seems to drowse and doze 
 and breathe forth peace.
 
 92 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Eve," I said softly, for I almost 
 feared lest I break the spell that was 
 upon us. 
 
 She turned to me, but did not speak. 
 
 " Would you have me analyze those 
 colors that we see ? I might make 
 shift to do it. Would this soft light be 
 more beautiful to you " 
 
 " Oh, no, no," she cried. " Let it be. 
 See, the sun is almost down. Stand 
 beside me, Adam." 
 
 So I stood, and she clasped my fin 
 gers close in hers, and we faced the 
 west, for we would bid the old sun good 
 night. And as we stood thus, came 
 Old Goodwin, silently, and stood at her 
 other side. And she took his hand in 
 hers, too, one hand to each, and we 
 looked at the sun, and his rim rested 
 on the hill. And there stood a tree, 
 great and tall like a spire, that showed
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 93 
 
 black against his disk. So we watched 
 him sink, and as the last thin line van 
 ished behind the hill, we saluted, all 
 three. Then Eve breathed a deep 
 sigh. 
 
 " Such a lovely day, Adam," she 
 said, " ended in beauty ! If all the days 
 could be like this ! " 
 
 I remembered me of a day, not two 
 months back, that had been a driving 
 drizzle of rain, and of a certain figure 
 that had stood beneath a tree, and the 
 water dripped from the rim of her wide 
 felt hat, and shone upon her long coat. 
 And that day, with all its wetness, had 
 seemed as good a day as this, for she 
 had smiled to see me coming along 
 the shore, my face as black as the 
 clouds, and not expecting to find her; 
 and she had smiled again to see my 
 face change at the sight of her, and to
 
 94 THE CLAMMER 
 
 see that I could not speak for the joy 
 of it. But I had looked at her until 
 she flushed red. 
 
 " Truly," said I, " beauty is from 
 within, Eve, and each day is but what 
 we make it." 
 
 Then Eve and I sat us down upon 
 the bank where we were wont to sit, 
 and Old Goodwin gave me a quiet 
 smile for greeting. He was a quiet 
 man, peaceable and peace-loving, and 
 I marveled, often, that he should be 
 Goodwin the Rich. But so it was. 
 And his automobiles flashed past my 
 front gate, as they had done before, 
 covering my hedge with dust and en 
 veloping my house in nauseous smells ; 
 also as they had done before. But I 
 like automobiles better than I did. I 
 even ride in them sometimes, with 
 Eve, on the back seat ; and Old Good-
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 95 
 
 win rides on the front seat, and drives 
 as though the Devil were after him ; 
 which I think he is not, for Old Good 
 win is a lovable man, and a good man 
 I believe, as men go. So I sit in the 
 back seat, with Eve, and hold my 
 clothes on, my hat I long ago learned 
 to leave at home, and I bump here 
 and there, and now and then I shout 
 a tender word to Eve, and I think my 
 thoughts ; and when we turn a corner 
 on two wheels I thank goodness 
 that there are high sides to hold me in. 
 But Old Goodwin had gone to a 
 tree that was at hand, and from some 
 recess had pulled some rubber boots. 
 They were old boots, battered and 
 dingy with much wading through mud. 
 And after the boots came a hat, as old 
 and battered as they, and a coat. And 
 he put them all on, deliberately, and
 
 g6 THE CLAMMER 
 
 stood. And, standing, he looked more 
 like some old fisherman than like 
 Goodwin the Rich, which was, no 
 doubt, why he wore them. My neigh 
 bors would be but too happy if they 
 were to see Old Goodwin and know 
 him digging in my clam beds, and 
 their tongues are ever ready at invent 
 ing tales. Those neighbors of mine 
 are a grief to Eve, and an incitement 
 to anger, which, as every one knows, 
 heats the blood and causes vapors in 
 the brain. Eve does not like vapors. 
 So I was at some pains to get those 
 boots. 
 
 And Old Goodwin, after further 
 searching in the tree, drew forth a clam 
 hoe and a basket; and being thus 
 equipped, he hied him to the flats, 
 which were, by now, almost bare, and 
 he began to dig. Now that is a luxury
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 97 
 
 which the rich may seldom have, that 
 they should dig for clams. Old Good 
 win enjoyed it mightily, splashing here 
 and there in his boots, and digging 
 as the fancy seized him ; which was as 
 like to be where the clams were not as 
 where they were. But he cared not at 
 all, and drew long breaths for very joy 
 of living ; and the clams that he found 
 he put within his basket. And with 
 his boots, as he waded here and there, 
 he stirred long lines of color that went 
 rippling in waves of yellow or red or a 
 tender blue until they died at our feet. 
 For the west was all a brilliant, daz 
 zling yellow, with one long cloud that 
 showed indigo above, but a bright 
 crimson below. And behind us were 
 other long clouds, and they were crim 
 son, too. But the sky between was a 
 tender blue. And I gazed long.
 
 g8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Adam," cried Eve at last, " how 
 can you be content to sit there ? " 
 
 I looked up in some surprise. 
 " Should I not be content ? " I said. 
 " For here are you, beside me, and 
 before us is spread a picture of peace 
 that changes with each moment that 
 passes. Look at that tranquil water, 
 Eve, with its long tongue of blue that 
 marks the current. Should I not be 
 content? " 
 
 " Yes, yes," she answered, " I hope 
 so. I trust so, always with me be 
 side you. I would not have it other 
 wise. But even the tranquil water has 
 its current. Let us dig, too." 
 
 I laughed as quietly as I could, 
 for I would not break that tranquil 
 lity. She had me there. 
 
 " What a governess! " I said. " She 
 has her way always. Well, then, let us
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 99 
 
 dig though it seems a pity to disturb 
 the clams." 
 
 " They live in eternal darkness," said 
 Eve. " It is better for them to be dis 
 turbed. Besides, Adam, I came to dig. 
 I got this gown on purpose." 
 
 I had not noticed the gown. But 
 she stood straight before me, and I 
 looked her up and down, as she would 
 have me. Truly, I could see no differ 
 ence between that gown and any other 
 save that it was shorter. But Eve 
 would look adorable in any and it 
 was the woman that I saw. 
 
 I said as much. " To tell the truth," 
 I said, " I did not see your gown. 
 What does it matter what you wear ? " 
 
 " To dig ? " she said, reproving. 
 " Have you forgotten, Adam ? Surely 
 you would not have your wife drip salt 
 water upon her best dress and spot it? "
 
 ioo THE CLAMMER 
 
 As she spoke she looked at me, and 
 I saw that in her eyes that brought me 
 up upon one knee. At least I might 
 kiss her hand, with Old Goodwin pot 
 tering about my clam beds. He con 
 siderately turned his back upon us. 
 
 And so we digged for clams, too, 
 until the light had faded from the 
 western sky, and the twilight was al 
 most gone. And when, at last, Old 
 Goodwin turned and lumbered peace 
 fully up the bank and sat him down 
 to become once more Goodwin the 
 Rich, behold, our basket was well filled. 
 For Eve and I have but the one bas 
 ket; and her back does not tire now. 
 
 And I, too, sat me down for Eve 
 had to take off her rubber boots and 
 I sat me near Old Goodwin. And he 
 gave me once more that quiet smile of 
 greeting that breathed of peace.
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 101 
 
 " And Mrs. Goodwin ? " I asked. 
 " Will she not see me yet ? " 
 
 " Not yet," he answered, still with 
 that quiet smile. " But do you have 
 patience. She will come around at 
 least, I hope so. It was rather in the 
 way of a surprise, you know. And as 
 a surprise," he added, with a chuckle 
 of delight, "it was rather good yes, 
 it was a success." 
 
 I sighed. I am not a patient man ; 
 and here was Old Goodwin counseling 
 me to have patience. There is nothing 
 harder for me to have. 
 
 " I have had patience," I said ; " and 
 shall have it until it leaves me. And 
 when that will be I do not know, but 
 not so long as I can keep it with me. 
 And, after all, I do not know that I 
 care except for Eve s sake." 
 
 " No," he said, and the smile was
 
 102 THE CLAMMER 
 
 gone. " You win in any case, or so 
 it seems to me. She loses. Remember 
 that. She loses. And so I ask you to 
 have patience. It is worth while, if 
 only for Eve s sake." 
 
 " It is not easy for me to be patient," 
 I replied. " But I will, at least I will 
 try. That I promise, and no man can 
 promise more. For I win in any case. 
 She may gain a son or lose a daughter 
 but Eve No, I will be patient." 
 
 Old Goodwin had got his boots 
 changed by this, and now he rose 
 Goodwin the Rich. 
 
 " I thank you, Adam," he said. He 
 called me Adam, too. " It will be the 
 easier for me. And that is something 
 to you is it not ? " 
 
 I jumped to my feet and seized his 
 hand. " It is much to me," I cried. 
 " If ever you see me going wrong, I
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 103 
 
 beg you to remind me. For Eve s 
 sake and yours. That will bring me 
 back." 
 
 Indeed, he had been my good friend 
 my good friend and Eve s. And 
 now he smiled once more Old Good 
 win s quiet smile. I loved that smile, 
 breathing peace on earth and good 
 will to men. It was easy to see where 
 Eve had got hers. She smiled with 
 her eyes, too, and in them I saw but 
 perhaps that was for me alone. But 
 Old Goodwin, with his quiet smile, 
 was yet Goodwin the Rich. It was a 
 marvel. 
 
 " You are good children," he said. 
 " Good-night, and bless you." 
 
 So he ambled off, up the path that 
 was beginning to show, even in that 
 dim light. For a path is made by 
 walking upon it, and even once a day
 
 104 THE CLAMMER 
 
 will serve for that. And that path was 
 walked on more than once a day. As 
 he reached a turn, he waved his hand 
 to us, and we to him. 
 
 " Eve," I said, musing, " there goes 
 a good man." 
 
 She turned to me. " He is," she said. 
 " And I am glad to have you think 
 that, Adam. There are those who 
 say cruel things of him." 
 
 " They are wrong," I cried. " I am 
 convinced of it. From all envy, hatred, 
 and malice, good Lord, deliver us. But 
 what of that other rich man, Eve ? " 
 
 As I looked up at Eve, waiting for 
 my answer, I saw that she was smiling 
 merrily. 
 
 " I told him," she said, " that I was 
 engaged already. And he seemed sur 
 prised at that, and he would know the 
 name of the happy man. And I told
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 105 
 
 him that, too. Did I do well ? Are 
 you " She stopped and hesitated. 
 
 " Am I happy, Eve ? " I answered 
 softly. " Surely you know that I am. 
 Happier than I thought I should ever 
 be. And what did he say to that? " 
 
 " Oh, then, he did not understand. 
 For I think he did not know you, 
 Adam. And I said you were a fisher 
 man, or a clammer, as occasion served. 
 You should have seen his face. And 
 he but wished me joy, and went ; which 
 was what I wanted." 
 
 I chuckled. For I do chuckle on 
 occasion. 
 
 " I have no other occupation," I 
 said, " and neither has he. And he 
 comes, in his yacht, to ask you, 
 steam yachts are luxuries, Eve, which 
 my wife will know nothing of, he 
 comes, very grand, in his yacht, to ask
 
 io6 THE CLAMMER 
 
 you. And you tell him that you are to 
 wed a digger of clams. And where is 
 he now ? " 
 
 " I do not know," she answered ; 
 and the smile faded. 
 
 And I thought my thoughts, and 
 was silent. Truly, the digging of clams 
 has its delights, and not all the rich 
 are fitted to partake thereof. For how 
 many of them see what lies before 
 their eyes ? How many of them see 
 the colors the old sun spreads on the 
 still water and the shining mud ? A 
 flat is a flat to them, a thing to be 
 shunned; a thing that will spoil their 
 white flannels and get their dresses all 
 muddy. Not all of them are Old Good 
 wins. And the works of the Great 
 Painter are not for such as these. But 
 the colors were gone now, and the 
 light, too, and I heard Eve sighing.
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 107 
 
 "What is it, Eve?" I asked. "Must 
 you go ? " 
 
 " Soon," she said, " very soon. But I 
 was thinking of my mother. She hinted 
 almost threatened that he would 
 come again." 
 
 " That rich man ? " I said. " He is 
 better forgot." And, indeed, I had for 
 got him already. " After all, what does 
 it matter? His goings and his com 
 ings are nothing to us. And your 
 mother was it hard to tell her? I 
 did what I could." 
 
 " It was not easy," she answered, and 
 I knew by her voice that tears were 
 in her eyes, though I could not see. 
 " Your note, Adam, she tore up before 
 my eyes. Oh, I was angry ! And I 
 said what I should not. And then she 
 said she was angry, too that she 
 would not come to my wedding "
 
 io8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " We will have patience, Eve," I 
 said, " and perhaps she may change 
 her mind. And for the note, why, it 
 is better torn up than passed around 
 among her friends to be laughed over. 
 Yes, I am glad about the note." 
 
 "And I saved the pieces every 
 one," she said then, laughing shyly. 
 " After my mother was gone, I gath 
 ered them up. But now I must go, 
 Adam. See, it is quite dark. You may 
 come up the path with me if you 
 will for just a minute." 
 
 If I would ! And if our parting took 
 more than just the minute she had said, 
 why, I will bear the blame if blame 
 there is. For I left her happy and with 
 her eyes shining. And so I stumbled 
 home along the shore, my heart sing 
 ing. And my supper for what clam- 
 mer would dine at seven was ambro-
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 109 
 
 sia and nectar, being plain corn meal 
 mush and fresh milk. And when I 
 had filled myself full of it I betook 
 me to the seat under the old pine, and 
 I gazed at the stars and wondered. I 
 saw Arcturus, hanging red, high in the 
 west; and Altair blazing above me. 
 But, gaze where I would, I saw always 
 that wonderful hair with the light upon 
 it from the western sky; and those 
 wonderful eyes with the light within 
 them that made them to outshine Al 
 tair himself. And, gazing, I wondered 
 if in all the worlds that revolve about 
 those innumerable suns there were a 
 being as happy and as content as I. 
 
 Of all the gifts of the gods, happi 
 ness is the most elusive. For they that 
 most seek it find it not ; and to them 
 that seek it not, but go calmly about
 
 no THE CLAMMER 
 
 their business, on a sudden it appears, 
 saying : " Lo, here am I." And we 
 must not then attempt to hold it fast, 
 for ever it breaks away and is gone 
 for a time and naught is to do but 
 wait, with what patience we may, until 
 it come again. And the more we have 
 patience the sooner will it come back. 
 So the days passed, and some days 
 I found happiness, and other days I 
 found it not ; but usually I had it for 
 a bedfellow. And it was lucky that I 
 did, for what is to be said of a clam- 
 mer who cannot sleep? And each 
 afternoon, when the sun was low, I 
 wended slowly over toward my clam 
 beds along the shore where the water 
 lapped ever. And the Great Painter 
 spread his colors with lavish hand, 
 and peace covered the earth and was 
 upon the face of the waters. And
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH in 
 
 peace was in my heart, too, for there 
 on the bank sat Eve, and she smiled 
 to see me come. 
 
 And it befell on a day that there 
 was a flat calm, and the sun veiled his 
 face before he set ; and, above, the veil 
 spread out in a thin sheet, feathery 
 and white, so that I could not tell 
 where it began. 
 
 " Look, Eve," I said. " To-morrow 
 it will be stormy." 
 
 And she said nothing, but only 
 looked as she was bid, being content 
 to take my word in all things. But Old 
 Goodwin was not. 
 
 " Indeed ! " he said. " What makes 
 you think so, Adam ? " 
 
 Then I was tempted. I might have 
 entered upon a disquisition concern 
 ing cyclones and the sequence of the 
 weather. But I put that temptation
 
 ii2 THE CLAMMER 
 
 from me. It was but a part of my 
 past. 
 
 " Oh," I answered simply, " the look 
 of the sky." 
 
 "And in what does the look of the 
 sky differ from its look on any other 
 day ? " he asked. " I see no differ 
 ence." 
 
 " It is hard to tell," I said ; " but this 
 is the hurricane season. I may be quite 
 mistaken. But I think it will storm to 
 morrow." 
 
 And so he was forced to be content, 
 though he was but half convinced ; and 
 he would have betaken him to the dig 
 ging of clams, but the tide was not half 
 down. This he mourned, with frequent 
 upward glances at the sky. For Old 
 Goodwin was become more skilled in 
 the finding of clams than he had been. 
 Indeed, I marveled what he could do
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 113 
 
 with the clams he dug, for he no longer 
 gave them to us. I mentioned it to 
 Eve. 
 
 She laughed, whispering. " I fear, 
 Adam," she said, " that he is con 
 taminated. He sits up late at night, 
 after everybody else is gone to bed 
 and I met him yesterday coming from 
 the kitchen. He looked furtive as he 
 smiled in passing. Yes, I fear that he 
 is contaminated." 
 
 " Steamed clams ? " I whispered, in 
 reply. " But steamed clams are not 
 baked clams. They are, to clams from 
 a bake, what a bath in a tub is to a 
 dip in that great ocean." 
 
 " It is the best that he can do," she 
 said. " He may not have a clambake. 
 My mother "- 
 
 " Ah," said I, illuminated, " the poor 
 man 1 We will have one for him.
 
 H4 THE CLAMMER 
 
 And we will ask your mother, too. She 
 can but refuse, at the worst. And per 
 haps "- 
 
 Eve shook her head. " She will re 
 fuse," she said, " or take no notice 
 of your asking. But father will be 
 grateful. There are so few things the 
 rich may do simply. Father would like 
 to muss around, himself, to help you 
 with the bake, Adam, and wear his 
 old clothes. He generally has a horrid 
 time." 
 
 She was smiling and eager, and her 
 eyes shone. I nodded. " He shall have 
 his clambake." 
 
 So Eve went in early, and Old Good 
 win, for the sky was become all gray 
 and nothing to see. And to me there 
 is nothing so dismal as a dull gray sky 
 when there is neither wind nor rain. 
 There is the same gray light on the
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 115 
 
 water, the same wherever I look, and 
 all nature seems waiting. After a day 
 of it, I am fit for battle and murder. 
 But now a little breeze came creep 
 ing in out of the east, chill and drear. 
 And I was wakened in the night by 
 the wind, howling like a lost soul in 
 torment. I turned over and drew the 
 covers closer and slept again. 
 
 And when the day broke, it was not 
 tranquil, and no sun to see ; and the 
 wind shrieking and yelling out of the 
 southeast like some wild thing, with 
 gusts of drenching rain. I thought of 
 my late corn, which was heavy with 
 great ears and had been tall, too, 
 the night before. It was like to be 
 blown flat in that wind as flat as if 
 it had been harvested and what was 
 a clambake without fresh corn ? But 
 there was no help for it. I ate my
 
 n6 THE CLAMMER 
 
 breakfast at my leisure, there would 
 be more wind before there was less, 
 put on oil-skins, boots, and sou wester, 
 and fared forth. 
 
 As I passed down through my gar 
 den I glanced at my corn. It was flat, 
 as I expected, save one great stalk, 
 stronger than its comrades, or more 
 deeply rooted, and that stalk waved 
 and thrashed about in anguish. It 
 would break soon, I knew. And I 
 mused as I leaned against the wind 
 upon its fate how it must be broken 
 and die, while the stalks less well 
 rooted did but go down before the 
 blast, and live and grow. But I gave 
 my corn no more thought, for I was 
 come to the steep path that led me 
 down along the shore, and by the 
 water, now all brown with sand and 
 mud that had been stirred from the
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 117 
 
 bottom. For, although it was fairly 
 quiet here, being in the lee of the 
 bluff, the water was well stirred, as any 
 might guess from looking out upon it. 
 And I came to the bank, where the 
 sod breaks off to the sand, and no Eve 
 was there. And, indeed, I had known 
 better, but can a man help hoping ? 
 It was much too early, and who could 
 expect her to come down in that wind ? 
 And as I made these excuses for her, 
 behold, she stepped from behind a 
 great tree, and she laughed aloud to 
 see my face. 
 
 " Oh, Adam ! " she cried, " one would 
 think, to see you as you came, that you 
 had lost your last friend, and were just 
 come to the funeral." 
 
 " And then," I answered, smiling up 
 at her, " what then, Eve ? " 
 
 " Why, then, you seemed surprised
 
 n8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 and" With that she stopped, and 
 she stood upon the bank above, and I 
 on the sand below ; and she put her 
 hands upon my shoulders, one on each, 
 and looked down into my face. And 
 I looked up into her eyes, and I forgot 
 the storm, and I forgot that wild wind 
 that blew, and I forgot all things save 
 what I saw there. And, an instant, 
 she bent to me. " Oh, Adam, Adam ! " 
 she cried, " I am glad, glad that you 
 care so much. For it is not easy for 
 me." 
 
 And I said no word, but only held her 
 so for some while. And presently she 
 laughed, as if she were half ashamed, 
 and drew her from my arms. And I 
 saw that her face was wet. It may 
 have been the rain I do not know. 
 A fisherman, in sou wester and oil 
 skins, holding in his arms a Daugh-
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 119 
 
 ter of the Rich. I laughed aloud at 
 the thought. For, though she, too, 
 had on boots, she seemed no fit mate 
 for such as I in her long coat, that 
 covered her from neck to heel, and 
 with her wide felt hat, tied down be 
 hind. Indeed, I grudged that to neces 
 sity for her hair was all hid, under 
 the hat. 
 
 Out from my clam beds some way 
 out is a reef of rocks. It is grim 
 enough in any weather: at low water 
 just showing its rough head, dark 
 brown, barnacled, bearded with sea 
 weed ; at high tide, in calm weather, 
 nothing but a wide expanse of placid 
 water. For which reason, the govern 
 ment, in its wisdom, and to protect 
 the lives of yachtsmen, who ever walk 
 in darkness the fishermen know it 
 from the beginning of time the gov-
 
 120 THE CLAMMER 
 
 ernment had set, upon the most out 
 ward rock a spindle. It was awkward 
 enough, that spindle, with its sprawl 
 ing arms, like a telegraph pole but 
 it served its purpose well in ordinary 
 weather I have no doubt. But now, - 
 this was no ordinary weather, as any 
 might see, it seemed like to go down, 
 even as my solitary stalk of corn ; to 
 be torn from its hold in the rock, or 
 the shaft twisted and bent and broken, 
 till it served no longer. 
 
 " Look, Eve," I shouted. For the 
 gale tore my words out of my mouth. 
 " The spindle it will go down at high 
 tide or before. See, it is bent, al 
 ready." 
 
 For, as I spoke, a great sea smashed 
 down upon the rock, sending its spray 
 high ; and when the wind had blown 
 the bits of broken water far to lee-
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 121 
 
 ward, leaving the rock in a smother of 
 foam, I saw the spindle, and it stood 
 straight no longer. And I watched 
 for the fellow of the sea that had come. 
 But Eve held her peace. And we two 
 watched the rock, with its leaning 
 spindle, and ever it leaned the more, 
 but it kept fast hold on the rock, 
 though it was nearly buried in the 
 foam. And ever the tide came higher, 
 until it was buried in every sea that 
 came. So it was come to dinner time ; 
 and I felt a great hunger that gnawed 
 within me. For a clammer must eat, 
 even as other men. 
 
 " Eve," I said, " it is my dinner time, 
 and I am hungry." 
 
 " Oh, Adam," she cried, " can you 
 think about eating with this to see ? 
 I thought better of you." 
 
 " Think none the worse of me," I
 
 122 THE CLAMMER 
 
 answered, " that when I am hungry I 
 would eat. For I am not one of your 
 theorists who believe that when a man 
 is hungry he should go without. But 
 I believe that hunger is a sign from 
 Heaven. God gave man hunger that 
 he might know when to eat; and thirst, 
 that he might know when to drink. 
 And so I do. I have never found 
 myself the worse for it, but the better. 
 Hunger breeds an evil temper, as you 
 may see. Mark how much pleasanter 
 I am when I have dined." 
 
 And she laughed at me. " And the 
 spindle, Adam," she said. " It may go 
 down, and you at dinner. And this 
 storm surely, it is worth staying for." 
 
 " The storm will increase," I replied, 
 " according to the lore of my neighbors, 
 until full tide. In such matters their 
 lore is older than my learning. As for
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 123 
 
 the spindle, it will go or it will hold 
 fast as it is ordained for it. If it hold 
 fast, well ; and if it go down, why, 
 that will be well enough, too. At least, 
 I shall have dined. I wish that I might 
 ask you to dine with me, Eve. We 
 shall have roast mutton, with corn, and 
 potatoes, and whatever else the wind 
 has left. And a steamed pudding, 
 after. It is not fashionable, but it will 
 be good. My cook makes excellent 
 steamed puddings. And a dinner 
 eaten alone it is a lonely meal." 
 
 Again Eve laughed, then sighed. I 
 know that she sighed, for I saw her ; 
 I could not hear. 
 
 " I should love it, Adam," she said, 
 " but you know I may not." 
 
 " Love what, Eve ? " I asked. " The 
 steamed pudding? " 
 
 " No doubt," she answered, " for now
 
 124 TH^ CLAMMER 
 
 that you have reminded me, I am 
 hungry, too. But you know that was 
 not what I meant. I should love to 
 dine with you in your own house. 
 But it will not be long there will 
 not be many more lonely dinners" 
 
 She hesitated and stopped. But I 
 knew. " Let us count them," I said. 
 " Let us see how many." 
 
 And again the storm was forgot, and 
 the great wind that blew. And so she 
 went in, and I tramped home, in the 
 rain, along the shore. But my dinner 
 was too quickly eaten for a clammer, 
 and I thanked a kind Heaven that 
 there were not many more such 
 there were far too many, but they 
 could be counted there were less 
 than a hundred. And having bolted 
 my dinner, which deserved better of 
 me, I hurried back to the bank, and
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 125 
 
 there stood Eve, and she smiled to 
 see me come along the shore. 
 
 "Eve," I observed, "see now for 
 what you are responsible. For, dining 
 alone, I did but bolt my dinner, for I 
 would not miss a minute of your com 
 pany. And thereby I risked dyspep 
 sia. And that is not the worst, for the 
 ills that follow hard upon it are these : 
 melancholy and an evil disposition; 
 and backbiting and gossip, and, in 
 short, all the qualities which you see 
 in my neighbors. And" 
 
 But she was laughing. " Is that not 
 enough ? " she asked. " I would not 
 be responsible for more, and I promise 
 to give you an hour for your dinner 
 hereafter. You will have no need to 
 hurry back, for I shall not be here 
 sooner. But this is an exception. We 
 shall not have such another storm,
 
 126 THE CLAMMER 
 
 surely, in the next " Again she 
 stopped. " Look, Adam, can you see 
 the spindle ? Is it gone ? " 
 
 I looked. The tide was risen now, 
 so that only now and then, between 
 the great seas that came, could I catch 
 a glimpse of it ; and I saw that it was 
 bent almost even with the rock. It 
 would be useless for its purpose even 
 if it held, and the tide that was com 
 ing would be very high. Even now 
 the waves lapped about my feet as I 
 stood upon the sand, and the seaweed 
 washed against the bank, and it lacked 
 an hour of high tide. I feared for the 
 pebbles, that they would no more shine 
 in the sun. 
 
 " I see it," I said. " It is yet fast to 
 the rock as fast as any oyster. But 
 it is bent flat, so that it is no manner 
 of use. It may as well go as stay. The
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 127 
 
 water covers it already, or it would, if 
 it were smooth." 
 
 And, indeed, the seas broke no 
 longer over the rock, save an occa 
 sional one, higher than the rest, and 
 the trough lower. Such a sea did but 
 open an instant, to show the top, dark 
 brown and barnacled, then closed 
 again, roaring, in a whirlpool of foam. 
 And Eve said nothing, but only looked. 
 And as we stood looking, and the 
 rain running off from our clothes in 
 streams, Old Goodwin came down to 
 us, in oilskins and boots and sou wester. 
 And he said nothing, either, which was 
 not strange, for he was not a man of 
 words. And when he had been there 
 some while, came a mighty sea, and 
 fell upon the rock. I shouted at the 
 sight of that sea ; I could do no other. 
 And when it was passed, the water
 
 iz8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 opened once more and there was but 
 the shaft, bent and twisted. 
 
 " Gone ! " I cried. And Eve looked 
 at me with wide eyes, but Old Good 
 win only nodded. 
 
 So we three watched for some while, 
 and at last the water was as smooth 
 over the rock as it was elsewhere. 
 And that is not saying that it was 
 smooth at all even on my clam beds, 
 where it was, in a measure, sheltered, 
 the waves broke high, so that I feared 
 for the bank ; but the great seas raced 
 evenly over the rock, and it was as there 
 was none there, for no man could tell 
 its place. 
 
 Then, on a sudden, the rain ceased 
 and the wind increased, and it seemed 
 that the whole earth must be torn up 
 by the roots. And up on the hill I 
 heard the crash of a tree, falling, and
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 129 
 
 then another. And the water was level 
 with the bank, and the waves broke 
 over my pebbles. Old Goodwin turned 
 at the sound of the trees, and said 
 something, I know not what. For the 
 noise of the wind and the noise of the 
 water was a great noise, and swallowed 
 up the sound of his voice. And he 
 looked once more out to sea, and there 
 came that into his face that made me 
 to look, too. 
 
 Now there had been, a moment be 
 fore, a veil of rain over the surface of 
 the sea that prevented our seeing more 
 than a little way. But now the veil was 
 withdrawn, and I looked, and rubbed 
 my eyes, and looked again. For there 
 came a yacht a steam yacht, and she 
 was steaming her best, and with the 
 wind nearly behind her she came at 
 a great pace. Now she was lost in a
 
 130 THE CLAMMER 
 
 hollow, so that I saw no more than 
 her stack, belching smoke, and now 
 she rose on a wave, so that I saw her 
 hull. What fool, thought I, would 
 venture from a safe harbor in such 
 weather ? If they had left port before 
 this storm, well, it is but a poor 
 skipper that knows the weather no 
 better, and they were not like to 
 have been a day s steaming from some 
 good harbor. And as I thought these 
 things, the yacht was come nearer, and 
 I knew it, and I knew that here was 
 that certain rich man come to plague 
 me. I even saw the man himself, 
 standing forward, and holding on by 
 a stanchion. And as I saw I marveled, 
 for I had supposed the man a coward. 
 I turned to Eve. " Do you know" 
 But I did not finish, for she nodded ; 
 and her look was troubled. I hated
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 131 
 
 that rich man with a mighty hate. 
 And while I still gazed into her eyes, 
 I saw them open wide with horror. 
 
 " Oh, Adam," she cried. " The spin 
 dle is gone, and they will go on the 
 rocks ! See ! " 
 
 I turned. They had come on swiftly 
 too swiftly and now were headed 
 straight for the place where the rock 
 lay hid ; steaming headlong to destruc 
 tion. I hesitated I say it to my 
 shame, though a man is but a man 
 after all I hesitated an instant; then 
 Old Goodwin began to shout, and I 
 shouted, too, wading into the water up 
 to my waist, and waving my hands. 
 For I would warn them farther off. 
 And at our shouting, the man did but 
 get upon the rail, still holding by the 
 stanchion, and lean far out, and put 
 his hand behind his ear. For the wind
 
 i 3 2 THE CLAMMER 
 
 whipped the words out of our mouths 
 before they were well spoken, and they 
 reached him not at all. And the yacht 
 was but a length from the rock. And 
 the man understood, though he could 
 not hear, and he leaned yet farther 
 out, to call up to the captain ; but the 
 captain had understood, too, and she 
 was already turning. And as we looked 
 and held our breath for fear, she struck 
 with a great shock and careened, and 
 the great seas dashed high and hid 
 her for a moment. And when she 
 rolled back again and I could see, the 
 man was gone. 
 
 Then Eve shrieked and I cursed, 
 under my breath, and I hurried to 
 shore ; and hastily I stripped off my 
 coats and cast down my sou wester 
 upon them as they lay, and tried to 
 pull off my boots. But they were filled
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH -133 
 
 full with water from my wading, and 
 would not come. So I pulled out my 
 knife and ripped them down the side ; 
 for I was of no mind to be weighted 
 down with rubber boots. Then they 
 came off easily enough, and I rose and 
 looked at Eve. 
 
 " Oh, Adam," she cried, " can you 
 swim in that water ? " 
 
 I looked out upon the water that 
 was roaring and racing. A fish might 
 fail to swim on the top of that water, 
 and be well excused for failing. And 
 I was no fish, though I could swim 
 passing well. 
 
 " Yes," I said. 
 
 " Then," said Eve, " go, and God 
 keep you ! " And she kissed me, tak 
 ing no shame to herself that her father 
 saw, and those on the yacht they 
 had little leisure for observing and
 
 134 THE CLAMMER 
 
 some of my neighbors, who had gath 
 ered near, who had leisure. 
 
 And, with that kiss upon my lips, 
 I could have gone to my death with 
 a light heart ; indeed, I knew not but 
 that I was going to it. So I plunged 
 in and swam, thinking as I went, with 
 some bitterness, that here was I, risk 
 ing my life for a man who was come 
 but to give me trouble. Truly, I 
 thought, he has begun well, and it will 
 be no strange matter if the beginning 
 and the ending are the same. Then 
 I was come to an end of my shelter, 
 and the wind tore at me, and the waves 
 buffeted me, so that I was forced to 
 give all my thought to my swimming; 
 and that was well, too. 
 
 Now I have no purpose to give an 
 account of my fool s errand that I had 
 swum out upon, for thus should I be
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 135 
 
 but a boaster and a braggart and one 
 marked out for destruction. But I 
 found the man, I do not well know 
 how, and I brought him to shore, to 
 Eve and Old Goodwin waiting there ; 
 and I do not well know how I did 
 that either. And there I left him, to 
 be cared for by those same neigh 
 bors of mine, and to recover or not, 
 as it happed him. But I turned to 
 Eve before I went, and she was cry 
 ing softly. 
 
 " Oh, Adam, Adam," she said ; and 
 with that she stopped and said no 
 more, for she could not speak. But 
 she put her arms about me, all wet as 
 I was, and held me tight, and I heard 
 her voice whispering, but I could make 
 out no words. And when she had 
 made an end of her whispering, she 
 let me go.
 
 136 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " Now, Adam," she said, " you are 
 all wet, and you are all weary. Do you 
 go home and get off those wet clothes, 
 and rest yourself. And when you are 
 all rested I will come and tell you how 
 he is." 
 
 So I went, and weary I must have 
 been, for I thought not to marvel that 
 Eve should come to my house, and I 
 gave no thought to the yacht, that had 
 been in evil case enough when I saw 
 her last. And as I plodded along the 
 shore, it chanced that I glanced out 
 upon the water. For the wind was be 
 ginning to fall already. And the yacht 
 was on the rock, where she had struck, 
 but she had swung clean around, so 
 that her bow was toward the seas, 
 and she seemed like to slide off. And 
 as I looked, a boat put out from 
 shore and pulled toward her. After
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 137 
 
 all, my neighbors have their good 
 points. 
 
 And when I had got into dry clothes 
 and had swallowed a draught of hot 
 tea I felt somewhat rested. So I went 
 out and sat me down on the seat un 
 der my pine. From that place I could 
 see the west, and the clouds were some 
 what broken and driving fast, but no 
 glimpse of the sun yet, though he must 
 be near his setting. And out upon the 
 water lay the yacht, at anchor in a spot 
 that was sheltered, and she was well 
 down by the head. About her, like a 
 flock of crows, were some small boats. 
 And I looked no more upon the yacht, 
 but I gazed at the tree like a spire, 
 that should show against the sun s disk 
 as he set, and I thought with bitter 
 ness on what I had done ; and my 
 thoughts were the thoughts of Ahab.
 
 138 THE CLAMMER 
 
 In the bitterness of my heart I spoke 
 aloud. 
 
 " Hast thou found me, O mine 
 enemy ? " 
 
 And, even as I spoke, I heard be 
 hind me the light step that I knew 
 and loved, and there was Eve. And 
 she sat upon the seat beside me. 
 
 I looked at her questioning. " Is it 
 well ? " I asked. 
 
 She smiled up at me. " It is well," 
 she answered ; and my bitterness fell 
 from me as a garment, and I marveled 
 that it was so. 
 
 And so we sat and saw the twilight 
 fail, early, and the night fall. And out 
 upon the water, a light marked where 
 the yacht lay at her anchor, and the 
 light bowed slowly, up and down ; for 
 there yet was a swell coming in, al 
 though the wind had fallen. And
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 139 
 
 peace fell upon my spirit, and a great 
 content. 
 
 Under my great pine is a pleasant 
 place for a man or for a Daugh 
 ter of the Rich, as I make bold to 
 guess with a heart at ease. And for 
 a certain rich man it might, indeed, be 
 pleasant under my pine, I did not 
 know. But I was to find out, for a 
 week had gone by since I hauled him 
 ashore like any drifting mess of sea 
 weed, and with no more life in him, as 
 it seemed, than in the weed ; his legs 
 and his arms trailing in the water. 
 And, Eve asking it, I invited him to 
 my clambake that I made to pleasure 
 Old Goodwin. From my seat against 
 the tree he might look out upon my 
 clam beds. But it might well be that 
 he would not care for clam beds ; for
 
 140 THE CLAMMER 
 
 every Rich man is not an Old Good 
 win. And he might see, too, the place 
 where he so nearly lost his life. And 
 it might well be that he would not care 
 for that, either. But he should have 
 the chance. And, to make the tale com 
 plete, I had asked Mrs. Goodwin, too. 
 It was there, just without the shadow 
 of the pine, that the hole was scooped 
 in the ground, and lined with great 
 stones. Indeed, this was already done ; 
 for had I not had a clambake there ? 
 And, that I might not forget it 
 there was little danger of my forget 
 ting and, too, that I might have 
 other clambakes, I had left the hole as 
 it was, and the great stones. And on 
 these stones I kindled a fire that roared 
 high ; and when it had burned long 
 and the stones were hot I raked the 
 ashes off. And Old Goodwin helped
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 141 
 
 me, and he whistled as he worked. 
 He was no artist at the whistling, but 
 yet it gave me pleasure to see him so 
 well pleased, so that I must needs join 
 him in his whistling ; and I am no 
 artist at it, either. But we were merry 
 at our whistling, and we made so great 
 a racket with it that any one would 
 have thought to hear us, there was a 
 flock of strange birds and it was spring 
 time ; instead of which it was fall and 
 the birds had left, except some robins 
 and some sparrows and the meadow- 
 larks. And even they were silent. 
 And the terns had gone, too, that 
 always marks the change of season, 
 for me, and the winter gulls had 
 come to take their place. 
 
 And when, at last, we had the em 
 bers all raked off and the stones clean, 
 Old Goodwin leaned upon his rake
 
 142 THE CLAMMER 
 
 and wiped his forehead. It was hot 
 there, so near the hot stones, and the 
 fire just burned out. And he began 
 to laugh, for sheer pleasure and for 
 the merriment that he might hold in 
 no longer ; and, laughing, he could 
 whistle no more. 
 
 "Adam," he said, "do you know 
 what it is that you are whistling?" 
 
 And I stopped long enough to an 
 swer. " No," I said. " It does not mat 
 ter. Make a glad noise." 
 
 And, with that, I began to sing ; 
 and I am only worse at singing than 
 I am at whistling. But what cared I? 
 And Old Goodwin, as soon as he could, 
 for his laughter, joined me in singing. 
 And he sang worse than I. But we 
 cared not at all, our hearts were at 
 ease, and took our forks and shook 
 down upon the stones fresh seaweed
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 143 
 
 from the pile, and on the seaweed laid 
 the clams that I had digged that morn 
 ing. Then, more seaweed ; and the 
 other things, according to their season, 
 orderly, in layers : the lobsters, and the 
 fish, fresh caught, and the chicken, not 
 too fresh, and sweet potatoes and white, 
 and the last of my corn that had sur 
 vived the storm. I had a fear that the 
 ears might not be well filled but it 
 was fresh and tender. And over all 
 we piled the weed and made a dome 
 that smoked and steamed and filled 
 the air with incense. 
 
 Then, our work done, we sat there 
 and looked out, and were silent. At 
 last Old Goodwin spoke, and he was 
 looking at the smoking dome. 
 
 " Adam," he said, " will there be an 
 other clambake after this ? " 
 
 " I fear not," I answered. " For it
 
 144 THE CLAMMER 
 
 gets on toward winter, and it will be 
 too cold. But when summer comes 
 again we may have many, we three." 
 
 He looked at me and smiled. " I 
 feared this was the last," he said. " But 
 when summer comes again we will 
 have many God willing. You are 
 good to please an old man so. I thank 
 you, Adam." 
 
 Now that was nothing more than a 
 figure of speech for him to call him 
 self an old man. For he was a very 
 boy, and could whistle and sing and 
 dig clams and mess about, and youth 
 was in his heart. And who, having 
 youth in his heart, can be rightly called 
 old ? Indeed, in point of years, he was 
 not old; for he was not turned sixty, 
 as I should have guessed. But he 
 was again silent, gazing at the smok 
 ing dome of weed, and I made no an-
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 145 
 
 swer, but I gazed out over the water. 
 And presently Old Goodwin rose and 
 went to garb himself, for he was 
 dressed in his clammer s clothes, that 
 were well stained with mud and with 
 salt water and with clams. And then 
 I, too, would change my clothes, for I 
 was no better dressed than he. 
 
 And when I was all arrayed I set 
 out along the shore, and my heart 
 beat was too high, by far; but my 
 spirits were high, too, so that I scarce 
 kept from singing aloud, or from wav 
 ing my arms and shouting at the deep- 
 sounding sea. But I remembered that 
 certain Rich man that I was to meet. 
 What would he think of a clammer 
 that sang aloud, by himself, and 
 most outrageously, or that shouted 
 an occasional line from Homer what 
 could he think, but that I knew no
 
 146 THE CLAMMER 
 
 better and no more? So I strode 
 along the shore and came to the bank 
 where the sod broke off to the sand 
 and the pebbles shone in the sun ; for 
 the storm had spared them. And I 
 sat not down, but paced to and fro. 
 And soon came Eve, and up leaped 
 my heart into my throat and choked 
 me ; and behind her came Old Good 
 win and that other Rich man. A mo 
 ment only Eve smiled at me and then 
 she stood aside. And that other Rich 
 man stepped forward and broke in 
 upon Old Goodwin s speech ; for he 
 would have introduced us. 
 
 " We need no introduction," he said. 
 " Thanks seem a poor thing enough 
 to give in return for my life, but I can 
 offer you no more." 
 
 I took the hand he held out, and 
 I murmured something, I know not
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 147 
 
 what, about its being of no conse 
 quence, which, indeed, it was not, 
 though I should not have said so. 
 And we looked each other up and 
 down, and either measured other. And 
 what he thought of me I did not 
 know nor care. 
 
 So we wended along the shore to 
 the steep path, and Eve walked beside 
 me. She was not in white now, for it 
 was cool, with a sharp wind out of the 
 northwest. Indeed, what she had on I 
 did not know some dark stuff gown 
 that well became her I was not look 
 ing at her gown. No doubt I was 
 grinning like any idiot ; but I did not 
 hold her hand, for behind us walked 
 Old Goodwin and that Rich man that 
 Rich man that I would have cast into 
 the sea so short a time before. And, 
 walking so, we came to the steep path
 
 148 THE CLAMMER 
 
 and climbed it, and we stood beneath 
 my pine. And before the seat against 
 the tree stood my table that I had made 
 large enough for four; but the seat 
 was unchanged, and it held but two. 
 
 Old Goodwin looked upon the seat, 
 and he said no word, but he smiled 
 his quiet smile and betook him to my 
 shed. I bethought me of the other 
 guest that I had asked. 
 
 "And Mrs. Goodwin?" I said. "Will 
 she not come?" But I did but jest, 
 for I had had no idea that she would 
 come. 
 
 And that Rich man spoke, and what 
 he said was a surprise to me. " Mrs. 
 Goodwin wished me to say," said he, 
 " that she feared to catch cold as the 
 wind is somewhat biting. But she 
 thanks you for asking her." 
 
 Then I looked at Eve, and she
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 149 
 
 seemed surprised, too. But Old Good 
 win had found his box that he had sat 
 upon before, and he brought it out and 
 set it by the table. 
 
 " I will sit here," he said. " I have an 
 affection for this box. It tilts nicely." 
 
 And that other stared a moment. 
 "I wonder," he said at last, "if there is 
 another no, no." For I had started 
 for the shed. " Let me get it." 
 
 And I laughed and nodded, and he 
 went. And we heard a tremendous 
 racket, and presently he came, bringing 
 a box that was the fellow to Old Good 
 win s. Laughing, too, he set it down. 
 
 " There ! " he said. " And now for 
 the clams." He looked at me. " Is 
 there a fork for me ? You must let 
 me help." 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! " I said hastily. 
 " You and Eve are the guests."
 
 150 THE CLAMMER 
 
 And so Eve and he sat, while Old 
 Goodwin helped me. And I took my 
 fork and opened the smoking dome, 
 and together we set upon the table 
 corn and potatoes, both sweet and 
 white, and a chicken and some fish and 
 the lobsters ; and last of all a great 
 pan of clams. And the rest, upon the 
 hot stones, I covered again with sea 
 weed ; but not deep, for soon we should 
 want more clams and more fish and 
 another chicken, for here were three 
 good men to eat them ; and what 
 three men can eat at a clambake is 
 nothing less than a marvel. Eve did 
 her part, too. And Old Goodwin, set 
 ting the things upon the table, was as 
 pleased as Punch. And as I pitched 
 the weed, again I heard Eve laughing. 
 
 " Now, who would believe," she said, 
 "that had not seen,"
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 151 
 
 But Old Goodwin interrupted her 
 cheerily. " Not a bit too much not 
 half enough," he said. 
 
 So Eve and I sat side by side upon 
 the bench, and the two Rich men sat 
 opposite, on their boxes. And no 
 sound was heard save the noise of the 
 wind that whispered softly in the tree 
 above, and the noise of the clam shells 
 as they struck upon the ground among 
 their fellows that had gone before. 
 And if we spoke little or not at all, but 
 only ate, we were merry at our eating, 
 which, as I have heard, wards off dys 
 pepsia. For dyspepsia abides not with 
 them that are merry, but is mortally 
 afraid of a laugh. And those two Rich 
 men got to tilting back and forth upon 
 their boxes they had been too busy 
 at the first and, having eaten a pro 
 digious quantity of clams and all things
 
 152 THE CLAMMER 
 
 else, they fell a-laughing as they had 
 been two boys ; and they called for 
 more clams. So I opened the bake 
 again, and, behold, there were no clams 
 left, not one, so that I marveled at it. 
 
 I must have looked blank with 
 astonishment. " Now who would have 
 supposed," said I, " that we could have 
 eaten them all ? For I thought that I 
 had had enough for six at least." 
 
 At that Old Goodwin burst out 
 laughing afresh. " If you could have 
 seen your face, Adam ! But never 
 mind. No doubt we have eaten more 
 than is good for us, as it is." 
 
 " I am sure of that," I observed. 
 And the two Rich men, filled full of 
 lobster and corn and clams, did but 
 laugh again, and they tilted upon their 
 boxes. And I was filled full, too, but 
 with content more than with clams, so
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 153 
 
 that the wind that sighed in my pine 
 sighed merrily. 
 
 We sat long at my little table under 
 my great tree, but at last it was cold, 
 for the sun was gone behind a black 
 cloud. And Old Goodwin rose, reluc 
 tantly, and that other Rich man rose 
 too, and his pocket that had been 
 toward Old Goodwin bulged. And 
 when he emptied it there were clam 
 shells that Old Goodwin had deposited 
 there. And he laughed I thought 
 him good to laugh I fear that, in his 
 place, I should not have laughed 
 and he chased Old Goodwin. And 
 when he had caught him and had 
 filled his pocket with the shells, he 
 came and stood before us, where we 
 yet sat upon the seat. 
 
 " I have to thank you," he said to 
 me, and his laugh was gone, " for the
 
 154 THE CLAMMER 
 
 pleasantest time and the most delicious 
 feast that I have had in many a long 
 day." Then he hesitated and looked 
 away a moment; but presently his 
 eyes came back to mine. " You are a 
 better man than I am, Adam, and bet 
 ter worthy of her. From my heart I 
 wish you joy. I shall not come again 
 to plague you." Again he looked away. 
 " And I shall say as much to Mrs. 
 Goodwin, with your permission." 
 
 And I stood, and took the hand he 
 offered ; but I did not speak. I could 
 not for a moment. Then I mumbled 
 something, I know not what, about his 
 kindness. But it did not matter what 
 I said. And my heart warmed to him, 
 and I was sorry for him he had lost 
 so much but he took it as a man 
 should. I thought nothing of his hav 
 ing called me Adam ; indeed, I doubted
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 155 
 
 if he knew it. And so he went, quickly, 
 without so much as looking back, and 
 Old Goodwin followed him as quickly, 
 and they went down the steep path, 
 and we heard their laughter. And I 
 turned to Eve, and she smiled up at 
 me. 
 
 " Oh, Adam," she cried, softly, " if 
 we only could !" 
 
 " We can but try, Eve," I answered, 
 smiling back at her ; " and we will. He 
 seems worth it." And. then I mused 
 awhile, and at last I spoke my thoughts. 
 " Eve," I said, "why did you choose 
 me?" 
 
 She looked at me, her eyes wide. 
 " Why did I choose you ? " she asked, 
 perplexed. " What do you mean, 
 Adam ? Would you give me up ? " 
 
 " Now, God forbid," I cried, " that I 
 should do that thing ! What man, hav-
 
 156 THE CLAMMER 
 
 ing got you, would give you up ? But 
 that Rich man"- 
 
 She laughed, a merry laugh. "Why, 
 that is simple as simple as life itself. 
 I chose you because I loved you, and 
 I did not love that Rich man. And 
 why it should be so I do not know." 
 
 And what I did at that, I leave it to 
 any to guess; for Old Goodwin was 
 gone and that other, and there was no 
 one there save only Eve and me, under 
 my great tree. 
 
 "I thank Heaven that it is so," I 
 said, at last, " and what the reason is 
 I do not care." 
 
 And, at that, the black cloud that was 
 before the sun spilled a few drops, great 
 drops that splashed as they struck. For 
 it was well over us, and almost passed. 
 
 Eve was distressed. "Adam," she 
 said, " do you believe in signs ? "
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 157 
 
 " Yes," I answered, " if you like. 
 Would you take that cloud to be a 
 sign ? " 
 
 She nodded, saying nothing. 
 
 " Well," said I, rising, "so be it. But 
 come where we can see the east, and 
 I will interpret for you." 
 
 So she rose, too, and together we 
 went down the steep path and along 
 the shore. And as we went I inter 
 preted for her in this wise. 
 
 " The shadow of that cloud, Eve, 
 that seems so black, is the shadow of a 
 sorrow. And the cause is the behavior 
 of your mother, who will have none of 
 me for a son-in-law, who says that 
 she will not come to your wedding 
 if I am there. And the drops are your 
 tears, or hers ; for I do not doubt 
 that she has shed many tears over this 
 same matter. But the cloud, although
 
 i 5 8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 it is black, is not large and it is passed. 
 Look, Eve ; you can see the sun." 
 
 And as I spoke, the sun was peep 
 ing under the western edge, and we 
 saw his disk grow until we could look 
 at him no longer. And we were come 
 to the bank, where the pebbles shone 
 red in the sun. For he was near his 
 setting. 
 
 " Now," said I, " I may have to wait 
 some while for the rest of my inter 
 preting." 
 
 And we waited, watching in silence, 
 for some minutes. And the cloud was 
 gone from above us, into the east, and 
 there were no more drops; but under 
 the cloud it was raining hard. And 
 there began to form a bow : first a 
 patch of color here and a patch there ; 
 then, gradually, the patches joined by 
 fainter parts ; then those faint parts
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 159 
 
 brightened into a perfect bow with its 
 ends dipping into the sea, and with all 
 its colors perfect. And as we gazed 
 there formed, within the first, another 
 bow, and yet a third though one 
 must look hard to find it. 
 
 "Indeed, Eve," I said softly, "it 
 needs no interpreter." 
 
 And Eve smiled up at me. But the 
 marvels were not yet done ; for there 
 came broad sheaves of light that over 
 spread the bows, but did not hide 
 them. And there, at the centre of the 
 bows, was a tiny sail ; and the sail was 
 brighter than aught else, and it was as 
 if the sheaves of light had issued from 
 it. And above were great masses of 
 cloud, roll upon roll, and the sun, in 
 his setting, spread them with all man 
 ner of saffron and scarlet and crim 
 son, and with all the delicate shades of
 
 i6o THE CLAMMER 
 
 pink that are known to man and 
 with many that man, with all his skill, 
 knows nothing of. But the shadows 
 were blue or lilac or purple. And we 
 gazed long, until the brightness began 
 to fade. Then Eve sighed, saying no 
 thing. The sun had dropped behind 
 the western hills; and the twilight 
 faded swiftly, and the night was come. 
 
 There is a restlessness that seizes 
 upon men in certain case. I had felt 
 it before, and had wandered the shores 
 with my basket upon my arm and my 
 hoe in my hand ; and I had digged 
 here and there as the fancy took me. 
 But the clams that I digged lay for 
 gotten upon the sands, to bury them 
 selves once more; while I, seated upon 
 a barnacle -covered rock or even 
 standing gazed and gazed and saw
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 161 
 
 nothing of what was before me until 
 the tide, lapping about my ankles, 
 brought me to myself. And then, 
 with a heart-breaking sigh, I would 
 shoulder my hoe and again betake me 
 to wandering the shores. Then Eve 
 had been the cause, for I had not got 
 her; but at least I might find my con 
 tent again at sunset, when I sat upon 
 the bank, where the sod breaks off to 
 the sand, with her beside me. Now, 
 Eve was the cause, too, and my con 
 tent was fled from me; and though I 
 might sit upon the bank, I sat alone, 
 or with no one but Old Goodwin. And 
 Old Goodwin was well enough, but he 
 was not Eve. And I had no joy in the 
 colors that the Great Painter spread 
 so lavishly, but was ill-tempered and 
 out of sorts, giving short answers to 
 the remarks Old Goodwin made, and
 
 i6a THE CLAMMER 
 
 never sitting still five minutes. And 
 Old Goodwin but smiled his quiet 
 smile and was very patient with me ; 
 he knew well the cause of my sour 
 temper. For Eve had betaken herself 
 to the city, that she might the better 
 make preparation for a certain Event. 
 What Event that was, it is but a dull 
 ard that cannot guess ; and it was 
 eighty days off, and then it was seventy. 
 Eighty aeons with Eve away. But I 
 diverted myself by counting it in hours, 
 then in minutes. It was a prodigious 
 number of minutes but I took what 
 comfort I might in it. 
 
 Then, one morning, I awoke at 
 dawn, and, as I leaned from my win 
 dow, I saw the ground all white with 
 frost. Then the east was grown all 
 red, a narrow line of color changing 
 to yellow and a faint green, and on a
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 163 
 
 sudden the sun popped up. And then 
 I got to thinking of that other dawn 
 that Eve and I had seen, and content 
 abode with me no longer. And I drew 
 in my head and dressed in sullen haste 
 and went down to breakfast It was a 
 good breakfast, but gall and worm 
 wood had been sweeter in my mouth 
 if I could but find again that peace I 
 sought; and, having done, I lighted 
 my pipe and went forth. Sighing, I 
 betook me not to the shore I had 
 traveled that until I knew each peb 
 ble, and I had not found content ; but 
 the woods were gorgeous I betook 
 me to the woods. Perchance content 
 had taken refuge there. 
 
 So all that day I wandered the wood, 
 seeing the red of the dogwood and 
 of the sumach, the reds and yellows of 
 the maples, and the yellow leaves of
 
 164 THE CLAMMER 
 
 the birches showing against the white 
 trunks; and here and there a clump 
 of pine, their dark green the darker 
 for the color with which they were 
 surrounded. But I found no beauty in 
 any. Truly content was not there; or, 
 if it were, I found it not. And I saw 
 the seed-pods lifting on their dry stems, 
 and the rotting logs and the dead 
 leaves. I sat me down on a log, and 
 from my pocket I drew forth a bundle 
 of letters. They were Eve s letters 
 and one for each day that she had been 
 gone from me and I read them all 
 through again for the hundredth 
 time. When I was done the sun was 
 on his downward journey, and I had 
 found some measure of peace and I 
 bethought me that it was almost time 
 for another letter. I seized my stick 
 and hurried home.
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 165 
 
 And with days like this one, or, 
 later, with days when I sat moping 
 before my fire, a book in my hand, 
 my tale of days was coming to an end. 
 I had great fireplaces, fitting for the 
 chimneys, and I would gaze deep into 
 the glowing heart of one of them, my 
 book forgotten. I thanked Heaven 
 that I was alone. For I was no less 
 than a fool. I knew it well; but I had 
 no power to do otherwise the veri 
 est lovesick boy might give me points 
 and then would come the post 
 man s knock at the door I knew that 
 knock, you may be sure, and, as it 
 went clattering through the house, 
 before its echoes had died away, 
 I was on my feet, and running. And I 
 would open to him, and he, with a 
 knowing smile, would hand me my 
 letter, and make some foolish remark
 
 166 THE CLAMMER 
 
 about the weather. The weather, for 
 sooth ! What knew I about the wea 
 ther? It might be raining great guns, 
 but for me the sun was shining with 
 that letter. And so I made him some 
 answer which was as like to be wise 
 as foolish, for I doubt if he ever heard 
 it clearly I do not remember one of 
 those answers and I shut the door 
 before he was well turned about, and I 
 hurried back to my fire to read but 
 not my book. 
 
 So at last my tale of days was done, 
 and Eve was come home. And I awoke 
 one morning to see a thin skimming 
 of ice, crisp and crackling, spread over 
 every shallow pool, and it was well 
 into November. And my breakfast 
 was ambrosia and nectar, being the 
 same that had been gall and worm 
 wood before ; for Eve was come. And
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 167 
 
 if I did not eat much, why, that love 
 sick boy that I have mentioned can 
 tell you why it was. Then having 
 done, I hurried off, and on every shal 
 low pool that was skimmed with ice I 
 slid. And the ice rose up before my 
 feet, and broke into a thousand pieces 
 behind them ; but I did not wet so 
 much as the sole of my shoe. And I 
 hurried over to my clam beds ; for 
 there, I thought, shall I find my lost 
 content. 
 
 The sun lay warm upon the bank, 
 where the pebbles shone in the sun, 
 but no Eve was there. And I paced 
 to and fro, fuming with impatience, 
 my head down upon my breast. For 
 I found not content, having been cer 
 tain that I should find it that had been 
 lost to me for a month and more. 
 And as I paced the shore, to and fro,
 
 168 THE CLAMMER 
 
 there came a light touch upon my 
 shoulder. I turned swiftly, and there 
 was Eve, her eyes shining. And I 
 but I know not what I did and, if I 
 knew, I would not tell. 
 
 " Eve, Eve," I cried, my voice shak 
 ing, " you were gone so long ! " 
 
 And she only smiled up at me, the 
 same smile that I had seen so often 
 in my dreaming before my fire ; and I 
 knew that I had found again that peace 
 that had been so long lost. And what 
 we did then is for my Eve and me to re 
 member ; but presently we found our 
 selves sitting upon the bank, and the 
 ice was gone from the shore and the 
 sun shone warm. 
 
 " And when shall I see," I asked, 
 " your finery ? So long a visit should 
 accomplish much." 
 
 She laughed, a merry laugh. " Shall
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 169 
 
 a bride not be properly fitted out ? " 
 she answered. And she said it softly, 
 as if she were half ashamed ; and at 
 that I kissed her, I could not help 
 it. Eve did not chide me for it. " And 
 you shall see all my finery on Christ 
 mas day, or any day after." 
 
 Then I looked blank, I do not 
 doubt, and she laughed again her 
 merry laugh. For Christmas day is to 
 be our wedding day. But I had Eve. 
 That was enough and she had pro 
 mised that she would not go away 
 again. And we sat there, talking or 
 silent, as the whim took us, until Eve 
 was cold. 
 
 So the days passed, and I was 
 happy ; and the leaves of the wood, 
 that had been red and yellow and 
 bronze, turned to a dull brown and 
 fell, whirling ; but the oaks kept theirs,
 
 170 THE CLAMMER 
 
 and they rattled in each breeze. And 
 the ice formed on the shore, great 
 jagged cakes that covered my clam 
 beds and the bank as well, so that we 
 could not see the pebbles. And though 
 the sunsets came earlier with each day 
 that passed, it was become too cold 
 to stay and see them. But the days of 
 my waiting were grown less and less, 
 till there was but one left. Still, there 
 was no snow. And the morrow was 
 Christmas day. 
 
 I was prowling the shores that morn 
 ing, looking for Eve as I ever did 
 when I was not with her. And as I 
 made my way carefully among the 
 broken cakes of ice that the tide had 
 left, I saw her coming down the path 
 under the trees. I hurried and 
 looked again and, behold, it was 
 not Eve at all, but a lady clad in
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 171 
 
 furs, and seeming proud and haughty. 
 And she came near the bank, and so 
 did I. 
 
 " I wished to speak with you," she 
 said. And I bowed low. But what 
 she said next astonished me. 
 
 " You have robbed me of a daugh 
 ter," she said again, her head high, 
 " and you a fisherman ! " 
 
 Again I bowed low, saying nothing. 
 What should I say to that ? Had she 
 not been told ? I had ado not to laugh 
 but I did not, only bowed. And yet 
 again she spoke. 
 
 " You have robbed me of a daugh 
 ter," she repeated ; " but I will come 
 to your wedding to my daughter s 
 wedding. I wished you to know that, 
 so I came to tell you." 
 
 And I thought she would have wept, 
 but she did not For she was proud
 
 172 THE CLAMMER 
 
 and now I realized where my Eve 
 Had got her beauty. But I had found 
 my tongue at last. 
 
 " I thank you, madam," said I ; 
 "and I am grateful for so little. I 
 should be the more grateful for a 
 little more for Eve s sake more 
 than for my own I am not your 
 enemy, come to rob you, and if you 
 would" 
 
 " You have robbed me of a daugh 
 ter," she broke in, and turned swiftly, 
 and was gone up the path, her head 
 high. But I could hear her weeping, 
 though she tried to still it. And so I 
 stood and watched her out of sight 
 among the trees. 
 
 I was telling Eve of it that after 
 noon. And the sun was low, though 
 it was early. Eve listened in silence, 
 watching the sun.
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 173 
 
 " Let us stay and say good-night to 
 him," she said, at last. 
 
 " With all my heart," I answered. 
 " But let us walk, Eve. You will be 
 the warmer." 
 
 And so she slipped her hand within 
 my arm, and we walked to and fro 
 along the shore, and we watched the 
 sun. And, on a sudden, I looked at 
 Eve, and her eyes were filled with 
 tears. And I stopped short. 
 
 " What is it, Eve ? " I asked. 
 
 u This is the last sunset, Adam," she 
 said softly, " that Eve Goodwin will 
 ever see." 
 
 And the tears fell, and she was 
 weeping. My heart stood still. 
 
 " And you are sorry, Eve ? " I said ; 
 and I scarce knew my own voice. 
 " Would you draw back ? " 
 
 " No, oh, no, Adam," she cried.
 
 174 THE CLAMMER 
 
 "Not that I did not mean that. I 
 do not regret anything. But let 
 me cry a little." 
 
 "Cry to your heart s content," I said, 
 and smiled upon her ; for my heart 
 was going again like a hammer. 
 
 And so she wept and smiled at 
 once, and then she wept again. And 
 presently she was done, her heart 
 eased. And the sun was sitting on 
 the western hills. 
 
 " See," I said. " He has stopped his 
 southern journey, and has started back 
 again." 
 
 And Eve said nothing, but she 
 clasped my fingers close in hers, and 
 we saw the sun spreading the still wa 
 ters with all manner of reds and pur 
 ples and shimmering greens. And as 
 the last thin line of red vanished be 
 hind the hills, we saluted. And Eve
 
 A DAUGHTER OF THE RICH 175 
 
 murmured something, I knew not 
 what. 
 
 " Good-night, Adam," she said. 
 
 " Good-night, Eve for the last 
 time," I whispered in return. 
 
 And she fled up the path under the 
 trees. 
 
 For to-morrow will be Christmas 
 day ; to-morrow the gates will open.
 
 Ill 
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 
 
 MY friends like me well enough, as 
 I have some reason to suppose; 
 for although I am as peculiar as I ever 
 was, they no longer remonstrate with 
 me as they used to do. Perhaps they 
 think that marriage has cured me of 
 all my queerness the summer is not 
 yet come to prove the contrary. And 
 I may be sure that, when it does 
 come, I shall roam the shores, as I 
 ever did, and hunt the elusive clam, 
 as I ever did ; and dig, or gaze, as 
 ever ; and whether the one or the 
 other, depends upon my fancy at the 
 moment. But if I do as I was wont to 
 do, I shall not roam the shores alone. 
 Eve will roam with me ; and there
 
 180 THE CLAMMER 
 
 will be two clam hoes in my shed, and 
 two pairs of rubber boots reposing in 
 the closet when they are not in use, 
 which is like to be seldom. And the 
 one pair will be large and clumsy, 
 and well stained with much wading 
 through mud, while the other pair will 
 be small and dainty yes, even dainty, 
 though they be rubber boots and 
 well not overmuch stained, though 
 she wade even as I. Rubber boots 
 for clamming cannot be kept spot 
 less, nor should they be, if they could. 
 But there will be but the one bas 
 ket, to serve us both. I may be sure 
 of this, I say ; but they think, for 
 sooth, that I will have done with such 
 foolishness now that I am married. 
 Wherefore, they have given over their 
 remonstrating. 
 
 But I note that I am more popular
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 181 
 
 than I was. Some of them are always 
 to be found at my house not the 
 same ones, but one or mayhap two 
 will come in of an evening and sit 
 before my fire. My fire goes not out, 
 ever, nor does it roar ; but always 
 there are coals in plenty, so that the 
 logs blaze gently and send out heat. 
 I love it so, quiet and peaceful, for 
 it makes my content the greater a 
 roaring fire makes me uneasy, even 
 though I have confidence in my chim 
 ney. And my content would be enough 
 in any case, with a friend sitting on 
 the one side, and my wife sitting on 
 the other ; and I but I sit in the 
 deep shadow, to watch Eve the better. 
 I love to watch her, and I would not 
 be watched; for thus I can think my 
 thoughts and not be bothered with 
 knowing that I am showing them too
 
 i82 THE CLAMMER 
 
 plainly in my face. For I have not 
 been married long not long enough 
 to show my feelings plainly and not to 
 care what people think. 
 
 And if I cleave to candles as a 
 clammer should what matter? Five 
 of them give a pretty light, and a 
 candle is long enough for an even 
 ing, even though it is winter. A short 
 candle is as good as a clock better, 
 I think for serving notice when to 
 go. My friends have learned that, too; 
 and when the candles have become no 
 more than stumps, they are wont to 
 jump up hastily, say their good-nights 
 and be gone. And as I cover the fire, 
 to save coals for the morning where 
 with to kindle it afresh, I bethink me 
 of my mighty wood-pile out by my 
 shed it is mighty even now, and the 
 winter nearly gone and I smile to
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 183 
 
 myself, so that I am smiling yet as I 
 rise from my task. Eve, seeing that, 
 smiles, too, although she knows not 
 what she is smiling at; but her smile 
 is ever ready ready and waiting that 
 it break forth, like the gentle sunshine 
 
 and she holds her hand to me. And 
 I, having taken it, blow out the candles, 
 and we mount the stairs together. 
 
 Yes, my friends like me well 
 enough, as I have some reason to 
 suppose ; but my neighbors do not, as 
 I have also some reason to suppose. 
 And if I have no great love for them, 
 the reason therefor is not far to seek. 
 For they ever have seemed to think 
 me one to be laughed at and made 
 game of, they knew no better, which 
 I suppose I should have remembered, 
 
 well knowing that they might make 
 their petty jests with impunity. And
 
 184 THE CLAMMER 
 
 sometimes I have wondered whether it 
 were not better to answer fools accord 
 ing to their folly ; but my witticisms 
 they would not comprehend, and I 
 have held back from that, although the 
 provocation was often great enough. 
 For they never let slip an opportu 
 nity and there were a plenty of 
 letting me hear their loud laughter 
 as I passed them by chance ; or even 
 making a jest of me in my hearing. 
 So that it has come to pass that I 
 despise them; and I have withdrawn 
 my foot from my neighbor s house, 
 now these many years, for weary of 
 ru m I am already. But now I find 
 these same neighbors are well like 
 to become my visitors, which would 
 plague me mightily. And I marveled 
 at it. 
 
 I was thinking upon this matter one
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 185 
 
 evening, sitting by my fire. And, for 
 a wonder, no friend was there, but 
 Eve sat by the fire, too, a book in her 
 hand and her sewing basket near. For 
 Eve, not having been brought up to 
 sew, save embroidery, if that be 
 called sewing, has developed, sud 
 denly, a great desire for it, so that she 
 always has her basket by her. But 
 this evening, whereof I speak, she was 
 not sewing, nor reading either, though 
 she had a book in her hand ; but her 
 hand lay in her lap for the most 
 part, and now and then I caught her 
 glancing at me ; and when I did so 
 catch her, she smiled at me. So I 
 smiled, too, and at last I leaned toward 
 her. 
 
 " Eve," I said, " why do you smile? " 
 
 And, at that, she did but smile the 
 
 more. " Why should it be, Adam,"
 
 i86 THE CLAMMER 
 
 she answered, " except that I am 
 happy ? " 
 
 And she leaned toward me, too, and 
 our heads were very close, and it hap 
 pened that the book she had been 
 holding slid from her lap and fell 
 upon the floor; which should have 
 grieved me, for it was one of my fa 
 vorites and bound in full calf, with 
 hand tooling around the edges. But 
 I scarcely noticed it. I reached forth 
 my hand, and it met hers, which was 
 reaching out for mine ; and I looked 
 deep into her eyes eyes swimming 
 in tenderness eyes like No, I 
 will not say it, for it has been said too 
 often though there is some excuse 
 for the poets. And after some while 
 I spoke. 
 
 " I am glad that you are happy," I 
 said ; " and I am glad that there is no
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 187 
 
 one here to-night except only us 
 two." 
 
 And Eve said nothing, but I knew 
 that she was glad as well as I. 
 
 " There are times," I continued, 
 " when I could wish that my friends 
 were less my friends. It is pleasant 
 to have them I am glad that they 
 like to come but they might give us 
 more than one evening a week to 
 spend together." 
 
 Again Eve said nothing, but again 
 she smiled ; and, smiling, it chanced 
 that her eyes fell upon the book that 
 was lying where it had fallen, face 
 downward, upon the floor. 
 
 "Oh, the poor book!" she cried; 
 and stooped to pick it up. And I 
 stooped, too, so that we were near 
 bumping our heads ; which somewhat 
 delayed the rescue of the book. And,
 
 i88 THE CLAMMER 
 
 when it was done, it befell that Eve s 
 hair was a bit rumpled and she had a 
 pretty flush. 
 
 " Now, Adam," said she, " you must 
 tell me the matter that bothered you. 
 For I know well enough that it was 
 not your friends." 
 
 I looked at her in some amuse 
 ment. " Why," I answered, " that is 
 true. I marvel that you should have 
 guessed it, although my marveling is 
 not so great as it was, for women have 
 a way of getting at the meat of a mat 
 ter without being at the trouble of 
 cracking the shell. Oh, I am learning. 
 And whom should I tell if not my 
 wife ? " 
 
 Eve laughed, a low laugh and sweet. 
 " I am to be the sharer of your sor 
 rows," she said, " hereafter. Remem 
 ber that, Adam. And now out with it."
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 189 
 
 And I did out with it. " It is my 
 neighbors that bother me," I said. 
 " For I see plainly that they are well 
 like to become my v sitors; and they 
 like me not at all, nor ever did. I 
 know no reason why they should have 
 had a change of heart. Certainly it is 
 none of my doing." 
 
 Eve did not answer this directly, 
 but sat looking at me with a queer 
 smile, so that I grew restive under it. 
 
 " Adam," she said, " do you believe 
 that Solomon was a wise man ? " 
 
 " I was brought up in that belief," 
 I observed, " but, notwithstanding, I 
 have my doubts." 
 
 " Oh, you have your doubts?" she 
 asked. " And why do you doubt his 
 wisdom ? " 
 
 " For the best reason in the world," 
 I answered ; and I laughed as I spoke.
 
 igo THE CLAMMER 
 
 " And I hold that I am wiser than he 
 
 as I have said before. For he had 
 seven hundred wives while I have one 
 
 but that one, Eve " 
 
 But Eve had stopped my mouth. 
 " Now, Adam," she said, " I have 
 missed some pretty speech of yours 
 
 and I love your pretty speeches - 
 but you may make another for me 
 when I am done. For I have a pur 
 pose. Did you know that ? " 
 
 " Yes," I said. " I was sure that you 
 had. You generally have a purpose 
 which you invariably accomplish. So 
 ask, and I will answer ; and if my an 
 swers are not what are expected of me 
 it will be but my misfortune. My in 
 tentions are of the best." 
 
 And, at that, she laughed. " Well, 
 then," she said, " was not Solomon a 
 wise man ? "
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE igi 
 
 " He had that reputation," I replied 
 meekly; "and I believe that he has 
 it still though it is a marvel to me 
 that a dead man can have anything in 
 this world. Yes, I think there can be 
 no doubt that he was the wisest man 
 in the world." 
 
 " That will do nicely, on the 
 whole," said Eve, having weighed my 
 answer carefully, "although it leaves 
 something to be desired. Now, do 
 you know what Solomon said about 
 despising your neighbors ? " 
 
 She was looking down and trem 
 bling at her boldness, I made no doubt 
 and so she did not see the look of 
 grieved astonishment that came into 
 my face. I was silent for some while, 
 trying to recall just what Solomon did 
 say about despising one s neighbors. 
 He said such a vast number of things.
 
 iga THE CLAMMER 
 
 And, at last, Eve looked up, and I 
 saw that she had not been trembling 
 at her boldness, for she was quite at 
 her ease, and smiling at me. 
 
 " Eve," I said, and I tried to be 
 severe but failed lamentably, for I 
 smiled, too ; and there is some excuse 
 for me, for how could any one, meet 
 ing that smile of hers, remember such 
 a purpose ? " Eve," I said, " I did not 
 think it of you, that you would thus 
 put your own husband to shame. For 
 I do remember, and would you imply 
 that I am void of wisdom ? I have no 
 doubt that I, myself, could write pro 
 verbs well enough " 
 
 But Eve interrupted me. " Do you 
 remember," she asked, " the Welsh 
 giant ? " 
 
 Now what had the Welsh giant to 
 do with it ? " I was about to say," I
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 193 
 
 continued, "when you interrupted me, 
 that I had no doubt that I, myself, 
 could write proverbs, quite passable 
 proverbs, if Solomon had not cov 
 ered the field completely, some thou 
 sands of years ago." 
 
 And I looked at Eve but she was 
 leaning back in her chair, looking at 
 me and smiling still ; and she made 
 me no answer. So I resumed. 
 
 " Out of my own mouth," I said, 
 " have you convicted me. But there is 
 yet more, Eve. Do you remember 
 what it is ? " 
 
 And, on a sudden, she had left her 
 chair and was on the arm of mine; 
 and when she had made an end of 
 rumpling my hair, she spoke. 
 
 " So you think, Adam," she said, 
 " that you have proved yourself a man 
 of understanding? Well, then, per-
 
 194 THE CLAMMER 
 
 haps you have. But you may have 
 these same neighbors to visit with 
 you, for I find much good in them. 
 And now," she added, with a blush 
 that well became her, " I must sew." 
 
 So again she sat her in her chair 
 and she took her basket from the ta 
 ble ; and, with another glance at me 
 
 a glance half shy and wholly sweet 
 
 she drew forth, from some secret 
 place, her sewing. And I sat watch 
 ing her, a tender smile upon my face 
 
 or what passed for that Eve 
 seemed to like it and I thought 
 my thoughts. They were pleasant 
 thoughts. And Eve s sewing it was 
 as if she were dressing a doll. As I 
 watched her fingers moving skillfully, 
 but with no haste, I marveled that she 
 sewed so well ; and as I watched her 
 face I marveled yet again. For her
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 195 
 
 face was filled with love a love that 
 was not for me filled with love and 
 a great yearning. And all that love 
 she seemed to sew into the little thing 
 within her hands. But ever she had 
 more, that each stitch was done with 
 it and yet it grew with every stitch 
 she took. And again Eve glanced 
 up at me. I did but smile the more, 
 until I grinned like any Cheshire 
 cat. 
 
 " Eve," I said, " how do you know 
 that they will fit " I considered, and 
 saw nothing else for it "how do you 
 know that they will fit it ? " 
 
 But I was wrong. "/// " she cried. 
 "/// Adam, I take shame to myself 
 that you would so call your first-born. 
 Him, sir. I am sure of it." She put 
 her sewing down, tenderly, and came 
 to me. And her arms were around
 
 ig6 THE CLAMMER 
 
 my neck and her face was hidden on 
 my shoulder. " Adam, Adam," she whis 
 pered, " my love for him is become so 
 big, it hurts. How can I bear to wait 
 all the long months until I see him 
 my son ? How can I, Adam ? " 
 
 And I what could I do or say ? 
 What but comfort her as best I might ? 
 And God knows I had the best will in 
 the world to it, but the fashion of it 
 was poor enough. 
 
 " In the fullness of time, Eve," I 
 whispered. " In the fullness of time." 
 
 But she seemed to take some com 
 fort from my words or mayhap the 
 intent. So she lay as she was, but in 
 some while she went back to her sew 
 ing again. She held it up, for me to 
 see ; and I could but wonder that any 
 piece of humanity should be such a 
 morsel as to go into that garment. I
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 197 
 
 said as much. But Eve only smiled 
 and fell to sewing her eyes very 
 bright. 
 
 As Eve sewed, I fell to musing on 
 what she said about my neighbors. 
 For she was right, as she was ever, 
 and I had not seen the good that was 
 in them I had not been at the pains 
 to see it, though I knew it was there ; 
 and I had flattered myself that I had 
 held my peace, and thereby had proved 
 me a man of understanding. And I 
 saw plainly I might as well have 
 stood upon the corner of the street 
 and cried aloud unto Heaven, giving 
 thanks that I was not as other men 
 until the bubble of my conceit had been 
 pricked by Eve and how gently ! 
 And presently the candles were burned 
 low, and Eve, glancing at them, put 
 her sewing by, and I knew that the
 
 ig8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 time was come for me to cover the 
 fire. 
 
 That done, I took the hand that 
 Eve held out and I blew out the can 
 dles, and I was moved to kiss the hand 
 I held. 
 
 " For you have shown me, Eve," I 
 said, " that I have been in the wrong. 
 I will not withhold good from them 
 to whom it is due. And I bless God 
 for my wife." 
 
 For I felt very humble. And what 
 answer I got to that I shall not tell; 
 but it satisfied me, and we mounted 
 the stairs together. 
 
 I opened my window wide. There 
 was the steady drip of melting snow, 
 and the air held a hint of spring, but 
 the stars were bright. And, gazing 
 at them, I thought upon my son that 
 was to be or haply a daughter, it
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 199 
 
 mattered not which and I remem 
 bered the time when I first knew it. 
 There had been the start of surprise, 
 the impulse at rejoicing then the 
 dread of it the fear for Eve. And 
 she had seen them all. She hung upon 
 my neck, weeping with the joy of it. 
 
 " Never fear for me, dear," she cried, 
 " never fear for me. But rejoice ex 
 ceedingly." 
 
 And so I did. And I gazed at a 
 faint star a little one, just showing 
 to the naked eye and as I gazed, 
 I thought that I saw the eyes of my 
 son looking at me with an infinite 
 knowledge and compassion and an 
 infinite love. And as I gazed, behold, 
 the eyes were the eyes of Eve. And 
 if my son shall have the spirit that his 
 mother has I shall be well content. 
 So thinking, I turned from the win-
 
 200 THE CLAMMER 
 
 dow and got me into bed ; and having 
 drawn the covers close, I slept 
 
 One may guess that my friends did 
 not desert me so long as Eve was 
 there ; and she was like to be there 
 long. For if it had not been well with 
 Eve, this story had never been written. 
 There is grief enough in the world 
 without my adding to the sum of it 
 and I doubt much if I should have 
 the heart to write it down. So I kept 
 my friends, and they came as they had 
 been wont and sat them by my fire ; 
 but I noted that they sat not still, 
 but they were apt to rise and stroll 
 about the room, and then they sat only 
 to rise again. For the season got on 
 towards spring ; and spring ever breeds 
 a restless fire in the bones of man that 
 grows and glows until he can get him
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 201 
 
 out-of-doors again. Then he finds that 
 peace that seemed like to escape him. 
 I doubted if my friends knew what 
 ailed them even knew that they 
 were restless ; but I knew well. And 
 I advised with them and counseled 
 that they turn their thoughts to gar 
 dening and their restless bodies, too. 
 For a man must needs do his digging 
 for himself. What is a hired gardener 
 but an abomination ? Let a man dig, 
 if he would find peace. It has taken 
 refuge in the earth; and he that seeks 
 shall find it. 
 
 So I watched the snow melt on my 
 garden and the ground soften; and it 
 was come to the first week in April. 
 But the ground was too wet for work 
 ing I tried it, every day, with my 
 hoe, and the earth clung to the hoe ; 
 for it was but mud, and the frost went
 
 202 THE CLAMMER 
 
 deep. But at last came a day when the 
 earth clung no longer, but came away 
 and left the hoe clean. And I knew 
 that the spring had come. And, having 
 made the test, I hurried to the house. 
 
 " Eve," I shouted I must needs 
 shout, with the spring rioting in my 
 veins. " Eve, the spring is here ! " 
 
 And Eve laughed and came out a 
 door at my elbow. " Why do you shout 
 it so, Adam ? Have I not known it this 
 last month ? For the song sparrows 
 came long since, and the bluebirds, 
 and it is weeks since I saw the first 
 robin. And now the birds are coming 
 fast. Why shout it? As well come in 
 and shout that the sun is shining." 
 
 " Truly that would be well done, 
 too," I answered, "for the sun shines as 
 it has not shone these many months. 
 And a song sparrow does not make
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 203 
 
 a spring, he comes while it is yet 
 winter, and so do the bluebirds. And I 
 must dig, Eve, or I shall burst" And, 
 with that, I seized her about the waist 
 and whirled her until we both were 
 dizzy ; and, with a kiss, I released her, 
 and she leaned against the door, 
 laughing again. 
 
 There she leaned until she had got 
 back her breath. " I suppose you will 
 have me to see your digging," she said 
 then, "and there is no help for it." 
 But she smiled as she spoke, that I 
 knew she was minded to it as w r ell as 
 I. " Well, then, I will get my things on, 
 and come." 
 
 So I had what I wanted, and I be 
 took me to my digging. And soon 
 came Eve, in her coat ; for she did no 
 digging, and the air held some faint 
 chill, though the sun shone warm.
 
 204 THE CLAMMER 
 
 And, with our digging and our plan 
 ning, we were busy for some while ; 
 but at last I straightened up, and there 
 was Judson, leaning upon his fence 
 and watching us. 
 
 Now Judson lives next me, on the 
 side where lies my garden, so that he 
 may have a good view of it whenever 
 he will ; but never before have I found 
 him watching me. And although he 
 and I have been next door neighbors 
 these many years, never have I ex 
 changed a dozen words with him. Not 
 that I had any fault to find with him 
 - he is an old man now, spending 
 long days in his garden, grubbing the 
 weeds or pottering about it is a 
 brave weed that will sprout in his gar 
 den, but he can always hoe and dig 
 - not that I could find any fault with 
 Judson, but I classed him with those
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 205 
 
 others, with whom I held no com 
 munion ; and, after all, they, too 
 well, I doubt if I care to learn their 
 opinion of me. For Judson was born 
 where he lives and the others, like 
 wise, for the most part while I have 
 held my land a scant ten years ; and 
 he has held his peace, though he might 
 well think me but an interloper. He 
 has more wisdom than I, and it grows 
 with his years. And again I was glad of 
 my wife, that she had opened my eyes. 
 And, thinking such thoughts as these, 
 I hailed him standing there. 
 
 " Good morning, Mr. Judson," I 
 called to him. " It is a fine spring 
 morning." 
 
 He did but smile and wave his hand 
 for greeting. And I heard Eve s voice 
 beside me. " Adam," she said, and in 
 her voice was wonder at what she had
 
 206 THE CLAMMER 
 
 noted, " Mr. Judson is very deaf. Did 
 you not know it ? " 
 
 I took shame to myself that I did not 
 know it much shame ; for here was 
 I that had been his neighbor so long, 
 and the thing about him that was most 
 obvious I had not observed. I marveled 
 somewhat that Eve should know it. 
 
 " Eve," I answered, " I am ashamed. 
 Come, let us talk with him." 
 
 " With all my heart," she said ; " for 
 he is a good man, Adam, and a wise, 
 and and " 
 
 I laughed. " And it will do me good," 
 I finished for her. " Why hesitate, Eve? 
 For you are beyond me in wisdom, and 
 so is Judson, I do not doubt. Why 
 hesitate ? " 
 
 And she, uncertain whether to laugh 
 or not, looked up at me to see. For 
 my conversion was but recent, and I
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 207 
 
 was yet somewhat sore with it. But, 
 having looked at me, she smiled and 
 slipped her hand within my arm 
 which soothed my ruffled temper to 
 a marvel, and I smiled down at her. 
 And so we were come to the wall 
 the fence was a stone fence where 
 stood Judson, smiling, too. 
 
 Once there, we talked long of things 
 appropriate to the season ; of what to 
 plant, and when, and peas and beans 
 and what not ; and he wondered that 
 I had no rhubarb and no asparagus 
 grass, he called it. So I asked him 
 over the wall for the first time in 
 ten years and he came, most will 
 ing; and we wandered about my gar 
 den, discussing, and finally we sat us 
 down on a bench, that was before my 
 shed, in the sun. Then Eve, noting 
 the pipe that he held in his worn fin-
 
 2o8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 gers, bade him fill and light it. Which 
 he did, with some apology, but to his 
 great content. And there we sat, bask 
 ing, until, at last, Judson arose, excus 
 ing himself for staying so long. Eve 
 asked him to come again, often. 
 
 "And," she said, "I would like it 
 much if I might run in to see Mrs. 
 Judson." 
 
 The old man was pleased at that. 
 " So do," he said ; " so do. She 11 be 
 glad to see ye." 
 
 And we watched his bent figure 
 crossing the garden ; and, having got 
 over the wall again, and on his own 
 side, he paused a moment to wave his 
 hand and to smile at us as we still sat. 
 I felt a glow at my heart that warmed 
 it mightily, even as the sun warmed 
 my body. It was worth while being 
 friends with Judson and that I might
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 209 
 
 have been ten years ago had I but 
 known. But a fool in his folly 
 
 "Eve," I said, "again I have to thank 
 you. But you should have appeared to 
 me ten years ago. Where were you, 
 Eve ? " 
 
 " I was but a child, Adam," she re 
 plied, " or scarcely more." And as she 
 spoke she smiled at me and sat closer; 
 for she well knew that I was sore hurt 
 in my self-esteem. She well knew, too, 
 how to heal the hurt so that it leave 
 but a scar for she would not have 
 me forget again. 
 
 And presently she drew a letter 
 from the pocket of her coat. " See," 
 she said. " I have a letter from my 
 father. They will come down soon 
 in two weeks. It is a full month be 
 fore their time." 
 
 I drew the letter forth. It was char-
 
 2io THE CLAMMER 
 
 acteristic of Old Goodwin only two 
 lines, in his rapid writing, telling of 
 their coming, and sending love to her 
 and Adam. Eve had had a letter like 
 this one about as long twice a 
 month ; he had no time for writing 
 more. I had seen them all ; and I had 
 noted what was missing missing 
 from them all. 
 
 " No word from your mother, Eve ? " 
 She glanced up at me. " Not yet," 
 she said. " But I have no fear, Adam. 
 She is proud and she is stubborn 
 but they come a month early. No, I 
 have no fear." 
 
 And I looked out to my pine, where 
 the hole was scooped in the ground 
 and the seat was builded against the 
 tree. The hole was filled full with 
 dried leaves and other rubbish, and 
 the seat needed some repairing.
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 211 
 
 " It behooves me to see to my oven," 
 I said, " for as it seems to me, we are 
 like to have a clambake soon. And I 
 have a mind to ask Judson and his 
 wife." Eve beamed at me for that. 
 " And I may have to get some new 
 stones." 
 
 Eve slipped her hand within my 
 arm. " Do the stones grow cold, 
 Adam ? " she asked, softly. 
 
 And that made me to remember. I 
 stooped and kissed her. " Truly," I 
 answered, " the stones have been pass 
 ing cold and now they grow warm 
 again. But it does not matter about 
 the stones, for we have kept the fire 
 warm upon the hearth and in our 
 hearts, Eve. And it behooves me to 
 look at my clam beds, too. We may 
 watch the sunset if you will watch 
 it from the bank."
 
 212 THE CLAMMER 
 
 She rejoiced at that. " With all my 
 heart, Adam." 
 
 So it befell that we wended, that 
 afternoon, over to our clam beds, along 
 the shore where the water lapped ever. 
 And, as it chanced, the tide was low 
 and would yet be lower ; for it was a 
 spring tide. And we walked hand in 
 hand for there was nobody about 
 and what if there were ? Shall a man 
 not hold his -wife s hand, in going 
 along the shore ? And shall he not 
 kiss her if he will and if she will ? 
 Though in such matters we should, 
 no doubt, bow to convention. And, as 
 we went, the Great Painter spread his 
 colors as he was wont to do, and the 
 still waters were covered with all man 
 ner of reds and purples. We saw our 
 flats just awash and now and then 
 there broke upon them a wave that
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 213 
 
 ran across in ripples of color, and left 
 the wet sand shining in a coat of shim 
 mering green. For, though the water 
 was calm, the waves yet broke upon 
 the sands. It was a day of promise 
 now well nigh come to an end but yet 
 it held a promise of other days. And 
 such a day maketh the soul of a man 
 to rejoice if he be in truth a man, 
 and not a mere beast of burden it 
 maketh the soul of him to rejoice 
 within him and his heart to sing ; and 
 of such as rejoice not in such a day, 
 there is little hope. 
 
 And Eve and I came to the bank, 
 where the pebbles shone in the sun 
 save some few that had been washed 
 out in the storms of winter. Eve cried 
 out at that, and set herself to find 
 others, that she make the names whole 
 again. And I looked up at our path,
 
 214 THE CLAMMER 
 
 that still showed bravely with little 
 piles of snow in the deeply shaded 
 spots, the remnants of great drifts 
 but they were going fast. And the 
 grass showed green on the slope 
 the tender green of spring. Seeing 
 all this, I sighed and turned me from 
 it to our clam beds. 
 
 They were well uncovered by this, 
 and I took my hoe and pottered about 
 and slopped here and there, digging 
 where I would. And now and again I 
 made me straight for some months 
 past I had not bent my back so stead 
 ily and gazed at the changing colors 
 or at the old sun, which was drawing 
 near to the western hills ; then I bent 
 my back again. And the clams that I 
 found I did but restore with care, to 
 bury themselves once more we had 
 no basket, not wanting clams as yet -
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 215 
 
 and I found many. They seemed good 
 thriving clams, big and lusty, and none 
 the worse for the winter. 
 
 At last I was done with my digging 
 and I straightened up and looked for 
 Eve ; and there she was, beyond me, 
 in the water, with her skirts tucked 
 up, and she was paddling like any 
 schoolgirl. And the sun shone through 
 the wisps of hair they straggled, 
 ever, those wisps, and sadly bothered 
 her with their wanderings the sun 
 shone through the wandering locks 
 and made an aureole about her head. 
 But now she minded them not. And 
 so I gazed long at her, and I saw the 
 colors that she stirred with her pad 
 dling, and I saw her standing in their 
 midst. At last she looked up at me. 
 
 " Oh, Adam," she cried, " I am hav 
 ing such a beautiful time. Stop your
 
 216 THE CLAMMER 
 
 digging and come out here with me 
 and paddle. It is great fun. See, I 
 can almost catch that streak of gold ! 
 Oh, now it is gone." 
 
 " Truly, Eve," I said, " I am amazed 
 at you. But I will come and pad 
 dle although that is what I never 
 thought that I should come to; for I 
 am done with my digging. And soon 
 we must go in, for the sun is almost 
 set. It is not yet summer." 
 
 Then Eve laughed, and I went and 
 stood beside her, and we paddled nobly 
 -until I was laughing, too. And the 
 sun set he had already passed the 
 tree that was like a spire I saw it 
 for a moment against his southern edge 
 as he coasted down the slope and 
 we bade him good-night together, as 
 we had been wont to do. Eve turned 
 to me.
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 217 
 
 " I am cold, Adam," she said. " I 
 confess it." 
 
 Indeed, that water was passing cold, 
 for there were in it all the melting 
 snows of winter. And so we raced 
 along the shore in our rubber boots 
 - Eve s are less of a burden than 
 mine, so that I was beaten in the race 
 and climbed the steep path ; and in 
 the house our fire burned upon the 
 hearth. 
 
 As I sat there before the fire, mus 
 ing upon many things with my back 
 feeling tired and comfortable among 
 the cushions I heard a robin calling 
 sleepily from my pine. It sent a glow 
 through me. Verily, Spring is here. 
 
 So the season grew and filled me 
 with joy. And as evening came, I sat 
 before my fire, but I withdrew some-
 
 2i8 THE CLAMMER 
 
 what from its heat ; and I had no in 
 terest in the book that I took up, but 
 I must needs lay it down in my lap. 
 For, first, I found myself reading but 
 words and getting no sense from them, 
 that I knew not whether I had read a 
 passage or no. And I would struggle 
 awake and read a line, or mayhap two, 
 and make sense of it; and then I read 
 the same line again, as like as not, and 
 knew not where I was nor what my 
 author would be at. Then I would let 
 the book fall into my lap and care not 
 for my author nor for aught else, and 
 suck at my pipe it was as like to be 
 out as burning and doze and dream. 
 And Eve would glance at me and 
 smile and go on with the making of 
 doll s clothes. For I had been out all 
 day in my garden with Judson giv 
 ing me counsel, if I asked it never,
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 219 
 
 if I did not ; and it was borne in upon 
 me that he that withholdeth advice, if 
 it be unasked, is a wise man I had 
 been all day in the garden, hoeing 
 and digging and planting. When Jud- 
 son did his planting was a mystery 
 probably about daylight; but he had 
 got in the way of coming over the 
 wall, and I would no sooner be at 
 work than there would appear Judson 
 at the wall, waving his hand in greet 
 ing. I think I shall make a gate there 
 if he does not object. It is hard for an 
 old man to climb walls. 
 
 And I wondered at the apparent de 
 fection of my friends ; for they came 
 seldom, so that Eve made some pro 
 gress with her doll s wardrobe. I won 
 dered, I say, until I reflected upon the 
 advice I had given them, myself. No 
 doubt they were busy as well as I ; and
 
 220 THE CLAMMER 
 
 if they made gardens they went to bed 
 early. 
 
 So it was come to be the first of 
 May and all my planting was done ex 
 cept my corn. The birds had become 
 noisy they sang as though they 
 would split their throats ; and, as I 
 planted, I heard the shrill whistle of 
 the meadow-larks but I could not 
 stop to enjoy it. Only at evening I 
 sat me on my seat under the great 
 pine, with Eve beside me, and drank 
 my fill of music. And the leaves were 
 coming out upon the trees. 
 
 I marveled somewhat that Eve had 
 had no word more from her father; 
 but I must plant my corn. And my 
 first planting of corn was done ; and 
 as I straightened up from it, sighing 
 with weariness, I heard a low chuckling 
 laugh. I turned quickly, and behold,
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 221 
 
 there was Old Goodwin watching me ; 
 and beside him Eve. He was still 
 laughing. 
 
 I hurried across my garden, the 
 earth sticking to my boots ; and made 
 some apologies for my hands. The 
 hands of a delver in the earth are not 
 fit for contact with the Rich. 
 
 But what did Old Goodwin care for 
 that ? " It is clean dirt, Adam," said 
 he, "and honest. The hands that I 
 have to take every day, they are 
 well it turns me nearly sick at times, 
 to take them though they are white 
 enough, and soft." He looked out over 
 my garden, that showed already un 
 broken rows of green, where the early 
 peas had come through the earth. " So 
 your planting is all done ? " he asked. 
 " I am sorry, for I had hoped to have 
 a hand in it."
 
 222 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " And so you may," I answered, " if 
 you will. There are yet some plant 
 ings of corn to be put in but nothing 
 for two weeks." I hesitated, and blun 
 dered on. " And Mrs. Goodwin she 
 is well ? " 
 
 " Quite well," he said, and smiled as 
 he spoke and so did Eve. " Yes, she 
 is quite well. She came down too. You 
 may get a glimpse of her now and then, 
 I think, about the grounds, for she is 
 restless this spring, and out more than 
 she has been used to be. No doubt," 
 he added, " it is the weather." 
 
 " No doubt," I said ; but I knew not 
 how to take it, and I glanced at Eve to 
 see. "Yes, no doubt it is the weather." 
 
 Then I went in, for I would change 
 my boots. And Old Goodwin wan 
 dered, that meanwhile, about my place 
 with Eve beside him. When I came
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 223 
 
 again I found him on the seat under 
 the pine; and he was gazing at the 
 stones, and then off over my clam 
 beds, where the water danced in the 
 sun and the little waves broke upon 
 the sands. But Eve was not there. I 
 marveled somewhat at it. 
 
 " She is gone to see her mother," 
 he said, answering the thought un 
 spoken. " She will be back presently. 
 And how are the clams, Adam ? " 
 
 I laughed, it was so exactly what I 
 expected of him. " Pretty well, I thank 
 you," I replied ; " or they were, two 
 weeks ago. I have not seen them 
 lately, for I have been busy. You may 
 dig whenever you will. They thrive, I 
 think." 
 
 He smiled again his thanks. "And 
 the stones you have put some fresh 
 ones in, I see they are all ready ? "
 
 224 THE CLAMMER 
 
 " They are all ready," I answered, 
 " and the weed lies in heaps along the 
 shore. But I find that my appetite for 
 baked clams is not yet ripe " 
 
 But he interrupted. "Ah, Adam," 
 he said, " but you have this with you 
 all the year." He waved his hand about. 
 "That is much to be thankful for. But 
 I the memory of those baked clams 
 is all that has carried me over many a 
 hard place. For I realize sometimes 
 
 that I am an old man ; but when I 
 am here " 
 
 " You are not," I finished for him. 
 " And that is reason enough for stay 
 ing. You have a roof over your head 
 
 such as it is and a crust of bread 
 
 with a chop or two when there 
 is need. No man, however poor, can 
 ask more and no man, however rich, 
 can get more. So I foretell "
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 225 
 
 Old Goodwin was roaring with 
 laughter. " Yes," he said, as soon as 
 he could speak, " I have a roof over 
 my head such as it is and the 
 tiles upon it may last through a win 
 ter; and I shall have no doubt a 
 crust of bread with a chop or two 
 when there is need. And so you would 
 have me give up my house in town. 
 Well, well, there is something to be 
 said for it. We shall see. We shall 
 see." 
 
 " Your house in town would be but 
 a burden," I said then. "No man can 
 live in two houses two at once 
 having but one body. And you might 
 well give up it is time to retire, 
 having enough of means. And these 
 fields and this water and the woods 
 are a never-ending delight. You need 
 not fear your nerves. For look at me.
 
 226 THE CLAMMER 
 
 Am I nervous? And I have retired 
 retired these many years retired 
 before my career was well begun. I 
 find amusement and I am like to 
 live long. And you should know Jud- 
 son you must know him. He has 
 lived long and will yet live some while. 
 He should have been here this morn- 
 
 ing." 
 
 Old Goodwin looked at me, ques 
 tioning. " Your neighbor ? " he asked. 
 " I should like it much. But I thought 
 you did not care for neighbors, 
 Adam." 
 
 I was ashamed. " I did not," I an 
 swered, "but Eve has shown me -I 
 was wrong." Old Goodwin smiled at 
 that, his quiet smile of peace. And I 
 went on. " But you " 
 
 " I will consider," he said ; and I 
 remembered me of a time when Eve
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 227 
 
 had said those very words. But she 
 said more. There was "good fisher 
 man " if I remembered me aright. 
 " I will consider the matter," said Old 
 Goodwin. " And I must consult " 
 
 "Ah!" I cried, "I had forgot." 
 And I smiled, more broadly than I 
 meant to ; but it mattered not, for Old 
 Goodwin was smiling too. 
 
 " There comes Eve," he said. And 
 indeed, I knew it well. Was I not look 
 ing for her every minute that she was 
 gone from me ? 
 
 And that evening we sat before my 
 fire, as we were wont to do, Eve and I ; 
 but beside us sat Old Goodwin. It oc 
 curred to me to think that Mrs. Good 
 win was likely to be lonely if she 
 depended at all upon her husband for 
 company and if he continued as he 
 had begun. If it were Eve and I,
 
 228 THE CLAMMER 
 
 there would be a compromise or a 
 surrender in short order. But, I re 
 flected, all married people are not as 
 Eve and I ; and we have been mar 
 ried but a few months although it 
 will be the same when the months are 
 become years, I do believe. And Eve 
 and her mother are two very differ 
 ent persons. So, as we sat, Eve sewed 
 upon her doll s dresses, unabashed ; 
 and Old Goodwin, if he noted it, and 
 saw upon what her fingers were busy, 
 gave no sign of his surprise it is not 
 easy to surprise him but he seemed 
 to find pleasure in the sight. And, 
 indeed, it was a pleasant sight to see 
 Eve sewing there -- pleasant for a 
 prospective father and for a prospec 
 tive grandfather it was as pleasant, as 
 I judged. I doubt me much that Mrs. 
 Goodwin sewed, ever, of an evening;
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 229 
 
 or ever had sewed, even when sewing 
 was to be done for Eve s coming. The 
 clothes that she had made for her 
 baby were of the finest and the softest 
 and the richest no doubt but she 
 had them made ; and can even the 
 finest and the softest and the richest, 
 made by the hand of another, mean 
 as much as these, with love sewed 
 under every stitch of them ? I do not 
 think so. And the one thing she could 
 not evade if she would; but she had 
 but the one child, and I think that 
 was a sorrow to Old Goodwin. So 
 we sat, and talked little or not at all ; 
 and the candles burned low, that they 
 were but stumps. Noting that, Old 
 Goodwin took his leave. And the 
 evening and the morning were the 
 first day. 
 
 Then followed other days ; and,
 
 230 THE CLAMMER 
 
 first of all, Old Goodwin must betake 
 him to the digging of clams and I 
 must help him at it. And, having 
 digged many clams, we must needs 
 have a clambake, for I would not de 
 stroy good clams to no purpose; but 
 it was a sorry clambake, lacking the 
 corn and the sweet potatoes and the 
 lobster. And, though I sacrificed a 
 chicken to it, the sacrifice went to 
 my heart, for early in May is no time 
 to kill chickens. I asked Judson to 
 our clambake, and though he came, 
 his appetite for clams was no more 
 ripe than mine. But Judson and Old 
 Goodwin met and enjoyed the meeting 
 mightily; and sat upon their boxes 
 and talked until I thought they would 
 never have done. So Eve and I left 
 them there, sitting upon their boxes. 
 And presently they rose and wan-
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 231 
 
 dered over into Judson s place and I 
 saw Old Goodwin no more that day. 
 
 And, again, we went to the woods, 
 and saw them breaking forth into leaf. 
 For the leafing of the woods is a little 
 later than the leafing of a tree which 
 grows in the open. And I saw the 
 seed pods lifting on their dry stems, 
 but they were few and the pods were 
 empty ; for the stems were brittle, that 
 the weight of snow had broken them 
 down, for the most part, and the birds 
 had gleaned the seeds. But the dead 
 leaves were fading into mould, out of 
 which peeped a seedling, here and 
 there; and the rotting logs were fast 
 being covered with a coat of green 
 moss and the creeping vines were do 
 ing that. And I saw the birches, their 
 tiny leaves like so many little green 
 spangles or so they looked until I
 
 232 THE CLAMMER 
 
 came near. And the pines, too, had 
 burst the buds, that every tip was a 
 lighter green, with clusters of little 
 needles that, here and there, still bore 
 their caps of brown ; but the oak buds 
 were just bursting. 
 
 I spoke to Old Goodwin. " There 
 is much for a man to see here," said I, 
 "when he is retired even in win 
 ter." 
 
 He laughed and made me no reply. 
 
 And, yet again, there grow before 
 my house but within my hedge 
 two hawthorn trees. They are very 
 mountains of trees, for hawthorns, and 
 their tops are above the eaves of my 
 house. I would not miss the time of 
 blossoming of those two trees for 
 aught ; and one of them has white 
 blossoms and the other has pink. And 
 the time came for them to blossom,
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 233 
 
 and so they did, for they are well be 
 haved trees as any could wish ; and 
 on the one side of my front walk was 
 a mass of white blossoms, and on the 
 other side a mass of pink. Solid banks 
 of blossoms they were, with a green 
 leaf showing through here and there, 
 even to the tips of the trees. I found 
 Old Goodwin viewing them from the 
 road. And it was come to be the last 
 week in May. And, though I found 
 him gazing at my trees I have a 
 pride in them, which may be par 
 doned I said not much. 
 
 " There is much for a man to see, 
 here and there," I said, " when he is 
 retired." 
 
 And once more he laughed, but 
 he made me a reply to this. " True 
 enough, Adam," he answered, " true 
 enough. There is enough for a man
 
 234 THE CLAMMER 
 
 to see and I think there is enough 
 for him to do." 
 
 So June was come. It was in June 
 that my appetite for clams was become 
 ripe ; and we digged in my clam beds 
 more than ever, and put some heart 
 into the digging. It was Old Good 
 win and I that did the digging, for the 
 most part he loved it while Eve 
 sat on the bank and watched us. Some 
 times she would dig, but more often 
 she did but watch, cheering us, the 
 while, with observations ; and, now 
 and then, I would go and sit beside 
 her and leave Old Goodwin. But he 
 did not mind did not appear to 
 notice. Every evening, after supper, 
 we came, Eve and I, to the bank. And 
 Old Goodwin joined us there and we 
 stayed until the sun was set and we 
 had said our good-nights to him. And
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 235 
 
 it befell, on an evening that was thick 
 with fog it is apt to be a thick fog 
 toward the last of June out at sea 
 the fog lies all day, rolling in over the 
 land by the end of the afternoon it 
 befell, on this evening, that I had been 
 watching the fog. It sent its skir 
 mishers ahead and covered the shore, 
 only to uncover it; for the skirmisher 
 must move fast and it is not large, 
 being but a skirmisher. And then 
 would come another and hide another 
 piece of shore haply my point with 
 the pine upon it ; and I could see the 
 top of the pine sticking up out of it, 
 like a sentinel. But always the main 
 body of the fog followed fast after, 
 dark and dim and gray. And as it 
 enveloped us at last, something I 
 know not what it was made me turn 
 about ; and there, in the path, up un-
 
 236 THE CLAMMER 
 
 der the trees, stood Eve s mother. No 
 doubt she thought she was safe there 
 and would not be seen. And I saw 
 there, for a moment, a mighty pride 
 that struggled for its life, and grief and 
 longing that were yet mightier. Ghost 
 like I saw it but I saw it. Then it, 
 too, was blotted out. I thought that I 
 heard a faint cry in the fog. 
 
 And Eve turned toward me, star 
 tled. "What was that, Adam ?" she 
 asked. " I thought I heard some one 
 cry out." 
 
 " In a fog, Eve," I answered, " one 
 hears many strange sounds." Old 
 Goodwin turned and smiled at me, a 
 smile of comprehension. 
 
 So June came to an end, and July 
 was come. And, now and then, I came 
 again upon Mrs. Goodwin at our bank, 
 and twice I found her on the shore
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 237 
 
 near the steep path that led up to my 
 pine. But each time, she swiftly turned, 
 and fled so fast that I should have 
 some trouble in catching her, save in 
 a foot-race. And that, I thought, 
 seemed to lack dignity. Racing along 
 the beach after Mrs. Goodwin, as if she 
 had been some trespasser ! I laughed 
 which was the wrong thing to do. 
 For she but went the faster as she 
 heard my laugh was well nigh run 
 ning. Poor lady ! To be laughed at 
 by her son-in-law ! But I was not 
 laughing at her. I saw her shoulders 
 shake as she were sobbing, and she 
 put her hands up quickly to her eyes. 
 The terns were come, long since. 
 And, one morning, I was watching 
 them, lazily, from my bank. I was 
 alone, that morning, lying stretched 
 out on the sand, my head against the
 
 238 THE CLAMMER 
 
 bank ; and I saw the terns, in regular 
 procession, flying swiftly down the 
 wind, along the shore, and beating 
 slowly up against it. Now and then a 
 tern would stop, and hover for an in 
 stant; then again take up his slow 
 beating, his beak pointing to the water 
 and moving restlessly from side to side. 
 Or, if he dove, it was too far for me 
 to see whether his strike succeeded ; 
 for the fish that they catch are very 
 small and hard to see. But over my 
 clam beds just before me was a 
 favored spot. Here, each tern hovered 
 for some while, and dove ; dove once 
 or twice or thrice, it might be, until 
 he had succeeded in his fishing then 
 began, once more, his beat to windward. 
 For their fishing was successful, here; 
 and, with a rapid flutter of the wings, 
 they gobbled their victim down, whole
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 239 
 
 and, I suppose, alive. Poor little 
 fish ! Alive in a living tomb ! And, as 
 I thought these thoughts, I heard a 
 sound behind me, on the bank. I 
 raised my head and there was Mrs. 
 Goodwin. She was leaning against a 
 tree Eve s tree and she was gaz 
 ing at the terns, too, but mournfully. 
 And, with all her gazing, I doubt 
 whether she saw aught of the sight 
 that was before her eyes. 
 
 Slowly, I got upon my feet, for I 
 would not startle her. But she was 
 startled none the less. She showed it 
 in her eyes as they met mine. 
 
 "Mrs. Goodwin,"! said softly, " Mrs. 
 Goodwin " 
 
 What more I would have said I do 
 not know, for she broke in upon my 
 speech. 
 
 "You!" she said. "You!" And she
 
 240 THE CLAMMER 
 
 said no more, but rose quickly ; and 
 gathered her skirts about her and fled 
 up the path and was gone from me. 
 
 I hesitated for a moment, gazing 
 after her ; then I sat me down again. 
 And I fell to musing and I watched 
 the terns. They had scattered, with 
 screams of anger, as I rose, but were, 
 by this, once more busied with their 
 fishing. What could I do ? I doubted 
 not that I had done the wrong thing, 
 rising up before her but, it seemed, 
 I had a talent for the wrong thing - 
 else aught that I might do would seem 
 wrong in her eyes. Eve went to see 
 her every day, but I I sighed, and 
 put the matter from me. I had done 
 my best and would do my best, 
 whatever befell. And I saw the terns 
 at their fishing, and I bethought me 
 that I was hungry, for it must be din-
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 241 
 
 ner time. I glanced up at the sun I 
 carry no watch what should a clam- 
 mer do with a watch ? And I saw that 
 he had passed the noon-point a half- 
 hour since, and something more. It 
 should be nearly one o clock. So I 
 took my way homeward, along the 
 shore. 
 
 So the summer passed. And we- 
 Old Goodwin and Eve and I, with 
 some one of my friends or of my 
 neighbors, as it chanced scarce gave 
 the stones time to cool before we had 
 them hot again. I had some fear that 
 my clam beds would give out. Mrs. 
 Goodwin I saw as I had seen her ; on 
 the shore or on the bank but always 
 at a distance and she fled, ever, at 
 the sight of me. So I took no notice 
 of her ; and that seemed to be the 
 wrong thing, too. It did not matter
 
 242 THE CLAMMER 
 
 what I did. And the summer was 
 come to an end a happy summer 
 for me, and for Old Goodwin, too, I 
 think and I had had my fill of clams. 
 It was October ; and in my house 
 was a nurse, white-capped and white 
 aproned it gave me the horrors, 
 making my house seem a hospital - 
 and she was waiting. 
 
 Paternity has its responsibilities, so 
 I am told by all who have the good 
 fortune to be fathers and from those 
 who have not, I hear no less of it - 
 more, perhaps. But, though I squared 
 my shoulders, the load is light as yet, 
 so that they bear it passing well. For 
 who could feel the load heavy, for a 
 mite that lies by his mother, as yet, 
 and turns to the world but a red and 
 wrinkled face, serious and thoughtful
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 243 
 
 and unsmiling ? For he has not yet 
 smiled ; and I doubt whether I am 
 right in calling his face thoughtful. 
 He is bent upon two things ; and to 
 those two things he directs all his at 
 tention, with a concentration that is 
 commendable. And no sooner is his 
 hunger satisfied then he composes 
 him to sleep, graciously permitting 
 Eve to hold his little red fist if it is 
 quite comfortable for himself. He re 
 gards me with a grave contemplation, 
 on occasion, as if I were some un 
 known animal which, of course, I 
 am no doubt he would look upon a 
 hippopotamus or upon a bear with as 
 little fear and as much affection and, 
 on occasion, he gives way to his feel 
 ings and laments, loudly. Then I dis 
 appear, and he stops crying, instantly. 
 And I I have not ventured to touch
 
 244 THE CLAMMER 
 
 him yet I regard him with an awe 
 which f rows as I regard him. For 
 
 O O 
 
 here is he my son that was not ; 
 and within these few days there has 
 been born a new soul. It is the one 
 great mystery, and I marvel ; but a 
 mystery I am content to leave it. 
 I remember well enough it is not 
 
 O 
 
 so long ago that I should forget it 
 I remember well that night I had 
 waited since midnight and the 
 morning that followed. I could not eat 
 and I but paced to and fro, still wait 
 ing. And at last came the nurse, smil 
 ing, and said that I could soon go in 
 to Eve. 
 
 So presently, after some further 
 waiting, I went in. And there lay 
 Eve, very white but very happy ; and 
 she smiled to see me come. And, hav 
 ing received my greeting, she turned
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 245 
 
 back the covers and showed me my 
 son. Only for an instant I saw him, 
 then he was covered again. I was im 
 pelled to be respectful. But I must 
 go, for Eve would rest her. Again I 
 kissed her, and again she smiled. 
 
 " I am so happy, Adam," she said. 
 
 And I went down the stairs, and I 
 nearly forgot my breakfast, in my joy. 
 But, having eaten hastily, I went out, 
 my heart glad within me. I took a turn 
 up and down the yard, and paused 
 under the pine to look along the shore. 
 There was Mrs. Goodwin, and she 
 was almost at the path. I waved my 
 hat to her. 
 
 " You have a grandson, Mrs. Good 
 win," I called to her, " and Eve is do 
 ing well." 
 
 I know not what she did then I 
 did not care what she did ; for I was
 
 246 THE CLAMMER 
 
 still waving my hat. Soon I should 
 be shouting aloud. That would not 
 do, for Eve ; and I hurried out at my 
 gate and almost ran Old Goodwin 
 down. 
 
 " You have a grandson," I cried, for 
 the second time ; " and Eve is doing 
 well." 
 
 And he made no reply, but smiled 
 and smiled ; and I shook him by the 
 hand until he made a face and took 
 his hand away and looked at it. And 
 I did but laugh and push by him. 
 
 " Go in," I said, " go in. Eve is 
 sleeping, and I I must walk." 
 
 So he went in, and I went on, 
 down the road. At the next corner 
 I met Burdon ; and, though I had not 
 spoken to him for years -- I have 
 forgot what was the cause of it I 
 rushed up and took him by the hand.
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 247 
 
 He seemed astonished, as well he 
 might. 
 
 " Congratulate me," I cried ; " for I 
 have a son." 
 
 At that he grinned. " Mother doing 
 well ? " he asked. " I am glad very 
 glad." And he shook my hand with 
 heartiness. I left him, looking after 
 me, and grinning still. 
 
 But I went on swiftly, until the 
 houses were all behind me, and be 
 fore me were the woods and the ever 
 lasting hills. Yet a little while I 
 waited until the woods had shut me 
 in then I could wait no longer. I 
 waved my hands and shouted to the 
 echoing woods. 
 
 " Why hop ye so," I cried, " ye high 
 hills?" And the hills sent me back 
 my question again. And well, I am 
 glad that there was no one there to
 
 248 THE CLAMMER 
 
 see what I did they would surely 
 have thought me gone out of my wits. 
 And when I was, in a measure, quieted, 
 I turned me about and went soberly 
 back again; though I was ready enough 
 to laugh if there had been any to laugh 
 with me. 
 
 And now my son has grown apace, 
 and no longer shows to the world a red 
 and wrinkled face, but one that is fair, 
 with some pink color in his cheeks, 
 where it should be. And his hair he 
 has a quantity of hair, which, as I un 
 derstand, is not the habit of new-born 
 infants his hair is not black, as it was 
 at first, but shows yellow at the ends. 
 Indeed, I marveled somewhat at the 
 blackness of his hair, for my hair is 
 not black, and certainly Eve s is not. 
 But, when I mentioned the matter, 
 the nurse did but smile at my igno-
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 249 
 
 ranee and say that it would be light 
 enough in time. And my son has 
 smiled at last he does little else now, 
 save when he is laughing. And I 
 - I am become his slave, being no 
 longer a strange animal, and when he 
 wills I bend my head and let him 
 twine his fingers in my hair and pull. 
 He pulls well, and laughs the while, 
 and crows mightily with the joy 
 of it. 
 
 And, now, though it is come to the 
 last of November, the fall is kind to 
 us, and Eve walks beside the coach as 
 the nurse wheels it. Where they go 
 when I am not with them I do not 
 know but I suspect. For Mrs. Good 
 win sent, every day, a maid to get the 
 news of Eve. She would not come 
 herself, though she was near it twenty 
 times, and had well-nigh set her foot
 
 250 THE CLAMMER 
 
 to the steep path; but, always, her 
 stubborn pride prevented. But Old 
 Goodwin is his grandson s shadow. I 
 shall yet be jealous of him. And so it 
 was come time that we speak of a cer 
 tain weighty matter. 
 
 " Eve," said I, one day, " I suppose 
 that you will have him christened." 
 For whenever we say " him " we mean 
 our son ; and no doubt I should have 
 said baptized I did not know about 
 such things. 
 
 And Eve was smiling. " Yes," she 
 answered, " I should like it and soon, 
 Adam, if we may." 
 
 " And what is his name to be ? " I 
 asked. " For that is a trifle that must 
 be settled first, I suppose." 
 
 " I suppose it must," she said. " And 
 I what would you name him, 
 Adam ? "
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 251 
 
 " I had thought of giving him your 
 father s name," I answered, "but" 
 And I stammered and hesitated and 
 grew red. But come it must. " That 
 rich man, Eve " 
 
 She laughed aloud, with joy, I 
 thought ; and she seized me about the 
 neck and kissed me. " Oh," she cried, 
 " I hoped you would. And I will 
 write to him, for he must be god 
 father." 
 
 And so she did write to him, and 
 he came laden with peace-offerings. 
 And as I met him at my gate he took 
 my hand and gripped it. 
 
 " Adam," he said and this time, 
 too, I doubted if he knew what he 
 called me but I did not care. 
 " Adam, it was good of you to think 
 of me it was kind." His voice was 
 ;> not steady; but Eve was close behind
 
 252 THE CLAMMER 
 
 me, and he must say his greetings to 
 her. So I did not find out whether 
 my voice was any steadier than his. 
 
 He spread his gifts before my son ; 
 and it befell that my son passed them 
 all by, with no more than a grunt of 
 approval, until he came to the silver 
 cup. It was huge, more like a tank 
 ard than a cup, and Eve and I had 
 laughed at it as a gift for a baby 
 but let it pass at least it had no 
 sharp corners. And when my son, in 
 his inspection, had come to that cup, 
 he gave a crow of delight and grasped 
 it by the two handles, one on either 
 side, and lifted it. I had not thought 
 it possible, for it was heavy ; but he 
 had his heart set upon it, and he did it 
 and I was proud and let my pride 
 show. And he managed to get the 
 cup well nigh over his face, and then
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 253 
 
 he roared into it ; and the cup roared 
 back at him again. He was astonished 
 he slipped the cup aside to see how 
 we took it then, seeing us laughing, 
 he laughed, too, and roared again. 
 Now he lies and plays by the hour 
 with that cup, roaring into it, and 
 making all manner of queer noises, 
 and listens to it. And that Rich man 
 sits beside him, and they play to 
 gether. 
 
 Eve had the christening or bap 
 tizing in our little country church. 
 I had left the whole to her, to manage 
 as she saw fit ; and when, in the church, 
 I looked about, and saw those that she 
 had bid to the feast, I was somewhat 
 surprised until I remembered. There 
 were Old Goodwin and that Rich man, 
 of course, and my friends ; but there, 
 too, were Judson and Burdon and my
 
 2 5 4 THE CLAMMER 
 
 other neighbors. And there was Mrs. 
 Goodwin, looking but I did not 
 look at her, after the first, so I know 
 not how she looked. And when it was 
 all done, I lingered, fora reason of my 
 own, and walked with Judson, and 
 Burdon walked with us. An old man 
 walks but slowly. So it came to pass 
 that we were the last. And, having 
 entered my own house, I found Eve 
 and Old Goodwin and that other Rich 
 man sitting in a half circle ; and, at 
 the centre of that circle, with my son 
 in her arms, sat Mrs. Goodwin. 
 
 I walked up to her quickly. " Mrs. 
 Goodwin," I said, " I rejoice that you 
 are here, at last." 
 
 So speaking, I held out my hand. 
 And she took it, and would havespoken, 
 too, but she could not. She hid her 
 face on the shoulder of him that was
 
 OLD GOODWIN S WIFE 255 
 
 but just baptized; and he, thinking, 
 no doubt, that he had had enough of 
 water for one day, set up a wail. And 
 I turned me about and went forth and 
 left them.
 
 Eltctrotyped and printed by H. O. Honghton &> Co. 
 Cambridge, Mass., U.S. A.
 
 DAPHNE 
 
 An Autumn Pastoral 
 
 By MARGARET SHERWOOD 
 
 " In Daphne we have a most delightfully refreshing 
 story. In addition to a charming love-story of a young 
 Italian for an American girl, Miss Sherwood has given 
 us some rare descriptions of Italian peasant scenes, 
 and some graphic pictures of Italian woods, moun 
 tains, and sunsets." Review of Reviews. 
 
 " The story of their love is simply and sweetly told, 
 and with so exquisite a feeling and so masterly a touch 
 that the story takes place in one s mind beside the 
 little classics that he loves." 
 
 Indianapolis Sentinel. 
 
 By the author of " The Coming of the Tide." 
 
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 The 
 
 SPIRIT OF THE PINES 
 
 By MARGARET MORSE 
 
 A little tragedy enacted amid the fragrance of piney 
 woods and hill-tops in New Hampshire is here charm 
 ingly told. It is a love story, a story of nature and 
 of two nature lovers ; of a man and woman of unusual 
 temperaments, ideals, and affinity. 
 Miss Morse shows herself an enthusiast for Amiefs 
 Journal and for the Obermann Letters, so highly 
 praised by Matthew Arnold. In some ways her story 
 may recall that delightful romance " Our Lady of the 
 Beeches," but it has a strong individuality. 
 
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 A 000110173 2