No, it must
necessarily
bear the stamp of inspiration.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v07 - Cic to Cuv
I
have sketched the Flemish peasant as he appeared to me. I drew him
calm, peaceable, religious, patriotic, attached to his traditions and opposed
somewhat vehemently to all innovations; in short, as he appeared to me at
that period of my life in 1830, when, hungry and sick, I enjoyed hospitality
and the tenderest care amongst them. I have never inspired my heroes with
the poetic glamour for which I have been reproached; it is they who inspired
And then a man may dwell by preference on the defective side and the
coarseness of the laborer, may sketch him as the slave of drunkenness and
animal passion. I shall not deny the picturesqueness of this work. But
between that and the admission of my delusion there is a wide margin. My
neighbor's heroes are not necessarily mine, nor do I see them in the same
light. People are constantly discussing whether he who paints things in their
darkest colors, or he who sees all in a materialistic light, or he who presents
everything in its happiest form,- whether he who takes a subjective or an
objective point of view,- is right. All I know is,- and it is my settled con-
viction, that a conscientious writer is never wrong; and I believe myself to
be conscientious. »
This is a frank, manly, and honest pronouncement, and will surely
be admitted as such even by those who may not care either for the
matter or manner, the method or the literary principles, of Henri
Conscience. Perhaps the best commentary is, that after a European
success ranking only after that of Scott, Balzac, Dumas, Hugo, and
Hans Andersen, Henri Conscience is still (thirteen years after his
death at an advanced age) a name of European repute; is still, in
his own country, held in highest honor and affection.
Winans Sharpe
## p. 3961 (#327) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3961
THE HORSE-SHOE
From Rikke-Tikke-Tak'
IN
IN THE village of Westmal, some two or three miles from Ant-
werp, on the road toward Turnhout, stood a little smithy, in
which four men - the master and his three journeymen
were busy at various work in the way of their trade; and at the
same time were conversing—as much, that is, as the noise of
hammers and files would let them of Napoleon and his mighty
deeds of war. One of the journeymen, who had lost two fingers
of his left hand, was just beginning a story of the Italian wars,
when two horsemen pulled up before the door, and one of them
called out, "Hola, my men! my horse wants shoeing. "
The journeymen looked curiously at the strangers, who by
this time had dismounted. They were evidently both military
men. One of them had a great scar right across his face and
wore a red riband in his button-hole: the other, though dressed
like a gentleman, seemed in some sort his subordinate; he held
the horse by the bridle and asked, "Which shoe, colonel? "
"The near forefoot, lieutenant," was the reply.
One of the journeymen took the horse and led it into the
shed; and meanwhile the colonel entered the smithy, looked
about him, and took up first one, then another, of the tools, as
if looking out for an old acquaintance. At last he seemed to
have found what he wanted; in one hand he held a heavy pair
of tongs, in the other a hammer, both of which he surveyed with
so peculiar a smile that the journeymen stood round, gaping and
staring in no little amaze.
Meanwhile the iron was in the fire, the bellows panted away,
and a garland of sparks spurted from the glowing coals. The
journeymen stood by the anvil, hammers in hand, till the mas-
ter took the iron from the fire; then began the work of forging.
The colonel evidently took a lively interest in what was going
on; his features lighted up, as they might have done at the
finest music. But when the shoe was taken from the anvil, as
ready for putting on, he eyed it a moment not a little disdain-
fully, took the tongs which held it from the master-smith's hand,
and put it back into the fire.
"That will never do," said he; "the shoe's too clumsy by
half, master. Now, my lads! look alive! blow away! "
And while one of the journeymen, with an
air of great
respect, obeyed his directions, he threw off his coat and bared
―
## p. 3962 (#328) ###########################################
3962
HENRI CONSCIENCE
his sinewy arms. Soon the iron was at a white heat: he turned
it twice or thrice in the fire with all the air of an experienced
hand, laid it on the anvil, and then called to the journeymen in
a cheerful tone:-
"Now, my men! look out! I'll give the time, and we'll turn
out a shoe fit for the Emperor's nags.
So now,
attention:-
'Rikketikketak,
Rikketikketoo;
The iron's warm;
Up with your arm,
Now strike,- one, two,
Rikketikketoo.
Rikketikketak,
Rikketikketoo,
Strike while it is hot,
And tarry not.
Again, one two,
Rikketikketoo. '
There, look at the shoe now! "
The journeymen eyed the light neat piece of work agape,
and as it were, struck dumb. The master meanwhile seemed to
be turning some thought in his head, which he every now and
then shook, as though quite unable to come to a satisfactory
conclusion. He drew near the stranger, who by this time had
resumed his coat; but however closely he scanned him, he
seemed unable to recognize him.
The horse was soon shod, and now stood before the smithy
ready for its master to mount, who took leave of the party with
a friendly shake of the hand to each, laying also a couple of
gold pieces on the anvil.
"One for the master, one for the men. Drink my health
together and good-by to you. ”
With these words he threw himself into the saddle and rode
off with his companion.
"Well," said the master, "I never in my life knew but one
man who could knock off a shoe like that,- so light and neat,
and so handily; and I must be greatly mistaken if the colonel
isn't just Karl van Milgem himself; he, you know,- but to be
sure you don't know, he that the folks used always to call
Rikke-Tikke-Tak. "
-
## p. 3963 (#329) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3963
THE PATIENT WAITER
From Rikke-Tikke-Tak
SH
Slowly she
He took her way with the cow toward the brook, which was
edged about with a scanty growth of grass.
went, step by step, leading the creature after her by a
cord. At last she reached the line where the heath passed into
a range of low-lying boggy pastures, and the alder and juniper.
bushes formed a closer thicket; there she left the foot-path.
solitary beech stood there-sown probably by a bird, for as far
as the eye could see it descried no similar foliage. Magdalen
sank down at the foot of the tree. Deeply she bowed her head;
motionless she gazed on space; the cord fell from her hand and
her accustomed reverie came over her.
A
Now in the free open air, under the beautiful deep-blue
heaven, the sore load of trouble which weighed upon her heart
fell from it. Her lips did not move, no sigh escaped from them;
but a quiet stream of tears trickled into her lap. Long, very
long she sat there without changing her position; but by degrees
her tears fell more slowly, till at last she lifted her head, and
with a calmer air murmured her old favorite tune:
"Rikketikketak,
Rikketikketoo;
The iron's warm;
Up with your arm,
Now strike,- one, two,
Rikketikketoo. "
What could this strange jingle mean? It would have been
useless to ask Magdalen, for she herself knew not how it was
that of themselves, almost without will or consciousness of hers,
the meaningless words came tripping over her lips. A faint
recollection she had of some one having often sung them to her;
but that was long, long ago. They spoke but indistinctly, still
they had ever more and more fixed themselves in her train of
associations, had become ever more and more the accompaniment
both of her joys and of her sorrows.
After she had repeated the rhyme a few times, and each time
less sadly, she seemed quite to forget her melancholy and the
causes of it. She stood up, her face radiant with contentment,
briskly led the cow to a place where there was better pasture,
## p. 3964 (#330) ###########################################
3964
HENRI CONSCIENCE
and ran towards a sandy hillock which rose a little above the
general surface of the heath. She had often visited this spot.
Steadying herself with her hands upon her knees, she fixed her
eyes on a bluish point far away upon the extremest verge of the
horizon, a town it was probably, or a large village.
With unwearied eyes she gazed upon the road, doubtless in the
unconscious hope that by it he who should release her from her
bondage would one day approach that way.
THE LOST GLOVE
"THIS
HIS is the celebrated bear-pit of Berne," said the guide.
"Pass here when you choose, you will always find people
of all ages who are amusing themselves throwing bread
and fruit to these ferocious beasts. Here is a good place. See
the tricks of these bears, and how they lift up their arms like
real beggars. "
While Max Rapelings was entirely absorbed in contemplating
the amusing antics of the bears, Herman, glancing round, noticed
a lady wrapped in a red shawl, who had dropped a yellow glove,
and who would probably have lost it, as she continued walking
on. He picked up the glove, ran after the lady, and said to her
in French, "You have lost something, madam. "
The lady turned. Herman seemed transfixed. This lady was
no other than the pale maiden of the Aarberggasse, whom he
had not recognized at first, owing to her wearing a colored shawl.
She made a step toward him, took her glove with a smile of
thanks, and said in a voice whose sweetness was great, “I thank
you infinitely, sir. "
But at once appeared beside her the old gentleman with the
crabbed face, who fixed upon the young man a look both pier-
cing and interrogative.
Just at this moment Max turned toward his friend and cried
out:-
"Here, Herman; come quick; there are some bears fighting
furiously. "
This cry produced upon the young girl and old gentleman an
extraordinary effect-it seemed to strike them with terror and
affright. They turned away and walked off rapidly, as if in the
young doctor they had recognized a dreaded enemy.
## p. 3965 (#331) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3965
Max had observed this inopportune meeting; he left the
Swiss, who was still amusing himself by looking into the bear-
pit, ran towards his friend, looked at his face attentively, and
cried with astonishment:
say to you? Did her tyrant
"You are pale! What did she
insult you? You do not answer.
Alas! there is an end of all
our pleasure for to-day! I would give the poor five francs were
you nevermore to meet the pale maiden and her dragon! "
"Hush, hush, Max! I have heard her voice; it is marvel-
ously sweet and fascinating-it still resounds in my ear like a
cry of distress. "
"A cry of distress! Did she complain to you? What did she
say? »
"Only I thank you infinitely, sir. '"
"And you call that a cry of distress? You are surely losing
your wits! »
>>
"Yes, but her voice was so plaintive, her smile
"Oh! she smiled upon you, did she? The Devil! Things
begin to look serious. "
"Her smile is so sweet, sad, and plaintive. "
"There now; you are beginning to talk in verse! This does
not seem to me the fitting spot, beside a bear-pit. Come, behave
yourself, Herman; here is our host coming. For the love of
Heaven, do not mention the pale maiden before him, for he
might think you have lost your wits. "
THE IRON TOMB
IT
T WOULD be difficult to describe to you the strange life I led
at Bodeghem. I wandered daily along the walks of the
uninhabited country-houses, in the woods and shady groves,
my mind enveloped as it were in a dream, which like a thick.
cloud held me aloof from the uter world. It was useless to
call to my assistance all my energy and will to dissipate the fog
that thus covered my intellect; it was trouble lost. I could only
see Rose and her pitiful look; I could only feel the worm of
sorrow that gnawed at my heart and only heard the terrible
words —“Do you know the news? Rose is going to be married”—
that followed me everywhere, without giving me one moment's
peace. The violence of passion, the bitterness of despair, had
## p. 3966 (#332) ###########################################
3966
HENRI CONSCIENCE
left me entirely. I hated no one, accused no one, not even
my cruel fate; not even the future husband, my rival. An
intense sorrow, a dreamy resignation, a species of quiet sympa-
thy with my anguish, took the place of all violent emotion in my
heart.
Convinced that I was never destined to experience real hap-
piness in this world, I recalled one by one all the recollections
of my past life, and with these reminiscences I created for
myself an imaginary world, wherein my soul could find a source
of peace and consolation.
In walking through the garden I would stop on the bridge
and gaze into the water, then returning to less sad thoughts I
would contemplate for hours together the lawn that stretched
itself before me. I saw in imagination a delicate little girl,
pretty as an angel; by her side was a little boy who could not
talk, but his eyes at the least word or smile from the little girl
would lighten with admiration, gratitude, and pride. I followed
these happy children; I trembled with heartfelt emotion when I
perceived upon the little girl's face a smile of friendship for the
poor boy.
I shared in their games as they traced out a bed of
flowers in the grass; I ran behind them as they chased the but-
terflies I listened to their childish chatterings and each beating
of their little hearts, and I recognized with cruel satisfaction
that even then a fatal power dominated over these innocent
creatures and had already sown in their hearts a seed of a
future love. I spoke to the trees, the flowers, the birds, to
revive again the memory of my lost happiness, until nightfall
and the weary throbbings of my heart warned me that it was
time to return home. On other days I would wander in the
woods and try to find out those trees to whom I had confided
my sorrows and hopes. I recognized the old places where I had
once sat, and I thought I could see glittering among the grass
the tears I had shed some eight long years ago.
-
Then I used to weep from pure happiness; the sun of hope
inundated my heart with its light. Now I had none; my life
was closed by the dark wall of the impossible-it was on that
account I had no more tears. Tears are both a prayer and an
intercession for help and pity. Why should I complain or
implore? —I, to whom no earthly power could give back to my
heart what it desired; whose sorrows by their very nature were
to be life-lasting.
## p. 3967 (#333) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3967
―――
Again at other times I would sit down on the hedge-side,
where the dumb child had worked for weeks carving wooden
figures - loved treasures with which he hoped to win a smile. I
saw again the spot where the child rolled on the ground, a prey
to con vulsions of despair, because his tongue refused to utter
any intelligible sounds. I saw the white poplar-trees whose
bark still bore the mysterious signs with which he tried to make
himself understood. The cows that were grazing in the fields,
the cracking of the shepherd's whip, the silvery dew arising
from the running brook, the splendor of the rising sun, all
recalled the memory of my childhood and helped me to forget
my mournful sadness, recalling to my mind a picture of happi-
ness that had been, but could never return.
SISKA VAN ROOSEMAEL
NOT
many years ago, you might have seen in one of the
streets behind the green churchyard of Antwerp, a fa-
mous old grocer's shop, which through many generations
had descended from father to son, and had always been conspic-
uous for good wares and low prices. The last proprietor of the
shop was James van Roosemael, son of Frank, son of Charles,
son of Gaspard van Roosemael, and had married Siska Pot, a
descendant of the famous Peter Pot, whose name is still to be
met in the two Peter-Pot Streets.
but on
This wedded pair, trained from early youth to a life of indus-
try, and now unremittingly busied with their small trade, had
never found time to take part in the progress of modern civili-
zation, or in other words, to Frenchify themselves. Their dress,
made of stout cloth, was plain, and hardly ever changed its cut;
they merely distinguished working dress, Sunday dress, and
Easter dress. The latter was never taken from the cupboard
great holidays, and when the Van Roosemaels took the
Holy Communion, or were invited by friends as godparents or
marriage guests. It was easily to be seen that the simple people
of the old Flemish world, in their quaint though valuable dress,
looked rather strangely if compared with many a fine beau, who
for a few francs had decked himself out in a fine showy dress,
and would, in passing, regard the Van Roosemaels with disdain.
But they did not mind it, and thought, "Every man has his own.
## p. 3968 (#334) ###########################################
3968
HENRI CONSCIENCE
point to gain—you the shadow, we the substance. " They were
sufficiently uneducated not to know that gentlefolks do not dine
at noon, and they therefore were vulgar enough to sit down to
dinner when the clock struck twelve; yea, more, they never
forgot to say grace both before and after dinner. But there
were other imperfections with which they ought to be charged:
for instance, they did not understand a word of French, and
had never felt the want of this accomplishment; they were reli-
gious, humble, industrious, and above all peaceable. But the
height of their stupidity was, that they in their Flemish sim-
plicity considered it better every day to lay by an honest stiver,
than by lies and fraud to amass such riches in a few years, that
all the world should exclaim in astonishment, "In what hole
did the rat find it? " In a word, they were Flemish burghers of
the old school.
A PAINTER'S PROGRESS
A™
T THE funeral of Baron de Erct, a humble vehicle followed
the procession afar off. Arrived at the burial-ground,
three persons alighted from the poor conveyance. They
turned into a by-lane near the cemetery, and did not show them-
selves during the ceremony. But when all was over, and the
splendid carriages were returning in speed with all the mourners
to the town, three persons were seen entering the churchyard
with slow steps. It was Frank, his aged grandmother leaning
on his arm and supported by his mother on the other side.
Nobody saw them; all was still in the cemetery, and the greatest
silence prevailed around.
Do you mark them all three,— their eyes red with tears, their
breath choked by the agony of grief, approaching a mound of
newly dug-up earth? There rests the man who did good by
stealth. Oh, say not that virtue is not rewarded, not honored:
The tears of these people weigh thousands in the scales of the
heavenly Judge.
Look! the women are kneeling on the mound. They clasp
their hands and bend their heads over the grave; their lips
move. Is theirs a set speech? are their words studied, measured,
written down, in order that they may remember them? Oh no!
They know only one prayer, which the Lord himself has taught
## p. 3969 (#335) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3969
as we
them: they say the Lord's prayer over and over again. Their
voices become clearer whilst they pray:-"Forgive us our debts
forgive our debtors! Holy Mary, Mother of the Lord,
pray for us miserable sinners, now and in the hour of death.
Amen. » Their sobs, their tears, their sighs tell the rest:
"Sleep in peace, kind-hearted friend! we plant no flowers on thy
they are not everlasting as the memory of thy count-
less charities. May thy soul receive in the bosom of thy Maker
a reward which the world cannot give! "
grave;
And
why does not Frank also kneel on the ground? Why?
He is absorbed in grief; he feels no life in him, he has forgot-
ten where he is. Look! there he stands like a statue, his head
dropping
on his breast, his hand pressed to his forehead. How
the streaming tears sparkle which burst from his eyes! Unfor-
youth! who could describe the mortal despair which
weighs on thy bursting heart!
tunate
Awake! seest thou not that the cold ground will injure the
health of thy grandmother? Remove her from the grave, else
the evening will perhaps still find her kneeling and weeping
Take courage! return to thy home.
here.
On
parents,
the following day Frank said in a sorrowful tone to his
<<<We are unfortunate and poor -I am the cause of your
I know I am.
sorrow,
But let me now put a question to you,
and ansv
er it candidly! Can we still hold out for three months
earning any money? "
question remained long unanswered. The mother went
up to the invalid husband, and after a long serious conversation
with hin
longer. »
without
The
-
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
said, "Three months with the utmost stretch, but no
"Well then," said Frank, "I shall make a last attempt.
One picture I will paint still-one only, and if I do not sell it
soon, then I shall turn sign-painter. "
It gave him evident pain to utter this last word; there was a
spasm in
his throat,—yet he soon composed himself, and asked
without
once more whether they would let him work for three months
trouble or molestation. This his parents readily prom-
Frank then went to Mr. Wappers and received the
ised him.
him.
last twenty-five francs which his generous patron had left for
With part of this money he purchased colors, and on the
following day he shut himself up in the loft where he used to
work,
intended to execute.
and sketched the first outline of the picture which he
VII
-249
## p. 3970 (#336) ###########################################
3970
HENRI CONSCIENCE
It was the churchyard of Hemixem, with a newly thrown-up
grave, on which two women were kneeling in prayer; behind
them stood a young man weeping and absorbed in the deepest
grief; on the side were the walls of the chapel, and in the back-
ground a rich landscape. During two months and a half Frank
worked without intermission; he went out to the churchyard in
order to draw from nature, and made his mother and grand-
mother sit to him for models.
Never perhaps had an artist worked with more enthusiasm,
with more love and industry, at a picture. His soul was full of
his subject, and during all the time he was employed in his
work his head burnt feverishly. Could this picture turn out ill?
No, it must necessarily bear the stamp of inspiration. And so
it was.
Frank got on credit an appropriate frame for the exhibition.
But this time another thought struck him: he sent his picture to
Germany to the exhibition at Cologne. Will he be more suc-
cessful there? Yet the picture was gone, and stayed away with-
out any news of it whatever.
Poverty, greater than they had ever felt, now broke in upon
the longing family. They ate black bread, and were as if
crushed by the awaking to the dreadful reality. The good old
grandmother showed the greatest courage; she carried quietly
her best habiliments and her few trinkets to the pawnbroker's,
and consoled the others. But matters could not thus last long.
The clothes of Frank and of the mother must at last also be
pawned; even the prize medals and other honorable decorations
went to the baker as pledges for a little bread. They had already
run up an account with the butcher and the grocer― the baker
would let them have no more -none would trust the wretched
artist, as Frank was nicknamed in the neighborhood; the weekly
house-rent was unpaid during a whole month, and the landlord
had even sent the bailiff to exact payment.
One afternoon in the month of September the destitution of
these people reached its height. None of them had tasted a
morsel since the preceding evening. The bailiff had just left
them with the warning that he would return at six o'clock, and
if they did not then pay their rent they would be turned into
the street.
Grandmother held Frank's hand in hers, and sought to con-
sole him; the mother shed silent tears; the father, who still wore
## p. 3971 (#337) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3971
his arm in a sling, sat at the chimney and stared gloomily into
the chamber. All at once he burst into a flood of tears and
sobbed aloud.
Frank had never seen his father weep: this was the first
time in his life; it struck him like a thunderbolt. A shriek of
terror burst from him, and he fell on his knees before his
father. "Father," he cried, "father, you weep-you!
Oh, be
at ease; to-morrow I shall turn sign-painter; then I shall at
least earn sixpence a day. "
The workman raised his son from the floor, and pressed him
with his left arm to his heart. "Frank, my boy," he said,
"I don't lay blame on you; but we are so wretched. I weep
because I am in despair that I cannot work. We are starving,
and craving hunger is gnawing at our hearts.
Who will give us
to eat before the night falls in ? Where shall we go when they
turn us out to-morrow? Is it not sufficient to turn my brain, or
to make me —”
Frank pressed him forcibly to his bosom, and cut short his
awful speech by a tender embrace.
Whilst father and son were thus clasped in each other's arms,
the door opened, and a man with a leather bag strapped over
his shoulder stretched out his hand with a letter in it. With
a sudden start Frank disengaged himself from the arm of his
father, and attempted to seize the letter; but the postman drew
it back and said dryly, “A letter from Germany-two francs! "
Two francs! Where is such a treasure secreted in this poor
dwelling? Two francs from people who are starving! Who could
describe the tortures and sorrows of this family? The letter
contains perhaps what may put an end to their distress; perhaps
it would dry up their tears, satisfy their hunger, and protect
them from ejectment. And alas! whilst they are staring with
beating heart at the letter, and long so ardently to open it, the
postman is turning to go off with it and to rob them of all their
hopes. It is as if the ground was burning beneath their feet;
they stamp the floor from impatience and tear their hair.
Now the mother kneels down before the postman; she raises
her hands imploringly! Ha! he weeps - his heart is not of stone.
"Here" - he hands the letter to Frank-"take it; I am a poor
man too, but I can't stand this any longer. " Frank opens the
letter slowly with a trembling hand, cautiously undoing each and
every fold: but scarcely had he cast his eyes upon the contents,
## p. 3972 (#338) ###########################################
3972
HENRI CONSCIENCE
when the muscles of his face began to tremble convulsively; he
grows deadly pale, and a strange scream escapes his breast. He
supports himself upon the table, and the letter drops from his
hands on the floor. The room rings with lamentations, the
grandmother raises her hands to heaven, the mother sinks back-
ward from her chair as if paralyzed. Frank was struggling to
speak. It was evident he wanted to say something, but he could
not make it pass his trembling lips. At last his speech burst
forth" Grandmother, mother, father, I am a painter! Five
hundred francs for my picture! »
## p. 3973 (#339) ###########################################
3973
ROSE TERRY COOKE
(1827-1892)
OSE TERRY was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1827, of an
old and well-known family, and there nearly all the first
half of her life was passed. After that she was little there,
spending a number of years with her married sister in Collinsville,
and, for fifteen years following her own marriage, in Winsted, Con-
necticut. The last five years of her life were passed in Pittsfield,
Massachusetts, where she died in 1892.
An uneventful life, it might be said; but she had the tempera-
ment that makes events. Intensity was the keynote of her nature,
the source of her gifts and of her defects. In appearance she was
tall and slight, with dark hair, and large dark eyes that dominated
her slender oval face, and melted or sparkled with the mood or the
occasion. This versatility of temper was deeply founded in her, and
is manifest in her work, as in the deep overflowing sentiment of her
poems and the almost rollicking humor of her stories, or the tender-
ness suddenly giving way to bitterness.
Her first literary work was in verse; her earliest venture, before
she was twelve years old, being some verses sent privately to the Hart-
ford Courant, and appearing there to the great awe and delight of the
little author. As time went on, the creative impulse strengthened and
took shape, and she became known as a writer of true poetic feeling
and fine rhythmical instinct. In 1860 she gathered her poems into a
little volume, which won for her a wider recognition. Quite late in
life, in 1888, a complete collection of her poems was made; but she
had hardly surpassed that earlier work, which included such gems as
'Then,' Trailing Arbutus,' The Fishing Song. Besides these,
'The Two Villages' and 'Nounettes' should be named, as having
found their way into many hearts, and as being very perfect speci-
mens of her poetic gift. But it was in her stories that all her rich
powers were enlisted. She was one of the first to open by the story-
teller's art New England life to the reading public. This field has
since been worked to a finer culture, but she brought to the opening
of the ground a racy vigor and freshness, a spontaneity, a sparkle,
that we could ill spare for the sake of a more delicate finish, and
that make her characters stand out with an almost internal force.
Among the best of her stories are 'Freedom Wheeler's Controversy
## p. 3974 (#340) ###########################################
ROSE TERRY COOKE
3974
with Providence,' 'The Deacon's Week,' 'Polly Mariner,' 'A Town
Mouse and a Country Mouse,' and 'Odd Miss Todd. ' But it is hard
to make an exclusive choice among them. The Deacon's Week,'
which she esteemed the best thing she ever did, has had a world-
wide fame and usefulness, having been translated into as many as
four languages, and widely distributed as a tract. Between the years
1881 and 1891 she gathered her stories into book form, under these
titles: Somebody's Neighbors,' 'Root-Bound,' The Sphinx's Child-
ren,' 'Happy Dodd,' 'Huckleberries. ' In 1889 appeared her one
novel, 'Steadfast,' an interesting story with much fine character-
drawing. But it is as a writer of short stories of New England life
and of some lovely poems that Rose Terry Cooke will live.
THE REVEREND THOMAS TUCKER AS A PARSON
From Some Account of Thomas Tucker'
THE
HE Social duties of a settled clergyman might have pressed on
him onerously; but as if Providence saw that he was best
fitted for a life of solitude, just as the Green Street Church
had listened to their learned and pious pastor for the first time
after his installation in their pulpit, Keziah, his sister, was seized
with a sudden and dangerous illness. The kind women of the
church rallied around Thomas Tucker in this hour of his need,
and nursed Keziah with unremitting kindness; but all in vain.
She dropped out of life as silently and patiently as she had
endured living, and it remained only to say that the place which
knew her should now know her no more; for she left behind
her no dear friend but her brother, and not an enemy. Even
Thomas missed her rather as a convenience than a companion;
profiting in a certain sense by her death, as it aroused keenly
the sympathy of the church for his loss and loneliness, and
attached them to him by those links of pity that are proverbi-
ally almost as strong as love. In any other circumstances the
Green Street Church would no doubt have discovered, early in
their relation, that Mr. Tucker was as unfit for any pastoral
position as he had been for that post in the college chapel; but
much was forgiven him out of his people's abundant kindness,
and their respect for his learning, his simplicity, and his sincere
piety, forbade their objecting at first to his great deficiencies in
those things considered quite as needful to pulpit success as the
## p. 3975 (#341) ###########################################
ROSE TERRY COOKE
3975
It hap-
power of preaching and the abundance of knowledge.
pened, soon after Keziah's death, that Mr. Tucker was called
to officiate at the funeral of one of his wealthiest parishioners,
a man who had just come back from Europe, and been killed
in a railroad accident on the way to his home in Deerford. He
was personally unknown to Thomas Tucker, but his character
was notorious. He went to church, and bought an expensive
pew there, merely as a business speculation, it gave him weight
in the eyes of his fellows to be outwardly respectable as well
as rich; but he was niggardly to his family, ostentatious, over-
reaching, and cruel as death to the poor and struggling who
crossed his path or came into his employ.
The Reverend Mr. Tucker improved the occasion. He took
for the text of that funeral address, "What shall it profit a man
if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? " and after a
pungent comparison between the goods of this world and the
tortures of a future state, he laid down his spectacles and wound
up with, "And now, beloved, I have laid before you the two
conditions. Think ye that to-day he whose mortal part lieth
before you would not utter a loud Amen to my statement? Yea,
if there be truth in the Word of God, he who hath left behind
him the gain of life and greed is now crying aloud for a drop of
water to cool his parched tongue, and longing for an hour of
probation wherein to cast off the fetters of ill-gotten gold and
sit with Lazarus gathering crumbs in the company of dogs.
Wherefore, seeing that God hath spoken sharply to you all in
the sudden requirement of this rich man's soul, let his admoni-
tion sink into your souls; seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
cast in your lot with the poor of this world, rich in faith, and
be ready to answer joyfully when the Master calls. "
Of course the community was outraged; but for a few kindly
souls who stood by the poor parson, and insisted that Keziah's
death had unsettled his mind, and not a few who felt that he
had manfully told the truth without fear or favor, and could
not help feeling a certain respect for him, he would have been
asked, forcibly, to resign that very week. As it was, the indig-
nant widow went over to another denomination without delay.
"I will never set foot in that church again! " she said.
can one be safe, where a man is allowed to say whatever he
chooses in the pulpit? A ritual never can be personal or
insulting. I shall abide by the Prayer-Book hereafter. "
« How
## p. 3976 (#342) ###########################################
3976
ROSE TERRY COOKE
In due time this matter faded out of the popular mind, as all
things do in course of time, and nothing came between pastor
and people except a gradual sense on their part that Solomon
was right when he said, "Much study is a weariness to the flesh;"
not only the student's flesh, but also theirs who have to hear
reiterated all the dry outcome of such study.
But Parson Tucker's career was not to be monotonous. His
next astonishing performance was at a wedding. A very pretty
young girl, an orphan, living in the house of a relative, equally
poor but grasping and ambitious, was about to marry a young
man of great wealth and thoroughly bad character; a man whom
all men knew to be a drunkard, a gambler, and a dissolute fel-
low, though the only son of a cultivated and very aristocratic
family. Poor Emily Manning had suffered all those deprivations
and mortifications which result from living in a dependent con-
dition, aware that her presence was irksome and unwelcome,
while her delicate organization was overtaxed with work whose
limits were as indefinite as the food and clothing which were its
only reward. She had entered into this engagement in a sort of
desperation, goaded on by the widowed sister-in-law with whom
she lived, and feeling that nothing could be much worse than
her present position. Parson Tucker knew nothing of this, but
he did know the character of Royal Van Wyck; and when he
saw the pallid, delicate, shrinking girl beside this already worn-
out, debased, bestial creature, ready to put herself into his
hands for life, the "daimon" laid hold upon him and spake
again. He opened the service, as was customary in Hartland,
with a short address; but surely never did such a bridal exhort-
ation enter the ears of man and woman before.
"My friends," he began, "matrimony is not to be lightly un-
dertaken, as the matter of a day; it is an awful compact for life
and death that ye enter into here. Young man, if thou hast
not within thyself the full purpose to treat this woman with
pure respect, loyal service, and tender care; to guard her soul's
innocence as well as her bodily welfare; to cleave to her only,
and keep thyself from evil thoughts and base indulgences for
her sake, if thou art not fit, as well as willing, to be priest
and king of a clean household, standing unto her in character
and act in God's stead so far as man may, draw back even now
from thine intent; for a lesser purpose is sacrilege here, and
will be damnable infamy hereafter. "
## p. 3977 (#343) ###########################################
ROSE TERRY COOKE
3977
Royal Van Wyck opened his sallow green eyes with an inso-
lent stare. He would have sworn roundly had not some poor
instinct of propriety restrained him; as it was, he did not speak
but looked away. He could not bear the keen deep-set eyes
fixed upon him, and a certain gaunt majesty in the parson's
outstretched arm and severe countenance daunted him for the
moment. But Thomas Tucker saw that he had no intention of
accepting this good advice, so he turned to Emily.
"Daughter," he said, "if thou art about to enter into this
solemn relation, pause and consider. If thou hast not such con-
fidence in this man that thy heart faileth not an iota at the
prospect of a lifelong companionship with him; if thou canst not.
trust him utterly, respect him as thy lord and head, yield him
an obedience joyful and secure next to that thou givest to God;
if he is not to thee the one desirable friend and lover; if thou
hast a thought so free of him that it is possible for thee to
imagine another man in his place without a shudder; if thou art
not willing to give thyself to him in the bonds of a lifelong,
inevitable covenant of love and service; if it is not the best and
sweetest thing earth can offer thee to be his wife and the mother
of his children,-stop now; stop at the very horns of the altar,
lest thou commit the worst sin of woman, sell thy birthright for
a mess of pottage, and find no place for repentance, though thou
seek it carefully and with tears. "
Carried away with his zeal for truth and righteousness, speak-
ing as with the sudden inspiration of a prophet, Parson Tucker
did not see the terror and the paleness deepening, as he spoke,
on the bride's fair countenance. As he extended his hand toward
her she fell in a dead faint at his feet. All was confusion in an
instant. The bridegroom swore and Mrs. Manning screamed,
while the relations crowded about the insensible girl and tried to
revive her. She was taken at once up-stairs to her room, and the
wedding put off till the next day, as Mrs. Manning announced.
"And you won't officiate at it, old fellow! I'll swear to that! "
roared the baffled bridgroom with a volley of profane epithets,
shaking his fist in the parson's calm face.
"Having taken the sword, I am content to perish thereby,
even as Scripture saith," answered Thomas Tucker, stalking out
of the door.
That night as he sat in his study, the door opened softly, and
Emily Manning came in and knelt at the side of the parson's
## p. 3978 (#344) ###########################################
3978
ROSE TERRY COOKE
chair. "I have no place to go to, sir," she whispered, with
trembling lips. "You saved me to-day; will you help me now?
I was going to sin, but I didn't know it till you told me. ”
"Then it was not sin, my child," said Parson Tucker gently.
"Sin is conscious transgression, and from that thou hast instantly
departed. "
"But what could I do? " she asked, her eyes full of tears.
"I have no home. Marcia is tired of me, and I have no other
friends. I wanted a home so much. Oh, I was wrong, for I did
not love him. And now I have run away from Marcia, — she
was so dreadful,- and what shall I do? »
"Poor child! " he said tenderly. "Sit here. I will help.
My old woman, in the kitchen below, shall fetch thee to a
chamber. Keziah brought her with us; she is kind, and will
care for thee, while I go to bring a friend. " So saying, the
parson rung his bell for old Jane, gave the girl over to her
care, and set out himself for President Winthrop's house.
"I have brought you a good work," he said abruptly to Mrs.
Winthrop. "Come with me; there is a soul in need at my
house. "
Mrs. Winthrop was used to this sort of summons from the
parson. They had been good friends ever since the eccentric
interview brought about by Jack Mason's valentine, and when
charity was needed Eleanor Winthrop's heart and hand were
always ready for service. She put on hat and shawl, and went
with the parson to his house, hearing on the way all the story.
"Mr. Tucker," she said, as he finished the recital, "aren't
you going to make much trouble for yourself by your aggressive
honesty? "
Thomas looked at her, bewildered.
"But the truth is to be spoken! " he replied, as if that were
the end of the controversy.
And she was silent, recognizing the
fact that here conventions were useless, and self-preservation
not the first law of grace, if it is of nature.
All Mrs. Winthrop's kindliness was aroused by the pitiful
condition of Emily Manning. She consoled and counseled her
like a mother, and soon after took her into her household as
governess to the little girls whom Mr. Winthrop's first wife had
left him; making for the grateful girl a happy home, which in
after years she left to become the wife of a good man, toward
whom she felt all that Parson Tucker had required of her on
## p. 3979 (#345) ###########################################
ROSE TERRY COOKE
3979
that painful day which she hated now to remember. And as the
parson performed this ceremony he turned after the benediction
to Eleanor Winthrop, and said with a beam of noble triumph
on his hollow visage, "Blessed be the Lord! I have saved a soul
alive! »
But long before this happy sequel came about, he had other
opportunities to distinguish himself. There came a Sunday when
the service of infant baptism was to be performed; and when
the fair sweet babes, who had behaved with unusual decorum,
were returned to their mothers' arms, and the parson according
to order said, "Let us pray," he certainly offered the most
peculiar petition ever heard in the Green Street Church. After
expressing the usual desire that the baptized children might
up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, he went
grow
on:
Yea!
«But if it please thee, O Father, to recall these little ones
to thyself in the innocence of their infancy, we will rejoice and
give thanks, and sound thy praises upon the harp and timbrel.
with the whole heart we will praise thee; for we know the
tribulations and snares, the evil and folly and anguish, of this
life below; and we know that not one child of Adam, coming
to man's estate, is spared that bitter and woful cup that is
pressed out from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil,
which
our progenitors ate of in thy garden of Paradise, and
thereby sinned and fell, and bequeathed to us their evil long-
ings
and habitual transgression. They are the blessed who are
taken
away in their infancy, and lie forever by green pastures
and still waters in the fields of heaven. We ask of thee no
greater or better gift for these lambs than early to be folded
where
none shall hurt or destroy in all thy holy mountain, and
love that is above all mother's love shall cradle them
the
throughout eternity. Amen! "
ble at
who
Not a mother in that congregation failed to shiver and trem-
this prayer, and tears fell fast and thick on the babes
slumbered softly in the tender arms that had gathered them.
home, after consecrating them to that God who yet they were
so unwilling should literally accept their offering. Fifty pairs
of eyes were turned on Parson Tucker with the look of a bear
robbed of its cubs; but far more were drowned in tears of mem-
ory and, regret, poignant still, but strangely soothed by this vivid
presentation of the blessedness wherein their loved and lost were
safely abiding.
## p. 3980 (#346) ###########################################
3980
ROSE TERRY COOKE
Much comment was exchanged in the church porch, after
service, on the parson's prayer.
"We ought to hold a special meeting to pray that the Lord
will not answer such a petition! " cried one indignant mother,
whose little flock were clinging about her skirts, and who had
left twin babies, yet unbaptized, at home.
"It is rather hard on you, aunty! " said the graceless Jack
Mason, the speaker's nephew, now transformed into an unprom-
ising young lawyer in Hartland. "You'd rather have your babies
sin and suffer with you than have 'em safe in their little graves,
hadn't you? I don't go with the parson myself. I didn't so
much mind his funeral gymnastic over old Baker, and his dispo-
sition of that party's soul in Hades, because I never before sup-
posed Roosevelt Baker had a soul, and it was quite reassuring to
be certain he met with his dues somewhere; but he's worse than
Herod about the babies! "
However, the parson did not hear or know what was said of
hi and in an ignorance that was indeed bliss continued to
preach and minister to his people in strict accordance with his
own views of duty. His next essay was a pastoral visit to one
of his flock, recently a widow, a woman weak in body and mind
both; desirous above all things to be proper and like other
people, to weep where she must, smile when she ought, wear
clothes like the advance-guard of fashion, and do "the thing"
to be done always, whether it was the right and true thing
or not.
Her husband had spent all her fortune in speculation, taken
to drink as a refuge from folly and reproach at home, and
under the influence of the consoling fluid had turned his wife
out-of-doors whenever he felt in the mood; kicked her, beaten
her, and forced her, in fear of her life, over and over to steal
from her own house and take refuge with the neighbors, and
ask from them the food she was not allowed at home. At last
the end came. Parson Tucker was sent for to see the widow
and arrange for funeral services. She had not been present at
the Baker funeral, or indeed been in Deerford for some years
after that occasion, so she adhered to the conventions; and when
Parson Tucker reached the house he was shown into a dark-
ened room, where the disconsolate woman sat posed already in
deep mourning, a widow's cap perched upon her small head.
A woman would have inferred at once that Mrs. Spring had
## p. 3981 (#347) ###########################################
ROSE TERRY COOKE
3981
anticipated the end of Joe's last attack of mania à potu, and pre-
pared these funeral garments beforehand; but Thomas Tucker
drew no such conclusions. He sat down silently and grimly, after
shaking hands with Mrs. Spring, and said nothing.
have sketched the Flemish peasant as he appeared to me. I drew him
calm, peaceable, religious, patriotic, attached to his traditions and opposed
somewhat vehemently to all innovations; in short, as he appeared to me at
that period of my life in 1830, when, hungry and sick, I enjoyed hospitality
and the tenderest care amongst them. I have never inspired my heroes with
the poetic glamour for which I have been reproached; it is they who inspired
And then a man may dwell by preference on the defective side and the
coarseness of the laborer, may sketch him as the slave of drunkenness and
animal passion. I shall not deny the picturesqueness of this work. But
between that and the admission of my delusion there is a wide margin. My
neighbor's heroes are not necessarily mine, nor do I see them in the same
light. People are constantly discussing whether he who paints things in their
darkest colors, or he who sees all in a materialistic light, or he who presents
everything in its happiest form,- whether he who takes a subjective or an
objective point of view,- is right. All I know is,- and it is my settled con-
viction, that a conscientious writer is never wrong; and I believe myself to
be conscientious. »
This is a frank, manly, and honest pronouncement, and will surely
be admitted as such even by those who may not care either for the
matter or manner, the method or the literary principles, of Henri
Conscience. Perhaps the best commentary is, that after a European
success ranking only after that of Scott, Balzac, Dumas, Hugo, and
Hans Andersen, Henri Conscience is still (thirteen years after his
death at an advanced age) a name of European repute; is still, in
his own country, held in highest honor and affection.
Winans Sharpe
## p. 3961 (#327) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3961
THE HORSE-SHOE
From Rikke-Tikke-Tak'
IN
IN THE village of Westmal, some two or three miles from Ant-
werp, on the road toward Turnhout, stood a little smithy, in
which four men - the master and his three journeymen
were busy at various work in the way of their trade; and at the
same time were conversing—as much, that is, as the noise of
hammers and files would let them of Napoleon and his mighty
deeds of war. One of the journeymen, who had lost two fingers
of his left hand, was just beginning a story of the Italian wars,
when two horsemen pulled up before the door, and one of them
called out, "Hola, my men! my horse wants shoeing. "
The journeymen looked curiously at the strangers, who by
this time had dismounted. They were evidently both military
men. One of them had a great scar right across his face and
wore a red riband in his button-hole: the other, though dressed
like a gentleman, seemed in some sort his subordinate; he held
the horse by the bridle and asked, "Which shoe, colonel? "
"The near forefoot, lieutenant," was the reply.
One of the journeymen took the horse and led it into the
shed; and meanwhile the colonel entered the smithy, looked
about him, and took up first one, then another, of the tools, as
if looking out for an old acquaintance. At last he seemed to
have found what he wanted; in one hand he held a heavy pair
of tongs, in the other a hammer, both of which he surveyed with
so peculiar a smile that the journeymen stood round, gaping and
staring in no little amaze.
Meanwhile the iron was in the fire, the bellows panted away,
and a garland of sparks spurted from the glowing coals. The
journeymen stood by the anvil, hammers in hand, till the mas-
ter took the iron from the fire; then began the work of forging.
The colonel evidently took a lively interest in what was going
on; his features lighted up, as they might have done at the
finest music. But when the shoe was taken from the anvil, as
ready for putting on, he eyed it a moment not a little disdain-
fully, took the tongs which held it from the master-smith's hand,
and put it back into the fire.
"That will never do," said he; "the shoe's too clumsy by
half, master. Now, my lads! look alive! blow away! "
And while one of the journeymen, with an
air of great
respect, obeyed his directions, he threw off his coat and bared
―
## p. 3962 (#328) ###########################################
3962
HENRI CONSCIENCE
his sinewy arms. Soon the iron was at a white heat: he turned
it twice or thrice in the fire with all the air of an experienced
hand, laid it on the anvil, and then called to the journeymen in
a cheerful tone:-
"Now, my men! look out! I'll give the time, and we'll turn
out a shoe fit for the Emperor's nags.
So now,
attention:-
'Rikketikketak,
Rikketikketoo;
The iron's warm;
Up with your arm,
Now strike,- one, two,
Rikketikketoo.
Rikketikketak,
Rikketikketoo,
Strike while it is hot,
And tarry not.
Again, one two,
Rikketikketoo. '
There, look at the shoe now! "
The journeymen eyed the light neat piece of work agape,
and as it were, struck dumb. The master meanwhile seemed to
be turning some thought in his head, which he every now and
then shook, as though quite unable to come to a satisfactory
conclusion. He drew near the stranger, who by this time had
resumed his coat; but however closely he scanned him, he
seemed unable to recognize him.
The horse was soon shod, and now stood before the smithy
ready for its master to mount, who took leave of the party with
a friendly shake of the hand to each, laying also a couple of
gold pieces on the anvil.
"One for the master, one for the men. Drink my health
together and good-by to you. ”
With these words he threw himself into the saddle and rode
off with his companion.
"Well," said the master, "I never in my life knew but one
man who could knock off a shoe like that,- so light and neat,
and so handily; and I must be greatly mistaken if the colonel
isn't just Karl van Milgem himself; he, you know,- but to be
sure you don't know, he that the folks used always to call
Rikke-Tikke-Tak. "
-
## p. 3963 (#329) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3963
THE PATIENT WAITER
From Rikke-Tikke-Tak
SH
Slowly she
He took her way with the cow toward the brook, which was
edged about with a scanty growth of grass.
went, step by step, leading the creature after her by a
cord. At last she reached the line where the heath passed into
a range of low-lying boggy pastures, and the alder and juniper.
bushes formed a closer thicket; there she left the foot-path.
solitary beech stood there-sown probably by a bird, for as far
as the eye could see it descried no similar foliage. Magdalen
sank down at the foot of the tree. Deeply she bowed her head;
motionless she gazed on space; the cord fell from her hand and
her accustomed reverie came over her.
A
Now in the free open air, under the beautiful deep-blue
heaven, the sore load of trouble which weighed upon her heart
fell from it. Her lips did not move, no sigh escaped from them;
but a quiet stream of tears trickled into her lap. Long, very
long she sat there without changing her position; but by degrees
her tears fell more slowly, till at last she lifted her head, and
with a calmer air murmured her old favorite tune:
"Rikketikketak,
Rikketikketoo;
The iron's warm;
Up with your arm,
Now strike,- one, two,
Rikketikketoo. "
What could this strange jingle mean? It would have been
useless to ask Magdalen, for she herself knew not how it was
that of themselves, almost without will or consciousness of hers,
the meaningless words came tripping over her lips. A faint
recollection she had of some one having often sung them to her;
but that was long, long ago. They spoke but indistinctly, still
they had ever more and more fixed themselves in her train of
associations, had become ever more and more the accompaniment
both of her joys and of her sorrows.
After she had repeated the rhyme a few times, and each time
less sadly, she seemed quite to forget her melancholy and the
causes of it. She stood up, her face radiant with contentment,
briskly led the cow to a place where there was better pasture,
## p. 3964 (#330) ###########################################
3964
HENRI CONSCIENCE
and ran towards a sandy hillock which rose a little above the
general surface of the heath. She had often visited this spot.
Steadying herself with her hands upon her knees, she fixed her
eyes on a bluish point far away upon the extremest verge of the
horizon, a town it was probably, or a large village.
With unwearied eyes she gazed upon the road, doubtless in the
unconscious hope that by it he who should release her from her
bondage would one day approach that way.
THE LOST GLOVE
"THIS
HIS is the celebrated bear-pit of Berne," said the guide.
"Pass here when you choose, you will always find people
of all ages who are amusing themselves throwing bread
and fruit to these ferocious beasts. Here is a good place. See
the tricks of these bears, and how they lift up their arms like
real beggars. "
While Max Rapelings was entirely absorbed in contemplating
the amusing antics of the bears, Herman, glancing round, noticed
a lady wrapped in a red shawl, who had dropped a yellow glove,
and who would probably have lost it, as she continued walking
on. He picked up the glove, ran after the lady, and said to her
in French, "You have lost something, madam. "
The lady turned. Herman seemed transfixed. This lady was
no other than the pale maiden of the Aarberggasse, whom he
had not recognized at first, owing to her wearing a colored shawl.
She made a step toward him, took her glove with a smile of
thanks, and said in a voice whose sweetness was great, “I thank
you infinitely, sir. "
But at once appeared beside her the old gentleman with the
crabbed face, who fixed upon the young man a look both pier-
cing and interrogative.
Just at this moment Max turned toward his friend and cried
out:-
"Here, Herman; come quick; there are some bears fighting
furiously. "
This cry produced upon the young girl and old gentleman an
extraordinary effect-it seemed to strike them with terror and
affright. They turned away and walked off rapidly, as if in the
young doctor they had recognized a dreaded enemy.
## p. 3965 (#331) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3965
Max had observed this inopportune meeting; he left the
Swiss, who was still amusing himself by looking into the bear-
pit, ran towards his friend, looked at his face attentively, and
cried with astonishment:
say to you? Did her tyrant
"You are pale! What did she
insult you? You do not answer.
Alas! there is an end of all
our pleasure for to-day! I would give the poor five francs were
you nevermore to meet the pale maiden and her dragon! "
"Hush, hush, Max! I have heard her voice; it is marvel-
ously sweet and fascinating-it still resounds in my ear like a
cry of distress. "
"A cry of distress! Did she complain to you? What did she
say? »
"Only I thank you infinitely, sir. '"
"And you call that a cry of distress? You are surely losing
your wits! »
>>
"Yes, but her voice was so plaintive, her smile
"Oh! she smiled upon you, did she? The Devil! Things
begin to look serious. "
"Her smile is so sweet, sad, and plaintive. "
"There now; you are beginning to talk in verse! This does
not seem to me the fitting spot, beside a bear-pit. Come, behave
yourself, Herman; here is our host coming. For the love of
Heaven, do not mention the pale maiden before him, for he
might think you have lost your wits. "
THE IRON TOMB
IT
T WOULD be difficult to describe to you the strange life I led
at Bodeghem. I wandered daily along the walks of the
uninhabited country-houses, in the woods and shady groves,
my mind enveloped as it were in a dream, which like a thick.
cloud held me aloof from the uter world. It was useless to
call to my assistance all my energy and will to dissipate the fog
that thus covered my intellect; it was trouble lost. I could only
see Rose and her pitiful look; I could only feel the worm of
sorrow that gnawed at my heart and only heard the terrible
words —“Do you know the news? Rose is going to be married”—
that followed me everywhere, without giving me one moment's
peace. The violence of passion, the bitterness of despair, had
## p. 3966 (#332) ###########################################
3966
HENRI CONSCIENCE
left me entirely. I hated no one, accused no one, not even
my cruel fate; not even the future husband, my rival. An
intense sorrow, a dreamy resignation, a species of quiet sympa-
thy with my anguish, took the place of all violent emotion in my
heart.
Convinced that I was never destined to experience real hap-
piness in this world, I recalled one by one all the recollections
of my past life, and with these reminiscences I created for
myself an imaginary world, wherein my soul could find a source
of peace and consolation.
In walking through the garden I would stop on the bridge
and gaze into the water, then returning to less sad thoughts I
would contemplate for hours together the lawn that stretched
itself before me. I saw in imagination a delicate little girl,
pretty as an angel; by her side was a little boy who could not
talk, but his eyes at the least word or smile from the little girl
would lighten with admiration, gratitude, and pride. I followed
these happy children; I trembled with heartfelt emotion when I
perceived upon the little girl's face a smile of friendship for the
poor boy.
I shared in their games as they traced out a bed of
flowers in the grass; I ran behind them as they chased the but-
terflies I listened to their childish chatterings and each beating
of their little hearts, and I recognized with cruel satisfaction
that even then a fatal power dominated over these innocent
creatures and had already sown in their hearts a seed of a
future love. I spoke to the trees, the flowers, the birds, to
revive again the memory of my lost happiness, until nightfall
and the weary throbbings of my heart warned me that it was
time to return home. On other days I would wander in the
woods and try to find out those trees to whom I had confided
my sorrows and hopes. I recognized the old places where I had
once sat, and I thought I could see glittering among the grass
the tears I had shed some eight long years ago.
-
Then I used to weep from pure happiness; the sun of hope
inundated my heart with its light. Now I had none; my life
was closed by the dark wall of the impossible-it was on that
account I had no more tears. Tears are both a prayer and an
intercession for help and pity. Why should I complain or
implore? —I, to whom no earthly power could give back to my
heart what it desired; whose sorrows by their very nature were
to be life-lasting.
## p. 3967 (#333) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3967
―――
Again at other times I would sit down on the hedge-side,
where the dumb child had worked for weeks carving wooden
figures - loved treasures with which he hoped to win a smile. I
saw again the spot where the child rolled on the ground, a prey
to con vulsions of despair, because his tongue refused to utter
any intelligible sounds. I saw the white poplar-trees whose
bark still bore the mysterious signs with which he tried to make
himself understood. The cows that were grazing in the fields,
the cracking of the shepherd's whip, the silvery dew arising
from the running brook, the splendor of the rising sun, all
recalled the memory of my childhood and helped me to forget
my mournful sadness, recalling to my mind a picture of happi-
ness that had been, but could never return.
SISKA VAN ROOSEMAEL
NOT
many years ago, you might have seen in one of the
streets behind the green churchyard of Antwerp, a fa-
mous old grocer's shop, which through many generations
had descended from father to son, and had always been conspic-
uous for good wares and low prices. The last proprietor of the
shop was James van Roosemael, son of Frank, son of Charles,
son of Gaspard van Roosemael, and had married Siska Pot, a
descendant of the famous Peter Pot, whose name is still to be
met in the two Peter-Pot Streets.
but on
This wedded pair, trained from early youth to a life of indus-
try, and now unremittingly busied with their small trade, had
never found time to take part in the progress of modern civili-
zation, or in other words, to Frenchify themselves. Their dress,
made of stout cloth, was plain, and hardly ever changed its cut;
they merely distinguished working dress, Sunday dress, and
Easter dress. The latter was never taken from the cupboard
great holidays, and when the Van Roosemaels took the
Holy Communion, or were invited by friends as godparents or
marriage guests. It was easily to be seen that the simple people
of the old Flemish world, in their quaint though valuable dress,
looked rather strangely if compared with many a fine beau, who
for a few francs had decked himself out in a fine showy dress,
and would, in passing, regard the Van Roosemaels with disdain.
But they did not mind it, and thought, "Every man has his own.
## p. 3968 (#334) ###########################################
3968
HENRI CONSCIENCE
point to gain—you the shadow, we the substance. " They were
sufficiently uneducated not to know that gentlefolks do not dine
at noon, and they therefore were vulgar enough to sit down to
dinner when the clock struck twelve; yea, more, they never
forgot to say grace both before and after dinner. But there
were other imperfections with which they ought to be charged:
for instance, they did not understand a word of French, and
had never felt the want of this accomplishment; they were reli-
gious, humble, industrious, and above all peaceable. But the
height of their stupidity was, that they in their Flemish sim-
plicity considered it better every day to lay by an honest stiver,
than by lies and fraud to amass such riches in a few years, that
all the world should exclaim in astonishment, "In what hole
did the rat find it? " In a word, they were Flemish burghers of
the old school.
A PAINTER'S PROGRESS
A™
T THE funeral of Baron de Erct, a humble vehicle followed
the procession afar off. Arrived at the burial-ground,
three persons alighted from the poor conveyance. They
turned into a by-lane near the cemetery, and did not show them-
selves during the ceremony. But when all was over, and the
splendid carriages were returning in speed with all the mourners
to the town, three persons were seen entering the churchyard
with slow steps. It was Frank, his aged grandmother leaning
on his arm and supported by his mother on the other side.
Nobody saw them; all was still in the cemetery, and the greatest
silence prevailed around.
Do you mark them all three,— their eyes red with tears, their
breath choked by the agony of grief, approaching a mound of
newly dug-up earth? There rests the man who did good by
stealth. Oh, say not that virtue is not rewarded, not honored:
The tears of these people weigh thousands in the scales of the
heavenly Judge.
Look! the women are kneeling on the mound. They clasp
their hands and bend their heads over the grave; their lips
move. Is theirs a set speech? are their words studied, measured,
written down, in order that they may remember them? Oh no!
They know only one prayer, which the Lord himself has taught
## p. 3969 (#335) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3969
as we
them: they say the Lord's prayer over and over again. Their
voices become clearer whilst they pray:-"Forgive us our debts
forgive our debtors! Holy Mary, Mother of the Lord,
pray for us miserable sinners, now and in the hour of death.
Amen. » Their sobs, their tears, their sighs tell the rest:
"Sleep in peace, kind-hearted friend! we plant no flowers on thy
they are not everlasting as the memory of thy count-
less charities. May thy soul receive in the bosom of thy Maker
a reward which the world cannot give! "
grave;
And
why does not Frank also kneel on the ground? Why?
He is absorbed in grief; he feels no life in him, he has forgot-
ten where he is. Look! there he stands like a statue, his head
dropping
on his breast, his hand pressed to his forehead. How
the streaming tears sparkle which burst from his eyes! Unfor-
youth! who could describe the mortal despair which
weighs on thy bursting heart!
tunate
Awake! seest thou not that the cold ground will injure the
health of thy grandmother? Remove her from the grave, else
the evening will perhaps still find her kneeling and weeping
Take courage! return to thy home.
here.
On
parents,
the following day Frank said in a sorrowful tone to his
<<<We are unfortunate and poor -I am the cause of your
I know I am.
sorrow,
But let me now put a question to you,
and ansv
er it candidly! Can we still hold out for three months
earning any money? "
question remained long unanswered. The mother went
up to the invalid husband, and after a long serious conversation
with hin
longer. »
without
The
-
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
said, "Three months with the utmost stretch, but no
"Well then," said Frank, "I shall make a last attempt.
One picture I will paint still-one only, and if I do not sell it
soon, then I shall turn sign-painter. "
It gave him evident pain to utter this last word; there was a
spasm in
his throat,—yet he soon composed himself, and asked
without
once more whether they would let him work for three months
trouble or molestation. This his parents readily prom-
Frank then went to Mr. Wappers and received the
ised him.
him.
last twenty-five francs which his generous patron had left for
With part of this money he purchased colors, and on the
following day he shut himself up in the loft where he used to
work,
intended to execute.
and sketched the first outline of the picture which he
VII
-249
## p. 3970 (#336) ###########################################
3970
HENRI CONSCIENCE
It was the churchyard of Hemixem, with a newly thrown-up
grave, on which two women were kneeling in prayer; behind
them stood a young man weeping and absorbed in the deepest
grief; on the side were the walls of the chapel, and in the back-
ground a rich landscape. During two months and a half Frank
worked without intermission; he went out to the churchyard in
order to draw from nature, and made his mother and grand-
mother sit to him for models.
Never perhaps had an artist worked with more enthusiasm,
with more love and industry, at a picture. His soul was full of
his subject, and during all the time he was employed in his
work his head burnt feverishly. Could this picture turn out ill?
No, it must necessarily bear the stamp of inspiration. And so
it was.
Frank got on credit an appropriate frame for the exhibition.
But this time another thought struck him: he sent his picture to
Germany to the exhibition at Cologne. Will he be more suc-
cessful there? Yet the picture was gone, and stayed away with-
out any news of it whatever.
Poverty, greater than they had ever felt, now broke in upon
the longing family. They ate black bread, and were as if
crushed by the awaking to the dreadful reality. The good old
grandmother showed the greatest courage; she carried quietly
her best habiliments and her few trinkets to the pawnbroker's,
and consoled the others. But matters could not thus last long.
The clothes of Frank and of the mother must at last also be
pawned; even the prize medals and other honorable decorations
went to the baker as pledges for a little bread. They had already
run up an account with the butcher and the grocer― the baker
would let them have no more -none would trust the wretched
artist, as Frank was nicknamed in the neighborhood; the weekly
house-rent was unpaid during a whole month, and the landlord
had even sent the bailiff to exact payment.
One afternoon in the month of September the destitution of
these people reached its height. None of them had tasted a
morsel since the preceding evening. The bailiff had just left
them with the warning that he would return at six o'clock, and
if they did not then pay their rent they would be turned into
the street.
Grandmother held Frank's hand in hers, and sought to con-
sole him; the mother shed silent tears; the father, who still wore
## p. 3971 (#337) ###########################################
HENRI CONSCIENCE
3971
his arm in a sling, sat at the chimney and stared gloomily into
the chamber. All at once he burst into a flood of tears and
sobbed aloud.
Frank had never seen his father weep: this was the first
time in his life; it struck him like a thunderbolt. A shriek of
terror burst from him, and he fell on his knees before his
father. "Father," he cried, "father, you weep-you!
Oh, be
at ease; to-morrow I shall turn sign-painter; then I shall at
least earn sixpence a day. "
The workman raised his son from the floor, and pressed him
with his left arm to his heart. "Frank, my boy," he said,
"I don't lay blame on you; but we are so wretched. I weep
because I am in despair that I cannot work. We are starving,
and craving hunger is gnawing at our hearts.
Who will give us
to eat before the night falls in ? Where shall we go when they
turn us out to-morrow? Is it not sufficient to turn my brain, or
to make me —”
Frank pressed him forcibly to his bosom, and cut short his
awful speech by a tender embrace.
Whilst father and son were thus clasped in each other's arms,
the door opened, and a man with a leather bag strapped over
his shoulder stretched out his hand with a letter in it. With
a sudden start Frank disengaged himself from the arm of his
father, and attempted to seize the letter; but the postman drew
it back and said dryly, “A letter from Germany-two francs! "
Two francs! Where is such a treasure secreted in this poor
dwelling? Two francs from people who are starving! Who could
describe the tortures and sorrows of this family? The letter
contains perhaps what may put an end to their distress; perhaps
it would dry up their tears, satisfy their hunger, and protect
them from ejectment. And alas! whilst they are staring with
beating heart at the letter, and long so ardently to open it, the
postman is turning to go off with it and to rob them of all their
hopes. It is as if the ground was burning beneath their feet;
they stamp the floor from impatience and tear their hair.
Now the mother kneels down before the postman; she raises
her hands imploringly! Ha! he weeps - his heart is not of stone.
"Here" - he hands the letter to Frank-"take it; I am a poor
man too, but I can't stand this any longer. " Frank opens the
letter slowly with a trembling hand, cautiously undoing each and
every fold: but scarcely had he cast his eyes upon the contents,
## p. 3972 (#338) ###########################################
3972
HENRI CONSCIENCE
when the muscles of his face began to tremble convulsively; he
grows deadly pale, and a strange scream escapes his breast. He
supports himself upon the table, and the letter drops from his
hands on the floor. The room rings with lamentations, the
grandmother raises her hands to heaven, the mother sinks back-
ward from her chair as if paralyzed. Frank was struggling to
speak. It was evident he wanted to say something, but he could
not make it pass his trembling lips. At last his speech burst
forth" Grandmother, mother, father, I am a painter! Five
hundred francs for my picture! »
## p. 3973 (#339) ###########################################
3973
ROSE TERRY COOKE
(1827-1892)
OSE TERRY was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1827, of an
old and well-known family, and there nearly all the first
half of her life was passed. After that she was little there,
spending a number of years with her married sister in Collinsville,
and, for fifteen years following her own marriage, in Winsted, Con-
necticut. The last five years of her life were passed in Pittsfield,
Massachusetts, where she died in 1892.
An uneventful life, it might be said; but she had the tempera-
ment that makes events. Intensity was the keynote of her nature,
the source of her gifts and of her defects. In appearance she was
tall and slight, with dark hair, and large dark eyes that dominated
her slender oval face, and melted or sparkled with the mood or the
occasion. This versatility of temper was deeply founded in her, and
is manifest in her work, as in the deep overflowing sentiment of her
poems and the almost rollicking humor of her stories, or the tender-
ness suddenly giving way to bitterness.
Her first literary work was in verse; her earliest venture, before
she was twelve years old, being some verses sent privately to the Hart-
ford Courant, and appearing there to the great awe and delight of the
little author. As time went on, the creative impulse strengthened and
took shape, and she became known as a writer of true poetic feeling
and fine rhythmical instinct. In 1860 she gathered her poems into a
little volume, which won for her a wider recognition. Quite late in
life, in 1888, a complete collection of her poems was made; but she
had hardly surpassed that earlier work, which included such gems as
'Then,' Trailing Arbutus,' The Fishing Song. Besides these,
'The Two Villages' and 'Nounettes' should be named, as having
found their way into many hearts, and as being very perfect speci-
mens of her poetic gift. But it was in her stories that all her rich
powers were enlisted. She was one of the first to open by the story-
teller's art New England life to the reading public. This field has
since been worked to a finer culture, but she brought to the opening
of the ground a racy vigor and freshness, a spontaneity, a sparkle,
that we could ill spare for the sake of a more delicate finish, and
that make her characters stand out with an almost internal force.
Among the best of her stories are 'Freedom Wheeler's Controversy
## p. 3974 (#340) ###########################################
ROSE TERRY COOKE
3974
with Providence,' 'The Deacon's Week,' 'Polly Mariner,' 'A Town
Mouse and a Country Mouse,' and 'Odd Miss Todd. ' But it is hard
to make an exclusive choice among them. The Deacon's Week,'
which she esteemed the best thing she ever did, has had a world-
wide fame and usefulness, having been translated into as many as
four languages, and widely distributed as a tract. Between the years
1881 and 1891 she gathered her stories into book form, under these
titles: Somebody's Neighbors,' 'Root-Bound,' The Sphinx's Child-
ren,' 'Happy Dodd,' 'Huckleberries. ' In 1889 appeared her one
novel, 'Steadfast,' an interesting story with much fine character-
drawing. But it is as a writer of short stories of New England life
and of some lovely poems that Rose Terry Cooke will live.
THE REVEREND THOMAS TUCKER AS A PARSON
From Some Account of Thomas Tucker'
THE
HE Social duties of a settled clergyman might have pressed on
him onerously; but as if Providence saw that he was best
fitted for a life of solitude, just as the Green Street Church
had listened to their learned and pious pastor for the first time
after his installation in their pulpit, Keziah, his sister, was seized
with a sudden and dangerous illness. The kind women of the
church rallied around Thomas Tucker in this hour of his need,
and nursed Keziah with unremitting kindness; but all in vain.
She dropped out of life as silently and patiently as she had
endured living, and it remained only to say that the place which
knew her should now know her no more; for she left behind
her no dear friend but her brother, and not an enemy. Even
Thomas missed her rather as a convenience than a companion;
profiting in a certain sense by her death, as it aroused keenly
the sympathy of the church for his loss and loneliness, and
attached them to him by those links of pity that are proverbi-
ally almost as strong as love. In any other circumstances the
Green Street Church would no doubt have discovered, early in
their relation, that Mr. Tucker was as unfit for any pastoral
position as he had been for that post in the college chapel; but
much was forgiven him out of his people's abundant kindness,
and their respect for his learning, his simplicity, and his sincere
piety, forbade their objecting at first to his great deficiencies in
those things considered quite as needful to pulpit success as the
## p. 3975 (#341) ###########################################
ROSE TERRY COOKE
3975
It hap-
power of preaching and the abundance of knowledge.
pened, soon after Keziah's death, that Mr. Tucker was called
to officiate at the funeral of one of his wealthiest parishioners,
a man who had just come back from Europe, and been killed
in a railroad accident on the way to his home in Deerford. He
was personally unknown to Thomas Tucker, but his character
was notorious. He went to church, and bought an expensive
pew there, merely as a business speculation, it gave him weight
in the eyes of his fellows to be outwardly respectable as well
as rich; but he was niggardly to his family, ostentatious, over-
reaching, and cruel as death to the poor and struggling who
crossed his path or came into his employ.
The Reverend Mr. Tucker improved the occasion. He took
for the text of that funeral address, "What shall it profit a man
if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? " and after a
pungent comparison between the goods of this world and the
tortures of a future state, he laid down his spectacles and wound
up with, "And now, beloved, I have laid before you the two
conditions. Think ye that to-day he whose mortal part lieth
before you would not utter a loud Amen to my statement? Yea,
if there be truth in the Word of God, he who hath left behind
him the gain of life and greed is now crying aloud for a drop of
water to cool his parched tongue, and longing for an hour of
probation wherein to cast off the fetters of ill-gotten gold and
sit with Lazarus gathering crumbs in the company of dogs.
Wherefore, seeing that God hath spoken sharply to you all in
the sudden requirement of this rich man's soul, let his admoni-
tion sink into your souls; seek ye first the kingdom of God, and
cast in your lot with the poor of this world, rich in faith, and
be ready to answer joyfully when the Master calls. "
Of course the community was outraged; but for a few kindly
souls who stood by the poor parson, and insisted that Keziah's
death had unsettled his mind, and not a few who felt that he
had manfully told the truth without fear or favor, and could
not help feeling a certain respect for him, he would have been
asked, forcibly, to resign that very week. As it was, the indig-
nant widow went over to another denomination without delay.
"I will never set foot in that church again! " she said.
can one be safe, where a man is allowed to say whatever he
chooses in the pulpit? A ritual never can be personal or
insulting. I shall abide by the Prayer-Book hereafter. "
« How
## p. 3976 (#342) ###########################################
3976
ROSE TERRY COOKE
In due time this matter faded out of the popular mind, as all
things do in course of time, and nothing came between pastor
and people except a gradual sense on their part that Solomon
was right when he said, "Much study is a weariness to the flesh;"
not only the student's flesh, but also theirs who have to hear
reiterated all the dry outcome of such study.
But Parson Tucker's career was not to be monotonous. His
next astonishing performance was at a wedding. A very pretty
young girl, an orphan, living in the house of a relative, equally
poor but grasping and ambitious, was about to marry a young
man of great wealth and thoroughly bad character; a man whom
all men knew to be a drunkard, a gambler, and a dissolute fel-
low, though the only son of a cultivated and very aristocratic
family. Poor Emily Manning had suffered all those deprivations
and mortifications which result from living in a dependent con-
dition, aware that her presence was irksome and unwelcome,
while her delicate organization was overtaxed with work whose
limits were as indefinite as the food and clothing which were its
only reward. She had entered into this engagement in a sort of
desperation, goaded on by the widowed sister-in-law with whom
she lived, and feeling that nothing could be much worse than
her present position. Parson Tucker knew nothing of this, but
he did know the character of Royal Van Wyck; and when he
saw the pallid, delicate, shrinking girl beside this already worn-
out, debased, bestial creature, ready to put herself into his
hands for life, the "daimon" laid hold upon him and spake
again. He opened the service, as was customary in Hartland,
with a short address; but surely never did such a bridal exhort-
ation enter the ears of man and woman before.
"My friends," he began, "matrimony is not to be lightly un-
dertaken, as the matter of a day; it is an awful compact for life
and death that ye enter into here. Young man, if thou hast
not within thyself the full purpose to treat this woman with
pure respect, loyal service, and tender care; to guard her soul's
innocence as well as her bodily welfare; to cleave to her only,
and keep thyself from evil thoughts and base indulgences for
her sake, if thou art not fit, as well as willing, to be priest
and king of a clean household, standing unto her in character
and act in God's stead so far as man may, draw back even now
from thine intent; for a lesser purpose is sacrilege here, and
will be damnable infamy hereafter. "
## p. 3977 (#343) ###########################################
ROSE TERRY COOKE
3977
Royal Van Wyck opened his sallow green eyes with an inso-
lent stare. He would have sworn roundly had not some poor
instinct of propriety restrained him; as it was, he did not speak
but looked away. He could not bear the keen deep-set eyes
fixed upon him, and a certain gaunt majesty in the parson's
outstretched arm and severe countenance daunted him for the
moment. But Thomas Tucker saw that he had no intention of
accepting this good advice, so he turned to Emily.
"Daughter," he said, "if thou art about to enter into this
solemn relation, pause and consider. If thou hast not such con-
fidence in this man that thy heart faileth not an iota at the
prospect of a lifelong companionship with him; if thou canst not.
trust him utterly, respect him as thy lord and head, yield him
an obedience joyful and secure next to that thou givest to God;
if he is not to thee the one desirable friend and lover; if thou
hast a thought so free of him that it is possible for thee to
imagine another man in his place without a shudder; if thou art
not willing to give thyself to him in the bonds of a lifelong,
inevitable covenant of love and service; if it is not the best and
sweetest thing earth can offer thee to be his wife and the mother
of his children,-stop now; stop at the very horns of the altar,
lest thou commit the worst sin of woman, sell thy birthright for
a mess of pottage, and find no place for repentance, though thou
seek it carefully and with tears. "
Carried away with his zeal for truth and righteousness, speak-
ing as with the sudden inspiration of a prophet, Parson Tucker
did not see the terror and the paleness deepening, as he spoke,
on the bride's fair countenance. As he extended his hand toward
her she fell in a dead faint at his feet. All was confusion in an
instant. The bridegroom swore and Mrs. Manning screamed,
while the relations crowded about the insensible girl and tried to
revive her. She was taken at once up-stairs to her room, and the
wedding put off till the next day, as Mrs. Manning announced.
"And you won't officiate at it, old fellow! I'll swear to that! "
roared the baffled bridgroom with a volley of profane epithets,
shaking his fist in the parson's calm face.
"Having taken the sword, I am content to perish thereby,
even as Scripture saith," answered Thomas Tucker, stalking out
of the door.
That night as he sat in his study, the door opened softly, and
Emily Manning came in and knelt at the side of the parson's
## p. 3978 (#344) ###########################################
3978
ROSE TERRY COOKE
chair. "I have no place to go to, sir," she whispered, with
trembling lips. "You saved me to-day; will you help me now?
I was going to sin, but I didn't know it till you told me. ”
"Then it was not sin, my child," said Parson Tucker gently.
"Sin is conscious transgression, and from that thou hast instantly
departed. "
"But what could I do? " she asked, her eyes full of tears.
"I have no home. Marcia is tired of me, and I have no other
friends. I wanted a home so much. Oh, I was wrong, for I did
not love him. And now I have run away from Marcia, — she
was so dreadful,- and what shall I do? »
"Poor child! " he said tenderly. "Sit here. I will help.
My old woman, in the kitchen below, shall fetch thee to a
chamber. Keziah brought her with us; she is kind, and will
care for thee, while I go to bring a friend. " So saying, the
parson rung his bell for old Jane, gave the girl over to her
care, and set out himself for President Winthrop's house.
"I have brought you a good work," he said abruptly to Mrs.
Winthrop. "Come with me; there is a soul in need at my
house. "
Mrs. Winthrop was used to this sort of summons from the
parson. They had been good friends ever since the eccentric
interview brought about by Jack Mason's valentine, and when
charity was needed Eleanor Winthrop's heart and hand were
always ready for service. She put on hat and shawl, and went
with the parson to his house, hearing on the way all the story.
"Mr. Tucker," she said, as he finished the recital, "aren't
you going to make much trouble for yourself by your aggressive
honesty? "
Thomas looked at her, bewildered.
"But the truth is to be spoken! " he replied, as if that were
the end of the controversy.
And she was silent, recognizing the
fact that here conventions were useless, and self-preservation
not the first law of grace, if it is of nature.
All Mrs. Winthrop's kindliness was aroused by the pitiful
condition of Emily Manning. She consoled and counseled her
like a mother, and soon after took her into her household as
governess to the little girls whom Mr. Winthrop's first wife had
left him; making for the grateful girl a happy home, which in
after years she left to become the wife of a good man, toward
whom she felt all that Parson Tucker had required of her on
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ROSE TERRY COOKE
3979
that painful day which she hated now to remember. And as the
parson performed this ceremony he turned after the benediction
to Eleanor Winthrop, and said with a beam of noble triumph
on his hollow visage, "Blessed be the Lord! I have saved a soul
alive! »
But long before this happy sequel came about, he had other
opportunities to distinguish himself. There came a Sunday when
the service of infant baptism was to be performed; and when
the fair sweet babes, who had behaved with unusual decorum,
were returned to their mothers' arms, and the parson according
to order said, "Let us pray," he certainly offered the most
peculiar petition ever heard in the Green Street Church. After
expressing the usual desire that the baptized children might
up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, he went
grow
on:
Yea!
«But if it please thee, O Father, to recall these little ones
to thyself in the innocence of their infancy, we will rejoice and
give thanks, and sound thy praises upon the harp and timbrel.
with the whole heart we will praise thee; for we know the
tribulations and snares, the evil and folly and anguish, of this
life below; and we know that not one child of Adam, coming
to man's estate, is spared that bitter and woful cup that is
pressed out from the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil,
which
our progenitors ate of in thy garden of Paradise, and
thereby sinned and fell, and bequeathed to us their evil long-
ings
and habitual transgression. They are the blessed who are
taken
away in their infancy, and lie forever by green pastures
and still waters in the fields of heaven. We ask of thee no
greater or better gift for these lambs than early to be folded
where
none shall hurt or destroy in all thy holy mountain, and
love that is above all mother's love shall cradle them
the
throughout eternity. Amen! "
ble at
who
Not a mother in that congregation failed to shiver and trem-
this prayer, and tears fell fast and thick on the babes
slumbered softly in the tender arms that had gathered them.
home, after consecrating them to that God who yet they were
so unwilling should literally accept their offering. Fifty pairs
of eyes were turned on Parson Tucker with the look of a bear
robbed of its cubs; but far more were drowned in tears of mem-
ory and, regret, poignant still, but strangely soothed by this vivid
presentation of the blessedness wherein their loved and lost were
safely abiding.
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ROSE TERRY COOKE
Much comment was exchanged in the church porch, after
service, on the parson's prayer.
"We ought to hold a special meeting to pray that the Lord
will not answer such a petition! " cried one indignant mother,
whose little flock were clinging about her skirts, and who had
left twin babies, yet unbaptized, at home.
"It is rather hard on you, aunty! " said the graceless Jack
Mason, the speaker's nephew, now transformed into an unprom-
ising young lawyer in Hartland. "You'd rather have your babies
sin and suffer with you than have 'em safe in their little graves,
hadn't you? I don't go with the parson myself. I didn't so
much mind his funeral gymnastic over old Baker, and his dispo-
sition of that party's soul in Hades, because I never before sup-
posed Roosevelt Baker had a soul, and it was quite reassuring to
be certain he met with his dues somewhere; but he's worse than
Herod about the babies! "
However, the parson did not hear or know what was said of
hi and in an ignorance that was indeed bliss continued to
preach and minister to his people in strict accordance with his
own views of duty. His next essay was a pastoral visit to one
of his flock, recently a widow, a woman weak in body and mind
both; desirous above all things to be proper and like other
people, to weep where she must, smile when she ought, wear
clothes like the advance-guard of fashion, and do "the thing"
to be done always, whether it was the right and true thing
or not.
Her husband had spent all her fortune in speculation, taken
to drink as a refuge from folly and reproach at home, and
under the influence of the consoling fluid had turned his wife
out-of-doors whenever he felt in the mood; kicked her, beaten
her, and forced her, in fear of her life, over and over to steal
from her own house and take refuge with the neighbors, and
ask from them the food she was not allowed at home. At last
the end came. Parson Tucker was sent for to see the widow
and arrange for funeral services. She had not been present at
the Baker funeral, or indeed been in Deerford for some years
after that occasion, so she adhered to the conventions; and when
Parson Tucker reached the house he was shown into a dark-
ened room, where the disconsolate woman sat posed already in
deep mourning, a widow's cap perched upon her small head.
A woman would have inferred at once that Mrs. Spring had
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ROSE TERRY COOKE
3981
anticipated the end of Joe's last attack of mania à potu, and pre-
pared these funeral garments beforehand; but Thomas Tucker
drew no such conclusions. He sat down silently and grimly, after
shaking hands with Mrs. Spring, and said nothing.
