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diff --git a/20141-h/20141-h.htm b/20141-h/20141-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e7b194f --- /dev/null +++ b/20141-h/20141-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7172 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /><link rel="schema.DC" href="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" /><meta name="DC.Creator" content="Elisabeth Woodbridge" /><meta name="DC.Title" content="More Jonathan Papers" /><meta name="DC.Date" content="December 19, 2006" /><meta name="DC.Language" content="English" /><meta name="DC.Publisher" content="Project Gutenberg" /><meta name="DC.Identifier" content="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/20141" /><meta name="DC.Rights" content="This text is in the public domain." /><title>The Project Gutenberg EBook of More Jonathan Papers by Elisabeth Woodbridge</title><style type="text/css">/* +The Gnutenberg Press - default CSS2 stylesheet + +Any generated element will have a class "tei" and a class "tei-elem" +where elem is the element name in TEI. +The order of statements is important !!! +*/ + +.tei { margin: 0; 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border-right: solid black 2px; } +caption.tei-castgroup-head { caption-side: right; width: 50%; text-align: left; + vertical-align: middle; padding-left: 2em; } +*.tei-roledesc { font-style: italic } +*.tei-set { font-style: italic } + +table.rules { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.rules caption, +table.rules th, +table.rules td { border: 1px solid black; } + +table.tei { border-collapse: collapse; } +table.tei-list { width: 100% } + +th.tei-head-table { padding: 0.5ex 1em } + +th.tei-cell { padding: 0em 1em } +td.tei-cell { padding: 0em 1em } + +td.tei-item { padding: 0; font-weight: normal; + vertical-align: top; text-align: left; } +th.tei-label, +td.tei-label { width: 3em; padding: 0; font-weight: normal; + vertical-align: top; text-align: right; } + +th.tei-label-gloss, +td.tei-label-gloss { text-align: left } + +td.tei-item-gloss, +th.tei-headItem-gloss { padding-left: 4em; } + +img.tei-formula { vertical-align: middle; } + +</style></head> +<body class="tei"> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 20141 ***</div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-titlePage" style="text-align: center"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pageiiii">[pg iiii]</span><a name="Pgiiii" id="Pgiiii" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + <span class="tei tei-docTitle" style="text-align: center"> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%"> + More Jonathan Papers</span><br /> + <br /> + </span> + </span> + <div class="tei tei-byline" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">By</span><br /> + <span class="tei tei-docAuthor" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">Elisabeth Woodbridge</span></span><br /> + <br /> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-docImprint" style="text-align: center"> + BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br /> + HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY<br /> + The Riverside Press Cambridge<br /> + </span> + <span class="tei tei-docDate" style="text-align: center">1915</span> + </div> + + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 4.05em; margin-top: 4.05em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pagev">[pg v]</span><a name="Pgv" id="Pgv" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY ELISABETH WOODBRIDGE MORRIS</span><br /> + <br /><span style="font-size: 81%"> + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 81%; font-style: italic">Published November 1915</span></span></p> + </div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pagevi">[pg vi]</span><a name="Pgvi" id="Pgvi" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em">TO<br /> + JONATHAN</p> + </div> + + + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pageviii">[pg viii]</span><a name="Pgviii" id="Pgviii" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf1" id="pdf1"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Contents</span></h1> + <ul class="tei tei-index tei-index-toc"><li><a href="#toc2">I. The Searchings of Jonathan</a></li><li><a href="#toc4">II. Sap-Time</a></li><li><a href="#toc6">III. Evenings on the Farm</a></li><li><a href="#toc8">IV. After Frost</a></li><li><a href="#toc10">V. The Joys of Garden Stewardship</a></li><li><a href="#toc12">VI. Trout and Arbutus</a></li><li><a href="#toc14">VII. Without the Time of Day</a></li><li><a href="#toc16">VIII. The Ways of Griselda</a></li><li><a href="#toc18">IX. A Rowboat Pilgrimage</a></li><li><a href="#toc20">Colophon</a></li><li><a href="#toc22">Appendix A: Extra Front Pages</a></li><li><a href="#toc24">Errata</a></li></ul> + </div> + +<div class="tei tei-body" style="margin-bottom: 6.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> + +<hr class="doublepage" /><div id="chapter01" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page001">[pg 001]</span><a name="Pg001" id="Pg001" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc2" id="toc2"></a> +<a name="pdf3" id="pdf3"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%">More Jonathan Papers</span></span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">I</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">The Searchings of Jonathan</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What I find it hard to understand is, why a +person who can see a spray of fringed gentian +in the middle of a meadow can’t see a book on +the sitting-room table.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The reason why I can see the gentian,”</span> +said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“is because the gentian is +there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So is the book,”</span> I responded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Which table?”</span> he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The one with the lamp on it. It’s a red +book, about <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">so</span></span> big.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It isn’t there; but, just to satisfy you, +I’ll look again.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He returned in a moment with an argumentative +expression of countenance. <span class="tei tei-q">“It +isn’t there,”</span> he said firmly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Will anything +else do instead?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page002">[pg 002]</span><a name="Pg002" id="Pg002" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, I wanted you to read that special +thing. Oh, dear! And I have all these things +in my lap! And I know it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> +there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">know</span></span> it +isn’t.”</span> He stretched himself +out in the hammock and watched me as +I rather ostentatiously laid down thimble, +scissors, needle, cotton, and material and set +out for the sitting-room table. There were a +number of books on it, to be sure. I glanced +rapidly through the piles, fingered the lower +books, pushed aside a magazine, and pulled +out from beneath it the book I wanted. I +returned to the hammock and handed it over. +Then, after possessing myself, again rather +ostentatiously, of material, cotton, needle, +scissors, and thimble, I sat down.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s the second essay I specially thought +we’d like,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just for curiosity,”</span> said Jonathan, with +an impersonal air, <span class="tei tei-q">“where did you find it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Find what?”</span> I asked innocently.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The book.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh! On the table.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Which table?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The one with the lamp on it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I should like to know where.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page003">[pg 003]</span><a name="Pg003" id="Pg003" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why—just there—on the table. There +was an <span class="tei tei-q">‘Atlantic’</span> on top of it, to be sure.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I saw the <span class="tei tei-q">‘Atlantic.’</span> Blest if it looked as +though it had anything under it! Besides, +I was looking for it on top of things. You +said you laid it down there just before luncheon, +and I didn’t think it could have crawled +in under so quick.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When you’re looking for a thing,”</span> I said, +<span class="tei tei-q">“you mustn’t think, you must look. Now +go ahead and read.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If this were a single instance, or even if it +were one of many illustrating a common +human frailty, it would hardly be worth setting +down. But the frailty under consideration +has come to seem to me rather particularly +masculine. Are not all the Jonathans +in the world continually being sent to some +sitting-room table for something, and coming +back to assert, with more or less pleasantness, +according to their temperament, that it is not +there? The incident, then, is not isolated; it +is typical of a vast group. For Jonathan, read +Everyman; for the red book, read any particular +thing that you want Him to bring; +for the sitting-room table, read the place +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page004">[pg 004]</span><a name="Pg004" id="Pg004" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +where you know it is and Everyman says it +isn’t.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This, at least, is my thesis. It is not, however, +unchallenged. Jonathan has challenged +it when, from time to time, as occasion offered, +I have lightly sketched it out for him. +Sometimes he argues that my instances are +really isolated cases and that their evidence +is not cumulative, at others he takes refuge +in a <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tu quoque</span></span>—in +itself a confession of weakness—and +alludes darkly to <span class="tei tei-q">“top shelves”</span> +and <span class="tei tei-q">“bottom drawers.”</span> But let us have no +mysteries. These phrases, considered as arguments, +have their origin in certain incidents +which, that all the evidence may be in, I will +here set down.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Once upon a time I asked Jonathan to get +me something from the top shelf in the closet. +He went, and failed to find it. Then I went, +and took it down. Jonathan, watching over +my shoulder, said, <span class="tei tei-q">“But that wasn’t the top +shelf, I suppose you will admit.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sure enough! There was a shelf above. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, yes; but I don’t count that shelf. We +never use it, because nobody can reach +it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page005">[pg 005]</span><a name="Pg005" id="Pg005" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How do you expect me to know which +shelves you count and which you don’t?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course, anatomically—structurally—it +is one, but functionally it isn’t there at all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I see,”</span> said Jonathan, so contentedly that +I knew he was filing this affair away for future +use.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On another occasion I asked him to get +something for me from the top drawer of the +old <span class="tei tei-q">“high-boy”</span> in the dining-room. He was +gone a long while, and at last, growing impatient, +I followed. I found him standing on +an old wooden-seated chair, screw-driver in +hand. A drawer on a level with his head was +open, and he had hanging over his arm +a gaudy collection of ancient table-covers +and embroidered scarfs, mostly in shades of +magenta.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She stuck, but I’ve got her open now. +I don’t see any pillow-cases, though. It’s all +full of these things.”</span> He pumped his laden +arm up and down, and the table-covers +wagged gayly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I sank into the chair and laughed. <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh! +Have you been prying at that all this time? +Of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">course</span></span> there’s nothing in +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span> drawer.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page006">[pg 006]</span><a name="Pg006" id="Pg006" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There’s where you’re wrong. There’s a +great deal in it; I haven’t taken out half. If +you want to see—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">don’t</span></span> want to see! +There’s nothing I +want less! What I mean is—I never put +anything there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s the top drawer.”</span> He was beginning +to lay back the table-covers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But I can’t reach it. And it’s been stuck +for ever so long.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You said the top drawer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I suppose I did. Of course what I +meant was the top one of the ones I use.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I see, my dear. When you say top shelf +you don’t mean top shelf, and when you say +top drawer you don’t mean top drawer; in +fact, when you say top you don’t mean top +at all—you mean the height of your head. +Everything above that doesn’t count.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan was so pleased with this formulation +of my attitude that he was not in the +least irritated to have put out unnecessary +work. And his satisfaction was deepened by +one more incident. I had sent him to the +bottom drawer of my bureau to get a shawl. +He returned without it, and I was puzzled. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page007">[pg 007]</span><a name="Pg007" id="Pg007" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Now, Jonathan, it’s there, and it’s the top +thing.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The real top,”</span> murmured Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“or +just what you call top?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s right in front,”</span> I went on; <span class="tei tei-q">“and I +don’t see how even a man could fail to find it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He proceeded to enumerate the contents +of the drawer in such strange fashion that I +began to wonder where he had been.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I said my bureau.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I went to your bureau.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The bottom drawer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The bottom drawer. There was nothing +but a lot of little boxes and—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> know what you did! +You went to the secret drawer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Isn’t that the bottom one?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, yes, in a way—of course it is; but +it doesn’t exactly count—it’s not one of the +regular drawers—it hasn’t any knobs, or +anything—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But it’s a perfectly good drawer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. But nobody is supposed to know +it’s there; it looks like a molding—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But I know it’s there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, of course.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page008">[pg 008]</span><a name="Pg008" id="Pg008" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And you know I know it’s there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, yes; but I just don’t think about +that one in counting up. I see what you mean, +of course.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And I see what you mean. You mean that +your shawl is in the bottom one of the regular +drawers—with knobs—that can be alluded +to in general conversation. Now I think I can +find it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He did. And in addition he amused himself +by working out phrases about <span class="tei tei-q">“when is a +bottom drawer not a bottom drawer?”</span> and +<span class="tei tei-q">“when is a top shelf not a top shelf?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is to these incidents—which I regard as +isolated and negligible, and he regards as +typical and significant—that he alludes on +the occasions when he is unable to find a red +book on the sitting-room table. In vain do I +point out that when language is variable and +fluid it is alive, and that there may be two +opinions about the structural top and the +functional top, whereas there can be but one +as to the book being or not being on the table. +He maintains a quiet cheerfulness, as of one +who is conscious of being, if not invulnerable, +at least well armed.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page009">[pg 009]</span><a name="Pg009" id="Pg009" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For a time he even tried to make believe +that he was invulnerable as well—to set up +the thesis that if the book was really on the +table he could find it. But in this he suffered +so many reverses that only strong natural +pertinacity kept him from capitulation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Is it necessary to recount instances? Every +family can furnish them. As I allow myself to +float off into a reminiscent dream I find my +mind possessed by a continuous series of dissolving +views in which Jonathan is always +coming to me saying, <span class="tei tei-q">“It isn’t there,”</span> and I +am always saying, <span class="tei tei-q">“Please look again.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Though everything in the house seems to +be in a conspiracy against him, it is perhaps +with the fishing-tackle that he has most constant +difficulties.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My dear, have you any idea where my +rod is? No, don’t get up—I’ll look if you’ll +just tell me where—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Probably in the corner behind the chest +in the orchard room.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve looked there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then, did you take it in from the +wagon last night?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I remember doing it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page010">[pg 010]</span><a name="Pg010" id="Pg010" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What about the little attic? You might +have put it up there to dry out.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. I took my wading boots up, but that +was all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The dining-room? You came in that +way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He goes and returns. <span class="tei tei-q">“Not there.”</span> I reflect +deeply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, are you <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">sure</span></span> +it’s not in that corner of the orchard room?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I’m sure; but I’ll look again.”</span> He +disappears, but in a moment I hear his voice +calling, <span class="tei tei-q">“No! Yours is here, but not mine.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I perceive that it is a case for me, and I get +up. <span class="tei tei-q">“You go and harness. I’ll find it,”</span> I call.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There was a time when, under such conditions, +I should have begun by hunting in all +the unlikely places I could think of. Now I +know better. I go straight to the corner of the +orchard room. Then I call to Jonathan, just +to relieve his mind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right! I’ve found it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Here, in the orchard room.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Where</span></span> in the orchard +room?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In the corner.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page011">[pg 011]</span><a name="Pg011" id="Pg011" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What corner?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The usual corner—back of the chest.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The devil!”</span> Then he comes back to put +his head in at the door. <span class="tei tei-q">“What are you +laughing at?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nothing. What are you talking about the +devil for? Anyway, it isn’t the devil; it’s the +brownie.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For there seems no doubt that the things +he hunts for are possessed of supernatural +powers; and the theory of a brownie in the +house, with a special grudge against Jonathan, +would perhaps best account for the way in +which they elude his search but leap into sight +at my approach. There is, to be sure, one +other explanation, but it is one that does not +suggest itself to him, or appeal to him when +suggested by me, so there is no need to dwell +upon it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If it isn’t the rod, it is the landing-net, +which has hung itself on a nail a little to the +left or right of the one he had expected to see +it on; or his reel, which has crept into a corner +of the tackle drawer and held a ball of string +in front of itself to distract his vision; or a +bunch of snell hooks, which, aware of its protective +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page012">[pg 012]</span><a name="Pg012" id="Pg012" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +coloring, has snuggled up against the +shady side of the drawer and tucked its pink-papered +head underneath a gay pickerel-spoon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Fishing-tackle is, clearly, <span class="tei tei-q">“possessed,”</span> but +in other fields Jonathan is not free from +trouble. Finding anything on a bureau +seems to offer peculiar obstacles. It is perhaps +a big, black-headed pin that I want. +<span class="tei tei-q">“On the pincushion, Jonathan.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He goes, and returns with two sizes of +safety-pins and one long hat-pin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, dear, those won’t do. A small, black-headed +one—at least small compared with a +hat-pin, large compared with an ordinary pin.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Common or house pin?”</span> he murmurs, +quoting a friend’s phrase.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do look again! I hate to drop this to go +myself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When a man does a job, he gets his tools +together first.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; but they say women shouldn’t copy +men, they should develop along their own +lines. Please go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He goes, and comes back. <span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t +want fancy gold pins, I suppose?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, no! Here, you hold this, and I’ll go.”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page013">[pg 013]</span><a name="Pg013" id="Pg013" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +I dash to the bureau. Sure enough, he is right +about the cushion. I glance hastily about. +There, in a little saucer, are a half-dozen of +the sort I want. I snatch some and run back.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, it wasn’t in the cushion, I bet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> I admit; <span class="tei tei-q">“it was in a saucer just behind +the cushion.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You said cushion.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know. It’s all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, if you had said simply <span class="tei tei-q">‘bureau,’</span> I’d +have looked in other places on it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, you’d have <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">looked</span></span> +in other places!”</span> +I could not forbear responding. There is, I +grant, another side to this question. One +evening when I went upstairs I found a partial +presentation of it, in the form of a little +newspaper clipping, pinned on my cushion. +It read as follows:—</p> + +<div class="block tei tei-quote" style="margin-bottom: 1.80em; margin-left: 3.60em; margin-top: 1.80em; margin-right: 3.60em"> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">My dear,</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span><span style="font-size: 90%"> said she, </span><span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">please run and + bring me the needle from the haystack.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">Oh, I don’t know which haystack.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">Look in all the haystacks—you + can’t miss it; there’s only one needle.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></p> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan was in the cellar at the moment. +When he came up, he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“Did I hear any +one laughing?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page014">[pg 014]</span><a name="Pg014" id="Pg014" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t know. Did you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I thought maybe it was you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It might have been. Something amused +me—I forget what.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I accused Jonathan of having written it +himself, but he denied it. Some other Jonathan, +then; for, as I said, this is not a personal +matter, it is a world matter. Let us grant, +then, a certain allowance for those who hunt +in woman-made haystacks. But what about +pockets? Is not a man lord over his own +pockets? And are they not nevertheless as +so many haystacks piled high for his confusion? +Certain it is that Jonathan has nearly +as much trouble with his pockets as he does +with the corners and cupboards and shelves +and drawers of his house. It usually happens +over our late supper, after his day in town. +He sets down his teacup, struck with a sudden +memory. He feels in his vest pockets—first +the right, then the left. He proceeds to search +himself, murmuring, <span class="tei tei-q">“I thought something +came to-day that I wanted to show you—oh, +here! no, that isn’t it. I thought I put it—no, +those are to be—what’s this? No, +that’s a memorandum. Now, where in—”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page015">[pg 015]</span><a name="Pg015" id="Pg015" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +He runs through the papers in his pockets +twice over, and in the second round I watch +him narrowly, and perhaps see a corner of an +envelope that does not look like office work. +<span class="tei tei-q">“There, Jonathan! What’s that? No, not +that—that!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He pulls it out with an air of immense +relief. <span class="tei tei-q">“There! I knew I had something. +That’s it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When we travel, the same thing happens +with the tickets, especially if they chance to +be costly and complicated ones, with all the +shifts and changes of our journey printed +thick upon their faces. The conductor appears +at the other end of the car. Jonathan +begins vaguely to fumble without lowering +his paper. Pocket after pocket is browsed +through in this way. Then the paper slides to +his knee and he begins a more thorough investigation, +with all the characteristic clapping +and diving motions that seem to be +necessary. Some pockets must always be +clapped and others dived into to discover their +contents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">No tickets. The conductor is halfway up +the car. Jonathan’s face begins to grow serious. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page016">[pg 016]</span><a name="Pg016" id="Pg016" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +He rises and looks on the seat and under +it. He sits down and takes out packet after +packet of papers and goes over them with +scrupulous care. At this point I used to become +really anxious—to make hasty calculations +as to our financial resources, immediate +and ultimate—to wonder if conductors +ever really put nice people like us off trains. +But that was long ago. I know now that +Jonathan has never lost a ticket in his life. +So I glance through the paper that he has +dropped or watch the landscape until he +reaches a certain stage of calm and definite +pessimism, when he says, <span class="tei tei-q">“I must have pulled +them out when I took out those postcards in +the other car. Yes, that’s just what has happened.”</span> +Then, the conductor being only a +few seats away, I beg Jonathan to look once +more in his vest pocket, where he always puts +them. To oblige me he looks, though without +faith, and lo! this time the tickets fairly +fling themselves upon him, with smiles almost +curling up their corners. Does the brownie +travel with us, then?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I begin to suspect that some of the good +men who have been blamed for forgetting to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page017">[pg 017]</span><a name="Pg017" id="Pg017" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +mail letters in their pockets have been, not +indeed blameless, but at least misunderstood. +Probably they do not forget. Probably they +hunt for the letters and cannot find them, and +conclude that they have already mailed them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In the matter of the home haystacks Jonathan’s +confidence in himself has at last been +shaken. For a long time, when he returned +to me after some futile search, he used to say, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Of course you can look for it if you like, but +it is <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">not</span></span> there.”</span> +But man is a reasoning, if not +altogether a reasonable, being, and with a sufficient +accumulation of evidence, especially +when there is some one constantly at hand to +interpret its teachings, almost any set of opinions, +however fixed, may be shaken. So here.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Once when we shut up the farm for the +winter I left my fountain pen behind. This +was little short of a tragedy, but I comforted +myself with the knowledge that Jonathan +was going back that week-end for a day’s +hunt.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Be sure to get the pen first of all,”</span> I said, +<span class="tei tei-q">“and put it in your pocket.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where is it?”</span> he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In the little medicine cupboard over the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page018">[pg 018]</span><a name="Pg018" id="Pg018" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +fireplace in the orchard room, standing up at +the side of the first shelf.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why not on your desk?”</span> he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Because I was writing tags in there, and +set it up so it would be out of the way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">was</span></span> +out of the way. All right. I’ll +collect it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He went, and on his return I met him with +eager hand—<span class="tei tei-q">“My pen!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m sorry,”</span> he began.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You didn’t forget!”</span> I exclaimed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. But it wasn’t there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But—did you look?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I looked.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thoroughly?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. I lit three matches.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Matches! Then you didn’t get it when +you first got there!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why—no—I had the dog to attend +to—and—but I had plenty of time when I +got back, and it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">wasn’t</span></span> +there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—Dear me! Did you look anywhere +else? I suppose I may be mistaken. +Perhaps I did take it back to the desk.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That’s just what I thought myself,”</span> said +Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“So I went there, and looked, and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page019">[pg 019]</span><a name="Pg019" id="Pg019" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +then I looked on all the mantelpieces and +your bureau. You must have put it in your +bag the last minute—bet it’s there now!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bet it isn’t.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It wasn’t. For two weeks more I was +driven to using other pens—strange and distracting +to the fingers and the eyes and the +mind. Then Jonathan was to go up again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Please look once more,”</span> I begged, <span class="tei tei-q">“and +don’t expect not to see it. I can fairly see it +myself, this minute, standing up there on the +right-hand side, just behind the machine oil +can.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I’ll look,”</span> he promised. <span class="tei tei-q">“If +it’s there, I’ll find it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He returned penless. I considered buying +another. But we were planning to go up together +the last week of the hunting season, +and I thought I would wait on the chance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We got off at the little station and hunted +our way up, making great sweeps and jogs, as +hunters must, to take in certain spots we +thought promising—certain ravines and +swamp edges where we are always sure of +hearing the thunderous whir of partridge +wings, or the soft, shrill whistle of woodcock. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page020">[pg 020]</span><a name="Pg020" id="Pg020" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +At noon we broiled chops and rested in the +lee of the wood edge, where, even in the late +fall, one can usually find spots that are warm +and still. It was dusk by the time we came +over the crest of the farm ledges and saw the +huddle of the home buildings below us, and +quite dark when we reached the house. Fires +had been made and coals smouldered on the +hearth in the sitting-room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You light the lamp,”</span> I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“and I’ll +just take a match and go through to see if +that pen <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">should</span></span> +happen to be there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No use doing anything to-night,”</span> said +Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“To-morrow morning you can +have a thorough hunt.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But I took my match, felt my way into the +next room, past the fireplace, up to the cupboard, +then struck my match. In its first +flare-up I glanced in. Then I chuckled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan had gone out to the dining-room, +but he has perfectly good ears.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“NO!”</span> he roared, and his tone of dismay, +incredulity, rage, sent me off into gales of +unscrupulous laughter. He was striding in, +candle in hand, shouting, <span class="tei tei-q">“It was +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">not there!</span></span>”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look yourself,”</span> I managed to gasp.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page021">[pg 021]</span><a name="Pg021" id="Pg021" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This time, somehow, he could see it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You planted it! You brought it up and +planted it!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I never! Oh, dear me! It pays for going +without it for weeks!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Nothing</span></span> +will ever make me believe that +that pen was standing there when I looked +for it!”</span> said Jonathan, with vehement finality.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right,”</span> I sighed happily. <span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t +have to believe it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But in his heart perhaps he does believe it. +At any rate, since that time he has adopted a +new formula: <span class="tei tei-q">“My dear, it may be there, of +course, but I don’t see it.”</span> And this position +I regard as unassailable.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One triumph he has had. I wanted something +that was stored away in the shut-up +town house.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you suppose you could find it?”</span> I said, +as gently as possible.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I can try,”</span> he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think it is in a box about this shape—see?—a +gray box, in the attic closet, the +farthest-in corner.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Are you sure it’s in the house? If it’s in +the house, I think I can find it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page022">[pg 022]</span><a name="Pg022" id="Pg022" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I’m sure of that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When he returned that night, his face wore +a look of satisfaction very imperfectly concealed +beneath a mask of nonchalance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Good</span></span> for you! +Was it where I said?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Was it in a different corner?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where was it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It wasn’t in a corner at all. It wasn’t in +that closet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It wasn’t! Where, then?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Downstairs in the hall closet.”</span> He paused, +then could not forbear adding, <span class="tei tei-q">“And it wasn’t +in a gray box; it was in a big hat-box with +violets all over it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Jonathan!</span></span> +Aren’t you grand! How +did you ever find it? I couldn’t have done +better myself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Under such praise he expanded. <span class="tei tei-q">“The +fact is,”</span> he said confidentially, <span class="tei tei-q">“I had given +it up. And then suddenly I changed my +mind. I said to myself, <span class="tei tei-q">‘Jonathan, don’t +be a man! Think what she’d do if she +were here now.’</span> And then I got busy and +found it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page023">[pg 023]</span><a name="Pg023" id="Pg023" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan!”</span> I could almost have wept if +I had not been laughing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well,”</span> he said, proud, yet rather sheepish, +<span class="tei tei-q">“what is there so funny about that? I gave +up half a day to it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Funny! It isn’t funny—exactly. You +don’t mind my laughing a little? Why, you’ve +lived down the fountain pen—we’ll forget +the pen—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, no, you won’t forget the pen either,”</span> +he said, with a certain pleasant grimness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, perhaps not—of course it would +be a pity to forget that. Suppose I say, then, +that we’ll always regard the pen in the light +of the violet hat-box?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think that might do.”</span> Then he had an +alarming afterthought. <span class="tei tei-q">“But, see here—you +won’t expect me to do things like that often?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Dear me, no! People can’t live always on +their highest levels. Perhaps you’ll +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">never</span></span> +do it again.”</span> Jonathan looked distinctly relieved. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll accept it as a unique effort—like +Dante’s angel and Raphael’s sonnet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan,”</span> I said that evening, <span class="tei tei-q">“what +do you know about St. Anthony of Padua?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not much.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page024">[pg 024]</span><a name="Pg024" id="Pg024" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, you ought to. He helped you to-day. +He’s the saint who helps people to find lost +articles. Every man ought to take him as +a patron saint.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And do you know which saint it is who +helps people to find lost virtues—like humility, +for instance?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. I don’t, really.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t suppose you did,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter02" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page025">[pg 025]</span><a name="Pg025" id="Pg025" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc4" id="toc4"></a> +<a name="pdf5" id="pdf5"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">II</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Sap-Time</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was a little tree-toad that began it. In a +careless moment he had come down to the +bench that connects the big maple tree with +the old locust stump, and when I went out at +dusk to wait for Jonathan, there he sat, in +plain sight. A few experimental pokes sent +him back to the tree, and I studied him there, +marveling at the way he assimilated with its +bark. As Jonathan came across the grass I +called softly, and pointed to the tree.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well?”</span> he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t you see?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. What?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look—I thought you had eyes!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, what a little beauty!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And isn’t his back just like bark and +lichens! And what are those things in the tree +beside him?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Plugs, I suppose.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Plugs?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page026">[pg 026]</span><a name="Pg026" id="Pg026" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. After tapping. Uncle Ben used to +tap these trees, I believe.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You mean for sap? Maple syrup?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan! I didn’t know these were +sugar maples.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, yes. These on the road.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The whole row? Why, there are ten or +fifteen of them! And you never told me!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I thought you knew.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Knew! I don’t know anything—I should +think you’d know that, by this time. Do you +suppose, if I had known, I should have let all +these years go by—oh, dear—think of all +the fun we’ve missed! And syrup!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You’d have to come up in February.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then, I’ll +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">come</span></span> in February. Who’s +afraid of February?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right. Try it next year.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I did. But not in February. Things happened, +as things do, and it was early April before +I got to the farm. But it had been a +wintry March, and the farmers told me that +the sap had not been running except for a few +days in a February thaw. Anyway, it was +worth trying.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page027">[pg 027]</span><a name="Pg027" id="Pg027" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan could not come with me. He was +to join me later. But Hiram found a bundle +of elder spouts in the attic, and with these +and an auger we went out along the snowy, +muddy road. The hole was bored—a pair +of them—in the first tree, and the spouts +driven in. I knelt, watching—in fact, peering +up the spout-hole to see what might happen. +Suddenly a drop, dim with sawdust, appeared—gathered, +hesitated, then ran down +gayly and leapt off the end.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look! Hiram! It’s running!”</span> I called.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hiram, boring the next tree, made no response. +He evidently expected it to run. +Jonathan would have acted just like that, too, +I felt sure. Is it a masculine quality, I wonder, +to be unmoved when the theoretically expected +becomes actual? Or is it that some +temperaments have naturally a certain large +confidence in the sway of law, and refuse to +wonder at its individual workings? To me the +individual workings give an ever fresh thrill +because they bring a new realization of the +mighty powers behind them. It seems to depend +on which end you begin at.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But though the little drops thrilled me, I +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page028">[pg 028]</span><a name="Pg028" id="Pg028" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +was not beyond setting a pail underneath to +catch them. And as Hiram went on boring, I +followed with my pails. Pails, did I say? +Pails by courtesy. There were, indeed, a few +real pails—berry-pails, lard-pails, and water-pails—but +for the most part the sap fell into +pitchers, or tin saucepans, stew-kettles of +aluminum or agate ware, blue and gray and +white and mottled, or big yellow earthenware +bowls. It was a strange collection of receptacles +that lined the roadside when we had +finished our progress. As I looked along the +row, I laughed, and even Hiram smiled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But what next? Every utensil in the house +was out there, sitting in the road. There was +nothing left but the wash-boiler. Now, I had +heard tales of amateur syrup-boilings, and I +felt that the wash-boiler would not do. Besides, +I meant to work outdoors—no kitchen +stove for me! I must have a pan, a big, flat +pan. I flew to the telephone, and called up +the village plumber, three miles away. Could +he build me a pan? Oh, say, two feet by three +feet, and five inches high—yes, right away. +Yes, Hiram would call for it in the afternoon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I felt better. And now for a fireplace! Oh, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page029">[pg 029]</span><a name="Pg029" id="Pg029" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Jonathan! Why did you have to be away! +For Jonathan loves a stone and knows how +to put stones together, as witness the stone +<span class="tei tei-q">“Eyrie”</span> and the stile in the lane. However, +there Jonathan wasn’t. So I went out into +the swampy orchard behind the house and +looked about—no lack of stones, at any rate. +I began to collect material, and Hiram, seeing +my purpose, helped with the big stones. +Somehow my fireplace got made—two side +walls, one end wall, the other end left open +for stoking. It was not as pretty as if Jonathan +had done it, but <span class="tei tei-q">“’t was enough, ’t would +serve.”</span> I collected fire-wood, and there I was, +ready for my pan, and the afternoon was yet +young, and the sap was drip-drip-dripping +from all the spouts. I could begin to boil next +day. I felt that I was being borne along on +the providential wave that so often floats the +inexperienced to success.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">That night I emptied all my vessels into +the boiler and set them out once more. A +neighbor drove by and pulled up to comment +benevolently on my work.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will it run to-night?”</span> I asked him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No—no—’t won’t run to-night. Too +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page030">[pg 030]</span><a name="Pg030" id="Pg030" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +cold. ’T won’t run any to-night. You can +sleep all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This was pleasant to hear. There was a +moon, to be sure, but it was growing colder, +and at the idea of crawling along that road in +the middle of the night even my enthusiasm +shivered a little.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So I made my rounds at nine, in the white +moonlight, and went to sleep.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I was awakened the next morning to a consciousness +of flooding sunshine and Hiram’s +voice outside my window.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Got anything I can empty sap into? I’ve +got everything all filled up.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sap! Why, it isn’t running yet, is it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Pails were flowin’ over when I came out.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Flowing over! They said the sap wouldn’t +run last night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I guest there don’t nobody know when +sap’ll run and when it won’t,”</span> said Hiram +peacefully, as he tramped off to the barn.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In a few minutes I was outdoors. Sure +enough, Hiram had everything full—old +boilers, feed-pails, water-pails. But we found +some three-gallon milk-cans and used them. +A farm is like a city. There are always things +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page031">[pg 031]</span><a name="Pg031" id="Pg031" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +enough in it for all purposes. It is only a +question of using its resources.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then, in the clear April sunshine, I went +out and surveyed the row of maples. How +they did drip! Some of them almost ran. I +felt as if I had turned on the faucets of the +universe and didn’t know how to turn them +off again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">However, there was my new pan. I set it +over my oven walls and began to pour in sap. +Hiram helped me. He seemed to think he +needed his feed-pails. We poured in sap and +we poured in sap. Never did I see anything +hold so much as that pan. Even Hiram was +stirred out of his usual calm to remark, <span class="tei tei-q">“It +beats all, how much that holds.”</span> Of course +Jonathan would have had its capacity all calculated +the day before, but my methods are +empirical, and so I was surprised as well as +pleased when all my receptacles emptied +themselves into its shallow breadths and still +there was a good inch to allow for boiling up. +Yes, Providence—my exclusive little fool’s +Providence—was with me. The pan, and +the oven, were a success, and when Jonathan +came that night I led him out with unconcealed +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page032">[pg 032]</span><a name="Pg032" id="Pg032" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +pride and showed him the pan—now +a heaving, frothing mass of sap-about-to-be-syrup, +sending clouds of white steam down +the wind. As he looked at the oven walls, +I fancied his fingers ached to get at them, +but he offered no criticism, seeing that they +worked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next day began overcast, but Providence +was merely preparing for me a special +little gift in the form of a miniature snowstorm. +It was quite real while it lasted. It +whitened the grass and the road, it piled itself +softly among the clusters of swelling buds on +the apple trees, and made the orchard look as +though it had burst into bloom in an hour. +Then the sun came out, there were a few +dazzling moments when the world was all +blue and silver, and then the whiteness faded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And the sap! How it dripped! Once an +hour I had to make the rounds, bringing back +gallons each time, and the fire under my pan +was kept up so that the boiling down might +keep pace with the new supply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They do say snow makes it run,”</span> shouted +a passer-by, and another called, <span class="tei tei-q">“You want +to keep skimmin’!”</span> Whereupon I seized my +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page033">[pg 033]</span><a name="Pg033" id="Pg033" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +long-handled skimmer and fell to work. +Southern Connecticut does not know much +about syrup, but by the avenue of the road I +was gradually accumulating such wisdom as +it possessed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The syrup was made. No worse accident +befell than the occasional overflowing of a +pail too long neglected. The syrup was made, +and bottled, and distributed to friends, and +was the pride of the household through the +year.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This time I will go early,”</span> I said to Jonathan; +<span class="tei tei-q">“they say the late running is never +quite so good.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was early March when I got up there +this time—early March after a winter whose +rigor had known practically no break. Again +Jonathan could not come, but Cousin Janet +could, and we met at the little station, where +Hiram was waiting with Kit and the surrey. +The sun was warm, but the air was keen and +the woods hardly showed spring at all yet, +even in that first token of it, the slight thickening +of their millions of little tips, through +the swelling of the buds. The city trees already +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page034">[pg 034]</span><a name="Pg034" id="Pg034" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +showed this, but the country ones still +kept their wintry penciling of vanishing lines.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Spring was in the road, however. <span class="tei tei-q">“There +ain’t no bottom to this road now, it’s just +dropped clean out,”</span> remarked a fellow teamster +as we wallowed along companionably +through the woods. But, somehow, we +reached the farm. Again we bored our holes, +and again I was thrilled as the first bright +drops slipped out and jeweled the ends of the +spouts. I watched Janet. She was interested +but calm, classing herself at once with Hiram +and Jonathan. We unearthed last year’s +oven and dug out its inner depths—leaves +and dirt and apples and ashes—it was like +excavating through the seven Troys to get to +bottom. We brought down the big pan, now +clothed in the honors of a season’s use, and +cleaned off the cobwebs incident to a year’s +sojourn in the attic. By sunset we had a panful +of sap boiling merrily and already taking +on a distinctly golden tinge. We tasted it. It +was very syrupy. Letting the fire die down, +we went in to get supper in the utmost content +of spirit.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s so much simpler than last year,”</span> I +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page035">[pg 035]</span><a name="Pg035" id="Pg035" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +said, as we sat over our cozy <span class="tei tei-q">“tea,”</span>—<span class="tei tei-q">“having +the pan and the oven ready-made, and +all—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t suppose anything could happen +to it while we’re in here?”</span> suggested +Janet. <span class="tei tei-q">“Shan’t I just run out and see?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, sit still. What could happen? The +fire’s going out.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I know.”</span> But her voice was uncertain.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You see, I’ve been all through it once,”</span> I +reassured her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As we rose, Janet said, <span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s go out before +we do the dishes.”</span> And to humor her I agreed. +We lighted the lantern and stepped out on the +back porch. It was quite dark, and as we +looked off toward the fireplace we saw gleams +of red.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How funny!”</span> I murmured. <span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t +think there was so much fire left.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We felt our way over, through the yielding +mud of the orchard, and as I raised the lantern +we stared in dazed astonishment. The pan +was a blackened mass, lit up by winking red +eyes of fire. I held the lantern more closely. +I seized a stick and poked—the crisp black +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page036">[pg 036]</span><a name="Pg036" id="Pg036" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +stuff broke and crumbled into an empty and +blackening pan. A curious odor arose.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It couldn’t have!”</span> gasped Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It couldn’t—but it has!”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was a matter for tears, or rage, or +laughter. And laughter won. When we recovered +a little we took up the black shell of +carbon that had once been syrup-froth; we +laid it gently beside the oven, for a keepsake. +Then we poured water in the pan, and steam +rose hissing to the stars.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Does it leak?”</span> faltered Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Leak!”</span> I said. I was on my knees now, +watching the water stream through the +parted seam of the pan bottom, down into the +ashes below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The question is,”</span> I went on as I got up, +<span class="tei tei-q">“did it boil away because it leaked, or did it +leak because it boiled away?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t see that it matters much,”</span> said +Janet. She was showing symptoms of depression +at this point.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It matters a great deal,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“Because, +you see, we’ve got to tell Jonathan, +and it makes all the difference how we put +it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page037">[pg 037]</span><a name="Pg037" id="Pg037" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I see,”</span> said Janet; then she added, experimentally, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why tell Jonathan?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, Janet, you know better! I wouldn’t +miss telling Jonathan for anything. What is +Jonathan <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">for!</span></span>”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—of course,”</span> she conceded. <span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s +do dishes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We sat before the fire that evening and I +read while Janet knitted. Between my eyes +and the printed page there kept rising a vision—a +vision of black crust, with winking red +embers smoldering along its broken edges. I +found it distracting in the extreme.…</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At some time unknown, out of the blind +depths of the night, I was awakened by a +voice:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s beginning to rain. I think I’ll just +go out and empty what’s near the house.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Janet!”</span> I murmured, <span class="tei tei-q">“don’t be absurd.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But it will dilute all that sap.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There isn’t any sap to dilute. It won’t +be running at night.”</span> After a while the voice, +full of propitiatory intonations, resumed:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My dear, you don’t mind if I slip out. It +will only take a minute.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I do mind. Go to sleep!”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page038">[pg 038]</span><a name="Pg038" id="Pg038" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Silence. Then:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s raining harder. I hate to think of all +that sap—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">have</span></span> +to think!”</span> I was quite +savage. <span class="tei tei-q">“Just go to sleep—and let me!”</span> +Another silence. Then a fresh downpour. +The voice was pleading:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Please</span></span> +let me go! I’ll be back in a minute. +And it’s not cold.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, well—I’m awake now, anyway. +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I’ll</span></span> +go.”</span> My voice was tinged with that high +resignation that is worse than anger. Janet’s +tone changed instantly:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, no! Don’t! Please don’t! I’m going. +I truly don’t mind.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I’m</span></span> +going. I don’t mind, either, not at all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear! Then let’s not either of us go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That was my idea in the first place.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then, we won’t. Go to sleep, and I +will too.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not at all! I’ve decided to go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But it’s stopped raining. Probably it +won’t rain any more.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then what are you making all this fuss +for?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page039">[pg 039]</span><a name="Pg039" id="Pg039" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t make a fuss. I just thought I +could slip out—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, you couldn’t. And it’s raining very +hard again. And I’m going.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, don’t! You’ll get drenched.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course. But I can’t bear to have all +that sap diluted.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It doesn’t run at night. You said it +didn’t.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You said it did.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But I don’t really know. You know best.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why didn’t you think of that sooner? +Anyway, I’m going.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear! You make me feel as if I’d +stirred you up—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You have,”</span> I interrupted, sweetly. <span class="tei tei-q">“I +won’t deny that you +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">have</span></span> stirred me up. But +now that you have mentioned it”</span>—I felt +for a match—<span class="tei tei-q">“now that you have mentioned +it, I see that this was the one thing +needed to make my evening complete, or +perhaps it’s morning—I don’t know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We found the dining-room warm, and soon +we were equipped in those curious compromises +of vesture that people adopt under such +circumstances, and, with lantern and umbrella, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page040">[pg 040]</span><a name="Pg040" id="Pg040" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +we fumbled our way out to the trees. +The rain was driving in sheets, and we +plodded up the road in the yellow circle of +lantern-light wavering uncertainly over the +puddles, while under our feet the mud gave +and sucked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s diluted, sure enough,”</span> I said, as we +emptied the pails. We crawled slowly back, +with our heavy milk-can full of sap-and-rain-water, +and went in.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The warm dining-room was pleasant to return +to, and we sat down to cookies and milk, +feeling almost cozy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve always wanted to know how it would +be to go out in the middle of the night this +way,”</span> I remarked, <span class="tei tei-q">“and now I know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aren’t you hateful!”</span> said Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not at all. Just appreciative. But now, +if you haven’t any +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">other</span></span> plan, we’ll go back +to bed.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was half-past eight when we waked next +morning. But there was nothing to wake up +for. The old house was filled with the rain-noises +that only such an old house knows. +On the little windows the drops pricked +sharply; in the fireplace with the straight flue +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page041">[pg 041]</span><a name="Pg041" id="Pg041" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +they fell, hissing, on the embers. On the +porch roofs the rain made a dull patter of +sound; on the tin roof of the <span class="tei tei-q">“little attic”</span> +over the kitchen it beat with flat resonance. +In the big attic, when we went up to see if all +was tight, it filled the place with a multitudinous +clamor; on the sides of the house it drove +with a fury that re-echoed dimly within doors.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Outside, everything was afloat. We visited +the trees and viewed with consternation the +torrents of rain-water pouring into the pails. +We tried fastening pans over the spouts to +protect them. The wind blew them merrily +down the road. It would have been easy +enough to cover the pails, but how to let the +sap drip in and the rain drip out—that was +the question.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It seems as if there was a curse on the +syrup this year,”</span> said Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The trouble is,”</span> I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“I know just +enough to have lost my hold on the fool’s +Providence, and not enough really to take +care of myself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Superstition!”</span> said Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do you call your idea of the curse?”</span> +I retorted. <span class="tei tei-q">“Anyway, I have an idea! Look, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page042">[pg 042]</span><a name="Pg042" id="Pg042" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Janet! We’ll just cut up these enamel-cloth +table-covers here by the sink and everywhere, +and tack them around the spouts.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Janet’s thrifty spirit was doubtful. <span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t +you need them?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not half so much as the trees do. Come +on! Pull them off. We’ll have to have fresh +ones this summer, anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We stripped the kitchen tables and the +pantry and the milk-room. We got tacks and +a hammer and scissors, and out we went again. +We cut a piece for each tree, just enough to +go over each pair of spouts and protect the +pail. When tacked on, it had the appearance +of a neat bib, and as the pattern was a blue +and white check, the effect, as one looked +down the road at the twelve trees, was very +fresh and pleasing. It seemed to cheer the +people who drove by, too.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But the bibs served their purpose, and the +sap dripped cozily into the pails without any +distraction from alien elements. Sap doesn’t +run in the rain, they say, but this sap did. +Probably Hiram was right, and you can’t tell. +I am glad if you can’t. The physical mysteries +of the universe are being unveiled so +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page043">[pg 043]</span><a name="Pg043" id="Pg043" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +swiftly that one likes to find something that +still keeps its secret—though, indeed, the +spiritual mysteries seem in no danger of such +enforcement.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next day the rain stopped, the floods +began to subside, and Jonathan managed to +arrive, though the roads had even less <span class="tei tei-q">“bottom +to ’em”</span> than before. The sun blazed out, +and the sap ran faster, and, after Jonathan +had fully enjoyed them, the blue and white +bibs were taken off. Somehow in the clear +March sunshine they looked almost shocking. +By the next day we had syrup enough to try +for sugar.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For on sugar my heart was set. Syrup was +all very well for the first year, but now it +had to be sugar. Moreover, as I explained to +Janet, when it came to sugar, being absolutely +ignorant, I was again in a position to expect +the aid of the fool’s Providence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How much <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">do</span></span> +you know about it?”</span> asked Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, just what people say. It seems to be +partly like fudge and partly like molasses +candy. You boil it, and then you beat it, and +then you pour it off.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page044">[pg 044]</span><a name="Pg044" id="Pg044" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve got more to go on than that,”</span> said +Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“I came up on the train with the +Judge. He used to see it done.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You’ve got to drive Janet over to her +train to-night; Hiram can’t,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right. There’s time enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We sat down to early supper, and took +turns running out to the kitchen to <span class="tei tei-q">“try”</span> +the syrup as it boiled down. At least we said +we would take turns, but usually we all three +went. Supper seemed distinctly a side issue.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m going to take it off now,”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Look out!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you think it’s time?”</span> I demurred.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll know soon,”</span> said Jonathan, with +his usual composure.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We hung over him. <span class="tei tei-q">“Now you beat it,”</span> I +said. But he was already beating.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Get some cold water to set it in,”</span> he commanded. +We brought the dishpan with water +from the well, where ice still floated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Maybe you oughtn’t to stir so much—do +you think?”</span> I suggested, helpfully. <span class="tei tei-q">“Beat +it more—up, you know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“More the way you would eggs,”</span> said +Janet.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page045">[pg 045]</span><a name="Pg045" id="Pg045" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll show you.”</span> I lunged at the spoon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go away! This isn’t eggs,”</span> said Jonathan, +beating steadily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Your arm must be tired. Let me take it,”</span> +pleaded Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, me!”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“Janet, you’ve got to +get your coat and things. You’ll have to start +in fifteen minutes. Here, Jonathan, you need +a fresh arm.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m fresh enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And I really don’t think you have the +motion.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I have motion enough. This is my job. +You go and help Janet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Janet’s all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So am I. See how white it’s getting. The +Judge said—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Here come Hiram and Kit,”</span> announced +Janet, returning with bag and wraps. <span class="tei tei-q">“But +you have ten minutes. Can’t I help?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He won’t let us. He’s that +‘sot,’”</span> I murmured. <span class="tei tei-q">“He’ll +make you miss your train.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">could</span></span> +butter the pans,”</span> he counter charged, +<span class="tei tei-q">“and you haven’t.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We flew to prepare, and the pouring began. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page046">[pg 046]</span><a name="Pg046" id="Pg046" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +It was a thrilling moment. The syrup, or +sugar, now a pale hay color, poured out +thickly, blob-blob-blob, into the little pans. +Janet moved them up as they were needed, +and I snatched the spoon, at last, and encouraged +the stuff to fall where it should. But +Jonathan got it from me again, and scraped +out the remnant, making designs of clovers +and polliwogs on the tops of the cakes. Then +a dash for coats and hats and a rush to the +carriage.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When the surrey disappeared around the +turn of the road, I went back, shivering, to +the house. It seemed very empty, as houses +will, being sensitive things. I went to the +kitchen. There on the table sat a huddle of +little pans, to cheer me, and I fell to work +getting things in order to be left in the morning. +Then I went back to the fire and waited +for Jonathan. I picked up a book and tried +to read, but the stillness of the house was +too importunate, it had to be listened to. I +leaned back and watched the fire, and the old +house and I held communion together.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Perhaps in no other way is it possible to get +quite what I got that evening. It was partly +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page047">[pg 047]</span><a name="Pg047" id="Pg047" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +my own attitude; I was going away in the +morning, and I had, in a sense, no duties +toward the place. The magazines of last fall +lay on the tables, the newspapers of last fall +lay beside them. The dust of last fall was, +doubtless, in the closets and on the floors. It +did not matter. For though I was the mistress +of the house, I was for the moment even more +its guest, and guests do not concern themselves +with such things as these.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If it had been really an empty house, I +should have been obliged to think of these +things, for in an empty house the dust speaks +and the house is still, dumbly imprisoned in +its own past. On the other hand, when a +house is filled with life, it is still, too; it is +absorbed in its own present. But when one +sojourns in a house that is merely resting, full +of the life that has only for a brief season left +it, ready for the life that is soon to return—then +one is in the midst of silences that are +not empty and hollow, but richly eloquent. +The house is the link that joins and interprets +the living past and the living future.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Something of this I came to feel as I sat +there in the wonderful stillness. There were +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page048">[pg 048]</span><a name="Pg048" id="Pg048" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +no house noises such as generally form the +unnoticed background of one’s consciousness—the +steps overhead, the distant voices, the +ticking of the clock, the breathing of the dog +in the corner. Even the mice and the chimney-swallows +had not come back, and I missed the +scurrying in the walls and the flutter of wings +in the chimney. The fire purred low, now and +then the wind sighed gently about the corner +of the <span class="tei tei-q">“new part,”</span> and a loose door-latch +clicked as the draught shook it. A branch +drew back and forth across a window-pane +with the faintest squeak. And little by little +the old house opened its heart. All that it +told me I hardly yet know myself. It gathered +up for me all its past, the past that I had +known and the past that I had not known. +Time fell away. My own importance dwindled. +I seemed a very small part of the life +of the house—very small, yet wholly belonging +to it. I felt that it absorbed me as it +absorbed the rest—those before and after +me—for time was not.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There was the sound of slow wheels outside, +the long roll of the carriage-house door, +and the trampling of hoofs on the flooring +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page049">[pg 049]</span><a name="Pg049" id="Pg049" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +within. Then the clinking of the lantern and +the even tread of feet on the path behind the +house, a gust of raw snow-air—and the house +fell silent so that Jonathan might come in.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Your sugar is hardening nicely, I see,”</span> +he said, rubbing his hands before the fire.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“You know I +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">told</span></span> Janet +that for this part of the affair we could trust +to the fool’s Providence.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thank you,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter03" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page050">[pg 050]</span><a name="Pg050" id="Pg050" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc6" id="toc6"></a> +<a name="pdf7" id="pdf7"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">III</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Evenings on the Farm</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-epigraph" style="text-align: right; margin-bottom: 1.80em; margin-left: 9.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-cit" style="text-align: right"> + <div class="tei tei-quote" style="text-align: right"> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">(And wait to watch the water clear, I may);</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I shan’t be gone long.—You come too.</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"> </div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I’m going out to fetch the little calf</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">That’s standing by the mother. It’s so young,</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">It totters when she licks it with her tongue.</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I shan’t be gone long.—You come too.</span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-bibl" style="text-align: right"> + <span class="tei tei-author" style="text-align: right"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: right"><span style="font-size: 90%; font-variant: small-caps">Robert Frost</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 90%">. + </span></span> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When we first planned to take up the farm +we looked forward with especial pleasure to +our evenings. They were to be the quiet +rounding-in of our days, full of companionship, +full of meditation. <span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll do lots of +reading aloud,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“And we’ll have long +walks. There won’t be much to do +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">but</span></span> walk +and read. I can hardly wait.”</span> And I chose +our summer books with special reference to +reading aloud.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course,”</span> I said, as we fell to work at +our packing, <span class="tei tei-q">“we’ll have to do all sorts of +things first. But the days are so long up there, +and the life is very simple. And in the evenings +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page051">[pg 051]</span><a name="Pg051" id="Pg051" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +you’ll help. We ought to be settled in a +week.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or two—or three,”</span> suggested Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Three! What is there to do?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Farm-life isn’t so blamed simple as you +think.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But what <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> +there to do? Now, listen! +One day for trunks, one day for boxes and +barrels, one day for closets, that’s three, one +for curtains, four, one day for—for the garret, +that’s five. Well—one day for odds and +ends that I haven’t thought of. That’s +liberal, I’m sure.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Better say the rest of your life for the +odds and ends you haven’t thought of,”</span> said +Jonathan, as he drove the last nail in a neatly +headed barrel.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, why are you such a pessimist?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m not, except when you’re such an +optimist.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If I’d begun by saying it would take a +month, would you have said a week?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can’t tell. Might have.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Anyway, there’s nothing bad about odds +and ends. They’re about all women have +much to do with most of their lives.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page052">[pg 052]</span><a name="Pg052" id="Pg052" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That’s what I said. And you called me a +pessimist.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t call you one. I said, why were +you one.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m sorry. My mistake,”</span> said Jonathan +with the smile of one who scores.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so we went.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One day for trunks was all right. Any one +can manage trunks. And the second day, the +boxes were emptied and sent flying out to the +barn. Curtains I decided to keep for evening +work, while Jonathan read. That left the +closets and the attic, or rather the attics, for +there was one over the main house and one +over the <span class="tei tei-q">“new part,”</span>—still <span class="tei tei-q">“new,”</span> although +now some seventy years old. They were +known as the attic and the little attic. I +thought I would do the closets first, and I began +with the one in the parlor. This was built +into the chimney, over the fireplace. It was +low, and as long as the mantelpiece itself. It +had two long shelves shut away behind three +glass doors through which the treasures within +were dimly visible. When I swung these open +it felt like opening a tomb—cold, musty +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page053">[pg 053]</span><a name="Pg053" id="Pg053" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +air hung about my face. I brushed it aside, +and considered where to begin. It was a depressing +collection. There were photographs +and photographs, some in frames, the rest of +them tied up in packages or lying in piles. A +few had names or messages written on the +back, but most gave no clue; and all of them +gazed out at me with that expression of complete +respectability that constitutes so impenetrable +a mask for the personality behind. +Most of us wear such masks, but the older +photographers seem to have been singularly +successful in concentrating attention on them. +Then there were albums, with more photographs, +of people and of <span class="tei tei-q">“views.”</span> There was +a big Bible, some prayer-books, and a few +other books elaborately bound with that +heavy fancifulness that we are learning to call +Victorian. One of these was on <span class="tei tei-q">“The Wonders +of the Great West”</span>; another was about +<span class="tei tei-q">“The Female Saints of America.”</span> I took it +down and glanced through it, but concluded +that one had to be a female saint, or at least +an aspirant, to appreciate it. Then there were +things made out of dried flowers, out of hair, +out of shells, out of pine-cones. There were +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page054">[pg 054]</span><a name="Pg054" id="Pg054" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +vases and other ornamental bits of china and +glass, also Victorian, looking as if they were +meant to be continually washed or dusted by +the worn, busy fingers of the female saints. As +I came to fuller realization of all these relics, +my resolution flickered out and there fell upon +me a strange numbness of spirit. I seemed +under a spell of inaction. Everything behind +those glass doors had been cherished too long +to be lightly thrown away, yet was not old +enough to be valuable nor useful enough to +keep. I spent a long day—one of the longest +days of my life—browsing through the books, +trying to sort the photographs, and glancing +through a few old letters. I did nothing in +particular with anything, and in the late afternoon +I roused myself, put them all back, and +shut the glass doors. I had nothing to show +for my day’s experience except a deep little +round ache in the back of my neck and a faint +brassy taste in my mouth. I complained of it +to Jonathan later.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It always tasted just that way to me when +I was a boy,”</span> he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“but I never thought +much about it—I thought it was just a +closet-taste.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page055">[pg 055]</span><a name="Pg055" id="Pg055" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And it isn’t only the taste,”</span> I went on. +<span class="tei tei-q">“It does something to me, to my state of +mind. I’m afraid to try the garret.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Garrets are different,”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But I’d leave them. They can wait.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They’ve waited a good while, of course,”</span> +I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so we left the garrets. We came back +to them later, and were glad we had done so. +But that is a story by itself.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Meanwhile, in the evenings, Jonathan +helped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m afraid you were more or less right +about the odd jobs,”</span> I admitted one night. +<span class="tei tei-q">“They do seem to accumulate.”</span> I was holding +a candle while he set up a loose latch.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They’ve been accumulating a good many +years,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, that’s it. And so the doors all stick, +and the latches won’t latch, and the shades +are sulky or wild, and the pantry shelves—have +you noticed?—they’re all warped so +they rock when you set a dish on them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And the chairs pull apart,”</span> added Jonathan.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page056">[pg 056]</span><a name="Pg056" id="Pg056" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. Of course after we catch up we’ll be +all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wouldn’t count too much on catching +up.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why not?”</span> I asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The farm has had a long start.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But you’re a Yankee,”</span> I argued; <span class="tei tei-q">“the +Yankee nature fairly feeds on such jobs—‘putter +jobs,’ you know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Only, of course, you get on faster if you’re +not too particular about having the exact +tool—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Considered as a Yankee, Jonathan’s only +fault is that when he does a job he likes to +have a very special tool to do it with. Often +it is so special that I have never heard its +name before and then I consider he is going +too far. He merely thinks I haven’t gone far +enough. Perhaps such matters must always +remain matters of opinion. But even with +this handicap we did begin to catch up, and +we could have done this a good deal faster if +it had not been for the pump.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The pump was a clear case of new wine in +an old bottle. It was large and very strong. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page057">[pg 057]</span><a name="Pg057" id="Pg057" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +The people who worked it were strong too. +But the walls and floor to which it was attached +were not strong at all. And so, one +night, when Jonathan wanted a walk I was +obliged instead to suggest the pump.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What’s the matter there?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, it seems to have pulled clear of its +moorings. You look at it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He looked, with that expression of meditative +resourcefulness peculiar to the true +Yankee countenance. <span class="tei tei-q">“H’m—needs new +wood there,—and there; that stuff’ll never +hold.”</span> And so the old bottle was patched with +new skin at the points of strain, and in the zest +of reconstruction Jonathan almost forgot to +regret the walk. <span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll have it to-morrow +night,”</span> he said: <span class="tei tei-q">“the moon will be better.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next evening I met him below the turn of +the road. <span class="tei tei-q">“Wonderful night it’s going to be,”</span> +he said, as he pushed his wheel up the last hill.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes—”</span> I said, a little uneasily. I was +thinking of the kitchen pump. Finally I +brought myself to face it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There seems to be some trouble—with +the pump,”</span> I said apologetically. I felt that +it was my fault, though I knew it wasn’t.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page058">[pg 058]</span><a name="Pg058" id="Pg058" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“More trouble? What sort of trouble?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, it wheezes and makes funny sucking +noises, and the water spits and spits, and then +bursts out, and then doesn’t come at all. It +sounds a little like a cat with a bone in its +throat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Probably just that,”</span> said Jonathan: +<span class="tei tei-q">“grain of sand in the valve, very likely.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shall I get a plumber?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Plumber! I’ll fix it myself in three shakes +of a lamb’s tail.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well,”</span> I said, relieved: <span class="tei tei-q">“you can do that +after supper while I see that all the chickens +are in, and those turkeys, and then we’ll have +our walk.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Accordingly I went off on my tour. When +I returned the pale moon-shadows were already +beginning to show in the lingering dusk +of the fading daylight. Indoors seemed very +dark, but on the kitchen floor a candle sat, +flaring and dipping.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan,”</span> I called, <span class="tei tei-q">“I’m ready.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I’m not,”</span> said a voice at my feet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, where are you? Oh, there!”</span> I bent +down and peered under the sink at a shape +crouched there. <span class="tei tei-q">“Haven’t you finished?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page059">[pg 059]</span><a name="Pg059" id="Pg059" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Finished! I’ve just got the thing apart.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I should say you had!”</span> I regarded the +various pieces of iron and leather and wood as +they lay, mere dismembered shapes, about +the dim kitchen.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It doesn’t seem as if it would ever come +together again—to be a pump,”</span> I said in +some depression.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, that’s easy! It’s just a question of +time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How much time?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Heaven knows.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Was it the valve?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It was—several things.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">His tone had the vagueness born of concentration. +I could see that this was no time to +press for information. Besides, in the field +of mechanics, as Jonathan has occasionally +pointed out to me, I am rather like a traveler +who has learned to ask questions in a foreign +tongue, but not to understand the answers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I’ll bring my sewing out here—or +would you rather have me read to you? +There’s something in the last number of—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No—get your sewing—blast that +screw! Why doesn’t it start?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page060">[pg 060]</span><a name="Pg060" id="Pg060" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Evidently sewing was better than the last +number of anything. I settled myself under +a lamp, while Jonathan, in the twilight beneath +the sink, continued his mystic rites, +with an accompaniment of mildly vituperative +or persuasive language, addressed sometimes +to his tools, sometimes to the screws +and nuts and other parts, sometimes against +the men who made them or the plumbers who +put them in. Now and then I held a candle, +or steadied some perverse bit of metal while +he worked his will upon it. And at last the +phœnix did indeed rise, the pump was again +a pump,—at least it looked like one.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Suppose it doesn’t work,”</span> I suggested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Suppose it does,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He began to pump furiously. <span class="tei tei-q">“Pour in +water there!”</span> he directed. <span class="tei tei-q">“Keep on pouring—don’t +stop—never mind if she does spout.”</span> +I poured and he pumped, and there were the +usual sounds of a pump resuming activity: +gurglings and spittings, suckings and sudden +spoutings; but at last it seemed to get its +breath—a few more long strokes of the +handle, and the water poured.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What time is it?”</span> he asked.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page061">[pg 061]</span><a name="Pg061" id="Pg061" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, fairly late—about ten—ten minutes +past.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Instead of our walk, we stood for a moment +under the big maples before the house +and looked out into a sea of moonlight. It +silvered the sides of the old gray barns and +washed over the blossoming apple trees beyond +the house. Is there anything more +sweetly still than the stillness of moonlight +over apple blossoms! As we went out to +the barns to lock up, even the little hencoops +looked poetic. Passing one of them, we half +roused the feathered family within and heard +muffled peepings and a smothered <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">clk-clk</span></span>. +Jonathan was by this time so serene that I +felt I could ask him a question that had occurred +to me.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, how long <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> +three shakes of a lamb’s tail?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Apparently, my dear, it is the whole evening,”</span> +he answered unruffled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next night was drizzly. Well, we would +have books instead of a walk. We lighted a +fire, May though it was, and settled down before +it. <span class="tei tei-q">“What shall we read?”</span> I asked, feeling +very cozy.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page062">[pg 062]</span><a name="Pg062" id="Pg062" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan was filling his pipe with a leisurely +deliberation good to look upon. With the +match in his hand he paused—<span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I meant +to tell you—those young turkeys of yours—they +were still out when I came through +the yard. I wonder if they went in all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I have always noticed that if the turkeys +grow up very fat and strutty and suggestive +of Thanksgiving, Jonathan calls them <span class="tei tei-q">“our +turkeys,”</span> but in the spring, when they are +committing all the naughtinesses of wild and +silly youth, he is apt to allude to them as +<span class="tei tei-q">“those young turkeys of yours.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I rose wearily. <span class="tei tei-q">“No. They never go in all +right when they get out at this time—especially +on wet nights. I’ll have to find them +and stow them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan got up, too, and laid down his +pipe. <span class="tei tei-q">“You’ll need the lantern,”</span> he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We went out together into the May drizzle—a +good thing to be out in, too, if you are +out for the fun of it. But when you are hunting +silly little turkeys who literally don’t +know enough to go in when it rains, and when +you expected and wanted to be doing something +else, then it seems different, the drizzle +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page063">[pg 063]</span><a name="Pg063" id="Pg063" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +seems peculiarly drizzly, the silliness of the +turkeys seems particularly and unendurably +silly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We waded through the drenched grass and +the tall, dripping weeds, listening for the +faint, foolish peeping of the wanderers. Some +we found under piled fence rails, some under +burdock leaves, some under nothing more +protective than a plantain leaf. By ones and +twos we collected them, half drowned yet +shrilly remonstrant, and dropped them into +the dry shed where they belonged. Then we +returned to the house, very wet, feeling the +kind of discouragement that usually besets +those who are forced to furnish prudence to +fools.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nine o’clock,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“and we’re +too wet to sit down. If you could just shut in +those turkeys on wet days—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shut them in! Didn’t I shut them in! +They must have got out since four o’clock.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Isn’t the shed tight?”</span> he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Chicken-tight, but not turkey-tight, apparently. +Nothing is turkey-tight.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They’re bigger than chickens.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not in any one spot they aren’t. They’re +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page064">[pg 064]</span><a name="Pg064" id="Pg064" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +like coiled wire—when they stretch out to +get through a crack they have <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">no</span></span> dimension +except length, their bodies are mere imaginary +points to hang feathers on. You don’t +know little turkeys.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It might be said that, having undertaken +to raise turkeys, we had to expect them to act +like turkeys. But there were other interruptions +in our evenings where our share of responsibility +was not so plain. For example, +one wet evening in early June we had kindled +a little fire and I had brought the lamp forward. +The pump was quiescent, the little +turkeys were all tucked up in the turkey +equivalent for bed, the farm seemed to be +cuddling down into itself for the night. We +sat for a moment luxuriously regarding the +flames, listening to the sighing of the wind, +feeling the sweet damp air as it blew in +through the open windows. I was considering +which book it should be and at last rose to +possess myself of two or three.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sh—h—h!”</span> said Jonathan, a warning +finger raised.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I stood listening.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t hear anything,”</span> I said.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page065">[pg 065]</span><a name="Pg065" id="Pg065" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sh—h!”</span> he repeated. <span class="tei tei-q">“There!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This time, indeed, I heard faint bird-notes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Young robins!”</span> He sprang up and made +for the back door with long strides.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I peered out through the window of the +orchard room, but saw only the reflection of +the firelight and the lamp. Suddenly I heard +Jonathan whistle and I ran to the back porch. +Blackness pressed against my eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where are you?”</span> I called into it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The whistle again, quite near me, apparently +out of the air.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bring a lantern,”</span> came a whisper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I got it and came back and down the steps +to the path, holding up my light and peering +about in search of the voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where are you? I can’t see you at all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Right here—look—here—up!”</span> The +voice was almost over my head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I searched the dark masses of the tree—oh, +yes! the lantern revealed the heel of a +shoe in a crotch, and above,—yes, undoubtedly, +the rest of Jonathan, stretched out along +a limb.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh! What are you doing up there?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Get me a long stick—hoe—clothes-pole—anything +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page066">[pg 066]</span><a name="Pg066" id="Pg066" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +I can poke with. Quick! +The cat’s up here. I can hear her, but I can’t +see her.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I found the rake and reached it up to him. +From the dark beyond him came a distressed +mew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now the lantern. Hang it on the teeth.”</span> +He drew it up to him, then, rake in one hand +and lantern in the other, proceeded to squirm +out along the limb.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now I see her.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I saw her too—a huddle of yellow, +crouched close.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll have her in a minute. She’ll either +have to drop or be caught.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And in fact this distressing dilemma was +already becoming plain to the marauder herself. +Her mewings grew louder and more +frequent. A few more contortions brought +the climber nearer his victim. A little judicious +urging with the rake and she was within +reach. The rake came down to me, and a +long, wild mew announced that Jonathan had +clutched.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t see how you’re going to get down,”</span> +I said, mopping the rain-mist out of my eyes.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page067">[pg 067]</span><a name="Pg067" id="Pg067" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Watch me,”</span> panted the contortionist.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I watched a curious mass descend the +tree, the lantern, swinging and jerking, fitfully +illumined the pair, and I could see, now +a knee and an ear, now a hand and a yellow +furry shape, now a white collar, nose, and +chin. There was a last, long, scratching slide. +I snatched the lantern, and Jonathan stood +beside me, holding by the scruff of her neck +a very much frazzled yellow cat. We returned +to the porch where her victims were—one +alive, in a basket, two dead, beside it, and +Jonathan, kneeling, held the cat’s nose close +to the little bodies while he boxed her ears—once, +twice; remonstrant mews rose wild, +and with a desperate twist the culprit backed +out under his arm and leaped into the blackness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t believe she’ll eat young robin for a +day or two,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Is that what they were? Where were +they?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Under the tree. She’d knocked them +out.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Could you put this one back? He seems +all right—only sort of naked in spots.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page068">[pg 068]</span><a name="Pg068" id="Pg068" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll half cover the basket and hang it +in the tree. His folks’ll take care of him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Next morning early there began the greatest +to-do among the robins in the orchard. +They shrieked their comments on the affair +at the top of their lungs. They screamed +abusively at Jonathan and me as we stood +watching. <span class="tei tei-q">“They say we did it!”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I call that gratitude!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I wish I could record that from that evening +the cat was a reformed character. An +impression had indeed been made. All next +day she stayed under the porch, two glowing +eyes in the dark. The second day she came +out, walking indifferent and debonair, as cats +do. But when Jonathan took down the basket +from the tree and made her smell of it, +she flattened her ears against her head and +shot under the porch again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But lessons grow dim and temptation is +freshly importunate. It was not two weeks +before Jonathan was up another tree on the +same errand, and when I considered the number +of nests in our orchard, and the number +of cats—none of them really our cats—on +the place, I felt that the position of overruling +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page069">[pg 069]</span><a name="Pg069" id="Pg069" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Providence was almost more than we could +undertake, if we hoped to do anything else.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">These things—tinkering of latches and +chairs, pump-mending, rescue work in the +orchard and among the poultry—filled our +evenings fairly full. Yet these are only samples, +and not particularly representative +samples either. They were the sort of things +that happened oftenest, the common emergencies +incidental to the life. But there were +also the uncommon emergencies, each occurring +seldom but each adding its own touch +of variety to the tale of our evenings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For instance, there was the time of the +great drought, when Jonathan, coming in +from a tour of the farm at dusk, said, <span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve +got to go up and dig out the spring-hole +across the swamp. Everything else is dry, +and the cattle are getting crazy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can I help?”</span> I asked, not without regrets +for our books and our evening—it was +a black night, and I had had hopes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. Come and hold the lantern.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We went. The spring-hole had been trodden +by the poor, eager creatures into a useless +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page070">[pg 070]</span><a name="Pg070" id="Pg070" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +jelly of mud. Jonathan fell to work, +while I held the lantern high. But soon it +became more than a mere matter of holding +the lantern. There was a crashing in the +blackness about us and a huge horned head +emerged behind my shoulder, another loomed +beyond Jonathan’s stooping bulk.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Keep ’em back,”</span> he said. <span class="tei tei-q">“They’ll have +it all trodden up again—Hi! You! Ge’ +back ’ere!”</span> There is as special a lingo for +talking to cattle as there is for talking to +babies. I used it as well as I could. I swung +the lantern in their faces, I brandished the +hoe-handle at them, I jabbed at them recklessly. +They snorted and backed and closed +in again,—crazy, poor things, with the +smell of the water. It was an evening’s battle +for us. Jonathan dug and dug, and then laid +rails, and the precious water filled in slowly, +grew to a dark pool, and the thirsty creatures +panted and snuffed in the dark just outside +the radius of the hoe-handle, until at last we +could let them in. I had forgotten my books, +for we had come close to the earth and the +creatures of the earth. The cows were our +sisters and the steers our brothers that night.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page071">[pg 071]</span><a name="Pg071" id="Pg071" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sometimes the emergency was in the barn—a +broken halter and trouble among the +horses, or perhaps a new calf. Sometimes a +stray creature,—cow or horse,—grazing +along the roadside, got into our yard and +threatened our corn and squashes and my +poor, struggling flower-beds. Once it was a +break in the wire fence around Jonathan’s +muskmelon patch in the barn meadow. The +cows had just been turned in, and if it wasn’t +mended that evening it meant no melons +that season, also melon-tainted cream for days.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Once or twice each year it was the drainpipe +from the sink. The drain, like the pump, +was an innovation. Our ancestors had always +carried out whatever they couldn’t use +or burn, and dumped it on the far edge of the +orchard. In a thinly settled community, +there is much to be said for this method: +you know just where you are. But we had the +drain, and occasionally we didn’t know just +where we were.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Coffee grounds,”</span> Jonathan would suggest, +with a touch of sternness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> I would reply firmly; <span class="tei tei-q">“coffee +grounds are always burned.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page072">[pg 072]</span><a name="Pg072" id="Pg072" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What then?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t know. I’ve poked and poked.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A gleam in the corner of Jonathan’s eye—<span class="tei tei-q">“What +with?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, everything.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I suppose so. For instance what?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why—hair-pin first, of course, and then +scissors, and then button-hook—you needn’t +smile. Button-hooks are wonderful for +cleaning out pipes. And then I took a pail-handle +and straightened it out—”</span> Jonathan +was laughing by this time—<span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I +have to use what I have, don’t I?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, of course. And after the pail-handle?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“After that—oh, yes. I tried your cleaning-rod.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The devil you did!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not at all. It wasn’t hurt a bit. It just +wouldn’t go down, that’s all. So then I +thought I’d wait for you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And now what do you expect?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I expect you to fix it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Of course, after that, there was nothing for +Jonathan to do but fix it. Usually it did not +take long. Sometimes it did. Once it took a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page073">[pg 073]</span><a name="Pg073" id="Pg073" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +whole evening, and required the services of a +young tree, which Jonathan went out and cut +and trimmed and forced through a section of +the pipe which he had taken up and laid out +for the operation on the kitchen floor. It was +a warm evening, too, and friends had driven +over to visit us. We received them warmly in +the kitchen. We explained that we believed +in making them members of the family, and +that members of the family always helped in +whatever was being done. So they helped. +They took turns gripping the pipe while +Jonathan and I persuaded the young tree +through it. It required great strength and +some skill because it was necessary to make +the tree and the pipe perform spirally rotatory +movements each antagonistic and complementary +to the other. We were all rather +tired and very hot before anything began to +happen. Then it happened all at once: the +tree burst through—and not alone. A good +deal came with it. The kitchen floor was a +sight, and there was—undoubtedly there +was—a strong smell of coffee. Jonathan +smiled. Then he went down cellar and restored +the pipe to its position, while the rest +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page074">[pg 074]</span><a name="Pg074" id="Pg074" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +of us cleared up the kitchen,—it’s astonishing +what a little job like that can make a +kitchen look like,—and as our friends started +to go a voice from beneath us, like the ghost +in <span class="tei tei-q">“Hamlet,”</span> shouted, <span class="tei tei-q">“Hold ’em! There’s +half a freezer of ice-cream down here we can +finish.”</span> Sure enough there was! And then +he wouldn’t have to pack it down. We had +it up. We looted the pantry as only irresponsible +adults can loot, in their own pantry, +and the evening ended in luxurious ease. +Some time in the black of the night our +friends left, and I suppose the sound of their +carriage-wheels along the empty road set +many a neighbor wondering, through his +sleep, <span class="tei tei-q">“Who’s sick now?”</span> How could they +know it was only a plumbing party?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As I look back on this evening it seems one +of the pleasantest of the year. It isn’t so +much what you do, of course, as the way you +feel about it, that makes the difference between +pleasant and unpleasant. Shall we say +of that evening that we meant to read aloud? +Or that we meant to have a quiet evening +with friends? Not at all. We say, with all the +conviction in the world, that we meant, on +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page075">[pg 075]</span><a name="Pg075" id="Pg075" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +that particular evening, to have a plumbing +party, with the drain as the +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">pièce de résistance</span></span>. +Toward this our lives had been yearning, +and lo! they had arrived!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Some few things, however, are hard to +meet in that spirit. When the pigs broke out +of the pen, about nine o’clock, and Hiram +was away, and Mrs. Hiram needed our help +to get them in—there was no use in pretending +that we meant to do it. Moreover, the +labor of rounding up pigs is one of mingled +arduousness and delicacy. Pigs in clover +was once a popular game, but pigs in a dark +orchard is not a game at all, and it will, I am +firmly convinced, never be popular. It is, I +repeat, not a game, yet probably the only +way to keep one’s temper at all is to regard +it, for the time being, as a major sport, like +football and deep-sea fishing and mountain-climbing, +where you are expected to take +some risks and not think too much about results +as such. On this basis it has, perhaps, +its own rewards. But the attitude is difficult +to maintain, especially late at night.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On that particular evening, as we returned, +breathless and worn, to the house, I could +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page076">[pg 076]</span><a name="Pg076" id="Pg076" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +not refrain from saying, with some edge, <span class="tei tei-q">“I +never wanted to keep pigs anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who says we’re keeping them?”</span> remarked +Jonathan; and then we laughed and laughed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You needn’t think I’m laughing because +you said anything specially funny,”</span> I said. +<span class="tei tei-q">“It’s only because I’m tired enough to laugh +at anything.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The pump, too, tried my philosophy now +and then. One evening when I had worn my +hands to the bone cutting out thick leather +washers for Jonathan to insert somewhere in +the circulatory system of that same monster, +I finally broke out, <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear! I hate the +pump! I wanted a moonlight walk!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll have the thing together now in a +jiffy,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jiffy! There’s no use talking about jiffies +at half-past ten at night,”</span> I snarled. I +was determined anyway to be as cross as I +liked. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why can’t we find a really simple +way of living? This isn’t simple. It’s highly +complex and very difficult.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You cut those washers very well,”</span> suggested +Jonathan soothingly, but I was not +prepared to be soothed.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page077">[pg 077]</span><a name="Pg077" id="Pg077" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It was hateful work, though. Now, look +what we’ve done this evening! We’ve shut +up a setting hen, and housed the little turkeys, +and driven that cow back into the road, +and mended a window-shade and the dog’s +chain, and now we’ve fixed the pump—and +it won’t stay fixed at that!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Fair evening’s work,”</span> murmured Jonathan +as he rapidly assembled the pump.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, as work. But all I mean is—it isn’t +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">simple</span></span>. +Farm life has a reputation for simplicity +that I begin to think is overdone. It +doesn’t seem to me that my evening has been +any more simple than if we had dressed for +dinner and gone to the opera or played bridge. +In fact, at this distance, that, compared with +this, has the simplicity of a—I don’t know +what!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I like your climaxes,”</span> said Jonathan, and +we both laughed. <span class="tei tei-q">“There! I’m done. Now +suppose we go, in our simple way, and lock up +the barns and chicken-houses.”</span></p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so the evenings came and went, each +offering a prospect of fair and quiet things—books +and firelight and moonlight and talk; +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page078">[pg 078]</span><a name="Pg078" id="Pg078" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +many in retrospect full of things quite different—drains +and latches and fledglings and +cows and pigs. Many, but not all. For the +evenings did now and then come when the +pump ceased from troubling and the <span class="tei tei-q">“critters”</span> +were at rest. Evenings when we sat +under the lamp and read, when we walked +and walked along moonlit roads or lay on the +slopes of moon-washed meadows. It was on +such an evening that we faced the vagaries of +farm life and searched for a philosophy to +cover them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m beginning to see that it will never be +any better,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Probably not,”</span> said Jonathan, talking +around his pipe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You seem contented enough about it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I am.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t know that I’m contented, but +perhaps I’m resigned. I believe it’s necessary.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course it’s necessary.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan often has the air of having known +since infancy the great truths about life that +I have just discovered. I overlooked this, and +went on, <span class="tei tei-q">“You see, we’re right down close to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page079">[pg 079]</span><a name="Pg079" id="Pg079" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the earth that is the ultimate basis of everything, +and all the caprices of things touch us +immediately and we have to make immediate +adjustments to them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And that knocks the bottom out of our +evenings.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now if we’re in the city, playing bridge, +somebody else is making those adjustments +for us. We’re like the princess with seventeen +mattresses between her and the pea.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She felt it, though,”</span> said Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“It +kept her awake.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know. She had a poor night. But even +she would hardly have maintained that she +felt it as she would have done if the mattresses +hadn’t been there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“True,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Farm life is the pea without the mattresses—”</span> +I went on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sounds a little cheerless,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—of course, it isn’t really cheerless +at all. But neither is it easy. It’s full of remorseless +demands for immediate adjustment.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That was the way the princess felt about +her pea.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page080">[pg 080]</span><a name="Pg080" id="Pg080" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The princess was a snippy little thing. +But after all, probably her life was full of +adjustments of other sorts. She couldn’t call +her soul her own a minute, I suppose.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps that was why she ran away,”</span> +suggested Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course it was. She ran away to find the +simple life and didn’t find it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. She found the pea—even with all +those mattresses.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And we’ve run away, and found several +peas, and fewer mattresses,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s not get confused—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m not confused,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I shall be in a minute if I don’t look +out. You can’t follow a parallel too far. +What I mean is, that if you run away from +one kind of complexity you run into another +kind.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What are you going to do about it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m going to like it all,”</span> I answered, <span class="tei tei-q">“and +make believe I meant to do it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After that we were silent awhile. Then I +tried again. <span class="tei tei-q">“You know your trick of waltzing +with a glass of water on your head?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page081">[pg 081]</span><a name="Pg081" id="Pg081" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I wonder if we couldn’t do that +with our souls.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That suggests to me a rather curious +picture,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—you know what I mean. When +you do that, your body takes up all the jolts +and jiggles before they get to the top of your +head, so the glass stays quiet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I don’t see why—only, of course, +our souls aren’t really anything like glasses +of water, and it would be perfectly detestable +to think of carrying them around carefully +like that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps you’d better back out of that +figure of speech,”</span> suggested Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“Go +back to your princess. Say, <span class="tei tei-q">‘every man his +own mattress.’</span> ”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. Any figure is wrong. The trouble +with all of them is that as soon as you use +one it begins to get in your way, and say all +sorts of things for you that you never meant +at all. And then if you notice it, it bothers +you, and if you don’t notice it, you get drawn +into crooked thinking.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And yet you can’t think without them.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page082">[pg 082]</span><a name="Pg082" id="Pg082" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, you can’t think without them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—where are we, anyway?”</span> he +asked placidly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t know at all. Only I feel sure that +leading the simple life doesn’t depend on the +things you do it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">with</span></span>. +Feeding your own cows +and pigs and using pumps and candles brings +you no nearer to it than marketing by telephone +and using city water supply and electric +lighting. I don’t know what does bring +you nearer, but I’m sure it must be something +inside you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That sounds rather reasonable,”</span> said +Jonathan; <span class="tei tei-q">“almost scriptural—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I know,”</span> I said.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter04" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page083">[pg 083]</span><a name="Pg083" id="Pg083" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc8" id="toc8"></a> +<a name="pdf9" id="pdf9"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">IV</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">After Frost</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is late afternoon in mid-September. I +stand in my garden sniffing the raw air, and +wondering, as always at this season, +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">will</span></span> +there be frost to-night or will there not? Of +course if I were a woodchuck or a muskrat, or +any other really intelligent creature, I should +know at once and act accordingly, but being +only a stupid human being, I am thrown +back on conjecture, assisted by the thermometer, +and an appeal to Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Too much wind for frost,”</span> says he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sure? I’d hate to lose my nasturtiums +quite so early.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You won’t lose ’em. Look at the thermometer +if you don’t believe me. If it’s +above forty you’re safe.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I look, and try to feel reassured. But I am +not quite easy in my mind until next morning +when, running out before breakfast, I make +the rounds and find everything untouched.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page084">[pg 084]</span><a name="Pg084" id="Pg084" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But a few days later the alarm comes again. +There is no wind this time, and, what is +worse, an ominous silence falls at dusk over +the orchard and meadow. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why is everything +so still?”</span> I ask myself. <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, of course—the +katydids aren’t talking—and the +crickets, and all the other whirr-y things. +Ah! That means business! My poor garden!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan!”</span> I call, as I feel rather than +see his shape whirling noiselessly in at the +big gate after his ride up from the station. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Help me cover my nasturtiums. There’ll +be frost to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Maybe,”</span> says Jonathan’s voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not maybe at all—surely. Listen to the +katydids!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You mean, listen to the absence of katydids.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Very well. The point is, I want newspapers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. The point is, I am to bring newspapers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Exactly.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And tuck up your nasturtiums for the +night in your peculiarly ridiculous fashion—”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page085">[pg 085]</span><a name="Pg085" id="Pg085" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know it looks ridiculous, but really it’s +sensible. There may be weeks of summer +after this.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so the nasturtiums are tucked up, +cozily hidden under the big layers of sheets, +whose corners we fasten down with stones. +To be sure, the garden <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> rather a funny +sight, with these pale shapes sprawling over +its beds. But it pays. For in the morning, +though over in the vegetable garden the +squash leaves and lima beans are blackened +and limp, my nasturtiums are still pert and +crisp. I pull off the papers, wondering what +the passers-by have thought, and lo! my gay +garden, good for perhaps two weeks more!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But a day arrives when even newspaper +coddling is of no avail. Sometimes it is in late +September, sometimes not until October, but +when it comes there is no resisting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The sun goes down, leaving a clear sky +paling to green at the horizon. A still cold +falls upon the world, and I feel that it is +the end. Shears in hand, I cut everything I +can—nasturtiums down to the ground,—leaves, +buds, and all,—feathery sprays of +cosmos, asters by the armful. Those last +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page086">[pg 086]</span><a name="Pg086" id="Pg086" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +bouquets that I bring into the house are always +the most beautiful, for I do not have to +save buds for later cutting. There will, alas, +be no later cutting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So I fill my bowls and vases, and next +morning I go out, well knowing what I shall +see. It is a beautiful sight, too, if one can +forget its meaning. The whole golden-green +world of autumn has been touched with silver. +In the low-lying swamp beyond the +orchard it is almost like a light snowfall. +The meadows rising beyond the barns are +silvered over wherever the long tree-shadows +still lie. And in my garden, too, where the +shadows linger, every leaf is frosted, but as +soon as the sun warms them through, leaf and +twig turn dark and droop to the ground. It is +the end.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Except, indeed, for my brave marigolds +and calendulas and little button asters. It is +for this reason that I have given them space +all summer, nipping them back when they +tried to blossom early, for they seem a bit +crude compared with the other flowers. But +now that frost is here, my feelings warm to +them. I cannot criticize their color and texture, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page087">[pg 087]</span><a name="Pg087" id="Pg087" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +so grateful am I to them for not giving +up. And when last night’s cuttings have +faded, I shall be very glad of a glowing mass +of marigold beside my fireplace, and of the +yellow stars of calendula, like embodied +sunshine, on my dining-table.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Well, then, the frost has come! And after +the first pang of realization, I find that, curiously +enough, the worst is over. Since it has +come, let it come! And now—hurrah for the +garden house-cleaning! The garden is dead—the +garden of yesterday! Long live the +garden—the garden of to-morrow! For +suddenly my mind has leaped ahead to spring.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I can hardly wait for breakfast to be over, +before I am out in working clothes, pulling +up things—not weeds now, but flowers, or +what were flowers. Nasturtiums, asters, cosmos, +snapdragon, stock, late-blooming cornflowers—up +they all come, all the annuals, +and the biennials that have had their season. +I fling them together in piles, and soon have +small haystacks all along my grass paths, and—there +I am! Down again to the good brown +earth!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is with positive satisfaction that I stand +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page088">[pg 088]</span><a name="Pg088" id="Pg088" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and survey my beds, great bare patches of +earth, glorified here and there by low clumps +of calendula and great bushes of marigold. +Now, then! I can do anything! I can dig, +and fertilize, and transplant. Best of all, I +can plan and plan! The crisp wind stings my +cheeks, but as I work I feel the sun hot on the +back of my neck. I get the smell of the earth +as I turn it over, mingled with the pungent +tang of marigold blossoms, very pleasant out +of doors, though almost too strong for the +house except near a fireplace. I believe the +most characteristic fall odors are to me this +of marigold, mingled with the fragrance of +apples piled in the orchard, the good smell +of earth newly turned up, and the flavor of +burning leaves, borne now and then on the +wind, from the outdoor house-cleaning of the +world.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There is perhaps no season of all the garden +year that brings more real delight to the +gardener, no time so stimulating to the imagination. +This year in the garden has been +good, but next year shall be better. All the +failures, or near-failures, shall of course be +turned into successes, and the successes shall +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page089">[pg 089]</span><a name="Pg089" id="Pg089" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +be bettered. Last year there were not quite +enough hollyhocks, but next year there shall +be such glories! There are seedlings that I +have been saving, over on the edge of the +phlox. I dash across to look them up—yes, +here they are, splendid little fellows, leaves +only a bit crumpled by the frost. I dig them +up carefully, keeping earth packed about +their roots, and one by one I convey them +across and set them out in a beautiful row +where I want them to grow next year. Their +place is beside the old stone-flagged path, and +I picture them rising tall against the side of +the woodshed, whose barrenness I have besides +more than half covered with honeysuckle.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then, there are my foxgloves. Some of +them I have already transplanted, but not +all. There is a little corner full of stocky +yearlings that I must change now. And that +same corner can be used for poppies. I have +kept seeds of this year’s poppies—funny +little brown pepper-shakers, with tiny holes +at the end through which I shake out the fine +seed dust. Doubtless they would attend to +all this without my help, but I like to be sure +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page090">[pg 090]</span><a name="Pg090" id="Pg090" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +that even my self-seeding annuals come up +where I most want them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Biennials, like the foxglove and canterbury +bells, are of course, the difficult children +of the garden, because you have to plan +not only for next year but for the year after. +Next year’s bloom is secured—unless they +winter-kill—in this year’s young plants, +growing since spring, or even since the fall +before. These I transplant for next summer’s +beauty. But for the year after I like to take +double precautions. Already I have tiny +seedlings, started since August, but besides +these I sow seed, too late to start before +spring. For a severe winter may do havoc, +and I shall then need the early start given by +fall sowing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As I work on, I discover all sorts of treasures—young +plants, seedlings from all the +big-folk of my garden. Young larkspurs +surround the bushy parent clumps, and +the ground near the forget-me-nots is fairly +carpeted with little new ones. I have found +that, though the old forget-me-nots will live +through, it pays to pull out the most ragged +of them and trust to the youngsters to fill +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page091">[pg 091]</span><a name="Pg091" id="Pg091" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +their places. These, and English daisies, I let +grow together about as they will. They are +pretty together, with their mingling of pink, +white, and blue, they never run out, and all I +need is to keep them from spreading too far, +or from crowding each other too much.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When my back aches from this kind of +sorting and shifting, I straighten up and look +about me again. Ah! The phlox! Time now +to attend to that!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">My white phlox is really the most distinguished +thing in my garden. I have pink +and lavender, too, but any one can have pink +and lavender by ordering them from a florist. +They can have white, too, but not my +white. For mine never saw a florist; it is an +inheritance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sixty or seventy years ago there was a +beautiful little garden north of the old house +tended and loved by a beautiful lady. The +lady died, and the garden did not long outlive +her. Its place was taken by a crab-apple +orchard, which flourished, bore blossom and +fruit, until in its turn it grew old, while the +garden had faded to a dim tradition. But one +day in August, a few years ago, I discovered +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page092">[pg 092]</span><a name="Pg092" id="Pg092" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +under the shade of an old crab tree, two slender +sprays of white phlox, trying to blossom. +In memory of that old garden and its lady, I +took them up and cherished them. And the +miracle of life was again made manifest. +For from those two little half-starved roots +has come the most splendid part of my garden. +All summer it makes a thick green wall +on the garden’s edge, beside the flagged path. +In the other beds it rises in luxuriant masses, +giving background and body with its wonderful +deep green foliage, which is greener +and thicker than any other phlox I know. +And when its season to bloom arrives—a +long month, from early August to mid-September—it +is a glory of whiteness, the tallest +sprays on a level with my eyes, the shortest +shoulder high, except when rain weighs down +the heavy heads and they lean across the +paths barring my passage with their fragrant +wetness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Here and there I have let the pink and +lavender phlox come in, for they begin to +bloom two weeks earlier, when the garden +needs color. But always my white must +dominate. And it does. Most wonderful of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page093">[pg 093]</span><a name="Pg093" id="Pg093" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +all is it on moonlight nights of late August, +when it broods over the garden like a white +cloud, and the night moths come crowding +to its fragrant feast, with their intermittent +burring of furry wings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Ah, well! the phlox has passed now, and its +trim green leaves are brown and crackly. I +can do what I like with it after this. So when +my other transplanting grows tiresome, I fall +upon my phlox. Every year some of it needs +thinning, so quickly does it spread. I take the +spading-fork, and, with what seems like utter +ruthlessness, I pry out from the thickest centers +enough good roots to give the rest breathing +and growing space. Along the path edges +I always have to cut out encroaching roots +each year, or else soon there would be no +path. But all that I take out is precious, +either to give to friends for their gardens, or +to enlarge the edges of my own. For this +phlox needs almost no care, and will fight +grass and weeds for itself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There are phlox seedlings, too, all over the +garden, but I have no way of telling what color +they are, though usually I can detect the +white by its foliage. I take them up and set +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page094">[pg 094]</span><a name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +them out near the main phlox masses, and +wait for the next season’s blossoming before I +give them their final place.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This is the time of year, too, when I give +some attention to the rocks in my garden. +Of course, in order to have a garden at all, +it was necessary to take out enough rock +to build quite a respectable stone wall. But +that was not the end. There never will be an +end. A Connecticut garden grows rocks like +weeds, and one must expect to keep on taking +them out each fall. The rest of the year I try +to ignore them, but after frost I like to make +a fresh raid, and get rid of another wheelbarrow +load or so. And I always notice that +for one barrow load of stones that go out, it +takes at least two barrow loads of earth to +fill in. Thus an excellent circulation is maintained, +and the garden does not stagnate. +Moreover, I take great pleasure in showing +my friends—especially friends from the +more earthy sections of New York and farther +west—the piles of rock and the parts of +certain stone walls about the place that have +been literally made out of the cullings of my +garden. They never believe me.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page095">[pg 095]</span><a name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As I am thus occupied,—digging, planting, +thinning, sowing,—I find it one of the +happiest seasons of the year. It is partly the +stimulus of the autumn air, partly the pleasure +of getting at the ground. I think there +are some of us, city folk though we be, who +must have the giant Antæus for ancestor. We +still need to get in close touch with the earth +now and then. Children have a true instinct +with their love of barefoot play in the dirt, +and there are grown folks who still love it—but +we call it gardening. The sight and the +feel and the smell of my brown garden beds +gives me a pleasure that is very deep and +probably very primitive.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But there is another source of pleasure in +my fall gardening—a pleasure not of the +senses but of the imagination.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For as I do my work my fancy is active. +As I transplant my young hollyhocks, I see +them, not little round-leaved bunches in my +hand, but tall and stately, aflare with colors—yellows, +whites, pinks. As I dig about my +larkspur and stake out its seedlings, they +spire above me in heavenly blues. As I arrange +the clumps of coarse-leaved young +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page096">[pg 096]</span><a name="Pg096" id="Pg096" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +foxgloves, I seem to see their rich tower-like +clusters of old-pink bells bending always a +little towards the southeast, where most sun +comes from. As I thin my forget-me-not I +see it—in my mind’s eye—in a blue mist +of spring bloom. Thus, a garden rises in my +fancy, a garden where neither beetle, borer, +nor cutworm doth corrupt, and where the +mole doth not break in or steal, where gentle +rain and blessed sun come as they are needed, +where all the flowers bloom unceasingly in +colors of heavenly light—a garden such as +never yet existed nor ever shall, till the tales +of fairyland come true. I shall never see that +garden, yet every year it blooms for me +afresh—after frost.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter05" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page097">[pg 097]</span><a name="Pg097" id="Pg097" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc10" id="toc10"></a> +<a name="pdf11" id="pdf11"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">V</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">The Joys of Garden Stewardship</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I sometimes think I am coming to classify +my friends according to the way they act +when I talk about my garden. On this basis, +there are three sorts of people.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">First there are those who are obviously not +interested. Such as these feel no answering +thrill, even at the sight of a florist’s spring +catalogue. A weed inspires in them no desire +to pull it. They may, however, be really nice +people if they are still young; for, except by +special grace, no one under thirty need be +expected to care about gardens—it is a mature +taste. But in the mean time I turn our +talk in other channels.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then there are the people who, when I +approach the subject, brighten up, look intelligent, +even eager, but in a moment make +it clear that what they are eager for is a +chance to talk about their own gardens. +Mine is merely the stepping-stone, the bridge, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page098">[pg 098]</span><a name="Pg098" id="Pg098" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the handle. This is better than indifference, +yet it is sometimes trying. One of my dearest +friends thus tests my love now and then when +she walks in my garden.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aren’t those peonies lovely?”</span> I suggest.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> dreamily; <span class="tei tei-q">“you know I can’t have +that shade in my garden because—”</span> and she +trails off into a disquisition that I could, just +at that moment, do without.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look at the height of that larkspur!”</span> I say.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes—but, you know, it wouldn’t do for +me to have larkspur when I go away so early. +What I need is things for April and May.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I am not trying to +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">sell</span></span> you any,”</span> I +am sometimes goaded into protesting. <span class="tei tei-q">“I +only wanted you to say they are pretty—pretty +right here in <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">my</span></span> garden.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes—yes—of course they are pretty—they’re +lovely—you have a lovely garden, +you know.”</span> She pulls herself up to give +this tribute, but soon her eyes get the faraway +look in them again, and she is murmuring, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I must write Edward to see +about that hedge. Tell me, my dear, if you +had a brick wall, would you have vines on it +or wall-fruit?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page099">[pg 099]</span><a name="Pg099" id="Pg099" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is of no use. I cannot hold her long. I +sometimes think she was nicer when she had +no garden of her own. Perhaps she thinks I +was nicer when I had none.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But there is another kind of garden manners—a +kind that subtly soothes, cheers, +perhaps inebriates. It is the manner of the +friend who may, indeed, have a garden, but +who looks at mine with the eye of adoption, +temporarily at least. She walks down its +paths, singling out this or that for notice. +She suggests, she even criticizes, tenderly, as +one who tells you an <span class="tei tei-q">“even +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">more</span></span> becoming +way”</span> to arrange your little daughter’s hair. +She offers you roots and seeds and seedlings +from her garden, and—last touch of flattery—she +begs seeds and seedlings from yours.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For garden purposes, give me the manners +of this third class. And, indeed, not for +garden purposes alone. They are useful as +applied to many things—children, particularly, +and houses.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Undoubtedly the demand that I make +upon my friends is a form of vanity, yet I +cannot seem to feel ashamed of it. I admit at +once that not the least part of my pleasure in +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page100">[pg 100]</span><a name="Pg100" id="Pg100" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +my flowers is the attention they get from +others. Moreover, it is not only from friends +that I seek this, but from every passer-by +along my country road. There are gardens +and gardens. Some, set about with hedges +tall and thick, offer the delights of exclusiveness +and solitude. But exclusiveness and solitude +are easily had on a Connecticut farm, +and my garden will none of them; it flings +forth its appeal to every wayfarer. And I +like it. I like my garden to <span class="tei tei-q">“get notice.”</span> As +people drive by I hope they enjoy my phlox. +I furtively glance to see if they have an eye +for the foxglove. I wonder if the calendulas +are so tall that they hide the asters. And if, +as I bend over my weeding, an automobile +whirling past lets fly an appreciative phrase—<span class="tei tei-q">“lovely +flowers—”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“wonderful yellow +of—”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“garden there,”</span>—my ears are quick +to receive it and I forgive the eddies of gasolene +and dust that are also left by the vanishing +visitant.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">About few things can one be so brazen in +one’s enjoyment of recognition. One’s house, +one’s clothes, one’s work, one’s children, all +these demand a certain modesty of demeanor, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page101">[pg 101]</span><a name="Pg101" id="Pg101" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +however the inner spirit may puff. +Not so one’s garden. I fancy this is because, +while I have a strong sense of ownership in it, +I also have a strong sense of stewardship. +As owner I must be modest, but as steward I +may admire as openly as I will. Did I make +my phlox? Did I fashion my asters? Am I the +artificer of my fringed larkspur? Nay, truly, +I am but their caretaker, and may glory in +them as well as another, only with the added +touch of joy that I, even I, have given them +their opportunity. Like Paul I plant, like +Apollos I water, but before the power that +giveth the increase I stand back and wonder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But it is not alone the results of my stewardship +that give me joy. Its very processes +are good. Delight in the earth is a primitive +instinct. Digging is naturally pleasant, hoeing +is pleasant, raking is pleasant, and then +there is the weeding. For I am not the only +one who sows seeds in my garden. One of my +friends remarked cheerfully that he had +planted twenty-seven different vegetables in +his garden, and the Lord had planted two +hundred and twenty-seven other kinds of +things.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page102">[pg 102]</span><a name="Pg102" id="Pg102" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This is where the weeding comes in. Now a +good deal has been said about the labor of +weeding, but little about the gratifications of +weeding. I don’t mean weeding with a hoe. +I mean yanking up, with movements suited +to the occasion, each individual growing +thing that doesn’t belong. Surely I am not +the only one to have felt the pleasure of this. +They come up so nicely, and leave such soft +earth behind! And intellect is needed, too, +for each weed demands its own way of handling: +the adherent plantain needing a slow, +firm, drawing motion, but very satisfactory +when it comes; the evasive clover requiring +that all its sprawling runners shall be gathered +up in one gentle, tactful pull; the tender +shepherd’s purse coming easily on a straight +twitch; the tough ragweed that yields to almost +any kind of jerk. Even witch-grass, the +bane of the farmer, has its rewarding side, +when one really does get out its handful of +wicked-looking, crawly, white tubers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Weeding is most fun when the weeds are +not too small. Yes, from the aspect of a sport +there is something to be said for letting weeds +grow. Pulling out little tender ones is poor +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page103">[pg 103]</span><a name="Pg103" id="Pg103" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +work compared with the satisfaction of hauling +up a spreading treelet of ragweed or a +far-flaunting wild buckwheat. You seem to +get so much for your effort, and it stirs up +the ground so, and no other weeds have grown +under the shade of the big one, so its departure +leaves a good bit of empty brown +earth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Surely, weeding is good fun. If faults could +be yanked out of children in the same entertaining +way, the orphan asylums would soon +be emptied through the craze for adoption as +a major sport.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One of the pleasantest mornings of my life +was spent weeding, in the rain, a long-neglected +corner of my garden, while a young +friend stood around the edges and explained +the current political situation to me, and +carted away armfuls of green stuff as I +handed them out to him. The rain drizzled, +and the air was fragrant with the smell of +wet earth and bruised stems. Ideally, of +course, weeds should never reach this state +of sportive rankness. But most of my friends +admit, under pressure, that there are corners +where such things do happen.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page104">[pg 104]</span><a name="Pg104" id="Pg104" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Naturally, all this is assuming that one is +one’s own gardener. There may be pleasure +in having a garden kept up by a real gardener, +but that always seems to me a little +like having a doll and letting somebody else +dress and undress it. My garden must never +grow so big that I cannot take care of it—and +neglect it—myself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In saying this, however, I don’t count +rocks. When it comes to rocks, I call in Jonathan. +And it often comes to rocks.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For mine is a Connecticut garden. Now +in the beginning Connecticut was composed +entirely of rocks. Then the little earth +gnomes, fearing that no one would ever come +there to give them sport, sprinkled a little +earth amongst the rocks, partly covered +some, wholly covered others, and then hid to +see what the gardeners would do about it. +And ever since the gardeners have been patiently, +or impatiently, tucking in their seeds +and plants in the thimblefuls of earth left by +the gnomes. They have been picking out the +rocks, or blowing them up, or burying them, +or working around them; and every winter +the little gnomes gather and push up a new +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page105">[pg 105]</span><a name="Pg105" id="Pg105" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +lot from the dark storehouses of the underworld. +In the spring the gardeners begin +again, and the little gnomes hold their sides +with still laughter to watch the work go on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Rocks?”</span> my friends say. <span class="tei tei-q">“Do you mind +the rocks? But they are a special beauty! +Why, I have a rock in my garden that I have +treated—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Very well,”</span> I interrupt rudely. +<span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">A rock</span></span> is +all very well. If I had <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">a +rock</span></span> in my garden I +could treat it, too. But how about a garden +that is all rocks?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh—why—choose another spot.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Whereupon I reply, <span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t know +Connecticut.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Ever since I began having a garden I have +had my troubles with the rocks, but the +worst time came when, in a mood of enthusiastic +and absolutely unintelligent optimism, +I decided to have a bit of smooth grass in the +middle of my garden. I wanted it very much. +The place was too restless; you couldn’t sit +down anywhere. I felt that I had to have a +clear green spot where I could take a chair +and a book. I selected the spot, marked it off +with string, and began to loosen up the earth +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page106">[pg 106]</span><a name="Pg106" id="Pg106" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +for a late summer planting of grass seed. +Calendulas and poppies and cornflowers had +bloomed there before, self-sown and able to +look out for themselves, so I had never investigated +the depths of the bed to see what +the little gnomes had prepared for me. Now +I found out. The spading-fork gave a familiar +dull clink as it struck rock. I felt about +for the edge; it was a big one. I got the crowbar +and dropped it, in testing prods; it was a +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">very</span></span> +big one, and only four inches below the +surface. Grass would never grow there in a +dry season. I moved to another part. Another +rock, big too! I prodded all over the +allotted space, and found six big fellows lurking +just below the top of the soil. Evidently +it was a case for calling in Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He came, grumbling a little, as a man +should, but very efficient, armed with two +crowbars and equipped with a natural genius +for manipulating rocks. He made a few +well-placed remarks about queer people who +choose to have grass where flowers would +grow, and flowers where grass would grow, +also about Connecticut being intended for a +quarry and not for a garden anyhow. But all +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page107">[pg 107]</span><a name="Pg107" id="Pg107" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +this was only the necessary accompaniment of +the crowbar-play. Soon, under the insistent +and canny urgency of the bars, a big rock +began to heave its shoulder into sight above +the soil. I hovered about, chucking in stones +and earth underneath, placing little rocks +under the bar for fulcrums, pulling them out +again when they were no longer needed, +standing guard over the flowers in the rest of +the garden, with repeated warnings. <span class="tei tei-q">“Please, +Jonathan, don’t step back any farther; you’ll +trample the forget-me-nots!”</span> +<span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Could</span></span> you +manage to roll this fellow out along that +path and not across the mangled bodies of +the marigolds?”</span> Jonathan grumbled a little +about being expected to pick a half-ton pebble +out of the garden with his fingers, or lead +it out with a string.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, well, of course, if you +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">can’t</span></span> do it I’ll +have to let the marigolds go this year. But +you do such wonderful things with a crowbar, +I thought you could probably just guide it a +little.”</span> And Jonathan responds nobly to the +flattery of this remark, and does indeed guide +the huge thing, eases it along the narrow +path, grazes the marigolds but leaves them +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page108">[pg 108]</span><a name="Pg108" id="Pg108" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +unhurt, until at last, with a careful arrangement +of stone fulcrums and a skillful twist of +the bars, the great rock makes its last response +and lunges heavily past the last flower +bed on to the grass beyond.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When the work was done, the edge of the +garden looked like Stonehenge, and the spot +where my grass was to be was nothing but +a yawning pit, crying to be filled. We surveyed +it with interest. <span class="tei tei-q">“If we had a water-supply, +I wouldn’t make a grass-plot,”</span> I +said; <span class="tei tei-q">“I’d make a swimming-pool. It’s deep +enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And sit in the middle with your book?”</span> +asked Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But there was no water-supply, so we filled +it in with earth. Thirty wheelbarrow loads +went in where those rocks came out. And +the little gnomes perched on Stonehenge and +jeered the while. I photographed it, and the +rocks <span class="tei tei-q">“took”</span> well, but as regards the gnomes, +the film was underexposed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Thus the grass seed was planted. And we +reminded each other of the version of <span class="tei tei-q">“America”</span> +once given, with unconscious inspiration, +by a little friend of ours:—</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page109">[pg 109]</span><a name="Pg109" id="Pg109" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<div class="block tei tei-quote" style="margin-bottom: 1.80em; margin-left: 3.60em; margin-top: 1.80em; margin-right: 3.60em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">Land where our father died,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">Land where the pilgrims pried.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></div> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It seemed to us to suit the adventure.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As I have said, I love to have my friends +love my garden. But there is one thing about +it that I find does not always appeal to them +pleasantly, and that is its color-schemes. +Yet this is not my doing. For in nothing do +I feel more keenly the fact of my mere stewardship +than in this matter of color-scheme.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I set out with a very rigid one. I was +quite decided in my own mind that what +I wanted was white and salmon-pink and +lavender. Asters, phlox, sweet peas, hollyhocks, +all were to bend themselves to my +rules. At first affairs went very well. White +was easy. White phlox I had, and have—an +inheritance—which from a few roots is +spreading and spreading in waves of whiteness +that grow more luxuriant every year. +But I bought roots of salmon-pink and lavender, +and then my troubles commenced. +About the third season strange things began +to happen. The pink phlox had the strength +of ten. It spread amazingly; but it forgot all +about my rules. It degenerated, some of it—reverted +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page110">[pg 110]</span><a name="Pg110" id="Pg110" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +toward that magenta shade that +nature seems so naturally to adore in the +vegetable world. To my horror I found my +garden blossoming into magenta pink, blue +pink, crimson, cardinal—all the colors I had +determined not under any circumstances to +admit. On the other hand, the lavender +phlox, which I particularly wanted, was +most lovely, but frail. It refused to spread. +It effaced itself before the rampant pink and +its magenta-tainted brood. I vowed I would +pull out the magentas, but each year my +courage failed. They bloomed so bravely; I +would wait till they were through. But by +that time I was not quite sure which was +which; I might pull out the wrong ones. And +so I hesitated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Moreover, I discovered, lingering among +the flowers at dusk, that there were certain +colors, most unpleasant by daylight, which +at that time took on a new shade, and, for +perhaps half an hour before night fell, were +richly lovely. This is true of some of the +magentas, which at dusk turn suddenly to +royal purples and deep lavender-blues that +are wonderfully satisfying.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page111">[pg 111]</span><a name="Pg111" id="Pg111" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For that half-hour of beauty I spare them. +While the sun shines I try to look the other +way, and at twilight I linger near them and +enjoy their strange, dim glories, born literally +of the magic hour. But I have trouble explaining +them, by daylight, to some of my +visitors who like color-schemes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Insubordination is contagious. And I +found after a while that my asters were not +running true; queer things were happening +among the sweet peas, and in the ranks of the +hollyhocks all was not as it should be. And +the last charge was made upon me by the +children’s gardens. Children know not color-schemes. +What they demand is flowers, flowers—flowers +to pick and pick, flowers to do +things with. Snapdragon, for instance, is a +jolly playmate, and little fingers love to +pinch its cheeks and see its jaws yawn wide. +But snapdragon tends dangerously toward +the magenta. Then there was the calendula—a +delight to the young, because it blooms +incessantly long past the early frosts, and has +brittle stems that yield themselves to the +clumsiest plucking by small hands. But calendula +ranges from a faded yellow, through +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page112">[pg 112]</span><a name="Pg112" id="Pg112" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +really pretty primrose shades, to a deep red-orange +touched with maroon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And, finally, there was the portulaca. +Children love it, perhaps, best of all. It offers +them fresh blossoms and new colors each +morning, and it is even more easy to pick +than the calendula. Who would deny them +portulaca? Yet if this be admitted, one may +as well give up the battle. For, as we all +know, there is absolutely no color, except +green, that portulaca does not perpetrate in +its blossoms. It knows no shame.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In short, I am giving up. I am beginning +to say with conviction that color-schemes are +the mark of a narrow and rigid taste—that +they are born of convention and are meant +not for living things but for wall-papers and +portières and clothes. Moreover, I am really +growing callous—or is it, rather, broad? +Colors in my garden that would once have +made my teeth ache now leave them feeling +perfectly comfortable. I find myself looking +with unmoved flesh—no creeps nor withdrawals—upon +a bed of mixed magentas, +scarlets, rose-pinks, and yellow-pinks. I even +look with pleasure. I begin to think there +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page113">[pg 113]</span><a name="Pg113" id="Pg113" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +may be a point beyond which discord achieves +a higher harmony. At least, this sounds well. +But, again, I find it hard to explain to some +of my friends.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Indoors, it is another story. When I bring +in the spoils of the garden I am again mistress +and bend all to my will. Here I’ll have +no tricks of color played on me. Sunshine and +sky, perhaps, work some spell, for as soon as I +get within four walls my prejudices return; +scarlets and crimsons and pinks have to live +in different rooms. I must have my color-schemes +again, and perhaps I am as narrow +as the worst. Except, indeed, for the children’s +bowls; here the pink and the magenta, +the lamb and the lion, may lie down together. +But it takes a little child to lead them.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Out in my garden I feel myself less and +less owner, more and more merely steward. +I decree certain paths, and the phlox says, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Paths? Did you say paths?”</span> and obliterates +them in a season’s growth, so that children +walk by faith and not by sight. I decree +iris in one corner, and the primroses say, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Iris? Not at all. This is our bed. Iris indeed!”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page114">[pg 114]</span><a name="Pg114" id="Pg114" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +And I submit, and move the iris +elsewhere.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And yet this slipping of responsibility is +pleasant, too. So long as my garden will let +me dig in it and weed it and pick it, so long as +it entertains my friends for me, so long as it +tosses up an occasional rock so that Jonathan +does not lose all interest in it, so long as it +plays prettily with the children and flings gay +greetings to every passer-by, I can find no +fault with it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The joys of stewardship are great and I +am well content.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter06" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page115">[pg 115]</span><a name="Pg115" id="Pg115" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc12" id="toc12"></a> +<a name="pdf13" id="pdf13"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">VI</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Trout and Arbutus</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Every year, toward the end of March, I find +Jonathan poking about in my sewing-box. +And, unless I am very absent-minded, I know +what he is after.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No use looking there,”</span> I remark; <span class="tei tei-q">“I keep +my silks put away.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I want red, and as strong as there is.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know what you want. Here.”</span> and I +hand him a spool of red buttonhole twist.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ah! Just right!”</span> And for the rest of the +evening his fingers are busy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Over what? Mending our trout-rods, of +course. It is pretty work, calling for strength +and precision of grasp, and as he winds and +winds, adjusting all the little brass leading-rings, +or supplying new ones, and staying +points in the bamboo where he suspects weakness, +we talk over last year’s trout-pools, and +wonder what they will be like this year.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But beyond wonder we do not get, often +for weeks after the trout season is, legislatively, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page116">[pg 116]</span><a name="Pg116" id="Pg116" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“open.”</span> Jonathan is <span class="tei tei-q">“busy.”</span> I am +<span class="tei tei-q">“busy.”</span> We know that, if April passes, there +is still May and June, and so, if at the end of +April, or early May, we do at last pick up +our rods,—all new-bedight with red silk +windings, and shiny with fresh varnish,—it +is not alone the call of the trout that decides +us, but another call which is to me at least +more imperious, because, if we neglect it now, +there is no May and June in which to heed it. +It is the call of the arbutus.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Any one with New England traditions +knows what this call is. Its appeal is to +something far deeper than the love of a pretty +flower. For it is the flower that, to our fathers +and our grandfathers, and to their fathers and +grandfathers, meant spring; and not spring in +its prettiness and ease, appealing to the idler +in us, nor spring in its melancholy, appealing +to—shall I say the poet in us? But spring +in its blessedness of opportunity, its joyously +triumphant life, appealing to the worker in +us. Here, of course, we touch hands with all +the races of the world for whom winter has +been the supreme menace, spring the supreme +and saving miracle. But each race has its own +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page117">[pg 117]</span><a name="Pg117" id="Pg117" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +symbols, and to the New Englander the symbol +is the arbutus.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This may seem a bit of sentimentality. +And, indeed, we need not expect to find it +expressed by any New England farmer. New +England does not go out in gay companies to +bring back the first blossoms. But New +England does nothing in gay companies. It +has been taught to distrust ceremonies and +expression of any sort. It rejoices with reticence, +it appreciates with a reservation. And +yet I have seen a sprig of arbutus in rough +and clumsy buttonholes on weather-faded +lapels which, the rest of the twelve-month +through, know no other flower. And when, +in unfamiliar country, I have interrupted the +ploughing to ask for guidance, I usually get +it:—<span class="tei tei-q">“Arbutus? Yaas. The’s a lot of it up +along that hillside and in the woods over beyond—’t +was out last week, some of it, I +happened to notice”</span>—this in the apologetic +tone of one who admits a weakness—<span class="tei tei-q">“guess +you’ll find all you want.”</span> I venture to say +that of no other wild flower, except those +which work specific harm or good, could I get +such information.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page118">[pg 118]</span><a name="Pg118" id="Pg118" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">To many of us, city-bred, the tradition +comes through inheritance. It means, perhaps, +the shy, poetic side of our father’s boyhood, +only half acknowledged, after the New +England fashion, but none the less real and +none the less our possession. It means rare +days, when the city—whose chiefest signs +of spring were the flare of dandelions in yards +and parks and the chatter of English sparrows +on ivy-clad church walls—was left behind, +and we were <span class="tei tei-q">“in the country.”</span> It was a +country excitingly different from the country +of the summer vacation, a country not deeply +green, but warmly brown, and sweet with the +smell of moist, living earth. Green enough, +indeed, in the spring-fed meadows and folds of +the hills, where the early grass flashes into +vividest emerald, but in the woods the soft +mist-colored mazes of multitudinous twigs +still show through their veilings and dustings +of color—palest green of birches, gray-green +of poplar, yellow-green of willows, and +redder tones of the maples; and along the +fence-lines and roadsides—blessed, untidy +fence-lines and roadsides of New England—a +fine penciling of red stems—the cut-back +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page119">[pg 119]</span><a name="Pg119" id="Pg119" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +maple bushes and tangled vines alive to their +tips and just bursting into leaf. And everywhere +in the woods, on fence-lines and roadsides, +the white blossoms of the <span class="tei tei-q">“shad-blow,”</span> +daintiest of spring trees,—too slight for a +tree, indeed, though too tall for a bush and +looking less like a tree in blossom than like +floating blossoms caught for a moment among +the twigs. A moment only, for the first gust +loosens them again and carpets the woods +with their petals, but while they last their +whiteness shimmers everywhere.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Such rare days were all blown through +with the wonderful wind of spring. Spring +wind is really different from any other. It is +not a finished thing, like the mellow winds of +summer and the cold blasts of winter. It is an +imperfect blend of shivering reminiscence and +eager promise. One moment it breathes sun +and stirring earth, the next it reminds us of +old snow in the hollows, and bleak northern +slopes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When, on these days, the wind blew to us, +almost before we saw it, the first greeting of +the arbutus, it always seemed that the day +had found its complete and satisfying expression. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page120">[pg 120]</span><a name="Pg120" id="Pg120" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Every one comes to realize, at +some time in his life, the power of suggestion +possessed by odors. Does not half the power +of the Church lie in its incense? An odor, just +because it is at once concrete and formless, +can carry an appeal overwhelmingly strong +and searching, superseding all other expression. +This is the appeal made to me by the +arbutus. It can never be quite precipitated +into words, but it holds in solution all the +things it has come to mean—dear human +tradition and beloved companionship, the +poetry of the land and the miracle of new +birth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In late March or early April I am likely to +see the first blossom on some friend’s table—I +try not to see it first in a florist’s display! +To my startled question she gives reassuring +answer, <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, no, not from around here. This +came from Virginia.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Days pass, and, perhaps, the mail brings +some to me, this time from Pennsylvania or +New Jersey, and soon I can no longer ignore +the trays of tight, leafless bunches for sale on +street corners and behind plate-glass windows. +<span class="tei tei-q">“From York State,”</span> they tell me. I grow +restive.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page121">[pg 121]</span><a name="Pg121" id="Pg121" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan,”</span> I say, holding up a spray for +him to smell, <span class="tei tei-q">“we’ve got to go. You can’t +resist that. We’ll take a day and go for it—and +trout, too.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is as well that arbutus comes in the trout +season, for to take a day off just to pick a +flower might seem a little absurd. But, +coupled with trout—all is well. Trout is +food. One must eat. The search for food +needs no defense, and yet, the curious fact is, +that if you go for trout and don’t get any, it +doesn’t make so much difference as you +might suppose, but if you go for arbutus and +don’t get any, it makes all the difference in +the world. And so Jonathan knows that in +choosing his brook for that particular day, +he must have regard primarily to the arbutus +it will give us and only secondarily to the +trout.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Every one knows the kind of brook that is, +for every one knows the kind of country +arbutus loves—hilly country, with slopes +toward the north; bits of woodland, preferably +with pine in it, to give shade, but not too +deep shade; a scrub undergrowth of laurel +and huckleberry and bay; and always, somewhere +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page122">[pg 122]</span><a name="Pg122" id="Pg122" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +within sight or hearing, water. It is +curious how arbutus, which never grows in +wet places, yet seems to like the neighborhood +of water. It loves the slopes above a brook +or the shaggy hillsides overlooking a little +pond or river.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Fortunately, there is such a brook, in just +such country, on our list. There are not so +many trout as in other brooks, but enough to +justify our rods; and not so much arbutus as +I could find elsewhere, but enough—oh, +enough!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">To this brook we go. We tie Kit at the +bridge, Jonathan slings on a fish-basket, to do +for both, and I take a box or two for the +flowers. But from this moment on our interests +are somewhat at variance. The fact is, +Jonathan cares a little more about the trout +than about the arbutus, while I care a little +more about the arbutus than about the +trout. His eye is keenly on the brook, mine +is, yearningly, on the ragged hillsides that roll +up above it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan feels this. <span class="tei tei-q">“There isn’t any for +two fields yet—might as well stick to the +brook.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page123">[pg 123]</span><a name="Pg123" id="Pg123" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know. I thought perhaps I’d go on +down and let you fish this part. Then I’d +meet you beyond the second fence—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, no, that won’t do at all. Why, there’s +a rock just below here—down by that wild +cherry—where I took out a beauty last +year, and left another. I want you to go +down and get him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You get him. I don’t mind.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, but I mind. Here, I’ve got it all +planned: there’s a bit of brush-fishing just +below—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No brush-fishing for me, please!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That’s what I’m saying, if you’ll only +give me time. I’ll take that—there are +always two or three in there—and when +you’ve finished here you can go around me +and fish the bend, under the hemlocks, and +then the first arbutus is just beside that, and +I’ll join you there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well”</span>—I assent grudgingly—<span class="tei tei-q">“only, +really, I’d be just as happy if you’d fish the +whole thing and let me go right on down—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, you wouldn’t. Now, remember to +sneak before you get to that rock. Drop in +six feet above it and let the current do the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page124">[pg 124]</span><a name="Pg124" id="Pg124" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +rest. They’re awfully shy. I expect you to +get at least one there, and two down at the +bend.”</span> He trudges off to his brush-fishing +and leaves me bound in honor to extract a +trout from under that rock. I deposit my +boxes in the meadow above it, and <span class="tei tei-q">“sneak”</span> +down. The sneak of a trout fisherman is like +no other form of locomotion, and I am convinced +that the human frame was not evolved +with it in mind. But I resort to it in deference +to Jonathan’s prejudices—in deference, +also, to the fact that when I do not the trout +seldom bite. And Jonathan is so trustfully +counting on my getting that trout!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I did get him. I dropped in my line, as per +directions, and let the current do the rest; +had the thrill of feeling the line suddenly +caught and drawn under the rock, held, then +wiggled slightly; I struck, felt the weight, +drew back steadily, and in a few moments +there was a flopping in the grass behind me.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So that was off my mind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I strung him on a twig of wild cherry, +gathered up my boxes, and wandered along +the faint path, back of the patch of brush +where, I knew, Jonathan was cheerfully +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page125">[pg 125]</span><a name="Pg125" id="Pg125" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +threading his line through tangles of twig, +briar, and vine, compared with which the +needle’s eye is as a yawning barn door. +Jonathan’s attitude toward brush-fishing is +something which I respect without understanding. +Down one long field I went, where +the brook ran in shallow gayety, and there, +ahead, was the bend, a sudden curve of +water, deepening under the roots of an overhanging +hemlock. I climbed the stone wall +beside, glanced at the water—very trouty +water indeed—glanced at the hill-pasture +above—very arbutusy indeed—laid down +my rod and my trout and my box, and ran +up the low bank to a clump of bay and berry-bushes +that I thought I remembered.… +Yes! There it was! I had remembered! Ah! +The dear things!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When you first find arbutus, there is only +one thing to do:—lie right down beside it. +Its fragrance as it grows is different from +what it is after it is picked, because with the +sweetness of the blossoms is mingled the good +smell of the earth and of the woody twigs and +of the dried grass and leaves. And there are +other rewards one gets by lying down. It is +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page126">[pg 126]</span><a name="Pg126" id="Pg126" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +all very well to talk proudly about man’s +walking with his head erect and his face to +the heavens, but if we keep that posture all +the time we miss a good deal. The attitude +of the toad and the lizard is not to be scorned, +though when the needs of locomotion convert +it into the fisherman’s <span class="tei tei-q">“sneak,”</span> it is, as I +have suggested, to be sparingly indulged in. +But if we could only nibble now and then +from <span class="tei tei-q">“the other side”</span> of Alice’s mushroom, +what a new outlook we should get on the +world that now lies about our feet! What +new aspects of its beauty would be revealed +to us: the forest grandeurs of the grass, the +architecture of its slim shafts with their pillared +aisles and pointed arches of interlocking +and upspringing curves, their ceiling traceries +of spraying tops against a far-away background +of sky!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">To know arbutus, you must stoop to its +level, and look across the fine, frosty fur of +its stiff little leaves, and feel the nestle of its +stems to the ground, the little up-fling of their +tips toward the sun, and the neat radiance +of its flower clusters, with their blessed +fragrance and their pure, babyish color.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page127">[pg 127]</span><a name="Pg127" id="Pg127" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But after that? You want to pick it. Yes, +you really want to pick it!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In this it is different from other flowers. +Most of them I am well content to leave +where they grow. In fact, the love of picking +things—flowers or anything else—is a +youthful taste: we lose it as we grow older; +we become more and more willing to appreciate +without acquiring, or rather, appreciation +becomes to us a finer and more spiritual +form of acquiring. Is it possible that, after all, +the old idea of heaven as a state of enraptured +contemplation is in harmony with the trend +of our development?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But if there is arbutus in heaven, I shall +need to develop a good deal further not to +want to pick it. It suggests picking; it +almost invites it. There is something about +the way it nestles and hides, that makes you +want to see it better. Here is a spray of pure +white, living under a green tent of overlapping +leaves; one must raise it, and nip off just one +leaf, so that the blossoms can see out. There +is another, a pink cluster, showing faintly +through the dry, matted grass. You feel for +the stem, pull it gently, and, lo, it is many +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page128">[pg 128]</span><a name="Pg128" id="Pg128" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +stems, which have crept their way under the +tangle, and every one is tipped with a cluster +of stars or round little buds each on its long +stem, fairly begging to be picked. It gets +picked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Yet sometimes its very beauty has stayed +my hand. I shall never forget one clump I +found, growing out of a bank of deep green +moss, partly shaded by a great hemlock. The +soft pink blossoms—luxuriant leafy sprays of +them—were lying out on the moss in a pagan +carelessness of beauty, as though some +god had willed it there for his pleasure. I sat +beside it a long time, and in the end I left it +without picking it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On this particular day, Jonathan being +still lost in the brush patch, I had risen +from my visit with the first-discovered blossoms +and wandered on, from clump to clump, +wherever the glimpse of a leaf attracted me, +picking the choicest here and there and +dropping them into my box. After I do not +know how long, I was roused by Jonathan’s +whistle. I was some distance up the hillside +by this time, and he was beside the brook, at +the bend.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page129">[pg 129]</span><a name="Pg129" id="Pg129" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What luck?”</span> he called.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good luck! I’ve found lots. Come up!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He took a few steps up toward me, so that +conversation could drop from shouting to +speaking levels. <span class="tei tei-q">“How many did you get?”</span> +he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How many?… Oh … why … Oh, I +got one up there where you showed me—under +the rock, you know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good one?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eight inches. He’s down there by the +bars.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good! And what about the bend?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The bend? Oh, I didn’t fish there—look +at these! Aren’t they beauties?”</span> I +came down the hill to hold my open box up +to his face. But my casual word almost +effaced the scent of the flowers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ah—yes—delicious—didn’t fish +there? Why not? Did they see you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who? The trout? I don’t know. But I +saw this. And I just had to pick it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well! You’re a great fisherman! And with +that water right there beside you! Lord!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“With the arbutus right here beside me! +Lord!”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page130">[pg 130]</span><a name="Pg130" id="Pg130" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But the arbutus would wait.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But the trout would wait. They’re waiting +for you now, don’t you hear them? Go +and fish there!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. That’s your pool.”</span> Jonathan has a +way of bestowing a trout-pool on me as if it +were a bouquet. To refuse its opportunities +is almost like throwing his flowers back in his +face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—of course it’s a beautiful pool—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Best on the brook,”</span> murmured Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But, truly, I’d enjoy it just as much to +have you fish it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nobody can fish it now for a while. I +thought you’d be there, of course, and I came +stamping along down, close by the bank. +They wouldn’t bite now—not for half an +hour, anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then, that’s just right. We’ll go on +up the hillside for half an hour, and then come +back and fish it. Set your rod up against the +bayberry here, and come along—look there! +you’re almost stepping on some!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan, gradually adjusting himself to +the turn of things, stood his rod up against +the bush with the meticulous care of the true +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page131">[pg 131]</span><a name="Pg131" id="Pg131" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +sportsman. <span class="tei tei-q">“Where did you leave yours?”</span> +he asked, with a suspiciousness born of a +deep knowledge of my character.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, down by the bars.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Standing up or lying down?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Lying down, I think. It’s all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s not all right if it’s lying down. Anything +might trample on it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“For instance, what?—birds or crickets?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“For instance, people or cows.”</span> He strode +down the hill, and I saw him stoop. As he +returned I could read disapproval in his gait. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Will you never learn how to treat a rod! +It was lying just beyond the bars. I must +have landed within two feet of it when I +jumped over.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m sorry. I meant to go back. I know +perfectly how to treat a rod. My trouble +comes in knowing when to apply my knowledge.… +Well, let’s go up there. Near those +big hemlocks there’s some, I remember.”</span> +And we wandered on, separating a little to +scan the ground more widely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Once having pried his mind away from the +trout, Jonathan was as keen for arbutus as I +could wish, and soon I heard an exclamation, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page132">[pg 132]</span><a name="Pg132" id="Pg132" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and saw him kneel. <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, come over!”</span> he +called; <span class="tei tei-q">“you really ought to see this growing!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But there’s some I want, right here, +that’s lovely—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Never mind. Come and see this—oh, +come!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Of course I come, and of course I am glad I +came, and of course soon I am obliged to call +Jonathan to see some I have found—<span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, +it is truly the loveliest +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yet!</span></span> It’s the +way it grows—with the moss and all—please +come!”</span> And of course he comes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We had been on the hillside a long half-hour, +much nearer an hour, when Jonathan +began to grow restive. <span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t you think you +have enough?”</span> he suggested several times. +Finally, he spoke plainly of the trout.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, yes, of course,”</span> I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“you go down +and I’ll follow just as soon as I’ve gone along +that upper path.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Not at all. That was not what was wanted. +So I turned and we went down the hill, back +to the bend, whose seductions I had been so +puzzlingly able to resist. I am sure Jonathan +has never yet quite understood how I could +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page133">[pg 133]</span><a name="Pg133" id="Pg133" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +leave that bit of water at my left hand and +turn away to the right.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now—sneak!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We sneaked, and I sank down just back of +the edge of the bank. Jonathan crouched +some feet behind, coaching me:—<span class="tei tei-q">“Now—draw +out a little more line—not too much—there—and +have some slack in your hand. +Now, up-stream fifteen feet—allow for the +wind—wait till that gust passes—now! +Good! First-rate! Now let her drift—there—what +did I tell you? Give him line! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Give</span></span> him +line! Now, feel of him—careful! You’ll +know when to strike … there!… Oh! too +bad!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For as I struck, my line held fast.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Snagged, by gummy! Can’t you pull +clear?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not without stirring up the whole pool. +You’ll have to do the fishing, after all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">too</span></span> +bad! That’s hard luck!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not a bit. I like to watch you do it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so indeed I did. Once having realized +that I was temporarily laid by, Jonathan put +his whole mind on the pool, while I, being +honorably released from all responsibility, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page134">[pg 134]</span><a name="Pg134" id="Pg134" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +except that of keeping my line taut, could +put my whole mind on his performance. +There is a little the same sort of pleasure in +watching the skillful handling of a rod that +there is in watching the bow-action of a +violinist. Both things demand the utmost +nicety of adjustment: body, arm, wrist, fingers +uniting in an interplay of efficiency exactly +adapted to the intricately shifting needs +of each moment.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Thus I watched, through the typical stages +of the sport: the delicate flip of the bait into +the current at just the right spot; its swift +descent, imperceptibly guided by the rod’s +quivering tip; its slower drift toward deep +water; its sudden vanishing, and the whir of +the reel as the line goes out; then the pause, +the critical moments of <span class="tei tei-q">“feeling for him”</span>; at +last the strike … and then, a flopping in the +grass behind me, and Jonathan crawling +back to kill and unhook him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t get up. There’s probably another +one,”</span> he said; and soon, by the same reptilian +methods, was back for another try. There +was another one, and yet another, and then a +little fellow, barely hooked. <span class="tei tei-q">“That’s all,”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page135">[pg 135]</span><a name="Pg135" id="Pg135" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +said Jonathan, as he rose to put him back into +the pool, and we watched the pretty spotted +creature fling himself upstream with a wild +flourish of his gleaming body.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now I’ll get you clear,”</span> said Jonathan, +wading out into the water, and, with sleeves +rolled high, feeling deep, deep down under +the opposite bank. <span class="tei tei-q">“He had you all right—it’s +wound round a root and then jabbed +deep into it … hard luck! I wanted you to +get those fellows!”</span> And to this day I am sure +he remembers those trout with a tinge of +regret.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I had intended leaving him to fish the rest +of the brook, while I went back to that upper +path to look up two or three special arbutus +clumps that I knew, but seeing his depression +over the snag incident, I could not suggest +this. Instead I followed the stream with him, +accepting his urgent offer of all the best pools, +while he, taking what was left, drew out perfectly +good trout from the most unhopeful-looking +bits of water. And at the end, there +was time to return along the upper path and +visit my old friends, so both of us were satisfied.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page136">[pg 136]</span><a name="Pg136" id="Pg136" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On such days, however, there is always one +person who is not satisfied, and that is, Kit +the horse. Kit has borne with our vagaries +for many years, but she has never come to +understand them. She never fails to greet +our return, as our voices come within the +range of her pricked-up ears, by a prolonged +and reproachful whinny, which says as plainly +as is necessary, <span class="tei tei-q">“Back? Well—I should +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">think</span></span> it was time! +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I should think it was +TIME!</span></span>”</span> Now and then we have thought it +would be pleasant to have a little motor-car +that could be tucked away at any roadside, +without reference to a good hitching-place, +but if we had it, I am sure we should miss that +ungracious welcoming whinny. We should +miss, too, the exasperated violence of Kit’s +pace on the first bit of the home road—a +violence expressing in the most ostentatious +manner her opinion of folks who keep a respectable +horse hitched by the roadside, far +from the delights of the dim, sweet stable +and the dusty, sneezy, munchy hay.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But leaving out this little matter of Kit’s +preference, and also the other little matter of +the trout’s preference, I feel sure that an arbutus-trouting +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page137">[pg 137]</span><a name="Pg137" id="Pg137" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +is peculiarly satisfying. It meets +every human need—the need of food and +beauty, the need of feeling strong and skillful, +the need of becoming deeply aware of +nature as living and kind. Moreover, it is +very satisfying afterwards. As we sat that +evening, over a late supper, with a shallow +dish of arbutus beside us, I remarked, <span class="tei tei-q">“The +advantage of getting arbutus is, that you +bring the whole day home with you and +have it at your elbow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The advantage of getting trout,”</span> remarked +Jonathan dreamily, as if to himself, +<span class="tei tei-q">“is, that you bring your whole day home +with you, and have it for breakfast.”</span></p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter07" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page138">[pg 138]</span><a name="Pg138" id="Pg138" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc14" id="toc14"></a> +<a name="pdf15" id="pdf15"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">VII</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Without the Time of Day</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, did you ever live without a +clock,—whole days, I mean,—days and +days—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When I was a boy—most of the time, I +suppose. But the family didn’t like it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course. But did you like it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I liked it all. I seem to remember +getting pretty hungry sometimes, but it’s all +rather good as I look back on it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s do it!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. Society is an enlarged family, and +wouldn’t like it. But this summer, when +we camp.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How do you know we’re going to camp?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The things we know best we don’t always +know how we know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then,—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">if</span></span> +we camp—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">When</span></span> +we camp—let’s live without a +watch.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You’d need one to get there.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page139">[pg 139]</span><a name="Pg139" id="Pg139" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Take one, and let it run down.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As it turned out, my <span class="tei tei-q">“when”</span> was truer +than Jonathan’s <span class="tei tei-q">“if.”</span> We did camp. We +did, however, use watches to get there: when +we expressed our baggage, when we sent our +canoe, when we took the trolley car and the +train; and the watch was still going as our +laden craft nosed gently against the bank of +the river-island that was to be our home for +two weeks. It was late afternoon, and the +shadows of the steep woods on the western +bank had already turned the rocks in midstream +from silver to gray, and dimmed the +brightness of the swift water, almost to the +eastern shore.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will there be time to get settled before +dark?”</span> I asked, as we stepped out into the +shallow water and drew up the canoe to unload.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shall I look at my watch to see?”</span> asked +Jonathan, with a note of amiable derision in +his voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">should</span></span> +rather like to know what +time it is. We won’t begin till to-morrow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You mean, we won’t begin to stop watching. +All right. It’s just seventeen and a half +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page140">[pg 140]</span><a name="Pg140" id="Pg140" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +minutes after five. I’ll give you the seconds +if you like.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Minutes will do nicely, thank you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Lots of time. You collect firewood while +I get the tent ready. Then it’ll need us both +to set it up.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We worked busily, happily. Ah! The joyous +elation of the first night in camp! Is +there anything like it? With days and days +ahead, and not even one counted off the +shining number! All the good things of +childhood and maturity seem pressed into +one mood of flawless, abounding happiness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By dark the tent was up, the baggage +stowed, the canoe secured, the fire glowing +in a bed of embers, and we sat beside it, looking +out past the glooms of the hemlocks +across the moonlit river,—sat and ate city-cooked +chicken and sandwiches and drank +thermos-bottled tea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“To-morrow we’ll cook,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“To-night +it’s rather nice not to have to. Look at +the moonlight on that rock! How black it +makes the eddy below!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good bass under there,”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll get some to-morrow.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page141">[pg 141]</span><a name="Pg141" id="Pg141" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Maybe.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, of course, it’s always maybe, with +bass. Well—I’m done—and it’s quarter to +ten—late! Oh! Excuse me! Maybe you’d +rather I hadn’t told you. By the way, do I +wind my watch to-night or not?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not it is, then. Sure you wouldn’t rather +have it wound, though? We can leave it +hanging in the tent. It won’t break loose and +bite you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, it would. There would be a something—a +taint—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">all</span></span> right!”</span></p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We slept with the murmur of the river +running through our dreams,—a murmur of +many voices: deep voices, high voices, grumbling +voices as the stones go grinding and rolling +along the ever-changing bottom,—and +only half roused when the dawn chorus of +the birds filled the air. That dawn chorus was +something we should have been loath to miss. +Through the first gray of the morning there +comes a stir in the woods, an expectant +tremor; a bird peeps softly and is still; then +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page142">[pg 142]</span><a name="Pg142" id="Pg142" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +another, and another, <span class="tei tei-q">“softly conferring together.”</span> +As the light grows warmer, comes a +clearer note from some leader, then a full, +complete song; another, and the woods are +awake, flinging out their wonderful song-greeting +to the morning. There is in it a prodigality +of swift-changing beauty like ocean +surf: a continuous and intricate interweaving +of rhythms, pulses and ebbings of clear tone, +beautiful phrases rising antiphonal, showerings +of bright notes, moments of subsidence, +almost of pause. As the light grows and +sharpens, the music reaches a crescendo of +exuberance, and at last dies down as real day +comes, bringing with it the day’s work. On +our island the leader of the chorus was almost +always a song sparrow, though once or +twice a wood thrush came over from the shore +woods and filled the hemlock shadows with +the limpid splendors of his song.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hearing the chorus through our dreams, +we slept again, and when I really waked the +sun was high, flecking the eastern V of our +tent with dazzling patches. I heard Jonathan +moving about outside, and the crackling of +a new-made fire. I went to the front of the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page143">[pg 143]</span><a name="Pg143" id="Pg143" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +tent and looked out. Yes, there they were, +the fire and Jonathan, in a quiet space of +shade where the early coolness still hung. +Beyond them, half shut out from view by +the low-spreading hemlock boughs, was the +open river—such gayety of swift water! +Such dazzle of midsummer morning! I drew +back, eager to be out in it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bacon and eggs, is it?”</span> called Jonathan, +<span class="tei tei-q">“or shall I run down and try for a bass?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t!”</span> I called. I knew that if he once +got out after bass he was lost to me for the +day. And now we had cut loose from even +the mild tyranny of his watch. As I thought +of this I went over to the many-forked tree, +whose close-trimmed branches served our tent +as hat-rack, clothes-rack, everything-that-can-hang-or-perch-rack, +and opened Jonathan’s +watch.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, what time is it?”</span> Jonathan was +peering in between the tent-flaps.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Twenty-two minutes before five.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“A.M., I judge. Sorry you didn’t let me +wind it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not a bit. I was just curious to see when +it stopped, that was all.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page144">[pg 144]</span><a name="Pg144" id="Pg144" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, now you know. Hereafter the official +time for the camp is +<span class="tei tei-reg"><a name="E1" id="E1" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e1" class="tei tei-ref">4:38</a></span>—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">A.M.</span></span> +or <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">P.M.</span></span>, +according to taste. Come along. The bacon’s +done, and I’m blest if I want to drop in the +eggs.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Dropping an egg will never, I fear, be one +of Jonathan’s most finished performances. +He watched me do it with generous admiration. +<span class="tei tei-q">“If you could just get over being +scared of them,”</span> I suggested, as the last one +plumped into the pan and set up its gentle +sizzle.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No use. I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">am</span></span> +scared of the things. I tap +and tap, and nothing happens, and then I +get mad and tap hard, and they’re all over +the place.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By the time breakfast was over, even the +coolness under the hemlocks was beginning to +grow warm and aromatic. The birds in the +shore woods were quieter, though out at the +sunny end of our island, where the hemlocks +gave place to low scrub growth, the song +sparrow sang gayly now and then.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“what about fishing?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—let’s fish!”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page145">[pg 145]</span><a name="Pg145" id="Pg145" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“One up stream and one down, or keep together?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Together,”</span> I decided. <span class="tei tei-q">“If we go two +ways there’s no telling when I’ll ever see +you again.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, there is: when I’m hungry.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; some time after you’ve noticed +you’re hungry.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, if we had watches it would be so +much simpler: we could meet here at, say, +one o’clock.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Simple, indeed! When did you ever look +at a watch when you were fishing, unless I +made you? No, my way is simple, but we +stay together.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Of course, in river fishing, <span class="tei tei-q">“together”</span> means +simply not absolutely out of sight of each +other. Jonathan may be up to his arm-pits in +mid-current, or marooned on a rock above a +swirling eddy, while I am in a similar situation +beyond calling distance, but so long as a +bend in the river does not cut us off, we are +<span class="tei tei-q">“together,”</span> and very companionable togetherness +it is, too. When I see Jonathan wildly +waving to attract my attention, I know he +has either just caught a big bass or else just +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page146">[pg 146]</span><a name="Pg146" id="Pg146" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +lost one, and this gives me something to smile +over as I wonder which it is. After a time, if +I am catching shiners and no bass, and Jonathan +doesn’t seem to be moving, I infer that +his luck is better than mine, and drift along +toward him. Or it may be the other way +around, and he comes to look me up. Bass +are the most uncertain of fish, and no one +can predict when they will elect to bite, or +where. Sometimes they are in the still water, +deep or shallow according to their caprice; +sometimes they hang on the edges of the +rapids; sometimes they are in the dark, +smooth eddies below the great boulders; +sometimes in the clear depths around the +rocks near shore. Each day afresh,—indeed, +each morning and each afternoon,—the +fisherman must try, and try, and try, until +he discovers what their choice has been for +that special time. Yet no fisherman who has +once drawn out a good bass from a certain +bit of water can help feeling, next time, that +there is another waiting for him there. That +is one of the reasons why he is always hopeful, +and so always happy. The fish he has caught, +at this well-remembered spot and that, rise +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page147">[pg 147]</span><a name="Pg147" id="Pg147" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +up out of the past and flick their tails at him; +and all the stretches between—stretches of +water that have never for him held anything +but shiners, stretches of time diversified by +not even a nibble—sink into pleasant insignificance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We banked our fire, stowed everything in +the tent that a thunderstorm would hurt, +and splashed out into the river. There it lay +in all its bright, swift beauty, and we stood +a moment, looking, feeling the push of the +water about our knees and the warmth of the +sun on our shoulders.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It makes a difference, sleeping out in it +all,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“You feel as if it belonged to +you so much more. I quite own the river this +morning, don’t you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Quite. But not the bass in it. Bet you +don’t catch one!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bet I beat you!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bass, mind you. Sunfish don’t count. +You’re always catching sunfish.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They count in the pan. But I’ll beat you +on bass. I know some places—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who doesn’t? All right, go ahead!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We were off; Jonathan, as usual, wading +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page148">[pg 148]</span><a name="Pg148" id="Pg148" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +up to his chest or perched on a bit of boulder +above some dark, slick rapid; I preferring +water not more than waist-deep, and not too +far from shore to miss the responses of the +wood-folk to my passing: soft flurries of +wings; shy, half-suppressed peepings; quick +warning notes; light footfalls, hopping or +running or galloping; the snapping of twigs +and the crushing of leaves. Some sounds tell +me who the creature is,—the warning of the +blue jay, the whirr of the big ruffed grouse, +the thud of the bounding rabbit,—but many +others leave me guessing, which is almost +better. When a very big stick snaps, I always +feel sure a deer is stealing away, though Jonathan +assures me that a chewink can break +twigs and <span class="tei tei-q">“kick up a row generally,”</span> so that +you’d swear it was nothing smaller than a +wild bull.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So we fished that day. When I caught a +bass, which was seldom, I whooped and +waved it at Jonathan, and when I caught a +shiner, which was rather often, I waved it +too, just to keep his mind occupied. Hours +passed, and we met at a bend in the river +where the deep water glides close to shore.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page149">[pg 149]</span><a name="Pg149" id="Pg149" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hungry?”</span> I asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now you speak of it, yes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shall we go back?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How can I tell? Now, if we only had that +watch we’d know whether we ought to be +hungry or not.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What does that matter, if we +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">are</span></span> hungry? +Besides, if you’d had a watch, you’d have +had to carry it in your teeth. You know perfectly +well you wouldn’t have brought it, +anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—then, at least when we got back, +we should have known whether we ought to +have been hungry or not. Now we shall never +know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Never! Oh! Look there, Jonathan! +We’re going to catch it!”</span> A sense of growing +shadow in the air had made me look up, and +there, back of the steep-rising woods, hung a +blue-black cloud, with ragged edges crawling +out into the brightness of the sky.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sure enough! The bass’ll bite now, if it +really comes. Wait till the first drops, and +see what you see.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We had not long to wait. There came that +sudden expectancy in the air and the trees, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page150">[pg 150]</span><a name="Pg150" id="Pg150" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the strange pallor in the light, the chill sweep +of wind gusts with warm pauses between. +Then a few big drops splashed on the dusty, +sun-baked stones about us.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now! Wade right out there, to the edge +of that ledge—don’t slip over, it’s deep. +I’ll go down a little way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I waded out carefully, and cast, in the +smooth, dark water already beginning to be +rain-pocked. It was surprisingly shivery, that +storm wind! I glanced toward shore to look +for shelter—I remembered an overhanging +ledge of rock—then my line went taut! I +forgot about shelter, forgot about being +chilly; I knew it was a good bass.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I got him in—too big to go through the +hole in my creel—cast for another—and +another—and yet another. The rain began +to fall in sheets, and the wind nearly blew me +over, but who could run away from such +fishing? The surface of the river, deep blue-gray, +seemed rising everywhere in little jets +to meet the rain. Rapids, eddies, still waters, +weedy edges, all looked alike; there were +neither waves nor swirls nor glassy slicks, +but all were roughly furry under the multitudinous +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page151">[pg 151]</span><a name="Pg151" id="Pg151" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +assaults of the fierce rain-drops. +The sky was mottled lead-color, the wind +blew less strongly, but cold—cold. And +under that water the bass were biting, my rod +was bending double, my reel softly screaming +as I gave line, and one after another I drew +the fish alongside and dipped them out with +my landing net.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then, as suddenly as they had begun, they +stopped biting. I waited long minutes; +nothing happened, and all at once I realized +that I was very wet and very cold. Wading +ashore, I saw Jonathan shivering along up +the narrow beach toward me, his shoulders +drawn in to half their natural spread, neck +tucked in between his collar-bones, knees +slightly bent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You can’t be cold?”</span> I questioned as soon +as he was near enough to hear me through +the slash of the rain and wind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, of course not; are you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We didn’t discuss it, but ran up the bank +to the rock-ledge and crouched under it, our +teeth literally chattering.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Did you ever see such fishing?”</span> I managed +to stammer.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page152">[pg 152]</span><a name="Pg152" id="Pg152" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Great! But oh, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">why</span></span> +didn’t I bring the whiskey bottle?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s run for camp! We can’t be wetter.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We crawled out into the rain again, and +first sprinted and then dog-trotted along the +river edge. No bird notes now in the woods +beside us, no whirring of wings; only the rain +sounds: soft swishings and drippings and +gusty showerings, very different from the +flat, flicking sounds when rain first starts in +dry woods.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Camp looked a little cheerless, but a blazing +fire, started with dry stuff we had stowed +inside the tent, changed things, and dry +clothes changed them still more, and we sat +within the tent flaps and ate ginger-snaps in +great contentment of spirit while we waited +for the rain to stop.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It did stop, and very soon the fish were +sizzling in the pan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course, if we had a watch, now—”</span> +suggested Jonathan, as he carefully tucked +under the pan little sticks of just the right +length.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What should we know more than we do +now—that we’re hungry?”</span> I asked.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page153">[pg 153]</span><a name="Pg153" id="Pg153" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, for one thing, we’d know what +time it is,”</span> replied Jonathan tranquilly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And for another we’d know whether it’s +dinner or supper I’m cooking,”</span> I supplemented. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But does it matter? You won’t get +anything different, no matter which it is—just +fish is what you’ll get. And pretty soon +the sun will be out, and you can set up a +stick and watch the shadow and make a sundial +for yourself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I don’t really care which it is.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you suppose I don’t know that! And +meanwhile, you might cut the bread and +make some toast,—there are some good +embers on your side under the pan,—and +I’ll get the butter, and there we’ll be.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By the time the toast was made and the +fish curling brownly away from the pan, the +sun had indeed come out, at first pale and +watery, then clear, and still high enough in +the heavens to set the soaked earth steaming +fragrantly with its heat. Odors of hemlock +and wet earth mingled with odors of toast +and fried fish.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Um-m! Smell it all!”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“What a lot +we should miss if we didn’t eat in the kitchen!”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page154">[pg 154]</span><a name="Pg154" id="Pg154" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or cook in the dining-room—which?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And hear that song sparrow! Doesn’t it +sound as if the rain had washed his song a +little cleaner and clearer?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There followed the wonderful afterlight +that a short, drenching rain leaves behind it—a +hush of light, deeply pervasive and +friendly. The sunshine slanted across the +gleaming wet rocks in the river, lit up the +rain-darkened trunks of the hemlocks, glinted +on the low-hanging leaves, and flashed through +the dripping edges of sagging fern fronds. As +twilight came on, we canoed across to the side +of the river where the road lay—the other side +was steep and pathless woods—and walked +down to the nearest farmhouse to buy eggs for +the morning. Back again by the light of a +low-hung moon, and across the dim water to +our own island and the embers of our fire.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, Jonathan! We never asked them +what time it was!”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“I meant to—for +your sake—I thought you’d sleep better if +you knew.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Too bad! Probably I should have. I +thought of it, of course, but was afraid that +if I asked it would spoil your day.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page155">[pg 155]</span><a name="Pg155" id="Pg155" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It would take something pretty bad to +spoil a day like this one,”</span> I said.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Two days later the weather turned still and +warm, the bass refused to bite, and even the +sunfish lay, shy or wary or indifferent, in +their shallow, sunny pools, so we resolved to +walk down the river to the post-office, four +miles away, for possible mail. As we sat on +the steps of the little store, looking it over,—<span class="tei tei-q">“Here’s +news,”</span> said Jonathan; <span class="tei tei-q">“Jack and +Molly say they’ll run up if we want them, +day after to-morrow—up on the morning +train, and back on the evening.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good! Tell them to come along.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No—it’s to-morrow—letter’s been here +since yesterday. I’ll telegraph.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As we tramped home we planned the day. +<span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll meet them and all walk up together,”</span> +said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We’d better catch some bass and leave +them all hooked in a pool, ready for them to +pull out,”</span> I added; <span class="tei tei-q">“otherwise they may not +catch any. And maybe you’d better meet +them and I’ll have dinner ready when you +get back.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page156">[pg 156]</span><a name="Pg156" id="Pg156" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nonsense! You come, and we’ll all get +dinner when we get back. That’s what +they’re coming for—to see the whole thing.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But if it’s late—they’ve got to get back +for that down train.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—time enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, Jonathan! What about catching that +train?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They’ll have watches—watches that +go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But what about our meeting them? The +train arrives at +<span class="tei tei-reg"><a name="E2" id="E2" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e2" class="tei tei-ref">10:15</a></span>, +they said. What does +<span class="tei tei-reg"><a name="E3" id="E3" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e3" class="tei tei-ref">10:15</a></span> +look like in the sky, I wonder!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or rather, what does 8.45 look like? It +takes an hour and a half to get there, counting +crossing the river.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes—dear me! Well, Jonathan, we’ll +just have to get up early and go, and then +wait.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or else take our watch to the farmhouse +and set it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, I will not! I’d rather start at +daylight.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Which was very nearly what we did. The +morning opened with a sun obscured, and I +felt sure it was stealing a march on us and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page157">[pg 157]</span><a name="Pg157" id="Pg157" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +would suddenly burst out upon us from a +noonday sky. We breakfasted hastily, ferried +across to shore, and set a swinging pace down +the road. As we walked, the sun burned +through the mist, and our shadows came out, +dim, long things, striding with the exaggerated +gait that shadows have, over the grassy +banks to our right.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“it may be as +late as seven o’clock, but perhaps it’s only +six.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When we reached the station, the official +clock registered 8.30. We strolled over to the +store-and-post-office and got more letters—one +from Molly and Jack saying thank you +they’d come. <span class="tei tei-q">“They don’t entirely understand +our mail system up here,”</span> said Jonathan. +We got some ginger-cookies and some +milk and had a second breakfast, and finally +wandered back to the station to wait for the +train. It came, bearing the expected two, +and much friendliness. <span class="tei tei-q">“Get our letter? +There, Jack! He said you wouldn’t, but I +said you would. I made him send it … four +miles to walk? What fun!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was fun, indeed, and all went well until +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page158">[pg 158]</span><a name="Pg158" id="Pg158" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +after dinner, when Jack—saying, <span class="tei tei-q">“Well, +maybe we’d better be starting back for that +train”</span>—drew out his watch. He opened it, +muttered something, put it to his ear, then +began to wind it rapidly. He wound and +wound. We all laughed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Looks as if you hadn’t remembered to +wind it last night,”</span> said Jonathan, glancing +at me.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I haven’t done that in months, hang it! +Give me the time, will you, Jonathan?”</span> said +Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sorry!”</span> Jonathan was smiling genially. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mine’s run down too. It stopped at +twenty-two minutes before +five—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">A. M.</span></span>, I +think.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What luck! And Molly didn’t bring +hers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You told me not to,”</span> Molly flicked in.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So here we are,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“entirely +without the time of day.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But plenty of real time all round us,”</span> I +said. <span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s use it, and start.”</span> I avoided +Jonathan’s eye.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We reached the station with an hour and +ten minutes to spare—bought more ginger-cookies +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page159">[pg 159]</span><a name="Pg159" id="Pg159" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and more milk. As we sat eating +them in the midst of the preternatural calm +that marks a country railroad station outside +of train times, Molly remarked brightly,—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I don’t see but we got on just as +well without a watch, didn’t we, Jack? Why +do we need watches, anyway? Do +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">you</span></span> see?”</span> +she turned to us. <span class="tei tei-q">“Jack does everything by +his watch—eats and breathes and sleeps by +it—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack returned, watch in hand—he had +been getting railroad time from the telegraph +operator. <span class="tei tei-q">“Want to set yours while you +think of it?”</span> he asked Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sorry—thank you—didn’t bring it,”</span> +said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“By George, man, what’ll you do?”</span> Real +consternation sounded in Jack’s tones.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, we’ll get along somehow,”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“You see, we don’t have many engagements, +except with the bass, and they +never meet theirs, anyhow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When the train had gone, I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, +why didn’t you tell them it was my +whim?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I just didn’t,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page160">[pg 160]</span><a name="Pg160" id="Pg160" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As Jonathan had predicted, we did get +along somehow—got along rather well, on +the whole. There are, of course, some drawbacks +to an unwatched life. You never want +to start the next meal till you are hungry, +and after that it takes one or two or three +hours, as the case may be, to go back to +camp and get the meal ready, and by that +time you are almost hungrier than you like +being. But except for this, and the little +matter of meeting trains, it is rather pleasant +to break away from the habit of watching the +watch, and it was with real regret that, on the +last night of our camp, we took our watch +to the farmhouse to set it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Run down, did it? Guess you forgot to +wind it. Well—we do forget things sometimes, +all of us do,”</span> the farmer’s wife said +comfortingly as she went to look at the clock. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Twenty minutes to seven, our clock says. +It’s apt to be fast, so I guess you won’t miss +any trains. Father he says he’d rather have +a clock fast than slow any day, but it don’t +often get more than ten minutes wrong either +way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And to us, after our two weeks of camp, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page161">[pg 161]</span><a name="Pg161" id="Pg161" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +ten minutes’ error in a clock seemed indeed +slight.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan,”</span> I said, as we walked back +along the road, <span class="tei tei-q">“I hate to go back to clock +time. I like real time better.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You couldn’t do so many things in a +day,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No—maybe not.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But maybe that wouldn’t matter.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Maybe it wouldn’t,”</span> I said.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter08" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page162">[pg 162]</span><a name="Pg162" id="Pg162" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc16" id="toc16"></a> +<a name="pdf17" id="pdf17"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">VIII</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">The Ways of Griselda</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course you don’t know what her name +is,”</span> I said, as we stood examining the sleek +little black mare Jonathan had just brought +up from the city.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. Forgot to ask. Don’t believe they’d +have known anyway—one of a hundred or +so.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, we’ll name her again. Dear me—she’s +rather plain! Probably she’s useful.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hope so,”</span> said Jonathan. Then, stepping +back a little, in a slightly grieved tone, <span class="tei tei-q">“But +I don’t call her plain. Wait till she’s groomed +up—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s that droop of her neck—sort of patient—and +the way she drops one of her +hips—if they are hips.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But we want a horse to be patient.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. I don’t know that I care about having +her <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">look</span></span> so terribly much so as this. I +think I’ll call her Griselda.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page163">[pg 163]</span><a name="Pg163" id="Pg163" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, why Griselda?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, don’t you know? She was that +patient creature, with the horrid husband +who had to keep trying to see just how patient +she was. It’s a hateful story—enough +to turn any one who brooded on it into a militant +suffragette.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But you can’t call a horse Griselda—not +for common stable use, you know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Call her <span class="tei tei-q">‘Griz’</span> for short. It does very +well.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan jeered a little, but in the family +the name held. Our man Hiram said nothing, +but I think in private he called her +<span class="tei tei-q">“Fan”</span> or <span class="tei tei-q">“Beauty”</span> or <span class="tei tei-q">“Lady,”</span> or some +such regulation stable name.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Called by any name, she pleased us, and +she <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">was</span></span> patient. She trotted peacefully up +hill and down, she did her best at ploughing +and haymaking and all the odd jobs that the +farm supplied. She stood when we left her, +with that same demure, almost overdone +droop of the neck that I had first noticed. +When I met Jonathan at the station, she +stood with her nose against a snorting train, +looking as if nothing could rouse her.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page164">[pg 164]</span><a name="Pg164" id="Pg164" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good little horse you got there,”</span> remarked +the station agent. <span class="tei tei-q">“Where’d you +find her?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I picked her out of a bunch down in +the city,”</span> said Jonathan casually. <span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t +think I knew much about horses, but I guess +I was in luck this time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Guess you know more about horses than +you’re sayin’.”</span> And Jonathan, thus pressed, +admitted with suitable reluctance that he +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">had</span></span> now and then been able to detect a good +horse by his own observation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On the way home he openly congratulated +himself on his find. <span class="tei tei-q">“I really wasn’t +sure I knew how to pick out a horse,”</span> he remarked, +in a glow of retrospective modesty, +<span class="tei tei-q">“but I certainly got a treasure this time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Griz had been with us about two weeks, +and all went well. Then another horse was +needed for farm work, and one was sent up—one +Kit by name—a big, pleasant, rather +stupid brown mare.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They do say two mares don’t git on so +well together as a mare ’n a horse,”</span> remarked +Hiram.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But these are both such quiet creatures,”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page165">[pg 165]</span><a name="Pg165" id="Pg165" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +I protested, to which Hiram made no answer. +Hiram seldom made an answer unless +fairly cornered into it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For two or three days after the new arrival +nothing happened, so far as we knew, +except that Griz always laid her ears back, +and looked queer about her under lip, whenever +Kit was led in or out of the stall next +her, while Kit always huddled up close to +her manger whenever Griz was led past her +heels. Once or twice Griz slipped her halter +in the stall, and Hiram said there was a place +on Kit that looked as if she had been kicked, +but when we scrutinized Griz, neck a-droop +and eyes a-blink, we found it hard to think +ill of her. Besides, Jonathan was now fairly +committed to the opinion that he had <span class="tei tei-q">“got +a treasure this time.”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“Kit may have hurt +herself lying down,”</span> he suggested, and again +Hiram made no answer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then one night, sometime during the very +small, very dark, and very sleepy hours, we +were awakened by awful sounds. <span class="tei tei-q">“What is +it? What <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> it?”</span> I gasped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Crash! Bang! Boom! The trampling of +hoofs!—heavy, hollow pounding!—the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page166">[pg 166]</span><a name="Pg166" id="Pg166" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +tearing and splintering of wood!—all coming +from the barn, though loud enough, indeed, +to have come from the next room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan was up in an instant muttering, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Where are my rubber boots?—and my +coat?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">what</span></span> +a combination!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But he was gone, and I heard the snap of +the lantern and the slam of the back door +almost before the rocking-chair in the sitting-room +that he had hit—and talked to—had +stopped rocking. Then I heard him calling +outside Hiram’s window and then he ran +past our window, out to the barn. I wished +he had waited for Hiram, but I had an undercurrent +of pleasure in hearing him run. Jonathan’s +theory is that there is never any +hurry, and now and then I like to have this +notion jolted up a little.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Meanwhile the awful sounds had ceased. +There was the rumble of the stable door, a +pause, and Jonathan’s voice in conversational +tones. Next came the flashing of Hiram’s +lantern, and the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tromp, tromp, tromp</span></span>, +in much quicker tempo than usual, of Hiram’s +heavy boots. Hiram’s theory was a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page167">[pg 167]</span><a name="Pg167" id="Pg167" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +good deal like Jonathan’s, so this also gave +me pleasure. Finally, there came the flash +of another lantern, and I recognized the +quick, short step of Mrs. Hiram. I smiled to +myself, picturing the meeting between her and +Jonathan, for I knew just how Jonathan was +costumed. In two minutes I heard her steps +repassing, and in five minutes Jonathan returned. +He was chuckling quietly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I guess Griz got all she needed—didn’t +know either of ’em had so much spunk in ’em.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What happened?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t know, exactly, but when I opened +that door, there was Griz, just inside, no halter +on, head down, meek as Moses, as far +away from Kit’s heels as she could get—she’s +got the mark of them on her leg and her flank.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Is she hurt?—or Kit?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, not so far as we can see, not to +amount to anything—except maybe Griz’s +feelings.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And what about Mrs. Hiram’s feelings?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan laughed aloud. <span class="tei tei-q">“I was inside +with Kit, and she called out to know if she +could help.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And what did you say?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page168">[pg 168]</span><a name="Pg168" id="Pg168" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I said, <span class="tei tei-q">‘Not on your life.’</span> ”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So that was why she came back. Did you +really say,‘Not on your life,’ or did you only +imply it in your tone, while you actually said, +‘No, thank you very much’?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I really said it. At least, I don’t remember +conversations the way you do, but I didn’t +feel a bit like thanking anybody, and I +don’t believe I did.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I wish I’d heard you. One misses a +good deal—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You can see the stable to-morrow. That’ll +keep. They must have had a time of it! +The walls are marked and splintered as high +as I can reach. And I don’t believe Kit’ll +cringe when Griz passes her any more.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course you remember Hiram +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">said</span></span> two +mares didn’t usually get on very well, and +even when they’re chosen by a good judge of +horses—”</span></p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After that the two did get along peaceably +enough, and Jonathan assured me that all +horses had these little affairs. One day we +drove over to the main street of the village on +an errand.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page169">[pg 169]</span><a name="Pg169" id="Pg169" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will she stand?”</span> I questioned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Better hitch her, perhaps,”</span> said Jonathan, +getting out the rope. He snapped it +into her bit-ring, then threw the other end +around a post and started to make a half-hitch. +But as he drew up the rope it was suddenly +jerked out of his hand. He looked up +and saw Griselda’s patient head waving high +above him on the end of an erect and rebellious +neck, the hitch-rope waggling in loops +and spirals in the air, and the whole outfit +backing away from him with speed and decision. +He was so astonished that he did +nothing, and in a moment Griz had stopped +backing and stood still, her head sagging +gently, the rope dangling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—I’ll—be—”</span> I didn’t try to +remember just what Jonathan said he would +be, because it doesn’t really matter. We +both stared at Griz as if we had never seen her +before. Griz looked at nothing in particular, +she blinked long lashes over drowsy, dark +eyes, and sagged one hip.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She’s trying to make believe she didn’t +do it—but she did,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Something must have startled her,”</span> said +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page170">[pg 170]</span><a name="Pg170" id="Pg170" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Jonathan, peering up and down the deserted +street. Two roosters were crowing antiphonally +in near-by yards, and a dog was barking +somewhere far off.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What?”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You never can tell, with a horse.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, apparently not,”</span> I said, smiling to +myself; and I added hastily, as I saw Jonathan +go forward to her head, +<span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Don’t</span></span> try it +again, please! I’ll stay by her while you go +in. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Please!</span></span>”</span> +For I had detected on Jonathan’s +face a look that I very well knew. It was the +same expression he had worn that Sunday he +led the calf to pasture. He made no answer, +but stood examining the hitch-rope.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No use,”</span> he said, quietly releasing it and +tossing its coil into the carriage, <span class="tei tei-q">“It’s too +rotten. If it snapped, she’d be ruined.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I breathed freer. I privately hoped that all +the hitch-ropes at the farm were rotten.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Griz stands perfectly well without hitching,”</span> +I said as we drove home, <span class="tei tei-q">“Why do you +force an issue?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t. She did. She’s beaten me. If +I don’t hitch her now, she’ll know she’s master.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page171">[pg 171]</span><a name="Pg171" id="Pg171" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear!”</span> I sighed. <span class="tei tei-q">“Let her +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">be</span></span> master! +Where’s the harm? It’s just your vanity.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps so,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When he agrees with me like that I know +it’s hopeless.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next night he wheeled in at the big gate +bearing about his shoulders a coil of heavy +rope.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It looks like a ship’s cable,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> he responded, leaning his bicycle +against his side, and swinging the coil over +his head. <span class="tei tei-q">“I want it for mooring purposes. +Think it’ll moor Griz?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan!”</span> I exclaimed, <span class="tei tei-q">“you won’t!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Watch me,”</span> said Jonathan, and he proceeded +to explain to me the working of the +tackle.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One end had a ring in it, and as nearly as +I remember, the plan was to put the rope +around her body, under what would be her +arm-pits if she had arm-pits,—horses’ joints +are never called what one would expect, of +course,—run the end through the ring, then +forward between her legs and through the bit-ring.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page172">[pg 172]</span><a name="Pg172" id="Pg172" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then, when she sets back, it cuts her in +two,”</span> he concluded cheerfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But you don’t +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">want</span></span> her in two,”</span> I protested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She won’t set back,”</span> he responded; <span class="tei tei-q">“at +least, not more than once. To-morrow’s Sunday; +I’ll have to hitch her at church.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I hoped it would rain, so we needn’t go, +but we were having a drought and the morning +dawned cloudless. We reached the church +just on the last stroke of the bell. The women +were all within; the men and boys lounging +in the vestibule were turning reluctant feet +to follow them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You go right in,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll be +in soon.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I turned to protest, but he was already +driving round to the side, and a hush had +fallen over the congregation within that made +it embarrassing to call. Besides, one of the +deacons stood holding open the door for me.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I slipped into a pew near the back, with +the apologetic feeling one often has in an old +country church—a feeling that one is making +the ghosts move along a little. They did +move, of course,—probably ghosts are always +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page173">[pg 173]</span><a name="Pg173" id="Pg173" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +polite when one really meets them,—and +I sat down. Indeed, I was thinking very +little of ghosts that day, or of the minister +either. My ears were cocked to catch and +interpret all the noises that came in through +the open windows on my left. My eyes wandered +in that direction, too, though the clear +panes revealed nothing more exciting than +flickering maple leaves and a sky filmed over +by veils of cloud.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The moralists tell us that what we get out +of any experience depends upon what we +bring to it. What I brought to it that morning +was a mind agog, attuned to receive these +expected outside sounds. To all such sounds +the service within was merely a background—a +background which didn’t know its +place, since it kept pushing itself more or +less importunately into the foreground. I sat +there, of course, with perfect propriety of +demeanor, but my reactions were something +like this:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Hymn 912</span></span> +… seven stanzas! horrors! oh! +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">omit the 3d, 5th, and +6th</span></span>—well, I should +hope so!… I can’t hear a thing while this +is going on!… He hasn’t come in yet! +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page174">[pg 174]</span><a name="Pg174" id="Pg174" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Scripture reading for +to-day</span></span>—why can’t he +give us the passage and let us read it for ourselves?—well, +his voice is rather high and +uneven, I think I could make out Jonathan’s +through the loopholes in it.… There! What +was that, I wonder! Sounded like shouting,—oh, +why can’t he talk softly! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Let us unite +in prayer.</span></span> Ah! now we’ll have a long, quiet +time, anyway!… if only he wouldn’t pray +quite so loud! Why pray aloud at all, anyway? +I like the Quaker way best: a good long +strip of silence, where your thoughts can +wash around in any fashion that—There! +No—yes—no—it’s just people going by +on the road.… Maybe he’s in the back of +the church now, waiting for the close of the +prayer. Seems as if I had to look.… Well, +he isn’t.… <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">For +thy name’s sake, amen.</span></span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And then the collection, with an organ +voluntary the while—now why an organ +voluntary? Why not leave people to their +thoughts some of the time?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And at last, the sermon:—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The text to +which I wish to call your attention this morning</span></span>—my +attention, forsooth! My attention +was otherwise occupied. Ah! A puff of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page175">[pg 175]</span><a name="Pg175" id="Pg175" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +warm, sweet air from behind me, and the soft, +padding noise of the swinging doors, apprised +me of an incomer. A cautious tread in +the aisle—I moved along a little to make +room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In a city church probably I should have +thrown propriety to the winds and had the +gist of the story out of him at once, but in a +country church there are always such listening +spaces,—the very pew-backs and cushions +seem attentive, the hymnals creak in their +racks, and the little stools cry out nervously +when one barely touches them. It was too +much for me. I was coerced into an outer +semblance of decorum. However, I snatched +a hasty glance at Jonathan’s face. It was +quite red and hot-looking, but calm, very +calm, and I judged it to be the calm, not of +defeat nor yet of settled militancy, but of +triumph. I even thought I detected the +flicker of a grin,—the mere atmospheric +suggestion of a grin,—as if he felt the urgent +if furtive appeal in my glance. At any rate, +Jonathan was all right, that was clear. And +as to Griz—whether she was still one mare or +two half-mares—it didn’t so much matter. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page176">[pg 176]</span><a name="Pg176" id="Pg176" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +And now for the sermon! I gathered myself +to attend.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As we stood up for the last hymn, I whispered, +<span class="tei tei-q">“How did it go?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right. She’s hitched,”</span> was the answer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After church there was the usual stir of +sociability, and when I emerged into the glare +of the church steps, I saw Jonathan driving +slowly around from the rear. Griz walked +meekly, her head sagged, her eyes blinked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good quiet little horse you’ve got there,”</span> +said a deacon over my shoulder; <span class="tei tei-q">“don’t get +restless standing, the way some horses do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, she’s very quiet,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I got in, and at last, as we drove off, the +flood-gates of my impatience broke:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well?”</span> I said,—<span class="tei tei-q">“well?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Well? +Tell</span></span> me about it!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve told you. I hitched her.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How did you hitch her?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just the way I said I would.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Didn’t she mind?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Did she make a fuss?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not much.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page177">[pg 177]</span><a name="Pg177" id="Pg177" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do you mean by much?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, she set back a little.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do any harm?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hurt herself?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Guess not.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, you drive me distracted—you +have no more sense for a story—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But there was nothing in particular—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, Jonathan, if there was nothing in +particular, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">why</span></span> +didn’t you get into church +till the sermon was begun, and why were you +so red and hot?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan smiled indulgently. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why, of +course, she didn’t care about being hitched. +I thought you knew that. But it was perfectly +easy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And that was about all I could extract by +the most artful questions. I took my revenge +by telling Jonathan the deacon’s compliment +to Griz. <span class="tei tei-q">“He said she didn’t get restless +standing, the way so many horses did. I +thought of mentioning that you were a rather +good judge of horses, in an amateur way, but +then I thought it might seem like boasting, +so I didn’t.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page178">[pg 178]</span><a name="Pg178" id="Pg178" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After that, of course, I didn’t really deserve +to hear the whole story, but the next +night I happened to be in the hammock while +Jonathan was talking to a neighbor at the +front gate, and he was relating the incident +with detail enough to have satisfied the most +hungry gossip. Only thus did I learn that +Bill Howard, who had wound the rope twice +round the post to give himself a little leeway, +was drawn right up to the post when she set +back; that they had been afraid the headstall +would tear off; that they had been rather +nervous about the post, and other such little +points, which I had not been clever enough +to elicit by my questions.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Now, why? Probably a man likes to tell a +story when he likes to tell it. I find myself +wondering how much Odysseus told Penelope +about his adventures when she got him to +herself for a good talk. Is it significant that +his really long story was told to the King of +the Phæacians?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As to Griz:—it would perhaps not be +worth while to recount her subsequent history. +It was a curious one, consisting of +long stretches of continuous and ostentatious +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page179">[pg 179]</span><a name="Pg179" id="Pg179" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +meekness, broken by sudden flare-ups which, +after their occurrence, always seemed incredible. +She never again <span class="tei tei-q">“set back”</span> when +Jonathan was the one to hitch her, but this +was a concession made to him personally, and +had no effect on her general habits. We +talked of changing her name, but could never +manage it. We thought of selling her, but +she was too valuable—most of the time. And +when we finally parted from her our relief +was deeply tinged with regret.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I have sometimes wondered whether such +flare-ups were not the natural and necessary +means of recuperation from such depths of +meekness. I have even wondered whether +the original Griselda may not have—but +this is not a dissertation on early Italian +poetry, nor on the nature of women.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter09" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page180">[pg 180]</span><a name="Pg180" id="Pg180" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc18" id="toc18"></a> +<a name="pdf19" id="pdf19"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">IX</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">A Rowboat Pilgrimage</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We were glad that the plan of the rowboat +cruise dawned upon us almost a year before +it came to pass. We were the gainers by just +that rich length of expectancy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For the joy that one gets from any cherished +plan is always threefold: there is the joy +of looking forward, the joy of the very doing, +and the joy of remembering. They are all +good, but only the last is eternal. The doing +is hedged between limits, and its pleasures +are often confused, overlaid with alien or accidental +impressions. The joy of the forward +look is pure and keen, but its bounds, too, +are set. It begins at the moment when the +first ray of the plan-idea dawns on one’s +mind, and it ends with the day of fulfillment. +If the dawn begins long before the day, so +much the better.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was early fall, and we had come in from +a day by the river, where we had tramped +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page181">[pg 181]</span><a name="Pg181" id="Pg181" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +miles up, to one of its infrequent bridges, and +miles down on the other bank. Now we sat +before the fire, talking it over.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If we only had a boat!”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Boat! What do you want a boat for? +You wouldn’t want to sit in a boat all day.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who said I would? But I want to get +into it, and float off, and get out again somewhere +else. That’s my idea of a boat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, of course, a boat would be handy—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Handy! You talk as if it was a buttonhook!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—of course it +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> handy—as you +call it—but a boat means such a lot of +things—adventure, romance. When you’re +in a boat—a little boat—anything might +happen.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> said Jonathan, drawing the logs +together, <span class="tei tei-q">“that’s just the way your family +feels about it when you’re young.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then we both laughed, and there was a +reminiscent pause.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What became of your boat?”</span> I asked +finally.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sold. You kept yours.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page182">[pg 182]</span><a name="Pg182" id="Pg182" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. It’s in the cellar, there at Nantucket. +I could have it sent on.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Cost as much as to buy a new one.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“A new one wouldn’t be as good.”</span> I +bristled a little. Any one who has owned a +boat is very sensitive about its virtues.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How big?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How should I know? A little boat—maybe +twelve feet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Two oars?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Four.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Round bottom?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. She’d ride anything.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well”</span>—Jonathan suddenly +expanded—<span class="tei tei-q">“here’s +an idea now! How would you like +to have it sent on to the mainland, and then +row it the rest of the way—along the Rhode +Island and Connecticut shores?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I sat straight up. <span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan! Let’s do it +now!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan chuckled. <span class="tei tei-q">“My! What a hurry +she’s in!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, let’s!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We couldn’t. The boat will have to be +overhauled first.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear! I suppose so.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page183">[pg 183]</span><a name="Pg183" id="Pg183" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We could do it next spring, and go up the +trout streams.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Think of that!”</span> I murmured.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or in September and get the shore hunting—the +salt marshes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, which?—which?”</span> Already I was +following our course along curving beaches +and amongst the yellow marshlands. But +Jonathan’s mind was working on more practical +details.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Twelve feet, you said?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“About that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Pretty close stowing for our dunnage—still—let’s +see—two guns—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or the rods, if we went in the spring.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And rubber coats, and blankets—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan! Should we camp?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Might have to.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s, anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How does that coast-line run? Where’s +a map?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">All we had were some railroad maps and an +old school geography—just enough to tantalize +us—but we fell upon them eagerly. +It is curious what a change comes over these +dumb bits of colored paper at such times. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page184">[pg 184]</span><a name="Pg184" id="Pg184" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Every curve of the shore, every bay and headland +came to life and spoke to us—called to +us.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We decided on the September plan, and for +the next eleven months our casual talk was +starred with inapropos remarks like these:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, I know we shall forget a can-opener.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Better write it down while you think of it. +And have you put down a hatchet?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The camera! It isn’t on the list!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hang it! Those charts haven’t come yet!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What can we take to look respectable in +when we go ashore?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Meanwhile the little boat was stirred out +of its long sleep in the cellar, overhauled, and +painted, and shipped to a port up in Narragansett +Bay. And on the last day of August +we found ourselves walking down through +the little town. Following the instructions +of wondering small boys, we came to a gate +in a board fence, opened it and let ourselves +into a typical New England seaport scene—a +tiny garden, ablaze with sunshine and gorgeous +with the yellows and lavenders of fall +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page185">[pg 185]</span><a name="Pg185" id="Pg185" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +flowers, and a narrow brick path, under a +grape-vine arch, leading down to the sand +and the wharf and the sparkling blue waters +of the bay. As we passed down through the +garden, we saw a little boat, bottom up, dazzling +white in the sun.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There it is!”</span> I said, with a surge of reminiscent +affection.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That little thing!”</span> said Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“I +thought you said twelve feet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, isn’t it? Anyway, +I said <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">about</span></span>. +And it’s big enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He was spanning its length with his hands.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eleven foot six. Oh, I suppose she’ll do. +My boat was fourteen.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, don’t be so patronizing about your +boat. Wait till you see how mine behaves.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He dropped the discussion and got her +launched. Is there anything prettier than a +pretty boat floating beside a dock!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next morning when we came down we +found her half full of water. <span class="tei tei-q">“She’ll be all +right now she’s soaked up,”</span> said Jonathan, +and we baled her dry and went off to get our +stuff.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I delayed to buy provisions, and when I +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page186">[pg 186]</span><a name="Pg186" id="Pg186" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +came back I found Jonathan standing on the +float surrounded by plunder of all sorts. He +answered my hail rather solemnly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“See here! When this stuff’s all stowed, +where are we going to sit? That’s what’s +worrying me.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, won’t it go in?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go! It wouldn’t go in two boats.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I came down the plank. <span class="tei tei-q">“Well, let’s eliminate.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We eliminated. We took out extra shoes +and coats and <span class="tei tei-q">“town clothes,”</span> we cut down +as far as we dared, and expressed a big +bundle home. The rest we got into two +sailor’s dunnage bags, one waterproof, the +other nearly so, and one big water-tight +metal box. Then there were the guns, and +the provisions, and the charts in a long tin +tube, and there was a lantern—a clumsy +thing, which we lashed to a seat. It was always +in the way and proved of very little use, +but we thought we ought to take it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">While we worked, some loungers gathered +on the wharf above and watched us with that +tolerant curiosity that loungers know so well +how to assume. As we got in and took up our +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page187">[pg 187]</span><a name="Pg187" id="Pg187" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +oars, one of them called out, <span class="tei tei-q">“Now, if you +only had a little motor there in the stern, +you’d be all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t want one,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What? Why not?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go too fast.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eh? What say?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go—too—fast.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He heard you,”</span> I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“but he can’t believe +you really said it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The oars fell into unison, there was the dip +of their blades, the grating chunk of the +rowlocks—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">dip-ke-chunk, dip-ke-chunk</span></span>. +As we fell into our stroke the little boat began to +respond, the water swished at her bows and +gurgled under her stern. The wharf fell away +behind us, the houses back of it came into +sight, then the wooded hills behind. The +whole town began to draw together, with its +church steeples as its centers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She does go!”</span> remarked Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I told you! Look at us now! Look at that +buoy!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Dip-ke-chunk, dip-ke-chunk</span></span>—the +red buoy swept by us and dropped into the blue background +of dancing waves.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page188">[pg 188]</span><a name="Pg188" id="Pg188" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Are we really off? Is it really happening?”</span> +I said joyously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you like it?”</span> said Jonathan over his +shoulder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. Do you?”</span> To such unwisdom of +speech do people come when they are happy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But there were circumstances to steady +us.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What I’m wondering,”</span> said Jonathan, +<span class="tei tei-q">“is, what’s going to happen next—when we +get out there.”</span> He tilted his head toward the +open bay, broad and windy, ahead of us. +<span class="tei tei-q">“There’s some pretty interesting water out +there beyond this lee.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, she’ll take it all right. It’s no worse +than Nantucket water. It couldn’t be. +You’ll see.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We did see. In half an hour we were in the +middle of upper Narragansett Bay, trying to +make a diagonal across it to the southwest, +while the long rollers came in steadily from +the south, broken by a nasty chop of peaked, +whitecapped waves. We rowed carefully, our +heads over our right shoulders, watching +each wave as it came on, with broken comments:—</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page189">[pg 189]</span><a name="Pg189" id="Pg189" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That’s a good one coming—bring her +up now—there—all right, now let her off +again—hold her so—there’s another +coming—see?—that big one, the fifth, the +fourth, away—row, now—we beat it—there +it goes off astern—see it break! +Here’s another—look out for your oar—we +can’t afford to miss a stroke—oh, me! Did +that wet you too? My right shoulder is +soaked—my left isn’t—now it is!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But half an hour of this sort of thing +brought about two results—confidence in +the little boat, which rode well in spite of +her load, and confidence in each other’s +rowing. We found that the four oars worked +together, our early training told, and we instinctively +did the same things in each of the +varied emergencies created by wind and +wave. There was no need for orders, and our +talk died down to an exclamation now and +then at some especially big wave, or a laugh +as one of us got a drenching from the white +top of a foaming crest.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was not an easy day, that first one.… +It seems, sometimes, as if there were little +imps of malignity that hovered over one +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page190">[pg 190]</span><a name="Pg190" id="Pg190" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +at the beginning of an undertaking—little +brownies, using all their charms to try to turn +one back, discouraged. If there be such, they +had a good time with us that long afternoon. +First they had said that we shouldn’t load +our boat. Then they sent us rough water. +Then they set the boat a-leak.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For leak it did. The soaking over night +had done no good. It had, indeed, been +<span class="tei tei-q">“thoroughly overhauled”</span> and pronounced +seaworthy, but there was the water, too +much to be accounted for as spray, swashing +over the bottom boards, growing undeniably +and most uncomfortably deeper. The imps +made no offer to bale for us, so we had to do +it ourselves, losing the much-needed power +at the oars, while one of us set to work at the +dip-and-toss, dip-and-toss motion so familiar +to any one who has kept company with a +small boat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wish my mother could see me now—”</span> +hummed Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wouldn’t wish that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why not?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What would they all think of us if they +could see us this minute?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page191">[pg 191]</span><a name="Pg191" id="Pg191" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just what they have thought for a long +time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I laughed. <span class="tei tei-q">“How true that is, teacher!”</span> +I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Finding us still cheerful, the imps tried +again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan—do you know—I do believe—my +rowlock socket is working loose.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He cast a quick look over his shoulder +without breaking stroke. Then he said a few +words, explicit and powerful, about the man +who had <span class="tei tei-q">“overhauled”</span> the boat. <span class="tei tei-q">“He ought +to be put out in it, in a sea like this, and left +to row himself home.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, of course, but instead, here we are. +It won’t last half an hour longer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It did not last ten minutes. There it hung, +one screw pulled loose, the other barely +holding.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Take my knife—you can get it out of +my hip pocket—and try to set up that screw +with the big blade.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I did so, and pulled a few strokes. Then—<span class="tei tei-q">“It’s +come out again. It’s no use.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We make blamed poor headway with one +pair of oars,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page192">[pg 192]</span><a name="Pg192" id="Pg192" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He meditated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where are the screw-eyes?”</span> he said after +a moment.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, good for you! They’re in the metal +box. I’ll get them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I drew in my useless oars, turned about +and cautiously wriggled up into the bow seat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look out for yourself! Don’t bullfrog +out over the bow. I can’t hold her any +steadier than this.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I’m all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">With one hand I gripped the gunwale, with +the other I felt down into the box and finally +fished out the required treasures. I worked +my way back into my own seat and tried a +screw-eye in the empty, rusted-out hole.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">“Does it +bite?<span class="tei tei-add"><a name="E4" id="E4" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e4" class="tei tei-ref">”</a></span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t know about biting, but it’s going +in beautifully—now it goes hard.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps I can give it a turn.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps you can’t! Don’t you stop rowing. +If this boat wasn’t held steady, she’d—I +don’t know what she wouldn’t do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If you stick something through the eye +you can turn it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. I’ll find +something<span class="tei tei-corr"><a name="E5" id="E5" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e5" class="tei tei-ref">.</a></span> +Here’s the can-opener. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page193">[pg 193]</span><a name="Pg193" id="Pg193" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Grand! There! It’s solid. Now I’ll +do the other one the same way. Hurrah for +the screw-eyes!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You thought of bringing them,”</span> said +Jonathan magnanimously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You thought of using them,”</span> said I, not +to be outdone.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so again the imps were foiled. But +they hung over us, they slapped us with +spray, they tossed the whitecaps, jeering, at +our heads, over our shoulders, into our laps. +They put up the tides to tricks of eddies and +back-currents, so that they hindered instead +of helping, as by calculation they should +have done. They laid invisible hands on our +oars and dragged them down, or held them +up as the wave raced by, so that we missed +a stroke. Once, in the lee of an island, we +paused to rest and unroll our chart and get +our bearings, while the smooth rise and fall +of the ground swell was all there was to remind +us of the riot of water just outside. +Then we were off again, and the imps had +us. They were busy, those imps, all that long, +windy, wave-tossed, wonderful day.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page194">[pg 194]</span><a name="Pg194" id="Pg194" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For it was wonderful, and the imps were +indeed frustrate, wholly frustrate. We pulled +toward the quiet harbor that evening with +aching muscles, hair and clothes matted with +salt water, but spirits undaunted. Hungry, +too, for we had not been able to do more than +munch a few ship’s biscuit while we rowed. +Wind, tide, waves, all against us, boat leaking, +oars disabled—and still—<span class="tei tei-q">“Isn’t it +great!”</span> we said, <span class="tei tei-q">“great—great!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Dusk was closing in and lights began to +blink along the western shore. We beached +on a sandy point and asked our way,—where +could we put up for the night? Children, +barelegged, waded out around the boat, +looking at us and our funny, laden craft, with +curious eyes. Yes, they said, there was an +inn, farther up the harbor, where we saw +those lights—ten minutes’ row, perhaps. +We pulled off again, stiffly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Tired?”</span> said Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll take her +in.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Indeed you won’t! Of course I’m tired, +but I’ve got to do something to keep warm. +And I want to get in. I want supper. They’ll +all be in bed if we don’t hurry.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page195">[pg 195]</span><a name="Pg195" id="Pg195" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Our tired muscles lent themselves mechanically +to their work and the boat slid across +the quiet waters of the moonlit harbor. The +town lights grew bigger, wharves loomed +above us, and soon we were gliding along +under their shadow. The eddies from our +oars went <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">lap-lap-lapping</span></span> +off among the great +dark spiles and stirred up the keen smell of +salt-soaked timbers and seaweed. Blindly +groping, we found a rickety ladder, tied our +boat and climbed stiffly up, and there we +were on our feet again, feeling rather queer +and stretchy after seven hours in our cramped +quarters.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Half an hour later we were sitting in the +warm, clean kitchen of the old inn, and a +kindly but mystified hostess was mothering +us with eggs and ham and tea and pie and +doughnuts and other things that a New +England kitchen always contains. While we +ate she sat and rocked energetically, questioning +us with friendly curiosity and watching +us with keen though benevolent eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Rowed, did you? Jim!”</span> calling back over +her shoulder through a half-open door, <span class="tei tei-q">“did +you hear that? These folks have rowed all +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page196">[pg 196]</span><a name="Pg196" id="Pg196" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the way across the bay this afternoon—yes—rowed. +What say? Yes, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">she</span></span> rowed, too. +They say they’re goin’ on to-morrow, round +Judith.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say, now,”</span> she finally appealed to us in +frank perplexity, <span class="tei tei-q">“what’re you doin’ it for?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We like it,”</span> said Jonathan peacefully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Like it, do you? Well, now, if that don’t +beat all! Say—you know? I wouldn’t do +that, what you’re doin’, not if you paid me. +Have another cup o’ tea, do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next morning she bade us good-bye +with the air of entrusting us to that Providence +which is known to have a special care +for children and fools.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In fact, through all the varying experiences +of our cruise, one thing never varied. That +was, the expression on the faces of the people +we met. Wind and water and coast and birds +all greeted us differently with each new day, +but no matter +<span class="tei tei-corr"><a name="E6" id="E6" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e6" class="tei tei-ref">how</a></span> +many new faces we met, +we found in them always the same look—a +look at once friendly and quizzical, the look +one casts upon nice children for whose antics +one is not responsible, the look one casts upon +very small dogs. Why? Is it so odd a thing +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page197">[pg 197]</span><a name="Pg197" id="Pg197" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +to like to row a little boat? If it had been a +yacht, now, or even a motor-boat, the expression +would have been different. Apparently +the oars were what did it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On that particular morning, word of our +doings must have got abroad, for as we +stepped out on the brick sidewalk of the +shady main street a little crowd was waiting +for us. It was a funny procession:—Jonathan +first, with the guns and the water-jug, +then a boy with a wheelbarrow, on which +were piled the two dunnage bags, the metal +box, the lantern, the axe, the chart tube, and +a few other things. An old man and some +boys followed curiously, then I came, with +two big baking-powder cans, very gorgeous +because the red paper was not yet off them, +full of provisions pressed on us by our friendly +hostess. Tagging behind me, came an old +woman, a big girl, and a half-dozen children. +It was the kind of escort that usually attends +the hand-organ and monkey on their infrequent +visits.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We loaded up the boat and pulled off, a +little stiff but fairly fit after all. The group +waved us off and then stood obviously talking +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page198">[pg 198]</span><a name="Pg198" id="Pg198" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +us over. One of the men called after us, +with a sudden inspiration, <span class="tei tei-q">“Pity ye’ hevn’t +got a <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">motor</span></span> in there!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Though we didn’t want to be a motor-boat, +we were not above receiving courtesies +from one, and when the Providence tacitly +invoked by our hostess sent one chugging +along up to us, with the proposal to take us +in tow, we accepted with great contentment. +The morning was not half over when we made +our next landing, and looked up the captain +who was to tow us <span class="tei tei-q">“around Judith.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For in the matter of Point Judith our +friends and advisers had been unanimously +firm. There should be a limit, they said, even +to the foolishness of a holiday plan. With a +light boat, we might have braved their disapproval, +but loaded as we were, we decided +to be prudent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’d hate to lose the guns,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, and the camera,”</span> I added.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So we accepted the offer of a good friend’s +knockabout, and sailed around the dreaded +Point with our little boat tailing behind at +the end of her rope. We saw no water that +we could not have met in her, but, as our +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page199">[pg 199]</span><a name="Pg199" id="Pg199" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +friends did not fail to point out, that proved +nothing whatever.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At Stonington we were left once more to +our little boat and our four oars, and there we +pulled her up and caulked her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Strange, how we are always trying to avoid +mishaps, and yet when they come we are so +often glad of them! A leaky boat had not +been in our plans, but if we could change that +first wild row across the big bay, if we could +cut out that leakiness, that puddling bottom, +the difficult shifts of baling and rowing, would +we? We would not. Again, as we look back +over the days of our cruise, we could ill spare +those hours of labor on the hot stretch of +sunny beach between the wharves, where we +bent half-blinded over the dazzling white +boat, our spirits irritated, our fingers aching +as they worked at the +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">push-push-push</span></span> of the +cotton waste between the strakes. We said +hard words of the man who thought he had +put our boat in order for us, and yet—if we +could cut out those hours of grumbling toil, +would we? We would not. For one thing, we +should perhaps have missed the precious +word of advice given us by a man who sat and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page200">[pg 200]</span><a name="Pg200" id="Pg200" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +watched us. He recommended us to put a +little motor in the stern. He pointed out to +us that rowing was pretty hard work. We +said we liked it. His face wore the expression +I have already described.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We launched her again at dusk. Next +morning Jonathan was a moment ahead of +me on the wharf.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Any water in her?”</span> I called, following +hard.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Dry as a bone,”</span> he shouted back, exultant; +but as I came up he added, with his +usual conservatism, <span class="tei tei-q">“of course we can’t tell +what she may do when she’s loaded.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But our work held. For the rest of the trip +we had a dry boat, except for what came in +over the sides.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Now that we were in the home State, we +got out our guns and hugged the shore closely, +on the lookout for plover. We drifted sometimes, +while we studied our maps for the location +of the salt marshes. If we were lucky, we +had broiled birds for luncheon or supper; if +we were not, we had tinned stuff, which is distinctly +inferior. When we spent the night at +an inn, we breakfasted there, but most of our +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page201">[pg 201]</span><a name="Pg201" id="Pg201" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +meals were eaten along the shore, or, best of +all, on some island.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can we find an island for lunch to-day, do +you suppose?”</span> I usually asked, as we dipped +our oars in the morning.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you have to have an island for lunch?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I love an island!”</span> choosing to ignore the +jest. <span class="tei tei-q">“That’s one of the best things about a +boat—that it takes you to islands.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, why an island?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You know as well as I do. An island +means—oh, it means remoteness, it means +quiet—possession; while you’re on it, it’s +yours—you don’t have every passer-by +looking over your shoulder—you have a +little world all to yourself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I could feel Jonathan’s indulgent smile +through the back of his head as he rowed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, you know yourself,”</span> I argued. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Even a tiny bit of stone and earth, with +moss on it, and a flower, out in the middle of +a brook, looks different, somehow, from the +same things on the bank. It +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> different—it’s +an island.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so we sought islands—sometimes +little ones, all rocks, too little even to have +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page202">[pg 202]</span><a name="Pg202" id="Pg202" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +collected driftwood for a fire, too little to have +grown anything but wisps of beach-grass, +low enough to be covered, perhaps, by the +highest tides. Sometimes it was a larger +island, big enough to have bushes on it, and +beaches round its edges. One of these we +remember as best of all. It lay a mile off +shore, a long island, rocky at its ocean end +and at its land end running out to a long +slim line of curving beach. In the middle it +rose to a plateau, thick-set with grass and +goldenrod and bay bushes, from which +floated the gay, sweet voices of song sparrows. +Ah! There was an island for you! And +we made a fire of driftwood, and cooked our +luncheon, and lay back on the sand and +drowsed, while the sea-gulls, millions of them, +circled curiously over our heads, mewing and +screaming as they dived and swooped, and +behind us the notes of the song sparrows rose +sweet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If we had had water enough in our jug, we +should have camped there. We rowed away +at last, slowly, loving it, and in our thoughts +we still possess it. As it dropped astern I +pulled in my oars and stood up to take its +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page203">[pg 203]</span><a name="Pg203" id="Pg203" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +picture—no easy task, with the boat mounting +and plunging among the swells. But I +have my picture, its horizon line at a noticeable +slant, reminiscent of my unsteady balance. +It means little to other people, but to +us it means the sweetness of sunshine and +wind and water, the sweetness of grass and +bird-notes, all breathed over by the spirit of +solitude.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then it melted away—our island—into +the waste of waters, and we turned to look +toward the misty headlands beyond our bow. +Where the marshlands were, we followed +them closely, but where the shore was rocky, +or, worse still, built up with summer cottages, +we often made a straight course from +headland to headland, keeping well out, often +a mile or two, to avoid tide eddies. We liked +the feeling of being far out, the shore a dark +blue, the cottages little dots. But we liked it, +too, when the headland before us grew large, +its rocks and bushes stood out, and we could +see the white rip off its point—a rip to be +taken with some caution if we hoped to keep +our cargo dry. And then, the rip passed, if +the bay beyond curved in quiet and uninhabited, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page204">[pg 204]</span><a name="Pg204" id="Pg204" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +how we loved to turn and pull along +close to shore, watching its beaches and sand-cliffs +draw smoothly away beside our stern, +or, best of all, pulling about and running in +till our bow grated and we jumped to the wet +beach and ran up the cliff to look about. Such +moments bring in a peculiar way the thrill of +discovery. It is one thing to go along a coast +by land, and learn its ways so. It is a good +thing. But it is quite another to fare over its +waters and turn in upon it from without, +surprising its secrets as from another world.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But to do this, your boat must be a little +one. As soon as you have a real keel, the case +is altered. For a keel demands a special landing-place—a +wharf—and a wharf means +human habitation, and then—where is your +thrill of discovery? Ah, no!—a little boat! +And you can land anywhere, among rocks +or in sandy shallows; you can explore the tide +creeks and marshes and the little rivers; you +can beach wherever you like, wherever the +rippling waves themselves can go. A little +boat for romance!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A little boat, but a long cruise, as long as +may be. To be sure, a boat and a bit of water +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page205">[pg 205]</span><a name="Pg205" id="Pg205" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +anywhere is good. Even an errand across the +pond and back may be a joy. But if you can, +now and then, free yourself from the there-and-back +habit, the reward is great. The joy +of pilgrimage—of going, not there and back, +but on, and on, and yet on—is a joy by itself. +The thought that each night brings +sleep in a new and unforeseen spot, with a new +journey on the morrow, gives special flavor +to the journeying.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Not the least among the pleasures of the +cruise were the night-camps. When the shore +looked inviting, and harborage at an inn +seemed doubtful, we pulled our boat above +tide-water, turned her over and tilted her up +on her side for a wind-break, and there we +spent the night. The half-emptied dunnage +bags were our pillows, the sand was our bed. +Sand, to sleep on, is harder than one might +suppose, but it is better than earth in being +easily scooped out to suit one’s needs. Indeed, +even on a pneumatic mattress, I should hardly +have slept much that first night. It was a +new experience. The great world of waters +was so close that it seemed, all night long, +like a wonderful but ever importunate presence. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page206">[pg 206]</span><a name="Pg206" id="Pg206" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +The wind blew that night, too, and +there was a low-scudding rack, and a half-smothered +moon. As we rolled ourselves +up in our blankets and rubber sheets and settled +down, I looked out over the restless +water.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The bay seems very full to-night—brimming,”</span> +I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not brimming over, though,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I should hope not! But it does seem to +me there are very few inches between it and +our feet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And the tide is still rising, of course,”</span> +said Jonathan, by way of comfort.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, I know just where high-tide +mark is, and we’re fully twelve inches above +it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Silence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aren’t we?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, was that a question?”</span> murmured +Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why, yes, I think we are at least +that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course, there are extra high tides +sometimes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Silence.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page207">[pg 207]</span><a name="Pg207" id="Pg207" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, do you know when they come?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not exactly.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I don’t care. I love it, anyway. +Only it seems so much bigger and colder at +night, the water does.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At last I drowsed, waking now and then to +raise my head and just glance down at those +waves—they certainly sounded as if they +were lapping the sand close by my ear. No, +there they were, quite within bounds, fully +twenty feet away from my toes. Of course it +was all right. I slept again, and dreamed that +the tide rose and rose; the waves ran merrily +up the beach, ran up on both sides of us, +closed in behind us. We were lying on a little +sand island, and the waves nibbled at its +edges—nibbled and nibbled and nibbled—the +island was being nibbled up. This would +never do! We must move! And I woke. +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Ripple, ripple, swash!</span></span> +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">ripple, ripple, swash!</span></span> +went the unconscious waves. As I raised my +head I saw the pale beach stretching off under +the moon-washed mists of middle night. Reassured, +I sank back, and when I waked again +the big sun was well above the rim of the +waters and all the little waves were dancing +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page208">[pg 208]</span><a name="Pg208" id="Pg208" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and the wet curves of the beach were gleaming +in the new day.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The water was not always restless at night. +The next time we camped we found a little +harbor within a harbor, a crescent curve of +fine white sand ending in a point of rock. In +one of its clefts we made our fire and broiled +our plover, ranging them on spits of bay so +that they hung over the two edges of rock +like people looking down into a miniature +Grand Cañon. There were nine of them, fat +and sputtering, and while they cooked, we +made toast and arranged the camp. Then +we had supper, and watched the red coals +smouldering and the white moonlight filling +the world with a radiance that put out the +stars and brought the blue back to the sky. +The little basin of the bay was quiet as a pool, +the air was full of stillness, with now and then +the hushed <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">flip-flip</span></span> +of a tiny wave that had +somehow strayed in from the tumbling crowd +outside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We slept well, but once Jonathan waked +me. <span class="tei tei-q">“Look!”</span> he whispered, <span class="tei tei-q">“White heron.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I raised my head. There, quite near us in +the shallow water, stood a great pale bird, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page209">[pg 209]</span><a name="Pg209" id="Pg209" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +motionless, on one long, slim leg, his oval +body, long neck, head and bill clearly outlined +against the bright water beyond. The +mirror of the water reflected perfectly the +soft outline, making a double creature, one +above and one below, with that slim stem of +leg between.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I watched him until my neck grew tired. +He never moved. Out beyond him, more dim, +stood his mate, motionless too. Now and +then they called to each other, with queer, +harsh talk that made the stillness all the +stiller when it closed in again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When we awoke, they were gone, but we +found the heronry that morning on one of the +oak-covered knolls that rise like islands out of +the heart of the great salt marshes.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">All through the cruise, the big winds were +with us more than we had expected. They +gave us, for the most part, a right good time. +For even in the partly protected Sound it is +possible to stir up a sea rough enough to keep +one busy. Each wave, as it came galloping +up, was an antagonist to be dealt with. If +we met it successfully, it galloped on, and left +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page210">[pg 210]</span><a name="Pg210" id="Pg210" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +us none the worse for it. If we did not, it +meant, perhaps, that its foaming white mane +brushed our shoulders, or swept across our +laps, or, worse still, drowned our guns. Once, +indeed, we were threatened with something a +little more serious. We were running down out +of the Connecticut River, gliding smoothly +over sleek water. It was delicious rowing, and +the boat shot along swiftly. As we turned +westward, it grew rougher, but we were paying +no special heed to this when suddenly I +became conscious of something dark over my +right shoulder. I turned my head, and found +myself looking up into the evil heart of a dull +green breaker. I gasped, <span class="tei tei-q">“Look out!”</span> and +dug my oar. Jonathan glanced, pulled, there +was a moment of doubt, then the huge dark +bulk was shouldering heavily away, off our +starboard quarter. It was only the first of +its ugly company. Through sheer carelessness, +we had run, as it were, into an ambush—one +of the worst bits of water on the Sound, +where tide and river currents meet and +wrangle. All around us were rearing, white-maned +breakers, though the impression we +got was less of their white manes than of their +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page211">[pg 211]</span><a name="Pg211" id="Pg211" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +dark sides as they rose over us. Our problem +was to meet each one fairly, and yet snatch +every moment of respite to slant off toward +the harborage inside the breakwaters. It took +all our strength and all our skill, and all the +resources of the good little boat. But we +made it, after perhaps half an hour of stiff +work. Then we rested, breathed, and went +on. We did not talk much about it until we +made camp that night. Then, as we sat looking +out over the quiet water, I told Jonathan +about the shadow over my shoulder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It was like seeing a ghost,”</span> +I said,—<span class="tei tei-q">“no—more +like feeling the hand of an enemy +on your shoulder.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The Black Douglas,”</span> suggested Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. Talk about the scientific attitude—you’ve +just got to personify things when they +come at you like that. That wave had an expression—an +ugly one. I don’t wonder the +Northmen felt as they did about the sea and +the waves. They took it all personally—they +had to!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Were you frightened?”</span> asked Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, of course not,”</span> I said, almost too +promptly. Then I meditated—<span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page212">[pg 212]</span><a name="Pg212" id="Pg212" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +know what you’d call it—but I believe I +understand now what people mean when they +talk about their hearts going down into their +boots.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Did yours?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, not exactly—but—well—it certainly +did feel suddenly very thick and heavy—as +if it had dropped—perhaps an inch +or two.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I believe,”</span> said Jonathan gently, <span class="tei tei-q">“you +might almost call that being frightened.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, perhaps you might. Tell me—were +you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t like it—yes, I was anxious—and +it made me tired to have been such a fool—the +whole thing was absolutely unnecessary, +if we’d looked up the charts carefully.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or asked a few questions. But you know +you hate to ask questions.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You could have asked them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, anyway, aren’t you glad it happened?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, of course; it was an experience.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you want to do it again?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No”</span>—he was emphatic—<span class="tei tei-q">“not with +that load.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page213">[pg 213]</span><a name="Pg213" id="Pg213" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Neither do I.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If the winds sometimes wearied us a little, +they helped us, too. We can never forget the +evening we turned into the Thames River, +making for the shelter of a friend’s hospitable +roof. We had battled most of that day with +the diagonal onslaughts of a southeast gale, +bringing with it the full swing of the ocean +swell. It was easier than a southwester would +have been, but that was the best that could +be said for it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We passed the last buoy and turned our +bow north. And suddenly, the great waves +that had all day kept us on the defensive became +our strong helpers. They took us up and +swung us forward on our course with great +sweeping rushes of motion. The tide was +setting in, too, and with that and our oars +we were going almost as fast as the waves +themselves, so that when one picked us up, +it swung us a long way before it left us. We +learned to watch for each roller, wait till one +came up astern, then pull with all our might +so that we went swooping down its long slope, +its crest at first just behind our stern, but +drawing more and more under us, until it +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page214">[pg 214]</span><a name="Pg214" id="Pg214" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +passed beyond our bow and dropped us in the +trough to wait for the next giant. It was like +going in a swing, but with the downward rush +very long and swift, and the upward rise short +and slow. How long it took us to make the +two miles to our friend’s dock we shall never +know. Probably only a few minutes. But it +was not an experience in time. We had a +sense of being at one with the great primal +forces of wind and water, and at one with +them, not in their moments of poise, but in +their moments of resistless power.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After all, the only drawback to the cruise +was that it was over too soon. When, in the +quiet afternoon light of the last day, a familiar +headland floated into view, my first feeling +was one of joy; for beyond that headland, +what friendly faces waited for us—faces +turned even now, perhaps, toward the east for +a first glimpse of our little boat. But hard +after this, came a pang of regret—it was +over, our water-pilgrimage, and I wanted it +to go on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was over. And yet, not really over after +all. I sometimes think that pleasures ought +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page215">[pg 215]</span><a name="Pg215" id="Pg215" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +to be valued according to whether they are +over when they <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">are</span></span> +over, or not. <span class="tei tei-q">“You cannot +eat your cake and have it too.”</span> True, but +that is because it is cake. There are other +things which you can eat, and still have. And +our rowboat cruise is one of these. It is over, +and yet it is not over. It never will be. I can +shut my eyes—indeed, I do not need even +to shut them—and again I am under the +open sky, I am afloat in the sun and the wind, +with the waters all around me. I see again +the surf-edged curves of the beaches, the lines +of the sand-cliffs, the ragged horizon edge, +cut and jagged by the waves. I feel the boat, +I feel the oars, I am aware of the damp, pure +night air, and the sounds of the waves ceaselessly +breaking on the sand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is not over. Its best things are still ours, +and those things which were hardly pleasures +then have become such now. As we remember +our aching muscles and blistered hands, we +smile. As we recall times of intense weariness, +of irritation, of anxiety, we find ourselves +lingering over them with enjoyment. For +memory does something wonderful with experience. +It is a poet, and life is its raw +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page216">[pg 216]</span><a name="Pg216" id="Pg216" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +material. I know that our cruise was made up +of minutes, of oar-strokes, so many that to +count them would be weariness unending. But +in my memory, these things are re-created. +I see a boundless stretch of windy or peaceful +waters. I see the endless line of misty coast. +I see lovely islands, sleeping alone, waiting +to be possessed by those who come. And I see +a little, little boat, faring along the coast-lands, +out to the islands, over the waters—going +on, and on, and on.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb"> </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em">THE END</p> + + +</div> + +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-back" style="margin-bottom: 2.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div id="colophon" class="tei tei-div" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="toc20" id="toc20"></a> + <a name="pdf21" id="pdf21"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Colophon</span></h1> + + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page218">[pg 218]</span><a name="Pg218" id="Pg218" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">The Riverside Press</span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS</span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">U . S . A</span></p> + </div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div id="appendix" class="tei tei-div" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="toc22" id="toc22"></a> + <a name="pdf23" id="pdf23"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Appendix A: Extra Front Pages</span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pagei">[pg i]</span><a name="Pgi" id="Pgi" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%"> + By Elisabeth Woodbridge</span></p> + + <div class="tei tei-tb"><hr style="width: 10%" /></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.73em"><span style="font-size: 73%">MORE JONATHAN PAPERS.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 73%"> + THE JONATHAN PAPERS.</span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY</span><br /> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 73%; font-variant: small-caps"> + Boston And New York + </span></span></p> + + <div class="tei tei-tb"> </div> + + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pageii">[pg ii]</span><a name="Pgii" id="Pgii" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em">More Jonathan Papers</p> + + + </div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="toc24" id="toc24"></a> + <a name="pdf25" id="pdf25"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Errata</span></h1> + + <a name="e1" id="e1" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed camp is <span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E1" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">4.38</span></a></span>—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">A.M.</span></span> to camp is <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">4:38</span></span>—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">A.M.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e2" id="e2" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed arrives at <span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E2" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">10.15</span></a></span>, they to arrives at <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">10:15</span></span>, they</td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e3" id="e3" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed What does <span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E3" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">10.15</span></a></span> look to What does <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">10:15</span></span> look</td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e4" id="e4" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VIII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed “Does it bite?<a href="#E4" class="tei tei-ref"> </a> to + “Does it bite?<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">”</span></span> + </td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e5" id="e5" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VIIII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed find something<span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E5" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">,</span></a></span> Here’s to find + something<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">.</span></span> Here’s</td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e6" id="e6" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VIIII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed no matter <span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E6" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">now</span></a></span> many to no matter <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">how</span></span> many</td></tr></tbody></table> + </div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 20141 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/20141-h/20141-h.html b/20141-h/20141-h.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..94b4b18 --- /dev/null +++ b/20141-h/20141-h.html @@ -0,0 +1,7450 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; 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margin-top: 2.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <div id="pgheader" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em"><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 2.00em">The Project Gutenberg EBook of More Jonathan Papers by Elisabeth Woodbridge</p></div><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em"><p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost + and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, + give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project + Gutenberg License <a href="#pglicense" class="tei tei-ref">included with this + eBook</a> or online at <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license" class="tei tei-xref">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a></p></div><pre class="pre tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em">Title: More Jonathan Papers + +Author: Elisabeth Woodbridge + +Release Date: December 19, 2006 [Ebook #20141] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MORE JONATHAN PAPERS*** +</pre></div> + </div> + + <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + + </div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-titlePage" style="text-align: center"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pageiiii">[pg iiii]</span><a name="Pgiiii" id="Pgiiii" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + <span class="tei tei-docTitle" style="text-align: center"> + <span class="tei tei-titlePart" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%"> + More Jonathan Papers</span><br /> + <br /> + </span> + </span> + <div class="tei tei-byline" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">By</span><br /> + <span class="tei tei-docAuthor" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 120%">Elisabeth Woodbridge</span></span><br /> + <br /> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-docImprint" style="text-align: center"> + BOSTON AND NEW YORK<br /> + HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY<br /> + The Riverside Press Cambridge<br /> + </span> + <span class="tei tei-docDate" style="text-align: center">1915</span> + </div> + + <hr class="page" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 4.05em; margin-top: 4.05em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pagev">[pg v]</span><a name="Pgv" id="Pgv" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY ELISABETH WOODBRIDGE MORRIS</span><br /> + <br /><span style="font-size: 81%"> + ALL RIGHTS RESERVED</span><br /> + <br /> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 81%; font-style: italic">Published November 1915</span></span></p> + </div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pagevi">[pg vi]</span><a name="Pgvi" id="Pgvi" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em">TO<br /> + JONATHAN</p> + </div> + + + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pageviii">[pg viii]</span><a name="Pgviii" id="Pgviii" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + <a name="pdf1" id="pdf1"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Contents</span></h1> + <ul class="tei tei-index tei-index-toc"><li><a href="#toc2">I. The Searchings of Jonathan</a></li><li><a href="#toc4">II. Sap-Time</a></li><li><a href="#toc6">III. Evenings on the Farm</a></li><li><a href="#toc8">IV. After Frost</a></li><li><a href="#toc10">V. The Joys of Garden Stewardship</a></li><li><a href="#toc12">VI. Trout and Arbutus</a></li><li><a href="#toc14">VII. Without the Time of Day</a></li><li><a href="#toc16">VIII. The Ways of Griselda</a></li><li><a href="#toc18">IX. A Rowboat Pilgrimage</a></li><li><a href="#toc20">Colophon</a></li><li><a href="#toc22">Appendix A: Extra Front Pages</a></li><li><a href="#toc24">Errata</a></li></ul> + </div> + + +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-body" style="margin-bottom: 6.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> + +<hr class="doublepage" /><div id="chapter01" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page001">[pg 001]</span><a name="Pg001" id="Pg001" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc2" id="toc2"></a> +<a name="pdf3" id="pdf3"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 173%">More Jonathan Papers</span></span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">I</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">The Searchings of Jonathan</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What I find it hard to understand is, why a +person who can see a spray of fringed gentian +in the middle of a meadow can’t see a book on +the sitting-room table.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The reason why I can see the gentian,”</span> +said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“is because the gentian is +there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So is the book,”</span> I responded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Which table?”</span> he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The one with the lamp on it. It’s a red +book, about <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">so</span></span> big.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It isn’t there; but, just to satisfy you, +I’ll look again.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He returned in a moment with an argumentative +expression of countenance. <span class="tei tei-q">“It +isn’t there,”</span> he said firmly. <span class="tei tei-q">“Will anything +else do instead?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page002">[pg 002]</span><a name="Pg002" id="Pg002" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, I wanted you to read that special +thing. Oh, dear! And I have all these things +in my lap! And I know it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> +there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">know</span></span> it +isn’t.”</span> He stretched himself +out in the hammock and watched me as +I rather ostentatiously laid down thimble, +scissors, needle, cotton, and material and set +out for the sitting-room table. There were a +number of books on it, to be sure. I glanced +rapidly through the piles, fingered the lower +books, pushed aside a magazine, and pulled +out from beneath it the book I wanted. I +returned to the hammock and handed it over. +Then, after possessing myself, again rather +ostentatiously, of material, cotton, needle, +scissors, and thimble, I sat down.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s the second essay I specially thought +we’d like,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just for curiosity,”</span> said Jonathan, with +an impersonal air, <span class="tei tei-q">“where did you find it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Find what?”</span> I asked innocently.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The book.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh! On the table.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Which table?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The one with the lamp on it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I should like to know where.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page003">[pg 003]</span><a name="Pg003" id="Pg003" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why—just there—on the table. There +was an <span class="tei tei-q">‘Atlantic’</span> on top of it, to be sure.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I saw the <span class="tei tei-q">‘Atlantic.’</span> Blest if it looked as +though it had anything under it! Besides, +I was looking for it on top of things. You +said you laid it down there just before luncheon, +and I didn’t think it could have crawled +in under so quick.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When you’re looking for a thing,”</span> I said, +<span class="tei tei-q">“you mustn’t think, you must look. Now +go ahead and read.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If this were a single instance, or even if it +were one of many illustrating a common +human frailty, it would hardly be worth setting +down. But the frailty under consideration +has come to seem to me rather particularly +masculine. Are not all the Jonathans +in the world continually being sent to some +sitting-room table for something, and coming +back to assert, with more or less pleasantness, +according to their temperament, that it is not +there? The incident, then, is not isolated; it +is typical of a vast group. For Jonathan, read +Everyman; for the red book, read any particular +thing that you want Him to bring; +for the sitting-room table, read the place +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page004">[pg 004]</span><a name="Pg004" id="Pg004" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +where you know it is and Everyman says it +isn’t.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This, at least, is my thesis. It is not, however, +unchallenged. Jonathan has challenged +it when, from time to time, as occasion offered, +I have lightly sketched it out for him. +Sometimes he argues that my instances are +really isolated cases and that their evidence +is not cumulative, at others he takes refuge +in a <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tu quoque</span></span>—in +itself a confession of weakness—and +alludes darkly to <span class="tei tei-q">“top shelves”</span> +and <span class="tei tei-q">“bottom drawers.”</span> But let us have no +mysteries. These phrases, considered as arguments, +have their origin in certain incidents +which, that all the evidence may be in, I will +here set down.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Once upon a time I asked Jonathan to get +me something from the top shelf in the closet. +He went, and failed to find it. Then I went, +and took it down. Jonathan, watching over +my shoulder, said, <span class="tei tei-q">“But that wasn’t the top +shelf, I suppose you will admit.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sure enough! There was a shelf above. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, yes; but I don’t count that shelf. We +never use it, because nobody can reach +it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page005">[pg 005]</span><a name="Pg005" id="Pg005" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How do you expect me to know which +shelves you count and which you don’t?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course, anatomically—structurally—it +is one, but functionally it isn’t there at all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I see,”</span> said Jonathan, so contentedly that +I knew he was filing this affair away for future +use.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On another occasion I asked him to get +something for me from the top drawer of the +old <span class="tei tei-q">“high-boy”</span> in the dining-room. He was +gone a long while, and at last, growing impatient, +I followed. I found him standing on +an old wooden-seated chair, screw-driver in +hand. A drawer on a level with his head was +open, and he had hanging over his arm +a gaudy collection of ancient table-covers +and embroidered scarfs, mostly in shades of +magenta.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She stuck, but I’ve got her open now. +I don’t see any pillow-cases, though. It’s all +full of these things.”</span> He pumped his laden +arm up and down, and the table-covers +wagged gayly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I sank into the chair and laughed. <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh! +Have you been prying at that all this time? +Of <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">course</span></span> there’s nothing in +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">that</span></span> drawer.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page006">[pg 006]</span><a name="Pg006" id="Pg006" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There’s where you’re wrong. There’s a +great deal in it; I haven’t taken out half. If +you want to see—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">don’t</span></span> want to see! +There’s nothing I +want less! What I mean is—I never put +anything there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s the top drawer.”</span> He was beginning +to lay back the table-covers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But I can’t reach it. And it’s been stuck +for ever so long.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You said the top drawer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I suppose I did. Of course what I +meant was the top one of the ones I use.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I see, my dear. When you say top shelf +you don’t mean top shelf, and when you say +top drawer you don’t mean top drawer; in +fact, when you say top you don’t mean top +at all—you mean the height of your head. +Everything above that doesn’t count.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan was so pleased with this formulation +of my attitude that he was not in the +least irritated to have put out unnecessary +work. And his satisfaction was deepened by +one more incident. I had sent him to the +bottom drawer of my bureau to get a shawl. +He returned without it, and I was puzzled. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page007">[pg 007]</span><a name="Pg007" id="Pg007" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“Now, Jonathan, it’s there, and it’s the top +thing.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The real top,”</span> murmured Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“or +just what you call top?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s right in front,”</span> I went on; <span class="tei tei-q">“and I +don’t see how even a man could fail to find it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He proceeded to enumerate the contents +of the drawer in such strange fashion that I +began to wonder where he had been.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I said my bureau.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I went to your bureau.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The bottom drawer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The bottom drawer. There was nothing +but a lot of little boxes and—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I</span></span> know what you did! +You went to the secret drawer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Isn’t that the bottom one?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, yes, in a way—of course it is; but +it doesn’t exactly count—it’s not one of the +regular drawers—it hasn’t any knobs, or +anything—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But it’s a perfectly good drawer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. But nobody is supposed to know +it’s there; it looks like a molding—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But I know it’s there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, of course.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page008">[pg 008]</span><a name="Pg008" id="Pg008" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And you know I know it’s there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, yes; but I just don’t think about +that one in counting up. I see what you mean, +of course.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And I see what you mean. You mean that +your shawl is in the bottom one of the regular +drawers—with knobs—that can be alluded +to in general conversation. Now I think I can +find it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He did. And in addition he amused himself +by working out phrases about <span class="tei tei-q">“when is a +bottom drawer not a bottom drawer?”</span> and +<span class="tei tei-q">“when is a top shelf not a top shelf?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is to these incidents—which I regard as +isolated and negligible, and he regards as +typical and significant—that he alludes on +the occasions when he is unable to find a red +book on the sitting-room table. In vain do I +point out that when language is variable and +fluid it is alive, and that there may be two +opinions about the structural top and the +functional top, whereas there can be but one +as to the book being or not being on the table. +He maintains a quiet cheerfulness, as of one +who is conscious of being, if not invulnerable, +at least well armed.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page009">[pg 009]</span><a name="Pg009" id="Pg009" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For a time he even tried to make believe +that he was invulnerable as well—to set up +the thesis that if the book was really on the +table he could find it. But in this he suffered +so many reverses that only strong natural +pertinacity kept him from capitulation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Is it necessary to recount instances? Every +family can furnish them. As I allow myself to +float off into a reminiscent dream I find my +mind possessed by a continuous series of dissolving +views in which Jonathan is always +coming to me saying, <span class="tei tei-q">“It isn’t there,”</span> and I +am always saying, <span class="tei tei-q">“Please look again.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Though everything in the house seems to +be in a conspiracy against him, it is perhaps +with the fishing-tackle that he has most constant +difficulties.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My dear, have you any idea where my +rod is? No, don’t get up—I’ll look if you’ll +just tell me where—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Probably in the corner behind the chest +in the orchard room.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve looked there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then, did you take it in from the +wagon last night?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I remember doing it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page010">[pg 010]</span><a name="Pg010" id="Pg010" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What about the little attic? You might +have put it up there to dry out.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. I took my wading boots up, but that +was all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The dining-room? You came in that +way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He goes and returns. <span class="tei tei-q">“Not there.”</span> I reflect +deeply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, are you <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">sure</span></span> +it’s not in that corner of the orchard room?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I’m sure; but I’ll look again.”</span> He +disappears, but in a moment I hear his voice +calling, <span class="tei tei-q">“No! Yours is here, but not mine.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I perceive that it is a case for me, and I get +up. <span class="tei tei-q">“You go and harness. I’ll find it,”</span> I call.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There was a time when, under such conditions, +I should have begun by hunting in all +the unlikely places I could think of. Now I +know better. I go straight to the corner of the +orchard room. Then I call to Jonathan, just +to relieve his mind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right! I’ve found it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Here, in the orchard room.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Where</span></span> in the orchard +room?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In the corner.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page011">[pg 011]</span><a name="Pg011" id="Pg011" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What corner?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The usual corner—back of the chest.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The devil!”</span> Then he comes back to put +his head in at the door. <span class="tei tei-q">“What are you +laughing at?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nothing. What are you talking about the +devil for? Anyway, it isn’t the devil; it’s the +brownie.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For there seems no doubt that the things +he hunts for are possessed of supernatural +powers; and the theory of a brownie in the +house, with a special grudge against Jonathan, +would perhaps best account for the way in +which they elude his search but leap into sight +at my approach. There is, to be sure, one +other explanation, but it is one that does not +suggest itself to him, or appeal to him when +suggested by me, so there is no need to dwell +upon it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If it isn’t the rod, it is the landing-net, +which has hung itself on a nail a little to the +left or right of the one he had expected to see +it on; or his reel, which has crept into a corner +of the tackle drawer and held a ball of string +in front of itself to distract his vision; or a +bunch of snell hooks, which, aware of its protective +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page012">[pg 012]</span><a name="Pg012" id="Pg012" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +coloring, has snuggled up against the +shady side of the drawer and tucked its pink-papered +head underneath a gay pickerel-spoon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Fishing-tackle is, clearly, <span class="tei tei-q">“possessed,”</span> but +in other fields Jonathan is not free from +trouble. Finding anything on a bureau +seems to offer peculiar obstacles. It is perhaps +a big, black-headed pin that I want. +<span class="tei tei-q">“On the pincushion, Jonathan.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He goes, and returns with two sizes of +safety-pins and one long hat-pin.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, dear, those won’t do. A small, black-headed +one—at least small compared with a +hat-pin, large compared with an ordinary pin.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Common or house pin?”</span> he murmurs, +quoting a friend’s phrase.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do look again! I hate to drop this to go +myself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When a man does a job, he gets his tools +together first.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes; but they say women shouldn’t copy +men, they should develop along their own +lines. Please go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He goes, and comes back. <span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t +want fancy gold pins, I suppose?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, no! Here, you hold this, and I’ll go.”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page013">[pg 013]</span><a name="Pg013" id="Pg013" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +I dash to the bureau. Sure enough, he is right +about the cushion. I glance hastily about. +There, in a little saucer, are a half-dozen of +the sort I want. I snatch some and run back.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, it wasn’t in the cushion, I bet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> I admit; <span class="tei tei-q">“it was in a saucer just behind +the cushion.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You said cushion.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know. It’s all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, if you had said simply <span class="tei tei-q">‘bureau,’</span> I’d +have looked in other places on it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, you’d have <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">looked</span></span> +in other places!”</span> +I could not forbear responding. There is, I +grant, another side to this question. One +evening when I went upstairs I found a partial +presentation of it, in the form of a little +newspaper clipping, pinned on my cushion. +It read as follows:—</p> + +<div class="block tei tei-quote" style="margin-bottom: 1.80em; margin-left: 3.60em; margin-top: 1.80em; margin-right: 3.60em"> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">My dear,</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span><span style="font-size: 90%"> said she, </span><span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">please run and + bring me the needle from the haystack.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">Oh, I don’t know which haystack.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span class="tei tei-q"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">Look in all the haystacks—you + can’t miss it; there’s only one needle.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></p> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan was in the cellar at the moment. +When he came up, he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“Did I hear any +one laughing?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page014">[pg 014]</span><a name="Pg014" id="Pg014" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t know. Did you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I thought maybe it was you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It might have been. Something amused +me—I forget what.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I accused Jonathan of having written it +himself, but he denied it. Some other Jonathan, +then; for, as I said, this is not a personal +matter, it is a world matter. Let us grant, +then, a certain allowance for those who hunt +in woman-made haystacks. But what about +pockets? Is not a man lord over his own +pockets? And are they not nevertheless as +so many haystacks piled high for his confusion? +Certain it is that Jonathan has nearly +as much trouble with his pockets as he does +with the corners and cupboards and shelves +and drawers of his house. It usually happens +over our late supper, after his day in town. +He sets down his teacup, struck with a sudden +memory. He feels in his vest pockets—first +the right, then the left. He proceeds to search +himself, murmuring, <span class="tei tei-q">“I thought something +came to-day that I wanted to show you—oh, +here! no, that isn’t it. I thought I put it—no, +those are to be—what’s this? No, +that’s a memorandum. Now, where in—”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page015">[pg 015]</span><a name="Pg015" id="Pg015" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +He runs through the papers in his pockets +twice over, and in the second round I watch +him narrowly, and perhaps see a corner of an +envelope that does not look like office work. +<span class="tei tei-q">“There, Jonathan! What’s that? No, not +that—that!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He pulls it out with an air of immense +relief. <span class="tei tei-q">“There! I knew I had something. +That’s it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When we travel, the same thing happens +with the tickets, especially if they chance to +be costly and complicated ones, with all the +shifts and changes of our journey printed +thick upon their faces. The conductor appears +at the other end of the car. Jonathan +begins vaguely to fumble without lowering +his paper. Pocket after pocket is browsed +through in this way. Then the paper slides to +his knee and he begins a more thorough investigation, +with all the characteristic clapping +and diving motions that seem to be +necessary. Some pockets must always be +clapped and others dived into to discover their +contents.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">No tickets. The conductor is halfway up +the car. Jonathan’s face begins to grow serious. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page016">[pg 016]</span><a name="Pg016" id="Pg016" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +He rises and looks on the seat and under +it. He sits down and takes out packet after +packet of papers and goes over them with +scrupulous care. At this point I used to become +really anxious—to make hasty calculations +as to our financial resources, immediate +and ultimate—to wonder if conductors +ever really put nice people like us off trains. +But that was long ago. I know now that +Jonathan has never lost a ticket in his life. +So I glance through the paper that he has +dropped or watch the landscape until he +reaches a certain stage of calm and definite +pessimism, when he says, <span class="tei tei-q">“I must have pulled +them out when I took out those postcards in +the other car. Yes, that’s just what has happened.”</span> +Then, the conductor being only a +few seats away, I beg Jonathan to look once +more in his vest pocket, where he always puts +them. To oblige me he looks, though without +faith, and lo! this time the tickets fairly +fling themselves upon him, with smiles almost +curling up their corners. Does the brownie +travel with us, then?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I begin to suspect that some of the good +men who have been blamed for forgetting to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page017">[pg 017]</span><a name="Pg017" id="Pg017" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +mail letters in their pockets have been, not +indeed blameless, but at least misunderstood. +Probably they do not forget. Probably they +hunt for the letters and cannot find them, and +conclude that they have already mailed them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In the matter of the home haystacks Jonathan’s +confidence in himself has at last been +shaken. For a long time, when he returned +to me after some futile search, he used to say, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Of course you can look for it if you like, but +it is <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">not</span></span> there.”</span> +But man is a reasoning, if not +altogether a reasonable, being, and with a sufficient +accumulation of evidence, especially +when there is some one constantly at hand to +interpret its teachings, almost any set of opinions, +however fixed, may be shaken. So here.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Once when we shut up the farm for the +winter I left my fountain pen behind. This +was little short of a tragedy, but I comforted +myself with the knowledge that Jonathan +was going back that week-end for a day’s +hunt.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Be sure to get the pen first of all,”</span> I said, +<span class="tei tei-q">“and put it in your pocket.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where is it?”</span> he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“In the little medicine cupboard over the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page018">[pg 018]</span><a name="Pg018" id="Pg018" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +fireplace in the orchard room, standing up at +the side of the first shelf.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why not on your desk?”</span> he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Because I was writing tags in there, and +set it up so it would be out of the way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">was</span></span> +out of the way. All right. I’ll +collect it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He went, and on his return I met him with +eager hand—<span class="tei tei-q">“My pen!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m sorry,”</span> he began.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You didn’t forget!”</span> I exclaimed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. But it wasn’t there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But—did you look?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I looked.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thoroughly?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. I lit three matches.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Matches! Then you didn’t get it when +you first got there!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why—no—I had the dog to attend +to—and—but I had plenty of time when I +got back, and it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">wasn’t</span></span> +there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—Dear me! Did you look anywhere +else? I suppose I may be mistaken. +Perhaps I did take it back to the desk.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That’s just what I thought myself,”</span> said +Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“So I went there, and looked, and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page019">[pg 019]</span><a name="Pg019" id="Pg019" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +then I looked on all the mantelpieces and +your bureau. You must have put it in your +bag the last minute—bet it’s there now!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bet it isn’t.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It wasn’t. For two weeks more I was +driven to using other pens—strange and distracting +to the fingers and the eyes and the +mind. Then Jonathan was to go up again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Please look once more,”</span> I begged, <span class="tei tei-q">“and +don’t expect not to see it. I can fairly see it +myself, this minute, standing up there on the +right-hand side, just behind the machine oil +can.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I’ll look,”</span> he promised. <span class="tei tei-q">“If +it’s there, I’ll find it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He returned penless. I considered buying +another. But we were planning to go up together +the last week of the hunting season, +and I thought I would wait on the chance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We got off at the little station and hunted +our way up, making great sweeps and jogs, as +hunters must, to take in certain spots we +thought promising—certain ravines and +swamp edges where we are always sure of +hearing the thunderous whir of partridge +wings, or the soft, shrill whistle of woodcock. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page020">[pg 020]</span><a name="Pg020" id="Pg020" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +At noon we broiled chops and rested in the +lee of the wood edge, where, even in the late +fall, one can usually find spots that are warm +and still. It was dusk by the time we came +over the crest of the farm ledges and saw the +huddle of the home buildings below us, and +quite dark when we reached the house. Fires +had been made and coals smouldered on the +hearth in the sitting-room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You light the lamp,”</span> I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“and I’ll +just take a match and go through to see if +that pen <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">should</span></span> +happen to be there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No use doing anything to-night,”</span> said +Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“To-morrow morning you can +have a thorough hunt.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But I took my match, felt my way into the +next room, past the fireplace, up to the cupboard, +then struck my match. In its first +flare-up I glanced in. Then I chuckled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan had gone out to the dining-room, +but he has perfectly good ears.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“NO!”</span> he roared, and his tone of dismay, +incredulity, rage, sent me off into gales of +unscrupulous laughter. He was striding in, +candle in hand, shouting, <span class="tei tei-q">“It was +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">not there!</span></span>”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look yourself,”</span> I managed to gasp.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page021">[pg 021]</span><a name="Pg021" id="Pg021" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This time, somehow, he could see it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You planted it! You brought it up and +planted it!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I never! Oh, dear me! It pays for going +without it for weeks!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Nothing</span></span> +will ever make me believe that +that pen was standing there when I looked +for it!”</span> said Jonathan, with vehement finality.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right,”</span> I sighed happily. <span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t +have to believe it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But in his heart perhaps he does believe it. +At any rate, since that time he has adopted a +new formula: <span class="tei tei-q">“My dear, it may be there, of +course, but I don’t see it.”</span> And this position +I regard as unassailable.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One triumph he has had. I wanted something +that was stored away in the shut-up +town house.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you suppose you could find it?”</span> I said, +as gently as possible.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I can try,”</span> he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think it is in a box about this shape—see?—a +gray box, in the attic closet, the +farthest-in corner.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Are you sure it’s in the house? If it’s in +the house, I think I can find it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page022">[pg 022]</span><a name="Pg022" id="Pg022" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I’m sure of that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When he returned that night, his face wore +a look of satisfaction very imperfectly concealed +beneath a mask of nonchalance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Good</span></span> for you! +Was it where I said?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Was it in a different corner?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where was it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It wasn’t in a corner at all. It wasn’t in +that closet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It wasn’t! Where, then?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Downstairs in the hall closet.”</span> He paused, +then could not forbear adding, <span class="tei tei-q">“And it wasn’t +in a gray box; it was in a big hat-box with +violets all over it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Jonathan!</span></span> +Aren’t you grand! How +did you ever find it? I couldn’t have done +better myself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Under such praise he expanded. <span class="tei tei-q">“The +fact is,”</span> he said confidentially, <span class="tei tei-q">“I had given +it up. And then suddenly I changed my +mind. I said to myself, <span class="tei tei-q">‘Jonathan, don’t +be a man! Think what she’d do if she +were here now.’</span> And then I got busy and +found it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page023">[pg 023]</span><a name="Pg023" id="Pg023" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan!”</span> I could almost have wept if +I had not been laughing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well,”</span> he said, proud, yet rather sheepish, +<span class="tei tei-q">“what is there so funny about that? I gave +up half a day to it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Funny! It isn’t funny—exactly. You +don’t mind my laughing a little? Why, you’ve +lived down the fountain pen—we’ll forget +the pen—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, no, you won’t forget the pen either,”</span> +he said, with a certain pleasant grimness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, perhaps not—of course it would +be a pity to forget that. Suppose I say, then, +that we’ll always regard the pen in the light +of the violet hat-box?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think that might do.”</span> Then he had an +alarming afterthought. <span class="tei tei-q">“But, see here—you +won’t expect me to do things like that often?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Dear me, no! People can’t live always on +their highest levels. Perhaps you’ll +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">never</span></span> +do it again.”</span> Jonathan looked distinctly relieved. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll accept it as a unique effort—like +Dante’s angel and Raphael’s sonnet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan,”</span> I said that evening, <span class="tei tei-q">“what +do you know about St. Anthony of Padua?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not much.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page024">[pg 024]</span><a name="Pg024" id="Pg024" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, you ought to. He helped you to-day. +He’s the saint who helps people to find lost +articles. Every man ought to take him as +a patron saint.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And do you know which saint it is who +helps people to find lost virtues—like humility, +for instance?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. I don’t, really.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t suppose you did,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter02" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page025">[pg 025]</span><a name="Pg025" id="Pg025" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc4" id="toc4"></a> +<a name="pdf5" id="pdf5"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">II</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Sap-Time</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was a little tree-toad that began it. In a +careless moment he had come down to the +bench that connects the big maple tree with +the old locust stump, and when I went out at +dusk to wait for Jonathan, there he sat, in +plain sight. A few experimental pokes sent +him back to the tree, and I studied him there, +marveling at the way he assimilated with its +bark. As Jonathan came across the grass I +called softly, and pointed to the tree.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well?”</span> he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t you see?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. What?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look—I thought you had eyes!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, what a little beauty!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And isn’t his back just like bark and +lichens! And what are those things in the tree +beside him?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Plugs, I suppose.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Plugs?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page026">[pg 026]</span><a name="Pg026" id="Pg026" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. After tapping. Uncle Ben used to +tap these trees, I believe.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You mean for sap? Maple syrup?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan! I didn’t know these were +sugar maples.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, yes. These on the road.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The whole row? Why, there are ten or +fifteen of them! And you never told me!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I thought you knew.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Knew! I don’t know anything—I should +think you’d know that, by this time. Do you +suppose, if I had known, I should have let all +these years go by—oh, dear—think of all +the fun we’ve missed! And syrup!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You’d have to come up in February.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then, I’ll +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">come</span></span> in February. Who’s +afraid of February?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right. Try it next year.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I did. But not in February. Things happened, +as things do, and it was early April before +I got to the farm. But it had been a +wintry March, and the farmers told me that +the sap had not been running except for a few +days in a February thaw. Anyway, it was +worth trying.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page027">[pg 027]</span><a name="Pg027" id="Pg027" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan could not come with me. He was +to join me later. But Hiram found a bundle +of elder spouts in the attic, and with these +and an auger we went out along the snowy, +muddy road. The hole was bored—a pair +of them—in the first tree, and the spouts +driven in. I knelt, watching—in fact, peering +up the spout-hole to see what might happen. +Suddenly a drop, dim with sawdust, appeared—gathered, +hesitated, then ran down +gayly and leapt off the end.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look! Hiram! It’s running!”</span> I called.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hiram, boring the next tree, made no response. +He evidently expected it to run. +Jonathan would have acted just like that, too, +I felt sure. Is it a masculine quality, I wonder, +to be unmoved when the theoretically expected +becomes actual? Or is it that some +temperaments have naturally a certain large +confidence in the sway of law, and refuse to +wonder at its individual workings? To me the +individual workings give an ever fresh thrill +because they bring a new realization of the +mighty powers behind them. It seems to depend +on which end you begin at.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But though the little drops thrilled me, I +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page028">[pg 028]</span><a name="Pg028" id="Pg028" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +was not beyond setting a pail underneath to +catch them. And as Hiram went on boring, I +followed with my pails. Pails, did I say? +Pails by courtesy. There were, indeed, a few +real pails—berry-pails, lard-pails, and water-pails—but +for the most part the sap fell into +pitchers, or tin saucepans, stew-kettles of +aluminum or agate ware, blue and gray and +white and mottled, or big yellow earthenware +bowls. It was a strange collection of receptacles +that lined the roadside when we had +finished our progress. As I looked along the +row, I laughed, and even Hiram smiled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But what next? Every utensil in the house +was out there, sitting in the road. There was +nothing left but the wash-boiler. Now, I had +heard tales of amateur syrup-boilings, and I +felt that the wash-boiler would not do. Besides, +I meant to work outdoors—no kitchen +stove for me! I must have a pan, a big, flat +pan. I flew to the telephone, and called up +the village plumber, three miles away. Could +he build me a pan? Oh, say, two feet by three +feet, and five inches high—yes, right away. +Yes, Hiram would call for it in the afternoon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I felt better. And now for a fireplace! Oh, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page029">[pg 029]</span><a name="Pg029" id="Pg029" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Jonathan! Why did you have to be away! +For Jonathan loves a stone and knows how +to put stones together, as witness the stone +<span class="tei tei-q">“Eyrie”</span> and the stile in the lane. However, +there Jonathan wasn’t. So I went out into +the swampy orchard behind the house and +looked about—no lack of stones, at any rate. +I began to collect material, and Hiram, seeing +my purpose, helped with the big stones. +Somehow my fireplace got made—two side +walls, one end wall, the other end left open +for stoking. It was not as pretty as if Jonathan +had done it, but <span class="tei tei-q">“’t was enough, ’t would +serve.”</span> I collected fire-wood, and there I was, +ready for my pan, and the afternoon was yet +young, and the sap was drip-drip-dripping +from all the spouts. I could begin to boil next +day. I felt that I was being borne along on +the providential wave that so often floats the +inexperienced to success.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">That night I emptied all my vessels into +the boiler and set them out once more. A +neighbor drove by and pulled up to comment +benevolently on my work.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will it run to-night?”</span> I asked him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No—no—’t won’t run to-night. Too +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page030">[pg 030]</span><a name="Pg030" id="Pg030" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +cold. ’T won’t run any to-night. You can +sleep all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This was pleasant to hear. There was a +moon, to be sure, but it was growing colder, +and at the idea of crawling along that road in +the middle of the night even my enthusiasm +shivered a little.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So I made my rounds at nine, in the white +moonlight, and went to sleep.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I was awakened the next morning to a consciousness +of flooding sunshine and Hiram’s +voice outside my window.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Got anything I can empty sap into? I’ve +got everything all filled up.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sap! Why, it isn’t running yet, is it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Pails were flowin’ over when I came out.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Flowing over! They said the sap wouldn’t +run last night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I guest there don’t nobody know when +sap’ll run and when it won’t,”</span> said Hiram +peacefully, as he tramped off to the barn.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In a few minutes I was outdoors. Sure +enough, Hiram had everything full—old +boilers, feed-pails, water-pails. But we found +some three-gallon milk-cans and used them. +A farm is like a city. There are always things +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page031">[pg 031]</span><a name="Pg031" id="Pg031" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +enough in it for all purposes. It is only a +question of using its resources.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then, in the clear April sunshine, I went +out and surveyed the row of maples. How +they did drip! Some of them almost ran. I +felt as if I had turned on the faucets of the +universe and didn’t know how to turn them +off again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">However, there was my new pan. I set it +over my oven walls and began to pour in sap. +Hiram helped me. He seemed to think he +needed his feed-pails. We poured in sap and +we poured in sap. Never did I see anything +hold so much as that pan. Even Hiram was +stirred out of his usual calm to remark, <span class="tei tei-q">“It +beats all, how much that holds.”</span> Of course +Jonathan would have had its capacity all calculated +the day before, but my methods are +empirical, and so I was surprised as well as +pleased when all my receptacles emptied +themselves into its shallow breadths and still +there was a good inch to allow for boiling up. +Yes, Providence—my exclusive little fool’s +Providence—was with me. The pan, and +the oven, were a success, and when Jonathan +came that night I led him out with unconcealed +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page032">[pg 032]</span><a name="Pg032" id="Pg032" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +pride and showed him the pan—now +a heaving, frothing mass of sap-about-to-be-syrup, +sending clouds of white steam down +the wind. As he looked at the oven walls, +I fancied his fingers ached to get at them, +but he offered no criticism, seeing that they +worked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next day began overcast, but Providence +was merely preparing for me a special +little gift in the form of a miniature snowstorm. +It was quite real while it lasted. It +whitened the grass and the road, it piled itself +softly among the clusters of swelling buds on +the apple trees, and made the orchard look as +though it had burst into bloom in an hour. +Then the sun came out, there were a few +dazzling moments when the world was all +blue and silver, and then the whiteness faded.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And the sap! How it dripped! Once an +hour I had to make the rounds, bringing back +gallons each time, and the fire under my pan +was kept up so that the boiling down might +keep pace with the new supply.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They do say snow makes it run,”</span> shouted +a passer-by, and another called, <span class="tei tei-q">“You want +to keep skimmin’!”</span> Whereupon I seized my +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page033">[pg 033]</span><a name="Pg033" id="Pg033" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +long-handled skimmer and fell to work. +Southern Connecticut does not know much +about syrup, but by the avenue of the road I +was gradually accumulating such wisdom as +it possessed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The syrup was made. No worse accident +befell than the occasional overflowing of a +pail too long neglected. The syrup was made, +and bottled, and distributed to friends, and +was the pride of the household through the +year.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“This time I will go early,”</span> I said to Jonathan; +<span class="tei tei-q">“they say the late running is never +quite so good.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was early March when I got up there +this time—early March after a winter whose +rigor had known practically no break. Again +Jonathan could not come, but Cousin Janet +could, and we met at the little station, where +Hiram was waiting with Kit and the surrey. +The sun was warm, but the air was keen and +the woods hardly showed spring at all yet, +even in that first token of it, the slight thickening +of their millions of little tips, through +the swelling of the buds. The city trees already +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page034">[pg 034]</span><a name="Pg034" id="Pg034" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +showed this, but the country ones still +kept their wintry penciling of vanishing lines.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Spring was in the road, however. <span class="tei tei-q">“There +ain’t no bottom to this road now, it’s just +dropped clean out,”</span> remarked a fellow teamster +as we wallowed along companionably +through the woods. But, somehow, we +reached the farm. Again we bored our holes, +and again I was thrilled as the first bright +drops slipped out and jeweled the ends of the +spouts. I watched Janet. She was interested +but calm, classing herself at once with Hiram +and Jonathan. We unearthed last year’s +oven and dug out its inner depths—leaves +and dirt and apples and ashes—it was like +excavating through the seven Troys to get to +bottom. We brought down the big pan, now +clothed in the honors of a season’s use, and +cleaned off the cobwebs incident to a year’s +sojourn in the attic. By sunset we had a panful +of sap boiling merrily and already taking +on a distinctly golden tinge. We tasted it. It +was very syrupy. Letting the fire die down, +we went in to get supper in the utmost content +of spirit.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s so much simpler than last year,”</span> I +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page035">[pg 035]</span><a name="Pg035" id="Pg035" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +said, as we sat over our cozy <span class="tei tei-q">“tea,”</span>—<span class="tei tei-q">“having +the pan and the oven ready-made, and +all—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t suppose anything could happen +to it while we’re in here?”</span> suggested +Janet. <span class="tei tei-q">“Shan’t I just run out and see?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, sit still. What could happen? The +fire’s going out.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I know.”</span> But her voice was uncertain.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You see, I’ve been all through it once,”</span> I +reassured her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As we rose, Janet said, <span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s go out before +we do the dishes.”</span> And to humor her I agreed. +We lighted the lantern and stepped out on the +back porch. It was quite dark, and as we +looked off toward the fireplace we saw gleams +of red.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How funny!”</span> I murmured. <span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t +think there was so much fire left.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We felt our way over, through the yielding +mud of the orchard, and as I raised the lantern +we stared in dazed astonishment. The pan +was a blackened mass, lit up by winking red +eyes of fire. I held the lantern more closely. +I seized a stick and poked—the crisp black +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page036">[pg 036]</span><a name="Pg036" id="Pg036" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +stuff broke and crumbled into an empty and +blackening pan. A curious odor arose.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It couldn’t have!”</span> gasped Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It couldn’t—but it has!”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was a matter for tears, or rage, or +laughter. And laughter won. When we recovered +a little we took up the black shell of +carbon that had once been syrup-froth; we +laid it gently beside the oven, for a keepsake. +Then we poured water in the pan, and steam +rose hissing to the stars.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Does it leak?”</span> faltered Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Leak!”</span> I said. I was on my knees now, +watching the water stream through the +parted seam of the pan bottom, down into the +ashes below.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The question is,”</span> I went on as I got up, +<span class="tei tei-q">“did it boil away because it leaked, or did it +leak because it boiled away?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t see that it matters much,”</span> said +Janet. She was showing symptoms of depression +at this point.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It matters a great deal,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“Because, +you see, we’ve got to tell Jonathan, +and it makes all the difference how we put +it.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page037">[pg 037]</span><a name="Pg037" id="Pg037" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I see,”</span> said Janet; then she added, experimentally, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Why tell Jonathan?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, Janet, you know better! I wouldn’t +miss telling Jonathan for anything. What is +Jonathan <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">for!</span></span>”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—of course,”</span> she conceded. <span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s +do dishes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We sat before the fire that evening and I +read while Janet knitted. Between my eyes +and the printed page there kept rising a vision—a +vision of black crust, with winking red +embers smoldering along its broken edges. I +found it distracting in the extreme.…</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At some time unknown, out of the blind +depths of the night, I was awakened by a +voice:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s beginning to rain. I think I’ll just +go out and empty what’s near the house.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Janet!”</span> I murmured, <span class="tei tei-q">“don’t be absurd.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But it will dilute all that sap.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There isn’t any sap to dilute. It won’t +be running at night.”</span> After a while the voice, +full of propitiatory intonations, resumed:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“My dear, you don’t mind if I slip out. It +will only take a minute.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I do mind. Go to sleep!”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page038">[pg 038]</span><a name="Pg038" id="Pg038" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Silence. Then:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s raining harder. I hate to think of all +that sap—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">have</span></span> +to think!”</span> I was quite +savage. <span class="tei tei-q">“Just go to sleep—and let me!”</span> +Another silence. Then a fresh downpour. +The voice was pleading:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Please</span></span> +let me go! I’ll be back in a minute. +And it’s not cold.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, well—I’m awake now, anyway. +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I’ll</span></span> +go.”</span> My voice was tinged with that high +resignation that is worse than anger. Janet’s +tone changed instantly:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, no! Don’t! Please don’t! I’m going. +I truly don’t mind.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I’m</span></span> +going. I don’t mind, either, not at all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear! Then let’s not either of us go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That was my idea in the first place.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then, we won’t. Go to sleep, and I +will too.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not at all! I’ve decided to go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But it’s stopped raining. Probably it +won’t rain any more.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then what are you making all this fuss +for?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page039">[pg 039]</span><a name="Pg039" id="Pg039" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t make a fuss. I just thought I +could slip out—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, you couldn’t. And it’s raining very +hard again. And I’m going.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, don’t! You’ll get drenched.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course. But I can’t bear to have all +that sap diluted.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It doesn’t run at night. You said it +didn’t.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You said it did.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But I don’t really know. You know best.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why didn’t you think of that sooner? +Anyway, I’m going.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear! You make me feel as if I’d +stirred you up—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You have,”</span> I interrupted, sweetly. <span class="tei tei-q">“I +won’t deny that you +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">have</span></span> stirred me up. But +now that you have mentioned it”</span>—I felt +for a match—<span class="tei tei-q">“now that you have mentioned +it, I see that this was the one thing +needed to make my evening complete, or +perhaps it’s morning—I don’t know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We found the dining-room warm, and soon +we were equipped in those curious compromises +of vesture that people adopt under such +circumstances, and, with lantern and umbrella, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page040">[pg 040]</span><a name="Pg040" id="Pg040" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +we fumbled our way out to the trees. +The rain was driving in sheets, and we +plodded up the road in the yellow circle of +lantern-light wavering uncertainly over the +puddles, while under our feet the mud gave +and sucked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s diluted, sure enough,”</span> I said, as we +emptied the pails. We crawled slowly back, +with our heavy milk-can full of sap-and-rain-water, +and went in.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The warm dining-room was pleasant to return +to, and we sat down to cookies and milk, +feeling almost cozy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve always wanted to know how it would +be to go out in the middle of the night this +way,”</span> I remarked, <span class="tei tei-q">“and now I know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aren’t you hateful!”</span> said Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not at all. Just appreciative. But now, +if you haven’t any +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">other</span></span> plan, we’ll go back +to bed.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was half-past eight when we waked next +morning. But there was nothing to wake up +for. The old house was filled with the rain-noises +that only such an old house knows. +On the little windows the drops pricked +sharply; in the fireplace with the straight flue +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page041">[pg 041]</span><a name="Pg041" id="Pg041" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +they fell, hissing, on the embers. On the +porch roofs the rain made a dull patter of +sound; on the tin roof of the <span class="tei tei-q">“little attic”</span> +over the kitchen it beat with flat resonance. +In the big attic, when we went up to see if all +was tight, it filled the place with a multitudinous +clamor; on the sides of the house it drove +with a fury that re-echoed dimly within doors.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Outside, everything was afloat. We visited +the trees and viewed with consternation the +torrents of rain-water pouring into the pails. +We tried fastening pans over the spouts to +protect them. The wind blew them merrily +down the road. It would have been easy +enough to cover the pails, but how to let the +sap drip in and the rain drip out—that was +the question.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It seems as if there was a curse on the +syrup this year,”</span> said Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The trouble is,”</span> I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“I know just +enough to have lost my hold on the fool’s +Providence, and not enough really to take +care of myself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Superstition!”</span> said Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do you call your idea of the curse?”</span> +I retorted. <span class="tei tei-q">“Anyway, I have an idea! Look, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page042">[pg 042]</span><a name="Pg042" id="Pg042" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Janet! We’ll just cut up these enamel-cloth +table-covers here by the sink and everywhere, +and tack them around the spouts.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Janet’s thrifty spirit was doubtful. <span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t +you need them?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not half so much as the trees do. Come +on! Pull them off. We’ll have to have fresh +ones this summer, anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We stripped the kitchen tables and the +pantry and the milk-room. We got tacks and +a hammer and scissors, and out we went again. +We cut a piece for each tree, just enough to +go over each pair of spouts and protect the +pail. When tacked on, it had the appearance +of a neat bib, and as the pattern was a blue +and white check, the effect, as one looked +down the road at the twelve trees, was very +fresh and pleasing. It seemed to cheer the +people who drove by, too.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But the bibs served their purpose, and the +sap dripped cozily into the pails without any +distraction from alien elements. Sap doesn’t +run in the rain, they say, but this sap did. +Probably Hiram was right, and you can’t tell. +I am glad if you can’t. The physical mysteries +of the universe are being unveiled so +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page043">[pg 043]</span><a name="Pg043" id="Pg043" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +swiftly that one likes to find something that +still keeps its secret—though, indeed, the +spiritual mysteries seem in no danger of such +enforcement.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next day the rain stopped, the floods +began to subside, and Jonathan managed to +arrive, though the roads had even less <span class="tei tei-q">“bottom +to ’em”</span> than before. The sun blazed out, +and the sap ran faster, and, after Jonathan +had fully enjoyed them, the blue and white +bibs were taken off. Somehow in the clear +March sunshine they looked almost shocking. +By the next day we had syrup enough to try +for sugar.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For on sugar my heart was set. Syrup was +all very well for the first year, but now it +had to be sugar. Moreover, as I explained to +Janet, when it came to sugar, being absolutely +ignorant, I was again in a position to expect +the aid of the fool’s Providence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How much <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">do</span></span> +you know about it?”</span> asked Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, just what people say. It seems to be +partly like fudge and partly like molasses +candy. You boil it, and then you beat it, and +then you pour it off.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page044">[pg 044]</span><a name="Pg044" id="Pg044" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve got more to go on than that,”</span> said +Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“I came up on the train with the +Judge. He used to see it done.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You’ve got to drive Janet over to her +train to-night; Hiram can’t,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right. There’s time enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We sat down to early supper, and took +turns running out to the kitchen to <span class="tei tei-q">“try”</span> +the syrup as it boiled down. At least we said +we would take turns, but usually we all three +went. Supper seemed distinctly a side issue.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m going to take it off now,”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Look out!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you think it’s time?”</span> I demurred.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll know soon,”</span> said Jonathan, with +his usual composure.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We hung over him. <span class="tei tei-q">“Now you beat it,”</span> I +said. But he was already beating.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Get some cold water to set it in,”</span> he commanded. +We brought the dishpan with water +from the well, where ice still floated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Maybe you oughtn’t to stir so much—do +you think?”</span> I suggested, helpfully. <span class="tei tei-q">“Beat +it more—up, you know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“More the way you would eggs,”</span> said +Janet.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page045">[pg 045]</span><a name="Pg045" id="Pg045" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll show you.”</span> I lunged at the spoon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go away! This isn’t eggs,”</span> said Jonathan, +beating steadily.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Your arm must be tired. Let me take it,”</span> +pleaded Janet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, me!”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“Janet, you’ve got to +get your coat and things. You’ll have to start +in fifteen minutes. Here, Jonathan, you need +a fresh arm.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m fresh enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And I really don’t think you have the +motion.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I have motion enough. This is my job. +You go and help Janet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Janet’s all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So am I. See how white it’s getting. The +Judge said—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Here come Hiram and Kit,”</span> announced +Janet, returning with bag and wraps. <span class="tei tei-q">“But +you have ten minutes. Can’t I help?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He won’t let us. He’s that +‘sot,’”</span> I murmured. <span class="tei tei-q">“He’ll +make you miss your train.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">could</span></span> +butter the pans,”</span> he counter charged, +<span class="tei tei-q">“and you haven’t.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We flew to prepare, and the pouring began. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page046">[pg 046]</span><a name="Pg046" id="Pg046" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +It was a thrilling moment. The syrup, or +sugar, now a pale hay color, poured out +thickly, blob-blob-blob, into the little pans. +Janet moved them up as they were needed, +and I snatched the spoon, at last, and encouraged +the stuff to fall where it should. But +Jonathan got it from me again, and scraped +out the remnant, making designs of clovers +and polliwogs on the tops of the cakes. Then +a dash for coats and hats and a rush to the +carriage.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When the surrey disappeared around the +turn of the road, I went back, shivering, to +the house. It seemed very empty, as houses +will, being sensitive things. I went to the +kitchen. There on the table sat a huddle of +little pans, to cheer me, and I fell to work +getting things in order to be left in the morning. +Then I went back to the fire and waited +for Jonathan. I picked up a book and tried +to read, but the stillness of the house was +too importunate, it had to be listened to. I +leaned back and watched the fire, and the old +house and I held communion together.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Perhaps in no other way is it possible to get +quite what I got that evening. It was partly +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page047">[pg 047]</span><a name="Pg047" id="Pg047" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +my own attitude; I was going away in the +morning, and I had, in a sense, no duties +toward the place. The magazines of last fall +lay on the tables, the newspapers of last fall +lay beside them. The dust of last fall was, +doubtless, in the closets and on the floors. It +did not matter. For though I was the mistress +of the house, I was for the moment even more +its guest, and guests do not concern themselves +with such things as these.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If it had been really an empty house, I +should have been obliged to think of these +things, for in an empty house the dust speaks +and the house is still, dumbly imprisoned in +its own past. On the other hand, when a +house is filled with life, it is still, too; it is +absorbed in its own present. But when one +sojourns in a house that is merely resting, full +of the life that has only for a brief season left +it, ready for the life that is soon to return—then +one is in the midst of silences that are +not empty and hollow, but richly eloquent. +The house is the link that joins and interprets +the living past and the living future.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Something of this I came to feel as I sat +there in the wonderful stillness. There were +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page048">[pg 048]</span><a name="Pg048" id="Pg048" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +no house noises such as generally form the +unnoticed background of one’s consciousness—the +steps overhead, the distant voices, the +ticking of the clock, the breathing of the dog +in the corner. Even the mice and the chimney-swallows +had not come back, and I missed the +scurrying in the walls and the flutter of wings +in the chimney. The fire purred low, now and +then the wind sighed gently about the corner +of the <span class="tei tei-q">“new part,”</span> and a loose door-latch +clicked as the draught shook it. A branch +drew back and forth across a window-pane +with the faintest squeak. And little by little +the old house opened its heart. All that it +told me I hardly yet know myself. It gathered +up for me all its past, the past that I had +known and the past that I had not known. +Time fell away. My own importance dwindled. +I seemed a very small part of the life +of the house—very small, yet wholly belonging +to it. I felt that it absorbed me as it +absorbed the rest—those before and after +me—for time was not.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There was the sound of slow wheels outside, +the long roll of the carriage-house door, +and the trampling of hoofs on the flooring +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page049">[pg 049]</span><a name="Pg049" id="Pg049" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +within. Then the clinking of the lantern and +the even tread of feet on the path behind the +house, a gust of raw snow-air—and the house +fell silent so that Jonathan might come in.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Your sugar is hardening nicely, I see,”</span> +he said, rubbing his hands before the fire.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“You know I +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">told</span></span> Janet +that for this part of the affair we could trust +to the fool’s Providence.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Thank you,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter03" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page050">[pg 050]</span><a name="Pg050" id="Pg050" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc6" id="toc6"></a> +<a name="pdf7" id="pdf7"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">III</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Evenings on the Farm</span></h1> + +<div class="tei tei-epigraph" style="text-align: right; margin-bottom: 1.80em; margin-left: 9.00em"> + <div class="tei tei-cit" style="text-align: right"> + <span class="tei tei-quote" style="text-align: right"> + <div class="tei tei-lg" style="text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0.90em; margin-top: 0.90em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">(And wait to watch the water clear, I may);</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I shan’t be gone long.—You come too.</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"> </div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I’m going out to fetch the little calf</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">That’s standing by the mother. It’s so young,</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">It totters when she licks it with her tongue.</span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">I shan’t be gone long.—You come too.</span></div> + </div> + <span class="tei tei-bibl" style="text-align: right"> + <span class="tei tei-author" style="text-align: right"><span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: right"><span style="font-size: 90%; font-variant: small-caps">Robert Frost</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 90%">. + </span></span> + </span> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When we first planned to take up the farm +we looked forward with especial pleasure to +our evenings. They were to be the quiet +rounding-in of our days, full of companionship, +full of meditation. <span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll do lots of +reading aloud,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“And we’ll have long +walks. There won’t be much to do +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">but</span></span> walk +and read. I can hardly wait.”</span> And I chose +our summer books with special reference to +reading aloud.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course,”</span> I said, as we fell to work at +our packing, <span class="tei tei-q">“we’ll have to do all sorts of +things first. But the days are so long up there, +and the life is very simple. And in the evenings +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page051">[pg 051]</span><a name="Pg051" id="Pg051" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +you’ll help. We ought to be settled in a +week.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or two—or three,”</span> suggested Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Three! What is there to do?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Farm-life isn’t so blamed simple as you +think.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But what <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> +there to do? Now, listen! +One day for trunks, one day for boxes and +barrels, one day for closets, that’s three, one +for curtains, four, one day for—for the garret, +that’s five. Well—one day for odds and +ends that I haven’t thought of. That’s +liberal, I’m sure.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Better say the rest of your life for the +odds and ends you haven’t thought of,”</span> said +Jonathan, as he drove the last nail in a neatly +headed barrel.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, why are you such a pessimist?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m not, except when you’re such an +optimist.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If I’d begun by saying it would take a +month, would you have said a week?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can’t tell. Might have.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Anyway, there’s nothing bad about odds +and ends. They’re about all women have +much to do with most of their lives.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page052">[pg 052]</span><a name="Pg052" id="Pg052" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That’s what I said. And you called me a +pessimist.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t call you one. I said, why were +you one.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m sorry. My mistake,”</span> said Jonathan +with the smile of one who scores.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so we went.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One day for trunks was all right. Any one +can manage trunks. And the second day, the +boxes were emptied and sent flying out to the +barn. Curtains I decided to keep for evening +work, while Jonathan read. That left the +closets and the attic, or rather the attics, for +there was one over the main house and one +over the <span class="tei tei-q">“new part,”</span>—still <span class="tei tei-q">“new,”</span> although +now some seventy years old. They were +known as the attic and the little attic. I +thought I would do the closets first, and I began +with the one in the parlor. This was built +into the chimney, over the fireplace. It was +low, and as long as the mantelpiece itself. It +had two long shelves shut away behind three +glass doors through which the treasures within +were dimly visible. When I swung these open +it felt like opening a tomb—cold, musty +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page053">[pg 053]</span><a name="Pg053" id="Pg053" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +air hung about my face. I brushed it aside, +and considered where to begin. It was a depressing +collection. There were photographs +and photographs, some in frames, the rest of +them tied up in packages or lying in piles. A +few had names or messages written on the +back, but most gave no clue; and all of them +gazed out at me with that expression of complete +respectability that constitutes so impenetrable +a mask for the personality behind. +Most of us wear such masks, but the older +photographers seem to have been singularly +successful in concentrating attention on them. +Then there were albums, with more photographs, +of people and of <span class="tei tei-q">“views.”</span> There was +a big Bible, some prayer-books, and a few +other books elaborately bound with that +heavy fancifulness that we are learning to call +Victorian. One of these was on <span class="tei tei-q">“The Wonders +of the Great West”</span>; another was about +<span class="tei tei-q">“The Female Saints of America.”</span> I took it +down and glanced through it, but concluded +that one had to be a female saint, or at least +an aspirant, to appreciate it. Then there were +things made out of dried flowers, out of hair, +out of shells, out of pine-cones. There were +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page054">[pg 054]</span><a name="Pg054" id="Pg054" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +vases and other ornamental bits of china and +glass, also Victorian, looking as if they were +meant to be continually washed or dusted by +the worn, busy fingers of the female saints. As +I came to fuller realization of all these relics, +my resolution flickered out and there fell upon +me a strange numbness of spirit. I seemed +under a spell of inaction. Everything behind +those glass doors had been cherished too long +to be lightly thrown away, yet was not old +enough to be valuable nor useful enough to +keep. I spent a long day—one of the longest +days of my life—browsing through the books, +trying to sort the photographs, and glancing +through a few old letters. I did nothing in +particular with anything, and in the late afternoon +I roused myself, put them all back, and +shut the glass doors. I had nothing to show +for my day’s experience except a deep little +round ache in the back of my neck and a faint +brassy taste in my mouth. I complained of it +to Jonathan later.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It always tasted just that way to me when +I was a boy,”</span> he said, <span class="tei tei-q">“but I never thought +much about it—I thought it was just a +closet-taste.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page055">[pg 055]</span><a name="Pg055" id="Pg055" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And it isn’t only the taste,”</span> I went on. +<span class="tei tei-q">“It does something to me, to my state of +mind. I’m afraid to try the garret.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Garrets are different,”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But I’d leave them. They can wait.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They’ve waited a good while, of course,”</span> +I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so we left the garrets. We came back +to them later, and were glad we had done so. +But that is a story by itself.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Meanwhile, in the evenings, Jonathan +helped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m afraid you were more or less right +about the odd jobs,”</span> I admitted one night. +<span class="tei tei-q">“They do seem to accumulate.”</span> I was holding +a candle while he set up a loose latch.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They’ve been accumulating a good many +years,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, that’s it. And so the doors all stick, +and the latches won’t latch, and the shades +are sulky or wild, and the pantry shelves—have +you noticed?—they’re all warped so +they rock when you set a dish on them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And the chairs pull apart,”</span> added Jonathan.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page056">[pg 056]</span><a name="Pg056" id="Pg056" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. Of course after we catch up we’ll be +all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wouldn’t count too much on catching +up.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why not?”</span> I asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The farm has had a long start.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But you’re a Yankee,”</span> I argued; <span class="tei tei-q">“the +Yankee nature fairly feeds on such jobs—‘putter +jobs,’ you know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Only, of course, you get on faster if you’re +not too particular about having the exact +tool—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Considered as a Yankee, Jonathan’s only +fault is that when he does a job he likes to +have a very special tool to do it with. Often +it is so special that I have never heard its +name before and then I consider he is going +too far. He merely thinks I haven’t gone far +enough. Perhaps such matters must always +remain matters of opinion. But even with +this handicap we did begin to catch up, and +we could have done this a good deal faster if +it had not been for the pump.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The pump was a clear case of new wine in +an old bottle. It was large and very strong. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page057">[pg 057]</span><a name="Pg057" id="Pg057" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +The people who worked it were strong too. +But the walls and floor to which it was attached +were not strong at all. And so, one +night, when Jonathan wanted a walk I was +obliged instead to suggest the pump.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What’s the matter there?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, it seems to have pulled clear of its +moorings. You look at it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He looked, with that expression of meditative +resourcefulness peculiar to the true +Yankee countenance. <span class="tei tei-q">“H’m—needs new +wood there,—and there; that stuff’ll never +hold.”</span> And so the old bottle was patched with +new skin at the points of strain, and in the zest +of reconstruction Jonathan almost forgot to +regret the walk. <span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll have it to-morrow +night,”</span> he said: <span class="tei tei-q">“the moon will be better.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next evening I met him below the turn of +the road. <span class="tei tei-q">“Wonderful night it’s going to be,”</span> +he said, as he pushed his wheel up the last hill.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes—”</span> I said, a little uneasily. I was +thinking of the kitchen pump. Finally I +brought myself to face it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There seems to be some trouble—with +the pump,”</span> I said apologetically. I felt that +it was my fault, though I knew it wasn’t.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page058">[pg 058]</span><a name="Pg058" id="Pg058" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“More trouble? What sort of trouble?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, it wheezes and makes funny sucking +noises, and the water spits and spits, and then +bursts out, and then doesn’t come at all. It +sounds a little like a cat with a bone in its +throat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Probably just that,”</span> said Jonathan: +<span class="tei tei-q">“grain of sand in the valve, very likely.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shall I get a plumber?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Plumber! I’ll fix it myself in three shakes +of a lamb’s tail.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well,”</span> I said, relieved: <span class="tei tei-q">“you can do that +after supper while I see that all the chickens +are in, and those turkeys, and then we’ll have +our walk.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Accordingly I went off on my tour. When +I returned the pale moon-shadows were already +beginning to show in the lingering dusk +of the fading daylight. Indoors seemed very +dark, but on the kitchen floor a candle sat, +flaring and dipping.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan,”</span> I called, <span class="tei tei-q">“I’m ready.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I’m not,”</span> said a voice at my feet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, where are you? Oh, there!”</span> I bent +down and peered under the sink at a shape +crouched there. <span class="tei tei-q">“Haven’t you finished?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page059">[pg 059]</span><a name="Pg059" id="Pg059" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Finished! I’ve just got the thing apart.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I should say you had!”</span> I regarded the +various pieces of iron and leather and wood as +they lay, mere dismembered shapes, about +the dim kitchen.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It doesn’t seem as if it would ever come +together again—to be a pump,”</span> I said in +some depression.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, that’s easy! It’s just a question of +time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How much time?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Heaven knows.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Was it the valve?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It was—several things.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">His tone had the vagueness born of concentration. +I could see that this was no time to +press for information. Besides, in the field +of mechanics, as Jonathan has occasionally +pointed out to me, I am rather like a traveler +who has learned to ask questions in a foreign +tongue, but not to understand the answers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I’ll bring my sewing out here—or +would you rather have me read to you? +There’s something in the last number of—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No—get your sewing—blast that +screw! Why doesn’t it start?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page060">[pg 060]</span><a name="Pg060" id="Pg060" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Evidently sewing was better than the last +number of anything. I settled myself under +a lamp, while Jonathan, in the twilight beneath +the sink, continued his mystic rites, +with an accompaniment of mildly vituperative +or persuasive language, addressed sometimes +to his tools, sometimes to the screws +and nuts and other parts, sometimes against +the men who made them or the plumbers who +put them in. Now and then I held a candle, +or steadied some perverse bit of metal while +he worked his will upon it. And at last the +phœnix did indeed rise, the pump was again +a pump,—at least it looked like one.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Suppose it doesn’t work,”</span> I suggested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Suppose it does,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He began to pump furiously. <span class="tei tei-q">“Pour in +water there!”</span> he directed. <span class="tei tei-q">“Keep on pouring—don’t +stop—never mind if she does spout.”</span> +I poured and he pumped, and there were the +usual sounds of a pump resuming activity: +gurglings and spittings, suckings and sudden +spoutings; but at last it seemed to get its +breath—a few more long strokes of the +handle, and the water poured.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What time is it?”</span> he asked.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page061">[pg 061]</span><a name="Pg061" id="Pg061" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, fairly late—about ten—ten minutes +past.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Instead of our walk, we stood for a moment +under the big maples before the house +and looked out into a sea of moonlight. It +silvered the sides of the old gray barns and +washed over the blossoming apple trees beyond +the house. Is there anything more +sweetly still than the stillness of moonlight +over apple blossoms! As we went out to +the barns to lock up, even the little hencoops +looked poetic. Passing one of them, we half +roused the feathered family within and heard +muffled peepings and a smothered <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">clk-clk</span></span>. +Jonathan was by this time so serene that I +felt I could ask him a question that had occurred +to me.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, how long <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> +three shakes of a lamb’s tail?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Apparently, my dear, it is the whole evening,”</span> +he answered unruffled.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next night was drizzly. Well, we would +have books instead of a walk. We lighted a +fire, May though it was, and settled down before +it. <span class="tei tei-q">“What shall we read?”</span> I asked, feeling +very cozy.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page062">[pg 062]</span><a name="Pg062" id="Pg062" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan was filling his pipe with a leisurely +deliberation good to look upon. With the +match in his hand he paused—<span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I meant +to tell you—those young turkeys of yours—they +were still out when I came through +the yard. I wonder if they went in all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I have always noticed that if the turkeys +grow up very fat and strutty and suggestive +of Thanksgiving, Jonathan calls them <span class="tei tei-q">“our +turkeys,”</span> but in the spring, when they are +committing all the naughtinesses of wild and +silly youth, he is apt to allude to them as +<span class="tei tei-q">“those young turkeys of yours.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I rose wearily. <span class="tei tei-q">“No. They never go in all +right when they get out at this time—especially +on wet nights. I’ll have to find them +and stow them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan got up, too, and laid down his +pipe. <span class="tei tei-q">“You’ll need the lantern,”</span> he said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We went out together into the May drizzle—a +good thing to be out in, too, if you are +out for the fun of it. But when you are hunting +silly little turkeys who literally don’t +know enough to go in when it rains, and when +you expected and wanted to be doing something +else, then it seems different, the drizzle +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page063">[pg 063]</span><a name="Pg063" id="Pg063" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +seems peculiarly drizzly, the silliness of the +turkeys seems particularly and unendurably +silly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We waded through the drenched grass and +the tall, dripping weeds, listening for the +faint, foolish peeping of the wanderers. Some +we found under piled fence rails, some under +burdock leaves, some under nothing more +protective than a plantain leaf. By ones and +twos we collected them, half drowned yet +shrilly remonstrant, and dropped them into +the dry shed where they belonged. Then we +returned to the house, very wet, feeling the +kind of discouragement that usually besets +those who are forced to furnish prudence to +fools.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nine o’clock,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“and we’re +too wet to sit down. If you could just shut in +those turkeys on wet days—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shut them in! Didn’t I shut them in! +They must have got out since four o’clock.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Isn’t the shed tight?”</span> he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Chicken-tight, but not turkey-tight, apparently. +Nothing is turkey-tight.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They’re bigger than chickens.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not in any one spot they aren’t. They’re +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page064">[pg 064]</span><a name="Pg064" id="Pg064" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +like coiled wire—when they stretch out to +get through a crack they have <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">no</span></span> dimension +except length, their bodies are mere imaginary +points to hang feathers on. You don’t +know little turkeys.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It might be said that, having undertaken +to raise turkeys, we had to expect them to act +like turkeys. But there were other interruptions +in our evenings where our share of responsibility +was not so plain. For example, +one wet evening in early June we had kindled +a little fire and I had brought the lamp forward. +The pump was quiescent, the little +turkeys were all tucked up in the turkey +equivalent for bed, the farm seemed to be +cuddling down into itself for the night. We +sat for a moment luxuriously regarding the +flames, listening to the sighing of the wind, +feeling the sweet damp air as it blew in +through the open windows. I was considering +which book it should be and at last rose to +possess myself of two or three.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sh—h—h!”</span> said Jonathan, a warning +finger raised.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I stood listening.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t hear anything,”</span> I said.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page065">[pg 065]</span><a name="Pg065" id="Pg065" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sh—h!”</span> he repeated. <span class="tei tei-q">“There!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This time, indeed, I heard faint bird-notes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Young robins!”</span> He sprang up and made +for the back door with long strides.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I peered out through the window of the +orchard room, but saw only the reflection of +the firelight and the lamp. Suddenly I heard +Jonathan whistle and I ran to the back porch. +Blackness pressed against my eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where are you?”</span> I called into it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The whistle again, quite near me, apparently +out of the air.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bring a lantern,”</span> came a whisper.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I got it and came back and down the steps +to the path, holding up my light and peering +about in search of the voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where are you? I can’t see you at all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Right here—look—here—up!”</span> The +voice was almost over my head.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I searched the dark masses of the tree—oh, +yes! the lantern revealed the heel of a +shoe in a crotch, and above,—yes, undoubtedly, +the rest of Jonathan, stretched out along +a limb.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh! What are you doing up there?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Get me a long stick—hoe—clothes-pole—anything +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page066">[pg 066]</span><a name="Pg066" id="Pg066" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +I can poke with. Quick! +The cat’s up here. I can hear her, but I can’t +see her.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I found the rake and reached it up to him. +From the dark beyond him came a distressed +mew.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now the lantern. Hang it on the teeth.”</span> +He drew it up to him, then, rake in one hand +and lantern in the other, proceeded to squirm +out along the limb.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now I see her.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I saw her too—a huddle of yellow, +crouched close.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll have her in a minute. She’ll either +have to drop or be caught.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And in fact this distressing dilemma was +already becoming plain to the marauder herself. +Her mewings grew louder and more +frequent. A few more contortions brought +the climber nearer his victim. A little judicious +urging with the rake and she was within +reach. The rake came down to me, and a +long, wild mew announced that Jonathan had +clutched.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t see how you’re going to get down,”</span> +I said, mopping the rain-mist out of my eyes.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page067">[pg 067]</span><a name="Pg067" id="Pg067" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Watch me,”</span> panted the contortionist.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I watched a curious mass descend the +tree, the lantern, swinging and jerking, fitfully +illumined the pair, and I could see, now +a knee and an ear, now a hand and a yellow +furry shape, now a white collar, nose, and +chin. There was a last, long, scratching slide. +I snatched the lantern, and Jonathan stood +beside me, holding by the scruff of her neck +a very much frazzled yellow cat. We returned +to the porch where her victims were—one +alive, in a basket, two dead, beside it, and +Jonathan, kneeling, held the cat’s nose close +to the little bodies while he boxed her ears—once, +twice; remonstrant mews rose wild, +and with a desperate twist the culprit backed +out under his arm and leaped into the blackness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t believe she’ll eat young robin for a +day or two,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Is that what they were? Where were +they?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Under the tree. She’d knocked them +out.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Could you put this one back? He seems +all right—only sort of naked in spots.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page068">[pg 068]</span><a name="Pg068" id="Pg068" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll half cover the basket and hang it +in the tree. His folks’ll take care of him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Next morning early there began the greatest +to-do among the robins in the orchard. +They shrieked their comments on the affair +at the top of their lungs. They screamed +abusively at Jonathan and me as we stood +watching. <span class="tei tei-q">“They say we did it!”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“I call that gratitude!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I wish I could record that from that evening +the cat was a reformed character. An +impression had indeed been made. All next +day she stayed under the porch, two glowing +eyes in the dark. The second day she came +out, walking indifferent and debonair, as cats +do. But when Jonathan took down the basket +from the tree and made her smell of it, +she flattened her ears against her head and +shot under the porch again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But lessons grow dim and temptation is +freshly importunate. It was not two weeks +before Jonathan was up another tree on the +same errand, and when I considered the number +of nests in our orchard, and the number +of cats—none of them really our cats—on +the place, I felt that the position of overruling +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page069">[pg 069]</span><a name="Pg069" id="Pg069" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Providence was almost more than we could +undertake, if we hoped to do anything else.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">These things—tinkering of latches and +chairs, pump-mending, rescue work in the +orchard and among the poultry—filled our +evenings fairly full. Yet these are only samples, +and not particularly representative +samples either. They were the sort of things +that happened oftenest, the common emergencies +incidental to the life. But there were +also the uncommon emergencies, each occurring +seldom but each adding its own touch +of variety to the tale of our evenings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For instance, there was the time of the +great drought, when Jonathan, coming in +from a tour of the farm at dusk, said, <span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve +got to go up and dig out the spring-hole +across the swamp. Everything else is dry, +and the cattle are getting crazy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can I help?”</span> I asked, not without regrets +for our books and our evening—it was +a black night, and I had had hopes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. Come and hold the lantern.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We went. The spring-hole had been trodden +by the poor, eager creatures into a useless +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page070">[pg 070]</span><a name="Pg070" id="Pg070" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +jelly of mud. Jonathan fell to work, +while I held the lantern high. But soon it +became more than a mere matter of holding +the lantern. There was a crashing in the +blackness about us and a huge horned head +emerged behind my shoulder, another loomed +beyond Jonathan’s stooping bulk.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Keep ’em back,”</span> he said. <span class="tei tei-q">“They’ll have +it all trodden up again—Hi! You! Ge’ +back ’ere!”</span> There is as special a lingo for +talking to cattle as there is for talking to +babies. I used it as well as I could. I swung +the lantern in their faces, I brandished the +hoe-handle at them, I jabbed at them recklessly. +They snorted and backed and closed +in again,—crazy, poor things, with the +smell of the water. It was an evening’s battle +for us. Jonathan dug and dug, and then laid +rails, and the precious water filled in slowly, +grew to a dark pool, and the thirsty creatures +panted and snuffed in the dark just outside +the radius of the hoe-handle, until at last we +could let them in. I had forgotten my books, +for we had come close to the earth and the +creatures of the earth. The cows were our +sisters and the steers our brothers that night.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page071">[pg 071]</span><a name="Pg071" id="Pg071" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sometimes the emergency was in the barn—a +broken halter and trouble among the +horses, or perhaps a new calf. Sometimes a +stray creature,—cow or horse,—grazing +along the roadside, got into our yard and +threatened our corn and squashes and my +poor, struggling flower-beds. Once it was a +break in the wire fence around Jonathan’s +muskmelon patch in the barn meadow. The +cows had just been turned in, and if it wasn’t +mended that evening it meant no melons +that season, also melon-tainted cream for days.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Once or twice each year it was the drainpipe +from the sink. The drain, like the pump, +was an innovation. Our ancestors had always +carried out whatever they couldn’t use +or burn, and dumped it on the far edge of the +orchard. In a thinly settled community, +there is much to be said for this method: +you know just where you are. But we had the +drain, and occasionally we didn’t know just +where we were.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Coffee grounds,”</span> Jonathan would suggest, +with a touch of sternness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No,”</span> I would reply firmly; <span class="tei tei-q">“coffee +grounds are always burned.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page072">[pg 072]</span><a name="Pg072" id="Pg072" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What then?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t know. I’ve poked and poked.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A gleam in the corner of Jonathan’s eye—<span class="tei tei-q">“What +with?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, everything.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I suppose so. For instance what?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why—hair-pin first, of course, and then +scissors, and then button-hook—you needn’t +smile. Button-hooks are wonderful for +cleaning out pipes. And then I took a pail-handle +and straightened it out—”</span> Jonathan +was laughing by this time—<span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I +have to use what I have, don’t I?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, of course. And after the pail-handle?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“After that—oh, yes. I tried your cleaning-rod.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The devil you did!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not at all. It wasn’t hurt a bit. It just +wouldn’t go down, that’s all. So then I +thought I’d wait for you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And now what do you expect?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I expect you to fix it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Of course, after that, there was nothing for +Jonathan to do but fix it. Usually it did not +take long. Sometimes it did. Once it took a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page073">[pg 073]</span><a name="Pg073" id="Pg073" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +whole evening, and required the services of a +young tree, which Jonathan went out and cut +and trimmed and forced through a section of +the pipe which he had taken up and laid out +for the operation on the kitchen floor. It was +a warm evening, too, and friends had driven +over to visit us. We received them warmly in +the kitchen. We explained that we believed +in making them members of the family, and +that members of the family always helped in +whatever was being done. So they helped. +They took turns gripping the pipe while +Jonathan and I persuaded the young tree +through it. It required great strength and +some skill because it was necessary to make +the tree and the pipe perform spirally rotatory +movements each antagonistic and complementary +to the other. We were all rather +tired and very hot before anything began to +happen. Then it happened all at once: the +tree burst through—and not alone. A good +deal came with it. The kitchen floor was a +sight, and there was—undoubtedly there +was—a strong smell of coffee. Jonathan +smiled. Then he went down cellar and restored +the pipe to its position, while the rest +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page074">[pg 074]</span><a name="Pg074" id="Pg074" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +of us cleared up the kitchen,—it’s astonishing +what a little job like that can make a +kitchen look like,—and as our friends started +to go a voice from beneath us, like the ghost +in <span class="tei tei-q">“Hamlet,”</span> shouted, <span class="tei tei-q">“Hold ’em! There’s +half a freezer of ice-cream down here we can +finish.”</span> Sure enough there was! And then +he wouldn’t have to pack it down. We had +it up. We looted the pantry as only irresponsible +adults can loot, in their own pantry, +and the evening ended in luxurious ease. +Some time in the black of the night our +friends left, and I suppose the sound of their +carriage-wheels along the empty road set +many a neighbor wondering, through his +sleep, <span class="tei tei-q">“Who’s sick now?”</span> How could they +know it was only a plumbing party?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As I look back on this evening it seems one +of the pleasantest of the year. It isn’t so +much what you do, of course, as the way you +feel about it, that makes the difference between +pleasant and unpleasant. Shall we say +of that evening that we meant to read aloud? +Or that we meant to have a quiet evening +with friends? Not at all. We say, with all the +conviction in the world, that we meant, on +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page075">[pg 075]</span><a name="Pg075" id="Pg075" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +that particular evening, to have a plumbing +party, with the drain as the +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">pièce de résistance</span></span>. +Toward this our lives had been yearning, +and lo! they had arrived!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Some few things, however, are hard to +meet in that spirit. When the pigs broke out +of the pen, about nine o’clock, and Hiram +was away, and Mrs. Hiram needed our help +to get them in—there was no use in pretending +that we meant to do it. Moreover, the +labor of rounding up pigs is one of mingled +arduousness and delicacy. Pigs in clover +was once a popular game, but pigs in a dark +orchard is not a game at all, and it will, I am +firmly convinced, never be popular. It is, I +repeat, not a game, yet probably the only +way to keep one’s temper at all is to regard +it, for the time being, as a major sport, like +football and deep-sea fishing and mountain-climbing, +where you are expected to take +some risks and not think too much about results +as such. On this basis it has, perhaps, +its own rewards. But the attitude is difficult +to maintain, especially late at night.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On that particular evening, as we returned, +breathless and worn, to the house, I could +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page076">[pg 076]</span><a name="Pg076" id="Pg076" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +not refrain from saying, with some edge, <span class="tei tei-q">“I +never wanted to keep pigs anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who says we’re keeping them?”</span> remarked +Jonathan; and then we laughed and laughed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You needn’t think I’m laughing because +you said anything specially funny,”</span> I said. +<span class="tei tei-q">“It’s only because I’m tired enough to laugh +at anything.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The pump, too, tried my philosophy now +and then. One evening when I had worn my +hands to the bone cutting out thick leather +washers for Jonathan to insert somewhere in +the circulatory system of that same monster, +I finally broke out, <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear! I hate the +pump! I wanted a moonlight walk!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll have the thing together now in a +jiffy,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jiffy! There’s no use talking about jiffies +at half-past ten at night,”</span> I snarled. I +was determined anyway to be as cross as I +liked. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why can’t we find a really simple +way of living? This isn’t simple. It’s highly +complex and very difficult.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You cut those washers very well,”</span> suggested +Jonathan soothingly, but I was not +prepared to be soothed.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page077">[pg 077]</span><a name="Pg077" id="Pg077" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It was hateful work, though. Now, look +what we’ve done this evening! We’ve shut +up a setting hen, and housed the little turkeys, +and driven that cow back into the road, +and mended a window-shade and the dog’s +chain, and now we’ve fixed the pump—and +it won’t stay fixed at that!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Fair evening’s work,”</span> murmured Jonathan +as he rapidly assembled the pump.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, as work. But all I mean is—it isn’t +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">simple</span></span>. +Farm life has a reputation for simplicity +that I begin to think is overdone. It +doesn’t seem to me that my evening has been +any more simple than if we had dressed for +dinner and gone to the opera or played bridge. +In fact, at this distance, that, compared with +this, has the simplicity of a—I don’t know +what!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I like your climaxes,”</span> said Jonathan, and +we both laughed. <span class="tei tei-q">“There! I’m done. Now +suppose we go, in our simple way, and lock up +the barns and chicken-houses.”</span></p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so the evenings came and went, each +offering a prospect of fair and quiet things—books +and firelight and moonlight and talk; +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page078">[pg 078]</span><a name="Pg078" id="Pg078" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +many in retrospect full of things quite different—drains +and latches and fledglings and +cows and pigs. Many, but not all. For the +evenings did now and then come when the +pump ceased from troubling and the <span class="tei tei-q">“critters”</span> +were at rest. Evenings when we sat +under the lamp and read, when we walked +and walked along moonlit roads or lay on the +slopes of moon-washed meadows. It was on +such an evening that we faced the vagaries of +farm life and searched for a philosophy to +cover them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m beginning to see that it will never be +any better,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Probably not,”</span> said Jonathan, talking +around his pipe.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You seem contented enough about it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I am.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t know that I’m contented, but +perhaps I’m resigned. I believe it’s necessary.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course it’s necessary.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan often has the air of having known +since infancy the great truths about life that +I have just discovered. I overlooked this, and +went on, <span class="tei tei-q">“You see, we’re right down close to +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page079">[pg 079]</span><a name="Pg079" id="Pg079" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the earth that is the ultimate basis of everything, +and all the caprices of things touch us +immediately and we have to make immediate +adjustments to them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And that knocks the bottom out of our +evenings.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now if we’re in the city, playing bridge, +somebody else is making those adjustments +for us. We’re like the princess with seventeen +mattresses between her and the pea.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She felt it, though,”</span> said Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“It +kept her awake.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know. She had a poor night. But even +she would hardly have maintained that she +felt it as she would have done if the mattresses +hadn’t been there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“True,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Farm life is the pea without the mattresses—”</span> +I went on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sounds a little cheerless,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—of course, it isn’t really cheerless +at all. But neither is it easy. It’s full of remorseless +demands for immediate adjustment.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That was the way the princess felt about +her pea.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page080">[pg 080]</span><a name="Pg080" id="Pg080" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The princess was a snippy little thing. +But after all, probably her life was full of +adjustments of other sorts. She couldn’t call +her soul her own a minute, I suppose.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps that was why she ran away,”</span> +suggested Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course it was. She ran away to find the +simple life and didn’t find it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. She found the pea—even with all +those mattresses.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And we’ve run away, and found several +peas, and fewer mattresses,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s not get confused—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m not confused,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I shall be in a minute if I don’t look +out. You can’t follow a parallel too far. +What I mean is, that if you run away from +one kind of complexity you run into another +kind.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What are you going to do about it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m going to like it all,”</span> I answered, <span class="tei tei-q">“and +make believe I meant to do it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After that we were silent awhile. Then I +tried again. <span class="tei tei-q">“You know your trick of waltzing +with a glass of water on your head?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page081">[pg 081]</span><a name="Pg081" id="Pg081" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I wonder if we couldn’t do that +with our souls.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That suggests to me a rather curious +picture,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—you know what I mean. When +you do that, your body takes up all the jolts +and jiggles before they get to the top of your +head, so the glass stays quiet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I don’t see why—only, of course, +our souls aren’t really anything like glasses +of water, and it would be perfectly detestable +to think of carrying them around carefully +like that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps you’d better back out of that +figure of speech,”</span> suggested Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“Go +back to your princess. Say, <span class="tei tei-q">‘every man his +own mattress.’</span> ”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. Any figure is wrong. The trouble +with all of them is that as soon as you use +one it begins to get in your way, and say all +sorts of things for you that you never meant +at all. And then if you notice it, it bothers +you, and if you don’t notice it, you get drawn +into crooked thinking.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And yet you can’t think without them.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page082">[pg 082]</span><a name="Pg082" id="Pg082" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, you can’t think without them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—where are we, anyway?”</span> he +asked placidly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t know at all. Only I feel sure that +leading the simple life doesn’t depend on the +things you do it <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">with</span></span>. +Feeding your own cows +and pigs and using pumps and candles brings +you no nearer to it than marketing by telephone +and using city water supply and electric +lighting. I don’t know what does bring +you nearer, but I’m sure it must be something +inside you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That sounds rather reasonable,”</span> said +Jonathan; <span class="tei tei-q">“almost scriptural—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I know,”</span> I said.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter04" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page083">[pg 083]</span><a name="Pg083" id="Pg083" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc8" id="toc8"></a> +<a name="pdf9" id="pdf9"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">IV</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">After Frost</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is late afternoon in mid-September. I +stand in my garden sniffing the raw air, and +wondering, as always at this season, +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">will</span></span> +there be frost to-night or will there not? Of +course if I were a woodchuck or a muskrat, or +any other really intelligent creature, I should +know at once and act accordingly, but being +only a stupid human being, I am thrown +back on conjecture, assisted by the thermometer, +and an appeal to Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Too much wind for frost,”</span> says he.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sure? I’d hate to lose my nasturtiums +quite so early.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You won’t lose ’em. Look at the thermometer +if you don’t believe me. If it’s +above forty you’re safe.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I look, and try to feel reassured. But I am +not quite easy in my mind until next morning +when, running out before breakfast, I make +the rounds and find everything untouched.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page084">[pg 084]</span><a name="Pg084" id="Pg084" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But a few days later the alarm comes again. +There is no wind this time, and, what is +worse, an ominous silence falls at dusk over +the orchard and meadow. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why is everything +so still?”</span> I ask myself. <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, of course—the +katydids aren’t talking—and the +crickets, and all the other whirr-y things. +Ah! That means business! My poor garden!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan!”</span> I call, as I feel rather than +see his shape whirling noiselessly in at the +big gate after his ride up from the station. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Help me cover my nasturtiums. There’ll +be frost to-night.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Maybe,”</span> says Jonathan’s voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not maybe at all—surely. Listen to the +katydids!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You mean, listen to the absence of katydids.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Very well. The point is, I want newspapers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. The point is, I am to bring newspapers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Exactly.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And tuck up your nasturtiums for the +night in your peculiarly ridiculous fashion—”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page085">[pg 085]</span><a name="Pg085" id="Pg085" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know it looks ridiculous, but really it’s +sensible. There may be weeks of summer +after this.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so the nasturtiums are tucked up, +cozily hidden under the big layers of sheets, +whose corners we fasten down with stones. +To be sure, the garden <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> rather a funny +sight, with these pale shapes sprawling over +its beds. But it pays. For in the morning, +though over in the vegetable garden the +squash leaves and lima beans are blackened +and limp, my nasturtiums are still pert and +crisp. I pull off the papers, wondering what +the passers-by have thought, and lo! my gay +garden, good for perhaps two weeks more!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But a day arrives when even newspaper +coddling is of no avail. Sometimes it is in late +September, sometimes not until October, but +when it comes there is no resisting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The sun goes down, leaving a clear sky +paling to green at the horizon. A still cold +falls upon the world, and I feel that it is +the end. Shears in hand, I cut everything I +can—nasturtiums down to the ground,—leaves, +buds, and all,—feathery sprays of +cosmos, asters by the armful. Those last +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page086">[pg 086]</span><a name="Pg086" id="Pg086" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +bouquets that I bring into the house are always +the most beautiful, for I do not have to +save buds for later cutting. There will, alas, +be no later cutting.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So I fill my bowls and vases, and next +morning I go out, well knowing what I shall +see. It is a beautiful sight, too, if one can +forget its meaning. The whole golden-green +world of autumn has been touched with silver. +In the low-lying swamp beyond the +orchard it is almost like a light snowfall. +The meadows rising beyond the barns are +silvered over wherever the long tree-shadows +still lie. And in my garden, too, where the +shadows linger, every leaf is frosted, but as +soon as the sun warms them through, leaf and +twig turn dark and droop to the ground. It is +the end.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Except, indeed, for my brave marigolds +and calendulas and little button asters. It is +for this reason that I have given them space +all summer, nipping them back when they +tried to blossom early, for they seem a bit +crude compared with the other flowers. But +now that frost is here, my feelings warm to +them. I cannot criticize their color and texture, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page087">[pg 087]</span><a name="Pg087" id="Pg087" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +so grateful am I to them for not giving +up. And when last night’s cuttings have +faded, I shall be very glad of a glowing mass +of marigold beside my fireplace, and of the +yellow stars of calendula, like embodied +sunshine, on my dining-table.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Well, then, the frost has come! And after +the first pang of realization, I find that, curiously +enough, the worst is over. Since it has +come, let it come! And now—hurrah for the +garden house-cleaning! The garden is dead—the +garden of yesterday! Long live the +garden—the garden of to-morrow! For +suddenly my mind has leaped ahead to spring.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I can hardly wait for breakfast to be over, +before I am out in working clothes, pulling +up things—not weeds now, but flowers, or +what were flowers. Nasturtiums, asters, cosmos, +snapdragon, stock, late-blooming cornflowers—up +they all come, all the annuals, +and the biennials that have had their season. +I fling them together in piles, and soon have +small haystacks all along my grass paths, and—there +I am! Down again to the good brown +earth!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is with positive satisfaction that I stand +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page088">[pg 088]</span><a name="Pg088" id="Pg088" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and survey my beds, great bare patches of +earth, glorified here and there by low clumps +of calendula and great bushes of marigold. +Now, then! I can do anything! I can dig, +and fertilize, and transplant. Best of all, I +can plan and plan! The crisp wind stings my +cheeks, but as I work I feel the sun hot on the +back of my neck. I get the smell of the earth +as I turn it over, mingled with the pungent +tang of marigold blossoms, very pleasant out +of doors, though almost too strong for the +house except near a fireplace. I believe the +most characteristic fall odors are to me this +of marigold, mingled with the fragrance of +apples piled in the orchard, the good smell +of earth newly turned up, and the flavor of +burning leaves, borne now and then on the +wind, from the outdoor house-cleaning of the +world.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There is perhaps no season of all the garden +year that brings more real delight to the +gardener, no time so stimulating to the imagination. +This year in the garden has been +good, but next year shall be better. All the +failures, or near-failures, shall of course be +turned into successes, and the successes shall +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page089">[pg 089]</span><a name="Pg089" id="Pg089" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +be bettered. Last year there were not quite +enough hollyhocks, but next year there shall +be such glories! There are seedlings that I +have been saving, over on the edge of the +phlox. I dash across to look them up—yes, +here they are, splendid little fellows, leaves +only a bit crumpled by the frost. I dig them +up carefully, keeping earth packed about +their roots, and one by one I convey them +across and set them out in a beautiful row +where I want them to grow next year. Their +place is beside the old stone-flagged path, and +I picture them rising tall against the side of +the woodshed, whose barrenness I have besides +more than half covered with honeysuckle.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then, there are my foxgloves. Some of +them I have already transplanted, but not +all. There is a little corner full of stocky +yearlings that I must change now. And that +same corner can be used for poppies. I have +kept seeds of this year’s poppies—funny +little brown pepper-shakers, with tiny holes +at the end through which I shake out the fine +seed dust. Doubtless they would attend to +all this without my help, but I like to be sure +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page090">[pg 090]</span><a name="Pg090" id="Pg090" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +that even my self-seeding annuals come up +where I most want them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Biennials, like the foxglove and canterbury +bells, are of course, the difficult children +of the garden, because you have to plan +not only for next year but for the year after. +Next year’s bloom is secured—unless they +winter-kill—in this year’s young plants, +growing since spring, or even since the fall +before. These I transplant for next summer’s +beauty. But for the year after I like to take +double precautions. Already I have tiny +seedlings, started since August, but besides +these I sow seed, too late to start before +spring. For a severe winter may do havoc, +and I shall then need the early start given by +fall sowing.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As I work on, I discover all sorts of treasures—young +plants, seedlings from all the +big-folk of my garden. Young larkspurs +surround the bushy parent clumps, and +the ground near the forget-me-nots is fairly +carpeted with little new ones. I have found +that, though the old forget-me-nots will live +through, it pays to pull out the most ragged +of them and trust to the youngsters to fill +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page091">[pg 091]</span><a name="Pg091" id="Pg091" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +their places. These, and English daisies, I let +grow together about as they will. They are +pretty together, with their mingling of pink, +white, and blue, they never run out, and all I +need is to keep them from spreading too far, +or from crowding each other too much.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When my back aches from this kind of +sorting and shifting, I straighten up and look +about me again. Ah! The phlox! Time now +to attend to that!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">My white phlox is really the most distinguished +thing in my garden. I have pink +and lavender, too, but any one can have pink +and lavender by ordering them from a florist. +They can have white, too, but not my +white. For mine never saw a florist; it is an +inheritance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Sixty or seventy years ago there was a +beautiful little garden north of the old house +tended and loved by a beautiful lady. The +lady died, and the garden did not long outlive +her. Its place was taken by a crab-apple +orchard, which flourished, bore blossom and +fruit, until in its turn it grew old, while the +garden had faded to a dim tradition. But one +day in August, a few years ago, I discovered +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page092">[pg 092]</span><a name="Pg092" id="Pg092" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +under the shade of an old crab tree, two slender +sprays of white phlox, trying to blossom. +In memory of that old garden and its lady, I +took them up and cherished them. And the +miracle of life was again made manifest. +For from those two little half-starved roots +has come the most splendid part of my garden. +All summer it makes a thick green wall +on the garden’s edge, beside the flagged path. +In the other beds it rises in luxuriant masses, +giving background and body with its wonderful +deep green foliage, which is greener +and thicker than any other phlox I know. +And when its season to bloom arrives—a +long month, from early August to mid-September—it +is a glory of whiteness, the tallest +sprays on a level with my eyes, the shortest +shoulder high, except when rain weighs down +the heavy heads and they lean across the +paths barring my passage with their fragrant +wetness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Here and there I have let the pink and +lavender phlox come in, for they begin to +bloom two weeks earlier, when the garden +needs color. But always my white must +dominate. And it does. Most wonderful of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page093">[pg 093]</span><a name="Pg093" id="Pg093" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +all is it on moonlight nights of late August, +when it broods over the garden like a white +cloud, and the night moths come crowding +to its fragrant feast, with their intermittent +burring of furry wings.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Ah, well! the phlox has passed now, and its +trim green leaves are brown and crackly. I +can do what I like with it after this. So when +my other transplanting grows tiresome, I fall +upon my phlox. Every year some of it needs +thinning, so quickly does it spread. I take the +spading-fork, and, with what seems like utter +ruthlessness, I pry out from the thickest centers +enough good roots to give the rest breathing +and growing space. Along the path edges +I always have to cut out encroaching roots +each year, or else soon there would be no +path. But all that I take out is precious, +either to give to friends for their gardens, or +to enlarge the edges of my own. For this +phlox needs almost no care, and will fight +grass and weeds for itself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There are phlox seedlings, too, all over the +garden, but I have no way of telling what color +they are, though usually I can detect the +white by its foliage. I take them up and set +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page094">[pg 094]</span><a name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +them out near the main phlox masses, and +wait for the next season’s blossoming before I +give them their final place.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This is the time of year, too, when I give +some attention to the rocks in my garden. +Of course, in order to have a garden at all, +it was necessary to take out enough rock +to build quite a respectable stone wall. But +that was not the end. There never will be an +end. A Connecticut garden grows rocks like +weeds, and one must expect to keep on taking +them out each fall. The rest of the year I try +to ignore them, but after frost I like to make +a fresh raid, and get rid of another wheelbarrow +load or so. And I always notice that +for one barrow load of stones that go out, it +takes at least two barrow loads of earth to +fill in. Thus an excellent circulation is maintained, +and the garden does not stagnate. +Moreover, I take great pleasure in showing +my friends—especially friends from the +more earthy sections of New York and farther +west—the piles of rock and the parts of +certain stone walls about the place that have +been literally made out of the cullings of my +garden. They never believe me.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page095">[pg 095]</span><a name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As I am thus occupied,—digging, planting, +thinning, sowing,—I find it one of the +happiest seasons of the year. It is partly the +stimulus of the autumn air, partly the pleasure +of getting at the ground. I think there +are some of us, city folk though we be, who +must have the giant Antæus for ancestor. We +still need to get in close touch with the earth +now and then. Children have a true instinct +with their love of barefoot play in the dirt, +and there are grown folks who still love it—but +we call it gardening. The sight and the +feel and the smell of my brown garden beds +gives me a pleasure that is very deep and +probably very primitive.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But there is another source of pleasure in +my fall gardening—a pleasure not of the +senses but of the imagination.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For as I do my work my fancy is active. +As I transplant my young hollyhocks, I see +them, not little round-leaved bunches in my +hand, but tall and stately, aflare with colors—yellows, +whites, pinks. As I dig about my +larkspur and stake out its seedlings, they +spire above me in heavenly blues. As I arrange +the clumps of coarse-leaved young +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page096">[pg 096]</span><a name="Pg096" id="Pg096" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +foxgloves, I seem to see their rich tower-like +clusters of old-pink bells bending always a +little towards the southeast, where most sun +comes from. As I thin my forget-me-not I +see it—in my mind’s eye—in a blue mist +of spring bloom. Thus, a garden rises in my +fancy, a garden where neither beetle, borer, +nor cutworm doth corrupt, and where the +mole doth not break in or steal, where gentle +rain and blessed sun come as they are needed, +where all the flowers bloom unceasingly in +colors of heavenly light—a garden such as +never yet existed nor ever shall, till the tales +of fairyland come true. I shall never see that +garden, yet every year it blooms for me +afresh—after frost.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter05" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page097">[pg 097]</span><a name="Pg097" id="Pg097" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc10" id="toc10"></a> +<a name="pdf11" id="pdf11"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">V</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">The Joys of Garden Stewardship</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I sometimes think I am coming to classify +my friends according to the way they act +when I talk about my garden. On this basis, +there are three sorts of people.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">First there are those who are obviously not +interested. Such as these feel no answering +thrill, even at the sight of a florist’s spring +catalogue. A weed inspires in them no desire +to pull it. They may, however, be really nice +people if they are still young; for, except by +special grace, no one under thirty need be +expected to care about gardens—it is a mature +taste. But in the mean time I turn our +talk in other channels.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then there are the people who, when I +approach the subject, brighten up, look intelligent, +even eager, but in a moment make +it clear that what they are eager for is a +chance to talk about their own gardens. +Mine is merely the stepping-stone, the bridge, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page098">[pg 098]</span><a name="Pg098" id="Pg098" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the handle. This is better than indifference, +yet it is sometimes trying. One of my dearest +friends thus tests my love now and then when +she walks in my garden.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aren’t those peonies lovely?”</span> I suggest.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> dreamily; <span class="tei tei-q">“you know I can’t have +that shade in my garden because—”</span> and she +trails off into a disquisition that I could, just +at that moment, do without.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look at the height of that larkspur!”</span> I say.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes—but, you know, it wouldn’t do for +me to have larkspur when I go away so early. +What I need is things for April and May.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I am not trying to +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">sell</span></span> you any,”</span> I +am sometimes goaded into protesting. <span class="tei tei-q">“I +only wanted you to say they are pretty—pretty +right here in <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">my</span></span> garden.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes—yes—of course they are pretty—they’re +lovely—you have a lovely garden, +you know.”</span> She pulls herself up to give +this tribute, but soon her eyes get the faraway +look in them again, and she is murmuring, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I must write Edward to see +about that hedge. Tell me, my dear, if you +had a brick wall, would you have vines on it +or wall-fruit?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page099">[pg 099]</span><a name="Pg099" id="Pg099" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is of no use. I cannot hold her long. I +sometimes think she was nicer when she had +no garden of her own. Perhaps she thinks I +was nicer when I had none.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But there is another kind of garden manners—a +kind that subtly soothes, cheers, +perhaps inebriates. It is the manner of the +friend who may, indeed, have a garden, but +who looks at mine with the eye of adoption, +temporarily at least. She walks down its +paths, singling out this or that for notice. +She suggests, she even criticizes, tenderly, as +one who tells you an <span class="tei tei-q">“even +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">more</span></span> becoming +way”</span> to arrange your little daughter’s hair. +She offers you roots and seeds and seedlings +from her garden, and—last touch of flattery—she +begs seeds and seedlings from yours.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For garden purposes, give me the manners +of this third class. And, indeed, not for +garden purposes alone. They are useful as +applied to many things—children, particularly, +and houses.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Undoubtedly the demand that I make +upon my friends is a form of vanity, yet I +cannot seem to feel ashamed of it. I admit at +once that not the least part of my pleasure in +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page100">[pg 100]</span><a name="Pg100" id="Pg100" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +my flowers is the attention they get from +others. Moreover, it is not only from friends +that I seek this, but from every passer-by +along my country road. There are gardens +and gardens. Some, set about with hedges +tall and thick, offer the delights of exclusiveness +and solitude. But exclusiveness and solitude +are easily had on a Connecticut farm, +and my garden will none of them; it flings +forth its appeal to every wayfarer. And I +like it. I like my garden to <span class="tei tei-q">“get notice.”</span> As +people drive by I hope they enjoy my phlox. +I furtively glance to see if they have an eye +for the foxglove. I wonder if the calendulas +are so tall that they hide the asters. And if, +as I bend over my weeding, an automobile +whirling past lets fly an appreciative phrase—<span class="tei tei-q">“lovely +flowers—”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“wonderful yellow +of—”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“garden there,”</span>—my ears are quick +to receive it and I forgive the eddies of gasolene +and dust that are also left by the vanishing +visitant.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">About few things can one be so brazen in +one’s enjoyment of recognition. One’s house, +one’s clothes, one’s work, one’s children, all +these demand a certain modesty of demeanor, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page101">[pg 101]</span><a name="Pg101" id="Pg101" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +however the inner spirit may puff. +Not so one’s garden. I fancy this is because, +while I have a strong sense of ownership in it, +I also have a strong sense of stewardship. +As owner I must be modest, but as steward I +may admire as openly as I will. Did I make +my phlox? Did I fashion my asters? Am I the +artificer of my fringed larkspur? Nay, truly, +I am but their caretaker, and may glory in +them as well as another, only with the added +touch of joy that I, even I, have given them +their opportunity. Like Paul I plant, like +Apollos I water, but before the power that +giveth the increase I stand back and wonder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But it is not alone the results of my stewardship +that give me joy. Its very processes +are good. Delight in the earth is a primitive +instinct. Digging is naturally pleasant, hoeing +is pleasant, raking is pleasant, and then +there is the weeding. For I am not the only +one who sows seeds in my garden. One of my +friends remarked cheerfully that he had +planted twenty-seven different vegetables in +his garden, and the Lord had planted two +hundred and twenty-seven other kinds of +things.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page102">[pg 102]</span><a name="Pg102" id="Pg102" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This is where the weeding comes in. Now a +good deal has been said about the labor of +weeding, but little about the gratifications of +weeding. I don’t mean weeding with a hoe. +I mean yanking up, with movements suited +to the occasion, each individual growing +thing that doesn’t belong. Surely I am not +the only one to have felt the pleasure of this. +They come up so nicely, and leave such soft +earth behind! And intellect is needed, too, +for each weed demands its own way of handling: +the adherent plantain needing a slow, +firm, drawing motion, but very satisfactory +when it comes; the evasive clover requiring +that all its sprawling runners shall be gathered +up in one gentle, tactful pull; the tender +shepherd’s purse coming easily on a straight +twitch; the tough ragweed that yields to almost +any kind of jerk. Even witch-grass, the +bane of the farmer, has its rewarding side, +when one really does get out its handful of +wicked-looking, crawly, white tubers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Weeding is most fun when the weeds are +not too small. Yes, from the aspect of a sport +there is something to be said for letting weeds +grow. Pulling out little tender ones is poor +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page103">[pg 103]</span><a name="Pg103" id="Pg103" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +work compared with the satisfaction of hauling +up a spreading treelet of ragweed or a +far-flaunting wild buckwheat. You seem to +get so much for your effort, and it stirs up +the ground so, and no other weeds have grown +under the shade of the big one, so its departure +leaves a good bit of empty brown +earth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Surely, weeding is good fun. If faults could +be yanked out of children in the same entertaining +way, the orphan asylums would soon +be emptied through the craze for adoption as +a major sport.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One of the pleasantest mornings of my life +was spent weeding, in the rain, a long-neglected +corner of my garden, while a young +friend stood around the edges and explained +the current political situation to me, and +carted away armfuls of green stuff as I +handed them out to him. The rain drizzled, +and the air was fragrant with the smell of +wet earth and bruised stems. Ideally, of +course, weeds should never reach this state +of sportive rankness. But most of my friends +admit, under pressure, that there are corners +where such things do happen.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page104">[pg 104]</span><a name="Pg104" id="Pg104" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Naturally, all this is assuming that one is +one’s own gardener. There may be pleasure +in having a garden kept up by a real gardener, +but that always seems to me a little +like having a doll and letting somebody else +dress and undress it. My garden must never +grow so big that I cannot take care of it—and +neglect it—myself.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In saying this, however, I don’t count +rocks. When it comes to rocks, I call in Jonathan. +And it often comes to rocks.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For mine is a Connecticut garden. Now +in the beginning Connecticut was composed +entirely of rocks. Then the little earth +gnomes, fearing that no one would ever come +there to give them sport, sprinkled a little +earth amongst the rocks, partly covered +some, wholly covered others, and then hid to +see what the gardeners would do about it. +And ever since the gardeners have been patiently, +or impatiently, tucking in their seeds +and plants in the thimblefuls of earth left by +the gnomes. They have been picking out the +rocks, or blowing them up, or burying them, +or working around them; and every winter +the little gnomes gather and push up a new +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page105">[pg 105]</span><a name="Pg105" id="Pg105" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +lot from the dark storehouses of the underworld. +In the spring the gardeners begin +again, and the little gnomes hold their sides +with still laughter to watch the work go on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Rocks?”</span> my friends say. <span class="tei tei-q">“Do you mind +the rocks? But they are a special beauty! +Why, I have a rock in my garden that I have +treated—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Very well,”</span> I interrupt rudely. +<span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">A rock</span></span> is +all very well. If I had <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">a +rock</span></span> in my garden I +could treat it, too. But how about a garden +that is all rocks?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh—why—choose another spot.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Whereupon I reply, <span class="tei tei-q">“You don’t know +Connecticut.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Ever since I began having a garden I have +had my troubles with the rocks, but the +worst time came when, in a mood of enthusiastic +and absolutely unintelligent optimism, +I decided to have a bit of smooth grass in the +middle of my garden. I wanted it very much. +The place was too restless; you couldn’t sit +down anywhere. I felt that I had to have a +clear green spot where I could take a chair +and a book. I selected the spot, marked it off +with string, and began to loosen up the earth +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page106">[pg 106]</span><a name="Pg106" id="Pg106" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +for a late summer planting of grass seed. +Calendulas and poppies and cornflowers had +bloomed there before, self-sown and able to +look out for themselves, so I had never investigated +the depths of the bed to see what +the little gnomes had prepared for me. Now +I found out. The spading-fork gave a familiar +dull clink as it struck rock. I felt about +for the edge; it was a big one. I got the crowbar +and dropped it, in testing prods; it was a +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">very</span></span> +big one, and only four inches below the +surface. Grass would never grow there in a +dry season. I moved to another part. Another +rock, big too! I prodded all over the +allotted space, and found six big fellows lurking +just below the top of the soil. Evidently +it was a case for calling in Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He came, grumbling a little, as a man +should, but very efficient, armed with two +crowbars and equipped with a natural genius +for manipulating rocks. He made a few +well-placed remarks about queer people who +choose to have grass where flowers would +grow, and flowers where grass would grow, +also about Connecticut being intended for a +quarry and not for a garden anyhow. But all +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page107">[pg 107]</span><a name="Pg107" id="Pg107" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +this was only the necessary accompaniment of +the crowbar-play. Soon, under the insistent +and canny urgency of the bars, a big rock +began to heave its shoulder into sight above +the soil. I hovered about, chucking in stones +and earth underneath, placing little rocks +under the bar for fulcrums, pulling them out +again when they were no longer needed, +standing guard over the flowers in the rest of +the garden, with repeated warnings. <span class="tei tei-q">“Please, +Jonathan, don’t step back any farther; you’ll +trample the forget-me-nots!”</span> +<span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Could</span></span> you +manage to roll this fellow out along that +path and not across the mangled bodies of +the marigolds?”</span> Jonathan grumbled a little +about being expected to pick a half-ton pebble +out of the garden with his fingers, or lead +it out with a string.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, well, of course, if you +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">can’t</span></span> do it I’ll +have to let the marigolds go this year. But +you do such wonderful things with a crowbar, +I thought you could probably just guide it a +little.”</span> And Jonathan responds nobly to the +flattery of this remark, and does indeed guide +the huge thing, eases it along the narrow +path, grazes the marigolds but leaves them +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page108">[pg 108]</span><a name="Pg108" id="Pg108" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +unhurt, until at last, with a careful arrangement +of stone fulcrums and a skillful twist of +the bars, the great rock makes its last response +and lunges heavily past the last flower +bed on to the grass beyond.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When the work was done, the edge of the +garden looked like Stonehenge, and the spot +where my grass was to be was nothing but +a yawning pit, crying to be filled. We surveyed +it with interest. <span class="tei tei-q">“If we had a water-supply, +I wouldn’t make a grass-plot,”</span> I +said; <span class="tei tei-q">“I’d make a swimming-pool. It’s deep +enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And sit in the middle with your book?”</span> +asked Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But there was no water-supply, so we filled +it in with earth. Thirty wheelbarrow loads +went in where those rocks came out. And +the little gnomes perched on Stonehenge and +jeered the while. I photographed it, and the +rocks <span class="tei tei-q">“took”</span> well, but as regards the gnomes, +the film was underexposed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Thus the grass seed was planted. And we +reminded each other of the version of <span class="tei tei-q">“America”</span> +once given, with unconscious inspiration, +by a little friend of ours:—</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page109">[pg 109]</span><a name="Pg109" id="Pg109" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<div class="block tei tei-quote" style="margin-bottom: 1.80em; margin-left: 3.60em; margin-top: 1.80em; margin-right: 3.60em"> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">“</span><span style="font-size: 90%">Land where our father died,</span></span></div> + <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left"><span class="tei tei-q" style="text-align: left"><span style="font-size: 90%">Land where the pilgrims pried.</span><span style="font-size: 90%">”</span></span></div> +</div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It seemed to us to suit the adventure.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As I have said, I love to have my friends +love my garden. But there is one thing about +it that I find does not always appeal to them +pleasantly, and that is its color-schemes. +Yet this is not my doing. For in nothing do +I feel more keenly the fact of my mere stewardship +than in this matter of color-scheme.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I set out with a very rigid one. I was +quite decided in my own mind that what +I wanted was white and salmon-pink and +lavender. Asters, phlox, sweet peas, hollyhocks, +all were to bend themselves to my +rules. At first affairs went very well. White +was easy. White phlox I had, and have—an +inheritance—which from a few roots is +spreading and spreading in waves of whiteness +that grow more luxuriant every year. +But I bought roots of salmon-pink and lavender, +and then my troubles commenced. +About the third season strange things began +to happen. The pink phlox had the strength +of ten. It spread amazingly; but it forgot all +about my rules. It degenerated, some of it—reverted +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page110">[pg 110]</span><a name="Pg110" id="Pg110" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +toward that magenta shade that +nature seems so naturally to adore in the +vegetable world. To my horror I found my +garden blossoming into magenta pink, blue +pink, crimson, cardinal—all the colors I had +determined not under any circumstances to +admit. On the other hand, the lavender +phlox, which I particularly wanted, was +most lovely, but frail. It refused to spread. +It effaced itself before the rampant pink and +its magenta-tainted brood. I vowed I would +pull out the magentas, but each year my +courage failed. They bloomed so bravely; I +would wait till they were through. But by +that time I was not quite sure which was +which; I might pull out the wrong ones. And +so I hesitated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Moreover, I discovered, lingering among +the flowers at dusk, that there were certain +colors, most unpleasant by daylight, which +at that time took on a new shade, and, for +perhaps half an hour before night fell, were +richly lovely. This is true of some of the +magentas, which at dusk turn suddenly to +royal purples and deep lavender-blues that +are wonderfully satisfying.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page111">[pg 111]</span><a name="Pg111" id="Pg111" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For that half-hour of beauty I spare them. +While the sun shines I try to look the other +way, and at twilight I linger near them and +enjoy their strange, dim glories, born literally +of the magic hour. But I have trouble explaining +them, by daylight, to some of my +visitors who like color-schemes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Insubordination is contagious. And I +found after a while that my asters were not +running true; queer things were happening +among the sweet peas, and in the ranks of the +hollyhocks all was not as it should be. And +the last charge was made upon me by the +children’s gardens. Children know not color-schemes. +What they demand is flowers, flowers—flowers +to pick and pick, flowers to do +things with. Snapdragon, for instance, is a +jolly playmate, and little fingers love to +pinch its cheeks and see its jaws yawn wide. +But snapdragon tends dangerously toward +the magenta. Then there was the calendula—a +delight to the young, because it blooms +incessantly long past the early frosts, and has +brittle stems that yield themselves to the +clumsiest plucking by small hands. But calendula +ranges from a faded yellow, through +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page112">[pg 112]</span><a name="Pg112" id="Pg112" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +really pretty primrose shades, to a deep red-orange +touched with maroon.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And, finally, there was the portulaca. +Children love it, perhaps, best of all. It offers +them fresh blossoms and new colors each +morning, and it is even more easy to pick +than the calendula. Who would deny them +portulaca? Yet if this be admitted, one may +as well give up the battle. For, as we all +know, there is absolutely no color, except +green, that portulaca does not perpetrate in +its blossoms. It knows no shame.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In short, I am giving up. I am beginning +to say with conviction that color-schemes are +the mark of a narrow and rigid taste—that +they are born of convention and are meant +not for living things but for wall-papers and +portières and clothes. Moreover, I am really +growing callous—or is it, rather, broad? +Colors in my garden that would once have +made my teeth ache now leave them feeling +perfectly comfortable. I find myself looking +with unmoved flesh—no creeps nor withdrawals—upon +a bed of mixed magentas, +scarlets, rose-pinks, and yellow-pinks. I even +look with pleasure. I begin to think there +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page113">[pg 113]</span><a name="Pg113" id="Pg113" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +may be a point beyond which discord achieves +a higher harmony. At least, this sounds well. +But, again, I find it hard to explain to some +of my friends.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Indoors, it is another story. When I bring +in the spoils of the garden I am again mistress +and bend all to my will. Here I’ll have +no tricks of color played on me. Sunshine and +sky, perhaps, work some spell, for as soon as I +get within four walls my prejudices return; +scarlets and crimsons and pinks have to live +in different rooms. I must have my color-schemes +again, and perhaps I am as narrow +as the worst. Except, indeed, for the children’s +bowls; here the pink and the magenta, +the lamb and the lion, may lie down together. +But it takes a little child to lead them.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Out in my garden I feel myself less and +less owner, more and more merely steward. +I decree certain paths, and the phlox says, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Paths? Did you say paths?”</span> and obliterates +them in a season’s growth, so that children +walk by faith and not by sight. I decree +iris in one corner, and the primroses say, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Iris? Not at all. This is our bed. Iris indeed!”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page114">[pg 114]</span><a name="Pg114" id="Pg114" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +And I submit, and move the iris +elsewhere.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And yet this slipping of responsibility is +pleasant, too. So long as my garden will let +me dig in it and weed it and pick it, so long as +it entertains my friends for me, so long as it +tosses up an occasional rock so that Jonathan +does not lose all interest in it, so long as it +plays prettily with the children and flings gay +greetings to every passer-by, I can find no +fault with it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The joys of stewardship are great and I +am well content.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter06" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page115">[pg 115]</span><a name="Pg115" id="Pg115" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc12" id="toc12"></a> +<a name="pdf13" id="pdf13"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">VI</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Trout and Arbutus</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Every year, toward the end of March, I find +Jonathan poking about in my sewing-box. +And, unless I am very absent-minded, I know +what he is after.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No use looking there,”</span> I remark; <span class="tei tei-q">“I keep +my silks put away.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I want red, and as strong as there is.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know what you want. Here.”</span> and I +hand him a spool of red buttonhole twist.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ah! Just right!”</span> And for the rest of the +evening his fingers are busy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Over what? Mending our trout-rods, of +course. It is pretty work, calling for strength +and precision of grasp, and as he winds and +winds, adjusting all the little brass leading-rings, +or supplying new ones, and staying +points in the bamboo where he suspects weakness, +we talk over last year’s trout-pools, and +wonder what they will be like this year.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But beyond wonder we do not get, often +for weeks after the trout season is, legislatively, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page116">[pg 116]</span><a name="Pg116" id="Pg116" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-q">“open.”</span> Jonathan is <span class="tei tei-q">“busy.”</span> I am +<span class="tei tei-q">“busy.”</span> We know that, if April passes, there +is still May and June, and so, if at the end of +April, or early May, we do at last pick up +our rods,—all new-bedight with red silk +windings, and shiny with fresh varnish,—it +is not alone the call of the trout that decides +us, but another call which is to me at least +more imperious, because, if we neglect it now, +there is no May and June in which to heed it. +It is the call of the arbutus.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Any one with New England traditions +knows what this call is. Its appeal is to +something far deeper than the love of a pretty +flower. For it is the flower that, to our fathers +and our grandfathers, and to their fathers and +grandfathers, meant spring; and not spring in +its prettiness and ease, appealing to the idler +in us, nor spring in its melancholy, appealing +to—shall I say the poet in us? But spring +in its blessedness of opportunity, its joyously +triumphant life, appealing to the worker in +us. Here, of course, we touch hands with all +the races of the world for whom winter has +been the supreme menace, spring the supreme +and saving miracle. But each race has its own +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page117">[pg 117]</span><a name="Pg117" id="Pg117" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +symbols, and to the New Englander the symbol +is the arbutus.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">This may seem a bit of sentimentality. +And, indeed, we need not expect to find it +expressed by any New England farmer. New +England does not go out in gay companies to +bring back the first blossoms. But New +England does nothing in gay companies. It +has been taught to distrust ceremonies and +expression of any sort. It rejoices with reticence, +it appreciates with a reservation. And +yet I have seen a sprig of arbutus in rough +and clumsy buttonholes on weather-faded +lapels which, the rest of the twelve-month +through, know no other flower. And when, +in unfamiliar country, I have interrupted the +ploughing to ask for guidance, I usually get +it:—<span class="tei tei-q">“Arbutus? Yaas. The’s a lot of it up +along that hillside and in the woods over beyond—’t +was out last week, some of it, I +happened to notice”</span>—this in the apologetic +tone of one who admits a weakness—<span class="tei tei-q">“guess +you’ll find all you want.”</span> I venture to say +that of no other wild flower, except those +which work specific harm or good, could I get +such information.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page118">[pg 118]</span><a name="Pg118" id="Pg118" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">To many of us, city-bred, the tradition +comes through inheritance. It means, perhaps, +the shy, poetic side of our father’s boyhood, +only half acknowledged, after the New +England fashion, but none the less real and +none the less our possession. It means rare +days, when the city—whose chiefest signs +of spring were the flare of dandelions in yards +and parks and the chatter of English sparrows +on ivy-clad church walls—was left behind, +and we were <span class="tei tei-q">“in the country.”</span> It was a +country excitingly different from the country +of the summer vacation, a country not deeply +green, but warmly brown, and sweet with the +smell of moist, living earth. Green enough, +indeed, in the spring-fed meadows and folds of +the hills, where the early grass flashes into +vividest emerald, but in the woods the soft +mist-colored mazes of multitudinous twigs +still show through their veilings and dustings +of color—palest green of birches, gray-green +of poplar, yellow-green of willows, and +redder tones of the maples; and along the +fence-lines and roadsides—blessed, untidy +fence-lines and roadsides of New England—a +fine penciling of red stems—the cut-back +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page119">[pg 119]</span><a name="Pg119" id="Pg119" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +maple bushes and tangled vines alive to their +tips and just bursting into leaf. And everywhere +in the woods, on fence-lines and roadsides, +the white blossoms of the <span class="tei tei-q">“shad-blow,”</span> +daintiest of spring trees,—too slight for a +tree, indeed, though too tall for a bush and +looking less like a tree in blossom than like +floating blossoms caught for a moment among +the twigs. A moment only, for the first gust +loosens them again and carpets the woods +with their petals, but while they last their +whiteness shimmers everywhere.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Such rare days were all blown through +with the wonderful wind of spring. Spring +wind is really different from any other. It is +not a finished thing, like the mellow winds of +summer and the cold blasts of winter. It is an +imperfect blend of shivering reminiscence and +eager promise. One moment it breathes sun +and stirring earth, the next it reminds us of +old snow in the hollows, and bleak northern +slopes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When, on these days, the wind blew to us, +almost before we saw it, the first greeting of +the arbutus, it always seemed that the day +had found its complete and satisfying expression. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page120">[pg 120]</span><a name="Pg120" id="Pg120" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Every one comes to realize, at +some time in his life, the power of suggestion +possessed by odors. Does not half the power +of the Church lie in its incense? An odor, just +because it is at once concrete and formless, +can carry an appeal overwhelmingly strong +and searching, superseding all other expression. +This is the appeal made to me by the +arbutus. It can never be quite precipitated +into words, but it holds in solution all the +things it has come to mean—dear human +tradition and beloved companionship, the +poetry of the land and the miracle of new +birth.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In late March or early April I am likely to +see the first blossom on some friend’s table—I +try not to see it first in a florist’s display! +To my startled question she gives reassuring +answer, <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, no, not from around here. This +came from Virginia.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Days pass, and, perhaps, the mail brings +some to me, this time from Pennsylvania or +New Jersey, and soon I can no longer ignore +the trays of tight, leafless bunches for sale on +street corners and behind plate-glass windows. +<span class="tei tei-q">“From York State,”</span> they tell me. I grow +restive.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page121">[pg 121]</span><a name="Pg121" id="Pg121" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan,”</span> I say, holding up a spray for +him to smell, <span class="tei tei-q">“we’ve got to go. You can’t +resist that. We’ll take a day and go for it—and +trout, too.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is as well that arbutus comes in the trout +season, for to take a day off just to pick a +flower might seem a little absurd. But, +coupled with trout—all is well. Trout is +food. One must eat. The search for food +needs no defense, and yet, the curious fact is, +that if you go for trout and don’t get any, it +doesn’t make so much difference as you +might suppose, but if you go for arbutus and +don’t get any, it makes all the difference in +the world. And so Jonathan knows that in +choosing his brook for that particular day, +he must have regard primarily to the arbutus +it will give us and only secondarily to the +trout.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Every one knows the kind of brook that is, +for every one knows the kind of country +arbutus loves—hilly country, with slopes +toward the north; bits of woodland, preferably +with pine in it, to give shade, but not too +deep shade; a scrub undergrowth of laurel +and huckleberry and bay; and always, somewhere +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page122">[pg 122]</span><a name="Pg122" id="Pg122" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +within sight or hearing, water. It is +curious how arbutus, which never grows in +wet places, yet seems to like the neighborhood +of water. It loves the slopes above a brook +or the shaggy hillsides overlooking a little +pond or river.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Fortunately, there is such a brook, in just +such country, on our list. There are not so +many trout as in other brooks, but enough to +justify our rods; and not so much arbutus as +I could find elsewhere, but enough—oh, +enough!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">To this brook we go. We tie Kit at the +bridge, Jonathan slings on a fish-basket, to do +for both, and I take a box or two for the +flowers. But from this moment on our interests +are somewhat at variance. The fact is, +Jonathan cares a little more about the trout +than about the arbutus, while I care a little +more about the arbutus than about the +trout. His eye is keenly on the brook, mine +is, yearningly, on the ragged hillsides that roll +up above it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan feels this. <span class="tei tei-q">“There isn’t any for +two fields yet—might as well stick to the +brook.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page123">[pg 123]</span><a name="Pg123" id="Pg123" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I know. I thought perhaps I’d go on +down and let you fish this part. Then I’d +meet you beyond the second fence—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, no, that won’t do at all. Why, there’s +a rock just below here—down by that wild +cherry—where I took out a beauty last +year, and left another. I want you to go +down and get him.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You get him. I don’t mind.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, but I mind. Here, I’ve got it all +planned: there’s a bit of brush-fishing just +below—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No brush-fishing for me, please!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That’s what I’m saying, if you’ll only +give me time. I’ll take that—there are +always two or three in there—and when +you’ve finished here you can go around me +and fish the bend, under the hemlocks, and +then the first arbutus is just beside that, and +I’ll join you there.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well”</span>—I assent grudgingly—<span class="tei tei-q">“only, +really, I’d be just as happy if you’d fish the +whole thing and let me go right on down—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, you wouldn’t. Now, remember to +sneak before you get to that rock. Drop in +six feet above it and let the current do the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page124">[pg 124]</span><a name="Pg124" id="Pg124" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +rest. They’re awfully shy. I expect you to +get at least one there, and two down at the +bend.”</span> He trudges off to his brush-fishing +and leaves me bound in honor to extract a +trout from under that rock. I deposit my +boxes in the meadow above it, and <span class="tei tei-q">“sneak”</span> +down. The sneak of a trout fisherman is like +no other form of locomotion, and I am convinced +that the human frame was not evolved +with it in mind. But I resort to it in deference +to Jonathan’s prejudices—in deference, +also, to the fact that when I do not the trout +seldom bite. And Jonathan is so trustfully +counting on my getting that trout!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I did get him. I dropped in my line, as per +directions, and let the current do the rest; +had the thrill of feeling the line suddenly +caught and drawn under the rock, held, then +wiggled slightly; I struck, felt the weight, +drew back steadily, and in a few moments +there was a flopping in the grass behind me.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So that was off my mind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I strung him on a twig of wild cherry, +gathered up my boxes, and wandered along +the faint path, back of the patch of brush +where, I knew, Jonathan was cheerfully +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page125">[pg 125]</span><a name="Pg125" id="Pg125" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +threading his line through tangles of twig, +briar, and vine, compared with which the +needle’s eye is as a yawning barn door. +Jonathan’s attitude toward brush-fishing is +something which I respect without understanding. +Down one long field I went, where +the brook ran in shallow gayety, and there, +ahead, was the bend, a sudden curve of +water, deepening under the roots of an overhanging +hemlock. I climbed the stone wall +beside, glanced at the water—very trouty +water indeed—glanced at the hill-pasture +above—very arbutusy indeed—laid down +my rod and my trout and my box, and ran +up the low bank to a clump of bay and berry-bushes +that I thought I remembered.… +Yes! There it was! I had remembered! Ah! +The dear things!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When you first find arbutus, there is only +one thing to do:—lie right down beside it. +Its fragrance as it grows is different from +what it is after it is picked, because with the +sweetness of the blossoms is mingled the good +smell of the earth and of the woody twigs and +of the dried grass and leaves. And there are +other rewards one gets by lying down. It is +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page126">[pg 126]</span><a name="Pg126" id="Pg126" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +all very well to talk proudly about man’s +walking with his head erect and his face to +the heavens, but if we keep that posture all +the time we miss a good deal. The attitude +of the toad and the lizard is not to be scorned, +though when the needs of locomotion convert +it into the fisherman’s <span class="tei tei-q">“sneak,”</span> it is, as I +have suggested, to be sparingly indulged in. +But if we could only nibble now and then +from <span class="tei tei-q">“the other side”</span> of Alice’s mushroom, +what a new outlook we should get on the +world that now lies about our feet! What +new aspects of its beauty would be revealed +to us: the forest grandeurs of the grass, the +architecture of its slim shafts with their pillared +aisles and pointed arches of interlocking +and upspringing curves, their ceiling traceries +of spraying tops against a far-away background +of sky!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">To know arbutus, you must stoop to its +level, and look across the fine, frosty fur of +its stiff little leaves, and feel the nestle of its +stems to the ground, the little up-fling of their +tips toward the sun, and the neat radiance +of its flower clusters, with their blessed +fragrance and their pure, babyish color.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page127">[pg 127]</span><a name="Pg127" id="Pg127" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But after that? You want to pick it. Yes, +you really want to pick it!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In this it is different from other flowers. +Most of them I am well content to leave +where they grow. In fact, the love of picking +things—flowers or anything else—is a +youthful taste: we lose it as we grow older; +we become more and more willing to appreciate +without acquiring, or rather, appreciation +becomes to us a finer and more spiritual +form of acquiring. Is it possible that, after all, +the old idea of heaven as a state of enraptured +contemplation is in harmony with the trend +of our development?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But if there is arbutus in heaven, I shall +need to develop a good deal further not to +want to pick it. It suggests picking; it +almost invites it. There is something about +the way it nestles and hides, that makes you +want to see it better. Here is a spray of pure +white, living under a green tent of overlapping +leaves; one must raise it, and nip off just one +leaf, so that the blossoms can see out. There +is another, a pink cluster, showing faintly +through the dry, matted grass. You feel for +the stem, pull it gently, and, lo, it is many +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page128">[pg 128]</span><a name="Pg128" id="Pg128" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +stems, which have crept their way under the +tangle, and every one is tipped with a cluster +of stars or round little buds each on its long +stem, fairly begging to be picked. It gets +picked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Yet sometimes its very beauty has stayed +my hand. I shall never forget one clump I +found, growing out of a bank of deep green +moss, partly shaded by a great hemlock. The +soft pink blossoms—luxuriant leafy sprays of +them—were lying out on the moss in a pagan +carelessness of beauty, as though some +god had willed it there for his pleasure. I sat +beside it a long time, and in the end I left it +without picking it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On this particular day, Jonathan being +still lost in the brush patch, I had risen +from my visit with the first-discovered blossoms +and wandered on, from clump to clump, +wherever the glimpse of a leaf attracted me, +picking the choicest here and there and +dropping them into my box. After I do not +know how long, I was roused by Jonathan’s +whistle. I was some distance up the hillside +by this time, and he was beside the brook, at +the bend.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page129">[pg 129]</span><a name="Pg129" id="Pg129" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What luck?”</span> he called.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good luck! I’ve found lots. Come up!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He took a few steps up toward me, so that +conversation could drop from shouting to +speaking levels. <span class="tei tei-q">“How many did you get?”</span> +he asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How many?… Oh … why … Oh, I +got one up there where you showed me—under +the rock, you know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good one?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eight inches. He’s down there by the +bars.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good! And what about the bend?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The bend? Oh, I didn’t fish there—look +at these! Aren’t they beauties?”</span> I +came down the hill to hold my open box up +to his face. But my casual word almost +effaced the scent of the flowers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Ah—yes—delicious—didn’t fish +there? Why not? Did they see you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who? The trout? I don’t know. But I +saw this. And I just had to pick it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well! You’re a great fisherman! And with +that water right there beside you! Lord!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“With the arbutus right here beside me! +Lord!”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page130">[pg 130]</span><a name="Pg130" id="Pg130" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But the arbutus would wait.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But the trout would wait. They’re waiting +for you now, don’t you hear them? Go +and fish there!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. That’s your pool.”</span> Jonathan has a +way of bestowing a trout-pool on me as if it +were a bouquet. To refuse its opportunities +is almost like throwing his flowers back in his +face.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—of course it’s a beautiful pool—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Best on the brook,”</span> murmured Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But, truly, I’d enjoy it just as much to +have you fish it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nobody can fish it now for a while. I +thought you’d be there, of course, and I came +stamping along down, close by the bank. +They wouldn’t bite now—not for half an +hour, anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then, that’s just right. We’ll go on +up the hillside for half an hour, and then come +back and fish it. Set your rod up against the +bayberry here, and come along—look there! +you’re almost stepping on some!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan, gradually adjusting himself to +the turn of things, stood his rod up against +the bush with the meticulous care of the true +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page131">[pg 131]</span><a name="Pg131" id="Pg131" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +sportsman. <span class="tei tei-q">“Where did you leave yours?”</span> +he asked, with a suspiciousness born of a +deep knowledge of my character.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, down by the bars.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Standing up or lying down?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Lying down, I think. It’s all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s not all right if it’s lying down. Anything +might trample on it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“For instance, what?—birds or crickets?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“For instance, people or cows.”</span> He strode +down the hill, and I saw him stoop. As he +returned I could read disapproval in his gait. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Will you never learn how to treat a rod! +It was lying just beyond the bars. I must +have landed within two feet of it when I +jumped over.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’m sorry. I meant to go back. I know +perfectly how to treat a rod. My trouble +comes in knowing when to apply my knowledge.… +Well, let’s go up there. Near those +big hemlocks there’s some, I remember.”</span> +And we wandered on, separating a little to +scan the ground more widely.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Once having pried his mind away from the +trout, Jonathan was as keen for arbutus as I +could wish, and soon I heard an exclamation, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page132">[pg 132]</span><a name="Pg132" id="Pg132" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and saw him kneel. <span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, come over!”</span> he +called; <span class="tei tei-q">“you really ought to see this growing!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But there’s some I want, right here, +that’s lovely—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Never mind. Come and see this—oh, +come!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Of course I come, and of course I am glad I +came, and of course soon I am obliged to call +Jonathan to see some I have found—<span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, +it is truly the loveliest +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">yet!</span></span> It’s the +way it grows—with the moss and all—please +come!”</span> And of course he comes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We had been on the hillside a long half-hour, +much nearer an hour, when Jonathan +began to grow restive. <span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t you think you +have enough?”</span> he suggested several times. +Finally, he spoke plainly of the trout.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, yes, of course,”</span> I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“you go down +and I’ll follow just as soon as I’ve gone along +that upper path.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Not at all. That was not what was wanted. +So I turned and we went down the hill, back +to the bend, whose seductions I had been so +puzzlingly able to resist. I am sure Jonathan +has never yet quite understood how I could +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page133">[pg 133]</span><a name="Pg133" id="Pg133" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +leave that bit of water at my left hand and +turn away to the right.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now—sneak!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We sneaked, and I sank down just back of +the edge of the bank. Jonathan crouched +some feet behind, coaching me:—<span class="tei tei-q">“Now—draw +out a little more line—not too much—there—and +have some slack in your hand. +Now, up-stream fifteen feet—allow for the +wind—wait till that gust passes—now! +Good! First-rate! Now let her drift—there—what +did I tell you? Give him line! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Give</span></span> him +line! Now, feel of him—careful! You’ll +know when to strike … there!… Oh! too +bad!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For as I struck, my line held fast.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Snagged, by gummy! Can’t you pull +clear?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not without stirring up the whole pool. +You’ll have to do the fishing, after all.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">too</span></span> +bad! That’s hard luck!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not a bit. I like to watch you do it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so indeed I did. Once having realized +that I was temporarily laid by, Jonathan put +his whole mind on the pool, while I, being +honorably released from all responsibility, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page134">[pg 134]</span><a name="Pg134" id="Pg134" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +except that of keeping my line taut, could +put my whole mind on his performance. +There is a little the same sort of pleasure in +watching the skillful handling of a rod that +there is in watching the bow-action of a +violinist. Both things demand the utmost +nicety of adjustment: body, arm, wrist, fingers +uniting in an interplay of efficiency exactly +adapted to the intricately shifting needs +of each moment.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Thus I watched, through the typical stages +of the sport: the delicate flip of the bait into +the current at just the right spot; its swift +descent, imperceptibly guided by the rod’s +quivering tip; its slower drift toward deep +water; its sudden vanishing, and the whir of +the reel as the line goes out; then the pause, +the critical moments of <span class="tei tei-q">“feeling for him”</span>; at +last the strike … and then, a flopping in the +grass behind me, and Jonathan crawling +back to kill and unhook him.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t get up. There’s probably another +one,”</span> he said; and soon, by the same reptilian +methods, was back for another try. There +was another one, and yet another, and then a +little fellow, barely hooked. <span class="tei tei-q">“That’s all,”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page135">[pg 135]</span><a name="Pg135" id="Pg135" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +said Jonathan, as he rose to put him back into +the pool, and we watched the pretty spotted +creature fling himself upstream with a wild +flourish of his gleaming body.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now I’ll get you clear,”</span> said Jonathan, +wading out into the water, and, with sleeves +rolled high, feeling deep, deep down under +the opposite bank. <span class="tei tei-q">“He had you all right—it’s +wound round a root and then jabbed +deep into it … hard luck! I wanted you to +get those fellows!”</span> And to this day I am sure +he remembers those trout with a tinge of +regret.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I had intended leaving him to fish the rest +of the brook, while I went back to that upper +path to look up two or three special arbutus +clumps that I knew, but seeing his depression +over the snag incident, I could not suggest +this. Instead I followed the stream with him, +accepting his urgent offer of all the best pools, +while he, taking what was left, drew out perfectly +good trout from the most unhopeful-looking +bits of water. And at the end, there +was time to return along the upper path and +visit my old friends, so both of us were satisfied.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page136">[pg 136]</span><a name="Pg136" id="Pg136" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On such days, however, there is always one +person who is not satisfied, and that is, Kit +the horse. Kit has borne with our vagaries +for many years, but she has never come to +understand them. She never fails to greet +our return, as our voices come within the +range of her pricked-up ears, by a prolonged +and reproachful whinny, which says as plainly +as is necessary, <span class="tei tei-q">“Back? Well—I should +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">think</span></span> it was time! +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">I should think it was +TIME!</span></span>”</span> Now and then we have thought it +would be pleasant to have a little motor-car +that could be tucked away at any roadside, +without reference to a good hitching-place, +but if we had it, I am sure we should miss that +ungracious welcoming whinny. We should +miss, too, the exasperated violence of Kit’s +pace on the first bit of the home road—a +violence expressing in the most ostentatious +manner her opinion of folks who keep a respectable +horse hitched by the roadside, far +from the delights of the dim, sweet stable +and the dusty, sneezy, munchy hay.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But leaving out this little matter of Kit’s +preference, and also the other little matter of +the trout’s preference, I feel sure that an arbutus-trouting +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page137">[pg 137]</span><a name="Pg137" id="Pg137" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +is peculiarly satisfying. It meets +every human need—the need of food and +beauty, the need of feeling strong and skillful, +the need of becoming deeply aware of +nature as living and kind. Moreover, it is +very satisfying afterwards. As we sat that +evening, over a late supper, with a shallow +dish of arbutus beside us, I remarked, <span class="tei tei-q">“The +advantage of getting arbutus is, that you +bring the whole day home with you and +have it at your elbow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The advantage of getting trout,”</span> remarked +Jonathan dreamily, as if to himself, +<span class="tei tei-q">“is, that you bring your whole day home +with you, and have it for breakfast.”</span></p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter07" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page138">[pg 138]</span><a name="Pg138" id="Pg138" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc14" id="toc14"></a> +<a name="pdf15" id="pdf15"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">VII</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Without the Time of Day</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, did you ever live without a +clock,—whole days, I mean,—days and +days—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“When I was a boy—most of the time, I +suppose. But the family didn’t like it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course. But did you like it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, I liked it all. I seem to remember +getting pretty hungry sometimes, but it’s all +rather good as I look back on it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s do it!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. Society is an enlarged family, and +wouldn’t like it. But this summer, when +we camp.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How do you know we’re going to camp?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The things we know best we don’t always +know how we know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, then,—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">if</span></span> +we camp—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">When</span></span> +we camp—let’s live without a +watch.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You’d need one to get there.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page139">[pg 139]</span><a name="Pg139" id="Pg139" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Take one, and let it run down.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As it turned out, my <span class="tei tei-q">“when”</span> was truer +than Jonathan’s <span class="tei tei-q">“if.”</span> We did camp. We +did, however, use watches to get there: when +we expressed our baggage, when we sent our +canoe, when we took the trolley car and the +train; and the watch was still going as our +laden craft nosed gently against the bank of +the river-island that was to be our home for +two weeks. It was late afternoon, and the +shadows of the steep woods on the western +bank had already turned the rocks in midstream +from silver to gray, and dimmed the +brightness of the swift water, almost to the +eastern shore.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will there be time to get settled before +dark?”</span> I asked, as we stepped out into the +shallow water and drew up the canoe to unload.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shall I look at my watch to see?”</span> asked +Jonathan, with a note of amiable derision in +his voice.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">should</span></span> +rather like to know what +time it is. We won’t begin till to-morrow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You mean, we won’t begin to stop watching. +All right. It’s just seventeen and a half +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page140">[pg 140]</span><a name="Pg140" id="Pg140" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +minutes after five. I’ll give you the seconds +if you like.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Minutes will do nicely, thank you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Lots of time. You collect firewood while +I get the tent ready. Then it’ll need us both +to set it up.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We worked busily, happily. Ah! The joyous +elation of the first night in camp! Is +there anything like it? With days and days +ahead, and not even one counted off the +shining number! All the good things of +childhood and maturity seem pressed into +one mood of flawless, abounding happiness.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By dark the tent was up, the baggage +stowed, the canoe secured, the fire glowing +in a bed of embers, and we sat beside it, looking +out past the glooms of the hemlocks +across the moonlit river,—sat and ate city-cooked +chicken and sandwiches and drank +thermos-bottled tea.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“To-morrow we’ll cook,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“To-night +it’s rather nice not to have to. Look at +the moonlight on that rock! How black it +makes the eddy below!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good bass under there,”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll get some to-morrow.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page141">[pg 141]</span><a name="Pg141" id="Pg141" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Maybe.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, of course, it’s always maybe, with +bass. Well—I’m done—and it’s quarter to +ten—late! Oh! Excuse me! Maybe you’d +rather I hadn’t told you. By the way, do I +wind my watch to-night or not?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not it is, then. Sure you wouldn’t rather +have it wound, though? We can leave it +hanging in the tent. It won’t break loose and +bite you.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, it would. There would be a something—a +taint—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">all</span></span> right!”</span></p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We slept with the murmur of the river +running through our dreams,—a murmur of +many voices: deep voices, high voices, grumbling +voices as the stones go grinding and rolling +along the ever-changing bottom,—and +only half roused when the dawn chorus of +the birds filled the air. That dawn chorus was +something we should have been loath to miss. +Through the first gray of the morning there +comes a stir in the woods, an expectant +tremor; a bird peeps softly and is still; then +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page142">[pg 142]</span><a name="Pg142" id="Pg142" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +another, and another, <span class="tei tei-q">“softly conferring together.”</span> +As the light grows warmer, comes a +clearer note from some leader, then a full, +complete song; another, and the woods are +awake, flinging out their wonderful song-greeting +to the morning. There is in it a prodigality +of swift-changing beauty like ocean +surf: a continuous and intricate interweaving +of rhythms, pulses and ebbings of clear tone, +beautiful phrases rising antiphonal, showerings +of bright notes, moments of subsidence, +almost of pause. As the light grows and +sharpens, the music reaches a crescendo of +exuberance, and at last dies down as real day +comes, bringing with it the day’s work. On +our island the leader of the chorus was almost +always a song sparrow, though once or +twice a wood thrush came over from the shore +woods and filled the hemlock shadows with +the limpid splendors of his song.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Hearing the chorus through our dreams, +we slept again, and when I really waked the +sun was high, flecking the eastern V of our +tent with dazzling patches. I heard Jonathan +moving about outside, and the crackling of +a new-made fire. I went to the front of the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page143">[pg 143]</span><a name="Pg143" id="Pg143" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +tent and looked out. Yes, there they were, +the fire and Jonathan, in a quiet space of +shade where the early coolness still hung. +Beyond them, half shut out from view by +the low-spreading hemlock boughs, was the +open river—such gayety of swift water! +Such dazzle of midsummer morning! I drew +back, eager to be out in it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bacon and eggs, is it?”</span> called Jonathan, +<span class="tei tei-q">“or shall I run down and try for a bass?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t!”</span> I called. I knew that if he once +got out after bass he was lost to me for the +day. And now we had cut loose from even +the mild tyranny of his watch. As I thought +of this I went over to the many-forked tree, +whose close-trimmed branches served our tent +as hat-rack, clothes-rack, everything-that-can-hang-or-perch-rack, +and opened Jonathan’s +watch.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, what time is it?”</span> Jonathan was +peering in between the tent-flaps.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Twenty-two minutes before five.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“A.M., I judge. Sorry you didn’t let me +wind it?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not a bit. I was just curious to see when +it stopped, that was all.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page144">[pg 144]</span><a name="Pg144" id="Pg144" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, now you know. Hereafter the official +time for the camp is +<span class="tei tei-reg"><a name="E1" id="E1" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e1" class="tei tei-ref">4:38</a></span>—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">A.M.</span></span> +or <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">P.M.</span></span>, +according to taste. Come along. The bacon’s +done, and I’m blest if I want to drop in the +eggs.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Dropping an egg will never, I fear, be one +of Jonathan’s most finished performances. +He watched me do it with generous admiration. +<span class="tei tei-q">“If you could just get over being +scared of them,”</span> I suggested, as the last one +plumped into the pan and set up its gentle +sizzle.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No use. I <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">am</span></span> +scared of the things. I tap +and tap, and nothing happens, and then I +get mad and tap hard, and they’re all over +the place.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By the time breakfast was over, even the +coolness under the hemlocks was beginning to +grow warm and aromatic. The birds in the +shore woods were quieter, though out at the +sunny end of our island, where the hemlocks +gave place to low scrub growth, the song +sparrow sang gayly now and then.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“what about fishing?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—let’s fish!”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page145">[pg 145]</span><a name="Pg145" id="Pg145" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“One up stream and one down, or keep together?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Together,”</span> I decided. <span class="tei tei-q">“If we go two +ways there’s no telling when I’ll ever see +you again.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, there is: when I’m hungry.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No; some time after you’ve noticed +you’re hungry.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, if we had watches it would be so +much simpler: we could meet here at, say, +one o’clock.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Simple, indeed! When did you ever look +at a watch when you were fishing, unless I +made you? No, my way is simple, but we +stay together.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Of course, in river fishing, <span class="tei tei-q">“together”</span> means +simply not absolutely out of sight of each +other. Jonathan may be up to his arm-pits in +mid-current, or marooned on a rock above a +swirling eddy, while I am in a similar situation +beyond calling distance, but so long as a +bend in the river does not cut us off, we are +<span class="tei tei-q">“together,”</span> and very companionable togetherness +it is, too. When I see Jonathan wildly +waving to attract my attention, I know he +has either just caught a big bass or else just +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page146">[pg 146]</span><a name="Pg146" id="Pg146" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +lost one, and this gives me something to smile +over as I wonder which it is. After a time, if +I am catching shiners and no bass, and Jonathan +doesn’t seem to be moving, I infer that +his luck is better than mine, and drift along +toward him. Or it may be the other way +around, and he comes to look me up. Bass +are the most uncertain of fish, and no one +can predict when they will elect to bite, or +where. Sometimes they are in the still water, +deep or shallow according to their caprice; +sometimes they hang on the edges of the +rapids; sometimes they are in the dark, +smooth eddies below the great boulders; +sometimes in the clear depths around the +rocks near shore. Each day afresh,—indeed, +each morning and each afternoon,—the +fisherman must try, and try, and try, until +he discovers what their choice has been for +that special time. Yet no fisherman who has +once drawn out a good bass from a certain +bit of water can help feeling, next time, that +there is another waiting for him there. That +is one of the reasons why he is always hopeful, +and so always happy. The fish he has caught, +at this well-remembered spot and that, rise +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page147">[pg 147]</span><a name="Pg147" id="Pg147" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +up out of the past and flick their tails at him; +and all the stretches between—stretches of +water that have never for him held anything +but shiners, stretches of time diversified by +not even a nibble—sink into pleasant insignificance.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We banked our fire, stowed everything in +the tent that a thunderstorm would hurt, +and splashed out into the river. There it lay +in all its bright, swift beauty, and we stood +a moment, looking, feeling the push of the +water about our knees and the warmth of the +sun on our shoulders.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It makes a difference, sleeping out in it +all,”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“You feel as if it belonged to +you so much more. I quite own the river this +morning, don’t you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Quite. But not the bass in it. Bet you +don’t catch one!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bet I beat you!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Bass, mind you. Sunfish don’t count. +You’re always catching sunfish.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They count in the pan. But I’ll beat you +on bass. I know some places—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who doesn’t? All right, go ahead!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We were off; Jonathan, as usual, wading +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page148">[pg 148]</span><a name="Pg148" id="Pg148" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +up to his chest or perched on a bit of boulder +above some dark, slick rapid; I preferring +water not more than waist-deep, and not too +far from shore to miss the responses of the +wood-folk to my passing: soft flurries of +wings; shy, half-suppressed peepings; quick +warning notes; light footfalls, hopping or +running or galloping; the snapping of twigs +and the crushing of leaves. Some sounds tell +me who the creature is,—the warning of the +blue jay, the whirr of the big ruffed grouse, +the thud of the bounding rabbit,—but many +others leave me guessing, which is almost +better. When a very big stick snaps, I always +feel sure a deer is stealing away, though Jonathan +assures me that a chewink can break +twigs and <span class="tei tei-q">“kick up a row generally,”</span> so that +you’d swear it was nothing smaller than a +wild bull.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So we fished that day. When I caught a +bass, which was seldom, I whooped and +waved it at Jonathan, and when I caught a +shiner, which was rather often, I waved it +too, just to keep his mind occupied. Hours +passed, and we met at a bend in the river +where the deep water glides close to shore.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page149">[pg 149]</span><a name="Pg149" id="Pg149" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hungry?”</span> I asked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now you speak of it, yes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Shall we go back?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How can I tell? Now, if we only had that +watch we’d know whether we ought to be +hungry or not.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What does that matter, if we +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">are</span></span> hungry? +Besides, if you’d had a watch, you’d have +had to carry it in your teeth. You know perfectly +well you wouldn’t have brought it, +anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—then, at least when we got back, +we should have known whether we ought to +have been hungry or not. Now we shall never +know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Never! Oh! Look there, Jonathan! +We’re going to catch it!”</span> A sense of growing +shadow in the air had made me look up, and +there, back of the steep-rising woods, hung a +blue-black cloud, with ragged edges crawling +out into the brightness of the sky.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sure enough! The bass’ll bite now, if it +really comes. Wait till the first drops, and +see what you see.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We had not long to wait. There came that +sudden expectancy in the air and the trees, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page150">[pg 150]</span><a name="Pg150" id="Pg150" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the strange pallor in the light, the chill sweep +of wind gusts with warm pauses between. +Then a few big drops splashed on the dusty, +sun-baked stones about us.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now! Wade right out there, to the edge +of that ledge—don’t slip over, it’s deep. +I’ll go down a little way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I waded out carefully, and cast, in the +smooth, dark water already beginning to be +rain-pocked. It was surprisingly shivery, that +storm wind! I glanced toward shore to look +for shelter—I remembered an overhanging +ledge of rock—then my line went taut! I +forgot about shelter, forgot about being +chilly; I knew it was a good bass.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I got him in—too big to go through the +hole in my creel—cast for another—and +another—and yet another. The rain began +to fall in sheets, and the wind nearly blew me +over, but who could run away from such +fishing? The surface of the river, deep blue-gray, +seemed rising everywhere in little jets +to meet the rain. Rapids, eddies, still waters, +weedy edges, all looked alike; there were +neither waves nor swirls nor glassy slicks, +but all were roughly furry under the multitudinous +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page151">[pg 151]</span><a name="Pg151" id="Pg151" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +assaults of the fierce rain-drops. +The sky was mottled lead-color, the wind +blew less strongly, but cold—cold. And +under that water the bass were biting, my rod +was bending double, my reel softly screaming +as I gave line, and one after another I drew +the fish alongside and dipped them out with +my landing net.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then, as suddenly as they had begun, they +stopped biting. I waited long minutes; +nothing happened, and all at once I realized +that I was very wet and very cold. Wading +ashore, I saw Jonathan shivering along up +the narrow beach toward me, his shoulders +drawn in to half their natural spread, neck +tucked in between his collar-bones, knees +slightly bent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You can’t be cold?”</span> I questioned as soon +as he was near enough to hear me through +the slash of the rain and wind.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, of course not; are you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We didn’t discuss it, but ran up the bank +to the rock-ledge and crouched under it, our +teeth literally chattering.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Did you ever see such fishing?”</span> I managed +to stammer.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page152">[pg 152]</span><a name="Pg152" id="Pg152" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Great! But oh, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">why</span></span> +didn’t I bring the whiskey bottle?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s run for camp! We can’t be wetter.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We crawled out into the rain again, and +first sprinted and then dog-trotted along the +river edge. No bird notes now in the woods +beside us, no whirring of wings; only the rain +sounds: soft swishings and drippings and +gusty showerings, very different from the +flat, flicking sounds when rain first starts in +dry woods.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Camp looked a little cheerless, but a blazing +fire, started with dry stuff we had stowed +inside the tent, changed things, and dry +clothes changed them still more, and we sat +within the tent flaps and ate ginger-snaps in +great contentment of spirit while we waited +for the rain to stop.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It did stop, and very soon the fish were +sizzling in the pan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course, if we had a watch, now—”</span> +suggested Jonathan, as he carefully tucked +under the pan little sticks of just the right +length.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What should we know more than we do +now—that we’re hungry?”</span> I asked.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page153">[pg 153]</span><a name="Pg153" id="Pg153" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, for one thing, we’d know what +time it is,”</span> replied Jonathan tranquilly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And for another we’d know whether it’s +dinner or supper I’m cooking,”</span> I supplemented. +<span class="tei tei-q">“But does it matter? You won’t get +anything different, no matter which it is—just +fish is what you’ll get. And pretty soon +the sun will be out, and you can set up a +stick and watch the shadow and make a sundial +for yourself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I don’t really care which it is.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you suppose I don’t know that! And +meanwhile, you might cut the bread and +make some toast,—there are some good +embers on your side under the pan,—and +I’ll get the butter, and there we’ll be.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">By the time the toast was made and the +fish curling brownly away from the pan, the +sun had indeed come out, at first pale and +watery, then clear, and still high enough in +the heavens to set the soaked earth steaming +fragrantly with its heat. Odors of hemlock +and wet earth mingled with odors of toast +and fried fish.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Um-m! Smell it all!”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“What a lot +we should miss if we didn’t eat in the kitchen!”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page154">[pg 154]</span><a name="Pg154" id="Pg154" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or cook in the dining-room—which?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And hear that song sparrow! Doesn’t it +sound as if the rain had washed his song a +little cleaner and clearer?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">There followed the wonderful afterlight +that a short, drenching rain leaves behind it—a +hush of light, deeply pervasive and +friendly. The sunshine slanted across the +gleaming wet rocks in the river, lit up the +rain-darkened trunks of the hemlocks, glinted +on the low-hanging leaves, and flashed through +the dripping edges of sagging fern fronds. As +twilight came on, we canoed across to the side +of the river where the road lay—the other side +was steep and pathless woods—and walked +down to the nearest farmhouse to buy eggs for +the morning. Back again by the light of a +low-hung moon, and across the dim water to +our own island and the embers of our fire.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, Jonathan! We never asked them +what time it was!”</span> I said. <span class="tei tei-q">“I meant to—for +your sake—I thought you’d sleep better if +you knew.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Too bad! Probably I should have. I +thought of it, of course, but was afraid that +if I asked it would spoil your day.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page155">[pg 155]</span><a name="Pg155" id="Pg155" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It would take something pretty bad to +spoil a day like this one,”</span> I said.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Two days later the weather turned still and +warm, the bass refused to bite, and even the +sunfish lay, shy or wary or indifferent, in +their shallow, sunny pools, so we resolved to +walk down the river to the post-office, four +miles away, for possible mail. As we sat on +the steps of the little store, looking it over,—<span class="tei tei-q">“Here’s +news,”</span> said Jonathan; <span class="tei tei-q">“Jack and +Molly say they’ll run up if we want them, +day after to-morrow—up on the morning +train, and back on the evening.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good! Tell them to come along.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No—it’s to-morrow—letter’s been here +since yesterday. I’ll telegraph.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As we tramped home we planned the day. +<span class="tei tei-q">“We’ll meet them and all walk up together,”</span> +said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We’d better catch some bass and leave +them all hooked in a pool, ready for them to +pull out,”</span> I added; <span class="tei tei-q">“otherwise they may not +catch any. And maybe you’d better meet +them and I’ll have dinner ready when you +get back.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page156">[pg 156]</span><a name="Pg156" id="Pg156" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Nonsense! You come, and we’ll all get +dinner when we get back. That’s what +they’re coming for—to see the whole thing.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But if it’s late—they’ve got to get back +for that down train.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—time enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, Jonathan! What about catching that +train?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They’ll have watches—watches that +go.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But what about our meeting them? The +train arrives at +<span class="tei tei-reg"><a name="E2" id="E2" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e2" class="tei tei-ref">10:15</a></span>, +they said. What does +<span class="tei tei-reg"><a name="E3" id="E3" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e3" class="tei tei-ref">10:15</a></span> +look like in the sky, I wonder!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or rather, what does 8.45 look like? It +takes an hour and a half to get there, counting +crossing the river.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes—dear me! Well, Jonathan, we’ll +just have to get up early and go, and then +wait.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or else take our watch to the farmhouse +and set it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, I will not! I’d rather start at +daylight.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Which was very nearly what we did. The +morning opened with a sun obscured, and I +felt sure it was stealing a march on us and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page157">[pg 157]</span><a name="Pg157" id="Pg157" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +would suddenly burst out upon us from a +noonday sky. We breakfasted hastily, ferried +across to shore, and set a swinging pace down +the road. As we walked, the sun burned +through the mist, and our shadows came out, +dim, long things, striding with the exaggerated +gait that shadows have, over the grassy +banks to our right.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I think,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“it may be as +late as seven o’clock, but perhaps it’s only +six.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When we reached the station, the official +clock registered 8.30. We strolled over to the +store-and-post-office and got more letters—one +from Molly and Jack saying thank you +they’d come. <span class="tei tei-q">“They don’t entirely understand +our mail system up here,”</span> said Jonathan. +We got some ginger-cookies and some +milk and had a second breakfast, and finally +wandered back to the station to wait for the +train. It came, bearing the expected two, +and much friendliness. <span class="tei tei-q">“Get our letter? +There, Jack! He said you wouldn’t, but I +said you would. I made him send it … four +miles to walk? What fun!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was fun, indeed, and all went well until +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page158">[pg 158]</span><a name="Pg158" id="Pg158" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +after dinner, when Jack—saying, <span class="tei tei-q">“Well, +maybe we’d better be starting back for that +train”</span>—drew out his watch. He opened it, +muttered something, put it to his ear, then +began to wind it rapidly. He wound and +wound. We all laughed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Looks as if you hadn’t remembered to +wind it last night,”</span> said Jonathan, glancing +at me.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I haven’t done that in months, hang it! +Give me the time, will you, Jonathan?”</span> said +Jack.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sorry!”</span> Jonathan was smiling genially. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Mine’s run down too. It stopped at +twenty-two minutes before +five—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">A. M.</span></span>, I +think.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What luck! And Molly didn’t bring +hers.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You told me not to,”</span> Molly flicked in.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So here we are,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“entirely +without the time of day.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But plenty of real time all round us,”</span> I +said. <span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s use it, and start.”</span> I avoided +Jonathan’s eye.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We reached the station with an hour and +ten minutes to spare—bought more ginger-cookies +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page159">[pg 159]</span><a name="Pg159" id="Pg159" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and more milk. As we sat eating +them in the midst of the preternatural calm +that marks a country railroad station outside +of train times, Molly remarked brightly,—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I don’t see but we got on just as +well without a watch, didn’t we, Jack? Why +do we need watches, anyway? Do +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">you</span></span> see?”</span> +she turned to us. <span class="tei tei-q">“Jack does everything by +his watch—eats and breathes and sleeps by +it—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jack returned, watch in hand—he had +been getting railroad time from the telegraph +operator. <span class="tei tei-q">“Want to set yours while you +think of it?”</span> he asked Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sorry—thank you—didn’t bring it,”</span> +said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“By George, man, what’ll you do?”</span> Real +consternation sounded in Jack’s tones.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, we’ll get along somehow,”</span> said Jonathan. +<span class="tei tei-q">“You see, we don’t have many engagements, +except with the bass, and they +never meet theirs, anyhow.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When the train had gone, I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, +why didn’t you tell them it was my +whim?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I just didn’t,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page160">[pg 160]</span><a name="Pg160" id="Pg160" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As Jonathan had predicted, we did get +along somehow—got along rather well, on +the whole. There are, of course, some drawbacks +to an unwatched life. You never want +to start the next meal till you are hungry, +and after that it takes one or two or three +hours, as the case may be, to go back to +camp and get the meal ready, and by that +time you are almost hungrier than you like +being. But except for this, and the little +matter of meeting trains, it is rather pleasant +to break away from the habit of watching the +watch, and it was with real regret that, on the +last night of our camp, we took our watch +to the farmhouse to set it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Run down, did it? Guess you forgot to +wind it. Well—we do forget things sometimes, +all of us do,”</span> the farmer’s wife said +comfortingly as she went to look at the clock. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Twenty minutes to seven, our clock says. +It’s apt to be fast, so I guess you won’t miss +any trains. Father he says he’d rather have +a clock fast than slow any day, but it don’t +often get more than ten minutes wrong either +way.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And to us, after our two weeks of camp, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page161">[pg 161]</span><a name="Pg161" id="Pg161" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +ten minutes’ error in a clock seemed indeed +slight.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan,”</span> I said, as we walked back +along the road, <span class="tei tei-q">“I hate to go back to clock +time. I like real time better.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You couldn’t do so many things in a +day,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No—maybe not.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But maybe that wouldn’t matter.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Maybe it wouldn’t,”</span> I said.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter08" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page162">[pg 162]</span><a name="Pg162" id="Pg162" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc16" id="toc16"></a> +<a name="pdf17" id="pdf17"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">VIII</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">The Ways of Griselda</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course you don’t know what her name +is,”</span> I said, as we stood examining the sleek +little black mare Jonathan had just brought +up from the city.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. Forgot to ask. Don’t believe they’d +have known anyway—one of a hundred or +so.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, we’ll name her again. Dear me—she’s +rather plain! Probably she’s useful.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hope so,”</span> said Jonathan. Then, stepping +back a little, in a slightly grieved tone, <span class="tei tei-q">“But +I don’t call her plain. Wait till she’s groomed +up—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It’s that droop of her neck—sort of patient—and +the way she drops one of her +hips—if they are hips.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But we want a horse to be patient.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. I don’t know that I care about having +her <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">look</span></span> so terribly much so as this. I +think I’ll call her Griselda.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page163">[pg 163]</span><a name="Pg163" id="Pg163" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, why Griselda?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, don’t you know? She was that +patient creature, with the horrid husband +who had to keep trying to see just how patient +she was. It’s a hateful story—enough +to turn any one who brooded on it into a militant +suffragette.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But you can’t call a horse Griselda—not +for common stable use, you know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Call her <span class="tei tei-q">‘Griz’</span> for short. It does very +well.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan jeered a little, but in the family +the name held. Our man Hiram said nothing, +but I think in private he called her +<span class="tei tei-q">“Fan”</span> or <span class="tei tei-q">“Beauty”</span> or <span class="tei tei-q">“Lady,”</span> or some +such regulation stable name.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Called by any name, she pleased us, and +she <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">was</span></span> patient. She trotted peacefully up +hill and down, she did her best at ploughing +and haymaking and all the odd jobs that the +farm supplied. She stood when we left her, +with that same demure, almost overdone +droop of the neck that I had first noticed. +When I met Jonathan at the station, she +stood with her nose against a snorting train, +looking as if nothing could rouse her.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page164">[pg 164]</span><a name="Pg164" id="Pg164" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good little horse you got there,”</span> remarked +the station agent. <span class="tei tei-q">“Where’d you +find her?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I picked her out of a bunch down in +the city,”</span> said Jonathan casually. <span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t +think I knew much about horses, but I guess +I was in luck this time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Guess you know more about horses than +you’re sayin’.”</span> And Jonathan, thus pressed, +admitted with suitable reluctance that he +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">had</span></span> now and then been able to detect a good +horse by his own observation.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On the way home he openly congratulated +himself on his find. <span class="tei tei-q">“I really wasn’t +sure I knew how to pick out a horse,”</span> he remarked, +in a glow of retrospective modesty, +<span class="tei tei-q">“but I certainly got a treasure this time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Griz had been with us about two weeks, +and all went well. Then another horse was +needed for farm work, and one was sent up—one +Kit by name—a big, pleasant, rather +stupid brown mare.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“They do say two mares don’t git on so +well together as a mare ’n a horse,”</span> remarked +Hiram.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But these are both such quiet creatures,”</span> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page165">[pg 165]</span><a name="Pg165" id="Pg165" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +I protested, to which Hiram made no answer. +Hiram seldom made an answer unless +fairly cornered into it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For two or three days after the new arrival +nothing happened, so far as we knew, +except that Griz always laid her ears back, +and looked queer about her under lip, whenever +Kit was led in or out of the stall next +her, while Kit always huddled up close to +her manger whenever Griz was led past her +heels. Once or twice Griz slipped her halter +in the stall, and Hiram said there was a place +on Kit that looked as if she had been kicked, +but when we scrutinized Griz, neck a-droop +and eyes a-blink, we found it hard to think +ill of her. Besides, Jonathan was now fairly +committed to the opinion that he had <span class="tei tei-q">“got +a treasure this time.”</span> <span class="tei tei-q">“Kit may have hurt +herself lying down,”</span> he suggested, and again +Hiram made no answer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then one night, sometime during the very +small, very dark, and very sleepy hours, we +were awakened by awful sounds. <span class="tei tei-q">“What is +it? What <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> it?”</span> I gasped.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Crash! Bang! Boom! The trampling of +hoofs!—heavy, hollow pounding!—the +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page166">[pg 166]</span><a name="Pg166" id="Pg166" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +tearing and splintering of wood!—all coming +from the barn, though loud enough, indeed, +to have come from the next room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan was up in an instant muttering, +<span class="tei tei-q">“Where are my rubber boots?—and my +coat?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">what</span></span> +a combination!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But he was gone, and I heard the snap of +the lantern and the slam of the back door +almost before the rocking-chair in the sitting-room +that he had hit—and talked to—had +stopped rocking. Then I heard him calling +outside Hiram’s window and then he ran +past our window, out to the barn. I wished +he had waited for Hiram, but I had an undercurrent +of pleasure in hearing him run. Jonathan’s +theory is that there is never any +hurry, and now and then I like to have this +notion jolted up a little.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Meanwhile the awful sounds had ceased. +There was the rumble of the stable door, a +pause, and Jonathan’s voice in conversational +tones. Next came the flashing of Hiram’s +lantern, and the <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">tromp, tromp, tromp</span></span>, +in much quicker tempo than usual, of Hiram’s +heavy boots. Hiram’s theory was a +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page167">[pg 167]</span><a name="Pg167" id="Pg167" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +good deal like Jonathan’s, so this also gave +me pleasure. Finally, there came the flash +of another lantern, and I recognized the +quick, short step of Mrs. Hiram. I smiled to +myself, picturing the meeting between her and +Jonathan, for I knew just how Jonathan was +costumed. In two minutes I heard her steps +repassing, and in five minutes Jonathan returned. +He was chuckling quietly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I guess Griz got all she needed—didn’t +know either of ’em had so much spunk in ’em.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What happened?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t know, exactly, but when I opened +that door, there was Griz, just inside, no halter +on, head down, meek as Moses, as far +away from Kit’s heels as she could get—she’s +got the mark of them on her leg and her flank.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Is she hurt?—or Kit?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, not so far as we can see, not to +amount to anything—except maybe Griz’s +feelings.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And what about Mrs. Hiram’s feelings?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan laughed aloud. <span class="tei tei-q">“I was inside +with Kit, and she called out to know if she +could help.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And what did you say?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page168">[pg 168]</span><a name="Pg168" id="Pg168" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I said, <span class="tei tei-q">‘Not on your life.’</span> ”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“So that was why she came back. Did you +really say,‘Not on your life,’ or did you only +imply it in your tone, while you actually said, +‘No, thank you very much’?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I really said it. At least, I don’t remember +conversations the way you do, but I didn’t +feel a bit like thanking anybody, and I +don’t believe I did.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I wish I’d heard you. One misses a +good deal—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You can see the stable to-morrow. That’ll +keep. They must have had a time of it! +The walls are marked and splintered as high +as I can reach. And I don’t believe Kit’ll +cringe when Griz passes her any more.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course you remember Hiram +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">said</span></span> two +mares didn’t usually get on very well, and +even when they’re chosen by a good judge of +horses—”</span></p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After that the two did get along peaceably +enough, and Jonathan assured me that all +horses had these little affairs. One day we +drove over to the main street of the village on +an errand.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page169">[pg 169]</span><a name="Pg169" id="Pg169" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Will she stand?”</span> I questioned.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Better hitch her, perhaps,”</span> said Jonathan, +getting out the rope. He snapped it +into her bit-ring, then threw the other end +around a post and started to make a half-hitch. +But as he drew up the rope it was suddenly +jerked out of his hand. He looked up +and saw Griselda’s patient head waving high +above him on the end of an erect and rebellious +neck, the hitch-rope waggling in loops +and spirals in the air, and the whole outfit +backing away from him with speed and decision. +He was so astonished that he did +nothing, and in a moment Griz had stopped +backing and stood still, her head sagging +gently, the rope dangling.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—I’ll—be—”</span> I didn’t try to +remember just what Jonathan said he would +be, because it doesn’t really matter. We +both stared at Griz as if we had never seen her +before. Griz looked at nothing in particular, +she blinked long lashes over drowsy, dark +eyes, and sagged one hip.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She’s trying to make believe she didn’t +do it—but she did,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Something must have startled her,”</span> said +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page170">[pg 170]</span><a name="Pg170" id="Pg170" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Jonathan, peering up and down the deserted +street. Two roosters were crowing antiphonally +in near-by yards, and a dog was barking +somewhere far off.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What?”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You never can tell, with a horse.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, apparently not,”</span> I said, smiling to +myself; and I added hastily, as I saw Jonathan +go forward to her head, +<span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Don’t</span></span> try it +again, please! I’ll stay by her while you go +in. <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Please!</span></span>”</span> +For I had detected on Jonathan’s +face a look that I very well knew. It was the +same expression he had worn that Sunday he +led the calf to pasture. He made no answer, +but stood examining the hitch-rope.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No use,”</span> he said, quietly releasing it and +tossing its coil into the carriage, <span class="tei tei-q">“It’s too +rotten. If it snapped, she’d be ruined.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I breathed freer. I privately hoped that all +the hitch-ropes at the farm were rotten.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Griz stands perfectly well without hitching,”</span> +I said as we drove home, <span class="tei tei-q">“Why do you +force an issue?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t. She did. She’s beaten me. If +I don’t hitch her now, she’ll know she’s master.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page171">[pg 171]</span><a name="Pg171" id="Pg171" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear!”</span> I sighed. <span class="tei tei-q">“Let her +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">be</span></span> master! +Where’s the harm? It’s just your vanity.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps so,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When he agrees with me like that I know +it’s hopeless.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next night he wheeled in at the big gate +bearing about his shoulders a coil of heavy +rope.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It looks like a ship’s cable,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> he responded, leaning his bicycle +against his side, and swinging the coil over +his head. <span class="tei tei-q">“I want it for mooring purposes. +Think it’ll moor Griz?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan!”</span> I exclaimed, <span class="tei tei-q">“you won’t!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Watch me,”</span> said Jonathan, and he proceeded +to explain to me the working of the +tackle.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">One end had a ring in it, and as nearly as +I remember, the plan was to put the rope +around her body, under what would be her +arm-pits if she had arm-pits,—horses’ joints +are never called what one would expect, of +course,—run the end through the ring, then +forward between her legs and through the bit-ring.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page172">[pg 172]</span><a name="Pg172" id="Pg172" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Then, when she sets back, it cuts her in +two,”</span> he concluded cheerfully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But you don’t +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">want</span></span> her in two,”</span> I protested.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She won’t set back,”</span> he responded; <span class="tei tei-q">“at +least, not more than once. To-morrow’s Sunday; +I’ll have to hitch her at church.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I hoped it would rain, so we needn’t go, +but we were having a drought and the morning +dawned cloudless. We reached the church +just on the last stroke of the bell. The women +were all within; the men and boys lounging +in the vestibule were turning reluctant feet +to follow them.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You go right in,”</span> said Jonathan, <span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll be +in soon.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I turned to protest, but he was already +driving round to the side, and a hush had +fallen over the congregation within that made +it embarrassing to call. Besides, one of the +deacons stood holding open the door for me.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I slipped into a pew near the back, with +the apologetic feeling one often has in an old +country church—a feeling that one is making +the ghosts move along a little. They did +move, of course,—probably ghosts are always +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page173">[pg 173]</span><a name="Pg173" id="Pg173" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +polite when one really meets them,—and +I sat down. Indeed, I was thinking very +little of ghosts that day, or of the minister +either. My ears were cocked to catch and +interpret all the noises that came in through +the open windows on my left. My eyes wandered +in that direction, too, though the clear +panes revealed nothing more exciting than +flickering maple leaves and a sky filmed over +by veils of cloud.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The moralists tell us that what we get out +of any experience depends upon what we +bring to it. What I brought to it that morning +was a mind agog, attuned to receive these +expected outside sounds. To all such sounds +the service within was merely a background—a +background which didn’t know its +place, since it kept pushing itself more or +less importunately into the foreground. I sat +there, of course, with perfect propriety of +demeanor, but my reactions were something +like this:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Hymn 912</span></span> +… seven stanzas! horrors! oh! +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">omit the 3d, 5th, and +6th</span></span>—well, I should +hope so!… I can’t hear a thing while this +is going on!… He hasn’t come in yet! +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page174">[pg 174]</span><a name="Pg174" id="Pg174" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Scripture reading for +to-day</span></span>—why can’t he +give us the passage and let us read it for ourselves?—well, +his voice is rather high and +uneven, I think I could make out Jonathan’s +through the loopholes in it.… There! What +was that, I wonder! Sounded like shouting,—oh, +why can’t he talk softly! <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Let us unite +in prayer.</span></span> Ah! now we’ll have a long, quiet +time, anyway!… if only he wouldn’t pray +quite so loud! Why pray aloud at all, anyway? +I like the Quaker way best: a good long +strip of silence, where your thoughts can +wash around in any fashion that—There! +No—yes—no—it’s just people going by +on the road.… Maybe he’s in the back of +the church now, waiting for the close of the +prayer. Seems as if I had to look.… Well, +he isn’t.… <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">For +thy name’s sake, amen.</span></span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And then the collection, with an organ +voluntary the while—now why an organ +voluntary? Why not leave people to their +thoughts some of the time?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And at last, the sermon:—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">The text to +which I wish to call your attention this morning</span></span>—my +attention, forsooth! My attention +was otherwise occupied. Ah! A puff of +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page175">[pg 175]</span><a name="Pg175" id="Pg175" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +warm, sweet air from behind me, and the soft, +padding noise of the swinging doors, apprised +me of an incomer. A cautious tread in +the aisle—I moved along a little to make +room.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In a city church probably I should have +thrown propriety to the winds and had the +gist of the story out of him at once, but in a +country church there are always such listening +spaces,—the very pew-backs and cushions +seem attentive, the hymnals creak in their +racks, and the little stools cry out nervously +when one barely touches them. It was too +much for me. I was coerced into an outer +semblance of decorum. However, I snatched +a hasty glance at Jonathan’s face. It was +quite red and hot-looking, but calm, very +calm, and I judged it to be the calm, not of +defeat nor yet of settled militancy, but of +triumph. I even thought I detected the +flicker of a grin,—the mere atmospheric +suggestion of a grin,—as if he felt the urgent +if furtive appeal in my glance. At any rate, +Jonathan was all right, that was clear. And +as to Griz—whether she was still one mare or +two half-mares—it didn’t so much matter. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page176">[pg 176]</span><a name="Pg176" id="Pg176" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +And now for the sermon! I gathered myself +to attend.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As we stood up for the last hymn, I whispered, +<span class="tei tei-q">“How did it go?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“All right. She’s hitched,”</span> was the answer.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After church there was the usual stir of +sociability, and when I emerged into the glare +of the church steps, I saw Jonathan driving +slowly around from the rear. Griz walked +meekly, her head sagged, her eyes blinked.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Good quiet little horse you’ve got there,”</span> +said a deacon over my shoulder; <span class="tei tei-q">“don’t get +restless standing, the way some horses do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, she’s very quiet,”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I got in, and at last, as we drove off, the +flood-gates of my impatience broke:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well?”</span> I said,—<span class="tei tei-q">“well?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Well? +Tell</span></span> me about it!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’ve told you. I hitched her.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How did you hitch her?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just the way I said I would.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Didn’t she mind?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t know.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Did she make a fuss?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not much.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page177">[pg 177]</span><a name="Pg177" id="Pg177" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What do you mean by much?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, she set back a little.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do any harm?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hurt herself?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Guess not.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, you drive me distracted—you +have no more sense for a story—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“But there was nothing in particular—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, Jonathan, if there was nothing in +particular, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">why</span></span> +didn’t you get into church +till the sermon was begun, and why were you +so red and hot?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan smiled indulgently. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why, of +course, she didn’t care about being hitched. +I thought you knew that. But it was perfectly +easy.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And that was about all I could extract by +the most artful questions. I took my revenge +by telling Jonathan the deacon’s compliment +to Griz. <span class="tei tei-q">“He said she didn’t get restless +standing, the way so many horses did. I +thought of mentioning that you were a rather +good judge of horses, in an amateur way, but +then I thought it might seem like boasting, +so I didn’t.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page178">[pg 178]</span><a name="Pg178" id="Pg178" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After that, of course, I didn’t really deserve +to hear the whole story, but the next +night I happened to be in the hammock while +Jonathan was talking to a neighbor at the +front gate, and he was relating the incident +with detail enough to have satisfied the most +hungry gossip. Only thus did I learn that +Bill Howard, who had wound the rope twice +round the post to give himself a little leeway, +was drawn right up to the post when she set +back; that they had been afraid the headstall +would tear off; that they had been rather +nervous about the post, and other such little +points, which I had not been clever enough +to elicit by my questions.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Now, why? Probably a man likes to tell a +story when he likes to tell it. I find myself +wondering how much Odysseus told Penelope +about his adventures when she got him to +herself for a good talk. Is it significant that +his really long story was told to the King of +the Phæacians?</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">As to Griz:—it would perhaps not be +worth while to recount her subsequent history. +It was a curious one, consisting of +long stretches of continuous and ostentatious +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page179">[pg 179]</span><a name="Pg179" id="Pg179" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +meekness, broken by sudden flare-ups which, +after their occurrence, always seemed incredible. +She never again <span class="tei tei-q">“set back”</span> when +Jonathan was the one to hitch her, but this +was a concession made to him personally, and +had no effect on her general habits. We +talked of changing her name, but could never +manage it. We thought of selling her, but +she was too valuable—most of the time. And +when we finally parted from her our relief +was deeply tinged with regret.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I have sometimes wondered whether such +flare-ups were not the natural and necessary +means of recuperation from such depths of +meekness. I have even wondered whether +the original Griselda may not have—but +this is not a dissertation on early Italian +poetry, nor on the nature of women.</p> +</div> + +<hr class="page" /><div id="chapter09" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page180">[pg 180]</span><a name="Pg180" id="Pg180" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +<a name="toc18" id="toc18"></a> +<a name="pdf19" id="pdf19"></a> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">IX</span></h1> +<h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">A Rowboat Pilgrimage</span></h1> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We were glad that the plan of the rowboat +cruise dawned upon us almost a year before +it came to pass. We were the gainers by just +that rich length of expectancy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For the joy that one gets from any cherished +plan is always threefold: there is the joy +of looking forward, the joy of the very doing, +and the joy of remembering. They are all +good, but only the last is eternal. The doing +is hedged between limits, and its pleasures +are often confused, overlaid with alien or accidental +impressions. The joy of the forward +look is pure and keen, but its bounds, too, +are set. It begins at the moment when the +first ray of the plan-idea dawns on one’s +mind, and it ends with the day of fulfillment. +If the dawn begins long before the day, so +much the better.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was early fall, and we had come in from +a day by the river, where we had tramped +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page181">[pg 181]</span><a name="Pg181" id="Pg181" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +miles up, to one of its infrequent bridges, and +miles down on the other bank. Now we sat +before the fire, talking it over.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If we only had a boat!”</span> I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Boat! What do you want a boat for? +You wouldn’t want to sit in a boat all day.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Who said I would? But I want to get +into it, and float off, and get out again somewhere +else. That’s my idea of a boat.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, of course, a boat would be handy—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Handy! You talk as if it was a buttonhook!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well—of course it +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> handy—as you +call it—but a boat means such a lot of +things—adventure, romance. When you’re +in a boat—a little boat—anything might +happen.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes,”</span> said Jonathan, drawing the logs +together, <span class="tei tei-q">“that’s just the way your family +feels about it when you’re young.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then we both laughed, and there was a +reminiscent pause.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What became of your boat?”</span> I asked +finally.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Sold. You kept yours.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page182">[pg 182]</span><a name="Pg182" id="Pg182" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. It’s in the cellar, there at Nantucket. +I could have it sent on.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Cost as much as to buy a new one.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“A new one wouldn’t be as good.”</span> I +bristled a little. Any one who has owned a +boat is very sensitive about its virtues.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How big?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How should I know? A little boat—maybe +twelve feet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Two oars?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Four.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Round bottom?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. She’d ride anything.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well”</span>—Jonathan suddenly +expanded—<span class="tei tei-q">“here’s +an idea now! How would you like +to have it sent on to the mainland, and then +row it the rest of the way—along the Rhode +Island and Connecticut shores?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I sat straight up. <span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan! Let’s do it +now!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Jonathan chuckled. <span class="tei tei-q">“My! What a hurry +she’s in!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, let’s!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We couldn’t. The boat will have to be +overhauled first.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, dear! I suppose so.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page183">[pg 183]</span><a name="Pg183" id="Pg183" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We could do it next spring, and go up the +trout streams.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Think of that!”</span> I murmured.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or in September and get the shore hunting—the +salt marshes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, which?—which?”</span> Already I was +following our course along curving beaches +and amongst the yellow marshlands. But +Jonathan’s mind was working on more practical +details.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Twelve feet, you said?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“About that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Pretty close stowing for our dunnage—still—let’s +see—two guns—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or the rods, if we went in the spring.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And rubber coats, and blankets—”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan! Should we camp?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Might have to.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Let’s, anyway.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“How does that coast-line run? Where’s +a map?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">All we had were some railroad maps and an +old school geography—just enough to tantalize +us—but we fell upon them eagerly. +It is curious what a change comes over these +dumb bits of colored paper at such times. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page184">[pg 184]</span><a name="Pg184" id="Pg184" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Every curve of the shore, every bay and headland +came to life and spoke to us—called to +us.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We decided on the September plan, and for +the next eleven months our casual talk was +starred with inapropos remarks like these:—</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, I know we shall forget a can-opener.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Better write it down while you think of it. +And have you put down a hatchet?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The camera! It isn’t on the list!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Hang it! Those charts haven’t come yet!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What can we take to look respectable in +when we go ashore?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Meanwhile the little boat was stirred out +of its long sleep in the cellar, overhauled, and +painted, and shipped to a port up in Narragansett +Bay. And on the last day of August +we found ourselves walking down through +the little town. Following the instructions +of wondering small boys, we came to a gate +in a board fence, opened it and let ourselves +into a typical New England seaport scene—a +tiny garden, ablaze with sunshine and gorgeous +with the yellows and lavenders of fall +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page185">[pg 185]</span><a name="Pg185" id="Pg185" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +flowers, and a narrow brick path, under a +grape-vine arch, leading down to the sand +and the wharf and the sparkling blue waters +of the bay. As we passed down through the +garden, we saw a little boat, bottom up, dazzling +white in the sun.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“There it is!”</span> I said, with a surge of reminiscent +affection.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That little thing!”</span> said Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“I +thought you said twelve feet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, isn’t it? Anyway, +I said <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">about</span></span>. +And it’s big enough.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He was spanning its length with his hands.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eleven foot six. Oh, I suppose she’ll do. +My boat was fourteen.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, don’t be so patronizing about your +boat. Wait till you see how mine behaves.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He dropped the discussion and got her +launched. Is there anything prettier than a +pretty boat floating beside a dock!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next morning when we came down we +found her half full of water. <span class="tei tei-q">“She’ll be all +right now she’s soaked up,”</span> said Jonathan, +and we baled her dry and went off to get our +stuff.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I delayed to buy provisions, and when I +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page186">[pg 186]</span><a name="Pg186" id="Pg186" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +came back I found Jonathan standing on the +float surrounded by plunder of all sorts. He +answered my hail rather solemnly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“See here! When this stuff’s all stowed, +where are we going to sit? That’s what’s +worrying me.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, won’t it go in?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go! It wouldn’t go in two boats.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I came down the plank. <span class="tei tei-q">“Well, let’s eliminate.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We eliminated. We took out extra shoes +and coats and <span class="tei tei-q">“town clothes,”</span> we cut down +as far as we dared, and expressed a big +bundle home. The rest we got into two +sailor’s dunnage bags, one waterproof, the +other nearly so, and one big water-tight +metal box. Then there were the guns, and +the provisions, and the charts in a long tin +tube, and there was a lantern—a clumsy +thing, which we lashed to a seat. It was always +in the way and proved of very little use, +but we thought we ought to take it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">While we worked, some loungers gathered +on the wharf above and watched us with that +tolerant curiosity that loungers know so well +how to assume. As we got in and took up our +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page187">[pg 187]</span><a name="Pg187" id="Pg187" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +oars, one of them called out, <span class="tei tei-q">“Now, if you +only had a little motor there in the stern, +you’d be all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Don’t want one,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What? Why not?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go too fast.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Eh? What say?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Go—too—fast.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“He heard you,”</span> I said, <span class="tei tei-q">“but he can’t believe +you really said it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The oars fell into unison, there was the dip +of their blades, the grating chunk of the +rowlocks—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">dip-ke-chunk, dip-ke-chunk</span></span>. +As we fell into our stroke the little boat began to +respond, the water swished at her bows and +gurgled under her stern. The wharf fell away +behind us, the houses back of it came into +sight, then the wooded hills behind. The +whole town began to draw together, with its +church steeples as its centers.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“She does go!”</span> remarked Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I told you! Look at us now! Look at that +buoy!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Dip-ke-chunk, dip-ke-chunk</span></span>—the +red buoy swept by us and dropped into the blue background +of dancing waves.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page188">[pg 188]</span><a name="Pg188" id="Pg188" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Are we really off? Is it really happening?”</span> +I said joyously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you like it?”</span> said Jonathan over his +shoulder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No. Do you?”</span> To such unwisdom of +speech do people come when they are happy.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But there were circumstances to steady +us.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What I’m wondering,”</span> said Jonathan, +<span class="tei tei-q">“is, what’s going to happen next—when we +get out there.”</span> He tilted his head toward the +open bay, broad and windy, ahead of us. +<span class="tei tei-q">“There’s some pretty interesting water out +there beyond this lee.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, she’ll take it all right. It’s no worse +than Nantucket water. It couldn’t be. +You’ll see.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We did see. In half an hour we were in the +middle of upper Narragansett Bay, trying to +make a diagonal across it to the southwest, +while the long rollers came in steadily from +the south, broken by a nasty chop of peaked, +whitecapped waves. We rowed carefully, our +heads over our right shoulders, watching +each wave as it came on, with broken comments:—</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page189">[pg 189]</span><a name="Pg189" id="Pg189" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“That’s a good one coming—bring her +up now—there—all right, now let her off +again—hold her so—there’s another +coming—see?—that big one, the fifth, the +fourth, away—row, now—we beat it—there +it goes off astern—see it break! +Here’s another—look out for your oar—we +can’t afford to miss a stroke—oh, me! Did +that wet you too? My right shoulder is +soaked—my left isn’t—now it is!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But half an hour of this sort of thing +brought about two results—confidence in +the little boat, which rode well in spite of +her load, and confidence in each other’s +rowing. We found that the four oars worked +together, our early training told, and we instinctively +did the same things in each of the +varied emergencies created by wind and +wave. There was no need for orders, and our +talk died down to an exclamation now and +then at some especially big wave, or a laugh +as one of us got a drenching from the white +top of a foaming crest.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was not an easy day, that first one.… +It seems, sometimes, as if there were little +imps of malignity that hovered over one +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page190">[pg 190]</span><a name="Pg190" id="Pg190" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +at the beginning of an undertaking—little +brownies, using all their charms to try to turn +one back, discouraged. If there be such, they +had a good time with us that long afternoon. +First they had said that we shouldn’t load +our boat. Then they sent us rough water. +Then they set the boat a-leak.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For leak it did. The soaking over night +had done no good. It had, indeed, been +<span class="tei tei-q">“thoroughly overhauled”</span> and pronounced +seaworthy, but there was the water, too +much to be accounted for as spray, swashing +over the bottom boards, growing undeniably +and most uncomfortably deeper. The imps +made no offer to bale for us, so we had to do +it ourselves, losing the much-needed power +at the oars, while one of us set to work at the +dip-and-toss, dip-and-toss motion so familiar +to any one who has kept company with a +small boat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wish my mother could see me now—”</span> +hummed Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I wouldn’t wish that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why not?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“What would they all think of us if they +could see us this minute?”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page191">[pg 191]</span><a name="Pg191" id="Pg191" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Just what they have thought for a long +time.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I laughed. <span class="tei tei-q">“How true that is, teacher!”</span> +I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Finding us still cheerful, the imps tried +again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan—do you know—I do believe—my +rowlock socket is working loose.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He cast a quick look over his shoulder +without breaking stroke. Then he said a few +words, explicit and powerful, about the man +who had <span class="tei tei-q">“overhauled”</span> the boat. <span class="tei tei-q">“He ought +to be put out in it, in a sea like this, and left +to row himself home.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, of course, but instead, here we are. +It won’t last half an hour longer.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It did not last ten minutes. There it hung, +one screw pulled loose, the other barely +holding.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Take my knife—you can get it out of +my hip pocket—and try to set up that screw +with the big blade.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I did so, and pulled a few strokes. Then—<span class="tei tei-q">“It’s +come out again. It’s no use.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We make blamed poor headway with one +pair of oars,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page192">[pg 192]</span><a name="Pg192" id="Pg192" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">He meditated.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Where are the screw-eyes?”</span> he said after +a moment.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, good for you! They’re in the metal +box. I’ll get them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I drew in my useless oars, turned about +and cautiously wriggled up into the bow seat.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Look out for yourself! Don’t bullfrog +out over the bow. I can’t hold her any +steadier than this.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, I’m all right.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">With one hand I gripped the gunwale, with +the other I felt down into the box and finally +fished out the required treasures. I worked +my way back into my own seat and tried a +screw-eye in the empty, rusted-out hole.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">“Does it +bite?<span class="tei tei-add"><a name="E4" id="E4" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e4" class="tei tei-ref">”</a></span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t know about biting, but it’s going +in beautifully—now it goes hard.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps I can give it a turn.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Perhaps you can’t! Don’t you stop rowing. +If this boat wasn’t held steady, she’d—I +don’t know what she wouldn’t do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“If you stick something through the eye +you can turn it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. I’ll find +something<span class="tei tei-corr"><a name="E5" id="E5" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e5" class="tei tei-ref">.</a></span> +Here’s the can-opener. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page193">[pg 193]</span><a name="Pg193" id="Pg193" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +Grand! There! It’s solid. Now I’ll +do the other one the same way. Hurrah for +the screw-eyes!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You thought of bringing them,”</span> said +Jonathan magnanimously.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You thought of using them,”</span> said I, not +to be outdone.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so again the imps were foiled. But +they hung over us, they slapped us with +spray, they tossed the whitecaps, jeering, at +our heads, over our shoulders, into our laps. +They put up the tides to tricks of eddies and +back-currents, so that they hindered instead +of helping, as by calculation they should +have done. They laid invisible hands on our +oars and dragged them down, or held them +up as the wave raced by, so that we missed +a stroke. Once, in the lee of an island, we +paused to rest and unroll our chart and get +our bearings, while the smooth rise and fall +of the ground swell was all there was to remind +us of the riot of water just outside. +Then we were off again, and the imps had +us. They were busy, those imps, all that long, +windy, wave-tossed, wonderful day.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page194">[pg 194]</span><a name="Pg194" id="Pg194" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For it was wonderful, and the imps were +indeed frustrate, wholly frustrate. We pulled +toward the quiet harbor that evening with +aching muscles, hair and clothes matted with +salt water, but spirits undaunted. Hungry, +too, for we had not been able to do more than +munch a few ship’s biscuit while we rowed. +Wind, tide, waves, all against us, boat leaking, +oars disabled—and still—<span class="tei tei-q">“Isn’t it +great!”</span> we said, <span class="tei tei-q">“great—great!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Dusk was closing in and lights began to +blink along the western shore. We beached +on a sandy point and asked our way,—where +could we put up for the night? Children, +barelegged, waded out around the boat, +looking at us and our funny, laden craft, with +curious eyes. Yes, they said, there was an +inn, farther up the harbor, where we saw +those lights—ten minutes’ row, perhaps. +We pulled off again, stiffly.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Tired?”</span> said Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“I’ll take her +in.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Indeed you won’t! Of course I’m tired, +but I’ve got to do something to keep warm. +And I want to get in. I want supper. They’ll +all be in bed if we don’t hurry.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page195">[pg 195]</span><a name="Pg195" id="Pg195" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Our tired muscles lent themselves mechanically +to their work and the boat slid across +the quiet waters of the moonlit harbor. The +town lights grew bigger, wharves loomed +above us, and soon we were gliding along +under their shadow. The eddies from our +oars went <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">lap-lap-lapping</span></span> +off among the great +dark spiles and stirred up the keen smell of +salt-soaked timbers and seaweed. Blindly +groping, we found a rickety ladder, tied our +boat and climbed stiffly up, and there we +were on our feet again, feeling rather queer +and stretchy after seven hours in our cramped +quarters.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Half an hour later we were sitting in the +warm, clean kitchen of the old inn, and a +kindly but mystified hostess was mothering +us with eggs and ham and tea and pie and +doughnuts and other things that a New +England kitchen always contains. While we +ate she sat and rocked energetically, questioning +us with friendly curiosity and watching +us with keen though benevolent eyes.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Rowed, did you? Jim!”</span> calling back over +her shoulder through a half-open door, <span class="tei tei-q">“did +you hear that? These folks have rowed all +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page196">[pg 196]</span><a name="Pg196" id="Pg196" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +the way across the bay this afternoon—yes—rowed. +What say? Yes, <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">she</span></span> rowed, too. +They say they’re goin’ on to-morrow, round +Judith.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Say, now,”</span> she finally appealed to us in +frank perplexity, <span class="tei tei-q">“what’re you doin’ it for?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“We like it,”</span> said Jonathan peacefully.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Like it, do you? Well, now, if that don’t +beat all! Say—you know? I wouldn’t do +that, what you’re doin’, not if you paid me. +Have another cup o’ tea, do.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The next morning she bade us good-bye +with the air of entrusting us to that Providence +which is known to have a special care +for children and fools.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">In fact, through all the varying experiences +of our cruise, one thing never varied. That +was, the expression on the faces of the people +we met. Wind and water and coast and birds +all greeted us differently with each new day, +but no matter +<span class="tei tei-corr"><a name="E6" id="E6" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><a href="#e6" class="tei tei-ref">how</a></span> +many new faces we met, +we found in them always the same look—a +look at once friendly and quizzical, the look +one casts upon nice children for whose antics +one is not responsible, the look one casts upon +very small dogs. Why? Is it so odd a thing +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page197">[pg 197]</span><a name="Pg197" id="Pg197" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +to like to row a little boat? If it had been a +yacht, now, or even a motor-boat, the expression +would have been different. Apparently +the oars were what did it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">On that particular morning, word of our +doings must have got abroad, for as we +stepped out on the brick sidewalk of the +shady main street a little crowd was waiting +for us. It was a funny procession:—Jonathan +first, with the guns and the water-jug, +then a boy with a wheelbarrow, on which +were piled the two dunnage bags, the metal +box, the lantern, the axe, the chart tube, and +a few other things. An old man and some +boys followed curiously, then I came, with +two big baking-powder cans, very gorgeous +because the red paper was not yet off them, +full of provisions pressed on us by our friendly +hostess. Tagging behind me, came an old +woman, a big girl, and a half-dozen children. +It was the kind of escort that usually attends +the hand-organ and monkey on their infrequent +visits.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We loaded up the boat and pulled off, a +little stiff but fairly fit after all. The group +waved us off and then stood obviously talking +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page198">[pg 198]</span><a name="Pg198" id="Pg198" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +us over. One of the men called after us, +with a sudden inspiration, <span class="tei tei-q">“Pity ye’ hevn’t +got a <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">motor</span></span> in there!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Though we didn’t want to be a motor-boat, +we were not above receiving courtesies +from one, and when the Providence tacitly +invoked by our hostess sent one chugging +along up to us, with the proposal to take us +in tow, we accepted with great contentment. +The morning was not half over when we made +our next landing, and looked up the captain +who was to tow us <span class="tei tei-q">“around Judith.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">For in the matter of Point Judith our +friends and advisers had been unanimously +firm. There should be a limit, they said, even +to the foolishness of a holiday plan. With a +light boat, we might have braved their disapproval, +but loaded as we were, we decided +to be prudent.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I’d hate to lose the guns,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, and the camera,”</span> I added.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">So we accepted the offer of a good friend’s +knockabout, and sailed around the dreaded +Point with our little boat tailing behind at +the end of her rope. We saw no water that +we could not have met in her, but, as our +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page199">[pg 199]</span><a name="Pg199" id="Pg199" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +friends did not fail to point out, that proved +nothing whatever.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At Stonington we were left once more to +our little boat and our four oars, and there we +pulled her up and caulked her.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Strange, how we are always trying to avoid +mishaps, and yet when they come we are so +often glad of them! A leaky boat had not +been in our plans, but if we could change that +first wild row across the big bay, if we could +cut out that leakiness, that puddling bottom, +the difficult shifts of baling and rowing, would +we? We would not. Again, as we look back +over the days of our cruise, we could ill spare +those hours of labor on the hot stretch of +sunny beach between the wharves, where we +bent half-blinded over the dazzling white +boat, our spirits irritated, our fingers aching +as they worked at the +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">push-push-push</span></span> of the +cotton waste between the strakes. We said +hard words of the man who thought he had +put our boat in order for us, and yet—if we +could cut out those hours of grumbling toil, +would we? We would not. For one thing, we +should perhaps have missed the precious +word of advice given us by a man who sat and +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page200">[pg 200]</span><a name="Pg200" id="Pg200" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +watched us. He recommended us to put a +little motor in the stern. He pointed out to +us that rowing was pretty hard work. We +said we liked it. His face wore the expression +I have already described.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We launched her again at dusk. Next +morning Jonathan was a moment ahead of +me on the wharf.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Any water in her?”</span> I called, following +hard.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Dry as a bone,”</span> he shouted back, exultant; +but as I came up he added, with his +usual conservatism, <span class="tei tei-q">“of course we can’t tell +what she may do when she’s loaded.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But our work held. For the rest of the trip +we had a dry boat, except for what came in +over the sides.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Now that we were in the home State, we +got out our guns and hugged the shore closely, +on the lookout for plover. We drifted sometimes, +while we studied our maps for the location +of the salt marshes. If we were lucky, we +had broiled birds for luncheon or supper; if +we were not, we had tinned stuff, which is distinctly +inferior. When we spent the night at +an inn, we breakfasted there, but most of our +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page201">[pg 201]</span><a name="Pg201" id="Pg201" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +meals were eaten along the shore, or, best of +all, on some island.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Can we find an island for lunch to-day, do +you suppose?”</span> I usually asked, as we dipped +our oars in the morning.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you have to have an island for lunch?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I love an island!”</span> choosing to ignore the +jest. <span class="tei tei-q">“That’s one of the best things about a +boat—that it takes you to islands.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Now, why an island?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You know as well as I do. An island +means—oh, it means remoteness, it means +quiet—possession; while you’re on it, it’s +yours—you don’t have every passer-by +looking over your shoulder—you have a +little world all to yourself.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I could feel Jonathan’s indulgent smile +through the back of his head as he rowed.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, you know yourself,”</span> I argued. +<span class="tei tei-q">“Even a tiny bit of stone and earth, with +moss on it, and a flower, out in the middle of +a brook, looks different, somehow, from the +same things on the bank. It +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">is</span></span> different—it’s +an island.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">And so we sought islands—sometimes +little ones, all rocks, too little even to have +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page202">[pg 202]</span><a name="Pg202" id="Pg202" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +collected driftwood for a fire, too little to have +grown anything but wisps of beach-grass, +low enough to be covered, perhaps, by the +highest tides. Sometimes it was a larger +island, big enough to have bushes on it, and +beaches round its edges. One of these we +remember as best of all. It lay a mile off +shore, a long island, rocky at its ocean end +and at its land end running out to a long +slim line of curving beach. In the middle it +rose to a plateau, thick-set with grass and +goldenrod and bay bushes, from which +floated the gay, sweet voices of song sparrows. +Ah! There was an island for you! And +we made a fire of driftwood, and cooked our +luncheon, and lay back on the sand and +drowsed, while the sea-gulls, millions of them, +circled curiously over our heads, mewing and +screaming as they dived and swooped, and +behind us the notes of the song sparrows rose +sweet.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If we had had water enough in our jug, we +should have camped there. We rowed away +at last, slowly, loving it, and in our thoughts +we still possess it. As it dropped astern I +pulled in my oars and stood up to take its +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page203">[pg 203]</span><a name="Pg203" id="Pg203" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +picture—no easy task, with the boat mounting +and plunging among the swells. But I +have my picture, its horizon line at a noticeable +slant, reminiscent of my unsteady balance. +It means little to other people, but to +us it means the sweetness of sunshine and +wind and water, the sweetness of grass and +bird-notes, all breathed over by the spirit of +solitude.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Then it melted away—our island—into +the waste of waters, and we turned to look +toward the misty headlands beyond our bow. +Where the marshlands were, we followed +them closely, but where the shore was rocky, +or, worse still, built up with summer cottages, +we often made a straight course from +headland to headland, keeping well out, often +a mile or two, to avoid tide eddies. We liked +the feeling of being far out, the shore a dark +blue, the cottages little dots. But we liked it, +too, when the headland before us grew large, +its rocks and bushes stood out, and we could +see the white rip off its point—a rip to be +taken with some caution if we hoped to keep +our cargo dry. And then, the rip passed, if +the bay beyond curved in quiet and uninhabited, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page204">[pg 204]</span><a name="Pg204" id="Pg204" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +how we loved to turn and pull along +close to shore, watching its beaches and sand-cliffs +draw smoothly away beside our stern, +or, best of all, pulling about and running in +till our bow grated and we jumped to the wet +beach and ran up the cliff to look about. Such +moments bring in a peculiar way the thrill of +discovery. It is one thing to go along a coast +by land, and learn its ways so. It is a good +thing. But it is quite another to fare over its +waters and turn in upon it from without, +surprising its secrets as from another world.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">But to do this, your boat must be a little +one. As soon as you have a real keel, the case +is altered. For a keel demands a special landing-place—a +wharf—and a wharf means +human habitation, and then—where is your +thrill of discovery? Ah, no!—a little boat! +And you can land anywhere, among rocks +or in sandy shallows; you can explore the tide +creeks and marshes and the little rivers; you +can beach wherever you like, wherever the +rippling waves themselves can go. A little +boat for romance!</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">A little boat, but a long cruise, as long as +may be. To be sure, a boat and a bit of water +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page205">[pg 205]</span><a name="Pg205" id="Pg205" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +anywhere is good. Even an errand across the +pond and back may be a joy. But if you can, +now and then, free yourself from the there-and-back +habit, the reward is great. The joy +of pilgrimage—of going, not there and back, +but on, and on, and yet on—is a joy by itself. +The thought that each night brings +sleep in a new and unforeseen spot, with a new +journey on the morrow, gives special flavor +to the journeying.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Not the least among the pleasures of the +cruise were the night-camps. When the shore +looked inviting, and harborage at an inn +seemed doubtful, we pulled our boat above +tide-water, turned her over and tilted her up +on her side for a wind-break, and there we +spent the night. The half-emptied dunnage +bags were our pillows, the sand was our bed. +Sand, to sleep on, is harder than one might +suppose, but it is better than earth in being +easily scooped out to suit one’s needs. Indeed, +even on a pneumatic mattress, I should hardly +have slept much that first night. It was a +new experience. The great world of waters +was so close that it seemed, all night long, +like a wonderful but ever importunate presence. +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page206">[pg 206]</span><a name="Pg206" id="Pg206" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +The wind blew that night, too, and +there was a low-scudding rack, and a half-smothered +moon. As we rolled ourselves +up in our blankets and rubber sheets and settled +down, I looked out over the restless +water.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The bay seems very full to-night—brimming,”</span> +I said.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not brimming over, though,”</span> said Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I should hope not! But it does seem to +me there are very few inches between it and +our feet.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“And the tide is still rising, of course,”</span> +said Jonathan, by way of comfort.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, I know just where high-tide +mark is, and we’re fully twelve inches above +it.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Silence.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Aren’t we?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, was that a question?”</span> murmured +Jonathan. <span class="tei tei-q">“Why, yes, I think we are at least +that.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Of course, there are extra high tides +sometimes.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">Silence.</p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page207">[pg 207]</span><a name="Pg207" id="Pg207" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Jonathan, do you know when they come?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Not exactly.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, I don’t care. I love it, anyway. +Only it seems so much bigger and colder at +night, the water does.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">At last I drowsed, waking now and then to +raise my head and just glance down at those +waves—they certainly sounded as if they +were lapping the sand close by my ear. No, +there they were, quite within bounds, fully +twenty feet away from my toes. Of course it +was all right. I slept again, and dreamed that +the tide rose and rose; the waves ran merrily +up the beach, ran up on both sides of us, +closed in behind us. We were lying on a little +sand island, and the waves nibbled at its +edges—nibbled and nibbled and nibbled—the +island was being nibbled up. This would +never do! We must move! And I woke. +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">Ripple, ripple, swash!</span></span> +<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">ripple, ripple, swash!</span></span> +went the unconscious waves. As I raised my +head I saw the pale beach stretching off under +the moon-washed mists of middle night. Reassured, +I sank back, and when I waked again +the big sun was well above the rim of the +waters and all the little waves were dancing +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page208">[pg 208]</span><a name="Pg208" id="Pg208" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +and the wet curves of the beach were gleaming +in the new day.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">The water was not always restless at night. +The next time we camped we found a little +harbor within a harbor, a crescent curve of +fine white sand ending in a point of rock. In +one of its clefts we made our fire and broiled +our plover, ranging them on spits of bay so +that they hung over the two edges of rock +like people looking down into a miniature +Grand Cañon. There were nine of them, fat +and sputtering, and while they cooked, we +made toast and arranged the camp. Then +we had supper, and watched the red coals +smouldering and the white moonlight filling +the world with a radiance that put out the +stars and brought the blue back to the sky. +The little basin of the bay was quiet as a pool, +the air was full of stillness, with now and then +the hushed <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">flip-flip</span></span> +of a tiny wave that had +somehow strayed in from the tumbling crowd +outside.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We slept well, but once Jonathan waked +me. <span class="tei tei-q">“Look!”</span> he whispered, <span class="tei tei-q">“White heron.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I raised my head. There, quite near us in +the shallow water, stood a great pale bird, +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page209">[pg 209]</span><a name="Pg209" id="Pg209" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +motionless, on one long, slim leg, his oval +body, long neck, head and bill clearly outlined +against the bright water beyond. The +mirror of the water reflected perfectly the +soft outline, making a double creature, one +above and one below, with that slim stem of +leg between.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">I watched him until my neck grew tired. +He never moved. Out beyond him, more dim, +stood his mate, motionless too. Now and +then they called to each other, with queer, +harsh talk that made the stillness all the +stiller when it closed in again.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">When we awoke, they were gone, but we +found the heronry that morning on one of the +oak-covered knolls that rise like islands out of +the heart of the great salt marshes.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">All through the cruise, the big winds were +with us more than we had expected. They +gave us, for the most part, a right good time. +For even in the partly protected Sound it is +possible to stir up a sea rough enough to keep +one busy. Each wave, as it came galloping +up, was an antagonist to be dealt with. If +we met it successfully, it galloped on, and left +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page210">[pg 210]</span><a name="Pg210" id="Pg210" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +us none the worse for it. If we did not, it +meant, perhaps, that its foaming white mane +brushed our shoulders, or swept across our +laps, or, worse still, drowned our guns. Once, +indeed, we were threatened with something a +little more serious. We were running down out +of the Connecticut River, gliding smoothly +over sleek water. It was delicious rowing, and +the boat shot along swiftly. As we turned +westward, it grew rougher, but we were paying +no special heed to this when suddenly I +became conscious of something dark over my +right shoulder. I turned my head, and found +myself looking up into the evil heart of a dull +green breaker. I gasped, <span class="tei tei-q">“Look out!”</span> and +dug my oar. Jonathan glanced, pulled, there +was a moment of doubt, then the huge dark +bulk was shouldering heavily away, off our +starboard quarter. It was only the first of +its ugly company. Through sheer carelessness, +we had run, as it were, into an ambush—one +of the worst bits of water on the Sound, +where tide and river currents meet and +wrangle. All around us were rearing, white-maned +breakers, though the impression we +got was less of their white manes than of their +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page211">[pg 211]</span><a name="Pg211" id="Pg211" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +dark sides as they rose over us. Our problem +was to meet each one fairly, and yet snatch +every moment of respite to slant off toward +the harborage inside the breakwaters. It took +all our strength and all our skill, and all the +resources of the good little boat. But we +made it, after perhaps half an hour of stiff +work. Then we rested, breathed, and went +on. We did not talk much about it until we +made camp that night. Then, as we sat looking +out over the quiet water, I told Jonathan +about the shadow over my shoulder.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“It was like seeing a ghost,”</span> +I said,—<span class="tei tei-q">“no—more +like feeling the hand of an enemy +on your shoulder.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“The Black Douglas,”</span> suggested Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes. Talk about the scientific attitude—you’ve +just got to personify things when they +come at you like that. That wave had an expression—an +ugly one. I don’t wonder the +Northmen felt as they did about the sea and +the waves. They took it all personally—they +had to!”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Were you frightened?”</span> asked Jonathan.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No, of course not,”</span> I said, almost too +promptly. Then I meditated—<span class="tei tei-q">“I don’t +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page212">[pg 212]</span><a name="Pg212" id="Pg212" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +know what you’d call it—but I believe I +understand now what people mean when they +talk about their hearts going down into their +boots.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Did yours?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Why, not exactly—but—well—it certainly +did feel suddenly very thick and heavy—as +if it had dropped—perhaps an inch +or two.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I believe,”</span> said Jonathan gently, <span class="tei tei-q">“you +might almost call that being frightened.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Yes, perhaps you might. Tell me—were +you?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“I didn’t like it—yes, I was anxious—and +it made me tired to have been such a fool—the +whole thing was absolutely unnecessary, +if we’d looked up the charts carefully.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Or asked a few questions. But you know +you hate to ask questions.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“You could have asked them.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Well, anyway, aren’t you glad it happened?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Oh, of course; it was an experience.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Do you want to do it again?”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“No”</span>—he was emphatic—<span class="tei tei-q">“not with +that load.”</span></p> +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page213">[pg 213]</span><a name="Pg213" id="Pg213" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em"><span class="tei tei-q">“Neither do I.”</span></p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">If the winds sometimes wearied us a little, +they helped us, too. We can never forget the +evening we turned into the Thames River, +making for the shelter of a friend’s hospitable +roof. We had battled most of that day with +the diagonal onslaughts of a southeast gale, +bringing with it the full swing of the ocean +swell. It was easier than a southwester would +have been, but that was the best that could +be said for it.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">We passed the last buoy and turned our +bow north. And suddenly, the great waves +that had all day kept us on the defensive became +our strong helpers. They took us up and +swung us forward on our course with great +sweeping rushes of motion. The tide was +setting in, too, and with that and our oars +we were going almost as fast as the waves +themselves, so that when one picked us up, +it swung us a long way before it left us. We +learned to watch for each roller, wait till one +came up astern, then pull with all our might +so that we went swooping down its long slope, +its crest at first just behind our stern, but +drawing more and more under us, until it +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page214">[pg 214]</span><a name="Pg214" id="Pg214" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +passed beyond our bow and dropped us in the +trough to wait for the next giant. It was like +going in a swing, but with the downward rush +very long and swift, and the upward rise short +and slow. How long it took us to make the +two miles to our friend’s dock we shall never +know. Probably only a few minutes. But it +was not an experience in time. We had a +sense of being at one with the great primal +forces of wind and water, and at one with +them, not in their moments of poise, but in +their moments of resistless power.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb">* * * * * </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">After all, the only drawback to the cruise +was that it was over too soon. When, in the +quiet afternoon light of the last day, a familiar +headland floated into view, my first feeling +was one of joy; for beyond that headland, +what friendly faces waited for us—faces +turned even now, perhaps, toward the east for +a first glimpse of our little boat. But hard +after this, came a pang of regret—it was +over, our water-pilgrimage, and I wanted it +to go on.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It was over. And yet, not really over after +all. I sometimes think that pleasures ought +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page215">[pg 215]</span><a name="Pg215" id="Pg215" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +to be valued according to whether they are +over when they <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-style: italic">are</span></span> +over, or not. <span class="tei tei-q">“You cannot +eat your cake and have it too.”</span> True, but +that is because it is cake. There are other +things which you can eat, and still have. And +our rowboat cruise is one of these. It is over, +and yet it is not over. It never will be. I can +shut my eyes—indeed, I do not need even +to shut them—and again I am under the +open sky, I am afloat in the sun and the wind, +with the waters all around me. I see again +the surf-edged curves of the beaches, the lines +of the sand-cliffs, the ragged horizon edge, +cut and jagged by the waves. I feel the boat, +I feel the oars, I am aware of the damp, pure +night air, and the sounds of the waves ceaselessly +breaking on the sand.</p> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em">It is not over. Its best things are still ours, +and those things which were hardly pleasures +then have become such now. As we remember +our aching muscles and blistered hands, we +smile. As we recall times of intense weariness, +of irritation, of anxiety, we find ourselves +lingering over them with enjoyment. For +memory does something wonderful with experience. +It is a poet, and life is its raw +<span class="tei tei-pb" id="page216">[pg 216]</span><a name="Pg216" id="Pg216" class="tei tei-anchor"></a> +material. I know that our cruise was made up +of minutes, of oar-strokes, so many that to +count them would be weariness unending. But +in my memory, these things are re-created. +I see a boundless stretch of windy or peaceful +waters. I see the endless line of misty coast. +I see lovely islands, sleeping alone, waiting +to be possessed by those who come. And I see +a little, little boat, faring along the coast-lands, +out to the islands, over the waters—going +on, and on, and on.</p> + +<div class="tei tei-tb"> </div> + +<p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em">THE END</p> + + +</div> + +</div> + +<div class="tei tei-back" style="margin-bottom: 2.00em; margin-top: 6.00em"> + <hr class="doublepage" /><div id="colophon" class="tei tei-div" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="toc20" id="toc20"></a> + <a name="pdf21" id="pdf21"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Colophon</span></h1> + + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page218">[pg 218]</span><a name="Pg218" id="Pg218" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%">The Riverside Press</span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">CAMBRIDGE . MASSACHUSETTS</span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">U . S . A</span></p> + </div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div id="appendix" class="tei tei-div" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="toc22" id="toc22"></a> + <a name="pdf23" id="pdf23"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Appendix A: Extra Front Pages</span></h1> + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pagei">[pg i]</span><a name="Pgi" id="Pgi" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.90em"><span style="font-size: 90%"> + By Elisabeth Woodbridge</span></p> + + <div class="tei tei-tb"><hr style="width: 10%" /></div> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.73em"><span style="font-size: 73%">MORE JONATHAN PAPERS.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 73%"> + THE JONATHAN PAPERS.</span></p> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 0.81em"><span style="font-size: 81%">HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY</span><br /> + <span class="tei tei-hi" style="text-align: center"><span style="font-size: 73%; font-variant: small-caps"> + Boston And New York + </span></span></p> + + <div class="tei tei-tb"> </div> + + <span class="tei tei-pb" id="pageii">[pg ii]</span><a name="Pgii" id="Pgii" class="tei tei-anchor" style="text-align: center"></a> + + <p class="tei tei-p" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 1.00em">More Jonathan Papers</p> + + + </div> + + <hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> + <a name="toc24" id="toc24"></a> + <a name="pdf25" id="pdf25"></a> + <h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Errata</span></h1> + + <a name="e1" id="e1" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed camp is <span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E1" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">4.38</span></a></span>—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">A.M.</span></span> to camp is <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">4:38</span></span>—<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-variant: small-caps">A.M.</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e2" id="e2" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed arrives at <span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E2" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">10.15</span></a></span>, they to arrives at <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">10:15</span></span>, they</td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e3" id="e3" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed What does <span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E3" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">10.15</span></a></span> look to What does <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">10:15</span></span> look</td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e4" id="e4" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VIII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed “Does it bite?<a href="#E4" class="tei tei-ref"> </a> to + “Does it bite?<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">”</span></span> + </td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e5" id="e5" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VIIII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed find something<span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E5" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">,</span></a></span> Here’s to find + something<span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">.</span></span> Here’s</td></tr></tbody></table> + + <a name="e6" id="e6" class="tei tei-anchor"></a><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Chapter VIIII</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Changed no matter <span class="tei tei-hi"><a href="#E6" class="tei tei-ref"><span style="font-weight: 700">now</span></a></span> many to no matter <span class="tei tei-hi"><span style="font-weight: 700">how</span></span> many</td></tr></tbody></table> + </div> + +<hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 5.00em; margin-top: 5.00em"> +<div id="pgfooter" class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"><pre class="pre tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em">***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MORE JONATHAN PAPERS*** +</pre><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em"><a name="rightpageheader26" id="rightpageheader26"></a><a name="pgtoc27" id="pgtoc27"></a><a name="pdf28" id="pdf28"></a><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 3.46em; margin-top: 3.46em"><span style="font-size: 173%">Credits</span></h1><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr><th class="tei tei-label tei-label-gloss">December 19, 2006 </th></tr><tr><td class="tei tei-item"><table summary="This is a list." class="tei tei-list" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"><tbody><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item">Project Gutenberg Edition</td></tr><tr class="tei tei-labelitem"><th class="tei tei-label"></th><td class="tei tei-item"><span class="tei tei-respStmt"> + <span class="tei tei-name">Roland Schlenker and<br /></span> + <span class="tei tei-name">Online Distributed Proofreading Team</span> + </span></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><hr class="doublepage" /><div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 3.00em; margin-top: 3.00em"><a name="rightpageheader29" id="rightpageheader29"></a><a name="pgtoc30" id="pgtoc30"></a><a name="pdf31" id="pdf31"></a><h1 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; 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