Hesper, the Home-Spirit

Hesper did not answer, so Mrs. Grimsby made bold to walk about the room, examine everything, and ask a great many questions.

“Well,” said she at last, after she had opened the door, and was just ready to step out. “I thought I would just drop in and tell you, that if you wanted anything of me, you will find me ready and willing, even though I should stay at home from my work to help you” – and she shut the door before Hesper could have a chance to thank her.

As soon as she was gone, Hesper arose and put her handkerchief over her head to run up to aunt Betsey’s. There was so much to be done for Mose, that it was quite impossible for her to attend to it all. She had good judgment for one so young, but she lacked experience, and even now, her head ached with thinking and her eyes with weariness. Aunt Nyna was doing all she could for her, but even this was not enough. The time was short, another pair of hands was greatly needed, and Hesper resolved at last to apply to aunt Betsey. She went in very doubtfully, and found her sewing as usual upon her bed-quilt. It didn’t seem to grow very fast, with all her labor. Hesper sat down beside her. Snip, snip, snip, went aunt Betsey’s scissors, as she cut out a fresh supply of diamonds from the bits of satin, and then she began to stitch away again with all her might. They talked upon various subjects for some time, till at last Hesper summoned courage to ask her.

“Mercy me!” said aunt Betsey, “I don’t see how it will be possible! I am in such a hurry! I declare, I am obliged to work night and day! Why don’t you hire some one?”

“We don’t know of any one,” said Hesper, “even if we could afford to.”

“Well,” said aunt Betsey, “what, with my housework, and my bed-quilt, and the things I have to attend to, and all the rest, it will be quite out of my power. You must take the will for the deed, and I will make Mose some present which will do quite as well.” Hesper came away greatly disheartened. She wondered how aunt Betsey could be so selfish, and then she thought it was because she had nothing else to care for but herself and her own comfort.

“O dear,” she said, “it is better to be poor and have a warm heart. Maybe if I was in her place, though, that I should be a great deal more selfish.” She went home and seated herself again to her work, resolved to do the best she could without assistance. It was not long before Juliana came in with Tommy in her arms.

“Hesper,” said she, “mother says she thinks I can help you a little, if I try, for I can sew quite fast. I don’t know much about making things, but I can always learn when I have a mind to, and I am sure I would do any thing to help you.” She put Tommy on the floor to play with simple Johnny, and then took her seat by Hesper. She had brought her thimble with her and went to work directly. At first she was awkward, and had to be told a great many things, but she soon learned, and then was quicker with her needle than Hesper.

“How strange it is,” said Hesper, “when I get almost discouraged, something always happens to cheer me. Do you know, Juliana, I was just ready to cry when you came in this morning?” The sullen expression which usually hung about Juliana’s face, vanished in a moment, and she looked up with a pleasant smile.

“Hesper,” said she, “I find it the easiest thing in the world to labor for those I love, and if I can do anything to make you love me, it will be all I want.” That night they could scarce believe they had done so much. The work seemed to have grown under their hands without their knowing it, and they had enjoyed every moment. After this, Juliana insisted upon helping Hesper till the work was all finished. Mrs. Grimsby said the reason why she was so willing, was because she thought Hesper a little better than her own folks, and as soon as Tommy was old enough to leave with the boys, she meant to take Juliana out a washing with her.

As Mose was not obliged to work in the mill now, he improved all his leisure time by making himself busy about the house, doing all he could for their comfort and convenience. Uncle Nathan had promised him a load of wood for the family, and Capt. Clark offered to lend him his horse and wagon to go after it, so one pleasant morning he took Fred and Charlie with him, and started for the wood-lot. On their way they met George and Benny Grimsby.

“Jump in,” said Mose, “if you wish to,” and they did not wait for a second invitation. When they came to the wood-lot they went to work with all possible diligence to fill the cart. Mose praised them, and they worked all the faster.

“It is too bad,” said George, who felt very good-natured, “that you are going away so soon, Mose. I like you first rate, and I don’t know what we shall do without you.” Mose laughed. “George,” said he, “when I am gone, you will be the oldest boy in the house, so you must take good care of the others. Be kind to Hesper, won’t you? and if Fred and Charlie are troublesome, or do anything to vex you, don’t take any notice of them, and they will soon learn better.”

“No,” said George, with great dignity, “we used to quarrel and fight once, but we have given that up long ago.” To be sure, six weeks seemed quite an age to such a boy, but it was no longer ago than that, since the Greysons and Grimsbys had a serious battle, in which the Greysons were severely beaten. Mose had been wanting, for a long time, to get an opportunity to talk with George, and though he placed little confidence in his promises, yet he was glad if he would think about it.

“Now,” said Mose, “if you will be a first rate boy, and do all you can for Hesper, I will bring you home something that will please you.”

George began to wonder immediately what it would be, and he thought it would be no harm to modestly suggest, that he would like either a monkey or a Chinese umbrella – he wasn’t very particular which – but of the two, he should prefer a monkey. After this, the boys followed Mose as closely as his own shadow. They told their mother what he had promised, and asked her if she didn’t think they had best sell their ducks, so as to keep the monkey in the duck-house, but she quite disconcerted them by calling them little simpletons, and telling them they had best wait till they had it. By the untiring industry of Hesper and Juliana, everything was at length made ready. Mrs. Grimsby, out of pure good will, washed all the clothes they made, ironed them neatly, and stowed them away in the chest they were to occupy, but she told all the neighbors of it, and said that she shouldn’t have done it if she could have well helped it. Aunt Nyna made Mose a present of a very nicely bound Bible, and aunt Betsey brought him a large bundle of old newspapers, which she had begged of a neighbor. The night previous to his departure, there came a loud rap at the door, and upon opening it, Mose beheld Mr. Byers’ benevolent countenance.

“Get your hat, my boy,” said he, “and go to walk with me. My heart is full and I want to relieve it.”

Accordingly Mose complied with his request, and they turned their steps towards the sea shore. As they seated themselves on an unfinished spar, Mr. Byers asked if the ship in which Mose was to sail would touch at Canton.

“Yes, I believe so,” replied Mose, “at some time in the course of the voyage, for we are to be gone two years or more, and shall visit several ports.”

“Well, then,” resumed Mr. Byers, “doubtless you will meet with Harry Nyna, and I want you, Mose, to take a sharp observation of that young man, for if I can trust anything to my knowledge of human nature, I should say he was exceedingly progressive.”

“Progressive!” repeated Mose. “Well, why not?”

“Ay, let me tell you, I think a young man is altogether too progressive, when, at the age of seventeen or eighteen, he smokes his cigar in public, drinks brandy behind the barn-door, and plays cards on the hay-mow.”

“What!” said Mose, in astonishment.

“Ay, that’s a fact; and his mother – dear good lady, – never suspected it. She’s just like all the rest of the women – Lord bless ‘em! So good themselves they think everybody else is, and whoever they love, is next kin to perfection.”

“Harry is a good-hearted boy, though” said Mose thoughtfully.

“As good as a ripe October peach with a doubled kernelled pit in it, and generous as summer sunshine. But that is the great difficulty with him. He is too generous to say no, and goes in for a jolly time whenever he can have one. Nevertheless, I love him with all his faults, and really feel a fatherly solicitude for him. Not on his mother’s account, however. O, no, Mose! no! It’s purely for his own sake, although I think Mrs. Dorothy a most excellent woman, and should I ever think of marrying again, I would certainly give her the preference. But, then, that isn’t what I came here to talk about. Mose,” resumed the old man, after a few moment’s silence, “you are to be gone a long time, and perhaps I may never see you again, and possibly I may be dead when you come back.”

“O, I don’t think so,” said Mose.

“Nor I either,” continued Mr. Byers. “I only said possibly, and as I would like to be remembered, I have concluded to give you this;” so saying, he drew a monstrous old silver watch from his pocket, and laid it in the hand of his young friend.

Mose drew back, unwilling to accept of a gift which he knew was of so much value to its possessor, but the old man urged it upon him.

“Take her, Mose,” said he in a husky voice. “She’s a faithful creature, and worth a dozen of the new-fangled concerns they have now-a-days. She’s just what a good woman ought to be, for she has more of inward worth than outward beauty, She never wears any other than a cheerful countenance and always keeps her hands busy. Take her, my boy, I had rather give her to you than any one. Whenever you look at her, think how fast time is travelling on to eternity, and may the Lord teach you to so number your days as to apply your heart to wisdom.”

Mose did take the watch, thanking him most sincerely, for he knew the old man’s feelings would be deeply wounded, should he persist in refusing.

“Now Mose, my boy,” he added, “I am going. You needn’t walk home with me, for my heart is full, and I want to shed a few tears by myself. Good bye, and God bless you.” He seized Mose warmly by the hand, and giving it a hearty shake, he turned away, walked quickly up the sands and disappeared in the darkness.

The morning on which Mose was to take his departure had at length arrived. The “Sea Gull,” as handsome a ship as ever rode the waves, lay at anchor in the harbor below. A fine fresh breeze was blowing, and the boat was waiting at the wharf to take Mose and several others on board. Mr. Greyson’s foot was so much worse that he could not go out, and therefore Mose took leave of his parents at the house. He told his father to keep up a good heart and take the best of care of himself till he came home, and then they should all live more comfortably. But Mr. Greyson shook his head with a most melancholy look and turned away as he faintly said, “Good bye.”

Next Mose kissed his mother, and when she lifted her calm, pale face to his, and said so earnestly – “God bless you, my boy, and keep you from all evil” – he could not restrain the tears that were almost choking him, and he had to wipe his eyes a great many times before he dared make his appearance at the door. Capt Clark was waiting for him with his wagon, to take his sea-chest and other things down to the boat. As the wagon was large, they took Hesper and simple Johnny in, and then Capt. Clark called to Juliana, who stood in the door-way with Tommy in her arms, to come too, which she did with as little delay as possible. When all was ready they drove off, while Fred and Charlie, with the Grimsby boys and Bose, followed behind.

They soon came to the wharf, and Capt. Clark took charge of the baggage, leaving Mose to talk with the friends who had come to see him off. Hesper shivered like a leaf as she stood on the wharf, holding simple Johnny by the hand, for the morning was cold, and her heart was heavy within her. She thought how lonely she should be without Mose, and in spite of herself the tears would roll down her cheeks.

“Don’t cry, Hesper!” he said, cheerfully; but there his own heart failed him, and the choking feeling came again. So he only kissed her and, whispered – “Pray for me every night, sister.” Then he jumped into the boat and they pushed off.

“Stop! stop!” cried some one at the head of the wharf, and looking up, they saw Mrs. Grimsby coming in great haste, with a bundle in her hand.

“Here,” she said, as she tossed it to Mose, “is a little package of medicine which I meant to have given you before. There are old linen rags, and salve, and pills, and powders, and anything else you will want, should you be sick, and if you don’t need them, why some one else may.”

“That’s a wise woman,” cried out the Captain of the ship, who stood in the bow of the boat. “Three cheers for the ladies!” and they all took off their hats and hurrahed, which pleased Mrs. Grimsby very much.

The boys followed the boat down to the end of the wharf, where they waited to see her reach the ship. George made up a sorry face to cry, when suddenly a thought occurred to him. “Mose!” he called out at the top of his voice, “don’t forget the monkey!” Mose laughed outright – “Don’t forget your promise!” he shouted in reply, and then the boat shot out beyond hearing.

CHAPTER XIV.

AUNT BETSEY UNDER DIFFICULTIES

Uncle Nathan’s orchard was a long distance from his house, and adjoined aunt Nyna’s garden. When the apples were ripe enough to gather and put up for sale, uncle Nathan employed both the Greysons and Grimsbys, and aunt Betsey came down, of her own accord, to see that the boys did not carry away any, and also to take particular care that they put a good proportion of the small ones into the barrels intended for market. There was quite a high stone wall between the orchard and aunt Nyna’s garden, and close beside this wall, in the garden, grew a famous peach tree. It was a source of great profit to aunt Nyna, for the peaches were very large and luscious, and always commanded a very high price.

One day, during the apple gathering, aunt Betsey stood by the wall and regarded the peach tree with a longing gaze. She glanced down at the wall and then up to the tree, and measured with her eye, as though she was revolving a subject of great importance in her mind.

“Nathan,” said she to her husband, “doesn’t that branch of the tree hang over the wall?”

“Well – yes – a little,” he replied, carelessly.

“Then,” said aunt Betsey, with an eager look, “according to law and common custom, all the peaches on it belong to us, and I wish you would send up one of the boys to gather them.”

“I shan’t do any such thing!” said uncle Nathan, decidedly.

“Well, then,” she replied, “if you won’t, I will; for what’s ours is ours, and I’ll have it at any rate.” “Indeed you will!” said uncle Nathan in surprise; “I wouldn’t touch one of those peaches for my right hand, and what’s more, I tell you not to.” It was very seldom that he spoke in such an authoritative manner, and therefore aunt Betsey was considerably disconcerted. She said nothing more, but secretly resolved that have the peaches she would, and as it was high time they were gathered, she felt that the sooner she secured her part the better. That afternoon she had the minister and his wife to tea. She put on her best black silk dress, which she had kept very carefully for more than ten years. She also put on her blandest expression of countenance, and talked so piously that the minister and his wife supposed her to be a perfect model of goodness and propriety. It was sometime after nine when her visitors left, and as uncle Nathan was very much fatigued, he retired immediately, leaving aunt Betsey at her sewing.

“Now,” thought she to herself, “as there is such a clear, bright moon, I will just run over and get those peaches.” She took her basket and hastened forth, but had not proceeded far, when she bethought herself that she had on her very best dress. For a few moments she hesitated, and almost made up her mind to go back and change it, but the fear that she should get hindered or discovered, decided her to keep on and risk the consequences. The way was long and lonely, but aunt Betsey was a very resolute woman, and would go through fire and water to accomplish her purpose. Arriving at the orchard, she crossed it very quickly – mounted the stone wall, and laying hold of the branch, had already deposited several of the peaches in her basket, when she heard a fierce growl, and the next moment Bose seized her by the leg. “Mercy me!” exclaimed aunt Betsey, as she tumbled down on the wall, all in a heap – “O Bose! you dear, good dog! How you frightened me! Let go of me, Bose! do, there’s a good fellow! Oh! Oh! Why, I’m aunt Betsey, don’t you know me!” But just then, Bose seemed to be no respecter of persons, and the only proof he gave of his goodness, was that of letting go of her leg and seizing her by the dress, which he shook fiercely, rending and tearing it in the most shocking manner. Every thread which gave way, seemed to draw right from aunt Betsey’s heart, but there was no helping it. She attempted to conciliate Bose by patting him, but it rather appeared to increase his fury, and to all her terms of affection and endearment, he only answered by significant growls.