TheAngeloftheHousehold 10003078 PDF

23 W f 3 35 m p 0 h .
BY T . S . A RTH U R .
PHILA E LPHIA D
! . W . B RADL EY , 4 8 N
F O URT H S T . .
A UB URN N K, H A Y A T E S 5 7 G E N E S E E S T RE E T
. : . .
, .
NE W HA V EN M B RADLEY 2 4 HI G H ST
.
, .
E NTE R ED A CCORD I NG TO A CT OF CONOW E
E V TH E Y AR 1864, B ?
T s ARTHUR
. .
,
H TE E C
LE RK S
’
E
OF F I C OF TH E D IS TR I CT CO UR T OF E
TH E UNI T D S TA TE S m
arm orr mm B Y L . ! OHNSO N AND CO

.
I N the “ G o l den Age
, g antheel s
co m a n ion s o f
we re
p
men , h oldin g their sp irits in im mediate relationship with
heaven But, a s the gold of celestial i n no c ence became
.
dimmed b y the breath o f se lf l ove—the parent o f a l l

-
l —
e vi angels rec eded ; and farther and farther the y re
mo v ed themse lves , a s men dar k ened their spirits with
sin u nti l e ven a p erce p ti on of their e x iste n c e fa ded fr o m
,
the mind .
“ ”
As it wa s in the G o lden Age o f the w or l d , so is it
“ ”
in the firs t, or G olden Age of each indi vidual l ife ,
wh en the innocen c e of infancy fi nds an ge l companionship - .
Wh oe v er ho l ds a babe to her bosom, and holds it there

l o vi n gly, comes within the sphere of angelic influences ;
for, wi th infants and li ttle children , angels are intimately
n ear This is seen in the tender l ove that fills the heart
.
o f even a w ic k ed mother, when sh e clasps her he l p l ess
ofl sp rin g in her arms—a lo v e flowin g forth from hea v en ,

'
a n d breathed into her Spirit b y t h e an g e l s wh o are w ith
her babe .
Into e v ery h ousehol d ange l s ma y enter They c ome .
in throu gh the gate of infancy , and bring with them cc

le stia l influences Are there angels in your househo l d ?
.
I f so, cherish the heavenly v isitants .
fi l i G O B i
ANGEL OF THE HOUSEHOLD .
C H APTE R I .
“ ”
BEDLA M let l oose ! exc l aimed Mr H arding pas .
,
sio n a te ly , as he star ted up from the corner, near t h e

'
fire, w here he had been sitting moodily since supper

“ ”
time . Si lence ! or I ll break some of your bones l
’
The children , who had been wrangling suddenl y ,
c eased their noisy strife , and Shrunk ba ck from the i r

angry father, who, advancing towa rd them seemed half ,
inclined to put his rough threat into execution .
“ There ”
now ! don t ta l k and act l ike a savage l
,
’
sharply ej aculated the wife and mother, throwing from

her coal black eyes a scornful glance upon her husband
-
.
“
If I coul dn t speak to children in a better way than
’
”
tha t I d not speak at al l
,
’
.
We will not put on record the bruta l retort of Jacob

H arding a s he al most flung himself from the room ;
,
throwing over, in his ma d haste lit tle L otty, the youngest

,
me mber of h is unprom is i ng flock who happened to be in

,
h is way The loud slamming of the door and the w i ld

.
,
screaming of the ch i ld mingled for the excited mother s

’
,
e ars their so unds discordant .

c
TH
«
E ARGEL o E T E
j H H O USEHOLD .
“ ”
H e d better break my bones ! said the o l dest boy,
’
Andrew i n looks and attitude the picture o f de fiance

,
.
“ I d j ust l i ke to se e him try i t ”

’
.
“
H ush this instant you l i ttle vagabond ! H o w dare
,
”
y ou speak so of your father ?
“
I don t care ! H e s not going to break my bones
’
'
’
.
And the young rebel not over e i ght years of age dre w, ,
himself up wh i le his eyes , black a s h is mother s , flashed

,
’
with boy i sh indignat i on .
’
If you sa y that again I ll box your ears o fl And
'
,
Mrs H ard ing took two long str i des toward the lad who,
.
,
knowing something about the weight of her hand shrunk , ,
mutteri ng away and content e d h i mself with th i nk i ng a ll

, ,
manner of rebe lli ous things and purposing all kinds of ,

disobedience .
F or a few minutes after L otty ceased crying there was

, ,
Silence in the room 5 not a pleasant but a gloomy forced , ,
s i lence Then Lucy six years O ld and Phil i p between

.
, , ,
four and five who had been frightened from their play
,
by the scene j ust described drew to gether Once more , ,
and commenced rebu i ld i ng a block house which Andre w ,
had wantonly thrown down Their w ork as i t again pro .
,
re sse d this bad boy watched w i th an evil eye and j ust

g , , ,
a s i t was near completion wantonly swept aga i n the fabr i c

,
into ru i ns U nable to control the i r ind i gnation at this

.
second unprovoked violati on of their r i ghts the outraged ,
brother and s i ster as if moved by a s ingle impulse thre w

, ,
them selves upon Andrew and with fists na i ls and teeth , , , ,
sought to do h im all the inj ury i n their power F ierce .
was the struggle and long would it have cont i nued but
, ,
the mother s i nterference S he did not stop to sepa

’
.
ra te them but with her open hand dealt each such

, , ,
rap i d and vigorous blows about th e head and ears that ,
they were soon glad to retreat, crying with pain , into

Oppos i te parts of the room .
“
N ow, o ff to bed w ith y o u this instant ! e xcl aime d
T HE AN GEL OE T HE HOUSEHOLD . 9
angry mother, and if I hear a word between you, “

th e
”
I ll come up with a s witch and cut you half to p i eces
’
.
An dr ew Lucy, and Philip gl i ded from the room ,

,
k eeping silent through fear for they u ndersto od their ”

,
mother s present mood well enough to know that it

’
w ould be dangero us to provoke her furt her .
“ ”
Come ! let me undress you , said Mrs H arding to .
Lo tty There wa s nothing gentle nothing of motherly

.
,
l ove in the tones of her vo i ce The waters of her spirit .

‘
were agitated by a storm , and the sky abo v e them w as

dark .
’
I don t w ant to g o to bed, answered the chi l d,
fretfully .
“ ”
Come here this instant, I say ! cried the mother,
with threaten i ng look and tone .
”
I don t want to go to bed, repeated L otty
’
.
D ye hear ? Come this minute

’
But the child instead of obeying her mother, shr un k

,
away into the farthest corner of the room .
“
If I have to come to you, miss, you ll be sorry ; ’
”
now mind !
,
Most children wou l d have be en fri ghtened at the dark,

threate ning eyes that almost flashed with cruelty ; but
L otty wa s self willed , and strong to endur e though but
-
,
a ch ild S he inherited a large portion of her mother s

.
’
pec ul i ar spirit Inste ad of y i eld i ng to this threat she

.
.
,
crouched down in the corner and cast back at her m other ,
a l ook of defiance M rs H ard i ng was in no mood for a. .
l ong parley There were t i mes when the mother in her

.
wa s strong ; and then for the sake of her wayward self , ,
willed ch i ld , sh e would patiently strive with her, and use

all gentler e ff orts to bend her to obedience But now .
the mother had given place to the passionate woman It .
was one of her hours of darkness , when all the ev i l of her

erverse nature had sway A f e w moments she fixed
per eyes upo n those of L otty, throwin g into them , as sh e
.
10 T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEH O LD .
did so a fiere er light ; but this failing to intimidate the

,
stubborn child a l l pat i ence gave wa and sh e darted

,
y
toward her w i th someth i ng l i ke a t i ger 8 spr i ng S eizing ’
,
.
the sti ll res i sting little one Mrs H ard i ng j erked her ,
.
from the corner i nto which sh e had retreated and as sh e ,
l ifted her up into the a i r struck her three or four hard ,
blows l n qu i ck succession .
D id L otty lie st i ll now in her arms or stand passively ,
by her s i de ? N ot so The spirit of rebell i on was l i ke

.
a young g i ant in her heart, and blows only qui ckened

th i s sp i r i t into more v i gorous life The ch i ld screamed .
and struggled and even struck her mother in the fa ce

,
.
S uch res i stance t o her w i ll only made Mrs H ard i n

blindly resolute More smarti ng and longer continue d
e .
blows were returned , and to these was added such a mad

shak i ng of the ch i ld as sh e held her out with both hands
,
in the a i r that L otty losing her breath , became fright

, ,
ened and ceased her struggles
, .
“
I ll break that stubborn spirit of yours if I kil l
’
you sa i d the mother, with cruel tr i umph in her tones ,
as sh e set L otty down upon the floor heavily With .
impati ent hands the garments were almost torn from the
li ttle one s body and replaced by her n i ght gown T hen ,
’
,
- .
without an even i ng prayer a k i ss or a kind good n i ght, , ,

-
She wa s placed in bed , her only bened i cti on an almost

savage threat of consequences, should a single word pass
her l ips .
Al l was silent now in the house The older children .
had fallen quickly to sleep and L otty subdued by the , ,
power of fear restra i ned the rebel cries that were almost
,
bursti ng her heart for utteran ce S he , too soon passed .

,
into the world of dreams Was it a beauti ful world to .
her poor ch i ld ? or d i d haunt i ng i mages terr i ble in

, ,
Shape , follow her there from the re a l world in which sh e

da i ly struggled and su ffered ?
Alone, wi th not a sound on the air but an occasiona l
THE AN G EL O R T HE HOUSEH O LD . 11
sob from L otty, the tumult of whose fee l in gs e v en sl eep

had not entirely subdued , Mrs H ard i ng s state of mind .
’
underwent a gradual transition There are few i n whose .
Spir i t subsid i ng anger does not l eave its debris of sa d

emot i ons, or painful self condemnation It had e ver
- .
been so in the case of Mrs H arding, yet had sh e not .
seemed to grow wiser by suff ering With every new .
cause of exc i tement, her quick temper fired up and

burned its l i ttle hour fiercely ; and e v er as the fire d i ed ,
o ut, her S p i rit felt colder than before , and groped sad ly
in a deeper darkness And it wa s so again H ow re
. .
b uk in gly upon this state came , now in a single deep

s i gh and now in fluttering sobs the grief of her self
, ,
wi ll ed child , prolonged even i nto slumber S o painful .
w as this sound at length that Mrs H arding went softl y

,
.
and closed the door that opened into the room where
'
L otty was sleeping But, through the shut door came ,

.
,
e ver and anon the sigh or sob each time smiting her ear
, ,
sadly, and adding to the gloomy depression from which

sh e was n o w suffering N or was th i s the only cause of
.
self upbraiding S he was alone , and why ? S harp in

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.
,
s ul t in g words stri king on the ears of her impat i ent hus

,
band , had driven him as the same cause h a d before ,

,
times without number, from home, to spend his evenings

at the tavern , among scenes and associates of a degrad i ng
characte r Ah ! h ow often and often had the unhappy
.
wife as she sat through the lonely e v ening hours , wept

,
far the absence of him whom her bl i nd pass i on had driven

forth—even from the hearth her presence m i ght ha v e
mad e war m and attractive .
Alas ! that sufie ri n g taught not this i ll go v erned

'
woman its l essons of wisdom That remembered anguish .
d i d not act as a stimulus to self control E ver as a leaf -

.
in the w i nd was sh e when the gust of passion arose As

,
.
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it had been w i th her many, many times , so wa s it now .
S he was too unhappy for any thing b ut tears ; and so,

12 T HE A NG EL OE T HE HOUSEH O LD ;
l etting the work she had taken up fall into her l ap she ,
dre w her hands over her face and sat idle weep i ng and , , ,
mi serable A knock on the door d isturbed her wretched

.
mood It was night and their house stood at some d is

.
,
ta nce from the nearest ne i ghbour Mrs H arding wa s n o . .
timid woman yet this s ummons startled her not be ,

ca use it was bold and imperative , on the contrary, it was
l ow and h esita t in
’
Who s there
S he had risen up quickly, and now stood m a heark en
in g attitude .
N0 voice replied, but the same Sin gular k nock w as

repeated .
Who s there , I say ?

’
S harp though her tones w ere , a s light tremor b etrayed

a secret fear .
N0 answer .
Come in .
0
A h and was on the door k nob It seemed like th e .
hand of a child and failed in the app arent e ff ort to gain

,
admittance Mrs H arding distinctly heard the rustle of

. .
a woman s garments S he tried to repeat the words

’
.
“ Come in but a strange fear pre vented utterance

; .
Almost as fixed as a statue sh e stood gazing at the door,

,
w h i ch , after a little while , swung qui etly open H er .
eyes caught a momentary glimps e of a white garment,

and then sh e looked vainly into the deep darkn es s .
T here was no form vis i ble .
”
Who s there ? She cried, af ter a brief pause ; bu t
si lence was the only answer .
As She still z ed through the open door her eyes ,

penetrating fan g; into the gloomy vail of night, sa w
,
dimly an obj ect on the ground Advancing across t h e .
r oom a few s teps she was able to pe rceive d i stinctly

,
that th i s obj ect wa s a large basket covered with a cloth ,
.
”
Who s there ? What s wanted ?
’ ’
T H E A NGEL O F T HE H O USEHOLD . 13
she sought an a nswer ; b ut no response came .
ow sh e stepped to the door and bending her ,
bod y out, peered far ther into the darkness ; but there
wa s no movement nor sound that indicate d the pre sen ce
o f friend or stranger Close by the door ste p stood the
.
-
basket S he stretch e d forth a hand , and mad e an e flo rt

'
t o rai se it from the ground ; but to do this req uired the

e xe rc i se of cons i derable strength .
“
This is s trange ! What can it mean ? said she to
herself again searching with her e yes into the surround
,
in g darkness .
“
Jacob ! Jacob !
A thought that her husband might have brought the
basket, flitting across h er mind , prompted her to call his
n ame .
But no answer came back upon the quiet air, that bore
h e r voice afar o ff until it d i ed in the distance
,
Why .
does sh e start so ? A low smothered cry, like that of an -
infant has come suddenly upon her ear ; from whence

, ,
sh e is i n no doubt for already sh e has lifted the basket,

,
and is bearing it into the house .
H ow w i ldly exc i te d wa s the countenance of M rs H ard .
ing as sh e stooped down and w i th unsteady hand re

, ,
moved the wh i te napkin that covered the basket The .
S ight revealed would have touched a harder heart than

hers A babe , only a few weeks O ld li fted to hers a
.
,
pair of the softest blue eyes that ever reflec ted the light ;
and a s it did so , flut tered its little hands , and S howed all
the instinctive eagerness of an infant to be clasped to a
’
mother s bosom .
Now with all the hardness and passiona te se l f will o f

,
-
the woman , up into whose face this helpless , innocent

stranger looked , there wa s a wa rm chamber in her heart,
“
o ver the door of which wa s written mother ; and th e
hand of an angel opened t h is door to admit the babe so
c ru elly abandoned H er first imp ulse wa s obeyed that
.
—
2
14 T HE A NGEL OE T HE HOUS E HOLD .
prompted her to lift the ch i ld quickly from the b ask et,

and fold it in her arms A sweet con fid in g smile played
.
,
softly around its lips ; and its large , beaut i ful eyes rested
in hers with an express i on so full of loving confidence ,
that sh e felt her whole bosom warmi n g w i th love , and
yearn i ng toward it with inexpress i ble tenderness The .
kiss that could not be withheld from the ros y lips that
parted to receive the salutat i on wa s the kiss of a mother
,
.
E re there w as time for reflection o r Observat i on the ,
babe had won its way into the heart of Mrs H arding . .
T he door still remained open as sh e had left it in the ex

citement inc i dent to bearing i n the basket Mrs H ard . .
ing, now aware of this , arose sti ll holding the child in

,
her arms , and crossed the room to shut the door Wa s .
it really so ; or did her imag i nat i on create the picture ?

B e this a s i t may , j ust in the dusky extreme of the circle
o f li ght made by the rays pouring out from her lamp
,
sh e saw the form of a woman The face wa s disti nct,
.
and its expression never to be forgotten It was a young .
face , v ery sad, v ery full , and very beautiful The hands .
were clasped tightly together and t h e figure seemed

,
bending forward eagerly F or a moment or two the

.
v ision was distinct ; then it faded slowly and the eyes ,
O f Mrs H arding sa w noth ing but darkness

.
Clos i ng the door, with a strange feeling about her

heart, sh e went back to where the basket sto od upon the
floor, and, seating herself beside it the babe on her lap,
,
commen ced an exam i nat i on into its contents , with t h e

hope of gaining some light on the myste rious circu m
stance But noth i ng here gave her the least clue to the
.
par entage of the c h ild or made clear the reasons for

,
comm i tti ng it to her tend er mercies In the basket were

.
four or five full changes of clothes most of them made ,
of good , but not very fine material , except the wh i te

flannel skirts which were soft as down , and of the
,
cho i cest quality These were not so new as the other

.
T HE AN GEL or T HE H OU SEHOLD . 15
artic l es N o l etter was to be found in the bas k et ; n or

.
di d it contain any money .
Wh i le M rs H arding was thus seeking for all possibl e

.
l ight in regard to the babe, it had fallen asleep in her

arms unconscious that any great change had taken pla ce
,
in its fortunes or friends and as happy in its slumbers as

—
,
when it nestled on its mother s bosom if, indeed it had ’

,
ever known that blessed privilege Perceiving th i s , and .
a ff ected with a new tenderness as sh e gazed down upon
its face—one of uncommon swe e tn ess, eve n for a babe

‘
sh e sa t for many minutes with her eyes upon its co un te

nance H er gaze seemed held there a s if by a k i nd of
.
fasc i nation What a yearning love grew up in her heart,

.
ga ining strength e very moment ! S he wondered at her

o wn feelings .
R i sing now, and holding the chil d w ith ex ceeding

care , she passed into the next room—her own chamber,
—
w here L otty was sleeping and gently laid the sweet young
stranger in her bed H ere sh e lingered for some time ,
.
l eani ng over and looking upo n the ch i ld O nce or twice .
sh e left the bed , and went as far a s the door, purposing

to leave the chamber But a strange attraction drew her
.
to the babe aga i n and again , and each time it seemed

that its face had acquired a newer beauty .
At last, Mrs H arding compelled herself to leave the

.
apartment ; and as sh e d i d so , S he closed the door softly .
S i tti ng down by the basket sh e commenced a new exa ,
m i nati on of its contents Th i s was a s fruitless of in telli

.
ence as the first N ot a mark nor S ign wa s there , to tel l

grom whence the i nfant came
.
H alf an hour elapsed and still Mrs H arding sat ,

.
musing over the basket, her mind i ncapable of finding ,

for the present interest in any thing but what a p pe r
,
ta in e d to the babe .
Thus she was sitting when the heavy tread of her ,
hus band startled her into painful conscio usness of coming

16 T HE ANGEL or T H E HO U SEH O LD .
troub l e Jacob had never be en very fond of children

.
not even of his own , toward whom he had shown but

l i ttle te nderness That he would manifest o n ly i ll nature ,
.
-
perhaps g i ve w ay to violent passions as s oo n as he learned

that a s trange i nfant had been left at his door, Sh e h a d
too good reason to fear
H e came in roughly, as was h is w ont—s hutting th e
.
doo r heavily behind him .
“
H ush
Mrs H arding raised her hand involu n tarily, to enj oin
.
silence But her rude husban d strode nois i ly across t h e

.
floor heedless of her warning

, .
“ ”
What s that ? he said, as his eyes rested on th e
’
strange l ook i ng basket

-
.
‘
“
You would hardly g uess, answered Mrs H arding, .
speaking with a forced p leasantness of tone, very u n usual

with her when addressing her husband .
“ I shall hardly try ” said he ruffl

g y, ,
.
“ A strange th i ng has happened to night - .
The voice of Mrs H ard i ng was not a s steady a s sh e

.
Wished it to be .
Il ow, strange ? What h a s happened ? Who s been ’
here g
That basket w as left at our do or to night - .
By whom ?
“ I cannot tell .
W i th somebody s cast o ff brat in it, I suppose said

’
-
,
H arding w i th a flush O f anger in h i s face , for now he
,
sa w the baby cloth i ng which h i s wife had tali en from the

basket and laid on the table Is i t so .
The flush had deepened to a fiery glow, and his e y es

burned with indignat i on .
“ The basket contained a young babe said Mrs , .
H arding calmly, and with a mother s tenderness in her ’
vo i ce ; “
the sw eetest, l ove liest babe your eyes e ver
”
rested upon .
T HE A NGEL OE T HE H O USEH O LD . 17
Pshaw And H arding averted his f ace , on which

“
w as a look of supreme contempt I d l i ke to know.
’
,
”
he added , menacingly , who has dared do this thing !
”
“
That we are not likely soon to know , sa i d Mrs .
”
H arding . The basket conta i ned on ly infant cloth i ng .
An almost savage imprecation leaped from the tongue

of Jacob H arding F or a l i ttle while he stormed about
.
the room like a madman U nder almost any other cir

.
cums ta n ce s, his conduct would have kindled up i n the

m i nd of his wife as fierce a flame as that which burned
in h i s own But a woman s true instincts subdued her
.
’
passionate nature , usually so qu i ck to gather all its

forces for combat Si lently sh e waited for the fire to
.
burn out in her husband s mind for want of fresh fuel ,

’
that sh e well knew how to supply .
“ ”
It is such a sweet baby said Mrs H arding in as ,
.
,
ca l m a voice as sh e could assume , after her husband s ’
fi erce i ndignation had i n a measure consumed itself .
”
“
H umph ! sweet ! H ow the selfish , cruel anim a l
growled ! What a look of disgust was on his con n te
nance— scarcely human in its expression !
H ard i ng h a d co me home from the tavern , ripe for a
quarrel ; and he was do i ng all in h i s power—i mpotent
o f e flec t s o far— to ra i se a storm H e had not been .
drinking much : only enough to deaden all of true man

hood that he possessed , and to quicken into active force
the evil of his nature H e now perceived the change in
.
his wife and at once divined the cause The foundl i ng

,
.
had won its way into her heart, and she was already
purposing to adopt it as her own The thought enraged .
him anew .
”
Where is the brat ? he exclaimed starting up with ,
a fresh bur st of anger I ll throw i t out of doors
.
’
Better replace i t in the basket, poor thing answered

”
M rs H ard i ng
.
“
It has done us no harm
. .
Very w ell Put the duds back into the basket, and
.
2 1s
18 T HE A NGEL OE T HE HOUSEHOLD .
the child w ith them They shan t stay in m y house .

’
to night
-
Conscious that, if sh e gained over her husband at a ll,

'
it must be through apparent y i eld i ng rather than res i st ,
ance to his will, M rs H ard i ng commenced slowly re .
placing the baby clothes as if about to do his b i dd i ng ,

.
A little wondering at th i s passive a cquiescence on the

part of his wife , H arding stood looking on while sh e laid
in garment after garment .
“
It is dark out Jacob, and will be cold before morn
,
ing And then the dogs or some other animal , might

.
,
”
hurt the poor helpless th i ng .
“
I don t care It shan t stay in my house to night
’
.
’
- .
I ll teach people better than to leave their brats at m y

’
door—I w i ll
The man s stubborn spirit w as ro used by the rem on
’
strance of h i s w i fe .
A deep si gh heaved the breast of Mrs H arding a s S h e .

,
bent once more over the basket and to gain time , mad e , ,
some new arrangement of the baby clothes .
”
“
D on t be all night about it ! growled the savage
’
Mrs H ard i ng, without a word i n reply—a c i rcum

.
sta nce that excited the espec ial wonder of her husband
took up the basket and pas sed into their cham be r a s if
, ,
to do h is bidding Acquiescence l i ke this he h a d be e n

.
far from antic i pating Yet was he in the blindness o f .

,
evil pass i on be nt on thrusti ng the babe from his house

, .
T he very thought of it wa s an o ff ence to h i m .
“ ”
J ac ob ! It was the voice of h i s wife call i ng to ,
him from the adj oining room , whe re sh e had been f or

several minutes .
“ What do you want ” he answered

? gruffl
y , .
”
Come here a moment, M rs H ard i ng spoke , in a .
mild subdu e d voice

,
.
“ ”
You come here Y ou re a s ab l e to w al k a s I am ,
.
’
h e retor ted .
2 0 THE AN GEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
w as afraid to express what was in her mind for, by ,
years of sa d exper i ence sh e knew that for her to express ,

a wish , or to approve a measure was to insure her hus ,
band s Opposition ; and in truth it must be told that

’
, , ,
She had proved no inapt scholar in the same bad school

where he h a d learned his lessons of ill nature and boot -
l ess contention .
“ I only wish I could find out who has dared to do
this miserab l e deed resumed Hard i ng his anger grow ,

“
ing warm again A wild beast never deserts her
“
”
y oung Th e wre tch S hould be g i bbete d al i ve
. .
As he sa id this a cry arose from the chamber ,

.
“ There it is ! A nice time you l l have with it to ’
”
n ight .
Mrs H ardi ng went quickly in to the babe , that was

.
n ow awake S he lifted it gently in her arnis and as

.
, ,
sh e drew it to h e r breast it commenced nestli ng there .
—
, ,
s eek i ng for t h e founta i n of its l i fe al a s so suddenly and

so cruelly cut o ff H ow deeply wa s the heart of its new
‘
friend stirred by this movement ! What a yearning pity

pervaded her bosom
“ ”
D ear, dear child ! sh e murmured as sh e bent down ,
h e r face and placed that of the infant s closely aga i nst
’
,
it H olding it thus sh e went out into the room where

.
,
her husband st i ll remai ned .
“ ’
Won t you get me a little milk in a cup and some ,
sugar and w arm water, Jacob ? The poor ch i ld is
”
hungry .
H arding, w ith considerable reluctance went o fl ,

"
,
grumbling to do a s his wife desired The m i lk and
, .
warm wate r were brought and a s he set them on the , ,

ta ble he cou l d not restrain the utterance of an il l
,
n at ured remark To this no answer was returned

.
.
Much to the relief and pleasure of M rs H ar d i ng the .

,
babe drank freely from the spoon which was placed to its
l ip s E vi dentl y, it had been p repared for th i s great
.
T H E AN GEL OE T HE H OU SEHOLD . 2 1
c han ge in its l ife by those who contemp l a ted a ba n don in

it to stran gers . S omehow , H arding s eyes remained ’
riveted on the face of the child , a s it too k the food pre

pared by his wife ; and , strangely enough , the longer h e
upon it the gentl er became h i s feelings Th e
g
, .
ll azed
uman in him began to rise above the bestial .
N o punishment 1 S bad enough for the wretch wh o

”
c ould de sert a child l i ke that, said he , his ready in dig
“ ”
nation taking a new direction It was fiend lik e
. .
”
You may well say that, Jacob returned h is wi fe ,
as she drew the babe s head back upon her bosom a n d
’
,
“
l ooked do wn tenderly upon its face Isn t it bea u
.
’
”
tiful ?
I never saw any thing very beauti ful in babies ,
said the man , a l ittle impatiently H e wa s worried with

.
h i mself because of the i nvoluntary interest in th e little

stranger that wa s awakening 1 n h is mind .
“ 7 ”
O h ! how can you sa y so .
S omethin g o f the sweetness of bygone year s was in

th e vo i ce of Mrs H arding and someth i ng of the maide n
.
,
be auty in her face that had won the heart o f her h u s

band yin the long ago time , at l east so it seemed to
-
J acob H ardin g .
”
“
It i s true , Mary he answered , e ven smil ing briefl y,
,
a s he spoke
“ There i s be auty here —beauty that e v en your eye s
,
can see Dear little an ge l ! It has come to us like a

.
’
ray of sunshine Jacob You don t know what strange
,
.
feel i ngs I have had ever since I looked into this swee t
coun tenance More l i ke a heaven born than an earthl y
.
-
child the babe se ems to me ; a n d now, as it l i es so close

a gainst my bosom , I feel such a ple a sant thri ll goin g
d eep deep , even to the centre of m y heart, that I w onder
,
a s to the caus e
’
.
You are fool ish , Mary said H arding kindly

, ,
.
“ Maybe I a m ” sh e replied “
b u t I can t he lp it
’
.
, ,
2 2 T HE A NGEL O F T HE H OU SEHOLD .
No w it i s fast asl eep again D id you ever see such per

feet las hes for a babe ? n They lie i a dark l ine upon ts
i
c heeks like the l ong lashes of a woman L e t me place it .
”
in bed again .
Mrs H arding arose and turned to go into the bed

.
room . As sh e did so her foot caught in the carpet,

,
a n d sh e w ould have fallen forward had not her husband ,

whose eyes were on her or rather, on the babe, sprun g
, ,
i nstantly forward and caught her .
”
D on t let it fall he cried, eagerly, stretching his
,
a rms around and beyond her, so as to save the child .
T he act was involuntary ; but it betrayed both to his ,

w ife and himself the strong hold that weak helpless ,
, ,
u nconscio us infant had already gained upon h i s rugged
heart H o w this betrayal caused the warm blood to
.
l eap j oyful ly through the veins of M rs H arding ! .
When sh e return ed from the bed room and addressed -

,
her husband , he answered in milder tones than he had

—
spoken to her in many days weeks and months we
might almost have ventured to affirm .
“
There s something uncommon about th e child , that s
’ ’
”
c ertain he said a s they talked together ; and I sha ll
, ,
n o t feel j ust right about send i ng it o ff to the poor house - .
B ut it can t stay here for we ve enough of our own , and

’
,
’
”
it s as much as I can do to fill th e i r mo n th s
’
.
To this Mrs H arding answered noth i ng

. S o far the .
,
b abe had been its own all sufficie n t advocate and sh e -

,
felt that w ords fr om her m i ght prej udice rather than

a d v ance its cause .
As husband and wife laid their heads upon their pil

l ows that night each felt a calmness of S pi rit hitherto
,
unk nown S elfis h pass ions were at rest and h i gher and
purer emotions—s o long held down by evil—stirred with
.
,
a new life, and opened the windows o f their hearts for

th e infl ux of ce l esti a l infl uen c es .
T HE A NG E L or T HE HO U S EH OLD . 2 3
C H APT E R II .
AS Mrs H arding l ay watchful and m usin g on h er

.
p i llow that night, sh e wondered at her state o f fee l ing .
Co uld the mere presence of a babe e ff ect so great a

change ? F our ti mes had sh e been a mother, and fou r
time s sh e had felt, as a helpless babe , j ust born into the
'
w orld , was laid against her heart, an indescribable j oy

Too soon had this pa s sed away—too soon had her briefly
.
slumberin g passions awakened to fresh acti vity—too soon

had the tr i als and temptat i ons of her position changed
the heav enly tenderness that perv a ded her spirit into
harshness or indiff erence S he remembered all this , a n d
.
wondered how she coul d e ver hav e indulged in anger

toward the little ones for whose gi ft her hea rt h a d fe l t
su ch deep thank ful ness .
H ow d istinctly present to the eyes of her min d wer e

Andrew, and L ucy, and Philip and L otty ! N ot with
,
faces marred , a s wa s, alas ! to o often the c ase , by se lfis h

and crue l passions , but with each young c o untenanc e
bea utified with lo ving aff ections With w hat a ne w im
.
ulse did her heart go out to ward them ! A ll the mother

p
1 n h er was stirred to its profoundest depths While sh e
.
thought and felt th us to ward her own child ren , in volun

tarily she rai sed her he a d , and bending o v er, lay, partly
reclining, with her eyes fixed upon the c al m fac e of th e
sweet young stranger
—
.
,
”
Baby dear baby ! S h e co ul d n ot k ee p b ack th e
lo w utterance ; and , as she spok e , sh e l ifted the Sl eepe r
in her arms , and , hugging it to her bosom , commen ce d
rocking her body, and murmuring a tender lul laby .
“ ”
Don t be foolish, Mary ! Jac ob H ardin g sp oke
’
2 4 T H E A NGEL o r THE HO U SEH OLD .
more rough l y than he felt, but in tones less reproving

“ ’
than he had meant to use You ll waken the child ,
.
”
a n d then we shall have a time of it .
”
S he is so sweet, said M rs H arding as sh e kissed
.
,
the babe , and then replaced it in the warm nest from

w hich it h a d j ust been withdrawn S he d i d not know .
that her husband wa s awake he h a d been lying so very

sti ll , tha t sh e be lie v ed him sleep i ng But busy t hought,
.
e x cited by a new current of feeling , had driven slumber

a l so from h is eyel i ds .
On e would think you d never seen a baby before

’
T h ere was no ill nature in the voice of Jacob H arding,

-
n otw it hstanding he tried to spe ak unkindly The fact .
wa s, he had been so long in the habit o f speaki ng

h arshly to his wife , that, to addre ss her with any thing
lik e tendern ess, seemed an unmanly weakn ess And so .
he put on a rough exterior to hide the soft n ess within

.
.
H e could not entirely h i de it, however M rs H arding . .
percei ved all the change he , too, was experiencing and ,
it but increa sed her wonder and delight S he d i d not .
v enture a reply, le st something in her words should

qui cken th e perverse temper of her husband .
Never in her l i fe be fore did M rs H ardin g fal l asleep

.
in s uc h a state of mind , or with thoughts so fu l l of al l

tende rness and l ovin g kindness ; a n d never before came
-
to her a dr eam so strange and beautiful L ast in her .
thoughts, as a ll waking perceptions died , were th e sin

g ular incidents of the even ing ; and a s fancy began to ,
min gl e her a iry forms with the th i ngs of actual life , the
strange visi o n —real or ideal — that fixed the eyes of
Mrs H arding as she gazed through the o pe n door into
.
,
the s urrou nd i ng d a rkness , was most prominent A cross .
this warp, fancy threw her shuttle , and strange figures

w ere s oon m a de vis i ble in the dreamy fabric she wove .
Again Mrs Ha rdi ng was alone in the fa mily sitting

.
roo m . N o babe wa s in her lap ; but, in the ope n door

,
T HE A NGEL OE T HE H O US E HOLD . 2 5
st ood a beaut i fu l woman , and sh e k new her to b e the

same whose wh i te sa d yearn i ng face had been revealed
, ,
to her a moment on the background Of sh adows Ten .
der and seri ous but not sa d, was her face now, as sh e
,
beckoned with her hand Mrs H arding arose and fo l . .
l owed the lovely appariti on As sh e stepped beyond the.
th reshold sh e became aware that the earth lay in sun

,
li ght, and that the scenery around was ne w and more

bea utiful than any thing sh e had seen H ere were soft, .
green meadows dotted with snow white lambs ; there ,

,
-
l eafy ay e n ue s along which the eye ranged to an almost

,
inte rm i nable d i stance , and yonder towered up even to ,
the spotless heavens mountai ns as blue as the sky itse l f

, .
“ ”
The land of innoce nce and essent i al love , sa i d the
stranger, as they ga ined an eminence and looked down
upon the scene spread out in beauty before them The .
angels of childhood dwell here Whene v er a babe is .
born upon the earth two angels fro m this world are
pointed to its guardiansh i p , and they rema i n near fie;
,
ch i ld through all the days of its tender infancy ; a n d

near th e mother also fill i ng her heart with love for her
, ,
hel p less off spr i ng It is their presence that so often

.
changes the selfish and cruel woman into the tenderest

o f mothers They flow into her m i nd through lo v e for
.
her babe and fill it so full of what is gentle and good,

,
that evi l pass i on has no room for activity But, gra .
dually as the minds of infants are Opened , through the

,
s enses
,
to a knowled ge of the world into wh i ch they ‘
have been born , and as the will , gaining strengt h , i s

moved by inherent evil , the angels gradually recede fro m
both the ch i ld and the mother ; not because they wish t o
a bandon the i r charge , but because their gentle influenc e
is no longer perceived With some they remain longer
.
than w i th others ; for some children are born with fewer

perverse i ncl i n i ngs , and some mothers love their babe s
”
with a div i ne rather th an an earthl y l o ve .
3
6 T HE ANGEL OE T HE HOUSEHOLD .
As the fair stranger ceased speaking M r H ardin g ,

s .
percei ved that they were standing in one of the porti cos
o f a b u ilding , the architecture of which , in its grandeur,
exceeded any thing ever reached by the boldest ima gin a o
ti on. The walls were of translucent gems , and every

w here the oriaa men ts, that seemed living forms gleamed ,
w ith gol d and sparkled with prec i ous stones of wonderful

brilliancy Into this magnificent palace they entered ,
.
a n d the stranger led the way to a large east room , where
a sma ll company of beautiful v i rgins stood near a win

do w, from which they were gaz i ng earnestly .
”
L et us approach them , said the stranger ; and they
mo ved o ver to where the virgins were as sembled by the
w indo w .
“ Pride and human fear ha v e hardened her he a rt ” .
“
Th us spoke one of the v irgins And s h e is about to
.
d esert the babe S ee .
All ben t near and ga z ed from the wi ndow

~
‘
To th e .
eyes of Mrs H arding e very thing looked dark and sad

. .
It w as some time before she was able to dist inguish o b

j s but, w hen her vision was clear , sh e recognised al l
e ct
t h e prominent features of the scene D imly revealed .
from out of the murky shadows was the neighbourho od

,
w here sh e dwe l t, and sh e seemed to be looking down

upon it, as from an eminence It was night, for all was
.
in ha lf ob scurity, and the stars were S h i ning from the

sky H ere and there stood a house s h e knew them a ll
. —
-
and there was her humble abode th e only one from ,
the windo w of w hich l i ght streamed forth upon the

glo omy darknes s As she continued to l ook , an obj ect
.
mov ing along o n e of the roads became v isible G az ing .
more intently, She sa w a woman and in her hand sh e ,
carried a basket A thrill passed along every nerve a s

.
,
she recognise d the face that had looked so wildly upon
h er from th e fadin g c ir cl e of l ight and sh e turn ed
,
2 8 T HE AN GEL on T HE HOUSEHOLD .
—
A l o w c ry reached the ears of Mrs H a ding the c ry . r
o f a babe Instantly the vision faded and sh e became

.
,
aware that a small soft hand was n estl i ng in her bosom

,
-
.
There was a l ove more than human in her heart as sh e

, , ,
fi red the half waking infant in her arms and felt

-
,
a sh e had been and sti l l wa s, in the company of

,
v i vid remained th e impression of her dream

n ot to her a mere phantasm , but a real v ision
“
F or this great blessing F ather I am than kful , , ,
said sh e as sh e lifted upward her hear t to heaven

,
.
S trange fact ! N ot perhaps since the days of inno , ,
c ent childhood until now had sh e felt that G od was near ,
to her and near as the G iver of good ; and that sh e

,
shoul d addres s G od in a thankful sp i ri t ! S he w ondered ,
e ven while she gave involunta ry thanks .
When Mrs H arding slept again it was to dream of

.
,
the babe and to have a consc i ousness of deep peace
, ,
such as sh e had never experienced in her wak i ng mo

ments N ew purposes a n d better states of mind h a d
.
been formed during both the waking and sleep i ng hours

that passed since the l ittle str anger first greeted h e r with
its winn i ng s miles
’
The morn i ng found her calm

.
,
thoughtful yet sad What a tr i al was before her !
,
.
‘
Ah ! how cl e arly sh e saw her d ifli cul t posit i on ! H OW
sun k her heart as one hard harsh fact after another of
, , ,
that position , looked her sternly in the face ! S he had
as much to fear from within as from with ou t —from her
un gov ernable passions as from the tempers of her h us
band and ch i ldren .
D imly the morning brok e the cold l ight creeping ,

Sl owly into the chamber where She lay H er husband .
and L otty still S l ept ; but the babe was awake and its ,
large blue eyes were look i ng up into hers H ow sweetly .
it smiled ! H ow trustful and lov ing the whole expression

o f i ts y oun g f a c e !
T HE ANGEL OE T HE HO U SEHO LD . 9
“ ”
Blessed baby ! sh e said te nderly .
And it responded to her greeting with a c ur ving l ip ,

and the low, cooing so und of a do ve , as sh e talked to it,
forgetful of every thing in the pleasure of the moment .
H ard i ng awoke suddenly and starti ng up in bed mut

, ,
te re d some incoherent words and threw his eyes hast i ly

,
around the room H is voice chilled the heart o f his

.
wife , for sh e dreaded h i s wak i ng mood S carcely thin k .
ing of what sh e did , M rs H ard i ng drew th e bed clothe s

.
-
o v er the chi ld, and so pl a ced her body as to shie l d it

from his obser vati on .
“
I ve been dreaming , I belie v e, said H ardin g, as h e
’
l aid h imself back on the pillow .
”
Dreaming of what ?
M rs H arding spoke v ery gently In ha lf wonder,
her hus band turned his head to l oo k into her face—the
. .
tone wa s so unusual .
“
I never saw any thing so real .
”
Was it a ple a sant dream ?
H arding looked over at his wife again It was th e .
o ld voice t hat in times gone by had sounded to him so

, ,
musically .
“
Yes Mary he answered , mildly “ it was a p l e a
, , ,
sant though a singular dream I thought some one l e ft

,
.
”
a baby at our door
H e paused abruptly, l ooked serio us for a moment or
two and then sai d
,
“
But th a t was no dream Mary ,
.
H e now raised him self up and as he did so , M rs , ,

.
H ard i ng drew down the bed clothes, and showed h im th e

-
smiling infant .
sh e said kindly
“
It was no dream Jaco , ,
.
F o r so me t i me , H ard i ng gazed upon the littl e face ,

and the longer he gazed the softer grew h i s heart H e
,
.
sa i d no more of the dream ; yet as well to h i m as to h is

wife , had come a vision —though not in all thing s a like
,
.
3 i r
30 T HE A NGEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
H e had seen the little abandoned one in sleep a n d ,

u nder circumstances that impressed his mind powerfully .
It wa s now bro ad dayl i ght and L otty as was usua l , ,
with her awoke in a bad humour S he commenced

,
.
cryin g even before her eyes were fa i rly O pen .
What do you want L otty asked Mrs H ard i ng ,

. .
B ut L otty cried on , not seemi n g to have heard h er

mother s v o i ce
’
.
“ ”
Lotty ! L otty !
T he cryi n g d i d not cease for an instant .
S ee what I ve got here L otty ’

,
”
You ain t got any th i ng !
’
B y such words the ch i ld had been so o f ten deceive d ,

tha t no confidence remained e ven in her mother And .
so Sh e rk e p t cry i ng on .
“ Wil l you hush now ?”

,
The father s patience was gone and he spoke in a
’
,
quick angry voice
,
H ow the little stranger babe
.
started ! What a frightened look was in i ts face !

H a r ding sa w the e ff ect of his harsh tones ; and for the ,
sake of the babe regretted the sudden passion to which

,
he had given way .
“
B ut I h a ve got something here L otty, said Mrs , .
H arding “ It is the dear est l ittle baby you ever sa w

.
in your life .
Instantly the v oice was s ilent and springi ng from the , ,
bed in w h ich sh e lay L otty sto od bes i de her mother , .
H ardin g w atched her face , and sa w ho w suddenly it

c han ed .
”
t is w onderful ! he said to himself as he arose ,
a n d commenced dressing wonderful It seems even .
n o w as if I must be dr eaming
‘A heaven sent child .
-
.
’
T hese were the v ery word s that sounded in my ears a s I

”
aw o k e ; and I verily believe the babe is from heaven .
“ Baby ! baby ! clear sweet baby !

, 0 mother ! wher e
did it co m e from ?
T HE A NG EL O F T HE HOUSEH O LD . 31
Th ere was such a gu sh of delight in the v oice of

Lotty who was usually cros s in the morning as S he
, ,
stood on a chair, and bent over the infant that Mr ,

.
H arding s wonder increased A spell about the bab e

’
.
subdued all who came near To him it was a new li fe

.
phenomenon the mystery of which filled h i m with sur

,
prise not unmingled w i th a heart per vading sense of

,
-
p leasure .
Mrs H arding now arose lea vmg Lotty and the infan t
.
,
eq ually del i gh ted with each other and commenced hur ,

-
rie d ly dre ss i ng herself It was her business to prepare

.
the morning meal ; for the earnings of her husband were

not sufficient to allow her help i n th e family With .
many earnest inj unctions to L otty not to hurt the babe ,

sh e left the chamber for the k i tchen , in order to make
u p the fire and get breakfast S omehow or other, th e .
fir e kindled with unwonted quickness ; and every touch

and movement of her hand seem ed to accompl i sh h er
purpose more readily than usual By the time the milk .
man was at the door S h e had the table se t, and th e

,
kettle w as almost ready to boil The babe s breakfast .

’
w as her next thought It was scarcely the work o f a

.
moment to dilute some new milk with warm water t o ,

a d d a little sugar , and a few crumbs of bread and to ,
bear it into the chamber w here sh e had left the littl e

stranger .
As she came in noiselessly she sa w her h usband ,
stooping over the infant, whose two white chubby ,
hands were fluttering about his rough face and heard ,
th e cooing dove lik e v oice that h ad sounded once befor e

,
-
to her so sweetly .
A S soon as H arding perceived that his wife was p re

sent, he left the bedside , half ashamed o f h is w eakness
in thus t oyi ng with a mere babe .
”
The child must be hungry, h e said , with as much
indiff erence as he co ul d aff ect .
32 T HE A NGEL OF T HE H O USEHOLD .
“ ’ ”
I ve brought her something to eat answered M rs; ,
“
Harding
’
.And won t you Jacob while I feed her, , ,
call the children and br i ng me in an a rmful or two of

,
w ood ? Breakfast will be all ready m a little while ”

.
There was no res i st i ng the manner of Mrs H arding . .
If she had always spoken to her husband as now , he

w oul d always have been to her a kind husban d H er .
power o ver h i m for good might have been complete , had

she been wise gentle and forbearing But sh e had
, ,
.
exerc i sed no self control and almost from the beginn i ng

-
,
o f the i r married l i fe had exc i ted the evil l n h i m rather

, ,
than the good H ow much she had lost and how much
.
,
sh e had su ff ered l n consequence can hardly be i magined ,

.
H er l i fe for the last s i x or seven years , m i ght al most be

,
called a l i v i ng martyrdom .
H ard i ng d i d not answer but went out from the cham ,
ber promptly to do a s h i s w i fe had requested O rdi .
n ari ly in
,
call i ngC the ch i ldren , he spoke to use the ,
“
strong words of h is wife as if he would take their
,
”
heads O ff H e corrected th i s bad hab i t in the present
.
instance ; for, instead of ordering them roughly and

angrily to get right up or he wo uld be after them with
,
”
a st i ck he ascended to the room where they lay and
, ,
spoke kindly yet firmly to each one subduing their

, , ,
w ak i ng impati ence , by the quiet pressure of h is o wn

v o i ce and manner .
”
Andrew, h e said in a tone that exc i t i ng no opposi ,
tion i n the boy s m i nd left the consciousness that he

’
must obey dress yourself before you come down , and

do it qu i ckly .
“
Y e s sir ,
was answered cheerfully, and Andre w
,
sprang from his bed .
“ Ph i l i p ! ”
L ucy ! The two younger children ro se
up .
“
G o down to your mother S he wants to dress .
yo n .
The v oice and manner o f their father w ere so u n u s ual ,

T H E A NGEL OE T HE H OUSEH O LD . 3
tha t the l ittle ones fe l t both surprise and p l easure

They obeyed instantly and Mr H arding had the strange
,
.
satisfaction of witness i ng an act of ready and cheerful

obedience in h i s ch i ldren .
A great surprise awaited L ucy and Philip, and they

w ere j ust in the s tate O f mind for its full enj oyment .
A stranger, who had looked in upon H ard i ng s fami ly ’
at the early meal on the previous d a y , and who looked

in aga i n upon them as they assembled around the break
fast table on th i s morning cou l d hardly have believed
-
,
that his eyes rested on the same individuals In her .
usual place was Mrs H arding the stranger babe on her

.
,
arm , and looking so beautiful and happy that all eyes ,
and hearts were drawn toward it Li ttle L otty from the .

,
moment its bright eyes looked into hers had not once ,
l eft its side , and now, a s sh e sat close to her mother, sh e

could not eat for pleasure .
“ H as it any name mother ? aske d Andrew, fr om

,
"
whom had not proceeded a S ingle il l natured word or act, -
since he came down and saw the baby .
Mrs H ard i ng did not reply but looked at her hus

.
,
band A name had been floating in her thoughts, but

.
she hesitated about g i ving it utterance .
“ D ora ” said Mr H ard i ng “

.L et us call her D ora
.
, .
Now, that was not the name about which Mrs H arding .
had been thinking ; nor was it a name that pleas ed her

“
ca r
. It wa s on her tongue to sa y, O h, no but sh e
kept silent H er eyes were bent do wn upon the little
.
one s face and there S he read her duty F or its sake ,

’
,
.
she refrained from obj ecting because she feared that any
,
want of a ccord with her husband would pr oduce a state

o f opposit i on ; and so sh e said nothing .
“ ”
S hall it be D ora ? H arding spoke in a pleas ant
v oice .
“
Yes if you like the name
,
And Mrs H ardin g . .
l ooked up and smi l ed as sh e answered .

TH E AN GEL OF TH E HOUSEHOLD .
H av e you thought of one Mary ? ,

“
A name has been in my mind ever since I awok e
morning But if D ora sounds pleasant to yo ur
.
”
ears let her b e called D ora
,
.
What name di d you think of Perhaps I wil l l ike

”
it best said H arding
,
.
“ ”
G ra ce Mrs H arding spok e the word softly and
. .
tenderly .
“ ” “
The very name ! said her husband It is much
better than D ora L et her be called G ra ce
. .
”
G race ! G race ! All the children echoed the name
‘
and the baby as if conscious of a new importance , t oss ed

,
its little hands and smiled ,

.
S o touched was Mrs H arding by th i s unexpected a c .
M esce n ce of her husband that tears came into her eyes

% or the first time in months it m i ght be years H arding
.
,
, ,
had deferred to her wishes— but not in consequence of

resolute persistence on her part H ad sh e contended for .
the name that pleased her best, he would never have

seen i n it a beauty and fitness abo v e the one he pre
ferre d himself ; and S he would in the end have been , ,
compelled to yield or have the babe thrust out from the
,
home into which its presence had al rea dy brought so
many rays of sunshine .
And so the b abe was named G race .
”
“ What will you do Mary ? said H arding to his ,
wife a s after Sitti ng longer than usual at the table he

, , ,
arose to leave the ho use A S he spoke he looked toward .
,
the child that still lay in her arms Mrs H ardin g . .
u nderstood and answered quickly

,
O h I shall get on very well Breakfast wasn t late

,
.
’
a minute th i s morning and I m sure every thing has ,

’
gone on pleasantly N o hurry nor confusion

. The .
children never behaved better i n their lives .
And the mother glanced at them approvingly .

36 T HE ANGEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
things than usual occurred to chafe his sp irit No t .
during all that morning was the image of the babe once
wholly obliterated, though many times obscured .
“
What does it all mean ? said H ard i ng to himse l f,
”
a s he reflected on the change “ Am I the same man

.
that I was yesterday ? What 1s there m a little helpless

”
babe to cast a spell like this ?
But he quest i oned 1 n vain H e could not understand
.
the mystery With lighter steps and a l i ghter heart

.
than usual he took his way home at dinner t i me , look

,
-
ing for sunshine there And he did not look in vain ,

.
for it lay broader and brigh ter o ver his threshold than
it had l ain for many years .
T HE A NGE L or T HE H OUSEHOLD . 37
C HAPT E R III .
TH ERE was quite a stir in the neighbourhood whe n

the news got abroad that an infant had been found at
the door of the H ardings The gossips had a world to .
say on the subj ect ; and al l agreed that a more un fo r ,
tun a te select i on of a home for the litt l e o n e c ou l d not

have been made .
“
It don t matter much as far as tha t goes , said M rs
’
.
M argaret Willits , the storekeeper s wife , as sh e chattered ’
over the tea table with Mrs J arvis and Miss G imp ;
-
“ for the truth is—all among ourse l ves

.
, remember
H arding can t support his own children let alone other

’
,
people s S omebody will have to take the child off thei r

’
.
’ ”
hands or they ll send it to the poor house
,
- .
“ But he does s u pport his o w n c hil dren

, rep l i ed
M iss G imp .
This wa s ingeniously remark ed, in order to dra w M rs .
W ill i ts out .
“ I m not so sure o f that ” said th e st ore k ee p e r s w i fe

’ ’
, ,
m ysteriously .
Who does support them ?

Mrs Jarvis put the question direct
I guess we do o ur part —this among ou rse lves
. .
“ O h I understand ” said M iss G imp a light b rea k

, , ,
ing o v er her countenance “ H e d o esn t pay up at .

’
”
y our store ?
“ You ve
h it it rig h t —but it s a ll a m on g o urse lves ,
’ ’
”
remember .
“ ”
O h , of co urse, return e d M iss G imp And .
“ ”
O f co urse , said Mrs J arvis “
We woul dn t s pea k
. .
’
of it o n any consideration .
88 T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USEH O LD .
“D on t, i f you please ; for they re bad kind of peopl e

’ ’
,
and I wouldn t get the i r i ll will on any account Mrs

’
- . .
H arding has an awful tongue i n her head , and what is

worse , I verily bel i eve sh e would seek to do me some
”
h arm if sh e knew I d sa i d a word agai nst her
,
’
.
“ D on t be afra i d sai d both of the ladies at once

’
.
,
”
And so H ard i ng owes your husband ? M i ss G imp
spok e ins i nuatingly .
O h , yes H e s been getting things off and on now,

.
’
for a y e ar E very l i ttle wh i le he comes and pays some

.
th ing on account ; but manages to let his b i ll keep g et

t i ng larger and larger Mr W i ll i ts says it must stop . .
s oon . H e wa s going to refuse them trust l ast wee k ;

but thought he would wa i t a while longer H e knows .
that the moment he stops them o ff , H arding will b e

terribly angry, and that he w i ll not only lose the custom
of the f am i ly , but a ll the money that is owed to him
”
in to the barga i n .
“ Rather a hard case remarked M i ss Gimp .

,
“ ’
Isn t it ? And so as I was say i ng i t doesn t mat
’
, ,
ter much for the ch i ld that it was left at their door ,

.
”
They ll never dream of keep i ng it
’
.
“ When w as ”
the infant abandoned ? as k ed Mrs .
! arvi s .
“
Three nights ago replied th e storekeeper S wife ,
’
.
“ Indeed ! I never heard a syllable of it unt i l to

”
day And the ch i ld i s st i ll w i th them ?
.
“ ”
F or all I know to the contrary said M rs Willits ,
. .
“
They ve been very quiet about the matter, that s
’ ’
”
certa i n remarked M i ss Gimp who wa s dressmaker
, ,
“
and assistan t gossip for the neighbourhood Three
n i ghts ago—and not a breath of i t to reach my ears
.
until last e v ening ! It looks mys terious Why should .
they b e s o very still about i t — they, of all people in

'
the world ! I sh o ul dn t wonder, now that I th i nk of ’
it, if they kne w more about the matter than they care to
T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEH O LD . 39
’ ’ ’
tel! There s something wrong depe nd on t I m a s
.
,
.
”
sure of i t as that I am s i tti ng here .
“ Wrong i n what way ?” asked Mrs Jarvis mani fest

.
,
ing a new inte rest in th e subj ect
M i ss Gi mp aff ected a myste rious manner as if sh e ,
knew more of what wa s go i ng on in the ne ighbourhood

th an sh e felt at liberty to tell .
“
H ave you any susp i c i on as to where the chi l d came
”
from ? inqu i red M rs Willits . .
”
“
I have my own thoughts said Miss G imp , with a ,
gravi ty that so well became her But thoughts cannot .
”
always be spoken .
”
We are all friends you know Miss Gimp ,
Mrs ,
. .
Jar vis put on her most ins i nuati ng manner “ O ld .
”
friends who can trust one another
,
.
”
“
I d trust you w i th any th i ng I knew certain re
’
plied M i ss Gi mp “
But it s all guess work here Wai t
.
’
-
.
a few days I m bound to s i ft th i s matter to the bottom

.
’
.
At present I ll j ust g i ve it as my opinion that the

,
’
H ard ings know a great deal more about the child than
”
they care to tell .
“
You may be right there Miss G imp , said Mrs ,
.
”
Will i ts else , why have they kept so st i ll about it ?
”
E xactly ! Why have they kept s o st i ll about it ?
D i d you hear, inqu i red Mrs Jarvi s whether .
,
th ere was a letter i n the basket with the ch i ld ?

Mrs Willits S hook her head
. .
“ O f course there must have be en said M i ss G imp .

, ,
“ There always is in a ff airs of th i s kind Take my .
,
word for it the pare n ta ge of that child is no secret to
,
”—
the H ardings And her imagination was ta k i ng a
—
.
“
freer range I shouldn t at a ll wonder if the baske t
’
”
conta i ned someth i ng more than a baby .
”
What ?
The two ladies bent c l oser to ward M iss Gimp .
“ Money ! ”
TH E AN GEL OF THE HOUSEHOLD .
“M oney ?
Yes : a handsome sum of money ; and a l etter be
sides promising a regular payment of more every month
,
o r quarter as long as they keep the child D epend

,
.
upon it, this is the case ; I m a s sure of it a s i f I had

’
”
seen into the basket myself .
“ ’ ”
You ve guessed it as certa in as fate said Mrs ,
.
Willits with animation

,
“ N o one would have trusted .
a little helpless infant in their hands without some ,

strong hold , l ike this , upon their selfishness Well al l .
,
I can sa y is that in the first place they d i dn t deserve

, , ,
’
any such good fortune ; and i n the second place who ,
e ver selected them as gu ardians o f the chil d, have made

”
a cruel experiment .
In this the other l adies ful l y agreed Miss G imp re ,

“
marking It is an ill wind that blows nob ody good
,
.
Y our husband Mrs Willits , may now stand some chance

,
.
”
o f getting his money .
S ure enough ! I didn t thin k of that It takes yo u, ’

.
”
Miss G imp to se e all the bearings of a subj ect
,
.
Miss Gi mp was flattered by th i s compl i ment and ,
drew her head up in a way peculiar to herself when

pleased .
“ ”
H as any on e seen the child ? inquired Mrs Jarvis . .
“ I have “
answered M rs W i ll i ts ; nor have I
no .
met with any one who has called on Mrs H arding S i nce .
it wa s l eft at her house There s neither pleasure nor .

’
comfort in v isiting her ; and so people stay away I .
hav en t been in her house for three months The fact

’
.
is th e last time I c a lled on her she was in an awful

, ,
humour about someth i ng or other and as snappish as a ,

t urtle I m sure she boxed the ears of every chil d sh e
.
’
has three times over wh i le I was there and if the

, , , ,
truth must be told they richly deserved all they got ;
,
for a more ill mannered quarrelsome brood I never sa w

-
,
.
A n dre w, their oldest boy, is a perfect little desperado .

THE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEH O LD . 41
The way b e knocked the other children about was dread

ful I was in fear every moment of seeing some of their
.
”
limbs broken or eyes put out .
“
Just as it was when I called there l a st said Miss ,
“
G imp I went to fit a dress for M rs H ard i ng The . .
house seemed l i ke a p erfect bedlam The ch i ldren quar .
re lle d all the while and the i r mother stormed at them

,
”
incessantly I was too glad to get away
. .
D o you expect to go there again very soon ? asked

M rs Jarvis. .
I ought to have gone there a week ago, to take

home the cape of her l a s t n e w dress S he wants it I
'
.
,
know There isn t more th an half an hour s work on it,
.
’ ’
and I ll do that this very evening

’
.
’
Then you ll see her in the morning, said the sto re
keeper s wife ’
.
”
Yes .
“ J ust drop in on your way back Miss G imp ’

; that s ,
a good soul I t s such a strange a fl a ir I really feel ’

'
.
,
cur i ous about it Take a good look at the baby and se e .

,
if you can trace a l i keness to anybody And then be .

,
sure to fin d out if any money came with it or is pro ,
mised I want to know about that of all th i ngs

.
”
,
.
“ ”
N ever fear for me sai d M i ss Gi mp looking un , ,
u sually bright I ll gather up every crumb o f in

.
’
”
formati on .
And you ll call in as you go by ? ’
O h certainly ,
.
“
D o if you please , said Mrs Jarvis ; for as I have
,
.
,
an errand out in the morning, I ll manage to be here ’
”
at what time ?
S ay te n o clock replied Miss G imp ’
,
.
L ittle else wa s talked of by the ladies d url n g the ho ur

they rema i ned together after te a .
O n the next morning at ten O clock Mrs Will1 t s and , ,

.
M rs Jarv is sa t together, a wa 1t1n g th e arri val o f Mis s

.
9?
4
42 T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USEHOLD .
'
G imp who h a d l ooked in upon the storekeepe r s wife a s
, ,
sh e pas sed on her way to the H ardings to sa y that s h e ,
would call on her return and make a report S ooner .
than they expected the dressmaker, sh e came in H er .
face did not look very animated .
”
“
G ood morning Miss G imp good mornin g ! said
,
-
t h e l adies .
G ood morning .
M i ss Gi mp tr i ed to l ook important and well satisfied

w ith herself but the e ff o rt was wholly unsuccessful
,
.
”
Well Miss G imp di d you se e the baby ?
, ,
I did .
’
There was an ominous gravity in the gossip s tones .
”
I s it a nice look i ng baby ? inquired Mrs Will i ts
- . .
A very nice look i ng baby indeed In fact, it s the

-
,
.
’
cl earest sweetest little thing I ever saw

,
.
“
Why M i ss Gi mp ! You don t sa y so ?
,
’
“ It s the truth every word I tell you ”

’
.
,
”
Well really ! It s a n i ce baby then ?
,
’
,
“
You may believe it And then it s so good ! M rs .
,
’
.
H ard ing says it hasn t cried a n hour since it came i nto

’
”
the house .
You don t te ll me ’
“ I can well b l i eve her

e ; for while I was there it did , ,
n othing but smile and coo and try its best to talk to , ”
every one who came near the cradle where it lay .
This information was not half so satisfactory to the

two lad i es as the report of its being cross and d i sagree
,
able would have been .
Well so much for the

,
said Mrs Jarvis . .
“ And now Miss Gi mp tell us a l l you learned about it

, , .
”
Where do you think i t came from ?
“
H aven t the l east idea in the w orld, replied M iss
’
G imp .
“
Really
“ Rea lly ! ”
w
hat was in my mind ,
and made some remark that thre w
me o ff .
H ow provoking 1»
.
“
It was provok i ng said Miss G imp l ooking partie n , ,
l a rly annoyed .
What does sh e intend doing w ith the l ittl e stranger ?

ask ed Mrs Jarv i s . .
”
“
K eep it replied Miss G imp
“ S he s got a house full of her own now—more than
.
,
’
”
her husband is able to s upport said Mrs Willits ,
. .
“
I don t understand the woman
’
.
’
“
I think I do returned Miss G im p assumi ng a , ,
k nowing look S he was good at surm i s i ng.

“
As to .
there being any disinterested feeling toward the babe ,

”
that 1 s not adm i tted for an instant .
”
O f course not .
M iss G imp resum ed You may re l y upon it then , ,

as I suggested in t h e beginning that she knows all ,
about where the child came from and is well paid for ,
”
ta king care of it .
“
B ut h o w do you account for the singular change in
her temper and above all, for the change in the temper
, ,
”
o f her ch i ldren ?
“ I ve thought of all that ” answered the dressm a ker
’
, ,
“ and own that I am puzzled It has occurred to me .
,
that her young savages may have been tamed as they ,
tame w i ld beasts by hunger and stri pes If S he has a

,
.
motive strong enough to make her resolute M rs H arding ,

.
is not the woman to hes i tate a b out the adopt i on of any

means for the accompl i shment of her purposes It has .
,
n o doubt been made her interest to keep this child and

, ,
to keep it right If this is really so S he will make al l

.
,
”
bend to her w i ll in the matter .
And so after all the dressmaker had failed to learn

, ,
any th i ng about the ba be t hat was sati s factory e i ther to ,
herself or her friends, M rs Wil lits and Mrs Jarvis As . . .

T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USEHOLD . 45
might be supposed , the report of Miss G imp excited sti ll

more the curi os i ty of the two ladies , who had urged the
v isit to Mrs H ardi n g They were really troubled be
. .
,
ca use o f their inab i lity to penetrate the mystery that sur

rounded the a fia ir O ver one bit of i nformation re
.
,
served to the last by Miss G imp , they became excited ;

but it left them still in the dark .
“
H arry Wilkins sa w the person who l e ft the b as k et
”
a t H arding s door , said the dressmaker
’
.
“
What
“
I was tal king with H arry Wilkins last evening and ,
he says that on the n i ght the ch i ld was l eft at H ard

,
ing s he went to Beechwoo d O n the way, he met a

’
,
.
woman carrying a basket S he was young and had . ,

,
something strange looking about her It struck him -

.
that sh e was in trouble for S he seemed very irresolute ,
w alking on for a time hurriedly ; then stopping as if in

doubt ; and once or twice turn i ng back toward Beech
wood H is curiosity was excited and he watched her
.
,
for some time O n h i s return he met her again but

.
, ,
without the basket H e passed very close to her .
close en ough to get a glimpse of her face which he ,

”
says looked l i ke the face of one i n deep distress .
“ ”
And sh e came from Beechwood ? said Mrs Jar vi s, .
breath i ng deeply .
S he came from that direction H arry says ,

.
“ The child s mother no doubt ’

What a wretch sh e .
,
must be ! F rom Beechwood ? That s someth i ng to ’
know I ve got a cousin living in Beechwood and I ll

.
’
,
’
go over and see her this very blessed week I shouldn t .

’
wonder if sh e could trace the whole affa i r .
S ay i ng this Mrs Jarvis arose and made a mo vement

,
.
,
to go , at wh i ch Miss Gi mp remarked that She must run

home also as sh e had promised a dress on that very
,
day and the Scissors were not into it yet N early five
, .
m i nutes elapsed before a ll their parting words were said ;

then they separate d , w ith mutual promises to s ift the

ma tte mo re cl osely and to commun i cate one to ano ther,
n , ,
any th ing ne w that might happe n to be lear ned .
C H APT E R IV .
A W EE K passed and notw i thstanding Mrs Wil l its

, , .
,
in league with Miss Gi mp and Mrs Jarvis, had been all

.
eye and all ear so to speak yet they had not been able
, ,
to learn any thing sat i sfac tory to themselves about the

stranger babe E ach of the ladies had , during the t i me ,
.
made a call upon Mrs H ard i ng and each came away

.
, ,
more strongly confirmed in her first conclusion , that sh e
k new a great deal more about the ch ild than sh e had
cared to tell As for the babe itself there could be b lit
.
,
“
one op i nion M i ss Gi mp said it was lovely ; and
.
when S he spoke of an infant SO decidedly , you m i ght be

sur e there was someth i ng about it more than common .
Meantime S in gul a r changes were progressing in the

,
h ome where the l i ttle o ffcast had found an asylum

changes that as much surpr i sed the inmates as those
who looked on from a di stance G race had won a ll
.
hearts from the beginning ; even selfish rude , ill na ,

-
t ure d Andrew , who h a d been the pest of the fam i ly,

stood subdued and gentle i n her presence Before sh e .
came h i s greatest del ight was in annoy ing and oppress

,
ing the other ch i ldren ; now his ch i ef pleasure cons i sted

in hold i ng the babe carrying her about or playing with
, ,
her as sh e lay in the cradle S o attent i ve was he that

.
,
M rs H arding scarcely percei ved an y new demand upo n

.
her time in consequence of s o important an a d dition to

,
her fam i ly L eft more to themselves by the d i version

—
.
,
of Andrew s attention ’
the other ch i ldren
,
whose al most
incessant s tr i fe owed i ts ori g i n ma i nly to their older
brother s interference—rarely gave way to a wrangl i ng
’
S piri t When it d i d occur, a word from their mother

.
.
subdued the i r angry feel i ngs .
O ften a n d often d i d the hands of Mrs H arding pause .
in her work , as sh e thought i ntently on this new order

Of things and wondered how it was that a single word
, ,
could calm the stormy passions of her children , when

only a little while before , noth i ng but a more v i olent
storm on her part could allay the tempest on the i rs .
H o w greatly sh e was herself changed d i d not come

with clearness into her apprehens i on — changed , we
,
mean , in her external aspec ts ; for internally, no real ,
change h a d yet taken place there was only th e be g i nning

of a change N or was sh e aware how d i ff eren t were her
.
words and manner of speaking when addressing her ,
children to what they were a li ttle wh i le before

,
.
O ne th ing the ch i ldren did not fa i l to notice It was .
this : the marked d i ff erence in their mother when G race

wa s awake and i n the S i tting room and when S h e was -
,
asleep in the adj o i n i ng cham ber S h e was always gentler .
and more forbear i ng toward them when the babe was

present than when absent N or d i d Mrs H ard i ng fa il
. .
to remark that the children were more gentle and obe

,
d i ent when G race was in the room with them than when
sh e was sleeping .
Qui te as remarkab l e was the change in Mr H arding . .
He ne ver came in now , with a heavy horse like tread ,

, ,
-
nor ba nged the door beh i nd h i m as had been h i s cus ,
tom N or did he reprove the ch i ldren when in fault

.
, ,
with h is former angry violence Always he went first t o .
look at the ba be as if that were uppermost in h i s

,
thoughts And what se emed to please h im part icularly,

.
48 T HE A NG EL O F T HE HOUSEHOLD .
w as the fact , th at little Grace began to flutter her tin y

hands the moment he appear ed and never seemed better ,
satisfied than when in h i s arms N ot once since sh e .
,
came to them like a gift from heaven a s sh e wa s had

,
.
, ,
he l eft home in the evening to spend his time at the ,
tavern In his favour i t may be said that his as socia

.
,
tions at the tavern had never presente d a very strong
attraction ; and he had only gone there because every ,
thing in the home sphere owing to the i ncongruities of

-
,
temper between him a n d h is w i fe was disagreeable and ‘
,
repulsive .
We have omitte d thus far to mention that Jacob

H arding wa s a carpenter by trade H is shop stood at .
no great dis tance from the sto re of Willits the grocer, ~
and not far from the tavern kept by a worthless fello w

named S tark , who wa s do i ng more harm 1g the neigh
b o urli o o d m a S ingle month than he had ever done good
in his l i fe The absence of H arding from the bar room
.
-
o f S tark for so many consecutive evenings did not fa il

, ,
t o excite the tavern keeper s attention who not lik i ng t o

’
-
, ,
l ose so good a customer made it h i s business to call in at,
the Shop of H arding and in a fam i l i ar hale fellow, well

, ,
-
met sort of a way i nquire if he had been s i ck This

,
.
was about a week after the appe a rance of l i ttle G race in

the carpenter s family H arding answered in the nega
’
.
tive and with a sl i ght coldness of manner

,
.
”
What s the matter, then ? said S tark
’
An y thin g .
”
w rong at home ?
“
N othing .
We wanted you part icularly l a st night Tom

, , .
E llis from Beechwood and Jack F leming from Avon

, , ,
dale were both here They had a j olly t i me of it, I can

,
.
te ll you ; and if they asked for y o u once they d i d a , .
dozen times You don t know what you lost The y re

.
’ “
.
’
coming o v er again this even i ng You must be sure and .
”
meet them , for I promised that you would be on hand .
T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEHOLD . 49
”
You were a littl e too fast in that , said H arding as ,
he t i ghtened the blade in his j ack plane , and then -
Sighted the e dge to see if it was at the tru e cutting

distance .
“ Why so asked S tark .
“ Because I shall not be there .
“ And why not pray ?”

,
“ Becau se I m better o ff’
and b etter c ontented, at
,
”
home wa s re plied
,
.
“ ’
Tied to your wife s apron string - .
This was said pleasantly yet w i th j ust enough of sar

,
casm to touch the quick feelings of H arding , w ithout

‘
gi ving ofien ce
“ I never was tied to a woman s apron string in
my ’
-
life , and never expect to be Mary H a rding knows me .
far too well to attempt any thi ng of that kind .
The tavern keeper shrugged his shoulders , and arched

“
his coarse eyebrows m a way that said, I c an belie ve
”
a s much of that as I please
The quick te m
.
per of H arding took fire , and he wa s

about making a sharp retort , but, singularly enough ,
the 1 mage of little G race came suddenly before the eyes
of his m i nd a nd something 1n her inn oc ent face subdued
,
and tranquillized him .
“
L ook here , H arding S tark spo k e in a coarse ,
.
“
rough way What s this I hear about somebody
’
s brat
— y
.
bein g left at y o ur door ? Is it s o o r o n ly G im p

”
goss i p ?
“ ”
A young babe w as l eft at my doo r, H arding
answered , coldly, and , at the same time , commenced
driving liis plane o ver a rough board th at l ay on his
w ork bench
- .
“
You don t te ll me so ! We ll, w hat h a v e y ou don e
’
With it
”
Kept it .
“K
ept it ! Yo u re j ok ing ! I thought y ou had a
’
5
5 0 T HE A NG EL OE T HE HOUSEHOLD .
house ful l of your own —more than you coul d get bread
”
for without mak i ng a slave of yourself .
H ard i ng felt annoyed, as well at the tavern keeper s -

’
words as his manner, and an angry retort was on his

tongue But b e controlled himself, and merely answered,
.
w ith assumed i n d ifiere n ce

'
“
We haven t found it in the way so far
’
,
.
“
Whose is it inquired S tark, stil l in his ru de
manner .
3 “ D on t know
,
rep
’
l ied H arding .
“ Why don t you send it to the poor house

? I d do
’ ’
-
”
it in less than no ti me .
“
When we are tired of keepin g it, p erhaps w e w i ll
”
do so .
S tark began now to see that his way of speakin g to

the carpenter was not altogether rel i shed ; and as it was ,
by no means h i s interest to o ff end one of his customers ,

he changed , somewhat, his manner o f addressing him .
But he fai led altogether in h i s e ff ort to restore the old

state of feeling that had ex i sted between them .
F rom the shop of H ard i ng S tark went to the store of ,
Mr W i ll i ts , where he bought a barrel of sugar and a

. .
bag of coff ee H e was about the only man in the ne i gh

.
b o urh o o d whose pocket book was su fficiently well filled

-
to warrant the purchase of groceries in such liberal

quant i ties .
”
Make out the bil l and receipt it, said he, in a se lf
s a tisfie d voice .
“ ”
I l i ke that , was the pleasant response of the store
keeper I wish all my customers were as ready to put
.
’
the cash down
—
.
“ ”
Pay as you go that is my motto, returned S ta rk .
“ You ll not find my name on anybody s books ”

’ ’
.
“ It s the
Safest kind of a motto , and one that I shall
’
have to suggest to two or three people about here , e v en

5 2 T HE ANGEL O F T HE HOUSEHOLD .
H arding “ ’
We ve always been on good terms ; and I
.
”
w ould n t say any thing to inj ure h i m for the world
’
.
“
O h no My mi nd was pretty well made up before
,
.
you came in That baby business dec i ded me M rs

. . .
Willits and I were talk i ng it over last n ight and we ,

’
both came to the conclusion that if he coul dn t make ,
both ends meet before the re was no hope for him now ,
'
.
We did think at first that a money inducement cause d

, ,
him to keep the child ; but Mrs H arding assured my .
w ife yesterday that not a farthing ca me with it nor

, , ,
was prom i sed at any future t i me If they are foo ls .
enough to take up a burden l i ke this, they mustn t e x ’
”
e ct me to bear it for them
p .
“ ”
This refu al on your part may do them good sai d
s
,
S tark .
“ It will at least Open their eyes to their true
, ,
position I rather think the ch i ld will find its way into

.
the poor house before it is a wee k older

- .
“ ’ ”
I don t care where it goes or what becomes of it, ,
”
answered the storekeeper so I get my money ,
.
S oon after S tark left the S hop of Jacob H arding the ,
l atter put on his coat and hat and went over to the ,
house of a farmer named L ee about a quarter of a mile, ,
distant Th i s Lee a rather thr i ftless sort of a man wh o

.
, ,
spent far too large a porti on of h i s time and money at
S tark s tavern owed the carpenter a hundred and fifty
’
,
dollars for new roofing h i s house and do i ng sundry re ,

pairs to his dilap i dated old barn The account had been .
stand i ng for some months O n the paymen t of this .
mon ey H ardin g had intended settling his bill at the

,
grocer s The manner o f Wi llits on the day before,

’
.
,
when he had called to get half a pound of te a and som e

c orn meal annoyed h i m cons i derably H e sa w tha t the
,
.
storekeeper was getting uneasy at the size of h i s account ,
wh i ch but for the fa i lure to procure a settlement with

,
L ee would have been long S i nce paid o ff

,
H e had .
brooded o ver this un til a sort of desperate fee ling to o k

T HE A NG EL OE T HE H O USE H OLD . 5 3
possession of h im ; and, in this state of mind, he went

over to se e the farmer .
Can t d o any thing for you said L ee in the coolest

’
, ,
w ay imag i nable on H ard i ng s asking for a settlement
,
’
.
“ H aven t ten dollars i n cash to bless myself w i th let

’
,
”
alo ne a hundred and fifty .
H arding felt exceed i ngly fretted at thi s way of treat

ing him and said qu i te sharply
, ,
“ Pray Mr L ee , when do you intend settling my
, .
”
a cc ount ?
“
S ome of these days, replied the farmer, in dif
f ere n tly .
“ That way of doing business don t suit me I want ’

.
something definite I pa i d the cash down for the

.
‘
shingles that cover your roof ; and now I want my
”
money .
D on t get excited H arding : it won t do any good ,

’
,
’
said L ee “
The man doe sn t l i ve about here that ca n
.
’
”
d rive this horse ; so y o u needn t try
’
.
This was more than the carpente r cou l d bear Bit .
te rly did he retort upon the farmer, and left h i m ,

fin ally with threats of an immediate resort to law for
,
the recovery of h is b i ll .
When H ard i ng and his wife met at dinner time each -

,
perceived i n the other s countenance a troubled aspect

’
.
H arding s heavy brows Were drawn down ; and about his

’
wife s mouth wa s the old loo k of fretfulness that had so

’
often repelled him F or the first time , h e p a ssed th e

. .
cradle without even looking at G race , whose round ,

w hite arms had commenced flying the moment sh e
h eard the sound of h i s footsteps across the threshold ;
and , going into the yard he took up the axe a n d com
, ,
me n ce d spl i tt i ng up a sti ck of cord wood Th i s done , .
he came back i nto the house again pas si ng- the cradle , ,
and s i tt i ng down in moody s i lence at the d in n er ta bl e ,

, ,
o n which their meal had already been ser v ed While .
iii
5
5 4 T HE ANG EL or T HE H OUSEHOLD .
cutting up the meat and helping it around , the l o w,

,
sweet, coaxing murmur of the baby s voice sounded in ’
his ears The cradle was only a l i ttle way from him ,
.
a n d so turned that G race could s ee him And there .
sh e lay, flutte ring her arms and cooing and trying a ll

, ,
means in her power to arrest h i s attention Yet reso .

,
l ute ly he kept his eyes turned away from the implorin g

,
l ittle one But weaker each moment became his reso

.
, ,
l ution for her v oice came to his ears li k e the m usi c o f

D avid s harp to S aul , driving out the evil Sp i rit At
’
.
l ast he could resist the babe s pleadings no l onger

’
.
Almost stealthily, he turned his eyes upon her O n e .
l ook was enough The tenderness of a mother filled his

.
heart S o sudden was the revulsion of his feelings , th at,

.
for a few moments, he was bewildered But of o n e .
th i ng he was soon clearly conscious and that was of ,
hav i ng G ra ce in his arms, and hugging her almost pas

si o n a t ely to his heart .
T HE AN G EL OE T HE HO U SEHOLD . 5 5
C H APT E R V .
TH E suddenness w ith w hich H arding arose from the

table and caught up the ch i ld , which he had not seemed
to notice S ince he came in , and the eager way in which
he he l d it to his heart, naturally exci ted the surprise o f
his wife , who looked at h i m wonderingly Hi s in dif .
ference toward G race had not been unobserved by Mrs .
H arding S h e sa w that he was in one of h i s unhappy

moods—that a dark cloud was on his spir i t —and that
.
only a word was needed to awaken a fierce storm And , .

!
more than al l this the messag e brought from the store

,
k eeper by Andrew h a d so deeply an gered her, that her

mind was still panting under the exc i tement and sti ll ,
fretting itself with ind i gnant thoughts ; so that S he, t oo ,

w as ready for strife It h ad been a s much as sh e could
.
do to keep back from her l i ps words of sharp reproof,

for the crue l indiff erence manifested by her husband
toward the pleading babe : most probably a f e w minutes
,
l onger of forced neglect on his part, would have brought

down upon him a storm of wor d s that would have marred
every th i ng for littl e G race , and made her presence in ,
the household, ever after, a cause of angry content ion - .
H appily the qu i ck tempered wife controlled her strug

,
-
gl i ng i mpulses long enough for better influences to pre

‘
v a i l As she looked at the singular exhib ition of feeling

.
i n her husband , sh e w as touched by softer emotions .
The inc i dent gave her a deeper insight into his charac
ter, wh i le it quickened her own thoughts into sel f
reproaches for the misjudgment which had we l ln i gh
fanned a fe w embers into fiercely b urning flames o f
disc ord .
5 6 TH E A NGEL OF T HE HOUSEHOLD .
As for H arding now that the repressed tenderness of

,
his heart had free course , he found himself carried away

as by a flood The babe in h i s arms felt more precious
.
to him than life itself ; and it seemed as if he could

n ever be done hugg i ng it to his heart When at .
,
length he reseated h i mself at the d i nner ta ble wi th

,
-
,
G race on h i s knee a n d lo o k e d over to his wife, the c l oud

,
had p a ssed from her counte nance .
“ ”
What possessed you , sh e said smiling and i n a , ,
pl easant vo i ce to neglect the sweet child so ? S he w as

,
almost dying to have you not i ce her .
H ardi ng d i d not answer but merely drew G race clos e

,
aga i nst h i m , and , bending o ver, talked to her in fond,
ch ild i sh language .
A c a lm followed this l ittle exciting episode , in which

both Mr and Mrs H ard ing looked and felt sober, but
. .
not ill natured After dinner as H ard i ng was preparing

-
.
,
to leave the house he took some s i lver change from his
,
p ocket and hand i ng i t to his wi fe , said

,
“
O ur b i ll at the store is gett i ng rather large D on t .
’
send for any th i ng without the money H ere are t wo .
dollars and a half for any little th i ng you may want .
The change in his wife s coun tenance a s he said this

’
arrested H ard i ng s attention ’

.
”
What s the matte r ? he as ked abruptly
’
,
.
“ ”
N oth i ng much S he repl i ed her face flushing as sh e
, ,
Spoke O n ly I m glad you ve left me some money, for

’ ’
—
.
”
w e re out of flour, and a n d
’
“ ”
And what ? S he paused stammering and H ard , ,
ing saw that something was wrong .
“
N oth ing only W i llits sent word this morn i ng, that
,
he would n t let us have any th i ng more, unless we paid

’
”
the money down 1
“ H e d id ” A fierce l ight burned instantly in the
!
eye of Jacob H arding, and his lips were drawn bac k
a g ainst h i s teeth .
T HE A NGEL O F T HE HOUSEHOLD . 5 7
“ Yes said his wife , forcing herse lf to speak in a

,
mild and soothing way ; but no m a tter Jacob L et us ,

.
try to get on w ithout asking for credit anywhere I ll .

’
do my best to economize in every thing It chafes me .
to be under obligations to anybody, and especially to the

”
Willits I don t like any of the family
.
’
.
”
That s ta l king outright, Mary I said H arding the
’
,
threatening scowl on his heavy bro w suddenly breakin g

a way ; and , as he Spoke he thrust his hand a second ,
time into his trousers pocket, and dre w out a handful of

small change , which he counted over .
“ ” “
H ere are three dollars more , he added It s all .
’
the money I have j ust now, and may be all I shall recei v e
this week Make it go a s far as you can
. .
“ You may be sure I will do that J acob rep l ied his

, ,
wife kindly and earnestly
,
.
“ Wo uldn t trust us any more 1” ’

H ardi n g s mind re ’
turned to this hard, unpleasant, mortifying fact “ Very

we l l—so let it be H e s had a good deal o f my money
.
in his time —I hardly think he will get as much in the

.
future D on t you buy any thing there that you can d o

.
’
without T he next time I go over to Beechwood , I wi ll

.
lay in a go od stock of things , if I happen to have the

money I saw L ee to day, and tried to get him to settle
.
-
that bill of his ; but he put me o ff again and is more in ,
diff erent about it than ever I got out o f all patience , .
a n d threatened to put the sheriff on him It will have .
to come to this sooner or later ; and the quic k er it is

done the quic ker I shal l get my money
,
.
“ Cou l dn t y o u trade o
ff the a c count to Wi ll its, and
’
”
thus save a wor l d of trouble ? suggeste d th e wi fe .
Mr H arding caught at this suggestion and, a fter

.
,
t urning it Over in his mind for a few moments said ,

“
I d on t know Mary but that might be done N o w
’
, ,
.
that I come to think of it I remember hearing some ,
b ody S a y that Wi llits was abou t buy ing that ho use a n d

5 8 T HE A NGEL OF T HE H O USEH O LD .
acre l ot where Jones l ives You k now it belongs to M r . .
L ee There s no doubt in the world but that he could

.
’
settle my account in the transaction I ll se e him about .

’
”
it this very afternoon .
” “
D o Jacob answered his wife encouragingly
, ,
It ,
.
”
w ill be such a relief to have th i s all off our minds .
In Sp i te of his indignation aga i nst Willits H arding ,
w ent d i rect to h i s store The latter, on seeing him .
enter, made up his mind for a sharp passage of words

with the fiery tempered carpenter S till , he managed to .
receive him with a forced sm i le .
“
H ow m uch hav e you agai nst me on your books ? ”
inquired H arding, speak ing firmly, and w i th a sober

countenance , yet repressing, as far as possi ble, a ll a p
e a ra n ce of anger
p .
The storekeeper aff ecting a pleasant ma n n e r turned

, ,
over h i s ledger and , glancing at the account, which was

,
al ready footed up replied ,
O ne hundred and fourteen dollars .
”
S o much as that ? H arding S howed surr ise .
“
I will make you out a b i ll of items day a n d date , ,
and you can examine the a ccount I presume you wi ll .
”
find every charge correct .
“
I expected to have paid this l ong ago s id the ,
a
carpenter “
,
but have been disappointed i n ge t t ing a
large b i ll To day I tried my best to collect bu t I m
.
-
,
’
afra i d there s no chance for me, unless I go to law and I

’
,
”
don t want to do that
’
.
Whose account is it ? inquired Willits

”
.
‘The one I have against L ee for roofin g h is h o use

,
a n d re p a i ring his barn .
”
Is it poss i ble he hasn t paid that yet 7 ’
.
“ N ot a ce n t o f it ” .
T he storekeeper l ooked serious for a few m ome nts,

then shaking his head he remarked
, ,
“ T h a t s not ri g ht in L e ”
’
e .
60 T H E ANGE L O F T HE HOUSEHOLD .
“ I v e settled h is account
’
.
“ H ave ? O ! l ’
y o u h I m s o g ad .
“ And better still Mary : he owes me thirty si x do l -

,
l ars , which I Have agreed to tak e out o f h is store, a s w e
”
w ant things in his line .
It is pleasant news, indeed, Jacob B ut h ow di d all .
”
this come to pass ?
“
Just in the way you suggested Wi l lits h as tak en .
my bill against L ee and credi ted me w ith the difleren ce

'
,
”
between that and the account on his books .
“
O h ! I am so glad : it has taken such a l oad off o f
“ ’
me, said Mrs H arding . I don t belie ve Mr L ee
. .
wou l d ever have paid the bill without your s uing h im ;

and I dread lawsuits abo v e e very thin g : they al way s
”
bring trouble to both sides .
Already, G race wa s in the great, str on g arms o f the

carpenter ; and L e tty between whom and her father a
,
new and gentler relation had existe d e ver since the

stranger babe came to them , was l eanin g on h is kne e
-
and playing with the happy little one .
A t this moment, a form darkened the door It was .
the form of a woman , j ust past life s mid dle age H er ’
—
.
countenance wa s strongly mark ed the lines as indica '
tive of patient endurance as great suflerin g S he was .
tall in person , with the c arriage o f one wh o h a d mo v ed

in pol i shed c ircles .
“ Can yo u tel l me said She as she ad v anced

, , o n e
“ ”
foot inside o f the door, how far it is to Beechw ood ?
“ N early two miles ma am ” replied M rs H ardin g ’
,
.
, ,
w ho had turned , on p er c ei vin g the presence of a
stranger .
”
S o far away ? sa d the w oman , i n apparent c on cern
“ I can t p ossibly rea ch there before d a rk ”
’
.
”
You certainly cannot, replied M rs H arding S h e . .
the n a dded, Won t y ou c ome in and rest y o urse lf ?

“ ’
T HE ANGEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD . 61
“ Than k you returned the stranger stepping across

, ,
the threshold and advancing a few paces into the room
,
.
”
What a dear sweet babe 1 sh e said , as on taking a
, ,
chair, sh e fixed her eyes with a tender admiring gaze ,

, ,
upon the ba be that still remained in H arding s arms ’

.
S h e could not have off ered a remark better calculate d t o

make a fav ourable impression on the minds o f the car
en te r and his wife
p .
“ What is her name ?” She as k ed a f ter a moment s

’
,
p aus e .
“ We call her G race repl ied Mrs H arding, a ll her

,
.
countenance l it up with pleasure

“ G race—G race ” said the woman
.
, , ha l f sp e a k in g t o
“ ”
herself in an abstracted way
,
A beautiful name .
,
“ ”
sh e added ; none more beautiful And then sh e .
bent forward , and ga z ed at the child w ith such an

earnest tender expression that Mrs H arding who was
, ,
.
,
observi ng her intently felt a troubled consciousness that

,
sh e knew somethi n g of the child and did not no w loo k ,
upon it for the first time in her life ~

.
There wa s about the stranger a beari ng that inspired

in v oluntary respect H er c al m intell i gent eyes looked
.
,
into those of the carp enter and his wife in a way that
caused them to fee l a singular deference ; and when she
referred again to the l ong distance sh e had still to go ,
and spoke, in a troubled voice , of the gatherin g dark ness,
H ard i ng said , l ook ing at his wife
“
If the l ady will accept what po or ac commodatio n s
our house will aff ord , She need not go to Beechwood
to night What say y ou , Mary
-
.
“
S he is w e l come to the best w e hav e to gi ve , was
the answer o f Mrs H arding . .
“
I di d not expect this , sai d the w oman , evidentl y
“
touched by the proff ered hospitality ; nor do I know
whether it wi ll b e al to g ether right for me to trespass on
6
62 T HE AN GEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
y our k indness I f there is a respectab l e ta vern in th e

.
”
neighbourhood
H a rdin g shook his head a s he answered ,
“
There is no tavern about here but S tark s and I ’
,
’
couldn t advise you to go there If you will remain in
“
”
o ur poor home believe yourself ent i rely welcome
,
.
“
L et me take your bonnet and S hawl said Mrs , .
H ard i ng encoura gi ngl y and sh e reached out her hands

,
to receive them .
The woman hesitated on l y a moment, and then re

moving her bonnet and Shawl gave them to her hoste ss, ,
wh o took them into the adj oin i ng chamber A S Mrs . .
H arding retur ned to the apartment sh e had j ust left sh e ,

was struck with the singular beauty of the woman s ’
counte nance—bearing though it did the marks of tim e

as well a s by the d epth and brilliancy of her eyes that ,
were fixed almost as if by fascination on the infant

, ,
w hich still lay against the bosom of her husband .
All parties were now for a time in a state of embar , ,
ra ssme n t . H arding felt a little uncomfortable in the

presence o f the woman whose eyes whenever the y , ,
rested upon him seemed a s if trying to read h i s very

,
thoughts and the stranger consc i ous of the e ff ect her

, ,
entrance had produced d i d not feel altogether at ease
,
.
“ L et me have that dear babe ” said the woman

, ,
reaching out her hands toward G race .
The l i ttle one shrunk closer against the breast of

H arding while a shade , almost of fear, darkened her
,
face .
’
Won t you come
The woman spoke in soft and winning tones , and stil l
extended her hands ; but the babe could not be lured
‘
from i ts place .
At th i s moment Andre w came in , rudely, dashing

,
his hat upon the floor and pushing his sister L ucy aside
,
so roughly as al most to throw her down L ucy ga v e a n .

T HE A NGEL O F T HE HOUSEHOLD . 63
a ngry scream at this v iolence , and called her brother

some v ile name The woman turned , half startled at
.
,
this sudden outbreak , and fi xed her dark , penetrating

eyes on Andrew, who , n e w first conscious of the pre
sence of a stranger became quiet, and sh run k away into
,
the farther part o f the room , the e y es of the w oman sti ll

following him .
I S that the pl ace for yo u r hat, sir ?

Anger, as wel l as mort ifica tion , caused H arding to
speak roughly to the boy The w oman seemed quite as
.
much startled by the v oice of the father as she had bee n

by the rudeness of the son The l ook S he t hrew upon
him was timid—almost fearfu l ; and her eyes passe d
.
rap i dly from his dark , threatening face to the calm , ,
sweet , co n fid in g countenance of the infant who seemed ,
not in the l east d isturbed by the sudden gust of passion

w hich had come sweeping over the little household .
Andrew looked su lky and stubborn for a few moments

only then he returned to the p l ace where his hat lay
upon the floor and taking it up hung it upon a nail
, ,
.
In the next minute he stood beside the baby who, the ,
instant S he sa w him arose from her reclining posi

,
tion , reached out her little hands to him , and al most

spr i nging into his arms gave voice to her pleasure and
,
aff ection in sounds as well understood as if the utterance

had been in words Andrew bore her in a sort o f
.
triumph about the room ; while the stern fea tures of his
father gradually relaxed as his eyes followed the happy
,
babe , until no trace remained therein of the anger which

di sfigured it a l i ttle wh i le before Lucy too forgot h er
.
, ,
indi gnation against Andrew, and moving close beside ,
her brother, clapped her hand at G race and talked t o ,
her with a v oice so full of tenderness that the stranger ,
l ooked at her in wonder, hardly credi ting the fact that

she wa s the same little g i rl who scarcely a moment be
,
fore , h a d startl ed her w ith a shrill cr y of an ger .

64 T HE A NGEL O F T HE H OUSEHOLD .
S i l ent, yet attenti ve l y observant o f a ll that passed ,

did the v isiter now remain , until supper was ready, and
sh e in vited t o j oin the family in their e ven in g "
me a 1w as
“ ”
D o you reside in B eechwood ? inqui red H arding ,
addressing the stran ger, soon after they had gathered
around the tab l e .
”
N 0 Sir , was her Simp l e answer, somewhat c o o ll y
,
made as though S he w ished to repel inqu i ry

, .
“ You have friends there ” sa i d H arding who as he

? , ,
observ ed the stranger more narrowly, felt h i s curiosity in

regard to her increasing Particularly d i d her manner
.
o f looking at th e child excite his attention : to him it

seemed as if S he made an e ff ort to conceal the interes t
really felt by her in the little one .
“ ”
Y e s, I hav e friends there , sh e replied ; and then
said , almost in the same breath, H o w old is your littl e
G race
H arding l ooked at h i s wife , and She l ooked at him .
B oth seemed taken by surprise at the question ; and

both were slightly confused .
”
H ow old is it, Mary ? asked H arding .
“ About nine weeks replied Mrs H arding, her face

,
.
receiving a shad e of colour as S h e spoke .
The stranger looked at her intently Mrs H arding s . .

’
eyes fell under the steady ga z e .
“ A bright child for nine w ee k s ”

o l d, remark ed the
w oman .
Then sh e seemed to l ose herse lf in thought and once

'
o r twice sighed deeply . After the supper table wa s -
cleared away, a nd the ch ildren were all in bed , her man

ner underwent a change S he was now entirely at her
.
ease and conversed in so attractive a way with the car

,
en ter and his wife , that both found themselves strangely

p
drawn toward her, and ready to answer freely in regard
to their p ersona l aff airs, about whi ch sh e inquired w ith
T HE A NGEL OE T HE HOUSEH O LD . 65
an interestthey felt to be genuine About people m the .
n eighbourhood she also asked questions ; and when re ,
ference was made to S tark the tavern keeper She spoke -

,
s trongly of the danger o f v isiting such ho uses a s h e

k ept .
“ It gratified me more than I can express ”

,
sh e said ,
“
l oo k ing at H arding, to find you at home , during the
evening with your family There is e very thing to
,
.
hope , for a sober, industrious man Your struggle with .
the w orld may be hard for a time , but keep a brav e

heart With temperance, industry, and fr ugality at
.
home , you are sure to rise abo ve your present p os i tion .
It is our first meeting and it may be our last ; but if we

,
ever do meet again , I shall expect to find that Andre w

’
H arding has ta ken a long stride in the way of pro s

”
eri ty
p .
There was more in her manner than in her word s

that impres sed the mind o f the carpenter But no mat .
ter in which l ay the influence , H arding felt new p ur ’
p oses gro wing up in h i s heart ; and he e v en said to him

self,
“
If e ver w e d o meet a gain , it shall be as y ou
p redict .
At an earl y hour , Mr and M rs H arding retired , . . ,
a fte r having sho w n their gu est to the l ittle spare roo m

k ept for v i sitors .
“ I must ha v e
o n e l ook at that dear b abe o f yours,
sh e said , a s S h e was about leaving them for the n i ght .
M rs Ha rding led her into her own chamb er where

.
,
G race was sleeping and drew down the bed clothes from
,
-
the face of the infant The woman bent l ow o v er it,

.
and , for a time that s eemed long to Mrs H arding stood .

,
gazing upon the calm face before her, so full of h e a ven l

innocence There w ere tears on her lashes, when wit
.
,
a deep quivering sigh sh e l ifted herself from the babe

, ,
.
Pla cing a hand on the Sho ulder o f M rs H arding, an d .
6a
66 T HE A NGEL or T HE HOUSEH O LD .
raising a finger slowly upward , sh e s aid , in a tone so

solemn , that it thrilled to the heart of her audi to r
G od h a s committed to your care one o f the precious
ones whose angels are ever before his face O h ! ne ver .
forget your h i gh responsibility L ove , cherish , k eep .
the dear one .
The woman s v oi ce faltered S he made an attempt

’ -
.
to sa y more ; but as if consc i ous that She was betray

,
ing too much feeling t urned away quickly , and t e ,
tired to the litt l e chamber that had been assi gned

t o her .
O n the next morning break fast w as all ready, ere th e ,
stranger j oined the family .
“
H ad you not bett er ca ll her ? said H ardin g t o his
w ife .
Mrs H arding stepped to the door of the guest cham

.
-
ber and ta pped lightly S he tapped a second time for

,
.
,
there was ne i ther movement nor reply ; yet all remained

silent A l ouder summons was answered only by its
.
o wn echo .
Wondering at this Mrs H arding lifted the l atch , an d

,
.
pushed open the door .
“
There is no one here, Andre w, sh e said, in a ’
s tartled vo i ce .
”
N o one Mary ! ,
“
E ven the bed is not tumbled What can it mean ?
The carpenter now stood beside h i s wife , and both
entered the room together There was no ev i dence .
w hatever that any one had passed the night there O n .
the little dress ing table was a narrow S l i p of wh i te paper,

-
wh i ch M rs H ard i ng caught up O n it w as written

. .
simply these words

G race H arding Ten w eeks old to d ay June 4 th ,
. .
“
It is very strange said th e carpenter, w ith a l ookP)
of doubt and wonder on h is countenance .

68 T HE A NGEL O F T HE HOUSEHOLD .
q u ar re l some beyond his wont on this particu l ar mom ,
ing S ince ris i ng he had not ceased to interfere with

.
,
L ucy and Philip and this created a strife among ,
the three which the mother va i nly sought to subdue

, .
N ot until the father with a ste rn threat and a smart ,
b l ow commanded the overbearing lad to ce a se from his

,
a nnoyance of his bro ther and S i ster was th e di scord ,
’
a bated And then th e evil in the boy s heart rem a ined
.
strong as ever O nly the fear of instant p unishment

.
k ept down the spirit of rebellion .
S oon after his father le ft for the Sh ep , his mother said

Andrew go o ver to the store , and get me two pounds
,
of sugar and two pounds of rice ; and go quickl y, for it s

’
”
n early school time now -
.
“ ”
Where s the money ? Andrew spoke very rudely
’
.
“
N ever mind the mone y, said Mrs H ardin g G0 . .
”
a n d do as I tell you .
Taint no use Mr Willits said y esterday that y o u

’
. .
’ ”
n eedn t send for trust any more .
”
G o , th i s minute you l i ttle ,
The angry mother caught the profane epithet j ust

l eapin g from her ton gue , and kept it bac k fr om utter
a nce .
“H
Taint no use, I te ll y ou , persisted An dre w
’
e .
‘
sa id
”
O ff with you this instant ! ,
And Mrs H ard i ng unable to restrain her indignatio n ,

.
,
m a de two or three rapid strides toward the boy, who ,
seeing from her face that he was in danger, darted

from the house , and went away toward the store After .
being gone long enough to have done the errand twice ,

he came loiterin g back, without the articles for which he
had been sent .
Where s the sugar and rice ? as k e d h is mother,

’
l ook in g at him sternl y, a s he c ame in .

T HE A NG E L or T H E H O U S E HOLD . 69
“ I tol d y ou so, was his irritating rep ly

“ Told me what said Mrs H arding . .
“ Why that yo u nee d n t send ther e f or tr ust an ’

y
,
”
more .
“ H av e yo u been to M r Wi llits ask ed his mother,

.
’
growing suddenly cal m, and Speaking v ery firmly .
”
Y es ma am , I have
,
’
was the unhesita ting an swe r
, .
“
And you sa w Mr Wi llits .
“ Yes ma am ” ’
.
,
And asked him for the sug ar an d ri c e ?
”
Yes , ma am ’
.
“ What did he say ?”

“ H e wanted to know w here m y money
wa s ; and
w hen I said I had none , he told me to go home and te ll
y ou that he didn t charge things any more
’
.
Al l this w as spoken by Andrew with a steady v oice

a n d eye , and in a manner that b u t il l c oncea l ed a s p irit
o f triumph .
F or a littl e w hi l e , a tempest of indi gnant an g er rage d

in the breast o f Mrs H ard i ng . .
“ H e ll
be sorry for that, or I am not a l i vin g
’ ’
”
w oman ! sh e muttered to herself as soon as a l ittl e ,
self possession was obtained , and thought ran partially

-
“ ”
clear once more H ere s the money , sh e a dded,
.
’
aloud, speaking to Andre w, as she drew from her p oc k et

“
some change ; go back , as swift as your l egs will carry
y ou , and get tw o p o unds o f rice and tw o p o unds of
”
sugar .
The boy took the money, and w ent l oite rin g in dif
f eren tly away ; but, ere he h a d gone ten paces , a s w itch
w as laid smartly o ver his shoulders by his mother, wh o
could no longer control her anger against him Th e .
e ff ect was all S he wished to produce H e sprung from .
her like a frigh tened young deer and ran the whol e dis ,
ta nce t o the store I n returnin g, he res umed the old

.
70 T HE A NGEL or T HE HOUSE H OLD .
pac e , and managed to get b ac k at l eas t hal f an h our

after school time .
“ It s
so l ate , mother, can t I sta y at home to d ay ?
’ ’
This was his response to a hurried order to sta rt O ff 1m

mediately for school Mr L ong will keep me in
. . .
“
I don t care if he d o esu It w ill serv e y ou right
’
.
No ; y ou can t stay home ’

.
The lad thre w himse lf dow n on the d o or step, and -
began to cry .
Poor Mrs H arding ! N otwithstan ding the influence

.
o f recent e vents the caus es of irritation were too many

,
and too strong for her Almost since daylight had th i s

.
p er v erse boy been making assaults upon her patience .
S e veral times sh e had lost the self control sh e was -
struggling to maintain and given way to bursts of ,
pass i on , and as often had sh e stri ven to force back in to

quietude the disturbed impulses t h at darkened her
spirit N ow, her pent up anger blazed forth li k e a
.
-
fi erce flame S eiz ing a stout switch , she Sprung toward

.
Andrew, and commenced l ashing him with a ll her

s trength . H er coun tenance wa s that of a fury F or a .
short time, Andrew, who had great powers of endurance ,

bore the smarting stro k es, th i n king to tire his mother
out ; but in this he was mistaken S h e was possessed .
o f cruel spirits ; and , in the blind passion w ith which

they inspired her wo ul d have struck on , eve n to the
,
'
endangering of his life At l ast, with a yell of pain ,.
t h at sounded more like the cry of some anima l than a

human being Andrew starte d up from the door s tep , and
,
-
ran o ff beyond the reach of his mother s arm ’

.
“ N ow away to schoo l with you or I ll give yo u as ’
, ,
”
much more ! cried Mrs H arding as sh e advanced reso .
,
lute ly toward the place w here An drew paused on getting

o ut o f her way .
F ind n that conte ntion with his mother, under pre

sen t c ir cumstances , wa s rather too serious a b usiness,
T HE A NGEL O F T HE HOUSEHOLD . 71
A ndre w yie l ded to forces he w as not ab l e to resist and ,

sta rted o ff to school , conquered, but not subdued in
spirit The fire of his m other s anger had hardened in
.
’
stead o f softening him Rebellion grew rank in h is

.
young breas t as he moved on his way ; and no sooner

,
was he out of S i ght, than he sa t down on the ro a dside to

deliberate on th e question of going to schoo l or playing
the truant .
'
It was some time after Mrs H arding retur ned into the
.
house before sh e was su fficiently calm to reflect at all

, .
The storm , though brief had raged fiercely, and sad

were the wrecks it left behind —wrecks of peace and good
,
resolutions N ever in her l ife had sh e su ffered such in

tense mental pain a s now —
.
'
never experienced a state of

mind so sa d and self condemnato ry N ew and better
-
.
states had been forming and they had brought her

,
within the sp here of h i gher and holier influences It .
was violence to these that occasioned such anguish of

spirit G ood , having gai ned a place in her heart, might
.
be overshadowed , but not cast out When the storm

“
raged , it could retire and hide itsel f far do wn in the

calmer depths of her spirit, to come into perception
again when the tempest abated And thus it was no w . .
The good was hidden , not extinguished , and its lo w

v oice was heard as soon a s the wild shrieking of the
,
s torm was S ilent . It was not strong enough to contend

with evil when e vil had full sway ; but, like the sun
sh i ne and the gentle dews, it possessed a res torin g and
creati ng power ; a n d, l ike them in the peaceful days ,
and qu i et nights , it went o n with its heave n ly w or k o f

rest i ra tion and recreation .
What a deep cal m reigned in the h o usehol d as M rs ,

.
H arding ca me b a ck among her younger children , wh o

received her with frightened l ooks, and went shrinking
away into distant corners —a calmness which , by its con ‘
trast, only m a de more ap p arent th e w il d, half insane ex -

72 T HE A N GEL or T HE HO USEHOLD .
cite men t fro m which e v ery nerv e of her spirit was

pal p itating The revul s i on in Mrs H arding s mind
. .
’
great . The first rebuking image that arose in

thoughts was that O f the stranger, whose coming and
parture were almost l i ke the changes in a dream S o .
vivid was this impression that sh e a lmost expected to

,
see the woman enter, and fix upon her thos e deep , sa d

eyes w hose expression sh e could never forget
,
.
An unwonted sound came now upon her ears It .
arose from the cradle The eyes of Mrs H arding

. .
sought insta ntly the child S weet one ! There was a

—
.
l ook o f fear on her baby face grievingly her l ip w as

curled—a l ow murmur of pain was audible ‘
.
Tenderly, v ery tenderly was the infant lifted from its

,
cradl e bed and lovingly was it pressed to the bosom of

-
M rs H arding S oothing words i n soothing tones were

. .
p oured into its ca rs from lips that touched them softly .
As Mrs Harding sa t with the babe he l d close aga i nst

.
her heart, all the exciting incidents of the pre vious half
hour passed before her m i nd in rapid review The con .
duct o f Andrew h a d been very bad and h e needed cor ,
rection but sh e c ould not j ust i fy her o wn action in the

c ase, nor quiet the voice of self reproach Sh e sa w that -
th e e v il in her only excited the e v il in him —that angry

.
w ords hardened him into stubborn resistance S he felt .
sad, to o, as sh e thought of the cruel stripes She had

gi ven him—stripes l aid on with the full strength of her
strong arm In angry resentment, not sorrowing lo ve,
.
h a d sh e grasped the rod , and its s trok e s e x cite d only a

Spirit of rebe l lion O h ! how unhappy sh e fel t—n u
,
happy e ven to weeping H er ind i gnation against the

.
storekeeper wa s but a feebl e flame now S he felt too .
deeply humiliated in consequence o f her own misdeeds

to cherish anger against others .
In this state of mind the morning p a ssed At twe lve .
o cl oc k, A ndre w came in fr om sch o ol , g liding throu g h

’
T H E A NGEL OF T HE HO U S EH OLD . 73
Si l entl y , and with an evidefit desir e to avoi d

not ice Mrs H arding said nothing S he was glad to
. . .
se e him subdued in S p i rit, and felt more of pity to w a rd

the boy than anger Her husband soon fo l lowed, as i t
.
w as d i nner time H is brow was clouded S omething

- . .
had gone wrong with him during the forenoon S ilently .
and moodily he sa t at the table , eating hurriedly, and

taking no notice of any one In a shorter time than
.
u sual he finished the me a l and , rising , wa s abo ut

, ,
l eavin g the house , when M rs H arding said .
“ ’
D1dn t you tell me to send to the store for an y thin g
”
I m i ght want ?
“ Certainly I di d Why ?
.
“ B caus e Willits refused to l et me ha ve some

e suga r
”
a n d rice , this morning without the money
,
.
O h no ! H e couldn t have done that There a re

’
.
t hirty six do ll ar s to m y account on h is b oo ks , a s I to l d

-
y ou .
“ We l l he did
, ,
then ; and I had to s e n d t h e m o ne y
”
before I could get what I wan ted .
H arding waited to hear no more “ I ll soon settl e

.
’
”
that ! he exclaim ed , a s he went h urriedl y from th e
house A rap i d walk of a few minutes brou ht h im to
.
t h e store of Wi l lits, into w hich he str ode w it a hea vy,

r esolute tread .
“ What do yo u mean was his a n gry

,
by sendi ng such messages to my wi fe ? ”
Spoke , he confronted the store k eeper w ith a threa te n in g

s cowl .
The l atter wa s startl ed , as we ll he might be , for H ard

ing was in a fierce m ood of mind , and stood be fore
with his hand clen ched, and meditate d vio l en c e in h i s
l oo k and manner .
”
S ay ! What do y ou mean ? re
“
I sent n o i n sul tin g messag e to
sto re k eeper .
74 T HE AN GE L or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
”
“ It’ s fal se ! You did ! exclaimed H arding .
“ And I say that I did not ” retorted Willits w hose

, ,
reddening face S howed his ris i ng anger .
“ Why didn t you send her th e su gar and rice th is

’
”
morning ? said H arding .
”
I did send it, repl i ed the storekeeper
“ N ot unti l she furnished the money .
“ I beg your pardon neighbour H arding Andrew .

,
ca me for two pounds o f sugar and two pounds of rice , -

”
w hich I hav e charged in your account .
“ D idn t you ref se

to let him have them without the
’
u
m oney
’
N o, sir, I did not H aven t you a bal an c e on my
.
”
b ook s in your favour ? H ere are the artic l es charged .
And Will its opened his day book arid pointed to th e -
re c ent entry .
”
I don t u nderstand this , said H arding, l ook in g
’
b e wildered .
’
There s s ome mistak e Who told you that I re fused .
”
to send these articles without the money ?
”
I must see further into this Can t comprehend it .
’
.
An d as the carpenter said this , he turned away

a br u ptl y , and w ent bac k home .
“ Mary ” said he “
didn t yo u te ll me that Willits ’
, ,
re fu sed to l et y ou ha v e the rice and s u gar to day w ithout -
”
the money ?
“
Yes, I did and I h a d to send th e mone y b e fore I
!
coul d get them .
“ H e denies it a n d h a s the s u gar d ri e both

, a n c
”
ch arged to me .
”
Wha t !
“ ’
H e says that he didn t re fuse to l et y ou have th e
”
a rticles w ithout th e mone y .
“ ”
Andre w 1
M rs Ha r din g c all e d to h er old est boy, in a qui ck,
.
6 T HE AN GEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
“ H ave an y of the boys seen h im in quired M r .
L on
“
I sa w him spo k e up O ne Of the schol a rs, as I
,
”
“
came to school ju st now .
Where
“ S itting on the fence o ver by M iller s w ood s ’
.
“ Did y ou speak to him inquired the schoolmaster .
“ Yes sir .I asked h i m what he wa s doing ; and he

,
‘
said , N othing Then I a sk e d h i m if he w asn t going
.
’
~
’
t o sc hool ; and he said , Maybe s ter a while As ’

.
I w alked a l ong, I sa w him going Over in to Mil l er s ’
”
woods .
“ That wi ll do ” said the schoo l ma ster And t hen he .

,
d ir ected two o f the older boys to g O over to Miller s ’
w oods , and if they sa w Andrew to bring him to School , .
H arding went back to his shop in a state of profo und

a gi tation A new cause of anger against the boy w as
added —namely, the disgrace to himself of stand i ng b e
.
fore the assembled vil lage children as the father of a boy

‘
w ho had meanly p layed the truant .
D uri n g th e afternoon , every thing seemed to go wrong

with the ca rpenter A man f or whom he had done som e
.
w ork disappointed him in regard to the payment ; wh i le

another, for w hom work had been promi sed at a certa i n
time, rated him soundly for not being up to the le t ter Of
h is contract . Moreo v er, S tar k the tavern keeper cal l ed -
i n and abused him for having sa id , as reported to h im,

that h e was doing more harm to the ne i ghbourhood than
a gang of thieves Maddened by th i s assault coming
.
, ,
as it di d, upon h is unbalanced state of m i nd H ard i ng ,
threw a mallet at his head, which happ i ly g lancing by, , ,
went smashing through a w indow The frightened .
ta vern keeper beat a hasty retreat

-
.
Toward evening the teacher ca lled in to say that the

, ,
boys sent for Andr ew had found him , and that he re

fus ed to ret ur n w ith them to s c h oo l Thi s w as the las t .
T HE A NGEL OE T HE HOUSEHOLD . 77
c rushing pound la id on the carpenter s panting se lf ’
control The savage imprecation that fell from h i s lips ,

.
s tartled the teacher , who turned o ff from h im instantl ,

y
a n d went on h i s wa oppressed b y a fee l ing f tro u b l ed
y , o
concern .
C H APT E R VII .
WHEN Jacob H arding came home from his shop a

li ttle after sundown , he wa s blind with passion The .
’
more he h a d though t of Andrew s cond uct, the stronger
had grown his indi gnation against him ; and he was n o w
prepared to mete out to h i m a degree of punishment
c ruel in the extreme G rief for the evil he had done
.
was not SO prominent a feeling with H arding as anger a t ,
the boy for h aving dared to venture u p on the comm i ssion

“ ”
o f such flagrant outrages Li ar ! th i ef ! truant ! S uch
.
were the bitte r words that came , every few moments ,

through the excited father s S hut teeth, as he str o de
’
homeward “ That a boy O f mine S ho ul d be guilty O f

.
” “
s uch things ! he repeated over and o ver a gain A b oy .
”
of mine to disgrace me in this way !
And he wo uld stretch forth his arms w ith his l arge ,
hands gripped so tightly, that the nails a lmost pene

t ra t e d the callo us s kin , c l utchin g, in imag i nation , the
guilty ch i ld .
“ Where s A ndrew ” he as k ed al most fi er c ely as h

?
’
, , e
e ntered the house .
Mrs H arding lifted to his her troub l ed face , an d

—
.
answered , in a sa d v oice there was no trac e of an g er

a bout her
THE AN GEL OF TH E H O USEHOLD
I haven t seen him since dinner time

’
-
.
“ N ot home et
y
H arding passed through the house into the yard ,

where he cut from a tree a stout tough rod—far t OO ,
stout and strong for his vigorous arm to wield in the
—
chasti sement of a tender child and returning with it,
l aid it in ful l sight of the younger children on a table , .
“ A l i ar ”
,
a th i ef and a truant !
,
he exclaimed in a ,
v oice O f angry exc i te ment It will be the sorriest day
.
o f his l i fe I j ust want to get my hands on him

Mrs H arding answered n othing S he too had fe l t
. .
strong anger toward the boy ; but as the day wore on ,

a n d imagination pictured h i m writhing in the crue l
h a nds of h i s pas sionate father, a n ger changed to yearn i n g

pity N ot that S h e felt like excusing h i m , or even p a L
.
lia t in g his crime a n d disobedience ; but in her he a rt

re vi ved the mother s ten derness , and this m a de her per
’
ce ive clearly that in a blind indignation against the

, ,
boy, his father would des troy the saluta ry e ff ects of

punishment through an excess i ve adm i n i stration
,
.
S lowly crept on the dus ky twilight and thicker and ,
thic ker fell the e vening shadows closi ng in nearer and ,

n earer to the carpen ter s d welling s o that the disturbed
’
inmates c onstantly on the watch for Andre w fo un d

“
their circ le Of vi sion growing momently narrower

, ,
.
And no w sharp flashes O f l i h tn in g began to stream

,
f orth from a heavy bank O f clou that lay p i led up in th e
w est, and the fr eshening winds rustled the l eaves in th e
o ld el ms that stood a round the humble cottage .
“ There s a gu t r i s i ng ! ”
’
sa i d Mrs H arding in a
s .
,
v oice go i ng to the door and g a z ing anxiously

,
”
a round . Where is that unhappy boy ?
S kul k ing in some O f the ne i ghb ours houses g rufily
’
,
“
repl ied t h e husband But he m i ht a s w e ll come h ome
g
.
first a s last H e c a n t esc ap e me

.
’
.
’
Mrs H arding sighed a n d was abo ut retiring from the

.
,
door, when a heavy peal of distant thunder j arred on

“ ” “
O h ! I wish he was home ! sh e said ; we re g oi n g
’
to have a terrible storm .
The thick bank of clo uds h a d now covered so l arge a

space in the west that all the sun s reti rin g beams were
,
’
h i dden , and darkness was closing around her heavy

curtains .
“
The storm wi ll bring him home , was all the rep l y
ma d e by th e father .
“ ”
I wish Jacob sa id Mrs H arding, after waiting for
, ,
.
n early half an hour longer during which time t h e heavy ,
concuss i ve thunder sounded nearer a n d nearer “ that ,
s Aaron s and see if Andre w

’
o u would step over to M r
y .
,
is not there H e goes with John Aaron a good deal ,

.
and it may be that he is loitering with him now, afraid

to come home .
H arding m a de no ans wer but took up h is hat and ,
went out The dwelling of Mrs Aaron was d i stant

. .
n early an eighth O f a m i le , and thither the c a rpenter

d irected h i s steps , walking rap i dly It had become very
dark before he reached there—the darkness invade d ,
.
e very few moments, by brilliant streams O f l i ght from

th e cloudy west .
“ H ave you seen any thing of my Andrew

? inquire d
Harding , on reaching the ne i ghbour s house
’
.
“ I have not ” replied M r s Aaron a s h stood w ith

, ,
s e .
the doo r held partly O pen .
“ Is your John at home

? was next asked .
“ My John ? O h yes, inde e d ! H e s ne ver away ’
”
a fter dark .
John came to the side o f his mother .
H av e you seen m y Andre w t od ay H ardin g

spo k e to the bo y
80 T HE A NGEL OF T HE H O USEHOLD .
NO , sir ,
I have not H e wasn t at schoo l either in ’
.
th e morning or afternoon .
“
Are you certain about not having seen him tod ay
“
O h yes, sir H e hasn t been anywhere around
.
’
”
Where can he be said Mrs Aaron , now man ifest
1
7 .
’
ing a woman s concern .
“ D ear knows ! ” answered the carpenter with some ,

“
impatience of manner I only wish I had my hands
”
on him .
”
H ow l ong has he been away ? asked M rs A aron . .
“ ”
E ver s i nce d i nner t i me was repl i ed-
,
.
“ Maybe he 1 8 over at Mr L awson s ” spoke up John .

’
.
,
w
“ N e i ther H enry nor Peter L a son were at sch ol this
o
afternoon I should n t wonder if they d all gone a fis h

.
’ ’
”
in g in Baxter s mill dam
’
.
“ ”
I m obl i ged to you ! was almost roughly said by
’
H arding, as he turned o ff abruptly, and strode away in

t h e d i rection O f L awson s fa1 m house whic h wa s at least
’
a quarter O f a mile from h is o wn dwelling .
The darkness was now so deep that he cou l d see on l y ,
few steps before h i m save when the broad sheeted

’
a ,
-
l ightning threw i ts mantle of flame over the e ar th for an

instant and then left the n i ght blacker than before
,
.
Th e flashes came in quick success i on and by their a i d ,
he walked on as stead i ly a s if day had been abroad At .
L awson s he ga i ned some intelligence of his truant boy

’
.
Andrew had been with H enry and Peter fish i ng as was ,
sugg ested by young Aaron and h a d stayed there to sup ,
per But it wa s more than half an hour since he started

"
for home .
“ You ll find him sa f e and

’
sound when you g et
”
back , said Mr L awson so you needn t give yourse l f
.
,
’
a n y more uneasine ss about h i m I d i dn t noti ce that h e ’

.
w as staying so late , or I would have sent him away

e ar l ier I told the boys to go w ith him a part of the
.
TH E AN G E L OE T HE H O USEHOLD . 81
wa y , but he said he wasn t at all afraid , and went off by

’
himself .
It did not take Ha rding long to re tra ce h is ste ps

‘
homeward N ot in the least was h i s anger again st t h e

.
child abated , nor had he changed , in the smallest de

gre e h i s crue l p urposes regarding him H e had Often
,
.
punished him severely ; but the severity now m editated

wa s something far beyond a n y prior infliction .
H e wa s only a short distance from his dwelling when ,
a lightning gleam , that made the air light as noonday ,
Showed him the form of Andrew crouch i ng down against

a large tree that stood a little O ff fr om the road He .
saw i t but for an insta nt : for, in the next moment, th e

bl ac kness of darkn ess wa s around him .
“ ”
Andrew ! he called s ternly ,
.
E re his v oice died on the a i r, another flash quivered

a l ong the ground ; but when the l ad s form had j ust ’
been seen , no O bj ec t was v isible Mr H arding stood . .
still , and awai ted, in silence , the next recurrin g flash .
It came but Andrew was not in view

,
.
“ ” “
Andrew ! he cried a gain An dre w ! w hy don t
.
’
y ou answer me
The echo O f his ow n voice was al l the reply that came .
H e now advanc ed to the tree, felt about it i n the dark

ness and search e d all around with his eyes a s flas h
, ,
after flash l i t up the scene But the form of Andrew .
was not again descried H e called threatened , and

.
,
ca l led , aga i n and again H e searched around for a con

.
sid e ra b l e distance , but to no purpose Concluding that .
the boy had gone home , he kept on h is way, and soon

a rri ved at h is dwelling .
“
I S he here y et was his sharp interrogation , as h e
stepped over the threshold .
“
H aven t you found h i m ? ask ed Mrs H arding,
’ ”
.
w ith a blanch i ng face .
“ He
wa s over at Lawson s until dar k, and th e n
’
82 THE A NGEL or T HE HOU SEH O LD .
’
started for home I m v ery sure I sa w him up at the
‘
turn in the road , sitt i ng by the foot of an O ld beech tree -

.
A flash of lightning made it as clear as day ; but when ,

the next flas h came he was not there I called and , .
,
called , but he woul dn t answer me H e ll come creeping ’
.
’
in here before l ong The rain will soon be pouring in

.
torrents, and he ll never stand that

’
.
“ ”
O Jacob ! said the mother in a tone o f distress, ,
’ ”
I m afraid someth i ng has happened to him .
“
N ever fear H e s too bad for any thing to happen
.
’
”
to him was the harsh response
,
.
“
D on t talk S O, ! acob It s a fearful n ight There
’
.
’
.
O h , what a sharp flash ! G o out and call to h im .
M aybe he is close by and afraid to come in Te ll him

not to be afraid—that you w on t punish him D O,
.
,
’
.
”
Jacob !
“
I wi ll pun ish him though ! and I ll n o t l ie abou t ,
’
it fir mly answered H arding “

The moment I get my
‘
,
.
hands on him I ll flog him within an inch of h i s life ,

,
’
the d esperate l ittle vagabond A pretty race he has run

,
—
me afte r all his ill do i ng a s if that wasn t enough
-
” ’
.
“ ”
What a crash ! exclaimed poor Mrs H arding her .
,
“
face blanchin g stil l w hiter H ark ! is that wi nd or
”
rain ?
“ ” “
Both , replied her husba nd, coo l ly H e ll not be .
’
”
away long now .
But the unyie l ding father erred in ll l S prediction .
The storm came down with fearfu l violence howling ,
among the tall elms crashing its thunder through the,
air, and pouring out a deluge of rain ; yet the boy ven
t ure d not to the door o f his father s house , where a more
’
dreaded evil a waited him H e could bear the elementa l .
w rath w i ld and fierce though it was as someth i ng less

, ,
t o be feared than the crue l anger of his justly i ncensed
N ine, ten , e l even O c l o ck came ; still the fearful tem

’
84 T HE AN
GEL or TH E HOUSEH O LD .
ad j oining chamber leavi n g her husban d pacing the floo r, ‘
,
a n d nurs i ng his anger against th e absent bo The
y .
height of th e storm had passed At more distant inter .
v als the feebler flashes came and the far Ofl thun der
'
-
, ,
had a mufll ed roll The winds were fast dying away,
.
and no longe r swept through the air in howl i ng gus t or , ,
bore th e fas t descending rain in fitf ul torrents against

the windows E very moment the rush n sound w i thout
.
grew less ; and by the time Mrs H arding return ed from

the chamber—scarce three minutes had elapsed sin ce sh e
.
l eft her husband—a deep stillne ss had succeeded the

tempest s wail S he came in with so changed a coun te
’
.
nance that her husband could not he l p excla imin

,
Why Mary what is it

,
“ ”
Jacob ! There w as a depth o f emotion in the
v oice of Mrs H arding as sh e grasped wi th both hands
.
,
her husband s a rm and l i fted to his face her moisten ed

’
,
“ ”
eyes that surprised and subdued him
,
Jacob, sh e .
repeate d , gently drawing him to ward the c hamber door, -
“ ”
I want to S how you something .
H arding followed, passi vely .
“ ”
L ook there Jacob ! And sh e p ointed to the l o w
,
bed on which Grace was l aid every night beside Lotty,

and where sh e usually slept soundly until M rs H arding .
retired .
H arding started at what h e saw with a quick ej acul a ,
tion ; but his wi fe c lun g t o his arm , sa ying in a ha lf ,
whisper
H ush , Jacob —don t wa k e them no w—don t ’ ’
The pause was fata l to his stern p urpo se The f ace .
o f An drew w as before him , pale and shrunken wi th

n d close be side , almost touching it on the ,
was the ca lm , sweet heav en ly face of t h e ,
babe Th e boy had crept in th rough the window, in

,
the height O f the sto rm and after putting off his we t

, ,
clothes, l a i d himse lf do wn besi de litt l e G race, e viden tly

T HE A NGEL OF T HE H O US E HOLD . 85
w ith the hope that her dove like innocence would so f ten -
the fierce ind i gnation Of his father against him and ,
there had fallen asleep H is hai r was wet, and tear

.
stains marked his cheeks .
“ ”
Poor boy ! almost sobbed M rs H arding S he wa s . .
o v ercome with tenderness As sh e breathed the words.

,
a deep sigh parte d the lips of the sleeping child and at , ,
t h e same moment G race moving in her sleep , dr e w her
, ,
li ttle arm across his neck , and laid h er wa rm , bright
cheek to his .
It would have re quired a harder, stern er heart than

Jacob H ardi ng s —hard and stern as that wa s—to with
’
sta nd the softening influence O f a scene like this coming ,

a s it did after long ho urs of intense excitement, and i n
the solemn hush succeeding a fearful tempest A l ittle .
w hile h e stood as if spe l l bound and then turning sud ,
d e n ly away l eft the chamber

,
When his wife followed .
h im i nto the next room sh e found h i m sitting in a

.
,
chair with his head bowed upon his bosom S he came
,
.
u p to w here he sa t and leaning a g ainst him , laid her

,
hand u pon his shoulder .
“ Jacob She sa i d , softly It was the old Ol d v oi ce

that now en tered his ears—the v oice that h a d sounded
.
, ,
sw eetes t o f all in the days when young l o ve fill e d his

mind wi th dreams of an E lysian future H e neither .
mo ved nor spoke ; but his heart was me l ting

“ Jacob — husband — de a r
.
”
husband ! H o w many
—
y ears had passed desolate dr eary years to both their
—
,
s u ff ering S pirits since M rs H arding had spok en to her

.
h usband so tenderly and in words like these

,
”
S ay on Mary !
,
And as the words passed his l ips,
he l ea ned toward her H ow naturall y glided her arm
.
from h i s shoulder to his neck a s her heart l eaped with a ,

d elicious impul se ! The Old , Ol d voice , once so ful l o f
music w as ringing in her ears again It w as th e voi ce
, .
8
of her young lover—that in which he had wooed and

w on her in the days of innocent co n fidin g girlhood ,
-
.
“ ”
S ay on , Mary he repeated H ow gently almost
,
.
,
humbly he spoke ! There was not a trace O f bitterness

,
or pass i on in his tones .
Think of what the poor boy has s uff ered to night, -
Jacob A te nder child, only eight years Old expos ed to

.
,
such a fearful storm ! Th i nk of h im as suflerin g and

repentant, Ja cob—not as s tubb o rnly bent on continuing
in wrong H e looks so pale and frightened even in his
.
,
”
sleep that the S ight of h i m mak es my heart ache
,
.
“ And think too M ry ” answered H ard i ng of

, a , , h is ,
'
great O fle n ce Wi ll it be right to l et him go un

. -
”
punished ?
”
Why shou l d he b e punished ? ask ed Mrs H arding . .
“
F or his o wn good H e m ust be taught that e v il
.
deeds bring inevi table pain .
“
And hav e they not brought pain to night said -
Mrs H arding
.
“
Th i nk , Jacob , whether, for any wrong ,
.
you w ould hav e doomed him to the anguish and fear he

must have s uff ered ton ight ? I am sure you w ould .
”
n ot .
0 Mary ! I dare not l et him escape my severe dis

”
pleasure replied H arding his v oice taking a troub l ed
, ,
“ ”
to ne . F or h i m to go on in this way is certain ruin ,
.
“
It is for us to save him from evil , if in our power,
J acob But how shall we save him S everity, I fear,
. .
w i ll not do it H e has been scolded , and dri ven , and

.
whipped , until I sometimes th ink he is hardened A .
n umber of times I hav e noticed of l ate , that when I

s peak mildly to him , he obeys more re a d i ly than when I
am out of patience If I order him to do any thin g in
.
an angry or imperati v e v oice , he moves O ff sulkily, and,

unles s I follow him up is certa i n to disobey me But
,
.
‘
i f I sa y, A ndre w, g o and do so and so , that s a good
’
T HE A NGEL OE T HE H O USEHOLD . 7
boy, he Sprin gs away and does the errand in th e

’
”
shortest time and with e v ident pleasure
,
.
“ I wish to do right ”
,
Mary ,
said H arding ,
in an
irresolute v oice .
“ NO one knows that better than I do Jacob , ,

“
answered Mrs H arding . But what is right ? Ah !
that is the question H ow 1gn ora n t and err i ng we are !
.
We have tried hard and harsh means with our children

from the begi nning and they do not seem to gro w better
, .
”
L et us try some gentler methods .
But what are w e to do with Andre w ? L et the p ast

go unpunished
“
U npunished, at l e a st by the rod , Jacob H e ex .
pe ets that, and is in some degree prepared for i t If

, , . ,
we deal more gently by him , and let him understand

that we are g rieved rather than angry at his conduct
that our punishment, whate ver it may be, is given in
l ove not i ndignation—h e may repent far more deep ly
,
o f his evil deeds , than if stubborn anger be aroused

”
through painful chastisement H ush ! .
Mrs H arding raised herself up and l istened a s a

.
,
v oice came fro m the r oo m they had l eft a l i ttle while be

”
fore I t was Andrew s voice O father ! they heard
’
h imsa y d i stinctly, and in a tone of fear

. .
Both arose quickly, and went into the chamber where

he was lying
—
.
“ ” ’
D on t cut me so hard , father don t ; oh, don t
’ ’
.
H is tones were full of agony .
“ I m so wet and fri ghtened ! ” he murmured a l itt l e

’
,
“
wh i le afterward Won t the l i ghtning strike me ? O h
.
’
” ’
dear ! O h dear ! If father wo uldn t cut me so h a rd !
The heart fu l l mother could not keep the tears from
-
rain i ng over her face ; and even Jacob H arding felt a

w oman s weakness stealing through his breast H e was
’
.
a bou t mo ving away from the bed where his childre n

88 T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEHO LD .
sl ept, when Andre w sta rted up , wide a wak e al mos t as

soon as his eyes were Op ened .
”
O father ! he exclai med , the moment his bewildered
mind was able to comprehend h i s t rue pos i tion don t ’
w hip me—p lca se don t ! I ve been very bad ; but if ’ ’
”
you don t whip me , I ll try and not be bad a n y more
’ ’
.
And he stretched forth his hands implor i ngly, whi l e

his colourless face had such a look O f fear and sorro w,
that the heart untouched by its expression must have
been of adamant .
You have b een very wic k ed Andrew, said his '
,
“
mother, in a low serious grieving vo i ce ; and I do not
, ,
”
se e how your father can help pun i shing you .
“ ”
O mother ! mother ! cried the ch i ld , bursting into
tears, and ben d ing over toward her—she had st ooped
down by the bedside I know I have been wicked, and
’ ’
I m so sorry I d on t know why I did it It seemed as
. .
if I couldn t help i t 0 mother ! how dreadful it was

’
.
o ut in the w oo ds with the thunder and lightning al l

,
around me I was so frightened But I was afra i d to

come i n I sa w the candle in the window, and heard
.
you and father call me ; but I didn t dare to answer ’

.
O nce when the lightning made all as bright a s day I

, ,
thought I sa w G race j ust a little way before me on the

ground I ran right up to the spot, but S he wasn t
.
’
there ! Then I thought I d get into the window, and lie ’
down on the bed , j ust here , alongs i de of her Maybe , .
I said to myself father, who loves little G race s o much ,

,
w on t wh i p me for her sake, if I promise not to be bad

’
any more .
”
“ And do you
p ro ml se
,
Andrew ? Mrs H ard i n g .
spoke very ser i ously .
“ I d pro mise i f I thought father w ou l d be l ie v e me

’
, ,
sobbe d the poor child .
”
Promise in earnest ?
”
O h y es, mother !
Then as k him to forgive you my son ,

There was a deep Silence for some moments .
“ ”
F ather ! Timid hesitating almost fearful was the
, ,
v o i ce that broke on the hushed a i r of the chamber .
H ard i ng ne i ther moved from the spot where he stood,

w ith averted face nor ans wered ,
.
”
F ather ! O father !
Th e stern man wa s too much softened to resist the
p l eading anguish of that broken voice .
“ ”
Well my so n ? H e d i d not mean to speak so
,
e ntly but his heart flowed into his tones

g ”
.
“
I ve been very wicked father
’
H is utterance was
,
.
choked and he could say no more

,
.
“ ”
S peak to him Jacob, said M rs H arding bending
,
.
,
toward her h usband .
“
L ie do wn my son and go to sleep Y ou h a ve been
, ,
.
v ery wicked and I intended to punish you severely ; but

‘
,
if you w ill be a good boy, as you promise , I may forgive

”
on
y .
H arding tried to speak calmly and even a l ittle ,

ste rnly but his voice was scarcely steady and betrayed ,
the powerful struggle that was going on w i thin As .
Andrew fell back sobbing on the p i llow from which a

, , , ,
l i ttle while before he had started up i n fear h i s father

, ,
left the chamber, deeply ag i tate d H e w i shed to be .
alone i n order to recover his manly self possession H is

,
-
.
fa ce wa s cal m and elevated when he rej oined h is wife .
In both the i r hearts what a wild te mpest h a d r a ge d

, ,
symboling the fi erce storm that d arkened the face of

nature But the azure depths of their spirits were clear
again—clear as the starry hea vens t ha t arched abov e
their lowly dwe lling .
90 T HE A NG EL OF T HE HOUSEHOLD .
C H APT E R VIII .
M R LO NG ,
. the v illage schoolmaster , a fter l eaving the
carpenter , took his way homeward , oppressed by a
troubled fee ling H e was a man of humane impu lses,
.
and these were excited by the cruel threats and savage

l ooks of H arding Andrew s off ence was heinous , de
.
’
se rving more than ordi nary marks of displeasure ; and

he had h i mself, been th i nking o v er various modes O f
,
p unishment, in order if possible , to select that which

,
w ould be most e fficacious when the young truant p re,
sente d himself i n the morning Miss Gi mp , the dress .
maker was at h i s hous e when he returned home S he

,
.
Wa s doing some work for Mrs L ong and dropped in .

,
w ith i t a little before supper time Very naturally sh e-

.
,
w as invited to remain unt i l after tea Indeed , M i ss ‘
G imp was generally a welcome guest for sh e was chatty, ,
and knew the weak side of every woman in the neigh

b ourh o o d S he was , moreover in posse ssion of all the
current gossip—good natured and ill natured—flo a tin g
.
,
- -
a bout, far and near and had a way peculiar to herself,

,
and racy withal , of tell i ng e very thing sh e k new, and a

l ittle more someti mes .
“ You look sober E dward said the school maste r s ’

, ,
w i fe , as her eyes rested on her husband s face , soon after ’
he came in D on t you feel well

.
’
“ S omething has happened that troubles me replied ,

Mr L ong And then he looked more serio us
. . .
H ow quickly was the he a d of Miss G imp e levated !

What a sparkling interest was in her two bright
eyes !
“ Trouble y ou E dward ? What is it ?
,
92 T HE A NGEL OF T HE HOUSEH O LD .
I wouldn t have her tongue on me for the worl d A nd

’
.
”
s o Andrew h a s been pla y i ng the truant ha ! ,
H ow the vo i ce of M i ss G imp changed, as sh e recol

l ecte d herself !
“
I am grie v ed to say that he has, answered t h e
schoolmaste r, gravely .
D oes his father know it asked Mrs L ong . .
“
Yes ; and I am sorry to sa y is in a most d readful ,
passion about it I called at h i s shop as I came home

.
j us t now and the way he looked and spoke made me

,
”
really shudder .
“ “
H e s a cruel tempered man said Miss G imp
’
- I ,
.
k now all about him Hi s father wa s little better than a .
savage and used to beat his children about as if they

,
were dogs .
“
I p i ty Andrew from my heart said Mr L ong , ,
. .
“
H e has acted v ery badly ; but he is only a tender
ch i ld , need i ng correction for his fault, but not able to
bear the cruelty in store for him I fee l u nhapp y .
”
about it .
“ “
H ow would it do suggested Mrs L ong for yo u ,
.
,
to go over after te a , and try to soothe h i s father, and

,
”
thus break the heavy we i ght of his displeasure ?
“ Just what I was thinking about ” said Mr L ong
, .
.
”
I wouldn t do any such thing spoke up Miss Gi mp ,
’
,
q uickly “ Take
. my advice and don t go near h i m ,
’
.
H e s a v ery strange man

’
As sure as you do he l l .
,
’
insult you ; and what is worse , beat Andrew twice as

,
”
badly from a fresh excitement of angry feel i ngs
, .
”
There may be something in t h at, remarked th e
schoolmaster s w i fe ’
.
“
There i s something in it, said Miss G imp .
“ People l i ke them can t bear interference from others ’
;
and al ways repel intrusion by broad insult L et them .
alone Mr L ong to do with the ir own as they please

,
.
,
.
More harm than good w i ll aris e from any atte mpt y o u

T HE A NGEL OE T HE HOUSEH O LD . 3
may mak e to screen the you n g rebe l It s a ll very .

’
k i nd , very humane in you, Mr L ong a n d does great .

,
cred i t to your heart ; but you can t help them any ’

.
“ ”
There may be truth in your suggestion ans wered
th e schoolm a ster, in some doubt and irresolution —h e
,
wa s flattered , in Spi te of h i mself by Miss Gi mp s com

’
p ime n t
l and yet it does not seem right to leave a
help less child in the hands of a man insane from anger ,
and not make an e ff o rt to sa ve him from excessi ve

”
crue l ty .
Tea was soon after on the table Mr L ong still n u . .

,
decided i n his mind sa t thoughtfu l and nearly S ilent

,
during the meal while M i ss Gi mp rattled on much to

, ,
the e d ifica t io n of M rs L ong who , l n her agreeable tittle

.
,
tattle qu i te forgot poor Andrew H ard i ng A sudden

,
.
roll of distant thunder interrupted the v oluble play of

the gossip s tongue ’
.
“
What s that ! sh e excla 1med
’ ”
not a gust comin g
11
e .L ong w ent to the door, and threw a glance around

the horizon .
“
There are some heavy cl ouds in the west said be ,
.
“ ”
And it threa tens ra i n added Miss Gi mp who n o w , ,
“
stood by h i s s i de G et me my bonnet if you please ,
.
,
”
Mrs L ong said sh e turning to the schoolmas te r s wife
.
, , .
“ It s growing dar k fast and I must run home

’
.
,
“
D on t be in a hurry It isn t late I m sure it
’
.
’
.
’
”
won t storm to n i ght sa i d Mrs L ong aff ecting a great
’
-
,
.
,
deal of reluctance at parting with Miss G imp who in , ,
her turn h a d j ust enough self esteem to bel i eve that the
,
-
“
schoolmaster s wife felt really bad about her going
’
”
away so early .
O ften during the fearfu l storm th at raged that night

, ,
d i d Mr L ong th i nk of Andrew H arding and wonder

.
,
how it was with h i m H e could not fo rget the crue l .

94 T HE ANGEL O F T HE HOUSEH O LD .
face and words of the boy s father : the y haunted his ’
imag i nation and h i s thoughts .
O n the next morning he went early as was his cus , ,
tom to the school house H e was s i tti ng at his desk

“
-
.
, ,
engaged in study when the sound of footsteps caused ,
h i m to look up It was too soon to expect any of the

.
scholars and he was therefore prepared to se e a

, , ,
stra nger H e almost started as he sa w the carpenter

.
,
l ead i ng his so n and with i n a few steps of the door

,
.
“
Mr L ong I have brought Andrew to school th i s
.
,
mormn g .
H ard i ng had paused with one foot across the threshol d .
H e spoke in a s teady vo i ce rather below his ordinary ,

“
tone . I preferred com i ng early before the other ,
scholars arrived, as I wished to sa y a word abo ut the

l ad
’
Won t you step in said the schoolmaster quite ,
taken by surpr i se at th e manner O f his visitor in wh i ch ,
wa s noth i ng of the fierce ind i gnation apparent at their

l ast i nterview .
NO I thank you You can go in Andrew

,
.
,
.
Th e boy entered quietly, and went with a ste a l th y

step to h i s usual seat .
“ I called to say Mr L o n g resumed the carpenter, .

, ,
“ that Andrew promises if you will for ive him n ever
g , ,
aga i n to be gu i lty O f such bad conduct I th i nk his .
punishment has already been severe enough and of a ,
character not l ikely soon to be forgotten H e has be en .
v ery wicked but I th i nk repents s i ncerely

, , ,
.
”
“
I a m not angry with h i m sa i d the schoolmaste r , ,
but gri eved that any scholar of m i ne should commit
ff —
that most d i sgraceful of all o ences play i ng the truant .
If you th i nk he has been s ufli cien tly punished and sin ,
ce re ly repents the matter can res t where it is ; but I

,
w i ll not prom i se for the future should he o flen d again

'
.
, ,
T he example would be too pernicious .

T HE A NGEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD . 95
“ I think you ca n trust him , answered the c arpe nter,

“
as he moved back a few steps from the door G ood
”
morn ing he added after standing silent for a moment
, ,
or two and went away

,
.
Mr L ong felt rather strange l y on finding himse l f

.
alone with the boy a fter this brief in terview with H ard
,
ing In both the father and so n a striking change was

.
,
apparent As to the basis of the change , he was alto

.
gether ignorant The natural conclusion to w h i ch his

.
mind came almost without reflection , was , that the car

,
e n t er had punished his child with a measure of severity

p
from which his own bette r consciousness now revolted ,
and that, as some reparation for h i s cruelty he now ,
sought to scree n him from further consequence s That .
both were greatly subdued was apparent at a glance ,

.
“ ”
Andrew, said the schoolmas ter H e spoke kindl y, .
bu t seriously .
The child l ooked up timid ly .
”
Com e here , Andrew .
The boy left his seat, and came towa rd the schoo l
master, with a sl ow movement, his eyes fixed earnestly
and inquiringly upon his face -
.
There were unmistakable mark s o f suff ering and fear

in that young counte nance ; and as Mr L ong noted ,
.
them , pity for the lad and a new interest in regard to

him were awakened i n his mind .
“ ”
Poor boy ! It was his involunta ry menta l ej acula
tion S carcely thinking of what he was doing, he took
.
Andrew, by the hand, and said, kindly

“
I am sorry you w ere so naughty y esterda y H ow .
”
came you to do S O 7 .
The ch i ld s lips qui vered a moment and his eyes fe ll

’
,
-
to the ground A little while he sto od s i lent

. .
”
H ow came you to do so , Andrew ? The v oice that
said this wa s k i nd and encouraging .
“ ’ ”
I don t k now, Mr L ong , w as ans wered ; and no w
.
96 T HE A NGEL OF T HE H O USE HOLD .
the boy s cl ear eyes—the school master was struck with

’
the softness of their expression—were raise d to h i s .
“ It seemed as if I couldn t help it I didn t thin k ’

.
’
much , at first what I wa s doing ; but when I got a

,
g oing it
, was li ke r u nning down h 1l1 I could not stop .
”
myself .
“ ”
You are sorry abo ut it are you not, Andrew ? ,
“ ’
O h yes, Mr L ong I can t tell you how sorry I am
. . .
”
I wish I h a dn t done it ’
.
You will never do so a gain ?

“ N ot i f I can help it Mr L ong . .
,
”
You can help it Andrew, said th e sch oo l master in
, ,
“ ”
a serious voice Every one can help doing wrong
. .
”
I don t k no w ’
The child spoke half to h i m sel f
.
,
and in a to ne so sad , that the sc hoolmaster was touched

“ ” ’
by it . It seems as if I couldn t help it, sometimes .
“ D o you e v er say your prayers on going to bed at

,
night ? ask ed the schoolmaster, af ter a fe w mom e nts o f

”
thoughtful silence .
“ I used to sa them a g ood w hi l e ago b ut I ne v er

y ;
”
do now, was answered .
“ Y ou must begin again Andrew i f you desire to be

, ,
a good boy Begin this very night D o not get into

. .
bed until you have knelt down and said O ur F ather ‘

,
w ho art in heaven D o L otty and Philip say the ir

’
.
”
p rayers at night ?
’
NO, sir Mother doesn t teach an y of us to sa y our
.
”
p rayers .
”
D O you e ver read in the B ib l e ?
Mother won t l et me ha v e the Bib l e ’
.
“ Why not ?”
S he says I d irty the l eaves and pictures .
“ H ave you no Testament ?”

”
NO sir ,
.
o n e, wi l l y o u read in it ?
“ If I gi v e yo u
“ Y es sir ” .
,
T HE A NG EL O F THE H O USEHOLD . 97
“ Very we l l , Andrew I will bring you a Testament

,
this afternoon and it shall be yours if yo u wi ll l earn a

,
verse in it every day .
The lad s face brigh tened with real pleasure

’
—
.
“ ”
N ot a ll evi l no, not all e vi l ! were the schoo l
’
“
master s earnestly inward spoken words
,
The inn o
.
cence of childhood has been trampl ed on and o verlaid ;

but there is go od ground still , ready for the ha nd of
”
c ulture
.
“ “
Andrew, said b e, af ter a slight pause yo u must
,
be on your guard when the other boys come to school .
It is known that you have played truant, and some o f

them will be sure to sa y unkind things to you about it
Try and not get angry—try hard and I m sure you can
.
help it D on t seem to mind wha t they say, and they l l

.
’ ’
”
soon let you alone .
The form of a boy dark ened the door at this moment,

a n d the conferen c e of Andre w and the schoo l master wa s
a t an end .
98 T HE ANGEL o r THE HO U SEHOLD .
C H APT E R IX .
I T was e v ening Lotty and G ra c e were sl eeping side

.
,
by Side and Phil i p a restless rather fretful ch i ld of fo ur

, , ,
ars had some time Since been taken ff t bed Mrs

Eard ing having cleared away the supper things now
, o o . .
, ,
busily plied her needle H er husband wa s near her, by

.
the table , his head resting on his hand , and his mind
busy with a new train of thoug hts that oc cup i ed it almost
per force S ide by side , on two l ow chairs, sat Andrew
.
and his sister L ucy, younger by two years Andrew .
held Open in his hands the Testa ment given him , a c

c ording to promise , by Mr L ong, and he was reading.
from i t i n a l ow voice , while Lucy leaned toward him ,

l istening intently The mother s ears were Open , a s wel l
.
’
as Lucy s , and took in every word ; and it was not long

’
before H arding began to listen also Andrew was read .
ing of the birth of Christ in the c i ty of Bethlehem and ,
o f the wise men who came from the E ast, guided by the
star that hera l ded his wonderful advent It was many, .
many years since the words of this stran ge history had

been in his thoughts ; and now they came to him with a
newly awakening interest Andrew read o n —Of the .
angel who appeare d to Joseph in a dream , warning him

o f the e vil des i gns of H erod—o f the cruel s laughter of
the Innocents—O f John the Baptist preaching repent
ance in the wilderness Of Judea—and of the baptis m of
the S av iour in Jordan .
All unconscio us that his father and mother were list

e n in g
,
the boy continued to read What a power was .
in the divine word com i ng to their ears as it did , borne

, ,
o u the voice of a child ! There wa s a w onde rful fascination

-
100 THE A NGEL O F T HE H O U SEH O LD .
A gain , ye hav e he a rd that it hath been said by them

Of O l d t i me Thou shalt not forswear thy self, but sh a lt
,
perform unto the Lo rd th i ne oaths But I sa y un to you , .
S wear not at all : ne i ther by heaven for i t is G od s ,

’
throne ; n o r by the ea rth f or i t is his footstool ne i ther

,
‘
by Jer usalem for it is the city O f the great k i ng

, .
N either shalt thou swear by thy head because thou ,

canst not make one hair wh i te or black ; but let your
communication be yea yea ; nay nay : for whatsoe ver

, ,
”
is more than these cometh O f e v il
—
.
,
“ ”
Cometh of ev i l cometh of evil H ow the words .
sounded in the e ars of Jacob H arding, over and o v er

again as i f spoken directly to him
,
“
But I sa y unto you L ove your enemies bless them
, ,
them that curse you do good to them that hate you and
, ,
pray for them which despitefully us e you and persecute
you : that ye may be the children of your F ather which
is in heaven ; for he maketh h is sun to rise on the evi l
a n d on the good and sendeth rain on the j ust and on the
,
unj ust F or if ye love them which love you what re
.
,
ward have ye ? do not even the publ i cans the same ?

And if ye salute your brethren only what do ye more ,
than others ? do not even the publicans so ? Be ye

therefore perfect even as your F ather which is in
,
”
h eaven is perfect .
Tired with reading al oud Andrew now closed his ,
Testament a nd said i n a kind w ay, to h i s sis ter

’
—
, ,
”
Come L ucy let s go to bed
,
’
.
Lucy made no Obj ect i on, and the two children who ,
had learned to wait on themselves too k a candle and , ,

went o ff to their chamber up stairs without a cross or
—
, ,
angry w ord something so unusu al , that both father and

mother noted it with surprise .
Plying her needle sa t Mrs H arding and near her ,

,
.
,
his hand shad i ng his face from the l i ght was her hus ,
band, almost motionless In the minds o f both lin gered

.
pass a ges j ust read from the Word of L ife , while a deep
calmness p ervaded the i r spirits N ot so much rebuked .
w ere they by the truths , condemnatory of the past,

which seemed spoken anew , a s insp i red by a dawn i ng
hope of someth i ng better in the future A dim fore
‘
shadowing O f better and happ i er states came to both , and

w ith it a n awakening tenderness each for the other and ,
a deeper purer more unselfish love for their children

, ,
.
A little while they had heard Andrew and L ucy

moving about in the chamber abo ve ; then all was still .
’
Presen tly there stole do wn a low murmur The mother s .
hand rested in her lap and sh e raised her head to l i s ten

,
.
”
“
What is that ? sh e said , ris ing and going to the .
foot of the stairway .
Gi ve us this day our dai ly bread , and forgi ve us our

”
d eb t s
This much sh e heard distinctly, in the v oice o f
A ndrew .
The murmuring sound w as continued for a l ittl e w hi l e ,

and then all was s i lent .
“
What was it asked H arding , as his w ife came
'
b ack to her seat by the table .
A moment or two M rs H arding gazed into her h us

.
band s face , as if to read his state of mind, and then

’
answered
It was Andrew sa yl n g h i s prayers
,
.
The hand that had been wi thdrawn from between the

l ight and h i s face was qu i ckly restored to i ts p osition by
,
H ard i ng who turned h i mself a l i ttle farther away from

,
observat i on and did not speak for nearly h alf an hour

,
.
That t ime was spent in an almost involuntary revie w of

the past and in parti ally formed purposes to li v e a be tter
,
l i fe i n the future ; if not for h i s own sake , at l east for

the sake O f h i s children .
Very gently d i d slee p draw h e r dusky curtains around

the weary heads of Mr and M rs H arding that night
. . .
g ilt
1 02 NG E L
‘
THE l i0 1 3 tTH E HQ US E H OLD

. .
M o rn in g f o un d
their spirits cal m , hopeful a n d yearning
'
,
for the better life , of whose beat i tudes came to the m
some parti al glimpses a s they listened to the words of
the S a viour teach i ng the multitudes that gathered to
,
hear, as he sat upon the mountai n of G alilee .
C HAPT E R X .
O NE day, a few week s l ate r in the course of eve n ts we

are recording M i ss G imp was a l i ttle fluttered by see i ng
,
a handsome carriage draw up before her humble d well

ing S he looked of course for a richly dressed lady to
.
, ,
emerge from so elegant a veh i cle ; but instead a plainly , ,
attired gi rl evidently a domestic in some fam i ly s tepped

, ,
upon the ground The dressmaker wa s already in the

.
door .
D oes Miss G imp live here ? ask ed the girl .
That is my name : wil l yo u walk in said the

dressmaker .
The girl entered , and too k th e chair that was

pro ff ered .
”
Are you very busy at this time ? sh e inquired .
“ ”
N ot very answered M i ss Gi mp
,
.
“ H ave you a week to spare ?”
I don t kno w about that repl ied th e dressmak er

’
,
.
”
Who wants me for a week ?
”
Mrs Barclay
. .
“ Mrs Barclay o v er at Beechwood ?”

,
.
Yes You made a dress for her last fall , I be l ie ve

. .
“ Yes
. When does sh e want me ?
1 04 T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEH O LD .
“ Why b l ess us ! What does al l this mean

,
A brisk dri v e o f half an hour brought them to the

Sta tel y residence of the Barclays—the finest w i thin a
circle O f twenty miles Mrs B a rcla y , a handsome but
— —
. .
d i gnified w oman her age wa s not over thirty five re -
ce i ve d the d ressmaker k i ndly but with a manner that at

,
once repelled all goss i pp i ng fam i liarity S he had sent .
for her as a w orkwoman to pe rform a needed service

, ,
and wished for noth i ng beyond ; and it wa s but a l i ttle ‘

while before M iss G imp unders tood this clearly Two .
o r three times during the first day , s h e tr i ed to draw

Mrs Barcl ay out ; but it was O f no use—the lady w anted
.
her skill as a dressmaker ; but, beyond th i s , ne i ther

asked nor rece i ved any thing
— —
.
“ ”
Proud haughty stuck up 1 Many times did
Miss Gi mp repeat these words to he rself by way O f con ,
solation in her disappointment at not be i ng questioned

by Mrs Barclay about people f e r whom she had worked
There were the Wilsons and the M a y fie lds —sh e had
. .
made dresses for them and quietly intima ted the fact
O f who m
,
_
,
considering the i r pos i tion Mrs Barclay m ust ,
.
w ant to hear the dressmaker s Op i nion But not the ’

.
sl i ghtest s i gn o f interest was manifes ted by the lady .
O nce or tw i ce M i ss Gimp alluded to them , in a way

that sh e bel i eved would draw Mrs Barclay out ; but the .
a l lusion was met by a frig i d s ilence .
Mrs Barclay had a daughter i n her fi fteenth year,

.
w ho though but a ch i ld was as reserved to the dress

, ,
maker as her mother Miss G imp tri ed hard to win her

.
confidence by a chatty familiari ty ; but F lorence rep elled

all these advance s—polite ly yet e ff ectually
, .
O n the second day of M i ss G imp s rather uncomfort ’
able soj ourn in this family where sh e was appreciated

,
only for her skill in mantua7making sh e heard Mrs ,

.
B arclay remark to her daughte r in a low vo i ce

Y o ur aunt E di th Beaufort w ill be her e to morro w - .
T HE ANG EL or THE HOUSEH O LD . 105
“ ”
S he wi ll ! There was a to ne of s u rprise in th e
voice of F lorence that instantly quickened the ears of
M iss G imp who ben t clo ser to her work in Order to
,
seem entirely absorbed therein .
“
Yes I got a note from her a l ittl e whil e a go
. .
J acob brought i t over answered the mother,

’’
.
“
I thought she was going back to C li nton , after -
fin ishing her visit to Mrs L arch . .
“
S he intended doing S O when sh e l eft here ; but sh e
w ants to se e your father abou t some b usiness matters
”
tha t sh e says needs his attention .
”
H ow long 1S she going to stay ? in quired Fl oren c e .
A week , she says ’
”
I don t like aunt E dith , and I can t he l p it re
’ ’
,
“
marked F lorence I never feel pleasant when sh e is
.
here ; and am always rel i eved from a kind o f press ure on

”
my feelings when sh e g oes .
“ ”
You should try to overcome this , said Mrs Bar .
“
clay. Your aunt is always kind and I think , much , ,
attached to you S he has her peculiarities as we a ll

.
,
have ; and toleration of individual pec uliarities a s I ,

have often said to you is a common duty w e o w e to,
each other .
“ I O ften replied the girl , in a gentl er

wish m other ,
—
,
“
tone ,
that I were more like you that I could forget
and deny myse lf for the s a ke O f others , a s m uch a s
”
y ou do .
It 1s not in our power answered M rs B arcl ay “ to .

, ,
l ove others and seek their good by a mere e ff or t of the

mind D esire is fruitless , unless it flows into action
. .
What we have to do is to be ex ternally kind and for

bearing—to do that good for others which reason and
,
rel i g i on enj oin upon us This may require some e ff ort

.
a n d self den i al in the be ginning ; but acts

-
fro m right ,
pr i nc i ples for m ves sels in the mind into wh i ch a ff ec
, ,
tio n s ca n flo w and fin d a permanent abidin g p l a ce .
1 06 THE A NG EL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
Vh a t first, becomes u l timately a de

F gh t
is mere dut y at
1
F l oren cebent her head l istening attentively, and

,
seeking to find, in her mother s earnestly sp oken words , ’
t h e power to overcome And sh e d i d re ceive strength

. .
Miss Gi mp whose ears had ta ken in every word of

,
this conversation , was pu zz led to comprehend i ts en tire

meaning The words sh e understood ; but to hear such
.
wo rds from the lips of M rs Barclay, whom S he had re

‘
garded only as a proud wo man O f the world , bew i ldered

her Co ul d they be spoken sincerely ? Yet there was
.
no roo m for doubt They were the utterance O f a

—
.
mother made only for the ears of a beloved and co n

fid i n g child In Spite of her wounded self love , Miss
.
-
G imp coul d not but feel respect for Mrs Barclay F rom . .
that time, she w as su bdued and reserv ed in her pre

sence .
O n the next da y, aunt E dith Beaufort came S he .
was a w oman past the m iddle age ; tall and dign i fied in
person ; somewhat proud and stately in her carriage ;
and with an eye that, when it looked at any one stead i ly ,
seemed to reach inward to the very thoughts A close .
observer would not fail to ob serv e a certai n cloaking o f

her o wn purposes Wh i le sh e sought to pe netrate every
.
on e she as sedulou sly kept herself im p enetrable

,
.
Mrs Beaufort had none O f the h i gh minded scruples

.
-
that prevented her sister in law Mrs Barclay from l i st

- -
,
.
,
e n in g to the idle or malicious gossip O f the dressmak er .
O n the other hand , sh e rather encouraged M i ss G imp to

talk O n the morning after her arrival Mrs Barclay
.
,
.
and her daughter rode out They were gone a couple O f

.
hours and a port i on O f this time wa s spent by Mrs

,
.
B eaufort in the department where the d ressmaker was at

w ork .
“
What k ind of a man , said she, d urin g a pa use in
'
108 T HE A NG EL or T HE HO U SEH O LD .
yo u to e x pe ct of people wh o treat the ir o wn chi ldren

”
a s i f they were wild animals ins tead of human beings ?
,
“ H a ve you se n the stranger bab y of w hom yo u
e
”
Speak ? inquired the l ady .
“ O h yes ” .
“ What kind o f a b aby is it ?”
O ne born for a be tter lot than tha t which h as been

so cruelly assign e d to it The mother who could d esert
. .
that ch i ld had a heart of stone It is the sweetest, love .
liest little darling that e ver I sa w ; and everybo dy says

”
the same .
Do es no on e suspec t from whence it came ?

Miss G imp looked knowing as sh e answered ,
“ E very o n e h a s the liberty o f guessin g yo u kn o w
, ,
”
madam .
True B ut w hat gro u nd for gu essing is there in the

.
present case
We kno w on e thin g for certain , rep l ied Mi ss G imp .
“ It came not a h undred mi l es from Beechwood ” .
“ Ah 1”
Mrs B eau fort manifested some s urprise

. .
“ What reason ha v e you for saying this ? “
The w oman w ho l eft it at H arding s was seen ’

.
”
Who saw her ?
There was , on the part of Mrs Beaufort, an e vi dent .
desire to conceal the interest sh e felt in the subj ect,

hich did not escape the quick pe netration of Miss
gmp
1
“
.
H arry Wilk ins, a nei ghbour o f mine , saw her H e .
met her carrying a basket as he was going o ver to ,
Beechwood S he acted strange ly and th i s caused h im

.
,
to notice her As he was returning ho me , he met her

.
a ga i n without the basket It was on the v ery e v ening

, .
”
th e babe w as found .
“ An d
that is a ll y ou k n ow ab out it sa id Mrs .
TH E ANGEL OF TH E H O USEHOLD . 09
B eau fort the earnestness of manner, sho wn a l ittl e wh i le

,
before all gone

, .
“
Al l I know now certainl y but not a ll I expect to
, ,
”
k no w repl i ed M i ss G imp
,
“
H arry Wilkins sa ys that .
he got a good look a t the young woman s face and that ’

,
he would kno w it again among thousands H e thought .
’
he saw her about two weeks ago and if it hadn t bee n , ,
”
j ust where it wa s he would have been su re O f it
,
.
The interest of M rs Be aufort reawakened . .
“ ”
Where d i d he think he sa w her ? sh e in quired .
”
O ver at Clifton .
M rs Beaufort started
. The eyes of M iss G imp were
.
fixed intently upon the l ady in whose face She read ,
much more than Mrs Beaufort wished to reveal The . .
two looked earnestly at each oth er for some moments ,

and then the i r eyes fell to the fl oor N early a minute .
of silence followe d M rs Bea ufort then said, w ith ap p a

. .
rent indiff erence

”
O ver at Clifton ?
“
Yes ma am H e was riding o ver there to see a
,
’
.
ma n on some business when j ust as he came in sight O f

, ,
the village , a carriage drove by having in it two ladies ,
.
O ne of them he is almost sure was the woman he sa w

, ,
o n the n i ght the ch i ld was found If her vai l hadn t ’

.
been par tly over her face he wo ul d have been in n o ,
doubt H e says he turned his horse and rode after th e

.
,
”
carriage until he sa w w here it stopped .
“
H e did ?
I
D id he describe the h ouse ?
Yes It wa s a large , Ol d fashio n ed? sto ne ho use ,
.
-
”
w ith beautifu l grounds about it .
D idn t he a sk who lived there ?

’
“ Yes H
’
but he forgot the name e s going o v e r
; .
there in a f e w wee ks, and the n he w ill learn a ll he

10
1 10 T HE AN G EL or T H E HO U SEHOLD .
a bout the peo pl e wh o l i ve in the house S O you s ee, .
ma am , w e re l i kely to fi nd out something

’ ’
.
M rs Beaufort made no answer, but sat l ost in the

.
ta ngled ma z e of her o wn thoughts for a long time Ever .
and anon the dressmaker would c a st stealthy glances

toward her, but the lady s eemed all unconscious O f O h
serv ation H er face , n e w in repo se , and taking its hue
.
from the tenor of her thoughts was on e to puzzle a ,
wiser physiognomist than M iss G imp Its expression ,

e ven , sh e co uld see, was bad—bad , as indicat i ng the
.
l ong predominance of selfish purposes and an o vermaste r

ing se lf will And yet it contained traces O f an old
- .
beauty The l ines were sharpened by pride and passion ,

.
n o t rounded by a debasing sensuality Yet was not al l .

‘
b ad A softness about the delicately formed mouth and

.
'
gently r eced ing chin , Showed that all the true woman in
her had n ot suff ered obliteration Without Speaking, .
sh e at l ength arose, and w ent from the apartment w ith a

s low, stately step .
“ ”
I ll read that riddl e before I m done with it, said
’ ’
the dr essmak er, l etting her hands fall into her lap , the
moment she was alone , and ra i sing her body into a n
ere ct pos ition “ M y lady knows all abo ut th is matter,
.
or I m mi stak en
’
Let me see Clifton ? D idn t F lo
. .
’
’
re nce Barclay sa y something about her aunt s going
ba ck to Clifto n ? B e sure , S h e did ! I remember it no w
distinctly .
What a l ig ht came into the Shri velled fa ce of M iss

G imp !
“ And then ” h e c ontinu ed “ what interest I w on
, s , ,
der, coul d a w oman like her feel in a man lik e H ard i ng,
i f there w ere not something be h i nd the curtain ? H ow
did sh e kn ow there wa s such a man ? It s all c lear as ’
’
daylight I see it as plain as I do that b utterfly on th e

.
w indow I ll call at H arry Wil kins , as soon as I go

.
’ ~
’
h ome, an d te ll him to be s ure and find out the name o f

1 12 T HE A NGEL or T HE H O U SEH O LD .
“ ”
Is he at all be foreha n d in the w orl d ? in quired th e
l ad y .
’
H e s in debt at the store Mrs Willits tol d me this . .
herse l f, and that her husband w as going to ste p trustin g

h im That doesn t l ook very much to me as if he was
.
’
”
be f oreh a n d e d .
Mrs Beaufort sighed gently, as 1f some unpleasant

.
,
thought had flitte d across her m i nd Then sh e ch a n ge d

"
. _
t h e subj e ct, and did not once again allude to it, even re
motely After the torn dress was mended , sh e thanked
.
Miss G imp, with a reserved and dign ified air, and with
dre w from the room The dressmaker did not see her
.
again , and only l earned, incidentall y, that She left for

h er home on the next mornin g .
C H APTE R XI .
THE feeb l e aspirations for a better l ife w hich h ad ,
been awakened in the breast of Jacob H arding struggled ,
not to ward ac tivity without frequent assaul ts from the

te mpter TOO deeply interwoven in the ve texture O f
.
, ,
his moral nature , were evil incl i nati ons m ! Strong by “
,
long indulgence for good to gai n an easy victory H is
,
.
life for years, had been one O f disorder internal as well

, ,
as external ; and now when there came to h i m faint and

,
far O ff glimpses of the be auty an d des i rableness of order
-
v irt ue, and religi on the new creation —it could be

,
nothing l ess —seemed so near to an impossibility that

,
,
—
h is heart bowed at times h ope less a l most despa i ring
,
,
E xterna l ca us es o f disturbance w ere a dded to t h e

.
T HE A NG EL Or T HE H O U SEHOLD . 1 13
aw ak enin g co nfli ct within O n some days, every thin g

.
w ould go wrong with him and he would return to his ,
home when eveni ng closed in so fretted a state of mind ,

, ,
that his coming fell upon h is household li ke a shado w .
But the sh a dow darkened only for a little wh il e The .
presence of G race wa s a perpetual sunshine ; and e v en

the dense c l ouds that gathered , at times, around the car
’
p en te r s stormy spirit,
could not shut out the light a n d
warmth di ff us ed so genially aro und her With the babe .
in his arms , or lying against his breast the enemies of ,
h is spirit assaulted h im in v ain D ee ply disturbe d

.
though he might hav e been by the conflicts o f the day,

p eace now folded her wings in his heart H owe ve r . .
much doubt and despondency, arising from worldly dis

appointments had overshadowed h i m with gloom , the
,
soft cheek of the l ittle one wa s ne ver laid against h is

o wn without his feeling a tranquil confi dence that, e ve n
as G od was providing for the helpless innocent so would ,
he provide for him In the clear depths O f her beautiful

'
eyes he always saw a l ight that seemed to mak e plainer

,
the way be fore him .
B ut, had not the babe s influence been fe l t by others

’
o f his household , as well as by himself, H arding would

have struggled for self coh que st in v ain H app i ly, o ve r
- .
all , the S i lent power of her beauty and innocence con

t in ue d to preva i l ; and in a marked degree o v er M rs
, ,
.
H arding Thus in the better l i fe , up to which all w ere

.
,
v oluntarily or in voluntarily aspiring a kind of equipoise ,
wa s establ i shed The d i sturbed forces h ad received a

.
n e w and better adj ustment O ne great gain on the part

.
o f both H ard i ng and h i s wife wa s this : each h ad learned

to repress the utterance Of ca p tio n s or ill nature d words - .
I n former times unkindness of thought found e v er a

,
uick outbirth in harsh , exciting lan guage , that neve r

failed to produce a storm Of passion These storms and
.
.
,
their Often fearful ra v ages eac h remembered too w e ll ;

,
10’
1 14 T HE A NGEL or T HE HOUSEH O LD .
and in the min d o f e a ch wa s a sufli cie n t dread o f thei r

recurrence to induce a watchful self control - .
S ince the fearful n i ght in which Andrew suffered so

many terrors , there had been a marked change in this -
w ayw ard boy Mr Long the schoolmaster, see i ng the

. .
,
i mpress i on that remained, and feeling for him a kind l n

t e re st, made it a po i nt to noti ce him and, a s carefully ,
a n d j udic i ously as wa s i n h i s power, awaken and foster

.
his self respect At least once a week , he would drop m

-
.
’
a t the carpenter s and never failed , on these occasions
, ,
to speak a word i n praise of Andrew s good conduct and
’
s tudiousness . The lad s gratified loo k , whenever th i s

’
wa s done , ga v e him broad ground Of h Ope for t h e

future .
The change in A ndre w was another readj usted w eight

in the balanci ng of moral forces to which we have re
ferred Without th i s particular re a dj ustment, the new
.
’
e quipoise seen in the carpente r s family could hardly
ha ve been mainta ined Li ttle trouble was required in

.
the management O f the younger children , n o w that

’
Andrew s baleful influence over them was , in a great
measure , withdrawn ; and th i s left a dimin ished e vil
p ressure on the temper O f Mrs H arding . .
A man l i ke Jacob H arding is never a po pular man .
H e is sure to o ff end in his b us i ness intercourse with

others and to make enemies O f the carpen ter there
,
.
,
w ere few to spe a k a good word , beyond the fact that no

better workman than he was to be found This reputa .
tion had insured h i m work that otherwise would ha ve

found its way to the S h ep O f a be tte r n a ture d but in n o- ~
,
w ay so rel i able a mechanic , who l i ved in Beechwood .
B ut there are men who will sacr ifice the i r i nte rests
quicker than their f eelin gs Two O f this class who had
.
,
en l p l oy e d the carpente r for some years and given him a ,
good deal O f work in that t i me becoming o ff ended in ,
c on se quen ce of some hasty w ords on the p art o f H arding,

1 16 T HE A NGEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
Work he h a d us ual ly had in plenty It came crowding .
in upon h i m from all sides and he was oftener worri ed ,
o n account of i ts superabundan ce than concerned for its

"
conti nuance H e had not always executed with prompt

.
ness ; and to this f a ct might be traced one of the cau ses

o f his want of thr i ft .
It was nearly half an hour after this unpleasant intel

l ige n ce had been received , and H ard i ng stood leaning o n
h is work bench , the ch i sel with which he had been cut
-
ting a mort i ce resting idly in h i s hand when a form ,
darkened h i s shop door, and a fam i l i ar voice sa id

'
“ ”
G ood afternoon friend H arding !
,
The carpenter l i fted his eyes, and met the ple a sant,
al ways cheerful face of Mr L ong the schoolmaster wh o .
, ,
w as o n his way home after the close of h i s afternoon

session .
“ ”
You seem troubled said the latter H arding had
,
.
“
l ooked at him w i thout replying
,
There s not h ing .
’
w rong with you I hope ? I thought I (1 j ust drop in to

,
sa y that Andrew is gett i ng on finely .
“ ”
I m glad to hear it
’
There was a husk iness 1n t h e
.
carpenter s vo i ce that betrayed his unhappy state

’
.
,
”
“
N one Of your family s i ck I hope ? said Mr L ong, ,
.
w ith a kind i n terest that won upon the carpenter s feelin gs ’

.
”
All reasonably well I thank you ,
.
Any thing wrong in your bus i ness ?

“ ”
I m sorry to say that there i s rep l ied H arding
’
,
.
“ I have j ust lost my whole season s wor k ’

.
”
H ow com es that ? said Mr L ong . .
Two buildings that I had engaged h

the hands of another carpenter and I am left w i thou t a ,
”
single contra ct of any impor tance .
”
“ Th i s is
ba d remarked the school master
,
.
“ It is bad for a man i n my s i tuation with a

,
family on his hands What I a m to do, H eaven
.
1”
k nows fl
T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USEH O LD . 117
M r L ong was struc k with the tone of despondency

.
in which these words were ut tere d O bey i ng the .
prompting impulse O f the moment he answered ,

“
You may trust in H eaven Mr H arding H e th a t ,
. ,
.
feedeth the ravens will not suff er you to want .
The words O f the schoolmaster produced a momentary

d isturbance i n the mind O f H arding who replied, with ,
some b i t terness of manner

“
O h ! as for me, I do n t pretend to have any cl aims ’
”
on H eaven .
All men replied Mr Long “ have c laims on their

.
, ,
M aker for things needful to sustain l i fe and g i ve them ,
the abil i ty to perform useful servi ce in the world F or .
these you may look with confidence Providence never .
hedges up a man s way in one d i rection , without seein g

’
that it is Opened in another Al l w ill c ome o ut right,

neighbour H arding—never fear
.
“ ” “
But I do fear was the desponding answer
, To .
my knowledge no one else is going to build this sum

,
mer U nless there comes a hurricane un roo fin g half a

.
,
dozen barns and houses I see no chance of a suffi ciency
,
”
o f work during the season .
H arding sa i d th i s with aff ected humour ; yet his tones

failed to conceal the b i tterness and d i strust w i thin .
N o t a good direction for any one s thoughts to flow ’
said Mr L ong seriously

.
“ Providence w i ll open t h e
.
,
way before you I trust without the aid of hurricanes, or

, ,
”
any other m i nisters Of destruction .
I h Op e S O but I see l i ttle to encourage me .
E ven wh i le the carpenter said this a neighbo urin g ,

fa rmer entered h i s shop and asked the question
,
”
Are you very busy j ust now Mr H a rding ? ,
.
”
N o t part i cularly so was answered ,
.
“
W i ll you call over and see me in the morning ?
,
I wish to talk with y ou about putting a new roof on my
barn I did thin k O f trustin g it u nti l next sprin g, b u t
.
1 18 THE AN GEL or T HE HO U SE HOLD .
I been e x amining it rather close ly t d a y, a nd don t

’ ’
ve o-
think it wi ll be sa fe to run the risk , especiall y as th e re is
e ve ry prospect o f large crops this summer In fact, I ve ’
.
d ecided to have a new roof S O , if you ll call over to

’
.
”
morrow morning we wil l arran ge to have it done
,
.
H arding promised to see the farmer bright and early

o n the next morning Recei ving this ass urance t h e '
.
,
l atte r departed The schoolmaster had remained durin g

.
this brief interview, a n d w hen the farmer l eft, remark ed ,

with a smile
“ I t is true as I said neighbour H arding Pro vi .
,
’
dence ne ver hedges up a man s way in o n e direction,
”
w ithout opening it in another .
“ ”
But what s the use of it al l ? rep lied the carpenter
’
.
“ I would ca ll this kind O f busine ss mere child s play ’

.
S mith s money is j us t as g ood as Jones s and wi ll buy

’ ’
a s much pork and corn mea l And as for the work, on e .
j ob is about as ea sy as another .
“ Did it never occur to you ” said Mr L ong “ th at

in ,
.
,
the dealings of Providen ce with men something h e en d ,
the provision of mere food and ra iment was in vo ved .
H ave your thoughts never reached beyond the ques tio n

”
o f pork and corn mea l ?
“ ”
I do n t unders tand y o u
’
The carpenter l ook ed .
sl ightly bewildered .
“
Man h a s two lives said Mr L ong : a life of th e .
,
b ody and a li fe O f the mind To one of these lives h a s .
been appointed a comparati vely short d uration ; th e

”
other is unending .
T he carpenter leaned his head in an attitude of atten

tion seeing which , Mr L ong continued .
“ G od i s an ete rnal being and it is plain from th e fa c t

; ,
that he has given to the S p i ri t of ma n an eternal exis t
en ce that he must regard the wants and desti ny O f th e
,
spir i t a s in every way of primary account when com ,
p a red with the wants and destiny o f th e b od y L e t this .

12 0 T HE A NGEL or T HE HOUSE HOLD .
deemer is a Being O f infinite benevo l ence—that l ove is

,
his essential nature : it will follow a s a consequence ,

that he not only desires but seeks the good of h i s crea ,
tures You are one O f th i s number ; and one toward
.
w hom his heart must be moved with pity , for your Sp i rit
h as suff ered much Thus far in life you have known
.
,
li ttle of the true enj oyment that G od desires for all the
children O f men Vainly have you sought for pleasure
.
in sensual del i ghts : they have pro v ed only serpents to

What a dark, weary w ay it has been to
“
Yes , dar k as E gypt at times, muttered the car
e n te r
p .
”
“
Let us gO back a little , said the school master
’
It is plain that in the way you have been going mat

, ,
te rs have not improved much You are no happier now .
than you were six months ago .
“ I don t know about that ” answered H arding

’ “I .
,
don t k n ow about that Maybe you may think me

’
.
fool i sh but I can t he l p it Si nce that stran ge baby

,
’
.
came into our family I have felt like another man I ,

.
’
don t know how it is but the dear l ittle thing h a s crept ,
right into my heart and brought w i th it some th i ng of ,
its pure and gentle nature The truth is Mr L ong, .

,
.
I m not the same man I was before H eav en sent that

’
”
c hil d to my door .
“ H eav en sent it You have us ed the right words, .
n eighbour H arding All go od gifts are from H eaven

.
In lo ve to you G od bestowed th i s bless i ng ; not to give

,
ca se or comfort or pleasure to your body but for the

, , ,
health and j oy O f your S pirit Ah ! I am gl a d to hear .
this confess i on from your lips And now let me suggest .
a thought May not the disappo i ntment you have suf

.
f ered to day and wh i ch was f o r a t i me S O bitter be pro

-
, ,
d uctive of higher benefits than any you could have re

ceived, had all things gone according to yo ur w ishes
T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USEH O LD . 12 1
“ ”
I do not se e your meaning c l early , said the c ar
en te r
p .
O ur present con versation would otherwise hard ly

”
have occurred suggested Mr L ong ,
. .
“ No ”
; I think not .
Is it not clear then ? Think ,

.
“ Perhaps you a re ri h t ” said H arding in a though t

g , .
,
“
f ul manner You have certainly filled my mind w i th
.
new ideas Come over and se e me in the evening some

.
times , won t you ? I d like to talk with you again of

’ ’
these things They sound strangely—e n d yet my mind

.
”
assents to them a s true .
“ N othing is truer ” replied the schoolmaste r “ than

, ,
that the eyes of G od are O ver all his works and that he ,
leadeth his erring creatures by ways that they know not ,
ever seeking to bring them from the darkness of natura l

e vil into the pure l i ght of his truth And thus he is .
seeking to lead you neighbour H arding Ah ! re sis t

’
.
,
not, but gently y i eld yourself to the d i vine guida n ce .
But I have said enough for the present Yes, I will call .
o ver and see you , and if you still find interest in these
”
s ubj ec ts , we will talk of them again .
What a change had taken pl a ce with the c a rpenter in

the brie f space of half an hour — a change from deep
agitation of mind, and a paralyzing distrust to a cal m ,
and hopeful spirit N o t to the fact O f work ha ving come

.
from an unexpected quarter, was this chiefly to be a s

crib e d . That was but the fo undation S O to speak on , ,
w hich a h i gher and j uster conception of Providence h a d

bee n erec ted H is step was firmer, h i s head more e le
.
va te d, and his countenance marred by fewer l i nes O f

care , as h e took his way homeward NO shadow fel l .
across the threshold as he entered ; and n o heart shrunk

with fear at the sound of his v oice , that seemed to ha ve
found ne w tones and gentle modulatio ns .
ll
12 2 T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USEHOLD .
C HAPT E R XII .
’
TH E school master S words only dim ly apprehended at
,
first, lingered in the mind of H arding ; and a s he pon ,
dered them , ne w suggest i ons came and new light seemed

,
to break in upon h i m There was a hi gher and better

l ife than the l i fe of the body—wants that no natura l
.
sources could supply—su ff erings that no earthly phy

s icia n co uld allev i ate H ow clear al l this became the
.
l onger his mind res ted on what h i s neighbour had sa id !

and he half wondered that, unti l now no perceptio n o f ,
such important truths had come to h im .
H app i ly, all things at home harmoni z ed with the car

p e n
’
te r s state O f mind on that evening Andre w he .
found on h i s return busy over his lesson ; Lucy h a d

, ,
dear little G race in her arms ; and L otty and Philip ,

who rarely disagreed if no one interfered with them ,
were playing together, and singing to themselves as hap
pily as if nothing had ever rufll ed the qu i et sur face o f
the i r feelings The influence of Mr L ong o ver Andrew,
. .
since his particular interest i n h im had been awaken ed ,

and Since he had discovered the right avenue by which
to re a ch his feelings was remarkable H aving secured
the good Opinion of Mr L on g—to have the good Opinion
.
,
—
.
f any one was a new exper i ence for the l ad Andre w

was particularly desirous to retai n it A kind look—a n
o
—
~
.
approving word what ample rewards w ere they for all

e flo rt and self denial !
- In these he found a pleasure f a r
above any thing that evil indulgence or wrong doing -
gave ; and, bes t of a ll , they left no sa d , painfu l after

consequences .
“ That s
’
ri ght, Andrew, said Mr H arding, a p .
pushed back under it a portion o f her black hair, in

w hich gray lines were v isible .
“ ”
That dear babe again she added as sh e fixed h er
, , ,
“
eyes intently on Grace I ne ver saw a lovelier crea .
”
ture .
Mrs H arding entered at this moment, from the

'
.
,
k itchen where sh e had been preparing supper At

, .
si ght O f the woman , sh e started , and looked disturbed .
G ood even i ng ma am ,
’
.
’
The stranger fixed her eyes penetrati ngly upon her .
”
G ood even ing was coldly replied ,
.
In passing t h i s way agai n I could not resist the in ,
cl in a tio n to call if for no other reaso n tha n to thank you

,
for your former kindness and -to apologize for my abrupt ,
departure It was necessary for me to be at Beechwood

.
at a very early hour and I did not wish to d i sturb yo u,

,
”
or tax your hospital i ty for an early breakfast .
The blandness and easy self possess i on with which this -
was said in a measure o vercame the instinctive rep ug

,
nance of Mrs H arding S till , sh e did not like the

. .
woman , and felt ill at ease in her presence W i th a s .
good a grace as poss i ble sh e bade her welcome From ,

.
the woman s manner it was evidently her intention to

’
remai n to supper, and in all probab i l i ty , through the ,
n i ght Indeed s h e soon int i mated th i s to the carpenter

.
,
and his w i fe who could do no less than invite her to

,
rema i n with as much S how O f cord i al i ty a s possible .
The obj ect Of her v i s i t was matter of little quest i on to

them TOO dist i nct was their remembrance of her con
d uct on a prev i ous occasion —and O f the inti mat i ons then
.
g i ven by her—to leave any mo m to doubt that S he had

a personal interest in Gra ce , and now came solely on
t h i s account .
All eye and al l ear was the stranger to every thin g

that passed in the family O f Jacob H arding The car .
p en ter e fa ce sh e scanned w ith so close a scrutiny , that

’
T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEH O LD . 12 5
he Often found his eyes droop ing beneath the singu l ar

n s that was fixed upon him The movements O f Mrs
gia rd ing were also closely observed, and not a word
. .
p assed between the children that sh e did not weigh its

mea n mg .
Whether it were from the presence of this dignified

stranger or from the subdui n g e ff ects of better sta tes of
,
mind the children were unu sually well behaved and

,
-
orderly during sup p er time L ucy proposed to wait and

- .
b e the nurse O f G race during the meal ; although her

mother said that S h e co uld hold the babe and attend the
table well enough .
After supper the woman succeeded after many in ef

, ,
f e ct ua l attempts in alluring G race from Mr H arding

,
. .
T he little one looked half fri ghtened as S h e passed to the

arms of the stranger and then immed i ate ly reached out
,
her hands to go b a ck But being retai ned, her lips

.
-
,
began to curve and a low murmur of fear was audible

,
.
”
“
Co me back then darl i ng ! sa i d the carpenter,
, ,
l ovingly ; and he took her from the woman almost by

force What a happy change was seen instantly in the
.
sweet young face , and w i th what a manifest j oy did the

l ittle one shri nk to the manly breast, and cling there as
if it had found a home of safety
“ ”
You love that ch i ld ? sai d the woman H er tones .
w ere grave and her proud l i ps firm

,
.
Yes ; better than any th i ng in this world .
”
It i s n o t your own child ? added the woman .
“ It i s m i ne by the gift ”
O f G od sa id the carpente r , ,
with a depth O f feeling in his v o i ce that surprised his

auditor S ome one—I do not th i nk she is worthy the
name O f woman —deserted it at our door
.
The woman mo ved uneas i ly, and partly a ver ted her
face.
“ “
Abandoned continued the carpente r, by her to
,
whom G od had given a prec i ous gift, th e guardianship

12 6 T HE A NGEL OF T HE H O USEH O LD .
w as transferred to us We have accepted it gladly.
thankfully And who will now d a r e sa y the ch ild is not

.
ours ? S uch words must not be spo ken here

The natural warmth O f H ard i ng s temperam ’
tra y e d him into an indignant vehemence wh i ch ,
the woman to shrink back from him a l i ttle way, and to

l ook surprised , almost fearful .
“
We cannot hear such words S poken , repeated the
“
carpenter, in a gentler voice G od sent an angel to
.
o ur household when he sent th i s babe ; and we have

made room for her— room for her in our home, and room .
”
for her in our hearts .
The woman sa t for some time with her eyes upon the
floor S he was e v idently in deep thought
”—
. .
“
Rather sa y thus sh e spoke in a low voice that
G od le n t her to you— lent her it may be only for a little , ,
while It is not well to fix the heart too id o lizin gly

.
upon a ch i ld What if her rea l mother were to come

.
- .
”
and claim her at your hands ?
There is her tr ue mother said the carpenter, ,
“
fi rmly and he pointed toward his wife
,
A woman .
ve her life , but sh e gave her lo ve— a mother s love ’
ger r ea l mother ! Madam ! I would spurn from the

i .
door the wretch who d a red sa y that sh e brought into e xist

ence this sweet young cherub and then abandoned h er ,
to perish or , mayhap , find an unwelcome home among

,
”
strangers .
”
“
Can an evil tree produce good fruit ? asked the
w oman looking at the excited carpenter al most s ternly
,
.
“
It is sa i d not he repl i ed , .
Could an evil hearte d mother giv e birth to S O ange l ic

”
a babe ? Th i nk Mr H arding ,
. .
“
Could a good hearted woman ab ando n her nursing
infant ? Th i nk, madam .
The woman s glance cowered beneath th e steady eyes

’
o f the carpenter .
12 8 T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USEH O LD .
my heart and we will live or die to gether ! B aby !

,
”
S weet one ! O h ! darl i ng ! darling !
S he had moved about the room l i ke one hal f cra z ed ,
but now as a sh o wer of tears fell over her face, sh e
,
dropped into a cha i r, and leaning over the child, which

sh e held close to her bosom sh e mingled ki sses , sobs
, ,
and tears for some m i nutes, in a very tempest of

,
e motion.
Meantime the elder of the two women showed strong

,
a gitat i on ,
that wa s repressed only by a vigorous e ff o r t .
N ow her face was dark with struggling pass i on ; and

now so pale and ghastly that i t seemed as if her very
,
l i fe s love were su ff ering its final assault As soon as

’
.
the first bewildering exc i tement was over sh e went up ,
to the young woman and laying her hand upon her

,
w ith a firm grasp said in a tone of remonstrance

, ,
“
What madness h a s come over you E dith ? G ive ,
back the ch i ld and come away I t is as well cared for

,
.
”
a s you or I could desire .
The other wa ved her hand with an imperati ve gest ure

a s she replied
“
It is useless, mother ! My resolve is taken I wi ll
not part with my ch i ld Mine it is—mine born in l aw
.
.
,
f ul wedlock and there is no earthly power strong enough
to drag i t from my arms You may turn from m
,
. e if ,
y ou w i ll You may shut up your heart against me ; but

—
.
mine shall be open to my ch i ld my darling, darling

”
child ! S weet sweet baby ! ,
4
And sh e again hugged i t to her heart .
”
The fountain is n ot dry yet love , sh e murmured , ,
in a low tender voice as she bared her bosom and drew

Drink aga i n —drink !
, , ,
“
the ba be s soft face against it
’
I have kept it open for this hour—this hour that my

.
heart told me would come must come There—there

—
—
. .
”
D rink , baby dr i nk Dri nk and G od bless you !
.
,
And as the babe commenced drawing sweet life from

T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEH O LD . 12 9
this founta in O f l ife the mother s eyes were l ifted

,
’
heavenward H er cheeks glowed , and a thrill of e xqui

.
si te j oy trembled along every fibre o f her soul .
“ ”
F ather S he sob bed
,
“
let my tears and thankfu l
,
ness for this hour of restoration , obliterate the record

that darkens one page O f my l i fe s sad histo ry ’
.
This scene was more than the woman sh e called her

mother could witness unsubdued Hi therto her impe .
rions will had ruled her compl ying child B ut nature

free nature —had now asserted her right and swept aside
.
all oppos i ng forces In E d i th s heart, the mother s l ove

.
’ ’
was stronger than the daughter s fear ’

.
“
E dith , what am I to understand by all this ? said
th e woman spe aking with a resolute calmness
,
.
That I am ready to give up all for my chi l d .
”
Gi ve up me 1 7
The woman held her breath for an answer E dith

‘
.
did n o t re p ly but bent lower over her babe , and drew it

,
closer to her heart .
“ Gi ve up me repeated the woman .
Mother ! As G od l i veth I will keep this ch il d If

—
.
,
you turn from me — if you cast me o ff well ; but, as

G od l i veth I will keep my ch i ld
,
F or a l i ttle wh i le the frame of the other quivered as ,
if attacked by a sudden ague fit Then stepp i ng back a .
pace or two she stood a few moments irresolute The

,
.
doo r of the adj o i n i ng room was partly open Into this .
S he n o w p a ssed wit h a qu i ck movement A struggle .
had commenced that S h e w i shed to sustain all apart from

observat i on N early ten m i nutes elapsed before her re
.
appearance S carcely a change O f position or relati on

.
h a d occurred dur i ng her brief absence H er face was

F v ery calm her step deliberate , and her manner self
.
possessed like one who has pas sed from doubtful ques
,
t ion in gs to a certainty .
130 T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEHOLD .
G oing up to her daughter sh e l aid her hand a gain

,
u p on her say i ng as sh e did so

, ,
”
E dith my child I
,
The voice wa s low, cal m and even tender

,
.
“ ”
Mother !
It was the bo wed creature s simple response S he did
’
.
n ot l ook up .
“
,
—
E d i th I may have erred I know not If SO it h as .
,
been for your sake L ove and pride have both b een
.
Strong . But we will conte nd no longer In the future , .
”
your own heart must lead you : I will op pose nothing .
An electr i c thrill seemed suddenly to awaken the half

d ormant sen si b i l i ties O f the young mother S he looked .
up with a blendi ng O f j oy and surprise in her co un te

n ance.
“ What do I hear ? S peak the words again .
We w i ll contend no longer E dith In the futu re ,

,
.
”
y o ur own heart must lead you : I will Oppose nothing .
The eyes of E d i th closed as sh e leaned her head bac k

against her mother, whose arm now clasped her H o w
—
.
plac i d was her pale young face how so f t and tend er, ,
and loving the sweet l i ps j ust parti ng with a smile

“
You have made me happy Can a mother a sk more
.
”
for her child ?
It was all she said ; but the words went trembling
do wn into the agitate d heart O f that strong self willed ,
-
w oman of the world and accomplished their m i ssion

A k i ss—long and fer vent— sealed th e reconc iliation
.
,
and new compact .

TH E ANGEL OF TH E H O USEH O LD .
Y e s, if you will be good li ke G race ,

.
“ I can t be good j ust like her

’
But I ll try , mother .
’
.
And you won t scold me S O w i ll you , mother ? Talk to

’
me sweet and good , j ust a s you tal k to G race —won t you,

,
’
”
m other ?
’
A n d now th e child s arms were stealing around the
n eck of Mrs H arding a n d her eyes w e re looking up
.
,
into her face plead i ng and filled with tears

,
.
What language could have been more rebuking more ,
softening more subduing ? It penetrate d to the v ery

,
inmost of her c onsciousness H er only answer was a .
strong embrace H ow her heart enlarged toward L otty

.
You will love me , mother if I m go od ? ”

,
’
The child was not sati sfied with mere dumb S how .
”
O h yes, my dear one ! answered Mrs H a rding , in a . .
v oice whose tenderness satisfied the heart of L e tty “

I .
will love you Be a g OO d little girl , and I wi ll love you

.
”
j ust as well a s I love Grace .
“ I w i ll be so good mother murmured the happy

, ,
l ittle one as she hid her face and wept for very j oy
, ,
.
Thus sh e was lying when the elder O f the two,
strangers turn i ng from her daughter, between whom and

,
herself s o s i ngular a reconciliation had taken place, said ,

address i ng Mr H arding m a calm voice
.
“
My friend, there wa s a meaning in the words I
spoke a little while ago , that went be yond my own
thoughts Thi s young woman— the mother of G race
.
is my child I d i d not expect her here this evening

.
n oth i ng could ha v e been farther from my anticipations

I knew that S he wa s almost dy i ng to se e her child—to
.
have it agai n i n her arms and I feared that its restora

,
tion might be come necessary Why sh e abandoned it at .
y our door, cannot now be explain ed ; ne i ther can we re

veal who we are , or where we came from That secret, .
for the present must remain with ourselves E nough ,

,
.
that the child is ours, and now retur n s to its true home
T HE ANGEL or T HE H O USEH O LD . 13 3
and its true mother You and your excellent wife wil l
.
never be forgotten My daughter has a heart that can

feel gratitude—bad as you have pronounced her—and
.
th i s you will e re long know L et me ask of you one

«
, ,
.
th i ng and that is, silence as to the occurrences Of this

,
”
even ing .
The carpe nter sa t with his eyes upon the floor, d uring
al l the t i me that the woman was speaking .
As s h e ceased he arose , and crossing the room , stood

,
before the young woman , who still held G race in her

arms .
Reaching out his hands, and smiling, h e said , in a

v o i ce O f tender persuas i o n
Come G race —come love—come
, ,
.
The little one l ifted her head fro m the w oman s ’
breast be nt toward the carpenter and sm i led, in return ,

, ,
one of her sweetest most lo ving sm i les The woman in

,
.
s ta n tly drew the ch i ld back , while a shade of fear went

over her countenance .
D on t be alarmed madam said the carpenter , in a

’
, ,
respectful v o i ce “
If S he will come let her come You ,
.
may take her again G race, darling ! S weet one !

.
Come
Again the babe raised herself up and leaned toward ,
the carpenter Agai n sh e sm i led sweetly, fluttered her
.
t i ny hands and seemed anxious to get into h i s arms

,
.
H e reached out for her ; but j ust as she seemed ready to

Spring to h i m , her eyes wandered up to the loving face ,
s o full of unutterable tenderness that bent over her ; ,
and then she fell back upon the bosom sh e k new to be

’
her mother s .
’
A shadow darkened on the carpenter s face .
”
Come , darling ! he repeated extending his hands ,
.
S he l i fted her head agai n stretched out her arms and , ,
i
n the next instant w as t i ghtly clasped to the ca rpenter s
’
oso m .
1 84 T HE A NGEL O F THE H OU SEHOLD .
H ea ven b l ess you , sweet one ! B less you ! bl ess

y ou ! An angel of lo v e you have been to us all ! H ow
can w e give you up ? O h ! no no ! It must not be ! ,
G od gave you to us and shall we let any but the death ;
”
angel ta ke you away ?
The mother had started to her feet and was no w ,
movi ng by the s i de O f H arding as he paced about the ,
room her face full of alarm and anxiety

,
.
“ ”
O h S ir ! give me back my ba be 1 S h e cried in a
, ,
-
“
v oice of deep supplication G race ! D arling Come «
”
to your mother !
H arding pause d , and by an e ff ort repressed the , ,
strong upheaving of emotion AS he relaxed the tight .
clasp of his arms the little one raised her head , and no w
,
re a ched out her hands toward her mother .
”
G o back then he sa i d kissing her tenderly
, , Go ,
.
b ack I cannot sa y nay if it i s in both your hearts

.
,
.
As G race returned w i th a baby murmur O f j oy to h er

, ,
mother s arms the carpenter s strength seemed to leave

’
,
’
h im and he sunk into a chair where for some time h e

, ,
remained with his head drooped upon his breast From

,
.
this state he was arouse d by hearing the elder of the two

w omen say address i ng her daughter
,
You ca me in the carriage
”
Yes .
H ow far is it away ?
“ About a quarter of a mi l e on the ro a d t o B eech
,
”
w ood .
“
It is growing l ate We must l eave here . .
“ You will not leave to night said H ardin g, a s h e

"
arose and came forward .
O h yes ; we must go was ans wered

—
.
,
To that I cannot consent the carpenter sp oke ’
”
firmly unless you go alone .
“ ”
Alone !
T he mother o f G race l ook ed frightened .
There was an unsteadiness of voice a n d eye as S h e

spoke that did not escape the carpen ter s notice
,
’
.
“ ”
It w i ll not do repl i ed H ard i ng S hak i ng his head
, ,
.
”
What wil l do , then ? excla i med the woman, in a .
quick demanding vo i ce
, .
H er whole manner cha nged t

The fretted
D
will
.
,
SO used
t o reaching its purposes in sp ite O f all h i nderances, could
ta mely broo k th i s oppos i tion no l onger .
Fi ve times did Jacob H arding pace the room backward

and forward before answer i ng Then paus i ng before the .
w oman , who had remained standing he sa i d ,

“ ”
O ne thing I have fully decided .
What
The woman spoke eagerly .
That G ra ce does not leave here to n ight .
”
O h sir, don t sa y that ! cried the younger of the two
’
strangers H er pale face blanched wh i ter

. .
“ ”
I hav e said i t and will not change answered the
, ,
“
carpenter You can both remain if you will We w i ll
. .
give y o u the best accommodations our poor ab o de can

o ff er A S for me I want time to cons i der this matter
.
,
.
It i s far too w e i ghty to receive a hurried decision I .
”
must have a night s S leep upon i t ’
.
”
O h, for pati ence ! exclaimed the elder of th e
w omen . You may repent th i s, Sir ! You know not
whose will you are thwart i ng .
I confess my i gnorance said H arding w i th a

, ,
“
S hade of irony in his vo i ce ; and therefore i t is that I
hesitate and choose to act with c i rcumspe ction
,
.
”
We cannot remain here to n i ght Imposs i ble ! -
.
,
Very well You will find us all here to morrow, or

.
-
the day after .
S eeing that H arding wa s not to be moved , the t wo

women drew together in a d i stant part O f the room , and
remained in wh i spered conversat i on for a long time .
“ My daughter cannot be induced to leav e her child

,
sai d the moth er as sh e le f t E d i th and came forward to

, ,
“
where H ard i ng was now seated by h is w i fe S he will .
,
therefore rema i n at least until to morrow Then I

, , ,
- .
,
t rust you will perm i t her to depart with her babe

,
.
F urther h i nderance on your part w i ll be cruelty Think .
o f what S he has already su ff ered , and spare her further
anguish A S for me I will go to n i ght

.
,
- .
“
You a re welcome to s tay , if it so p l ease you , re
tu rned the carpenter .
“
My daughte r s health has been feeble for some
’
time sai d the woman , and S he is now quite overcome

,
by fatigue and exc i tement If you w i ll let her retire .
”
early S he wil l take i t as a k i ndness
,
.
Mrs H ard i ng arose at th i s time and laying the no w

.
,
sleeping L otty in her father s arms , passed from the ’
room In a few minutes sh e returned and said t h e

.
,
chamber was ready if the lady wished to retire The

,
.
m other and h er daughter went i n together and S hut the ,
door behind them Mrs H ard i ng intended to enter

. .
the room also but the door closed so quickly that she
, ,
w as left without F or a moment or two S he stood con

.
fused and undecided Then turning to her husband,

.
sh e sa i d
“
Jacob, what is to be done ? H ow can we gi v e h er
We w i ll not unless we know more of these persons

than we now do repli e d H ard i ng
,
.
“
It is her mother said M rs H arding
,
. .
Yes ; that is plai n But who and what is sh e ?

.
”
If we only knew .
We must know H arding spoke fi rmly

. No t .
unt i l I have the fullest in tell i ge n ce in regard to them ,
wi ll I consent to let them have the child H ark ! what .
”
is that ?
The carpenter liste ned .
“ ”
What do you hear ?
Mrs H ard i ng w a s sta rtled by her husband 8 manner

.
’
.
”
I thought I heard a noise .
”
What was it l i ke ?
”
I don t know ’
.
Both listened for some moments .
”
Where was it ?
“
I can t te ll whether it was in the house or out doors
’
.
”
It wa s noth i ng probably I m excited ,
.
’
.
S till they l i stened in a kind of breathless suspense .
“
I wonder if they have fas tened that door : they are
”
v ery sti ll said the carpenter
, .
Mrs H ard i ng stepped l ightly to the door, and tried

.
the lock .
”
It is fastened She whispered back ,
.
They must have turned t h e bo l t very S ilently re ,

“
marked H ardi ng S uppo se you knock , and a sk if
.
they want any th i ng

M rs H ard i ng tapped gently
. There was no answer .
S he tapped agai n but louder S t i ll all remai ned s i lent

,
.
w i th i n S he now rattled the lock and called to the in

.
,
mates The answer wa s fruitless : no answer to her

.
summons was returned .
“
I don t l i ke th i s said H arding starti ng up and
’
, , ,
advancing to the door aga i nst wh i ch he threw h i s bod y ,
w i th a force that broke the fas ten i ngs within As the ,
door swung open h i s eyes res ted up o n the O pen w i ndow

,
.
In an i nstant a ll was comprehended ,

F l i ngi ng the .
sleep i ng child he held i n h i s arms upon the untumbled

bed he sprung through the open w i ndow and disa p
, ,
e a re d in the darkness
p .
“
A quarter of a m i le from here on the road to Beech ,
”
wood . H e remembered these words and ran swiftly in ,
that directi on hop i ng to overtake the fug i t i ves Th e

,
.
sky was overclouded and the n i ght intensely dark ,

In .
v a i n the eye sought to penetra te the th i ck va i l of sh a

do ws F or more than half a m i le, H arding pursued his
.
1 40 T HE A NGEL OF T HE H O USEH OL D .
w ith regained firmness The woman said her name .

“
wa s H artley and that they l i ved at O verto n

,
Th i s may .
be true or false ; but t o O v t I w ill go early l n the er on
morning If the state ment prove false so much is

.
,
settled , and I can turn with m ore confidence m y eyes in

—
another d i rect i on O f one th i ng I am certain they d o
.
not live v ery far from Beechwo od .
A S best they could the carpenter and his wi fe sought

,
to console each other and i n the a ct drew closer te , , ,
a
gether in heart and felt a mutual sympathy H ow de

,
.
s e rte d the house seemed to them ! and their chamber,

when they retired for the n i ght felt lonely and cheer ,
l ess If the baby h a d d i ed and a little while before
.
, , ,
been carried forth from that room to i ts mort a l resting
place the feel i ng of sadne ss and desolation that O p
,
pressed them could not h a ve been stronger S leep d i d .
not visit the i r p i llows early They were kept awake by .
thoughts of the sweet babe that had so grown into the i r

hearts that it seemed a part O f the i r l i fe But at la st
,
.
, ,
their heavy eyel i ds closed and then this dream came to ,
Mrs H ard i ng
.
S he was S i tting in her own chamber with an infant ,

lying close aga i nst her bo som It had soft brown .
, ,
s i lken hair curling in glossy circles about its forehead

,
and temples and eyes down i nto whose blue depths S he

,
gazed unti l it seemed that heaven was Open i ng to her

v ision It was not G race —not the angel ba be whose
coming and going were S hrouded i n mystery—but a new
.
gift to her mother s heart Ful l O f love and j oy sh e

’
.
bent over the lovely innocent while her S pirit uplifted ,
itself l n thankfulness for a be e n so precious A S s h e sa t .
thus a pale sweet face d wo man entered al so clasping

, , ,
an infant in her arms S he knew them both at a

glan ce—the mother o f G race with her newly rega i ned ,
treasure in her arms Coming up Sl O l to Mrs Hard . .
in g, sh e stood, for some moments , ga z i n g u pon her

.
T HE A NGEL OF T HE H O USEH O LD . 14 1
w ith a tend 1le . Then her lips parte d with the

W ords
O ur household angels
A thrill of such exq uisite p l easure went through the
sleeper s mind that sh e awoke L otty was in her arm s,
’
,
.
and S he drew her to her heart with a feeling of ma ternal

tenderness deeper than S h e had e ver kno wn for her
c hild
.
I ll be your l ittle G race mother

’
,
.
The words seemed spoken in her ears aga in and S h e ,

rai sed herself up to see i f L otty were not rea lly waking .
B ut no : L e tty wa s in the w orld of dreams .
“ ”
Bless you my baby ! murmured Mrs H arding a s
,
.
,
She laid her lips against the warm ch eck of the Sleeper .
”
“
You S hall be my little G race .
D ear mother ! I will be good i f you w il l l o ve me .
S he was dreaming .
G athering her l i ttle one closer in her arms Mrs

-
, .
H arding lifte d her voice to heaven and prayed that she

,
m i ght be to her children a true m other And her .
prayer rising from an earnest, yearn in g heart, did not

,
return to her fr uitless .

1 42 T HE ANG EL O F T HE HOUSEHOL D .
C H AP T E R XIV .
wo men ; a s
“ ”
’
Q
UI CK ejaculated
! the elder of the two
Sh e closed the door of the little chamber into wh i ch th e
carpenter s wife had S hown them , and S lip p ed the bolt
’
silently G lid i ng past her half bewildered daughter sh e

.
-
,
ra i sed the window, which opened only a few feet from

t h e ground , and spring i ng out with the agility Of a girl ,
wa s ready to help E di th through the narrow way o f
egre ss they had chose n .
“
Quick ! quick ! S tep l ightly .
And the mother drew her arm arou nd the Slender

form of E dith , and bore her onward a s if S h e h a d been
only a child S weeping around the house the two wo
.
,
men gained the road that passe d only at a S hort d i stance

from the d o or, and then pres sed forward , as fas t as t h e
d a rkness would permit in the direction O f B eechwoo d
,
.
They were only a short d i stance away from the car

,
n te r s dwell i ng , when the young woman said

’
p e ,
in a
v oice O f alarm
“ H ark ! ”
What is that ?
Both pau se d to lis ten , and instantly became aware by ,
the sound o f swiftly approaching footsteps , that th ey

w ere pursued .
“
0 mother ! what shal l we do said E dith , in a
frightened v oice .
H er companion answered not, but pa ssing an arm

around her wai st drew her O ff from the road to a clump
,
of bushes that O pportunely off ered a place O f concealment .
Beh i nd this they crouched j ust i n time to hide the i r

figures , which , from portions of wh i te in their garments ,
w o uld, in all p roba bility, ha ve attracted th e ey es of

1 44 ,
T HE A NGEL or T HE H OU SE H O LD .
dark ness w as so bewildering that her mind began to ,
w aver .
I think it wa s here , mother .
”
O E dith ! and so much at stake l exclaimed h er
c ompanion , rebuk i ngly “ When wil l you l earn to
.
rightly guard the future ?

The darkness is so deep said E dith ,
.
“ Y ou should have thought of that and tak en a c l oser

,
observation What are we to do
.
“
Mark called E d i t h .
“ H ush ! Mad girl ! Y our v oice may reach other

ears than his .
“ Li sten E dith spok e in a quick , eager tone .
”
What is that ?
“ It i the carriage thank G od !
s ,
And the excited young creature l eaned her head
a ga i nst her mother and sobbed v iolently H er v oice
,
.
had reached the coachman who was only a short dis ,
tance from where they were standing and his horses ,
were in motion But a few momen ts elapsed before the

.
two women were in the carriage

—
.
“
H ome , Mark home whispered the mother, and “
as sw i ft as our horses feet will t a ke us

’
.
“ It is v ery dark ma am ” answered the coachman

’
.
, ,
“ ”
You kno w the road, Mark , wa s the brief and sign i
fica n t answer .
F or a few minutes the carriage c rept along almost

noisel e ssly, until the ro a d wa s fairly ga i ned ; then at a ,
word from Mark , the horses sprung away at a speed that

satisfied even the impatient riders .
F or nearly two hours this speed was maintained , and

then the foam i ng horse s were turned into a wo oded lane
that wound up to a fine old mansion , around which cl us
t ere d many evidences of wealth ta ste , and aristocratic ,
pride Into this the two women passed, and here , for
'
the p resent, w e w ill leave them .

T HE ANG EL or T HE H O U SEHOLD . 1 45
Th e morning that broke after that e vent fu l night,

fo und Mr and Mrs H ard i ng in trouble, grief, a n d great
. .
perplexity of m i nd A tearful vail was over their whole

.
ho usehold N ot one of the inmates but grieved a fter

.
dear l i ttle G race, with a sorrow that kne w no words of

comfort — no ray of consolation All questi oned, b u t .
there wa s none who could answer .
“ ”
What shall we do ?
That was the doubtful inquiry o f the carpenter a n d his
wife , asked often of each other, and answered onl y by
troubled looks .
“
S hall we at once make it known to the neighbou r
“
hood asked H arding This it is necessary for us
.
speedily to determine The ch i ld wil l be missed, sooner

.
or later when we shal l have to account sa tisfa ctorily for

,
”
I ts absence .
“
S uppose yo u see Mr L ong and a sk his advice , .
,
”
said Mrs H ard i ng
. H e is a good man , and di screet
. .
” “
Well suggested , Mary said the carpenter I w i ll
,
.
” ’
see him without a moment s delay .
But even the schoolmaster failed to see the matter

clearly on its first presentation To bruit the whole .
th i ng abroad might prove a serious error but in what

, ,
w ay a total ignorance of the parties concerned left a l to

,
g ether in doubt It was p l.ain that they had acted w ith

a desperation which only the gravest consideration s could
j usti fy The crime of having abandoned an infant in
.
v olved the deepest disgrace , and it wa s no cau se of w on

der that they sought to escape the penalty O n the .
other hand , the absence of the babe from the famil y o f

H arding w oul d not fai l t o attract attenti on , and the
ne i ghbours would ha ve a c l ear right to deman d an ex‘
planation of the fact .
“ What had we be t do Mr L ong ?

s ,
.
This was th e earnest question o f H a rding, a t th e con

s l usio n of h is c on ference w ith th e sc h oolma ster .
13
1 46 T HE A NGEL or T HE HO U SEHOLD .
“ Sa nothing t o any one else at l east for to day -

y , ,
w as the answer .
“ I will testify, if necessary, to the
f act that yo u came to me and relate d the whole of the
,
strange circumstance , and that I advised you to keep

si l ent for a day or two, while you made earnest search
for the pa rties who carried O ff the child My word I .
,
am sure , wil l be all that is needed to sc reen yo u from

suspicion of w rong .
“ I am v ery sure o f that

,
Mr L ong ,. and will do as
y o u suggest, replied the carpenter “ And now my
.
,
first search mus t be m a de in the neighbourho od of O ver

ton , al though I have little hope of finding them there .
I saw deception in the woman s unsteady eyes, when sh e

’
mentioned this as her place of residence O ne step .
brings us to the point from w hich the next can be ta ken .
I wi l l regard this as the first step in a search that must

”
n ot be fruitless .
And it wil l not be f ruitl ess I trust, said the schoo l

,
master, a s H arding turned from him , and w ent bac k

home to advise h i s w ife of the conclusion to w hich he
h a d arri ved, af ter consulting with Mr L ong . .
Mounted on a go od horse the ca rpenter was soon on

,
his way to O verton a small town some two miles beyond

,
Beech w ood A w idow lady, with whom he had some

.
a cq uaintance , re sided there , and at her ho use he al i gh ted

on reaching the vill he customary greeti ngs ,
a n d brief questions matters , H arding said
”
“
D o son kn ow a lady , in O verto n , by the name o f
H artley i
”
O h yes ! ve ry w ell, was the answer .
W i th what a strong throb did the heart of th e car

e n te r boun d a t this reply so l ittle expected !
p ,
”
Is sh e an elderl y l a dy ? he n e x t inquired .
“
S he is p ast the midd le ag e ; yet n o on e w o ul d c all
”
h er O ld .
“
Where does she li ve ?
1 48 T HE A N GEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
H ar di n g wa s abo ut to give a wrong name , but his

quickened moral sense instantly obj ected and he said ,
N o matter S ay that I wish particularly to see her

. .
The serv ant hesitated for a few moments, and then le f t

the apartment S oon the rustle of a lady s garments was
.
’
heard on the stairs H arding arose to h i s feet in vo lun

.
,
ta rily and stood almost hold i ng his breath

,
A ta ll d i g .
,
n ifie d , middle aged woman , w i th a m i ld countenance

-
,
presented herself It was not her of whom the excited

.
man w as in search The l ady bowed , as sh e entered ,

.
a n d said
My name is M rs H artl ey . .
‘N ot the Mrs H artley I wish to see

. rep li ed the car
,
en te r, in a tone that betrayed the depth of h i s d is a

p p
p ointment .
“ I kno w n o other by my name ” the l ady answered .

,
“ Y ou see m to be under some mistake sir Perhaps if .
, ,
you explai n yourself, I may be ab l e to set you right .
”
Wil l you not be seated ?
As H arding resumed his chair, he said
A wo man w as at my house last n i ght—it is the
second time she has called there —who told me that sh e
l ived in O verton , and that her name was Mrs H artle y . .
“ Ah ” “
! The lady was surprised What kind of a .
”
l oo kin g woman wa s sh e ?
“ In person near yo ur si z e , and, to a ll appearan c e ,
,
”
n ear your age .
Th e l ady s fa ce fl ushed
’
.
“ N ear my si z e and age ?”

“ Yes ma am ’
but i n countenance you h e a no re
, ; , ,
r
”
semblance , said the carpente r .
“
An d she said her name was H artl ey, and that sh e
resided at O verton
“ S he did
; but I questioned in my own mind her , ,
truthfulness at the time Ah ! ho w cruelly hav e I been .

T H E A NGEL or T H E HO U S EH OLD . 149
”
De cei v ed ! In
what way, sir ? as ked th e l ady .
“
Pardon me , said the carpente r, if I de c line a n e x
”
p lanation : the reasons are imperati ve .
You are the b es t judge of that And yet, as my

,
.
name has be en used in so strange a manner, it seems

only right that I should be made acquainted, at l eas t in
some degre e w ith the occasion of such an unwarrantab l e
,
”
liberty Can you describe the woman to me ?
.
H arding gave as accurate a description a s possib l e of

the person of whom he w as in search .
”
D id you observe a mole on her right chee k ? a sk e d
the lady .
O h yes, madam ! I remember that distinctly sai d ’

,
the carpenter, starting to his feet Tel l me D o y ou

.
”
know her ?
And she said her name was H artl e y ?
“ Yes ” .
And that she li ved at O verton ?

“ ”
H er words as my vis it here attests
,
.
”
A very singular statement, said the l ady .
O h , m a dam ! tell me if you know her : do n ot keep

”
me in suspense, urged the carpenter, growing more
excite d .
“
I cannot imagine the reason o f such singul ar con
”
duct . The lady S poke to herself G ave her name a s
.
‘
Mrs H artley ! What does it mean ? There is som e

.
”
mystery here , she added addressing the carpenter ;
,
and a s my name has become connected with it, I have

a ri ght to a sk for explanation F o r w hat p urpose did
.
th i s woman come to yo ur house ?

F rom the descri ption I have gi ven, do y o u identify
”
her ? asked Harding .
“ ”
I do clearly,
.
The carpe ter struck his hand s together, excl aiming

“
S o mu gained ! so much ga i ned ! O h, madam !
”
te ll me w here I c an fi nd her !
13 5
THE AN GE L OF TH E HOUSEHOLD .
“N ot unl ess I k now why you are in search of her If .
”
y ou wi ll not trust me, neither will I tr ust you , rep lied
the l ady firmly
,
.
D eeply pe rplexed was the carp enter again H e sa w .
that the woman was right ; and yet he wa s as much in

doubt respecting her, as sh e wa s respecting him It wa s . ,
plai n that sh e knew the persons who had c a rried o ff the

chil d ; but what good or evil m i ght flo w from a revela
tion of the strange facts connec ted with them , sh e was
unable to divine .
“
D oes sh e liv e l n O verton he ask ed, h Op in g to gain
s ome admission .
“ ”
I shall communicate nothing, said Mrs H artley, .
“ unless I know the g round of your inquiries If, a s I .
”
said be fore , you will not trust me , I will not trust you .
“ We never kn ow how far it is safe to trust an entire

”
stranger, remarked H arding .
“ Very true
; and that 1 s my reason for not giving in
formation to a stran ger, of whose obj ect I am entirely
”
ignorant .
”
Will you answer me these questions ? The carpente r
spok e m an anxious tone “
Is the lady I n good soc ia l
.
standing ? And is sh e k nown a s virtuous and hono ur

ab le
“ I can answer you freely S he is in good standing,
.
a n d I have never heard any thing against her of s o grave

a nature as this that you now allege—the assumption o f
name This sir, is a most serious allegation Th e
.
,
.
re f o re must involve something more serious still .
“ That it certa i nly ”

d Oe s, said the carpen t er “ An d .
th is being so , it is but just tow a rd her that I should

k eep my o wn counsel until I see her face to face Tha t .
she des i res secrecy is apparent in the fact that sh e has

, ,
mi sl ed me by assum i ng a name that belon s to another .
Ah , madam ! if y o u w o ul d only gi ve t h e informa

ti ori I see k !
”
C H APT E R XV .
I M M EDI AT ELY on h is ret urn from O verton , the car

e n te r went to see Mr L ong
p . .
“ O ne step taken in the ri ght direction said the ,
schoolmaster after H ard i ng had finished his narration

,
o f what passed between h i m and Mrs H artley . .
“ ” “
But what of the next ? a sked H ard i ng That is .
the question I am unable to answer A wrong step may .
involve most serious cons equences The part i es in this .
strange and disgraceful business evidently occupy a hi g h

social posit i on and are exceedingly anxious to remai n
,
unknown If I reveal all to Mrs H artley 1n order to

. .
,
ga i n the information I seek it may be the cause of an ,
irreparable inj ury The m other of Grace has , it is

.
plain ac ted under an influence from her imperio us

,
mother that sh e wa s unable to res i st ; and the l atter,

moved by family pride or some other strong considera ,
tion has taken an extreme step the knowledge of which ,

, ,
if it get on the wings of common report, must ruin her

”
in the good opinion of every one .
“ ” “
It i s but j ust remarked the schoolmaster, to
,
weigh every th i ng w i th the nicest care where so much ,
is involved I th i nk you were altogether right in with

.
hold i ng from Mrs H artley the information sh e asked ,

.
”
and I cannot blame her for be i ng equally discreet .
“ But what step ca n next be taken ? I have not a

single clue by wh i ch to trace out the fugitives They .
escaped in the d a rkness, and left no S ig n of their de

”
p ai ture .
“ D i d not the young woman something about her sa y

”
carriage being near at hand, on the ro ad to Beechwood ?
T HE A NGEL o r THE HOUSEHOLD . 15 3
“ Yes S he s aid it was a quarter of a mile away

. .
“ It might be worth your wh i le ” said the school

,
.
master “ to examine the ground a little O ff from the

, ,
road and se e if you can find the mark of wheels The
,
.
carriage most probably, was withdrawn from the pub l ic

,
”
w ay i n order to escape observation
,
.
O f what use will it be said the c a rpenter .
“
Poss i bly the direction taken may be as certained
,
- .
H arding shook his head doubtfully .
Very small indicati ons are sufli cien t often to lead to

” “
important results remarke d the schoolmaster
,
When .
we are altogether in the dark we accept the feeblest ray, ,
and hail it gladly as the harbinger of approaching light

,
.
But some other course may have suggested itself to your

”
mind .
H arding shook his he a d saying ,

“
I am to use your own words altogether in the dark
, ,
.
No t a S ingle beam of light is on the way before me .
“ ”
Then do as I suggest my friend ,
.
“
I very seriously doubt said the carpenter the
, ,
the truth O f what they said about the carri age being in
the direction of Beechwood I followed them quickly .
,
but saw nothing of either them or the carriage , although
”
I kept on for at le a st half a m i le .
The carriage was of course withdrawn from the

, ,
road , and concealed from view I do not wonder at .
your not seeing it The women most probably heard

.
, ,
you coming after them and hid beh i nd some sheltering

,
o bject unti l you passed The distance you went gave

,
.
the m an O pportunity to gain the vehicle , and make their

escape As you d i d not meet the carriage on returning
.
,
the i nference i s plain that the direction taken wa s not
,
to ward Beechwood Now if you can only find where it

.
,
turned o ff from the road and ca n thence follow the ,
wheel marks to the place of concealment you may be

-
,
a b l e to trace them s t i ll far ther and th us determi n e w ith

, ,
15 4 T HE AN G EL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
more or l ess certainty, the course tak en It wi ll be .
something gained to know that they did or did not go

,
toward Beechwood .
I wi l l act at once upon your suggestion , said the

”
c arpenter N0 time is to be lost
. .
Just about the place which had been indicated H ard ,

ing found the deep impress i on of wheels in the soft turf,
turning o ff abruptly from the beaten road F ollowing -
these he discovered the spot where a carriage had been

,
stand i ng for some time as was clear from the hoof mar ks
,
-
o n the ground It was behind a clump of trees B a

. .
y ond this he could follow the tracks unti l they were

, , .
again l ost in the road O ne thing he was able to deter

.
mine clearly : the carr i age neither came from n or re

turned toward Beechwood Between the place a t whi ch .
it had been stati oned and the l i ttle settlement where the
ca rpenter lived a road leading to the town o f Clifton
,
branched off H e tr i ed to follow the wheel marks in the

.
-
road in order to be sure that the vehicle actually went

,
toward Clifton ; but the hard ; beaten surface and the ,
mingling of other wheel tracks made this impossible -

,
.
It was now midday, and H arding returned home in ,
t ending immedi ately after dinner to sta rt for Clifton ,

, ,
a n d devote the rema i nder of the day to searches in that

direction H e found his wife waiting him in troubled
.
suspense A few words sufii ce d to give her the meager

.
result o f his e ff orts to discover their visitors of the pre

v ion s evening H er sad face and red eyes told but too
.
plainly how sh e had spent the hours since h is departure .
The children were subdued in manner,and the i r sober

faces showed how s i ncerely they were grieving for the
l oss of their sweet little playmate L e tty had kept close .
beside her mother during all the morning ; and whenever

the latter sat down , overcome by her fe elings to weep , ,
the child woul d come and lean against her, or d ra w h er

tin y arms about her neck , and sa y
15 6 THE A NGEL OE T HE HO U SEHOLD .
“
Though somewhat past middle age remark ed the ,
carpenter wh o sa w that i t was necessa ry to excite a
,
l ittle the dressmaker s cur i osity by appearing to have

’
,
some knowledge of the person to whom sh e referred .
”
Yes ,said Miss G imp , looking at the carpenter
rather warily .
With dark pe netrating eyes and a pec u liarly d ign i

, ,
”
fie d almost commanding m a nner .
”
I found her pleasant and aff able enough, said M iss
G imp .
S he can be so when it suits her purpose .
”
Ah ! you k now her, then ? remarked the dress
maker thrown o ff her gua rd
,
.
I have met her I presume ,

.
”
S he did not int i mate this .
M iss Gimp looked a little puz zled .
It was not necessary, I presume D id y o u meet her .
”
in her o wn house ?
’
Me ? N o indeed I ha ven t been to Clifton
,
. .
“ ”
Ah ! True enough You were at Beechwood ? .
” ’
Yes At Mrs Barclay s Mrs Beaufort
. . . .
The dressmaker stopped suddenly ; for sh e saw by th e

eager manner with wh i ch the carpenter bent toward her ,
that h e was merely leading her on to tell what sh e knew
about the lady to whom sh e had referred .
M rs Beaufort of Clifton , the widow o f G enera l

.
B eaufort ? said H arding pressing on to the dressmaker ,
so closely that sh e coul d only answer in the affirmative

‘
, .
“ ” “
Yes ; it was M rs Beaufort sh e rep lied
. S he is ,
.
a sister of M rs Barclay, and was making a short visit at

.
”
B eechwood while I wa s there .
D id sh e leave yesterday ?
The carpenter asked the question in so indi ff erent a
tone that Miss G imp was al together decei ved as to the
,
a mount of interest he felt .
“ Yes . S he w ent aw ay so me time in the a ftern oo n ,

T HE A NGEL O F T HE HO U SEH O LD . 15 7
I belie ve H er going was thought rather sudden by the

.
family In fact, I heard Mrs Barclay sa y to her

— —
. .
daughte r the words were not meant for my ears that

sh e couldn t conceive what m otive Mrs Beaufort had
’
.
for leaving so abruptly, and at so l ate an ho ur in the

”
day .
You wi ll excuse me , Miss Gimp said the car ,
t er, partly turning awa y and ta king up his h a t from

p e n ,
a chair .
“ Men are a l ways excusab l e ” returned Miss G imp

,
.
”
B usiness has the first claim S o make no apologies . .
Mary
H arding look ed at his wife , and She aro se and fo ll owed
h i m to the door .
“
I am going o ver to Clifton “
said he , and wi ll ,
come back as e a rly a s possible In the mea n time be on .

,
your guard with Miss G imp and do not on any account, ,
let her know what happened last night .
“
N ever fear Jacob ; sh e will learn nothing from me ,
,
“
returned Mrs H arding . But do y ou thin k that w oman
.
”
was Mrs Beaufort of Clifton ?
.
“ ”
I am sure of it .
“ D on t be too ce rtain J a cob

’
The disap ointment
, p ,
.
should the supposition pro v e untrue , w il l only be the

”
greater .
“
There 18 not a sh a do w of doubt on my mind, Mary
—not a Shadow G ood by l I wi ll be back as early as
.
-
”
p oss ible .
And the carpenter hurried aw ay .
You know, then , all about this M rs B ea ufort ? .
said Miss Gi mp in the most insinuating way, a s Mrs

,
.
H ard ing came back into the room .
“
The lady about whom yo u we re speak ing to m y bus
”
ba nd j ust now ?
The utter indiff erence with which Mrs H ardi n g sa i d .
this, surp rised in no smal l degree the dressmaker .
14
15 8 THE ANGEL or T HE H O USEHOLD .
Y es M rs Beaufort who resides at C li fton

. .
,
.
Mrs H arding shook her he a d

. O n the contrary I .
’
,
k now nothin g abo ut her .
’
“
N othing ? Well that s stra nge ! I m sure y our
,
’ ’
”
husband does i f you don t
,
’
.
Miss G imp w as puzz led, disappointed , a n d a litt l e
That may all be a n swered Mrs H ard ing He . .

“
,
sees a great many people who never come in my way .
But really n e w M rs H arding j ust in co nfidence

—Miss G imp leaned to ward the carpenter s wife, and
.
, , , ,
’
put on her most insinuating look don t you kno w ’
something about Mrs Beaufort ? I m sure y ou do Sh e

.
’
.
had a great deal to say about you .
”
H ad sh e ?
Y es indeed ; and about the baby in p articu la r
,
.
”
Where is it ? and Miss G imp s eyes look ed around, ’
searchingly .
”
What about the baby ? said Mrs H arding . .
”
And you don t know her at al l ?
’
Mrs H ardin g S hoo k her head

. .
“ It s my op i nion then that sh e knows a great de al

’
, ,
”
more about that baby than you do .
Almost impossible did Mrs H arding find it to repress .
the strong des i re sh e fe l t to question Miss G imp closely,

a n d to gain all sh e knew at the price of entire con fi
dence but her better j udgment gave her self con trol - .
”
That may be , sh e answered ; for we know nothing
of its histo ry All I can sa y is that I hope she may
.
,
”
hav e as cl ear a consci ence about the child as we have .
Clear a conscience H ow
And Miss G imp s eyes went searching abo ut the room
’
aga i n , and even tried to penetrate the a dj oining chamber,

through a small Op e ning in the door .
We hav e done our duty by the babe .
M iss Gimp was puzzl ed .

1 60 T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEHOLD .
you are so indi ff erent about the matter, I shal l not

trouble myself to enlighten you I thought you w ould
.
naturally feel an interest in learning someth i ng about a

person who evidently knows a good deal more than you
do about little G race and who, it is plain , h a s her eyes
,
”
pretty closely fixed on you .
S aying th i s, Miss Gi mp arose , and made a movement

toward the door S he was very confident that this act
.
wou ld break down at once the assumed indi ff erence of

, ,
Mrs H ard i ng But sh e erred
. . The latter was t o o
.
clearly aware of how much was at stake to suff er hersel f

to be thrown from her guard All the information of
.
any value possessed by Miss G imp had been communi

ca te d S he saw this as her mind grew calm and clear,
.
,
and sh e was please d that the pry i ng gossip wa s about to
depart It was in vain that the dressmaker l i ngered ,
.
and tried to str i ke some n ew chord of i nterest N othing .
v ibrate d to her touch ; and sh e withdrew, utterly d isa p

pointed in the obj ect of her visit and i n a very bad h u
,
mour w i th both the carpenter and his wife whom sh e ,
fa i led not to abuse in round terms during three neigh

, ,
h ourl y visits paid by her ere reaching her own dwellin g .

THE AN GEL O F T HE H O USEHOLD . 1 61
C H APT E R XVI .
IN a l arge chamber the costly furniture of which was

,
in the fash i on of an earli er day sa t a pale but beauti ful

,
y oung woman , gazing fondly upo n the lovely face of a

sleep i ng child S he had no eye no ear no thought for
.
, ,
any th i ng but the babe ; f o r as sh e sa t thus an elderly
, ,
w oman entered and moved across the room without
, ,
attracting observ ation , unt i l sh e stood c lose beside her .
”
“
E dith !
The young woman started, and her f ace slightly
flus hed .
I did not hear you come in mother sh e said , ,

.
You can neither hear nor se e any thing now, but ,

”
tha t child .
The mother spoke with some harshness of manner

E dith raised her eyes—they were not tearful b ut
.
calm and resolute—a n d fixing them on the face of her

,
mother sh e said speak i ng slowly yet firmly

, , ,
“
H ave I not sa i d mother that thi s babe is dearer to
, ,
me than life ? Believe me they were no idle words , ,

uttered under excitement F or her sweet sake I am
prepared to give up every thi n g—to endure every thing
.
,
.
L et us then contend no longer

, ,
.
“
Think of the consequences E dith ! Cannot you ,
think of these ? Remember that Colonel D Arcy will be ’
here next week .
“ ”
Well ?
And that he comes to c l aim y our hand .
“ Claim my hand
“ It is prom i sed said Mrs Beaufort . .
,
“ ”
B y whom ?
1 62 T HE A NG EL or T HE H O USEH O LD .
“
B y yourself H e h a s your written acceptance o f
.
his marri age off er .
My wr i tten acceptance
”
Yes But why need you be reminded of this ?
.
E dith raised one hand and clasp i ng it ti ghtly against

,
her forehe a d , sa t for some moments with a bewildered
l ook .
“
My written acceptance of Colone l D Arcy s hand ! ’ ’
Why do you sa y that mother ? ,

Because it i s the truth You wrote the l etter of a o .
ce p ta n ce yourself .
“
I d i d ! When ?
E dith looked more surp rised than e v er .
“ ”
S carcely two months ha ve passed, was th e firm
answer .
“ ”
Ah ! A gleam of light shot across the youn g
”
w oman 3 face ’ “
That, too sh e a dded , with a s i gh 1 3
.
, ,
becoming clear By what dark sp i rit wa s I possessed ?
.
M other ! I have been on the very brink of insanity .
The extor ted pledges then made I now repud i ate as I ,

have already repudiated the cruel act of abandon i ng m y
precious ba be H ad I been in my right mind I dare
.
,
not now pray for forgiveness The act of accepting .
Colonel D Ar cy is yo urs, mother, not mine

’
Your
thought — your purpose— gu i ded my hand when I wro te
.
the letter as it gu i ded and controlled my actions on that

,
day of all days the darkest in the calendar of my un
,
happy l i fe But I have returned into my own proper
.
self I am clothed and in my right mind aga i n ; and ,

.
H eaven helping me from th is day forth I yield to no in

,
fluen ce but that of my own sense of r i ght and duty I

can work and suff er mother I can bend to any hard n e
,
.
ce ssi ty that may come ; but fal se to my woman s heart I

’
w i ll not be ! The widow s tears are not yet dry on my ’
cheeks and shall I turn my heart from all its p ure love ?
Y ou need not scowl at me, mother—I did l o ve him
,
—
tion a mingling o f exquisi te pleasure and pain . It was
the baby s v oice Li ttle G race was lying o n th e be d ,
’
.
and over her bent E d i th .
“
D arling ! S weet one ! D arl ing !
Thus h e r mother spoke to her and at each tenderl y ,
u t t ered word S he answered with a loving response

, .
My sweet baby
And a shower of kisses followed the words .
The babe still answered with i ts sweet low murm ur, , ,
every word and every act of endearment S he lay, .
partly elevated on a p i llow, and i n such a posit i on that

M rs Beaufort could see her face wh i le sh e rema i ned un
.
,
observed by her daughter The hour passed alone had

been one of strong self co n flict—ending w i th self con
.
- -
v iction of wrong The prou d unscrupulous woman o f

.
,
the world chafed for a time against the i ron bars of n e

ces sity w i th wh i ch sh e found herself enclo sed , and then
'
gave up the va i n struggle .
H ard proud exacti ng mother ! With what memories

, ,
”
have you cursed your c h i ld ! H ow the words continued
to r i ng in her ears unt i l chords were thrilled wh i ch h a d
,
gi ven forth no sound for years Calmness succeeded to .
powerful emotion ; and with this subs i d ing of the s torm ,

came touches o f gentler feel i ng
-
.
”
My poor ch i ld ! sh e s i ghed to herself as some vi vid ,
real i zat i ons of what E dith had su ff ered startled her in to

a n e w consciousness .
This was M rs Bea ufort s state of mind when sh e en

.
’
t e re d E d i th s chamber It was not the first t i me that

’
.
the vo i ce of G race had awakened echoes in her heart ‘
N one but sh e knew the struggle that it cost to part with

t h e babe when cruel pride and worldly interests de
,
ma n d e d i ts abandonment Angr y as sh e h a d been at her

.
daughter s secret marr i age with a youn g man in humble

’
l i fe when the fact wa s made known to her, and almost

,
dr i ven to madness when the babe came to mar a ll th e

T HE A NGEL OE T HE H O US EH O LD . 1 65
w e ll schemed future—still in its lovely innocence that

-
, ,
babe had glided into her heart and made for itself a ,
place there i n spite of a ll her e ff orts to keep it out and

’
to cas t it out Witness her two visits at the carpenter s ,
.
in ventur i n g which so much was endangered .
In full v i ew was the babe s face as sh e ente red the ’
,
room of E dith What a heavenly beauty radiated there
.
from ! What a winning sweetness was i n her murmured

replies as S he ans wered to the voice of her mother !
,
”
E dith ! said Mrs Beaufort . .
E d i th started a s before and a shadow fell o n her

, ,
coun tenance as sh e turned to ward her parent
,
.
“ ”
E d i th my daughter !
,
There was a tremulousness
in the tones of Mrs Beaufort that betrayed her softened
.
,
feelings A few moments E dith looked into her face

.
,
doubti ngly then sh e sa w that her eyes were dimmed by
gathering tears .
“ ”
O h my mother ! my mother ! sh e exclaimed in a
, ,
v oice O f passionate entreaty will you not take this
”
precious darling to your heart as once you took me ? ,
And sh e lifted G race quickly from the bed and held her ,
toward her mother “

H er hands are out stretched mo
.
,
ther ! S he asks for a place l n your heart Will you not .
l et her i n ? A H eaven sent blessing to us both sh e will

prove—a n angel in our home to sm i le away the darkness
-
that has oversh a dowed it so long D ear mother ! gather

us both in your arms Mother mother
The last brief struggle wa s over Around them both .
the arms of M rs Beaufort were flung and , with a strong

.
,
compression sh e drew them to her heart

, .
”
My child my ch i ld ! sh e sobbed as her tears fel l ,
over the f ace of E d i th and the babe E ven s o let i t be . .
There is room enough for both I will take her in

—
. .
”
N a y sh e is there already .
1 66 T HE AN GEL or T HE H O USEHOLD .
C H APTE R XVII .
M RS B E AUF O R T the w i dow of G eneral Beaufort a

.
, ,
man of wealth who had attained cons i derable political
,
disti nction during his lifetime was left with an only ,
daughter E dith for whom sh e had large ambition A

, ,
.
very selfish and self w i lled woman sh e yet loved this

-
,
ch i ld with an absorbing intensity rarely w i tnessed .
E dith was a part of herself and sh e loved herself in its,
reproduction in her ch i ld w i th a largely increased ,
v ital i ty .
But very unlike her mother was E dith In h er th e .

,
‘
milder better tra i ts of her father predominated and this

, ,
gave room for the acqu i rement by such a woman as ,
M rs Beaufort of almost unbounded control over her

.
,
.
F rom the beg i nning the most implicit Obedience had

,
been exacted ; and as it was ever an easy sacrifice for

E dith to give up her own w i ll the requireme nt of her ,
mother came to be the law of her a cti ons .
Wh i le E d i th remained a ch i ld the current of these

— —
,
m
two l i ve s that of the other and daughter flowed on
to ge ther at the same veloc i ty and in chan n els bending ,
ever i n the same d i rection But there came a time when

.
the surface of that gently gliding ch i ld l i fe began break -
ing i nto ripples—when the heart cla i med its freedo m to

l ove what i ts own pure i nstincts regarded as lovely .
F rom the earl i est ti me had the thoughts of Mrs

-
, .
Beaufort reached forward to the per i od when E dith s ’
h a nd would be claimed in marriage ; but not once had

qualiti es of m i nd and heart elevated themselves in the ,
prospect i ve husband above family, w ealth, and high
,
position in the world .

68 T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USE H O LD .
fort burned fi ercely for a time and in h er bl ind passi on ,

sh e did not hesitate to utter the maddest threats of con
sequences if there was n o t an instant compliance with

,
her wishes ,
“
I can imagine noth ing so dreadful as to become the
wife of that man E dith would answer—shuddering as
”
sh e answered—every intemperate appeal

,
And little be . s
yond th i s did She sa y ; for all her words, sh e knew, mu st

fall idly on her mother s ears ’
.
Meantime , at the house of a friend in the neighbour

hood sh e met with a young man named Percival wh o
, , ,
was paying a short vis i t there H e resided in the city .
of B distant a hundred miles , where he was pur

suing the study o f la w H e was po or with few intereste d
'
.
,
friends and had the worl d all before h i m At their first
, .
meeting H enry Percival d i d not know e ven the name ,

,
much less the social position of Mi ss Beaufort ; and she

wa s as ignorant of all that appertained to him But .
from the eyes o f each looked forth upon the other a con
genial Sp i r i t that was seen and recognised
,
.
The pro gressi ve steps O f their intimacy we wil l not

pause to relate O n the part of Percival , there w as n o
.
design in the beginning to win the heart of E dith and

, ,
when he sa w that it was his and reflected on the wide ,
disparity of their po ssessions the dis co very s a ddened his ,
spirit for he sa w, darkening o ver both their fu tures, a
,
stormy cloud .
O n returning home to pursue his studies he arranged ,
with E dith for a reg ul ar corresponden ce , which wa s con

ducted for nearly a ca r, without becoming known to
"
Mrs Beaufort At t e end of that time he came back

. .
,
to Clifton when he and E dith were secretly married
,
.
The precipitation of this act was caus ed by Mrs Beau .
fort s acceptance o f Colonel D Arcy in the name of her

’ ’
daughter, and the a c tu al appointment o f a day, some two

THE A NG EL O F T HE H O USEH O LD . 1 69
or three months distant, when the nuptial c eremonies

w ere to take place .
In order to free E dith from the martyrdom in which

her l i fe was passed , and to get for ever rid of Colonel
-
D Arcy , the young couple resolved upon this step

’
It .
wa s taken and notice thereof at once communica ted to

,
M rs Beaufort coupled with the intell i gence that the

.
,
bridegroom and bri de w ould present themselves be fore

her afte r the lapse of a week , and claim forgiveness and
a blessing .
We w i ll not attempt to describe the state of mind into

w hich Mrs Beaufort was thrown by this undreamed of
.
-
inte lligence H er very life s lo v e was assa i led and

:
’
threatened with extinct i on N0 eye but that of H eaven

.
s a w her a s , in the sec recy of h e r own chamber sh e e n

, ,
dured the wild confl i ct of passion that succeeded ; but

marks of the fearful storm were too plainly vis i ble on her
altered face , w hen sh e came forth in her sta tely com
p o s ure .
The week passed , and then E dith and her you n g hus
band prese nted them sel ves The first sh e received with
.
icy coldness ; the latter she overwhelmed with bit ter de

n un cia tion and the most withering scorn .
”
Come , H enry said th e young wife, laying her hand
,
‘
upon h i s arm , and drawing h i m away I w ill not b ea r

0 11 addresse d i n such language even by my mother
{ ou are my husband and the wide world is ours
.
,
7 ”
.
,
There wa s a simple dignity blended with un mis ,
takable purpose in this , that confound e d as w ell as sur

p rised Mrs Beaufort E dith had already turned away ,
. .
and was moving with her husband to w ard th e d oor

through which they h a d j ust entered .
”
“
E dith ! G irl !
The v oice of the mother arose a l most into a cry of
angu i sh .
E dith p aus ed, an d t urning , l oo k ed b ac k H er fac e .
15
1 70 T HE A NGEL 01
"
T HE H OU SEHOLD .
w as col ourl ess, and a l l its lines ri gid from exc

emotion , but i t wa s resolute .
“
I have cast my lot in li fe and with deliberation , ,
” “
mother sh e said
,
You left me no other course
. .
D eath I could have met calmly, but not the destiny you
assigned me This man is my husband , chosen from all
.
other men and with him I shall go through the wo r

,
If you recei ve not him you cannot receive me
,
.
’
Mad girl ! ma d girl ! exclaimed Mrs Beau fort a s

”
.
,
sh e s t a ered ba ck a few steps and sunk upon a chai r
H o wfi fa ve you”flung to th e stormy winds every dea rest
.
,
hope of my life !
E dith left her husband s side , and going quickly to
’
her mother laid her ha nd gently upon her hot forehead ,

,
o n which the veins were swollen into chords The to neti .
o f that soft hand thri lled magnetically along every ne rve .
F or some minutes M rs Beaufort sa t entirely p a ss i ve

. .
Ah ! sh e could not l i ve without her ch i ld ; and never

did sh e feel that truth more deeply or more painfully .
Indignant pride would hav e flung her o ff and d i sowned

her for ever ; but intense love clung to her e ven a s the
drowning cl i ng to a straw .
O E dith my child what hav e you done ?

As the se words came almost sobbing from her lips ,
M rs Beaufort arose and w ent from the room with un

.
ste ady steps .
When after the lapse of two hours Sh e rej oined E dith

and her hu sband it was to meet them with a kindness
, ,
,
o f manner that took both by surprise Below this as .
«
sumed exterior Percival who had a quick penetratin g

, , ,
mind saw concealed a sinis ter purpose ; but E dith too

, ,
‘
happy at so b re a d a concession believed that her mo th er ,
had resolved to make the best of circumstances which no ,
a ct of hers could change The first i nqu i ries made by

.
Mrs Beauf ort were i n reference to the publ i c i ty which

.
had b een given to the m a rriage O n learnin g that e very .

1 72 T HE ANGEL or T HE H O U S EH o L D .
l etter from M r Maris announcing Percival s dangerou s

.
,
’
illness with a S outhern fever Two weeks m ore— wee k s

—
.
of agony o the young w i fe and the terr i ble news of h is

t
death came with mournful detai ls of the last extremity
, .
I n the midst of E dith s wild anguish a babe wa s born

’
,
t h e sweet little G race in whom the reader feels so tender
,
an interest Around th i s event, Mrs Beaufort thre w

. .
every possible v ail of concealment even going so far as ,

to br i be to secrecy by most l i beral inducements every
, , ,
member of her household that became necessarily aware

o f the circumstances
Weak in body and mind—prostrate in fact under th e
.
—
, ,
heavy blow that fell so suddenly upon her E d i th h e

came passive in th e hands of her m other and obeyed her, ,
for a time with the unquestion i ng d ocility of a little

,
ch i ld E ven her mind in its feeble state became i m
.
, ,
pressed with the idea O f secrecy, so steadily e n j o i ned by

Mrs Beaufort ; and, in presence of the few vis i tors who m
.
she coul d not refuse to se e sh e assumed a false exterior , ,

and most sedulously concealed every thing that could
awa ke even a remote suspicion that sh e had been a wife,
and was now a mother .
Meantime under all the disadvantages of its position ,

,
the babe was s teadily W i nning its way i nto a heart that,
from the begi nning shut the door agai nst it with a res o
, ,
lute and cruel purpose Mrs Beaufort could never come

. .
where it was without feeling a desire to take it i n her

,
arms and hug it to her bosom ; and the more sh e re
,
sisted this des i re the stronger it became until the con

, ,
fl ict occasioned kept her in a constant s tate of excite

ment .
’
A few weeks after the news of Perciva l s dea t h wa s
received Colonel D A rcy v i sited Clifton O n being e u
,
’
.
n o un ced E dith posit i vely refused to see him ; and her

,
’
feeble state warranted even in her mother s view the , ,
decision H e remained only a short time ; but, on

.
T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USEHOLD . 1 73
l eaving pl aced in the h ands of M rs Beaufort an epistl e

,
.
for her daughter couched i n the tenderest langua ge , and

,
renew i ng previous off ers of his hand .
Perc i val out of the way M rs Beau f ort was now more ,
.
than ever resolved to compass th i s darl i ng scheme of her

—
heart the marriage of her daughter with Colone l
D A rcy
’
The fir st step in i ts sure accomplishment was
.
to get the ch i ld out of the way But how was th is to be .
done ? It was a fine healthy child more than usually , ,
forward for its age and in no way likely to die speedily

, ,
unless — unless ? D id thoughts of murder sti r in the
m i nd of that proud selfish cruel woman ? S uch thoughts
, ,
were suggested and even pondered ! But other thoughts

—o f d i sgrace and punishment —came qu i ckly to drive
,
them out The abandonment of G race was next deter

.
mined upon To cfle ct th i s she first induced E d i th

.
,
who from grief s i ckness and incessant persecution had

, , , ,
entirely lost her mental equipo i se — to wr i te a letter of

acceptance to Colonel D A rcy Passive hopelessness left ’
.
her a mere instrument in her mother s hands F or her ’

.
acts sh e was scarcely respons i ble The let ter of accept .
ance passed speedily from her and went on its m i ss i on , ,
beyond recall Th i s fact of acceptance was a great power

.
ga i ned over E d i th — a power that Mrs Beaufort seeing .

,
her vantage ground used with a heartless rigour that , ,
fi nally l ed to the cruel act of desertion already known to

the reader .
F or two weeks subsequent to E d i th s return home , ’
after plac ing the basket contain i ng her babe at the door
of Mr H ard
. i ng— sh e had res i sted all persuas i on e n ,
treaty and command of her mother to leave that task for

another—sh e reta i ned but l i ttle consciousness of sur
,
round i ng circumstances The tr i al proved too great ; .
and her over tried sp i rit sought prote ction and repose i n
-
partial obl i vion S lowly recovering her first sane thoughts

.
,
w ere of her babe ; and, though sh e said nothing of her

1 5 9“
1 74 T HE ANGEL or T HE H O USEH O LD .
urpose to her mother she wa s fully resolved , the mo

p ,
ment strength came for the e fl o rt to regai n possess i on

'
thereof publicly acknowledging it and her marr i age ,

,
and , if that sa d necessity were imposed , go forth from

her mother s house i nto the world alone
’
.
The meeti ng at H ard ing s was qu i te as great a surprise

’
to E dith as to her mother ; but i t was all the better as ,
g i ving occasion for the unqual i fied declarat i on of her

future purpose —a declaration that, a s has been seen , sh e
wa s prepared to sustain .
C H APT E R XVIII .
“
IF the heart is not satisfied, mother, life at best is a
”
heavy burden .
M rs Beaufort and her daughter were sitti ng together,

.
on the day after their recovery of G race and talking ,
c almly of the future H opeless of attain ing her amb i

.
t i ous ends , the fo rmer had given up the struggle so 10 ’’

conti nued E ven though but a few hours had p a sse g
,
since the unequal strife wi th E d i th sh e was becom i ng ,
clearly consc i ous that her course of action toward her

ch i ld had been far from j ust or humane and that her ,
position gave her no right to exerc i se so tyrann i cal an

influence N 0 longer compelled by her own selfish pur
.
,
p oses,
to cherish a feel i ng of ant i pathy toward G race ,
s h e found her heart beg i nn i ng to flow forth toward the
l ovely i nfant S uch was the nameless attraction pos

.
sessed by the babe that even w i th all her powerful

,
reasons for w ishing to ann i hilate her, if that were pos a

p resu mes to ask of m e the lo v e given but once and

never to be g i ven ag ai n—I am almost su ff ocated w i th
,
’
di sg ust
. Y i eld him my hand mother ! N ever while I ,
h ave strength to b i nd it to my s i de I would brave a

thousand deaths in preference H e is a bad man —I
.
k now it by the qu i ck repugnance that fills my hear t

whenever he comes near me D i d he possess a s i ngle .
germ of true manl i ness he would not p ursue me after al l

,
”
that h a s passed .
A servant i nterrupted them by announcing that a

s trange man had called and asked to see M rs Beaufort
,
. .
”
What is h i s name ? inqu ired the lady .
“ H e wishes to see you a moment but w ould not give

”
;
h is name .
What k ind of a lo ck in g man ?

The servant descr i bed h i m .
“
S ay that I w i ll be down in a few moments As .
t h e servant withdrew the whole manner of Mrs Bea ufort

,
.
“ ”
chan ged . It is H ard i ng sa i d sh e ,
.
E d i th started and turned pale at the same time lift

, ,
in g G race from her mother s arms

’
.
b ere W hat is to be done ? H ow did he fi nd his w ay

“
We must see him said Mrs Beaufort, after a fe w
,
.
m oments of hurr i ed reflect i on .
“ ”
Both of us ?
“
Yes E d i th both of us And he must see Grace
, ,
. .
N oth i ng is left now but to conc i l i ate and br i ng h i m a

, , ,
certa i n degree into our confidence H e and his w i fe

'
.
,
proved fa i thful to the trust reposed i n them They .
loved our l i ttle Grace truly and cared for her tenderly ;
,
a n d they must ha v e the i r reward There wa s a fine .
manl i ness about h i s cond uct last n ight that rai sed h im ,
h i gh i n my esti mat i on I th i nk he can be tr usted

. .
“
But he fri ghtened me so, mother : he spok e so
harshly, and see med so crue l ”
.
T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USEH O LD . 1 77
“
Wa s he not ri ght E d i th , in seekin g to pre vent our
,
taking away the ba be strangers as we w ere , and re ,
fusing a s we did to give any satisfacti on a s to our per

, ,
so n a li t ?
y H e was r i ght ,
and I approved his manly
”
fir mness at the time .
I wish you would meet him alone mother ,

.
”
I do not think that will be best replied M rs Beau ,
.
“
fort
. We must not let h i m se e that we are afraid of
h i m O ur relations are v ery di ff erent from w hat they
.
w ere las t evening ; and if we show a consciousness of o ur

”
real position he will not be slow to pe rceive his own
,
.
The room into which the carpenter had been shown

w as a large parlour r i chly furn i shed, i ts Six windows
,
draped with heavy curta i ns of red satin damask Around .
the walls were hung many pictures among which his ,

eyes soon recognised his two vis i to rs of the previous
.
n i ght Mrs Beaufort and her daughter The portrait o f

,
. .
E d i th had been taken some five years pre vi ous and , ,

w h i le it still bore to her a str i king re se mblan c e had all ,
the innocent sweetness of gentle g i rlho od As he gazed, .
with a k i nd of f ascinati on upon th i s pictured co un te ,
nance it seemed to change and grow life l i ke and he

,
-
,
almost started to his feet a s he sa w the eyes of dear little

G race look i ng down , w i th a loving expression from the ,
canvas H e was s carcely freed from the ill usion when

.
,
he became aware that footsteps drew near the door .
T urning he met the calm d i gn ified face of Mrs Beau?

, ,
.
fort and the pale timid half frightened countenance o f

, , ,
-
her daughter who held the babe he h a d lost c l ose ly

,
d rawn to her bosom .
”
“
Mr H arding ! said Mrs Beaufort sp ea kin w ith
. .
,
entire self possession and giving her hand to t e car

-
,
“
p e n te r as she advanced to meet him S o you ha v e .
”
found us my good friend she added ; and it is per
, , ,
haps as well We had powerful reasons for desiring t o
,
.
remain unkno wn U nder the c ircumstan ces, this was

.
hardl y possib l e You , at least were not to be b affled in

.
,
‘
ur search as this early visit testifies S it down Mr

{farding We had bette r unders tand each other fully
.
, ,
.
”
. .
.
H ard i ng was somewhat bewildered by the calmness of
h is reception .F rom the d i gn i fied countenance of Mrs .
Beaufort , his eyes turned to the sweet babe that lay so

cl o sely dra wn against the breast of its mother : a s they
did so a softened expression pa ssed over his rough face
,
.
G race G race he said , tenderly, and advancing ,

reached out his hands .
E dith moved o fl a pace or two ; but the little one , the

’
moment she heard the well known vo i ce started up and -

, , ,
with a glad murmur fluttered her rosy fingers and leaned

, ,
eagerly forward while her whole face wa s lit up with

,
a j oyful recogn i tion E d i th drew her back while an e x
.
,
p ression of anxiety and alarm d i mmed her countenance .
”
Let her come to me ma am said the carpenter, in ’
a respectful voice—it trembled with feel i ng

, ,
E dith glanced toward the door, fearfully H ardin g .
understo o d the meaning of th i s .
You need not m i strust me ma am H e stepped to ,

’
.
the door and closed it As he returned to where she

,
.
stood , he continued Jacob H arding has gone thus

f a r i n l ife W ithout a treacherous action and he will not ,
violate his honour now L et her come to me ; oh ! let .
her come L e t me feel the dear one again in my arms ,

”
w here sh e h a s lain so many, many times .
Mrs Beaufort, seeing that her daughter still hesitated ,

.
t ook Gr a ce from her arms , and placed her in those of the

carpenter As H arding received the precious burden ,
.
he clasped her pass i onately and spoke to her in the ,
most endeari ng tones The l i ttle one answered h i m with

’
.
her sweet love language and even drew her t i ny arms

-
,
about his neck H ow w i ldly he kissed her ! D i m were

.
his eyes as b e restored her to her mother ; and he spoke

n o t , for emotion was to o strong .
18 0 T HE A NGEL or T HE HO U SEH O LD .
i f all be c omes k nown in each minute particular, we Shall

Very naturally, I wi sh to
'
sufler st rong opprobrium .
escape this myself, and especially to save my daughte r

from the charge of having abandoned to strangers of ,
w hom sh e knew nothing , her own tender infant Can .
we trust in your prudence ? Will you not bind your

se lv es to us—you and your wife—by a new debt of
gratitude
It was some time before H arding m a de an y answer .
H is mind was bewildered by what Mrs Beaufort said . .
Plain enough was i t th a t the angel of their household

'
was to return to them no more a n d the shadow already

o n his heart fell colder and darker .
“ Al l does not lie ”

with us, he remark ed, scarcel y re
fl eeting o n what he said .
“ Why not on you ?”
M rs B e a uf o rt sp ok e anxiousl y
. .
The dressmaker you saw at M rs Barcl ay s yeste rday .

’
”
directed my suspicions toward you .
”
What l
Mrs Beaufort gre w excited
. .
“ Miss G imp told me that y ou manifested a singu lar
i nterest in us and the babe I ask ed her to describe

.
you , and k new you by the description in a moment ;

”
therefore I am here
—
.
B a d bad . That is bad I w as imprudent

.
”
.
Mrs Beaufort spoke to herself

. .
“
I have also seen Mrs H artley o f O verton
. .
The face of Mrs Beaufort flushed

. .
S he kne w y ou by m y description .
“ ”
We l l ?
“
But refused to say w ho y o u was or where I c oul d
find you unless I gave her my entire con fidence
, .
Which you
“ ” “
D id not, repl i ed H arding E very thing was so
.
much inv o lved in my stery, th a t I ch o se to be discreet ”

.
T HE A NGEL OF T HE H O USEH O LD . 1 81
“
That was w ell But M i ss G imp— does sh e k now of
.
”
what to ok place last n ight ?
N 0 one knows it out of my family, except Mr L ong, .
the schoolmaster, whose prudence is altogether to be

”
rel i ed on .
It was now Mrs Bea ufort s t urn t o be silent F or

.
’
.
many minutes she sa t revolving in her mind all the dith

cult aspects Of the aff ai r in which sh e had become in
v olved At length she said
.
Mr H arding all we as k of you now is, entire silence

.
,
to every one for the present, in regard to what has trans

p ire d
. We will o ff er you no personal inducement to se
cure this for that would be an insult to your manl i ness
,
o f character But you have lai d us and can still lay

.
,
us, nder a heavy burden of gratitude M ay w e trust

you ?
.
1)
“
As entirely as you can trust yourse l ves was the ,
unhesitat i ng answer “ I s ee no good that can arise

.
from bruiti ng the matter abroad Why, then , shall it .
”
be done ? But there is one thing I mus t a sk .
“ ”
N ame it .
“
The privilege for my wife of seeing the babe Ah .
,
ma am ! you know not how sh e loves it F or many

’
.
weeks it slept in her bosom , until it h as grown to be a

part of herself You know not her distress at its loss
. .
H er eyes have been full of tears ever since To us all , .
t h e ch i ld has been as an angel S trife has ceased in its

.
blessed presence , an d the lowest murmur of its sweet

‘
v o i ce h as been a Peace , be still , to the wildest storm ’
”
o f pass i on .
Bri ng her here to morrow said Mrs Beaufort, with

-
,
.
a good w i ll in her voice , that betokened her earnestness

- .
We would send o ur carriage , but for reasons that need

”
not be suggested to you .
“ Y es brin g her o v er added E dith “ I w ish t o

; ,
.
1 82 T HE A NGEL or T H E HOUSEHOLD .
see her and k now her S he h a s l aid my he a rt un der a

.
”
debt of gratitude .
H ard i ng arose “
. O nce more l et me fee l her in my
”
arms, sai d he , as he fixed h is eyes l o v ingly on th e
The timid mother did not hesitate, but resign ed to

him the babe, that looked up fondly in his face, and
smiled its sweetest smile .
G od bless you and keep you H arding spok e with

.
’
deep feeling . H e could sa y no more K i ssing the

.
ure l i ps and brow many times ferv ently, he handed the

pabe back to her mother As soon a s he had recovered
.
his self possession , he withdrew formally, sa ying that he

-
w ould see them in company with h i s wife , some time

,
during the next day A few minutes afterward , he was

.
galloping h omewa 1d as fas t a s h is horse s feet w ould

’
carry him .
” ”
G race ? H ave you seen G race father ? Isn t she ’
com i ng back any more —M r H arding answered with

,
as much info rmat i on i n regard to her as b e deemed pru

dent assur i ng them a t the same time that if G race did
, , ,
not come to them again they should go to see her ,
.
D ur i ng the even i ng Mr L ong the schoolmaster, ,

.
,
called to learn the result of H ard i ng s v is i t to Clifton ’

.
To him as a friend fully to be con fided in , the carpenter

,
related the occurrences of the day .
S he has been such a bless i ng such a comfort to us , ,

said Mrs H ard i ng as they sa t talk i ng o f G race
.
,
.
G od has g i ven you many comforts many blessings , ,
answered the schoolmaster as he glanced mean i ngly ,
toward her ch i ldren who were a ll present qu i et half

, , ,
w ondering aud i tors Andrew over whom Mr L ong had
.
,
.
already acquired great influence was standing beside h i s ,
teacher proud of the noti ce and grat i fied with the k i nd

,
ness ever extended to him by h i s j udicious friend ; wh i le
.
L otty who had climbed into her mother s lap was ly i ng ’
close against her breast look i ng contented—even happy

, ,
.
,
“
It was on the l i ps of Mrs H ard i ng to reply If they
.
,
w ere only l i ke G race But her consc i ence rebuked
.
her for the thought ere it found utterance and she re ,

ma i ned silent B ut sh e took the lesson to her heart,
.
and as sh e did so, drew her arm involuntar i ly t i gh ter .
around L otty who feel i ng the pressure looked up at her

, , ,
mother with a sm i le of love In return the soft cheek .
,
o f the mother was bent down until it res ted on the sunn y
hair of her child .
The schoolm a ster sa w that he was cle a rly understood ,
and d i d not mar the good impression of his words by

seek i ng to enforce the i r mean i ng .
O n the next morning qu i te early Mr and Mrs H ard

, ,
. .
ing accompanied by L otty started for Cl ifton They

, ,
.
had to pass the door of M i ss Gi mp the dressmaker on , ,
their way, and sh e failed not to di sco ver the fact that the
carpe nte r and his wife were riding out together—a n

event too noteworthy to be regarded with indiff erence .
“ What does th i s mean ? ”

Where are they going ?
S uch were her rather exc i ted questions as she l aid ,
aside her work and took her place at the window, to note
,
the d i rection they would take

O ver to Cl i fton ? H ardly Yes—I declare —
.
“
if .
they haven t taken the road to Clifton ! Ah , ha !

’
There s someth i ng in the wind I wonder if they ca n

’
.
be g oing over to Mrs Be aufort s I thought I could se e

.
’
.
deeper into the mind of Mrs H arding than sh e cared for

. .
I was sure she knew more about Mrs Beaufort than was .
pretended B ut whose child is it ? I d give my little

.
’
”
finger to know .
U nable to work with th i s mystery on her mind, Miss

Gimp drew on her bonnet and ran over to see M rs ,
.
Wil li ts, the storekeeper s wife for j ust a m i nute

’
,
.
“ ”
O ur carpenter is getting up in the world , sai d she ,
a s soon as s h e coul d thrust in the words , after meetin g
her friend .
”
S o I shoul d think , answered Mrs Willits, who had .
“
seen H ard i ng go by ; r i d i ng out with his wife at a
time when other people are at work My husband can t .
’
”
afford such indulgence .
”
They were always a S hiftless se t .
M i ss G imp spoke with some indignation S he could .
not forg i ve Mrs H ard i ng for the impenetrable reserve

.
sh e had thrown around her self at the i r inter view on the

—
previous afternoon a res er ve fe l t to be both a wrong
and an i nsult .
“
And w i ll come to beggary in th e end , said Mrs .
“
W i llits . It was only last even i ng that I heard Mr .
G rant going on about H ard i ng at a great rate It a p .
pears that he had promised to call over early i n the

morn i ng to consult w i th h i m in regard to a j ob that
G rant, the farmer, w anted done Mr G rant w aited at . .
1 86 T HE ANGEL OE T HE H O USEH O LD .
home unt i l dinner time , but no carpenter came It made

-
.
h i m terribly angry H e ste p p e d at our store i n the .
even i ng and the way he talked a bout H arding would

,
have done you good to hear H e gave it to h i m r i ght .
”
and left I can assure you
, .
Didn t keep his prom i se with him ?

’
N o t h e — M r Indi ff erence or Mr Independence ,

. .
”
whichever you choose to call him .
Mr S hiftless you d better say

.
,
’
.
Well , Mr S h i ftless then And now he s playing ’
—
. .
,
the gen leman rid i ng out with his wife as coolly a s if
t
he hadn t lost a good j ob
’
“
Mr G rant won t have any thing more to do with
.
’
h 1m
’
M i ss Gimp spoke with a kind of p l ease d inquiry .
“N ”
o t he .
S erves h imright ”
.
O f course it doe s H e said that early this morning .
he would go to Beechw ood and e n gage a carpenter

there ; and he swor e —for he was in a great pass i on
that if H ard i ng starved , he d never handle a dollar of h is ’
”
money so long as he lived .
“ I don t blame him ” said M i ss G imp

’
.
,
N obody can blame him responded Mrs W i llits ,

. .
”
D ye know remarked the dressmaker loweri n g her
’
, ,
,
“
v oice and speaking mys teriously that i n my op i n i on ,
someth i ng more than a mere pleasure ride takes them

”
o ut th i s m orning .
“ ”
What are they after ? where are they going ? in
quired M rs W i ll i ts br i ghten i ng up at this inti mation on
.
,
the part of M i ss Gi mp .
“
T hey took the road to Clifton I m certain ,
’
.
To Clifton ! Well what great and m i ghty business ,

”
takes them over to Clifton I d l i ke to know 1 7 ’
S omething about that ch i ld they ve got, I ll v enture ’ ’
”
my exis tence , said Miss G imp .
1 88 T HE A NG E L or T HE H OU SEHOLD .
mi ly . D epend u po n it, Mrs Wil lits , she k n ows a ll

.
”
about that baby .
“ Why don t you go to see Mrs H arding and fee l

’
.
,
”
around her ? inquired the s torekeeper s wife , who had ’
b ecome much interested in the dressmaker s goss i p ’

.
” “
I ve been already , answered Miss G imp
’
I came .
’
a way from Mrs Barclay s a day sooner than I intended ,
.
and on purpose .
“ Ah We ll, w hat did you mak e out of h er ?1 ’
“ N othing certa in I sa w H arding and his w i fe, bu t

.
”
the y were as close m outhed as terrapins .
“ D id y ou Spea k to them of Mrs Beaufort ?” .
“ Yes
; and i ts j ust my O pinion that th e y o t out of
’
me all I know, and didn t let me see below t e s urface
o f their thoughts I was so provoked .
”
And so you learned noth i ng ? said Mrs Wil lits . .
“ N othing certain But it takes sharper people than

.
they are to hide things from my eyes That both were .
greatly interested in Mrs Bea ufort and knew far m ore .

,
a bout her than they ch ose to tell , was plain enough and
that their ride over to C l ifton this mornin g , is to see ,
”
her, I do not in the l ast doubt .
“ I shouldn t wonder at all ’

remarked Mrs Wil lits . .
,
Mrs G eneral Bea ufort ! That is news H as sh e a

. .
”
d aughter
g ?
I don t k now , replied Miss G imp
’
.
“ Why didn t you a sk Mrs Barclay ?”

’
.
“ Just what I v e said to myself twenty times

o ver
’
.
’
I m provoked to death at my own stupidity .
H ow soon are you going over th e re again ?

“ ’
I can t te ll I don t think M rs B a rcla y will want
.
’
.
me very soon .
’
We must find out in some way .
“ Yes indeed I ll not rest unt i l I k now all about it

’
. .
,
Y o u remember that H arry W i lk i ns saw a woman ca rrvin g o

? ”
a b ask et on th e ni g ht th e c h il d wa s l eft at H arding S
’
.
T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEHOLD . 1 89
Yes .
“
Very well H e told me that h e s certain he sa w th e
.
’
same woman riding in a carriage , in the neighbourhood

,
of Cl i fton Put th i s and that together, M rs Willits, and

. .
”
it isn t very hard to make out a case
’
.
“
I should think not D epend upon it, you re fairly .
’
on the track H ard i ng isn t riding out this morning ,

.
’
,
”
for nothing H ad they the baby with them ?
.
“
That I couldn t see I tried my best to l oo k over ’
.
into Mrs H arding s arms but her husband was on the

.
’
,
s i de next to me and though I got up into a chair , it w as

,
”
o f no use But I shouldn t at all wonder ’
. .
“ ”
I ll tell you how you can find out
’
.
H ow
“
Just by running over to their house for a minute .
”
O f course n obody s at home but the children
,
’
.
“ ” “
That s it repl i ed Miss G imp start ing up
’
,
I ll ,
.
’
go th i s instant And sh e stepped toward the door

.
‘
”
D on t forget to stop as you come back , said th e
’
storekeeper s w i fe ’
.
“
O h no I ll be sure to call .
’
.
And Miss G imp left with the sprightly step of a

young girl of sixteen In some twenty minutes, sh e re .
turned .
”
“
Well ? said Mrs Willi ts as She came in .
,
.
”
N 0 child there answered the dressmake r ,
.
”
NO 7 Indeed ?
True a s preach i ng .
“ ”
Where is it ?
M i ss G imp shook her head .
Who was there

O nly Phil i p and L ucy
.
.
“
Couldn t they tell ’
—
They couldn t , or wouldn t which I am at a l oss to
’ ’
,
say I ne ver sa w such mum , stupid littl e w retches in

.
my l ife ”
.
“D id y o u a sk them where their father and m other

h a d gone
“ Yes ”
.
What answ er did they make ?

“ S aid they didn t know ”
’
“ Th ey lied I suppose—instructed by their parents ”

.
, .
” “
As like as n ot, answered Miss G imp . But isn t
’
it dread fu l to th i n k of Who can wonder if they go to

destruction
“ N obo y And S O the child is gone 7
d .
“ Yes. NO doubt they took it with them , this mom

in g
. B ut I ll find out all about it, by hook or by croo k,
’ ‘
’”
see if I don t .
And with this assurance the dressmak er, who had a

,
good deal O f work on hand , to be ready by a certain time,

took her departure to renew her vain e ff orts at meeting
her engagements To promise was a part O f her p ro f e s
sion —and not to keep these prom i ses to the letter, the
.
other part . H aving the interests of the whole neigh

b o urh oo d to attend to, it w as impossible to be entirel y
punc tual in s uc h unimportant matters .
o f th e day H e was dreadfully put out ; and in the

.
afternoon , rode o ver to Beechwood, and engaged a car

”
e n te r there
p .
”
Are you s ure of that ? ask e d H ard ing, a s his coun
t en a n ce fe ll .
Very sure I saw him riding o ver, myself

. .
I m sorry If he d known wh y I was unable to keep

’
.
’
my engagement, he would not have ac ted so has tily I .
”
was this moment about go i ng to se e him
, ,
.
“ It won t be of any use I can tell you

’
Why didn t .
’
,
you send him word that it wa s out of your power to se e

h im
“ I sho ul d ha v e done so but di n t think of it ’
d ,
.
“ And what is mo re ” said the ne i ghbo ur Mr E dgar .

, , ,
w as go i ng to engage you to build an addition to his house ;
but G rant talked so strong about you—saying , among
other th i ngs that you were not to be depended upon
,
that he concluded to employ another carpenter S o you .
se e, this
‘ little business of yours has proved rather a bad
’
busine ss But, good morn ing ! I mustn t stop here

.
’
.
The neighbo ur departed As he turned his back , H ard

.
ing folded his arms , and leaning hard against his work
bench gave way to feelings of despondency not n u
“
, ,
mingl ed with reproaches toward H eaven for the hard

ness, even inj ust i ce , of these cruel reactions .
”
I ve done nothin g to mer i t this said he , in part ial
’
,
“
utterance of his true feelings N othing 1 n othing .
Then why am I left without work though my hands are ,
strong and my heart willing ? G od never hedges up a

man s way in one di rection without open i ng it in another
’
—so says the schoolma ster—and so I be an to th i nk

when G rant came with the off er of one joi after I had
l ost another But now the way that Opened so encon
.
ragingly before me is closed , even befo re I had set my

foot there in I w onder in w hich direction it w ill now
.
o p en
T HE A NGEL O F T HE HOUSEH O LD . 93
Th e bitterness of distrust wa s in both H ardin g s voi c e ’
an d countenance .
“
There s no use in fold ing your arms and standin g
’
idle sa i d a voice speaking w i thin him

, ,
.
O f course , not But what am I to do ? There s n ot

.
’
”
a single stroke of work on hand The carpenter a n
. .
swe re d h i s own thought thus speaking a loud

D O something— make something
.
,
There are lum b er .
and tools in your shop .
A S the inward vo i ce said this the eyes o f H arding ,
rested on a half fin ish e d p i ne table , which he h a d com

-
me n ce d in an i dle hour, and thrown aside for oth er work .
It was suggested to h i m to complete the table rather than

.
not do any th i ng Th i s suggesti on he resisted for a time ,

.
because he had no heart to work, particularly a s the

w ork promised no return .
“ ”
Fi nish the table S omebody will want it
. .
T h e voice spoke again With something l ik e b l ind

.
Obed i enc e to this in ward monitor the carpenter com ,
men ce d working on the table The e ffort naturally re .
l ie ve d h is m i nd from the heavy pressure under wh i ch it

was bowed down H e felt better but d i d not know why
.
,
.
H e had yet to learn that in all usefu l work the mind

rests with a degree of calmness ; that there is a po w er
in true mental or bodily labour to sustain the Spirit in ,
doubt pai n or sorrow O nce engaged in his task , he

, ,
.
purs ued it with a nat ural ardour a n d, at the end of two ,

hours a well made ta ble stood finished in his shop H e
,
- .
was looking at it with a certain degree of pleas ure , w he n

S tark who had been very sh y of h im for some weeks ,
,
pre sented himself at the shop door - .
“ ”
The very article I want, sa id the tavern k eeper, -
“
a s h s eyes fel l on t h e ta b le
§
Is it to order, or on . ,
’
83 1e
“
Three dol l ars of anyb ody s m one y w ill buy it, ’
an
swe re d the carpenter .

TH E A NGEL OF TH E HOUSEHOLD .
“E nough said , return ed S tark drawing out his purse .

,
“ H ere s the coin
’
I ll send my Tom over for it in half
’
And , see here , H ard i ng if you ve got ti me , I

.
a n hour
’
.
,
w ish you d make me two good strong benches about

’
, ,
eight feet long S ome chaps got to S kyl ark i ng over i n

.
my house last night and smashed one a l l to p i eces for

,
.
”
me H ow much will you charge for them ?
.
The ca rpenter took a piece of chalk , and fi gured up

the cost of the wood .
Two dollars apiece , said he .
“
Very w ell M ake them H o w s oo n will they be
. .
done
“ As I v e nothing particu l ar on hand to day I ll get
’
-
’
,
out the stufi this afternoon , and finish them some t i me

e ar l y m the morning
’
.
“ ”
That will do And the ta vern keeper went his
.
-
w ay, leav ing three dollars in the carpenter s pocket, and ’
his mind something easier The stu ff for the two benches .
was got out, and the work on both nearly completed by .
sundown , when H arding closed h i s shop and returne d

home . O n his way, the gloomy despond i n g sta te of ,
mind returned As he looked i nto the future , only a

.
wall of darkness loomed up befo re him Hi s best cus

—
.
m
t o ers had left him —
the season was advanced and no
ground to build a hope upon was under his feet Mrs . .
H arding saw the heavy contraction of his brows a s he

entered, and it caused a shadow to fall upon her hear t .
H ad the e vi l spirit, w hich the presence of G race drove ,
o ut, c ome back to h i m aga i n ? Alas ! al as ! if i t were so I

Y es, the evi l spirit h a d come back but, as yet, its power ,
o ver him wa s small It lay i n his breast a s a live co al,

.
a n d only waited for the fue l of excitement t o kindl e a

bla z e of destru cti ve passion H appily, that fuel wa s
.
n o t supplied There was nothing 1 n his home to fret or

.
disturb him H is wife spoke to h i m so k i ndly, that he

.
coul d n ot b u t ans w er k indl y, a n d the children were so

1 96 T HE AN GEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
bad B ut w e are not E very thing is run do wn , and I

. .
’ ”
haven t ten dollars ahead .
Just then some one knocked at the door H ard i ng .
O pened it, and found a strange man with a large bundle ,
in his hand H is own name was inquired for

. .
“ I am the person ” he answered .

,
“ Mrs Beaufort sent th i s letter to you ” handing a -
”—
.
l ette r and this bundle to M rs H ardin g reach i ng .
o ut the package .
“ Won t you come in ?” said the carpenter as b e re

’
,
ceive d the l etter and packa ge .
N o, sir It is late , and I must ride o ver to Cl i fton

.
”
t o night
- .
The man departed and H arding t urned back into the

,
h o use Break i ng the seal of the letter with unstead y

.
hands, he opened it, and read

“ I wish to see you to m orrow Come over early I f . .
I am not mistaken I can serve your worldly interests

,
materially I l earn that you are a good workman , and

.
faithful in the performance of whatever you may under

take I a m about putting up several outbuildings and
.
,
making some important alterat i ons in my house It is .
partl y in reference to these matters that I wish to S ee

“ ”
you . E D I T H BE A UF O R T .
Within this l etter, another, directed to Mrs H arding .

,
wa s enclosed .
”
“ 0 Jacob ! Just see here ! By the time her hus
ba nd had gathered the meaning o f h i s letter, Mrs H ard .
ing was in full possession of the contents of hers As .
sh e th us exclaimed , sh e held up two bank b i lls , each

c l ai mi ng the v aluation of fifty dollars , while her face had
a bright j oyful , wondering express i on
,
.
“ Why Mary ! ” ej aculated the bewi l dered carpenter

, ,
a s he re a ched o u t for the letter o f his wife It read .
T HE ANGEL O F T HE H O USEHO LD . 97
“ Accept dear m adam from one who can ne v er for

, ,
get and never repay the debt sh e owes you the enclose d
, ,
as a first act of j usti ce U se it for yourself and ch i ldren

. .
Accept also a few small presents for yourself and them

, ,
.
I have ta lked much with my mother about you and your

g ood h usband s i nce you left us this morn i ng ,
and I
think , i f there is noth i ng to b i nd you to your present
place O f abode that we shall soon have you near us We
,
.
are abo ut making some extensi v e repa irs , impro vements,

a n d al terat i ons m and around our home , and my mother
th i nks that your husband is j ust the man to whom she

can safely i ntrust their executi on S he desires him t o .
se e her in the morning U rge him to come without fail

. .
Yours, with grat i tude ,

“ ”
E DI T H PEROI V AL .
“ It is broad daylight now S uch were the car pen .
ter s words afte r s i tt i ng silent for some moments

’
.
,
The darkest hour is j ust before daybreak you k no w, ,
said Mrs H arding her eyes fil l i ng with glad tears

.
,
.
“ Providence never hedges up a man s way in one ’
direction , w i thout Open i ng it in another S o Mr L on g . .
sa i d to me ; and so I tried to bel i e ve But how can o n e .
bel i eve with a mountain ris i ng up in his path , and thic k

”
darkness on either side of h i m ? I cannot
But let us not forget Jacob —Mrs H arding s v oice
. .
’
.
,
was subdued almost humble

,
what more the scho o l
”
master said i n h i s kind and earnest tal ks w ith us .
“ ”
What did he sa y Mary ? ,
“ That the hedg i ng up of our w ay in l ife and the
,
O pen i ng of new paths , are not for the alone sa ke o f
”
w orldly good .
“
Yes I remember
,
The carpenter b owed h is head
.
H
thoughtfully .
“
But for the sake of heavenly and eternal g o od ,
c ontinued M rs H arding . H ow much h e talked of our

.
17 5 5?
"
mental wants and of our mental su fferings ! and as he

,
talked , did we not both se e an d feel that mere bodily ,
w ants and su ff er i ngs were nothing in comparison to

these ? The natural event of find i ng a babe at our door ,
w hich we received with reluctance how much delight of ,
mind it produced ! N ow it was in providen ce as Mr

, ,
.
L ong said that the babe was so left at our door ; and do es
,
it not seem that i t was so prov i ded for in order that,

, ,
through th i s natural event, our spirits might become

better and happier ? S urely we are all better and hap ,
p ier for the presence of dear l i ttle G race among us ?

”
H ave I not said so a hundred times Mary ? There ,
w as light in the carpenter s face as he sa i d th i s

’
“
An d wi l l we not all be better and happier , if we can
be w here our eyes, every little while may look upon her ,
angel face ? O h yes , I k n ow we will for the Sight of ,
th at face wi l l lift our hearts upward and make us desire ,
that spiritual innocence of wh i ch as Mr L ong so beauti ,

.
fully said S he was the perfect bodily correspondent

,
. .
And the desire will prompt us to resist the evils of our

P
” "
e and if we resist evil you know it is said that it
r
depart from us D ear husband —and as Mrs

, ,
3 . .
ding animated with her subj ect, leaned toward him

‘
, ,
and l aid her hand upon his arm the carpenter saw a s of , ,
l ate he had seen S O many times, the sweet beauty in her

face that had charmed and won his love in the t i me gone
by dear husband ! let us believe that the hedg i n g up
o f your way in the old d i rection and the opening of i t i n,
th i s is not so much for the sake of worldl y prosperity

,
a s for the higher go o d of our sp irits O h ! is not peace .
o f mind more to be desired than al l earthly benefits ?

It is, Jacob ; my hear t —your hear t —repl i es that i t is .
L et us, t h en , in accepti ng the earthly good look still

=
,
higher and claim the better portion that may be ours

,
.
“ You are learning these w i se lessons faster than I
a m, Mary,
”
said the carpenter, with a tenderness o f
2 00 T HE ANGEL O F T HE HOUSEHOLD .
C H APT E R XXI .
A M O N T H l ater 111 the progress of e vents and we find ,

the carpenter and his fam ily residing i n a small n eat ,
house on the estate of Mrs Beaufort h app i ly relieved

,
.
,
“
from all anxiety about the bread that peri shes and ,
s urrounded with more of ta ste and comfort than they

had ever known H ard i ng had alre a dy entered actively,
.
,
upon the execution of such work as Mrs Beaufort first .
desired and thu s far was g i ving every sat i sfact i on

, , ,
.
Why should this not be ? for he was qu i ck and skilful

in all the branches of his trade and perfectly honest in ,
the execut i on of w hatever m i ght be intrusted to h i m .
All that could be done to make Mrs H arding s n ew .

’
home a pleasant o n e was done by Mrs Perc i val who .

,
c ame over almost da i ly to see her accompanied by her

, , ,
babe whose visits to the carpenter s fam i ly ever seemed

,
’
l ike the S h i ning in of sunbeams G race was sti ll the .
a ngel of their household beat i ng back through her sweet

,
presence to their bodily eyes or when absent, to the , ,
eyes of their sp i rits the natural pass i ons , w h ich , l i ke evil

,
beasts were strivi ng to devour the i nnocent aff ections

,
j ust born i n the i r hearts and which were da i ly gaining

,
strength and beauty Br i ght moments to H a rd 1n g 1 n

.
,
»
the day S c i rcle of hours were those in which the babe

’
, ,
borne i n the arms of her nurse came out to se e h i m at ,
his work If he la i d down his axe h i s saw, or h i s plane

.
,
at such times that he m i ght take the happy l i ttle o n e ,

,
and hold her aga i nst h i s heart who could blame the act, ,
o r deem h i m an idler from his tasks ? N ot a stroke the

less was g i ven for these moments of self indulgence if —
w e may call them by so cold a name—for they sent n ew
-
'
T HE A NGEL O F T HE H O USEHOLD . 2 01
l ife through the carpenter s ner ves , and fresh vigour to ’
h is w i ll i ng hands .
O nly a few weeks were permitted to pass ere the

publ i c announcement of E d ith s ma rria ge was made a c ’
,
companied by such ev i dence to all interested friends as ,
removed even the shadow of doubt or suspicion The .
’
fact of the babe s abandonment by its mother at the door
o f a stranger, was never clearly understood That it had .
been in the carpenter s family was known ; but under’
what peculiar circumstances it came there was a matter ,

o f question even to the neighbours of H arding Beyond .
this narrow c i rcle , it was taken for grante d that in order ,
to conceal t h e marriage and birth of the child Mrs

,
, .
H ard i ng had been selec ted as the nurse and pledged to ,

se crecy i n regard to its parentage E ven among the car .
n te r s old neighbours this theory finally prevailed in

’
e
p , ,
consequence of its adoption by Miss G imp .
“ ”—
I always said so the dressmaker gossiped after ,
ha ving settled to her own satisfact i on all the difficulties

presented by the case that Mrs H arding knew a .
ca t deal more about the ch i ld than sh e cared to tell .
sa i d this in the beginn i ng and I ve never altered my ,

’
m i nd You can t make me believe that people like the

.
’
H a rd i ngs would take a strange babe into their house and ,
treat i t even better than one of the i r own unless well ,

paid for it It isn t in nature , much l ess in the nature
.
’
”
o f such people .
And this solut i on of the matter was pretty generally

adopte d thus saving the young mother that crush i ng
,
o dium which must have followed the clear annunciat i on

o f her act e ven done as it was in a state o f partial
‘
derangement .
Two months only had passed since E dith was pre ,
sented to her friends in her true characte r when Colone l ,
D Arcy not to be baffled i n the pursu i t of her hand

’
, ,
wrote her a long, earnest l etter of sympath y and con

02 T HE A NGEL or T HE H O USE H O LD .
fid e n ce , begging forgiveness at the same time for the

ardour of h i s at tentions at a peri od when she must have
been bowed to the earth with sorrow—a sorrow of which
he was necessa rily ignorant —
“ ”
and ask i ng the privilege
o f occasionally visiting a t her mother s house a s a friend
’
.
N ot to leave the matter solely to her unb i assed dec i sion ,

the gallant colonel wrote also to Mrs Beaufort mention .
,
ing h i s letter to her daughter ; and frankly saying t o
her that notwi thstanding the secret marriage of E d i th,
,
and birth of a child, now that her husband was dead , he

was ready again to o ff er his hand Instantly the s moul .
,
dering amb i tion of th i s proud woman was fanned into a

blaze ; and once more sh e re so lve d to compass if pos
, ,
‘
sible , the long des i red marriage of her daughter The

-
acknowledgment of E dith s true relation—that of th e

.
w idowed wife of an obscure young advent urer—would , ,
sh e had not doubte d at once settle all s o far a s D Ar cy

’
,
w as concerned ; and th i s wa s why S he strove so despe

rately to prevent its ta king place In consenting to pub .
l icity , S h e had abandoned her ambit i ous h O p cs N ow .

,
they all s tarted agai n into vi gorous life The hand of .
her daughter was yet dee med worthy of possessio n even ,
by Colonel D A rcy ; the m a rriage so dear to her heart

’
, ,
might yet be accomplished ; and sh e instantly resolved

that its failure S hould not be in consequence of any want
o f e ff o rt on her part .
The two letters came by the same post E dith had .
j ust finished reading hers when Mrs Beaufort the ar

,
.
,
dour O f whose reawakened purpose impelled to an i mme

diate interview w i th her daughter entered the room ,
where S h e sa t , with the flush of outraged womanh ood yet

warm upon her cheeks .
“ I S your letter from Col one l D A rc ?” inq uired the ’
y
mother, sl i ghtly hesitati ng in the conscious conviction
,
that the subj ect would be d i sagreeable .
“ It is ” w as E dith s simple yet fir m r e s p o n se

’
.
,
arms S he gazed into his face press i ng the hair back w ith
, ,
both hands from his ample forehead .
” “
“
N ot dreaming E d i th dear, he answered The
dr eam is pas t —th i s is the glad awakening
.
, ,
“ ”
My husband ! My dear dear husband ! And , ,
fondly E dith laid her head upon h is bosom A moment
,
.
only i t rested there ; then starting up sh e caught him , ,
by the arm and drawing him toward a door that opened

, ,
into an adj oining room , said

“ ”
Come .
H e followed, as She l ed .
“
L ook
They had entered a n d w ere be side a c radl e m w hich
,
their babe was S leeping

—
.
“
I t is ours H enry our sweet
, ,
precious one —our
darling G race And l ifting it tenderly, sh e laid it in
h i s arms .
As i f a blasting spectre had met her vision , Mrs .
Beaufort fled to her chamber at the sight of Percival ,

and was now hidden from all eyes but those of her
Maker S he had fully believed him dead , and had re
.
j o ic e d in his death ; h is sudden appearance ,

therefore ,
was as of one risen from the d ead H is coming too, .
,
j ust as old schemes so long cherished , were about being

,
reconstructed to scatter all her mad ambition to the

,
wind , seemed so li ke H eaven s mockery that, with a ’

,
crushed helpless feeling sh e shrunk into herself, and

, ,
bowed her sp i rit in the b i tterness of forced submission

Two hours afterward—E d i th who knew her too well
.
to intrude during the time had not even tapped at her

chamber door—s h e came forth, and rece i ved the husband
,
-
o f her daugh ter w ith a degree of cordiality altogether

u nexpected .
”
“ We be l ieved you dead
,
Mr Perciva l ,
said sh e . .
Can you expla i n why we were deceived by fa ls e in telli

g ence ? Mr Maris wrote to us, first, that you w ere very
.
T HE A NGEL OF T HE HO U SEHOLD . 2 05
ill, and soo n afte r, that you had died of a malignant

”
so uthern fever .
“ ”
I was ill , v ery ill , for a time , the young man
answered, but not of a malignant southern fever The .
physician at the hospital to which I was sent to d i e , and

where , in prov idence I was perm i tted to recover , strongly
Suspected that I had been unfai rly dealt by —some of my
,
symptoms resembling in a marked degree the e ff ects of

”
p oison .
Poison Mrs Beaufort looked sta rtl d as sh e gave

g
.
a l most invo luntary ut terance to the word .
Yes ; and I have now but little doubt that such was
the case ; for I learn with n o small surpri se that after
, ,
my reported death , Colonel D A rcy renewed his off ers ’
”
for the hand of E dith .
Colonel D Arcy ’
What of him ? What had he t o
”
do with your s i ckness ? M rs Beaufort s countenance .
’
be came suddenly clouded .
“ I know not that he had any thing to do with it ”

,
replied Perc i val ; but this I know he was a friend o f
“
,
Mr Maris and visited him on the n i ght I was taken

.
,
sick They drank wine together and both urged me

.
,
with such gracious kindness to take a glass of sherry

’
with them that I could not refus e Colonel D Arcy
,
.
touched his glass to mine , and said , in a singul arl y

a l tered voice , so it struck me at the moment
Your good health , Mr Perciva l . .
’
“
I d i d not like the man , for out of his eyes an e vi l
Spirit h a d ever looked at me O n this particular occa .
s i on , that Spirit seemed to glare upon me with a kind of

malign ant triumph S oon after drinking the wine , I
.
felt an unusual heat in my stomach , which gradually

perv aded my system My head grew h ea vy a n d painful ,
.
‘
and my bod y hot and sluggish O n complain ing of in .

.
dispo s i tion , Mr Maris adv i s ed me to go home , saying

.
tha t a fe w ho urs rest w ould re store me Bu t so far

’
.
18
2 06 T HE A NGEL or T HE HOUSEH O LD .
from that, I was in a raging fever all flight, and early on

the next morn ing at his suggestion as I afterward
, ,
l earned of Mr Maris I was sent to the hospital to di e
.
,
.
An ordinary fever would have run to its crisis termi ,

nating in favour of or against the patient in a certain ,
number of days ; but the fever which had se iz ed upon

me was altogether diff erent and seemed as if it would ,
ne v er tire drinking at my vitals When at l ast its fire .

, ,
abated I was left so much exhausted , that small hope o f

,
recovery was felt by either physician or atte ndants It .
was more than two months before strength sufficient t o

bear the weight of my body was ga ined Then the life .
current began to flow more free ly ; and a few weeks of

rapid con v alescence placed me so near to heal th th a t I ,
v entured to make this homeward journ ey f S oon after I

w as taken to the hospita l a man n amed H enry Perciv a l
,
died in one of the Sick wards Mr Maris , I suppose , . .
to ok it for granted that my death was the one reporte d,

and immed i ately comm unicated the fact to you ”
.
F or a considerable time a fter the young man ceased

speak ing Mrs Beaufort sat with her eyes upon the floor,
,
.
e v idently in deep and troubled t hought .
“ There s a dark mystery here ” h e said at l ength

’
,
s , ,
sp eaking partl y to herself 4‘Mr Maris then , is a par
. .
,
t icul a r friend o f Co l one l D Arcy

’
she a dded, raising her
ey es .
“ They appeared t o b e v ery int imate I o f ten sa w .
”
them together .
“ It s a stran g e story
’
S he a gai n seem ed sp ea kin
.
“
to herself And I can t make it all out ’
Co l one
— —
. .
D M
’
A r c y r Maris .poison
As Percival look ed at her fixedly, he saw a l ow shudder
pass through her frame A dark s uspicion entered h is
.
mind o n the instant but he resolute ly thrust it out a n d,

‘
in doin g so, he wa s b ut j u st to M rs Be aufort If h e had . .

2 08 T HE ANGEL OE T HE H O USEHOLD .
F or some moments the three l o oked at each Other in

d oubt and irresolution All of them knew wel l the obj ect
.
o f h i s v i sit Perc i val wa s the first to spe a k

. .
“
L et us sa i d he go down together and receive him
,
.
, .
H e thinks I am dead if he thinks of me at all S hould

,
.
my susp i cions be true at S ight of me he w ill be thrown

,
from h i s guard and betray himself Come Let us go at .
o nce .
And he arose moving on a pace or two in the direction

,
of the door Mrs Beaufort and E dith followed as if im .
ell e d by his w i ll —the latter carrying G r a ce i n her arms

. .
,
p .
S ide by side they entered the parlour where D A rcy sat ’
awaiti ng some member of the family

C
.
’
olonel D Ar cy
Mrs Beaufort inclined her body grace fully and smiled
.
,
upon her visitor with a bland sm i le But he sa w not the .
motion nor the smile for his eyes were riveted instantly
,
o n the calm face of Percival who with his young wife , ,
shrinking to his s i de and holdi ng her babe agai nst her

bosom looked at him steadily and sternly O nly for a
,
.
moment did he stand in the attitude of astonishment as

sumed as the unexpected app a r it i on confronted h i m
then w i th a look of d i smay and a exclamation of terror,
,
he swept past the little group and fled from the house .
“ I did not err in my susp i cions said Percival speak ’

, ,
ing with entire self possession H e is gui lty of having

-
.
”
sought my life D ear E d i th ! he added a s he drew an
.
,
a rm around her and pressed his l i ps to her pure forehead

,
how thankful am I for your dear sake that his wick ed
”
p urpose failed .
My children
The arms of Mrs Beaufort w ere fl un g suddenly around
.
them both .
“
My children
H er v oice choked, and what sh e w oul d have said further,
T H E AN GEL or T HE HOUSEH O LD . 2 09
rem a ined unspoken Pride could not suff e r her to betray

.
the strong ag i ta t i on sh e felt .
There were a few moments of S il en ce Then She d is .
en gaged her arms , and turning from them retired with ,
slow and state ly steps to her own apart ments .
O ne scene more briefly sk etched and the curtain m ust

, “
fall upon o ur characters .
A few months have glided p l easantly by The nea rer .
v iew that Mrs Beaufort now had of the son in law a c

.
- -
cep te d with such an in tense reluctance enabled her to ,
se e the higher qualities of mind with which he was e n

dowed as well as the s terl i ng v irtues already developed
in one so young H er estates were l a rge and needed the
.
,
intelligent care of a man who had some acquaintance with

l e gal and landed aff airs This knowledge , the education
.
o f Percival had in a measure supplied , and his calm

j udgment and integrity of purpose were a guarantee for
the rest that Mrs Beaufort was very ready to accept and
.
the result involved no measure of disappo i ntment .
S o well pleased wa s sh e with our fr i end the carpenter,

that sh e soon made a contract with h im to remain as
o verseer on her estate , at a liberal salary .
It was a warm afternoon near the close of the ensuing

May that Mrs Percival stepped across the bro a d green
,
.
l awn that sloped gently from her mother s fi ne old man ’
sion and took her way to the pleasant cottage home of

,
-
the carpenter and his fam i ly that stood only at a short

,
d ista nce O n enteri ng sh e found no one in the sitt i ng

.
,
room ; but , wi th the fam i l i ar i ty of a friend who knows

the await i ng welcome at all times , S h e pushed Open the
door of the adj oining apartment, when a S ight met her
2 10 T HE AN GEL or T HE HOUSEHOLD .
eyes that made the b l ood leap warmer from her he a rt .
A wee k before , had been born in that chamber, another

babe and it was to see the mother and inquire after her
wants , if any were unsuppl i ed , that Mrs Percival had .
now come S he supposed that H arding was absent at

.
w ork ; but this was not so The fact was , scarcely an

.
hour passed during e a ch day, S ince the l ittle stranger

came , that he did not run in to look at its fair young
face or tak e it in his great, strong arms and bear it about
, ,
the room H e was S i tting now near the bed where l ay

.
,
his happy wife , with her face turned toward him and the
babe ; and he was holding the tender little on e on his
arm , and gaz ing with a look that coul d not be mistake n
for love , down upon the sweet image of innocence .
Around were grouped the chil dren , and little L otty,

’
standing between her father s knees was laying her white
,
fi nger softly on the baby s cheek, and talk ing to it

’
f on dly
A s M rs Percival swung Open the door, and at a glance
.
comprehended the scene , sh e said, with a pleasant fami

l ia ri ty that her pre vious intercourse w ith them war
ran ted
“
Ah nursing that baby again , Mr H arding ? Why,
.
o n e would thin k you d ne v er had a baby in yo ur ho use

’
b efore
“
We never k new the value o f a baby, rep l ied the ,
“
carpenter, until yours came to us and won our hearts .
Ah S he was the Angel of our H ousehold and it wa s a ,
hard trial to se e her go forth never to ret urn again B ut .
”
G od h a s given us another angel .
And may sh e be d earer to you than the one you have

l ost, said Mrs Percival as sh e reached over and took
.
,
the precious burden from the arms o f Mr H ardin g . .
“ H ave you chosen a name for it yet
Mrs H ardi n g g lanced toward her h usband

. .

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23 W f 3 35 m p 0 h .

arm orr mm B Y L . ! OHNSO N AND CO

dimmed b y the breath o f se lf l ove—the parent o f a l l

Wh oe v er ho l ds a babe to her bosom, and holds it there

o f even a w ic k ed mother, when sh e clasps her he l p l ess

oﬂ sp rin g in her arms—a lo v e ﬂowin g forth from hea v en ,

a n d breathed into her Spirit b y t h e an g e l s wh o are w ith

Into e v ery h ousehol d ange l s ma y enter They c ome .

in throu gh the gate of infancy , and bring with them cc

I f so, cherish the heavenly v isitants .

sio n a te ly , as he star ted up from the corner, near t h e

ﬁre, w here he had been sitting moodily since supper

The children , who had been wrangling suddenl y ,

c eased their noisy strife , and Shrunk ba ck from the i r

inclined to put his rough threat into execution .

sharply ej aculated the wife and mother, throwing from

We will not put on record the bruta l retort of Jacob

throwing over, in his ma d haste lit tle L otty, the youngest

me mber of h is unprom is i ng ﬂock who happened to be in

h is way The loud slamming of the door and the w i ld

screaming of the ch i ld mingled for the excited mother s

e ars their so unds discordant .

Andrew i n looks and attitude the picture o f de ﬁance

“ I d j ust l i ke to se e him try i t ”

himself up wh i le his eyes , black a s h is mother s , ﬂashed

with boy i sh indignat i on .

knowing something about the weight of her hand shrunk , ,

mutteri ng away and content e d h i mself with th i nk i ng a ll

manner of rebe lli ous things and purposing all kinds of ,

F or a few minutes after L otty ceased crying there was

Silence in the room 5 not a pleasant but a gloomy forced , ,

s i lence Then Lucy six years O ld and Phil i p between

re sse d this bad boy watched w i th an evil eye and j ust

a s i t was near completion wantonly swept aga i n the fabr i c

into ru i ns U nable to control the i r ind i gnation at this

second unprovoked violati on of their r i ghts the outraged ,

brother and s i ster as if moved by a s ingle impulse thre w

them selves upon Andrew and with ﬁsts na i ls and teeth , , , ,

sought to do h im all the inj ury i n their power F ierce .

the mother s i nterference S he did not stop to sepa

ra te them but with her open hand dealt each such

rap i d and vigorous blows about th e head and ears that ,

they were soon glad to retreat, crying with pain , into

angry mother, and if I hear a word between you, “

An dr ew Lucy, and Philip gl i ded from the room ,

k eeping silent through fear for they u ndersto od their ”

mother s present mood well enough to know that it

w ould be dangero us to provoke her furt her .

Lo tty There wa s nothing gentle nothing of motherly

l ove in the tones of her vo i ce The waters of her spirit .

were agitated by a storm , and the sky abo v e them w as

D ye hear ? Come this minute

But the child instead of obeying her mother, shr un k

away into the farthest corner of the room .

Most children wou l d have be en fri ghtened at the dark,

a ch ild S he inherited a large portion of her mother s

pec ul i ar spirit Inste ad of y i eld i ng to this threat she

a l ook of deﬁance M rs H ard i ng was in no mood for a. .

l ong parley There were t i mes when the mother in her

wa s strong ; and then for the sake of her wayward self , ,

willed ch i ld , sh e would patiently strive with her, and use

the mother had given place to the passionate woman It .

was one of her hours of darkness , when all the ev i l of her