As one travels over our country to-day, one will see as lowly homes, as acute poverty, and as congested a population, as he can find anywhere in Europe, with this great difference,—our people are filled with hope. There is a buoyancy about American life that is lacking in Europe. It is, as Emerson expressed it, a land of opportunity; and this difference is everything to the immigrant and the native pioneer. And this means much to us. The great majority of immigrants are from the most thrifty1 of the poor.
I have in mind now a family, who once lived in a large city. It took all the strength of husband and wife to make both ends meet; but by dint2 of rigid3 economy, they saved enough to take them across the water in the steerage of a great[319] ship. This couple, with their little ones, found themselves at the end of their journey on a homestead, but with scarcely a cent left. The people around them were very poor, some of them living the first winter on potatoes and salt, not having either bread or milk. But in some way they managed to live, cheered by the hope that any move must be upward, and in the near future comfort, and farther on affluence4. The same economy that saved the passage-money kept a little for a rainy day, no matter how hard the times were.
When I became acquainted with them they owned a large farm, a small log house and stable, several cows, horses, pigs, and poultry5. Around the house was a neat picket6-fence, every picket being cut out and made with axe7 and jack-knife during the long winter months. The vegetable garden was well-stocked; but what appealed to me most was the richness and the variety of the flower-garden,—roses, pansies, wallflowers, sweet-pease, hollyhocks, and mignonette. It was truly a[320] feast for the eyes. The little house and the milk-room, the latter made of lilliputian logs, were dazzling white by the repeated coats of whitewash8. The whole formed a pretty picture; and for so new a country it was more than a picture,—it was an education for every settler near them.
I tried to fancy my host's feelings as he thought of the sharp struggle in the old land, and as he looked over his broad acres now, richer than the farmers he once envied as they drove in on their stout9 cobs to market.
Near by was another home. Here, too, were fine gardens, and another old couple out of the grip of poverty, which well-nigh killed them in the struggle. This good lady was once the only white woman on a large island, which to-day is laid out in sections, has towns, villages, schoolhouses, and churches, and every farm occupied. The old couple had an unmarried son left; and he, too, was about to quit the parent nest, and start a home[321] for himself. And now I must tell about the wedding.
But first a word about the climate, soil, and conditions, in order to understand what follows. The whole country had once been forest, the home of the Hurons, Chippewas, and other tribes of Indians. The Jesuit had roamed here, suffered, and often become a martyr10. Some time in the past, either from Indian fires or carelessness, the forest caught fire, and tens of thousands of acres of choice maples11 and birch were burnt down to the very roots. The soil is clay, but so charged with lime that you can plough while the water follows the horses in the furrows12 in rivulets13 that dash against their fetlocks. This in clay, as a rule, would mean utter ruin until frost came, and the ground thawed14 again. But not so here. As the ground becomes dry, it pulverizes15 easily under the harrow.
This section was subject to storms that filled the narrow streams until they became dangerous torrents16, sweeping17 all before them, and sometimes making a[322] jam of logs twenty miles long. One spring I noticed that all the bridges were new, and that they had all been built some four feet higher than before. I was told that the spring freshets had swept everything before them, and had been so unusually high that the change of level became necessary.
It was the night before the wedding, and I was preaching in a little schoolhouse that held about twenty people. It was a very hot night for that latitude18, and every one was depressed19 with the heat. A great black cloud covered the heavens, except an ugly streak20 of dirty yellow in the west. It was not long before the yellow glare was swallowed up by the night; and then from out of the dense21 black canopy22 shot streaks23 of vivid lightning, forked, chained, and of every variety, and "long and loud the thunder bellowed24."
We were not long in closing that meeting. All that rode in our wagon25 had more than two miles to go. The horses were terrified, but to those who enjoy a thunder-storm[323] it was sublime26. We crossed one bridge in the nick of time; for it went thundering down as the back wheel bumped against the road, only just clear of it.
One man was asleep in his shanty27, and did not know of the storm until his little dog, tired of swimming around the room, climbed on the bed, and licked his face. The man awoke, and put his hand out of the clothes and felt the water. He sprang up and lit a lamp, and found two feet of water in his room. In the morning it had run off and taken all the bridges again.
And this was the wedding morn. The bridegroom had been away for the ring, but had not returned. We were getting anxious for him when we saw two horses coming on the jump, and a wagon that was as often off the ground as on it, as it thumped28 along the macadamized road of a new country, with stones as large as a cocoanut, five and six feet apart; but, as the settlers said, it was good to what it once was, and I believed it too.
[324]He came in splashed with mud; but although he had been without sleep, victorious29 love shone in those light blue eyes, and with his fair complexion30 and rich rosy31 cheeks he was the personification of a Viking after victory. He had covered four times the distance on account of bridges carried away.
A hasty breakfast, and off we started, forgetting, until we were almost there, the bridge which had gone down the night before. We turned back to find another bridge afloat and in pieces; but, luckily, the stream had become shallow, and after the horses had danced a cotillon, we succeeded in getting across.
As we came to the farm where the fair young bride was waiting, we found the fields under water nearly to the house. I hardly knew how we should reach it. But the bridegroom and the horses had been there before; and, as the water was only a few inches deep, we were soon at the house. The youngsters were all in great spirits. This was the first wedding in the[325] family; and I remember how awestruck the children seemed when the bride came out, looking queenly in her white robes, but soon recovered themselves as they recognized their own sister.
The wedding over, then came the dinner. Who would have thought, as they passed that farm, of the world of happiness in that little log house? And the dinner,—a huge sirloin, which made us sing, "Oh, the roast beef of old England!" Precious little had these people had in old England; but now, besides the mighty32 sirloin, there were capons, ducks, lamb and green pease, mint sauce, delicious wild strawberries, damson pie, and raspberry-wine vinegar for drink.
Thank God for the possibilities of our glorious land to those who are frugal33 and industrious34.
After dinner we sang "The Mistletoe Bough," "To the West, to the West," "Far, far, upon the Sea," "Home, Sweet Home," and "America," the youngsters singing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," and[326] some of the old ones "God save the Queen," to the same tune35.
The young couple had the only spare room in the house, and the rest of us went up-stairs into a room that was the size of the house. There father and mother hung a sheet up, and went to bed. Some grain-sacks made the next partition; and a young student and myself took the next bed. Golden seed-corn hung over my head from the rafters; oats, pease, and wheat were in bins36 on either side of the bed.
To-day that one family has become many families. The old people go to church in a covered buggy. The youngest are on the home farm, and live with the parents, and lovingly tend those two brave hearts who now sit content in their golden age, waiting for the call to that better land, where the Elder Brother has prepared a mansion37 for them and a marriage supper, with everlasting38 joy.
The End
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1
thrifty
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| adj.节俭的；兴旺的；健壮的 | |
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dint
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| n.由于，靠；凹坑 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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affluence
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| n.充裕，富足 | |
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poultry
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| n.家禽，禽肉 | |
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picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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whitewash
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| v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰 | |
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martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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rivulets
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| n.小河，小溪( rivulet的名词复数 ) | |
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thawed
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| 解冻 | |
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pulverizes
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| v.将…弄碎( pulverize的第三人称单数 )；将…弄成粉末或尘埃；摧毁；粉碎 | |
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torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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streak
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| n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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bellowed
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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shanty
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| n.小屋，棚屋；船工号子 | |
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28
thumped
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| v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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35
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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bins
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| n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 ) | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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