Humble4 and dilapidated as it was, it was almost beautiful in the springtime, when the dandelion-dotted turf grew close to the great stone steps; or in the summer, when the famous Bascom elm cast its graceful5 shadow over the front door. The elm, indeed, was the only object that ever did cast its shadow there. Lucinda Bascom said her “front door 'n' entry never hed ben used except for fun'rals, 'n' she was goin' to keep it nice for that purpose, 'n' not get it all tracked up.”
She was sitting now where she had sat for thirty years. Her high-backed rocker, with its cushion of copperplate patch and its crocheted6 tidy, stood always by a southern window that looked out on the river. The river was a sheet of crystal, as it poured over the dam; a rushing, roaring torrent7 of foaming8 white, as it swept under the bridge and fought its way between the rocky cliffs beyond, sweeping9 swirling10, eddying12, in its narrow channel, pulsing restlessly into the ragged fissures13 of its shores, and leaping with a tempestuous14 roar into the Witches' Eel-pot, a deep wooded gorge15 cleft16 in the very heart of the granite17 bank.
But Lucinda Bascom could see more than the river from her favorite window. It was a much-traveled road, the road that ran past the house on its way from Liberty Village to Milliken's Mills. A tottering18 old sign-board, on a verdant19 triangle of turf, directed you over Deacon Chute's hill to the “Flag Medder Road,” and from thence to Liberty Centre; the little post-office and store, where the stage stopped twice a day, was quite within eyeshot; so were the public watering-trough, Brigadier Hill, and, behind the ruins of an old mill, the wooded path that led to the Witches' Eel-pot, a favorite walk for village lovers. This was all on her side of the river. As for the bridge which knit together the two tiny villages, nobody could pass over that without being seen from the Bascoms'. The rumble20 of wheels generally brought a family party to the window,—Jot21 Bascom's wife (she that was Diadema Dennett), Jot himself, if he were in the house, little Jot, and grandpa Bascom, who looked at the passers-by with a vacant smile parting his thin lips. Old Mrs. Bascom herself did not need the rumble of wheels to tell her that a vehicle was coming, for she could see it fully22 ten minutes before it reached the bridge,—at the very moment it appeared at the crest23 of Saco Hill, where strangers pulled up their horses, on a clear day, and paused to look at Mount Washington, miles away in the distance. Tory Hill and Saco Hill met at the bridge, and just there, too, the river road began its shady course along the east side of the stream: in view of all which “old Mis' Bascom's settin'-room winder” might well be called the “Village Watch-Tower,” when you consider further that she had moved only from her high-backed rocker to her bed, and from her bed to her rocker, for more than thirty years,—ever since that july day when her husband had had a sun-stroke while painting the meeting-house steeple, and her baby Jonathan had been thereby24 hastened into a world not in the least ready to receive him.
She could not have lived without that window, she would have told you, nor without the river, which had lulled25 her to sleep ever since she could remember. It was in the south chamber26 upstairs that she had been born. Her mother had lain there and listened to the swirl11 of the water, in that year when the river was higher than the oldest inhabitant had ever seen it,—the year when the covered bridge at the Mills had been carried away, and when the one at the Falls was in hourly danger of succumbing27 to the force of the freshet.
All the men in both villages were working on the river, strengthening the dam, bracing28 the bridge, and breaking the jams of logs; and with the parting of the boom, the snapping of the bridge timbers, the crashing of the logs against the rocks, and the shouts of the river-drivers, the little Lucinda had come into the world. Some one had gone for the father, and had found him on the river, where he had been since day-break, drenched29 with the storm, blown fro his dangerous footing time after time, but still battling with the great heaped-up masses of logs, wrenching30 them from one another's grasp, and sending them down the swollen31 stream.
Finally the jam broke; and a cheer of triumph burst from the excited men, as the logs, freed from their bondage32, swept down the raging flood, on and ever on in joyous33 liberty, faster and faster, till they encountered some new obstacle, when they heaped themselves together again, like puppets of Fate, and were beaten by the waves into another helpless surrender.
With the breaking of the jam, one dead monarch34 of the forest leaped into the air as if it had been shot from a cannon's mouth, and lodged35 between two jutting36 peaks of rock high on the river bank. Presently another log was dashed against it, but rolled off and hurried down the stream; then another, and still another; but no force seemed enough to drive the giant from its intrenched position.
“Hurry on down to the next jam, Raish, and let it alone,” cried the men. “Mebbe it'll git washed off in the night, and anyhow you can't budge37 it with no kind of a tool we've got here.”
Then from the shore came a boy's voice calling, “There's a baby up to your house!” And the men repeated in stentorian38 tones, “Baby up to your house, Raish! Leggo the log; you're wanted!”
“Boy or girl?” shouted the young father.
“Girl!” came back the answer above the roar of the river.
Whereupon Raish Dunnell steadied himself with his pick and taking a hatchet39 from his belt, cut a rude letter “L” on the side of the stranded40 log.
“L's for Lucindy,” he laughed. “Now you log if you git's fur as Saco, drop in to my wife's folks and tell 'em the baby's name.”
There had not been such a freshet for years before, and there had never been one since; so, as the quiet seasons went by, “Lucindy's log” was left in peace, the columbines blooming all about it, the harebells hanging their heads of delicate blue among the rocks that held it in place, the birds building their nests in the knot-holes of its withered42 side.
Seventy years had passed, and on each birthday, from the time when she was only “Raish Dunnell's little Lou,” to the years when she was Lucinda Bascom, wife and mother, she had wandered down by the river side, and gazed, a little superstitiously43 perhaps, on the log that had been marked with an “L” on the morning she was born. It had stood the wear and tear of the elements bravely, but now it was beginning, like Lucinda, to show its age. Its back was bent44, like hers; its face was seamed and wrinkled, like her own; and the village lovers who looked at it from the opposite bank wondered if, after all, it would hold out as long as “old Mis' Bascom.”
She held out bravely, old Mrs. Bascom, though she was “all skin, bones, and tongue,” as the neighbors said; for nobody needed to go into the Bascoms' to brighten up aunt Lucinda a bit, or take her the news; one went in to get a bit of brightness, and to hear the news.
“I should get lonesome, I s'pose,” she was wont45 to say, “if it wa'n't for the way this house is set, and this chair, and this winder, 'n' all. Men folks used to build some o' the houses up in a lane, or turn 'em back or side to the road, so the women folks couldn't see anythin' to keep their minds off their churnin' or dish-washin'; but Aaron Dunnell hed somethin' else to think about, 'n' that was himself, first, last, and all the time. His store was down to bottom of the hill, 'n' when he come up to his meals, he used to set where he could see the door; 'n' if any cust'mer come, he could call to 'em to wait a spell till he got through eatin'. Land! I can hear him now, yellin' to 'em, with his mouth full of victuals46! They hed to wait till he got good 'n' ready, too. There wa'n't so much comp'tition in business then as there is now, or he'd 'a' hed to give up eatin' or hire a clerk. ... I've always felt to be thankful that the house was on this rise o' ground. The teams hev to slow up on 'count o' the hill, 'n' it gives me consid'ble chance to see folks 'n' what they've got in the back of the wagon47, 'n' one thing 'n' other. ... The neighbors is continually comin' in here to talk about things that's goin' on in the village. I like to hear 'em, but land! they can't tell me nothing'! They often say, 'For massy sakes, Lucindy Bascom, how d' you know that?' 'Why,' says I to them, 'I don't ask no questions, 'n' folks don't tell me no lies; I just set in my winder, 'n' put two 'n' two together,—that's all I do.' I ain't never ben in a playhouse, but I don't suppose the play-actors git down off the platform on t' the main floor to explain to the folks what they've ben doin', do they? I expect, if folks can't understand their draymas when the're actin' of 'em out, they have to go ignorant, don't they? Well, what do I want with explainin', when everythin' is acted out right in the road?”
There was quite a gathering48 of neighbors at the Bascoms' on this particular July afternoon. No invitations had been sent out, and none were needed. A common excitement had made it vital that people should drop in somewhere, and speculate about certain interesting matters well known to be going on in the community, but going on in such an underhand and secretive fashion that it well-nigh destroyed one's faith in human nature.
The sitting-room49 door was open into the entry, so that whatever breeze there was might come in, and an unusual glimpse of the new foreroom rug was afforded the spectators. Everything was as neat as wax, for Diadema was a housekeeper50 of the type fast passing away. The great coal stove was enveloped52 in its usual summer wrapper of purple calico, which, tied neatly53 about its ebony neck and portly waist, gave it the appearance of a buxom54 colored lady presiding over the assembly. The kerosene55 lamps stood in a row on the high, narrow mantelpiece, each chimney protected from the flies by a brown paper bag inverted56 over its head. Two plaster Samuels praying under the pink mosquito netting adorned57 the ends of the shelf. There were screens at all the windows, and Diadema fidgeted nervously58 when a visitor came in the mosquito netting door, for fear a fly should sneak59 in with her.
On the wall were certificates of membership in the Missionary60 Society; a picture of Maidens61 welcoming Washington in the Streets of Alexandria, in a frame of cucumber seeds; and an interesting document setting forth62 the claims of the Dunnell family as old settlers long before the separation of Maine from Massachusetts,—the fact bein' established by an obituary63 notice reading, “In Saco, December 1791, Dorcas, daughter of Abiathar Dunnell, two months old of Fits unbaptized.”
“He may be goin' to marry Eunice, and he may not,” observed Almira Berry; “though what she wants of Reuben Hobson is more 'n I can make out. I never see a widower64 straighten up as he has this last year. I guess he's been lookin' round pretty lively, but couldn't find anybody that was fool enough to give him any encouragement.”
“Mebbe she wants to get married,” said Hannah Sophia, in a tone that spoke65 volumes. “When Parson Perkins come to this parish, one of his first calls was on Eunice Emery. He always talked like the book o' Revelation; so says he, 'have you got your weddin' garment on, Miss Emery?' says he. 'No,' says she, 'but I ben tryin' to these twenty years.' She was always full of her jokes, Eunice was!”
“The Emerys was always a humorous family,” remarked Diadema, as she annihilated67 a fly with a newspaper. “Old Silas Emery was an awful humorous man. He used to live up on the island; and there come a freshet one year, and he said he got his sofy 'n' chairs off, anyhow!” That was just his jokin'. He hadn't a sign of a sofy in the house; 't was his wife Sophy he meant, she that was Sophy Swett. Then another time, when I was a little mite68 of a thin runnin' in 'n' out o' his yard, he caught holt o' me, and says he, 'You'd better take care, sissy; when I kill you and two more, thet'll be three children I've killed!' Land! you couldn't drag me inside that yard for years afterwards. ... There! she's got a fire in the cook-stove; there's a stream o' smoke comin' out o' the kitchen chimbley. I'm willin' to bet my new rug she's goin' to be married tonight!'
“Mebbe she's makin' jell',” suggested Hannah Sophia.
“Jell'!” ejaculated Mrs. Jot scornfully. “Do you s'pose Eunice Emery would build up a fire in the middle o' the afternoon 'n' go to makin' a jell', this hot day? Besides, there ain't a currant gone into her house this week, as I happen to know.”
“It's a dretful thick year for fol'age,” mumbled70 grandpa Bascom, appearing in the door with his vacant smile. “I declare some o' the maples71 looks like balls in the air.”
“That's the twentieth time he's hed that over since mornin',” said Diadema. “Here, father, take your hat off 'n' set in the kitchen door 'n' shell me this mess o' peas. Now think smart, 'n' put the pods in the basket 'n' the peas in the pan; don't you mix 'em.”
The old man hung his hat on the back of the chair, took the pan in his trembling hands, and began aimlessly to open the pods, while he chuckled72 at the hens that gathered round the doorstep when they heard the peas rattling73 in the pan.
“Reuben needs a wife bad enough, if that's all,” remarked the Widow Buzzell, as one who had given the matter some consideration.
“I should think he did,” rejoined old Mrs. Bascom. “Those children 'bout41 git their livin' off the road in summer, from the time the dand'lion greens is ready for diggin' till the blackb'ries 'n' choke-cherries is gone. Diademy calls 'em in 'n' gives 'em a cooky every time they go past, 'n' they eat as if they was famished74. Rube Hobson never was any kind of a pervider, 'n' he's consid'able snug75 besides.”
“He ain't goin' to better himself much,” said Almira. “Eunice Emery ain't fit to housekeep51 for a cat. The pie she took to the pie supper at the church was so tough that even Deacon Dyer couldn't eat it; and the boys got holt of her doughnuts, and declared they was goin' fishin' next day 'n' use 'em for sinkers. She lives from hand to mouth Eunice Emery does. She's about as much of a doshy as Rube is. She'll make tea that's strong enough to bear up an egg, most, and eat her doughnuts with it three times a day rather than take the trouble to walk out to the meat or the fish cart. I know for a fact she don't make riz bread once a year.”
“Mebbe her folks likes buttermilk bread best; some do,” said the Widow Buzzell. “My husband always said, give him buttermilk bread to work on. He used to say my riz bread was so light he'd hev to tread on it to keep it anywheres; but when you'd eat buttermilk bread he said you'd got somethin' that stayed by you; you knew where it was every time. ... For massy sake! there's the stage stoppin' at the Hobson's door. I wonder if Rube's first wife's mother has come from Moderation? If 't is, they must 'a' made up their quarrel, for there was a time she wouldn't step foot over that doorsill. She must be goin' to stay some time, for there's a trunk on the back o' the stage. ... No, there ain't nobody gettin' out. Land, Hannah Sophia, don't push me clean through the glass! It beats me why they make winders so small that three people can't look out of 'em without crowdin'. Ain't that a wash-boiler he's handin' down? Well, it's a mercy; he's ben borrowin' long enough!”
“What goes on after dark I ain't responsible for,” commented old Mrs. Bascom, “but no new wash-boiler has gone into Rube Hobson's door in the daytime for many a year, and I'll be bound it means somethin'. There goes a broom, too. Much sweepin' he'll get out o' Eunice; it's a slick 'n' a promise with her!”
“When did you begin to suspicion this, Diademy?” asked Almira Berry. “I've got as much faculty76 as the next one, but anybody that lives on the river road has just got to give up knowin' anything. You can't keep runnin' to the store every day, and if you could you don't find out much nowadays. Bill Peters don't take no more interest in his neighbors than a cow does in election.”
“I can't get mother Bascom to see it as I do,” said Diadema, “but for one thing she's ben carryin' home bundles 'bout every other night for a month, though she's ben too smart to buy anythin' here at this store. She had Packard's horse to go to Saco last week. When she got home, jest at dusk, she drove int' the barn, 'n' bimeby Pitt Packard come to git his horse,—'t was her own buggy she went with. She looked over here when she went int' the house, 'n' she ketched my eye, though 't was half a mile away, so she never took a thing in with her, but soon as't was dark she made three trips out to the barn with a lantern, 'n' any fool could tell 't her arms was full o' pa'cels by the way she carried the lantern. The Hobsons and the Emerys have married one another more 'n once, as fur as that goes. I declare if I was goin' to get married I should want to be relation to somebody besides my own folks.”
“The reason I can hardly credit it,” said Hannah Sophia, “is because Eunice never had a beau in her life, that I can remember of. Cyse Higgins set up with her for a spell, but it never amounted to nothin'. It seems queer, too, for she was always so fond o' seein' men folks round that when Pitt Packard was shinglin' her barn she used to go out nights 'n' rip some o' the shingles off, so 't he'd hev more days' work on it.”
“I always said 't was she that begun on Rube Hobson, not him on her,” remarked the Widow Buzzell. “Their land joinin' made courtin' come dretful handy. His critters used to git in her field 'bout every other day (I always suspicioned she broke the fence down herself), and then she'd hev to go over and git him to drive 'em out. She's wed66 his onion bed for him two summers, as I happen to know, for I've been ou' doors more 'n common this summer, tryin' to fetch my constitution up. Diademy, don't you want to look out the back way 'n' see if Rube's come home yet?”
“He ain't,” said old Mrs. Bascom, “so you needn't look; can't you see the curtains is all down? He's gone up to the Mills, 'n' it's my opinion he's gone to speak to the minister.”
“He hed somethin' in the back o' the wagon covered up with an old linen77 lap robe; 't ain't at all likely he 'd 'a' hed that if he'd ben goin' to the minister's,” objected Mrs. Jot.
“Anybody'd think you was born yesterday, to hear you talk, Diademy,” retorted her mother-in-law. “When you 've set in one spot's long's I hev, p'raps you'll hev the use o' your faculties78! Men folks has more 'n one way o' gettin' married, 'specially79 when they 're ashamed of it. ... Well, I vow80, there's the little Hobson girls comin' out o' the door this minute, 'n' they 're all dressed up, and Mote81 don't seem to be with 'em.”
Every woman in the room rose to her feet, and Diadema removed her murderous eye from a fly which she had been endeavoring to locate for some moments.
“I guess they 're goin' up to the church to meet their father 'n' Eunice, poor little things,” ventured the Widow Buzzell.
“P'raps they be,” said old Mrs. Bascom sarcastically82; “p'raps they be goin' to church, takin' a three-quart tin pail 'n' a brown paper bundle along with 'em. ... They 're comin' over the bridge, just as I s'posed. ... Now, if they come past this house, you head 'em off, Almiry, 'n' see if you can git some satisfaction out of 'em. ... They ain't hardly old enough to hold their tongues.”
An exciting interview soon took place in the middle of the road, and Almira reentered the room with the expression of one who had penetrated83 the inscrutable and solved the riddle84 of the Sphinx. She had been vouch-safed one of those gleams of light in darkness which almost dazzle the beholder85.
“That's about the confirmingest thing I've heern yet!” she ejaculated, as she took off her shaker bonnet86. “They say they're goin' up to their aunt Hitty's to stay two days. They're dressed in their best, clean to the skin, for I looked; 'n' it's their night gownds they've got in the bundle. They say little Mote has gone to union to stop all night with his uncle Abijah, 'n' that leaves Rube all alone, for the smith girl that does his chores is home sick with the hives. And what do you s'pose is in the pail? Fruit cake,—that's what 't is, no more 'n' no less! I knowed that Smith girl didn't bake it, 'n' so I asked 'em, 'n' they said Miss Emery give it to 'em. There was two little round try-cakes, baked in muffin-rings. Eunice hed took some o' the batter87 out of a big loaf 'n' baked it to se how it was goin' to turn out. That means wedding-cake, or I'm mistaken!”
“There ain't no gittin' round that,” agreed the assembled company, “now is there, Mis' Bascom?”
Old Mrs. Bascom wet her finger, smoothed the parting of her false front, and looked inscrutable.
“I don't see why you're so secret,” objected Diadema.
“I've got my opinions, and I've had 'em some time,” observed the good lady. “I don't know 's I'm bound to tell 'em and have 'em held up to ridicule88. Let the veal89 hang, I say. If any one of us is right, we'll all know to-morrow.”
“Well, all any of us has got to judge from is appearances,” said Diadema, “and how you can twist 'em one way, and us another, stumps90 me!”
“Perhaps I see more appearances than you do,” retorted her mother-in-law. “Some folks mistakes all they see for all there is. I was reading a detective story last week. It seems there was an awful murder in Schenectady, and a mother and her two children was found dead in one bed, with bullet holes in their heads. The husband was away on business, and there wasn't any near neighbors to hear her screech91. Well, the detectives come from far and from near, and begun to work up the case. One of 'em thought 't was the husband,—though he set such store by his wife he went ravin' crazy when he heard she was dead,—one of 'em laid it on the children,—though they was both under six years old; and one decided92 it was suicide,—though the woman was a church member and didn't know how to fire a gun off, besides. And then there come along a detective younger and smarter than all the rest, and says he, 'If all you bats have seen everything you can see, I guess I'll take a look around,' says he. Sure enough, there was a rug with 'Welcome' on it layin' in front of the washstand, and when he turned it up he found an elegant diamond stud with a man's full name and address on the gold part. He took a train and went right to the man's house. He was so taken by surprise (he hadn't missed the stud, for he had a full set of 'em) that he owned right up and confessed the murder.”
“I don't see as that's got anything to do with this case,” said Diadema.
“It's got this much to do with it,” replied old Mrs. Bascom, “that perhaps you've looked all round the room and seen everything you had eyes to see, and perhaps I've had wit enough to turn up the rug in front o' the washstand.”
“Whoever he marries now, Mis' Bascom'll have to say 't was the one she meant,” laughed the Widow Buzzell.
“I never was caught cheatin' yet, and if I live till Saturday I shall be seventy-one years old,” said the old lady with some heat. “Hand me Jot's lead pencil, Diademy, and that old envelope on the winder sill. I'll write the name I think of, and shut it up in the old Bible. My hand's so stiff to-day I can't hardly move it, but I guess I can make it plain enough to satisfy you.”
“That's fair 'n' square,” said Hannah Sophia, “and for my pat I hope it ain't Eunice, for I like her too well. What they're goin' to live on is more 'n I can see. Add nothin' to nothin' 'n' you git nothin',—that's arethmetic! He ain't hed a cent o' ready money sence he failed up four years ago, 'thout it was that hundred dollars that fell to him from his wife's aunt. Eunice'll hev her hands full this winter, I guess, with them three hearty93 children 'n' him all wheezed94 up with phthisic from October to April!... Who's that coming' down Tory Hill? It's Rube's horse 'n' Rube's wagon, but it don't look like Rube.”
“Yes, it's Rube; but he's got a new Panama hat, 'n' he 's hed his linen duster washed,” said old Mrs. Bascom. ... “Now, do you mean to tell me that that woman with a stuck-up hat on is Eunice Emery? It ain't, 'n' that green parasol don't belong to this village. He's drivin' her into his yard!... Just as I s'posed, it's that little, smirkin' worthless school-teacher up to the Mills.—Don't break my neck, Diademy; can't you see out the other winder?—Yes, he's helpin' her out, 'n' showin' her in. He can't 'a' ben married more'n ten minutes, for he's goin' clear up the steps to open the door for her!”
“Wait 'n' see if he takes his horse out,” said Hannah Sophia. “Mebbe he'll drive her back in a few minutes. ... No, he's onhitched! ... There, he's hangin' up the head-stall!”
“I've ben up in the attic95 chamber,” called the Widow Buzzell, as she descended96 the stairs; “she's pulled up the curtains, and took off her hat right in front o' the winder, 's bold as a brass97 kettle! She's come to stay! Ain't that Rube Hobson all over,—to bring another woman int' this village 'stid o' weedin' one of 'em out as he'd oughter. He ain't got any more public sperit than a—hedgehog, 'n' never had!”
“I'm goin' over to Eunice's,” she said, “and I'm goin' to take my bottle of camphire. I shouldn't wonder a mite if I found her in a dead faint on the kitchen floor. Nobody need tell me she wa'n't buildin' hopes.”
“I'll go with you,” said the Widow Buzzell. “I'd like to see with my own eyes how she takes it, 'n' it'll be too late to tell if I wait till after supper. If she'd ben more open with me 'n' ever asked for my advice, I could 'a' told her it wa'n't the first time Rube Hobson has played that trick.”
“I'd come too if 't wa'n't milkin' but Jot ain't home from the Centre, and I've got to do his chores; come in as you go along back, will you?” asked Diadema.
Hannah Sophia remained behind, promising99 to meet them at the post-office and hear the news. As the two women walked down the hill she drew the old envelope from the Bible and read the wavering words scrawled100 upon it in old Mrs. Bascom's rheumatic and uncertain hand,—
the milikins Mills Teecher.
“Well Lucindy, you do make good use o' your winder,” she exclaimed, “but how you pitched on anything so onlikely as her is more'n I can see.”
“Just because 't was onlikely. A man's a great sight likelier to do an onlikely thing than he is a likely one, when it comes to marryin'. In the first place, Rube sent his children to school up to the Mills 'stid of to the brick schoolhouse, though he had to pay a little something to get 'em taken in to another deestrick. They used to come down at night with their hands full o' 'ward69 o' merit cards. Do you s'pose I thought they got 'em for good behavior, or for knowin' their lessons? Then aunt Hitty told me some question or other Rube had asked examination day. Since when has Rube Hobson 'tended examinations, thinks I. And when I see the girl, a red-and-white paper doll that wouldn't know whether to move the churn-dasher up 'n' down or round 'n' round, I made up my mind that bein' a man he'd take her for certain, and not his next-door neighbor of a sensible age and a house 'n' farm 'n' cow 'n' buggy!”
“Sure enough,” agreed Hannah Sophia, “though that don't account for Eunice's queer actions, 'n' the pa'cels 'n' the fruit cake.”
“When I make out a case,” observed Mrs. Bascom modestly, “I ain't one to leave weak spots in it. If I guess at all, I go all over the ground 'n' stop when I git through. Now, sisters or no sisters, Maryabby Emery ain't spoke to Eunice sence she moved to Salem. But if Eunice has ben bringin' pa'cels home, Maryabby must 'a' paid for what was in 'em; and if she's ben bakin' fruit cake this hot day, why Maryabby used to be so font o' fruit cake her folks were afraid she'd have fits 'n' die. I shall be watchin' here as usual to-morrow morning', 'n' if Maryabby don't drive int' Eunice's yard before noon I won't brag101 any more for a year to come.”
Hannah Sophia gazed at old Mrs. Bascom with unstinted admiration102. “You do beat all,” she said; “and I wish I could stay all night 'n' see how it turns out, but Almiry is just comin' over the bridge, 'n' I must start 'n' meet her. Good-by. I'm glad to see you so smart; you always look slim, but I guess you'll tough it out's long 's the rest of us. I see your log was all right, last time I was down side o' the river.”
“They say it 's jest goin' to break in two in the middle, and fall into the river,” cheerfully responded Lucinda. “They say it's just hanging' on by a thread. Well, that's what they 've ben sayin' about me these ten years, 'n' here I be still hanging! It don't make no odds103, I guess, whether it's a thread or a rope you 're hangin' by, so long as you hang.”
* * *
The next morning, little Mote Hobson, who had stayed all night with his uncle in union, was walking home by the side of the river. He strolled along, the happy, tousle-headed, barefooted youngster, eyes one moment on the trees in the hope of squirrels and birds'-nests, the next on the ground in search of the first blueberries. As he stooped to pick up a bit of shining quartz104 to add to the collection in his ragged trousers' pockets he glanced across the river, and at that very instant Lucinda's log broke gently in twain, rolled down the bank, crumbling105 as it went, and, dropping in like a tired child, was carried peacefully along on the river's breast.
Mote walked more quickly after that. It was quite a feather in his cap to see, with his own eyes, the old landmark106 slip from its accustomed place and float down the stream. The other boys would miss it and say, “It's gone!” He would say, “I saw it go!”
Grandpa Bascom was standing107 at the top of the hill. His white locks were uncovered, and he was in his shirt-sleeves. Baby Jot, as usual, held fast by his shaking hand, for they loved each other, these two. The cruel stroke of the sun that had blurred108 the old man's brain had spared a blessed something in him that won the healing love of children.
“How d' ye, Mote?” he piped in his feeble voice. “They say Lucindy's dead. ... Jot says she is, 'n' Diademy says she is, 'n' I guess she is. ... It 's a dretful thick year for fol'age; ... some o' the maples looks like balls in the air.”
Mote looked in at the window. The neighbors were hurrying to and fro. Diadema sat with her calico apron109 up to her face, sobbing110; and for the first morning in thirty years, old Mrs. Bascom's high-backed rocker was empty, and there was no one sitting in the village watch-tower.
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1
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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2
shingles
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| n.带状疱疹；（布满海边的）小圆石( shingle的名词复数 )；屋顶板；木瓦（板）；墙面板 | |
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3
pane
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| n.窗格玻璃，长方块 | |
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4
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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5
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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6
crocheted
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| v.用钩针编织( crochet的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
torrent
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| n.激流，洪流；爆发，(话语等的)连发 | |
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8
foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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9
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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10
swirling
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| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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11
swirl
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| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
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12
eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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13
fissures
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| n.狭长裂缝或裂隙( fissure的名词复数 )；裂伤；分歧；分裂v.裂开( fissure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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14
tempestuous
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| adj.狂暴的 | |
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15
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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16
cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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17
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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18
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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19
verdant
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| adj.翠绿的，青翠的，生疏的，不老练的 | |
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20
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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21
jot
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| n.少量；vi.草草记下；vt.匆匆写下 | |
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22
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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23
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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24
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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25
lulled
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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27
succumbing
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的现在分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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28
bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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29
drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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30
wrenching
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| n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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31
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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32
bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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33
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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34
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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35
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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36
jutting
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| v.（使）突出( jut的现在分词 )；伸出；（从…）突出；高出 | |
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37
budge
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| v.移动一点儿；改变立场 | |
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38
stentorian
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| adj.大声的，响亮的 | |
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39
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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40
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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41
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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42
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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43
superstitiously
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| 被邪教所支配 | |
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44
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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45
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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46
victuals
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| n.食物；食品 | |
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47
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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48
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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49
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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50
housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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51
housekeep
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| vi.自立门户，主持家务 | |
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52
enveloped
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| v.包围，笼罩，包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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54
buxom
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| adj.（妇女）丰满的，有健康美的 | |
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55
kerosene
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| n.(kerosine)煤油，火油 | |
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56
inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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58
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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59
sneak
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| vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行 | |
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60
missionary
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| adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士 | |
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61
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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62
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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63
obituary
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| n.讣告，死亡公告；adj.死亡的 | |
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64
widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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65
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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66
wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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67
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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68
mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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69
ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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70
mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
maples
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| 槭树，枫树( maple的名词复数 )； 槭木 | |
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72
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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74
famished
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| adj.饥饿的 | |
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75
snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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76
faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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77
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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78
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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79
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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80
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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81
mote
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| n.微粒；斑点 | |
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82
sarcastically
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| adv.挖苦地，讽刺地 | |
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83
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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84
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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85
beholder
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| n.观看者，旁观者 | |
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86
bonnet
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| n.无边女帽；童帽 | |
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87
batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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88
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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89
veal
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| n.小牛肉 | |
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90
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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91
screech
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| n./v.尖叫；(发出)刺耳的声音 | |
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92
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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93
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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94
wheezed
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| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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95
attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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96
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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97
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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98
mitts
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| n.露指手套，棒球手套，拳击手套( mitt的名词复数 ) | |
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99
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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100
scrawled
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| 乱涂，潦草地写( scrawl的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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101
brag
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| v./n.吹牛，自夸；adj.第一流的 | |
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102
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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103
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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104
quartz
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| n.石英 | |
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105
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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106
landmark
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| n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标 | |
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107
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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108
blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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109
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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110
sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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