FOXWELL BAXTER was ordinarily called "Old Foxy" by the boys of the district, and also, it is to be feared, by the men gathered for evening conference at the various taverns1, or at one of the rival village stores.
He had a small farm of fifteen or twenty acres, with a pasture, a wood lot, and a hay-field, but the principal source of his income came from trading. His sign bore the usual legend: "WEST INDIA GOODS AND GROCERIES," and probably the most profitable articles in his stock were rum, molasses, sugar, and tobacco; but there were chests of rice, tea, coffee, and spices, barrels of pork in brine, as well as piles of cotton and woolen2 cloth on the shelves above the counters. His shop window, seldom dusted or set in order, held a few clay pipes, some glass jars of peppermint3 or sassafras lozenges, black licorice, stick-candy, and sugar gooseberries. These dainties were seldom renewed, for it was only a very bold child, or one with an ungovernable appetite for sweets, who would have spent his penny at Foxy Baxter's store.
He was thought a sharp and shrewd trader, but his honesty was never questioned; indeed, the only trait in his character that ever came up for general discussion was his extraordinary, unbelievable, colossal4 meanness. This so eclipsed every other passion in the man, and loomed5 so bulkily and insistently6 in the foreground, that had he cherished a second vice7 no one would have observed it, and if he really did possess a casual virtue8, it could scarcely have reared its head in such ugly company.
It might be said, to defend the fair name of the Church, that Mr. Baxter's deaconhood did not include very active service in the courts of the Lord. He had "experienced religion" at fifteen and made profession of his faith, but all well-brought-up boys and girls did the same in those days; their parents saw to that! If change of conviction or backsliding occurred later on, that was not their business! At the ripe age of twenty-five he was selected to fill a vacancy9 and became a deacon, thinking it might be good for trade, as it was, for some years. He was very active at the time of the "Cochrane craze," since any defence of the creed10 that included lively detective work and incessant11 spying on his neighbors was particularly in his line; but for many years now, though he had been regular in attendance at church, he had never officiated at communion, and his diaconal services had gradually lapsed12 into the passing of the contribution-box, a task of which he never wearied; it was such a keen pleasure to make other people yield their pennies for a good cause, without adding any of his own!
Deacon Baxter had now been a widower13 for some years and the community had almost relinquished14 the idea of his seeking a fourth wife. This was a matter of some regret, for there was a general feeling that it would be a good thing for the Baxter girls to have some one to help with the housework and act as a buffer15 between them and their grim and irascible parent. As for the women of the village, they were mortified16 that the Deacon had been able to secure three wives, and refused to believe that the universe held anywhere a creature benighted17 enough to become his fourth.
The first, be it said, was a mere18 ignorant girl, and he a beardless youth of twenty, who may not have shown his true qualities so early in life. She bore him two sons, and it was a matter of comment at the time that she called them, respectively, Job and Moses, hoping that the endurance and meekness19 connected with these names might somehow help them in their future relations with their father. Pneumonia20, coupled with profound discouragement, carried her off in a few years to make room for the second wife, Waitstill's mother, who was of different fibre and greatly his superior. She was a fine, handsome girl, the orphan21 daughter of up-country gentle-folks, who had died when she was eighteen, leaving her alone in the world and penniless.
Baxter, after a few days' acquaintance, drove into the dooryard of the house where she was a visitor and, showing her his two curly-headed boys, suddenly asked her to come and be their stepmother. She assented22, partly because she had nothing else to do with her existence, so far as she could see, and also because she fell in love with the children at first sight and forgot, as girls will, that it was their father whom she was marrying.
She was as plucky23 and clever and spirited as she was handsome, and she made a brave fight of it with Foxy; long enough to bring a daughter into the world, to name her Waitstill, and start her a little way on her life journey,--then she, too, gave up the struggle and died. Typhoid fever it was, combined with complete loss of illusions, and a kind of despairing rage at having made so complete a failure of her existence.
The next year, Mr. Baxter, being unusually busy, offered a man a good young heifer if he would jog about the country a little and pick him up a housekeeper24; a likely woman who would, if she proved energetic, economical, and amiable25, be eventually raised to the proud position of his wife. If she was young, healthy, smart, tidy, capable, and a good manager, able to milk the cows, harness the horse, and make good butter, he would give a dollar and a half a week. The woman was found, and, incredible as it may seem, she said "yes" when the Deacon (whose ardor26 was kindled27 at having paid three months' wages) proposed a speedy marriage. The two boys by this time had reached the age of discretion28, and one of them evinced the fact by promptly29 running away to parts unknown, never to be heard from afterwards; while the other, a reckless and unhappy lad, was drowned while running on the logs in the river. Old Foxy showed little outward sign of his loss, though he had brought the boys into the world solely30 with the view of having one of them work on the farm and the other in the store.
His third wife, the one originally secured for a housekeeper, bore him a girl, very much to his disgust, a girl named Patience, and great was Waitstill's delight at this addition to the dull household. The mother was a timid, colorless, docile31 creature, but Patience nevertheless was a sparkling, bright-eyed baby, who speedily became the very centre of the universe to the older child. So the months and years wore on, drearily32 enough, until, when Patience was nine, the third Mrs. Baxter succumbed33 after the manner of her predecessors34, and slipped away from a life that had grown intolerable. The trouble was diagnosed as "liver complaint," but scarcity35 of proper food, no new frocks or kind words, hard work, and continual bullying36 may possibly have been contributory causes. Dr. Perry thought so, for he had witnessed three most contented37 deaths in the Baxter house. The ladies were all members of the church and had presumably made their peace with God, but the good doctor fancied that their pleasure in joining the angels was mild compared with their relief at parting with the Deacon.
"I know I hadn't ought to put the care on you, Waitstill, and you only thirteen," poor Mrs. Baxter sighed, as the young girl was watching with her one night when the end seemed drawing near. "I've made out to live till now when Patience is old enough to dress herself and help round, but I'm all beat out and can't try any more."
"Do you mean I'm to take your place, be a mother to Patience, and keep house, and everything?" asked Waitstill quaveringly.
"I don't see but you'll have to, unless your father marries again. He'll never hire help, you know that!"
"I won't have another mother in this house," flashed the girl. "There's been three here and that's enough! If he brings anybody home, I'll take Patience and run away, as Job did; or if he leaves me alone, I'll wash and iron and scrub and cook till Patience grows up, and then we'll go off together and hide somewhere. I'm fourteen; oh, mother, how soon could I be married and take Patience to live with me? Do you think anybody will ever want me?"
"Don't marry for a home, Waitstill! Your own mother did that, and so did I, and we were both punished for it! You've been a great help and I've had a sight of comfort out of the baby, but I wouldn't go through it again, not even for her! You're real smart and capable for your age and you've done your full share of the work every day, even when you were at school. You can get along all right."
"I don't know how I'm going to do everything alone," said the girl, forcing back her tears. "You've always made the brown bread, and mine will never suit father. I suppose I can wash, but don't know how to iron starched38 clothes, nor make pickles39, and oh! I can never kill a rooster, mother, it's no use to ask me to! I'm not big enough to be the head of the family."
Mrs. Baxter turned her pale, tired face away from Waitstill's appealing eyes.
"I know," she said faintly. "I hate to leave you to bear the brunt alone, but I must!... Take good care of Patience and don't let her get into trouble.... You won't, will you?"
"I'll be careful," promised Waitstill, sobbing40 quietly; "I'll do my best."
"You've got more courage than ever I had; don't you s'pose you can stiffen41 up and defend yourself a little mite42?... Your father'd ought to be opposed, for his own good... but I've never seen anybody that dared do it." Then, after a pause, she said with a flash of spirit,--"Anyhow, Waitstill, he's your father after all. He's no blood relation of mine, and I can't stand him another day; that's the reason I'm willing to die."
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taverns
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| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
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woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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peppermint
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| n.薄荷，薄荷油，薄荷糖 | |
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colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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insistently
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| ad.坚持地 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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vacancy
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| n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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lapsed
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| adj.流失的，堕落的v.退步( lapse的过去式和过去分词 )；陷入；倒退；丧失 | |
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widower
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| n.鳏夫 | |
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relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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buffer
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| n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲 | |
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mortified
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| v.使受辱( mortify的过去式和过去分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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benighted
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| adj.蒙昧的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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meekness
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| n.温顺，柔和 | |
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pneumonia
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| n.肺炎 | |
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orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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plucky
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| adj.勇敢的 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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kindled
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| （使某物）燃烧，着火( kindle的过去式和过去分词 )； 激起（感情等）； 发亮，放光 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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drearily
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| 沉寂地，厌倦地，可怕地 | |
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succumbed
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| 不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死 | |
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predecessors
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| n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身 | |
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scarcity
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| n.缺乏，不足，萧条 | |
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bullying
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| v.恐吓，威逼( bully的现在分词 )；豪；跋扈 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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starched
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| adj.浆硬的，硬挺的，拘泥刻板的v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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pickles
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| n.腌菜( pickle的名词复数 )；处于困境；遇到麻烦；菜酱 | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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stiffen
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| v.(使)硬，(使)变挺，(使)变僵硬 | |
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mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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