MRS. ABEL DAY had come to spend the afternoon with Aunt Abby Cole and they were seated at the two sitting-room1 windows, sweeping2 the landscape with eagle eyes in the intervals3 of making patchwork4.
"The foliage5 has been a little mite6 too rich this season," remarked Aunt Abby. "I b'lieve I'm glad to see it thinin' out some, so 't we can have some kind of an idee of what's goin' on in the village."
"There's plenty goin' on," Mrs. Day answered unctuously7; "some of it aboveboard an' some underneath8 it."
"An' that's jest where it's aggravatin' to have the leaves so thick and the trees so high between you and other folks' houses. Trees are good for shade, it's true, but there's a limit to all things. There was a time when I could see 'bout9 every-thing that went on up to Baxters', and down to Bart's shop, and, by goin' up attic10, consid'able many things that happened on the bridge. Bart vows11 he never planted that plum tree at the back door of his shop; says the children must have hove out plum stones when they was settin' on the steps and the tree come up of its own accord. He says he didn't take any notice of it till it got quite a start and then 't was such a healthy young bush he couldn't bear to root it out. I tell him it's kind O' queer it should happen to come up jest where it spoils my view of his premises12. Men folks are so exasperatin' that sometimes I wish there was somebody different for us to marry, but there ain't,--so there we be!"
"They are an awful trial," admitted Mrs. Day. "Abel never sympathizes with my head-aches. I told him a-Sunday I didn't believe he'd mind if I died the next day, an' all he said was: 'Why don't you try it an' see, Lyddy?' He thinks that's humorous."
"I know; that's the way Bartholomew talks; I guess they all do. You can see the bridge better 'n I can, Lyddy; has Mark Wilson drove over sence you've been settin' there? He's like one o' them ostriches13 that hides their heads in the sand when the bird-catchers are comin' along, thinkin' 'cause they can't see anything they'll never BE seen! He knows folks would never tell tales to Deacon Baxter, whatever the girls done; they hate him too bad. Lawyer Wilson lives so far away, he can't keep any watch o' Mark, an' Mis' Wilson's so cityfied an' purse-proud nobody ever goes to her with any news, bad or good; so them that's the most concerned is as blind as bats. Mark's consid'able stiddier'n he used to be, but you needn't tell me he has any notion of bringin' one o' that Baxter tribe into his family. He's only amusin' himself."
"Patty'll be Mrs. Wilson or nothin'," was Mrs. Day's response. "Both o' them girls is silk purses an' you can't make sows' ears of 'em. We ain't neither of us hardly fair to Patty, an' I s'pose it 's because she didn't set any proper value on Cephas."
"Oh, she's good enough for Mark, I guess, though I ain't so sure of his intentions as you be. She's nobody's fool, Patty ain't, I allow that, though she did treat Cephas like the dirt in the road. I'm thankful he's come to his senses an' found out the diff'rence between dross14 an' gold."
"It's very good of you to put it that way, Abby," Mrs. Day responded gratefully, for it was Phoebe, her own offspring, who was alluded15 to as the most precious of metals. "I suppose we'd better have the publishing notice put up in the frame before Sunday? There'll be a great crowd out that day and at Thanksgiving service the next Thursday too!"
"Cephas says he don't care how soon folks hears the news, now all's settled," said his mother. "I guess he's kind of anxious that the village should know jest how little truth there is in the gossip 'bout him bein' all upset over Patience Baxter. He said they took consid'able notice of him an' Phoebe settin' together at the Harvest Festival last evenin'. He thought the Baxter girls would be there for certain, but I s'pose Old Foxy wouldn't let 'em go up to the Mills in the evenin', nor spend a quarter on their tickets."
"Mark could have invited Patty an' paid for her ticket, I should think; or passed her in free, for that matter, when the Wilsons got up the entertainment; but, of course, the Deacon never allows his girls to go anywheres with men-folks."
"Not in public; so they meet 'em side o' the river or round the corner of Bart's shop, or anywhere they can, when the Deacon's back's turned. If you tied a handkerchief over Waitstill's eyes she could find her way blindfold16 to Ivory Boynton's house, but she's good as gold, Waitstill is; she'll stay where her duty calls her, every time! If any misfortune or scandal should come near them two girls, the Deacon will have no-body but himself to thank for it, that's one sure thing!"
"Young folks can't be young but once," sighed Mrs. Day. "I thought we had as handsome a turn-out at the entertainment last evenin' as any village on the Saco River could 'a' furnished: an' my Phoebe an' your Cephas, if I do say so as shouldn't, was about the best-dressed an' best-appearin' couple there was present. Also, I guess likely, they're startin' out with as good prospects17 as any bride an' groom18 that's walked up the middle aisle19 o' the meetin'-house for many a year.... How'd you like that Boston singer that the Wilsons brought here, Abby?--Wait a minute, is Cephas, or the Deacon, tendin' store this after-noon?"
"The Deacon; Cephas is paintin' up to the Mills."
"Well, Mark Wilson's horse an' buggy is meanderin' slowly down Aunt Betty-Jack's hill, an' Mark is studyin' the road as if he was lookin' for a four-leafed clover."
"He'll hitch20 at the tavern21, or the Edgewood store, an' wait his chance to get a word with Patience," said Aunt Abby. "He knows when she takes milk to the Morrills', or butter to the parsonage; also when she eats an' drinks an' winks22 her eye an' ketches her breath an' lifts her foot. Now he's disappeared an' we'll wait.. .. Why, as to that Boston singer,--an' by the way, they say Ellen Wilson's goin' to take lessons of her this winter,--she kind o' bewildered me, Lyddy! Of course, I ain't never been to any cities, so I don't feel altogether free to criticise23; but what did you think of her, when she run up so high there, one time? I don't know how high she went, but I guess there wa'n't no higher to go!"
"It made me kind o' nervous," allowed Mrs. Day.
"Nervous! Bart' an' I broke out in a cold sweat! He said she couldn't hold a candle to Waitstill Baxter. But it's that little fly-away Wilson girl that'll get the lessons, an' Waitstill will have to use her voice callin' the Deacon home to dinner. Things ain't divided any too well in this world, Lyddy."
"Waitstill's got the voice, but she lacks the trainin'. The Boston singer knows her business, I'll say that for her," said Mrs. Day.
"She's got good stayin' power," agreed Aunt Abby. "Did you notice how she held on to that high note when she'd clumb where she wanted to git? She's got breath enough to run a gristmill, that girl has! And how'd she come down, when she got good and ready to start? Why, she zig-zagged an' saw-toothed the whole way! It kind o' made my flesh creep!"
"I guess part o' the trouble's with us country folks," Mrs. Day responded, "for folks said she sung runs and trills better'n any woman up to Boston."
"Runs an' trills," ejaculated Abby scornfully. "I was talkin' 'bout singin' not runnin'. My niece Ella up to Parsonfield has taken three terms on the pianner an' I've heerd her practise. Scales has got to be done, no doubt, but they'd ought to be done to home, where they belong; a concert ain't no place for 'em... . There, what did I tell yer? Patience Baxter's crossin' the bridge with a pail in her hand. She's got that everlastin' yeller-brown, linsey-woolsey on, an' a white 'cloud' wrapped around her head with con'sid'able red hair showin' as usual. You can always see her fur's you can a sunrise! And there goes Rod Boynton, chasin' behind as usual. Those Baxter girls make a perfect fool o' that boy, but I don't s'pose Lois Boynton's got wit enough to make much fuss over the poor little creeter!"
Mark Wilson could certainly see Patty Baxter as far as he could a sunrise, although he was not intimately acquainted with that natural phenomenon. He took a circuitous24 route from his watch-tower, and, knowing well the point from which there could be no espionage25 from Deacon Baxter's store windows, joined Patty in the road, took the pail from her hand, and walked up the hill beside her. Of course, the village could see them, but, as Aunt Abby had intimated, there wasn't a man, woman, or child on either side of the river who wouldn't have taken the part of the Baxter girls against their father.
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sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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patchwork
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| n.混杂物；拼缝物 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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mite
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| n.极小的东西；小铜币 | |
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7
unctuously
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| adv.油腻地，油腔滑调地；假惺惺 | |
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8
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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attic
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| n.顶楼，屋顶室 | |
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11
vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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13
ostriches
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| n.鸵鸟( ostrich的名词复数 )；逃避现实的人，不愿正视现实者 | |
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14
dross
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| n.渣滓；无用之物 | |
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15
alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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blindfold
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| vt.蒙住…的眼睛；adj.盲目的；adv.盲目地；n.蒙眼的绷带[布等]； 障眼物，蒙蔽人的事物 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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18
groom
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| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
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aisle
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| n.（教堂、教室、戏院等里的）过道，通道 | |
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hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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22
winks
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| v.使眼色( wink的第三人称单数 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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23
criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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24
circuitous
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| adj.迂回的路的，迂曲的，绕行的 | |
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espionage
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| n.间谍行为，谍报活动 | |
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