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A Modern Cinderella 1

Title: A Modern Cinderella

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Official Release Date: March, 2002 [Etext #3806] [Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] [The actual

date this etext first posted = 09/16/01]

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This edition produced by Jo Hogan.

A Modern Cinderella or The Little Old Shoe And Other Stories

by LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

A MODERN CINDERELLA: OR, THE LITTLE OLD SHOE DEBBY'S DEBUT BROTHERS NELLY'S

HOSPITAL

A MODERN CINDERELLA OR, THE LITTLE OLD SHOE

The Legal Small Print 6

HOW IT WAS LOST Among green New England hills stood an ancient house, many-gabled, mossy-roofed,

and quaintly built, but picturesque and pleasant to the eye; for a brook ran babbling through the orchard that

encompassed it about, a garden-plat stretched upward to the whispering birches on the slope, and patriarchal

elms stood sentinel upon the lawn, as they had stood almost a century ago, when the Revoiution rolled that

way and found them young.

One summer morning, when the air was full of country sounds, of mowers in the meadow, black- birds by the

brook, and the low of kine upon the hill-side, the old house wore its cheeriest aspect, and a certain humble

history began.

"Nan!"

"Yes, Di."

And a head, brown-locked, blue-eyed, soft- featured, looked in at the open door in answer to the call.

Just bring me the third volume of 'Wilhelm Meister,' there's a dear. It's hardly worth while to rouse such a

"Don't forget the Italian cream for dinner. I depend upon it; for it's the only thing fit for me this hot weather."

And Laura, the cool blonde, disposed the folds of her white gown more gracefully about her, and touched up

"Yes, father."

"Let me have plenty of clean collars in my bag, for I must go at once; and some of you bring me a glass of

Nan was tired, having risen with the birds,-- hurried, having many cares those happy little housewives never

anxious lines upon her forehead seem at home there, too patient to be burdened with the labor others should

have shared, too light of heart to be pent up when earth and sky were keeping a blithe holiday. But she was

one of that meek sisterhood who, thinking humbly of themselves, believe they are honored by being spent in

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To and fro she went, silent and diligent, giving the grace of willingness to every humble or distasteful task the

day had brought her; but some malignant sprite seemed to have taken possession of her kingdom, for rebellion

broke out everywhere. The kettles would boil over most obstreperously,-- the mutton refused to cook with the

meek alacrity to be expected from the nature of a sheep,--the stove, with unnecessary warmth of temper,

would glow like a fiery furnace,--the irons would scorch,--the linens would dry,--and spirits would fail,

though patience never.

Nan tugged on, growing hotter and wearier, more hurried and more hopeless, till at last the crisis came; for in

one fell moment she tore her gown, burnt her hand, and smutched the collar she was preparing to finish in the

most unexceptionable style. Then, if she had been a nervous woman, she would have scolded; being a gentle

girl, she only "lifted up her voice and wept."

"Behold, she watereth her linen with salt tears, and bewaileth herself because of much tribulation. But, lo!

Help cometh from afar: a strong man bringeth lettuce wherewith to stay her, plucketh berries to comfort her

withal, and clasheth cymbals that she may dance for joy."

The voice came from the porch, and, with her hope fulfilled, Nan looked up to greet John Lord, the

hands, the girl thought this plain young man the comeliest, most welcome sight she had beheld that day.

As he spoke, John gave his own gift in his mother's name, and bestowed himself in the wide window-seat,

where morning-glories nodded at him, and the old butternut sent pleasant shadows dancing to and fro.

Fire began to slacken. the kettles began to lull, the meat began to cook, the irons began to cool, the clothes

watched the change, and, though a lord of creation, abased himself to take compassion on the weaker vessel,

and was seized with a great desire to lighten the homely tasks that tried her strength of body and soul. He took

a comprehensive glance about the room; then, extracting a dish from he closet, proceeded to imbrue his hands

in the strawberries' blood.

"Oh, John, you needn't do that; I shall have time when I've turned the meat, made the pudding and done these

"As to the berry question, I might answer it with a gem from Dr. Watts, relative to 'Satan' and idle hands,' but

of my nature, that I shall certainly eat something hurtful, break something valuable, or sit upon something

crushable, unless you let me concentrate my energies by knocking on these young fellows' hats, and preparing

them for their doom."

Looking at the matter in a charitable light, Nan consented, and went cheerfully on with her work, wondering

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and know everything, she devoted herself to the task with great energy, going from Sue to Swedenborg with

perfect impartiality, and having different authors as children have sundry distempers, being fractious while

they lasted, but all the better for them when once over. Carlyle appeared like scarlet-fever, and raged violently

for a time; for, being anything but a "passive bucket," Di became prophetic with Mahomet, belligerent with

Cromwell, and made the French Revolution a veritable Reign of Terror to her family. Goethe and Schiller

alternated like fever and ague; Mephistopheles became her hero, Joan of Arc her model, and she turned her

black eyes red over Egmont and Wallenstein. A mild attack of Emerson followed, during which she was lost

in a fog, and her sisters rejoiced inwardly when she emerged informing them that

"The Sphinx was drowsy, Her wings were furled."

Poor Di was floundering slowly to her proper place; but she splashed up a good deal of foam by getting out of

her depth, and rather exhausted herself by trying to drink the ocean dry.

Laura, after the "midsummer night's dream " that often comes to girls of seventeen, woke up to find that youth

and love were no match for age and common sense. Philip had been flying about the world like a thistle-down

for five-and-twenty years, generous-hearted. frank, and kind, but with never an idea of the serious side of life

father of his love mildly objected to seeing her begin the world in a balloon with a very tender but very

The lovers listened, owned the truth of the old man's words, bewailed their fate, and yielded,-- Laura for love

of her father, Philip for love of her. He went away to build a firm foundation for his castle in the air, and

Laura retired into an invisible convent, where she cast off the world, and regarded her sympathizing sisters

throug a grate of superior knowledge and unsharable grief. Like a devout nun, she worshipped "St. Philip,"

slowly fell into a dreamy state, professing no interest in any mundane matter, but the art that first attacted

pale and still before her easel, day after day, filling her portfolios with the faces he had once admired. Her

sisters observed that every Bacchus, Piping Faun, or Dying Gladiator bore some likeness to a comely

countenance that heathen god or hero never owned; and seeing this, they privately rejoiced that she had found

such solace for her grief.

Mrs. Lord's keen eye had read a certain newly written page in her son's heart,--his first chapter of that

your keeping. You and Nan have known each other all your lives; yet, till this last visit, you never thought you

to be recalled. Go back to your work, dear, for another year; think of Nan in the light of this new hope:

compare her with comelier, gayer girls; and by absence prove the truth of your belief. Then, if distance only

makes her dearer, if time only strengthens your affection, and no doubt of your own worthiness disturbs you,

The Legal Small Print 15

John smiled at the motherly pride of her words, but answered with a wistful look.

"It seems very long to wait, mother. If I could just ask her for a word of hope, I could be very patient then."

"Ah, my dear, better bear one year of impatience now than a lifetime of regret hereafter. Nan is happy; why

disturb her by a word which will bring the tender cares and troubles that come soon enough to such

conscientious creatures as herself? If she loves you, time will prove it; therefore, let the new affection spring

and ripen as your early friendship has done, and it will be all the stronger for a summer's growth. Philip was

rash, and has to bear his trial now, and Laura shares it with him. Be more generous, John; make your trial,

bear your doubts alone, and give Nan the happiness without the pain. Promise me this, dear,--promise me to

hope and wait."

The young man's eye kindled, and in his heart there rose a better chivalry, a truer valor, than any Di's knights

had ever known.

"I'll try, mother," was all he said; but she was satisfied, for John seldom tried in vain.

Nan, one mild October night, as she put the last touches to certain airy raiment fashioned by her own skilful

"Laura looks like a cool Undine, with the ivy- wreaths in her shining hair; and Di has illuminated herself to

such an extent with those scarlet leaves. that I don't know what great creature she resembles most," said Nan,

beaming with sisterly admiration.

eye, the finest woman of the three is the dishevelled young person embracing the bed-post: for she stays at

and an imposition on the public."

As Di spoke, both the fashion-plates looked affectionately at the gray-gowned figure; but, being works of art,

they were obliged to nip their feelings in the bud, and reserve their caresses till they returned to common life.

"Put on your bonnet, and we'll leave you at Mrs. Lord's on our way. It will do you good, Nan; and perhaps

to tell her father of the new arrangement.

"Go, my dear, by alll means. I shall be writing; and you will be lonely if you stay. But I must see my girls; for

I caught glimpses of certain surprising phantoms flitting by the door."

man's edification: for with his fatherly pleasure there was mingled much mild wonderment at the amplitude of

The Legal Small Print 16

array.

"Yes, I see my geese are really swans, though there is such a cloud between us that I feel a long way off, and

hardly know them. But this little daughter is always available, always my 'cricket on the hearth.'

As he spoke, her father drew Nan closer, kissed her tranquil face, and smiled content.

"Well, if ever I see picters, I see 'em now, and I declare to goodness it's as interestin' as playactin', every bit.

Miss Di with all them boughs in her head, looks like the Queen of Sheby, when she went a-visitin'

What's-his-name; and if Miss Laura ain't as sweet as a lally-barster figger, I should like to know what is."

In her enthusiasm, Sally gambolled about the girls, flourishing her milk-pan like a modern Miriam about to

sound her timbrel for excess of joy.

Laughing merrily, the two Mont Blancs bestowed themselves in the family ark, Nan hopped up beside Patrick,

and Solon, roused from his lawful slumbers, morosely trundled them away. But, looking backward with a last

"Good- night!" Nan saw her father still standing at the door with smiling countenance, and the moonlight

stood among the ruins with never a sign of weariness in her face, nor the memory of a care at her heart.-- for

they all went out when John came in.

"Now tell us how and why and when you came. Take off your coat, my dear! And here are the old slippers.

to-night? Betsey, you needn't put on your bonnet. And--oh, my dear boy, have you been to supper yet?

Mrs. Lord was a quiet soul, and her flood of questions was purred softly in her son's ear; for, being a woman,

she must talk, and, being a mother, must pet the one delight of her life, and make a little festival when the lord

of the manor came home. A whole drove of fatted calves were metaphorically killed, and a banquet appeared

with speed.

John was not one of those romantic heroes who can go through three volumes of hair-breadth escapes without

"I was coming next month, according to custom; but Philip fell upon and so tempted me, that I was driven to

had seen your father, Nan; for the poor lad was pining for Laura, and hoped his good behavior for the past

year would satisfy his judge and secure his recall. We had a fine talk with your father; and, upon my life,

Philip seemed to have received the gift of tongues, for he made a most eloquent plea, which I've stored away

of his probation, that he should see Laura when he liked, and, if all went well, should receive his reward in the

The Legal Small Print 17

spring. It must be a delightful sensation to know you have made a fellow-creature as happy as those words

made Phil to-night."

John paused, and looked musingly at the matronly tea-pot, as if he saw a wondrous future in its shine.

Nan twinkled off the drops that rose at the thought of Laura's joy, and said, with grateful warmth,--

"You say nothing of your own share in the making of that happiness, John; but we know it, for Philip has told

Laura in his letters all that you have been to him, and I am sure there was other eloquence beside his own

before father granted all you say he has. Oh, John, I thank you very much for this!

Mrs. Lord beamed a whole midsummer of delight upon her son, as she saw the pleasure these words gave

him, though he answered simply,--

"I only tried to be a brother to him, Nan; for he has been most kind to me. Yes, I said my little say to-night,

and gave my testimony in behalf of the prisoner at the bar; a most merciful judge pronounced his sentence,

and he rushed straight to Mrs. Leigh's to tell Laura the blissful news. Just imagine the scene when he appears,

the stir, and the romance of the thing. She'll cry over it to-night, and caricature it to-morrow.

"Don't stay late, remember, John!" And in Mrs. Lord's voice there was a warning tone that her son interpreted

aright.

"I'll not forget, mother."

And he kept his word; for though Philip's happiness floated temptingly before him, and the little figure at his

thinking manfully within himself. "I see many signs of promise in her happy face; but I will wait and hope a

little longer for her sake."

"Where is father, Sally?" asked Nan, as that functionary appeared, blinking owlishly, but utterly repudiating

came the scent of ripening fruit, and all the garden-plots lay ready to yield up their humble offerings to their

righteous life, and leaving only tender memories for the gleaners who had come so late.

The old man sat in the shadow of the tree his own hands planted; its fruit boughs shone ruddily, and its leaves

The Legal Small Print 18

"How fast he sleeps! Poor father! I should have come before and made it pleasant for him."

As she spoke, Nan lifted up the head bent down upon his breast, and kissed his pallid cheek.

"Oh, John, this is not sleep."

"Yes, dear, the happiest he will ever know."

For a moment the shadows flickered over three white faces and the silence deepened solemnly. Then John

reverently bore the pale shape in, and Nan dropped down beside it, saying, with a rain of grateful tears,--

"He kissed me when I went, and said a last good-night!'"

For an hour steps went to and fro about her, many voices whispered near her, and skilful hands touched the

beloved clay she held so fast; but one by one the busy feet passed out, one by one the voices died away, and

human skill proved vain.

embrace.

them, a sharp cry rent the air, steps rang upon the stairs, and two wild-eyed creatures came into the hush of

that familiar room, for the first time meeting with no welcome from their father's voice.

With one impulse, Di and Laura fled to Nan. and the sisters clung together in a silent embrace, more eloquent

sacredness of grief.

"Yes, we are poorer than we thought; but when everything is settled, we shall get on very well. We can let a

part of this great house, and live quietly together until spring; then Laura will be married, and Di can go on

their travels with them, as Philip wishes her to do. We shall be cared for; so never fear for us, John."

John nodded wisely, as he listened, and went away prophesying within himself,--

"She shall find something more than a child to love; and, God willing, shall be very happy till the girls come

home and--cannot have her."

old life. But the touch of sorrow drew them closer; and, though invisible, a beloved presence still moved

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among them, a familiar voice still spoke to them in the silence of their softened hearts. Thus the soil was made

ready, and in the depth of winter the good seed was sown, was watered with many tears, and soon sprang up

green with a promise of a harvest for their after years.

Di and Laura consoled themselves with their favorite employments, unconscious that Nan was growing paler,

thinner, and more silent, as the weeks went by, till one day she dropped quietly before them, and it suddenly

became manifest that she was utterly worn out with many cares and the secret suffering of a tender heart

bereft of the paternal love which had been its strength and stay.

"I'm only tired, dear girls. Don't be troubled!, for I shall be up to-morrow," she said cheerily, as she looked

into the anxious faces bending over her.

But the weariness was of many months' growth, and it was weeks before that "to-morrow " came.

Laura installed herself as nurse, and her devotion was repaid four-fold; for, sitting at her sister's bedside, she

learned a finer art than that she had left. Her eye grew clear to see the beauty of a self-denying life, and in the

depths of Nan's meek nature she found the strong, sweet virtues that made her what she was.

Then remembering that these womanly attributes were a bride's best dowry, Laura gave herself to their

had tongues, direful would have been the history of that crusade against frost and fire, indolence and

inexperience. But they were dumb, and Di scorned to complain, though her struggles were pathetic to behold,

and her sisters went through a series of messes equal to a course of "Prince Benreddin's" peppery tarts. Reality

turned Romance out of doors; for, unlike her favorite heroines in satin and tears, or helmet and shield, Di met

Pitcher" shouldered her gun, and marched to her daily martyrdom in the kitchen with as heroic a heart as the

Mind won the victory over matter in the end, and Di was better all her days for the tribulations and the

triumphs of that time; for she drowned her idle fancies in her wash-tub, made burnt-offerings of selfishness

and pride, and learned the worth of self-denial, as she sang with happy voice among the pots and kettles of her

pleasant that none find the heart to grumble as they do when other matrons set their premises a-dust. Her

hand-maids, wind and rain and sun, swept, washed, and garnished busily, green carpets were unrolled,

apple-boughs were hung with draperies of bloom, and dandelions, pet nurslings of the year, came out to play

The Legal Small Print 20

From the South returned that opera troupe whose manager is never in despair, whose tenor never sulks, whose

prima donna never fails, and in the orchard bona fide matinees were held, to which buttercups and clovers

crowded in their prettiest spring hats, and verdant young blades twinkled their dewy lorgnettes, as they bowed

and made way for the floral belles.

May was bidding June good-morrow, and the roses were just dreaming that it was almost time to wake, when

John came again into the quiet room which now seemed the Eden that contained his Eve. Of course there was

a jubilee; but something seemed to have befallen the whole group, for never had they appeared in such odd

frames of mind. John was restless, and wore an excited look, most unlike his usual serenity of aspect.

Nan the cheerful had fallen into a well of silence and was not to be extracted by any Hydraulic power, though

she smiled like the June sky over her head. Di's peculiarities were out in full force, and she looked as if she

would go off like a torpedo at a touch; but through all her moods there was a half-triumphant, half-remorseful

expression in the glance she fixed on John. And Laura, once so silent, now sang like a blackbird, as she flitted

to and fro; but her fitful song was always, "Philip, my king."

John felt that there had come a change upon the three, and silently divined whose unconscious influence had

a flutter to the stoutest heart; but though the "man" had come, the "hour" had not. So, by way of steadying his

He looked at Di. The inevitable book was on her knee, but its leaves were uncut; the strong- minded knob of

hair still asserted its supremacy aloft upon her head, and the triangular jacket still adorned her shoulders in

defiance of all fashions, past, present, or to come; but the expression of her brown countenance had grown

which she regarded with never a scornful word for the Co."

He looked at Laura. She was before her easel as of old; but the pale nun had given place to a blooming girl,

who sang at her work, which was no prim Pallas, but a Clytie turning her human face to meet the sun.

"John, what are you thinking of?"

He stirred as if Di's voice had disturbed his fancy at some pleasant pastime, but answered with his usual

true."

She paused a moment, then went on with softened voice and earnest mien:--

"You think I am a blind and selfish creature. So I am, but not so blind and selfish as I have been; for many

book than any father's library can give me, and I have read it with a love and admiration that grew stronger as

The Legal Small Print 21

I turned the leaves. Henceforth I take it for my guide and gospel, and, looking back upon the selfish and

neglectful past, can only say, Heaven bless your dear heart, Nan!"

Laura echoed Di's last words; for, with eyes as full of tenderness, she looked down upon the sister she had

lately learned to know, saying, warmly,--

"Yes, 'Heaven bless your dear heart, Nan!' I never can forget all you have been to me; and when I am far away

with Philip, there will always be one countenance more beautiful to me than any pictured face I may discover,

there will be one place more dear to me than Rome. The face will be yours, Nan, always so patient, always so

serene; and the dearer place will be this home of ours, which you have made so pleasant to me all these years

by kindnesses as numberless and noiseless as the drops of dew."

"Dear girls, what have I ever done, that you should love me so?" cried Nan, with happy wonderment, as the

tall heads, black and golden, bent to meet the lowly brown one, and her sisters' mute lips answered her.

Then Laura looked up, saying, playfully,--

when I thanked him for a piece of justice we had not expected of him, he gruffly told me he had never paid the

debt, never meant to pay it, for it was outlawed, and we could not claim a farthing. John, I have laughed at

you, thought you stupid, treated you unkindly; but I know you now, and never shall forget the lesson you have

taught me. I am proud as Lucifer, but I ask you to forgive me, and I seal my real repentance so-- and so."

With tragic countenance, Di rushed across the room, threw both arms about the astonished young man's neck

strong-minded theories by crying like the weakest of her sex. Laura, with "the ruling passion strong in death,"

still tried to draw, but broke her pet crayon, and endowed her Clytie with a supplementary orb, owing to the

dimness of her own. And Nan sat with drooping eyes, that shone upon her work, thinking with tender pride,--

They know him now, and love him for his generous heart."

Di spoke first, rallying to her colors, though a little daunted by her loss of self-control.

success; for, once moved, her will, like a battering-ram, would knock down the obstacles her wits could not

surmount. John believed in her most heartily, and showed it, as he answered, looking into her resolute face,--

fortune, I'll claim it with enormous interest; but, believe me, I feel already doubly repaid by the esteem so

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generously confessed, so cordially bestowed, and can only say, as we used to years ago,--'Now let's forgive

and so forget."

But proud Di would not let him add to her obligation, even by returning her impetuous salute; she slipped

away, and, shaking off the last drops, answered with a curious mixture of old freedom and new respect,--

"No more sentiment, please, John. We know each other now; and when I find a friend, I never let him go. We

have smoked the pipe of peace; so let us go back to our wigwams and bury the feud. Where were we when I

lost my head? and what were we talking about?"

"Cinderella and the Prince."

As she spoke, John's eye kindled, and, turning, he looked down at Nan, who sat diligently ornamenting with

microscopic stitches a great patch going on, the wrong side out.

"Yes,--so we were; and now taking pussy for the godmother, the characters of the story are well

personated,--all but the slipper," said Di, laughing, as she thought of the many times they had played it

her cue, saying--

" No need for us to try it, Laura; for it wouldn't fit us, if our feet were as small as Chinese dolls; our parts are

played out; therefore 'Exeunt wicked sisters to the music of the wedding-bells.'"

And pouncing upon the dismayed artist, she swept her out and closed the door with a triumphant bang.

John went to Nan, and, dropping on his knee as reverently as the herald of the fairy tale, he asked, still

smiling, but with lips grown tremulous,--

"Will Cinderella try the little shoe, and--if it fits--go with the Prince?"

But Nan only covered up her face, weeping happy tears, while all the weary work strayed down upon the

no pain when I should tell it, as I am trying to tell it now. This little shoe has been mv comforter through this

me than flower or ring; for, when I saw how worn it was, I always thought of the willing feet that came and

went for others' comfort all day long; when I saw the little bow you tied, I always thought of the hands so

diligent in serving any one who knew a want or felt a pain; and when I recalled the gentle creature who had

one day dare to ask if she would walk beside me all my life and be my 'angel in the house.' Will you, dear?

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Believe me, you shall never know a weariness or grief I have the power to shield you from."

Then Nan, as simple in her love as in her life, laid her arms about his neck, her happy face against his own,

and answered softly,--

"Oh, John, I never can be sad or tired any more!"

DEBBY'S DEBUT.

On a cheery June day Mrs. Penelope Carroll and her niece Debby Wilder, were whizzing along on their way

to a certain gay watering-place, both in the best of humors with each other and all the world beside. Aunt Pen

was concocting sundry mild romances, and laying harmless plots for the pursuance of her favorite pastime,

match-making; for she had invited her pretty relative to join her summer jaunt, ostensibly that the girl might

see a little of fashionable life, but the good lady secretly proposed to herself to take her to the beach and get

her a rich husband, very much as she would have proposed to take her to Broadway and get her a new bonnet:

for both articles she considered necessary, but somewhat difficult for a poor girl to obtain.

had introduced the young philosopher to a new existence, and the working-day world seemed to have

she was travelling like any lady of the land with man- and maid-servant at her command, and that she was

leaving work and care behind her for a month or two of novelty and rest.

When these agreeable facts were fully realized, and Aunt Pen had fallen asleep behind her veil, Debby took

history of Martin Chuzzlewit. The sun blazed, the cars rattled, children cried, ladies nodded, gentlemen longed

Debby read on, unconscious of all about her, even of the pair of eves that watched her from the Opposite

corner of the car. A Gentleman with a frank, strong-featured face sat therin, and amused himself by scanning

with thoughtful gaze the countenances of his fellow-travellers. Stout Aunt Pen, dignified even in her sleep,

was a "model of deportment" to the rising generation; but the student of human nature found a more attractive

book, never heeding that her bonnet was awry, and the wind taking unwarrantable liberties with her ribbons

souls he fell into evil ways, and permitted curiosity, that feminine sin, to enter in and take possession of his

and he was too distant to catch it on the fluttering leaves. Presently a stout Emerald-Islander, with her

wardrobe oozing out of sundry paper parcels, vacated the seat behind the two ladies; and it was soon quietly

occupied by the individual for whom Satan was finding such indecorous employment. Peeping round the little

reading, and forgot to look away again. Books were the desire of his life; but an honorable purpose and an

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falsehood could withstand its rough sincerity; for the waves washed paint and powder from worn faces, and

left a fresh bloom there. No ailment could entirely resist its vigorous cure; for every wind brought healing on

its wings, endowing many a meagre life with another year of health. No gloomy spirit could refuse to listen to

its lullaby, and the spray baptized it with the subtile benediction of a cheerier mood. No rank held place there;

for the democratic sea toppled down the greatest statesman in the land, and dashed over the bald pate of a

millionnaire with the same white-crested wave that stranded a poor parson on the beach and filled a fierce

reformer's mouth with brine. No fashion ruled, but that which is as old as Eden,--the beautiful fashion of

simplicity. Belles dropped their affectations with their hoops, and ran about the shore blithe-hearted girls

again. Young men forgot their vices and their follies, and were not ashamed of the real courage, strength, and

skill they had tried to leave behind them with their boyish plays. Old men gathered shells with the little

Cupids dancing on the sand, and were better for that innocent companionship; and young mothers never

looked so beautiful as when they rocked their babies on the bosom of the sea.

Debby vaguely felt this charm, and, yielding to it, splashed and sang like any beach-bird, while Aunt Pen

bobbed placidly up and down in a retired corner, and Mr. Leavenworth swam to and fro, expressing his firm

belief in mermaids, sirens, and the rest of the aquatic sisterhood, whose warbling no manly ear can resist.

the 'Dora,' if you'll accept me as a pilot. Stop a bit; I'll get a life-preserver and leaving Debby to flirt with the

"Dive for them! oh, dive for them! I shall be perfectly helpless, if they are lost!"

"I can't dive, Aunt Pen; but there is a man, let us ask him," said Debby, as a black head appeared to windward.

precipitately along the shore and vanished into her dressing-room.

Debby's keen sense of the ludicrous got the better of her respect, and peal after peal of laughter broke from her

lips, till a splash behind her put an end to her merriment, and, turning, she found that this friend in need was

her acquaintance of the day before. The gentleman seemed pausing for permission to approach, with much the

appearance of a sagacious Newfoundland, wistful and wet.

"Oh, I'm very glad it's you, Sir!" was Debby's cordial greeting, as she shook a drop off the end of her nose,

services now. But first let me introduce myself; and as I believe in the fitness of things, let me present you

The girl liked his manner, and, entering into the spirit of the thing, swept as grand a curtsy as her limited

drapery would allow saying, merrily,- - "I am Debby Wilder, or Dora, as aunt prefers to call me; and instead

distress is dreadful, as you see."

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"What have you lost? I will look for it, and bring it back in spite of the kelpies, if it is a human possibility,"

replied Mr. Evan, pushing his wet locks out of his eyes, and regarding the ocean with a determined aspect.

Debby leaned toward him, whispering with solemn countenance,--

"It is a set of teeth, Sir."

Mr. Evan was more a man of deeds than words, therefore he disappeared at once with a mighty splash, and

after repeated divings and much laughter appeared bearing the chief ornament of Mrs. Penelope Carroll's

comely countenance. Debby looked very pretty and grateful as she returned her thanks, and Mr. Evan was

guilty of a secret wish that all the worthy lady's features were at the bottom of the sea, that he might have the

satisfaction of restoring them to her attractive niece; but curbing this unnatural desire, he bowed, saying,

gravely,--

"Tell your aunt, if you please, that this little accident will remain a dead secret, so far as I am concerned, and I

am very glad to have been of service at such a critical moment."

found a clammy heap of blue flannel and despair. Mrs. Carroll's temper was ruffled, and though she joyfully

"I think you are very ungrateful, Aunt Pen; and if Mr. Evan should happen to be poor, it does not become me

to turn up my nose at him, for I'm nothing but a make-believe myself just now. I don't wish to go down upon

my knees to him, but I do intend to be as kind to him as I should to that conceited Leavenworth boy; yes,

kinder even; for poor people value such things more, as I know very well."

Mrs. Carroll instantly recovered her temper, changed the subject, and privately resolved to confine her

she had set her heart on disposing of to the best advantage.

Debby took her swimming-lesson with much success, and would have achieved her dinner with composure, if

white-aproned gentlemen had not effectually taken away her appetite by whisking bills-of-fare into her hands,

her, and blandly rectify her frequent mistakes. She survived the ordeal, however, and at four p.m. went to

"Aunt Pen, are you a modest woman?" asked the young cruisader against established absurdities, as she came

into the presence-chamber that evening ready for the hop.

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"Why, of course I should, and be proud to own such a charming creature," regarding the slender white shape

with much approbation,--adding, with a smile, as she met the girl's eye,--

"Ah, I see the difficulty, now; you are disturbed because there is not a bit of lace over these pretty shoulders of

yours. Now don't be absurd, Dora; the dress is perfectly proper, or Madame Tiphany never would have sent it

home. It is the fashion, child; and many a girl with such a figure would go twice as decolletee, and think

nothing of it, I assure you."

Debby shook her head with an energy that set the pink heather-bells a-tremble in her hair, and her color

deepened beautifully as she said, with reproachful eyes,--

"Aunt Pen, I think there is a better fashion in every young girl's heart than any Madame Tiphany can teach. I

am very grateful for all you have done for me, but I cannot go into public in such an undress as this; my

mother would never allow it, and father never forgive it. Please don't ask me to, for indeed I cannot do it even

for you."

Debby looked so pathetic that both mistress and maid broke into a laugh which somewhat reassured the young

Well, I should be anything but that, if I wore this gown in its present waistless condition; so here is a remedy

which will prevent such a calamity and ease my mind."

As she spoke, Debby tied on her little blonde fichu with a gesture which left nothing more to be said.

Victorine scolded, and clasped her hands; but Mrs. Carroll, fearing to push her authority too far, made a virtue

"Have your own way, Dora, but in return oblige me by being agreeable to such persons as I may introduce to

you; and some day, when I ask a favor, remember how much I hope to do for you, and grant it cheerfully."

me to wear an orange-colored gown, or dance with the plainest, poorest man in the room, and I'll do it; for

a garland. She was the creature that she seemed, and, yielding to the influence of the hour, danced to the

the girlish figure as if it were a symbol of their early aspirations dawning freshly from the dimness of their

past. More than one old man thought again of some little maid whose love made his boyish days a pleasant

memory to him now. More than one smiling fop felt the emptiness of his smooth speech, when the truthful

happy-hearted creature once!"

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"That Mr. Evan does not seem very anxious to claim our acquaintance, after all, and I think better of him on

that account. Has he spoken to you to-night, Dora?" asked Mrs. Carroll, as Debby dropped down beside her

after a "splendid polka."

"No, ma'am, he only bowed. You see some people are not so presuming as other people thought they were; for

we are not the most attractive beings on the planet; therefore a gentleman can be polite and then forget us

without breaking any of the Ten Commandments. Don't be offended with him yet, for he may prove to be

some great creature with a finer pedigree than any of your first families.' Mr. Leavenworth, as you know

everybody, perhaps you can relieve Aunt Pen's mind, by telling her something about the tall, brown man

standing behind the lady with salmon-colored hair."

Mr. Joe, who was fanning the top of Debby's head with the best intentions in life, took a survey, and answered

readily,--

"Why, that's Frank Evan. I know him, and a deused good fellow he is,--though he don't belong to our set, you

know."

two. Who and what is the man?" asked Mrs. Carroll, relenting at once toward a person who was favorably

off to get righted, and here he is, looking like a tombstone. I've a regard for Frank, for he took care of me

through the smallpox a year ago, and I don't forget things of that sort; so, if you wish to be introduced, Mrs.

Carroll, I'll trot him out with pleasure, and make a proud man of him."

the warmth of his words, she graciously assented, and the youth departed on his errand. Mr. Evan went

charms of the other, and soon glided into the conversation with the ease of a most accomplished courtier.

"Now I must tear myself away, for I'm engaged to that stout Miss Bandoline for this dance. She's a friend of

my sisLer's, and I must do the civil, you know; powerful slow work it is, too, but I pity the poor soul,--upon

stammer a remonstrance and beat a hasty retreat, wondering how on earth she came to know that his favorite

style of making himself agreeable to one young lady was by decrying another.

lively tongue, for strangers may not understand that it is nothing but the sprightliness of your disposition

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which sometimes runs away with you."

"It was only a quotation, and I thought you would admire anything Mr. Leavenworth said, Aunt Pen," replied

Debby, demurely.

Mrs. Carroll trod on her foot, and abruptly changed the conversation, by saying, with an appearance of deep

interest,--

"Mr. Evan, you are doubtless connected with the Malcoms of Georgia; for they, I believe, are descended from

the ancient Evans of Scotland. They are a very wealthy and aristocratic family, and I remember seeing their

coat-of-arms once: three bannocks and a thistle."

Mr. Evan had been standing before them with a composure which impressed Mrs. Carroll with a belief in his

gentle blood, for she remembered her own fussy, plebeian husband, whose fortune had never been able to

purchase him the manners of a gentleman. Mr. Evan only grew a little more erect, as he replied, with an

untroubled mien,--

father was a farmer, my grandfather a blacksmith, and beyond that my ancestors may have been

chose to earn them," and the contempt she felt for those "who had no sympathy with the humbler classes, no

interest in the welfare of the race," and many more moral reflections as new and original as the

Multiplication-Table or the Westminster Catechism. To all of which Mr. Evan listened with polite deference,

though there was something in the keen intelligence of his eye that made Debby blush for shallow Aunt Pen,

would a hen-coop.

"Dora, Mr. Ellenborough is coming this way; you have danced with him but once, and he is a very desirable

partner; so, pray, accept, if he asks you," said Mrs. Carroll, watching a far-off individual who seemed steering

his zigzag course toward them.

her brows with a somewhat irate expression.

lady with a prejudice in favor of decency. His moving in 'circles' is just what I complain of; and if he is an

ornament, I prefer my society undecorated. Aunt Pen, I cannot make the nice distinctions you would have me,

and a sot in broadcloth is as odious as one in rags. Forgive me, but I cannot dance with that silver- labelled

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Debby was a genuine little piece of womanhood; and though she tried to speak lightly, her color deepened, as

she remembered looks that had wounded her like insults, and her indignant eyes silenced the excuses rising to

her aunt's lips. Mrs. Carroll began to rue the hour she ever undertook the guidance of Sister Deborah's

headstrong child, and for an instant heartily wished she had left her to bloom unseen in the shadow of the

parsonage; but she concealed her annoyance, still hoping to overcome the girl's absurd resolve, by saying,

mildly,--

"As you please, dear; but if you refuse Mr. Ellenborough, you will be obliged to sit through the dance, which

is your favorite, you know."

Debby's countenance fell, for she had forgotten that, and the Lancers was to her the crowning rapture of the

night. She paused a moment, and Aunt Pen brightened; but Debby made her little sacrifice to principle as

heroically as many a greater one had been made, and, with a wistful look down the long room, answered

steadily, though her foot kept time to the first strains as she spoke,--

"Then I will sit, Aunt Pen; for that is preferable to staggering about the room with a partner who has no idea

of the laws of gravitation."

"Shall I have the honor of averting either calamity?" said Mr. Evan, coming to the rescue with a devotion

dance went Debby hardly knew, for the conversation fell upon books, and in the interest of her favorite theme

she found even the "grand square" an impertinent interruption, while her own deficiences became almost as

great as her partner's; yet, when the music ended with a flourish, and her last curtsy was successfully

achieved, she longed to begin all over again, and secretly regretted that she was engaged four deep.

"How do you like our new acquaintance, Dora?" asked Aunt Pen, following Joe Leavenworth with her eye, as

"Very much; and I'm glad we met as we did, for it makes things free and easy, and that is so agreeable in this

ceremonious place," replied Debby, looking in quite an opposite direction.

very charming young man, just the sort of person to make a pleasant companion for a few weeks. These little

glad you are willing I should know him, for I shall enjoy talking about my pet heroes with him as a relief from

Mrs. Carroll was a woman of one idea; and though a slightly puzzled expression appeared in her face, she

listened approvingly, and answered, with a gracious smile,--

"Of course, I should not object to your knowing such a person, my love; but I'd no idea Joe Leavenworth was

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a literary man, or had known much trouble, except his father's death and his sister Clementina's

runaway-marriage with her drawing-master."

Debby opened her brown eyes very wide, and hastily picked at the down on her fan, but had no time to correct

her aunt's mistake, for the real subject of her commendations appeared at that moment, and Mrs. Caroll was

immediately absorbed in the consumption of a large pink ice.

"That girl is what I call a surprise-party, now," remarked Mr. Joe confidentially to his cigar, as he pulled off

his coat and stuck his feet up in the privacy of his own apartment. "She looks as mild as strawberries and

cream till you come to the complimentary, then she turns on a fellow with that deused satirical look of hers,

and makes him feel like a fool. I'll try the moral dodge to-morrow and see what effect that will have; for she is

mighty taking, and I must amuse myself somehow, you know."

"How many years will it take to change that fresh-hearted little girl into a fashionable belle, I wonder?"

thought Frank Evan, as he climbed the four flights that led to his "sky-parlor."

"What a curious world this is!" mused Debby, with her nightcap in her hand. "The right seems odd and rude,

I have made my Declaration of Independence, and Aunt Pen must be ready for a Revolution if she taxes me

"Good night, mother! I'll face temptation steadily. I'll try to take life cheerily, and do nothing that shall make

your dear face a reproach, when it looks into my own again."

Then Debby said her prayers like any pious child, and lay down to dream of pulling buttercups with Baby

with varying pleasures and increasing interest to more than one young debutante.

Mrs. Carroll did her best, but Debby was too simple for a belle, too honest for a flirt, too independent for a

fine lady; she would be nothing but her sturdy little self, open as daylight, gay as a lark, and blunt as any

Puritan. Poor Aunt Pen was in despair, till she observed that the girl often "took" with the very peculiarities

which she was lamenting; this somewhat consoled her, and she tried to make the best of the pretty bit of

homespun which would not and could not become velvet or brocade. Seguin, Ellenborough, & Co. looked

with lordly scorn upon her, as a worm blind to their attractions. Miss MacRimsy and her "set" quizzed her

unmercifully behind her back, after being worsted in several passages of arms; and more than one successful

mamma condoled with Aunt Pen upon the terribly defective education of her charge, till that stout matron

could have found it in her heart to tweak off their caps and walk on them, like the irascible Betsey Trotwood.

But Debby had a circle of admirers who loved her with a sincerity few summer queens could boast; for they

were real friends, won by gentle arts, and retained by the gracious sweetness of her nature. Moon-faced babies

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interest in their affairs; and a melancholy old Frenchman blessed her with the enthusiasm of his nation,

because she put a posy in the button-hole of his rusty coat, and never failed to smile and bow as he passed by.

Yet Debby was no Edgworth heroine preternaturally prudent, wise, and untemptable; she had a fine crop of

piques, vanities, and dislikes growing up under this new style of cultivation. She loved admiration, enjoyed

her purple and fine linen, hid new-born envy, disappointed hope, and wounded pride behind a smiling face,

and often thought with a sigh of the humdrum duties that awaited her at home. But under the airs and graces

Aunt Pen cherished with such sedulous care, under the flounces and furbelows Victorine daily adjusted with

groans, under the polish which she acquired with feminine ease, the girl's heart still beat steadfast and strong,

and conscience kept watch and ward that no traitor should enter in to surprise the citadel which mother-love

had tried to garrison so well.

In pursuance of his sage resolve, Mr. Joe tried the "moral dodge," as he elegantly expressed it, and, failing in

that, followed it up with the tragic, religious, negligent, and devoted ditto; but acting was not his forte, so

Debby routed him in all; and at last, when he was at his wit's end for an idea, she suggested one, and

completed her victory by saying pleasantly,--

"You took me behind the curtain too soon, and now the paste-diamonds and cotton-velvet don't impose upon

his mind.

Debby always had a look of welcome when he came, always treated him with the kindness of a generous

woman who has had an opportunity to forgive, and always watched the serious, solitary man with a great

figures pacing the sands at sunrise with the peace of early day upon their faces and the light of a kindred mood

undertone came and went between the mellow bass and silvery treble of the human voices with a melody that

lent another charm to interviews which soon grew wondrous sweet to man and maid. Aunt Pen seldom saw

the twain together, seldom spoke of Evan; and Debby held her peace, for, when she planned to make her

innocent confessions, she found that what seemed much to her was nothing to another ear and scarcely worth

and earnest, hoarded deep within herself, the other frivolous and gay for all the world to criticize. But those

Fight weeks came and went,--eight wonderfully happy weeks to Debby and her friend; for "propinquity" had

captivation of Joe Leavenworth. He had become "himself" to such an extent that a change of identity would

have been a relief; for the object of his adoration showed no signs of relenting, and he began to fear, that, as

Debby said, her heart was "not in the market." She was always friendly, but never made those interesting

She never blushed when he pressed her hand, never fainted or grew pale when he appeared with a smashed

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trotting-wagon and black eye, and actually slept through a serenade that would have won any other woman's

soul out of her body with its despairing quavers. Matters were getting desperate; for horses lost their charms,

"flowing bowls" palled upon his lips, ruffled shirt-bosoms no longer delighted him, and hops possessed no

soothing power to allay the anguish of his mind. Mr. Seguin, after unavailing ridicule and pity, took

compassion on him, and from his large experience suggested a remedy, just as he was departing for a more

congenial sphere.

"Now don't be an idiot, Joe, but, if you want to keep your hand in and go through a regular chapter of

flirtation, just right about face, and devote yourself to some one else. Nothing like jealousy to teach

womankind their own minds, and a touch of it will bring little Wilder round in a jiffy. Try it, my boy, and

good luck to you!" --with which Christian advice Mr. Seguin slapped his pupil on the shoulder, and

disappeared, like a modern Mephistopheles, in a cloud of cigar-smoke.

"I'm glad he's gone, for in my present state of mind he's not up to my mark at all. I'll try his plan, though, and

flirt with Clara West; she's engaged, so it won't damage her affections; her lover isn't here, so it won't disturb

his; and, by Jove! I must do something, for I can't stand this suspense."

prompted it; but the more contented she seemed, the more violently Mr. Joe flirted with her rival, till at last

herself be served in a like peril, though etiquette was outraged and the customs of polite society turned upside

down.

eyesight over fancy-work.

"My dear Dora, spare my nerves; and if you have any regard for the proprieties of life, don't go romping in the

sun with a parcel of noisy boys. If you could see what an object you are, I think you would try to imitate Miss

Clara, who is always a model of elegant repose."

Miss West primmed up her lips, and settled a fold in her ninth flounce, as Mrs. Carroll spoke, while the whole

group fixed their eyes with dignified disapproval on the invader of their refined society. Debby had come like

a fresh wind into a sultry room; but no one welcomed the healthful visitant, no one saw a pleasant picture in

the bright-faced girl with windtossed hair and rustic hat heaped with moss and many-tinted shells; they only

saw that her gown was wet, her gloves forgotten, and her scarf trailing at her waist in a manner no well-bred

lady could approve. The sunshine faded out of Debby's face, and there was a touch of bitterness in her tone, as

she glanced at the circle of fashion-plates, saying with an earnestness which caused Miss West to open her

pale eyes to their widest extent,--

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Mrs. Carroll had nothing at hand to offer in reply to this appeal, and four ladies dropped their work to stare;

but Frank Evan looked in from the piazza, saying, as he beckoned like a boy,--

"I'll play with you, Miss Dora; come and make sand pies upon the shore. Please let her, Mrs. Carroll; we'll be

very good, and not wet our pinafores or feet."

Without waiting for permission, Debby poured her treasures into the lap of a certain lame Freddy, and went

away to a kind of play she had never known before. Quiet as a chidden child, she walked beside her

companion, who looked down at the little figure, longing to take it on his knee and call the sunshine back

again. That he dared not do; but accident, the lover's friend, performed the work, and did him a good turn

beside. The old Frenchman was slowly approaching, when a frolicsome wind whisked off his hat and sent it

skimming along the beach. In spite of her late lecture, away went Debby, and caught the truant chapeau just as

a wave was hurrying up to claim it. This restored her cheerfulness, and when she returned, she was herself

again.

"A thousand thanks; but does Mademoiselle remember the forfeit I might demand to add to the favor she has

already done me?" asked the gallant old gentleman, as Debby took the hat off her own head, and presented it

for the compassion you bestow on the poor exile, and I shall keep your memory very green through all my

life."

He kissed her hand, as if it were a queen's, and went on his way, thinking of the little daughter whose death

"Shall I tell you why I did what Aunt Pen would call a very unladylike and improper thing, Mr. Evans? "

"If you will be so kind;" and her companion looked delighted at the confidence about to be reposed in him.

"Somewhere across this great wide sea I hope I have a brother," Debby said, with softened voice and a wistful

man's countenance; for suddenly the moment dawned when love asserted its supremacy, and putting pride,

floated across the sea; but they came swiftly back when her companion spoke again, steadily and slow, but

with a subtile change in tone and manner which arrested them at once.

sweet domestic ties to make home beautiful and keep his nature warm, who longed most ardently to be so

The Legal Small Print 40

hospital one learns that cheerfulness is one's salvation; for, in an atmosphere of suffering and death, heaviness

of heart would soon paralyze usefulness of hand, if the blessed gift of smiles had been denied us.

In an hour I took possession of my new charge, finding a dissipated-looking boy of nineteen or twenty raving

in the solitary little room, with no one near him but the contraband in the room adjoining. Feeling decidedly

more interest in the black man than in the white, yet remembering the Doctor's hint of his being "high and

haughty," I glanced furtively at him as I scattered chloride of lime about the room to purify the air, and settled

matters to suit myself. I had seen many contrabands, but never one so attractive as this. All colored men are

called "boys," even if their heads are white; this boy was five-and-twenty at least, strong-limbed and manly,

and had the look of one who never had been cowed by abuse or worn with oppressive labor. He sat on his bed

doing nothing; no book, no pipe, no pen or paper anywhere appeared, yet anything less indolent or listless

than his attitude and expression I never saw. Erect he sat with a hand on either knee, and eyes fixed on the

bare wall opposite, so rapt in some absorbing thought as to be unconscious of my presence, though the door

stood wide open and my movements were by no means noiseless. His face was half averted, but I instantly

approved the Doctor's taste, for the profile which I saw possessed all the attributes of comeliness belonging to

his mixed race. He was more quadroon than mulatto, with Saxon features, Spanish complexion darkened by

exposure, color in lips and cheek, waving hair, and an eye full of the passionate melancholy which in such

he be thinking of? The sick boy cursed and raved, I rustled to and fro, steps passed the door, bells rang, and

to him at that idea; I wanted to know and comfort him; and, following the impulse of the moment, I went in

and touched him on the shoulder.

In an instant the man vanished and the slave appeared. Freedom was too new a boon to have wrought its

romance that had gathered round him fled away, leaving the saddest of all sad facts in living guise before me.

I saw the ghastly wound that had laid open cheek and forehead. Being partly healed, it was no longer

bandaged, but held together with strips of that transparent plaster which I never see without a shiver and swift

recollections of scenes with which it is associated in my mind. Part of his black hair had been shorn away, and

one eye was nearly closed; pain so distorted, and the cruel sabre-cut so marred that portion of his face, that,

human suffering and wrong than Michel Angelo's bronze prisoner. By one of those inexplicable processes that

me, and again I was possessed by my first impression so strongly that I involuntarily said,--

"Thank you, Sir."

Perhaps it was fancy, but I thought that in the look of mingled surprise and something like reproach which be

souls learn so soon,--

The Legal Small Print 47

"I ain't a white man, Ma'am, I'm a contraband."

"Yes, I know it; but a contraband is a free man, and I heartily congratulate you."

He liked that; his face shone, he squared his shoulders, lifted his head, and looked me full in the eye with a

brisk--

"Thank ye, Ma'am; anything more to do fer yer?"

"Doctor Franck thought you would help me with this man, as there are many patients and few nurses or

attendants. Have you had the fever?"

"No, Ma'am."

"They should have thought of that when they put him here; wounds and fevers should not be together. I'll try

to get you moved."

shades darker than myself, I suppose it must be considered an insolent, or at least an unmannerly one.

the whole land.

"You shall stay, then; for I would far rather have you than any lazy Jack. But are you well and strong

enough?"

"I guess I'll do, Ma'am."

He spoke with a passive sort of acquiescence,-- as if it did not much matter, if he were not able, and no one

would particularly rejoice, if he were.

"Yes, I think you will. By what name shall I call you?"

"Bob, Ma'am."

"I've got no other, Ma'am; we have our masters' names, or do without. Mine's dead, and I won't have anything

of his about me."

"Well, I'll call you Robert, then, and you may fill this pitcher for me, if you will be so kind."

The Legal Small Print 48

He went; but, through all the tame, obedience years of servitude had taught him, I could see that the proud

spirit his father gave him was not yet subdued, for the look and gesture with which he repudiated his master's

name were a more effective declaration of independence than any Fourth-of-July orator could have prepared.

We spent a curious week together. Robert seldom left his room, except upon my errands; and I was a prisoner

all day, often all night, by the bedside of the Rebel. The fever burned itself rapidly away, for there seemed

little vitality to feed it in the feeble frame of this old young man, whose life had been none of the most

righteous, judging from the revelations made by his unconscious lips; since more than once Robert

authoritatively silenced him, when my gentler bushings were of no avail, and blasphemous wanderings or

ribald camp-songs made my cheeks burn and Robert's face assume an aspect of disgust. The captain was a

gentleman in the world's eye, but the contraband was the gentleman in mine;--I was a fanatic, and that

accounts for such depravity of taste, I hope. I never asked Robert of himself, feeling that somewhere there was

a spot still too sore to bear the lightest touch; but, from his language, manner, and intelligence, I inferred that

his color had procured for him the few advantages within the reach of a quick-witted, kindly treated slave.

Silent, grave, and thoughtful, but most serviceable, was my contraband; glad of the books I brought him,

faithful in the performance of the duties I assigned to him, grateful for the friendliness I could not but feel and

show toward him. Often I longed to ask what purpose was so visibly altering his aspect with such daily

specimen of one branch of the chivalrous "F.F.Vs."

midnight, when some change will probably take place. Nothing but sleep or a miracle will keep him now.

Good night."

Away went the Doctor; and, devouring a whole mouthful of grapes, I lowered the lamp, wet the captain's

toward me, filling the air with his poisonous breath, and feebly muttering, with lips and tongue so parched that

the door of which stood ajar, that a fresh draught from his open window might carry the fever-fumes away

through mine. I could just see a long, dark figure, with the lighter outline of a face, and, having little else to do

just then, I fell to thinking of this curious contraband, who evidently prized his freedom highly, yet seemed in

no haste to enjoy it. Doctor Franck had offered to send him on to safer quarters, but he had said, "No, thank

me, because I had no power to lighten them. As I sat listening to the clocks from the steeples all about us, I

It was the captain, and some new terror seemed to have gifted him with momentary strength.

"Yes, here's Lucy," I answered, hoping that by following the fancy I might quiet him,--for his face was damp

with the clammy moisture, and his frame shaken with the nervous tremor that so often precedes death. His

dull eye fixed upon me, dilating with a bewildered look of incredulity and wrath, till he broke out fiercely.--

"That's a lie! she's dead,--and so's Bob, damn him!"

The Legal Small Print 49

Finding speech a failure, I began to sing the quiet tune that had often soothed delirium like this; but hardly had

the line,

"See gentle patience smile on pain,"

passed my lips, when he clutched me by the wrist, whispering like one in mortal fear,--

"Hush! she used to sing that way to Bob, but she never would to me. I swore I'd whip the Devil out of her, and

I did; but you know before she cut her throat she said she'd haunt me, and there she is!"

He pointed behind me with an aspect of such pale dismay, that I involuntarily glanced over my shoulder and

started as if I had seen a veritable ghost; for, peering from the gloom of that inner room, I saw a shadowy face,

with dark hair all about it, and a glimpse of scarlet at the throat. An instant showed me that it was only Robert

leaning from his bed's-foot, wrapped in a gray army-blanket, with his red shirt just visible above it, and his

long hair disordered by sleep. But what a strange expression was on his face! The unmarred side was toward

me, fixed and motionless as when I first observed it,--less absorbed now, but more intent. His eye glittered,

his lips were apart like one who listened with every sense, and his whole aspect reminded me of a hound to

away. Doctor Franck looked in at midnight, bade me keep all cool and quiet, and not fail to administer a

certain draught as soon as the captain woke. Very much relieved, I laid my head on my arms, uncomfortably

folded on the little table, and fancied I was about to perform one of the feats which practice renders

possible,--"sleeping with one eye open," as we say: a half-and-half doze, for all senses sleep but that of

the permission to "stand at ease." On this night, the experiment was a failure, for previous vigils, confinement,

all quiet, I dropped my heavy head on my arms, and, drowsily resolving to look up again in fifteen minutes,

fell fast asleep.

The striking of a deep-voiced clock woke me with a start. "That is one," thought I, but, to my dismay, two

strong hand put me back into my seat, and held me there. It was Robert. The instant my eye met his my heart

"No, Ma'am, yer can't stir an inch. Look here!"

it was empty.

The Legal Small Print 50

"Has he taken it?" I asked, more and more bewildered.

"I flung it out o' winder, Ma'am; he'll have to do without."

"But why, Robert? why did you do it?"

"Because I hate him!"

Impossible to doubt the truth of that; his whole face showed it, as he spoke through his set teeth, and launched

a fiery glance at the unconscious captain. I could only hold my breath and stare blankly at him, wondering

what mad act was coming next. I suppose I shook and turned white, as women have a foolish habit of doing

when sudden danger daunts them; for Robert released my arm, sat down upon the bedside just in front of me,

and said, with the ominous quietude that made me cold to see and hear,--

"Don't yer be frightened, Ma'am: don't try to run away, fer the door's locked an' the key in my pocket; don't

yer cry out, fer yer'd have to scream a long while, with my hand on yer mouth, before yer was heard. Be still,

an' I'll tell yer what I'm goin' to do."

"Lord help us! he has taken the fever in some sudden, violent way, and is out of his head. I must humor him

The captain moved, and feebly muttered, "Water!" Instinctively I rose to give it to him, but the heavy hand

came down upon my shoulder, and in the same decided tone Robert said,-=

"The water went with the physic; let him call."

"Do let me go to him! he'll die without care!"

"I mean he shall;--don't yer interfere, if yer please, Ma'am."

In spite of his quiet tone and respectful manner, I saw murder in his eyes, and turned faint with fear; yet the

fear excited me, and, hardly knowing what I did, I seized the hands that had seized me, crying,--

"No, no, you shall not kill him! it is base to hurt a helpless man. Why do you hate him? He is not your

righting wrong than by violence;--let me help you find it."

My voice trembled as I spoke, and I heard the frightened flutter of my heart; so did he, and if any little act of

seemed to put some question to himself; whatever it was, the answer was in my favor, for when his eyes rose

The Legal Small Print 51

again, they were gloomy, but not desperate.

"I will tell you, Ma'am; but mind, this makes no difference; the boy is mine. I'll give the Lord a chance to take

him fust; if He don't, I shall."

"Oh, no! remember, he is your brother."

An unwise speech; I felt it as it passed my lips, for a black frown gathered on Robert's face, and his strong

hands closed with an ugly sort of grip. But he did not touch the poor soul gasping there before him, and

seemed content to let the slow suffocation of that stifling room end his frail life.

"I'm not like to forget that, Ma'am, when I've been thinkin' of it all this week. I knew him when they fetched

him in, an' would 'a' done it long 'fore this, but I wanted to ask where Lucy was; he knows,--he told

to-night,--an' now he's done for."

"Who is Lucy?" I asked hurriedly, intent on keeping his mind busy with any thought but murder.

the clenched hands were spread before his face, and all I heard were the broken words,--

hand on his poor head, wounded, homeless, bowed down with grief for which I had no cure, and softly

smoothed the long neglected hair, pitifully wondering the while where was the wife who must have loved this

tender-hearted man so well.

him as only a woman thinking of a sister woman's wrong could hate. Robert looked up; his eyes were dry

give, the proudest stoop to receive.

"Yer see, Ma'am, his father,--I might say ours, if I warn't ashamed of both of 'em,--his father died two years

ago, an' left us all to Marster Ned,--that's him here, eighteen then. He always hated me, I looked so like old

off the next plantation down there in South Car'lina, when he found I liked her. I married her, all I could,

voice, as he stretched his arm across the bed, saying, with a terribly expressive gesture,--

"I half murdered him, an' to-night I'll finish."

"Yes, yes,--but go on now; what came next?"

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He gave me a look that showed no white man could have felt a deeper degradation in remembering and

confessing these last acts of brotherly oppression.

"They whipped me till I couldn't stand, an' then they sold me further South. Yer thought I was a white man

once;--look here!"

With a sudden wrench he tore the shirt from neck to waist, and on his strong brown shoulders showed me

furrows deeply ploughed, wounds which, though healed, were ghastlier to me than any in that house. I could

not speak to him, and, with the pathetic dignity a great grief lends the humblest sufferer, he ended his brief

tragedy by simply saying,--

"That's all. Ma'am. I've never seen her since, an' now I never shall in this world,--maybe not in t' other."

"But, Robert, why think her dead? The captain was wandering when he said those sad things; perhaps he will

retract them when he is sane. Don't despair; don't give up yet."

"No, Ma'am, I guess he's right; she was too proud to bear that long. It's like her to kill herself. I told her to, if

warn't!"

From the captain's lips there came a long faint sigh, and nothing but a flutter of the eyelids showed that he still

lived. A strange stillness filled the room as the elder brother held the younger's life suspended in his hand,

while wavering between a dim hope and a deadly hate. In the whirl of thoughts that went on in my brain, only

alone, locked in with a dying man and a lunatic?--for any mind yielded utterly to any unrighteous impulse is

chance only could bring me help before it was too late. But one weapon I possessed,--a tongue, --often a

woman's best defence: and sympathy, stronger than fear, gave me power to use it. What I said Heaven only

knows, but surely Heaven helped me; words burned on my lips, tears streamed from my eyes, and some good

angel prompted me to use the one name that had power to arrest my hearer's hand and touch his heart. For at

poor hopes? Who had taught him that self-control, self-sacrifice, are attributes that make men masters of the

submission? He had no religion, for he was no saintly "Uncle Tom," and Slavery's black shadow seemed to

darken all the world to him and shut out God. Should I have warned him of penalties, of judgments, and the

potency of law? What did he know of justice, or the mercy that should temper that stern virtue, when every

filial duty, to brotherly love? How had his appeals been answered? What memories had father and brother

The Legal Small Print 53

stored up in his heart to plead for either now? No,--all these influences, these associations, would have proved

worse than useless, had I been calm enough to try them. I was not; but instinct, subtler than reason, showed

me the one safe clue by which to lead this troubled soul from the labyrinth in which it groped and nearly fell.

When I paused, breathless, Robert turned to me, asking, as if human assurances could strengthen his faith in

Divine Omnipotence,--

"Do you believe, if I let Marster Ned live, the Lord will give me back my Lucy?"

"As surely as there is a Lord, you will find her here or in the beautiful hereafter, where there is no black or

white, no master and no slave."

He took his hand from his brother's throat, lifted his eyes from my face to the wintry sky beyond, as if

searching for that blessed country, happier even than the happy North. Alas, it was the darkest hour before the

dawn!--there was no star above, no light below but the pale glimmer of the lamp that showed the brother who

had made him desolate. Like a blind man who believes there is a sun, yet cannot see it, he shook his head, let

his arms drop nervously upon his knees, and sat there dumbly asking that question which many a soul whose

faith is firmer fixed than his has asked in hours less dark than this,--

"Where is God?" I saw the tide had turned, and strenuously tried to keep this rudderless lifeboat from slipping

to begin your new life a freeman, --yes, and a happy man; for when the captain is himself again, I will learn

where Lucy is, and move heaven and earth to find and give her back to you. Will you do this, Robert?"

Slowly, very slowly, the answer came; for the purpose of a week, perhaps a year, was hard to relinquish in an

"Good! Now you are the man I thought you, and I'll work for you with all my heart. You need sleep, my poor

fellow; go, and try to forget. The captain is still alive, and as yet you are spared the sin. No, don't look there;

I'll care for him. Come, Robert, for Lucy's sake."

Thank Heaven for the immortality of love! for when all other means of salvation failed, a spark of this vital

only upon happy homes, the Doctor went to Robert. For an hour I heard the murmur of their voices; once I

ministering to soul as well as sense. When he departed he took Robert with him, pausing to tell me he should

get him off as soon as possible, but not before we met again.

to fill the empty place. I tried to rest, but could not, with the thought of poor Lucy tugging at my heart, and

The Legal Small Print 54

was soon back at my post again, anxiously hoping that my contraband had not been too hastily spirited away.

Just as night fell there came a tap, and opening, I saw Robert literally "clothed and in his right mind." The

Doctor had replaced the ragged suit with tidy garments, and no trace of that tempestuous night remained but

deeper lines upon the forehead, and the docile look of a repentant child. He did not cross the threshold, did not

offer me his hand, --only took off his cap, saying, with a traitorous falter in his voice,--

"God bless you, Ma'am! I'm goin'."

I put out both my hands, and held his fast.

"Good-bye, Robert! Keep up good heart, and when I come home to Massachusetts we'll meet in a happier

place than this. Are you quite ready, quite comfortable for your journey?

"Yes, Ma'am, Yes; the Doctor's fixed everything; I'm goin' with a friend of his; my papers are all right, an' I'm

as happy as I can be till I find,--"

He stopped there; then went on, with a glance into the room,--

"I'm glad I didn't do it, an' I thank yer, Ma'am, fer hinderin' me,--thank yer hearty; but I'm afraid I hate him

tremulous--

"I never saw my baby, Ma'am."

sound of departing feet, and knew my contraband was gone.

When one feels an intense dislike, the less one says about the subject of it the better; therefore I shall merely

record that the captain lived,--in time was exchanged; and that, whoever the other party was, I am convinced

the Government got the best of the bargain. But long before this occurred, I had fulfilled my promise to

Robert; for as soon as my patient recovered strength of memory enough to make his answer trustworthy, I

"And she killed herself, when you sold Bob?"

"How the Devil did you know that?" he muttered, with an expression half-remorseful, half-amazed; but I was

satisfied, and said no more.

Lucy. It almost broke my heart to do it; but delay was weak, deceit was wicked; so I sent the heavy tidings.

The Legal Small Print 55

and very soon the answer came,--only three lines; but I felt that the sustaining power of the man's life was

gone.

"I thought I'd never see her any more; I'm glad to know she's out of trouble. I thank yer, Ma'am; an' if they let

us, I'll fight fer yer till I'm killed. which I hope will be 'fore long."

Six months later he had his wish, and kept his word.

Every one knows the story of the attack on Fort Wagner; but we should not tire yet of recalling how our

Fifty-Fourth, spent with three sleepless nights, a day's fast, and a march under the July sun, stormed the fort as

night fell, facing death in many shapes, following their brave leaders through a fiery rain of shot and shell,

fighting valiantly for God and Governor Andrew,"-- how the regiment that went into action seven hundred

strong came out having had nearly half its number captured, killed, or wounded, leaving their young

commander to be buried, like a chief of earlier times, with his body-guard around him, faithful to the death.

Surely, the insult turns to honor, and the wide grave needs no monument but the heroism that consecrates it in

our sight; surely, the hearts that held him nearest see through their tears a noble victory in the seeming sad

defeat; and surely, God's benediction was bestowed, when this loyal soul answered, as Death called the roll,

Fifty-Fourth. Feeling more satisfaction, as I assumed my big apron and turned up my cuffs, than if dressing

for the President's levee, I fell to work on board the hospital-ship in Hilton-Head harbor. The scene was most

familiar, and yet strange; for only dark faces looked up at me from the pallets so thickly laid along the floor,

and I missed the sharp accent of my Yankee boys in the slower, softer voices calling cheerily to one another,

people's free, we can afford to die."

Passing from bed to bed, intent on making one pair of hands do the work of three, at least, I gradually washed,

fed, and bandaged my way down the long line of sable heroes, and coming to the very last, found that he was

my contraband. So old, so worn, so deathly weak and wan, I never should have known him but for the deep

scar on his cheek. That side lay uppermost, and caught my eye at once; but even then I doubted, such an awful

That both assured and touched me, for, remembering that he had no name, I knew that he had taken mine. I

"As much as any one was able to, Ma'am."

The Legal Small Print 56

"Dear me, what shall I do for him?" thought Nelly. "He acts as baby did when she was so illl, and mamma put

her in a warm bath. I haven't got my little tub here, or any hot water, and I'm afraid the beetle would not like it

if I had. Perhaps he has pain in his stomach; I'll turn him over, and pat his back, as nurse does baby's when she

cries for pain like that."

She set the beetle on his legs, and did her best to comfort him; but he was evidently in great distress, for he

could not walk, and instead of lifting his emerald overcoat, and spreading the wings that lay underneath, be

turned over again, and kicked more violently than before. Not knowing what to do, Nelly put him into one of

her soft nests for Tony to cure if possible. She found no more patients in the garden except a dead bee, which

she wrapped in a leaf, and took home to bury. When she came to the grove, it was so green and cool she

longed to sit and listen to the whisper of the pines, and watch the larch-tassels wave in the wind. But,

recollecting her charitable errand, she went rustling along the pleasant path till she came to another patient,

over which she stood considering several minutes before she could decide whether it was best to take it to her

hospital, because it was a little gray snake, with bruised tail. She knew it would not hurt her, yet she was

afraid of it; she thought it pretty, yet could not like it: she pitied its pain, yet shrunk from helping it, for it had

a fiery eye, and a keep quivering tongue, that looked as if longing to bite.

"Will said there were sick rebels in his hospital, and one was very kind to him. It says, too, in my little book,

unkind, that she went through the rest of the wood quite forgetful of her work. A soft "Queek,queek!" made

her look up and listen. The sound came from the long meadow-grass, and, bending it carefully back, she found

a half-fledged bird, with one wing trailing on the ground, and its eyes dim with pain or hunger.

tree that stood near by. No nest was to be seen, no parent birds hovered overhead, and little Robin could only

Nelly ran to get both her chests, and, sitting down beside the bird, tried to feed it. To her joy it ate crumb after

crumb, as if it were half starved, and soon fluttered nearer a confiding fearlessness that made her very proud.

Soon baby Robin seemed quite comfortable, his eye brightened, he "queeked" no more, and but for the

his sides for fear he should hurt himself by trying to fly; and though he seemed amazed at her proceedings, he

before. But it never entered her innocent head that Tony had searched the wood and meadow before she was

lost her faith in fairies, so she fancied they too belonged to her small sisterhood, and presently it did really

seem impossible to doubt that the good folk had been at work.

pebbles, the ferns bend down to drink, and the funny tadpoles frolic in quieter nooks, where the sun shone,

The Legal Small Print 63

and the dragon-flies swung among the rushes. When Nelly turned to go on, her blue eyes opened wide. and

the handle of the ambulance dropped with a noise that caused a stout frog to skip into the water heels over

head. Directly in the middle of the bridge was a pretty green tent, made of two tall burdock leaves. The stems

were stuck into cracks between the boards, the tips were pinned together with a thorn, and one great buttercup

nodded in the doorway like a sleepy sentinel. Nelly stared and smiled, listened, and looked about on every

side. Nothing was seen but the quiet meadow and the shady grove, nothing was heard but the babble of the

brook and the cheery music of the bobolinks.

"Yes," said Nelly softly to herself, "that is a fairy tent, and in it I may find a baby elf sick with

whooping-cough or scarlet-fever. How splendid it would be! only I could never nurse such a dainty thing."

Stooping eagerly, she peeped over the buttercup's drowsy head, and saw what seemed a tiny cock of hay. She

had no time to feel disappointed, for the haycock began to stir, and, looking nearer, she beheld two silvery

gray mites, who wagged wee tails, and stretched themselves as if they had just waked up. Nelly knew that

they were young field-mice, and rejoiced over them, feeling rather relieved that no fairy had appeared, though

she still believed them to have had a hand in the matter.

she laid them in her snuggest bed, where they nestled close together, and fell fast asleep again.

All that morning they were very busy settling the new-comers, for both people and books had to be consulted

before they could decide what diet and treatment was best for each. The winged contraband had taken Nelly at

her word, and flown away on the journey home. Little Rob was put in a large cage, where he could use his

said that snakes were fond of it. The Babes in the Wood were put to bed in one of the rush baskets, under a

where he sunned himself all day. The Commodore was made happy in a tub of water, grass, and stones, and

Mr. Fuzz was put in a well-ventilated glass box to decide whether he would be a cocoon or not.

Tony had not been idle while his mistress was away, and he showed her the hospital garden he had made close

chick-weed and hemp for the birds, catnip for the pussies, and plenty of room left for whatever other patients

it, and died happier in her hospital than all alone in the shadowy wood.

The rest of Nelly's patients prospered, and of the many added afterward few died, because of Tony's skilful

treatment and her own faithful care. Every morning when the day proved fair the little ambulance went out

upon its charitable errand; every afternoon Nelly worked for the human sufferers whom she loved; and every

prescribed remedies for the patients, whom he soon knew by name and took much interest in. It was Nelly's

The Legal Small Print 64

holiday; but, though she studied no lessons, she learned much, and unconsciously made her pretty play both

an example and a rebuke for others.

At first it seemed a childish pastime, and people laughed. But there was something in the familiar words

"sanitary," "hospital" and "ambulance" that made them pleasant sounds to many ears. As reports of Nelly's

work went through the neighborhood, other children came to see and copy her design. Rough lads looked

ashamed when in her wards they found harmless creatures hurt by them, and going out they said among

themselves, "We won't stone birds, chase butterflies, and drown the girls' little cats any more, though we won't

tell them so." And most of the lads kept their word so well that people said there never had been so many

birds before as all that summer haunted wood and field. Tender- hearted playmates brought their pets to be

cured; even busy farmers bad a friendly word for the small charity, which reminded them so sweetly of the

great one which should never be forgotten; lonely mothers sometimes looked out with wet eyes as the little

ambulance went by, recalling thoughts or absent sons who might be journeying painfully to some far-off

hospital, where brave women waited to tend them with hands as willing, hearts as tender, as those the gentle

child gave to her self-appointed task.

At home the charm worked also. No more idle days for Nelly, or fretful ones for Will, because the little sister

after watching the patience of these lesser sufferers, and merrily said he would try to bear his own wound as

hours with her. She had not been there before that day, and when she reached the door she stood quite still and

wanted very much to cry again, far something beautiful had happened. She had often asked Will for a motto

for her hospital, and he had promised to find her one. She thought he had forgotten it; but even in the hurry of

that busy day he had found time to do more than keep his word, while Nelly sat indoors, lovingly brightening

as the wind tossed it to and fro. Below, on the smooth panel of the door, a skilful pencil had drawn two

arching ferns, in whose soft shadow, poised upon a mushroom, stood a little figure of Nurse Nelly, and

undeneath it another of Dr. Tony bottling medicine, with spectacles upon his nose. Both hands of the

miniature Nelly were outstretched, as if beckoning to a train of insects, birds and beasts, which was so long

lines. Such merry conceits as one found there! A mouse bringing the tail it had lost in some cruel trap, a

of looking at them. But presently she saw four lines clearly printed underneath her picture, ahd her childish

motto:-

"He prayeth best who loveth best All things, both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made

The Legal Small Print 65

End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of A Modern Cinderella by Louisa May Alcott

A Modern Cinderella

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