Charles Conrad Abbott

“ The harp at Pearson's was so constantly in Ruth's mind that she one day improvised one for herself, merely placing a single, tightly-drawn thread at the window's base and raising the sash so slightly that it would not be noticed as not all the way down. The result was pleasing. A faint, weird sound filled her little room, and, as she watched the setting sun and listened to this sweet whispering of the passing breeze, she composed many a short song in her artless way and stored them in her memory. ”

“ WITH the first sweet blossoms of the Epigæa, and long before the foremost warbler greets his old-time home with gleesome songs, our little chipmunk has roused himself from his long winter's nap, and, sniffing the south wind, as it whirls the dead leaves about, scampers to and fro while the sun shines, and dives into his winter-quarters, it may be for a whole week, if the north wind whispers to the tall beech-trees. ”

“ Father is like a sturdy tree that grows in the forest; my young cousins are like the wild roses that grow beneath the windows, and, mother, did not the Lord make them both?"
Ruth's mother scarcely suppressed a faint smile and merry twinkle in her eyes when thus questioned, but her husband's step was heard, and she had but time to reply, "Thee is too young yet, Ruth, to understand these things. Be careful that thy words do not prove a wile of the adversary."
"Does thee mean thy cousin Robert is the evil one?" ”

“ No, I do not like attending meeting as well as a ramble in the fields or over the meadows. I can think better there and come back more at peace with myself and the world than when I come from meeting. John knows this, and while he does not quite approve, perhaps, he has never taken me to task for such worldliness. Besides, mother," said Ruth, after a pause, and with a sudden lighting of her face and added lustre to her splendid eyes, "he has never had a chance to say much since." ”

“ If we wander about those quiet nooks and by-ways, where the first thrushes and warblers are likely to be seen these same months, we will find all the day long, and evening too, these birds "conspicuous for their absence." Not a chirp or twitter, save of the sparrows and tits of all the year, and the lingering snow-birds that seem to regret leaving our pleasant places. Far into the night we may remain, and only the startled chirp of some disturbed or dreaming bird, or the fret and scolding of little owls, greet our ears. ”

“ Why, the day I spent at the basket-maker's by the three beeches, and that poor Indian, 'that benighted soul,' as thee calls him, told me about the birds and beasts and where the eagle had its nest and the lynx its lair and where the rare flowers grew in the gloomy woods, I learned more than ever in any meeting, and been the better ever since, for I have seen the world look bright when others might say it was a dismal time o' year. We have no right to treat this beautiful world as beneath our notice because we do not understand it. ”

“ It forced it from the edge of the nest, to which it clung with its feet. Once free, the little fellow struggled to keep itself up, throwing up its wings, as a child would straighten out its arms when falling. ”

“ You shall not be left in doubt at any stage, but must trust implicitly, that there be no failure. A misstep might work endless mischief, you know. Isn't there some sort of a saying about a misstep—well, perhaps I'm thinking of something else; but trust us, John and I, and all will be well, and how the whole province will say 'amen!'"
"Robert, thee frightens me. Is what cousin says thy counsel too?" And Ruth gave an anxious glance towards John and held out her hand, as if she asked for his support. ”

“ At the first white frost, the hollow maple, that throughout the summer has securely housed a family of short-eared owls, now gives us evidence of the fact, by dropping the leafy screen that hid them well from view. While the young were yet babies the old tree shielded them well—now they are able to shift for themselves, and the tree offers them shelter, but nothing more. With the departure of the sunlight the owls are all astir, and it is funny enough to see them. ”

“ Why, it is like reading a play of the olden time. We were going to straighten some lines in the meadows to-day; let us see if we cannot straighten some of the lines in Ruth's life and yours, John. Come, let's step about and join Ruth before she reaches my lane, or the girls will see her coming and you'll have no chance to get in a word." And Robert took John by the arm and they hurried in a new direction, the former full of the new plan and eager as a boy for the bloodless fight, while the latter had ideas in plenty, but just now in a bewildering state of confusion. ”

“ Finally, in the chance occurrence of some peculiar habit have we not a trace of the former mode of life of some far-distant ancestral form; and, in the undeniable irregularity of all habits, can we not discern unmistakable indications of the gradual adoption of every habit, just as the various specific forms themselves gradually emerged from the archaic creature that, appearing in the dim past, foreshadowed the gigantic condor of the Andes, and the petulant humming-birds of our summer gardens? ”

“ There had been game after game, from sunset until now, an hour after supper, when fortune-telling had been proposed, and Ruth was to personate a gypsy queen. No one could do it better. She knew the whims and fancies of the young folks present, and made all happy by her witty suggestions of each applicant's future. Then, when there was little left to be said, she remarked, "But nobody has told me mine!"
"Let me do so," suggested Robert Pearson; and, taking his stand near Ruth, said, looking at the palm of her extended hand,—
"An excellent fortune shall be thine,
But not from across the sea. ”

“ Now, merely clambering over the bark of trees would not enable them to secure sufficient food, and imitation could not extend beyond this point; but here experience comes into play, and the gradual acquirement of the whole routine is easily traced. The bark of trees is nearly always cracked, and in the crevices are more insects than on the surface, and the habit, soon acquired, of search in the cracks of the bark is the one step from searching over the exposed surface to search beneath. Imitation led the ignorant young bird to the thrifty growth of timber, and not the tangled hedge-rows. ”

“ Matthew Watson, too, was wholly engrossed in the same worldly occupation of acquiring an estate.
To be poor and yet a Friend was simply a contradiction. Inability to acquire wealth argued an understanding too feeble to appreciate the teachings of George Fox. Business, the concerns of the world, may perhaps not have been quite six-sevenths of the Friends' concerns, but it would seem as if as much effort was required to shake the dust from their shoes, when they entered meeting on the first day, as to shake the worldliness from their thoughts. ”

“ It might be argued that a single act of a bird, at some one time, and under peculiar circumstances, does not constitute a habit—that it simply chanced to do so and so; but a second occurrence of the kind would result differently. It must be remembered, however, that where a bird is noticed in its natural haunts, once, even if for more than an hour—which is an unusually long observation—there are weeks when this same bird is unseen, and therefore what its acts may be are absolutely unknown. For this reason, an ingenious act of a bird may be frequently repeated, and almost certainly is. ”

“ Anne, is thy daughter ill?" "No, father," exclaimed Ruth, standing up before him and giving him one of those steady, fearless looks that made him lose confidence in himself,—"no, I am not ill, but I have had too much to happen in one day perhaps. This is indeed sudden; but as to leaving mother, no, not for any fortune in England or all the fortunes in all England, and thee can send word to Revell Stacy as soon as thee chooses." ”

“ A careful and long-continued study of our birds in their chosen haunts, free from all unnatural (i. e., human) persecution, has enabled me to detect but little variation in the flight-powers of the individuals of any species of bird observed—far less than in the general range of their habits: but still, such individual variation, I think, does exist. A bird is not a perfectly-adapted machine, capable of faultlessly filling its destined place in Nature, and unerringly performing everything required of it. ”

“ Pearson's orchard and the apple-trees that lined his lane were in full bloom, and the huge wild crab-tree, with its wealth of roseate blossoms, perfumed the air for a long distance. Millions of busy bees were humming among the flowers, and the birds that through the winter had been far away were now again in their summer homes and rejoicing as these returned wanderers always do. ”

“ Careful observation will enable any one to see clearly that every bird has a considerable range of utterance. Observe two birds immediately after mating, and what a laughable caricature of a newly-married couple—say on their wedding-journey—are their actions and their low, ceaseless twittering! They also have their petty vexations and their little quarrels, in which the feminine voice is ever the louder and more rapid in its utterance, and its owner enjoys the precious privilege of the last word. ”