Charles Conrad Abbott

“ 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." ”

“ 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?" ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I never heard a syllable, but it always seems to me, judging from appearances, that every group is gossiping about Ruth and John—John and Ruth."
Her mother could not repress a smile, although she tried to look serious. A good deal of her old self was welling up to the surface, but she said, "Has it never occurred to thee, Ruth, that thee might be giving more thought to thyself than others do concerning thee? Are we not too apt to hold ourselves at more than our real value? I think I have seen the world enough to say it is a common failing." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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." ”

“ The shop itself was a primitive affair, a long, low wooden shed, built of squared logs, and not unlike in general appearance many a dwelling in the lonely valley. There were two features, however, that appealed to every one who passed by. During summer and early autumn a superb, spreading oak near the shop door cast a welcome shade, wherein the lounger was well content to linger, and a roomy fireplace with its rude forge, that defied the most earnest efforts of winter to make the place cheerless even when storms raged without. ”

“ After all, it was not strange that observing people should continually associate John and Ruth in their minds, although so very seldom were they seen together. An aged Friend that day had expressed surprise when she overheard John humming a lively air to himself. "John, I am shocked at thy increasing worldliness. Has thee no greater concern than spending thy time with idle music and the world's follies?" ”

“ There was warm sunshine, a clear blue sky, the winding creek, now almost free from ice and glittering like polished gold; and everywhere faint traces of green showed in the sheltered nooks, where the warmth of the sun was held as one might hold water in the hollow of the hand. The air, the trees, the leafless shrubbery, alike were filled with birds. Over the meadows gathered the redwings fluting merrily ”

“ Ruth, each of us holds herself as the exception to everything undesirable."
"But, mother," Ruth insisted, "there is a difference. I do not concern myself with my neighbors, and why should I be singled out as the target for all their gossipy arrows? Would it not be more fitting, if I must be criticised, for the Friends to wait until I have really done something terrible, or—or—well—well, until John Bishop asks me to marry him? ”

“ Friend Pearson could not manage a canoe."
"But, John, alone, here."
The meaning of her words flashed across John's mind, and he was dumb. Could the world be so cruel? he thought. "Speak, Ruth, speak to me; it was the only way to thwart thy father's plans and save thee from a worse fate perhaps than the breath of scandal. Does thee put no trust in me?"
John's pleading brought Ruth to her better senses. ”

“ Do speak, mother," again implored Ruth.
"I cannot, indeed, I cannot," her mother replied, still gazing intently at the fire.
"Thy mother—" again began Matthew Watson.
"Father, this conversation must be between mother and myself. We hold a relation to ourselves with which thee has nothing to do, and I cannot help it if thee is pained by what thee calls my perversity. To go to England means to leave my mother, and she shall decide, and would have decided before this if thee had not so persistently interfered. ”

“ Father has said a decision must be reached, and I agree with him." And then, turning to her step-father, she asked, "Am I to read the letter myself, or is what thee has told me all that I am to know?"
"What I have told thee is all that thee need know, as I have already said to thee."
"Then if I err in judgment from ignorance of the truth, the sin will fall upon thee," Ruth replied, with a trace of anger in her voice.
"Ruth, Ruth, do have greater concern as to thy words. ”

“ John nearly lost his temper, and after some struggling with himself, finally said, in rather commanding tones, "This is not the time to give to such matters; let us heat the irons and fit them now." And William Blake, with an imploring look towards Matthew, for he longed to hear something of Ruth that he might repeat to any callers who might happen in, worked vigorously at the bellows and sent myriads of sparks darting up the chimney. ”

“ Father says that I may be the instrument of a great change among my people; but really, has thee ever discovered any converting tendencies in me? Father's words are not always in accord, for he has charged me with perverting others by my example. Oh, dear! I do wonder what England is like." And Ruth would go on steadily with her needlework, and if she looked up from it, her eyes would wander but in the one direction.
"What does thee think, mother," Ruth asked one day, "of my plan of having John make me two small oaken chests to hold all my worldly possessions? ”

“ Her comely figure, the grace of every movement, and the brightness of dark-blue eyes that the hideous bonnet of those bigoted days could not conceal, caused many a young head to be turned as she entered meeting, and this the elders, in sober array in the gallery, had too often noticed not to hint at the unseemliness of the habit. "It is a concern upon my mind that we should restrain our children more; their thoughts are too much of this world and too little of their souls' salvation," Friend Stacy had recently remarked, and Ruth had severely criticised him when she reached home. ”

“ She's a noble woman to go through with what she has had to and yet show up with a smiling face at times. I don't know how it is with you Quakers, some are so good and nice and some not so taking," replied Robert, in a way that showed he was talking as much to himself as to John Bishop.
"Is it not so with other people than the Friends? Where can you go and not find both saints and sinners?" asked John.
"It is easier to find the sinners, John, all times and everywhere. I never saw a saint, a real saint, but Ruth and her mother come as near to it as any this province is blessed with." ”

“ A merry bird is the foe of despondency, I've heard cousin Robert say, and I incline to many of his views."
"Ruth dear, I fear thee is not a Friend at heart; surely John Bishop, too, does not hold thy strange views."
"Mother, if it is strange or worldly or wicked to love a singing bird, then I am wicked all over and through and through. How often have I told thee this! And, mother, when I was a little girl and came into the house with my apron full of flowers and threw them in thy lap, thee would laugh and call me a little witch, and why should a few years make such a difference? ”

“ And with this vehement protest Ruth darted from the house, and before her parents could recover their astonishment, returned with an apron-full of scarlet autumn leaves and scattered them over the kitchen floor; then standing in front of her mother, who looked ill with fright, asked, "Would thee have the whole world steeped in dust and dinginess; never a blue sky or a rosy sunset? Always clouds above and bare ground beneath? ”

“ Say what he would to himself, Matthew did not find the outlook a pleasant one. What if she were the only woman on board? And with this thought the man's stern features sterner grew. He was taking a fearful responsibility on himself, and he knew it, and why? Because he had failed to make of Ruth a prim, spiritless Quakeress, blind to about all that makes a life worth living. A dull, grasping animal himself, nothing akin to pleasure ever cast a ray upon his mind that was not physical rather than intellectual. His occasional remarks in meeting had no bearing on his own life ”

“ Why can't I speak out?"
"How like a woman! Mad in love with her lover, and before then mad in love with herself. Always acting a part, and a fetching one, too, that made many a Quaker breast thump like flails on the threshing-floor, and now she tells us she hates acting. Why, Ruth, was it not your sweet acting, the part you played, that won John?"
"Is this your important business, Cousin Robert? If so, I will go on to the house."
"Now, who is acting, Ruth? As if you could leave John in that heartless way. But come, let us talk seriously." ”

“ John Bishop, to his great annoyance, was the hero of the hour, and when not being closely questioned was gazed at as the fortunate man who had rescued Ruth. The prominence of Matthew Watson in the community had, of course, much to do with such general interest in an incident which really had no heroic element. Indeed, one observing old man had been heard to say, "Had it been poor folks, none on 'em would so much as lookt out o' their winders." ”

“ But thy capital as now invested is worth something more than the original sum now, and I will make a proper agreement with thee when we meet at William Emley's," John replied, assuringly, and his timid partner felt much more as if every penny due him was to be really paid back, but a flood of conflicting impressions so confused the poor fellow he could find nothing to say. He had been in safe hands while with John, and to some extent knew his business, but what of this new venture with all the glittering generalities that Matthew Watson hung about it? ”

“ But Matthew's wife had taken matters in hand at the critical moment and astonished her overbearing husband by a firmness that was before then unsuspected. All attractiveness should not be sacrificed to the selfish convenience of the men. The landscape, as she saw it from the single window of her little parlor and from the two larger windows of the roomy kitchen, had several pleasing features, and these she succeeded in preserving, when the suggestion was made to clear the intervening ground of its scattered trees and cut a straight and level road to the creek's bank. ”

“ As Ruth grew to womanhood, Robert had watched her career with great interest and encouraged in every way her friendship with his own daughters, who were younger than she. It was a red-letter day to him when he discovered by mere chance the interest that she had excited in John Bishop's breast; for Friend though he professed to be, John was a Quaker of a different type, and recent events had made him more and more the friend of Robert. ”

“ It was the passing shower that makes the world clearer and brighter than before, and she lay down for a short nap, knowing that through the night she must be widely awake and quick to catch the signal, "when the owl hoots thrice in quick succession." ”