Elsie Singmaster

“ Daniel Swartz's eyes widened, and Jacob Kalb nudged him visibly.
"It is Sarah and the zwillings," he cried. "Sarah and the zwillings!"
Uncle Daniel had had a moment of severe fright. The lawyer had told him that they had only to go to the court-house to get the papers. But his fright passed.
"Pooh, what do I care?" he said. "I have my lawyer, and I paid him twenty-five dollars already. I am not afraid of no zwillings. Nor yet no school-teacher," he added under his breath. In Uncle Daniel's mind, the days of Miss Miflin in the Spring Grove School were numbered. ”

“ She had no home, and the children had no home, and William, if he came back, would have no home. The children might grow accustomed to life at Aunt Mena's and Uncle Daniel's,—she knew nothing then of Albert's homesickness,—but it would not be home. They would grow away from one another, they would not be like the children of one family. ”

“ She addressed the letter to Seattle, then, waking the twins, who had gone to sleep on the settle, she sent them to bed.
Ah, that old settle, how many times it had [Pg 61] held them! What would Uncle Daniel have done with that? He and Aunt Mena had settles of their own. Would he have left it there for Jacob Calf? And the dear, battered furniture, the high chair which had held them all, from William down to Albert,—would he have sold them? It would be like killing a live creature to break up that home. Sarah gave up her own dreams cheerfully. ”

“ Uncle Daniel's voice shook. He had had a hard day. He was desperately frightened about Albert, and Aunt 'Liza had not made him more comfortable by insisting that it was a punishment for wanting his sister's farm.
"He will know me," answered Sarah with conviction. Then she began to run up the lane toward the house. She could see a light in an upstairs room, and Aunt Eliza's face was already peering anxiously out of the kitchen door.
"Albert is worse," she called. "He is talking all the time." ”

“ But he said nothing of this in his speech to Sarah.
"A couple of years back," he began, "I made an offer to Wenner. I said to him, 'I will take William and bring him up right, and then he can have the farm when I am no longer here.' That is what I said to your pop. But he wouldn't have it. He had to send William instead to school."
"Then what did he get for his schooling?" asked Jacob Kalb.
"I never had no schooling," said Uncle Daniel. "And you see where I am. Nobody needs schooling but preachers and teachers."
"I don't believe in schooling," said Aunt Eliza.
"Nor I," said Aunt Mena. ”

“ Then I can take the twins with me to school in the morning and they won't need the gun. And why do they want to run away, where some one might pick them up? And who wants to pick them up?"
It was a second before Sarah answered. Suppose she should tell Miss Miflin about Uncle Daniel, and about Jacob Kalb, and all her anxieties and fears? But, no, it would never do. It made her ashamed to think of Uncle Daniel. She did not believe William would like her to tell. She frowned again at Louisa Ellen.
"Ach, they are a little wild," she explained. "They like their school, but they are a little wild." ”

“ The curious eyes which watched Miss Miflin and the children on the train were multiplied tenfold when they found themselves on the streets of the county seat. Miss Miflin was pretty enough to attract attention anywhere, but she had never before been so frankly stared at. She was well aware that the children in their striped shawls and little sunbonnets and gray home-knit stockings looked strange in a town where for twenty years little girls had been wearing coats and hats. ”

“ Then Sarah rushed forward.
"Ellen Louisa!" she cried. "Louisa Ellen!"
The twins had been carried to Aunt Mena's and put to bed without waking. Then Aunt Mena had sat down before the kitchen fire to explain to her husband why she had brought them home.
"Daniel, he says I shall take them. He takes the farm, and he will pay me each week a dollar for Ellie and Weezy. He has to, or I will not keep them. And I get my share of pop's and mom's things what Ellie had, too. They won't do these children no good. But I will not manage Ellie and Weezy like him. He is too cross. I will first tame them. ”

“ Like Miss Miflin! Ach, pop, do you surely mean it? But I am too dumb."
Her father laughed.
"No, you are not dumb. If you are good, and if you study, you dare come here."
Ah, but how could one study with a sick mother, and then a sick father and a baby [Pg 14] to look after, and twins like Ellen Louisa and Louisa Ellen to bring up, and—
Sarah went slowly back to the kitchen. It was like going into church, all was so still and solemn. Albert and the twins slept, Aunt 'Liza and Aunt Mena had taken their places on the opposite side of the table from Uncle Daniel and Jacob Kalb. ”

“ If they would only go home! She saw her uncle look at little Albert. He need not think she would give him up. Sarah almost laughed at the idea. Then she heard that her uncle had begun to speak again.
"Well, now I have another offer to make. Mena will take Ellie and Weezy. I will take Albert. He shall be Albert Swartz from now on. And Sarah can come also to us to help to work."
"You will have to be a good little girl and work right," admonished Aunt 'Liza.
"And you will have a good home," put in Jacob Kalb. "You and the zwillings (twins) ." ”

“ Then he changed his mind about lingering to talk to William. He opened the door [Pg 130] into the ante-room, and shook hands with them all.
"Make yourselves at home, and stay as long as you like. I'm coming out to Spring Grove to see you. And if you ever need a friend, I'll do my best to help you. And if—" he looked smilingly at William and Miss Miflin, then he concluded that this was not a time for joking. "God bless you," he said, and was gone.
It was not until then that Sarah felt the arm round her loosen its hold.
"He has Albert yet," she said. "I am afraid he will do him something." ”

“ It is not right that children have no home of their own. And my pop was for three years sick, and Ebert helped us, and we got good along. He worked for the half. And I can raise chickens. And the twins are always good for me, and Albert is always good for me, and Uncle Daniel, he knows I can get along. Albert is already by him, and he gave him candy till he was sick and I had to go to cure him. He don't know how to bring up children, and Aunt 'Lizie don't know. He—he is always after us. ”

“ Weaver knew—though Uncle Daniel did not as yet—that his cause was lost. Uncle Daniel put the money back into his pocket, shamefacedly. This would be another score to settle with the twins when this foolish court business was over. Then he heard that the judge was speaking.
"Whom would you like to have for your guardian, children?"
Sarah looked up at Miss Miflin. To her the word guardian meant unpleasant oversight, interference. Must they have a guardian at all? But Miss Miflin did not seem troubled in the least. ”

“ Could a more suitable person be found? The oldest of the children is fourteen—"
"I am fifteen," said Sarah.
The men in the court-room smiled, and the lawyer went on as though he had not heard.
[Pg 109]
"It will be years before she is of age. How can such a child possibly look after a farm and bring up three children? They do not want a guardian; few children would, after having been allowed to run loose for years. But in their own interest, and in the interest especially of these younger children, I ask that Daniel Swartz be made their guardian." ”

“ I thought that if Daniel Swartz hadn't been made guardian yet, perhaps there was some way of stopping it, and you could tell us to what official we should apply."
"There would have to be a hearing before the judge, and their uncle would have to be notified, so that he could defend himself," answered the gentleman slowly. He looked down once more at Sarah and the twins. "They are pretty young to be looking after themselves," he said. ”

“ Uncle Daniel had never forgiven them or him. William's success at the Normal School, where, with great sacrifice, he was sent, [Pg 9] irritated him; William's election as a township school director made him furious.
It is safe to say that Daniel Swartz and Jacob Kalb were the only persons in Upper Shamrock township who did not like William. Even Miss Miflin, the pretty school-teacher, went riding with him in his buggy, and all the farmers and the farmers' wives were fond of him.
"His learning doesn't spoil him," said Mrs. Ebert, who lived on the next farm. ”

“ Jacob Kalb alone said nothing. But Sarah saw him smile. He planned to live in the Wenner farmhouse.
"Will you plough?" demanded Uncle Daniel.
"Or plant the seeds?" asked Aunt 'Liza.
"Or harvest?" said Aunt Mena.
Sarah spoke quietly. "I have it all planned. Ebert will farm like always for the half."
"The half!" repeated Uncle Daniel. "Should we then give this good money to Ebert? The half! I will farm."
"Well, then," said Sarah. "But you must pay the half to us because we must live."
"Pay the half to you!" exclaimed Aunt Mena.
[Pg 19]
"It is our farm," replied Sarah. ”

“ She laughed because they were so irresistibly funny, and then she almost cried because they reminded her of plans and hopes once dear to her heart, which had been ended forever by misunderstanding and resentment. ”

“ Even though he did take the farm, he would support them, Sarah and Albert at his own home, and the twins at Aunt Mena's. [Pg 57] Only, if Sarah did not behave, she would have to go out to work.
There was triumph in every motion of Uncle Daniel's broad, heavy shoulders, as he went down the steps. He had began to think that education was a good thing for lawyers, also. It must be pleasant to get twenty-five dollars for writing a few words.
At a store at the corner, he bought five cents' worth of peanuts and a small bag of candy. Then they started home, drawing rein first at the Ebert farm. ”

“ Ebert appeared in response to a loud hulloa. He wondered why Swartz was stopping at his gate.
"When will you begin to plough for the little one?" Uncle Daniel asked pleasantly.
"To-morrow morning."
"Well, you needn't plough at all," said Uncle Daniel. "I am to be guardian, and I will plough."
When they reached the lane which led to the Wenner house, they saw Albert and the twins playing in the yard. Swartz pulled in [Pg 58] the horse with a jerk, then he jumped down with the little bags in his hand.
"Tell 'Lizie that Albert will be home for supper," he said. ”

“ Before he reached the door Jacob Kalb burst in.
"Sh—she will—she will sh-shoot me!" he cried wildly. "She was going for to fetch the shot-gun to shoot me!"
Aunt 'Liza threw herself against the door, shutting it almost in Aunt Mena's face.
"Where are you shot, Jacob?" she demanded.
"I am not yet shot," answered Jacob. "But I will be shot. I—" He felt suddenly his master's grip on his arm. "Ow! What is the matter?"
"Where is Albert?" asked Uncle Daniel. "She has no gun to shoot with. What are [Pg 46] you talking about? Where is Albert, I say?" ”

“ Sarah—" Uncle Daniel counted them off on his fingers. The lawyer's abrupt speech startled him, and he was afraid he might forget.
"How old?"
"She is fifteen, but she is little. She could not run a farm."
"But she thinks she can do everything," put in Jacob Kalb. "She got after me with a gun."
The lawyer smiled. He did not take kindly to Jacob Kalb, and it was amusing to think of a fifteen-year-old girl "getting after" him with a gun.
"Any others?"
"Yes, it is a couple of twins, Weezy and Ellie."
"How old?"
"About ten. But they are—"
"Any others?"
"Albert. He is four. ”

“ The twins seized caps and shawls and fled. Ellen Louisa made for the high road.
"What have you for!" cried Louisa Ellen. "That way she will look for us. We go this way to the Spring Grove road. Come on."
Ten minutes later, when Aunt Mena came to the door, they were not in sight. Aunt Mena was not much troubled. She did not [Pg 34] know that Sarah had been allowed to stay in the farmhouse.
"Pooh! they will go to Daniel, and he will fetch them home, or I will fetch them home. It is all one." ”

“ I am going to stay here and farm, and the trolley is coming almost to the door, and—"
The slender tower of the main building of [Pg 135] the "Normal" came back into Sarah's field of vision.
"Ach!" she cried. "Perhaps I could go to the school, and ride on the trolley back and forth, and keep house yet, and—"
William laughed.
"You shall go on the trolley back and forth, all right, little Dutchman," he said. "But you shall not keep house, yet."
"But who will keep house? It is always so many things to do!"
"What would you think of teacher for a housekeeper?"
"Teacher!" cried Sarah. "Miss Miflin?" ”

“ But he is not cross to Albert. Now these [Pg 31] twins shall do for a few days what they want. They dare go to school this year and next yet, then they must stop."
In the morning Aunt Mena began her process of taming, which would undoubtedly have proved successful with persons more amenable than the twins. In the first place, she let them sleep as long as they liked. When Ellen Louisa woke, she saw by the century-old clock, ticking on the high chest of drawers, that it was seven o'clock. She nudged Louisa Ellen, who scrambled out of bed. ”

“ Shall I pay for it, yet?"
"And then Sarah will have to come here?"
"Sarah will have to do what I say she shall do," answered Uncle Daniel. "And Albert and Ellie and Weezy. Everybody will have to do what I say they shall do."
Jacob Kalb gazed at him with admiration and delight. Daniel Swartz always found some way of accomplishing what he wished. It was true that he had not succeeded in adopting William Wenner. But he had [Pg 51] succeeded in punishing William, only Jacob knew how well. ”

“ What is the matter?"
"Jacob Kalb is living in our house," said Sarah hoarsely. "We have no home any more. The twins must go to Aunt Mena, and Albert to Uncle Daniel. We have no home any more. He took it away from us. It is not right."
Miss Miflin helped Sarah to her own chair. Then she took the county paper from her desk. ”