George M. Baker

“ She had felt a glow of pleasure when she saw the flush on her mother’s cheek, the tears standing in her eyes, and a faint smile upon her lips. There was something very warming to her heart, when Aunt Hulda said, with a shake of the head,—
“What did I tell you? She’s a brave, good girl; and I knew she’d come out strong when she did come;” with a defiant glance at an invisible somebody, who might be inclined to doubt her.
Mrs. Thompson’s warm kiss of approval; Harry’s loud “Well done, pet! I’m proud of you!” ”

“ Becky, catching the inspiration of her cheerful spirit, overflowed with mirth and humor, and oft-repeated stories of tomboy adventures made them both merry over their work.
But Becky never lost sight of her independence. She worked gaily, but she worked with a will; and the sight of her wages when Saturday came was a reward of merit dearly prized. Steadily she worked through the hot months of summer, until she could count ninety dollars in her strong-box; and then a sad disaster befell the mill.
The machinery of a paper mill seldom stops, night or day, save for repairs. ”

“ Had you given the same attention to learning to keep house that you have to playing ball and tag, to robbing orchards and shooting the Basin, you would have been ready to take your place at your mother’s bed-side, or to take charge of cooking. You would have gained the good opinion of everybody, instead of being shunned as a tomboy; and you would not then have reproached yourself, as you do now, for being the cause of your mother’s illness.”
“I know it, I know; ’tis all my fault, ’tis all my fault!” sobbed Becky.
“Not altogether your fault, pet. You have had no one to lead you aright. ”

“ Becky knew that well enough. Why should she be told what she knew so well? It was nobody’s business, any way. Why didn’t people attend to their own affairs? She failed to recognize the voice, and, being in an ugly state of misery, snatched the soft hand from its resting-place, and flung it rudely from her, with her eyes defiantly closed.
Mrs. Thompson did not replace the hand, did not repeat the words. She stood looking at the girl a moment, then passed across the room, and took a seat by the window. This movement set Becky to thinking. ”

“ Almost always somebody comes along and gives me a ride. Everybody is very kind to me, and I get along famously.”
Ah, Jenny, if everybody had your cheerful [135] spirit, how much better and brighter the world would become! how pleasantly we should all get along! The hard, grinding times come to all, in different shapes, to be rightly borne in patience; but between the past and the coming are long reaches of level life which the sunshine of a contented spirit can make glad and happy.
That long walk opened a fresh path in the new life to Becky. For two years Jenny York had worked at the mill. ”

“ He leaped from his seat and took Jenny in his arms and placed her in the wagon.
“There’s room for you, too, Becky. Jump in. God bless you, girl. It’s hard to lose all I have in the world, but it would have been harder to bear had there been a life lost.”
Becky climbed into the wagon followed by Teddy who took up the reins and drove away. As they moved off the excited crowd, who had witnessed Becky’s valor, shouted until Becky was out of sight, “Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!” As they flew down the road Jenny poured into the ears of Teddy Sleeper the exciting narrative of the escape. ”

“ Why, there’s talent enough in this portfolio to give you a handsome living, independent of the dust and dirt of an ugly, noisy mill.”
“In that portfolio?” said Becky. “What do you mean, Harry?”
“Why, didn’t you know, Becky, that men have made fortunes by their skill with the pencil and brush?”
“Men! Men can do anything; but girls can’t.”
“Don’t be so sure of that Becky. I know a young lady who earns twice as much as you ever did in the paper mill, by the use of a pencil.”
“You know a young lady?” said Becky, with a flush. ”

“ There is much beauty, with little attempt at display, about the town. Trees line the street, vines climb about the houses, shrubs peep out at the palings, and flowers bloom everywhere without any seeming special assistance from the inhabitants.
There is very little change in the Cleverly of to-day from the Cleverly of twenty years ago. Then Captain Thompson’s house stood directly opposite the church, a large, square, two-story front, as grand as any in the place. At the rear, a lower building, used as a kitchen, ran out to one still lower, used as a wood-shed ”

“ The warlike parties in the kitchen covered her retreat with the clamor of their tongues.
“Now, Delia, I want you to listen to reason,” continued the captain, turning from the vanquished spinster to the silent woman, who had kept busily at work during the combat. “You’re too easy with them children. They want a strong hand to keep them in line. Now you know I’m a good friend to you and yours; and though Cyrus Sleeper treated me rather shabbily—”
“My gracious! hear that man talk!” blurted out Aunt Hulda. “It’s no such thing, and you know it. ”

“ Teddy followed her as she left the room.
“Teddy,” said Becky, solemnly, after she had softly closed the kitchen door behind them, “I expect we’re awful wicked.”
“Do you, though?” said Teddy, with staring eyes. “What for?”
“Because Sunday’s such a long day. Didn’t you hear what Aunt Hulda said? It’s the Lord’s day, and we can make it short or long, just as we try to do what he wants us to.” ”

“ The audacity of Aunt Hulda seemed to affect Mrs. Thompson far less severely than it did her husband, for that was the cause of her mirth.
Had Captain Thompson really been a bad man, his frequent outbursts of passion might have terrified, and his fierce threats have pained her; but a long acquaintance with the defect in his otherwise good disposition had made these stormy passages too familiar to be dreaded. His one defect—Mrs. Thompson’s cross—was obstinacy. Give the man his own way, and he was ready for any good act or work: thwart him in the slightest particular, and he was immovable. ”

“ Harry Thompson, at the age of fifteen, was a leader among the boys of Cleverly. He was brave, skilful, and mischievous. He was looked upon as a hero by his playfellows, whom he could incite to the performance of wonderful gymnastic feats, or to the perpetration of boyish tricks hardly as creditable. Among his enthusiastic admirers was Becky Sleeper, then ten years of age, whom, being a special favorite of his, he took pains to train in all the sports with which he was familiar. He was then attending the school; no interested student, but very quick and apt to learn, standing fair in his class. ”

“ Having emphatically launched this alarming threat, Becky applied herself to the task of raising the temperature of that truthful thermometer,—her nose,—which indicated a state of the weather but little above zero. This she did by a brisk application of her hand, with her eyes fastened upon her companions.
“Take care, Becky; you’ll rub it off. It’s very tender, and there’s but little of it,” said Harry, with a laugh. “Woolen mill, indeed! You can’t get up a blaze there; it’s brick.”
“Don’t think of such a thing, child. There’s no necessity for your earning money,” said Mrs. Thompson. ”

“ But, remembering the friends she must meet with the story of her defeat, remembering the captain patiently waiting in the street for her return, she yet lingered, hoping that a little reflection might produce a change in the temper of this gruff proprietor, and gain her a hearing. Profound silence; eyes glued to their sockets; not even the tools of the workmen broke the stillness, for these woodpeckers tapped no hollow oak tree, but pecked at solid boxwood, which emits no sound. Her eyes roved about the room until they fastened on the cricket-bat above the desk. ”

“ The captain had consumed more time than he intended in mustering his recruits; and it was past nine o’clock when he reached the school-house. His “chicks,” having exhausted their stock of cheers, had filed into the school-room, and not averse to Phil’s recommendation, had indulged in a noisy but good-humored frolic, in which they were joined by some twenty later arrivals. They were in the midst of an animated game of tag, when three distinct raps upon the teacher’s desk made them aware of the presence of a stranger. ”

“ There was a rush for out doors, and the school-room was quickly cleared of all but Becky and the teacher. Teddy had lingered a moment to exchange a word with Becky, in which “the Basin,” and “wait outside,” might be distinguished, and then had taken his leave.
“Now, Becky, let me hear you read.”
Becky arose, but instead of stepping to the platform, marched straight for the door. But not quite fast enough, for Harry stepped before her, closed the door, and locked it.
“Becky,” said he, “the first duty to be learned in school is obedience to the teacher. Go to the platform!” ”

“ This came involuntarily from the captain’s mouth after a very long silence.
“Why, captain,” said Becky, “she’s a splendid girl, and so smart with her pencil! And if they love each other,”—here she gave a gulp,—“I’m sure it’s only right that they should marry. And then Harry’s so good! O, it would be wicked to prevent his happiness. You won’t—will you, captain?” ”

“ On the other side was a sitting-room, with a door leading to a bed-room back of that, known as Becky’s room. Teddy’s quarters were above, under the roof. The house was scantily furnished with old-fashioned furniture and home-made carpets, all of which had seen their best many years before, and now showed veteran scars of long service.
In the kitchen were two females—Mrs. Sleeper and Hulda Prime. Mrs. Sleeper was a small, slender woman, with a face from which much beauty had faded out, a face which bore but one expression at all times—that of anxious [24] expectation. ”

“ As the door flew open, the cradle struck the captain’s shins, throwing him backwards, and pitching Becky out of the front door on to the grass. The captain scrambled to his feet, furious with pain and choler. Becky regained hers quickly and started for the barn, the captain in hot pursuit. Another stern chase. The captain soon desisted, mounted his horse, and rode away, while Miss Becky perched herself on the rickety fence, and saluted the captain’s ears, as he rode down the hill, with the refrain of the well-known song, “O, dear, what can the matter be?” ”

“ Thus preached Parson Arnold, the salaried fountain from which the good people of Cleverly drew the living waters for their spiritual needs. His auditors were Captain Thompson and his good wife, to whom the parson had just communicated the misfortunes of the Sleeper family, on the day of their occurrence, he having picked up the intelligence at the blacksmith’s shop, while awaiting the setting of a tooth into an iron rake, upon which he was now leaning in the sitting-room at Captain Thompson’s. ”

“ I cannot, I cannot!” and the poor woman burst into tears.
“Wal, I never!” cried Aunt Hulda. “Look round, indeed! Why, it’s bigamy, rank bigamy!”
“Well, well,” said the captain, quickly, anxious to avoid another battle, “do as you please about that; but let’s give the children a good bringing up. They’ve got to earn their own living, and the sooner they get a little learning the better.”
“The children should go to school, captain, I know,” said Mrs. Sleeper; “but I’m afraid they will not take kindly to the change.” ”

“ D’ye hear?”
“Don’t strike him, cap’n; please don’t. He’s not to blame;” and Becky plunged from the wall, and stood between the captain and her brother. “He didn’t want the apples—indeed, he didn’t. He don’t like apples—do you, Teddy?”
Teddy shook his head energetically, with a contemptuous look at the fruit.
“I helped him up the tree, and I’m to blame for it all. You oughtn’t to strike a boy for doing all he can to please his sister. If you must whip somebody, take me.”
“Stand out of the way, Tomboy. Your time will come soon enough—never fear.” And he pushed her from the path. ”

“ You know how it was destroyed.”
“Yes; and how a brave girl, at the risk of her own life, saved a weak and helpless companion,” burst out the captain. “O, I know it!”
“Yes,” said Becky, with heightened color, “the mill was burned. I had saved ninety dollars. O, I did so want to make it a hundred! But I couldn’t. I meant to bring it to you, to pay you in part for what you had done for me and mine. But I’ve brought you the ninety.” And Becky suddenly laid upon the desk before the eyes of the astonished captain her savings. ”

“ Becky was an adept in all boyish sports. She could climb a tree with the activity of a squirrel, ride a horse without saddle or bridle, pull a boat against the swift current of the river, “follow my leader” on the roughest trail, take a hand at base ball, play cricket, and was considered a valuable acquisition to either side in a game of football.
Teddy admired the vigor of his sister, was not jealous of her superior abilities, although he was unlucky in his pursuit of manly sports. ”

“ Becky ran to her brother, and threw her arms about his neck, to shield him from the whip.
“He shan’t strike you, Teddy. It’s all my fault. He shan’t touch you.”
Captain Thompson was an obstinate man. When he made up his mind to the doing of an act, nothing could stand in his way. Perhaps this accounted for the coolness of Teddy in the trying situation in which he was placed, who, remembering his promise, knew it must be fulfilled, and so offered no resistance.
“Don’t, Becky. D’ye want to smother a feller? Don’t be a ninny. It’s got to come. Go home—do.” ”