John Ames Mitchell

“ Molly Cabot told him, after learning this, that it would indicate a more serious Christian spirit if he paid for but a single pew and sat in it, he answered:
“But that spirit is just the evil I try to escape, for your good Christian is a hot sectarian. It is the one thing in his religion he will fight and die for, and it seems to me the one thing he ought to be ashamed of. If any one sect is right and the others wrong it is all a hideous joke on the majority, and a proper respect for the Creator prevents my believing in any such favoritism.” ”

“ The road was muddy, but that was a detail to a lover of nature, and Mr. Cabot, as he strode rapidly toward the village, experienced an elasticity and exhilaration that recalled his younger days. He felt more like dancing or climbing trees than plodding sedately along a turnpike. With a quick, youthful step he ascended the gentle incline that led to the Common, and if a stranger had [145] been called upon to guess at the gentleman’s age as he walked jauntily into the village with head erect, swinging his cane, he would more likely have said thirty years than sixty. ”

“ Cabot and Molly made their first visit to the farm, they noticed in the corner of a field a number of dejected horses huddled solemnly together. Most of them were well beyond middle age and bore the clearest indications of a future that was devoid of promise. They gazed at the visitors with listless eyes, and as a congregation seemed burdened with most of the physical imperfections of extreme antiquity.
“What on earth are those?” asked Mr. Cabot. “Revolutionary relics? They are too fat for invalids.” ”

“ It seemed a winter’s evening, as the three sat before the fire, the older man in the centre, the younger people on either side, facing each other. Mr. Cabot crossed his legs, and laying his magazine face downward upon his lap, said, “I confess I shall be glad to have the puzzle solved, as it is a little deep for me except on the theory that you are skilful liars. Molly I know to be unpractised in that art, but as for you, Amos, I can only guess what you may conceal under a truthful exterior.” ”

“ Molly hastened to his side and bent over him with an anxious question. In the full rays of the moon her head and neck with the white dress were almost luminous against the dim recesses of the room behind; and his eyes rested with a dazed, half-frightened look on the diamond crescent, then fell to her face, and up again to the jewels in her hair. With an effort he laid a hand upon her shoulder and answered, with a feeble smile, “The end has come, my Moll.” ”

“ Cabot. “That beauty was given him for the delectation of other mortals. To conceal it behind a book would be opposing the will of his Creator.”
“Poor Amos,” said Mr. Fettiplace with a smile, as he slowly shook his head. “His beauty is his curse. He regards it as a blight, is ashamed of it, and would give a good deal to look like other people. Everybody wonders who he is and where he came from. As for the women, they simply cannot keep their eyes away from him.” ”

“ Try and think you have been married for twenty years. Do you suppose the daisies giggle and the sun winks at the other planets every time we look out the window? Or that it is because Molly and Amos are spliced that the carnations blush and the violets hide their faces? ”

“ Judd. “Eight hundred thousand dollars!” and with a frown he pushed his chair from the table. The General misunderstood the movement, and said: “But, sir, there are few finer jewels in India, or even in the world!”
“Oh, that’s all right,” said Mr. Judd. “I’m not doubting their worth. It’s only kind of sudden,” and he drew his hands across his eyes, as if to shut out the dazzling mass that flashed balefully up at him from the table. For a New England farmer, Josiah Judd was a prosperous man. In fact he was the richest man in Daleford. ”

“ Long rows of carriages surmounted by sleepy coachmen extend along Madison Avenue and into the neighboring street. The temporary awning from the front door to the curbstone serves only to shield the coming and departing guest from the gaze of heaven, for the moon and stars are shining brightly, as if they also would like to enter. But when the front door opens, which is frequent, it emits a blast of music, taunting and defiant, reminding the outside universe of its plebeian origin. ”

“ Amos looked at once in her direction, and when he saw her he shook his hand and cried, in an angry voice:
“Run! Run! Your life depends on it!”
There was no time to say more, for the bull had wheeled and was again coming toward him. Molly turned and ran as she never ran before, and never before did so many thoughts flash through her mind. ”

“ Amos tried to smile, but his anger was evidently too serious a matter to be treated with disrespect. Mr. Cabot, after regarding for a moment the wrathful eyes that still followed the bull, continued:
“You are more than half barbarian, my war-like farmer. Must you do physical damage to everyone you dislike?”
“No, sir; but as a rule I should like to. As for loving your enemies—count me out. I love my friends. The man who pretends to love his enemies is either a hypocrite or a poor hater.” ”

“ One warm afternoon in August, when there were visitors at neither house, Amos and Molly climbed over a wall into a pasture, for a shorter cut toward home. The pasture was extensive, and their course lay diagonally across a long hill, beyond whose brow they could see nothing. A crimson sunshade and white dress were in dazzling contrast to the dull greens of the pasture, whose prevailing colors were from rocks and withered grass. Patches of wild bushes where the huckleberries were in overwhelming [173] majority necessitated either wide detours or careful navigating among thorns and briars. ”

“ With old-fashioned courtesy he gave her his arm into the dining-room, and as they seated themselves at table he said: “You look like your mother, Miss Molly, and I am glad of it; the same forehead and eyes, and the same kind expression. I was afraid when I saw you last you were going to look like your father. He isn’t so bad looking, considering the life he has led, but it would be a calamitous thing for a well-meaning girl to resemble any lawyer.” ”

“ As they stood by the open window, leaning against the sill, he tore open the envelope and began reading aloud, she looking idly out upon some haymakers in a neighboring field. Their voices came faintly to her ears, and they made a pleasant picture in the afternoon sunlight with the village spires, the tall elms, and the purple hills for a background. She wondered if India was at all like New England. ”

“ At this point Amos looked over toward Molly and added, with a faint smile, “I know just what your father is thinking. He is regretting that an otherwise healthy young man should develop such lamentable symptoms.”
“Not at all,” said Mr. Cabot. “It is very interesting. Go on.”
She felt annoyed by her father’s calmness. Here was the most extraordinary, the most [129] marvellous thing she had ever encountered, and yet he behaved as if it were a commonplace experience of every-day life. And he must know that Amos was telling the truth! But Amos himself showed no signs of annoyance. ”

“ These tender memories were a soothing recompense for descending to an earthly life. As the train moved away she whispered, “Good-by, honeymoon!”
“Don’t say that!” exclaimed Amos. “Let us hold on to it forever. I shall die a lover and I expect the same of you.”
The promise to Grandmother Jouvenal was not forgotten, and when they left the train at a little station in Maryland a carriage was awaiting them. As they entered the avenue and came in sight of the old house, Molly regarded her companion with eager eyes to be sure that he was properly impressed. ”

“ He took his sorrow with the same passionate recklessness that characterized his anger at the dinner-table. Mrs. Judd rested her hand upon the short black hair and tried to summon words of solace for a grief that seemed to threaten the integrity of his earthly body. She could only stroke his head and tell him not to be unhappy; that all would end well; that he should soon return home.
In the midst of these efforts the voice of Mr. Judd came around the corner calling out that the wagon was here. The boy jumped to his feet as if he had received a shock. ”

“ The day itself, such a day as comes oftenest in September, when the clear air is tempered to [213] the exact degree for human comfort by the rays of a summer sun, was one in which the most indifferent view could shine without an effort. Below them, at the foot of the hill, lay the village of Daleford with its single street. Except the white spires of the churches, little of it could be seen, however, beneath the four rows of overhanging elms. Off to their left, a mile or two away, the broad Connecticut, through its valley of elms, flowed serenely to the sea ”

“ She could not restrain a smile. “It must be a pleasant thing to tell a man!”
“A man? Oh, that would be a different matter!”
There was a barbaric simplicity in all this that she could not help respecting, particularly as she felt he was telling the truth: and she sympathized with him heartily in this opinion of Horace Bennett. While openly unforgiving and vindictive, he appeared to regard his enemy with the half-serious contempt of a gentle but experienced philosopher. But she remembered her resolution.
“Mr. Fettiplace has been telling us about that white jacket. ”

“ Now Amos, with all his practical common-sense, I know to be unusually romantic and imaginative. He loves the mystic and the fabulous. The other day while we were fishing together—thank you, Maggie does love a fresh place for my slippers every night—the other day I discovered, from several things he said, that he was an out-and-out fatalist. But I think we can weaken his faith in all that. He is too young and healthy and has too free a mind to remain a permanent dupe. ”

“ This partner, while adapting himself to her own movements, carried her with a gentle force that relieved her of all volition. While, in effect, borne up and along by the music, she was governed by a pressure that was hardly perceptible; yet, at a critical instant, when a reckless dancer came plunging toward them, she felt herself swung lightly from his path, to relapse at once into a tranquil security and [51] float peacefully away. This floating with the music was so easy, so very drowsy and relaxing, that her consciousness almost drifted with the rhythm of the waltz. ”

“ Cabot raised a hand in protest. “I know you too well, Amos, to doubt your sincerity. The worst I can possibly believe is that you yourself are misled: that you are perhaps attaching a false significance to a series of events that might be explained in another way.” ”

“ She was interested in all that went on about her, was never bored and never dull. It was of course a little disappointing that a girl with such an ancestry as Molly’s, on her mother’s side, should give herself to an unknown Judd from an obscure New England village; but her fondness for Amos soon consoled her for the mésalliance. Molly had a strong desire to acquaint her grandmother with the ancestral facts of the case, but Amos refused to give his consent. Those discoveries in the attic he insisted they must keep to themselves, at least while he was alive. ”

“ When Vishn’u in his Kr’ishn’a-Avatâra, or eighth incarnation, was hard-pressed in his war against the Kurus, he received great assistance from Arjuna, a Pân’d’u prince who, after a four days’ battle, and at great risk to himself, delivered to his immortal ally the sacred city of Dwârakâ. For this service and in token of his undying gratitude, Vishn’u laid his finger upon the forehead of Arjuna and endowed him with a knowledge of future events, also promising that once in a hundred years a descendant should possess this priceless gift. ”

“ His jaw fell, he ceased rocking, and turned his eyes in painful inquiry upon his guests.
There was an awkward silence. The General and the Prince had risen to their feet as if in apology to the hostess, but she had accepted the outburst with unruffled calmness. Her kind, restful, homely face showed no annoyance. Rising quietly from the table she followed the stormy guest and found him around in front of the house, sitting upon the granite doorstep, his chin in his hands, frowning [25] fiercely upon the quaint old flower-garden before him. ”

“ Judd, a strong-framed woman with a heavy chin, whose failing memory seemed her only weakness, was now about eighty years of age, and generally sat by a sunny window in the big dining-room, where she rocked and knitted from morning till night, paying little attention to what went on about her. If Amos had been her own son she could not have loved him more, and this affection was returned in full with an unceasing thoughtfulness [103] and care. Both Molly and her father were gratified at finding in this young man a neighbor whose society it seemed safe to encourage. ”

“ Amos arose and stood facing them with his back against the mantel. “You are much too clever for me, Mr. Cabot. I hardly thought you could accept this explanation, but I have told you nothing but the truth.”
“My dear boy, do not think for a moment that I doubt your honesty. Older men than you, and harder-headed ones, have digested [134] more incredible things. In telling your story you ask me to believe what I consider impossible. There is no well-authenticated case on record of such a faculty. It would interfere with the workings of nature. ”

“ Voices close at hand caused them to turn and descend the stairs [243] with the solemnity of an ancient couple who find dignity a restful substitute for the frivolities of youth. Once in the ball-room, with the wild Hungarian music at their heels, there was little repose for two such dancers. When the first notes of the waltz that Molly loved above all others, came floating through the hall, Amos cut in before a youth who was hastening toward the bride and swung her out across the floor. ”

“ When he was well out of hearing, the sculptor exclaimed: “He is the most artistic thing I ever saw! The lines of his eyes and nose are superb! And what a chin! I should like to own him!”
“You couldn’t eat him.”
“No, but I could put him on exhibition at five dollars a ticket. Every girl in New York would be there; you among them.”
Miss Cabot appeared to consider. “I am not so sure. He probably is much less interesting than he looks. Handsome males over three years of age are the deadliest bores in life; sculptors of course excepted.” ”

“ His serious business in life was the management of the Judd farm, and although the care and development of his animals was more of a recreation than a rigid necessity he wasted little money in unsuccessful experiments. Mr. Cabot soon discovered that he was far more practical and business-like than his leisurely manners seemed to indicate. The fondness for animals that seemed one of his strongest characteristics was more an innate affection than a breeder’s fancy. ”