Aunt Ruth

“ Aunt Ruth pointed to the sunset, and rose to go in; but as Tom struggled to his feet, she said softly: "Tom, I don't think there is any home in America getting ready—"
"But I know there is," said Tom, bluntly; "meanwhile, and always, 'He careth for you,' auntie!"
They went in at last, and as they were wishing good-night, Aunt Ruth said: "Children, as you all seem to want me to live with you, I am only too happy to come." ”

“ And with Aunt Ruth, who long had sighed for home,
I turned my back on glory, art, and Rome.
All selfish thoughts were merged in one wild fear
That she for whose dear sake my heart had bled,
Rather than her sweet eyes should know one tear,
Was passing from me; that she might be dead;
And, dying, had been sorely grieved with me,
Because I made no answer to her plea.
"O, ship, that sailest slowly, slowly on,
Make haste before a wasting life is gone!
Make haste that I may catch a fleeting breath!
And true in life, be true e'en unto death. ”

“ She had promptly dried her tears, and looked up bravely into the kind, questioning face above her, and Aunt Ruth thought she had never seen anything sweeter than the frank young countenance into which she looked back.
“You see, Aunt Ruthy, it’s just this way. People can hold their tongues even if they do want to tell things, if they think that some good is to be gained by it. Some great good is to be gained by my keeping still.”
“Good to whom, Octave?” The aunt had found a deeper perplexity, even, than she had imagined.
“For Melville first, and afterward for all of us. ”

“ She carried the letter and magazine off to her room to gloat over it, blissfully unconscious that Aunt Ruth was doing an extra deal of sniffing. Aunt Ruth felt very suspicious of suddenly crimsoned cheek and glowing eye and general air of rapture and detachment from earth.
In her room Emily sat down and read her poem as if she had never seen it before. There was, to be sure, a printer’s error in it that made the flesh creep on her bones—it was awful to have hunter’s moon come out as hunter’s moan—but it was her poem—hers—accepted by and printed in a real magazine. ”

“ Suddenly Aunt Ruth starts and peers through the window. There is a bright little hood and blue cloak approaching; she sees that, but not the carefully wrapped parcel Bessie is carrying, for she hurries to brighten the fire and brush the hearth.
"Good morning, Aunt Ruth. It has been ever so long since I have been here, hasn't it?"
"Yes, a long time for a lonesome old body like me; but this is no place for the young and happy, I know."
"Oh, yes it is, dear Aunt Ruthie. You must not say so. I like to come real well. But Uncle Jake has been so sick ”

“ The injured girl’s face brightened still more. “I did not know that you ever had a ‘half-mind,’ Aunt Ruthy. You look always decided enough to have a great, big, sound, and whole one, with a few ‘pieces’ to spare. Well, let’s get ‘Abry-ham’ and I’ll ‘beard the lion,’ and all the rest of it.”
“We will hope that ‘all the rest of it’ will not prove too much for even thy daring soul,” replied Aunt Ruth gaily; and as she passed out of the room she paused to give her charge a quiet kiss. This demonstration was rare with the aunt, and little Fritz alone of all his family would not have found it so. ”

“ Somehow she always did so when Bessie was around, the hands involuntarily moved in little touches of order and neatness. The room was good enough for her: for the child it seemed dismal and must be brightened a little. But Aunt Ruth was unconscious that she was being called to a better life, or that a love for light and beauty was awakening in her weary heart.
"Well, I will tell you; we are going to move away. I declare, I think it's too bad to leave all the girls just as I began to like them, and you, too, Aunt Ruth. I don't want to go one bit;" tears rolling down her face. ”

“ Dear Aunt Ruth! How much better she knew him than he knew himself. Well, this was a lesson that should last him his life time. Never again would he get into such a scrape through carelessness. Never!
At length the unhappy boy fell asleep, and when he awoke it was daylight. An officer brought him a bowl of strong black coffee and a plain but plentiful breakfast of porridge. Phil drank the coffee, but could not eat. Then he waited, pale with anxiety, for the unknown fate in store for him. ”

“ Even Grandmother Capers was shocked at this; and spoke reproachfully to her idol.
“You should not say that, darling. Ruth is a good woman. She means well, even if her manner is unpleasant.”
Melville opened his lips to retort, but Content was too loyal to allow this. “Why, Mrs. Capers! Can you really think that? It seems to me Aunt Ruth is so charming. She is so [10] delightfully honest and true. From the first time I looked in her face I felt that I should be safe and happy with her. And as for grandma, I cannot tell you how lovely she appears to me. ”

“ I never do have anything decent to wear.”
“Why, my dear, don’t mind about that,” said Ruth, taking the lathlike girl in her arms. “If you had asked us we would have let you try on the things, I am sure.”
“Aunt Suse would near ’bout give me my nevergitovers—and she will yet!”
“No she won’t,” Ruth reassured her. “Don’t be afraid of your aunt any longer.”
“That is what I tell her,” Tom said warmly.
[Pg 59] “Say! You won’t put me in no home, will you?” asked Bella, with sudden anxiety.
“A ‘home’?” repeated Ruth, puzzled.
“She means a charitable institution, poor dear,” said Aunt Kate. ”

“ Relations are always surprising you. Aunt Elizabeth spoke up and said, “I do wish, Ruth, that you and Wallace would leave that child alone.” I could hardly believe my ears. Aunt Ruth looked annoyed but she did leave me alone after that and only sniffed when Cousin Jimmy slipped a bit more white meat on my plate.
“After that the dinner was nice. And when they got as far as the pudding they all began to talk and it was splendid to listen to. They told stories and jokes about the Murrays. Even Uncle Wallace laughed and Aunt Ruth told some things about Great-Aunt Nancy. ”

“ Here you all are!" said Aunt Ruth.
"Yes, just ready for a nice twilight story," said Rose. "They are getting the tea, and there is just time."
Aunt Ruth was always willing, though she seldom suggested a talk unless they did. Often she seized upon a little lesson from what was passing at the moment, which the children were grateful for, and did not forget.
"Well, come along, settle yourselves quickly," she said, "for if Rose is right about the tea, there will not be much time."
They all gathered round her affectionately.
"Well, auntie?" said Oswald, by way of a beginning. ”

“ Ruth Fielding had made preparations for travel many times before; but this venture she was about to undertake was different from her previous flights from the Red Mill.
“Oh, my pretty! Oh, my pretty!” sighed Aunt Alvirah Boggs. “It seems as though this life is just made up of partings. You ain’t no more to home than you’re off again. And how do I know I shall ever set my two eyes on you once more, Ruthie?”
“I’ve always come back so far, Aunt Alvirah—like the bad penny that I am,” Ruth told her cheerfully. ”

“ So Aunt Ruth descended the stairs, wearing her little gray silk bonnet and a heavy cape of gray cloth, her hand on her husband's arm, her bright eyes shining with anticipation. Aunt Ruth dearly loved a bit of excitement and seldom found much in her quiet life upon the farm. As Matthew Kendrick looked up and saw her coming slowly down, her husband carefully adjusting himself to the dip and swing of her step as she put always the same foot foremost, he found himself distinctly glad of his grandson's suggestion, since it gave him so charming a guest to entertain as Mrs. ”

“ To Aunt Ruth’s queries, “What the truant wrote?”
By saying he was still upon the wing,
And merely dropped a line, while journeying,
To say he lived: and she was satisfied.
Sometimes it happens, in this world so strange,
A human heart will pass through mortal strife,
And writhe in torture: while the old sweet life,
So full of hope and beauty, bloom and grace,
Is slowly strangled by remorseless Pain:
And one stern, cold, relentless, takes its place—
A ghastly, pallid spectre of the slain.
Yet those in daily converse see no change
Nor dream the heart has suffered. ”

“ And certainly Ruth is about as cheerful as a funeral mute. What we all need is some fun.”
“Oh, Tom, I don’t feel at all like ‘funning,’” sighed Ruth.
“You be right, Sonny,” interjected Aunt Alvirah, who sometimes forgot that Tom, as well as the girls, was grown up. She rose from her chair with her usual, “Oh, my back! and oh, my bones! You young folks should be dancing and frolicking——”
“But the war, Auntie!” murmured Ruth.
“You’ll neither make peace nor mar it by worriting. No, no, my pretty! And ’tis a bad thing when young folks grow old before their time.” ”

“ Ruth doubted for a moment, then her heart softened with love for Aunt Jane, who had hidden the knowledge that would be a death blow to Miss Ainslie, and let her live on, happy in her dream, while the stern Puritan conscience made her keep the light in the attic window in fulfilment of her promise. ”

“ There was silence for a minute round the bright fire, for Auntie had set the children thinking.
"I suppose we are all apt to be hard on someone!" ventured Rose, at last.
"Yes, I expect we are," said Aunt Ruth. "We all have our different ways of showing it, and the things that make us hard differ with each of our dispositions. But God seems to me to stand like 'a shadow of a great rock in a weary land,' with His everlasting love ready to enfold us and protect us and calm us."
"Why did you tell us this to-day, Auntie?" asked Tom. ”

“ Aunt Ruth and I had an hour’s seance with salt and vinegar. Aunt Ruth wouldn’t believe me when I said I got up to jot down the plot of a story. She knew I had some other motive and it was just some more of my deepness and slyness. She also said a few other things which I won’t write down. Of course I deserved a scolding for leaving that ink bottle uncorked; but I didn’t deserve all she said. However, I took it all very meekly. For one thing I had been careless: and for another I had my bedroom shoes on. Any one can overcrow me when I’m wearing bedroom shoes. ”

“ Are you as good to every stranger who comes your way?"
"Aunt Alvirah is, I'm sure," replied Ruth, laughing and blushing. Somehow, despite the fact that the young actress was only two or three years older than herself, the girl of the Red Mill felt much more immature than Miss Gray.
"You belittle your own kindness, I am sure," said Hazel. "And that dear boy who got me out of the river—Where is he?"
"Unseeable at present," laughed Ruth. "He is dressed in some of Uncle Jabez's clothing, a world too big for him. But Tom is one of the dearest fellows who ever lived." ”

“ The steaming oysters sent out an appetizing odor, the toast was crisp and golden, and the tumbler of amber-colored jelly seemed to reflect the light of the candles in their tall brass candlesticks which stood at each end of the table.
"I have good news for thee, Ruth," said Aunt Deborah, smiling at her across the table. "I have word that thy mother will return early the coming week."
Ruth gave an exclamation of delight.
"Oh, Aunt Deborah! What a lot of nice things happen all together," she said. "You won't go back to Barren Hill when she comes, will you?" ”

“ So she began to scrutinize her fellow-passengers, to measure, and classify, and determine, by those few swift glances, their standing—mental, social and moral—and whether they were agreeable, or selfish and ill-natured. She reached her conclusions—unjust ones in some instances, perhaps; and yet the intuitions of some fine natures are a little short of divine. When she wearied of that, she brought out pencil and paper, and scribbled a voluminous letter to Aunt Ruth. ”

“ Ruth declared. "You've got so much chance to study. You see, you don't have to work around the house, or outside, and so you have all your time to devote to study. I should like that."
"Yah!" snarled Mercy, in her most unpleasant way. "That's what you say. I wish you were here to try it, and I could be out to the Red Mill." Then she paid more softly: "I'd like to see that mill and the river—and all the things you tell about."
"You wait!" cried Ruth. "I'll ask Uncle Jabez and Aunt Alviry. ”

“ I like Uncle Oliver, but I am not much fonder of Aunt Ruth and Uncle Wallace than I ever was. They held some kind of family conclave in the Cousin parlour with Aunt Elizabeth and Aunt Laura. Jimmy was allowed in, but I was excluded, although I feel perfectly certain it had something to do with me. I think Aunt Ruth didn’t get her own way, either, for she snubbed me continually all through supper, and said I was growing weedy! Aunt Ruth generally snubs me and Uncle Wallace patronises me. I prefer Aunt Ruth’s snubs because I don’t have to look as if I liked them. ”

“ Everybody roared and Aunt Elizabeth looked disgusted and Aunt Laura ashamed, and I felt as if I would sink through the floor. I couldn’t sleep half the night for thinking over it. The strange thing was that I do believe I felt worse and more ashamed than I would have felt if I had done something really wrong. This is the ‘Murray pride’ of course, and I suppose it is very wicked. Sometimes I am afraid Aunt Ruth Dutton is right in her opinion of me after all.
“No, she isn’t!
“But it is a tradition of New Moon that its women should be equal to any situation and always be graceful and dignified. ”