Maggie Whittaker

“ Kept up a minute longer it would break and collapse—so that Maggie felt herself the next thing turn with a start to her father. "Can't she be stopped? Hasn't she done it enough?"—some such question as that she let herself ask him to suppose in her. Then it was that, across half the gallery—for he hadn't moved from where she had first seen him—he struck her as confessing, with strange tears in his own eyes, to sharp identity of emotion. "Poor thing, poor thing"—it reached straight—"isn't she, for one's credit, on the swagger?" ”

“ Lookut her, Jimmie! Come here, fer Gawd's sake, and lookut her."
The loud, tremendous sneering of the mother brought the denizens of the Rum Alley tenement to their doors. Women came in the hallways. Children scurried to and fro.
"What's up? Dat Johnson party on anudder tear?"
"Naw! Young Mag's come home!"
"Deh hell yeh say?"
Through the open door curious eyes stared in at Maggie. Children ventured into the room and ogled her, as if they formed the front row at a theatre. Women, without, bended toward each other and whispered, nodding their heads with airs of profound philosophy. ”

“ The heart may be warmed, and the blood may be stirred, without corrupting the moral nature. The writer has endeavored to meet this demand in this way, and he is quite sure that the patient, striving, toiling Leo, and the gentle, self-sacrificing, and devoted Maggie, do nothing in the story which will defile the mind or the heart of the young people. The Bible teaches what they sought to practise. He is satisfied that none of his readers will like Mr. Fitzherbert Wittleworth well enough to make him their model. ”

“ As they walked back to the Anderson's car, Jodi eyed Maggie. "Do you get to ride every day?" she asked.
"Well, not every day," said Maggie.
"I wish I were you," said Jodi. "I love your horses."
"They're pretty awesome," said Tim. "But a pony would be better. You can't get on and off Molly by yourself."
Maggie almost told him about her pasture ride, but she knew Tim. If he heard about that, he'd want to try it. Maggie wasn't ready for that.
Chapter Seven
The day after her cousins' visit, Maggie went out to the pasture again. ”

“ Extraordinary, beyond question, was one branch of his characteristic mute wonderment—it characterised above all, with its subject before it, his modesty: the strange dim doubt, waking up for him at the end of the years, of whether Maggie's mother had, after all, been capable of the maximum. The maximum of tenderness he meant—as the terms existed for him; the maximum of immersion in the fact of being married. Maggie herself was capable ”

“ But with the latch in his hand he turned, and, lo, there in the middle of the floor, with the child in her arms, stood the beautiful Maggie, as if in act to follow him: both were staring after him.
“Dinna anger him, father,” said Maggie; “he disna ken better!”
“Weel ken I, my dautie, that he disna ken better; but I canna help thinkin he’s maybe no that far frae the waukin. God grant I be richt aboot that! Eh, gien he wud but wauk up, what a man he would mak! He kens a heap—only what’s that whaur a man has no licht?” ”

“ But not thus early was Rose to die, and with the waning summer days she came slowly back to life. More beautiful than ever, because more ethereal and fair, she walked the earth like one who, having struggled with a mighty sorrow, had won the victory at last; and Henry Warner, when he looked on her sweet, placid face, and listened to her voice as she made plans for the future, when Maggie would be his wife, dreamed not of the grave hidden in the deep recesses of her heart, where grew no flower of hope or semblance of earthly joy. ”

“ She was making an effort that horribly hurt her, and, as she couldn’t cry out, her eyes swam in her silence. With them, all the same, through the square opening beside her, through the grey panorama of the London night, she achieved the feat of not losing sight of what she wanted; and her lips helped and protected her by being able to be gay. “It’s not to leave YOU, my dear—for that he’ll give up anything; just as he would go off anywhere, I think, you know, if you would go with him. I mean you and he alone,” Maggie pursued with her gaze out of her window. ”

“ How did he move and walk, how above all did he, or how would he, look—he who with his so nobly handsome face could look such wonderful things—in case of being left alone with some of the subjects of his wonder? There were subjects for wonder among these very neighbours; only Maggie herself had her own odd way—which didn't moreover the least irritate him—of really liking them in proportion as they could strike her as strange. ”

“ Since then she had been Maggie’s one thought and care; no one who has not at some time in their lives spent all their affection on a single thing or person can at all understand what she felt, or how strong her love was. It made all her troubles and hardships easy merely to think of the child; just to call to mind the dimples, and yellow hair, and fat hands, was enough to make her deaf to the whirr and rattle of the restless machinery, and the harsh tones of the overseer. ”

“ After which he brought up more slowly: "If ever a man, since the beginning of time, acted in good faith!" But he dropped it, offering it simply for that.
For that then, when it had had time somewhat to settle, like some handful of gold-dust thrown into the air—for that then Maggie showed herself, as deeply and strangely taking it. "I see." And she even wished this form to be as complete as she could make it. "I see."
The completeness, clearly, after an instant, had struck him as divine. "Ah, my dear, my dear, my dear—!" It was all he could say. ”

“ I can see Maggie's lonesome for horses already."
"Maggie," said Mom, "come and see what's in the pickup. I don't think you'll be disappointed in what Dad bought this time."
Maggie allowed herself to be led to the pickup. She looked in. And there was ... her pony! It was the same color as Molly, but much, much smaller.
"Oh, it's beautiful," gasped Maggie.
"Her name is Honey," said Chuck. "Because she's a honey of a little horse."
"Awesome!" said Maggie. "Wait until Tim and Jodi see her. And Kelly. Even she will want to ride a pony."
Maggie hugged her mom and dad. ”

“ It makes me faint,’ and shudderingly she drew nearer to her husband, who, to his dying hour, never forgot the wild, dark eyes which looked down so reproachfully upon him that memorable wintry day.
Three years have passed away since the time when first we met with Maggie Lee—three years which seemed so long to her then, and which have brought her so much pain. She has watched the snow and ice as they melted from off the hill-side. She has seen the grass spring up by the open door—has heard the robin singing in the old oak tree—has felt the summer air upon her cheek. ”

“ Dad said, "Well, you know she wants a pony."
"Yes," said Mom. "But I didn't think you'd spend so much money without discussing it."
"You buy what you want," he shot back. "And this was what I want."
They stopped talking when Maggie entered the room.
"Time for breakfast," said Mom. "Maggie, please wash up and set the table."
They started breakfast. Then Dad said, "Maggie, I bought something special yesterday. I think you're going to like it."
"A pony?" she asked eagerly.
"I'm not telling," he said, grinning. "But it's coming today ... in a truck."
"Fred," Mom scolded. ”

“ Beautiful, very beautiful, was the shadowy form which at that moment seemed standing at his side, and his heart went out towards her as the one above all others to be his bride.
"Had I known it sooner," he thought, "known it before I met the peerless Maggie, I might have taken Rose to my bosom and loved her—it may be with a deeper love than that I feel for Maggie Miller, for Rose is everything to me. She has made and keeps me what I am, and how can I let her die when I have the power to save her?" ”

“ She would tell the story without feeling. It made no impression on her. She lived in a world of men, where she never had the slightest misgiving about her security.
I saw Maggie only twice in the year following the birth of Godfrey Wickwire, Junior. My responsibilities on the farm were growing heavier, and my interests were widening considerably as I grew into manhood. I was also spending much more time with books and seeking such opportunities as I could find for intellectual companionship. Moreover, I didn’t approve of Maggie ”

“ Regularly each day, when the sun nears the western horizon, Maggie steals away to the cottage, and the lonely woman, waiting for her on the rude bench by the door, can tell her bounding footstep from all others which pass that way. She does not say much now herself; but the sound of Maggie's voice, talking to her in the gathering twilight, is the sweetest she has ever heard; and so she sits and listens, while her hands work nervously together, and her whole body trembles with a longing, intense desire to clasp the young girl to her bosom and claim her as her own. ”

“ She could scarcely avoid ten human contacts a month even though living far from the town and on her own farm. All of them must have been about the same as that with the grocer’s clerk, and perhaps some of them were much worse. Whatever they were, Maggie never mentioned them, and I honestly believe, after years of mature deliberation, that they made no impression upon her whatever. I think she was glad to have another boy whether it was legitimate or not. Nature seemed to exact no penalty from her for the fulfilment of this desire, and if society wanted to, she was willing to let them enjoy it. ”

“ She did not finish the sentence, neither did she understand that if Rose to him was something dearer than a sister, she, Maggie Miller, did not care to know it.
"Is she beautiful as her name, this Rose?" she asked at last.
"She is beautiful, but not so beautiful as you. There are few who are," answered Henry; and his eyes fixed themselves upon Maggie to see how she would bear the compliment. ”

“ As soon as Maggie had given the child to his mother, she went to her father, and sat down beside him, crying softly. He turned on his leather stool, and looked at her.
“Canna ye rejice wi’ them that rejice, noo that ye hae nane to greit wi’, Maggie, my doo?” he said. “Ye haena lost ane, and ye hae gaint twa! Haudna the glaidness back that’s sae fain to come to the licht i’ yer grudgin hert, Maggie! God himsel ’s glaid, and the Shepherd’s glaid, and the angels are a’ makin sic a flut-flutter wi’ their muckle wings ’at I can ’maist see nor hear for them!” ”

“ CHAPTER III YE DENE
There is something very alluring in the idea of kicking down conventions, yet if this be carried too far, it is possible that all the feminine virtues will follow suit. A woman bereft of all the feminine virtues is as pitiable a sight as a head which has been shorn of its locks.
A couple of years went by, and again the circumstances of the Alfred Whittakers were improved. For the old lady whose husband had courted her for seven long years was taken ill and quite suddenly died. Her death affected and upset Regina very much. ”

“ Wondrously beautiful is Maggie Miller now, with her bright sunny face, her soft dark eyes and raven hair, so glossy and smooth that her sister, the pale-faced, blue-eyed Theo, likens it to a piece of shining satin. Now, as ever, the pet and darling of the household, she moves among them like a ray of sunshine; and the servants, when they hear her bird-like voice waking the echoes of the weird old place, pause in their work to listen, blessing Miss Margaret for the joy and gladness her presence has brought them. ”

“ Dad shook his head and led Molly forward. Tim's eyes got big. "Steady, horse," he said nervously. "Not so fast." Everyone laughed. After awhile he said, "This is awesome. Mom, can we get a horse?"
Aunt Jane groaned. "Oh, sure," she said. "That's all we need. We've got a dog, a cat, two gerbils, and we live in town. Where would we put a horse?"
"And horses are very expensive pets," Maggie's mom added.
"Jodi's turn now," Dad said.
Tim slid off into Dad's arms. As he landed on the ground he said, "Can I ride again after Jodi? Can I ride by myself like Maggie did?" ”

“ Let there be no mistake about the Whittaker girls. They were not in any way deceived or blinded by their mother’s partiality for them.
“There is one thing you and I have got to make up our minds to, Maudie,” said Julia, the day after they had had the little serious talk with their mother. “It’s one thing to climb up a wall, it’s another to topple over on the other side. If we don’t look out what we are doing, we shall topple over the other side of our wall.” ”

“ When Mom and Aunt Jane got home, the kids were standing in different corners of the kitchen with tear-stained faces.
"Mom," wailed Jodi. "Uncle Fred spanked us."
"Why would he do that?" Aunt Jane asked, looking upset.
"Because they almost got themselves killed," said Dad. Then he explained what had happened.
Mom crossed her arms and scowled at Maggie. "I told you to stay close to home. You disobeyed me."
"I'm sorry," Maggie sniffed. "But Dad is going to sell Molly, and I wanted to ride her before she leaves."
"Ride Molly??" cried her mother. "By yourself? She already hurt your leg. ”

“ There’s mother, Maggie; how pretty she looks. She’s in a garden full of flowers and fruits and pretty things. The sun is so bright and the air so pure. And there’s 305Léonie—dear, pretty little Léonie. Don’t hold me, Maggie; I must go to her, I must——”
And Maggie, bending over her twin brother, hears his voice grow still, feels on her cheek the last breath of life that goes forth with these words, for Eric Fortescue is dead.
Poor Maggie! She is weak, and ill, and suffering. For weeks she has worked hard to support her brother, and watched by his bedside in her spare hours. ”