Miss Harvey

“ Yet Harvey had changed the most of all. The stalwart form had taken to itself the proportions of opening manhood—height, firmness, breadth of shoulders, length of limb, all made a strong and comely frame. The poise of the head indicated resolute activity, and the evening light that now played upon his face revealed a countenance in which sincerity, seriousness, hopefulness, might be traced by a practiced eye. Humour, too, was there—that twin sister unto seriousness—maintaining its own place in the large eyes that had room for other things beside ”

“ I always liked Mr. Harvey for his mother’s sake, and I have ever made him welcome.”
“I advised him to marry her—the squaw,” said Mr. Archer. “It will finish him socially, but in other ways it will make a man of him. Harvey is—”
Here they walked away to the bow of the Lethe, and Launa’s companion talked on, and she answered him.
She impressed him with her interest, her air of being fascinated by him, and all the while she was in torment. Harvey had held her hand! She took off her pale tan suede glove and threw it into the water. It burnt her; her hands felt hot. ”

“ Do I not love you, Harvey; and does not love know and feel and see everything? Did you think you could hide anything from me? Oh, Harvey, I knew all you have told me to-night, knew it all long ago—almost from the first! I knew that you were not made for this kind of life—have I not said as much to you time and time again? But you were too happy to understand then. And, Harvey dear, what if you do work! Do you think that I could love an idle man, a man of no ambitions? I knew that you were a common labourer, an ordinary workman—perhaps that is why I loved you. ”

“ I knew Harvey in his right mind would never hurt me, but a dream-ridden, sleep-walking Harvey—I was afraid, afraid for my love and for my life. The situation had grown too much for me to cope with. I felt beaten spiritually and physically. "You must sleep outside with the men until we get back to civilization and then you must see a psychologist who can cure you of your obsession. That is if you love me, Harvey. The time has come when you must choose between your Dream Woman and me."
There is no choice, Irene; you are my wife. ”

“ Then Harvey leaned forward and, with unerring aim, threw something he took out of his belt into the bowl. A soft swirling smoke rose from it, almost like sea mist. It billowed around the inner circle and gradually spread to the other one, until it enveloped Harvey and me. I could no longer see the strange, mystical passes that Harvey was making with his hands, but I could hear his voice intoning unfamiliar words And beyond his voice the sound of the sea pounding on the shore—a deep, minor undertone that had a rhythmic quality. ”

“ Harvey was there, in the crowd. He did not see her at first. He was looking toward the front of the train. So her first glimpse of him was the view of the photograph. His hat was off, and his hair, carefully brushed back, gave him the eager look of the picture.
He was a strong and manly figure, as unlike Henri as an oak is unlike one of Henri's own tall and swaying poplars. Sara Lee drew a long breath. Here after all were rest and peace; love and gentleness; quiet days and still evenings. No more crowds and wounds and weary men, no more great thunderings of guns, no imminence of death. ”

“ When you write to Harvey, do you tell him I'm gaining, dear?" a smile on the patient face.
Jessie was silent a moment. "Don't, mother don't," she pleaded. "Let's talk about what we'll do for Harvey. Oh, mother," the arms going about the fragile form in a passion of devotion, "it seems as if your troubles would never end; it's been one long round of care and struggle and pain for you ever since I can remember. And this last seems the worst, for I know how you've lived for Harvey. And it shan't all be for nothing; we'll get through with it somehow—I know we will." ”

“ They turned to go and the American put out her hand.
"It was good of you to see me through," she remarked. "I'd like to come again. We're only at Two Bridges."
I told her how charmed I should be, and watched them drive off in the panting, luxurious car. Then I looked at my book and read:
Christobel Harvey, New York,
P. Forrest, London.
That initial annoyed me. Why not Perdita, with the unself-conscious frankness of Miss Harvey? And why that false pride and shrinking from a trivial performance? Oh, well, I considered, girls were a puzzle from their earliest years. ”

“ Then I asked him: 'Don't you wish you were a girl, Harvey?'"
"What did he say, dear?"
"He grunted and said, 'Eh—be a girl? I'd rather be nothing than be a girl.'"
Mrs. Davenport could hardly keep her face straight; nevertheless, she said gravely:
"If Harvey ever says that to you again, you tell him your mamma says that girls are of just as much consequence as boys. God would not have created them otherwise. Well, what else happened to-day?"
"Oh, Harvey offered me a bird's nest that he'd stolen. Mamma, I couldn't help scolding him about it. You know papa doesn't think it right. ”

“ But finally Miss Farringall turned towards Harvey with a peculiar expression, as if she had just come to a decision after much inward debate.
"Would you like to hear something I've never told any one else?" she said impressively—"not even to the rector. He has a second wife," she explained, smiling, "and they're always dangerous."
"If you wish to trust me with it," was Harvey's answer.
"Well, I will—and you'll tell me whether I did right or not. It's not a long story, and I'll tell it as directly as I can. It's about a man—a gentleman," she corrected. ”

“ Neither mother nor son uttered a word till they were some little distance from the doctor's office. Suddenly the former spoke.
"The world's full of trouble, Harvey—but I believe it's fuller of kindness. It's wonderful how many tender-hearted folks there are. Wasn't it good of him?"
Harvey made no answer, but his hand loosened itself from hers. "I believe I—I forgot something," he said abruptly. "Just wait here, mother; I'll be back in just a minute—you can rest here, see," leading her to a bench on the green sward of a little crescent not much more than half a stone's throw away. ”

“ How long this entertainment lasted, Harvey could not remember, for he lay back terrified at the sight of the smoking swells. He fancied he heard a gun and a horn and shouting. Something bigger than the dory, but quite as lively, loomed alongside. Several voices talked at once; he was dropped into a dark, heaving hole, where men in oilskins gave him a hot drink and took off his clothes, and he fell asleep. ”

“ We can imagine no discomfiture while the heavenly light shines through us. Harvey, though he thought with humility of his past as impotent and ignoble in respect of action, felt with his rich vivid consciousness that he was capable of entering into her subtlest emotions. He could not think of the future without her; he could not give up the hope of drawing nigh with her to those mysteries of life which haunted them both. ”

“ At any rate, Miss Harvey came inside again with a little rush, and floored me in the bottom of the boat.
Her face was destitute of color as I extricated myself and her, and helped her into the seat near me, getting a grip at once of the wild tiller. Then she smiled wanly at me. "How strong and how clever!"
As I had gone down before her attack, I do not know that I deserved this, but I made profuse apologies, if so be it was I who had been at fault. But she was honest.
"No; I got up. I should n't have."
She shook her head weakly. Miss Fuller was as pale as she, and more agitated. ”

“ Just for an instant Sara Lee hesitated. There was Harvey at home. He would not like her receiving a call from any man. And Harvey did not like foreigners. He always said they had no respect for women. It struck her suddenly what Harvey would call Henri's bowing and his kissing her hand, and his passionate gesticulations when he was excited. ”

“ They staid with all love and kindness, and moved up and down the paths of this work-a-day world as if they were quite unused to higher regions. Harvey seems, indeed, to have cared much for home friendships—for the love of his brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces, to all of whom he bequeathed some remembrance, thoughtfully selected according to what would be of most service or give most pleasure. ”

“ He whistled a tune as the liner went down the harbour, watched the smoke pour in black clouds from its funnel, then turned and walked away from the pier.
A glance at the sturdy figure, as he went along, would have satisfied anyone of the truth of the assertion of Harvey’s father, that he was able to take care of himself. The black sweater, albeit it rested under the disapproval and scorn of Mrs. Harvey, covered a broad, deep chest that indicated vigorous health; his thick winter jacket hung upon shoulders that were rounded and muscular. ”

“ Some of the poems which he mentions to Harvey as then completed or on the anvil—his Dreams, his Nine Comedies, his Dying Pelican and his Stemmata dudleiana (singing the praises of the noble family, which was befriending him) —have not been preserved, at least in any form that can be certainly identified. Among the lost works was his English Poet—a contribution to literary criticism. He had sent Harvey a portion of the Faery Queen, which he was eager to continue ”

“ The room was hushed in silence as Harvey's tear-stained face was bowed beside his friend. He spoke no word, and no touch of tenderness was felt except the slow tightening of his arm about the furrowed neck, holding the quivering form close in strong and silent fondness. David spoke at length. "I want you to come along with me, Harvey."
"Where?" Harvey asked in a startled voice.
"Oh, not there," said David, smiling. "You thought I meant the long, long road. No, not that; but I'm goin' to the communion, Harvey—that's what I meant—I'm goin' to join the church." ”

“ Lloyd, Mary Hull, and little Rebecca, stopped at Mrs. Harvey's door; Jane, arrayed for a journey, stood awaiting it on the piazza; old John, the basket-maker, was beside her, leaning on his cane, and good Mrs. Harvey was giving Jane's baggage to James, who carried it to the carriage. "Farewell, dear Jane," said Mrs. Harvey, affectionately kissing her;—"now go, but do not forget there are other 'friends' in the world, beside quakers. Return to us soon; we are all impatient to see you the happy mistress of the house in which you was born." ”

“ Harvey was unusually moved by the sincerity and earnest reverence of the two humbly lowered heads, and his heart melted under the tender influence.
"Now, don't keep jumping up all the time, dear," said George Brandt in mild complaint as the meal progressed. Then aside, as if in explanation to Harvey, "She works too hard altogether. She's a regular little busybody."
"You must not say things like that about me, father, for a busybody is an old gossip, or some such horrible person, and I am sure that I am not old," Virgie laughed. ”

“ He was now spending long, dull days wandering about the house and barn, going to bed early in order to rise with the sun, to begin the same grind of duties the day following. Young Harvey's life was the opposite from this.
He admired her, she felt that as distinctly as if he had spoken to her. He wanted to be near her. He had asked her to help him with the chafing-dish that night, and to pour the beer while he stirred the gluey mass of cheese. All the little things by which a young man expresses his admiration he had used almost artlessly, certainly boyishly. ”

“ No, Harvey; you’d better write up the inert, inoffensive red man on his native heath, and let this remarkable young lady enjoy her thousands in modest content—if the ghosts let her.”
“Nonsense!” said the other man, with a sort of impatience. “You jump too quickly to the conclusion that there must be wrong where there is suspicion. But you have put an idea into my mind as to the story. If I can ever learn the whole history of this affair, I will make use of it, and I’m not afraid of finding my pretty girl in the wrong, either.” ”

“ Harvey has never distinguished herself as a public speaker. Resolute, impetuous, confident to a degree bordering on the imperious, with power of denunciation to equip an orator, she yet shrinks from the gaze of a multitude with a woman's modesty, and the humility of a child. She does not underestimate the worth of true womanhood by attempting to act a distinctively manly part. ”

“ Harvey says it is not scarlet fever at all, and he persuaded mother to let him go after you. He always has things his own way, though he brings it about so quietly that nobody would even suspect him of being self-willed. Harvey is a good friend of yours, Irene."
"I am glad to hear it; he is certainly very kind to me. But recollect you are not to talk much; let me talk to you."
The following morning found Louisa much better, and Irene and the mother spent the day in her room. Late in the afternoon the minister came in and talked to his sister for some moments, then turned to his mother. ”

“ Harvey is not what he was when the fever began, and he thanks God for it often, on his knees, though he is lonely, very lonely, never hearing her little feet pattering about now, except in his dreams. ”

“ Harvey was waiting—a Harvey who looked handsomer than I had ever seen him. He wore a short length of green material wrapped around his hips, held at his waist with the jeweled girdle. It fell to a point a little above his knees. His legs were straight and firm, his physique marvelous. I found myself wishing that we could forget this foolishness of Lost Gods and think only of ourselves. As Harvey surveyed me, I was glad my figure was fine enough to stand the revelations of the close clinging garment he had given me to wear. He took my hand and led me along the corridor. ”