Mrs. Mills

“ W. understood this sarcasm, and turning to Mills, poured forth such a volley of whim and oddity as I think never fell from the lips of any other man in this world. When he was in this vein of humour, he had, in addition to the comic cast of his countenance, a lisp and a brogue which enhanced his drollery, and at every pause he drew in his breath as if he were sipping out of a teaspoon. He began, "Now you think yourself a very clever fellow after that oration, dont you! you feel aisy I hope Mr. Mills, after throwing that wisp of bullrushes off your stomach! ”

“ Mills sprang to offer her a chair, and as soon as she was seated Eletheer left the room.
“A charming family, De Vere,” said Mills.
“A God-fearing one,” returned Granny, “all except Eletheer have accepted the Word of God, which is cause for great thankfulness.”
“God is good. His ways are inscrutable. Let us trust that the remaining lamb may be received into the fold,” said Mills reverently.
“She is a good child, but wilfully in error, I fear,” replied the old lady wiping her glasses. “Cornelia is a true De Vere and even at her age the family traits are pronounced in her.” Mills moved uneasily. ”

“ Mills should ever have married, would surprise, had it not been that the general habit of mankind protesting against single blessedness, he thought it necessary to prove that he possessed superlative powers of captivation, and accordingly set his eye on my poor friend, who, in an hour of infatuation, consented to be his bride. ”

“ Mrs. Mills was [Pg 265] a big, stout woman, with fair eyebrows and fair hair, and Lady Nithsdale hoped that when her husband came through dressed in woman's clothes the guards would think he was Mrs. Mills. When they arrived at the Tower, the poor wife got out and asked to be allowed to take a friend in to say farewell to her husband, and she was told she might take one lady in at a time. Accordingly, she and the thin Mrs. Morgan went in, and while they were in the cell where Lord Nithsdale was, Mrs. ”

“ But I've had to talk to Mills about what he likes to eat and what we have to pay for things; I've had to push him and prod him and praise him, and it has been hard work. If you want him you can have him, Dulcie."
Mills had a stunned look.
"Don't you love me, Mary?"
"I think I've proved it," she said quietly; "but I couldn't possibly go on loving you now. You have Dulcie to love you, and one woman is enough for any man. I don't know what you are planning to do, but you needn't run away or do anything spectacular. I'll make it as easy for you as possible. ”

“ Another pleasure was to let him help clear away, as they used to do at home, while the peals of laughter that always accompanied this performance did Miss Mills' heart good to hear, for the room was so small and Will so big that he seemed to be everywhere at once, and Polly and Puttel were continually dodging his long arms and legs. Then they used to inspect the flower pots, pay Nick a visit, and have a little music as a good beginning for the day, after which they went to church and dined with Miss Mills, who considered Will “an excellent young man.” ”

“ If she had some hard work to do, it would be better for her—but the doctor didn't seem to think so, and so I let her go to the sanitarium. No one shall say that I grudge the expense, as, thank Heaven! I don't have to, though there ain't another person at The Mills that wouldn't."
"I'm sure I hope it will do her good," Elizabeth said, kindly. She felt so glad to have Amanda, whatever the reason, away from Bassett Mills that she was conscious of a sudden pang of remorse, which increased when she received a letter from her cousin, congratulating her upon her engagement. ”

“ The Mills’s, as I observed before, seemed no ways concerned; and the young one said he did not value to die, for he was prepared, though at the same time he appeared so very hardened and abandoned.
The halter that was used for the old man was very short, the gallows being high; so that he was obliged to stand a-tiptoe to give room for it to be tied up to the tree: the old fellow saying several times while this was doing, “Don’t hang me by inches.” ”

“ Mills commented with ironic emphasis. "He'll be broke in a week and the first camp that pays his fare out will get him. [Pg 189] There's no fool like a logger. Strong in the back and weak in the head—the best of us."
But Mills himself stayed on. What kept him, Hollister wondered? Did he have some objective that centered about Myra Bland? Was the man a victim of hopeless passion, lingering near the unobtainable because he could not tear himself away? Was Myra holding him like a pawn in some obscure game that she played to feed her vanity? ”

“ Mills inquired as he opened a cabinet door and took out his hat and light overcoat. “Is he the young man Millie introduced me to?”
[61] “Yes; that tall, fine-looking chap; a Tech man; just moved here—friend of Bud Henderson’s.”
“I wasn’t quite sure of the name. He’s an architect, is he?” asked Mills as he slowly buttoned his coat.
“Yes; I met him at the Freemans’ and had him for lunch at the club. Freeman is keen about him.”
“He’s rather an impressive-looking fellow,” Mills replied. “Expects to live here, does he?” ”

“ If Mills had whined, begged forgiveness or offered reparation, Bruce would have hated him. But Mills was not an ordinary man. No ordinary man would have made the admission he had made, or, making it, would have implored silence, exacted promises....
“Millicent—you see her, I suppose?” Mills asked after a time.
“Yes; I see her quite often.”
“I had hoped you did. In fact Leila told me that Millie and you are good friends. She said a little more—Leila’s a discerning person and she said she thought there was something a little more than friendship. Please let me finish! ”

“ Mills replied, mystified by this opening. “Shep’s doing well and I can’t see but he and Connie are getting on finely. He’s quite surprised me by the way he’s taken hold in the trust company.”
“Oh, Shep’s a dear. But—there’s talk——”
“Oh, yes; there’s talk!” Mills caught her up. “There’s always talk about everyone. I even suppose you and I don’t escape!”
“Well, of course there have been rumors, you know, Frank, that you are considering marrying again.” ”

“ He would not marry again, and it would be impossible to have a woman come to care for us. If I would not assume the duties of a mother with Mary, thirteen, and Jane, eleven, to do the housework, he would be obliged to bind the children out to relatives and neighbors. ”

“ One couldn't possibly call a woman poor who had given away so much with a single gesture.
They tried to talk it over but found nothing to say. At last Mills took Dulcie home. She asked him in and he went. Aunt Priscilla was out, and tea was served for the two of them from a lacquered tea cart—Orange Pekoe and Japanese wafers. It was delicious but unsubstantial. Dulcie with her coat off was like a wood sprite in leaf green. Her hair was gold, her eyes wet violets; but Mills missed something. He had a feeling that he wanted to get home and talk things over with Mary. ”

“ El Paso, Texas,
February 11, 1894.
My Dear Boy:
I have just received your long letter so nicely typewritten and can not tell you in words how interesting it is to me to learn so many things of you and from you, for my hopes and [221] fears are now more centered in you than in anyone else in the world; not that I love Mamma and Sister less or that they are deserving of less interest, but from the fact that (as you are now old enough to understand) as the world goes more is expected of boys and men, so that if I were to die suddenly the future of both Mamma and Sister would depend much upon you. ”

“ and I have never been able to make a start at it without thinking of Pauline Mills and that curious social warp which obligates us most to impeach the validity of a woman's opinion at the points where it is most supported by experience. ”

“ It is like the love of parents for their children, in that they do them good from love to them, not for the sake of themselves, but for their sakes. This is plainly seen in the love of a mother towards infants. ”

“ She was on a mission to procure subscriptions for the erection of a hospital at Kansas City.
Sister Mary remained with us for several days. A very intelligent and entertaining woman, she was a welcome guest to both Nannie and me. Expressing a desire to see Spotted Tail, we prepared a little entertainment and invited him to [175] the house, together with a few ladies and officers, Lieutenant Schwatka, who afterwards became famous, being one. The refreshments consisted of cider, cakes and apples. ”

“ When under the axe an old tree falls, it is the end of a life well lived, the end of a work well done. But this tree may rise, helped and shaped by happy hands, and become the most sacred place in all this world of ours—a home where lovers live—a cottage with hollyhocks and roses by the door. ”

“ The squirrels from the tree-tops kept a rattling rain of cones on the leaf-strewn forest floor, the cheery chipmunk foraged and frolicked among the withered leaves and plants, while aspens with leaves of gold fell before the ivory sickles of the beaver. Splendid glimpses, grand views, I had of this strange harvest-home. How busy the beavers were! They were busy in the grove on the steep mountainside; they tugged logs along the runways; they hurried them across the water-basins, wrestled with them in canals, and merrily piled them by the rude house in the water. ”

“ Come, now for the steers in the long chaparral,
For we're far on the way to the railroad corral!
The afternoon shadows are starting to lean
When the grub-wagon sticks in a marshy ravine
And the herd scatters further than vision can look,
For you bet all true punchers will help out the cook! ”

“ CHAPTER I THE HUT ON THE CLIFF No well informed resident of Millsburgh, when referring to the principal industry of his little manufacturing city, ever says "the mills"—it is always "the Mill." ”

“ He writes brave verses, speaks brave words, swears brave oaths, and breaks them bravely, quite traverse, athwart the heart of his lover, as a puny tilter, that spurs his horse but on one side, breaks his staff like a noble goose. ”

“ Mills, who was always doing something or other to annoy me—or I felt as if he were, which was the same thing—had brought his conduct to a climax, by taking it into his head that he would go to India. ”

“ Timber-line in the high mountains of the West wakes up the most indifferent visitor. The uppermost limit of tree-growth shows nature in strange, picturesque forms, and is so graphic and impressive that all classes of visitors pause to look in silent wonder. This is the forest frontier. ”

“ The feats of arms at St. Ingilbertes displayed the martial character of the joust; and the emprise of Lord Scales shows how beautifully love could blend itself with images of war, and the interest which a whole nation could take in the circumstance of certain fair ladies of a court binding round the thigh of a gallant knight a collar of gold, enamelled with a floure of souvenance. ”

“ If you are dulled and dazed with the fever and the fret, or weary and worn,—tottering under burdens too heavy to bear,—go back to the old outdoor home. Here Nature will care for you as a mother for a child. In the mellow-lighted forest aisles, beneath the beautiful airy arches of limbs and leaves, with the lichen-tinted columns of gray and brown, with the tongueless eloquence of the bearded, veteran trees, amid the silence of centuries, you will come into your own. ”

“ Without these, how dead and desolate the mountain, the meadow, and the lake! If a park is to be kept permanently productive, its alluring features must be maintained. If the beaver ceases to build his picturesque home, if the deer vanishes, if the mountain sheep no longer poses on the crags, if the columbine no longer opens its "bannered" bosom to the sun, if the solitaire no longer sings,—without these poetic and primeval charms, marred nature will not attract nor refresh. People often feel the call of the wild, and they want the wild world beautiful. ”

“ Those who are in love that is truly conjugial, after death when they become angels, return to their youth and early manhood. However worn out with age, husbands become young men; and wives, however worn out with age, become young women. Each consort returns to the flower and into the joys of the age in which conjugial love begins to exalt the life with new delights, and to inspire sportiveness, for the sake of prolification. ”

“ Ever the good old world grows better, both with songs and with silence, in the pines.
One touch of forest nature makes the whole world kin. A tree is the flag of Nature, and forests give a universal feeling of good will. In the boundless forest the boundary-lines of nations are forgotten. Some time an immortal pine may be the flag of a united and peaceful world. In the forests' fairyland are still heard "the horns of Elfland faintly blowing." ”

“ Here where the lichen-tinted columns of gray and brown are rich and beautiful in the mellow light, you will be at your best—your own will come to you—with the Infinite you will be in tune. Stay till night, and from the edge of the woods see the sun go down in triumph. ”

“ Unlike the pillars of human architecture, chipped and chiselled in bustling, dusty quarries, and hoisted to their site by sweat of brow and creak of pulley, these rose to fairest proportions by the life that was in them and blossomed into foliated capitals three hundred feet overhead. ”