Nelly

“ I was looking at Nelly's picture, taken in cap and gown just before she graduated last June. My Nelly! Nelly as she used to be before this strange thing happened; eager-eyed, thin with over-study and rapid growth. Nelly, whose bright face, swept by so many lights and shadows of expression, sensitive to so many shifting moods, I loved and yearned for. Nearly six months we'd been apart, but at last I had followed to New York to claim her. ”

“ Nelly is so weak that the young gardener has to support her as she walks from the house; he lifts her with ease in his strong arms into the conveyance--marvelling at her lightness, and loving and pitying her the more because of it--and mounts by her side. ”

“ This was the strongest form of pledge which Rob and Nelly ever gave. It was like a sort of oath among the children in Mayfield. If a child broke his promise after he had said "Honest Indian," there was nothing too bad for him.
"Well," said Rob, coming very close to Nelly, and speaking in a low whisper, "it was those people's string of onions!"
"Why, Rob!" cried Nelly, in a horrified tone, "why, Rob! that's stealing. How could you?"
"'Tain't stealing either, Nell March," said Rob, stoutly; "I haven't got 'em. Stealing is taking things. I haven't got them. ”

“ Nelly heard the sharp, clear sound of an old woman's voice above the hum of a spinning-wheel, and then the glad burst of joy as the mother recognized her son. Unwilling to interrupt their happiness, Nelly moved away out of hearing, when Hanserl came running out, followed by the old woman.
“This is the Fräulein, mother,” cried he, with a burst of delight; and the old woman, taking Nelly's hand, kissed it with deep respect.
With native courtesy she welcomed Nelly, and, as she entered her house, pointed with pride to a Madonna of Nelly's own carving, which stood on a bracket against the wall. ”

“ Nelly stood a long time gazing at all these wonders, and then she passed through an open space into the shop behind. Here were more wonders and beauties still; but for once Nelly had no eye for them; for there, behind the counter, as if she were waiting to attend on the customers, stood the very young lady who had given Nelly the flowers! Here was a discovery! Nelly forgot all about the beads and patterns, all about the piece of cake waiting for her in Mrs. Vandake's pantry, and stood as if rooted to the spot, peeping through the vacant place in the window. ”

“ I have no doubt much as Nelly desired to see the dear home friends, that long ere this she has wished herself back for one more frolic with her little namesake. When I say to the darling, "Baby want to see Aunt Nelly?" she crows and screams with delight. We all think her very like sister; the same deep blue eyes, and fair complexion, so different from her beautiful brother who looked far more like a Lenox. ”

“ But Hester went at last, and Nelly was alone. The lake lay steeped in a rich twilight, into which the stars were rising. The purple breast of Silver How across the water breathed of shelter, of rest, of things ineffable. Nelly's eyes were full of tears, and her hands clasped on her breast scarcely kept down the sobbing. There, under the hands, was the letter which George had written to her, the night before he left her. ”

“ This troubled his mother, and made Nelly wonder why he found lying in a pleasant room so much harder than fighting battles or making weary marches. Any thing that interested and amused him was very welcome, and when Nelly, climbing on the arm of his sofa, told her plans, mishaps, and successes, he laughed out more heartily than he had done for many a day, and his thin face began to twinkle with fun as it used to do so long ago. That pleased Nelly, and she chatted like any affectionate little magpie, till Will was really interested; for when one is ill, small things amuse. ”

“ O Nelly Gray! For all your jeering speeches, At duty's call I left my legs In Badajos's breaches."
[Pg 270] "Why, then," said she, "you've lost the feet Of legs in war's alarms, And now you cannot wear your shoes Upon your feats of arms!"
"O false and fickle Nelly Gray! I know why you refuse: Though I've no feet, some other man Is standing in my shoes.
"I wish I ne'er had seen your face; But, now a long farewell! For you will be my death;—alas! You will not be my Nell!"
Now when he went from Nelly Gray His heart so heavy got, And life was such a burden grown, It made him take a knot. ”

“ Nelly seized it eagerly, and touched her eyes.
"Why, Dainty, what are you about?" said Nelly, as she felt the kitten's head against her arm; and then, opening her eyes, she started to find herself in the old wood-shed, seated with her back against the door, Angelica in her lap, and the soft breeze from the pond fanning her cheek and bosom. She looked at her feet. Ah! the golden slippers had disappeared. "Dear me! I must have been dreaming," said Nelly. ”

“ March was so careful and Nelly and Rob were such good children that he let them sit there as often as they liked. Nelly loved dearly to sit between her father's knees on the upper step and look down at the ground [Pg 70] as it seemed to fly away so swiftly under the wheels. Sometimes they went so fast that the ground did not look like ground at all. It looked like a smooth, striped sheet of brown and green paper being drawn swiftly under the car wheels. It seemed to Rob and Nelly as if they must be going out over the edge of the world. All they could see was sky and ground. ”

“ You won’t see a frown again between this and your tombstone!
[Pg 214]
OUR NELLY. “Who is she?” “Why, that is our Nelly, to be sure. Nobody ever passed Nelly without asking, ‘Who is she?’ One can’t forget the glance of that blue eye; nor the waving of those golden locks; nor the breezy grace of that lithe figure; nor those scarlet lips; nor the bright, glad sparkle of the whole face; and then, she is not a bit proud, although she steps so like a queen; she would shake hands just as quick with a horny palm as with a kid glove. The world can’t spoil ‘our Nelly;’ her heart is in the right place. ”

“ Willard stood in silence for some moments after Nelly had finished her story; then he lifted her upon his arm, and said:
"You are a good kind girl, little Nelly, and I thank you. Do you know that a man values his life more than anything else he possesses, and that you have saved mine? Now, Nelly, ask me for something you would like to have for yourself. No matter what it is, you shall have it. Remember, I am a very rich man." ”

“ Yes, yes,—the very moral of them!" murmured the old woman, as she sought her pails and measures. "Just what my father was!"
"Pshaw!" said Nelly; "you are just thinking of some of those rubbishing old Butlers. I wish there had never been any such people in the world; and I don't half believe there ever were."
It was, perhaps, as well for Nelly's peace that Granny Ryan was making too much noise with her tin pails to hear this irreverent speech. Nelly would certainly have had the milk to carry round herself; and so have lost the chance of sitting down on the door-step and working at her tatting. ”

“ Johnny looked around without answering. He saw that there was no help for it; they must return the way they came, long as it was, or stay in the woods all night.
“Come, Nelly,” he said, “we must go back on the same path, if we can.”
It was getting quite dusky. They took each other by the hand and trudged along. One by one the flowers dropped from Nelly’s full apron, to the ground, and at length her weary fingers unclasped, and the apron itself resumed its proper position. Everybody knows how easy it is to lose one’s way, and what a difficult thing it is to find it again. ”

“ He won't be any fun."
"Why, Rob March!" exclaimed Nelly: "you're a selfish thing. How'd you like to be lame like that and not have anybody sorry for you?"
"Why, Nell, I am real sorry for him: I mean I expect I should be if I knew him; but I did hope he'd go round some with me. I haven't had a boy since we came to Colorado."
Nelly looked hurt.
"I'm sure I go everywhere that you do," she said. "You don't ever have to be alone."
"I know it, Nell," replied Rob, meekly: "you're as good as any girl can be,—lots better than most girls; but a boy's different. ”

“ Nelly stops his further speech, and putting her arm about the woman's neck, whispers to her. The young gardener turns his back upon the women, and the labourer sits on a chair, with his eyes to the ground. For a minute or so the men do not stir from the positions they have assumed; then, as though moved by a common thought, they step softly from the cottage, and stand in silence outside for many minutes, until the wife comes to the door, and beckons them in. Nelly is on her knees by the cradle. ”

“ Nelly smiled proudly as she remembered the Butlers of Glengall, and thought perhaps the lady was nearer the truth than she supposed.
"But do you dare trust such a child in the midst of all these pretty things?" said the stranger, in a lower tone, but still loud enough for Nelly to hear. "I should think she would steal all she could lay her hands on."
"We cannot always tell by the outside who steals and who does not," answered Mrs. Kirkland, dryly. "We catch people stealing, sometimes, who are much better dressed than poor Nelly." ”

“ But that was not the message that Nelly went to deliver. She wanted to show her authority before all these half-critical idlers, and also, as a good-looking lass, her independence and her mastery over men-folk.
'Ronald,' said she, at the door of the inn, 'I think you might just as well be going up the hill and bringing us down a hare or two, instead of standing about here doing nothing.'
'Is that Highland manners, lass?' he said, but with perfect good humour. 'I'm thinking ye might say "if ye please." ”

“ No, there was nothing in the way of Nelly's great future, and the free development of her—Bridget's—own life, but this sudden and most unwelcome stroke of fate. If she had to send for Nelly—supposing it really were Sarratt—and then if he died—Nelly might never get over it.
It might simply kill her—why not? All the world knew that she was a weakling. And if it didn't kill her, it would make it infinitely less likely that she would marry Farrell—in any reasonable time. Nelly was not like other people. ”

“ Rob could not appreciate Nelly's feeling.
"Well, what makes you steal 'em, then?" he asked, in a satirical tone.
"God likes to have us pick them: I know he does," said Nelly, earnestly. "He gives them all to us for every summer as long as we live."
"Oh, pshaw, Nell!" said Rob. "He don't do any such thing. They just grow: that's all."
"Well, papa says that God makes them grow on purpose for us to see how pretty they are. They aren't of any other use: they aren't the same as potatoes. And don't you know the little verse,—
I'm always thinking of that. ”

“ What do you think me like, Nelly?'
Nelly laughed. 'I think you are a curiosity,' she said, 'and whether we shall crush your originality out of you in a few weeks' time, remains to be proved. I thought I would give you a friendly intimation of what to expect. And now good-night!'
She left me, and, perplexed and troubled by her words, I went to my window, and, opening the casement, leant out to cool my hot cheeks. Such a soft, still night it was! ”

“ March and Nelly and Rob were standing still, looking at this, when a man who passed by, seeing they were strangers, called out:—
"That's Tim Bunker's Pulpit."
"Who's Tim Bunker?" cried Rob; but the man was riding so fast he did not hear him.
"Oh, Nell! if it isn't too far we'll climb up there some day: won't we?" said Rob. "Mamma, don't you suppose we're pretty near our house?"
"I think not, Rob," replied Mrs. March; "there cannot be any place for a house while the pass is so narrow."
"Oh, mamma! mamma! come here!" shouted Nelly. ”

“ You belong to me!' And his grasp tightened on the hand he held.
'I can give in enough—to keep the peace,' said Nelly slowly. 'And if you weren't here, it wouldn't be natural that I shouldn't live with Bridget. I'm used to her. Only I want to make you understand her, darling. She's not a bit like—well, like the people you admire, and its no good expecting her to be.'
'I shall talk to her before I go!' he said, half laughing, half resolved.
Nelly looked alarmed.
'No—please don't! She always gets the better of people who scold her. ”

“ March stooped over and kissed Nelly on her forehead.
"I know you are," he said: "you are papa's own little comfort always."
Mr. March loved both of his children very dearly; but Nelly gave him more pleasure than Rob did. He often said to his wife when they were alone: "Nelly never gives me a moment's anxiety. The child has all the traits which will make her a noble and a useful and a happy woman; but I am not so sure about Rob. I am afraid we shall have trouble with him." And Mrs. March always replied: "It is very true all you say about Nelly. She is a thoroughly good child ”

“ IT is small wonder that Nelly forgot every thing,—even her new-found hope,—and sat down for a few minutes in dumb despair. But she was not one to give up long at a time, and the training of the past summer had developed her natural qualities of determination and perseverance. Presently she began to question her grandmother and to try to get at particulars. But the old woman would do nothing but cry and lament and wail, till Nelly's overstrained nerves began to give way under the excitement. ”

“ From the minute Nelly came out of school till seven o’clock,—Sunny’s bedtime,—they were inseparable; and the way the big girl devoted herself to the little one, the patience with which she submitted to all her vagaries, and allowed herself to be tyrannised over,—never once failing in good temper and pleasantness,—was quite pretty to see. They played in the garden together, they went walks, they gathered blackberries, made them into jam, in a little saucer by the fire, and then ate them up. ”