Oaklands

“ The frank courtesy with which he said this was so irresistible, that Lawless was completely overcome, and, probably for the first time in his life, felt himself thoroughly in the wrong. Seizing Oaklands' hand, therefore, and shaking it heartily, he replied:—
“I'll tell you what it is, Oaklands—we don't Mr. each other here—you are a right good fellow—a regular brick, and no mistake; and as to your shoving me out of the window, you served me quite right for my abominable impertinence. ”

“ After we left Oaklands and the Bluffs behind, and dipped into the valley north of Hemlock hill, we began to look for signs and symptoms; for in this country, one can never tell what a winter may bring forth, what tottering chimneys may have collapsed into a stone heap, or piece of primal woodland disappear into the maw of a travelling saw-mill to emerge in form of railway ties. ”

“ I was like a child in your grasp; you are as strong as a steam engine.”
“I can assure you I am not,” replied Oaklands; “they never let me do anything at home, for fear I should knock myself up.”
“You are more likely to knock other people down, I should say,” rejoined Lawless; “and, by the way, that reminds me—Mullins! come here, stupid, and beg Mr. Oaklands' pardon, and thank him for knocking you down.”
A sulky, half-muttered “shan't,” was the only reply.
“Nay, I don't want anything of that kind; I don't indeed, Lawless; pray leave him alone,” cried Oaklands eagerly. ”

“ Margaret and Betsy set about restoring Mrs. Medhurst while the master ran to the cottages nearest for assistance. More quickly than in ordinary times it would have seemed possible, the men arrived with pails of water brought from the horse-pond. No fire-engine was available nearer than six miles, and a grave danger which has come to many an isolated farmhouse now threatened Oaklands. ”

“ Weeks drifted into months, and Margaret, much to the satisfaction of the inmates of Oaklands, was still at her post. Mrs. Crane had written and invited her to spend the summer holiday with her in August, but the thought of seeing the Abbey House again seemed more than she could bear just then, and so her old friend's invitation had been refused, and Margaret stayed on in the new environment, each day becoming more necessary in the home of her employers. Another letter had arrived from Mrs. Crane this morning, which yet remained to be answered when she felt there was more news to write about. ”

“ And now, carefully and deliberately, Oaklands pointed his cue—his elbow was drawn back for the stroke—for the last time his eye appeared to measure and calculate the precise spot he must strike to produce the desired effect—when suddenly, and at the exact moment in which the cue struck the ball, a sonorous sneeze from the rat-like billiard-marker resounded through the room; as a necessary consequence, Oaklands gave a slight start and missed his stroke. The confusion that ensued can “better be imagined than described,” as the newspapers always say about the return from Epsom. ”

“ Another frequent visitor at Oaklands was James Anson Drane, the young lawyer and land agent of Lexington. In him Dudley at first feared a formidable rival; but it soon became apparent that Betsy Gilcrest, not Abby Patterson, was the magnet which drew the young lawyer to Oaklands. Hiram Gilcrest and Drane's father had been close friends. For this reason James was ever a welcome guest; and he ingratiated himself into still greater favor with Major Gilcrest by agreeing with him on all points, whenever religion or politics was the topic of discussion. ”

“ Another charming residence, not far from Oaklands, [5] which attracted visitors from various quarters, was Buena Vista, where we passed many happy hours of childhood.
This residence—large and handsome—was situated on an eminence overlooking pastures and sunny slopes, with forests and mountain views in the distance.
The interior of the house accorded with the outside, every article being elegant and substantial.
The owner, [6] a gentleman of polished manners, kind and generous disposition, a sincere Christian and zealous churchman, was honored and beloved by all who knew him. ”

“ HAPPINESS
The tragedy of Mrs. Medhurst's death had wrought many changes. Ellice had been sent away to a boarding-school at Margaret's suggestion, and she herself had gone to live with Mrs. Crane as companion—but, as that lady put it in her letter, "more as a daughter of the house than a dependent, dear—the daughter I have always wanted to take care of us in our old age."
Mr. Medhurst went abroad for a few years, and then something new and unexpected happened which changed the lives of all the inmates of Oaklands. ”

“ I must throw in a little blue pill, and he'll be as good-tempered as an angel again; for, naturally, there is not a man breathing with a finer disposition, or a more excellent constitution, than Mr. Oaklands. Why, sir, the other day, when I had been relating a professional anecdote to him, he called me a 'bloodthirsty butcher,' and I honoured him for it—no hypocrisy there, sir. ”

“ Soon the one absorbing topic in Oaklands, that eclipsed even the town and presidential elections, both of which fell due that November, taking precedence of the local tax rate, new roads, tariff, tainted money, or trusts, was—“What shall we do with the rats?”
The Village Pharmacy, as the chief shop of the place is called, has many attributes of a department store and club-room as well, in the cold months. Here the men meet, who do not care to stay at home, or go to read in the library, foregather in the saloon, or play poker by a lantern in a corner of the windowless blacksmith’s shop. ”

“ We learned afterward that the Rebels had not intended to cross over, but were attempting to take the guns off one of our boats, which they had sunk a few days previous. The timely arrival of the battery from Beaufort prevented them from accomplishing their purpose.
In April we left Oaklands, which had always been considered a particularly unhealthy place during the summer, and came to "Seaside," a plantation on another and healthier part of the island. The place contains nearly a hundred people. The house is large and comparatively comfortable. ”

“ Agricultural holdings, as you are aware, who own so many of them, have not been profitable for a number of years past, and Sir Phillip, who is a very hale, active, elderly gentleman, conceived the idea of plotting out a seaside town that might become a second Brighton, and so greatly benefit his descendants even if he himself reaped no immediate profit. The chief obstacle which he saw before him, however, was the fact that the nearest railway station, Oaklands, was fifteen miles distant from the site of his prospective town. ”

“ A great many years ago, after such a wedding as I describe, a dark shadow fell upon Oaklands.
The eldest daughter—young and beautiful, soon to marry a gentleman of high-toned character, charming manners and large estate—one night, while the preparations were in progress for her nuptials, saw in a vision vivid pictures of what would befall her if she married. The vision showed her: a gay wedding—herself the bride—the marriage jaunt to her husband’s home in a distant county; the incidents of the journey; her arrival at her new home; her sickness and death; the funeral procession back to Oaklands ”

“ Her father was about to hang up his mackintosh; he paused; then as governess and pupil went to their rooms, a smile of quiet satisfaction touched his lips, as he hung the garment upon the peg, and turned and entered the dining-room.
A quarter of an hour later there was a violent ring at the front-door bell, then a noisy stampede as someone entered with a good deal of clatter, and some eager questioning of James, as the man shut out the swish of rain and wind which with the newcomer rushed into the hall.
"I say, got another?" asked a boy's voice. "Tall and scraggy and glasses, eh?" ”

“ It is just a wonderful religion—glorious, all-satisfying to the inner cravings of every restless heart—so Margaret Woodford had found it, and her little work of gratitude and returned love just went on day by day, like the stone which is cast into still waters, and causes the ripples to extend and overlap until they come to the edge of the surface, and touch the land. ”

“ From the landing at Oakland to Clayton, at the foot of the mountain, is thirty miles, up hill and down. We ride at a gallop through the quiet streets of Oakland, the most beautiful and flourishing of the suburban towns around San Francisco Bay; passing elegant residences standing embowered among the great spreading live oaks, which gave the place its name; deep green acacias, which in this climate never shed their feathery leaves ”

“ Then came the live, busy, bustling, pushing city, with its quarter of a million of inhabitants nearly, soon to be a million, its wharves thronged with the ships of all nations, but with harbor-room to spare sufficient to float the navies of the world. Beyond, lay Oakland, loveliest of suburbs, smiling in verdure and beauty, with Mount Diabolo towering in the distance—his snow-crowned summit flashing in the sunlight. The Sacramento and Stockton boats, from the heart of California were already in. ”

“ Oakland, the third largest city in California is but eighteen minutes from San Francisco via the Southern Pacific’s fine transbay steamers.
With its fine harbor facilities, Oakland is rapidly growing as a commercial center, carrying on an extensive coastwise and foreign trade. Its position on the east side of the bay, makes it a great railroad terminal for all lines from the north, south and east.
As a community of homes, Oakland has a well deserved fame, for its setting is picturesque and the climate nears perfection. ”

“ Oakland is a large, rapidly growing city, with its fine two-million-dollar Hotel Oakland occupying an entire block. The Municipal Auditorium, seating thirteen thousand people, is near the shores of Lake Merritt, in the City Park. It is a great railway center, the terminus of the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and Western Pacific lines. From here you take the ferry to San Francisco. ”

“ Oakland's just a place to start from, I guess. Now that's adventure, I want to tell you. Just think of the luck of them boys! All the same, some day I'm going to go over the Andes to the headwaters of the Amazon, all through the rubber country, an' canoe down the Amazon thousands of miles to its mouth where it's that wide you can't see one bank from the other an' where you can scoop up perfectly fresh water out of the ocean a hundred miles from land."
But Saxon was not listening. One pregnant sentence had caught her fancy. Oakland just a place to start from. ”

“ The oldest inhabitants of Oakland had “never seen the like before,” and they shook their gray heads ominously as over and adown the New England mountains the howling wind swept furiously, now shrieking exultingly as one by one the huge forest trees bent before its power, and again dying away in a low, sad wail, as it shook the casement of some low-roofed cottage, where the blazing fire, “high piled upon the hearth,” danced merrily to the sound of the storm-wind, and then, whirling in fantastic circles, disappeared up the broad-mouthed chimney. ”

“ We stroll around, first on one side of the train and then on the other, keeping one eye on it for fear it will get away from us and careful not to get too far out of its reach. We can see that Oakland is a large and beautiful city, and learn that it has a population of 60,000 inhabitants; a place where flowers bloom on the lawns, fruits mature in the orchards, vegetables grow in the gardens, and grains are harvested in the fields each and every month in the year. It has mountain scenery back of it and an ocean view in front of it ”

“ There's the chance to make five people grow where one grows now. Here's the scheme in a nutshell. Why don't more people live in Oakland? No good service with San Francisco, and, besides, Oakland is asleep. It's a whole lot better place to live in than San Francisco. Now, suppose I buy in all the street railways of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, San Leandro, and the rest,--bring them under one head with a competent management? Suppose I cut the time to San Francisco one-half by building a big pier out there almost to Goat Island and establishing a ferry system with modern up-to-date boats? ”

“ Passengers and freight from the East to San Francisco are transferred by ferry from Oakland. A branch of the bay (called Oakland Harbour) divides Oakland from Alameda, and the railway piers of Oakland run directly out into the bay for more than 2 m. toward San Francisco, thus shortening the ferry connexions. Lake Merritt, in the heart of the city, a favourite pleasure resort, is the centre of the city's park system. Oakland is the seat of California College (co-educational, Baptist, opened in 1870) , and of St Mary's College (Roman Catholic, 1863) for men ”

“ In the Oakland suburbs is Berkeley, where are some of the College buildings of the University of California, founded in 1868 and having twenty-three hundred students, many of them women. The attractive grounds cover two hundred and fifty acres, and the endowments exceed $8,000,000. South of Oakland is the pleasant suburban town of Alameda. On the western shore of the bay, south of San Francisco, is Menlo Park, a favorite place of rural residence for the wealthy San Francisco people, having many handsome villas and estates with noble trees. ”

“ Oakland is more to San Francisco, than Brooklyn is to New York. The ocean breezes are so tempered in crossing San Francisco Bay, that a very perceptible change of climate takes place, and Oakland is able to boast of a genial air and a clear sky on many days in summer, when San Francisco is shrouded in fog or swept by heavy, dust-laden winds. ”