Pattaquasset

“ No cattle were poor, and seemingly, no people. It was a pretty ride the party had, in the little wagon, behind an old horse that knew every inch of the way and trotted on as if he were a part of it.
"How do you like Pattaquasset, Mr. Linden?" said Faith, leaning forward to reach him where he sat alone on the front seat. ”

“ Linden's leaving Pattaquasset. He had paid his many farewell visits before the last week came, and before that, too, had given up his weekday scholars,—those last days were all given to Faith. Given to her in every possible way—out of doors and within; in that fair summer weather the open air was the best of all places for talking, and the least liable to intrusion. It was a great relief to get away from village sights and sounds to the still woods, or the fresh shore,—it was a great help towards cheerfulness. ”

“ Faith could not help laughing. He had not been sure that she would understand his allusions, but his watchful eye saw that she did.
"Were you educated in Pattaquasset?" he said. "Pardon me!"—
All Faith's gravity returned, and all her colour too. "No, sir," she said, "I have never been educated. I am studying now."
"Studying!" said he gently. "You have little need to study."
"Why, sir?"
"There are minds and natures so rich by their original constitution, that their own free growth is a fuller and better harvest than all the schoolmasters in the world can bring out of other people." ”

“ She looked up then, but only at the little dressmaker, laying one hand on the table as if to support herself, and with a face grave enough to suit a nun's veil instead of a sunbonnet.
Faith's eyes were held on this delicate little figure with a sort of charm; she was very unlike the Pattaquasset models. At the antipodes from Miss Essie De Staff—etherial compared to the more solid proprieties of Sophy Harrison,—Faith recognized in her the type of another class of creatures. ”

“ Faith seized two or three nuts and jumped up, and Reuben led the way through the leaf-strewn grass to the other side of the mob. But mobs are uncertain things! No sooner was Faith seen approaching the hickory, though yet full three feet from the utmost bound of its shadow, than a sudden pause in the great business of the day was followed by such a tumultuous shout of "Three cheers for Miss Faith Derrick!—the prettiest girl in Pattaquasset!"—that she was well nigh deafened. ”

“ I didn't know there was that kind of thing in Pattaquasset."
"Yes, they look very well," said Mr. Linden coolly.
"Julius!" said Mrs. Somers, laying hold of the elbow of the suggestive coat, "what do you mean by keeping Mr. Linden and yourself back here. That's the way with you young men—stand off and gaze at a safe distance, and then make believe you're fire proof."
"Don't make believe anything, aunt Ellen," said the young man lightly. "Prove me. ”

“ I wish we fellows could dress like that nowadays."
"I wish so, too," said Elise; "it's a heap more picturesque than the clothes men wear at the present day."
"I begin to feel," said Patty, "that I wish I had studied my French history harder. How many kings lived here after Louis XIV.?"
"Two," replied Mr. Farrington, "and when, Patty, at one o'clock on the sixth of October, 1789, the line of carriages drove Louis XVI. and his family away from here to Paris, the Chateau was left vacant and has never since been occupied." ”

“ Patuxet, afterwards Plymouth, was then under the government of their sachem, who, at times, made it his place of residence. Indeed the whole country between Seekonk and the ocean, eastward, seems to have been occupied by tribes more or less subject to him. Those toward the Cape and about Buzzard’s Bay were, however, rather his tributaries than his subjects. The different clans or communities, in this extensive territory, were under the government of many petty sachems, who regarded Ousamequin (afterwards Massasoit) as their chief. ”

“ Patashie is a large, rich island, unspeakably beautiful, and is embellished with various groves of palm and other noble trees. It is tributary to Wowow, though it is inhabited solely by Nouffie people, who are considered honest, active, laborious, and wealthy. The hut in which they resided, exhibited a scene of revelry and mirth more becoming a native inn than a private dwelling. ”

“ The Indian village of Patuxet had formerly been located on the site where the Pilgrims were to establish New Plimoth; it had been wiped out by a plague. The sole survivor from Patuxet was Squanto, who had joined the band of a sachem called Massasoit.
Political relationships among the Indian groups of southeastern New England were variable depending upon the leadership abilities and popularity of their several sachems at various times. ”

“ The fair was to open at three in the afternoon, 262 and soon after twelve o’clock Patty rushed into the house looking for somebody to send on an errand. She found no one about but Bertha Warner, who was hastily putting some finishing touches to her own gypsy dress.
“That’s almost finished, isn’t it, Bertha?” began Patty breathlessly.
“Yes; why? Can I help you in any way?”
“Indeed you can, if you will. I have to go over to Black Island for some goldenrod. It doesn’t grow anywhere else as early, at least I can’t find any. ”

“ No. Unless Mr. Marmaduke Cromarty had marked his hiding-place with a stone or iron plate, it would probably never be found by his heirs. Search 232 in the house was equally unsatisfactory. What availed it to scan a wall or a bedstead that had been scrutinised for years by eager, anxious eyes? And then Patty set her wits to work. She tried to think where an erratic old gentleman would secrete his wealth. ”

“ Lady Hamilton laughed, as she always did at Patty’s funny American phrases, and the subject of Sir Otho was dropped.
“Better not mix yourself up in other people’s quarrels,” said Mr. Fairfield, when Patty told him about it. “Your motive is a good one, but an Englishman is not apt to brook interference from an outsider, especially an American.”
“Oh, pshaw, Fred; Patty won’t do any harm,” said Nan. “Patty’s tact is a match for any English temper, and if she could bring about a reconciliation, I’d be so glad for that sweet Lady Hamilton.” ”

“ It was all most curious, and though somewhat gruesome, Patty was fascinated at the strange sight.
“Ask him if he likes it,” she said to Peter, and when asked, he answered at great length, and very earnestly.
“What does he say?” asked Patty, impatiently.
“He declares,” said Peter, “that to be used in this decorative way is the greatest honour a Capuchin monk can have. To gain it, a monk must have been in the monastery for twenty-five years, and he’s awfully afraid he’ll die before he earns his right to be a fresco.”
“Ugh!” said Milly, with a shiver, “I hate it! Let’s go out into the sunlight.” ”

“ At the beginning, hours were given up to desultory talking with the natives, but perseverance was rewarded. Those who came to talk would return to take lessons, and some impression was gradually made even on the older men attached to their idolatrous rites. Many years after Patteson's death it was still the most civilized of the islands with a population almost entirely Christian.
A greater change was effected in 1867 when the Bishop boldly cut adrift from New Zealand and made his base for summer work at Norfolk Island, lying 800 miles north-east of Sydney. ”

“ Then she said:
“I’ve considered, Elise, and all I can think of is the ‘Cow who considered very well and gave the piper a penny.’ Do you suppose Roger would care for a penny?”
“He would, if you gave it to him,” returned Elise, who was almost petulant at Patty’s continued raillery.
“Then he shall have it! Rich as the Farringtons are, if the son of the house wants a penny of my fortune, it shall not be denied him!”
Patty had risen, and was stalking up and down the room with jerky strides, and dramatic waving of her arms. ”

“ Squanto, it appears, was the only person that escaped the great sickness at Patuxet. The extent of its ravages, as near as can be judged, was from Narraganset bay to Kennebec, or, perhaps, Penobscot, and is supposed to have commenced about 1617, and its continuance between two and three years, as it was nearly abated in 1619. According to the account of the Indians, it was a terrific scene, the deaths occurring with such frequency, that the living were not able to bury the dead. ”

“ This is Patty Fairfield, is it? How do you do, Patty? I am very glad to see you. Roger, my boy, you look exhausted. Has your car been cutting up jinks?”
As Mr. Warner talked, he bustled around shaking hands with his guests, assisting them out of their wraps, and disposing of them in comfortable chairs.
Meantime the rest of the family appeared.
Bertha Warner, a merry-looking girl of about Patty’s age, came flying downstairs, pinning her collar as she ran.
“How jolly of you,” she cried, “to come in the middle of the night! Such fun! I’m so glad to see you, Elise; and this is Patty Fairfield? ”

“ But now, as she looked at the rather shapeless figure in the long pongee coat, and the queer shirred hood of the same material, and as she noted the voluminous chiffon veil with its funny little front window of mica, she concluded that she looked more like a goblin in a fairy play than a human being.
“Do stop admiring your new clothes, Patty, and get dressed,” said Elise, who was on her knees before an open suitcase, shaking out Patty’s skirt and bodice. “Get off those togs, and get ready to put these on. This is a sweet little Dresden silk; I didn’t know you had it. Is it new?” ”

“ As they made their way towards shore a canoe drifted out, and lying in it, wrapped in a native mat, was the body of Bishop Patteson.
A sweet calm smile was on his face, a palm leaf was fastened upon his breast, and upon the body were five wounds—the exact number of the natives who had been kidnapped or killed.
So the good bishop died for the misdeeds of others. The natives but followed their traditions in exacting blood for blood, and their poor dark minds could not distinguish between the good and the bad white men. ”

“ But in the mean time, the great Massasoit sent to Patuxet for some physic, because he was fallen very sick, and so, by God’s help, he was cured. And upon his recovery, he made known the plot of the Indians of Massachusetts against us, and told us that if we would not go fight with them, he would. ”

“ They were visited by British civil and military officers, who were extremely kind to them, and offered them every facility for seeing the city. After dinner on the last day, Captain Ringgold asked Lord Tremlyn to tell them something about Patna; and he evidently did so with a purpose.
"Patna is the fifteenth city in India in population, one hundred and forty miles from Benares," replied the viscount. "It extends nine miles along the Ganges, and an average of two back from it. The streets are narrow and crooked. ”

“ A more serious charge, often made in India, is that missioners destroy the sanctions of morality by undermining the traditional beliefs of the natives, and that the convert is neither a good Asiatic nor a passable European. This depends on the methods employed. It may be true in some cases. Patteson fully realized the danger, as we can see from his words, and built carefully on the foundation of native character. He took away no stone till he could replace it by better material. He was never content merely to destroy. ”

“ Now it is very certain that the Sone, lacking this sacred character, could not have been reckoned as the third river in India; superior to many streams which take their rise from the Himalaya, and inferior only to the Ganges and the Indus, both of which are regarded with the deepest reverence.
Thus, with regard to Patna, we are led to the conclusion, that, while there is great evidence to prove that it is a most ancient city, and to identify it with the former Pataliputra, the capital of the Gupta dynasty; yet it is quite as clear that it is not the site of Palibothra. ”

“ Don't devise modes of expression unknown to the language as at present in use. They can't understand, and therefore don't use words to express definitions.’ Under Patteson's rule the character of the natives was completely transformed. Their savagery disappeared, there was no more war; and, after twenty years, out of a population of eight hundred in the chief island, Mota, all but forty were baptised. To this result Patteson's pupil, George Sarawia, the first Melanesian clergyman, largely contributed. ”

“ The town is very prosperous and populous. Taking the population of the city of Benares at something above 183,000, Patna can scarcely have more than 130,000 souls. Among the inhabitants are several Nawabs and native noblemen, whose income is as low as from 1,000 to 500 rupees a month. Many of them have been thus reduced in their worldly circumstances, in [Pg 393] consequence of the British having gained the ascendancy over the former Mahomedan governments. Poor nobility are, however, by no means confined to Patna or to any part of India, but may be found in Poland and Germany ”

“ The Fairfields were down at “The Pebbles,” their summer home at the seashore, and Patty, who had spent much of the season in New England, had come down for a fortnight with her parents. Labour Day was early this year and the warm September sun was more like that of midsummer.
The place was looking lovely, and Patty herself made a pretty picture, as she lounged in a big couch hammock on the wide veranda. She had on a white summer frock and a silk sweater of an exquisite shade of salmon pink. Her silk stockings were of the same shade, and her white pumps were immaculate. ”

“ Desolate at his inability to please the young ladies, he informed them that nowhere could they find the object of their search, unless it might be at the establishment of the Boissier Freres themselves, which was across the Seine.
"Why, yes," cried Patty; "that's just what Marian said. She said I would have to go across the Seine for it, and I didn't know what she meant. Let's go, Elise; when I start out to do a thing I do like to succeed." ”