Phœbe

“ But, as it happened, scarcely had Phœbe's eyes rested again on the judge's countenance, than all its ugly sternness vanished; and she found herself quite overpowered by the sultry, dog-day heat, as it were, of benevolence, which this excellent man diffused out of his great heart into the surrounding atmosphere;—very much like a serpent, which, as a preliminary to fascination, is said to fill the air with his peculiar odor.
"I like that, Cousin Phœbe!" cried he, with an emphatic nod of approbation. "I like it much, my little cousin! You are a good child, and know how to take care of yourself. ”

“ Fair shepherd—and therefore is Phoebe infortunate, because thou art so fair—although hitherto mine eyes were adamants to resist love, yet I no sooner saw thy face, but they became amorous to entertain love; more devoted to fancy than before they were repugnant to affection, addicted to the one by nature and drawn to the other by beauty: which, being rare and made the more excellent by many virtues, hath so snared the freedom of Phoebe, as she rests at thy mercy, either to be made the most fortunate of all maidens, or the most miserable of all women. ”

“ You and your pop will do what you like. You're a Metz, too, and hard to change when you make up your mind once."
That night when Phœbe went to bed in her old-fashioned walnut bed she lay awake for hours, dreaming of the future. If Aunt Maria had known the visions that flitted before the girl that night she would have quaked in apprehension, for Phœbe finally drifted into slumber on clouds of glory, forecasts of the wonderful time when, as a prima donna in trailing, shimmering gown, she would have the world at her feet while she sang, sang, sang! ”

“ Phœbe is a shepherdess in the forest of Arden, madly loved by the shepherd Sylvius, whom she cannot endure and whom she treats with consistent and crushing cruelty. Phœbe is as cold as the moon for whom she is named; she has a heart of snow that does not melt in the fire of the most ardent sighs, but whose frozen crust grows thicker and thicker and becomes as hard as the diamond; but she has no sooner seen Rosalind in the costume of the comely page, Ganymede, than all that ice dissolves in tears and the diamond becomes softer than wax. The haughty Phœbe, who laughed at love, is in love herself ”

“ Phœbe knew that it was this visit which had made Uncle Bob decide against Phœbe’s continuing at the school.
If the five grown men and women in the big rooms below could have known how grievously Phœbe’s ignorance of any part of the real truth was torturing the child, then each, and all, would have hastened up the stairs to that little figure, turning and tossing, as the bewildered brain strove to arrive at facts. For though the facts were bad enough, Phœbe’s guesses were far more terrible. She did not pray, or weep. She lay and planned how she would run away—to Mother. ”

“ PHOEBE (paling) . Is it that you desire to make sport of me?
BLADES (honestly distressed) . Oh no, ma'am, I vow—but I—I am such a quiz, ma'am.
MISS SUSAN. Sister!
PHOEBE. I am sorry, sir, to have to deprive you of some entertainment, but I am not going to the ball.
MISS SUSAN (haughtily) . Ensign Blades, I bid you my adieux.
BLADES (ashamed) . If I have hurt Miss Phoebe's feelings I beg to apologise.
MISS SUSAN. If you have hurt them. Oh, sir, how is it possible for any one to be as silly as you seem to be. ”

“ And therefore cannot feel for a woman as though He had been,—is that thy meaning, dear? Nay, Phoebe, I believe He was the only creature that ever dwelt on earth in whom were the essential elements both of man and woman. He took His flesh of the woman only. The best part of each was in Him,—the strength and intelligence of the man, the love and tenderness of the woman. ’Tis modish to say women are tender, Phoebe; more modish than true. Many are soft, but few are tender. ”

“ Of Phoebe then, of Phoebe then I sing,
Drawing the purity of all the spheres,
The pride of earth, or what in heaven appears,
Her honored face and fame to light to bring.
In fluent numbers, and in pleasant veins,
I rob both sea and earth of all their state,
To praise her parts: I charm both time and fate,
To bless the nymph that yields me lovesick pains.
My sheep are turned to thoughts, whom froward will
Guides in the restless labyrinth of love;
Fear lends them pasture wheresoe'er they move,
And by their death their life reneweth still. ”

“ O Phoebe, Phoebe, Phoebe!
[Exit Silvius.]
ROSALIND.
Alas, poor shepherd, searching of thy wound,
I have by hard adventure found mine own.
TOUCHSTONE.
And I mine. I remember when I was in love I broke my sword upon a stone and bid him take that for coming a-night to Jane Smile; and I remember the kissing of her batlet, and the cow’s dugs that her pretty chopped hands had milked; and I remember the wooing of a peascod instead of her, from whom I took two cods, and, giving her them again, said with weeping tears, “Wear these for my sake.” We that are true lovers run into strange capers. ”

“ Where joyful Phoebe
Displayed her colours,
Falling like a rain
Of heavy tears.
And so your fiery soul
Becomes a burning light of desire
Rapidly and passionately rising
Towards the vast enchanted heavens ”

“ Another portion of the letter set Phœbe's voice trembling as she read, "I must tell you again, mother, how thankful I am that you made it so much easier for me to go than I dreamed it could be. You are so fine about it. With a mother as plucky as you I can't very well be a jelly-fish. It's great to have a mother one has to reach high to live up to."
"Just like David," said Phœbe as she laid the letter aside. "Of course I think war is dreadful, but the training is going to do wonders for many of the men." ”

“ PHOEBE. Oh, sister, were it not for you, how gladly would I go into a decline.
MISS SUSAN (after she has soothed PHOEBE a little) . My dear, what is to be done about her? We cannot have her supposed to be here for ever.
PHOEBE. We had to pretend that she was ill to keep her out of sight; and now we cannot say she has gone away, for the Miss Willoughby's windows command our door, and they are always watching.
MISS SUSAN (peeping from the window) . I see Fanny watching now. I feel, Phoebe, as if Livvy really existed.
PHOEBE (mournfully) . We shall never be able to esteem ourselves again. ”

“ At first Phœbe was sure that it was a boy, all dressed up grotesquely, as New York boys dressed themselves every Thanksgiving Day. For surely (the figure was close now) no young person ever could have real hair that was so red, or wear a hat, except in fun, that was so queer and green. And then the dress—too loose, and too long. And the shoes—! So large!
Suddenly Phœbe’s heart gave a leap. It was not a dressed-up boy: It was a girl! “A girl in disguise!” concluded Phœbe, excitedly, with moving-picture plots springing to her mind. “And she’s flying from the enemy!” ”

“ Her mother never exclaimed over him, but other people did. “Was that your father I saw you with yesterday?” they would ask; and when Phœbe said Yes, they would add, “Oh, but isn’t he good-looking!” All of which delighted Phœbe, who long since had compared him with the heroes she had seen pictured on the screen—which comparison was to the very great disadvantage of the film favorites. Her father was to her so gallant a figure that she often wondered at her mother’s indifference to him. But then mother herself was so lovely!
Phœbe Blair was like her father. ”

“ She was very pretty; as graceful as a bird, and graceful much in the same way; as pleasant about the house as a gleam of sunshine falling on the floor through a shadow of twinkling leaves, or as a ray of firelight that dances on the wall, while evening is drawing nigh. Instead of discussing her claim to rank among ladies, it would be preferable to regard Phœbe as the example of feminine grace and availability combined, in a state of society, if there were any such, where ladies did not exist. ”

“ Her father dropped the luggage and stretched both hands out to a figure that had emerged, in a shining raincoat, from the blackness.
“And Phœbe!” exclaimed Uncle Bob, lifting Phœbe from her feet and at the same time turning himself about, so that she was carried forward to the shelter of a roof. “God bless her! We’ll jump into the surrey, Jim, and I’ll have you home in a jiffy. What a ghastly night!—It’ll take the snow off, Phœbe. But we’ll have more. And then for some sleigh-rides!” ”

“ In Phœbe Rayner found what lovers find—
Sense, beauty, sweetness; all that mortal eyes
Can see, or heart conceive, or thought devise. 70
And Phœbe’s eye, and thought, and heart could trace
In Richard Danvers every manly grace—
All that e’er maiden wish’d, or matron prized—
So well these good young people sympathised.
All their relations, neighbours, and allies,
All their dependants, visitors, and spies,
Such as a wealthy family caress,
Said here was love, and drank to love’s success.
’Tis thus I leave the parties, young and old,
Lovers and Friends. Will Love and Friendship hold? ”

“ And as for myself, you see what I am,—a dismal and lonesome old woman (for I begin to call myself old, Phœbe) , whose temper, I am afraid, is none of the best, and whose spirits are as bad as can be! I cannot make your life pleasant, Cousin Phœbe, neither can I so much as give you bread to eat.”
“You will find me a cheerful little body” answered Phœbe, smiling, and yet with a kind of gentle dignity, “and I mean to earn my bread. You know I have not been brought up a Pyncheon. A girl learns many things in a New England village.” ”

“ Poor Phoebe! Gentle child, of coarse, unfeeling parents, few shed more sincerely a tear for thy early fate than the stranger whom they hated and despised. Often have I stood beside that humble mound, when the song of the lark was above me, and the bee murmuring at my feet, and thought that it was well for thee that God opened the eyes of thy soul, and called thee out of the darkness of ignorance and sin to glory in His marvellous light. ”

“ In a moment Phœbe was in the forbidden room. She went straight to the mantel and tried to pull it outward, as she had seen Elaine do; but it refused to move. With a growing fear at her heart she examined closely the framework and finally noticed that one part of the carving was discolored more deeply than the rest, as if with constant handling. Pressing hard against this place, Phœbe desperately dragged the mantel toward her, and this time it swung free of the wall and disclosed the secret cupboard. ”

“ That morning Uncle John’s sermon failed to bore her as usual. She had her thoughts. Only at first were they miserably unhappy. As Uncle John progressed, she fell to thinking of a plan: it had to do with her return to New York. The dear apartment was still there, even if Mother was West. Perhaps—undoubtedly!—Sally was still on hand, black and bland, devoted as ever, and full of her accustomed gaiety. Why should Phœbe stay in a town that treated her unkindly and gossiped about her mother? Why not go back to New York, the dear home, the fond servant and the enchanting “movies”? ”

“ Where the mother of William, unable to bear
His loss, who to her widow'd heart was so dear,
Has both him and her sorrows forgot.
By the brook where it winds thro' the wood of Arbeal,
Or amid the deep forest, to moan,
The poor wandering Phoebe will silently steal;
The pain of her bosom no reason can heal,
And she loves to indulge it alone.
Her senses are injured; her eyes dim with tears ”

“ Such was the sphere of Phœbe. To find the born and educated lady, on the other hand, we need look no further than Hepzibah, our forlorn old maid, in her rustling and rusty silks, with her deeply-cherished and ridiculous consciousness of long descent, her shadowy claims to princely territory, and, in the way of accomplishment, her recollections, it may be, of having formerly thrummed on a harpsichord, and walked a minuet, and worked an antique tapestry-stitch on her sampler. It was a fair parallel between new Plebeianism and old Gentility. ”

“ As she walked over the lawn she reflected that, after all, everyday life very closely resembled the “movies”.
139 CHAPTER XIII It was Grandma who came for Phœbe. And the latter saw that there was no smile on the kind old face, and that Grandma’s head was shaking very hard. Hand in hand, silently, the two went into the library.
Uncle John was there, leaning against the mantel. Though his look was lowered, Phœbe knew that he was angry. Uncle Bob stood nearby, hands in pockets. He nodded Phœbe a greeting. Phœbe’s father was not there. And Phœbe wondered. ”

“ But—the word may mark the movement of thought from his own delay in reaching them to Phœbe's immediate coming—I commend to you Phœbe, our sister, (this Christian woman bore, without change, and without reproach, the name of the Moon-Goddess of the Greeks,) being a ministrant (διάκονον) of the Church which is in Cenchreæ, the Ægæan port of Corinth ”

“ Phœbe is altogether more than his surroundings. Every time I go to feed the pig, he lights upon a post near by and says to me, “It’s what you are! Not what you do, but how you do it!”—with a launch into the air, a whirl, an unerring snap at a cabbage butterfly, and an easy drop to the post again, by way of illustration. “Not where you live, but how you live there; not the feathers you wear, but how you wear them—it is what you are that counts!”
There is a difference between being a “character” and having one. ”

“ Wells.
“His wit has run dry,” Phœbe explained. “He opened the sluice too wide at first.”
“Oh, yes,” assented Jawn. “Her face is like the Tombs of the Pharaohs because there’s more wisdom within than the deepest archæologist can ever translate; because the best part of her is hieroglyphic; because it’s worth travelling ten thousand miles to see her; because she is built fit for a king; because no man knows the mystery of her creation, yet all wonder at the marvel of it; because—do you want any more?”
“I just wished to bring you out, Jawn,” Phœbe [222] apologized. ”