Alcott, Louisa May - SSC 11 (22 page)

 
          
           
"Don't waste your pity, Miss Florence. Ruth reads a newspaper better than
any woman I ever knew. I've heard her doing it to the old man, getting through
shipping news, money-market, and politics in fine style. I wouldn't offer her
money if I were you, though it is a kind thought. These people have an honest
pride in earning things for themselves, and I respect them for it," added
Mr. Wallace.

 
          
           
"Dear me!
I should as soon think of a sand
skipper having pride as one of these fishy folks in this stupid little
place," observed Mr. Fred, moving his legs into the shadow as the creeping
moonlight began to reveal the hideous boots.

 
          
           
"Why not?
I think they have more to be proud of,
these brave, honest, independent people, than many who never earn a cent and
swell round on the money their fathers made out of pork, rum, or—any other
rather unpleasant or disreputable business," said Captain John, with the
twinkle in his eye, as he changed the end of his sentence, for the word
"pickles" was on his lips when Aunt Mary's quick touch checked it.
Some saucy girl laughed, and Mr. Fred squirmed, for it was well known that his
respectable grandfather whom he never mentioned had made his large fortune in a
pickle-factory.

 
          
           
"We all rise from the mud in one sense, and all may be handsome flowers if
we choose before we go back, after blooming, to ripen our seeds at the bottom
of the water where we began," said Miss Scott's refined voice, sounding
softly after the masculine ones.

 
          
           
"I like that idea! Thank you, Aunt Mary, for giving me such a pretty fancy
to add to my love for water-lilies. I shall remember it, and try to be a lovely
one, not a bit ashamed to own that I came from honest farmer stock,"
exclaimed the thoughtful girl who had learned to know and love the sweet, wise
woman who was so motherly to all girls.

 
          
           
"Hear!
hear
!" cried Captain John, heartily;
for he was very proud of his own brave name kept clean and bright through a
long line of sailor kin.

 
          
           
"Now let us sing or we shall have no time," suggested Miss Ellery,
who warbled as well as rippled, and did not wish to lose this opportunity of
singing certain sentimental songs appropriate to the hour.

 
          
           
So they tuned their pipes and made "music in the air" for an hour, to
the great delight of Sammy, who joined in every song, and was easily persuaded
to give sundry nautical melodies in a shrill small voice which convulsed his
hearers with merriment.

 
          
           
"Ruth sings awful well, but she won't afore folks," he said, as he
paused after a roaring ditty.

 
          
           
"She will for me;" and Mr. Wallace went slowly up to the rock not far
away, where Ruth sat alone listening to the music as she rested after her long
day's work.

 
          
           
"Such airs!" said Miss Ellery, in a sharp tone; for her "Wind of
the Summer Night" had not gone well, owing to a too copious supper.
"Posing for Lorelei," she added, as Ruth began to sing, glad to
oblige the kind old gentleman. They expected some queer ballad or droning hymn,
and were surprised when a clear sweet voice gave them "The Three
Fishers" and "Mary on the Sands of Dee" with a simple pathos
that made real music-lovers thrill with pleasure, and filled several pairs of
eyes with tears.

 
          
           
"More, please, more!" called Captain John, as she paused; and as if
encouraged by the hearty applause her one gift excited, she sang on as easily
as a bird till her small store was exhausted.

 
          
           
"I call THAT music," said Miss Scott, as she wiped her eyes with a
sigh of satisfaction. "It comes from the heart and goes to the heart, as
it should. Now we don't want anything else, and had better go home while the
spell lasts."

 
          
           
Most of the party followed her example, and went to thank and say good-night to
Ruth, who felt as rich and happy as a queen with the money Mr. Wallace had
slipped into her pocket, and the pleasure which even this short glimpse of a
higher, happier life had brought her hungry nature.

 
          
           
As the boats floated away, leaving her alone on the shore, she sent her
farewell ringing over the water in the words of the old song, "A Life on
the Ocean Wave;" and every one joined in it with a will, especially Mr.
Wallace and Captain John; and so the evening picnic ended tunefully and
pleasantly for all, and was long remembered by several.

 
          
           
After that day many "good times" came to Ruth and Sammy; and even
poor old Grandpa had his share, finding the last summer of his life very smooth
sailing as he slowly drifted into port. It seemed quite natural that Captain
John, being a sailor, should like to go and read and "yarn" with the
old fisherman; so no one wondered when he fell into the way of rowing over to
the Island very often with his pocket full of newspapers, and whiling away the
long hours in the little house as full of sea smells and salt breezes as a
shell on the shore.

 
          
           
Miss Scott also took a fancy to go with her nephew; for, being an ardent
botanist, she discovered that the
Island
possessed many
plants which she could not find on the rocky point of land where the hotel and
cottages stood. The fresh-water pond was her especial delight, and it became a
sort of joke to ask, when she came home brown and beaming with her treasures in
tin boxes, bottles, and bunches,—

 
          
           
"Well, Aunt Mary, have you seen the water-lilies bloom yet?" and she
always answered with that wise smile of hers,—

 
          
           
"Not yet, but I'm biding my time, and am watching a very fine one with
especial interest. When the right moment comes, it will bloom and show its
golden heart to me, I hope."

 
          
           
Ruth never quite knew how it came about, but books seemed to find their way to
the
Island
and stay there, to her great delight. A
demand for lilies sprang up, and when their day was over marsh-rosemary became
the rage. Sammy found a market for all the shells and gulls' wings he could
furnish, and certain old curiosities brought from many voyages were sold for
sums which added many comforts to the old sailor's last cruise.

 
          
           
Now the daily row to the Point was a pleasure, not a trial, to Ruth,—for Mr.
Wallace was always ready with a kind word or gift, the ladies nodded as she
passed, and asked how the old Skipper was to-day; Miss Scott often told her to
stop at the cottage for some new book or a moment's chat on her way to the
boat, and Captain John helped Sammy with his fishing so much that the baskets
were always full when they came home.

 
          
           
All this help and friendliness put a wonderful energy and sweetness into Ruth's
hard life, and made her work seem light, her patient waiting for freedom easier
to bear cheerfully. She sang as she stood over her wash-tub, cheered the long
nights of watching with the precious books, and found the few moments of rest
that came to her when the day's work was done very pleasant, as she sat on her
rock, watching the lights from the Point, catching the sound of gay music as
the young people danced, and thinking over the delightful talks she had with
Miss Scott. Perhaps the presence of a blue jacket in Grandpa's little bedroom,
the sight of a friendly brown face smiling when she came in, and the sonorous
murmur of a man's voice reading aloud, added a charm to the girl's humdrum
life. She was too innocent and frank to deny that she enjoyed these new
friends, and welcomed both with the same eagerness, saw both go with the same
regret, and often wondered how she ever had got on without them.

 
          
           
But the modest fisher-maiden never dreamed of any warmer feeling than kindness
on the one side and gratitude on the other; and this unconsciousness was her
greatest charm, especially to Captain John, who hated coquettes, and shunned
the silly girls who wasted time in idle flirtation when they had far better and
wholesomer pastimes to enjoy. The handsome sailor was a favorite, being handy
at all sorts of fun, and the oldest of the young men at the Point. He was very
courteous in his hearty way to every woman he met, from the stateliest dowager
to the dowdiest waiter-girl, but devoted himself entirely to Aunt Mary, and
seemed to have no eyes for younger fairer faces.

 
          
           
"He must have a sweetheart over the sea somewhere," the damsels said
among themselves, as they watched him pace the long piazzas alone, or saw him
swinging in his hammock with eyes dreamily fixed on the blue bay before him.

 
          
           
Miss Scott only smiled when curious questions were asked her, and said she
hoped John would find his mate some time, for he deserved the best wife in the
world, having been a good son and an honest boy for six-and-twenty years.

 
          
           
"What is it, Captain,—a steamer?" asked Mr. Fred, as he came by the
cottage one August afternoon, with his usual escort of girls, all talking at
once about some very interesting affair.

 
          
           
"Only a sail-boat; no steamers to-day," answered Captain John,
dropping the glass from his eye with a start.

 
          
           
"Can you see people on the
Island
with that thing?
We want to know if Ruth is at home, because if she isn't we can't waste time
going over," said Miss Ellery, with her sweetest smile.

 
          
           
"I think not. That boat is Sammy's, and as there is a speck of red aboard,
I fancy Miss Ruth is with him. They are coming this way, so you can hail them
if you like," answered the sailor, with "a speck of red" on his
own sunburnt cheek if any one had cared to look.

 
          
           
"Then we'll wait here if we may. We ordered her to bring us a quantity of
bulrushes and flowers for our tableaux to-night, and we want her to be Rebecca
at the well. She is so dark, and with her hair down, and gold bangles and
scarlet shawls, I think she would do nicely. It takes so long to arrange the
'Lily Maid of Astolat' we MUST have an easy one to come just before that, and
the boys are wild to make a camel of
themselves
, so we
planned this. Won't you be Jacob or Abraham or whoever the man with the
bracelets was?" asked Miss Ellery, as they all settled on the steps in the
free-and-easy way which prevailed at the Point.

 
          
           
"No, thank you, I don't act. Used to dance hornpipes in my young days, but
gave up that sort of thing some time ago."

 
          
           
"How unfortunate!
Every one acts; it's all the
fashion," began Miss
 
 Ellery, rolling up her blue eyes
imploringly.
 
 

 
          
           
"So I see; but I never cared much for theatricals, I like natural things
better."

 
          
           
"How unkind you are! I quite depended on you for that, since you wouldn't
be a corsair."

 
          
           
"Fred's the man for such fun. He's going to startle the crowd with a
regular Captain Kidd rig, pistols and cutlasses enough for a whole crew, and a
terrific beard."

 
          
           
"I know Ruth won't do it, Floss, for she looked amazed when I showed her
my Undine costume, and told her what I wanted the sea-weed for
. '
Why, you won't stand before all those folks dressed that
way, will you?' she said, as much scandalized as if she'd never seen a
low-necked dress and silk stockings before;" and Miss Perry tossed her head
with an air of pity for a girl who could be surprised at the display of a
pretty neck and arms and ankles.

 
          
           
"We'll HIRE her, then; she's a mercenary wretch and will do anything for
money. I won't be scrambled into my boat in a hurry, and we MUST have Rebecca
because I've borrowed a fine pitcher and promised the boys their camel,"
said Miss Ellery, who considered herself the queen of the place and ruled like
one, in virtue of being the prettiest girl there and the richest.

 
          
           
"She has landed, I think, for the boat is off again to the wharf. Better
run down and help her with the bulrushes, Fred, and the rest of the stuff you
ordered," suggested Captain John, longing to go himself but kept by his
duty as host, Aunt Mary being asleep upstairs.