"Oh!" said Rob; "is that all? I thought "twas a trade he had,--or something he sold or made."
"Well," said the Deacon; "any man that could live up here in this stone gully, without his wife along, I don"t think much of. It"s the lonesomest place, for an out-doors place, that ever I saw."
"Oh, I think it"s splendid!" said Rob.
"So do I," said Nelly. "It"s perfectly beautiful!"
"Ain"t it a comfort, Mrs. March," said Mrs. Plummer, "how children always do take to new places?"
"We don"t either," cried Rob; "I hate some places I"ve seen. But this is splendid. Just you look at those rocks: you bet I"ll pitch "em down! I"m going up on to every one of the highest rocks I can find."
"Oh, Rob! you"ll break your neck," said Mrs. March. "I shall not allow you to climb, unless your father is with you."
"Now, mamma"--Rob was beginning when, suddenly catching sight of a house, he exclaimed:--
"There "tis! That"s like the picture. And there"s the barn! I saw it first! Oh, hurry! hurry!" And in his excitement Rob stood up in the wagon.
Yes, there it was. It had looked better in the photograph which Mr.
Garland had showed to Mr. March than it did in reality. It was a small, unpainted pine house; without any piazza or blinds. The windows were small; the front door was very small; there was no fence between it and the road; and all the ground around it had been left wild. It was really a desolate-looking place.
"Why, there isn"t any yard!" exclaimed Nelly.
"Yard!" said her mother; "why, it is _all_ yard, child. As far as you can see in every direction, it is all our yard."
Mrs. March"s heart had really sunk within her at the sight of the place. The house was nothing more than she would have called a shanty at home; but she was resolved, no matter what happened to them, never to let her husband see that she found any thing hard. So she spoke cheerfully about the yard; and, as they were getting out of the wagon, she said:--
"How nice and open it is here! See, Robert, the sun is still an hour high, I should think. This is a lovely place."
Mr. March shook his head. He did not like the appearance of things.
Mrs. Plummer had bustled ahead into the house. In a moment she came back, followed by a man. This was the man who had been left by Mr.
Garland in charge of the house, and who was to stay and work for Mr.
March.
"Bless my eyes!" he exclaimed; "you"ve took me by surprise. I hain"t had no letter from Garland. He said he"d write and let me know when you"d be up. I calculated to have spruced up considerable before you come in. We"ve bached it here so long "tain"t much of a place for wimmen folks to come to."
"Oh, never mind!" said Mrs. March; "Mr."--she hesitated for a name; "I don"t think I"ve heard your name--"
"Zeb, ma"am; Zeb"s my name. Don"t go by any other name since I"ve been in these mountains," said the man, pulling off his old woollen cap, and making an awkward bow to Mrs. March, whose pleasant smile and voice had won his liking at once.
"Never mind, then, Zeb," Mrs. March continued: "we have not come expecting to find things as we had them at home. We shall call it a picnic all the time."
"Well, that"s about what it is, mum, most generally in this country"s fur"s I"ve seen it," said Zeb, thinking at that moment, with a dreadful misgiving, that he had no meat in the house, except salt pork; and no bread at all. He had intended to make some soda biscuit for his own supper. "But she looks like jest one o" them kind that can"t abide soda," thought poor Zeb to himself. "An" where in thunder be they all to sleep?" he continued; "Garland might ha"
known better than to let six folks come down on me, this way, without any warnin". "Twas mighty unconsiderate of him! However, "tain"t none o" my business. I don"t keep no hotel."
While Zeb was pursuing this uncomfortable train of thought, he was helping Deacon Plummer and Mr. March unharness the horses; he seemed silent, and, Mr. March thought, surly; but it was in reality only his distress at not being able to make the family more comfortable.
Finally he spoke.
"Did Garland tell you he"d written?"
"Oh, yes!" said Mr. March; "he said he"d written, and you would be looking out for us."
"Well, perhaps he wrote, and perhaps he didn"t. It"s as likely as not he didn"t. At any rate, if he did, the letter"s down in that Manitou post-office. I hain"t never seen it: an" I may as well tell you first as last, that I ain"t no ways ready for ye. There ain"t but two beds in the whole house. I was a calculatin" to bring up one more from the Springs next week; an" I hain"t got much in the way of provisions, either, except for the hosses. There"s plenty of oats, an" that"s about all there is plenty of."
Deacon Plummer and Mr. March were standing in the barn door: the Deacon thrust his hands deep down in his pockets and whistled. Mr.
March looked at Zeb"s face. The more he studied it, the better he liked it.
"Zeb," said he, "we can stay, somehow, can"t we? We men can sleep on the hay for a few nights, if the sleeping"s all. What have you really got in the way of food? That"s the main thing."
It pleased Zeb to have Mr. March say "we men." "I guess he"s got some stuff in him, if he is a parson," thought Zeb; and his face brightened as he replied:
"Well, if you can sleep on the hay, it"s all right about the sleepin"; but I didn"t reckon you could. But that"s only part o" the trouble. However, I can jump on to a hoss and ride down to Manitou and pick up suthin", if the wimmen folks think they can get along."
"Get along! of course we can get along!" exclaimed Mrs. March, who had just come out in search of her husband. "There is an iron pot and a tea-kettle and a frying-pan and a barrel of flour and a firkin of Graham meal; what more do we want?" and she laughed merrily.
"Hens, mamma, hens! There are lots of hens here!" shouted Rob, coming up at full speed; "and see this splendid shepherd dog! He knows me already! See! he follows me!" and Rob held his hand high up in the air to a beautiful black and white shepherd dog who was running close behind him.
"Yes; Watch, he"s real friendly with everybody," said Zeb. "He"s lots o" company, Watch is. He knows more"n most folks. Here, Watch!
give us your paw?"
The dog lifted one paw and held it out.
"No, not that one--the white one!" said Zeb.
Watch dropped the black paw, and held up the white one instantly.
"He"ll do that just"s often"s you"ll ask him," said Zeb; "an" it"s a mighty queer thing for a dog to know black from white."
"Oh! let me try him?" said Rob, "Here, Watch! Watch!" Watch ran to Rob at once.
"He does take to you, that"s a fact," said Zeb.
"Give your paw, Watch,--your white paw," said Rob.
Watch put his white paw in Rob"s hand.
"Now your black paw," said Rob.
Watch put down his white paw and lifted the other.
"White, black!--white, black!" said Rob, as fast as he could p.r.o.nounce the words; and, just as fast as he said them, the dog held up his paws.
At this moment, Nelly appeared, her cheeks very red, carrying a little yellow and white puppy in her arms.
"Oh! see this dear little puppy!" she said; "doesn"t he just match Pumpkinseed?"
"We might call him Pumpkin Blossom," said Mrs. March.
"His name"s Trotter," said Zeb. "He"s jest got it learned: I guess you can"t change it very easy. Put him down, miss, and I"ll show you what he can do. I hain"t taught him much yet; he"s such a pup: but there"s nothin" he can"t learn. Trotter, roll over!"