"Oh, you thar, Marm Lucy?" cried the farmer, with a sigh of relief that was half a chuckle, "Now, thar! you tell Hildy that folks does sometimes drop in--onexpected-like--folks from a _con_sid"able distance sometimes.
Why, I"ve known "em--" But here he stopped suddenly. And as Hilda, expecting she knew not what, stood with hands clasped together, and beating heart, the door was thrown open and a strong, cheery voice cried, "Well, General!" Another moment, and she was clasped in her father"s arms.
THE LAST WORD.
The lovely autumn is gone, and winter is here. Mr. and Mrs. Graham have long since been settled at home, and Hildegarde is with them. How does it fare with her, the new Hildegarde, under the old influences and amid the old surroundings? For answer, let us take the word of her oldest friend,--the friend who "_knows_ Hildegarde!" Madge Everton has just finished a long letter to Helen McIvor, who is spending the winter in Washington, and there can be no harm in our taking a peep into it.
"You ask me about Hilda Graham; but, _alas!_ I have NOTHING pleasant to tell. My dear, Hilda is simply LOST to us! It is all the result of that _dreadful_ summer spent among _swineherds_. You know what the Bible says! I don"t know exactly _what_, but something _terrible_ about that sort of thing. Of course it is _partly_ her mother"s influence as well. I have always DREADED it for Hilda, who is so _sensitive_ to _impressions_. Why, I remember, as far back as the first year that we were at Mme.
Haut-Ton"s, Mrs. Graham saying to Mamma, "I wish we could interest our girls a little in _sensible_ things!" My dear, she meant _hospitals_ and _soup-kitchens_ and things! And Mamma said (you know Mamma isn"t in the _least_ afraid of Mrs. Graham, though I confess I AM!), "My _dear_ Mrs. Graham, if there is _one_ thing Society will NOT tolerate, it is a _sensible_ woman. Our girls might as well have the small-pox at once, and be done with it." Wasn"t it _clever_ of Mamma? And Mrs. Graham just LOOKED at her as if she were a _camel_ from _Barnum"s_.
"Well, poor Hildegarde is sensible enough _now_ to satisfy _even_ her mother. Ever since she came home from that _odious_ place, it has been one round of hospitals and tenement-houses and _sloughs of horror_. I don"t mean that she has given up school, for she is studying harder than ever; but out of school she is simply _swallowed up_ by these wretched things. I have remonstrated with her _almost_ on my KNEES. "Hildegarde," I said one day, "do you REALIZE that you are practically _giving up_ your _whole_ LIFE? If you once _lose your place_ in Society among those of your _own age_ and _position_, you NEVER can regain it. Do you REALIZE this, Hilda?
for I feel it a SOLEMN DUTY to _warn_ you!" My dear, she actually LAUGHED! and only said, "Dear Madge, I have only just begun to have any life!" And that was _all_ I could get out of her, for just then some one came in. But even _this_ is not _the worst_! Oh, Helen! she has some of the _creatures_ whom she saw this summer, actually _staying_ in the house,--in THAT house, which we used to call Castle Graham, and were almost afraid to enter ourselves, so stately and beautiful it was! There are two of these creatures,--a girl about our age, some sort of dreadful cripple, who goes about in a bath-chair, and a freckled imp of a boy. The girl is at ---- Hospital for treatment, but spends _every Sunday_ at the Grahams", and Hilda devotes _most_ of her spare time to her. The boy is at school,--one of the _best_ schools in the city. "But _who_ are these people?" I hear you cry. My dear! they are simply _ignorant paupers_, who were Hilda"s constant companions through that _disastrous summer_. Now their mother is dead, and the people with whom Hilda stayed have adopted them. The boy is to be a doctor, and the girl is going to get well, Dr. George says. (_He_ calls her a beautiful and interesting creature; but you know what _that_ means. _Any diseased_ creature is beautiful to _him_!) Well, and THESE, my dear Helen, are Hilda Graham"s FRIENDS, for whom she has _deserted_ her OLD _ones_! for though she is _unchanged_ towards me when I see her, I hardly ever _do_ see her. She cares nothing for _my_ pursuits, and I certainly have NO intention of joining in _hers_. I met her the other day on _Fifth Avenue_, walking beside that _odious_ bath-chair, which the freckled boy was pushing. She looked so _lovely_ (for she is prettier than ever, with a fine color and eyes like _stars_), and was talking so earnestly, and walking somehow as if she were treading on air, it sent a PANG through my heart. I just paused an instant (for though I _trust_ I am not Sn.o.bBISH, Helen, still, I _draw the line_ at bath-chairs, and will _not_ be seen standing by one), and said in a low tone, meant _only_ for _her ear_, "Ah! has _Queen Hildegarde_ come to _this_?" My dear, she only LAUGHED! But that _girl_, that cripple, looked up with a smile and a sort of flash over her face, and said, just as if she _knew_ me, "Yes, Miss Everton! the Queen has come to her kingdom!""
THE END
THE MARJORY-JOE SERIES
By ALICE E. ALLEN
JOE, THE CIRCUS BOY AND ROSEMARY
These are two of Miss Allen"s earliest and most successful stories, combined in a single volume to meet the insistent demands from young people for these two particular tales.
THE MARTIE TWINS: Continuing the Adventures of Joe, the Circus Boy
"The chief charm of the story is that it contains so much of human nature. It is so real that it touches the heart strings."--_New York Standard._
MARJORY, THE CIRCUS GIRL
A sequel to "Joe, the Circus boy," and "The Martie Twins."
MARJORY AT THE WILLOWS Continuing the story of Marjory, the Circus Girl.
"Miss Allen does not write impossible stories, but delightfully pins her little folk right down to this life of ours, in which she ranges vigorously and delightfully."--_Boston Ideas._
MARJORY"S HOUSE PARTY: Or, What Happened at Clover Patch
"Miss Allen certainly knows how to please the children and tells them stories that never fail to charm."--_Madison Courier._
MARJORY"S DISCOVERY
This new addition to the popular MARJORY-JOE SERIES is as lovable and original as any of the other creations of this writer of charming stories. We get little peeps at the precious twins, at the healthy minded Joe and sweet Marjory. There is a bungalow party, which lasts the entire summer, in which all of the characters of the previous MARJORY-JOE stories partic.i.p.ate, and their happy times are delightfully depicted.
THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES
By HARRISON ADAMS
THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO; OR, CLEARING THE WILDERNESS.
"Such books as this are an admirable means of stimulating among the young Americans of to-day interest in the story of their pioneer ancestors and the early days of the Republic."--_Boston Globe._
THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES; OR, ON THE TRAIL OF THE IROQUOIS.
"The recital of the daring deeds of the frontier is not only interesting but instructive as well and shows the sterling type of character which these days of self-reliance and trial produced."--_American Tourist, Chicago._
THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI; OR, THE HOMESTEAD IN THE WILDERNESS.
"The story is told with spirit, and is full of adventure."--_New York Sun._
THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI; OR, IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX.
"Vivid in style, vigorous in movement, full of dramatic situations, true to historic perspective, this story is a capital one for boys."--_Watchman Examiner, New York City._
THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOWSTONE; OR, LOST IN THE LAND OF WONDERS.
"There is plenty of lively adventure and action and the story is well told."--_Duluth Herald, Duluth, Minn._
THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA; OR, IN THE WILDERNESS OF THE GREAT NORTHWEST.
"The story is full of spirited action and contains much valuable historical information."--_Boston Herald._