Mrs. Lathrop rose, went to the cupboard, took out a bottle of homemade gooseberry wine, poured out a little, and took a sip. She did not offer any to Susan.
"It"ll do you good," said Susan encouragingly. "I don"t like the taste myself, but it"ll do you good. Besides, Mrs. Lathrop, you must begin to get used to it. When you go around with Jathrop in his private car, you"ll have to drink wine, and if I was you, I"d stop tying a stocking around your neck nights, for you"ll have to wear a very different cut of gowns soon. If Jathrop buys that yacht he"s gone to look at, you"ll have to wear a sailor blouse."
"Oh," said Mrs. Lathrop faintly, "oh, Susan, I--" Miss Clegg put her hastily back into her chair.
"Never mind if it does make your head go "round a little, Mrs. Lathrop; you must learn how. It may be hard, but it"ll make Jathrop happy, and now he"s come back rich, that"s what everybody wants to do.
"Mrs. Brown says next time he comes she"s going to make him a jet-black pound-cake, and Mrs. Allen says she"s going to work him a pincushion.
She says it"ll be a plain, simple token of affection, but those whom Fortune smiles on soon learn to know the true worth of a simple gift of purest love. She says no one has ever known how she loved Jathrop, "cause she kept it to herself for fear you"d think she was after him for Polly."
Mrs. Lathrop rocked dreamily.
Susan rose to go.
"Don"t--" said Mrs. Lathrop.
"I must," said Susan. "Oh, Mrs. Lathrop, think of his giving me those fifty shares of stock just on account of my long-suffering friendship for you. I declare he"s a great character--that"s all I can say.
"I always had a feeling he"d end in some unusual way; when they started to lynch him, I thought that was the way, but now I see that this was the way, and I thank heaven that I wasn"t right the other time and am right this time. For human nature is human nature, Mrs. Lathrop, and people are always kinder to a woman whose son comes home from the Klondike a millionaire than they are if they had the bother of lynching him, no matter how much he may have deserved it."
Mrs. Lathrop continued to finger her solitaire earrings in happy silence. Miss Clegg, who never exhibited any tenderness toward anything, went over and arranged the fold-over of her friend"s gold-embroidered, silk-quilted kimono.
"I"ll be glad when your new hair gets here, Mrs. Lathrop," she said tenderly, "it"ll make a different woman of you. It"s astonishing what a little extra hair can do; I always feel that when I put on my wave.
"You and me will have to be getting used to all kinds of new things now.
And that beautiful dream of mine letting us know he was coming. Mrs.
Brown says Amelia says the Egyptians worshipped cats and used to pickle them when they died.
"It"s astonishing how, if you know enough, you can see how any dream is full of meaning. There"s Jathrop so fond of pickles, and you and me worshipping him. And he writing in every letter he has time to get somebody to write for him, "How"s Susan Clegg?""
Mrs. Lathrop lapsed into beatific slumber. Susan Clegg went quietly home.
IV
SUSAN CLEGG AND THE OLIVE BRANCH
It was not in reason to suppose that the return of Jathrop Lathrop should continue to occupy wholly the attention of the community. Each week--even each day--brought its fresh interests. Not the least exciting of the provocative elements was borne back from the metropolis to which "Liza Em"ly, that hitherto negatively regarded olive branch of the ministerial family, had but recently emigrated. "Liza Em"ly, it was whispered one day, had written a book.
The Sewing Society, at its next meeting, discussed it, as a matter of course; and Susan Clegg, equally as a matter of course, promptly reported the proceedings to her friend and neighbor, Mrs. Lathrop.
"Well," she began, sitting down with the heavy thump of one who is completely and utterly overcome, "I give up. It"s beyond me. I was to the Sewing Society, and it"s beyond them all, too. The idea of "Liza Em"ly"s writing a book! No one can see how she ever come to think as she could write a book. No one can see where she got any ideas to put in a book. I don"t know what any one thought she _would_ do when she set out for the city to earn her own living, but there wasn"t a soul in town as expected her to do it, let alone writing a book, too. I can"t see whatever gives any one the idea of earning their living by writing books. Books always seem so sort of unnecessary to me, anyway--I ain"t read one myself in years. No one in this community ever does read, and that"s what makes everybody so surprised over "Liza Em"ly, after living among us so long and so steady, starting up all of a sudden and doing anything like this. And what makes it all the more surprising is she never said a word about it either--never wrote home to the family or told a living soul. And so you can maybe imagine the shock to the minister when he got word as his own flesh and blood daughter had not only written a book but got it all printed without consulting him. His wife says he was completely done up and could hardly speak for quite a little while, and later when the newspaper clippings begin to come, he had to go to bed and have a salt-water cloth over his eyes. I tell you, Mrs. Lathrop, the minister is a very sensitive nature; it"s no light thing to a sensitive nature to get a shock like a daughter"s writing a book."
"Is--" asked Mrs. Lathrop.
"Well, I should say that it was," said Miss Clegg. "I should say that it was. And not only is it being advertised, but people are buying it just like mad, the papers say. The minister is still more upset over that; seems the responsibilities of even being connected with books nowadays is no light thing. There was that man as was shot for what he wrote in a book the other day, you know, and the minister"s wife says as the minister is most nervous over what may be in the book; she says he says very few books as everybody is reading ought to be read, and he knows what he"s talking about, for he"s a great reader himself. Why, his wife says he"s got books hid all over the house, and she says--speaking confidentially--as he says most of "em he"s really very sorry he"s read--after he"s finished "em. She says--he says he"ll know no peace night or day now until he"s read "Liza Em"ly"s book. I guess it"s no wonder that he"s nervous. "Liza Em"ly"s been a handful for years, and since she fell in love with Elijah, there"s been just no managing her a _tall_. If Elijah"d loved her, of course it would have been different, but Elijah wasn"t a energetic nature, and "Liza Em"ly was, and when a energetic nature loves a man like Elijah, there"s just no knowing where they will end up. I never see why Elijah didn"t love "Liza Em"ly, but her grandmother"s nose has always been against her, and he told me himself as it was all he could think of when he sat quietly down to think about her. But all that"s neither here nor there, for it"s a far cry from a girl"s nose to her brains nowadays, thank heavens, and "Liza Em"ly"s got something to balance her now. Polly White has sent for one of the books. She says she"ll lend it around, no matter what"s in it.
Polly says there"s one good thing in getting married, and that is it makes you a married woman, and being a married woman lets you read all kinds of books. I guess Polly"s been a great reader since she was married. She"s meant to get some good out of that situation, and she"s done it. The deacon isn"t so badly off, either. I wouldn"t say that he"s glad he"s married all the time, but I guess some of the time he don"t mind, and it"s about all married people ask if only some of the time they can feel to not be sorry. A little let-up is a great relief."
"You--" said Mrs. Lathrop.
"Yes, I know," said Miss Clegg, "but I pick up a good deal from others, and there"s a feeling as married women have when they talk to a woman as they suppose can"t possibly know anything just "cause she never got into any of their troubles, as makes them show forth the truth very plainly.
I won"t say as married women strike me more and more as fools, for it wouldn"t be kindly, but I will say as the way they revel in being married and saying how hard it is, kind of strikes me as amusing. _I_ wouldn"t go into a store and buy a dress and then, when every one knew as I picked it out myself, keep running around telling how it didn"t fit and was tearing out in all the seams--but that"s about what most of this marriage talk comes to. I do wonder what "Liza Em"ly has said about marriage in _Deacon Tooker Talks_. That"s a very funny name for a book, I think myself, but that"s what she"s named it. And as it seems to be about most everything, I suppose it must be about marriage, too. Of course "Liza Em"ly"s so wild to marry Elijah that everybody knows that that was what took her up to town. She didn"t want to earn her living any more than any girl does. n.o.body ever really aches to earn their living. But some has to, and some wants to be around with men, and there ain"t no better way to be around with men nowadays than to go to work with "em. You have "em all day long then, and pretty soon you have "em all the time. "Liza Em"ly wants to have Elijah all the time."
"What--" began Mrs. Lathrop.
"Oh, she says she thinks they"re so congenial; she told me herself as Elijah "understood." It seems to be a great thing to understand nowadays. It"s another of those things we used to take for granted but which is now got new and uncommon and most remarkable. She told me when she and Elijah watched the sun setting together, they both understood, and she seemed to feel that that was a safe basis on which to set out for town and start in to earn her own living. The minister didn"t want her to go. He was very much against it. It cost such a lot, too. The minister"s wife said it would have been ever so much cheaper to fix a girl to get married. You can get married with six pairs of new stockings, the minister"s wife says, and it takes a whole dozen with the heels run to earn your living. The minister"s wife was very confidential with me about it all, and "Liza Em"ly confided considerably in me, too.
They both knew I"d never tell. Every one always confides in me because they know I never tell. Why, the things folks in this community have told me! Well!--But I _never_ tell. The real reason I never tell is because they always tell every one themselves before I can get around, but then a confiding nature is always telling its affairs, and so you can"t really blame "em. I never tell my own affairs, because I"ve learned as affairs is like love letters, and if they"re interesting enough, it is very risky. But really, Mrs. Lathrop, I must be going now, and as soon as I get hold of that book, I"ll be over with my opinion.
_Deacon Tooker Talks!_ My, but that is a funny name for a book! I can"t see myself what kind of a book it can possibly be with that t.i.tle--but anyway, we shall soon know now."
"Yes, we--" began Mrs. Lathrop.
"Yes, indeed," said Susan, and the seance broke up for that day.
It was resumed the day after, and the day after that, but no further progress having been made in the development of "Liza Em"ly"s affairs, that interesting topic remained in abeyance until after the next meeting of the Sewing Society, when the subject was put forward with emphasis.
"You never hear the beat," said the lady who nearly always went to the Sewing Society to the lady who hadn"t been there for years; "this book of "Liza Em"ly"s seems to be something just beyond belief. Polly read it all aloud to us to-day, and I must say it"s a _most_ astonishing book. I will tell you in confidence, Mrs. Lathrop, as I ain"t surprised that the minister hid his copy and that the newspapers is all printing things about it. Seems it"s a man in bed talking to his wife who is asleep most of the time, only he don"t pay the slightest attention to her not paying the slightest attention. Polly had the name right, it is _Deacon Tooker Talks_ (which is a _most_ singular name to my order of thinking).
The cover has got a picture of the deacon"s head on a pillow talking, and you can think how the minister would feel over his daughter"s book"s cover having a pillow on it! I walked home with Mrs. Fisher, and she will have it that "Liza Em"ly"s put her father into the book, soul and body. There"s a man called Mr. Lexicon as is a lawyer in the book, and Mrs. Fisher says it"s the minister. I wouldn"t swear as it wasn"t the minister myself, but I hate to believe it, for a girl as"ll put her father in a book would be equal to most anything, I should suppose. But Mrs. Fisher"s sure it"s the minister; she says she knew him right off by his ear-m.u.f.fs. Only "Liza Em"ly has disguised the ear-m.u.f.fs by calling them overshoes. Mr. Lexicon has always got on his overshoes. Mrs.
Fisher waited until we got away from all the rest, and then she showed me a review from a New York paper that just took my breath away. It says no such book has appeared before a welcoming public in two hundred and fifty years, and she"s going to write the paper and ask what the book two hundred and fifty years ago was about. Mrs. Fisher says she"s thinking very seriously of writing a book herself. She says she"s always wanted to write a book, and now she thinks she"ll go up to town and see "Liza Em"ly and ask her about their writing a book together. She says she"ll furnish all the story, and "Liza Em"ly can write the book. Then they"ll divide the money even. And there"ll be money to divide, too, for "Liza Em"ly"s book is surely selling. Mrs. Macy come up after Mrs.
Fisher went home, and she had a piece out of another newspaper that Mrs.
Lupey sent her, saying the book was in its ninth edition already. She had it with her at the Sewing Society, but she didn"t bring it out, out of consideration for the feelings of the minister"s wife. Mrs. Macy says she thinks she"ll write a book, too. She"s got the same idea as Mrs. Fisher about writing it with "Liza Em"ly, only she says she"ll let "Liza Em"ly use some of her own ideas mixed in with Mrs. Macy"s ideas, and she can have two thirds of the money. She says it can"t be hard to write a book, or "Liza Em"ly couldn"t never have done it, but she says "Liza Em"ly has got the Fishers in her book, and she"s surprised Mrs.
Fisher didn"t recognize "em at the Sewing Society. "Liza Em"ly calls "em the Hunters. Fishers, hunters--you see! An" John Bunyan she calls Martin Luther, an" in place of being a genius, she covered that all up by making him a painter. Laws, Mrs. Macy says writing a book"s easy. She says that book of "Liza Em"ly"s is really too flat for words, and what makes people buy it, she can"t see. Well, I shan"t buy a copy, I know _that_. I ain"t knowed "Liza Em"ly all my life to go doing things like that now."
With which very common view as to the works produced by our intimate friends, Miss Clegg rose to take her departure.
"Did--?" asked Mrs. Lathrop, when they next met.
"No--I asked, but not a soul knew. We haven"t got _any_ man in town as it could _possibly_ be. They was all discussing it, too. Mrs. Macy and Mrs. Fisher is really going to town to see "Liza Em"ly and take up their ideas to talk over. Mrs. Macy is putting her ideas down on a piece of paper, so as to be sure she has "em with her. Mrs. Fisher"s keeping hers in her head, for she says if she lost them, anybody might write her book. They think they"ll go Tuesday. I hope they will, "cause if they do, they"ll come straight from the train and tell me, and then I"ll come straight over and tell you."
With which amicable arrangement Miss Clegg again took her departure.
It was quite two weeks before affairs shaped themselves for Mrs. Macy and Mrs. Fisher to go to the city on their literary errand, but they managed it at last, and you may be very sure that Mrs. Lathrop peeked eagerly and earnestly out of her window many times the afternoon after their journey. They came up to call upon Miss Clegg and narrate their adventures quite according to their usual friendly ideals, and directly they took their leave that good lady hied herself rapidly to Mrs.
Lathrop to tell the tale.
Mrs. Lathrop met her at the door and both sank into chairs immediately.
"Well, what--" said the older lady then, and her younger friend rejoined promptly:
"Perfectly dumfounding; nothing like it was ever knowed before or ever will be again."
"Wha--?" began Mrs. Lathrop.
"They"re both completely paralyzed. Mrs. Fisher can"t say a word, and Mrs. Macy can"t keep still."
"Wha--?" began Mrs. Lathrop again.