The red school-house at Shrub Oak was half a mile out of the doctor"s way, but instead of setting Paul down at the willow tree on the corner, he put his eccentric steed to its mettle, and drew up in front of that sublime seat of learning with considerable dash.
"Holloa there, Tibbles! Holloa! I say! Come out and get a new scholar."
Mr. Tibbles, the master, heard this shout while in the midst of his pupils, and laying down his ruler with dignity, moved toward the door, leaving a hum and rush of whispers behind, which might have reminded one of Babel before the inmates had ventured entirely upon their new tongues.
"How do you do, Tibbles? Young ideas shoot prosperously--ha? Give "em the birch--give "em the birch. Nothing like it. Whipped half out of my skin before I got through Webster"s spelling-book. Did me good. Give "em birch; and if you can"t find that handy, try hemlock sprouts. Tingle beautifully."
The master took these suggestions demurely, and asked if the little boy upon the horse wanted to come to school.
"Yes. Hop down, shaver. Give him a lift, Tibbles. A little Frenchman from St. Domingo. Nothing but a nest of n.i.g.g.e.rs left there. Killed all the white folks off. Nice country, that. You have heard of the boy that stuck to the wrecked brig with Dave Rice?"
"Oh, yes, doctor," answered Tibbles, brightening.
"There he is, large as life. Take good care of him, for he"s worth a dozen of your common fellows. Put him through English, and give him a touch of Latin, if you remember any. Who knows but I may take him for a student one of these days?"
While the doctor was speaking, he took Paul by the hand, and swung him lightly to the ground. Mr. Tibbles took possession of the handsome boy with no little pride; for the child who had stood so manfully by David Rice had become a historical character in Shrub Oak, and the master felt the dignity of his school enhanced by Paul"s advent there.
Paul was a good deal embarra.s.sed as he entered school with thirty pairs of eyes levelled at him, sparkling with every possible degree of curiosity. He sat down on a little bench, blushing like a girl, but looking so modest and gentle withal, that the whole school felt a general and kindly impulse toward the stranger. The bluest covered spelling-book was handed to him from the master"s desk. One boy volunteered to lend him a slate, and another took a new pencil from his pocket and gave it to him outright, looking triumphantly round at the little girls" bench to be sure that his intimacy with the distinguished stranger had made its impression in that quarter.
At noon time there was no limit to the hospitalities of the occasion; wonder-cakes, biscuits, and wedges of pumpkin pie, made their way into Paul"s dinner basket. One pretty little girl slily offered him a rusty coated apple, and another was ambitious to teach him how to slide on a strip of ice that lay, like a mammoth looking-gla.s.s, a little distance down the turnpike.
Paul received all these kindnesses with gentle grace. His broken speech, the sweet expression of his eyes, the natural refinement which even children could feel, made him a general favorite in less than two hours.
The large boys were already arranging to lend him their sleds. As for the girls, the whispering and nudging that took place among them whenever the lad lifted those splendid eyes from his book, was a scandal to the whole school and s.e.x.
When Paul went out of school at night he felt very lonesome and forlorn, not exactly knowing his way home, and a good deal dismayed by the snow, which was getting damp and heavy, with a succession of warm, foggy days. While he was standing in the door, uncertain which way to turn, two large boys, rosy from the fresh air, came racing up harnessed to a hand sled, in their opinion a marvel of workmanship, which was expected to lift the stranger off his feet with admiration.
With cordial hospitality, the boys offered this conveyance to Paul, who accepted it in good faith, and the boys carried him away in triumph, dashing off toward Falls Hill, and up the crossroad, in splendid style.
The next day, one of these boys--the same little fellow who had given Rose Mason the string of robins" eggs, might have been seen hanging around Mrs. Allen"s gate, looking wistfully at the front door. When it opened, and Paul came forth, the lad ran to meet him, and the two went away together, talking earnestly on the road to school.
CHAPTER x.x.xII.
A TERRIBLE DISCLOSURE.
Alas! the sad and heavy-hearted sorrow that was left behind on the day that little Paul went forth to his school-boy life. Twice, Mrs. Allen went into Katharine"s room and sat down, pale and soul-stricken, waiting to be questioned; but her daughter had been exhausted by her conversation with the doctor, and lay with her eyes closed, weary of all things. So, drawing a deep breath from a consciousness of this reprieve, the wretched woman went away again still more heavily laden with the duty that clung to her like a vampire, and so a week pa.s.sed by without another attempt. At last, toward nightfall one day, Katharine spoke:
"Mother?"
"My child."
"What is it that you are all afraid of telling me?"
"A great trouble, Katharine; something that even I, who have some courage, tremble to speak of."
"Is it about my baby, mother?"
"Yes."
"I am glad you are willing to answer me; the doctor put me off."
"But I will not put you off, my poor child."
"What is it, mother? This frightens me--your voice is husky, your face strange--did my baby die a hard death?"
"Yes, very hard. It was killed."
The voice was indeed husky that uttered these words.
Katharine rose up in the bed, her eyes grew large and wild.
"Killed?"
"Yes, G.o.d help us--it was dead and buried when we found it."
"Dead and buried; mother, mother!"
The words came forth in a sharp cry, breaking the pale lips apart and leaving them so.
"I left it alive, Katharine--sleeping by your side. Can you remember when I went out that day after a man to haul some wood from Castle Rock?"
Katharine held both hands to her temples, rocking to and fro as if the effort to think cost great pain.
"Yes, mother, I remember about the wood. You put the shawl, that David sent me, over my shoulders. The baby was asleep then, with one hand to its mouth. I took the hand away just to see it nestle; its pretty lips were moving all the time."
"What then?"
"It was a noise, mother--a trumpet sounding through the house--dead leaves, white leaves flying all about me; then, mother, then immense heaps of snow rolling, heaving, and spreading everywhere. I--I cannot remember how I got in or out of this cold whiteness. It seemed to bury me in a long sleep."
"Poor child--poor little Katharine."
"Oh, I remember you called me that when I was a very small child."
"Katharine, try; can you remember nothing more?"
"Nothing more, only as one recollects that she has been miserably asleep."
"But it was in this time, while I was away to see about that wood, that our baby was killed."
"Killed!--how?"
"Strangled."
"Mother--mother!"