Hesper, the Home-Spirit

CHAPTER XIX.

MR. BYERS ON MATRIMONY

Hesper had at length completed her seventeenth year, but her early discipline of sorrow and toil had given her a judgment and experience far beyond that age. During the time that she attended school, a friendship had sprung up between her and Alice Smiley, the doctor’s youngest daughter. They were often together, and nothing could delight these girls more, than to secure Mr. Byers’ company in some of their walks, for his sage remarks and peculiar mode of expression, was to them a never failing fund of interest and amusement. At times, when a convenient opportunity offered, they would all drop into aunt Nyna’s, and sup with her from her little round table, which always seemed so comfortable and cozy. Bread and butter never tasted so good anywhere else, and tea, taken from those little China cups, so thin and small that they seemed almost like egg-shells, was perfectly delicious.

One night, the good lady had a larger party than usual, for she had previously sent out her invitations, comprehending both Juliana, and Kate, the doctor’s eldest daughter. Aunt Nyna was in fine spirits that day, on account of having received a letter from Harry, and with it quite a sum of money, which he desired her to use according as her pleasure or necessity demanded. After tea, when they had all sat down together, the good lady, in the fulness of her heart, besought the pleasure of reading the letter to the company, to which they readily assented. In it, there was, as usual, a message to his “little wife,” assuring her, that if he continued to succeed as well as he had of late, he should come home soon, and claim her as his bride in reality. The young people laughed when they observed that Hesper blushed deeply, and Mr. Byers immediately offered her a large palm-leaf fan.

“Thee shouldn’t notice it when ladies blush, friend Byers,” said aunt Nyna, as she laid down the letter and regarded Hesper with a pleasant smile. “Once the good child only laughed at such things, but now she blushes, and is silent. Canst thee tell me what makes the difference, Hesper?”

“O,” replied Hesper, still blushing and smiling, “it is because I am older, and because – because I don’t know why.”

“That’s it exactly,” said Mr. Byers. “I am entirely satisfied with your explanation, it is so perfectly natural.”

“But,” continued Hesper, recovering her self-possession, “I don’t see how Harry ever came to call me his ‘little wife,’ or why he still persists in doing so, now that we are both so old.”

“Then let me tell thee,” said aunt Nyna, with an expression of great interest. “I can well remember the first time he ever saw thee. He was five years of age, and thou only five days when I took him with me to see the new baby. I never saw a little fellow so delighted with anything in my life. He kissed the baby’s soft round cheeks, so tenderly – looked with wonder and admiration at the little tiny hands, and then prayed us to let him take her in his arms, just one moment. Finally, he asked the baby’s name. The father – he was well and cheerful then – told him it was Hesper. The little fellow shook his curly head thoughtfully, as he said – ’I don’t like it – I would much rather have her named sissy, or little Miss Muffit,’ of whom he had learned in his nursery rhymes.

“We all laughed; at which the poor child seemed greatly disconcerted. ‘Look here, Harry,’ said thy father, and he took him kindly on his knee. ‘When my little baby first came to me, it was evening – the sun had gone down behind the hills, and the great clouds which were sailing through the sky, were of many beautiful colors. As I stood at the window, thanking God that he had given me such a precious little daughter, I looked up, and there I saw a beautiful bright star, in the midst of the clouds, shining calmly down upon me. It was the evening star, and years ago the people called it Hesper. It was so very bright and beautiful, that the same thankful, prayerful feeling came over me, that I had when I first looked upon the face of my new-born child. Then I said I will call my little daughter Hesper, for she came to me in the evening, when the night shadows were falling upon the earth, and it may be, as the years pass on, she will become like yonder star, a light to the pathway of many, so we shall bless God that he ever sent her into this world. That is the reason, Harry, why I called her Hesper.’ The little fellow sat in silence, a few moments; then he looked up with his face all aglow with pleasant thoughts. ‘I like it now,’ he said, ‘for the stars are the moon’s babies, and if she came down from God, it is right to call her Hesper, for she, too, is a little star baby.’ It was a simple, child-like thought, but it pleased us much, and for months after, thy mother called thee her ‘star-baby.’ When it was time to go, I could not make the little fellow willing to part from thee. He stole timidly up to thy mother’s bed-room and looked her long and earnestly in the face. ‘Please ma’am,’ he said, at length, in his coaxing, child-like way, ‘won’t you give me your baby?’ Thy mother laid her pale hand gently among his curls, and said – ’My dear child, I would not part with my precious baby for all the wealth of the world.’ The little fellow was disappointed. His lips quivered, and his eyes filled with tears. ‘Never mind, Master Harry,’ said thy father, by way of consolation. ‘Wait till you are older, and better able to take care of her, and then you shall have her for your little wife, if you will.’ He seemed well contented with this promise, and went away quite willingly. In after years, thy father disapproved of it, when Harry called thee by that name, but thy father himself was first at fault, for the child never forgot the promise, but has called thee his little wife, from that day to this.”

“And in all probability, he will call her so to the day of his death,” said Mr. Byers, “only in a higher and more truthful sense.”

“No, no;” said Hesper, seriously, “I never shall marry. I said so when I was a child, and I say so now.”

“Pshaw!” said Mr. Byers, with seeming impatience, “who ever heard such nonsense! A good looking, useful, affectionate girl, making a resolution at seventeen, to be an old maid to all eternity! Why, you deserve the censure of all sober-minded, rational people. If I were only a young man of twenty, the first thing I would do, would be to offer myself to you, and I don’t know,” he added, “but what, even now – ” Here he hesitated, and looked over towards Hesper, with that indescribable twinkle of sly humor in his eyes which was perfectly irresistible. The whole company burst into a hearty laugh, and Hesper, falling in with the old man’s merry mood, signified her willingness at once to receive a formal proposal.

“Attention, girls!” said Mr. Byers, after the laugh had subsided – and putting on a more serious countenance, he assumed at once a lecturing attitude. “I have somewhat to say to you on this subject of matrimony. It is now more than sixty years that I have looked the world in the face, and I feel, by this time, that I have a right to say that I know something about it. From sixteen till twenty-one I sowed my wild oats like any young fellow. At twenty-five I married, and began life in real earnest. I was a poor man, and had to earn my bread by the sweat of my brow. As time passed on, and the little ones began to gather around my table, I thanked God and worked all the harder. But fortune often made wry faces at me, and sometimes cast me headlong into the slough of despond. I didn’t stay there long, however, for the thought of Hannah and the children set me on my feet again, and called up energies I never knew were mine. When Mary, the eldest, was sixteen, she went into a decline, and fading slowly like a spring violet, at length she died. It was a heart breaking thing to us, but before we had fairly recovered from it, Willie, our second child, was upset in a pleasure boat, and drowned. Scarcely a year after, our blue-eyed Charlie died of a fever. Then I cannot tell you how entirely we placed our affections upon sweet little Fanny, our last remaining one, nor how hopelessly we mourned, when we found that the hand of the Destroyer was upon her also. O, girls! Heaven grant that you may never know such hours of watching and anxiety as we experienced, when, one night in mid-winter, the dear child lay upon her pillow, suffering beneath the croup, that scourge of childhood. I never shall forget how piteously she moaned, stretching up her trembling hands to us, and praying us for relief. Our utmost exertions were in vain, and at length, after hours of suffering, the little creature sobbed and moaned her soul away into the hand of her Creator.” The old man was silent for a few moments, and then continued.

“It was too much for my poor Hannah, for the saddest, loneliest thing in this wide world, is the heart of a childless mother – one who has watched faithfully and tenderly over her little flock, and followed them one after another to the grave. She may carry a quiet face before the world, but inwardly the broken chords are still bleeding, and the busy fingers of memory, with frequent touches, keep the wound ever open. Thus it was with Hannah. She tried to be cheerful, but the blow was too heavy, and at length she sank beneath it. Twenty years she walked by my side, and shared the cup of my joy and sorrow. That score of years was full of toil, and care, and trouble. If I had never married, I might have escaped that experience. But no: I thank God for it! With all its shadows, the memory therof is pleasant, and I am twice the man that I should be without it. Girls! you will never know what real life is, till you have learned to love with all the heart and soul – to live no longer for yourselves, but for others, never mind what the consequences may be.”

Kate Smiley looked up timidly, and in her own, gentle, unaffected manner, repeated these lines of Tennyson’s —

“That’s it, exactly!” exclaimed Mr. Byers; “God, knew when he placed us in this world, what was best for us, and all these sad experiences which spring from our hearts’ best affections, work out a wonderful weight of good at last. The ‘wise man’ says, ‘with all thy getting, get understanding;’ and I say to you girls, with all your getting, get husbands.”

“But,” said Kate Smiley, who had already refused several offers, “you certainly wouldn’t have a woman take up with anybody, for the sake of getting married, and may be if she refuses two or three offers, because they do not seem suitable, that she will have to be an old maid at last, in spite of herself?”

“No, girls, no!” said Mr. Byers with much emphasis, “don’t throw yourselves away, under any circumstances, but wait till Mr. Right comes along, if ‘tis half a century, and if he never comes, then die happy in the thought that you did the best you could.”

“But, supposing,” said Juliana, with a mischievous look, “that I, for instance, should think I had married Mr. Right, and in the course of a few years he should prove to be Mr. Wrong – perhaps take to drinking and other bad habits – abuse me shamefully – threaten my life, and make me in all things as miserable as possible.”

“O, that’s an extreme case,” said Mr. Byers.

“But then you know such things happen.”

“Well, then, I’ll tell you what to do,” said the old gentleman, very decidedly – “rake up the fire, turn the cat out of doors, tie up the baby in the table cloth, and taking it on your back, start for parts unknown immediately.”

They all laughed, but Hesper shook her head.

“No:” she said, “that would be utter selfishness. I should say stand by him till the last moment. Love, suffer, beseech and entreat, and if all availed nothing, then die for him, or with him, but never forsake him.” Mr. Byers regarded her seriously and affectionately.

“O Hesper! Star of Peace and never failing Charity,” he said, “where will thy long-suffering end! God grant thou mayest never be brought to the trial!”

CHAPTER XX.

THE THANKSGIVING DINNER

“Isn’t it almost time for Mose to come home?” said George Grimsby, one day, as he came into the kitchen, where Hesper was at work.

“Almost,” she replied. “Capt. Clark says that we can expect him in the course of a week or two, though I shall try not to think of it too soon, for the ship may have a long passage, and then I should be very much disappointed.”

“What a pity it is,” remarked George, “that he can’t be here next Thursday! We shan’t have half so good a time without him.”

The day to which he alluded, was the annual Thanksgiving, and the Grimsby family, with uncle Nathan and aunt Betsey, Capt. Clark and his mother, with aunt Nyna and Mr. Byers, had been invited to take dinner with the Greysons. The children had talked of nothing else for the last fortnight, and Hesper herself had looked forward to it with much pleasure, though she knew that thoughts of the loved and absent would cast a shadow over her joy. She was, however, surrounded by so many comforts and blessings, and the future looked so bright before her, that she could not repine one moment. With a light step and a smiling countenance, she went about the house doing all she could to provide for the comfort and convenience of her expected guests. Her cheeks grew rosy red with exercise, and as she sung little snatches of songs while about her work, her voice sounded so sweet and pleasant, that her mother, who was sewing in the next room, laid down her work to listen. Every sly corner and piece of furniture was visited with the broom and duster – the tin ware and the great pewter platters on the kitchen shelves, shone like new silver, and not a spot could be seen upon the floor, she had scoured it so faithfully.

She was so much fatigued upon the night previous to the eventful day, that when she went to her chamber, she fell asleep as soon as she touched her pillow, and did not awake till the morning sun was shining brightly into her window.

“Dear me!” she exclaimed, as she sprang from her bed, “how came I to oversleep myself thus, upon this morning of all others!”

She dressed herself quickly, and ran down stairs in great haste, expecting that her father would be quite vexed with her, for being so late; but to her surprise she found the table spread, and the breakfast nearly ready, though her mother had not yet risen. Her father had been up some time, and he had attended to these things as faithfully as she would herself. “Indeed,” said Hesper, as she warmed her hands by the blazing fire, “I little thought of sleeping so late.”

“I am glad you did,” said her father, “for you needed the rest, and I always like to do anything about the house, when I have the opportunity.”

Hesper could not help thinking how differently he appeared from what he did a year ago, and just then, it seemed to her as though no one was ever blessed with half so good a father. As he bent down to turn over the great back-log, which sent whole showers of sparks up the chimney, she imprinted a warm kiss upon his cheek.

“Thank you, darling;” he said, “that is the sweetest reward I can have for my labors.”

Fred and Charlie could scarce wait for breakfast to be over, before they prayed Hesper to let them have their new jackets, which, with the rows of bright brass buttons, seemed to them more beautiful than anything they had ever seen. They had informed the Grimsby boys of their new possessions in rather a boastful manner, but were somewhat humbled when George told them, in return, that he and Benny had whole new suits. At Hesper’s suggestion, however, they concluded to defer the matter till they had brought some wood to kindle a fire in the parlor, which was soon done.

During the night there had been a light fall of snow, and now the ground looked even and white as far as one could see, but the sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky, and whole flocks of little snow larks were flying from tree to tree, or leaving their tiny foot-prints in the snow as they hopped about in search of food.

As Hesper stood by the window and looked out, a carriage drove up to the door, and Mr. Grimsby, with his wife, and little Tommy, and Juliana, and the boys, sprang out, all dressed in their best, and looking never so happy. Hesper had scarce time to welcome them, before uncle Nathan and aunt Betsey arrived. Next came Mrs. Clark with aunt Nyna and Mr. Byers. Mrs. Clark told Hesper that she did not know as the Captain would come – “for,” said she, “he received word yesterday, that he must come to the city immediately, on important business. He said he should be back this morning, if possible, but that you must by no means wait for him.”

They did wait however, for Mr. Greyson was very anxious that all should be there, and it was with great reluctance that at last they took their seats without him. A mammoth turkey – the gift of Capt. Clark, lay like a fallen hero upon a dish in the centre of the table. His sides, so nicely brown, were swollen almost to bursting with the savory dressing within, and the rich juices were oozing from every pore. This was no ordinary sight to any of these good people, and the boys looked on with breathless interest, as Mr. Greyson commenced the operation of carving. George Grimsby carefully regarded each piece as it fell, and indulged in a thousand secret longings for the portion which contained the coveted wish-bone, for he had the greatest faith in its power to bring about desirable results. To his unspeakable joy, it actually did fall to his share. As quickly as possible he disengaged it from its surroundings, and polished it without delay.

“Here,” he said to Fred, who was his right hand neighbor – “let’s wish together.”

Not liking to attract the attention of the company, the boys held the bone below the table, and pulled with all their might. It did not part easily, but the boys were resolute, and at last it separated.

“There,” exclaimed George triumphantly, as he held up his part – “I have my wish, and now I will tell you what it is – I wish Mose would come home to-day.”

“That is right!” said Hesper. “So do I.” And “so do I” was repeated all around the table.

“There comes Capt. Clark,” said aunt Nyna, who sat nearest the window. She put down her knife and fork as she spoke – ’rose half way from her seat, then sat down again and glanced smilingly at the company. The next moment the door opened and Capt. Clark entered, with a young man – rather tall, with black whiskers, and his complexion somewhat darkened by exposure to the weather.