Mildred Keith

by Martha Finley

  Chapter Sixth.

  "Nor need we power or splendor, Wide hall or lordly dome; The good, the true, the tender, These form the wealth of home." --MRS. HALE.

  PLEASANT PLAINS considered itself quite a town. It stood high above theriver on two plains, the upper familiarly known as the "Bluff." It waslaid out in very wide, straight streets, crossing each other at rightangles; there were perhaps two hundred dwelling houses, principallyframe, but with a goodly proportion of log cabins and a respectablesprinkling of brick buildings.

  The county seat, it had its court-house and jail; there were some halfdozen stores where almost everything could be had, from dress goods tobutter and eggs, and from a plowshare to a fine cambric needle; twotaverns, as many blacksmith, shoemaker, and carpenter shops, a flouringmill and a bakery.

  Also two churches belonging to different denominations; both framestructures, of extremely plain and unpretentious architecture, with barewalls, uncurtained windows, rough, uncarpeted floors, and rude hardbenches in lieu of pews.

  No thought of architectural beauty or even of comfort and convenience,beyond that of mere protection from the weather, seemed to have enteredthe minds of any of the builders here; the houses were mere shells; withno cupboards or closets or the slightest attempt at ornamentation.

  Nor was their unsightliness concealed by vines, trees, or shrubbery;almost every one of the beautiful monarchs of the forest once adorningthe locality had been ruthlessly felled, and a stump here and there wasall that was left to tell of their former existence.

  As the keel of the Mary Ann grated on the gravelly shore, a tall figurein rough farmer attire came springing down the bank, calling out intones of unfeigned joy, "Hello, Keith! Come at last--wife, children, andall; eh? I'm glad to see ye! Never was more delighted in my life."

  And the speaker catching Mr. Keith's hand in his shook it with heartygood will, then treating the rest of the party in like manner, as withhis and Mr. Keith's assistance, each in turn stepped from the boat.

  Mr. George Ward was an old client and friend of Mr. Keith's, who hadbeen long urging this removal.

  "I declare I wish I lived in town for a few days now," he went on, "butwe're three mile out on the prairie, as you know, Keith. I have my teamhere, though, and if you like to pile into the wagon, all of you, I'lltake you home with me, as it is."

  The hospitable invitation was declined with thanks.

  "There are quite too many of us, Mr. Ward," Mrs. Keith said, smilingly,"and we want to get into a house of our own just as soon as possible."

  "Ah yes, so your husband wrote me; and I've been looking round for you.But the best that's to be had will seem a poor place to you, Mrs. Keith,after what you've left behind in Lansdale."

  "I suppose so, but of course we must expect to put up with manyinconveniences and probably some hardships even, for the first fewyears," she answered, cheerfully.

  "I'm afraid that's so, but I hope you'll find yourselves paid for it inthe long run. Now shall I take you to the Union Hotel? You can't, ofcourse, get into your own house to-night.

  "Here, let me carry you, bub," picking up Cyril, "the soil's real sandyhere and makes heavy walking."

  "If, as I presume from your recommendation of it, it is your best houseof entertainment," Mr. Keith said, in reply to the question.

  "Yes, sir, there's only one other, and it's a very poor affair,"returned Mr. Ward, leading the way.

  Mrs. Prior, the landlady, a pleasant-faced, middle-aged woman, withkind, motherly manners, met them at the door with a welcome nearly ashearty as that of their old time friend.

  "I'm glad to see you," she said, bustling about to wait upon them,"We've plenty o' room here in town for the right sort o' folks, and gladto get 'em."

  She had taken them into her parlor, the only one the house afforded.

  The furniture was plain--a rag carpet, green paper blinds, a table witha rod and black cover, windsor chairs, two of them rocking chairs withchintz-covered cushions, the rest straight-backed and hard; on the highwooden mantel shelf an old-fashioned looking-glass, a few shells and twobrass candlesticks; these last bright as scouring could make them.

  "I'm afraid it must seem but a poor place to you, ladies," shecontinued, pushing forward a rocking chair for each. "And you'redreadful tired, ain't you? with your long journey. Do sit down and restyourselves."

  "You are very kind, and everything looks very nice indeed," Mrs. Keithanswered, looking up at her with a pleased smile as she accepted theoffered seat, and began untying her baby's bonnet strings.

  "Indeed, I, for one, didn't expect to find half as good accommodationsout in these western wilds," remarked Aunt Wealthy, glancing round theroom. "I thought you had no floors to your carpets."

  "No floors? oh yes; rather rough to be sure;--carpenters here don't makethe best of work; and I think sometimes I could a'most plane a boardbetter myself--but to get the carpets is the rub; we mostly make 'emourselves and the weavin's often done so poor that they don't last notime hardly. Soil's sandy, you see, and it cuts the carpets right out."

  "They say this country's hard on women and oxen," put in Mr. Ward, "andI'm afraid it's pretty true."

  "Now don't be frightening them first thing, Mr. Ward," laughed thelandlady. "Come, take off your things and the children's, ladies, andmake yourselves to home. Here, just let me lay 'em in here," she wenton, opening an inner door and revealing a bed covered with a patch-workquilt.

  "You can have this room if you like, Mrs. Keith; I s'pose you'd prefer adownstairs one with the baby and t'other little ones? There is a trundlebed underneath that'll do for them.

  "And the rest of you can take the two rooms right over these. They'reall ready and you can go right up to 'em whenever you like. Is thereanything more I can do for you now?"

  The query was answered in the negative.

  "Then I'll just excuse myself," she said; "for I must go and see to thesupper; can't trust girls here."

  She passed out through another door, leaving it ajar.

  "That's the dining-room, I know, Fan, 'cause I see two big tables set,"whispered Cyril peeping in, "and there's not a bit of carpet on thefloor. Guess they're cleanin' house."

  "Well, wife, I'll have to leave you for a little, I must see to thelanding of our goods," said Mr. Keith, taking his hat. "Will you goalong, Ward?"

  "And let us go up and look at our rooms, girls," said Mildred to hersisters. "Mayn't we, mother?"

  "Yes, go and make yourselves neat for the supper table."

  They came back reporting bare floors everywhere, of boards none too wellplaned either, but everything scrupulously clean.

  "Then we may well be content," said their mother. The gentlemen returnedand the guests were presently summoned, by the ringing of a bell on topof the house, to the supper table, which they found furnished withabundance of good, wholesome well-cooked food.

  And they were really able to make a very comfortable meal, despite thepresence of deli ware, two-pronged steel forks, and the absence ofnapkins.

  "What about the goods, Stuart?" asked Mrs. Keith on their return to theparlor.

  "I have had them carted directly to the house; that is, I believe themen are at it now."

  "The house?"

  "The one Ward spoke of. I have taken it. It was Hobson's choice, mydear, or you should have seen it first."

  "Can I see it now?"

  "Why, yes, if you choose; it won't be dark yet for an hour. If you andAunt Wealthy will put on your bonnets, I'll take you round."

  "Ada and me, too, father?" cried Zillah eagerly.

  "And Fan and Don and me?" chorused Cyril.

  "You couldn't think of going without your eldest son;" said Rupert,looking about for his hat.

  Mrs. Keith turned an inquiring eye upon her husband.

  "Is it far?"

  "No; even Fan can easily walk it. Let them come. You, too, Mildred,"taking the babe from her arms. "I'll carry baby."

  "We'll
make quite a procession," laughed the young girl. "Won't thepeople stare?"

  "What if they do? who of us cares?"

  "Not I!" cried Rupert, stepping back from the doorway with a commandingwave of the hand, "Procession will please move forward Mr. Keith andwife taking the lead, Miss Stanhope and Miss Keith next in order, Zillyand Ada following close upon their heels, the three inseparables afterthem, while Marshal Rupert brings up the rear to see that all are inline."

  Everybody laughed at this sally while they promptly fell into line asdirected, passed out upon the sidewalk and pursued their way through thequiet streets.

  People did stare to be sure, from open doors and windows, some asking,"Who are they?" others answering "New comers and they've got a bigfamily to support."

  Some remarked that they were nice looking people; while others shooktheir heads wisely, or dubiously, and said they "expected they were realstuck up folks;--dressed so dreadful fine."

  However, the subjects of these charitable comments did not overhear, andtherefore were not disturbed by them.

  "Do you see that yellow frame yonder, wife?" Mr. Keith asked as theyturned a corner.

  "With the gable-end to the street and two doors in it, one above and onebelow?"

  "The same."

  "It looks like a warehouse."

  "That's what it was originally intended for; but finding it notavailable for that purpose, the owner offered it for rent."

  "And is it the one you have rented?"

  "Yes; a poor place to take you to, my dear but, as I told you, it wasHobson's choice."

  "Then we'll make the best of it and be thankful."

  "What a horrid old thing!" remarked Mildred in an undertone, heard onlyby Aunt Wealthy.

  "We'll hope to find the inside an improvement on the out," was thecheerful rejoinder.

  "It has need to be, I should say!" cried the girl as they drew near."Just see! it fronts on two streets and there's not a bit of a spaceseparating it from either; doors open right out on to a sand bank."

  "That's what was made by digging the cellar," said Rupert.

  "There's a big yard at the side and behind," said Zillah.

  "Something green in it, too," added Ada, whose sight was imperfect.

  "Nothing but a crop of ugly weeds," said Mildred, ready to cry as memorybrought vividly before her the home they had left with its large gardencarpeted with green grass, adorned with shrubbery and filled with thebloom of summer flowers.

  The June roses must be out now and the woodbine--the air sweet withtheir delicious perfume--and they who had planted and tended them, sofar away in this desolate looking spot.

  "Not a tree, a shrub, a flower or a blade of grass!" she went on,sighing as she spoke.

  "Never mind, we'll have lots of them next year, if I plant every onemyself," said Rupert.

  The last load of their household goods had just been brought up from theriver, the men were carrying in the heavy boxes and setting them downupon the floor of the front room. The door stood wide open and they allwalked in.

  "Not a bit of a hall!" exclaimed Mildred, "not a cupboard or closet;nothing but four bare walls and two windows each side of the frontdoor."

  "Yes, the floor and ceilings," corrected Rupert.

  "And another door on the other side," said Ada, running and opening it.

  "Not a mantelpiece to set anything on, nor any chimney at all! How onearth are we going to keep warm in the winter time?" Mildred went on,ignoring the remarks of her younger brother and sister.

  "With a stove, Miss; pipes run up through the floor into the room above;there's a flue there," said one of the men, wiping the perspirationfrom his forehead with the sleeve of his checked shirt.

  Mr. Keith stopped to settle with the men for their work, and the otherswalked on into the next room.

  It was as bare and more dreary than the first; somewhat larger, but hadonly one window, that and an outside door, opening directly upon theside street.

  Back of the two rooms and in a line with them, was the kitchen; smallerthan either of the other rooms, but provided with a chimney andfireplace; also a small, dark closet under a flight of steep and crookedstairs which led from it to the story above.

  This, as they found on climbing up to it, consisted of two rooms, thefirst extending over kitchen and sitting-room, the other over the frontroom and of exactly the same size.

  The stairs led directly into the first room and it must be passedthrough to reach the second; therefore had not the recommendation ofprivacy.

  "What a house!" grumbled the children; "how'll we ever live in it? Sucha few rooms and not a bit nice."

  Mrs. Keith stood in the middle of that large, barn-like upper room,saying never a word, but her heart sinking lower and lower as sheglanced from side to side taking in the whole situation.

  Aunt Wealthy saw it and came to the rescue. "Never mind, dearie; it willlook very different when we have unpacked and arranged your furniture.With the help of curtains several rooms can be made out of this, andwe'll do nicely."

  "Yes, no doubt we shall, auntie," Mrs. Keith answered with determinedcheerfulness. "That front room shall be yours--"

  "No, no! you and Stuart must take that--"

  "I'm quite set on having my own way in this," interrupted the youngerlady in her turn. "It is the best room, and you must take it. Don'thesitate or object, for I should be afraid to have my little ones inthere with that outside door opening on to nothing," she concluded, witha laugh.

  "Well, wife, what do you think?" asked Mr. Keith, coming up the stairs.

  "That we can be very happy here if we make up our minds to be contentwith our lot."

  "That is like you, Marcia; always ready to make the best of everything,"he said, with a pleased look.

  "I think it's a dreadful place!" exclaimed Mildred, "like a great barn;and so dirty! plaster all over the floor and spattered on the windowstoo."

  "I hope it can be cleaned," her father said, laughing at her ruefulface. "Mrs. Prior can probably tell us where to find a woman to do it."

  A little more time was spent in discussing plans for the arrangement ofthe inside of the dwelling; then they stepped into the side-yard andviewed it from the out.

  A great dead wall of rough weather boarding broken by one window onlyand that in the second story, was what met their view as they looked up;down below, first a heap of sand, beyond that a wilderness of weeds andbrushwood.

  "I'm dumb with despair!" cried Mildred, folding her hands with atragical air.

  "Can dumb folks talk?" asked Cyril.

  "As ugly as mud this side," remarked Zillah, turning up her nosescornfully as she scanned the unsightly wall.

  "We'll cover it with vines," said Aunt Wealthy.

  "And I'll clear the yard and sod it," added Rupert, seizing a greatmullein stalk and pulling it up by the roots as he spoke. "Twon't benearly so hard as the clearing the early pioneers of Ohio had to do, ourgrandfathers among the rest."

  "That's the right way to look at it, my boy," responded Mr. Keith,heartily. "Come now, we'll lock up the house and go back to our hotelfor the night."

  "There's a log house nearly opposite," remarked Rupert, when they werein the street again, "and the next is a real shabby one-and-a-half-storyframe with a blacksmith shop attached. We haven't the worst place intown after all. Ho! look at the sign, 'G. Lightcap;' what a name!'specially for a blacksmith."

  Mrs. Prior joined her guests in the parlor after the younger portion hadgone to bed.

  "Well, how did you like the house?" she asked.

  "I hope we shall be able to make ourselves comfortable there," Mr. Keithanswered, in a cheerful tone.

  "You can get possession right away, I s'pose."

  "Yes; and want to move in as quickly as possible, but must have somecleaning done first."

  Mrs. Prior recommended a woman for that without waiting to be asked,and offered to "send round" at once and see if she could be engaged forthe next day.

  The offer was
accepted with thanks and the messenger brought back wordthat Mrs. Rood would be at the house by six o'clock in the morning.

  "But," suggested Aunt Wealthy in dismay, "she'll want hot water, soap,cloths, scrubbing brushes!"

  "I'll lend a big iron kettle to heat the water," said the landlady; "afire can be made in that kitchen fireplace, you know, or out doors, withthe brush wood."

  "And brushes and soap can be had at the stores, I presume," suggestedMr. Keith.

  "Yes; and if they ain't open in time, I'll lend mine for her to starton."

  "Thank you very much," said Mrs. Keith. "But, Stuart, we may as wellunpack our own; I can tell you just which box to open."

  "What a woman you are for doing things systematically, Marcia," he said,admiringly. "Yours is the best plan, I think. Can we be up in season tobe on hand there at half-past five, think you?"

  "We can try," she answered brightly, "Mrs. Prior, where is yourmarket?"

  "We haven't got to that yet, ma'am," replied the landlady, laughing andshaking her head.

  "No market? why how do you manage without?"

  "There's butcher shops where we can buy fresh meat once or twice aweek--beef, veal, mutton, lamb, just whatever they happen to kill--andwe put up our own salt pork, hams, dried beef, and so forth, and keepcodfish and mackerel on hand.

  "Most folks have their own chickens, and the country people bring 'em intoo; and butter and eggs and vegetables; though a good many town folkshave garden sass of their own raisin'; keep a cow and make their ownbutter."

  "That's the most independent way," remarked Mr. Keith. "I think I musthave a cow; if I can get a girl who can milk. Do you know of a good girlwanting a place, Mrs. Prior?"

  "I wish I did; but they're dreadful scarce sir; and so sassy! you can'tkeep 'em unless you let 'em come to the table with the family; and youmust be mighty careful what you ask 'em to do."