A Modern Cinderella | Page 7

back early on Monday morning; so
take care of yourselves, and be sure you all go and hear Mr. Emerboy
preach to-morrow. My regards to your mother. John. Come, Solon!"

But Solon merely cocked one ear, and remained a fixed fact; for long
experience had induced the philosophic beast to take for his motto the
Yankee maxim, "Be sure you're right, then go ahead! He knew things
were not right; therefore he did not go ahead.
"Oh, by the way, girls, don't forget to pay Tommy Mullein for bringing
up the cow: he expects it to-night. And Di, don't sit up till daylight, nor
let Laura stay out in the dew. Now, I believe I'm off. Come, Solon!"
But Solon only cocked the other ear, gently agitated his mortified tail,
as premonitory symptoms of departure, and never stirred a hoof, being
well aware that it always took three "comes" to make a "go."
"Bless me! I've forgotten my spectacles. They are probablv shut up in
that volume of Herbert on my table. Very awkward to find myself
without them ten miles away. Thank you, John. Don't neglect to water
the lettuce, Nan, and don't overwork yourself, my little 'Martha.'
Come--"
At this juncture Solon suddenly went off, like "Mrs. Gamp," in a sort of
walking swoon, apparently deaf and blind to all mundane matters,
except the refreshments awaiting him ten miles away; and the benign
old pastor disappeared, humming "Hebron" to the creaking
accompaniment of the bulgy chaise.
Laura retired to take her siesta; Nan made a small carbonaro of herself
by sharpening her sister's crayons, and Di, as a sort of penance for past
sins, tried her patience over a piece of knitting, in which she soon
originated a somewhat remarkable pattern, by dropping every third
stitch, and seaming ad libitum. If John bad been a gentlemanly creature,
with refined tastes, he would have elevated his feet and made a
nuisance of himself by indulging in a "weed;" but being only an
uncultivated youth, with a rustic regard for pure air and womankind in
general, he kept his head uppermost, and talked like a man, instead of
smoking like a chimney.
"It will probably be six months before I sit here again, tangling your
threads and maltreating your needles, Nan. How glad you must feel to

hear it!" he said, looking up from a thoughtful examination of the
hard-working little citizens of the Industrial Community settled in
Nan's work-basket.
"No, I'm very sorry; for I like to see you coming and going as you used
to, years ago, and I miss you very much when you are gone, John,"
answered truthful Nan, whittling away in a sadly wasteful manner, as
her thoughts flew back to the happy times when a little lad rode a little
lass in a big wheelbarrow, and never spilt his load,--when two brown
heads bobbed daily side by side to school, and the favorite play was
"Babes in the Wood," with Di for a somewhat peckish robin to cover
the small martyrs with any vegetable substance that lay at hand. Nan
sighed, as she thought of these things, and John regarded the battered
thimble on his finger-tip with increased benignity of aspect as he heard
the sound.
"When are you going to make your fortune, John, and get out of that
disagreeable hardware concern? " demanded Di, pausing after an
exciting "round," and looking almost as much exhausted as if it had
been a veritable pugilistic encounter.
"I intend to make it by plunging still deeper into 'that disagreeable
hardware concern;' for, next year, if the world keeps rolling, and John
Lord is alive, he will become a partner, and then --and then--"
The color sprang up into the young man's cheek, his eyes looked out
with a sudden shine, and his hand seemed involuntarily to close, as if
he saw and seized some invisible delight.
"What will happen then, John?" asked Nan, with a wondering glance.
"I'll tell you in a year, Nan, wait till then." and John's strong hand
unclosed, as if the desired good were not to be his yet.
Di looked at him, with a knitting-needle stuck into her hair, saying, like
a sarcastic unicorn,--
"I really thought you had a soul above pots and kettles, but I see you

haven't; and I beg your pardon for the injustice I have done you."
Not a whit disturbed, John smiled, as if at some mighty pleasant fancy
of his own, as he replied,--
"Thank you, Di; and as a further proof of the utter depravity of my
nature, let me tell you that I have the greatest possible respect for those
articles of ironmongery. Some of the happiest hours of my life have
been spent in their society; some of my pleasantest associations are
connected