Bessies Fortune | Page 3

where groups of children were
playing. "There is nothing hidden. Why should there be? My father has
never stolen, or forged, or embezzled, or set any one's house on fire.
They esteem him a saint in Allington, and I know he reads his Bible all
the time when he is not praying, and once he was on his knees in his
bedroom a whole hour, for I timed him, and thought he must be crazy.
Of course so good a man can have nothing concealed, and yet--"
Here Burton shivered again, and continued: "And yet, I always seem to
be in a nightmare when I am at the old hut, and once I told Hannah I
believed the house was haunted, for I heard strange sounds at night,
soft footsteps, and moans, and whisperings, and the old dog Rover
howled so dismally, that he kept me awake, and made me nervous and
wretched, I don't remember what Hannah said, except that she made
light of my fears, and told me that she would keep Rover in her room at
night on the floor by her bed, which she did ever after when I was at
home. No, there is nothing, but I may as well sound Hannah a little, and
will go to her at once."
When Mrs. Wetherby died, her nephew sent a message to his father and
sister, announcing her death, and the time of the funeral. He felt it his
duty to do so much, but he did not say to them, "Come, I expect you."
In fact, away down in his heart, there was a hope that they would not
come. His father was well enough in Allington, where he was known;
but, what a figure he would cut in Boston, in his old drab surtout and
white hat, which he had worn since Burton could remember. Hannah
was different, and must have been pretty in her early girlhood. Indeed,
she was pretty now, and no one could look into her pale, sad face, and
soft dark eyes, or listen to her low, sweet voice, without being attracted
to her and knowing instinctively that, in spite of her plain Quakerish
dress, she was a lady in the true sense of the word. So, when she came

alone to pay the last token of respect to the aunt who had never been
very gracious to her, Burton felt relieved, though he wished that her
bonnet was a little more fashionable, and suggested her buying a new
one, which he would pay for. But Hannah said "no," very quietly and
firmly, and that was the end of it. The old style bonnet was worn as
well as the old style cloak, and Burton felt keenly the difference
between her personal appearance and his own. He, the Boston dandy,
with every article of dress as faultless as the best tailor could make it,
and she, the plain countrywoman, with no attempt at style or fashion,
with nothing but her own sterling worth to commend her, and this was
far more priceless than all the wealth of the Indies. Hannah Jerrold had
been tried in the fire, and had come out purified and almost Christlike
in her sweet gentleness and purity of soul. She knew her brother was
ashamed of her--whether designedly or not, he always made her feel
it--but she had felt it her duty to attend her aunt's funeral, even though
it stirred anew all the bitterness of her joyless life.
And now the funeral was over, and she was going home that very
afternoon--to the gloomy house among the rocks, where she had grown
old, and her hair gray long before her time--going back to the burden
which pressed so heavily upon her, and from which she shrank as she
had never done before. Not that she wished to stay in that grand house,
where she was so sadly out of place, but she wanted to go somewhere,
anywhere, so that she escaped from the one spot so horrible to her. She
was thinking of all this and standing with her face to the window, when
her brother entered the room and began, abruptly:
"I say, Hannah, I want to ask you something. Just before Aunt
Wetherby died, she had a long talk with me on various matters, and
among other things she said she believed there was something troubling
you and father, some secret you were hiding from me and the world. Is
it so? Do you know anything which I do not?"
"Yes, many things."
The voice which gave this reply was not like Hannah's voice, but was
hard and sharp, and sounded as if a great ways off, and Burton could
see how violently his sister was agitated, even though she stood with

her back to