Castle Nowhere | Page 7

abroad the dear home feeling. (O
hearth-fire, good genius of home, with thee a log-cabin is cheery and
bright, without thee the palace a dreary waste!)
'And now, while Lorez is preparing supper, you will come and see my
pets,' said Silver, in her soft tone of unconscious command.
'By all means,' replied Waring. 'Anything in the way of mermaidens?'
'Mermaidens dwell in the water, they cannot live in houses as we can;
did you not know that? I have seen them on moonlight nights, and so
has Lorez; but Aunt Shadow never saw them.'
'Another member of the family,--Aunt Shadow?'

'Yes,' replied Silver; 'but she is not here now. She went away one night
when I was asleep. I do not know why it is,' she added sadly, 'but if
people go away from here in the night they never come back. Will it be
so with you, Jarvis?'
'No; for I will take you with me,' replied the young man lightly.
'Very well; and father will go too, and Lorez,' said Silver.
To this addition, Waring, like many another man in similar
circumstances, made no reply. But Silver did not notice the omission.
She had opened a door, and behold, they stood together in a bower of
greenery and blossom, flowers growing everywhere,--on the floor, up
the walls, across the ceiling, in pots, in boxes, in baskets, on shelves, in
cups, in shells, climbing, crowding each other, swinging, hanging,
winding around everything,--a riot of beauty with perfumes for a
language. Two white gulls stood in the open window and gravely
surveyed the stranger.
'They stay with me almost all the time,' said the water-maiden; 'every
morning they fly out to sea for a while, but they always come back.'
Then she flitted to and fro, kissed the opening blossoms and talked to
them, tying back the more riotous vines and gravely admonishing them.
'They are so happy here,' she said; 'it was dull for them on shore. I
would not live on the shore! Would you?'
'Certainly not,' replied Waring, with an air of having spent his entire
life upon a raft. 'But you did not find all these blossoms on the shores
about here, did you?'
'Father found them,--he finds everything; in his boat almost every night
is something for me. I hope he will come soon; he will be so glad to see
you.'
'Will he? I wish I was sure of that,' thought Waring. Then aloud, 'Has
he any men with him?' he asked carelessly.
'O no; we live here all alone now,--father, Lorez, and I.'
'But you were expecting a Jacob?'
'I have been expecting Jacob for more than two years. Every night I
watch for him, but he comes not. Perhaps he and Aunt Shadow will
come together,--do you think they will?' said Silver, looking up into his
eyes with a wistful expression.
'Certainly,' replied Waring.
'Now am I glad, so glad! For father and Lorez will never say so. I think

I shall like you, Jarvis.' And, leaning on a box of mignonette, she
considered him gravely with her little hands folded.
Waring, man of the world,--Waring, who had been, under fire,--Waring,
the impassive,--Waring,--the unflinching,--turned from this scrutiny.
Supper was eaten at one end of the long table; the dishes, tablecloth,
and napkins were marked with an anchor, the food simple but well
cooked.
'Fish, of course, and some common supplies I can understand,' said the
visitor; 'but how do you obtain flour like this, or sugar?'
'Father brings them,' said Silver, 'and keeps them locked in his
storeroom. Brown sugar we have always, but white not always, and I
like it so much! Don't you?'
'No; I care nothing for it,' said Waring, remembering the few lumps and
the little white teeth.
The old negress waited, and peered at the visitor out of her small bright
eyes; every time Silver spoke to her, she broke into a radiance of smiles
and nods, but said nothing.
'She lost her voice some years ago,' explained the little mistress when
the black had gone out for more coffee; 'and now she seems to have
forgotten how to form words, although she understands us.'
Lorez returned, and, after refilling Waring's cup, placed something
shyly beside his plate, and withdrew into the shadow. 'What is it?' said
the young man, examining the carefully folded parcel.
'Why, Lorez, have you given him that!' exclaimed Silver as he drew out
a scarlet ribbon, old and frayed, but brilliant still. 'We think it must
have belonged to her young master,' she continued in a low tone. 'It is
her most precious treasure, and long ago she used to talk about him,
and about her old home in the South.'
The old woman came forward after a while, smiling and nodding like