Cousin Maude | Page 9

noisy and unmanageable, he administered a fatherly rebuke
in the shape of a boxed ear, which had no other effect than the eliciting
from the child the outcry, "Let me be, old doctor, you!" if, indeed, we
except the long scratch made upon his hand by the little sharp nail of
his stepdaughter.
At that moment Matty lifted up her head, but as Maude was no tale-
bearer, and the doctor hardly dared to tell her that he had thus early
taken upon himself the government of her child, she never knew
exactly what it was which made Maude's ear so red or her liege lord's
face so dark.

It was nearly noon when they arrived at Canandaigua, where the first
object which caught Mrs. Kennedy's eye was an old-fashioned carryall,
which her husband honored with the appellation of carriage, said
carriage being drawn by two farm-horses, which looked as if oats and
corn were to them luxuries unknown.
"I must have a cup of tea," said Mrs. Kennedy, as she saw the black
man, John, arranging the baggage upon the rack of the carryall, and
heard her husband bid him hurry, as there was no time to lose. "I must
have a cup of tea, my head is aching dreadfully," and her white lips
quivered, while the tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Certainly, certainly," answered the doctor, who was in unusually good
spirits, having just heard from an acquaintance whom he chanced to
meet that a lawsuit which had long been pending was decided in his
favor, and that the house and lot of a widow would probably come into
his possession. "Certainly, two cups if you like; I should have proposed
it myself, only I knew old Hannah would have dinner in readiness for
us, and 'tis a maxim of mine, that fasting provokes an appetite."
"Hang dis nigger, if he aint a-maxin' her so quick!" muttered the darkey,
showing his teeth from ear to ear; and, coaxing Maude away from her
mother, he took her to a restaurant, where he literally crammed her with
ginger-bread, raisins, and candy, bidding her eat all she wanted at once,
for it would be a long time, maybe, ere she'd have another chance!
"If you please, sar," he said, when at last he had returned to his master,
"if you please, Miss Nellie say how you must fotch her somethin', and
the old woman spec's a present in honor of de 'casion."
Dr. Kennedy thought of the lawsuit, and so far opened both heart and
purse as to buy for Nellie a paper of peanuts and for Hannah a ten- cent
calico apron, after which he pronounced himself in readiness to go, and
in a few moments Mrs. Kennedy was on her way to her new home.
The road led over rocky hills, reminding her so much of Vernon and its
surrounding country that a feeling of rest stole over her, and she fell
into a quiet sleep, from which she did not awaken until the carriage

stopped suddenly and her husband whispered in her ear, "Wake, Matty,
wake; we are home at last."

CHAPTER III.
THE NEW HOME.
It was a large, square, wooden building, built in the olden time, with a
wide hall in the center, a tiny portico in front, and a long piazza in the
rear. In all the town there was not so delightful a location, for it
commanded a view of the country for many miles around, while from
the chamber windows was plainly discernible the sparkling Honeoye,
whose waters slept so calmly 'mid the hills which lay to the southward.
On the grassy lawn in front tall forest trees were growing, almost
concealing the house from view, while their long branches so met
together as to form a beautiful arch over the graveled walk which lead
to the front door. It was, indeed, a pleasant spot, and Matty, as she
passed through the iron gate, could not account for the feeling of
desolation settling down upon her.
"Maybe it's because there are no flowers here--no roses," she thought,
as she looked around in vain for her favorites, thinking the while how
her first work should be to train a honeysuckle over the door and plant
a rose bush underneath the window.
Poor Matty! Dr. Kennedy had no love for flowers, and the only rose
bush he ever noticed was the one which John had planted at his
mistress' grave, and even this would, perchance, have been unseen, if
he had not scratched his hand unmercifully upon it as he one day shook
the stone to see if it were firmly placed in the ground ere he paid the
man for putting it there! It was a maxim of the doctor's never to have
anything not