Mary Marie | Page 8

that was gay
an' lively an' young, an' had been so lonesome like your ma had? But
some other folks didn't like it. An' your pa was one of them. This time 't
was him that made the trouble. I know, 'cause I heard what he said one
day to her in the library.
"Yes, I guess I was in the next room that day, too--er--dustin', probably.
Anyway, I heard him tell your ma good an' plain what he thought of her
gallivantin' 'round from mornin' till night with them young students an'
professors, an' havin' them here, too, such a lot, till the house was fairly
overrun with them. He said he was shocked an' scandalized, an' didn't
she have any regard for his honor an' decency, if she didn't for herself!
An', oh, a whole lot more.
"Cry? No, your ma didn't cry this time. I met her in the hall right after
they got through talkin', an' she was white as a sheet, an' her eyes was
like two blazin' stars. So I know how she must have looked while she
was in the library. An' I must say she give it to him good an' plain,
straight from the shoulder. She told him she was shocked an'
scandalized that he could talk to his wife like that; an' didn't he have
any more regard for her honor and decency than to accuse her of
runnin' after any man living--much less a dozen of them! An' then she
told him a lot of what his mother had said to her, an' she said she had
been merely tryin' to carry out those instructions. She was tryin' to
make her husband and her husband's wife an' her husband's home
popular with the college folks, so she could help him to be president, if
he wanted to be. But he answered back, cold an' chilly, that he thanked
her, of course, but he didn't care for any more of that kind of assistance;
an' if she would give a little more time to her home an' her housekeepin',
as she ought to, he would be considerably better pleased. An' she said,
very well, she would see that he had no further cause to complain. An'
the next minute I met her in the hall, as I just said, her head high an' her
eyes blazin'.
"An' things did change then, a lot, I'll own. Right away she began to

refuse to go out with the students an' young professors, an' she sent
down word she wasn't to home when they called. And pretty quick, of
course, they stopped comin'.
"Housekeepin'? Attend to that? Well, y-yes, she did try to at first, a
little; but of course your grandma had always given the orders--through
me, I mean; an' there really wasn't anything your ma could do. An' I
told her so, plain. Her ways were new an' different an' queer, an' we
liked ours better, anyway. So she didn't bother us much that way very
long. Besides, she wasn't feelin' very well, anyway, an' for the next few
months she stayed in her room a lot, an' we didn't see much of her.
Then by an' by you came, an'--well, I guess that's all--too much, you
little chatterbox!"

CHAPTER III
THE BREAK IS MADE
And that's the way Nurse Sarah finished her story, only she shrugged
her shoulders again, and looked back, first one way, then another. As
for her calling me "chatterbox"--she always calls me that when _she's_
been doing all the talking.
As near as I can remember, I have told Nurse Sarah's story exactly as
she told it to me, in her own words. But of course I know I didn't get it
right all the time, and I know I've left out quite a lot. But, anyway, it's
told a whole lot more than I could have told why they got married in
the first place, and it brings my story right up to the point where I was
born; and I've already told about naming me, and what a time they had
over that.
Of course what's happened since, up to now, I don't know all about, for
I was only a child for the first few years. Now I'm almost a young lady,
"standing with reluctant feet where the brook and river meet." (I read
that last night. I think it's perfectly beautiful. So kind of sad and sweet.
It makes me want to cry every time I think of it.) But even if I don't

know all of what's happened since I was born, I know a good deal, for
I've seen quite a lot, and I've made Nurse tell me a lot more.
I know that ever since I can remember I've had