The Bow of Orange Ribbon | Page 4

forced cough. "I hae my plaid
and my bonnet on; but a coat o' mail couldna stand mists, that are a
vera shadow o' death to an auld man, wi' a sair shortness o' the breath."
"Sit down, Elder, near the fire. A glass of hot Hollands will take the

chill from you."
"You are mair than kind, gudewife; and I'll no say but what a sma' glass
is needfu', what wi' the late hour, and the thick mist"--
"Come, come, Elder. Mists in every country you will find, until you
reach the New Jerusalem."
"Vera true, but there's a difference in mists. Noo, a Scotch mist isna at
all unhealthy. When I was a laddie, I hae been out in them for a week
thegither, ay, and felt the better o' them." He had taken off his plaid and
bonnet as he spoke; and he drew the chair set for him in front of the
blazing logs, and stretched out his thin legs to the comforting heat.
In the mean time, the girls had gone upstairs together; and their
footsteps and voices, and Katherine's rippling laugh, could be heard
distinctly through the open doors. Then Madam called, "Joanna!" and
the girl came down at once. She was tying on her white apron as she
entered the room; and, at a word from her mother, she began to take
from the cupboards various Dutch dainties, and East Indian jars of
fruits and sweetmeats, and a case of crystal bottles, and some fine
lemons. She was a fair, rosy girl, with a kind, cheerful face, a pleasant
voice, and a smile that was at once innocent and bright. Her fine light
hair was rolled high and backward; and no one could have imagined a
dress more suitable to her than the trig dark bodice, the quilted skirt,
and the white apron she wore.
[Illustration: She was tying on her white apron]
Her father and mother watched her with a loving satisfaction; and
though Elder Semple was discoursing on that memorable dispute
between the Caetus and Conferentie parties, which had resulted in the
establishment of a new independent Dutch church in America, he was
quite sensible of Joanna's presence, and of what she was doing.
"I was aye for the ordaining o' American ministers in America," he said,
as he touched the finger tips of his left hand with those of his right; and
then in an aside full of deep personal interest, "Joanna, my dearie, I'll

hae a Holland bloater and nae other thing. And I was a proud man when
I got the invite to be secretary to the first meeting o' the new Caetus.
Maybe it is praising green barley to say just yet that it was a wise
departure; but I think sae, I think sae."
At this point, Katherine Van Heemskirk came into the room; and the
elder slightly moved his chair, and said, "Come awa', my bonnie lassie,
and let us hae a look at you." And Katherine laughingly pushed a stool
toward the fire, and sat down between the two men on the hearthstone.
She was the daintiest little Dutch maiden that ever latched a shoe,--very
diminutive, with a complexion like a sea-shell, great blue eyes, and
such a quantity of pale yellow hair, that it made light of its ribbon
snood, and rippled over her brow and slender white neck in bewildering
curls. She dearly loved fine clothes; and she had not removed her
visiting dress of Indian silk, nor her necklace of amber beads. And in
her hands she held a great mass of lilies of the valley, which she
caressed almost as if they were living things.
"Father," she said, nestling close to his side, "look at the lilies. How
straight they are! How strong! Oh, the white bells full of sweet scent!
In them put your face, father. They smell of the spring." Her fingers
could scarcely hold the bunch she had gathered; and she buried her
lovely face in them, and then lifted it, with a charming look of delight,
and the cries of "Oh, oh, how delicious!"
[Illustration: "Come awa', my bonnie lassie"]
Long before supper was over, Madam Van Heemskirk had discovered
that this night Elder Semple had a special reason for his call. His talk of
Mennon and the Anabaptists and the objectionable Lutherans, she
perceived, was all surface talk; and when the meal was finished, and
the girls gone to their room, she was not astonished to hear him say,
"Joris, let us light another pipe. I hae something to speak anent. Sit still,
gudewife, we shall want your word on the matter."
"On what matter, Elder?"
"Anent a marriage between my son Neil and your daughter Katherine."

The words fell with a sharp distinctness, not unkindly, but as