The Sea Lions | Page 9

of them. He
would have set the man down as a fool who deferred to any notions so
unprofitable. With him, not only every man, but every thing "had its
price," and usually it was a good price, too. At the very moment when
our tale opens there stood charged in his book, against his unsuspecting
and affectionate niece, items in the way of schooling, dress, board, and
pocket-money, that amounted to the considerable sum of one thousand
dollars, money fairly expended. The deacon was only intensely mean
and avaricious, while he was as honest as the day. Not a cent was
overcharged; and to own the truth, Mary was so great a favourite with

him, that most of his charges against her were rather of a reasonable
rate than otherwise.
Chapter II.

"Marry, I saw your niece do more favours To the count's serving-man,
than ever she bestowed Upon me; I saw it i' the orchard."
_Twelfth Night._
On the Sunday in question, Deacon Pratt went to meeting as usual, the
building in which divine service was held that day, standing less than
two miles from his residence; but, instead of remaining for the
afternoon's preaching, as was his wont, he got into his one-horse chaise,
the vehicle then in universal use among the middle classes, though now
so seldom seen, and skirred away homeward as fast as an active,
well-fed and powerful switch-tailed mare could draw him; the animal
being accompanied in her rapid progress by a colt of some three
months' existence. The residence of the deacon was unusually inviting
for a man of his narrow habits. It stood on the edge of a fine
apple-orchard, having a door-yard of nearly two acres in its front. This
door-yard, which had been twice mown that summer, was prettily
embellished with flowers, and was shaded by four rows of noble
cherry-trees. The house itself was of wood, as is almost uniformly the
case in Suffolk, where little stone is to be found, and where brick
constructions are apt to be thought damp: but, it was a respectable
edifice, with five windows in front, and of two stories. The siding was
of unpainted cedar-shingles; and, although the house had been erected
long previously to the revolution, the siding had been renewed but once,
about ten years before the opening of our tale, and the whole building
was in a perfect state of repair. The thrift of the deacon rendered him
careful, and he was thoroughly convinced of the truth of the familiar
adage which tells us that "a stitch in time, saves nine." All around the
house and farm was in perfect order, proving the application of the
saying. As for the view, it was sufficiently pleasant, the house having
its front towards the east, while its end windows looked, the one set in

the direction of the Sound, and the other in that of the arm of the sea,
which belongs properly to Peconic Bay, we believe. All this water,
some of which was visible over points and among islands, together
with a smiling and fertile, though narrow stretch of foreground, could
not fail of making an agreeable landscape.
It was little, however, that Deacon Pratt thought of views, or beauty of
any sort, as the mare reached the open gate of his own abode. Mary was
standing in the stoop, or porch of the house, and appeared to be
anxiously awaiting her uncle's return. The latter gave the reins to a
black, one who was no longer a slave, but who was a descendant of
some of the ancient slaves of the Pratts, and in that character consented
still to dawdle about the place, working for half price. On alighting, the
uncle approached the niece with somewhat of interest in his mariner.
"Well, Mary," said the former, "how does he get on, now?"
"Oh! my dear sir he cannot possibly live, I think, and I do most
earnestly entreat that you will let me send across to the Harbour for Dr.
Sage."
By the Harbour was meant Sag's, and the physician named was one of
merited celebrity in old Suffolk. So healthy was the country in general,
and so simple were the habits of the people, that neither lawyer nor
physician was to be found in every hamlet, as is the case to-day. Both
were to be had at Riverhead, as well as at Sag Harbour; but, if a man
called out "Squire," or "Doctor," in the highways of Suffolk, sixteen
men did not turn round to reply, as is said to be the case in other
regions; one half answering to the one appellation, and the second half
to the other. The deacon had two objections to yielding to his niece's
earnest request; the expense being one, though