Jimmy, you found the carpenter, didn’t you?” that he subsided and never told anyone, save Miss Constance herself a long time afterward, how much he had been frightened. And with that smile of Constance’s, Jimmy’s last personal dread of the white lady faded away.
They ate their supper, Norah, Jimmy, and Constance, and finished the last crumb of Sa’Ran’s bountiful supply, for they were very hungry. Then Constance, thanking Jimmy, receiving his promise to be on hand early in the morning to do whatever she wanted, and laughingly refusing his earnest offers to sleep there as her protector or to get her someone else, sent him to his home. She never knew how many times during the evening he went to where he could see whether the candlelight was still flickering in the upper window or whether there were signs of alarm about the old place. And, as he stood there watching, he wished within his soul that he were a man, and brave, for he somehow felt that he could grow braver if he were given time, though he realized that he was at heart a coward at present, a great thing for a boy to realize. He knew that if he were truly brave like the boys in the storybooks, he would go and throw himself across the door of the old house and sleep there to protect the lady inside, and
that
Jimmy knew he was not willing to do.
The moon was full that night, and as they had realized at the last minute before Jimmy left them that candles were their only chance for light, Constance wandered outside for a few minutes in the brilliant moonlight. The kitchen, with its weird, flickering candlelight, was not a pleasant place to sit, and besides, Norah was making a clatter with the dishes from the barrel, which she insisted upon washing that night, and which she would not allow her young mistress to touch, so Constance felt that a breath of the evening would do her good. Her soul longed to get near the loveliness of the night and to see what she had in this strange old place that had been rented for a year. She walked slowly down the grass-grown path that led to the pond, noticing the trees and shrubs on either side, and now and then pausing to look up at the round, full brightness of the moon. How still and beautiful it was here, she thought. No whirring trolleys, no rumble of city life, no dust, no murmur of the thousand voices that fill the air of a city at night. Only the quiet stars like polished diamonds and the great full moon looking at her. A lovely place in which to walk if a spirit could walk this earth again. She wondered how much truth there might be as a foundation for Jimmy’s story about the lady who had killed herself. She hoped no one would tell Norah, for perhaps she might be superstitious and unhappy there. She must warn Jimmy about it. Dear, faithful, funny little Jimmy! How he seemed to have fitted right into her plans, like a little urchin angel dropped down from heaven just when she needed him! She must try to make his life happier in some way for the help he had been to her.
Down by the water’s edge a pathway of silver stretched out before her into the soft deep darkness. It made the night look wide. She stood a long time watching the play of the ripples in the water, noticing the dark penciling of the rustic summerhouse on the little island against the moonlit sky, trying to realize that it was her new home, and wondering whether she would ever get accustomed to the change.
Then she turned in the dewy path, her ears filled with the music of the frogs that made the summer seem near at hand, and suddenly before her in the way, but a few feet in front of her, stood a man!
Chapter 9
J ohn Endicott’s train was nearing the station, and familiar objects presented themselves. He could see the old lumberyard, the icehouse off at the side, and one corner of the supply store steps, but a freight car hid the rest. He turned to the other side of the track, marveling at the advance of spring during his absence. It was growing
They ate their supper, Norah, Jimmy, and Constance, and finished the last crumb of Sa’Ran’s bountiful supply, for they were very hungry. Then Constance, thanking Jimmy, receiving his promise to be on hand early in the morning to do whatever she wanted, and laughingly refusing his earnest offers to sleep there as her protector or to get her someone else, sent him to his home. She never knew how many times during the evening he went to where he could see whether the candlelight was still flickering in the upper window or whether there were signs of alarm about the old place. And, as he stood there watching, he wished within his soul that he were a man, and brave, for he somehow felt that he could grow braver if he were given time, though he realized that he was at heart a coward at present, a great thing for a boy to realize. He knew that if he were truly brave like the boys in the storybooks, he would go and throw himself across the door of the old house and sleep there to protect the lady inside, and
that
Jimmy knew he was not willing to do.
The moon was full that night, and as they had realized at the last minute before Jimmy left them that candles were their only chance for light, Constance wandered outside for a few minutes in the brilliant moonlight. The kitchen, with its weird, flickering candlelight, was not a pleasant place to sit, and besides, Norah was making a clatter with the dishes from the barrel, which she insisted upon washing that night, and which she would not allow her young mistress to touch, so Constance felt that a breath of the evening would do her good. Her soul longed to get near the loveliness of the night and to see what she had in this strange old place that had been rented for a year. She walked slowly down the grass-grown path that led to the pond, noticing the trees and shrubs on either side, and now and then pausing to look up at the round, full brightness of the moon. How still and beautiful it was here, she thought. No whirring trolleys, no rumble of city life, no dust, no murmur of the thousand voices that fill the air of a city at night. Only the quiet stars like polished diamonds and the great full moon looking at her. A lovely place in which to walk if a spirit could walk this earth again. She wondered how much truth there might be as a foundation for Jimmy’s story about the lady who had killed herself. She hoped no one would tell Norah, for perhaps she might be superstitious and unhappy there. She must warn Jimmy about it. Dear, faithful, funny little Jimmy! How he seemed to have fitted right into her plans, like a little urchin angel dropped down from heaven just when she needed him! She must try to make his life happier in some way for the help he had been to her.
Down by the water’s edge a pathway of silver stretched out before her into the soft deep darkness. It made the night look wide. She stood a long time watching the play of the ripples in the water, noticing the dark penciling of the rustic summerhouse on the little island against the moonlit sky, trying to realize that it was her new home, and wondering whether she would ever get accustomed to the change.
Then she turned in the dewy path, her ears filled with the music of the frogs that made the summer seem near at hand, and suddenly before her in the way, but a few feet in front of her, stood a man!
Chapter 9
J ohn Endicott’s train was nearing the station, and familiar objects presented themselves. He could see the old lumberyard, the icehouse off at the side, and one corner of the supply store steps, but a freight car hid the rest. He turned to the other side of the track, marveling at the advance of spring during his absence. It was growing
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