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The Letter Of Credit Chapter II - Moving · The Susan Warner Library

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Speaker 1: CHAPTER II. Moving. Mr. Southwode went away. His letter was
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Speaker 1: locked up in a drawer, and both were soon forgotten.
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Speaker 1: The little family he left had enough else to think of.
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Speaker 1: As the warm weather turned to cold, it became more
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Speaker 1: and more evident that the head of the family was
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Speaker 1: not to be with it long. Mr. Carpenter was ill. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 1: with failing strength, he continued to carry the burden that
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Speaker 1: had been too much for him when well. He would
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Speaker 1: not spare himself. The work must be done, he said,
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Speaker 1: or the interest of the mortgages could not be paid.
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Speaker 1: He wrought early and late, and saw to it that
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Speaker 1: his hired people did their part. He wore himself out
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Speaker 1: the quicker, but the interest on the mortgages was not paid,
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Speaker 1: even so. Mrs. Carpenter saw just how things were going,
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Speaker 1: saw it step by step, and was powerless to hinder.
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Speaker 1: They will foreclose, Mr. Carpenter said with half a groan.
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Speaker 1: It was late in the winter, towards spring. His health
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Speaker 1: had failed rapidly of late. and it was no secret
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Speaker 1: either to him or his wife that his weeks were numbered.
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Speaker 1: They were sitting together one evening before the fire, he
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Speaker 1: in his easy-chair and she beside him, but not holding
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Speaker 1: each other's hands, not touching, not looking at one another.
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Speaker 1: Their blood was of a genuine New England course, and
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Speaker 1: people of that kind, though they would die for one another,
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Speaker 1: rarely exchange kisses, and besides, there are times when caresses
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Speaker 1: cannot be borne. they mean too much. Perhaps this was
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Speaker 1: such a time. Mrs. Carpenter sat staring into the fire,
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Speaker 1: her brow drawn into fine wrinkles, which was with her
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Speaker 1: a sign of uncommon perturbation. It was after a time
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Speaker 1: of silence that her husband came out with that word
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Speaker 1: about foreclosing.' If I had been stronger,' he went on,'
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Speaker 1: I could have taken in that twenty-acre lot and planted
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Speaker 1: it with wheat, and that would have made some difference.'
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Speaker 1: Now I am behind hand, and I could not help it,
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Speaker 1: and they will foreclose. They cannot do it till next fall,
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Speaker 1: said Mrs. Carpenter, and her secret thought was, by that
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Speaker 1: time nothing will matter. No, said her husband, not until fall,
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Speaker 1: but then they will. Eunice, what will you do? I
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Speaker 1: will find something to do. What? Tell me now, while
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Speaker 1: I can counsel you. I don't know anything I could
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Speaker 1: do but take in sewing. She spoke calmly. All the
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Speaker 1: while a tear started, which she did not suffer to
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Speaker 1: be seen. Sewing? said Mr. Carpenter. There are too many
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Speaker 1: in the village already that do sewing, more than can
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Speaker 1: live by it. If I cannot hear, his wife said
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Speaker 1: after a pause, overcoming herself, I might go to New York.
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Speaker 1: Serena would help me to get some work. Would she?
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Speaker 1: asked her husband. I think she would. Your charity always
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Speaker 1: goes ahead of mine, Eunice. You think she would not?
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Speaker 1: I wouldn't like to have you dependent on her. This
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Speaker 1: is what you get for marrying a poor man, Eunice.
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Speaker 1: He smiled and stretched out his hand to take the
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Speaker 1: hand of his wife. Hush, she said. I married a
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Speaker 1: richer man than she did, and I have wanted for nothing.
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Speaker 1: We have not been poor. No, he said, except in
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Speaker 1: this world's goods, which are unimportant. until one is leaving
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Speaker 1: one's wife and child alone. I suppose she could not speak,
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Speaker 1: for she answered nothing. The fingers clasped, fingers fast and hard,
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Speaker 1: wrung them a little, yet both faces were steady. Mrs.
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Speaker 1: Carpenter's eyes looked somewhat rigidly into the fire, and her
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Speaker 1: husband's brow wore a shadow.' I wish your father had
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Speaker 1: left you at least the old place at Tanfield. It
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Speaker 1: would have been no more than justice.' serena might have
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Speaker 1: had all the rest but that would have given you
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Speaker 1: and rotha a home never mind said mrs carpenter gently
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Speaker 1: i am content with my share meaning me and he
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Speaker 1: sighed the best share of this world's goods any woman
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Speaker 1: could have we have been happy he said in spite
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Speaker 1: of all we have had happy years happier i could
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Speaker 1: not wish for but for this money trouble and we
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Speaker 1: shall have happy years again eunice where the time is
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Speaker 1: not counted by years, but flows on for ever, and
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Speaker 1: people are not poor, not anxious, nor disappointed. She struggled
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Speaker 1: with tears again, and then answered, I have not been disappointed,
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Speaker 1: and you have no need to be anxious. No, I know,
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Speaker 1: he said, but at times it is hard for faith
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Speaker 1: to get above sense, and I am not anxious, only
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Speaker 1: I would like to know how you are going to do.
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Speaker 1: There was a silence then for some length, Things are
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Speaker 1: pretty unequal in this world, Mr. Carpenter began again. Look
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Speaker 1: at Serena and you, one sister with more than she
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Speaker 1: can use, the other talking of sewing for a livelihood.
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Speaker 1: And all because you would marry a poor man, a
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Speaker 1: poor reason. Liff, I had my choice, his wife said
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Speaker 1: with a shadow of a smile. She is the one
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Speaker 1: to be pitied. Well, I think so, he said, for
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Speaker 1: if her heart were as roomy as her purse, she
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Speaker 1: would have shown it before now. My dear, do not
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Speaker 1: expect anything from Serena. Till next fall you will have
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Speaker 1: the shelter of this house, and that will give you
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Speaker 1: time to look about you. Liff, you must not talk so,
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Speaker 1: his wife cried, and her voice broke. She threw herself
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Speaker 1: upon her husband's breast, and they held each other in
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Speaker 1: a very long, still, close embrace. Mr. Carpenter was quite
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Speaker 1: right in some, at least, of his expectations. His own
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Speaker 1: life was not prolonged to the summers. in one of
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Speaker 1: the last days of a rough spring the time came
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Speaker 1: he had spoken of when his wife and child were
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Speaker 1: left alone she had till fall to look about her
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Speaker 1: but perhaps in the bitterness of her loneliness she had
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Speaker 1: not heart to push her search after work with sufficient
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Speaker 1: energy yet mrs carpenter never lacked energy and indulged herself
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Speaker 1: selfishly no more in grief than she did in joy
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Speaker 1: More likely it is that in the simple region of
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Speaker 1: country she inhabited there was not call enough for the
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Speaker 1: work she could do. Work did not come at any rate.
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Speaker 1: The only real opening for her to earn her livelihood
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Speaker 1: was in the shape of a housekeeper's situation with an
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Speaker 1: old bachelor farmer, who was well off and had nobody
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Speaker 1: to care for him. In her destitution, I do not
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Speaker 1: know but Mrs. Carpenter might have put up with even
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Speaker 1: this plan, but what was she to do with Rotherh?
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Speaker 1: so by degrees the thought forced itself upon her that
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Speaker 1: she must take up her old notion and go to
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Speaker 1: the great city where there were always people enough to
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Speaker 1: want everything how to get there and what to do
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Speaker 1: on first arriving there remained questions both were answered as
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Speaker 1: mr carpenter had foreseen the mortgages came in the fall
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Speaker 1: to foreclosure the sale of the land however what he
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Speaker 1: had not foreseen brought in a trifle more than the
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Speaker 1: mortgage amount To this little sum the sale of household
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Speaker 1: goods and furniture and stock added another somewhat larger, so
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Speaker 1: that altogether a few hundreds stood at Mrs. Carpenter's disposal.
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Speaker 1: This precisely made her undertaking possible. It was a very
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Speaker 1: doubtful undertaking, but what alternative was there? One relation she
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Speaker 1: would find at the least, and another Mrs. Carpenter had
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Speaker 1: not in the wide world. She made her preparations very quietly.
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Speaker 1: as she did everything. Her own child never knew how
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Speaker 1: much heartbreak was in them.' Shall we go first to
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Speaker 1: Aunt Serena's mother?' Rother asked one day.' No.' The no
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Speaker 1: was short and dry. Rother's instinct told her she must
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Speaker 1: not ask why, but she was disappointed. From a word
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Speaker 1: now and then she had got the impression that this
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Speaker 1: relation of theirs was a very rich woman, and lived accordingly,
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Speaker 1: and fancy had been busy with possibilities.' Where then, mother?'' Mr.
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Speaker 1: Forbes— he was the storekeeper in the village— has told me of
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Speaker 1: the boarding-house he goes to when he goes to New York.
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Speaker 1: We can put up there for a night or two,
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Speaker 1: and look out for a quiet lodging.'' What is New
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Speaker 1: York like, mother?'' I have never been there, Arthur, and
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Speaker 1: do not know. Oh, it is a city, my child.
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Speaker 1: Of course it is not like anything here.'' How different?''
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Speaker 1: In every possible way.'' Every way, mother?' Aren't the houses like?
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Speaker 1: Not at all, and the houses there stand close together.
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Speaker 1: There must be room to get about, I suppose. Those
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Speaker 1: are the streets. No green grass or trees? Little patches
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Speaker 1: of grass in the yards. No trees? No, in some
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Speaker 1: of the fine streets I believe there are shade trees.
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Speaker 1: No gardens, mother? No. But what do people do for
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Speaker 1: vegetables and things? they are brought out of the country
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Speaker 1: and sold in the markets don't you know mr jones
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Speaker 1: sends his potatoes and his fruits to the city then
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Speaker 1: if you want a potato you must go to the
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Speaker 1: market and buy it yes' Or an apple, mother?'' Yes,
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Speaker 1: or anything.'' Well, I suppose that will do,' said Ruther slowly,'
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Speaker 1: if you have money enough.' I shouldn't think it was pleasant.'
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Speaker 1: Do the houses stand close together?' so close that you
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Speaker 1: cannot lay a pin between them i should want to
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Speaker 1: have very good neighbours then rotha was innocently touching point
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Speaker 1: after point of doubt and dread in her mother's mind
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Speaker 1: presently she touched another i don't think it sounds pleasant
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Speaker 1: mother suppose we should not like it after we get
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Speaker 1: there mrs carpenter did not answer what then mother' Would
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Speaker 1: you come back again if we did not like it there?''
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Speaker 1: There would be no place to come to here any more,
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Speaker 1: my child.' I hope we shall find it comfortable where
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Speaker 1: we are going.'' Then you don't know,' said Rother,' and
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Speaker 1: perhaps we shall not.' But, mother, that would be dreadful
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Speaker 1: if we did not like it.'' I hope you would
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Speaker 1: help me to bear it.'' Aye,' said Rother,' you don't
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Speaker 1: want help to bear anything, do you, mother?' An involuntary
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Speaker 1: gush of tears came at this appeal. They were not
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Speaker 1: suffered to overflow. I should not be able to bear
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Speaker 1: much without your help, Rother. Want help? Yes, I want it,
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Speaker 1: and I have it. God sends nothing to his children,
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Speaker 1: but he sends help, too. Else, said Mrs. Carpenter, brushing
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Speaker 1: her hand across her eyes, they would not last long. But, Rother,
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Speaker 1: lie means that we should help each other, too. I
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Speaker 1: help you? Yes, certainly, you can, a great deal. That
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Speaker 1: seems very funny. Mother, what is wrong about Aunt Serena?
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Speaker 1: said Rother, following a very direct chain of ideas. I
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Speaker 1: hope nothing is wrong about her. And Mrs. Carpenter, in
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Speaker 1: her gentle, unselfish charity, meant it honestly. Her little daughter
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Speaker 1: was less gentle, and perhaps more logical. Why, mother, does
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Speaker 1: she ever do anything to help you? Her life is
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Speaker 1: quite separate from mine, Mrs. Carpenter replied evasively. Well, it
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Speaker 1: would be right in her to help you, and when
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Speaker 1: people are not right, they are wrong. Let us take
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Speaker 1: care of our own right and wrong, Ruther. We shall
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Speaker 1: have enough to do with that. But, Mother, what is
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Speaker 1: the matter with Aunt Serena? Why doesn't she help you?
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Speaker 1: She can't. Our lives went different ways a long time ago,
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Speaker 1: my child. We have never been near each other since.
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Speaker 1: But now we are going to be where she is, mother. Rother,
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Speaker 1: did you rip up your brown merino? Not yet. Then
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Speaker 1: go and do it now. I want it to make
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Speaker 1: over for you. You'll never make much of that, said
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Speaker 1: the girl discontentedly. But she obeyed. She saw a certain
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Speaker 1: trait in the lines of her mother's lips. It might
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Speaker 1: be reserve. It might be determination. or both and she
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Speaker 1: knew no more was to be got from her at
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Speaker 1: that time the brown merino disappointed her expectation for when
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Speaker 1: cleaned and made over it proved to be a very
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Speaker 1: respectable dress ruffer was well satisfied with it the rest
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Speaker 1: of mrs carpenter's preparations were soon accomplished and one day
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Speaker 1: in november she and her little daughter left what had
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Speaker 1: been home and set out upon their journey to seek
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Speaker 1: another in the misty distance The journey itself was full
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Speaker 1: of wonder and delight to Rother. It was a very
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Speaker 1: remarkable thing in the first place to find the world
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Speaker 1: so large. Then another remarkable thing was the variety of
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Speaker 1: people in it. Rother had known only one kind, speaking broadly,
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Speaker 1: the plain, quiet, respectable, and generally comfortable inhabitants of the village,
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Speaker 1: and of the farms around the village. They were not
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Speaker 1: elegant specimens, but they were solid and kindly. She saw
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Speaker 1: many people now that astonished her by their elegance, few
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Speaker 1: that awakened any feeling of confidence. Ruther's eyes were very busy,
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Speaker 1: her tongue very silent. She was taking her first sips
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Speaker 1: at the bittersweet cup of life-knowledge. The third-class hotel at
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Speaker 1: which they put up in New York received her unqualified disapprobation.
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Speaker 1: None of its arrangements or accommodations suited her, with the
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Speaker 1: single exception of gas-burners. close, stuffy, confined, gloomy, and dirty
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Speaker 1: she declared it to be.' Mother,' she said, half crying,'
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Speaker 1: I hope our house will not be like this.'' We
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Speaker 1: shall not have a house, Rother, only a few rooms.''
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Speaker 1: There' ll be rooms in a house, I suppose,' said the girl, petulantly,'
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Speaker 1: and I hope it will be very different from this.''
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Speaker 1: We will have our part of it clean at any rate,'
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Speaker 1: answered her mother,' and the rest too, won't you?' You
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Speaker 1: would not have rooms in a house that was not
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Speaker 1: all clean, would you, mother? Not if I could help it.
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Speaker 1: Cannot you help it? I hope so. I hope so,
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Speaker 1: but you must not expect that things here in the
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Speaker 1: big city can ever be bright and sweet like the
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Speaker 1: fields at home. They can hardly be. Ruther sighed. A
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Speaker 1: vision of dandelions came up before her, and waving grass
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Speaker 1: bent by summer wind. but there was hope that the
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Speaker 1: morrow's search would unfold to her some less unpromising phases
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Speaker 1: of city life. And she suspended judgment. Next day, wonder
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Speaker 1: and amusement for a time superseded everything else. The multitude
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Speaker 1: of busy people coming and going, the laden carts and
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Speaker 1: light passing carriages, the gay shops, and the shops that
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Speaker 1: were not gay, filled Rother's eye and mind. Even the
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Speaker 1: vegetables exposed at a corner shop were a matter of
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Speaker 1: lively interest. Oh, mother, she cried, is this a market? No,
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Speaker 1: it is a store for groceries. Well, they have got
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Speaker 1: some other things here. Mother, the cabbages don't look nice. Then,
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Speaker 1: soon after coming to a small market store, Ruther must
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Speaker 1: stand still to look. They are a little better here,
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Speaker 1: she judged. Mother, mother, they have got everything at this market.
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Speaker 1: Do see, there are fish and oysters and clams and eggs.
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Speaker 1: And what are those queer things? Lobsters. What are they
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Speaker 1: good for? To eat. They don't look as if they
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Speaker 1: are good for anything. Mother, one could get a very
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Speaker 1: good dinner here, with plenty of money. Does it take
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Speaker 1: much to get one dinner? Are you hungry? said her mother,
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Speaker 1: smiling faintly. It takes a good deal of money to
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Speaker 1: get anything in New York, Ruther. Then I am afraid
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Speaker 1: we ought to have stayed in Medwayville. a conclusion which
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Speaker 1: almost forced itself upon Mrs. Carpenter's mind, for the business
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Speaker 1: of finding a lodging that would suit her and that
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Speaker 1: she could pay for soon turned out to be one
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Speaker 1: of difficulty. She and Rother grew weary of walking, and
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Speaker 1: more weary of looking at rooms that would suit them,
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Speaker 1: which they could not pay for, and other rooms which
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Speaker 1: they could pay for and that would not do. All
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Speaker 1: the houses in New York seemed to come under one
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Speaker 1: or the other category. From one house agency to another,
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Speaker 1: and from these to countless places referred to, advertised for hire,
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Speaker 1: the mother and daughter wandered in vain. One or the
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Speaker 1: other difficulty met them in every case. What will you do, mother,
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Speaker 1: if you cannot find a place? Rother asked, the evening
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Speaker 1: of the first day. Go back to Medwayville? We cannot
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Speaker 1: go back. Then we must find a place. And driven
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Speaker 1: by this necessity, so they did. The third day, well
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Speaker 1: tired in body and much more in mind, they did
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Speaker 1: at last find what would do. It was a long
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Speaker 1: walk from their hotel, and seemed endless. No doubt, in
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Speaker 1: the country, with grass under their feet, or even the
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Speaker 1: well-beaten foot-track beside the highway, neither mother nor daughter would
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Speaker 1: have thought anything of the distance. But here the hard
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Speaker 1: pavement wearied them, and the way measured off by so
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Speaker 1: many turns and crossings and beset with houses and human
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Speaker 1: beings— seemed a forlorn pilgrimage into remote regions. Besides, it
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Speaker 1: left the pleasanter part of the city and went, as
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Speaker 1: Rother remarked, among poor folks, down Bleecker Street till it turned,
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Speaker 1: then following the new stretch of straight pavement across Carmine Street,
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Speaker 1: and on and on into the parts then called Chelsea,
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Speaker 1: on till they came to an irregular open space. This
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Speaker 1: must be Abingdon Square, said the mother. It isn't square
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Speaker 1: at all. rotha objected but this must be it then
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Speaker 1: it's only one street more rotha look for jane street
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Speaker 1: beyond abingdon square jane street was found to be the
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Speaker 1: next crossing they turned the corner and were at the
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Speaker 1: place they sought the region was not one of miserable
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Speaker 1: poverty and tenant houses better than that and the buildings
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Speaker 1: being low and small did not darken the streets as
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Speaker 1: mrs carpenter had found in some parts of the city
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Speaker 1: A decent woman, a mantua-maker, had the house and offered Mrs.
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Speaker 1: Carpenter the second floor, two little rooms and a closet
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Speaker 1: off them. The rooms were furnished after a sort, but Mrs.
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Speaker 1: Marble could give no board with them, only lodging. She
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Speaker 1: was a bright, sharp little woman. Yes, I couldn't, she said.
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Speaker 1: It wouldn't pay. I couldn't mind my business. I take
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Speaker 1: my meals in a corner, for I couldn't have grease
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Speaker 1: and crumbs round. And where one person can stand, three
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Speaker 1: can sit. You'll have to manage that part yourself. It'll
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Speaker 1: be cheaper for you, too.'' Is anything cheap here?' Mrs.
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Speaker 1: Carpenter asked wearily. She had sat down to rest and consider.
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Speaker 1: That's how you manage it, said the other, showing a
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Speaker 1: full and rather arch smile. She was a little woman,
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Speaker 1: quick and alert in all her ways and looks. My
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Speaker 1: rooms ain't dear to begin with, and you needn't ruin
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Speaker 1: yourself eating if you know how. I knew how in
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Speaker 1: the country, said Mrs. Carpenter. Here it is different. Ain't it?
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Speaker 1: I guess it is. Rents, you see, and folks must live,
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Speaker 1: landlords and all. Some of them do a good deal more,
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Speaker 1: and that ain't my lookout. I'd eat bread and salt
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Speaker 1: sooner than I'd be in debt. And I'd never do
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Speaker 1: be that. Is it only you two? That's all. Then
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Speaker 1: you needn't to worry. I guess you'll get along. But Mrs.
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Speaker 1: Marble noticed the quiet respectability of her caller and honestly
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Speaker 1: thought what she said. Mrs. Carpenter reflected. The rooms were
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Speaker 1: not high. She could save a good deal by the
20:56
Speaker 1: extra trouble of providing herself. She would be more private
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Speaker 1: and probably have things better to her liking. Besides, her
21:03
Speaker 1: very soul sickened at the thought of looking for any
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Speaker 1: more rooms. She decided, and took these. Then she asked
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Speaker 1: about the possibilities of getting work. Mrs. Marble's countenance grew
21:14
Speaker 1: more doubtful. Plain sewing, she said. Well, there are a
21:18
Speaker 1: good many folk doing that, you see. I thought perhaps
21:22
Speaker 1: you could put me in the way of some. Well,
21:25
Speaker 1: perhaps I can. I'll see what I can think of.
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Speaker 1: But there's a many doing that sort of thing. They're
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Speaker 1: in every other house, almost. Now, when will you come?
21:34
Speaker 1: tomorrow i suppose i cannot tell what i want to
21:36
Speaker 1: get till i do come i can tell you some
21:40
Speaker 1: things right off you'd better do part of it to-day
21:42
Speaker 1: or you'll want everything at once first of all you'd
21:45
Speaker 1: better order in some coal you can get that just
21:48
Speaker 1: a block or two off jones and sanford they have
21:51
Speaker 1: a coal-yard it is very convenient where can it be
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Speaker 1: put in the cellar there's enough room and if i
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Speaker 1: was you i wouldn't get less than half a ton
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Speaker 1: they make awful profits when they sell by the basket
22:03
Speaker 1: You'll want a little kindling, too. Hadn't you better get
22:06
Speaker 1: a little bit of a stove, one with two places
22:08
Speaker 1: for cooking, or one place. It will save itself six
22:11
Speaker 1: times over in the course of the winter. Where can
22:14
Speaker 1: I get it? I guess you're pretty much of a
22:16
Speaker 1: stranger here, ain't you? Entirely a stranger. I thought so.
22:21
Speaker 1: Folks get a look according to the place they live.
22:23
Speaker 1: You ain't bad enough for New York, she added with
22:26
Speaker 1: a merry and acute smile. I hope there are some
22:30
Speaker 1: good people here, said Mrs. Carpenter. I hope so. I
22:33
Speaker 1: haven't passed them all through my sieve. Got something else
22:36
Speaker 1: to do. And it ain't my business neither. Well, only
22:40
Speaker 1: don't you think there ain't some bad ones in the lot?
22:42
Speaker 1: That's all. There's plenty of places where you can get
22:44
Speaker 1: your stove, if you want to. Elwall's in Abingdon Square
22:48
Speaker 1: is a very good place. Some things goes with the stove.
22:51
Speaker 1: I guess you know what you want as well as
22:53
Speaker 1: I do, she said, breaking off and smiling again. I
22:56
Speaker 1: shall need bedding, too, said Mrs. Carpenter, with a look
22:59
Speaker 1: at the empty bedstead. You can't do everything at once
23:03
Speaker 1: if you're to come in tomorrow. I tell you, I've
23:06
Speaker 1: a bed you can have that I ain't using. It'll
23:08
Speaker 1: cost you less and do just as well. I ain't
23:11
Speaker 1: one of the bad ones, she said again with a
23:13
Speaker 1: gleam of a smile. I shan't cheat you. The arrangement
23:17
Speaker 1: was made at last, and Mrs. Carpenter and Rother set
23:20
Speaker 1: out on their way back. They stopped in Abingdon Square
23:23
Speaker 1: and bought a stove, a little tea kettle, a saucepan,
23:26
Speaker 1: and a frying pan. Half a dozen knives and forks, spoons, etc.,
23:32
Speaker 1: a lamp, and sundry other little indispensable conveniences for people
23:36
Speaker 1: who would set up housekeeping. Ratha was glad to be
23:39
Speaker 1: quit of the hotel, and yet in a divided state
23:42
Speaker 1: of mind. Too tired to talk, however, that night, which
23:45
Speaker 1: was a happiness for her mother. The next day was
23:49
Speaker 1: one of delightful bustle, all filled with efforts to get
23:52
Speaker 1: in order in the new quarters, and by evening a
23:55
Speaker 1: great deal was done. The bed was made, the washstand garnished,
23:59
Speaker 1: the little stove put up, fire made in it, and
24:02
Speaker 1: the kettle boiled and at night mother and daughter sat
24:05
Speaker 1: down to supper together taking breath for the first time
24:08
Speaker 1: that day mrs carpenter had been to a neighbouring grocery
24:12
Speaker 1: and bought a ham and bread eggs were so dear
24:15
Speaker 1: that they scared her she had cooked a slice and
24:18
Speaker 1: made tea and rotha declared that it tasted good but
24:22
Speaker 1: this is funny bread mother it is baker's bread it
24:26
Speaker 1: is nice a little but it isn't sweet Let us
24:30
Speaker 1: be thankful we have got it, rather. Yes, but, mother,
24:34
Speaker 1: I think I should be more thankful for better bread.
24:38
Speaker 1: I will try and make you some better, Mrs. Carpenter said, laughing.
24:42
Speaker 1: This is not economical, I am sure. Mother, said Rother,
24:47
Speaker 1: do you suppose Aunt Serena takes in sewing? She? No,
24:51
Speaker 1: she gives it out. You would not like to do
24:54
Speaker 1: her sewing? I shall not ask for it, said the
24:57
Speaker 1: mother calmly. Does she do her own cooking, as you do?'' No,
25:02
Speaker 1: my child, she has no need.'' Do you think she
25:05
Speaker 1: is a better woman than you are, mother?'' That' s not
25:08
Speaker 1: a wise question, I should say,' Mrs. Carpenter returned. But
25:12
Speaker 1: something about it flushed her cheek, and even brought an
25:15
Speaker 1: odd moisture to her eyes.' Because,' said Ruther, wholly disregarding
25:20
Speaker 1: the animaversion,' if she isn't, I should say things are queer.'
25:27
Speaker 1: that's what job thought when his troubles came on him
25:31
Speaker 1: and weren't they asked rotha no he did not understand
25:35
Speaker 1: that was all i should like to understand though mother
25:39
Speaker 1: not understanding makes me uneasy you may be uneasy then
25:43
Speaker 1: all your life for there will be a great many
25:45
Speaker 1: things you cannot understand the better way is to trust
25:48
Speaker 1: and be easy trust what rotha asked quickly trust god
25:54
Speaker 1: he knows' Trust him for what?' Rother insisted.' For everything.
25:59
Speaker 1: Trust him that he will take care of you if
26:01
Speaker 1: you are his child, and let no harm come to you,
26:04
Speaker 1: and do all things right for you, and in the
26:07
Speaker 1: best way.'' Mother, that is trusting a good deal. The
26:12
Speaker 1: Lord likes to have us trust him.'' But you are
26:16
Speaker 1: his child, and he has let harm come to you?''
26:18
Speaker 1: You think so, because you know nothing about it. No
26:22
Speaker 1: harm can come to his children.' I don't know what
26:26
Speaker 1: you call harm, then, said Ruther half sullenly. Harm is
26:31
Speaker 1: what would hurt me. You know very well that pain
26:34
Speaker 1: does not always do that. And can you trust him, mother,
26:38
Speaker 1: so as to be easy now? Yes, said Mrs. Carpenter.
26:43
Speaker 1: Most days. Ruther knew from the external signs that this
26:48
Speaker 1: must be true. Are you going to see Aunt Serena, mother?
26:52
Speaker 1: Not now. When? I do not know. Where does she live? Rother,
26:58
Speaker 1: you may wash up these dishes, while I put things
27:01
Speaker 1: a little to rights in the other room. The next
27:04
Speaker 1: day Mrs. Carpenter set about finding some work. Alas, if
27:08
Speaker 1: there were many that had it to give, there seemed
27:10
Speaker 1: to be many more that wanted it. It was worse
27:13
Speaker 1: than looking for rooms. At last some tailoring was procured
27:17
Speaker 1: from a master tailor. and Mrs. Carpenter sat all day
27:21
Speaker 1: over her sewing, giving directions to Rother about the affairs
27:24
Speaker 1: of the small housekeeping. Rother swept and dusted and washed
27:28
Speaker 1: dishes and set the table and prepared vegetables. Not much
27:32
Speaker 1: of that, for their meals were simple and small. However,
27:35
Speaker 1: with one thing and another the time was partly filled up. Mrs.
27:40
Speaker 1: Carpenter stitched. It was a new thing and disagreeable to
27:43
Speaker 1: the one looker-on to see her mother from morning to
27:46
Speaker 1: night bent over work which was not for herself, At home,
27:50
Speaker 1: though life was busy, it was not slaving. There were intervals,
27:54
Speaker 1: and often, of rest and pleasure-taking. She and Rother used
27:58
Speaker 1: to go into the garden to gather vegetables and to
28:00
Speaker 1: pick fruit, and at other times to weed and dress
28:03
Speaker 1: the beds and sow flower-seeds. And at evening the whole
28:07
Speaker 1: little family were wont to enjoy the air and the
28:10
Speaker 1: sunsets and the roses from the hall-door, and to have
28:13
Speaker 1: sweet and various discourse together about a great variety of subjects.
28:19
Speaker 1: Those delights, it is true, ceased a good while ago,
28:23
Speaker 1: the talks especially. Mrs. Carpenter was not much of a
28:26
Speaker 1: talker even then, though her words were good when they came.
28:30
Speaker 1: Now she said little indeed, and Rother missed her father.
28:34
Speaker 1: An uneasy feeling of want and longing took possession of
28:37
Speaker 1: the child's mind. I suppose she felt mentally what people
28:41
Speaker 1: feel physically when they are slowly starving to death. It
28:44
Speaker 1: had not come to that yet with Rother. but the
28:47
Speaker 1: initial fret and irritation began to be strong. Her mother
28:51
Speaker 1: seemed to be turning into a sewing machine, a thinking
28:54
Speaker 1: one she had no doubt. Nevertheless, the thoughts that were
28:57
Speaker 1: never spoken did not practically exist for her. She was
29:01
Speaker 1: left to her own, and Rother's thoughts began to seethe
29:04
Speaker 1: and boil. Another child would have found enough food and
29:08
Speaker 1: amusement enough in the varied sights and experiences of life
29:11
Speaker 1: in the great city. They made Rother draw into herself.
29:18
Speaker 1: End of chapter 2